Welp, this is it.

With this chapter, the remastering of this story is officially complete. For my old readers who waited patiently, I will always be eternally grateful for your patience.

For recent readers who had to wait for the second of the remastered chapters, I am grateful that you continue giving me a chance.

And for brand new readers who have only read these remastered chapters and have no idea about the old quality issues I used to have on this story. I hope you continue to enjoy what I have written thus far.

And may we continue on this journey until the very end.


My Hero Academia Untold: The Fafnir Knight (Remastered Edition)

Saga I: Dusk

Arc III: The Sports Festival

Chapter XXXIII: Golden Week Part 3


Saturday

Taneo Tokuda sat in silence as he drained the last of his cold coffee on hand early that morning over the northern edge of Saitama Prefecture. The freelance photographer had spent the night with a few others spread throughout the area, looking for signs of the so-called "Batman" that had been flying through Saitama, Shizuoka, and Yamanashi over the past week.

"Phew...I could go for a piping hot pork bun about now..." He sighed as he texted his fellows, who had also waited out the night, as his stomach growled for sustenance other than just stale coffee.

"Batman," he scoffed as he shook his head. "It's not even original..."

Taneo didn't think much of the "Batman," finding the idea of this flying daredevil figure droll. Even comparing it to the Mad Bat villain from Naruhata five years previously. But of course, the editor-in-chief of Juzo Magazine wanted someone to get some close-up shots of the bat, and he had bills to pay, so here he is, cold, tired, and hungry and with nothing to show for it. As the sun rose, warming him up a touch, the tall thin man felt it was time to pack up and start making his way home to try again some other day. Assuming the Batman wasn't caught by the time he returned. He moved to collect his things when his sharp eyes noticed something strange on the rooftop of the nearby building. A glint of something shiny had caught his eye as the sun rose above the horizon in the east.

'What is that?' He wondered as he tried to squint his eyes. When that didn't work, he quickly grabbed his camera and used its lens to get a better look. 'Hello...who do have we here?"

Standing on the rooftop was a taller-than-average individual. Clad head to toe in metallic-looking armor with what appeared to be a long blood-red cape draped across his shoulders. The most striking feature, however, was the helmet he wore. Its visage was that of a fearsome bird of prey whose folded up wings pointed skyward, forming into the shape of a King's battle crown.

Instinctively, his finger pressed down.

Click!

'A new hero?' He questioned as he started snapping more pictures of this unknown figure. 'His costume is flashy enough for the job. No way a run-of-the-mill vigilante or villain could afford something like that...'

Suddenly the figure shifted; the apparent cape started to open up, revealing it to be a set of blood-red scaly-looking wings that spread out wider than what seemed possible. Taneo couldn't lie; this figure had quickly piqued his interest.

'Could this guy be the so-called "Batman"?' Taneo figured, given the general shape of what he was seeing. It would be easy to confuse the wings to appear like a bat in the dark, but the costume had more of a bird theme.

Click!

'Yet those wings appeared more dragon rather than bat or bird. But if that's the case...why he here now?'

Taneo didn't have to wait long for an answer as the armored figure started to flap his wings, seemingly getting a light warm-up before taking flight. Yet instead of kicking off and flying away as he had once seen the Pro-Hero Hawks do, this figure instead started leaning forward.

"HOLY CRAP!" He exclaimed as the figure simply continued to lean until he went over the edge, falling headfirst off the building. Taneo went to look over the edge of the roof to catch the possible splatter. However, the figure pulled out of the dive and used the extra momentum to fly at high speeds. It was almost like he wasn't wearing a full suit of armor. Taneo followed the figure with excitement to see what the figure was going to do until he saw that the figure was heading toward the highway.

It was there that Taneo saw the convoy of police vehicles.

'Wait, what's going on here?' He wondered as he continued taking pictures.

BOOM!

"Whoa!" Taneo flinched but continued to watch as the tires of the two leading trucks suddenly exploded. The first of them lost control before flipping over onto its side, blocking the others behind it. As the convoy came to a sudden short halt nearby the overpass, seemingly unable to move from the initial attack.

Screams were heard from civilians in the streets down below.

However, Taneo began to record the events unfolding before him. That was all he could do as a journalist, not knowing that he was recording history being made. He watched as this armored figure landed a fair distance from the convoy. His bright red wings folded and wrapped around his body, restoring them to the cape-like appearance he saw earlier.

'Good lord...what the hell is going on?!'

Taneo watched as the villain stood there as a large black portal appeared behind him, and two strange-looking creatures came out before they stood by his sides. One was a giant dark purple behemoth that looked like its brains were sticking out of his skull with no visible eyes. The other was a much smaller, skinnier lizard-looking abomination with a scaly green-gray twinged hide. It had long, sharp claws, wild red eyes unlike its larger purple brother, and it too had its brain exposed.

The black portal closed once they were out, and the armored mystery man raised his right arm.


"T-3 respond! Tanaka, can you read me!?" Kai roared into his radio as the convoy was forced to halt. Overhaul's transport remained upright but could not move; however, their second team that contained Gang Orca was now on its side. With no response coming from his trusted adjutant, Kai checked the mirror and saw their foe standing from a significant distance away from them.

Kai knew he needed to act fast.

"Driver! Reverse and turn the truck longways to block the street so we can protect the transport with our fallen comrades!"

"Sir!" The nervous driver called out as he proceeded to do as ordered.

Kai turned his head to face his team, with included the most junior Pro Hero in the mission, The Restoration Hero: Fuku*

"Nishimoto! I want you and Fuku to dismount and start the search and rescue of the second truck. Fireteam, you're on point with me, form a defensive line, and prepare to engage!"

"Yes, sir!" the team echoed as they waited for the driver to finish positioning their transport.

"Ippongi, what's the status of our guest?" Kai called out to Overhaul's transport crew.

"Still knocked clean out, sir. I just had our medic shoot him up with the last round of sedatives and quirk suppressants. He should be like this for at least the next hour," Ryuta answered promptly.

'That gives us plenty of time for backup to arrive without risk of him getting involved should the worst happen...' Kai as his mind went into overdrive.

It was one of the final measures that leadership had agreed on. In case of an attack, they were to pump Overhaul so full of quirk suppressant drugs that he would be unable to aid in his own escape. It was risky due to the chance of causing an overdose. However, given that Kai was still more than willing to kill the man on the side of the road if need be. He could honestly not give a single damn if the child abuser overdosed en route. It would mean a gargantuan amount of paperwork that would last them a week, but it would also be a huge load off their minds and foil any plans for breaking the bastard out. After all, the last thing they wanted was a giant Overhaul destroying the goddamn city if he got loose somehow.

There was no way Kai would even allow the risk of that happening.

"Sound the alarm for headquarters and-" Kai didn't have a chance to finish up as, without warning, everyone felt a sudden surge of electrical energy pass through them. As it did, the truck went dead, as did all of their communications equipment. The dashboard radio even gave out a violent screech before going silent.

"What's going?!" Asked Fuku as they all felt goosebumps from whatever that was.

"An EMP attack?!" One of the SWAT officers yelled out as the driver was doing everything he could to turn their truck back on, only to find it completely dead.

"We're trapped without backup!" Yelled out one of the newer SWAT officers in terror.

"Calm down!" Kai barked out, "Headquarters will notice our signals disappearing and send backup to our last known location when we don't answer!"

"Sir! L-look!" The driver pointed in front of them. Kai turned to see what appeared to be a massive black hole closing up behind their attacker, who raised his arm up in front of a large gray hulking beast with its brains exposed. While its features were quite different from the one Kai had seen taken into custody, he knew it was the same kind of creature.

'Noumu...I was right; there are more...' Kai thought with a grimace, as the armored villain's appearance also dawned on him. 'It can't be...The Phoenix King?!'

A deafening roar could be heard through the transport walls as the Noumu began charging forward or, more accurately, towards his transport.

"SHIT! Everyone dismount! We have incoming!" Kai ordered everyone out as he released the safety from his rifle. He barreled out his side door and opened fire on the Noumu, charging at them the instant he had his sights on it. However, his gunfire had little effect on their foe as each bullet barely slowed the creature down as they were absorbed into its body. Yet, before the creature could slam into the truck that was still full with several of his men, Kai made a last desperate stand.

"NOT ONE STEP CLOSER, DAMN YOU!" Kai roared out, charging at the Noumu as he continued to plug shot after shot, managing to get a lucky shot to its brain, stunning it for a moment. Despite the creature being at least a foot taller than he was, that didn't stop Kai from charging into the beast. Headbutting the creature in its chest in a desperate bid to keep his men behind him safe.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

The Noumu recovered quickly, grabbed Kai, and chucked him into the street, shattering his rifle. The Noumu continued its assault but was now focused on the veteran policeman. Its massive hand reached for Kai's face when it was suddenly peppered by a volley of concentrated gunfire that forced the Noumu back.

"Protect the Chief!" Called out one of the SWAT officers who had managed to escape the truck, unharmed thanks to Kai's efforts. Following their leader's example, the fireteam all charged using their combined efforts to knock the creature off Kai and hold it in place. Kai quickly recovered as one of his men helped him get back on his feet. Kai rejoined his men in their collective fight against the hulking beast, ignoring the pain he was in.

"All together now!" Kai called as they continued their collective push against the Noumu. Some of the officers even went out to pull out tasers to bring the beast to heel. Kai then thought of something a little insane. However, given that he and eleven other well-built SWAT officers were still losing ground as the Noumu began striking back, Kai relented.

"Who has a frag?!" Kai roared as several of his subordinates shot taser prongs into the creature's brain, causing it to twitch and spazz in place. Its clenched roar seemed excruciating pain. Several more saw this and took aim with their tasers before shooting more prongs into the brain.

"HERE, SIR!" Answered one of the heavy gunners, who managed to pass Kai a fragmentation grenade from his belt. Kai quickly pulled the pin, keeping it tightly in his left fist, and drew his magnum revolver with his right, pointing right at the closed mouth of the creature.

"Sorry about this, gentlemen!" Kai apologized, knowing out loud this gun could be at close range. The officers noticed what he was doing and braced for the loud shots they were about to hear while still holding firm against the creature. The Noumu, however, did get its chance to yank out the prongs and rip the tasers out of the police hands before whipping back at them. Knocking more than a few officers off their feet.

BANG BANG BANG BANG!

Four shots rang out, shattering several of the Noumu's front teeth, creating enough of an opening for Kai to punch through the remainder of its teeth. He forced his arm as deep as possible before releasing the explosive device down its throat.

"PUSH IT BACK AND TAKE COVER!" Kai screamed out as he forced his arm out.

The remaining team slammed into and knocked the Noumu down on its back with one unified push. Only to dive away to the ground, hoping to avoid the possible stray shrapnel that came with a fragmentation grenade.

BOOM!

The explosion was deafened as the grenade went off inside the creature's chest. Still, it wasn't enough to stop the creature's chest cavity from bursting open with blood, viscera, and metallic shards flying out before raining down on the police forces. The red rain settled when Kai rose to his feet with a haggard breath looking over their dead quarry. The Noumu remained still; its wounds didn't regenerate like those of its captured brother.

"One down, one more to-ARGH!" Kai said as he didn't have a chance to finish as he was suddenly in extreme pain, his muscles began to have violent spasms as if he was being shocked with a heavy-duty taser gun. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one; everyone on his fire team had also been hit, their bodies locking up before collapsing on the hard street.

Kai landed face first, due to the unfortunate angle he had been in when standing.

'What...the hell...was...?'

"An admirable effort, gentlemen."

Kai's eyes grew wide as he heard that voice. He forced himself to turn his head and saw the armored villain standing next to the dead Noumu with his right hand sparking with electrical energy.

"Rest now, my dear siblings...may you never suffer again." The Villain blasted the Noumu with a heavy blast of bright blue flames from his left hand, allowing the creature's corpse to burn until it was nothing but ash. Now that Kai could see the villain up close. He could see the Phoenix King's influence but other elements separated him from the original; the helmet wasn't the same. The cape was red and leathery rather than the short feather-trimmed mantle.

However, the voice he was sporting was what really haunted him now, more so than the return of an apparent long-dead foe.

'That voice...Hi-Hisashi?!'

Kai's face was already covered in fresh blood, and despite the pain, he tried to raise his gun up. The Villain, however, saw this and simply proceeded to place his foot upon Kai's forearm. Kai felt his hand slack and his gun slipped from his hands with another shock of electricity ran through his body.

"Arrgh!" That was all Kai able to groan out as the villain kicked his firearm to the side.

"Forgive me, but I must take Overhaul from you. I require him, and I'd rather do this with the least amount of bloodshed as possible, so please stay down. This will all be over soon...farewell."

Kai could only watch as the villain began to move towards Overhaul's transport truck, helpless as his vision turned black. However, as the villain drew closer to the truck, a prominent figure sprang out, surprising the villain as he was tackled violently by a large whaleman.

"NOT ON MY WATCH, BOY!" Gang Orca roared out as he could slam the villain hard on the street, his giant fist managing to place a sizable dent into the villain's chest armor thanks to his great might.

"AH! GANG ORCA!" Roared the villain grabbing onto the hero's arm. "I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THEY WOULD HAVE A TOP-LEVEL PRO HELPING GUARD HIM!"

Gang Orca felt a sudden shock of pain before being kicked off the villain. He was still on his feet, being able to withstand the shock, but was surprised by the villain's strength given the difference in their size.

"I HAVE NO TIME FOR GAMES!" The villain roared out as he began to glow, an eerily familiar glow to Gang Orca. As the villain grew taller, the joints of his armor began to stretch out to accommodate the extra muscle and sinew, hands changing into large-scaled razor claws. Even the scales of his red wings began to harden, looking more like sheets of red steel.

And the best or worst part?

It was when the villain took up a familiar fighting stance. Gang Orca couldn't help himself. His mouth formed a large toothy grin; muscle memory of fighting with Hisashi for many years kicked in as that familiar voice urged him on.

"OH, BRING IT ON!" Gang Orca bellowed out with a mixture of fury and excitement, charging forward towards his foe.


Hajime woke up with a gasp, finding himself under a freeway overpass. Several injured officers were laid out around him at roughly 5 feet intervals. Most were unconscious; others were awake but heavily bandaged up in outer corners. His whole upper body was in an excruciating amount of pain that prevented him from moving much. From the corner of his eyes, Hajime could see that a few active officers were busy moving his fellows out of the transport truck he had been inside of not moments ago. Hajime tried to speak, call out to the others, and figure out what was happening but found no energy.

However, that wasn't the only thing that caught his eye. At first, it was hard to make it out, so Hajime closed his eyes before reopening them to activate his quirk, which functioned as a form of X-ray vision. His sharp eyes confirmed his suspicions. He saw something with a long thin bony skeleton slowly crawling upside down the overpass. It reminded Hajime of how a chameleon would move on a branch, moving a few steps and stopping to readjust itself for camouflage.

For a moment, Hajime thought he might have been hallucinating from the head trauma he must have experienced from the crash. At least until it finally came to a complete halt, positioning itself right overhead from where he was, slowly shifting and twisting its body. Freezing only when a trio of officers walked past him, carrying another officer to a safer location away from the fighting.

Once the coast was clear, the creature continued moving, and then without any warning, it dropped with an ear-splitting shriek as its claws found his flesh. With the mixture of pain and flight or fight kicking in, Hajime screamed out in pain and grabbed the creature to push it away from himself and his unconscious companions nearby.

"THE FUCK!?"

"CAPTAIN!"

"HOLD ON, SIR!"

Hajime heard the officers who had passed by earlier yell out as they saw the creature attacking and moved in to respond. Hajime struggled with the shrieking creature that continued to slash and stab at him. But one unfortunate claw strike managed to stab him in the dead center of his throat.

"URK..." was all he was able to sound out as he collapsed back to the ground. Clutching at his bleeding throat, breathing already becoming wet and damn well impossible. Before the creature could continue its attack as it raised its claws.

BANG!

The creature's head was blown clean off, downed by a shotgun blast from one of the responding officers.

"SIR!" The trio of young officers, including Ganji Nishimoto, could only look on as they realized they had been too late.

"SHIT! NO! CAPTAIN! HANG ON!" Yelled the only SWAT officer with them. "I'm going to get Fuku! STAY HERE!"

"WE GOT YOU, SIR! HELP IS COMING!" Yelled the other officer who had been the one who shot the creature keeping his gun at it and looking around for more possible assailants. Ganji, however, simply grabbed the med-kit that was slung over his shoulder and knelt to Hajime's level with a broad smile on his face. Hajime could only watch as Ganji grabbed some bandages and placed pressure on his throat...only the pressure was harder than needed.

"You got too close to knowing the truth Captain..." Ganji whispered into Hajime's ear. "You almost figured everything out...tsk tsk tsk. I'm sorry it had to be this way, sir."

Hajime's eyes grew wide as he realized what was going on; with his last bit of strength, Hajime tried to fight off the traitor and signal the second officer. However, Ganji simply squeezed harder.

"CAPTAIN! YOU NEED TO EASE UP! HELP IS COMING, SIR!" Ganji was able to cry out convincingly as his grip tightened around Hajime's throat.

"Listen to Nishimoto, sir! He's right! Back up will be here soon!" The other officer said as he continued searching around the area, unaware of the actual danger his Captain was in.

"Don't worry about your hero friends...I'll make sure they get led to...the right path..." Ganji, or rather now Mimicry, whispered with a sickeningly sweet smile.

"After all...You'll still be guiding them." He said, finishing up as he mimicked Hajime's voice. The veteran detective's struggles slowly died down as he realized what the traitor was planning to do. As Hajime's arms slumped down, his final thoughts called out, begging for forgiveness.

'No...Mother...Ingenium...Chief...I'm...sorry...I failed...'

And with that, Captain Hajime Tanaka's body went limp with a look of horror etched on his face.

"CAPTAIN!"


"Just a few more seconds...restore!"

Kai awoke with a deep gasping breath as he found himself face down in a small pool of his own blood as the stiff hard pain that was pulsing throughout his body slowly receded. He shook his head and forced himself to sit up. Kai's nerves shook as he pushed himself up. He knew this sensation; they trembled not out of fear but because something had attacked his very nervous system.

"Sir, please remain still! I can't heal you completely since we have so many injured!" Chided an exhausted-looking Fuku as she knelt next to him. At the same time, Kai could see other injured SWAT officers carrying the remnants of his fireteam. Kai, however, ignored her, knowing he couldn't take it easy with the battle still going on.

"What is going on?" Kai called out after taking deep laboring breaths.

"Gang Orca has the main villain occupied. He ordered me to stay with your men to save them from the wreckage!" Fuku answered as she straightened up her costume, which consisted of what could be described as armor-patted medical scrubs and an adorably tiny old school nurse's cap.

With his senses restored, Kai could hear grunts and hard smacks of fists meeting flesh close by, but Kai couldn't see from where precisely due to his transportation being in the way. He wiped the blood from his eyes to better view his surroundings. Spotting Overhaul's transport only a short distance away with his handgun just out of his reach.

"Please continue to watch over my men..." Kai requested as he shakily rose to his feet.

"Sir, please! I implore you to stay put!" Fuku responded with frustration. "If you get severely injured again so soon, my quirk's secondary feature could affect you! Forcing you into a hibernation state!"

"No matter...I have a job to do...despite the cost..." was all Kai said as he began to run as fast as he could, his gun retrieved in one hand, towards the transport.

"SIR, PLEASE!" Fuku called out before another SWAT officer sprinted up to her.

"MA'AM, PLEASE! WE NEED YOUR HELP! CAPTAIN TANAKA'S BEEN HURT BADLY!" The man pleaded with a ragged breath. Fuku bit her lip, angry with the stubborn old man, but acquiesced to the younger man's plea.

"Please show me!"

As Kai sprinted on, he managed to see the vicious battle between the villain from earlier and Gang Orca. The Phoenix King lookalike's armor was heavily dented in several areas, with streams of blood running from some of the joints. Gang Orca, however, was also looking worse for wear, with several large bloody gashes visible upon his flesh. His body shook from what was likely the result of withstanding several constant shocks from the villain's power. As much as he would have liked to join the fray, it was better in his mind to use the distraction to foil the villain's rescue plans.

Kai arrived at the entrance of Overhaul's transport, finding no signs of forced entry.

'Good! He's still inside!' Kai breathed relief as he pulled out one of the keys needed to open the transport door. Unfortunately for him, he didn't know that Gang Orca considered him a suspect in the sabotage of his truck.

"WHAT YOU DOING!?" Gang Orca roared out, making the villain turn his head. "TRAITOR!"

Kai froze in disbelief at Gang Orca's accusation turning his head to see both villain and hero staring down at him with the door open and his gun in hand. While Gang Orca had the wrong idea, Kai could see the villain's eyes grow wide from the narrow slits of his helm and acted in an instant.

"NO!" The villain bellowed out as he let out a powerful yet unfocused burst of electrical energy, shooting it everywhere and striking him and Gang Orca. The whaleman, who had already been heavily injured, dropped unconscious, unable to withstand the attack this time. On the other hand, Kai managed to brace himself for the pain but still slumped against the truck as he desperately tried to open the door and execute Overhaul.

The villain shook violently as if the amount of power he discharged had affected, too. Still, he managed to make his way toward Kai.

"I...thank you...for making my job...easier..." The Villain managed to say between breaths, body twitching as he hastened his step. The Chief Superintendent tried hard to raise his revolver, but his nerves were too frayed from the shock. His old body cried out for respite.

"Surrender!" Kai ordered out as his hand reached for a fragmentation grenade that should have been in a nearby hidden compartment of the truck. In the worst-case scenario, he could quickly drop it with himself inside and let nature take its course. All he needed was a few seconds.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that...I cannot afford to lose here...Now get out of my way!"

Kai growled at the villain's words as his hands found one of the grenades and readied to pull to the pin. "BULLSHIT! Then why attack us?! Why free this damn monster?!"

"I have my reasons to use that monster before I dispose of him myself. However, you're still in my way, and my time grows short." The Villain retorted as sirens and helicopters could be heard in the distance.

"Now, you've put up a valiant effort, and for that, I commend you. However, this is not a request," he was just a step away now. "No, this is my decree as the new Phoenix King!"

'I knew it...then what does this mean?!' He could feel the pin around his thumb. 'Has my past really come back to haunt me?!'

The Phoenix King's clawed hand wrapped around Kai's throat and slowly lifted him up from his spot; the villain's free hand swiped the grenade and gun out of his hands. Though dazed, Kai could feel his legs and feet dangle as his foe held him upward. His helmet slipped off as the clawed hand broke the chin straps.

"Well...I suppose I have no choice," the lookalike held up a clawed hand to Kai's face.

"Sometimes bloodshed is needed for the sake...of," However, he slowly lowered it. "...Progress?"

Kai didn't know what his opponent was trying to do, given how easy it would have been to kill him right then and there. Yet, death did not come, and suddenly he felt the clawed hand around his throat loosen ever so slightly. Kai looked down and could the man's eyes through the narrow slits of his helm again; those bright golden eyes were as wide as saucers. It allowed Kai just enough time to take a deep breath and regain some focus taking advantage of the opportunity.

Kai managed to kick off his chest hard, making the Phoenix King stumble back and land against hard the ground.

"Damn it!"

Wasting no time and adrenaline pumping through his veins, Kai reached for his dropped gun and raised it up.

BANG!

"ARGH!" The Phoenix King screamed out as the heavy bullet managed to punch through the villain's dented armor like butter, nailing the villain around the lower right side of the abdomen. Forcing him to his knees as he clutched his side in pain. Kai could feel the pain and ringing going through his head.

Yet despite it, Kai knew he still had a job to do.

'Five shots...' he remembered keeping count of his gun's rounds. 'That leaves with only one left...'

The veteran officer knew that he had to make the last bullet count instead of using it on the villain. He also knew that Overhaul's time limit for his quirk suppressants could wear off during recovery. Meaning there was still a chance he could escape, even if he took down the lookalike Phoenix King now.

'Remember...the child; he'll go after her again...after...Izuku...and Inko...can't...won't...allow that!'

With that knowledge and only one bullet left. Kai forced himself up and opened the door, finding Overhaul's still unconscious body strapped to his bed frame. Using every last bit of strength and willpower within him. Kai raised the gun towards his true target, having a clean shot that years of experience would assure that his aim would be true.

"NO!"

BANG!

Kai smiled as his strength finally left him, letting the smoking gun slip out of his now limp hand as his body collapsed. Kai's vision slowly faded into black, ears ringing thanks to the shot. His thoughts turned to his wife Saya and his many regrets in life, yet there was still a ghost of a smile as one last thought ran through his mind before everything went dark.

'I...kept...my...promise...'


Breakfast had been a quiet, awkward affair for Izuku and his family. Especially since they did everything they could to keep the news from Eri for the time being. Still, Izuku knew it was wrong to keep it from her after everything they had done to earn her trust. Yet, he also knew that keeping Overhaul's escape a secret for long could traumatize her.

Of course, he didn't know how to begin explaining that her tormentor was out there. Free to once again hunt her down. However, with All Might's plan already in the works, Izuku knew that time was limited. As Izuku sat quietly on his bed, All Might slipped in, having finished speaking to Inko.

"Your mother is about to inform young Uraraka and Eri about the plan," said All Might, locking the door to Izuku's bedroom. All Might powered down into his true form, allowing him to breathe easier and keep a tab on his three-hour time limit. Sighing with relief, Toshinori took Izuku's desk chair, settling in for their long-awaited conversation.

"Hell of a way for the holiday to end, huh?" Toshinori started with a dry chuckle that ended with a short cough.

"Yeah..." Izuku sighed as he raised his knees up to himself.

He was still deep in thought about everything he wanted to say to the man.

"So let's try to make this quick," Toshinori continued. "You need to start packing if we mean to finish everything by tomorrow."

"About that, All Might..." Izuku couldn't help but blink. "Are you sure it's okay? I mean, it's such short notice!"

"Yes, young Midoriya," answered Toshinori as he resettled in his seat for a slightly better posture.

"While in captivity, Overhaul was recorded numerous times making threats towards you and young Uraraka specifically," he grimaced."With his freedom and the now genuine threat to your collective safety. Tsukauchi and I agreed that you all should be placed into protective custody."

Izuku wanted to protest, but no words came out.

His mentor was correct, given how things could go horribly wrong with their safety but the safety of their neighbors as well. Yakuza tended to act with more subtlety compared to most supervillains. Hell, Overhaul was a rare exception to the rule though the boy knew that might have been more due to his desperation at the USJ.

"You mentioned before to my mom that I'll still be attending school, so it's not like witness protection."

"No, this is a case of protective custody," the skinny man clarified. "You'll be living with a well-known Pro-Hero who has both the living space and substantial security. Ingenium is already preparing his home for you as we speak," he added while pulling up his phone to check the time.

"So we'll be living with Iida's family?"

"Indeed, just until we can find you a new, more secure home," Toshinori couldn't help but chuckle again. "With the money I have, it shouldn't be hard. However, I noted that given that young Eri will be attending the same Private School that was set up by Mrs. Todoroki and her daughter Fuyumi Iida."

He paused to pull up a picture of the school's founding. The school was a small two-story building, with only about a dozen students surrounding the staff. Izuku remembered reading about how the school was catered to teaching students who were related to Pro-Heroes so that they could avoid the public sphere.

"We figured that this would only help her get used to seeing them as figures to learn from once she starts attending school alone. Not to mention that from what I have gathered from your mother. Young Eri's already made a friend with young Iida's niece." Toshinori answered with a warm smile. He didn't mention that it also gave Tensei an excuse to speak with Inko to further the investigation's efforts.

Still, Izuku couldn't help but feel a touch of guilt about imposing on the Iida family, potentially putting them at risk.

"Young Midoriya."

Izuku looked back up at Toshinori, giving him a knowing glance.

"You are so much like your mother," the veteran pro said with a nod. "It was Ingenium himself who offered to open up his home to all you, he said, and I quote. "I was kind of a deadbeat when I interned with Draco Knight, so it's the least I could do!" "

Izuku couldn't help but laugh as Toshinori had made a relatively poor -albeit funny, impersonation of the man.

"Now that we got that out of the way, young Midoriya. You're not being a burden. If the shoe was on the other foot and you had the means, you and your mother would have done the same for them, no?"

Izuku nodded, of course, they would have opened their doors up, just like they had done for Eri. "Okay, then."

"Now, is there anything you wanted to talk about before I head out? There are quite a few things I need to take care of given everything that's happened, so if anything is pressing, you should tell me now."

Izuku hesitated since they were all going to be busy yet, with last night's dream still fresh in his mind. He wanted to get it out now, lest he forgets any crucial details.

"There is one thing, All Might," Izuku started turning to grab his notebook off his nightstand. "Twice now, I've had these strange dreams. The first time it happened was right after my fight with Overhaul, but I didn't think much of it at the time."

Izuku paused as he recalled his father's words.

"No, my son...the burden I'm talking about...was of my own follies in life...because I was a coward...and allowed good people to become lost. People I failed to save."

" But there is still hope...for those lost souls to be saved. Oh my dear son...those good people who have lost their way...because of me...I'm so selfish to ask this of you...but could you please save them?"

"But last night, I had a similar dream...about my dad...All Might," the notebook felt a bit heavy.

"A dream about my dad and that new villain that helped breakout Overhaul..." Izuku spoke up, making All Might turn to tilt his head slightly.

"There was someone else there too! A woman with a hairstyle that was a lot like mom's, only she was taller, well-built, I think she might have even been a Pro-Hero."

It was Toshinori's eyes that grew wide.

"Was she wearing a dark sleeveless bodysuit?"

"Yeah! With a white cape and yellow boots and gloves?" Izuku answered back.

"Nana Shimura..." Toshinori sighed, the shock almost overwhelming him. "She was the seventh holder of One For All, the one who chose me. You had the dream about her?"

"As I said, this wasn't the first time," Izuku admitted. "But this time, I actually had direct interaction with her. This time, my father appeared, asking me -no pleading for me to fix his mistakes. Then...He appeared, that new villain showed up in my dad's place, only with he wearing black armor and he came after me...with a furious look in his eyes."

"I believe I had similar dreams before of previous users of One For All. But they never saw images of my family or my foes; be they past, present, or future." was all Toshinori could say.

"While I believe the dreams are a part of the quirk's integration into your system and fusing with your original quirk..." the skeletal pro held his chin in thought.

"What could rest mean?" Izuku questioned, hoping for more answers.

"I'm not sure, to be honest, I'm sorry that don't I have any real answers to give other than speculation. However, I could have Gran Torino call you and see if he knows anything." Toshinori answered. However, he noted that this might be something to check out for the investigation. 'Could Nezu look into Draco Knight's old records and find something?'

Izuku couldn't help but sighed, disappointed with the lack of a more detailed answer.

"Chin up, young Midoriya," Toshinori reassured his young apprentice.

"Focus on what you can do, and leave the things you can't do to us, alright? Besides, you still have the Sports Festival to look forward to!" He gave Izuku a hearty pat on the back. "So I hope you've kept up with your training and not just smooching with pretty lass next door."

"Al-All Might!" Izuku exclaimed, hiding his face with his hands as Toshinori laughed before pausing as he remembered. He needed some last-minute details to warn Izuku regarding some of the new challenges he could encounter when he returned to school.

"Actually, there is one last thing I would like to mention, young Midoriya, regarding UA," Toshinori followed up. His voice became firm which caught Izuku's attention.

"There are a few things regarding UA that will be important for you to know about: First, we will have young Eri attend school with you again. Her new school still needs a few security adjustments made to ensure her safety. So I'll have Tsukauchi drop off a new pass for her so you can avoid using the guest office again."

"That's good, I think Eri would like to see everyone again, and I think everyone back in class would have to see the progress she's made thanks to them," said Izuku with a fond smile. Eri was now a brighter, happier child than when she first went to UA.

"However, my biggest concern is regarding some disturbing rumors that have been discovered by the faculty. Namely, since your secret is out," Toshinori followed up in a much more somber tone.

"There are those who want to see you removed from school," he could almost see Izuku's heart sink.

As much as Toshinori wanted to give Izuku names: namely the Class 1-B Vice president Shino Mizuoji who was suspected of leading the crusade against him. Denki Kaminari and Ryu Kasei were also suspected for different reasons. The faculty had no hard proof to use to make a move on any of them. All he could do was at least give Izuku the idea to be on guard.

"It's rather sad..."

Toshinori looked at Izuku in surprise and clearly saw that he was deep in thought, but he didn't seem angry or bitter.

"Given the lies, they grew up with, I think I could understand their fears. Even I was starting to fear my own power after my fight with Overhaul..." Izuku admitted remembering his private conversation with Katsuki after he had returned from the hospital.

"But that's not their fault. The people don't know that they have lied too, and it's up to me to show them wrong," Izuku responded confidently. "But I'm not alone. I have my friends and family, and I even have you, All Might! You are all behind me, supporting me. If I ever want to be the next Symbol of Peace, this is just another obstacle I need to face."

'This boy...' Toshinori felt proud of his young successor, looking at the medal on Izuku's wall. 'You and your wife raised a fine young man Draco Knight. I swear I'll work even harder to get you the justice you deserve.'

"Good lad, come on, let's not keep the ladies waiting."


Sunday

Himiko Toga felt really uncomfortable with her current situation.

Between nausea that was now a side-effect of her quirk in place of the bloodlust, she used to have and having to contend with having several people staring daggers at her. Or, more accurately, the form she was forced to take to make up for her brother's failure. Tomura had proven wise to gather blood from Overhaul before the attempted breakout just in case. Still, it also meant that The Pale Prince's position had been restored from his failure at the USJ.

"Stand up straight and show respect, Chisaski," her brother chided, pulling hard on her binds as they made their way towards the chamber's center.

They were surrounded by the top brass of the Southern and the Eastern the center of the chamber were two older gentlemen: One was a large muscle-bound man, bald and had several prominent scars that marked his ancient face, but his golden eyes still held a vigor and vitality to them. The second man was a short, portly man sporting a comb-over of long thin brown hair. He was nervous looking compared to his far more elderly companion.

The chamber was dimly lit, one of the many security measures against those who might betray them if one of their numbers tried to record a secret and vital ceremony among these Yakuza.*** The two stopped once they were about a yard away from the two bosses sat. The ancient man Himiko knew was known as The Azure Dragon King of East, raised his right arm marking the start of the ceremony. It was a bit awkward given that her brother's appearance was hidden away in a different yet similar suit of armor that he wore in yesterday's battle. But the bosses had been informed ahead of time why, even on the day of his official coronation.

The new Phoenix King's identity had to remain a secret from the rest.

"I've waited for this day for a very long time, my boy," The Dragon King spoke up with a deep bass voice as he motioned for a small group of men to set up a small table in front of them.

"From the day I made the alliance with the South with your other Great-Grandsire to the day I learned you survived Hotori's wrath. I knew you would make it to take your rightful place with us after your time in Hell."

"You honor me, my Lord Great-Grandfather," answered the Broken Prince calmly with a polite bow.

The Dragon King smiled, revealing a shiny row of pointed golden teeth.

"I am here to claim what is rightfully mine."

The short man who Himiko knew was the long-time acting boss of the South spoke up.

"L-li-like we agreed," the man began to say with a nervous stammer, even having to wipe his brow as he spoke.

"You have kept your word, and I can speak for my fellow brothers," he added, motioning to the row of older gentlemen sitting to Himiko's left and the man's right. "And that we accept you as our boss and name you: The Phoenix King of the South, as per pact agreed to by your grandsire and your sire before you. Kept by your great-grandsire, The Dragon King of the East "

As he finished up, the men from earlier finished setting up a small table in front of Himiko and her brother. In the center of the small table was a small white cup with a bright red kanji for South filled with crystal clear saké.

"With this drink, we invite you into our fold, back into the arms of your family proper."

Himiko watched her brother nod and motioned to take the cup. However, it seemed like the Dragon King still had something to say as he raised his hand to stop the Broken Prince.

"Today!" The Dragon King called out, addressing everyone in the room and making The Broken Prince freeze. "The prodigal son returns from the depths of Hell, trained by the Emperor of Darkness himself! And now his training with the old Master has come to an end."

As those words rang out into the depths of the chamber. There was chill, particularly among the older generation who knew of the time when All For One reigned supreme, and a few of the young bosses muttered in hushed voices. Though Himiko was still able to pick up on bits and pieces here and there.

They weren't happy with this interloper gaining so much power over them.

"He bears a gift, a long-standing prize with the liberation of Kai Chisaki acting boss of the Eight Precepts of Death," The man said with a brassy laugh.

"I'm sorry, sister," She heard her brother whisper before, tugging hard her on binds and throwing the disguised Himiko down to the ground.

"Long since a thorn at our side, with Chisaski under our control, his assets via the shell companies under him will be taken in due time."

There was a rumbling of agreement and some cheers as they knew this only meant one thing: Money was about to head their way.

"With proof of alliance secure with your coronation, my dear great-grandson...I believe it is also time for my fold to change as well."

Himiko could almost feel her brother shake, suppressing a gasp.

"With a prosperous time heading our way, I invite you to now be my heir and succeed my place as Boss of the East."

To Himiko's right, the leadership of Dragons didn't seem open to this sudden change in plans compared to the Phoenixes. The Dragon King, however, continued despite the tension that was growing. He clapped his hands and motioned for the men from earlier to come again.

"Honorable Great-Grandfather...Perhaps we..." Her brother tried to intervene, but he knew the decision was out of his hands. If he rejected the offer now, all his plans could go straight to the trash.

"Today, we crown not just the new Phoenix King of the South, but also crown the new Dragon King of the East."

Soon they placed a second sake-filled cup with the Kanji for East shaded in a dark blue hue and placed alongside the first. Himiko felt him shake, but she knew the die had been cast. Himiko flinched as she could feel a few of the younger bosses of the Dragons were burning with hatred now. A row of bright yellow eyes narrowed, teeth grinding, some itching to lay down a challenge. No doubt her brother could feel it as well, but he didn't pay them any mind. He would deal with them all in due time.

The Broken Prince stared at the two cups, knowing once he partook of those drinks, The Underworld would forever change. Finally, the young warlord stepped forth, exposing his mouth by undoing a cleverly built-in latch in his helm. Taking both cups of clear alcohol with one hand and downed both shots at the same time, in doing so, he shed the title of the Broken Prince.

From here onwards he was now the Phoenix-Dragon King.

The elder bosses laughed, impressed by the small feat. The younger ones, however, remained silent, stewing in their anger.

"As agreed on, you will continue business as usual," the newly crowned Phoenix-Dragon King decreed as he closed the latch of his helm. "Once my work with The Emperor is completed, I will take on my role proper to lead us into the future."

Himiko saw one of the younger dragons motion to rise up. However, he stopped when he watched both the former bosses bow their heads to their new leader.

"Of course, Boss." The two old men said in unison, with this action, Himiko knew Yakuza pride would silence any point of rebellion for the time being. How long this fragile peace will last was another question, however. One that needed to be answered quickly lest her brother be surrounded by enemies.

"Now, we have a busy day ahead of us. I require a private room with Chisaki," he continued grabbing Himiko's binds and lifting her up from the ground.

"We need to...discuss how his territory will be..." he turned to look at everyone still sitting, "divided to those who can earn big and maintain loyalty."

The former Dragon King snapped his fingers, and a couple of maids in flowing blue robes appeared from the corner. They stopped to bow to their new leader before turning to guide them to a nearby sitting room.

"You may start the festivities in the other room without me, Great-Grandfather."

The former Dragon King nodded and motioned everyone to leave the main chamber silently as the two were escorted elsewhere.

"Here you are, Master," said the maid as she opened a large set of traditional Japanese double doors decorated with a large red bird and the Kanji for South beneath it, revealing a cozy sitting room. "Please, if you need anything. You can use that remote there," she added, pointing at the tiny black remote in the center of the table next to the regular TV remote. "Push the blue button, and we will be there when needed."

"Thank you, you are dismissed."

The maid bowed before making her exit and closed the doors behind them. The two waited a few minutes to make sure they had been left alone. Once they were sure they had privacy, the newly made Phoenix-Dragon King finally gasped out. He started leaning against the wall as his whole body trembled with anxiety.

"Goddamn it...what...was...that...old...man...thinking?!" He said furiously between breaths and gritted his teeth as his voice returned to normal. "The old Bastard just made me a huge target for the two other kings and his old shit-heel lackeys! And I still have Tomura and the Master to deal with, damn it!"

Himiko, however, took a seat as she was relieved to sit.

It had been a struggle to walk properly in her tight binds as they were large, heavy, and very itchy. However, she knew that they were still in dangerous territory and had her role to play. Once her brother recovered. He took a seat beside her and placed his hands together to collect his thoughts.

"Please forgive me, Himi," she heard him say with an exhausted sigh. Himiko turned to her brother's blank metal face.

While she couldn't see his real face, she knew that he was sincere with his tone. He was the only sibling she could trust, given her dispositions to Tomura and Mimicry. Once upon a time. The two hated each other much the same way; they hated all of their other siblings, past and present. Yet, something had changed with this particular brother a few years ago, a change that allowed Himiko to trust in him in ways she might have not before.

"If I hadn't screwed up, we wouldn't have to use you like this."

Himiko swallowed hard as her current form allowed her to speak, but it did not make it any less painful.

"We have our jobs..." She managed to say as a chill ran down her spine. Speaking with the voice of another always seemed to haunt her now.

"Indeed, just a little while longer, sister...and I'll make sure that you're finally free. Once Tomura, Mimicry, Garaki, and the Master are dead," he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Once I destroy every bit of Doctor Garaki's research and every goddamn Noumu out there..." She felt and saw her brother's hands shake with anger while every word he spoke filled with wrath and bitterness. "When I'm able to declare myself as Emperor...I swear the first thing I'll do is get set you up. Whatever you wish...if I can make it happen, I'll make sure you get it."

He gently took his hand off her and started tapping his fingers together nervously, still deep in contemplation.

'Whatever I wish?' Himiko pondered his words, remembering the last time she had one wish and the price she paid to fulfill it.

One single wish.

'I wanted to be normal.'

She remembered wishing time and time again once upon a time. On the days when her family looked at her with disgust on their faces, during the times she would appear before them covered head to toe in blood.

'I don't want to hurt things. I don't like hurting things.' She remembered begging with tears in her eyes.

She couldn't help it; the scent of blood always created a powerful and intoxicating urge to quench a thirst brought upon by her quirk. A thirst was so intense it almost compelled her to seek out prey. It had started with tiny creatures that had the misfortune of crossing her path, but they were small enough to hide, and if she was careful, easy to not make a mess. However, she knew she had started going too far when she started hurting people.

'I want to be normal,' she had prayed time and time again while her family argued and fought over what was to be done. Even if it meant her being quirkless. She continued to pray, every day and every night for many years.

'I want to be normal so that my family will love me. I want to be normal, so I can just live like a normal girl...'

Himiko's disguised face turned dark as she remembered when that wish was made true, not knowing the cost it would bring upon her...and her family.

"We're sending you away to a…special hospital...sweetie..." She recalled her mother's words the day they came for her.

"Right! Heheh...you'll see Princess, the doctor here will help you make new friends and help you with your quirk!" Her father had followed up.

They didn't tell her the truth; they didn't tell her that she had actually been sold away. It was much easier to start fresh than deal with a golden-eyed blood-crazed freak. The first payment for her wish coming true was being given a brand new family. And at first, she was happy at the news since she had never had siblings before.

"They are a lot like you, my dear..." She remembered what the Doctor said to her when she arrived at the site. "They are special kids destined for great things!"

"But that's not normal!" She remembered answering. "I don' wanna be special!"

"Ah, but my dear, if you're not special...then Master might not be able to cure you! As the Master can only cure very special people indeed! And your parents told me that you were quite special indeed! Look how much they've done so you could see the Master who makes you even better than you were before!"

Himiko remembered when she heard those words: She thought her prayers had been answered.

The promise that a cure for her condition could be found. A promise for a chance to be normal. It seemed like The Master had heard her prayers and had sent his angel to collect her, only to tell her that she could be even greater than normal; maybe she could have even been a Pro-Hero! Surely that would change the way her parents looked at her, right?

Right?

However, the truth was that when it came to dealings with the Master: Nothing was free, and payments were ironically due in blood. From the blood of her targets; to the blood of her new siblings; to even samples of her own blood. With the payments made; her treatments began, though she did not suffer alone. All of them had been altered. All of them had shared that pain.

Himiko looked up to her silent brother.

'My wish...I just want to find happiness...I want to meet someone who can make me happy. I want someone who could make me smile.'

She briefly thought of the blond boy who made her laugh when she watched one of Camie's live streams.

However, her thoughts soon turned back to her brother. She wanted for her wish to apply to him as well. He may have been the cause of her fall from grace when she was defeated by his hand. But he had also used their Master's boon to spare her life. Her loyalty was to him, and at least, there must be something she could give him that could make his life a little easier.

"Brother?"

The Phoenix-Dragon King hummed as he turned his head to face her.

"I do have some good news for you."

She watched his interest peak, leaning forward towards her, motioning her to continue.

"The new guy Tomura's been using to babysit me. He's in league with the Heroes."

"Hehehe...hahahahahaha!" She watched as her brother threw his head back and laughed hard.

"Are you sure about this information?" He asked once he was finished, though his voice indicated being in a better mood.

"Positive, he was clever. Drugging me after I came back from my missions to interview me and take some DNA samples...but I found his laptop and used some tricks Mimicry taught me."

"Interesting...Good work...just keep this information away from Tomura," he answered as he began thinking of ways to use this critical information. "Having a wild-card like that could be incredibly handy for when I make my final move. Oh...Tomura, you may have won this time, but you done fucked up here...heheh."

Now that he was in a much better mood, Himiko resolved to ask him about this wish.

"Brother...if you had a wish...what would it be?"

"To be quirkless would be my most honest answer," he answered without skipping a beat. "Or, more accurately, to never have been born into this life period. Otherwise... a more realistic wish? To ensure that no one ever goes through what we did ever again."

Himiko looked away as she was reminded of the critical difference between them.

While she, Tomura, and Mimicry were all brought in from the ordinary world and brought into the Underworld. He was their exact opposite, he was literally born into this life and had known nothing but the shadows. He had been bred, trained, and raised to take the mantle that he now had. A mantle held by his blood relatives for generations.

A mantle that had been paid for in an ocean of blood.


In the city of Shiki, just shy of the Tōkyō area, there was a bus that rolled down the streets, heading to its next stop. Inside it was Eijirou Kirishima and Mina Ashido; the former sat in silence, nervous about this sudden meeting that the latter had set up for him.

"Are you sure about this, Ashido?" Eijirou questioned as he exited the bus with Mina into the suburbs. "I mean, what if he's busy? I heard Sundays are important to Americans!"

"Relax, Kiri! It's not like we're here to ask him for homework help!" Mina reassured the redhead with a pat on his shoulder, "besides, he knows we're coming! Now come on! We're not that far from his house!"

Eijirou sighed as he nervously followed Mina's lead.

It was something that he only confided in her, and that's only because she noticed during their celebration of Katsuki's birthday, and it wasn't manly to lie. Ever since Eijirou learned that Alex had been stripped of the chance to be a Pro-Hero. The redhead had been rattled with guilt. Reliving the event repeatedly in his nightmares, crippling self-doubts and depression had started to settle in Eijirou. He even started having thoughts of dropping out of school.

'Everyone had done something to show that they're here for the right reason, except me because it came down for me to act...I ran away, and now a real hero is being forced to leave, and a coward like me gets to stay at UA? It's not right...' He thought to himself as they got closer to their final destination. 'A hero fights against that kind of injustice...and yet I couldn't do anything about it.'

"I think this is the right place…." Mina wondered aloud as she doubled check the directions on her phone.

The house was a modest two-story with a built-in garage and a bright red sports car parked in the driveway. The front yard was small but tidy, yet what Mina failed to notice, which should have tipped her off that she was in the right place, was a large US flag that clearly hung over the door.

"Are you sure this is the right place, Ashido?" Eijirou asked, also overlooking the apparent clue that was literally hanging over their heads.

"Uh…Yep!" Mina chirped as she grabbed the boy's arm. "Come on! Let's go!"

"Whoa!"

As the two stumbled toward the door, they rang the doorbell and waited. It took a couple of minutes and a couple more rings of the bell before they finally heard the door unlock and open up. The door opened to reveal Alex's cousin, Lucy wearing a set of dark blue pajamas with cute cartoon dogs patterned on them.

"Oh!" She squeaked upon seeing the two. "Umm...Ashido and Kirishima, right?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Mina greeted her while Eijirou gave her a small nervous wave of his hand.

"It's nice to see you guys again! Though we weren't expecting you until a little later..." Lucy added, checking the time on her phone. "Oh shit, it's nearly noon!?"

"Oh! Umm...we could come back later!" Eijirou piped up, looking for an excuse to delay the inevitable.

"Nah, it's alright since you're already here!" Lucy declined with a yawn, not seeing the point of having them return later. "Alex is in his room upstairs studying, but knowing him, he probably could use a break about now."

Lucy opened the door to invite them in, "come on in and make yourselves at home!"

"Are you sure?" Eijirou asked while Mina dragged him in as they entered the house.

They found themselves in a bright and colorfully decorated living room that screamed American to the two Japanese heroes-in-training. From posters of American landscapes, star-spangled Pro-Heroes, country and metal music bands, and even a few realistic replicas of firearms dotted the walls.

There were also several pictures of Lucy and Alex, seemingly before and after they arrived in the Land of the Rising Sun.

"Of course!" Lucy answered as she parted some of her loose sandy hair out of her face and pulled it into a tight bun with a scrunchy she pulled from her pocket.

"Take a seat while I let Alex know you're here," She said before going up the nearby stairs.

"Okay!" Mina said excitedly as she grew fascinated with how different the house felt compared to her friends' homes.

"Whoa..." Eijirou breathed out as if they had ventured into a foreign land.

"Looks like Ms. Barton's been around places..." His eyes wandered to several pictures of Lucy and occasionally a younger, chubbier version of Alex with what appeared to be friends and or family from all around the world.

"I've always thought about traveling around for a bit after finishing school," Mina commented. "But that might be hard for a debuting hero, right?"

"Kind of...Didn't, All Might go to America after he finished UA? Maybe traveling might do you some good, ya know?" Eijirou answered as he now looked over the posters of American Pro-Heroes. Unfortunately, their names were in English, so Eijirou couldn't read them, but found them interesting nonetheless.

"He's good to go, guys," called out Lucy as she returned downstairs.

"Actually, Ms. Barton, it's Kiri that needs to talk with him in private, not me," said Mina giving Eijirou a slight push forward. "I was actually kind of hoping to talk with you about all of the traveling you've done. I'm actually kind of interested in going abroad when I finish school!"

Eijirou didn't have much chance to respond, though he was surprised that Mina wanted to give him privacy for this meeting. Still, he wasn't sure if he would have the courage to face him alone now.

"Oh!" Lucy exclaimed with some surprise. "Sure! Kirishima, do you want a drink before you go upstairs? Water, juice, tea, soda?"

"I'll take a water, please," Eijirou answered awkwardly, looking at Mina as Lucy made her way past them and into the kitchen next to them.

"Ashido, you're not coming with me?" Eijirou whispered.

"Well...Kiri...this is your chance!" Mina whispered back, knowing he felt guilty about Alex's current situation. Yet, she also knew that Eijirou had to do this alone. Eijirou was the type with a sense of pride that screamed that he needed to do this solo. But she would be there when he was done. "Just please don't lock yourself away..."

"Here's your water, Kirishima," said Lucy. reappearing with a couple of bottles of water, handing one each to Eijirou and Mina. "Alex's bedroom is the one on the left. I left the door open, so it should be easy to spot."

"Y-yeah, t-thanks!" Said Eijirou as he began making his way upstairs while Mina took over speaking with Lucy about her travels.

His legs felt like lead with every step he took as the guilt weighed heavily against him. He almost felt winded when he made it to the top, finding a rather plain hallway, and made his way to the left, seeing the ajar door that Lucy spoke about.

'Come on...' Eijirou mentally pleaded with his legs as they began to shake lightly, 'Just a few more steps...'

He paused to take a quick swig of his water bottle and forced himself to continue. Once he arrived, he gently knocked on the door, not wanting to just barge in because it was slightly open.

"Come in!" He heard Alex's voice call out.

Eijirou pushed the door and entered. Alex's room was moderately-sized, though he could see signs that many of his decorations had already been taken down. There were a couple of taped-up cardboard boxes in the corner of the room. Alex was seated at a nice-looking wooden desk with his laptop in front and a handful of files and binders to his left, directly in Eijirou's line of sight.

Today the young American wore a simple gray T-shirt, shorts, and colorful All Might-themed socks.

"Ah, Kirishima!" Alex exclaimed happily as he turned to face him, still seated in his chair. "Is it just you? Lucy told me that Ashido had come too."

"She's downstairs," Eijirou answered shyly. "Wanted to learn more about traveling abroad one day."

"Ah, well, that's fine! So you needed to talk with me?" Alex followed up as he rose from his chair and offered it to Eijirou.

"Come and sit down, take a load off," When the boy was seated, he saw Alex close his laptop and place the loose files inside the binder with the letters Mithril. Arched over an emblem of the world in the middle of a shield with two hands holding a torch together.

"I've been busy studying my ass off for my move, but I won't complain when I have good company around. So..." Alex took a seat on his bed and looked at Eijirou as he continued. "How can I help ya?"

The redhead shifted uncomfortably in his seat and was unsure where or how to even begin this conversation. He hadn't expected Mina to have stepped in–no, that wasn't true. He knew Mina was the kind of person to step in when someone was in trouble. Just like she had done before when she showed just how amazing she was without even realizing it.

While to Eijirou himself, he was just a coward by comparison; looking for a way out rather than facing his fears.

'I broke my promise...I'm no man...just a kid playing pretend...'

Alex observed in silence, watching the boy's body language. From his face to the way he moved his eyes, he could see that Eijirou looked lost as he tried to collect his thoughts and speak his mind. If there was one true talent Alex could admit to was being a people person. Though he wasn't sure if it was due to his American upbringing and the culture clash with the Japanese. Or simply his experience with encountering all kinds of people from all over the world. Regardless, Alex could still tell that Eijirou was the kind of boy who wore his heart on his sleeve.

Which made him all the easier to read.

'Guilt,' Alex thought the more he read the boy, but then it clicked. 'Ah...so that's it. Oh boy...Kirishima, you ball of sunshine. You have a lot to learn.'

The young American allowed Eijirou to take his time, knowing that forcing the subject on someone with his personality might only make things worse. Finally, as if the dam started to crack, Eijirou looked away from his former senior.

"I'm sorry." He managed to croak out as tears started to pour down his cheeks. "I'm sorry for being such a coward for leaving you behind when I should have stayed and fought, and now you have to leave. When you did nothing wrong!"

Alex folded his arms and hummed as a sad smile formed on his face.

'Survivor's guilt, in hindsight, I should've seen this coming. Hound Dog mentioned that some of the juniors should have gotten more counseling, and now I can see that he wasn't wrong. Damn it...I still have a lot to learn myself.'

Alex leaned forward, placing himself in front of Eijirou.

"Hey, Kirishima? Mind looking at me in the face, please? I'd rather speak with you not as junior to senior," he placed a gentle hand on the redhead's shoulder. "But just as one man to another."

"…I'm not a man...just a kid playing pretend," Eijirou answered his face down.

"Says who?" Alex retorted with a look of disbelief. "Give me names; I'll go fuck 'em up."

"A man shouldn't go back on a promise, and I broke mine when I left you behind," Eijirou retorted, unfazed by Alex's comment. The American, however, knew he had to be more careful with his approach. He would have preferred referring the lad to Hound Dog, an actual professional. Unfortunately, he also knew Eijirou could only get what he needed from him, not Hound Dog.

"What promise was that, Kirishima?" Alex asked as his opening to this emotional puzzle Eijirou was stuck in.

"A promise I made after...after I saw the most amazing person do something so damn brave while I just stood there and did nothing..." Eijirou breathed, unable to say it had been Mina who had been such a powerful motivator for him. "I wanted to act, but I had been so scared then...that I swore to make myself into a newer, stronger person...into a real man."

"And how did you do that?"

"I changed everything I could about the old me, the weak me," the boy brought a hand to his hair. "I even changed my whole look to model myself those who inspired me: like Crimson Riot and..."

Eijirou stopped himself before saying Mina's name.

"Damn, Crimson Riot is old school," Alex commented, scratching his chin. He had researched some of the Japanese Pro-Heroes that shaped the Japanese hero scene throughout the years, but that left one question.

"Wait..." Alex spoke up as he leaned in a little closer, looking intently now at Eijirou's hair. He only now spotted some faint, but visibly stray black hair roots in the front of his hair. "So you're not a natural redhead, huh? You dyed your hair to make yourself look more like Crimson Riot."

"Aww...man!" Eijirou groaned with embarrassment, moving his right hand to cover those roots.

"Yeah, I got the idea to dye my hair to look more like him," he began to rub the back of his head with his left hand. "I even want my Hero name to be Red Riot because the guy was really manly!"

'Yet...Crimson Riot didn't have hair like that,' Alex observed, noting the rather prominent styling of the boy's hair wasn't like Crimson Riot's three smooth pointed spikes.

'His hair is messier...with only two smaller...horns...wait a sec...' Alex's smile turned into a cheeky grin as he remembered who came with the redhead for this trip. 'Oooooh, la la la! I see...Ashido...heheheh...ah! I know what gotta do now.'

"You said that you broke your promise that you made to yourself when you quote 'left me behind,' right?" Said Alex making quotation signs with his fingers.

Eijirou nodded, "if you hadn't fought that blade guy alone, you might not have gotten hurt and might have not been stripped of your license..."

'Dude has a lot of self-doubts...not unlike myself when I was younger. Oh shit, what am I talking about? I still got a lot of self-doubts. Still, he's wrong...he just needs to be reminded of the facts.'

"Kirishima...my memory is still a little foggy," said Alex feinting a slight headache as he rubbed the front of his forehead.

"Remind me for a moment, but given the circumstances back in the Downpour Zone. You were the only one who was still able to fight, right? Ashido's acid couldn't work in the heavy rain; Kendou almost had a good chunk of her hand sliced off, bleeding like hell, and in the case of Tetsutetsu. I know for a fact his iron form could suffer from corrosion. That made you the only one completely combat capable, right?"

"Yeah..." Eijirou answered as he wiped some of the tears from his eyes. "But that meant I could have helped you! Instead, I left like a coward when I should have stayed...regardless of what you told me to do!"

"Yes, Kirishima, I told you to leave for a reason," Alex answered. "Aside from your safety, did you know I had another reason for wanting you to leave?

Eijirou paused only to look confused by the response given. "No?"

Alex sighed, "let's start with a simple preface. Even with your help...I doubt we could have defeated Pit Viper."

"But!" Eijirou tried to interrupt, but Alex swiftly cut him off.

"Let me finish," Alex said calmly but firmly.

"Hindsight is a tricky thing. Only after the event can we actually say how we could have done something different or better. However, snap judgments have to be made in the heat of the moment. And we deal with the consequences of those decisions regardless of what we can see in hindsight: be they good, bad, or otherwise."

Alex paused as he remembered his own fears.

"I won't lie. There was a very brief moment before I had you leave when I considered having you stay with me. However, Pit Viper proved to be one tough customer, as expected from an A-rank villain and assassin. If I'm being one-hundred percent honest, between his skill and the conditions of the Downpour Zone, that put me at a huge disadvantage. Kirishima...I'm sorry, but frankly, given your lack of experience at the time. You might have only gotten in my way, and because of this, I know I made the right choice."

Eijirou shook his head, almost deflating. However, Alex wasn't done.

"Do you know how I know that I made the right choice?"

Eijirou looked up with a look of confusion.

"There was a critical reason why I made you leave. An important reason why you had to leave with the rest of the group, that you are now ironically, not seeing in hindsight."

"What do you mean?"

"First, a correction, you are no coward Eijirou Kirishima," Alex started off, looking at him dead in the eyes.

"I saw that you stood up to Pit Viper when he threatened Ashido. You're far from a coward, though you might need some work in building up your smarts," Alex chuckled lightly as he tapped his temple. "But I digress. The primary reason it was important for you to go was because that team needed someone to protect them."

"But all of the villains were already dead!" Eijirou shot back with a surprising amount of volume.

The American, however, didn't flinch at Eijirou's outburst, instead of to the redhead's surprise.

Alex only smiled warmly. "Remember what I said about hindsight?"

"Ah.."

"In hindsight, we can say that, but at the moment? We had no idea that was the case. Hell, to prove my point, none of us knew Poni was still in the Downpour Zone too."

Eijirou froze.

"I had no way of knowing if other villains were waiting for a chance to ambush you on your way back and with Pit Viper. An A-rank villain on our asses. I doubt I would have been much help in dealing with anyone else. My snap judgment at the moment was to distract Pit Viper and make sure you all got to safety as that was my responsibility."

"As much as I wanted to lead you to safety and keep you guys safe. I knew I had to rely on someone else to keep the rest of you safe for me. I had you: Eijirou Kirishima," Alex declared firmly without a single hint of a lie.

"I knew if I sent you with them, you could have handled it. I've seen you in action firsthand, Kirishima. You got some improvements to make, but I saw you have an incredible amount of willpower and strength hidden within you. It's bursting to come out, so I knew that I could leave the team in your hands." He gave the redhead a pat on the shoulder. "You could be a strong and firm bulwark that would protect his charges."

Eijirou shook his head, trying to deny what he was hearing, but Alex would not allow it.

"Furthermore, what kind of coward comes back? You came back just in the nick of time. If you and Ashido hadn't returned to help Poni pull me out of there and get me to the medics in the nick of time," he let out a wry chuckle. "Forget brain dead I would just be plain dead, my friend!"

Alex placed both his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"You didn't leave me behind. You helped save my life, and therefore I still have a chance of being a Pro-Hero. Yeah, I had a setback for now, but I'm not out of the running just yet. So thank you...Eijirou Kirishima...Thank you...My Hero."

Eijirou was suddenly pulled into a giant hug as fresh tears poured down his face as Alex spoke those words. The words lifted a huge weight off of his shoulders and soothed the guilt that had eaten away at his resolve. All his doubts and worries disappeared as he accepted the truth and reasoning Alex had laid before him.

"It's alright, just let it out," Alex said reassuringly, "get it out of your system."

"But it-it's no-not manly to cry!" Eijirou bawled out happily.

"Anyone who says that shit can kiss my ass," Alex shot back with a laugh as he tightened the hug.

"Crying is healthy as long it's not in the middle of a critical situation," Alex gave the redhead a reassuring pat on the back. "It's okay to cry when you feel the world's weight on your shoulders crashing down on you. There is nothing to be ashamed about."

Alex let go of Eijirou but held onto his shoulders.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah...loads better."

"Good, I learned my lessons the hard way, so please remember this when I'm gone! You guys in 1-A and 1-B have so much potential, and while I'm a little sad, I won't be there to see it. I know you're going to be great heroes one day! I don't have a single doubt in my mind about that. So I better see some good progress from you and everyone else when I next see you, okay?"

Eijirou grinned.

"And you better come back as a big hotshot American Pro. You gotta set the example!"

"Well, damn! You aren't letting me off easy, eh?" Alex answered with a chuckle, knowing that his career trajectory was currently leading him to a brave new frontier. "Sounds like a fun challenge to me!"

"Damn right!"

Alex let go of his junior, got up from his bed, and moved to his desk. He purposely blocked Eijirou's view from seeing what his hands were doing.

"Hey Kirishima, I have a question for you." He asked to distract him as he now got to work with his regular routine.

"Yeah?"

"You mentioned that you had two people who greatly inspired you, right? Crimson Riot and Mina Ashido, right?"

"Yeah, they both..." Eijirou suddenly froze as a dash of red spread quickly on his face, double-taking as he realized what he had just said. "Wait...how did you know?! I never even mentioned her!"

"You did just now," Alex answered, turning around with a shit-eating grin. "You made it easy for me to make an educated guess, but...Your oh so casual answer only confirmed my suspicions. I'm willing to bet that she doesn't know why you dyed and styled your hair in that fashion, right?"

Alex finished up by pointing out his "horns" with one of his fingers.

"Damn..." Eijirou sighed, impressed by Alex's observational skills. "No, I don't think she knows..."

"She is amazing, though," Alex continued folding his arms and leaning against his desk. "Given it was her who set up this little meeting. Shows me that she has a Hero's initiative; that drive that will push her to help those in need."

He pointed at the redhead.

"Just like you," Alex then pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Although she needs to work on her smarts because I've seen her grades. So...you ever plan on telling her?"

"W-what?" Eijirou sputtered out. Alex's eyes wandered for a bit, looking at something beyond Eijirou's right shoulder. The boy turned to see the only remaining picture on the wall.

A picture of The Big Five.

"The sooner you tell her, the better your chances are, I think," stated Alex with those mischievous eyes now containing a hint of sadness or regret. "I want to make sure you don't repeat my mistake of waiting too long."

"Wait..." spoke Eijirou, looking back at the picture. Seeing Alex's eyes led to Nejire. "Springfield does that mean...?"

"Actually!" Alex interrupted, standing up and straight-up ignoring Eijirou's question. "This seems like the perfect time to tell her just how much she means to you!" Alex pushed off his desk and made his way for the door with an extra pep in his step.

Leaving a flabbergasted Eijirou just sitting there for a moment until he realized what Alex was about to do.

"WAIT! SPRINGFIELD, DON'T!" He roared as he chased after him, only to see Alex use his Blink quirk to zoom down the stairs. Eijirou followed as fast as he could, but he saw Alex already speaking to Mina and Lucy by the time he was downstairs. "WAIT! PLEASE! IT'S A SECRET FOR A REASON!"

Eijirou had always felt a little pathetic to him to hold onto an event like that. To place a Mina on a pedestal as he had done. Yet he couldn't help it, she had become a role model to him, something to strive for, but it still felt almost like it was something that a stalker would do. The last thing he wanted was Mina to think he was some kind of creep or pervert.

As Eijirou returned to the living room, now out of breath, he found that the room was silent as Alex stood there with a smug grin on his face, while Lucy stood there looking quite impressed. Mina, however, looked at Eijirou, with appeared to be a mixture of shock and awe. Eijirou felt betrayed by Alex after opening up like that, only for him to blab his secret like that.

"Kiri, is this true?" Mina asked as if in complete disbelief. Eijirou bit his lip, feeling angry at his senior's smug face.

'Damn it! I knew this would happen! She must think I'm a total weirdo now!'

But Eijirou sighed.

"Yes, Ashido...it's true." He answered, resigned to his cruel fate; maybe this was just karma coming back to haunt him.

"So does this mean I need to go back home first to get changed? Because a really fancy place might have a dress code!" Mina asked, walking up to him with excitement evident in her eyes.

"I'm sorry you had...it's," Eijirou quickly blinked.

"I…wh-huh?" The boy was just confused as he looked back at Alex, who was now just winking at him out of Mina's eyesight.

"I know it was secret, Kirishima!" Alex explained as he quickly blinked right next to him and wrapped his right arm around his shoulder while not noticing that Alex had slipped something into his back pocket.

"It's just that it was one of the best places in town! I was just so damn surprised that you even said that you were completely fitting the bill since you wanted to thank Ashido for being so great and helpful! And Ashido, honey," The American turned to the pink alien girl and waved off her concern. "The restaurant in question doesn't have a hard dress code, so you'll be fine with what you're wearing now."

"YAY!" Mina cheered as Lucy looked on in amusement.

"Wait, huh?! But...I mean...I might not have enough..." Eijirou said as he pulled out his wallet, only for a folded bill to slip out of his pocket. Eijioru picked it up and found a 10,000**** Yen bill and a restaurant business card. He nearly choked on his spit. The redhead looked back at his American friend with surprise, realizing that Alex must have done this. "Ah...I..."

"More than enough to cover the tab and then some!" said Alex patting Eijirou's shoulder.

"Awesome! Thanks, Kiri!" Exclaimed Mina as her eyes shined with excitement. "I'm just gonna use the bathroom quickly, and then we can head out!"

"Umm...okay! Yeah, that's cool!" Eijirou managed to answer as Mina proceeded to the restroom, guided by Lucy.

"Dude..."

"Come on, Kirishima, you'd think I'd really do that to you?" Alex said, looking a little hurt.

"I'll tease and poke, but I'd never ruin something like that. It's best that she hears those words from you, even if it's not today," Alex gave the redhead another pat on the back. "Be sure to tell her someday, okay?"

Alex had a sudden look of melancholy. "Seriously, learn from my mistakes and learn to live with as little regret as you can."

"What about this?" Eijirou asked with the money on hand.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, man," Alex denied with another wink. "You must have been saving money and forgot about it...but I think thanking Ashido with it sounds good, right? After all, she went out of her way for you."

Eijirou smiled as a warm feeling grew in his chest and accepted the gift from his senior. "Yeah...I guess you're right."

"Just be yourself, and be a gentleman, rather than just being manly...cool?"

"Cool," Eijirou answered with a suppressed laugh.

"I'm back!" Mina announced, returning from the restroom with Lucy in tow. "I can't wait to try this place out. Lucy was filling me in on the deets!"

"Glad you're excited," Eijirou answered as Mina drew her arms wide and encircled Alex in an enormous hug.

"Whoa, whoa!" Alex said, surprised by the girl's action and raising his arms high. "I think you've got your arms around the wrong guy, hun!"

"Thanks for helping Springfield," Mina said quietly as she pulled in Eijirou as well.

"Nah...you did most of the leg work. This silly guy just needed to be reminded of the facts," Alex answered, ruffling the hair on the heads of both teens before accepting the hug with a broad smile on his face.

SNAP!

The hugging trio turned to see Lucy with her phone. "Oh, don't mind me, just taking some pics that Alex can keep for when he leaves," She said as she took a few more.

When their small photo shoot was done, the American duo waved their good-byes to the two horn buddies.

"She's so into him," Lucy commented in English, laughing as she gave her cousin a nudge with her elbow.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Alex answered as he closed the door behind them.

"She kept bringing him up during our chat."

"You don't say? Guess the feelings are mutual cause he brought her up too, as 'the most amazing person.'"

"Awww..."

The two look cousins gave each other a knowing look before high-fiving each other.

"I ship it!" They proclaimed with a laugh.

"Well, looks like I got another two to root for when I watch the Sports Festival this year," said Lucy as she settled into the couch and turned on the TV. "From your remaining friends in The Big Five to your two trainees, now those two."

"Yeah, yeah," said Alex as he made his way back upstairs, pausing before making the turn. "Hey, Lucy?"

"Yo."

"Keep an eye on everyone else for me, will ya?"

"No problem, my company just got a contract to boost UA's Support department resources, so I'll be there from time to time. Now get back to studying. 'Mr. I'm Popular enough to get a spin-off.'"

"Oy! Breaking the fourth wall is my job!"

"Not anymore! Those powers are going to be revoked when you leave. So they're mine now! So suck it!"

Alex shook his head with a grin as he returned to his bedroom. There was still a lot he had to cover and not much time to do it.


"Sorry that I couldn't give you quicker heads up, Kacchan," said Izuku to his phone. He laughed awkwardly as he finished making Eri's bed in one of the many guest bedrooms of the Iida compound. "Given how quickly we moved and got some of our stuff to storage. I kind of forgot to let you know..."

"Yeah, yeah, nerd, I got ya..." said Katsuki dismissively, annoyed of having been the last person to have been told from among the Midoriya-Bakugou family relationship. "So how is Glasses' place? Does everyone else who lives there have a stick up their ass like him?"

"Kacchan! You could stand to call Iida by name, given how good his family's been towards us!" Izuku chided, given how gracious everyone had been to them from the minute they got there.

"And to answer your question, it's very nice, and no, everyone has been more casual than Iida himself, which..." Izuku had to admit that Tensei threw him for a loop. "I will admit to thinking that Ingenium would be just like his younger brother, but he isn't...he's actually a lot more calm and casual."

"So why does Glasses get so worked up? If his family is apparently chill, how the fuck did he end up like that?"

As if on cue, Izuku heard a small suppressed BOOM that made the windows shake coming from outside that, was followed shortly by a high-pitched laugh and frustrated yelling.

"The Speed Demon Mark V is now operational!"

"HATSUME NOT AGAIN! PLEASE! IT TOOK WEEKS TO FIX THE DAMAGES FROM THE LAST ONE!"

Izuku shook his head as he discovered that apparently, hijinks like these were the norm in the Iida household, which only reminded him of the similar insanity of the Bakugou household.

"I have a vague idea..." Izuku answered calmly as he continued his work in fixing up a curtain to block the dark orange afternoon sun and ignoring the chaos was that happening outside. He had plenty of practice in doing so from Katsuki's antics.

"He just needs to get laid...Eh...whatever...so how's everyone else? Auntie Inko, Eri, Uraraka?"

"Mom's making dinner for everyone. We're using the food we couldn't send to the storage," Izuku started to answer as he placed Eri's clothes into a brand new cabinet at the foot of her bed. "Eri's currently playing with Iida's niece Hikari, with Todoroki watching them...since Iida seems to be busy with Hatsume at the moment..."

"What was that?"

"And Ochako was helping me set up Eri's room until she had to take a call from her folks," Izuku continued without skipping a beat. Closing the cabinet and double-checking his handiwork to make sure nothing was amiss. Thankfully they had only packed the essentials with everything they didn't need going into storage, save for a handful of personal effects for everyone. Still, the Iida's managed to get everyone some lovely housewarming gifts, which in the case of Eri was her first set of school supplies.

"Eh...makes sense, so what's the plan with Eri becoming back to UA?"

"Same as before, only without needing to stay after school for her evaluations," Izuku answered. He proceeded to leave Eri's room and make his way to his own new bedroom next door. "Once they're done with the security changes to Eri's new school, she'll start attending classes there."

"How's she taking the news?"

"Good, actually," answered Izuku with a bright smile, "Hikari...Iida's niece has been a big help explaining what school life will be like for her and..."

"That's not what I meant, Izuku," Katsuki interrupted. "About that Overhaul prick escaping, how is she taking the news?"

"Ah..." Izuku paused, his smile dipping. "We haven't told her yet."

"Why the fuck not?!" Katsuki's voice boomed out, making Izuku recoil and move his phone away from his ear. He quickly stepped into his new room to not have Katsuki's voice ring out in the hallways. "She needs to know about it!"

"I know that, Kacchan!" Izuku shot back as he closed the door behind him.

"We're not keeping it a secret. We're just," his finger tapped his phone. "Waiting for the right time to tell her! Her doctor told us that breaking news like that needs to be done carefully!"

He heard Katsuki sigh in frustration. "Yeah...yeah...I get it...I'm just worried about her, is all damn it."

"We all are Kacchan, and if it makes you feel any better. Everyone agreed that we would tell her tonight. We're just trying to settle down and eat before breaking the news to her."

"Good...you know I have your back, right?"

Izuku could almost see Katsuki shaking his head as he spoke his piece, sitting down at his new desk and opening up his laptop.

"Of course, Kacchan, I know you're just trying to be a good uncle...but remember who are the parents here, first."

Katsuki laughed. "About time you accepted reality, but yeah, I get ya...so is it just you and Uraraka breaking the news to her, or is Auntie Inko joining as well?"

"Mom's going to wait outside and step in if we need her help," Izuku answered promptly. The two had finally accepted the mantle of being Eri's parents. Inko had agreed to be there in legal decisions but would be a little more hands-off unless they asked for help. So when it came to things like this, she would allow the two teens to take responsibility for raising her.

There was a knock on the door.

"Wait a sec, Kacchan, I have someone at the door," Izuku whispered before facing the door. "Who is it?"

"It's just me, Izuku!" He heard Ochako's voice call out from behind the door. "Can I come in?"

"I gotta go, Kacchan."

"Yeah yeah, just be sure to wear a jimmy. I can't have you knocking up Round-Face this early in the game," Katsuki teased with a laugh, but this time Izuku was ready.

"Suck it, Kolmia shippers," Izuku mimicked Katsuki's voice with a satisfied smirk, as his friend's laughter was suddenly silenced.

"WHAT THE FU-"

And without another word, Izuku hung up. Satisfied with the knowledge of holding that victory over his head for a while. Izuku got up to open the door for Ochako. He was greeted by the girl's bright smiling face.

"You could've just told me to come in!" Said Ochako as she stepped inside, taking a good look at Izuku's new modestly furnished bedroom. "All done?"

"I wanted to be polite!" Izuku answered with his own smile, "and yeah, I'm finished here and with Eri's room."

"Oh, good!" Ochako sighed with relief as she found her Draco Knight Medal hanging on Izuku's wall. A memento between the two until such time as Izuku would get back his Grandmaster's cross, wherever that may be at the moment.

"I'm sorry I had to step out. My dad was pretty worried about me needing to go under protection."

"It's okay," Izuku assured her. "I can understand why your folks would be worried! Look at how my mom acted when we first came back!"

"Good point," Ochako admitted as she turned on her heel, facing Izuku again. "Speaking of which, your mom finished making dinner."

"Oh, thank goodness, I'm starving right now," Izuku admitted, feeling his stomach rumbling. "Moving makes hungry work."

"Tell me about it," said Ochako taking Izuku's hand and making him follow her to the living room. The duo could already feel their mouths water at the smell of Katsudon being served up. Inko had planned to make it today to celebrate the end of Golden Week, and thankfully the Iida's didn't seem to mind.

Especially Tensei, who welcomed Inko's cooking, having missed it from when he had interned with Hisashi.

"Can't beat my mom's Katsudon," Izuku stated as he saw the elder Iidas and Todorokis line up for a plate.

"I could still go for a bit of mochi, though," Ochako said to herself, hoping there might be dessert.

"Papa, Mama!" The duo turned to see Eri with Shouto behind her, assembling a set of braided fun buns with her snow-white hair. All while Hikari helped with a mirror, showing the Unicorn her uncle's progress while sporting her own set of the adorable hairstyle.

"Look! Mr. Shou is making my hair pretty!"

Izuku damn near had a heart attack with the amount of sheer cuteness and happiness Eri was radiating as Shouto continued his work. The youngest Todoroki was entirely in the zone and ignoring everything that was going on around him. Ochako, however, ran up to Eri, dragging Izuku along with her. In an instant, her phone was out, taking as many pictures as she could, muttering just how cute Eri was at breakneck speeds.

"OhmygodEriyouarebeyondadorableImmajustgonnadie!"

"And finished..." said Shouto pleased with his work, before looking up and being taken aback by the Cinnamon rolls right in front of him. Only for the duo to scoop up the Unicorn without so much as a word of acknowledgment to her hairstylist.

'What the hell just happened?'

"Thank you, Uncle Shou!" Piped Hikari putting the mirror down and giving her uncle a hug.

"You're welcome," answered Shouto returning the hug and ruffling her hair.

Only to pause as he finally noticed a rather delicious smell wafting from the kitchen that he had not noticed before. "Hmm...something smells good."

"Eri's grandma is done making food, Uncle Sho!" She answered, grabbing her uncle's face and forcing it to face the kitchen while giggling the whole time. "Let's go get Uncle Teni and Meimei!"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," said Shouto, coolly grabbing the girl and taking her with him outside.

Meanwhile, the others settled down for dinner, being joined by Shouto, Hikari, and the two very sweaty frames of Mei and Tenya. The former sporting Tenya's sweater as her typically black sleeveless shirt left very little to the imagination due to the amount of moisture that drenched her.

"A run time of nineteen minutes without a single crash; a new record!" Mei exclaimed excitedly while Tenya was gratefully grabbing their plates from Inko, while everyone in the Iida-Todoroki family laughed.

"You're going to give Yuno a heart attack one these days, Mei," said Tensei after taking a drink. "He's been trying to make his own Speed Demon have better handling without losing speed for months now!"

"Trial and error, big boss!" Mei proclaimed, revealing some old scars from her last accident. "Trial and error!"

"As long as you avoid damaging or hurting anyone," Tenya interjected, handing Mei her own plate of Katsudon and taking a seat with his own.

"Yeah, yeah, don't blow up the workshop again. I heard ya last time, Teni," Mei waved off as she began wolfing down the moment the food was in front of her. "At least Shou was there to put out the fire last time."

"I am not your personal fire extinguisher," Shouto remarked in a deadpan voice, making Hikari, Eri, and Ochako giggle.

"There's a lot more food if anyone wants seconds!" They all heard Inko say as Shouto's mother, Rei, re-entered the dining room with some dessert.

"Anyone wants to try out some of the mochi, Inko taught me to make?" Asked Rei with some excitement as she did not often cook thanks to the staff her family used, but she liked to dabble from time to time.

"Here, please!" Ochako quickly shot up tryout the homemade confection, taking a couple of the bright pink rounded cakes and taking a quick nibble out of it. "Hmmm! Strawberry flavor too!"

Dinner continued without incident, with bits of small talk and merriment filling the room. One could almost forget all of the events that got them to this point, still looming overhead as dinner drew to a close. Izuku could see it on his mother's face, motioning her head towards Eri.

It was time for the two parents to break the news to her about Overhaul.

"Hey, Izuku, let me take care of helping everyone else clean up, and you get Eri ready for bed, okay?" Ochako suggested with a whisper as she gathered their now empty plates. "Given that I left you to finish getting Eri's room ready, I think it's only fair that I help clean here."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," answered Izuku as he scooped up a progressively sleepy Eri. "Thank you for the food and a place in your home, everyone," Izuku added, bowing politely to their hosts.

"Don't worry about it, Midoriya," said Tensei as he gathered his family's plates. At the same time, Fuyumi carried an equally sleepy Hikari in her arms. "Our home is your home until..."

The man paused, hesitating with Eri and Hikari still in their presence. "Circumstances improve for you all."

Izuku couldn't help but notice the tiniest flash of guilt go across Tensei's face but decided not to follow up on it as he had quite a handful to work with already. Rei, Shouto, and Mei had gathered their things to head back to their homes.

Meanwhile, Tenya escorted them to the exit, mainly to keep an extra eye on Mei. He knew she would take her latest baby with her if given a chance.


As night drew in and everyone else began settling into bed, Izuku, Inko, and Ochako met up outside Eri's bedroom.

All of them changed into their nightwear.

"Are you sure you two got this?" Inko asked before letting the two teens in.

"We are, mom," Izuku answered as Ochako nodded silently.

Inko couldn't help but smile a bit. 'He's growing up so fast...'

"Alright...I'll still be in my room if you need me, okay?"

The two teens silently walked inside, finding Eri still awake and sitting in her brand new bed with a tiny blue nightlight plugged into the side. She turned to see her surrogate parents entering and a smile formed on her face as they drew closer.

"Did you have fun today, Eri?" Izuku asked as he settled by taking a seat by the foot of Eri's bed while Ochako sat right next to her.

"Mhm!" Said Eri as she nodded.

"It's nice here...but why did we have to go so far from home?" She added, looking around the still relatively empty guest room. Izuku and Ochako gave each other a knowing look with the news they were about to break. They knew that the current sleeping arrangements might not last until Eri felt more secure.

"About that, Eri," Izuku started scooting closer to her while Ochako wrapped her arms around the girl's shoulder.

"There is a…reason why we had to move and," he blew out some air, might as well rip the bandage off.

"It's about Overhaul." Izuku could almost see the very color drain from her face. However, Ochako quickly tucked the girl beneath her chin, wrapping her tightly as she began gently reassuring her as Izuku continued.

"He escaped from the police, and they're not sure where he is right now," Izuku continued making his way opposite Ochako.

"He's...out there?" Eri asked with a wavering voice, looking nervously out the window as her heart began to race at the thought of her tormentor returning to claim her.

"Yes, Eri," Ochako interjected, giving Eri a kiss on the forehead. "But that doesn't mean we're just going to let him take you."

"That's right, Eri," Izuku added as he wrapped his own arms around her, too. "Just like before, we will protect you, and to be extra safe, you'll come back with us at UA for a while."

To the surprise of the teens, Eri's breathing actually relaxed. "I'm going back...with you?"

"Yeah, Eri! Remember the promise we made?" Ochako answered with her trademark arm pump. "That everyone at UA would protect you?"

Eri nodded as she remembered her last dream when Overhaul tried to haunt her; she wasn't alone. Everyone had stepped in to save her. UA had been the place where her nightmare had been defeated once. UA was where strong heroes were, where all of her heroes were.

"I know that if anything happens, we'll be there...I swear it, Eri," Izuku added, grabbing Eri's hand. "We won't let you be taken by him ever again, okay?"

Eri sighed with some relief, gently placing her head back onto her pillow. "Can you stay with me tonight, please?" She asked both the teens as she nestled into Izuku's chest. "Just for tonight, please?"

The two teens looked at each other. Given how bad they had expected Eri's reaction, this was better than expected. "Yeah...we can do that, right, Ochako?" Izuku said as he tucked himself into the bed with them.

"Yep," answered Ochako as she pulled up her sleeping mittens from her pocket. "Good thing I came prepared," she added, slightly giggling. Once they heard her gentle snores, the two stayed awake, slowly and gently lulling Eri to sleep. The two teens looked at each other, silently relieved that their plan had worked.

"She's grown to be so much stronger than before," Ochako observed as she brushed Eri's hair gently.

"Hard to believe this is the same scared little girl that we met just a few months ago..." Izuku answered, shifting himself slightly to move Eri's head so she would sleep at a better angle.

"Hey, Izuku?"

"Yeah?"

"I didn't have the chance to say this yesterday morning...and more so when my dad called me. But thank you for making Golden Week so much better than what I expected," said Ochako with a warm glint in her chocolate eyes that dazzled Izuku. "Especially when you brought the stars to me...that really made my day."

"I could say the same about you...compared to how Golden Week used to be for me...even with Kacchan," Izuku smiled softly. "This year, despite how it ended, was great...and that was because of you."

The boy managed to answer with surprising confidence, though that didn't stop a slow trickle of red from spreading on his face. The two shared warm silence as they simply stared into each other's eyes, both seeing something within the other that tugged at their memories. A strange sense of nostalgia distracted them as they subconsciously locked their free hands together.

After a moment or two…or three, Izuku broke the silence with a burning question.

"Hey, Ochako?"

"Yeah?"

"When the Sports Festival is over and hopefully if the threat over us has passed...would like you to go somewhere with me...just the two us?" Izuku asked, growing nervous as he saw Ochako's eyes grow wide.

"Izuku...are you asking me out on a date?" She asked, voice louder than a whisper yet still low enough not to disturb Eri.

"I mean...is it a date, or just hanging out?" Izuku stuttered for a moment. "B-But...I mean...depending on how you look at it..."

Before Izuku could devolve into his classic mutterings, Ochako moved her hand and placed a gently mitted finger right over his lips, silencing him. Once Ochako knew he would remain silent for the moment, she retreated, her hand wrapped around his own again.

"I have two conditions," said Ochako with a mischievous smile. "First, you better not take it easy on me if we end up fighting in the Sports Festival."

"Never," Izuku answered quickly. "I know better than to underestimate you in a fight."

"Good! Second, I guess it's not technically a condition. But whoever places higher has to be the one to treat the other out," Ochako added, knowing that Izuku still didn't like handouts.

"But I asked you out!" Izuku whispered loudly. "I should be the one who pays for it!"

"Well, then ya better win!" Ochako answered with a giggle. "Cause otherwise, I'm paying for it."

Izuku couldn't help but laugh along with her. She would hold him up like that, but in the end, she didn't say no by all accounts. Her answer was a complete yes, regardless of the outcome. Izuku breathed a little easier but was all the more motivated to win.

"One last thing Izuku!"

"What is i-" Izuku didn't have time to finish as Ochako moved quickly. Despite being at an angle where she needed to avoid disturbing Eri, she managed to lean forward and give him a quick kiss on the cheek. Izuku completely froze as his brain needed to reboot and process what had just happened.

"I wanted to do that yesterday morning," Ochako admitted with a bright red face, surprised by her own daring. "As a thank you for the stars...but I suppose I could use it now as a preview for our future date together."

Izuku opened his mouth, trying to find the words, but not a sound came out as his brain was still in mid-reboot.

"Have a good night," said Ochako. She settled her head down and snuggled closer to Eri, pulling Izuku slightly before closing her eyes, trying to avoid Izuku's lost fish-eyed eyes.

'HOLY WHOA! DID THAT REALLY HAPPEN?! I HAVE A DATE WITH OCHAKO!'

Izuku didn't really notice just how hard his heart had been pounding this whole time. Yet, the more he processed that he had been successful, it only made him more excited, and yet it slowly gave him a sense of peace. The hard part was over, and Ochako accepted the offer. Knowing that the festival was still a couple of weeks away meant he needed to take more time and effort to train.

'No holding back, right?'

Izuku slowly mirrored Ochako, snuggling closer to Eri as his head found that sweet spot on the pillow. None of them were aware of the actual threat that loomed overhead as the Kings on the chessboard continued to make their moves in the shadows. But that did not stop them from finding a quiet peace that could only be found among those you found to love.


Author's Commentary

*Fuku: A minor OC who will appear as a mentor during the internships for -Spoiler- I will be doing a more in-depth internship arc to give anyone a chance to shine. She's a healing hero and even her Hero name Fuku is short for Fukugen which means Restoration or Regeneration.

But Fuku is also the name of those traditional female "sailor" school girl uniforms.

**Yakuza Ceremony: Like the Sicilian Mafia or Costa Nostra: Japanese Yakuza have been noted to have rather elaborate ceremonies when it comes to things like inducting a new member into "The family" getting bumped up the ranks, or having a new boss be named are normally accompanied by both a ceremony and celebration which each "Family" unit or group having their own quirks and nuances to the ceremony to make it unique for each of them.

***10,000 Yen bill: Approx. $95 as of the time of writing (Alex basically gave Eijirou a $100 bill to take Mina out)

Now I have a question for all of you and I would greatly appreciate an answer.
I'm still working on my own original novel, and given the rather unexpected but not unwelcomed reception of my various OCs used in the story. Would you mind telling me who is your favorite OC and why?

This would be a great help for me as I continue to develop my novel (which is full of OCs) and make sure I have the general idea of what works and what doesn't which it seems many of you agree that I do many OCs that only enhance and not clash with the existing cast.

Again it's just a simple request and a moment of your time I would greatly appreciate to really hone my craft as a possible author.