The summer months kept the nights short. And yet, for Saiki Saisei, his rest began and ended unperturbed by the sun. Before dawn had even broken he had been wide awake. And once again, with little better to do, he took some time to practice using his wings. The sun finally arrived as he practiced darting movements, attempting to emulate how dragonflies moved. He had of course taken the time to look into the particular movements and methods of dragonflies, figuring out their particular nuances that allowed for their fairly unique manner of flying ability. Replicating that for himself was not the easiest task with a human body attached to the wings.

His practice went on for hours more before he returned to the ground floor into the common area where he had left his toiletries and a towel. He took a quick shower, performed his other morning rituals, then... Settled in. To wait. It took no time at all for frustration to kick in. He couldn't stand to do nothing. Not anymore. Even though he knew there was more to it over the previous week than doing nothing he still hated his inaction. Going back to that was unacceptable. But there was a problem he needed to solve, wasn't there? One he had realised the day before.

And so this was why when Katsumi Bakugo, second to rise of the 1-A dorm arrived in the common area in her sleepwear, she found Saiki in the sitting area surrounded by scattered pieces of screwed up paper. Scribbling. "The... Fuck?"

He glanced up, blinked at her. "Hey." Then got right back to whatever the hell he was doing.

"The hell are you doing up this early?"

"Could ask you the same thing."

"I always get up this early. Morning exercise," she answered, her voice rougher than usual for the early hour. "Your turn, jackass. I asked first."

"I barely need to sleep," he answered, still scribbling away. She moved closer, picking up one of the discarded pieces of paper. "Four hours at most for a stressful day. I'd normally be at work by now. Guess it'll take some adjusting."

"Wait, so why aren't you at work?"

"They fired me, kind of. Bad publicity me working there, something like that."

"Oh... That sucks." She didn't want to ask, but, "You gonna be okay? For, like, money and shit?"

His pencil stopped moving. His head raised and turned to look at her properly. He opened his mouth only to realise he didn't know what he wanted to say. "Uhh... Yeah. This... It actually works out better for me, the school covering living expenses... Thanks though." He licked his lips, his eyes flicking as if contemplating, second guessing his next words. "And thank you. For coming for me. I just realised I never actually said it to you and you deserve to hear it. Thank you."

It was strange for her to hear those words from him. Stranger still to hear the meaning in them. "This is fucking weird," she managed to say. "The hell are you doing? Are you just gonna run this weird nice guy routine now? Because it's creeping me out."

"I'm not running a nice guy routine," he refuted her, returning to his notebook. "I'm just... Trying not to treat everyone around me like trash for no reason. It doesn't apply to everyone but I at least owe the people in our class some basic decency. Except that prick Iida. And you, Izuku, Kyoka, Momo? I owe all of you more than decency." He paused. "And Ojiro. Need to talk to him."

"You aren't even trying to claim that forfeit I owe!"

"Yeah? It's gonna take a minute, okay?" he asked, sounding a little annoyed. It was at this point Katsumi realised she was basically pestering him for sex. "We just moved into dorms so unless you want me to hit you with some public sex demands we're gonna have to figure stuff out. Also... Two forfeits."

"Wait, what?"

"You owe two forfeits."

"Bullshit! I only lost in that villain assault course on I-Island! How the hell do I owe you two–?!" As she made her demand, Saiki pulled out his phone, tapped away at it for a moment, then set it down on the table. "What are you–?"

"Do you have to pout like that the entire time?"

"Shut the hell up, I'm not pouting! Can't believe I let you talk me into going to this stupid party!"

"I get why you're mad. You feel like Saiki stood you up when he and I switched rooms–"

"Like I care what that creeper does!"

Another tap on his phone screen. Once again, Saiki looked up at her with just a hint of victory in his eyes.

"How–?! You–?!" the bomber stammered. Slowly, realisation struck. "Uraraka! You've been holding onto that this entire time?!"

"Opportunity never came up," he shrugged. "I owe Ochako a favour now but... Just that look on your face makes it worth it." He raised a peace sign, or more accurately, "Two. Two forfeits. I'll look forward to cashing them in."

"You!" The anger was familiar to her. But it was only exacerbated by the relief she felt that he was still him even if he was trying to be less of a prick. She shouldn't have felt relieved that he was still going to humiliate her somehow... And yet there it was. Great gusts of air shot out of her nose like a snorting bull as she let the rage settle so she could use it as fuel in the future. Remembering the paper in her hand, she unscrunched it, staring at it uncomprehendingly. "What is this?"

"Don't you have morning exercises to do or whatever the hell else you said?"

"I didn't know you could draw." The ash-haired girl examined the torn page closer, trying to distinguish exactly what she was looking at. Picking up another to look at she came to an answer. "Are these... Logos? Costume designs? You're doing a redesign?"

"I need an image change," he admitted with a sigh of resignation that she wasn't going to leave him to it. "Apparently I'm boring as shit with just being shitty All Might as far as anyone can tell from the outside. But leaning into the dragonfly thing? That could be something. It's a lot more flashy for one thing."

"Hm, yeah, your current costume does suck," the bomber said aloud, looking at the potential redesigns for the logo in particular. One page trying to incorporate an up arrow into a dragonfly design, the other giving up on the arrow entirely. "Why did you go with a friggin' arrow as your logo in the first place?"

"Well if you remember, I was gonna call myself 'Upgrade' until–"

"It was taken," Katsumi smirked.

"Yes, it was taken," Saiki ground out irritably. "And I don't need costume criticism from Miss Grenade Hands and Yoga Pants."

"Yeah?" she asked with a grin that was all teeth, leaning in to poke the side of his head and speak right into his ear. "What're you gonna do about it?"

Saiki stared into nothing for a moment as the girl deliberately and quite literally pushed his buttons to get a rise out of him. Slowly, he lowered his notebook.

Ten seconds later the two of them were bursting through his bedroom door. The girl's tanktop thrown over her head and held there, her shorts dragged down as Saiki manhandled her onto the bed.

"Can't take a joke, Saiki?" she asked with laughter in her voice even as he kept her top in place to ensnare her arms a little. At the same time rearing back a hand to give a mighty swat to her exposed backside. "Fuck! Ah, shit!" she half-moaned as the harsh spanking continued back and forth.

"I should've known you'd be this needy after going without for so long."

"Mmph, like anyone would, ah, want this!" she asked, ducking her head to free it from her top. An action that only revealed her lewd expression and face flushed with excitement.

"Then maybe you shouldn't have poked the bear, huh?" he asked, shoving two fingers into her weeping core.

"Mm," she grunted in appreciation. But her smirk said she wasn't done poking. "Thought you were supposed to be a dragonfly now."

"Tch," he had set her up for that. Still. If that was how she was going to play it. His own pants dropped, his fingers swiftly replaced by a thick shaft piercing her pussy that made her moan. "Next time you're this desperate for cock, just beg for it like the needy slut we both know you are."

"In your fucking dreams, Saiki! You know you wouldn't want this any other way!" And they both knew neither would she.

It was a mad, passionate rutting that they engaged in. No foreplay, no gentle cuddling or signs of romance. Just a young man pinning a girl down to slam her cunt until her voice was too hoarse to beg for more. Until that cunt was the mouth of a river of cum. Her body slick with sweat that matted down her unruly hair. The picture of a desperately needy slut finally sated after too long going without.

"Haah... Haah... Needed that," she panted with a sharp yet dopey grin on her face. "Guess that's one forfeit down."

"How do you figure?" Saiki asked casually.

"'Cos you got to fuck me. Same as always."

"Ha, that's cute," he laughed. "You're saying it's a great sacrifice to get fucked for you now? After saying yourself that you needed it?" He shook his head, not that she could see him do it as she sat with her legs spread on the floor as he lay on his bed. "No forfeit there. You still owe two. Don't worry. I'll think of a way for you to pay 'em off."

"Oh fuck you." It was a weak retort but she wasn't capable of putting up a better counter-argument in her post-coital, fuck-drunk state. "So... You're changing everything? Costume? Logo?"

"Yeah, I'll need to anyway. My old costume won't work." With the back fully covered, he wouldn't be able to use his wings. "Probably the name too."

"Not satisfied with Evo anymore?" she asked. "Good. It was shitty. I get why you went with it though. 'Oh no, all the shitty names I came up with are already taken by D-listers and villains! Help me, Miss Midnight! I'm pathetic at picking my own friggin' name!'"

"Shut the fuck up or I'll give you something better to do with that mouth." He ignored her further taunt of pulling her mouth wide with her fingers, daring him to do it. "Not like you've got room to talk anyway, 'Lady Explosion Murder', like the HPSC are gonna let you use that."

"Fuck you, that's a great name!" she defended. "Besides, I have a better one. Just... Not ready to take it yet."

"Yeah?" He sat up. "Well now you got me curious. What is it?" Suddenly, unexpectedly, she turned bashful. Though a word did come out of her mouth. "Tell me or don't. This shy whisper shit isn't you."

She sneered because he was right. "Dynamight! There! You fuckin' happy?!"

"Huh," Saiki uttered. "That's... Actually pretty good. Wait..." He remembered the previous night. The two posters on her wall, one of her and the other... "Might as in All Might?"

"Yeah, what about it?" she asked, challenging any criticism before knowing whether he had any. "All Might is the best! He's what every hero should try to be! Someone who always comes out on top no matter what!" However, the fire and vehemence of her words petered out the moment she said them. The memory of how she last saw All Might returning to her mind. "That's the kind of hero I want to be."

"I get it." He really did. Everything she said, it mirrored his own feelings... once upon a time. "I think it's wrong for you."

She sat up, turned to stare at him, first in hurt, then in anger. "Fuck you."

But he wouldn't stop. "Is that all you want to be, Katsumi? All Might with explosions? That's what I wanted not that long ago, just to be the next him. All Might was number one and that's what I wanted to be. But somebody pointed out to me... That isn't enough. All Might is what he is but he's not the measuring stick. He's not the end of the road. I don't want to be All Might. Hell, there's another hero I respect a lot, someone I relate to more, but I don't want to be her either. I want to be better than them. I want to compete with everyone else who want to be and can be better than them, and that includes you. Saying you want to be just like them, it's not an aspiration. It's a limit. It's saying that's how far our wildest ambitions can go."

She stared at him, in anger, in contemplation. "Why do I feel like you're parroting somebody else's bullshit?"

"Because I am," he admitted. "I can admit when other people are right sometimes. Even people who piss me off." He couldn't help but wonder how Ragdoll was doing. As far as he was aware, she still wasn't taking visitors. Whether that was hospital rules or personal choice, he couldn't say.

If it was the latter, he'd understand it. She was living the nightmare he feared most.

"Tch, well you sure piss me off," she grunted, relaxing again. "Guess Lady Explosion Murder ain't so bad after all."

"Ehhh!" Saiki made a loud buzzer noise, arms crossed in an X in the air.

"Well sure as fuck you can't do better!" she barked back at him.

"I mean I had an idea," he offered innocently. "Even checked if it was free since as far as I knew you didn't have a real name picked out."

"Lady Explosion Murder–"

"Like I said, a real name."

"Fuck off... What is it?"

He told her. But before she could render judgement on his continually bad naming sense, they heard the sounds, thuds of movement and running water. "Guess everybody else is getting up."

"Ye– Wait, hold on a second. Who's next door?"

"Nobody," he shrugged. "Empty room."

"Thank fuck. Wait... What about upstairs?"

Saiki blinked at her, put together the map in his head. "Oh. That's gonna be awkward later."

-(-)-

"Look. I get it. But the way I see it, we both have the same problem."

"Uh-huh."

"It's an important part of being a hero. Being impressive and inspiring and showing the world that nothing fazes you!"

"Right."

"And I need to do some serious work on that. But I figure if we work together we can help each other on this. The martial arts thing is a great motif, but in costume you just look like a guy who forgot to get changed after a karate lesson. But maybe if you lean into it even further–"

Ojiro had absolutely no idea what had gotten into Saiki that suddenly had the class' debatably star student suddenly paying way too much attention to him. It was a little overwhelming for the boy so used to keeping himself to himself to have... Well, someone else who seemed to have the same preference suddenly talking his ear off. Somehow the blue-haired student had gotten it into his head that they shared some sort of camaraderie, some shared difficulty? It was true Ojiro wasn't very flashy. He was fine with that. But at the same time Saiki was making a good point that heroes were supposed to be inspiring.

It would be a lot easier to listen to those good points if he hadn't been woken up by Saiki and Katsumi having loud and vigorous sex in the room below his. He suddenly knew far more than he ever wanted to about what the explosive girl liked in bed. So all he could do was smile and nod as Saiki talked his ear off, trying not to remember that same voice demanding Katsumi 'cum for him like the little bitch she is'.

"And, okay, I don't know if doing things to a martial arts uniform is disrespectful or anything. So if that doesn't work, maybe do something like Yoroi Musha or Mirko. Try to be the image of a martial historical figure. Kintoki, Benkei, someone like that. I mean with the tail I'd say Son Goku but..."

Noticing the other boy trailed off, "Someone already has that name?" Ojiro asked.

"A lot of people already use that name," the top student confirmed dully. "And Wukong. And... Basically any possible permutation or reference to him. There's a Monkey King hero in about twelve different languages. But you get my point, right?"

"I guess!" the tailed boy laughed awkwardly. "But look! We're at the gym! Let's go see what Mister Aizawa wants from us!"

Saiki stared after the blond as he ran off. If he didn't know any better he would think Ojiro was trying to get away from him but that couldn't be it. Not when he was trying to help the guy out. In any case, he followed the other boy inside the gym where some of his classmates were already gathered. All of them in costume, same as he and Ojiro were. More trickled in over the next couple of minutes fresh from getting changed.

"Good, you're all here on time," Aizawa said in lieu of a greeting. "As you know, the training camp to prepare you for the provisional licence exam had to be cut short. However, that doesn't change anything. You'll all still be taking the exam and that means you all still need to train for it. We'll be facilitating continued exercises to strengthen your quirks. But for now?" He looked behind him to Cementoss who nodded, laying his cuboid hands on the ground. The cement floor reshaping to his desires to form peaks and cliffs, a great structure to provide ample targets for the students. "We're going to start you working on a new objective. Your super moves."

"Oh hell! Yeah!" Kaminari cheered.

Ectoplasm came forward to continue the explanation. "Super moves are techniques or abilities that define who you are as a hero. Moves that only you can execute. Some of you already have techniques like this." His eyes looked upon a few students specifically. "Iida's Recipro Burst. Bakugo's Howitzer Impact and AP Shot. Even Kaminari's Indiscriminate Shock, though," the unsettling eyes narrowed on the blond, "That one needs some work."

"Eheh, you're... Not wrong..." Kaminari admitted, rubbing his neck in embarrassment for being singled out.

"If you already have one, refining it should be the goal until you are confident in its worth before moving on to create another or strengthening your quirk overall."

"Get to work," the homeroom teacher ordered, "We'll be around to give advice if you need it."

Saiki watched the other students scramble onto the cement structure with glee, ready to get stuck in to training. Sucking his teeth, he turned around and started a walk back to the changing rooms.

"Saisei, where are you going?"

He looked over his shoulder. "I've got some ideas, but I can't use my wings in this suit."

The teacher nodded. "Fine. Change into your gym clothes and come right back. I'll let Power Loader know you'll be heading for the development studio once this training is over."

Basically an order to do exactly that. "Got it."

Minutes later, he returned, many students getting involved in hard training, some assisting each other, some getting advice from teachers. He breathed slowly, throwing off his jacket. It was time to see if his training had paid off. The wings sprouted from his back, as sturdy and powerful as he could make them in such a short time. Even with such an easy target to break with no consequences, they hadn't become anywhere near as sturdy as the rest of him. But hopefully strong enough for what he intended. His wings buzzed, taking him up into the sky. "Hey Katsumi!" he called out, hovering above her.

"What?! I'm busy!" she barked back, not even looking up.

"Wanna practice your AP Shot on me?" he asked, grinning.

She turned to look, grinning just the same. "Don't need to ask me twice! AP SHOT!" she shouted, firing a swift blast right at him with no hesitation.

He darted out of the way. "Keep going!"

"Try this then!" Three blasts in rapid succession.

Again, Saiki dipped, darted to the side and finally twisted horizontally to avoid all three. "Keep going!"

"Keep going, keep going, alright prick!" She hit a latch on her right gauntlet before again taking the stance of her second technique. "Try this on for size! AP AUTO CANNON!"

Saiki's eyes widened. The air between the two of them filled with potent explosive blasts. He tried to keep up, darting about in every direction, doing his best to visually keep up, to react fast enough to keep dodging the continuous tide of high explosive bullets. It wasn't enough. Before long, about four seconds, she caught him. The blast was weaker than her regular AP Shot but it was still enough to knock him out of the sky for a moment.

But he just went right back up. "Can you do that again?"

"Oh," she growled with a hungry smile. "I like this training. I'll swat you like a bug! DIE!"

Another barrage. Another defeat.

And another.

And another.

But he was getting better. His eyes, his reactions adjusting to the randomly placed threats to gradually allow him to know where to move. The shape and position of his wings for each movement becoming more natural. Faster. Giving him more time to react. To strategise.

To plot a course.

Twelve. It took twelve barrages before he was ready to make an attempt. Katsumi was looking somewhat drained by that point which might have helped. Perhaps the auto cannon speed had slowed down over repeated attempts. But that was fine, he could try again with her best tomorrow.

Or maybe the day after. Tomorrow was Sunday and he had somewhere to be.

In any case, he tracked the bullets sent his way, twisted so he might flex his wings, before he dove. Not down to avoid the barrage, but forward into it. Even less time. To react. To move. It didn't matter. The practice had made him twitchy enough to dodge without thinking at this point. His dodging and darting form rushed down Katsumi who stared at him with wide eyes and gritted teeth.

"Aerial Ace!"

Katsumi felt the wind rustle her hair. The high speed movement of Saiki's wing passing directly overhead, then an impact. A slicing sound. She turned around to see him tumbling out of the sky, one wing torn.

Pebbles dropped onto her head. She looked up at the cement pillar she was standing next to. Several inches above her head an enormous gouge had been carved out of it. Bits of the fibrous remains of Saiki's wing caught in it.

"Not, fuck!" he cursed as he stood, retracting his bloodied wing. "Not strong enough. Not yet." He looked up to see the same thing Katsumi saw and grinned. "But it's a start."

-(-)-

The sun still sat fairly high in the sky in the mid-afternoon. The long summer day never seeming to even come close to an end. And Saiki had further business today. Just as Aizawa had instructed, he headed for the development studio with his hero suitcase in hand. The studio was located in a section of the school he hadn't had cause to visit much in the past. Closer to the support course classrooms because... Well, that only made sense.

As he opened the door, it was only his absurd resistance to poison and his greatly strengthened respiratory system that he took the cloud of black smoke that swallowed him with stoic aplomb.

"I told you, you can't expect the exhaust to handle all the inefficiencies! You're gonna give monoxide poisoning to everyone in a hundred metre radius!" one familiar voice yelped.

"Sure, sure! There's still some kinks to work out but it's all in the name of PROGRESS!" another, more excitable voice retorted.

"That's it! You're not allowed to help me with this anymore you weirdo mad scientist! I'll make Denki's support items myself! They'll be way better than any nonsensical garbage you could come up with!"

"Your ideas are boring anyway!"

"Excuse me–"

"What?!" Both voices demanded angrily. The smoke slowly cleared, vented out of the room. Which said a lot for how common something like this was. As it cleared, Saiki realised why the voices were familiar. Mei Hatsume and Melissa Shield stood glaring at him for interrupting.

"Is Power Loader here? I need to talk to him about my costume."

"Is that Saisei?" the Excavation Hero's voice asked, the short man wearing construction equipment appearing in the doorway a second later. "Eraser said you'd be coming. You need some costume adjustments." He waved the hero student inside.

And... Against his better judgement, Saiki followed him into the room. "Yeah. I have wings now. Full back covering doesn't work for me anymore. And I could use a full redesign just for aesthetic reasons." He glanced at the two girls who were still staring at him for some reason. "Think I need a different look now that I'm airborne."

"Makes sense," the support course adviser nodded in agreement, taking the case and setting it on a workbench. "The design firm won't be happy about it but these things happen. Any idea what you–?"

"Waitaminuteyou'rethewingsguy!"

He blinked at the rapid spray of words coming from Mei. "Yeah?"

"I have the perfect thing!" she announced, diving into a pile of... Trash? Continuing to talk. "I spent last night working on it–"

"Instead of sleeping," Power Loader interrupted. "In your bed. Which we gave you so you'd stop doing this–!"

"Yeah yeah yeah," the energetic girl waved him off, pulling something out of the junk pile with her other hand. "This is exactly what you need! It's perfect!"

"Is that a... Harness?" he had to ask, noticing the worried look of the blonde American girl trying to subtly shake her head in warning.

"That's right!" Mei announced, shoving it into his hands. "I took your measurements yesterday so it'll fit your wings perfectly so they can pop out whenever you need them! Try it on, try it on!"

"Alright..." He slipped his gym tracksuit jacket off, not paying attention to the blonde girl's blush. It seemed like she and Kaminari were a thing or close to being a thing? Saiki wasn't sure, but he liked Kaminari so was happy to let him get his. Slipping the harness over his head he secured the latches to keep it in place, finding it very much did fit perfectly, at least for his body proportions. "Damn, all you did was give my torso a pat down, how did you figure all this out?"

"Stop wasting time!" the pink-haired girl insisted. "Wings! Wings!"

If he weren't used to pain he would have felt a little trepidation. The harness was made of sturdy materials. If she got it wrong the wings would get crushed on their way out. He took a slight breath in as his wings emerged, bracing for pain that never came. In fact, they felt comfortable. "You do good work," he admitted. She got it perfect. He was even able to move them into the various flight positions. The harness moved with them to allow for it with barely any resistance.

"I know, I'm amazing!" Mei agreed with no shame or humility. "But that's not the best part! Hit the button in the front."

Saiki looked down to the belt under his pecs that secured the front, connecting the straps over the shoulders. Seeing the button he pressed it.

Power Loader let out an impressed whistle. "Not bad, Hatsume. Purely aesthetic, but that's pretty impressive."

"What?"

"Let me show you," the teacher answered him, turning to his computer and pulling up the camera feed for the room.

Through the feed, Saiki saw what he was so impressed by. "...Wow."

He could see the openings on the harness on his back that allowed the wings to move freely. But what he didn't expect to see was an array of lights. Turning, he could see the rig inside the harness that provided them. Vibrant green lights. Perfectly positioned and tuned to not be overwhelming. All they did was cover the entirety of his wings so they shone a vivid green colour, like they were bioluminescent. "It's amazing," he admitted. "What does the dial do?" he asked of the other thing he had found around the button. Well, there was no point waiting for an answer. He twisted it and the hue of the lights shifted from green to a royal blue. The other way back to the green, then an angry red.

He turned back to Hatsume, stone faced. "You and I are gonna be working together on this."

Her eyes lit up and he could swear he saw her cross-shaped pupils spin as she grinned. ""Sure thing, Mister Tournament Champ!"

-(-)-

A/N: This chapter voted for and seen early by my generous supporters on THE GREAT FORBIDDEN P! Fear the P! Love the P!