Class the next morning was buzzing, but I'd spent the night catching up on all my work. I was exhausted, and it sounded like a soft hum until the door slid open and Aizawa came into the room, closing the door behind him.

"Now that you three are back, we can talk about work studies for real." He told us, and I couldn't remember talking about them at all.

Turning to the door, he spoke. "Come on in. Here to tell you how work studies differ from internships are some people who've gone out and there and experienced it all. They're taking time out of their busy schedule to be here, so give them your full attention. Out of all the students at U.A. these are the top reigning third years. We call them the big three."

Halfway through a group of three, a blond guy with eyes like that old cartoon character Tintin, a girl with big blue eyes and long hair, and a guy who looked like a cheap Sasuke cosplay attempt.

"These guys, I'd heard about them, but..." I heard from Jirou.

"The big three..." Mina muttered.

"But you wouldn't think so by the look of them. And one of them is really pretty." Kaminari noted, and I just thought about how unassuming they looked. Then again, I wasn't much more impressing looking than anyone else here.

"Let's get to right to it. How about some introductions? Starting with you, Amajiki."

The knockoff Sasuke guy looked at us with an intense look in his eyes, and I could see him muttering to the blonde guy. He was scared. Nervous. I wondered if it was public speaking of fear in general.

Well, it was time to remind them who the planets really revolved around. They had their time as planets, basking in my light.

"I know you. You had some crazy cool quirk that let you transform your body into animals. I remember watching the sports festival last year, and none of you really stood out then. So how'd you climb a peak you weren't close to at all?"

"I WANNA GO NOW!" He cried and turned to the board.

"Screw what you want, tell me why I should give a crap about some work studies." I called back, and the girl with them started speaking quickly.

"Isn't it funny that people call that having the heart of a flea. So weird! He's Tamaki Amajiki, the flee, and I'm Nejire Hado. We came here to talk to you about work studies."

As she began to talk to some of the others, asking about their clothes, and looks, and their quirks, I sighed and regretted waking up today. Why did we always get weirdos?

The blonde guy looked at Aizawa, whispering something to him before looking at us with a smile and leaning in, his hand cupped to his ear.

"THE OUTLOOKS LOOKING..." He asked, and no one said anything.

"GRIM! THE ANSWERS "GRIM!" WELL, THAT DIDN'T GO OVER SO WELL!"

Like I said, all the weirdos.

His expression changed, and he got serious. Finally.

"I'm seeing a lot of faces that seem to say, "Who cares?" You've got us three third-years showing up put of nowhere here to talk about work studies that you don't even have to do. Doesn't make sense, right? You all got your licenses as first-years... hmph. I guess this batch of first-years is real go getters. And since our talk here isn't going so well."

"Mirio." Amajiki muttered, but the blonde ignored them.

"How about you all take me on!? Seems rational to have them feel the full weight of our experiences firsthand! Don'tcha think so, Eraserhead?"

Aizawa looked at him, almost bored, before he replied.

"Do as you like."

Fine, I was getting bored anyway.

Once we were in our gym uniforms, we were ready, and I was getting myself pumped. This wasn't some sidekick like the license exam. This was someone who had a real chance of being a top one hundred hero someday.

Amajiki stood next to a wall, his forehead pressed against it as he eyed his friend.

"Mirio, don't do this. It'd be enough to just follow the manual and go, "We experienced this and that, and it was super meaningful. It's not like all of them are raring to go and ready to aim for the top. We wouldn't want any to be broken beyond fixing."

Well, now that is interesting.

"Hey, listen to this. There was once a kid who got discouraged, quit trying to be a hero, and caused all sorts of trouble. Didja know?! It was real bad. So you'd better think about this hard, Togato, or there's gonna be pain. True-blue pain." Nejire told him, playing with Minas horns, even when she was clearly uncomfortable.

A few roots shot up and wrapped around Nejires wrist, pulling her hand away from my classmates head.

I smirked, and my roots wiggled back into the ground.

"Just wait a minute. We've fought against pros, albeit with handicaps." Tokoyami pointed out the obvious for us.

"And we've got experience battling real villains. Do you think we're such wimps that you gotta worry for our safety or whatever?" Kirishima asked, and it made sense for them to be a little insulted. They'd been fighting for months against real threats.

The look on Togatos face made me angry, but I pushed it down for now. He just wanted a rise out of us as he spoke.

"Whenever you're ready, then come at me. Who's gonna be first?" He taunted, and I let Kirishima have it. I wanted to see how his power worked before I rushed him.

It didn't take more than a few seconds before he was behind me and the others who were usually more long-range, and I turned myself into helium, his fist going through me.

"Some sort of phasing quirk? Interesting. It's not exactly rare or unbeatable, though. Your mastery over what has to be a hard to handle power is what makes you strong, isn't it?" I questioned, sending off a part of my body close to him, in his face, and I felt it. Before he phased into the ground, he sucked me into his lungs, where I expanded as much as I could.

He wasn't down there for even a second before he shot back up, but he didn't hit anyone, gripping his throat, all the oxygen pushed out of his lungs.

Pulling the gas parts of me out of his body, I looked at him with a grin.

"I know you guys aren't too into the American rap game, but let me spit for a moment. "Fuck the big three. It's just big me." I paused and let it sit in, shock on their faces. I guess I needed to be more direct.

"All of you, I'll take all three of you!"

Vines shot up and pulled the two of them who couldn't just phase away into the ground, as Togato sunk his fist in my stomach, spit flying out of my mouth as I was thrown back, turning into gas as I hit the wall, spreading around and thinking. How did I beat someone who already knew my tricks?

The ground seemed to bulge and then broke open, Nejire floating up with Amajiki crawling out with crab claws.

"Did you know my meta genes give me the basic meta package? Enhanced strength, speed, endurance, ect, ect? Then there's my agility and ruthlessness. I learned that to end a fight, you have to strike first and strike hard. Even in the day, in the light, I am an invisible target. Helium has no smell, no taste, and no color. I could already be in your lungs, ready to cut off your oxygen again. Or... just one of you."

My voice was coming from all around, and as I spread out in a cloud of gas, I entered Nejires lungs, letting her get a dose of my pheromones before I pulled out.

Nejire seemed to be confused for a moment, and then her arms fell to her side, a blank look on her eyes.

"Attack them, but don't kill."

The blank look changed to one of determination, as she shot out beams of energy at Amajiki and Togato, who were on the defense.

While they were fighting each other, I spread out further, almost mixing with the oxygen in the air as I they fought, and subsequently breathed me in.

"Nejire, stop! We're your friends!" Togato tried to reason, his voice high-pitched as I filled his and Amajikis lungs.

I cut off their air supply, like I had with Togato earlier, but this time, I didn't let them have a chance to get back on their feet, not stopping until they passed out.

Reforming into my solid self, I smiled and looked at my handiwork.

"Nejire, check on them, and if they need it, give them first aid." I commanded, the girl moving over to her friends and checking on them before kneeling next to them blankly.

"Woah... Midoriya, that was pretty brutal." Kirishima spoke, looking at the three of them, while a few of my class went to check on them.

"Did Aizawa-sensei stop the fight? No? Then they're fine. They may experience headache, light-headedness, or dizziness briefly when they wake up, but no lasting damage."

A snap of my fingers, and Nejire was back to her senses, although she seemed to be confused about why she did what she did.

"Hey, sorry about that. I wanted to show off, but it seems like I went a little overboard. Are you okay?" I asked, walking over and checking on the three of them and making sure I didn't leave traces of myself in their systems.

"Oh man, that all happened so fast. There's no way we could've made a plan to deal with you." Togato told me, already walking around and moving.

""That's the kind of hero I want to be. One who can end a fight before it begins. That battle with my father, people died because I didn't think. Because I was too slow to stop him. I'll be a hero, like Superman or All Might. The kind of hero who saves the day with a smile."

My explanation didn't do everything I felt justice, but it was a start to coming to terms with the responsibilities I had now and the room I had to grow further.

"I think... you may need to tone down the enthusiasm a bit, but... you'll definitely make it as a hero." Togato told me, and I felt a wave of pride. My peer believed in me. It was different than when it was someone so close to the same skill as me. When Batman or someone else like him did it, I wondered if they remembered what being a novice even looked like.

Turning to face Nejire, I felt guilt and shame. I'd brainwashed and made her into an unwilling slave. I wondered how my ma could do it so often to men.

"Are you okay? You had to fight against your will, and I can't imagine it was fun."

She seemed to not hear me for a moment, lost in her own thoughts before she got up and smiled, the same cheerful look she had earlier there.

"Don't worry, I'm fine, just a little shaken. I saw from the news that you could control plants, but the gas thing was cool, too. Combining your powers into one, it was a smart move. How does it work? Are you a plant?" She asked before turning and asking about Kaminaris hair. Maybe she wasn't so weird after all. A little ADHD maybe, but not a bad person.

"Man, if I didn't have a power set that countered Togato so well, I'd have gotten my butt kicked. This just ties back to what I already know. We have to keep training and pushing our powers as far as we can, learning to control them until we have perfect control over ourselves. I get it. Thanks... what's the word you use for an upperclassmen, to show respect? Oh, uh, senpai, right?"

Togato nodded and began to explain how his power worked and what it took to make it so strong, but I was already thinking about my work studies. I needed to get real experience. But who would I work with?

Once classes ended, I had to find All Might. He'd know who I could work with, to push One-For-All to its limit, right? I had good control over my meta powers, but my quirk? I could do maybe two percent of its full power. I could feel how much of it I was holding back.

"Midoriya, kid, you alright? I've never seen you look so lost in thought." The hero asked, and I looked up to see All Might. I'd walked right into him.

"Oh, hey, just the guy I need. You have time to speak?" I asked, and i don't know if it was my face or my tone, but he looked serious and led me to a room overlooking the main grounds.

"What's on your mind, kid?" He asked me, sitting across from me, pulling out his hankerchief to cough in.

Words seemed to get stuck in my throat, and I hated how I didn't seem to be able to think. But I had to be

"I need someone who can teach me to use my quirk so I can master it. Work studies are coming up, and i figured you know someone who can help me. I'd work with you, but since you retired, I can't, and Togato came and his quirk mastery is insane, and I don't know All Might, am thinking too hard about this? Could I just work with whoever offers and get the same experience?"

The words kind of spilled out at once, and I could see him thinking about it before he snapped his fingers. "I do know someone, and luckily for you, he's taking on work studies students." He told me, and I didn't like the look on his face.

"But..." I pushed, and I watched him sigh.

"But he may be a harsh instructor. Truth be told, he knows about One-For-All and that you've got it, so he won't hold any punches." He spoke, and now I was interested.

"And who would that be, All Might?"

"My former sidekick, Sir Knighteye."