Over the Top

by papireaz

When I died, I expected a few manga volumes. Maybe to learn what the One Piece is. Instead, I found myself in a world that I recognised, a story I had read and what's worse was that it was a story I had no interest in wanting to involve myself in! Then and again, the offer to become a Hero is far too tempting...

32. Issue 31

The song for this chapter is Thank You! by Home Made Kazoku. It's getting closer to July, which is the month of Bleach for me.

Fun fact! Did you know that Ichigo Kurosaki and Izuku Midoriya both share the same birthday (July 15th)

I suppose you could also call July the month for My Hero Academia.

SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! This was supposed to come out a few hours ago, but I had a few... issues.

---

Summary so far:

Let's answer some fan mail!

"What's the point of Over the Top?"

Honestly?

I have no idea.

---

"Oi, oi, oi." I muttered as I woke up to the sound of screaming from outside the cabin. Yawning, I made sure to grab a clean top from my suitcase before putting it on, throwing the vest I was wearing on top of my bed. I always slept wearing shorts, so I didn't need to change them right now. At least until I've spoken to whoever's causing the ruckus outside the fucking cabin. Aizawa-sensei was somehow still sleeping, or was he just ignoring the screaming and shouting outside.

I opened the door, scratching the back of my head as I glared at the idiots who decided that waking me up at seven in the morning was a good idea. We were supposed to start late today, at around nine, which meant that I had just lost two hours of sleep time.

"Are you people insane or what?" I asked Mineta, Jiro, Hagakure and Iida. The four of them were having an argument in front of me, it was loud enough to have woken not only myself, but also other members of 1A. "It's so early in the morning, can't you like shut the fuck up for another hour or two. Some of us are trying to go to sleep."

"Tell this shitty pervert to not peek at me while I'm having a quick shower." Hagkure screamed, pointing at Mineta who shook his head angrily.

"Peek at you? Are you stupid, or what? I was going to brush my teeth you dumb bitch? Maybe you shouldn't walk around naked and these things won't happen." He replied violently, kicking the ground as he turned to face me. "Sora, tell her that it was just an accident! It's seven in the morning, it's not like I want to look at girls every hour of the day. Why's no one believing me?"

"Well maybe," Jiro sneered, "Just maybe if you didn't constantly leer towards us girls, or if you didn't try to pull your stunt with the hot springs a two days back, we would be willing to overlook this. Once is an accident, twice is coincidental. Mineta, how the hell can we trust that you weren't trying to 'cop a feel.' The fact is that Hagakure woke me up to have a shower since we are bunking, and then a minute later she screams outside our cabin."

"What part of 'I was going to go brush my teeth' do you not understand? The brush part, or the fact that it's SEVEN IN THE MORNING! I'm even carrying my toothpaste and my toothbrush, look! It's in my hands!" Mineta shouted, waving the two items he was holding in the air. "Do you think I camped outside your freaking dorm just so that I could just peep at you girls?"

"Well no-," Jiro was cut off as Hagakure nodded.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I think." She replied, "I think that's exactly what you would do. Because that's what a sad, pathetic little person like you would do-,"

"Now, now." Iida interrupted, stepping in between the two of them. "That's a little out of line Hagakure, you don't have to be rude."

"But you aren't denying it, are you?" Hagakure asked him. Iida didn't reply, merely looking at the floor as he raised his hands up in the air. Mineta tried to look at Jiro, their eyes briefly meeting before she looked away and ignored him. He was desperately asking for help.

"I didn't say that-,"

"But you haven't refuted me, so you aren't saying that I'm wrong." Hagakure cut Iida off, leaning to the left as she glared (Or what I presumed to be a glare) at Mineta. "Just look at him, if he was truly innocent he would be apologetic right now. He's angry, angry that he was caught. No one's even defending him, because that's how many friends he has here. None-,"

"Fuck you." Mineta snarled, throwing his toothbrush and toothpaste at her. "Shut up." Tears were streaming down his face as he turned around the other way and ran towards the forest, leaving us all alone. I watched as he ran away, and sighed as I chased after him.

"Wait up," I tried to call out to him, but he wasn't listening."Mineta, wait up-,"

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" Mineta screamed at me. "Just go away. I bet you don't believe that I didn't mean to peek at her, do you? Are you even my friend? No, how could you be. It's just you and Kaminari, or you and Jiro, or you and literally anyone else. Who cares about little Mineta, am I right?"

"Don't put words in my mouth," I warned him, "And we are friends. Hagakure was out of order for that-,"

"I don't want your false sympathies! Not when you just stood there!" Mineta yelled, failing to wipe his tears away. "Just leave me alone."

I tried to walk forward, but he took a step backwards away from me with each step I took forwards. Hesitantly, I dropped my arms and watched as he retreated into the forest. "Fuck." I whispered, my fingers twitching in anger. "Fuck." I growled, punching the nearest tree. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fu-,"

"S-Sora?!"

I stopped punching the tree, my knuckles red with blood as I glared at Hagakure and Jiro. "Really? Do you really have to act like you hate him? I thought I was friends with you two, not a pair of bitches." They both flinched at that. "Hagakure, I'm sure it was an accident."

"And what if it wasn't? You weren't even there-,"

"I know when my friends are lying." She flinched even more at that. "Listen, you aren't in the wrong for being distrustful. I've been meaning to talk to Mineta about his behaviour, so I'm partly to blame for this getting out of hand. But you were too harsh with him, so I don't care if you think you are in the right," I wiped my blood across my shorts, "He's not alone, nor will he ever be alone. So don't say that ever again."

"I-I know he isn't alone. I was just so angry at him, and I…" Hagakure trailed off at the end, shaking her head as she ran back to her cabin sobbing. Banging my head lightly against the tree, I really tried to calm myself down. Fuck. I wanted to say something to Jiro, anything, but the words weren't coming out of my mouth.

"Was I really being a bitch?" Jiro asked me.

"What do you think?" I replied coldly. I thought of all the people here, Jiro would understand. After all, she had seen me at my worst. She had gone to middle school with me, she knew how I used to be me. I wasn't just a 'Demon' for fighting everyone that even dared to glare at me, that nickname stuck because of all the things I did to others. I was a prick to everyone, even to those that wanted to help me.

She knew me, knew my mistakes and how I became a better person.

She gave me a chance, she allowed me to defend myself, so why not Mineta? Why not our friend who she did care about, why not our friend who did make her laugh, why not our friend who simply was there for her. Was she just trying to impress Hagakure? Trying to be on her good side simply because she wanted to?

Why was she acting like one of those 'mean girls' that she hates?

"Why do you think I'm asking you?" She snapped back.

"Jiro, Mineta's our friend. I get it, you were probably angry at him. But he didn't do anything wrong, and now he's-, he's angry at us. Fucking bullshit." I swore angrily, kicking the plants closest to me. Just what was Mineta's problem? I get it, being accused of shit that you didn't do was annoying, but why did he react that way to Hagakure's comments? It's obvious he's not alone, he has me, Kaminari, Jiro, Yaoyorozu and the rest of 1A. Even Hagakure.

"Calm down-,"

"Calm down?" I laughed at her, "You want me to calm down? For fucks sake Jiro, first Midoriya's being a pain in the arse to help, and now Mineta's gone off and told me to fuck off. How the fuck am I supposed to help them out? They are my friends, do you know how much it hurts seeing them like this?!" It did hurt. Seeing Izuku Midoriya flinch and constantly question whether he can do something heroic hurts since I know what he's capable of, I know what hero he is.

I believe in him so much, that it hurts seeing him go down a different path due to my actions.

And Mineta, hearing him essentially telling me to fuck off hurt a lot. I didn't want to see him cry, nor did I want to see him act like this. I didn't want him to believe that he was all alone, with no one, because it wasn't true.

"Sora, acting like this isn't going to-,"

"I'm not some fucking miracle worker, Jiro. I'm pissed off at you as well, because you hurt him. Hell, you hurt me. I thought you and Mineta were friends."

"We are, I just-,"

"You could have stood up for Mineta. He looked at you pleadingly to stop, to help him, and you just continued to hurt him. You know what, maybe you are a bad friend." I was so angry that I didn't even realise what I had said until it left my lips.

Immediately, I felt regretful at what I just said as Jiro stared at me blankly.

"Jiro, fuck, I-,"

"Don't worry," She replied feebly, "I, yeah, I'm fine. I'm going to go now." She turned around to follow Hagakure back to the cabin as I swore tenfold. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Just my fucking luck. I couldn't even keep my anger in check, let alone try to concentrate properly to improve my Quirk. Ha, I couldn't even think straight. I sat down on the ground, my back leaning against the tree as I sighed softly.

Of course, I had to go fuck it up.

---

Chapter

Thirty

One

'The Drums of Liberation are beating loudly?!'

---

Breakfast was a simple affair.

Well, not really.

Jiro, Hagakure and the rest of the girls from 1A sat at the far end of the table, while Mineta sat at the other end. In fact, he ate his food and just left wordlessly, refusing to meet anyone's gaze. None of the girls were talking to me, instead they frowned at me, with Mina the only one choosing to scowl in my direction. The boys understood the assignment as they made sure to sit as far away from as they could so as not to draw the ire of many of their friends.

Well everyone apart from Kaminari.

"So, I was thinking right, what if we do another joint attack? Like the one from the USJ, but bigger and better."

"Hm? You mean our 'Special Move: Jackpot'? I mean we only used it once…"

"Which is exactly why we have to do it again!" Kaminari told me, raising his spoon up in the air. A small bit of milk spilt on the table from his bowl that was overflowing with cereal. "It was such a cool attack, like we made thunder. Lightning. It's like a 'legendary finish' or one of those fights in a manga where everyone works together to defeat a villain."

"Or when the hero and the villain join forces to beat another villain." I added.

"That too! Still, you can't deny the effect it had on the battlefield. I mean we opened up the gates for Iida to run back to U.A and get help, plus it slowed that villain down. What was he called again?"

"Zero."

"Yeah, him. Zero." Kaminari snorted at that, shaking his head as he laughed out loud. "What a stupid villain name. Even you would have come up with a better name than 'Zero,' like it just sounds meaningless. Zero. How can it sound so pretentious while being so basic at the same time."

"Yeah…" I wasn't in the mood to eat my food, nor really speak, so I was thankful for Kaminari for trying to distract me. It wasn't working very well, but I appreciated the effort. Luckily, he wasn't the only one that wanted to do so. Sitting behind us on a separate table, the entirety of class 1B ate their breakfast chattering away about their training. But it was Tokage and Monoma who were able to put a smile on my face with their argument over what to eat.

"Tokage, having chocolate cereal with chocolate milk is bad for you."

"If you say one more word, I'll shove your spoon so far up your arse that I'll be able to scoop up your insides." Tokage replied, "And if you don't pass the eggs over to me in a few seconds, I'll make sure that you'll choke on your rice."

"Isn't that a little too mean?" Komori, the girl with the brown hair that covered her eyes, asked. "I mean, he is looking out for your health."

"Yeah, yeah," Tokage waved her friend off, "Monoma knows I'm joking, right? Tell me that you know that I'm just joking."

"Of course!" Monoma gave her a thumbs up, "Tokage and I are the best of friends. She even helps me out with English, which was why I passed the English test and the rest of you didn't. You better pick up the pace for next time, because if we lose again to the rest of 1A again, it's going to suck."

"And what about your boyfriend over there?" Kaibara asked, pointing at me. "He's a part of 1A, or does he just not count?"

"Sora-sama? As always he got higher than everyone else in his class. The only one to get one-hundred percent in English, for speaking, writing and listening. Not even Pony got that and she's from America." Monoma boasted, not realising that it didn't sound so impressive when he was speaking about me rather than himself. Not that I didn't like the praise, far from it, rather I didn't like the looks Awase and Tetsutetsu were giving me.

"Speaking of the devil, why are you ignoring him? And where is the funny pervert?" Tokage asked everyone sitting on our table curiously. "Wait, don't tell me that your band has broken up. I thought you guys were like a close-knit family, not whatever this poor attempt of one is. Sora, buddy, I thought that your bonds with 1A were stronger than steel? That's what you told me when you fucked my brains out last night-,"

"Oh for fucks sake, Tokage the first rule of being a man is not to stick it in crazy." I cut her off, "And you are very crazy. And nothing is going on between us, Mineta's just in the toilet. He had food poisoning, that's why he left the table early. As for me, well I'm running on very little sleep, so don't get your hopes up. And 'stronger than steel'? Please, I'd say something cool like titanium, or some other strong metal. Put some respect on my name."

Tokage shrugged at me, turning back to her own meal.

"Did you really have to lie to her?" Kaminari whispered to me, "I mean it's not exactly hard to see that relations between you, Mineta and the girls are frosty."

"1B can't know about our class predicament, if they do it's game over for us. Divide and conquer is their game plan, and you can bet on Tetsutetsu to gather up the radicals in 1B to try and overthrow us." I replied, "It's what nearly happened to us during the Sports Festival. Remember how they teamed up on us during the first round and got a bunch of us eliminated? It was all Tetsutetsu. For such an idiot, he sure is a cutthroat person."

"Bro, he's just a shinier Kirishima."

"My point still stands that he's a dangerous person. Monoma and Tokage are the only trustworthy people in 1B, purely because if they want to beat us it'll be what they consider to be a fair victory. Both of them weren't happy with the way Tetsutetsu handled things during the festival." I still remembered Tokage's apology for how her classmates acted, and Monoma's disapproving look.

"You seem to know a lot about those two."

"Well outside of everyone in 1A, I spend a lot of time with those two. Well mostly Tokage, Monoma just tags along." I explained.

"Is Monoma replacing me?!" Kaminari asked me, a serious look having formed on his face. Oh no, please tell me that I didn't just reignite Monoma and Kaminari's rivalry over who's the better friend to me. "I mean he's blonde, he spends a lot of time with you, and-,"

"No, he's not replacing you." I clarified for him, "Not in a million years. Monoma is a good guy, I like him. He's great fun. But you are one of the 'boys,' one of the select few people that I lend porn to. Monoma's the friend where I'd recommend porn to him, whereas you are the type of friend where I buy porn solely for the purpose of me giving it to you as a present. There are levels to it, ya' know what I mean, right?"

"Wait, you'd buy porn for me?"

"Fuck no." I scratched my head at that, clicking my tongue in response as he stared at me confused. "It was an example, idiot. I'd never buy porn for myself, let alone someone else. I'm closer to you than I am with Monoma, do you get it now?"

"Of course!" Kaminari nodded at that, grinning smugly at Monoma.

I sighed, rolling my eyes as the two of them decided to have a fierce staring competition across the tables. Deciding that I was finished with breakfast, I put my bowl of cereal in the sink before walking over to where Aizawa-sensei was speaking with Vlad King over how training was going to work today. Some of the students from 1A and 1B were going to work together, either by helping to train with each other, or by sparring.

Fortunately, I was still training my 'concentration.'

After waving at Aizawa, I went back inside the forest to the place where I trained the day before. I had marked the tree using my Quirk which made it rather easy to find it, after all I had carved a massive smiley face on the trunk of the tree. Taking off my top, I immediately got to work as I summoned my Quirk and created a construct that looked eerily similar to the 'Kazekiri' tachi back in the cabin.

My training this far was whacking my Quirk against the trees for a few hours and not breaking my concentration at all during that time. It was… Well it was poor. There wasn't a need to mince words, but this was the best that I could come up with. There was a reason why I wasn't the best at training, and it was because if someone didn't tell me precisely on what to work on with instructions, I'd be stuck.

Lo and behold, my genius was on full display.

But damn did it ease my anger.

Why.

Do.

Shitty.

Things.

Always.

Have.

To.

Happen.

When.

I'm.

Busy.

I made a large dent to the tree closest to me, but my tachi was wavering. The construct that I had made eventually disappeared from my hands as I sighed, collapsing on the floor annoyed at myself. I wasn't able to concentrate properly, not with what happened with Jiro and Mineta, as well as with Midoriya. Just how the hell was I supposed to help them all? It's not like I could just speak to them all at once and call it a day.

I mean, what were their problems in the first place?

Midoriya's was his confidence issues.

Jiro was her deep fear of being a 'bad friend.'

And Mineta? Fuck knows.

I was stumped, and it was fucking with my training. I wasn't able to concentrate fully holding my Quirk up for long in my current state, which meant that something had to change, and quickly. But what? Just what the fuck could I actually change? It's not like I could click my fingers and watch as everything around me is solved, I could only wish something like that would happen.

"Sora."

"Hm?" I sat up at that, "Did someone say my name?"

"Behind you."

Standing behind me, Todoroki was leaning against the tree. I was surprised, especially when I saw that he was carrying a few water bottles. He threw one at me, and I barely managed to catch it before it reached the ground.

"Looks like you are having trouble with your training."

"Yeah, it's a pain." I replied honestly. "Well at least your training is a lot more simpler, using both sides of your Quirk at the same time makes a lot more sense to me than 'improving my concentration.' How's your training going by the way?"

"I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders, "I suppose it's going well, but it is a lot of work. Then and again, I should be grateful to you. If it wasn't for you, I wonder how I would have reacted to this training."

"Even if I didn't kick your ass, I'm sure that someone else would have." Hah, if it wasn't for me, Midoriya would have kicked the shit out of him. Or was I misremembering what happened? Oh well. "Are you just handing out drinks to everyone?" I asked the boy, who nodded in response.

"Yes, our teacher told me that it was my job to do so. Using my Quirk to both keep the bottles cold and warm at the same time, which is quite challenging. Would you like a second bottle? I have plenty to spare."

"Sure."

"Oh, and you were right." I stared puzzlingly at Todoroki? I was right about what? "That game series that you and my older brother play is very interesting. Or I should say that I now play."

My eyes widened at that, and I nearly threw one of the water bottles all over the floor in shock.

"Fuck you mean you play games?! Since when?"

"A little over a month ago. I was really only able to spend an hour a day playing, sometimes even less. So I had to skip a majority of the side-quests, which my brother said is one of the highlights of the series. However, he told me that in 'new game plus' there was a mode that means I can just play the side missions that I missed, whatever that means."

"Holy shit dude, you got into the Drifters series. That has like over twenty mainline games, holy fuck, not even Kaminari or Mineta have played it." I paused, making sure to ensure that no one else could hear our conversation. "Just out of curiosity, who did you romance?"

"Romance?" Todoroki asked me confused, "I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

"You know, who did you date?"

"No one?"

"Hold up, are you telling me you played a Drifters game, a series known for its dating sim elements, and you didn't even pick one of the many hot girls to 'spend some alone time' with. Are you insane, or what?!'

"I think I'm sane, although I may be wrong about that apparently."

"Okay, okay." I calmed myself down, "Who was your favourite character in the game? Female to clarify."

"I would say Ann."

"Ann?! Why not Rise?!"

"Well Ann was the first girl you meet in the game, so I got to know her pretty well. Was Ann supposed to have a voice? I'll admit it startled me the first time I heard Ann speak."

I nodded at him. "Yeah, everyone has a voice. That's just the way games are nowadays, but anyways do you have Drifters in the Sky Second Chapter? If not, I can always lend you my copy."

"It's no problem, my brother said I was allowed to play them all from his console. According to him the latest game in the series was going to come out on the latest console, not that I know what it's called."

"Yeah, your brother was right. Luckily, Yaoyorozu hooked me up with one just a few weeks ago. If you are free, you can come to mine in a few weeks and we can play some games together. I'll even invite all the other boys, we can do a fighting game tournament. Plus, it'll allow you to see all the trophies I've earned from all the Drifters games so far."

Todoroki nodded, humming slightly as he agreed to the plans. "Sure. Well, I suppose I have to go and hand these last few bottles out. Good luck with your training, Sora."

"You too."

I watched as Todoroki walked away, a small smile having formed on my lips. Hah, I bet that 'canon Todoroki' wasn't as cool as the Todoroki that just stood before me. Fuck no, not even in a million years. It wasn't even close, and that totally wasn't bias on my end. It was just the truth, because throughout that entire conversation, Todoroki had a smile on his face.

That's right, I was the reason as to why he had a smile on his face.

Because I helped him.

And I was going to do the same to Midoriya, to Mineta and Jiro as well. And I'd do it before this training camp ends, and I'd also improve my concentration leaps and bounds better compared to how it currently is.

Because if Todoroki could play 18+ eroge RPGs, then I could complete some fucking training!

---

"What are we cooking for lunch?" I asked Mandalay. She and Ragdoll were in the kitchen and had asked Aizawa-sensei and Vlad King for a helper from each class. As a result, Tokage and I were picked to help the two cook lunch for everyone. It helped that our training was a little different compared to everyone else's, which meant that we could help out with cooking lunch and train at the same time.

"Well we have an abundance of beef, so do you two fancy some beef bowls?" Ragdoll asked, turning on the stove. "If not we can always make some instant ramen, Pixie-Bob stacked up on them. I think she was afraid that we would make her cook, despite the last time she cooked it caused food poisoning. We aren't trying to injure you kids."

Tokage snorted at that, twirling a sharp knife around and doing various knife tricks.

"Hey Sora, look at me," She boasted, throwing the knife up in the air before catching it with one hand. "I bet you can't do this."

"I don't want to do it." I replied, preparing the chopping board for later use. "Stop goofing around and pass some onions. We'll need to slice them up if we are making some gyudon beef bowls, and could someone please go slice the beef up into thin pieces? I don't want another night of no food…" After our disastrous time cooking katsudon last night, the teachers didn't trust us with cooking food anymore.

"Look at you go, who knew a kid like you could cook." Mandalay commented, impressed at my actions as she checked the cupboards for the various ingredients to make the sauce. "I'm almost tempted to allow you to sleep with your friends for the rest of the trip."

"Holy shit, the fuck did you do to get her mad?" Tokage asked me amused. "Did you fuck her without a condom, or what? Holy shit are you cheating on me?!"

"Please stop saying inappropriate things," Mandalay scolded Tokage, "And please do not insinuate something like that ever again. It is not funny, even if you were just joking. However, I didn't know that a troublemaker like you could steal a girl's heart. I suppose you fit the 'bad boy' archetype, just barely."

"I'm not a 'bad boy,' not even close!" I told her, moving on to mix the ingredients to make the sauce. "And Tokage and I aren't dating, she just loves to tell others we are dating to piss me off."

"Why are you lying," Tokage replied, jumping on my back unexpectedly. "I thought we shared a special bond? When you inserted your di-," She paused, playfully biting on my left ear that sent shivers down my spine. Oh God, why did it feel so good…

"If you lovebirds want to mess about, then can you please do so outside the kitchen. We don't want any other… fluids to mix in with the food." Ragdoll showed us outside the kitchen, which Tolage took advantage of by pulling my hair in different directions like I was that rat from that one movie. I wasn't a puppet for fucks sake!

"Now that I've got you all alone for myself, it's time to talk." Tokage eventually said, getting off my back and sitting on one of the railings close by. "I think we need to talk about the traitor in this camp, or rather the traitor in your class."

"Traitor?" I was confused. "Oh yeah, there was a traitor I think, right?"

Tokage nodded at that, "Yes. It's Aoyama if you didn't know."

"I think I remember that. Something about his parents and All For One, right? Or maybe I'm confusing different backstories."

"No Sora, you are right. That's exactly how it is, but that's besides the point. Tomorrow we are going into the forest at night in pairs to celebrate making it halfway through our 'training camp in Hell.' If I remember correctly, that's when the villains will be making their move. Unlike canon, I'm determined to kill these idiots right away. So if you want to help me-,"

"We aren't killing anyone," I told her firmly, "I'm not budging on this."

"Sora, no prison will hold someone like Dabi. They are mass murders, terrorists even. You and I know this, you and I know what these people will do in the future. We need to put them down for good, because if you think your 'carefree tomorrow' will come without some blood shed, I'm afraid you aren't just a fool, you need a reality check."

"I'm not killing anyone, that's a promise to myself.

"Why's that? Too much of a pussy to-," I grabbed her arm tightly, staring directly at her. The smirk on her face disappeared completely as she faced me, and for once I could see it in her eyes. All of this, it was an act. She was just as scared as I was, no, even more scared.

"If you think killing them is going to make everything all fine, you're wrong. The League of Villains, All For One specifically, is like a hydra. You cut off one head, two more will grow back. But no, I'm not going to kill anyone because of a promise I made to myself, because when you make that decision to kill someone, you need to be prepared to be killed too." I explained, "And I'm not going to die, not until I'm an old man."

"Heh, I would have thought you would have argued with me over some moral issue with it, but fair enough I suppose." Tokage replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't have a complaint with your line of argument."

"Anyways, what's your plan for the attack tomorrow night?"

"It's simple," Tokage replied, making a handgun using her fingers. "Aoyama is the traitor, he can contact them. It's how they found out where the camp actually is, so we'll use that contact to provide false information and trap the bastards. If you don't want to kill them, then fine, I won't push for an execution. But, and I really mean this, if they try anything I'll slaughter them without hesitation. I'm not going to budge on this, they are villains. Scum of the Earth, and if they want to threaten my 'good' life, I'll destroy theirs. They so much as harm a hair on anyone in 1B and I'll kill them."

"Tch," I clicked my tongue in response. That was fair, it's not like I wouldn't go crazy if someone in 1A was injured severely. I don't know if I'd kill them, especially after my outburst at the USJ and the mistakes made from it, as well as how far I had actually come. Well, I'd definitely not kill them, but tortute on the other hand… "Fine, you can do what you want, but if we do this we will need help."

"Like who?" She asked me.

"Aizawa-sensei."

"Listen, I know you and your teacher are close, but how the hell is he going to believe that we know key information? I was thinking the two of us would skive off in our training tomorrow and make a few traps using the trees and boulders here, we'd be able to separate them enough to pick them off one-on-one."

"Your 'plan' is just us fighting powerful villains with no backup." I scoffed at her. Jeez, even I wasn't this stupid, pigheaded etc. "Unless you want this to end up as a massacre, then your plan is shit."

"Well I had to make some adjustments due to your bleeding heart," She replied, poking me in the chest. "If it was up to me, I would have them all crushed to death. Fighting them separately might not be smart to you, but considering it's our playing field, we can make specific traps to make it so the villains can't use their Quirk. Like fighting Dabi near the lake, if we shove him in the water then it's over for him. We could drown him, or restrain him while he's soaking wet."

"We can talk about the plan later, how the hell are we going to convince Aoyama to send false information to them. Wait hold up, Zero's joined up with the villains, how do we know that Aoyama is still the traitor? Doesn't Zero have knowledge like us? So won't he know where we are just based on that?" I asked her.

"Maybe, but the location wasn't revealed to us at all in the series. He might know we are in a forestry area, but he doesn't know what forestry area we are in." Tokage explained, "Therefore, Aoyama must still be the traitor in some capacity. At least enough to tell them the location of the camp, which leads me on to my next question. Has Aoyama used his phone yet?"

I shook my head. "No. I've been sleeping in Aizawa-sensei's cabin, so apart from me, no one else has been able to use their phones ever since we arrived here. Apparently 'they haven't deserved it.' I think it's just favouritism at this point, not that I'm complaining. But if Aoyama hasn't used his phone, then he hasn't contacted them yet. Which means he might be getting desperate, so when he does use his phone-,"

"We can swoop in and force him to send false information." She smirked at me, "Who knew that you could devise such a plan. Consider me impressed Yamazaki, I didn't know you had it in you. But what if he refuses to send the false information? Or rather, what if he gets access to his phone tomorrow, and doesn't send the false information we ask him to. What then?"

"That won't happen," I replied, "I'll go camp out in Aizawa-sensei's cabin right now, and try to steal his phone. If I do that, we'll be able to confront him. Either he sends the information we tell him, or I'll break his phone. He'll have to listen to us or else he won't be able to send the necessary information to the villains, plus he'll be more willing to listen to us if we come peacefully. If we try to force him to send false information when he finally gets to use his phone later on tonight or tomorrow, he could panic and send our location normally."

"I see, well you know him better than I do. That being said, I'll keep an eye on him while you keep an eye on the phones." I nodded at that, promising to meet with her later on tonight as I walked towards Aizawa and I's cabin, it was located in the far east of our camp. Yet even as I arrived, the door was shut. No one had attempted to break in, which made me happy. That meant that Aoyama hadn't messaged the villains yet. Tch, Aoyama…

How could I forget?

Well, it's not like I cared enough about the series in the first place. I don't even remember if I was caught up on the series as it ended, that being said, there wasn't much I could do for Aoyama. He was a traitor, yet it's not like I could help him. Unlike Midoriya, Jiro and Mineta, I didn't have a hand in causing some of their problems. And unlike Todoroki and Iida, I'm not in a position where I could help alleviate Aoyama's problems and change his views on certain things.

Aoyama's 'problem' wasn't one that could be solved by me, I wasn't even sure if he was the traitor until Tokage confirmed it. That did make me slightly guilty, God knows what he's been through all this time, yet he's been putting on a brave front for us. Still, he was a traitor. Even if he was trying to protect his parents in the long term, the fact was that he still helped the villains.

He still helped people like Zero.

Even if Aoyama was stuck between a rock and a hard place, the fact was that his attempts to protect his own family were putting mine at risk, putting everyone I cared about in the metaphorical line of fire. I did respect him, going as far as he did for his parents is something few would do, but he was also my enemy. Yet, as I gazed upon him goofing around with Mina, a sad smile formed on my lips.

Aoyama was still my friend, still our friend.

He did care for us.

I knew that for a fact.

That being said, I knew what I had to do. I'd guard the phones in the cabin from Aoyama, and then I'd steal his phone and send our location with false information to the villains. No matter what, we will win tomorrow. Even if it meant going against my friend, I was in the right. I knew what had to be done, and I wasn't going to falter.

---

"How is your training going?" Aizawa asked me, eating his beef bowl slowly. "I know it seems like an impossible task, but I do think that you'll be able to figure it out. Probably."

"Geez, thanks for the vote of confidence." I sarcastically replied, leaning back on my chair. "And for the record, training is going… Yeah, forgive my French, but what the fuck sir. Improve my concentration? Fuck is that supposed to mean? How? Like, do you want me to use more of my brain?"

"No, no." He shook his head, "Not like you have one to use in the first place."

"Hey, I'm your student!"

"Yes, and I have to mark your pointless drivel in science when Ectoplasm drops half of our classes marking on top of my desk on a Monday morning. 'Osmosis is the process in which particles are transferred across the water barrier.' Tell me Yamazaki, what does Osmosis have to do when figuring out the biology of the human body?"

"What's Osmosis?" I asked him. It sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite put my mind to it…

"Osmosis is the spontaneous net movement or diffusion of solvent molecules through a selectively-permeable membrane from a region of high water potential to a region of low water potential, in the direction that tends to equalise the solute concentrations on the two sides" Yaoyorozu explained from behind. "We covered it two weeks ago during our study hall, don't you remember?"

"Are you sure I didn't skip that one?" At Aizawa's glare, I laughed nervously and rubbed the back of my head. "N-not that I'd ever skip study hall, no sir, not me. I'm a good boy, I've never skipped a study hall in my life."

"...Right." Yaoyorozu sat down next to me, sighing as she unzipped her hoodie to reveal a t-shirt covered in her sweat. "Do you mind?"

I shook my head, allowing her to lean her head on the cabin behind us.

"It's been a long day."

"Tell me about it." I replied, "Honestly, I just wish I could go to sleep and wake up in a week. How's your training going? I hear you stuff your face with food like a hamster." Yaoyorozu flushed red at that, although she was too tired to protest it. Haha, score. I beat her for once.

"Like you said, I'm just stuffing my face with food like a 'hamster'. Who knew that eating so much food at once, and then using it right away was tiring." She complained, the two of us watching as Aizawa chased Sero around the camp, the idiot having decided that he would try and make a barbeque grill using some wood and Todoroki.

"If you are here to talk about Jiro and Mineta, just cut the small talk." I folded my arms, looking directly at her. "Let's just cut to the chase, shall we?"

"Who says that I'm here to talk about Jiro and Mineta?" She asked me, amused at my question. "Although yes, I am slightly worried about the altercation that occurred between the three of you, plus Iida and Hagakure, I'm sure that you can sort it out without my involvement. No, I'm instead sitting here to talk about you."

"Me? What about me?"

"I heard you are having a few issues with improving your concentration for your Quirk, so I thought I'd try to help you." She explained, "Although, judging from the look on your face, perhaps talking to you about Jiro and Mineta may be a better conversation."

I laughed at that.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Well Sora, you aren't frowning for once."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"You frown when you are happy, smile when you are excited and have a neutral expression on your face when you are sad, angry or stressed. That is what I've observed over these past months. Knowing your character, I know that you wouldn't have a neutral expression over training, in fact you probably think it's cool that you are learning a hard technique, you are probably thinking along the lines of, 'this is so cool, I bet I'll master it and use it in a hype fight', am I correct?"

"Huh." Was my only response. She was right. "Ya' got me red handed. That being said, I'd love it if you could offer me some advice on how to make things right with Jiro and Mineta. God knows I need it."

"Well, Mineta hasn't been speaking to anyone since this morning, he even brushed Kaminari off. So, I cannot help you out with him," I nodded at that, just as I thought. "However, with Jiro, that's a different story altogether." She paused to catch her breath as she sighed heavily. "Did you really call her a bad friend?"

"Yeah," I replied, "I was angry and just said it without thinking. It doesn't excuse my actions, and it is my fault, but it was still an accident. I need to apologise to her, but I think she's avoiding me."

"She is." Yaoyorozu clarified, "She said she was going to try and not speak to you for a few days to let things cool down, but I think we both know that it's a lie. She's still hurt over what you said, and I think she knows that it was an accident, she just wants to try and get over it herself. She doesn't want to make a big deal out of it, and so she's trying to move on as fast as she can."

"That's not healthy." I muttered under my breath. "Can ya' look out for her? I mean, I know you are and all, but if she starts crying can you try and console her?"

"I don't think Jiro is the type of person to cry."

"No, she definitely is." I smiled at that memory of her crying after the USJ. "She likes to pretend that she doesn't, but she's a big softie at heart. She'll cry when she's all alone, and will probably blame herself. I don't want her to feel bad over what I said, I don't want her to actually feel like she's a bad friend. Sure, she messed up this morning. But ya' live, ya' learn."

I had a lot to learn from.

"Sora, what do you think a hero is?" Yaoyorozu asked me unexpectedly. I probably had a confused look on my face as she apologised to me, smiling slightly. "Sorry for the weird question, it's just that you try to help everyone in the class so much. You'll listen to our problems, and then you'll try and solve them using any way you can. It confuses me slightly."

"Why's that?"

"Well, I am the president of our class. Yet no one really runs to me to solve their problems, so I do feel like at times if I'm failing in the role of being the class president. They all go to you, even I think at times of going to ask you for help when I need it. But I have to ask why?"

"Why am I like this?"

"Yeah."

"To be honest, it's a mix of things." I told her, "My biological mother abandoned me at birth, I never met my father. Grew up in an orphanage, it then burned down and I was the only survivor. I used to be called an 'akuma', a devil, in my second orphanage where I was eventually adopted. I became Sora Yamazaki thanks to my parents, but I was still a brat. I was still an asshole to not only them, but everyone around me."

"So you help others to not feel like an asshole?"

"Sorta. The fact is that even when I was an asshole, they still tried to help me. They still cared for me, and they all helped to give me a good kick in the arse. I'm honouring them in a sense, because they didn't give up on me - I'm not my parents blood son, my sister isn't related to me in any way shape or form. But despite that, they didn't give up. I admire them for that, for helping me even when I was at my absolute worst. Everyone in 1A is my family, so I'm never going to give up on any of you, I'll always help you when you need it."

"I see. And you want to specifically help us because…?"

"Well that's because I care about ya'," I answered sheepishly, "I want the best for everyone in 1A. Even Aizawa-sensei, Tokage and everyone in 1B as well. It's as simple as that really."

Yaoyorozu giggled at that, "You still haven't answered my question. What do you think a hero is?"

Fair point. I hummed lightly, staring at the stars above us. It was night, and close to our camp 1B were setting up their tents in the forest. Mineta had 'gone to bed early' which was code for he didn't want to speak to anyone, and Kaminari and Jiro were goofing off somewhere. Midoriya, still withdrawn from everyone slightly, laughed as he ate the food Mandalay and Pixie-Bob had made for everyone.

"A hero, huh?" I hadn't really thought of it. Well, apart from the questions Aizawa-sensei had asked me a few months back when I was still new to U.A. "A few months back, I would have said a hero is someone who sacrifices everything for others. But I don't agree with that statement anymore. Sacrificing everything isn't heroic, because if you die the people you care about are the ones that are hurt the most."

"But isn't that the same with dying naturally?"

"Yeah, I suppose so. But dying while trying to save someone, dying while defeating a villain, they were things I gladly would have done a few months back. Because back then, I thought so long as a hero protected what they wanted to protect, then they won. But I don't think like that anymore, that isn't what a hero means to me anymore." It was funny, I had to thank 1A as a whole for helping me in a sense.

"To me, a hero is someone that follows their own path. A thorny one, filled with danger all around them, but a path nonetheless. A path that they chose themselves, a path that'll lead to everything they've ever wanted, and they'll finish that path proud of themselves without making any compromises." I eventually answered. Tokage was right, my 'carefree tomorrow' wasn't an easy task.

I was going to face off against so many strong people, friends and foes alike. Yet, I wasn't going to give up. It was the path I had chosen, it was my path to walk down on, because it was either that or let everyone around me struggle. I wasn't a hero, not yet, but in the future…

Well, in the future maybe I'd finally be that hero I always thought was cool.

"I see, that's a very interesting answer."

"Oi, I put everything into answering that question honestly." I told her, "The least you could do is show some appreciation to it."

"I am," She replied, grabbing my hand and dragging me away from my seat. "Which is why I've made up my own answer. I'm going to fix your relationship with Jiro without further delay."

"Yaoyorozu-,"

"Momo," She corrected me with a smile on her lips, her cheeks slightly red as she said so. "You're my friend, one of my best friends. More of an annoying younger brother rather like a few old novels I have read, but a brother nonetheless. Plus, I'm the president of our class, solving problems between different members is my job."

"Alright then, Momo, what's your plan?"

The smirk on her face would haunt me for weeks.

"Give me two days, I'll think of something. All you have to do is work on Mineta, alright? I'm counting on you, Sora." She told me, giving me a thumbs up. "Do you think you can manage that?"

I nodded at her, watching as she went to her cabin to retire for the night. I looked around to see that nearly everyone had gone to bed, which meant that the only ones up were people who didn't nearly work as hard as they ought to have been for their training. Like myself. Stuffing my hands into my pockets, I made my way to Aizawa and I's cabin. However, as I found myself standing outside the cabin, I noticed something was wrong.

The door was open.

Aizawa never left the door open, and he was the only one with the key to lock it. Immediately, I rushed inside, only to find our cabin totally in ruin. Both of our suitcases had been turned upside down, even his mattress was hanging sideways, as if someone had tried to see what was underneath the bed. Many of his personal belongings had been thrown around the room, some even landing on my side.

Yet what was most odd was that there was a cardboard box sitting right in the middle of the cabin, with Aizawa-sensei standing right next to it.

"Sir?" I was confused as to what had happened.

"Yamazaki, did you see anyone enter the cabin?" He asked me calmly, but he didn't turn around to face me. He only crouched on the floor and opened the box, which was when I remembered what the box actually was used for. That was where all of our phones were stored-,

"Answer the question."

"N-no, I didn't see anyone enter our cabin." I answered, "Did someone steal their phone?" I was ready to run into the boys cabin and drag Aoyama out of his bed if necessary. Shit. Shit. Shit.

"That's the most curious thing," Aizawa-sensei replied, "The intruder wasn't able to take anything. The box hasn't been opened, I know that for a fact since none of the phones were touched. So don't worry, your phone is safe. That being said, I don't appreciate the attempt. Go wake your friends up at the boys dorm, I'll head over to the girls to wake them up."

"Why?"

"I think it's time we all have a talk about going through other people's possessions."

---

The next morning was extremely awkward for all of us.

Even 1B were giving us sympathetic glances, because they were woken up by an extremely irate Aizawa-sensei, or rather his shouting. Well everyone apart from me, since it was obvious that it wasn't me. That being said, both Tokage and I kept a closer eye on Aoyama, just to be extra careful.

After breakfast, we went back to our normal routine of training. Which meant I walked back to my area in the forest yet again, aiming to improve my concentration. And just like the days before, evening rolled around with little to no change in my training. I got frustrated and decided to take a little break, which was when I saw little Kota running around the forest all alone.

"Oi," I called out to the kid, causing him to jump in surprise.

"Oh, it's you." Bakugo was right, he was a cute kid. He tried his hardest to glare at me, but it just came off as too try-hard for me. I mean he was like eight, with his chubby cheeks and hat, he just looked like a kid trying to fake being angry. "Whaddya' want?"

"Tch, speak to your elders with respect!" As the older person in this conversation, I had to make sure that this kid understood what respect was. "Repeat after me, 'what do you want, Soma-shishou'. Understand?"

"No."

"Rude." I yawned, taking note of how relaxed the kid was. "So, what's up with you? Going to take a dump?"

"Nunya' beeswax!"

"Aha." I gave the fakest laugh possible to his joke, which made the kid even more angry. "You are such a comedian, Kaito."

"It's Kota!"

"Really? Thanks for correcting me, Kazou."

I suppose I deserved it when he threw a branch at me. That being said, I left the kid to his own devices and made my way back to camp. Aizawa-sensei stood watch right outside our cabin, which made me feel relieved. Aoyama wasn't going to get his phone at least. Well it's not like we knew who attempted to steal their phone, but out of everyone in 1A, Aoyama was the one with the most incentive to do so.

I had half a mind to go to Aizawa and explain to him everything about Aoyama, but then when he inevitably asks me 'how do you know this', I'll be stuck stammering out random excuses. Tch. Bullshit. But that was if Aoyama even snuck in, and despite Tokage's claims of him 'being the one,' I wasn't as nearly convinced as she was. Something was bugging me, and it was causing me a headache, which usually meant something was up.

"Hiya, can I speak to you for a moment?"

"Me, mademoiselle?"

"Y-yeah. I have a confession to make."

I turned around to see Tokage wearing a white dress speaking to Aoyama, a 'blush' appearing on her face as she flustered Aoyama. Holy shit, was she showing her cleavage?! Fucking hell, she has a pretty good body. But that's besides the point, why the hell was she bunking her training to try and seduce Aoyama? Wait, don't tell me…

I watched as the pair of them walked to the forest, and I had a bad feeling about what was going to happen between the two of them.

---

I cringed as Tokage slammed Aoyama to a tree. We were about twenty minutes away from our camp, a few metres behind us was the tree I had marked for my training. No one would disturb us here, which was why I picked this location. After I spoke to Aizawa-sensei, I immediately ran to find Tokage and told her what happened. We both agreed to find Aoyama and interrogate him, which was why I was watching Tokage slap him across the head demanding for answers.

"You were the one that snuck into Aizawa's cabin, weren't you?" She asked coldly, grabbing Aoyama by the throat. "You tried to steal your phone so that you could message your little villain friends our location, didn't you?"

"N-non"

Tokage kneed him in the stomach, laughing as he retched violently. "Don't lie to me, I know exactly what you are. You damned traitor. Tell me, how does it feel to pretend to be a hero? Does it feel good?" She kicked him in the arm this time. "Answer me already! Stop wasting my fucking time you villain scum-," She raised her hand to punch him, but I managed to grab it in time.

"Relax." I warned her, shoving her to the side as I helped Aoyama up. "Listen man, we know you are the traitor sending the villains information. But we need to know if you were the one that tried to break into Aizawa's cabin yesterday."

"I-I don't know what you are talking about," He shouted, "Why the hell are you beating me up?! I thought we were friends, Sora! Don't you trust me? I'm not some 'traitor', I'm your friend-,"

"Bullshit," Tokage interjected, glaring hatefully at him. "We know all about you, Yuga Aoyama. You were born Quirkless, weren't you? But you cried so hard that your parents decided to make a deal with a fucking villain, and look at you." She sneered at him, "Now you are working with them to 'save your parents.' You are such a spineless bastard, you are so lucky that I'm not allowed to kill you right now-,"

"Tokage," I warned her yet again. "Relax, I'm not going to ask again. Aoyama, we just want to know if you were the one that snuck in. That's all, after that I'll let you go. Just answer the question, and I promise you I'll let you go."

"I-I don't know what you are talking about?!" He replied, "Sure, yesterday tried to sneak in, but it wasn't me-,"

"Liar," Tokage shouted at him, "You snuck into Aizawa's cabin just yesterday. You tried to steal your phone, but then you failed. You ran out of time, and because of that you ran away with your tail tucked in between your legs. Admit it, you tried to message them, but you failed!"

"I didn't! I promise!" Aoyama cried out, his tears streamed down his face to then mix with the blood pouring down his nose. "I don't know what you guys are talking about. I never snuck into Aizawa's cabin, I was with Mina the entire time. You can ask her! I never left her sight!" I clicked my tongue, turning to face Tokage who still glared at him.

"Liar." She replied, "You lie! You are a filthy traitor, as if I'd trust anything that comes out of your mouth! If you don't tell the truth, I'll ask Sora here to make a knife for me to gut you like a fish!" She threatened, causing him to whimper. Fuck, this was not going well.

"Tokage, we need to speak." I tried to grab her arm, but she wasn't listening to me. "I don't think he's lying, he's too clueless to have done it."

"So then who else would try and steal their phone from your teacher?"

"I don't know, it could be just someone from our class wanting to have their phone back. It doesn't necessarily mean that it's Aoyama. We might be making a mountain out of a molehill here."

"No, we aren't," She replied, "If it was someone just wanting their phone to be used normally, they would have taken their phone no problem, that or they would have waited for your teacher to come and ask them to get their phone back. The fact that none of the phones were taken means someone wanted to use their phone for purposes that weren't exactly good, reasons that would make them suspicious. Suspicious to the both of us. It has to be Aoyama, he's the only one with an ulterior motive."

She turned to walk towards Aoyama, but I grabbed her arm just in time before she could hit him.

"Don't," I warned her, "Don't lay a finger on him. We aren't torturing him, we are his friends-,"

"You are his friend," She corrected, "I never once claimed to be his friend. I hate him."

"Why?" Aoyama cried, "What did I ever do to you?"

"You have everything I've ever wanted!" She screamed at him, "Everything. A loving family, friends, a position in this world. A chance at being a hero. I would have killed to be in your position a few years back, but you're a liar. A coward. You'd rather bury your head in the sand rather than fight for your life! I had to bust my ass just to get where I am, I'm having to sacrifice everything just so I can keep my friends. But you're the reason I could lose everything? I hate you so much, Yuga Aoyama. I'll never forgive you."

"I'm not asking you to forgive him, I'm asking you not to hit him everytime you feel like it." I responded, "I understand that you are angry and stressed, so am I. But torturing the only person who can help us gain an advantage isn't the best way to do things, you are just making things worse for all of us. Let me do the talking this time, you just cool off." She hesitantly nodded at that, but the anger in her eyes never faded.

I walked over to Aoyama, offering him some water from one of the bottles Todoroki had given me.

"Aoyama, I don't want to hurt you. I just need to know the truth, did you or did you not try to steal your phone from Aizawa-sensei."

"I told you I didn't! Don't you believe me?!"

"I do," I replied, "I do. Do you have any idea of who might have tried to steal their phone? I won't tell a single soul, not even Tokage. I'm on your side, I'm your friend, you can trust me-,"

"Trust you?" Aoyama scoffed, "Trust you?! Do you think that I can trust you after this?" He yelled angrily, "S-she lied to me, telling me that we were just going to have a 'chat.' Then you follow us and watch as she punches me? And now you are trying to manipulate me?!"

"Aoyama, I'm not-,"

"STOP! JUST STOP!" He cried, trying his hardest to move away from me. "M-maybe the girls were right, maybe you are a bad friend. You used to be a 'Demon?' Non, you still are. You enjoy this, don't you Sora? You enjoy watching me, someone who trusted you, squirm in pain! You enjoy being the one with all the power in this situation!"

"Shut up," I whispered, grabbing him by the collar. "Just shut the hell up. Do you really think I enjoy this-, Look at me." I yelled at him. "Look at me, do you really believe that I enjoy watching you cry? I want to help you, but you're not the one helping me. I don't want this, any of this, but tonight shit will go down. Tonight we have a chance to save everyone here, we have a chance to live. I understand you are afraid that your parents might die, but what about everyone here? We all have loved ones too."

"I-,"

"Aoyama, you need to tell me what happened. I don't want anyone to die, and I don't want your parents to die either. But if you don't tell me, don't think for a second that All For One won't kill your parents and you after you've served your use. Don't delude yourself into thinking that this isn't a lose-lose situation if you don't help us, because it is. You'll lose everything, but I just want to help you ensure that this doesn't happen. Please."

"B-but, what if you're wrong."

I offered my hand out to him. "Aoyama, I know I'm not wrong. I'm willing to bet that I'm right, but if you're afraid of telling everyone - I'll keep it a secret for you. I won't tell anyone until you're ready." Slowly, he reached for my hand, unsure of himself. I grinned as he took it, and-,

"ARGH!" I screamed out in pain, falling to the floor as I writhed around clutching my head in agony. The headache that had been slowly building over the course of the past day exploded just in an instant-,

It was like when-,

---

I was staring at myself, but I had blood stained all over me. I was holding Zero's double-sided sword, staring at the masked-man ahead of me. They were heavily wounded, but they were holding my wooden sword. I had a hole in my chest, and my left hand was horribly twisted.

I looked down at the bodies surrounding my feet, and then I turned to look right ahead. My eyes met my own, and I could finally see how different 'I' was. I was enjoying it, enjoying the massacre that had just occurred.

Zero, Dabi, Toga, Moonfish, Aizawa, Mineta, Jiro, Aoyama, Monoma. All their dead bodies were laid before my feet, and I was covered head-to-toe with their blood. I was even licking it, a grin forming on my face as I laughed maniacally.

"You fool," Zero chided, "You knew we were coming, and you waited for me? Is this what you wanted? Do you have any idea how many of the people you care about died? Why… why would you do this?" He shouted at me angrily, "Do you know many innocents you sacrificed? Here I thought you were a hero, but you're nothing more than a villain."

To his side, Yuga Aoyama stood there. He was older, and I looked back at myself. I looked older too, with my hair having grown a little, as well as my height. I was more muscular, but still recognisable.

Older me didn't reply, he only charged towards him with that sickening smile on my face. The smile that read that I was enjoying what had happened, and I cut Aoyama in half mercilessly, grinning as he stared at me in shock. Over, and over again, I stabbed him with my Kazekiri, Aoyama's blood painting the blade red with his blood.

It was then that I looked at the hellish landscape around me, with Musutafu set ablaze - The screams of help being silenced by the raging inferno that Dabi had unleashed before he had died.

"I don't care for any of them," Older me replied, staring right at me. "I've lost everything, so who cares if innocents live or die." Older me grinned, licking the blood from his hand as a few tears trailed down his face. It sent shivers down my spine as I looked at myself, grinning at the destruction around him. "Zero, you have such a weak heart. I thought everyone in this world was a fake-,"

"I was lying! You-, You-, ARGHH!" Zero screamed furiously, charging at me with the intent to kill. A true smile formed on the older version of myself's face, I could see it in his eyes. The pure enjoyment he had, the thrill of being in a battle to the death. It scared me, because I couldn't recognise that look.

It's not me, it' not me, it' not me-,

"This is what awaits," A voice called to me, making my head hurt even more. I screamed from the top of my lungs, but the pain wouldn't go away. "This is your fate, your future. This is what awaits, Sora Yamazaki."

---

"-ou bastard! The fuck did you do to him?! If you don't tell me what you did to him in five seconds or I'll kill you!" Tokage was shaking Aoyama furiously, but the boy was sobbing, telling her that he didn't know what was going on.

"I-I'm fine," I managed to stammer out. Fuck. It was a vision-, Wait, that was my fourth and final Quirk! How could I forget? I had visions from when I first properly met Jiro all those years back, visions of the future. Visions of the USJ, and how everyone would have died. And when I met Sato, the vision of me replacing him in 1A. Fuck, how could I have forgotten?!

The visions came every now and then, most likely when I was most stressed, or most vulnerable.

The USJ vision occurred when I first met Jiro, at the time I was focused on making a good impression so that she would want to be friends with me. Or something like that, either way I was vulnerable enough to allow my Quirk to trigger.

The Sato incident happened because I was so stressed, I desperately wanted to get into 1A that it triggered when I met with Sato. It showed me what would happen in the future, or rather the change I had made.

Which meant this right now the vision occurred because I was stressed and angry with the situation. I still haven't been able to help Midoriya yet, and now I have to help Mineta and Jiro due to my own actions. Even more than that, with the threat of the villains invading our camp looming over our heads, and Aoyama's predicament, it caused the Quirk to trigger.

No, I was plenty stressed during the USJ. So why didn't it activate then… Wait! It wasn't that my 'stress' activated them, it was me who activated the Quirk! That 'other side of me,' the side of me that wants to take over my body. My 'split personality,' they were the one in control of the visions! They had to be! That was why it only triggered in specific circumstances, because they wanted me to see it!

They were the ones speaking to me just now!

It finally made sense, my 'visions' aren't flashes of the future, not like I had previously thought. They were the scenarios that could happen, scenarios that would happen because of my involvement. Scenarios that I had to avoid. I thought back to it, for one the vision didn't take place in the forest. Plus, I looked older. No, this was a 'vision' from the far future, likely because of Aoyama's predicament.

No, it was because I promised to keep it a secret away from 1A. From everyone.

If I did that, what awaited us all was death. If I did that, I'd turn into… I'd turn into that version of me that I saw. I'd turn into a monster, killing everyone that I loved. Bile rose to my throat as I buckled over and vomited over the floor, I couldn't stop thinking about his eyes. His cruel smile, and the excitement he had at everyone dying.

At killing Aoyama, and the opportunity to kill Zero.

"Are you alright?" Tokage asked me, "Let me know if this fucker did something to you-,"

"I'm fine." I replied, standing up and grabbing Aoyama by the collar. "What's your phone password? I'm going to contact the villains instead." I had to push on forwards, I wasn't going to stop walking forwards until that future was avoided.

"NO!" He screamed, "Please! I-if you message them, Maman and Papa will die-,"

"So what?" I replied coldly. "So your parents will die, but what's worse. Two people dying, or our entire class being slaughtered. You tell me, Aoyama, what's the best outcome? I get it, you love your parents, but I'm not going to allow everyone that I care about to die because of you." I pinned him against the tree, "You will tell Aizawa-sensei the truth, you will show him your phone and you will send false information to the villains. You will help me, because if you don't, not only will your parents die, but everyone in 1A."

"N-no, that's impossible-,"

I laughed at that. "Impossible? Aoyama, you have no fucking clue what game is being played. Now answer the question, did you or did you not try and steal your phone, and if you didn't you have any idea of who would do so."

"I don't, I swear to God-,"

I punched the tree behind him.

"Swear to me." I shouted, "Swear to me that you have no idea what happened, and that you aren't involved in what happened."

"I swear to you, honestly I'm not involved in what happened!" He cried out, raising his hands up in defence. "Please, don't hurt me anymore. I-, I just want to go back. Please. I'll tell Aizawa-sensei the truth when we get back from camp."

"No," Tokage cut in, "You'll tell him right now, I won't allow you to cower your way out of this. The villains are going to be attacking us tonight and-,"

"What part of 'I don't understand what you are saying' do you not get?!" He yelled at us. "The villains haven't asked me to message them the location of our camp. They haven't spoken to me since the USJ." What? No, that wasn't possible.

"What do you mean?" I asked him, "The villains aren't planning an attack on our camp?"

"I don't know, they haven't told me anything about that. I only know one thing, and that is if I message them first they will kill Maman and Papa. Please don't message them, please! I'll do anything, just please don't message them!"

"Fuck," I swore, running my hands through my hair angrily. "Fuck, fuck!" Shigaraki was right, they weren't planning an attack on our summer camp. But why not?! I still had that feeling in my stomach, that feeling of unease. Why was it that with each passing second I felt more anxious? Was I afraid? No, this wasn't fear. This was…

Excitement.

I felt sick, and tried my hardest to ignore that emotion that kept me up at night, gnawing away at my mind. Why the hell would I be excited for a villain attack to happen? Was I insane? Probably, but it just wasn't making sense. Just what the hell was happening to me?!

"What else do you know about the villains? I want names and faces, especially information regarding Zero." I demanded him. I needed to gather as much information as possible, it was the only way I could win.

"I-I don't know. I haven't met any of them in person, only through messages. Z-Zero is the one who messages me first."

"What does he message you?"

"Well, usually i-it's cryptic things. Sometimes they'll ask me how school is going, and other times they'll ask me to take pictures of certain things."

"Like what."

"Like my homework."

I tilted my head at him, and Tokage did the same. Why would Zero ask Aoyama to send him… homework?

"N-no, not the homework you are thinking of, homework is a word used to throw off anyone that would read our messages," He clarified, "My task is to g-gather information on the abilities in 1A. The last time I spoke to Zero was b-before the USJ, he asked me i-information on you. I told him how our spar went, during the battle trial. I didn't even know that they were going to attack the USJ, honestly!"

"I believe you." I told him. "Is that it?" He nodded at that.

"What were you expecting?" Tokage asked me, "Did you think that he'd be able to solve all of our problems?"

"How do you two know that I have contact with the villains?" Aoyama asked us, "W-wait, don't tell me that you work for them? Was this a test? Oh God, did I fail?! Are Maman and Papa in danger?"

"Relax," I assured him, "Tokage and I aren't with the villains. As for how we know… Let's just say we have an informant in the League of Villains and leave it at that. But, do you know if Zero has any other informants in our class, or even in 1B?"

"What are you suggesting?" Tokage asked me, her eyes narrowing. "I know everyone in 1B quite well, I don't appreciate you insinuating that my friends are traitors. Not when your 'friend' is one."

"Zero has a quirk that allows him to mind control others." I explained, "He can do it from a distance. Full on possession, with little to no resistance. He might have placed his Quirk on anyone in my class, or in your class. They might not even be aware of it, so I'm not blaming anyone."

"I see." She replied, her shoulders sagging in relief. "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions so quickly."

"I-I don't know." Aoyama answered. "Zero hasn't told me anything about having more than one informant." I clicked my tongue in response, if Aoyama wasn't the one that tried to sneak into Aizawa's cabin to steal his phone, then it must have been one of Zero's informants. It was the only theory that was left!

She nodded at that, shooting an apologetic glance towards Aoyama before walking towards him and helping him up. "Listen, I'm only going to say this once. I, well, I'm sorry. You didn't deserve all this, and that's on me. I still hate you, and everything you represent. But I treated you like crap, and for that I'm sorry, and I'm not asking for you forgiveness, Yuga Aoyama, I'm asking that we both move on."

"Y-you think I'll just forget about this?!" He screamed, "You hurt me, tortured me, for half-an-hour! You think I can just forget about this?! That I-I can just move on like nothing happened?"

"Just like how you have secrets you want to keep from everyone, I too wish to hide this from my friends." She replied, "And if you want my silence when it comes to you being a traitor, you will forget about this."

"No." I interjected, "Aoyama, I'm not allowing you to keep this a secret. You will tell Aizawa-sensei the truth when we get back to camp. If you don't, I will, whether you like it or not this won't remain a secret between us. It's for your own good-,"

"My good?!" He repeated, "My good, or your good."

I shook my head, rolling my eyes at him. "My good is your good. We both want the same things Aoyama, the safety of everyone in 1A."

"And what about Maman and Papa?! What about them?" He asked me, "What about my parents? Do they not fit in with your 'carefree tomorrow'? Answer me Sora!"

"Of course they fit into it," I replied, "You being happy is what matters, and that means your parents have to be alive for you to be happy. I'm not going to allow them to die, now am I?"

"But if you tell Aizawa-sensei, they'll die! I'm telling you Sora, I'm begging you, please don't force me to do it!" He cried, "Please, I don't want to lose Maman and Papa! Please, anything but my parents-,"

"Look at me." I grabbed Aoyama and pinned him against the tree. "I've seen the fucking future Aoyama, I know what happens if you don't tell anyone and I keep it a secret. Do you really want to fucking know?" Even Tokage took a step back because of my tone of voice. I was fed up with him, fed up with everyone constantly pissing me off. Mineta, Jiro, Midoriya. "We all fucking die, you included dipshit! Is that what you really want to happen? To be murdered, to have an entire city burn to the ground because of your actions." And because of mine too.

"I-, you-,"

"Answer me!" I roared, clocking my fist back to grab his head and smash it against the tree until he died-,

I took a step backwards in surprise, why the hell was I going to do that to Aoyama? Why was I looking forward to doing it? Shit. I turned around and ran away from Aoyama and Tokage as fast as I could, trying my hardest not to look back as I clutched my head in pain. Fuck, FUCK!

Why was I so angry?

Just what the hell was happening to me?! Was it that 'other side of me?' Or did it come from deep down within me, was that who I truly was. A ball of anger, waiting to kill others?! Was that future unavoidable?

Was everyone going to die?

Would I not be able to save anyone?!

Eventually, I found myself close to the nearby lake. I sighed, sitting down on the rough ground, staring at the sky. For once, the trees weren't obscuring the view of the clear sky, yet despite that the clear blue sky never felt as far away from as much as it did now. I felt like I was a racing game protagonist, only instead of being able to drift around a hairpin looking stylish, I crashed my car into the wall and died a horrible death, resulting in me having to quit the game.

Oddly specific…

"Fuck this," I whispered, sighing heavily as I could hear nothing but the soothing sound of the lake. I hated this feeling of helplessness, like there wasn't anything I could do to save anyone. It wasn't true, I saved Jiro during the USJ, I saved Todoroki from himself, and I saved Iida from his desire for revenge. I helped to save a kid from a burning building, and I helped to save Tokage - She was much warmer to everyone now compared to before, even if she was still a bitch sometimes.

I was going to save Midoriya from his own self-doubt and low self-worth, I was going to save Mineta from whatever happened this morning, and I was going to fix my relationship with Jiro. Yet, no matter how many times I repeated them in my head, I was still stuck laying down right next to this lake, having achieved none of that. All I had achieved today was just torturing a friend for a 'what if' scenario…

"Gah, I'm not cut out for this bullshit!" I yelled, slapping myself. I hated being like this, moping around and acting like this. It really did feel like I was a different person. I had already proved myself, no matter what my mind was telling me, I knew deep down in my heart that I'd do it. Even if the villains did invade our camp tonight, even if Zero had a plan to bring us down, I'd grit my teeth and destroy those plans with my bare hands.

…Is what I wanted to say.

But I was so confused. Confused, sad, angry and alone. I couldn't even speak to Tokage about this, because I knew that she would look at me differently. Deep down, I knew that if I told her it felt like I was losing control each day, she would try her hardest to distance not only herself, but everyone she cared about away from me. Hell, she'd probably go the extra mile and make everyone I care about distance themselves from me as well as an assurance from her that I wouldn't be able to hurt them.

So why then.

Why the hell did I-,

"Sora-san?"

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard Midoriya's voice behind me. I turned around to look at him, to really look at him for once. How the hell was he able to become such a great hero? Why was he so strong? Even if he was different from how I remembered, he was still destined for greatness.

"Midoriya." I got up from the ground and made my way over to the green haired boy, waving at him while doing so. "What are you doing over here?"

"Well, I-, Uhm, I was just walking around. And then I saw y-you laying down, and I thought something was wrong so I came over to see if you needed help, but, well that wasn't needed." He looked at the ground sadly. "I'll be going now-,"

"Stay." I told him, picking up another pebble from the ground, trying to make it skip across the lake. And I failed, again. "I do need your help actually."

"Y-you do?"

"Yeah." I picked up another pebble and tossed it at him. "Can you teach me how to skip some rocks? It looks so easy in movies, but I'm not getting it." I watched as Midoriya executed it perfectly, and tried to replicate it only to fail. It felt like we spent hours just trying to perfect it, yet I didn't get close to succeeding - Not even once.

"It's in the technique, you just have to flick your wrist and add as much spin to it as possible." He told me.

"I'm trying man, I really am." I watched as the rock I just threw landed in the water without a single bounce. "I'm really trying to concentrate on it, but I don't think I'll ever be able to do it. I gave it all, but I failed. Might as well cut my losses, ya' know?"

Midoriya shrugged his shoulders at that. "Sora-san, I still think you can do it. Don't give up hope! You may be trying your hardest to concentrate, but skipping rocks is more than just concentrating. Maybe you just aren't adding enough spin to it…"

"Midoriya, I'm putting so much spin to it that It's flying to the left." I joked, grabbing another flat rock, only to watch it sink yet again. "Gah, this is so fucking stupid! Fucking bullshit." I sat back down on the floor, watching as Midoriya executed it yet again, flawlessly. It made me sort of jealous, I mean I couldn't replicate what he did. Both at skipping rocks, and in helping others.

Just how was Midoriya able to help so many people?

I was a 'poor mans' Midoriya, a shitty replacement just as Tokage said. I was so different from him that my attempts at trying to help others only resulted in others getting hurt. Jiro, Mineta and now Aoyama. Hell even Midoriya's current predicament was because of my own fuck-up. Yet looking at him now, it made me smile as he kept on making the rocks skip across the water with ease.

"Midoriya, how do you know how to do this? Aren't you a city boy?"

"Oh, yeah." He answered, "When I was younger, my mother and I used to go to the seaside with Kacchan and his family. He always wanted to skip rocks like you, but he always blew the rocks up before they even left his hand. Funnily enough, that's one of the earliest memories I have of him using his Quirk. He used to challenge me since I was able to do this easily."

"I bet he didn't take that well?"

Midoriya nodded his head in response, "No, he really didn't. But I'm more surprised with you, I thought you were one to never give up." I bit back a bitter laugh, knowing that it would probably scare him, or unnerve him slightly if he heard it.

"I don't, not when I haven't given it my all." I replied honestly, "But if I've given it one-hundred percent and still not able to do it, well that's just unfortunate. No matter how hard I'll work, I won't be able to beat you who's a natural and who works hard. That's just how the world works, which is why I'm jealous of you."

"W-why? It's just skipping rocks?"

I clicked my tongue in response, picking up another rock and flicking my wrist to add some spin to it, only to be disappointed yet again. "It's not just skipping rocks, it's everything you do. I mean, what percent is your 'Full Cowling' at now? You have a strong Quirk, a good mind and a great heart. In essence, you are the total opposite of me. A Quirk that's some bullshit, decent mind and a selfish heart."

"T-that's not true!" He shouted back at me, "You have an amazing Quirk! Nimbus might be tricky, but it's so interesting! I mean you can transform it to make weapon constructs to fight with, you can make wings to fly, you even created your 'Susanoo' form that functioned like a massive robot." I smiled at that, remembering the sports event. That was before I was reminded that knocking Midoriya out had a knock-on effect on him.

"You are smart in the subjects that count! Sure, you may not be as smart as Yaoyorozu-san academically, but you're smart when it comes to dealing with people." I scoffed at that.

"Really? At least try and make me believe your lies."

"I'm not lying!" He shook his head at me, "I, well, I look up to you. You, Kacchan, and everyone in our class are all so amazing. Compared to me, well you all make me look bad in comparison. That's how awesome you all are! I all look up to you, I wish to be like you all. To be a real hero, and not a coward like myself."

"You aren't a coward."

"I ran away from my exam with Kacchan, didn't I?"

"You also saved me and Iida from Stain. And if it wasn't for you, we would have died at the USJ." I sighed, staring up at the sky, only to find that a few clouds had drifted in. "You are pretty important to the class structure overall. Bakugo pretty much only acknowledges you in a weird rivalry, Uraraka is your best friend, and Iida is a close second. Yaoyorozu sometimes looks to you for leadership tips, Todoroki and you have found a weird friendship over schoolwork, Kaminari, Jiro and Mineta respect you so much and I'm not even done with listing off names."

"Maybe so, but you are even more important than me in our class."

"True, but I still think you are a close second. I mean if we get rid of you, the class won't be the same without you. But me? My role is nothing special, anyone can replace Sora Yamazaki, if that makes sense?" Midoriya nodded at that, grabbing another flat rock and passing it over to me.

"Before you flick your wrist, you should visualise it fully. Wait, no, more so try to draw it out from within you? It's hard to explain, but think of a certain action that makes you flick your wrist. Like a hand sign? Focus on that, relax, and then throw." Think of a certain action… got it. I slowly stood up and faced the lake yet again, taking a deep breath and closing my eyes.

I traced the back of the rock with my finger as I thought of the motions. Hand sign? Hastily, I put up a peace sign towards the lake, focusing as hard as I could before I threw the rock, opening my eyes and expecting it to fail. Instead, I watched with my breath hitched as the rock finally skipped four times before finally landing. It… worked?!

I turned to look at Midoriya who grinned and congratulated me.

Holy fucking shit, it worked!

I was able to concentrate fully and flick my wrist in time, just by concentrating on everything with the hand sign, I was able to relax my body… Wait, can't I apply the same theory to my Quirk?

Holy-fucking-shit!

"Midoriya, I fucking love you!" I shouted, jumping up and down with excitement. "You're brilliant! I hope you know that you're fucking amazing!"

"H-huh? Why?"

"Why?" I repeated, confused. "You just gave me a clue on how to complete my training and make my Quirk stronger!"

"R-really?"

"Yeah man, you totally rock! Thanks." I waved goodbye to him as I ran back towards our camp, I had a lot to do. From figuring out what was wrong with Mineta, apologising to Jiro and figuring out what to do with Aoyama. But at least I think I've figured out a way to improve my concentration, whatever that means.

From Midoriya to Aoyama, the villains and even my training.

I was going to solve it all by tonight!

---

Not too proud of this chapter. This easily went through the most edits and cuts, originally this last section was meant to happen earlier, then I moved it to the start of next chapter, before adding it back to close off this chapter. Anyways, next chapter will be closing things off with the Training Camp arc! Will the villains attacks?

What's Sora's plan of action?

MAYATHEDEATHGOD: More deliciousness for you.

Moose3333: Interesting. Anyway, the story is called 'Over the Top' since Sora tends to go over the top with his actions. I would write a lot more about your review, but I'm too tired.

Guest: Yes.

Bigmacskin: Jeez, why do you hate Sora so much? I mean wanting him to die is a bit much, don't you think? And he was reincarnated into a story being still an immature 17 year old boy, you do the math. Wanting him to be 'tortured for eternity'... Thanks for the advice ;)

Ironically Challenged: Well, I'm curious as to if you'll reach this chapter. If you do, definitely leave your comment on how he's progressed in your eyes. Sora's story is not over yet, so maybe it will fit in your "goes on for too long with no real pay off" category. To be fair, I've already made it clear that this story will probably reach the 2 million words mark, but for Sora's development I have a three step plan (Much like how a lot of this story is done in threes.)

Part 1: Exploring what it means to be a hero. With this chapter you can see how much his views on what it means to be a hero has actually changed from the start of U.A. Part 1 is going to end with a bang, and will really show Sora's love for everyone.

Part 2: Following Part 1's ending, Sora will be faced with multiple lessons, as a friend, brother, son, and potentially lover (Hehe) in order to create his 'carefree tomorrow'. His approaches will change, as he slowly learns what it really means. (Part 2 will also be the start of the break away from canon content/arcs.)

Part 3: The closing chapter of not only the story, but Sora's development as a character. It'll conclude his character and all the other plot threads related to him. Just speaking to others about the ending I've planned has made them 'cry' out of happiness, not even joking. They called it 'bittersweet' and if I had to compare it to any other ending, I would either say it's like Gintama's and FMAB's secret love-child that is not as well written, malnourished, and just not as cool.

So I'm interested as to where Sora's character journey will take both you the reader, and me the writer!

Next time:

Huh?

We don't have a teaser for next chapter?

I see.