Hey guys, stay around for chapter notes if you want. I wish this chapter was better, but ugh no point in continiously delaying, blegh. I liked writing this at first but then it got worse and worse the more I re-read it and now I don't know how to fix it AHHHH

After Midoriya's battle, time seemingly moved along at a somewhat bizarre haze, mainly because of the fact his mind was still in the slow process of sorting out the previous events that had transpired just a few minutes ago. Excessive amounts of information in a short period of time was either something he could handle easily, or with great difficulty, depending on what type of information was at play. Things like new smells and tastes were overwhelming to him, but at the same time his cells didn't have as much trouble absorbing them and storing them, due to them being simply physician sensations.

When it came to matters such as spoken information in large volumes in a small span however, it was when it would usually begin to cause his cells to be overwhelmed, forcing them to separate into smaller groups to try and transfer everything smoothly as possible. Speaking of information, Yaoyorozu had certainly provided his brain with plenty of new information to juggle at once, due to her rather lengthy lecture during their brief debate in front of the class earlier. Even after being given time to stew on it and was slowly starting to sort things out, he couldn't help but still find it rather difficult to make sense of her words and logic.

Eventually, after careful consideration of Yaoyorozu's advice, and applying it to the current situation at hand, Jayluf came to an eventual conclusion.

He was in the right. Even after comparing Yaoyorozu's words, Jayluf still felt his reasons were more logical, at least compared to what Yaoyorozu had said. He really did try to see it from her point of view, but it just wouldn't click for him, no matter how hard he tried. Midoriya was the major reason why he was unable to change his mind.

When the other teams had been set up to fight, Jayluf had paid little attention, the battles passing by at a blur to him, due to him not being focused on them the slightest. In all honesty, he did not care for them, the most interaction he had was standing in silence alongside the other students as they all watched each battle take place one by one. Some of the fights had appeared to be somewhat fair, both sides having an even amount of power in regards to their quirks.

Others however, were horribly one sided, the prime example being when a student wearing a costume that appeared to be half ice and half fire had instantly taken down the villain team by freezing over the entire building at the start of the match, not even allowing the villain team to gain their bearings and instantly holding them in place. They had to watch as the ice boy nonchalantly walked up to the weapon, and gently touched it, giving the hero team the win.

Although Jayluf wasn't too focused on them, he was well aware now of the fact that multiple students in his class had extremely powerful quirks, and made his own quirk look quite insignificant. He wasn't threatened or afraid in the slightest, but he knew it was something to be probably vigilant of.

However time seemed to instantly return back to normal when he'd been snapped out of his trance by All Might, who announced that it was now time for Jayluf's team to battle. It had been somewhat of a slap to the face when he'd been promptly informed that he was to be on the villain side, not the hero, which was not very nice news to receive. He'd stared at the floor for several moments as All Might had continued to speak. Even if I am on the villain team, I will not act as a villain. I will not act as Bakugo has.

His team was called "Team J'', and was composed of three students, one obviously being himself, and the other two being two other students he hadn't met yet. Heeding Mina's words from before, he tried to pay attention, and this tjme he had managed to actually catch their names from All Might. The one with the spiky hair and sharp teeth was named "Ejiro Kirishima", whose costume was rather lacking, and was more aesthetic than function. The second student, the one with the jet black hair was called "Hanta Sero", his costume was a strange black and white, the chest area resembling teeth, and wore a strange helmet with a reflective visor that could be flipped upwards to expose his face.

Their opponents on the hero side were from Team H, the heroes being two students. Fukimage Tokoyami, who's costume was more of a black coat instead of a costume, almost like a shadow of some sort. Alongside him was a girl completely clad in green, a girl named "Tsuyu Asui '', who wore rather bizarre headgear that didn't appear to serve any purpose besides possibly holding her hair up in a similar fashion to how Jayluf's hood did.

Before they had all exited the room to make way to the battle arena, Jayluf had been stopped by Mina, Iida, and Uraraka, who all wished him good luck in his match, and reassured him that Midoriya would be fine, even if he didn't come to the rest of today's classes.

Only managing a halfhearted nod, Jayluf simply turned and trailed behind All Might and the strangers that were to be his allies in this "real battle", still unable to stop himself from thinking about Midoriya's condition. Upon arrival they'd been given a speech about taking the fight "seriously" and the mention of that tired phrase of "real battle". When the Pro Hero brought up the subject matter of them thinking and acting like villains, Jayluf had instinctively tuned that out, blankly staring forwards until his superior had finished speaking.

When they had been allowed to enter the building, they'd been provided with a location of the weapon they needed to protect, along with the tape and the strange ear radio device, which was turned on and off via pressure from two fingers on the top and bottom. Jayluf experimentally played with the device, listening to the clicking sound of it being switched on and off being somewhat enduring as he fidgeted with the foreign object. However, he did not get to play with it for long.

"Well!" said the black haired student from the side as he touched the weapon. "All Might said we've got five whole minutes to prepare? That's fair. You two can call me Sero!"

The spiky red hair from before gave a strange gesture where his hand was balled into a fist, and his thumb was pointed upwards. "Nice! I'm Kirishima! Looks like we're a team of three, so that definitely gives us an advantage with numbers! Good to be introduced to ya properly Sero!" he glanced downwards to Jayluf, who said not a word.

Jayluf blinked indifferently, his face not betraying a hint of whatever he was feeling.

Despite appearing to be slightly put off by the hollow stare, Kirishima still maintained a friendly grin. "And uh, nice to meet you too. It was Jayluf, right?"

Jayluf nodded. "That is correct. Do you want to be friends?"

Kirishima's right eyebrow moved upwards. "Huh?"

"You know what my name is, and I know what your name is." Jayluf explained as a matter of factly. "By that logic, that makes us friends, correct?"

Before Kirishima could respond, Sero held up a finger. "Jayluf, I uh, I don't think Kirishima is automatically your friend just because you and him swapped names…"

Wait… what? Jayluf stopped, looking directly at Sero. "What…? Is this not how friends are made?"

"W-Well," Sero stutered. "I uh, I'll be honest, not exac-"

"Aw come on, don't be like that!" Kirishima cut Sero off abruptly, his grin from earlier returning. "Ashido thinks you're cool, so I'll trust her judgment and say you're cool too! After all, we're both gonna be heroes together right? Wanting to create bonds with your fellow students is a pretty manly thing to do!"

"Okay." Jayluf replied, giving only a gentle nod.

Sero only managed a weak shrug. "Um… alright I guess?"

"Cool!" Kirishima exclaimed, his hand clenching into a fist as he held it up. "Also Jayluf I uh, saw you made friends with Ashido earlier, right? Funny story, I actually kinda know her myself! Although me mentioning her before probably gave that away, heh."

The information sounded somewhat interesting to Jayluf. I had not seen them interact at all. He tilted his head inquisitive, keen to learn more. "So you are Ashido's friend?"

"Well, yeah! Technically!" Kirishima's grin suddenly appeared to be more forced, as he rubbed the back of his head. "W-We kinda went to the same school, and one time there was a villain, and then we actually sat by each other on the day of the entrance exam, it's a bit of a long story, which I wish I could tell, but since we're on the clock, it'll have to wait."

Immediately Jayluf glanced downwards, to see the only thing below them was only the floor, and nothing else. "But we're not standing on any clocks," he pointed out.

Kirishima frowned. "Huh?"

"Anyways," Sero quickly butt in. "Now that we've got… whatever that was out of the way, I think it's fair to say that now would be an excellent plan to come up with some sort of plan." He suddenly gained a wide grin on his face. "Although that is if we even need one in the first place. It's three of us versus two of them, it's basically a guaranteed win for sure!"

"Nah," Kirishima replied, shaking his head with his eyes closed, eyebrows furrowed in a pensive expression. "I disagree with that, one hundred percent. One of the things I learned in the past is to never underestimate anyone, doubly so when quirks are involved. That one ice kid being a prime example. It would probably not be a very smart move to just assume they'd throw in the towel because we have Jayluf in tow."

Sero shrugged. "Okay, fine then. So plans… Maybe an ambush? Hide somewhere and then jump out and wipe the floor with them?"

Kirishima scoffed, crossing his arms. "Come on man, an ambush is unmanly, and you know it. Besides, we're all on camera, and even if the other students can't hear a word we're saying, they'll all see if we just hide in a corner to take a cheap shot." His lips curved upwards. "My quirk doesn't do the whole hiding shtick! It's to face the oncoming danger, head on!"

"Alright then," Sero said. "But even if we do attack them head on, we can't just leave the weapon by itself. If one of them managed to find it unguarded, it's game over." He frowned, putting a hand to his chin. "But we can't be at two places at once…"

Suddenly, Sero's eyes lit up. "Unless… maybe we could?"

"What do you mean?" Kirishima blurted out. "What are you playing at?"

Jayluf tilted his head, also somewhat interested in what Sero had just suggested. Two places at once? Did one of their quirks allow them to do such a thing? Did they make a copy of themselves? "How do you propose we accomplish this? Do you have a quirk that can accomplish this task?"

"No no," Sero quickly stuttered out. "I don't mean literally, I was kind of hinting that maybe one of us could go out by themselves, and y'know, scout the building out and look for the heroes?"

"Wait, wait," Kirishima said quickly, his hands raised. "Slow down. You mean like, one of us to leave the room here and go out there, completely isolated from the rest of the team, while two of us wait by the weapon?"

Sero smiled. "Yeah! Exactly! And uh, actually…" he slowly rotated his body to face Jayluf. "I actually was thinking… maybe you could be the guy to go take point and stake out the area, while me and Kirishima defend the weapon incase of them getting to us first?"

Jayluf blinked. "Take point?"

"Yeah!" Sero exclaimed, an excited smile now prominent on his face. "Look, hear me out. We've got these radio gizmos thingies, right? Which means that even if we're all split up somehow, we all would have a clear way of communication!" He threw a glance towards Kirishima. "And like you said, we can't underestimate these guys at all, so what if we had Jayluf sneaking around out there, reporting stuff about the enemy team! Like what they were doing, or where they were going, or how close they were to us, that kind of thing. It'd be a huge help!"

Kirishima paused for several seconds, considering Sero's idea. "But what if he gets spotted by the hero team?"

Sero looked back down at Jayluf. "Well, even if Jayluf gets found out, he can still allow us to prepare ahead of time by giving us a heads up on where they are and what they might be up to before he presumably gets captured. Or um, pummeled."

Whatever intrigue that had been on Kirishima's face had completely vanished at the last part, his expression now being one of pure disgust. "Bro, what!? That's not very manly at all!"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Sero quickly squeaked out in fear, his hands raised in surrender by his head. "Relax! It's just a suggestion, and the outcome is one that could probably happen! It's not the worst idea anyway, like there's three if us, which is even more of a reason to have someone utilize the third number in an intelligent way! Better two of us guard the weapon, and there's no harm in getting to know what they're doing via eyes out there before they actually get here, right?"

"Still," Kirishima countered, his disgruntled expression still not being completely gone, "you could maybe, I don't know, maybe think about acting somewhat considerate to Jayluf before you suggest throwing a fellow classmate to the wolves?"

For some bizarre reason the very last word of Kirishima's sentence seemed suddenly extremely intriguing to Jayluf, causing him to perk up slightly in curiosity. Wolves? Something about that sounds… familiar.

"Look, look," Sero said in an attempt to dissuade Kirishima's irritated state, "that last part just slipped out, okay? I'm sorry. If it bothers Jayluf that much, then we can do something else.

Effectively being pulled out from his trance, Jayluf quickly snapped out of it and looked back up towards Sero. "It does not bother me."

"Oh r-really?" Sero blurted out, caught off guard at Jayluf's sudden cooperation. "I mean uh, sure, yeah! Of course it doesn't, it's a good plan!"

Kirishima warily eyed Sero as he turned to face Jayluf. "Are you sure man? You can just wait with us if you want, or ask if someone else could go instead of you. There's no shame in it if you feel like you're being pressured or forced into this."

Jayluf angled his head towards Kirishima as he used a mitten covered hand to scratch at an itch on his face. "It is the best tactical move."

Kirishima stared for several moments, his pensive look from earlier returning, looking as if he wanted to argue or add more. Eventually, his features relaxed. "Alright, fine. If you wanna go out there, I won't stop you." He smiled. "Pretty manly to go by yourself, Jayluf! Just remember to use your radio, alright? We gotta keep tabs on each other and stuff during this battle."

Jayluf nodded in affirmation. "I will keep you updated on whatever findings I encounter."

"Great!" Called out Sero, who suddenly pumped a fist into the air. "Then we got ourselves a plan, team!"

Kirishima could only offer a half hearted shrug. "I suppose we do. Better than no plan I guess? Although, we should discuss how we're going to fight together if they reach us, Sero."

But before they could start swapping information about their quirks or fighting styles, a blaring horn sounded from somewhere outside, indicating the start of the current match.

"Crap, already?!" Sero cried out in shock, his eyes going wide. "Five minutes felt like one minute, ugh! Guess we'll just have to have to be quicker about that. Alright Jayluf, are you ready to go?"

"Affirmative." Jayluf said, turning and exiting out of the room without saying another word.

As the two remaining students watched Jayluf slink out of the room, Sero raised an eyebrow. "He's kind of a weirdo dull guy, isn't he?"

Kirishima responded with a disapproving side eye.

The hallways in the building seemed almost endless to Jayluf as he tread onwards through, the walls stretching forever with no end in sight, and when he did find a turn, it would start all over again. The only signs of it not being an endless path were the occasional empty room that did not appear to serve any purpose, and how each floor had a staircase. Even if there was no sign of the enemy team, Jayluf was still extremely vigilant of the possibility of running into them, his eyes continuously scanning every single wall, floor, and ceiling he came across.

The only thing really worth mentioning was that there was always a corner he would sometimes turn into, and see that this specific hallway was structurally the same exact hallway Bakugo had attacked Midoirya in during their fight. He could still see Bakugo's crazy smile, hands still sparking and popping.

His hand twitched. He wouldn't be like what Bakugo was. A villain. It didn't matter what he was supposed to be here in this battle, he refused to act in such a horrid way. He would be on the "villains" for this scenario, sure. But he would not be a villain.

Occasionally, his teammates Kirishima and Sero would speak to him through the small radio in his ear, eager to hear if he had any updates to give them in regards to the enemy. Three times in a row he had to reply that nothing had been found, and each time they sounded more and more dismayed. Jayluf wondered what the hero team was planning, especially considering that neither party had run into each other yet. Would they have an ambush? A frontal attack head on? There were so many routes and ways to use, it was only a matter of time before they-

Turning a corner, he froze on the spot.

On the right wall, was someone STICKING to the wall, as if it was completely normal. It was a female student clad in a green costume. The arm sections had black stripes, outlined by smaller yellow lines on either side of the black one. Her large hands were covered with light brown colored gloves, accompanied by strange wrist rings. On her feet were strange shoes that resembled the feet of some strange animal that he didn't recognize. Yet at the same time, it looked sort of familiar to Jayluf.

As Jayluf continued staring, he saw that her head had dark green hair, being held in place by some strange headgear that seemed to resemble goggles of some sort. Her face had wide, blank eyes that upon landing on him, froze and peered at him blankly.

For several moments, neither party moved, both simply staring at the other with a blank, disinterested, flat expression, either too surprised to speak, or just waiting for the other to make the first move.

After a painful ten seconds passed, the girl suddenly raised a finger to her ear, pressing inwards. "Tokoyami," she spoke, her voice monotone and emotionless, "I found one of them who's all by himself. The one in blue. Jayluf, I think. Yeah, the little guy with the mittens."

Oh right. We all have radios, not just the villain team. Calmly imitating her actions, he raised his own hand to his ear, feeling for the round metallic device. "Sero, Kirishima. A warning, I believe they have split up."

"What makes you say that?" Kirishima's voice echoed from the radio speaker.

"Because I have found one. The green girl." What had been her name again? Jayluf honestly couldn't recall, his attention span had been all over the place.

"Whoa!" Sero called. "So they split up?! Aw crap, what if he's headed for us?! Either he's an idiot, or his quirk is something scary! Especially if he thinks he can beat us by himself!"

"Relax man, we'll be ready!" Kirishima quickly said. "Jayluf, good luck! We'll keep you posted if he decides to show up near us!"

"Affirmative." He switched off the radio.

"The green girl?" The frog girl said suddenly, loving her hand back to the wall. "For your information, this green girl has a name, you know. That name being Asui Tsuyu."

Despite her words seemingly indicating that she was offended by Jayluf's forgetfulness, her expression or voice did not change or waver in the slightest.

"I am aware of you having a name, Asui." Jayluf replied coolly, the new name feeling weird on his tongue. "I was merely unable to remember it properly."

Asui blinked. "Oh? Am I just that forgettable?" she questioned. "Or are you just trying to anger me into a reckless attack?"

"I did not say you are forgettable." Jayluf countered. "Only that I was unable to remember your name."

"That's basically the same thing." Asui pointed out.

"I disagree." Jayluf replied.

"If you say so," said Asui, thoroughly unconvinced. "Still, it's a good thing I found you. Judging from your one sided conversation, your other two teammates are guarding the weapon. You being here instead of with them will definitely make it easier for Tokoyami, considering he only has to deal with two people now instead of three. Looks like splitting up was indeed the right choice here, ribbit."

So they thought of it as well… Jayluf slowly raised his mitten covered fists in a fighting stance. "My team thought the same, so I suppose it is indeed an optimal strategy to use in a scenario such as this."

In response to his threatening posture, Asui simply clung to the wall as she peered down at him in an almost bored manner, completely unintimidated at his stance. Her eyes soon wandered lower and lower until they landed on Jayluf's mittens. "Hmm... Aren't you going to use your quirk? Your claws, I mean. I remember you using them yesterday"

Her inquiry made Jayluf hesitate, his eyes flickering down to his currently raised fists. The question had made his cells inside him warily squirm about, uncertain if they were about to be utilized for transformation and combat related purposes. My claws…

Would he use those claws? The very same claws that he used during the entrance exam. The same claws that sliced, maimed, and ripped apart metal and steel robots as if they had been held together by paper and glue. If he were to try using those claws on a person, a living, breathing, squishy person…

He shook his head. "Negative. I will not use my quirk on you, Asui. Nor will I ever."

Asui tilted her head, it being the only indication of the slightest amount of surprise at Jayluf's answer. "You're seriously telling me that you're not going to use your main and basically only method of attack in a fight?"

He nodded. "Correct."

Suddenly, Asui began to make a strange movement, where she bent down even closer to the wall she currently clung to, causing Jayluf to pause. Was she going to attack?

"Then that is a very foolish decision on your part, Jayluf." Asui said.

And abruptly the girl launched herself forwards, using her powerful legs to propel herself off the wall in a surprise attack, and when she was in mid air she twisted her entire body around to where her heeled feet were now aimed directly towards Jayluf.

While he was in no way a master in hand to hand combat or martial arts in general, Jayluf was no fool. He had enough brain functionality and knowledge of combat to recognize an oncoming surprise attack, and to have the sense to dodge it. Quickly angling his body to the side, he just barely managed to avoid a solid plastic heel embedding itself in his jaw, feeling the wind against his cheek as the heel sliced through the air.

With seemingly inhumane reflexes, Asui immediately adjusted her body again in order to make a smoother landing on her feet. But Jayluf wouldn't just sit idly by and wait for her to recover. While he wouldn't hurt her, he wouldn't just allow her to attack him freely. Twisting himself around, he clenched his left fist, and rammed the knuckle straight into Asui's back as hard as he could.

Unfortunately, even with how hard he had thrown the punch, his arm had no real strength, due to his tiny build and even tinier muscles. His quirks Bio-Form was the direct causality for muscle gain in the first place, and without it, he had little strength at his disposal.

POMF

With no muscle, there was no loud sound of a direct hit, or the sound of a fist striking a spin, instead the only sound audible was the sound of a fist cushioned by soft thick cotton making contact with a polyester costume. It was less of a punch, and more like a slightly harsh push.

Asui was sent stumbling only a mere foot from where she had originally been standing, allowing her to quickly recover to regain her balance. She whirled around to face Jayluf. "What on earth was that? Was that supposed to be a punch?" She said incredulously. "I barely felt that. Do you have absolutely no muscles in those arms?"

"It is merely because of my quirk," Jayluf explained as he readjusted his stance. "My quirk which allows my claws to grow is also what allows rapid muscle swelling. Without it, I am just at my normal strength."

Instead of immediate retaliation, Asui looked at him for several seconds before she responded. "So, is there a specific reason why you won't use your quirk on me?"

"I have no desire to hurt you." Jayluf said plainly, which was true. He would "fight", if that's what All Might wanted, but he wouldn't hurt anyone.

Asui's head tilted to the side ever so slightly. "So… you're saying you're holding back on purpose, because you think you'll hurt me?" Her eyelids lowered. "Let me guess, because I'm a girl, right? I do not like being underestimated, ribbit." Without saying another word, she threw a quick kick with her right leg towards Jayluf.

Jayluf had only barely managed to throw his arms up as a makeshift barrier to absorb the impact, which sent him stumbling backwards in a rather clumsy manner. "I…I am not under… esti… mate ing." He replied as he regained his footing to recover from the hit. He'd heard that word before, but it still felt rather odd on his tongue as he forced out each syllable. "Nor does it matter that you are a girl. I just do not wish any harm on you, because I am not a villain." He threw a punch with his right arm, but this time Asui had seen it coming from a mile away, she angled herself backwards, easily avoiding the clumsily performed strike.

"You're not a villain?" she repeated. "I'm pretty sure All Might said otherwise earlier, when he held up your name that came from the villain box, and not the hero one."

Jayluf thrusted his torso backwards to avoid Asui's next kick, this one being aimed at his stomach. It seemed Asui favored her legs when it came to physical attacks. "It does not matter to me what All Might says. To harm a fellow student here, that is the sort of action a villain would perform, not a hero. I will not do such things, even if the school wants me to."

Before Jayluf could retaliate with another possible swing or kick of his own, Asui had stepped backwards out of range, almost as if she'd sensed his intentions. "You do realize," she began, "that fighting one another is literally part of the current assignment, yes? The assignment that they will literally grade us on?"

"I do." Jayluf said, undeterred by the underlying threat of a bad grade. That was probably the least of his worries for today.

His response seemed to give Asui pause, as if she hadn't been expecting such an answer. "That's a very quick way to fail a subject, and considering what subject we're currently on right now, I think it is one you should very much want NOT to fail. Especially considering it's the literal first week of school."

Attempting to take her off guard, Jayluf decided to lash out with a boot covered foot, which Asui didn't foresee. The boot planted itself into her stomach, sending her stumbling sideways into the wall. "It does not matter to me," He said. "If failure is the end result of my actions, then so be it. I will not harm innocents, no matter what the school says. I will not be like Bakugo."

Suddenly using the wall she had been leaning against as support, Asui lunged forward, changing it up herself by using her fist instead of her foot, which made contact with Jayluf's chest, sending him to the floor. Crawling backwards to avoid any more punches, she stood on all fours as she peered at him. "What? Like Bakugo? What do you mean you won't be like Bakugo?"

Slowly rising to his feet, Jayluf temporarily used his Cell Command to dull the aching in his chest. He looked back up to face Asui, who was still on her hands and feet, watching him intently. "Bakugo had hurt Midoriya during their battle. Those actions, those are the ones of a villain." He still remembered the image of his friend's burnt form.

Surprisingly, Asui's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Ah, I see now," she said. "So that's what this is all about, is it?"

Attempting one last surprise attack, Jayluf lunged forwards, attempting to take advantage of Asui being on the floor via a kick. But in reality, it was what she had been expecting, for when he had almost reached her location, she suddenly sprang up, jumping all the way to the ceiling, and sticking herself to its surface. Opening her mouth, a pink slimy tendril suddenly lashed out, darting towards Jayluf at a rather incredible speed.

Unable to process what it was in time, Jayluf felt it wrap itself tightly around his body, forcefully pressing his arms to his torso, effectively binding him in place. He eventually realized that this was Asui's tongue, which seemed to have incredible strength. But it was even stronger than he thought, for it then lifted him up OFF the floor, and all the way up right in front of Asui.

Now he was suspended quite high off of the ground, which in normal cases, wouldn't be too much of a concern. But when it came to the hallways of this building, their walls and ceiling were much much higher, several yards, almost half of a story at first glance. His legs dangled helplessly as he glanced to the floor. If Asui decided to drop him, it obviously wouldn't kill him, but the landing would probably be very unpleasant, doubly so when accounting for his costume offering no real protection.

She used her elongated tongue to bring her target closer... Something about that feels familiar... Slowly angling his head up to face Asui, Jayluf gave her a rather indifferent look. "Are you going to drop me?" He wondered out loud. Although he obviously had no desire to fall, he would prefer if he got a warning before it happened.

Asui held up a disarming hand. "No, but if you struggle I might accidentally drop you, so don't do that. But I figured it's best if we cut the fighting, since constantly swinging and kicking when trying to have a conversation isn't going to work out too well."

Jayluf blinked. He hadn't been expecting that as an answer. "What do you mean? What did you wish to speak of?"

"Bakugo, the hot head." Asui said.

Jayluf tilted his head. "What about him?"

"You're still mad at him, right? You seemed upset with All Might somewhat too as well."

Emotions were still not something Jayluf himself was too familiar with exactly. "I do not believe I am mad." In reality, he was simply displeased at the chain of events before, and the actions of Bakugo and All Might being specific parts.

Asui didn't appear to buy his answer for even a second, her eyebrows rising in doubt. "Is that so? All evidence to the contrary."

"Evidence? What do you mean?" Jayluf asked, not recognizing the word "contrary".

"Earlier," Asui started, "you began that whole debacle with that girl earlier, I think her name was Yaoyorozu? When she had begun to speak about the villain side, I didn't hear you let out a single peep. Yet later on, when she began to constructively criticize Midoriya's team, you didn't hesitate to give her a piece of your mind. Sound familiar?"

Jayluf didn't understand what she was trying to imply. "I did not give her any of my brain matter, or any of my organic material in general. And my claim of her criticism being incorrect due to my belief of Bakugo's actions being wrong is not a sign of me being mad."

"If you're truly not mad," Asui began, "what exactly do you feel about that then?"

"It is simple," Jayluf said as a matter of factly. "In regards to what happened between Midoriya and Bakugo, I believe that All Might, Yaoyorozu, and Bakugo are all in the wrong. I believe that I am in the right."

"That much is obvious," Asui muttered. "The part about you thinking you're right part."

Even with her monotone voice, Jayluf still thought she did not believe him. "Do you believe I am in the wrong in this?"

"Well, I didn't exactly say that," Asui hummed, dipping her head forwards slightly in an incredulous manner. "I will say that from what little I've seen of Bakugo in action, it's safe to assume that he gets angry very easily, almost too easy actually. He definitely has a temper, and has a lack of self control emotionally. Although there's no excuse for the stunt he pulled with that grenade gauntlet of his earlier, especially considering that it even got All Might himself worried. He strikes me as the type of person who would not claim any sort of responsibility for his lack of self control."

"So," Jayluf began, slightly taken off guard by her agreeing. "You agree with me, in regards to what Bakugo did during the battle?"

"To an extent," Asui quickly corrected. "But in regards to what All Might did, I can completely agree that he should have pulled the plug on the whole fight early instead of waiting."

"Pulled the plug?"

"It means that he should have stopped it before."

Jayluf looked down in thought. "So… you also agree that All Might too, was in the wrong?"

"Well, yes, and no." Asui said. "I just personally believe he could have handled it much better, not to mention more professionally. All things considered, he did kind of fumble it quite badly." She glanced to the side momentarily. "Honestly, I'll be surprised if this doesn't end up being a PR disaster, or a legal disaster."

"Pee… arr?"

"But anyways," Asui continued, "the point I am trying to make here is that while you and Yaoyorozu were both busy arguing, neither of you didn't even think to address what is probably the most obvious factor of the whole situation."

Jayluf blinked. "We… addressed all of them already, did we not?"

Surprisingly, Asui shook her head. "No, we did not. What neither of you mentioned, was the possibility that All Might maybe, just maybe, merely made a mistake. Ever consider that?"

His thoughts coming to a crashing halt, Jayluf attempted to process what Asui had just said to him. What had she just said? "What?"

"Look, both sides of the argument were one sided and uninformed. Yaoyorozu seemed convinced that whatever All Might chose to do, he was in the right, and that we should blindly follow whatever choice he made since he's our teacher and the Number One Hero." She gestured to Jayluf with her left hand, somehow not losing her grip on the ceiling. "On your side, while you believed that he was in the wrong, you also seemed to be convinced that All Might purposefully continued the battle out of pure malice towards Midoriya instead of simply calling it off. Both of you were so focused on who was right and who was wrong, neither of you saw that it was just an obvious mistake, and nothing more than just that. A mistake."

A mistake… It made sense to Jayluf, but at the same time it didn't. He obviously disagreed with All Might's choices, even if it was "right", but the idea of the Number One Hero making a mistake sounded unheard of. "All Might… making a mistake? But he can't make mistakes… can he?"

"Why not?" Asui retorted quickly.

"Because…" Jayluf began, unsure of his answer. "He is the Number One Hero, is he not?"

Asui stared for a second before she finally seemed to absorb what he said. "Jayluf, do you really think All Might isn't capable of making mistakes because he's the Number One Hero?"

While Jayluf obviously disagreed with what All Might did, he was still conflicted since Yaoyorozu portrayed as All Might being the one to never make a mistake. "I… don't know?"

Asui shook her head. "If you honestly think that All Might isn't capable of messing up, like ever, you have a very unhealthy and unrealistic mindset."

"I… have an unhealthy mind?"

In a rare moment of showing emotion, Asui let out a frustrated sigh. "Jayluf, do you even realize what you're saying right now at this very moment?"

Having no idea what she was trying to say, Jayluf could only shake his head.

"Look," Asui said in an exasperated tone, "what you need to understand is that while yes, All Might is indeed the Number One Hero, he also happens to be something that you and I are as well. Do you know what that is?"

"We are all…" Jayluf began. "Heroes?"

A look of disbelief flashed on Asui's face before it quickly vanished, being replaced by her normal blank expression. "No. What we all have in common, is that we are all human."

Human. The word echoed in Jayluf's mind loudly, the word so unfamiliar, yet familiar at the same time. Human. Yes, of course, I am a human too! Why did he hesitate to believe that for a moment? He shook the thought from his head. "H-Human?"

"Yes…" Asui said slowly, as if explaining a concept to a child. "We are all human here, and do you know what that means?"

Jayluf had no idea how to answer that question. What did it mean to be a human? There were so many factors in being a human, where was he supposed to start for this sort of thing? "We… are alive?"

His answer seemed to make Asui deflate slightly. "No Jayluf… it means that because we're all human, it means we're all capable of making mistakes. Even someone like All Might can make a mistake every once in a while, no matter how hard they try. It's simply in our nature as humans."

"So… you are meaning to say that All Might refusing to stop the battle was not because he wanted Midoriya hurt," Jayluf said as he looked up to Asui, "but instead because he made a mistake?"

"It's a very likely reason why he made the decision he did." She rubbed the back of her head with her right hand. "While I obviously can't say with complete certainty, because I don't know what All Might is thinking, just that I think him goofing up is more probable than what you thought."

"But…" Jayluf began. "Shouldn't he not make mistakes?"

"Of course," Asui quickly said. "He definitely should be setting the best example for all the students here. But remember, All Might isn't a perfect hero. No one is perfect, no matter how hard they try to be. In their line of work, Pro Heroes are bound to eventually mess up. It's basically inevitable for them. Problem is, they happen to usually succeed a lot more than mess up. While it is a good thing, such a clean track record also comes with an unfortunate side effect; expectations."

"Expectations?" Jayluf echoed.

Asui nodded. "The more a Pro Hero flawlessly performs, the more the average civilian will begin to expect them to always be that way, flawless with no mistakes or mess ups. And with the Number One Hero, everyone basically expects him to make absolutely no all of Japan's population expects him to be the utmost perfect hero, with not a smudge or stain to deter the 'perfect' status they've given him."

"Should they not expect him to be the best hero?" Jayluf inquired. All Might was the Number One for a reason, was he not?"

"I never said specifically," Asui countered. "I'm just saying that to expect a single person to be absolutely perfect, with no flaws or imperfections is a very bad thing to do. Combined with the fact that society already as a whole basically expects no errors from All Might, you all are unknowingly placing a colossal weight onto his shoulders, which can become a great burden over time."

Jayluf stopped. "A… burden?"

"Yes. And shouldering a burden like that can slowly eat away at a person's integrity. I don't mean to assume obviously, but while he's smiling for the cameras and the fans while handing out autographs with a friendly thumbs up, every move he makes is under the watchful eyes of thousands or even millions of people. Those same people are the ones unintentionally adding to his burden by expecting him to be perfect."

"Do you think I am adding to his burden?" Jayluf questioned. He didn't like the idea of being a reason why All Might messed up.

"Yes and no, like I just said, it's basically unintentionally." Asui adjusted her posture slightly, shifting her legs slightly back more. "I honestly can't blame you, given the amount of borderline propaganda on television and the internet about how great All Might is and how he's basically untouchable, and I haven't even touched upon how said propaganda is basically completely unneeded when you see how powerful All Might really is. Defeating a villain with a single strike and changing the weather forecast? It's no surprise that people would eat that stuff up."

"So… how do I not add to the burden?" Jayluf said hesitantly.

Asui lifted a finger. "Well, start by lowering your expectations. When expectations get inflated to that level, a single mistake can make people react rather… negatively. It can get to the point where a person could go from a highly respected person to purely being defined by their failure. It was what you almost did earlier, with Yaoyorozu, by causing unintentional collateral damage."

"Damage?" Jayluf repeated, "Who had I damaged? I do not remember attacking anyone there…"

"Earlier. When you suggested that All Might continued the test because he wanted Midoriya to be hurt specifically. But All Might would never want a student to be hurt on purpose, and knowingly causing someone pointless suffering is literally torture."

Torture… Jayluf remembered when the researcher had come into his room, and began to use his medical incision tools to slice his skin open, and while it hurt, it was for their research, so what they did to him by definition, was not torture then. "I see…"

"And what you failed to do as well was to consider the environment and people around you before you began to speak. Think about it," Asui said while holding up a hand, gesturing to everything around them. "We have all literally just begun our school year here at U.A., and everyone in this class are basically strangers to one another. No one really knows each other that well, meaning no one really trusts each other yet at all, because we have yet to form such a bond."

Jayluf looked down. "Are you saying… that I should never speak my mind?"

"No, I didn't say that," Asui replied sternly, poking Jayluf on his forehead. "Don't twist my words. I just mean that you shouldn't ALWAYS speak your mind, no matter the situation. As someone who always speaks what comes to my mind usually, I learned that there are certain times when speaking openly about your thoughts on something is not a good idea. Or that there are certain times when just speaking about a specific topic on your mind in general is not that great of a move either. When I did speak when I wasn't supposed to, there were consequences."

"So… I said something wrong then?" Jayluf assumed.

"Yes," Asui said. "While you were right about All Might being wrong for what he did during the battle, what you suggested about him wanting Midoriya to be hurt, a rumor like that can easily spread. And rumors like that are prone to spread unease and mistrust, especially between the students and the school itself, and damaging the connection that basically keeps a school functional would have dire consequences."

Jayluf stared in surprise. He honestly had not been expecting that to be a risk just because of him speaking his thoughts to defend his friend. "So I've damaged the connection between the school and the students in our class?"

"Well not yet," Asui quickly reassured. "But if you continue to act that sort of way, it might just happen over time. Better not to risk it, right?"

"Then… What should I do?" Jayluf asked. He didn't want to cause harm to the school itself, nor did he think that what he did could cause such damage.

"Well, I'd suggest maybe changing your way of thinking. Yaoyorozu was half right when she asked for you to maybe change how you thought or saw things, but she was wrong with the reasoning to do so."

"What do you suggest I do then?"

"Maybe instead of constantly calling out and focusing on what All Might did wrong, maybe try to address it directly to him in a less crowded room. And probably apologize, if you can. Because it was a rather rude thing to do, even if you didn't mean to be rude, it was kind of in poor taste."

"Apologize? Even though-"

"I know," Asui quickly cut in. "I know. But consider that in the situation that happened, there is no one in the one hundred percent wrong, but that doesn't mean you, Yaoyorozu, or All Might were in the complete right either." She gestured towards the wall. "Everyone could have done something to handle the situation better. It would be best for everyone if we try to amend the already fragile trust between the students and teachers. We have to be willing to work together for the future, as heroes."

Jayluf stewed silently on her speech. So, not everyone was completely wrong, but at the same time not completely right either?

"Look at it this way, Jayluf. All Might is the Number One Hero, right? Someone who would protect the innocent and stop them from being harmed. What do you think is more likely? All Might willingly allowing a fight to continue because he wants one of his own students to get blown up and their arm broken? Or unpleasant consequences happening because of him simply making an error in his judgment about the students that he knows next to nothing about, because he's known them for like an hour?"

There was some sense to Asui's words, oddly enough. She was acknowledging that All Might had made an error, and wasn't the correct one in this scenario. But perhaps he had indeed made a mistake, and didn't mean harm to Midoriya? It made sense to Jayluf. I guess even Pro Heroes can make bad mistakes… "Perhaps you may be correct… but…" Something still felt off. Something in him didn't want to just brush aside what had happened. It clung to his mind and wouldn't let go.

Asui seemed to have caught on to how he was feeling. "Jayluf, I can tell that you're still emotionally bothered about it, and I'm not saying to forget about it. I understand something like this can't just be moved past immediately, and you might need a bit of time to move on from those emotions. I just do not wish for you to be continuously acting based on emotion, like Yaoyorozu had said. Even if someone does something that seems completely out of character, don't immediately assume the worst case scenario of them being a bad person or something, especially when you don't know all the facts."

Jayluf thought about it. "So… Do you think I should apologize?"

"That would be a good start, I should think." Asui replied.

"Do you think All Might will accept it?"

She shrugged. "I'd like to think so. It is All Might after all. And I think he might be more understanding of your viewpoint, now that he's heard it from your point of view properly. After all…" She turned her head to look at something to the side, Jayluf following suite to see what appeared to be one of the strange boxes on the wall. A security camera. "He's been listening to every word we've been saying during the start of this whole discussion." Asui stated. "I remembered that he's able to hear everything we say over the radio, and while you shut yours off, I may have left mine on accidentally. I wonder what he's thinking right now."

Silence.

Then suddenly, All Might's booming voice came over the intercom. "HERO TEAM, WIIIIIIINS!"

She tilted her head. "Hm. Interesting, I guess Tokoyami managed to handle your teammates. Anyways Jayluf, do you think you can do that from now on?"

Jayluf, not caring about the loss due to him being dizzy from even more information as his cells hurriedly worked together to try and effortlessly store the data, nodded. "I suppose you are somewhat right. I'll try changing, and I apologize for not thinking straight."

"Thanks. It might be hard," Asui hummed. "But I think you'll be able to pull through."

Blinking, Jayluf tilted his head curiously. "Do you want to be friends, Asui?"

Asui had a small smile on her face. "Call me Tsu, ribbit."

Oh my god italics and formatting doesn't save anymore, god dammit I wasted a full hour trying to hunt down where I needed to fix everything, paragraphs, italics, bold, who's idea was to not allow the formats to go through via copy paste?! I want to cry. Sorry if any internal monologue isn't properly italicized, my brain is just too fried. I apologize if this isn't what you wanted from this part of the arc. I just thought it would work better for his character, and man does writing excessive dialogue cook my brain like scrambled eggs, which is why I'm not happy at all with this chapter. Only plus is that we're one step closer to the USJ, muahahaha! If you happened to like this, maybe comment, favorite, or follow! Bye!