Green Tea Rescue

by ss3dj

When Midoriya Izuku was 4 his quirk finally manifested. The doctor named it psychokinesis, but his friend Bakugou Katsuki called it worthless. For the next 10 years, Izuku would grow up bullied and isolated. Then, when a new student named Uraraka Ochako transfers into his class the last year of jr high, everything changes. Rated M for eventual themes.

15. Despair Hope Consequences Revelations

Tooru ran. The moment she slipped out the door of the USJ, she ran as fast as she could. Thanks to everyone, she had been able to take Denki's headset and escape the overrun facility. Now that she was out, she just had to get far enough away from the building that she got out of the range of whatever was blocking all their communications.

Her lungs burned, the bottoms of her feet were going to be bruised from running barefoot on the hard concrete, but she didn't care. She had a job to do, and she was going to do it.

I'm not running away. I'm running to get help to save everyone. They're all counting on me!

Reaching up, she tapped the keys on the side of the headset and tried to make the call again. Unlike the first few times, instead of just silence, a soft crackle came from the speakers. It wasn't a ringtone, but it was more than what she had moments ago. She had run almost a mile away, and, finally, she felt there might be hope.

I have to keep going. Don't stop. Just a little further, and I'll be able to contact someone at the school!

Pushing herself, she kept moving. She couldn't let herself stop for anything. Tooru kept repeating those words in her head. Keep moving, and don't stop.

By chance though, when she lifted her head up to try and suck in some air, she saw something. Something was soaring over the tops of the trees some distance away. Looking closer, she corrected herself, it wasn't soaring, it was leaping. Whatever it was, it was jumping so far, it almost looked like it was flying. And it was going to come very close to her if it kept going on its path. As it got closer, she could tell it was a person at least.

Panic filled Tooru.

A villain!? Do I hide? Keep running? They won't be able to see me right?

As the person got closer though, something clicked in Tooru's head. They were coming from the wrong direction.

If that was a villain, they'd be coming from the USJ, not the city...right?

Tooru kept running as she followed the person with her eyes. Whoever they were, they were covering the distance at a scary pace, though they didn't look like they were in a hurry. Just bounding along. They were big too, if Tooru had to make a guess.

Big, and moving like that...wait...WAIT! Is that!?

Tooru slid to a stop, wincing as the concrete scratched up her feet. She squinted against the sunny sky at the figure, not sure if she could believe her eyes.

It's All Might!

"ALL MIGHT!"

Tooru screamed as loud as she could, but the hero was too far away. Too high in the sky to hear her. Worse yet, Tooru realized as she started to wave her arms to get his attention that there was no way for the hero to see her like this.

It looks like he's heading for the USJ, so this is great right...no wait. He wouldn't know about the villains. He'd be walking into a trap. No no no, this is bad.

She had to do something. Anything to get the hero's attention.

"Please All Might...see this."

Tooru focused on the light around her, this wasn't a move she had perfected yet, but all she needed to do was grab All Might's attention. Even for a moment. The light around her started to refract and bend as it passed through her.

All I need is to make myself BRIGHT!

"Light Refraction!"

---

Floating in the air, Ochako let out a startled gasp as she felt herself get pulled hard towards the stairs leading to the USJ exit. It finally dawned on her just what Izuku's plan was.

Wait? Wait he's not! Deku!

Ochako turned to find Izuku as she flew past him, His eyes were filled with determination and relief.

Deku no! This isn't how this is supposed to work!

He was saving them, but leaving himself in danger. This wasn't right. She didn't want this. She didn't want to leave him behind.

Further and further Ochako, Himiko, Tsuyu and Katsuki were carried away, Katsuki complaining the whole time.

"God damn it! This doesn't change a thing, you shit! I didn't ask you to try and help me!"

Himiko swiped at Katuski, but he was just out of her reach, "Will you stop bitching already! We need to figure out what to do about Izuku!"

Tsuyu glanced back, "He's holding all those villains but some are still free. They'll get him…"

"Then all the villains will get him." Himiko finished, her grip on her knives tightening, "...We're going back for him."

"Of course we are," Ochako added firmly. "We're pulling his butt out of that fire, and when all this is over, I am going to rip Deku a new one for doing something so stupid."

Ochako wanted to scream. How could Izuku think this was alright? How could he think she would just leave him at the mercy of all those villains?

I am going to make sure he knows to never do something like this again. Even if I have to drill it into his thick head.

Looking up, they were just about to the steps leading up to the exit. Not wanting Izuku to send them all the way up, Ochako screamed as loud as she could, "DEKU, WE'RE AT THE STEPS! DROP US!"

A moment passed, then the green light around each of them vanished. The moment it did Ochako tapped her fingers together, "release!"

Released from her Quirk, the four landed. Ochako's mind raced with different ways to get back to Izuku. She recalled that out of the four of them, Katuski had the longest range for his attacks. Especially with that cannon on his arm. She just hoped that it was recharged. Ochako turned to Katsuki, "Alright, Bakugou, listen, I need you to-"

"NOMU! KILL THIS FUCKING KID, NOW! "

Ochako's words died in her throat as a cold dread froze her heart. Ochako and everyone turned around just as Nomu swatted Izuku away. The facility was still so loud, with the sounds of combat happening all around them, but for Ochako everything had gone dead silent. She heard the hollow snap and crunch of bones breaking. The horrific crack as Izuku's head bounced off the ground. The harsh ripples of the water as it dragged Izuku away. She heard and saw it all in perfect, cold, harsh, clarity.

Tsuyu croaked, terror holding her in place.

Katsuki was a mix of shock and rage, his mind trying to comprehend what he'd just seen.

Himiko's grip on her knives loosened, both clattering on the ground, as she fell to her knees. She knew what she had just seen. She had just watched Izuku die. Despair tried to force a scream out of her throat, but the shock kept it stuck inside, suffocating her in her own horror.

Ochako felt everything they all felt, and more.

Fear.

No.

Terror.

No.

Horror.

No.

Despair.

No.

Rage.

NO!

While these feelings nailed the others in place, Ocahko rejected them. These horrible thoughts. These terrible feelings would not hold her. No, instead of holding her back, they drove her forward. She didn't hear the startled cries from her classmates as she dashed forward. She didn't hear the mocking jeers from the villains as they neared her. She was focused on only one thing.

Getting to Izuku.

Making herself float, the gyro's in her costume screamed to life as she pushed them to their limits, dragging her as fast as they could upward to the USJ's ceiling. Twisting in the air, Ochako slammed into the giant overhead dome, denting the metal ceiling while her boots strained to absorb the impact as she landed at what felt like terminal velocity. Safely above the villains between her and the lake, Ochako scrambled forward. Pushing herself as fast as she could, all the while, her eyes never left the rippling water where Izuku had landed.

Once she was finally over the water, Ochako switched off the gyros and kicked off the ceiling. Propelled down, Ochako held her hands forward as she took a diving position. Some feet above the water's surface, Ochako tapped her fingers together and dove straight into the water. Slicing through the surface, Ochako began looking for where Izuku had sunk to. If she wasn't so intent on finding him, she would have been horrified at how easy it was. All she had to do was follow the trail of blood that stretched down into the water. Following it down, she soon found Izuku, limply lying on the lake's floor.

Wrapping her arms around his chest, and holding his head against her shoulder, Ochako kicked as hard as she could bringing both of them to the surface. Breaching the water, Ochako gasped from breath. Pulling Izuku with her, she swam to the shore and pulled both of them out of the water. After running all the way to the lake, her dive into the lake, and now that she had Izuku with her, her adrenaline was starting to peter out. With the loss of that adrenaline-powered numbness, she took one look at Izuku and began to fully comprehend the horror that was done to him.

His right arm looked ruined. The flesh was almost black from the blunt force trauma. His forearm was bent inward, something that should be impossible, if not for that fact the bones inside had been crushed. His upper arm was twisted completely around and his shoulder was mashed into his body.

Blood seeped from the gash where his head had hit the ground; half of his cowl was torn away, the other half along with most of his costume was stained red. Soaked from the lake, all the blood spread over him even faster. Added with the injuries he had taken earlier in the Ruins Zone- the punches and the cuts along his chest- Izuku looked like someone out of a horror movie.

So horrified at the damage, it took Ochako a few seconds to realize something else. When they had made it to the surface, he hadn't gasped for air like she had, even though he had been under for longer. When she had held him against herself she hadn't felt him move. She hasn't felt anything from him. She placed a hand on his chest and she lowered her head next to his.

She didn't feel his chest rise and fall.

She couldn't feel his breath on her cheek.

He's not breathing…How long has he been...!? No no no no no no!

"Deku, no! Please no!"

Ochako's mind flashed back to months ago. Back when she and Izuku had only been training together for a couple of months and were about to start doing laps in the ocean. All Might had pulled the two aside, having decided that some basic rescue training was in order before they started. One of the things he taught them was CPR and why it was so important to start right away.

"You both should know, it doesn't take long before a person's brain is permanently damaged from lack of air. If it goes too long, no matter what you do, there will be no saving them. The quicker you start, the better their chances."

Ochako ripped her visor off, and moved Izuku gently into a supine position as she had been taught while she knelt by him.

Okay, I can do this. I have to do this. Just remember the steps.

Pressing the hands onto his sternum, Ochako took one last steadying breath, forcing back her tears through sheer force of will and began to apply compressions, counting off each one. Reaching thirty, she moved to his head, gently tilting his chin up, careful not to do anything that would make his head injury worse, she opened his airway. Leaning down, she pressed her mouth over his, at the same time pinching his nose shut. She puffed one breath into him, watching carefully to see if his chest rose. Seeing that it did, she breathed into him one more time before pulling back and starting the compressions again.

Please, Deku. Please open your eyes. Please...

Ochako was concentrating so hard on trying to revive Izuku she failed to notice that several of the villains she had passed by were starting to advance on her. It was only when they were close enough for her to hear them that she realized.

"Is this little girl seriously trying to do CPR in front of all of us?"

"I think she's an idiot."

Freezing as she was about to start the next set of breaths, Ochako's head snapped up in horror. The villains were practically on top of them, laughing as they got closer. To make matters worse, out of the corner of her eye, she could see the three from the Shipwreck Zone walking over to her position too.

Tomura.

Kurogiri.

Nomu.

Her mind raced. She had to get them away, but every moment that she wasted was another moment closer to Izuku never coming back. She couldn't stop, but she couldn't stay. Staying there, knelt down like she was, she was defenseless. The villains wouldn't have to do much to kill her. She could run, but that thought was instantly tossed away. Nothing was going to make her leave Izuku's side. If she could only get him to cough, to take a single breath on his own, then she could escape with him. Hurriedly she bent back down and puffed two breaths back into his lungs before desperately applying the compression to his chest.

Deku, you have to breathe. Just one gasp or cough. Anything!

A shadow of a villain fell over her, "Time's up, little girl."

In the villain's hand he carried a long metal pipe that he raised above his head, ready to beat Ochako to death, "At least you'll get to be with your little boyfriend after you die."

More laughter from the villains. The man swung down, and Ochako covered Izuku with her body, a last ditch attempt to save her dearest friend from getting hurt anymore.

Mom, Dad… I'm so sorry...

Thunk!

Thunk!

Thunk!

Thunk!

Thunk!

Thunk!

Six soft, hollow impacts, followed by the harsh clang as the metal pipe hit the ground made Ochako look up. She watched as six of the villains fell to the ground, faces contorted as they screamed in agony. Each villain had a metal cylinder, with a long clear tube, sticking out of their backs. The remaining villains whirled around to find Himiko standing behind them. Ochako's eyes went wide, wondering when the other girl had followed after her. Himiko met her gaze and screamed, "Keep going! I'll keep these bastards busy!"

Ochako immediately went back to work while Himiko reached up and grabbed all of the tubes in her hand and yanked all the syringes out. With a small flick of her wrist, she made sure the needles sliced across another villain's face, leaving deep scratches over his eyes. He fell, clutching at his face, screaming and blood seeped through his fingers. The remaining villains launched themselves at Himiko, forgetting about Ochako and Izuku completely. Himiko ducked a wild swing as her syringes were drawn back into place. Reaching for her thigh holsters, Himiko filled her hands with all the remaining throwing knives she had. Holding them between her fingers, she started throwing them as fast as she could aiming at all the villains' legs. It was the fastest and most sure way to down them short of actually killing them. Falling onto her back, she turned her attention to the villain that had tried to punch her. Lifting her feet up, she drove her heels into his knees. There were twin pops as the villain pitched forward, his knees bending in the completely wrong direction. Rolling up onto her shoulders, Himiko kipped-up off the ground and landed back on her feet. After her attack, all but one of the villains were on the ground in a great deal of pain. She glared at the last thug who put his hands up and started to back away.

Right into Tomura.

"You guys are really useless, aren't you."

"Bos- URK!"

Himiko didn't bat an eye as the man's body crumpled into a pile of gore just from a touch of Tomura's hand. The league's leader looked down at all the villains he had brought and sighed dramatically, "this is really just sad. I know you guys wouldn't stand much of a chance against pro's, but to get beat by students... That's just sad."

"Shigaraki, we must leave soon before the U.A. teachers arrive."

Tomura waved Kurogiri off, "I know. Just be ready to warp us out. These kids have really thrown a wrench into my plan. They need to pay for that."

Himiko tensed. She was now standing between the three villains and Ochako who was still desperately giving Izuku CPR. Subtly, she did a quick count of what she had left to work with.

All my throwing daggers are stuck in the villains. I have two combat knives left, my six needles and my bracers...Shit.

"Nomu."

The giant monster tilted their head.

"You were too fast with that boy. Make sure you make this hurt for the girls."

The Nomu screeched and began to advance. Walking slowly up to the students. Himiko launched all of her syringes right into its chest, though she wasn't sure what good it would do. She had seen the monster shrug off a boat and an explosion. Knowing that, Himiko was shocked when the needles pierced into the monsters chest, and the machine on her back started to suck out its blood. Nomu didn't seem bothered at all by this, but it showed that it could at least be hurt.

But why did that work?

Himiko's thoughts were cut off when the Nomu reached up and gripped the tubing. Right as they gave it a pull, Himiko sliced through the tubes and backpedaled, preventing herself from being dragged over to the monster. Blood dripped from the ends the Nomu still held; without a care it yanked all the needles out of its chest and dropped them to the ground, crushing them beneath its feet.

Well shit, now if I survive this, the nutjobs back in the support department are going to kill me. So what now? He can get stabbed, but not blown up or crushed? What kind of Quirk does this freaking thing have? Should I try for that exposed brain? Also, is it just my imagination or did my needle not leave any-!

The world around came to a screeching halt as a harsh hacking wheeze reached Himiko's ears. The sound almost didn't seem real; it was almost inhuman. Even the villains stopped and turned to look while Himiko glanced over her shoulder. Ochako had stopped giving CPR and was kneeling down, eyes wide in shock and looking on the verge of breaking in tears. Izuku was spitting out water and blood from his lungs, while, at the same time, desperately sucking in as much air as he could, leaving him a wet, bloody, wheezing, hacking, coughing mess. But most importantly an alive, wet, bloody, wheezing, hacking, coughing mess.

It was getting harder and harder for Ochako to hold herself together. No sooner had she just breathed into Izuku again, then his chest heaved and he started coughing. The shock of him suddenly coming back to her left her momentarily dumbfounded. Her mind just stopped working. It was only when she felt a hand rest on her arm that she was able to focus, and look down. Izuku had laid his hand on her and even while seriously hurt, blood pooling around him, his glazed over eyes focused just enough to look right at Ochako, "Ura..raka..you..'re...o...kay?"

"Are you kidding me!? How hard is it to kill some snot nosed kids!?"

Tomura screamed, hands scratching at his neck, "Do I have to do everything myself!? Kill them! Kill them! KILL THEM!"

Ochako's head snapped up, wrapping her arms around Izuku. Himiko pulled the last two knives out, ready to rush forward.

Then there was a loud boom and crash that echoed throughout the whole of the USJ. Everyone turned to find the source of the noise.

It had come from the entrance.

A large dust cloud blanketed the top of the steps, but soon a shadow could be seen walking through. A very large shadow.

"It's fine now!"

The dust began to clear, and everyone saw who had arrived.

"I am here!"

All Might had finally arrived.

Himiko sighed, "The hell, playing up the, in the nick of time, cliche a little close, Teach."

Ochako held Izuku close to her chest, turning him just enough so he could look up the steps, "We're going to be okay, Deku. You're going to be okay. Look, it's All Might!"

Slowly, Izuku's eyes looked up at the figure in the distance. He could feel himself slowly putting everything back together: The USJ, the attack, the danger they were in. As everything started to come back to him, his eyes focused, "All...Might…"

Tomura started to laugh. A feeling of absolute joy filling him as he looked up at the symbol he hated so much, "Oh? We got a continue? Then we have a real chance now. We can kill All Might for sure before the teachers get here."

---

"Then all these villains came out of this warp guy. There were so many! And none of the alarms were working and we could call for help! Aizawa Sensei lept in to fight them and told us to run, but the warp guy got us! He sent almost everyone to different parts of the building! Thirteen wanted me to sneak out and use this headset to try and call the school, but when I was leaving I saw her get really hurt! Now I….now I…"

"Young Hagakure, you have done splendidly. I understand what's going on now. I will rush to the USJ at once. I want you to continue on and get the teachers over here. Understand?"

"Yes sir, All Might!"

All Might might not have been able to see Tooru, but he could hear the way her voice trembled. She was afraid. Terrified even. Even still, she was doing her best to ensure her classmates and teachers had the best chance to survive this attack. But if she was still so scared, out in the open where she was safe, what must the other students be feeling right now. An anger built up inside All Might's chest. Kicking off the ground, All Might launched himself into the air right toward the USJ building.

If I hadn't been so foolish, none of this would be happening. Even if these villains wanted me, I would have been able to do something!

Shaking his head, All Might crashed through the doors of the building. He could hear the startled gasps of some students, crouched over the injured form of Thirteen.

My fellow heroes fought so hard to protect the children too...

With each step All Might took, he could feel himself get even angrier. These children should not have had to face something so horrible like this. It hadn't even been a week of their first year, and to deal with such an attack. It made it impossible for All Might to show his smile.

But, at the very least, I can give them this message. I must stand before them and proudly say…

"It's fine now! I am here!"

All Might's voice boomed throughout the facility. Eijirou and Denki cheered, while Kouji slumped in relief. Walking further in, All Might began to take stock of everything he could see. Down the steps he could see four more students. Katsuki and Tsuyu were helping Mina and Fumikage carry Aizawa up the stairs, though the four had stopped when they saw him. All Might's teeth clenched when he saw how badly hurt Aizawa was. Both the teachers had been hurt because of his carelessness. He would have to make sure to apologize once this was over. A small glimmer of pride did fill him as he saw the students working together to take care of their injured teachers.

"All Might! All Might!" Tsuyu called out.

Looking down, he was about to let her know it was going to be alright, when he saw she was pointing. Pointing out towards the lake. He let his eyes wander up, and was startled to see a great deal of damage had been done to the courtyard. Half of a large boat was lying in the center of the room, and there were multiple bodies laying around.

The villains? It looks like Eraser Head was able to get a lot of them. Or perhaps the students stepped in as well. Some of those injuries don't match Eraser Head's style.

Looking further, his eyes fell onto the shore where there were even more bodies, and three villains left standing: one matching the description of the warp villain; an unimpressive man; and a towering giant All Might could tell would be trouble just by looking at him.

It looks like those are the main threat. I'll deal with them and...and…

His thought trailed off. He finally saw what Tsuyu had been pointing at, Young Toga stood guard, placing herself between the villains and Ochako and Izuku. He then saw Ochako cradling the broken and bloody body of Izuku. Even from this distance away, he could see all the blood, and he felt a fear and terror he hadn't felt in so many years.

"Young Uraraka...Young Midoriya...oh my god.

The ground shattered under his feet as he kicked off, rushing to their side. Any villain that was still standing that was between him and his protégés was instantly slammed into the ground. The villains Kurogiri and Tomura were also two he intended to neutralize on his way, but the giant Nomu grabbed them and leapt back, keeping them safe. All Might would have been impressed, and more than a little worried about Nomu's speed, if he wasn't completely focused on Izuku. During his time as a hero, All Might had seen more than his fair share of horror. People hurt from natural disasters or by the hands of other people. He wasn't numb to it by any means, but he had built up a strong stomach.

Seeing Izuku looking like he was though, broke his heart. His composure was about to crumble when Izuku reached out with his unbroken arm towards him, and despite his injuries, despite the pain and fear he must be in, Izuku's eyes were filled with hope.e smiled up at his hero, "All Might...you're here."

He's smiling. In his condition, after going through all this, he's smiling?

Not only was All Might stunned by just how composed and calm Izuku was, but hearing him speak like that finally burst the dam that Ochako had been holding back. Tears cascaded down her cheeks as she started to sob, holding Izuku against her. All Might knelt down and took Izuku's outstretched hand in one of his, and put another on Ochako's shoulder. Speaking softly, All Might did his best to reassure the two that everything would be okay, "Come now Young Uraraka, you're flipping the roles. It's supposed to be Young Midoriya that has the water works. I'm too old for you two to be flipping the script now."

Despite everything, the three shared a soft chuckle between themselves. This time of peace was quickly ended as Tomura spoke, "Hey, hey. Did you forget we've been waiting for you too?"

All Might stood up and turned to look at the villains, "Young Toga, would you be so kind as to help carry Young Midoriya to safety?"

Himiko nodded and hurried over to Ochako. As the two helped Izuku to his feet, Ochako turned towards All Might, "All Might, wait. That Nomu. He has some kind of invulnerability Quirk. I hit him with half of that boat, but it didn't do anything to him."

All Might glanced quickly at the half of the ship that had crashed in the courtyard, "Thank you for the words of warning, Young Uraraka. Now please stay back. I will handle this now."

With the three falling back, All Might turned his full attention to the villains, "Coming after me is one thing, villain. I'm a pro; I handle low lifes who think they'll get lucky all the time. But you went beyond that. These are students; children. This horror you've inflicted on them, I will not allow it to stand."

Tomura shrugged, "You heroes are the trash of this society. Government officials with a license to commit horrendous acts of violence on the ones you deem threats. And you, All Might, are the very pinnacle of this society. Of course we'd want to kill you, our greatest oppressor."

"Spare me the speech. You don't even believe what you're saying. If that was the case, you would have just left once you saw I wasn't here. No, you stayed so you could hurt the children too. You're not here because of some moral. You're here because you just want violence."

"Well, I suppose that's true. Leave it to a pro to call me out like that. Though it's not completely untrue. I hate heroes. So while I hate you most of all, I want to kill all heroes too. You're like weeds, and the best way to kill a weed," Tomura turned and looked over at Ochako and Himiko as they helped Izuku get away, "is to rip it out, root and stem."

All Might had heard enough. Rushing forward,All Might raised both his arms across his chest, ready to swiftly take Tomura out.

"Carolina!"

Out of the corner of his eye All Might saw Nomu dash from where it had been standing. Putting themself right between All Might's attack and Tomura.

"Smash!"

All Might's hands came down with enough force to send shockwaves through the air, shattering all the concrete around them. Nomu however took the attack head on, and, to All Might's shock, was completely unharmed.

To be able to take a punch is one thing. This is something else...Young Uraraka seems to be right. It's a Quirk of some kind.

Nomu quickly reached out for All Might, who leapt back. Nomu, however, rushed to close the distance.

Tomura whistled as he watched the fight, "He's so fast. I couldn't even follow his attack. Without Nomu I'd be a goner for sure...but you know, he's not as fast as I thought he'd be. Sensei was right; he's slowing down."

Ducking under Nomu's hand, All Might delivered a punch right into their gut, but once again it had no effect on the giant. Changing tactics, All Might moved to targeting the head, delivering two massive punches, one into their jaw and another right into the side of their head. However, like before, this had no effect.

"You're wasting your time, All Might. This Nomu was genetically engineered to be the perfect match for you. He's as strong as you; he's as fast as you; and his Shock Absorption Quirk is the perfect counter to you."

Himiko stopped momentarily, her head whipping around to look back at the fight, "Shock Absorption; that explains it."

Ochako frowned, "huh?"

"Why when you hit that thing with the boat, and when Bakugou blasted it. If it can absorb the shock of an impact, then that's why it looked invulnerable. It also explains why I was able to stab it. Different kinds of impact trauma."

Ochako looked back at the fight worriedly, "Then that's why All Might's punches aren't working?"

"Probably. If I was All Might, I'd probably try and rip the thing apart. But I don't think that's All Mights style, so I'm not sure what he'll do."

"He'll win," Izuku answered. "All Might always finds a way to win."

Nomu connected a punch that sent All Might sliding back yards. All Might had to admit that this Nomu was indeed a very formidable opponent. A straight up fist fight might not be the best course of action. Perhaps if he had more time, but he was down to minutes.

I originally thought I'd have enough time to swing by for a brief hello and apologize for missing the class. I was not prepared for this kind of confrontation at all.

All Might chided himself. This was another consequence of his foolishness today, but there would be time to dwell on that later. Right now, he needed to focus on winning.

"Engineered, you say? You don't strike me as the mad-scientist type."

Ducking another swing, All Might decided to change up his attack. Rushing behind Nomu, All Might wrapped his arms around their stomach. Grabbing his hand, All Might bent backwards and suplexed Nomu head first into the ground as hard as he could. Hard enough that a pillar of dirt and dust exploded up into the ceiling, and sent shockwaves through the air like gale force a fist fight wouldn't work, he could at least trap this villain in the ground. Shock Absorption wouldn't help it with its head and body drilled into the ground.

Ochako and Himiko did their best to shield their eyes and Izuku's from the dust and wind. Even from where they were, they had felt the impact of All Mights attack. Himiko whistled, "Okay, that works too."

As the dust began to clear, the three's awe turned sour.

All Might was still bent back in the suplex with the Nomu's lower body still in his hold, driven not through the ground as he had intended, but a black warp portal. A second one was opened right underneath All Might's back, where Nomu's head and arms stuck out. Nomu reached up and grabbed onto All Might's side, digging his fingers into his flesh. Right into All Might's old scar. All Might winced as he let go and grabbed onto Nomu's hand, trying to force the monster to release him

Damn, he's got me right in my weak spot!

"Excellent! Good job, Kurogiri. You picked just the right moment to make your move."

Looking at the balck portal underneath himself, All Might then looked over at Tomura, "Not confident in your monster to fight me, huh?"

Tomura scratched his neck while shrugging, "Nomu was never supposed to kill you in the first place. All he was supposed to do was make sure we could spring our trap." Tomura pointed up at Kurogiri, "He's the one thats going to kill you."

Kurogrir's eyes narrowed as the portals underneath All Might began to shrink down, "I was not fond of this plan, but if it's to kill someone like you, I will gladly deal with all the blood and guts that will spill into me."

That sounds bad!

"Once Nomu pulls your body into my warp gate, I will close the gates and tear you apart."

That sounds really bad!

Izuku's eyes went wide as he realized how much danger All Might was in. If he couldn't break free of Nomu's grip, he was going to die. Panic filled him as he struggled to get back and do something to help his hero. Ochako's and Himiko's tightened their hold on him startled by him trying to get away, "Deku, hold on a second!"

"NO! I have to do something!"

Trying to take a step forward, Izuku's legs collapsed under him, almost sending the three tumbling to the ground. Fortunately the girls were able to keep themself upright and prevented Izuku from falling flat on his face.

"Are you stupid! You're hurt, you idiot!" Himiko growled out, "Stop fighting us!"

"Deku, please, stop!"

Izuku looked over at Ochako, desperate eyes pleading to be let go so he could do something, "Uraraka we have to do something. Please! All Mights...he's…"

"Recipro Burst!"

The scream was the only warning anyone got before a roar of an engine and a streak of silver slammed into Kurogiri and drove him into the ground.

Tenya thanked his luck that he had guessed right and had attacked where he recalled Himiko had been able to strike him before.

Toga was able to cut him, so he had to have a body somewhere. Why else would he be wearing that metal brace except to protect his body!

"Shinso, NOW!"

Hitoshi, who had been holding onto Tenya's back, swore under his breath, wondering how he let the class rep talk him into a piggy back. Pulling himself up he looked down at Kurogiri over Teyna's shoulder, "Hey, you black mist bastard; how'd you like that?!"

"You impud…"

Kurogiri fell silent, coming under the effects of Hitoshi's Quirk.

"I got him! Now you, you stay on the ground and don't move!"

While Kurogiri was dealt with, the ground around Nomu and All Might froze as ice shot across its surface and slammed into Nomu, freezing its arm and legs. The ice stopped short of reaching All Might, who looked over and was stunned to see Shouto not far off, "Young Todoroki?"

Reaching down, All Might could feel Nomu' grip loosening because of the ice. Seeing his chance, All Might was able to force himself free of their grip and lept to safety.

"My thanks, everyone."

Shouto shrugged, "You are the symbol of peace, All Might. You can't fall to the likes of these people."

Izuku couldn't believe what he was seeing, Tenya, Hitoshi and Shouto had appeared out of nowhere and had just saved All Might, "guys, you're all here?"

Hitoshi looked over at the three, and gasped when he saw Izuku, "holy crap, Midoriya, what the hell happened to you?"

Tenya was equally horrified as he hurried over while Hitoshi stayed with Kurogiri, "Midoriya, you're injured!"

"It's not as bad…"

Two sets of eyes zeroed in on Izuku, who clamped up immediately.

Maybe now is not the time to try and act like I'm alright.

Himiko looked up at Tenya, "I had no idea you could move that fast."

Ochako nodded, "Do you think you could use that speed and get Izuku somewhere safe?"

Tenya shook his head sadly, "I'm afraid not. My engines stall after I move like that. It'll be a few minutes before I can use them again."

Frowning, Ochako nodded in understanding, "Well at least you guys took care of that Nomu and Kurogiri."

"Now all that's left, is the leader." Himiko added as everyone turned to look at the, now alone, villain.

---

Tomura, now standing by himself, looked around himself as he took stock of his situation. His body posture and voice was eerily calm for someone now backed into a corner.

"Kids these days are really incredible aren't they? Not only are most of you uninjured," His head twitched towards Izuku, with Ochako and Himiko sneering back at him, "But that one was even able to subdue Kurogiri somehow. Now our exit plan is out of commission. You did all that even after dealing with the rest of the league when he scattered you. You're so great that you make the rest of the League of Villains look bad."

All Might, pressing his hand against his injured side, stared Tomua down, "Time's up. The other teachers are surely on their way by now. And now that your muscle and exit strategy are out, you are all on your own. Surrender."

Himiko's face twisted at the idea, "Or don't. I'd love to see All Might put you in the ground."

No one else noticed Ochako, Izuku, and All Might flinch a little at that. While they each might want to see the villains leader taken out, to varying degrees, they were all very aware that when All Might had said 'time's up,' he could easily have been talking about himself. Tomura though paid Himiko no mind, nor did he seem worried about All Might's statement. He just looked over to his side, "Nomu, get up."

Twisting around, Nomu pulled itself out of the portal, their frozen arm and leg cracking before finally shattering, sending shards and chunks of ice and frozen flesh scattered on the ground. Shouto's eyes went wide in shock at the display of self mutilation. Freed, they twisted their head around to look right at the group.

Tenya wasn't sure what to think, "that villains just...why would it do something like that?"

"It still wants to fight? How can it like that?" Ochako added, horrified.

Just what kind of monster is this thing?

More ice broke away from Nomu as the exposed ruined flesh twisted and bulged. Muscle and tendons reformed and everyone watched as Nomu regrew its lost limbs.

"What the fuck!?" Himiko swore loudly, "Didn't you say their Quirk was Shock Absorption?"

Tomura just shrugged, "I never said that was his only Quirk. I said Nomu was made to be the perfect match against All Might. Now Nomu," Tomura turned and pointed right at Kurogiri, and Hitoshi, "go get our gate back."

SHIT!

In a flash, Nomu disappeared and the area that Hitoshi was standing exploded in a cloud of dust with enough force to push everyone back. Ochako wrapt her arms around Izuku as she tried to protect him from the blast.

"Deku, are you alright?"

Izuku nodded, but Ochako could feel how stiff he was holding himself, and the way his broken arm was twitching and starting to spasm.

"Uraraka, what about Shinso?" Izuku asked through pained gasps.

As Shouto helped Tenya up, Himiko looked over at the huge dust cloud, "oh shi...wait Hitoshi?"

Everyone turned to where Himiko was looking and found Hitoshi flat on his butt, looking just as confused as everyone else as to how he was with them. Quickly the shock wore off as he cursed under his breath, "Crap, that broke my hold on that Kurogiri guy."

As the dust cleared, Nomu and Kurogiri stood tall, the black mist narrowing his eyes at Hitoshi who gulped at the glare.

Izuku started to put together what had happened, since there was still someone missing. Along the ground were deep grooves that lead to a shattered wall dividing the zones of the USJ. Right in the middle was All Might, arms held up to protect himself from the devastating.

"Damn, do you not know how to hold back?"

Tomura shrugged, "Nomu was only trying to rescue a valued colleague. Ah ,but that's the hypocrisy of a hero for you. Now that we're back together, lets try this again, huh."

While the three villains turned their attention back towards All Might, the hero's dire situation had become obvious to the group. Hitoshi got up with a frown, "All Might had his hands full with the big guy. If they team up on him, he's going to be in big trouble."

Shouto nodded, "Then we should back him up."

Tenya checked his legs and frowned, "My engines are still stalled, but I can fight. Though what about Midoriya? He needs to get taken away from here."

"No...I can still," Izuku while trying to stand felt his legs give out, though Ocahko was still there to keep him up, she made sure to cut him off.

"You are doing nothing." Ochako countered sternly.

"No, I want all of you to stay back. Take Young Midoriya and flee at once."

"If these three hadn't shown up, you'd have been in big trouble, you know," Himiko stated.

"True, and I will make sure to thank everyone properly once this is over. But this is a different situation now. If you all get too close, I won't be able to fight without worrying about your safety. Please stay back, and let a pro show you what he's made of."

"But All Might?" Izuku started to say, but a quick smile from the hero silenced him. He knew what had the boy so worried. What had Ochako looking at him with such trepidation. Time. They both knew his time was almost up.

"Kurogiri, Nomu. Let's go"

The three villains charged in, while All Might took a deep breath and prepared himself.

It's true I may have less than a minute left, but how can I call myself a hero if I drag children into this fight? No, I will deal with this threat here and now. I will show these villains what it means to face the symbol of peace!

All Might launched himself at the villains, with Nomu intercepting him half way. Their initial contact sent shockwaves throughout the whole building. Gale force winds ripped around them, pushing everyone back. Ochako, still holding onto Izuku, was pushed a little further back than the others. Having to hold onto each other made fighting back against the winds much more awkward.

In a flurry of punches, Nomu and All Might went blow for blow as Tomura laughed even as he and Kurogiri were pushed back by the strong winds, "You idiot. Don't you remember what his Quirk is?"

"Shock Absorption right? So what? If it's only absorption and not nullification, then I bet it has a limit. Let's find out!"

The students watched in amazement while the villains watched in horror as little by little, Nomu was pushed back as the punches from All Might got faster and stronger. Suddenly, Nomu was knocked off their feet and stumbled backward. All Might seeing his opening, drew his fist back and summoned all the power he could. He could feel One for All swell and burn within him, even as his body's time limit fought to douse the flames.

"You decided to come to our school, so let me teach you something before you go. It's our school's motto. Go beyond! PLUS ULTRA!"

All Might's fist slammed into Nomu's chest with the force of a missile. Their Quirk tried to absorb the impact, deforming as it did, but nothing was going to lessen the power of the punch. With a crack of thunder, Nomu was launched through the air, ripping right through the roof of the USJ and rocketinf into the sky.

The students, once the shock and awe over the power they just witnessed wore off, started to cheer.

Slowly, All Might lowered his fist and stood up straight, which was all he could do now. His body was done, screaming at him to release his form and to let it transform back to normal. Gritting his teeth, he fought back. He still had to deal with the last two. If he was lucky, the loss of their monster would demoralize them. And all he'd need to do is bluff them to either buy time, or for them to escape. It wasn't ideal, but it was all he had now.

"So what now? Your monster is long gone. Do you want to keep fighting, or do you want to make a break for it?"

Tomura took a step back, eyes wide in shock, "How? How did he do that? Nomu was supposed to match him. What the hell just happened?"

While Tomura started to become undone, the students, save for Izuku and Ochako, started to see light at the end of the tunnel. Victory was so close.

Himiko whistled, glancing back at Izuku, "Okay. I take back what I said the other day. All Might lives up to the hype. Holy fucking shit."

Any other day, any other time, Izuku would have been overjoyed to hear Himiko say that. Right now though, he couldn't. Not because he was in too much pain, which he was. Not because the wound to his head was starting to make him nauseous, which he was. Not because the blood loss was making it hard to stay conscious, which it was. No, it was because as he looked at All Might, he could see through the smoke and dust, wisps of steam coming off his body. Steam he only ever saw when All Might was about to transform back into his smaller form.

He was about to transform back while two of the villains were still standing.

"Uraraka, look."

Ochako knew what Izuku saw, "I see it, Deku."

"It's the steam he makes when he comes out of his transformation. Uraraka, he's out of time."

Izuku was shaking, and all Ochako could think to do was agree with him, "I know Deku. He's… he's bluffing."

Her gaze then turned towards the villains.

Come on, buy it. Just run away already. What kind of maniac would still want to go after All Might after seeing what he just did to that Nomu.

She could see that Tomura was freaking out again, screaming that All Might must have cheated. Even if he just kept freaking out, then that was still more time for the other teachers to show up. She was about to try and reassure izuku again that everything was going to be okay, when Kurogiri wrapped himself around Tomura and started talking to him. Soon Tomura had calmed, and both villains were looking right at All Might.

"That's right...That's right. The final boss is right in front of us. We can't just leave now. We're almost at the congratulations screen."

Oh no.

Tomura took off screaming while Kurogiri shadowed him. Ochako's breath caught in her throat, All Might was in trouble and there wasn't anyone to help him now. She felt a strong pressure on her hand. Izuku had grabbed tightly onto her. Figuring he must be just as scared, if not more so than her, Ochako turned to at least turn him away. To give him some kind of comfort, even if it was going to be a lie. When she did though she realized that Izuku wasn't just holding her hand anymore. He had lifted her hand up and pressed it against his chest. With his unbroken left hand, he pressed each of her fingers into himself. Looking up at his face, she saw him look apologetic before his focus went back to the charging villains. It was the moment after she felt her Quirk take effect and Izuku began to glow green that she realized what he had done.

"Dek-!"

Izuku ripped himself free of Ochako, and with his gravity removed, launched himself right at the villains.

NO NO NO NO NO NO!

Every horrible emotion she had felt when she had watched Izuku get hurt before ripped Ochako's heart apart as she watched Izuku fly away, "DEKU, NO!"

Ochako's scream got everyone's attention as they looked to see what was happening. Himiko turned around just as Izuku rocketed past her.

"The hell, IZUKU?!"

"Midoriya!"

"What are you doing?!"

---

Izuku knew three things. One: ever since he'd hit his head, his legs had turned to jelly. He wasn't able to stand without someone holding him up. Two: even if he could run, he'd never be able to close the distance to help All Might in time. Three: when a person was under the effect of Ochako's Zero Gravity Quirk, he could move them like anything else. So what he had done, making Ochako use her Quirk on him, made perfect sense. As he was now, he would easily reach the villains before they got to All Might. None of this helped the guilt he felt for using Ochako as he had. But he couldn't focus on that. He had to stop the villains before All Might was hurt.

"GET AWAY FROM ALL MIGHT!"

The villains and All Might turned in alarm as Izuku screeched past the hero.

"Young Midoriya!?"

"What the fu-!"

"Shigaraki!"

Izuku slammed into Tomura, the force knocking the man off his feet as he was driven back several yards as Izuku kept pushing himself forward until Tomura tipped over, and Izuku slammed him into the ground. The collision jolted his broken arm so much that Izuku almost blacked out. Through force of will, and a small miracle, Izuku kept conscious, and forced his knees into Tomura's chest as he straddled him. Raising his left hand, Izuku drove his fist right into the villain's head. Izuku delivered punch after punch, while Tomura screamed in rage. Tomura's hand shot out and slammed into Izuku's face, he made sure to squeeze each finger down as hard as he could. After a second though, nothing happened, much to his confusion.

What, my Quirk isn't working? How…?

Glancing to his side, off in the distance, he saw the very faint red glow of Aizawa's eyes looking right at him.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

As Izuku batted Tomura's arm away, the villain's hand snagged onto the rest of his mask, ripping it away while Izuku hit Tomura with the strongest left hook he could, knocking the severed hand off his face. For the first time that day, both finally got a good look at the other. The faces they saw brought both to a halt as realization hit them. Hard.

"The TA from the office!?"

"You're that stupid brat!?"

Shock quickly gave way to horror as Izuku realized that the person leading this attack, the person that had endangered and hurt his friends and classmates was the same person he had met in the teachers office the other day. The same person that he hadn't told anyone he had seen. Izuku's horror made him hesitate, which Tomura capitalized on, kicking Izuku off of him and sending him tumbling through the air.

"You! I should have killed you the moment I saw you! Well, I'll kill you now!"

Tomura lunged at Izuku, who was in too much pain and shock to defend himself. The jolt sapping any strength Izuku had left. His vision darkened at the edges as all his injuries finally broke through his adrenalin and left him completely helpless.

BANG!

A gunshot ripped through the air as Tomura grabbed his leg as a bullet ripped through his thigh. Several more gunshots rang out that hit his other leg and arms. As Tomura fell to the ground, the rest of the bullets were absorbed by Kurogiri as he encircled the fallen leader.

Izuku could just make out Tomura's ranting, promising he would be the one to kill All Might. The villain's rants were not only what Izuku focused on before he finally lost consciousness. It was the sight of all of U.A. 's teachers standing on top of the steps of the USJ, finally coming to save them all.

They're here...They're finally here… All Might… Uraraka… you're all safe…

---

Tomura grunted as Kurogiri gently warped him onto the floor of their hideout. A bar for the time being. With Tomura lying down, Kurogiri went in search of first aid for his gunshot injuries. As he did, he turned on a monitor. The words 'sound only' flashed onto the screen before a voice spoke.

"Ah, Tomura, Kurogiri. I see the mission did not go as you had planned."

"You were wrong, Sensei. All Might wasn't weak at all."

"Hmm no. It wasn't that he wasn't weak. You were just not fully prepared to deal with all the variables. Almost all your forces were decimated before he even showed up."

A new voice joined from the screen, "Yes, those children were much stronger than we planned. We underestimated them. Fortunately, we used that throwaway League of Villains name so the heroes won't be looking for us. At the very least this failure won't affect yourself, Master. All for One can still rest easy."

Tomura reluctantly agreed. He hadn't been lying when he had said the kids had been incredible before. "They were strong...but it was that one brat. He's the one to blame for everything going wrong. Midoriya Izuku. If he hadn't stepped in, I would have killed All Might! I should have killed him the moment I saw him at that school!"

"No, Tomura," All for One spoke calmly, trying to soothe the injured young man, "Even if your decision ended in an unwelcome outcome, it was still the correct one to make at the time. If you had killed the boy, then this attack would have been impossible."

The second voice spoke again, "By the way, What happened to Nomu? Master and I spent a great deal of time on that creation to make him as strong as All Might."

"Gone. All Might blasted the thing into orbit I think."

"WHAT!?"

Kurogiri, returning with first aid, cut in to explain, "All Might's final attack launched the Nomu out of the building. With such a short amount of time, and without knowing where it had landed, I was unable to warp and retrieve it."

While the second voice grumbled angrily, All for One sighed, "It's unfortunate, but it cannot be helped now. We may all have regrets on how this mission went, but let us not see it as a complete failure. We now have a better understanding of our enemy, so let us use that to our advantage. We now know that just picking up random street thugs will not be enough, so, Tomura, I want you to start looking for elites. People with power that can rival heroes. Do not rush this; you may take all the time you need to build a true league. This league, and yourself, will become a new symbol that the world will fear."

---

After the teachers arrived, everything else that happened was a blur for Ochako. Their counter attack against the League of Villains was swift and brutal. Whatever power the League thought they had in numbers was shattered under the might of the U.A. teachers. In a matter of minutes, all the villains were defeated and the students and faculty were saved. All Might had been quickly whisked away before anyone saw him in his depowered state. Jirou and Momo were recovered from the landslide they had caused in their zone. The two had been in good spirits and unharmed; the shelter Momo had thrown around them protected them from the falling rocks. Minoru, Yuuga, Hanta, and Mashirao had been congratulated by some of the teachers on capturing the villain responsible for disabling their alarms and communication.

Izuku had been loaded up on a stretcher and taken straight to Recovery Girl's recovery ward, along with Aizawa and Thirteen. Seeing just how badly her hero, Thirteen, had been hurt shook Ochako to her core. When Izuku had been wheeled by, Ochako, who had felt numb after seeing Thirteen, felt several new emotions build up in her. Relief that at least now, he was going to get treatment, horror over everything that had been done to him, and finally anger. Anger but not just directed towards the villains, but angry at Izuku as well. Angry at his actions. Even with all these different emotions twisting her insides into knotts she still moved to follow after him, but a firm hand on her shoulder from Tenya got her to stay.

"He's being taken care of now. You should let Recovery Girl and her team do their work."

The only other student not with them was Himiko. When they had gotten off the bus, Midnight had taken the girl aside and left with her. A few of the officers had started to interject, a detective most of all, but Midnight had been firm in telling them that Himiko was coming with her. While she hadn't heard the whole conversation, she had made out a few words.

Blood.

Control.

Our responsibility.

Ochako guessed Midnight was taking Himiko somewhere private to get cleaned up, just like she had been asked to do by a medic. It was only during the bus ride back that both girls realized they were both covered in blood.

Izuku's blood.

A quick but desperate shower later, Ochako joined all the other students, save for Izuku and Himiko, back in their classroom. A detective who had been at the USJ with them as they were getting loaded up in the busses, Detective Tsukauchi, joined them with an update on what was going to happen now.

"We'll have some officers come by shortly to take statements from each of you. Afterwards, you all will be free to go. I've also talked with your teachers and principal, and we agree that for the rest of the week, the school will be closed while we address the security concerns this attack raised."

Tenya stood, "I have a question. Why is Toga not with us?"

Tsukauchi stiffened, but did a good job hiding this from the students, "One of the teachers has asked that she be questioned separately. Beyond that I can not say why, for her...privacy."

While a few were confused, Tenya, Ocahko, and Hitoshi wondered if this had anything to do with her being a ward of the school.

Tsuyu raised her hand, "Sir, what about everyone that got hurt?"

"Everyone is expected to make a full recovery. Your teachers, Aizawa and Thirteen, are in critical but stable condition. It'll be a few days before they recover fully, but the medical teams will be here to make sure that they do. All Might got beat up, but he's been through worse. He wanted me to let you know he would be fine, and that he was proud of each of your actions during this crisis. He is sure you all will become strong heroes."

A few in the class murmured happily with the news. Ochako frowned and raised her hand, "What about Deku?"

"Deku?"

"Midoriya," Shouto clarified.

"Ah yes. As you are aware he suffered a horrific injury to his head and arm. Recovery Girl is working on him now, but he will need to have surgery on his arm for it to fully heal. I believe he is being prepped now. She will also be taking her time while healing his head as she wants to make sure he did not suffer any brain injuries. He should be released today, but it won't be until later tonight."

Ochako sank back into her chair silently, her hands gripping her desk tightly as she processed that.

Surgery. Deku was hurt badly enough that Recovery Girl couldn't just heal him; she had to have surgery performed on him first. He was that hurt, and he still ran off!

Soon, officers entered the room and started taking statements, but again this was mostly just a numb haze for Ochako. She answered questions, but her mind was always more on Izuku than anything else. When the officers had everything they needed, Ochako didn't walk with the rest of her classmates towards the exit. She turned away and made a beeline for the recovery ward. She was aware she would probably not be allowed into the actual ward, so she found a good place in the hallway and leaned against the wall to wait.

"Uraraka?"

Turning she was surprised to see Tenya, Hitoshi and Tsuyu walking up to Ochako looked confused Hitoshi just shrugged and took a piece of wall for himself, "Guess we're all going to wait for him, huh?"

"The detective said he'd still be awhile; let us keep you company while we all wait." Tenya added gently.

"Guys?"

Tsuyu took a spot next to her, "Midoriya risked a lot to help me; I want to make sure I thank him for that, and well, you look like you could use the company too."

Reaching up, Ochako wiped away the tears that were building in her eyes, "Thank you."

---

"Hey, are you two going to be okay? You look like you survived a horror movie."

That had been the question that Denki had asked Himiko and Ochako on their way back to the school. Himiko sighed and gave the boy a loop sided star, not having the energy to fully turn and address him, "what are you talking about?"

"I mean, you're both covered in blood. Didn't either of you realize?"

What?

Slowly Himiko looked down at herself at the same time Ochako examined her own stained costume. Confused realization dawned on the two that they were indeed covered in, now drying, blood. Himiko fought back a shudder that ran through her body. Now that she was paying attention to it, the aroma she was giving off was mouth watering. It was a little dry, but she was sure it would taste better than anything the school had ready for her. Still, she fought the temptation back.

Where did all of this come from anyway? I was sure I was being careful not to get splattered when I was dealing with those league guys. Didn't want the temptation...this temptation in particular. It smells so good, I just wanna lick...

"I mean weren't you two carrying Midoriya around a lot at the end there right? He was bleeding all over the place."

Ochako paled and Himiko suddenly found herself frozen in place.

This is Izuku's blood?

Someone smacked Denki upside the head for needlessly pointing something out that hadn't needed to be said, but Himiko didn't care. She was too enraptured by all the red she was covered in. Though now she also had a much more difficult problem to deal with. She had resisted the temptation to let herself go wild when she had her first taste of blood earlier in the day. Because she had wanted to wait to let herself go when she got to taste Izuku's blood again. Now? Now she was covered in his blood. The slight metallic aroma filled her as she breathed in deeply. She could almost taste it from the smell alone, but almost wasn't going to be good enough. No, she wanted to actually taste it. To taste Izuku on her tongue and lose herself to the incredible pleasure and nirvana she hadn't felt since she had tasted him all those months ago in her little cardboard hovel.

Two things, however, kept her from indulging in her deepest desires, no matter just how badly they were screaming at her to give in. The first was that she was surrounded by her classmates, friends, and teachers. She knew from past experience what would happen if she lost control in front of people. She didn't want to see those looks coming from her new friends.

If I go nuts here, now, it's going to be jr. high all over again. I didn't cause the blood this time, but it won't matter...

Worse yet, she was very aware that now she was being watched extremely closely by the teachers on the bus. Ectoplasm and especially Midnight, were eying her carefully, ready to step in if she lost control. Midnight eyes bore into Himiko, looking for any tell as to what the girl would do next. While she was watching and was prepared to act, she kept a hand across Ectoplasm, preventing the other hero from getting up and stopping her before she could act. She was giving Himiko a chance to make the decision herself.

While the number of eyes around and on her was a strong deterrent to keep her from licking her own body clean, there was a second reason keeping her reasonably in control. She just didn't know what it was. Under the bubbling euphoria she was starting to feel, there was a dark and twisted feeling just under the surface. Every time she was tempted to just lick one finger clean, maybe suck on a piece of her costume, this unknown feeling broke through and stopped her. Worse yet, each time it broke through, it didn't recede back. Like black oil leaking into her pool of pleasure.

This feeling continued to grow until the bus finally stopped at the school and Toga got off with everyone else. Midnight walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "We're leaving. Come on."

Himiko was fighting off so many different feelings that she didn't resist as Midnight led her away. She barely even noticed the police officers that tried to stop them, but were promptly told off by Midnight.

Soon she found herself led to an unused teachers locker room, "Toga, wait here. I'll go get you something to drink."

Midnight hurried off while Toga stood alone in the room. This was her perfect chance. She could let go and just enjoy herself. She could finally taste what she'd wanted for months, but she didn't. The more she thought about it, the more that dark feeling bubbled up, until finally all there was, was that dark feeling. A feeling she finally could name.

Revulsion.

For the first time in her life, the sight, smell and feel of blood turned her stomach. It made her sick. But why? Why now? Why was this blood so different than anything else she'd ever seen or tasted. She remembered the first time she tasted Izuku's blood. After he had 'saved' her, he had gotten a little hurt. A split lip from a lucky punch. She had helped clean him off before leaving. To be shown such care, for the first time in such a long long time, made his blood taste so sweet. She had wanted to have the chance to taste it again, and now she did but when she looked at the blood, she saw Izuku again. This time though, he was lying motionless, battered and broken.

He looked dead.

Himkio bent over and dry retched as the smell of this tainted blood hit her hard. This wasn't the blood she wanted. Those villains had stolen it from Izuku. They had hurt Izuku so badly to make him bleed so much. She wanted to taste her Izuku. She wanted it so badly she was willing to deal with all the crap and rules U.A. put her through, but not like this. Not if it came at the cost of his life.

Dizzy, sick, and disgusted, Himiko scrambled for the nearest shower. Turning the water on, she began ripping off her costume, letting the stained parts all fall to the floor without a care until she stood naked under the spray of the shower. Grabbing a bar of soap and washing cloth, she began to fanticly scrub herself clean.

Off! Get it off!

The soap suds turned pink as they washed herself clean, scrubbing hard enough that she started to rub her own skin raw. She was so focused on getting the tainted blood off her she didn't hear the door to the locker room open, or realize she wasn't alone anymore. She didn't hear Midnight call her name. It wasn't until Midnight physically yanked her hands off herself that she felt herself come to her senses.

"Toga, that is enough!"

Himiko blinked some of the water and soap out of her eyes before she finally looked up at Midnight, and saw the surprise and concern on her face. Feeling more like herself, she tried to pull herself away, "I'm fine; you can let me go now."

"You sure didn't seem fine a few moments ago," Midnight countered, though she did relent and let go of Himiko's arms. "What was that?"

Himiko let the rest of the soap wash off herself before turning off the water and walking over to grab a large towel to wrap around herself. Sitting on a bench, she saw some of the blood packs Midnight had brought for her. Picking one up she tore off the top with her teeth and sucked it down. For once grateful for the artificial taste and scent of it.

It did an excellent job getting rid of the last of Izuku's blood that lingered in her nose and throat.

"Toga?"

Himiko held up a hand as she grabbed a second blood pack, this time taking her time as she drank it. When that one was empty, Himiko finally, since the bus ride back, felt like she had some control over herself.

She reached for the third, "That was Izuku's blood I was covered in. You'd think I'd be overjoyed. I was literally covered in my darling Izuku. I could feel him on me, I could smell him. I swear his blood smells a little more like copper coins. Most people smell like iro,n but he's different. Maybe because of all the green. His hair's green. Costumes green. His eyes are green. He glows green. Like a pretty brave...fragile emerald..."

"Why did you wash it off? I brought you here because it was the closest place where you could…"

"Lick myself clean without anyone seeing," Himiko finished.

Midnight nodded, "I could see you fighting the urge in the bus. I didn't want you having to go through that much longer, and not in front of everyone else."

Himiko looked away, "...thanks…"

"Are you sure that was Izuku's blood?"

Himiko nodded.

"So why?"

Himiko was silent for a bit, as she chewed on her words, carefully.

"It...it was tainted."

Midnight straightened in alarm, "Was he poisoned?"

"No...no not that. The blood was fine. If I had started drinking it when Denki pointed it out to me, it wouldn't have been an issue...besides you know, everyone freaking out that I'm licking blood off myself and probably looking like I'm in the middle of an orgasm or something."

Pausing to chuckle at the absurdity that having to hide this side of herself was that big of a deal, even if some people saw it that way, Himiko then continued, "But the longer I waited to drink it, the more time I had to think about how it got there. Why I was covered in Izuku's blood."

While Himiko paused to open her new blood pack, Midnight filled in the reason for her, "You mean because of the villain attack?"

"Yeah. The more I thought about it, the less I was thinking about how tasty and sweet the blood I was covered was going to be, and more about...about just how hurt and broken Izuku was...You know, when he first showed up and saved me and the others, he was a little beat up. Looked like he got punched in the face a few times, and had this nasty cut right across his chest," Himiko drew a line over hers as she mentioned that part. "He looked so hot. Looking like that, god, it isn't fair. But how he looked after Nomu stuck him...seeing him just broken and just lying there on the ground. The more I thought of that, the more I couldn't separate the blood from that image. So the more I was thinking about how hurt Izuku was, the more the blood covering my lost its...appeal. Towards the end I just...couldn't stand it anymore. It was disgusting. I needed it off me."

Taking a sip from her blood pack, Himiko added, "I want to taste Izuku so badly. Sometimes it's all I think about while I'm lying in bed, but not like this. Not when it comes at the cost of his life…"

Midnight was in shock. When she had left Himiko alone in the locker room, she had expected to come back to a very different scene. Normally when Himiko lost control she would either need to kill something, or would dive into her hematolagnia-fueled pleasures, giving a whole new meaning to the term blood lust.

This though, she had not expected this. To have to fight to get Himiko to calm down as she washed the blood off her body. Scrubbing so hard, Midnight was worried she'd rub herself raw. Then, to hear Himkio say that the blood was disgusting, left her at a complete loss. Fortunately Himiko had recovered from her initial episode and seemed ready to get out of the room and away from her, which was completely normal and Midnight welcomed it.

"So, you got any questions you want to ask me? Besides some standard statement or something. Review my actions or something?"

"Yes...yes I do. Do you want to get changed first? I got you something to wear."

Midnight motioned to a set of U.A gym clothes. Himiko put the last empty blood pack down and got up to change, "Talk to me while I get dressed. That way we can both get out of here quicker...oh does this count as today's session?"

Not waiting for Midnight to answer, Himiko dropped her towel and started changing. Not caring that she was doing it right in front of the teacher. Figuring that once she was dressed, Himiko was going to leave anyway, Midnight rolled with it, "Yes, we'll count this as tonight's session, though we are going to talk about what just happened."

"Yeah, yeah."

"So, how do you feel you handled yourself today? Before we started driving back, the police gave us a report on some of the villains they took into custody."

"Oh?"

"A number of them were maimed and suffering from stab wounds. Anything you want to say about that?"

Himiko was busy hooking on her bra as she answered, looking over her shoulder, "Trufully?"

"Yes."

"That was me."

Midnight sighed, "Thank you for clarifying that Toga."

"Oh what do you want me to say? A bunch of fucking shit-heads decided to try and kill me and my friends."

"A number of them are in critical condition. Some may not make it through the night."

"So what?"

"Toga!"

Himiko's eyes narrowed as she looked over at Midnight, "Those guys were there to kill us. Not Aizawa or Thirteen. Not All Might. Us, the students. I am not going to apologize, or feel bad for defending myself or someone else from people trying to kill us. And just to shut you up on this whole point, I didn't go for kill shots. There were hundreds of times that I could, but I didn't. So I showed them a hell of a lot more mercy than they were going to give me."

"Mercy, or did you just not want your friends seeing you take a life?"

Himiko opened her mouth to say something about Mindnights whip and where she could shove it, but snapped her mouth shut when she saw the look on Midnight's face. Trying to argue that point would just open up a whole new topic and keep her there longer, "Just...just ask the next question, damn it."

"Did you drink any blood today?"

"Yes."

Midnight was silent, which Himiko knew meant she was meant to elaborate on her answer, "When a bunch of the villains were dog piling me, I stabbed one. Licked my knife to turn into him. Though just enough for a quick transformation."

"You used your Quirk? In the open?"

"I was separated from everyone at the time."

"Ah, alright then. Why did you transform?"

Himiko paused and swore under her breath.

Shit!

"Toga?"

"So I could sneak up on the Leagues leader and kill him."

Midnight leveled a glare at Himiko, "So you did try to kill someone today."

"Key word there is try. I didn't kill anyone today."

"The key word is intent."

The air between the two was quickly becoming charged. If she kept pushing, Midnight was sure, Himiko would leave then and there, despite not being fully dressed. The girl was many things, bashful was not one of them.

"...So you tried to kill the leader, Tomura Shigaraki, right?"

"Yeah."

"How the hell is he still alive then?"

Himiko's head snapped up, looking at Midnight with raised eyebrows, "Huh?"

Shrugging, Midnight leaned forward, "I know what you're capable of Toga. It's hard to believe that you weren't able to get a kill."

It took Himiko a few seconds to react to that. She finally blushed and looked away, "The villain I transformed into crawled out in front of Tomura before I could get my shot."

Midnight laugh, "Oh that sucks."

"You're telling me. It was embarrassing. Then I came maybe," Himiko held up her hand, keeping her thumb and pointer finger just barely not touching, "this close to dying. I'm sure you know the guy's Quirk by now. Well he used it on me. I'm just lucky I was able to drop my transformation before I turned to dust."

Midnight winced, while Himiko nodded, "yeah, not fun. I guess I was also lucky I lost my disguise before everyone else showed up. Save me having to come up with an explanation I guess."

Arching an eyebrow, Midnight took note of that little fact.

So all of that happened when none of her friends were there to see her.

Deciding not to press the thought, Midnight moved onto the next subject, by walking over to the discarded costume and picked up the blood-collecting gear, "So I'm guessing you used this then?"

"Yep, several times actually."

Midnight could tell that, just from the added weight of the thing, "Well, we'll have the support department catalog the samples and you can request them back later."

"Actually, while you're doing that. You should know I got that Nomu too."

Midnight froze, "You what?"

"I got a pretty good sample from that big monster before I had to cut all my lines."

"You fought that thing?"

Himiko bent down and tied her shoes, "I needed to do something. Otherwise Ochako wouldn't have had the time to be able to revive Izuku. Also fight is a strong word. I threw my syringes at him and stayed the fuck away from it."

Giving her heels a quick tap on the floor, Himiko stood up fully dressed, "Well this has been fun, but I need to not be here anymore. Talk to you tomorrow."

Himiko started to walk away but Midnight called out to her, "Toga, wait."

Sighing dramatically, Himiko looked back, "Whaaat?"

"I just wanted you to know, while I'm not completely fine with your methods, I am still proud of you."

"Eh?"

"Today, you acted to protect your friends and classmates. You were selfless and put yourself in clear danger to help others. Thank you."

Himiko flushed, at a loss for words. Not sure if that was something you would say, 'you're welcome' to. As she collected her thoughts, she rubbed the back of her head, "I suppose it's just something I'm going to get used to doing I guess."

"Oh?"

Somberly, Himiko nodded, "Yeah, if anything, today proved the point I made a few nights ago. About Izuku. I told you little lambs tend to get ripped apart by the big bad wolves in the real world. And look what happened today. Well I'm not going to let it happen again."

Himiko's voice was strong and determined. Midnight regarded the girl curiously, "You aren't?"

"Nope, I'm going to protect my darling Izuku until he's ready for the world."

"You are?"

"Well yeah, I love him after all. So of course I'm going to look after him."

With that said, Himiko gave Midnight a little wave and left. Midnight rubbed her brow feeling the headaches she knew would be coming her way.

Toga just used the 'L' word. Why do I just know my work with her has just doubled...Oh boy, that poor Midoriya has no idea what's waiting for him.

Walking through the halls, she made a beeline for the recovery ward. With every step, she felt her conviction grow. She would protect Izuku from the horrible world that was so ready to hurt him And she had the perfect feeling to drive her actions. After all, what better feeling was there to drive her to protect her Izuku, than love?

---

No one was surprised when a few minutes after they all got settled in the hallway, that Himiko joined them. While she seemed a little startled to see Tsuyu, she easily rolled with it and joined her other friends as they waited for either some news on Izuku's recovery, or for the boy himself. While she found herself a spot, her eyes fell on Ochako who was not doing a very good job hiding just how unhappy she felt. She was simmering. Negative emotions and feelings bubbled just underneath the surface, and only her self control kept a lid on them. Though keeping a lid on those feelings kept them simmering inside her, it was a vicious cycle.

Talk between the group covered a few topics, though they tried to avoid talking about the actual attack they had just been though, topics they brought up still almost always had a connection to it. They wondered what school was going to be like next week. Would new security measures would the school take. Would there be any backlash from the media over the attack. Tenya doubted this, though Hitoshi pointed out, the media and U.A. might not be on the best terms considering the school really came down on them for their actions the past few days. They might jump at the chance to get a little back.

"I think that's a very pessimistic point of view, Shinso. Just because some reporters were unhappy doesn't make the whole media system petty."

"A pessimist is what an optimist calls a realist. Do you even watch the news? The moment they smell blood in the water, they're on it like sharks. Just watch. By this time tomorrow, news stations all around are going to be asking if U.A.'s lack of transparency could be a cause for the attack."

"U.A. could say that the distraction the media caused was more responsible for the attack though, kero. I don't think the media can say it's a coincidence that the day after a break in, which had reporters flooding into the school, we were attacked by villains." Tsuyu countered.

Everyone hummed in agreement over that point, though Hitoshi wasn't fully convinced that would be enough to stop the negative press that was sure to come, "They probably will try to not mention the break in all-together then. And just focus on…" Hitoshi trailed off as he looked up and saw someone walking up the hall, "...oookay, not who I was expecting to see. Bakugou?"

Everyone, save Tsuyu, looked up in shock at seeing Katsuki standing in the middle of the hall, looking just as surprised as they were. His surprised look quickly twisted back into his normal sour frown, "The fuck? Why are you all still here?"

Tsuyu could feel the mood in the hallway shift. While it hadn't been exactly cheerful- they were waiting to hear about a seriously injured classmate and friend- it had at least been warm and welcoming. That feeling was gone in an instant. While Hitoshi and Tenya seemed a little on guard, they both just seemed genuinely surprised to see Bakugou at all. Himiko and Ochako however, were hostile. Himiko was much more open, scowling at the other boy with a deep sneer. Ochako concealed her feelings much better, only giving the boy a cold stare but otherwise keeping herself openly disinterested, she was even still leaning on the wall like she had been. Internally though, Tsuyu's animal instincts could just tell there was an inferno raging inside Ochako. Why Bakugou got such a reaction from those two, Ochako especially, Tsuyu had no idea.

Iida broke through the tension, either because he didn't realize there was tension, or he took his duties as class rep extremely seriously and wanted to know why a student was still in the school after it was let out, "Ah Bakugou, we're waiting to hear about any updates on Midoriya condition and for when he is released from recovery. Why are you here? Class was let out some time ago."

Bakugou turned his head, breaking eye contact with the group and making a small 'tch' sound as he did. Tsuyu tapped her chin, "Are you worried about Midoriya too? That's why I'm here. After he saved us I wanted to-!"

"I'M NOT FUCKING WORRIED!"

Katsuki's sudden scream, along with several pops and crackles from his hands, shocked Tsuyu enough that the only sound she could make was a stunned croak. Everyone, save Ochako who seemed to have been expecting the outburst, flinched in surprise.

Tenya, after recovering, chopped an arm right at Bakugou, '"How can you say something like that?"

"If Deku wants to play at being a hero, then he can deal with the consequences."

Himiko growled, "Play?"

Himiko started to walk up to Katsuki, but Hitoshi put an arm out. He didn't want her getting into trouble giving Katsuki the beating he was asking for. Tsuyu was just confused, not understanding anything of what was coming from Katsuki. She knew the boy had a horrible attitude, and was way too competitive for his own good. But this? She didn't know how to process this.

"Kero, Why wouldn't you be worried about Midoriya? After he saved us from those villains and everything?"

"Let me make this clear for you, Frog-Legs. Deku. Did. Not. Save. Me! All the worthless shit did was get in my way. If he knew what was good for him-!"

"Bakugou!"

Everyone could hear the strain in Ochako's voice as she cut him off. She was off the wall, face contorted in anger, fists clenched and shaking at her sides, "You need to leave. Now."

"What did you say to me, Round Face?"

"I told you to leave. You don't belong here, and you aren't welcomed either."

"You know what? I've just about had it with you thinking you can tell me what to do. You want me gone bitch? Make me."

Ochako took a step forward, just as the doors to the recovery wing opened and Recovery Girl walked out, "You lot need to settle down if you're going to be staying out here to wait."

Recovery Girl's sudden entrance was enough to break through the hostile atmosphere, and stop whatever was about to go down between Ochako and Katuski, much to the others' relief. Hitoshi for one had not been looking forward to trying to hold Ochako back. Seeing a great opportunity to change the subject, Hitoshi addressed Recovery Girl, "Do you have any news on Midoriya?"

"I do."

Ochako suddenly didn't care about Katuski at all. Twisting on her heel, Ochako gave Recovery Girl her full attention, as did everyone else.

"The boy just got out of surgery. Everything went back together just fine, and I was able to start healing him. A couple more sessions and he'll be good to go, though that won't be till after dark. If you all want to stay you can, but keep your voices down. Understand?"

"Of course! We will endeavor to keep ourselves quiet. Thank you so much for taking such good care of Midoriya." Tenya responded instantly, bowing deeply.

"Um, Recovery Girl," Ochako began, "The detective also said you were looking for signs of brain damage..."

Recovery Girl sighed, rubbing her brow, "That boy must have a thick skull. The wound looked much worse than it turned out to be. There wasn't any brain damage."

The group let out a collective sigh of relief. With her message delivered, Recovery Girl made her way back into the ward. With her gone, Himiko turned back, ready to encourage Bakugou to leave, but finally noticed, "Oh, he's gone."

Everyone looked back and confirmed that indeed, Bakugou had left the hall. Ochako, with him gone, let herself lean back against the wall. Soon everyone else went back to their spots and settled back in for their wait. At least now, with the good news from Recovery Girl, the mood of the group was much better. Except for Ochako, who was no longer ready to snap, but back to how she was before Bakugou had shown up. Simmering in her own thoughts.

---

With a sleepy groan, Izuku slowly began to open his eyes. It took a few minutes and a couple of times almost falling back asleep before he could start to focus on himself and his surroundings. The room was familiar, he had been here before, but he couldn't quite remember when. Sitting up, the next thing he quickly realized was that he wasn't in pain anymore. His head, his arm and shoulder, his chest. None had the sharp agonizing pain he had forced himself to endure and grit through. Checking himself, he pulled the collar of his medical gown forward and checked his chest, but didn't see a mark. He didn't need to check his head, the itchy bandage was more than enough to let him know that wound had been taken care of. Gingerly, Izuku lifted up his right arm out in front of himself. It felt stiff, and then practiced making a fist and touching his fingers to his thumb the whole arm felt tender, but after a few tries he could feel the muscles loosening back up.

"It looks like everything is working just fine, Young Midoriya."

Startled, Izuku looked to his side, one bed over, and saw his hero and teacher All Might lying in a bed wrapped up in bandages and looking at him with a relieved smile.

"All Might?"

All Might smiled, "Good to see you up and about. We're in Recovery Girl's nurses office by the way. Just in case you wanted to know where you were."

Izuku nodded, now remembering his last visit to this room after the entrance exam. Soon though, the events of the day caught up to him. Eyes widening, Izuku started to look around, "Wait, where is everyone else? Is Uraraka okay? Toga, Todoroki, Iida, and Shinso? The class? Aizawa Sensei and Thirteen? What happened?"

"Easy, easy. Everyone is fine. You're the only student that had to stay to get fixed up. Aizawa and Thirteen are stable and are getting treated. It's alright. It's over."

Izuku relaxed and leaned back into his bed before he let his eyes wander to the heavy bandages wrapped around All Might, "Are you okay?"

"I'm…" All Might started to say that he was fine but stopped himself. Izuku deserved to know the truth, "Physically I'll make a full recovery, or as full of one I can when I'm missing half my guts already. The real problem is my time limit. That fight today drained me."

"How..how much time do you have left?"

All Might decided to play it safe and rounded up, "An hour...give or take."

For a few seconds, Izuku forgot how to breathe. All Might had lost two hours because of those villains today.

No, because of me.

While trying to fight back his tears, and failing miserably, Izuku looked back over at All Might, "All Might...there's something I need to tell you...and...something I need to tell the Principal."

"Young Midoriya?"

"Please…"

Nodding, All Might reached over to his bedside tray, found his phone and texted out a quick message for Nezu. After only a few minutes, Nezu, as well as Recovery, Girl entered into the room. While Recovery Girl took a seat at her desk, Nezu walked over to Izuku's bed.

"Hello ther,e young man. I 've been told you wanted to speak with me? Is he well enough for that? I don't want him straining himself."

Recovery Girl nodded, "He's through with the healing treatments. I just have one last check-up and a good telling-off for being back here so soon. After that, he'll be free to go."

"Ah excellent, so, Midoriya, what did you wish to speak to me about?"

Izuku sat up as he addressed the principal. The three could see he was scared, which was concerning. What could he possibly feel afraid of now of all times?

"The villains attack today. It's my fault."

All Might bolted upright in his bed, while Recovery Girl leaned forward in her chair, leaning hard on her cane. Nezu remained calm as he studied Izuku.

"Young Midoriya, how can you say that?"

Izuku gripped his bedsheet tightly, tears dripping down splashed on his hands as he tried to hold himself together. After everything, they all deserved to know the truth, and he deserved whatever punishment he got, "During the break in the other day...Midnight she...she sent me to the teacher's office since it was so close. She told me to wait there until I was told to leave. When I...when I made it to the room...I wasn't alone. Shigaraki was there."

Nezu nodded as the last few pieces of what had happened yesterday and today fell into place, "Ah, so that explains how they knew when and where All Might was supposed to be today. Shigaraki must have taken a class schedule."

Izuku continued, "He didn't have...all those hands on him at the time. He said he was a TA looking for some paper work. He...he asked that I not mention what I saw. This was a big chance for him as a sidekick and he was nervous...that's what he said at least."

"Young Midoriya, you aren't…"

"No, this is my fault. I should have trusted how I felt the moment I saw him. I felt so uneasy and scared, but I didn't know why. I ignored it because I didn't want to be like...other people I knew. Who only judge based on what they see...So I trusted him, let him leave, and kept quiet. Because of that, so many people got hurt. I put everyone in danger. This...all of this is my fault!"

Izuku hung his head, his shame making him weep openly now. The three teachers watched him in silence, but only for a few seconds.

"Nonsense. I may need to check your head again if you're thinking foolish thoughts like that," Was Recovery Girl's immediate and blunt response.

"I quite agree. The young man needs to have his head examined again."

Izuku looked up, shocked, "I...what?"

"Young man, at no point is a student responsible for the failures of the teachers. Maybe, maybe if you trusted your first response things could have been different. Or more than likely, Shigiaka would have tried to kill you if he suspected you didn't trust him. However, things should have never even gotten to that point in the first place. This school got caught off guard; we failed you."

"But if i thought about it, I would have realized…"

"Why didn't you think about it hmm? Was it because I came onto the loud speaker and said that the press broke in and triggered the alarm?"

Izuku nodded.

"So you trusted my word that everything was fine. You had no reason to think that anything nefarious was going on. Midoriya, this was not your fault."

"But...but All Might…"

"Young Midoriya, I used up almost all my time today acting foolishly when I should have been making sure I was prepared to teach you and your class. My time getting cut short is a result of my own actions. Not yours."

Izuku was silent after that. He had been prepared for the worst. To have none of what he was prepared for happen left him at a loss for words. Nezu, seeing that Izuku was accepting their points, turned and waved goodby, "well if that's taken care of, I must get back to the mountain of paperwork. Please take care of yourself Midoriya. It wouldn't do for All Might's successor to look so glum all the time...or die, i suppose. You have to be alive to get One for All, after all."

Izuku's eyes bulged, while the principle left with a little laugh. Leaving All Might to quickly explain that the principle and Recovery Girl knew about One for All and everything. Recovery Girl pulled a clipboard from her desk once All Might was finished, "Now if you're ready, and don't have any more stupid thought tumbleing inside that head of yours, I'm going to give you your last check up, then you are free to go."

Izuku nodded.

"After I explain how I do not want to see you in this room again."

All Might snickered, but was smacked by Recovery Girl's cane, "That goes for you too!"

---

After getting changed, Izuku looked outside and was surprised at just how late it was. Throwing his backpack on, and wincing at his still tender arm, Izuku hurried out of the recovery room and down the hall for the exit.

I better get home as soon as I can. I bet mom is worried sick about me. Oh, I better send out a text to everyone to let them know Recovery Girl released me.

Pulling out his phone, Izuku quickly typed out a message, letting everyone know that he was alright and that he would be able to talk more tomorrow. Izuku pressed 'send' and started to put his phone away as he turned a corner to leave the building, when he heard several other phones ring or chirp. Startled, Izuku looked up and was floored when he saw that. Tenya, Hitoshi, Tsuyu, Himiko and Ochako were all waiting in the hall. A few had their phones out, to read his text, though now they were all looking at him.

"Guys? What are you all doing up here so late?"

Tenya smiled happily, "Midoriya, you look like you've recovered! Excellent! I'd expect nothing less from U.A.'s medical facilities."

Hitoshi was about to also mention that he was glad to see Izuku was doing much better than when he last saw him, but he was cut off when Himiko pulled him to the side, letting Ochako slide past him and make her way up to Izuku. Knowing how long she had been waiting and stewing, the rest of the group decided to give Ochako her chance to speak.

Ochako kept her head down as she quickly marched up to Izuku. Izuku wasn't sure how to react to Ochako advancing on him. It was only when she was a few feet away that she looked up, and Izuku flinched when he got a glimpse of her eye's, full of fury. Before he could say anything though, Ochako pulled her hand back and slapped Izuku across the face. Hard enough that she almost knocked him down and loud enough that the clap echoed off the silent hall walls.

"WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!?"

Hitoshi flinched, while Tsuyu croaked in shock. Tenya's jaw dropped, while Himiko hissed.

Izuku stumbled back until his back hit a wall, holding his stinging cheek. He looked up, eyes wide as Ochako marched after him, "Uraraka?"

"What did you promise me!?" Ochako's voice was hard, and quaked with so many different raw emotions that it was almost unrecognizable to the boy.

"I...what?" Izuku was so completely confused. The slap, the raw anger being directed at him, all by Ochako, left him unable to properly form words. When he tried to move off the wall, Ochako shoved him back and jammed a finger right into his chest.

"What. Did. You. Promise. Me?"

With each word, Ochako jammed her finger into Izuku's chest. She pulled back and looked Izuku right in the eye, waiting for what she was saying to finally click. She didn't have to wait much longer. Izuku went stiff as the memory finally triggered in his mind.

The Sludge Villain.

The burning shopping district.

Him running into that hell to save Katsuki.

The promise he had made to Ochako when it was over.

"I want you to promise me, that you will never, never, do something like this again. I want you to promise me you will never leave me behind while you rush into a situation where you could get killed."

Izuku paled, "Uraraka I-"

"What did you promise me?"

Izuku closed his eyes, trembling. Taking a deep breath he finally found the strength to speak, "That I...that I wouldn't leave you behind to rush into a situation where I could get killed."

"And what did you do?"

"I...I rushed in and left you behin-"

CRACK!

Ochako's hand slammed into the wall right next to Izuku's head, "No. That is not what you did. You used me so you could rush off. You used my Quirk on yourself and flew off."

Ochako began to shake. She dropped her head, "You used my Quirk and made me watch you...you…" Ochako's knees buckled as she fell into Izuku, burying her face into his chest, sobbing uncontrollably. Izuku wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. She had been so angry just moments ago, and now she was cry like he had never seen before. Should he hold her? Would she be okay with that? Would she go back to being angry?

She's hurting because of you, you idiot. Do something!

Tentatively, Izuku wrapped his arms around Ochako and held her as she continued to cry into his chest.

"I'm sorry, Uraraka. I am so sorry."

Ochako's grip on Izuku's school blazer tightened as she spoke, "Two times. Two times today I thought I was going to see you die. After that Nomu...what it did to you. Your arm and...all that blood. When I pulled you from the water, you weren't breathing. Even when I was giving you CPR, you were just...gone..."

"But you save me. You were able to bring me back."

"And how do you repay me?"

Izuku winced. Ochako finally pulled her head back and looked up at Izuku, "I can't even begin to describe the… the horror I felt when I realized what you did. I just got you back and you just…"

Ochako's head fell back into Izuku's chest as she kept crying. Izuku held her tight, letting her cry for as long as she wanted. Soon, the sobs grew silent, and the two stood in silence.

"Uraraka, I am so sorry."

Ochako was silent for a few moments before answering, "I know…"

"I really, truly am."

"I know."

"...But…"

Ochako went stiff as she waited for Izuku to finish. Izuku spoke softly, so that only Ochako could hear him.

"But, what was I supposed to do?"

Ochako knew what he was talking about. She knew and she knew his reason for doing what he did, but it did nothing to make the whole thing any less bitter. Finally, in a voice as soft as his, she answered truthfully, "I don't know."

"All Might was out of time. You saw the steam. You know what that meant. He was seconds away from dying."

"I know."

"I couldn't just do nothing."

The conviction in Izuku's voice scared Ochako. That conviction was what drew All Might to Izuku. It's what made the number-one-hero pick Izuku to be his successor and the next holder of One for All. That conviction, Ochako was convinced, also had a great chance of getting Izuku killed.

"I'm sorry. I really, really am, but I had to help. What else could I do?"

It was an honest question. She could hear it in his voice. Doing what he did was the only solution he could think of, and that terrified her. She pulled herself up, straightened herself and took a small step back so she could look Izuku dead in the eye. She kept her hands gripping the front of his school blazer, "You could have told me."

Izuku shook his head, that motion brought back some of Ochako's anger, "Uraraka...no. You would have tried to stop me."

"Or I would have gone with you, you idiot!"

Ochako's eyes burned again, though not with the same kind of fury as before. This was passion and determination. It was enough to leave Izuku completely speechless.

"We are a team, remember? If one of us makes a stupid decision, the other has to be there to stop them...or to go with them and make sure they live through their stupidity. Remember I did say that once we get into U.A, we'll learn how to rush into dangerous situations."

"'Rush into dangerous situations safely', I think are your exact words."

Ochako eyed Izuku, glaring at him evenly as she stepped back, "Oh so now you remember what I said."

Izuku looked away, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Ochako sighed, her anger and grief tapped out, she finally felt calm, but she needed to say one more thing before she was done, "I need you to do something for me. I need to hear you say something."

Izuku tilted his head to the side, "Say? What do you want me to say?"

Does she want me to apologize again? I can do that. I'll do that until I'm blue in the face.

"I need you to say that you won't do this again. I need to hear you promise you won't do this again."

Izuku started to turn away. He suddenly didn't have the strength to look Ochako in the eye anymore. He was stopped when Ochako reached out and cupped his face with both her hands and turned him back to look at her, "Say it."

Izuku, looking Ochako right in the eye and doing his best to keep his voice level answered, "I promise. I promise, Uraraka."

Ochako stared right at Izuku for a few, drawn out seconds, before letting her hands fall to her side, her head drop and closing her eyes with a long sigh. Izuku frowned, the sigh wasn't one of relief but of frustration, "Uraraka?"

Ochako was slow to respond. Izuku could see her chewing on her words. Finally she looked up, "I wish I could believe you."

Ochako's words hurt just as much as her slap from earlier, "I'm not lying; I swear."

"That's what scares me." She took a breath as she gave Izuku a sad smile, "You mean it. I know you mean it. I don't think you're not lying to me."

Izuku nodded vigorously.

"But you weren't lying back then either. Were you?"

Silence was the only answer Izuku could give Ochako for that. The two stood in silence as they each thought about what they had said to each other. Izuku ultimately came to a simple conclusion because of it, "...I've ruined this haven't I?"

Ochako blinked, head tilting to the side, "Eh?"

Izuku raised his arms, motioning at the two of them, "This. Us. Our friendship. I've ruined it."

It took only a second for that to sink in before Ochako acted immediately, by flicking Izuku on the forehead, "You thick headed dolt. I would not be this upset if I wasn't your friend. Honestly, Deku. If you think that this is enough to make me not want to be your friend, you must have really hit your head hard. You're not getting rid of me that easily."

Sighing in relief, Izuku relaxed considerably. Ochako rubbed her brow as she added, "It's just I'm starting to see I'm going to have my work cut out for me keeping you out of trouble."

"You're going to keep me out of trouble?"

"Yep, because apparently it's my job to protect you now."

The two shared a chuckle while back with everyone else, Himiko's eye twitched. The ends of her mouth turning down in a slight frown. She had held herself back when Izuku first showed up. She had even given Ochako the chance to unload on the boy as quickly as possible because she had watched the girl stew in her own negativity since they started waiting. Izuku needed to get his head smacked for the sheer amount of stupid he pulled today, and Ochako, being his oldest friend of the group, got automatic dibs to be the one to deliver that smack. She even agreed with a lot of what Ochako had said. Of what she could hear at least. When they started speaking softly she wasn't able to make out what they were saying. Towards the end they had started speaking normally again and she thought they were about done, but that last line triggered something in her.

Hitoshi, seeing the two laughing with each other coughed into his hand, "You two got that all sorted out?"

Izuku and Ochako turned, and remembering that they were not alone separated a few more steps. Embarrassed, Ochako rubbed her head, "Um thank you for giving me the chance to… talk with Deku, guys."

"While violence between students is strictly prohibited except in authorized sparring matches and heroics training, I will look the other way this time."

Himiko rolled her eyes at Tenya, "And if you knew she was going to slap him, would you actually try and stop her, Class Rep?"

Tenya blinked as he recalled just how upset she had been while they were waiting, and looked over at Ochako, who seemed very interested in his answer, "I…Well what's done is done. No need to focus on such negativity. We are here to give our well wishes to our recovered friend."

Himiko patted Tenay's back as she walked by, "Keep holding onto that sense of self-preservation. It'll do you a lot of good."

Walking up to Izuku, Himiko eyed the boy up and down, "Ochako pretty much covered everything, so I'll skip the part of me calling you the biggest fucking idiot I've ever seen. I shouldn't have been so terrified after seeing your head all busted open since you clearly have no brain in there to actually get damaged. So consider yourself lucky."

Izuku laughed nervously, "Sorry."

Himiko waved him off, "Oh I'm sure, but we're skipping that whole, 'I'm mad and you apologize bit', and moving to the next part."

"Next part?"

Himiko answered by closing the rest of the distance and pulling Izuku into a tight hug. Initially startled, Izuku returned the hug, making Himiko sigh into his chest. After a little while, Himiko pulled back but kept her hands on Izuku, "So, who's gonna dip who?"

"Dip?"

Himiko's wide toothy smile came back, sending alarm bells blaring in Ochako's head, "You know, who's gonna be the one to lean the other person back in a dip and give them a huge celebratory kiss."

Izuku flushed while Ochako quickly moved to put herself between the two, "He just got out of recovery! Don't just start teasing him like that!"

Before the two could start a fight Hitoshi and Tenya walked up, "it's good to see you walking around, Midoriya. You looked pretty beat up."

"Yeah, that Nomu hits like a truck."

Tenya's arms chopped in the air as he pointed at Izuku, "Considering the brute was able to trade blows with All Might, you are very lucky to be alive."

Tsuyu came up from behind the boys, "Not to mention afterward, with Shigaraki. If Aizawa Sensei hadn't erased his quirk, he probably would have killed you, kero."

Himiko flinched. Having experienced what that man's Quirk could do, and seeing him use it on his own people. Watching him put his hand on Izuku's face had been horrible. She was going to have to give the teacher some kind of thanks for that save.

"Yeah, you're right, Asui. I'm pretty lucky."

"Call me, Tsu."

"Oh, um alright. Also, you were with Uraraka, Toga, and Kacchan during the fight, right?"

"She pulled me out of the lake before I got eaten by a shark villain, and was a big help fighting off the villains once we got to dry land," Ochako added.

Himiko nodded in agreement, "Girl kicks like a freight train. It was really cool."

Tsuyu shrugged, "Frogs are predators. People seem to forget that."

Izuku's eyes widened before he turned back to Tsuyu and bowed, "Thank you so much for looking after everyone."

"Kero, it's fine. I'm glad you are doing better, Midoriya."

"Thank you for staying so late to check on me. All of you, you didn't have to do this."

"Deku, did you really think we'd just leave you after today?"

"Not letting my hero come-to and not have someone there to greet him."

"It's no trouble at all Midoriya. As your class rep and friend, I was more than happy to wait."

"Like they all said, we're your friends. I'm sure you'd do the same for us."

"It didn't seem right to just go home after you saved me from the villains. I wanted to make sure you were okay, kero."

Overcome by the sheer amount of care and friendship being given to him, Izuku started to tear up. Ochako giggled and took out a tissue and dabbed at his eyes, "Come on, none of that."

"Sorry, sorry. Just give me a second."

The group stayed together for a short time longer, talking about nothing important. Just acting like a group of friends until they all agreed it was time for them to head home for the night. They ended up taking the long way around so they could keep talking with each other longer for Himiko, explaining to Tsuyu she lived on campus. Once they made it to the front gate, they all said their goodbyes and went their separate ways to head home. Ochako kept next to Izuku as they walked to his apartment. During the walk, Izuku swore that Ochako was keeping closer to him than normal, but ultimately he ignored the feeling. Though if he was being honest, he didn't mind the closeness.

---

When Katsuki opened the front door to his home, he wasn't exactly sure what to expect. It was definitely not to have his father smother him in a hug before he could even get out a 'I'm fucking home.'

"The hell!? Get off me, old man!"

Katsuki struggled but was surprised that his father was able to keep his grip.

"Calm the fuck down, you brat, and don't call you father an old man!"

And the Old Hag is here now. Fucking great.

After finally fighting the two off, Katsuki stomped off to his room, with his mother calling after him, "Hey brat, your school called to let us know classes were cancelled for the rest of the week. Don't think that means you get to sleep in all day and be a little lazy shit!"

"Fuck off! I know that shit already! I'll be up working out or something; get off my back!"

Slamming the door to his room closed, Katsuki threw his back pack into a corner and flipped on the light. His school blazer and shirt were tossed to the floor along with his undershirt. Looking at himself in his mirror, he examined some of the bruises he had gotten from the villain attack where a couple of thugs got in a couple lucky hits. None of the marks required any special treatment or care. They'd heal in a day or so, the medics had told him. All in all, he'd gotten out of the attack far better than some of his other classmates.

Pressing one of the darker marks, Katsuki hissed, and hoped that the bastard that had hit him was one of the ones he exploded during his brawl. Thinking back on the attack, despite his best efforts not to think about it, Katsuki thought back to when Izuku was attacked by that monster Nomu. How in a matter of seconds, he was there, and the next second, his broken body was hitting the water.

"Motherfucker."

Katsuki turned away and stomped over to his bed. Try as he might, that scene had played out in his mind several times throughout the rest of the day. He had been so distracted by it, that he had unwittingly found himself running into Izuku's friends who were waiting for him to come out of the recovery room. Fortunately, he snapped out of what ever stupid haze that had come over him and left. But walking home the same thoughts crept their way back. Not just that Izuku had gotten so hurt, that he had been hurt saving him.

"No, fuck that. Deku didn't save me again...Fuck!"

He never asked for Izuku to help him. He was not responsible for Izuku's action. He stepped in where he wasn't needed and paid the price. Maybe, maybe things had started to get bad when that Tomura got involved, and there was no denying that if that Nomu attacked them, they would have been fucked. After all, he had blasted the thing, and it didn't even make a scratch. That was bad enough for Katsuki's pride, that as strong as he saw himself, there was still a huge power gap he wasn't ready to try and close.

If he could just focus on that, then at least he'd be able to turn it into a challenge. Fuel to drive himself further, to get even stronger, but his thoughts kept getting pulled back.

To Izuku.

Izuku shouldn't mean anything to him. He was a stepping stone; he had told the other boy as much. He didn't matter, and yet when he saw him getting loaded up on a stretcher, soaked in his own blood, he could help but remember back when the two of them had been much younger. Back when they were still friends. What would his past self have done, if his friend had been hurt like that?

"The hell is the matter with me? The nerd stuck his nose where it didn't belong and got it bit off."

Then there was what happened after. While he had been frozen in shock, Ochako and then Himiko had rushed out to rescue him. What had he done? Nothing. He wasn't a coward though. No, his ego would never even consider that. Especially when it had the perfect out. By the time Katuski had snapped out of his shock, Mina and Fumikage had arrived with Aizawa, and the teacher had forbade them from following them. The excuse saved his ego, but did nothing for his conscience.

"Fucking stop. He. Does. Not. Matter! So what if he got hurt? The school is gonna fix him up good as new. Fuck and so what if he almost died? Who cares?"

Just pray that you'll be born with a better quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof of the building.

Those words stuck in Katsuki's head, long after he changed and went to bed. He hoped that a good night's sleep would be enough to unfuck whatever was going on with him. He didn't need the distraction. He had more important things to worry about than Fucking Deku.

---

"He wants to see me?"

All Might titled his head in confusion as Recovery Girl came into his room to deliver a message.

"That's what he said. 'If All Might is able, please send him here. I want to talk to him.'"

Frowning, All Might scratched his head, picking at the bandage until Recovery Girl swatted his hand away, "What would Eraser Head want to talk about now? Is he even in any condition to talk?"

Pulling out a chair, Recoveyr Girl sat down with a sigh, "He shouldn't be, but he was insistent that he speak with you. I can tell him you aren't able…"

All Might shook his head as he pulled himself out of bed and grabbed a medical gown for himself, "No. I'm well enough to talk if he wants to."

Walking down the dark quiet hall, All Might came to Aizawa's room, and lightly rapped his knuckles on the door, "Eraser Head?"

"It's open."

Even from the other end of the door, All Might could hear the strain in the other heroes' voices. Speaking was painful for him. Walking into the room, All Might winced as he saw why he was having so much difficulty. Both his arms were cast and held together with splints and heavy bandages were wrapped around his head, almost completely covering his face.

"You're not looking too hot there, Eraser Head."

While the lump in the bed didn't move, All Might swore the man's eyes were on him, an incredible feat considering his eyes should be swollen shut after getting his sockets smashed.

"Some might say I'm still better off than you."

The dryness in Aizawa's voice made it impossible to tell if the man had actually told a joke, though All Might took it that way regardless, "If those villains knocked a sense of humor into you, I may have to give Fukukado a call."

The room dropped several degrees, enough to make the hero shiver, "All Might, sit down and shut up."

Not wanting to push his luck, or put any more of a burden on the other hero, All Might pulled up a chair and took a seat, "Recovery Girl said you wanted to talk?"

"Hmm. Thank you for saving my students."

"Ah, think nothing of it. Besides, they handled themselves very well. You have a good group of kids...Besides, I should have been with the class from the start. My foolishness put you all in danger from the very beginning."

Aizawa grunted, "Yes, you should have been there, but I didn't call you over here to chastise you over that particular failure as a teacher."

All Might had been prepared for a dressing down, but when Aizawa pivoted to a new subject he felt himself at a loss, "And what other failure did you want to talk to me about?"

"Why, when you were training Midoriya, did you not teach him any kind of self-restraint or self-preservation?"

There were several long seconds of silence while All Might absorbed the question. When it finally fully clicked what he was being asked, All Might quickly put his hands up, "Ah I think you're confused! You see-"

"Don't. Don't even try."

All Might frowned, and let out a long sigh, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know how Aizawa had figured it out, or when he had first. Aizawa, seemingly reading his mind, answered both questions.

"You really need to learn to cover your tracks better. Your name might not be public knowledge, even to other heroes outside, but not in the school, Yagi."

Ah...shit

"I overheard some of the students talking about the scout that trained Midoriya and Uraraka, who miraculously had your name and worked at your agency, so I decided to do a little digging. Funny how a scout was hired around the start of last year at the same time that those two started getting trained? That's also when you had also been hired to be a teacher starting this year."

All Might rubbed his brow while Aizawa added, "It took me less than an hour to figure this out. Your interest in the boy's results the first day made it even more clear what was going on. I mean, if you wanted to keep this a secret, why in the hell did you use your given name?"

All Might would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious, "It's like you said: stealth isn't my strong suit."

"You haven't answered my question by the way."

"No, I suppose I haven't...Truthfully most of my time training Young Midoriya was either spent getting the boy physically ready for the course and to help him overcome the psychological limits he was putting on himself that was affecting his quirk."

"Psychological limits?"

"When I first met him, the boy told me he couldn't even lift a shoe without giving himself a headache. He saw his quirk, and by extension himself as worthless. Turns out, being bullied most of his life had some negative effects on him."

"And how did you manage to fix that?"

All Might mulled over exactly what he could say without giving away any hints about One for All, "I helped the boy find a renewed sense of purpose, I suppose. Trained his body and his quirk, though I had to get creative with the later. Had to trick him into training his quirk harder than he thought he was. Little by little he built himself up confidence wise, then at the end, when I told him what I had done, it finally clicked for Young Midoriya just what he was capable of doing and everything else fell into place."

"And not once did he ever give you the opinion that he was suicidal?"

"Not once, nor do I think he is."

"What about a willingness to disregard his own well being for others?"

Aizawa waited for All Might to reply, but his silence spoke volumes, "He's shown this kind of behavior before hasn't he?"

"...He has."

"When?"

"When I first met him, a friend of his, Young Bakugou, was being attacked by a villain. Before I intervened Young Midoriya rushed in to save his friend."

"...He rushed in?"

"He got past some of the heroes who were keeping the onlookers back and attacked the villain as he tried to free his friend."

"And what did you do after that?"

"..."

"You told him he was a fool for doing that? That he could have gotten himself and Bakugou killed?"

"..."

"All Might?"

"I said, he had displayed the qualities of a true hero rushing in to save his friend. I also told him that those actions are what made me decide to train him."

"OF ALL THE THINGS YOU COULD HAVE SAID!" Aizawa, even while it caused him a lot of pain, sat up and turned towards All Might, "Of all the irresponsible, asinine, and just plain stupid things you could have done. You didn't nip that behavior in the bud; no, you reinforced it. You, the greatest hero told a young child, that, by your own admission, probably did not view himself as having much worth, that his reckless self-endangerment was heroic and then you rewarded him!?"

"I'm not saying I did everything perfectly, but everything I did do was to give him a chance to achieve his dream. Young Midoriya has the potential to become one of the greatest heroes of his generation."

"If he lives long enough to graduate. With all available evidence pointing to the contrary."

As Aizawa's temper began to show, so did All Might's. Both men were digging in their heels over the issue, "Today was an extreme case,that he should not be judged over. iIt has been less than a week since school has started, so he hasn't had a chance to learn his lesson from the entrance exam. Also, the boy suffered a head injury that easily could have impaired his judgment at the end."

"If this was the first time this had happened you might have a leg to stand on. It's the fourth. Today was not an exception; it was part of a pattern."

"Which he'll learn to break as he takes classes and learns proper ways to deal with threats. He hasn't had the chance, and I am going to make sure he gets that chance."

"You, the man who is without a doubt the worst teacher here and a hero known for throwing himself into impossible situations, is going to teach Midoriya not to throw himself into impossible situations? Is that supposed to be a joke?"

"Does it look like I'm laughing? Young Midoriya will learn everything he needs from this school Not just from me but all the other teachers and heroes. I will make sure of it.

Aizawa was silent for a while, which made All Might a little nervous. The man was smart. They might not get along, but All Might respected the man's intelligence. It wasn't outside the possibility that he might start to wonder exactly why All Might was going to make sure Izuku got his heroics education here.

When Aizawa finally did speak, while his voice still had it's edge, the heat was mostly gone, "Why...does it sound like that was a threat directed at me, All Might?"

"You're well known for kicking students out that you don't feel fit here. You should know I will fight any attempt to have Young Midoriya expelled."

A very long sigh escaped through the bandages around Aizawa's head, "You really are a complete idiot."

"Huh?"

"Do you really think, after everything I saw today, and learned just now, that I would kick Midoriya out?"

"Err."

"I do that, and in less than a week, he's either getting arrested for vigilantism or he's dead in the street trying to play hero. No, he's staying here so that I can make sure this problem child actually has a chance."

"So...we're in agreement then?"

"I suppose so."

"Good...that's good."

Aizawa laid himself back into his bed, "Honestly, with how bad you screwed up with Midoriya, it's a small miracle that you didn't screw up Uraraka as badly."

"Now hold on, I think I did alright by Young Uraraka."

Aizawa recalled Ochako rushing into the hoard of villains after watching Izuku get struck by Nomu, "...I do not have the energy to get into that argument. Why the boy's mother let you of all people train him is beyond me."

All Might was quiet. Very quiet.

"All Might, how did you convince the boy's mother to train him?"

"You see, that's the thing…"

Aizawa found he had just enough energy to call All Might an idiot a few more times for keeping his identity a secret from Inko.

---

"IZUKU!"

The moment Izuku opened the door to the apartment, Inko rushed him and wrapped him in the tightest hug the boy could remember ever getting from her. Wailing loudly and with enough tears falling down her cheeks to flood the whole floor.

"My baby! I was so worried!"

Izuku tried to placate his mother, which was hard to do with his arms pinned to his sides from her hug, "Mom really. I'm fine."

"The school called and said that your class was attacked by villains and you'd gotten hurt. I almost fainted on the spot. My poor boy!"

"Mom please! I'm fine now. All Might saved us and Recovery Girl fixed me up."

Ochako covered her mouth with her hand as she fought back a snicker. While it was extremely touching to see Inko fret over Izuku, it was also really, really funny.

"Oh, Ochako!"

"Eep!"

Inko, while still holding onto Izuku, wrapped an arm around a startled Ochako and dragged her into the hug. The two teens spent the next few minutes convincing Inko that they were fine until finally she relented and let the two go. When the two followed Inko into the apartment, the smell of dinner hit them. Inko smiled when she heard the distinct sound of two stomachs rumbling, "I figured you two would be hungry after such a long day, so I made sure I kept dinner warm for you both."

After the three had eaten, Izuku collapsed onto the couch, with Ochako following after him.

"Oh man, I'm so full," Izuku groaned, rubbing his belly. Ochako laughed and gave him a playful poke.

"I'm not surprised. You ate like four helpings."

"Side effect of Recovery Girls quirk uses my body's own stamina to heal, so I get tired and hungry."

The two just lay on the couch, silently just enjoying each other's company, and the calmness they now got to share, especially after the trying day they had. Inko watched the two, and smiled happy that they had both been able to make it through such a horrible day. She had noticed that the two kept close to each other. Closer than normal at least. They had moved their chairs closer together, and when helping clean the table and kitchen, they were practically attached at the hip. She could see they found strength from each other. Even if they didn't know they were doing it.

Groggily Ochako pulled out her phone and groaned when she saw the time, "Oh my gosh, is that how late it is?"

"At least there's no school tomorrow, so we don't have to get up early. Poor Iida probably wont know what to do with himself."

"He won't have a class to represent. Whatever will he do?" Ochako said in mock sympathy.

"Call everyone and make sure they are keeping up on any homework they were assigned?"

Both Ochako and Izuku looked at each other, and simultaneously turned their phone into silent mode. After sharing another laugh, Ochako sighed dramatically and stood up, "Well it's late; I should be getting home."

"Absolutely not!"

Startled, Ochako fell back into the couch as Inko stood over her, "You are not going anywhere tonight."

"Eh?"

"Ochako, after what you went through at school today I couldn't dream of letting you be by yourself."

"Eh?"

"You are sleeping here tonight."

"EH!?"

Ochako's eyes bulged and her mouth hung open, "Wait, Mrs. Midoriya, that's not necessary! Tell her, Deku."

Izuku was just staring off into space, eyes glazed over and his body completely stiff.

Don't break now!

"Ochako, you went through something so horrible today. The thought of you going to that empty apartment of yours...I don't even want to think it. No, you are staying here, and that is final."

Ochako was in turmoil, a sleepover was fine if they were still little kids but they were in highschool now. And a girl sleeping over at a boys house just didn't happen. Even if he was her best friend. Even when they had been training all last year, she had never slept over.

"But I don't have anything to sleep in…"

Inko waved her concern off, "Oh I'm sure we can find you something comfortable to sleep in. Izuku has plenty of nice sweats that I'm sure he wouldn't mind you using."

Izuku made a squeaking sound, which Inko took as an affirmative, "See? And I'll take your uniform and have it cleaned by the time you leave tomorrow. Now, Izuku, you go pick out something for her."

It took Izuku a few seconds for his mother's words to hit, before his autopilot kicked in and defaulted to 'do what mother says.' Getting up, Izuku quickly scurried away while Inko left to find a spare pillow and blanket.

Ochako was left on the couch, feeling not only conflicted, but unsure why she was feeling so conflicted. Sure having this decision made by Inko had flustered her, but if she was being totally honest with herself, it was probably more shocking that she hadn't slept over at the apartment by now, considering how she already pretty much spent more time here than her own place. Plus the woman was worried about her, this was a decision made because Inko wanted to make sure she was alright. So what if she was staying over at a boy's house. It wasn't any boy's house; it was Izuku's. No, this was totally fine. She was just sleeping over.

I mean, it's not like I'm actually sleeping with Deku or anything…

That thought drove her face back into her hands. How she didn't float herself was a miracle.

"Um, Uraraka? Are you okay?"

Hearing Izuku's voice, Ochako snapped up, "What!? Oh, yes. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You're looking a little red."

"Totally and completely fine."

"Oh, well okay. Um here, these should be fine right?"

Izuku handed over a pair of faded green sweatpants and a top. Ochako took them and despite her embarrassing thoughts, could help but think the sweats were nice and soft. She was also surprised that Izuku being back in the same room as her, calmed her down.

I guess I'm just glad to be around him, after almost…

Ochako shook that thought from her head, and instead focused on the clothes Izuku had given her, "I'm shocked you didn't give me something with All Might's face plastered on it."

Izuku started to laugh, "Come on, not everything I own is All Might themed."

"Pfft! Since when?"

That set both off. The two just laughed, the stress and horror from earlier in the day evaporating in the backs of their minds. Inko, returning with a large blanket and pillow smiled at the two, relieved that they were acting like they always had.

"Here we go; these should be just fine," Inko said as she dropped the blankets onto the end of the couch, "Once you've changed, just drop your uniform into the laundry, and I'll take care of it. Now it is getting late, so I want you two in bed and asleep as soon as you can."

"Yes, Mom."

"Yes, ma'am."

Inko wished the two a good night and retired to her room.

"Poor mom. She's probably exhausted too after today." Izuku said after she had closed the door.

"You shouldn't worry your mother Deku." Ochako teased.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Izuku waved her off, "anyway, if you want to get changed in my room, my bed is all ready for you."

"Eh?"

Ochako forced herself not to jump to any conclusions and waited for Izuku to elaborate what he meant when he said his bed was ready for her.

"Well, I'm not making you sleep on the couch, Uraraka. You can take my bed, and I'll sleep out here. I'm already changed, so you can just go in and go to sleep."

Smile? Check. No stutter, and he isn't freezing up. So he has no idea how what he just said could be taken. I'm actually not sure if that's really endearing or really concerning for a boy his age...Question for another time; let's focus on the important stuff here.

"Deku, I'm not kicking you out of your room. The couch is just fine."

Izuku shook his head, "You're a guest."

"And this is your home."

He isn't really going to get stubborn over this is he?

"Uraraka, you had a really stressful day; take the bed."

Okay, yep he is.

"You did too."

"Yeah but I don't remember it that much, so it doesn't count. Hitting my head has some benefits I guess."

"You almost died, you dunce!"

"Technically, so did you. Everyone in the class almost died, when you think about it."

"You got closer than anyone!"

"It's a competition? Then I lost. You won. Congratulations, you get to sleep in the bed."

Ochako groaned into her hands, "Don't say it like you're a game host!"

Izuku crossed his arms, "Look, either you sleep in the bed, or I'm sleeping on the floor."

"You're not serious."

One look at Izuku's smug face told Ochako otherwise, "Alright fine! I'll take the bed. Happy?"

"Yep."

Grumbling Ochako took her night clothes and stomped off. She was just about out of the room when Izuku called to her, "Good night, Uraraka."

It wasn't playful, or smug. It was just Izuku wishing Ochako a good night with a kind smile on his face. A very contagious smile which soon found itself on Ochako's face as well, "Good night, Deku."

---

After getting told off by Aizawa, All Might was ready for bed, but as he sat on the medical bed, he found himself flipping through his phone instead of trying to fall asleep. The day's events weighed heavily on All Might. So many things had happened that threw all of his plans into disarray. After being pushed to having to go beyond his limits, he knew his time limit had been cut down dramatically. If he still had an hour left, it would be a small miracle. On top of that was the villain, Tomura. All Might had heard him mention that he wasn't as fast as he thought he'd be, something someone had told the young man. When he took that there was someone that apparently knew enough about him to say he was slowing down and they had a villain with them that had multiple Quirks, it didn't paint a very good picture. The worst of all, however, was that today, he had almost lost Izuku.

The memory of Ochako cradling Izuku's broken body was going to haunt All Might's memory for days, he just knew it. So with everything that had happened, and the new thoughts of what could be coming next, All Might found himself in need of advice.

Finding the name he had been searching for, All Might took a deep breath and pressed the call button. He just hoped that the old man was still awake.

"Toshinori? Do you have any idea what time it is? A man my age needs all the sleep he can get."

"I'm sorry, Torino. I know it's late, I just...I just needed some advice."

"...Things must be worse than I heard if it's got you sounding like that."

"You already know about the attack then?"

"It might not be on the news yet, but an attack on U.A. is going to get out, no matter what the suits up top do to try and slow down the story. How bad is everything?"

"You remember the boy I told you about? Young Midoriya."

"Yes?"

"The attack almost killed him."

There was a long sigh on the other end of the line, "How close are we talking?"

"He was attacked by a villain that was made to fight me."

"Made?"

"Strong like me, and fast too. It also had multiple quirks."

"...How much time do you have left?"

"An hour...maybe."

"Damn...So what kind of advice did you want?"

"I had originally wanted to give Young Midoriya a year to come into his own, before passing One for All to him, but now...not only did I almost die," All Might could hear the retired hero suck in a sharp breath, remembering Sir Nigheye's vision, "but Young Midoriya almost perished as well. If...if he's come back, then the boy will need everything at his disposal to be ready for the coming threat."

"You want to give him One for All now?"

"I...I'm not sure. We came too close to losing everything. I don't want to repeat that mistake."

"Do you think the kid is ready for it?"

"That's why I'm calling you...Torino… Did, did Master ever tell you when she knew I was ready to take on One for All?"

The other end of the phone was silent for a long time. All Might knew he was dragging up old memories, but he needed to be sure. He didn't want to burden the boy out of fear.

"She never told me the exact day she knew you were ready."

All Mighted sighed, but Gran Torino continued, "But, I remember that not long after giving it to you, you went on to win the U.A. Sports Festival. When you held up that medal, Nana was practically radiating pride. She just knew she had chosen the right person to carry on her burden."

All Might wiped away a few tears that threatened to leak out.

"You'll know when the time is right, Toshinori. For you and the boy. I trust you, and she would too."

"Thank you, Torino."

"Now get some sleep. That's what smart recovering patients are supposed to do."

"And I suppose that's what cranky old men should do too."

Gran Torino laughed before hanging up. All Might put down his phone and finally rolled into bed. Lying down he thought about what his old teacher had said. Just has he felt his eyelids start to get heavy, he had a thought that woke him up fully.

"The sports festival!"

All Might knew he had to speed up his plan on when he was going to give Izuku his Quirk. He just needed some kind of sign that the boy was ready. The sports festival was the perfect opportunity.

"That...that could work. I originally said I wanted Young Midoriya to show he had control over his own quirk before giving him One for All. He needed to have control over it before adding One for All on top of it. What better way to show he has control than winning the sports festival?"

The sports festival was only a couple of weeks away, if it wasn't canceled because of the attack. Though All Might doubted that it would be. Canceling would be a huge blow to the hero community, a sign of weakness that he was sure the suits wouldn't want. If Izuku could go from only just learning to tap into his power, to winning the festival in only a couple of months, that would be the perfect display of control that All Might had wanted to see.

If Young Midoriya wins, then he will have shown he is ready for One for All.

With that decided, All Might laid back down and let himself finally fall asleep.

---

Everything was on fire. Smoke in the air choked the lungs and the stench of sulfur burned the nose and throat. Yet even still, beaten and bruised from a day of battle, mage apprentice Ochako rushed deeper into the bowels of the horrible Mount Interitus.

The great mountain has been split when a hell pit opened beneath it, unleashing hoards of demons. The kingdom had been thrown into a panic, the demons' attack had been swift and brutal. It was only thanks to the combined efforts of the Captain of the Royal guard and the Royal Knights that the evil demons had been pushed back into the pit from where they came.

However after the battle, the injuries to the knights had been great, and the Royal Captain All Might had been unable to make the journey into the mountain to close the pit. Worse yet, the court mages had discovered that the pit could only be closed from within. Whatever brave soul that made the journey would most likely be trapped in hell with the demon host. This news quickly caused the camp to erupted into arguing over what they were to do, and who would have to be sacrificed.

Ochako was pushed back from the group, she was too young to be made to make the journey. Instead of arguing she went in search of the prince. He had been injured and brought to a private infirmary tent. She did not have to go far to find the tent, grumbling that they should have at least moved his tent further away from the main camp. He shouldn't have to hear all the horrible news and arguing that was happening.

Moving one of the giant flaps, Ochako entered the tent, doing her best to put on a smile for her dearest friend, "I do wish they would have their fight somewhere else. It must be hard for you to rest with all the noise."

The tent was dark so Ochako moved to light a few lanterns for them, "Still I wanted to tell you, you were very brave out there today."

Ochako frowned at the silence. She knew the prince had been brought to the tent not that long ago, so she had assumed he would still be awake. Had he fallen asleep already before the physician had a chance to dress his wounds?

Holding up a lantern she frowned at the lump in the bed. The shape looked wrong.

"Your majesty?"

Her hand fell on the blanket, "Deku?"

Pulling it back, Ochako gasped in horror. Pillows had been stuffed under the blanket, a hurried attempt to make it look like someone was sleeping underneath. Quickly Ochak scanned the rest of the room. Many of the prince's personal effects were missing. Pieces of armor, and his sword.

"But there's a guard at the entrance. He couldn't have…"

Ochako's eyes finally fell on the back of the tent as a small breeze blew open the clean cut in the heavy fabric. A cut big enough for someone to sneak through.

"NO!"

Ochako knew what had happened. She knew exactly where the prince was, so she ran as fast as she could. Right into the heart of the mountain. The closer she got to the heart of the mountain the worse everything became. Yet she had to keep going. She could see the deep red fire from the pit now. The cavern was just ahead. And at the ledge of the pit, cloaked in green stood the crown prince himself.

"DEKU!"

She was close. She was about to pass the entrance when she ran right into something that knocked her back, almost off her feet. Regaining control of herself, she pressed her hands against the invisible barrier that blocked off the entrance to the cavern

"Deku! There's some kind of barrier. I can't get to you!"

Izuku turned towards her and smiled, "I know. I put it up. I guess I learned something from those lessons you taught me."

Ochako banged on the wall between them, "Deku, whatever you are thinking of doing, just stop! Please!"

Izuku shook his head, "I heard them. Someone has to be trapped to close the pit."

Ochako stepped back and pointed her staff at the barrier and screamed the first spell she could think of. Lightning screeched and whined as it fruitlessly bounced off. Tears streamed down Ochako's cheeks as she tried another spell, but the result was the same. Nothing. Dropping her staff, Ochako started slamming her fists against it, "Please don't do this! Not you! Please not you!"

"I have to. It's my responsibility as the next-"

"LET ME COME WITH YOU!"

Ochako's scream cut Izuku off.

"Let me come with you, Deku. I can help. Don't...you don't have to do this alone. If we're together...if we both go together then…"

Izuku shook his head sadly, "If we both go together, then you'll die too. Goodbye, Uraraka. I'm sure you will become the greatest mage this kingdom has ever known. And thank you for being my friend."

Beating on the barrier, Ochako screamed and wept as she watched the prince turn around, hold up his sword, and plunge into the fire.

"DEKU!"

---

"DEKU!"

Ochako shot up from the bed, hand outstretched as she grabbed at nothing. Breathing heavily, Ochako stayed in that position as her heart raced and her eyes adjusted to the dark room. Slowly, Ochako calmed down as she lowered her hand and slowed her breathing. Bringing her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around her legs and laid her head down, trying to force the horrible last few moments of the dream from her mind.

Guess I'm not over seeing Deku just rush into certain death. I swear if that boy gave me mental trauma, I'm going to kick his butt.

Looking over at the alarm clock next to the bed, Ochako groaned at the late hour.

Great, it's way too late for me to be up, but I really don't want to go right back to sleep after that dream. What am I supposed to do now?

Sighing, Ochako looked around the room she was in. Izuku's room really was a living shrine to his favorite hero. So many different posters and figures lined the walls and shelves. Even the covers she was wrapped up in had the man's name plastered over them. She had seen all this before many times. This wasn't the first time she had been in Izuku's room, but it was the first time she had been in it all alone. That, and it being so dark and quiet, made being there much more intimate.

But not uncomfortable.

Which was an odd feeling. In every measurable way, she should be feeling embarrassed to be here. This was Izuku's room, and she was in his bed. At night. And yet she felt calm, and now that she was getting over the dream, at peace.

Ochako continued to look around the room, as if seeing it for the first time. Noting how items had been carefully placed so that everything could be easily cleaned. It was impressive that even with so much stuff, Izuku was able to keep the room tidy. The only place that wasn't immaculate was his desk, which wasn't that big of a deal really. She knew he had been in a hurry to eat when they had gotten home so he must have dropped his backpack next to it and simply stacked his books and notebook on top since he was in a hurry.

His...notebook…

Even in the dark room, the moonlight that came in through the window was enough to make the green leather stand out. It was Izuku's hero notebook, the same note book she had gotten him for his birthday. The same notebook that Izuku alway had an excuse for why she couldn't look in it. And there it was, right in front of here, completely unguarded.

I really shouldn't. I really shouldn't read it. It'd be wrong right? An invasion of privacy and...oh I'm already at his desk.

Having gotten out of bed, Ochako stood next to the desk, looking down at the notebook, drumming her fingers on the wood top of the desk.

I can't just open it...I should just go back to bed.

Ochako turned and accidently knocked the book off the desk and it landed onto the floor. Opened.

Oh well look at that, it opened all on its own. I can't be held responsible for what I see when I'm putting it back. Right? Right.

With that decided, Ochako picked up the notebook and started looking through it. The pages were filled with entries on heroes and their classmates. Each page was organized and filled with great details. As she had seen before in his old notebook and from the peeks she had been able to get here or there. Nothing out of the ordinary, and nothing she hadn't suspected. She at least was also able to confirm that All Might's page did not have anything about One for All. She was about to put the book back, slightly disappointed there wasn't anything juicy in it that she could use to explain Izuku's reluctance at sharing it with her, when she got to the first few pages and the sketch she saw made her pause.

Is that...me?

Unlike the other sketches in the book which were full body, this sketch was just a bust of her smiling, but the amount of detail that had clearly been put into it was far and beyond anything else in the book. In fact, everything about her entry was more detailed. Even his handwriting was much neater; it could almost pass as print. Ochako was further startled when she saw that her entry was multiple pages, when even the top ranked heroes in the book only got a single page dedicated to them.

Name: Ochako Uraraka

Hero Name: N/A

Quirk: Zero Gravity

Zero Gravity allows Uraraka to remove the effects of gravity from solid objects upon touching them with the pads on her fingertips. She must make contact with all five pads on one of her hands for her Quirk to take effect. The object will lose its gravitational pull and effectively become weightless, though they still retain their mass. With Zero Gravity, Uraraka can make anything float in mid-air as long as it is within her Quirk's weight limit. This limit can be and has been increased through training. Uraraka can also use her Quirk on herself allowing her to float in the air, giving her a huge advantage in aerial mobility. To cancel her Quirk's effect she must press her fingers together.

Combat Prowess:

Uraraka has spent months honing her martial arts, taught to her by Gunhead, to an incredible degree making her a technical powerhouse. She is also a great tactical thinker, planning out how she will attack someone, and gauging their strength and weaknesses to her benefit. With her Quirk, Gunhead Martial Arts, and keen mind, she has the potential to become one of the most dangerous close range fighters. Uraraka's physical strength is not to be underestimated. As evident by her muscles physical feats during training, she is to not only be able to take a hit, if someone is lucky enough to break through her defense, but to deliver hard knock out blows.

Support Gear:

Uraraka's Mk I? hero costume takes cues from two heroes who have had a huge effect on her. The space theme is inspired by the rescue hero, Thirteen. Thirteen is Uraraka's favorite hero and one of her key inspirations into what a hero should do and act. To show kindness and use your Quirk to save others. Uraraka is very kind. While Thirteen's costume resembles an astronaut's space suit, Uraraka's costume is much tighter more streamlined which helps facilitate her combat abilities. She wears two large bracers that resemble the arms of her martial arts instructor, Gunhead. A key support item she brilliantly had installed were gyroscopes to allow her to better mobility while she is floating. She has even been able to use them to run on walls and ceilings, which is just incredible.

Personality:

Uraraka is kind, and while capable of incredible feats, does not allow this to blind her to aspects she feels she needs to improve on. She takes her training very seriously as she is driven to become a hero to help her family, but she always has a smile on her face. If she is knowingly copying All Might or not, the effect she has is the same. She is inspirational and incredible.

While her main drive is to support her family, she also pulls from a moment in her childhood where she saw a hero in action and the smiles that it brought the crowd around her. She wants to make people smile, so of course she would want to rescue people. This shows her worry that her goal is just money-based to be unfounded. Someone just interested in money would not care about the people around her. Uraraka does care.

Her favorite style of food is japanese, though her favorite food is mochi. She always seems to know when there is some nearby. It's impossible to hide it from her. She also loves the stars at night, and owns several star map posters. Did loving the stars come first, or did her admiration for Thirteen lead to it?

Conclusion:

Uraraka wants to be a hero, but her actions to date show that she is already one. Her drive and motivation puts many pros to shame. She is grounded and realistic. Can be blunt but is never unkind. She is not only a hero that this world needs, but the greatest friend anyone could ever ask for. Uraraka is a hero, who has saved me more times than I can count with just a smile, or kind word.

If not for Uraraka I might never have gotten the chance I have now. I'd probably have taken Kacchan's advice already.

Ochako blinked away the tears in her eyes. The more she read, the harder her heart beat, and the hotter her body started to feel. At some point she had forgotten to keep her pinkies out, and had floated herself and the notebook so that now she was lying against the ceiling, reading every word that Izuku had written about her. His analysis of her, and his personal thoughts and admirations. Gingerly, Ochako turned to the last page. This one was much more scribbled and rough. Parts were heavily smudged with eraser marks showing that many ideas and thoughts had been hastily written down and removed. It was more sporadic, and more raw. The pages title made her heart beat even more.

Team Ideas & Duo Super Moves:

Mumble Cheeks: I mumble a lot, and her cheeks have that cute pink blush. Not serious enough?

Bunny Hop: Everyone thinks I'm a bunny, and she bounces around a lot when floating on the wall. No.

Meteor Rabbit: More space themed, but I'm not a rabbit!

Gravity Duo: Space themed. Our Quirks are very compatible when you think about it. She could float an item that's beyond my weight limit that I could move around. Possible name change. Gravity Duo Smash for super move. Not a team name but a super move. Keep for later.

Green Tea: Play on name and color. Uraraka Ochako has kanji that read out Beautiful Tea Child. My favorite color is green. We both enjoy drinking tea. Green Tea? Serious enough?

Arizona Meteor Smash: Float multiple objects to pass weight limits of my Quirk. Wide range attack. Space themed. Arizona site of America's largest creator. Possible adjustment, Arizona Asteroid Smash, instead of wide range, pull objects into one large ball, for single target attack.

Flight: If Uraraka floated a person, could I move them around easier? I'm not able to lift myself, but if I didn't have gravity, could I fly?

Gently, Ochako pushed off the ceiling and floated back to the floor. Carefully, like it was made of porcelain, she closed the notebook and put it back on the desk. Ochako's heart was beating so fast and so loud she almost couldn't hear herself think.

Deku...he's going to be the next number one hero. The next All Might once he gets One for All, and he still...he still wants to be together with me?

Ochako thought back to when they had first decided to work together to achieve their dreams. They had trained together for such a long time, and even showed that they were a force to be reckoned with in class, but the idea that Izuku would want to continue that beyond graduation never really occurred to her. But now that she thought about, and knew that Izuku was thinking about it, the idea they would be anything else but a team was laughable. They had started this together. So of course they should stay together until the end.

That word stuck in Ochako's mind.

Together.

That single word when she thought of it concerning herself and Izuku took on a whole new meaning.

With the notebook put back in place, Ocahko turned and started walking, but not to bed so she could go back to sleep. No, her feet took her out of the room and into the dark living room of the apartment. With every step she could see just a little better and hear Izuku's breathing just a little more clearly. She finally stopped and found herself standing right besides the sleeping form of Izuku, wrapped up and snuggling with his pillow. Flashes of the nightmare earlier danced through Ochako's mind, but were quickly brushed aside as she looked at the boy. Kneeling down, Ochako just watched him for a little while. Watched at how his chest rose and fell with each breath. A few hours ago, they had come so close to death. He had been so close. To look at his still form had been the most horrific thing she had ever seen. Now, to see him resting so peacefully, it brought such feelings of joy to her she couldn't almost couldn't find the words to express how relieved she was. And perhaps a little frustrated by him as well.

Gosh Deku, you're going to make being in love with you a huge hassle, aren't you?

In an instant, time froze for Ochako. That word she had just thought. That one simple word brought everything to a dead stop.

Love.

Ochako stood up, and hurried out of the living room and into the bathroom. Shutting the door, Ochako grabbed a towel off the wall and used it to muffle the scream of embarrassment that tore from her lungs.

WHY DID I THINK THAT!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!? I'M INSANE! THAT'S THE ONLY EXPLANATION! I'VE GONE COMPLETELY INSANE!

Dropping the towel, Ocahko looked at herself in the mirror and almost started screaming again. Her face was so red, she might as well have been a tomato. Slapping her hands over her face so she didn't have to look at herself, Ochako felt herself start to float off the ground, though she didn't really care. She had more important things to try and figure out.

Okay! Okay! Just calm down! CALM DOWN! I had a really bad day today. After everything that happened, I'm probably just relieved Deku is alright. Yeah, that's it. It's just relief is all. That and...I guess I was touched after reading his notebook about me. To know that he thinks so highly of me, and is so dedicated...I mean… what girl wouldn't be touched and a little emotional after that. That's it, everything just has me emotional. I just need to calm down and think about this rationally. All I did was think that I love Deku.

Ochako could feel her heart skip as she used that word again.

All I did was think about it. Just a random stray thought that doesn't mean anything. There's a huge difference between thinking something and actually saying it. Wait that's it! I'm all mixed up because I'm keeping everything internal. All I have to do is say that I don't lo…

Ochako's thoughts came to a hard stop. For some reason she couldn't make herself finish that thought. Her heart wouldn't let her.

Wait no, that sounds too mean. Okay, here's what I'll do. I just say out loud that I love him. Hearing myself say it should be enough to snap me out of this. I'll say it, and it'll sound so silly I'll know I didn't really mean it, and it was just the stress talking. Yeah, that should work.

Pulling herself back to the floor, Ochako looked at her reflection. Clearing her throat she readied herself.

Just say it. Say it, and then go back to bed.

"I love Deku."

Ochako watched as her reflection started to turn red again. Not getting the response from herself she had expected, she tried again.

"I love Deku."

Her reflection started to grin, and her eyes started to get glassy.

"I love Deku...I love Deku...I. Love. Deku."

She tried again and again, but no matter what, she couldn't make the words sound silly. Not when they felt so right. Each time she said it, her smile broaded, her cheeks glowed, and her heart fluttered in her chest. Soon she wasn't saying it to try and deny it, she was saying it because she loved hearing it. Those three words were music to her heart and soul. There was no denying the truth any longer. Leaning against the wall, Ochako sighed into her hands, "Oh my god, I'm in love with Deku. I've fallen in love with my best friend. Oh no what have I done...wait no, this is Deku's fault. What has he done?"

Lowering her hands, Ochako looked at herself in the mirror, and she saw a girl that was so obviously in love, "Oh this is...not good. We don't have time for this...he doesn't have time for this. Trying to become a hero is hard enough, but he has One for All to think about. I can't...he can't...he's my best friend for crying out loud. How'd I fall for my best friend? Besides him being kind, gentle, brave, compassionate, cute and having a body that puts the Statue of David to shame…oh, so that's how."

Pushing herself up, Ochako tried as best she could to get herself under control, "Okay, I've fallen for my best friend. Fine, I can deal with that. What I am not going to do is let it get in the way of our goal. We are trying to be heroes, and I will not let this," Ochako poked her chest, right over her heart, "get in the way of that. And I'm sure as hell not going to let it make our friendship awkward. I'll get this under control and everything will be just fine."

Ochako ignored the fact that her reflection still had the biggest love sick grin she had ever seen, and rosey cheeks that were practically neon. Walking out of the rest room, Ochako intended to go back to Izuku's room and go to sleep, but the soft sounds of his breathing drew her in. Very quickly, she was back kneeling next to him, watching him sleep. With everything she was feeling, the temptation was too much for her. She watched him for a little while longer, smiling at his sleeping form. Softly, Ochako reached out and brushed a few stray hairs out of Izuku's face, letting her hand linger on his cheek. A soft hum came from Izuku as he nuzzled Ochako's hand, resting his cheek into her palm. Ochako's heart roared to life and she was suddenly very grateful she was kneeling, because she was sure she would have swooned after that.

Tomorrow...tomorrow I will deal with these feelings. I'll make sure they don't become a problem for me...for both of us...but tonight...right now. Right now I can be honest, at least to myself.

Licking her lips, Ochako leaned forward and pressed her lips against Izuku's forehead. From the brief contact a warmth spread out from her lips throughout her whole body. Pulling back Ochako smiled happily, "I love you, Deku."

It was only a soft whisper, but in the dark room, those words felt like a proud declaration for Ochako. A confession, maybe not to Izuku, but to herself. She knew that from here things were only going to get harder. On top of everything they had been expecting from school, now they had to worry about this League of Villains. She knew now more than ever, neither could afford any distractions. So she would deal with these feelings. She had to. At the very least though, she could use them. After all, what better feeling was there to drive her to protect her Izuku than love?

Notes:

Well hello new longest chapter that I did not plan on becoming my new longest chapter _

Hi everyone, I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter. It was a lot of fun for me to write, as I got to do a couple more scenes that I've been wanting to do for a while. Also, now I get to finally move into fluffy ship teasing! How many almost confessions and missed opportunities can I shove in before our favorite cinnamon buns finally kiss? *Looks at outline* Oh, the answer is a lot! Just one more chapter until my USJ arc is complete. If you enjoyed the chapter, or have some criticism's please leave a comment or review!

Again a huge thanks to my beta reader Tmalasia!