The days after the raid on the Shie Hassaikai were spent resting and recovering for the UA students who'd participated in the mission. Izuku and Tsu were discharged on that first day, and spent a lot of time going between the hospital rooms of their other three friends. Ochako got out the day after that, as she'd needed to be observed and treated for major dehydration and internal bruising after more than a few blood vessels had ruptured from the g-forces she'd brought upon her own body using the power the way she had. Izuku would've slept by her side if Tsu hadn't dragged him out of the hospital and back to the dorms for the night. Back at home — thinking of it that way still felt awkward, like he was insulting his mother somehow — it was even harder to take their minds off what had happened, since none of their classmates had returned from their own internships yet. They were probably having so much fun saving lives and catching bad guys. Izuku wished their attempt at that had been fun. However, after a night spent getting water and healing that fixed her right up, Ochako was released with no issues.

Hitoshi was released on the third day. They'd kept him for an additional day so that they could run tests on him. He'd been hit with one of the Quirk-destroying bullets, after all, and hadn't been given his Quirk back by the antidote, so the doctors took the chance to gather some information about what it did to a person biologically. As it turned out, his Quirk Factor was fully erased, there was no trace of any kind of superhuman ability in his body. He even had the useless second joint in his little toe that Quirkless people — that Izuku — had. Even though Izuku wasn't born Quirkless, he was still technically a second generation Quirk-user, and as such his body wasn't caught up to modern standards. His biology was likely even stranger than that, though, given that he was a combination of two different versions of the same person, at least genetically. What had happen if someone sequenced his DNA? Would it look bizarre? Hitoshi didn't seem to be too sad about it, even if Tsu, Ochako and Katsuki — from his hospital bed — were crushed by the news that he had really lost his Quirk, though Katsuki showed it in an angrier way than the tears that Tsu and Ochako shed over the loss of his dream.

"Nah, it's fine," Hitoshi said, shocking the three of their friends who hadn't been in the know. "There are ways to reverse this. Besides, the real death of my dream might still happen even if I do get my power back."

On the fourth day was when everyone who hadn't previously been released from hospital was let go. They held Sir Nighteye, Lemillion, Rock Lock, and Aizawa in order to document the effects of Eri's Quirk, which they named Rewind. Apparently, from observing the things she'd been able to do with it, Sir, Aizawa and the doctors had been able to work out a summary of what the power did. Rewind allows the user to reverse a living body back to a previous state. They explained that everything Eri had managed to do with her power — healing the injured, forcing Chisaki back to his burnt state, and even making her father disappear, which was indeed something Rewind was responsible for even if they were never going to tell her that that event had really happened — was all due to her ability to reverse a person's biological clock, even back to before it existed in her father's case. That was fascinating, but the most interesting thing of all was that Eri was recovering from her brief stress-induced coma. She was regaining her strength and had woken up. None of the kids were allowed to see her yet, but they promised that soon, she'd be ready for visitors.

All of that aside, everyone made it out of the raid alive. Izuku and his friends went home on the fourth day after the raid and relaxed. They simply sat together and talked about how they felt in the aftermath of everything that had happened. Surprisingly, Katsuki joined them. He didn't say much, only uttering a few words here and there about how he didn't expect getting stabbed to hurt that much. Once the conversation turned toward Quirks, though, Katsuki couldn't stop talking. Apparently, he had indeed learned a new way to use his Quirk during the battle, like Izuku had thought. He named it Cluster, and this new technique apparently allowed him to trigger chain reaction explosions that made his blasts faster, stronger, and more awesome, in his words. Ochako had ended up pushing herself to place twenty times the gravitational pull of the Earth onto herself in order to keep up with the pace of the battle towards the end, and even though her body was resistant to that kind of strain after the year she'd spent training her Quirk and her body to put up with g-forces, it had still pushed her beyond her limits. Izuku shared his experience with using thirty percent of One For All, and how he had felt unstoppable, and Katsuki related to that with his awakening of Cluster, where he'd been able to feel all the aftershocks of those chain explosions and the timing had become almost instinctual to him, intuitive rather than skillful. Hitoshi and Tsu kept talking Izuku, Katsuki, and Ochako up, bringing up how it was really the three of them that had defeated Chisaki for good, but Izuku maintained his view that everyone was crucial to taking that monster down. If even a single piece hadn't been in play on their side, they would've lost.

The rest of 1-A began to return to the dorms in the few days that were left before their second year at UA started. They shared stories of their work-studies, like how Tokoyami had put a crazy old man named Starservant with the ability to control glass behind bars all on his own, without Hawks' help. The fight had happened during the day, and Starservant had used a whole city block's worth of glass, so it had been a struggle, but he and Dark Shadow had saved the day in Fukuoka. Ashido, Hagakure, and Aoyama brought stories of working with the equipped hero, Yoroi Musha, in Hokkaido, and taking down a troupe of invisible thieves by using Hagakure and Aoyama's powers to illuminate their positions and Ashido's acid to defeat them. Kaminari and Sero only got to share their story once 1-A and 1-B, soon to be 2-A and 2-B, decided to throw a joint celebration of moving up a year. The two boys and Shiozaki from 1-B worked with the Lurkers, a hero team that had debuted after Kamino made up of Edgeshot, the number four hero, Kamui Woods, the number seven hero, and Mt Lady, the number twenty-three hero. The six of them had worked together to de-escalate a battle in the countryside between two villains with gigantification Quirks and stop them from destroying natural landmarks like mountainside temples and a small village. Todoroki was asked what it was like working for the new number one hero, his father, Endeavor, but he said it was simply educational.

All their classmates, and their friends in 1-B, had stories of a big win or a life they'd saved. Izuku and his inner circle didn't volunteer a lot beyond the fact that they'd teamed up together at the very end of their time away and had saved a little girl. Aside from that, they happily allowed their peers to celebrate their achievements, and the first year hero course students had a night to themselves, where the only thing they had to worry about was orientation for their second year in a couple of days. There were no villains coming after them, no people to save, no fires to put out, no adversity to overcome. They were just kids having a party, and they savoured that feeling. Of course, there were villains out there, and they would light a fire that they might not be capable of putting out in the coming months. The Children of All For One were still at large — nothing had been resolved with them. They had been involved with the Shie Hassaikai, and even though Chisaki had been beaten, the Children were still out there. They had even been nearby during the raid. Izuku had a hunch that the seemingly random occurrence of Aizawa's goggles being pulled away from his face just to rubber-band back and interrupt his attempt to restrain Chisaki had been the work of Chikara, the telekinetic member of the Children. They'd been nearby, and had interfered in the raid, but not to the extent that they would risk getting caught. They had to have seen Izuku and his friends pushing themselves past the power level he'd used to face them in January.

He was fine with not going after them just yet. Izuku was fine waiting to get stronger before he put an end to their scheme to free All For One, their father, from Tartarus. He was fine just being a kid for a little while longer. He didn't need to save the world tomorrow. Izuku was happy taking it slow.

Izuku walked across campus after a run, oddly calm as he got closer and closer by the second to the possible ending of his life's purpose. He had gotten the call from Aizawa just a few minutes ago, and was on his way to Nezu's office at that very moment. It was the day before the new school term was due to begin, and that was how Izuku knew what this meeting would be about. He'd had meetings with Nezu before, of course. At the beginning of the school year, before the sports festival, he'd met Nezu for the first time regarding his skills with Quirk analysis, and then he'd met him to explain fully what One For All had become within him. Since he'd had his sixteenth birthday on campus, Nezu had attended and wished him good luck in the future. This meeting was going to be different, Izuku knew it. This was a meeting to decide whether or not he would remain a student at UA in the coming school year. Izuku was, strangely, calm as he walked through the building toward Nezu's office. He'd known, of course, that the possibility of his expulsion was real, but he'd never really allowed himself to consider that outcome for himself, otherwise he'd just focus on that and nothing else. Izuku had shut out the entire ordeal from his mind in order to put his energy toward saving Eri. Now that that was done, he had no emotional energy left, and was still recharging, so he was entirely subdued as he knocked on Nezu's door and received permission to enter.

There were three people in the principal's office — the principal himself, who sat across his desk from Aizawa, who was wearing a civilian suit while his hero costume and binding cloth were being fixed up after Chisaki had destroyed them during the raid, and Hitoshi in clothes similar to Izuku's in their casual attire. Izuku's shirt had a joke written on it, that being that the print across the chest of the shirt said dress shirt. Hitoshi's own shirt had I'M WITH STUPID written across the back, with an arrow pointing toward the empty seat between the teacher and student. Izuku took a seat at a nod from Nezu, and the meeting began.

"Welcome, Midoriya," Nezu said, his beady eyes gleaming in the afternoon sun filtering through the windows.

"Thank you, sir," Izuku said.

"Young Shinso and I were just discussing the future of his enrollment at this school, and I would like to have that conversation with you, as well," Nezu said in the chipper tone he always used, even in depressing talks like this. He turned back to Hitoshi. "First, though — have you come to a decision regarding your Quirk, Shinso?"

"Come to a decision?" Izuku asked, turning to Hitoshi as well. "What do you mean?"

Hitoshi sighed and reached into his pocket. He brought out two small items. The red and blue capsules almost glowed in the afternoon sun, their vibrant colours rich against Hitoshi's pale skin. He put them on the desk and stared down at them with narrowed eyes. Izuku recognised that they were the two darts that they hadn't given over to Sir Nighteye, the two that Hitoshi had stopped Izuku from bringing up.

"I haven't decided what I'm gonna do yet," Hitoshi said.

"You haven't taken the antidote yet?" Izuku asked, startled. Hitoshi shook his head. "Why not?"

"Because I don't know if I want to keep doing this," Hitoshi said, sighing as he held his head in his hands. "I don't know if I'm cut out for heroics."

"That's …." Izuku paused to choose his words carefully. "You are cut out for heroics. There's no question about it."

Hitoshi looked at him out of the corner of his eye, and Izuku suddenly understood. This wasn't really about his skills. It was about his Quirk. Izuku had known that Hitoshi held some amount of insecurity over his power, and its less moral implications. He had known that Hitoshi put on a brave face when he was really suffering, and that he used the jokes he told to distract others and himself from things he thought might hurt. Those things just made Izuku more certain that Hitoshi Shinso was meant to be a hero. He was fundamentally selfless, no matter how scheming and manipulative he wanted people to believe he was. Izuku also knew, however, that Hitoshi carried a burden. He felt shame and guilt over being unable to stop Aizawa from getting hurt at the USJ. He felt indebted to the hero Eraserhead who'd taken him under his wing and taught him everything he knew. He felt obligated to put himself on the line for others because he'd never experienced the same before he'd made friends at UA. There was a lot to Hitoshi that Izuku still didn't know, a lot he didn't let people see, but there wasn't a single shred of doubt in Izuku's heart that Hitoshi's was the heart of a hero.

Izuku met Hitoshi's eyes with an intensity to his expression. "Your power is yours. You get to decide what to do with it." Hitoshi's eyes instantly lit up in recognition of his own words, which had helped Izuku when he'd been consumed by self-doubt. "I know what I think you should do, but what I think doesn't matter. It's your Quirk. What do you want?"

Hitoshi frowned, and his eyes became glassy as he took a shaky breath in. "You know, I've never really had a very high opinion of myself." The others were silent as he spoke, and he glared at the blue Rewind antidote. "My Quirk came in when I was five. Apparently, less straightforward powers tend to take more time to fully manifest. The kids at my preschool made up the rumour that I was Quirkless and thought I was lying when I said my Quirk finally showed up. I brainwashed them just to prove I was telling the truth. The kid I used my Quirk on was terrified. He called me all sorts of things — villain, liar, cheat. That pretty much cemented my reputation. All the same kids went to my elementary school, so that continued the whole thing even further. I thought my power was cool, but the other kids didn't think so. I lived with this label on me, villain. Everyone else used their Quirks all they wanted to cheat in classroom games and stuff, but the second I used mine to stop the bullies from picking on me, I was the bad guy. And obviously they were not like me, so they were the good guys."

The tension in the room was almost tangible. Hitoshi didn't take his eyes off the Rewind bullets as he continued, his voice shaking uncontrollably and his eyes watery. "It took me a long time to show people that I wasn't what they thought I was. That was when my parents started moving around a lot for work, around the time I started fourth grade. I went to four different schools in five years. It got harder for me to connect with people every time we moved, and eventually I kinda stopped caring, really. I stopped explaining that I actually wanted to be a hero, and that I'd never use my Quirk for evil. I stopped explaining my power at all after the third school, because I already knew what the answer was gonna be. If I'm gonna be a weirdo loser with no friends anyway, it might as well be because I'm a mute, egocentric ass instead of the villain kid. I let them think what they wanted. I let them say what they thought was true, and I didn't correct them. I don't know when I started believing all the bad stuff they said about me, but it stuck." It seemed like a weight was lifted as Hitoshi confessed that particular part. "It clung to me like a dark cloud I couldn't get rid of. I stopped talking. I went two years without using my Quirk in middle school."

"I don't really care about any of that now," Hitoshi said, a small, real smile taking the place of his frown. It wasn't like the smirks and grins he'd put on for a joke or a bit. He wasn't joking anymore. Izuku was struck by his habit of tearing up whenever someone nearby got emotional, but he held it in. It was clearly important for his friend to say all this. "I saved Aizawa from getting hit with that Quirk-deleter. Even if you expel me, I'll always be a hero. My best was finally good enough. My power didn't hold me back, and I didn't have to win through tricks and schemes. I saved the life of a person that matters to me, and I'm gonna be riding that high forever, no matter what happens. I did it. My dream is reality."

Hitoshi stood, and picked up the blue Rewind bullet to examine it closely. "I could stop right now. I could quit, transfer to general studies or another school entirely. I might."

"But—" Izuku tried, but was cut off immediately.

"Don't pretend you didn't consider giving One For All to Lemillion for a second there," Hitoshi shot back at him, which shut him up. "I could do that. I think I'll take the antidote, though, tag back in while I've got the chance." Izuku's whole face must've lit up at the news, because Hitoshi smiled and chuckled under his breath. "Of course. It'd be pretty lame to bow out now when things are only gonna get more fun from here with these Children of All For One runnin' around."

He pressed the blue Rewind bullet into his forearm, and sighed as all the tension in his body was released in an instant. Hitoshi looked up at the ceiling, and grinned — it was the kind of grin that Izuku had come to know, the wry, humorous smirk. "Hey, Izuku?"

"Yes?" Izuku asked, and then went limp in his chair as numbness washed over him. It was Hitoshi's Quirk. He would've cried if he hadn't been caught in Brainwashing. He was immediately released, and stood up to lock eyes with Hitoshi with a tension in his gaze.

"I just had to make sure," Hitoshi said, putting his hands up as if to prevent a lecture about inappropriate Quirk use. "But really, I have an answer for you." Izuku remembered that he'd parroted Hitoshi's own question back at him earlier, and awaited the answer with a held breath. "I want to save people with this power." It was an echo of Izuku's own answer from when Hitoshi had asked it. That was when the tears finally came.

Hitoshi held his closed fist out for Izuku to bump with his own, but Izuku went for a hug instead. "You're worthy of it."

Nezu cleared his throat, and both boys turned to their principal, breaking the hug. "If I may continue the discussion regarding your enrolment statuses?" Izuku and Hitoshi sat back down, drying their eyes with the backs of their hands. "Thank you. Now, my goal as your principal is always to ensure one thing when it comes to hero course students — I want you to become the finest heroes you can possibly be. I feel that you are well on your own ways to that end. Aizawa and I have spoken, and we agree that your actions and behaviours during the mission against the Shie Hassaikai deserve to be acknowledged as a collective feat of heroism only made possible by the five of you students that participated in the raid earlier this week. You all are to be the recipients of the most prestigious award that UA can give to its students. You two are also being allowed to continue your studies at this school, so that you may reach your full potential as heroes. I look forward to seeing what you boys do next. As well, I thank you for embodying the teachings of my institution so well. It fills me with hope to know that the next generation understands as well as you do the importance of selflessness."

"Wait," Izuku said, accidentally interrupting the principal's speech. "I don't think an award is necessary!"

"Yeah, awards mean award ceremonies, and ceremonies mean crowds," Hitoshi said as he blanched.

"Nonsense!" Nezu cheered. "You will be recognised during the opening ceremony that ushers in the new school year tomorrow!"

Izuku and Hitoshi gave each other a glance, and while Izuku could not bring himself to regret earning his spot as a continuing student at UA, he did wonder if the awards were really required to acknowledge that they'd done a good thing putting Chisaki away and saving Eri. However, before he could voice that thought, Aizawa chimed in.

"We need to talk about something more important than a stupid award ceremony, though," Aizawa said. "What are we going to do with the Quirk-destroying bullets?"

"Ah, yes," Nezu said, pausing to think. "If what you've told me is correct, Aizawa, Kai Chisaki destroyed all nearby samples of both the Quirk-destroying bullets and the antidote mere minutes before the raid began. The only remaining samples are the ones that were sold prior to the Shie Hassaikai's disbanding or the ones in the hands of Nighteye Agency. I think they are the most equipped to keep such a thing to themselves, and we can send heroes to recover all the currently circulating samples that they can and send them back to Nighteye. Is that agreeable?"

"As agreeable as anything. I'll tell Nighteye," Aizawa said.

"Very good!" Nezu chirped, further adding to the confusion about what kind of animal he was supposed to be. "Then I believe that this meeting is dismissed."

It was a rollercoaster of emotions getting back to the dorms and realising that 1-A — who had moved into the second years' dorms over the last week or so before the new first years moved into their old rooms — had organised a surprise celebration for Izuku and Hitoshi. As it turned out, Aizawa had told them about their previously uncertain futures and had warned them that the boys might need a little bit of a pick-me-up upon arriving back at the dorms. Thus, the entire class assembled to congratulate them on their continuing status as a member of their class. That had been the straw that broke the camel's back for Izuku, pushing him to cry and sob with his friends for an hour over how scared he hadn't allowed himself to be over whether or not he'd get to keep being friends with so many amazing future heroes. Hitoshi wasn't as emotional, but he did inform everyone about how he'd gotten his Quirk back, which got him another round of congratulations. He and Tsu had some alone time in the corner, talking about some things that Izuku overheard. He remembered the two of them having a quick exchange down in the underground labyrinth, right after Hitoshi had been hit by the Rewind bullet. Apparently, Tsu has assured Hitoshi that they wouldn't want to break up with him if he stayed Quirkless. That brought a smile to Izuku's face, and it was probably what gave him the peace of mind and confidence to lean over and whisper what he did to Ochako.

"Thank you for all you've done for me. My dream wouldn't feel nearly so close to reality if you weren't by my side."

Ochako melted at that, and they, as well as the rest of Class A, shared a beautiful evening reminiscing about their favourite parts of being hero students and getting to do all the amazing things that they did. It was a perfect night, and if luck was on their side, things were shaping up to give them a year just as perfect as the time they spent by each others' sides. Izuku was blessed with such a perfect life. He believed in what Sir Nighteye had said after the raid. A bright future was the one they'd all make together.

The opening ceremony was tense. Class 2-A — the students certainly had fun drilling that change into their heads as quickly as they could — had never actually attended orientation before, given that Aizawa had whisked them away for a morning of testing their physical limits with a series of Quirk tests that proved their objective potential for heroics. Thus, it was something of a shock when it was like any other high school's welcoming ceremony, with the principal and some of the staff taking the stage to tell students old and new what their roles were in ensuring their education was as prestigious as the school's reputation told them it would be, and informing them about where they could go and what they could do within school grounds in order to make sure that they're taking care of their physical and mental health. It was surprisingly normal. However, there was an additional event at the very end of the ceremony. Nezu summoned five students from the newly titled Class 2-A to the stage and rattled off a list of their achievements.

"The last year has been hard for Japan," Nezu began. "We have suffered through many tragedies. Mere children have lost their lives, and villains have taken far more from us than many of you have ever thought possible. All Might's retirement shook us all to our very cores, and many have asked the question since that fateful night in Kamino eight months ago — who is going to be the next symbol?" A tense silence held the crowd from making a single sound. "I do not have an answer to that question. I doubt anybody ever will, truthfully. The Symbol of Peace as a concept was All Might. It was not a role he inherited, it was a role he was born for. It is my belief that nobody will ever be able to replace our beloved former number one. However, I do believe there is space in this world for new symbols. Symbols of hope, victory, love, wit, and compassion. I believe that the five hero course students you see before you at this very moment will grow into symbols in their own right, and possibly even surpass All Might one day as shining examples of what we seek to instil in our students here at UA."

The students on stage were shocked by Nezu's declaration, but the ceremony moved on despite that. "My friends, you may come and present these deserved awards upon these fine young heroes."

A group of four heroes arrived on stage to a round of applause from the student body in attendance. All Might, the emaciated former number one, Eraserhead, the mysterious underground brawler-turned-teacher, Thirteen, Japan's greatest rescue specialist, and Selkie, the stern yet lovable hero who protected Japan's waters. All Might presented the golden plaque and the medallion to Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo, who both looked positively thrilled to have received such praise from the man who took them both by the shoulder and patted them on the back. Eraserhead presented Hitoshi Shinso's award, and the two of them looked equally as unimpressed with the applause they were given. Thirteen presented Ochako Uraraka's award, and she was on the brink of tears shaking the astronaut-themed hero's hand. Selkie, strangely, was the one to cry as he handed Tsuyu Asui their award, and Asui was the one who had to comfort the bulky man back to a state of calm.

After all the awards were presented, all the second years but one — a blond boy with a deeply hurt look on his face stood up and booed the five from 2-A, but he was drowned out by the rest of the student body's uproarious applause — congratulating their classmates with enough sound to deafen some of the students with Quirks that enhanced hearing, Nezu announced one more facet of the award ceremony. "I am sorry to keep you waiting a minute or two longer, students, but if I may ask, could the five students on stage with me now speak aloud the engravings on their plaques?" Nezu asked with a gleam in his beady eyes.

The students looked down, and then showed various signs of surprise and ecstatic excitement. They took their turns revealing what their plaques said to the audience, and it was explained afterwards that each message came from the student themself, said at an earlier date and transcribed for them in order for them to remember what being a hero meant to them if they were to ever struggle with their goals in the future.

"Being a hero can be comforting a small child, or clearing the rivers after a hurricane. It can also be hitting a bad guy in the face so hard that they cease to exist."

"A person's smile is the most precious thing in the world."

"I don't wanna be my best. I wanna be the best."

"It's a hero's place to do whatever they can to help everyone. No matter what."

"Meddling where you don't technically have to is the essence of being a hero."

A bright future, indeed.

End of Arc 15: The Right Hands

End of A Point of Singularity

Author's Note: So, that's that for First Year, the first part of what I now have planned as an epic duology! I'll be taking a break from this fic for now, and I'll be continuing the duology in the second installment at some point in the future, though I can't promise any exact dates. What I can promise is that that continuation will not be posted to FFN. I have had enough of this website's juvenile, immature users harassing me for not writing exactly to their specific, niche liking. So, yeah. My name's Mr_Dex on AO3 if you want to continue to read my fics, but if not, see ya.