Author's Note: So, welcome to Act 2! Each of these Acts is going to have a theme, and I'm going to leave it up to you to figure out what they are while the Act is ongoing. I will talk a bit about how I wrote these Acts when they're done, but while they're ongoing I think I'll remain tight lipped about it.

PS: I think this Act is where I really settled into the whole 'writing a longform story' thing. I think that Act 1 is the worst of what I have, and I recognize that, but I also think it has its own charms, like the generally lower stakes and the shorter, more dense arcs. I think I improved upon my pacing a bit in Act 2 as well, as the Act is two longer arcs, compared to the first's three shorter ones.

Anyways, onto Act 2!

Izuku woke up in his new room, the sound of his alarm making him groan as he slammed his fist down on it. He looked around and saw that he was in the barren room that Aizawa had brought him to the night before, and was tempted to just lie there and cry. He wanted to wake up in his own room, and make breakfast with his own mother, but he had left, and he needed to make a point. He wanted to be a Hero, and if Inko didn't want that, if she truly did feel the way she had said, then he didn't want to live in the same house as her anymore. He sat up and gathered his uniform from his suitcase, hesitant to walk out into what he knew was the teachers' lounge.

He could hear the bustle of people on the other side of the door. Deciding that he was worrying too much, and that Aizawa would have told the staff what was going on, Izuku opened the door and walked through, being greeted with utter silence. All Might in his true form, Midnight and Power Loader were there, and Izuku thought he saw Aizawa's sleeping bag in the corner. He had about an hour and a half until classes began, so why was All Might here and not out, doing Hero work? Izuku reasoned that he was still recovering, so let the subject slip from his mind. He looked between the Heroes and smiled nervously.

"Midoriya. Shota told us what happened. Are you okay?" Midnight asked.

"I'm okay. I'm … adjusting. I think I just need to get into a routine, then I'll be perfectly fine," Izuku said, trying his best to smile.

"It's okay if you're not okay. We'd understand. It's not an easy thing, what you've done, and we'd get it if you were a bit out of sorts," All Might said.

"It's alright. Thank you for worrying about me, though," Izuku said.

"It's kind of our job, kid," Midnight laughed.

"Right. Well, thank you, Midnight. Thank you, All … right, I better be going now!" Izuku said, internally freaking out.

"Wait, what did he just say?" Midnight asked.

"Did he just go to call you 'All Might' then backtrack?" Power Loader asked.

"Um, I must be going as well! Young Midoriya, wait up!" All Might panicked.

"Oh, no you don't!" Midnight said, using her whip to wrap around All Might's arm to keep him in place.

Izuku was already out the door, running toward the showers. He sprinted down the hall, not wanting to get caught up in All Might's poor explanation, because he knew that All Might would flounder and panic and make himself look even more guilty. Izuku made his way to the changing room and showered. He felt weird doing things when virtually nobody but teachers were supposed to be there, but it was also calming, in a way. It took the edge off when he usually had around locker rooms, since all they had heralded until UA was a beating.

He thought about how far he had come since getting into UA. He had gained a Quirk, three in fact, and had gained some friends after a decade of torment from Bakugo. Speaking of Bakugo, he had finally stood up to the blond, asserting himself for the first time in a long while. He had also become more confident, even just the position of Class Representative had made him more confident, knowing that his classmates had put that amount of trust in him giving him the strength he needed to communicate better with them. Talking with his classmates had also allowed him to get better at talking to people in general. Before UA, Izuku didn't know if he'd been able to even look at Midnight, with the way she dressed in her Hero costume seeming a bit over the top and a tad too sexual for Izuku to handle, especially for a high school teacher, but he was able to look her in the eye and speak. He thought that was pretty neat.

Once Izuku was done in the shower, he got dressed and made his way back to the teachers' lounge. As he walked down the halls, now a bit less jumpy because he was in uniform, he had time to really admire the view from UA. Even on the second floor, which had classrooms for all the first year students, since the first floor was all administration, Izuku had such a view of Musutafu that he would call it picture perfect. Izuku pulled out his phone and snapped a picture, saving it to print out later. He turned to continue to walk, but froze when he saw Bakugo standing in his way.

"Ah! Bakugo! What are you doing here so early?" Izuku asked, jumping so high that he could've activated Float.

"What the hell are you doing here so early? Why did my Mom get twenty calls from yours in the middle of the night, saying that you ran away?" Bakugo asked.

"Why do you care? It hasn't been like you to get concerned about me," Izuku asked, taking a step back.

"I'm not heartless! I've … done a lot of thinking since our battle trial, and even more since the USJ. I'll admit that there was once a time when I would've called you a friend. What I said on the bus is still true, y'know. I know that what I did to you was wrong, but I'm still looking for a way to move past it. I'm trying to be a Hero, and Heroes help. So, I'm here. I'll get it if you don't want my help, but if it isn't me, let someone help you," Bakugo said, looking out at the city.

"How would you help? You were one of the reasons I ran," Izuku said.

"What? How?" Bakugo asked, choking on his breath.

"Well, back when we were kids, apparently there were men that would be interested in my Mom. Because of my Quirkless status, though, they would be driven away. She hated me for it, so let you do what you did to me, thinking I deserved it for ruining her life," Izuku said, tears pooling in his eyes.

"You shouldn't have let her talk to you like that. That shit is fucked up. I didn't know you had that going on," Bakugo said, sighing deeply.

"Nobody does, except the staff. That's why I'm living here now. On campus. My room is in the teachers' lounge," Izuku said.

"Fucking shit! That's fucked. Are you gonna tell anyone?" Bakugo asked.

"No. I think I need to … distance myself from the whole thing before I really talk about it with anyone I don't know really well," Izuku said, joining Bakugo in staring out into the city.

A silence spread between the two. Izuku was proud of Bakugo in a weird way. He had come a long way, from screaming and trying to hurt him to being able to have a calm conversation with him. Izuku was glad that Bakugo had taken time to think about his actions, how they were wrong and how to do the right thing. Izuku, for the first time, really thought that someday, the two could be friends again.

"So … you can fly now?" Bakugo asked.

"Oh, God. So many people have asked about that! It isn't flying, it's Floating. I'm not able to move around in the air without pushing off something, I can just suspend myself in the air, probably by absorbing the kinetic energy and redistributing it safely later," Izuku groaned.

"Shit, Deku. You really know your Quirk," Bakugo said.

Izuku noticed that Bakugo hadn't referred to him by name the entire conversation. It was probably to avoid calling him 'Deku'. He understood that it might be strange to use his name after all these years of calling him that derogatory nickname. The way Bakugo had said it, though, was different just now. It was almost appreciative, like he was respecting his knowledge. It was different, but it was good. It felt nice to have that name, which he had hated since its conception, be used in a way that wasn't putting him down, or making fun of him.

"Well, it is mine," Izuku said, feeling bad about that line for some reason.

"Yeah," Bakugo said, eyeing Izuku skeptically.

"Hey, why are you here so early? It couldn't have been just to talk some sense into me," Izuku said.

"I was going to my anger management session. They enrolled me after the battle trial, and I have to go if I want to stay at UA. It's supposed to help me keep calm when I feel like yelling or blowing something up and shit like that," Bakugo said.

"Oh, I won't hold you up, then," Izuku said.

"See you later, Deku," Bakugo said, with the same … it wasn't positive, but a non-negative tone.

"See you, Kacchan," Izuku said, hoping to get the same reaction out of Bakugo as he had from Izuku.

To Izuku's delight, he could hear Bakugo scoff under his breath, but it sounded more like a chuckle to Izuku. On the outside, Izuku was simply smiling, but on the inside, he was ecstatic. This was the first step to repairing their relationship, and it had happened so much faster than Izuku had ever anticipated. He expected Bakugo to think about it some more, but he had to give the blond credit, he wasn't the top of his class for five years in a row for nothing. Izuku had broken his streak once, and it had angered Bakugo so much that he had beaten Izuku in the sandpit meant for younger kids, but that was past them. This was the start of a new era, and Izuku wasn't going to miss his chance to start it off with a bang.

Now, Izuku had the Sports Festival to look forward to. He had been excited for it, of course; it was supposed to be his first real chance to prove himself to the world, but that was hijacked by the League of Villains. Now, he had Float at his disposal, and he was going to make it count. Izuku ran back to the teachers' lounge to get ready for class, but as he entered the lounge, there were many more teachers there, and they were all looking at him.

"Uh, hello!" Izuku said, shifting nervously under the attention.

"Midoriya, why didn't we know that you knew All Might before coming here? And that you knew about his injury and the consequences?" Aizawa asked, glaring into Izuku's soul.

Of course this was happening. He had accidentally outed his relationship with All Might, and it had barely been a week of school. Why did he have to have such a motormouth? He had always been told he got it from his father, but that seemed like the only thing that stuck with him after Hisashi had left them.

"Uh, well, I was used to keeping it a secret, and I didn't know which staff members did or didn't know," Izuku said, limply hanging his arms at his side.

"I suppose that'll do. I swear, you two together is just one big 'no'. I'll have to seperate you if you ever work together in the field," Aizawa said, before taking a lengthy sip of his juicebox, which was probably dosed with caffeine.

"How long have you two known each other?" Midnight asked Izuku.

"All Might hasn't said anything?" Izuku asked back.

"No. He refused to talk until you got here, which is admirable, I guess," Aizawa said.

"Well, we met about eleven months ago," Izuku said.

"How?" Aizawa asked.

"He saved me from a Villain made of sludge," Izuku said, gagging at the memory of the taste of raw sewage.

"Of course you did," Vlad King, Class-1B, the other Hero Course class's Homeroom teacher, said.

"Bakugo was also involved in that incident, no?" Midnight asked.

"Yeah, we went to the same school. We've actually known each other for most of our lives," Izuku said, smiling nervously.

"That explains all the chemistry," Midnight muttered, but Izuku caught it; which didn't mean he had any idea what on earth she meant, though.

"Alright, that's enough. Midoriya, get to class. I've got an important announcement for the class," Aizawa said.

"Okay," Izuku said, rushing into his room, packing his backpack with everything he needed, and rushing back out of the teachers' lounge.

Once the teachers were sure that Izuku was gone, they relaxed.

"We'll help him, Yagi," Aizawa said, head hanging low.

"Thank you. You all know that I don't have long left, so when I'm gone, he'll need you to take my place," All Might said, a grave tone to his voice.

"Nobody could replace you, All Might," Cementoss said.

"One person can," All Might said, looking toward the door.

With Izuku, he had just sat down in the classroom when Shinso walked through the door. The two waved at each other, Shinso's wave being much lazier and subdued. Izuku saw that, once more, the bags under Shinso's eyes were even heavier. He had always had an air of tiredness about him, but that just added to his charm, in Izuku's opinion. He didn't take crap from anyone, and that served him well in the USJ. But, when it got this bad, where he had deep purple rings around his eyes, and he was barely conscious, Izuku had to step in for Shinso's sake.

"Hey, Shinso," Izuku greeted.

"Hey," Shinso said, dropping into his seat.

"How'd you sleep last night?" Izuku asked.

"Fine," Shinso said.

"Don't lie to me, Shinso. I can tell that you're not sleeping, at least not sleeping well," Izuku said.

"Alright, yeah, I haven't been sleeping. I was diagnosed with insomnia when I was twelve, and almost none of the drugs they've prescribed me work," Shinso admitted.

"How much sleep do you think you get a night?" Izuku asked. When he got a deadpan stare from Shinso as an answer, Izuku switched up his questions. "A week?" he asked instead.

"Maybe six or seven. If I'm lucky," Shinso said, leaning back in his seat.

Izuku thought for a moment, before turning back to Shinso.

"How much sleep have you gotten since the USJ Incident?" Izuku asked.

"None," Shinso answered immediately.

"Oh, crap. This is a serious problem, Shinso. Have you asked for help? Have you told your parents?" Izuku asked.

"No. I'll pass out after five days without sleep. It's fine," Shinso said.

"That's … today or tomorrow. Why are you doing this to yourself? If you ask for help, you'll get it. You should talk to Aizawa. He seems to know what he's doing when it comes to managing sleep while also being a Hero," Izuku suggested, before the man himself walked in.

"Maybe," Shinso said.

"Aizawa!" the class cheered upon seeing him walk through the door.

Aizawa, Izuku had noticed, was sporting a gigantic, jagged scar under his eye where Nomu had attacked him. He didn't know how he hadn't seen it in the teacher's lounge. Izuku still remembered what the man's face had looked like just after getting injured, Nomu's claws having scooped a chunk of his flesh away. He had almost thrown up, Hagakure did throw up, but he managed to disinfect and wrap the wound before anything else.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm back. Don't be so quick to relax, because your fight isn't over," Aizawa said, standing at the podium.

The class froze. What did he mean? Were there more Villains to battle? Were they going to have another battle trial? Izuku knew what he meant, as did Bakugo. He smiled as the class each had a look of horror on their faces, all except for Izuku, Bakugo and Todoroki. He could tell that Hagakure was trembling, and felt bad for the class. He was convinced that Aizawa just liked messing with people.

"The Sports Festival is coming up in two weeks," Aizawa revealed.

The class cheered, but a single voice spoke out in protest.

"Is that really the best idea? We were just attacked by Villains," Tsu asked.

"The principal seems to think that by not postponing the Sports Festival, we're showing the public, and the Villains, that their attack did nothing to shake our spirit. It's bullcrap, but the public will eat it up," Aizawa said.

"Plus, this is a chance for us to show what we got!" Ashido cheered.

"Yeah! I can't wait to get scouted by a Pro Hero! This is the first step to becoming full-on Heroes!" Kaminari said.

"Yeah, but being a sidekick is the furthest some people will go. I won't be surprised if that's your fate," Jiro said to Kaminari, ruining his excitement.

"I know you're all excited, but you're wasting time. I've also been informed that the Class Representatives of the Hero Course will have to write a speech together. Midoriya, that means you. You'll have to reach out to Class-1B's Rep on your own time, so get on it," Aizawa said.

"What?" Izuku squeaked.

"It's something the principal ordered. All the Representatives of every course have to band together and tell the spectators what makes their classes special compared to everyone else. I think it's a waste of time, but you don't go against Nezu's orders," Aizawa said, grumbling the last part.

Izuku froze. He had to give a speech to thousands of people, plus the whole of Japan that was going to be watching from home. UA's Sports Festival was the most televised event in Japan, and that meant that everyone with a TV was liable to hear the speech that he had to make, along with whoever the Class Representative for Class-1B was. Lucky for him, the Representatives for the first year students were meeting for the first time that day, so he'd get to meet them soon.

Aizawa started his lesson after that. All day, Izuku was thinking about the speech, and how he could write a good one. What even made a speech good? Was it eye contact? That was kind of a moot point when he was making it to potentially a hundred million people. When lunch came, his friends strangely absent, Izuku sat down at his usual table and began to eat his food, before being approached by a girl, probably as tall as him, with bright orange hair and a friendly smile.

"Hey! You're Izuku Midoriya, right? The Class Rep for 1A?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's me! You must be 1B's Rep!" Izuku said, standing up. Now that he was standing up, he noticed the girl was almost exactly as tall as him. Odd.

"Yep! Itsuka Kendo, at your service," Kendo said, bowing slightly, Izuku following suit.

"You were told about our speech?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah. I'm not so sure about my speech writing skills, but it's always good to cooperate with my fellow Heroes in training!" Kendo said.

"I couldn't agree more. Do you wanna join me? We could brainstorm some ideas and come up with some general idea of what we want to say during the speech," Izuku offered.

"Gladly!" Kendo agreed, and the two sat across from each other.

"We need to talk about how our classes, as first year Hero Course students, are special, and different from other years' classes," Izuku remembered.

"How about … we start by talking about our classes as individuals. What we like, what we don't like and what's actually special about them," Kendo suggested.

"That's a great idea! Do you wanna go first, or …?" Izuku asked.

'"I'll go. Um, 1B are the greatest group of people I've ever met. They're so determined to get out into the world and become Heroes that they literally can't wait for this Sports Festival. We've got some truly intelligent people, like Shoda, my Vice Rep, Monoma, Honenuki, Tokage, and Kuroiro. There's also the most passion I've ever seen in that room. There's people like Tetsutetsu, Komori, Awase and Shiozaki who are the people that are the most excited to be Heroes out of anyone I've met. They're just … wonderful!" Kendo said, smiling wide.

"That sums up almost exactly how I feel about my own class! 1A has some of the most powerful people I've ever seen, physically and mentally. Todoroki, Bakugo, Asui, Shinso and … Uraraka. They're some of the most resilient, powerful and skilled Hero-hopefuls that I've ever met. There's also some incredibly smart students in 1A, including Yaoyorozu, my Vice Rep, Iida, Bakugo and Shinso. I think that, because of the recent attack, we've all gone above and beyond in the areas that make us special, and we're trying harder than ever to become Heroes," Izuku said, returning Kendo's bright smile.

"Uraraka? That's the one that's on leave, isn't she?" Kendo asked.

"Yeah. She was injured during our first Foundational Heroics class," Izuku said, looking away.

"How?" Kendo asked.

"She was caught in a large explosion. Far larger than it had the right to be. The person who unleashed the attack on her has been punished, so you don't need to worry. Uraraka is well on her way to recovery. She should be able to return just after the Festival, actually," Izuku explained.

"Oh. That's good to hear. We wouldn't want your class to be short staffed for any joint training we'll do. We might wipe the floor with you, then!" Kendo teased.

"Oh, is that how this is gonna work? Alright, deal. Whenever we have training together, and the format works for it, we'll go toe to toe and try our best. Plus Ultra!" Izuku said.

"Plus Ultra," Kendo echoed.

The two shook hands, and Kendo's grip almost hurt. It was powerful, and Izuku had to work to not show that he was getting a few stabs of pain in his fingers. Izuku looked up at Kendo's face, and saw a small smirk playing across her lips, and that's when he knew it was intentional. This was some sort of game that Kendo clearly liked to play, and Izuku was ready to compete. He pushed a tiny bit of One for All into his hand, and clenched harder, by his estimate only using about half a percent to squeeze her hand.

Kendo closed her fist around Izuku's even harder, letting him know that this wasn't going to be easy. She still looked to be having fun, so Izuku knew that she wasn't really even trying. Izuku increased his percentage to one whole percent, not wanting to go too big too fast. As soon as he reached one percent, Kendo's hand started to grow, closing around his in a show of strength that left Izuku almost groaning in pain.

Izuku upped his percentage to two percent, but lost control, immediately shooting to his safe limit, the supposed five percent that All Might had said. He then pulled his fist away and broke Kendo's hold on him easily, knocking her hand away in a burst of strength. He hadn't meant to spike at five percent, but it had automatically shot up. Izuku realized he needed to work on fine control of how much power he was channeling into his body, not just keeping himself at his absolute limit.

"Whoa, dude, are you okay?" Kendo asked.

"Yeah, it's just … I wasn't sure if I would hurt you," Izuku said, letting One for All leave his hand.

"What, because I'm a girl?" Kendo asked, eyebrows raised.

"No! God, no. I'm not like that! I just … can't control my Quirk very well," Izuku admitted.

"What's your Quirk?" Kendo asked.

"I call it Power Source. It gives me a virtually bottomless pit of energy to draw on, which I can manifest in different ways. One of those ways is through Super Strength, though I can't control that very well. My full power with Super Strength is … scary, and it hurts even me. I keep it heavily under control, but sometimes I slip up," Izuku said.

"Huh. What other ways can you channel your Quirk?" Kendo asked, leaning back in her seat.

"I have two other ways so far, though I'm working on more. I call this one Blackwhip," Izuku said, letting a small strand of dark energy flow from his hand and grab the fork next to his food, before bringing it to his hand and retracting into his arm. "It's a physical manifestation of my want for change. I need to really want to move something, or change something, so I call out Blackwhip for a variety of needs. I can grapple, swing, capture and fight with it, like real whips," Izuku explained.

"Whoa, that's pretty neat! What else can you do?" Kendo asked.

"I call my second power Float. It's like I can project a pocket of my Quirk's energy under me, giving me a sort of half-solid platform under my body that keeps me hovering in the air. I think Float is manifested through my want to protect, or to be free. It's a much more protective power, as it manifested in a moment of heroic desire, to put it as I was told," Izuku said, levitating slightly off his seat and into the air, getting fascinated gasps from students around the two.

"As you were told?" Kendo asked, confused.

Izuku knew he had slipped up. He dropped into his seat and started thinking of a way to get out of his mistake.

"That's the way it was explained to me, I mean. I don't really remember a lot of that day, so Shinso, the one I saved with Float, told me the exact details later," Izuku said, panicked.

"Well, that's certainly an interesting Quirk you have there. I don't think I could divide my focus three different ways for a whole fight. I'd probably trip up and get myself beat," Kendo said.

"Yeah, that's what I've been having trouble with. I almost broke down during the attack because of it. I had to eliminate Float entirely, as well as stop focusing on battle tactics and become purely reactionary. I think that, if I can get that quadruple focus down, I'll be able to be a really great Hero," Izuku said.

"I bet. I can't claim to do nearly as much as you can with my own Quirk, Big Fist. I can enlarge my hands, giving myself a boost in strength and grip. I can lift about ten times as much when my hands are at their largest, but that's all. I have to rely on training and my martial arts knowledge, as well as my Quirk," Kendo said.

"I think that relying on other abilities that are separate from your Quirk is actually a benefit rather than a detriment. People with Quirks like Aizawa's, Erasure, do exist in the world we'll be going out into in three years, so learning to function at full capacity without needing a Quirk will be beneficial. You never know when your Quirk could be countered or taken out of the equation entirely, so it'd do us all a lot of good to learn Quirkless combat and maneuvering," Izuku said.

"That's a really cool way to look at it, Midoriya," Kendo said, smiling brightly.

"Thanks. I've had a lot of time to think about this stuff, and since Aizawa is my Homeroom teacher, I guess I've put more thought into it than is probably normal," Izuku laughed.

Izuku leaned back in his seat, proud of how easily he was making conversation with Kendo. She was like Ochako, in the way that she had this easy going attitude that made it easy to get along with her. It was like talking to someone who had literally no hang ups when it came to who they talked with, and that made it like talking to an extremely responsive, expert conversationalist.

He glanced to the side and saw Yaoyorozu walking toward a table alone. He supposed he should introduce her to Kendo, seeing as how they'd probably work together in the future, so it was better to get to know each other now, rather than later and have growing pains when learning to cooperate.

"Yaoyorozu!" Izuku called.

"Oh, yes?" she replied.

"Would you like to meet the Class Rep for the other Hero Course class?" Izuku asked.

"Oh! Of course!" Yaoyorozu said, walking toward the table with glee.

"Ah, Midoriya! I didn't know you knew such pretty girls!" Kendo said, standing up to meet Yaoyorozu.

Izuku saw Yaoyorozu blush heavily, and he was tempted to himself. He hadn't been expecting that, and Kendo was probably just teasing, but Izuku couldn't deny that Yaoyorozu was a very pretty girl. She had an elegance about her that made her easy to be around, if not a little stiff in conversation. Izuku suspected that she hadn't had many friends growing up, despite her outward appearance of confidence. Confused over when he had started to analyze his classmates outside of their Quirks, Izuku snapped out of it.

"Oh, thank you. I suppose that someone who probably gets complimented as much as you can rattle them off by the dozen," Yaoyorozu said, bowing slightly.

"Oh, a lady as well! I'm Class-1B's Representative, Itsuka Kendo, but you can call me anytime," she said, winking as she finished her line.

Izuku was watching the girls' interaction with barely contained excitement. He had watched nearly every romance film that his mother had in her collection, and had grown up developing a healthy appreciation for love and romance. He also had to stop himself from openly giggling at Kendo's cliche pickup line, but Izuku managed. He was worried about how much he found Yaoyorozu blushing to be amusing, and wondered if this was why Ashido did what she did.

"I'm Momo Yaoyorozu, Class-1A's Vice Representative. Pleased to meet you," she said, smiling shyly.

"I bet you are," Kendo said, and Izuku nearly died.

While Yaoyorozu was still trying to process Kendo's words, the redhead grabbed her lunch tray and started to walk away, waving to her fellow Reps as she did.

"See you two later. See ya, Momo," Kendo said, laughing viciously to herself.

Izuku chuckled to himself as Yaoyorozu stood there, thinking too hard about what had happened to her. She looked like she was running in circles around the memory in her head, but Izuku decided to put her out of her misery and rip the band-aid off while it was possible.

"What just …?" Yaoyorozu asked herself.

"I think she was flirting with you," Izuku said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Uh …" Yaoyorozu trailed off, still not getting it.

"Congratulations, Yaoyorozu. I think you have a not-so-secret admirer," Izuku said, and went back to eating his lunch.

Yaoyorozu wandered off, not really understanding what had happened.