Chapter 7: Enter the Everything Heroine

But sadly not everything one hopes for comes true.

A lot had happened the week that followed the Hero Festival. But now wasn't the time to reminisce about the past. Izuku had more pressing things to be concerned about. Like where was Tenya, and was he okay? Midoriya's brief run-in with the murderous Hero Killer was over, and he was back at school. But for some reason, Tenya didn't show up for classes that Monday morning. Which concerned Midoriya because he had seen the tall teen on the school grounds before class. Ida didn't say much and only said he needed a minute to relax before going to class when Izuku asked if everything was alright. The shorter teen decided to give Tenya his space but was now kicking himself for not pressing him more.

At the moment Midoriya was trying to catch up to Uraraka. She was taking this the hardest and was frantically looking for Ida expecting the worst as she raced up flights of stairs. After the lunch bell had rung, Izuku told the zero-gravity heroine that he had seen Tenya before class. This turned out to be a terrible idea, as she immediately dashed out of the classroom in tears. Luckily he asked her to wait until the classroom had emptied before talking to her. Otherwise, that might have caused a scene. Midoriya finally caught up to her and grabbed her shoulders before saying, "Uraraka-san you need to calm down!"

The girl was a teary mess and didn't say anything. Izuku pleaded, "Look we need to think this through, okay?" Ochako nodded slowly. Raising his hands Midoriya continued, "Stay here, and I'll look for Ida-san on the roof." Another nod came from the girl, and he made his way to the roof, feeling nauseous. It pained Izuku that Ochako's first thought was that Tenya considered suicide. He was quite sure his tall friend would never consider the idea but to reassure her, and a small part of himself, he had to be sure. Midoriya saw no sign of anyone once he reached the top. Looking over the railing did give him the chills but after looking all over, he saw no sign of what Uraraka had feared.

As Izuku went back down the stairs to rejoin Ochako, he considered possible places Tenya could have gone. Drawing a blank, he instead thought of another classmate that might know of his location. As the zero-gravity heroine came into view, an idea hit him. Midoriya offered a hand to Uraraka and said, "He wasn't up there, and I couldn't see him on the school grounds. But I have an idea of someone who would know where Ida-san could be. Follow me."

As the pair made their way to the cafeteria Izuku thought back to the hospital on that horrible day. Tenya had been cold to both his and Shoto's attempts to cheer him up as they sat in their sick beds. Even Tokodori's realization that whenever he got involved with his classmates their hands got hurt, didn't get a reaction out of the tall teen. Ida had received possible permanent scars on his hand, just as Midoriya had when he fought at the Hero Festival. When he tried to push further he was met with silence. Izuku eventually figured that his friend just needed time and space to heal his body and mind but now all of this was happening. Should he have done more?

As they arrived in the cafeteria, Izuku began looking through the crowd. After a minute he finally saw her waiting in line for food. But before he could get there Tooru and Mashirao stepped in front of him and Ochako. Ojiro asked in a worried voice, "Woah Midoriya-san, what gives? What's with the rush you two? Has something happened?"

Tooru was quick to add, "Can we be of any help?"

"I don't know if you can but follow me," Izuku explained. The two then followed as he continued towards his target. After reaching her, Midoriya asked, "Yaoyorozu-san, we need your help."

The tall girl gave a puzzled look as she turned around to the group in front of her and asked, "What's the problem?"

Midoriya explained, "We can't find Ida-san. But he was definitely at school today before classes began, I saw and talked to him. We think he might be in trouble."

Uraraka finally spoke up in a shaky voice, "I-It's not l-like him to s-skip a c-class."

Momo looked at Ochako and gave a pained look. But her face quickly changed to a serious one, and she said, "I think I might know where he is. Midoriya-san and Ochako-san if you would please follow me."

Tooru was quick to interject, "Hey what about us? We wanna help too!"

Momo apologized, "Sorry Hagakure-san, Ojiro-san, but I will only need these two for this to work. Just enjoy your lunch, we got this."

Tooru took a step forward to protest but Mashirao held a hand to block the invisible heroine, and he stated, "We understand, now go find Ida-san!"

Momo had led them to gym Gamma. Izuku expected them to go into the gym itself, but the class vice president made her way to the side of the building. Inside, Midoriya saw that they had entered a trophy room. Trophies, medals, plaques, and certificates littered the walls of the hallway. As they entered Momo turned around and had a finger over her mouth. Both Izuku and Ochako nodded before they continued down the hall. As they came to a turn, Yaoyorozu held up a hand to stop. She then signaled them to stay there by pointing down with both her hands. She then continued to the right, alone. Uraraka gave a concerning look to Midoriya, but he just shrugged at what was happening. Before Ochako could answer back, a voice came around the corner. In a calm tone, Momo said, "I thought I would find you here, class president."

Dryly, the voice of Tenya responded back, "Hello Yaoyorozu-san. You found me quickly. I'm a bit surprised."

"Well I am your vice president, I would hope I could understand my superior enough to know where to find him," Momo stated.

In a sober tone, Ida said, "You say that, but we both know you are smarter than me. Plus you deserve your position; you got the votes, I was just handed the job."

Angrily the tall girl said, "Well take the advice from the person you consider smarter than you. I think you deserve to be our class president regardless of votes."

With no hint of anger, Ida said, "You are too kind, like always. Anyways, how did you figure I would be here?"

"Ida-san, you admire your brother more than anyone else in this world. You never stop talking about him during our meetings, where we should be more concerned about our class duties. And after all that happened last week, it just seemed logical that you would come to the one place on the school that commemorates your brother so highly," Momo said coolly.

With melancholy, Ida said, "It is a big trophy, isn't it?"

"He was the only student thus far at our school to come in first place in all the events at a Hero Festival," Yaoyorozu stated.

Izuku didn't know this fact and was very impressed. He then looked to Ochako and noticed she was biting down hard on a finger to try and keep quiet. Midoriya hesitated but then grabbed her free hand and whispered as soft as he could, "Don't do that Uraraka-san. Just squeeze my hand if you wanna focus on something else." She gave a slight blush but nodded slowly.

After some silence, Tenya spoke up and said, "My mom recorded my brother's accomplishments that day. I still watch it from time to time. It truly was incredible."

Momo sighed, "It probably was." The tall girl then continued in a raised voice, "But let me get to my point. You skipped class. All morning classes. And in less than an hour, we're going to be late for All Might-sensei's lesson today if we don't leave promptly."

After exhaling loudly, the speedy hero apologized, "Sorry about that. I didn't anticipate skipping class; my original plan was just to skip lunch."

Momo asked with concern, "So what changed your mind?"

"I saw Midoriya-san just outside the campus before I worked up the courage to enter the school. When I saw him, I lost that courage and came here to think," Ida said coldly.

The tall girl huffed, "And why is that?"

Finally, with some happiness in his voice, Tenya said, "Midoriya-san is a real hero, unlike me. He is everything I wish I was. He reminds me of my brother, a lot. And to see him come up to me and be so concerned about my well-being over his own despite everything I have done, it just broke me."

Momo again asked, "And how do you see him as a true hero?"

Ida lectured, his voice growing louder as he went, "Midoriya-san wasn't concerned about points during the entrance exam. Instead, he saved Uraraka-san, avoiding the arbitrary concept of defeating foes for a grade and instead saved someone from harm. Then he was voted class president but instead gave it to me, avoiding the glory and prestige that could come with such a position. Midoriya-san broke his body so he could pull Todoroki-san towards the right path, allowing him to use his fire quirk finally, but this also ensured Midoriya-san's defeat. He gave help to someone when it wasn't asked. I should have learned from Todoroki that day that revenge is pointless. Yet I continued down the same path and look where it got me!"

Tears again were flowing from Ochako's eyes, Izuku noticed. She held her free hand over her mouth and increased her grip on Izuku's hand to control her sobs and keep quiet. Midoriya himself was fighting back tears, but he shook his head and continued listening.

In shock, Yaoyorozu said, "Wait I thought you just ran into the Hero Killer by chance. You sought him out?"

Coldly Ida responded, "I did. Can you see now why I am so ashamed of myself? I got people almost killed because of my behavior. We should have been dead, but it was only because of the will of that manic that we are even still alive today."

Momo sounded confused when she asked, "Who's we?"

"Midoriya-san and Todoroki-san were there as well. They didn't stumble onto the scene either like you might have been told, they came to rescue me. And I almost got them killed," Tenya said with misery in his tone. He then continued by saying, "I don't deserve to be in Midoriya-san's circle of friends. So I thought I would just skip lunch while I tried to figure out an excuse to stop visiting them in the cafeteria every day."

Izuku couldn't take it anymore and whispered, "I'm sorry Uraraka-san, I have to go out there."

The rustle of feet got both Momo and Tenya to look down the hall to see Midoriya appear around the corner breathing heavily. Izuku exclaimed,"Ida-san stop this! We all make mistakes. But it's how we learn from them is what counts. Take these faults and become better because of it!"

Momo calmly said, "Was wondering when you were finally gonna chip in Midoriya-san."

Izuku turned to the tall girl and asked, "Wait, you planned for me to come out?"

Before Momo could respond, Ida said, "So you were here as well, huh? Doesn't change the fact that I've treated you and Uraraka-san like trash since we met."

Midoriya in a shaky voice said, "W-What?"

With tears in his eyes, Ida continued, "I berated you before the entrance exam for stupid reasons. I left Uraraka-san to fend for herself during the entrance exam. I selfishly took the class president position from you without a second thought. I rejected your partnership during the Kibasen, to better my odds of advancing to the next round. I dismissed the help you and Uraraka-san offered me before we left for the internship. I selfishly put my revenge above my internship, putting my classmate's and other pro heroes lives at stake in the process. I'm nothing but trash to you people. I cannot understand why you keep trying to be my friend."

It was a lot to take in. Izuku could only sigh as he saw Tenya bawling his eyes out on all fours facing the ground. But after a few minutes, Midoriya spoke, "I realize you have faults, Ida-san. But I also see the good in you. And because of those positives, I can look past your mistakes, cause I know deep down you mean well and want to be a great hero, like your brother."

Tenya rolled backward into a sitting position and took off his glasses to wipe away his tears. After a few sniffles, he said, "Y-You really mean t-that?"

Momo finally returned to the conversation by saying, "Of course he does, it's why I brought him here in the first place. I knew my words alone wouldn't be enough."

This got a chuckle out of Ida as he began to stand up. He then put on his glasses and approached Midoriya. Tenya then said, "Midoriya-san I want you to hit me as hard as you can without your quirk."

Izuku took a step back shaking his head. Even though he appreciated the gesture to not use his quirk, he didn't think even a normal punch was necessary.

Yaoyorozu held up her hands and said, "Woah now! I didn't bring Midoriya-san here to beat you up."

Ida tried to argue, "But I deserve to be-."

Momo interrupted, "That's why I brought Uraraka-san."

Ochako sprinted out of the corner and tackled Tenya in the chest which knocked him over, all the while screaming, "TENYA YOU IDIOT!"

She started to beat on his chest, without much force but enough to make a point while sobbing, "I-I thought you m-might had k-killed yourself by j-jumping off the r-roof. And y-you were just h-here looking at some d-dumb old t-trophy about your b-brother. If you l-look up to h-him so much, w-why not just c-call him or something to h-help you through w-whatever you are g-going through. H-How's a s-stupid piece of m-metal gonna h-help you with w-when you have the r-real thing still at the h-hospital?"

After she finished, Tenya got up which pushed Ochako onto to her knees. While also on his knees, Ida gave Uraraka a tight hug and sobbed, "I-I want to y-you to know I n-never considered such thing like s-suicide. B-But regardless, I'm s-sorry I made you worry so m-much."

Ochako softly said, "I-Idiot." She then returned his embrace.

The two standing teens stepped back to the corner where Izuku and Ochako originally hid to give the two in the embrace some privacy. Izuku's face was a bit red as he turned to Momo and asked, "Did you plan for all of this to happen?"

With a bit of crimson in her cheeks as well, Yaoyorozu explained, "Well most of it. I didn't expect these two to be so affectionate though."

Izuku didn't either. He then said, "Thanks so much for helping find and calm down Ida-san."

Momo responded with, "It wasn't all just me, I couldn't have done it without you two." She then placed a hand on her chin and continued, "I should apologize to the other two we left behind, however. I was just afraid them joining us would be too much stimuli for Ida-san to handle."

Izuku pondered a bit, and an idea hit him. With a confidence, the boy said, "Say I know a way you could apologize to them properly."

Intrigued the tall girl asked, "Oh, and what would you suggest Midoriya-san?

With a smile, Izuku asked, "How about joining my group for lunch tomorrow to make amends with them?"


The lunch skipping group of four barely made it to class in time after all that had happened. Izuku didn't have a chance to explain to Tooru or Mashirao the situation, but he promised he would tell them after school as they left to go get changed.

All Might had another special class for his students. A rescue-training race! The hulking hero split the class into four teams of five and had them race from the sides of field Gamma, an industrial zone, towards All Might, who was in the center. Here Izuku was ready to show his progress with One for All to his classmates but more importantly to his mentor.

Last week Izuku and the rest of the hero course did a temporary internship with pro heroes in hopes to establish contacts, observe pro heroes at work, and maybe even learn something new about their quirks or themselves in the process. If not chosen by a pro hero, they would have to choose from a pre-selected list to internship with. Izuku was prepared to spend quite some time analyzing each hero to find a match that would best suit him, but All Might was quick to tell Midoriya that he had already been chosen. His mentor's reaction to who had selected him had spooked the boy. All Might revealed that it was his former homeroom teacher back when he attended U.A. himself. The man had also personally trained him to access his quirk fully.

After traveling a bit, Midoriya arrived at the run-down building of the retired pro hero named Gran Torino. At first, Izuku thought the old man was senile and wasn't going to be of any help, but he soon learned he couldn't be more wrong. Even at his advanced age, the short hero did quick work of Izuku, exposing his flaws in the process. But thanks to the elder hero, Izuku figured out a way to better use One for All. Instead of using it as a switch on a particular part of his body, he instead figured out on how to use it as a valve over his entire body. He could only maintain it a five percent, but it was vastly more battle ready than his failed attempts to hold back during the Hero Festival. Midoriya had spent three days sparring with Gran Torino to better grasp his new ability, which he called Full Cowl.

However, despite using Full Cowl to gain an early advantage in the race, he slipped while landing on a pipe after a long jump across a gap in the buildings and fell, making Izuku last place in the race. Despite the short time he was in the lead; his classmates were astonished at his progress. All Might also was impressed and whispered to Midoriya to meet him after class to reveal everything about One for All and himself as he passed by. As tempted as Izuku was to learn more about his quirk and his mentor he didn't want to delay speaking to Tooru and Mashirao about Ida any further. Once everyone had left after the lesson, Midoriya approached his mentor and asked, "Can our meeting wait until tomorrow, sir? I already promised to meet some friends after school today. It's really important I talk with them. Some complicated stuff happened earlier today."

All Might stood there with a hand on his chin as he pondered at his student's request. But eventually, the hulking hero said, "This has something to do with the Hagakure lass, no?"

Izuku gave a slight blush and said, "W-Well not exactly, Ojiro-."

His idol interrupted Izuku by proclaiming, "Heh, say no more my boy. I'll see you tomorrow after classes are finished."


After school, Izuku caught his first two friends at U.A. up to speed with everything that had happened earlier as well as during the Hero Killer incident. They stayed in their classroom once everyone had left, similar to their first meeting.

Izuku was supposed to keep to the story that Endeavor had subdued the Hero Killer. What he, Ida, Tokodori, and the other pro heroes who did not collaborate with the police did that day could have gotten them in trouble with the law. For the three students, it was even more serious; they had used their quirks without supervision from their assigned pro hero. The police chief of Shibuya was lenient however because of the actions of the three, led to the madman's capture. The dog-faced chief allowed them all to go unpunished if they revoked having any involvement with catching the Hero Killer and instead attributed the arrest to the efforts of Endeavor, which they all agreed to eventually. Izuku felt he needed to expose the lie to the two, as it would make explaining why Tenya was absent and where he was easier. The tall teen had already revealed the truth to Ochako and Momo in the trophy room; it made sense to tell the two that were sitting next to him at the moment. He also made sure to apologize for keeping them in the dark about everything. After the long explanation, his friends remained quiet as they processed what Midoriya had just told them.

Tooru finally broke the silence by asking, "Did you ever think Ida-san would have even considered committing suicide?"

From her tone, Izuku could tell his invisible friend was very disturbed at this thought. He calmly said, "No, I really couldn't fathom him doing such a thing, but I had to be sure for Uraraka-san's sake. I feel she just assumed the worse, but then again she did visit him yesterday and might have had a better idea of Ida-san's state of mind than any of us could. But back to the point, I also wanted to get to the rooftop for a good vantage point to see if Ida-san was still wandering the school grounds like when I met him before school. If it wasn't for Yaoyorozu-san, I don't know how we would have found him. I don't want to think how things could have turned out if I hadn't asked for her help."

Mashirao spoke up and said, "From the sound of it, if you hadn't found Ida-san, he would have just made some excuse to stop sitting at our table indefinitely and would have begun to avoid interacting with you Midoriya-san." Izuku could only nod at the Ojiro's logic. The thought of Ida ceasing their friendship so hastily did disturb Midoriya a bit.

Tooru then said with a shaky voice, "This whole thing with that Hero Killer is a just a huge mess. What you three did was incredibly dangerous and stupid. That was a real villain, not just some street punk. You said it yourself Midoriya-kun, that murderer could have killed you all if he wanted to."

Ojiro raised an eyebrow as he noticed the honorific change Tooru had given Izuku, but ignored it for the moment and then stated, "I'm sure Midoriya-san did what he did because of the heat of the moment. He had to deal with his train getting attacked by one of those artificial things, Midoriya-san's internship mentor leaving him to fend for himself, wandering Hosu trying to avoid the carnage of the villain attack, and then seeing both Ida-san and the pro hero injured with that psychopath looming over them. His actions make total sense to me after he went through such a hectic string of events." Tooru could only groan in response. She still wasn't happy about the situation, Izuku thought. Mashirao continued by saying, "Least it's all over."

Hagakure was quick to answer back, "Is it though? What's to say they, I mean Midoriya-kun, won't try something like this again?" She then turned to Midoriya and said, "Look I understand what you did was the right thing for a true hero to do. But having that kind of conviction when we are still heroes in training could get you killed one these days."

Tooru brought an arm up and brought the sleeve across her face. Great, now he made her shed tears, Izuku thought. Trying to lift his invisible friend's spirits, he apologized by saying, "You're right Hagakure-chan, I wasn't thinking straight. I should have called for help so another pro hero would be with me before I confronted the Hero Killer. I can't expect to fix everything by myself; I'm still just a kid that's just getting the hang of my quirk after all."

Ojiro joined in again by saying, "Well don't be so hard on yourself about your quirk. What you did today was quite remarkable. You've come a long way in such a short amount of time considering that you came to this school breaking your limbs every time you activated your quirk."

"That I can agree with, Ojiro-san," Hagakure said in a sniffle. Izuku sighed in relief hearing his two friends say this, especially his best friend. She then continued by saying, "So is there anything else you need to tell us?"

Midoriya searched his thoughts of anything he might have forgotten. Eventually, something came, and he spoke, "Actually there is one thing. I invited Yaoyorozu-san to our table after everything she did for us today. She wanted to apologize to you two for telling you not to come. She might not stay after tomorrow, but I thought I should give the heads up to you guys."

Tooru was quick to say, "Good idea! Maybe I can convince her to stay; we need another girl with us at lunch."

"Are you sure Hagakure-san? She seems a bit too spiffy to want to hang out with the likes of us every day," Ojiro stated dryly.

The invisible girl then retorted, "What makes you say that?"

Mashirao shrugged and said, "Just an observation."

Izuku held up both his hands between his friends and said, "Hey guys, we should let her choose if she wants to continue coming after tomorrow. No need to argue about it until she makes that decision." The two gave small grunts and turned away from one another. Midoriya, to break the tension that lingered in the room, then asked, "So is there anything else you guys want to know? I've said all I can think of."

Tooru stood up and spoke, "Lots, but I need some time to think about it all. I'll text you tonight with any questions I have Midoriya-kun if I can't wait until tomorrow."

The boys both said their farewells to her, and the invisible girl made her leave. Once the door closed, Ojiro turned to Midoriya with a sly smirk and said, "Now what I would like to know is how long this 'Midoriya-kun' has been a thing?"

Izuku got up and faced away from his friend and muttered, "A w-while."

Midoriya could hear the shuffle of a desk, and soon Ojiro was in front of him. He then asked, "How long is a while?"

"I-I'd rather n-not answer this q-question in d-detail," Izuku stuttered.

Mashirao then chuckled and said, "So it's been quite some time I'm guessing. What, since we started school?" Midoriya tried to hide the blush that was forming on his face. A bewildered look came upon the tailed teen's face, and he said, "Wait, it's been that long? I was only joking before."

Izuku replied while poking his two index fingers together, "Actually she started calling me that right after our first rescue training with All Might-sensei."

The tailed teen asked, "And how about you calling her Hagakure-chan?"

The green haired teen's head sunk into his shoulders as he answered, "Last F-Friday."

"Man, I'm surprised you two are not a couple yet," Ojiro said in a baffled tone.

Midoriya responded with, "We're just g-good friends is all. I-I'm not r-ready to have a g-girlfriend yet."

Mashirao responded, "Sorry to tease you. I'm not trying to push you to do anything rash. I won't pry any further." He then put a hand on Izuku's shoulder, "We should probably get going home, it's getting late."

Midoriya pulled out his phone from his pocket before asking, "Wait before we go, mind if we exchange numbers? I also want to add you to our group chat; everyone else is already on it."

Ojiro gave a look of surprise, but it quickly turned into a slight glare, "You haven't added our new invite already to this group chat, have you?"

Izuku gave a shocked look before saying, "What? No. Why would you think that?"

With little emotion, the tailed teen stated, "Just checking."

The green haired teen found Mashirao's attitude about Momo possibly joining the group as alarming. Did he have some grudge with her? Izuku couldn't think of any times the two acted negatively towards one another. He also found it odd that his current behavior was entirely different to during lunch. Ojiro was quick to accept Yaoyorozu's decision to exclude him and Hagakure from helping with Ida. So why the sudden change? Midoriya felt like he had to address this now. "I-If you have a p-problem with Yaoyorozu-san, I-I think you should t-tell me," he proclaimed while stuttering.

A bit peeved, Mashirao responded back, "Look, I just know her type and how they usually treat us average folk."

As Izuku was about to ask what "her type" meant, but his tailed friend held up a hand and said, "Look I've already said too much. Tell you what, I'll explain later if tomorrow's lunch goes south because of her inclusion. If everything turns out fine, I will suck it up and try to be friends with her, okay?"

Midoriya not wanting to argue any further exhaled and said, "Fine." The two then added each other's phone numbers and made their way out of the classroom.


Midoriya was currently doing laps around a park nearby his apartment complex. As much as he wanted to use Full Cowl during his exercise, he knew it would just get him in trouble if he used such a flashy quirk out in the open. So just regular jogging would have to do. On his fifth lap, Izuku felt his pocket shake. Taking out his phone he noticed it was a text from Tooru. Midoriya thought, she probably has a question about all that happened today.

Blank: Busy?

All Might: Was just on a run, but I can take a break. Have something to ask?

Blank: Yes but nothing about today.

The text got Izuku to scratch his head. After a minute another text followed.

Blank: Do you mind if I come to your place again sometime soon? Again, I have no issue if you think this is too soon after my last visit. I want you to be comfortable with this.

For once, Izuku didn't feel like freaking out at her request. Sure, he felt a little apprehensive about it, but it was something he thought he could handle. Midoriya wondered, was he getting used to this?

All Might: It's fine. How about this Wednesday?

Blank: Oh, I forgot to mention before, I have a trainer that I meet on Wednesdays after school.

The text baffled Izuku. Tooru has a coach? What could she be doing with this person? Did they have a quirk similar to Transparency? He decided he would have to wait to ask this question until her visit. Midoriya then considered what day would be best. Tuesday felt too soon. He also felt Friday wouldn't be the best choice. Hagakure might try to stay longer, possibly through dinner since it would be the start of the weekend, he thought.

All Might: Thursday?

Blank: That will work.

All Might: Ok then. I should get back to this jog. Later.

Blank: See you at school tomorrow!

Izuku put his phone back into his pocket and continued his run around the park. As he ran, thoughts of what to do Thursday flooded his head. Midoriya wanted Hagakure's visit to be different this time. Last time was a spur of the moment event that he thought he rode on the seat of his pants the entire time. To Izuku, it felt as a desperate attempt to cheer his friend up. But should he instead just go with the flow? Would trying to make it perfect end up backfiring? What would be considered an ideal outcome from Tooru coming over? Midoriya eventually decided at the very least he wanted to start it on a good note. But what could he do different this time? Well, shower was one, Izuku thought as he felt sweat begin to pour down his back. However, an idea came to mind, but he was going to need his mother's help to make this work.


Izuku was in a bit of a pickle as he stood in the cafeteria the next day. In front of him, Mashirao and Momo were already sitting down at the circular table. They were opposite of each other. The dilemma was who to sit next to. Momo was new, and it would be a nice gesture to sit by her, even if it unnerved Midoriya a bit. Just looking at the tailed teen, Izuku could tell he was uncomfortable with the situation. But before he could ponder this further both Tenya and Ochako approached the table and sat on each side of Momo. Sighing in relief that he wouldn't have to make the decision, after all, Midoriya sat down next to Ojiro.

"Sup," Mashirao said dryly.

Izuku noticed Momo was busy talking to Ochako and then whispered, "You going to be okay?"

Ojiro took a sip of his drink and then said, "I'll manage."

Tooru then showed up and sat in the last seat available, which was between Izuku and Ochako.

Hagakure happily stated, "Oh, it feels so great to have a full table for once!"

This got a small chuckle out of Momo, and she said, "Thanks, Hagakure-san." She gave a slight bow and said with sincerity, "But the reason I am here is that I want to apologize to you and Ojiro-san for being insensitive yesterday. I should have considered your friendships with Ida-san might have been helpful."

Mashirao was quick to respond, "It's fine. I understand that you would consider Midoriya-san and Uraraka-san as closer to Ida-san than us two, which is true. Besides, I'm sure you had a plan in place that didn't include Hagakure-san or me. You were doing what you thought was best for Ida-san, and it worked, so no need to apologize."

Momo and Izuku had a look of surprise on their faces. He didn't expect his tailed friend to be so forgiving after everything he had previously expressed towards Momo. Maybe this logic was why he was so willing to be left behind yesterday with Tooru. So Mashirao appreciated what she did to help Tenya but has some beef with what she represents perhaps, thought the green haired teen.

Yaoyorozu said a bit hesitantly, "Um, thanks."

Ida then spoke up, "Thanks for being so understanding Ojiro-san. But I'd also like to apologize to everyone for yesterday. I considered leaving this group without even talking about everything that had happened and considering your feelings. That was selfish of me, and I'm glad I was able to change my mind and be here today."

"It's all good; you went through a lot these last few weeks. You just needed some encouragement," said Ojiro while giving thumbs up.

Midoriya chipped in, "Which I was glad to give to Ida-san."

Hagakure finished by saying, "Just be sure to talk with us if you ever need a shoulder to lean on in the future, okay?"

A hiccup came from Uraraka. The group turned to see that she was holding back tears the best she could. Ochako then said weakly, "Y-you g-guys…"

Momo brought a hand up to the gravity heroine's shoulder and said, "You got a solid group of friends here."

After a few sniffs, Uraraka meekly grinned and said, "Y-Yeah. The b-best."

The group finally began to dig into their meals with only small talk in-between eating. Izuku, however, stayed silent and kept his attention on Mashirao. At the moment the tailed teen was talking to Tenya about the injuries he received from the Hero Killer. Midoriya couldn't sense any stress from his friend as he spoke with Ida. Perhaps Ojiro had gotten over his ire for the vice president, he hoped.

As lunch came to a close, Momo spoke up and said, "Hey guys, I know this sounds a bit sudden but would you all be up to coming to my place this Saturday to start studying for the final exams?"

Ochako and Tenya immediately voiced being for the idea.

Izuku remembered what happened just hours before. Eraserhead had forewarned his class of the upcoming tests before the summer break was only about a month away. The teacher continued by announcing that there would be a summer training camp, as he felt an entire month without school was, illogical. The kicker though was that they had to pass to go. Otherwise, they would remain on campus for summer school. Izuku considered this an excellent opportunity to be with his friends in a different setting from school, without having to go through the logistics of setting up a meetup. A change in pace in how he studied and the chance to learn more about Momo couldn't hurt, Izuku thought. Izuku then too pronounced his support for it as well.

Tooru and Mashirao, however, weren't as enthusiastic about the idea. Both did say they would consider it and give an answer before Friday. To Midoriya, Ojiro being apprehensive about the idea made sense. But why Hagakure? Yes, she had previously voiced against talking about academic subjects in the past. Her excuse then was just that she was against discussing studies at the table. This would be after school. Did Tooru just find the typical aspects of school boring? Was she cautious because of what Ojiro had said the day before? No, that didn't make sense, his best friend seemed pretty open about Momo coming to the table today, and wasn't too happy with Mashirao's coldness towards the new arrival yesterday.

Even with just the three that did agree to the study session, Momo was okay in still doing it. She said she would figure out the specifics when she got home and would tell them the details at tomorrow's lunch. This pretty much confirmed her interest in continuing to meet up with the group of friends in Izuku's eyes.

The bell for lunch's end soon rang, and the students departed towards class. Mashirao picked up the pace and separated himself from the group as they walked back to class.

The green haired teen caught up to him and asked, "Everything okay?"

After giving a long-winded sigh, the tailed teen groaned, "It's complicated."

Midoriya then questioned, "Well, can you at least tell me how you felt lunch with Yaoyorozu-san went?"

Agitated, Mashirao said, "It was alright until that offer of hers. I bet she's just using the study group as a way to show off."

With a confused look, Izuku asked, "Show off what? Her smarts? Isn't that why it's a good idea to study with her?

Ojiro brought his fingers to between his eyes and pressed on his nose as he said, "No, that's not what-." There was a pause, then he looked back at his friend, "Look I'll text you about it later today, okay? I've got a lot on my mind at the moment."

At least it was something, Izuku thought. He responded with, "Alright, sometime after school then."


Midoriya's meeting with All Might after school had been quite heavy. Just walking in the office, Midoriya felt the tension in the room. The skeleton of a man started by apologizing to his student about not being around for him lately despite everything that had happened. The conversation then turned to One for All, and All Might laid it bare. Izuku learned that transferring the quirk by DNA required the owner to will it. This meant that he didn't accidentally give it to the Hero Killer when the murderer consumed his blood, but it could also mean it could be forced on someone.

But the bombshell was the origin of One for All. A different quirk called All for One, which could steal quirks permanently was the source of its creation. As his mentor explained the quirk in detail, Izuku had a hard time comprehending the idea of an all-powerful being that could wield so many quirks hiding in the shadows for apparently centuries. He had heard rumors similar to this on the internet before but when he tried to find more about it in textbooks he couldn't find a thing, so he dismissed the idea as a wild conspiracy theory. When he voiced this fact to All Might, he rebutted it by stating the existence of the Yazuka as well known despite their small presence in literature. The sickly man continued by saying, "The more power you have in the underworld, the easier it is to erase your existence from the public. The fact that this man's presence is such a whisper to the world of the commoner tells you how powerful he is."

However, the tone of All Might changed as he brought up the younger brother of All for One. A quirkless man with a strong sense of justice, it reminded Izuku of himself and even his mentor. Midoriya remembered back to the Hero Festival, not long after his surgery. All Might had revealed that he too was quirkless before receiving One for All. It brought down his idol to Izuku's his level, it was comforting, as was learning the nature of the younger sibling of All for One. For whatever reason, the villain gave his brother a power-stocking quirk. It surprised Midoriya to hear that the younger brother, in fact, wasn't quirkless, but had the power to transfer quirks, which was worthless by itself. It then all came together. The two mutated together to become One for All, and as the quirk transferred from person to person, its power increased. The thought that one day, after Izuku mastered his quirk, he would be stronger than All Might in his prime was a bit overwhelming for the teen.

Izuku was swift to tell his mentor that he was willing to stand against All for One as long as his idol was beside him. The teen's bravado had been cemented once he learned that All Might's current sorry state was because of this evildoer. To Midoriya, it seemed his outburst had startled his teacher and left him silent for a bit. Wouldn't All Might want his student to succeed where he had failed? Eventually, the skeleton of man did thank his successor, but he then ended the conversation about One for All there. Izuku was still curious about what else All Might wanted to reveal about himself, but figured the talk had taken a lot out of him and didn't want to push it any further.

Before he left, however, All Might stated, "I received a bit of a gift for you yesterday. I don't know when it will present itself to you specifically but you will enjoy it nonetheless once it does." This confused Midoriya but he didn't ask anymore more his teacher.


By now Izuku was on his bed. Almost an hour had passed since he entered his room. The whole time he had spent trying to process all this new information as well as ponder at what his mentor meant by this "gift". The vibration of his phone finally broke his concentration. In earnest, he grabbed his phone off his desk.

Lion: Hey, I'm ready to talk. You ready to listen?

Wait, his icon is a lion? This puzzled Midoriya as to why. Regardless, he texted back rapidly.

All Might: Yep.

Lion: Well I'm conflicted about going to our newcomer's study session.

All Might: Well obviously. But why?

A few minutes passed before a response came.

Lion: I would love to study with you guys, but I just think my beef with her type of people would get in the way of things.

Izuku was getting a bit frustrated with Mashirao's constant "her type" of talk.

All Might: You keep saying "her type" but I honestly don't know what you mean? Care to tell?

Lion: Dude, she's filthy stinking rich.

Midoriya scratched his head at the text. That's what this is about?

All Might: What makes you say that? And why would it matter if she is?

Lion: It's obvious man. Her hero costume, demeanor, grades, eating habits. Regardless I can't stand those types of people.

Bewildered, Izuku thought, where was all this coming from? The boy did admit Momo's costume was quite revealing, but he failed to link that it was because she was well off. Her grades and personality did remind him of Tenya, so he had to give those to Mashirao. But what did he mean her eating habits? Midoriya didn't remember seeing anything out of the ordinary about what or how Momo had eaten at lunch. Wait, speaking of Tenya...

All Might: Hey, Ida-san is quite wealthy, why don't you have any beef with him.

As Midoriya typed this he was reminded of Ojiro's brief reaction to Ida revealing his background to the tailed teen a while back. Maybe there was something to it?

Lion: Okay you have a point. I was a bit shocked when he told me about his family, but Ida-san has never flaunted his upcoming. He's the exception, not the rule.

All Might: And what's to say Yaoyorozu-san isn't an exception as well?

Lion: Look I just have a feeling. I've been burnt too many times by rich kids like her in the past to give them the benefit of the doubt.

All Might: Mind telling me what they have done to you?

Lion: Maybe someday.

Lion: Look I'll consider what you've said, and I'll have an answer to this whole mess tomorrow. I promise.

All Might: I don't want you to go if it makes you that uncomfortable. I'm just trying to understand.

Lion: And I appreciate that.

Lion: Sorry if I have seemed angry at you. It's not you; it's those type of people I'm mad at.

Lion: I'll see you tomorrow.

All Might: Bye.

Izuku continued to lay on his bed as he processed what Mashirao had revealed to him. What could have triggered all these negative emotions? Had he been bullied by them in his previous schools? Wait, he mentioned that his family wasn't that well off in terms of money, how did he mingle with so many rich kids if that was the case? Usually, such kids go to private schools, or just live all in the same district to avoid poorer neighborhoods. But then there was the fact that Ojiro's parents seemed to have well-paying jobs, yet still, money was tight. Was there a connection? Midoriya continued to ponder the subject for the rest of the day.

Wednesday's lunch started with a surprise for Izuku and his friends. Mashirao was quick to state his desire to go to Momo's house to study. The tailed teen had said he needed to be sure he could reschedule his lesson with his Muay Thai instructor to Sunday before he could commit to going. While Midoriya knew that while what he said was technically correct, it still wasn't the real reason. But he was happy regardless that Ojiro was willing to try and look past his prejudice.

Tooru was still undecided and wouldn't say why to anyone. This was starting to concern Izuku; he wanted her to come more than anyone else. But unlike Mashiro, he felt he couldn't be as abrupt in approaching her about it. Midoriya hoped she would decide before her visit on Thursday; otherwise, he felt he would have to confront her then about it, something he would rather avoid if necessary.

Momo gave everyone the address to her house and said for them to come at nine in the morning. She stated it would be best if they used all the time they could, by staying until the late afternoon as well as the next three weekends if possible. All those that had agreed to come Saturday voiced that they were okay with both these ideas. The vice president continued by saying that each week they would focus on individual subjects, with the final week being just a massive review.

After this, Tooru excitingly mentioned that next Sunday, June 16th, would be her sixteenth birthday. Ochkao was quick to ask if she wanted the group to celebrate it with her and the invisible heroine said she would think about it. Mashirao then spoke up and said his birthday was actually last Tuesday, on May 28th. Tenya inquired why he hadn't mentioned it, and the tailed teen simply stated that he didn't want to bother anybody about it. Though he said he would consider celebrating his next birthday with his friends. Hagakure then asked when everyone else's birthday was and they answered; July 15th for Izuku, August 22nd for Tenya, September 23rd for Momo, and finally December 27th for Ochako. Before Midoriya could ask Tooru more about her birthday, the bell rang for lunch to be done.


Once classes were over for the day Midoriya approached Ojiro's desk before he could get up and asked, "Hey mind staying behind for a few minutes?"

Mashirao just shrugged and said, "I'm in no hurry. So sure."

The classroom started to empty, but Tooru soon appeared between the two and asked with curiosity, "What's going on over here?"

A bit startled Izuku said, "J-Just having a c-chat with Ojiro-san."

Bringing her arms together, Hagakure asked, "Mind if I join?"

Mashirao responded to her question with, "Sorry but it's a bit private."

The invisible teen groaned, "Ugh, fine." However, she then teased, "Midoriya-kun will just have to tell me all about it tomorrow after school then. See you later, boys."

The tailed teen crossed his hands together and rested his chin on them as he said, "Going on another date are we?"

Izuku brought a hand to his face and gave a soft groan. He then muttered, "It's not a d-date. N-Not exactly."

Raising an eyebrow, Ojiro inquired, "And that means?"

Midoriya felt that if he was going to get the questions he wanted to be answered by his friend, he might as well be open with him. He responded slowly with, "She's j-just coming over to my house, a-again."

Perplexed, Mashirao asked, "Hagakure-san has been to your place already? Since when?"

"I invited H-Hagakure-chan right after the Hero Festival," Midoriya said in a meek tone.

"Huh, didn't know you had it in you. Nice," Ojiro said with a thumbs up.

Izuku crossed his arms and explained, "She was really u-upset and s-scared for me that day. I d-did it to h-help cheer her up."

In a respectful tone, the tailed teen said, "That was a considerate thing to do."

Midoriya muttered, "Y-Yeah."

Sighing, Mashirao said, "Well, I have had my fill of teasing you. What did you wanna ask me?"

Izuku requested, "I wanted to ask, what finally made you decide to accept Yaoyorozu-san's invitation?"

The tailed teen put a hand to his chin and waited a few moments before replying, "In the end, I decided it was better for us to stick together than for me to be stubborn. Plus if it turns out to be a waste, then me being there will make it that much sweeter when I say that I told you so."

Izuku internally groaned at this remark. He thought, why does it matter to be proven right on something like this?

With a hand on his chin, Mashirao then stated, "Hagakure-san is still up in the air about going or not. Any idea why she is so hesitant?"

Midoriya shrugged and said, "No clue."

The tailed teen gave a small grunt and asked, "Maybe you should ask her when she's at your house tomorrow."

"I've c-considered that," Izuku responded.

Ojiro then inquired, "Anything else you wanted to ask?"

Searching his thoughts, Midoriya eventually asked, "Just one. Why did you make your icon a lion in the group chat?"

Startled, Mashirao asked, "Really? You don't remember?"

Midoriya then asked, "Remember what?"

Ojiro responded with, "It occurred when we had our first short lunch together."

Izuku tried to think back to anything specific that day relating to now but drew a blank. He then shook his head.

Mashirao held up a hand and stated, "It's fine it was a while back now that I think about it. When you pointed out my quirk that day, you described that my tail reminded you of a lion."

The memory came flooding back to Izuku's mind, and he said, "Oh yeah, now I remember. But still, I don't see why that would be so important to you."

"You would be surprised how many people have compared my tail to that of a monkey. It's almost always been as a way to tease or belittle me," Ojiro said, looking quite upset.

Mashirao's statement reminded Izuku of what had happened at the Hero Festival. It was probably just to rile him up to speak so he could activate his quirk, but Hitoshi calling Ojiro a monkey did make Midoriya quite angry. Knowing this now, he felt that his tailed friend probably took great offense to what Shinso said.

Mashirao then stated in a proud voice, "The way you described it, like a lion, felt right to me. To me, a lion symbolizes strength and bravery, like that of a hero. And I appreciated that, a lot."

Izuku had no idea his friend felt so strongly over what he thought was just a small compliment. A bit flustered the boy said, "Oh I see. I'm sorry I forgot."

Getting up Ojiro again said, "It's fine. No need to beat yourself up on the small things. Anyways, we should probably start heading home."


Midoriya spent the evening going over his plans for tomorrow. His surprise had been cooked and was now chilling in the fridge. Izuku also informed his mom of what to do once the two arrived at the house concerning the surprise. He had a change of clothes ready and waiting to prevent the chance of smelling bad, again. The green haired teen also went over potential topics he wanted to ask Tooru over and over in his head. But more importantly, he kept telling himself it would be alright. Tooru had been at his house before, so there was nothing to panic about, Izuku thought. Just focus on making sure she was having a good time. And if everything went well, maybe something interesting would come out of all of it, he hoped.


Kind of a big change happened in this chapter from the main story. I felt Tenya would still be conflicted after all that had happened with Stain and decided to extend his troubles past just being hospitalized. I also felt this would be the best place to use Momo before having her join the group.

Some of you might be wondering, why Momo? To tell you the truth there had been three other choices I was considering. Fumikage's quirk felt like it would fun to write about and he's not exactly a popular character written about in most stories, something that's a big draw for me. Koda is even less written about, hell he doesn't even have a character filter option, but man would it be difficult to portray him since he's almost always silent. I eventually decided on another girl character would be useful to even out the genders on both sides. At first, I went with Kyoka, but as mentioned in chapter two's author notes, I had difficulty thinking up ways to use her quirk. Choosing Momo was mostly because I wanted to push a future plot point for Mashirao, and she was the best fit out of the female cast for this. I could also use Koda sparingly with this plot point, so I just went with it. But a big plus is that her quirk is limitless in ideas, so I hope I can think up some neat scenarios using it (even though that's pretty far from now).

Having two weeks to write this was a nice change of pace versus one chapter per week like before. So, for now, I'm going to stick to one chapter per two weeks unless I start struggling again. I also wanted to point out with this extra time; I decided to do a massive grammar/corrections update to chapter 1-6. I've been putting it off for some time and just decided to do a chapter a day last week, Monday - Saturday. All the chapters also got a few new lines to explain better some things or just new content(chapter 6 got the most of the new stuff). From now on I plan to give a longer period to edit the story after I'm done writing before I publish. I hate discovering errors after posting. Mainly because no matter how many times I re-read a chapter of mine I always find something, which makes me think, how did I miss this last time? Please point them out via private messages if you wish, I'd greatly appreciate it. Another thing I wanna say is that chapter releases will now be on Mondays. Usually, I release chapters early on Sunday, and I could actually use that extra day to make the final edits to a chapter before I release it (I get the most writing done on the weekends anyhow).

So if you didn't know a large category four hurricane hit Texas last weekend and into this week. I live in East Texas, just northwest of Houston, and experienced a lot of it. I'm safe (live on a hill surrounded by a thousand acres of forest) and all the rain gave me a lot of extra time to do the chapter edits and to write this chapter since a lot of schools canceled their trips to my job for this week. The rain started Friday afternoon and didn't stop till Tuesday evening, got over 25 inches of rain (which is nothing compared to Houston or Beaumont which got over 50 inches in some places). This wasn't my first massive storm I've experienced (been through Allison(2001), Rita(2005), and Ike(2008)), but probably the most rain I've ever seen since Allison.

I decided to make this month gap before the exams to be around six chapters, each chapter covering a few days or a week at a time. When looking ahead, there's a lot of manga content I'll have to skip because there won't be that many changes in the forest battle (minus it's before and after) and the whole kidnapping/rescue of Bakugo. I was tempted to drastically modify the rescue part but felt that it was too soon to pursue a future plot point I want to go for and it would be better to wait till they moved into the dorms. Once they are in the dorms, I feel I will have a lot more breathing room to write. So I want to maximize how much I can write before the significant jump, hence the decision for ~six chapters over my previous aim for two/three.

One thing I noticed last Monday when just flipping through tags for this series to find any new stories I might be interested in, I found a curious fact I want to share. I have the only fic that tags Ojiro that isn't a Mashirao x Tooru one shot (ok there's one that is three chapters, but it's barely 1k words). I just found that surprising as I didn't think him to be THAT unpopular to write about on this site, but hey, you learn new things every day. Hopefully, I inspire more stories about him! Speaking of which, we got to see a lot of Ojiro this chapter. I've got some plans for him and wanted this chapter to set the foundation for a few big scenes I plan to happen in a couple of chapters. I hope you all will enjoy it when it comes.

One neat thing I have gotten from writing this fic is while I reread the manga for reference is the things I missed in previous readings. For example, when I was re-reading the middle of volume seven when Eraserhead was done explaining the summer camp training, and the class got excited, I noticed two things I don't remember seeing before. First was Tenya being hyped at the chance to eat curry, yes curry. The whole curry scene in chapter four was done because of my own experience with this type of food (and because it felt more sophisticated than going the easy route and doing something simple like burgers, ramen, etc.), so I was astonished to read that I had unknowingly kept him in character. The second was simply not seeing that Jiro gave the middle finger to Kaminari (probably said something perverted like Mineta was). It's hilarious, how did I miss that before?