Over the Top

by papireaz

When I died, I expected a few manga volumes. Maybe to learn what the One Piece is. Instead, I found myself in a world that I recognised, a story I had read and what's worse was that it was a story I had no interest in wanting to involve myself in! Then and again, the offer to become a Hero is far too tempting...

30. Issue 29

Wow, so we are once chapter away from hitting the big 30 mark.

Crazy.

The song for this chapter is 'Broken Youth' by NICO Touches the Walls - Also known as the joint best Naruto Shippuden ending with Long Kiss Goodbye!

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Summary:

The sponsors for today's chapter are 'Shueisha/Kohei Horikoshi' and 'Viz Media' telling you that the author does not in fact own My Hero Academia. However, as a birthday present since the author's birthday just passed, he thinks that it would be a fitting present to hand over the rights to the series to him so that he can earn millions worth of local currencies for absolutely nothing.

That's all.

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Meeting with an important publisher was enough to make anyone shit their underwear ten times over, with some left to spare. Unfortunately, I was potty trained twice and I had much more self-control than Tokoyami who was sitting next to me in a suit, trying his hardest not to sweat as the man opposite us read the first five chapters of Bleach. Only three had been published thus far, but he was a stingy old man that didn't reveal what he felt about our work on his face at all.

Especially as he drew closer to the final pages of chapter five and not a single muscle on his face even twitched. Tokoyami wasn't used to this setting, especially as he tried his hardest to pray to whatever God that our work wouldn't be critiqued too hard, but I was much calmer compared to him. If this old fart couldn't understand how good Bleach was, then the entire world was lost. I might as well just join the villains in burning this place to the ground.

Kaneshiro, the man sitting in front of us, was an editor in Weekly Shonen Leap, arguably the biggest weekly magazine in Japan in terms of manga. It has produced some of the greatest hits of all time, like Xaruto, Metalfist Sorcerer and DragonBleaPiece Shippuden, not to mention had recent series like Burgundy Clover and Delinquent Slayer ripping up the weekly sales charts, all with a successful anime adaptation.

And Kaneshiro had been the editor to all those series.

"This series is good," He eventually said, placing our manuscripts down on the table, "This is the most refreshing manga series I've read in years. Ichigo Kurosaki is a likeable and relatable protagonist, and your deuteragonist is extremely appealing to many young readers, Rukia Kuchiki is a likeable female character and if this series becomes popular, she could potentially be one of the greatest female characters ever written in literature I'll say. The two of you have crafted an excellent manga thus far, consider me impressed."

"So," I started grabbing Tokoyami by the shoulders, "Are you going to be offering us a contract in Leap?" Kaneshiro nodded at my words, pulling out a few sheets of paper from his bag along with a pen as he passed them over to us.

"Yes, as the head editor of Leap, allow me to congratulate you on getting your work published. We will start printing Bleach from chapter one in the next issue, so you don't have to publish it in your school magazine anymore. Furthermore, if you could create a few colour pages for tomorrow that would be perfect, other than that I don't have anything else to say. Keep up the good work Tsukizora." After Tokoyami and I signed the contracts, Kaneshiro bid us farewell, not without dropping another bombshell on us.

"Oh, and another manga is starting a week after Bleach. Love is War was also picked up, especially since Leap hasn't had a good romance manga since 'False Love: Love Hina' all those years ago. You youngsters are certainly talented, I'm sure that Leap is going to be very prosperous in the coming years."

Of course Tokage had gotten in.

Still, Tokoyami and I grinned at each other. We made it, we were one step closer to getting a best selling manga!

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Chapter

Twenty Nine

'The Real Folk Blues Part Three'

---

I sat down next to Tokage as we awaited for Nanao to come. We had all agreed to meet at a coffee shop in downtown Musutafu at approximately 1PM. Apparently that was when she was able to take her break, so Tokage and I had to agree. The green haired girl next to me had decided to… dress for the occasion so to speak.

A white mini skirt that showed off her developing curves, as well as a white and black chequered shirt that her sleeves rolled up to show her various accessories she owned. From hair bands, to watches and was that a chain? Her black choker and gold earrings also seemed to add to her appeal, and her hair was tied into a loose ponytail as she wore a grey baseball cap to complete her look.

In comparison, my navy tracksuit problems and the away blue and white football top of Musutafu FC looked to be rather mundane, and frankly not as good looking as her outfit. Plus she had applied some makeup, mainly some foundation and eyeliner, but she still looked like a model, especially as she posed in front of her camera and took multiple pictures and videos that she promptly deleted afterwards.

"Really?" I asked her, sipping my caramel iced frappe with a plastic straw, "We are just meeting with Nanao. No need to dress for the occasion."

"Yes, but I've never met her before. So I need to make a good impression on her, or else she'll think that I'm some whore."

"How would she come to that conclusion?!"

"Hmfp, you men are such primitive creatures. Don't you understand Bakazaki, this 'Nanao' is going to declare war on me!"

"Over what?" I asked her, confused.

"Over your love and affection," She immediately replied, sipping her bubble tea that I was forced to purchase for her, "This bitch thinks that she can just steal my boyfriend away from me, but I'll make her understand that I'm the one in control of our relationship. I can't just let other people think that I'm some pushover, so I'll make her respect me. Plus, she's a detective, no doubt she's going to bring up some of the things I've done, so if I get arrested I want to at least look good while doing so."

"What kind of logic is that?! And what the fuck have you done before you came to U.A?!"

"Trust me, you don't want to know. 'Delinquent' my ass, your antics were tame compared to mine. If they called you a demon, I deserve to be called the devil. That being said, I'm wary of this Nanao."

"Why would you be?" A different voice asked from in front of us. In a black suit as always, Nanao waved at the two of us, her tits jiggling slightly while doing so. Woah, had they grown the last time I saw her? No, that was impossible. "I'm not a very suspicious person, Setsuna Tokage, I'm just trying my hardest to make a better world for those that come after us." Her long sky-blue hair was pony-tailed in a side-curly fashion which made her look mature that her actual age. Oh man, I really need to get a girlfriend, Kaminari and Mineta's analysis on hot girls was starting to infect my thoughts as well.

"Which is why I'm suspicious of you, and who cares about those who come after us." Tokage instantly replied. I got up and shook Nanao's hand, while Tokage stayed sitting down, not moving a muscle as she stared at Nanao with a curious look on her face. "I don't trust you detective, although I make it my mission to distrust anyone in a position of power. Right now, we have to trust you if we want to move forwards with our plans."

"You trust Sora though? Isn't he like me in a sense?"

"He doesn't have any power, and even if he did, it wouldn't result in much. He's far too much of a simpleton to be cunning enough to do anything with it to piss me off. But you, Nanao, you have managed to insert yourself as a trustworthy person in Sora's eyes in just one meeting, but he isn't a good judge of character, not at all. So I don't trust you, not now at least."

Nanao smiled at that, "Good, because quite frankly I don't trust you either, Tokage. Arrested at thirteen for nearly burning someone to death-"

"Wait what?" I asked, turning to Tokage in shock. "You nearly burned someone to death?"

"I don't see the issue here," Tokage replied coolly, ignoring me while doing so as she leaned forwards in her chair, "But if you know that, then you would know the circumstances surrounding it, and why I was acquitted of any charges. I merely defended myself against someone that would have raped me, what do you think I should have tried to talk things out with him? Sorry honey, but that's not how the world works, it's not how I work. As a detective, surely you should know this."

The older woman grinned at that, but Nanao's grin didn't reach her eyes. Not really. "And what about that time when someone made fun of your mother as a kid and you nearly stabbed their eye out? Are you going to tell me that they posed a threat to you then?" Nanao replied, ordering her hot chocolate with flakes on top. In this heat? Was she trying to give herself a heat stroke or what? Wait, could you even get a heat stroke from drinking a warm beverage in summer?

"No, they didn't," Tokage replied, grabbing the fork on her plate next to her untouched cake as she pointed it at Nanao, "They pissed me off, so I decided to try and stab them in the eye. It would have worked had they not scream in terror. But, if you'd like, I'm more than willing to stab you in order to prove my loyalty to Sora, to prove that I'm not suspicious. Are you willing to give it a try?"

Nanao's grin widened as she spread her arms in the air, provoking Tokage into taking a shot and stabbing her. Before Tokage's hand could throw the fork in Nanao's direction, I grabbed the fork from her hand and glared at the two of them. Were they really doing this right now? I thought we were supposed to discuss plans for the future, not bicker around the table like a bunch of fucking children.

"Both of you need to calm the fuck down," I told them angrily, "We are in a public shop. And aren't we supposed to be friends here? How the hell can we get rid of people like Yozora and Zero if we bicker between ourselves. We are on the same side for fucks sake-,"

"I don't believe that for a second Sora," Tokage cut me off, "How do we know that Nanao is not working with Yozora to trap us, and then kill us? Her backstory is fishy enough, just how the hell did she meet with the eleventh? Furthermore, the fact that Yozora killed them without Nanao realising it meant that she was with him for some time, it meant that she trusted him. Loved him. How do we know that she didn't work with Yozora to kill the eleventh, and how do we know that right now she isn't plotting to kill the both of us? Plus, she decided to research me. Why would you research your 'ally?' Something doesn't add up."

"Oh please, as if I'd be a traitor." Nanao snorted in response, "Tokage, you have been a violent little girl your entire life. Ever since you were found next to your dead biological mother, it's been a string of care homes that you've been kicked out from. 'Too violent' and 'scared all the other kids' was a comment complaint written in your profile. Too selfish. You only thought about yourself, so how do I know that you aren't working for Zero? After all, one would need a mole inside U.A in order to accurately find out where the USJ is located without breaking into the school. How do I know that you aren't working with Zero to try and get rid of Sora?"

"Because," Tokage had a response on her lips the second Nanao finished her suspicions on her, "Zero doesn't want to kill Sora, in fact he wants Sora to join him. And why would I want to kill Sora? That doesn't make sense to me, and the fact that you think that I'm cold blooded to do so frankly pisses me off. Sure, I'm not opposed to killing someone, but as of right now I'm more inclined to be killing you rather than Sora."

"Maybe so, but-,"

"ENOUGH!" I yelled, drawing both of their attention towards me, "Fucking hell, both of you are on the same side. Calm the fuck down or else I'm leaving you two babies all alone. I thought we were supposed to work together-,"

"I'm willing to work with her," Tokage replied calmly, but I could see the distrust in her eyes. "But not in a million years will I trust her. I've seen people like her so many times in my life, people like her that use others in order to reach their goals. She's using you Sora, and you can't see it. She doesn't care about you, so long as you take down Yozora that's all that matters to her. She needs you more than you need her, we are in the position of power here."

"Is that jealousy I'm hearing in you, Tokage?" Nanao interjected with a smirk on her face as she stood up from her seat and threw some Yen on the table, "That being said, I don't trust you either. Call it intuition, but I'm a detective, and I know rats when I see them. Setsuna Tokage, you are one selfish person, that much is clear. I'm more worried that you'll let Sora die in order to live a peaceful life, I'm more worried that while you may be on our side for now, in the future you could turn out to be a loose end."

"Interesting hypothesis, but ultimately you were far off the mark. Sora's my only path to living a peaceful life, so a fool he may be, he does indeed have the strength to build a carefree tomorrow. If there is one thing I won't stand for, it's you trying to discredit my loyalty to his ideas." Tokage replied, all signs of amusement gone from her tone, "But I suppose considering you let your friend the 'eleventh' die, maybe you don't know what loyalty really is. Not without letting others die before you of course."

Nanao's demeanour turned frosty immediately as she glared at Tokage spitefully, chuckling while doing so. "Well I suppose you and I are in the same boat then, tell me how does it feel to have watched your mother die at a young age? Doesn't it irritate you that she was murdered in the same room as you, and yet the case was ruled as a suicide?"

"I think that's more due to the corruption of the system you stand for, and I'm not too sure as to why you are bringing up my mother. Would you like me to bring up your father-,"

"At least I have a father, even if it's not by blood, that's more than you will ever have." Nanao cut in with her own insult. Fuck, were these two just going to fling insults at each other like monkeys flinging shit at their friends in a zoo? It was entertaining, and very chilling to watch these two try to make the other break down first. Especially as Tokage twirled the knife in her hand, while Nanao had her right hand on her pistol.

I gulped at that.

I tapped Tokage's right leg in order to calm her down, or at least draw her focus towards me whilst shaking my head at Nanao.

"Relax, relax." I whispered to them, groaning as everyone in the coffee shop started to look at our table in surprise. Seriously? Why did I have to deal with this? "You can fight each other later, just calm down before you do something that you'll regret." I then turned to glare at Nanao, "Really? Aren't you supposed to be an adult? But here you are, picking on teenagers. I thought you were going to help us, not act like a child."

The smirk Nanao had was wiped from her face as she stared at the floor in shame. "You are right, I apologise for my actions today. That goes for you as well Tokage, I might have gotten carried away a bit at the end, and for that I apologise. Today's meeting was supposed to be productive, instead we were childish and decided to make it about ourselves. Clearly you and I are similar in some ways, and very different in others. A bit like water and oil, both are liquids yet neither are able to truly mix together."

"...I'm not going to apologise, but I'll accept your apology. Plus it was fun to rile you up so easily, you should have seen the look on your face, detective." I rolled my eyes at Tokage's antics, especially as she punched my leg hard. "And Bakazaki, stop trying to cop a feel from me, or else I'll have our detective here arrest you for sexual assault." Nanao glared at me accusingly as I lifted my hands up in the air, proclaiming my innocence. Really? Just a moment ago they were at each other's throats, and now they were double teaming me?

Not that I'd mind that-,

Shut up, brain.

"So, are we good now?"

"Yes." Nanao replied, sipping on her hot chocolate as a smile returned on her face, just reminding me of how beautiful she truly was. Fuck, if only I were a few years older… It was hard to tell who I preferred, Nanao was practically everything I wanted in a woman. Smart, sexy and witty too. Jiro on the other hand was practically divine, even if her features weren't as developed, her personality, humour and common interests made me like her.

I suppose I found Nanao attractive, while Jiro was the one I liked.

If only I could fuse them together…

"Sure, now hurry up and show us your breasts lady!" Tokage yelled loudly, "I want to see what all the fuss is about your tits. All Sora has been saying lately is how big they are, and how he would like to squeeze them-," I kicked her from underneath the table, shooting Nanao an apologetic glance. Oh God, Nanao was going to pull out her pistol and shoot at me. Fuck, this was bad. Tokage and her big fat fucking mouth getting me into trouble, yet again!

"Sorry about her, she was dropped on the head at birth. Twice. Her brain is permanently damaged I think."

"I'm pretty sure the files on her would say something about that…" Nanao replied, pulling out some files from her bag. Were those Tokage's medical files? What the actual fuck, was the hot detective a fucking stalker?!

"W-we just found out recently." I added. Oh God, were those files on me as well?! Just how the fuck did she manage to get those-, Scratch that, why does she need them in the first place?! Was that my school report card from when I was eight?!

"I see. Well all I have is this to share with you two," She pulled out a familiar figure from her bag, one of Stain. "This was recently brought to my attention, like with the figure you saw Sora, Yozoroa was involved with the manufacturing of this 'product.' My sources tell me that a reptilian man by the name of Spinner has been distributing these to those who show 'promise,' whatever that means."

"They are trying to recruit people, aren't they?" I asked her as she nodded, confirming my own suspicions.

"That's what we, the Musutafu police department, believe. That being said, the fact that they are also selling the figures means that they are trying to raise funds for something, perhaps to purchase weapons? Yozora is unpredictable, that's one thing I want to make clear in this meeting. Do not approach him, even if you have the chance to take a lethal shot, do not engage." She told us, "He's a crafty son of a bitch. I've been hunting him down for over a decade now, and he's still managed to avoid me after all this time."

"Doesn't that mean that you suck then?" Tokage smirked, but after I kicked her under the table again, she shook her head and stayed silent for the rest of the meeting. Damn, was she that bad? No way, was she the Bakugo of 1B? I mean both had attitude problems… although with Tokage it was more so that she acts differently depending on the person she's speaking to. Maybe she'll warm up to Nanao?

"The fact is that Yozora has been a wanted criminal for years, just no one has caught him yet. His Quirk allows him to evade capture pretty easily."

"Oh yeah," I just remembered his Quirk, rendering Todoroki, Midoriya, Iida and I useless against him. We couldn't even move a damn muscle. "What is his Quirk?" I asked her curiously.

Nanao shrugged her shoulders at me. "I only know the name of it. He calls it the 'Eye of the Storm,' but other than that I have no idea how it really works. Using his eyes he can apply force to something, but he can also choke others out, and probably even more abilities that we haven't witnessed yet. He doesn't use his Quirk when he does not have to, and when he does there usually aren't any survivors. His kill count is said to be forty, but I personally think it's in the hundreds, and this includes innocents too." Tch, so he wasn't opposed to killing people for 'fun.'

"So why hasn't a major hero taken him down yet?" Tokage asked.

"That's the thing, he only recently came back to Japan. Based on some previous intel I had managed to find, after killing the eleventh he fled to Europe and stayed there for a few years." Nanao explained, "Apparently a whole subsect of a mafia group disappeared overnight, their funds stolen and their men flattened to death. I think that Yozora killed all those men and stole their money, but that's just my theory."

"So then, what were you doing before you met the eleventh? And how exactly did you meet Yozora?" I asked her.

"I… can't answer that." She replied, not reaching either of our gazes. Tokage smirked at me, shrugging her shoulders as if she had just won a battle. Gah, was she really going to goad her right now?

"Can't as in you physically can't, or can't because you don't want to?"

"The former."

I nodded at that, clicking my tongue in annoyance. Of course it couldn't be that easy. She was under a secret most likely, just like me, which meant that she couldn't reveal anything to us without dying herself because we weren't in on the secret. Maybe Tokage was right, perhaps Nanao did know more than she was letting on. But that was a topic for another day, I still trusted her for now, especially since she seemed sincere.

"And have you heard anything about Zero's movements?" I asked hopefully, but I knew the answer before Nanao could even shake her head. Damn it, we were still in the dark.

"So, what are we going to do about the camping trip?" Tokage asked, "From what I remember, the villains are supposed to attack us. I'd appreciate it if you could mobilise some forces, using your links to the force to ensure that we can arrest those pricks before they have the chance to fight us, but something tells me it won't be as easy as asking for a few favours, will it?"

"Unfortunately, it won't. I'm still a rookie detective, hell it's only because of my father that I'm able to even be a part of the League of Villains investigation whilst also being the lead investigator of the Yozora case. I won't be able to help you if anything happens during the camping trip, but I can try to delay you two going on the trip. It would be easy for me to fake some evidence to say that Yozora is targeting you and your families and get you two to safety if that's what you want?"

"Nah," I told her, shaking my head, "I'm not going to abandon my friends. Plus, there is a chance that Zero is going to appear, so I might as well make the most of it, right?" Nanao shrugged her shoulders at that. "Oh and, you wouldn't happen to know anything about playing the piano, right?"

I couldn't react in time as Nanao reached over from the table and grabbed my arms, staring directly in my eyes. "Who told you about that?" She asked harshly, all amusement gone from her voice.

"W-what?" I asked her, "It's just I keep on having dreams about it, and then Zero mentioned it so-,"

"Shit," Nanao swore under her breath, "Fuck this isn't good."

"Is everything alright?"

"Just… be careful." She replied, "I don't know much about what it means to play the 'piano' for us, but I remember a few words that Yozora used to describe it. ``Extremely fun, but a shame I can't play to save my life,' and if he finds it fun then it must spell disaster for the rest of us." She explained, sitting back down on her seat. "This all leads me to my next point, how we all came here in the first place. While I have my own suspicions, and my own experiences which I cannot say without dying in the process, I do believe that if we work together, we can uncover the truth behind it all."

"Even… even my mother's death?" Tokage asked hopefully. For once, she didn't look like she had her shields up and underneath her person I could see how vulnerable she actually was.

"Wait, how does your mother relate to our case?" I asked her, confused.

"My mother… She knew about me. About us. Right before she died, she told me that I wasn't alone. That I was the 'twelfth,' whatever that means. And right after that, well she died. A gunshot to the head, and when I woke up I saw that there was a gun in her hand. It wasn't there before, but I was young. I couldn't speak properly yet, and when I mumbled out a few words, the officers just said I was catatonic. That was a traumatic experience, and I was then sent to an orphanage. Some shithole that didn't help things at all. My mother was murdered, and I don't know how she knew what she did, but I guarantee that she was murdered because she knew about us. Because she knew the truth."

"I see," Nanao replied, stroking her chin as she was lost in thought. "Well, I might as well start investigating the murder of your mother to see if anything comes up. No doubt the police officers involved had to have covered something up, possibly even lied on the reports. If they were paid by someone to do so, then there should be a trail that I can follow. I promise you this Setsuna Tokage, I will ensure that your mother gets justice. And that goes for the eleventh, and all of Yozora's victims too. I won't stop until those who have ruined other's lives have been tried by the law, I will ensure that justice is dispensed to them all."

"Lofty words for a mere junior detective," Tokage joked, elbowing me as a grin formed on her face. "But I suppose Sora here has a kingly ambition as well. Building a 'carefree tomorrow' for us all. Maybe you can do it, maybe you won't. But I'm still suspicious of you, Nanao Iori."

Nanao smirked at that, finishing her hot chocolate as she paid for all of our drinks and snacks. "I'm glad to hear it, because I'm also suspicious of you, Setsuna Tokage."

"Wait, if your mother knew about us, then did she know any of the other numbers? I'm the 'fourteenth,' Tokage is the 'twelfth,' you are the 'tenth'. You said Yozora is the 'ninth,' and that the 'eleventh' is dead. Any leads so we can find all the others? And I'm also asking you if you have any leads Nanao, you are the detective here after all." Tokage shook her head, and the two of us looked at Nanao, waiting for her response.

"Sadly, I have no other clues other than the two of you. Sora, it was easy to scout you out since your name wasn't on the list of names I memorised for both 1A and 1B. And Tokage, while your name was on the roster, I guess I should have known that something was amiss when you performed better in the festival than your counterpart, but I just chalked that up to Sora's changes. That being said, it's not like we can track those like us, especially when there isn't any guarantee that they have the numbers like we do." True, I didn't have a number like Tokage, Nanao or Yozoroa did.

"So then, who do you think the 'thirteenth' is?" Tokage asked the both of us. "I don't think it's based on the birth order since Sora is older than me. I turn sixteen in October, while he's already sixteen, which meant that he should have been the 'twelfth' logically. We are missing a piece of the puzzle, and that really annoys me. It's like an itch that'll never go away, sort of like those boys that complain when I'm rough with them. 'Oh please don't punch my balls with boxing gloves'." What the fuck Tokage, why did you feel the need to say that?!

"Well, I think you may be correct in that statement," Nanao nodded her head, totally ignoring Tokage's last comment. "However, I might want to add that there has been a two year difference between many of us. Yozoroa is twenty four, while I myself just turned twenty two. Had the eleventh been alive, they would have been twenty. That can't be a coincidence, the fact that we are two years apart has to mean something. I have a theory, but I don't know if you two would like to hear it, especially since if it is true, it'll just confuse us even more."

"What is it?" I asked her.

"Tokage, I believe that you are not the twelfth, maybe the twelfth to be marked, but not the twelfth to be chronologically born here. I believe that the thirteenth is much like Sora, unmarked, and that they may be the true twelfth. It would mean that they are two years younger than the eleventh, making them eighteen. Which fits both you and Sora in as two years younger than them, as you two are sixteen, or in your case close enough. What I just don't understand is how your mother fits into my theory, which is why it is exactly that. A theory. There are far too many holes in it for it to be called a theory."

"Wait," I interjected. Holy shit why didn't I think of that. "What if Tokage is the 'twelfth' marked one, but she isn't the twelfth chronologically. As in, what if there is a reason as to why you guys are marked, and as to why I'm not marked."

"Where are you going with this?"

"I think I might have arrived differently to you guys." I explained. "My biological mother… I think she might have known what I was as well." I spat out. I didn't want to think of her, not now. But she looked at me with such hate in her eyes. I could remember her eyes vividly, her voice as she called me an 'akuma.' A devil. You wouldn't call the son you just birthed unless you had a very valid reason, either her heart was filled with hate, or she knew something that made her hate me. She knew that I wasn't her son, not really.

"I think that just maybe, the 'thirteenth' and I aren't related to your own mystery. I know we haven't met the 'thirteenth,' but what makes me sure that he isn't related to your mystery is the fact that if they were, they would have shown up by now. Either they are dead in a ditch, or they aren't marked. I think that there isn't one mystery as to why we arrived here, as to why we died and found ourselves here. I think that there are two different reasons as to why we all came here, both for very different reasons." It had to be. That was why Zero was so interested in me alone, why he wanted me so badly. Zero had to be from the same group as Tokage and Nanao, it was why I was the 'pianist'. But the mysteries had to have been linked in some way, or else Nanao, and by extension Yozora, wouldn't have known about the 'piano' if they were truly separate.

As always, questioning the truth was always one step forwards and two steps backwards.

"I see. That does make much more sense compared to my own theory. And it makes sense as to why Tokage is marked, and you aren't despite you being born first. Whatever caused Tokage to come here isn't related as to how you came here, which means that the 'thirteenth' could be out there. And if you are the 'pianist', whatever the means, then you could either be the key to us finding out the truth, or the reason why we fail."

"No pressure, am I right?" I joked. I was going to help Nanao and Tokage find out the truth, and I was going to find out my truth. I had to. And Yozora was going to be taken down, that bastard had killed one of us before, I'm sure that he was itching to have his 'fun' in killing one of us again. I'd make sure that he wouldn't hurt Tokage, and he wouldn't hurt Nanao any more. I'd stop his 'fun' from hurting anyone ever again.

And Zero…

I had no idea what Zero's agenda was. He wanted to go home, and yet he had so many different plans. Out of all of this, I was mostly confused about Zero and his role in this. How much did he know? Either way, if he made his appearance in the summer camp, then I'd know for sure. I'd defeat him once and for all, and I'd knock his little mask off. I'd find out the truth for everyone and close this case once and for all.

"Nanao, you snort like a pig. I thought you should know that."

"Thank you Tokage for pointing that out to me, I suppose as the adult here I should also point out that you are showing too much skin for a woman your age. You dress like a hooker."

"It's my body hun, maybe if you didn't wear a suit and embrace your femininity you'd get laid more. Although, I can smell that crusty ass vagina from all the way across the table."

"So crass. Maybe if you fixed your attitude problem and didn't act like a kuudere all the time, you'd get Sora to like you."

"Hm, a very interesting proposal, but I already know that Sora likes me. I've seen him beat his little pecker off at pictures of mine on social media, I have an app that tracks who visits my profile." I-, er, what? I most definitely have not done that. "That being said, isn't me being emotionless a part of my backstory? I assumed if I acted this way it could be excised since my mother did die in front of me."

"Well you assumed incorrectly. You just act like a psychopath with no care for anyone's feelings."

"But I don't care for anyone's feelings other than my own. And maybe Sora, but he is my boyfriend after all. If he died, I'd follow right after him. A 'lovers suicide' they call it."

"We aren't dating! Stop living in your own reality!" I told her.

"But since you have busted a load over my pictagram, I assumed that we are already boyfriend and girlfriend. If need be, I'm willing to pleasure myself over your pictures to make it official. Although, there is no guarantee that I'd do so moaning your name in pleasure." She definitely enjoys teasing me like this. There was no way that she was born like this, no, she was moulded into this… thing that sat before my very eyes.

"I see. Well, I know that Sora has a crush on Jiro-," I stared at Nanao in surprise, "-Who judging from my own research either doesn't know of your crush on her yet, or she likes you but doesn't want to act on it, or she knows that you like her but she likes someone else. Tokage, I personally doubt that you are capable of love, and much like your Quirk I think your very nature is that of a reptilian. You wouldn't be able to love someone without strangling them in response."

"Well Nanao, if I love you does that mean I can strangle you to death?" Tokage smirked at Nanao, who merely grinned in response.

"You are welcome to try."

Aaaaand, it was back to square one.

Great.

Just what I fucking wanted.

---

"Drama is not a subject!" I yelled at Yaoyorozu. "I'm sorry, but it doesn't count as one. I hate it, it really is a waste of time for us!"

"Sora, how is it a waste of time? We need to be good actors in order to become truly respected heroes. Even in the face of despair, we need to keep up our masks and ensure that we are telling everyone watching that we are here-,"

"We are not All Might!" I cut her off, "And who gives a shit about that? If I'm in an situation where I can't win, I'm running the fuck away. I'm not going to die trying to convince others using my acting skills that everything will 'be alright' and that 'I am here' to stop them from dying. Fuck that, drama is a waste of time. If anything, we should be using that time to focus on our skills so that we are strong enough to not be put in that situation."

Haha, my logic is flawless-,

"Sora, you only dislike drama because in middle school no one picked you to be in their group for many years," Jiro told me, "Didn't you used to sit in the corner glaring at everyone with jealousy? I swear drama was the one subject you failed at consistently because you weren't able to join a group in order to do the work?" Gah, Jiro had figured me out pretty quickly!

Drama and I… Well, we didn't really get along that well. I was always alone, sitting in the corner of the hall as I wished ill-will upon everyone in my class for ensuring that I was never invited in a group. In fact, I hated my teacher the most during all of it. That slut ignored me, and said if I smiled more maybe I'd be put in a group. But we had twenty one kids in our class, and she always said that we had to be in teams of five, no exceptions! Meaning she constantly let me be left out, and purposefully marked me down for 'not trying hard enough.'

Tha fucking whore, I swear if I ever meet you in the street Ms Chiaki, I'm going to choke a bitch-,

Yaoyorozu snorting distracted me from my thoughts. "You find that funny?" I asked her, pouting slightly. "It wasn't funny. I was all alone… No one cared for me. I truly hated that class, and in fact I tried to bunk all the time. I'd rather spend my time getting into fights with people who didn't ignore me rather than those bastards that did ignore me. I swear, I could have killed all those fuckers if I wanted to. They nearly pushed me over the edge you know-,"

Yaoyorozu patted my head, ruffling my hair as she smiled at me.

"Well, I'll make sure that you will never be left alone again, you hear me? School is supposed to be a joyous place, and I will not tolerate a member of my class, a good friend of mine, being treated like that ever. If anyone is making you feel like you're not wanted, then please do tell me. I'll be sure to… correct their ways." Was she smiling sadistically? Oh God, she was going to crush their balls, wasn't she? Yaoyorozu, the ball buster, was back in business!?

I winced at the image of her making a sledgehammer while in a bikini and smashing my-,

Nope.

Not going there.

Fucking puberty.

"Don't bother with that Yaomomo, he's just being overly dramatic as usual. I was in his drama class and I kept on asking him to join my group, he was just an idiot and kept declining saying 'it's going to add to my backstory.'"

"THAT WAS ONCE!" I responded by flinging my pen at her, "And I was only in your drama class for a term, that was because I needed to pass the subject or else I would have been held back! That wasn't my fault, blame our slutty teacher that-,"

"You know Sora, sometimes I think you are a misogynist."

"I'm a what?"

"A misogynist Sora, and a thumping good one at that."

I stared at Jiro, my jaw probably falling to the ground. Me? A misogynist?! I loved women, I respected them the most! Hinata and Miwa were my favourite people in the world, seriously I loved them to bits! And that's not to say that I respected Hinata's strength of managing to still love me, someone who wasn't even related to her, despite everything I put her through. And Miwa… I respected her ability to read porn in our living room and get away with it.

And I was best friends with Jiro, Yaoyorozu a close second. Tokage was like my rival, fake-lover, best friend, and number-one-hater rolled into one, not to mention that Nanao was a new supporter of mine, plus I respected her immensely. I was totally not a misogynist-,

"I'm kidding you idiot," Jiro rolled her eyes at me, poking my chest with her pen. "Holy shit, Yaomomo I think he's short-circuited."

"What?!" Yaoyorozu came rushing over to me, staring into my eyes as she brought out a flashlight and pointed it at my eyes. "Jiro, I think something is wrong with him. His eyes are really red-,"

"I just spent all night playing games, that's all." I told them. "Seriously, do you think I'm some robot? I have emotions too ya' know! A mere 'robot' wouldn't be enough to fit my ego, at least call me the 'King of Androids' or something badass."

"But you are a dork." Jiro told me, patting my back softly. "And if I lied to a dork like you, I'd feel bad."

"No you won't, you have no soul-,"

She stabbed me in the arm with her pen for that comment.

"Ow, you fucking psycho bitch-, OW! Stop fucking poking me!"

Yaoyorozu giggled at our antics. "Honestly, you two always make me laugh without fail. I truly would have liked to have seen you two in middle school, something tells me you were even more hilarious."

"Depends on who you ask," I replied, grabbing Jiro into a headlock as she stamped on my feet hard. "That being said, she was totally the cute mascot of our group in middle school. She always sang so well, played all those different instruments, she always made sure that I was eloquent with my words, yadda yadda. She was a bit like you Yaoyorozu."

"I'm glad to hear it," She said, "I… I wish I had an experience like you did. Even if your experience wasn't pleasant Sora, it was an experience nonetheless."

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"I didn't go to middle school. Or elementary school. I was homeschooled from birth, the only other children I met around our age were at gala's or charity events. The Yaoyorozu family, well they aren't heroes to say the least. I'm sure you have seen some of my family's products, after all we are Japan's most famous company. From technology, to common appliances and food, we cover a wide range of markets. Your PlayBox is our product, you know that right Sora?"

"So you can hook me up with a PlayBox seven?" Jiro smacked me on the arm for that, but Yaoyorozu didn't mind.

"Sure, no problem. Does tomorrow sound good?"

"For real?" Oh fuck, I was choking on my sweets in surprise. Wasn't that console supposed to come out in a few months?! I didn't think she'd be able to hook me up with an unreleased console!

She nodded at that. "Oh yes, many heads of departments constantly send me gifts. Since the company is based in the Aichi prefecture, and so is the manor I grew up in, the gifts are constantly sent to the apartment I currently reside in. My maid, Arisa, has piled all the gifts in the spare room since I'll never use them. She's my 'parent' you could say, or more of an older sister. I've known her since I was eight you see, and she's very strict when it comes to me coming home on time."

"Why would department heads send you presents?" Jiro asked, confused.

"My mother, well, she's the current CEO of the company, and she still insists that I'm to be the one to succeed her when the time comes. Therefore, everyone practically makes sure to be in my good books so that if I do succeed, they can be rewarded for 'helping me' along the way."

"I noticed you said 'if,' does that mean you don't want to become the next CEO?" I asked her.

"Well, I-, I don't know." She told us honestly, looking down at the ground. "That's why I'm here, studying to be a hero. I want to help people, but I don't know if running a company can ensure that. My mother, well she's focused on maximising profits. When I told her I was going to be a hero, she was ecstatic and began to develop a marketing campaign around me. I don't even think she realised that I was serious about it…" She trailed off near the end, closing her eyes for a few moments.

"What about your father? Isn't he proud of you?" Jiro asked hopefully, trying to steer the conversation in a much less depressing situation.

"He died. When I was eight, he died while experimenting on some new material."

"Oh."

The three of us sat in silence, Yaoyorozu looked sad, Jiro looked like she was about to cry in embarrassment, and I was trying my best to hold in my laughter. Not at Yaoyorozu, nor at Jiro, just at how awkward it was.

"So, safe to say that you want to become a hero to understand your role in the world?" Yaoyorozu regained her composure as she smiled at me, but even a fool could tell that she was forcing it. Maybe she wasn't as well put together as I had previously thought. "Like, being a hero is your path to figuring out what you want to do in the future or something."

"Yeah." Yaoyorozu nodded at me, "I want to know what it means to be a hero, and maybe what it means to be a CEO. I love my mother dearly, and she's the reason as to why our company has grown so much in such a short amount of time, but it seems like all she cares about is the company now. I guess, I wanted to become a hero so she could look at me differently that just the next CEO, to make her look at me like she used to when I was younger. But I don't know if it'll happen-,"

"It will happen," I interrupted her. "If anyone can do it, it'll be you right? Don't sell yourself short, especially when you are the top student in our class. It makes us look good in comparison, so you keep on walking forwards. I'm one-hundred percent sure that you'll find the answer, and if not, well ya' always have me to rely on. Jiro too, and the rest of 1A."

"I…" She smiled at me, brushing her hair to the side as that fake smile she had earlier disappeared. "You are right, I'm not alone in this. Thank you Sora, you really are the glue that sticks our class together." I laughed at that.

"Me? No way, that's Bakugo and his explosive temper."

Yaoyorozu and Jiro giggled at my joke, imitating Bakugo for a short while afterwards.

---

There I was, bunking English lessons as I saw her heading my way. Short, blue-haired and busty. It had been some time since I last saw Nejire Hado, yet she looked exactly the same as how I remembered her. Mina was standing right next to me as she looked between the two of us, and poked my arm in confusion. It didn't help that Nejire squealed like a little child and ran up to me excitedly and hugged me.

"KOUHAI!" Nejire yelled excitedly, "Have you been exorcising any ghosts recently? Do tell, do tell! I want to know all the details! Please! Pretty please with a cherry on top! Did you manage to fix your blonde friend? How's Aizawa-sensei treating you, is he still grumpy? Oh, I saw your performance during the school festival! It was really good, especially when you did that 'pshow' and then everything went 'fsh' as you set your sword on fire, and-,"

At that point I totally stopped listening to her. Especially as she kept on hugging me and just wouldn't let go. Mina beside me was starting to get more annoyed by the second, her eyes narrowing as she studied both Nejire and I. Oh God, why was I bunking with Mina! Now she's going to tell everyone in the class about my 'relations' with Nejire, and then Kaminari is going to join in to create even more misunderstandings and then my life is going to be ruined! First Nanao, and then Nejire.

People are going to think that I have a sister fetish since those two women have a similar hair colour to me! NO! I can't allow that to happen-,

"Is this your friend?" Thankfully, she detached herself off me and started to shake Mina's hand excitedly. "Ooh, I like your hair. And your skin, pink is a really pretty colour you know. Your horns are so cute! Do you think horns would suit me? I feel like white horns would clash with my hair colour, but I really want to add some on my costume. Ryukyu-sama said I'd look cute with horns, but I don't know. Are you Sora's friend?" She then elbowed Mina suggestively, "Is he your boyfriend? Are you two skipping lessons to go to a broom cupboard together? Do you guys have protection? Protection is really important, it's one of the first lessons I was taught-,"

"We aren't dating, Hado," I interrupted, "We are just-,"

"Mmh, Hado is too informal. How about Nejire? No, Nejire isn't good either…" She then tapped her temple, trying to think of a name that I could call her. "Oh, Hado-senpai! No, that still has Hado in it. Nejire-senpai? Nah, that's too long to pronounce. OH! Why don't you just call me Nejpai? Like Nejire and senpai fused together! Yeah, Nejpai, Nejpai, NEJPAI, NEJPAI!" She yelled excitedly, throwing her arms up in the air while jumping up and down. I don't know whether I should be surprised or happy that she wasn't wearing a bra, because when her breasts started to bounce around, well I saw my eyes flash before my eyes as Mina glared at me.

To be fair, she was jumping directly in front of me. It's not like I could look away without being perceived as rude, and since Nejire was someone worthy of my respect, I didn't want to hurt her feelings. But when she grabbed my hand, as well as Mina's and began to jump up and down, begging the two of us to join it was when I decided I had enough. To say that Mina and Nejire functioned on similar wavelengths was a lie, they were practically twins-, No, Nejire was essentially what Mina was going to turn into.

"Come on Sora, you have to join!" Mina told me.

"No, I hate jumping. And now I hate you both."

Nejire shook her head. "No kouhai, that isn't what you are supposed to say!" She then used her left hand to make a 'v' sign, placing it directly in front of her eyes as she stuck her tongue out at me. "Now, now kouhai, repeat after me! This land is made up of love and peace!" Mina repeated her words, shouting 'love and peace' repeatedly until I wanted to bash her brains out with a brick. Oh God, was my blood pressure rising? No, I couldn't allow Mina to turn into this… monstrosity of a human. Especially as Nejire grabbed my hand and tried to forcefully make me do the peace sign.

"Come on Sora! LOVE AND PEACE! LOVE AND PEACE! LOVE AND PEACE! LOVE AND P-,"

"Fine, fine," I interrupted Mina, shaking Nejire's hand away from my own as I made the peace sign reluctantly. "Love and… peace? There, did I do it right?"

"YES! LOVE AND PEACE!" Nejire clapped her hands, bouncing up and down on the spot as she repeated those words over and over again. My first thought was 'why me,' and then my second thought was 'I'm not a babysitter.' And then I realised that I had brought this upon myself, especially when Nejire somehow managed to convince Mina to do the macarena around the school. Luckily, I was much more stubborn than the two of them, and managed to convince them NOT to follow through with their 'plan.'

"You are such a party pooper!" Mina complained, "This stinks. What are we supposed to do now?"

"How about having a nice normal conversation between the three of us?" I offered, hoping that they wouldn't cause me any more headaches. Of all the times I choose not to attend lessons…

"OH! What do you two think of love?" Nejire asked us, "I think love is a good topic. Some of my friends just got in a relationship, oh but they don't attend U.A. It's sad. But I see all these couples here, isn't it so beautiful? Oh, do you two have a crush on someone? Wait, I don't have a crush on someone, is that weird? Mirio said it's normal, but I don't know." Would she ever let us answer her questions?

"Hmm," Mina started with a grin in my direction. "I don't like anyone, but I know Sora likes someone!"

"I do?" I asked her. Bullshit, there was no way-,

"Yup! And her name starts with a J, or rather a K, am I right?"

Was it hot in here? Why was I sweating suddenly? Nejire glanced between Mina and I, a small grin settling on her lips. "Kouhai likes someone? Let's go meet her right now! Kouhai, here is some good life advice, follow your heart! The matters of the heart are very serious, and we wouldn't want you to get love sick!" I scoffed at that, chopping Nejire on the head as I glared at Mina, who just whistled innocently.

"Really?" I asked her, "Her of all people?" I had to hide the truth, there was no way that she-,

"It's so obvious Sora." Mina told me, "Seriously, I figured it out the moment I first saw your first argument together. I don't think she's realised it, somehow she's more dense than you which is saying something. But I don't think anyone in the class really has an idea, apart from Hagakure and maybe Mineta. I've seen him look at you two with a grin on his face, plus he made a bet with me that you'd ask her out first."

"He what?!"

"Relax!" Mina raised her hands up in the air, laughing at me while doing so, "It's just a bet. Do me a solid and let her ask you out first, I'd really appreciate the money."

"What's this about betting? You kouhai's shouldn't be betting your money at this age." Nejire chided us, "Maybe I should tell Aizawa-sensei about this betting wing. It's for your own good! I read once that some guy lost his hand after making a few bets, it was scary! I wouldn't want you two to lose your hands, because if you do, how are we going to do the macarena!"

That was the least of my worries if I lost a hand!

"I'm pretty sure he knows," Mina replied, "Especially since he joined the bet." If I were drinking something, I'm sure that I would have spat it out on the floor by now. Aizawa? Betting on which of his students would go out? Impossible. I couldn't believe what blasphemous words I was hearing from Mina's mouth. I refused to believe it. This had to be some lie-, Yes, it was a lie to throw Nejire off so she wouldn't report our betting ring! As expected of Mina, she was the guardian of the fun we had in our class.

"Hm, I see. So then why don't you ask out the girl you like, Sora-Aros!"

"Why did you say my name backwards?!" I snapped at her. "And anyways, I don't like her. Mina's just chatting some bullshit-,"

"Dude, I've seen the way you look at her. It's straight out of Shojo Beat, you two are destined to get together, you just don't know it yet. I wish I had someone like that…" Mina deflated at that, sighing heavily as Nejire patted her head. "Is it that hard to find a good looking boy who cares for me?! I just want to have some fun, just like in Shojo Beat! I don't care for marriage or anything, I just want to meet with a boy late at night! Skip school for a day to go shopping with him, maybe let him drive me around his car! Why does he not exist?!"

"What about Kirishima?"

"That knucklehead? He's a friend. I know him too well to go out with him, from his eating habits to his sleeping pattern. I'd turn into his mother, and that's bad for my skincare routine! Plus, he'd never want to go to a party or anything! It would just be 'training' this and 'training' that! He's no fun, and Pinky's first rule is to always be surrounded with people who let her have lots of fun! Kirishima has bad vibes."

"I… see." I really didn't.

"Sora, love is supposed to be exciting! Like a bomb, ready to explode at any time! Or something, that's what manga has taught me." Mina explained.

"Well, manga taught me that you should love your family and friends, as well as your dreams." I told her, "But hey, if I ever write a romantic manga, I'll definitely use your expertise." She had to be right, after all she was the 'professor of love.' If she says that love is an explosion, then love was an explosion. It wasn't like I had any experience either to contradict what she was saying, plus whenever I was next to Jiro my heart did feel like it was going to explode.

Maybe love really was an explosion?

"Oh, I thought love was supposed to be sticky, like natto?" Nejire added, "That's what my ma' told me."

"I think that's how they describe sex." I told her, "Very hot and sticky."

"Kouhai, do you have any experience in sex?"

"What?! Fuck no. I'm a virgin."

"I see. Would you like to try it out? I'm a virgin as well." W-was she being for real? Would I? Of course I fucking would-, Er, no. No I wouldn't. I shook my head, she was just testing me. There was no way that she was offering me that for real.

"Sorry, not interested."

"He's too busy thinking of having sex with the girl he likes to do so!" Mina joked, laughing like a hyena at my expression. Having sex with Jiro? Well… I imagine that she'd be the type of person to be shy while naked, no scratch that she definitely was shy. She'd probably be blushing heavily, and would tell me to be gentle and-,

"See? I told you Nejpai, he really has fallen in love with her."

"I see. So imagining having sex with someone is the first sign of love?" Nejire hummed, stroking her chin. "This was very informative, you are such a smart kouhai, aren't you?"

"Yep, that's what Shojo Beat has taught me! And when it comes to the matters of the heart, I'm never wrong!" Mina boasted.

"Shut up… just shush. Please." I pleaded, but it fell upon deaf ears. I think the three of us were getting the wrong impression of love, and that would definitely lead to some disastrous results in the future.

"Still, I guess Jiro is lucky she has you. Sweet Sora who's willing to do anything for her, even fight the world on her behalf," Sigh, "If only I had someone like you. Well, I suppose not everyone is cut out for love. Especially since I look like a freak." She said that last comment with such bitterness that I didn't even realise it came from Mina. It was such a heel turn that even Nejire looked at her surprise.

"Kouhai…"

"You don't look like a freak," I told her, "You are pretty damn beautiful if I say so myself. If anyone says you are ugly because you look different, send them over my way, I'll beat the shit out of them. Multiple times if necessary." Mina giggled at that.

"It's nice of you to say that, but it's not going to change the fact that I'm not what every boy wants from a girl. I have pink skin, odd eyes and I have horns. Even if I maintain my super-bod, no matter how hard I try I'll never be the heroine of a Shojo Beat manga. I'll never have my 'summertime romance' or become the protagonist of an Otome game." She explained to me, her smile not reaching her eyes.

"I disagree. You have an amazing personality, and you are beautiful. Pink skin and horns too. Maybe you don't believe me now, but in the future you are going to have boys tripping up over each other in order to try and ask you out on a date." Mina giggled once again, "I'm not joking. Just watch. I'm sure that Kirishima likes you, he just hasn't trained his emotions enough to realise it. And I've seen the way Sero stares at you, it's like he wants you to sit on his face at times. But don't tell him I said that, I really think he'll tape me to the ceiling for this."

"Sora's right!" Nejire folded her arms and nodded at what I was saying. "You have to be confident in yourself if you want others to like you! And anyways, you look plenty cute to me! Maybe you should go shopping with me and my friends, we would love to dress you up like a doll! Oh, are you free next week?" I tuned them out, smiling at how Nejire managed to lift Mina's spirits instantaneously.

Sometimes, there are things that not even I could do. I guess I was a boy after all.

"Sora?"

"Hm?" I lazily turned around to face Mina who hugged me tightly.

"Thanks." She whispered, "You know if you take too long waiting around for Jiro, she'll find someone else. And if that happens…" She trailed off, near the end as she leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.

"Someone else might snatch you up for themselves. Toodles!"

I stood there in the hallways, staring at Mina as she walked away with Nejire, both talking about fashion. What… just happened. Did she kiss me? No. There was no way that she kissed me. Did she steal my first kiss? No, it was on the cheek. Holy shit, I just got kissed on the cheek by a girl that wasn't from my family. I grinned at that, vowing to never tell Kaminari or Mineta what happened. I liked Mina, I truly did, but I didn't expect her to do this.

That being said, it's not like that kiss changed my feelings for Jiro.

Instead it only made me wonder what Jiro's kiss would feel like on my cheek?

"So, you skip lessons and this is where you come to young Sora?" All Might asked from behind me, placing his hand on my right shoulder. Holy shit, where the fuck did he come from?! "You know, while romance isn't prohibited at U.A, we do enforce a strict no tolerance policy when it comes to pregnancies. If you would like, I would be willing to teach you about the necessary protection-,"

"No thanks, we aren't dating sir." I told him.

"I wasn't talking about young Mina."

Oh.

Oh.

"Relly?" I turned around to face him, "Just how many people are invested in my love life?! And I thought you staff were more oblivious to all this shit!"

"Haha. Language. And we were once your age as well you know. Plus, it's not like we can gossip about the world's current affairs in the staff room, so inevitably we do have to discuss these topics. And we are in a school filled with teenagers, how else are we supposed to get our amusement?"

"I just thought that you know, you were a lot more dense? All Might laughed at that.

"Oh young Sora, I am. I'm merely going off from what my colleagues have said, if it wasn't for them I never would have realised that you have a crush on Jiro. That being said, a hero's duty is to save others, which includes any lovers you have. You must be extra sure not to break a maiden's heart or else you may incur their wrath, and let me tell you young Sora, an angry lover is not a good lover."

"Speaking from experience? Or just locker room talk?"

"Locker room talk of course. I only have one love, and that love is saving innocents and protecting civilians!" Code for if I had a lover the internet would break down trying to find them and harass them constantly. "That being said, I make sure to spread love and peace to the world! Are you going to join me? Love and peace!"

I ran away from my teacher as fast as I could, never looking back not even once.

---

School had ended, and I was currently standing in front of Koda's desk as he petted his little pet bird. How he had managed to bring it inside the classroom for an entire day, I'll never know, but the madlad did it. "Yo, Koda, I need your help." I told him, grabbing Sero's empty chair and turning it around so that I could sit facing him. "I have… a problem. One that requires a certain level of technical expertise, and frankly you are the only one I know that can complete the job."

"W-what do you need me to do?" He whispered.

"Hey, don't push yourself to speak if you don't want to. Anyways… I need you to scare Midoriya so hard that he becomes confident." He stared at me, and I stared back. Seriously, were we just going to have a staring competition all day? This was a time sensitive job!

"W-why?"

"Because Midoriya flunked the test. He's the only one in our class to fail the practical exam, and that's because he was such a nervous mess that he couldn't even work with Bakugo when it was most needed. As a result Bakugo, having taken this exam seriously, wasn't punished with remedial classes during camp, but Midoriya was. So today's the day that we are going to change our friend, from being a bundle of nerves we are going to turn him into a chiselled, grisly, manly man! You with me?" Koda nodded at me.

"Alright, the plan is simple. You can use whatever animal you deem fit to put me in a dangerous position, I'll scream like a little kid as Midoriya walks by, and then he'll become confident to save me from danger. Alright?" Koda nodded yet again. See, it was always the quiet ones that were most agreeable. With our plan set in motion, we waited outside the school gates as I climbed one of the trees on the path which Midoiriya took when walking home. Koda gave me a thumbs up as Midoriya turned around the corner, and a bunch of bugs started to crawl up the tree.

"AAAAHH!" I screamed as loudly as I could, "A-are those centipedes?! Slugs? Cockroaches? Oh no, I'm about to faint!" Midpriya was ignoring me. Maybe I should be a bit louder? "OH NO, I'M ABOUT TO FALL ON THE GROUND AT A VERY DANGEROUS HEIGHT! IF ONLY SOMEONE COULD SAVE ME BEFORE I POTENTIALLY CRACK MY SKULL ON THE HARD CONCRETE! PLEASE, IS THERE A HERO THAT COULD SAVE ME?!" Midoriya just… walked past me, refusing to meet my eyes.

Was he speed walking?

"HEY YOU, GREEN HAIRED BOY-, MIDORIYA? IS THAT YOU? PLEASE, YOU HAVE TO COME AND SAVE ME, LOOK AT THE SPIDERS CRAWLING UP THE TREE, THEY ARE REALLY HAIRY, PLEASE SAVE ME!" Shit, I really was afraid now. Fuck, fuck, hurry the fuck up and save me-, Oh you have to be shitting me. Midoriya slowly turned his head around and saw just one insect before running away, afraid for his life. No fucking way was he afraid of insects as well! I sighed, staring at Koda who shrugged his shoulders at me.

He called off the insects, thankfully none of them touched me. I'm pretty sure that Koda knew that I hated insects, just like he did. And evidently, just like Midoriya.

"Well… that was unsuccessful." I moaned. "Still, maybe we should use some dogs next time. I'm thinking of a big, aggressive pitbull that hasn't been fed for a few days. How's that?" Koda shrugged his shoulders, which I assumed meant that he didn't mind. He was carrying his bunny, which admittedly was very cute. Especially when it's head perked my way, and I couldn't resist petting it's head.

"Who's a good bunny? You're a good bunny!" Maybe I should get a pet…

"HEY, ARE YOU THE KID THAT WAS SCREAMING JUST A FEW MINUTES AGO?" A fat, balding, middle-aged man wearing a tank top, some shorts and sliders greeted me. He was holding a half empty beer, and looked to be pissed the fuck off. "If you don't get the hell away from this street in five minutes, I'm going to call the police on you."

"Fuck you," I replied, "Go fuck yourself tubby. Just because your wife left you for a man twenty years younger than you, and your kids don't speak to you anymore doesn't mean you should take your frustrations out on me." Was it possible to turn purple? "Anyways, that wasn't me shouting… that was Katsuki Bakugo. Blonde haired boy, attends U.A and is in class 1A. You should really report him, he has a history of this. Oh, and my name is Mineta from 1A. You definitely should report me either." The man grunted, pulling out his phone as he made sure to write down the names of Bakugo and Mineta properly, as well as our class number.

I waved goodbye to the man, making sure to egg him on even more into eventually reporting both Bakugo and Mineta.

Getting others in trouble really was the best.

"S-should we have done that?" Koda asked me. "W-what if they get angry?"

"Bah, the worst that will happen is that Bakugo will get a warning, and Mineta will get detention for being rude to members of the public. Plus, they do this all the time and put my name forward. Bastards enjoy this as much as I do, I think it's a game of ours ya' know. But I digress, they will be fine. Still, a shame our plan didn't work."

"S-sorry, I sh-,"

I shook my head. "Why are you blaming yourself? It wasn't anyone's fault, apart from maybe my own for not being specific on what animal I asked you to use. Oh well, at least we can make a better plan for next time."

"You don't blame me? U-usually people shout at me for being useless, and well…" Koda sounded so surprised that I couldn't help but feel sad for the boy. What kind of demon would hurt this sweet, innocent soul? Whoever they were, I was going to hunt them down and beat the shit out of them until they were screaming my name like they were giving birth to me. And then I was going to force them to apologise to Koda, multiple times over.

"Koda, if anyone gives you shit for something like that, I'll kill them. Hell, I'm pretty sure Bakugo would love to join in-, Scratch that, all of 1A would join in when it comes to kicking them in the balls." I told him, making him smile for once. Usually he was so quiet and shy that he only really communicated with sign language, but over time he became confident to start speaking to us normally. But never once had we seen him smile, maybe it was because he was too afraid to smile, or that he thought his breath smelled, but he truly had a smile that pierced the heavens.

"Thanks Sora."

"Don't mention it. Now, want to come over to mine? Pretty sure my neighbour has some chicken or something. It's an animal that quacks-, Ah, it's a duck! How could I forget?"

---

There was something novel about ramen stands. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but they had such a vibe that made them impossible not to like. Maybe it was the fact that you could just sit in the middle of virtually nowhere in one of these stands and talk to the chef in charge, maybe even speak to those around you, but the fact was that they were amazing. At any time of the day, ramen stands were a blast to eat from.

And so here I was, sitting with Miwa at the ramen stand near our house near midnight as a familiar face sat down next to me, with two younger siblings.

"Tsuyu?" I asked in surprise, "The hell are you doing here of all places?"

"Eating. And language." She used her tongue to smack me on the arm for that. Ow.

"Oh, Tsu-chan! It's been a while!" Miwa greeted, "Are those your two siblings?" Tsuyu nodded at that, pointing at a small boy and girl.

"Yep, this is Samidare and Satsuki, kero."

"Yo." I waved at them scooting over to the side as Miwa sat next to the two kids and began to chat with them excitedly. They practically ignored their sister as their attention was stolen by Miwa pretty easily, sometimes taking breaks to eat their ramen as she told them many stories about a doctor and their patients.

"She's good with kids." Tsuyu observed.

"Yeah, well she wants to be a doctor so it makes sense. She wanted to originally be a doctor so that when I got hurt as a hero, she could heal me, but now she genuinely wants to be a hero to help others. She says she wants to be a children's doctor, which sorta makes sense when you look at how she acts around them. She puts me to shame, and I'm the overgrown kid myself. It's sorta embarrassing ya' know."

Tsuyu giggled at that. "Mmh. Still, it's been months since I last saw them. My parents are in the hotel near here, so I'm taking them out for a little bit. I don't know this area well, and since my parents said that they weren't hungry I took my brother and sister out here. What are you doing here?"

"I live here," I told her. "Actually, why don't you invite your family over to my house? It's a little late, but I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind. Plus my mum is cooking a feast tonight, takoyaki with a bunch of other cool shit. Only reason Miwa and I are eating ramen is that she was craving it, and I as the 'older brother' had to treat her to it. It's bullshit, she's only a month younger than me, but the things I do for love."

"Are you sure we can come? I'd hate to be a burden, kero."

I shook my head. "Nah, it'll be fine. Anyways, foods meant to be eaten with others. Plus, my mum and I could take you and your family around tomorrow. We both have a free day, and I'm sure she would love to meet some of my friends' parents." Tsuyu smiled at that.

"Alright then. Thanks Sora, I appreciate it. You really are a good person."

"Nonsense, anyone would do the same. And they'd probably do it better."

"I don't think so," Tsuyu replied, "I've had a lot of friends over the years, but none of them have done this. I was always the third wheel, that one friend that you called upon when you had no one else to call. Maybe it was because I'm such a straightforward person, but the girls in my year didn't appreciate my comments."

"Well I like the fact that you are straightforward. And I'm sure that everyone in 1A agrees with me, because if you weren't straightforward, then you wouldn't be you, ya' know?"

"Obviously."

"Hey! You didn't have to be rude ya' know! I was trying to be nice, complimenting you, and then you had to go and ruin it! You know, maybe I shouldn't pay for your meal as well as your siblings meals, maybe then that'll teach you some etiquette. Or something."

"Oh no, whatever am I to do, kero." Tsuyu sarcastically replied, waving her hands in the air frantically. "I lied. I do appreciate it though Sora, even if at times you can be a bit of a pain, and a little weird, you are a pretty cool person."

"Like a badass?"

"Dreaming is for free, but make sure your goals are attainable. Kero."

---

"COME ON! YOU CAN DO IT!"

The gym was a place that many people used. But currently, only two people were in the gym with me, cheering me on as I tried to break my previous bench pressing record. Beside me, with Shoji acting as my spotter, and Kirishima cheering me on the sidelines, I managed to bench press fifteen kilograms twenty times. Fuck yeah! Finally! Sure, it was nothing to scoff at… but I had only just started to go to the gym only a few days ago. Regularly that is.

"Well done man!" Kirishima patted my back, adding more weights to the bar as he laid down on the bench. He was bench pressing… forty kilograms?! Holy shit. "Let's aim for twenty. Is that good? I don't know."

"Twenty? I'm aiming for thirty-, No, forty! To match my weights! I'll do this forty times! I won't stop until my arms drop dead, that's how manly I'm going to be after this!" And with that he started doing his exercise with little to no issues. He didn't even need Shoji to spot him, then and again if something did go wrong Kirishima could just harden himself to mitigate any of the damage. Lucky guy.

"Sora, come over here." Shoji was essentially acting as my personal trainer, today we were focussing on our arms and chest. "I want you to do as many press-ups as you can. But instead of your regular press-up," He got on the floor and got in a press-up position, only his hands were touching each other, "I want you to try this out. It's hard, and isn't going to be easy for you to do. But I want you to try it out, and if you do at least five sets of twenty. Even if you struggle, make sure to do twenty! Never not finish one set, that's the first rule of going to the gym!" I nodded at him.

Never not finish a set, that seemed easy-,

Oh fuck, was my shoulder supposed to hurt?

I did the exercise… but I couldn't finish all the sets. Nope. I wasn't that good yet, which only frustrated me.

"Don't worry about it," Shoji reassured me, "You are doing better than most people. We all start somewhere, so just use that frustration to improve for next time." I nodded at him, getting ready for our final exercise before we called it a day. Has it already been two hours since we came here? Fuck, time really flies by when you are working out. Kirishima had already discarded his t-shirt and was smacking his abs, shouting while doing so.

"Is… he alright?"

"Meh, it's Kirishima."

"Fair enough."

Dead lifting was something I had never done before, and frankly just the name alone made me want to run away in fear. After Shoji taught me how to pick it up (remember Sora to keep your back straight, keep your feet pointed forwards and don't slouch!) He put on the weights at the end. The three of us were going to be picking up twenty-five kilograms, and were going to do it ten times each. I gulped as I was told to go first, and prayed to whatever deity that I wouldn't fuck my back up.

Three, two, one.

"GRRAH!" I yelled picking it up and holding it for as long as I could, which only seemed to be a few seconds before I dropped it on the floor. Both Shoji and Kirishima patted my back, the latter even yelling about how 'manly' I was.

"That was lightwork, let's put on some more."

"But Sora-,"

"HELL YEAH! LET'S GO FOR THIRTY! NO, THIRTY-FIVE!" Shoji sighed, but he did as we asked. Eventually we raised it up to fifty, even if I struggled to even lift it up from the ground. But it was an experience to say the least. Which was why it was even funnier when the three of us were laying on the floor, complaining about our backs.

"I blame you two."

"Fuck you man. You were supposed to us."

"It's… not manly… if I don't do at least… one more."

"You stay on the ground or else you won't be able to walk."

"Alright."

"Hey guys, we agree to never mention this to girls, like ever, right?"

"Sure."

"Of course, they can never know how unmanly we were-,"

"Shut up Kirishima, I'm tired. And hurt. If you utter the words 'manly' or anything that has that word in it, I'm going to get up and beat you up." I yelled at him, "And here I thought I was going to be able to do Aizawa's homework for tomorrow. Nope. Just give me my detention already. I'm never doing deadlifting with you guys again."

"Sora," Shoji whispered, glaring at me. "You started this. Why are you trying to play the victim card? I'm the one suffering because of your stupidity."

"Shoji, fuck you too buddy."

The tall boy laughed at that. "You know Sora, I've been to the gym with so many people. But never have I pushed my body this much before. So forgive my language when I say this, but fuck you. And fuck you too, Kirishima. I'm never going to invite you two to work out with me ever again." While he said that, the smirk on his face didn't falter, not even once.

"So, same time next week?"

"...sure. Bring a spare top as well."

"Alright."

---

The U.A music 'corridor' was something that both excited, and terrified me at the same time. It had practically every instrument you could think of, and multiple copies of them as well. It had fifteen private booths that could fit up to ten people along the corridors, each with their own master sound system. To say that you could record an album at U.A was an understatement, you could write and perform thousands of songs in just a few months if one was talented enough. Their systems were that new, and that expensive.

"Don't touch that!" Jiro warned me, slapping my hand away from the… trumpet looking thing. "That's a trombone, do you know what that does?" She asked me. Oh crap, she was testing me… uhm, what did a trombone do again?

"Make music!" I replied, clicking my fingers as I smirked at her. Haha, I did know-,

"Well done Sora," Jiro patted my head, "An instrument making music. Wow. I never would have guessed if it wasn't for your genius, what else are you going to reveal to me? That water is for drinking?" I scowled at her, twirling around on the chair as Mineta and Kaminari stood within the booth, singing some song from a recent anime they watched. That was usually how our music class went. Bakugo left immediately, Krishima followed him right after, and so Yaoyorozu went to discipline them while Hagakure went along for 'moral support.' Ojiro, Tokoyami, Koda and Sero would then go off in their own directions.

Ojiro left to do some training.

Tokoyami left so he could draw more pages for Bleach.

Koda wanted to check on his pets.

And Sero wanted to find a lottery ticket that would allow him to earn millions.

That left twelve of us, which meant we divided ourselves into three groups of four. Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida and Tsuyu took their group work seriously. Mina, Aoyama, Shoji and Todoroki mostly had fun in their own rooms, which meant that my group just did whatever we wanted to do. And if that was listening to Kaminari and Mineta try to sing rock music acapella, then who was I to judge? I totally didn't bring in my PSP to play games during music… I would never.

"Sora, can you stop being a lazy arse and help me lift this up."

"I'm busy."

"You are playing a dating sim."

"Shush!" I replied, "It's not just a dating sim. It's free trophies on my profile. This platinum should only take me twelve hours, and I've already cleared three of the four routes. Give me another ten minutes and I'll have skipped all the text, and then I'll be done. Brand new trophy for me."

"So… you buy games and you don't even play them properly?"

"I buy dating sims and don't play them properly." I corrected, "I play other games normally, I just can't stand dating sim's. It's just usually normal high school with some focus on the girls bust sizes, but news flash! I don't care about seeing fake girls' bodies. I prefer real life over the digital world any day." Jiro chopped my neck rather violently, causing me to yelp and jump up from my chair in surprise.

"Help me."

"You just attacked me violently!"

"I'll show you what violence means if you don't help me."

"Fine."

I walked over to where she was at and helped to lift up a… keyboard? "Fuck you need this for." My eyes were instantly drawn to the keyboard, and for some inexplicable reason I couldn't take them away from it.

"You wanna' play?"

"Sure." That answer that came out of me was so quick that I didn't even realise I had said it. But my headache only compounded more and more as the keyboard turned on and I pressed the keynotes. Ha, this was easy. Pianist my ass. I was just pressing random keys. Left, right, left, right, left, left-,

---

G major 7, A, G major 7, A-,

---

"-ora? Sora?"

"Hm?" I turned around to see Jiro poking at my ribs, worried. "What's up? And could you stop poking me? It shouldn't be your first reaction, you know!"

"...you were playing piano chords. I didn't know you played the piano, why didn't you say you did, you dummy?" She asked me curiously. "You weren't half bad either. I reckon I could make a decent pianist out of you-,"

"What do you mean I was playing the piano?" I scoffed at her. When the hell did that happen? I was just pressing left, right, left, right. Chords? I didn't know any chords.

"But I saw you! I saw you playing some chords. G major seventh chord, and then followed by an A. You were so focused as well, it was like someone completely different had taken control of you. Like a ghost or something." She smiled at that. "You know, if you want to play the piano-," Before she could finish her sentence, I grabbed the keyboard and smashed it against the wall. Stamping on the pieces that weren't broken, ignoring Jiro's gasps as I did so.

What.

The.

Fuck.

What the fuck happened? Was… no. No, there was no way. Fuck. Fuck. What the fuck was going on?! I wanted to scream, I wanted to bash my head against the wall. I wasn't-, when did I play the piano? I don't know how to play the piano! What does all of this mean? WHY ME?!

"S-Sora, you're bleeding." I looked down to see that I had punched the wall so hard, that some of my fingers looked to be twisted, out of place even. So I had dislocated my wrist or something… but why couldn't I feel it. I stared at my hand, and yet I could feel nothing. No pain. The only thing I could feel was my anger. My anger towards the fucking piano, to Zero and all the secrets they held. To whatever being the 'pianist' was. Something was wrong with me, and I needed to find out quickly.

"Get away from me!" I yelled, slapping her hand away as I continued to stare at my blood dropping on the floor. Why couldn't I remember what happened? Why couldn't I feel the pain that I should be in right now? Just what the hell was happening to me?! "Jiro… just leave. Please." Was I going to hurt Jiro next? No. No, I wasn't going to allow that to happen.

"G-give me your hand!" Jiro demanded, taking off one of her socks as she wrapped it around my hand, chiding me while doing so. "Honestly, that keyboard did nothing to you. I don't know what happened, but if you want to talk it out, I'm always here you know, so don't you ever tell me to leave you alone ever again!" She then stared directly at my eyes, her smile calming my anger down. "It feels like these days all I do is speak to you about my problems, so I'm willing to listen to yours. I always have been, but this time you look like you need it. A friend that is."

"How…" I began, turning away from the broken keyboard. "How did I look? While playing the… keyboard?" I asked her, afraid of what the answer would be.

"Different. Usually your eyes have a spark to them, but you were completely focused this time. But it's not like when you are focused on something important to you, when that happens you furrow your brows a little. And you constantly move around, fiddling with something. I truly mean it when I say that I didn't recognise you. The spark in your eyes was practically gone." She explained, "To be fair, I'm the same when it comes to singing."

"No you aren't," I replied instantly, "You smile when you sing, and I can see how much you enjoy it from your eyes alone. When you sing, well it brings a certain energy to everyone who hears your voice. It's angelic ya' know, like I still can't believe that you can sound like a pig normally, and then sing like an angel right afterwards." She shoved me lightly for that.

"Oi, at least I can sing."

"I never claimed that I could," I smirked at her. "But… I don't ever want to play the piano again." I wasn't in control. It was like that time in the sports festival when I replied to Shinso, and I think I knew why. It was him. That 'other side of me' wanted to be in control. Who knows what would have happened if Jiro didn't stop me when she did… Was that what it meant to be a 'pianist?' To not be in control? Or was it something more sinister?

Just what the fuck was going on with me, why was this happening to me?!

I couldn't tell Tokage or Nanao. There wasn't enough evidence, what if it was just a fluke? Just because I played the keyboard, technically not even the piano, once doesn't mean shit. Plus… was I afraid? My hand was slightly throbbing now, but it was too late. That anger within me, it wasn't going away. It had faded slightly, but it still remained, burning just as always. It made me ask if I always had that anger within me?

Why shouldn't I be angry?

With Zero. Yozora. Angry with Nanao for not reaching out sooner, and Tokage slightly. Angry at Shigaraki, All For One and the rest of the villains. Angry at her, at my biological mother. Angry at whoever was my biological father. And angry at him. Angry at myself. Was I just a ball of anger? Because the keyboard that was smashed against the wall… it didn't scare me. It didn't faze me either, but it did make me happy.

Whatever it was, I had to stay clear of it.

If being the 'pianist' meant I destroyed everything around me like that keyboard, then I wanted nothing to do with it. If it meant that people like Jiro, friends and family, suffered then I'd run away from whatever 'it' was. I wasn't going to hurt them, not like I smashed that keyboard in anger. I wasn't going to live another life filled with regrets, never again.

"Alright." Jiro whispered softly, breaking me out of my thoughts as she placed both her hands on my face. "I won't let you ever play the piano again if you don't want to. If any piano comes near you, I'll use my Quirk to smash them to pieces."

"Even though you love music?" I asked her, a small smile forming on my lips.

She nodded at that. "Yep, even though I love music, I'll still break them for you. I'd choose you over music any day, screw the piano if it makes my best friend cry!" She yelled, wiping away something trailing down my face. I was… crying? "Didn't you realise you were crying did you. Well I won't push as to why playing the keyboard made you cry, but I am here for you. So let's go to Recovery Girl and get your hand healed, I'd prefer you not to bleed all over my sock."

"H-hey, that's not my fault!" I protested.

"You punched the wall, idiot." She helped me up, "But an idiot you may be, you are a loveable idiot at the same time. So continue punching any walls you see fit, I'll be sure to be there to help patch you up. That's my promise to you, okay?"

I snorted at that. "Really? Are you pretending to be a nurse?"

"I-I never said anything about wearing a slutty nurse costume!" She yelled at me, "S-stop thinking perverted things all the time! I think you are rubbing off on me and making me into some kind of perverted person too."

"Oh please, I only reveal your inner thoughts and desires, sweetie. And I never even mentioned you wearing a slutty nurse costume, this proves that you were plenty perverted before I met you, and I've seen your collection underneath your bed-," She poked me in the arm for that.

"The hell were you doing looking underneath my bed?" She asked me coldly. "What if you had seen my underwear or something, hm?" I smirked at her, God was it this easy to rile her up? She was basically giving me free ammunition.

"Well, what do ya' think I was looking for? If I had found your underwear, I woulda' said 'score'-,"

---

"Haha, I shall now bid you adieu." Aoyama told us flamboyantly, flicking his hair to the side as he smirked at each and every one of us. "Do you see what this is?" He threw his five cards on the table, revealing the four ace cards and a king of hearts. "This is a 'four of a kind,' I believe that I have won this game." Poker was a card game many of us in 1A played, but Aoyama somehow was the one that beat us all the time.

Maybe it was a mix of his good cheating skills and his ability to lie, but he was the true master of 'poker' and made unofficial tournaments for us to play during our breaks. It was especially fun when we had to play all our games before Yaoyorozu and Iida found us due to someone (Usually Midoriya or Sero after a bad loss) reporting us. And every time they caught us, they confiscated our cards and gave us all detentions along with reporting it to Aizawa-sensei, who would then increase our punishments.

Apparently, gambling was against the school rules.

Who knew?

I hadn't looked at my cards this hand, placing them flat down on the table. I tried to act cool as hell, like I knew what the cards were, and so far I was selling the idea at least. Hagakure and Mina both cheered me on, claiming that I had already won, and everyone else around the table stared at me cautiously.

"Not so fast, bozo!" Tokage yelled, revealing her own cards. A seven, eight, nine, ten and Jack of hearts. "Can you beat my straight flush?" She told us smugly, not even trying to hide her amusement. That was until Kaminari 'accidently' poured his coke all over her, and the number of cards she had underneath her sleeve was able to be seen by everyone.

"Well Tokage, what are the rules of cheating?" Aoyama asked her amused as he took her hand and gave it to Mineta, our card dealer.

"Not to get caught?" Tokage asked, pretending to be innocent as she batted her eyelashes at Aoyama.

"Non, it was not to cheat in the first place."

"Bullshit!" Tokage replied as she was dragged away from the table by Kaibara, also referred to as the 'human drill' despite his annoyance at the nickname. "Hey take me back! Take me back or else I'll use your drill to make sure you can never have kids again you stupid dildo! That's what your Quirk is useful for! So stop being a failed abortion, a human dildo, and take me back to the table-," Sero taped her mouth shut, something which made me laugh as Tokage glared at my direction.

Well, there were only three people left in the game.

Aoyama, Todoroki and myself.

I had no idea how Todoroki was even invited to the poker tournament, but hey it wasn't like I was complaining. Especially when he said that he was interested to see how we (his classmates) behaved during our lunch breaks. The boy was notorious in our class for almost always sitting alone during lunch time, which made me happy to see that he was trying to make an effort in getting to know everyone.

"So, when are you two going to drop out?" I joked.

"I have a 'four of a kind.' What part of that do you not understand? There is no way that you can beat me-,"

"Are you sure about that?" I interrupted him cockily, throwing one of my sweets into the air before catching it with my mouth. "I've won this tournament, so let's just drop this shit already. Give up."

"Your poker face is good, but I have faith in my cards." Aoyama replied, his voice wavering near the end. Heh, just as planned.

"Mmh, are you really sure about that?"

"Yes." He was sweating now.

"Todoroki, what's your hand looking like?"

"I only have two aces, the rest of the cards are different. Is that good?"

"So, a 'one pair'. That means I'm still in the lead Sora, surely you should know what this means, right?" Fuck. I still hadn't looked at my cards, but I wasn't going to give up on my game plan just yet! I wasn't going to let Aoyama win this game yet again! Leaning back on my chair, I sent Aoyama a grin that unnerved him.

"Are you sure about that? To me, it means that I've won this, but I don't know what it means to you. Would you care to elaborate?"

"You-, Are you daft?" Aoyama was near his breaking point. "Never, ever, in all my years of playing poker have I met a player like you! And never have I lost before."

"Well, today's the first time for everything. I have never had these sweets before, but now I think I'm addicted." Aoyama's right eye twitched at that. "So, are you going to fold or what? Because I'm more than happy to raise the stakes."

"R-Raise?" He asked surprised. "Hmfp, very well. If you wish to lose even more money, I'm willing to-,"

"I'm willing to put my bike on the line."

That quickly shut him up, whilst also making everyone in the room stare at me in shock. If I wanted to win against people like Zero and Yozora, powerful enemies with even more powerful allies, I had to take risks. I wasn't strong enough to take them on with just my friends and beat them easily, nothing was ever really that simple. But if I won this game, if I took enough risks to win, then I'd be able to win against them as well. Because if a certain series taught me anything, it was to always be Konoha's number one unpredictable ninja!

"Y-your bike?!" Aoyama replied. "But you just got it-,"

"You are right, how about I stake all the money I'll make from writing Bleach with Tokoyami." I added, sweat was pouring down his face at this point. "Ya' know what, that isn't enough. I'll give you everything I own. That's how confident I am in my hand. So, are you going to raise or what? I don't have all day."

"I fold!" Aoyama immediately declared, "Never, ever, am I ever going to play poker with you ever again! D-Do you have any idea how much trust you are putting in your cards? I-, You are manifesting a 'royal flush,' I cannot compete with someone like you, to have such an immense trust in your cards is something only a skilled poker player would have-," I turned over my hand, and smirked as I showed it to Aoyama.

A 'high card.'

I had the worst hand I could have had.

Aoyama promptly realised this and shut up, grumbling slightly as he handed me his phone to transfer me the money he had promised, Todoroki doing the same. Fifty-thousand Yen, and all for bluffing in a game of poker! "Pleasure doing business with ya'!" I grinned, pocketing my phone as Kaminari cheered for my victory.

"Haha suckers! I told you he would win!" Kaminari yelled, putting up his middle finger at everyone who doubted me. "Fuck you, fuck you, especially you Sero! Sora won, and now as promised he said he was going to give me some money for betting that he would win! And you sons of bitches owe my money as well for winning the bet as well! So pay up, you bitches better have my money!" Was Kaminari this vulgar before I met him?

"FREEZE!" Iida yelled, kicking our door down as we all scrambled for the second entrance, but Yaoyorozu stood at the second entrance shaking her head at us disapprovingly. "So, Monoma was right. You really have set up an illegal betting ring Aoyama, are you ashamed of yourself? What else are you hiding?"

"That he's a traitor to U.A?" Tokage offered.

"I-, Connasse! Sale pute de merde! Putain! Salope! Va te faire foutre! Merde, j'ai fini!" Aoyama yelled obscenities at her in French, Tokage taking it as a compliment as with each word he shouted, the more purple he got. I sighed when Mineta and Mina had to hold Aoyama back from physically assaulting Tokage, who looked at her nails innocently, like she hadn't just outed him out as a traitor. Pfft, as if Aoyama could be a traitor. He was too flashy to be a good traitor.

Oh wait, wasn't he-,

"I'm very disappointed in you all. Mina, I thought you were going to be revising during lunch? What happened?" Yaoyozoru asked.

"I am revising." Mina replied, "I learnt that winning in poker was the best way to make money in a short amount of time!"

"That's-,"

"Enough!" Iida interrupted, "All of you are coming with me to meet with Aizawa-sensei! We will be having words with the principal over your behaviour-," I didn't give him the chance to finish as I grabbed the chair I was sitting on and threw it at Sero, who grabbed the chair and threw it back at me. Luckily, as I had planned, I dodged to the side and watched as the chair smashed against the window, breaking it. "What the hell!" Iida yelled.

"Well, see ya'! Wouldn't want to be ya'!" I waved goodbye to both Yaoyorozu and Iida, jumping out of the window and summoning my Nimbus to fly to the roof of the building, where Jiro, Uraraka and Midoriya were having a peaceful lunch.

"Yo," I greeted the three of them, "I need you to lie for me and say I was here the entire time."

"Huh? Why?" Uraraka asked, confused, "Are crazy cyborg ninjas from the future trying to assassinate you?"

"Wait what?" I tilted my head in confusion. "No, just say I had lunch with you guys."

"Why's that? Is it because you were doing something you shouldn't have been doing?" Jiro asked me.

"You could say that, yes."

"Then what's in it for me? There will no doubt be witnesses, so if I'm going to stick my neck out for you, I might as well make it worthwhile."

"I'll buy you three new albums on vinyl!"

"Deal. Come here so we can take a picture together, I'll edit the date of the picture taken to make it twenty minutes ago."

"S-should we really be doing this?" Midoriya asked us nervously, "I-I mean, what if we g-get in t-trouble? Then I'll be even more of a dissapointment…" Oh God, I really had fucked him over. His confidence was in the negatives, something I thought didn't even exist.

"Deku-kun, don't say that!" Uraraka chided him, "You only failed the practical exam-,"

"I did more than just fail Uraraka-san, I completely failed it." The green haired boy lamented, "I failed so badly that Kacchan passed because it was unfair to punish him for actually trying to complete the test. I ran away. I didn't even try to take the test."

"So what? We all fail. You just have to pick yourself back up-,"

"But can I?" He interrupted me, "I… I don't think I can. I'm just a nervous, miserable failure. Just another useless Deku-,"

Smack.

I was getting tired of his whole 'oh woe is me, I failed one exam' comedy routine so I slapped him across the face. Was I right in doing so? No, I wasn't. But for the past few weeks since our exam, he had been acting off. His grades were slipping, and he wasn't working as hard when we had foundational hero studies, even All Might - His mentor - had no damn idea on how to help him, and blaming himself, calling himself useless wasn't helping. I was impatient, sure, and maybe the smack was just a build up of all my stress, but God knows I tried to help him.

Maybe I wasn't doing enough, but I wasn't just going to let him call himself useless in front of me.

Even Jiro, who usually could predict my actions before I even thought of them, was stunned into silence for once.

"Shut up," I told him, my hand grabbing his collar as I pulled him towards me. "Shut up for once. Your entire fucking act is really pissing me off. Run away? You didn't try? Instead of trying to better yourself, you're just running away and blaming yourself without trying to solve the problem. You ain't useless, that would imply that you are inept, but that's not true! Our plan during the USJ only worked because you were with me, or did you forget that? If it wasn't for you, I would have died against Stain. Stop with your act, because you are better than this, I know that you are-,"

"You don't know me," For once in his life, Midoriya pushed back. Whether it was against me, or what I was saying, all that bottled up anger came rushing out as he used his Quirk to force me to the ground. "I-, S-Sora…" He stared at me, and then his own hands in shock, trembling in fear before he ran to the exit, leaving us alone. Fuck, I could have handled that better. I sighed, laying down on the floor as I looked up at the sky, the clouds in the distance watching us fight.

Was I trying hard enough?

I was, I honestly was.

But…

Maybe Tokage was right. I was too different from Midoriya, I was far too much like Bakugo in his eyes, and maybe I wasn't able to help him. No matter what I'd say to him, he wouldn't take it seriously because of our differences. Because no matter what, I couldn't relate to him. I wasn't powerless, a victim of bullying, I wasn't gifted a powerful Quirk from my mentor, and I didn't have the weight of the world looming over my shoulders.

I wasn't able to help him using any conventional methods. No matter how much I preached it to him, it wasn't going to stick. He was never going to listen to me, he was far too stubborn and strong-willed to listen to me. I guess that's how we were similar, and that was why reaching out to him was such a pain. Tch, stupid protagonist powers. He was easy to read, like an open book, since I basically stole his thunder, he was doubting whether All Might picked the correct successor.

That's why he failed his exam.

The reason why he didn't bother trying in his exam.

And I, not only had to fix his confidence problems, but I have to make him strong enough to become the leader I know he is, to become even greater than All Might. I believed in him, I believed that he could truly do it. Fuck, this was going to either succeed, or I was going to die while trying to help him. Because the only way I could really help him is to force him recognise how heroic he truly is, and that required being put in danger, preferably within a few metres of a villain that could kill me.

"Sora…" Uraraka began. "I, well, uhm-,"

"Don't worry about it," I told her, standing back up as I wiped the dust off my clothes. Fuck, he pushed me so hard to the ground that it cracked the floor below us. "I'll save him from himself, that I can promise you. He'll be back to normal before you know it!" Right, I wasn't the only one friends with Midoriya. Even if I couldn't personally reach out to him, I had everyone in the class willing to help me.

Even if he felt like he was alone, he wasn't.

I'd make sure that he knows that once I'm done with him!

"YOU HEAR THAT!" I screamed from the top of my lungs, startling both Jiro and Uraraka. I pointed to the sky above us, where all the clouds were. "I'M NOT GOING TO LOSE! I WILL SAVE IZUKU MIDORIYA, ON THAT I SWEAR!"

"...who the hell are you speaking to?" Jiro asked me as I grinned at her, rubbing the back of my forehead sheepishly as I said the first thing that popped up in my mind.

"Well, God of course!"

---

Let it be known that 1A doesn't do things halfheartedly. Especially with Yaoyorozu and Iida essentially acting as our class police officers. They chased us down the hallways and tied us up to meet with their commanding officer, Aizawa-sensei, if we had done something wrong. In fact, Iida had taken up the position of cornering us while Yaoyorozu used her Quirk to create ropes, sometimes even handcuffs, to try and restrict us.

So when they asked (demanded) us to go to the mall and buy the necessary equipment for our week long camping trip. Naturally, Mina and Hagakure heard the words 'shopping' and agreed instantly, many of the girls in our class following right after. Mineta agreed as soon as he saw that they were going, and so Kaminari raised his hand up so as not to be one-upped by Mineta. Kirishima, and an angry Bakugo agreed right after (the latter agreeing only so he could avoid the 'hag'.)

Eventually nearly everyone in the class had agreed to come to the trip, minus a few exceptions.

Ojiro was going to visit his parents this weekend and he needed to pack for it, Tokoyami had to attend some drawing classes today and Midoriya just didn't feel well. Which meant that everyone stared at my direction, waiting for my response.

"Today?" I asked Yaoyorozu.

"Yes, is that a problem for you?"

"It's a Tuesday."

"I'm not quite sure what that has to do with you not being able to attend a class trip to the mall. Especially when I doubt that you have even looked at the list Aizawa-sensei mailed home as to what we need to buy for the trip."

"True. I guess I can spare an afternoon." Fuck, no one was going to be home today! This was going to be the only time I could 'blow a load' so to speak! Oh well, I'm sure I'll have another chance later on in the week. After having agreed to go to the local mall after school, our class eagerly awaited for the bell to ring, signalling the end of the school day. Even Iida, who usually made sure that we stood and bowed to Aizawa-sensei, rushed our 'class ritual', something that amused our teacher greatly.

"Going somewhere?"

"The shopping centre. We are just making sure that everyone has what they need for next week."

"Alright then, send me an email if something comes up." And with that he stuffed his hands into his pockets, and walked out of our homeroom. Ojiro, Tokoyami and Midoriya had already left as the rest of us made sure that we had all of our things before we made our way to the train station. 'Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall' was only one train stop away from the station near U.A, which made it convenient for us to hop on the earliest train and head over to the shopping centre, arguably one of the main highlights of Musutafu.

While every city had a shopping centre, Kiyashi Ward was special.

That was it had a fucking awesome arcade that took up the space of four whole stores, filled with multiple diverse games and a plethora of prizes to win. If you liked games, then visiting Kiyashi Ward at least once was a must, and since I lived close enough to it I had spent far too much time in the arcade. After nodding at Kaminari, Sero and Bakugo, the four of us knew that we were going to split off from everyone else and head straight to the arcade to play some games together and beat the shit outta each other in fighting games.

I was really looking forward to making Bakugo rage quit.

It's not like I didn't feel bad for everyone else who were going to do shopping for our trip next week, rather that Hinata and Gekko already said that they were going to buy the things on the list for me when they were going to go shopping tomorrow, so I was already covered essentially. Maybe I'd browse a few shops if I got bored, but I was mainly going for the arcade experience.

"Alright, so make sure to stay together in groups-, Hey, where are the four of you going?" Yaoyorozu asked us accusingly.

"We, erhm," Kaminari stuttered, not looking at her as he glanced at us sideways pleading for some help.

"Dumpster diving!" Sero replied, "I want to see if I can find some stuff that the shops have thrown out."

"Tch, why do you care? Fuck off." Bakugo told her.

"I'm going to take a dump." I explained to Yaoyorozu, "A massive one. Like so huge it might cause an earthquake or something, like it'll shift the ley lines and cause the tellurian plates to collapse or something."

"...you mean the tectonic plates, right?"

"Yeah, whatever. I need to take a shit either way."

Yaoyorozu sighed, waving her hand at us as she left us to our own devices. Haha, score! We win, we win, we win!

"Last one to the arcade has to pay for drinks?" Sero offered.

"Fuck you," Bakugo yelled, "Last one has to pay for drinks and food."

"Er, I don't know-,"

"Last one plays for drinks, food and gifts for the person who arrived first!" I added, "Starting from now of course." I didn't give them any time to react as I ran at full speed towards the arcade, not looking behind for even one second. Even as I ran up the escalator, even jumping on top of the handrail to get to the top of the floor faster, no one was catching up to me.

Somehow, I managed to make it first to the arcade, with Sero and Kaminari following right after, meaning that Bakugo arrived last. Not without an annoyed civilian who accused him of 'bumping into him rather forcefully' which elicited a response from Bakugo, that being sharp words to the civilian.

"Fuck you. Fuck your mother, your sister, your daughter and your wife." Bakugo yelled rather loudly, causing many customers walking past us to stare at him with shocked looks. "Go fuck off and annoy some other person, I didn't bump into you at all. You are just imagining things, you fucking psycho. Now piss off-,"

"H-how dare you?! You youngsters are so-,"

"Blah, blah, blah. I'm real fucking busy you piece of shit, go try to bully someone else. I'm not in the fuckin' mood to deal with whatever shit you are trying to sell, not only did I lose a bet, but now I have to buy a gift for some prick that pisses me off for his own amusement. Do you understand? I don't care about your problems, so go complain to your wife that's cheating on you with a man ten years your junior while your son puts his ear to the wall and jacks off to his mother cheating on you. Oh, and your daughter is a whore as well, she probably enjoys being stuffed in all of her holes, preferably at once. You aren't the only 'daddy' in her life anymore, so go fix up your family before you piss me off even more."

Sero and I were holding each other up due to our laughter while Kaminari had already recorded the whole thing on his phone.

"I-, you-,"

"I what? I fucked your wife? Maybe, but she's not just your wife. The entire city has probably taken turns with her, I bet all she thinks about is sex and not about you anymore. Hell, maybe you enjoy getting cucked like the little bitch you are, don't try to take out your anger on poor, young me. I ain't some push-over you can bully to relieve your stress, maybe if you weren't such an asshole your wife wouldn't be cheating on you. Maybe you should use that stress to walk in on your wife getting fucked by your best friend, your brother and her own brother at the same time, and use those two brain-cells you have to get a fuckin' divorce."

To his credit, the older man simply just turned away and forgot it ever happened.

"Yeah that's right, run the fuck away you coward. I bet when you hear your wife's moans you do the same thing. At least your shitty son enjoys being cucked, he at least gets some enjoyment from it. But enough about your wife, let's talk about your daughter, shall we? She probably lets boys use permanent markers to write things on her thighs, stuff like 'my property' before she gets double teamed. She tells them to shoot inside her, God knows she wants to get pregnant just to stick it to you for ruining the family with your crippling workaholic behaviours, and now you've been fired from your job you are contemplating-,"

"Bakugo," I grabbed his shoulders, "You already murdered the man. Just let him go."

"Tch, bastard tried to blame me for his fat ass not being able to move up the fucking escalator! I didn't push the bastard at all, not like I'd touch his inferior genes in the first place. Fuck. Oh, and fuck you too!" Bakugo shoved me as hard as he could, "You cheated. Tch, I'll buy you a gift but I ain't gonna take this shit from you anymore. We are going to be playing all the fucking games we can against each other, and I'll make sure you know that I'm better than you, you dickwad. You failed abortion, little shit that deserves to be stabbed to fucking death."

"Dude," Kaminari began, wiping away his tears, "You have serious issues. How did you make up that scenario in the first place?"

"It's obvious. The old hag always gossips with the neighbourhood bitches about these topics, and I've learned how to read the fuckin' signs. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why a fat ass like him is out and about on a fuckin' Tuesday all alone, despite being married and having his children be his phone lock screen. Even more than that, he looked at all the other couples with a deep jealousy, and recoiled whenever he saw them kissing. Tubby has probably seen videos of his wife kissing other men, if not in front of his eyes and can't get that shit out of his mind. Plus, the fucktard visibly recoiled everytime I mentioned his wife, so she had to have been cheating somewhat."

"Katsuki Bakugo, the King of gossiping."

"Fuck you Yamazaki, you say that shit again and I'll bash your brains out!"

"Wait, you got my name right for once?"

He glared at me, probably thinking if he could get away with pushing me down the stairs as he stomped into the arcade, pushing a few kids away from the closest racing game cabinet. "Hurry the fuck up you shitty cloud watcher, I'm going to ram you off the fuckin' road and watch you crash and die."

Lovely, just what I needed.

"You're on, bastard." I grinned at him, shoving the last kid away from the racing cabinet as Bakugo sat next to me and we inserted a few coins into the machine. Bakugo picked the most powerful car in the game, clearly wanting to ram me off the road, while I settled on the car with the best handling in the game. Luckily, the idiot let me pick the map as I chose the racing track that was notorious for its tight corners and punishing lanes.

And so when Bakugo tried to ram me, he went barreling through the map and was eliminated right away.

"Game over," I read out smugly, "The race didn't even last five seconds. Are you that bad?"

"AGAIN!" Bakugo snarled, punching his steering wheel as he threw another set of coins into the machine, "This time I'm definitely going to kill you!"

Needless to say he failed spectacularly every single time.

"Move over, let me race him next!" Kaminari told me as he sat down where I sat and raced with Bakugo, who kept on yelling about killing me. Sero had gotten lost in the pachinko section of the arcade (somehow) and was boasting about how he was going to earn millions of Yen by winning at the damn thing… which was unlikely. I resigned myself to my fate, as always I was going to be the one purchasing everyone's drinks, even if Bakugo was supposed to buy them this time!

Oh well, he owes me-,

"Ah, shit man I'm sorry." I apologised to the man I'd bumped into. He was a slim, pale man that stood a little above average height from my eyes, his eyes tired as evident with the wrinkles around it, and visible scars beneath his right eye that unnerved me for some reason. Red eyes that shone with a fury I hadn't quite seen before, and messy light blue hair much like my own, only slightly tinted grey, I took a step back in surprise as Tomura Shigaraki stared at me curiously.

I didn't know if he recognised me first, or if I figured out his identity before he realised who I was as he reached out with his hands to my throat, while my body screamed at me to run away, yet even I was surprised as I summoned my Nimbus and made a knife cloud construct, pointing it at where his heart lay before he could decay me.

"Well well, if it isn't a hero brat." Shigaraki mocked me, laughing maniacally as his fingers twitched with rage. "So what's it going to be? Are you going to plunge that knife into me, or will I turn you to dust?"

"Shut up!" I retorted, clutching the knife I had made - When did I even make it anyway? Shit, shit! "I-," Shigaraki smirked as I stuttered, not being able to force my words out. "Tell me what you know about the 'fourteenth?' What's my role as the 'pianist?' Who's underneath the damn mask? Who is Zero?"

"Or else what? You'll kill me?" Shigaraki asked me amused, taking a step towards me, smirking as I took a step backwards. "You are so pathetic. You pull a knife on me, and yet you are afraid to use it? So then why use the equipment in the first place, that's just a turn wasted. What would you do if I were to kill you? C'mon, aren't you going to kill me? Isn't this a 'fight or flight' situation? What are you waiting for?"

"Shut up!" I nearly shouted, my voice quavering near the end as Shigaraki took another step towards me. Shit, shit! "I ain't gonna kill you-,"

"So then why did you bring the knife out?"

"I-,"

"You don't know, do you?" He asked me amused, "I'll tell you why you pulled out a knife, it's because you are afraid of me. Deep within you, I'm classed as a threat, an end-game boss that you haven't prepared for. You were ready to kill me, maybe you still are. Drop the act, you aren't a hero. You are just some brat playing hero-,"

"Shut up." I wasn't able to reign in my anger as I stepped forwards for the first time since I bumped into the villain, startling him as the knife pressed into his chest, but not enough to draw blood. "Shut up, I am a hero. I don't need your approval to-,"

"Then get rid of the knife, and walk away. Simple, right? I came here just to have some fun, play a few games maybe even win a few prizes. If you hadn't bumped into me, none of this would have happened. It's not too late, you can walk away. If I killed you, that masked fucker would complain very loudly, and that would annoy me." His tone of voice made my skin crawl, but I shrugged my fear away. He was a danger to not only me, but everyone in this shopping centre.

I wasn't going to be able to phone up the police to get him arrested, he'd probably kill me and few others before getting away. Nor could I shout for help, or go back to where Bakugo and everyone else was at, no matter what I'd do Shigaraki would win. Which was why I had a plan, a risky one, but it was the only thing I could do short of killing him, and I wasn't going to do that. No matter how much my body itched to kill him, I wasn't going to do it.

"How about we play a game or two?" I asked him, lowering my knife and letting it disappear. My offer clearly took him by surprise as he dropped his arm and smiled for once, a smile that held no rage or murderous intent.

"What game?"

"How about this game," I replied, pointing to a fighting game cabinet. "It's a fighting game based on the Facade RPG series, have you played them?"

"Facade Five is one of the best RPGs ever made."

"Wrong, Five is utter shit." I corrected him, "Play a real game like Facade Four or Three. You are such a 'normie,' I bet you only like Five because you can date someone without getting rejected-," He shot me a glare that made me shut up. "Fine, fine, I won't finish that sentence. So how about this, if I win you tell me everything you know about the 'pianist,' and whatnot. If you win… well what do you want?"

"The death of you and your classmates. Do you accept it?"

"Fuck you," I instantly replied, shoving a few spare coins I had in my pockets into the machine. "How about I give you information on something or someone?" There was no way that I was going to give him information, I played this fighting game at home practically every day. I played ranked, and I was consistently getting in the top leagues, I just wasn't good enough to become a pro. That being said, I was going to stall. Stall until someone from my class comes and finds me, then Shigaraki will have to flee.

Just like what happened in canon if I remember.

Shit, how could I forget that Shigaraki makes an appearance during the mall trip? Why didn't Tokage mention it?!

"Hurry up and pick your fighter." Shigaraki demanded me, tapping his foot against the floor impatiently.

"You picked Joker?" I asked in surprise, "He's the hero you know. A good person who helps others, the opposite of you in every way."

"Yet you picked Adachi, the villain of the story. A psychopath, someone who murders others for his own amusement." Shigaraki pointed out, rolling up his sleeves as he turned to face the screen with an intensity I hadn't seen on his face before. Ha, this was going to be good.

"3… 2… 1… START!" The game called out.

Immediately he tried to perform a jumping two-A attack on me, which I had already telegraphed as I blocked it. I waited for his frames to return to neutral, before pressing on with my own attack. A, two-A before finishing with a C attack that managed to catch him by surprise as it took a chunk of his health away, I then followed it up with a two-three-four, two-three-four D attack that not only stunned him for a few seconds, but permanently buffed my attack until the end of the round. Glancing at the metre at the bottom of the screen, I clicked my tongue in annoyance as I realised I didn't have enough resources to pull off an extender and waited for him to come to me.

Joker wasn't very good when it comes to gaining neutral, no he was a zoner type character. But Shigaraki had no idea how to use him, which made it much easier to block his attacks. Beside me, I could hear his teeth grinding as he failed to land an attack on me, and when the opportunity came I took it. Issuing a command grab, we effectively switched sides on the screen as he was backed into a corner, and couldn't do anything as I unleashed special move after special move.

"Game Over!" The screen read as I turned to smirk at Shigaraki, who glared at the screen hatefully.

"So, are you going to tell me what I want to know or what?" I asked him. I needed to find out what being the 'pianist' meant, I needed to find out what being 'Fourteenth' entailed, I needed to find out if my theory was right. Shigaraki must know something, if he knew that I was the 'Fourteenth' then he must have an idea of what it meant. But I wasn't going to let my own opportunity of gaining valuable information slip away from me, I was going to find out the truth right here and now.

"And if I told you that I didn't know?"

"I'd call you a liar. You must know something, Tomura Shigaraki."

"Hehe," Shigaraki laughed at that, "For a hero brat, you really do irritate me. You are right, I do know a few things. Firstly, the 'Fourteenth' refers to something, but I don't even know what it refers to." Tch, that was annoying. "I have no clue as to what the 'pianist' means, sorry to disappoint you." He was taking far too much joy out of not being able to tell me information. "And as for Zero? That bastard never takes his mask off in my presence, he's a paranoid fucker. But, I'll tell you one thing, you can't trust him."

I snorted at that. "He's more trustworthy than you."

"Maybe so, but he's still a snake ready to betray anyone at a moment's notice. I've seen it, the outcomes of those who he deems 'unnecessary' to his plans. It's not pretty brat, it's not pretty at all. He's a loose cannon, he's someone that I want to kill. He acts like he owns the place, that just because he can help us succeed that he's somehow more important than the rest of us, it makes me want to use decay on him." Shigaraki complained. "Zero is someone that not even Sensei trusts, but I'm sure you know who Sensei is. Didn't you read about him, or something?"

I turned to look at Shigaraki in shock. Did he know?

"What are you looking at brat? Are you surprised that I know what you are? About where you come from?" Shigaraki pressed, "I know a lot of things. Like who the 'Thirteenth' is, the location of some of your other 'siblings,' like your mother and father's identities, even where you live. Hinata and Gekko Yamazaki was it? And your sweet sister, what's her name again? Miwa Hayate, right?"

"I swear, if you lay even finger on them I'll-,"

"You'll what?" Shigaraki inquired, leaning over to stare directly into my eyes. "You'll kill me? There we go, the real you leaking out. Go on brat, kill me. Who knows what I'll do to your family, who knows what a trafficker could do if I give them the correct information. I wonder what your sister will look like if she's sent to the Korean mafia, maybe even the Italians. You know what they do, right?"

I paled significantly the more he talked, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the machine as hard as I could. "And your mother? Hinata's such a lovely name. Well she can't get pregnant, isn't that why she decided to adopt a few kids? Well, that makes her even better I think. She can be 'used' as many times as possible and won't have to give birth, what more could they want? I really wonder how they would turn out, if you managed to save them I wonder if they would even recognise you."

Calm.

Calm.

Kill him. Slit his throat. Bash his head against the wall until-,

"Your eyes are beautiful," He complimented me, "When you look at me with those eyes filled with such anger, it impresses even me that you could become a hero student. All that rage and anger inside of you, it reminds me of myself. You think that I'm the villain here, and that you are the hero, but that's just false. You are just as much of a villain as myself. I can see it in your eyes, you really want to kill me. Like a predator catching its prey, you seriously are some messed up hero. You thirst to end my life, it's what you want the most right now. You can lie to yourself, but you can't lie to me."

"I don't-,"

"The eyes are the window to the soul," Shigaraki interjected, "And your cold eyes reflect your soul very clearly, Sora Yamazaki. A fire that can never burn out, an eternal flame of rage. You'll destroy everything in order to get revenge, just like me. Just like Zero." He spat out, "To be frank with you, I couldn't care for what you represent in the grand scheme of things. Unlike Zero, and unlike Sensei, I don't care for you. I don't care for your 'siblings.' You get in my way, I'll kill you. I'll kill you, your family, and everyone you love. You may have already lived one life, but I'll make this life a living hell for you. I'll show you that you and I are alike, that you are a villain. A wolf in sheep's clothing, a mini-boss pretending to be a party member. Stop pretending like you aren't a cold blooded killer underneath your nice exterior, it ain't fooling me at all."

"Shut up," I had enough of his shit, I was going to kill him-, "ARGH!" I fell to my knees, clutching my head in pain as Shigaraki cackled loudly. My head exploded with pain, and I felt like I was about to pass out. It was getting harder to breathe with each passing second, and I had to bite the inside of my mouth just so I could stay awake. I was struggling to get up from the ground, my arms feeling like jelly, or something else soft.

"Look at you crawling on the floor. Pathetic. And you were the brat that ruined my plan for the USJ? Hah, you won't be able to stop anything, not with the way you are. I'm surprised you haven't snapped yet. You aren't mentally stable, I bet you are insane enough to even kill one of your friends. Wouldn't that be great? Watching you kill one of your precious friends, watching the anger you have inside consume you completely. Watching as you turn into the very thing you despise, a villain." Shigaraki taunted me, kicking me in the stomach as I buckled over and resisted the urge to vomit.

"Isn't this great, Sora Yamazaki? You think that you are a hero, and that I'm a villain. But in my eyes, in my eyes I'm the hero." He shouted, "In my eyes you are the villain, the shit-stain on my shoe that just won't go away. You are a hypocrite, a liar, and a villain. I'm surprised your friends and family haven't found out about the real you, the one that you pretend doesn't exist. You can say that you won't kill anyone, but your actions betray you. Your real feelings betray you. Sora Yamazaki, you are a fool. I despise you the most, I despise the class that you hold influence over the most, you, your friends, and that damned green-haired boy! I'll kill you all-,"

I grabbed his leg, trying to pull him down to the ground.

"Don't you dare threaten him!" I coughed out, "Izuku Midoriya is a greater person than you'll ever be! He's a hero, he's a good person. He'll defeat you, and he'll defeat your 'sensei'! He will do so with a smile on his fucking face. Zero's plans? Fuck them, not even they can save you from your fate. You will lose." I wiped the smirk of Shigaraki's face as he started to scratch his neck with enough force to draw blood. "Your days are numbered Shigaraki. Or should I say Tenko? I'll never be like you, I'll never be a villain. I'll never kill someone, but you, fuck you. You'd kill innocent people, ruin their lives just for what, to prove a point? You really are pathetic. Just like how you were back then, all alone in that alley, right? So go fuck yourself, you snivelling child-,"

I wasn't able to dodge as he launched himself at me, but luckily I didn't need to.

"DIE!" Bakugo yelled as he unleashed an explosion at Shigaraki, sending him barreling through multiple walls as he lifted me up from the ground. "You bastard, why didn't you tell me that you were meeting with a villain."

"I didn't expect to run into him!" I yelled at Bakugo. Around us, civilians began to scream and run around panicked, leading to Sero and Kaminari to try and attempt to calm them down.

"Well what's done is done, time to murder the bastard." Bakugo told me, cracking his knuckles excitedly.

"Way ahead of you." I replied, summoning my Nimbus as I ran after Shigaraki, Bakugo following closely behind me. "Where are you Shigaraki?" I yelled as Bakugo and I jumped over the broken walls of the arcade and into the main shopping centre. "Come out and play you fucking coward! Stop hiding like a fucking bitch!" Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill-,

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" Bakugo exploded with anger, running around as he tried to find the villain. But it was like he escaped, he was nowhere to be found. "FUCK!" Bakugo shouted in anger, kicking a nearby chair over as he leaned against the edge and peered down below. Shit, the bastard escaped-,

"I'm right here." Using my Nimbus to create a shield behind me, I cringed as it crumbled away and revealed Shigaraki standing right beside me, his arm stretched out as I ducked real low and sweeped his feet from within him, before punching him in the throat, just as Aizawa-sensei taught me. Unfortunately, he kicked me in the stomach that sent me barreling backwards, causing me to crash into Bakugo who wasn't looking in my direction.

"Fuck, watch it where you are going." Bakugo chided me angrily, before grinning madly at Shigaraki. "Oi fucktard, you ready for round two? This time I'll cave your fuckin' chest in."

"You hero brats really sound more villainous than I thought," Shigaraki commented, "Would you care to join me?"

"Pfft, as fuckin' if!" Bakugo replied, putting his middle finger up at the villain. "Like hell will I join you bastards! And if you make that offer again, I'll make you explode into tiny little pieces!" He roared angrily.

"Well, it was worth a try."

Before he could run, a purple portal appeared in front of him, and I had to drag Bakugo back from launching himself at it.

"Well, I guess my ride is here." Shigaraki commented as he waved goodbye to us. "I'm sure we will meet again soon… Then and again, maybe we won't. Sora Yamazaki, nothing you know will be useful for you, Zero made sure of it." I clenched my teeth in anger as I bit back a response, watching him disappear completely as Bakugo let out a string of curses next to me. Both at Shigaraki, Kurogiri and me.

"Why the hell didn't you let me explode them?"

"Do you really fancy storming a villain's hideout with no information? Use your head, I know you aren't stupid, Bakugo. You would have been murdered."

"So you decide to try and deal with him yourself?" He asked me incredulously, jabbing his finger into my chest. "I saw you. I overheard him talking about your birth parents, that he knew them. Don't try and play dumb, I know you were fishing for information. We could have caught the bastard, but you let them get away because you wanted to find out-,"

"If I made a scene he would have killed everyone." I interrupted him, although I wasn't sure if I was trying to convince him, or myself. "I went through with the safest option, I protected everyone, maybe if you hadn't made everyone panic with your explosions, we could have gotten the bastard once and for all."

"Oh don't you fuckin' try it with me," Bakugo yelled back at me, shaking his head as he glared at me. "You always think you are the only one who can 'protect' others. I ain't weak, so stop thinking that you have to save me like some shitty princess. Next time you try that shit, I'll skin you alive. Or is that impossible for you, 'King of narcissism?' Please do fuckin' tell me if I've offended you-,"

"Fuck off," I replied, shoving Bakugo backwards as he snarled at me. "I don't need to deal with your petty ego right now, go bother someone else you annoying fucker. 'King of narcissism?' Pot calling kettle, or what? You are the biggest narcissist here, and don't you fucking forget it. You think the whole world revolves around you. Your head's so big I'm surprised your parents haven't left you."

"Like how your birth parents left you? Please, even if those bastards left me, I wouldn't be desperate enough to go looking for them. I ain't some bitch that needs their approval, I wouldn't risk letting a villain get away because I wasn't hugged enough as a child." Bakugo snarkily responded, "You say that I have an ego, but weren't you the one that thought you could take a villain all on by yourself. If I'm the one with the ego, then somehow you have managed to surpass even me. Isn't that fuckin' funny? You always lie, you're a liar. I can see it in your eyes, you say you care about 'us,' but I wonder if that's true. I wonder if you really care about your girlfriend, or your shitty friends."

"Tch, all you do is get on people's nerves, Kaplosion. Is that your real Quirk or something? And you call Midoriya a 'Deku' but maybe the real person who's useless here is you. Your theory is bullshit, of course I care, don't tell me you are afraid of someone actually caring about you? What, are you so neglected by your own parents that you don't know what love is?"

"At least I have parents."

"Well if they cared about you maybe you'd behave like a normal person instead of a feral animal," I shouted at him, "Don't think I haven't seen you talking to Midoriya. You are ruining his confidence, you stupid bastard. You think I'll allow you to continue this shit? You say one more word to Midoriya that's anything other than a fucking compliment and I'll bash your head against the ground until you learn your lesson."

"Maybe that bastard was right, maybe you are a villain." Bakugo smirked at me, jabbing his finger in my chest, "I bet you planned to allow him to get away, after all you villains have to stick together, am I right?"

"Maybe you should actually learn that being a hero isn't just beating the shit out of the bad guys, you actually have to protect others first and foremost. Or are you so stupid that you haven't figured that out already?" This time Bakugo pushed me.

"Fuck you Yamazaki, all you do is sprout the same bullshit as always!" He shouted at me angrily, "You ain't some hero for trying to 'protect' others, just admit that you can't defeat a villain without putting yourself nearly in a grave and this is your way of feeling important. You act like your so fuckin' important, but you are just a pretender. You just want to pretend that you are a hero so that people praise you, so that your attention starved arse feels appreciated. Stay in your lane, or else I'll knock you off it. This ain't a game, I will show you how much better I am compared to you."

"What, you're going to try and crash into me? Please Bakugo, know what you are capable of. You act like a punk ass bitch who never got disciplined as a kid, a real fucking brat. Go learn some manners first, or do you want me to teach you them? Or better yet, why don't go take a swan dive off a rooftop, isn't that what you said to Midoriya-," He punched me in the jaw for that comment. In response, I lashed out and slugged him in the face, both of us punching and kicking each other wherever we could for a few minutes before I got dragged away from him by Iida.

"Calm down," He told me as I kept on trying to kick Bakugo in the face. "Stop making a scene, you are still representing the school-,"

"Fuck the school!" I yelled, lashing out at Iida as I kept on trying to fight Bakugo, "Let me beat the shit out of him first! Fucker acts so tough all the time, let me knock him down a peg or two!" I was pissed, pissed at Shigaraki and his threats, pissed at Bakugo for what he said, and pissed at myself! If he wanted to fight me, I'd give him a fucking fight! "Please, just let me let me go-," Yaoyorozu taped my mouth shut, glaring at me sternly before sighing as she did the same to Bakugo who was being held back by Kirishima and Shoji.

"Honestly you two, brawling in public? I thought you two were better than that. Especially after we received reports of a villain being sighted in public no less, can't you two keep it together for just a moment-,"

"Er, Yaomomo," Mina cut her off, "I think they know about the villain. After all the reports said that a villain came barrelling through the arcade, and there is a hole in that wall that looks suspiciously like someone blasted another person through it. Someone like Bakugo. I think these two were fighting because the villain got away."

Yaoyorozu then turned to look at me, questioning if what Mina said was true. I nodded at her, and she sighed heavily, even kicking the floor in anger. "You have to be kidding me…" She muttered underneath her breath, "Well the police are here, so get rid of Sora's tape. He'll answer the questions they have without swearing at them constantly." Bakugo glared at me, as if he knew what I was going to do, which to be fair did validate him somewhat. If the police knew that I stalled Shigaraki to get information, they'd probably look at me differently.

I was going to lie, just as Bakugo thought.

Just like how I lied for Iida's sake, this time I was going to lie for my sake. What made me grin even more was when Nanao, wearing her suit as always, showed up next to us with a few police officers and took me in for questioning. There was no way that she wasn't going to help cover for me, which made his expression of pure anger entertain me even more. He's so lucky that Iida pulled me away from him, I would have broken his fucking nose if I had the chance.

"So, what happened?" Nanao asked me, pulling me to a corner away from everyone from 1A and the police officers that she had brought with her. "I heard a villain showed up in the arcade, and you were seen with them, but I want to hear it from you."

I filled her in on what happened, making sure not to miss out a single detail. I watched her face pale as she realised the ramifications of Shigaraki knowing who we were, what we were and everything about it. Fuck, that pissed me off. The fact that Shigaraki didn't know much, but knew enough about who I was, who everyone was angered me. What the fuck was Zero doing by giving out information like that?!

"Are you sure he said he doesn't know what the 'Fourteenth' means, Sora? He could be lying." She asked me. "He is a villain after all, it's not like you can trust what he's saying."

"I doubt he was lying. If he knew, he would have bragged about it. That's the type of person he is, a petty bastard that deserves to be taught some 'manners.' But after our conversation, I think I might have an idea of who does know the truth." I told her, praying that I was wrong. Fuck, it was so obvious, but at the same time I didn't want it to be true. "I think the one person that might know the truth is 'sensei.'" For the second time in the day, I watched her eyes widen as she realised what I was trying to say.

"You think he knows?" She asked me, dropping her pen as she met my eyes, a worry leaking through her body posture as she straight up immediately. "I mean it does make sense, but still. If he knows, then don't you think he might have influenced some things for us? Like Yozora getting away, perhaps even Tokage's mother murder. Maybe he's involved in why your mother left you." Again with her, both Shigaraki and Bakugo knew just what buttons to push.

I didn't want to think of her, not right now.

Not ever.

"Maybe, but my line of reasoning is if Zero knows everything, and he's allied with him, then he has to know. There is no way that All For One would believe the information Zero has, not without Zero telling him what he knows." I explained. If Zero tried to say it was from his Quirk, then All For One could easily just steal his Quirk. No, Zero must have told All For One the truth. That was why Shigaraki knew what he did, but didn't know the full picture because either Zero, All For One, or even both of them decided that Shigaraki couldn't be trusted with the information.

"So what now?" She asked me. "It's not like we can demand All For One to tell us what he knows, we don't even know where he is."

"We don't know where he is right now, but we do know where he will be in the future." I replied. That's right, soon we'd have the chance to gain all the answers. But I just didn't know if Zero would take the risk of attacking the camping trip, especially with Shigaraki's parting words that made me doubt if they would even risk attacking us. But if they did, then that would give me a chance to learn it all.

I'd have one chance to meet with All For One himself.

I'd have one chance to find out the truth, once and for all.

---

Manga shops!

A dime a dozen in Japan, most stores sold some form of literature, which included magazines like Shone Leap. And close to that section, even in the most reserved of shops, had at least one shelf dedicated to manga. Even if it was the tiniest shelf, it was still sold practically everywhere. Well, the popular and well received series, not the harem series that had a lewd girl on the front. Still, I find myself going to manga stores every now and then just to check on the new series being published.

But today was a special day. July the Fifteenth was officially the day when Bleach volume one was released to the general public. And so I stood there, watching as the new shelf stocked with Bleach volumes thinned by the end of the hour. It was an incredible feeling watching so many people interested in our series, and I made sure to send messages to Tokoyami with pictures included about how cool it was.

He was currently drawing the…

Seventieth chapter. Somehow, he was drawing three to four chapters each night using his Quirk. I was worried about his sleeping pattern at first, but he told me that he didn't need much sleep in the first place, and that he'd rather do something productive than read the same poetry books over and over again. Still, the fact that Bleach was such a successful manga already put a smile on my face.

Which was why when some bastards pulled out a gun and tried to rob the store, I was pissed.

"Put the damn money in the bag, or else I'll put a cap in you!"

"S-sir, this is just a shop for NEETS and kids-,"

"Did I ask? No. And I didn't stutter either old man, put the fucking money in the bag-,"

Before I could step in, someone else beat me to the punch. Standing at around an average height, maybe five foot seven, he had notably thick eyelashes and some stubble that made him look young, but badass. His blonde hair was swept backwards, and the roguish grin on his face made me hyped for what was to come. But what made me even more excited were the large, bright red wings sprouted on his back that made him instantly recognisable.

"Yo, are you really doing this right now?" Hawks called out, scratching his head annoyed. "Today's my off day as well, here I thought Musutafu was some peaceful city or something." The criminal turned around and aimed the gun at Hawks, only to drop it once he realised who he was pointing the weapon at. Ha, as if some low life criminal would be able to stand up to Hawks-sama! I couldn't believe my eyes, my idol was standing right in front of me!

In a manga shop!

Right next to the aisle with skimpy anime girl figurines!

Was Hawks interested in the same series as myself?!

"H-Hawks?!"

"Yes, it is me, Hawks. How are you doing today, my friendly citizen?" Hawks greeted with a friendly wave. "Well, not so friendly since you have a gun in your hands. But do you mind just handing yourself in to the police department for me? I'm sorta busy. It is my day off. And I do plan on seeing more of Musutafu you know, so dealing with paperwork all day is going to be far too annoying for me to handle. So, would you do your old pal Hawks a favour and hand yourself in?"

"My son looks up to you!"

"That's great, really. Your son has excellent taste."

"Could I have an autograph?"

"Sure. What's your kid's name?"

"J-Jack!"

"Jack? That's an uncommon name."

"M-my wife's from abroad, and since our daughter is named Izumi, she decided to name our son Jack."

"Well no worries, Jack is a nice name. I think. Alright, here you go, one autograph for young Jack." Hawks handed back a napkin with his signature and a small drawing of his face on it to the criminal who cried tears of joy as he received it.

"I was going to steal some money to buy that new figure of yours, my son wants it. But this is so much better! You really are a hero."

"Maa, I'm just doing hero things."

"Thank you so much! I'll see you later, Hawks!"

"I really doubt you'll see me again, but hey, whatever floats your boat I guess." Hawks waved goodbye to the criminal, or ex-criminal. Did he just use talk-no-jutsu on a criminal?! This was why Hawks was my favourite hero of all time-,

"Are you going to keep staring at me kid, or what?"

"I'M SORRY HAWKS-SAMA! PLEASE FORGIVE MY IMPERTINENCE!" I made sure to bow my head straight to the floor.

"Er, I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to the kid behind you." Sure enough, I turned around to see some twelve year old staring in surprise at Hawks. Tch, what a fucking fake fan! I bet he just likes heroes generally, and didn't even know Hawks before he became a big shot! Well, he was always a big shot, but when he was a niche hero! I have been following Hawks since his first public appearance, I even own his hair spray!

After the kid behind me left the store, and mostly everyone cleared out, it left Hawks alone in the store as he browsed the shelves, flicking through most books with mild interest. "Hm, this looks interesting." He picked up a volume of Bleach, one of the few remaining volumes, and walked up to the cashier and bought it. "Hey kid, are you going to continue laying on the floor or what? Jeez, I guess Tokoyami was right. You really are a fan."

"You know who I am?!"

"Well, I did offer you a place for your internships. By the way, turning me down was totally a dick move, but I understand why you did it."

"I'M SO SORRY! I REALLY WISHED I COULD HAVE INTERNED UNDER YOU AND-,"

"It's no biggie, really. Plus, I hear all about your stunts in Hosu. Saving a civilian and fighting the 'Hero Killer?' Pretty impressive. If you keep that up, I might just offer you a work study, if you first year students can accept it that is. I don't actually know if you can, I guess that's one of the worst things about not going to a hero school, not knowing how they operate." Hawks walked over to me, helping me stand up straight as he signed the volume he had just bought.

"Tokoyami told me he was writing a manga, but I didn't expect it to be this." He told me, "Still, since he made it abundantly clear how much of a fan you are, consider this a present from me to you. Or something. Listen Sora Yamazaki, your flying skills need a lot of work! From one bird in the sky to another, you need to learn how to fly properly. If you ever need help, my training course, 'How to fly like Hawks' can teach you all you need. All for the low, low price of five thousand Yen. So, whaddya' say?"

"Are… you trying to sell me on your merchandise?"

"Lesson one of being a hero kid, you always sell your merchandise. Glad to see you picked up on my lessons. Oh and lesson number two, always make sure to have a spare set of clothes!" He told me, flashing a smile at me as he ruffled my hair. "Third lesson, make sure not to lose your cool in public. Judging by your glare, you really don't want me to do this, but I think I'll continue ruffling your hair until you learn the lesson. My fourth lesson for you would be not to wear a cape, especially when flying. And my fifth, and final lesson, would definitely be to take some days off. I think that's all the lessons I taught Tokoyami. Since you wanted to come so badly, I thought I'd teach you a few things."

"Hawks, you are my favourite hero."

"Really? Not Endeavour? Or All Might?"

"Eh, fuck them. You are cooler. And better in every way."

"I guess. Well, I got to go, so I'll see you sometime in the future. We birds in the sky have to flock together, well technically you aren't a bird. I just assumed you were with that bird's nest you call hair - Ah, that's the final lesson! Lesson number six kid, always look presentable in public!" And with that, Hawks, the number three hero, left the store waving goodbye at me. He even stole my phone and took a picture of the two of us before I could even ask him. How did he even know my password?

You know, Hawks knowing my phone password doesn't bother me one bit.

Because Hawks is the best hero of all time.

---

"Hey, do you really think they'll come?"

"Mineta, this plan is way better than yours."

"You were the one who agreed with me, you traitor! I swear Kaminari, one of these days I'll-,"

"Shut up." I glared at them both. "The girls almost didn't come because of you two."

"Why us?"

"Never thought I'd agree with the pervert, but seriously why us?"

I sighed. "Really?"

"Yes really, answer us Sora! Your pal Mineta is waiting for an answer!"

"Dude, you're Mineta! Don't speak in second person! It's confusing!" Kaminari proclaimed, "You aren't some kid to be speaking like that!"

"Kaminari, that wasn't an example of a second person point of view, you idiot!"

"Hey, how am I supposed to know-,"

"Shut up," I warned them both, "Seriously I'm warning you. We are at the beach, one week before we go out on our trip. Your 'pool' idea sucked balls, so I improved it. And you two are perverts, nasty perverts, which is why the girls don't trust you."

"Didn't you squeeze Jiro's tits?"

"That was once, and it was an accident. I was pushed." I tried to give my excuse, but they weren't having it.

"Right, 'pushed,'' he says. As if I'll believe that!" Kaminari screamed at me, "You copped a feeling on purpose, don't even try to deny it! At least Mineta and I are forward with how perverted we are, you hide your perverted side away."

"I do not!"

"Yes you do," Mineta replied, "Although, you're not that secretive with it now that I think about it. If anything, you are more like a gentleman pervert. Actually, that's exactly what you are! No wonder the girls trust you! Maybe that's why Bakugo fought you during the shopping trip, you were so perverted that he couldn't just let you off the hook!" I winced at that, being reminded yet again of the brawl we had.

To say that we got punished harshly for it was an understatement. On top of writing an apologetic letter to the owner of the arcade, we also had to help them out with rebuilding their walls, and also had to serve a week's worth of detentions up to six in the afternoon supervised by Nezu himself. That fucking rat was creative, I'll give him that. Making us stand up for the whole detention was practically torture, but it made the two of us avoid each other as much as we could. Needless to say that we weren't ever going to fight each other in public ever again.

"Isn't this getting a bit too long of a wait?" Mineta complained, "I mean I feel blue-balled slightly! Aren't we supposed to be neck-deep in action right now? With brand new plot twists, hot-blooded action and character development! That's what usually happens at the end of each month, but here we are, standing around waiting for the girls and everyone else to arrive at the beach. Shouldn't we just close our eyes and skip to the most important parts?"

I chopped Mineta on the head, "Idiot. If you skip only to the good parts, then you are essentially not paying attention. Some things have to be built up, like this trip is the result of everything that happened in July. Seriously, our camping trip is in three days, that's where all the action will take place! But, for every climax, there needs to be good foreplay! That's the most important part!"

"He has a point there."

"No he doesn't!" Mineta snapped at the two of us, "Listen, maybe you like foreplay, but I for one hate it! It's boring, useless even! I just want to skip to all the good bits, maybe then we can get this damn show on the road! What you are suggesting is for me to like 'filler,' but I always skip filler! I skip that shit like no tomorrow! Dialogue in a game? I don't care for the story, just let me get into combat!"

I gasped dramatically, placing my hand over my chest as I pretended to feint.

"You monster!" Kaminari yelled, "How dare you betray him like this?! Even I, an FPS only player, would never dare to skip dialogue in a story! Do you understand what you've done?! You never skip the fluff, it exists to enrich the experience! You might as well just read a summary of the story at that point-, No, you might as well just not play it!"

"What the hell are you idiots talking about?" A voice came from behind us. Turning around, my eyes immediately latched themselves upon the chest area. Now, I wasn't a pervert (No matter what others may say) I was merely admiring the female body- In a non-creepy way, I'd never touch them without consent- and even then it was only at a distance! Unlike Mineta and Kaminari, who constantly made comments comparing the girls' sizes in front of them, I always made sure to stay clear from their disgusting conversations.

So when the girls in our class all stood behind us, wearing their swimsuits, I naturally couldn't peel my eyes off certain areas. A lesser man might say: "I've died and gone to Heaven," but I wasn't a lesser man. I had to slap both Mineta and Kaminari, apologising to the girls who glared at my two friends.

"Sorry about them, they tend to think with their dick rather than with their heart."

"And you don't?" Jiro asked me, folding her arms that annoyingly made it hard to see her developing-, "Look at my eyes, not at my arms!"

"I am looking at your eyes." I replied, "If I wasn't then I wouldn't be able to see your beautiful smile."

"S-shut up!" Jiro yelled, throwing her inflatable float at me, giggling as it bounced off my head and landed on Mineta who yelled murder as Kaminari pulled on it, choking him out. "Kaminari, if he murder him with my float, I'll stab you to death." She warned him, zipping up her hoodie as she walked over towards us.

"Don't worry, we can dump his body in the sea."

"I'll dump your body in the sea." She threatened him, punching him in the arm lightly as he let go of the float, allowing Mineta to finally breathe again. "You shouldn't be choking out your friends like that, not unless you two are really kinky." She smirked as Kaminari and Mineta blushed at that, before denying what she said after they realised what she meant by it.

"I ain't gay!"

"Hey, if I were gay I'd choose a better partner than Kaminari!"

"Oi you three! Stop staying in the shade and come help set up our picnic!" Kirishima yelled loudly, holding multiple watermelons underneath his arms, "Yaomomo said if you three don't help out with setting it up, she'll torture you for a week straight!" Kaminari and Mineta gulped at that, quite literally shoving each other as they ran to Yaoyorozu in order to help her out and not be 'punished.'

"So," Jiro began, tilting her head at me. Did she cut her hair? One of her bangs looked a little shorter than usual.

"So…?" I asked her, confused.

She sighed, shaking her head as she leaned against the wall behind me. "About the shopping trip, aren't you going to apologise or what."

"To who?"

"To everyone who went? You ruined it for them. You best be on your best behaviour today Sora, I'm not going to tolerate you fooling about on our trip to the beach!"

"It's Takoba, this place was literally a trash heap a year ago." I told her, "And don't worry, I'll be on my best behaviour today. I wouldn't want to ruin another trip for everyone. That being said, can you help me with carrying all the food? I woke up early in the morning to make everyone a bento box, let me tell you that shit is not easy."

"Oh woe is me, I did the job my class requested of me. How horrible."

"You could show some appreciation, especially since I personalised yours. It's your birthday in a few days, so I made sure to give you an extra large portion, with the fruit cut up into small musical notes." I told her, walking over to my bike and grabbing the large backpack that rested on top of it. "I cut my finger while doing so, you're welcome by the way."

"You think you can cheap out on buying me a birthday present?!"

"What did you get me for my birthday?"

"I bought you a limited edition of that game you wouldn't shut up about!"

Oh shit, she was right. "Huh, I forgot." Jiro shook her head, muttering something about 'idiots' underneath her breath. We walked over to where everyone was located under one umbrella, unlike the ones the beach provided for a fee, Yaoyorozu created an umbrella large enough to fit all of 1A under it. Hagakure and Sero were building a sand castle while Uraraka and Mina were ordering the various boys in our class to fill up the buckets with water.

"Here," I told Yaoyorozu, placing the heavy bag next to her. "I'm running on a few hours of sleep, so don't mind me if I take a nap or two. Just know I'm never cooking for you ever again, not even if you pay me a million Yen."

"That's fine, but you do know that you could have just bought food for us? If you were tight on money, I could have lent you money." I waved her off, laying down on one of the towels that was set on the ground.

"It's not about that. There are many people here who live away from home, people like you. While you have a maid, someone like Tsuyu or Uraraka doesn't. Who knows how long they have had a nutritious home cooked meal, I'd wager that it's been some time. Summer is a time for making memories, for being happy. So if my food can bring them that joy, well I'd rather cook than buy a ready made meal." I answer her, grabbing Jiro's discarded zip-up hoodie and using it as a pillow.

"I see." Yaoyozoru grinned, "I'll admit that's rather sweet of you to do, but you should take care of your own health first and foremost."

"Bah, I'll worry about that when I'm dead."

Before she could respond, she had to chase after Bakugo who had kicked some kid's football so hard that it hit some random person in the face. I couldn't hide my smirk at the lashing he received for that, nor could I repress my laughter when Koda and Midoriya got pranked by Sero who had poured a bucket of water on them. I watched as Ojiro and Shoji had a water fight, with Kirishima getting involved creating a tense stand-off between the three of them, before their fight finally being resolved with a competition of who could swim the fastest.

Tokoyami and Todoroki had gone out shell hunting, both with excited looks on their faces before returning holding a live lobster.

"Why are you holding a lobster?" Iida asked them, confusion apparent in his voice.

"We were curious if we could cook it," Todoroki answered. "Is that a problem?"

"..."

Kaminari and Mineta had joined in helping to create a sculpture of Aoyama, as if he were an ancient Greek statue, only made of sand. Mina and Hagakure took this as a challenge, and mixed water with sand in order to pelt the boys with the mixture as a warning.

"Aren't you going to join in?" Jiro asked me, standing right on top of me. From this angle, I could really admire her toned legs-,

"I'm tired." I replied, shutting my eyes. "Go away."

"If you think that I'll take that as an answer for you being anti-social, then you have another thing coming." She replied, kicking some sand at me. "Don't tell me that instead of having fun at the beach, you are going to sleep all day."

"I prefer the term 'charging my batteries' thank you very much."

"Well you can 'charge your batteries' with everyone else, so stop sulking." She said, sitting down next to me. "Or did you forget to apply some sunscreen?"

"Tch, I don't need sunscreen. I've never had sun-burn in my life!" I told her proudly, "My skin is just that awesome."

"Alright then. Still, you better get up and join in on the fun."

"I'm already having fun." I replied, "The air is cool, and I enjoy watching everyone else have fun. I have bad memories at the beach." A lifetime ago I might have gone to the beach with my family and stared jealousy at those who went with their partners. Why couldn't I go to the beach with Jiro? Just her and I, all alone…

"Well I won't have fun unless you join in," She responded, "So stop being a pain in the arse, and get up. I understand that you feel guilty for whatever happened at the mall, but don't let it distract you from having fun. I won't let it. If you want to apologise to everyone, then sitting here all alone isn't the best way of doing it. You already try to shoulder so much, it honestly surprises me since you are so short, it's not like your shoulders are broad or anything. You slouch so much as well, it makes you appear shorter than you already are."

I rolled my eyes at that, staring at the sky.

There were no clouds today.

"Hey Kyoka," I started, "What if…"

"What if what?" She asked me.

"Let's say I'm a bad person deep inside. Just a violent person, maybe even a villain. Just like that time with in the music room, what if I just destroy everything in front of me. Would you still be friends with me?" I was so afraid of him, of that other side of me. Was Shigaraki right? I wasn't going to lie and say that his words didn't affect me, because they did. I tried not to think about it, he is a villain after all, but when Bakugo basically confirmed it… Maybe they were right in a sense. Ever since I was a kid, violence was always my first choice.

It was a far cry from my other life where violence was far from my first choice, if anything I avoided violence like the plague. Maybe dying screwed with my sensibilities more than I had thought, or maybe I was always a violent person underneath my persona. Maybe dying in my previous life having not lived a fulfilling life, dying with so many regrets made me angrier than I thought.

Just living here, and having the constant threat of villains like Shigaraki and All For One loom over my head really fucked me over.

"You are the biggest idiot I know," She told me, throwing some sand at me. "After all we've been through, are you really asking that question? With you Sora, it feels like we go one step forwards, and then five steps backwards. If you were some violent freak, we never would have been friends. You aren't the 'Demon of Class E' anymore Sora, middle-school finished months ago. You know for a time I was afraid of you, I really believed in those rumours about you a few years back. But if I still believed in them, then we wouldn't be sitting here right now."

"You think so?"

"I know so." She grabbed my hand, pulling me up from the ground before realising I was too heavy for her to lift up. "Jeez, you're heavy."

"This is pure muscle."

"Yeah right," Jiro giggled, "Anyway get up. If you mope around any longer, I might just have to kick your arse across the beach."

"Like you could do that, you could barely lift me up."

"Don't underestimate my power when I'm angry, what's the saying? 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.' I'd beat you up, and all of your perverted friends. Don't think I haven't seen you sneaking glances at me!" She said, blushing slightly. She looked cute when she blushed, very cute.

"Well not my fault you are cute."

"Cute?! That's it?"

"I like cute. In my humble opinion, I'd rather date a cute girl than a beautiful girl."

"Liar. If Yaomomo asked you out, we both know what your response would be."

"To friend zone her?"

"Yeah right, Sora you'd take her as your bride if you could. You and Yaomomo are sorta alike you know, both of you shoulder so much. I reckon you would be able to de-stress each other pretty easily. Or maybe Mina? You two would make a fun couple, always going out and doing cool things together. Perhaps even Tokage, although that relationship might end up as a tragedy."

"Why's that?" I asked her curiously.

"Your arguments would have resulted in your neighbours killing themselves in order to escape Tokage's comments, and your witty replies." She answered, "And don't try to deny it! You two enjoy insulting each other for some odd reason."

"It's fun."

"No, what's fun is you and I going for a swim," She corrected me, holding her hand out for me to reach. "C'mon, I know you want to go for a swim. Plus, I reckon I'm a better swimmer than you now. I've been practising with Tsuyu." Her smile cleared any doubts I had within me, even if I was a violent maniac, so long as I never hurt Jiro, then I'd be able to live normally. I grabbed her hand, smirking while doing so as I tugged her to fall down next to me, before running ahead to the sea as fast as I could, kicking down both Mina and Hagakure's sand castle, and the statue made from sand Aoyama, Kaminari and Mineta were trying to build.

Pushing Iida towards Tokoyami, I heard him scream for help as the lobster grabbed his right hand, Todoroki looking at Iida like a deer caught in headlights. Sero couldn't react in time as I drop-kicked him in the back, sending him face first into the sand and grabbed his bucket, before throwing it at Bakugo who was still being scolded by Yaoyorozu. Fuck him, I was going to destroy his patience today.

"CANNONBALL!" I yelled loudly as I ran into the water and used my Quirk to create a platform to leap off from, splashing Ojiro, Kirishima and Shoji with water as they complained that I interrupted their competition. I grinned in response as everyone from 1A came chasing after me, all with varying looks of amusement and anger on their faces, some even yelling obscenities towards me. Ha, this was fun.

And so I did what everyone else did when being chased, I ran away.

Or in this case, I swam away.

---

33k+ words written.

Me: I have an exam soon, maybe I should revise for it.

Also me: WOOOOO LETS AIM FOR 30K WORDS!

This chapter is the longest I've ever written, and it basically functions as two chapters rolled into one. See originally this was supposed to cap off the 'July Arc' so to speak, but I kept on adding scenes that made me want to split the chapter into two, which would have slowed my plan down for this story. While it would have provided me with an extra chapter already written out, allowing me more time to write the start of the camping trip, I decided against splitting this chapter into two.

Since it was my birthday this past week, consider it my birthday present to you (Don't ask how) for being such good readers. I don't know if I'll ever write another chapter this long ever again, but it was a blast.

Still, this chapter is important.

It's kickstarted a lot of character arcs, some more obvious than others. I realised that someone like Yaoyorozu doesn't really have a backstory, I mean we don't even know if her parents are heroes or what! So I made her the daughter of a rich CEO who cares about maximising profits more than raising her own daughter, along with a dead father that sparked this change in her mother.

Her character arc is one of acceptance, much like Jiro pointed out just a few lines back, Sora and Yaoyorozu are sorta similar in that regard. I picked up on it myself while re-reading canon. I want to do this with practically every member of 1A, which is a lot of work. Some character arcs will naturally be more fleshed out than others, but all will feature Sora helping them one way or another.

But the main highlights of this chapter was definitely Sora, Nanao and Tokage's conversion for one. Tokage and Nanao don't get along (A shocker!) And they theorise on the 'truth.' Some more information on Tokage's past as well.

Secondly, the entire keyboard scene. Just a warning, I don't play the piano. I've played the guitar since I was a kid, and now I regret choosing the piano for [REDACTED]. The and again, the 'guitarist' doesn't roll off the tongue as well. Still, maybe you have a better understanding of Sora's role as the 'pianist' - Or maybe you are more confused than ever.

And finally, Shigaraki and Sora meeting. This was a lot of fun to write, and hopefully it was as tense as I wanted it to be. Shigaraki won't be Sora's villain, Izuku will handle him of course, but that doesn't mean that Sora and Shigaraki can't interact. And of course Bakugo, he's an absolute joy to write. Seriously, I have so many ideas and jokes featuring him as the main star.

Also, some new plans for Sora. Does All For One know the 'truth' or is Sora's guess wrong? We are getting closer to the ending of Part 1, and some major reveals - Which honestly makes me happy and sad. Happy that I'm getting closer to being able to write what I've been waiting for, and sad that we are getting closer to the ending.

It's still a way's off, but that doesn't mean it's not in sight.

And that conversation about 'climaxing' is a reference to this story, not anything sexual! This chapter was so long because I needed to set a lot of things up prior to the camping trip, things that wouldn't hit as hard without the set up. Plus, I needed to include them for the future.

And regarding if there will be a villain invasion during camp? Well, who knows. During the brief interlude, AFO told Zero that it was going to happen, but since Zero is planning it maybe there have been some changes... even Shigaraki this chapter seemed unsure of what was going to happen. So what's going to happen next?

FIND OUT SOON IN OVER THE TOP: THE WANO NO KUNI ARC!

Shout out to One Piece for being awesome as always. Oh and that latest MHA chapter is awesome, (unreleased as this chapter is out). I can't believe MHA is ending after all this time, and it makes me sad that it's going to end before I finish this story. Unlike canon, I plan to go through all three years of U.A and potentially beyond!

So don't worry, you'll be reading a lot of this story!

Overall this is a transition chapter, capping off one arc and starting the next. Did it turn out perfect? No, not really. There are a few things I wish I could improve, but I don't think I'm good enough to deal with those issues as of right now. So I'll add it to the eternal list of future edits I shall brute force my way into doing once I'm done with Part 1.

I feel like Sora's character development is going well, even if it's a bit cyclical in nature, it's sorta on purpose. He's sort of like Scott Pilgrim in a way, constantly averting his eyes from the truth which is why he ends up in bad situations. If only Sora would accept his death, accept his 'other side of him,' then maybe things will go better for him.

But alas, Sora really is a teenager that thinks he can do it all by himself.

Again, Sora isn't an 'asshole' but he isn't someone you should be blindly rooting for. He's going to take a few steps forwards, and then get launched backwards until he gets it right. That's why I write him, why I even decided to create someone like him in the first place. As a young adult I've made mistakes, but I've learned from them.

Sora will as well! So you should be rooting for Sora to get things right, and you should be angry with him when he fucks things up!

Now for the reviews.

MBS41:

Now you know how Izuku failed. His confidence is 0 right now, he'd run away rather than face the exam as he thinks he's a failure. Maybe a tad unrealistic given his character, but I promise you I have a plan for him. And no, it doesn't involve him saving Sora from bugs :)

The One Reb0rn:

Thank you for the kind review! I won't lie, this is easily one of my favourite reviews I've gotten thus far. Tokage is easily my favourite character to write, she's just so much fun to play around with. And I think she plays off Sora quite well, so to see you ship her and Sora makes me smile... Perhaps not for the reasons you may be thinking :)

And some existential drama is good, although while I think I haven't written it as well as I could, I'm glad to see that you enjoyed it and are rooting for Sora to become the best person he is. And yes, Arthur Morgan from RDR2 is an amazing protagonist, but I never once considered him similar to Sora. But now that I think about it, you are right in a sense. Both do think of themselves as needing to be redeemed, both for different reasons.

But as of right now Sora's own hubris has sorta gotten rid of that self-doubt, only for it to rear its ugly head every now and then. Perhaps in the future, it will be a character defining moment for him, or perhaps he'll lose everything due to it. And while this story isn't as popular as many other stories on this website, and in the fandom itself, I'm still grateful for everyone that's apart of the journey.

Even if I'm not proud of every chapter I write, constantly striving for improvement, knowing that you - And indeed many others enjoy this and look forward to these chapters every two weeks fills me with a joy I can't really describe with words. So thank you truly for the review, it really does mean a lot to me.

And so I wish you, and your family, good health and fortunes!

TrumpasaurousRex:

I spelt your name wrong on purpose. I think you reviewed the wrong story mate, there is no genderbending in this story. But Sora not trying to get OFA fits in with his initial character arc I would say, an unwilling hero thus he's unwilling to put the work in for a dream that isn't his. To become the next pillar of society isn't his goal, and never will be his goal.

Thus OFA isn't needed.

But thanks for the review I suppose?

THAT'S IT FOR THIS TIME!

Next time on Over the Top:

"I hate camping."

"You know what, I hate camping as well."

"Me three."

"HAHA! As always, Sora-sama's class is dragging him down! But do not despair Sora-sama, I shall galdly lend you my sleeping bag so that you can sleep comfortably during the night!"

"OMG It'S PIXIE BOB! She's even hotter in person!"

"Sora... stop trying to see if you can find pixie bob naked."

"Hey, why's 'Pixie Bob' not in capital letters? Are you trying to say she isn't the pinnacle of female heroes?! Is that what you are trying to say?!"

"Huh? This is just some drawn out 'next time' skit that teases what's to come. The next chapter isn't finalised yet, so what if Pixie Bob isn't capitalised."

"Well... How about that, maybe the author is lazy."

"Maybe."