Apologies for one day delay. I was at a convention up to midnight. This time you get something I haven't done in a while, a new pov and with someone you should like.

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Chapter 73: Too Slow

Alarm ringing cut the blissful darkness of sleep and Eijiro's eyes sprung open. He rose up bit groggier than usual having taken longer to get to sleep, but at least it was another morning and soon he'd be in car with friends going to the top hero school. How could he not have smiled, even if the smile felt heavier. His life was objectively amazing, but it felt like the world around him was cracking, and what he knew of himself even more so.

Glancing at Shoto helped. At least Eijiro could make him feel safe without breaking any bones. They'd brought one of the sofa beds to Eijiro's room to not have to sleep in the living room.

"Good morning," Eijiro said more cheerfully than he felt as he sat up and stood up from his bed with a bounce. He stretched his arms as he went to pull open the curtains. As he turned around Shoto was doing his wake-up trick with frosted hand on his face.

"Hey, do me too."

Shoto waved his hand and soon a cold front hit Eijiro making him shiver, and usually he wasn't one to mind cold easily.

"Th.. thanks," he stuttered now totally fully awake hands crossed instinctually trying to keep himself warm. Shoto responding with a smile helped with that. After everything that had happened to him it was hard for him to maintain a smile.

"Did you sleep well?" Shoto asked in his monotone voice."

"Oh yeah," Eijiro said perhaps exaggerating a little, "I may have taken some time to cool down after all the training last evening, but I got sleep pretty quick."

"I could have helped with that."

"Heh, sure could have, but you can't just use cold to make your body recover from training. It takes time and good stretching."

He crouched down and started stretching his legs as he spoke.

"How did you sleep?" Eijiro asked back.

"Decent," Shoto said, the earlier smile already weaker.

"Good," Eijiro said carefully. Ready for breakfast and some training.

"Yes, I…" Shoto paused.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just…" Shoto hesitated "used to hate training. I did it because either he forced me or because I wanted to overcome him. Now I can barely imagine a day without training, and liking it."

Eijiro changed to a different stretch.

"Yeah, because you are training for something you actually care about and training with friends is even better. I can tell you, when I have trained at home alone that is nothing like weekends at Midobro's place."

Shoto stared at the ceiling.

"I never thought training could be like that. I was always so confused why you were so excited to get to training, any training."

"Well, what if I stop training? What if I could help someone but was too weak, because I chose to train less. People might think it is just training, but it could be someone's life. We can't ever forget that, and that means we are going to make so much progress," Eijiro stood up and squeezed Shoto's arm, toned but thinner than his own. "You know even with your quirk you should build up the strength of your body more."

"I know. I don't want to fail anyone by being weak. I promised to help Izuku, and he seems to want us all stronger."

"Oh, help with what?"

"I'm… not completely sure. Change things, help better people become heroes, I think there is possibility of fighting bad heroes or some powerful people. I just know he wants us to train to be as strong as possible."

Eijiro was left thinking for a few seconds before realizing he was meant to respond something. He wasn't really up to discussing what Izuku was planning, though what Shoto described really sounded like him.

"That's for sure, lets not disappoint him."

There was that smile again, as Shoto left the room with Eijiro. They soon entered the home gym. Mother was lifting in one corner listening to radio. Eijiro started putting on weight on the bench press.

"How much are you going to start with," he asked Shoto.

"I think that looks already plenty enough."

"I guess, for starting out. Just remember you need to push your limits to get stronger."

"Eijiro," mom called, "remember each of you need to pick weigh based on your own limits. Don't make him take more because you would."

Eijiro scratched the back of his neck.

"Eh, you're right. Just wanted to encourage him."

"I know honey. Just remember you need to do things right, not just put on more weight or training time."

"Right, actually, mom, what would be the right way to get faster."

"Faster?"

"Yeah, like running."

"Oh, finally thinking about more than just being strong and tough," mother said in teasing tone. "Did you finally start chasing women? Not that handsome strong young man like you needed to do the chasing. Perhaps they are catching up to you?"

"I just want to get to people faster when they need help," Eijiro responded tilting his head.

"I see, in that case you should work on your endurance. You can get fast if your leg muscles are strong, but strength doesn't mean you can keep going. Is this something you figured out during your internship."

"Yeah," Eijiro said lot of the happy energy having disappeared from his voice. "Didn't get somewhere fast enough. It could have ended badly."

"I was terrified when I saw news what happened in Hosu, then I remembered my son is as tough as me."

There was a quiet pause.

"Aren't you going to pretend you are tougher?" she asked.

"What… oh yeah."

There was another long moment of silence until Eijiro noticed Shoto had stopped lifting because of them and turned towards him.

"Sorry, didn't mean to distract you. Go ahead, I'll spot you."

"Honey," mother interrupted, "being tough doesn't mean not talking when something bothers you."

"I know, it's okay now and everyone," on his side, "got out okay, eventually. I just need to…"

"In today's morning news: The Hero Killer Stain has escaped mere days after his capture," radio news reader said halting everything in the room.

'…train harder,' Eijiro finished the statement silently in his mind.

"Seriously?" he said out loud. "He was… How could he get away?

"According to police he was helped by villains connected to the League of Villains. Some sources claim these were the same villains that attacked hospital weeks ago following the attack on USJ releasing dangerous creature that participated in the attack similar to those that few days ago rampaged in Hosu. This has not been confirmed by the police. If confirmed it would further suggest that the hero killer and the League of Villains are working together. Either way all heroes should continue practicing extreme vigilance. The hero killer is again on the loose."

Eijiro was left staring at the radio, and he wasn't the only one. His fingers squeezed into fists.

"They really couldn't hold one man longer than that," mother said scowling.

"I can't believe it," Eijiro muttered and grabbed a weight from a rack next to him.

How would Izuku and Tenya feel about this? Hitoshi had warned Eijiro about breakdown Izuku had had after getting out of the hospital. Eijiro really wished he showed more how he feels. His mask had cracked a few times even in front of Eijiro, but even so Eijiro knew he carried much more burden than he had ever showed him.

After how the fight with Stain ended Eijiro thought he understood a little more of it. For the first time he was tense as Izuku's car arrived in a corner near his house. As the car approached Eijiro forced his lips to stretch in a wider smile. Izuku had talked about his smile making him a real hero, which Eijiro still didn't think it did, but maybe it would help Izuku.

He didn't know what else he could do to help. Hitoshi said he helped a lot just by being around but that didn't sound like enough. He took a good look at Izuku as he an Shoto got in. Izuku looked just standard neutral tired as he often did if things weren't going well and even sometimes when they did, as far as Eijiro knew. He responded to Eijiro's gaze with his own and his lips twitched a little. Eijiro probably grinned a little wider seeing it work.

The other thing he could do was being a punching back, but that hadn't seemed as efficient over the weekend as he had hoped.

"How are you doing?" Eijiro asked hopefully as happily as usually. There were a few seconds of silence as Izuku seemed slow to respond.

"Pretty much the same as last we saw," Hitoshi said, "considering it was what, twelve hours ago. If you want to know I think I found new muscle around my shoulder to be sore, and my fist is still redish, thanks for that."

"Don't blame the wall if your fist hurts," Izuku noted, and his lips twitched up a little more.

"Easy for you to say. How can you spend half a day punching Eijiro and still have your hands look like the hardest thing they did was taking notes."

"That…" Izuku paused, "I guess they have hardened over time. Ei isn't the first hard thing I have punched."

Hitoshi tilted his head while massaging one of his hands. Eijiro's grin got a little more genuine.

"I have noticed."

The car got going and there was a moment of silence. Shoto twitched next to Eijiro.

"So…" he said hesitantly, "did you see the news?"

The little smile Eijiro and Hitoshi had pushed on Izuku disappeared leaving behind what Eijiro was starting to learn was Izuku's 'mask' and that mask Eijiro could not just smash away no matter how hard his fist got. All he could do was to wait for it to slip like the day after the Sports Festival.

Eijiro still regretted there had been someone that needed so much help right next to him and he hadn't realized. That hadn't changed even if Izuku claimed he had helped by being around.

"We saw," Tenya said the words barely a hiss through his teeth. "After all that they just… let him get away. It all, wasted and now he can keep killing people."

"Maybe he won't," Shoto said, "I mean he was really badly hurt. It would be harder for him to do anything with one arm."

Eijiro closed his eyes for a few seconds as he heard the crunch of bones again. There was pressure pushing squeezing his throat. Even if it had been Stain… If he had just been a little faster maybe he could have done it differently.

"Ei," Izuku said, his voice was concerned but cold behind the mask, "he got what he deserved, and you saved Hitoshi."

"True," Hitoshi added. Eijiro nodded but couldn't change his feelings.

"Sorry," Shoto muttered next to him, "but it should still be much easier for heroes to catch him again. He can't hurt as many people."

Eijiro did his best to smile back at them, but the trip was unusually somber. Tenya was tense and Izuku was unusually quiet with even less feeling than usually. Things didn't get better at school, because this afternoon they had All Might's class.

First they had to survive their own classmates. At first they just chatted about their normal internships and Eijiro just leaned on Izuku's desk, happy they had had good time.

"Now if you want to talk about the ones who really changed," Kaminari said after some comments about Ochaco, "it is those five. He pointed at what Hitoshi had called Izusquad. It was pretty fun name actually.

"Oh yeah, the hero killer", Sero said.

"You actually survived him," Kaminari added, something about the words felt a bit wrong especially with the tone.

"I was worried about you too," Yaoyorozu added. The class started collecting around the group. Shoto backed closer to Eijiro and Izuku.

"You're lucky," Sato said, "Endeavour showed up and saved you guys.

Eijiro really hated what they had had to agree to.

"So cool," Hagakure said.

"Yeah, ribbit," Asui said, "actually doesn't it feel kind of cool here.

Eijiro blinked. He didn't mind cold that much so he hadn't noticed, but it had really gotten colder. He half turned toward Shoto.

"Shoto," Izuku said sharply interrupting everyone else. The temperature stopped getting colder. Izuku's mask finally cracked the first time that morning and it wasn't good. His angry stare silence everyone else. He stood up.

"Anyone who says anything positive about Endeavour better be ready to stay after school for a bea… spar… for training. Could use something softer than Eijiro to hit for a chance."

"I know there are issues with Endeavour," Kaminari said, "but didn't he s…"

Kaminari shut up as soon as Izuku's stare turned on him. No one else dared to challenge him and Eijiro knew better than to try.

"Don't worry Kaminari," Hitoshi interupted, "I'm sure Izuku will feel very sorry after and write you a beautiful orbituary."

"The class is starting," Izuku said in a rare commanding tone, "get to your seats."

As Mr. Aizawa arrived the class was quieter and more in order than any time before.

That afternoon the class assembled at one of the school training grounds.

"I AM HERE!" All Might declared as he arrived.

Hitoshi looked at Eijiro then nodded towards Izuku. They settled on each side of him just in time. Izuku's hand was in a fist until Hitoshi poked it and Izuku relented letting his hand open. The more Eijiro had looked at them the more jealous he was at Hitoshi's ability to notice when people needed help and how much he could do without even words or his quirk.

All Might started explaining their next exercise. Eijiro wasn't sure how to feel about the man. He used to worship the number one hero almost like everyone else, just not as much and Grimson Riot, but now he could not help doubting the hero.

"Now then, listen carefully for what's in store. We are going to conduct a little race. Take everything you have learned from your internship and apply it to this rescue training," All Might declared. The word rescue brough one of the more genuine smiles of the day on Eijiro's face, but what did he mean by a race?

"If it is rescue training then shouldn't we be at the USJ instead?" Tenya asked.

"Ah, that facility specializes in disasters. As I said earlier, this is a race. So prepare. You are going to step on the field Gamma. Inside is an area full of factories that form an intricate labyrinth. So good luck finding your way around. You'll be competing in groups of five. Each person starts from a different location on the outskirt of the model city. I'll send a distress signal and you do what you must to rescue me. Whoever gets to me first wins," All Might explained.

Then he raised his and pointed towards Eijiro, no, Izuku, maybe both of them.

"But try to keep the property damage to a minimum please."

Then they were divided into groups. The first group consisted of Izuku, Tenya, Sero, Mina and Ojiro. Eijiro put his thumb up as Mina walked past him towards her starting point.

"Hey Mina good luck. Do you best."

She turned surprised as he started speaking and looked at him for a few seconds seemingly… confused? It was hard to say. They were right next to each other and her head was too down to see her expression really well until several seconds later when she raised her eyes to look at his eyes. Her face turned into some kind of smile.

"Oh, ah, thank you."

"I think you got a really good chance against Ojiro and Sero. Show em what you can do."

"Oh, huh, how about Ida and Midoriya?"

Ejiro tilted his head and smiled.

"I'm not sure which one of them is going to win. It's going to be exciting race," Eijiro grinned, "Izuku mentioned that Gran Torino helped him a lot with his jets, but Tenya is still the fastest in our class."

"As long as he doesn't hit anything," Izuku said going the different direction nearby and looked at Tenya. "With this kind of area manoeuvring is more important than top speed."

Izuku really couldn't help being a trainer even in class. It was great. He was quiet for a moment but when he continued his tone was much lighter.

"Good thing you've made lot of progress in that, more than me anyway. See you at the big buffoon. Don't be late. I don't want to spend time alone with him."

"I will do my best."

"Good luck, have fun," Eijiro called after all of them as they left and the rest of the class gathered on an outside platform in front of a really large screen. This place would have been great for a movie night. Even Izuku didn't have screen that large at home. With so much space they could have had a whole outside gym here and train while watching a movie.

Eijiro decided to keep that idea to himself. If he didn't Izuku might make it real at his house, and while that would have been cool, he had already helped Eijiro and others more than any of them had any right to ask.

A while later the screen started showing images of their classmates at their starting positions.

"Ida and Midoriya haven't completely recovered yet right," Kaminari asked, "I mean I heard they got pretty badly hurt. Shouldn't they sit this out?"

"Don't worry," Eijiro responded. "We trained the whole weekend together. Tenya is still careful with his arm, but I didn't notice Izuku having any issues."

"Are you sure?"

"At least he could kick and punch just as hard as before."

"Huuh, I'd say Midoriya is still at somewhat of a disadvantage against those four," Yaoyorozu commented confusing Eijiro.

"Probably a bit. He's quick on his feet but…"

"Other than those jets his quirks don't really help here and I don't think he is still very good with those," Yaoyorozu finished.

"Nah," Eijiro interrupted, "I think you'll be surprised."

"Maybe, but I think even if he is still recovering Ida got this one," Ochaco said. "It is certainly going to be the fastest race today."

All Might announced the start of the race and everyone was off. It was amazing seeing how everyone moved differently with their quirks and training. Tenya zooming through the narrow streets and alleys, Mina using her acid to climb was then slide down a cable with perfect balance. Sero swinging from pipes and Ojiro using his tail to help him acrobatically clear obstacles. There were several moves that made Eijiro feel clumsy.

Then there was Izuku. He still could not simply fly through the area, but the jumps he did with the jets seemed better than before taking him to and between rooftops. There were some stumbles though that made Eijiro tense. Maybe he should have loaned Izuku his quirk for this race. At least that way Izuku wouldn't break anything if he fell even from the higher roofs.

Good thing Izuku at least seemed to understand his limits and took even a detour to make a shorter leap using some pipes. With Tenya stuck in the maze of buildings Izuku was in the lead.

A pipe he stepped on failed and he fell. The class gasped. Falling that high he would not survive without at least severe injuries, or worse. Eijiro turned but stopped. There was no way he could get anywhere close in time and… he wasn't completely on the map on where exactly Izuku was. All he could do was to watch as Izuku tumbled down. No, something stupid like this could not get Midobro.

Izuku twisted midair and probably used the jets to make himself straighten up and right before ground his speed suddenly dropped and he even moved a little upwards before falling the remaining short distance. Izuku landed on his feet absorbing the impact in a crouch and finishing with a very heroic landing with crouching down one hand on the ground. He definitely felt that, but he got back up and on the move immediately. The class cheered.

With that delay Izuku narrowly lost to Tenya. How quickly they finished surprised even Eijiro. If it had been them coming to help Eijiro instead of other way around they could have all made it out without injury with Stain. They would have been there in time.

Next was Eijiro's turn. He went up against Tokoyami, Shoto, Asui, and Yaoyorozu. He was excited for the race… but he wasn't feeling very confident. In a pure running race he might win, but this wasn't just about that and neither would be saving people. Hardening didn't really help with speed unless shortcut involved jumping from a rooftop.

But it would take too long to climb up. He was better off running on the ground like Tenya. As soon as the race started, he bolted sprinting through the training ground only slowing in corners leaving behind only sweat. He was better with strength than stamina, but never lost in stubbornness when there was a goal to achieve.

That did not stop him from realizing the passage of time as he tried to figure out his way through this place. He was still nowhere near All Might as Tokoyami was declared winner with Shoto's arrival following soon after. It had already been longer than Tenya and Izuku had taken. He pushed himself forward even faster despite starting to feel the strain in his chest.

The building All Might was on was right in front of him, but All Might was on the roof. Eijiro could have found stairs to climb, but had no idea where those were. Maybe his quirk could help him be a little faster.

His legs hardened between steps and he pushed himself up into a jump as the rest of him hardened. He crashed into the wall punching his fist into it then started climbing leaving behind a long series of small holes as he made his own hand grips on the go. Only halfway through he remembered All Might's warnings about property damage.

But if there was someone in actual danger surely this would be acceptable damage.

Asui climbed past him at some point moving faster and without making holes.

With one more mighty pull he hauled himself over the edge to the roof and fell on his back.

"I…" he gasped, "am here."

The group waiting towards him as he gave thumbs up. A door now behind them swung open as Yaorozu rushed in… or out in this case. At least Eijiro hadn't been the last one, but still… He turned around on all fours still gasping for air.

"Good job," All Might told someone else. "With your creative use of your quirks you reached me exceptionally quickly. That speed will save lives in the future."

What if someone had been in actual danger. Not only would Eijiro have been too late, but he was barely in shape to do anything.

"Damn it," he muttered.

"Are you okay?" Izuku asked from above concern in his voice. Eijiro pushed himself back to settle on his knees and face those in front of him.

"What is it?" Izuku asked looking Eijiro over carefully with Shoto and Tenya with him. Eijiro pressed his lips together before answering.

"I hoped I would be faster."

He paused for a moment. A new shadow covered him and looking up the first thing he saw was Izuku scowling. The second was All Might right next to and over them.

"Young Kirishima, while I appreciate your competitiveness, it is just an exercise. You should not take it too harshly."

"But it was a rescue race," Eijiro said the most obvious thing in the world surprised All Might would belittle it in such way. He was just trying to make Eijiro feel better.

"I don't follow?" the large man asked. Didn't he really understand? He had saved more people than anyone.

"If I'm too slow in the exercise, how can I be fast enough when there are people in actual danger," Eijiro said. "I always thought I can't be too weak to help someone again, but what does that help if I can't get there in time? I already almost failed Tenya and Izuku. What if it happens again, but I'm not fast enough."

"What do you mean?"

"He saved our asses from Stain," Izuku blurted out though pretty quietly. "Don't believe the bullshit…"

"Lang…"

"Shut up All Might," Izuku snapped and stared at the man. "The bullshit about Endeavour stopping Stain is a lie. You can ask Gran Torino or your police friend."

"I don't need to. I already talked to them," All Might whispered.

"So you know that man did nothing?"

"I do, but you should keep that to yourself considering the deal you have with the police."

"I can keep a secret, IF I want to. You should know that."

That sentence sounded strange. They stared at each other for a few seconds before All Might suddenly returned his attention to Eijiro.

"Uh, do you really feel so strongly about the exercise?"

"Yes, please can I try again?"

All Might thought for a moment. Eijiro wasn't great at reading expressions, but the man seemed strangely uncertain.

"I don't think that is the best here. We," He glanced at Izuku for some reason, "can talk after the lesson. Now you should focus on recovering for the training after the race. There is plenty of the afternoon left and good training includes pacing yourself in the right way."

"I understand," Eijiro relented. All Might turned around but gave a thumb up to Eijiro as he did. If only seeing it did not include looking at the man's backside. A moment later All Might was already announcing the start of the next race.

Eijiro drew one more deep breath but his breathing and heart had already largely calmed down. He tensed ready to get up as he noticed a hand in front of him, Izuku waiting to help him up. It wasn't necessary but Eijiro accepted the gesture and let Izuku help pull him up. He put a hand on Eijiro's back.

"Don't worry. We'll get you moving so you'll never be late."

"I'm doing my best, but I don't think I can get there with my quirk."

"Yes, your quirk," Izuku muttered. He held his other hand in front of himself looking at his palm. "Give me some time."

Eijiro didn't need to ask what Izuku was thinking as they joined rest of the group

"Also… don't imitate All Might," Izuku warned.

Then they focused on watching how Hitoshi was doing in his race.

He was on a bicycle zooming ahead faster than anyone without speed enhancing quirk.

"I wonder where he got that," Shoto said.

Izuku glanced at the group around him.

"Yaorozu?"

"He asked me if I would make it or if he would need to brainwash me to make it."

"Not sure how I feel about that," All Might muttered. "Doesn't seem very heroic."

"Easy for you to say. He is doing what he can in a situation where others are born with advantages. It's like putting you through and intelligence-based race."

"That is very inappropriate young Midoriya."

"Oh, there are a lot more inappropriate things I could say. Perhaps you should run a week in his shoes," Izuku's fingers twitched. "I'd be happy to arrange that."

"That's enough," All Might said louder. A hand closed around Izuku's. He glanced up at Tenya who shook his head and the fire disappeared from Izuku's posture. Eijiro watched carefully to prepare in case he needed to do the same.

Soon after the racers started arriving. Hitoshi ran through the same door Yaorozu had and collapsed on the floor much like Eijiro. Izuku was immediately crouching next to him. Eijiro approached slower smiling as he watched them.

After one more race that part of the lesson was over, and All Might had them do more parkour like training trying to reach imaginary victims in different difficult places. That Eijiro's quirk helped more with, but he was still far from the fastest.

It was wonderfully tough training and most of the class found themselves sitting on the ground as All Might gave the ending talk of the class and then it was over. They started slowly dragging themselves out of the training ground. Ei did a few more stretches so he stayed a bit behind from the others. He raised his head as a shadow descended over him.

"Young Kirishima. I would like to talk to you about something at the teachers' lounge after you get changed."

"Sure, but… do I have to change? We are supposed to keep training after class before leaving so…"

"Then it is fine. Come, let's have tea."

Hello. This was my first chapter with Eijiro pov. How did it feel. Did the character / character voice come through like I've tried to do with Izuku and Bakugo?