Symbol

by silentplayermc03

Izuku Midoriya, chosen by All Might to be the next wielder of One For All. Expecting his life to be difficult, he didn't think he'd also become a father figure to a young child, find true friends, become an inspiration to others, be guided by remnants of previous OFA users or catch the attention of both villains & the HPSC. Watch as he struggles through it all while doing his best

4. Chapter 003 - Encounters

SYMBOL

CHAPTER 003 - ENCOUNTERS

It was the last day before the start of UA and a certain green haired young man just couldn't wait for the day to end. Having regained his confidence after learning he had actually passed the entrance exam to enter UA, Izuku spent the following weeks waiting for school to begin by keeping up with his exercises and training with One For All. As a result, his proficiency in it rose, raising his maximum full use percentage from three to five percent. It may not seem like much to most, but when speaking about a stockpiling quirk such as One For All that has been accumulating energy for many decades, it made a noticeable difference.

Besides his continued exercises and training over the past few weeks, he had been busy getting ready for the move into the dorms while dealing with a few, rather big, hurdles. One of which was his old childhood friend turned bully who had confronted him about his entrance exam score just a few days after receiving his letter. Though Izuku still suffered some trauma from his past experiences with Katsuki's bullying, he was able to stand his ground and informed his old friend that he had worked hard to pass and was going to be a hero too, whether he liked it or not. His words had surprised Katsuki and stunned him long enough for Izuku to leave peacefully before anything else could happen. After that day, Katsuki ignored him completely. Well, for the most part since he did glare hatefully at him every now and then. However, Izuku was actually glad for the new development between themselves because he didn't want to keep having confrontational encounters with him.

Because of that, Izuku was able to focus on his next big hurdle; what exactly was he going to pack and take with him to his own dorm room? It took him a long time to figure out what he wanted and needed to take with him. At first, he wanted to take all of his belongings; from his notebooks about all the quirks he wrote about, his workout equipment, to all of his All Might merchandise. However, thanks to some advice from his mother, he decided against taking all of his All Might memorabilia except for just a couple items. He would of course take his notebooks no matter what and he had a feeling he would need them during his UA career. So with those packed away into boxes, along with daily necessities such as clothes, hygiene items and several other stuff, he was ready with a few days to spare until UA began.

And within those few days to spare, he was able to meet up with All Might once more. The number one hero had contacted him on Saturday to let him know he had come back from his trip and requested that the two of them meet up at Dagobah Beach once more for old time's sake. During their meeting, the two spoke about many things, with Toshinori congratulating his successor for passing the entrance exam once more. Izuku had thanked him for that before mentioning how he got in touch with the others who helped him during his training. He even mentioned how he was going to get All Might back for making him feel so miserable that whole week until he got his exam results.

It was only when his protégé mentioned how his mother was also peeved about him doing that, that the Symbol of Peace become actually worried. He didn't want to get on Inko's bad side. Toshinori apologized for that and then he asked to convince his mother to forgive him. Izuku accepted it, but mentioned how he still owed him a punch for all that. Laughing over it, the two moved on and caught up with other things that happened to them in the past few weeks throughout that day. As the day began to end with evening drawing near, the two of them decided to have one final spar between them before the start of UA.

And then it was finally Sunday. Time seemed to be going way too fast for Izuku since he felt that it was too sudden for it to be the last day before the start of his hero academy. But he didn't mind, since he couldn't wait anymore. Having everything ready to go for the most part, he just needed a few more things after going down his list of required items.

Putting on his signature red sneakers, Izuku was getting ready to go get the things he needed as well as take care of some errands his mother asked him to do before he was finally ready for the start of a new chapter in his life. Tying the laces on his red sneakers, he stood up and left his room, making his way to the door of the apartment he lived in. "Mom, I'm heading out," he called out as he reached for the door handle while grabbing his keys from the key hanger near the door.

"Alright, make sure you have everything ready for tomorrow. You did remember to pack up everything for the UA movers right? Oh, and don't forget to grab the groceries and the order I placed from the electronics store. And please be careful."

"Everything is ready and yeah, they're ready to be picked up. I'll get them both on my way back home. I'll be back before evening. Bye Mom!" And with that, he left his home and closed the door.

Watching her son leave before staring at the door for a few seconds, Inko let out sigh. "It's funny. He's become so strong but I still can't help but worry about him." Saying that seemed to trigger some of her memories. Remembering all the things her son did these past two years in order for him to prepare to get into UA and how he's had so much help from such kind people. It was at that moment that she decided to show her appreciation to those who helped her son. "What would be a good way to show my thanks?" Brainstorming over that, Inko continued on with her chores while debating on how to appropriately show her gratitude to those who helped out her son.

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Walking through the large mall, it had been a while since he came to the shopping district. Looking around, he spotted a few new stores that he didn't remember being there before. Hmm, maybe they have what I need. Deciding to check out the new stores, Izuku made his way towards one and entered it.

Entering the store, he learned that it was a general goods store so he took his time to walk around a bit to see what they carried. After a short while, he took out a paper from his pocket and went through the list of things he needed, which luckily the store he was in had since he saw them. Nice! Looks like this won't take too long after all! Going around the store once more, he found some of the items he needed and went up to the cashier. After purchasing them, he thanked the employee of the store and made his way out of the store.

Walking without a destination in mind, he wondered where he should go to find the other things he needed. Seeing a mall directory panel near a rest area, he went up to it and scanned the list of stores on it. Finding a couple stores that could have what he needed, Izuku nodded to himself and began moving towards them.

But he was only able to take a few steps before someone had grabbed hold of the bottom of his shirt, making him stop. "Ex-Excuse me…"

Looking towards the one who had stopped him and spoke, Izuku found them to be a child. A young, scared looking girl with twin pig tails to be exact. In one of her hands she was holding a small stuffed animal. "Hey there. Can I help you?" he asked, turning to fully face her.

She was quiet for a moment before talking in a low tone of voice. "I'm lost. I-I can't find my s-sister and brother," she said while her eyes began to fill with water.

"Oh, don't worry," replied back Izuku before kneeling down. Noticing her expression filled with fear, he did his best to soothe her nerves. "I promise to help. We'll find them, so no more crying okay?" he told her soothingly. Seeing her expression turn a little better, he gave his best heroic smile. "There you go. Never give up ok? Now, let's go find your brother and sister. We'll check with the mall security first. They're probably looking for you too."

The girl, seeing him being kind and looking a little funny with his big smile, smiled back a little and nodded. "Okay," agreed the child, raising her empty hand towards him.

Understanding her, Izuku took her hand and stood back up. "Alright, let's go. Mall security should be this way." Leading the way while protecting her from the crowd of people going about their business so they wouldn't bump into her, he made small talk to keep her mind occupied, telling her how he was buying things for school and home. "So, hey, what's your name?" he asked her after talking for a bit.

"It's Satsuki," she told him, staying close to him while looking up at him. "And my brother's name is Samidare and my older sister's name is Tsuyu. She's gonna go to UA cause she's so strong and super cool!" she added with a big smile after answering his question. "What's yours?"

"Those are nice names and wow, your sister does sound cool!" He was about to start bombarding the young girl with questions about her sister and what kind of quirk she has, his nerdy side about to take over. Luckily he was able to stop himself in time. He shook his head slightly in disbelief. Control yourself Izuku. Can't be going all quirk crazy in front of a little girl. You'll probably scare her. "I'm going to UA too so maybe your sister and I will be in the same class. Oh and my name is Izuku Midoriya."

Satsuki's eyes widened hearing that as they seemed to sparkle at him. "Wow, you're going there too! You must be a super cool hero too!" she said with admiration in her tone of voice.

Chuckling a bit over her enthusiasm, the teenage boy responded back afterwards. "Thanks but I'm not. I hope to be a super cool hero one day though."

"I know you'll be! Just like my sister!"

Glancing back at her, he smiled at seeing her all convinced over her words. "Thank you. I'll do my best and I'm sure your sister will too." Satsuki beamed at him and he nodded back at her before facing forward and kept walking. "By the way, not that I'm complaining or anything, but why did you ask me for help? How come you didn't ask one of the mall security guys?"

Satsuki looked down towards her feet as they continued. "Because they look scary and…" She moved her eyes back up towards Izuku who noticed her looking at him from his peripheral vision and moved his sight back to her. "…you have green hair like my sister. It made me feel…safe," she admitted to him.

Her childlike innocence made him see how adorable she was being but also saw a potential danger with that kind of thinking. He stopped and knelt down to be eye level with Satsuki. "Thank you for saying that. I'm happy that you would think that about me." She smiled at his words. "But I have to tell you that just because someone has green hair like your sister, it doesn't mean that they'll be nice like her. Okay?"

Tilting her head, Satsuki became confused. "But, you are nice."

He rubbed the back of his head, momentarily stumped by her rebuttal before continuing on. "Thanks and I do my best to be nice. But there are other people, bad people, who aren't nice. So just remember that okay? Do you understand what I'm saying?" he asked her.

Satsuki was quiet for a moment before replying. "I think so."

"Good. And if you need more explaining, I'm sure your sister can explain things better to you."

"Okay."

Glad that he got through to her somewhat, Izuku stood back up and the two kept going. Soon enough, they could see their destination. "We're almost there. And then we'll…wait…" He saw an interesting sight some distance ahead of them; a girl with long green hair that looked to be around his age was sporting a noticeable concerned expression on her face even from a distance. And she was speaking with one of the mall security personnel while holding the hand of young boy. Assuming they could be the young girl's family, he gestured to them as he spoke. "Hey, are they your brother and sister?" he asked, turning to the young girl.

"Huh?" asked Satsuki before looking towards the ones he was talking about. It only took a split second for her to recognize them and she called out to them. "Tsu! Sami!" Letting go of Izuku's hand, she ran towards her siblings while she kept shouting out their names.

The green haired girl whirled around towards the voice shouting her name and found her sister running towards them. "Suki!" she cried out in relief, making her way towards her with their brother right beside her. The three ended up hugging each other tightly while letting out sounds of relief and happiness. "I was so scared, kero. Where did you go?! Didn't I tell you to stay beside me all the time?!" chastised the older sibling while still in the embrace.

"Big sis was worried sick," said her brother while also whispering the next few words but both of his sisters heard it. "And me too…"

"I'm sorry!" cried the younger girl, sobbing in the embrace a little.

Letting out a sigh, the elder sibling let go of the young girl and knelt down to her eye level. Satsuki stopped crying as Tsuyu wiped away her younger sister's tears. "I know. Just don't ever do that again. Alright?" Satsuki nodded. "Good, kero. Now, where did you go? What happened?" she asked, wanting to know what made her younger sister split from them when she usually didn't do such things.

Satsuki looked downwards while holding her stuffed animal. "I wanted to see the flowers near the bench. And then I got lost. And then I found Izuku who helped me find you. And then…"

"Wait, wait," interrupted Tsuyu, holding up her hand to stop Satsuki from continuing when she looked up at her. "Who's Izuku?" she asked.

"Oh, he's the nice boy with green hair like you! He helped me find you when I told him I was lost!" she answered and then turned around while still talking. "And he's right…there…huh? Where did he go?"

Tsuyu tilted her head at that. "Satsuki, what did I tell you about lying?"

Turning back around to face her sister, Satsuki stomped her little foot and started shouting. "I'm not lying! He was there and his name is Izuku Midoriya! He had green hair like you! He even had those dots on his face! He said he was going to UA too! He even told me to talk to you about thinking people are nice just because they have the same hair color like you!"

Tsuyu's eyes widened at hearing that since even though her sister likes to make up things, this is something that she wouldn't be able to think up of since her stories are always goofy ones. "Okay, I believe you so no more yelling. But where did he go?" she asked her sister.

Calming down, Satsuki thought for a few seconds before shrugging. "I don't know. He said he was buying stuff for school and home. But he was so cool! Just like you!"

Smiling a bit, Tsuyu stood up and grasped her sister's hand with her left, since her right was holding her brother's. "Alright, let's go home, kero." The two younger siblings started teasing one another while the eldest of the three thought a bit. Izuku Midoriya huh? Why does that name sound familiar? And he has green hair? Dots on his face? She probably means freckles. And he's going to UA too? I'll keep an eye out and if I find him, I'll thank him for taking care of Satsuki. But why did he leave without saying anything? Pondering about that for a little while, Tsuyu, along with her younger siblings Satsuki and Samidrake, made their way out of the mall and continued on home.

Sometime later, in another street, a green haired young man was making his way towards another shopping district after checking out the other stores and found them lacking the items he needed. He had a small smile on his face though, since he was feeling good about what he did earlier on. Seeing the reaction between Satsuki and the other two, he knew that they were her siblings Tsuyu and Samidrake. He saw how much they care about one another and it made him happy. It was at that moment that he decided to just let them be. He didn't need their thanks or a reward or anything like that. Knowing he did the right thing and feeling good about it was all he needed. As a result, he continued on to resume his errands for the day. Besides, if the young girl was telling the truth, he'd probably see her sister at UA anyways. With no regrets, Izuku headed towards the next destination on his shopping list.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Great! This is just great!" exclaimed a purple haired girl sarcastically.

"I know it sucks but thing's will be alright so calm down," replied an older male as he glanced at his wife.

"No, I won't because you two forced me to be here! I told you I didn't feel like coming with you! But no, you just had to force me! And now I'm stuck here with you two when I could've been getting ready for UA tomorrow!" chastised the girl.

"Okay, that's not fair. None of us thought that the truck would break down alright? So stop blaming us and try to think of a solution," advised the woman.

"Ugh! Whatever!"

It had been about ten minutes since their truck broke down and the Jirou family members were not in a good mood. For not only were they stranded in an area they weren't too familiar with, but they were also in the middle of delivering one of their musical instruments to a high profile client. Though the parents could've delivered the item on their own, Kyotoku wanted one last delivery trip with his daughter before she began UA. They had always done these deliveries as a family and he treasured them. And now, with his daughter being accepted into one of the most prestigious schools ever, he knew there wouldn't be much time spent together. Especially since she would soon be living in their dorms that are located on campus. Enlisting the help of his wife Mika to convince their only child to come with them one last time, he was hoping it would be a good time for them as a family.

Begrudgingly, Kyoka agreed to their request on the condition that it didn't take too long and that it was just the one trip. Satisfied with that, the three had gone to one of their vendor's warehouse to pick up the item before heading towards their client's home address. They only had a little bit of distance left to their client's home when everything started to turn to the worst. The truck they had for years started making noise before the engine seized. Luckily, Kyotoku was able to maneuver the truck off the road and stopped it in a normal parking spot against the curb off to the side of the street.

When the three of them got out of the car and the male of the group opened the truck's hood, they saw that the timing belt of the engine had snapped. Letting out a sigh, Kyotoku glanced at his daughter and saw the irritated expression on her face. Knowing that she was about to snap, he quickly called roadside assistance and was on the phone for several minutes with them as he explained the situation and where they were at. It was only when he finally hung up and informed his family members that it would take at least forty minutes for the closest tow truck to reach them that his daughter exploded. Going on a long rant, she blamed both her father and mother for making her be there and wasting time. It was only when Mika told her to come up with a solution instead of blaming them that she stopped.

Letting out a relieved sigh, Kyotoku whispered to his wife. "Thanks, I thought she wouldn't stop."

"You owe me. But don't count yourself lucky just yet. She might still snap at you," retorted Mika quietly with a small smile.

Kyotoku smiled back. "That's fine with me. And I'll do anything you want. Especially in the bedroom."

Mika blushed a bit at his words. "Can't take that back anymore. Hope you're prepared."

"OH MY GOD! I CAN HEAR YOU!"

Hearing their daughter scream like that made the two of them laugh while Kyoka glared at them and crossed her arms over her chest. "It's not enough you dragged me here, now you're trying to scar me for life! Shouldn't you guys try to find a way out of this mess?" she asked her parents.

"Already did. Did you forget about the tow truck on the way?" asked her father.

Rolling her eyes, the purple haired girl leaned against the broken down truck with her back with her arms still crossed and spoke while not facing them. "And did you call the client to let them know we'll be late?" Eyes widening as he realized that he should be doing that, her father took out his cell phone once more and began dialing their client's number. Shaking her head, Kyoka couldn't believe it. "Wow, are you serious? How could you forget?"

"Now, now, don't be so rude to your father," chastised Mika, making her daughter look at her now while her husband began speaking with their client. "You know he's usually on top of things but you also know that he's been both excited and anxious about you attending UA so give him some slack."

"I get it. Fine," grumbled out Kyoka, looking at her feet. Deciding to not completely waste her time there, she started thinking about what she needs to do once she gets back home. She still had some things to do to be ready for the start of school tomorrow. Planning it out in her head, she remained quiet until her father got off the phone a couple minutes later and she noticed that. "So, they cool with us being late?" she asked while turning her gaze to look at him now.

Shaking his head with a grim look on his face, Kyotoku looked at Mika before speaking. "They're not happy and said they have guests arriving within the hour. They were supposed to use it to entertain them and make a good first impression. They said if we're not there within thirty minutes, they're going to cancel the order and never deal with us again."

"Are you serious?!" asked Mika in disbelief, unable to believe how their clients could be so inconsiderate and unable to understand their situation. "But, it's not like them to be such…such…"

"Assholes?" filled in Kyoka from the side.

"Yeah, that but don't say it again," replied her mother.

"But they are so I will say it again! What assholes! It's not like we wanted this to happen!" snapped Kyoka.

"Alright, everyone calm down," began the male of the group, catching the two females' attention. "Assholes or not, we lose them, we lose an important customer who we've sold to for a long time who also has ties with other big fish. We need them to continue business with us. So, let's find a way to make this happen." Nodding their heads, the two females agreed to that. "Okay, so we have about thirty minutes left…"

"Less actually," chimed in Mika.

"That's right. Damn it. So what do we do?" he asked.

"How much farther away are we?" questioned Kyoka.

"We're pretty close actually," answered Mika as she pulled out her smart phone and looked at the map directions they were using before they got stuck. "Says here about two miles left."

"Hey, I know! Why don't we just carry it the rest of the way?" suggested Kyotuka.

The two females looked at the male, then at the large crate in the bed of the truck before looking at him again. "You're kidding, right?" asked the two together.

"Why? We can do it."

"Okay, even if we can carry that thing, when I know for a fact we can't since it's so large and heavy, we would never be able to get it there in time," informed Mika, making her husband frown but unable to say anything.

"Hey, wait a minute, can't we call one of the workers to come and pick us up?" asked Kyoka all of a sudden.

Her father and mother both shook their heads. "No, cause they're off today and even if they were willing to come get us, they live on the other side of town and we won't make it in time either," revealed her father.

"Well, what if we ask someone nearby for help?" After Mika said that, the three of them looked around their surroundings more carefully but barely found a handful of people walking around while carrying shopping bags. None of the people they went up to were willing to listen to them as they tried to talk to them. And only a few stores were open since it was Sunday with barely a few workers. "Well, at least we tried that. Any other ideas?"

"No, nothing," revealed Kyotoku with a hint of sadness with his shoulders sagging.

"So, we're basically screwed," commented Kyoka dryly.

"Looks like it," agreed Mika, unable to comment on her daughter's choice of vocabulary since she agreed with her due to their predicament. Silence fell upon them for a moment as the three of them began thinking and were beginning to get lost in their thoughts...

"Hey, you guys need help?"

That is, until they heard someone's voice and the three turned towards the speaker. They found a young man with green hair and eyes looking at them with a concerned expression while holding onto several shopping bags in his hands.

He had come across them after walking around the corner o f the block they were on and ended up seeing their truck parked with the hood up. When he drew closer, he saw them standing on the opposite side of the truck with not so happy expressions on their faces. After hearing some of the things they said, he deduced that they might need help and decided to see if he could help them out in anyway.

Cute, was the first thought that both Mika and Kyoka had in their mind. Only one of them reddened slightly as she realized what she just thought in her head. Becoming embarrassed over that, she looked away as she subconsciously twirled one of her elongated ear lobes around with her hand.

"Ah yea, we do," started Kyotoku, not noticing the state his daughter was in but his wife did, who made a mental note about it. "We own Jirou's Musician Store…" He pulled out his card and handed it to the young man with both hands while giving a slight bow. The young man also took it with both hands along with a slight bow after placing the bags on the ground. Both men straightened out and one continued speaking while the other listened. "…and we need to get this to our client within the next twenty minutes who's about two miles away but our truck broke down and help is a long ways away. If we don't get there in time, we could end up losing a big customer. We could really use your help or someone that you might know who has a truck," he told the newcomer.

"Oh, I see," remarked the young man, as he glanced at the business card and then at the crate in the bed of the truck that had the business name and logo from the card it. Now that he confirmed that they really were in a bind and what their actual problem was, he decided to help them since he was able to. "Well, I don't have a truck and the only person I know who has a truck lives far away."

"Damn it," said Kyotoku, before letting out a long sigh. "Might as well call them back and tell them-"

"But I can still help you."

He's offer made the male stop talking and then the older female looked at him curiously while the younger female wondered how he could help if he didn't have a truck. "How?" asked Mika for them all.

"You said it was two miles away? And you have about twenty minutes left?" he asked them and the three nodded in confirmation together. "Alright. Should be doable," he remarked offhandedly while moving closer to the truck as he slipped the business card he was given into his front pocket.

"Wait, it's too heavy! You'll end up hu-" Kyoka stopped talking when she saw red glowing veins appear all over the young man as greenish blue lightning sparked around his body for a second and then they disappeared. Before she, or even her parents who were also silenced over what they saw, could say anything, he slipped his hands underneath the large wooden crate and picked it up. Lifting it up over his head effortlessly, that action caused the three family members to have their jaws drop and they were unable to say anything, stunned as to how he did that so easily with a such a large and heavy item.

"So, I can't hold this up forever and we're losing time. What are the directions?" he asked them.

Snapping out of it, Mika cleared her throat before speaking, bringing the other two back to their senses as well. "Our daughter will be your navigator. Here's how to get there," she said as she sent over the directions to her daughter's phone. "We'll meet up with you two at the client's house after the tow truck gets here. Be safe and don't try anything. We have a hidden tracking chip on our product and if you try to do anything, she can make your heart stop with her quirk," informed the mother, with her daughter glancing at her but said nothing.

Damn, what an awesome quirk! I want to know more but now's not the time. Holding his nerdy side at bay, he nodded at her words. "Understood," he replied back. "Bring my bags with you though okay?" he requested and they agreed.

"Hold up," said Kyotoku and they all looked at him. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Izuku Midoriya, sir."

Why does that name sound familiar? Kyoka wondered that as she remained silent and waited for them to go while her father continued speaking with him. "Alright then. You think you'll get there in time?"

"How much time we have left?"

"About eighteen minutes."

"We can make it but we're gonna have to move it." He glanced at the girl. "You ready?" he asked her.

"Yeah. Let's go," she replied back.

"Alright then. Lead the way and go as fast as you can." The two young adults headed down the road quickly with the girl leading the way and the boy following right after her.

"Wow, he wasn't kidding," remarked Kyotoku, seeing Izuku keeping up with their daughter with no problem even while carrying the large crate. "You think Kyoka will be alright with someone like that around her?" he asked.

Mika smiled over her husband's understandable concern. "Yeah, she will be. I didn't pick up any bad vibes from Izuku. And even if he was hiding them, Kyoka can take care of herself."

"True. She certainly can take care of herself," he remarked before raising his hands and crossing his index and middle fingers on both hands while facing upwards towards the sky. "Please let him be a good person and please let them make it in time."

Mika chuckled over his antics but didn't stop him from doing them, since she found them adorable. "C'mon. If you're done praying, let's get his stuff and prepare for when the tow truck gets here.

"Alright."

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Izuku jogged along behind the purple haired girl while holding up the crate above his head. Though the crate was rather large and heavy, it was nothing while he was using the quirk that was passed down onto him. If anything, he was barely breaking a sweat as he held it up over his head and made his way towards their destination. All that time carrying All Might on my back helped out after all. Not to mention One for All, even with me barely able to use it like this in Full Cowl mode, is making this a breeze, he thought as they continued on.

"So, how you holding up?" asked the girl after a little bit of silence between the two.

"Not bad at all," replied back Izuku.

Glancing towards him, she couldn't believe that he was only panting slightly. He didn't look to be tired out or anything of the sort. Looking at him more carefully, Kyoka found out that he was quite fit, even with the slightly baggy clothes he was wearing. Reddening at that, she faced forward and continued on. "Good to hear as we still have a ways to go."

"I can pick up the pace if we won't make it going like this," he offered.

She shook her head. "No need. As long as we keep this up, we'll get there in time."

"Alright." Some silence for a bit between them before he spoke up again. "How much farther?"

"What, getting tired already? I thought you said you're good."

"No, just curious."

"Yeah, okay."

"I'm serious."

"Whatever you say."

"Will you just tell me?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you won't admit it. And honestly, it's fun messing with you."

"I'm telling the truth and that's not very nice, especially when you just met someone."

She groaned lowly at that so he couldn't hear her, thinking he was one of those proper types and how she didn't really get along with those kinds of people. "Never said I was nice."

"Don't need to. I think you are but you hide it."

Her face flushed some but he didn't see that since she was ahead of him. Keeping her cool demeanor, she responded back curtly. "You don't know anything about me so don't assume you know who I am. Don't be such a child."

A bit annoyed over her remark, he spoke quietly under his breath as he rolled his eyes. "Look who's being a child, not even telling me how much longer we got."

"I heard that."

His eyes widened and his heart rate spiked. "Y-You did?! B-But I barely talked in a whisper!"

While still jogging ahead of him, her earlobes extended out a little before turning backwards and pointed at him. "My quirk deals with my ears. It's called Earphone Jack. I can hear anything and everything nearby and within a certain amount of range when I concentrate. I can also use them to emit sound waves. And that's not all I can do with them," explained Kyoka, giving a minimum amount of information about her quirk, since she doesn't know him that well. After explaining though, she expected him to apologize, to say something rude about her ears because of their weird shape or a hundred different other things.

"That's so cool!"

That wasn't one of them. Nearly tripping over herself, the purple haired girl glanced back at the green haired boy and saw him smiling wide at her. That made her blush redden even more, making her quickly face forward again and kept going. "Y-You think so?" she asked him after facing forward.

"Yeah! Why wouldn't I? You can do so much with such a cool quirk!" He then went off on, mumbling up a storm about all the different things one can do with such a quirk.

Kyoka was surprised over all the things he was saying. Sonar? Jumpstart a heart? SOS frequency? Most of the stuff he was saying was things she had never even considered or thought of doing or trying. After a short while, with no sign of him slowing down or stopping his mumbling spree, she decided to interrupt. "Hey, can you stop that Midoriya? It's getting a little annoying."

He stopped, blushing over his behavior. "Sorry. Didn't mean to do that. Haven't done that in a while to be honest but sometimes I just get so excited learning about new and interesting quirks that I just go off like that," he said, embarrassed over his actions but not regretting it.

"It's fine. So what's your quirk? Something like super strength?" she asked him.

"Not really," he said slowly, as he recalled what he and All Might decided to call his quirk to tell others and for quirk registration. "My quirk is called Aura, which is basically using energy I accumulate over time to increase my strength, speed, endurance and a few other things for a short period."

"Wow, that sounds like a great quirk!" she said, impressed and understanding how he can lift the crate and jog so easily.

"Thanks but I'm still getting used to it. If I try to use too much, I'll end up hurting myself," he replied back. Seeing her glance around with a worried expression on her face, he knew what she was about to say and cut her off. "But don't worry; I'm good for now as this isn't too bad." Her worried expression faded away and she nodded, while also commenting that she was still learning about her own limits as well before facing forward. He agreed by nodding, though she didn't see that, before asking her another question. "By the way, you know my name, but I never got yours."

She answered without glancing back after a while. "It's Kyoka Jirou."

"Nice to meet you Jirou-san."

She let out a quiet huff. "Oh man, you really are one of those formal types aren't you?" she mumbled under her breath.

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"We're almost there," she said, covering up what she said before.

"Oh ok."

The two continued while making some light conversation until they finally reached their destination with a few minutes to spare. Both of them looked up in awe at the sheer size of the building. It looked like a miniature mansion, complete with its own entrance gate and intercom on the left side of the gate's wall.

Kyoka went up to the intercom and pressed the button. "Hey, we have a delivery from Jirou's Musician Store for you." A moment of silence until a beep was heard and then the gate swung open inwards from the middle. Glancing at one another, Kyoka shrugged before leading the way and Izuku followed after her.

When they reached the rather large double front doors, it opened inwards and a middle aged man wearing a butler's uniform stood before them. "Good day and welcome. My name is Joffrey. It's about time. My Master and Ladies have been waiting for you. Quickly now." Joffrey ushered them inside, with Izuku being able to bring in the crate easily thanks to the large entrance before closing the door and then gestured to the two to follow after him. Again, the two glanced at one another but then nodded this time before doing so. Joffrey led them down the grand hall for a bit before going towards the right side. Stopping beside a double door, he opened both doors wide and stood next to it while pointing with an open hand for them to go through.

Kyoka stepped in first before Izuku followed after, being careful not to bump the crate against the doorway and luckily he was able to go through without issue. Though barely, since the opening wasn't as large as the front entrance. Once inside the room and he got a good look around, he realized that it was a spacious room with hardly anything in it except for some cabinets up against the walls along with some couches on one end positioned around a rectangular coffee table that were all facing towards the open area.

"Place the crate right here please." Doing as he requested, Izuku gently lowered it onto the ground where the butler indicated. "Good. Now, just wait here while I inform the Master or one of the Ladies." Without giving them a chance to reply back, Joffrey left the two in the room but didn't close the doors behind him.

Rolling his shoulders around, Izuku then shook his arms. "Whew, that feels so much better."

Kyoka smirked a bit. "What happened, Mr. Tough Guy? Too much for ya?"

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head while reddening slightly since he was embarrassed over her words. "No, but my arms were starting to get stiff. It wasn't too heavy, but holding it up above my head for a while was a real workout." Not to mention holding One for All for a long time. Even using it at a lower percentage than my current maximum, it still took a lot out of me. Shaking his arms a bit as he walked around the room, he got a closer look at all the stuff on the cabinets. "Wow, this place is amazing. Did you see how luxurious looking the hall was? And there sure is some nice stuff here."

"Don't even think about stealing anything Midoriya," warned Kyoka with her eyes narrowing all of a sudden because of what he just said.

He whirled around at that to face her, insulted and with a peeved expression on his face. "Hey, I would never do such a thing! I'm going to UA to be a pro Hero one day!"

Her eyes widened at his remark. "Wait, you're going to UA too?!" He nodded with a serious look on his face. She felt guilty for jumping the gun and judging him like that, especially after he just helped out her family big time. "Oh. Um, I just…ah…I'm sorry." She looked away from him while holding her left elbow with her right hand, embarrassed over the situation.

Calming down and seeing her reaction, Izuku felt bad for making her feel that way. "I-It's fine. We don't r-really know each other and…ah...I guess my words sounded a bit suspicious. Let's j-just forget about it." Damn it, stop stuttering! Remember who you practiced with to get over it! He chastised himself. He still had that problem sometimes, even with getting the small amount of confidence back he had built up for himself these past couple of years after learning he had gotten in at UA after all.

Looking at him, Kyoka saw he wasn't mad anymore about her thoughtless words. He just forgave me, just like that? Silence for a moment and deciding to say something so it wouldn't get awkward, she spoke; "Thanks Midoriya."

Relaxing now, a smile spread on his face and nodded. "You're welcome."

Kyoka felt her heart skip a beat at his smile and words. What the hell was that?! Her mind went haywire, trying to figure out why.

Seeing her silent and thinking they were alright, Izuku went back to looking at the cabinets. "Seriously though, this is some nice stuff. They must cost a fortune. I wonder who lives here…"

His words snapped her out of her thoughts and she shook her head slightly as if to get them out of her head. Get a hold of yourself. Going to where he was, she peered at the items he was looking at too. "Yeah, you're right. These look super expensive. And tacky as hell."

Chuckling at that, he couldn't disagree. "I guess you have a point. So, you're going to UA? Starting tomorrow?"

Kyoka looked at him before looking towards the pictures on the cabinets now. "Yeah, was supposed to use today to get ready for tomorrow but then got stuck with this delivery that my parents forced me to go on with them. Something about 'one last family outing together' or something," she told him dryly while using air quotes. "What about you?"

Chuckling again, Izuku shook his head in amusement. "I see. And yea, same here. The bags you saw me with were some last minute purchases. Still have to go buy some groceries and then head home. You excited or nervous about starting UA tomorrow?" he asked her.

"Both," answered the purple haired girl. "Especially with how they're changing things up this year." He nodded in agreement with her on that. "I'm looking forward to some of the changes though. Maybe we'll be in the same class." He commented back that hopefully they will be, so they can at least know one person in the class. "Yeah, that'll be cool. But I gotta say, I can't wait to have my own dorm room and…hey, look at this princess!" remarked Kyoka with a snort, judging the girl.

"Who?" asked Izuku, curious as he looked at the picture his new friend was talking about. The girl in question was seated on a red chair dressed in an elegant and expensive looking cream colored dress. Her mother and father stood behind her with slight smiles adorning stoic faces while also dressed very fashionably. But the thing that caught his gaze was the girl seated on the chair because she looked very familiar to him. Long black hair with onyx colored eyes with beautiful looks... It took him a couple seconds until he figured it out and his eyes widened as he let out a shocked gasp.

Hearing him do that, Kyoka looked at him and found him frozen. "What the…" Looking at the picture again, she then realized something. Damn, so she caught his attention and she's not even here. Of course she would with those looks and that body. That's not fair…wait, what am I even thinking?! Looking back at him, she saw him still frozen. A feeling of intense jealousy sprung up within her that made her internally panic over the meaning.

Until he whispered something to himself but she heard it due to her quirk, catching her attention and making her focus on that instead of what she just felt. "It's her…"

It's her? "What do you mean?" she asked him all of a sudden, not even bothering to hide that she heard his whispering, curious over it.

"I think she's the girl I saved from some villains the other day…" he answered without thinking.

Kyoka had a stunned expression form on her face. He saved her from some villains?

But before either of them could say anything, a new voice was heard in the room. "What do you think you're doing?" The sharp tone along with an air of superiority coming with it made both of them snap their attention onto the one who spoke. The speaker was a middle aged lady clothed in a long black dress wearing glasses with her hair tied back into an elegant bun. She was one of the persons from the picture they were just looking at. Walking towards the two with perfect grace, she was glaring daggers in their direction, more specifically at the young male. "I asked you a question."

"Um, I-I…we just…ah…" Though the young man had some help in dealing with his social anxiety and to be able to hold conversations with other people, it didn't help much since he was now faced with a rather angry looking and intimidating woman before him. He had no idea how to deal with her since she was behaving completely different to what he practiced with and so he was not used to it all. Even with a certain heroine giving him that help these past recent months per his mentor's request…

Seeing him suddenly lose all composure and stuttering, Kyoka decided to take over. "We're from Jirou's Musician Store and we just delivered your piano," she informed the lady while pointing at the crate.

"Hmph. Took you long enough. And why is it still inside the crate and not taken out?" she asked, while still keeping her gaze locked onto the green haired teenager, who couldn't look away from her steely gaze, transfixed by it with his heart beating madly.

Kyoka was starting to get annoyed and agitated over the woman's harsh attitude towards them. It was completely uncalled for in her opinion. And she could hear Izuku's heart beating a mile a minute and didn't like that she was making him feel so badly over nothing. "We just got here a few minutes ago and all we were told was to bring it here and wait. That's what your butler, Joffrey, told us to do and we've-"

"Yes, yes, I already know that," interrupted the woman, making Kyoka shake slightly from anger but held her tongue. It would be stupid to start something with a client, even though this particular one would deserve it. "But, that doesn't explain what he's doing," she said, repeating herself. Before either of them could ask her what she meant, she continued on. "Tell me, why is it that your worker was eyeing my daughter's picture?"

"I…she um…wasn't…I just…ah…"

Realizing what she was saying, knowing why Izuku was staring and the fact that he couldn't speak for some reason right now, Kyoka opened her mouth to answer. "Well, he's not really-"

"I'm not talking to you and it doesn't matter why." Kyoka went rigid from the woman's snapping and tone of voice. Satisfied with her falling in line, the woman spoke towards Izuku once more. "You, boy…do you honestly think that you…" She looked him up and down, taking in his appearance that included his clothes that were slightly baggy on him that she also knew were cheap store brands. She also noticed the way he held himself, which gave her the image of a meek person. It's a good thing I saw the picture so I know who it was. But really?! Him?! Momo…you can do so much better! And you will! She was not impressed at all. "…someone who's more than likely of low status and common birth, who can't even stand his ground here and now…do you really think you have any chance with someone as rare, as beautiful, as intelligent, as my daughter who has an amazing quirk and comes from a long line of noble blood?" she asked the green haired boy rhetorically, making him feel many different things.

Kyoka could tell how uncomfortable Izuku was feeling. And she could practically feel the rapid beating of his heart and it was starting to make her own heart beat quickly over the entire situation since her anger was rising. This stuck up bitch! "Hey, you don't need to be so-"

"Silence or do you want to lose your contract with us?" snapped the woman and Kyoka closed her mouth at once with an audible snap, unable to cross the woman. "I'm done here." Snapping her fingers, several butlers and maids walked into the room at once. "Maids, get this green haired peasant and the worker girl out of my daughter's home. And the rest of you, get the piano ready for our guests. They'll be here any minute now."

Kyoka wanted to say something, to make this horrible woman apologize for being so rude to them, especially towards her new friend. But she didn't know how to make her do so without hurting her family's business. What's worse, she wasn't able to say anything to him either as both of them were just hurried out of the room with the maids going with them. But she was able to hear Izuku say "I'm sorry" to the horrible woman who didn't even acknowledge it, which did nothing but anger her more. Fuckin bitch! And why are you apologizing?! You didn't do anything wrong! Kyoka, whether for better or worse, was unable to voice them out loud for several reasons while they were pushed along.

"Quickly! Get them out! And you there, hurry up!" snapped the woman towards the butlers who were opening the crate and immediately moved faster in getting the piano ready.

As the two of them were being escorted out of the mansion like home, Izuku kept thinking what he might have done wrong. Was my staring that bad? Was I giving off a bad vibe? I don't think I was but why was she so angry with me? Why does she hate me so much? What did I do? Did I mess up in something? Why…

Lost in his emotional state, he didn't realize that he was mumbling some of his thoughts. The maids heard some of it, making them shake their heads some in sadness. They knew how the Master's wife can be so cross with those who she believes to be threats or beneath her. Which unfortunately this poor boy embodied both because of what they learned from the youngest Yaoyorozu a while ago…

The purple haired girl heard it as well due to her quirk of course, which made her feel both angry and sullen. I'm sorry you went through all that. She wanted to say it out loud to him but wasn't able to for some reason.

Getting closer to the door, one of the maids went forward to open it. The moment she did, a towering behemoth of a man stood in front of it with actual flames for his hear and beard while a shorter, much thinner male with half white and half red regular hair stood beside him. "Ah, Endeavor, welcome to the Yaoyorozu residence. Please come in," said the maid politely as she stepped aside to allow them entry.

Grunting in reply, Endeavor walked in while speaking. "Come Shoto. And remember to behave."

As the two walked in and moved past Izuku and Kyoka, both teenagers looked up at the number two hero in awe. Normally, Izuku would've gone into his 'fan boy' mode at seeing such a powerful and high ranked hero. But because of his current condition, he wasn't able to. Not to mention how Endeavor was looking at them. The pro hero saw them yet said nothing before looking forward once more and continued on. Lowering his gaze, Izuku saw the younger male who locked eyes with him. The dual colored hair teenager glared at him before looking away and fixed his glare on the back of his father while following after him. What the hell is going on?! Stunned at the recent things happening to him, Izuku decided it was best for him to just leave and focus on taking care of his last couple of errands before going home.

Kyoka noticed the pro hero narrow his eyes at her first before moving his sight and then glared at her new friend. She also saw the younger one only glare at Izuku though. Not knowing what that was about and unable to say something, she remained silent. Stepping out of the house, he bade the maids goodbye as he bowed, showing them respect before leaving. The maids smiled a bit for his respect and told them to have a good day before they let out a sigh while closing the door.

As soon as the two left the property and the gates shut behind them, a sedan pulled over and stopped in front of him. "Hey Izuku, Kyoka, how'd it go?" asked Mika as she stepped out of the car.

"How'd you get here so fast and where's Dad?" asked her daughter right after, preventing Izuku from answering.

"Still waiting on the tow truck driver and our friend here was in the neighborhood who was visiting family and saw us. Decided to hitch a ride while your dad waited behind," informed Mika as she went up to him. "So, how'd it go? And why are you both out here?" she asked while taking out some plastic bags.

"Ah, well, we delivered it and I decided it was time for us to leave since we finished the delivery. I decided we should come back to let you know it was done and so he can get his stuff," she told her mother. She didn't like lying but didn't want to make her new friend feel like he's causing more trouble. Plus, she believed that they'll all be better off if it wasn't brought up right now.

Looking at her for a moment, Izuku said nothing. He was honestly relieved that she did that, not going into what happened.

Mika could tell her daughter was lying but said nothing. Instead, she glanced at Izuku, picking up on his heart rate being pretty high. She may not be as adept in hearing sounds, especially from far away, like her daughter. But she could still hear things from up close. Looking at her daughter again, who gave her a covert look, Mika understood. Now knowing something was up, she decided to let it go though because she knew her daughter would tell her. She then faced the teenage boy fully. "Alright. Well, lucky for you here's your bags," she told him while handing them to him. "Thank you for the help. Would you like a ride back home?"

Bowing to her, Izuku then straightened out. "You're welcome and no thank you. I still have to go buy some groceries before going home. Thank you for the offer but I like walking." He faced Kyoka. "Thank you too." She smiled at him and nodded while saying the same to him for his help. And with those final words, the green haired young man began walking away.

"Take care Midoriya," stated Kyoka, making him glance back, nod at her and repeated the same to her before continuing on.

Mika and Kyoka watched him go for a moment before the younger of the two let out a long sigh. Whenever her daughter let out a sigh like that, Mika knew it was something serious. "So, how were they? Was it bad?" she asked.

Crossing her arms in response, Kyoka kept her sight on the shrinking figure of Izuku as the distance increased between them. "These people are total assholes and have no respect. That's what happened."

"That bad?" she asked and her daughter nodded. "Damn it. I hate dealing with people like that. Good thing your father's the one who deals with them mostly. But what happened?"

"You're telling me. They practically had us thrown out after we delivered the damn thing. The mom was hell bent on making Midoriya feel so bad before kicking us out for some damn reason. And that's even with him saving her oh so special daughter's life. And apparently their important guests were the number two hero and his son. The one rumored to have potential to be more powerful than him," explained the youngest Jirou.

Mika was shocked to learn all that. "After Midoriya? Saved the daughter's life? But why? And Endeavor was here? With his son? Why would they…come here…oh…oh man…" Rubbing her forehead with both hands, Mika let out a grumble as she thought up of a possibility. "You know what this probably means right?" Her daughter shook her head. "Two old families with wealth, influence, power and not to mention incredible quirks…one family with a son…another with a daughter…getting rid of any possible threats…getting together…"

A loud gasp was let out from Kyoka as she figured it out. "No way! You don't think…a quirk marriage?!"

Her mom nodded sadly. "Yeah. I thought they stopped doing things like that. Poor girl. I heard she was a lovely and proper thing. Very kind too. If it's true he saved her, then that could explain the mother's hostility towards Midoriya. Not wanting him and her to form any sort of connection, not wanting anything to happen between the two so this union with Endeavor's family can still happen." She let out a sigh, turning to look at the mansion like building. "Damn. I hope she fares well with Endeavor's lot though. There are so many awful rumors that are going on about him and his family."

Kyoka remained silent for a moment, thinking about everything she learned. Shaking her head, she couldn't believe it and yet it confirmed what she knew for a long time now; people with money and power are such assholes. But one thing she didn't quite agree with her mom was about the daughter being lovely and kind. She's probably a stuck up bitch as well, just like her mom. If it's true that Midoriya did save her life…if she did tell her parents… and they're still acting like this towards him…and she's doing nothing to stop them…then they're all a bunch of assholes.

Heading towards the car, Kyoka looked at her mom. "C'mon, let's go back to Dad and let him know what happened. Right now, those uptight punks are still our clients for the moment." Both mother and daughter got back into the car and headed back towards the third member of their small family. As their friend drove them there, the purple haired girl was lost in thought. I'm so sorry Midoriya. I pinged you as one of those proper people but you're just a kind person. Nothing at all like those assholes. You shouldn't have been treated that way. Especially after what you did for them. And us. Hopefully we'll see each other at UA and I can make it up to you somehow…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"C'mon, move it!" said a girl happily as she ran ahead of her long time friend.

A red haired teenage boy ran after her while shouting after her. "Mina, don't run so fast! I can't keep up!"

She laughed louder and spun around to face him while running backwards. "Ah, c'mon Kiri! We're gonna become pros one day so you gotta get faster! You can do it, horn buddy!"

"Alright but face forward so you don't bump into anyone or anything!" he warned her.

She waved his concerns away. "I won't, don't worry!"

"You do and I get to dye your pink hair a different color!" he told her with a smirk.

She gasped at that. "Don't you dare! I'm unique and I won't let you or anyone else mess with my image!"

He started laughing while gaining ground on her and she decided to face forward to run faster so she could beat him to the store. "Hey, you're cheating! That's not very manly!"

"Never said I'll go backwards the whole way and I'm a woman so it doesn't count!"

"You know what I mean!"

The two kept with their witty retorts and laughed loudly while heading down the street. Their antics and loud talking drew some of the public's attention but once they say that the noise was from a couple of teenagers just messing around, they left it alone and went on their way. After a short while, the duo finally arrived at their destination, panting for breath. "Beat…ya…like I…said I…would…"

*Huff*"Woo…I need to work on my cardio…" remarked Eijiro while hunched over and trying to catch his breath. Gulping in some more precious air, he finally stood straight and looked his friend in the eye. "Yeah, you did! Good job Mina!" he exclaimed with a wide toothy smile while giving her a thumbs up.

Finally recovered, Mina smiled back at him with slight purple dusting on her cheeks before she turned to face the entrance to the store they arrived at. "Thanks Kiri. Now, let's get to shopping!" exclaimed the pink haired girl with her fist up in the air, leading the way inside the building. Chuckling, Eijiro followed after his childhood friend.

They spent a good while at the store, looking through each aisle so they could find what they needed for the next day. For the two had passed the entrance exams for UA and decided to go shopping together to get what they needed for school. Especially with the new changes that they started doing this year, they thought it would be best to be prepared. Having known each other for years since they went to the same schools since they were children, each considered the other a close friend. They shared much together and did things together all the time. And now, they were almost prepared for the tomorrow. All they needed was just a few more things.

It took them a little while to gather all the stuff they required. Probably because they couldn't help themselves and kept joking around with all the products in the store. One time their joking got carried away and ended up causing Eijiro to bump into someone with green hair. Apologizing to him, Eijiro felt embarrassed but the person who he bumped into, said it was fine and let it go, which they appreciated. It also took a while because Mina had, at another time, separated from Eijiro, telling him it was for 'girly things'. He wisely stayed out of that before the two regrouped and continued on.

Grabbing a bundle pack of some snacks, Mina had a large smile on her face. "Hell yea, I love these chips! And they're on sale too? Haha, it's my lucky day!" Placing the chips in the cart, she turned to face her friend. "Aren't you grabbing any snacks?" she asked him.

"Already did." He pointed at the stuff inside his own cart, filled with many different items and on top was a box of protein bars.

She rolled her eyes. "That's not snacks! Ugh, whatever. Alright, get what you want. But fair warning; I'm not sharing."

"I know," he chuckled, pushing his cart and moving ahead of her. "C'mon, let's go." Leading the way to the registers, Eijiro got in line to await his turn to pay for his items with Mina standing right behind me. "So, we got everything ready, right?" he asked her.

"Yup. Can't wait till tomorrow! I wonder who'll be our teacher?" she wondered out loud.

Eijiro shrugged. "Beat's me. Don't really know the teachers at the academy. Do you?" he asked her and she shook her head. "Well, at least we know All Might will be teaching there. I know it was just a projection, but damn, he's so cool! And so manly!" he said with clear admiration in his tone of voice.

Mina smiled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he sure was."

While waiting for their turn to pay, both teenagers continued talking. As a result, neither of them noticed two individuals, one taller and much skinner than the other who was both short and rather large but not fat, hurriedly entering the store with expressions of fear, anger, frustration and confusion. Nor did they notice their suspicious behavior as both persons began looking around the store.

That is, until one of them bumped into the pink haired and skinned girl, making her stumble to the side and hit one of the support pillars. "Hey, watch it!" snapped Mina after regaining her balance, glaring at the one responsible.

Barely glancing at her, the man clad in darkly colored clothes merely let out a grunt before trying to move away. He was only able to take a single step when his path was blocked by a red haired teenager. Even though the man towered over him, Kirishima wouldn't let him get away with his disrespectful behavior. Especially towards his close friend, who he cares for greatly. "It's not very manly when someone doesn't apologize for making a mistake."

"Outta my way, punk," growled the man.

"Not until you apologize to her."

The man snarled and was about to raise his hand to punch the annoying red head when his partner showed up and got in between the two. "What are you doing?!" he hissed in a whisper. "We're not supposed to cause trouble or be noticed!"

"They started it," he muttered back.

His partner gave him a livid look. "Doesn't matter. Just let it go. We have more important things to do. We lost their trail and she's not here so let's check somewhere else. We can't be caught and we need to find the kid otherwise we're fucked. Now focus!" he whispered back.

Grumbling, the taller of the two nodded. "Okay, fine, I get it."

Both turned to face the teenagers who had crossed their arms and were currently glaring at one of them. They also noticed that several other customers were looking in their direction, making them internally grimace over their situation. They weren't supposed to draw any attention from the public towards them. And something else happened that made both persons' hearts start beating rapidly.

Two pro heroes, Death Arms and Kamui Woods, entered the store at that moment and looked around.

Both men had their eyes widen at seeing the heroes and were momentarily stunned since they hoped to evade them. Until one of them snapped out of it and decided to take control. "Fuck this," said the taller of the two before he swiftly moved forward. Catching the pink haired and skinned girl off guard with his sudden movements, he was able to grab her by the throat and then slammed her against the support pillar nearby.

"Aahh!" yelped Mina from the pain. Her screaming in pain made everyone in the store, including the two heroes, to move their gazes towards them.

"Mina!" cried out Eijiro in concern and fright, moving to help her.

But he barely took a step when the shorter male intercepted him. Using a quick motion, he tripped up the teenager and then threw him onto the ground face first. He slammed his foot onto his back, making him let out sounds of pain. Many in the store screamed and scrambled to exit the store, pushing one another to go first while preventing the two heroes from getting closer. And it also caused a certain green haired young man to become a victim of their panic stricken actions and was swept up into the crowd of people making a beeline for the exit.

*BANG* A gunshot was heard that made everyone besides the two pro heroes to stop as they either dropped to the floor or crouched down with their arms covering their heads and silenced filled the area. "Nobody move, or these two get it!" warned the shorter male. His fingers had opened up to reveal them to be gun barrels and one hand pointed at the boy's head with the other pointing at the heroes. His partner kept his hold on the girl's throat while all over his body he had sharp needle like protrusions appear, some which stopped just short of piercing the girl's skin.

"Okay, just hold on," started Kamui Woods, raising his hands in a peaceful manner. "No need to do anything rash."

"Shut up," said the shorter male. "I'm the one who's going to make the rules here and you're going to listen to me!"

Death Arms narrowed his eyes at the two but didn't do anything else more. Kamui Woods let out a quiet sigh before speaking. "Alright. We know you mean business. What do you want?"

"For you two to get the hell out of here and don't call any backup!" commanded the taller one at once.

"You know we can't do that," replied the strong arm hero.

A cocking sound was heard from the shorter male's hands, letting everyone there know that he was getting ready to shoot. "Do you have a hearing problem?! I'll kill this kid and it'll be your fault hero! Ugh! This is why I hate heroes. Always thinking that they'll get one up on us. Well, let me tell you…"

As the villain rambled on while stuck in the stalemate, the two teenagers taken hostage glanced at one another. Eijiro noticed something that made him become surprised; Mina's gaze was focused and it seemed that she was concentrating on something. And then, he saw it. It was such a small amount of acid being secreted out at a time that it was hardly noticeable. He wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't known she could do that. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth but then stopped just short of saying something after noticing the expression on her face. I can't draw attention to her now or it could get nasty! But don't worry Mina, I got it! He readied himself to get involved as soon as the opportune moment arrived.

"…and damn it, just fuckin leave!" finished the shorter male with venom, spit flying from his mouth as he spoke. He was becoming increasingly angrier and flustered, due to their predicament.

Seeing the heroes not leaving and again trying to talk to them, the other villain snarled. "Fuck this," remarked the taller, raising his right hand covered in sharp needles and moved it closer to the girl's face. His partner moved his gun hands closer to the red head. "You have five seconds to leave before pinky here becomes a pin cushion and dumbass over there gets his head blown off." Both Kamui Woods and Death Arms became angry but controlled themselves as they slowly started to back away with one of the two preparing his ultimate move to use and catch them off guard. The people still in the store followed suite as they too backed away slowly. "Five…four…th-AAAHHHHH!" Screamed the taller male all of a sudden, moving his hands away from the girl to look at them in horror. They were turning red and burning up while parts of his skin seemed to melt in front of his very eyes.

Mina dropped to her feet and coughed a few times after being let go. She had finished secreting the acid and then used her quirk to push it out faster, landing on his hands that were near her throat and face. "That's what you get for putting your hands on me, you creep!" shot Mina with anger before she made to go help her close friend.

"Let's go!" advised Kamui Woods and both he and Death Arms moved towards them.

"I don't think so!" yelled the shorter villain as he opened fire on the advancing heroes and against the pink haired girl.

Mina dove to the ground immediately as bullets whizzed overhead. Screams and shouts were heard from the people behind the heroes as well as many gunshots rang out in the store. Death Arms and Kamui Woods reacted at once as soon as he started shooting by taking up defensive positions. The strong arm hero flipped over a large gondola to act as a shield for himself and the civilians behind him. The wooden hero did something similar as he created a large wooden wall with his quirk in front of him to protect himself and the ones behind him.

Seeing this all happen, Eijiro decided it was the time to act. But when he tried to do move, he couldn't get up. The villain's foot was still on him and even with hardening his body, he couldn't overcome the villain's weight and get up to help. What the hell?! Why can't I get up?! How heavy is this guy?!

Unknown to them all, a green haired teenager wanted to help but was unable to break free from the group of people surrounding him as they rushed towards the exit without hurting them in the process. He didn't need to do anything to help them since the two pros had already provided cover for their escape. And so, his gaze was alternating between each one of the heroes and the two who looked to be near his age held hostage while stuck within the scared crowd around him. He was thinking a mile a minute in what he could do to help…

While that was going on, the taller man was in agony from the pain caused by the concentrated acid he was exposed to. "Fuckin hell! My hands! You damn slut! I'll kill you!" roared the taller male. Lost in his rage, he shot towards the pink girl with his face contorted in fury.

Mina was still lying on the ground to avoid being shot. She only noticed at the last second that someone was near her when all of a sudden her hair was grabbed and she was pulled up from it. "Aaaaahhhhh!" screamed Mina from the intense pain she felt over her hair being pulled in such a cruel way. It was so sudden, that she was unable to react properly.

After lifting her up, the taller villain slammed her hard against the pillar once more with her head hitting it, causing her to yelp in pain. That also made her leftover acid move onto the pillar, which started to sizzle and steam, breaking apart some. Even after that, she wasn't allowed to recover as the villain started punching her in the stomach relentlessly with his spiked hands several times. Each hit made her gasp in pain and some spit flew out of her mouth. Blood leaked out from the many needle like punctures on her body and at the same time, more acid was involuntarily leaked out from her body due to her extreme distress.

After punching her one last time in the stomach, the villain then raised his fist and landed one last strike against her cheek that made her head turn and bounced off the pillar again with more acid landing onto the pillar. She crumpled to the ground and coughed several times with more blood trickling out her mouth and from her many puncture wounds. A moment later and she went quiet and didn't move, passing out from the sudden onslaught she endured through.

It all happened way too fast and Mina's close friend didn't realize what had happened until it ended. When his mind caught up and processed what happened, it was as if an inferno lit up inside of him and he became filled with adrenaline due to his rage. "You bastard!" shouted Eijiro and pushed against the weight on him. Using his fury, he was finally able to overcome it and got to his feet.

"I don't think so!" yelled the shorter male and fired at the teenager's leg to stop him and keep his hostage for protection. Yet nothing happened as the villain's bullet just bounced off his skin. Skin that had hardened to be like rock. "What the hell?!"

"You'll pay for hurting her!" shouted Eijiro with rage as he stood up and cocked his right fist back to punch his would be attacker who was frozen in shock for the moment that his bullet just bounced off him. His punch landed against the male's face, making him stumble backwards and dropped to his knees in a daze as if hit by a giant boulder. Immediately afterwards, Eijiro moved towards the second male.

"Get them!" shouted Death Arms, moving swiftly forward with Kamui Woods. Both of them decided to take advantage of the opportunity that just presented itself, with the later about to use his ultimate move.

The taller male saw what happened and it angered him even more but he just barely dodged the teenager's strike. But Eijiro kept going and ended up hitting the support pillar near the villain. His strike broke more of the support pillar away, having been weakened considerably because of the concentrated acid on it. "Damn it!" cursed Eijiro as he saw what he just did and in pain. Though he could harden his skin to defend and attack, his hand still ended up getting cut up from literally punching through the pillar.

By the time he turned to face the second villain, his arm was grabbed by him and he was lifted up into the air. Eijiro was then thrown against the pillar but due to his hardened state, he shot through it, with more than half of it being broken off. He crashed against the floor hard some distance away and groaned for a bit before slowly making his way back up onto his feet.

"That's it! You and that whore are both in serious shit! I swear I'll kill you both!" commented the taller villain, moving to attack while his partner regained his composure and slowly stood back up.

"Lacquered Chain Prison!" But before he or his partner could do anything, they were wrapped up in thick wood and carried upwards a little. Kamui Woods used his ultimate move to capture and hold both of the villains. "Now, that's enough!" Eijiro was still angry over what the two villains did to him and especially to his close friend but seeing them apprehended, he let out a sigh. His hardening faded away and he took in a few breathers. The two villains however, were cursing up a storm. "Quiet!" snapped the wooden hero, covering their mouths with more wood. "Better," he remarked while bringing the two closer to them.

The people there relaxed at seeing the villains apprehended and some even began cheering and praised the heroes for their work. This allowed the green haired teenager to get some breathing room and immediately moved away from the crowd of people. Afterwards, he just let out a sigh of relief that everything worked out in the end and watched the heroes do their job. He also wanted to talk to one of them if given the chance…

Seeing his partner able to keep the two villains subdued, Death Arms made his way towards the red haired teenager. Once he reached the young man, the hero told Eijiro that he wasn't allowed to leave just yet, as both he and Kamui Wood wanted to talk to him about his rash actions. They wanted to commend him for his bravery and actions but also to scold him in letting his anger engulf him.

But the young man prevented him from doing so by speaking out first. "I know, I'm sorry. But can we first check on Mina?" Realizing that he had forgotten about the girl at the moment, Death Arms quickly nodded but told Eijiro to go towards Kamui and to wait with him while he goes to get her and make sure she was alright.

However, right when he finished saying that and before anyone could do anything else, loud cracking and breaking sounds were heard that drew everyone's attention. The support pillar that was broken down had cracked more, spreading into the ceiling above and it started breaking apart.

"It's gonna collapse," stated Death Arms. "We need to get everyone out."

"Everyone, head to the exits!" ordered Kamui Woods, ushering the frightened people out of the store while holding onto the two villains.

Eijiro felt responsible for what was happening but then he remembered something else that was more important. "Wait, Mina's there!" he yelled suddenly, making both pro heroes become concerned along with fear filling them.

Death Arms moved towards the downed girl at once but then the support pillar had parts of it fall apart, with the ceiling cracking even more and pieces of it began to fall. Rushing towards her, he yelled out to his partner. "Make some supports!"

"I can't make them sturdy enough in time! Just get her out of there!" yelled Kamui Woods, not even mentioning how he was also busy getting everyone out of the dangerous store.

"SHIT!" cursed out Death Arms, as he realized he might not be able to save the girl. Let me get there in time! Please!

"MINA!" screamed Eijiro in fear as the broken pillar and the ceiling started to collapse.

It was just a short while before his screaming that the pink haired girl regained consciousness and opened her eyes to slightly blurry vision. Wincing from the pain caused by hitting her head and the dozens of thin stab wounds on her stomach and some that were on her face, she was able to lift herself up to a sitting position on the floor. Leaning on her left hand on the ground to look around and see what happened, she blinked several times to clear her vision.

Sudden yelling by several and then the screaming of her name by her close friend made her heart beat increase. Moving her gaze towards them, she found them to be in fearful states and looking at something above her with one of them sprinting towards her. Looking upwards, she saw what it was they were looking at. Fear completely engulfed her and she was unable to even make a sound or attempt to move out of the way as the ceiling cracked and was about to collapse. All she could do was watch as she was about to be buried alive.

A sudden blur of green was seen by many before it stopped to reveal a green haired teenager standing underneath the support pillar. His knees were bent, along with his arms bent over his head while holding up the broken pillar. Glowing red energy like veins was seen all over his body before they faded away to only be replaced with greenish blue colored electricity arcing around him now constantly. Trying to keep the ceiling from collapsing, he struggled with holding the weight as it pushed him down a little. Growling through gritted teeth, the electricity arcing around him grew brighter and started racing around him faster. Steadily lifting up the pillar higher, he was able to completely straighten his legs and his arms, standing straight with his arms holding the pillar up and prevented the ceiling from collapsing.

When he thought it was stable enough for the moment, he moved his concerned gaze towards the downed girl. "Hey…Hey! You okay?" he asked her. "Hello?! Hey! You need to go! Hurry!"

The sight of him, doing all that, made the pink haired girl become so mesmerized by it she didn't hear him until she was suddenly being shaken. Snapping out of it, she looked towards the one shaking her and found it was her close friend. "Ejiro?!"

"C'mon, we gotta go!" he told her.

Mina didn't say anything but looked towards the one holding up the pillar. She saw his green colored eyes locked onto her. She the way his muscles strained against his clothes while preventing the pillar and the connected ceiling from collapsing. She also noticed the pillar and the area around it was cracking and breaking apart all over even with him holding it up for the moment. Her heart began beating so quickly she thought it would pop out of her chest. But she couldn't move, filled with both fear over possibly dying and wonder over this new person who arrived out of seemingly nowhere.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?!"

A new voice spoke nearby that made both Mina and Eijiro jump in their spot. Turning their gazes, they saw the pro hero Death Arms next to them with an angry yet concerned expression on his face towards the green haired teenager before facing them with a concerned one. "Are you hurt?" She didn't answer, unable to speak. He then looked at the new arrival, his angry gaze returning but still kept his focus. "Switch spots with me and get them out of here!" he told him as he made to move and take over.

"NO!" shot the teenager, startling the three. More cracks formed along the ceiling that was spreading all over and they noticed it. "If we try to switch now, it'll collapse! Time's running out and it's completely breaking apart! It won't hold much longer! Go! Kamui Woods got almost everyone else out. But you three need to get going now! I can move fast enough to leave before it collapses! But you have to go! GO NOW!" he ordered the pro with no hesitation.

Understanding him and wasting no more time, Death Arms quickly moved. "Harden up boy!" He didn't even give him a second to react, as the pro grabbed Eijiro's arm before practically throwing him forward towards the exit. He had seen what the red head was capable of and took that into consideration before he did that. Quickly afterwards, he picked up the girl into his arms and sprinted towards the exit. "Wait! What about him?!" half shouted Mina, finally able to find her voice as they made their way towards the exit.

"It looks like he can handle himself so don't worry about him!" replied back Death Arms.

The two, along with Eijiro who stumbled a little after being thrown before finding his feet, left the building with the last few people leaving. Right before being taken outside, the pink skinned and haired girl looked back over Death Arm's shoulder. Looking at the green haired young man still holding up the pillar, he turned his gaze onto hers. He smiled at seeing her looking at him, as if to convince her that everything will be alright, which made her heart skip a beat.

Next thing she knew, she was outside with the rest of the people there. Her close friend of many years was hugging her while asking if she was alright while she was still lost after everything that happened, with her sight still on the building. Suddenly, loud sounds of part of the ceiling finally collapsing were heard. "NO!" screamed Mina with worry and concern, startling Eijiro who separated from her and went silent over her outburst. He turned his worried gaze to the ruined building with many of the people there shouting with fright as well. They all watched with wide eyes as the entire building collapsed as dust rose over the broken down building and then it was silent.

At that moment, Death Arms ran back to the store, yelling out to Kamui Woods to check on the girl's wounds before he went inside. Maneuvering around the debris in the ruined store, he called out to the one left behind. Hearing nothing, he assumed the worst. "Oh no, don't tell me…" Looking around, he found some debris piled up in one spot. Hurrying to it, he began moving away the pile of rubble. When he finally moved the final piece, he found that there was nothing. Looking around, he saw there was no body nor were there any blood marks.

He was about to leave when he saw something that caught his eye. A door in the far back was opened. Going to it, he saw that it leads to a small hallway with another door at the end of it that was also left slightly open. Reaching it, he opened the door fully and saw it led outside to an alley with a dumpster nearby.

A sudden beep let him know he got a text message. Pulling out his phone, he checked the message and after reading it, he let out a sigh of relief. He had gotten away in time. Death Arms shook his head afterwards. Damn it Midoriya. Almost gave me a heart attack. You're lucky I know you so I'll cover for your stunt this time because of what we've been through together these past couple of years, but damn it, I'm gonna kick your ass next time I see ya for putting me through this. Messaging him back that they need to talk soon, he went back to where everyone else was. As he did so, he thought of how he was going to tell his partner and the people there that everything was alright. And he also had to call in the police, the crime scene investigation unit and the cleanup crew. Goddamn it. What a mess…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Run.

Just run.

Just keep running.

That's all a little girl could think of as she kept putting one foot in front of the other while frantically making her way through a darkened alley. Her once bright yellow sundress was now dull, marred with dirt and dust. Panting every step of the way, she could barely breathe yet kept going. Though she was filled with fear and anxiousness, she knew that this was the only chance that she had to escape her nightmarish predicament. She had finally been able to elude her captor and his men and wasn't going to waste this chance. The second she did so, she started running as fast as her little feet could move.

How long do I run? Is it enough? Am I safe yet? Random sounds were heard throughout the alley as she kept running that caused her heart to leap to her throat. No, it's not safe! I have to keep going! I can't stop! It was at that point that she saw the sidewalk in the distance from within the alley. Don't stop! You can't stop! Run! Run! Run away while you still can! Remembering all the horrible things she had gone through, her eyes filled up with water before tears flowed down her cheeks. I won't go back! I can't! No more! I don't want to hurt anymore! I want to-

*THUD* In her haste, the small girl didn't see the person who came into view as she made it onto the sidewalk and literally ran into his side face first. Bouncing off of him, she fell onto her rear, stunned from the impact.

"Whoa, that's quite a tackle you got there. Are you alright?"

A new voice, one filled with a compassionate tone that she never heard before, spoke and made her look up towards the one who did. A green haired young man with green eyes was looking at her with an expression of concern. Not able to say anything, all she did was stare at him while panting as a couple more tears flowed down her cheeks.

Taking in her appearance, one off dirtied clothes and fear filled expression on her face along with the tears currently on her face, instantly he knew that she was in a bad state. "Oh, I'm so sorry if I caused you any pain," he said gently while kneeling down to her level on one knee and setting down the multiple bags in his hands onto the ground. He wanted to appear approachable for her by making himself seem smaller and used a soft tone of voice to hopefully soothe her nerves. "Here, let me help you up."

Extending his hands out to her, she flinched and he noticed that. Retracting his hands at once, he instead rested his right hand against his raised knee and his left hand against his lowered one. "I'm sorry for not being careful and having you bump into me and I'm sorry if I scared you. I promise you, I won't hurt you. Will you let me help you?" he asked her kindly with a soft tone of voice and waited for her reply.

The young girl stared at him with wide, teary eyes. She couldn't believe the words she was hearing. Never before in her life had anyone spoken to her in such a way. With kindness and concern. No, it was always the opposite, with indifference and dislike. She had convinced herself a long time ago that she would probably never meet someone like that. But now, here was this person. A young man, probably in his late teens, who seemed to radiate goodness. And she had bumped right into him out of nowhere. Her heart beating quickly, she did the only thing she could.

She hugged him and let go, crying heavily.

"Huh?!" That was all he could say at first, stunned at the child's reaction before he came to his senses. Reciprocating the hug, he gently started stroking her dirtied silver white hair and wrapped his left arm around her in a protective hold. "Sshh, sshh, it's okay. I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you. You're safe now," he assured her in a soothing tone of voice.

Trembling violently in the embrace, she cried harder while gripping the front of his shirt with her small hands even tighter. The way she was behaving made him think a mile a minute. She's so scared. What could possibly cause such a reaction from her? What happened to her? Is she lost? Or did she see something? Looking around their surroundings, he didn't see anything out of the norm. Was it an animal? A villain? I don't see anything suspicious around us. Thinking some more for a bit, he decided the only thing he could do was to ask her.

When she had calmed down some, since her crying had eased up a little, he decided it would be better to do so now. He didn't want to cause her more distress by possibly bringing up something bad for her, but he needed to know what was going on so he could attempt to understand. But first, he would start small. "Hey little one, can you tell me your name?" he asked her softly.

It took her a moment to answer him. "E-Eri…" she said quietly into his chest, not looking up or leaving the embrace.

"Hi Eri-chan. That's a pretty name. I'm Izuku Midoriya."

Raising her teary gaze, she looked at him. "Iz…Izu…ku…"

He smiled at her a little. "That's right, good job. Now, can you tell me what happened Eri-chan?" he asked her.

Opening her mouth to speak, she was prevented in doing so as someone else began talking instead. "I'm sorry but my daughter was misbehaving and when I scolded her, she ran away."

Izuku looked towards the one who just spoke while subconsciously hugging Eri closer to him who began shaking violently. A man who looked to be in his late twenties dressed in darkly colored clothes along with a plague doctor's mask on his face that resembled a bird's beak was standing in front of them at the entrance of the alley. "Eri is your daughter?" he asked the newly arrived person.

"Yes, she is and thank you for finding her and taking care of her," answered the man in a monotone voice. "But we need to go back home now. Come Eri."

"He…he's lying…"

Eri's barely whispered words that were coated in fear, was heard by him and instantly his guard went up as he understood. Eri's afraid of him. Was she kidnapped? What can I do? How can I save her? Thinking furiously, he wondered how he could handle the situation without giving up the fact that he was suspicious. Adjusting his hold on the young girl to cover his raised leg somewhat while covertly reaching for his phone with his now free hand, he spoke. "I understand. But she's really scared. We can wait together here until she clams down enough," he suggested as calmly as he could while going through his phone in his pocket.

"No, we don't have time for that as we're late for an appointment. Come Eri," said the man, his anger rising due to the teenager's annoying persistence.

Finishing up with his phone, he withdrew his hand from his pocket and stood up with Eri still clutching onto him for dear life. "You're already late. What's a few more minutes in calming down a frightened child?" he asked the man. Please get here soon!

The man's eyes narrowed. "It's rude to get involved in someone else's business and now I'm getting mad. Eri, you know what happens when I get mad, don't you?" he asked the young girl with his voice raised slightly.

Hearing that tone of voice…the one that caused her nightmares and made her fear hearing it…caused her to move her sight and looked at him. The expression on his face, the way he was staring at her and his recent words made her realize what he was implying. I…I can't…I can't let him get hurt because of me! I'm not worth it cause I'm a curse! Eri pushed off of Izuku, practically jumping down to the ground and moved back towards the man.

"E-Eri?!" Izuku was stunned, seeing her reaction. "What are yo-"

"It's o-okay," she said quietly, barely glancing back at him with her head slightly turned back. "I'm sorry for bothering you." She turned away from him and began walking beside the man who had taken her hand. The two soon disappeared into the alley while leaving behind a stunned young man.

Izuku couldn't believe what just happened. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that something was wrong and that Eri had suffered. He didn't know from what but knew that it had to be true. He could feel it, his instincts and gut telling him so. But she just left like that. And he had no idea why she would willingly go with someone who was pretending to be her father.

Until he had a sudden epiphany; she went back to the suspicious and cold man to protect him.

His heart rate increasing, his mind raced at what he could to help her without causing too much trouble. And the only thing he could think of was this; follow them.

Red glowing veins appeared on him with green electricity arcing around him constantly afterwards. Grabbing his bags, he then jumped diagonally upwards towards the right wall in the alley. He then pushed off of it towards the wall behind him. He had learned this from a certain elderly pro and thanked his lessons within his mind as he did so. Continuing on with his wall jumping, he reached the top of the building, placed his bags down against a corner and looked through the alley.

Two persons, one much smaller than the other with sliver white hair were barely visible in the distance. Quickly and as quietly as he could, he went after them while using the rooftops to hide his presence. As he did so, he was thinking a mile a minute. He wondered just who the man was and what he could've done to terrify the poor girl to the point of such reactions from her.

A few times he was able to hear some words spoken from him thanks to the dead silence of the alley. Words that made no sense to him and though he knew that they were important in some way, decided to not dwell on them at the moment. Instead, he kept following after Eri and the man while pushing the words to the back of his mind. On and on he went, keeping as silent as he possibly could.

After what felt like hours, when in reality it was just a short while of them going through the alleyways, the green haired teenager came to a stop at the roof of a building since his targets also stopped. And the reason why was because the man had pulled out a phone, its ringing echoing in the alley. Izuku took out his own phone, noticing a message notification on it but ignored it since he wanted to do something else.

Opening up his video camera, he zoomed in as far as he could towards the man and the young girl and started recording. He could see the man speaking into the phone and that he was angry due to the expression on his face. He also noticed how Eri was shaking and looked to be beyond terrified with her trembling in her place.

"DAMN IT!"

The man's sudden shouting almost made Izuku drop his phone, startled by it. Quickly recovering, he continued recording the two. Soon afterward, the man put away his phone and turned his whole body towards the young girl.

Cowering in front of him, Eri tried to move away but she hit the wall behind her and couldn't move any further. The absolute fear in her face was noticeable, even through the video recording. As the man removed his glove from his right hand and extended it towards the girl, he could see her shake her head. She then screamed out, "NO! PLEASE!"

"It's your fault they were caught because you ran away! This is your punishment!" yelled the man.

It was at that point that Izuku decided to intervene and every fiber of his being was screaming at him to get there quickly, somehow knowing that if he made contact, it would be very bad. But unfortunately, he didn't react in time. The man's hand barely touched Eri and the moment it did, something happened that made Izuku stop in his spot on the roof of the building, letting out a soundless scream as his mouth opened, with his blood freezing while somehow still able to continue recording.

The young girl exploded in a shower of blood and was no more.

He couldn't believe it. He just witnessed a murder and he did nothing to stop it. Such brutality and cruelty…and against a child no less. Seeing such a thing had shocked him to his core, making him unable to move or think.

Until a second later when somehow the young girl perfectly reformed out of seemingly thin air, with such an expression on her face that no child should ever have.

Izuku's eyes widened as the phone slipped out of his hands, falling down onto the roof but surprisingly didn't break and kept recording while facing upwards towards the sky. So many different feelings sprung up within him that he was lost in it but a few he was feeling the most. Relief that she was still alive. Fear of it happening again to her. And the biggest emotion of the three was anger at the man for what he just did. His hands clenched into fists and he started shaking violently as glowing red veins appeared all over his body before they faded away to be replaced by constant arcs of greenish blue colored electricity appearing around him. The next second, he shot himself from the roof down towards the man.

The sound of concrete breaking as well as instincts he had developed drew the man's attention and he looked up in time to see a greenish blue blur rocketing towards him. It allowed him to barely dodge the incoming human missile by the skin of his teeth. The ground where he previously stood exploded from the teenager's strike, causing rubble, dirt and pieces of stone to fly all over the place. Luckily, none of it struck the young girl yet bombarded the man, making him back up some distance as he protected his face with his arms.

Standing up and whirling around towards the man, Izuku glared at him as he positioned himself in front of the stunned and still frozen young girl. Finding his footing, the man lowered his arms and narrowed his eyes at the teenager. "You dare attack me, you filth?!" Izuku said nothing but furrowed his brow while tightening his clenched hands to the point of drawing blood with his nails against his palm yet he didn't care. "You don't know who I am, this is none of your business and still you get involved?! You have a death wish!" Quickly kneeling, he touched the ground with his bare palm. Instantly, two concrete spear like protrusions formed and shot towards the teenager.

Using his increased speed thanks to the power of One for All even at just his current maximum of five percent, Izuku dodged both incoming strikes and moved forward swiftly. "SMAAASH!" A right handed strike was thrown by him that landed against the man's cheek, sending him flying backwards. He hit the wall behind him with such force that the wall caved in from the pressure of the hit and he sunk into the wall for a moment before falling down onto the ground. He didn't move afterwards.

Seeing him down for the count, Izuku turned to the young girl as he stopped using One for All. "It's alright now Eri," he told her as he moved towards her. "I'm so sorry for not doing anything sooner but everything will be alright now. I promise," he told her soothingly, to try and calm her down since she was still shaking violently.

However, the white haired girl shook her head. "He…He…"

Kneeling down in front of her, he locked his eyes onto hers. "It's okay Eri-chan. He won't hurt you ever again."

Again she shook her head. "He…heals…"

Hearing her say that made his heart skip a beat at realizing he had made a mistake by assuming his opponent was truly down. He was barely able to stand up and turn around when he was struck by another concrete spike, stabbing him straight through his abdomen's right side while pushing him back and ended up stuck against the wall. Blood escaped from his mouth as he coughed while feeling excruciating pain.

"Stupid, filthy, hero wannabe," chastised the man as he walked up towards Eri. The young girl was giving a fear filled look at Izuku who was stuck, speared to the wall. "Enjoy the last moments of your life. And reflect on how it could've been longer if you didn't try to go up against the leader of the Yakuza."

Izuku, though conscious because of the massive amount of adrenaline filling his body at the moment, couldn't do anything to escape. Uselessly trying to free himself with waning strength, he heard the man speak and when he identified himself somewhat, he looked up at the leader of the Yakuza. Even with the plague mask on, Izuku could tell that there was no emotion on his face after another act of violence. The green haired teenager could do nothing but watch as the gangster took hold of the young girl who was letting out silent tears with that horrified expression on her face. They began moving away from him while the Yakuza leader held onto Eri tightly.

"N-No…E-Eri…" He tried to do something but was unsuccessful. His hands felt heavy and he couldn't raise them. His heart beat was slowing down. Izuku's sight was becoming blurry but still he could see. He saw the young girl being dragged away with the gangster against her will. He saw her tear marred face and the fear in her eyes. Unable to stop them from doing so, his eyes began to close and his arms hung uselessly against his side.

Unable to keep his head up anymore, it hung loosely down and his eyes fully closed. At that moment, dozens of images flashed across his mind's eye. From his rough childhood to the promising future he just started walking towards. And then he remembered what he witnessed before; the silver haired girl exploding in a shower of blood. Eri…no! I can't let her get taken away! I can't let her go through that ever again! I won't give up! I will save her! No matter what!

It's said that a dying person can sometimes achieve miraculous feats in their last moments. And this was no exception. For inside the young man's mind, an image of a burning green star appeared and it glowed brightly. Izuku suddenly awakened and raised his gaze along with his right hand towards the two figures away from him. His heart beat increased as adrenaline filled his body with red glowing veins appeared on him along with something else while he focused on his desire to reach them and save her.

All of a sudden, black tendrils of energy painfully erupted from his right forearm and hand, shooting forward and upwards with incredible speed towards their target with some of the tendrils reaching over the tops of the surrounding buildings. "Aaagghh!" yelled Izuku in pain as blood shot out from his mouth and nose when the tendrils appeared.

His yell caught the attention of the two, making both the young girl and the gangster glance back towards him. "What the f-" That was all he could say before the black tendrils reached him and wrapped around him tightly. The man was suddenly thrown around all over the place, hitting the walls of the buildings in the alley and on the ground. When he was lifted up into the air, he was able to free one of his hands before it got too tight and made to free himself by touching the tendrils to use his quirk to disintegrate it and free himself. But nothing happened. "What?!" He tried again and again but nothing happened. What the fuck?! Why can't I disintegrate it? Unless it's…pure energy?! He looked towards the impaled do-gooder. He was glaring at him even while bleeding all over the place as the black tendrils of energy seemed to be originating from his arm and were going haywire all over the place. But somehow Eri was being completely avoided.

"You just won't stop interfering!" snarled the gangster. "But it doesn't matter! Sooner or later, you're gonna die like the pathetic wannabe hero you are! I'll make sure no one finds your body! I'll completely disintegrate you! And then I'll take Eri back! I will-"

"DETROIT…SMASH!"

A loud yell interrupted the yakuza leader before an incredible punch, one filled with such power, landed against his face that it instantly knocked him out.

Seeing who it was that arrived, Izuku felt relief. All Might, the world's number one hero and his mentor, had arrived. Now, Eri was safe no matter what. "All…Might…thank god…you're here…" whispered Izuku, his sight darkening with his quirk disappearing as it shrunk back within his arm.

"Izu!"

"Young Midoriya!"

Those were the last words he heard as he lost consciousness while his arms hung loosely by his side and his head dropped…