Bone of my Sword

by Brony-wan Kenobi

If an effort to help a quirkless Izuku, his parents take him to the U.S where he will take part in a top secret experiment. There he will meet a certain blonde haired, horned girl which will start him on a new journey...

17. Chapter 17

"Alright, I think I know just where to start with you!" exclaimed Togata loudly, causing Uraraka to wince slightly. More due to the volume than anything else.

Today's training with 1-B and others (they really needed to give this an official name) had been seriously shaken up with the arrival of four new helpers that Midoriya had found. The first, and most recognizable in the anti-gravity girl's opinion, was the appearance of the Number Two Hero Endeavor! Standing as tall as Kan and seeming just as muscular, he towered over nearly all the students there with an intense look that made Uraraka feel like nothing more than a speck of dust. There was nothing of the warmth and feeling of safety there that she felt with All Might and some of the other heroes who worked here. Honestly, he seemed like a more alert and roided up version of Aizawa.

When it was announced that he would be assisting them, Uraraka wondered how he would go about things. Would he be pulling a large group to do battle trials, throwing them into a situation randomly like how All Might did? Or would he just attack them randomly? The answer was honestly shocking. He moved with the group that headed towards the weight machines where he began to watch over them. There, he would bark at people saying he could see that they were not pushing themselves properly. That they were either trying to handle too much weight at once or that they were too comfortable with the weight they were using. The man also moved to a few, showing them that they were using the weight machines wrong before showing them how to properly do things. It was help that was honestly much needed as there were only so many people who could help.

As for the other three, they consisted of their upperclassmen. The first, and shortest, of these three was Nejire Hado. The periwinkle haired girl had looked at them with curious and excited eyes which seemed to magnify once she was formally introduced. The girl began to move through the crowd, asking questions of everyone she could find but moving on before anyone could give her an answer. At first, Uraraka wondered if she had some sort of information gathering quirk. Like all she had to do was make eye contact while asking a question of her target and she would get the answer. It made sense as well as being a really powerful quirk. She could gain intel on whatever villain she was facing or find out the weaknesses to their quirks. But, as it turned out, she was a bit scatterbrained along with way too much energy. Instead, her quirk was called Wave Motion: an ability that allowed her to convert her vitality and stamina into spiraling waves of energy. Using this, she could launch them as long ranged attacks or use these spirals to fly.

The second was Tamaki Amajiki. Appearance wise, his long pointed ears gave him the appearance of a dark haired elf. He was far less talkative than Hado. In fact, when he was asked to talk to them he sort of paled for a moment before finding a corner, curling into a ball, and began muttering to himself as a dark aura seemed to surround him. Apparently he was not much of a social person. Yet, despite this, Uraraka could see that he had the makings of a great hero. His quirk, Manifest, allowed him to take on the physical characteristics of anything that he's eaten. For example, if he had had lobster, he could grow an exoskeleton-like shell over parts of his body or turn his hands into enlarged pincers.

Then, finally, there was Togata. The teen who seemed to have the energy and charisma of All Might.

Currently, these three upperclassmen, who were also known as The Big Three, were assisting various students with their quirk combat training. Hado was above their heads close to the ceiling with Pony as the pair were having some midair combat. The idea, from what Uraraka could see, was that Hado was trying to knock Pony off her horns. The American blonde was either to avoid it as much as possible or, if she did get knocked down, catch herself. Meanwhile, Amajiki was helping Kawakami and Tokage. Something that made sense to the brunette. The serpents coming out of Kawakami's back were similar to tentacles, which was something the Amajiki could manifest once he ate squid or octopus. Also, since the guy was used to manipulating his own body, it meant he was best suited to helping Tokage.

As for Togata, Uraraka had no idea why he was best suited to help her other than it being Midoriya's suggestion. Still, she went along with the suggestion as she explained to the older teen just what her quirk can do as well as all the training she had been doing with it thus far. Togata had remained silent, just giving her the occasional nod to show that he was listening. Which now led her to the present situation.

"See, I get where Midoriya was coming from with helping you in your training," continued Togata with a bit of a bounce in his step. "Judo is a great first step. However, you've been more focused on what it can do to your opponent rather than what it can do for you. So I'm going to help you bring your quirk up to the next level!"

"Ah, how?" asked Uraraka, tilting her head slightly as she asked this. She had mentioned to him that she could use her quirk on herself. Like in Aizawa's quirk assessment test, she had used it to remove the gravity from certain parts of her body in order to reduce the weight and strain. It did make her a little faster, though not by much. As for removing gravity off her entire body, well, that was ok in an emergency when she needed to get off the ground. The problem was that once she was off the ground all she could do was float there. Unless she had some outside force all she would be was some floating target. Which was one of the costume upgrades she was going to ask for.

Togata, didn't answer her right away. Instead he smirked as he took a step back. "I think it might be better if I showed you something first," he said. Then his clothing just seemed to fall off his body. Uraraka just stood there, red faced as she took in the blonde's ripped and muscular form that her eyes couldn't help but scan. No, wait! She wasn't looking him up and down. He was sinking into the ground!

For a moment, Uraraka wondered what was going on. Then, without warning, Togata just shot out from the ground and began soaring through the air like a missile. He was so high up, far higher than any average person could do without their quirk. Then, while still in the air, the nude teen maneuvered his body so that he landed on his feet before skidding to a halt on the mat close to where Midoriya was training with Ashido. Both of whom were on the far side of the area of the gym where combat training was being done.

"Power!" he cried, drawing the attention of everyone in the room as he made a pose. One that had his legs spread and bent. Oh, why did he have to land on a spot where the lights were shining right on his dick?

The reactions of the group varied. Most just stared at him in disbelief, a gob smacked expression on their faces before they turned around. Kan just smacked his forehead before grumbling something about warning people next time. Endeavor looked pissed. Well, more pissed than he normally looked which was saying something. Hado looked like this was just a funny joke to her. Then there was Tokage.

"Damn," she said aloud with a whistle, her eyes taking in everything the blonde had to offer.

"Tokage!" cried a shocked Uraraka, causing her maybe girlfriend to turn around with a slightly sheepish smile on her face.

"Hey, I told you I was bi," she said. "Nothing wrong with appreciating the tasty dish before me. Besides, the one I wish to taste and savor is you." As she said that last part, the mossy haired girl gave Uraraka a playful wink that made her heart skip a beat before her blush turned atomic. Even more so when the eyes of everyone in the room began moving between the two of them.

"Now, er, hold on a moment," began Togata after his clothing had been brought to him, the person who had done so missed due to the antics of Tokage. Right now, the blonde was quickly getting dressed as he hopped on one foot to put on his boxers. Apparently he was having a little trouble doing so.

After a few too many minutes, Togata stood before Uraraka. "Ok, so I wanted to show you that before I explained something," said Togata, the smile never leaving his face. "My quirk, Permeation, isn't that strong. Sure, I can select part of my body allowing for anything to pass through me to avoid attacks but doing so full body originally had too many downsides. Like something would pass right through my eyes, making me blind. I couldn't hear. Not to mention my clothes would fall off of me, letting everyone see me naked right before I sank into the earth. And when I turned off my quirk, I would be sent flying out like I was being spat out. For the longest time, I was stuck. That is until someone showed me how to use my quirk in a different way by making my perceived downsides work for me!"

"…Ok?" said Uraraka, not completely understanding where Togata was going with all of this. For the second time that day, her mind went back to Aizawa's quirk assessment test. On how the man wanted them to use their quirks to help them with the various tests he put before them. However, beyond the ball throw, there was nothing else she could have done to get a higher score. At least, none that she could have thought of.

"So that's what I'm going to do for you! And to start, I'll be teaching you a classic superhero move: how to leap tall buildings in a single bound," grinned Togata. He then held up a single finger, showing that he was ready to begin some sort of explanation. "Now, you told me that when you remove gravity off of yourself, you begin to float upwards. Well, we're going to take that and make it work more in your favor."

Togata then brought the two of them over to the far side of the gym as he began to go over his idea. On paper and in theory, it was simplistic. But in practice it would be a little more complicated. He wanted Uraraka to start running and then, without losing too much momentum, to bend her legs in the direction she was going and leaping while also removing the effects of gravity on herself before her feet pushed her off. Without the pull of gravity, her momentum will not fade as she soars higher in the gym. Then, once she was at the halfway point, release her quirk. That way she should ark in the air before landing which, when that happened, she should either try to kick the villain she was aiming for or do a landing roll. This way she could travel a far greater distance using less energy while not exerting her quirk for too long.

"Ok," said a very nervous Uraraka as she went for her first attempt. To be honest, she had never thought to try something like this before. Then again, usually when she trained her quirk was outside. If she had tried this then, there was a good chance she might have ended up like that ball she threw that gave her that infinity score. Or hurt herself on her landing.

With sweating palms, Uraraka took off running as fast as she could. However, after taking several steps, she almost came to a complete stop as she bent her legs to leap into the air. As she activated her quirk, Uraraka failed to notice that she wasn't angled as Togata had suggested. Instead, she simply sprung upwards in a straight line! By the time she realized this she could see the gym's ceiling quickly getting closer way too fast. In a complete panic she began to scream, waving her arms around as if that would shoo away the barrier before her while completely forgetting that without it she would just keep shooting upwards! Then-

"Got'cha roomie!" came the voice of Pony. A split second before Uraraka's head would have collided with the ceiling, the anti-gravity girl found herself in the American girl's embrace. Breathing heavily, Uraraka realized that she was now being carried bridal style by Pony as she flew through the air on her horns. Quickly the pair descended towards the ground floor where Kan and Setsuna were waiting for them.

"Are you ok?" asked Kan, concern clear in his voice as Setsuna began to examine Uraraka carefully. No longer were there any of the lizard girl's playful looks or touches, just a normal inspection.

"I…I think so," said Uraraka after taking a deep gulp of air.

"Well, that didn't go quite as planned," admitted Togata sheepishly, though the smile on his face hadn't faded. And yet somehow she could tell by the tone in his voice that he was sorry. "Let's go over what you did wrong and try again."

After first, Uraraka's gut instinct was to demand if he was crazy. That she could have gotten seriously hurt had it not been for Pony. That he should at least allow her time to calm down. What stopped her from doing this was noticing just how silent Kan was. Something that confused the girl. She could tell that he was his only level of strict, but he obviously cared about the students under his tutelage. So the fact that he wasn't saying anything now, after what just happened came as a real surprise. Actually, no one was saying anything. Why-

Suddenly, realization hit her, causing the girl to look down at the floor. Everyone here was pushing themselves to the limit. Meaning getting hurt was something one could expect to happen at any time. People like Kan and Endeavor, they wanted to see their students push themselves as far as they were capable of going. And if someone did get hurt, they would be there. Them as well as the rest of the students here. The next time this happened and Pony wasn't there to catch her, one of the teachers would be there before she hit the ground. And then take her to the nurse's office should she be seriously hurt. If not, then she needed to walk it off.

Furthermore, Uraraka knew she needed to push herself. To go beyond Plus Ultra. She had more people counting on her. Not just her parents, but all the people who wanted to get into the hero course. They might not know it, but she was their ticket to making it in…if they themselves impressed the school with their skills. So, if this was going to help her become a better hero, she couldn't whine after one failed attempt. She needed to keep going, to hone this skill that her upperclassman was showing her. With it, she was going to show everyone what she was made of!

"Yeah, let's keep going," said Uraraka as she looked up with fire in her eyes. Togata nodded, grinning still as he led her back to where they started. Though she failed to notice the nod of approval that both Kan and Endeavor were giving her.

[hr]

As this was going on, Izuku was in the middle of a spar with Ashido. The bone using teen had just stepped to the side while using a palm strike to further deflect a punch that had been aimed at his head. Seeing her guard was down, Izuku aimed a shot right into her side above her right hip only to have the girl leap back so that the blow sailed right in front of where she had been standing. Ashido stood there grinning, clearly thinking that she had fully avoided the attack, never realizing that Izuku just transferred the momentum of that attack into a spinning kick that connected with her upper arm. The pink skinned girl cried out in pain, one hand clinging to her injured arm while falling to her knees.

"Remember," said Izuku as he gracefully landed on his feet, looking down at Ashido who was breathing hard with clenched teeth. "Keep your eyes on your opponent. Never let down your guard just because you dodged one attack. A skilled fighter will be able to flow right into the next attack. The same goes with certain quirks."

"Right," Ashido said as she began to stand, taking long deep breaths as she did. It was after her fourth or fifth breath that her eyes hardened, pulling a fist back as she shot towards Izuku. Rather than dodging it, which would have been easy for him, the teen raised both his arms to take the attack. The first blow held a good deal of power behind it, making Izuku glad for both his quirk and his own training. Without those, he was sure that his bones would have been rattling if not strained by the force of her attack.

For the next several minutes, Izuku just took each of Ashido's blows as he walked backwards in a circular motion. For her part, the 1-A kept her focus on the obstacle before her as she kept in time with Midoriya's steps. The force of the blows she unleashed never seemed to diminish and, while she changed up the rhythm, the speed as well as consistency of her strikes never wavered. Something she was getting better at with her hand to hand combat. Though, how much longer she could last was still up in the air as Izuku noticed her breathing shift. Perhaps-

"Venus Lariat!" announced Ashido as she raised her dominant arm up as she charged forward. Though that was not all that happened as her arm seemed to be encased with a familiar, semi-transparent liquid. The attack seemed aimed right at Midoriya's still raised arms and would have connected had the green haired teen not reacted in time. Right before the blow hit, Izuku leaned back so that he fell on the mat causing the attack to sail harmlessly over him. Well, mostly harmless as a few drops of Ashido's acid landed on his face. Where the droplets landed there was brief pain causing Izuku to flinch but nothing beyond that. A very weak acid indeed. Once the attack had missed, Izuku performed a kick jump to get back on his feet before spinning around to deliver a kick right above Ashido's ass. The force from his attack sent the pink skinned girl to fall forward and land face first onto the mat while her acid splashed about.

"Ow, ow, ow!" cried the 1-A girl after rolling over, a hand going straight to her nose to begin rubbing it.

Smirking slightly, Izuku extended a hand down to her. "Venus Lariat," he said once he noticed the girl had her attention on him. "Not exactly my style, but it's not a bad choice. Given your quirk, it can make for a very dangerous close ranged attack."

"Thanks!" beamed Ashido, a sudden burst of positive energy radiating from her as she accepted Izuku's hand. She almost seemed to hop back onto her feet, bouncing a little as she began to excitedly explain her newest move. "See, I've been thinking about my own special move ever since you thought up, coating my knuckles in a weak acid. Something that would be a big finisher if I ever had to fight up close and personal with a big baddy. So then I thought: hey, why not cover your entire arm with it! And tada!" It was then her excitement died down a little as she looked to the side, a finger on her cheek that made her seem like she was thinking about something. "Still, I think it needs some work. I can only hold it like that for a couple of seconds."

"Honestly, a couple of seconds will be all you'll need," said Izuku. "Most people won't even expect you to do something like a lariat. I know I sure didn't."

"How come?" asked Ashido, sounding genuinely curious as she straightened her head to look at him.

"Because you don't have the body type to do so effectively," explained Izuku. Seeing that Ashido looked more than a little confused, the teen gestured at Togata. "That him for example. As you saw earlier, Togata uses his quirk to launch himself across a large distance. Lunging and charging attacks are generally more effective when you have more weight and size behind the attack. Which is probably the reason he buffed himself out so much, allowing more weight behind his blows. People like you and me are a bit different. We rely more on our movement and agility to assist us in a fight."

"I think I get it," said Ashido as she looked down at her dominant arm, flexing it a little as she spoke. "I've seen Kiri do this move a few times before during my heroic lessons. That's how I even knew what it was called. But even without him activating his quirk, it was still effective. Mine can only take someone down when my arm is coated in acid. Honestly, I thought I was doing it wrong and wanted to ask you for tips to make it stronger."

"Well, seeing as how your quirk doesn't increase your size, there are only two ways to make it stronger: buff up to the point where you're giving Togata a run for his money or use a stronger acid," said Izuku. As he spoke, the teen had to bite back a smile as he saw the change in his training partner's face. She went from innocently curious to downright disgusted. No doubt imagining herself as a female bodybuilder or something.

"I think I'll stick to the acid," she said, sticking out her tongue a little.

At that, Izuku chuckled. "By the way, where did you come up with the name?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Well," began Ashido, snapping back to her excited expression in the blink of an eye. "After Kan brought up the fact that we could choose our hero names, I asked him if I could be called Alien Queen! And he said YES!" When Ashido said that last part, she jumped into the air while spinning around and throwing her arms up into the air. "I'm so happy he said that because there is no way I'm getting stuck with the name Alien Girl or something. It might be cute now, but just imagine the embarrassment I'll have when I'm thirty and this being referred to as a girl. Or when I'm Recovery Girl's age." The pink bundle of energy then let out a shudder. "So, anyways, when I started thinking about what to name this move, I remembered that old phrase: Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. I then brought it up with Uraraka who is like super into space. I'm more into Sci-Fi fiction than the actual facts and trivia of real space. But she just brings out this huge info bomb about Venus being all toxic with acid rain and stuff so it just makes the move fit all the better!"

"Well, as interesting as it is, do you know what you did?" asked Izuku, a small smile creeping onto his face. As Ashido stared at him almost blankly, a long, thin spike made of bone began to grow out of Izuku's palms. "You decided to up the difficulty level by adding in quirks."

Ashido, despite being pink, somehow managed to pale as she realized just what kind of landmine she stepped on.

[hr]

"Ready everyone?" asked/shouted Izuku, bits of sweat rolling down his face as he did his best to keep his breathing under control. Besides him were his partners for team training for the day. To his right was Pony, looking only slightly better than he was doing at the moment. Meanwhile, to the teen's left, was Ashido. The pink skinned girl's clothing was a mess due to their training prior as it was covered in rips as well as a number of blood stains caused when Izuku accidently cut her skin. Thankfully, Recovery Girl had been called in to heal her so that not even scars remained.

Currently, the trio were standing in the middle of a street within the massive fake city on U.A. grounds. But they weren't alone. Standing before them was the tank-like three pointer robot from the entrance exam. It stood there, motionless with its gaze locked on the teens. Off to the side, holding a tablet that let him control the machine, was Endeavor. His expression was mostly unreadable as he looked from the device to the scene before him as he waited for the right moment to do his part.

"Ok, begin!" shouted Izuku as he thrust an arm out. Instantly, bone mass began to pour out his skin. The teen gritted his teeth as it began to take shape, becoming a spiraling lance while also making sure to make the adjustment they had talked about. Instead of making it into a pure mass of his hardest, most dense bones, Izuku was separating it into three parts. The first was the outer wall followed by a hollowed out chamber. This chamber went around the lance, though was more pronounced at the tip of the weapon. As for the final part, it was another barrier of bone mass that was formed around the wielder's arm. Something that would hold it in place but would allow the weapon to come off.

Oh, there was also a hole near the top of the lance. One that Ashido had placed her hand on once the lance was finished being made. With great focus, she began to pour in large amounts of her most powerful acid into the hollowed out chamber in much the same way a person fills up the fuel tank of their car.

"OK! It's ready!" yelled Ashido, Pony already behind the duo with her head lowered.

"Horn Cannon!" yelled the American girl as horns shot out of her head. There were four in total that she controlled, connecting with the sides of the lance before pushing them forward. All together, they had created a rocket made of bones with a payload of acid flying right towards the machine.

Upon seeing this, Endeavor activated the machine. The three pointer acted quickly, spinning its treads to move out of the way before heading towards the three teens who looked like they would pass out at any moment. However, Pony still had the strength within her to adjust the rocket's direction. It was shaky and looked like it might spin out of control at any moment, but somehow the blonde hand managed to do it. The combo attack hit the three pointer robot right in the side, the lance Izuku had created shattering into thousands of jagged pieces that lodged into the metallic shell of their foe. At the same time, the acid splashed all over the body of the tank causing it to begin hissing where the liquid had connected. Within moments the body of the three pointer began to sport multiple melted holes in its body before it finally stopped moving.

As the team sank to their hands and knees, Endeavor walked over the remains of the hulking robot to inspect the damage. More than once a humming noise could be heard from the man as he nodded in seeming approval of the damage they had caused. Finally, he turned to look at the three with a blank expression on his face.

"Well, to start, it's dead," he said.

"Somehow I already figured that," groaned Ashido as she moved from being on all fours to plopping onto her butt before staring up at the sky.

"The tip of the lance pierced its hide easily," continued Endeavor, acting as though Ashido hadn't said anything. "The damage was small, sinking a few inches inside. Had this been a normal human being without a reinforcement type quirk, you would have pierced through their internal organs and destroyed them. Then there was the bone shrapnel doing additional damage. According to this read out, forty-nine pieces of bone became embedded in its body. As for the acid damage, that was just…it's still eating away at it from the inside. All in all, had you used this on a regular villain B ranked or below, you would have been charged with murder."

"And if we went against higher ranked villains, a robot army, or a Nomu?" asked Pony with a slight grin on her face. This combo move had been her idea, taking inspiration from old Power Ranger shows where the heroes would combine their weapons to create something far more powerful. She had wanted to do something more dynamic with their motions, however both Ashido and her boyfriend had insisted that they get the basics down before they add the flare. Especially when they were dealing with such powerful acid.

"Well, that's not completely cut and dry," murmured Endeavor. "For a higher ranked villain, they would need to have proven that they were too dangerous for anyone below the top ten to capture them safely. Or there would need to be proof that they were so much of a danger that lethal force would be necessary. In those cases, you would still need to sit before the Hero Safety Commission as they do a full on investigation. As for the Nomu, they had no rights. I have been briefed that the government would prefer them taken alive if any more exist so we can study them. But if you did kill them, nobody would lose any sleep over it and you'd all get a pat on the back."

"And evil robot army?" pressed Pony.

Endeavor rolled his eyes before a slight grin appeared on his face. "Third verse, same as the second," he said. "Not like there's anyone out there who would build something like that. But, on the off chance that there is some mad scientist out there creating robots to take over the world, you're good to go."

"Yes!" cried Pony with sparkling eyes.

"Now, if you want to continue with this combo, there are a few areas you need to improve," continued Endeavor. "The first, and biggest issue, that I can see is the prep time. As it stands right now, the only thing this combo will be effective against are stationary targets with little to no awareness. Such as a wall. A smart villain will try to rush you, preventing you from finishing this move. Tsunotori might be able to help give you cover, but if she can do something like that effectively then using this finishing move feels like a waste of time. If she can't and the villain gets too close, then you're in trouble. This is the type of move that, once you start, it's a bad idea to let it go unfinished. Next is control. I noticed a massive drop in speed when Tsunotori altered its path in order to hit the robot. What's more, it looked like it was about to spin out of control."

"Sorry about that," said Pony, looking away while appearing slightly embarrassed. "I normally have great control over my horns. But it gets harder using all four of them that close together on the same object. Not to mention going at that speed. Though, once I get the hang of that then maybe we could put a bit of a spin on the spear? That way we'll have a drill that can pierce the heavens!"

"Still, it is impressive that you have as much control as you do right now," said Endeavor. "You're on the right track. All you need is practice. In short: Midoriya. Ashido. Work on improving the speed in which you create your bone structures and produce acid respectively. Tsunotori. Practice using all your horns to carry a single object at high speeds." Endeavor then paused to check the time. "Now, it's getting late. The three of you, hit the showers!"

"Finally!" cried Ashido. "I could really use a hot shower right about now." The pink skinned girl then turned her attention to the pro hero before them. "Thanks for all your help today." After she said this, Pony also thanked Endeavor before she too began heading off towards the locker rooms. However, tonight she didn't wait up for her boyfriend. They had talked briefly before beginning their combo training, Izuku telling her to go on ahead as he wanted to personally thank the Pro-Hero. Not just because it was his duty as Vice-Rep of the class, but for other reasons as well.

Soon, the pair were alone though Endeavor kept his eyes on Pony's retreating form. Then, once they were out of earshot, the taller of the two let out a sigh.

"Tsunotori has excellent control over her quirk," said Endeavor. "Far more than most I've seen at her age. Her mother must have trained her more thoroughly than I did with my sons. Makes me wish I had spoken to the woman. We could have traded advice." The flame hero then turned his attention towards Izuku. "Though, that's not to say that she was the only person to impress me today."

"Thanks," said Izuku as he scratched the back of his head nervously

"Your combat prowess is above most students your age," continued Endeavor. "During your spars, I noticed the way you carried yourself as well as how you held your weapons. It showed me that you understand how to use them instead of acting like a fool who just slashed at the air before him like a maniac. As for the rest of your class, there are plenty of rough edges but they are moving away from brutish fighting. They're finding their path. All they need is time and the right instructor. If they have that, I'm sure many of them will become fine heroes in the future."

Hearing that perked Izuku's interest. Looking up at the number two hero, the teen took in how the pro had worded everything. And, before Izuku knew what he was doing, he spoke.

"C-Can I ask you something?" said Izuku. Before the man could say anything, Midoriya's question spilled out of his mouth. "Do you think that someone without a quirk can become a hero? I mean, let's say that one of us lost our quirks. Would all the skills we put in to get to this point just go to waste?"

Endeavor didn't respond right away, simply bringing a hand to his chin as though he were thinking about it while his eyes remained locked on Midoriya. As the seconds ticked by, a pit of dread began to form in the younger man's gut. Fear that the man before him would say the same thing that All Might had said. That it was just impossible for someone to become a hero without a quirk, disregarding all other talents or abilities. Or maybe he would side with Mr. Yagi, talking about how dangerous the job was. At least the slender man seemed more open to the idea that people without quirks could do the job. At least, that's what Izuku took from it. But, if another top ranking hero said the same thing then what-

"If you're asking me if they can become a great hero, then no," said Endeavor, his words freezing all thought in Izuku's head. "But, if a person has the drive to push beyond their limits, then I do believe that they have a chance to become a decent hero. Even without a quirk."

Izuku's eyes widened. "Really?" he asked.

"Kid, do you think I reached my position on my quirk alone?" asked Endeavor as he began to walk across the street, heading in the direction of a bench. The green-haired teen followed him at a respectable distance, watching as the man sat down before sighing. "Fire quirks are pretty much a dime a dozen. I've seen plenty of other heroes out there that can do similar things as myself. I've seen people who can manipulate pre-existing flames, people who have flamethrowers built into their fingertips, and even a quirk that turns fire into a source to replenish their stamina. With so many fire quirks out there, you need some way to stand out if you want to be noticed as a hero. Even more so when you're aiming for the top. To that end, I had to push myself harder than anyone else out there. Learned every trick I could in order to be the best. Trained my body so that the person I was when I started here at U.A. would no longer recognize myself. All so I could surpass everyone else. Save one." There was a brief pause as Endeavor grimaced. "Trust me when I say this: reaching your dream or goal in life isn't always easy. You have to be willing to push yourself and strive with all your might in order to reach it. Especially when that dream is becoming a hero. From what I've seen today, you have a lot of the right stuff. So, if somehow you lost your quirk today, it would hinder your climb but not end it. I can see you supplementing your lost abilities with support gear along with additional training. Unfortunately, no matter how hard you improve your skills, improve your knowledge, and defeat villains, without a powerful quirk you will never reach the top. Trust me, this is something I'm well aware of." At that, Endeavor looked away.

For a moment, Izuku just stood there as he began to feel a mixture of emotions as he looked at the man with newfound awe. It still hurt, believing that there was a good chance that the man he had admired for so long would have dismissed him should the results of Quirk Rebirth suddenly vanish. Or the potential rejection he would have given the teen had Midoriya never been accepted into the project. But now, here was another high ranking pro telling something different. Having Endeavor acknowledge all the hard work he had put into himself, believing that with that alone would have made him a decent hero was a comfort. But there was something else, an irritation that shook Midoriya to his core.

"You're talking about All Might," said Midoriya, causing Endeavor to slowly look up at him. "Pretty obvious. Everyone knows that you've wanted the Number One spot for years."

"Yeah," breathed Endeavor. "But, I had to give up on that dream a long time ago. There just came a point where I had to face the facts, that I had reached my limit, that no matter what I did there would still be this large chasm separating us. That's why I place all my hopes into my children. That they, through my lineage and training, could do what I never could. Surpass that man. Then maybe I could feel content, knowing that at least a part of myself was standing there in that spotlight."

"Well, maybe your dream isn't completely dead," said Izuku, unable to help himself. How could he not? Endeavor had willingly taken time out of his day to help them, and gave the teen's class good advice, all on his own. And now, he had just given Izuku hope that maybe there were others that could see people beyond their quirks. So what was wrong with giving this man some hope as well?

Endeavor, however, just let out a weak chuckle. "Sorry, but it's just not possible for me," said Endeavor. "All Might is-"

"Not going to be around for much longer," interrupted Izuku. The bone user then watched as Endeavor's face began to change. First he looked slightly taken aback, no doubt due to the fact that he had not expected Izuku to interrupt him in the first place. This was quickly followed by a look that said he thought that Izuku was either crazy or telling a joke that wasn't funny. Yet as Izuku's face remained locked onto the flame user's, said pro hero's eyes began to widen somewhat before narrowing.

"What makes you say that?" he demanded.

"I've…done some research," said Izuku. "It's showing that All Might is not as active as he used to be. And it's not just me who's noticed this. I've talked to other people and we believe that All Might is slowing down due to his age. Meaning he might, well, retire soon."

It was strange to see the flabbergasted look on Endeavor's face, like he had toyed with the idea himself and was shocked to see that others believed it as well. Meanwhile, Izuku stood there hoping the man wouldn't ask him who he had talked to. This information had been entrusted to him after all and Izuku didn't want to reveal his source. Yet despite knowing that it was a potentially bad idea to just go blurting this around, Izuku believed that this was the right move. While Japan was in denial about the state of All Might, believing that he would be around forever, the teen knew that they needed to prepare for when the day came when All Might's fist would be raised into the air for the last time. And the best person to start with was the man who would take up Japan's role as their Number One Hero when that day came. There was more he could do on his end.

"Can you share with me this research?" asked Endeavor, his voice slightly shaky.

[hr]

"This is heaven," sighed Uraraka aloud as she nearly allowed herself to become completely submerged into the bath water. She could feel the rising steam tickling her face, rolling over her cheeks and into her hair while the water itself cocooned her body below her neck in its warmth. The various bruises and aches she felt from today's training seemed to just fade away. Whether it was because there was some special mineral mixed in with the bath water, the heat itself, or just her mind doing it the anti-gravity girl didn't care. All she knew was that she was on cloud nine right now.

Soon a new sound, a light purr, escaped from Uraraka when she felt a hand caressing her outer thigh. Blushing due to the touch as well as the continued warmth of the bath, she opened one of her eyes slightly to see Tokage sitting next to her. Said girl had her eyes closed as she too surrendered herself to the joys of the bath water, her mossy green hair matted down. Tokage was also blushing, her smile seeming to grow slightly in realization that Uraraka was making no move to swat away her hand. Simply surrendering to her touch in complete acceptance of the feelings behind it.

As Uraraka continued to bask in the simple sensation, a part of her mind began to play out a scenario that made her toes curl in delight. In her fantasy, Tokage moved behind her so that Uraraka was on her lap. Somehow the brunette's mind began to grant her phantom stimulations of what it would feel like to be in this position. The feeling of the girl's breasts pressed against her naked back as they soaked in the water. The feeling of the other girl's hands running down her sides, starting at her lower thighs before slowly tracing their way up her body. Maybe then she would kiss her? A slight shudder escaped Uraraka, fantasizing on how that would go. Perhaps it would start with playful kisses on her shoulders before moving onto her neck. Or maybe Tokage would be more daring, turning Uraraka's head to the side in order to capture their lips. It would be a very memorable first kiss.

That was as far as Uraraka got, her mind shutting down the fantasy as she came back to reality. A reality where she, despite feeling a longing to do so, knew it would be wrong to reciprocate the affectionate touch. It had been while they were heading back to the main campus after their training that Pony had offered to see if they could use the dorm's private bathhouse. An offer that was met with excitement by many of the students as, while they trusted the teachers when they said they had checked to ensure all the hidden cameras had been removed, there was still that sense of unease whenever they entered. Something that they knew would fade in time as the memory became far more distant. While normally the use of the bathhouse was restricted to only those living in the dorms, Principal Nezu had given them the ok. No doubt wanting to help make them more comfortable.

Now, Uraraka found herself in the bathhouse along with all the other girls she had been training with. The bathhouse was not some large, grand structure behind the campus, but a single room located in the basement of the school dorms. The front part of the room held a six by six grid of cubical storage, each with a basket resting there for the students to place their clothing in. As for the rest of the room, the wall and floor were covered in small white tiles with several drains located in various spots. On either side of the room were stools placed in front of facets where students could rise themselves off before heading into the bath which took up the entire back of the room. Large enough so all the girls there could relax as they soaked in the water.

Yes, this was the reason Uraraka was unwilling to be affectionate with her somewhat girlfriend. Not because she was afraid doing so would somehow get back to Aizawa and he would expel her, as she was far past fearing that, but more so because she was uncomfortable displaying those affections in front of others. Especially since she was still uncertain where the two stood. In the short time they had known each other, Uraraka found Tokage to be an amazing woman. She could be all sorts of chaotic fun with a bit of a prankster side, but at the same time there was the heart of a hero beating inside her. One that would go out of her way to help someone else out, despite how much the person in question protested. She took all of Uraraka's worries and fears, crumbling them into a ball before tossing them over the girl's shoulder with a grin. The more time they spent together, the more Uraraka realized that she could love a girl the same way she loved a guy. Romantically.

So, why weren't they a couple yet? Well, Uraraka didn't know when the right moment would be to ask her to make this official. After all, how do you know when the moment is right? They had only really known each other for a short amount of time, so was she feeling love or was it lust? Should she give it more time to see if her feelings dipped? What if she waited too long and Tokage took that as a sign that Uraraka wasn't interested?

Shaking herself away from those thoughts, the brunette opened her eyes again to glance around the tub to see all of the other girls who had joined them. The first one she noticed was Ashido, the girl's pink skin standing out in a way that seemed to draw the eyes to her for a second longer. Said girl was leaning back in the water, head resting against the edge while her breasts stood out of the water like two small islands. Like this, Uraraka could see that her classmate's nipples were a slightly darker shade of pink. The only other girl in the water that could draw as much attention was the slime girl Katayama. When the girl had gotten into the water, Uraraka wanted to ask if that was alright since her body was, well, made of some slime-like substance. Her fear was that the warm water might cause her body to lose whatever sense of solidness it had. But she kept her tongue since the girl had lived with her body her entire life and clearly knew it better than she did.

Pony was also in the water, sitting next to Kawakami. The smallest of the girls was seated upright, using a towel to wipe the sweat off her face as she savored the water. As for the four serpents coming out of her back, they had extended themselves into the water so that their bodies dipped below the surface so that only their heads could be seen. All of their eyes were closed looking very peaceful. Though there was this sense that, should they be disturbed, they might lash out. Either with their fangs or their harsh words.

On the other side of Kawakami was a girl that Uraraka had barely interacted with named Haruka Pesuto. The girl was tall, almost as tall as Katayama, with long brown hair that went past her shoulder blades along with bangs that covered the entire right side of her face. But what was more unique about her hair was that parts of it seemed to stand upright or seemed shaggy. It was really hard to put one's finger on it as some of the people that Uraraka had talked to described it differently. Some people likened her hair to a dog's fur while others thought it reminded them of a shaggy rodent. Perhaps the snaggletooth sticking out of her upper jaw didn't help with either image. Beyond that, the girl's body was fairly average. Thanks to all of the work she had put in, she was in decent shape with not a whole lot of fat but not to the point where she was sporting a six pack underneath her well shaped, C-cup breasts. The only other thing that Uraraka could notice about her that was a little odd was her naturally sharp nails.

Pesuto was a general studies student and had apparently come closest in their track into getting into the hero program due to her quirk: Swarm. Similar to Tokage, the girl could break down her body into multiple parts. However, rather than having many different sized pieces that could fly around, Pesuto's parts transformed into small animals. While she could turn into a swarm of locusts, she much preferred becoming a swarm of rats or bats which shared a hive mind. What made her quirk even more impressive was that, as long as she didn't lose too many parts of herself, the girl could regrow any part of her body that she was missing when she reformed. The only real downside was that she was unable to switch between forms. Meaning if she wanted to make the transition from rats to bats, she needed to reassemble herself completely before making the change.

According to some of the other general studies students, Pesuto had been a force to be reckoned with during the entrance exam. When the exam had started, she had transformed herself into a swarm of bats in order to get a layout of the zone she was in before situating herself in an area far from the entrance that had plenty of robots. From there, it was a simple matter of turning herself into rats that chewed through the cords of the robots or found openings in their metal shells to exploit. In a matter of minutes, she had scored thirty points! So, how had she failed? Well, it was due to the fact that when she tried to help out others the other examinees had freaked out. Not that Uraraka could blame them. Who wouldn't be unsettled as a dozen or so rats came charging at you? Most of these people fled, but not in the direction Pesuto wanted and oftentimes into more danger. Thankfully, the girl wasn't penalized as the school recognized that she had been trying to help despite the number of people who were injured as a result.

"This is nice," sighed Pony. "Another thing to check off my list of things to do in Japan. A traditional Japanese bath."

"I would hold off on checking that off just yet," commented Katayama. "At least until you visit a real public bathhouse. Those are much better."

"Maybe we should do that after the Sports Festival," commented Kawakami. "My family operates a hotel with an attached bath house just outside the city. It's not as authentic as some of the ones in the country with outdoor bathing or hot springs, but it is nice."

"Really? That sounds awesome!" exclaimed Pony, her eyes lighting up. "Are you sure it won't be a problem?"

"No, none at all," replied Kawakami as she raised both her hands in a gesture that said it was nothing. "We sometimes reserve the bathhouse for private groups. Mostly heroes and their sidekicks. So there's a chance that we'll be able to do the same for the class."

"Let me guess, it was meeting one of those heroes that inspired you to become a hero," said Tokage with a teasing grin. Though, the grin didn't last long as she saw Kawakami's face fall while her shoulders slumped. At the same time, her sister's opened their eyes as their heads rose slightly out of the water. All of them, even the clueless head, seemed alter and ready to fight should the need arise.

"Actually, I wanted to become a hero to prove to someone I wasn't a villain," whispered the Hydra girl. Though the sound of a drop of water falling into the bath was much louder than the tone she used, everyone in the room could hear her as if she had screamed it. Ashido sat up, a fiery look in her eyes.

"Let me guess, some stupid bully," grumbled the pink skinned girl as she began to crack her knuckles. Though, as she said this, Kawakami looked ready to fold in on herself. To just curl up into a ball before sinking into the bottom of the bath. "That's so pathetic. Tearing someone else down just to make them feel better or some stupid power trip. Honestly, you have nothing to prove to people like that."

"W-What if that person is my mother?" asked Kawakami. Once more, the room became silent as everyone looked at the girl in shock.

Pony was the first to recover, standing up more out of instinct than anything else. "You're mom?" she repeated. At that, Kawakami's sister let out a collective hiss as they raised their heads.

"That evil she-beast tormented Aoi for years!"

"Then she has the gall to start acting like a real mother!"

"Like we would ever forget all the crap she's done!"

"She didn't even take us to Hero World."

At that, the other three heads turned to look at the one who had spoken last to give it a dead panned look.

"Sisters!" cried a red faced Kawakami, looking somewhere between being ready to cry and go into a rage. As the Hydra girl was trying to gain control over herself, Uraraka glanced around. The one who seemed the most indifferent to the situation seemed to be Pesuto, her only visible eye being half lidded as she glanced in Kawakami's direction. But, despite this, the level of focus she had made Uraraka wonder if that's how her serious face normally appeared. Katayama folded her arms across her chest, appearing deep in thought at the moment. As for Pony, she sank back into the water with an expression that betrayed her feelings. Feelings that mirrored both Ashido and Tokage. Based on how determined they were to help the anti-gravity girl, Uraraka was certain that none of them were going to just let this slide. If there was a parent who was abusing their child before them, they would act. And Uraraka would help, with or without being asked to.

After a moment, Kawakami seemed to regain her composure herself. Once she did, all it took was a quick glance around to read the emotions and intentions of the room.

"Everyone, please. It's not that bad anymore," said Kawakami quickly, waving her hands while her face clearly showed that she was regretting saying what she did. As for her sisters, well…

"Sis, you can't just say your mom bullied you and act like it's no big deal!"

"Doing that will just draw more attention!"

"Don't worry, we got your back!"

"I think it's story time."

At that, Kawakami let out a sigh before nodding her head in defeat. When the blue haired girl raised her head, everyone could see something in her eyes. Like she didn't want to tell them yet also knew that she had to. If Uraraka had to guess, it was because what she would tell them would bring back painful memories yet knew she had to get this off her chest. That as well as knowing that, if she didn't, most of them would be going to talk to Nezu about this.

"I guess I should start at the beginning," began Kawakami. "The first memories I had of my mother was just how cold and distant she was towards me. She never taught me how to eat properly, never cut up my food, held my hand when we crossed the street, or even took me to the playground. Whenever I approached her, she would give me a look that scared me. And during meal times she would just sit there, only speaking to me when she had to."

"As for my dad, it was like he was working twice as hard to be a good parent," continued the girl, a small smile appearing on her face. "Whenever I was having a bad day or had a nightmare, he was the first to be by my side. Or when I was having trouble, he would always offer to help or just be there when I needed to talk to someone. He would be the one to take me to the park, even when he was tired. On my first day of preschool, he took the entire day off from work just to walk me there and to walk me home. But, more importantly, he never gave up trying to get my mom to open up to me. So many times during dinner, he had to prod my mother into joining in on the conversation me and my dad were having."

"Why was your mom like that?" asked Ashido. "Was she like one of those people who didn't want a daughter or something?"

Then, the somber expression on Kawakami's face returned. "I actually asked my dad about that. Basically, I asked why my mother didn't love me." At that, Kawakami paused to swallow a lump in her throat. "The first time I asked, he just held me close and told me that she did love me but something happened to her that made it really difficult for her to show it. I…At the time, I thought she had been attacked by a villain. That he used some sort of quirk on her that made her like that. I guess that's how I became interested in heroes. Because, if there had been one there they could have forced the villain to undo what he did to my mother and we could be a happy family. When I said that, my dad just started crying. It wasn't until later that I realized that he let me think that because it was better than the truth."

"I think it was more because we could understand it better!"

"Says you! We could have handled the truth no problem!"

"Dad lost serious points with me once we found out the truth!"

"Points? Are we playing a game now?"

"When I started school, everything was fine," continued Kawakami. "You can imagine that I was the center of attention given my quirk. Everyone had so many questions and wanted to know more about my sisters. A few even wanted to pet them." At that, three of the heads made a noise of indignation while the fourth just let out a happy squeal. "Pretty soon, the other kids were asking me to come over to their homes to play or have a sleepover. But, on the first day I was supposed to visit a friend's house, I was told I couldn't come. And it kept happening. Soon, all the kids were keeping their distance from me. Then, when we were doing group projects, nobody wanted me to be part of their group. Even when the teachers forced me in with them, they wouldn't let me contribute. There was one time that really stuck with me. There was a boy who, when I became a part of their group, started to cry. He wailed and wailed, saying that I was a villain because of my quirk and if anyone saw him working with me then they would think that he was helping a villain. Then All Might would come and beat him up and he didn't want to get punched by All Might and to please not make him work with me."

By this point, Kawakami's voice had hitched. As the girl began to hug herself tightly, tears leaking from her eyes, both Pony and Ashido began to comfort the girl. Both wrapped their arms around the girl's shoulders to bring her into a side by side hug.

"You don't have to," began Uraraka, raising her hand as she spoke. But before she could continue her sentence, the Hydra girl shook her head.

"I later found out what had happened," breathed Kawakami. "Near the end of the year, a new girl transferred to our class. At first she ignored what all the others said about me, asking to be my friend. But later that night, I heard the phone ring which was answered by my mother. I don't know who she was speaking to…but I remember what she said. That I was like a snake in the grass, waiting for the moment to strike. That I would poison her daughter. Nothing more than a villain in the making. It really hurt to know that's what my mother thought of me as.

"As time went by, things grew worse. At school, I was known as a villainess in the making. Most people ignored me and the only people who ever wanted to talk to me were the troublemakers, thinking that I was like them. But eventually, even they stopped approaching me. I think they took my constant refusal to mean that I planned on shaking down the entire school all on my own. The teachers pretty much ignored me as well. Back at home, everything was fine as long as my dad was around. My mother, she pretty much kept up her cold demeanor towards me as long as he was home. But, when it was just the two of us, she would make these passing comments about how I was wrong. If I messed something up, she would go on a long tangent about how I was a villain trying to screw up her life. I thought about going to my dad countless times to tell him everything that she was doing, but I was afraid. What if I told him and he turned against me as well? Or he didn't believe me? I was so scared to lose him. He was the only one who was nice to me.

"Then, one day when I was in middle school, I stumbled upon this web site. It was for people who society said had villainous quirks. A place for people to share their stories, swapping advice, and being a general support system. That's actually where I first met Shinso, though not face to face. Honestly, going onto that site became the highlight of my day. It was nice to talk to someone who could understand what I was going through and encourage me. It was there that Shinso told me about his dream to become a hero because that's just what he wanted to do. Well, I admitted to him about what I thought when I was a child. About what I thought a villain did to my mother. But since then, it became my dream to become a hero in order to prove to my mother how wrong she was about me. That I'm not a villain. I almost didn't send him that message, thinking that he would have said something like 'you have nothing to prove to her' or something like that. But, he just said it was a good dream and that he would be rooting for me."

Kawakami then took a deep breath. "Shortly after that, my mother finally lost it. I had left my room to use the restroom and, ah, when I returned I found my mother standing by my desk with her face all red. I had apparently left the door open and she saw the site I was on. She began to scream at me, thinking that the site was something to help villains recruit other members rather than to support people who needed help. She yelled and screamed so loudly that the neighbors could hear it. They called my dad, thinking that someone was being attacked. He raced back and, when he entered my room, he found me on the floor after my mother backhanded me. It was the first time she had ever struck me, all because my sisters couldn't take it anymore and hissed at her.

"My dad was beyond furious. One moment he's standing at the door and the next he's holding me while we sat on the bed, while his eyes were locked onto my mother while yelling at her. I don't know how long they were at it, but they got into the biggest fight I had ever seen them in. My mother said that he was always soft on me, turning a blind eye to the fact that I was a-" Kawakami stopped, gulping loudly as she brushed away tears that were forming in her eyes. "My dad just shot back that he was done with her insanity. That he had tried to be understanding and patient with her but he just couldn't do it anymore. Not after striking me. And especially what she called me. In the end, he gave her an ultimatum: she could either visit a counselor with me to finally work out her problem or leave for good. In the end, she took the counseling mainly because she thought she could get the person on her side.

"That's when I found out why she hated me so much. See, when I was born, I already had my sister with me. They didn't just grow out of my back when I turned four. So, when I was in the hospital and she was nursing me for the first time, my sisters bit into her breast and unleashed a poison into her system. Since she was still weak from giving birth to me, the poison really hurt her despite being very weak. According to her, it was touch and go. Then, when she saw me again, all she saw was a giggling baby who seemed happy to see her in that state."

"Whoa, hold on there," said Tokage, looking ready to stand as her face flushed with rage. "Are you telling me that your mother got the idea that you were a villain based on what you did before you were even potty trained?" A similar rage filled Uraraka as she couldn't understand how this woman could be so cruel for something that was clearly an accident.

"Yeah," breathed Kawakami in an unsteady manner. "The counselor tried to be somewhat understanding towards my mother, that she went through something horrible. But then he began breaking down the situation, doing his best to get my mother to see just how unfounded her rationale was. It wasn't easy. By the end of the first week, we got into some screaming matches. Just yelling at each other until our throats were soar and we were panting. I just…I just wanted her to understand what she had done to me, how she had affected my life for years. How much it hurt. That she had never reached out to get to know me despite all the times I tried to get to know her. It took about a month and a half for her to realize what she had done." At that, Kawakami's 'sisters' smirked.

"Oh, the look on that bitch's face when she realized just what a horrible piece of scum she is burnt into my memory."

"Or how she ran to the trashcan to begin vomiting."

"My only regret was that there wasn't any popcorn to munch on as she wailed."

"Popcorn? Where?"

As Kawakami looked at the serpent heads, hands raised in a 'calm down' gesture with her eyes whited out like dish plates, Ashido gave her a raised eyebrow. "So, I take it that everything is better now?"

"Oh, much better," said Kawakami, a slight smile appearing on her face. "Honestly, it's been like living with a completely different person since that day. At first, she was in this state of depression. But when it ended, she's been a bit, ah, what's the word?"

"Clingy?"

"Possessive?"

"Obsessive?"

"Overly attached?"

"Yes, I think overly attached is the best way I can put it," said Kawakami, the other three heads giving their more ditzy brained sister an annoyed look. "I think she's trying really hard to make up for all the years she's been a…less than ideal mother to me. So now she's being overly supportive while also doing her best to make sure that I'm happy. Like she had me transferred to a different school so that I could get away from all the rumors and stigma that surrounded me because of her. And whenever there's been a school function, she can get really loud and, er, energized. There's also the weekly shopping trips she was taking me on, even though I don't really buy anything."

"She also just looks different."

"Mother used to have this look like that wicked stepmother from that Disney movie about Cinderella."

"But now she's super expressive and energized."

"She even has a wide eyed puppy dog pout when she feels left out."

"Guess everything is good now," said Pesuto, speaking for the first time. Uraraka was a little surprised by how the girl sounded as her voice was a little deeper, a little more throaty than one would expect. Like she had something permanently stuck in her throat or suffering from too much smoking. "So why are you still trying to become a hero?"

Kawakami gave the girl a slight look. "Well, that's a little hard to explain," she began. "I guess part of the reason is that I'm afraid that one day she'll slip back into how she used to be. That if something goes wrong, she'll start thinking I'm a villain again. And dad's been so much happier since mother changed it might break him. But, maybe, if I'm in the hero program or a real hero I can prevent that. But the other reason is…I haven't forgotten all the people who helped me during the darkest time. The people on that web site. If I can become a good hero then I can give them hope. Show them and the rest of the world that it's not the quirk that determines if you're a hero or a villain, but what you decide to do with it."

"I can kind of see where you're coming from," said Pesuto with a nod before holding up one of her arms. "I've gotten a lot of shit from people, calling me a freak because of my quirk. But I want to own that freakiness and get paid for it. My goal is to get on the list of Heroes Who Look Like Villains list." The girl then let out a dark chuckle before turning her gaze to Katayama. "What about you? What's your sob story?"

The slime girl let out an annoyed sigh before getting out of the way. "Don't have one," she said. "Not everyone needs some tragedy or inspirational moment that made them decide to become a hero. Just wanted to be one, simple as that."

[hr]

Izuku sat on Pony's bed, his head slightly lowered as he sat there in silence. A silence that was broken only when the door was opened. Looking up, Izuku saw it was the owner of the room walking in with her hair still slightly damp. Upon seeing him, she gave him a slight smile yet said nothing. Simply walking across the room to sit next to him.

After a moment of comfortable silence, Pony finally said something. "Rough day," she said. It wasn't a question, just a simple statement.

"Yeah," replied Izuku after inhaling deeply. "I…found it difficult to stay in my room. I was only in there for like twenty minutes to send an email before I just…just had to get out. Seeing All Might's face, remembering all the stuff he said on T.V., got me wondering how much of it was real before he had a change of heart or if he was just lying to us this entire time. Like that time he said people are more than their parent's quirks. Given how much value he seemed to put on quirks during our lesson, determining the role people play if they have quirks or not. My mind-" Izuku was interrupted when he felt Pony reach out to cup his cheek. The warmth of her hand was a comfort, surrendering to it as the scent of the bath filled his nostrils.

"I understand," said Pony, smiling lightly. "All Might's been your favorite hero all your life. What he said today, I'm sure it rocked you to your core. No doubt it will take some time for you to come to terms with this new information and decide how you feel about it all. I'd let you spend the night here, but since Uraraka is moving in…" As Pony's words trailed off, Izuku's hand reached up so that his fingers lightly wrapped around his girlfriend's wrist to keep her hand there a bit longer. The offer was one that he could have enjoyed, losing himself in the simple touches of Pony's body as they held each other throughout the night. Yet, while Uraraka was a factor in why they couldn't do this, Izuku also knew that he shouldn't. That he'd just be ignoring his problems which would still be there when he eventually had to return to his room. A room where the smiling faces of the man he had so long admired giving him hope during his younger days would soon feel like mockery. He had to make a decision and the sooner he did so the better.

"It was pretty rough for me as well today," admitted Pony, her eyes looking downward as her smile faded. "Before I went to Nezu's office, I started thinking some pretty nasty things about this one person from 1-A. I think her name is Yaoyorozu." At that, Izuku blinked in surprise as Pony pulled her hand away. As the teen stared at his girlfriend, who lowered her head slightly, he tried to think of what the Class Rep of 1-A could have done. Overall, based on their limited interactions, she hadn't done anything. She had never spoken to him or their class in a condescending manner like Monoma. Nor had she been openly hostile or acted like an entitled asshole like that Bakugo guy. However, she had never really done anything for them. While she had apologized for what had happened during the lunchroom incident, she had not taken any steps to prevent the rest of her class from harassing them. In fact, from what Izuku had gleaned from his conversations with Ashido, she hadn't spoken to them about correcting their behavior. Apparently she had allowed Ida, the same guy who tried to downplay Kawakami's sexual harassment, to take that role.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I saw what she was doing to get ready for the Sports Festival," replied Pony, her voice coming out more like a growl. She then gripped at the sheets on her bed tightly before turning to look at Izuku. "And do you know what 'Miss I Got In On Recommendation' is doing? Studying! Everyone else is giving this their all, training every part of themselves in order to show the world what they're made of! But her?! From what I've been told, she locks herself away in the library and just reads books!"

"Oh," was all Izuku could say at the moment as he watched Pony bite her thumb. Yeah, something like this made sense given what line of work her mother was in. Not to mention that she was also the type of person who hated letting others down. To see someone else seeming to half-ass something as big as this while representing the entire school was probably driving her up the wall. Thankfully, Izuku had seen this enough in the past and knew how to calm the horned girl down. "Well, maybe she's just taking advantage of the library for her quirk and training at home. Or somewhere else."

Pony gave him a sideways look, slowly removing her thumb from between her teeth as she did so. "Are you suggesting that our school's library has better information than the internet and that she has access to better training at home than the training facilities here on campus?" she asked in an almost deadpanned voice.

At that, Izuku let out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, when you put it that way it does sound a little dumb," he admitted. Still, he gave the girl beside him a smile. "But, if she doesn't want anyone to really know what she's training on it would be the best option. 1-A is going all lone wolf. At least, according to Uraraka and Ashido. So it would make sense for them to keep whatever training they were doing from each other. If Yaoyorozu needs some knowledge to make her creations, then it would stand to reason she would prefer to study up here and then learn how to wield said items in the privacy of her own home."

For a moment, Pony just continued to stare at Izuku before letting out a sigh. "Never thought of it like that," she said before plopping her back against the bed. She then let out a sigh. "It just really digs at me, you know. And I hate that I was thinking like that about someone I didn't know. But at the same time I just couldn't help it!"

"It's fine," said Izuku, falling backwards so that he could lay next to her. Together they laid there, staring up at the ceiling as their hands found the others. Slowly their fingers began to intertwine.

"So," said Pony after a few minutes of silence. "Who did you email?"

"It was two people actually," said Izuku. "Remember what we were talking about at the restaurant? About All Might's time getting shorter? I decided to tell Endeavor about it."

At that, Pony lifted her head. "You did?" she asked, surprised. "And he believed it?"

"I don't think he did at first," commented Izuku, turning his head to look at Pony without lifting it. "Not that I could blame him. When I was doing that report, I had all the information staring me in the face and refused to accept the possibility of what was happening. It took Mr. Blackhound pointing it out and explaining it for me to see it. So, I did my best to explain to Endeavor how over the years All Might's heroic appearances have been slowly decreasing by measurable intervals and what that meant. When I was done, I offered to share with him my research and he said to have it emailed to him. I had brought the drive with me containing my report as well as all the links to my sources with me so it was a simple matter of attaching the files.

"As for why, well, Japan needs to be ready for when that day comes. Endeavor has been the number two hero here in Japan for years. If there is anyone with the skills and resources to begin filling in the shoes left by All Might, then it would be him. The more time he has to prepare for that day, I'm sure there will be far less chaos." Izuku then paused to let out a sigh. "I know that those will be uncertain days and I want to do all I can to help. But, as I am right now, there is a limit to what I can do. But Endeavor, there's so much more he can accomplish. So even if he gets all the credit, as long as the people will feel secure, I'll be happy knowing I've done my part."

"Makes sense," said Pony.

"The other person I emailed was Blackhound himself," stated Izuku. "I said I'd do it. I'm going to tell the world about Quirk Rebirth."

Pony's eyes widened at that, almost sitting up at that moment. "You are?"

"Yeah," said Izuku. "I had some interesting conversations today that really got me thinking. Endeavor told me that he believed that someone quirkless could still become a hero. Not a great one, but one all the same. However, that lack of a quirk would seriously limit how far they could reach. Another conversation I had with a hero I met back at the beach, well, that was another eye opener. Honestly, it felt like he sided more with All Might but being more polite. But, he did say something that made me think: who's going to give the quirkless a chance to show what they can do? Who's going to take a chance training a quirkless person the way we were trained? Who's going to build support gear for a quirkless teen with a limited future when they could make something for someone with an amazing quirk? And there's the problem. There maybe people out there like Endeavor who see the possibility that someone without a quirk could become a hero, but they need so much help that most won't believe it's worth it." Izuku then paused to take a breath. "Right now, Blackhound is the only person out there offering the quirkless a chance at becoming heroes and leading a normal life. Everyone else is treating the quirkless like their made of thin glass, more fragile than someone who is simply born with an extra pair of eyes or can make everything they touch taste like pudding."

"Yeah, that was a weird birthday party," replied Pony, a slight smile on her face as she remembered her eighth birthday party where that happened.

Briefly, Izuku smiled at the memory of that day. How everyone at the party had thought that they were going to be getting a confetti cake only to discover that it tasted more like tapioca pudding. "I know it means changing them on a genetic level, but it just feels like it's the only way," continued Izuku, his smile fading as he had to leave memories of better days behind to face the reality that was the present. "If there is still a majority of people out there thinking the same as All Might, then no one is ever going to give them a real chance to show what they're made of. It won't matter how much they want to do the right thing or are willing to lay down their lives for a cause they believe in. It won't matter to them if the person has built a metal suit to fight villains and rescue people. It won't matter if that person has trained in hand to hand combat or learned how to wield a sword. Nothing will matter to them once they see that the person has a quirkless status on his documents before telling them to go somewhere else. And when everyplace is like that, where do those people go? Where do they find their purpose after all of the world tells them 'we don't want you'?"

As Izuku spoke, his mind began to run through different scenarios. Using himself as a model, he began to imagine what it would be like for him to try his hand at being a scientist. In this fantasy, he imagined himself studying as hard as he could, pushing his brain as far as he could go to understand everything he could in his field while also crafting out his own theories and such. Then, after finally getting a degree, the imaginary version of him was denied getting a job. Some people saying it was a safety issue, that they were only looking out for his well-being. Others being less polite as they stated that they weren't going to put money down to 'baby proof' the lab for just one person. He could even imagine some people talking in a patronizing tone, saying that it was impressive that someone with his shortcomings had managed to do so much but since he didn't have a quirk that improved his intelligence or something similar then they doubted that he could keep up.

He could honestly imagine several other scenarios out there making him wonder what would be left. Would all the workless people out there just get stuck doing the jobs no one else wanted to do? Would they be treated even more like second class citizens to the point where they would have to risk their health, working long hours, constantly being threatened with getting fired at a moment's notice all while barely getting enough money to survive? Was that the great future of the world? Then he thought about what Pony said about the suicide rate in America. If things got worse for the quirkless, he could see those figures rising.

Taking a breath, Izuku came back to his realization. All his life, he had expected heroes to always be the ones to save the day. The ones who were meant to reassure the public while giving them hope. And they did all that…to a certain extent. But who saved the day for the quirkless? Sure, if they were in a crowd of people, the heroes would save them from a villain attack or natural disaster. The sad thing was, once that danger was over, that was it. Thinking back, Izuku couldn't recall a single time he had heard All Might speaking out for quirkless rights. To be fair, he couldn't recall Endeavor or any other hero doing it either but he wasn't as big of a fan of other heroes. Plus, he expected more from the man who always said 'I Am Here!' and that you shouldn't let your parent's quirks define you. Except when you were quirkless which, in that case, it does seem to define you. Overall, he didn't expect to see the heroes launching campaigns to help stop the bullying of the quirkless, discrimination, or even abuse anytime soon. Maybe his classmates, given how they reacted to All Might today, would someday in the future when they became heroes themselves.

While that was an uplifting thought, it still deepened Izuku's frown. If that ever came to happen, it would be too far into the future. There was also the chance that, even if he's retired, All Might would speak out against this. Right now, Blackhound was the only one willing to give them a chance to follow their dreams. Offering them a chance at a normal life. The only one willing to save the day for those born without quirks.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" asked Pony, her voice full of concern. "You know that, once you tell the world, nothing will ever be the same. For you."

To that, Izuku nodded. "I've had over ten years of living like a normal person," he said before reaching out to stroke Pony's hair. "That's more than I ever could have dreamed of receiving if Quirk Rebirth had never existed. It's time I paid my due. Blackhound is right, the world needs to know that the quirkless can live a perfectly normal life by accepting this process. I can help all those people struggling to hang on, give them hope for a better tomorrow. I'll be the sidekick to the hero Blackhound as we change the world."

"Alright," said Pony simply. Then, she smiled at the teen in a way that sent a shiver of pleasure down his spine. Before Izuku knew it, Pony was on top of him. "But, there is one thing you got wrong. You are not the sidekick mister. You are the hero."

"No," replied Izuku slowly. "Pretty sure the hero is the person who has been funding and making sure this project didn't die. I'm just the spokesperson."

"Oh really?" asked Pony as she gave her boyfriend a quick kiss on the lips, the sound of their lips pressing against each other filling the room. "Then it looks like it's up to me to boost your confidence levels up."

Izuku opened his mouth to argue with her only to be silenced as Pony's mouth covered his own. His eyes then closed, savoring the feeling as the girl's tongue entered his mouth with their teeth began to lightly press against each other. Both teens moaned loudly as pleasure began to course through them.

From there, their bodies went on autopilot as they lost themselves in their mutually shared affections. Both surrendered themselves to the taste and touch of the other as the flow of time began nonexistent. One moment they were lying on the bed with Pony on top of him. The next, Izuku found himself in a rather interesting position. The teen was seated upright with Pony on his lap, the girl's back pressed against his chest. One of Izuku's hands had reached under his girlfriend's shirt, groping and kneading her breast as his mouth toyed with her neck. Somehow he was aware that he had been kissing, sucking, and licking along her neck with such passion that Pony had thrown her head back multiple times. As for the American girl, she had been grinding her ass against his crotch which was demanding to be released from its constraints. The only sound that could be heard was Pony's honey sweet moans and whimpers as they lost themselves in the pleasure.

Then, as her grinding turned into bouncing on his lap, Pony turned her head fully to capture Izuku's lips again. Sadly, the kiss only lasted a moment as the sound of something heavy being dropped onto the floor caught their attention.

Breaking from the kiss, both teens turned to see something that caused their faces to turn red with embarrassment. The door was open and standing there was, thankfully, not their parents. Instead there was an equally red face Uraraka, her arms outstretched in a manner to show she had been holding something. No doubt it was the box that now laid at her feet. Standing next to the anti-gravity girl, who now had steam rising from her head as her face seemed to glow in the dark light, was Tokage. There was a light dusting of red on her cheeks, legs pressed together as they rubbed against each other, as she stood silently. Her lips formed a wobbly smile, a bit of drool running down to her chin.

"Ah, how long have you too been there?" asked Pony, not even bothering to ask how they had gotten in. Izuku had known that a temporary key had been made for Uraraka for her stay as he had been given his girlfriend's spare.

"Oh," began Tokage in a sing-song tone, lifting her arm up to check the non-existent watch on her wrist. For a moment, she stood there pretending to check the time while Uraraka continued to short circuit. When she finished, Tokage turned to them with a toothy grin. "I'd say about five minutes. Don't let us stop you."

[hr]

At the same time, Enji Todoroki was seated on the back porch of his house overlooking his massive backyard. Large enough to fit a party composed of one hundred Fat Gum clones comfortably. The majority of it was a traditional Japanese garden that had been begun by his wife. Several sakura trees rested by an oval-ish shaped pound that had a small bridge placed over it. More flowers decorated the area along with shrubs to bring forth a calming atmosphere. For the most part, he had left it untouched since she had been taken away and was maintained by professionals that he hired. If anything died, he would have it replaced with an exact copy before the sun set. But there was one part of it that he, and only he, tended to. Hidden in the back of the garden near the corner wall, was a large patch of flowers that he had planted the day she left. Those blooms were Rei's favorite flower, something she had only mentioned to him once on the day they first met. Better days when he was not the harsh, cold man that the rest of hero society knew him as today. Now he grew these flowers himself, delivering fresh ones for his wife every month without ever being seen.

However, while the beauty of the garden would normally help ease the man's mind, especially when the moon was out like this, Enji's thoughts were a jumbled mess as he sat there with a photo album open on his lap. Currently he was looking at a picture of himself, Rei, and Toya. The image showed his first born son launching a fire blue streak of flames from out of his palm, looking annoyed that he couldn't already do the same as his father. Rei was shown standing off to the side, hands pressed together and seeming happy in this moment. As for Enji, he stood there watching the young child who seemed ready to sulk with a half smile on his face.

Looking at this image had always been hard for him, a reminder of how things used to be. Back when he wasn't completely obsessed with his goal of having a Todoroki beating All Might. A time when he felt his family's love and warmth with the future looking so bright. A moment in time that had been burned away, never to return.

Before tonight, whenever he looked at this picture, he had often felt regret for how he had handled things. He still remembered sitting Toya down after they had found out about Shoto's quirk, telling his first born son that he was stopping their training. He recalled the hurt in his son, feeling like he was being replaced. The fight that had ensued. Enji wished with all his heart he had handled it better as all he wanted was his son's safety. Perhaps if he had just said that he was putting their training on hold until he found support equipment to help with the drawback of Toya's quirk then this whole mess would have been avoided. However he had to live with the reality of what he'd done. He had trained Toya to do one thing and then took that purpose away. He…He wasn't paying enough attention to his boy. He didn't even know that Toya had snuck out of the house until it was too late and by the time he did the flames were everywhere and his son…

Unable to look at the picture any longer, especially with what he knew now, Enji couldn't hold back the tears as he turned the page going back further in time. Now he looked at himself, standing in front of his first hero agency headquarters with a bright smile on his face. While his eyes stared down at the man he once was, his mind recalled how he felt that day. That he was one step closer to achieving his dreams of becoming the number one hero in Japan. The excitement on that young man's face seemed like mockery to the older version of him. Everything he had done had been for that one goal. Every horrible decision he had made, all for a rank. He had pressed on, despite the numerous chances and signs that told him to turn around. Toya's death should have been the biggest sign, one that the man in this picture would have seen coming a mile away. But to the Endeavor of the modern day, he couldn't stop. He had to keep pushing his son all for that one goal in his life. Because it was his dream. But also, if he had stopped, then all the sacrifices he had made would have been for nothing. That was why he pushed Shoto so much harder than he ever had Toya, because he didn't want his son's death to be rendered meaningless. And if his son could stand there, at the top of the hero world, then everything wasn't for nothing.

Only…

"Dad?" came a voice, pulling Enji from his thoughts. Lifting his head, he spotted Fuyumi standing there by the doorway leading into the main building. Her mostly white hair with streaks of red looked more messy than normal while she increased the grip she had on the blanket wrapped around her. He could see that his eyes looked slightly bloodshot from behind her glasses. No doubt she had been crying for some time in her room, scared about her attempted abduction.

"Yes?" asked Enji.

"Can I sit with you?" his daughter asked weakly. "I don't want to be alone right now."

"Of course," said Enji, gesturing to the spot next to him. Briefly he wondered if she had asked Shoto or if the boy even knew about what had happened. These days, his son went straight to his room taking his dinner in with him and leaving the empty dishes at the door for someone else to pick up. And it had been the same today when Enji had managed to stumble home. However, all that was shoved to the side as Fuymi sat next to him, pressing her body next to him. Seeking his warmth. Seeking the protection of her father. Something he had rarely, if ever, done for her growing up.

"H-Have I ever shown you a picture of your grandfather?" asked Enji, shoving that guilt aside. Seeing Fuyumi shake her head, an act that only added to his quickly building mountain of regrets, the hero turned the pages of the album before stopping at a picture of himself back when he was in middle school standing next to a man in a hero costume. The man was not nearly as muscular as Endeavor was now, but he was a tall man with a well built body along with a pointed red beard on his chin and a thin mustache. As for his hair, it was more of an orange-ish red that had been shaped to look like dancing flames. His father's costume was mostly red but the speedo he wore over it along with his boots, gloves, and cape were all orange.

"Grandfather was a hero?" asked Fuyumi, leaning closer towards the album. As she did, Enji wondered if it was because she was really interested or if it was because she was doing her best to take her mind off that nightmare. Maybe both?

Or maybe it was because this was the first time he was sharing something like this with her.

Regardless, Enji continued as tears threatened to spill from his eyes. "He…was," breathed the man, a surge of emotions flooding his body. "He was a good man. Died trying to save a kid inside a burning building. Everyone told him not to do it, that he should just give up because anyone still inside was probably dead. He didn't listen. I remember what the detectives told me after the fact. The kid was probably dead by the time my father reached him and by that point he was running low on oxygen. He suffocated long before the flames burned him. Everything he did that day…was…for nothing."

Now Enji was gripping the book tightly with both hands, tears now running uncontrollably down his face. As he looked down at his younger self, he saw an image of Midoriya looking back at him. At first, Enji had thought that the kid was out of his mind or had read some crazy crackpot conspiracy theory on the web. But when he locked eyes on the boy, he saw something there that made him want to hear him out. To listen to what he had to say. What he heard, shocked the man to his core. Midoriya had broken it down, citing how All Might's public appearances over the last five or so years had been in decline with a steady interval. When you take that in along with the man's age it made you consider the idea that time was catching up with the hero.

When Enji had gotten home, he had skimmed over the report that Midoriya had done and sent to him. But, even before he had looked at it, the pro hero had given what the teen had said some thought during his ride home. All Might's appearances were lessening. He was cutting his public presence with the media more often. At one point, he would be doing constant interviews and appearing on some late night talk show on any network in any country around the world. But now that Enji thought about it, he had heard rumors that on certain days All Might would have to cancel an appearance. At the time, he had thought that the man was just being vain and blowing it off on a whim since the streets were quiet. Or the man would be spotted in an area for a few hours then suddenly disappear. Thankfully most of the heavy lifting was done, but there was still work that needed to be finished. Again, Enji had rolled his eyes when he heard this thinking that All Might was just prepping himself for an interview or something. But, did those interviews happen? He would personally need to look into it.

It only took a brief skimming of Midoriya's lengthy, yet well written and organized report, for him to see that the teen's theory had merit. There was a decline in villain battles and appearances, limited to a few hours a day that had been steadily decreasing more and more as time went by.

That realization brought Enji to this moment as another horrifying one appeared before it. Everything he had done to get to this point had been meaningless. His marriage to Rei in order to produce a child who could surpass him, training Toya and his eventual death, training Shoto, ignoring his family, Rei's breakdown, his coldness, and every other fucking thing he had done with the intent of someone else taking down All Might had been rendered mute! It was so maddening! Time did the one thing he could never do.

As the tears fell onto the picture, he looked over at his daughter's surprised expression. But before she could say anything, Enji dropped the album to embrace her tightly. He felt her stiffen by this sadly unfamiliar embrace, her mind doing its best to process what was going on. Yet his hold on her never slacked as he kept them close.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her ear, earning a gasp. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Fuyumi, I'm sorry." On and on, Enji continued to repeat himself as Fuyumi's shoulder became damp with his tears. Eventually, her body began to relax as she returned the hug but never said a word.

Enji just continued to show his weakness for the first time. He had lost so much because of his dream. He could have been happy, could have been content with the number two ranking knowing he had so much more than All Might. He had a family, a great home, the lifestyle that so many others out there dreamed of. Why couldn't he appreciate what he had? And he had lost his chance to make so many memories with them, spending time with them. Laughing at the dinner table, sharing holiday moments, going on family trips that he would remember for years to come. He had lost his first born. He had lost his wife to madness. And today he almost lost his only daughter.

Well, Enji Todoroki was done losing things that should have been more important to him than some stupid rank. This may be another unattainable dream, but he was going to salvage whatever he could out of the mess that was his life.

And to start, he was going to take Nezu up on his offer.

[hr]

"My, my, my. What wonderful hotties I see before me," said the man known to the majority of the Matchmakers as Mr. Ooze. The slime haired man's grin never left his phone, the image on the screen reflecting the images of several tasty looking girls from U.A. sent to him by his nephew.

Now if only Mr. Pockets wasn't in the room. Then he could have some release.

"That stunt was idiotic my friend," said the black man, his tone very neutral. "Going after Endeavor's daughter during the day? You know that's not how we do things."

Before Mr. Ooze could let out a groan of annoyance, a pleading whimpering voice escaped from the cage he was currently sitting on. Though the man's smile never seemed to fade, he quickly kicked the heavily reinforced bars that were already showing bite marks. The action caused the 'thing' in the cage to scamper in the back, knocking over the food bowl he had placed in it.

"Come on, cut me some slack," said Mr. Ooze as he jumped off the cage. Landing on his feet, he did a little twirl before facing his associate within the Matchmakers. "I saw that tasty little treat just walking down the street. We've had buyers wanting that girl for years. Not just because of her ice quirk but also because she's the daughter of that asshole. The opportunity to have some fun with her was just too hard to resist. Especially since I've been stuck here, looking after this 'thing'. It just doesn't do anything for me."

Mr. Ooze continued to grin, showing off all his teeth, even when Mr. Pockets pulled a gun out of his special little storage dimension and pointed it at him. Though there was a bead of sweat running down his head.

"We are close to finally getting our hands on U.A. students without anyone suspecting us," growled Mr. Pockets, his aim never wavering. "All thanks to those fools in the League of Villains. The last thing we need right now is Endeavor breathing down our neck. I swear, if there are any loose ends I will-"

"Oh ye of so little faith," sighed Mr. Ooze while shrugging dramatically. "How long have we known each other? Since the days when we were Negotiators? When have I ever gone in without some sort of plan? I only met that pile of sludge that morning, bonding over our slimy quirks. Never even revealed my real name or what my quirk can really do. As for Endeavor's bitch, well, he thought we were just going to take the heroes down a peg like the League did. Pretty sure the heroes will think we're just fanboys or trying to get recruited to whatever nonsense their planning."

Mr. Pockets remained silent for a moment. "I really should shoot you," said the man before slowly lowering his gun. "Make a move like that all on your own again, without orders, and a bullet in the head will seem like a dream. Is that clear Mineta?"

Mr. Ooze chuckled. "Oh, using my real name," he said before letting out a defeated sigh. "Ok, ok. Looks like you're serious. But don't keep me waiting too long. There are only so long that pictures can keep me entertained before I want the real thing."