Re(Action): Shattered Memories

by sleppt

There’s a certain brand of chaos Midoriya has gotten used to, especially as a hero student. Villain attacks, harsh training, the list goes on. Above all else though, he did not expect his dreams to be invaded by a stranger who seems to be the embodiment of pure chaos. Said stranger offers to show him the events of an alternate universe that feature his friends and family.

7. Prove Your Valor

There were shouts of surprise and screams of fear as the unexpected earthquake occurred. Dark held Chibi to ensure she didn't get injured; frankly, the Dragoness looked annoyed with Astrid huffing in irritation at being rudely woken up. Honestly, most of the staff was treating this as though it was an everyday annoyance.

It wasn't, but it was apparently waved off as a minor annoyance. Bola, however, was fuming, smoke coming out of his helmet so much so that it started to whistle like a kettle.

"W-what-" Izuku was stuttering as everyone held dearly to their seats. He was ready to jump into action if needed to be.

"What the hell just happened?!" Screeched Mina and Denki, with their classmates shouting for an explanation or downright so scared that they were incapable of speaking and were, in fact, screaming for dear life.

The pros stood up from the seats and looked around in alarm. Inko was a little afraid while Toshinori followed his colleagues. While he was powerless, this did not mean he was going to stand down.

"You gotta be kidding me." Bola groaned. Another violent shake of the building proved that, no, it wasn't a joke. "That's how you wanna play?!" Another rumble.

"What's happening?!" Aizawa questioned sharply, already up and alerted in case of an attack.

SM Eri shot Bola a glance. The man was grasping the rail of the balcony firmly, not because of the trembling but from a wave of anger that was basically emanating from him. She turned to her counterpart. A silent conversation happened between them through eye contact alone. Eri nodded. She understood what that was.

Another rumble, and Bola had enough, "Oh. This. Is. War." He put his arm down as if reaching for something blocked from view by the balcony and pulled a startled Silver up by the scruff of her neck. It was almost like a magician pulling a bunny rabbit out of their hat.

"Ack! Bola, what the-?" She was interrupted by another rumble. Glowing green eyes widened behind her round glasses, "Oh."

"Yeah." Another tremor. "Can you do me a favor?" And another. "Run the show while I-" And another. Bola took a deep breath, "Olha a audácia desse filho da puta."

Silver patted his shoulder in sympathy, "Bola, your Portuguese is leaking. I don't know exactly what that means, but I'm sure it wasn't nice." The whole theater seemed to shake for a second. Silver grimaced, "Go, I'll hold the fort."

The armored man let Silver stand on her own and sighed, "Thanks." He then promptly threw himself from the balcony, "Cannonball!" Bola tucked himself into a sphere of rock falling at high speed. Everybody yelled in shock, only to see their host being swallowed by the floor as if it were liquid, the blank surface rippling like a lake that just had a rock thrown into it, which was pretty accurate.

Silver snickered, "Classical Bola." She looked up, seeing that the tremors had stopped. Glancing back at the dumbfounded audience, she grinned, "Well, that was that. Back to the show, people!" She snapped her fingers, only for nothing to happen, "Dammit, one day I'll figure out how he does this." She searched on the balcony, pulling a TV controller. Fumbling with it for a moment, she started the next episode before anyone started to ask questions she wasn't allowed to answer.

"Wait! What was-?" Izuku was interrupted by the screen lighting up with a new scene. He looked at the balcony, only to see Silver giving him an apologetic look, "Sorry." She mouthed to him. In a last-ditch effort, Izuku turned to SM Eri, only to see the girl looking down, her hands grasping the hem of her dress tightly.

Izuku decided to drop it for the time being, but he won't precisely drop the subject entirely. He'll just wait for the right opportunity to ask.

Unlike everybody else, Kyoka had an idea of what caused the commotion, which only filled her with more questions. If the thing in the Lockdown Room could do all that, why did Bola keep it in the theater?

The others all had questions, too, but they decided to save them for after the episode.

Izuku watched the buildings pass by through the window of the train. His stop was the next, and from there, only a short walk away, was UA. The excitement of finally being able to attend the school of his dreams made him smile throughout the trip; he would become a hero with all his friends.

The nice and calm scene helped the people watching to relax some. Some of them couldn't help but smile and chuckle at the adamant excitement SM Izuku was radiating.

The chances of Izuku, Katsuki, Tenya, and Ochaco ending in the same class were small, but luck seemed to be at their side this time. They all were in class 1-A. Izuku hoped that the other students in his class were friendly too, so they could all be friends.

There were a couple of snorts on that. It was painfully obvious that their classmates' counterparts would be in the same class.

Though then again, they only know because they have already passed that period.

---

"Strangers are only friends that you didn't meet yet."

"Your optimism never stops to amaze me S̸̟̺͆̎̅õ̶̟͖̱̔̈́r̶̻̙̄̋ȧ̶̛̩̬͚̙."

"Well, one of us has to be positive, haha."

---

Despite everyone feeling either exasperated or irritated by the glitches, some of them couldn't help but smile a little at the mysterious teen's optimism. It wasn't often they found people like them. Mina and Denki, in particular, liked this guy.

Now, if only they could see his face and know his name.

However, Aizawa was the opposite, and his dark mood didn't improve if him rubbing his temples said anything.

Izuku came back to his senses just in time to exit the train. Looking around, he saw a familiar brunette, "Ochako!"

"Still kinda odd they're using their given names after they met," Hanta said with his iconic smile.

Mina perked up, "Should we do the same? 'Cause our Midori is doing it already!"

Izuku shrunk on his seat, "It's not my fault. It was my other self that bled that to me." He muttered.

Mina pouted at him, "Aw c'mon, Midori, I don't mind if you call me Mina!"

"Uh…"

Tenya thankfully stepped in, chopping his hands, "I, for one, prefer calling everyone by their surnames, for it is more respectful and formal!"

"But what if their friends?… Lovers?" Mina stressed the word lovers as she wiggled her eyebrows, making Izuku and Ochako blush, with the latter glaring at the pink girl. Whether it was on purpose or not, it was obvious Mina was implying them, and Ochako was getting thoroughly fed up with it. "'Cause c'mon, class rep. You need to lighten up a bit!"

While the two argue about using surnames or given names, their classmates have no idea whether to intervene or watch.

It was then that Silver stepped in, "Hey! I know you guys are having an important discussion and all that, but turn your attention to the screen!"

That caused the argument to end, and everyone turned their attention to the screen. But despite it all, Mina was not giving up on her side of the argument.

The girl in question turned to look at who was calling her when their eyes met, and the two smiled. Izuku maneuvered the crowd, and the two friends quickly escaped there.

Finally leaving the train station, Izuku and Ochako made their way to UA, catching up on the way to school.

Mina shot the two friends from behind a look, which Izuku did his best to ignore, but even then, he could stop his cheeks from being on fire. Meanwhile, Ochako shot her a scathing look.

"Stop that." She mouthed at the pink girl, which only made her grin wider.

"We sure look good in these uniforms, but are you sure you can use your belts like that?" Ochako asked, pointing to Izuku's crossed belts while the two passed the main gate of UA.

"So long as it stays to the dress code, there is nothing against tweaking the uniform a little," Nezu said with a raised paw.

Mina perked up at that.

"Well, there was nothing saying you can't add something to the uniform, and I've always used my belts like this, at least. I think I do because, well, you know..." The brunette understood what her friend meant and decided to reassure him, "Well, I like it. It makes you look cool."

Nezu chuckled, pleased to see how the other Midoriya discovered that little loophole.

Silver snickered behind her hand, "Bola is not here, so I'll say it for him. It's only illegal if the police get you! His words, not mine, but I agree." That caused the more rule-abiding members of the audience to go into an uproar.

SM Eri nodded, "He's not wrong." She turned to her counterpart and shrugged, "But make sure not to leave any witnesses too."

Izuku turned to SM Eri with a distraught look on his face. The girl just smiled innocently, so innocently it couldn't possibly be honest. What did the other him teach her?!

Rikido played the devil's advocate and calmed his classmates, "Look, we all had to skirt the law here and there to be able to train to get into U.A., so let's not throw stones from our glass houses."

Ojiro raised his finger to argue but then put it down, "Touché." He used the gym he usually frequented to train his tail, which wasn't forbidden but also not all that permitted, so he couldn't say much on the topic.

At the adults' corner, Nezu was cackling at their absent host's phrase. The man sure didn't mince his words.

Toshinori just stayed silent, knowing well that he did circumvent the rules where no one was looking, especially while he waged his shadow war against All For One. It was for a good cause; no one got hurt, and no one saw it; he could abide by some not-so-clean behavior as long as those three points applied to the situation.

Shoto hummed to himself lowly, focusing less on the ongoing discussion and more on another point he noticed, "So that Midoriya shared his situation with those versions of you. That's good, right?" He directed the question at Izuku, who slowly nodded.

"I think so? He probably will need help if he has another vision, memory, thing and zones out, especially if it happens in the middle of training or something." Izuku turned to the paused screen, which he had stopped when he saw the talking would take a while, and grimaced. "And I bet he'll like the help with… all that." Izuku didn't even know which words to use for all the many things happening to his counterpart.

Izuku was taken aback by that, but those simple words warmed his heart. If the blush he had was any indication, scratching the back of his neck, Izuku gave Ochaco a shy smile.

Mina shot the two friends a look as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Izuku was flustered beyond belief, refused to look Ochako in the eye, and used every ounce of his will to look at the screen. As for the bob-haired girl, whose face was just as red, she shot a threatening glare at the pink girl.

If the girl doesn't stop with her obvious hints —well, shooting her into the stratosphere was out the astral-looking window, especially since it was heavily implied that no one could die around here. Still, Ochako swears she'll do something painful during training.

Mina, at that point, felt a shiver go down her spine.

"So...do you know where we have to go?" Ochako asked when they entered the building. Izuku looked around for a bit before pointing in a random direction, "That way."

"How do you know?"

"I don't, but following your heart can never go wrong." Izuku gave an easy-going smile while putting his hands behind his head.

"So easygoing, Midoriya." Hanta shook his head in amusement, with a few other classmates chuckling in agreement. The boy in question merely smiled in agreement.

True to his statement, Izuku and Ochako ended up standing before a massive door with '1-A' written in it, "Still not impressed," Izuku commented off-handedly. Ochako turned to him and crossed her arms, "What, seen bigger?" She asked playfully.

"With what we saw in the earlier flashbacks, yes," Tsuyu said bluntly.

"Not like my counterpart knows that!" Ochako giggled.

"Let's not forget this theater's enormous door too." Denki, of all people, pointed out. "Cause it's certainly bigger than any door we've seen."

"That's true, ribbit."

"And fancier, too," Izuku responded with a straight face. A second later, the two were laughing, "Well, let's hope that our future classmates are nice."

There were a few giggles.

"Well, we certainly have our answer." Teased Mina.

Izuku opened the door, and what greeted them was an angry Katsuki arguing with Tenya.

"Huh, despite a different universe, some things remain the same." Denki teased, making a few others laugh, remembering that particular scene. Albeit different circumstances, it was still amusing to see something that happened in their world.

Katsuki glared at a few of his laughing classmates but quickly focused on the screen with a grumble and a grumpy look.

"You can't tell me what to do, Four Eyes!"

"Bakugo-san, putting your feet on the table is disrespectful!"

There was laughter from nearly everyone.

Tenya chopped his hands. "Agreed."

"Shut up, Four-eyes!"

Izuku and Ochako traded a deadpan look between each other before breaking into laughter again. That ended up getting the class' attention, "Oi Deku! Why took you so long?!" Katsuki shouted, his feet still on the table.

"Sorry, I didn't sleep much last night, but you could have waited for me too, you know?"

Izuku, among the laughter that was beginning to calm down, shot his counterpart with a look of understanding. He had been too excited to sleep that night.

"In your dreams!" Was the answer that Izuku got, but the playful smirk that Katsuki had showed that it was all some banter that was becoming relatively common for them. Tenya approached and greeted his friends, "It's good to see you again. Now that the whole class is here, the teacher should come at any moment now."

On cue, a voice came from behind them, "If you are here to socialize, then get out." All the class turned to the door and saw what looked like a yellow caterpillar with a human face.

"Hey, look! It's Mr. Aizawa!"

The man in question hummed as he gave a look of longing at his counterpart. More specifically, the yellow sleeping bag. But the homeroom teacher doesn't envy his counterpart with what's to come.

Inko blinked, bewildered. Sure, she had witnessed her son's homeroom teacher attached to that yellow sleeping bag earlier, but to see how intimate he was, to the point of using it during school hours, was another thing, and admittedly had no idea how to act upon it. Eyeing the retired hero shaking his head in exasperation didn't really help either.

"Not again," Izuku grumbled, remembering his dreams about a place that was literally down the rabbit hole.

…

"I have no idea what to say to that," Ojiro says, gaining some grumbles and chuckles of agreement.

"Yeah, the other Midori's life is utterly crazy!" Mina shouted, many laughing or humming in agreement.

Silver cackled. That was a massive understatement.

Fortunately, the caterpillar opened, revealing that it was a sleeping bag. From it, a man, who looked homeless and sleep-deprived, in a black jumpsuit with a grey scarf. For some reason, he looked familiar to Izuku, but he didn't know why.

Katsuki snorted, utterly amused. Of course, the other nerd would know their teacher, like their current one.

"It took you all eight seconds to calm down; that won't do. Time is precious, and logical students would know that." The man complained while taking something from his sleeping bag. "For now, put this on and meet me in the courtyard. You have five minutes," He said, revealing UA uniforms. Without any more words, he left the classroom.

Inko was bewildered by what she saw, not bothering to pay attention to her son's classmates' chuckles. She had no idea what to say and gave Toshinori a look of disbelief.

The former symbol of peace noticed his successor's mother's waves of bewilderment, and he gave her a hopeless shrug. The older man had no idea what to say about his colleague's weird habits, though he found amusement through it.

The students traded a look and promptly bolted out of the room.

Cue in more chuckles, with Silver being the loudest.

Shota was not in a good mood today. Not only did his night patrol stretch more than what he was comfortable with, but now he would have to give a bunch of hopeful kids a shock of reality—definitely not a good day.

Shota grumbled something unsavory under his breath as he sank down his seat. He didn't want a reminder of that day and wanted nothing more but to take a nap. He already knew that whatever was going to happen was going to be worse than what happened in their world.

"Just kill me now." He muttered under his breath. He really wasn't in the mood to see whatever insanity and chaos that was to occur.

Dark's ears twitched, and the Dragon chuckled under her breath. Anyone who heard her turned their attention, but all they saw was her reading her novel. Many speculated she found something amusing there.

There they were, twenty teenagers thinking they were in for the time of their lives. They couldn't even imagine how cruel the path awaited them, those who survived to the end of the day at least. All were relaxed, chattering like nothing was wrong, all except two, the bicolored son of Endeavour. He kept his distance from the others, and his tense posture rang alarm bells in Shota's head. Barely a day, and he already saw problems that he would have to deal with, joy.

Despite his stoic expression, Shoto felt some of his classmates eyeing him oddly, which brought him discomfort.

"Ya know, looking back, you were dark and broody, Torodoki." Denki shrugged, "A colder version of Tokoyami." The bird in question let out an offensive noise while Dark Shadow cackled. Kyoka, however, was groaning and facepalming at the unintentional pun.

There were a couple of mumbles of agreement as they compared Shoto's former attitude with his counterpart's current behavior.

Izuku tensed as he eyed his friend with a wary eye. Katsuki merely gritted his teeth as he glanced at half and half. Shoto didn't really notice it, nor did he really pay attention to any of his classmates' words. He simply blinked at his counterpart as an unnerving feeling of dread fell down his stomach.

For some reason… the distance he saw in his other self felt… off. Sure, it was similar to how he had been acting at the beginning of the school year, but something was different that gave off an unpleasant tingle in his spine.

Silver chuckled under her breath. "I can't wait until the Sports Festival."

Kyoka, with Mezo having turned his appendage into an ear beforehand, eyed their substitute host with confusion and wariness.

What happened at the Sports Festival?

The other exception was the kid who beat the Zero Pointer. He was talking with a small group, but what got Shota's attention was his posture, even relaxed; the boy looked ready to spring into action at any second, and there weren't any openings to it. How a teen was so naturally ready for danger on his first day of high school was beyond his comprehension. Still, that smile, combined with the way of a warrior prepared to fight a war and win it, looked awfully similar to a certain new teacher. Shota now knew that boy would be a problem child. He was sure of it, which only made his desire to return to his sleeping bag grow.

Silver snorted, knowing she was probably gonna talk more than she should but not resisting it, "That Izuku has a take on the fight, flight, freeze instinct that goes like this: Fight, and that's it."

While the others looked appropriately horrified, especially the adults, with the exception of Nezu, who was cackling madly, Izuku hummed thoughtfully as he placed his fingers on his chin, "I mean, if it works…."

"Deku, no."

"But Ochako-"

"Deku, no." The gravity-defying girl gave him a flat stare that shut Izuku up.

Katsuki rolled his eyes and grunted, "Whipped." He heard Ears snort, probably having heard him, but that didn't change Katsuki's opinion on the two stupid dorks back and forth.

"So, is anyone going to ignore that Midoriya called Uraraka by her given name again?" Denki had to ask.

Izuku paused, and when it finally sank in, he suddenly blushed from head to toe. "Och-Uraraka, I am so-!"

"Don't."

"H-huh?!" The green-haired teen looked at the girl with wide, confused eyes.

Ochako, while a little red on the face, said with an expression that left no argument, "You can call me Ochako."

"Uraraka-!" Tenya's protests were interrupted.

"Iida," The girl said, "Both of you are my friends," She stressed, her voice indicating that there was no argument. "I don't mind if you guys call me by my given name. Really, I don't!"

While the tall teen looked torn, Izuku eyed his female friend warily, "A-are you sure?" He nervously asked as he scratched the back of his neck. While a part of him (no doubt because of what his counterpart bled into him) didn't mind calling his friend by her given friend, he didn't want to overstep his boundaries.

Ochako beamed at him, a faint blush on her cheeks. "You let me call you Deku, so I think it's only fair that you call me by my first name."

Izuku and Tenya looked at each other before looking at their female friend. The taller teen remained unsure, his chopping slow; it was the closest thing everyone had seen for the teen to be sloppy. "Well," He trailed off, "I still prefer to refer to using surnames…."

"Ah, c'mon, Iida!" Toru shouted, "Losen up a little!"

"Yeah!" Mina shouted, "You're given permission to call Ochako by her given name, and you're throwing it away?! C'mon, Class rep!"

While Tenya started arguing with the two girls, Izuku smiled at Ochako. He nervously scratched the back of his head. "Well, since my other self bled it to me, and you don't mind, I guess I can call you Ochako."

She beamed at him, which made him blush.

Katsuki snorted at the entire scene, finding the whole thing amusing. The nerd was definitely whipped, no doubt about it.

"Oi!" Silver called, catching everyone's attention, "Eyes on the screen, please!"

Begrudgingly, they did so.

Toshinori would have liked it if someone had told him being a teacher came with so much paperwork, and he hadn't even given a class!

There were a couple of giggles from the students while Toshinori looked a little flustered, pulling on his shirt collar. He agreed with his counterpart. He had not been prepared for the mountain worth of paperwork he was given before his first class.

Aizawa, once again, was tempted to go to sleep then and there. He knew how much of a pain paperwork was, but he wasn't going to be sympathetic to the former symbol of peace. Nezu chuckled as Chibi came in and gave him a thermos with freshly brewed tea.

"Thank you," Nezu said as he took the thermos and took a sip. Chibi perked up and made her way back to Dark's mobile cart.

But while trying his best to finish the humongous amount of paper, his mind kept drifting back to his successor and what the boy told him. From all the things he could have said, dreams about a different version of himself were not what he expected.

Tenya hummed, a hand on his chin. "So it seems All Might has been investigating the other Midoriya's visions."

"That's gotta be a good thing!" Ochako said, glancing at her green-haired friend with a smile, "It means that we can figure out what happened to the other Deku!"

"But you forget that nothing is simple with Bola around," Tsuyu said bluntly.

Ochako looked a little sheepish while Izuku hummed in agreement. No doubt, had Bola been here, he would have burst out laughing at the remark. But that was alright cause Silver was doing it for him. Only without the insanity.

They had spent three weeks trying to piece this puzzle but had yet to succeed. Toshinori saw the journal that Izuku used to keep track of them, and he was surprised by what he saw. If the little pieces they could organize with complete certainty were to be believed, the boy was a hero already.

A lot of students perked up. Whereas Izuku flushed, a little flustered by the admission of his mentor's counterpart. But even then, the green bean was beaming, something his friends smiled at.

"So Midoriya is already a hero!" Toru jumped on her seat. "Even All Might agrees!"

There were sounds of agreement from the students while Toshinori himself hummed thoughtfully as he watched his other self looking somewhat puzzled.

The only thing that bothered Toshinori was that he couldn't help more; he tried to use his contacts to see what he could find, but he had nothing outside of a single clue that his friend Naomasa had found.

Most of the audience perked up at that, and the more excited of the group eagerly leaned closer to the screen. They finally had something!

The only headway Toshinori got for Izuku was that his mother took him to the precinct where Naomasa worked twelve years ago. He said that the boy was barely responding to anything, and the only thing he remembered was his name.

Izuku sighed disappointedly and mumbled, "I figured it was too good to be true." He had been hoping for some answers for his other self. But it seemed he wasn't going to get them very soon. Disappointing but not surprising.

His classmates were also disappointed at what the narration said as they either watched with disappointed silence or released discontent noises. While they knew they wouldn't get many answers, they had hope for a little bit of something at least.

Tenya fiddled with his glasses, frowning and trying to hide his own disappointment and frustration as he pondered over what the narration stated: "So even with All Might's connections, they could not find anything about the other Midoriya's past."

"That sucks!" Toru whined as she plopped in her seat in disappointment and sulked. "We're nowhere close to figuring out the other Midori's family or who he was before this!" The invisible girl said as she gestured to the paused screen, not that her arms could be seen, but the movement of her clothes gave everyone the conclusion. Mina nodded in agreement, slumping with a pout and crossing her arms.

Shoto hummed, "Which means something else is at play here."

Toshinori narrowed his eyes as he tried to piece whatever information they were given, which wasn't much to work with. Nezu wrote down a couple of things on his notepad while Aizawa narrowed his eyes in thought. This entire thing was giving the underground hero a headache, but it was odd that there were no leads on the other problem child's past.

But then again, this parallels to Eri in many ways. After the whole Shie Hassaikai raid was taken care of, one of the many first things they did was investigate Eri. But they found nothing of her. No birth certificate, no official documents, not even blood samples. Yet, they at least had a lead when they drew blood. It was confirmed the comatose former leader of Shie Hassaikai was related to her.

But the fact that the other problem child had no single lead to his past…

Inko looked just as disappointed as the rest of the teens. While she was uncomfortable knowing that there are other universes where she isn't related to Izuku, she was hoping to know her other son's family and his past. It was almost as if something or someone was tampering with it.

Silver found the entire thing amusing as she leaned back as the screen played again when everyone put their attention back on it. They knew so little, which made their reactions all the more enjoyable.

That made Toshinori wonder, was his successor a victim of a quirk? The boy had said he didn't remember much of his childhood, so it was a possibility that it was a side effect of the quirk to mess with the target's memory. Not to mention, people don't just suddenly start existing one day.

"It…is possible." Izuku pondered with a frown over what was narrated as he pulled out his notebook from somewhere. "If my other self had his memories tampered with, it could explain why everything is more difficult than it should be."

"So you think a villain is responsible for your other self's problems, Midoriya?" Shoto asked, eying his friend questionably.

Izuku shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. "It's a possibility, but I'm not sure."

Ochako looked confused, "What else could it be if not a villain?"

Izuku shrugged helplessly, "I honestly don't know. It could be something that even we couldn't imagine."

"Perhaps there are dark forces whom wield power which we mortals can not apprehend." Fumikage solemnly said.

"Uh yeah…" Mina said. "But still, it doesn't change that we still don't know anything."

"And it doesn't explain why they haven't found anything either." Denki was the one to point it out. "Even without his memories, wouldn't they have drawn some blood or something?"

Kyoka raised an eyebrow, "Surprise you managed to come up with that."

While Denki bemoaned over how cruel the purple-haired teen was, Katsuki had had enough. "If you idiots pay attention to the fucking screen, we might find out eventually!"

There were some protests from the teens, but they laughed at the blond's scowl.

Mina pouted but said nothing. She was still a little conflicted about how to be around the blond, and it didn't help that she was assigned to sit near him, either. Nevertheless, she would put up with it, ignore the blond, and put her attention to the screen like everyone else. It was then that a paper plane landed on her lap. Blinking, she folded the paper open and read what it had.

[Seems like you're more conflicted than I assumed. How about you come here when Dinner is over? Best to have someone to lean on. - Dark]

She read the coordinates she was given and turned her attention to the Dragon, who had her nose on her novel. How does she do it? Either way, she needed someone to rant to, but she wasn't sure if she could trust Dark. She bit her lip before stuffing the paper in her pocket.

She'll decide by the time dinner comes around. Having been lost in thought, Mina didn't notice Katsuki glancing at her before he put his own attention to the screen.

The concern on his face was not ignored by the other person in the room, "Something wrong, Yagi-kun?" The cheerful, slightly concerned voice of Nezu took Toshinori out of his thoughts.

Everyone jumped, and a few of the teens shouted in surprise at the unexpected voice of the principal. Toshinori and Inko likewise jumped while Shota remained unfazed, instead watching the screen with his classic done-with-life face.

Nezu chuckled at the reactions before taking a sip of his tea. The reactions of humans are always amusing.

The principal was enjoying a cup of tea before the orientation ceremony, but the constantly concerned look from his new faculty member was starting to worry him.

"It's nothing, sir, just thinking about something." Toshinori tried to reassure Nezu, but the quirked animal was nothing but perspective, "Is this about your successor? Who is starting to attend class today?"

"He knew?!" More than one person yelled in shock.

Silver leaned on the balcony's rail and raised an unimpressed eyebrow, "It's Nezu. Why are you lot surprised?"

To that, most of the teens looked sheepish.

Shoto hummed in realization, "Fair." Their principal had been infamously famed for being omniscient, so for him to have knowledge about Izuku and One For All wasn't that surprising when he stopped to think about it.

That threw Toshinori for a loop, but seeing the knowing smile on Nezu's face, he remembered just who he was talking to, "Yes, I just think that I'm not doing enough for the boy." he sighed.

"See, even All Might gets it."

Izuku ignored their temporary host's comment and turned to his mentor, "You do more than enough, All Might! I wouldn't even be here if you hadn't helped me."

Toshinori was surprised, but it then turned into a wholehearted smile.

"That is what all of us feel when we send children to the field, but we will not be here forever, so as you did, we have to pass the torch forward." Nezu's short speech reminded Toshinori that he was right. He passed the torch, and now all he can do is watch the new generation succeed them.

"No pressure, right?" Kyoka's dry chuckle let the others know what she thought about that—succeeding the strongest hero ever? She would leave that for Izuku, thank you very much.

"It does seem impossible to fill such large shoes." Mezo agreed, "But it is not like we can leave everything for Midoriya. One For All or not, we all only got this far by working together."

Denki kneeled in his seat to look at the back line, giving his two yen, "We had some road bumps, but look at us! We survived half a dozen villain attacks and only got our asses kicked a couple of times." He threw his arms up, a shameless smirk on his face, "I consider that an absolute win."

"You fucking stupid, Pikachu?!"

The one to jump to defend Denki from Katsuki's outburst was, surprisingly, Izuku, "He has a point, though."

"I do?" That was a new experience for the electric blond.

"Yes. While we didn't go through it unscathed, we faced villains, bioweapons, and what have you, and we're still here." Izuku looked at his scarred hand, clenching it tightly, "I know it was scary, b-but… it makes whatever comes next don't seem as much? If we got through all that, we can get to the finish line." The boy faltered when he saw everybody staring at him but found the courage to push through.

Someone started to clap, and another person followed. When he least expected, everybody was cheering for his impromptu speech.

Toshinori stifled a laugh at his successor's red face. The boy had a way of lifting people's spirits. If only he could let that side of him shine some more.

Katsuki slid down his seat, ending in a horrible posture. He knew what the nerd meant, and a part of him found itself agreeing. After All For One, nothing seemed as bad. Still, he wouldn't admit it.

"Thank you, Principal."

"Don't thank me yet. Your protege still has to survive the day." Toshinori looked confused for a second, but his eyes widened when he realized what Nezu was insinuating.

For a moment, almost everyone looked just as confused as Toshinori on screen, but then it dawned on them what he was talking about.

"Oh shit!" Denki shouted, pointing at the screen with a laugh. "I almost forgot!"

"When don't you forget?" Jiro commented drily.

"So mean!"

"You mean he is-?" He could not end his question for fear of it being correct. Unfortunately, his fear was proven right when Nezu nodded. Toshinori barely said a quick 'excuse me' before bolting out of the room, leaving a cackling Nezu behind.

A few students giggled at Toshinori's expense, and the hero himself merely let out a nervous smile.

---

Arriving in the courtyard in mere seconds, Toshinori hid behind a corner. Poking his head, he saw the students in their gym uniforms. Izuku was easily distinguished from the rest because of his hair and crossed belts. Aizawa gave young Bakugo a ball before saying to throw it, using his quirk. Toshinori was glad he got there on time to see everything, but he could not help but pray that nothing bad would happen to young Izuku.

"Wait, does that mean that All Might was there watching us to check on Midoriya?" Toru said as everyone gave him a look.

The man squirmed a bit, looking at Aizawa, who, for the first time since coming into this theatre, seemed to be enjoying himself as he watched with contained amusement. "W-well, I had to make sure young Midoriya was alright since I knew about how One for All would affect his body." He decided to spare his students the panic of Aizawa's genuine threat of expulsion. His own pride could take a blow.

A few giggles came from the students.

Shota looked at the man as he saw the man sweat on her gaze. "This makes every one of your acts of irrational favoritism make so much more sense now." He gave the man a look almost monotone, completely unreadable behind the scarf. "Well, once this viewing is over, we can have a long talk about this." He said, not missing a beat.

The students giggled as the man shrank a bit, just like his protege.

Denki laughed. "Are we sure he isn't Midoriya's dad?"

The two in question blushed, still not daring to speak.

Tsuyu was as stoic as ever, but a certain cheeriness came from her. "Maybe he inherited it with One for All," she said with a perverse smile on her lips.

They couldn't see it, but they could feel Shouji smiling through his mask. "Maybe that's how he inherited All Might's sense of heroism at such a young age, like father like son."

Mina had to giggle to herself. "DadMight for the win!"

Toru cheered with her, "DadMight all the way!"

The two in question sat there silently, albeit if you looked at their faces, they would look like tomatoes right now. Izuku buried his face in his hands and attempted to ignore the teasing on his way.

Shouto began to write. "Another thread to bring me closer to my secret love child theory," he said, pulling a notebook from…somewhere.

Izuku wasn't sure why, but he was confident he could hear Bola groaning from wherever he was.

Inko, forgotten amidst the conversation, looked as though she was having a heart attack at the mere thought of All Might being Izuku's biological father. She fainted on the spot, but ironically, the only reason she didn't hit the floor was because of the man in question's quick reflexes.

Katsuki was grinning like a maniac. He knew that some people were scared of him, but the excitement of being cut loose made him too happy to care. If his teacher wanted him to give his all, he didn't mind blowing his expectations out of the water.

Kyoka groaned and buried her face in her hand, utterly exasperated."Bakugo, can you go five seconds without looking like you're going to kill something for fun?"

Tsuyu chimed in, "Good luck with that. Ribbit."

Sero chimed in, "I think I've never seen Bakugo hide his anger or competitiveness as long as I've known him, to be honest."

Mina chimed in, but not as cheerful as she would be. "Yeah, it's not like him to be calm and collected," she said, a little ire in her voice. Almost everyone could tell what she was trying to say.

Many of them had expected the blonde to react to these—heck, even a simple shut up.

But nothing

The boy merely moved his hand to his pocket, seemingly paying them no mind.

The boy himself simply decided to put the energy into trying to understand the energy in the charm in his pocket.

"If it can get my mind off these extras, then fine; it's the best use of my time and energy," He thought to himself, almost grunting. "It's not like I can say anything that would matter to these extra-" A scowl formed on his face.

Bzzzt

Katsuki's hand let go of the charm, and he brought it back in a jolt of pain, holding back a shout of pain and surprise as he did so, as he saw a bit of steam let off the part of his hand that had been zapped.

Kyoka and Shoji, along with the few close to him has, looked in his direction after hearing a noise and wondering what he was doing.

Katsuki merelythought to himself, "Negative emotions. Huh?"

Ejiro spoke, "Hey bro, you ok?" he said, looking at his friend with concern on his face.

Katsuki said nothing, not that he could say anything in the first place, and simply let out a silent nod, shocking everyone who was looking at him.

He was about to launch the ball like a cannon when a familiar voice called him.

"Kacchan, wait!" Izuku's panicked voice was enough to get his and everyone else attention.

"What?!"

"Your quirk makes a LOT of noise, so it's better to let everyone know in case someone has sensitive ears," Izuku said more to the class than to Katsuki, but the message was clear for both. After a row of quick 'thanks,' some people covered their ears and saw that Katsuki facepalmed from forgetting something that basic, "My bad."

The students did a double take for a second.

"Kacchan….apologizing?" Izuku spoke almost numbly, doubting what he had just heard

Sero was pretty much the same. "I don't believe it."

Kyoka chimed in. "I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't just seen it," She said with genuine surprise.

Eijiro wrapped his hand around the scowling boy. "I wouldn't expect any less from my bro. It takes a real man to admit his faults." He said, grinning widely, happy as ever.

Denki got a cheeky grin. "Hey Bakugo, you think you could-"

He replied with a quiet tone, but even then, the maliceseemed to ooze from his voice, "You'll have to pry it from my cold dead lips, Dunce Face."

Denki faltered. He held back a shudder as he remembered his near-death (should it be called death since he can't die in this place?} experience. "R-right, gotcha."

"Kacchan…apologizing?" Izuku was still in shock that he continued repeating those words. His eyes were wide, and his mouth gaping in disbelief. The green bean knew the blond by heart, and he knew that Katsuki would never apologize like that, especially in front of people.

Shoto chimed in. his voice remained monotone, but even everyone could pick up the slight surprise in his tone, "I think he broke Midoriya."

In a chopping motion, Tenya waved his hand in front of his friend's face. "Earth to Midoriya, can you hear us?!"

Inko merely smiled in amusement before letting out a slight shudder. She knew how Mitsuki would react if she found out her son apologized, and it wouldn't be pretty.

That threw Izuku for a loop, "Did Kacchan just apologize?"

The crowd let out a chorus of laughs and giggles.

Ochako laughed. "I guess some things never change, even between universes, huh, Deku!"

Izuku smiled at her, rubbing the back of his neck just as he glanced back towards the screen. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Katsuki looked as though he wanted to throttle them all. "I'm still here, you assholes!"

"And he's back!" Denki grinned.

Katsuki released warning crackles in his hand, making the electric teen recoil and shut up.

His answer was a giant explosion accompanied by a shout of "DIE!" that sent the ball flying.

"Die?" Inko thought questionably while some class members rolled their eyes at the typical threat.

"Some things remain the same." Ejiro grinned, which grew wider when Katsuki gave him a dirty look.

After a couple of seconds, the ball hit the ground, and the phone in Aizawa's hand beeped. With a bone-chilling smirk, he showed that the distance was an impressive 705.04 meters.

"Wow, that's so manly!"

"Hell yeah, it was!" Shouted Ejiro, causing a few of the students to laugh at him.

"We can use our quirks as much as we want. The hero course is the best!"

"This will be so much fun!" This was what Aizawa was waiting for. With a deep and monotonous voice, he said, "Fun, you said? Then the one to score last place in the test will be expelled." That ultimately killed the group's good mood.

"Expelled?!" Almost all the students cried in shock.

Inko looked shocked, but the teens either looked relieved or unscathed.

Mina breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad that was just a bluff."

Denki chimed in, scratching his cheek as a bead of sweat dropped from his forehead. "Yeah, I remember panicking like crazy when it happened."

Izuku let out a shuddering breath as he remembered how he was sure that he would have been expelled due to his lack of experience with One for All. He looked up and turned his attention to his mentor.

Toshinori took notice of this and immediately turned the other way, unable to meet his successor's eyes as he began to sweat, pulling at his collar. Nezu noticed them and let out a slight hum of amusement while Shota merely looked unfazed, though the twitch in his eye said something else.

Izuku, by then, had a bad feeling as he slowly turned his attention to the screen. His green eyes turned away from Toshinori, which allowed the retired hero to let out a breath.

"I should have expelled some of them." The black-haired man muttered with a tired sigh. "Too many problem children want to be heroes."

"Now, now, Aizawa." Hummed Nezu as he stroked his whiskers, "No need to be dramatic. There wouldn't be any amazing heroes if there weren't a few problem children."

"And that's why." He grumbled. "I lost so much precious time sleeping by taking care of these menaces."

Toshinori's lips twitched in amusement at his coworker and boss' banter.

Inko decided to chime in, "Well, look at the bright side. I'm here to help, and I can keep Katsuki in line, and I'm sure the theater staff can keep the rest in check."

"That doesn't make it any better." Aizawa let out a tired sigh, rubbing his aching head.

Seriously, how did he get stuck with such a group of rowdy children?

"You can't do that! It's the first day! And even if it wasn't, expelling someone because of a test is completely unfair!" Ochako said to the teacher, but the only thing that was accomplished was to make him give a sidelong glance before turning around.

"Unfair? The world is unfair. Villain attacks, natural disasters, the cutthroat society that we live in, it is all unfair." That made the whole class stop, "In life, you give your all to survive another day, but for a hero, that is not enough, so if you want to stay in this course, give everything you got." He turned back to the students, and the sadistic smirk on his face made the ones with the weaker wills tremble, "As UA always says, Plus Ultra."

"Yeah, after facing so many villains and dealing with kidnapping, I can see how unfair the world is." Sighed Mashirao.

"The world is filled with darkness that we were not prepared for." Hummed Fumikage. He pointedly ignored Dark Shadow's "Yeah, that was not fun."

Mezo then chimed. "But that's our job," He paused for a split second, seemingly lost in thought before continuing, "To face those impossible odds and try to make the world as fair as possible. It's what we signed up for."

"I guess I was just hoping that we would face this reality in a couple of years." Minoru sighed, slumping in his seat.

"Well, like Aizawa-sensei said, the world is unfair." Mezo pointed out.

"Doesn't change that I wasn't ready."

That caused all the teens to harden their wills and gain determined eyes. They gave their blood, sweat, and tears to reach there; now was not the time to back down.

"Uh…" Denki sweatdropped as he watched everyone's expression on-screen, "Kinda different from what I remember…"

Koda, of all people, chimed in, "There was more…tension in the air."

"I know, right?" Hanta shook his head, "We were all shaking in our boots as we all were afraid of failing."

Izuku could feel the conviction of his classmates, their hearts burning. If Aizawa wanted them to give their all, then they would go beyond because none of them was giving up on their dreams, not now, not ever.

"Oh yeah, a different tension compared to that other world." Hanta let out his iconic smile as he chuckled and crossed his arms on his chest.

There were sounds of agreement from all his classmates.

Izuku chimed in. "Though I can get behind this tension."

"Yeah!" Ochako beamed, "We would have been having fun and motivated to do our best."

They heard their homeroom teacher let out a groan.

"I don't think Aizawa-sensei agrees," Shoto stated the obvious.

With a smile that made Toshinori's own widen in his hidden spot, Izuku looked his teacher straight in the eyes and said, "Let's get started, sensei, so we all can show you that we are heroes!" The class followed his declaration with a resounding 'Yeah!'.

Shota had to admit, the brats had spirit, but let's see just how far that spirit would take them.

"Seems like our sensei is more open with the idea in that world," Shoto said.

Shota let out a tired sigh as he closed his eyes, praying to whatever god was out there that was not their host to end his suffering.

Katsuki simply narrowed his eyes, seemingly thinking.

Ejiro seemed to notice this and tilted his head in confusion. "Bro? You good?"

Katsuki simply spoke. "Those other extras…. it's almost like their nerd has rubbed off on the other me and them."

Ejiro blinked for a moment before looking back at the screen with squinted eyes, almost judging it before letting out a shrug. "Well, there's nothing wrong with the other Midoriya rubbing his manliness on the other us, right?"

Katsuki, while understanding what the redhead meant, gave his friend a crooked look. "Never word it like that again, shitty hair." He had other thoughts about this but decided to keep it to himself for now.

The first test was a fifty-meter dash. Izuku and Ochako cheered for Tenya, and even Katsuki gave him a slight nod. He was the first to go alongside a girl with long green hair and big eyes. Tenya saw them supporting him (even if Izuku was already writing notes in his journal) and promised not to let them down.

Izuku took the opportunity to pull out his quirk analysis book from…somewhere, wanting to take a couple of last-minute notes on his classmate's quirks. He could have sworn he heard Bola let out a choked sob, though.

He also could've sworn he heard a devilish cackle mixed with a deep guttural roar.

When the starting shot sounded, Tenya bolted forward, pushing his engines to the very limit. He managed an amazing time of 3.1 seconds, even with the track being too short for him to reach maximum speed. That was his best time yet. With his head held high, he walked back to his friends, who quickly came and praised him for the incredible display of speed.

Everyone cheered for their class reps' alternate self.

"That was awesome, Tenya-kun!"

"Yeah, that time was amazing!"

"Not bad, Four Eyes."

Kyoka narrowed his eyes at the blond on screen. "I know this is overdone, but are we sure this is Bakugo and not some friendlier body double?"

Katsuki then spoke up, glaring at her. "Fuck off, Eardrums! I'm a delight!"

Kyoka, having rubbed her ears after the walking bomb shouted at her ear, spoke up. "And there you have it." She groaned.

"I would not have done it without your support," Tenya said while bowing, earning a laugh from them.

Others were called. Some displayed the power and versatility of their quirks, while some had to get creative. After every quirk that was shown, Izuku's excitement grew to the point that he was almost vibrating in his shoes from the sheer joy of seeing new and amazing quirks.

Tsuyu placed a finger on her chin, "It's nice to see ourselves do these tests without the stress of expulsion above our heads. Ribbit."

"I know, right?" Mina beamed, "It's so much fun!"

Shota slumped in his seat as he let out a heavy sigh.

He was already at the blowing point when his name was called along with Katsuki. Quickly running to the starting line, he got in a runner-starting position while Katsuki crouched with both hands pointing backward.

The blonde turned to him with a smirk, "Try not to lag too far behind."

Sato let the sweat drop as a somewhat wavering smile. "It is kinda odd to see Bakugo be sassy without any malice added."

"Oh fuck you, Pillsbury!"

"Yep, there it is."

---

"Try not to lag too far behind."

"That's what I should be saying to you, Riku!"

"While you are busy talking, I'll just go and win!"

---

"Another flashback!" Mina cheered.

"And there is Riku and the other teen." Tenya pointed out, "It seems that they are having a race with the other Midoriya on that beach we saw earlier."

"And apparently, they were too busy to notice Deku run past them." Giggled Ochako.

Izuku merely smiled warmly at the scene.

Izuku came back to the present before Katsuki could even say anything about his spaced-out. Returning the smirk, he let the aura of Full Cowling explode outward, "While you're busy talking, I'll just go and win!"

There was a round of laughter from all his classmates as Katsuki seethed in his seat, glaring at his other self.

Katsuki saw the burning competitiveness in Izuku's eyes, and that made his turn into an inferno.

The shot rang, and the boys exploded into movement, literally. While Katsuki used his explosions to move, Izuku's moving caused an explosion. The air blast sounded like thunder while he crossed the distance of the track like lightning.

Izuku ended with a time of 2.8 seconds, while Katsuki got 3.9. The boys traded a look and a fist pump, "Enjoy while it lasts, Deku. The next one, I'm going to win!"

"Nothing more but a rivalry in this world, huh, Deku?" Ochako asked with amusement.

Izuku couldn't keep the smile off his face even if he tried. "I guess not…"

However, being reminded of their Katsuki and his former hostility made Ochako lose the enjoyment and frown. "But after everything we learned, are they really destined rivals?" She looked at Mina, who was enjoying the showing, but Ochako could tell that her heart wasn't in it. "I can't even imagine what Bakugo's friends are thinking…"

With that, they started a little competition, always trying to outdo the other and pushing themselves further. While Katsuki tried to get creative with his explosions to outmaneuver Izuku, the green-haired teen combined his magic with Full Cowling to utilize his arsenal of abilities to the most.

They were neck to neck until the grip strength test, in which Izuku accidentally destroyed the grip machine between his fingers.

Everyone burst into laughter. Izuku, while blushing slightly and scratching his cheek with his finger, also wholeheartedly laughed as he wrote in his analysis book. Katsuki merely huffed and looked away.

"Midoriya, you must be careful with school property!" Tenya rebuked his friend, chopping his hands while doing so.

"Uh, Tenya, that's not me…" Izuku shrugged as he smiled in amusement.

"Midoriya, please call me by my surname!"

"Right, sorry!" The flustered green bean apologized while Ochako laughed at both her friends' dynamics.

"Izuku-san, you have to be more careful with school property!" Tenya scolded Izuku while Ochako laughed at the display, and Katsuki considered if destroying the machine with an explosion would count.

"Wow, talk about deja vu." Teased Mina amidst the laughter and Tenya's huff of indignity

Katsuki narrowed his eyes, pondering his other self's consideration.

"Wow! What are you, a gorilla?!" A voice came from the side. Izuku saw a redhead staring at him in awe, "I just trained a lot, but that was kind of an accident." Izuku said while scratching the back of his neck.

"You broke the machine by accident! That's so manly! We have to work out together sometime! The name is Kirishima Eijiro, by the way." Eijiro said, offering a hand.

"No hesitation." Teased Mina, and Ejiro chuckled.

"Hey, you can't blame me if I want to befriend one of the manliest people I ever met, even from another world."

Katsuki merely scowled as he looked away, refusing to look at the redhead's sharp tooth grin.

Izuku grabbed it and smiled, "Izuku, Midoriya Izuku, I hope we can be friends, Eijiro."

"And Deku doesn't hesitate either if he calls anyone by their given name." Ochako grinned teasingly at her friend as Izuku blushed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

Having Izuku use his first name took Eijiro by surprise. Still, his honest expression showed that Izuku wanted to be his friend, even if they had just met, so Eijiro wouldn't leave him hanging, "I know we will, Izu-bro."

Ejiro grinned at Izuku, who smiled sheepishly. Katsuki noticed this little interaction and merely looked at the grown with a scowl as he tried to stomp on an unfamiliar emotion heavy on his chest.

That answer, combined with the sharp smile Eijiro was giving, made Izuku beam with happiness, "Hey, I saw that you guys are making a little competition. Think you have space for one more?" Eijiro bumped his fists with a challenging grin, and the others were all happy to have another member for their group.

"It's kinda odd seeing Midoriya be less of a mess and more of a friendly invitation," Denki said with a grin. "Not that I'm complaining."

Izuku blushed and ducked his head as a few of his classmates chuckled.

Shota didn't share the feeling. These kids were still considering this a game. But what pushed him over the edge was when Ochaco threw the ball in orbit with her quirk, and the others simply started to laugh, leading the rest of the class to join them. That was it. He was going to give these brats a piece of his mind.

"So much for sensei being more open here." Minoru rolled his eyes.

"Meh, it would have been odd if sensei was suddenly sunshine and rainbows as he accepted the other Midoriya's magic of friendship," Denki said.

Shota muttered darkly under his breath as his students let out wholehearted laughs at the absurd thought. His coworkers and problem child's mother smothering their laughter wasn't helping either! He glared at the screen as he activated his quirk, which caused his eyes to shine a bright, scary red.

While Izuku was preparing himself for his throw, he summoned his Keyblade, which amazed the rest of the class. It didn't matter how many times he did it and powered Full Cowling. Gently tossing the ball up, he got in a baseball batter stance, and that was when Aizawa decided to use his quirk on him. His long black hair started to float up, and his eyes shined red.

There were a couple of sighs.

"Well, there's no denying now that sensei is the same in that other world," Tsuyu stated bluntly.

"Yeah, stopping Midoriya's quirk again?" Mina rolled her eyes, exasperated.

Inko gave her son's homeroom teacher a look, which Shota ignored as he mainly focused on the screen. He both dreaded and wondered what would happen this time around.

But no one expected that after the green aura of Full Cowling died down, Izuku simply fell to the ground face first.

There were shouts of surprise as the Izuku on-screen fainted.

"DEKU/MIDORIYA!"

"Okay, this definitely didn't happen in our world!" Denki said with wide eyes.

"No, duh, man!" Seto said as he pointed at the screen hysterically. "The other Midoriya straight up fainted when sensei used his quirk!"

Izuku was likewise caught off guard by what happened. Before he could even panic, he was suddenly embraced by Ochako. It took him a moment to process what just happened, but once it sank in, Izuku turned as red as a tomato as he tried to assure Ochako that he was fine.

Eri looked like she wanted to join Ochako in hugging the flustered Deku to check if he was alright, but SM Eri assured her he was fine. So she stayed put as she watched the chaos unfold with concern.

"What happened?!" Mina shouted.

While his students were shouting and panicking while pointing at the screen, Shota narrowed his eyes in confusion. He ignored problem child's mother's scathing glare and Toshinori coughing blood as he tried to figure out what had just happened. "This never happened before…"

"Hmm… that is an extreme reaction." Nezu hummed thoughtfully as he wrote down a few things in his notebook.

"Izuku!" His friends cried while rushing to him. Shota deactivated his quirk, which was not supposed to happen. No one ever reacted like that to his quirk, but before he could try to understand what had happened, Katsuki flew at him like a missile.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" He shouted, but before he could attack his teacher, Katsuki was binded by the gray scarf of Aizawa, "Calm down if you don't want to be expelled."

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH DEKU?!"

"Well, I suppose this proves how much the other Bakugo cares for the other Midoriya," Denki said with a strained chuckle.

That sentence broke some of the tension as others let out chuckles of their own

"I used my quirk on him, but he was not supposed to pass out. What is his quirk?" That calmed Katsuki a bit, but the claws of fear still clenched his heart. Izuku was still unconscious, his friends tried to wake him up, but he wasn't responding.

The tension became heavier.

"I don't know what his quirk is. What does it have to do with it?"

"How you don't know his quirk?!" Shota said, ignoring Katsuki's question.

"He was quirkless until almost a year ago! After that, he was so busy training that we barely talked with each other!" That surprised Shota; the kid was the biggest late bloomer since the dawn of quirks, and even then, he was stronger than his peers who had their quirks for years.

"And now we know why Midoriya breaks his bones," Denki said with a terse voice, hoping to bring the mood up. Everyone, however, hardly paid attention to the poor attempt and instead watched the screen with a panic.

Katsuki looked at his friend, who was motionless on the ground, 'Please, Izuku, please be okay.'

"Izuku, wake up." A kind voice said from above him. Slowly opening his eyes, Izuku saw a blurred figure above him.

---

"Who is that?" Inko asked in surprise.

Many of the students, who took a moment to put aside their panic for confusion, were shouting similar questions as some of them were pointing at the silhouette. However, what caught Inko's attention was the sudden hitched breath the former Symbol of Peace caused.

"M-master?" Toshinori's knuckles whitened as they gripped the armchairs tightly.

"Five more minutes, mom," He groaned. He was not quite awake yet.

Everybody, not too shocked to react, broke down in startled laughter.

"It's sweet that you think that, but you've got the wrong person." That made Izuku's brain finally reboot. Opening his eyes fully now, he saw the person that was talking to him. She was tall, with a muscular build, but not bulky. She had black eyes, hair tied in a ponytail, and a beauty mark below her lips. The woman was wearing a black bodysuit, yellow boots and gloves, two white capes, a half cape attached to her silver belt, and a long one hanging off her shoulders, hooked by a golden chain.

Toshinori stopped breathing.

"Who is that?" All the students were confused, yet one look at Izuku, the boy was just as confused as them.

"I-I don't know…"

"Is this related to One for All, Deku?" Ochako had to ask.

Izuku put his hands on his chin, "I honestly don't know… Maybe?" Izuku turned to his mentor to question him. Only for him to panic the moment, he saw how pale the man was. "ALL MIGHT?! ARE YOU OK?!"

All the students turned to the retired hero, and they were met with a worrisome scene. Inko and Aizawa attempted to get the man to breathe while Toshinori was as white as a sheet, staring wide-eyed at the woman on screen.

"C'mon, you big oaf!" Aizawa practically ordered, smacking him on the back, "Breath, you idiot!"

Inko had her hand on his shoulder, firmly shaking him.

A familiar blue-sleeved hand suddenly came from the ground, and soon, the resident handyman came through the floor holding a cup of warm tea in front of the skeleton of a man.

"A drink to soothe your mind, Mr. All Might." Came Sleppt's voice.

Shakily, the man took the cup of tea and took a drink, trying to steady himself. Taking a small sip, Toshinori felt his muscles relax a little. Sleppt let a satisfied nod as the tea did its magic, "With that taken care of, I must return to work. So much work to do, and with the shaking we had, I must clean up the mess it left behind. What a mess." With that, a hole appeared underneath his feet, and he fell into the abyss, the whole disappearing with him.

Izuku hardly paid attention to the butler's leave and instead looked worryingly at his mentor, the rest of the students following pursuit while the adults kept a wary eye on him. "A-All Might, are…you alright…?"

Toshinori sucked in a breath, slowly the color returning to his skin.

"He'll be fine," Dark said blankly, inside the food cart with a steaming kettle in hand, and smoke came out of her nostrils. She placed it back on the stove, pulled out a Dark Silver Tracer from her inventory, and fiddled with the blade with her claw as she explained with utter boredom, "No one can die here. The worst he can do is faint. If he does faint, I will drag him to the infirmary room so Doc can keep an eye on him."

"W-what happened?" The green-haired teen asked shakily, eyeing his mentor as he slowly calmed down.

"Yeah, All Might, you freaked out when you saw that woman." Mina pointed out.

Kyoka nodded in agreement, having picked up the retired hero's heartbeat spike.

Toshinori hitched a breath before speaking, albeit shakily. "T-that woman… that woman is my master."

Everyone was blown away at the admittance.

"WHAT?!" Cried out Mina and Toru.

Shota gave him a glance. "So, is this the person you learned to be so reckless from?" Toshinori could hear the tiredness and judginess from the man.

Again, the older man gave a hitch breath. "N-not…exactly…"

Shota raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What?" There was a familiar sense of dread in his stomach as he looked at the shriveled form of the former mountain.

Izuku, having already connected the dots, looked grim. If this was All Mights' master, then she was the seventh wielder of One for All. And that also meant… He swallowed as the reality of the burden of One for All came to him.

"What do you mean, All Might?" Asked Inko, worried.

Izuku decided to be merciful to his mentor and spoke, "That woman was Nana Shimura." Everyone's attention turned to the green-haired student. While Izuku wanted to shrink at the attention, he took a shaky breath and said, "She was the seventh user of One for All and was All Might's mentor… " Everyone looked surprised at his words. "... up until she was killed by All for One."

The temperature suddenly dropped.

Katsuki's eyes widened as everyone else looked horrified or scared.

"T-that monster…killed All Might's…master?" Ochako asked, terrified as she looked at her friend with wide eyes

Izuku took a shaky breath, looking down, refusing to look at everyone. "Y-yeah…"

"A Hero's death indeed," Dark spoke, everyone turning their attention to her as she was sitting down on her makeshift chair with her leg resting on her knee as she continued to fiddle with her dagger. Astrid was curled up, asleep, and Chibi was watching them. "She died protecting her friend and the man who held the title Symbol of Peace when he was a brat freshly out of UA and was making his debut."

Everyone processed Dark's words.

"Wait…" Denki looked up at the paused screen, the woman still in view, with wide eyes, "If she's dead, how the hell is she here?!"

Tenya pushed his glasses, "Maybe some feature of One for All?"

Dark merely shrugged and pointed her dagger at them, waving it up and down, which made everyone eye the weapon with wariness. "You'll figure it out over time, but I suggest you lot return your attention to the screen."

Reluctantly, everyone did so. Toshinori continued looking weak but wanted to see what his master was doing there. He barely paid attention to Sleppt as the butler gently placed a blanket on his shoulders and dropped back down onto the floor once again.

"Need some help?" She asked while offering a hand to Izuku. He hesitated for a second, but seeing her kind smile, he grabbed it and stood up.

Despite the tension from earlier, Denki gave a glance to Hanta and opened a sly smirk. "When doesn't Izuku need help?"

Hanta let out a chuckle, tension melting from his body. "Hehe, yeah, he always seems to get himself into trouble, especially when someone else is in trouble."

The boy then shrank in his chair a bit. "I-I mean yeah, but…" Izuku really couldn't find it in himself to disagree.

Shoto, of all people, then spoke up, "But if Midoriya didn't do all of those things, I doubt we would all be here right now."

Tenya had to agree, "That I can attest to." He bowed his head lightly as he remembered returning to his shameful actions with Stain before putting them aside. Tenya looked at his friend with a small smile, "He is selfless and has the true qualities of a hero."

It was then Aizawa spoke up, "Though it would prove to be far better if he looked before he lept."

Izuku merely blushed with embarrassment as a most of his classmates chuckled in agreement.

Looking around, he saw that once again he was in the pillar surrounded by darkness, the light from the glass image of him washing over them. Izuku noticed something different. The previously five blank disks now held an image of Eri in the top one, and just looking at it made Izuku feel like she was right by his side.

"I almost forget how beautiful the art style is." Momo hummed.

"I still wonder how the hell the other Midoriya, and the other Eri, for that matter, have that." Kyoka snark. "And if we all have something like that."

"We probably do." Denki shrugged, "I mean, magic is possible in the other world, so it wouldn't be a stretch if anything else is possible."

Kyoka seemed to ponder this and let out a hum as she settled on her chair. "As mortifying as it is for those words to come out of your mouth, I can agree."

Denki felt a blow to his pride, "Oh, come on!"

"It's nice, isn't it? The proof of having the people you love held deep in your heart," The woman said, which brought Izuku's attention back to her.

"So the circles and faces represent the people the other Midoriya loves?" Denki scratched his head in confusion.

"I suppose it those." Yuga hums thoughtfully before his entire being sparkles, "Les mystères impliquant nos chers camarades de classe ne manquent pas."

"Uh yeah…" Sato decides to put aside his French classmate's weird words. "I guess there are still plenty of mysteries surrounding Midoriya…"

The sparkles dimmed. "Mais c'est bien ce que j'ai dit…"

"But wait a second." Mezo spoke up, "If it's true that these people represent someone who the other Midoriya loves with all his heart–" Mina, Toru, and Denki snort, "-then who is this guy?" He said as he pointed at the teen with the sunny smile and spiky hair.

Everyone processed Mezo's words and pondered over them.

"You're right." Murmured Momo, "Throughout the flashbacks of the other Midoriya, we never once seen this person."

It was then that it clicked in Katsuki's brain. His eyes widened before his expression turned into a snarl as he shot up straight in his seat. "No…" He growled in annoyance as everyone looked at him in surprise, "We have seen him before. It is just the fucking screen keeps glitching out his face!"

It clicked on Izuku, "Kacchan's right!" Izuku looked wide-eyed at the paused screen, his eyes staring into the mysterious teen's smiling face. "Whenever we saw someone else outside of Riku and Kairi, the person's face is always glitched. And whenever someone tries to say his name…"

"It's broken to the point we don't know his name." Hummed Nezu as he wrote down this information.

"B-but why?!" Sputtered Mina. "We saw all those other people glitched before, but we eventually got their faces and names! Why does this guy keep being glitchy?!"

Izuku rubbed the back of his head, "I don't know…" He looked up at the smiling teen's picture, "But remembered what my other self said, his name starts with an S. And apparently, he was important to my other self, Riku, and Kairi."

"So we now know his face, big whoop!" Katsuki said, narrowing his eyes at the usually glitchy extra. "But it doesn't change how we don't know anything about him or why the other Deku's messed up memories are rooted to this extra! We don't even know his fucking name!"

Izuku sighed, "Yeah…"

"Well, at least we were right. He is cute!"

Everyone paused and turned to look at Mina and Toru.

"After all that, that is all that matters to you two?" Kyoka asks in disbelief and irritation.

Both girls shrugged, making many sighs in irritation or exasperation.

"Well, I suppose we can talk more about this later," Nezu spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "While that is an interesting hypothesis, it would be in our best interest if we wait until we have the time to brainstorm all this information."

Many muttered under their breath but listened to the principal as they turned their attention to the screen. Izuku, in particular, pulled out his Shattered Memory notebook after putting away his analysis book….somewhere. He would get as much information as possible to figure out the mystery of his other self.

Though he swears, he heard someone having a mental collapse before waving it off as his imagination.

"Yeah, but wait a second, who are you? And what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I didn't introduce myself yet." Making a pose, she smiled and said with a grandiose voice, "I'm Shimura Nana, the seventh holder of One For All!"

Izuku began to sketch. "Nana Shimura, the Seventh," Izuku said, "...huh, you're right, All Might, her hair does look like mom's," Izuku for what seemed like far and few in between said without thinking.

Toshinori looked embarrassed as he scratched the back of his neck. Inko was blushing like a tomato as she was flattered but also embarrassed.

"She's so pretty!" Gushed Mina.

"Yeah! And she looks super strong, too!" Ejiro grinned, bouncing in his seat with excitement. "Being a mentor of All Might must mean that she was super manly!"

"But she's a woman," Mina said, the smile on her face indicating she was teasing.

Ejiro, however, defended himself, "Hey, being manly has nothing to do with gender!" He smacked his chest with his hand, "It means living your life with no regrets and doing what's right!"

Toshinori couldn't help but smile warmly as he heard his student talk about his master. "Nana, surely you would have gotten along with everyone here."

"Woah." Izuku stared in awe. If she was the seventh, then she was Toshinori's master.

"Yup, I'm pretty amazing if I say so myself." She said with a grin, the larger-than-life air she gave being switched for an easy-going one, "It's good to meet you, kiddo."

"All Might," Momo gained her heroic teacher's attention, "What was your mentor's quirk?"

Toshinori hummed thoughtfully, taking notice of his successor pulling out that notebook of his from…somewhere, "My master's quirk was float. She could levitate and suspend herself in mid-air."

Izuku wrote this down, "How did One for All affect her quirk?" Everyone looked interested in this and turned to their teacher.

Toshinori shrugged, "Well, One for All enhanced her quirk to fly at high speeds."

Ochako perked up, "Your master could fly?!"

The retired hero chuckled, "Yes, she could." Everyone could practically hear the fondness in their teacher's tone, but they could also pick up the touch of longing.

"All Might must really miss her." Izuku thought, lowering his analysis book as he gave his mentor a look of sympathy.

"Good to meet you too, Nana," Izuku said happily, being put at ease by her. There was simply that presence about her that made him relax, like the one his mother gave him.

"Wait, I understand you being here, but what am I doing here?"

"Oh yeah, what is he doing here?" Denki asked.

Katsuki rolled his eyes, annoyed with the blond-haired teen's stupidity, "If you shut up, Dunce Face, we'll find out!"

"You don't have to be mean!" Denki shouted, "I was saying what we were thinking!"

Kyoka chimed in, "Yeah, and none of us needed to hear that."

Denki sulked in his seat with a pout.

Nana pouted childishly at that, "What, can't I call you here just for small talk?"

"Wa-No, I mean yes, I'd like to know you, but I was busy, not that I can't make some time for you, is just that-"

There was laughter as Izuku looked just as flustered as his counterpart as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

Nana burst into laughter, seeing Izuku flustered, "Kid, you are too easy." She said, rubbing a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Well, now let's get serious. The reason you are here is because of your teacher when he erased One For All-"

"Wait, 'erased'? Oh my stars, my teacher is Eraserhead! That's why he was so familiar." Izuku gushed out about how his teacher was a pro hero for a couple more seconds before Nana had enough and gave him a chop in the head. Izuku had the decency to look sheepish.

The abrupt laughter grew louder at the typical fanboy behavior of Izuku. The boy in question ducked his head in embarrassment.

"As I was saying," Nana continued after clearing her throat, "When your teacher erased One For All, he blocked the connection from our hearts to yours, and that messed some things up."

"What things?" Izuku was understandably concerned about having something wrong in his heart

The earlier joy and amusement was sucked out of the room as everyone paid attention to the seriousness of the situation.

"Well, he didn't explain exactly what." Nana shrugged

"He?" Everyone asked in unison with the Izuku on screen.

Izuku pondered for a bit before it finally came to him. "Maybe the other…other me." He shook his head. "I still can't get used to that."

"There are too many Midoris," Mina complained. "How are we going to tell who is who?"

Toru looked at her friend, "Maybe we can call the Midoriya on-screen Midoriya number one and the other number two?"

Mina waved off the suggestion, "Nah, too plain and too long. We need something short and exciting."

"Like what?" Snarked Katsuki, "Master Deku and Dream Deku?" He asked sarcastically.

As conflicted as she was of Katsuki, Mina actually looked thoughtful as she pondered over his suggestions. "They could work."

"You got to be fucking kidding me!"

"But while the other Midoriya is a master, he doesn't remember his past." Pointed out Mezo, "So calling him master wouldn't really work."

Denki raised his hand, "Then how about Shattered Midoriya? Cause it's accurate."

Kyoka looked at him oddly, "Not sure if–"

"I love it!" Mina jumped in, "So the other Midori is Shattered Midori, and the other is Dream Midori!"

Katsuki groaned and placed his face on his hands. "I should have kept my fucking mouth shut."

Izuku had pulled his notebook from….somewhere again and began to write the agreed-upon names down onto the pages. It made it way easier to differentiate them, so he was fine with the names.

Ochako thought over the names, "They are kinda cute."

Izuku paused on his writing, and his face turned into a tomato. Ochako followed pursuit as soon as she processed what she just said.

Mina shot a teasing look at her.

"He?" Izuku raised his eyebrow. Who else could talk with Nana if she was inside his heart? That train of thought was what made Izuku realize that the only one whom she could have spoken to was him, the Other him, "You talked with the Other one, right?"

"Yeah, but you don't have anything to worry about, kid. He only explained to us the things that happened to you."

"But he couldn't have explained it to me, too?" Izuku, exasperated, asked. It was not fun to be the one out of the loop.

"You don't say?!" Denki's outburst earned him chuckles and nods of agreement.

Silver threw a kernel of popcorn at him, "Stop being so dramatic. Things are getting explained to you; just be patient, and you all are gonna get the answers. That's more than everyone there can say."

"Understandable, have a nice day." Let none say the electric blond didn't know when he was beaten. And to be fair, Silver had a point. While Shattered Izuku on screen would have to run around and search for answers, they would be basically spoon-fed all the critical information.

"Unfortunately, if he tried to tell you everything he told me, then things would get messy, so he made us promise that we wouldn't tell you anything you're not ready to know." Nana gave him an apologetic look.

Izuku frowned, "I should have guessed that we would never get the answers right away."

"That is unfortunate." Shoto hummed, "I wonder why the Dream Midoriya can't tell the Shattered Midoriya everything."

"Maybe his entire head would explode?" Denki shrugged helplessly.

Izuku sighed, "Please don't jinx it."

Izuku sighed but let it go, and he wouldn't make someone break a promise.

'So pure!' Was the collective sentiment to the sunshine child's mental words.

Silver knew what the audience was thinking, which led her to roll her eyes. Oh, if only they knew that it was only 30% pureness, the rest was 50% trauma, and the last 20% was a different flavor of trauma.

Oh, she couldn't wait for when they saw Phase 2 of the show. There was when things got fun.

She had the distinct impression Bola would have thought the exact same thing.

"Well, at least there is something you can tell me?" Izuku asked, already expecting a no, so when Nana nodded, he was actually quite surprised.

"Break of expectations at its finest." Hanta applauded, "Color me impressed."

"He said to say something to you if you ended up here. It was 'The true test is the Dive to the Heart.'"

"Dive to the Heart?" Mouthed Izuku as he turned the page in his notebook and wrote it down.

---

"The true test is the Dive to the Heart. It was where Keyblade wielders proved their valor."

"Yeah, after all, nothing better to prove yourself than choose a power, answer some philosophical questions, and beat some Heartless."

"Well, when you put it that way, it is kinda weird."

"See, even Aqua agrees with me, hahaha."

---

"So the lady who gave Midori his keyblade is Aqua," Mina said, finally getting a name to the face.

Toru said, "It fits her well, along with her mature vibe!"

"Aqua huh…" Momo pondered over the name, "Aqua, in many languages, means 'water.'" Her eyes glinted in interest. "I should have noticed there was a pattern. "Riku means 'land,' and Kairi's name means 'sea.'"

"But what does it all mean?" Asked Minoru, "Cause I'm lost."

"So much for being in the top ten in our class." Snarked Denki.

While the conversation continued, Izuku wrote down the woman's name and noted what Momo said. But amidst the writing, a question lingered in his head, "What's a Heartless?"

Dark looked up from reading her novel, "Everything will be explained to you in a moment. Please be patient."

Izuku sighed but agreed.

"That's why I'm here, right?" Izuku asked Nana after returning to his senses, "I have to prove that I'm worthy of wielding a Keyblade again."

"I have several questions." Izuku turned to Silver with a raised finger. "There's a test to prove yourself before you can wield a Keyblade? And how do you even, I don't know, sign up for it?"

The one to answer was, surprisingly, SM Eri, "The Dive to the Heart is not exactly a test to show you're worthy. It's more of a test to show you're ready." She gestured to the screen, "In it, you have to give a more defined shape to your power, then you have to show you can use it. And for the sign-up part, you have to be chosen."

"By who?"

SM Eri gave him a helpless shrug, "I'm contractually obligated not to answer that question."

Blinking dumbfoundedly at the girl's eloquent response, Izuku nodded slowly, "Okay?"

Dark took the opportunity to speak, "Those are questions you will eventually figure out on your own. But for now, it is best if you turn your attention to the screen for the live action of a Dive to the Heart."

Izuku sighed, disappointed but understanding, and did that. Everyone who had been listening to the conversation begrudgingly did so as well.

"Yes, I'm sorry you have to pass this again," Nana said, avoiding Izuku's eyes.

"Don't be." Izuku's reply got him a shocked look from Nana, "It wasn't your fault, it wasn't anyone's fault, accidents happen, and all we can do is our best to fix them." Izuku gave Nana a bright smile. It was enough for her to drop the downcast look and return it with a determined smile of her own.

"Your counterpart sure is a cinnamon roll like you, Midori!" Grinned Mina, making the boy flush.

"Now let's get this test started" With Izuku's words sounding in the dark, the Dive began.

A voice spoke, seemingly sounding from everywhere.

Remember who you are.

Remember what you seek.

"Wow, an anonymous voice," Denki said sarcastically.

Katsuki smacked him, making him yelp. "Shut up, Dunce Face!"

Izuku lifted his notebook, ready to write down everything. Nezu likewise watched with anticipation with his notepad ready.

Mezo checked if his extra ear was working right before turning to the others with a confused frown, "Did anyone get any distinguishable feature from that voice?"

"No. For a second, I thought it wasn't even making any sound." Mashirao shuddered, "It was like the words were simply appearing in my head."

On the edge of the pillar, three statues formed. Izuku knew what he had to do. With an encouraging nod from Nana, he approached the first one. It was a statue of someone covered in robes with a big pointed hat hiding its features.

"Wow!" Everyone looked surprised at the sudden appearance of the statues.

"Big Hat Logan sends his regards," Dark muttered, half snorting, half huffing at the sight of the first statue.

The power of the sage, a soul and mind constantly seeking knowledge, is that the power that you seek?

"That's not creepy at all," Denki muttered.

"That doesn't really fit with both Deku and Shattered Deku." Mused Ochako. "While he is smart, I don't see him traveling every corner of the galaxy to gather knowledge."

Izuku didn't know if that was a compliment, but he had to agree. He would always put helping others above learning something new, even if it was about some really cool quirk.

"No." Shaking his head, Izuku turned around and moved to the second statue. It was using leather armor and a cloak also hiding its features.

"Right on the nose." Snorted Hanta.

The power of the wanderer, a spirit that desires freedom above all else, is that the power that you seek?

"This one doesn't fit Midoriya either." Hummed Fumikage. "A protector of light does not peg me as someone who desires freedom for their own gain."

"And with how he always gets into trouble without thinking before rushing to help, I doubt he cares about getting arrested if he can save someone." At Minoru's words, both Izuku, Tenya, and Shoto traded looks while cold sweat ran down their temples.

"That's not it, either." Izuku turned and walked to the final statue, completely covered with armor. For some reason, Izuku found it to be really familiar, but seeing the straight prongs that went diagonally up from the side of the head and stretched past it, he found it to be something different, but at the same time, something right.

"Wow, that armor looks cool." Breathed Denki.

"Those look like bunny ears." Snorted Minoru as he pointed at the two antennas on the helmet.

"Similar to his costume, right?" Hanta snickered.

A few classmates giggled while Izuku flushed. "They're not bunny ears…." He muttered under his breath, going back to his notebook

Ochako hadn't stopped giggling as she turned to Izuku. "Don't worry, it's still heroic, De-" She stopped abruptly to look at the boy.

He was absorbed in his notebook, seeming to be drawing the armor in front of him on the screen.

"What are you doing?" She had to ask.

Izuku almost jumped, "Uh, I was just taking notes."

Ochako narrowed her eyes when she saw some notes on the armor. Was Deku perhaps planning to take some details from this armor and add them to his hero costume?

The power of the hero, an immovable object and an unstoppable force always fighting for what is right, is that the power that you seek?

"No doubt about it, this is Midoriya's true power." Denki snorted.

"Yeah, seeing he's already a hero in that other world and our Midori is always saving people, I don't see how this is not his." Mina snorted.

"Yes." That simple word was spoken with such conviction that nothing else was needed. That was his calling. Izuku's entire being was telling him that this was what he wanted and who he was.

"No hesitation," Toshinori said with a smile on his face. No matter what universe it seemed, he chose the right person to be his successor. "I couldn't be more proud."

Inko had some tissues removing the tears from her eyes. "My baby boy!" Seeing her son following his dreams and being happy always warmed her heart.

With his answer, the other statues crumbled into dust, and Izuku and the statue of the hero started to glow. Nana watched the scene, amazed until she had to cover her eyes, for with a final and blinding flash, Izuku and the hero became one, for Izuku was a hero.

Everyone jumped when the other two statues crumbled to dust, and they shouted in surprise as they squinted or covered their eyes with their arms when a binding light came.

"What's happening?!" Mina yelped.

As the light subsided, Nana could see that standing in the middle of the pillar was Izuku. Still, now he was covered entirely in green armor with silver and gold pieces, adding to the already heroic figure in both additional protection and presence. The hands were covered in white gauntlets, and black and red greaves covered the feet. Two heavy belts crossed in an X with a silver heart emblem, and a helmet completely covered his head with dark glass to protect the eyes and allow maximum visibility. To top it off, two straight black prongs stretched diagonally up from the back sides of the helmet like horns...or bunny ears.

"WOW!"

Everyone was caught off guard at the new wardrobe Shattered Midoriya had.

"He looks so good in it!" Mina and Toru screeched, making many wince. Kyoka shot the two girls a scathing look as she grumbled and rubbed her ringing ears.

Ochako looked open-mouthed as a blush overtook her face. Mina was right. Deku looked good in that armor. She covered her face with her hands so that no one could see how red she was. Sadly, she failed to realize that Inko took notice of this.

Denki chimed in, "Good is an understatement that armor looks badass!"

Ejiro stood up from his seat. He looked like he was about to cry, "Such manly armor!"

"Get a grip of yourself, Shitty Hair!" Barked Katsuki as he pulled down the redhead back to his seat. But despite it all, his eyes remained on the screen. While he would never admit it (he would die before he would), the armor did look heroic, and while it was nothing compared to his hero costume, Katsuki was impressed.

Toshinori was likewise as surprised as his students, and Shota was grumbling about how flashy the entire attire was from beside him. Still, Toshinori paid no attention to the man's complaints. Rather, his surprised expression shifted to a big grin. Undoubtedly, his successor's counterpart now looked like a hero.

"My my." Nezu was impressed, and he drew the armor in his notepad.

Izuku was drawing feverishly now, getting every detail of armor he could, making notes on metal pieces that could possibly integrate into his hero costume.

SM Eri looked at their reactions while trying to stifle a giggle. Oh, they saw nothing yet.

"Looking good, kid," Nana said with a whistle. She had to admit, that was the type of look that made people feel like the problem was over because the hero of the story had arrived.

"Glad you like it because if I look as good as I feel, then I'm probably really cool now." Izuku's voice sounded clear even with the helmet, and if the excited laugh he gave was any indication, he was smiling ear to ear below the armor.

"It's much more than that, Mido-bro, you look manly!" Ejiro grinned at Izuku, who sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"I guess I do, huh?"

The moment was interrupted by the voice once again speaking.

Remember for what you fight.

Remember who you stand for.

Everyone braced themselves, excited about what was going to happen next.

A multitude of dark portals appeared ahead of them, and a large group appeared from it. Izuku saw the emblem they had and recognized it instantly, "Heartless!"

"It's those monsters!" Shouted Denki, accidentally busting Kyoka's eardrums.

Enraged, she jabbed him in his ear, and he let out a shout of pain. "We can see that, you dumbass! You don't need to blow my eardrums every five minutes!" She ignored Denki's twitching form as she huffed and crossed her arms on her chest.

Izuku quickly turned the pages back to where he held the information of those black creatures, "My counterpart called them Heartless. So those were what they're talking about earlier."

"Heartless, is that really their name?" Ochako asked her friend.

Tenya pushed his glasses, "That is interesting, but what does it mean, I wonder?"

"I don't know, but it seems like Shattered Midoriya needs to fight them," Shoto stated bluntly.

Tsuyu places a hand on her chin, seemingly lost in thought as the screenplays.

The group was composed of Dual Durandals and Large Armors. The armored Heartless let metallic noises with each movement, all of their beady yellow eyes focused on the green knight.

"Wait, there are more of those Heartless creatures!" Having recovered from his punishment, Denki screeched, thankfully not enough to ire Kyoka.

"How many of those monsters are there?" Momo asks worryingly.

"Too many." Dark simply says, which doesn't make anyone feel any better. "So many breeds and quantity."

Izuku was still writing down the names and categorized them under 'Heartless,' there were so many questions. The different sizes and shapes, the colors, the emblems, all of it. He sketched a smaller of the different Heartless, the little buggy ones, and the large tubby ones. He was making note of the emblem and drawing some lines between them with connection unknown written down.

For what was the most recurring feeling since he got here, his brain hurt.

"Is this part of the test?!" Nana was reasonably worried. If the things that the Other had shown about these creatures were true, then she did not like their chances.

"Yeah, everyone has to take out some Heartless in their Dive, but don't worry, I'll take care of them!" Izuku just knew that this had to be done. He remembers his Other self doing it from his dreams. Before Nana could say another word, Izuku sprung into action. Summoning Heroes Rising, he leaped with a powerful dive attack, sending Heartless flying.

"Go Shattered Midori!" Mina cheered, with some of her classmates following her lead. Izuku, by then, decided to flip his notebook to an empty page to write down the fighting style of his counterpart. Maybe he could take some ideas and recreate them for his own.

A Dual Durandal tried to slash him from the left, but Izuku caught the blade with his armored left hand. He countered with a handle punch with his right, and the Heartless burst from the single attack. A quick swat to the right destroyed another one, and finishing with a downward strike ahead, he met the charge of one Large Armour head-on.

The clash of forces created a shock wave that traveled all the way across the Station of Awakening. Izuku was the one to break the standstill. With a step ahead, he pushed. The Heartless was sent flying backward, carrying all the others behind with it all the way out of the pillar.

The cheering was deafening that poor Kyoka had to cover her ears, but it did nothing to save her from the pain.

"I'm going to go deaf at this rate." She grimaced.

Dark ears twitched, and he looked at the poor teen who had been suffering due to her enhanced hearing. Mezo had been clever to shift his ear appendage a while back into something else, but Kyoka had no such luxury.

Sighing, she put her book in her inventory and stood up. "Astrid." She got the attention of the shapeshifter lioness, who raised her head to look at her master, "I'll be heading out to the timeless zone. Guard the cart until I come back."

Astrid let out an affirmative huff and laid her head back down.

Dark equipped the metal glove from before, and five claws sprang out.

RIIIIPPPP!

Using those claws, Dark ripped open a portal and walked in, the portal closing behind her. The audience had noticed and gave her a look as she walked and disappeared into the portal.

Where was she going?

Kyoka, however, narrowed her eyes, being the only one who heard her.

The timeless zone? What was that?

RIIIPPPPP!

People were caught off guard as Dark came back. The gloved, clawed hand grasped the portal's edge as the Dragoness walked out, closing the portal behind her. She had a box the size of her hand, and the glove disappeared in a second.

She ignored everyone as she entered the cart and closed the door behind her. She even closed the window to ensure no one saw what was happening there.

Everyone looked at each other with bewilderment. What the hell just happened?

Nana was amazed. She had to admit that Toshi picked a good one. Not only was Izuku facing a large group of monsters that would take a whole group of heroes a lot of effort to beat, but he also made it look easy.

Hearing his master's thoughts of approval over the choice of his successor, even in another universe, warmed the man's heart.

He wondered if his version of his master would feel the same.

Toshi also made crime fighting seem like a walk in the park, but he used One For All for it. Izuku was fighting alone. Imagine what they could do together. Nana couldn't help but hope. She knew that she could not save everyone, no one could, but just seeing Izuku breezing through a whole mob of monsters that could destroy a world as if it was nothing made her hope that he could prove her wrong, that he could prove everyone wrong, that he could really save everyone.

Izuku defeated the Heartless in no time, and with a final shout, he slashed through the last two Large Armors. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he turned to Nana and gave a thumbs up, and she promptly returned with a smile brighter than usual.

"For comparison purposes, how resistant is the metal those beings were equipped with?"

SM Eri answered Nezu's question while making a so-so gesture, "Something between Mythril and Adamantite, more or less."

"And that compared to more common materials?"

"Mythril is light enough so you could cover yourself head to toe in full plate armor and feel like you're only using a normal change of clothes. At the same time, it is strong enough to stop a shotgun shooting at point blank." That drew concerned stares from the people listening. How did she know that? "Adamantite is a little heavier than steel, but a millimeter-thick plate can stop an artillery shell with no prob." SM Eri finished with a thumbs up, only drawing more concerned stares.

Hey, she knew her stuff. Crafting magical items was a science, one she had several PhDs on.

Speaking of, she had to poke Bola around for some Coral from one of the timelines where Rubicon literally went up in flames for a project of hers. She had the idea for some nice gloves that would look great in that particular shade of red. The resolve would match it perfectly.

While SM Eri got lost in her own little world, the audience processed their multiple new concerns.

Silver glanced at the Unicorn with a look of understanding, knowing well what she was thinking. So that's where those come from.

Bola was right; sometimes, the universe really transpired in his favor.

Toshinori had to hide a sniff at the scene of his successor and his mentor getting along. He was sure they would have loved to meet each other.

And again, their moment was interrupted by the mysterious voice.

Remember what you fear, remember who you failed, and most importantly, remember what you promised.

"Geez, who is that voice?" Gripped Denki, "He keeps coming out of nowhere."

"They remind me of Fumi." Dark Shadow pipped in, cackling when her host made a noise of offense.

"Dark Shadow!" He rebuked her.

Izuku's instinct screamed for him to dodge, which was the only thing that saved him. Jumping back, he saw a Keyblade impaling the ground he was a moment ago. Before they had any time to process what had happened, footsteps sounded in the quiet darkness.

Everyone jumped at the surprised attack.

"Another Keyblade?!" Izuku shouted in disbelief.

"How?!" Mina screeches.

"There are various Keyblades out there."

Many turned their heads in the direction of the voice. It was Dark with a pair of headphones in hand. "As a wise man once said, 'There are as many Keyblades as there are qualified hearts.'" She threw a glance at the startled punk teen. "Here, catch." She threw the headphones.

Kyoka panicked as she scrambled to catch the headphones. She failed and had to pick them up from the floor. They were on-ear headphones with a rocking mix of colors of purple and black. She looked questionably at the dragoness.

"For your ears." Dark mused, her arms crossed on her chest. "I noticed you've been having hearing problems, so I went ahead and got these."

Kyoka eyed the headphones skeptically. "They won't stop any of the vibrations."

"Actually, you're wrong." She stated, gaining the teen's attention. "I implanted a silencing spell on those headphones. They will only allow you to have the hearing of any other normal person. Which means no risks of going deaf." Dark huffed. "Sleppt and I had a conversation a while back, and we agreed to help if needed. My initial plan had been to put a temporary spell on you to remove your mutation, but Sleppt pointed out that if the spell does not wear off while you're training, it will become problematic." She narrows her eyes. "Removing the spell would also be tedious. Thus, it was suggested we use these."

While they were talking, Izuku let the quote Dark had told them to stir in his mind.

There are as many Keyblades as there are qualified hearts.

He thought back to the talk he had with his other self.

Knowing he was qualified sunk in even more.

It made him feel even warmer thinking about it.

By that point, Kyoka reluctantly put on the headphones. And then, she blinked in surprise. The usual vibrations, the abnormal noise of breathing, and heartbeats from her friends drop to nothing.

"Works like a charm, right?" Dark asked with a smug smile, hands on her hips. "So long as those stay on your ears, you'll have the hearing range of a baseline human."

Kyoka looked at Dark in surprise before nodding. "Thanks…"

Dark turned around and waved off her thanks. "Don't worry about it. On with the show."

A figure completely covered in a black cloak walked to the Keyblade and pulled it from the ground. Looking at both the figure and the Keyblade made Izuku's heart hurt. The Keyblade was of a crystalline color, a sapphire blue straight blade with ruby red and emerald green lines criss-crossing over it, like two bolts of lightning dancing over each other from the hand guard, which was also blue, to the tip. The blade stretched in the end in three spikes that formed a crown for the teeth. The handle was covered in a golden cloth. From its base was a golden chain that ended in a crystalline star with three layers. From the outside to the innermost, it was colored in green, red, and blue.

"That guy is wearing the weird cloak thingy that Riku and Midori wore!" Mina pointed out in shock.

"Such fine craftsmanship." Momo breathed out in awe, more focused on the Keyblade than the coat. There were no chips or nicks, only smooth panels and sharp angles of crystalline matter perfectly sculpted to form a weapon.

"It's so pretty!" Toru had stars in her eyes, even if no one could see them. The new Keyblade looked like something right out of an anime or JRPG, more focused on how well it looked than if it was viable. "But won't it break?"

Silver barked a laugh, "Oh, that's golden."

"What?"

SM Eri was again the one to respond, and people were still off-put by it, "Keyblades are only half actual physical things, meaning that only half the things that went into making them were actual physical things. The rest is all conceptual because the other half is a connection."

"You lost me halfway." More like at the start, but Toru had some dignity.

SM Eri considered her words carefully. It wasn't a spoiler if it wasn't part of that story in specific, right? "Imagine it like this: a Keyblade is created when a connection between two things happens. In the case of Heroes Rising, it's the connection between Izuku's heart and his dream of being a hero." She gestured to the paused screen, "In the case of that other Keyblade, is the connection between three certain people. The connection is the important part. While it is strong, so is the Keyblade. If the connection doesn't break, the Keyblade never will."

"How do you know all that?"

At Shoto's question, SM Eri put a finger over her lips, "Spoilers."

There were groans and moans of exasperation as a few of them face-planted on the carpet at the answer.

The figure wielding the Keyblade pointed it at Izuku. Pushing the feelings bubbling in his heart aside, Izuku dropped in his stance, "Nana, stay back. That is my fight!"

"What!"

"I have to do this alone, so please, just trust me." Nana stared at the Izuku's back for a long second before nodding with a sigh, "Okay, kid, but don't you dare lose!"

"Wasn't planning to."

Katsuki didn't say anything, but he had what everyone could only describe as an unfamiliar look of approval on his face.

Ejiro simply nodded his head in agreement, "A true man knows when it's his fight to face alone."

Denki nodded. "Gotta admit that takes guts."

Izuku and the figure were completely still for a second, a heavy silence filling the air…

"Come on, man, the suspense is killing me." Denki pleaded.

…before dashing at each other in perfect synchrony.

Everyone jumped at the sudden clash.

"That speed!" Tenya said in shock.

They crashed blades in the pillar's middle, both incapable of gaining a single inch over the other. Izuku brought his left hand for a punch to the figure's head, but it was promptly dodged as they tilted their head back. Using the opening, the figure kicked Izuku in the stomach.

At the start, everyone was cheering.

"Go, Midoriya!"

"Beat that other sucker!"

"Show us what kind of man you are!"

When Izuku got a kick to the gut, everybody flinched.

"Oof, that gotta hurt." Denki held his stomach as if he had been the one kicked.

"I can attest that, si, it hurts." Thanks to his quirk, Yuga knew how much pain the stomach could cause when harmed.

A heavy metallic clunk sound came from his armor as Izuku was sent sliding back, his greaves skidding along the glass ground. The figure gave chase, throwing strikes that put Izuku on the defensive.

Toshinori grew worried, "The other young Midoriya is in trouble."

Shota narrowed his eyes at the one attacking his other student. Nezu hummed as he wrote on his notepad before flipping the pages and continuing writing. Inko looked terrified as she saw her baby fighting this dark hood figure.

Nana was at the edge of the pillar, staring worriedly as Izuku was put on the ropes, 'Come on, Izuku, fight back!' She thought desperately.

Mina shouted out, "Yeah, Fight back, Midori!"

Toru chimes in, "Kick them to the curb!"

Kyoka looked a bit annoyed at their shouting, but it was mainly for shouting for the sake of shouting.

It was all so quiet, quieter than it had ever been.

She could honestly get used to this. "This isn't half bad."

Izuku waited for the right moment, and his patience was rewarded. Dodging a swing, he punched the flat of the Keyblade of his enemy, making them lose their balance. Izuku started his own barrage of attacks, giving back every hit he took with a vengeance.

"Go, Izuku! Show him who's boss." Nana cheered from the sidelines, seeing the turnaround the battle took.

Toshinori, despite the tension on his shoulders, couldn't help but smile as he heard his master cheer for his successor.

With a final strike, Izuku sent the figure flying, but they recovered with a backflip while still in the air and landed perfectly on their feet. They point the Keyblade at Izuku while holding it with two hands. From the tip, a beam of energy flew in his direction.

"Oh, man." Ejiro was bouncing in his seat, incapable of staying still in his chair. "This is a battle of men, and the Shattered Midoriya is showing us how much of a man he is!"

"Stay still, Shitty Hair!" Barked Katsuki, annoyed that the clash between the mysterious person (Katsuki had to hold himself from rolling his eyes. It was obviously that Dream Deku) was being spoiled by the redhead's excitement.

Izuku only had time to put Heroes Rising in front of him and brace for impact, but it wasn't enough. The beam pushed Izuku back, his arms trembling with strain. When it finally ended, Izuku fell to a knee, panting.

"Izuku!" Nana's panicked voice made Izuku look up and block an overhead strike just in time.

"Is this the best you got?" The figure said in a low voice, "If it is, then you'll never win, so give up."

Many shuddered at the tone of the voice.

"Tch," Katsuki let out something that sounded like the beginning of a laugh. "Clearly, that idiot doesn't know the nerd."

Shoto, who barely managed to hold his stoic expression, managed to crack a small smile, his eyes glittering in amusement. "Midoriya doesn't know the meaning of giving up."

Ochako had a fond smile on her face and shook her head. "He wouldn't be Deku if he did."

Izuku cracked a smile.

"No." Izuku said softly, in barely a whisper, before speaking with a determined voice, "NO!"

Everyone jumped at the sudden shout before cheering in agreement. Kyoka grinned, happy that the enchanted headphones were protecting her eardrums. She could learn to enjoy the bouts of loudness if they stopped hurting.

"I won't give up! Not now, not ever!" Izuku's voice rose, with something deep within his heart that had slept for a long time. "It doesn't matter how many times you push me down, I will get up and fight!"

"So manly!" Sobbed Ejiro.

"Yeah, you tell him, Midoriya!"

"Show that villain what you're capable of!"

"Plus Ultra!"

Izuku was laughing and cheering at the screen with his friends.

A cape sprung from Izuku's shoulder guards, falling on his back while Izuku rose to his feet. Pushing with all his strength, he sent the figure stumbling back.

"Yes!" Everyone cheered and whooped that the Shattered Midoriya pushed back the villain.

"That cape est très magnifique!"

Mashirao poked Yuga with his tail, "Priorities, man."

"So give up on making me give up!"

---

"You can't save something that never existed in the first place, so give up."

"NO! I made a promise! I'll never stop until we all have our happy ending! And I won't stop until we do!"

"So give up on making me give up!"

---

The excitement changed to that of confusion as the unexpected flashback came in between the battle sequence.

"Hey, who is that creep?"

Everyone narrowed their eyes at the man dismissing the Shattered Midoriya. He was wearing the same cloak the boy did, both one on his time on the screen and the other in the flashback. He was built, with tanned skin and silver hair, but what most got to the audience was his dispassionate yellow eyes. It was as if there was nothing behind them.

"Doesn't he look like that Ansem guy?" Denki scrunched his nose as he tried to remember the exact details of Ansem. They did look alike, but this guy had more angular features.

"Maybe they're twins?" Shrugged Mashirao.

"Maybe, or at least related in some way," Izuku said, pondering as he wrote the information in his notebook.

"Or maybe they're aliens that look the same." Teased Mina.

"I doubt it." Momo shook her head.

Silver stifled a snort. Oh, these poor kids.

With the power of the bonds, forgotten but unbreakable, that Izuku carried in his heart and the promise he made long ago to the people he held dear and himself, Izuku dashed to the figure.

Every swing of his Keyblade carried the weight of Izuku's words. He would make sure they had their happy ending. Even if he couldn't remember who they were, his heart could, which gave his Keyblade the power to live to that promise.

Every strike made the figure fall back a step, every clash of blades sent sparks flying, and every swing came faster than the last.

Everyone was cheering at the sudden shift in the fight.

Izuku kept the pressure, overpowering his opponent with constant attacks. With a shoulder tackle, Izuku created the opening he needed to end the battle, putting all his power in a final overhead slash.

At the scene, Izuku couldn't stop himself from cheering his other self, "Now! With everything you have!" His cry pushed his friends to shoot their own encouraging words at the screen.

"Go, Deku!"

"You can do it, Midoriya!"

"Bring him down!"

The figure fell to a knee, supporting his weight with his Keyblade, before laughing.

"Wait, why is he laughing?!" Denki screeched. Everyone looks just as confused. What was so funny?

"What's so funny?" Izuku asked while panting for breath. The answer he got was the figure standing up and lowering its hood.

"You!"

"Him?!" Nearly everyone shouted in surprise

Katsuki growled, "Of course, it was the dream version of the nerd extras! Who else uses that stupid cloak and can be on that pillar?"

"Well, when you put it like that…it was kinda stupid not realizing it before." Hanta conceded the point.

"Yup, me or you, depending on the point of view." The Other Izuku said, scratching his shin and looking up pensively.

"There's a thought."

Minuro rolled his eyes at Rikido, "More like an existential crisis."

"Cut the nonsense, will ya." Nana said, bonking the Other upside the head and having a motherly glare that said, 'You better explain right now or else!'

Everyone chuckled when they saw the Dream Izuku got bonked on the head.

"Yeah, that's Nana, alright." All Might himself was grinning at the scene, remembering his own knocks to the skull to try putting some common sense into it.

"Okay, okay, sheesh, you don't need to overreact." The Other looked back at Izuku, "When you started the Dive, I made one little alteration. While normally you have to face a great darkness in the end, you had to face me this time."

While Dream Izuku's response made another bout of laughter roll through the theater, the last part made everyone pay rapid attention to him.

"What's considered a 'great Darkness'?"

Silver answered Izuku with a dry, "Darkside."

"Ah." Yeah, that would fit the bill. Izuku shuddered at the thought of having to face one of those after all the other Heartless his counterpart went through.

Speaking of, was a Darkside also a Heartless? He hadn't seen the emblem the other ones were sporting, but maybe it had only been hidden? "Darksides are Heartless too?"

"Pure-blooded ones." SM Eri's tone suddenly became distant but, at the same time, astoundingly intense. "Those were the completely natural types, which were born from the Darkness of the very World. Those were the things that hid in the dark, which made people afraid of it in the first place." The theater shook again at that moment, SM Eri's hands scrunching up her dress fabric.

Eri put a hand on her counterpart's arm. She didn't like to see herself so...angry. "It's okay."

"It's okay." SM Eri opened a smile, "We are here." And they would make things right. No matter how long it took.

Izuku, the closest to the girls and the one who knew both versions of them the best had a thought once again crossing his mind. Where on that timeline had SM Eri come from?

"And why did you do that?"

"Because this way, you have a better chance of remembering the true reason that you fight." The double head tilt from Nana and Izuku made the Other sweatdrop, "You remember the memory you saw right before you got the cape."

"The one where that guy with a black coat like yours was telling me to give up?"

"To find one's greatest enemy, one must first look inward," Fumikage uttered with his eyes closed.

"Yup, the feeling that you had in the memory, and right now, we're the same, right?"

"Yeah"

"Okay, what does this have to do with the test?" Nana asked, lost in the identical boys' conversation.

"Yeah, man, I'm lost." Denki scratched his head.

A lot of classmates looked just as confused.

"It means that now I know what I have to do," Izuku replied instead of his Other. The armored boy turned to his Other, "I have to keep going until we all have our happy ending."

The boy in the black cloak smiled and nodded, "Right in one, but now that this is over, it's time for you to go."

"To keep going?" Denki scratched his head. He said, "Ugh, this is so confusing!"

"This may be overstated, but it sucks when we don't know what or who the other Midoriya is talking about." Rikido sighed, those confusing moments making his head hurt.

Tsuyu then chimed in, "It would also help if we didn't get everything out of order." She paused at her own words, "But I may be asking too much. Shattered Izucchan has to deal with it like that, and this is about him. It seems almost disrespectful to whine about it then."

"Yeah, you don't want to leave your friends waiting," Nana said with a bittersweet smile. She had to admit that saying goodbye to the kid was more challenging than she thought.

"Hey, no frowning, no sad faces." the Other said while pushing the tips of Nana's lips in an exaggerated smile, "You can't help the knight in green armor over there if you look like that."

"Truer words were never spoken," Mina said in a faux solemn tone before giggling. "I sound strange trying to imitate Tokayami."

Fumikage had a scowl on his face as many of his classmates laughed, especially Dark Shadow.

"But in all seriousness, he's right!" Mina beamed, "No hero should be frowning when saving someone!"

Izuku's lips twitched, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Plus, it wouldn't be you if you weren't smiling," Ochako murmured with a slight blush.

Unfortunately for the gravity girl, her words reached the green bean, and Izuku burst into a tomato.

Nana and Izuku paused at that, "What did you mean by that?" Nana said with more hope in her tone than she was willing to admit.

"Well, maybe we aren't as good at making bonds with others as him, but we still can do a pretty good job."

The Other gave a mysterious smile.

"Geez, the Dream Midoriya is being ominous. It's giving me a headache." Denki groaned.

Kyoka gave a side glance, "Never thought I'd agree with you."

Katsuki rolled his eyes as Denki lamented about how Kyoka was cruel. But that is not to say he disagrees with Dunce Face. But there was no way in hell that he would say it out loud.

---

Toshinori was panicking like never before. After years of hero work, he learned how always to keep a level head. But if something could make him feel scared like a teenager that was going to his first patrol, it was seeing Izuku lying on the floor.

The class giggled at this.

Ochako giggled. "It's sweet that All Might cares so much about Deku, but seeing him trying to hide behind the corner is so funny!" The other students chuckled in agreement while Izuku smiled almost fondly at that train of thought.

Toshinori scratched the back of his neck sheepishly while Shota gave his colleague a side glance while Nezu and Inko chuckled.

He didn't know how that could happen. Aizawa had erased his quirk once, and he only deflated, so why did Izuku have such an intense reaction?

That question could wait, Izuku was down, and he would not stand aside when his successor needed help.

Shota couldn't hold back his groan as he facepalmed and slowly dragged his face down. "What is it with you and favoritism?" He gave the man next to him the stink eye. "I get you worry for Midoriya and the other students, but you make a scene wherever you go."

Toshinori eyed his colleague carefully before shrugging, earning another groan from the man. It took everything for the retired hero not to smile.

Just when Toshinori was about to make his presence known, Izuku started to steer. Sighs of relief were heard from the majority of the class. Izuku got up and stretched while yawning.

"Look at him! The punk gets up as if he was taking a nap!" Hanta was relieved like all the others, but he still could take a crack at Izuku just fine.

"To be fair, Aizawa-sensei is always napping in class."

"Try it, see what happens." The teacher's words shut Mina and Hanta up.

"Shouldn't you be setting a better example?" Inko's dry words made the man straighten. The phrase 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' applied double to mothers when the subject was their children.

The students stared at Inko in awe as the short and friend-shaped (Izuku had to get it from somewhere) woman scared their teacher with only a couple of words.

Shota glared at him while internally relieved that the boy was fine, "Midoriya, care to explain why you passed out?"

Shota was expecting many things, but for the boy to spring to his feet and ask for an autograph in a notebook, he pulled from who-know-where was not one of them.

"Eraserhead-sensei, can you please give me your autograph?!" Izuku asked with stars in his eyes, and while annoyed, Shota's little piece that felt guilty made him sign a page with such a well-made analysis of his quirk that he had to admit he was quite surprised.

The students giggled at that while Izuku flushed with embarrassment and looked down at his shoes as though they were the most exciting thing in the room.

Katsuki shook his head. "Same old nerd."

Mina spoke up, "Would we expect anything less?"

Shoto spoke up, "I would be more surprised if Shattered Midoriya didn't with how straightforward he is."

There was another round of laughter as Izuku turned red like a ripe tomato.

"Now, Midoriya, answer the question, and while you are at it, tell me how did you know who I am?"

"Stupid question." Hanta grinned, "It doesn't matter which world they are in, Midoriya will always be the hero encyclopedia."

"Not like the other sensei knows, though." Mina teased, which brought around another bout of laughter and a groan from their homeroom teacher.

"I can't help it if I love heroes." Muttered Izuku under his breath, his face refusing to return to its previous state.

"I...I actually don't know what happened, and of course, I know who you are. You are one of the best underground heroes in Japan!" Izuku quickly entered a fanboy mumbling spree that was just as quickly interrupted by a punch in the arm, courtesy of Katsuki.

"You sure you're okay, Deku?"

By this point, Ochako shot Katsuki a look as she pointed at his counterpart on the paused screen. "See, you can clearly see the other you cares for the other Midoriya. Why can't you be the same?!"

"Shut up, Round Face!" Katsuki Barks. He desperately tried to stomp on the strong emotion in his chest as he put on a font of indifference.

"Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry," Izuku said, holding the arm Katsuki punched.

"You sure you don't need to go to Recovery Girl?" Shota asked, still feeling a little guilty.

"No need, sensei. I still have to finish the test, and I'm not giving up!"

Denki had to laugh a bit. "Heh, I know give up isn't in your vocabulary, Midoriya, but do you ever run out of energy?"

Katsuki gave a "Tch. I'd be surprised if the nerd ever got tired."

Shota looked at his student for a long second before sighing, "Fine, but if you feel anything wrong, you are going to tell me immediately. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir!" Izuku said while doing a quick continence.

Many students chuckle at the quick response.

After reassuring his friends one last time, Izuku got back to the pinch circle and grabbed the ball.

"Show them who's boss, kid." A familiar feminine voice sounded in Izuku's head.

"Oh, so he can just hear her now?" Minoru of all people asked no one in particular

"I-I guess so…" Izuku scratched the back of his hair.

"The more it continues, the weirder it gets." Kyoka was getting a bit annoyed with all the nonsense.

Mina chimed in with her carefree smile. "You have to admit it's fun to watch, though."

"I wouldn't call it fun." Kyoka sighed.

'Yes, ma'am!' Izuku responded in his mind while raising his arm in a whirlwind of light and lighting the same Keyblade that his other used was now in his hand.

"No way! He can use the other Keyblade now?!" Ejiro asked with shock.

"It seems that way." Mezo hummed.

"Wow! He has another one? Why didn't you guys tell me that?" Eijiro, being new to the group, asked the others, but they were as shocked as he was.

"Because apparently, the other Midoriya didn't know," Denki said with a shake of his head, unable to hide his amusement.

Izuku gently threw the ball up once more, and with his new resolve burning bright in his heart, he reached for One For All. The ancient quirk let an even bigger flow of its monumental power, as now Izuku's connection with it was even stronger. The green aura covering Izuku was even brighter, the lightning cracking in it with even more vigor.

'Full Cowling: 10%!' Izuku shouted in his mind, and with a movement so fast someone could have missed if they had blinked, he batted the ball and sent it crossing the sky. A strong gust of wind was generated from the sheer power of the swing, making the others cover their eyes.

"WOW!" Nearly everyone was amazed.

"Damn, Midoriya, that's a cool trick!" Ejiro grinned.

Putting his Keyblade on his shoulder, Izuku turned back to the class with a smile, "How was that, sensei?"

Shota had to fight really hard against the smirk that threatened to open his lips, "2705.04 meters."

"HOLY SHIT!" Everyone was in full-blown hysterics at the score.

"Language, everyone!" Tenya was ignored as everyone was more focused on the score.

"That's so manly!"

"Holy fuck, Midoriya!" Denki jumped out of his seat and turned to look at Izuku with big, wide eyes and jaw dropped. "What the hell?!"

Izuku shrunk before sheepishly, saying, "I don't know, he isn't me. I didn't score that high during the ball toss."

That sent the class into an uproar, almost three kilometers in a single strike. If not for Ochako's infinite score, Izuku would have won the event by a landslide.

"Woah, kid, you really know how to make an epic comeback." Nana laughed in Izuku's mind.

'What can I do? I'm just that awesome.' The cocky remark sent Nana into another laughing fit.

"Wow, never thought I'd hear cocky Midoriya?!" Toru was taken back a bit.

Ochako grinned, "To be honest, it would be nice if Deku once in a while praised himself."

"I…uh…" Izuku looked embarrassed. "I don't do that…"

"I know." Ochako smiled at him. "But it shows how amazing you are!"

Izuku was as red as a tomato as he ducked his head. No matter how much his counterpart bled on him, he doesn't have as much confidence as he does.

"Woah, Izuku-kun, that was amazing! Why didn't you tell us you had other Keyblades?" Ochaco said the moment Izuku was back with the group, excitedly pointing to the crystalline blade in his hand.

"Well, I had to get the hang of it again, but now I'm good to go."

"What's its name?" Ochaco had to admit that Izuku's weapons were really cool, and even if the others were not as excited as her, they were still curious about their friend's new blade.

Lifting the Keyblade so that his friends could see it in its full glory, Izuku said with a soft smile, "Sky and Storm." The now-named weapon seemed to glow, looking like a stained glass work of art.

Ochako looked in awe. "What a pretty name!"

"Sky and Storm?" Denki asked, "I wonder why it's named that?"

Tsuyu chimed in, "Well, we were told Keyblades are created by a person's heart."

The following few tests were a learning experience for Izuku. With a more significant portion of One For All available to him, he had to get used to the power boost. Luckily, the other events were concluded without any more mishaps.

"Who do you think that is going to be expelled?" Katsuki discretely asked Izuku as the class stood in a line while their teacher finished entering the scores on his phone.

"No one," Izuku's answer got shocked looks from his classmates, "He cares about us, and we all proved we got what it takes. We passed the true test and showed him that we can be heroes." He elaborated, gaining relieved sighs from those who didn't go too well.

"Yeah." Denki whipped off the imaginary sweat. "I'm just glad that it was a logical ruse and that none of us went home."

Minoru looked as though death had come. "Y-yeah, I was lucky that I didn't come last…" And that it was Midoriya who got last was left unsaid, but everyone picked it up.

Izuku winced. He remembered how he was certain he was going home. He's just glad that wasn't the case.

Toshinori eyed his colleague, which Shota ignored, indifferent as he watched the screen. Inko glanced suspiciously at the homeroom teacher while Nezu chuckled under his breath.

"Don't let it go to your heads, and I will expel you in a heartbeat if you can't handle the pressure." Shota said without looking away from his phone, indirectly confirming Izuku's affirmation, "Now, here are your scores."

Nearly all the students leaned to see the scores.

A holographic list appeared, with Izuku's name on top and Katsuki in a close second, Eijiro and Tenya got fifth and sixth, and Ochaco got ninth. A short boy with purple orbs in his head was crying in relief, having ended in last because his short stature hindered him in most events.

"That's my boy. You impressed even your grumpy teacher. That's something Toshi still didn't do." Izuku could feel the ghost sensation of a head pat, which only made his smile more radiant.

Izuku smiled warmly when he saw that All Might's master gave her approval to his counterpart. He wonders if Nana Shimura from his world would also be proud of him.

"Dammit! The next time, I'm going to win! You hear me, Deku!" Katsuki's voice lacked any type of threat, but his eyes showed a lot of competitive spirits to compensate.

"I'll make you work for it." Izuku shot back with a smirk that Katsuki returned.

"A true rivalry," Ejiro said, crying his manly tears, "A fated battle between men."

Sero sweat dropped. "Ok, dude, calm down; it's not that serious."

"But at least it's genuine, and the other Bakugo actually care for Midori…" Mina muttered under her breath. Unfortunately for the pink girl, the blond she was conflicted with overheard her, and his knuckles gripped the armchair so hard that they were turning white.

"A fated battle between men," Ochako said while Eijiro was crying manly tears at the display.

Ochako frowned as she remembered coming to that conclusion quickly herself. But after everything they learned about Katsuki, she wasn't sure if it was a fated battle between men anymore.

If anything, it was a battle between a former bully and his victim.

Things changed, Ochako reasoned. She understood that Katsuki changed throughout the year, but one year does not change years of tormenting someone as sweet and kind as Deku. She can't even imagine how Katsuki's friends felt after finding out.

The students were dismissed, but Shota stayed until they were all gone, "So the great All Might have time enough to spy a class."

"SPY IS A STRONG WORD, AIZAWA-SAN! I WAS JUST SEEING HOW THE NEW STUDENTS FARE ON THEIR FIRST DAY!" Toshinori's smile dropped a little, and his normally exaggerated mannerism took on a serious air, "BUT I BECAME CONCERNED WITH WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOUNG IZUKU!"

"Honestly, with how close they are, All Might acts like Midoriya's dad," Sero said, shaking his head in amusement.

"All Might is not my dad." Izuku insisted, embarrassed.

Shoto gave his friend a look and hummed, "From all the evidence here, I have yet to see it."

Izuku groaned and buried his face in his hands.

"First name basis, not one day, and you are already showing favoritism." Shota never lost his bored tone, even while filing that interesting piece of information for later. And while Toshinori was mentally berating himself for his slipup, he simply turned away and started walking, "I don't know what happened, but I plan to find out."

The man shot a glare at the squirming former hero, who was refusing to even look at him. "And now it all makes sense," he was studying the Boney man as he shifted in his seat and sweat rolled down his face.

'Sorry, young Izuku, but I accidentally made your school life much more complicated.' Toshinori thought while letting a long and exasperated sigh out.

"Poor Shattered Midori." Mina grinned as many of her classmates shot Izuku looks of pity.

Izuku merely smiled in amusement. After all, the one who would be suffering would be his counterpart, not him.

The day soon ended. After getting back on their uniforms and grabbing their schedule in the classroom, the small group of friends walked to the train station. Among them was a new addition, a girl with shopping-mode pink skin and hair that was as messy as Izuku's. She had small yellow horns on her head, and her eyes had black sclera and bright yellow iris.

That was Ashido Mina, one of Eijiro's friends from middle school. The redhead called her to go with them, and her bubbly personality and excited disposition made her fit in the growing group of friends like a charm.

"Good to see that my counterpart befriended your manly counterpart, Midoriya." Eijiro grinned.

Izuku smiled at him, "Yeah, I guess it does seem nice, Eijiro."

Mina grinned, "If you are willing to call us by our given name, it's only fair that we call you Izuku, Midori!"

Izuku sputtered, "It's not my fault! My other self bled that to me!"

"Doesn't matter!" Mina teased, "I don't mind if you call me Mina, and I doubt Eiji cares either that you call him by his first name."

"Yeah, Midoriya, It would be an honor if someone as manly as you called me by my given name." Ejiro gave Izuku his sharp tooth grin.

Izuku hesitated, "Well…if you guys don't mind."

Katsuki was watching the entire thing, and he couldn't help but scowl as he looked away.

When they were almost passing the front gates, a new voice called from behind them, "Hey, wait up!"

Turning around, the young heroes saw one of their classmates, a petite girl with purple hair, eyes, and earphone jacks coming from her earlobes.

"Hi! Do you need something?" Izuku asked. There wasn't much else that the girl could have come after them for.

"No, I just came to say thanks. Without your warning, Sparky over there would have left me deaf." That gained one indignant "OI!" from Katsuki.

A round laughter occurred as Katsuki seethed in his seat.

"A shame I didn't get that warning in our world." Kyoka rolled her eyes.

Izuku smiled sheepishly at her. "Sorry."

The punk teen waved off his apology. "It's fine, Green. It's not your fault Bakugo was a prick at the beginning of the year."

Izuku and the others laughed before he turned back to the girl and asked with a friendly smile, "Hey, we are going to the train station together. Do you wanna come with us?"

The girl was surprised by the sudden invitation but ended up shrugging, "Yeah, why not? By the way, the name is Jiro Kyoka."

"Nice to meet you, Kyoka," Izuku said while offering a hand. Kyoka was taken aback by Izuku just using her first name. Still, the aura of friendliness that Izuku was radiating was enough for her to realize he was the type of person he was, so she grabbed his hand and shook slightly, "Likewise."

"And now I'm part of their cycle." Kyoka rolled her eyes.

"Hey! You're saying as though that's a bad thing." Mina teased.

"With you, who knows what happens." The purple-haired teen muttered under her breath.

"And that makes three. I bet that by the end of the week, Deku will be friends with half the class." Katsuki got affirmative nods from the others, even Mina and Eijiro agreeing that friendship was inevitable when it came to Izuku.

"So, what did you think about your first day of school?" Nana asked while the teens fell at a comfortable pace, chatting and getting to know a bit about each other.

"Crazy!" Nearly everyone said in unison before bursting out laughing. Izuku smiled in amusement while Katsuki merely refused to look at the screen and grit his teeth as he glared at the ground.

Izuku looked at his new and old friends and answered with a serene smile, 'It's more than I could ever hope for.'

And with that, the first day of the young hero's journey ended.

Just as the screen faded to black and the timer for the next episode appeared, a loud bang sounded on the balcony.

Silver yelped and turned, ready to chuck the remote in her hand on whatever caused the noise, only to pause and blink dumbfoundedly. Standing there was Bola, an axe in hand, and both it and he were completely covered in melted cheese.

"You okay?"

"Death to the All-Father."

"I'll take that as a maybe." She lowered her improvised weapon and grimaced in sympathy at Bola's state.

The man, for his turn, grunted and threw the axe over his shoulder. Pulling from his pocket a…bar of soap, he rubbed it over himself, making a staggering amount of bubbles that popped and left him shining.

"Squeaky clean." He clapped his hands to get the last bits of soap off, "Thanks for the help."

Beri shrugged and offered him a hand, which Eight promptly high-fived, "That's what friends are for. Now I need to go back to my projects, but you know where to find me if you need some backup again." With those parting words, she gave the audience a last wave and walked away.

Bola reclaimed his place on the balcony and leaned on the rail, "Sucks that I lost your reaction to the Dive, but oh well, I can always check on the footage."He then muttered under his breath, "At least I caught it all on camera." He eyed the newly added security camera on the roof. Everyone blinked at his words. "Anyway, back to our normal schedule."

Izuku, the closest to Bola in the audience, was the only one with enough courage to ask, "Bola… are you okay?"

"No."

As the theater's boss finished his grumble, the guest heard a familiar sound of the floor opening next to Dark, and from it, Sleppt popped out and began to wipe the sweat off his brow. "Wow, who knew it would be so much work just to get everything prepared, especially with all that shaking." He then looked up at the Stoneman. "So what did I miss?"

Dark rolled her eyes, looking as though she needed a drink, "Other than the obvious, Bola's guest happened." She rubbed her temples to push off the upcoming migraine while Sleppt turned his attention to her, "After this, I'm either going to go back home to release my pent-up frustration or drink myself to death. Because this is just ridiculous!"

The manlooked at the dragoness with sympathy. "That bad, huh?"

"They were so loud that it was as though they were using a bullhorn in my ears." She said blandly, her hands on her hips and expression utterly done, "You tell me." She grumbled under her breath. "It sucks that I can't eat their soul…"

Sleppt turned his attention from the Dragoness to his boss. "I guess you're also in a foul mood then?"

The stone man turned to him, took in a deep breath, and simply said, "I'm gonna violently and repeatedly harm that punk with a brick."

The butler's reaction was to just wince at the man. "Well, some good news is that everything is up and ready. Just making the final adjustments now."

Denki couldn't help but ask what everyone was thinking, "So what are you doing?" Well, the other thing they were thinking.

Sleppt gave nothing but a cheeky grin to the boy. "Just watch."

"Well, are you going to tell us what the hell happened?!" Snarked Katsuki. "What the fuck was that earthquake?!"

Sleppt simply shrugged. "That's Bola's business to discuss if he wants to, not mine."

Everyone then went silent, knowing no answer was going to be provided.

"Frankly, I believe you're better off not knowing." Dark rolled her eyes, "Because trust me, you don't want to know. Curiosity is not worth your sanity." The dragoness turned her attention to Sleppt, wanting to change the subject immediately. "Putting that aside, you done?"

The butler looked at her, "Pretty much just finishing touches."

With that, the butler pointed two fingers to the side of Nezu's chair and slowly raised them up.

As he did, the guests began to feel shaking, but they heard a sound before anyone could question if it was another earthquake.

CRACK!

As the students and staff looked to the source of the noise, they all saw two chairs rising from the ground right next to Nezu.

As the chairs rose from the ground, Sleppt's finger slowly rose before returning to his palm, where the chairs stopped and were perfectly out of the theater's carpet.

"Now it's all done." The man said with a satisfactory grin.

"Wait, we're having more people?!" Mina screeched, making a few wince and glare at her.

"Yep," Sleppt said, popping the 'p.'

"Who?!" Everyone seemed curious.

"And that's my cue!" Bola said, his foul mood put aside as he rubbed his hands with anticipation and delight.

This was going to be fun.