For the first time in her life, Kyoka was at an active crime scene. The plaza's main entryways were monitored by police cars and officers. No siren filled the air, but their lights still turned and flashed. More officers were within the plaza itself. They were shepherding civilians, taking statements, and cuffing the villain of the hour. It took a few to do it less than they would need if the man in question was still conscious.

After they locked his arms and legs in heavy-duty cuffs, an officer had to hold up his head so they could put, what seemed to be, a muzzle over his face. It was definitely metal and while she saw the air holes and knew what happened, she couldn't help but look away when the officers yanked on its straps.

It didn't go unnoticed. "I know…"

Kyoka blinked, looking to Death-Arms. "H-Huh? Um…"

"Muzzling people…" His hands found his hips, nodding. "By ear or on paper, it seems simply like an… abuse of power over someone else." He shrugged, "I don't fault you for that."

Her face contorted for a few moments before rubbing the back of her neck. "I know he's a villain and he tried to…" She sighed, "It's just…" She shook her head. "It's weird to see…"

"Unfortunately, you might get used to it," he said. "A necessary evil."

"Right…"

Death-Arms' eyes narrowed, "Looks like the gossip mill is starting to churn."

She followed his gaze to those within the plaza and those approaching with, notably, their flashing phones in hand. It looked like there were already a few reporters there when they arrived. "Guess they finally got their bearings straight…"

He turned his head to her. "You Shiketsu students shouldn't get photographed or videoed, right?"

"Pretty much."

"Alright, go ahead and check up on Mount-Lady and your classmate." His jaw clenched for a moment before shrugging. "I'll go look pretty in front of cameras." As they walked in opposite directions, he muttered, "A pretty mean feat given my face."

"Pfft—" Kyoka's hand clasped over her mouth. "Don't laugh… Don't laugh… Don't laugh…!"

She vehemently shook her head, throwing her laughter aside. She walked back towards the entryway; was acknowledged by a cop with a respectful nod, which was pretty cool, and found the ambulance with… a van parked next to it. If it weren't for Midoriya standing outside its door, she would've thought it was someone trying to get a scoop or something.

Speaking of Midoriya, she found that he wasn't in costume anymore or, at least, not quite. He still had the gauntlets, graves, and belt, but there was no jumpsuit, vest, or helmet. Instead of that jumpsuit, he was wearing parts of his Shiketsu uniform – the dress shirt and pants in particular. The straps from his belt wrapped around his legs like before, but now, without his vest, she saw the straps that crisscrossed over his torso. Her eyes took that sight in…

"Oh, hey, Jirou!" called out Midoriya.

For a little too long. "H-Hey!" She forced a cough, a little too harshly – it hurt a bit. "How are you holding up?"

"Oh, I'm fine." He waved his hand.

She blinked, "R-Really?", as her eyes drifted to the obvious bandage on his forehead.

It didn't go unnoticed, and she realized that when his hand lifted into view. "Oh, right…"

Her eyes widened, "O-Oh, I—I didn't me—"

"I need the hat!" he cried. He turned back to the van, took up his Shiketsu cap, and pulled it onto his head. "Gotta… represent! Right?" Her original face of concern and somewhat embarrassment began to… shift and contort into… something akin to… disgust. "Okay. I'm sorry. I won't say that again."

She wanted to respond to that, but a gruff voice spoke from inside the van. "Oh, thank god, you realized."

"Thank you… Mr. Namimaru…" muttered Midoriya as he closed the van's doors. "And thanks for swinging over."

Namimaru waved his hand. "Eh. It's nice to get out of the office once in a while." He gave a lazy wave before the van drove off. "Even when it is for a milk run…"

Kyoka echoed, "Namimaru? Uh, that another sidekick?"

"Uh, no… He's more like a… receptionist… security guard… person?" he said.

Her head tilted, "That all?"

"Yeah, pretty much." After a beat, he noticed her smirk. "Oh, very funny." He clapped his hands slowly. "Ha-ha, good joke."

That got a laugh out of Kyoka before she recomposed herself, clearing her throat. "How's Mount-Lady?"

He blinked, shrugging, "Uh… let's see…" He walked over to the ambulance, knocking on its doors. "All done in there?"

"As I'll ever be…" The doors swung open and out stepped Mount-Lady in notably black and green attire. It was a bit too big for her, resulting in a baggy look for the Heroine. And, clearly, she ditched her usual boots for black, normal ones. She chortled, "I feel kinda ridiculous, though…"

Kyoka scratched her cheek. "Uh, well… Um… it looks better on you than Midoriya."

"H-Hey… a—a little offended," said Midoriya. He turned to Mount-Lady. "I thought… you know, uh… I looked a little… neat in it, at least…"

"I thought you looked fine in it," she said.

His head drooped, "No you didn't… I remember the face you made when you saw it the first time… You and Ichimoku…"

"Aw…" She patted his shoulder before slowly saying, "You know, it's weird that this bothers you more than the whole near death thing, right?"

His face contorted, "It is?"

"Are you really saying that as a question?" she countered.

He took a second to answer that. "No…"

Kyoka blinked, "Wow, you two are really getting along…"

She smiled for a moment before chuckling and tugging Midoriya's cap down. "I guess." She started to walk ahead – with a notable stutter to her step, but it didn't seem to bother her. "Come on. Can't leave Death-Arms to those wolves." She shrugged, "And we should tell the paramedic we're done."

"Right…" Midoriya turned to the ambulance, pulling Masai from the lip of the doors before shutting them. He twirled the bat as he walked over to Kyoka. "After you."

She chuckled at that. "Thanks." She turned and felt her weight shift as Orpheus swung on her back.

It caused her to stumble for a moment. "Are you okay?"

She shifted Orpheus on her back. "Uh… Actually, I gotta talk to you about something…" She looked him up and down. "If you're… completely okay."

He blinked, "Um, yeah… I'm fine." His eyes narrowed, "What's wrong?"

She almost took a step back, waving her hands. "Oh… It's—It's not that serious." Her head teetered back and forth. "It's…" She gestured to herself. "It's about…"

"Oh…"

She nodded, "Y-Yeah…"

"I think you look great," said Midoriya.

She actually took a step back. "Wha—huh?" Her face flushed for a moment before forcing a laugh and shaking her head. "No, stupid."

She slapped his arm. "Ow." He rubbed his bicep. "I… I'm lost."

"It's… the costume," she finally let out. "I'm not…"

Midoriya slowly nodded, "You're not happy with it…"

Kyoka's face contorted, "I… Well… yeah…" She sighed, "I'm sorry. I—I know you worked hard on it—"

"No… No," he muttered, shaking his head. "I… should've talked to you more about your costume." He crossed his arms. "I didn't even get your opinion on it before I made it."

"Well…" Her head teetered, "Y-Yeah…" She sighed, "Not to rub salt in the wound, or anything."

"It's my own fault." He rubbed his chin. "I remember Mr. Abraham even brought it up… Should've just restarted the whole thing instead of forcing it on you."

Kyoka reared at that. "Whoa! Hey! You didn't force anything on me." She thought for a moment before shrugging, "I opted in."

"Right. Sorry," he replied. He then said, "If it's okay… would mind if I fixed it?"

She blinked, "I… I mean, yeah. That's kinda why I brought it up."

Midoriya smiled, "Alright, okay… Well, it'll have to wait until after the internship. Though, I can probably start drawing something up, but…" They finally started walking as he asked, "What kind of costume do you want?"

"Uh… Um…"

He chuckled, "Just think on it for now. We have the rest of the week."

"Right." She looked down at the strap that laid across her chest. "U-Um, and there's another thing."

"Orpheus?"

Kyoka smiled, "You can tell?"

"Well, you're not exactly standing up straight." He offered his hand and she took the prompt as handing over Orpheus. "Still too heavy?"

"Yeah, and… it's a lot… I don't know… how to fight with it really. I got some practice in, but…"

Midoriya held the guitar with one hand, looking it over. "You're not comfortable yet?"

Kyoka nodded.

"Here." He had looked down at his other hand before offering it to her.

She blinked at the metal bat. "You're giving me Masai?"

He shrugged, "A baseball bat is a lot easier to conceptualize than a… guitar/axe. And I did have some practice with it, so I'm not gonna be complete trash with it."

She held Masai for a moment, but her eyes drifted to Orpheus. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he reassured.

"No, no, I know that."

After shooting over a look of confusion, he followed her gaze this time before letting out chortle. "I won't swing him too hard."

"Promise?"

"I promise," he said incredulously. He took Orpheus' strap and pulled it across his torso. "Come on. They're gonna leave us behind if we take any longer."

She looked at Masai in her hand. "Right…" She let out a breath, "That conversation was a lot easier than I thought it was gonna be…", before following after him.

-XXX-

"I'll handle them. You two can go ahead and call Mr. Midoriya."

Hitoshi nodded, "Thank you."

He and Ashido moved to stand well away from the forming crowd. Reporters were pelting the man with question after question. Some were about the morning news and others were digging questions about his movie. Normal people were just excited to get pictures of him, and others definitely intended to stick around as long as possible – more than likely aiming for personal experience. Officers were already on their way to help. Until then, his makeshift barrier of twisted branches would do the trick.

"Crazy…" muttered Ashido. "Why're there so many people here?" She shook her head. "I mean… aren't they worried about Mount-Lady? Shouldn't that be the bigger story, right now?"

Hitoshi pulled out his phone. "It… could be because of the morning news…" He sifted for Midoriya's contact. "This whole patrol was to stop people from being churned into a panic. First, they see a Hero on display and the next story is about one being attacked in broad daylight?"

As he dialed for his classmate, Ashido said, "He's probably fine, right?"

"Right…"

After a ring or two, it was answered, "Hello?"

"Midoriya! Hey, you got me and Ashido here."

"Jirou told me about the delay on your end. You guys okay?"

"Us?" murmured Ashido.

Hitoshi smiled, shaking his head. "We're fine. What about you?"

"And Mount-Lady?" tossed in Ashido.

"I'm fine. And she's on her feet. We were cleared by the paramedic, but we're taking things slow as is," answered Midoriya.

Both he and Ashido relaxed after hearing that. "Good to hear." He peered over at Woods, squinting at the flashes. "What happened to your radio? We tried to raise you."

"Wire for the earpiece didn't make it, and… well, it doesn't seem like a good idea to broadcast the radio talk."

"Yeah."

"What're you guys doing now?" asked Ashido.

"Walking," said Midoriya.

Her eyes rolled, "Ha, ha, very funny."

"Uh… thanks?" Midoriya's voice was farther away. "I don't get it. What was funny?"

"She was being sarcastic – she thought you were being sarcastic," explained Jirou which caused Ashido to laugh.

"Oh, no! W-We're just walking. I mean… on patrol, but, yeah, just walking," corrected Midoriya.

Hitoshi chuckled, "Got it." He shook his head. "You had us worried for a second, you know?"

"Sorry."

He joked, "Nah, we should expect it by now. The Invincible Midoriya Izuku." He muttered, "That's actually a good Hero name."

"Oh, no, Invincible's taken," said Midoriya.

"Really?"

Jirou chimed in, "And also! Let's not jinx anything, yeah?"

"What I was about to say," muttered Ashido, punching Hitoshi's shoulder.

"Calling yourself anything like Invincible is kinda asking for it, you know?" finished Jirou.

"Agreed," said Death-Arms.

"Oh, yeah, absolutely," concurred Mount-Lady.

Death-Arms' voice then came in through their radios. [Woods, how quickly do you think your impromptu is going to end?]

[Not any time soon,] said Kamui Woods, very quickly, as the man refocused on the crowd.

[Control, Death-Arms, we should completely redo the patrol routes. Too much havoc recently.]

[Heard, submitting for approval.]

"Guess we're going to lunch early?" pondered Midoriya.

"We can," said Death-Arms.

Ashido crossed her arms. "Aw… We have to wait…"

Hitoshi nodded, "Well, good hearing from you. Got any advice for us?"

"Uh… wear a helmet?" offered Midoriya.

"Oh, man, we don't have any. Fresh out."

"Okay, um… one: get a helmet…" He paused, "Then, wear it."

"Ah, got it."

Jirou chimed in, "See Ashido? That's what it sounds like when he's joking."

"Ah, yeah, got it. Completely," said Ashido.

Hitoshi smiled, "See you later. Have a good lunch."

"You guys, too. Stay safe out there," replied Midoriya.

Ashido saluted, earning a chuckle. "Aye, Captain!"

"See you later!" added Jirou before the call ended.

"See?" said Hitoshi. "I told you he was fine."

Her eyes rolled, "Oh, please, you were just as worried as I was."

"Well, he is fine."

"Yeah…" she trailed off.

"What?"

Ashido just shook her head. "Nothing."

-XXX-

"She finally trusts you now… Real proper fucking trust… But you've still managed to, somehow, fuck all of this up…! I thought you were out here to get Stain, but instead, you're helping her play dress up…!?" Izuku stared into the ramen bowl in front of him. "Why the hell didn't you let that article get loose…!? He might've targeted Mount-Lady instead of Native… You could've fucking done something…!" Red broth's heat radiated into the air, gouging his nose and tickling his tongue. "I thought you going after Stain was going to prove Kaminari wrong – your mom wrong – me wrong… I thought you came out here to actually do something with your pathetic fucking life… beat the villain… save the girl… Isn't that what you wanted…?"

"Are you regretting getting the spicy broth?" asked Jirou.

Izuku looked up at her. "Huh?" He blinked a few times before taking up his chopsticks and spoon again. "Oh, uh, no…"

After taking a bite of food, she shook her head. "I can't believe you eat that stuff."

"Spicy food?"

"No. I like spicy food. I just don't like excessive spicy like that bowl is."

Izuku chuckled at that. "It's not like I eat stuff like this very often." He shrugged, "I did build a pretty good tolerance, though." After taking a bite, he thought for a moment before saying, "There's actually a funny story with that."

"Oh?"

"So, I had a friend—classmate… person…" Jirou made a face. "Shut up." She laughed. "Um, he loved spicy food. He was the king of spicy food. In Junior High, he would have a bottle of hot sauce in his bag all the time. Douse whatever he was eating with it." Another bite was followed by him saying, "Uh, anyway, before Junior High, something he would do on the regular was test his tolerance against other people's. He thought it was funniest thing to which people call him crazy or a demon over how spicy whatever they were eating was."

"Sounds like a peach," commented Jirou.

"Yeah…" He gestured to himself. "Me? I would avoid it like the plague. I hid under the teacher's podium, in a cabinet – I even climbed out of a window."

"On the first floor, right?"

"Uh—" He began to slurp up noodles as a distraction.

"Gross." It was super effective.

He tried to keep talking, but something got caught, leading to a fit of painful coughs. "Oh, gosh—" He downed some of his drink before speaking, "As—As I was saying, he noticed that and decided that I couldn't be the only one to not be tested." He cleared his throat. "So, he took a piece of hard candy and coated it with hot sauce. He mixed it with a hardening corn syrup or something and was able to put a half-centimeter-thick coat of said hot sauce." Jirou's face contorted. "He gave it to me saying that it was Duran candy where it smelled awful but was so sweet and good once you actually eat it. Told me to plug my nose and pop it in. And guess what?"

"You did," she said.

"I did," he confirmed. "By god, was it spicy. Spiciest thing I ever had." He chortled, "I wanted to spit. It. Out. But, man, he thought of that…" His smile wavered as the rest of the memory came into view. "He, uh, slapped a piece of duct-tape over my mouth. And, um…" He forced a chuckle. "He and his friends held down my arms, so, uh… I… couldn't… rip it… off…"

Izuku went quiet.

"I thought you said this was a fun memory," said Jirou.

He scratched his cheek. "I thought it was… a few words ago, at least…" He teetered his head. "Hm…" He shook his head. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize."

Izuku looked across from their booth. "Thank god, they didn't hear that story."

Death-Arms and Mount-Lady sat at their own table – mainly so they could take care of any fans that recognized them. It seemed like people were recognizing Death-Arms more often than Mount-Lady, asking her to take their pictures and such. "Guess my jumpsuit is doubling as a disguise…"

"Hm?" Jirou shrugged, "I guess they wouldn't be happy about it, but it's not like they could do anything about it."

As Izuku's eyes lingered on Mount-Lady, her voice echoed in his mind. "Well, I respect the spite…" His gaze shifted back over to Jirou. "Hey… I have a question for you."

"Hm?"

"Why did you want to become a Hero?" asked Izuku.

"Oh… uh…" She cleared her throat. "Huh…" She shook her head. "Sorry, I don't know why I feel so embarrassed…" She set her utensils down. "Uh, so… I… you know how… music can make you smile on a bad day or… how it brings people together?" He nodded. "Well, I saw all that and more in what Heroes did. They made people smile and brought people together, but they also saved lives and protected people…" She trailed off, rethinking her wording. "I… I wanted to be what music is to people but in Hero form."

She cringed, "Okay, uh—no, I didn't say that." She blew raspberries and shook her head. "That was way too cheesy. Let's just pretend I didn't say that. At all. Please!"

He chuckled, "No, no, I… I get that."

After fighting off the blush on her face, Jirou cleared her throat. "Um, so, what about you?"

"I…" His gaze shifted back over to Mount-Lady before shifting back. "I don't—"

He cut off his own sentence, letting out a wince as his thoughts were overtaken by sudden pangs of pain. They came from his forehead and his chest, just from underneath his bandages. The pang shifted from a needle-like, piercing form to shifting into a bubbling heat. Then, when the heat died, it was replaced by a sudden, annoying… itch?

"Hey, you okay?" asked Jirou.

Izuku blinked a few times before shaking his head. "Uh, yeah… It's the bandage – it feels all itchy… I'll be right back."

"Uh, alright…" she replied.

He left their table and made his way to the bathroom. After looking around, he found that it was empty, so he turned to the sink and mirror. He, first, scratched around the bandage, fearful of removing it, but when the action didn't result in satisfying the intensifying itch, peeled it off. And, where expected his wound to be, or at the very least the scab of it, he found nothing apart from what seemed to be scar tissue in the shape of a small circle.

"What…" He set the 'forehead' bandage on the counter before unbuttoning his shirt and pulling down on the hem his undershirt. Removing that bandage resulted in the same vision. Above the large scar that crossed his torso, there was now a small circle just below his collarbone. "How…"

He stepped back from the sink, tossing the bandage away and turning to the door. "I need to tell some… one…"

His hand hovered above its handle. "Are you sure you want to do that…? It's just healing fast, right…? That's a good thing… Why be a bother…?"

"I'm suffering the side effect of a healing Quirk… I don't know what it's actually doing to my body…" thought Midoriya.

"It's helping… And you'll tell them… just… later… Put the bandage back on… Just for now…" He reached for the bandage on the counter. "It's just another little lie… Whatever it takes to be a Hero… Right…?"

He felt his heart squeeze as he pressed the bandage back onto his forehead. As he felt the adhesive stick to his skin, he wiped his face. "What am I doing?" he muttered. His eyes drifted to his forearm, where a minor burn used to be. He took in a few breaths before smacking his face and shaking his head.

"Later… Just… Just worry about it later…"

-XXX-

"Did you hear about the attack?"

That was the question being asked around the pharmacy the most. Inko either heard it from her co-workers or their patients. Initially, at the start of her day, it was about the awful thing that happened in Hosu City. That poor young man was put out on display by some horrible person. Now, however…?

Apparently, the Pro-Hero, Mount-Lady was attacked on the other side of the city. The villain was taken care of and all the civilians walked out of it unscathed. The only people who got hurt were Mount-Lady herself and her new sidekick. That was all she knew about it at first. Tidbits were her only sources of information, after all, but eventually, she would go on break.

She found articles about it, but reporting overall seemed limited. Information was scattered between sites and organizations with conflicting claims and details. After looking for a while, she would find a blurry, low-quality video on some news site. Morbid curiosity led her finger to the play button.

It was just the end of the attack it seemed. Mount-Lady landed an attack to stop the villain and when the Hero laid on the ground for moments, her sidekick would come up to get her back on her feet. Inko recognized the sidekick from his green attire – he was in a few articles involving Mount-Lady only a day or two ago.

As the dust settled, Inko recognized the sidekick from his green hair. As the cameraman moved closer, Inko recognized the sidekick from his freckles. As the video continued and eventually ended, Inko would recognize the sidekick from his smile – he was her son, and the sole question on her mind was…

"Why does he look so happy…?"

-\ XXX /-

AN: Howdy, howdy! My apologies for my tardiness, cutting a bit close this update. New work schedule - life stuff, yada yada.

Lot of intention here. This whole season, really, is about building things for things yet to come. Though, two of those 'things' were meant to be for this season, but then in writing this season, it became about so much more than what I originally planned so I had to move them.

Now, its been an extra hour of me trying to write these notes and not getting anyway without going on a tangent that may or not spoil things. So, I'm calling it here.

I'm gonna try and respond more to the things you guys write me in reviews, and comments. I thought of going back and retroactively responding, but I didn't know if that would be weird. Is there an etiquette to it? I don't know. I am walking tangent.

Thank you for reading and criticize away!

Update Window: May20th - May31st

Intended Due Date: May20th - 25th