I hope everyone enjoyed the last chapter. This one was prewritten, just had to edit and proofread as best I could before I put it up.

Please Enjoy.

Samsara
Chapter Two

"Now, everyone knows we're getting to the point in the year where you kids really should be thinking about what schools you want to make applications to…"

A silence permeated the classroom before the teacher shook his head with a knowing grin. "But of course I know all of you want to become Heroes, right?"

The room erupted into cheers as everyone put on a display with their individual Quirks. All except for two of them. Izuku was reading through a notebook, his deep purple eyes narrowed in focus. Over the years, he'd changed from the scrawny kid he'd used to be. He was roughly the same athletic build as his best friend thanks to them working together at their Quirk Gym, and recently he'd gotten a haircut, shortening it only a bit to keep it more manageable. His best friend, Bakugo, sat with his chair leaned back, legs up on the desk and his arms cross with a cocky grin. His ash-blonde friend gave him a glance without moving before speaking loudly so everyone could hear him.

"Heh, check it Rings, these extra's really think they stand a chance making it as Heroes. I see one, maybe two Quirks that would pass for sidekicks. The rest of these fuckin' nerds might as well skip out and quit while they got their dignity."

He was heard by a few people who glared at the explosive teen, but Izuku rolled his eyes. "C'mon, watch the language, Kaachan. And everyone here has the same right as us to apply. All Quirks can be useful, and you know that."

The surrounding students looked even more put off. While he hadn't meant it, the way he'd talked sounded incredibly condescending. One kid with long fingers rolled his eyes with a scowl. "Easy for you to say, man, not everyone has a million different powers!"

Izuku finally looked up from his book, his ringed eyes staring deep into the other kids' own. "I don't have a million different powers. I'll admit, my Quirk is way more versatile than normal, but it doesn't make me any more special than anyone else. I- "

The teacher spoke up, cutting him off with almost a pleading look. "Midoriya, please. We've talked about this."

He bit his tongue and scowled, going back to his notebook. Despite what everyone around him thought, he wasn't trying to be condescending. Ever since the night his Quirk awakened, when he went back to school the teachers tried to put it in his and Bakugo's heads that they were going to be the greatest Heroes of their generation. Now, Bakugo almost let it get to him. Izuku was luckily able to keep him grounded. And it wasn't that he didn't want to be the greatest, but for Izuku, even as a kid, he'd had been raised humble and thankfully with his mom remarrying and his dad coming into their life, that idea had only doubled with his influence.

The problem, however, was that people tended to think you were being condescending if you tried to raise others up rather than tear them down by feeding into their perceptions of your Quirk. That led to him being something of a social outcast, while Bakugo, despite the fact that he carried himself like a bit of an asshole in Izuku's opinion, was still somewhat popular even though he was best friends with him.

When everyone turned back to the teacher to listen, Izuku tuned him out for the rest of the period. When the bell rang to release them, the teacher tried to continue to speak over the noise of the students leaving but was unsuccessful. Bakugo hadn't even realized his friend had already got up and left.

Catching up outside, Izuku was stalking down the street, and not the way he'd normally take to go home. The ash-blonde cursed under his breath and jogged to catch up, knowing where he was going. Letting out a huff when he finally got beside him, he jabbed him lightly in the shoulder. "Fuck those nerds, Rings. They're just jealous and you know it."

Izuku looked more than a little irritated. "I know, but they shouldn't be. Quirks are a genetic lottery. We don't get to choose what we get so we have to make the most of it. I know my Quirk is powerful, but that doesn't devalue theirs!"

Bakugo shook his head and rolled his eyes. "I'm not having this debate again, Rings. It always ends the same way. I've even gotten you to admit that you're not even sure if there is a limit to what you can do when we found out about your 'Chakra' bullshit. You do know you can take pride in what you can do while still being nice to those extras, right? They're not mutually exclusive."

He knew that, of course. But no one but Bakugo, his mom and his dad even knew about his Chakra abilities. They never updated the registry when Izuku found out about it because then the…solicitations…would never stop. Once they'd had to update his Quirk Registry the fifth time a few years ago with a new ability his eyes had granted him, he'd received…offers…to wed people's daughters later in life. Of course, being that his dad is a Detective, it didn't take much to figure out how his registry information was leaked and stop the solicitations. It jaded him to know how quickly some people were willing to trade others or even themselves for just the potential of power. "Yeah, I know…"

"Then nut up and stop whining about being a fucking badass! We both know we're only gonna get stronger from here so you're gonna have to learn to deal with it. I mean shit, dude, just wait till the sports festival. Everyone's gonna see what we can do there!"

"You seem awfully confident we're going to get into UA, Kaachan."

Bakugo looked outright disgusted when he said that. "That's the bullshit I'm talking about, Rings! I'm confident because we are getting in! We're strong! The strongest!" He punctuated this with a few angry firecrackers from his palm.

Izuku held up his hands in defense with a nervous smile. "Okay! I'm sorry! We're getting in!"

His friend sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes before shoving his hands into his pockets and kicking a can down into a nearby ravine under a bridge where they sometimes hung out and did some light sparring outside the Gym since it was so far off the beaten path for a lot of folks. Both of them slid down the side, following the can. "Seriously…I get it's how you are, but I also get why the extras think you're being a dick on purpose. It does get really annoying when you don't accept your own strength."

Coming to a halt at the bottom of the ravine, Izuku walked into the shade and looked down, dejected. "But I don't wanna hurt anyone's feelings…"

Both were unaware of a puddle of green sludge that started to pool up from under a nearby manhole. Bakugo tossed his backpack over to the edge of the ravine, taking off his school blazer and rolling up the sleeves on his button-up. "Does it hurt your feelings that All Might is stronger than you? Sure as shit doesn't hurt mine. He's the Number One Hero for a fuckin' reason, dude."

Izuku huffed and let his bag down, careful not to hurt his notebooks before he did the same as Bakugo, taking off his blazer but also fully removing his shirt, revealing powerful, lean muscles. "I guess y-" He immediately had to dodge a solid right hook from Bakugo, ducking down before springing back, his eyes taking on a brighter purple hue, glowing in the shade of the bridge. His face suddenly became more serious. Bakugo grinned viciously when he saw his face, taking a low stance and letting loose some crackles.

"See, that's how you should be all the time. Show me some pride and fight me like you mean it!"

Izuku landed in a crouch. "Hand to hand? No Quirks?"

Bakugo grimaced slightly but quickly remembered they weren't actually in the gym, so they had to be sparing with their Quirks. Well…he did at least. Wouldn't do well for people to hear a bunch of massive explosions going off. His grin came back, and he slammed his fist into his palm. "Come and fucking get it, Rings!"

They stared at each other for a moment before Izuku dashed in, naturally faster without a Quirk than Bakugo. The ash-blonde was no slouch, however, and easily blocked the roundhouse kick aiming for his head. Before the Rinnegan user could reset, Bakugo immediately reached in, grabbing him by the belt and hooking his blocking arm around his leg, spinning with Izuku's entire body and throwing him across the ravine.

Rushing after him, he ducked low, knowing his friend would recover. Going for a takedown, he kicked himself mentally when Izuku's legs went up and he felt a hand on his back. Izuku had recovered quickly and flipped over him, using his back as a platform for a handstand. Landing behind him and going low, Izuku went for a leg sweep, tripping Bakugo and making him roll from the momentum. He caught himself however and popped up, sliding to a stop on his feet. He grinned, taking notice of a small scrape on his elbow. "Nice dodge…now get fucked!"

He rushed back in, hitting Izuku with a solid jab-jab-hook combo that dazed him slightly. He shook it away before blocking another incoming hook. Batting his fist away, Izuku countered with a fast jab to his gut. Before he could get him with another hit, though, a large blob of sludge burst from the manhole cover nearby, catching them both by surprise, but literally catching Bakugo in its slime.

Izuku, thinking fast, leapt back and immediately put his hand out, his eyes glowing even brighter. "Universal Pull!"

Not a second was wasted as Bakugo was ripped from the grasp of the mass of sludge. He flipped through the air and landed right beside his friend, coughing up globs of sludge that had gotten into his throat. "*Cough* The fuck is that?! *Cough* *Cough*! Black Lagoon PUNK!"

Izuku's eyes narrowed as a pair of eyes blinked to life looking at them from the sludge, then he saw a mouth. "Oooh, I don't have time to pick a skin suit! I gotta get away before he gets here! Don't fight it and just c'mere blondie!"

The sludge person lunged forward, and Bakugo was ready with his explosions, but Izuku kept his glare leveled. "Just another villain…with no care for the pain you cause!" His hand still up, his chakra flared unconsciously, charging up the strength of his next attack slightly. "Almighty Push!"

There was a brief pause in the villains' gait before with a thunderous *BOOM*, his entire form was splattered against the side of the ravine. Bakugo sighed and stood up, taking this chance to cough up some more sludge. Izuku wasn't done yet, though. Holding his other arm out, a hole opened up in his palm and his fingers split apart, his entire forearm becoming a cannon with the barrel glowing a dull blue.

"See what I mean? You took this fuckin' dick down in seconds! 'Oh, I'm no better than you guys!' Shut the fuck up and own it, Rings!"

Izuku was shocked out of his laser focus when he heard Bakugo both chastise and praise him. "Ah! Only because he was distracted by you. If he got ahold of me, I probably would've panicked, and you'd be the one saving me."

Bakugo scoffed. "You didn't save me, I woulda gotten out on my own, you just got to him quicker."

He rolled his purple eyes and kept his cannon trained on the sludge villain who had yet to pull himself together. "Sure…can you call the police? I don't wanna le-"

"HAVE NO FEAR! WHY?"

The voice caught them both off guard and they both nearly got whiplash from how quickly they swiveled their heads. The appearance of a massive wall of muscle with blonde hair in a white shirt and cargo pants with a dazzling white smile shook the fanboy in both of them loose.

"BECAUSE I AM HERE!"

"OHMYGODITSALLMIGHT!"

Izuku couldn't keep himself together and his cannon went away. "You're here! For real! Are you real! Bakugo is he real?!"

His friend recovered quicker from his shock and grinned, slapping him on the back of the head. "Of course he's real, Rings. Get ahold of yourself!"

Rubbing the back of his head, he cleared his throat and composed himself, then he remembered the sludge villain. "Oh! You're here for him aren't you!"

All Might, who'd been momentarily stunned by the young fanboy and the fact that he was shirtless, chuckled and gave them both a dazzling smile and a thumbs up. "That's right! This villain robbed a convenient store and thought he could get away! He thought he was slippery using the sewers, but none can escape JUSTICE!"

The Symbol of Peace quickly scooped up a couple of empty soda bottles and quickly scooped the main parts of the villain into them all while Izuku's eyes were sparkling. 'As expected, he was already in pursuit!'

With a hearty laugh, he stuffed the bottles into his large pockets. "I have to thank you both! You certainly made my job a lot easier!"

Izuku got shy very quickly and rubbed the back of his head. "It was nothing, re-…"

Another slap struck his head. "OW!" He rubbed the offending spot and met Bakugo's glare with one of his own before withering. "Ah…I mean…"

All Might laughed at the exchange, recognizing it well between friends. "Worry not, young man! Just keep working at it and you'll have confidence in yourself in no time!"

The young Rinnegan wielders shoulders sagged a little bit, the adrenaline wearing off as he adopted a small smile. Looking back up to All Might, the Number One Hero finally saw his eyes, and was admittedly shocked for a moment. "Thank you, sir! Bakugo keeps telling me I need to take more pride in my power if I'm going to be a hero."

The aforementioned boy nodded and crossed his arms. "Yeah, Rings here keeps on playing things off. Pisses a lot of people off."

All Might didn't respond, deigning only to stare into Izuku's eyes. All Might considered himself something of a buff on old legends, having adopted certain things into his Hero Persona. Comic Book heroes, American Folk Heroes and Japanese Legends. Not everything he came across was useful, but the knowledge was still there. And to his shock and surprise, he was staring right into a very old, very powerful legend.

"Young man…your eyes."

Izuku suddenly became very self-conscious, looking away. "I know my eyes can make some people uncomfortable, I'm sorry, sir!"

All Might shook his head when Bakugo took a slightly aggressive stance. "I meant nothing negative; I swear! I just wanted to ask…are they related your Quirk?"

He looked back and nodded. "Ah, yessir! I call them the Rinnegan."

'Could it be? A Child of the Gods…right here?! This is a big deal..."

All Might cleared his throat. "A good name! Tell me, do either of you intend to become Heroes?"

Izuku nodded vigorously while Bakugo gave his signature cocky grin. "Course we do! We're both applying where you graduated! If we're gonna top the charts and beat the best, only the best school will do!"

'Perfect!'

All Might grinned even brighter. "If that's the case, perhaps I could interest the two of you in a tour of my Alma Mater! As thanks for helping me subdue this villain!"

Bakugo was just as excited as Izuku, and they both practically jumped at the offer. "HELL YEAH/YES PLEASE!"

He flashed another thumbs up, flexing his impressive muscles. "FANTASTIC! AH! Sadly, I cannot do it right now, I must take this villain to the police station! Please, meet me at the gates of UA this Saturday at noon! I shall personally give you…THE GRAND TOUR!" He raised his arms to the sky as though he were framing a sign.

"Oh, we'll be there for sure. And don't think you can flake on us after promising something like that!"

Izuku wanted to chastise Bakugo but was too enamored with the thought of a tour of UA! 'OHMYGOD I CAN'T WAIT!'

All Might laughed even louder. "HA HA HA! I WOULDN'T DREAM OF IT, YOUNG MAN! Now, before I leave, I don't believe I caught either of your names!"

Bakugo grinned and let some pops sizzle in his hand. "Bakugo Katsuki! And you'd better remember that All Might, cause that's the name replacing you at the top some day!"

Izuku smiled brightly, his Rinnegan shining brightly as well. "Midoriya Izuku, sir! I can't wait to see UA!"

'Midoriya? Naomasa took his wife's name when he got married…wasn't that her name? No…it's a coincidence for sure. No time to question it now anyways, I'm running out of time!'

He shook the thought away and squatted down, ready to leap away. "Well, Young Bakugo and Young Midoriya, I shall see you…THIS SATURDAYYYYYyyyyyyyy~!"

He shouted even as he disappeared into the sky, leaving both boys stunned on the ground. Bakugo stared, silent and steeling his resolve to get even stronger while Izuku immediately flew into a panic. "I FORGOT TO ASK FOR HIS AUTOGRAPH!"

Bakugo rolled his eyes and slapped the back of his head again. "He's giving us a tour this Saturday, dumbass! Ask for it then!"

X-X-X

Detective Midoriya, formerly Detective Tsukauchi, sat at his desk, perusing some fresh paperwork. Unfortunately, with an incident involving Mt. Lady and a villain with a Gigantification Quirk this morning his day was running longer than expected. He sighed, taking a moment to look at a picture of himself, Inko and Izuku taken just two weeks ago at the beach. Inko was just as beautiful as the day he'd met her, her scars still there in all their glory and sporting a very noticeable bump in her belly. He chuckled at the thought of when they'd told Izuku the news.

Honestly, he was so happy he'd taken to him so well. He'd heard horror stories from other officers about dating someone with a kid, let alone marrying them, and how they never cared for their stepparents and according to them it was even worse if the father was never in the picture to begin with, but Izuku had been so open to the idea. He was so quick to want to call him dad when he was younger, and it was actually Inko who had to temper his sense of expectation. Understandably so, since she had effectively gotten married to Hisashi, he got her pregnant and then the bum up and left with no word.

He remembered the slog it was to try and annul the marriage given it was virtually impossible to find Hisashi. When they finally did, he was all too happy to sign the divorce papers when they offered no strings attached. He wasn't surprised to find out Midoriya was her maiden name, given how strong willed she is.

His happy reminiscing came to an end when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in!"

He wasn't too shocked when in walked a blond man with piercing blue eyes in the shadows of his gaunt features wearing a white shirt and cargo pants. "Ah, Toshinori! I wasn't expecting you today! How're you doing?"

The man sighed and took a seat. "Pretty good, all things considered. I just wanted to stop by to check on something."

Naomasa happily put his paperwork aside, the very thought of it ready to give him a headache. "Whatcha got? I'd be more than happy to help!"

Toshinori looked at the back of the photo he had on his desk. "You mind if I take a look?"

The Detective followed his eye and smiled, holding the frame out for the Hero. "By all means!" He took it and hummed. "So not a coincidence…"

The tone caught him off guard for a second. "Is everything ok?"

Toshinori handed it back and nodded. "Oh yeah, everything's fine. I just ran into a couple kids today, Bakugo Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku. Just like I thought, Izuku's your ste-…"

"Son. Just son. His biological father left him and hasn't had a thing to do with him his entire life. Good riddance in my opinion. He missed out."

The Symbol of Peace jumped a little at his tone but understood. Parents got defensive about their kids after all. Naomasa kept talking, his tone serious now. "So, you ran into him and Katsuki? Is everything ok? Are they safe?"

He waved his hands in defense. "Oh yes! They're perfectly fine! I ran into them while I was chasing a villain, but they'd already disabled it. I overlooked their unauthorized Quirk usage because I can only imagine it was in self-defense. When he said his name was Midoriya I thought it might be just a coincidence, but that clearly isn't the case."

Naomasa pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Oh son…what is it about you that just seems to attract trouble?' "Well since it was self-defense I imagine it'll all sort itself out with your testimony. Is that why you came, to give a statement?"

Toshinori gave a slight nod. "Partially to check and confirm the relation, and to give a statement directly to you if it turned out true. But there was one more thing. His eyes…have you ever looked into them? Like...researched, not looked looked into them."

That worried Naomasa a little. He wasn't expecting his sons Quirk to be the subject of conversation. "Not really. The night I met him and Inko was the night he'd awakened his Quirk. It was a standard B&E, and he blew the guy through a wall. Since then, Inko and I have helped him train his Quirk as best we could. Admittedly…it's a little shocking just how much he can do…but we've both chalked it up to a one in a trillion mutation. Hell, we even stopped updating the Quirk Registry because people were getting illegal tip offs about his powers and kept trying to buy him for Quirk Marriages. I don't like throwing my weight as a Detective around but…"

Toshi cringed at the mention of those barbaric customs. "Can't say I blame you…I probably wouldn't have been any better if I had a kid and people wanted them for that. But back to his Quirk…I think I know what it is…and I think I could train him."

Now that definitely got the Detectives attention. "Know what it is? You make it sound like more than a Quirk."

The skeleton man looked apprehensive but continued. "Look, you know my secret. You know I have to find a successor soon. I'm going to do a little more digging before this Saturday and try and confirm, but if it is what I think it is, then I want to go ahead and put the bug in your ear…I would like you to consider allowing me to make Izuku my successor."

The bomb drop of the century just happened in Naomasa's office and he was beyond stunned. "Your…successor? Are you serious?"

Toshinori nodded with his eyes in a serious gaze. "I'm not making the choice right now. I'd like to get to know him a little bit more, get a feeling for his motivations. But if his Quirk is what I think it is, then its power augmented by my own would turn him into something more than just a Symbol of Peace. I offered him and Young Bakugo a tour of UA this Saturday and they accepted. That being said, I'd like for you and your wife to join us and please extend the invitation to Young Bakugo's parents as well if you can. Should you refuse my offer for your son, Bakugo stands as a wonderful choice as well. From what I gather, he's a little hot headed and definitely not afraid to speak his mind, but I see the fire of a great Hero in his eyes."

Naomasa was still stunned. "I uhhh…I can talk to Inko and have her get in Mitsuki and Masaru. I just…wow…your successor. Heh…he'd absolutely freak at that. All he's ever wanted was to be a Hero just like you, you know. Still watches the video of your debut at least once a week."

The Hero chuckled at that. "I'm flattered! Also, just to prepare you, I'm going to ask that Young Midoriya spars with one of the staff. The same for Young Bakugo as well so I can get a feel for both of them, but it'll help me confirm my suspicions about his Quirk."

There it was again. "I gotta ask, what is it you're even suspicious about with it?"

"When I was studying abroad in America, I studied legends. Became a bit of an otaku about it if I'm being honest. I wanted to be larger than life as a Hero so I adopted some traits from old legends. One legend that I came across didn't really concern me at the time. It spoke of eyes that spoke of their wielder as a God of Creation or a Destroyer. People who were gifted these eyes were called Children of the Gods. It was a single paragraph in a book I found in a local library, so I didn't really care. But it did have a hand-drawn picture of eyes with rings in them and a name. The Rinnegan. Izuku's have something else in them, though, these tomoe. It's the only thing that makes me wonder if they're the real thing. So, I'm going to do some research, hopefully get some idea of what they're supposed to be capable of and test him this weekend. Nothing's set in stone, I just wanted you to know and come along. We might all learn something."

Naomasa listened with full attention and agreed, though not on everything. "I agree that his eyes are pretty interesting, but I don't know about this Children of the Gods stuff. But I'll defer to your judgement in the interim. I'll make sure Inko and myself are there this weekend, don't you worry. And if you do decide to make him your successor, I'd like to ask that you tell Inko. He was her son long before he became mine and she deserves to know."

Toshinori smiled gratefully and rose from his seat. "I might have to exclude some details...but I think I can work something out if it comes to it. I appreciate it, Detective Midoriya, really, I do. Welp! I'll go ahead and get out of your hair. Seems like you have a bit of work to finish up with before you head home."

He left as the Detective said bye. Naomasa looked back down at his paperwork with a scowl. He reluctantly picked up his phone to call his wife. "Hey, hon. I…yeah, I'm going to be a little late…" he looked at the time on his desktop seeing six thirty, "An hour at the most I'd say…are you sure? Hon, if you're hungry you should go ahead and eat…I…but…yes…mhmm…ok, hon…I love you too. I'll see you soon. Mmm'bye."

He smiled as he hung up, happy and praising his stars at how lucky he was. Right before he looked back to his desk.

'I really hope when Izuku becomes a hero he can keep the collateral damage to a minimum.'

Then he thought about his Quirk...

'Ah…who am I kidding? With his Quirk he'll be his own premium option on insurance coverage…'

X-X-X

This chapter was already prewritten, I just needed to do some editing. I hope you all continue to enjoy.

Until Next Time!