Chapter 31: Truths and Training

Itsuka Kendo could hear everyone around her yawning. Which was understandable, considering that they were all woken up before the sun was even fully out of the horizon. Still, a lack of a full eight hours of sleep wasn't exactly on the top of the orange-haired girl's mind right now.

"We're focusing on our Quirks?" she asked her teacher.

"Class A is already training. You all need to catch up," Vlad King said, as he gestured for his class to follow behind him. "Last semester, Class A was in the spotlight. This semester, it's Class B's turn. From now on, you're shooting to the top. DON'T LET ME DOWN!"

Itsuka could already tell that their teacher's speech was affecting some of her fellow classmates. Both Kurorio and Bondo were covering their faces in shame, and if it wasn't for the tears leaking out of Tetsutestu's eyes, she would have assumed he was constipated.

"I get you want everyone to improve our Quirks, but we have twenty unique powers in our class," Tokage said. "What kind of training will help all of us get better?"

Rin seemed to agree with her. "Yeah, can you be more specific?"

"When your muscle fibers are overused, they break and grow back tougher, thicker" Vlad King explained. "Quirks are the same way. They improve the harder you push them, stronger after every workout. In other words, there's only one thing to do… you'll have to break yourselves!"

As their mentor finished up his little speech, Class B managed to finally leave the forest, coming out into the open field only to see… what could best be described as several torture sessions.

Bakugou was dipping his hands in hot water, and then unleashing several explosions. Todoroki seemed to be dipped in a tub of water, and he was regulating the temperature of the water by both boiling it and freezing it, along with himself. Sero was on the top of a hill, shooting tape out of his elbows, and if the fact he was on his knees didn't give away that he was in pain, his screaming definitely did. Ojiro and Kirishima, meanwhile, were hitting each other, with Kirishima hardening himself every time he got hit with Ojiro's tail, or somehow… reflecting it?

Kaminari, meanwhile, was running a bunch of electrical currents through a high-capacity battery, and boy, did that look uncomfortable. Koda was just… screaming. Aoyama was arching up his back, and launching massive lasers continuously into the sky, as if he was some sort of sky portal from the MCU. Itsuka couldn't see Tokoyami, but given the screeching coming from one of the dark caves nearby, she probably didn't want to know what was going on in there. Iida actually didn't seem to be in pain, oddly enough, as he was just… running around.

Asui was climbing up the side of a wall by using her entire body, including her tongue. Sato was scarfing down cakes and sugars while using both aspects of his Quirk. Yaoyorozu was actually doing the same, except her treat of choice was chocolates, and she was creating a massive pile of matryoshka dolls at the same time. Jiro and Ashido were actually at the same wall, with Jiro using her earlobes to pierce into it, and Ashido continuously shooting acid at it.

Hagakure seemed to be flipping between her invisible and new visible mode (thankfully with her costume), while Shoji was rapidly creating organs from his arms to find her in some sort of game of hide-and-seek. Shinso was just… standing there, his face in a sweat, as he seemed to be increasing the time he could have someone under his control, if the motionless kid in front of him was any indication. And Kodai was running around the side of the mountain, dodging a bunch of falling boulders, and shrinking any of them that got too close to her.

"Oh, man," Kaibara whimpered. "This is pretty intense…"

"Emitter-types will be raising your limits, maxing out your power," Vlad King said, without even blinking. "And the rest… you'll mostly focus on strengthening body parts related to your Quirks. Now normally, these changes happen gradually, as you grow…"

"But we don't have time for that," a familiar voice said. Yeah, even without the all-black and sleep deprivation, Itsuka could tell it was Eraserhead. "Your class has a lot of work to do."

Yeah, no, all of this was a bit too much, even for a sports fanatic like Itsuka. She was starting to get somewhat intimidated by all this, and the girls around her seemed to be of similar mindsets, given that Yanagi whispered to her, "Once we team up with Class A, there will be forty students here. That's a whole lot of Quirks for our homeroom teachers to manage alone."

Eraserhead seemed to have overheard her. "Which is why we called them…"

"That's correct!" a green-haired woman in a yellow cat costume said, jumping in front of Eraserhead. "Four kittens in one litter! Allow us to lend a happy paw!"

"Your feline fantasies are here! Say meow!"

"We're happy and serving up justice… with our tails!"

"Puurrr-feclty cute and cat-like Heroes!"

""""WE'RE THE WILD WILD PUSSYCATS! FULL VERSION!""""

Itsuka wasn't sure how the hell all four of them managed to not only show up seemingly out of thin air but also do that anime-esque intro, but whatever. In front of them were now four adults in cat costumes, fake paws, ears, tails and all; the green-haired lady in the yellow one, a blonde in a blue suit, a brunette in a red outfit, and a massive burly man in a brown one.

This was definitely gonna be interesting, at the very least.

"I'm Ragdoll, and my Quirk is Search!" the green-haired lady introduced herself. "I can look at up to a hundred people and know everything about them, like their location and weakness!"

The blonde lady wearing the blue outfit introduced herself next. "Hey, you can call me Pixie-Bob! With my Earthflow, I can create the ideal training ground for any student!"

"And I'm Mandalay!" Itsuka was actually familiar with her, if only because she saw her yesterday. "My Quirk is called Telepath! I can give advice to multiple people at once!"

"The name's Tiger… and I'm here to beat you guys to a pulp."

"Uhh, I have questions about him," Tsuburaba nervously said.

"ALL OF YOU WITH STRENGTH-BASED QUIRKS, TIME FOR TIGER'S BOOT CAMP!" Tiger roared at them. "CLASS A IS SWEATING, SO CATCH UP, QUICK!"

Itsuka turned to see where the burly was pointing, and saw none other than Uraraka… doing calisthenics. And given by how sweaty she was, she'd been doing them for a while now.

"COME ON, SHOW ME WHAT YOU'VE GOT!"

Oddly enough, Uraraka didn't spark out that weird pink lightning that happened whenever she was about to kick ass, instead, when Tiger approached her, she tried to lift him like she was some kind of Jedi. It worked for about half a second, before Tiger's body suddenly curved, and he shot a punch at her, which she suddenly avoided, as if she knew it would happen.

Weird.

As Tiger chewed out Uraraka for not pushing her muscle fibers enough, and then shouting at her to speak more clearly, Vlad King addressed his class once more. "There's a lot going on at UA, so it's hard for us to spare much staff for the Hero Course first years."

"Based on their experience and range of powers, these four were the most logical choice to help you enhance your Quirks in such a short amount of time," Eraserhead said.

"Don't fall behind Class A!" Vlad King shouted. "Make me proud!"

"""YES, SIR!"""

As everyone scrambled to get to their designated areas, Itsuka looked back at Uraraka, and was now curious about several things. One was, naturally, what sort of exercise she would be doing under Tiger, but the second one was… what exactly was Uraraka's Quirk?

"Kota! It's time for dinner! Where are you?"

Ochako had just stepped out of the main building of the WWP, having just finished getting freshened up after their long day of training. She had it especially hard, as Aizawa insisted she didn't use the base strength of One For All, but instead, had her focus on her other Quirks.

It was exhausting, but she did feel like she could use them slightly better, even if the hardest part of it all was trying to come up with a good explanation to Tiger and the other Pussycats, about why she had so many abilities. But given that several other members of her class seemed to be doing the same, along with a few from Class B, she was a bit more believable.

Anyways, after wiping the sweat off her face with a towel in the bathroom, Ochako stepped out, ready to have some dinner. The Pussycats had told them that yesterday was an exception, and that from now on, the students would be making their own dinner. Ochako had helped Todoroki with some of the fires, so she was free to wash up after doing her part.

But now… Ochako had a dilemma. She had just heard Mandalay call out for her nephew, and the brown-haired girl had just stepped out of the building right on time, to see the little boy walking away from the outdoor tables where everyone was, and into the woods.

She could understand why the kid wanted to be left alone, not everyone did well with crowds, but it was no excuse to go hungry. Grabbing a plate of curry, she quietly followed the kid through the forest trial, until he stopped at a cliff with a cave. Wasn't that where Tokoyami was training?

RUMBLE…

Ochako snapped out of her thoughts as she heard Kota's stomach rumbling intensely. "I heard that," she called out to him. "You must be hungry. Here, I brought you some curry."

"No way!" he called out in disbelief. "How'd you find this place?!"

"Oh, sorry, I just followed your footsteps," Ochako said in her friendliest tone, as she slowly approached the child. "I thought you might want some dinner before it gets cold."

"Whatever, I'm just fine," he grumbled. "I don't wanna hang out with you."

Ochako huffed. This was a kid, she reminded herself. She needed to be patient with him. So, maybe she should just change the subject. "Hey, about your parents… I was wondering… they're the Water Hose duo, those Heroes with the water-based Quirks?"

"Did Mandalay tell you?" he asked, accusingly.

"Actually, it was my friend, Yui-chan," the One For All wielder answered. "She and Shinso are fanatics when it comes to Heroes, so I asked her about cases that involved Ereaserhead, Endeavor, and other Heroes. She told me about what happened a few years back."

Kota huffed. "It's stupid. You all call yourselves "Heroes" and "Villains," and then try to kill each other. Always focusing on your Quirks, as if they'd actually help you from getting killed. What happens when you come across someone that you can't beat? What if they…?"

Oh. The brown-haired girl looked down in understanding. If Aizawa-sensei wasn't there, Kota's parents would be dead right now. Kota knew that. What terrified him was the thought that, since they almost died once, what was stopping the next time they went out becoming their last? Hell, what was stopping any Heroes from having their next patrol become their last?

To this kid, Quirks were basically weapons, and the first person to draw out theirs would be the one left standing. But… that wasn't right. Aside from the fact that not all Quirks could kill, most people out there wouldn't try to kill someone with them. If not because of the laws in place, simply because they believed killing was wrong. But Kota didn't know that. A single near-death experience happened to his parents, and his entire worldview was now that half of the population was trying to kill the other half, just because of which side they were on.

But… How come the Water Hose duo never saw this? She seriously doubted they were bad parents like Endeavor, so, why did they never see how their career was scaring their son? Maybe they did, and by continuing it, were trying to show that the incident with Eraserhead was a rare thing, a freak occurrence that almost never happened? It would make sense, Japan was considered one of the safest counties on the planet… until recently, that was.

The USJ, the HPSC, Hosu, Kiyashi Ward, and now I-Island… Those were all considered unprecedented attacks, things that weren't supposed to happen. Now that Ochako thought about it… maybe sending Kota to stay with his aunt over the summer was their way of trying to stop Kota from doubling-down on his fears? Ochako knew that the media sensationalized events, and the attacks involving the League of Villains were no exception. Thanks to the news, all of Japan knew about the League, and the majority of them were worried about where they'd strike next. This forest was secluded, far away from the big cities, and judging by the lack of TVs in the building, there would be no breaking news reports about the next possible attack.

Okay, so, maybe Kota's parents sent him here to play in the woods, hang out with his aunt and her team, just… have him be a kid. They sent him far away, somewhere that the news reports, the scary Villains, and the fear of losing his parents on the line of duty wouldn't haunt him. Not only that, but with Ochako and all of her classmates here training, they'd be showing Kota that the Heroes were preparing the best they could to make sure they'd all come back safe.

On paper, yeah, it sounded like a good way to show Kota that being a Hero wasn't a death sentence waiting to happen. Unfortunately, the brown-haired girl knew that kids, especially little ones, were stubborn and that their preconceived notions (especially those based on emotions) would always trump logic. If this was her kid, Ochako would sit down with him and actually have a talk with Kota, hear out all of his anxieties, and then reassure him with her words.

Ochako looked back down to see that Kota was finishing up his curry in silence, tears forming in his eyes. The brown-haired girl wasn't sure if that qualified as stress eating, but she was pretty sure that this was still unhealthy, regardless. Well, she was supposed to be a Hero…

"Hey," she said, crouching down to his height. "Wanna talk about it?"

Kota said nothing, as he finished off the last of his curry.

"You know… I didn't always want to be a Hero," she said.

The black-haired boy looked up at her, curiosity now in his eyes.

"When I was a little girl, I would remember looking at my mom and dad, and they would look so… tired. My parents own a construction company, but it doesn't always do so great. Always working to make ends meet. It hurt me to see them so wiped out," Ochako said. "I promised them that when I grew up all big and strong, I would do everything I could to help them. But… They wanted me to achieve my own dream. To be… what I wanted to be."

"And then what happened?" Kota asked.

Ochako was silent for a moment. What happened? The Deika City Massacre happened; an entire city and everyone in it was wiped off the map. The entire place needed rebuilding, and the Urarakas were one of the many construction companies that signed on to bring back the broken city. It was ghastly, but it was also extremely lucrative. With that one job, all of her family's money troubles disappeared, but… she couldn't exactly say all that to a five-year-old.

"My… parents found work that made them a lot of money," Ochako said, skipping over the more gruesome details. "It made them so much money that it made our lives a whole lot easier, but… it made me lose focus. It made me lose my determination to do something with my life, and it made me not think about what I wanted to become. That is, until I met All Might."

"I was in a bad spot, and he saved me. But he wasn't able to help me figure out what I wanted to become, or why. And then… There was a Villain attacking a kid I know. None of the Pros in the area were able to help him, but… he was so desperate for it, and… I changed right in. I was just a middle-schooler with no training, and… I ran in there to save him."

"That was so stupid," Kota said. "You could have died."

"Yeah, I could have," the brown-haired girl admitted. "But I managed to save him even when the Heroes all around me couldn't. I was able to get him out of there in time, and All Might was able to get the chance to blow the bad guy away. When we talked after the fact, he said that he told me that my body moved on its own back there, and that I had the makings of the best kind of Hero: One who wants to save others, and puts smiles on their faces."

"What he told me unlocked a memory I had forgotten a long time ago… When I was a little girl, the first time I saw a Hero on the street, I was more excited about the way bystanders and my parents reacted, more than anything else. I just loved to see how happy everybody looked. I always liked seeing people happy. I wanted to be a Hero!"

"Kota, I know that you're scared of the risks people like your parents, your aunt, Eraserhead, or me take, but… that's just life. None of us are going to live forever, but for the small amount of time we have in this world… we spend it trying to make sure everyone can smile."

By the time Ochako left, Kota Izumi had a lot to think about.

Emi Aizawa felt herself melt as she plopped herself back on the couch.

The impromptu staff meeting Nedzu had organized after Shouta and Kan had left was pretty draining. Overall, it was a summary of what went down on I-Island, and how Nedzu had asked Shouta to investigate if anything there was related to the League of Villains.

The answer was… kinda? Sure, the presence of Megethos and Waverider was pretty alarming, but there were also the reports Shouta managed to pull while the I-Expo was going on. Logs about materials coming and going from the island, making who-knows-what.

"Is Kota gonna come and visit?"

Emi lifted her head from the couch to see her daughter staring right at her. "Oh, baby. Uhh, his auntie is a little busy with Daddy, so… maybe after the training camp. I hope that's okay."

Professionally speaking, the Wild Wild Pussycats and Eraserhead had a good relationship ever since he saved the Water Hose duo, and since their son Kota was the same age, he was a good friend for Eri to hang around during her first year under the care of the Aizawas.

Emi's answer seemed to placate Eri for now, and the green-haired woman could rest easy for a bit. Hopefully, there wound't be any more Villain-related surprises for her family. Between the League knowing about Eri, Shouta and his students constantly being caught in All For One's crosshairs, a part of Emi knew that it was only a matter of time before something happened.

"DON'T LOSE FOCUS!" Shouta Aizawa shouted, as he overlooked all of his students from above the cliff. "Each of you can move faster, and no matter what you're doing, just remember where each of you started from! Don't forget who you were before UA! Always keep in mind why you're sweating, and why your limits keep getting tested! That's what it means to improve!"

Well, that seemed to get them properly motivated… for now.

"Hey, Aizawa-sensei, it's already the third day of camp…" The black-haired Pro could see Uraraka walking up to him. "I was wondering if the other teachers will be joining us."

Shouta leaped down from where he was to where Uraraka was standing. "Like I said before we came out here, to keep a camp a secret from the Villains, hardly anyone knows where we are."

"THAT'S WHY YOU GET TO WORK OUT WITH US FOUR PUSSYCATS!" Ragdoll shouted.

"And think about it," Shouta added, his voice lowering to a whisper. "We're pretty sure both you and All Might are some of the League's targets because of you-know-what, so we can't have him here; it's for your own safety. For better or for worse, that's just how things are."

"More importantly, tonight's gonna be fun!" Pixie-Bob exclaimed from where she was sitting. Shouta wasn't sure if she was adding on to what Ragdoll said, or if she somehow overheard that last part of his conversation with Uraraka. He seriously hoped it was the former. "We're pitting classes against each other in a test of courage! I know you've been training hard today, and later, you'll get to play hard! HOW'S THAT FOR A REWARD?!"

"It just sounds like more training…" Kendo deadpanned.

"And training in the dark, no less…" Jiro groaned.

"Revelry in the dark," Tokoyami said.

Awase gulped. "How much can we do in one day…?"

"Heh-heh," Monoma laughed nervously. "At least we get to beat Class A, am I right?"

"DON'T SLACK NOW! MAKE SURE YOU KEEP PUSHING YOURSELVES AS YOU WORK!"

"""YES, MA'AM!"""

The sun had gotten lower by the time today's training was done. Everyone had swapped out of their gym uniforms and were now in their camp clothes, getting dinner ready for the evening. Katsuki was cutting up vegetables with remarkable ease, and Iida was yelling at some of the members of Class B to peel the potatoes better, while Ochak placed down the fire wood.

"Did you need the other teachers for a particular reason?" Todoroki asked, as he approached the fireplace Ochako was crouching down at. "You asked Aizawa-sensei about them."

"Um, I did," she said. "Because of Kota, Mandalay's nephew. He doesn't like the concept of Heroes, Quirks, anything superhuman, really. I tried to talk to him, but… I was just wondering what All Might would have done if he was here to help him… I mean, what would you say?"

"To the kid?" Todoroki asked. "Hmm… it depends."

"Of course," the brown-haired girl sighed.

"To me, what matters are actions. You have to show him what you're trying to prove, right?" the peppermint-haired boy said. "If you're going to rely on words alone, then they'd better be incredibly powerful. What you say doesn't matter as much as what you do."

Ochako thought over what Todoroki had said. Katsuki had said he wanted to find his missing friend, and he worked his ass off to get into UA. Kendo said she didn't want any bad blood between the two classes, so she willingly teamed up with Ochako back dring the Sports Festival. All For One said that All Might was weak and feeble, and he invaded the USJ just to prove that point. Hell, even Stain, flawed as he was, tried to back up his words with actions!

Each and every one of them did things that showed who they were and how they thought. Sure, they may have talked to explain their motivations, but they weren't just talk. Todoroki was right. Ochako had explained her motives to Kota, what it meant to her to be a Hero, but… she didn't back up those words with actions just yet. And now that she thought about…

She knew that the Water Hose duo probably wanted to do the same for their son, but… did they not know how? Their actions showed that they really did care about their kid, heck, they sent him somewhere peaceful for the summer to keep him away from the thing he feared the most, but… maybe that might have caused more damage than it fixed?

From Kota's perspective, his parents essentially left him here so they could go back into the streets and potentially get killed by the next Villain that jumped them. Not only that, but they sent him to a place full of Heroes. Sure, the Pussycats specialized in rescue, but for all Ochako knew, Kota could assume that all Heroes, including students, were fair game to the Villains. And Eraserhead, the Hero responsible for saving the Water Hoses' lives, was here with them, meaning if there was another emergency, he wouldn't be there to save Kota's parents.

In short, these were all good intentions that were basically undone by the mind of a scared little kid. Todoroki was right. Ochako could talk all about how to make people smile, but unless she showed Kota actual proof, then to him, her words might as well just be mud.

A more direct approach was needed.

"Personally, I don't think you should be sticking your nose in such a delicate situation," Todoroki advised her. "But… you've done it before, with varying degrees of success, sooo…"

Yeah, Ochako might need some more time to think about this.

"Perfect! We have filled our bellies and cleaned the dishes!" Pixie-Bob exclaimed, as everyone was back at the forest once it got dark. "IT'S TIME FOR THE TEST OF COURAGE!"

With everyone having gathered, Pixie-Bob explained the rules. "So, Class B is gonna start as our scarers! When they're in place, Class A will leave in pairs every three minutes! There are tags with your names on them at the far end of the route! Your goal is to collect those!"

Tokoyami nodded. "Revelry in the dark…"

Why does he keep saying that? Ochako nervously wondered.

"Now, those who are scarers aren't allowed to make physical contact! Use your Quirks to terrify the others! Got it?!" Pixie-Bob said, before Tiger added the last bit of the rules.

"The winners are the creative students who make the most people piss their pants!"

"Did we need that visual…?" Jiro asked. Iida, meanwhile, thought of it differently.

"I see! They're encouraging us to stoke our imaginations as we compete with each other, all while showing us more uses for our Quirks in the process! As expected of UA!"

"Alright! Everyone draw to see who your partner will be!" Pixie-Bob shouted.

Twelve minutes later, Ochako was paired up with Bakugou. Sweet.

"This is gonna be a waste of time," he grunted. "Not like I get easily scared."

"Oh, come on! Loosen up a little bit! It's summer, we should try to relax a little bit!"

"Fiiiiiine…"

Chiyo Shuzenji, better known to the rest of the world as the Youthful Heroine: Recovery Girl, was, first and foremost, a nurse. Which meant that she was a woman of science.

She was a proper doctor, yes. But she also happened to be a Pro Hero, because despite the fact that she had a top-class healing Quirk, she believed that, back when she was a young adult, the best way for her to help others was by becoming a Hero. Now, the laws have changed a bit since her time, and doctors are able to use their Quirks to help their patients, but the majority of them are still limited to their degrees and knowledge. The most surefire way for her to be able to use her Quirk was to get a Hero License, so… two birds, one stone.

Being a Hero allowed her to use her Quirk freely, and her medical knowledge allowed her to be helpful on the battlefield, and not just be relegated to staying behind at a hospital.

Despite that, she still spent quite a lot of time at the infirmary at UA High. Whenever she was not out on a mission (which was getting rarer now due to her old age), she would be here, ready and waiting for any kid who might have overdone it with their Quirk. Or Sorahiko.

Even in their old age, that man always wanted to be around her.

Anywho, whenever she wasn't being hounded by students, the staff, or Gran Torino, she would be doing important medical research. And the current research she was doing regarded the multiple Quirk Awakenings that had occurred back during the Hero Internships.

Uraraka may have been the first one, but in terms of being explained, it was the easiest to write off. One For All had reached Singularity, straight and simple. It was no secret that One For All did not just enhance the weidler's physical strength, but also the power of their Quirk, hence how her ability to float things became full-blown gravity manipulation. The only new thing now was that Uraraka would soon be able to access all of the previous wielders' Quirks.

Chiyo knew she'd cry tears of joy the day she'd witness Nana's Float come back…

Anyways, the point she was trying to make was the One For All becoming even more powerful wasn't anything mind-breaking. It was a new bullshit move from an ancient bullshit Quirk, nothing special. No, what was more interesting was everyone else's Quirk Awakenings.

It all started when Toru Hagakure came back from her internship completely visible. She was now able to turn on and off her invisibility on command, with the current theory being that some of the training she went through back there allowed her to now bend light around her body. She got herself a new DNA-infused suit that went invisible with her, everyone was happy, the end.

Now, Chiyo would have taken that at face value if it wasn't for the fact that multiple other students suddenly got Quirk Awakenings, too. Eijiro Kirishima, aside from being able to harden himself and usual, seemed to have some kind of new weird ability that allowed anything that hit him to just… bounce off. Barely noticeable, but Nedzu did seem to catch it.

The others however, were more extreme: In Class A alone, Hitoshi Shinso could now brainwash people by humming, Mina Ashido was now able to manipulate the acid she created, even causing it to leap from the floor to a new target, Denki Kaminari was able to generate blue electricity and shoot it at people, and the most surprising (and visual) one of them all, Rikido Sato could now create what he called "sugar crystals," all over his body.

And that wasn't even all of them. In Class B, Tokage Setuna's fingers suddenly extended up to two meters during her exam, Jurota Shishida's mental capacities seemed to now remain whenever he was in his beast form, Kinoko Komori was able to now manipulate the leaves around her like projectiles, and Hiryu Rin could now BREATHE GODDMAN FIRE.

One person, and no one would bat an eye. Two people, and that would just be a coincidence. Three, slightly weird, but not something that would arouse suspicion. But fucking EIGHT people?! Alright, now things are suspect, and Chiyo was getting to the bottom of it.

Before all the children headed out to camp, she took blood samples from all of them, and was now analyzing them. The majority of the children that had no Awakenings at the moment were normal, their samples looking the same as they were before the Sports Festival, including Uraraka's. What Chiyo was looking for specifically was their Quirk Factors, those within the children's DNA. So far, the students she had examined had normal Quirk Factors.

The only ones that were left were the children who had recently gone through Quirk Awakenings. Taking Shinso's sample and placing it under the machine, the readings indicated that his Quirk Factor had changed a bit, but his genetics seemed the same.

Alright, so that made the whole "Quirk Awakening" thing seem plausible for him, at least. Well, what about Hagakure? Her blood sample was placed under Chiyo's machine, and the readings indicated that, yes, physically speaking, Hagakure should be able to manipulate the light around her body to make herself visible, but… something was off with her Quirk, as if…

…as if she had two of them.

Chiyo was now starting to get nervous here. She quickly grabbed the next sample. Ashido's tests showed that she could be able to control the solubility and viscosity of her acid, yes, but not manipulate it to such a degree as she did in her final! Kirshima's test was no better. This new aspect of his power wasn't making him stronger, it was reversing the impact of whatever was hitting him! If someone were to punch him, they would feel the pain instead of him!

The old woman was now sweating buckets here, as she examined a sample of the "sugar crystal" Sato had created during his fight against Cementoss. Placing it under a microscope, Chiyo examined it, hoping to see at least something resembling a sugar molecule within them, but… no. These were more like quartz; they had absolutely nothing to do with sugars.

One by one, Chiyo went through the blood samples of each of the remaining children, looking into their Quirk Factors, finding similar, if not the same results: Some of the Quirks blended fine within the kids' Factors, some of them stood out more than the others, but all of them were unnatural, artificial. Absolutely none of these children had Quirk Awakenings.

Chiyo quickly scrambled to get the phone on her desk, calling Nedzu's office right away. She could hear her heart beat faster and faster, until the line picked up. "Chiyo, what –?"

"Nedzu, it's an emergency! Get Yagi, get Mirai, Sorahiko, Tsukauchi, anyone who's involved in our fight against that bastard, and get them over here! He's gotten to the children –"

"Recovery Girl, slow down! What are you talking about?"

"Multiple Quirks. Nedzu, the students… THEY HAVE MULTIPLE QUIRKS!"

Hitoshi Shinso wanted to consider himself a pretty observant dude.

Spending the majority of his life away from others due to them being afraid of his Quirk… it affected him. If he wasn't being ridiculed, then he was far away from everybody else, just watching them go about their daily lives… Eventually he would even develop some patterns.

So, when he was picked to do the Test of Courage with Kodai, he began thinking about all of the things she did. Kodai was a quiet girl most of the time, unless someone said something that caused her to speak her mind. Not just that, but the way she fought during class, it reminded him of someone. Someone dangerous. Not only that, but thanks to the Kiyashi Ward attack, he knew that people were trying to grab her. Hitoshi needed to get to the bottom of this.

"Kodai," he called out, as he stopped walking through the trail.

The black-haired girl turned around in confusion. "Hm?"

"When the League attacked the USJ, I know Mr. Compress and Megethos kidnapped you for the duration of the fight, but it was still kinda odd that they knew not to talk when I was around," he began. "I also found it weird that Megethos wasn't reported among the League members that attacked the HPSC, but was on I-Island with the rest of us, where she was explicitly being hunted down by Wolfram. The same way those two Villains at the mall attacked you…"

"What are you saying, Shinso?"

"Kodai… I know you're Megethos."

Author's Note: What?! Kodai is Megethos?! No! Who saw that coming?!

In all seriousness, it's about time. The mask will fall soon. Moving on from that, the part with Ms. Joke and Eri was actually a last-minute addition, because I forgot to mention that Kota knew who Eri was, so I put it in there. Anyways, it's time for the comments!

Knightmare Lord: I know I've been teasing this the whole time, but truth be told, I've been saving Overhaul as the final boss of the story. So, his demise at the hands of Midoriya will happen at the end. But that doesn't mean he won't be getting involved soon!

Daiki Hinata: Go away.

EmilMobile: Yep, Eraserhead saved the Water Hose duo in this timeline. As you saw in today's chapter, it's made Kota not a Hero pessimist like he is in canon, but he is definitely more aware of the risks Heroes take in their everyday lives.

Anyways, back to the regular old shilling…

I'm pretty sure as you all know now, I have also made a Twitter account to post my art, so if anyone is interested in checking it out, /ErnaloreProf is the link.

If you want more content, visit my Discord, the link is /3PFYSt8Dqz. You can chat with others, post memes, fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, fan art, and we even have a writer's corner now! I'll also drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! Just please make sure to follow the rules.

Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!

- Ernalore