Nobody expects the Spanish Inq—I mean the third update! Thank you for those who follow and favorite this. Every one of follows, favorite, and comments are appreciated. Just like the other two, this was on my edit purgatory while I write the new chapter but tried to edit and rewrite some scenes best as my writing ability could.

I hope you enjoyed my previous chapters and maybe even this one too. I figured that I should update with multiple chapters to make it up to you guys.

12-14 Uploaded on Nov. 18, 2019.

Stain grinned at the hero running away in fear from him while he jumped from wall to wall and ran on the roof with a knife in his hand. This fake hero only sought money and fame with his heroics. He only deals with villains that he was sure he could handle. Too scared for his own good despite the strong yet limited telekinesis quirk he had.

His chest with giddiness when the fake slowly backed away earlier as he realized he can't—or didn't—have the ability to take him on and win. He thought that by arresting him he would be famous than he was right now? Heh, he smirked with his tongue licking his teeth. That was a joke if he ever knew one.

Lifter, the name fake hero goes by, constantly looked behind him as he ran like a headless chicken. He knew Hosu's streets like his palm as was he was to do in every new city he dwelt in. There was no place he could escape from him. He jumped and quickly stabbed his knife at the concrete building and the knife bit through the solid object easily as he slid down easily. All throughout his fall, he grinned liking the smell of fear that radiated from his prey and the wind gushing in his ears.

If there were no fake heroes then the League of Villains wouldn't have grown, even villains in general. What happened to her shouldn't have happened. She should be smiling but instead, it was him that gave her the small joys in life and not the heroes whose job was to save people.

Another knife found its way at his free hand before pushing himself off the wall and bounding from wall to wall towards his target. Swift as the wind he came as he then rolled when he landed. The fake had no such time to throw anything at him.

Any scream that was uttered was quickly silenced when his tongue licked the now wet metal. He did not cherish nor found the taste of the liquid delectable as he was used to it by now. But he found enjoyment in stopping another parasite from flourishing in their society. He moved and shuffled to stop his momentum and skidding to a stop not a second later. Lifter groaned and his eyes widened in fear as he approached. With each step Stain did, the more his fear-stricken face contorted in fear and defiance.

"Heh." He smiled from ear to ear feeling good for what was about another good deed for society. "You aim to capture me to increase your fame. You are a disgrace to the name of being a hero and do not deserve that title. Only one person can."

His sword screeched as he drew it from its sheath and behold its glory before the scourge of a hero. "Any final words, hero," he bitterly spat the words.

"Please! Let me go! I didn't do anything wrong! I'll give you anything!"

"If that is your final words, so be it!"

"Please—"

Bearing the sword down, he stabbed it at the hero on the ground without so much as a blink. "Rest in peace knowing your death made society better." He muttered before turning and scale the building to the edge where he overlooked Hosu. Somewhere, the siren of police can be heard, no doubt the cops are searching for him. After that harrowing debacle with Ingenium, the police were much active in the search this time around.

A swirling black mist appeared behind him. Piercing yellow eyes stared back at him. "Hero Killer Stain," the disembodied voice deeply greeted.

He only turned and stared silently at the misty man. He knew who the being before him was. He had to know them after all the news coverage about them after the daring attack on what the media called the USJ Incident. Not to mention the wisps of rumors from the dark citizens of the underworld about them and their recruitment weeks before the attack on USJ.

"Kurogiri. What do I owe the pleasure." He grunted as he cleaned his bloodied sword with the fallen hero's costume.

"It seems introductions are not needed. Our leader would like to talk to you."

The League of Villains was the talk of the underworld. Many wanted to join it but after that USJ debacle, they backed out seeing as so many criminals were defeated and captured by first-year Hero Students.

So, the League of Villains needed something from him then. He had an idea what, but his answer would depend on the leaders' answer on this inevitable conversation. He nodded briefly and walked to the warp.

The place he found himself in was a quiet dimly lit plain bar. The bar had nothing of significance to note aside from the television on the wall that had a Sound Only written on its center and a torn poster of All Might. His gut spun at the wrong ways just looking at the television, thus he kept his eyes on it discretely at it.

The bars' only patron was a light blue-haired young man that had a hand on his face and wore simple white long-sleeved shirt and jeans. Without a doubt, he knew this was the person leading the League of Villains. The man they called Shigaraki Tomura.

Stain's eyes flitted everywhere and found no other entrance or exit aside from the door behind him and the door after the counter which no doubted led to the rooms.

"Hero Killer: Stain," the young man with a raspy voice greeted. "You have a track record of killing twenty-three heroes. You're a hard man to track."

"Shigaraki Tomura." He took a seat at the very end of the bar near the door. "The ones who attacked UA. You want me to join you." It was not a question, it was a statement and the three of them knew that fact well.

Kurogiri served him a drink with a muttered, "on the house."

Smelling nothing afoul on it, he took a sip and found himself smirking at the taste. The man certainly knows his guests' preference just by a glance. Shame he had to choose the wrong profession. Not that he was any better despite knowing that he had to stain his hands in order to better the society by eliminating the fakes.

"Yeah. You have experience than us as a villain."

Tomura said this plainly and he respected the fact that the villain before him admitted it and not beat around the bushes. Still, villain? He scoffed. There were only three villains in this room.

"What are your goals." He glared at the two villains before him.

"For now." Tomura slightly turned his head to him making Stain see parts of his wrinkled face and mad eyes hidden between the fingers. "To kill All Might. And kids like this. Everything that stands in my way."

The picture he showed was one of the kids who placed third in the UA Sports Festival.

For Stain, goal was everything. Having a goal means conviction. Conviction means the willpower to finish what was started. What Tomura had was not a goal. It was a childish tantrum who wanted things to go his way.

His teeth gnashed and eyes narrowed as he growled lowly just barely covering it with his drinking. The words left a bitter taste on his being and his heart beat faster in anticipation of what was to happen next. His hands twitched while holding the smooth glass. It's a shame he had to do this. He had rarely indulged himself in earthly things, but the drink was quite delectable. He missed small delights found in things these since he dropped everything for the sake of his life's calling. A small price to pay at the end. Still, it's a shame to stop it early.

"It seems I was wrong to get interested." He sneered relaxing his body with crossed arms and knives at arms reach. "I hate people like you the most. You want me to go along with your tantrum. What meaning is there in killing without conviction."

Stain leaped from his stool and in a span of second, cut Kurogiri then flew and stabbed Tomura near his collarbone. He grunted but not one cry came from the injured young man. The two froze making him smirk. A mistake on their part to let their guard down around him.

Kurogiri said something at the man behind the screen but he paid it no attention for he fears no one. Especially someone that hides behind a computer monitor and lets the others do the work for them.

Fools, but he can certainly let them try.

"Conviction is everything! If you kill without reason, then you are as bad as the fake heroes who only wants fame in the guise of heroism!"

"Kurogiri, I don't want him as a party member! Get him out of here!"

Tomura thrashed wildly under him as if the knife embedded in his collarbone wasn't there but it was futile. No one can escape his Blood Curdle!

The misty man groaned but otherwise stayed where he was immobile. "I—I… I can't move!"

"Tell me." He leaned forward and pressed the knife harder on the wooden floor. "You say you want to destroy All Might and this society but all I see is a headless chicken that doesn't know where to go!"

Stain ever so slowly inched the other knife close to Tomura's neck. "Society has overgrown so much with fake heroes that the word itself lost its meaning, and the criminals idly wave their powers. All of this should be purge."

His conviction knows no bound nor limit. Villains and fake heroes alike should be purged until only the strong and true are left! If Tomura only seeks to destroy then he had no choice but do what he needed to do.

"Conviction? Ideals?" Tomura grinned behind his hand mask when shivered from the chill that went up his spine. "I don't have anything as grand as that! I just want to destroy this society that worships him!"

Stain was left speechless by the Tomura when he grabbed the knife fearlessly making his hand bleed while blood seeped out of his wound. The knife's crack echoed in this quiet bar and withered to dust.

Tomura reached for him, and knowing what would happen if he let that hand touch him, he jumped back. Smirking, he sheathed his bloodied knife.

"It seems I was wrong about you." He eyed Tomura with narrowed eyes. "There's still hope for you yet." He huffed. "I sense a conviction within you, warped as it may be. It's too bad we have opposing goals. Still, we do have one thing in common; we want to destroy the present."

"Now take me back." He still had better things to do than find the mutt's goal in life.

His eyes filtered in the dark and he knew he was where he where the "hero" died. The lifeless form of the fake laying down near the garbage bin where he belonged.

Changing his clothes, he made his way down and out of the dilapidated building and into the streets with the people none the wiser of who he was.

"What would she like for tonight," he muttered to himself as he went towards where he knew a convenient store was.

Saturday came quickly and all of them—including Shinso—met up at the school gates early while waiting for the last one to arrive, which was Kirishima. When he invited Shinso yesterday as he and Kacchan were going home, he was quick to agree. That made him snigger at his eagerness.

"Sorry guys!" the redhead came running to them with a sheepish smile. "Woke up late."

"It's fine, Kirishima-kun," Uraraka reassured before turning to him and Kacchan. "To the Support Department!" she marched lightly skipping along the way.

It was Saturday, so there was no one on school, even teachers. But when they got to the Support, to the place indicated by Mei, Power Loader in his casual was the one who greeted them when they opened the door to a large junk place-like room twice the size their classroom divided by clear glass. The other side of the room was littered desks and used objects or scraps on the side piled on the corner. On the other side was a wide space with charred black walls and floor as if repeatedly burned by a flamethrower. That must be the result of every failed creation of all the Support students.

"Ah good," the small hero commented. "You're all here. I wasn't expecting you people to really show up. I wonder what she offered you agree with her proposition" The hero pointed at the various places around the room like the corners and the ceiling.

"She 'll give us ideas about how to improve our hero suits," Kacchan replied bluntly.

"That so?" Power Loaded raised a brow at them. "That's good. It's a good inter-department activity since you'll be relying on the support students to fix and improve your costumes in the future. You can rely on Mei on most of the students I have. She's quite passionate about it that she rarely takes a break when making her gears."

"This is the testing room. Normally this is used by the higher years, but I allowed Hatsume to use it for today since the first year's testing room is small for what she needed. I know that Mei has invited you here to test her creation, but I advise you to be cautious. Did she tell you to bring extra clothes?" Power Loader raised his eyebrow at them.

"Yes, sir," Iida answered. "She warned us yesterday."

He didn't voice his thoughts whether this was safe or not but decided to trust the teacher since he allowed it in the end.

"Good, that's good." The man nodded contently and went to the door. "You kids have fun and remind Hatsume-kun to be careful. God knows how many times she blew up the lab since she got here." He muttered the last part but Izuku heard it then looked at the innocent-looking tinkering girl.

"C'mon!" She waved at them from a table far away while tinkering with something that he couldn't help looked at warily if Power Loader's words were to go by. "Let's get started!"

She quickly pushed him to a white exoskeleton armor, that was all bare bones and no armor, that he couldn't help but compare to a game he'd played before. He turned his head at the pile of things on the fringe of his eyes, then to the girl pushing him and at the others with a silent plea. "You've fixed every kinks in that right?"

Uraraka whistled innocently while rocking on her heels back and forth, Kirishima gave him a big thumbs up, Bakugo—the annoying bastard that he was—simply nodded and Iida showed his silent backing in case things go awry. Considering this was a prototype, it was bound to go bad!

"You mean, baby number thirty-five?" She tilted her head questioningly then beamed in pride. "Of course I did! What you took me for, an idiot? I just want you to test it out if there's something I missed. I need an outside perspective and your statement about the result later."

After quickly, yet deliberately slow enough to examine it on his own, outfitting the armor, he stretched first. The armor was not heavy as its bulked might suggest. He could still move fine with few restrictions due to its bulky nature. When they tested it starting from basic movements then to the complex ones like running and jumping, he did it with no problem. She alternated between, looking at the monitor and writing on her notebook.

After that, she made him do flips, side steps, and punching and kicking. It was harder than he thought and put a little strength to his limbs to do this.

"I want you to use your strength."

He blinked owlishly at the eccentric girl before knocking out of his stupor. "Are you sure?" He asked unsurely. "There's a chance I'll destroy this you know."

Mei shrugged and waved his concerns away flippantly. "Oh, that? It's fine. It's for my baby, after all. It's part of the stress testing. Go from weakest to your strongest."

Small sparks of red electricity came off of his arms and he punched. So far so good, he thought. The spark became stronger this time and he breathed deeper before letting go of the punch he was holding. The wind from the resulting punch sent him skidding back and the wind blew inside the testing room with the glass still unaffected.

"Uh oh," he muttered when the machine groaned and felt the metallic arms grow heavy.

Receiving the go from Mei he kicked from his weakest to his strongest, or strongest without breaking his limb, but the same thing happened.

"Amazing!" Mei screamed before he could apologize. "Don't worry baby, mommy's gonna make you better than before! Next!"

Izuku stepped out of the armor but he trembled involuntarily and Mei beckoned him swiftly. "Hurry up!" she screamed without warning and he ran grabbing Mei's reaching out hand being pulled faster than he could protest. An ear-deafening explosion shook the whole room even behind the protective glass. Thank god for the hard mirror between them!

"What was that!?" he looked at the inventor wildly who could only shrug.

"You overloaded it."

"Hats—Mei-san, that was dangerous!" Iida came between him and Mei just as Izuku was pulled up by Kirishima.

"It's for science! Once it's perfected and minimized, it could be used by heroes to amplify their strengths but only those with under the strength you showed will it otherwise overload." The girl was quick to write, almost if not quick as he was which considering his on the spot observation of hero's quirk was fast, and didn't listen to Iida berate her. "Next!"

Did he look like that when he muttered while focusing? Based on the smirk Kacchan sent his way, he knew what he was thinking and agreed with his unsaid thought.

Kirishima was handed a flexible spandex-like outfit that had armor plates covering his chest, shoulder, and knees followed by instructions on what to do. A single press of a button was all it took for the plates to unfold and cover a much wider area now giving Kirishima a samurai-like look about him. He wondered that would protect the user since it made the armor thinner though he thought thin armor was better than no armor at all.

Guns, he hoped that are fake, came out of the ceiling like in those spy movies.

"Uh, Mei-san?" Uraraka asked hesitantly rubbing her arms awkwardly. "Those aren't real, is it?"

"No. It's rubber bullets." She then pressed a button making Kirishima cross his arms. His hardened skin was barely visible in the black clothing. "I already test with real bullets. I just needed to see the flexibility and mobility of the wearer."

Kirishima tested both the hard yet expandable cloth and rubber-like metal which was new and unoriginally called "Rubber steel" and dodged every rubber bullet shots. The material itself absorbed the blunt strikes of the bullets by absorbing the force and springing it back outward and looking as if it weren't hit. Izuku had to blink to see if it was real.

What followed was robotic arms beating Kirishima with bats. The blunt strikes still had the same result with the metal bending inward then springing back into place after being hit. She explained that though its hard can absorb attacks, it can only take so many hits before it completely bends and dents like ordinary solid. It was still relatively new that only UA and some support companies affiliated with it were the ones who knew how to handle it so that's how Mei got the supply and made the armor.

The reason why Mei chose the expanding armor was for mobility when not in use and can be deployed quickly once in a battle. If it was normal solid armor, no doubt it would be less effective. Though it looked fine to Izuku, the girl still grumbled about its deployment time and promised to make it better.

All day, they tested various items that Mei created and took notes about what went wrong, what needs improving and other uses for said objects. By the time it was twilight, they were all tired. Honestly, Izuku now believed there was such a thing called overzealous. That's what Mei was, overzealous that she can create many things faster than any student. Not only that, she was fast in creating them that they couldn't test them all in one day.

So, after a hectic day—after a lot of exploding, burning, and electrocuting from all the test, that some of their clothes were nearly beyond salvaging so they just threw it all away—they ate at a ramen stand near the school. Mei's hand was gesturing really fast as she talked about their costumes.

"The gauntlet's really big y'know," she said in between bites of her food. "I'm all for art, but it's going to be a nuisance one day like maybe an injured arm. Instead of just the big thing you lug around, you could make it a small thick absorbent material under the wristband armor. Attached to it are small yet hidden grenades that takes in your sweat. They wouldn't expect something that small to contain something that explodes."

Behind the narcissist girl who wants the world's attention was a smart person who was pretty down to earth. That was if people were given the chance to see this side of her or her quirky side doesn't show too much.

"That wouldn't work," he scoffed. "My gauntlet stores all my sweat to use later on. I need it."

"Well." Mei looked deep in thought. "The thing I'm talking about is an ultra-absorbent thin soft cloth that can take in liquid thrice its size. In theory, the blast it can do once the stored sweat is released is triple than your gauntlet has. How's that for a surprise?" She smirked, clearly smug about it.

He spluttered at that explanation and imagining Kacchan blowing the streets just to defeat a villain. Uh oh, he didn't look like the eager smile on his childhood friend. "Now you're talking."

"I want that maneuvering gear Iida tested!" Uraraka chimed. "It solves my problem of maneuvering and getting close to my enemies. Though, it's still too bulky for me to add to me hero suit." She pursed her lips. "I don't know where to put it if I ever do get it."

The inventor lit up in thought. "It's possible to downsize it, but It'll take me time because I have to make a lot of adjustments to it to make it more portable than it is, not to mention I'll have to see if I can alter its design to suit your hero uniform."

Her eyes widened in excitement. "You'll do that!? You go through that effort but you don't know much about us yet."

Izuku had to agree, Uraraka had a great quirk that's deadly in close quarters, but if she can't approach any enemies she had then it's useless.

"Please."Mei scoffed rolling her eyes. "Any friend of Izuku is a friend of mine. And does it matter? If I can help you with your design and the world sees it, more people would notice my genius!"

"What?" He choked on his food and quickly drank the water. We're friends! I barely know her at all. This wasn't like how he met Shinso wherein their introduction was mutual. Mei came to him. Twice now in fact.

Kirishima laughed and patted him while Uraraka beamed at Mei's words.

"I like your armor suggestion. I wouldn't mind using the suit and folding armor earlier. Needs to be a little red though. It'll act as a surprise. They would think it's just for show then bam!" He punched his palms with hardened fist making a loud thud. "I harden myself and together with the armor I can take much more hits than when using my quirk alone." His redhead friend excitedly with a toothy grin. "What'd you say earlier? Just because I have hardening quirk doesn't mean I don't have to wear armor? That stung, but true though."

"Indeed," Iida agreed wholeheartedly judging by his nod. "One should not be reliant on their quirk alone, Aizawa-sense is a prime example of being quirk independent. Sure, he has a great quirk for villain suppression but he has his capture gear to help him. It is good that you are realizing that Kirishima-kun."

"I didn't expect you'd want to wear armor at all, Kirishima," Izuku looked at Kirishima with sparking interest. "I thought you're all for that manliness like Crimson Riot was? He didn't wear armor after all."

"Yeah, I want to be like him. Fearless and charging at everything head-on," he said giving a small genuine smile that was far from his ferocious toothy one. "But I also think about what Aizawa-sensei always say; be rational. When I think about it, it'd be useful when I fight someone strong like Tetsutetsu by letting something take some of the hits for me first allowing me to extend my endurance even a little by using it later. Plus, they wouldn't expect a hardening hero to wear armor at all!"

With the clothing, they couldn't determine if Kirishima had already hardened himself or not, thus confusing whoever he faces. A great plan.

There were many interesting things that they tested but he felt that he need to change his suit. Maybe the design needed changing because he felt it was still close to All Might's form. Still, even if he had what he needed he shouldn't be complacent about anything. So, maybe a little armor to the torso and wrist would do him good.

"You've thought 'bout this huh, Kirishima. Your idea makes sense."

Slowly, he turned to his hotheaded childhood friend with wide eyes. Did he just… call another by their name?

"Dude…."

Uraraka went agape just as he was. "Did Kacchan just…," she whispered.

"What're you fuckers looking at me for?" He glared at them with no heat behind it.

"Deku-kun," Uraraka's disbelief turned to laughter she can't hold and turned to them all. "Did he just say a name?"

"Yep," he said nodding happily. "It's a rare occurrence that happens once in a while! I need to tell her!" He grabbed his phone and texted Mitsuki-obasan.

"So, you do know our names!" Iida pointed at Katsuki accusingly. "Why do you insist on calling us with strange nicknames."

"What're you talking about." He merely glanced at them and continued eating. "Now stop staring at me like I killed someone's cat."

"Did you?"

"Did what?" Kacchan replied glaring at Shinso.

"Kill someone's cat." With the straightest face as possible, Shinso asked Kacchan.

"Why the hell would I do that?" Hands slammed on the table shocking some of the patrons.

What the hell were the two talking about? This was asked out of the blue.

He expected that reaction from Kacchan. Just like what he did during his tenth birthday when he gave him his gift. When he called him out on it, he denied the hell out of it. Oh well, he had their fun at least.

"Let it go, guys," he sighed face-palming himself and shaking his head in disappointment. "He's never gonna admit it. Trust me, I've asked him about that for years."

"Jokes aside, I too must admit my deficiency in my uniform. Perhaps I could add a thermal or night vision on my helmet and use a light yet sturdy armor as my armor is not combat worthy much. It's mostly for appearance's sake." He crossed his arms, one of his hands on his chin. "Would the one Kirishima-kun used be okay? Though I prefer it as a whole, not a folding one like the one tested."

Izuku kept his eyes on Iida. He wondered if the cause for wanting armor was because of something more aside from practicality. Guilt washed over him for thinking that way, but it was quickly diluted by his worry.

"Oh, you can certainly get that easily despite it being new. Being an Iida family member, I'm sure you can obtain some of it." She said shrugging flippantly. "It's tough to make but worth the cost since it can take some hits and even protect you from most weapons like blades and such."

So Mei knew that Iida was Ingenium's brother? It was not a secret, still, not a lot of students outside of Hero Class knew. It showed that she knew her stuff outside of her department despite her one-track mind to create more support items.

"I've seen many things support items I could use when I eventually enter the hero course. Remind me to go to you for suggestions about my hero uniform in my eventual transfer to the Hero Course."

Mei briefly glanced at Shinso with a sly smile. "Confident, are we Mr. Brainwasher."

He smirked in response. "Of course, I have to. Many people believe in me. Can't let them down after all."

Izuku can't help but blushed when his new friend eyed him for a second. He simply said what was needed to be heard then. He hated the fact that people get to say that whatever quirks you had, it decides your choice whether to become good or evil. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy if the individual believed such words.

"Yeah! You definitely showed us at the festival." Now it was Shinso's turn to blush at Kirishima's encouragement, but this was negated by his flat expression as he said his thanks. "You were manly as hell."

"I trained with him yet I didn't know he was that good at martial arts!" Izuku added loudly making Shinso loo away with aflame cheeks going aflame when he garnered many attention to him. When they trained before the festival, both of them sparred sure, but it was not on the level he showed on that day.

"Yeah, well most of it was self-learned." Shinso shrugged coolly but Izuku could see past his facade to know that he was embarrassed. "I mean, I did I studied Karate for two years but had to quit due to financial trouble. So I opted to watch live hero fight, tutorials and such. Not the best I know." He sighed, running his fingers through his thick hair, "I did what I had to become a hero."

The weekdays flew past and Monday came quickly as if Sunday didn't happen. After meeting in the classroom they went to the station where they would eventually go their own ways. Kacchan was obviously going to Best Jeanist because he's the only one of the top ten pro that chose him. Plus, more exposure to media were just how he liked it. Aside from that, he did say he wanted to learn to better his power control. Jeanist, with his quirk, could possibly give him that.

Uraraka chose Gunhead to better her close combat skills and mobility which he knew she lacked. He was happy for her that she found her own way to improve and looking much happier than before.

As for Kirishima, he went with Godzillo, the giant black humanoid lizard hero who moved to America because of some controversy but came back for a while in his hero agency in Japan once in a while to offer an internship to students. Or so, Kirishima said according to his research. The hero was powerful on his own with photosynthetic scales, limited fire breathing, and giantification quirk.

And Iida? He really didn't tell them. Izuku didn't want to push for answers, so he let the issue alone.

"Remember, you represent UA even if you're still students. So, don't tarnish our school's name and be respectful to your superiors." Aizawa-sensei's gaze turned to Katsuki and Mineta when he said this. He met Aizawa-sensei's gaze with his own—and internally freaking out—when he turned to him."Good luck."

"See you in one week guys!" Kirishima waved as he boarded the train with Uraraka. "I'll definitely catch up with you guys."

"Good luck everyone!" Uraraka said just as the door hissed closed.

Kacchan soon followed until it was only him, Iida and a few others that were left. The worry for his friend still didn't leave and continued to manifest itself. The darkness in Iida, which was absent during there testing on Saturday, returned with his cold hard gaze behind the glasses, tense body, and the unapproachable aura he gave off. This was the last time he can talk to Iida about his true intentions where no one besides them can hear what was to be uttered.

"Iida-kun," he muttered and gaining a side glance from him. "Are you really okay now?" The next words fell flat on his lips and briefly, he wondered if he should say it. "Are you." He cleared his throat before deciding to fuck it with his hesitation. "Do you feel the same as last week?"

"Don't worry, Midoriya-kun." Iida lightly pushing him with his shoulder. "I still want to, the feeling inside remains the same but your words hit my heart. I realized that's not the hero my brother would be proud of, so I chose someone close to him that I know can help lighten my dark heart."

Slightly red-edged eyes met his when he turned ever slightly to glance at his friend but genuine smile plastered on Iida shook his doubt away. "So, don't worry about me now and thank you for everything you did for it made my road clear once again."

He tilted his head and returned the simple act. "It's what friends are for, isn't it? For what it's worth, I'm sorry about what happened to your—to Tensei-san. I just wish we could help you and your brother more."

"No, you guys did more than enough. It's much more than because we're friends." He scoffed lightly at the same time with a slow shake of his head. "It's because that's who you are. Never change, Midoriya-kun. Never change."

"What do you—" He didn't finish his words for the train, surprisingly somewhat empty, arrived and its doors hiss open.

"Go Midoriya." Iida pushed him forward with a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine now."

Seeing the enlightened and happy expression on Iida erased the doubts and his heart eased up on straining his chest. He didn't know why, but he would take Iida's words on face value and so, he nodded in understanding.

Izuku's disbelief rose through the roof upon seeing the old structure before him. The cracked and peeled off painted walls seemed older than his mother and the falling welcome sign told him as much as the nondescript structure—between new ones—standing before him gave him an estimation of how old his mentor, Gran Torino, for this internship was.

Knocking on the door a few times, no response came and slowly, he opened the door, creaking as he does so, and had to squint to see in the dark. "Hello" he said in the dark entrance.

Shit! He froze, then ran to the fallen figure in white and yellow hero laying down on the floor surrounded by red a second later. He wasted no time and turned him to prop him up to his lap. "No visible injuries," he muttered as his eyes observe the fallen old man. "But blood's all over the floor. What could this mean? What happened? I have to bring him to the hospital now." Red swirling warps came from above ready to swallow them and into the hospital he knew was nearest; Hosu General Hospital.

"I'm still alive!"

The warp dissipated into wisps as he screamed and jumped back at the door chest heaving heavily. "But you're…" He pointed with his shaking hands at the unstained white uniform. Closing his eyes, Izuku sighed. "What a welcoming," he uttered as Gran Torino turned the lights on.

Now that he could see better in the light, Gran Torino was a hunching—but still muscular—graying small old man no taller than his chest with a cane in a black domino mask covering his old hard eyes, white suit with yellow scarf cape, gauntlets, and belt that had a gray G on the center.

"Good morning, Gran Torino-san," he bowed in greeting. "I'm Midoriya Izuku from UA High interning at your agency for a week. Please take care of me."

"Oh, Toshinori, you're back. That's good," the old man leaned forward with narrowed eyes. "You never have time to visit me."

"Sir, I'm Midoriy—"

"Yes, yes, I know Toshinori," the old man interrupted and wave away whatever concerns he had. "You're busy being a hero and all. At least have the gall to call me first before surprising this old man! Now, be a dear and put the taiyaki in the microwave."

"But I'm—"

"Get to it Toshinori." Izuku yelped when the cane hit his leg and Gran Torino grabbed his costume briefcase when he let go of it.

Is this really All Might's mentor? The one who helped him master One for All? Maybe he went senile. That would explain his first impressions of the quirky old man but that doesn't explain that he specifically called him through the internship draft. If Gran Torino was really senile, he doubted he would choose him. Maybe acting senile then? If yes, Izuku could clearly say then that he certainly got the role down to pat.

"Could you please stop messing around, Gran Torino-san?" he wasn't sure if this was acting or this was how the man was but nevertheless, he gave him his best I'm Bakugou "don't fuck with me" Katsuki patented stare. "Please, we don't have a lot of time. The villains won't wait for me to get stronger."

The old man's gray eyes stared right back at him with curiosity before standing straight and smirking. "You're no fun kid. Can't let an old man have a little enjoyment. Straight to business, huh, I like that. If you want to get on it right away, then put on your suit and fight me, zygote." From the senile old man, his eyes shifted swiftly sharply to those that belonged to an experienced pro hero.

After changing to his hero uniform, he stretched his body. As he read the letter, he can't help but grin because he liked the changes made by the support company.

The biggest change he could observe was the new diamond-shaped respirator—a great deviation from the grin one he had originally designed—that replaced the original one. The whole mask with the transceiver and sound amplifier ears? It was gone and replaced by a headset that went behind his head with antenna that pointed back. Lastly, the gloves—that now had dark red lines on the wrist—that hid the control for the transceiver and the hidden food pouch was much thicker yet lighter and sturdier than before.

Aside from that, everything remained the same, from the utility belt to the shoulder pad down to the black lines on beside his chest.

He flexed his hand and liked the texture of the gloves. "I'm ready."

"Oh," Gran Torino said with brows raised. "Are we now?"

He blinked and blinked when the old man vanished in front of him just as a swishing sound echoed in the room. White and yellow blur along with strong wind passed by him while laughter echoed. Gran Torino has a quirk that gives him great mobility and speed, he thought while his eyes darted so fast all over the place. "You're a still target!"

Pain flared on his back and he went falling forward but he spun before he hit the floor. "Is this the best the ninth holder can do?"

Damn it! All he can see was a blur and part of him screamed to roll over and he did so as loud thud came from where he was before. He kicked but all he hit was air and he pushed himself up only to fall once more. "Too fast!" he muttered with gritted teeth.

If I can't catch him, then the only thing I can do is! His senses went on overdrive, finding patterns and opportunities as he grunted from being pushed and kicked by Gran Torino. He sidestepped when the blur went past him and he kicked but it rose. "Smash!" he punched and the wind blew the things away but nobody hitting the wall!

If that wasn't enough, portal formed at the wall and quickly swallowed the wall and wind came from above. "Nice trick, but not enough!" Gran Torino screamed and he let out his own too from the hit to the side that sent him flying. His vision went blurry then dark. His head throbbed and flared but he persisted in blinking away the fuzzy vision.

A blurry yet clearly white figure went towards him but he extended his fist. He hit nothing and the figure was swift to evade, but he wasn't done yet! Swirls surrounded him followed by another, but louder, howl of wind with his two hands.

"Not good enough!"

He gasped as the air left him when something heavy fell on him.

"Wha—ugh," he groaned and blinked. "What hit me."

"Prediction and analysis, that's good. You have skills and a good head on your shoulders, but you can't stand and be a target. No villain would wait for you to do that." He said as Izuku was pulled up.

"Toshinori told me about your self-training and that's admirable. The fruits of your labor shows in your performance of using your quirk both in the festival and now but," Gran Torino turned serious and his grip on the cane tightened ever so slightly. "You're still too stiff. You haven't learned to make yourself whole. You can't master One for All at this rate when you're divided internally because you hold the other higher than what you have. A person with divided attention cannot accomplish one thing."

"Not only that, your idolizing of All Might and your sense of duty is your shackle." He turned to the door and looked back at him. "You trained and used it a lot, but by this time you should already understand it. The true way of using it."

Izuku winced and looked down at the sheer bluntness of the man but he needed to hear it move forward with his training. "I understand, sir."

"Sir," Gran Torino smirked and shook his head. "None of that, young man. I'll be your mentor, call me by my hero name. I'll buy us something to eat. Clean the mess while I'm gone."

The gap between them was clear and despite Gran Torino's age. He was still leagues above him. Possibly even above Aizawa-sensei too.

What did he mean by divided? Did he mean in the context of refusal to use it fully? But isn't that what he did in the festival? He used it fully as he could! What could he mean by divide?

As he cleaned, that was what ran on his mind. Everything else was done automatically.

"There's no two tails. Only one." He thought back to his mentor's words weeks before. "Divided." No doubt those the words of the two heroes were connected, he knew.

And stiff, if his guess was right, then it is because of how I use it? He recalled the times he used One for All and the feelings that came with it.

Wait, a sudden spark came to him. How could I be so dumb!

"Could it be?" His eyes suddenly went wide as he then grabbed his notebook. All the training from the beginning, all the exercises they did, and the festival came to his mind in recollection.

The question as to what they meant persisted in Izuku's mind like an itch. It constantly reared its head saying, what! echoed on his head. The still unanswered, yet slowly answered, question that lingered in his mind gradually disappeared that even when his temporary mentor came back he still muttered nonstop as he wrote in his hero notebook.

When night came after all chores were done and Gran Torino was asleep, he wasted no time in getting outside on the alley between his mentor's agency and another one.

Time and villains were not waiting for him to get stronger, He had to act fast. I need to use it as if it's my own quirk. He felt stupid for being so dense because he just realized it throughout the afternoon when he was with Gran Torino. The smash was not a move, it was just putting One for All's power in one or two limbs before hitting something with heavy force.

Not only that, the way he used his Warp and One for All was so vastly different. It took Izuku a conscious effort to use it, unlike his born quirk. A clear line between the two that needed to be torn down. There was no need for transition. It must be seamless like Kacchan's movement, smooth as a river.

He needed a way to use it unconsciously. Looking at the two buildings, he grinned determinedly at it. With the slight control power he gained, he could cross the two structures and could be good practice for fast memorization of place for quick warping.

Visualizing the power, he put it into his legs and jumped. He shifted the power to his arms quickly but he slipped and fell. It took only a second for him to land on the pile of trash bins before the portal disappeared. Still, it hurt! Whatever was in the trash was harder than expected.

He got up while ignoring the slight groan of his body and did it again having an idea of what to do. From the moment he jumped, he must put power into his arms and feet to cushion himself and repeating it as he jumped again.

"Again!" he jumped once more.

All night, Izuku went it at with few breaks in between and until early in the morning.

His mentor walked down the stairs chipper than an early bird and already on his hero uniform. Izuku knew no doubt that he smelled bad from the sweat and trash he fell into and looked like crap.

Izuku, tired as he was due to using his warp to cushion his fall and attempted conjunction use with One for All, sat on the table and thought about it deeply why he couldn't get it down already.

"Good morning," the old man greeted happily. "What's wrong?"

"I was up training all night practicing the words you said but," he rubbed the back of his neck and feeling it pop for the umpteenth times, "still can't do it. I've still got a long way to go."

Gran Torino sat in front of him. "It's expected since it's your first try. It can't be helped. Try again and you'll get it surely. Even if Toshinori did get One for All on his first try doesn't mean he didn't train to master it more."

"Gran Torino," he asked as they were preparing food. "How was All Might as a student?"

"Ah, Toshinori was different from you, that much I can tell," he said back less seriously this time. Gran Torino said it like his mom during the times when she reminisced about how she and his dad met and their other happiest days. "He was taught differently since he already knew how to use it from the start. So, it was all practical training."

Images of Gran Torino in his prime beating All Might easily flashed in his mind. No wonder he was scared of the man before him!

An uncomfortable pang throbbed in his heart then as the realization hit him. All Might was that good that he got it already as soon as he got it. He shooed the uneasy feelings because impressive as it was, he knew he can't do it as his idol did. He was on a different path. A path of his own.

"You on the other hand." From the fringes of his vision, he glanced at Izuku for a second before continuing the chopping. "Are much more reflective and thinker than him since Toshinori did things by his guts. I can't teach you the same as him."

"Why…" He found his next words hard to say. Would it offend Gran Torino? The thought plagued him but gathering his strength, he pushed it out of him. "How did Nana die? That's the reason why you taught Toshinori-sensei, right?"

"So you know." Was his solemn reply after a minute of silence. "Did he tell you already?"

"I at least got that from our last conversation," he admitted making his mentor look at him questionably. "He wouldn't say how she died but I got it from his reactions."

"She died fighting a monster." He responded with narrowed eyes. "Without her sacrifice, All Might wouldn't be here right now. Could you put the taiyaki in the microwave?"

He found it odd to eat sweets in the morning but, everyone has their own quirks. As he put the food in the microwave, he can't help but think of how close Nana was to Gran Torino to garner that much reaction. Maybe something like what Aizawa and Yamada-sensei had. The bigger question remained was that what kind of person did Nana, the seventh holder of One for All fight to die so early? Who was the monster and why wasn't it well known? He thought that if someone was powerful enough to defeat a One for All user, then the public at least should have an idea who it was.

"What kind of monster?" He decided to ask while they waited. Was it someone he saw on the news once?

"It's not my place to say." Gran Torino put plates on the table whilst he put the food on it. "Ask Toshinori when you have the time. Let's eat!"

Their meal was simple yet healthy enough but still, the old hero on the other side opted to eat the dessert first. "This is cold!" Gran Torino waved the food in frustration. "I thought you put it in a microwave!"

"I did!" He put his hands up defensively.

"Hmph." Gran Torino grunted. "Did you put the plate in it?"

"Yes?" He didn't see the point of the question.

"You don't put it in! It won't heat the taiyaki evenly and only heat a part of it if it doesn't spin. Is this your first time using a microwave?"

He blushed and a part of him wanted to be angry but it was his fault for his own ignorance of things he did not know. "I'm sorry, ours is not a spinning type." Izuku stared at the taiyaki as something clicked in his mind. Evenly. Part of it.

The words echoed in his mind. Evenly. Unlike when he used One for All. That's it!

That's what he was doing wrong!

"The taiyaki! I know what to do now!" Why Gran Torino called him stiff.

Gran Torino looked at him in puzzlement. "What about it? Did you fall on your head many times?"

"I'm the taiyaki!" he proclaimed. "I'm stiff because I only use One for All at certain parts when I needed it when what I should've done is use all over me like the heat evenly distributed on it!" He can't believe it! How did he never notice All Might do that? Every part of his mentor was strong and powered by One for All, not just a certain part! So much for his eye for his details that Kacchan said was his second quirk.

Izuku felt a weight on his chest being lifted on this realization because somehow he had missed this problem and now did he realize the frustration it brought him from the day he gained One for All up to now!

Gran Torino smirked proudly. "Took you long enough. We'll settle it after we eat. Let an old man have his breakfast. You better show me what you can do then, zygote."

He cannot help but grin widely and punched his palm. "Ready when you are."

Hope you enjoyed it. Once again, thanks for the follow and favorite. :)

Note: Regarding Iida's costume, according to the wiki as "His armor is very lightweight and does not protect him much; its main purpose is to cut down air resistance rather than to protect him," thus his statement of it not being "combat worthy."