The last of the students who went through part 1 was the resident pink cutie Ashido Mina.
Like several of the students, she did not take it particularly well, and as she mentally came out of the illusion, and back to the real world, she buckled over, and hurled.
She was not the first either, nor even the worst in that regard, though her acidic barf had the distinction of literally erasing the ground where it hit.
It was evidently much, much stronger than regular humans as one could have expected given her acid quirk.
As the pink girl raised herself back up to her feet, there was traces of clear tears in the corners of her eyes, and she had a really downer expression, but she wasn't all out bawling.
None of the class was, Izuku noted.
Oh some were even worse off than Mina in terms of negative emotions, with Momo, Kaminari and Jiro being the absolute worst off, but she had, if she was being honest with herself, expected at least one student to just have a breakdown of sorts.
Their teacher(Who had gotten around to cleaning his face of the lipstick) waited until Mina had finished composing herself as best she could, before clapping his hands together and continuing.
"No true mental breakdowns… That's rather good. Usually there are one or two every year who can't handle it… But you kiddos managed it like champs. It's amazing what a single round of experiencing true life and death combat can do to change you down to your fundamentals."
His words echoed what Izuku had been thinking.
"Now, I'm gonna give you kids a ten minute breather before we move on to part two. Mingle together, talk, and share your experiences. This lesson is also about learning to cope with the grueling endeavor you just went through… And as every professional army in history has proven, few things help better to cope with the specter of death, than the feeling that you are not alone in your suffering."
He then went over to the entrance of the now finished labyrinth, where he and his wife set up another tray with bottles filled with glowing liquid, these ones dark blue.
Izuku, the only one in her friend group who hadn't been amongst the test, served as the natural beacon for Mei, Iida, Tsuyu and Mineta to gather around.
Izuku, who had been thinking all about the revelations she had learned about One for All, Melissa and All Might, quickly forced herself to put it on the backburner as absolutely none of her friends looked anything that could be called something resembling "okay".
Surprisingly, it was Iida who was far and away the worst off, having his head down, and found himself leaning up against one of the billboards.
His eyes were completely blank as he looked down at the ground.
"I… Severely underestimated my brother's profession…"
Izuku went over and, hesitantly, gave him a consoling pat on the back.
"It… Can be, yeah."
Iida's eyes went up, and met hers.
"I'm sorry… I speak as if I was ignorant of what you went through."
"It's…" She cut herself off before saying it was "Alright.".
"It was very grueling." Tsuyu said, walking up to the two of them.
The girl's tone was the same as usual, but she emminated an aura of sadness from her eyes that the voice did not convey.
"That indeed it was Tsuyu-San…"
Iida motioned towards her with one of his usual hand motions, but Izuku couldn't help but notice he only used one hand rather than both as usual. The other hung listlessly down.
"I wonder how many tried to save more than one person at a time." Mei's normal, cheery voice came as the pinkette joined them.
As she looked over at the girl, Izuku immediately felt a spike of alarm.
"You… Are you alright Mei-Chan? Maybe we should get you to Recovery Girl!?"
Mei was shaking. Her entire body was shaking, violently at that, and if it wasn't for the way her face had her usual expression, Izuku might have assumed she was having a panic attack of some kind.
"No, I'm fine. I just need to get something to calm my nerves."
The girl did not make any motion to grab anything out of her bag though, despite her declaration.
"You… You don't have anything for that here, do you?"
"Nope. Gonna have to wait until I get back home."
Mineta, who had been walking alongside Tauyu stares up at Mei as if she was insane.
"Saving… Saving both? Like… There was no way that was gonna happen. I… I barely managed to save one each time. If I tried to save two… Both…"
"Would have died, yes! That's what I meant. Following Aizawa's teaching pattern, there would have been some hidden message we were supposed to see, but with DTR that's the opposite! Trying to save both might have been more heroic, but it would also have resulted in absolute failure. Schmuck bait basically. Yep. No way that would have worked. None."
She had one her usual grins, this time accompanied by two eyes that just stared up into space someplace above Izuku's head.
Then without further warning, she buckled over, and threw up.
Izuku quickly found herself kneeling beside her friend as the girls shaking hands held her body up as she emptied the contents of her last lunch onto the grounds.
Izuku immediately felt sympathy and empathy at the pitiful sight, but there wasn't much she was able to do about it other than rubbing the girls back in a soothing, circular manner.
The girl shook, but she didn't begin crying, and whatever expression she had down there Izuku could not tell.
Instead she just remained there besides her on one knee as on the opposite side, Tsuyu did the same.
Not too far away, Tenya had frozen, one arm raised, as if he had been instinctually reaching out before stopping, while Mineta just seemed rather awkward.
They kept that up, until DTR announced it was time to continue, upon which Mei slowly, but surely got to her feet, and the little group of theirs walked behind all the rest that had already begun their walks back to the exercise.
If their teacher's eyes stopped at his younger friend, Izuku could not tell, but as the class gathered around, most in some kind of foul or depressed mood, he clapped his hands together again as Izuku realized he used as a means to get everyone's attention as be began to talk.
"So, you have all passed part 1. That's good. Great event! None of you failed this part, not even the ones like poor Mei and Kaminari, who ended up losing both rescue victims due to not being able to choose."
Several glanced over at Mei or Kaminari, while the blonde boy seemed surprisingly serious at the assessment.
"What… We don't fail? Even… Even after that?"
"Not at all. The goal of this exercise, as I said before you took it, was for you to be able to live with your choices, and keep moving forward regardless. It is a very harsh lesson… But one you kids NEED to learn. Because this is part of being a Hero. You WILL lose people at some point. Unless you drop active hero work altogether to become a commercial and product whore only, you are going to have to come face to face with this very brutal event sooner or later."
There were a lot of reactions to that, rather mixed, but the one Izuku found herself focusing on was Iida's.
"A-A product whore? That… That sort of language seems… Highly unbefitting of both a teacher and a hero!"
Their Sensei, who during this part had a serious expression, got a sardonic smile at that.
"During my professional career out in the field, I was called a manwhore every week, most of the time an average of 3-5 times a day. I never let it bother me. Bricks, and bullets can break bones, but words can neither physically hurt nor kill you. Heroes without a thick skin do not last long, young Speedster… And regardless…''
Suddenly his tone turned downright venomous, and even through the glasses Izuku could feel his eyes radiating utter disdain.
"I have No respect, nor kind words for those who became part of this profession just to sell their own merchandise, without having the guts to actually do the job we are trained and signed on to do."
"He really doesn't like guys like that, huh?"
Izuku for her part didn't… Necessarily disagree about not liking that kind of heroes… But she didn't really have any real, true disdain for them either.
She wondered if that would change over time, as she got more experience with the Hero world.
Kirishima scratched his chin.
"That… That's an insu-I mean term that Crimson Riot coined wasn't it?"
Izuku blinked in surprise. It was?
"Oh, you know that little factoid? Yes, it was indeed. Man, I miss that guy… Almost all of us who were All Might's real contemporaries and predecessors are gone now…"
This exclamation got a lot of the class out of their funk, in particular Mina.
"Wait, you knew Crimson Riot, Sensei?"
"Sure did little Alien Princess. I've been around the block for a long, long time… And Riot was one of my big heroes growing up, even if our time as peers was a bit short lived alas."
Izuku, the resident hero otaku, did the math in her head and indeed, it lined up perfectly their Sensei and All Might would have started out at the tail end of Crimson's career.
Kirishima, though, focused on something else.
"He… He talked about this too… About… Losing people early on in his career."
DTR looked at the red haired boy in silence before nodding.
"He did, yes. He "Hesitated for a second" as he put it. So have I."
This got the entire class to look at him, suddenly the mood having changed completely.
"He's just like Aizawa. Able to change the mood with just words."
The man turned around and looked up towards the sky, hands in his pockets.
"First time I lost someone was during my internship days, during a fight. A big all brawl. 58 Heroes against some massive gangs. It was in the final days before All Might's rise… You don't usually see those kinds of large scale battles nowadays… But during that fight, I was in the position of having to make a choice, between focusing on saving people, or focusing on the life and death fight I was in."
His tone as he spoke had turned utterly serious, far, far more like the old, passionate DTR of old.
"I had the capacity to do it. My fighting skills and combat powers should have been able to see it through without a single casualty, even as the bullets began to fly."
The blue man's head turned downwards, as he let silence come, unchallenged.
"74 people died that day. 43 of those were criminals. 4 of my fellow heroes, and the remaining 27 civilians..."
He paused for just a moment, before he continued.
"4 of those were people I could have saved. My responsibility. Had I been more hardened, more confident in myself, more experienced with danger, they would have survived that brawl, and hopefully would have been enjoying their 40's today."
Izuku nodded sympathetically.
Then froze.
Some 40 odd years ago.
She didn't say anything, just kept her hand comfortingly on Mei's middle back, but at any point, she expected someone else to catch the obvious implication, and question their Sensei about it.
No one else did.
Their teacher turned around, and for the first time during their time with him, he removed his aviator sunglasses, pulling them off to reveal two, bright, powerful and stunningly blue eyes that immediately demanded their attention with a pull that none there had felt from any of their teachers here on Yuei, not even All Might.
"Keep moving forward, even when… No ESPECIALLY, when EVERYTHING goes wrong! It is one of the single most important virtues of those who walk the path of a Hero. Whether a genius or an idiot, it doesn't matter. As the years go on, and you get to meet the real world in full, you will ALL make mistakes. And all of them will be different in their own way. Some of you will smash into massive errors in judgment, that will force you to completely reevaluate everything about yourself. Some will be more mundane, but nonetheless critical for you, as people as you face mistakes you will have to learn from! Regardless, the only thing that All of you will have in common when you have to face those choices is this… Regardless of the choices you make, as heroes or people, regardless of what awaits you, you will have to keep moving forward! So long as you move forward, during your Hero years, or beyond, you will grow, you will ultimately become better than what you are now! The ONLY choice that is objectively wrong in EVERY choice you will ever have to make, from now and until your dying day, is to give up, to stop trying to move forward with your life, as Hero or as a person! To live a life not filled with regrets in spite of mistakes, keep moving forward! That is my take on Plus Ultra!"
Mayhaps it was the tone, his expression, or an aura of confidence that seemed to radiate from him like an encouraging flame, this speech did indeed have the effect of boosting the mood of a large number of the class, though not all of them.
Some, like Todoroki Shoto, merely nodded.
Meanwhile Kirishima and Ashido took the entire message to heart without reservation.
"Again, just like Aizawa. We need to figure out how to make your words have an effect like that Izuku!"
Izuku didn't answer verbally… Just nodded.
Like most of the rest of the class, she was moved deeply by their teacher's words… But in her case, she understood the full weight of their teacher's words and his regrets.
The thought of that… Seeing infants die and then having to accept that it could have been avoided if one had been quicker, more hardened or experienced… In that moment she understood the overall point of part 1 better than several of the other students who had gone through it.
Thoughts back to her father danced through her mind.
It… Wasn't quite the same, but she knew what it was like to watch someone die, and not be able to do anything about it.
It was living with that trauma… Just as DTR had, which had defined her for good or bad for quite a while now.
DTR, who had been looking over his students' sudden resurging enthusiasm(Even if it was anything but total with everyone) with a serious expression, suddenly changed gears, and after putting his glasses back in, he slammed his hands back together again.
"So! We have now gone through part 1. And though there is one part about that left to go over, for the moment I think you all get it. Now we come to part 2… And I can tell you kids that it's going to be far more enjoyable than part 1, low bar though that is to clear. Now, you are going to get to go through a second set of illusions… But unlike part one, this one is hopefully not going to be about death!"
Behind him, using the same floating, mechanical tray as last time, his wife was pulling out another set of potions, these ones a bright blue.
"Unlike the previous one, these illusions are not premade, and the scenario you will be put through will be conjured by your own minds!"
"So it's basically randomly generated. Like a random video game level."
The man's smile was back, and somehow the mood shifted along with his lips.
How effective it would have been, if anyone but Izuku had caught the truly dark revelations regarding his backstory, she did not know.
"Right you are, little Frog Princess! These scenarios will follow the themes of the deluge of choices Heroes make every day… But unlike the previous ones which was about the darkest and yet most crucial choices heroes make, these ones will be centered around what you kids specifically, find to be most important in your life, secondary to being a Hero, and how whatever that might be will relate to being a Hero!"
It took a few seconds before what he'd just said sank in, but once it did, several of the students who were most fired up were also the ones who spoke up in response.
"Like our love life?"
"Or manliness!"
"Would vengeance count as such?"
"Or getting a Harem!?"
Had this been Aizawa, that last one would have gotten Mineta strapped in steel like cloth and strung up. DTR took it in stride.
"Yes indeed… The goals here are twofold! The first, is to teach you kiddos how important everyday choices can be, and how they can affect you down the line. What might seem like an inconsequential decision in one moment might be the single most important you ever make in hindsight… And the second is to let you kids go through a different perspective regarding yourselves! Most likely some of you will discover a new side to yourself you had never seen before, or come to realize that there was something you set aside that mattered far, far more to you than you might have realized! Regardless, it tends to be a much more positive experience than part one of today's exercise."
Then as he motioned for the students to come over with one hand, he pointed at Izuku with the other.
"As for you, little Science Heir, you'll be last, and you'll have to change out of your usual suit. There is a temporary changing box on the left side of the labyrinth, with some of my Wife's old dresses inside. Choose whichever suits your fancy the most, then return."
Izuku, who had been considering what the whole idea would mean for her, was immediately taken aback, feeling a sudden spike of fear, the prospect of leaving her superpowers behind suddenly seeming absolutely terrifying.
"Wait, what?! why?!"
"Because of the immunity your suit gives you against a lot of quirks. I don't know if your immunity is a part of you while still untransformed, but I'm not going to risk it. I want you to go through this the same as everyone else."
Izuku and Fuku just stared at him.
"Immunity?"
"Yes. Like when Aizawa wanted to troll you by shutting your suit off during your first exercise to see how much you'd panic. You weren't affected at all. Or how you just shrugged off Shigaraki's ability to dissolve things no worse for wear."
Izuku's mind tried to take that in.
Fuku by contrast was outraged.
"Wait, THAT'S what that was about?"
Izuku didn't really care about that though, instead considering the more obvious implications.
She considered those as she began walking to said booth with no further comment.
"Yet more powers I don't know about…"
"Yeah, it seems there's no end to those… And hey, you haven't even explored those sharp claws we dug into Nui with. We can add this one to the pile."
It probably spoke a lot about her mindset lately that she hadn't done just that, despite how obviously useful they would be.
As it was, she had so much to think about and to consider and ponder that it had been left behind… And that was before today's revelations.
The name "box" was a bit misleading. It was a pretty sizable little square cube of cement, with a pull away flap of red cloth covering the entrance to give her privacy.
Quite a bit more extravagant in size than the word would imply.
It was as she pulled away the flap, and took a step inside that she stopped, and just stared though.
"Wow, he didn't quite sell the numbers did he?"
There had to be closer to half a hundred dresses here.
A lot of them were rather extravagant, some simpler.
Some were her size, others obviously too big.
She looked around.
Then feeling a bit… Well not guilty, but not quite comfortable, she let her hand glide across the surface of one of the dresses that she thought looked good.
"Mrs. Manbavaran really has an… Ascetic."
"Yeah, she and her hubby both. Two rather different styles though."
She wondered if that was something they had bonded over as a shared thing between them, or whether it was a case of opposites attracted.
From what she could tell it seemed like it was more the latter, Like Aizawa and his beau.
"You know… I used to really like dresses when I was younger. Dresses like this I mean, not Kimonos…"
If truth was to be told, she was not fond of wearing Kimonos at all… But she felt no need to go into depth about that right here and now.
"My first idea for a hero costume… When I was really little I mean, was a frilly dress that was visually inspired by All Might's silver age costume."
"Sounds like you really liked them then. And not so much anymore. What changed?"
"Lots of things… It was… Well it started with me being declared Quirkless. I lost a lot of enthusiasm about… Well a lot of things back then. Not to mention that after that happened, we moved to… Well, it was this stupid town. Really old school and traditional place… But that's not important about this directly… After we moved back after a year or so, things had changed… Kacchan now led this little group of adventurous boys' that I used to pal around with. There wasn't much room for a girly girl there…"
It was strange. She hadn't actually been palling around for that long with Kacchan after that… And yet somehow that period and how Kacchan had treated her afterwards had defined so much of her life afterwards.
"So… Which are you gonna go with? I'm guessing that display over there is for me, but you're gonna find something to replace me with for the moment… Though nothing here comes even close to my glorious design!"
She smiled at that, despite herself.
Then she began digging, going through the older lady's clothing before stumbling unto something else.
She pulled out a mini-dress she could have sworn she had seen somewhere before.
It was a rather simple design, just a basic minidress with a low cut on the bottom, with simple holes open for arms and the head.
Very basic. Other than a rather huge bust size, there was nothing to make it stand out, no frills, no accessories, jewels, patterns, nothing.
Had she been more knowledgeable in pop culture, she would have recognized the minidress design as the one worn by Blue from Pokemon Special, just without accompanying white boots or gloves.
That wasn't where she recognized it from though.
"I've… I've seen this dress before."
"The dress design?"
She let her hands glide over it, then held it up and looked it over.
"No, this specific dress, the size is the same, and I'm pretty sure it's the same bust size too…"
She cocked her head.
Where…
Fuku gave an exasperated sigh.
"Let me guess… Something related to heroes right?"
It clicked.
"Yeah! That's right! This dress used to belong to one of two women who used to follow Shiny Chariot around! Not sidekicks, but two women who were connected to her!"
The memory came immediately back to her then, in force.
"I saw them both in 4 different videos from across Chariot's career… They were there near her debut, and her final appearances before retiring… I would have thought they were her tech developers, but Chariot didn't use tech… Managers maybe?"
"So… Manbavaran used to be involved with a hero named chariot, did she?"
In the excitement of the realization, she had momentarily forgotten the obvious implication.
"Yeah! She probably used to be part of her agency! Probably a general manager or something!"
She held up the dress, eyes now sparkling in her eyes as she realized that this was an important artifact that had actually been worn by… Wait… Was she a Hero? A sidekick? Or just her costumed manager.
She probably would have to ask her directly… In the now…
She hesitated for just a moment afterwards… Before shyly beginning to undress Fuku.
It fit.
In fact, it fit really well along her curves, with the only discrepancy, the fact that the original wearer was quite a bit taller than Izuku, meaning that the lower edge went down to a bit above her knees.
She thought she looked… Good. Really good.
It was a strange feeling. It was a way she didn't usually think about herself.
Fuku agreed, but as she was about to reply to a compliment from him, she suddenly had a realization.
One which made her blush something furious.
"What's wrong?"
"I… I just realized I don't have panties…"
It wasn't something she usually had an issue with, given Fuku conjured both those, and a bra beneath his other fabric as she wore him… But suddenly the fact that her powers destroyed everything she normally wore except her beloved red shoes struck her hard.
She looked around, but… No dice. There was no underwear here. Presumably, DTR had expected her to have some under her clothing… He wouldn't have known about the exact details of how Fuku worked.
Well… Nothing to do about it now.
I
"Wait, where is everyone?"
As she stepped out to where she had come from she found the entire entrance empty, save for DTR.
"Oh, they have passed through the labyrinth by now. You were gone for about 24 minutes. The average time for each student is about 1 minute, some shorter."
A minute? Through this maze? How?
She opened her mouth to ask, but as she did, DTR had lifted up a flask, and faster than she could react, he'd uncorked it and its opening was now in her mouth.
She instinctively expected to gag from the sudden liquid, but… What was this stuff? It… Flowed down with no resistance or anything.
"The nice thing about these exercises with my wife Izuku-Chan, is that because they take place inside your mind, they take no time at all. Speed of thought and all that… Now then…"
The bottle was empty, and he plopped it out of her mind.
Izuku swallowed, though there was no real need for it.
"Your turn little science heir. Time to figure out what kind of Hero you want to be."
He motioned for the exit.
She opened her mouth to ask questions, but… She found herself staring at the opening between two pieces of concrete.
She walked there, and passed through.
As she did, it was as if the entire outside world ceased to be, like it was just her, and the long, long corridor down, where in the distance, she could see the first split.
She found herself walking, and as she did, she felt… Something happening.
Something she felt through a sense she didn't know she had. Not instinct, or a sixth sense, just… Something else.
Had she gone through this little trip a month ago, she would not have felt it at all, as all the rest of her classmates had not.
But things changed.
It would be a long while yet, before she learned what sort of road she had stepped onto, and was going down… But the moment in the dome, where she had let the power flow through her, mixed with hate, had been the point of no return.
There was no way to truly turn back now. To go back to being a regular Human being.
For good or bad.
Today, that was bad. Very, very bad.
As she walked, the brew that was now spreading through her body from her stomach, mixed with the awesome power that was slowly, but surely replacing every blood vessel in her body, until in the future, they would be as bright green, as Nui's were red.
It was not planned like that, and had her teacher understood how far along she was coming, he likely would not have dared to put her through this exercise.
Finally, as she walked through the end of the corridor, and reached the first split in the road, she found herself staring at 3 plaques.
One with an arrow pointing right, with the word yes, one with the opposite direction and a no written under it… And above that, on a larger one, a question was written.
"Do you want to have a child?"
She stared at it, taking the question in.
Yes.
The answer came, without any deliberation, or consideration.
She did want a child.
The question was a bit off though.
She wanted more than one child. She wanted a large family.
She hadn't considered having one, but as she came to her conclusion, she saw the truth of it.
She wanted a family. Just as she wanted to be a Hero. She loved her dad and mom. She wanted more.
Words came then. Words long ago spoken. A deep, powerful, booming voice.
"You take care of your family. That's just part of what being a Human is about, Izuku. It's what separates Humankind from an Animal."
They had not been words spoken to be defining, or all consuming. Just a father, telling his little child of how the world worked. What it meant to be a good person.
She turned right, and walked.
I
It had been a long, hard, and very painful night.
It had been a long time ago, since she had truly felt pain. Not since her early days, before Japan's Villains were purged of their true heavy hitters, in an age that now seemed like it was a century ago.
The pain was brutal, all consuming, the wish to hit the woman who told her to "Push" as if that was what she hadn't been doing for hours, being the closest to a lasting cognitive thought she managed to muster through it all.
It was the main thing she would be able to recall in the days to come.
The pain, and suffering. And then…
Crying.
Loud, strong, and powerful.
The pain didn't fade. It wouldn't be until several days after, when she finally used Fuku to heal up.
But then and there, as the worst pain was suddenly over, it was as if that sound suddenly overtook everything else in the world.
A small, weak little being she was.
Small, and weak… And hers.
Shs smiled, feeling an acute sense, a surge of joy despite everything, as she closed her arms and hands gently around the little thing, with a care that surpassed anything one could ever learn by experience.
She had small strands of hair, green like hers, but without any hints of the unique black interiors of Izuku's.
A girl. Just like she'd known. 10 fingers, 10 toes. Healthy and normal, and loud… Just like a babe should be.
"Welcome to the world… Amra…"
I
"Mom!"
Izuku smiled as she heard the most beautiful little sound in the world.
The 6 year old ran up to her as she landed, the huge wings, that were actually huge pieces of stretched cloth, immediately folding back into her body, as she knelt down and scooped up the little girl, doing a little whirl that made the child giggle and laugh.
She laughed too. A warm, joyful sound from the heart.
If anyone who had known Izuku in her younger years had been there, the sound of that joyful, gregarious laughter would have surprised them, coming from an introverted girl, who even now, prefered to remain firmly in the background.
Around her, several of the other parents at the daycare shot her rather angry glares… Or in the case of the men, rather ogling ones.
She didn't care.
Instead, she just walked out of there with her little girl resting in her arms, before taking a massive leap, high, high into the sky, before unfurling two, massive wings out anew.
The sound of excited laughter echoed in her ears as she began the long glide she called flight.
I
It wasn't before they landed, and Amra got her feet under her ground again, that the little girl began to excitedly begin telling her about everything that had been going on that day, the other kids she had played with, the stuff they had done, and all the rest that defined a little kids life.
She listened and replied to her outburst in a cheery manner as the two of them walked inside their home, and she began making food.
Well… Reheating food.
The food she prepared was great, tasty and healthy, full of vitamins, perfect for a growing little girl… But it wasn't her who had made it.
She felt a pang of annoyance at that, the one, single aspect of parenthood that Izuku had never quite managed to pull off. Making food for your family.
Her hubby had been much better at it, but… She tried not to think about him right now. Right now, it was her, Amra, and this very high quality food she had ordered from her personal chef.
Not that he lived here with her of course. She didn't trust anyone on the planet enough to let them live or work here in her house.
He delivered his daily dishes and then left, to live his own life.
There had been a time in her life when she had been more trusting of people, but… She tried not to think about that either.
Mistakes had been made on all sides back then... But, there was no turning back time now.
It was as the two of them ate, that Amra asked a question, in a tone that only a child could have asked it.
"-oh yeah, mom, one of the other kids said their mom called you a slut, what does that mean?"
She froze immediately.
Fuku made a comment that basically said that he'd expected it sooner, but she ignored that.
How to handle this…
She put her hand on her messy mane of bright green and ruffled it.
"It means their mom is… A judgemental sort. She likes to judge people she has no business with."
Amra looked at her, chewing her food, then nodded.
"Ah. So she is bad then."
"It's… A bit more complicated than that… Also, don't talk with food in your mouth sweetie, you look like an idiot."
The girl blushed a bit, before swallowing, but what she said was: "So… She is bad then? That's what you mean when you say people are complicated."
Izuku sighed.
Such blind naivety… Had she been like that too?
Probably. Though she had been more hyperfocused on Heroes in particular.
"I'll explain it when you're a bit older. For now, just ignore it. It's not worth starting fights over."
I
Izuku massaged her forehead, as she listened.
She had been here before… Only back then, the tales of fights had been in the past tense, and though absolutely a family matter, wasn't really her responsibility.
"-punks got 4 arms broken, 3 broken legs, and one concussion."
As opposed to the matter laid in front of her.
The 11 year old, who had beaten up a biker gang, had a sullen expression as she sat, arms crossed, a bruise around her left eye, and some minor scruffs over her arms.
"They deserved it! They talked bad about mom!"
A gloved hand closed around the top of her head, and the girl immediately shut up.
"Be quiet dear… The Adults are talking."
She turned back to the constable, who had a sympathetic expression.
"So… The men in question have been talking about pressing charges… But frankly speaking, I don't think it'll come too much for them if they do. 9 grown men getting into a fight with a kid and losing is… Well even disregarding her family… That's not something a judge would be likely to side with them on… Not when they all have rapsheet and a reputation…"
'But it would still go on her record?"
"Yeah. It would."
She sighed.
There was a choice here… But she didn't really consider it.
"If they're willing to sign non-disclosure agreements regarding the whole thing now, without questions, I'm willing to pay them each 17 000 000 Yen."
The police officer nodded.
"I'll be sure to tell them that. Probably gonna take it I think."
"Of course they will."
Her eyes went down to her child, who froze and swallowed as her mother's anger was directed at her.
"They're countryside biker punks… About as close to total nobodies as you can get…"
I
As they came home, Amra clearly expected a lecture of some kind.
Truth be told, Izuku could clearly see that she had been expecting one the entire trip home.
Izuku almost did at several points… But she just didn't have the energy today. She was tired, from a long infiltration mission, and the last thing she'd wanted to deal with as she finally came home to her summer house was to hear that her daughter had been beating the local, harmless criminals to a pulp.
As she sat down on the sofa, leaning back, she just wanted to lie down, and sleep…
So of course Amra just had to speak up.
"...You're mad aren't you, mom?"
Izuku sighed.
"You're grounded for the rest of the summer... So yes, I am."
Izuku really wished that would be the end of it.
It wouldn't though. Amra wasn't the kind of kid who just let things go.
"They… They were talking so bad about you mom… They… They were complete and total scumbags!"
It was one step short of saying outright "They deserved it".
"I don't care Amra. The entire reason we moved away from the city was because I wanted you to stop with this!"
She raised herself up, despite how tired she felt.
"You need to learn to let things go!"
For a moment, they glared at each other, mother and child, eyes of green locked together.
It was Amra who looked away first, as she always did under her mother's disapproving look.
"I just… I get so angry when people talk like that about you mom…"
Izuku's eyes got more understanding.
"I know you do sweetie… But… This is my life. I made peace with that long ago. That sort of comment doesn't bother me anymore… I haven't cared about those since before you were even born."
"But… Youre awesome mom! Way better than Kacchan or Shield!"
For a moment, Izuku felt such relief that she had managed to get her girl through a life where her and Kacchan's old feud had never reached her ears.
"I… I just… Why can't people see that?"
She was a sweetheart… Despite how she had taken on more punkish aspects as she grew older.
Izuku's hand reached over and ruffled her hair.
"It doesn't matter sweetie… The only person who's approval matters to me like that… Is you. No one else on this blue Earth."
The girl looked up at her, clearly distraught, but then suddenly blushing.
"R-really?"
"Yeah. You are."
Everyone else… Was dead, or had left this planet behind, to seek their luck in the terraforming of mars.
Izuku smiled… But she hadn't changed her mind.
"You're still grounded though."
"...crap."
I
Looking back at it, her parents had been blessed.
Izuku had been such an obedient, quiet child, who before Superheroing had become a part of her life, had never caused any trouble for her parents.
Izuku had never really understood how rare that actually was to experience for parents. Not a single one of her circle of friends and acquaintances had gone through their own kids growing up without at least one of their broods having a rebellious streak.
Amra was no different in that regard.
In her case, it pretty much all came back to her boyfriends.
From 12 to her current 15, she had had 6 of them, none of which her mother had particularly approved of.
The seventh was a little better, being a punk… If a rather likable one.
He was not the worst boy Amra had brought home… But it was not him and his blonde hair and red eyes that really mattered to her right then and there.
It was the origin of those red eyes, and blonde hair, sitting opposite of her across the table.
Awkward, was the word to describe the dinner as the two families met each other for the first time.
She had thought the boy had looked familiar… But truthfully, she had fully expected Amra to dump him sooner rather than later.
She wondered if it would have reached this point if she had dug into him and his family before.
Looking equally awkward to how she felt, was her daughter's boyfriend's parents.
"...Small world."
Kacchan's voice hadn't lost its edge, but his looks definitely had. He had kept in shape, but there was no getting around the fact that he now exuded the kind of "Dad Energy" that Vegeta had in Dragon Ball GT, complete with a terrible porn mustache, only with an accompanying beard.
"It really, really is, apparently."
For a while, the two of them just glared at each other, Izuku more melancholic, Kacchan more of the usual, anger boiling just under the surface.
Mrs. Bakugo, by contrast, was far more relaxed, enjoying the food from her chef.
"Man, this is good food Izuku-Chan! Did you make this?"
"Not at all. I have a Chef who makes my food for me."
Her eyes glanced down at Mr. Bakugo's shaking hands.
If she recalled correctly, Kacchan had been an amazing chef. Apparently his wife had not managed to pick up his slack.
She didn't say anything more about it though, instead keeping quiet until Amra and the boy finally showed up.
What followed was the single most awkward dinner Izuku had ever been a part of. Even more so than that time she and Chariot had witnessed the Todoroki family's complete meltdown together.
The difference between that time and now though, was that there was no explosions. The undercurrent that had been there during the entire meal did not erupt from either side.
Izuku had no idea how either of her old classmates felt about it inside, but as for herself…
She almost ended it, several times over the course of the dinner.
In fact, she had to fight herself not to end it.
The simple truth was, she was not able to be unbiased in this matter.
She had not liked Amra's most recent boyfriend, but she had to admit that he had honest virtues to bring to the table… It was just that she wasn't able to overlook what she saw as his faults anymore. He simply reminded her too much of Kacchan.
And yet, she made the choice to keep her silence on the matter.
She… Honestly wasn't sure whether it was a good, or bad decision, but she made it regardless.
She had to let Amra make her own decisions in this regard, she couldnt baby her forever. She would have to grow to make her own decisions as she approached adulthood… Whether it would crash and burn or flourish. And if it burned… She was going to step in. Harshly.
I
"Mom, why don't we use Quirks to solve more of the world's problems?"
Izuku, who had been too busy doing her own paperwork, was taken completely aback by the question.
"What?"
Her daughter, having seated herself on the opposite end of the dinner table wassporting an expression that was entirely too serious for the girl.
"I've been thinking lately… There are so many problems we could solve with more liberal quirk usage."
She stared at the girl, who was now halfway into her first year as a Hero Student.
"You… You do realize I was the one who defeated Shigaraki and what he stood for… Right?"
Amra snorted, getting a more pouty, and frankly in character look for her.
"I'm not talking about some "Might makes right" BS mom. I'm talking about stuff like leveling mountains and rocky ground for construction, or just getting rid of trash. There are a lot of minor steps that could be completely trivialized by using quirks."
"You mean… Like they do on Mars?"
The girl hesitated, sensing the minefield suddenly ahead.
"Well… Mars wasn't exactly my first go to example for what I mean… I mean… I've just been thinking about it, when I learned how we use Quirks to deal with plastic pollution and global warming… I just… I started wondering why we don't do that more."
Izuku considered.
"Well… it comes down to the economy for the most part. The thing is… Trying to use quirks to solve all of the World's problems has been tried many times. It never worked. The current system isn't Perfect… But it works for the most part."
"But… It could be better. Like… Way better."
The girl looked really eager on the subject, in a way Izuku honestly hadn't seen her in years.
Her eyes were burning, and Izuku… Honestly could not see why.
"I suppose… I mean… A LOT of people wouldn't be happy about that."
"But what do you think mom?"
She again was taken aback by how burning the girl seemed to be about the question.
It took her completely aback.
"I… I suppose…"
Her memories flashed back to Shigaraki's era, and all the chaos and death she had witnessed before she chopped his head off.
For a moment, she briefly considered just telling her about that. What a horrible time to be alive it was to go through an era where people was willing to try to change how the system fundamentally ran. When Violence ruled the world.
She didn't.
Instead she said: "I suppose that would depend on the content of the changes."
And how it was implemented.
I
Japan's Hero society was once again on the brink of a violent overthrow.
Death, chaos and suffering was once again about to try to violently overthrow peace, stability and order.
This time though, the ones trying to wreck the system was a much different threat than the outsiders like Shigaraki and the Destro family, people who felt rejected by the Hero system outright.
Instead the old guard who had lived through the complete and total anarchy of the fall of law and order in the wake of All Might's death, now fought their own children, their own next generation who had known nothing but peace and order, but who had also grown up with a government who was frequently and far more blatantly willing to be as heavy handed as they regarded as necessary to ensure stability.
Father against son, Heroes versus sidekicks, flawed stability against a wish for perfection and cleaning up the darker sides of Japan's Heroes.
It had been building for quite a while, and just needed a fuse to light the powderkeg ablaze.
That had come in the form of the public an unexpected confession of a certain Hero, tightly interwoven with Japan's Hero association, as he laid out, in a teary, online confession, all the things he did behind the scenes to keep the current system look far, far cleaner than it actually was.
Not only that… But there had been several before him in that role. Two heroes of old named Hawks and Lady Nagant, who had killed and cleaned up any "Deviants" who had tried to exploit the system in criminal ways, and by doing so, risked the faith the common people had in Heroes.
It had been the final straw.
That's how Iida had explained it.
She didn't care.
Or rather, the actual reasons for all of these, the youngsters slowly building rage as it was their generation that was put under the scrutiny of the government, didn't really matter much for her at the moment.
At the moment, as beneath her, far, far below, enormous explosions and fights lit Japan's capital up like a christmas tree, Izuku devoted every single bit of attention to the fight at hand.
A fight that had smashed her usual self confidence to pieces.
And that was as it started. It had been going on for a while now, though how long Izuku had no idea. She was tired though. So, damn tired, as she blocked a blow that had the power of a low level, tactical nuclear warhead behind it.
It sent her flying like a projectile out of a gun, but after half a kilometer, she quickly righted herself in the air, and once more turned to face her foe.
The girl was Burning with an aura of green, searing, all encompassing flames .
Both Midoriyas were panting hard, absolutely exhausted, though for different reasons.
For Izuku, it was that age old feeling of lightheadedness that came with using up her blood.
For Amra, it was damage that piled up over time, as for all that she had inherited from her mother, instant regeneration waa not amongst it.
Izuku was the one far, far worse off though, but it had little to do with loss of blood.
"THIS IS FUCKING INSANE AMRA!"
The girl launched herself at her again, this time trying to grapple her, as they swirled through the sky.
"The… The INSANE thing here Mom is that you actually protect this shitty Government! We need to RIP IT UP BY THE ROOTS AND START OVE-"
Izuku grabbed the girl's left arm and with a violent swing filled with POWER, she sent her flying straight down into the Earth with enough force that demolished the entire shopping district it hit.
Izuku, despite knowing the entire city would have been evacuated by now, winched at the sheer level of destruction.
Not that she got to feel that way for long, as the inferno of green flames shot up through the rubble and then rested in front of her again, spitting out a glob of blood from her mouth.
"You're not going all out mom. Your heart isn't in this."
"OF COURSE IT ISN'T! YOURS ISN'T EITHER!"
The girl winched… Then forced herself back to a composed state.
"Maybe not… But it's too late now. Not to mention… But this fight doesn't matter. We might be the strongest pieces on the board, but as we speak, my buddies might already have finished killing off all the members of the Hero Association. We-"
She didn't want to hear it.
"YOU'VE SAID THIS DRIVEL FOUR TIMES AMRA! I'M NOT JOINING YOU! EVEN IF YOU IDIOTS ACTUALLY WIN THIS, I'M NOT GONNA GIVE YOU MY APPROVAL! YOUR FRIENDS ARE MURDERERS!"
"And I'm not?"
The words made Izuku choke on what she was about to say next.
"Just cause I didn't kill any of the animals who lead our society directly, doesn't mean I'm not the same as the rest."
"Y-you… You don't have to be… I… We can fix this…"
The girl laughed.
"By throwing money at it? We've reached a bit beyond that point mom…"
She gave a sad smile.
"The boss put it bluntly. If we win, we're Heroes. If we lose, we're villains. That's how civil wars go… I don't really care about any of that though."
She raised hand, and closed in a fist, as she locked eyes with her mother.
"I… I don't know how you can accept stuff like this mom. Being a part of a Hero system where they constantly throw "Inconvenient" Villains and Heroes alike in Tartarus without trial or due process, cause giving them the chance to speak up about the shit they know.
She motioned out with her left hand towards a massive firestorm below.
"Hell, that old fucking geezer Endeavor STILL isn't In prison! The guy got away with ALL of his crimes and actions scot free!"
"His family-" "His family shouldn't have had to make that choice in the first place! He should have lost his hero license and been thrown in jail ages ago! How the hell can people, or other heroes for that matter feel safe when monsters like that walk free amongst us!"
The girl grit her teeth, and stared at her mother in a feral, animal-like manner that Izuku had never, ever seen on her face.
"I don't… I don't understand how you can stand it mom… I just don't… But I'm Not you… I Can't just stand or accept it… I-"
A brilliant, sparkling blue laser beam shot up from below and punched a hole through her stomach, ripping out everything from where it hit near the bottom of the spine, to where it exited at around her navel.
For a brief, brief second, both Izuku and Amra just looked at it, Izuku with a sudden shock, like she couldn't understand what had just happened, and Amra looking down for a brief, brief moment, in sudden, but not overwhelming surprise… As if she was looking down at having stepped on something, and not her lower guts now hanging out of her stomach.
Then the green fire went out, and she fell backwards just like that.
A long, long time ago, in a different age, Izuku had once been criticized during her Hero License exam, for having a problem of not acting immediately, hesitating rather than jumping into something.
It couldn't have happened.
After a moment of utter, total shock, the older woman followed downwards, a dragon, dive bombing down through heavens like a meteor.
As Izuku caught her, they were almost at the ground. Too close for a parachute landing. Izuku wrenched their direction, sideways with titanic force and the power of two wings, so that rather than slamming down into the ground directly downward, they instead smashed into it at an angle, two wings engulfing both of them after the first, titanic bounce along the earth.
They bounced several times across the city scape, a massive, green, rugged cocoon… Before finally coming to a stop after crashing into an apartment.
The wings unfolded with enormous force, clearing away everything around them, leaving just the two of them.
Izuku was still in shock. She had not had any thoughts of what to do next.
She hadn't planned for it.
Her body had moved on its own.
It wasn't before a heavy, wheezing breath began sounding that she finally snapped out of it.
She had to… She had too…
Her hands went up to…
A hole. A massive hole.
Her mind went still.
She was back-NO! No, don't think about that, FOCUS!
She began shaking, hard as she realized she didn't have what she needed. With an ambulance and a hospital, maybe, but…
Everyone was gone.
"...Huh… Not… Really how I thought I'd go..."
Two, brilliant green eyes went up towards hers.
"Don't… Don't talk…"
"Hurts… Hurts to talk…"
She coughed up blood, but then rallied.
Izuku was crying.
She hadn't even realized she had begun to do so.
"I… This is it I guess…"
Her face was twisted in pain, but those eyes… She knew.
She was going to die.
Her life was about to end.
Something… Inside Izuku, something she hadn't even been aware was there just… Crumbled.
Feelings of despair, of sorrow just… Flowing in all at once, as she recalled every single moment she had ever had with this girl, good or ill.
"Huh… You know… Gura was against this… Entire thing… we fought so hard… I…"
Tears began to flow from her eyes, just as they did her mother's, who had now leaned down and was cradling her as loud, brutal sobs began to let forth from her lips.
"God… I miss that idiot… hah… Hah…"
Izuku tried to speak, but… Nothing would come out. No words.
It was like everything hurt.
Like something had stabbed every part of her all at once as memories of Amara's life began to play forward inside her mind like pictures of a movie at 50 times the usual speed, and yet… She caught everything… Every part that included this girl at least.
Emotions that she hadn't even been aware she wasn't feeling in full now crashed her like a wave through a now broken dike.
The pain… It hurt… It was like… It was the same pain like when dad died just… Just so much worse.
"...Hey… Mom… Did… Did I… Did I matter?"
Words finally did come, though she barely saw anything through the tears.
"Of… Of course you did!"
"I… Never managed to… become something though… Good or… Bad…"
It didn't matter. Nothing about that mattered.
"That… That doesn't matter… You… You're my little girl… That matters…"
"Heh… I guess… That is what I'll be remembered as… Izuku's little girl… There are… Worse things to…"
Izuku held the girl in a death grip, focusing everything, absolutely everything on her, on the girl in her arms, and yet… It took several minutes before she realized the girl had stopped breathing.
"Hah…Hah…Hah!
She began breathing hard, quick, shallow breaths, mixed with sounds that didn't sound like they belonged to any Human being… Instead… Sounding like an ANIMAL.
"You Heroes… hurt your own families… Just to help complete strangers…! My father taught me that…"
Shigaraki's final words before she cleaved his head off…
The world… Everything… Shattered like glass.
I
Izuku stumbled out of the maze, then froze.
She just stood there, taking in the smell and air of Yuei's training grounds, which suddenly felt alive and vibrant, the air on her skin seeming realer than anything she had felt in a long, long while.
Her mouth was slightly open as she looked down on the black dress she was wearing.
She realized that there were steps in front of her. A stairway, up towards a raised platform.
The final leg of the journey.
She… Didn't feel anything.
Looking up at it, she realized it was there, but…
The world, despite being clearly there, all around her, didn't… Feel like it was.
She felt like she was somewhere far away.
Somewhere disconnected from the world around her.
She began walking up the steps. It didn't come from a thought, then a calculated action, just… a whim of her body.
She suddenly realized that she was supposed to finish by going up the stairs, and so she did.
That she only realized that she was supposed to do that long after she had begun moving was…
Stone.
There was a stone at the very top of the thing, laying on a pedestal.
She was walking down the steps again.
Someone had called out to her.
Despite everything, you remained true to yourself.
It was DTR who had called.
There was several of him, but only one voice.
There were several of the other people there too.
She followed.
Despite everything, you remained true to yourself.
The entire class had already gathered.
Fuku was now hanging on a knob embedded in the cement wall.
DTR began talking.
She picked Fuku up and went to stand with the rest of the students.
Fuku said something.
DTR began explaining the government's view on things.
She didn't answer Fuku.
Despite everything, you remained true to yourself.
Despite everything, you remained true to yourself.
Despite everything, you remained true to yourself.
I
Kirishima was one of the students who had taken the final part of the lesson to heart more than others.
He hadn't really been in a good mood going in at all… But in it, he'd been shown a vision of himself as he could be, the kinda guy he WANTED to become… While also being shown pitfalls he'd never even considered.
It wasn't impossible for him to achieve his dream, his actual dream after all… But even if he did, the journey wasn't over.
"-So you also had problems with sidekicks Tsuyu-San?"
The frog girl seemed her usual sense, but Kiriahima got the sense that she seemed a bit more… Giddy, than usual.
It was a weird feeling to get from the frog girl, especially given she had really been kinda down before part 2.
"Well Kinda. I had a sidekick who defined my career. Then she decided to retire to become a stay at home mom."
"Wow, that's… That's way more mundane than mine."
"Mundane choice and their consequences was the entire point of the exercise Kirishima-Kun."
"Well yeah, but… Actually yeah, you're right. It's just that the problems with my sidekicks was a bit more serious… And kinda my fault. See I had over 50 of them! Young, energetic firebrands with passion and devotion!"
"I don't think you have the kind of qualities that would be necessary to run such a large organization Kirishima-Kun."
He winched, but it was true enough.
"Yeah… That was the problem… Also, it turns out the whole law system that protects Hero businesses from having to pay for property damage they might cause has a limit, and it's tied to offices, not the individual Heroes in them. I had to take a lot of loans and let so many of my lads go… It was kinda depressing… But it worked out in the end. Speaking of, the message at the end was REALLY COOL!"
"It's just a continuation of part 1. The important part, as DTR-Sensei said, is to be able to keep moving forward with your choices regardless."
"Yeah, and that's why it was sooo cool! Like I was expecting some personalized evaluation, but instead it was a message that hit so deep, and relevant for everyone! Sensei really gets what it's all about!"
It was a message that appealed to him, specifically, greatly.
He had… Not always been who he was now after all. But the person he was now… there was still a lot of growth left to do… But it was the person he was now, that he was going to build his foundations on.
Despite everything… No matter what was thrown his way… He had to remain true to himself, as he was now.
That was the only way forward towards a life he could be proud of!
"Well, I'm glad you liked it, my young, Indestructible student. This exercise tends to get mixed results!"
DTR, sporting the grin he'd been wearing for most of the day, returned, followed by a silent Izuku, wearing a cute, black minidress.
Several of the students raised an eye at the attractive green haired girl wearing an outfit that was very generous in how it showed off her curves… But most of those who looked her way, instead turned towards Bakugo as he made the most forced attempts at a dismissive snorting sound any of them had ever heard, and some caught him clearly, deliberately turning his face away from Izuku.
His eyes and cheeks betrayed his deathly serious, sour expression, making him look about as close to a real life tsundere any of them had ever seen, Mina in particular perking up at that with a sudden, catlike grin… But their sensei clapped his hands together to get all their attention.
As their sensei began, Izuku went over to where she'd left her sailor suit.
"It is important to recognize just how important your everyday choices are, both on the large, and on the small scale! As Heroes, you will have to choose which lives to save, and will have to live with knowing that you cannot save everyone… But that is only one side of the coin. As human beings, you have to make personal choices, choices that will affect you as people… And there is none of you who have no desires outside of Hero work. Everyone of you has something you want out of life outside of being a hero… And the key to a happy, fulfilling life is to balance your careers, and what you want."
He looked out over his students, looking clearly happy with all of them.
"For some of you, that something is love, romance, family! For others it's an ideal, a wish, a dream. And for others maybe you realized that something or someone you thought you outgrew, was far, far more important to you than you might have considered. Regardless, it is important that you all take into account what you learned about yourself into your future paths! Because that will be one of the great keys you all have to a happy, productive life!"
For the most part, the exercise to this part had been positive.
There were a few in the middle, like Bakugo, but for the most part everyone was much happier than after the first part… But there were two outliers who had gone all the way in the opposite direction.
One was Midoriya Izuku, who was now just staring off into the distance with a slightly open mouth, holding her regular sailor suit to her chest like she was casually holding a dried towel… And the second was Todoroki Shoto.
Todoroki was in a Foul mood.
Not feeling down, angry.
He just glared at their sensei, as if his greatest was to make an ice statue of the man.
Whatever his thoughts though, when he spoke he just asked in a voice, cold as ice:
"And what was the twist to part one?"
DTR looked at him over, his smile dying a bit… Before he snapped back around towards the majority of the class.
"So… The hidden twist… Well, it's rather simple. I don't usually pair these two exercises together, you see. Part one… Is usually my final practical exam for first years, performed at the end of year one, rather than near the beginning."
Everyone just stared at him.
The mood didn't actually die, it just… Was mixed with confusion.
It was Tsuyu who raised her hand and asked the obvious question.
"Why did you change the order around Sensei?"
The man's smile vanished, but his serious expression did not.
"That my dear… Has a very simple explanation. I did it… Because I got an order from on high, from Japan's Hero Association. The Government's actual order… Was to put you kids through my most grueling test before the Sport's festival."
Another awkward silence followed, as everyone but Izuku and Mei, looked at him with confused eyes.
Shoto nodded.
"They want to weed out as many as they can, before we are put on display for all the world to see. Just like Aizawa warned us about, the world will judge us mercilessly."
He explained it all in that same, cold, brutal voice.
Kirishima felt like someone had punched him in the gut.
"That is one interpretation…" DTR said.
"Regardless of what you wish to read into that… And as a teacher the government very much wants to find an excuse to fire, arrest and strip of everything, I shall not give any of my unauthorized takes on that… But regardless, the point Aizawa told you about earlier today still stands!"
His voice as he spoke got stronger, more powerful, confident… Honestly this was how Kirishima wanted himself to sound.
"The world thinks you kids are weak… It expects you to crumble, because it believes that the only reason that you survived was pure, simple luck, and no guts, ability or hutzpah or your own part… But you kids, just as I know better. You survived that invasion because you were strong of will, skill and character! You did not buckle under the pressure when the going got rough… And as today has shown, that was NOT a miracle, a one time thing! You have the strength to crush the world's expectations, and surpass them! And regardless, who CARES about what the world thinks!"
As he spoke he once more took off his sunglasses in dramatic fashion, capturing his audience with those electrical blue eyes.
"When I began my work, the world laughed at me, they called me a fool, a degenerate, a subpar Hero who would never amount to anything in my life! Well, in spite of all of that, I am STILL here! I'm alive! I have saved 241 043 Human lives over the course of my career, and I have a lovely, beautiful wife and 5 adorable little girls! THAT is my legacy! It is one I am happy with! Because regardless of every single insult thrown my way, every mistake I made on the way, everytime I crumbled, I have lived a life I am happy with! I gave it my ALL and I shall continue to do so! Just as you all will! Go the distance my little students! Discards whatever insults and petty words the world throws at you to get you down, and LIVE YOUR LIVES TO THE FULLEST! Be who YOU want to be and chase that life into the horizon! GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!"
I
Izuku walked home in a daze.
She didn't really realize where she was, just… Following the usual route back home.
There was so many different thoughts and feelings bouncing around in her skull. Far more than it should have been. Like her brain was not physically capable of handling everything running through it.
"We call cognitive overload, it's-"
An old bit, from an old sentence, she had heard once, long ago.
A lion.
A life flashed before her eyes.
Not her own… Someone else's.
A girl. A lion?
The girl switched forms as she tried to comprehend her, one moment a cute girl with green hair, the next a large cat from Africa.
There was… Something missing.
Shouldn't there have been… Confidence? The experience of an older her, confidence, lack of doubt… Growth as a person.
There was none of that.
In fact… As she tried to focus on that aspect, it grinded away, turning to dust.
Only the girl remained. The lion.
A cub.
A girl on the cusp of adulthood.
A little girl who spilled her mothers coffee over her own favorite dress.
A girl proud to show off her License, with a big smile.
A teenager who was crying into her mom's shoulder after another breakup.
A girl who was sitting on her mother's shoulders and laughing as they glided through the sky, oblivious to the cold temperatures.
A girl who beat a boy senseless because she called her mother a slut.
A girl asking about their larger family, and a tight, painful knot forming in her mothers… No, in HER stomach.
Izuku stopped dead in her tracks.
She was in the entrance way.
She blinked.
She was still wearing the black dress.
Fuku was draped across her arm.
Backpack at her back.
She was still wearing her red shoes.
Her mother walked out from the living room, wearing an apron, clearly in the middle of making food.
"Oh, hey sweetie! How did the first day at school go?"
"I…"
You take care of your family. That's just part of what being a Human is about, Izuku. It's what separates Humankind from an Animal.
"I…"
You Heroes… hurt your own families… Just to help complete strangers…! My father taught me that…
It sank in.
Finally.
She just started crying.
Not small tears at first either, she just stood there, and began bawling her eyes out.
Her mother just stood there in complete shock as her daughter just stood there in the hallway, crying as her head went up and backwards as if she was looking into the roof, her arms falling limplessly to her sides as Fuku slid from them onto the floor.
The shock did not last for long though, as Izuku suddenly found two arms closing around her in a warm hug, accompanied by soothing, kind words.
Izuku just kept crying though, even as two arms of cloth joined her mother's, and she continued until her tears literally ran dry.