Rengoku unsheathed Izuku's blade and gave it a look over.

"Blunt… it'll have to do"

The Yakuza man was surprised by the sudden appearance of this man, but he presumed that it was another hero. Maybe the brat that he had attacked had called for backup? No matter.

He slammed his hand on the ground, and several pillars went flying towards Rengoku.

Rengoku took a deep breath in, and exhaled.

"Flame breathing, fifth form"

Power swelled through him as he raised the blade over his head. His eyes were wide open, and as the spikes of earth came ever closer, he opened his mouth.

"Blazing Universe!"

He brought the blade down, and it sliced through the pillars like butter. The temperature in the alley seemed to swell up, as the blade sliced through each pillar on it's way to the ground. The swing ended, and all five of the pillars were cut in half, along with…

The yakuza man screamed in pain.

Izuku looked over. His attention had been drawn to Rengoku by that incredible display of strength, but as he looked over to his enemy, he saw the affects of Rengoku's attack.

The alley had been damaged beyond recognition. The walls either side of the alleyway had been damaged, badly. They were cracked, and seemed to be moments away from falling apart.

The pillars of earth that the Yakuza man had used to attack both him and Rengoku? They were gone, eviscerated.

And the man himself? He was clutching his shoulder, and he was missing an arm.

Izuku was shocked, but Rengoku just seemed disappointed.

"Was this the result of the blade being blunted? Or is it from all those years I spent in the afterlife?"

Another scream rose from the Yakuza's throat.

Izuku looked over, and saw what the man was doing. He was regenerating his arm! What in the world was this man? His quirk was incredibly powerful!

The man grabbed Eri by the collar, who yelped, both in surprise and pain. Izuku stumbled to get up.

"Hey, wait" He said, but his body was too weak. As he tried to get up, he crumpled back to the ground.

To his horror, Rengoku made no attempt to follow the man. He simply bent down, and clipped Izuku's blade back onto his belt.

"Wait, why aren't you going after them!?" Izuku exclaimed, only having enough strength to talk.

Rengoku sighed, looking down at his hands. "It is not my destiny. And besides…"

Izuku watched as Rengoku began to become transparent, light starting to shine through his body.

"It seems that my visit to the world of the living will be a short one"

Rengoku sat down beside Izuku. "You are a demon slayer, aren't you?"

Izuku responded. "Actually, about the demon slayers, wha-"

Rengoku put a hand up, as if to tell Izuku to stop talking. He was becoming more and more transparent. It was getting hard to even see him.

"This world has been without demon slayer for too long. I worry that another demon king has been born"

Suddenly, he turned to Izuku. "Your mind is strong, but your body is weak. Your swordsmanship is also lacking. You can't begin to comprehend the Total Concentration Breathing Forms if you don't work on this. If you want to grow stronger, you must train, hard"

Izuku understood. In all honesty, he deserved this chastising. In all those years that he could've spent training… he spent it browsing the Internet, and writing in those stupid notebooks!

He clenched his fist. If he hadn't spent all that time doing nothing, he might've been strong enough…

Who was he kidding, he was still quirkless. That man was on another level.

"Don't make that look"

Izuku looked back to Rengoku.

"You think that you're not strong enough, that you can't be strong enough. But you can"

He laughed loudly. "Why, when I was alive, I fought some of the strongest demons alive!"

Once he had finished is boisterous laugh, he continued.

"Once you become strong enough to use Total Concentration Breathing, there's one skill you need to master before anything else. Total Concentration Breathing Constant"

Izuku tilted his head. "What's that?

Rengoku replied. "It's the art of making Total Concentration Breathing as natural as normal breathing. You've only mastered this skill once you are able to use Total Concentration Breathing every minute of every day, even when you are sleeping! It will make your breathing forms as natural as your regular swordsmanship, and greatly improve your natural strength and speed!"

Rengoku continued to impart knowledge onto Izuku, until it was too late.

As he finally began to fade completely out of reality, there was only one thing left for him to say to Izuku.

"You have a lot to prove, young Sparrow. Prove that you are strong enough to handle this legacy"

And with that, the man out of time, faded away.

Izuku pressed a button on his belt to activate his coms.

"Sir, could you come get me"

Aizawa responded on the other end. "Oh? Have you resolved the situation already?"

"No sir, well, yes, but what I mean is that, there was a fight, and I'm kind of too weak to move"

There was a loud sigh on the other end of the communications, before a confirmation on the other end that Aizawa was coming.

Once Izuku was rested up, he explained everything to Aizawa.

Well… not… everything.

He left out the parts about the man appearing from thin air, or disappearing.

All he told Aizawa was that a mysterious hero had appeared, helped him, and disappeared.

Aizawa mentioned that he would report this to the HPSC, and that was the end of that.

Izuku questioned what they were going to do about the yakuza now.

"Unfortunately, there's not much we can do. That was the only known hideout of the yakuza, so we have no real leads at the moment. And besides, now that we know that there's a child abuse and possible kidnapping case involved, once I report this, the HOSC is going to take it out of our hands"

This startled Izuku. He asked why they would take Aizawa off of the case.

"Hero work is a tricky business, kid. And at the end of the day, the HPSC is king. If you are on bad terms with them, they'll wish any high profile cases out of your hands in an instant"

"Did you do something to upset them, sir?" Izuku asked.

Aizawa shook his head. "No, but because I'm a UA teacher, I'm affiliated with UA and, by extension, with Nezu. Him and the HPSC go back a long way, and I don't mean that they're old friends"

Aizawa shook his head. "But enough of that, the point is, we are off this case. I know that this may have seemed exciting, dealing with a big case, but it's probably for the best. Hero students have no business dealing with a gang of this size"

With that said, Aizawa let Izuku go back to the dorms early. Since they had no patrol scheduled, there was no point keeping him on duty. So Izuku and Aizawa returned to UA, well, once Izuku had enough energy to walk.

Izuku walked into the dorm common room, having changed out of his hero gear. He sighed. It had been a long day, and he was too tired.

Kirishima was there. Sitting on the couch, watching some random episode of a generic roscommon that was on. He looked like he was bored out of his mind.

He sat up the moment Izuku closed the door, noticing his presence.

Clearly happy to see… someone. Izuku was puzzled, though. He had finished early, but why was Kirishima here?

He asked Kirishima, and Kirishima waved it off. "My mentor was going to be Midnight, but she called in sick at the last minute. So, I've been stuck here all day"

Ouch. Kirishima seemed like the type of guy who just wanted to do things. He hated being left to his own devices.

He perked up suddenly.

"Hey, we're allowed to go down to the training hall on our own time. Wanna fight?"

Thus surprised Izuku. The entire class was friendly enough, but no one had actually offered to hang out with Izuku.

His body was sore, and his mind was tired, so Izuku was going to turn Kirishima down.

But then he remembered Rengoku's words.

He had to get stronger. He couldn't afford to laze around any more.

He needed to start working twice, no, three times as hard as everyone else!

And what a better way to do that than to get some real fighting experience with another second year student?

So Izuku smiled, and nodded. "Sure! But I'm going to win!"

Kirishima laughed, not too differently to Rengoku, and replied. "In your dreams"

And with that, they left for the training hall.

It had been two weeks since Rengoku's appearance, and school life had mostly become the norm for Izuku. Despite how amazing UA was, anything became mundane if you were exposed to it for long enough. (Even though seeing all the pro heroes will never get old to him)

And since then, he had been on two more field studies. Just a few simple patrols. No sign of the Shie Hassakai. No sign of Eri…

Izuku stifled a yawn as he sat down in his seat, ready for another day of academics. Ever since his talk with Rengoku, he'd been training non-stop, not bothering to really talk with anyone.

Not that it mattered.

Sure, they were all friendly enough, but there was this distance between him and the rest of them. Was it because he was the new kid? Or was it because he was quirkless?

Well, there was one exception.

Eijiro Kirishima. Ever since their sparring match, Kirishima was always trying to get Izuku to hang out with him and his friends.

Izuku usually said no.

It's not like he didn't appreciate the invitations, it's just…

Kirishima's friends weren't all that friendly. Bakugo was, well, Bakugo, he was pretty sure Ashido was still mad at him for that hero exercise, and Jiro seemed to look right through him.

It was Intimidating, to say the least.

And besides all of that, he just didn't have time to socialise! He was dedicating every second to training. Strength and conditioning and Swordfighting had been his main focuses, especially after what Rengoku said.

So yeah, right now, Izuku's social life was about as active as before he entered UA.

He opened his maths book as the other students walked into class.

First, it was Kirishima's group. Ashido pretended not to notice him, Jiro stared at him for a few moments before looking away, and Bakugo just sneered at him.

But Kirishima actually greeted him. "Hey Midoriya!"

Izuku responded back. "Hey, Kirishima", and Eijiro followed the rest of his group.

Next, the rich kids walked in. Yaoyarozu, Iida and Todoroki. Although, it was more like Todoroki just happened to walk in at the same time as these two.

Todoroki sat down beside Izuku, and acknowledged him with a nod, which Izuku reciprocated.

The rest of the students sat down, and class began.

A few hours later, and they were back into their own hero classes.

(Izuku still couldn't believe that he was a hero student)

Aizawa was once again standing in front of the students outside.

"As you all know, a large portion of a hero's contribution to society is combat based. However, its not always a fair fight. Sometimes, you will be forced to fight while outnumbered, or in rough terrain. Adapting to, and overcoming, these situations are essential for any hero"

After his speech, Aizawa went into more detail about how the exercise would work.

Everyone would be dropped down into random parts of the newly constructed training zone, Gamma C. They would be dropped into random parts, and everyone had a medal.

To "win" the exercise, you needed to leave with two medals. So, you needed to get a medal from another player, by beating them in a fight. To avoid any serious injuries, a fight either ended when a student was immobilised, surrendered, or when Present Mic, who was going to be supervising, announced that a fight was over.

That was all the information they were given. No other rules, just that bit of information, and then they were ushered out, told to get into their hero outfits, and they entered Gamma C.

Izuku was nervous, to say the least.

This was the first time he'd be directly fighting anyone other than Kirishima, and even that had only been a basic sparring session.

He might have to fight Bakugo. That thought plagued him. He couldn't beat Bakugo! He was stronger and faster than Izuku, and had one of the strongest quirks ever!

Izuku sighed, and examined his surroundings. It seemed to be an ordinary make-shift city. At first glance, it appeared to be made entirely out of cement, like the last hero exercise, but It also had a few metal street lamps lying around.

Izuku examined one, closely. There seemed to be a screw holding a panel in place. Did this stuff actually work?

Well, he didn't have anything on him at the moment to open any of these. He sighed. Just another thing to add on to the long list of costume modifications for when he finally worked up the courage to go to the support class.

Izuku decided to enter one of the taller buildings. He should get a vantage point, it'd let him pinpoint where the other students were, if he'd be lucky.

Eraserhead and Present Mic watched the kids through the cameras in the surveillance room.

"Wow, Cementoss really outdid himself! Yknow, it's kinda crazy that he's a hero, he could've made bank from being a construction worker" Present Mic said.

Aizawa was deeply engrossed in the footage. Every decision these kids made needed to be analysed. Every mistake they made, no matter how small, needed to be fixed, or they could be killed in the line of duty.

He acknowledged Mic's analysis before turning the discussion back to the topic at hand.

"The students are showing a wide range of reactions to their current situations. Some are trying to get more information about the area around them"- A camera showed Izuku atop a tall building, surveying his surroundings. –"Some are setting up traps"- Another camera showed Yaoyarozu producing a wide range of different devices, none of which Aizawa recognised. –"And others are running headfirst into the action"- Another camera showed Todoroki sliding on ice, and Bakugo propelling himself around with his explosions. "It'll be interesting to see how they react to actually having to fight each other, especially with something on the line"

Mic nodded, before pressing on the intercom. "HEYYY, LISTENERS, LISTEN UP. WE MENTIONED THE RULES, BUT WE NEVER ACTUALLY MENTIONED THE REWARDS FOR TODAYS EXERCISE. THE WINNERS, GET HALF OF THE LOSERS' LUNCH PORTIONS FROM LUNCH RUSH!"

Mic turned off the intercom, and him and Eraserhead watched as the cameras displayed all the different reactions from the different students. Some displayed worry and fear. Others, like Ochaco, seemed to relish in the idea of stocking up on meals so that she wouldn't have to pay for the cafeteria for a while. A fire had been lit in her eyes, one that made Aizawa worry slightly.

Izuku had finished surveying the area. There was no sign of anyone, which Izuku found suspicious. Were they all moving through the interiors of buildings, to avoid being spotted?

He had done more investigating on how the fake city was built. Turns out that there's a fully functional (and very steamy) sewer system with water piped running under the entire city, which was what all the manhole covers were for.

The streetlights were Indeed powered by electricity, and the buildings all had solid support, with no risk of collapse.

Izuku had double checked most of the buildings near him for explosives. He didn't want to deal with a repeat of the last hero training session.

Explosions rang out in the distance. It seemed like Bakugo had found his target. Izuku let out a sigh of relief. He was glad that he didn't have to deal with Bakugo!

Then again, this is the top school in Japan for a reason. Everyone else in the class is also probably just as monstrous as Bakugo.

Izuku decided that stealth was his best option. There was no point taking a fight head on. If he could just sneak up on two people fighting, and strike when one was weak, he could secure a medal.

The problem was In the act of finding people. Outside of hearing Bakugo's explosions, there had been no sign of anyone.

Suddenly, a spark of lightning flew by his head. Izuku turned his head to see Kaminari, who had an extreme look of frustration on his face.

"Dammit, missed again!" He shouted in frustration.

He charged forwards at Izuku, who started backing up.

There was no point in taking this fight, he had no idea of what Kaminari was capable of.

Unfortunately Kaminari wasn't giving him a chance to escape. They were stuck in a pretty ordinary street, with no real opportunities to use his parkour skills to escape. He could try outrunning Kaminari, but did he have more stamina? If he didn't, then he'd have to fight Kaminari while out of breath, which wouldn't be a winnable fight.

This left Izuku with one option. Fight.

Kaminari had gained on Izuku, who had turned his back to Kaminari. Kaminari reached out towards Izuku, his plan sparking with electricity. Izuku shifted his body, turned his hips, and unleashed a full 360 slash, which forced Kaminari to cancel his assault, and take a step back.

Izuku could see the wheels turn in Kaminari's head, he was trying to figure out what to do next.

Suddenly, another bolt of electricity blasted out towards Izuku, who ducked under it.

But Kaminari kept up with the assault. Izuku ducked to the left, then to the right, then had to deflect another one. Thankfully, most of them seemed to veer way off course. Kaminari must not be that good at ranged attacks.

Or atleast, that's what Izuku thought. Kaminari started walking towards Izuku, who attempted to take a step back, but as he did, a sharp pain jolted through his leg. He looked around, to see jagged chains of electricity, all to the back of him. Had Kaminari missed all of those shots on purpose?

Kaminari had a smug grin on his face, as he slowly approached Izuku.

Izuku began searching through his mind. What techniques was he able to use? Lightning breathing first form? No, if he did that, he'd just go flying into that wall of electricity.

What else?

Izuku searched through his entire mind.

"Wait a second. Am I only capable of one technique?" He thought, as Kaminari shouted out. "1.2 MILLION VOLTS!!"

And everything went black.

Izuku woke up, with his entire body sore, lying in the middle of the street.

He sat up, and took a moment to get his bearings. He searched his pockets frantically, only to find that his medal was gone.

It was very frustrating. But, there was nothing Izuku could do. So he stood up, and began walking back to the entrance. He had lost.

After a few minutes of walking, he approached the exit. A few people were already there. Had they won, or lost? It didn't really matter to Izuku.

Just as he was about to exit the building, and finish the exercise, a thought crossed his mind.

"Wait, did Present Mic actually say that it was over when you lost your medals?"

He thought back to what Present Mic had said. He had mentioned getting knocked out ending the fight, but not anything about being forced out of the exercise altogether!

Just as Kirishima, who was at the exit with two medals, had turned around and noticed Izuku, and was waving towards him, Izuku turned around and started running back towards the centre.

He only had so much time, there was a limited amount of medals, so he needed to be quick. Which meant that he couldn't afford to choose his opponent.

So, Izuku started running towards the sounds of explosions.