Boku no Hero Academia: Custodian Izuku

Disclaimer: This is a crossover fanfiction story of 'Boku no Hero Academia' and 'Warhammer 40k' (yes, really). I own nothing of the two series other than the fanfiction stories that I make.

I am making this story for the sake of fun, fluff and awesome after writing a one-shot story of the same story concept. If I am able to somehow impress fans of Warhammer 40k or even move someone to tears, even better.

Also, if anyone wants to know how in the world I got this idea in the first place, please refer to the artist, Ryuusei (Mark II), who has made some awesome pictures of gender-bent primarchs. The link is: .us/pools/17320

Please note that while I am familiar with the Warhammer 40k setting, my actual knowledge of it is casual at best. Also, if the genderbent primarchs seem at least a bit OOC, please kindly consider the fact that their bodies (especially the traitor primarchs) have changed drastically after entering Izuku's world.

In case anyone asks how much crack I was taking in to come up with the idea, I am just going to say enough to make even a loyalist Adaptus Astartes trippy.

Chapter 17: Days at U.A. High School (Part 3 - U.S.J. Episode)

A few days had passed since the start of the current school year at U.A. High School and it was time for the students of the hero courses to take part in a field trip at a location known as the Unforeseen Simulation Joint (U.S.J.). The goal of the field trip was to have the hero course students take part in practical rescue training exercises.

Of course, Izuku and some of the primachs from Class V, along with Eri and Inko, were taking part in the trip as well.

When the group, which included the students of Classes 1A and 1B, arrived at the U.S.J., they were greeted by a young woman with short navy-blue hair, as well as blond hair at the top of her head, and hazel irises which have rings around them named Kurose Anan. Also known as the pro-heroine, Thirteen, Anan was dressed in her spacesuit-inspired hero costume as she greeted the students, "Welcome to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, everyone!"

"Oh, my gosh! It's Thirteen!" said Ochako who was clearly a fan of the pro-heroine.

"I see that you're a fan," said Anan who was amused by Ochako's excitement.

Ochako nodded eagerly and said, "You're a space-themed rescue heroine who can make black holes to clear away debris!"

"That's indeed correct!" said Anan.

"Hello, Thirteen-san," said Eri who was waving at Anon while being carried in Curze's arms.

Shouta, who was standing between Sekijirou and Keigo, cleared his throat before he said, "Thirteen, if you could please proceed with the lesson."

"Ah, right!" exclaimed Thirteen before she proceeded to speak to the students, "As you have heard, my name is Thirteen and I am indeed a rescue hero. While my quirk is certainly useful in clearing debris during a rescue operation, the sad truth is that this power can just as be easily used to destroy. In fact, your quirks, skills in Midoriya-kun's case, can just as easily be used to bring harm or worse upon others." The cheerful mood of the students turned solemn as Anan continued to speak, "Even if your intentions are good, there is always the risk of accidentally causing harm when you use your quirks or skills. This lesson is therefore a chance for all of you to not only learn when and how to use your abilities in a rescue situation but also save others in doing so. Remember, a hero should always prioritise helping others!"

"PLUS ULTRA!" yelled Inasa who was clearly excited to get started.

Used to Inasa's boisterous intensity, many of the the students from Classes 1A and 1B, as well as Izuku, grinned and yelled together in unison, "Plus Ultra!"

-A short while later…-

Due to the large number of students, it was decided that Classes 1A and 1B would be taught at separate sections of the U.S.J. which had six different sections that simulated one type of disaster each. In addition, Shouta and Keigo would supervise Class 1A while Sekijirou and Anan supervised Class 1B. As for the students of Class V, they were divided into two groups which followed the two classes separately.

The first group from Class V, named Group V-1A as they would be with Class 1A, included Izuku, Angron, Russ, Corax and Curze. Understandably, Eri and Inko followed Group V-1A.

As for the second group that would be with Class 1B, Group V-1B, it included Sanguinius, Lion, Icarian and Jaghatai.

While Class 1B and Group V-1B were sent to the flood zone, Class 1A and Group V-1A went to the mountain zone instead. The first lesson that Izuku and his peers from both Class 1A and Group V-1A had to learn was how to rescue people who were trapped at the bottom of a deep chasm within the mountain zone. The lesson involved three students playing different roles as "victims" who were trapped in the said chasm and were to be rescued by four "heroes". One victim would be unconscious while the second victim would be conscious but with a broken leg and the last victim would be physically fine but very afraid. Izuku, Angron and Corax were selected to be the "victims" who needed to be rescued by Ochako, Tsuyu, Fumikage and Shinsou who had been selected to rescue them.

Tsuyu, who was quick and agile thanks to her quirk, was able to reach the bottom of the chasm quickly and saw Izuku being overly-dramatic as he tearfully spoke to her, "Oh, thank heavens that you're here to save us! One of us is unconscious a-and I don't know what to do to save her!" It was obvious that Izuku was playing the role of the "unharmed victim" who was in distress while Angron was the "unconscious victim" and Corax was the "victim with a broken leg".

Corax, who was clearly embarrassed by Izuku's acting, said, "Please, calm yourself, Izuku. Panicking this much will not help anyone here."

"B-but what if An-chan never wakes up?" asked Izuku who then mournfully added, "My life will be an eternal empty void of endless sorrow without her!"

Tsuyu was glad that her face was not very expressive due to her quirk as she was sure that she would be smiling in amusement, at the very least, as she spoke to Izuku, "Your friend is correct. You need to calm down so that we can save all of you, kero."

"B-but how will you get us all out of here?" asked Izuku.

"We heroes have our ways, kero," said Tsuyu who then added, "I am going to leave for a short while so that I can bring the other heroes to this location. We will be back here before you know it, I promise, kero."

Izuku nodded and said, "O-okay. We're all counting on you."

Tsuyu nodded before she used her frog-like leaping ability to quickly get back to the top of the chasm to explain the situation to Ochako, Fumikage and Shinsou. It was quickly decided that Ochako and Fumikage would follow Tsuyu down the chasm while Shinsou would remain at the top. Since Fumikage could rely on Dark Shadow to help him get down the chasm, he needed little help to do so. As for Ochako, she made herself weightless so that Tsuyu could easily drag her down the chasm with her tongue.

Izuku, who was still playing his role, was clinging onto Angron in a way not unlike a small child desperately clinging onto his mother. Ochako and Tsuyu were torn between deciding that the scene was cute or hilarious while Corax had her hand on her blushing face while grumbling, "Please save those two first. Otherwise, I'll probably die from second-hand embarrassment at this rate."

It should be noted that Angron was clearly embarrassed herself as her face was not only red but looked as though she had just eaten an extremely sour lemon.

Ochako could not stop herself from snorting at Corax's comical statement before she, Tsuyu and Fumikage agreed to save Izuku and Angron first. Thanks to Ochako's ability to negate the pull of gravity, Angron and Izuku were quickly taken to the surface with the cooperative help of both Dark Shadow and Tsuyu.

Little did the Izuku, Ochako, Tsuyu, Fumikage and Shinsou realise that they were being observed by a flying drone that not only had anti-gravity propulsion and was concealed by advanced stealth technology but was also, for some reason, designed to look like a cartoony floating skull.

-Meanwhile, at Nedzu's office…-

Nedzu was amused by Izuku's overly dramatic acting and made a mental note to thank Vulcan, Ferrus, Dorn and Mei for building and testing the still-experimental 'servo-skulls' with such impeccably coincidental timing. He also made a mental note to save the video as a recording so that he could send a copy of it to Inko. After all, she would certainly want to have a recording of her beloved son doing something amusingly silly with the former primarchs.

With Izuku and Angron rescued, quite effectively too at that, Nedzu took a moment to see the rescue training that was happening at the flood zone of the U.S.J. and almost snickered at the sight of Lion scowling grumpily due to being completely drenched in water. In fact, given her soggy water-logged hair, it could be argued that she resembled an actual grumpy lion that was displeased due to being drenched.

-At the same time, in a business course venue…-

Nekona giggled and said, "Midoriya-kun sure knows how to be overly dramatic, nyan."

Guilliman shook her head with a smile and said, "Even from over here, I can feel the embarrassment that Angron must be feeling right now."

"Well, if nothing else, Midoriya-kun certainly has potential as a comedy actor," said Nekona.

"Or a comedic impersonator," said Guilliman who once recalled how Izuku could impersonate various people, including some of the former primarchs such as Corax, with hilarious accuracy.

The conversation soon ended as both Nekona and Guilliman continued to take notes of how the hero students performed for their rescue training exercises.

-At the same time, in the support studio…-

"Well, it's good to know that the servo-skulls are functioning as intended," said Dorn who had an amused smirk on her face,

"With the right adjustments, we will be able to send them into the field as actual support 'familiars' for pro-heroes, the police force and the military," said Ferrus.

"Getting some hilarious videos of our peers with Nedzu's permission is certainly a nice bonus," said Vulkan who chuckled good-naturedly.

Mei was wriggling her fingers with obvious eagerness as she spoke, "Oh, I can't wait to add some sweet zoggin' weapons to these babies!"

"We… may allow it at some point but you will have to settle for something lightweight like a 'lasgun' since anything that is heavy or uses powerful ballistics like a bolt gun will be impractical for something as small and lightweight as a servo-skull," said Ferrus who mentally grimaced at the reminder that Mei had, for some reason, rapidly acquired some of the "orky lingo" that Vulkan had used before.

When Dorn, Ferrus and Vulkan asked Mei why she started copying some of Vulkan's verbal tics, Mei simply replied that it felt right for some reason. Her answer reinforced their opinion that she was indeed an "orky radical" if not an "orky heretek".

"Bah, nothing that adding stronger 'anti-grav' thrusters and stronger frames can't fix!" said Mei who then added, "Besides, I know that you three have been building 'bolt pistols' as lightweight alternatives to the bolt gun."

"That's certainly true, but those guns will still use bolts and those aren't exactly lighter than typical bullets," said Dorn.

Mei smirked and said, "Then I'll just have to build a gun that shoots smaller or thinner bolts…" Her eyes widened as she suddenly had an epiphany and said, "I've got it! I can build bolts small enough to be fitted onto the belts of regular belt-fed guns! They will not have the sheer power of regular bolts but the rapid fire alone will make up for it! I'll name these babies… 'Dakka'!"

Dorn, Ferrus and Vulkan wore horrified expressions on their faces as Mei started to cackle like an "orky mad dok". Upon witnessing the horrified expressions on the former primarchs' faces, Higari made a mental note to request for an assistant teacher as soon as possible just in case Mei became too "orky" for even them to handle.

-After Izuku's group had been "rescued"…-

Ochako giggled as she spoke to Izuku, "You were really dramatic during the rescue, Izuku!"

Izuku was grinning sheepishly as he explained, "Well, I was supposed to play the role of an unharmed victim in distress."

"Yes, we know, but your acting was… overly dramatic to say the least," said Corax.

Angron was still blushing as she grumbled, "It was either him or one of us being the unharmed victim in distress." Corax nodded as she knew that neither she nor Angron would have accepted playing such a role willingly. They had their pride as former demigod champions of humanity after all.

"Well, reactions to comically dramatic acting aside, the rescue was done quite well," said Keigo who was clearly amused.

Shouta nodded as he spoke, "While there is room for improvement, you four have done well for your first practical rescue attempt."

"Thank you," said Fumikage while bowing to the two teachers.

"I didn't do much to help," said Shinsou who was a little bitter about his lack of contribution to the rescue.

"While that is true, you at least did your part seriously," said Keigo who then wore a more serious expression and added, "Lives have been lost because of heroes letting their guard down. The fact that you did not is more praiseworthy than you might think."

Corax nodded and said, "Villains often pick the most inconvenient times to attack because it is precisely the best time for them to achieve a great victory over heroes. At the very least, your vigilance would have given your team mates the chance to either complete the rescue or be able to help you drive away anyone who would try to attack you and the victims."

Shinsou nodded in acknowledgement of the encouraging words and said, "I'll keep that in mind."

Before long, the students of Class 1A and Group V-1A completed their rescue training at the mountain zone. It should be noted that Eri and Inko actually volunteered to be victims who needed to be rescued.

-Some time later…-

Students from Classes 1A, 1B and V gathered at the ruins zone where Anan started to explain the rules of the current rescue exercise, "For this exercise, the goal is for a small group of students to rescue as many 'victims' who have been trapped in the ruins as possible. Of course, given the number of students we have today, nine students will be selected to rescue the rest who will be given eight minutes to spread out and hide from their rescuers. Of the forty students who will go into hiding, twenty of them may not speak or call out for help."

"It's like a game of hide-and-seek!" said Mina.

"Yes, but not quite," said Anan who then announced, "The rescuers… will be the nine of you!"

Izuku, Mezou, Minoru, Mina, Hanta, Setsuna, Pony, Neito and Hiryuu were chosen to be the rescuers while the rest went into hiding.

While waiting for the rescue practical lesson to begin, Izuku said, "We should split up into two teams to widen our search but stay close enough to help each other in case any complications arise."

Neito raised an eyebrow and asked, "Your idea is nowhere near the worst one I've ever heard, but who made you our leader?"

Izuku blushed and said, "Well, Thirteen-sensei never chose any of us to be the leader of this team and, honestly, I'm just giving suggestions."

"So it's less being the leader and more of an advisor?" asked Minoru.

"Unless you're fine with me being the leader, I guess so," said Izuku while shrugging.

A moment of silent consideration passed before Mezou spoke to Izuku, "Honestly, after watching that match between your team and Angron's, I'm not against having you as our team leader."

Setsuna grinned and said, "As a member of that winning team, I'm inclined to agree."

Seeing that no one disagreed with Mezou's statement, Neito huffed a little and asked, "All right, so what's the plan?"

"As I have said before, we should split into two teams," answered Izuku who then explained, "Shouji-san, Mineta-san, Rin-san, Ashido-san and myself will make one team while Tokage-san, Sero-san, Tsunotori-san and Monoma-san will make the other team."

"Is there a reason why I'm chosen to go with the second team?" asked Hanta.

Izuku nodded and explained to Hanta, "You, Tokage-san and Tsunotori-san are very mobile and can quickly get to the high ground to survey the area thanks to your respective quirks. Monoma-san can also copy your quirks to be, at the very least, more mobile than normal and, even if only temporarily, copy a quirk that that will allow him to do things the rest of the second team will be unable to do. In addition, assuming that my 'micro-beads' cannot work for some reason, Tokage-san's quirk will allow us to to still keep in touch with each other."

Hanta blinked in surprise before he grinned and said, "I get it now. You want us to be able to move faster than your team which will be the powerhouse team."

"That's correct," confirmed Izuku who then added, "Shouji-san can grow multiple eyes and ears to locate the victims and, if need be, use all six arms to move away debris but none of that will help him to move faster. Mineta-san can use his balls to stick things together and move faster just like Sero-san but, unlike Sero-san's tape which is only sticky on one side, his balls might end up becoming 'trapping hazards' in the process if he uses them carelessly while moving around. Ashido-san's acid is excellent for clearing a path as long as long as she is careful with it and she can use it to move around quickly but Sero-san, Tsunotori-san and Tokage-san are simply much faster than her in terms of getting to a high vantage point to locate the victims. We also can't ignore the fact that Ashido-san will leave a trail of acid behind her if she uses it to move around faster. Rin-san's quirk does not make him more mobile but an armoured state might allow him to avoid injuring himself while rescuing someone. As for myself, I'm quirkless but I know first aid, have my tools with me and my micro-beads can help everyone stay in touch."

A moment of silence passed before Pony sheepishly asked, "Did… anyone get all he said?" Although Pony was a half-American who loved watching Japanese anime and knew how to speak and read Japanese, she was still not very fluent.

"You… thought all of that in less than five minutes?" asked Mina who could not believe that Izuku had given so much thought about the quirks of his eight team members and the best way to use them.

"Pretty much," confirmed Izuku who then sheepishly added, "To be honest though, my suggestions are mostly based on what I understand from observing your quirks."

Another moment of silence passed before Rin asked, "Has anyone ever told you that you're one scarily competent quirk analyst and strategist?"

"Well, An-chan and the others have said that my analysis is pretty good but, compared to her and the other girls at the Imperial Dorm, I'm really not all that great," replied Izuku while smiling bashfully.

Minoru had a deadpan expression on his face and said, "Not that I doubt your opinion about those hot babes being OP as heck, but I'm pretty sure that I speak for all of us when I say that most of us can't come up with that level of planning in under five minutes."

Suddenly, Izuku had a thought and turned his attention to Monoma to ask, "Say, Monoma-san, is it possible for you to copy Tokage-san's quirk so that you can leave a finger with us?" His eyes shone with excitement as he explained, "If my theory is correct, you might be able to copy a quick from other people just by letting the person touch that detached finger. Of course, there is the risk of losing that finger too so you'll have make sure that Tokage-san is nearby or maybe she can leave her finger with you so that your copy of her quirk will not be lost too quickly."

Monoma was torn between being curious about the possible application of his quirk in conjunction with Setsuna's quirk and being horrified at the idea possibly losing even a finger due to "mad quirk-science".

While the students were having their discussion, Shouta smirked and said, "That settles it. I'm taking Midoriya as my student when he enters the hero course next year."

Well aware that Shouta, in spite of being able to cancel other people's quirks his is own quirk, essentially fought quirkless, Sekijirou understood the merits of letting his colleague teach Izuku. Even so, he did not want to simply give up the chance to teach Izuku himself as he argued, "If Midoriya wants to be an underground hero, I certainly won't disagree with the idea of him learning from you. However, unless I'm mistaken, he wants to be a hero who will bring hope to the people around him and, let's be honest here, you're not exactly the best at dealing with public relations."

Shouta huffed and spoke to Sekijirou with a half-serious tone, "You're talking as though he'll surely choose you over me."

"I'm not going to force him into joining my class if that's what you're insinuating but you and I both know that he admires All Might and might choose daylight heroics even if his role is to support others not unlike Sir Nighteye," said Sekijirou.

Unable to deny the rational logic in Sekijirou's response, Shouta conceded, "Fair point, but at least some of his friends are in Class 1A and we both know that it's no mere coincidence."

"There's that," admitted Sekijirou who, like many sane people who knew Nedzu, did not wish to get on the said principal's bad side.

-Meanwhile with Nedzu…-

Nedzu chuckled as he watched the live video stream and thought aloud, "Midoriya-kun's quick yet meticulous analysis and planning is truly praiseworthy." His expression became thoughtful as he pondered, "While I have certainly planned to let Midoriya-kun become Aizawa-kun's student next year, Kan-kun has made a good point about public relations being an important part of giving people hope. Perhaps I should consider giving the first year students a brief introduction to public relations a little earlier than originally planned. It will certainly benefit the student who will have to do the student pledge during the upcoming sports festival at the very least." His smile then turned a little malicious as he looked forward to the "surprises" that Curze had set up with his permission.

-At the same time, with Guilliman and Nekona…-

Nekona whistled and said, "Midoriya-kun's good. He would have made a great member of the business course for sure."

Guilliman nodded with a smile and said, "Although his plan could use some adjustments to account for possible attacks from an enemy, it is without any major flaw."

"True, the mobile group is going to be a bit lacking in power but Monoma's ability to copy quirks, even if only temporarily, should mitigate that issue a bit," said Nekona.

"Ideally, he should be given support gear that will allow him to copy a quirk without needing to be close to someone, or being reliant on Setsuna for that matter," said Guilliman who then smirked and added, "and I'm pretty sure that those three are having the same idea even as we speak."

-At the same time, with Dorn, Ferrus, Vulkan and Mei…-

"We should ask Neito if he can copy quirks from a sufficiently fresh DNA sample such as a lock of hair or a blood sample. Even a weakened copy of a useful quirk is better than nothing," said Dorn.

"Copying Setsuna's quirk so that he can send at least an eye and a hand to Izuku's team, while effective, is still a stop-gap measure that may not always be available or viable during a mission," said Ferrus.

"There's also that risk of him losing a body part if he's not careful while using her quirk," said Vulkan.

Mei grinned as she wrote down some notes at a furious pace and said, "That git's good and I can't wait to talk about making babies with him!"

Vulkan slapped her hand onto her face and groaned as she spoke to Mei, "Oh, for Emprah's sake, Mei, language!"

-Back to Izuku's group…-

After agreeing with the composition of the two teams, as well as making sure that Monoma would not be at risk of losing a finger thanks to having Setsuna's finger with him at all times for the training exercise, they set off to find the victims inside the ruins zone. However, things quickly started to go wrong when Setsuna gasped and yelled, "H-holy shit! There's a dead body over there!"

Equally shocked, Izuku asked, "Whose body is it?"

"I-it's a bald man with half his skin peeled off straight down from the middle!" answered Setsuna.

"T-there's so much blood!" whimpered Pony who was riding on her horns and had just seen the body that Setsuna was talking about.

Unexpectedly, Izuku's expression changed from worried to deadpan in just a single second as he used his micro-bead to talk to Anan, "Thirteen-sensei, did Curze, and maybe Icarian as well, come by here earlier before this class started?"

"You can say that," replied Thirteen who had enough decency to be sheepish about the situation.

Izuku sighed as he pinched his nose and grumbled, "It's that training session with Curze all over again."

Confused, Setsuna asked, "W-what do you mean?"

Izuku used his micro-bead to talk to Setsuna and Pony, "Tokage-san, Tsunotori-san, remember when you two and the others visited her room the other day?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with dead bodies?" asked Setsuna.

Mina, who had overheard the conversation through the micro-bead that Izuku had lent to her and recalled the clear clash between Eri's belongings with Curze's, widened her eyes as she spoke her thoughts aloud, "Curze's left fake dead bodies everywhere in the ruins zone, just like a pre-quirk era horror movie scene!"

"And that time when I had to train with her in a building with no working lights too," said Izuku who was unable to repress the shudder of fear at the mere memory of the experience.

"But won't that interfere with the actual training?" asked Mezou.

"Normally, yes. However, both Curze and Icarian can predict future outcomes which greatly increases the chances of hiding the bodies well enough that none of the 'victims' will know about them until AFTER the lesson starts," answered Izuku.

A moment of silence passed before Minoru said what everyone else in the two teams was thinking, "Well, shit."

Suddenly, a shrill scream could be heard…

-Forty rescues, as well as over a dozen of fake corpses, later…-

"I will never look at ketchup and red paint the same way ever again…" said Setsuna who had a hollow shell-shocked expression on her face.

"S-some of those fake bodies look so fucking real…" said Minoru who was rocking back and forth while in a foetal position.

"I didn't even know I was right next to one…" said Kyouka who was clearly trembling at the memory of seeing a bloody fake severed head landing right next to her while she was waiting for rescue. No one blamed her for screaming loudly enough to almost match Hizashi in sheer volume before fainting while foaming at the mouth.

"So… much… fake blood…" said Pony who was hugging Izuku for comfort. As for why she was hugging Izuku instead of the other members of "rescue team", he was arguably the least affected by the dead bodies due to having seen them before.

Izuku patted Pony's back comfortingly as he spoke to her, "There, there. Everyone here is okay. Those bodies are just fake ones that Curze made to scare everyone." Izuku was not the only one comforting the traumatised students as other students, including Sanguinius, Angron, Momo and Reiko, had volunteered to do the same. Eri and Inko, who had not taken part in the rescue training exercise at the ruins zone, were similarly comforting some of the traumatised students.

Worried for his peers from Classes 1A and 1B, Tenya, asked the teachers, "Was this… really necessary?"

Shouta sighed and said, "To an extent, yes. Like it or not, you will face dead bodies at some point in your futures as pro-heroes."

"But shouldn't this kind of thing be left for second or third years?" asked Kendou.

"Never mind informing us beforehand?!" yelled Tsuburaba who had a panic attack when Mezou lifted a car to "rescue" him and revealed a fake dead body of a crushed little girl beneath the said car.

Shouta raised his hands defensively and said, "Look, even I did not like the idea but Nedzu authorised it and gave several good reasons, which I am not authorised to divulge, to let Curze and Icarian do their thing."

"At the very least, you should be thankful that you didn't have to deal with finding dead bodies while doing a combat exercise with Curze or any of the other girls from Class V," said Sekijirou who then looked at Izuku meaningfully and added, "As Midoriya can certainly attest."

Izuku sighed and said, "At least some of those bodies were the same ones that Curze used to scare me when when I sparred with her inside a dark building with no working lights."

A moment of shocked silence passed before Tetsutetsu said, "As a guy who can turn his own body into steel, literally, I can say with neither doubt nor shame that you have balls even tougher than my own."

"I second that, dude," said Eijirou.

Izuku blushed as he argued, "It took me a few days of… comforting to get over that experience at least a little bit."

Russ, who was comforting Kouji by petting his back, barked a laugh and said, "What he's actually saying is that he needed a few days of cuddling in Angron's arms while sleeping to get over that experience." Unable to deny Russ' statement, Izuku's whole face flushed as he refused to look at anyone in the eye. Angron's face was similarly red in embarrassment.

"So… does that mean we can hug the girls from Class V as therapy?" asked Mina who was clearly trying to make a joke.

Sanguinius, who was comforting Kinoko by stroking her hair, chuckled at Mina's question and said, "I personally see no reason to deny such a request from someone who genuinely needs it."

A moment of silence passed before Mina leapt right into Sanguiniu's arms with a speed that would make a White Scar space marine proud and mighty yell that could have been mistaken for an Imperium war cry, "DIBS!"

"Like hell I'm letting you hog all that comfort!" yelled Setsuna who also leapt onto Sanguinius so that she could rub her face against her soft feathers.

Sanguinius laughed good-naturedly as she allowed some of the girls from Classes 1A and 1B to come to her for comfort.

Eri, who decided to copy what the other girls were doing, went straight to Curze and held her arms up with a clear desire to be carried and hugged. Curze smiled as she picked up Eri and held her close while petting her head fondly.

Jaghatai shook her head at the sight and said with a sigh, "I have no words to say about this silliness."

Kendou smiled at Khan and said, "To be fair, Angelos-san is the kind of lady that even other ladies will want to date."

"No doubt about that," said Russ while grinning.

"E-excuse me."

Russ turned her attention towards Kouji who was blushing shyly as he twiddled his fingers and asked Russ, "C-can I have one too?"

Surprised by Kouji's request, Russ blinked once before she sighed with a smile and said, "You're lucky I have a bit of a soft spot for people who genuinely like animals." She then hugged him and patted his back comfortingly. Kouji actually purred like a kitten as she hugged him.

Fumikage, Reiko and Shihai glanced at Corax but decided against actually hugging her. However, Dark Shadow had no such reservations as he approached Corax and asked, "So, can I get a hug?"

Mortified by the request made by his own quirk, Fumikage blushed as he yelled, "D-Dark Shadow!"

Corax smiled and asked, "Will a head pat do?"

Dark Shadow gave Corax and thumbs up and said, "Sure!"

Fumikage groaned as he slapped his hand onto his face while Corax petted Dark Shadow's head. Both Reiko and Shihai pouted at the sentient quirk which was clearly enjoying the attention.

Not surprisingly, Angron decided to hug Izuku. His peers from Classes 1A and 1B, as well as the people who were watching the still-streaming videos of the whole event, found it hilarious that Angron, who was still wearing her armour, lifted Izuku while hugging him as though he was a doll or a teddy bear.

Icarian glanced at Curze, who was still hugging Eri, and asked, "You knew this would happen, didn't you?"

"And you didn't?" asked Curze.

Icarian shrugged and said, "Honestly, I was more concerned with the possibility of the students developing deliberating PTSD instead of the possibility of this scenario happening."

Curze pondered over Icarian's statement for a moment before she admitted, "Fair point."

Lion shook her head and grumbled with a huff, "Children…"

Shouta, who would normally tell the students who stop their "irrational nonsense", sighed and said, "I'm going to let this one slide and ignore it for a few minutes."

Sekijirou nodded and said, "It's the least we can do after putting them through that debacle of a rescue exercise."

Inko smiled and said, "Well, they are all still children at the end of the day."

"Even the girls of Class V?" asked Keigo. While it could be interpreted as Keigo deeming the girls of Class V as being far more mature than normal teenagers, Inko knew that the pro-hero was actually referring to the girls being former demigods in their original universe.

"Yes, even them, or at least some of them," replied Inko while glancing at Angron and Curze.

Keigo wore a thoughtful expression for a moment before he wore his typical relaxed smile and said, "Fair enough."

For the people who knew the truth about the former primarchs, it was no secret that both Angron and Curze had suffered greatly during their early years as demigods. Therefore, it was reasonable to think that Angron and Curze were currently experiencing a second childhood that was undeniably much happier than the one they both had in the past.

It could also be argued that Lion was similarly deprived of a normal childhood but her serious and aloof nature made her rather difficult for children and teenagers to get along with. In fact, Minoru, Denki, Hanta and Kousei deemed her as too serious and grim to bother dating in spite of being undeniably attractive.

On a side note, a certain principal of U.A. High School was laughing like a maniac as he saved a video recording of the students getting scared by Curze's "training aids".

-Meanwhile, with Guilliman and Nekona…-

"So that's why Curze and Icarian asked me if I would like help prepare dinner for many people with Lunch Rush, nyan," said Nekona. Not surprisingly, Nekona was happy to accept such a request as it was a chance to not only promote her cooking skills to other hero students but also possibly learn a thing or two from a pro-hero who was famous for cooking delicious meals during relief efforts.

Admittedly, Nekona was not expecting the students of Classes 1A and 1B to be traumatised by Curze's "training aids" when she agreed to prepare dinner. In fact, she was quite certain that at least a few people who were watching the live-feed video streams were similarly traumatised. She herself was certainly spooked more than a few times as the fake corpses looked very realistic.

Guilliman shook her head with a smile and said, "I knew that those two were up to something but I'm surprised that Curze managed to rope Icarian into helping her even with Nedzu's permission."

"Well, if nothing else, it's a good opportunity to learn how to prepare delicious comforting meals for many people, nyan!" said Nekona.

-Later that day…-

A feast was held outside the Imperial Dorm by its residents. Of course, the students of Classes 1A and 1B, along with Mei and Nekona, took part in the feast. To the relief of the students from Classes 1A and 1B, there was a distinct lack of red coloured sauces, especially ketchup.

It should be noted that students from both the current second and third years of the hero course knew about Curze's "teaching aids" and thus did not question the need for a feast to bring some measure of comfort to their traumatised juniors. After all, they had experienced the horror of facing her "teaching aids" themselves in the previous year.

However, in spite of the good food and cheerful atmosphere, there was conflict… of the culinary sort.

"Oh, you think you can cook a better meal than me, nyan?" asked Nekona who was wearing a seemingly cheerful smile that expertly concealed her desire to become "meowscular" and smack Russ in the face.

"I don't think I can cook a better meal, I KNOW I can do it, you dumb cat," said Russ who had a confident smirk on her face while "glaring chainswords" at Nekona.

A few students could have sworn that they saw the space between and around Russ and Nekona warp to reveal a giant wolf and an equally large wild cat glaring at each other.

While the two girls were facing off each other, Izuku asked Angron, "Should we stop them?"

Angron shook her head and said, "Unless they start physically attacking each other, no."

Lunch Rush, who was standing behind Izuku and Angron, said, "Personally, I won't mind seeing a cooking competition between the two of them."

Before long, it was decided that a cooking competition would be held on the following weekend. The main ingredient would be apples and the main competitors were Russ, Nekona and, due to being dragged into the cooking match somehow, Rikidou.

-Later that weekend…-

"All right, ladies and gentlemen! Today is the day when we finally decide who are the best cooks among the first year students of U.A. High School!" yelled Hizashi who had volunteered to be the announcer of the competition.

Shouta sighed as he slapped his hand onto his face and grumbled, "Why am I doing this again?"

"Well, one of your students is taking part in the competition so you should give him your support," said Hizashi who then lowered his voice and added with an understanding smile, "Besides, you really need a break after working almost non-stop for the past few weeks."

Well aware that he had been taking even less breaks than usual due to the growing concern of a certain League of Chaos Undivided, as well as keeping tabs on the Penites Imperialis, Shouta huffed and said, "Very well, I'll take part in this nonsense before getting back to work."

"That's the spirit!" said Hizashi before he turned his attention towards the six judges, "As you can see, the six judges for this match will be Principal Nedzu, Lunch Rush, Midnight, Tsunotori Pony, Sanguinius Angelos and Eri! Please do not mind Konrad Curze. She's just making sure that Eri-chan is safe."

Eri waved at the spectators, who were mostly students, shyly while Curze stood vigil behind her. Sanguinius wore an amused smile and said, "I think this if the first time anyone has ever challenged Russ to a cooking competition instead of an eating and drinking competition."

Curze rolled her eyes and said, "Not even the Emperor was a match to Russ in an eating and drinking competition back then."

"Oh, I can't wait to have a 'taste' of the delicious apple treats they will be making," said Nemuri who was clearly playing up her sex appeal.

Pony was smiling happily as she spoke her thoughts aloud, "I'm happy to eat the 'apple food'!"

"It's 'apple dishes'," corrected Lunch Rush who then added, "That being said, I'm looking forward to it myself."

Nedzu smiled as he took a sip of tea and said, "I look forward to seeing which dishes will go well with a cup of tea."

Russ, who was wearing an ice-blue apron that was emblazoned with a black-coloured symbol of the Space Wolves, smirked at Nekona and said, "Ready to taste defeat, stupid cat?"

Nekona, who was wearing a light-pink apron that was emblazoned with a darker-pink picture of a cat's paw-print, smiled back at Russ and said, "I was about to say the same thing to you, nyan."

Rikidou, who was wearing a normal bright-yellow apron with vertical white stripes, sighed and thought, "How in the world did I get myself dragged into this?"

"Now, are the three contestants ready?!" yelled Hizashi who then announced, "Then let the cooking begin!"

-One overly-dramatic cooking scene later…-

At the end of the cooking period, Russ proudly presented her dish to the three judges. "Here's my dish, an apple pie with honey and whipped cream!"

"Oh, my! That pie looks heavenly!" exclaimed Nemuri who was clearly delighted.

Eri drooled as she stared at the pie while taking in its delicious freshly-baked smell. Thankfully for her, she did not need to wait for long as Russ expertly sliced the pie into eight pieces. While six of the eight pieces went to the six judges, albeit with Eri sharing half of her share with Curze, the remaining two were given to Rikidou and Nekona respectively.

"Then let's have taste of that pie then," said Lunch Rush. He then took a mouthful of the pie and said, "That's a mighty fine apple pie indeed!" He then took another mouthful, which had honey and whipped cream on it, and commented, "The pie itself is already delicious but the honey and whipped cream help to enhance its sweet and savoury flavours even more."

"And I imagine it goes well with not only tea but coffee as well," said Nedzu.

Pony was speaking in English as she happily exclaimed, "It's even better than my grandma's!"

Nemuri seemed to be suppressing a moan as she exclaimed, "This pie is simply… decadent!" Understandably, many students found her reaction sexually arousing.

Sanguinius smiled as she ate her share of the pie and said, "Your pie in undoubtedly delicious, sister."

Eri nodded and said, "It's really yummy!"

Russ grinned happily and said, "Good to hear!"

"Damn, that's a good good pie," said Rikidou.

Undaunted by Russ' delicious apple pie, Nekona said, "Not bad at all, nyan. However, this pie is but a simple appetiser compared to my dish!" She then presented her culinary creation with dramatic flourish, "I present to you, my rose apple tarts, nyan!"

"They're so pretty!" exclaimed Eri as she stared at the eight rose-shaped apple tarts in childish wonder.

"If we're focusing on visual presentation alone, one can argue that Nekona is clearly in the lead," said Lunch Rush.

"It has quite a lovely smell too," said Nemuri who then asked, "Did you use rose essence by any chance?"

Nekona smiled as she presented a bottle of rose essence and said, "I made it myself and is perfectly safe for use in cooking."

Pony had a sheepish smile as she spoke her thoughts aloud in Japanese, "I feel bad want eat it."

Sanguinius chuckled and said, "I can certainly see why." She then smiled at Nekona and said, "If nothing else, your dish is certainly a wonderful work of culinary art."

"Bah, good looks and flowery smells mean nothing to a dish if it doesn't taste good!" said Russ.

"Then why don't you have the first bite, nyan?" asked Nekona who was clearly daring Russ to eat one of the rose apple tarts.

Feeling both insulted and impressed by Nekona's unwavering confidence in her own culinary skills, Russ took one rose apple tart and said, "Well, since you asked so nicely, I'll do just that!" As she took a big bite of the tart, her eyes widened as she thought, "By the Emperor's arse-print on the golden throne! It's better than I thought!"

Seeing Russ' expression, Lunch Rush said, "Judging by her reaction, I'm willing to bet that the tarts taste at least as good as they look." He then took a bite of the tart that Nekona had presented to him and added, "To the point of being on par with Russ' apple pie too at that."

"A tart pretty enough to inspire reluctance in eating it and yet delicious enough to be a veritable guilty pleasure," said Nemuri who sighed in joy at eating such delicious treats, on her "cheat day" no less.

"This one's yummy too!" said Eri who was simply happy to eat such delicious apple dishes and sharing them with Curze.

"Honestly, I'm a bit torn on deciding which one is better," admitted Sanguinius.

Pony smiled sheepishly and said, "Me too."

"This is more of conundrum than I have expected," admitted Nedzu. Although both dishes were certainly different, there was simply no denying the fact that both were of equal quality as delicious tea time treats.

Rikidou scratched his cheek as he presented his dish to the judges and said, "I'm pretty sure that my apple cake is nothing special compared to the other two dishes."

Sanguinius smiled at Rikidou and said, "The fact that you are willing to give your best effort in spite of being unwillingly dragged into this competition is already worthy of positive acknowledgement."

Lunch Rush nodded and said, "Heroes rarely have the luxury to choose their own battles and, at times, that battle may be a struggle against famine itself so never underestimate the value of being a good cook even if your dishes are not the best of the best."

Rikidou blushed at the sincere praises as he passed the eight slices of cake, which were topped with vanilla icing and cinnamon powder, to the six judges, Russ and Nekona. As the eight people, plus Curze of course, ate the cake, their eyes widened in surprise.

"By the throne, your cake's pretty damn good!" said Russ.

"The cake's so soft and fluffy!" said Eri.

"It's wonderfully sweet and moist too," said Nemuri.

"I want it birthday cake!" said Pony who clearly wished to have the apple cake as her next birthday cake.

Surprised by the positive reactions, Rikidou was at a loss for words when Nekona suddenly seized his hands and, with wide sparkling eyes, said, "Please let me be your future sponsor, nyan." The fact that her action was just a few key words shy of an outright marriage proposal was not lost to the spectators.

"I didn't think of using my quirk to predict the winner of the match but I'm honestly surprised," said Curze who then tilted her head and asked Rikidou, "How did you learn to bake like that?"

"Well, my quirk relies on sugar to work so I took up baking and cooking as a way to develop and train my quirk," said Rikidou who then grimaced and added, "I can only take tasting sweet things so often until I need something else to balance it out."

One of the students who was watching the cooking match, a certain third-year student named Amajiki Tamaki, nodded and said, "I can… relate to that." He also made a mental note to introduce Rikidou to Fat Gum.

Mirio, who was beside Tamaki, patted his friend's back and said, "I'm sure you do!"

Momo sighed longingly and said, "I certainly hope all three of them won't mind making some more of those apple dishes for us, especially for tea time."

Fumikage nodded and said, "I for one have the same sentiment."

"Too bad we couldn't join in for the judging, huh?" said Dark Shadow.

"You and I both know that Eri is still a little uncomfortable around us due to her past personal trauma," said Fumikage.

"I know, but it still sucks," said Dark Shadow. Fumikage nodded in silent agreement with hos quirk.

"So… who's the winner of the match?" asked Hizashi.

The six judges pondered for a moment before Nemuri sheepishly admitted, "I honestly can't choose. They all just taste SO good!"

Eri nodded and said shyly, "They're all yummy and… I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings."

"Still, we should at least pick the winner of the match instead of just saying that it's a draw," said Lunch Rush.

"Why not choose Rikidou as the winner then?" suggested Sanguinius who then explained, "In spite of being dragged into this match between Russ and Nekona, he has managed to produce a cake which is comparable to their respective dishes in quality while remaining true to the theme of using apples as a main ingredient."

Russ shrugged and said, "As long as that dumb cat isn't the winner, I'm cool."

Nekona nodded and said, "As a chef, I'd like to win but I won't mind admitting my loss to Sato-kun instead of that stinky dog."

"Then it is decided," said Nedzu who then announced, "The winner of this cooking match is Sato Rikidou!"

"And there you have it, folks! The winner of the match is Sato Rikidou!" said Hizashi who then muttered, "And now I'm feeling hungry."

Not even Eri could resist finding Hizashi's statement understandable yet funny.

It would not be the last time that Nekona and Russ would have their cooking contests nor would it be the last time Rikidou would be dragged into their contests. That being said, few considered the bitter rivalry between Russ and Nekona to be an issue especially with the distinct possibility that their culinary skills would improve by leaps and bounds as a result.

On a side note, Momo was able to convince Russ, Nekona and Rikidou to prepare the same apple treats for tea time later that day and Fumikage wasted no time to join in with the rest of his peers.

-In the primarchs' original universe…-

Throughout the Imperium of Mankind, space marines were known for many things. Being dedicated to the art of cooking was not one of them as most space marine chapters relied on serfs to prepare their meals, assuming that they did not simply consume ration bars too potent for normal humans to consume. There was also the fact that space marines did not need to eat as often as normal humans, as in needing to eat only once a week in the case of the newer primaris marines.

Of course, given the visions of Russ taking up cooking as way to help around in the Imperial Dorm, never mind the Fenrisian culture of having grand feasts, it was inevitable that a small number of young Space Wolves would take up cooking as way to pass time and to emulate the current incarnation of their primarch. There were also young Space Wolves who had taken up music, metal music specifically, as a form of recreation.

Not surprisingly, Slaanesh tried to tempt the Space Wolves but their loyalty and discipline were simply too great to be corrupted. That did not prevent the Space Wolves from having what was basically a guitar duel of epic proportions with not only Slaaneshi chaos space marines but also Orks and Drukhari.

Even the God Emperor of Mankind himself was at a loss on how such a ridiculous event managed to happen at all.

Inspired by Russ' ability to prepare meals that baseline humans and abhumans could safely consume and enjoy, Cawl decided to create a new chapter of space marines using not only the gene seeds of the Space Wolves but also selected members of the Ultramarines who were descendants of the second legion. While it would take a while for the chapter to be fully established, Cawl was confident that it would lead to the creation of a space marine chapter dedicated to helping imperial worlds get the supplies they need to fight, survive and, ultimately, rebuild and thrive. No one questioned Cawl's decision as members of the the Adeptus Custodes voiced their support to the idea on behalf of the Emperor himself.

Cawl would later discover that the new chapter had mutations that were distinctively… feline.

-End Chapter-

Author's Notes:

Be warned, the next chapter will feature the League of Chaos Undivided again. In fact, I initially thought of having this chapter focus on them before I changed my mind so that more time would pass between the start of the story and the inevitable confrontation between the heroes and the League of Chaos Undivided. Yes, the confrontation is going to happen pretty damn soon.

Until next time, go beyond, plus ultra!