Villainous Quirk, Heroic Soul

by Megaman1549

The day Izuku manifested his quirk was the day his life became hell, all because everyone considered his quirk villainous. All he ever wanted to be was a hero, but everyone only treats home like he's a villain. So for 12 years he suffered before one event changed his life. Can his friends and loved ones help him overcome his trauma? Or is society going to break him?

26. Chapter 25: To See The Truth

A/N Hey everyone, I'm back with another long chapter! so long in fact that I had to cut it off before my originally intended point... Again. Yeah, my imagination keeps getting the better of me and the words just fly. oh well, I just hope you all enjoy the chapter! Thanks again Silenthorse, Silenthorse, Zurgboy2, and Gamer_kid1609 for all helping me so much, as well as my new friend CBanana! Also as an FYI I will be spending some time editing my earlier chapters and will post them with my next chapter release, so the next chapter might be a little bit.

Inside the building shortly before the start of the match*

The air felt thick as Tsuyu and Shinso descended the stairs to the fourth floor. Neither of them were too keen on the plan. Tsuyu was upset that she's missing her chance to work side by side with Izuku, while Shinso wasn't feeling confident in her ability to fulfill her role. The only reason the two agreed was because they couldn't come up with anything better, and despite their feelings on the matter they knew it was their best chance.

Tsuyu was so lost in trying to come up with new ways to get closer to Izuku she failed to notice Shinso's growing nerves until they had reached her destination on the third floor. The only reason she noticed in the first place was because Shinso accidently bumped into her. Sadly they didn't have the time for a pep talk, but a few encouraging words can go a long way. "Hey Shinso." She called, getting said girl's attention. As soon as she had it, she gave the brightest smile she could muster. "You got this. Aizawa and I both believe in you." She said.

Shinso's breath hitched hearing those words, still not used to the positive reinforcement. Despite not feeling confident, she gave Tsuyu a smile she hoped was filled with determination while trying to keep her emotions in check. "Thanks Tsu." She said before making her way to her position.

After getting to her spot, Shinso started going over her gear one last time, and despairing at the scarcity of her equipment. While it was her fault asking for so little, there weren't many idea's she could come up with in the first place. It's not like stealth heroes advertise their gear afterall. After spending time with her classmates, she saw just how woefully underprepared she truly was for the hero course. As it sits, she only has her stealth boots and voice changer. It was a testament to how much she overvalued her quirk.

As Shinso waited for the start of the match, her mind started wondering what other gear she could request. She wasn't a fan of blades or anything dangerous, while she knew it was idealistic, she'd rather neutralize a target while causing as little harm as possible. Suddenly she remembered the scarf Eraserhead used during the assessment test. It stopped the rabid Pomeranian in her tracks without hurting them. Maybe she should ask her sensei about it?

"Round 5: Begin!" Came All Might's booming voice, knocking Shinso out of her thoughts. Quickly slapping her cheeks to get her head in the game, Shinso heard the large crash from outside. Her worry was palpable from hearing it but she had to focus. Her worries rapidly shifted from Izuku to herself as Camie came flying in through the window, landing on the floor with a hard thud and tumbled a bit.

"Like owwwwww. What just happened?" She asked herself, rubbing her now sore butt as she stood up, ignoring the aches that came with it. Last thing she remembered was a loud crash and her vision getting obscured by a dust cloud. Before she knew it a gentle comforting feeling washed over her. The feeling left just as quickly as it came and she was suddenly in the air, being grabbed by what she assumed to be Tsuyu's tongue. Given the lack of any other explanation, she could only assume Izuku was behind that little stunt.

Right now, Camie felt like a ragdoll, with her body aching from being flung around. It actually annoyed her getting so caught off guard as that was her specialty. So she wasn't exactly in a good mood when she saw Shinso strolling up.

Seeing her annoyance, Shinso flashed her a smirk to rile her up further. An angry adversary is a talkative one. "Look who decided to join me! Gotta admit, Aizawa works fast." She said condescendingly, just waiting for the reply. Except it never came and she couldn't help but recoil at the glare sent her way. She stood there not knowing what to do as Camie started breathing in deep. Her panic started to rise as her opponent blew hard and the room filled up with pink mist before she could react. "A smokescreen won't be enough to stop me!" She yelled, trying to get a reply.

And a reply she got, just not the one she wanted. As the pink mist swirled around Shinso, she started hearing giggling coming from all around her. "Oh how cute. Is big bad Shinso gonna stop me?" Came Camie's voice from the mist.

Except the voice didn't come from Camie. No, otherwise Shinso would have felt the mental tug with her quirk. Her panic rose at the realization that Camie could talk through her quirk, effectively protecting her from brainwashing.

Shinso had to question if Camie somehow figured out how her quirk worked. She was racking her brain trying to figure out how she would have known when she spotted Camie coming from the side already mid swing with a round kick directly to her face. Instinctively Shinso closed her eyes, bringing arms up to guard her head. As soon as her arms were up, she found her legs getting swept out from under her, sending her falling onto her back, the impact stunning her a bit.

"Awww is someone getting tired? Do you need a nap?" Taunted Camie, her voice coming from all around Shinso.

"Nah, just felt bored to death of this game." Said Shinso without thinking as she tried to regain her bearings.

"Oooohh are we now? Let's see if I can entertain you a bit better." Said Camie just as Shinso witnessed a giant Camie descend from the mist, a sadistic smile on her face. "Let's see how you like this." She said, throwing a massive fist at her.

Like before Shinso couldn't help but react to protect herself, making her miss the fist phasing through her as something hit her in the side. Tumbling from the kick she couldn't help but admonish herself. She needed to do something quick before Camie beats her or escapes. Problem was it was obvious provoking her wasn't working, so she had to switch up tactics. "You have some neat tricks." She said earnestly as she started getting back up, flinching at the ache in her side. It was gonna leave a nasty bruise, that's for sure.

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet. It's about to get lit!" Said Camie, a spout of fire shooting up all around Shinso, freaking her out until she realized there was no heat to them.

As soon as the flames went away, Shinso instinctually ducked backwards as a some sort of projectile was moving towards her face rapidly. As soon as her center of mass came unbalanced, she managed to catch a glimpse of a leg sweeping hers from under her, sending her onto her back. It freaked her out initially thinking Setsuna somehow joined the fight, only to slowly realize the leg had been wearing Camie's costume. "So you can use your mist to turn invisible. Was that one of Aizawa's ideas?"

"Oooohhhh so close. You're only partially correct. While this was Izuku's idea, I wouldn't call it invisibility." Said Camie before Shinso suddenly found herself being flipped with her arm locked painfully behind her and a knee digging into her lower back.

"Oh, then what would you call it?" Asked Shinso genuinely. She knew this was her last chance as she witnessed Camie pull out her capture tape.

Flashing Shinso a smug smile, Camie felt a bit mischievous. Leaning in, she placed her lips right next to Shinso's ear. "That's a secret." She whispered. She was surprised when she saw Shinso's expression turn into relief, and before she knew it, her head felt like it was in a fog. She tried moving her arms and legs, but she felt like she had become a passenger in her own body. She knew immediately what it was and she was berating herself for becoming too careless and letting her guard down.

Shinso couldn't help but laugh from the relief of it, having gotten Camie to respond. It was also a relief that Camie chose to try and end the fight quickly, rather than continue to beat the crap out of her. "Get off me and stand up straight." She ordered. As expected, Camie stiffly got off Shinso, standing ramrod straight as soon as she was fully on her feet.

Except this time the feeling was different for Shinso. She could feel Camie trying to fight off her control, it's a natural response that she expected. Except whenever they had quirk practice in school, she would always feel a tinge of fear from the person the teacher voluntold to pair up with her. Instead, she felt determination and an unfaltering feeling of trust. Camie wasn't afraid, she wasn't fighting back out of fear, but out of a refusal to quit.

Letting out a sad chuckle, Shinso rubbed her eyes with a smile on her face, trying to prevent the tears from coming. "Great, now I feel bad." She said before taking a steadying breath. As if winning due to sheer dumb luck wasn't bad enough. Taking a moment, she burned this feeling into her brain, planning to push herself harder so she wouldn't have to feel it again.

Just as Shinso took a deep breath, resolving herself to finish capturing Camie, she was startled by some loud rumbling going on outside. "Wow, he's going pretty hard out there." She mumbled to herself. As she stared at a window on the other side of the room. She knew he could handle himself so thought nothing of it.

At least until she heard Setsuna's panicked scream.

Her blood running cold as the commotion outside continued, Shinso rushed to the window seeing the tower of vines pushing through a large cloud of ash as it made its way towards one of the orbs. As soon as the tower collided with said orb, the ash cloud grew and just continued towards the next orb. Fearing the worst case scenario, she quickly surveyed the scene, only seeing a terrified Setsuna yelling at Ibara. In her panic she didn't even question how Ibara got down there, and focused on the fact that she couldn't spot Izuku.

The match completely forgotten, Shinso rushed out of the room, leaving Camie standing there, still locked in her trance. She was so focused on getting down there, she never noticed the small amounts of pink mist falling from the brunette's lips.

Earlier with Tsuyu*

Tsuyu stood by a windowsill, keeping an eye on the opposing team as stealthily as she could. It wasn't hard considering how little spatial awareness the opposing team was exhibiting. Still, that didn't mean she should be reckless. Afterall, her future goals were on the line here, and losing here would only set her back, and she fears what might happen if she took too long.

Now that their plan separated them, it made it harder to show off for Izuku. Sure they'd been friendly with each other, and she hasn't exactly been subtle with her flirting like she'd learned from Mei, but it was easy to see his guard was way up. So to prove that she'd be a good mother to his children, she resolved to show how good of a protector she could be. And if she were to…. accidently help him get an eyeful of her more feminine aspects, than all the better.

Now with that plan thrown out the window, she had to prove she can be reliable. Prove he can have faith in her. Prove she could protect their children. Prove she was worthy to be a wife and mom.

Tsuyu's mind drifted as she could practically hear the insults she'd been told time and time again. Times she'd been called hideous, of when boys would look grossed out when she showed even an iota of interest in them. Even of the time a group of boys threw frogs at her, saying they were the only boyfriends she'd ever get.

Balling her fist, Tsuyu closed her eyes to keep the tears from falling. She wasn't going to let those memories hold her back. She finally met a guy who wasn't repulsed by her, and she wasn't going to waste it. She was going to prove she was worthy.

Once she heard All Might announce the beginning of the match, she stood at full height, already shooting out her tongue as she saw Izuku plummeting fast and cratering the ground. It was difficult to not flinch and panic hearing the impact, but she kept her composure. So when she saw Camie and Ibara in the air, she was ready to wrap her tongue around Ibara, then grab Camie and throw her through the open window a floor below where Shinso was waiting.

Pulling her tongue back in, Tsuyu already had her capture tape out, planning to finish the fight before Ibara even knew what hit her. What she hadn't expected though was the sudden surge of vines coming from Ibara shortly after she pulled her through the window. Retracting her tongue as quickly as possible, Tsuyu did end up with a few cuts from the thorns. Seeing as the vines were acting as some sort of shield for Ibara, it was obviously just a defensive reactive, rather than a planned attack.

Seeing as how her opponent's vision was obscured, Tsuyu ran out of the room, and ducked around the corner. She knew she couldn't go far, otherwise she'd risk Ibara just leaving through the window. What she didn't expect was instead of Ibara coming out of the room, many strands of vines shot out instead. She barely had time to jump away as some of the strands came in her direction.

Despite the sudden shift in her situation, Tsuyu remained calm, paying attention to every detail for anything that could help her. Dealing with two younger siblings really helped her learn to keep a cool head. What she saw though worried her deeply. Based on the vines' movements, it was apparent that Ibara has no idea where she is. But a good chunk of the vines were crawling along the walls, ceiling, and floor. That meant either she was removing any safe place for her to be, or she could sense the environment through her vines. Tsuyu's money is on both.

Knowing she wouldn't stand a chance trying to get through all the vines to get to her opponent, Tsuyu looked around, trying to come up with any idea to help her situation when realization struck her. Ducking into a nearby room, she went straight for the closest window. She witnessed the vines entering the room and blocking off her path out the door. Thankfully crawling on the side of the building was a simple matter for her.

As she crawled on the wall, she bore witness to Izuku's Cage of Punishment against Setsuna. While she couldn't make out everything from her distance, the pained expression on Setsuna's face told her the move lived up to the name. Managing to get to the window without alerting either of the greenettes, she peeked inside to assess the situation, finding Ibara just standing in the room, looking like she was praying. The indistinguishable mumbling she heard cemented that theory for her.

Tsuyu's focus was broken when she heard something hit the ground hard. She turned around to find Izuku on the ground with some part of Setsuna on the back of his head. Just as she was about to leap off the building, her instincts told her to stay where she was. It wasn't the first time her instinct protected her or someone close to her, so she knew it was best to listen despite her growing anxiety. Before she knew it, multiple red orbs descended from the sky, completely surrounding Izuku and Setsuna. Despite her relief seeing Setsuna back off, her anxiety refused to leave her until she saw Izuku stand back up, seemingly unscathed.

"It's ok, he has her." Sighed Tsuyu in relief before refocusing on the task at hand. Turning back to the window to assess the situation, she went pale at seeing Ibara had left. The only trace of her were vines left behind covering the whole room. "Just how many vines can she make?" She mumbled as she quickly crawled to other windows on the same floor, only to find them in the same state. Left with few options, Tsuyu crawled up a floor, hoping to intercept Ibara.

She was relieved when she saw no vines, and quickly crawled in. Already knowing where the stairs were she hopped there as fast as she could. What she found left her perplexed. The stairwell had vines all over it as well, but they made no move to continue up. But shouldn't this be where Ibara was headed? 'Maybe she thinks the weapon is on a lower floor since she was launched up here?' She mentally tried to reason.

With her opponent missing, Tsuyu had no idea how to proceed. Sure it was likely she was proceeding down, but since that was away from the weapon, that was a good thing. And with the match barely even started, she knew she could use all the time she could get. Her eyes shot open wide when she heard the rumbling outside. The moment she heard Setsuna's scream she took off without a second thought.

Earlier - with Ibara*

…a-amen" stuttered out Ibara as her heart thundered in her chest loud enough it almost sounded deafening. All she could hear besides that was the sound of fighting going on outside, each impact making her flinch. "I-I must do my duty as a servant of god. It's h-his will. They told me he's a s-servant of the d-devil. I saw it earlier, it must be true. I must prove my devotion for the s-s-sins I have committed." She mumbled to herself as she left the room.

Having not studied the building plans, Ibara was using her vines to help her navigate the building, having found the stairs up before she even left the room. She kept her vines creeping forward, as she made her way forward. She wasn't thinking much and just let her body move forward. It was the only way she knew how to complete the trials that God places upon her just as she had been taught. While the trials are challenging, she knows it is the only way to earn his forgiveness. So she endures, trial after trial she endures.

With each step she took, Ibara steeled her resolve like she had time and time again. Except she found herself confused when she discovered her body took her to the stairs going up. The ones going down are down the hall, so why did her feet lead her here? Was it a coincidence she ended up here, or was it a message from god to continue the exercise?

Feeling duress, Ibara slammed her hands together to pray again, ignoring the pain as she felt her own fingernails dig into the back of her hands. She continued to mumble a prayer for guidance as she started raising a shaking foot to continue upstairs. Only for words she'd heard many times throughout her life replay in her head.

"What a disgraceful child."

"Why is she even allowed here?"

"Keep that filthy thing away from me! I will not let it taint me or my family!"

After slowly putting her foot back down, she raised a just as shaky hand up to the side of her head. Her fingers recoiled slightly when she touched the vines that had replaced the blonde hair she had in her early youth, before gently touching the same spot. She shut her eyes tightly as she attempted to suppress the painful memories.

"Please lord, what should I do?" She begged out loud as tears pricked her eyes. This could just be the devil trying to tempt her, and the last thing she wants to do is commit another sin. She had seen him commit good deeds, even heard many tales of his kind and caring personality. But she'd had it drilled into her head that a demon's words aren't filled with brimstone and fire, but with milk and honey. That their actions may seem innocent so their sinister ways are hidden from prying eyes. So how was she supposed to discern the truth?

Suddenly her eyes shot open wide as realization struck her. He was currently fighting Setsuna one on one. It could be a ploy to take advantage of her, to get her under his thrall. If she went and watched their fight in secret, she could stop him when he tries anything. Or… Or maybe she could find everything she'd been told about him to be… She shook her head to clear out her doubt. They are messengers of god, they can't be wrong.

Despite the turmoil she felt inside, Ibara ran as fast as she could down stairs with a burning determination, believing finding proof would calm the raging sea inside her. Dashing to the front door where she last knew Izuku and Setsuna to be fighting, she steeled her nerves as she peaked around the corner, her eyes going wide at what she saw.

Just a few feet from the entrance, Ibara saw Setsuna Lying on top of Izuku, her legs reassembling on either side of his waist to her previously limbless body. The sultry smile she was giving him told her she was too late and Setsuna was already under his control. In a panicked attempt to save her classmate, she did the only thing she could think of and quickly got a large mass of vines burrowing underground heading towards the two. While getting her vines to her target as fast as possible she knew she had to come up with a plan. Despite her position, she could see the large number of orbs in the sky.

While Ibara wasn't fully paying attention as she was too busy being flung through the air, she was sure he yelled something about a cage earlier. It was becoming obvious to her that he was trapping all of them there, causing her inner turmoil to morph into fear and concern. She had to save them, and that meant taking out the cage too. Her initial plan was to trap him with her vine cross, but there'd be no way she'd be able to produce enough vines to both save Setsuna and destroy the cage. She even questioned if her vines could even take down the cage.

Ibara felt her vines getting very close to her target when an idea struck. If she utilizes his resistance to his own quirk, she might be able to take it down. So when they finally breached the surface, she controlled the vines enough to wrap around his limbs to keep him from escaping. Having felt she had successfully caught Izuku, doing her best to avoid Setsuna before releasing them. Sadly her mental connection over the vines will only last for thirty seconds or until destroyed. Now free to move, Ibara quickly ran towards Setsuna as the vines impacted the first orb. Considering how much of her vines turned to ash, she felt she made the right call. "Setsuna! Are you ok? Did he hurt you?" She asked frantically, looking over Setsuna as the vines collided with two more orbs.

In a surprising turn of events for Ibara, Setsuna turned towards her at breakneck speed, her face a mixture of anger and terror as tears started to form in her eyes. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" She screamed, her mind too frazzled to even know what to say.

Stepping back in surprise, Ibara looked at her confused before another realization struck her. He used his gaze of lust on her. Why would she be angry otherwise? "I know it must be hard to fight off his quirk, but we must hurry before he comes back!" Said Ibara frantically, grabbing hold of Setsuna's arm to pull her towards the slowly growing hole in the cage, only to find no resistance as Setsuna's arm simply popped off from her shoulder.

"BACK!?" Screamed Setsuna, seeming to have not noticed her arm missing. "HE'S NOT COMING BACK BECAUSE YOU JUST KILLED HIM!!!" She screamed, as the tears started to fall.

"What? No I…." Started Ibara, trying to defend herself while having no idea why she was being accused of such a thing, sure she didn't like him, but she'd never kill him.

"HE'S NOT IMMUNE TO HIS OWN QUIRK!!!" Setsuna screamed at the top of her lungs in pure rage, just about to attack and capture the girl herself.

"B-b-but he's still alive." Said Ibara terrified, her words seeming to stop Setsuna in her tracks perplexed. "I-I can still f-feel him with my v-vines." She stuttered, as the last of the vines quickly turned to ash.

Earlier with Izuku*

Izuku was not having a good time. One moment he was exchanging blows with Setsuna, next his mind went into panic mode as he got a butt to the face. His panic was only made worse by Setsuna slamming her chest on top of him in a way that emphasized her breasts when he looked down. When his instincts kicked in and he tried getting her off of him, she made it impossible without touching her breasts. Due to his panic, Izuku failed to keep up his attar flow, turning off all his abilities. So when the vines suddenly appeared underneath him, grabbing hold of him in the process, he wasn't in the right mind to deal with it effectively.

As Izuku was taken by the vines, flashes of memories ran through his mind, memories of similar situations. The only thing missing was the pain. Until it wasn't. It wasn't until he had gotten close enough to feel the heat coming off the orb did he regain enough focus to react. Sadly he was too close to move, and with his mind a mess he couldn't come up with a plan. So out of desperation, the moment he started feeling the impact he released a large pulse of attar all around him, neutralizing the orb and burning the vines holding him.

Activating his demon eyes, Izuku tried to figure out what was going on, and quickly tried to re-activate his wings as he felt gravity take hold. Except an unforeseen consequence was ending up with ash in his eyes blinding him. Even trying to take a breath ended with him inhaling mostly ash. To top it off, Izuku found that the ride wasn't over yet as he felt something impact him hard, and based on the feeling of his limbs being tied up, it was more of the vines.

Being unable to clear his eyes, Izuku had no idea what was even going on anymore or even his exact position. When he suddenly felt the heat of another of his orbs he wasted no time letting out another pulse. Sadly this only compounded the problem as more ashes filled the air. The pulse even cleared the ash out of his eyes, but not before the heat they absorbed burned them. He didn't even have time to curse the turn of events before he was once again impacted by the vines.

Without the use of his eyes Izuku was left unable to slow his perception of time, leaving him less time than he's used to having to escape. It didn't help that the vines were moving fast enough that by the time he had enough attar pumping throughout his body to try anything, he had to use it to create another pulse, otherwise he'd end up cooked.

Izuku attempted to come up with a few plans, from using his wings as a buzz saw, to blasting a beam to destroy the rest of the vines. Except every plan involved risking everyone else's safety, and getting knocked around so much made it extremely difficult to focus on both making a plan and trying to use his quirk. Eventually a realization struck him. He didn't want to use it as he still didn't feel fully confident using it, but he had to do something.

Knowing he wouldn't be able to handle both at the moment, Izuku gave up on using incubus as he tried using his maximum safe output of two percent of OFA as small sparks of green lighting started appearing all over his body. It was easily enough for him to break his wrists from the bindings as he tried to escape, only for the vines to continue wrapping around his limbs to keep him trapped. Thankfully breaking free wasn't the main plan, and when he felt the heat of another orb on his skin, he knew he couldn't play it safe and released one hundred percent of OFA.

Due to his inability to see, Izuku completely missed seeing the green electricity turn red. But as soon as the electricity touched the orb he felt a huge surge of power travel through him, and not in the usual way. Usually the power felt internal, as if pumping through him, this time though felt more like being swathed in energy as it channeled through him. He didn't have much time to analyze the feeling when gravity caught up to him again, only this time, nothing impacted him to carry him off again.

With the sudden drop and not knowing where he was, Izuku didn't have a chance to bring his wings back out, so he kept OFA going. He never even had a chance to reorient himself, so he was immensely thankful for the increased durability it provided as he painlessly face planted the concrete. Of course he wasn't completely unscathed as he felt sore all over, even expecting that at least a couple of his ribs are broken from the constant impacts, and he was sure some of his muscles tore from using OFA at full power despite barely even moving.

Izuku didn't bother turning off OFA knowing it was the safest bet as he lied there out of breath, trying to regain his faculties. When he heard two sets of footsteps running up to him, he knew he'd still have to prevent his capture, but for now he would take every second of rest he could get.

When Setsuna heard Ibara claim Izuku to be alive, she was perplexed, it made no sense given what she just saw. But when the remaining vines turned to ash after what appeared to be red lighting traveled through them, she felt hopeful. That hope was short lived as she saw Izuku plummet to the ground as large amounts of green lightning surged all over his body. Her feet were taking her to Izuku after he motionlessly impacted the ground before she could even think. She was so desperate to get to him she didn't even process the sound of someone following close behind her. As she ran full speed, she never even bothered to question the lighting still coming off him.

When Setsuna reached Izuku she used her quirk to send her hand to check his pulse as she knelt next to him to check for breathing, relieved to see both. "Oh thank god." She mumbled, her body falling to pieces into a pile on the ground out of relief, not even moving when she heard Izuku chuckle.

"I'm not sure if he'd save a demon like myself." Chuckled Izuku, the relief obvious in his voice. He kept OFA active despite the massive amount of exhaustion taking hold as the adrenaline started to fade.

Setsuna smiled, about to reply to Izuku, but once again ended up interrupted. "Quick Setsuna! Get away from him before he hurts you!" Screamed Ibara as she ran up to the two, stopping a few feet from them as she launched more vines to capture Izuku, only to stop when Setsuna moved in front of him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! I know we're in the middle of a match, but you nearly killed him!" Screamed Setsuna.

Cracking open his eyes, Izuku was relieved to find they weren't too damaged. They hurt and his vision was a bit blurry, but he could still see well enough to fight. He knew Recovery Girl wasn't going to be happy about this one bit. He was getting ready to defend himself when he saw two other blurs running up, and suddenly something pink wrapped around Ibara. Before the girl could react she was yanked backwards into one of the figures who seemed to wrap something around her.

"IBARA HAS BEEN CAPTURED!" Called out All Might through the speakers. Only Izuku was calm enough to hear the immense relief in her voice. He imagines it probably took all her willpower not to end the match when things turned sideways.

"Izuku! Are you ok?!" Called out Tsuyu as she rushed up to him, not noticing she called him by his first name. She appeared to hesitate at first seeing all the lightning, but it didn't stop her from physically checking on him.

"Yeah, things got a little crazy, but I'll be alright." Groaned Izuku, as he toned down OFA back to two percent. He didn't want to drop it as the match was still going.

"Aizawa, will you be able to continue the match? There's no shame if you need to drop out." Said Nejire as she landed right next to Ibara, taking hold of her restraints from who he could only imagine to be Shinso. Thanks to his current poor vision, he was unable to make out her expression, but based on her tone, she is furious and worried. It sounded wrong coming from her.

Suppressing a groan as his muscles screamed in agony, Izuku got to his feet. If anything, continuing despite the pain was a specialty of his. "Yeah, I'm good to go. I just needed to catch my breath." He half-lied while flashing his girlfriend a reassuring smile. "Now come on hero, let's get back to the match." He said as he brought his wings back out and summoned an orb to each hand.

Setsuna, Tsuyu, and Shinso all looked at Nejire with worried expressions. While Tsuyu and Shinso didn't know just how much danger Izuku truly was in, they doubted that he came out of the whole experience unscathed. But their worries melted when they saw Nejire's loving smile.

"Ok, I'll keep an eye on Ibara. But you better hurry, the clock's ticking." She said, ending with a sing-songy voice, before she took hold of Ibara's restraints and dragged off the confused girl.

"Don't worry Aizawa, we got your back." Said Shinso as she walked up next to Izuku, and stood facing Setsuna who looked reluctant to continue.

"It's three on one, we should be able to handle her easily." Said Tsuyu, standing on Izuku's other side.

Despite feeling relief at the thought of getting help, a realization struck him. "What about Camie? I didn't hear anything about her capture." He said, trying his best to assess the scene despite his blurry vision. He tried using his demon eyes, only for it to make the burning feeling so much worse, so he had to forego them.

Shinso stalled for a second as she internally facepalmed "I have her under the effect of my quirk . We can get her after Setsuna." Said Shinso, sounding a little unsure.

"That'd be a bad idea, it's too dangerous to leave her by herself. Even if she's under Shinso's quirk, it's never a good idea to leave your opponent unchecked. If she finds a way to break free, we're screwed." Explained Izuku as he pumped attar throughout his body. "Just in case, both of you go ensure her capture. I'll handle Setsuna."

"What!? No! We can't leave you alone after what just happened." Yelled Shinso worried, but was surprised when Izuku started chuckling.

"I'll admit things got crazy there. But with one less vine quirk, I think it'll be ok." He said, giving Shinso a reassuring smile that he also flashed Tsuyu who looked equally as apprehensive.

"Fine. But if I so much as suspect you're in danger, then I'm coming immediately." Said Tsuyu sternly.

"Sounds like a plan." He said, his smile never leaving his face. Shinso and Tsuyu looked at each other briefly, still questioning if they should do as he says, but ultimately decided it was for the best and took off back towards the building.

Setsuna didn't even make a move as she saw Shinso and Tsuyu leave, they were the least of her worries at the moment. "Are you seriously wanting to continue? You almost died there." She said, while Izuku couldn't make out her expression, the worry was palpable in her voice.

"Yeah, and I didn't even get a stupid t-shirt after the ride." Joked Izuku, getting a surprised laugh out of Setsuna before she laughed for real.

"I can see it now. I rode a deadly wave of vines and all I got was this stupid t-shirt. Sounds catchy." Joked Setsuna as she assumed her own combat stance, her smile turning soft at the laugh she got from Izuku.

As the laughter died down between the two, both gave each other determined smiles, ready to finish this. Izuku ended up making the first move as he extended his hand and started rapidly launching dozens of those red orbs directly at her.

In truth, dodging the incoming attack was a simple matter for Setsuna. Having seen most of his tricks, she's come up with a countermeasure for each. The problem was she was running out of time. Now that she's at minimum a team member down and who knows how long left, getting to the weapon was her best bet. Scattering her body parts in multiple different directions, Setsuna sought to distract him, and since his eyes weren't glowing, she knew he didn't have his demon eyes going, making this her best opportunity to escape.

When Setsuna scattered her parts, she was careful with what went where. She made sure to keep her bust and butt completely intact, trying to make them as noticeable as possible, meanwhile the rest of her was split into much smaller pieces. She didn't like having them so small as it made them less durable, but if she wanted to win, she'd have to use every advantage she could get.

While she sent a majority of her body towards Izuku to capture him, she floated away a single hand, trying to sneak it past him. Her plan was quickly foiled however as she felt her hand take a hit from something extremely hot. Her eyes went wide as she turned around and saw the shot's fired earlier now flying in her direction. Floating her head into the air to get a better vantage point she kept an eye on the battlefield to not be blindsided again.

Once her head was out of danger, Izuku started shooting more orbs, while simultaneously having them chase anything that moved. It wasn't easy controlling so many orbs at once, and it was obvious Setsuna had a lot more experience keeping track of everything. There were even a few times his orbs collided together thanks to his blurry vision. Needless to say, he was at a major disadvantage, and he had no doubt Setsuna knew that too.

Though what Setsuna didn't know was this was only part of his plan. In order to avoid all the orbs, her body parts ended up really scattered, so unless he let up the attack, she didn't have any opening to conjoin her body. It didn't matter to her though. She had a couple of her… softer parts sneak around him. It took some time but they were getting close. Feeling a little smug, Setsuna spit her head in half so she could look directly at him, and was surprised to see him smiling, the wraps he kept tightly wound were now loose with large sections dangling off his arms. She had thought they were to protect his hands, now she was worried about what they could do.

"Let's wrap this up shall we?" Quipped Izuku. Turning OFA back on to two percent, Izuku carefully pumped some attar to his legs. He knew he could fulfill the plan with just Incubus, but with what happened earlier, he wanted the added protection. While he still wasn't proficient at using it in active combat, he figured now would be the best time to get some practice in.

Before Setsuna could react, Izuku dashed forward in a blur. It wasn't so fast she couldn't see it, but there was no way she'd be able to physically keep up. Strangely, it was slower than earlier. She unfortunately didn't have time to dwell on it as Izuku kept moving. Every time he changed trajectory, she felt another part or two getting wrapped up and pulled hard. He was catching her one piece at a time, and by the time she figured it out, he already had at least a fifth of her captured.

Setsuna's first instinct was to pull herself back together, make it hard for him to catch her while making it easier for her to react to his overwhelming strength and speed. Only problem was she had gotten so scattered only a few pieces were near conjoining parts. It didn't help that the parts that were captured are now effectively unusable. Izuku didn't even seem to be going after specific body parts like her arms and legs, so she couldn't even predict where he would go next.

In a last ditch effort to stop him, Setsuna assembled as many parts as were left, which by that time was about half, leaving a few to keep Izuku distracted. While most of them couldn't join together, they were still full of muscle. Using her anatomical knowledge, Setsuna assembled a large makeshift arm. In no way would she be able to use of each muscle at peak efficiency, but by engaging all of her muscles, she was able to launch her fist. She waited until he was about to capture the last remaining free part to attack.

It wasn't until she was already attacking did Setsuna realize the flaw in her plan. In her desperation, she didn't take into account that she would be hitting someone fast enough to blur. If she had to describe it, it felt like punching a car racing down the highway. The impact alone completely shattered her hand, causing it to break down. Half of her body also sustained so much damage from the backlash they too broke down. While she had the energy to regenerate them, she knew it would leave her too drained to defend herself.

Not that it mattered as Izuku didn't stop this time after part of her broke down. Before Setsuna knew it, the rest of her was getting wrapped up. She couldn't help but be impressed as she realized he was wrapping each piece individually to keep them separate. Of course there were a couple bunched together here and there, but she had to admit it took skill to pull it off.

The only thing Izuku left free was her head, which he easily identified by the large amount of green from her hair. So when he stopped, he stood right in front of her with a sinister Cheshire smile. He gave her the time to look behind him, showing his wraps fully undone with many tied up lumps. "It has been fun, hero, but it's over." He said sinisterly as he raised his hand conjuring an orb, prepared to slam it into her.

Knowing there was nothing she could do, she closed her eyes shut tight, bracing herself for the impact. Only it never came. Instead she was met with a gust of wind, and suddenly felt like there with something wrapped around her forehead, and something tickling the side of her face. Slowly she opened her eyes, confused to find Izuku standing there with a concerned smile.

"Sorry for scaring you. It was the only way I could think of to get you to drop your guard." Said Izuku sweetly. This only made Setsuna's confusion grow.

"Setsuna has been captured!" Announced All Might, her pride shining through.

"Huh? But when…?" Started Setsuna when it donned on her. Detaching an eye, she turned to look at herself only to find Izuku had wrapped the capture tape around her head and tied it off like a ribbon. before giving Izuku a deadpan look without reattaching her eye. "Really?"

"What? I think it looks cute." Joked Izuku, obviously doing his best to not laugh, causing the eyebrow of Setsuna's detached eye to twitch.

"Oh come on, you didn't even do it right! It looks more like you tied on shoelaces than made a bow!" She argued with no fire in her tone.

"Wouldn't it have been more insulting if I took the extra effort to make it right?" He asked with a smug smile.

Setsuna opened her mouth to argue, only for no sound to come out as she processed his words. With a hmph, Setsuna turned her head away pouting, getting a laugh out of Izuku. Deciding to get a little payback, Setsuna floated up close to Izuku's face giving him a sultry smile. "So you gonna let me go, or do you just enjoy trying to introduce me to one of your kinks?" She said, choosing her words carefully, and was pleased with the results when he suddenly stopped laughing and sported a massive blush.

"N-no I swear! I wasn't thinking anything like that, and these aren't used for that!" He hurriedly explained while waving his hands back and forth furiously.

"Oh? These aren't used for that? So you're saying you have something else for it? I bet Mei and Kinoko love having you tie them up while they let you have your way with them. Or maybe you like it when they do it to you?" Said Setsuna with a sultry tone, trying to embarrass Izuku as much as possible. Her smile faltered seeing his reaction. Despite only being on his face less than a second, she could clearly see the sadness and hurt in his eyes. But even that was dwarfed by the fear, like someone who knew they were going to face hell itself.

But just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone as Izuku flashed her a smile that she could tell was forced. "S-sorry, I'm not as open about that stuff as Mei." He said before turning towards the building. "I better go help my teammates!" He said as he ran off, not even giving Setsuna a chance to speak.

Setsuna watched him retreat into the building worried and confused. He was a strange one, and it was anyone's guess what would trigger him. Though she hated feeling like she had to walk on eggshells around him, she knew it wasn't his fault. No one chooses to be traumatized. It's not like he pushes his problems on the rest of them, and whenever he is triggered, he does his best not to let it affect others. Of course that doesn't mean none of them notice, the guy sucks at hiding his emotions. Still, she had never seen that much fear in his eyes, and it made her more curious about just what he had gone through. But how would she find out?

Before Setsuna had a chance to think too deeply on the subject, her attention was drawn to the crackle of the loudspeaker turning on.

Earlier*

"Are you sure leaving him was a good idea?" Asked Shinso concerned as she and Tsuyu ran through the first floor.

"Honestly, no." Replied Tsuyu bluntly. "But he had a point, and without Ibara I doubt he's in any real danger. At worst he's at risk of getting captured, which while I hate to say it, is preferable to us losing outright."

"I get that, but was it just me or did he seem out of it? Like even when he looked right at me he didn't seem focused." Responded Shinso.

"I'm sure he's still reeling from that ride he took. He was rammed into by those vines every time they hit an orb afterall." Replied Tsuyu, but even though she remained calm, her emotions were all over the place.

"But that's exactly the point! He could have a… what the fuck?" Started Shinso only to stop when they arrived at the stairs and found pink mist rolling down. It only went up to knee height and dissipated not long after reaching the bottom. "Shit! She must have broken free! We need to hurry!" She said in a panic before rushing up the stairs.

Tsuyu tried stopping Shinso as they had no idea what was going on. Only when she tried a horribly malformed Camie popped out of the mist, lunging for Shinso, causing her to jump back, running into Tsuyu and sending them both crashing to the ground. Despite feeling disoriented from what happened, Tsuyu quickly launched out her tongue to capture Camie. Except by the time she could even react, Camie had disappeared, leaving them at the bottom of the stairs alone. Remaining calm despite her racing heart, Tsuyu readied herself for another attack as she tried finding their opponent.

Shinso on the other hand. "Damn it, She's trying to stall us. We must hurry before she gets the weapon." Said Shinso in a panic as she scrambled to her feet, and tried running up the stairs again, this time ready for what was to come. It surprised her when nothing popped out of the mist, but she wasn't going to question it. Whatever illusions came her way, she'd ignore and focus on her target.

Tsuyu reluctantly followed, her instincts telling her something was off, but leaving Camie alone could be worse. As the two climbed to the top of the stairs they found the mist filled most of the room floor to ceiling, and was thick enough they could only see a few feet in front of them. "Ok Shinso, where did you leave Camie? We should check there first." She said, keeping an eye on their surroundings. Thanks to that she was able to witness another Camie pop out of the mist behind Shinso, this one more malformed than the last, even including several gaping wounds. She wasn't going to say anything as she assumed it to be another illusion. But when it stopped just behind her and tapped her on the shoulder, she was startled to see Shinso react.

"What? Did you find her?" Asked Shinso, turning to see the malformed Camie Smiling maliciously at her. "AHHH!" She screamed as she jumped back in fright. "God damn it, why did Camie have to turn this into a horror house." She grumbled, before a realization dawned on her. Tsuyu was a few feet away from her when she felt the tap on her shoulder. Before she knew it, the Camie lunged at her, spearing her in the mid section and tackling her to the ground hard.

Snapping out of her shock, Tsuyu quickly reacted and went to tackle what she believed to be the real Camie disguised. She was too late to react as the Camie disappeared in a puff of pink mist as soon as she made contact and found herself tumbling to the floor. "What the? Where did she go?" She said as she scrambled to her feet, looking all around her. She knew she felt something when she came into contact with Camie, yet she saw no one around except Shinso.

"That *cough cough* wasn't the *cough* real Camie." Said Shinso, trying to regain her breath. Oddly enough, getting the wind knocked out of her actually helped settle her panic as it gave her something new to focus on.

"What do you mean? I know I felt some AHHH!" Started Tsuyu, before noticing another Camie charging right at her. This one wasn't as bad as the previous but still looked grotesque, and her face looked warped, like an amateur artist tried to draw her face from memory. While she wasn't sure if the look was intentional or not, it made her feel extremely uncomfortable, causing her to react just a hair too slow as she too was speared into, sending her crashing into the wall behind her. More due to her survival instinct than anything, Tsuyu immediately took a swing as best she could given her position. Once again found that as soon as she made impact, Camie disappeared. While she expected something like that, what she didn't expect was another Camie already lunging at her, only for Shinso to kick her, making her disappear as well.

"Damn it, we need to hurry before she sends more at us." Said Shinso, her earlier panic now all but forgotten as she held out a hand to help Tsuyu.

"Is it just me, or is she doing the same attack over and over?" Asked Tsuyu as she accepted the hand up.

"I think she's not used to this ability. She and Uraraka have told me Izuku helped them learn new things about their quirks. I think being under the effects of my quirk has allowed her to focus more on using it." Said Shinso, keeping an eye out for any more attacks.

"Under your control? I thought she had to break free from it to use her quirk." Said Tsuyu perplexed before launching her tongue at another Camie rising from the mist.

"I thought so too, but it's different this time. There's a link between me and the person I brainwash. But everyone always fights against my quirk, so since I wasn't feeling her fight it, I thought she broke free." Explained Shinso as she started leading Tsuyu down a hallway, each keeping a hand on the wall as the mist seemed to get thicker as they went.

"But you still feel the link, meaning she's just given up on fighting it altogether. But how is that allowing her to use her quirk?" Asked Tsuyu, not seeing how giving up gave her any freedom.

"I have a guess but I can't confirm it until I talk to her. I don't know what being under the effect of my quirk is like, so I have no way of knowing how she's doing it." Replied Shinso, a bit frustrated. Her own quirk, the one she relied so heavily on, was not enough. It made her feel weak and pathetic, but now wasn't the time to dwell on that. Her determination grew as the two heard the announcement of Setsuna's capture. "Let's finish this." She said, picking up the pace.

The two continue at a hurried yet cautious pace, both keeping their eyes peeled for more incoming attacks. It wasn't long before they reached a room with mist so thick they couldn't see through it swirling around the room. "Let me guess. This is the room you left her in?" Asked Tsuyu, though it was more of a statement.

"This would be the place. We should be cautious. One good bump and she's free, which I'm guessing she's going for. I'll call her towards us, and we'll carefully bind her once we have visual." Said Shinso.

"Look at you coming up with plans and sounding like a pro already." Teased Tsuyu causing Shinso to blush.

"I-it's no big deal. Now let's do this. Camie, follow the sound of my voice, and avoid anything along the way." Called out Shinso avoiding looking at Tsuyu.

"You really have to tell her not to run into things?" Asked Tsuyu, as she readied herself to act as soon as she saw Camie.

"Sadly. I think it's because I technically only control their body and all their higher brain power is cut off. So without anyone in the driver's seat, the body focuses on the task given and nothing else." Explained Shinso as she got into her own sloppy combat stance.

The two thought they were ready for Camie to pop out of the mist, planning to capture her as soon as they saw her. What they didn't expect was for a horde of Camie's malformed zombies walking out of the mist. It only got worse when several of them started charging at them, forcing them to evade. They couldn't afford to attack recklessly until they had a visual on the real one.

"Damn it! How did she make so many?" Yelled Shinso as she threw an uppercut at a lunging Camie, making it disappear only to have three more reach to grab her, forcing her to roll out of the way.

"It's probably why she only sent one at a time to us. She was preparing all of these." Said Tsuyu, climbing up the wall to both get to safety and look for the real one. Given their simple movements, she thought she had nothing to worry about being out of their reach. What she didn't see coming was for the Camie's to part as one started charging towards her. Before she had a chance to reach, Camie suddenly springboarded off another and flew directly at her.

While it was Close, Tsuyu did manage to dodge out of the way. As the Camie disappeared, she unwittingly put herself within reach for another to grab her and pull her off the wall. Landing hard on her back and finding herself suddenly swarmed, Tsuyu immediately assumed a defensive position just as she felt a few kicks to her sides. In an attempt to stop the onslaught, she whirled her tongue around, striking a few Camie's and making them disappear. But just as fast as she could safely take them out, another would take its place, and she saw no end in sight.

"Tsuyu!" Screamed out Shinso, seeing her partner getting swarmed. While she too had many Camie's coming after her, she was at least in a position to properly fight back. So being meticulous she strategically struck Camies carving a path forward while still keeping an eye out for the real one. She had gotten so focused on getting to Tsuyu and finding the real Camie, she failed to notice one of the Malformed Camie's she hit didn't disappear but instead recoiled. She had struck a couple more before she processed what just happened. She turned just in time to see the Camie, now sporting a bruise on her cheek, blowing her a kiss as the growths and wounds all over her body disappeared into pink mist. As she blew, she breathed out more mist that enveloped her, and made her disappear.

"Shit! She blended in with the rest of them. We need to find her before she…!" Started Shinso when all the other Camie's suddenly ran at her and pinned her to the wall. None of them were attacking, and just kept her pinned. Despite her struggles, the Camie's made damn sure not a single part of her could move. "Tsuyu, I can't move, you need to go after Camie!" She yelled, only hearing Tsuyu's muffled yells. It didn't take a genius to realize her mouth was being kept shut.

"Well it was like, totally fun and all, but I have a match to win." Said Camie with a playful smile, obviously pleased with herself as she lifted the illusion keeping her concealed just before she took off down the hallway. The two continued to struggle despite the feeling of futility as they could barely see Camie running down the hallway. Both stopped in surprise as at the end of the hallway, a wing suddenly appeared in front of Camie, causing her to crash into it. As the wing recoiled and cradled her, a small barrage of orbs came around the corner, hitting a majority of the malformed Camie's, making them disappear. While they weren't all gone, it was more than enough to free Shinso and Tsuyu, allowing them to fight back.

"Tsuyu, Shinso, get ready!" Yelled Izuku from around the corner just as he used his wing to throw Camie down the hallway.

While Tsuyu still had an arm and both her legs pinned, her mouth was now free, allowing her to launch her tongue to wrap around Camie. "Shinso! Your capture tape!" Yelled Tsuyu, and she pulled Camie towards them.

Without thinking, Shinso pulled out her capture tape, positioning it in front of her. While it was a rough impact, she had no complaints as Tsuyu essentially threw Camie at her, nearly knocking her off her feet. But she managed to stay standing and managed to wrap the tape around her a couple times before she started resisting, with Camie even hitting Shinso in the face with the back of her head. Thankfully she managed to hold on long enough for Izuku to come up and help tie off the tape.

"Camie has been captured! Villain team Wiiiiiiiinnnsss!" Came All Might's voice with a ton of relief and enthusiasm.

As soon as the speaker cut off, anyone still standing immediately collapsed to the floor in exhaustion. "Is everyone ok? Do any of you need to see Recovery Girl?" Asked Izuku without thinking.

Tsuyu and Shinso looked at him incredulously. After what happened, the last thing they expected was for Izuku to worry about them first. "A little sore…. Actually less sore than I should be?" Responded Tsuyu confused. She knew she should be hurting pretty bad after getting kicked so much. Tentatively poking her own side that should be bruised, she expected it to sting. Instead it felt stiff and tense like she had experienced a mild Charlie horse. Her focus shifted when she heard Camie giggling.

"You hear that Izuku?" Asked Camie as she started slowly standing up, wincing a bit from the movement. She wasn't as exhausted as the others, but her head was killing her after that. It wasn't easy using her quirk under Shinso's influence, that's for sure.

"Yeah, I'll make note of it. We'll have to go over the details later, but for now, we'll just call it a success." Replied Izuku, obviously very worn down as he gave Camie a proud smile and a limp thumbs up, getting another giggle from Camie as she walked up to him and offered him a hand up that he accepted.

"I agree, with like how little practice I have with it, I think it was totally fire." She said happily as she and Izuku went to help Shinso and Tsuyu up.

"What the heck are you two talking about?" Asked Shinso confused.

Izuku and Camie looked at each other with amused smiles before turning back to the other two. As Izuku stepped back, knowing what was coming, Camie leaned in with a teasing smirk and half lidded eyes, their faces just a couple inches apart. "You show me what you can do, I'll show you what I can do." She said, licking her lips at the end, causing Shinso's face to explode in crimson, causing Camie to burst out laughing. "You are like, so totally adorable." Said Camie between laughs as Shinso pouted at her which did not help.

As that was going on Tsuyu stepped up to Izuku, giving him a quick look over like she usually does for her younger siblings. "Are you sure you're ok? Things did get crazy earlier." She asked, concern plastered all over her face.

Giving Tsuyu a serene smile as her concern filled him with warmth, it took all his willpower to not let the tears come. It almost felt overwhelming having people so concerned for him, especially people his age, but it felt nice as well. "I promise, it's nothing I couldn't handle. A little worse for wear, but one little joyride isn't enough to stop me." He responded.

After silently looking him in the eyes for a couple of seconds, Tsuyu looked over Izuku once more, this time noticing little details she missed the first time. Having a younger brother that likes to act tough taught her to find the subtle clues. The fact that he was favoring his right leg, the slight stiffness in his torso to keep from aggravating an injury, and even how slowly he would lift his arms told her he was hurt more than he was letting on. But what concerned her the most was how unfocused and red his eyes look. Letting out a sigh, she desperately wanted to tell him to go see Recovery Girl, and wanted to tell him to take better care of himself. Except she feared it ruining what little progress she had made with her goal. She wasn't his girlfriend yet, so she didn't have much room for those kinds of demands. "Would you at least go see Recovery Girl after class?" She asked.

The warm smile Izuku gave Tsuyu suddenly made her heart start pounding and a blush spread across her cheeks. Except it also created a pit in her stomach. Something about the genuine appreciation and care made her feel like she was doing something wrong, something selfish. "Don't worry, it was always the plan. I've seen what she does with that cane when people don't take their safety seriously, and I'd rather not be on the receiving end of it." He said with a laugh, getting a smile from Tsuyu. The pit may still be there, and she'll give it some thought later, but for now she wants to enjoy this time with him.

"Like, good call. I saw a third year take one to the shin yesterday. Totally screamed like a little girl." Giggled Camie as she and an embarrassed Shinso joined them. "Now let's go, we got this lit match to review. Though I am like, so not looking forward to more of Ibara's drivel. At least it looks like she didn't get to you fam." She said, missing Tsuyu flinch at her words.

"Just wait until you see outside." Grumbled Shinso, her earlier embarrassment now completely forgotten, getting a confused look from Camie.

"Come on, Camie's right. We don't want to keep the others waiting." Replied Izuku, his smile not even faltering. Without waiting for a reply, Izuku turned around and proceeded to make his way outside, the others not far behind. Camie was asking what Shinso meant, but the only answer she got was that it'd be easier to show than tell.

Seeing all the ash and damage just outside the building actually scared Camie a little. It was obvious that while she was stuck in her own head, crap really hit the fan. Setsuna quickly joined them as soon as she saw them leave the building, asking them if they were all ok. The fact that Setsuna was shooting Izuku some obviously concerned looks told Camie all she needed to know. "Ibara did all this while attacking you didn't she?" She asked sternly, her tone leaving no room for arguments.

Shockingly, Izuku gave her a calming smile. There wasn't a single hint of anger or hatred on his face. Not even an ounce of annoyance. "I mean, she did, but it was for a good reason." He answered, confusing everyone, especially Setsuna who had been there for the whole event.

"Good reason? What possible reason could she have for doing what she did? She attacked you purely due to her own conjecture, that is not a good reason. You really need to stop defending her, or she'll keep treating you like a doormat." Argued Setsuna, feeling frustrated at Izuku, believing he was just enabling her.

"I know her actions haven't been the best, but I believe her heart is in the right place. She has not done anything irredeemable, and I think she should be given that chance." Replied Izuku, the smile never leaving his face.

The other four just looked at Izuku in bewilderment, absolutely lost on why he would be defending her. As they continued walking the girls just looked at each other quizzically. Before any had a chance to ask what he meant, Nejire suddenly flew out of a nearby alleyway and right up to Izuku looking ready to envelope him in another hug before stopping herself. It was obvious she was holding herself back as she practically vibrated with excitement as she grabbed hold of his face. "I knew you could do it! I'm so proud of you." She said before giving him a quick but passionate kiss.

"Thank you, but honestly I'm not sure if I could have won if you didn't help calm my nerves." Said Izuku with a loving smile, missing Camie and Setsuna snickering behind him. Normally they'd tease him for that statement, but as if reading each other's mind, they decided to let them have their moment. This time.

"I only did what a good girlfriend would do to support their man. You're the one who put in all the work." She said lovingly, ignoring as Setsuna and Camie looked like they were struggling to hold back their laughter. She knows how she sounded and doesn't care. All that mattered in this moment was supporting her boyfriend.

At least until Ibara walked out of the Alleyway Nejire just flew out of. In an instant Camie's and Setsuna's mood dropped as they shot glares at the girl, not even caring as she flinched under their gazes.

Seeing Ibara's reaction, it wasn't hard for Izuku to figure out why. Not wanting to leave her isolated he decided to speak up after flashing her one of his million watt smiles. "Hey, Ibara, that was a well executed sneak attack, I didn't see it coming at all. It's also really impressive how well you control so many vines, it's obvious you put a lot of work into training." He said, feeling the shocked eyes digging into the back of his head, while proud as he heard Nejire lightly chuckle and give him a squeeze.

"O-oh, um, th-thank you. You were impressive out there too." Said Ibara, completely caught off guard. While his words made her feel warm inside, it also stirred up the doubts she was feeling earlier about doubting everything she'd been told about him. But they couldn't be wrong, they just couldn't. Could they? She felt like she was about to experience a panic attack, when Izuku's voice broke through her inner turmoil

"Of course, and thank you as well." He said calmly, giving a smile that he hoped would calm her obviously frazzled nerves. When she nodded her head in acknowledgement, he decided to take it as a win. Especially since he was certain he saw her lips twitch upwards into a smile for a split second. "Now let's go, I think we've kept the rest of the class waiting long enough as it is." He said with a chuckle as Nejire didn't even let go of him and simply wrapped his arm around her shoulder, subtly telling him to lean on her. He should have known she'd figure it out immediately. She's one of the big three for a reason.

From there the rest of the walk was silent, either because they didn't want to say anything, didn't know what to say, or were just content with the quiet. Regardless of the reason, they all could feel the tension in the air as Camie and Setsuna acted coldly to Ibara.

Izuku had made sure he was at the head of the pack, knowing what to expect once they made it to the observation room. The door was barely open when Mei and Kinoko rushed up to him and started fussing over him. It was obvious they both wanted to embrace him, but were concerned of hurting him further. A gesture he rewarded with a kiss to their cheeks, placating them. For now.

The moment Ibara entered the room, Izuku knew he made the right decision. Because as he predicted, not only were Mei and Kinoko giving her death glares, looking ready to throttle her, All Might was also shooting her a look that said she was in a world of trouble.

"Ibara, just what in the world were you thinking? What you did was so far from heroic, I'm struggling to come up with a reason to not expel you on the spot." Said All Might, her voice was so firm even Bakugo and Todoroki were nervous.

"What? But what did I do? I admit I let my emotions get the better of me, but I didn't do anything different than everyone else." Said Ibara, so terrified the words were just coming out without thinking.

Sadly her answer only seemed to upset All Might further as her glare deepened. "What did you do? How about almost…." Started All Might before Izuku stepped forward and interrupted her.

"All Might sensei, please, you're being way too harsh right now. She really didn't intend any harm. So please go easier on her?" He asked, much to her, Mei, and Kinoko's shock.

"WHAT!? How could you defend her after everything she has done, especially after what she just tried to pull!?" Yelled Mei, immediately feeling bad for screaming at him.

Giving his girlfriend a calming smile, he silently thanked his lucky star for bringing her into his life. "Easy. She has no idea the severity of what she did. And if you look at the rest of our classmates, they don't know either." He said calmly, gesturing towards the class. Finally looking at the others, Mei, Kinoko, and All Might found that what he said was true, each of them looked concerned and confused. "And if that's not enough, let me prove it further." He told Mei before turning to the class. "Who here knows why they are so upset?" He asked.

The class remained silent for several seconds, each afraid of being caught in the crossfire. Eventually Hagakure managed to build up the courage to speak. "Honestly, I thought they were just being over protective of you." She sheepishly admitted as she poked her index finger together.

Hagakure's words seemed to have been enough to give a few others the courage to speak. "I uh, was kinda thinking the same thing. I mean I get it, you have a bond with all three, but this was seeming a bit excessive." Said Ashido, rubbing the back of her head in discomfort.

"At first I thought it was because of the damage to the road, but that still wouldn't warrant the level of hostility." Added Kendo a little uneasily.

Turning back to Mei, he gave his shocked girlfriend a loving smile. "See? If none of them knew; people I've spent more time with than Ibara, then there was no way for her to know." He said.

Mei looked like she wanted to argue but with a sigh, she conceded that he was right. "I guess you have a point. But I'm still not happy with it." She said sternly, puffing up her cheeks in a pout when Izuku started chuckling.

"Can one of you fucking explain what the hell you're all talking about!?" Screamed Bakugou, her anger over them dancing around the subject getting the better of her.

Ignoring Bakugo for a moment, Izuku looked to Kinoko and All Might in turn, to see if they calmed down any. Thankfully Kinoko, like Mei, seemed more to accept his answer. All Might on the other hand was harder to read, it took a bit of a stare down for her to relax, telling him she concedes. Seeing this Izuku turned to address the rest of the class. "What we're talking about is the fact that I don't have any resistance to my own quirk, so her last move nearly killed me. Multiple times in fact." He said, knowing it was best to just rip the bandaid off. He mentally started counting down for what he knew was coming when he saw his classmates, Ibara included, go wide eyed.

"WHAT!?!" Screamed the class in shock.

"But, but that's impossible. We've seen you hold your orbs! You even wrapped it around your hands during the fight!" Argued Intelli, not even wanting to think about someone dying during training.

"My quirk comes with a lot of rules. This one is about my…. Attar network?…. Attar network. The best way to describe it is it feels like a bunch of piping running through my body, and what power I use determines how it gets applied." He started explaining, bringing up a hand and summoning a 1 attar orb. "After creation, it will maintain a connection to that network so long as I keep contact with it." He said, as he re-absorbed the orb. "But once I release it, it also severs that connection, rendering me vulnerable. I think that's why I can't control the orbs at will and have to expend more attar just to change its trajectory. And let's just say, the orbs I made the dome out of weren't exactly weak."

"Then how did you manage to survive? And why make them so strong to begin with?" Asked Jirou, still trying to wrap her head around all this.

"Oh, I can do a pulse attack as well, and I would use it any time an orb got near. Wasn't exactly a fool proof plan, as Ibara's skill with her quirk prevented me from escaping." He said, giving an encouraging smile to the now horrified Ibara, trying to show her he didn't hold a grudge. "As for the second question, intimidation mostly. But it's also easier to control a hundred big ones, than thousands of small ones. I may have had a lot to start, but that would have gone through my reserves quickly."

"Then why not dismiss them once Ibara had you?" Asked Intelli, seeming to hold back her emotions, as she appeared to be struggling with everything she heard. Internally her stomach was in knots as she felt like she would throw up at any moment.

That question actually made Izuku hesitate a bit. This was one weakness he wasn't sure if he should divulge. But given the circumstances, he's left with little choice. "Because I need to focus to use any of my abilities. While I've learned to do a few things subconsciously, like keep my wings and eyes active, I'm still not fully used to using my quirk." He said, revealing only what he believed to be necessary. It's not like he was lying, he just didn't want to explain how much his own feelings about his quirk got in his own way.

Even though Nejire has helped him let go of his hate for his quirk, he doubts he truly ever did. Deep down he can still feel it, and he believes that's the hurdle that slows down his progress.

At least that's his theory, it's not like he can ask his quirk.

"I guess that makes sense given how little practice you've had with it compared to us. It must be tough to learn so late in life. You weren't injured in all that were you?" Asked Kirishima worriedly. Honestly all of the other stuff people were asking wasn't important to her. Right now she was more concerned about Izuku.

"Don't worry. I plan on seeing Recovery Girl after class." Izuku non-answered, hoping it would placate his classmates. Most of them actually seemed to accept the answer, albeit reluctantly. But one person wasn't going to let it slide.

"Young Aizawa, I commend you for your ability to keep fighting despite everything. But right now there is no need to push yourself, so go see Recovery Girl now, and we'll review what you missed later. Young Nejire will accompany you to ensure you get there safely." Said All Might sternly as she crossed her arms. While she didn't know the extent of his injuries, she knew he could fake being fine really well when he wanted to. Besides, she really didn't want to have Eraserhead yelling at her for being reckless with her son.

A bit disappointed, Izuku wasn't entirely surprised. It was more of a shock that he wasn't sent there immediately. "I understand, I'll head there now." He replied, unknowingly lifting the tension as his classmates' worry over him. Nejire was quick to take her place under his arm again, this time a lot less subtly.

As the two started leaving, Ibara, now out of her shock stepped forward to speak just before they made it out the door. "Why do you keep defending me? After everything, after what just happened, how could you still come to my aid?" She asked desperately, tears pricking her eyes.

Nejire and Izuku stopped just outside the door, standing there silently for several seconds. Nejire was looking up at Izuku to see what he had to say, finding his smile turned sad. "Because I know what hatred looks like. I've seen enough of it that it's hard for me to miss. Yet I can't see even a drop of it from you. Even when you're glaring or yelling, there's no hate behind it. I truly believe you're a good person with a good heart, Ibara, you just need to be given the chance to properly show it." He said, keeping his voice even but full of kindness and reassurance, all while ignoring Nejire's growing look of concern.

Izuku's words hit his class like a bomb. Every single one of them would have said Ibara hated him wholeheartedly, Ibara herself included. So to hear it from the man himself that he didn't see it shook them all. "Then…. Then what do you see?" She asked.

"Fear, sadness, desire, and hope. I don't know your life circumstances, Ibara, but I truly hope with all my heart that things get better. And if you ever feel the burden is too much, I won't hesitate to help you carry it. You just have to ask." Said Izuku, his kind tone and words making not just Ibara feel a warmth inside her, but the whole class as well. Even Shoko who'd barely even been paying attention to anyone else was wholly focused on him and his words, sparking something she had long ago lost. While Bakugo was doing everything in her power to smother it.

Without waiting for a response, Izuku left the room, Nejire not even resisting and falling into step with him. They stayed silent for a moment until Nejire was sure that none of them could hear. "So you really think she's…?" Started Nejire, not sure how to put it delicately.

"I do. I have seen that look more times than I could count in the mirror growing up." Answered Izuku, his expression now serious with a sad look in his eyes.

Nejire gently gave Izuku a squeeze to reassure him that she was there for him, a gesture he returned, but by the shaking of his hand on her shoulder, he was struggling. It didn't surprise her given how much he pushed himself mentally and emotionally. Thankfully with class coming to an end she can help sooth him to her heart's content. She just needed to report to the teachers first. There was a lot she had noticed that the teachers needed to know, it's why she was selected to be this class' TA afterall.

Back in the observation room the class hadn't even moved a muscle, Izuku's words ringing in their heads. Not even just about Ibara, but his parting words. While they all knew they were directed at her, it felt like he was telling the whole class.

"That last part wasn't just for Ibara." Said All Might, gaining everyone's attention, and the first thing they all noticed was her smile. It wasn't like the one they've seen on TV hundreds of times. It wasn't the reassuring smile that promised safety. No, it was one full of pride and familial love. "It may have been directed at her, but the message was for all of you."

The girls all looked at each other, the same question running through their mind, yet none were sure if it was appropriate to ask. Eventually someone gathered the courage. "Sensei, it's obvious that the demons of his past still linger over him, ready to pull his soul down into the depths of despair. Yet he appears to not worry about them, and puts his efforts into soothing the suffering of others. What happened to him?" Asked Reiko, her voice even but thick with worry. The class was so focused on getting the answer they missed Ibara's downtrodden look as she gripped her arm tightly.

With a sigh, All Might's expression fell. She expected to be asked this at some point, the whole staff expected it, she just wished it wasn't so soon. "I apologize, but the staff are under strict instruction to not divulge that information until he is ready as advised by his psychologist. What I can say is that his wounds run deep." She explained, having mixed feelings about all the downtrodden looks. It's never a good sight to see, but it's encouraging to see that they care. "I know it's difficult being in the dark, especially to those of you who want to help. But you've all already helped so much in just a few days. His mom has mentioned how he seems much happier now."

"Are you sure it's not due to the sleeping arrangements?" Joked Setsuna while gesturing to Mei and Kinoko, obviously trying to lift the mood. While the joke didn't land with everyone, they could all feel the weight being lifted.

"While I'm sure that's part of it, there's more to it than that." Chuckled All Might. "But this class has done what so many have failed to do. You gave him a chance and didn't judge him for something he couldn't control." She said, keeping her positive attitude despite the weight in her heart, knowing that she too failed where these girls succeeded with ease. Spotting Ibara in the back and seeing the regretful look on her face was enough to make her decision for her.

"Ibara." Said All Might with a stern voice to gain everyone's full attention, but still soft enough to not put any of them on edge. It seemed to have worked as Ibara looked at her, seeming ready for whatever punishment she was to receive. "I admit, I let my personal feelings and personal bias get the best of me. I never considered that you might not have known his weakness." Apologized All Might, surprising the girl. "However, it was still reckless. While making assumptions on the battlefield is completely unavoidable as a hero, we must also be careful with those assumptions. One wrong move could easily end with someone losing their life. Like with young Bakugo and Todoroki you'll be given one warning, but future infractions will face punishment. Understood?" She said sternly but gently.

"Y-yes sensei. I promise it won't happen again." She said rapidly, her voice thick with regret, cooling the anger still boiling inside some of her classmates.

"Good." Said All Might with a nod of her head. Now that the matter was settled and emotions have settled, it was only now that she realized she was reaching the end of her limit. So she needed to wrap up class now. "Now for our final review." She declared, looking over her class expectantly.

"Izuku is MVP." said Tsuyu, Shinso, Camie, and Setsuna completely in sync before devolving into laughter over it, all previous tension leaving the room.

Before any of the others had a chance to speak, Shinso spoke up. "He's the one who came up with our strategy. While I wasn't a fan of his recklessness, I did recognize that our only chance of victory was to hit them hard and fast before they had a chance to do anything, otherwise victory would have been near impossible."

"I agree with Shinso. If we gave Camie or Setsuna a chance to do their things, keeping track of them would be a tall order, and if we defended in the bomb room, there was a high possibility of them just sneaking past one of us and touching the weapon. So our only option was to go on the offensive." Explained Tsuyu.

"But isn't that against the spirit of the exercise? You were supposed to defend while the heroes went on the offensive." Exclaimed Iida with a robotic chop of her arm, looking like she wanted to go on a tirade, but held herself back.

"I wouldn't say so. They recognized the position they were in and decided that offense was the best defense. It's not like villains are just going to wait for us to stroll in their bases after all." Explained Kendo, sounding impressed by Izuku's thinking. It had never occurred to her that she and Yaoyorozu could have done the same thing and given them a better chance as it was Todoroki's opening move that left them fighting on the back foot.

"Quiet right young Kendo! Everyone has different specialties, and sometimes those specialties don't match the mission so adapting is essential in these situations. He got confirmation before the match and didn't attack until the round started, so he stayed within the parameters." Explained All Might.

"Yeah, things were like super cray cray once the match started. One moment I'm chatting with my teammates, next I'm being scooped up and tossed in the air. He didn't even give us a chance to react." Exclaimed Camie,

"And even despite the speed, he was really gentle. He demonstrated his skill as it felt like a soft caress and a delicate toss." Said Ibara meekly as she stared at her feet to avoid anyone's gaze.

Everyone was surprised by her speaking up, especially to praise Izuku. While several of them were still angry at her, they had to respect her swallowing her pride. One such person decided that if she could, then they'd at least extend an olive branch. "Oh, being wrapped up in one of his wings is the best. Despite their looks, his wings are really soft. It felt like being swaddled in a really comfy blanket huh?" Asked Kinoko, giving the girl a friendly smile despite knowing she wasn't looking.

"Y-yes. It actually reminded me of my favorite childhood blanket." Admitted Ibara with a blush spreading across her cheeks as she rubbed her arms nervously.

"Like, so true it wasn't until I was thrown by Tsu did it become unpleasant. I can see why Mei and Kinoko don't mind him picking them up with them." Exclaimed Camie as she wrapped her arms around said girls' shoulders.

"He even uses them to get Mei to stop working when she's overdoing it. Though at this point I'm sure she does it just so he would let her rest in them." Said Kinoko, with a teasing smile to her girlfriend.

"Not every time. Just when I need a reset." Said Mei with a pout, getting a laugh from the group.

"You know you could just ask, he'd be more than happy to let you," replied Kinoko.

"Yeah but I feel bad for making him use attar for something like that. It already takes awhile for him to get enough just to train as it is. I don't want to leave him unable to defend himself." Said Mei adamantly. It wasn't hard for those who knew about her and Izuku's first meeting to read between the lines.

"That's fair, trouble does seem to follow him wherever he goes." Admitted Kinoko, catching Ibara flinching from the corner of her eye.

It brought immense pride for All Might to hear so much praise for Izuku. She felt he was finally getting the recognition he deserved. Sadly her body was starting to scream at her to wrap this up. "It seems you're all in agreement on this, now let us move onto our other participants. How was their performance." Said all Might gently.

"I mean no offense, but Shinso's lacking experience really show. It Camie's carelessness that lost her the fight." Spoke Pony while giving the two an apologetic look.

"No offense taken, I felt the exact same way the whole time and I hate it. I know I have a lot of hard work ahead of me if I want to stand a chance in this class." Admitted Shinso, her words brimming with fiery determination.

"Heck yeah fam! We'll get you kicking ass in no time!" Declared Camie as she glomped onto Shinso's back hugging her from behind. "But I totally agree as well. I let my emotions get the better of me and I got careless because of it. Being brainwashed like, sucked big time. It was like watching a movie, but my own eyes were the screen, it was trippy." She said.

"Really?!" Said Shinso, surprised as she turned to look at Camie. "I've only ever heard it felt like their mind being locked in a cage with an uneasy feeling of having no control."

Putting a finger to her cheek, Camie tilted her head as she recalled what she felt. "I mean like, yeah, I can see that if you view it in the worst way possible. Sure that feeling of having zero control was there, but I wouldn't describe it as uneasy. It may not be the most pleasant feeling in the world, but it's like still better than being punched in the face." She said, rubbing her bruised cheek in emphasis.

Shinso couldn't help but let out the shocked laugh at her answer. It just seems to be one surprise after another since getting into UA. "I have literally been told the exact opposite numerous times." She said with a shake of her head but still with a smile on her face. "How did you use your quirk while under my quirk's effects anyway? And since when can your illusions actually attack people."

"Oh that's a little trick Izuku thought of." Said Camie with a smirk, before she turned to All Might. "Sensei, It'd be easier to explain if I could show them, but I'd need help. Would that be ok?"

"Of course, as long as someone is willing to volunteer." Answered All Might.

As soon as the words had left their sensei's mouth Kirishima started to step forward before being stopped by Intelli. "Apologies, but if my hunch is right then your quirk would only taint the results, so I'll volunteer." She said kindly.

Having not expected the turn of events, Kirishima wasn't quite sure how to respond. Usually she's being volunteered for this kind of thing, so to have someone else take her place felt strange, "uh, yeah sure." She said dumbly, getting a friendly smile in return before Intelli stepped up.

"Legit. Now all you have to do is stand there." Instructed Camie before she used her quirk to create one of her normal illusions of herself. "Typically my illusions can't affect people." She said as her Camie illusion charged Intelli, throwing a punch that only phased through the unflinching girl. "But with the right amount of focus and under the right conditions, they can." She said before blowing out more pink mist, but this time it was a thicker mist and is a much deeper pink, something Tsuyu and Shinso recognized as the mist that enveloped the whole floor. Camie had also blown more mist, enough to envelope Intelli. While the Camie that was made from the mist looked the exact same, when she charged and threw a punch aimed at Intelli's shoulder, said girl actually reacted as if feeling the punch.

Having expected the punch to land this time, Intelli purposefully suppressed her instinct to stop the attack. But as soon as she felt the strike land, her body moved on its own as she moved to grab the illusions wrist to flip her, only for it to disappear the moment she put any force on it. "So I was right, it's the placebo effect." Said Intelli, as she rubbed her now uncomfortable shoulder. She for sure felt the blow and the illusions wrists. But for as hard as the punch was, she wasn't feeling near enough pain.

"Like ding ding ding. The mist affects the person's senses, making their body believe the illusion to be real. So even if they can't cause any direct damage, their body will react as if actually under attack." Explained Camie with a proud smile.

"That would explain why my body moved on its own, even though I mentally knew I wasn't at risk." Said Intelli thoughtfully while rolling her shoulder to remove the tightness.

"That is like the one downside to that skill, it sets up the body to believe it's under attack, so muscle memory get's kicked up a notch to defend itself so mixing in normal illusions to trick their minds wouldn't help very much. Or at least that's Izuku's prevailing theory. It's still a work in progress. Only reason I could use it as effectively as I did was because I was able to focus on just using my quirk which also made locating you much easier even when I couldn't see you. I'll actually need to go over that part with Izuku later. As for how I was able to use it, it was like a total headache. Literally. It took a lot of mental strain to push my quirk through, it was like trying to constantly shove oobleck through a hole the size of a pinhead using nothing but my brain." Said Camie, the headache she had gotten earlier was fading but not gone.

"Geez, one class in and you're already busting out new moves? Giving insight into Kirishima's quirk? Maybe I should ask Izuku if he could check out my quirk." Said Ashido as she crossed her arms, sounding impressed.

"Indeed, he does seem to possess extraordinary talent in quirk analysis. I'd like a chance to talk with him as well, but I fear overwhelming him. He seemed quite embarrassed earlier." Spoke Yaoyorozu, wondering if there was anything about her own quirk she may have overlooked.

"Oh it will definitely embarrass him at first, but as long as you guys aren't pushy about it, I know he'd happily help you with your quirks." Declare Mei happily.

"You sure?" Asked Setsuna with a mischievous smile. "I can think of a couple reasons he'd have to not help me with mine." She said as she struck a seductive pose before she split apart, making sure to keep her chest and butt on full display. "He faltered when I used these babies against him. Turned him into a sitting duck."

"So y-you use them against him? H-he didn't use…?" Asked Ibara, her voice dying in her throat as the guilt ate away at her. She knew the answer, she just needed to confirm it.

"His lustful gaze, or whatever he calls it? Nope, no overwhelming desire here. I'd actually say he was the most respectful man I have ever fought to such a degree I'd classify it as a weakness." Said Setsuna seriously as she stared down Ibara, internally glad to see some remorse on the girl's face. It at least meant she could improve.

"How would being too respectful be a weakness though?" Asked Hagakure genuinely confused.

"Because if getting a butt to the face is enough to shut you down and turn you into an easy target, he won't survive his first encounter with a female villain." Explained Setsuna, her expression deadly serious. She may be a jokester and a tease, but she knew when to take things seriously.

"Young Setsuna is right, and it is a weakness the staff has fully recognized and has been working on fixing. Hopefully her demonstration of it during the match will push him in the right direction." Added All Might, hoping to push this along as she was struggling to keep her form.

"Is that why he was put in a class of all women? To fix that weakness?" Asked Intelli inquisitively without a trace of judgment in her voice. She could see the teacher's thinking, and given that he'd been a good dorm mate so far, she really had nothing to complain about.

"While there were several smaller factors taken into account when deciding the classes, and that in fact being one of them, the reason you were given the first night is still the primary reason. There is in fact a boy who is smart, and is skilled with his quirk, but his track record with the opposite sex is abhorrent at best. We used the fact that we already had someone we knew we could wholeheartedly trust to enroll someone who we otherwise would have rejected. We hope to turn the boy into a proper hero whose quirk could save a lot of lives, and save any potential victims if we leave him to his own devices." Informed All Might, but leaving out that it was all Nezu's idea. The staff knew he had something else in mind, and given his track record, they were all content with not knowing. There's a reason Edgeshot refuses to speak of his third year summer vacation.

"So trying to turn a villain risk into a hero? Guess if any place could do it, it's UA." Mumbled Kirishima.

"But if he's such a risk, couldn't he just come to our dorm and harass us there?" Asked Ashido worriedly.

"Nah, not as long as Izuku is around. If the guy tries anything, Izuku will send him packing." Answered Mei so matter of factly it was as if she was saying the sky was blue. Nearly everyone looked at her weirdly.

"Izuku? Really? No offense, I think he's a good guy and all, but he seems a little too…. Nervous to defend anyone just yet." Gently said Kendo, choosing her words carefully. Sure the guy was strong, but he doesn't seem ready to stand up to anyone.

"Oh you keep thinking that, but you'll find out soon enough that he's very protective. There's no doubt in my mind that he'd step in to help any of you if anyone tries anything. I'm actually more worried about him getting into trouble than some creep." Said Kinoko with a knowing smile. While she wasn't happy they thought so little of Izuku, she couldn't blame them either. But she knew they'd witness his heroic side in time.

"Do…. Do you think he'd be willing to escort one of us if we requested?" Asked Reiko, her voice even, but her eyes were practically begging.

"Of course he would, all you have to do is ask him. We just request that you don't take advantage of him. You won't like it if you do." Said Mei without a second thought, getting a nod of acknowledgement in return.

"Pah, only weaklings need to be escorted around!" Spat Bakugo, her anger rising as it seemed the other girls were just ignoring her.

"If you're that confident in him, the fact that Setsuna was able to hold her own against is much more impressive. I guess that's a recommended student for you." Said Jirou with an impressed whistle.

"That's true! Despite the power difference, she faced him head on and did really well all things considered. You even managed to give him a proper fight, I don't think I'd be able to get as close to capturing him as you did Setsuna before the whole vine thing happened." Enthusiastically added Uraraka. While the fight did make her feel inadequate, it was exciting seeing Izuku fight like he meant it. She was too enthused to catch Ibara flinching again and she looked downcast.

Seeing the vine-haired girl's reaction, Setsuna mentally sighed and was ready to put the matter to bed. "True, but given his speed it could have gone either way. One strong gust from his wings would have sent me flying. And I gotta admit. Slipping away and getting Izuku without either of us noticing was pretty impressive. Dangers aside, your plan was a sound one Ibara." She said, crossing her arms and giving the girl a friendly smile, much to her surprise.

"Oh, um, thanks. I had always focused most of my training on capture and reconnaissance rather than combat." Said Ibara, her voice gentle and reserved.

"Given your quirk, those skills alone could count as training for combat. I couldn't find any way to attack you after getting you inside the building. With that and Camie's illusions I spent most of the match simply reacting to what was going on around me, while our team caught you by surprise, you guys regained and controlled the flow. We won thanks to a lot of dumb luck." Added Tsuyu, her expression unreadable, but she felt internally frustrated. Both at her performance, and at losing a chance to get closer to Izuku.

"While I wouldn't say it was all luck, it would be foolish to discount it. There are things out of your control that can and will happen that could either benefit you, or be a detriment. That's another reason why adaptability is so important as a hero, so we can properly react to unforeseen circumstances." Informed All Might when she suddenly felt a huge surge of pain from holding her form for so long. She needed to wrap this up immediately.

"And like that, your first hero class is officially complete! The staff will review all the footage and your own reviews and you'll receive your grade for this exercise in our next class. Until then there is much for me to do, so I must be off. Now let me show you how a real hero makes an exit!" Declared All Might, getting a lot of bright eyed reactions from her students. Even the more aloof of them couldn't hide that she had their full attention. "Look! Is that All Might?!" She said suddenly, pointing to the door to the training ground. Instinctively all the students looked, in excitement, when the sudden realization washed over them as they heard the door rapidly open and shut and laughter quickly disappearing down the hallway.

"Did she just…?" Asked Shinso, her voice even. No one in the class had looked away from the door.

"Yup." Answered Jirou deadpan.

"And we just…?" Asked Yaoyorozu.

"Mhm." Hummed Yui in confirmation.

"We're gonna get her back right?" Asked Setsuna, a mischievous smile spreading across her face.

A chorus of various agreements rang through the class., all of them coming up with ways to get the number one hero back.