It seemed like just yesterday everyone in 1-A had gone their separate ways for summer break. Ochako had gone back to Mie to be with her parents for the time before camp started. Izuku always admired how much Ochako loved her family. It was her main drive for being a Hero, though she did admit to thinking it was cool to be a sort of Hero's Hero, someone who looked out for Heroes when the public largely ignored their wellbeing in favor of their own. Tsu was spending time with their family before the dorms system was brought in. It would keep them apart from each other, and that was something that everybody empathized with. Shinso's plans were as normal, but that meant that he wasn't one to meet up if Tsu wasn't there, which Izuku both laughed and groaned at.

That had left Izuku alone for the days before the training camp was due to begin. He'd had his ways to kill time, but none of them would've been better than his friends. Izuku had turned sixteen during that time, having spent his birthday with All Might. They celebrated with the staff that had been on campus at the time, namely Aizawa and Kayama. Mic had given Izuku a shoutout live on his radio show, which had made him just about die inside. Nezu had also popped his head in to see what was going on, and when he'd asked about his progress with One for All away from the attention of Kayama, Aizawa had finally learned the principal about that whole mess. All in all, it had been the best birthday possible for him away from home. The feeling that he should've gotten his mother in on it wouldn't leave, though, and Izuku had found himself bummed out that he'd excluded Inko from his birthday for the two days between his birthday and camp. That feeling had been dulled somewhat when the entire class had sent him individualized happy birthday messages, which had lifted Izuku's spirits considerably, so he supposed that he was alright.

Now was the time to be serious, though. Izuku was standing outside with Aizawa in the parking lot, waiting. It was the eighteenth; the day the class left for camp. The two of them were standing in silence in front of the bus that would take them, waiting for the other students to show up.

"You say that your basic One for All usage hasn't gone up in over a month?" Aizawa asked suddenly.

"Uh, yeah. I hit ten percent and then just plateaued. I've improved with Blackwhip, Float and Danger Sense but One for All kinda stagnated in early June. I'm sure you have a plan for that, though," Izuku said.

"I do. This camp is meant to show you kids something. You're already halfway to that realization, but I think I'll let you sit in it for a bit more. We like it to hit everyone the same," Aizawa said, smirking.

Izuku huffed out a laugh at Aizawa's signature coy style of teaching. It was hard that he'd had to put up with it for a whole semester now. At the start of the school year, Izuku never would've dreamed that he could be as casual as he was with Aizawa, but here he was. It brought a smile to his face as he mentally checked over everything he'd packed into the suitcase on the ground next to him and the backpack he was wearing. Izuku was sure that he'd gotten everything, but he wanted to make sure that he absolutely had everything he could possibly need on this camp. He'd been feeling overwhelmingly nervous about it for some reason, but he couldn't pinpoint if it was another manifestation of his anxiety surrounding All for One and Tomura Shigaraki just not doing anything for months on end, or it was just his garden variety worry that people didn't like him enough. Maybe Shinso was right, and he did have to chill out.

Those thoughts were driven from his head as Tsu and Shinso rounded the corner. Tsu looked like they were fine, using the hand not carrying a suitcase to wave at Izuku as they spotted him, but Shinso was dragging three suitcases behind himself using two hands, as well as wearing what looked like the kind of backpack an adventurer in a movie would wear. It was reasonable to guess that he was having some trouble. Izuku laughed, and slid his own backpack off and placed it on the ground. He made his way over to the two of them and smirked at Shinso, who was clearly not having a good time with those suitcases. It looked like he was trying to drag three suitcases like he'd drag one, but they were getting cluttered behind him and weren't sliding along the ground like they were supposed to, tripping Shinso up. Izuku took a moment to admire the scene and chuckle.

He was caught off guard, however when Tsu walked up and hugged him, something that had only happened when Izuku had accidentally done the same during the USJ. He'd been pumped up from adrenaline and wrapped them in a massive hug without asking, and Izuku had felt bad ever since, but he supposed that they were over it if it was this easy for them to do the same. Izuku returned the hug, and Tsu croaked slightly.

"How've you been?" Izuku asked as Tsu pulled away from him.

"I've been doing okay. Kind of still dreading the dorms," Tsu said.

"It'll be okay. If it isn't, we'll support you. Now, does Shinso need help?" Izuku asked, turning to the man himself.

"Oh, I'm just peachy, actually—yes, I need fucking help," Shinso said, his face betraying his annoyance with these suitcases as he gently let two of them go.

Izuku laughed as he reduced the length on the handle of one of them. He picked them up, surprised at the black one's weight. He tried to figure out which of the two it belonged to, but he couldn't just by looking at it alone. Izuku flexed his arm with it, raising it slightly each time, in order to get a good feel for the weight. It had been a while since he'd done any legitimate training on All Might's order to 'relax', so he may have been just the smallest bit unprepared for it.

"Whose is this heavy one?" Izuku asked.

"That's theirs. I don't know why one person needs that much stuff, but it's ridiculous. Best part is, this one's heavier," Shinso said, shaking the suitcase he kept, which must have been another of Tsu's. He glared at Tsu, who shrugged it off easily.

"I have different needs, Hitoshi. You'll get it when you're older," Tsu said, beginning to walk toward Aizawa to officially mark her and Shinso's presence.

As Tsu walked away, Shinso smiled. It was a big, goofy grin that only really came out when Tsu was around. Izuku smirked, raising an eyebrow at him. This made Shinso frown and stand up straighter. The two of them began to make their way over to the bus so that they could deposit the couple's stuff there, and Izuku started talking to fill the silence.

"For real, though, how are you?" Izuku asked.

"I'm alright. Nothing outstanding. I've been looking forward to this, though. A week in the middle of nowhere with Tsu? This is a golden opportunity," Shinso said, looking at Tsu from the distance they were still at with a determined light in his eyes.

"Oh. Oh. I thought you weren't gonna do it," Izuku said, frowning in confusion.

A few weeks ago, before they'd completed final exams, Shinso had confessed to Izuku and Ochako that he wanted to tell Tsu that he loved them, but wasn't sure how to go about it in the right way. Ochako had almost screamed in joy, but Izuku had come at it calmly and logically and told Shinso that he had to just do it with clear intent and feeling behind it. Izuku had found that the best way to get feelings out in the open was to simply get them out, and that keeping the feelings inside was a recipe for disaster. Izuku didn't need to give an example for Shinso to understand what he was talking about. So, Shinso had devised a plan that he was going to get Tsu alone one day and say the words, but that chance hadn't come. Yet. But, Shinso had told them to forget about it, because he wasn't going to do it like that and it was stupid to think that any kind of plan was going to get that to happen.

"I wasn't. I wasn't gonna plan anything, just wait until it felt right. But, we've been together for two months. It feels like I'm not doing enough, so I want to do this," Shinso said.

"You shouldn't have to feel like you need to justify Tsu being with you. They're their own person, with their own energy and time, and they're choosing to spend it on you. It's the same the other way around. You're two people who care about each other, so just let it go. If you worry too much about whether or not you're doing it right, you're gonna get it wrong for real. That's how you screw it up, so don't. Just enjoy what you have with them, Shinso. Do you really want to miss out on something like that with something like them?" Izuku said, dropping the suitcases he was carrying on the ground with his own. He'd dropped his where Aizawa had instructed him, next to the storage area of the bus, so he saw nothing bad with dumping everything in one place, as long as there was some kind of order to it.

"When'd you get good at relationships?" Shinso asked, playfully punching Izuku on the shoulder.

"I don't know, outside perspectives or something like that," Izuku replied.

Shinso smiled. "Oh, and I think it's been long enough that we can stop being so formal, you know?" he added.

"What do you mean?" Izuku asked.

"I want you to use my given name. Tsu mentioned it on the phone the other day, and I agree that the four of us have this weird dynamic where some of us call certain people by their given or family names, and I think that we've known each other for long enough, and we're good enough friends to just call each other by our given names as a mutual thing. Don't you think so?" Shinso said, dropping his own things next to Tsu's.

Izuku had been caught off guard by this change of topic, so his mind was still trying to catch up. Unfortunately, Izuku's mind in conversation with other, real people was more akin to a pushbike with a loose chain, rather than a human brain, able to think and all that. But, he eventually got there. That was Izuku Midoriya; if you couldn't trust him to get it, you could trust him to get it seven hours later while preparing for bed.

"Uh, yeah! I think that's a great idea. Have you told Ochako about it?" Izuku said.

"Tsu has, I think. Might be where they got the idea," Shin—Hitoshi said. Izuku had gotten caught up with retroactive naming way more than he was comfortable with at UA. Was that a thing everyone was having trouble with, or was it just him?

"Alright, then. Hey, speaking of …" Izuku turned to Tsu, who was just finishing a conversation with Aizawa. "Do you know when Ochako's getting here? She told me that she was coming, but she didn't say when," he asked.

Tsu shrugged, which made Izuku's brow furrow in thought. It wasn't like Ochako to not tell them things like that. Maybe she'd gotten sick in Mie. Maybe she had decided not to come after all. Everyone was going to camp, though. Maybe that was why. Izuku shook himself out of it and came back down to Earth, getting a look from Hitoshi as he awkwardly chuckled to himself. He really had to stop making it look like what he kept saying it wasn't. Hitoshi had been pretty lax with the teasing about their 'close but not close' relationship, and Izuku was thankful for that, but he'd made it plenty clear that he could pick it up again if they got too cavalier with it. What the hell did that even mean? It was like Hitoshi thrived on chaos or something — oh, wait, he did. He'd said that exact phrase a few months ago as everything was settling down to a kind of normal. Izuku was silly for hoping that he might have been anything but the gossiping type. He was just surprised that he hadn't fallen in with Ashido yet. That girl could talk.

Just then, a car pulled into the parking lot. It was a faded brown color, and Izuku wondered who it was. That wondering was cut short when he easily spotted three heads of the same brown hair, the same brown hair that Ochako had. Izuku saw that she was in the back seat, what looked to be her mother and father in the front. Oh, no. He couldn't meet anyone's parents wearing a shirt that said 'casual shirt' on it, so he was not going to meet Ochako's parents in one. Izuku began to unconsciously walk away, but his back hit the cool metal of the truck before he could get far. He frowned, feeling the sweat begin to form on his face. Izuku looked at Hitoshi for help.

"You're still weird about this? It's not like you're dating their daughter or anything," Hitoshi said.

"This is fine. Go ahead," Tsu said.

The car stopped, and the three Urarakas got out of the car to unload Ochako's two suitcases and backpack. Well, Tsu was right about that. Izuku began walking toward their car, lucky that none of them had looked over at him yet, but whipped back around to look at Tsu and Hitoshi.

"Do I look okay?" Izuku asked, smiling awkwardly.

"I just realized, but you kinda look like a mad scientist with that hair," Hitoshi said, smirking.

"While that is true, you look fine. Go," Tsu said, giving Izuku a thumbs up.

With his confidence kind of restored, Izuku began to walk over to the car that, to be honest, should've been sold years ago by the looks of it. He'd known that Ochako's family wasn't the most well off, but this was something else. He ignored it, though, and walked over with his shaking hands in his pockets. Izuku heard the three talking to each other, and approached the rear of the car, where the Urarakas were gathered, with caution.

"Hey," Izuku said uneasily, waving shyly to Ochako.

"Izuku!" Ochako said, sprinting over to him and wrapping him in a tight hug that he readily returned.

"It's been a minute, huh?" Izuku said, well aware that he now had Ochako's parents' full attention.

"It has! I missed you so much in Mie. Did you get my text for your birthday?" Ochako asked, leaning away from him.

"Uh, yeah, I loved it. Thank you," Izuku answered, smiling brightly.

"It's weird that you're sixteen, now. I'm just glad you're not any taller!" Ochako said, comparing their heights with her hand. They'd always been around the same height, with Izuku being just a little taller. He liked it that way, too.

"Yeah," Izuku said, his eyes flicking from Ochako to her parents nervously.

Ochako's face lit up, turning to her parents in a flash. She walked back over to them and brought them in for a huddle. When they started whispering to each other, Izuku took his chance to look over at Tsu and Hitoshi and grimace. He saw that they were talking, not even looking at him, and that gave Izuku some peace of mind. At least someone was having a good time right now. When Ochako tapped him on the shoulder, Izuku whipped around and forced a smile.

"Mom, Dad, meet Izuku Midoriya. He's my best friend!" Ochako said, presenting him like some kind of celebrity.

"Hi," Izuku said lamely.

"So, you're the boy our daughter's been telling us about?" her father, a tall man who was clearly hiding a lot of muscle under that shirt, asked.

"Uh, yes?" Izuku said, more of a question than an answer.

"You saved her life?"

"Yeah."

"You fought for her after she was hurt?"

"I did."

"You got her an autograph from her favorite Hero in the world?"

"Yes."

"You do all those things for her just because you can?"

"Sure."

Izuku was starting to feel like this was an interrogation. This was totally the whole 'boyfriend test' he'd seen a dozen times in movies. Izuku started wringing his hands together, looking at the man in front of him nervously. He tried not to make eye contact, but every time he did it just made his heart go faster. It wasn't until Ochako stepped in that his heart rate stopped speeding up.

"Dad, you don't have to grill him like this. He's my friend, not my boyfriend. Jeez," Ochako said, putting a comforting hand on Izuku's shoulder.

"Sorry, kid. It's just something I gotta do to any boys my little Ochako seems to feel as strongly about as you," Ochako's father said, winking at Izuku. He thought that was probably supposed to be suggestive, but Izuku just laughed it off.

"Dad!" Ochako whined, blushing deeply.

"It's fine. I get it," Izuku said, chuckling at Ochako's embarrassment.

"I'm Hataraki Uraraka. Pleased to meet you, son," the older man said, holding his hand out for a handshake.

Izuku shook Hataraki's hand. He'd never been called 'son' before by someone so fatherly, so he'd been caught a little off guard and felt his cheeks warm up slightly. All Might called him 'my boy' sometimes, but they were different. Izuku wouldn't admit it to anyone but himself, but he saw All Might as a father figure. They'd known each other for over a year, and in that time they'd shared something with each other that only fathers and sons got to in the grand scheme of things; a Quirk. Technically, seven Quirks, but it was the same thing. They had the same stuff running through their blood, so to speak, so that made them family. But to hear someone so inviting call him 'son', it gave Izuku a rush of something that he couldn't quite put a name to. He'd probably figure it out later.

"I'm Kiseki. It's nice to meet you, Midoriya. It's hard to imagine such a little guy doing all the things Ochako's told us you've done, but I'll take her word for it," Ochako's mother said.

"Why is that what everyone hones in on? Am I short?" Izuku mumbled, making Ochako laugh.

"Nah, you're not short. You're …" Ochako trailed off.

"If you say 'vertically challenged', I'll stop helping you when you float yourself," Izuku said, frowning at Ochako.

"I was gonna say 'fun sized', but now I think I'll just call you short," Ochako said, raising an eyebrow at Izuku.

Izuku laughed, and took a moment to think that this was actually going well. Ochako's parents didn't hate him, at least. Well, that first part had been scary, but it was alright. Izuku sighed, and smiled. Their conversation went on for a few more minutes, but it was mostly Ochako's parents wishing her good luck with camp and saying that they'd call her every night she was away, and that they left her something special in her bag, and that they loved her, and a dozen other things. Eventually, the two were left alone.

As soon as they were, Ochako looked over and saw Tsu and Hitoshi hanging out over by the bus, where it looked like Bakugo, Ashido and Tokoyami had showed up and checked in with Aizawa. Ochako ran over to Tsu, squeezing them until they had enough, but Izuku was focused on Tokoyami. Izuku hadn't seen him since the exam where he'd been hurt by Ashido's attack, nobody except for Ashido had, and he needed to know that he was okay.

Izuku began to walk over, but paused when Tokoyami looked at him with glowing yellow eyes, just like Dark Shadow's. Izuku jolted at the sight of it, but now that he was looking closer, all of Tokoyami's head, except for his beak, looked like the shadowy texture of Dark Shadow. Izuku stood there, with what was probably a dumbfounded expression on his face, until Tokoyami laughed and smirked.

"Strange to look at, correct?" Tokoyami asked.

"Uh, no! Not at all, it's just … new. What's … going on?" Izuku asked, inspecting the shadowy surface stretched across his friend's face.

"Well, Ashido's acid attack blinded me. My eyes couldn't be saved," Tokoyami said, Ashido sighing next to him.

"You … looked right at me before. How?" Izuku asked.

"That's because of Dark Shadow. Though Recovery Girl was not able to save my eyes, with help from Aizawa and a few specialists, I was able to discover that Dark Shadow had undergone a change. It's a theory in academia, apparently, that Quirks can change in extreme situations. If a Quirk is pushed to its limits, then it may expand. It grows, and sets new limits greater than the ones it had previously," Tokoyami explained.

"Quirk Awakenings! I'm familiar with the concept, but I thought they were just a myth. This is huge for the Quirk Analysis field, for this to be true. So, what? They think Dark Shadow went through an Awakening to compensate for your loss of sight?" Izuku asked.

"Yes. It's strange, but we are connected now, deeper than before. We used to simply share thoughts, but now we share sensations, feelings. I can see through her eyes," Tokoyami said.

"Sorry; her?" Izuku asked, frowning in confusion.

"Yes. Because Dark Shadow is going to be out constantly in order for me to see, we decided that she should be able to decide for herself what she'd be referred to as. She's picking out a name other than Dark Shadow, currently, but it's coming along slowly. She says it needs to be perfect," Tokoyami elaborated with a small smile.

"Huh. That's great. I know that you talked about Dark Shadow wanting to feel more like a person, but I had no clue that this was even something you could do. I always was fascinated with her being sentient, but it makes sense that she wouldn't want to go by 'Dark Shadow'," Izuku replied.

Tokoyami hummed in response, and Izuku smiled. He smiled until he realized something about Dark Shadow constantly being active and on and aware of everything going on around her.

"Does that mean she'll listen in on your conversations all the time forever?" Izuku asked.

"Yes, that is an unfortunate downside. I'm viewing it a different way, though. She already did that, but now she can't hide it from me. So, we're on even ground," Tokoyami said.

The two of them laughed. Izuku enjoyed talking to Tokoyami. Sure, he was a bit dour or gloomy in nature, but he had unique insights into things that Izuku would never get from his perspective. He had a special wisdom, and Izuku attributed that to having two fully formed minds inhabiting the same body. It was like Izuku and his notes; Tokoyami was able to get that back and forth with feedback as he was thinking things through, so he always made good decisions. That was something that Izuku was able to do as well, but not as efficiently, since the vestiges still wouldn't talk to him. What was going on with them? Izuku hoped that they would open up to him again. He missed Nana.

Soon enough, everyone arrived; even Class B. Izuku had gone over to Kendo and talked with her, the two catching up after the few weeks they'd gone without Class Rep meetings to go to. The whole class was mingling together, speaking with their own little groups and generally enjoying themselves. Izuku was enjoying himself, too, but he was the Class Rep, so he had to organize them all. Aizawa gave him a look from across the mass of students that Izuku hastily nodded to while not-so-subtly ending his conversations prematurely. He looked over at what Kendo was doing, but she had this attitude of 'listen to me' that Izuku just didn't. So, he went to the next best option; Floating above his class and telling them to line up properly.

The boarded the bus quickly and Izuku sighed. He looked over to the kids from 1B staring at him, giving them a peace sign before Aizawa apparently got bored and Erased his Quirk, sending Izuku plummeting to the ground. Luckily for Aizawa, Izuku was used to it, so he was able to land with some of his pride left intact. He glared at his teacher, who was already turning away from him to board the bus. Izuku sighed and followed him into the vehicle, which promptly took off toward the week of absolute torture that awaited the students of UA's Hero course.

This was gonna be horrendous.