Izuku didn't have to wait long to find out what Motoyasu meant. As the teen made his way through the hallways towards his homeroom, Izuku began skimming through his favorite hero news sites on his phone. And it didn't take long to discover a video that was circulating on the various sites, one that made his blood run colder than Todoroki's ice. It was a news report featuring Malty, speaking to them at the same place where the pair had met the other day while looking ready to cry. In the video, the redhead began to recount her recollection of what happened where she played the part of the victim. Blood began to pound in Izuku's ears as he listened to all of this in shock and horror, his skin going pale as Malty ended her interview by stating she had talked to a detective about this. One who confirmed what she had said thanks to his lie-detecting quirk.

And that was it. There was no follow-up showing that he had also spoken to the same detective, one who apparently had a quirk that would be able to tell if he was lying or not. There was no call to hear his side of the story. There was nothing. Stopping in his tracks, Izuku began to check the other sites. Scrolling through to see if there was something, anything, that would suggest that he was innocent. Just one person out there who checked to see if there was any follow up. Anything would do. However, the other sites were either replaying this interview or were simply commenting on it. The most they reported on was that it had been confirmed that Midoriya had spoken to the same detective and that the case was still ongoing. However, that information was reported very briefly at the end.

By the time Izuku finally began to move again, he found that he wasn't the only one who had been checking the news. News of the incident outside had quickly spread across the school like wildfire with many checking the same sites. Those that hadn't were quickly being told by their friends who had in hushed whispers as Midoriya passed them, feeling the judgment in their eyes piercing his back. By the time he was halfway to his homeroom, Izuku was sure that the entire school knew Malty's version of the events.

"Don't listen to them," whispered Kirishima who had stayed by Izuku's side the entire time and refused to budge. Both boys could hear the whispers of their fellow students which held all the warmth and kindness as a swarm of angry bees. For the first time, the school of heroes felt unwelcoming. "They don't know you."

Hearing that was a not-so-small comfort to Izuku, knowing that he had at least one person on his side. Hopefully, everyone who knew him, like his classmates, would do the same.

That hope was quickly dashed, however, as Izuku opened the door to 1-A to find that all chatter in the room instantly ceased. No one said a thing, nearly everyone's eyes were focused on Izuku as he made his way to his seat. As Kirishima walked beside him, waving and calling out to the guys like this was just any other day, Izuku noticed some of the expressions his classmates held. While many of them looked like they were trying to keep their expressions neutral, the shield teen noted that a few grew frosty when their eyes met. Like the very sight of him here disgusted them to no end. Thankfully, there were a couple in the class that weren't like that. Like Uraraka and Tsu who both looked at him with concern and worry. The only one not looking at him was Bakugo, who had his eyes closed as he leaned back in his seat.

Thankfully, Izuku did not have to suffer long under their gazes as the bell rang just as he was taking his seat. Almost instantly the door opened revealing Midnight. The R-rated hero entered the room with her usual sway, drawing attention towards her while Raphtalia quickly entered the room right behind her. The woman said nothing about what had happened this morning, just playfully chiding Raphtalia for not being in her seat on time before going on with homeroom as if everything was normal. Just filling in for Mr. Aizawa until he fully recovered.

The rest of the day was…tense for Izuku. The friendly class atmosphere that they had all enjoyed up until now seemed to have vanished. Anyone who was not named Raphtalia, Kirishima, Uraraka, and Tsu seemed to just watch the teen out of the corner of their eye when they thought he wasn't looking. And, whenever he made a sudden move, they would flinch as if they expected him to attack them. Naturally, Izuku tried to talk with them but was met with barely civil responses. Usually getting curt one-word replies before they would just completely ignore him.

The teachers, however, became his rock of normalcy as they didn't treat him any differently than normal. They just carried out their lessons as normal, as if nothing had happened.

When lunchtime came, the last thing Izuku wanted was to remain in the lunch hall and deal with more glaring and whispering. So, instead, Izuku quickly collected his food from Lunch Rush before heading out to find some isolated spot to think. Just someplace where he could be alone and collect his thoughts as he tried to figure out what was going on. Why was this happening? And why was everyone taking Malty's side in all of this? Didn't anyone out there believe in him?

When Izuku had finished with his lunch, he made his way back to his homeroom making sure to take the long way. This route, while longer, had far less foot traffic meaning Izuku wouldn't have to deal with any more angry and accusing glares. Once the class was in sight, Izuku could make out that the door was open and-

"Come on guys. You all know Midoriya! He would never do anything like that!" Kirishima practically shouted, causing Izuku to slow down in his steps. Making sure that he made as little noise as possible, Midoriya moved as closely to the door as possible with his back against the wall.

"Dude, come on," came Kaminari's voice. "It's not like I enjoy thinking like this. But…"

"Kirishima, we've only known Midoriya for a couple of weeks at best," said Yaoyorozu. "We don't know everything about him."

"Yaoyorozu is correct," continued Ida loudly while the sounds of the chopping motion he made could be heard even from outside. "The police have confirmed that Miss Melromarc was in fact telling the truth. To think that a student in the hero course would use the skills they learned here in this illustrious institution dedicated to producing some of the finest heroes in the nation to harm a fellow student, one in general studies no less, in order to get petty revenge is simply unacceptable. Truly, such behavior is more fitting of a villain!"

Izuku stood there listening to all of this, his eyes wide as his back pressed against the door. He couldn't believe it. Sure, they hadn't known each other for long but they had been through a lot. They had all taken Mr. Aizawa's test to see who would get kicked out. All Might's first heroic lesson. The lunchroom incident where the press had broken in. The USJ attack! They had even participated in that raffle. Izuku nearly felt his legs giving out and sinking to the floor until he heard Kirishima growl in frustration.

"Yeah, I saw all that stuff those sites were spewing against my buddy," stated Kirishima. "But you conveniently overlooked something. There's a reason the case is still ongoing! It's because that same detective who used his quirk to tell if Melromarc was telling the truth or not used it on Midoriya as well! And according to it, he was telling the truth! That has to mean something to you guys! At the very least give him the benefit of the doubt!"

For a moment, no one spoke. And in that moment, hope sparked within Izuku's heart that they were beginning to realize the truth. That he wasn't that sort of person.

"I…really wish I could do that," said Tokoyami with a heavy sigh. "But Midoriya's quirk gives me pause. It is a legendary shield for a reason and we've all seen how versatile it is. Who's to say that it couldn't offer him some sort of defense against the detective's quirk. Or that he has a shield that can make people think he is telling the truth."

"What?!" Kirishima shouted, sounding more than a little frustrated by what he was hearing. "That's a stretch and you know it!"

"Really?" questioned Yaoyorozu. "Midoriya has shown himself capable of creating shields out of thin air that he can walk on, imprison others, and even animating the metal so that it bites whoever strikes it. When looking at all that, I don't think fooling a lie detector quirk is a stretch at all."

"We have to be careful, Kirishima," insisted Kaminari. "We don't know everything about him. He could even be the U.A. spy people are talking about."

"There have been some rumors going around that some of the staff here at U.A. believe that there is a spy walking down these very halls," spoke Tokoyami. "That this spy is either a teacher turned traitor…or a student sent by the League. Normally, I would have dismissed this as nonsense. But…I cannot dismiss the facts. Like how the villains seemed to know that All Might was to be one of our teachers at the USJ. There is simply no way they could have gotten their villainous hands on that information without someone tipping them off."

"And all of you think Midoriya is that spy?" demanded Kirishima, sounding angry.

"Well, he is always taking notes about us so…," Kaminari began but was then cut off as a fist slammed onto a desk. The sound of which caused Izuku to flinch.

"No," said Kirishima firmly, as if there was no doubt in his mind that what he was saying was the truth. "No, I don't believe that Midoriya would ever do that. I refuse! Back at the USJ, there was a moment when I thought I was going to die. That sludge villain, he had me. I could…barely breathe. I had to watch as he attacked Midoriya and Asui, helpless to do anything. Midoriya…he could have run away with Asui to save themselves. Or, if he was the spy, could have helped the villains kill us. But he didn't! He showed that villain just how manly he was! He freed me and helped take down all the villains."

"He's right!" added Uraraka, jumping into the conversation at last. "Midoriya isn't a bad person. And that's not the only time he saved someone! Back during the entrance exam, both he and Raphtalia saved me. Not only that, but they saved a lot of people even when they didn't have to! He's a good person"

There was silence for a moment before Ida let out a long sigh.

"I can understand why the two of you would think that," began the bespectacled teen. "But…have either of you two considered that it was all an act? He could have been aware of the secret scoring of the entrance exam, only helping people there because it benefitted him. Made him 'look' all the more heroic. And that finding you, Uraraka, in that position was nothing more than a lucky accident? And Kirishima, who's to say that saving you wasn't just him maintaining his cover should things go wrong?"

"That can't be true!" Uraraka shouted though she seemed to be the only one at that moment who seemed to disagree. The rest of the people in that room remained silent, making Izuku wonder if they were unable to even look at the brunette.

"She's right!" stated Kirishima while making a sound that told Izuku that the Hardening teen had whipped around. "Bakugo! You've known Midoriya longer than anyone here! If there's anyone who can-"

"Shut your trap, shitty hair!" was Bakugo's explosive response, silencing Kirishima followed by the sound of chair legs scraping against the floor. "Don't you dare go dragging me into this shitty conversation! If those worthless extras want to think that a shitty nerd like Deku would do something like that then let them!"

Izuku flinched as he heard the sound of desks and tables being moved roughly as Bakugo got to his feet. Swift footsteps followed moving to the door which was then roughly opened to its fullest. And, just as Izuku looked over to the side, he saw that Kacchan was looking back at him with a shocked expression on his face.

-x-

"Guys, I'm on the second floor," whispered Midoriya into his communicator. "Has anyone searched the south corridor?" For a moment, Izuku held his breath as he counted down the seconds of silence that seemed to stretch on forever. He could hear his heart beating faster as he moved through the crumbling building that was part of their heroics lesson for the day.

Today's lesson was another one where All Might had thrown them into a lesson without any real build-up or explanation. This time, the pro-hero wanted to stress another area of heroics that wasn't covered as much by the press: gathering evidence for the police. While officers of the law were often criticized for seeming to just stand around doing nothing until the police arrived, they played an important role with heroes who lacked the skills or discipline to do proper detective work. Even All Might admitted that even he, with his many years as the number one hero, would not have been able to find some of his fiercest villains without the aid of the police. So, the scenario for today was simple: a group of heroes have made their way to a location where it was believed that villains were hiding out. Their job was to search the building while trying to locate clues on either their plan or where they possibly could have fled to. Of course, this being an All Might lesson meant there was a bit of a twist. The building they were in was unstable as the villains tried to destroy it and only succeeded in doing it halfway. Meaning they had to be careful.

After the man had finished speaking, everything just seemed to go downhill for Izuku. Starting with the teams. Once again, they were randomly placed in their groups. Sadly, Izuku didn't get anyone who believed he was innocent. Instead, he was on a team with Sato, Jiro, and Mineta. Now, Izuku had hoped that they would put aside their feelings towards him for the sake of the exercise but that was not meant to be. As before, whenever he spoke, the three of them just gave him short, curt responses before moving away and talking amongst themselves.

What made it worse was that All Might clearly saw this, but said nothing. Just having his smile falter a bit before looking away.

"It's ok," whispered Izuku when he saw this, talking more to himself. "All Might is just trying to be professional. Heroes sometimes have to work with people they don't like. Yeah, that's why he's not saying anything. That has to be it."

Honestly, Izuku would have loved to have Raphtalia talk to him. Hearing her voice would have helped calm him down from what he was feeling. But this was not to be as both she and Tsu were on their own team, going over their own plan. Not wanting to distract her from her own assignment, he decided to just tough it out. He could do that, right? And it wasn't like his team would completely ignore him during this exercise. Right?

As it turned out, that was exactly what they did. The moment they walked through the crumbling entrance to the now-decimated apartment building the three other heroes in training quickly moved away from Midoriya. He tried talking on his communicator several times but received no answer. He tried listening in, hoping to hear something but there was only silence. Had they changed the frequency so that he couldn't contact them? Or were they traveling in their own group?

So, here he was, trying to do the exercise all on his own while trying to keep his teammates informed. He had hoped that they would at least inform him of areas that they had already searched so they wouldn't waste time, but so far they hadn't even done that.

As Izuku traveled through the building, he noticed some dust and small pieces of rubble falling from the ceiling to the ground. He was about to report it, if just to give him some piece of mind, but something caught his attention. A door was left open down the hall. The only one like that in fact. Slowly, Izuku made his way through the hallway and only stopped when he reached his destination. While Izuku knew there were no villain teams in this exercise, he was still cautious enough to wait and listen for any sounds. As he waited, he heard nothing. Not the sound of heavy breathing other than his own. Not the sound of a bed or other furniture creaking. Not even a sneeze from all the dust that was falling. There was nothing.

"Guys, I think I might have found something. Has anyone been on the second floor?" asked Izuku as he pulled himself away from the wall. Silence was his only response, adding to the frustration that had been building since the day had begun. Unable to keep it out of his voice now, Izuku contacted them again as he entered the room. "Come on guys. This is getting-"

Izuku was unable to finish that sentence as, in that moment, the world around him seemed to collapse. The floor had given out, sending him falling to the floor below, crashing through that, before landing on the hard basement floor. On instinct, Izuku raised his shield to protect his head and, a moment later, he was glad he did. The flooring was falling down towards him along with whatever else had been in the rooms. But that wasn't the end as it seems like this was enough for the already weakened walls to rumble as well. Within moments a mountain of rubble fell upon the teen, so much so that if he didn't have the high level of defense of his shield, he was sure he would have died.

But, that was all he could be thankful for as he found himself unable to move his limbs. Something large and heavy was pressing against his legs while the massive amount of rock and other materials kept him from lowering his arms. For some time, Izuku just laid there in that darkness waiting for help to arrive. Surely his classmates heard it and would act accordingly. But with each minute that seemed to pass, air becoming thinner, panic began to take root in Izuku's being.

That as well as a rare bout of anger. He couldn't believe this. How could they treat him like they were? Did they hate him based off what Malty said so much that they would really let him die? Did All Might hate him as well? After all, he didn't hear the man ending the exercise nor was he freed. Were…were they really just going to leave him here and finish the exercise?

Thankfully, it was at that moment that Izuku heard movement from above. Bits and pieces of rubble were being moved. He could also hear shouting. He could hear Raphtalia, she was saying something. But whatever she was saying was almost drowned out by All Might telling her to get out of there and let him handle it. From there, the sounds of rubble from above grew louder and louder as the seconds ticked by. Then the next thing Izuku knew was that the weight that had been on him was gone before the teen was lifted out of the pile.

When Izuku's feet touched the ground, the teen almost stumbled backwards only to then be steadied by a surprising pair of hands. It turned out that All Might and Raphtalia weren't the only ones in the room. Behind him, keeping him steady, was Power Loader. For a moment, Izuku wondered why the man was here instead of teaching his own class but a quick glance around gave him his answer. It seemed that half the building had collapsed, requiring additional assistance for the rescue.

"There you go kid," said the excavation hero in a rough yet supportive tone while gently patting Midoriya's shoulder. An act that caused some dust to fly up. "You're safe now."

"Safer than this big lug," growled Recovery Girl as she approached the teen, shooting All Might a nasty glare. "Did you even check to make sure the building was secured before setting up this lesson? I get wanting to simulate a collapsing building, but you should have made sure that the structure was intact enough to prevent something like this. Especially for first-year students doing this for the first time!"

"Well, I…" began All Might who looked more than a little sheepish under the old woman's gaze. "I was confident when rigging those controlled explosions that the building would still be standing. Guess I overdid it. Haha?"

This earned him a pair of growls. The first being Recovery Girl who began to inspect Izuku frantically. The other was from Midnight who was currently holding back a teary-eyed Raphtalia while shooting daggers in the direction of the number one pro. That, however, lasted a moment as she turned to look in Izuku's direction with a relieved expression. One that Izuku mirrored as he was glad that the hero who had saved him so long ago was still checking up on his well-being. But, more importantly, he was glad that Raphtalia had not been forced out of the area as seeing her like that brought out conflicting emotions in the young man. While he hated to be the one to make her cry like that, it made him feel a little happy to know that she cared about him that much.

Then, once Recovery Girl had given Izuku the all-clear as well as using her quirk on him just in case, All Might rounded on the last three people in the area with a furious look. Sitting there was Mineta, Sato, and Jiro. None of them looked any worse for wear except for dust on their costumes. They were staring down at the ground as they seemed unable to meet the gazes of the other heroes. "This…there is no excuse," he bellowed, causing parts of the building that had not yet fallen to crumble slightly.

"The three of you knew you were walking into a dangerous area," continued All Might, his cheeks turning red with anger. "And how did you act? Going off on your own, changing the frequency of your communicators, ignoring my orders to change them back? Not only that, but none of you even bothered to check and see if your teammate made it out of the building!"

"I-I'm sorry All Might," said Sato. "But it's like we told you. None of us can really trust Midoriya so-"

"So you were ok with him dying?" shouted All Might, causing everyone there to wince while still being unable to meet the man's gaze. "Young…I am beyond words at this point. I can't even think of you three as heroes right now. Your entire team has failed this exercise."

Hearing that caused Izuku's heart to sink. He…failed too? He wasn't the only one who was in shock as he felt Powerloader's grip on his shoulders tighten while Midnight's face had gained a shade of purple. Recovery Girl rounded on the hero, looking ready to use her cane to strike the larger man from behind but Raphtalia spoke up first.

"You can't do that!" she shouted. "Izuku tried working with them. It's not his fault. How can you fail him for doing nothing wrong?!"

All Might, at that moment, seemed to regain a bit of his composure. Slowly, he turned to look at Midoriya with an uncomfortable and clearly forced smile. Then, he looked away with his gaze returning to the students in front of him.

"You are only half correct, Young Raphtalia," said the pro hero, his tone almost completely emotionless. "I did notice that Young Midoriya was trying his best to work with the rest of his team. Both before and after the exercise started. And he did try his best to participate in the exercise in spite of this. However, in his frustration, he failed to use caution when entering that room which resulted in the tragedy before us. Had Young Jiro not heard the shifting of the structure with her quirk and acted quickly, we would have had to pull four bodies out of the rubble instead of one. And they might not have been as fortunate as Young Midoriya."

All Might's explanation seemed to pacify the other teachers as they all seemed to visibly relax. Even Raphtalia seemed to calm down. Which Midoriya could understand as All Might wasn't failing him just because he felt like it. The man had a point. He messed up big time in a way that could have caused the deaths of several people. Still, it hurt to fail so badly.

"I hope all four of you will take this failure to heart," continued All Might. "Remember, whether you win or lose, you can always take out something from the experience as long as you're willing to learn from it." The pro hero's voice then grew harsher, cutting off Mineta as he looked like he was ready to say something. "With that said, if I ever see this sort of behavior from any of you again I shall be speaking with Principal Nezu to have you removed from the Hero Course with a permanent ban on you! Believe me, what I am doing is infinitely kinder than what Aizawa would have done if he were in my shoes!"

With that, the lesson ended early.

-x-

With that done, and school was over, Izuku tried to head home to find some form of peace. Except that on his train, there was more whispering behind his back and glares. One guy even looked ready to have him kicked off the train but was stopped by his friends.

When Izuku got home he was met by his worried mother. That night, Inko prepared his favorite meal and let him work on his craft throughout the night without questioning if he had finished his homework. Just letting him have some time to let his mind drift away from what was going on.

However, the universe had other plans for the teen for as soon as he picked up his tools, the egg he had bought from Yaoyorozu which sat off to the side began to crack. Surprised, Izuku shifted his entire attention to it as he watched the cracks appear faster while covering more of the surface of the egg. Then, a piece fell off revealing a pair of brilliant blue eyes staring directly at him.

-x-

For the next day and a half, Izuku had to deal with his newly hatched and super clingy Filolial whom he decided to name Filo. Apparently, the bird had imprinted upon him and thus she refused to leave her 'parent's' side. This wasn't so bad while Izuku was home as Filo just laid on the top of his green nest of hair, happily chirping and cooing as she watched Izuku work or simply ate the food Izuku gave her. Izuku even took a picture of her and sent it to Raphtalia.

When morning came, however, the problem reared its head as Filo refused to leave Izuku's side. It took Izuku and Inko about a half an hour to pry Filo off the teenage boy so he could go to school, rushing out the door as fast as his legs could carry him…only to have Filo break free of Inko's grasp and chase after the teen. Turns out that despite being so young Filo was actually very fast. Faster than Izuku at least. In the end, Izuku gave up and just went to school with a Filolial chick on his head.

It was a little embarrassing to say the least, sitting in class with a tiny bird dozing on your head. All Izuku could really do was stare down at his desk as bullets of sweat ran down his face. No doubt people would think he was weird on top of all the other things they thought about him.

Thankfully, there was a plus to having her as he found out during All Might's lesson for that day. Izuku didn't know if it was because the man wanted to help them get ready for the Sports Festival or wanted to go easy on them after the whole 'building collapsing on a student' thing, but the man had decided to do some one-on-one training. To be more specific: ambush training and fighting. The exercise for the day went like this: one person would be a villain as they made their way down the dark alleyways of one of the faux cities on campus. The other student would be the hero, who would try to ambush the known villain in a manner that would hopefully end this encounter without a fight. If said ambush failed, the two would fight until one is knocked out, incapacitated in some manner, or captured in the capture tape until time ran out. As usual, they drew lots to see who would be going up against who. Unfortunately, Izuku would be the villain today while Mineta would be the 'hero' he would be encountering.

The match went by fairly quickly as, when Mineta leapt down from above, was blindsided by Filo as the tiny chick had launched a flying kick right into the hero's face the moment she saw him! In that moment, Izuku didn't hesitate as he spun around to bash Mineta's head with his shield. By the time Filo flapped her tiny wings to return to Izuku's head, Mineta's head was sandwiched between Izuku's shield and the brick wall.

When Izuku returned, he heard several of his classmates complaining alongside Mineta that Izuku had cheated. That he had an extra pair of eyes. All Might, however, shrugged before stating that Midoriya had an advantage and used it. Such would be the case for any hero or villain out there.

Despite that, the rest of his classes had been tense. This was due to his classmates who the majority of were still giving him the cold shoulder and icy looks. Not helped by the fact that Malty had appeared on at least two more shows to talk about what had happened.

The only good news he heard from Midnight was that both Kitahara and Kawasumi had been punished for attacking him outside of the school. For some reason they had not been expelled, but it was still a harsh punishment for anyone who wanted to become a pro-hero. Basically, neither of them would be allowed to participate in the Sports Festival this year. Though, that didn't mean they wouldn't be present as each night they would be staying to clean the entire stadium. Midnight then let it slip that Kawasumi had tried to argue this by saying that all they had done was to apply what they had learned here at the school: taking down villains when they saw them. And with all their power, they had a responsibility to take down a villain like Izuku. Midnight, upon seeing the shocked look on Midoriya's face, finished her story by informing him that after Kawasumi had said this, he was then ordered by Nezu to write a very detailed essay on villain capture law and why it is not ok to just attack a student who is simply being accused in the middle of a crowded area.

On the second day after Filo had hatched, Izuku somehow managed to get a now adult-sized Filo into the U.A. stable while Mr. Aizawa returned. The man walked into the room looking like his tired, normal self and muttering about old hags holding him down for too long.

"Good morning class," he grumbled as he made his way to the front of the class. "I apologize for being absent for so long. Now I have heard a great-"

Aizawa's words were cut off as he noticed something on his deck, picking it up with one hand. His eyes traced the words as he read it with mind-blowing speed, though his eyebrows narrowed just as quickly. When he looked at the second page, Izuku felt a chill fill the room as the teacher looked from the paper to various members of the class. For just a moment, Izuku thought he saw the man's eyes turning red while his grip on the paper tightened. Then, after the moment passed, Mr. Aizawa set down the paper with a grunt.

"Now then, I'd like to go over what-", began their homeroom teacher, his tone sounding to Izuku as though he was trying his best to keep himself composed. Yet it seemed that either he was wrong or that Ida didn't pick up on it as the turbo teen raised his hand into the air before the man could finish his sentence.

"Sir," began the teen loudly. "I believe that the document on your desk is of the most extreme importance. Surely you read-"

Now Ida was cut off as Aizawa's eyes fully and unmistakably turned red and his long black hair stood straight up.

"Yes, I read…this," hissed Aizawa, holding up the paper he just read. Then, before everyone's eyes, crumbled it in front of them. "If you have time for such meaningless things, then perhaps you're not giving it your all to prepare for the Sport's Festival."

"But, sir, I don't think you understand," argued Ida, his face showing pure shock. As if the idea that anyone would find whatever was written on those papers as anything less than important was unthinkable. "We only wish to ensure that the safety of the class is…"

Once more, Mr. Aizawa's eyes began to glow red as he glared at Ida causing the teen's words to trail off. Slowly, the teen lowered his head to look down at his desk, hands balled into fists. But not before shooting one more glare towards Midoriya, something that both the teen and the teacher spotted.

When class ended, Izuku held back as the rest of the students spilled out into the hallway. A few of the girls in the class, like Jiro and Yaoyorozu, even managed to drag Raphtalia out as well. Something he had noticed they were doing more of recently. Ever since this whole thing with Malty began, every lunch break Jiro and Yaoyorozu would pull Raphtalia off to their own table away from where Izuku and his few remaining friends sat. The same thing happened after school, with them pulling his friend away making it harder for them to walk to the train station together. According to the tanuki girl, the girls claimed that they were trying to get to know her better. Something that the girl didn't mind which was why she allowed them to drag her around sometimes. But each time Raphtalia grew a sinking suspicion that they were not being completely honest with her. They were dropping not-so-subtle hints that it was ok to talk to them if she felt she was being threatened by someone. Other times she felt like they were trying to deprogram her or something.

Meanwhile, Izuku kept at his seat as the rest of the class left while never taking his eyes off Mr. Aizawa who, for once, was not slipping back into his sleeping bag to take a nap. Instead, he was seated there, dividing his attention between the various forms on his desk and Midoriya. Finally, when it was just the two of them, Izuku approached Mr. Aizawa.

"What can I help you with?" asked the darkly dressed hero as he shifted his attention from the paper on his desk, to Midoriya, and then back to his work.

"Ah, sir," began Izuku as he steeled himself for something he didn't want to do. But, at the same time, knew it had to be done. "I, ah, think it would be best for me to step down as Vice Rep. I don't think the class trusts me anymore."

That perked Aizawa's interest as he turned to give Izuku his full attention. As his eyes scanned Midoriya's features, no doubt seeing how difficult this was for him, the teen thought himself a failure for doing this. He never wanted to give up this position, yet the thought had been on his mind ever since he had heard his classmates talking about him. Izuku had hoped that, in time, his classmates would come around and see that they were mistaken. However, with each passing day, that idea seemed to become more unlikely.

"…I see," said Mr. Aizawa after a moment, nodding slowly as he spoke. "Does this have anything to do with the form that was on my desk at the start of class?" At that, Izuku shook his head. He had no idea what that had even been about. However, it looked like he was about to find out. "One of your classmates decided to petition that you be moved to general studies effective immediately and be barred from ever returning to the hero course citing a lack of trust and potential villainous accusations against you. Only five people in the class, not including yourself, did not sign it."

"Oh," was all Izuku could say at the moment as he felt a cold wash all over him. All he could do was look down at the ground as he took in this latest revelation. That his classmates thought so low of him that they would do something like this to him. None of them had even bothered to ask him what happened!

Mr. Aizawa then let out a sigh. "Honestly, if I actually believed that you were guilty, I wouldn't have waited to get out of the clutches of Recovery Girl to have you expelled."

That caused Izuku to lift his head in surprise.

"You mean you don't think I did it?" he asked excitedly. While Midnight and some of the other teachers hadn't treated him any different since the incident, none of them had outright said that they believed he was innocent either. And hearing someone like Mr. Aizawa saying this nearly brought tears to the teen's eyes.

"No, of course not," said Mr. Aizawa as he turned in his seat. "Neither does Nezu, who is working with the police right now trying to solve this. This is honestly one of the reasons I hate the press. They love to build up an exciting hero, but won't hesitate to tear them down for ratings. And, from what I can tell from your performances in heroics classes, their reporting is interfering with your training. Not good. Anyways, I've noticed you haven't tried to approach Melromarc."

"Yeah," said Izuku, nodding while getting his emotions better under control. "I, ah, figured it wouldn't end well if I tried. The last thing I wanted was to have another spear or arrow or whatever coming at me."

"They would also accuse you of trying to intimidate her," added Mr. Aizawa with a hint of approval towards Midoriya's actions. "Not just the press, but also the Hero's Safety Commission. Right now, the majority of them are willing to wait and see what the police's report has to say. Well, all but one. Melromarc's father just so happens to be one of the top members of the Commission. Add that with the fact that he still views his daughter as a 'perfect little princess' and the result isn't something you'll like. If he ever caught wind that you tried something with her again, he would use that to pressure the rest of the commission to bar you from ever serving as a licensed hero."

Mr. Aizawa then let out another sigh. "Let's just hope the police can put this case to bed soon," he said tiredly. "The longer it goes on, the more ingrained the idea that you're a villain might become. It might even end your career before it even began."

With a heavy nod, Izuku left.

-x-

The next morning, Izuku awoke to his mother's cries. Opening his eyes he saw something that caused his eyes to bulge out with veins appearing in them. His heart might have stopped, but he wasn't sure. There, on the bed, was a young girl with long blond hair thankfully covering parts of her naked body he knew he shouldn't see! Standing close to the bed was his mother, pointing at the young girl who was straddling his body, with tears flowing from her eyes. Thankfully, Izuku was still in his pajamas and underneath the All Might comforter so he had a feeling nothing really bad had happened.

Then, the girl said something that made Izuku's heart stop.

"Oh, good morning Master!" said the girl as white wings appeared from her back.