My Hero Academia: Lion of Courage

Chapter 24: Matters of Pride

Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. All rights go to Kohei Horikoshi.

"Go!" Sunstorm announced after the victims had hidden away and the rescuers had arranged a plan. Unfortunately, Bakugo immediately went off on his own, despite Iida and Yaoyorozu's protests.

"Bakugo, we need to work as a team," Yaoyorozu stated. "We need to treat this as a real exercise-"

"Don't tell me what to do, Ponytail Girl!" Bakugo barked. "All you'll do is slow me down!" Before Yaoyorozu or Iida could protest again, the Explosion Quirk user blasted off on his own, leaving his classmates behind.

Open Palm quietly sighed in disappointment at Bakugo's attitude and treatment of the exercise. He knew Bakugo was prideful, but he thought he'd be more willing to work with his classmates, especially since he had been told the purpose of the exercise. Instead, Bakugo was just going off on his own and blowing off his classmates.

Regardless, the rescuers split into two teams, one led by Iida to rescue as many victims as possible while Yaoyorozu led a smaller team to secure the treatment area. For scouting, Iida had Jiro and Tokoyami use their Quirks to look for those in need.

"There are three west of our position, two of them aren't moving, one of them is shaking terribly," Jiro informed. "There are also two north of where we are. Both of them are moving, but weakly.

"Very well," Iida replied. "Sato, Uraraka, Ashido, you're with me. Yukine and Aoyama, you go north. Jiro, Tokoyami, keep looking around for-"

BOOM!

"What was that!?" Sato gasped, following by a loud rumbling.

"That was Bakugo!" Jiro informed. "He used an Explosion…and it sounds like he created a landslide."

"WHAT!?" Iida barked in disbelief. "How could he be so reckless!? Uraraka, take Ashido and Sato. I'll catch up with you." He then sped off to find Bakugo in the area of where the explosion had been heard. As he got closer, he could hear his volatile teammate shouting angrily at someone.

"Why did you do that?" Ojiro cried out, his voice filled with terror like an actual disaster victim.

"Shut the hell up, Tail!" Bakugo shouted. "Stop wasting my time and save yourself already, you weakling!"

"Bakugo!" Iida scolded as he rushed up to him. As Jiro said, Bakugo had used an explosion to create a landslide into a ditch where Ojiro was. It did give Ojiro the means to climb out, but from he saw, the landslide could've easily enveloped him. If the landslide had been worse, it could've killed Ojiro had he been an actual victim.

"What is wrong with you?" Iida questioned. "Do you have any idea how stupid that was?"

"He can climb out now!" Bakugo pointed out.

"But that could've killed him had he been a real victim!" Iida stated. "What possessed you to do something so blatantly dangerous!? We need to get him out-"

"I told you NOT to give me orders!" Bakugo snapped. "Now stay out of my way!" He then blasted off, his explosions created a dust cloud that made Iida cough and cover his face.

Iida was in absolute shock at how his classmate was handling the situation. It was undeniable that Bakugo was volatile and bad-tempered, but his attitude towards this exercise was inexcusable. Before, it had been excused because Open Palm and Sunstorm didn't explain the purpose of the exercise. However, even though he knew now…there was simply no excuse. He would have to report this to Open Palm and Sunstorm, but first, he had to save Ojiro.

Bakugo flew around, looking for 'victims' to find. He didn't get why Glasses was so angry at him, not when he provided a way for Tail to get out of the ditch. He had deduced that his injuries would allow him to climb out, so why was Glasses mad at him?

To the Explosion user, the job of a hero was to defeat villains, not waste their time with less 'important matters'. But unfortunately, there were no villains in this exercise to defeat, so he had to waste his time helping people. If this were for real, he'd be working to track the villains responsible and leave the rescue to the extras.

"Help!" Deku's voice was heard crying for help. As soon as Bakugo heard his voice, he stopped flying through the air and landed on his feet.

Not a chance in hell would Bakugo ever consider helping the Quirkless insect he had hated for years. Ever since he had to come to U.A., Deku had taken everything Bakugo desired: popularity, praise, recognition, admiration. While Deku soaked up all the praise and glory, Bakugo was left disdained and hated for most of his classmates, especially by Kitty Boy.

To everyone else, Kitty Boy was friendly and supportive, but as soon as Bakugo entered the scene, his attitude turned hostile and angry. If Kitty Boy didn't recognize his talent and determination, then that was his fault. One day, he'd prove himself superior to the kitty swordsman; if he was a beast, then he was a beast in terms of combat prowess.

Bakugo turned to look and saw Deku in a lower level of a multi-floor building, leaning against the wall on his back. When the two caught each other's gazes, Midoriya stopped crying for help.

"Kacchan, please," Midoriya mentally pleaded. "You'll fail this exercise if you don't help anyone." Hoping to persuade Kacchan to help him in some way, Midoriya cried out for help once more.

"SHUT UP!" Bakugo roared.

The Explosion user couldn't push himself to try and save Deku, not even though it'd mean potential failure. If he passed the exercise by saving Deku, then his pride would never recover from this slight. He'd let one of the other extras take care of him; he wouldn't lift a finger in helping someone so far beneath him. Just as he was about to blast off, Midoriya tried once more to get Kacchan to help him.

"Please don't leave me!" he cried out in a terrified tone, staying in character. Bakugo's eyes glared at him with immense rage and he stormed on over. Instead of helping Midoriya, Bakugo grabbed him by the collar of his gym clothes and lifted him into the air.

"If you think I'm going to waste one second of my time helping an insect like you, then you're more stupid than I thought," Bakugo growled. "I would sooner gouge out my own eyes than help you, Deku! I'll surpass All Might one day WITHOUT your help and when I do, I'll make sure that the only agencies who accept you are piss poor and broken down! You ARE and always WILL BE beneath me!" Bakugo then threw Midoriya against the wall and then blasted off.

"Dammit, Kacchan," Midoriya groaned. "The teachers won't let you stay if you keep this up. For once in your life, would you care about something other than your stupid pride!?"

By now, Iida had brought Ojiro to the treatment center. Along with them, Sato, Uraraka and Ashido brought Raionhato, Zankoku and Shiruku to the treatment area where Yaoyorozu, Koda and Yukine started identifying their ailments. Knowing of the disdain Zankoku had towards Yaoyorozu, Yukine went to help him while Momo started treating Raionhato.

Like Zankoku, he was unconscious, but Yaoyorozu was able to deduce that he was suffering from a concussion and several broken ribs. She called Yukine over to help her by creating some thick snow while Yaoyorozu created an insulated bandage that would keep it cold longer.

"Please help me get his gambeson off," Yaoyorozu asked Yukine.

"Yeesh, you're going straight for it, aren't you?" Yukine teased. The rich girl's eyes widened in shock and her face turned red.

"Yukine!" she replied firmly. "This is a serious emergency. Now please help me get his gambeson off so I can apply the bandage for his broken ribs." Suffice to say, Yaomomo wasn't impressed by Yukine's comment, especially by the inappropriate timing.

In truth, Yaomomo was starting to admire Raionhato, especially after their spar yesterday. While she was put off by his hatefulness towards Bakugo, despite having reservations herself, she was viewing him as a good, honest and caring person. She especially felt very empathetic towards him after he had revealed to her the passing of his mentor and losing his father to Fukushu.

She had looked up Paladin after she had gotten home out of curiosity since she had never met him in person nor knew much of his career. As Takeo stated, during his career, he made it to #18 on the scoreboard and was considered by several to be a great and honorable hero. After his fight against a villain named T-Wrecks, many people believed he was going to make his way to the Top Ten. She strongly believed he could've had it not been for his passing.

According to what she read, Paladin was killed by the vigilante, Fukushu, who had slaughtered several Pro Heroes in his wake. Paladin was Fukushu's first victim, so she understood the immense hatred Takeo had for the vigilante. She wondered, however…was he possibly projecting his anger towards Fukushu onto Bakugo?

Raionhato openly disdained Bakugo and made no effort to conceal it, openly calling him a beast and viewing him as though he were scum. Maybe there was something about Bakugo that reminded Takeo of why he hated Fukushu. As Vice President and out of the good of her heart, she wanted to help Takeo, though she knew she'd have to be cautious about it. She had no idea how much pain and anger Takeo was holding towards the topic of the Blade of Terror.

BOOM!

"AAHH!" Sero cried out after Bakugo used an Explosion to destroy debris blocking his path. The powerful blast sent amounts of small debris close to Sero, who was in a small building pretending to be frightened. If he wasn't frightened then, he was now.

"What the hell was that, Bakugo!?" Sero cried out, breaking character. "You could've blasted me to pieces!"

"Shut up!" Bakugo barked. "You can get yourself out now!"

Was this guy truly insane? Sero wasn't in the way of the debris, but the blast Bakugo used caused some of it to fly in his direction. What possessed Bakugo to do something that would be extremely dangerous in a real rescue setting? Did he just not care about rescuing people?

An alarm went off like before, indicating that twenty minutes had passed and the exercise was over. Bakugo smirked cockily, thinking he had proven himself superior to the rest of his classmates.

"What do you mean I failed!?" Bakugo barked at Open Palm and Sunstorm. After the students had gathered together, Open Palm and Sunstorm pulled Bakugo aside while the rest of the class got onto the bus to go back to U.A. He expected to pass the exam with flying colors, but instead, he was the only member of Class 1-A to receive a failing score.

"Well, first of all, you made no attempt to work or communicate with your classmates," Sunstorm brought up. "When Yaoyorozu and Iida tried to get you to work with them, you replied 'Don't tell me what to do!'. You went off on your own and did nothing to help your classmates."

"They would've just slowed me down," Bakugo replied.

"I remember saying it was a TEAM exercise, not a 'go off on your own and blast stuff' exercise," Open Palm snarked. "Speaking of blasting, you were very reckless and irresponsible in how you handled 'helping' the victims you encountered. Creating a landslide, blasting debris apart with a victim nearby…even straight up abandoning Midoriya. Gee, that sounds like a perfect performance…if your goal was to do the opposite of what we told you."

After Iida, Midoriya and Sero told the teachers of Bakugo's actions during the exercise, Open Palm couldn't help but express disappointment towards the Explosion user for butchering his role in the rescue training. Unlike before, where the teachers neglected to explain the purpose of the exercise, Bakugo knew what it was for and still, his pride and aggression kept him from carrying it out properly.

"Thirdly, you didn't even TRY to rescue anyone," Sunstorm pointed out. "Instead, you told them to save themselves and even refused to rescue Midoriya. If this had been a real rescue, your hero career would've been over."

"There is no excuse for this, Bakugo," Open Palm stated. "We gave you a second chance because we didn't explain the reason for the exercise. You had full knowledge the second time around, but you butchered it because you couldn't put aside your pride."

Bakugo remained in utter disbelief that he had received an F for his grade. He had never before failed anything, always getting A's and A+'s in his academic work. He aced everything he did, never once receiving anything lower than what he viewed as a perfect grade. For the first time, he had received an F, bruising his pride and enraging him.

"Why would we need to waste our time with such crap!?" Bakugo questioned angrily. "If this were the real thing, wouldn't we be focused on tracking the villains rather than wasting our time rescuing those stupid extras!?"

"Those 'extras' are victims of villain attacks and disasters," Sunstorm responded. "Pro Heroes need to be able to both defeat villains AND rescue innocent people. Even if your Quirk is better suited for one area than the other, you'd still need to be able to work in both areas."

"He's right," Open Palm agreed. "There will be many rescue exercises during your time here at U.A. If you view rescuing innocent people as a waste of time, then people aren't going to want you as a Pro Hero. You need to ACTUALLY rescue them, not leave them to fend for themselves and ESPECIALLY not abandon them like you to Midoriya."

Bakugo didn't regret not helping Midoriya. If he had to succeed with Midoriya's help, then he'd sooner throw away everything he worked for. He'd blow off his own legs before he even considered accepting help from Deku.

"If they couldn't get out on their own, then they're just too weak," Bakugo justified. "I'd have better things to do than-"

"Needing help doesn't make you weak, Bakugo," Sunstorm interrupted. "Are you saying that if you were a Pro Hero, you'd value your pride above the lives of people you're sworn to protect? That if you were presented with rescuing people who need help, you'd leave them to fend for themselves and potentially die because you think they're weak? There is no way you can become a Pro Hero valuing your ego and pride above the safety of others and if you're thinking you can, you're lying to yourself."

Open Palm silently agreed with Sunstorm concerning Bakugo's behavior. He didn't understand that Hero Work had to involve both fighting villains and saving innocent people; even if a hero specialized in one over the other, they'd still need to be able to handle both. If any hero acted the way Bakugo did during the rescue training, their hero career would be ground to dust. No hero of sound mind and judgment would EVER willing abandon someone in need of help or leave them to fend for themselves.

"I'm blind and even I can see your issue," Open Palm stated.

"What issue?" Bakugo questioned.

"You think accepting help from others makes you weak," the martial arts master stated. "That leads you to believe that anyone who accepts help is weak. But you can't do everything on your own, Bakugo; as strong as you are, you are neither invincible nor perfect. One can only do so much on their own before they crack. Accepting help doesn't make you weak, it's rejecting help when you need it. You could've rescued any of your classmates you came across, but you didn't and it was solely motivated by your hubris. Having pride in your abilities and work is one thing, but when you value it over the welfare and security of others, it's a downfall. Your F stays, so take this as a lesson of how NOT to act when rescuing people."

Bakugo wanted to argue against receiving an F, but he ultimately had no grounds to do so. He simply performed too poorly in the exercise to receive any passing grade, but sadly, his pride kept him from openly admitting it, even to himself. All he could do was bare his teeth in frustration and tighten his fists.

"Fine!" he spoke angrily. "You can both burn in hell for all I care!"

Whack.

"You better watch that tone of yours, Bakugo," Open Palm reminded after hitting him in the head with his staff.

"So, how'd the training go?" Midnight asked Open Palm after school had closed. They were off hours and she would waste no time in being around her beloved, school grounds or not. She sat behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, making him smile and gently hold one of her hands.

"Overall, it went very well," Open Palm informed. "We did…we did have some issues with some of the students though."

"You mean Bakugo?" Midnight asked, having already grown acquainted with his questionable reputation.

"It wasn't entirely his fault," Open Palm answered. "During the 1st exercise, Bakugo wouldn't participate both of out not understanding the exercise and that colossal ego of his. Afterwards, Sunstorm just wanted to fail him, but I felt we owed him a 2nd chance since we didn't explain the reasoning behind the exercise. For the 2nd exercise…well, he's got to work on his temper and how he talks to people."

While Open Palm admired Bakugo's determination and passion, he was anything but perfect. His grades and combat matches showed that he was very intelligent, strong, had a great grasp on his Quirk and possessed excellent combat prowess. Sadly, he channeled all of his pride into his fighting skills and none of it into his ability to communicate or deal with people properly. He did nothing to keep his pride or his aggression in check, which was costing him.

"How do you personally feel about him?" Midnight asked, playfully poking his cheek and then pecking it.

"I respect him," Open Palm answered. "Bakugo is very determined and passionate, so much so that failure isn't an option for him. Even if he falls, he just gets right back up and works harder. The word 'quit' isn't in his dictionary. Yes, his attitude needs to be addressed, but I think teachers like Sunstorm are being too quick to want to throw him out."

"Well, you can't blame some of them, especially after that Combat Training incident," Midnight brought up.

"Some of the teachers act like it's solely Bakugo's fault," the martial arts master replied with annoyance. "If he had been the only one to have used a near-fatal attack, then he would've undoubtedly been expelled. However, All Might didn't stop the match when it was clearly getting too violent and Midoriya himself used an attack that could've taken out the building with everyone inside. The match getting as extreme as it did falls on all three of them. It was the teacher's failure just as much as it was the students'."

"Have you always been this wise, Kenzo?" Midnight swooned. "Oh, it fills me with such desire for you."

"Nemuri…we're on school grounds," Kenzo replied. "Nezu would make us break up if we acted unprofessional on U.A. grounds. And no, I've not always been this wise; I was a real hellion when I was the students' age." Nemuri chuckled as she moved Kenzo's face so she could kiss his lips and caress his cheek.

"So, any updates on finding an apprentice?" she asked. "I've seen several martial artists in the Hero Course. There's Kana Hironaka, Hinote Onkyo, Chikao Kato, Mashirao Ojiro, Eijiro Kirishima, Kaze Yonaka…"

Open Palm was being careful of which student from U.A. he'd choose as his apprentice in martial arts. He considered his time in the limelight was over the day he was blinded, but that wouldn't stop him from finding an apprentice who could carry on his legacy. Who knows, they could become an even bigger legend than he did, which would be quite a feat since Open Palm could go toe-to-toe with All Might when they were in their prime.

He preferred they be a martial artist like him, though he wouldn't reject them if they weren't, but already being familiar with martial arts would make it easier for him since they'd know the basics of hand-to-hand combat. Having seen the skills of those Midnight mentioned, it at least helped him narrow down the number of choices.

"When would you find the time to train them?" Midnight asked.

"I'd ask their homeroom teacher if I could take over for their internship," Open Palm answered. "I may be retired, but I can still offer my own internship during my free time. I'd use the time to get started on their training and continue from there."

"Sounds good," Midnight replied before a sly smirk stretched across her face. "So…any romance among the students yet?" Open Palm shook his head.

"Nemuri, for the last time, you cannot act as a matchmaker nor interfere in their love lives," Kenzo told her. "And even if I did know of some romance going on among the students, I wouldn't tell you."

"Awww, come on!" Nemuri whined as she slouched against her boyfriend. "Pwetty pwease?" Open Palm sighed.

Kaze Yonaka sat at home, sitting in the middle of his family's training dojo and meditating. His breathing was calm and constant to balance his mind and emotions, keeping them in check so they wouldn't overwhelm his judgment. If one was to be a true hero, one must keep their emotions under control.

Unfortunately, his mind remained a bit restless due to Onkyo making him go on a double date after beating him in a spar. Yonaka had no desire to go out on a date, especially with a flirtatious ladies' man like Onkyo. He was loud, obnoxious, self-centered…Kaze found him intolerable and preferred to keep his distance from him.

"Kaze," Kurikari addressed as she entered the room.

"Mother, I've asked you to not disturb my meditation please," Kaze told her. "Is it important?"

"Someone's on the telephone asking for you," Kurikari explained. "They say they're a classmate of yours from Class 1-B." Kaze gave out a low sigh before standing up and walking out of the dojo, pecking his mom's cheek as he walked to the living room where the telephone was. He picked it up and held it to his ear.

"Hello?" he greeted.

"Hey, cutie," Tokage's voice greeted.

"Oh, no," Kaze thought before speaking "How're you doing today, Tokage? How'd you get my home phone number?"

"I saw you teleporting in front of the house when I was driving with my parents," Tokage answered. "I was able to find out your phone number from there and now, you've got a phone call from the one and only Setsuna Tokage!"

"So full of herself," Kaze thought again, his stoicism hiding his annoyance with Tokage. He then spoke "What can I do for you, Tokage? Do you need help with training?"

"I heard Onkyo got you to go on a double date sometime before the Sports Festival," Tokage answered. "I'm guessing you haven't found a date yet so…I'm going to be your date, Yonaka. And before you try to say you can't make it, you lost to Onkyo, so you have to honor your word. It'd be very dishonorable to stand a woman like me up, don't you think?"

Kaze let out a quiet groan of frustration at the facts Setsuna threw at him. He ultimately couldn't turn down the date since Onkyo did beat him, but he never agreed to go on a double date in the first place. It was too late for him to turn back now and as the beautiful young woman pointed out, it'd be very dishonorable to stand her up on a date.

"Very well," he reluctantly answered. "I don't know when the date is, though-"

"Don't worry, we've got it covered," Tokage assured. "It'll be on Friday night, so wear your best clothing and pick me up at seven, okay?"

"Tokage, I don't even know where you live," Kaze brought up.

"Tell me your phone number and I'll text it to you."

Yonaka reluctantly told her his phone number; judging by the silence, she was writing it down so she could put it into her phone. In a few moments, Kaze's phone beeped with a text…two texts actually. The first one was Tokage's address, the second was a picture of her with two fingers up and a smile stretched across her face.

"See you later, handsome," she spoke flirtatiously before hanging up.

Kaze hated this. He hated that he had lost to Onkyo and now was honor bound to go on a double date with him. He hated how Setsuna Tokage was actively pursuing him and interfering in his training to improve his skills as a fighter. She was undoubtedly very beautiful and clearly capable and smart since she had gotten in on recommendation like Honenuki and Chikao, but the fact remained that he had no interest in romance, especially someone as vain and self-centered as Tokage.

"So who was it?" Dakusuta asked, having overheard his son's conversation.

"A classmate of mine," Kaze answered. "I lost to someone named Hinote Onkyo and he's making me go on a double date. The person who called me says she'll be my date this Friday."

"Good for you, son," Kurikari congratulated. "You could really get out more, make some friends. I'm certain you could spare one night. So, who's the lucky lady if I may ask?"

"Her name's Setsuna Tokage," Kaze answered. "She got in through recommendations."

"Tokage?" Dakusuta asked. "I know their Agency. It's run by the Komodo Dragon Hero: Sunda, real name Baranusu Tokage. He's currently #37 on the Hero Scoreboard."

"I hadn't heard of him," Kaze brought up. "But that certainly explains how Tokage got in on recommendation."

"Kaze, recommendation doesn't work like that," Dakusuta informed. "It takes more than just being the child of a Pro Hero to get in on recommendation. Yes, it helps your chances, but that alone doesn't determine it." The conversation stopped when Kurikari smelled something coming from the kitchen and quickly rushed off to make sure the dinner hadn't been overcooked.

Now knowing that Setsuna Tokage was the daughter of a Pro Hero whose Quirk presumably gave him the powers of a Komodo Dragon, the nervousness Kaze felt towards the date increased. Komodo Dragons were one of the most dangerous animals in the world and their poisonous bite could kill animals or humans within hours. Just the idea of being around someone who had the abilities of such an animal was rather unnerving.

"Onkyo, if this ends up being a waste of time…I'm requesting a transfer to-" He then remembered that Takeo Raionhato was in Class 1-A. He immediately disregarded his idea of requesting a transfer.

"Mm, this is delicious, Himari," Razor Shell told his adoptive daughter as the two of them ate fried rice and chicken together.

"Thanks, Dad," Himari responded as she took a bite of her chicken. "So…Dad…"

"Yes?" he asked as he took another bite of his rice.

"How do you feel…about me dating?" Himari asked before her face turned red. "I-I don't have a boyfriend now! I just…well, wanted to hear your opinion about me dating."

Razor Shell smiled warmly and gently caressed his adoptive daughter's face. He felt any young man would be lucky to have her as their girlfriend. She was kind, caring, empathetic and clearly already had a lot of admirers judging by the bouquets of flowers she kept bringing home. He was surprised none of the male students had asked her to be their girlfriend.

"I have no issues with you dating, though I would want to meet your boyfriend beforehand," Wanigame told her. "Is there anyone in particular who catches your attention?" He silently prayed it wasn't Bakugo.

"Well…um…there is this one young man," Himari confessed. "I…I think he's really interested in me." Razor Shell's face went blank and he pointed to the fifteen flower bouquets lined up on a table next to the window.

"I think SEVERAL young men are interested in you," he pointed out. "Anyway, who's the lucky boy?" Himari blushed at Wanigame's comment. She hid her smile from him in response to being told that the boy would she was interested was very lucky.

"It's…it's…Todoroki," she answered.

As soon as she said the name 'Todoroki', Razor Shell's smile died. He certainly didn't disapprove of him as he was generally well-behaved and was clearly a good student; his only criticism towards him as a person was his unwillingness to use his flames in a fight, which had cost him victory against Zankoku. The reason he was worried was because Shoto Todoroki was the son of Endeavor, someone Razor Shell didn't have a good history with.

"Dad?" Himari asked. His reaction, though he tried to hide it, immediately gave away how he felt about her and Shoto potentially being together.

"You don't approve of him."

"No, no!" Wanigame quickly replied. "I don't have any issues with him personally. But…he is the son of Endeavor and you know he and I don't have the best relationship."

Suddenly, Razor Shell's phone went off; he picked it up and saw that it was the name of Haruki Kataiya. He walked into his room, closed the door and then answered the phone.

"Hello, Haruki," Wanigame greeted.

"Wanigame, is Himari there?" he asked. Wanigame let out a quiet sigh.

"Haruki, you know she doesn't want to talk to you. I'm sorry, but I'm not putting her on the phone nor will I make her talk to you."

"Wanigame, she's my daughter! I know I messed up all those years ago, but I want to make things right with her. How can I do that if she won't talk to me?"

"Haruki, that's your problem to figure out. But you don't understand the true depth of the way you hurt her. After Tsukikara was killed, you fell into depression and neglected her for months. I had to come in and take her into my custody."

"I know! But do you have any idea how tormenting it is that she and I are working at the same school and yet she won't talk to me? I know I failed as a father, but I'm want to make things right between us. I want to show her-"

"Stop it, Haruki! You neglected her when she needed you most. Something like that isn't easily forgiven. You made no attempt to contact her ever since I took custody of her."

"I was just trying to give her space, Wanigame. I thought if I just gave her some time to blow off some steam, vent her anger, then I could talk to her."

"Well, she took it the wrong way, Haruki. She took it as you not wanting to contact her at all. This isn't something that'll be resolved in a month or even by the end of the school year; healing takes time and you need to prove yourself before Himari will even consider talking to you as her father. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to enjoy my dinner with Himari."

Razor Shell hung up and placed his phone on his bedstand. He opened the door to go back to the dining room, but was surprised to see Himari standing there, a mix of confusion and sadness in her scowl.

"Why can't he just leave me alone?" Himari spoke, her voice shaky and trembling. "Why he can't just accept that I want nothing to do with him?" Razor Shell reached out to touch his daughter's shoulder, but Himari backed away and put her head against the wall.

"He abandoned me when I needed him. After Mom died, he just…he just shut down and left me to fend for myself when I was only six years old. Then he didn't talk to me for years and he just wants me to act like everything's okay?" She started crying into the wall, prompting Razor Shell to come up and hug her tenderly. She then turned and started to cry into his shell, letting out loud wails of emotional pain.

"Aquarius, sir!" a sidekick by the name of Invulnerastone addressed, knocking on his boss's office door. When he didn't answer, he opened the door and found the skinny, blue-haired man with a goatee asleep on his couch, snoring loudly.

"Aquarius!" Invulnerastone cried out as he turned on the office light. Aquarius let out a groan before he groggily got up and rubbed his eyes. Much to Invulnerastone's frustration, Aquarius was half naked, wearing only his underpants while the rest of his hero costume was thrown lazily on the couch arm.

"You've got to stop doing that," Invulnerastone commented, gesturing to the hero costume that looked like a blue and white diving suit with a tall clear container on the back that could hold up to two gallons of water. It was connected to a diving mask, but instead of providing air, it provided water for Aquarius due to the nature of his Quirk.

"What is it?" he yawned as he walked towards Invulnerastone.

"First, PLEASE put your hero costume on," he responded. "Second, you have a call from someone at U.A. A…Nezu, I believe." Aquarius's tired face quickly turned firm, but confused.

"Transfer him to my office line," he requested. He walked over to his desk and picked up the telephone near his computer, then waited for Principal Nezu to come through.

"Aquarius," Nezu addressed politely. "I'm very happy I managed to reach you. I'm sorry it's late, but I've unfortunately been rather busy with getting the Sports Festival organized."

"Yeah, it's around the corner," Aquarius spoke. "But I'm guessing you didn't call me to talk about the Sports Festival."

"I did not. I came to call you about offering an internship to a specific student." Aquarius let out a sigh of annoyance.

"I don't offer internships, Nezu. You know that. I've got-"

"Please hear me out," Nezu interrupted. "It's…it's about Paladin's son, Takeo Raionhato." As soon as Aquarius heard that name, he became fully awake and held the phone closer to his ear.

"I'm listening."

Zankoku was on his way to the homeless shelter, having stolen some food from a local supermarket. He wasn't bothered by the theft since they had plenty of food and supplies to go around; they wouldn't miss several fruits, vegetables, dairy and baked goods.

Despite Ashido saying she'd help the shelter so he wouldn't have to resort to stealing, he wasn't going to get his hopes up. As he stated before, many Pro Heroes wouldn't pay attention to the people in that shelter because they were not beneficial to their public images. If they DID pay attention to them, then they would find some way to exploit those people for their own gains.

"Does she honestly think doing some livestream is going to help those people?" Zankoku asked, wondering about Ashido. "That girl…she's easy on the eyes, but…wait a minute."

As he entered the shelter, he saw a long line of people towards the cafeteria, all of them inhabitants of the homeless shelter. He wondered what was going on and rushed up to see what it was; to his shock, Ashido and several teens were there, handing out food to the people in line. He recognized a few of them from his class, including Midoriya, Kirishima, and Hagakure, who helped in handing out food to the people.

Zankoku just stood there with a shocked and dumbfounded face. He half expected Ashido's promise to help to either be empty or not work at all; instead, she was hosting a food drive that appeared to be working very well. She had kept her promise and even though it wasn't a livestream, she was still offering her help to the homeless.

"Zankoku!" Midoriya called out, giving him away to the rest of the teens helping. Zankoku let out a quiet chuckle as he walked up to the front while Ashido quietly broke away from the group and went up to him with a big, cheerful smile.

"How'd you do it?" he asked her.

"I asked some friends of mine, a few of our classmates and we had a food drive," Ashido answered. "I was able to talk my parents into buying food so we could make meals for the people here. So far, it's been a big success!"

"Looks like one," Zankoku acknowledged as he saw the inhabitants of the homeless shelter eating their food with joy and laughter. It was probably the first time he had ever seen the shelter so lively, so full of hope and happiness that he almost didn't recognize the place.

"Ashido..." Zankoku tried to say, but was at a loss for words. He had given her the benefit of the doubt because she didn't rat him out to U.A. for stealing from the U.A. Cafeteria, but never expected her plan to work nor for so many people to help feed the homeless. She had proven him wrong.

"Now, will you please stop stealing from U.A.?" Ashido requested. "You don't need to turn to thievery to help them, okay?"

Zankoku was not prepared to make that promise; he was prepared to do anything to help the disadvantaged, to help those ignored by society's Pro Heroes. As grateful as he was, one food drive alone wouldn't solve the problems the homeless shelter faced. However, he couldn't deny that it raised their spirits and offered them hope that people did indeed care about them.

"Sure," he replied. "You upheld your promise, so I'll stop stealing from U.A."

"Great!" Ashido responded. "Now why don't you come and help us? We could use some extra hands." Ashido took Zankoku by the arm and led him to the front where all the food was being handed out.

Even though he had given his word to stop stealing from U.A., Zankoku wasn't fully committed to keeping that promise. If he had to turn to thievery and lying to ensure the disadvantaged get the help they need, then he would do it with no remorse, no regrets, no qualms. However, as he helped give out the food, there was no doubt that he owed Ashido big time for this gesture of kindness, proving that there were people more than willing to help those in need.