Hello Again. Guild Master here.

My site is still being tested and does have the next three chapters available who want to read ahead. Give it a shot if you want to know what it is this alternate world has in store for our beloved heroes. The hero killer Stain arc is all finished on the other site.

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Eliminate spaces and semicolons to visit site. Add http colon forward slash x2 if you need to. This site really is against hyperlinking.

A rainy day during the summer months often would be a chore for most people who couldn't deal with excessive humidity. Forest climate was something that restricted the climate in expelling heat towards the oceans and trapped the muggy air inland. Going to school on such a rainy day was something Izuku didn't really enjoy, but thankfully was made far less uncomfortable with the air conditioned train cabin carrying dozens of morning commuters to work.

Barely eleven minutes into his commute and many of the people riding alongside him were all paying him compliments and saying so many nice things about how amazing he was during the sports festival and how he was such a promising hero they were excited to follow for the next few years. He wasn't comfortable being treated so nicely in the open by strangers; though it wasn't a bad thing as he took their kindness in stride after realizing that their compliments were just their way of showing their belief in his potential.

Still, being an introvert in the middle of a crowd trying to talk to you was a taxing thing to go through. Feeling less energetic was a bit of a stumble that morning as he approached the school gate with his umbrella shielding him from the soaking weather. As usual; Haru had his awning out with the heating lamp on to help those unfortunate enough to have been caught up in the rain in some unfortunate accident. A pair of girls with dried blazers thanked Haru with an order of cold cut sandwiches for breakfast in their hands. He waved them farewell as Izuku approached the awning area. The lamps were shut off and let Izuku out of the rain for a few minutes.

"Morning, Izuku! Glad to see you out and about on a day like this. How're ya?"

"Good, good. I guess I had a decent enough sleep last night and now I'm feeling really good!"

Izuku flexed to prove his point and gave Haru a confirmation that the boy was probably gonna have an easier time today than had they not talked the night before. A weight was off his mind as he and Izuku chatted for a few minutes before school started. Minutes passed before they were interrupted by a sprinting boy yelling at Midoriya as he zoomed past the food truck.

"Why are you just standing there, Midoriya?! We're gonna be late!"

"Ah! Wai-"

"Hold it. You're still early."

Realization set in for Izuku as it was indeed a few minutes early before class began and that Iida had slightly exaggerated as he flew past the food truck. In Haru's eyes; he saw past the boy's rather oddly forced behavior and could pick up on how rather than just catching up with Izuku with some mild conversation, he was rushing and being rather belligerent. Once Iida was out of earshot, he tapped Izuku's shoulder and asked him something important relevant to the tense looking Tenya.

"Izuku; do me a favor and keep an eye on Iida for me? He seems a bit off for my tastes. See if you can at least look in on him and ask him."

"Huh? Is it… Oh, yeah. I remember… Are you sure that-"

"Izuku; his brother is in the hospital because someone put him there. I wouldn't be feeling perfectly fine as he would like you to believe."

Stating things like that did put some perspective on the matter. He followed Tenya with a promise to help his friend through such difficult times. Iida was already at the classroom by the time Izuku had arrived and only lent Midoriya only a few minutes before class was to begin. His ever familiar circle said their hellos and Ochaco had even come by to ask how everyone's days off were. The entire classroom was buzzing with gossip about the UA Sports Festival right when the bell rang and Aizawa appeared to get the class started. Izuku didn't have an opportunity to ask Iida about his brother and left him a little dissatisfied with the start of the day.

"G'morning."

In a snap, the entire class sat back down and faced forward like a well disciplined unit. The greetings were brief as the homeroom teacher got to the point quickly and efficiently.

"Welcome. Being back and all; today's heroic activity is going to be a bit of a special one."

When it came to Eraser Head and the term special; usually it would entail something rather stress inducing or something along the lines. Many of the students were already feeling dread creeping up on them while their imaginations ran wild over what diabolical thing he had in store for them that particular day.

"Today, you'll all be deciding on your hero names."

The room couldn't have erupted louder if there was a magma spout that suddenly exploded out of the floor. Nobody could contain their excitement of choosing their alias that they would be known for in the upcoming years. As the elections and hero internships were coming up shortly; each student needed to register a title to be called in order to properly integrate with the agency they were to work for during the trial period.

Results of the voting revealed that Izuku, Bakugou, and Todoroki were the leaders of the majority vote. The stragglers were left with a few hundred at most and dragged behind the thousands of votes the other three had. Iida didn't react all that strongly to over a hundred votes being pointed out by Ochaco. She shook him rather violently as his face remained statically neutral.

Primarily, this was their first real step in becoming heroes as now they were going out into the wild where real danger lurked. Their trial by fire at the beginning of the year was a clear indication that this class was in for some rough treatment; whether they wanted it or not. Interning with real heroes would allow them hands-on experience while being guided and supported by whoever it was that was to mentor them. Aizawa was about to go over some of the rules for picking names when the doors slid open and introduced a rather controversial UA teacher to the class of 1-A.

"Your names you pick now shall be a reflection of who you are! Most of the time these names stick; and for years they will be your titles to bear!"

Racy and provocative as always was Midnight in all her adult glory. The same skin colored leotard with the leather corset and emphasized bust that drew everybody's attention. She even came through the door with her hands above her heads and swaying her hips. Quite a few of the boys and girls couldn't tear their eyes from such a show.

Boards were passed out after the importance of these decisions were explained by Aizawa and Midnight. These names resembled what these student's wanted to be seen as by the public. At first there were some odd decisions made by the first few students who came up to share and were promptly sent back to their seats to redo their names. Aoyama had a straight up sentence describing his eccentric nature that was immediately shot down.

Mina had suggested the name Alien Queen that made Izuku smile fondly before her title was shot down as well. A bit too intense for a hero name as it didn't exactly evoke the image of public safety or inspiring bravery. There was a movie they used to watch together that had a monster in it with an acidic ability that was the main antagonist. Her admiration of the creature came from how much of a presence this creature had and how much of an influence it had on everything around it. He jokingly would call her that name when he felt particularly affectionate. Clicking her tongue as she sat down was all she could do in response to being rejected. Izuku shot her a small thumbs up to tell her he liked the name. It made her feel better that somebody knew the real reason why she was so fond of the title.

This went on from one student to the next and revealed quite a bit about each student's personality. Most were very simple while others were plays on their names or things that conceptualized their quirks. Being forced to recast her name made Mina settle on Pinky as her hero title. It wasn't as intense, but it was cute enough with some punch in it for her tastes. Shoto was uncreatively just Shoto; which served in stark contrast to Bakugou displaying his name as Power Igniter. An impressively succinct while impactful name that would do his image justice.

Ochaco was a simple yet endearing Uravity to express her quirk and name in one easy to remember word. The last two for the day were Iida and Izuku. There were two very different schools of thought going on with each of them. Midoriya was looking back on a certain event that helped to mold his path to being a hero. In Iida's mind, he could only replay the sad and broken image of his brother in that vat of liquid.

Two Days Ago

The sight of his brother floating in the tank of specialized blue liquid was an image that rendered his noble brother into a comatose vegetable in his eyes. Medical staff at the ESD medical center were speaking to his mother and told her the news of her eldest son while Iida eavesdropped off to the side.

"It was a good thing whoever found him called us rather than one-one-nine. We stabilized him easily enough and now he should be well on his way to making a recovery. Although his nerves may need more time and effort."

Turns out that his legs were massively affected by his injuries and would require a certain amount of care and physical therapy to recover fully. Thankfully his chances to walk again were very high, but it was undetermined if it would only take one year or three before he would make a full recovery. Whoever did this incurred something deep inside of the younger sibling. It made him sick and cold all at once while he could only look on helplessly at his brother. They took away years of his brother's life and were still out there. He would do all he can to get retribution for his brother's pain and anguish.

Present Day

Tenya went with his family name rather than the title his family was known for. There definitely was something wrong with Iida in Izuku's eyes and it was enough for the usually honest and straightforward boy to relinquish the title he spoke highly of that his family gave to their next of kin.

Now it was Izuku's turn to present the whiteboard that he wrote his heroic name on. Flipping the sign over to the class revealed a name that many of his fellow classmates took the time to admire. His decision was well respected and it came from a very important person in his life.

One Year Ago

"Hero name?"

Izuku was only about a month into his training while Haru was seated on the lunge chair he usually sat in during Izuku's muscle training. Heaps of garbage were making the effort feel extremely tedious; so to help keep his mind busy, Izuku asked Haru in an attempt to get some light banter going.

"Yeah. I can't think of anything that would be me, you know? You think that you could suggest something?"

He gave the inquirk some serious thought while Izuku kept lugging sport's equipment one piece at a time while the white haired man thoughtfully stroked his facial hair to come up with something. Izuku left the man alone to his thoughts while trying to drag something that looked to be an engine of sorts. It refused to move as the more Midoriya dragged it, the deeper it cut into the sand.

After a few meters it was about a quarter buried into the sand. Straining to lift or flip the solid block of metal did nothing to assist him in getting rid of it. There was no time to worry about this piece as the schedule would suffer if he got too caught up with one piece of immovable garbage. This would have to be removed when he gained more strength late. Giving up wasn't something he wanted to do, though right as he considered doing so a hand gripped the engine in front of his heaving chest as Haru returned with a grin curling his beard up the corners.

"Izuku; what do you think heroes are? Honestly."

This felt like a trick question, but he respected the request and spoke from the heart over what he imagined an ideal hero being.

"They… They help and save people while making them feel safe…"

It wasn't a satisfying enough answer for Haru as he probed further.

"That's All Might. I mean in broad terms. What is a hero? Nothing complicated, just what you as a person think a hero is by definition."

"... uh… A person who saves people?"

Haru could see that Izuku was still a bit naive in his concept of what heroes in today's society were. His response was to shoot the green haired boy to the side as he began to prepare in hefting the massive block of metal buried into the ground.

"Words often lose their meaning over the years if they get associated with something else. Most people think that a hero is somebody with a power that has a license and works for a government approved agency…"

Both hands placed themselves on the edge dragging behind the engine; with one heave, he stood the engine up lengthwise with ease. What was a solid chunk of waste metal looked like an empty wooden box in Haru's hand. Another squat below it to grasp onto the lower edge while explaining his point.

"Originally, it meant someone who was worthy of praise. An icon or figure for the community to use as an example for ideal character or nobility. You admire someone who has his declaration of strength in his very name. For you, I think that becoming a hero should be the same. Don't just be another run of the mill costumed hero…"

A single launch from the trench the engine was trapped in launched the metal block up past the concrete wall and onto the disposal pile not visible from where they were standing. Easily over half a ton of junk tossed like a soccer ball or basketball by a man who only had this strength through his own efforts. Midoriya could only stare in awe as the sun rose and illuminated Haru from the side as he spoke words of wisdom that would influence his title to this very day.

"Become a hero amongst heroes. Be the paragon they need to remember the true definition of the word once again!"

His fist was pointed at Izuku for him to bump with his own. Faith that he was meant to become better than most and become an embodiment of heroism was all that Haru had when he told Izuku his answer. Not an ounce of doubt was in his mentor's eyes as he asked Izuku to live up to the word that he strived to embody.

They bumped fists and a pact was formed in a way that would help keep Izuku aware of what it meant to be a true hero. Not for fame, or money, or even power. To make the world a better place through him and to remember that only he could do that for himself.

Present Time

The class thought that the English words were a nice touch as Izuku displayed the name of his heroic alias to everybody else. On the board was his name written in large and proud letters.

"Emerald Paragon! Quite the dynamic choice, Midoriya. What gave you this idea, pray tell?"

Ever the beauty; she made Izuku feel a little sheepish while he did his best not to openly gawk at her assets. For the teacher, it was a rather adorable display of chivalry coming from someone whom she had no problems getting gawked by. Teenage boys couldn't help it, and here he was doing his best to remain polite.

"Emerald because of… Well, y'know… And paragon. Someone who never gave up on me to this day gave me words of wisdom about what a hero was meant to be."

An impressive strength in his eyes as he took those words spoken to him and made them his own.

"Being a paragon for those in need isn't just about saving lives or stopping villains. I want to tell everybody that this is who I am; that I will be a hero because that's what I believe in, no matter what happens. I will become the best because I believe in what I do. Nothing will distract or hinder me in my journey to help the world in my own way."

A speech that struck a chord with everybody in the room. There was a staggering amount of honesty in what made Izuku push himself so hard in his path to become the best hero in the world. He didn't care if the world didn't put him on some arbitrary list or if he wasn't getting the greatest monetary compensation. This was his place in the world and he was going to fight for the cause he believed to help those in need as well as guide those who see him as a figure worth observing. It was his mission to be the best he can be, doing what he wants; only then can he truly accept that he will become number one as a result of his conviction.

Every person in that room was affected by the conviction and pure desire to help that Izuku displayed in his speech. While everybody could feel a fire build in their hearts; all the females in the room were rather entranced by how much strength and honesty this fifteen year old was capable of. A certain teacher was even giving him a lookover while subtly licking her lips.

Aizawa felt a wave of nostalgia as he could remember only one other person during his years at UA that gave an equally powerful and inspiring speech during their first year. Perhaps Midoriya meeting All Might was more than just a coincidence and in fact was the universe just bringing together the right people for the job together.

UA Faculty Offices

All Might was coming back from the can when his coworker gave the newest staff member a heads up about the upcoming protege and a new election tossed his way. On the monitor of Cementoss's desk was a name he hadn't heard much from in the past few years since their time at UA Academy. He went pale and feared for the young Midoriya's fate if this man was to be his teacher. He would know, since he was their last student.

After School

There was still a window of opportunity for Izuku to catch up to Iida to talk to him about his family troubles. Rushing to pack his things was essentially a fruitless labor as his trip towards the front gate was cut off by a familiar yet just as startling distraction.

"I have arrived in this uncharacteristic pose!"

Just catching Midoriya as he was leaving was the ever unpredictable All Might. Izuki wanted to cut the meeting short since there was something else that required his immediate attention. What got the boy to listen to the blonde muscle bound instructor was the cold sweat and nervous expression disguised behind his smile.

"A nomination?! From who?"

This wasn't news that seemed bad enough for anyone to be concerned over, yet All Might was shaking like a leaf in the wind by simply talking about the one who sent in the request personally. Out of all the nominations thrown in his direction; only this one had any significant interest from the boy now that he saw his mentor react like a kicked puppy.

"Ah, yes. H-his name is Gran Torino. A long time ago, at this very academy; he was my homeroom teacher for only a year of my attendance."

There was little information that All Might shared about the man himself as he began to mumble to himself like Izuku did when he got into one of his moods. Being told about this man while being indulged with little to no actual information made Izuku apprehensive to say the least. An upside to All Might's visit was at least capped with an update on his previously damaged costume. It seemed to be all done and ready to go.

Evening

Haru had been sitting in his open concept living space on one of his many couches that looked to be arranged like an expensive lounge rather than a vacant and empty solid concrete floor devoid of any pillars or walls. The darkened edges of the room made it seem as though the space was bigger than it actually was. He had his retractable monitor from the ceiling down and displayed additional windows while he was using his laptop and chatting with his informant while going over the information.

"Are you sure this is everything? There is absolutely nothing else afterwards?"

"No, sir. One day they just lost it all suddenly. No cases of fraud or legal pursuit are present; like they just accepted it without rhyme or reason."

It made little sense for a family to just instantly go from inheriting an old family fortune to being in serious debt overnight like this. No legal action or police report for what should have been an obvious case of fraud or coercion. On top of the obvious case of rather tolerant complicity, a sudden change of lifestyle purchases shifted for their childcare needs. Specialized equipment with education registration documents suddenly popping up out of a year and a half of absolute silence.

"Hm… What about communications? Cellular, email, radio, anything that could be pinned to them in any capacity. What have we got?"

A new set of data was brought up on the big screen with a generous amount of detail categorized and broken down through all forms of traffic and communication attached to the family in question.

"As you can see; most data we receive is mostly just inconspicuous transactions and communication with familiar parties. However, around the time of their financial collapse; there were several forms of traffic and communication that didn't fit the profile of any of their known accounts."

The list highlighted a few innocuous calls made in the area at the time that were not registered to the family or anybody nearby the family. It was a pretty significant bump in unlinked calls and emails that just as abruptly stopped and followed up only once in a blue moon from there. Some more thinking and scanning his own computer before he moved the conversation forward.

"Have you sourced the server nodes where these messages were passed? ISP addresses should still link to a location, regardless of encryption. Find me something that'll get us a name or address. Be discreet and send me whatever you find."

He hung up and began to scan through the information to see if there was something he could comb through for a lead. This stunk to the high heavens of the man he hunted all those years ago. Last time he failed to end things from his complacency and lack of commitment. Never again would he allow his prey to slither away to nip at his heels like before. Next time they met; he was going to make that fuck into his bitch and wrap the collar as tight as possible around his worthless neck.

First Day of UA Academy Internships

Musutafu grand central station was the one place in the entire city that anybody could say for certain that never closed for any reason whatsoever. People were always in need of transportation at all hours of the day. Not a single other metro station was of the scale that grand central was working at in any other part of the city.

Eyes were following a certain group of students that were to set out on their first ever serious assignment as heroes to be. This step in their training would give them the most significant progress they would make for a long time. Experiencing the daily routines of well established hero agencies would give them the best sort of experience to nitpick and understand their own places in this urban ecosystem. Every student had their own personal belongings packed in one bag or suitcase and their hero uniforms in the custom attaches they each carried.

They all had to go their separate ways as each of their agencies were all branched out to different parts of the city. No students were even able to take similar metros for a part of their journey with their tickets all requiring them to all take separate trains. The class bid their goodbyes with Izuku and his group being a little friendlier with one another with their farewells. Quite a number of male classmates again cursed Izuku's luck with women with Mina giving him a deep kiss goodbye and his just as easily returning the affection.

Momo gave a lengthy hug and Kyoka gave a similar embrace to the boy before they each took their leave. Ochaco was teased a bit by Mina before waving goodbye excitedly and towards her agency. Iida had been relatively silent for a majority of the trip with barely a word in any sort of discussion on their way to the train station. It was like the air was getting heavier around him the closer they got to their respective locations.

For the life of Izuku, he couldn't get a hold of Iida in any way through mobile over the weekend. All his calls and texts were blocked with the others responding to him that they too couldn't get a hold of the now elusive Tenya. It was now or never before they all went their separate ways.

"Iida! Wait!"

Shadows that were uncharacteristic of Iida's forward and honest personality gave his face a grim look as he turned to face his friends with a rather stiff smile.

"Yes, Midoriya?"

"... Iida, is there anything you need to tell any of us? You've been acting odd since a few days ago and none of us can figure it out. Please, talk to us. We're here for you."

Rather than resuming his fake smile; he let the pleasantries drop and just turned away with a slight frown and kept walking.

"I'm fine. I should get going."

"Iida!"

There are times when you should reach out to people and help in any way you can. On the other hand; there are situations where things escalate and bring people to make certain decisions they wouldn't otherwise make. Izuku lost Iida in the crowd and couldn't even get a peek at which train he was going to take to get to his agency. Ochaco felt like a third wheel as she could barely get a word in to help the situation. It was only the two of them looking helplessly into the crowds; just hoping that their friend won't make any rash decisions on his own.

Forty Five Minutes Later

Looking around the area made Izuku question what sort of hero this man was for All Might to be so afraid of him. There was barely even a person around the rural area he was scanning for the agency on his notes. Wouldn't a hero that made All Might tremble be more suited for denser populations? His search wasn't a difficult one as there even was a description of the address for him to reference off of.

The building looked decrepit. There were actual abandoned buildings Izuku knew of that were infinitely better looking than this crumbling mess he stood in front of. Deep cracks splitting the cement corner supports were making the boy a little antsy to even take a step inside the building itself. He was sure that the tilted welcome sign was gonna come down and take his head off if he wasn't careful with the door.

Standing outside any longer was just a waste of time at this point. Just because the building wasn't well loved didn't mean that it was a reflection of the owner himself. Putting his best foot forward, Izuku took one step after the other to poke his head through the unlocked double doors to check for its inhabitants.

"Good afternoon! My name is Midoriya Izuku, and IIIIIIIIIIIIaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAIIIIEEEEE!"

Immediately obvious wasn't the rather cluttered floor or aging wall plaster; it was the old man lying in a massive puddle of red radiating from where he was face down and not moving. An understandable reaction for Izuku to panic and scream out of shock at the apparent bloodied murder of an old man.

"I'm alive!"

"You are?!"

He was. Further interacting with the not dead old man a third of Izuku's height made this rather old costumed hero out to be nothing short of geriatric. Izuku could barely get a coherent reply from him as he just kept going on about food or something along those lines. He was certain that there was some sort of mix up and needed to leave for a moment to make a quick phone call.

"One for All, eh? Come and prove to me you're really up to snuff, young'un."

Turning back to the old man ruffling through his hero costume just resumed the whole one sided conversation from earlier and left the boy frustrated. He told the old man that this wasn't something he wanted to endure if it was just going to be pulled around as such. With one last declaration of his departure, Izuku was headed back through the still open door he entered through.

The hairs on the back of his neck pricked up and made him use One for All to move out of the way of something that came barreling out of nowhere. The backpack made it that much harder for him to move; so he chucked it aside to ease his range of movement while he scanned the room for what came after him out of nowhere.

"Oho, so you really aren't just all bark with no bite."

Right where Izuku stood was Gran Torino in a crouched pose where his boots cracked the tile under his feet. Such an intense air of intimidation radiated from out of the old man's stare as he looked rather excited that Izuku managed to dodge the attack.

"Guess this pup's got some teeth on em after all!"

It was immediately obvious after such a low tactic employed by Gran Torino that this man really was someone to fear. The amount of damage to the floor would have only been possible with enough force to break bones in the average human body. Being an old man hadn't made him any less dangerous as both a hero and an instructor.

"Either that Justice Junkie actually managed to teach ya somethin; or some other unfortunate sap got roped into your training and actually managed to teach ya somethin useful!"

Izuku couldn't even get mad at the old man ribbing All Might behind his back. Taking his mentor's side would have been a rather bad idea by the looks of it.

"Show me what ya got, you embryo! Didn't seem right for me to just sit back and let my third rate of a teacher student take all the credit. Put on your costume and come at me!"

There was no more time for him to waste. This old man was gonna get in a fight with Izuku whether or not the boy was gonna keep running away or decided to swing back. Retrieving the case and skimming the user manual got him briefly reacquainted with the upgraded suit that was based on the jumpsuit his mother gave him for his first costume design. The thicker material and denser fabric felt like actual protection this time around. Though it looked slightly bulkier, it somehow felt easier to move in and felt more appropriate to be in for a fight.

"I'm ready!"

Down in a fighting stance, Izuku could guess that this guy wasn't somebody to waste his words when he would rather use his fists to carry the conversation. It looked to be true as Gran Torino didn't waste any time to work his way across the room and bounce to Izuku's blind spot. One for All was up to seven percent and working at capacity to help the boy stay outta the way of the human cannonball.

"C'mon, quit stalling! Ya ain't gonna win by running away like a scared little bunny!"

A good point was made by the elderly hero. Just dodging everything was gonna land him nowhere if he didn't do something soon. Gran Torina was having the time of his life while Izuku was getting winded trying to keep up with his advanced speed. The situation was tough, but in comparison to those two weeks of constantly getting painfully pelted for hours; this was a cakewalk.

Gran Torino himself was beyond impressed by this kid's performance against him so far. Someone as young as him while maintaining a spatial mapping of his surroundings while utilizing One for All up to this point like he did was something he hadn't expected from All Might to teach this boy. In fact; he knew that it wasn't All Might who got this boy to snuff to go head to head with the elderly teacher. None of what he was seeing was something All Might would have been able to teach the boy.

That mountain of human muscle was someone to overpower and directly confront his enemies with nothing but sheer force and intimidation. This kid was moving like someone who fought against bigger and badder things his whole life. It was obvious to Gran Torino that Izuku was taught these things over learning them on his own by how sloppy some of his footwork was as he dodged like a madman. He certainly would like to shake the hand of the guy who managed to teach such a jumpy looking kid such an advanced but useful concept.

Back with Izuku; his head was racing at a million miles an hour to try and find a way past Gran Torino's offensive and get a solid hit on him. Something that he could remember overhearing Bakugou and Haru go over while they were on break during the training they received was how to catch someone slipping when you feigned or went for a fake shot.

Two Weeks Ago

While Mina had been sitting out on the bench for her break with a sports drink going down easy; Izuku had taken his break sitting inside of the racquetball court pretending to be on his phone. Bakugou and Haru were reviewing some things that Katsuki wanted to review before the festival and Haru was adjusting certain positions and ways of moving to help create a better sense of control of his movement. One thing Izuku still remembered from this impromptu lesson was how to direct your opponent with your own movements.

The basics of the principal was to measure your opponents reactions to gauge their reaction time, movement speed, etc. Taking it a step further was to pay attention to what they would do in repetition and how committed they are to that reaction. Moving instinctively was a huge part in mastering combat, since sometimes thinking your way through a fight may overload the brain with everything being controlled so precisely. Taking the time to practice reacting to certain things instinctively was both an essential and detrimental thing.

After that lesson; they reviewed more and Izuku leeched off of the lessons by simply being in the room at the time. This concept wasn't utilized to its fullest during the competition, but it was something Midoriya kept close to the vest since it was seemingly valuable regardless.

Present Day

Racing through his head were the patterns that Gran Torino used while Izuku had been dodging and retaliating in whatever way he could. None of these attacks of his were in any way trying to end the fight. Gran Torino himself could feel that something was rather off with how Izuku was acting during the whole fight; if you could even call it that.

There was no commitment to any of the boy's actions. The few punches and kicks felt like they were there just to create space for something. By no means was this a difficult fight, not to the veteran of heroism; though there was something telling him that the longer this went on, the better of a chance Izuku was gonna end the fight in his favor. A final set of bounces signaled to Midoriya that the decisive blow was about to happen. Exactly what he wanted.

Repeating the pattern of how Gran Torino attacked and moved in his head to certain things he did made it easier for him to predict and react to what was counterable and what needed to be dodged. Above Izuku was where the attack was coming from. Gran Torino was certain that after Izuku came to a complete stop to scan around was his opportunity to blindside the boy from above. Kicking off the ceiling with his quirk gave the old teacher the necessary momentum to knock the boy out cold. It would have done just that had Izuku remained charged with One for All.

Suddenly, before he could connect, Izuku shut down his quirk and got the elderly hero to panic for a split second. He wasn't expecting to come in hot onto a completely normal kid's head with the force he was generating. A moment of hesitation that Midoriya exposed and shifted backwards by a half step to catch the senior in a bearhug. One for All was back in spades as Izuku clapped down with all his might to get the veteran hero to tap out or say uncle.

That was not the case as Gran Torino suddenly burst with an explosion of air and released himself from the unexpected counter from Izuku. It sent the green haired boy right into the back of the couch and sent both him and the piece of old furniture flying across the room. Standing up in a daze, Midoriya stumbled for a second to find his orientation with gravity as Gran Torino approached the boy with a cane that looked to be carved from a bonsai branch to assist his aching knees.

"Hoho, you've certainly got a spark to ya I hadn't been expecting. Gotta say, I look forward to seeing what else I can squeeze into that little head of yours."

Shaking the dizziness out of his head before peering down at the midget of a senior got Izuku to realize how much he underestimated his elders. The look in Gran Torino's eyes was like a greedy kid's while in a candy shop. What was shown to him during their fight was that this boy had great potential and was already on his way to make unbelievable progress. He dreaded what would have happened if a half baked hero managed to be his teacher at this point in the boy's development.

On top of everything, that last move was more or less the end of the fight for Gran Torino. Had Izuku gone for a straight punch or a kick, there was a very good possibility he would have gotten one on Gran Torino. He guessed that the boy was too nice for his own good to do something as uncivil as to hit an old man. It both amazed and infuriated him that this kid was such a promising student and successor for the quirk he possessed. This was going to be fun.

"Now, let's get started; ya embryo!"

Now comes the real pain for Midoriya. All he could do for now was hope for a gradual introduction to the challenges ahead before he got overwhelmed.