The Hero & The Demon

Chapter Fifteen

Sora Kinzoku wasn't sure why she had been invited, but she was always down for a party.

There were only two days before she started her new career at UA high, and she was happy for the distraction from the oncoming threat of what the hell she wanted to do with her future. She still wasn't totally sure about being a hero, but she was hardly going to back out once she found that she had actually made it into the prestigious school. Her father had been so happy once he had heard that she couldn't let him down by admitting she had tried to get in on nothing but a whim.

Her mother would probably be proud of her. She didn't know how she felt about that.

Fortunately, she didn't have to worry about that tonight! Apparently, Kage's middle school class was putting on some kind of celebration event to mark the end of their school careers. Kage had mentioned it to her and she had been encouraged to show up, despite not being a part of said class and knowing basically no one there besides Kage.

She had been worried about seeing Bakugou again, but apparently, he hadn't been invited. Kage had said that he wasn't sure if it was because of his bad attitude or just because he wasn't a fan of parties anyway. Sora felt she could probably guess the former, but apparently the host was one of Bakugou's few friends most of the time, so she could have still been off.

The host of the event was one Nobashita Yubi, who had invited most of his class to hang out at his parent's rather large house. It wasn't quite a mansion, but the boy clearly came from wealth regardless. Sora had never seen anything like it, but she and her family had always been rather poor. The nicest place she could ever afford to live was in a one-bedroom apartment, and even with the support of her father she was barely hanging on to the place.

Yubi's house was massive by comparison to anything she had ever seen. It was three floors big, four if you counted the ground floor as well. It had a large front garden and lights were clearly on inside. It wasn't gated or walled off, so Sora decided to just sit outside for a little bit and take in the sights. She would look for Kage after a little while, but she was comfortable being alone with her thoughts for the moment.

It was late afternoon, and the sun was starting to set. Kage hadn't mentioned exactly what time the party was supposed to officially start in, so she wasn't sure if she was early or late, but she was fairly sure that she had arrived at an odd time no matter what. It didn't really bother her; she didn't know any of these people and she wasn't all that bothered by the idea of embarrassing herself around them. There was a good chance she wouldn't see any of these people after tonight, so it was easy to relax. She wondered if heroes ever felt the same way about civilians they passed on the street or even people they rescued. Since they were going to interact with so many people all the time, and never for very long, did it really matter what kind of impression they left?

Heroes were a bit different; she supposed. Plenty of them cared a great deal about presentation and how they looked, though Sora had never really understood why. She could see the appeal in a flashy costume and a fun demeanour, but it didn't seem like the sort of thing that would be important in saving someone or fighting bad guys.

She saw even less sense in villains who ran around in costumes and gear of their own. One would think that getting away with crimes would be easier the more inconspicuous you were, but apparently Sora was the only one to whom this notion had occurred.

Everything about the whole system seemed insane to Sora, but she was finding herself with increasingly less room to judge. This world was hers now, after all, and she had decided to commit to it.

She had no idea if she really deserved the right to make that choice, but she had chosen it all the same. She would do anything if it meant getting to fly through the air freely and do as she pleased. Helping people was a price she was happy to pay for that, even if she was certain she wouldn't be very good at it.

She looked over to the door of the house.

"Speaking of stuff I'm no good at…" She pulled herself off of the grass and stretched her back. As nice as it was to just lay down for a few minutes, it would be incredibly weird for her to just sit outside someone's house the whole time. Besides, hanging out at a party could be fun. Sure, she wasn't all that good at talking to people, but she had at least one friend there to hang out with whenever things got too much.

She walked up to the main entrance to the house. The door was an old, fancy kind that had a door-knocker on it, but there was also a more modern doorbell right next to it. Unsure of which she was supposed to use, Sora decided to use both at the same time. The doorbell was surprisingly louder than the large 'KNOCK' sound on the wooden door. After a moment's pause, a boy with brown hair opened it.

"Heya! You here for the party?" He wore an easy smile on his face. He was dressed very casually, wearing just a t-shirt and shorts. He had crocs on his feet. The shirt was brightly coloured, which made him look more like he was going to cruise the beach as opposed to hang out in a fancy manor.

"Y-yeah, I am." She replied uncertainly. She glanced behind him. Unsurprisingly, there was no one she recognised, but a handful of people had already arrived and were chatting amongst themselves. There were tables with various snacks laid out inside. "I'm Sora. Kage invited me."

"Oh, you're Kage's friend! Cool!" The boy said, nodding his head. Sora inwardly sighed a breath of relief. It would have been a rather awkward conversation if he hadn't recognised the name. "Yeah, he mentioned you before. He's not here yet, but you can still come right in!" He opened the door wide and stepped aside. She stepped in.

"Thanks." She nodded at him. The boy shot her finger-guns, which then extended out until they looked like silenced pistols. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Wait a sec, I know you!" He said, snapping his long fingers together. "You were that girl at the arcade! The one who wrecked Kage's shit at RDD!" She let out a snort of laughter. Of course that was what she was remembered for. To be fair, it was a pretty legendary win.

"Yeah, that's me." She replied with a smile. "Sora Kinzoku, future UA student and queen of the dance floor." She tapped her feet on the ground a few times for effect. There was some music playing in the area, but it wasn't particularly loud. Sora guessed they were probably saving the real hits for later.

"Awesome. I'm Nobashita Yubi." He jerked a thumb to himself and grinned. Then, his smile faltered and he scratched the back of his head nervously. "S-sorry about the first time we met. You know, with Bakugou being all…well, Bakugou."

"It's not like that's your fault." Sora shrugged. "He's the one who chose to be a dick. I don't think you did anything, so we're cool." Yubi didn't seem especially convinced by her words. He frowned.

"I should've done something, though!" He said, raising his voice. Sora looked around briefly, but fortunately he hadn't drawn any attention just yet. Still, this was decidedly more intense than she was expecting. "When he started harassing you two, I should've told him off or gotten him to stop or-or something! But all I did was stand there and let him and Kage just freak out at each other. My friends keep fighting and all I can do is stand there, and it sucks!"

Sora wasn't really sure how to respond to that, but she tried her best. She put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"Hey, it's no big deal." She said, trying to match his smile from earlier. "It's really not your fault if someone else decides to be a jerk. Bakugou would've done the same thing with or without you there. You're not his mom, it's not like his behaviour is your fault. So just relax, okay? I don't think Kage's gonna blame you for a fight, and I definitely don't." Yubi wiped his eyes as she spoke, apparently having begun to cry without her noticing.

"Y-yeah, I guess you have a point."

"I always do. I'm full of points!" Sora joked. Yubi looked at her oddly, and she realised she needed to contextualise that for it to make any sense. She was many things, but a comedian was evidently not one of them. "You see, my Quirk lets me make metal wings. So, they're pointy." Yubi made an 'ah' sound of recognition and nodded.

"That's pretty cool. Sounds like it'll fit in at UA with all the other cool powers." Sora awkwardly shrugged at that. If he knew how debilitating her Quirk could be sometimes, he would probably have a different opinion on it. Even if he didn't, pointy wings didn't exactly seem like great hero material. It was hardly All-Might's strength or Endeavor's flames. There wasn't much that she could do beyond fly around and scratch things.

She loved her Quirk, but to call it UA material seemed almost arrogant to her.

"All I've got are long fingers." He continued, demonstrating his own power. Sora had to agree as she watched him extend and retract the fingers on his hand. It didn't seem like the kind of power he could do much with. Then again, she could think of some uses.

"You could flip someone off for miles." She blurted out quickly. Yubi stared at her for a moment and she worried she had offended him, but he proceeded to snort, which soon devolved into raucous laughter. Sora joined in a moment later. It was infectious, and she enjoyed seeing him so much happier than he had been a moment ago.

It was a small way to help someone, but it was nonetheless satisfying for it.

"Oh man, I can't believe I never thought of that." He said, wiping away a tear of laughter. A few of the other party guests had looked over to the two, but returned to their conversations quickly. People were laughing all around as they talked, so two more didn't make a difference for long. "I'm honestly surprised Bakugou never brought it up. That seems like it'd be right up his alley."

"He probably didn't want you to point it at him." Sora said, laughing a little herself. Yubi chuckled, but it was more subdued than before. "Speaking of him, how come he wasn't invited? I don't think Kage cares all that much that you two are friends." She peered around briefly. There were quite a few people that she could see, though there was still no sign of Kage. Bakugou had seemingly not decided to crash the party either. Yubi sighed.

"We were friends." He said with a bitter tone. "At least, I used to think so. But it's pretty clear he never gave two shits about me. Everything's all just one big ego trip for him, and I was stupid enough to buy into it. He has a cool Quirk and he's great in a fight, but if you need him for anything else? He's worthless. He's the real Deku if you ask me." He had visibly tensed up as he spoke, practically spitting out his last words. Sora frowned.

"I knew the guy was a jerk, but sheesh. He sounds even worse now."

"He's the absolute worst!" Yubi said. Instead of yelling, this time his voice went into a low, hissing whisper. "Did you know that when one of our best friends went missing, he didn't even care? His name was Kaze Tsubasa, but did Bakugou ever bother learning that? No, for him it was 'wings' and 'fingers'. I used to think his nicknames were a good thing, but now I get that he just doesn't care about anyone but himself. I…I don't ever want to see him again." He turned away. Sora knew that she shouldn't have said anything to that; it wasn't her place.

And yet, words came out from her mouth anyway.

"You don't mean that." He looked back up at her, his expression a mixture of confusion and mild anger. Sora held her hands up defensively. "Look, I think we can both agree the guy sucks, but that doesn't change the fact that you saw him as a friend. And from the sounds of it, you guys have been friends for a long time. It's hard to just ignore that, you know?"

"I…" He hesitated. Her words had clearly made an impact, though she wasn't sure whether it was a good or bad one. "How would you know?" Sora hesitated. This wasn't something she usually liked to tell people. She took a deep breath.

"Because I feel that way about my mom."

Despite the conversations and music still playing all around them, to Sora, the entire area went silent. Talking about her mother wasn't really something she ever did. Even her father hadn't heard her mention it in years. No matter how long it had been, her absence was a raw wound that Sora almost never wanted to approach for fear of bleeding. And yet, she had felt compelled to say something in that moment.

"It's one thing to hate someone," She said quietly, folding her arms. She felt exposed. Yubi's concerned, pitying face felt like search lights that bored into her. It was unwelcome, but she had brought it upon herself. "It's a whole other thing to never want to see them again."

"Oh, wow." Yubi said awkwardly. "I-I don't know what to say. What happened to her?" Sora sighed; her breath unsteady. She shouldn't have said a word. She should have just kept her mouth shut and let the boy rant about his ass of a former friend. Why did she feel the need to try and comfort him? Why couldn't she have just left well enough alone?

"It's…complicated." She managed to say. "The point is, I know how rough it can be to deal with a broken bond, especially with someone you knew for a while. You can't just brute force your way past it. It's okay to miss your friend, even if he sucks, alright?" She looked at him with a smile. After a moment, he returned it gently.

"You're right." He agreed. "I still hate him, but…it'll be weird not seeing him around all the time. I spent so long as his lackey that I don't really know what to do with myself now. Is that weird?"

"Nah." Sora said dismissively. "Sounds like the dude's ego is a black hole. Kinda hard to bounce back after you're sucked in, I guess. But you'll do fine."

"Oh yeah?" Yubi tilted his head. "How about you? Are you doing fine with…you know, the family drama?" Sora thought for a moment before shaking her head. As she moved it, however, she noticed a familiar face had finally arrived.

"Oh hey, there's Kage." She perked up. She gestured and he seemed to notice her, but instead of responding to her attempts to wave him over…he turned and began walking away?

"The hell?" She thought aloud. He was the one who had invited her, and now it seemed he didn't want to hang out? She didn't know anyone else! She had only sort of lucked out with Yubi and quite frankly, she was not convinced that would last. She turned to him. "Do you mind if I see what that was about?"

"Go ahead." Yubi said with a confused expression, looking towards Kage. "That was pretty weird. If you see him before I do, tell him I'm sorry about the Bakugou thing." Sora nodded before walking off. She really didn't think Kage would still be bothered by the incident at the arcade, especially given he was fine at the time, but it clearly meant more to Yubi. She wouldn't ignore that.

Just like how she wouldn't ignore that he had made her socialise with strangers. He would face the consequences.

Izuku Midoriya didn't go to parties often. Or at all, really.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. He would usually be allowed to join Kacchan's birthday parties when he was a kid. He wasn't exactly invited per se, but Kacchan had never kicked him out, nor had any of his other friends. Izuku was a tolerable presence most of the time, even if he also tended to be something of a punching bag.

At the time, he had been surprisingly okay with this. It didn't feel great, but he had thought himself to be around friends. In hindsight, it was a foolish belief to cling to, but it had kept him going. Some part of him would never truly forget seeing Kacchan as a friend, but now that he had better points of comparison, it was easier to detach from that idea.

Kage may not have been the one to invite him specifically – that honour unexpectedly went to Nobashita Yubi, who Izuku felt he knew decently well despite not having had a proper conversation with him for years – but he had no doubt that it was thanks to him that he had been. Ever since he had arrived, the whole class dynamic had seemed to shift.

People still didn't take Izuku's ambitions seriously, but he received far fewer looks and snide comments. Kacchan's influence had softened amongst the others once it was clear that he had competition, and said competition wasn't nearly as hostile as their other classmate. There was this general realisation that people with the kind of power to really get anywhere didn't have to be jerks. Thus, it only followed that they didn't have to put up with people being jerks or force themselves to join in just because they admired someone's power.

On the one hand, Izuku was grateful for that. On the other, he couldn't quite get rid of the slight hint of bitterness that it took someone else to make the class treat him with just a little more respect. He had never done anything to any of them – not that he would ever want to, anyway. Sure, he would have liked if they had been nicer just because of him, but at the end of the day, he was just happy they didn't really hate him.

Still, he wasn't expecting anyone to go as far as to approach him. Standing around awkwardly was about as much as he could have hoped for, so when Sawaru Chisei walked over to him, it took him a moment to register that he had even been approached in the first place and wasn't blocking a door by mistake.

"Oh, h-hello?" He tried. Despite his recent growth in confidence, speaking to girls was still very new and uncertain territory for him. He had never really spoken to Chisei before, though Kage had talked about her a handful of times. Apparently, she was quite nice. "Can I help you with something?"

"Yes." She said. She pushed her glasses up on her face and quickly looked Izuku up and down. He felt himself flushing from the gesture. His clothes didn't look bad, did they? A simple t-shirt and cargo shorts seemed fine to him. "You are Izuku Midoriya, correct?"

"Yes, that's me." Izuku said after a moment's hesitation. "W-we've been in the same class for a while now, I assumed you already knew that. Sorry." Chisei tilted her head at him.

"There is no need to apologise. I just had to confirm." She explained. Even though they weren't at school, her voice was still stiffly professional. Izuku got the sense that she simply sounded like that all the time. "Do you prefer Izuku or Midoriya?"

The thought of a girl choosing to use Izuku's first name almost made his head combust. His face turned to shades of red previously thought only to be visible to certain species of shrimp.

"M-M-Midoriya, please." He said, his voice squeaking. Chisei was kind enough not to comment on it and simply nodded at his reply.

"Very well. Apologies if I disturbed you there. Given you're friends with Kage…" She trailed off for a moment, looking away from him. Her cheeks dusted red briefly, but she cleared her throat and composed herself. "It seemed prudent to ask."

"That makes sense." Izuku said, relaxing just a fraction. So far, no one was screwing anything up here! He was going to get an excellent grade in conversation, something that was both normal to want and possible to achieve. Kage did make a habit of insisting people use his first name, so given their friendship he supposed that expecting that from him made sense. "So, how can I help you?"

"I believe this is more a case of the reverse, actually." Chisei said. Izuku raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Please, follow me. There are some people who would like to speak to you, if you'd be willing to hear them out. Of course, you aren't obligated to do so."

"I…guess I'm okay with that." Izuku decided. He wasn't really sure what anyone in the class would want to say to him, but he was hardly opposed to listening. If they had some problem that they thought he could help with, he'd be happy to assist. That was what heroes were for, after all.

He had no idea how talking to more people was supposed to help him, but he was open to finding out what they had in mind. Chisei smiled just a fraction, clearly pleased by his words.

"Excellent. Would you mind following me?" She asked. "We thought it best to have this discussion privately, so as to not disturb anyone else." Izuku immediately had a bad feeling, but he nodded regardless. If Kacchan were here, he would expect this to be leading to getting his head shoved down a toilet or something similarly humiliating.

He looked around. The music had gotten louder and more energetic since he first arrived, and there were a few people dancing around. Whilst several were from his class, Izuku noticed that there were others he didn't recognise much at all. Yubi must have invited people from other classes. Either that or friends had invited more friends and things had spiralled from there. The house clearly had the space for it, but the living room was just a little bit crowded.

Chisei nodded to acknowledge she had heard Izuku and then turned around, starting to walk away. She paused briefly and indicated for him to follow. He complied, though he proceeded at a slower pace than she did. They navigated their way through the room and out into a hallway, before reaching a large staircase. Izuku paused.

"Are we really allowed up there?" He pointed, though Chisei had already taken a few steps up the staircase. She turned to him and gave a calm smile.

"It shouldn't be a problem." She explained. "I made sure to ask Yubi, and he said that as long as we don't break anything, nowhere in the house is off-limits. This way, there's next to no risk of disturbing anyone." Izuku gulped, hesitantly taking a step up the stairs.

"Is there a chance we might break something?" Chisei paused, placing a hand on her chin for a moment before replying in a thoughtful tone.

"I don't know." She concluded. "I haven't been to many parties before, but I have to assume it's a sufficient concern to warrant such a warning. Do parties usually involve a lot of property damage?" She asked.

"I don't know either, sorry." He replied. Chisei frowned slightly, and Izuku was afraid he had done something wrong. He was doing so well up to this point, too.

"There's still no need to apologise, Midoriya." She said, surprising him. The two kept walking, arriving at the first floor of the house. There were a lot of rooms spread around, and the whole atmosphere was pristine in a way that made Izuku feel inescapably out of place. Yubi's family must have been very wealthy to afford such a house. Paintings hung on the walls – mostly abstract pieces that Izuku couldn't glean any meaning from, though there was a rather nice portrait of All-Might that seemed like it had been ripped right out of a newspaper. It was next to this painting that the two stopped in front of a door that was slightly ajar. Chisei turned to face him.

"Are you ready to go in?" She asked, her tone now gentler than before. "There's still no obligation. I'm sure everyone would understand if you didn't wish to see them." She sounded almost sad at that, which convinced Izuku that despite his concerns, this was the right choice. He nodded.

"I'm ready." He said. Chisei nodded and opened the door. The room was relatively small, containing a washing machine and dryer, as well as a few chairs that seemed like they would be better suited to a living room. The walls were a pale blue colour. There were about three people inside the room, all of them individuals from Izuku's class. They had been chatting lightly among themselves, but when Izuku stepped inside, things went quiet.

Sen Seikakuna had been sitting on the washing machine, dangling one foot off of it. He had been smiling when Izuku entered, but as soon as he noticed, his face went firm. He was the first to speak, letting out a sigh and turning to the others.

"Okay, who wants to start?" He said tiredly. "I get the feeling you're all gonna take a while, so I think I'll save myself for last. It doesn't really matter that much anyway." He leaned back. Another person, a girl Izuku recognised as Teashi Yakedo, stood up from her chair and glared at him.

"Sen, that's not nice!" She said. She turned to look at Izuku. She had her hands held down in front of her and fidgeted with her thumbs. "Sorry about that, Midoriya. He's just cranky that Ayano shot him down again." Seikakuna gave an offended gasp.

"She didn't shoot me down, okay?" He said, throwing up his hands. "She…was just busy, that's all. She's got a lot going on."

"No, she doesn't." Chisei said, stepping further into the room and closing the door. Seikakuna rolled his eyes at her.

"Bite me, four-eyes."

"Alright, that's enough of that." The third person in the room spoke up, his voice deep and low. His name was Keijo Ishidatami, and he was clearly a voice of reason in the group. He was the most notable in terms of appearance out of the group due to his Quirk, which left the area on his head where hair might be for anyone else instead covered by grey stones. Izuku had always thought it was one of the cooler Quirks among his classmates, but he thought all of their Quirks were impressive. Ishidatami had received a handful of crass comments about it, which Izuku always felt was uncalled for.

Seikakuna threw up his hands defensively and sat himself up straight.

"Consider it dropped. I'm always down to avoid being heckled." He said with a relaxed smirk. Yakedo rolled her eyes and gave a disgusted noise, but nodded.

"You deserve it, but sure."

"Name one thing I've done to deserve it!"

"When you spilt your juice all over my jumper. You know, the reason we're all here instead of somewhere more fun?" Seikakuna blinked.

"I meant recently."

"That was fifteen minutes ago!"

"You're living in the past." He tried to deflect, even as the washing machine he sat on started to rumble. Yakedo growled at him, but Ishidatami cleared his throat and silenced the two of them.

"Can't you two argue later?" He said. "I thought we agreed that this was important." The other two looked at each other and nodded. Both of them looked at Izuku, and it was at that moment that he remembered he was still a present factor in this conversation.

"You're right, Kei." Yakedo said. She took a deep breath. "Midoriya, I know we've never been close, but we're all classmates, a-and I feel like that means something. Or at least, it should've." She looked down guiltily. Izuku tilted his head.

"The point she's trying to get to is that we've all been jerks." Seikakuna said bluntly. Yakedo frowned as she looked at him, but didn't say anything. "We all bought into that dumb rumour Bakugou started about you being Quirkless, and because of that, we treated you like crap."

"Rumour?" Izuku managed to ask as the conversation caught up to him. Yakedo faced him and gave an uncertain smile.

"Yeah. Sorry." She said. "After we heard you got into UA, we realised the truth. Bakugou was feeding us all lies so he could excuse being…being…"

"A flaming pile of dog crap?" Seikakuna offered.

"Not quite how I'd put it, but yeah." Yakedo answered. "We all just accepted everything he said and ran with it. It was unfair to you, and we'd all like to say sorry. We should've known better." Ishidatami nodded, leaning forward in his seat.

"Frankly, even if Bakugou had been right, we still shouldn't have been like that." He added. "Being Quirkless shouldn't be something to be ashamed of. In fact, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little jealous of them at times."

Izuku looked at Ishidatami like he had grown a second head. He was jealous of not having a power? When his ability was so impressive? It was one of the most versatile in the class by Izuku's estimations, and if he just applied himself, he was sure that it would make for a power wielded by a great hero. But he would rather have nothing?

Without meaning to, Izuku's hand closed around into a fist.

"You've got nothing to be jealous of." Izuku said flatly. "Trust me." His tone seemed to shock the others in the room, who looked at him with wide eyes. Izuku hardly noticed. Ishidatami looked more amused than anything.

"No? Then I suppose being called 'boulder-for-brains' or 'rock-face' is an improvement on simply being able to blend in? Being watched by everyone outside, at all times? Worrying that every time I reach to touch my head that a policeman will try to stop me for public Quirk use?" He explained. Izuku opened his mouth to reply, but nothing emerged.

Ishidatami was a heteromorph, someone whose Quirk was always present. He supposed it only made sense that he would face his own kinds of issues. But, if anything, that made Izuku dislike him more. If he knew what that was like, why was he just okay with Izuku being called 'Deku'? With him being belittled and mocked every time he tried to so much as acknowledge his dreams? With the laughs and looks and taunts that were so commonplace?

"It's not a competition, Kei." Seikakuna spoke up, frowning at his friend. "How about we agree that both are bad and leave it at that? We're here for Midoriya, remember? One person's drama at a time."

"For once, he's right." Yakedo agreed. "Midoriya, we wanted to apologise for how we've treated you before you go off to UA. Maybe it's too little, too late, but you deserved to hear it. Can you forgive us?"

"I wouldn't blame you if you couldn't." Seikakuna added. "But if it helps, Ishidatami got a bribe." Ishidatami glared at Seikakuna, who grinned in response. Ishidatami sighed.

"It's meant as a gift, actually." He explained. He reached over to his side, where he had placed his school bag. He unzipped it. "A little present for getting into UA. We all pooled together a little money for it."

"I resent these accusations of kindness, good sir." Seikakuna jokingly protested. Yakedo snorted out a laugh.

"Fine, you're an irredeemable jerk." She smiled at him. "Better?"

"Worse, but I'll take it anyway." He shrugged. Ishidatami pulled out a small plastic box and handed it over to Izuku. Izuku took it carefully. They had really gone out of their way to get him a gift? Even apologising was so much more than he could have imagined, but this? He had tears in his eyes. To think, moments ago he was angry at this person.

"T-thank you-" He stopped before he could finish, his eyes widening immediately as he saw what it was. "T-THIS IS THE LIMITED EDITION ALL-MIGHT CASUAL WEAR ACTION FIGURE! I THOUGHT THEY WERE ONLY AVAILABLE IN AMERICA; I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR ONE FOR YEARS!" He practically screamed. The figure depicted All-Might during his early years in the United States, a period of time that little was known about even among diehard fans. It had been discovered over a year after his debut, and All-Might never gave much away in interviews. The reason he had been in the US at all when he was a Japanese hero was still a complete mystery.

Come to think of it, Izuku had never asked All-Might much about his past career. Maybe he could try another time. He could ask him to sign the figure as well – OH DEAR LORD HE COULD GET A RARE, LIMITED EDITION ALL-MIGHT ACTION FIGURE SIGNED BY ALL-MIGHT HIMSELF!

Tears burst forth from his eyes at such intensity that he surely outpaced the washing machine. He had no idea what to say. How could he honour such a gift? This was like if someone had bumped into him at the hall and paid him back with a lifetime supply of katsudon, a trip to Universal Studios Japan and their undying fealty for the rest of time. There was simply no contest between their actions and the response.

He wiped his eyes. There was one thing they were clearly looking for, and Izuku was happy to give it.

"All is forgiven." He said, his voice trembling with sheer awe. "The fact that you cared at all, let alone this much…It's more than enough. I'm not the sort of person to hold a grudge, anyway. I can't believe this." He continued to stare lovingly at the figure. It must have cost them so much, or at least have been difficult for them to find. All of that effort spent on him, someone they had barely known.

They had every reason to doubt his dreams, even if their attitude wasn't called for. Kacchan had simply been sure he had cheated, but they had immediately taken responsibility instead and reached out. They felt they were in the wrong.

They had taken his side. The gift was a boon unlike any other, but that meant just as much.

"Well, we're…we're glad you like it." Seikakuna said, clearly stunned by Izuku's reaction. Yakedo giggled.

"I told you it was a good idea, Ken." She said, placing a hand on her hips. "You should listen to me more. I'm clearly very reliable."

"Didn't you ask me for suggestions?" Chisei, who had been largely quiet, interjected, causing Yakedo to jump in surprise. Seikakuna laughed.

"W-well, I still chose the right suggestion!" She insisted. Chisei raised an eyebrow, and Yakedo visibly wilted. "Okay, fine, you get a little credit."

"Credit?" Ishidatami mused. "I thought you were paying for your part of the gift in cash." Seikakuna and Yakedo both groaned, though Chisei let out a single snort of laughter.

"That was awful, Keijo." Yakedo said. She looked over at Midoriya. "Feel free to pull up a chair, but you'll have to listen to more of his attempts at humour." Izuku blinked. He was invited to stay? They wanted to spend time with him beyond this?

It was official, Izuku decided. He had died and gone to heaven.

It was official, Kage Sekai decided. When he had died, he had clearly gone to hell.

On a rational level, he realised he was being overdramatic. But on an emotional level, as he struggled to shift his way around the house and hide, he felt it had to be accurate. There was simply no other explanation for how badly he kept managing to screw things up.

The one honest-to-gods friend he had made, the one person he had actually found himself spending time with beyond school, the one person who had managed to pry him away from training and show him it was okay to relax and live a little, and the one friend he had been hoping to see most of all at this party.

She had gotten into UA. Directly into the line of fire of every terrible event he had to stop.

He had hoped that the universe would be kind enough to let him have just one friend, but no. All he had was another responsibility. Another person he would have to dedicate himself to saving at all costs. And unlike any of the others he was sure to meet at the school, Sora Kinzoku was a complete unknown. He couldn't be sure what she would do.

He couldn't predict her. If he couldn't predict her, could he save her?

Or had she doomed her own life to save his? The thought had been keeping him up at night. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. He couldn't just stop her from going to UA. He certainly couldn't force her, and he didn't have the evidence to convince her to change her mind. Besides, would she even be able to at the last minute like this? The odds weren't in her favour.

She was stuck tied to this. Like it or not, Kage had to restructure his plans around her presence. The butterfly had flapped its wings. Now he had to be prepared for the tornado. He just didn't know how to do that. He barely knew what he was doing while everything was still predictable and as he remembered.

"Shit…" He muttered to himself, pressing his face against a wall. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You could start by talking to me."

He jumped and spun around. Sora had appeared with a glare on her face, watching him with a mix of annoyance and confusion. She had one hand on her hips. Kage attempted to stammer out a reply that would sound normal, but his best efforts failed him. Eventually, he sighed.

"Hey, Sora." He said. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hey, Kage." She replied slowly, narrowing her eyes. "Not to be rude or anything, but what's up with you? You were the one who invited me here, and yet you've been hiding from me all night. What gives?" She threw a hand up in frustration to punctuate her words. Kage reached around his mind for an explanation that didn't make him sound crazy.

Nothing came to him.

"It's…it's hard to explain." He said. "I-I'm sorry, though. You're right, I should've handled myself better. Things are just complicated right now."

"What do you mean, complicated?" Sora asked. "What do you have going on that's so trivial you can still come to a party, but so difficult that you can't talk to me? We're friends, right?" Her words came out as a genuine question. It stung.

"Yes! Yes, of course we're friends." Kage insisted. "That's what makes it so complicated! I promise, it's not because I don't like you. It's…It's…" He fought in his head to find the right words, but what could he say? What words could possibly convey the responsibilities he was struggling with that wouldn't make him sound completely insane?

"Gah!" He threw up his hands in a gesture of defeat. "There's no way I can explain it. You'd think I'm crazy." He admitted that much, at least. It wasn't his best move, but there was little else he could think to do. Sora looked at him with a curious expression for a long moment.

"Is that all?" She said quietly. Kage's eyes widened. "Try me. I can almost promise I've seen or heard weirder."

"I really doubt that." Kage half-joked. Sora smiled.

"I'll take that bet." She said. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look, whatever weird crap is eating you up inside, I wanna hear it. Pushing yourself away from people isn't going to do anything. Besides, I have it on good authority now that I am quite helpful to people struggling with friendship issues." She boasted, and Kage raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah? Whose authority?"

"Yubi." She explained. "He says sorry about Bakugou at the arcade, by the way. Those two aren't friends anymore, and I don't think he's taking it well." Kage nodded, though he wasn't sure why Yubi would feel the need to apologise a second time for the incident at the arcade. Frankly, Kage should have thanked him for it – it opened up the opportunity to punch Bakugou in his stupid face, and anything that allowed for that was to be celebrated. He took a deep breath.

He had never said any of this out loud before. He didn't know quite where to begin. But he knew Sora was right. He couldn't just keep avoiding it and dodging around everyone. Not if the slightest change caused him to panic this much. He would only make things worse by making people worry.

"Okay. What I'm about to tell you is all true," He began hesitantly, putting his hands out in front of himself. "And I'm saying that first, because I don't think you'll have any reason to believe me otherwise. Hell, I lived it and I barely believe myself some days. But I promise you that I'm not lying, I am not making anything up. Don't tell anyone else, not that they would be likely to believe you anyway."

"Deal." Sora nodded. "So, what's the truth?" Kage took one more deep breath. Exhaled. He spoke with a confidence he didn't feel. He pretended he was just telling things like a story, rather than revealing his greatest secrets.

"My story began at the same time it ended." He said. "You see, I'm not originally from this world. I was born with a different name, in a different life. My name was Darren. Darren Smythe. I had an older sister, two kind and loving parents, and a lot of wasted free time. And in that free time, I would read."

"I read a story called My Hero Academia. My sister and I were both pretty into it. It was a manga and an anime all about a superhuman world where eighty percent of people had powers called Quirks. The story took place mostly at a school, UA high. I remember thinking it would have been awesome to go there instead of boring, normal high school" He chuckled wistfully at the memory.

"I never thought it would happen when I died." His words came out in a low whisper, but he could tell Sora held onto them all the same. "I thought that would be the end, but I woke up as someone else. Kage Sekai. A boy I didn't recognise at all. As it turned out, no one did – any record of him was gone. I still don't know how or why, just that nothing could be found about him. I claimed I had amnesia – a half-truth, as I don't have any memory of who Kage was before a little under a year ago. I found I had these…these powers." He held his hands out and briefly extended the black veins across them. Despite their colour, they seemed to somehow glow.

"I still don't know how they work, not completely. I don't think they're like other Quirks, and I don't think Kage had them before I arrived." He admitted. "What I do know is that they give me the means to help people. I felt what it was like to be dead, and I don't want anyone to have to deal with that if I can help it. I know the future of this world. It's all the same as the story I used to read. If I'm alive now, and the real Kage isn't, then I have to believe it's for a reason. I have to believe it's my place to fix things that no one else can." Determination rose in his voice as he made his declaration. There was something powerful about saying those words aloud, rather than simply swearing to them again and again in his head.

Sora watched him with wide eyes and a mouth hanging ajar. It was clear that, whatever answer she was expecting, it wasn't that. He didn't blame her. He hadn't expected to be able to say it either. After a moment's pause, she reached into a handbag she had across her shoulder and pulled out a wallet, then handed him some money.

"Well, you won the bet." She said with a nervous laugh. Kage smiled and held a hand up.

"Keep it." Sora slowly nodded and put the money back. She stepped beside him and leaned against the wall, letting out a breathy whistle.

"So, that's a lot." She said. Kage simply nodded. "Reincarnation, parallel worlds, Our lives being fictional. I…I can't say I'm ready to just accept all that at face value, but I trust you. I believe that you're telling me the truth, or at least as much as you understand." Tears appeared in the corners of Kage's eyes. He was fully expecting to be screamed at and called a lunatic at best, and carted away to an asylum at worst.

"That's all I can really ask." He said with a trembling voice. "Like I said, I wouldn't believe it either if it hadn't happened to me. Thank you." She gave a small smile in response, though she wasn't quite looking at him.

"Don't mention it." She said. There was a lull in the conversation, both participants uncertain of what words were left to be said after that.

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't think this world is fictional." Kage finally said, getting her attention. "It's more like it's a world that closely matches a story from mine. It's still a real world, with people no less real than I am. Hell, maybe if I went looking, I'd find this world has a book all about my old life. Not sure it'd be worth the read though, I don't really have protagonist vibes."

"Really?" Sora snorted. "You could've fooled me, mister 'I'm responsible for everyone's lives'. I guess you're really big on being the hero." Kage laughed at that, relaxing a little.

"I'm not really a hero." He said. "I'm just a guy trying to make the best of what I have." Sora thought about his words for a moment.

"Maybe that's what we all are." She replied with a shrug. "Grand destinies or reincarnations or whatever else we've got going on, maybe we're all just people trying to do our best." She said. She paused and closed her eyes, taking a shaky breath before turning to face Kage directly.

"In this story, the one our world is based on." She asked hesitantly. "Do I die?" Kage opened his mouth to speak, but closed it after a moment.

"I honestly don't know." He admitted. She tried to hide it, but she let out a small gasp of fear and surprise. "You…you weren't in the story I read, Sora. I can't tell you what's going to happen or if I can stop it. That terrifies me. It's why I was avoiding you. You're my friend, and I…I don't know if I can keep you safe. I'm sorry." He looked down shamefully. That was a terrible thing to have to say to a friend, but he had already been so honest with her. He couldn't lie now. Sora looked down for a moment herself.

"I see." She raised her eyes, and there was a fire in them that Kage didn't recognise from moments ago. A determination and will that surprised him perhaps more than it should have. "Then I guess I'll have to protect myself."

"I don't know the future. I don't know all about what's going to happen in my life, but honestly? I don't care." She declared. "It's my life, and I'm going to spend it living how I want to for as long as I can. There's no way I'm giving that up just because things might get dangerous. No matter what happens next, I'm alive now. That means plenty to me." Kage didn't know what to say to that, but before he could try t reply, Sora wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"It should mean plenty to you, too." She said to him. "This doesn't have to be all on you, Darren. You're responsible for who you are, that's it. If that person's a hero who saves us all, great. But if it's just someone trying their best, just someone who's living the only life they have…"

"If it's just someone I can call a friend, maybe that's enough."

Kage wasn't sure he could believe her. He wasn't sure if he could let go of the obligation of what he knew. If he had any right to, knowing what it had cost him to have this life. But as he stood there, tears growing more and more in his eyes, as he wrapped his arms around her and sobbed, he made one realisation.

Uncertain wasn't the same as impossible.

AN: Happy New Years, everyone! Holidays meant that this chapter took a bit longer than usual, so I hope everyone had a merry Christmas, a happy Hannukah and enjoyed any other seasonal celebrations! I had a lot of fun with this chapter, as you can probably tell from how it's a bit longer than usual. It's a nice little cap off of all the pre-UA stuff, at least for the moment. When next we meet, we'll be realigning with canon once more! Until then, I wish everyone all the best in the world. See you next time!