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.

39. Countdown to Term Finals! Part 1

4 Weeks Until Term Finals

Izuku sat in silence along with several police officers in a small meeting room. It had been two weeks since the world found out about Himiko and things had, for the most part, returned to a calm, if a little uneasy, peace. At the very least, he and the rest of his classmates were able to get on with their school work and prepare for their upcoming term final exams. His own progress had been slow but steady. Izuku could now breath fire on command and no longer had any more accidents.

The last one being an unfortunate burp in the middle of lunch after drinking a soda pop a bit too fast. Fortunately Eijirou hardened his hair quickly enough that it didn't immediately catch fire. Or it was all the hair gel he used that protected him, Izuku wasn't sure.

So with things calmed down, Izuku took the opportunity to follow up on an idea he had back during the craziness a few weeks ago. It was after more training with All Might that he, Himiko and Ochako were sitting down in All might's office for some tea, and blood for Himiko, that Izuku had finally explained everything he, and the police knew about Eri and asked if she might lend her expertise in helping identify who had hurt her. A couple of days later, after All Might had spoken to the police, Himiko was looking over the documents regarding Eri.

As Himiko scanned everything, from photos taken of Eri's scars, to the pictures she drew after her nightmares, to the vague descriptions Eri had offered, to finally the slightly redacted official reports on the whole thing.

"So," Izuku asked hopefully, "Do you think you know who might have done this?"

Himiko clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Sorry. Never heard of someone matching this description when I was on the streets or with Mr. Stain."

Izuku slumped in her chair. "Oh…"

Himiko drummed her fingers on some of the drawings. "A beak… I ran into quite a few heteromorphs but never someone with a beak. And unfortunately people that like to hurt little girls are well… a dime a dozen really. So that doesn't really narrow it down."

Izuku winced. That was not a very pleasant thought. Himiko had offered to have Izuku not be in the room when she started talking about what she knew. No matter what, she was going to be talking about unpleasant stuff, but Izuku refused. He wasn't going to hide from this ugliness.

Himiko moved from the drawings to the photos. "These though… These are definitely surgical cuts. Sharp tools and a steady hand. This guy has a background in surgery or some field of medicine. A back alley doctor at least. The white hands Eri mentioned, those are probably surgical gloves."

Izuku tilted his head at that phrase. All Might then explained. "It means a person who practices medicine without a license. They were popular with certain gangs and yakuza when they needed members patched up. Still are, but they focus on villains who escaped from a hero fight. Or something similar."

"If you know of any of these back alley doctors, we'd like their names. They might know something if it's someone in their field," an officer asked.

"I knew a couple, but they might not be around anymore. Moved on or dead. Got pretty good at patching myself up towards the end so I didn't need their help. Plus I'm almost sure my reputation made them a little squeamish. Sometimes I'd go to their 'office' and they'd pretend no one was home. Think they were afraid I was there to eat them." Himiko paused and tapped the table. "You might try and find some black market information brokers. They might know something… though the best in the area is damned near impossible to find. Met him once… I think…"

An officer stopped taking notes. "You think?"

"Memory is kinda hazy." Himiko frowned when she noticed a couple of officers looking at her funny. "Okay, so I know that's the line that comes before the bribe, but it's the truth. I met someone once, who was supposed to be a great broker, but I can't recall anything about the meeting. Or the guy."

"Hmm, perhaps he possesses a Quirk that affects a person's memory about him."

Himiko shrugged. "I dunno. Could be. All I know is that he's really good at his job and really good at not getting caught… if he can make you not remember him then that explains a lot actually."

Izuku leaned forward. "Toga, what about the last thing? That this person can break things with a touch?"

Himiko groaned, scratching her hair. "I hate saying this but that's not a lot to go on. Lots of people are good at breaking things. Hell, the first person that pops into my head when you say that is Shigaraki."

Izuku thought about that. It was true, Tomura could decay anything he touched, plus, "He does have those white hands… things all over himself."

"They're severed hands, Izuku. I got close enough to see them. They're real."

Izuku shuddered.

"But, Shigaraki doesn't have a beak, plus," Himiko picked up one of Eri's drawings, "the colors don't match. She used a lot of brown on the… um head," Himiko made sure she was looking at the crayon scribbles right, "and purples around the neck, feathers I guess. Not a match to our Mr. Bad Touch."

"Young Eri said touch though. Correct?" All Might asked with Izuku nodding in affirmative. "That seems an important distinction."

"I agree," one of the officers said. "We will continue to look through the Quirk registry but, if this person is a villain it's possible he never had his Quirk registered."

After that, the meeting was soon over and the police and All Might soon left the room. Himiko stepped out with them briefly before she came back into the office. Izuku sighed, not doing a good job at hiding his disappointment.

"Sorry, Izuku."

Izuku shook his head, "It's not your fault. I shouldn't expect you to know all the evil people out in the world."

"You weren't totally wrong to ask about this shit, though. I know more than some heroes." Himiko moved to sit next to Izuku. "Still sorry."

Izuku rubbed his hands together. "Is it weird that part of me hopes we never find this guy? I don't want to have to put Eri through the pain of having to deal with this monster again."

"Maybe this is just because of all the time I've spent with Midnight but I think the best thing for Eri is going to see this guy dealt with and locked up. It's a small miracle she can even act like a normal kid after the shit she went through."

"It took some time but me, Mom and Uraraka were able to get her to come out of her shell. It helps that she doesn't remember anything that happened."

Himiko frowned. "There are a lot of drawings on that table for her to not remember, Izuku. Pretty soon those bad dreams are going to start spilling out when she's awake. At that point…"

"Never seeing the one that hurt her again means she might always be afraid he is still out there, looking for her."

"Yup."

Izuku groaned into his hands. "We really do need to find him."

"Or he'll find you."

Izuku blinked and looked over at Himiko questingly.

Himiko groaned at her slip up before she shrugged. "This is gonna get a little fucked, so just… know I'm saying this from… experience." Izuku nodded. "Okay so… whoever this guy is, he was putting work into Eri. Those cuts, I said the guy had surgical experience, it's more than just that. I told the officers this outside because I didn't want to freak you out but…. You need to hear this I think. Those cuts weren't random. This wasn't some guy using Eri as a practice dummy for fun, they looked exploratory. She looks like she was cut up for a purpose."

Izuku looked pale and Himiko began to question if she was right to have started this. But she couldn't stop now. "If he was putting in some kind of effort then he might not like his experiment getting away. Odds are, he's probably looking for her."

Himiko watched Izuku closely. At first he looked disturbed at the idea. Just like she expected him to. Then his look shifted. Looking more like he did in that alley in Hosu City. Before he ripped the place apart. Himiko swore she also saw little jagged red streaks of energy dance under Izuku's skin.

"Hey Izuku, maybe don't get too hung up on the idea of finding this guy."

"Why?" The harsh tone in Izuku's voice didn't match the boy at all.

"Because if that's how you're going to look with it on your mind, you're going to terrify Eri."

Izuku blinked, startled, before he closed his eyes and let out a long sigh and calmed down. "I guess you have a point."

"Of course I do. I'm your specialist."

Izuku chuckled. "That's why I brought you into the 'inner circle' so to speak."

"So you know you should listen to me on things I know about?"

"Yes…" It took Izuku a second before his head snapped up as he realized the landmine he'd just stepped on. "Now wait just a seco–"

"So in the matters of love…" Himiko said with a huge cheshire cat smile.

Izuku quickly began waving his hands about. "We are not doing this again!"

"Oh, we totally are!"

"Dang it Toga!" Izuku exclaimed as he got up. "There is nothing to talk about."

Himiko shook her head. "Nothing to talk about? So are you saying you don't love her anymore?"

Izuku flinched like he had just gotten zapped by Denki and turned to look back at Himiko who was grinning up at him with a look that just screamed 'got you.' For the last week Himiko, much to Izuku's utter chagrin, had taken an unprecedented interest in Izuku's love life. Or lack thereof.

"Why are you so obsessed with this?"

"Because I'm your friend Izuku and I want you to be happy."

Throwing his hands up, Izuku exclaimed, "I am happy!"

Himiko broke out into giggles and even Izuku had to admit the absurdity of proclaiming his happiness so angrily.

"Okay, you're happy. But you could be happier."

Izuku rubbed his brow. "Toga I explained that–"

"And I blew that explanation out of the water back at the hospital weeks ago. Unless you want me to remind you?" Himiko got out of her chair and glided over to Izuku. Putting enough sway in her hips that her school skirt billowed out a little. "I'd be more than happy to give you another demonstration."

The conflict that danced over Izuku's face was hilarious for Himiko and she started laughing. Leaning on Izuku's shoulder for support.

"You're a horrible friend, Toga."

"But I am your friend. And that says more about you than me, I think."

Izuku snorted and Himiko laughed. Then, still leaning on his shoulder she moved her lips close to his ear. "I saw how you looked when we were watching those news reports a few days ago. When you saw the footage of Ochako carrying you."

Izuku blushed and stuttered, "I-I-I I was j-just thinking how… cool she looked, is all."

Himiko's lips brushed against Izuku's ear. "You were thinking about being carried in her arms."

Izuku chirped.

"I don't blame you, those soft strong arms. I'm still waiting for my turn to get picked up by her. You've gotten to be held a few times already too. Lucky boy."

Izuku recalled a few of those times. "I'm pretty sure I was almost dead for a few of them actually."

Himiko blinked and thought back. "Lets see… yeah actually, you were… Why does All Might's successor keep getting his ass handed to him all the time?"

"Not funny," Izuku gripped.

"It's a little funny… in hindsight."

Izuku let out a huff. "Are you done?"

"Hmmm," Himiko made a show about thinking about what she was going to say next, even though she already had this talk planned out a day or so in advance. She didn't plan on bringing it up right now, but it was on the docket. "I guess I'm a little happy I'm not the only one that thinks you and Ochako would make the cutest couple."

"I hate that entertainment news channel."

"Oh poor baby, it must be so hard getting talked about so positively on the news. How you suffer so." Himiko patted Izuku's head in open mockery.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up."

Himiko did just that and giggled as she pulled away and went back to her seat. "I'm going to make you crack, Izuku. I may have to bludgeon you with some doses of reality, but it's for your own good."

Izuku threw up his hands. "Okay I think I'm going home now. Where it's safe from…" Izuku motioned at all of Himiko. "Whatever this is."

"Riiiight, because Ochako doesn't tease you at all either."

Izuku thought about how to respond to that, and deciding that any answer he gave would damn him, he decided to make a quick retreat. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, Toga. Thank you again for your help. I know talking with the police probably isn't… something you enjoy doing."

Himiko waved that off. "If it's to help that little gremlin, I don't mind at all. Just wish I could have done more." Izuku was at the door before she called out to him, "One last thing, Izuku."

Izuku was tempted to just run at that point. Himiko's words, like her knives, always had a way of sticking into him. Especially now that Himiko was obsessed with his love life. All her 'final' words always hit home.

"Tell me the truth. How does it feel knowing that Ochako is always there for you? Knowing that if something happens to you, she's going to be there to protect you. I joke about it but you didn't see how she was after you got knocked out. She was ready to go to war to look after you." Himiko had joked about the time right after everything with Izuku and Ochako. Calling her a mother hen and the like. But even though she joked about it, the truth was still that the moment Izuku had been hurt, Ochako stepped up and made sure nothing happened to Izuku. Or herself, but bringing that up would cloud the goal of her last question.

Izuku stood at the door, facing away from Himiko but she could see the tips of his ears were bright red and there was even a little smoke wafting up. A clear sign he was overheating a bit. Turning to look at Himiko, face red and eyes wet, Izuku answered honestly, "It's one of the reasons I love her."

Himiko's smile wasn't smug. Wasn't just smug but genuine when she said, "You should tell Ochako that."

Izuku shook his head, accepting the idea as impossible and left.

---

"No no no no no no no AHHHHHHHH-!"

CRACK

SNAP

CRASH

THUD!

Ochako flew through the air, in an uncontrolled spiral as her hover boots propelled her into a tree where she hit every branch and limb into the center of the tree. And then after defloating herself, proceeded to hit them all again as she came crashing down to the ground. "OOF!" Hitting the ground, Ochako let herself sprawl out and just lay there.

Clap

Clap

Clap

Nejire clapped happily as she lowered herself to the ground, yellow swirls of energy making her descent graceful and almost angelic. "There you go, you're getting the hang of it!"

Groaning, Ochako lifted her head up off the grass. "Really?"

"Well… no, not really. You still kinda… super suck."

Ochako let her head fall back into the grass. "Ugh, I'd like to stop now."

Nejire shook her head, "Nope. You asked me to help you learn how to fly, and that's what we're going to do. No take backs." Reaching out, Nejire let small swirls of her Wave Motion Quirk drift out and encircle Ochako. Lifting her up and plopping her back on her feet. "Now, what do you think you did wrong?"

Dusting herself off, and picking some twigs out her hair, Ochako grumbled as she thought over her latest failed attempt at flight. "I dunno. I swung my feet to the side to try and turn but I kept going straight."

"That was because you had understeer." Nejire then gave Ochako a poke. "You were going too fast. All your momentum was going that way," Nejire pointed into the tree, "even though you turned yourself to go that way instead." She then pointed towards the clearing away from the crash sight. "Some basic rules of flight, the faster you go, the longer it takes to turn."

Ochako grumbled and dug a toe into the ground. "I swore I wasn't going that fast though. I thought I was using the same amount of power you were using when you were flying around."

"Hmm, that might be the issue. To get up in the air, you make yourself weightless right?"

Ochako nodded. "Yeah. I can turn my gravity off… Oh. Oooh!" It suddenly clicked for Ochako what Nejire was getting at. Because she was weightless, it took a lot less power to get her going. Nejire smiled happily as she saw Ochako get it.

"You should probably get that little bit of info forwarded to the support company that's working on your upgrades. You don't want them giving you something uncomfortable after all."

Ochako agreed and made a mental note to do just that. Nejire smiled brightly. "Great! Then I think it's time to run through the obstacle course your friend Hatsume set up."

Ochako's face fell as she turned to look at the series of floating rings that dotted the small forest. Some over the tree line. Some floating just off the ground and some more mixed in with the branches.

"But um… this is the first time I've even tried flying and I keep hitting the trees. Shouldn't I get more practice first before I try failing at that?" Ochako motioned at the course.

"The best way to learn is to fail. Isn't that what you've been doing practicing with those other bits and bobs? Judging by your face, you've been learning a lot."

Ochako reached up and pressed a finger into one of the large welts she got the day before. Practicing had left her pretty marked up. A fresh cut, held together with a butterfly bandage, still stung, another lesson that just because something looked easy in a video didn't mean it was actually easy. Ochako eyed the cord of leather and cursed the horrible thing.

"So ready to go?" Nejire asked as she walked over to the starting line.

Ochako sighed and followed after her. "This would be easier if I had your natural talent, Hadou."

Nejire shook her head. "I don't have a natural talent. In fact for a while a lot of people were convinced my Quirk wasn't suited for combat, let alone flight."

Ochako felt her eyes bulge. Nejire had been helping her train for a few days now, and the idea that her Quirk had been looked down on was ridiculous. In her first day with the senior, she had talked Ochako into a spar and had thoroughly trashed her. Her Quirk had made it impossible to even get close.

Nejire could read Ochako's reaction easily. "My Quirk has two major faults. One, it draws on my own stamina. My life force. Use it too much and I get exhausted. And the other drawback," she opened her hand and let a little swirl of energy dance in her palm, is that my blasts are always twisted and coiled up. Unlike most energy blasts that just go vroom, off in a single direction, mine are much slower because of the swirling."

Then with a huge smile, Nejire pointed her hand out towards a group of trees. "So I had to work hard. First so that I wouldn't get tired after using my Quirk and secondly," the little swirl of light suddenly grew into a vortex of yellow energy and blasted away a wide berth of trees, "if I couldn't be fast, I needed to find a way to be strong. Unlike a beam I can affect a much bigger area."

Nejire then lifted herself off the ground, the power of her Quirk dancing around her body. "You're taking your lumps now, but if you keep at it you'll be where you want to be before you know it."

Ochako floated herself up next to Nejire. "I'm not opposed to putting in some hard work."

"Obviously. If you were, I don't think you'd be all busted up."

Ochako laughed darkly. "I don't look that bad, do I?"

"Like a round raccoon with those twin shiners."

Ochako would have wept if she wasn't sure the tears would sting her eyes.

---

3 Weeks Until Term Finals

With only a few weeks left before their term finals, the students of 1-A were now training and studying hard to ensure they passed the tests the school had for them. Also to make sure they avoided the threat of summer school hell with Aizawa. So with so little time left, a casual observer would assume that the students would have no time for anything else but their preparations. Studying for a term final was stressful enough for any normal student. Add on a heroics practical exam and the stress should be astronomical.

But 1-A were not normal students and the Dekusquad, currently at U.A. after hours and sitting around a round table playing poker, were even more not normal.

On top of their studies and training, the group had set aside evenings for a 'game night.' A Nezu approved time to hang out after school hours with Himiko or even sleep over. After the incident, U.A. and the Hero Public Safety Commission thought it best that Himiko not leave campus for a while. To avoid any more unfortunate incidents that might arise being out in the public eye. This meant that opportunities to hang out with her friends, which were already small to begin with, had been cut to almost nonexistent. That was until Izuku was able to get permission for the 'game nights.'

One time they had camped out in the forested training zone. Another had been a night long monopoly showdown that ended with a room thoroughly destroyed.

Sometimes Mei would drag the group to the Development Studio workshop to have her friends try out new babies. Poor Tenya had almost been launched through the ceiling trying on some new arm rockets Mei had invented.

Tonight though, the group was playing card games. And after a few tries to agree on a game, drew straws and Himiko's game was picked. Poker. After seeing how well she shuffled and how unusually confident she looked, more so than normal which was saying something, the group banned her from being the dealer, and was immediately searched for cards.

"So, is anyone going to say anything?" Hitoshi asked from his seat. Ignoring the dirty look one slightly charred boy shot him. "Also two cards."

Mei hummed as she dealt Hitoshi two new cards and went back to looking at her own cards. "About what?"

Hitoshi's eyebrow twitched as he looked at his new cards. "About the fact that this is the fourth time—"

"Fifth," Tsuyu cut in.

"Fifth time Midoriya has almost started a forest fire on campus."

Izuku grumbled as he laid his cards down. "It wasn't my fault. Also, I fold."

Tenya's hand chopped in Izuku's direction. "Midoriya, it's not your turn. Wait for Hatsume to begin the betting phase first. Then after Tsu and Todoroki have placed their bets you may choose to bet or fold."

"I'm preemptively accepting my failure."

Himiko snickered. "That's why you never draw four cards, Izuku."

"Can we get back to the part where Midoriya, the one here with a fire Quirk, is saying that he isn't responsible for almost burning down Ground Omega." Hitoshi sarcastically replied, picking up a few chips from his stack. "Because I want to hear this."

"Jerk," Izuku said as he got up to get himself a drink.

Mei threw a few chips into the center of the pile. Tsu tapped her chin, before she matched Mei's bet and then added a few more chips. "I'll raise. Why does All Might take you to Ground Omega to train anyway, kero? Everything there is flammable."

"Call," Todoroki said as he matched Tsuyu's bet. "I would imagine since it's isolated from any buildings that the risk of damaging anything that can't be replaced is greatly reduced. U.A. is lucky to have gardeners who can regrow the damaged areas overnight."

That, and it's far enough away All Might and I can speak openly about One for All and other things. Izuku thought to himself.

"Raise," Himiko said, pushing a huge pile of chips into the center of the table. Getting a few groans from everyone else. "Hey, if you've got a problem, fold and give me the chips."

"Again, getting back to the point," Hitoshi said as he waved for Midoriya to grab him a drink from the fridge as well. "If it wasn't your fault, then whose is it?"

Izuku pointed and a gasp of insulted indignation came from Himiko, who still had some soot on her nose. "How dare you try and blame me! It's your fault you totally overreacted!"

Izuku returned to his seat, passing Hitoshi a drink and then snatching a chip, calling it a service fee. "You snuck up on me while I was practicing breathing my fire in a large spray."

Himiko pointed at herself. "I said hi!"

"You snuck up on me and blew into my ear."

"I did no such thing. Where do you get off claiming I sneak?"

Collectively the whole group turned to look at Himiko. The various looks she got made it clear they thought that was utter bullshit.

"Er… I mean, where do you get off claiming I was sneaking around today?"

More looks of 'bullshit'.

"... I'm starting to think you guys don't trust me."

Ochako rolled her eyes. "Why would you ever think that?"

Himiko stuck out her tongue.

After the final round of betting, Himiko smiled widely as she laid her cards on the table, earning groans from her friends. Cackling maniacally, Himiko scooped up her winning and organized them into a steadily growing pile. "You guys have the most obvious tells."

Tsuyu tapped her chin as she watched her. "By the way, what's the winner getting?"

Tenya pulled out his phone and scrolled through the ideas they all had. "It's down to a snack from each of the losers or we pitch in for a movie."

The group eyed Himiko's pile, then the other person she was neck and neck with. Mei.

"You know we can still go with my idea if no one wants to spend any money," Himiko began but was immediately cut off.

"No strip poker, Toga"

"Absolutely not."

"You're killing Midoriya just making him imagine that, you know."

"We are students of U.A. and we have a moral obligation to act morally and upstanding, Toga."

Himiko rolled her eyes. "You guys are such squares." Then a mischievous smirk spread across her face, "And you got a lot of nerve Tenya. Trying to act all high and mighty. Talking about morals."

Tenya's head snapped up, along with Izuku, Ochako and Shouto. Alarmed at what Himiko might be talking about. Before they could cut her off though, she thundered on, "It's not like you haven't already seen me half naked."

Mouth moving but unable to say anything, Tenya suddenly found himself under some very startled and a couple of very harsh glares.

"It's always the ones that follow the rules you have to watch out for," Hitoshi said, shaking his head.

"TOGA IS GREATLY MISCONSTRUING THE FACTS!"

Himiko nodded. "Riiiiight. So you didn't interrupt me while I was watching some porn and masturbating. Come banging on my door, demanding to be let in."

Ochako and Tsuyu were giving Tenya arctic looks.

"NOT TRUE! NOT TRUE AT ALL! YOU OPENED THE DOOR!" Tenya paused as he realized that wasn't the best way to put that. "I MEAN, I HAD NO IDEA!" Tenya was pretty sure he was about to be killed.

"Yeah, but it's funnier to tell the story this way," Himiko said with a laugh. Everyone looked at her as she explained. "He had no idea and I let him in because I was bored and wanted to play a prank. I had a pretty long shirt on, so he couldn't see anything."

Izuku, red as an apple, covered his face and shook his head. "Toga, that's terrible!"

Himiko rolled her eye. "Says the boy that totally copped a feel when we were in the hospital."

Steel fracturing makes less noise than Ochako's neck as she turned her full attention towards Izuku. "Deeeekkuuuuu."

"Wha wha wha what!? I never did that! I'd never touch you like that!"

Himiko pointed at her chest. "Your hand was right here, mister forward."

Izuku quickly countered, "I touched your scar!"

"Which is where?"

"On your cheeeeee…" That moment it dawned on Izuku that the scar he had touched was indeed on Himiko's chest.

"Hey, I'm not complaining at allll. You got some big warm hands that I'd love to feel again." Himiko paused and then grinning added, "You could do all kinds of things to a girl with hands like those. They're just perfect for playing with any girl you'd like."

Izuku's eyes darted to the side, which Himiko saw and knew who he had looked at, before there was a sudden puff of smoke that popped out of his mouth, then he tumbled backwards over his chair.

Ochako, realizing what Himiko had just done, again, groaned, "Well, you just killed him."

Mei leaned over the table to look. "Is he going to be okay?"

Ochako waved it off and motioned for Mei to deal the next cards. The table went through two quick poker hands, Mei winning both and Himiko cursing her luck at her last few hands, before Izuku pulled himself up off the ground.

"How about a different game, kero? Maybe then my luck will get better." Tsuyu looked down at her pitiful pile of chips.

Mei nodded and then began to shuffle the deck. "Texas hold'em?"

Tenya looked at Mei skeptically. "How do you know all these poker games?"

"I work with 'grease monkeys,' so of course I know how to play poker."

Hitoshi leaned over towards Himiko. "Ever get the feeling that you've been played?"

Himiko looked at Mei's chips that were starting to get bigger than her own. "Yeah… I think I just got hustled."

With the deck shuffled, Mei started dealing out two cards face down to each person. Everyone silently checked their own cards. Izuku pulled up at the corners so he could take a peek at what he had. Queen of Clubs and Two of Clubs.

Not the greatest, Izuku thought to himself. I could just fold now and save what's left of my chips for another hand. But if I keep doing that then either Toga or Hatsume is going to run away–

"Deku."

Izuku looked up to see Ochako snickering. "You're muttering."

"Oh! Sorry."

"Don't overthink it, Midoriya," Hitoshi said, "when it's your turn, just fold."

Mei started the round by pushing a few chips into the table from her hoard. "Let's get this going."

"Call," Tsuyu said, adding her chips.

"Call," Shouto added as he pushed most of the few chips he had left in. Out of the group he had yet to win a single hand. Everyone at the table had figured out his tell. If the room got cold, good hand. Warmer, bad hand.

Izuku tapped his chips, before matching the bet. "Call."

"Fold," Himiko said immediately, "also I want a new dealer."

"I fold as well." Tenya added, "I only have so many chips left. I must be careful."

"Call." Ochako tossed a few chips in. "But those next three cards you put out better be good, Hatsume," she added with a fake growl.

"Fold," Hitoshi finished. "Hatsume is counting the cards. Only explanation for why I haven't gotten a good hand all night."

Mei wasn't bothered at all as she flipped out three cards and lined them up in front of everyone. Jack of Diamonds, Jack of Clubs and a Ten of Clubs.

Ochako's head smacked into the table. "I'm going to throw you into space. That's what I'm going to do."

"Uraraka's dream of a mochi dinner is floating away?" Izuku teased, not bothering to hide his smug smile.

Ochako, head still on the table, rolled over to face Izuku. "They'd never find your body, Deku."

Deciding not to risk it, Izuku quickly backed down.

Mei picked up some chips matching her first bet, letting them clink together as she tossed them from one hand to the other. "So, Midoriya. How's your training been going?" Mei then put the chips back onto a small stack and pushed that into the pile. "I raise by the way."

"It's going pretty well actually. Took me a while, but I'm starting to get the hang of my Boric Pyre. Can't really do anything besides breathing fire though… and smoke I guess."

Tsuyu tossed her chips into the pile. "Call."

"Fold." Shouto shook his head. He didn't have the chips left to cover the bet. Not that he had the cards to even try. No one was surprised either. The room was getting a little toasty.

"I'll raise," Izuku said and added a few more chips on top of the bet,. "Why do you ask? With all the stuff you keep hooked up to me, I thought for sure you'd know even more than me."

Ochako looked at her cards, looked at the three on the table, looked down at the bet she was going to have to cover, then collapsed into her seat. "Fold."

"Oh, I get all kinds of data of course. I have enough now to start working on some babies for you. But I'm curious to hear what you have to say. You're point of view vs my data. Since I'm going to have gear for you soon, I'm also going to be at your practices to make sure everything is working right. I think I know how things are going, but I want to hear it from you."

Mei drew the fourth card and laid it on the table, an Eight of Clubs.

"Well, the main thing I've been working on is making sure I have control of my new Quirk. Aside from that I've also practiced some more with my Psychokinesis. Fine tuning it and thinking of smarter ways to use it."

Tenya nodded. "Very wise. After seeing how much damage you did to yourself because of your lack of control over both Quirks, making sure you fix that issue first before moving on to anything else was a good call by All Might. No one wants to see you injured again."

Everyone that had been in Hosu City to see what had happened to Izuku nodded. Even the ones that hadn't were nodding as well. The descriptions they had been told were enough for them to get a pretty clear picture of what Izuku had looked like.

"And what about that other thing?" Mei asked as she pushed a huge pile of chips, almost her whole stack, into the center of the table. "That Tactile Psychokinesis?"

Tsuyu gulped at the suddenly huge pile of chips in the center of the table, "That was mean, Hatsume. Fold, kero."

Now it was only Mei and Izuku left. Izuku frowned at the pile. "My Tactile Psychokinesis? What about it?"

She has to be bluffing with that huge bet. She probably has a Straight. I have the Flush. But to call her bet…Izuku counted the chips.

"Yeah, I'm just curious if you've been practicing it at all?"

Ochako, getting up to get herself a snack, looked over at Mei. "Why so curious?"

"I'm making Midoriya's support gear. I do need to know what's going on with his training. Especially when it comes to Quirks. Making babies that can handle the effects of a Quirks is tricky. Multiple Quirks is a whole new challenge. Like the crest I made, it helps with his Psychokinesis but I'm going to have to make sure it can also hold up to whatever heat Midoriya's Boric Pyre is going to put off. Both from the fire, and how it heats his body. So, when it comes to Quirks, I need to know."

Izuku was tapping his chips as he counted them off. "Well I have been practicing it. Last time was only a couple of days ago in fact." A few startled looks from his friends came his way. Izuku quickly clarified, "But only under All Might's supervision. And even then, I'm not allowed to use it. It's more a point to prove that the move wasn't a fluke."

Technically, this wasn't a full bold face lie. As Tactile Psychokinesis was his cover up for One for All, it was technically true. A couple of times during the last few weeks, All Might had Izuku tap into One for All. Wanting to make sure that Izuku could touch the power at will, and to make sure he didn't accidentally use it again like back at Hosu City. Of course, while he was allowed to touch the power of One for All, using it was still banned. Izuku still recalled the last time All Might had asked him to try to call upon One for All. Filling his arm with all the power One for All had, red streaks of energy crisscrossing over his skin, Izuku had really wanted to throw a punch. With Ochako watching he wanted to show off a little. Maybe not the smartest thing, but he wanted to show her how much stronger he was now. But when he had asked, All Might had asked one thing, how did his arm feel?

Izuku had been honest and said the power there felt like it was going to make his arm explode. All Might and Ochako had immediately told him to let the power go and to not throw that punch. In hindsight that was probably for the best. Thinking back, the feeling in his arm had been exactly the same as it had been when he had used One for All the first time. And he knew exactly what had happened after that.

"Call, and all in," Izuku stated with confidence as he pushed all his chips into the pile. A couple of whistles from his friends made him smile. He had this in the bag.

Mei nodded and drew the last card. Flipping it over and laying it with the rest. A Four of Spades. "Really? Huh, then I might need to recalibrate the sensors I have on you."

Izuku blinked. "Huh? Why?"

"Because I haven't seen anything from them like I did the night you were attacked. No huge spikes at all." Mei tapped her cards. "You've been getting stronger, yeah. The heat readings I've been getting have been steadily going up, and even the kickback readings I get from your Psychokinesis is smaller as the power you use goes up. Whatever training you're doing is definitely working. But no spikes in power."

Nothing that Mei had said was accusatory. It sounded like genuine questions from her. It also made sense that these would be the questions she would ask. But there was something itching at the back of Izuku's mind that told him he had just walked into a trap. But he brushed it off. "I guess it's like you said. My training is working. I'm able to at least hold the power steady in my body. Can't use it for anything yet though. That also might be the reason. I haven't actually used the move."

"Hmm, maybe I just need to see it with my own eyes. If I see what you're doing I can make sense of the data."

"Well it's All Might who decides what I'm doing any given day. So if he doesn't want me using the move," Izuku shrugged, "nothing I can do. He's been very adamant on when I can do things."

"I suppose that's fair. Still, once I have the prototypes ready I'll be there anyway to see how they work," Mei said with a smile.

Izuku smiled back. "I'm looking forward to it." Izuku then flipped his cards up. "Flush by the way."

Everyone looked down at the hand Izuku had. Queen, Jack, Ten, Eight, and Two. All Clubs.

Mei whistled, "Good hand Midoriya. It's almost as good as your bluff."

"You'd be surprised. I can totally bluff just as good as–"

Mei flipped her cards. "Just not good enough."

Eight of Clubs, Eight of Diamonds, Eight of Hearts, Jack of Diamonds and Jack of Clubs. A Full House.

Mei reached over and racked in her winnings while looking Izuku dead in the eye. "Almost as good as your bluff."

While Mei was congratulated by the rest of his friends, Izuku felt that itch in the back of his mind acting up again. Not sure if he had lost more than the poker game.

---

"100 yen says whatever Izuku is going to show us backfires."

Ochako rolled her eyes at Himiko. "That's terrible Toga."

There was a pause before Himiko looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "So you're not taking the bet?"

"You think I'm crazy? I'm not risking my money against a sure thing like that."

"..." Izuku turned to look at the two, glaring pitifully at them. "You know I'm right here and can hear you."

Both Ochako and Himiko broke into a fit of giggles while Izuku began to debate if tossing the kiddy pool full of icy water was worth the beating and stabbing he'd get. As they kept laughing, he was leaning towards it being worth it.

"Now, now, let's not antagonize the poor boy," All Might said, motioning for the two to calm down.

Izuku glared up at his hero. "You're not really defending me, All Might."

From the sidelines with Ochako and Himiko, Recovery Girl pointed her cane at Izuku. "Have you done anything to prove them wrong?"

"I–" Izuku began before Recovery Girl cut him off.

"If you try to lie, I will give one of these young ladies my cane and let them deal with you. Because I can't be bothered to come over there and whack you myself."

Izuku stood, scowling before turning away in a huff back towards All Might. "Can I at least show off my idea now?"

"Yes yes. Now, just so that everyone else is up to date, Young Midoirya called me last night requesting that today he'd be allowed a chance to demonstrate a technique he had thought up to use One for All."

Ochako crossed her arms. "I thought he was supposed to be focusing on his Boric Pyre still? Isn't it a little too soon to be shifting focus?"

Izuku shrugged. "I'm going to have to learn to use One for All eventually. Isn't it better that I am trying to figure it out instead of ignoring it until the last minute? Plus, I've made a lot of progress with Boric Pyre. So I don't think I'm losing anything by looking into One for All."

All Might rubbed his chin. "It was that reasoning that made me agree to see what Young Midoriya had come up with. As this will be the first time you'll be allowed to use One for All in training, I've also asked Recovery Girl to come and be ready to help you if anything were to go wrong."

"Lets just not make a habit out of it. Understand?" Recovery Girl stated. While the double meaning was lost of Ochako and Himiko, it was received loud and clear by All Might and Izuku.

"Young Midoriya, the floor is yours."

Izuku nodded. "So the problem right now is that even after a few tries holding One for All in my body, it still feels like it'd really hurt me to use. My arms, my legs, just filling them with the power of One for All makes it feel like they're one wrong move from exploding off my body. And that's not something I can afford if I'm in a fight. So, I was thinking of a way to minimize how much of my body is put at risk, while still being able to attack. Then I remembered something you do All Might, with your punches."

"Oh?"

"Your punches make shockwaves. You threw a punch that sent a shockwave into the sky and made it rain."

Himiko frowned. "Okay, so you want to try and copy those shockwaves All Might makes?"

"That's right."

"Buuut, he does that by throwing a punch," Himiko scratched her head. "So how can you do that if you're not going to use your arms?"

Izuku raised his hand up and pointed it away from the group and left himself turned so they could all see what he was doing. Pressing a finger strongly into his thumb, Izuku filled the finger with the power of One for All. The red crackle of energy danced through the skin of his finger. Then with a crack, he flicked his finger.

BOOM-CRACK!

The blast ripped through the air, creating a sonic boom that echoed like a cannon blast. Quickly after, a column of trees were ripped out of the ground and shredded into splinters. A vast cone of destruction, all from the flick of a finger.

"Holy fuck!" Himiko exclaimed, her jaw slamming to the ground. "Izuku only just… Holy fuck!"

Ochako could only nod numbly, the vast amount of power Izuku had just displayed was insane. Especially since he had only flicked his finger. It wasn't on the same scale as from his punch back in Hosu City, but the blast had still done a level of damage that was hard to fathom.

"Deku that was incre–" A tap from Recovery Girl's cane stopped Ochako in her tracks.

"Show us that hand," she ordered.

Ochako blinked before she turned her eyes away from the swath of destroyed forest and refocused on Izuku. Now noticing that he was clutching his right hand up against his chest. She could also see he was shaking. "Deku?"

Slowly, Izuku turned to face everyone, a closed fist raised up for everyone to see. "S-see. I can still fight."

Ochako looked harder and saw that one finger in Izuku's fist, the one he had used for the demonstration, was a deep dark purple, and swollen. Ochako rushed forward and took Izuku's hand into her own. Gently she opened his hand up, and gasped. "Deku, your finger is broken! What happened?"

This wasn't right, wasn't the whole point of this demonstration supposed to show a technique that was going to prevent Izuku from getting hurt when he used One for All?

"Yeah… figured this was what was going to happen." Izuku said with a tired sigh. "Still, everything worked like I wanted it too."

Ochako's head snapped up. "Wait, what? You were expecting this?!"

"I mean, yeah." The way Izuku replied, like the outcome should have been obvious, ticked Ochako off.

"I see. To maximize the power you have to attack, but at the same time minimize the damage to your body, you focused One for All into the smallest point inside your body and used that to attack."

"Pretty much. This way I can use One for All and not take myself out of a fight." Izuku looked so proud. "Plus compared to the other times I've gotten hurt, this isn't too bad."

"An ingenious solution Young Midoriya. I can say the idea of pushing One for All to a specific part of my body has never occurred to me," All Might said. Rubbing his chin as he considered the technique.

"Toshinori!"

"Did you really just fucking approve of that?!"

Izuku jumped at the venomous reactions from Himiko and Recovery Girl. Desperate for some backup he turned to Ochako but the glare on her face made it crystal clear he wasn't going to get it from her. At least she wasn't looking at him, but at All Might.

All Might's hands went up fast. "Now hold on one second! Let me finish!" All Might knew he needed to get ahead of this quickly. "Let's not forget that Young Midoriya is attempting to get control of a completely new Quirk. On top of the other new Quirk he just recently came to have. That he was able to come up with such a radical idea on how to use One for All should not be dismissed out of hand. Even if the reason behind it is for his well-being. Such harsh words won't accomplish anything. Especially for someone that's grown up hearing harsh criticism from those that should have been his friends."

Recovery Girl tapped her cane. "A fair point. But we weren't yelling at Midoriya."

All Might coughed into his hand. "Err, yes. Fair point. But you all still jumped the gun. Please give me, his teacher and mentor a chance to finish my thoughts before interrupting. If you don't mind." When it looked like the three were giving him the chance he wanted, All Might turned to address Izuku. "Now, Young Midoriya. I was telling you the truth. Your idea was indeed an ingenious solution to a problem you have with One for All. But it's not the problem you need to address. You are focusing on mitigation, where you need to only worry about elimination. This technique is a short term fix. I want you to think long term. So I don't want to see you using this technique going forward. Especially in the upcoming test. Understand?"

Izuku glanced down at his hand. The black and swollen finger throbbed and twitched before with grim determination he clenched his hand into a fist. The shattered bones popped and cracked as he did but Izuku ignored it. "But isn't this better than nothing? This way I can attack up to ten times before I'm forced to use one of my arms."

"How the fuck are you going to attack ten fucking times?" Himiko asked, "What, you're just going to keep breaking your fingers? Oh, and you can't flick a thumb. So you have eight ti–"

Izuku stuck his thumb into his mouth and caught it in his cheek before snapping it out with a pop! The group, All Might as well, stared at him in shock.

"–fucking shit, Izuku. What the hell?" Himiko couldn't understand this. What the hell could be pushing Izuku to this kind of extreme. She was supposed to be the crazy one. Not him.

Ochako was also looking at Izuku with increased distress. This wasn't normal. The whole point of this training was to make sure he didn't hurt himself anymore but here he was, defiant and set that this was the right answer. Something was going on here. Something was driving Izuku to an extreme. And she needed to find out what it was. Now.

"Deku," Ochako reached out, took Izuku's hands back into hers, and gently asked, "Talk to us. Talk to me. What's going on?"

Izuku looked away, his eyes falling on Himiko. Filled with guilt and regret which wasn't missed by either her or Ochako. Then he looked at Ochako and the same guilt and regret was there. "You both almost died because of me. Because I left myself unable to defend myself or protect you."

Himiko shook her head. "Izuku I got hurt–"

Izuku shook his head as he cut her off. "Because of me! I knocked myself out and you got hurt. I should have been ready for One for All, but I wasn't even thinking about it. If I had, I might have been able to prepare myself. And you wouldn't have gotten stabbed. And you, Uraraka." Ochako jumped as Izuku refocused on her. "That Nomu. It had its hands around your neck! It was killing you and I couldn't–" Izuku's voice hitched as tears started running down his cheeks. "I could hear you choking. You were fighting to breathe and all I could do was hang there and be useless. Worthless. You mean so–" Izuku closed his eyes, stopping himself from saying something that shouldn't be said. "You've been there for me so many times, and the one moment, the one moment you needed me I wasn't able to help you."

"Deku, you did save me."

"I got lucky. Some fluke with One for All or whatever it was. I got lucky and started breathing fire. If that didn't happen…" Izuku shuddered, turning sickly pale. "Uraraka… Toga… there are nights where…" Izuku looked like he was going to be sick, but he pushed the final words out, "I've had nightmares where I watch you bleed out in that alley Toga. And I hear that Nomu strangle you, Uraraka… or I hear your neck…I hear your neck snap."

Izuku forced the horrific thoughts back down along with the bile rising up in his throat. Forced back the feelings of helplessness with his anger and determination. Izuku then startled Ochako by taking his hands out of hers and then clasping her hands instead. Squeezing them tightly.

"I will never let that happen. I will never let you, either of you, get hurt again. Not while I'm still alive. I will protect you. I will protect both of you. All our friends and classmates. I will never leave you to defend yourselves while I'm left unable to do anything. Never again."

Izuku looked Ochako in the eye and squeezed her hands one last time. "Never again. You will always be safe with me. So I'll do whatever it takes to make sure I can use every Quirk I have. A broken finger is a small price to pay to keep you safe."

"Deku, I wish you had said something sooner. If I had known that Hosu City still hurt you like this, I would have…" Ochako searched for the right word. "I would have tried to make you realize things were not your fault."

"Uraraka, I–"

"'I am responsible for my own actions. And the consequences. Not anyone else.' Your words right?" Ochako reminded Izuku kindly. "You're not the only one that gets to live by that. I make my own choices. Understand? I chose to jump after you. My choice. And what about my nightmares, Deku?" Ochako asked quietly.

Izuku looked startled. "Your?"

"My nightmares. That's right," Ochako confirmed. Ochako wished she had known that Hosu City haunted Izuku like it did. He had never said anything before. And until today Ochako hadn't suspected anything. Could his drive to be ready for the exam have been filled by more than wanting to pass? The evidence seemed to point that way. She cursed herself for missing something so obvious. Izuku always thought of others first. So not being able to help, of course that would hurt him.

"Deku, I hate seeing you hurt. I hate hate hate it. I have nightmares of what happened to you at the USJ after that Nomu hit you, of when you threw yourself at Shigaraki. Seeing you crawlout of that crater, your arm and legs destroyed and just so much blood." Ochako shuddered. "And now you're telling me you're going to do this? Deku, no. Please, I'm begging you, don't make this okay. This," Ochako looked down at Izuku's broken finger, "this isn't selflessness. This is selfishness. You're thinking you getting hurt only affects you and it doesn't. When you hurt, it hurts me too. And Deku, I'm tired of hurting."

"So what am I supposed to do, Uraraka? Because I can't… I won't accept letting Hosu City happen again. I won't."

"We get stronger." Ochako answered. Simply but confidently. "I get stronger so you never feel like you have to hurt yourself to protect me. And I get stronger so no one ever hurts you again. Sounds good?"

Izuku looked down at his hand, before nodding. "Deal."

"So, no more accepting that you getting hurt is acceptable? No finger flicking."

Izuku laughed softly. "I get the feeling if I tried, you might not ask me to stop so nicely the next time."

"Darn right." Ochako said with a nasty grin. Her features softened however as she added, "And Deku. Don't keep things like your nightmares a secret from me. Please? If you're hurting I want to know."

Izuku blinked, and shifted on his feet. "I thought… me hurting, hurt you?"

"It does, but learning you've been hiding your pain from me hurts just as much… if not more. Because if I don't know about it, how can I help you?"

Recovery Girl said nothing but watched Izuku carefully. All Might went out of his way to not look at Izuku. Both things Himiko picked up on immediately.

"Just so you two love birds know," Izuku and Ochako leapt away from each other, blushing up a storm, "you don't have to worry too much. Before anything can get to either of you, it'll have to go through me." Himiko calmly pulled out a knife, one that neither her friends or teachers were aware she was allowed to have, and whirled it around. "And I'll make sure whatever is threatening you is chopped up into nice little chunks."

Izuku laughed while trying to make his face not red anymore and grateful that the topic had been shifted away from wounds and hurts he may or may not have been hiding. "Why does that fill me with both confidence and dread?"

"Probably because we'll be the one cleaning up the mess," Ochako laughed.

Himiko slipped the knife away. "By the way, Izuku. I don't have to say it right?" Himiko tapped her eye patch.

Izuku shrugged. "I'm going to feel how I feel Toga."

"You're a fucking hopeless dork, Izuku," Himiko said with an exaggerated sigh. Izuku didn't argue with that. "Oh, and by the way," Himiko grinned wickedly which sent shivers up her crushes' spines, "what were you going to call that move?"

Izuku glanced at his finger. "I didn't get that far, honestly."

"Maybe Finger Bang?"

Ochako coughed.

"Hmm, not a bad name," Izuku hummed to himself. Ochako was shooting Himiko a death glare.

"Would have been fun if you got to use it in training. Give someone a huge scare. Maybe even when you and Ochako are in a sparring match."

Izuku shook his head. "Oh no. I'd never try to surprise Uraraka with a Finger Bang. I'd want her to know it was coming…what?" Himiko fell over laughing wildly while Ochako slapped her hands over her face and started floating away into the sky. All Might was coughing up blood and Recovery Girl just looked done with all of them. "What'd I say?!"

---

"I'm going to try whistling."

"No."

Ochako's swift but bored denial made Izuku lay his head on the lunch table. "I'm going to do it."

"Nope." Ochako then took a bite of her food, not even looking at Izuku.

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not."

Izuku groaned in annoyance, while the rest of the table barely paid the 'argument' much attention.

"Midoriya's still complaining, kero?" Tsuyu asked as she opened a bag of chips and offered some to the table. Himiko reached over to grab a few for herself.

"Hasn't stopped since last night apparently."

Tenya's hand came up as he addressed Izuku. "Midoriya, I understand your frustration, but remember you've only had a few weeks of practice with your Boric Pyre. You can't expect to have the same kind of control of it as you do with your Psychokinesis."

Shouto nodded. "He's right. I didn't just start being an expert with my fire the day of our match. I've been working on honing that part of my Quirk since then. Even my own father didn't expect me to show the same level with my fire as I have with my ice."

Lifting his head, Izuku slouched into his chair. "But you were able to use it in combination with your ice. I can't do that with my Psychokinesis at all."

"Midoriya, maybe you're expecting too much at this point?" Hitoshi suggested. "Not every Quirk is super versatile. Breathing fire seems pretty straightforward."

"There's something there, I can feel it. I just need to try something different. And whistling is different. Maybe it'll give me something besides a blast of fire."

Sighing, Ochako finished her bite and looked over at Mei. "Is Deku still overheating?"

"Regularly," Mei stated. "His body temperature can get pretty wild."

"Deku, why did your father tell you not to try whistling?"

Izuku pouted. "Because it could quickly overheat me."

"So why are you still on about this? I'd say it's settled, you're not trying to whistle."

Tsuyu tapped her chin. "What are you expecting anyway? Fire is fire."

"Endeavor has Hell Spider. He can make his fire so condensed that it can cut through metal and concrete," Izuku countered. "He's a prime example that fire doesn't have to be just fire."

"And my father has a Quirk that lets him control fire at will. You breathe it. I don't think it's rational to think you can imitate him to the same degree."

"I'm not expecting to start breathing lasers or something, but it feels like I've hit a wall and it's really annoying."

"Again Izuku," Himiko threw in, "you've had a few weeks to practice. You've only just learned how to not sneeze up a fireball."

Ochako sighed. "And he's learned how to breathe out smoke." Which is what started this whole mess, Ochako thought tiredly. Upon seeing what a 'hand warming breath' was able to do, Izuku's Quirk obsessed mind went into overdrive trying to see what else he could do. After a few days of nothing Izuku was clearly becoming frustrated.

"My father said breathing is key to this Quirk. It's not like there are different ways to breathe. Whistling is the only drastically different thing there is, and I know it does one thing different from what my father said. If I could experience it, then maybe I'd be able to get over this wall I've hit."

"Or you could end up hurting yourself by accident," Ochako countered. A little heat coming into her voice. "And I thought we'd talked about that?"

Izuku slumped deeper into his chair. "I know, I know."

"Good. So let's take whistling off the table and think of something different."

"But I can't think of anything else. People just don't breathe differently."

Then a new voice cut in. "Singers do."

Everyone at Izuku's table turned to look where the new voice had come from. At the table right next to theirs sat Momo, Kouji and the one that had spoken up and was now nervously fidgeting under their combined looks, Kyouka. "Um sorry, I couldn't help but overhear." Her jacks tapped into each other nervously as she realized she might have been a little rude to interject into a private talk like that.

Izuku wasn't upset at all, and everyone at the table could see the gears in his head starting to speed up. "No, it's alright. You said there are people who breathe differently?"

Kouji was nodding his head and pointing at Kyouka who straightened herself up. "Um, yeah. Singers use different breathing techniques all the time. For warm-ups and for when they're on stage giving a performance. I've actually been helping Kouda with a few breathing tricks."

Izuku's notebook was out, startling a few at the table that still wondered where he was hiding that thing all the time, and he was taking notes. "Like what?"

"Well, there's things like yawn-signing, humming, lip buzz vocals, tongue trills and vocal sirens to name a few warm-ups. Also, there are tons of different ways to breathe too. Diaphragm breathing is a huge one singers learn how to do. There's huge breaths vs quick breaths, like gasps and pants. Plus there's what happens when you sing, period. Depending on what tone you're going for, that affects things too."

Izuku's pencil was going a mile a second as he wrote everything down. Kouji then pointed at Kyouka then towards Izuku. Momo beamed. "That's a wonderful idea Kouda. I'm sure Jirou would be able to teach Midoriya a lot of things to help him."

"I mean I don't mind giving him some help. If he wants to, that is."

"Please take care of me Jirou!" Izuku said with a deep bow. Getting a few laughs from both tables.

Himiko laughed before she leaned over towards Ochako and whispered into her ear. "Wonder if he'll learn to sing some serenades, hmm?"

Ochako's face went scarlet as she imagined herself leaning on a balcony, with Izuku under her singing up his love to her.

Himiko cackled at how easy it was to press Ochako's Deku Button.

---

"Hey, do you guys know if there are any places in the United States that are always on fire?" Izuku asked as he looked up from his hero notebook. Standing on a raised platform for Mei to work on him in the Development Studio, Izuku had passed the time going over his notes. Trying to come up with names for super moves he could use with his Boric Pyre.

His friends all looked at him with varying degrees of worry. "Midoriya," Tenya said. "That's a disturbing question to ask."

While Izuku quickly tried to explain his reasoning, Mei stepped up to him and began putting on the first piece of gear.

"Um, Mei? What's all this?" Himiko eyed a large table that was covered in random bits of support gear and lots of scrap parts and miscellaneous tools. Mei's work station was a mess even under the best of circumstances but today it was even worse. Most of the time the stuff left out was for Izuku's costume. Dealing with the latest project, keeping him from overheating. But now there were obviously bits mixed in that were not for him. Since some had the squad's names sticky noted to things. Himiko grabbed a peculiarly long metal case with her name on it and opened it up.

"Oh, all that? Those are some bits and bobs I thought up for you guys. When I had a little spare time to tinker. Most aren't done yet," Mei said offhandedly as she worked on putting the new prototype onto Izuku.

Tenya paled as he looked over the mess for anything with his name on it. "It's not more rockets, right?"

"Nope. For someone with engines in his legs, you can't handle speed very well, can you?"

Ochako snickered while Tenya's hands chopped as he explained he could handle high speeds just fine. When he has control, that is.

Mei glanced over at Himiko. "I came up with that when I thought about what you'd do if you couldn't throw your knives."

Himiko blinked and opened the case. "If I can't throw my knives? How could something this big helllllll," Himiko trailed off as she looked inside. The rest of the group looked to see what had taken her breath away. Himiko lifted the gear out of the case and up for everyone to see. "Bitch, this is a gun!"

Tsuyu croaked, "I'm leaving, kero."

Hitoshi groaned. "Great, that's what the serial killer needs. A freaking gun."

Mei's cheeks puffed out. "It's not a gun! That would be boring!"

Himiko held up the not-gun, which looked exactly like an old American Tommy Gun. Complete with the large round magazine. "This is totally a gun."

"No, no, no! Guns shoot bullets." Mei pointed to a wall that was heavily dented and scorched. "Go try it!"

Everyone that was able to move, hurried to grab ear protection and got super close to Mei, which in turn made Izuku, standing on a raised platform for Mei to work on him, the closest to the impending disaster. The perfect shield.

Himiko, after putting in some ear plugs, cocked and loaded the gun and pressed it into her shoulder. "And what does this fire then that makes it 'not a gun?'"

"Knives, of course."

Head snapped up and looked at Mei like she was insane while Himiko had a grin that looked down right euphoric as she pulled the trigger. "Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho h-"

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!

The recoil slammed Himiko back and made her pull the barrel upward as she lost control of the not-gun and fired not just into the wall but the ceiling as she landed on her back. After a couple of seconds the drum was emptied and silence returned to the room.

Himiko dragged herself off the floor and put the not-gun back into its case. "Mei, you're insane! What the fuck…?! Owww, my fucking shoulder."

While Himiko nursed her definitely bruised shoulder, everyone looked at the carnage she had caused. Knives were now sticking out of the wall and ceiling. On closer inspection, the knives were closer to sharpened shrapnel as they were all missing any kind of handle. Consisting only of a blade and tang.

Shouto walked over to the wall and attempted to pull one out of the wall, but immediately gave up. "Hatsume, isn't the Department of Support only supposed to make non-lethal gear?"

"It's only lethal if the target dies."

"Second question," Hitoshi interjected, "Toga is a stealth specialist. Isn't that thing a little um, loud?"

"And out of control, kero."

"Yeah, that too."

Mei shrugged. "It's a prototype. Just a funny idea I had. Plus, I don't know why you're so shocked about the recoil. Do you know how much propellant is needed to fire something as heavy as those knives? It's the equivalent of a fully automatic .50 caliber."

Himiko glowered at Mei. "I'm fucking murdering you in your sleep. Gonna find where you live and shank you then and there… God damn it, I think my shoulder is broken."

While Shouto iced down Himiko's shoulder, Mei went back to working on Izuku. "So how does the new respirator feel? Any different from the old one?"

While Izuku's old respirator had been split in two, one side covering each ear, and sliding out to cover his mouth and nose when he needed it, this new one was a more solid piece of equipment. Visually it was still very similar except the side coverings were thicker and wrapped around the back of Izuku's neck, almost like a brace. The reason for this simple change was the added cooling element. The back portion would cool his neck, similar to how athletes would drape cold towels over their necks to cool off during a summer game. The front part of the mask was still hidden away like before. The sliding metal panels could form the basic face mask he was used to, or fan out small slots so that Izuku could breathe fire through them.

Moving his head around confirmed that the change was minimal as far as he was concerned. "Feels pretty much the same, Hatsume."

"Hmm, good. Now remember, this isn't meant to drastically cool you off. This is just to take the edge off, or for when you've only used your fire a little bit. Got it?" Hatsume removed the respirator and handed it to Ochako to put on the table.

"Yup. I understand," Izuku confirmed.

Ochako looked over the piece of gear. "If this isn't going to solve Deku's overheating, why'd you make this first?"

Mei stepped down from her step ladder and went over to get the next thing for Izuku to try on. "The respirator was the easiest thing to modify. Make it heat resistant and add a minor cooling element. And I didn't make it first. It's just the part that got finished first. Started all the pieces at the same time. Now let's get this baby on you, Midoriya."

Mei hoisted up a piece of gear that more closely resembled the chest armor for a medieval knight. Noticing the worried looks, Mei rolled her eyes. "Remember, this is just a lab prototype. We're testing to see if the cooling method will even work. By the time we try a field model it'll be lighter and less bulky."

"And fit my costume's look too, right?" Izuku asked hopefully.

"Yup. If we're lucky, I'll shrink it down to fit inside your utility harness. There might be a little more going on on your back but your cape will hide it. Overall, you'd have to look pretty hard to tell the difference. Uraraka, take the back panel, will you?"

Mei handed Ochako the back panel, and she was startled at how heavy it was. "You're going to shrink this down?" Looking inside, there were tubes and vents lining the plate. On the back there were more tubes that connected to some kind of cylindrical slot. Ochako imagined this was all to help cool Izuku somehow.

"Midoriya, arms out," Mei ordered. Izuku did as told and Mei pushed the chest piece onto him. Ochako followed her lead and pushed on the back. Mei quickly attached the two parts together, making the parts hiss as they were sealed. Once that was done, Mei walked over to the table and opened up an ice box you'd be used to seeing carrying liquid nitrogen. Super cooled water vapor billowed out of the box as Mei, with gloved hands, pulled out a cylinder with several blue rods inside. "So these rods are filled with a super cooled liquid that will pump through the vest," Izuku eyed the armor he was wearing, questioning if vest was the right word, "and cool you off. At the same time, the liquid will absorb the heat you put off and store it back in the rods. This should keep you from overheating."

"Should, kero?" Tsuyu asked as she watched Mei put the cooling rods into the vest's back.

"These things are used for keeping heavy machinery from overheating in environments of extreme heat. Forges, volcanos, that sort of thing."

"Volcanos?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah. Scientists that study that kind of stuff need to make sure their tools don't melt."

"Wait, so this stuff is for cooling off machines?" Ochako asked, starting to get nervous. "Has it been used for something like this before?"

"Nope," Mei answered simply, "but that's what testing is for. Once I'm sure this is fitted right, Midoriya will start wearing it while he trains."

Izuku had flashbacks of all the testing he had to do to get his crest to function properly. The shudder that ran up his body was not because of the cooling vest.

---

2 Weeks Until Term Finals

"Heeeeeeeey! You guys watching?!" Eijirou called down from his perch on top of a multi-story building in U.A.s Ground Beta training ground. Below him Denki and Hanta waved back that they were watching. Mina waved as well but she was a little nervous at how high her old Jr. High friend was and how perilously close to the edge of the roof he was. Katsuki grumbled and swore that if the training method Eijirou wanted to show off wasn't worth his time, he was going to kill him.

"Cool! So watch this!"

Mina tilted her head to the side. "What kind of training could he be doing all the way up there?"

"Balancing?" Denki offered.

Mina swore she'd deck Eijirou if he really was trying to improve his balance and was using the ledge of a building as incentive not to fall over. "If he wants to have better balance, I could teach him some dance exercises that I– DID HE JUST JUMP?!"

Four heads snapped up and followed Eijirou as he plummeted to the street below. Bringing his arms in to cover his front, he slammed into the street face first. Sending up a cloud of concrete dust and rock. The four stood in silence before Eijirou popped out of the dust cloud, hardened arms raised in the air as he celebrated. "Is that not the manliest training method!"

"It's something, alright," Hanta laughed. "I think I'll stick to swinging off buildings, thank you very much."

Denki shook his head. "You almost gave me a heart attack, man. That had to be almost ten stories!"

Eijirou smirked. "Yup! When I was training for the sports festival I stuck to the smaller buildings. Been gradually working my way up. My goal is to get high enough so I can hit terminal velocity. Man just think of the crater I'll make th–"

"YOU IDIOT!" Mina, face now closer to purple than pink, barreled through Denki and Hanta and made a beeline for Eijirou. Her black eyes narrowed into slits as she jabbed a finger into his chest. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?! IS ALL THAT HAIR GEL AND HAIR DYE SEEPING INTO YOUR BRAIN?!"

"Hair dye?" Denki asked but was ignored.

Eijirou threw up his hands. "Whoa, whoa! Come on, it's not that big a deal. Like I said, I've been doing this for a while and–"

"That doesn't make it any better!" Mina screamed. "You just jumped off a building! Do you have any idea how stupid that was?! That's how you train?! You utter moron!"

"C-come on, don't you think you're overreacting a bit?"

Mina pointed up to the ledge he had jumped from. "You got up there, knowing full well none of us knew what you were going to do, and then jumped. You don't think that's messed up?!"

In retrospect, Eijirou concluded, that might not have been one of his better ideas. Desperate for some back up, Eijirou looked over at Katsuki who was standing off to the side. "Come on, man. A little help here?"

Katsuki snarled. "Do that again and I'll fucking kill you."

Mina's finger returned to jabbing Eijirou in his chest. "And when I'm through with you, you're going to wish he'd killed you. Cause you know what I'm going to do?" Eijirou suddenly felt very nervous. "I'm going to let the whole school know what you were like back in Jr. High. I'll plaster your yearbook photos all over the halls and by the time I'm through, you'll be the one everyone is talking about. Not Toga. Am I clear?"

While Eijirou looked absolutely terrified that Mina would make good on her word, Hanta scoffed at the idea. "Riiight. Because I'm sure Kirishima has enough skeletons in his closet to hold a candle to Toga. And she has literal skeletons."

Denki winced, "Dude."

"What? She was literally using her body count in Aizawa sensei's 'interrogation' lesson when she and Kouda were doing the good cop, bad cop bit."

Mina, satisfied that Eijirou wasn't going to be jumping off any more buildings, turned back to the group. "I mean yeah, she can, but us? That feels like a good way to get jumped."

Katsuki's hands crackled and popped. "Let some extra try it."

Denki groaned. "Please don't make us any more hated. The fact people put whole tables between us and them at lunch is rough, you know."

Hanta nodded. "At the very least the other hero classes and the support departments don't seem to hate us… 1-B notwithstanding."

"A whole lot of them did come to our room to apologize for how they acted. And how some of them were still acting," Mina added.

"Not all of them though. A couple didn't really look like they wanted to apologize at all."

"I don't fucking care," Katsuki growled. "If it wasn't Bun Bitch, they'd be pissy about something else. We're leaving them in the dust and they can only complain. They're fucking pathetic."

"At least the ones who looked forced are just being jerks now and not actually trying to start trouble. It's a good thing their class rep Kendou was able to get Monoma settled down in time. When he had led some of them to our class and tried to confront Toga when school started up again I thought for sure Midoriya and Uraraka were going to rip them apart. You see the look Midoriya had? Scary," Denki recalled. Seeing Izuku get right into the thick of things before the first bell had left the class a little on edge. A few recalled the look Izuku had in the surveillance footage from the USJ attack. When he had marched through a hallway full of villains.

Mina's eyes sparkled a little, "Those three are so close now. I wonder if they're dating."

Katsuki looked ready to vomit while Eijirou groaned. "Oh no, Ashido, don't start with the shipping thing."

"Oh, I started that ages ago."

While Eijirou shook his head, Hanta scratched his. "Wait? Who's shipped with who?"

"Obviously, Toga and Midoriya are a thing at this point. She's always hanging on him," Denki said with confidence.

Hanta frowned. "Really? Because my money was on Toga and Uraraka."

"But they were always fighting before the sports festival," Denki countered.

"You've never heard of Enemies to Lovers? She's pretty much attached at the hip with Uraraka. Hell, I swear I've seen her grinding on her," Hanta said confidently.

Eijirou shook his head. "Guys, don't encourage Ashido. Please."

Mina waved him off. "Oh, get over it. Besides, I know what the real deal is."

Denki and Hanta leaned forward. "You do?"

"Oh, yeah. Those three are definitely in a," Mina paused for dramatic effect, "Ménage à trois."

"Oh my god, that makes perfect sense!"

"It's so obvious!"

Mina grinned happily. "Right! Those three are totally together together at this point."

Hanta nodded. "We better make sure Mineta doesn't hear about this. Poor guy will blow a gasket for sure."

"Oh yeah. He'd–"

An explosion from Katsuki that ripped a hole through the side of the nearest building made everyone jump. "I swear, if you guys keep talking about this worthless bullshit that makes me want to puke, I'm killing all of you."

Eijirou agreed, but not as violently. "Yeah, talking about them like that isn't fair. We know how Toga met Midoriya, and Uraraka and he became good friends and trained to get into U.A. It makes sense that the three would become friends. You don't have to make it something it's not, you know. And more importantly, it's not our business. Let them be friends."

Mina pouted. "You don't have to take this seriously. It's harmless gossip."

Denki laughed. "Yeah, man. Besides, no one here actually thinks they're together like that. I don't think Midoriya's poor innocent heart would be able to handle it."

Hanta agreed. "Yeah, no kidding. Plus, I don't think Uraraka has even shown any interest in that kind of stuff. She's pretty serious when it comes to her hero training and studies."

Mina rolled her eyes at that, but then looked over at Katsuki. "I don't suppose you'd know anything? Since you went to Jr. High with them?"

"I. Do. Not. Care. About. Their. Fucking. Crushes!" Katsuki exploded. "I don't care what the fuck Round Face does, and I sure as fuck don't care about whatever fucking thing Deku is doing!"

"But isn't Midoriya your rival?" Denki asked. "Doesn't that mean you care what he's up to a whole lot?"

Katsuki looked ready to blow something, or someone up. Deciding he was done with everything he just stormed off. "I don't care! Drop it!"

Mina sighed. "Okay, okay, we get it. Honestly I guess that makes sense. I figured once you learned he was getting singing lessons from Jirou you'd have gone to yell at him or something."

Katsuki came to a sudden halt and whirled around. "The fuck did you just say?"

Mina blinked. "Eh?"

"What did you just say?!"

"Um, that a couple of days ago, Jirou offered to give Midoriya some singing lessons. I think it was to help him with his–"

Katsuki growled as an explosion rocketed him upwards and he began roaring through the training ground away from the group.

"Um… What?" Mina scratched her head. "What just happened?"

"I don't think Bakugou knew about the singing thing, Ashido," Eijirou said nervously.

"And isn't that way," Denki pointed at the trail of smoke Katsuki was leaving, "the direction towards Ground Omega. Where Midoriya trains?"

The four students stood in silence as they realized that Mina had just set Katsuki loose on an unprepared Izuku.

"Oh, I've done a bad thing."

---

"Okay, are you good to try again, Midoriya?" Kyouka asked.

Izuku started to nod, before checking behind himself. Mei was busy fiddling with the cooling vest, pulling out the now red hot cooling rods, the hiss they made as she held them in her gloved hands still making him nervous, and replacing them with fresh blue rods. Once those were inserted and she gave him a thumbs up, Izuku confirmed with Kyouka he was good to go. "I'm ready to try again!"

Kyouka gave him a thumbs up before she turned to Momo. "Another steel plate please."

Momo, from behind a tree for modesty, nodded and went to work. A dull thud soon followed as a large thick plate of steel hit the ground. After getting the all clear from Kyouka, Tenya and Hitoshi came over and hefted the metal up and anchored it to a stand so it was upright and a perfect target.

Huffing, Hitoshi stretched his arms. "Remind me. If All Might is here, why are we the ones lifting these heavy things?"

"Ha ha ha ha! To help build muscle, of course," All Might answered with a smile.

Hitoshi glared at the teacher. "You just don't want to do it."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

While that was going on, Izuku watched Mei toss the cooling rods into a tub of ice that hissed and steamed at the contact. "I'm going through those rods pretty quickly. Aren't I? How many do I have left?"

Mei grimaced. "You're wearing the last of them… Your back and chest still numb?"

"No. I'm better. Though I get the feeling the third time is not going to be the charm."

Training had been interesting for Izuku. It had started with going through the breathing exercises and warm ups Kyouka had been teaching him. Breathing with his diaphragm. Izuku had been shocked at just how much of a change that single technique had helped. The much deeper breaths now let him breathe fire for an extended period of time and not feel light headed afterwards. She had also taught him quick breath techniques, gasping and panting which had the effect of giving Izuku an almost rapid fire ability with his fire.

After taking a few deep breaths to warm up, Izuku then worked on his pitch and scales. Humming the tones that Kyouka had been working with him for the past couple of days. They had discovered that the lower the scale Izuku used when he breathed fire, the wider and looser the flames he produced. Like a Bunsen burner that hadn't been dialed in yet. The higher Izuku went on the scale, the more condensed and intense the fire became. While he still struggled to hit the highest tones for very long, he was still at the point where he had been able to shoot a blast of fire through a clay disk target. When that had happened, Mei had wondered if he could pierce metal. Like a blow torch. After a couple of tries Izuku was ready to give it another go.

Assuming Mei's cooling vest didn't freeze him solid, of course. The vest did cool him down, but it was like having a giant ice cube shoved into his lungs. Painful and left him numb and shivering.

With the steel target set up, and everyone now clear, Izuku got himself ready. Humming the tones to himself as he felt the heat in his chest start to build.

Bass: The lowest and darkest tone. A deep and rumbling sound, almost like a beastly dragon roar.

Baritone: Dramatic and rich. The sound of a hero, much like All Might as he called out "I am here!"

Countertenor: Otherworldly and strange. Almost unnatural, coming from Izuku's throat.

Tenor: Light and bright. A ringing call that brought images of love. Images of pink cheeks and warm auburn brown eyes

Tenor produced the sharpest flame, and was the hardest for Izuku to use for a full breath. But thanks to Kyouka's advice he was getting better. He can't sing but he was getting better at holding the tones.

His lungs filled, Izuku felt the all familiar heat spread over his chest and fill his throat. As the fire blasted out of his mouth and slammed into the metal, Izuku hit the tenor range. The green fire, went from a raging inferno to a condensed rocket blast. Izuku pushed, trying to hit the higher end of the tenor range. The green fire got smaller, taking on a hissing sound but hotter. As the fire got smaller, everyone could see the plate. The initial fire had covered the whole thing, turning the metal red, but as Izuku sharpened his breath, the area getting heated got even hotter. Turning orange, then yellow. Izuku could feel the vest kick in and begin to try and cool him down. He pushed, trying to fight against the cold. The metal glowing white now. Then the sudden kick of freezing cold drove the rest of the air out of his lungs and his fire began to flutter and burst free before sputtering out in a puff of smoke.

Hacking and coughing, Izuku stopped and bent over. Wincing as the cooling rods hissed and cried at the stress of cooling his body. Working overtime to fight against the heat he produced. The result left him wishing he could go back to the ice pool All Might always brought. At least that was warmer than this.

Teeth chattering, Izuku righted himself and looked to see if he had done it. There, smack dab in the middle of the inch thick metal, was a hole the size of a soda can.

"Well done, Young Midoriya!"

While Mei came over to check on the vest, Tenya walked over and clapped Izuku on the shoulder. "Well done indeed. It looks like you got the hang of what Jirou has been teaching you."

"Cl-cl-close enough I think. Still have to dial it in and it takes a lot to pull it off. I definitely need to be able to cool myself down after trying something that intense." Izuku stood back up and added with a smile, "But I wouldn't be where I am now without your help. Thank you, Jirou."

Kyouka wrapped an ear jack around her finger. "It's no big deal. It just seemed like I could give you a hand. Nothing major."

"Nonsense. Your talent with music let you solve an issue Midoriya was having instantly. You have an incredible talent as a teacher," Momo added.

Kyouka flushed and tugged at her lobes. "I mean…" She wasn't sure what to say to that.

All Might laughed, "It's alright to be happy when you're praised for a job well done, Young Jirou. You have helped Young Midoriya overcome a block in his training and opened a great many paths forward for him to take. Well done."

"Maybe I should give singing another try? Musical fire blasts could be fun," Izuku said while the group all winced, making him laugh. "Oh come on, I'm not that bad! Uraraka thought I was okay the other day."

Hitoshi shook his head. "Uraraka must have had ear plugs in when she was here the last time you actually tried to sing that Do Re Mi song."

Before Izuku could get off a retort, there came an explosion and crash. "Are you fucking kidding me?! Are you singing?!"

The group jumped as Katsuki burst through some trees and stomped towards them. Izuku gave a startled meep while Kyouka groaned. Mei, who was still fiddling with Izuku, looked over the boy's shoulder at the advancing blond firecracker. "Oh look, Mr. Small Dick Energy is here."

Everyone in the small clearing froze and looked at Mei. Izuku's eyes were as wide as saucers. "H-Hatsume!"

Mei let her head fall to the side as she looked at the shocked expressions around her. "What? Toga has been teaching me how to swear and said that Bakugou is the best target to get in some good practice. Was it not good?"

Katsuki glared daggers at Mei while Kyouka coughed into her hand. "Pretty damned accurate if you ask me."

Before Katsuki could decide who he was going to kill first, Eijirou, Mina, Denki and Hanta jumped through the clearing Katsuki had burned and quickly ran to put themselves between him and Izuku. Mina had her hands together as she apologized. "Sorry! I might have let it slip Jirou was helping you, Midoriya!"

"Start talking Deku! Right now!"

Instead of talking though, Izuku crossed his arms and stared Katsuki down. "Last I checked Kacchan, I don't owe you any explanation for how I'm training."

Both boys glared at each other, before Katsuki turned to look at Kyouka. "Lobes? What bullshit are you wasting this nerd's time on?"

"Up yours," Kyouka answered curtly, "you think I'm telling you anything after you come in here exploding like that? My ears are still ringing."

"Jirou!" Momo covered her mouth. "You shouldn't stoop to his level of foul language."

Rubbing her ringing ears, Kyouka shrugged. "My dad's a rock and roll musician. I bet I know words that would make even his foul ears turn red."

"Okay, everyone settle down," All Might moved in to keep everyone calm. "Young Jirou has been assisting Young Midoriya with some training ideas and techniques for his fire breathing. That is all."

Katsuki's brow twitched. "By singing?"

Izuku groaned, rubbing his head as he laid it out. "How I breathe affects my fire. Jirou has been teaching me different breathing exercises. Some of them help me take deeper breaths which means I can breathe fire for longer. And the singing," Izuku could see Katsuki's blood pressure rising, "is giving me better control of how my fire comes out. Lower tones make the fire behave differently than if I try higher tones." Izuku motioned towards the cooling metal plate. "What she's taught me, helped me do that."

Katsuki walked over to the metal and tapped his knuckles on it. Confirming it was what it seemed to be. "So you can punch a hole through some metal?"

Izuku tilted his head to the side. "Can you do that with your Quirk?"

Katsuki's eyes narrowed. He looked at his hands then at the plate. Then with a loud boom, exploded it away. Shredding it into pieces. "Don't fucking toy with me Deku. I don't have time for your games."

Izuku crossed his arms. "Then why are you here?"

Katsuki raised a hand and pointed right at Izuku. "I'm here to see if you've fallen behind me Deku. If all this training hasn't been a waste of time."

"It hasn't."

"Really? Because all I ever hear from you recently is you struggling with your old man's Quirk." Katsuki almost smirked at the aggravated glare Izuku gave him when he called the Quirk that. "What about your Psychokinesis? You been slacking on that?"

"No. All Might's been making sure I practice that too."

Katsuki's raised, pointing hands turned up and opened. His fingers curled as his palm sparked and crackled. "Then prove it. Fight me."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

A new voice entered into the conversation/argument. Ochako rocketed out of some nearby trees from where she had been doing her own training. Himiko followed after her, keeping her eye on everything. Making sure she wasn't going to have to get involved.

"Uraraka? Shouldn't you be doing your own training?" Izuku asked, a little startled at how angrily she had come onto the scene.

"I heard this ja– jerk all the way at the other side of Ground Omega. Of course I'm coming over here. And as for you, go away! I'm not letting you pick a fight with Deku and get both of you in trouble!"

Tenya nodded vigorously. "I agree completely. As your class representative, I must remind you that fights between students are strictly forbidden. Both parties run the risk of detention or expulsion."

Katsuki growled in annoyance. "Not if a teacher supervises it." A few of the classmates did a double take. Katsuki rolled his eyes and motioned towards All Might. "It's his job to oversee us when we use our Quirks. And we've already used them in combat training. He can easily call this an extracurricular lesson between Deku and me."

All Might rubbed his chin. The fact that he wasn't outright denying the idea from Katsuki was alarming to Ochako. "No way. You don't get to bend the rules just so you can have your ego scratched!"

"Not asking you for your permission, Round Face. How about you shut the fuck up and let Deku decide on something for himself."

Before Ochako could tell Katsuki off, Izuku squared up on him instead. A move that got everyone's attention. All Might watched Izuku closely. Nodding when he saw Izuku come to an answer.

"All Might, let me fight Kacchan."

Everyone looked at Izuku, shocked that he was outright accepting the challenge.

"Deku, no!" Ochako rushed forward, putting herself between Izuku and Katsuki. "This is stupid. Don't lower yourself down to his level just because he's throwing a tantrum."

Katsuki snarled, "Watch what you say, Round Face."

Ochako turned to look at Katsuki, her eyes burning with utter disgust and hate. "You shut your mouth!"

"Enough. Before anyone does anything, Young Midoriya. Why do you want to accept Young Bakugou's challenge? He is right, as a teacher I can supervise a sparring match between students. But I'll only do this if I see a benefit for both of you."

Izuku looked at Ochako, then at All Might, before he faced Katsuki. "Because our exam is only two weeks away. And in order to even take the tests, I have to have proved that I've improved and gotten control of my Boric Pyre and have a better handle of my Psychokinesis. This is the perfect moment to see if I do."

"Deku, you don't have to prove anything to him!" Ochako pointed at Katsuki.

"But I do have to prove myself to All Might and Aizawa sensei. And I'll use Kacchan to do it. And if it gets him to shut up about how I've been training, that's just a bonus." Katsuki's eyebrows knitted together and everyone could hear his teeth grinding. But Izuku just kept talking. "Last time we fought in the sports festival, I won, but I had to destroy myself to win. If I can face Kacchan now, and not get utterly messed up, I'd say that was proof I've done what All Might and Aizawa sensei wanted. Wouldn't you say?"

All Might rubbed his chin. "It's a valid reason."

Ochako looked absolutely beside herself but before she could say anything All Might asked her, "Young Uraraka. Honestly speaking I was going to have Young Midoriya take part in a test soon against either the robots from the entrance exam or have him spar with Young Toogata to gauge him. Doing it this way instead serves the purpose he mentioned. As well as help keep the rivalry between the two settled."

Izuku nodded and Katsuki looked ready to go right then and there. "However," All Might added. "This is going to be a spar. Not a fight. So there will be some ground rules. You'll get to face each other for three minutes. Once the time is over, you stop. If either of you does anything afterwards, you'll learn that your homeroom teacher isn't the only one that can come up with creative punishments. Understood?"

"Understood."

"Got it."

Wth Izuku and Katsuki agreeing, All Might pulled out his phone and pulled up the timer. "I'd suggest everyone take a few good strides back. Don't want to get caught in the crossfire."

Immediately the rest of the group fell back. Except for Ochako, who was still standing between the two.

"Uraraka. Please. It's okay."

Ochako shook her head, "No Deku. It's not. I hate this."

Katsuki waved her off. "Go cry about it over on the sidelines."

Ochako whirled around. "Keep talking and it won't be Deku you're fighting."

Katsuki scoffed. "Not interested in fighting an overprotective crybaby."

"How about a bloodthirsty psychopath?" Himiko offered as she came over and pulled Ochako away. "Cause if you keep this up, I'm the one that's coming for your throat." With a hand on Ochako's shoulder, Himko finally got her to move. "Come on, this isn't a fight you're going to win today."

Katsuki glared Ochako down as she was led away. Izuku narrows his eyes at that. "Kacchan. Don't look at her like that. Understand?"

Katsuki turned his gaze back at Izuku. "Then she needs to stop getting in my way."

Izuku shook his head. "You're the one in her way, Kacchan. You better be careful when she decides to move you."

While everyone chewed on that idea, Izuku reached up and started taking off the large cooling vest around his chest and back. Katsuki raised an eyebrow when he saw frost trickle down in small shards as they were broken free from Izuku's sweat top. "Hatsume, here, take this." Izuku floated the gear over to her and she took it.

"You sure?"

Izuku nodded, then took off the crest from his forehead and gave that to Mei as well. "Kacchan doesn't have any of his support gear. So this makes it a fair match. I don't want there to be any complaints from him after this."

Eijirou had a fist over his heart. "That's so manly."

Katsuki growled a warning at Eijirou but was ignored, so he looked back at Izuku. "You think I'd bitch about something stupid like that?"

"Oh, you totally would," Mina confirmed.

"Like a fucking baby," Himiko said with a frown.

Izuku then looked over at Mei and added, "Plus that vest doesn't really… work. I'm fighting against the cold more than my own heat."

Mei sighed. "Yeah I was afraid of that. Your body can handle heat pretty well, but direct cold? Not so much."

With that taken care of, and everyone a safe distance back, and behind All Might for good measure, All Might held up his hand to signal the start of the match. "Remember. This is your time limit. Now, get ready!"

Izuku and Katsuki got into their stances.

"Set!"

Katsuki's hands began to smoke and crackle with barely contained explosive power. Fresh puffs of ghostly smoke began to waff from Izuku's mouth as his green aura surrounded him. Topped off with his irises glowing to match.

All Might got ready to drop his hand and let the two go. Just before he did, Ochako pushed by him, put her hands up to her mouth and yelled out, "KICK HIS BUTT, DEKU!"

From her spot, even yards away, she saw Izuku smirk, and pop up a quick thumbs up.

All Might dropped his hand, "GO!"

Katsuki lept backwards and swung his hands up in front of himself. The small jump was enough that even with his palms pointed right at Izuku, they were also pointed at a downward angle. So when he unleashed an explosion, the blast rushed towards Izuku, but also rocketed him up into the air. Airborne, Katsuki watched as his attack quickly closed the gap between himself and Izuku. He expected to see the green shine of Izuku creating a barrier, like he had done the last time they had fought, but instead Izuku took in a deep breath, and roared out a green inferno. The explosive bang and orange fire from Katsuki's attack slammed into the rumbling roar and green flames of Izuku's. The fires swirled together, canceling each other out, before getting enveloped in a cloud of black smoke.

Neither Izuku or Katsuki stayed still after that. With his explosions propelling him forward, Katsuki charged forward, flying through the air at astounding speed. Swinging a hand out, while leaving another to keep propelling him on, Katsuki unleashed several quick shots at Izuku. The blasts were again blocked as Izuku blew out another roar, and a column of green fire enveloped the small shots. Izuku's attack missed Katsuki as he suddenly changed directions and rolled to the side, putting himself into a great position to blast Izuku's unprotected flank. Slamming both his hands together, Katsuki fired off a powerful blast that tore up the ground as it went.

Izuku swung a hand out, and focused. His aura flared brightly as he prepared to block the attack. The air shimmered and the explosion hit his barrier.

The moment it did, Katsuki rocketed through the smoke. He'd seen what happened when Izuku used his Quirk to block his explosions. It hurt him. The force would rattle his brain and the fire and heat would cook him where he stood. He'd be momentarily stunned. A sitting duck. Ripping through the smoke, Katsuki was ready to attack.

So was Izuku.

Katsuki only just got his hands up in time as a glowing chunk of tree hurtled at him. Katsuki exploded it into splinters and that pause in his momentum slowed him down for Izuku to blast him with a burst of fire. Rocketing backwards, Katsuki finally landed back on the ground, cursing as he patted off a few small fires on his sweats.

Katsuki eyed Izuku carefully. Noting that he wasn't scorched at all. The ground in front of him was burned. But not Izuku himself. Katsuki looked and studied, before he sneered and with a single hand, fired off another blast. As he attacked he watched Izuku carefully. Watched his explosions hit the barriers—

The fuck?

Then Izuku blew out a blast of fire, and hit the orange flames that passed through his defenses.

Fucking nerd.

Izuku smirked when he saw Katsuki looking at him after that last attack. No, not attack but test. It had taken only one test for Katsuki to figure out that Izuku wasn't using the same barrier trick from the sports festival. He hadn't been lying when he had told Katsuki he had been working on his Psychokinesis. He had been refining his moves. How he did things. How much power needed to be used to move something.

Izuku had applied the "work smarter, not harder" motto to his original Quirk. His barrier was no longer a single solid wall. He had changed it into a wall of layers. As one was pressed, it would give a little and hit the next, which would give a little. A coiled spring slowing down a force. Making the final impact less of a burden for Izuku.

And for the things that Izuku couldn't block. Energy like fire and heat. His Boric Pyre was perfect to burn them away. A few puffs and Izuku was left untouched.

"Not bad, huh, Kacchan?"

"Fuck you! Wipe that fucking smirk off your face!"

"Make me!"

Katsuki ground his teeth together. "Breaking that damned smart mouth you have now."

Izuku spread his arms out. "Big words from someone all the way over there!"

Katsuki took a step forward. "Going to beat your ass, Deku!"

Then Izuku glowed. "You want to fight? Fine!"

Katsuki braced, expecting to get yanked forward. Instead his feet were driven into the ground, locking him in place. Izuku launched himself forward and swung a haymaker into Katsuki's head. Katsuki grabbed ahold of Izuku's sweat top and pulled his head back. Izuku saw what was coming and mirrored Katsuki, grabbing onto the other boy and pulling his head back as well. They whipped their heads forward at the same time, and slammed their foreheads against one another with a loud crack!

The audience watching all winced.

"Go Izuku! Use that dense head of yours!" Himiko cheered.

"Do another head butt!" Mina encouraged.

"Crack his skull open, Deku!" A few heads turned to look at Ochako, who blinked. "Er, I mean… Don't crack your skull open, Deku!"

Hitoshi shook his head. "Smooth."

Tenya adjusted his glasses. "How much time do they have left?"

All Might showed the students his phone and Hanta whistled. "Wow, three minutes is not a lot of time–"

CRACK!

BOOM!

Everyone whipped their heads around just in time to see Izuku and Katsuki disengage with each other. Katsuki pushing his palm into Izuku's chest and blasting him away, and Izuku using his layered barrier like a battering ram, extending it out and launching Katsuki away. Izuku was sent into the dense brush of the forest, out of sight from everyone. Katsuki, who had been tumbling end over end from the push, used his quirk to slow himself down and land on his feet.

"Is all you fucking worked on that lame barrier of yours?! Is that it?! No new attacks?! Give me a fucking break Deku!"

Still hidden deep in the underbrush and trees of the training area, Izuku called back. "Do you have any idea how badly Uraraka would kick my butt if one of the first things I hadn't worked on was my barrier?!"

Katsuki could hear some snickering off to the side and rolled his eyes in annoyance. His next cutting remark was cut off however when the tree brush and ground in the area Izuku had landed began to glow. "Kacchan! Want to know something?!"

Cracks and snaps started echoing throughout the area as the trees were cracked open. Chunks pulled into the air. Branches snapped, trunks ripped out of the ground. Instead of pulling the trees out in one go, Izuku was taking them in parts. The ground around the roots was scooped up, letting him pull the stumps easily, and then he added rocks from the dirt for good measure. He pulled at everything around him until it was all floating up in the air in front of him and began to spread out. Forming a yards long hollow cylinder with Izuku in the middle and clearly visible. "You were wrong about me wasting my time with how I was training. And you're wrong about me only working on my barrier!"

Izuku spread his arms out, fingers curling as the glow around all the ammo he had just picked up began to shine even brighter. Katsuki scoffed. "Your Delaware Smash again? Seen that move already Deku! And you couldn't hit me with it last time!"

Izuku grinned like he had been taking lessons from Himiko. "Wrong again, Kacchan!"

Katsuki frowned and looked at the incoming attack. It was true, instead of a wall of debris like Izuku would make when he used the Delaware Smash, everything was around him in a cylinder. The setup was different. Then Izuku rotated his hands and the debris began to rotate. Faster and faster until the cylinder became a vortex whipping up the air inside like a bright green glowing tornado.

Katsuki got ready to counter, but then Izuku did one last thing. Opening his mouth, Izuku roared out a stream of fire, whipping his head up and around, and igniting the vortex. Turning into a swirling inferno. With a snap, Izuku closed his mouth, puffing out twin plumes of fire from his nose for good measure.

Katsuki's eyes widened before the narrowed and he sneered, "You copy cat fucker!"

He wasn't the only one noticing the immediate similarities to Izuku's new attack. Everyone else saw it too, and proceeded to take several long steps backwards.

Izuku just smiled, which just pissed Katsuki off even more. "You wanna copy my moves! Let me show you how that's supposed to look!"

Hands twisted out to his side, Katsuki fired off a blast after blast, until he rose into the air, a swirling mass of fire and smoke. Up in the air, he directed himself at Izuku and rushed forward, hands crackling with more and more explosions as his attack got larger and larger. Izuku dug his feet into the ground and sucked in a large breath, pulling from everything Kyouka had taught him about breathing with this diaphragm.

"PHOENIX–!"

"HOWITZER IMPACT!"

"–SMASH!"

Izuku screamed out a jet of fire right through the center of the fiery vortex as he launched his attack. The fires swirling and feeding off the heat and whipping air became a cyclone of mass destruction that slammed into the twisting tornado of Katsuku's explosions. The twin attacks ripped into each other. Green and orange mixed together, the twin vortices became one giant twister of fire and rocketed up into the sky, becoming a column of swirling flame before exploding and creating a smoke and dust mushroom cloud that rose up high enough that anyone on campus could see it.

As the fires on the ground cleared, the smoke blew away, and the dust settled, Katsuki and Izuku stood, a few feet apart. A little charred at the edges but neither hurt. Their attacks, equal in power, had canceled each other out. A fact that really seemed to annoy them both as they both quickly got ready to continue with their match. Katsuki pushed his hands behind him, ready to rocket forward and close the distance between the two. Behind Izuku, he began making layer after layer of barriers that were then pulled and stretched back. It was similar to how Izuku had used it to push Katsuki away before, but now to Katsuki and the group, they were reminded of a plunger from a pinball machine. And Izuku was the ball about to get launched.

Ochako blinked rapidly. Waaaaaaait. He's not about to–

"TIME!" All Might's booming voice ripped over the match, jolting both boys into a stupor. For a second, neither moved, still just looking at each other. Then the glow around Izuku faded and Katsuki lowered his hand. "Well done, both of you! A splendid match!"

"Dude, you guys almost burned down the whole forest!" Mina exclaimed

"I thought we were going to get blown away with that last attack of theirs. I was ready to tape myself down!"

"That Midoriya has developed his Quirks so rapidly is a test image to All Might's teaching and your experience, Jirou," Momo praised, making Kyouka play with her jacks and mumble a few embarrassed words.

"Izuku fucking rocks! Suck it, Baku Bitch!"

Katsuki snarled at his classmates. "Will you morons tone it down! I can't hear myself think over all this noise!"

Hisashi scratched his head. "Wait, we're the ones making too much noise? Are you serious?"

Ignoring them, Katsuki turned back to Izuku. "As for you, you're an idiot."

"I– huh?"

"Your fucking Phoenix shit move. Why in the fuck would you use a fire move and use the stuff you're going to throw that is fucking flammable?! Trees? Really?! Half the shit was ash before it even got close to me!"

Izuku nodded, making a small "Oh" at Katsuki's good point. Then walked past him.

"Oi! Deku, I'm not done with–" Izuku walked over to the ice filled kiddie pool that All Might always brought to their training. Reaching the pool, Izuku spread out his arms and flopped into the icy water. Sending up a splash and some steam as his heated body made the water hiss. Katsuki stared at Izuku as the boy sank into the water and groaned. "Fucking spaz."

"So are you done?" Ochako asked, arms crossed and looking ready for the boy to leave. Or make him leave. Either option worked.

Tenya adjusted his glasses as he spoke in a far less confrontational way. "I would say that exercise should have more than proved that Midoriya has not been slacking and is holding up his end of the bargain regarding your rivalry."

Mina looked at the steaming pool, a little worried at how long Izuku was choosing to stay in, but since All Might, Himiko and Ochako seemed unconcerned she just assumed this was normal. "Midoriya did use his Boric Pyre a lot, though. Not his other Quirk."

Katsuki growled as he started walking off. "Because Deku is a fucking nerd. So he knows the same tricks won't work on me again. If he used anything from our last matches I'd have destroyed him." Turning to look at his group Katsuki jerked his thumb back towards where they had come from. "Tell the nerd he passes. Today. I'm not waiting for him to come back up for…" When Katsuki trailed off, he got a few strange looks.

Then a new voice called out, "Amazing! Absolutely amazing! To watch you students on television is one thing, but to be so close I could feel that magnificent display of Quirk power. I must say U.A. has some incredible students in its school!"

Everyone turned as a lanky man with a heavily receding hairline walked up to them. Flanked by a person wearing a heavy bright blue hooded coat even in the summer heat. Hurrying to the balding man's side was a man with a mouse face and finally, bringing up the rear, was a man that most had only seen during the parent-teacher conference, Hisashi Midoriya.

---

"We're behind enemy lines now, gentlemen. We must exercise extreme caution."

"Yes, sir," came a quick and icy reply, which made the man who'd talked smile.

"Also," the man said as he took another step up the flight of stairs, finally reaching the top of them, "let's take a break. I don't think I've walked up so many steps since I was a small boy!" Rikiya groaned as he rubbed his poor legs.

Close to his side, Geten stopped and scanned the area around them. Face hidden by the heavy hooded coat, his eyes glowed as they looked at everything. They were in one of the beating hearts of the corrupt government. Where young minds were brainwashed into dogs of the state. He hadn't taken 'no' for an answer when he learned his leader was coming here. He had to be ready in case–

"You're getting out of shape, sir. You're spending too much time going to those fine dining restaurants."

Geten turned, ready to kill, but Rikiya laughed. "Right for the heart as always, Miyashita. You never hold back with me."

The mousy man smiled. "You're already balding sir. Don't add obesity to your image. Think of how our company will look."

Rikiya scratched at his large forehead. "Perhaps I should look into doing a few lessons with a trainer. It wouldn't do if I grew out of my suits."

"You should be more respectful, Miyashita," Geten said. You could practically see the frost on his words.

Miyashita froze and looked over at Geten. He had seen him perhaps a handful of times at the company, but always near the end of the day. He didn't work at Detnerat but he still seemed to have free range of the building. 'A friend of the family,' had been Rikiya's reply when Miyashita had inquired about the subject. 'He's very protective of me and likes to check up and make sure I'm in good health.' A strange answer, but they were talking about a CEO. They were strange by default. He supposed that's why the man had come with them.

"Now now, Geten. I happen to like the jokes. If you want respect, let Midoriya handle that end. He has it in spades."

"Th-thank you sir," the last of the four men said as he brought up the rear.

Miyashita looked at Hisashi. The man had been climbing the ladder quickly these last few weeks. To suddenly be transferred from a satellite site in the United States to the company's headquarters had made quite a few whispers within the management. Especially those that Hisashi was leaping over when it came to advancement. It's not that Hisashi hadn't been good at his job. But the suddenness and scale of the move he was making were just not normal.

Miyashita wondered, perhaps unfairly, if this had something to do with Hisashi's son. Someone many in the company hadn't even known about. The boy had won U.A.'s sports festival and seemed to have caught the eye of All Might. Perhaps Hisashi was a key to the current venture they were on. He did have a direct connection.

Speaking of which. "Before we go on, I still feel this is a… premature idea. Attempting to secure a contract with U.A. to develop hero support items for the students seems like we're putting the cart before the horse. We're still working on that commercial and we haven't even gone public with the move. With the general public or our shareholders."

"Who owns the most shares?" Rikiya asked with an almost devilish grin.

"You do."

"Then as a shareholder I held a vote with myself and decided that the CEO was making the right move trying to incorporate ourselves into U.A."

"That's crooked."

Rikiya laughed. "Harsh. Let's go with, I'm bending a few minor rules."

CEO's are not normal.

Rikiya gave his legs one last rub. "There we go. I think I'm good to keep going. I swear this place should have an escalator or something installed. Though maybe this is some form of twisted training for the students. This is a strange place after–"

BOOOOOOM!

Geten rushed to Rikiya's side. Getting ready to freeze any water in the area and attack the sudden threat but a hard grip from Rikiya got him to stop. Miyashita stumbled back and Hisashi was forced to steady the mouse. "Wha, what was that?"

Hisashi didn't say anything as his eyes and full attention were drawn to a plume of green fire that reached up over some trees off in the distance. "...Green fire. Izuku?"

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

More explosions rang out as more green flashes, with ones that were bright orange ripped apart a section of forest.

"Your son? But it's after school hours," Miyashita checked his watch, "shouldn't all the students be gone?"

Geten scoffed. "Training more than likely."

Rikiya took his hand off Geten and looked at the same area Hisashi was focused on. It wasn't that far. "Gentlemen. I think I want to see this."

---

Izuku was almost sure that after weeks of getting dunked into icy water, that something in his body was broken. He hadn't even needed to jump in after his match with Katsuki but he had done so anyway. The dunks were becoming enjoyable. Perhaps he was starting to suffer Stockholm syndrome. Or maybe those brain scars were messing with him more than Recovery Girl thought they would. Though maybe he had done it this time to get away from Katsuki for a second. Was that petty? Was it wrong that even if he was giving him some advice, he just didn't want to hear it right then?

Especially after he and Ochako had had their talks about the whole rivalry thing. He had said it was a good thing, and that it meant things were changing. Was he being a hypocrite wanting to just ignore Katsuki? Deciding that whatever the answer was, he wasn't going to find it before he needed to take a breath, Izuku surfaced out of the pool and sat down, shaking his head side to side as his wet hair fell over his face. "So I felt that went pretty well."

"Er… Izuku."

Izuku grabbed the hem of his sweatshirt and began rinsing it out. "No headaches and my new barriers worked like a treat."

"Midoriya. You might want to…"

"It's too bad the time went out before I could show you what else I could do with it, Kacchan."

"OI! DEKU! SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN!"

Izuku stopped. "Huh?"

"Deku," Ochako's voice was strangely cold. "Your father's here."

Izuku went rigid Father's here? That couldn't be right, he thought. Reaching up, Izuku brushed the hair out of his eyes and finally got a good look around. He found his friends, classmates and All Might first, each one looking off to the side, away from him.

While most seemed neutral, Ochako had a glint in her eyes Izuku had never seen before. A cold anger that was startling. Katsuki looked like he was ready to vomit in anger. Turning to follow their gazes, Izuku felt his breath hitch in his throat.

Two of the men that were with them Izuku had no idea who they were. The next one, Izuku was only vaguely aware of as the CEO of Detnerat, the company his father worked at. Then he saw him, Izuku saw his father. A man he hadn't seen in person in years. The water he was soaked in suddenly felt much colder and wetter than it should.

Years of knowing how his father demanded best behavior around those he looked up to, having that drilled into his head made Izuku suddenly self conscious about how he looked. Soaking wet like a dog, his hair matted and his clothes charred in some places or riding up from his attempts to dry them. He was not making a good first impression.

Then a second, hotter, thought pushed through. Why in the hell did he give a damn about how he looked?

Before he could act on any of the thoughts going through his head, Hisashi did something Izuku had never expected. Something so foreign and alien that every thought and emotion came to an instant stop. Hisashi rushed forward, and wrapped Izuku into a hug.

"I can't believe it, Izuku. All that fire, your control, your power. I'm at a loss for words."

So was Izuku. As far back as he could remember, this was the first time his father had hugged him. At least since he had his Quirk diagnosed. It left him in such a confused state that his mind just defaulted to the first obvious thing. "I'm soaking wet."

Hisashi laughed, and pulled away while keeping his hands on Izuku's shoulders. Looking down at his soaking wet suit. "Ha ha, so you are, and I guess I am too."

"Do-does Mom know you're here?"

"Not yet. I only arrived this morning. It's been a rush to get ready today."

Looking Izuku over, Hisashi put a hand on his head and measured Izuku's height compared to himself. "You've grown. I thought you looked bigger when I watched you at the sports festival, but seeing it this close. You're growing into a fine young man." Hisashi noticed the way the wet sweats clung to Izuku's frame, and poked along his shoulders and arms. "And not just your height and Quirk." The muscle mass Hisashi felt was more than a little surprising. "I'm proud of you, son."

Izuku's mouth opened and closed. Proud? Did his father just say he was proud of him?

"And not just what you've done here. I know about that little girl you and your mother have started to foster." Hisashi saying that broke Izuku out of his daze.

"Wait? You know about Eri?!"

"Of course I know. Do you think I wouldn't know if a new addition was suddenly living with you?"

"Ahem," All Might cleared his throat, "I don't mean to interrupt, but this is an active training ground. The Quirks used here can be dangerous to civilians. May I ask, Mr. Midoriya, why you and your associates are here?" All Might got the feeling that he better get to the bottom of what was going on. One, because having people randomly stroll into U.A. campus was not normal, two, because of the openly hostile auras coming from a few of the students behind him.

Young Uraraka and Young Bakugou seem ready to tear this man apart.

It wasn't Hisashi who answered though. "I'm afraid that was my doing. Yotsubashi Rikiya, at your service," Rikiya said with a bow.

Back in the group of students, Mei suddenly squealed, "THE CEO OF DETNERAT IS HERE?!" Still carrying Izuku's support gear, Mei pushed past everyone to see if it really was Rikiya.

Rikiya laughed. "Ah, I see I have a fan. Actually, you wouldn't be the young woman that was on the phone call with Midoriya by any chance?" Mei vibrating with excitement was enough of an answer for the CEO.

Turning back to All Might, he extended a hand. "I apologize. Me and my associates are here on business. We have a meeting with your Principal Nezu. However as we were making our way, we happened to spot the signs of the young men's match. Midoriya noticed the green fire and assumed it belonged to his son. My curiosity got the better of me and I rushed to get a better view of the fight. Unfortunately for my colleagues, since they work for me, they had to follow," he added with a laugh.

All Might nodded. He vaguely recalled that some meeting was going to be taking place today, but hadn't cared about the details.

"Allow me to make some introductions, this is Miyashita, and this is Geten." After that quick introduction, Rikiya turned his attention towards Izuku and Katsuki. "And you two are the ones that had that explosive semi-finals match. To get to see a round two, even if it was only the tail end, was a sight to behold!"

Katsuki didn't seem to care for the praise while Izuku was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that his father was here, so he defaulted to a polite, "Thank you, sir."

All Might could see how uncomfortable Izuku was. It was alarming in fact. "Well, if you do have a meeting, perhaps we should call it a day so the students can–"

"What's his deal?" Himiko asked as she moved to the front of the group. Her eye square on Geten, who was also staring her down. "He sure doesn't look like a company man."

Himiko's instincts were acting up. Someone had their eyes on her and it was obvious who. Whoever this Geten was, he was dangerous.

Out in the open, Himiko got a couple of reactions from the group. Hisashi eyed her carefully but without hostility. Miyashita looked around nervously while Geten seemed to be sizing her up. Rikiya just laughed and patted Geten on the shoulder. "You'll have to forgive Geten, Ms. Toga. He's my bodyguard. He tends to be a little cold to people." Rikiya then noticed the gear Mei was carrying. "And what exactly is all that? That's some mighty impressive looking support gear."

Mei smiled proudly. "These are the babies I made for Midoriya."

Rikiya blinked and looked down at the gear. "That you made? You're a student from the department of support then? And those are for Midoriya, you say?"

"I'm in charge of designing and creating all the support gear Midoriya will use in the field," Mei beamed.

"Not a company? You must be extremely talented." Mei smiled brightly. Getting praised by the man in charge of the number one general support item producers was definitely nice. "I have the utmost respect for the engineers and designers that work on support gear. The work they do for people can never be understated. It's one of the reasons I worked to become the CEO of Detnerat."

Mei just smiled happily. "Finally someone that gets us. A man of culture." Mei then sighed, "It's too bad you had to see one of my failed pieces. My cooling vest is a dud."

Rikiya rubbed his chin. "And what's wrong with it?" he asked, encouraging Mei to go on while he listened with a smile.

"This vest applies direct cold to try and regulate his body temperature, but Midoriya can get so hot so fast the vest is practically having to freeze him to work. And Midoriya doesn't have a Quirk to handle that kind of cold."

"Reducing the heat build up then?"

"Nope. To do that I'd have to tap into his lungs and Midoriya has already ruled out surgery to let me stick a couple of tubes into his lungs to pump cold air in. The problem is that cooling his lungs down might weaken his fire breath."

Izuku, even as he was trying to wrap his head around the days sudden turn, still shook his head at the idea. He was not letting Mei cut him open.

"So I think I'm going to dump any kind of cooling and instead look into extracting the heat out of Izuku. He has a crude method to do it by breathing out hot air. I'm gonna focus on that."

Rikiya nodded. "This, this right here is what I'm talking about. Perhaps you'd like to come work for me, miss?"

Mei laughed. "My heart belongs to hero support items, I'm afraid."

"Oh, well just between you, me, and your friends here, Detnerat is here because we want to offer our services to U.A. For the designing and creation of support items for the students."

Mei's eyes lit up. "You're jumping into the hero field?!"

"SIR?! Are you sure that's wise to say?" Miyashita fidgeted. "That's confidential information."

"Oh I'm sure it'll be fine. These are future heroes we're talking about here. They won't spread this around. And if they do, we can just sue them!" Rikiya laughed while the others looked a little nervous. "And besides, you can't fault me for being excited with not just the talent from Midoriya's son, but to meet such a talented engineer." Rikiya patted Mei on the shoulder. "I think I'm going to keep my eye on you, young lady."

"Well. It's been a long day and we should not keep you. I know that Principal Nezu isn't one for tardiness."

Soon the two groups began to go their separate ways. Izuku only became aware that Ochako and Himiko were leading him away from the training zone after a few seconds.

"Izuku," Hisashi called out. "This meeting may run long. You go ahead and head on home. I will meet you there."

---

Katsuki fought back a growl as he looked down at his phone. He had been waiting in the hallway for an ungodly amount of time, a few minutes, for Izuku and Ochako to finally leave All Might's office. Himiko had left not that long ago and now he just needed those last two to finally leave so he could talk to All Might.

If it was just Izuku, Katsuki might have gone ahead and stormed into the office. Might. He had a feeling he wasn't going to get the answers he wanted if he did it that way. So he'd just have to wait, something he hated doing, until the last of the distractions were gone. When the door finally slid open, Izuku and Ochako emerged, with All Might close behind. Izuku looked worn out. Today at least, Katsuki wouldn't hold that against him too much. Having to go home and deal with that shit of a father was something he was sure Izuku was not looking forward to. Katsuki rolled his eyes when he saw Ochako put her hand on his shoulder and say something uplifting to the nerd. Which seemed to work on some level.

Which was just pathetic. Izuku should be strong enough to pick himself up by now. He didn't need some girl doing it for him. Watching them walk away, and seeing Ochako try to hide how close she purposely walked besides Izuku was disgusting. They really were practically attached at the hip at this point. Which Katsuki was sure Ochako wished was literally in her case.

If those two spent that energy they wasted worrying about hiding their damned feelings into something productive like getting stronger, then maybe they wouldn't be such wastes of space. At least that damned nut job Himiko was open and didn't give a damn who knew she was in love with those damned nerds. Which was horrifically few.

Katsuki watched the two round the corner and disappear. Even at this distance, Katsuki saw the fire in Ochako's eyes. She was clearly not happy with the fact Hisashi was back in Izuku's life.

She's not happy about a lot of shit going on in Deku's life, now that Katsuki thought about it. He had seen those hate filled eyes directed at him on more than one occasion. Sooner or later, Katsuki thought, me and Round Face are going to throw down. That 'good girl' act of hers is crumbling. Fuck, I thought she was nuts after that damned nerd got his head caved in at the USJ. Now though? After whatever happened at Hosu City, she's gone off the deep end.

She was obsessed with keeping Izuku safe, that much was obvious to Katsuki. And she was training to deal with any threat to her 'best friend.' That also included Katsuki. He chose not to think about how that feeling may have come about from how he was in Junior High. He instead focused on the fight he knew was coming his way.

Round Face better be ready to learn the hard way I'm not going to deal with her bullshit. She needs to grow up. Fucking hell, Deku did.

Still, there was time to deal with that later. Right now, Katsuki had bigger fish to fry. He was going to get answers from the big man himself. With the distractions gone, Katsuki stomped up to All Might's office and banged on the door.

"Wh- Who is it? One second please." There was some hurried shuffling and Katsuki thought he heard something hiss. Maybe All Might was cracking open a cold beer, and didn't want anyone seeing him drink on school grounds. The idea made Katsuki smirk.

The door to the office slid open and All might stuck his head out. "Yes hello? Oh? Young Bakugou. Can I help you with something?"

"Need to talk to you," Katsuki said. Though as he looked All Might over he swore the hero looked a little stressed out. which was strange. He only spent an hour with Izuku every evening as far as Katsuki knew. "Won't be long. Just wanted to ask you something."

All Might nodded. "Of course. Do you want to come in? I have some water heated for tea."

Katsuki glanced inside and saw a kettle was steaming. A few used cups were stacked on a table. Izuku, Ochako and Himiko's more than likely. "Here is fine. Like I said, won't be long."

"Then what can I help you with?"

"Why are you so interested in Deku?"

If All Might was taken aback by the question, he didn't show it. "I have an interest in all my students, Young Bakugou."

"Not interested in the 'not playing favorites card' you have saved for the rest of the class. I know you were training Deku before he even got out of Junior High. He told me himself."

"Yes, I'm aware that you… know about that. Very well, I'm interested in Young Midoriya because… I see a lot of myself in him when I was his age." All Might rubbed his chin. "Did he explain his actions with the villain incident?" Katsuki nodded his head, "Well in my youth I did something similar. Of course as a young reckless and… honestly stupid youth my actions almost got me killed. But it did catch the eye of a hero that took me under her wing. I suppose fate has a funny way of repeating itself."

Katsuki frowned. "Huh. But why the huge cover up? Was it really just so those two wouldn't have to be pestered with questions?"

All Might scratched his head. "Part of the reason, yes."

Katsuki arched an eyebrow. "Part? What about Deku's mom? She's still kept in the dark."

This time All Might looked away as he addressed that. "I have enemies, Young Bakugou… I've found that relying on a 'need to know' philosophy tends to keep people safe."

Katsuki thought about that, and decided it didn't make a lot of sense because, "You publicly said you wanted Deku to intern with you after the sports festival, though."

"I… did, yes. But he was in U.A. then. Not a fresh youth who couldn't use his own Quirk. By that point it was a teacher looking out for a student."

On the surface, All Might's reasoning and explanations were fine. But as he spoke Katsuki swore the tone in his voice sounded a lot like Izuku's. And he had known Izuku since they were kids. He had years to pick up when he wasn't being honest. Izuku may not have lied to him when they had talked, but he had held something back. Just like he was sure All Might was holding something back. Recalling the question and answer that had keyed him in on it before. 'And what about that Yagi guy that you three mentioned. He even came to see you, right? What's his deal?'

'As we said, he's a scout, and he does work at All Might's agency, but All Might brought him in after he met us first. He helped train us using All Might's plan and took over whenever All Might wasn't able to be around. He pretty much became the public face of our training since we didn't want to draw attention to it.'

"That guy, Yagi or whatever, any chance I can get the plans he wrote up for Deku when you were training him? They must be good if they got Deku from a scrawny nobody to be able to go toe to toe with me in such a short time. Might be worth my time to study them."

All Might laughed. "Ah yes! Mr. Yagi did a splendid job making those training regiments. If not for him I doubt we would have made as much progress as we did. My time as a hero made it all but impossible to get a plan down. But I'm afraid that plan is confidential. It was tailored for Young Midoriya and Young Uraraka. Your needs…" All Might paused as he thought up a good reason. "Well you're already on your way to becoming a great hero. I doubt you really need those old plans."

Katsuki shrugged, "I suppose so. Well fine, I got nothing else for you." Turning to leave Katsuki got a few steps before he was called out to.

"A moment, Young Bakugou. I have a question for you."

"Eh? About what?"

All Might straightened himself up and took a very serious tone. "Does Young Midoriya's father abuse him or his mother?"

Katsuki frowned and for a few seconds was quiet. An unusual state for him. Finally he turned to look at All Might. "I know he's never hit them. He's too much of a coward to risk that."

"So is that a no?"

Katsuki waved his hand dismissively. "He left for the states when Deku was four. I don't care enough to know how often he came back. But it wasn't often. Wasn't around enough to be a family beater."

Yeah, Deku didn't need his father to get his dose of bruises and lumps.

Katsuki damn near slapped himself when that stray thought crossed his mind. Instead of thinking about it he moved on. "Why ask me? Deku could tell you everything."

"I did ask him," All Might said, crossing his arms, "a few days after the parent-teacher conference I talked with him privately. I had noticed some… peculiar interactions between his mother and father and himself and his father."

"And he said what?"

"That it was his responsibility to handle it." All Might sighed. "Seeing the man and how… uncomfortable Young Midoriya was around him, while he seemingly was a doting father made me wonder about Young Midoriya's answer. And if he was going to… react if his father was indeed hitting him. Or Inko or now possibly Young Eri."

Katsuki frowned at that idea. While seeing the piece of shit splattered on a wall might not bother Katsuki he could see the problem. "That would be Deku's hero future over and done with."

"The problem is I don't have anything to go on. Not enough to act and it seems Young Midoriya is keen to keep this, 'in the family.' So to speak. As you have known the family the longest I had hoped for your insight."

"Does he hit them? No. But only because that might put at risk the one thing he does care about. His image. He's obsessed with being liked by his 'betters' and those under him better give him their adoration and respect. My old man had a great way to describe him actually. The old hag just calls him an abandoning piece of shit, and he is, but my old man was more… accurate. He's a charlatan. A fake through and through. A street vender selling snake oil or a pickpocket looking for an easy target. That's who Midoriya Hisashi is. So him acting all loving towards Deku, it's pretty fucking conveniant that his fucking boss was there to see it."

---

Deku says that All Might came up with the training he and Round Face did. All Might said it was that Yagi guy who made them. He fucking flipped the damned story.

Katsuki growled as he walked home. His theory that Izuku had been hiding something was now confirmed, and All Might was in on it. But what was it that they were hiding? Katsuki knew Izuku and Ochako were trained by All Might. That was supposed to be the big he had taken an interest in Izuku and immediately after, Ochako. They kept it a secret for a reason.

Deku said it was for privacy. Didn't want any favors or special treatment… Katsuki could believe that. At least that was part of the story. Izuku clearly had decided to fight to become a hero, and wasn't looking to have it handed to him. If he was, there was no way he would have beat him at the sports festival or have improved himself to face him today and fight evenly with Katsuki without letting himself get his shit kicked in to do it.

Then there's what All Might said. Keeping it a secret, even from Deku's mother… Again, there was no lie in that. All Might had been telling the truth too. He really had been worried about people finding out about him training Izuku. Worried for their safety. To prevent the possibility of anyone learning about what he was doing, All Might, Izuku and Ochako had worked together to keep their time a secret. Though anyone with eyes and a brain was figuring it out. Shouto knew and if Katsuki had to guess, Himiko knew too. Though odds are she knew more than Shouto or Katsuki. After Hosu City, she had been brought into the inner circle.

You don't make a team with someone you're keeping a secret from.

So, what was the big secret? What was so important that Izuku was willing to spill the beans about All Might after Katsuki had confronted him?

If I'm going to find out what the hell is going on, it's going to be from that damned nerd. Trying to get All Might to talk isn't an option. Round Face and Bun Bitch are too damned loyal to give up anything. No, Deku's the one that's going to tell me. Sooner or later he's going to slip up and I'll be there. Just have to keep picking up the pieces. If that damned nerd thinks he can keep something like this from me, he's got another thing coming.

---

The meeting with U.A. was over. At least this one. While no contracts had been written, the group from Detnerat had come away with the agreement that they would provide some examples of the kind of hero support gear they could make. Once they had that, the principal had agreed to allow them to be tested by students in their heroics lessons to see the quality of the work. A reasonable agreement and one that Rikiya was satisfied with. The idea that they would get a contract right off the bat was never really an option. The goal was to get Detnerat's, no, the Meta Liberation Army's foot in the door. And that had been achieved.

If Hisashi being Izuku's father was going to contribute anything, that still remained to be seen. He was going to be the main point of contact between Detnerat and U.A., so his usefulness was in the long term. Making sure that door stayed open and ensuring he had contact with his son while he trained to become a hero.

But that was for tomorrow. Right now, Hisashi had another mission. Finding a way home and beginning to repair the home he had left so that he could have contact with his son at home as well. Hisashi needed to be back in his son's life, and to do that he needed to ensure that his wife Inko didn't throw a wrench into things.

Glancing down at his phone, he clicked his tongue in annoyance at having to call a cab. At the very least, his car ride should be arriving soon.

"You're Midoriya Hisashi correct?"

Hisashi put his phone away and turned to see a lanky and disturbingly thin man come walking down the U.A. steps. He was wearing a suit that was so many sizes too big for his frame, it was a wonder it didn't slide off.

Looking the man over, Hisashi put his phone away. "I am. And you are?"

Why would someone like this be talking to me?

While Hisashi watched him, All Might returned the favor. Watched him using his years of being the number one hero. Watched him using eyes trained to spot any potential threat or danger. So much of his life he had spent on the lookout for those who would want to kill him without coming out into the open. He watched Hisashi carefully and in that short instant got an immediate read on the man.

Young Bakugou's description was dead on.

Hisashi was sizing him up alright. Judging him and trying to decide if he was worth anything. If he was a mark or a pass. All Might had seen those eyes so many times on the crooks who preyed on the weak. On those easily manipulated.

A charlatan.

What a precise answer. These kinds of people were obsessed with how they were looked at. And deplored confrontation. They were not the kind of people that used force to get what they wanted.

"Yes, allow me to introduce myself. I've been hoping to get this chance eventually. My name is Yagi Toshinori. I'm the scout and trainer that found your son and got him ready for the U.A. entrance exam."

All Might watched the judging come to a quick stop as recognition hit. When that happened, the charm came immediately. "Ah! Yes." Hisashi put out his hand. "I recognize the name. You also work for All Might himself, correct? So you're the man I have to thank for taking care of my son this past year. You have my thanks."

All Might took the hand and exchanged a firm handshake. "He's a fine young man. His potential is astounding. I almost consider it fate, our meeting."

"Oh, did you happen to find him at a gym by chance?" Hisashi said, with some level of amusement in his voice. Hoping it would hide the slight wince he had from the hand shake.

All Might tilted his head to the side. "No? Are you… not aware of the incident with the sludge villain over a year ago?"

"Sludge villain?"

There was no recognition from Hisashi at all. Which said a lot. Even if they were separated and he was living on the other side of the world, that Inko hadn't informed him of that, well it spoke volumes.

"A villain took a classmate of Young Midoriya's hostage. He was trying to steal his body and unfortunately the heroes on site were not capable of intervening. So your son rushed in," Hisashi's eyes went wide, "and rescued the boy."

"I was not aware of that, no… Izuku did something like that? What was the boy thinking?"

"A question you should ask him yourself perhaps."

"So afterwards you introduced yourself to my son and began training him?"

"Hmm, not immediately after. His mother grounded him."

Hisashi blinked then nodded his head sagely. "Yes. Yes, of course. Interfering with an incident like that, Izuku's lucky he didn't get in those professionals' way. They could have thrown him into a cell along with that villain. What a disgrace that would have been."

There was a short pause before All Might added, "He also could have died."

Hisashi flinched. "Ah. Yes. Yes, he could have, couldn't he… but he wasn't. And it seems that your training paid off. I'd be interested to hear just what you had my son do to achieve the power he has now."

"Oh, nothing complicated honestly, but if you want a full retelling you could always ask the boy's mother."

"Inko?"

"Yes. She was insistent on being kept up to date on his progress and exactly what kind of training I was putting Young Midoriya through. We ended up meeting regularly to go over things."

Hisashi laughed. "Was she? I hope she didn't cause too many issues."

"None whatsoever. In fact, I found her interest to be a welcomed one. She is a caring woman that wanted to be sure her son wasn't going to be hurt as he chased his dream. She…" All Might's tone took an edge. "Inko is a good and strong woman Mr. Midoriya. She cares deeply for her boy, and she deserves to be respected and treated well. I value the time and friendship I earned with her, and I hope that others in her life treat her with the same level of reverence."

All Might may have been in his shrunken form, but he still had years of being the number one hero to pull from as he let a little of her heroic aura leak out. The effect was immediate as Hisashi took an unconscious step back and a small amount of sweat began to drip from his forehead. "Er, yes. I…I agree. Inko is… a special woman for sure."

All Might nodded. "My spare time may be small now that I've returned to All Might's agency for work, but I still like to swing by to make sure Young Midoriya and Inko are doing well. They deserve to be happy, and I suppose I like to make sure they are. I'm fortunate too that All Might himself has begun training with the boy after his win at the sports festival. He helps keep me up to date."

That last line was the last thing All Might said and it was pretty clear his message was received. Hisashi was fighting to keep his smile up, but even a novice could see he was scared now. You don't turn white for no reason after all.

---

"You know, you were pretty cool today, Deku."

Izuku paused picking at his dinner to look up at Ochako in surprise. "I-I was?"

"Oh, definitely." Ochako said with a smile.

Izuku scratched his nose, a faint blush on his cheeks. "I, um, thank you. I'm a little surprised to hear you say that though. Since you kinda… um…"

"Really, really hated the idea of you giving Bakugou what he wanted."

Inko looked up from her meal. "What did Bakugou want?"

"A rematch from the sports festival," Ochako replied curtly.

Inko's eyes went wide. "Izuku, you got into a fight at school!"

Izuku waved his hands, denying the idea. "What? No. I didn't get into a fight."

Ochako waved her hand in a 'so so' manner. "You kinda did."

"It was a supervised sparring match, Mom. All Might was there and everything. It wasn't some after school brawl."

"Deku, Bakugou ran up to you and was like," Ochako puffed out her chest and held her hands and palms up in a way that mimicked Katsuki. Then in her best, most horrible impression said, "'Fight me, Deku!'"

Eri giggled at the impression while Deku winced and smirked. "Never let Kacchan hear you do that."

Inko shook her head. "Maybe I should give Mitsuki a call."

Now Izuku looked horrified. "Mom. Don't. If you value my life you won't do that."

The group at the table laughed at that. Izuku took a bite of his, hardly touched dinner, before looking back at Ochako. "So, um. How was I cool?"

"You fought Bakugou and didn't get a single nosebleed. And that new super move of yours was just awesome. I didn't like that you did fight him, but if you have to, you should at least make sure you win, Deku." Ochako flashed him a thumbs up.

The ringing of the phone stopped their conversation and Izuku held his breath. Inko got up from the table and went to pick it up, though it was pretty obvious that she wasn't looking forward to hearing who was on the line. Even if she was trying to hide it for Eri's sake. "Hello?... Oh, you're here at the building… Yes, the door is unlocked. See you in a bit, then." Inko hung up. "He just pulled into the parking lot. He's on his way up."

Izuku fought back a groan. This was it. His father was back and was coming here. The strangeness of their last meeting at school still hadn't sunk in. But he could chalk it up to a few things, if he really thought about it. His father's boss was present. So of course he was going to be on his best behavior. But best behavior didn't really cover everything. He didn't need to hug him. Or praise him like that. It was all so odd.

"You know, you can still get out of here Uraraka," Izuku offered. The idea, though, was immediately shot down.

"Already told you, Deku. I'm staying. Not going to leave you… leave you guys alone."

"I just don't want you to be uncomfortable, is all. Things seem to be… weird right now."

Inko nodded. "I'd say." She was still trying to figure out what was going on, after Izuku had told her about running into Hisashi at school.

"No one is chasing me away. You're stuck with me, remember," Ochako said with a smile.

Izuku blushed and then without thinking said, "If you want to get involved in the family drama, maybe I need to make you part of the family."

Ochako went red while Inko looked at her son in total shock, "I-Izuku?!"

"Hmm? What? What did I…" Izuku's brain finally caught up with his mouth. "Oh…OH!" In a puff of smoke, Izuku began to hurriedly try and explain away what he had just said as a joke. His explanation was more or less a jumble of words that didn't really help his case. It especially didn't help when he ended with. "And, and when I do propose, it won't be like that!"

"Wh-when y-you d-d-d-d-do?"

It was an amusing game for Inko to try and see which of the two was going to be the one to turn the reddest. At this point it was a dead heat and if the game was allowed to keep going Inko wondered if perhaps something incredible might happen. But sadly a knock on the door broke the spell and everyone turned back to normal.

Izuku took a breath when he heard the door open and footsteps echo into the room. And then, there he was. Hisashi entered the room. His eyes scanned everyone, pausing briefly at Ochako, before he walked over to Inko, shocking everyone, Inko included, by leaning over and giving her cheek a quick peck. "Inko, it's so good to see you again. I've missed you."

While Inko tried to figure out what that was about, Hisashi moved to Eri. Crouching down to eye level, he offered his hand towards her. Eri grabbed onto Izuku's sleeve and pushed herself into his side, shyly looking at this new person. Hisashi's smile didn't waver. "Well aren't you a shy one, but I guess I can't blame you. I've heard a lot about you Eri. You went through some truly horrible times didn't you. I hope you've been happy here though. Have my wife and son been good to you?"

Eri nodded but kept herself close to Izuku. Hisashi pulled his hand back, and didn't try to get closer to her, treating her like a stray and being careful how close he got. Not wanting to scare her. "I understand. I hope you'll come to trust me like you do them alright?"

Standing up, Hisashi looked over at Ochako. "I think you were with Izuku at U.A. when Mr. Yotsubashi and myself came, correct? I don't believe we've been introduced."

Ocahko almost, almost, replied with, 'I'm Uraraka Ochako you fucking jack off. Now get the fuck out of here before I throw you out, you abandonding shit stain of a human being.' However after quickly realizing that saying that would cause a truck load of problems, the main one being she didn't want Izuku to know she could swear like that, Ochako just went with a simple, "I'm Uraraka Ochako, sir."

Hisashi nodded, "Yes, yes that's the name. You came in third at the sports festival didn't you. Tied with Bakugou if I remember correctly. Your match with that… with Toga was something to see."

The unasked question hung in the air though for everyone to hear, 'Why are you here?' Izuku decided to be the one to answer it. "Uraraka has been with me since the day I started training. We trained together in fact. She moved to Aldera Junior High last year and lives in an apartment by herself. She's been my best friend since then. And we figured since we were already training all day together it wouldn't be a big deal if she would eat with us."

"Ah, I see. I suppose that does make sense. I suppose after a year of it, it's only natural she would still come over then." Hisashi nodded before bowing towards Ochako, which made her blink a few times in surprise. "Thank you for taking care of my son. That he's found such a strong friend is a great relief."

"I… yeah." Ochako wasn't sure how to respond.

Inko frowned. "So how long will you be staying? Izuku mentioned Detnerat is trying to do business with U.A. Though how that has anything to do with you…?"

Hisashi stood up proudly. "I've been promoted and now have the opportunity to work directly with Mr. Yotsubashi on this venture. And more besides if things go well. Which I am pleased to say they have. U.A. want us to create some prototypes for some students to trial. A promising first step. As my new position will deal with U.A., I will be working out of the company headquarters, so I have moved back to Japan. And I don't see myself leaving in the near or distant future."

"Y-you've moved back? As in, moving back here?" Izuku wasn't sure how he felt about that. His father leaving had left such a huge hurt in his heart. Him coming home was a good thing, wasn't it? Izuku wasn't so sure. In truth he was just too confused with everything to be able to come up with an answer. The way his father was acting was just so foreign. So odd.

So unnatural.

"Tot the country, yes. But I think it'd be best if I don't move back in here. I'm… aware that my prolonged absence has caused some…issues. I doubt suddenly moving in would do anything to fix that. While I've been gone, you… four have formed something special and to insert myself into that I think would be unwise. Small steps I think would be best, to make sure we… get to know each other again. So for the time being, I will be living in Deika City."

That name rang a few bells in Izuku's head. "Deika City… Detnerat has a satellite office there, right? It's also where you mentioned…"

Hisashi smiled brightly. "A dinner, yes. I'm glad you remembered that, Izuku. In fact, after seeing your match with Bakugou, Mr. Yotsubashi insisted we have it as soon as possible. This weekend in fact."

Inko's eyes went wide. "This weekend?"

Hiashi frowned. "Did you all have plans?"

"Well, no, but…"

"Ah, you're worried about having something appropriate to wear for it. Well don't you worry. Detnerat will be taking you to find dress wear for the occasion. At the company's expense too. You all will need something proper to wear. As it won't be just you Mr. Yotsubashi is entertaining. It seems that a few of his friends caught wind that he was hosting the winner of the first years' sports festival and the one that caught the eye of All Might himself. There are several powerful societal figures that want a chance to meet you, Izuku."

Izuku was both horrified at the idea, but also a tad excited. But mostly horrified. "S-societal figures?"

"Yes indeed. The executive director of Shoowaysha Publishing for starters. She has expressed a keen curiosity over you, or so I've been told. There's also the leader of the Hearts and Mind Party. A powerful politician and I believe even a board member of Feel Good, Inc. will be there as well."

Horrified. It was pure horror for Izuku now. Hisashi looked down at Eri. "And just in case you were wondering, Eri is of course welcomed to come as well. A company dinner like this will surely have a grand desert table a girl her age will enjoy."

Eri, despite still being nervous around the strange new man, couldn't help but drool a little at that idea. "Like candied apples?"

Hisashi raised an eyebrow. Ochako clarified, "Apples are her favorite snack."

"Oh, I'm sure word will get to the chefs to make sure there are plenty of different apple desserts for little Eri." Then Hisashi looked at Ochako. "I'm sure we could also open a seat for such a close friend as you, Uraraka. It's the least I can do after you've taken such good care of my son. Plus you're well known in your own right. As a podium finisher yourself, I'm sure the people at this dinner would like to meet you as well." Ochako chirped in surprise at that.

"You're never too young to start making connections after all. This is the perfect opportunity to meet some very, very important people."

---

The hour was late, and Hisashi was calling another cab to take him to his apartment in Deika City. Overall he would say the day had been a successful one. He had to make a few emergency texts as he walked down the stairs though. He had opened the invitation without making sure it would even be approved. A risk, but his goal was to get himself into the good graces of his family. So if this girl was important to Izuku, it had made sense to bring her along. Excluding her might have led to issues. Fortunately Rikiya approved of the idea and the reason behind it. So he was in the clear.

Fortunately his son hadn't made it a habit of collecting more people off the street to add to his strange collection of friends. It was so strange, Izuku had good friends like Tenya and Shouto, people with breeding and class, but he also had this girl that came from some blue collar family in a failing construction business. So strange. What was the point?

Hisashi did count his fortunes that Himiko had not been brought up. Hisashi wasn't sure he'd be able to keep his composure if his son had wanted to bring that freak to dinner. Though apparently before Chitose's great blunder of trying to expose Himiko to the world, the girl did come over for dinner with Izuku when she could.

"Hisashi."

The sudden call from behind broke Hisashi out of his thoughts. Turning around, he was surprised to see Inko coming down the stairs after him. Looking at him carefully. Calculatingly. There was a fire in her eyes. Like he had seen at the parent-teacher conference.

"What are you doing?"

Hisahsi blinked before spreading his arms out. "I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"I'm not going to let you use Izuku to help you advance your career, Hisashi. After everything you've done, I won't let you hurt him like that."

"A harsh accusation, Inko."

"Do you remember how you were when Izuku got his Quirk? You were acting exactly like this. Then you left. So don't stand there and try to lie to think I don't know when you're putting on a show?"

Hisashi frowned, and sighed. "Fine. Yes, I want to take advantage of Mr. Yotsubashi's interest in Izuku. The man is obsessed with Quirks. Almost like how Izuku is. So when he learned everything about Izuku and contacted me, of course I jumped at the chance. Izuku in a day has opened more doors for me than my ten years of work over in the states. I'm getting brought onto projects that I wouldn't know about until a shareholder meeting or even later. So yes, I am going to take full advantage of that. But," Hisashi cut off a very biting remark that Inko had at the ready, "I'm also trying to help Izuku. To help everyone in our family."

Inko narrowed her eyes. "Help us? How?"

"Izuku wants to become the number one hero. That is something he has always wanted, and now that he has All Might himself working with him, that dream may very well become a possibility. But All Might isn't just a hero. He runs his agency, Might Tower, that has hundreds if not thousands of people working for him. He is a CEO, even if he doesn't call himself that. Izuku needs to learn other skills and make other connections if he's going to achieve that kind of success. And he won't get those at school. Those are forged in the real world, and if he starts now, making the most of what he's done already, can you imagine where he'll be when he graduates?"

Inko hated how much that made sense. She also hated how well Hisashi was able to blend the truth with his truth. It was so hard to tell the difference when he got going.

"Do you think you've earned the right to be the one to help him?"

Hisashi frowned. "I'm his father."

"That's not what I asked."

"... I'm trying. Inko, you want this to be simple, fine. I'm trying. People can change, you know."

"So you're saying you were wrong?"

Hisashi's face soured. "I… I'm saying that I might have been… too much focussed on certain things."

Inko threw up her hands in disgust. "You can't even say you were wrong, Hisashi!"

"I'm trying to change, Inko. I've done it before, same as you. It's just not as easy for me. I'm not you after all."

Inko turned away. "I changed… We changed because we wanted something better. Something good. And we got it with Izuku. Then you left. You hurt the good thing we brought into this world."

"Then let me try and fix it. I'm not going to say I'm perfect. You want me to say I've made mistakes? I've made mistakes. But this, what I'm trying to do with Izuku and you isn't one of them."

Inko looked at Hisashi hard. "One reason. Give me one reason why I should let this happen. Why should I give you this chance to come back into our lives?"

Hisashi didn't say anything at first. He chewed on just how to answer that. Finally he thought back to years ago, a stormy night with a rainfall hard enough to wash away anything not anchored down. He recalled a shivering sorry excuse of a man climbing up to a young woman's apartment and weakly banging on the door. "Because a long long time ago, you gave me a chance Inko. And Izuku was born from that."

In an instant, Inko and Hisashi weren't at the apartment anymore, but far away. On a small island no one wanted to remember. A war weary Inko with a bag over her shoulder and Hisashi, drenched and beaten to hell, falling into her arms and begging her not to leave him.

Authors Notes:

So I said that doing these next few chapters as a group of short stories should make the next chapter come out faster. Then this chapter decided to be 29k words long. Whoops! Still, I think I did alright getting this chapter out in under a month. By a few days, I think. Too lazy to actually look lol.
Anyway, I hope you all liked it! Got a lot of plot lines getting all mixed up now, so things are going to get a little interesting for poor Izuku. His dad's back, Re-Destro is getting his foot in the door at U.A. and is laying on the charm with Izuku and poor Mei. Plus there's Katsuki and Mei not being idiots and putting things together. Yeah, Izuku is in trouble. And what the hell is going on between Inko and Hisashi? I mean I know, but you don't :)
As always, comments reviews, and critiques are more than welcome!
A huge thank you to my beta reader for all the fixes!
Also, a special thank you to Shire_Folk author of some great fics like Class 1-A's IzuOcha Hell Week and The Future Briefing Island. Helped me with the poker hands Izuku and Mei had and with the Phoenix Smash name. Was stuck on something fire based that also had a United States name attatched to it. Go check out their work and leave a nice review and kudos!