"Good. You all look to be in good condition. It's time for this training camp to really begin," Aizawa declared for the benefit of his students as they appeared in the clearing made for their use.

"What, the monster forest didn't count?!" Kaminari asked, looking incredulous that such an experience somehow didn't count as training.

"As training?" Pixie-Bob, the blue pussycat asked rhetorically. "No. That was just to give us all an idea of what you kids can do and how you do it. A first-hand look so we could work together with your teacher for a purrfect training regimen tailored to each and every one of you!"

"You all know the limits of your quirks aren't fixed," Aizawa continued, his lack of energy completely mismatched with Pixie-Bob's enthusiasm. "Just like your muscles, your joints, your cardiovascular system, your quirks can be trained just like everything else. You'll all have noticed by now that they've gotten stronger through all the trials you've endured even in just your first three months of UA. Your basic training classes, your exams, the sports festival. Each one designed to make you push yourselves to the utmost limit. To find those limits, and then to break them." His eyes passed over the class, looking each student in the eye. "However, all of those trials had other motives that took precedence. This is your first experience of us working for only one purpose. To take your quirks and vastly increase their capabilities through breaking you over and over again." He heard the scoff, tracked it to its source. Saiki understandably seemed less than impressed with the idea, it being something he had done in his own time, the results speaking for themselves.

He could sneer at it all he wanted. The staff had other plans for him.

"Mandalay, are we linked up?" Aizawa asked, the red pussycat giving a confirmation. "Alright, emitter types, you're with Pixie-Bob. She'll detail what you're going to be doing to get started. Mutant and transformation types, you're with Tiger." He watched as the students split into two groups, particularly one of them who sulked toward Tiger at the back of the pack. That one he grabbed by the shoulder. "Not you." The boy stared at him, uncomprehending but irritated. "Did you really think we'd just leave you to do what they're doing when you've already been doing it for years?"

"Pretty much."

"Much as that attitude problem of yours makes me want to leave you at Tiger's mercy–"

"ALRIGHT, MIDORIYA! LET'S GET THOSE MUSCLES NICE AND LIMMMMBER!"

"AHHHHH!"

"–We've got someone else who can do more for you than he can."

Saiki looked at him confused, only for someone else to not just appear, but drop directly between teacher and student. A familiar head of green hair and bright, manic eyes. "Hey there, sourpuss!"

He looked down at the chirpy pussycat, back up at his teacher. "Transformation and mutant with Tiger, got it."

"Running away again?" Ragdoll asked his retreating back. He stopped. "You're so easy, you know that?" her bright voice asked, the mockery at odds with her endlessly cheerful tone.

Slowly, he nodded to himself. "You're right. I should just keep walking away."

"You could..." He could hear the grin in her voice as she followed him step for step. "But you won't learn what I figured out about your quirk. The thing that could let you get way stronger way faster." His steps slowed but didn't stop. "Guess you gotta decide. Your strength or your pride. Hmmmmm?" He stopped. "Pride or strength." His shoulders shook. "Strength orrrrrr–"

"For fuck's sake, fine!"

"Thank god," Aizawa murmured. "He's all yours, Ragdoll. If you could do something about that attitude problem while you train him, that'd be great."

"No promises!" the pussycat answered. "Come with me, sourpuss!"

Audible grinding of teeth, grumbling under his breath, stomping his feet far harder than necessary, all of this as Saiki followed the most annoying person he had ever met into a not quite private area of the clearing. Still in sight of the others but far enough away that they couldn't be casually heard. "I don't even know why I followed you. You think you know something about my quirk that I don't?"

"Well, if you don't know it, you're an idiot. But if you do then you're a way bigger idiot. Guess you better hope I'm right then, huh? Face this way." She grinned as he turned so he faced away from the rest of his class, from his teacher and from the rest of the pussycats. "Good good!" She bounced over into his personal space then immediately shoved her hand down his pants.

Saiki's eyes widened for an instant, before a familiar smirk crossed his lips. "If this is going where I think it is, you better be ready for the hatefuck of your life."

"I could do better," she replied with a toothy smile, her fingers not stroking his shaft or punishingly squeezing his balls, but instead feeling at the base of his penis. Where it was perceptibly thicker than the rest of it. Not to meet his pubic region, but instead a much less natural bulge. Smaller than but not dissimilar to a knot. "I noticed when I got a look last night. This is strange, and your balls are way bigger than they should be. How and when did this happen?"

"What's it to you?"

"Just answer the question you surly jackass," the support hero demanded. "Do you want my help with your quirk or not?"

He grumbled under his breath. "I was having sex with a girl and she put this thing on me that wouldn't let me cum. It was like a little band around my dick or something that would squeeze down when I was about to finish. It hurt, and my body adapted in a way that tried to break it."

"Oh, did it have a little bag to go around your balls?"

Saiki blinked. "Uhh... Yeah. How'd you–?"

"Used it before. A guy who was into that kind of submissive stuff. Never would've pegged you for that kind of thing." Suddenly, she broke into light giggles. "Heheh, 'pegged'."

"I wasn't," the ornery student growled, then winces. "I mean I'm not. It was a game and I lost."

"Whatever, don't care," she casually dismissed his irritation as she had at every opportunity since meeting him. "This was just a one-off encounter?"

"It was the only time I went through anything like that, yeah."

"And your balls growing?" she asked, her fingers getting a feel for their unnaturally swelled size. She noted that within ten seconds of her hand on his junk he was already hard. "Was that from then too? How about your quick erection?"

"No. Well, a little. It got worse from that but it first happened during a sex marathon that went for about three days." He gave the pussycat a strange look. "Why do you care? Reconsidering that hatefuck?"

"It'd probably be fun, but no," she let him down far more gently than before. "I care because you underwent an adaptation that was way more significant than anything else, one that changed the shape of your body from a baseline human. You didn't think that was strange?"

His lips pursed, his eyes, then his head looked to the side, avoiding her expectant stare in embarrassment. "Not until now, no."

Her hand retreated from his pants, giving him a patronising, soft slap in the face with the same hand. "And that's why you're only a regular garden variety idiot! Good job! Don't feel too put out. The number of people who totally misunderstand how their quirks work is really, really big."

He counts to ten–

"I mean not that big? Most people have it all figured out by your age. So you're still kind of dumb. But there's still outliers who don't get how things work. There's even some people who use it as much as you do and still don't get it. Not many of those though."

Scratch that. He counted to five. Ten just gave her time to come up with more trash talk. "Okay," he finally said, sighing through his nose. "I am an idiot. Now that that's out of the way, what do you think you've discovered about my quirk?" Because if it turned out she were wrong and she tried to tell him something he already knew, he wasn't sure what he might do. She probably wouldn't like it though.

"How do you think it works?" she prompted him first.

"When I go through some kind of strain or stress, my quirk lets me adapt to better handle that stress, then when I heal the adaptation becomes permanent. If I get hurt, I get tougher. If I get tired, it takes more to get me tired. If I don't eat I don't need to eat as often."

"And it's all automatic?" the pro asked, her head tilting inquisitively. "One to one, problem to solution?"

"That's right."

"That's wrong."

He blinked at the sudden rejection. Saw the slight frown in Ragdoll's eyes, even as her lips continue to smile. "What do you mean that's wrong? That's how it's always worked."

"My quirk is called 'Search'," the cat-themed hero informed him, "It lets me track people, and also to see their weaknesses. It's a useful quirk when it comes to search and rescue, but also for helping people with training, or noticing things other people can't see. After I saw you in the forest, and then at the hot spring, I got curious. I asked your teacher about you, got some of your school records, the report from your internship."

With every listed item Saiki's eyebrows rose. She had gone through all of that effort? Going through all of that would've been a full night's work, and she did it for him after he was such an asshole?

"Mirko had surprisingly good things to say about you. Well, she said she gave you an attitude adjustment but I guess that didn't take. But something her report said stood out. She noted as part of your training she broke all your limbs before letting you rest. Then the next day you'd come back stronger and faster." She stared. Let that statement sink in. "Not more durable. Stronger. Physically stronger." She waited a beat for any kind of response. "You didn't notice?"

"I... I was doing other training outside of my internship so it made sense I would get stronger. That doesn't mean anything."

"You said it yourself. You did it outside your internship. Did you do it during?"

"I mean Mirko and I sparred a lot–"

"Did it cause you stress that would've been solved by more strength?"

He thought back. And the answer was obviously no. Mirko kicking his ass up and down her training room only caused him the same kind of strain as getting his limbs broken. Something that would increase his durability.

"There isn't a lot of information on how your father's quirk worked." She chose not to pay attention to how the boy's fists clenched at the mention of a parent. "Only arrest reports and his quirk registration form. He was only ever said to get one kind of boost from stress. A strength boost."

"So..." He struggled to push his useless frustration about that person aside. "So what you're saying is..."

She nodded. Even angry, he could still pick up on her point. Good for him. "You are the kind of lucky cat who gets not one parent's quirk, or an awkward combination, but instead both at once. Your mother had regeneration. Your father had a boost from stress. But he only got strength. That means either your ability to get other boosts came out of nowhere or..."

"Or he could've gotten other kinds of boosts too, but he didn't because he was the kind of piece of shit who got off on feeling strong for five minutes."

Ragdoll's eyes flicked right, then left. Decided she didn't need to point out the hypocrisy there. If he was actually calming down and getting reflective that was better for everyone. "Exactly! The input is stress, the output is a boost, but you get to choose what the boost is! Every time you lifted weights until your muscles tore, you wanted to get stronger! Every time you exhausted yourself, you wanted to have more endurance! Every time you starved yourself..." She paused. "What the hell kind of circumstances did you think would happen that you'd need to starve yourself, dummy?!"

"I don't know!" he answered, throwing his arms up in the air. "When I first started I trained whatever I could think of!" He dropped to the grass, head in his hands. "I can't believe this. How did I not notice?"

"Confirmation bias is a bitch!" Ragdoll answered cheerfully, doing cartwheels around her temporary student for basically no reason beyond wanting to. "You thought you knew how it worked and every time you used it, it worked exactly as you thought! Until you got to UA and had more specific goals in mind, that is!"

"If that's how it really works... I can keep getting stronger," he realised. One of the biggest expenses of training himself until the strain caused a boost was the time investment. Boosting his stamina first meant a half hour run, then got more and more absurd as his abilities increased. The same with strength. Durability had always been the easiest because he just needed to find the edge of his tolerance and push past it! This explained so much! "If I just focus on increasing my strength I won't fall behind!"

"Little bit of a one track mind, but sure!" Ragdoll agreed in a handstand in front of him.

"Wait," his head came up again to look at the pussycat, seeing her blinking frantically at him while upside-down. "If that's what you figured out, what does that have to do with my dick?"

"Ohhhh! Right, I almost forgot!" Her legs lowered, not to get back on her feet but instead to wrap them around his neck, sitting on his shoulders. Not that he minded. "That part's more like a theory than anything I can say for sure. But what I'm thinking is your quirk works harder and has a bigger effect depending on how much you feel you need it! Same as most things, really. If you're angry you punch harder, kind of thing? Sex has a huge emotional aspect to it. That sex marathon of yours? Where you were under pressure to perform? Big adaptation. Your session as a sub when you've got a big honkin' inferiority complex? Oh boy!"

"I don't have an inferiority complex! I'm not inferior!" he snapped.

"Right, right. If you did, you'd lose it at any hint there's something wrong with you and you'd have a crazy need to prove you're better than everyone else." She leaned forward, letting him see the absurd, wide-eyed grin on her face.

He scowled at her. "I fucking hate you."

Her grin gained teeth. "I know!" Leaning back, she rolled off of his shoulders and onto her feet with barely any effort. "Now you get to actually do training!"

He sighed. If he never had to talk to this woman again it would still be too soon. "Fine." Now that he knew what he knew, he could get more out of it for less. "What am I doing?"

"Running into the most dangerous parts of everyone else's training!" Ragdoll answered happily. "I would recommend starting with Todoroki."

The blue-haired boy got to his feet, searched the area around for the two-tone legacy hero. Finding him sat in a barrel while alternating filling the area around him with fire and ice. "Yeah, that works." Taking off at a run he dove into the inferno.

"SAISEI WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

-(-)-

"I don't care if you're heat resistant, don't jump into a blazing inferno!"

"I don't care if you're a pansy, just because my skin gets a little red is no reason to stop!"

"YOU WERE ON FIRE!"

"I can be on fire. It's fine you big baby."

"There's no talking to you," Todoroki grunted. "I liked you better when I didn't have to interact with you at all."

Saiki smirked, unrepentant. "I have that effect on guys."

"You have that effect on everyone," the son of Endeavour grumbled as he walked off to help with roasting the vegetables.

"I know some people who would disagree!" Saiki shouted after him.

"Am I on that list?"

He turned, found the source of the voice, not that he didn't know who it was just from the sound. "Izuku," he greeted her, not quite sure what he should feel talking to her anymore. "Hey."

"Hey," she answered back, wearing an awkward smile of her own. "I... Can I talk to you about something? I need your help."

He frowned. Both wanting and not wanting to talk to her at once. But it'd cost him nothing. "Sure. Actually you know what? Let's call it favour for a favour."

"I can accept that," she agreed. "I need your help talking to Kota."

"... I have no idea who that is."

"He's the boy the pussycats are looking after."

"Okay..." he drew out the word. "So now I have no idea why you want to talk to him."

"I don't just want to–" She looked away, realising she isn't explaining well. "He hates heroes. I want to find a way to convince him that heroes aren't bad."

Her ex boyfriend blinked at her in confusion. "Okay, I'm clearly still missing something. Why does it matter that a little kid doesn't worship heroes like most kids do? It's not a big deal."

"His parents were heroes. They died fighting a villain. He hates heroes because he feels like his parents abandoned him." She grimaced. "I figured since you kind of live on spite and also kind of hate your–"

"Nope," he quickly cut her off. "You need to stop there before you push a button you don't want to push." The only reason he hadn't already blown up at her was for someone else having already pushed that particular button today. That and finding a way to push past his strength bottleneck had put him in a good mood. "You want to know what to say to him to make him stop hating his parents and resenting heroes? How about nothing." She looked hurt by his words, so he did his best to soften his tone a little. "He's a traumatised kid who's sad his parents died. Not exactly a one-to-one with my situation, but what are you thinking you could say to him to make that better?"

Her expression and tone were frustrated. "I don't know! That's why I came to ask you for advice! If you don't want to give it then just–"

"I am giving it, Izuku. Just listen to me," he asked, or more demanded. "You can't tell someone they're wrong to be angry. That just makes them more angry at you for thinking you know how they should feel." He would have thanked Ragdoll for giving him that particular experience to draw on, if he weren't so pissed at her. "If the kid believes heroes are rotten because of fucked up priorities then that's what he's gonna believe until proven otherwise." He leaned back, folded his arms defensively. "But hey, if you still wanna try, go ahead and give him a big speech. See how sounding like a hero PSA works out for you."

All Might's successor grimaced, visibly fighting down her annoyance. "Could you be less of a jerk if you're actually going to give me good advice?"

He blinked, his lips pursing in confusion and mild hurt. "I wasn't being a jerk, was I?" He was genuinely trying to help.

She sighed. "Thanks, Saiki. Now what did you want?"

"... I want to know how strong you are."

Of all requests, she wasn't expecting that one. "What?"

He looked away. Pauses. Then looked back at her, making certain to maintain eye contact. If she was his goal he couldn't flinch away from her. "I was watching what happened on top of the I-Island tower. You were right there beside All Might. Like you were his equal." He noted her wince, before continuing. "I know he's been training you. And I know when we fought in the festival you were massively holding back. Yes, I know you had to. I just want to know. If you can go all out like you did on the tower, are you as strong as All Might? Stronger?"

She froze, her eyes wide. Didn't know whether she should answer with secrets on the line. But he wasn't asking for details. She looked away for a moment, then met his gaze again with firm resolve. "Stronger. I don't know by how much but I'm definitely stronger." That was how One for All worked, after all.

Saiki's eyes closed, his head dipped as he took in that confirmation. Just like Ragdoll had said. All Might wasn't his goal. It was the people who wanted to surpass him just like he did. "Okay."

"Alright..." the greenette trailed off, not knowing what that was about. "I guess I'll see you–"

"Wait," Saiki requested, "One more thing. I need to ask you something else. I... Need to know how to make a good apology."

She sighed in exasperation. "I thought it was favour for a favour?"

"Yeah, but... You're a good person who likes to help people?"

"... Momo?" she asked, getting a nod. Her eyes closed. "Know what you're apologising for, mean it, and it'll be a good apology."

"Thanks, Izuku."

-(-)-

"Momo."

"Saiki?"

He caught her outside of the baths. Or rather, them. Momo and Kyoka both emerging at once. Best friends. Lovers. If Momo were to leave last it would only make sense if Kyoka were right there with her.

"... Hi." It wasn't an elegant start. Barely even a competent one. Kyoka's glare wasn't helping his confidence in showing vulnerability for once in his life. "I wanted to ap–" No, he stopped himself. He didn't want to apologise. He was apologising. "I'm sorry for how I've been acting the past couple of days. Ignoring you."

"No, no!" Momo immediately responded, eagerly, even desperately. "It was my fault too! I shouldn't have been so pushy when I saw you were upset and–"

"Momo, don't do that," Kyoka scolded her. "You didn't do anything wrong so don't apologise for him."

"She's right," Saiki immediately agreed with the more petite girl, getting genuine surprise from her in response. "You tried to reach out and help and I pushed you away anyway. It wasn't right. So... I'm sorry. I was going through some things, feeling bad about myself. Letting other people see that kind of weakness has never worked out for me so my first reaction is to shut everyone out. It... Probably would've helped a lot if I actually talked to someone about it." Someone who wasn't deliberately trying to piss him off so he'd vent via explosion. He knew what Ragdoll was doing back then. He knew it worked. He didn't have to like it.

"Curfew isn't for another half an hour..." Momo told him with a weak but desperate smile. "Maybe we could talk about it now?"

"... I can try."

"Great!" she cheered, only to backpedal slightly. "I mean, not great but I'm glad you're willing to open up a little! I'll go to the cafeteria and see if there are any leftovers! I'll be right back!" With that, she was gone, still with a towel wrapped around her shoulders as she rushed off to the cafeteria.

"I guess... I'll follow?" Saiki concluded, not particularly wanting to just hang around outside the women's baths. He might have been a self-absorbed lech most of the time but that was a step beneath him.

"... I was gonna tell her to dump you, you know," Kyoka informed him dryly.

"I don't know if she would've listened to you."

The petite punk sighed. "Neither do I. She's kind of a hopeless case."

"Not like you?"

Kyoka scoffed, giving him a sideways glare. "I already accepted you're a bastard. She actually thinks you could be a decent person."

"Don't know what gave her that idea."

"Yeah, well, apologising'll only make her delusions worse."

He nodded, agreeing. "You would've been right." He looked at her out of his periphery. "To tell her to dump me, I mean. I'm not the type of guy who'll be good for her. She's incredibly giving and I'm incredibly selfish. I'll just take and take and take."

"Why are you telling me this then?" she had to ask. "If I was already intending to, and now you're saying I would've been right to, why tell me I should?"

He snorted. "Because that's what you should have done if I stayed how I was. It's what you would have done. A month from now. A year. At some point you would've realised I'm not good enough for her. Maybe she would listen to you, maybe not." His shoulders bounced in a loose shrug. "But like I said, I'm selfish. I don't want to let either of you go. So if being a better boyfriend is the sacrifice I have to make to ensure I keep you, I'll do it. After all, getting better at things is what I do."

Kyoka gave him a strange look that appropriately matched the strange feelings she was experiencing. It wasn't every day someone told her they planned to be less of a bastard so they could be more of a bastard.

As they arrived in the cafeteria they found Momo not only waiting for them but with a table prepared with elegantly arranged leftovers for them to enjoy together.