A/N: Another new year is upon us, and that means it's time for another edition of "Flashback Friday"! Usually, I save these for the new year, the only exception being when Z-Arc34 requested a couple of chapters based on the aftermath of Kacchan's kidnapping and the raid on the Shie Hassaikai hideout. Anyways, this one is based on the first movie, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes. I don't know about all of you, but I'm excited for the Season 7 premiere on May 4 of this year and the release of the fourth movie, whenever that will be. Until then, Go Beyond! Plus Ultra!

The first semester of the school year had come to an end, and the students of Class 1-A were taking a trip to I-Island, an artificial moving island constructed using funding from all the companies in the world that were involved with the business of Pro Heroes. The purpose of this island was to research Quirks and develop new support items. Security was as tight as Tartarus, and visitors needed to be very carefully vetted before they were allowed to visit. Deku was visiting here with All Might, whose primary purpose for this visit was to visit his old friend and sidekick David Shield. Deku had also gotten the opportunity to meet David's daughter Melissa, and the two bonded more quickly than J-B Weld. Currently, they were chatting with Uraraka, Jiro and Yaoyorozu when an explosion broke out, and they discovered a villain attack competition:

"A clearance time of 33 seconds!" said an announcer. "He's in eighth place!"

The smoke cleared and showed…

"Kirishima!?" said Deku.

"So I'm guessing he's from UA as well?" said Melissa.

"Yeah, he's in the same class as us!" said Deku.

"Please welcome our next challenger!" said the announcer.

Deku gasped when he saw who was stepping up to the plate next:

"Kacchan!?"

"The villain attack course has been reset!" said the announcer. "Ready? GO!"

Kacchan blasted off with his explosive power, using said power to take out some dummy robotic villains one by one, tearing through them as if they were tissue paper, really getting into the action:

"DIE!"

Deku, meanwhile, couldn't believe how seriously Kacchan was taking the whole thing:

"Die?"

And with that, Kacchan took out the last target, much to the announcer's amazement:

"Look at that time! Only 15 seconds! First place!"

Kacchan dropped to the ground with a smug smile on his face, which disappeared just as quickly as he casually walked away from the whole thing when Kirishima pointed something out:

"Hey, isn't that Midoriya in the stands?"

Deku gasped as Kacchan laid eyes upon him, knowing that some dynamite-powered angry outburst was going to come from him. He rubbed the back of his head just before Kacchan propelled himself up to him and let one out:

"DAMN IT! WHAT ARE YOU DOIN' HERE, DEKU!?"

Deku smiled nervously as he waved his hands around, struggling to keep his footing. "Uh…hey there, Kacchan! Maybe calm down a little…"

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"

Iida stepped in and extended his arms to shield Deku. "Bakugo! Behave yourself!"

Kacchan went off on Iida, much to Melissa's confusion:

"Why is that boy so angry?"

"That's just who he is," said Jiro.

Uraraka turned to Melissa. "He and Deku are fated rivals!"

Yaoyorozu ran over to the railing to talk to Kirishima:

"So, Kirishima, you two got asked to I-Expo as well?"

"Nah, Bakugo was invited since he won the UA Sports Festival." Kirishima gestured to himself with his thumb. "I just tagged along with him! You guys gonna do this villain course or what?"

"Don't even try it!" said Kacchan. "There's no way you'll get a better score than I did!"

Deku smiled nervously. "Yeah…you're probably right! Yeah…"

Uraraka, however, had a different view on the subject:

"Huh, I'm not so sure. Only one way to find out, I guess…"

"Yeah…you're probably right!"

Deku let out a startled gasp as Kacchan hopped over the railing and practically charged him:

"Just hurry and get your pathetic attempt over, you damn nerd!" Kacchan backhanded Deku. "THEN YOU GET OUTTA HERE!"

Deku squinched his eyes out of fear. "Right! I'll do that!"

Deku stepped up to the plate as well, which the announcer took notice of:

"We've got a new challenger coming in at the last minute! Will he end up on top, or fail in front of the entire expo?"

Deku clenched his fists as the glowing red vein-like marks of One For All appeared all over his body, readying himself for the course.

(If I'm doing this, I'm gonna go for it!) Electricity sparked over Deku's body as well. (One For All, Full Cowling!)

"The attack course is set!" said the announcer. "Ready? GO!"

The announcer signalled Deku off, and he ran in with all the force of a high-speed locomotive, dashing up the small mountain that was part of the course, leaving Melissa amazed. Of course, Deku had a strategy going after the first robot:

(To keep myself from injuring my arm, I'll use 5% of my power!)

Deku utterly crushed the first robot with a well-placed Detroit Smash, and immediately followed up with another…and another. The way he was going, he could easily match Kacchan's explosive power, thus showing Melissa exactly why Uraraka said that the two were "fated rivals". To him, nothing less than his best would do, and he gave it his all as if he were fighting real villains, heading up the side of the mountain to take on that one final robot, smashing it with ease just as he'd done for the rest of them, much to the announcer's amazement:

"An incredible run! He's in second place at 16 seconds!"

The crowd went wild for Deku, especially his friends, while Melissa could scarcely help but be amazed by him:

(He has such explosive speed, and that destructive power…it's just like Uncle Might's! But…)

After it was Deku's turn, Uraraka expressed her admiration of Deku:

"Wow!"

Even Iida was impressed:

"That was a good showing, Midoriya!"

"I didn't think I'd be able to get so close to Kacchan's time!" said Deku.

Kacchan, however, would have none of this:

"WHAT! NO WAY! I'LL GO AGAIN AND BLAST YOUR SCORE TO ASH!"

Surprisingly, however, another competitor would blow both of their scores to ash, much to the announcer's surprise:

"THIS IS INSANE! 14 seconds! This lady has jumped to the top of the pack!"

The new champion was none other than Todoroki, much to Deku's surprise:

"Todoroki's here too?" Deku blushed.

"Another one from UA?" said Melissa.

"Yep!" said Yaoyorozu.

"Your class is amazing! You're gonna be such great heroes!"

Uraraka and Yaoyorozu giggled.

"Oh please, you're too kind!" said Yaoyorozu."

With another explosive blast, Kacchan propelled himself towards Todoroki.

"OUTTA THE WAY, ICYHOT BITCH!"

"Bakugo…"

"YOU CAN'T JUST APPEAR OUTTA NOWHERE AND SHOW ME UP!"

"And I see the others are here, too…"

"DON'T IGNORE ME!"

The announcer was shocked by Kacchan's anger, while Kacchan himself continued chewing out Todoroki, whose hair had grown to neck length by now:

"What are ya even doin' on the island, anyway?"

"My father was invited, so I'm representing him."

"Um…the next person is waiting!" said the announcer.

"SHUT UP!" yelled Kacchan. "I'M DOING IT AGAIN!"

The announcer screamed as she received the full force of Kacchan's anger, while Iida stepped in:

"Everyone, please stop! You're gonna make the world think UA's full of degenerates!"

"Iida's right," said Todoroki. "I don't have time for this. Farewell, Bakugo."

Todoroki ice-surfed away from Kacchan, much to his displeasure:

"YOU CAN'T JUST RUN AWAY, EITHER! GET BACK HERE!"

Kacchan attempted to follow Todoroki, only for Iida and Kirishima to restrain him, much to his displeasure. Meanwhile, Todoroki headed for the stands, and when she reached them, she did a front flip over the railing and landed next to Deku and co.

"Hi, Midoriya!" Todoroki waved at Deku.

Deku smiled and waved at Todoroki. "Hey, Todoroki! That was an impressive run!"

"Oh, thank you!" Todoroki turned to Melissa. "Excuse me, but I don't believe we've been introduced. Are you a friend of Midoriya's?"

Melissa smiled. "More or less. I'm Melissa Shield. And you are…?"

"I'm Shoko Todoroki. I'm one of Midoriya's best friends."

"Nice to meet you, Todoroki!"

Todoroki and Melissa shook hands.

"Why don't we take a walk together?" said Melissa.

Todoroki smiled.

And so, Deku, Todoroki and Melissa decided to take a walk around I-Island.

"Tell me about yourself, Todoroki," said Melissa. "How did you get invited to this place?"

"My father is currently the #2 Pro Hero, and he was invited here, so I'm acting as his representative."

Melissa smiled. "Oh, how awesome!"

Todoroki frowned and shook her head. "Believe me, it's not. My father is an oppressive, domineering figure who for many years not only treated me like a weapon in his quest to surpass All Might, but also suppressed my true gender identity."

Melissa frowned, too. "What do you mean?"

"When I was born, my father was disappointed that I was a girl rather than a boy, so he forced me to present as a boy for many years, which ran counter to how I really felt inside. It was the worst form of hell that I'd ever experienced, even worse than the Germanic training regimen that he put me through."

Melissa gasped. "Oh, that's so awful! Parents should be proud of their kids no matter who they are!"

"It's a shame that he didn't realize that sooner. Fortunately, thanks to some simple yet powerful words that Midoriya gave me at the Sports Festival, I not only found the courage to embrace half of my Quirk, but also to shed the shackles of the gender identity that my father had imposed on me, thus allowing me to blossom into who I truly am."

Melissa's smile returned. "You helped Todoroki out like that? Midoriya, that was so sweet of you!"

Deku smiled nervously. "Well…I tried! It wasn't easy, though…"

"Speaking of not easy, it's been difficult for me to adjust to being a girl," said Todoroki. "Wearing women's clothes feels a bit weird after wearing men's clothes for so long, especially wearing a bra. It took me forever to find one that fit me well. Having a period is awful, and starting puberty sucked too because getting sanitary products was difficult, if not outright impossible."

Melissa put a hand on Todoroki's shoulder. "But there must be things you like about being a girl too, right?"

Todoroki smiled. "Admittedly, there are certain positives. For one, I'm looking forward to trying on this dress that I bought for the I-Expo. Ever since I started wearing girls' clothes, I've liked buying new outfits because I like seeing how pretty they look on me. Trying on makeup is fun, too."

Melissa smiled. "Well, I'm glad you find the positives in it! After all, being a girl should be a fun thing!"

"Well, it's been an interesting experience so far."

"I'll say!" said Deku.

"I don't know about you, but setting a record has made me hungry," said Todoroki. "Why don't we get something to eat?"

"Well, we were just at the café, but if you insist, I suppose we can get something," said Melissa.

Deku, Todoroki and Melissa went back to the café, where Kaminari – who was working there – acted as their waiter:

"Hey, welcome back, everyone! Can I get ya something to drink?"

"I'll have a lemonade, please," said Melissa.

"I'll have a green tea, please," said Deku.

"I'll have a coffee, black, please," said Todoroki.

"Sure thing!"

Kaminari went off to fetch their drinks.

"So Midoriya, what was it about Todoroki that made you want to help her overcome her insecurities?"

"Call me crazy, but when we first got acquainted, there was something about her that made me want to melt inside. Even though I thought she was a boy at the time, she gave me feelings that I only ever felt around Uraraka. More importantly, though, I could tell by the look in her eyes as well as the tone in her voice that she was feeling really sad and lonely, and I just wanted to give her a big hug."

Todoroki smiled. "I can give you one right now if you'd like."

Deku smiled nervously. "Um…thanks…but you don't have to…"

Todoroki gave Deku a big hug, causing him to blush. Nevertheless, he was glad that she did this to him because her happiness made him happier as well. Evidently, this spilled over to Melissa, who pulled out her phone:

"Mind if I get a picture of you two?"

Deku chuckled nervously. "Um…sure! I mean, it's not like this is a huge case of romantic tension or anything!"

Todoroki giggled. "Oh, Midoriya, you're so funny!"

"OK, smile!" said Melissa.

Deku and Todoroki put on their best smiles, while Melissa snapped a picture of them. Soon enough, Kaminari got back with their drinks.

"You guys all set to order?" asked Kaminari.

"I'll have the katsudon," said Deku.

"I'll have some zaru soba," said Todoroki.

"I'll have a bacon cheeseburger and fries," said Melissa.

"And how would you like your burger cooked?" asked Kaminari.

"Medium-rare, please."

Kaminari went to fetch their food.

"I've never heard of either of those foods that you two ordered," said Melissa.

"Katsudon is delicious!" Deku took a sip of his green tea. "It's a fried pork cutlet served over a bed of rice."

"I much prefer zaru soba," said Todoroki. "It's a type of cold buckwheat noodle with seaweed."

Melissa gave a serious look. "Seaweed? I dunno, Midoriya's food sounds more delicious."

Deku smiled. "Believe me, seaweed is actually delicious!"

Melissa shrugged. "I dunno, it still sounds too weird."

Todoroki scratched her head. "I don't get it. What is it about seaweed that people consider weird?"

"Well, seaweed is virtually unknown in typical American cuisine," said Deku.

Melissa put down her lemonade. "Speaking of lemonade, I always get weirded out ordering it here. Isn't lemonade supposed to be opaque?"

Todoroki put down her coffee. "I think I have an answer to that one. In America and India, 'lemonade' typically refers to a cloudy drink made from squeezed lemons, whereas in Europe and Japan, 'lemonade' refers to a carbonated lemon-flavored drink, although in France, one can get a citrus drink known as 'citron pressé' where one mixes the lemon juice, water and sugar themselves."

Melissa smiled. "Fascinating! You must know a lot about world cultures, Todoroki."

Todoroki smiled. "Well, I enjoy foreign films, so I picked up a few things."

"Midoriya, you're lucky to know a girl like Todoroki!"

"You're right about that."

Deku, Todoroki and Melissa continued to enjoy their drinks as well as each other's company. Though villains lurked in their midst, for now, they could at least bask in peace, love and friendship.

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.