"I've totally grown!" Toshi complained while he waved his arms around like a little mad lad, beckoning Aunt Stabby to come so he could show her.

Himiko sighed with a smile as she strolled after him, a ruler in hand. One might be surprised to see her up and about at all. It had been a few months since the families' trip out to the island, and one would expect someone carrying twins after several months—in Himiko's own words—'to be too much of a bloated fucking balloon' to move anywhere.

Except she wasn't.

Himiko strolled through the house looking like she was in the best shape of her life. She had her dancer's body that, if she wasn't careful, would lead to any number of the house's residents pulling her aside so they could get a little handsy.

But how was this possible? Well, she was now the next victim to what is now 'lovingly' referred to as the 'Midoriya Household Jinx.' What the fuck was that? Well, the jinx was simple. No one living under the Midoriya roof could have normal babies.

Clearly this was just an exaggeration and just a way for their friends to tease the strange household. Except it wasn't, as explained by an exasperated Katsuki after the most recent 'incident.'

First there was Eri and her whole yakuza, Shie Hassaikai, bullshit she dealt with before Izuku and Ochako were able to adopt her. When she was ten and they were only a year graduated from U.A. So not normal at all.

Second was Toshi. Their first biological child and son. Normal enough, right? No. Not only was he conceived at damn near the same time the ink was drying on Eri's adoption papers, but after some quick math between the four, they were able to narrow down when Toshi was conceived, and Izuku and Ochako were most definitely on patrol that night.

Then of course there was the craziness that was when he got induced. At a hospital where it was safe and there were doctors and nurses ready to help with the delivery? Nope, in the field during a villain armed robbery spree. Ochako, heavy with child, decided to step in and float one of the getaway cars. While it was driving away with the pedal to the floor.

So, the whole world got to see the great hero Uravity go into labor while heroes on site set up a perimeter and Ochako gave birth in the back of a truck Izuku had pulled off the street, while Tsuyu ended up using the bags of cash as pillows for her head, and Himiko—thanks to being the only person on site with any medical training—helped deliver Toshi into the world.

"You're supposed to get pregnant in the back of trucks, not have babies!" Ochako was reported to have screamed at one point. Cursing the whole situation.

Then there was Juuriko. Doctors had her almost ready to be brought out of her incubation pod. The Midoriyas' second daughter, and an unplanned one. They only found out Ochako was pregnant after a villain's hideout blew up and some medical personnel were pulling shrapnel from her stomach. To make sure both baby and mother could recover, Juuriko was removed and put into an incubator while both of them were healed. By the time that was done, there was no way to reintroduce her into Ochako.

So now the family was waiting for their newest child 'to hatch,' as Toshi kept putting it. Plus, there was now the whole floating issue of if Ochako and Izuku would want more children, with them all being so young and working as heroes. Also, there were now potential risks if Ochako even could have more children. So all in all, more Jinx normality.

Then came Himiko and Tsuyu's turn to experience the Jinx. You'd think they would be safe, but noooo, they were not. A fact Himiko learned at almost the cost to her life.

One absolutely terrifying night, Himiko stumbled into the bathroom, thinking she was about to deal with some of the lovely morning sickness that she used to give Ochako a hard time over while holding the poor woman's hair back. Ochako was the one up that night to give her a hand, carrying some bottle of water to give the pregnant woman to wash out her mouth. When she saw that what Himiko was ejecting from her mouth was bile and blood, she screamed so loud it immediately got the whole house in panic mode.

Tsuyu cratered a wall as she lept down the hall to get to Himiko. Getting the blonde to the hospital was Izuku's job, and that man flew to get her there. It took an emergency surgery to remove the twins and place the little boy and girl into incubation chambers, then, while they were closing her up, doctors pumped anti-toxins into Himiko.

The following morning they found out what happened. One of the twins had developed poison glands due to their Frog Quirk and as a result, had started to poison Himiko from within. One look at the little boy, his Aposematism skin—bright orange that faded to pale blue with dark black splotches over his body, like a dart frog—made it clear he was the culprit. By a miracle, the twin sister seemed immune to the poison her brother was excreting while they shared the womb.

All made recoveries, thanks to the wonders of modern medicine and Quirks, but like Ochako, Himiko and Tsuyu's children now had to finish gestation outside. At the very least, they were all being looked after in the same hospital.

When news reached the class, and everyone heard that everyonewas alright, several ended up sending the poly multiple boxes of condoms. Begging them, for their sanity, to please use some protection so they wouldn't have to worry about the Jinx anymore.

So that's why Himiko was able to saunter around the house, when she should have been in the later stages of her pregnancy.

Walking into the living room, Himiko smirked as Toshi was already pressed up against the wall, bouncing from one foot to another. "Measure! Measure!"

"Okay, okay. Let's see what we're working with," Himiko said as knelt down and put the ruler on top of Toshi's head. "Oi, no tippy toes now," she chided with a laugh. Toshi puffed out his cheeks, but did as he was told. Holding the ruler in place, Himiko guided Toshi away, and sure enough, the ruler was above the last mark in the wood. By like half a centimeter at most.

"Well, what'do you know." Himiko laughed as Toshi bounced around celebrating.

"Mark it! Mark ot so I can show off to big sister!"

Himiko wagged a finger at Toshi, making small tut tuts. "Now, you know the rules. You only get to make a mark on your birthday."

"Awwww," Toshi pouted.

"Buuut, to celebrate, I'll get you some candy to eat."

"Candy before lunch?! Yay!" His eyes were big and round. "Do I get to try one of those gummy bears you hide in your dr—"

Himiko made quick cutting motions at her neck. "Nah uh uh! Remember, we don't talk about those. Also, those are Aunt Himiko's special adult candies. How about some chocolate instead?"

"Yay!" Toshi cheered as he raced to the kitchen.

Standing up, Himiko silently debated the use in moving those special candies. Toshi always seemed to find her stuff no matter what. Her gummies. Her knives, which he liked to run around swinging like swords. The collar, which led to everyone debating if they needed to go buy a puppy immediately to explain that away. Fortunately, since he also found the cuffs, they could just say it was hero gear for capturing villains.

With Toshi out of the room, Himiko knew she really should go after him. 'Some' chocolate could become 'a lot' of chocolate very fast. But her eyes drifted to the board Toshi had been standing against. It was a wood beam used in most homes all over the country, one you would find at the end of a hallway or at a wall's corner. Simple wood, but now sanded smooth, stained and with a clear coat to keep it pretty.

Four inscriptions were marked into the wood. One for each of Toshi's four birthdays, showing how much he'd grown year to year. On either side of the beam were more beams. One for Eri, to mark her height starting at her eighth birthday, which she'd also added stickers onto, all of which were clear coated to make sure none of the unicorns peeled off. The other, unmarked but ready for Juuriko. The wall in the living room didn't just have these for the kids. There were ones for the adults too. They all had one. Then there was hers, the one responsible for starting this little family tradition.

Himiko still wasn't sure how he'd pulled it off. In the middle of a fucking villain uprising, jail breakers everywhere turning Japan into a war zone, the four of them, drifting place to place trying to solve it all themselves, tracking villains, fighting villains, dealing with those Knight's of Stain fucks, being bait, staying ahead of the heroes that were either happy to use them as bait or trying to get them back to school and dealing with a family feud that the Berry Springer Show would salivate at.

In the middle of all of that, after one night in her old, abandoned home, Izuku had somehow gotten this damned beam out of the house, and transported it somewhere safe. All because Himiko, in a moment of nostalgia, stood in front of it and asked her lovers if they'd measure her and see how much she'd grown.

Himiko ran her fingers over that brand new line that marked such a turning point for her. Her hand ran down, to the one wobbly line when she, heartbroken that her parents refused, tried to measure herself, just after her Quirk had manifested and she had found that bird. Then there were the marks at the bottom. Ones made by her parents so, so, long ago before everything. The night they first saw them, her name, age and height, written on the wood in black felt tip permanent marker, were scratched and gouged to the point you almost couldn't see them anymore. That was the last time they stayed like that.

Himiko smirked as she knelt down and ran her fingers at the base of the beam. The black ink stood out, perfectly legible against the gold filled and infused cuts and gashes. Wood to polished jeweled metal was smooth and perfect. Repaired and made better than new.

"Aunt Stabby! Aunt Stabby!" Toshi came running back in. In one arm were tucked several bars of chocolate, so he'd very much helped himself given the opportunity. But in his hand, he was waving her phone, which was pinging and chirping like mad. "Your phone."

Standing up, Himiko recognized some of those personal chirps as texts from her classmates.

Chirp

Beep

Ring

The notifications were going crazy, and they weren't stopping. "Whaaaat is going on?" Grabbing her phone, Himiko was about to look before she immediately pointed at a quickly retreating boy. "OI! You get three bars. Put the rest back!"

"Okay!"

Himiko wasn't sure, but she had a feeling she just got played. Boy just wormed three bars of chocolate out of her. But she could worry about the sugar rush coming later. Apparently there was some sort of crisis happening with all the texts she was getting. DM's and group chats were exploding. "I swear to god, what has everyone so freaked…"

Himiko read.

She put her phone down and rubbed her eyes.

"Spit Fire, cover your ears!"

She read again, juuuust to make sure.

"HE FUCKING PROPOSED?!"

With dawn's first light only just cresting over the horizon and the grass and trees still damp with morning dew, both 1-A and 1-B trudged out of the campsite, following behind their homeroom teachers. Neither seemed overly concerned with their dreary charges. Ochako walked forward with eyes blurry and half closed while behind her, Izuku did his best to make sure she was pointed in the right direction, while also fussing with her hair, trying to pat down the sides as she suffered from some pretty bad bed head.

Behind him, Himiko rested her chin in the nap of his neck while her arms were wrapped around his shoulders, hanging onto him while she shuffled her feet, unable to actually work up the energy to walk. Tsuyu worked to get her blonde hair up into a pair of buns, though given how sleepy she felt, her fingers were clumsy and got tangled up more than a few times.

At the very least, no one had a hangover.

The two classes were brought into a large clearing, a suspiciously far distance away from the main campsite. Mei was already there, with her portable lab already set up, and plenty of odds, ends and dohickeys of varying sizes and questionable legality ready to use. Much to Izuku's terror.

Up on a small platform of raised stone, Aizawa, Midnight and Vlad King watched the group of kids get settled in front of them. It was like looking at a hoard of sleep deprived zombies.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!" Aizawa was careful to make sure he raised his voice enough to get as many of the kids to flinch as possible. "Today, we will begin training camp to increase your strength in earnest."

The kids all straightened up as at last, it was time to get at the heart of why they were all here. The teachers saw that the kids were taking this seriously, even if they were still half asleep.

"I'm sure many of you already know why you're here, but let me spell it out for you. The goal of this training camp is to increase the strength of everyone's Quirks and with that, for everyone to obtain their provisional licenses."

While the first bit was known, that last bit, not so much. Murmurs spread, and some of the students looked at each other as they took that in. Provisional licenses were a serious step, and most knew that it was something they'd be prepping for in their second year. After they'd had chances at another work study.

Vlad King noticed the confused looks and addressed them. "We've chosen to pursue this so you all could be prepared to face the growing hostilities and threats that are becoming more and more the norm." He eyed them all. "The unfortunate truth is that the world seems to be getting more dangerous of late, and we teachers want to make sure you all have every experience at your disposal to help make sure you can handle it."

Aizawa nodded. "That includes being able to use your Quirks without having to worry about breaking any laws. Hence the licenses."

"Did he look over here?" Izuku whispered.

Himiko, head still resting on his shoulder, grumbled out a soft 'probably.'

Itsuka raised her hand. "So this whole trip is to develop our Quirks? But there are forty two of us. And we all have different Quirks, so how are we supposed to know what we're developing and how? Can you be more specific, sensei?"

Vlad King nodded. "You're looking at things wrong. I'm sure you all think that each of your Quirks will require special training techniques to help your progress, but this training will be Quirk development at its most basic. We're not looking to develop specific abilities. It's like Eraser Head said. Strength is the factor we're working on. We're accelerating the growth you would have gotten by just the natural use of your Quirks as you got older."

Midnight cracked her whip. "Think of it like this. When you work out, your muscle fibers are overused and they break and become stronger and thicker. Quirks are the same. If you keep using them, they become stronger, and if you don't, then they waste away." Izuku hummed to himself, recalling that All Might had said the exact same thing to him when they had first met, explaining that was why his Quirk had been in the state it was. "In other words kids, there's just one thing to do! Break through your limits! Plus Ultra style!"

Reiko looked around, no one really able to tell if her droopy eyes were from being tired or just her normal expression. "Regardless of the type of training we're doing, is it safe for us to take this on, with only three teachers here? All of us pushing, given the variety we all have, could be dangerous."

Aizawa pointed off to the side. "The inherent dangers of this intense training is why we came out to the middle of nowhere, and why they're here."

The tired students quickly learned that they were not alone as the Wild WIld Pussycats jumped out to make their appearance.

"That's right! The four of us are one!" A new voice for 1-A, but one that sent a shiver of fear throughout 1-B. Ragdoll smiled brightly as she struck a pose, spinning around with crazed grace.

"Lock on with these sparkling gazes!" Mandalay proclaimed as she joined in. "We've come to lend a paw and help!"

Another new voice joined the cast, though his one was one of terror and menace. "Coming out of nowhere…" Tiger flexed, his huge muscles bulging.

Pixie-Bob youthfully came in to finish the role call. "Stingingly cute and catlike!"

"Wild, Wild Pussycats! The full version!" The four proclaimed as they all took up their group pose.

Himiko, grouchy as ever, turned to leave. "Nope, fuck this. I'm out." She didn't get very far, and multiple members of the squad grabbed her, not letting her escape.

"Based on their track record and wide range of Quirks, these four are the most logical choice to train your Quirks in a short amount of time," Aizawa explained.

"That's right! We're the key to your success!" Ragdoll boasted, still sticking to her action pose while her teammates had already stood up. "With my Search Quirk, I can know all the info about up to a hundred people by just looking at them!" Her large round eyes scanned over the kids. "I can find out their location and weaknesses, too!"

"My Earthflow will let me make the perfect places for each person to train!" Pixie-Bob smirked. "As some of you have already experienced." She either didn't notice the looks 1-A shot at her or didn't care.

Mandalay stepped up. "With my Telepath, I can give advice to multiple people at once. So I'll be observing everyone to make sure you all are getting the most out of this."

All and all, the three members seemed to have Quirks very well suited to help everyone. Then Tiger growled, "And it's my job to assault you through punching and kicking." He popped his knuckles, an amazing feat with those big kitty cat gloves. "All you power-up types, come to me! Tiger's Bootcamp is about to begin!"

Every close quarters combat student felt a chill run down their spines. Those from 1-B were an extra shade of blue.

Before the death bell could toll, Aizawa at least offered some a reprieve. Because while 1-B seemed to be buying in, he could see in the eyes of some of his students, there were some that weren't convinced. Not that much of a surprise, especially given who weren't a hundred percent bought in just yet. Coming out of a few life or death situations would give anyone an ego boost.

"Bakugou," Aizawa called out, while at the same time he tossed a ball over to him. "I want you to throw that."

Izuku peeked over the taller blond's shoulder. "Hey that's…"

"Oh, it's the thing from the fitness test," Eijirou finished.

Aizawa noted, "Your previous record, from right after you started school, was 705.2 meters. I want you to show everyone how much you've improved."

Katsuki tossed up the ball a few times as he walked off, giving himself a little space.

"Oh, we're checking our progress?"

"Makes sense. Since a lot has happened these past three months. I'm sure they want to have us all set a new baseline."

"Maybe he can throw it a kilometer or something now!"

Izuku crossed his arms. "I mean if you want to see improvement." Ochako elbowed him with an eye roll.

However, Aizawa had heard him. "Your unusual Quirk awakening will skew the results. So it needs to be Bakugou."

"Eh?"

The small exchange was drowned out as more of 1-A cheered Katsuki on, while 1-B watched with interest. Or exasperated interest.

"Do it, Bakugou!"

Katsuki smirked, as he started his windup. "Then, here I go." Just like before, right as he threw the ball, he added an explosion to send it rocketing off into the sky. "GO TO HELL!"

Ochako and Himiko deadpanned, "Go to hell. Seriously?"

At the very least, the explosion got everyone woken up and their ears ringing. Except for Kyouka, for whom Momo had quickly put on a pair of noise canceling headphones.

"Thanks, Yao-momo."

Momo smiled brightly.

"709.6 meters," Aizawa echoed off of his phone, showing everyone the digital display. Almost immediately, the whole feel of the scene changed. Katsuki looked absolutely stunned, while many in 1-A were shocked and muttering.

"Huh? That can't be right?"

"It's way less than I thought."

Even 1-B were looking amongst themselves, though Vlad King was glad to see that many were coming to the right conclusion. There had always been this undertone of fear in the class, that while horrible, the villain attacks that 1-A had weathered had put them at a huge advantage in terms of progress. Clearly, that gap wasn't as big as they thought it was.

Aizawa handed the device over to Vlad King. "It's been about three months since you started high school. You all have been through various experiences. So you all have definitely improved." Aizawa glanced at those that went through I-Island. "But that improvement has mainly been at the mental and technical levels, with some increase in stamina. As you can see, your Quirks themselves have not improved that much."

"I guess that's why he didn't want you throwing the ball, Deku," Ochako whispered. "Your 'awakening' would mess up his message."

"This is why, starting today, your focus will be on improving your Quirks." Then he smiled, and sent the fear of god into the large group. "It'll be so hard you'll feel like dying, but try not to actually die."

Vlad King then stepped forward. "As 1-A already set their baseline at the start of school, 1-B will do so in a similar way. We'll run through several fitness tests using your Quirks. Then at the end of camp, we'll do them again, so we can judge your growth." His eyes turned hard. "And to see who wasn't taking this time seriously."

Again, more fear of god was spread.

Izuku was a little disappointed that he wasn't able to watch 1-B go through their tests. He only got a chance to watch Itsuka, as she enlarged her hands and laid the ball in one of her giant palms. She then used her other hand to flick the ball and send it shooting off into the sky.

"Midoriya, come with me," Aizawa ordered.

My turn now… oh boy.

Walking behind his teacher, Izuku winced as he got a look at his friends and classmates who had already had their meeting with Aizawa, and were given their own personal training routine.

Tenya was running, and running and running, all to increase his stamina. Katsuki was plunging his hands into boiling water to expand his sweat glands while also firing off explosions into the air repeatedly, to further boost the power and scale of his attacks. "Damn it! DIE!"

The screaming while doing it was not necessary to the training.

Shouto was sitting in a large metal drum filled with water. Around it, pillars of fire and giant glaciers were formed and replaced. Alternating between ice and fire, Shouto was working to make the temperature of the water uniform. This also helped him get used to the frigid cold of his Quirk while at the same time letting him work on his fire in rapid succession, with the goal of controlling his fire's temperature.

Fumikage was stuck in a cave, in darkness, training to keep Dark Shadow under control even in an environment where it was prone to run wild.

Hitoshi and Kouji were side by side, yelling off into the distance. Both working to increase the reach of their Quirks, they were now doing vocal exercises to build up their vocal cords. Kouji had the added benefit of also working on his shyness since he was having to do the training right next to someone, who had jolted hearing him raise his voice. "Holy crap, still not used to that from you."

Himiko attempts to leave had been thwarted when, after Midnight's threat of punishment had failed, the three of them told her she'd be in all their doghouses if she dipped and they were the only ones doing any training.

It had only been a short time since she'd started, but Himiko was already standing in a puddle of gray sludge after several dozen transformations, looking absolutely miserable. Her training was to help extend the time limit she could hold a transformation. So she was given the barest minimum amount of blood, a single drop from a syringe, which was enough to hold the transformation for thirty seconds by her estimate.

She was told to hold it for two minutes.

Hearing 'Midnight' swear was very entertaining. Also shocking since no one had known that it was going to be Midnight's blood she was going to be training with. Even Himiko had paused in her rant after hearing Midnight's voice.

As the form melted away, and Himiko was left gasping and sludgy, Izuku had to be honest, that new sports leotard she'd been given to wear so her sweats didn't get destroyed when she used her Quirk and leave her naked, looked really nice clinging to her body.

He was also sure he wasn't the only one to notice it.

Tsuyu, after that first melting, had paused while climbing the mountain, and Ochako, at first, looked like she was trying to steer the bubble she was in just to get another look.

Speaking of, when Ochako sailed on by this time, floating in a bubble and looking green, Izuku winced. "Oh, poor Mochi-Bun."

"I'd be more concerned with yourself than her," Aizawa said simply. After seeing they had come far enough, he turned to Izuku. "Use that tactile move of yours."

Izuku blinked, but didn't question the request. Once he was sparking up, Aizawa nodded, satisfied. "Good, you can do it instantly now. In the term finals it seemed like there was a delay."

"There was, but I've gotten… several chances to use it since then."

Aizawa turned to where Mei was coming up, her portable station making all kinds of clanking noises as she pushed it along. "You have him bugged, right? What kind of power output is he at?"

"Eh, holding steady at five percent," Mei answered after checking her gizmos.

"Where?! Where do you have me bugged?!" Izuku patted himself down, desperately looking for the tracking device. "Wait, you didn't put something in me right?!"

Before Mei could answer, Aizawa was calling out, "Pixie-Bob, drop the boulder on him!"

"Drop the wha—"

"You might want to catch this," Aizawa advised, like he was telling someone how to tie their shoe.

Suddenly, Izuku was under a shadow, and he reacted just in time to get his hands up and catch the classic mini-sized rock before it flattened him. Knees and elbows bent as Izuku absorbed the impact, grunting and straining to hold up the rock as he started to lower it so it rested on his shoulders.

"Fix your form Midoriya. I want an overhead press," Aizawa ordered. "None of this Atlas stance." Izuku made a strained grunt, at least acknowledging he had heard the request. "All Might told me he had you carry him around all the time when he was training you. This rock isn't that much heavier than he is."

Izuku grit his teeth, really wanting to point out that when he was carrying All Might, the giant had been sitting on his shoulders. He hadn't been lifting him over his head. Second, Izuku really wanted to know what 'isn't that much heavier' meant to his teacher. "Jiminy, mother-loving, toaster strudel!"

Mei gasped. "Midoriya! Watch your profanity."

Izuku had wondered, given his current story of using his Quirk to boost his strength, if he had been destined for Tiger's training. Watching the man use Tetsutetsu and Eijirou as a pair of clubs on the other 'power-up types,' Izuku was pretty sure he'd prefer it over whatever hell he was about to get put through. Because there was a catch coming. Every single drill for 1-A was either made by Aizawa or approved by him. So that meant, mixed in with the strength training was a catch.

Eat more sugar to boost strength, and also get more resilient to the blood sugar crash.

Get shoved into a bubble and sent careening over trees and mountains. Get a higher tolerance for stomach sickness, but also deal with disorientation while weightless.

Get used as a club, to be able to take hits, but also be strong enough to dish out punishment.

Well bring it on, Aizawa-Sensei! I'm ready for anything you can throw at me!

"So All Might told me you can't use your Quirks normally when you're using this new technique." Izuku felt his confidence suddenly and violently stall out. "So while you break through your limits in using your Quirk to boost your physical strength, you're also going to be getting used to using this technique in parallel with your Boric Pyre and your regular Psychokinesis applications."

It was true. While he had developed his ability to use One for All relatively quickly, he hadn't yet got the hang of using it and his other Quirks at the same time. It had been an issue he'd had before when his Boric Pyre manifested.

During a rather contentious day of trying, and failing, at getting a hang of using both, Ochako had come up with an analogy to describe his issues. She had used driving a car as an example of multi-tasking, pointing out that when a person is driving, they are doing multiple things at the same time, and their attention is spread out in multiple ways. Keeping track of their speed. Looking at their mirrors. Gas, break and clutch. Izuku hadn't known what a clutch was, and Ochako and All Might both cringed so hard. But over all, she had helped him see that learning to multitask was just something he had to take one step at a time.

'When you're learning how to drive, you get taken to an empty field or parking lot, Deku.'

In hindsight, Ochako's terrifying skill behind the wheel made her explanation make way more sense.

Izuku also got the feeling he was about to learn how to drive again, but with no brakes.

Suddenly, several of Pixie-Bob's dirt beasts popped out of the ground. Smaller than the previous ones, but still ferocious looking.

Make that going down a mountain road with no brakes.

Aizawa walked in front of Izuku, took a step back, and dragged his foot across the ground, making a line in the dirt. "You can only use your Tactile Psychokinesis on the rock. I'll be reviewing Hatsume's data to make sure you didn't cheat. But while you're holding this up, you need to make sure those golems don't cross the line."

"H-how?" Izuku would have kicked himself if he wasn't getting crushed to death.

Aizawa smirked. "Go plus ultra. You have plenty of abilities to break them before they get too close right?"

Oooh no.

While Izuku now fully realized the hell he was in, Aizawa turned his attention to the other member of this test, who was starting to rub her hands together excitedly at all the new data she was going to get to collect.

"I don't think you should be relaxing." Aizawa's gaze was now squarely on Mei. "I told you yesterday you were part of the camping trip now. Right?"

Mei blinked. "Sooo, you want me to look at Midoriya really hard? You know there are two to four girls that'll try to kill me for doing that?"

Aizawa wasn't impressed. "You came here to offer your support as Midoriya's tech. That is the skill you use to save lives over your Quirk. So that's the skill you'll be improving while you're here. And, we're going to make sure you can apply that skill even while under duress."

Aizawa pointed at the golems. "Those golems aren't going to attack Midoriya if he can't stop them from crossing the line. Their target is this." Aizawa rapped his knuckles on the workstation, and Mei made a very distressed noise in her throat. "You will keep Midoriya's vitals and Quirk levels monitored as you planned, and I expect a full summary report, a full detailed summary report, at the end of the day. But your job is to also help him keep the golems away while he's holding up that rock."

"Oh! Well, I got plenty of babies that can—"

"One item for one golem."

"…Eh?"

"You can only use one of your gadgets once against a single golem." Aizawa looked at some of the items Mei had started to bring out. "And nothing prefabricated. Everything has to be built from scratch. And can only be used on golems that are a foot away from the line." Aizawa had his smile back. "I think I heard Power Loader call this an engineering sprint."

"Child abuse!"

"When I do it, it's called training. And I get paid."

As Aizawa walked off, and the golems started to advance, Mei began to scream as she started grabbing her tools to get to work. "I hate your teacher!"

Izuku felt the muscles in his arms strain as he pushed up against the rock, hefting it up a few inches so he could switch his focus for the briefest of moments, to suck in a deep breath and blast the closest advancing rock monster in the face with his fire, before switching back to One for All and catch the rock all over again. "Get in line!"

All Might gave me One for All so I could become his successor. It's been hard work to even get to this point. It was Ochako that helped me finally understand how to use One for All safely. But I can't afford to take it easy. I need to be able to use everything I have. Just keep thinking about the advice Ochako gave you. Gas, break…

Izuku pushed the rock back up into the air, this time focusing his Psychokinesis to slam into one of the approaching golems. "…What's a clutch again?"

Training was grueling and tough. The kids were getting put through the ringer, everything meant to push them and break them, just so Aizawa and Vlad King could build them back up.

Urk! Oh no.

Ochako, after staying inside the bouncy ball for the better part of the morning, could feel that sour taste at the very back of her tongue. Her mouth was starting to water and her dizzy, twisting, stomach just clenched in on itself.

Yup, gonna hurl!

Throwing up was nothing new to Ochako. Granted, until yesterday she'd done an extremely good job of not pushing herself, and her Quirk, to the point of making her vomit. But it wasn't an alarming event like it used to be for her.

What was alarming was that she was in an enclosed bubble. That was rolling around a mountainside. If she threw up in that, things would get nasty in a hurry. There was also the alarming realization that all those extra bowls of food she'd eaten last night may have been a huge mistake. Because the way her insides were tying themselves into knots, this was going to be a chunky geyser.

Fuuuck fuck fuck fuck! Let me out! Le'me out now!

Tapping her fingers together, Ochako grunted as she got her weight back and fell into the bottom of the bubble. An emergency flotation device of some kind, not that it really mattered. Except that it saved her from hitting the ground with a thud.

Clawing at the transparent plastic, Ochako clawed her way out. She wasn't sure if she was going to get in trouble for getting out early, but it was a small price to pay to not be inside something that would quickly turn into a vomit balloon.

"Oop, looks like a kitten is making an escape," one of the Pussycats called out. The slightly manic laugh that followed was the only clue Ochako got it was Ragdoll. "Oooh wait. We might need some wet floor signs in a second."

Bent over, hands on her knees, Ochako spat and drooled as she suddenly realized that her inner ear was still tumbling down the mountain. Coming to a sudden stop felt worse than being in the damned bubble. "Oh no. Oh please make everything, urk, stop spinning."

After a few seconds, Ochako thought maybe she was going to be fine. Maybe she wasn't about to puke up five plus bowls of rice and—

Bleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaa!

Wet floor signs weren't what was needed. Levees and sandbags for floods was what they needed. This was full on, 3 AM after a night of bar hopping vomiting. So Ochako didn't really care that she heard some gags and a few laughs around her. Or someone getting smacked into a tree by Tiger for taking a break in the middle of boot camp. What she cared about was trying to not get puke all over her shoes or fall into the puke lake forming at her feet. Neither task easy, because the world was not done shifting under her.

Another heave, another torrent, and this one hurt. Her body was tensing up now, and her head felt like it was going to pop off from the pressure. This sucked. And it was about to get worse. She leaned over more, and her knees buckled. Dizzy, lightheaded, yup, she was going down.

Someone screamed.

Then a lot of people screamed.

"Look out! Boulder!"

"Gah!"

Something big and heavy got tossed into the air, and landed with a crash. At the same time, strong arms and hands got a hold of Ochako, keeping her up, and after making sure she wasn't going to collapse, a gentle hand moved to help Ochako keep her hair back. "I got you Ochako. I got you."

Izuku stayed by her side, his own training regiment literally tossed into the trees, as he helped get Ochako through this mess.

Finally, her system emptied and her balance back to normal, Ochako could comfortably stay bent over, hands on her knees while she spat on the ground trying to work the rancid taste of bile out of her mouth. Izuku was rubbing her back, while keeping a hand on her shoulder, just in case.

"I'm… good. I'm good," Ochako managed to get out.

God that sucked.

Standing up, Ochako took stock. She had made it out of that with luckily minimal splashback. It was her U.A. sweat top that was speckled, so she got that off.

"I got water bottles, and rags."

"Water sounds good," Ochako wheezed out, reaching for one of them even before her sweat shirt was off. She tossed it away and grabbed the offered water. Pausing when she saw the worried look Izuku was giving her, his eyes were darting all over the place, looking for any sign she was not okay. The amount of worry was not exactly normal. "Deku, it's fine. I've thrown up before."

She really didn't need Izuku worrying over her like this. It was sweet, sure, but, Come on, you don't need to baby me Deku. What's gotten into y… Oh.

It hit her like a punch to the gut, that Izuku needed to make sure she was okay. Needed to help her. "Um… Deku. Maybe you could… help me clean myself off?"

Izuku nodded immediately. "Of course!" He was already soaking the rag with one of the bottles. "Come on. A short walk will help you feel better," Izuku said while he dabbed the wetted cloth at her face. If there was a risk of getting into trouble just blowing off his own training to help Ochako, he really didn't give a damn.

Neito sighed watching the pair. "Gee, all this PDA over the gorilla woman's poor tummy ache. You think people would have higher—"

"ACHOO!"

"Gazoontiiiiii—Ooooh my god, heads up!" Pony yelled in a panic, waving her arms and doing anything really to get Neito's attention.

While she managed to grab the attention of everyone, from 1-A and 1-B, the teachers and the Wild Wild Pussycats, Neito was too busy thinking his latest dig was the greatest ever. So he didn't see the wad of slime Tsuyu hurled out until just before it went splat against his face, and stuck to it like a thick loogie you'd play with in the tissue paper as a little kid.

Minoru hissed. "Oooh that is… so gross."

"Did… Tsu actually say 'achoo' before she did that?" Mezou asked.

"Whoops, kero," came the most dull, uninterested, and unapologetic apology said in all of human history.

A few from 1-B chuckled at the predicament. "HMMMMMMPH!" Neito started screaming and running around while others in his class were debating if they wanted to touch him to help him. There was just so much slime.

Neito paused and then started making all new kinds of noises. "HMMMMMMMMMPH ARGGGGGG!"

"Oh… I think some of my stomach toxins got mixed in. Whoops." How that second whoops sounded even less sincere was a wonder for the ages. She didn't even bother to stay to see how Neito felt with the mild agitation to his skin as she led a laughing Ochako but glaring Izuku away to give him a hand helping clean Ochako up.

Himiko watching the three walk off, promptly dropped her transformation, and walked off after them.

"Okay, you need to take some deep breaths," Himiko all but ordered when the four were in a decently private little section of the forest. Not too far, they could still hear their classmates training easily, but far enough they could have a private talk.

Izuku, after wiping down Ochako's mouth and face, and putting a damp cloth over her neck, was kneeling down and using another rag to help clean off Ochako's shoes of any specks. He paused for a moment to give his girlfriend a quick glance. "She seems pretty calm now. I think we're out of the woods… um, the metaphorical woods."

"Wasn't talking about her," Himiko retorted, putting her hands on her hips while she gave Izuku a very pointed look.

Izuku blinked. "Um?"

"You owe Tsu a huge apology for making her stick her neck out like that. Everyone was playing off her stunt as a joke, but Aizawa could easily still bring the hammer down on her," Himiko said with some curtness.

Tsuyu tapped her chin. "I'm pretty sure I'm in the clear. If I wasn't, I'd probably be wrapped up by Aizawa-sensei and getting detention or thrown out of camp. Not being allowed to just walk away like this."

Izuku was on his feet, but his face had a stubborn set. "Hold on. I didn't do anything. Why are you getting on my case?"

Himiko narrowed her good eye. "Seriously? You didn't get a chance to do anything because twice now, someone's stepped in before you did something bone headed."

"I—"

"You sparked, kero," Tsuyu said. Not accusingly or anything. Just simply stating a fact.

Izuku frowned, his stubborn face still set, before he looked over at Tsuyu. "Tsu, I'm sorry you felt you needed to step in like that. But I never aske—" Thump. "Ow!"

Himiko reared back, and kicked Izuku in the shin. Unfortunately, since she wasn't wearing shoes, just that transformation proof leotard, she pretty much hurt her own foot about as much as Izuku's shin. Both were hopping on one leg before they were sitting on the ground, rubbing their boo boos.

"I swear to god, I keep forgetting how hard your body is, god damn it," Himiko grumbled.

"Well, why'd you kick me then?"

"Deku," Ochako sighed. "You were about to say a really dumb thing."

Izuku glowered up at her. "All I was going to say was—"

Himiko grabbed a handful of grass, and tossed it into Izuku's face. "If one of us was in trouble. Would you wait for us to ask for help?"

"U-um…"

"Exactly. 'The essence of being a hero is meddling even when you aren't asked to.' Pretty sure that's All Might's quote, right?" Himiko threw that out. She frowned at the slightly astonished looks. "I do pay attention in class you know."

Izuku pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around them. "I am sorry you're having to get involved, Tsu." Much more convincing now that some of the stubborn edge was taken off. "He's just… really getting under my skin."

"Hey, I'm just as pissed off at this jackass but we have to be careful about how we go about getting back at the douche." Himiko paused when again, she got more looks. "Stealth expert, remember? You wanna kill someone without alerting their friends, you gotta be patient."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Ahem," Himiko coughed into her hand. "Figuratively of course."

Izuku rubbed his chin. "So what you're saying… is that I should hit him when he's asleep and no one is awake to stop me?"

Bonk!

Ochako rapped her knuckles on Izuku's head. "What we're saying is that you need to stop worrying about retaliating against Monoma, period." Izuku gave her a look, which she responded with a soft but very firm rebuke. "As much as I love, and let me repeat, love that you punched Bakugou in the face, you know darn well that that's going to be used against you if you retaliate against that 1-B douche now."

"None of the teachers actually have any proof, you know," Izuku countered.

Himiko groaned. "You know damn well they know what you did. Our teachers are annoying pains in the ass. Not stupid."

"Also, All Might is a teacher. So you can't say the teachers don't know, kero."

Izuku had a befuddled look on his face as he worked to put that together. "Oh… right."

Sighing, Izuku crossed his arms, apparently showing he was going to relent, but not happily. "Fine. I get it. No punching." The three relaxed. "But I'm not going to pretend I'm happy about the way he keeps going on."

"…Bitch, no one is saying you have to put on a dumb smile and pretend you're not bothered by him. You're welcome to tell him to shut the fuck up, or to fuck off. Or take his 1-B inferiority complex and shove it up his ass." Izuku blinked at the crude comments Himiko was throwing his way. "The issue is, you're skipping the talking part and going straight to taking his head off."

"Oh," Izuku chipped out, acting like it was the first time he realized he could just say something to Neito, and not punch. "I guess I haven't actually tried asking him to stop, have I?"

Himiko threw her hands into the air, exasperated. "Oh my god! Progress!"

While Tsuyu gave Himiko some head pats, congratulating her on a job well done, Ochako took the chance to really drive home their point. "Deku. We know you're not okay right now. You're still hurting after everything. We've known, and that's why we're more than happy and willing to step in."

She knelt down and wrapped Izuku up in a hug, which he leaned into. "And the fact that you're only now thinking about trying to talk to solve this problem, should let you know you're not okay, too. Because you know, you can't just… use One for All in retaliation. That's not something you'd ever just do."

It was true. Now that Izuku was actually thinking about the whole situation… If he had been 'sparking up,' as Katsuki, and now Tsuyu, had said when they had stepped in… Then there was the very real threat that if he had punched Neito…

Izuku shuddered when the image of a watermelon popping during a game of suikawari flashed in his mind.

At the very least, everyone was on the same page now. Of course the girls were still sticking with their agreement, and were ready to do what needed to be done to prevent anything from getting a horrible reaction out of Izuku. Ochako herself was wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to take some initiative and deal with Neito in a way that made his class responsible.

Might be time to have a little talk with their rep.

While everyone was now on the same page, and back on their feet, Tsuyu didn't think ending their conversation on such a serious note was all that good of an idea. No one likes ending conversations on a downer topic. So she decided that it was time for Himiko to fall on the nickname grenade. Or get thrown on it, same thing really. "Midoriya. What kind of nicknames will Himi-chan get once you three are going steady?"

There was the immediate reaction to Tsuyu's assumption that the three were going to get to that point. Himiko might say it like it was a sure thing, but hearing Tsuyu say it hit different. However, any thoughts on the matter were brutally stabbed to death as Himiko realized what Tsuyu had just done. Ochako too, but she was grinning ear to ear and looked ready to eat up all of Himiko's anguish.

Izuku, still blushing at the idea of the steady thing, still didn't miss a beat. Which was alarming/sweet since it meant this was a thing he was thinking about. "Well, I was thinking it could be Sweet Tooth, Hickey Honey, Bitey Beauty, Sexy Stabby, Madam Sucky," Himiko started crying while Ochako and Tsuyu weathered the gooey fluffy horror that was Izuku, "My Little Pomegranate, Juice Box…. Oh, and Bite Mommy."

Himiko, utterly embarrassed and humiliated, and not in the 'fun' way but the 'oh god all this positive love and affection is horrible,' way, shrieked, "WHY AM I MOMMY TOO?!" Her hand whipped out and pointed at Tsuyu, who made an alarmed croak that suddenly she was about to get made a target., "What?! Does she become Frog Mommy?!"

Alarm twisted into distress, as Tsuyu was downright panicking as she looked at Izuku.

"No, that's silly," Izuku rebuffed the accusation that he'd ever use such a silly name.

Tsuyu put a hand over her heart and let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god, kero."

"She'd be Tongue Mommy," Izuku stated with a dead ass straight face.

Ochako looked for a tree to puke behind, while Tsuyu was left comatose to the world. Himiko was close to ripping out her hair as she screamed, "WHY?! WHY THAT?!"

"I mean, with the way you two talked about the things she did to you with her tongue, I figured you'd know why."

Himiko pointed at Izuku accusingly, mouth flapping to chew him out, but no words came out. She then snapped her fingers and swore. "Fuck, that makes sense now."

"HIMI-CHAN?!"

"Hey, you're the one that throat swabbed me and then didn't stop me from bragging about it the day after. This is your fault."

Ochako, done throwing up and trying to get her dignity back—which was really really really hard when it seemed like her boyfriend's whole existence right now was made to fluster her, Himiko and Tsuyu—finally asked the question she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to. "Deku. I love you. I do. But… why, and I ask this with all the love I can, WHY DO YOU KEEP CALLING US MOMMY?!"

Izuku smiled, that bright innocent, heart clenching and stomach fluttering smile. "I mean, I am a mama's boy."

And in one fell swoop, Izuku KO'd the three. Because, there was no way on god's green earth that any of them could hear that, and not have so, fucking, many, naughty thoughts.

Ochako's face went neon and she had to slap her hand to her face, because she was pretty sure her nose was bleeding from how much blood was rushing up there. Tsuyu made a sound that you only hear if you live near a frog filled pond in spring, or on the educational channel when the host of the animal documentary is talking about frog's mating cycles.

And Himiko, all pretenses were gone. All shame evaporated away as she wiped drool from her mouth and licked her lips. She made no secret that she wanted to jump at Izuku right there, and do unspeakable things to his body.

And Izuku just smiled that innocent, thousand watt, knowing smile. He might not be brave enough to flirt and tease like Himiko could. Or able to match Tsuyu's natural talent for bluntness and animal intensity. And trying to out cute Ochako was a doomed enterprise from the start. But, if there was one thing Izuku Midoriya could do, it was to shower these girls in so much love and affection. Because in this, he had no shame. He was more than happy to make a fool of himself to make sure they knew they were loved. To sing their praises and let the world know just how amazing they were.

And if it got them a little flustered, a little hot, a little needy? Well, Izuku found out after spending a few days with Ochako alone on I-Island, that he liked kissing. Like, he liked kissing a lot. Kissing and being kissed.

"So wait, would that make me your Baby's Mommy then?"

Izuku's head snapped to the side, startled by the sudden addition to the group. Then he chuckled nervously as Mei strolled up to them. "O-oh? Um… I guess so?" Izuku scratched his neck with a goofy grin.

Boy I think that one could get me into trouble.

…

You think?

Mei's question was like a bucket of cold water getting thrown on the three as they turned to find her strolling up to them. Though, when you're running that hot, water will only do so much. Though it was enough to get Himiko to grumble about techs cutting in line.

"Just so you know, your absence from the training grounds has been noticed. Fortunately Midnight is buying us a little time. But your Grouchy Greasy teacher let me know the clock's ticking and if you're not careful, you're all going to be taking the extra lessons along with the guys that failed your tests."

Izuku winced. "Oof, yeah, we definitely don't want that." Izuku looked at Ochako. "I mean, if you're feeling better?" Ochako nodded, still not sure she trusted herself to open her mouth. Not that she was afraid of throwing up again, but because she was pretty sure what would come out would be a sentence that included 'take' and 'me.'

"Okay, then let's go before we get in trouble. Thanks for grabbing us, Hatsume."

"We'll be… right behind you, kero."

Izuku looked at them before nodding, walking off with Mei.

After Izuku and Mei were past the trees and out of sight, three pleasantly mortified girls took stock of their situation. Himiko then decided the best thing she could do was open her mouth and use it to say words she thought up herself. With her own brain. So, you know, that worked out. "So, when do we tell Inko that her baby boy calls us mommy too?"

…

"Tsu."

"Kero?"

"Smack her please."

Tsuyu's tongue shot out like a whip, SLAP!

"Ow, what the fuck?!"

Himiko's complaint was ignored while Ochako and Tsuyu just kept watch where Izuku had left.

"Tsu."

"Yes?"

"Did you just spank Toga's ass?"

Himiko had some choice swears as she rubbed her poor cheeks. Tsuyu answered with a blunt, "I know what I'm about, kero."

Midnight eyed Himiko as the girl walked up to her training stage and went to grab one of the little syringes like nothing had happened.

"Anything you want to say?" Midnight asked.

"Nope," Himiko replied back.

Midnight frowned, crossing her arms. "Really? So nothing happened with Midoriya then?"

"Oh, plenty is happening. But we're taking care of it. Don't need teachers sticking their noses into things."

Ragdoll strolled on by. "Hmm, kittens should be focusing on their training. If one of them is troubled, let a cat be the one to help." She made little grabby hands with her paw mitts. "It's why we're here."

Both watched the Pussycat keep strolling by before Midnight pointed at her. "She's right, you know. You all are here to focus on a task."

"And yet Monoma is free to take time to give Izuku a hard time," Himiko countered before she paused. "We're looking after him."

"Midoriya?" Midnight looked over where Izuku and Mei were returning to their training area, laughing off some good-natured ribbing from a few classmates asking for a warning before he tossed a giant boulder in their general direction. "I've been meaning to talk to him—"

"Oh god no. Please let that boy breathe. He doesn't need you old folks coming down on him," Himiko mockingly pleaded.

"He's been through a lot in the past few days… on top of dealing with a lot of horrible situations most of you wouldn't be dealing with until you've graduated."

"He talks to us. We have this under control." Himiko paused, then pointed her thumb over towards where Vlad King was running some of his students through the ringer for their Quirk training. "You wanna help? Go get that guy to get his class in line. Monoma especially."

Himiko blinked, then frowned, when Midnight scratched at her neck. "Sooo… about that…"

"What?"

"The topic of how… 1-B has acted with 1-A has been brought up before… and Vlad King has…" Midnight searched for the best way to put this. "Been very… against taking any steps in putting a muzzle on his students. Rivalries build character. If they have chips on their shoulders, then it's just more coal to fuel their fires. That sort of thing."

"…So he's encouraging their bullshit?"

"…Yes."

"Holy fucking shit, what the fuck?"

Midnight held up a hand. "Just remember who your homeroom teacher is before you throw stones."

"He brought up Izuku's mom."

"Once," Midnight pointed out, though clearly not happily, "and Vlad King let me know that after Monoma regained consciousness, he made sure that he knew to drop that. And he hasn't taken a direct shot at Midoriya since. He's poking the class, like he always does." Midnight frowned thoughtfully. "Unless there's something going on you'd like to tell me about, so I can get involved, well… Midoriya is going to have to grow a thick skin."

Himiko said nothing, and just went back to her training. Midnight for her part glanced back to where Izuku was, feeling that despite Himiko's objections, it might be a good idea to figure out where his head was. No one, aside from Ochako, Himiko and Tsuyu had had any meaningful conversations with Izuku since the attack. Even All Might hadn't had an opportunity to really talk with him. So there were a lot of unknowns. And unfortunately it seemed like the three were closing ranks around him.

Which in of itself was setting off alarm bells.

Midnight knew what Ochako was capable of. Her fights in the sports festival gave a pretty good indication she wasn't above throwing hands. Or confronting someone she felt was hurting Izuku. Such as the locker room incident.

Himiko… was, well, Himiko.

Tsuyu was the surprise wild card. Her early feelings had been that now that she was Himiko's girlfriend, she'd become a massive anchor keeping Himiko in line, but clearly was taking her role as the fourth member of… whatever these four had seriously. To the point that their overall attitude was rubbing off on her and not the other way around. Everyone played off the face slime as the two classes exchanging the Quirk equivalent of spitballs, but the fact Tsuyu had acted at all…

Yeah, something is not right here. Not at all.

There was also the other floating unknown. No proof and All Might was extremely tight-lipped about the situation, but the teachers knew Izuku had punched Katsuki. Something had set the boy off, and that was before, when Midnight had a good guess over what was rattling around in his head. Add these new unknowns to the fact that Izuku, under the right conditions, could be set off…

Not good.

"Ha ha… Ha haaaa…" Neito pointed as he lay on the ground, his skin shining thanks to the steel covering it, the tree he had been knocked into by Tiger cracked in half. "Look. One of those… 1-A numbskulls is stuck… you'd never see… one of… in such a sorry state."

Neito pointed towards one of the cliff faces, where Kyouka was folded against the mountainside, exhausted, her jacks still stabbed into the rock, where they had been after several minutes of fruitlessly trying to pull them out.

"Aren't… they still digging Honenuki out of the ground… after what Pixie-Bob did to him?" Mashirao panted on the ground, laid out after a vicious kick to the side by the brutal cat man, the large bruise on his tail showing his attempt to block hadn't exactly worked.

"That… and this… are two… totally different thin— ACK!" Neito grunted as Tiger stepped up and stomped a foot into his chest.

"Oh good. If you have the energy to mock the other class, you must have made a breakthrough in extending your Copy's time limit." Tiger reached down and grabbed a fistfull of the blond's hair and pulled him up. "That means you can go another round as my training bat."

Neito had not made any such breakthrough, and he knew his time limit was about to hit any second. The thought that he was going to get swung around without his classmate's Steel protecting him, was terrifying.

Fortunately—or unfortunately if you were any of the 1-A's in Tiger's boot camp who'd had to listen to Neito for the whole morning—a sudden call gave them a reprieve.

"Five minute water break!" Aizawa called out.

Around the training area, no one was courageous enough, or dumb enough, to point out that it'd take most of them twice that time just to crawl over to the water cooler.

Ochako herself had to take a couple minutes just to get on her feet and let the world come down from a violent spinning to a gentle rocking. Still, with a step that resembled a legendary captain named after a little bird, Ochako made her way towards the blissful relief that was the water cooler. But after a few wobbly steps, Ochako found herself distracted.

Something red crossed by her, just at the corner of her eye. Itsuka was walking against the flow of people, up towards the mountain side. Ochako watched her before she pivoted and with her face hardened, walked after her.

"You look like you could use some help," Itsuka chuckled as she found Kyouka, hands pressed against the mountain side, trying to pull her jacks free.

"It's fine. I got this." The way the long cords connected to her ears tensed and jerked, showing she was definitely trying to get loose. But having absolutely no luck.

"You're not going to get any water if you stay here, you know," Itsuka observed with a lopsided grin. "Unless you wanna push how far you can stretch those lobes out."

Kyouka grunted. "Are you here to help, or just enjoy the show?"

Itsuka leaned over, resting her shoulder on the rock face. "At this point, since you don't want help, to enjoy the show."

Kyouka let her head rest against the rock, muttering how she kinda walked into that one.

"You really should get some water. You're sweating a lot out here," Itsuka advised while pointing to the crowd. "Knowing our teachers, they might toss the rest just to spite us after this break is up."

Kyouka turned to face the smirking redhead. "Yeah, well, you're sweating…" Kyouka fumbled her comeback a little, noticing that Itsuka had her sweat top open, and the white shirt underneath was absolutely drenched. And sticking to her in just the right spots to show off some muscle definition that rivaled what she'd seen on Ochako. Also, that shade of red was…"…you're sweating a lot too."

Itsuka made a face. "Don't I know it." She reached down and grabbed the hem of her shirt, lifting it up enough so she could wring it out. "Feels so gross."

Kyouka was a little too distracted to respond.

"But seriously, I can get you out. Shouldn't be a problem." Itsuka held up a fist, and smirked.

Kyouka blinked at her scuffed up knuckles. "How? You gonna punch the rocks?"

Itsuka enlarged her fist a little, grunting a little at the flex since she was very sore. "How do you think I've been training?" She jerked her bratwurst sized thumb over to a large pile of very big boulders. And a long line of other piles of pulverized stone. "I've been making big rocks into little rocks. All day."

Before Kyouka could say yes or no to the offer, Ochako walked up to the pair. She glanced briefly at Kyouka, who was still trying to get her jacks out of the mountain side—poor girl was stuck bad—and walked right up to Itsuka, who looked like she really wanted to step in, because watching Kyouka flounder was getting painful. "Oi!"

Itsuka paused and blinked. "Um, yes?"

"When are you and your class going to get a handle on Monoma? Aren't you guys embarrassed by him enough?" Ochako was miffed. Tired, queasy and miffed. She didn't sound angry, but just done.

Itsuka, took a second. Then retorted, "When are you and your class going to get a handle on Bakugou? Aren't you guys embarrassed by him enough?"

"…"

Kyouka had a jack cord wrapped up in her hand and her shoe on the cliff for leverage as she got ready to pull. "If there was ever a time to turn and walk away, now's the time Uraraka. Take the L."

"Right…" Ochako pivoted and quick-marched it away. Cursing that 1-B had some people with brains that could weaponize logic. Also, she was beginning to think she had just made the same mistake she'd made when confronting Himiko in the locker room. At least Itsuka hadn't reacted like Himiko had that day.

I mean, I could definitely take her. But I'd probably get in trouble afterwards.

"You know," Itsuka surprised Ochako as she called after her, "both our classes have their troublemakers. Yours takes shots at us and ours… Monoma takes shots at you guys."

Ochako frowned. "It's not really comparable."

"Being called an extra. Being demeaned because we aren't in 1-A, which everyone seems to think is the class to watch. The fact that Bakugou will look us in the eye and treat us like we don't belong. When we're out here working just like him. It pisses a lot of people off." Itsuka cracked her knuckles, more a nervous twitch than anything. But her tone betrayed her own agitation over the subject.

Ochako could concede the point. Which she did, but, "Bakugou didn't go after Deku's mom just after she was attacked."

Itsuka conceded this time. "True. And I knocked him out because of that crap. My class even took the chewing out Toga had for us on the chin. Because we knew that he overstepped." Itsuka just shrugged. "We handle Monoma our way, reeling him in when we can. But he's gonna do his thing. Which sorry to say, means he's gonna take potshots because that's how he motivates himself. You handle Bakugou your own way, with a waaaay lighter touch than anything our class uses. But I get it, he's…"

Ochako glanced around, and saw Izuku was in the crowd with the others, worshiping the water cooler like a golden bull statue. "An explosive jackass."

Itsuka smirked. "Yeah. That. But the way you handle him, means he's still gonna look down on us. Facts are, we gotta take crap on the chin while trying to deal with our own messes."

Ochako sighed. "Fair enough. Sorry for just storming up to you like that."

Itsuka waved it off with a smile. "If some ass did anything like that to my girlfriend, I'd be having words with their classmates too. Plus, I'm a class rep, so it makes sense."

"Okay… I'm going to get some water before Aizawa-sensei dumps it in front of us or something. See you guys at dinner." She paused. "Um… do you want help with…?"

Kyouka waved her off, while Itsuka used her big hands to point to herself. "Oh I got this, see you at dinner!" Itsuka waved as Ochako left before turning back around. "Okay. I want some water, so let's get you out."

"I got this. I don't need—" Grab. "Eep!"

Kyouka chirped when Itsuka pinched both of her jacks between her finger and thumb just at where they were plugged into the rock. The large digits completely enveloped the lobe cords. Then, pop pop, with no effort at all, Itsuka had Kyouka free.

"There. Free at last," Itsuka said with a happy grin.

Kyouka sighed. She couldn't deny that she had been stuck, doomed to be attached to the side of the mountain, but she still found it a little embarrassing that she had needed help. Kyouka however wasn't going to let her own personal grumbles keep her from thanking Itsuka for lending a helping hand.

It's just, when she opened her mouth to say thanks, it was right when Itsuka was inspecting her jack's pins for any damage. By looking at them, and rubbing them gently to see if those scuff marks were scratches.

Itsuka was happy to see the marks rub away, but she didn't notice the way Kyouka's lobes suddenly went stiff, as a jolt shot right through them and into Kyouka. Her body twitched and since her mouth was open, she had no way to stop the, "A~aaah!"

Kyouka slapped her hands over her mouth as fast as she could, but there was no unhearing that pleasured, songbird moan.

Itsuka immediately stopped rubbing Kyouka's nubs, frozen on the spot. Her rosy cheeks now clashed hard with her orange hair. Both girls were looking at each other now, with the same wide eyes. Itsuka gulped, feeling like she was swallowing a marble while Kyouka made a few squeaks and chirps as she came to terms with the fact she had just done that.

"S-sensiti-ahem. Sensitive? Um." Itsuka was trying to remember how one did words. "Y-your jacks are sensitive?"

"Hmm hm." Kyouka was also trying to recall how one used words and sounds to convey a message. "Th-they're a little bit." Both girls were still standing there, blushing and stuttering, and Itsuka still hadn't let go.

"Jirou? Kendou?"

Both girls jerked their heads towards the new individual who had decided to join them at the most embarrassing moment in their lives. Momo, carrying some water bottles under her arm and a small hammer and chisel in hand, was looking between the two.

Momo suddenly being there was enough to jumpstart the two into acting like proper people again. Itsuka immediately let go of Kyouka's jacks, and for some reason, hid her hands behind her back. Except she forgot to shrink them. Kyouka retracted her jacks, and had them wrapped around herself, the ends tapping each other in a hurried nervous twitch. Both girls looked at Momo, and she looked at them.

At the very least, since Momo wasn't blushing like they were, they could safely assume that Momo hadn't heard what Itsuka had rubbed out of Kyouka. And thank god, because the number of misunderstandings that could come from that were many.

Momo held up the hammer and chisel she had created. "I saw it looked like you were stuck, so I came to help. I also brought you some water. I was sure you were thirsty." She looked over at Itsuka. "But it seems Kendou was able to assist you first."

Itsuka made a sound. It could pass as an acknowledgment and affirmation of the statement.

"Y-Yao-momo! Thank you!" Kyouka rushed for the water, as if she was rushing away from the incident that had just happened. "I could really use some water!"

Momo handed one of the bottles over and as Kyouka began to hurriedly drink. She then handed another to Itsuka as well. "Yes. You both do look like you need to cool off."

Aaand now both were choking.

"O-oh my! Careful, you two," Momo had put the tools down and was by their side quickly. "Oh you both are so red! All this hard training under the sun must have you both overheated and overstimulated!"

Kyouka wanted to die. Well, she might actually be dying with the mouth full of water she'd just breathed in, drowning her, but that's besides the point. Don't say overstimulated!

Momo was quick to act. In a shower of sparkles, she pulled multiple bright colored cooling towels from her arm and used her water to drench them. One quickly went around Itsuka's neck, jolting her out of her stupor just quickly enough to realize Momo, who had her hand on her forehead to check her temperature, had very soft hands.

She did not whimper when Momo pulled her hand away. Mostly because Momo had immediately draped another towel over her head and face.

Kyouka was similarly jolted out of her embarrassed daze when the cold cloth made contact with her skin. Wretched back to reality by the cold, she almost felt her knees give out when she saw Momo standing right in front of her, leaning over as she ran the back of her hands over her forehead, then down her neck. Momo, being so much taller, and the way her hands were resting under Kyouka's jaw, had her lifting her chin up towards Momo, while at the same time, dreamlike instincts had her starting to lift up on her tiptoes.

But before her heels left the ground, Momo draped another cooling towel over her face and snapped Kyouka out of her spell. "Here, keep these on until you're both back to normal. Both of you sit, come on." Momo helped lead both so they were sitting with their backs against the rockside. "I'm going to get you both some more water. You both surely need it being so… so drenched."

Momo hurried back to the cooler, making more bottles to fill, leaving both Itsuka and Kyouka to sit.

"Wow," Itsuka gasped out.

"Yeah," Kyouka confirmed.

"Wow."

"Tell me about it." Kyouka let her head lean back. "Thank god she's the second most naive person in class or… we'd be doomed."

"I mean… no one's naive enough not to know what that sound was if they heard it." Itsuka had to laugh. Because not laughing was too dangerous to think about.

Kyouka snorted while she pressed her face into the cold cloth. "Oh god, I can't believe I did that."

"Sorry."

"Not your fault."

"…" Itsuka swallowed. "Still… sorry I, um… made you feel good?"

Kyouka snorted and laughed. Seemingly agreeing that the best way to move on was to laugh this off. "Hey, at least we don't have to worry about anyone knowing what happened."

Itsuka shuddered under her towel. "Oh god, if Tokage knew… oh, I'd have to leave U.A. then."

"Ha! If Ashido knew, I'd be leaving the country," Kyouka countered, causing both girls to laugh, and feel a lot better.

Halfway between the pair and the water cooler, Momo came to a stop, and after holding it in, let herself shudder most unbecomingly for a young woman of her rank and stature. But she couldn't help it. Thanks to some karaoke, she knew Kyouka had a heavenly voice. Now she knew what was angelic, could be blissfully hellish.

"Congratulations!" Mandalay cheered while striking a pose in front of the remains of the two classes. "You all made it through day one!"

'Made it through' was relative. No one was standing up straight. Many were leaning on others for support and a few had just decided to risk it and were sitting down.

Himiko hadn't even bothered to put on sweats or shoes after everything was done. 'I've been expunging sludge from my body all day. I don't want anything on my skin until I have a bath.'

All of Mei's fingers had at least three bandaids on them. Tools, metal and hurried hands are bad news for fingers.

Pixie-Bob smirked at the students as they all made it to the picnic area. She could see some looking lost when they saw there was no food on any of the tables. At least nothing prepared. It was all raw ingredients. "Now, remember what I said yesterday?" A murmur went through the crowd, as she reminded them, "I said 'Today's the only day we'll be doing stuff for you!'"

A pause.

Then a massive groan from everyone as it hit them what they were now expected to do.

Pixie-Bob pointed at them. "Hey, you all should at least make your own food!" She motioned to a stack of boxes on one of the tables. "We at the very least made sure your ingredients were ready for you. Show some appreciation!"

Ragdoll was beside her, smiling brightly while she slapped the table. "You kittens will be making curry tonight! And don't think just because you're all exhausted we'll let you slink on by making sloppy cat food. Make it right, or you don't get any dinner tonight."

Just before there could be a riot, or potential murder with the way Himiko was grouching, Tenya made a noise like he figured something out. "Ah! This makes sense."

"In what world does making us cook make sense?" Hitoshi grumbled.

"Think about it. During a rescue operation, a full stomach can lift a person's spirit. Those taking part in the rescue and those who were rescued. Either way, it may one day fall on us to provide a warm meal to those that need it, even if we ourselves are exhausted." Tenya looked close to tears. "This is why U.A. is the best of the best. They don't waste a single opportunity."

The classes looked from Tenya, towards the teachers. For a few moments none of them did anything, before Aizawa flashed a thumbs up.

"Everyone, let's make the most delicious curry we can!"

At the very least, Tenya's reasoning made sense, and gave the classes more motivation to make the meal a good one.

Soon the two classes were split up, each taking a side of the picnic area as they went to work. 1-B were not exactly happy when it came time to start some cooking fires; 1-A had Shouto and Izuku. Though when Manga stepped up, and "snip-snap-whooshed" one into existence, there was much rejoicing. Heaven forbid someone from their side having to ask for help.

Also, Neito was forbidden from going over and copying any Quirks since there was a pretty decent chance someone might take offense. And then offense him through a table.

It was in the middle of the classes working to make their curry dinner, that Izuku, Ochako and Tsuyu witnessed something amazing. The three were stopped, dead in their tracks, as they openly gawked at the scene before them.

"Ochako."

"Yeah, Deku?"

"You're seeing this too, right?"

"I am."

"Tsuyu?"

"It's real, kero."

"Okay, but… how is this real?"

At one of the cooking stations, Himiko was standing over a large cooking pot, ladle in hand as she stirred the thickening curry mix. To the side were several chopped and diced vegetables, seasonings and some cream. Everything was portioned out and prepped to be added immediately and at specific times while the curry cooked down.

The three were blown away by the, for lack of a better term, wife energy radiating off of Himiko as she showed off skills no one had any idea she had. While she worked, she was humming happily, a gentle smile on her face while she'd add ingredients into the pot, and after a few stirs, would ladle out a little to put in her tasting dish, making the odd comment or two as to what else was needed.

She was also still wearing her leotard, which left her legs, thighs and hips bare. But she had thrown on an apron. Which did nothing to add any modesty to her look and only just made everything more exotic and erotic.

Wife energy was transformed into Sexy Wife Energy. And it wasn't the aroma of the incredible food Himiko was preparing that had the three drooling.

…

It wasn't just the aroma of the incredible food Himiko was preparing that had the three drooling.

"And I thought I was a homebody, kero."

"Where did she get the apron?"

"Probably stole it, kero."

"Hmm."

"Hmm."

Both hummed, neither really caring if Himiko had stolen the apron. Which probably wasn't the right thing for three heroes in training to think, but you weren't going to find a single volunteer that was going to walk up to Himiko and tell her to put it back where she got it.

Himiko knew the three were looking at her. Gawking at her. Ogling her. She made sure she swayed her hips, giving their eyes something fun to follow, before she looked over her shoulder. "I had to take extra home economics classes on top of the kateika stuff at school by my parents. Think they hoped that me being a properly trained wife would make up for my 'shortfalls.'" She smirked. "I'm surprised I remember any of the stuff."

She paused and looked over at Midnight who was with the other teachers and Cats, holding a fire extinguisher at the ready. "I told you. It was nerves that one time!" When she looked back at the three, apparently gawking was now replaced with concerned, deadpanned stares. "It's not my fault I dropped that pan of oil onto the stove when I was trying to make some ebi fry!"

As a whole collective, everyone from students to teachers and heroes, all took a step back away from Himiko's station.

Pixie-Bob then took a moment to glance at her work station. "Hold on… where did you get all these extra ingredients? The tables already had everything you needed."

"Oh, I raided your pantry," Himiko said without missing a beat. "Think of it as stealth practice."

"You—!"

"I'm sneaky. And you're supposed to have someone here that's supposed to know where everyone is at all times." Ragdoll cheered. "So if I steal them right from under your noses, you've all lost the right to these ingredients."

While Pixie-Bob sputtered and Ragdoll laughed, a few of the boys over at 1-B were leaning over and whispering to each other, flanking Neito as something along the lines of 'house trained' floated out. And some snickering.

"Dig in everyone!" was cheered out by everyone before students promptly started scarfing down their meal.

"If I got this at a restaurant, I wouldn't be very happy, but in this situation, it's delicious!"

"Dude come on, we worked hard on this!"

"Why don't we get any of the curry Toga made? Those four are eating like royalty!"

"You really wanna risk it?"

"…pass me another plate already."

"Man Yaoyorozu, I'm surprised you can eat anything after today," Rikidou commented while he looked down at his sparsely filled plate. "I'm afraid to even try eating anything else." He lifted up a spoon with only a modicum of food on it, but only got about half way to his mouth before his stomach twisted and he aborted. "Oh man. I think I'm going to be sick."

Momo spooned a large helping of curry into her mouth, finishing off her third plate. "I'm fortunate that my Quirk breaks down food so fast. That way I have plenty of lipids to create things."

"So wait, you eat a lot to use your Quirk a lot… and if it's fats you use as fuel…" Mina was putting some things together. "Oh my god, you can just eat whatever you want, can't you!"

Momo picked up a fourth plate and, very ladylike, began to eat while only casually acknowledging Mina's outburst or the way the statement was working its way through the whole picnic area. "I do have a unique degree of control over my BMI, yes."

While around her were many amazed oh's and ah's, Momo was calling on all her training in high society to make herself seem calm and collected, though internally, she was smug, drinking in some of the jealous gazes some of the girls and boys around her were giving her.

She didn't subtly look over to see if one of the jealous people was Itsuka. Nope. Not her.

"Well, you might be able to pack it in like an otaku during a fast food binge," Neito laughed, "but try not to pop towards us when all that spicy curry doesn't agree with your aristocratic palette!"

"Bleagh!" Manga mimicked, making a word balloon pop out and splatter on the ground. Getting some high fives, and some disgusted groans from others.

Kyouka was out of her seat, looking ready to charge the group, when Momo just nonchalantly dropped a bombshell that changed everyone's lives. "Oh, I don't have to worry about that. I've never once made myself sick by eating too much food, or eaten anything that would make me vomit."

Dead.

Fucking.

Silence.

Broken only by Katsuki standing up and delivering a resounding and agreed upon, "Bullshit!"

Explosive vulgar comments aside, Momo was unphased. "It's true. Once my Quirk developed as a young child, I no longer had either of those instances happen to me. I'm quite capable of consuming and digesting just about anything that my body and Quirk can break down into lipids. During my initial training to prepare for the recommendation entrance exam, after a long run, I had a penchant for drinking Hellfire-Seltzers, as I felt they were quite refreshing and helped put a spring in my step."

A few heads turned to look at Shouto, who was looking at Momo blankly. "You drank the seltzers my father's company PR team slapped his face on?"

"…Wait, weren't those all recalled because they found out they were just carbonating a bunch of hot sauces they couldn't sell to restaurants anymore because it was making people sick?"

Shouto nodded. "Father wasn't very happy with that one."

Momo nodded sadly. "It was a sad day."

"So you were drinking carbonated hot sauce… after a workout?"

"Yeah, I'm calling bull on this," Denki said with certainty.

Hanta smirked. "I say we test this."

"How, the curry isn't that spicy?"

Hanta turned to the table furthest from them, where Izuku, Ochako Tsuyu and Himiko were enjoying her specially made curry. "Toga, you got anymore of those little chillies you were using to give you guys' curry more kick? The ones Bakugou was ready to throw down for, before Aizawa dragged him back to his own cooking station?"

Katsuki made a very displeased sound, being reminded of that.

The four had been digging into Himiko's meal with enough gusto to make her blush, but even they had been paying attention to the scene with the rapt attention of any teen watching some school drama. Himiko nodded and hurried over to her station, and pulled out a bowl of Thai birdseye chillies. "Yup, got a whole lot of them."

Katsuki slammed his hands onto the table, making all the plates and glasses rattle. "You bitch! You said they were all gone!"

Himiko was already carrying the bowl over to Momo, so when she passed by Katsuki's table, she flipped him off. "I said that, because fuck you."

Reaching the table, Himiko already knowing what game Hanta was playing, held the bowl up to Momo. "Okay, put your money where your mouth is."

"Come on guys, you're gonna make her sick pushing this," Kyouka complained.

Mina looked at her. "You say that like you're not trying to get the best angle to watch."

"Sh-shut it!"

Momo looked at the bowl, and the many small chillies inside. Some were already teasing that she was going to back out, now that her bluff was called. Then she reached up and there were a few gasps. Many couldn't believe she was going through with it. There was crazy, and then there was what she was—

Momo grabbed a full handful of chillies, stems and skins sticking out between her fingers and, while both classes gawked, started popping them like M&M's, throwing them in her mouth, one after another, after another. Many times she wasn't even done chewing when she was adding more. Skin, seeds, stem and all, Momo munched and devoured her handful, and didn't bat an eye.

Which was more than could be said for the students watching the horror show, as some looked ready to pass out just from the idea of what they were seeing.

When she was done, she pulled a wet wipe from her arm and cleaned off her hands and mouth, and just smiled like it was nothing. "As I said, thanks to my Quirk, as long as the item has some nutritional value that lets it be turned into lipids, I can eat it without worrying about it causing me any discomfort while in the process of eating it, or when it's fully consumed." She looked around, "Would you also like me to demonstrate with a lemon? That was always a personal favorite at my old school."

Mouths puckered, the students of both classes agreed when they all turned to the Pussycats, begging them to see if they had any lemons in their pantries, That the first years had just found their new favorite game.

"Hey, why don't we see who made the best curry?" came Tetsutetsu's idea which got some interest from his 1-B classmates.

"What, like have it judged against 1-A's?"

"Okay, but there's no shot anyone is gonna be impartial."

"Besides, Monoma blew it out of the park over here!"

Many in 1-B cheered while Neito rose and bowed to the cheers.

"What, he can cook?!" came the shocked scream from Denki.

"He can follow instructions maybe. Isn't copying his thing?" Mina teased.

Some paper napkins were tossed her way, and she gave an indignant huff while some at her table returned fire.

"How about we get the Wild Wild Pussycats to judge?"

"Oh, that could work."

"What about the teachers?"

"…"

"…"

Members of both classes just sorta stared at each other before everyone started shaking their heads. "Nah, that'd be like us judging. They'd be super partial."

Midnight cut in, "No we wouldn't." She didn't like the flat out looks of disbelief the kids shot her.

"Yeah, Kan-sensei would have our backs."

Vlad King smirked, while Midnight shot him a look at not helping the perceived bias the kids thought the teachers had.

Izuku, seeing an opportunity, spoke up, "If you want the best curry, then it would be Toga's."

Ochako and Tsuyu gave twin ringing endorsements while Himiko shimmy and swayed, blushing and acting all crushy at the praise, earning some eye rolls from members of the squad.

"Wow, since when do you ever act lik—Whoa!" Hitoshi's dry comment was cut off as a spoon sailed by his head. Though the act confirmed to him Himiko had been playing it up. "Knew it."

Mei was up and looked down into the pot Himiko had used and the four had been eating out of. "There's practically nothing left. Pretty sure you have to have something to be judged by all the judges to be considered."

Ochako crossed her arms. "Not our fault we scarfed it all down."

Shouto frowned. "If they ate it, then how can it not be—"

Hitoshi put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. "Don't even try to follow their logic."

Neito, who had just lost a vicious round of rock paper scissors, was carrying his table's emptied plates to get refilled, gave Izuku a leveled look as he passed their table. "Don't think just because something is a limited quantity automatically makes it better than anything else." He then pointed at Himiko. "Plus, 1-A's house trained troublemaker stole ingredients. And while it's just like 1-A to cheat, even your classmates won't stand for it. Not when it means there's a chance they won't win. Not that they had a chance to begin with."

Tsuyu was standing up now, while Ochako leaned forward, knuckles pressed into the wood table, neither exactly happy to be hearing Neito going off at the mouth. Again.

Izuku was just staring Neito down. He wasn't sparking up, but he wasn't exactly thrilled.

Himiko in the meantime was blinking as she played catch up with the convo. Since one stupid comment had tripped her up momentarily. "Who the fuck you are you calling house trained?" She was out of her seat now.

Neito smirked, alarming several of his classmates as he stepped up to Himiko. "Oh please. You may still have some people running around scared, but you're just a paper tiger now."

It was interesting to see how quickly people were turning their heads away from stuffing their faces with the remaining curry, to see what in god's name possessed Neito to say that to Himiko. Even the classmates that had been talking Neito's cooking up, were suddenly looking like they wanted to reel their friend in.

Himiko arched an eyebrow. "Really?"

Neito struck his extravagant pose he always took when he got loud, and pointed at Himiko. "U.A.'s done an incredible job with you! Now you're nothing but a… defanged delinquent!"

Itsuka groaned while Momo leaned over. "Should… you be stepping in?"

Kyouka snickered. "Please don't. I wanna see where this goes."

Himiko stood, motionless, looking up at Neito with an almost bored look. Though those that knew her, could see the slight twitch in her brow. "Defanged. Okay. Yeah…" She took a second or two to run some numbers, and took a step back, giving herself and Neito a little space. Neito seemed to think this was her backing down, but before he could boast and point out his win, Himiko asked a simple question. "Wanna see something fucking terrifying?"

"…Eh?"

One second, Himiko was just standing there. The next, she looked at Neito and dropped all niceties. Like a dam opened, she let her bloodlust out. Those that had been in that alley in Hosu City recognized the aura. It was Himiko's own twisted version, but that was the aura Stain had when he stood before you. Ready to kill.

It hadn't even really registered with anyone else what Himiko had done, when the teachers and heroes acted. The ground underneath Neito and Himiko suddenly spread out, forcing the two far apart. At the same time, coils of capture cloth ensnared Himiko and were drawn tight.

Everything had happened in the span of a few seconds, and Himiko smirked, a cold soulless smile, at Neito. "Defanged, huh?" Then with a blink, the Himiko the classes were used to was back. "You can untie me now." She said it like she hadn't just delivered the biggest ultimatum towards the loudmouth.

While Aizawa untied Himiko, Vlad King walked up to Neito and put his hand on the visibly shaken young man's shoulder. And like a father about to ask his toddler what he learned after sticking a fork into a wall socket, "Congratulations. You just had a teachable moment. And you shared it with everyone."

Untied, Himiko got two steps before Midnight waltzed over, grabbed her and made it crystal clear, "We're talking."

After a few pats on the back, Vlad King left to go back to the sit with Aizawa and the Wild Wild Pussycats, while Pixie-Bob got the ground more or less back to how it was. Neito took a moment to collect himself, ignoring a few snickers coming from both sides. Then he took a step, and Izuku stood up.

Ochako and Tsuyu took immediate notice, glancing at him worriedly, with Ochako looking like she wasn't sure if she should be lunging for him to get him back into his seat. Even Katsuki at another table had paused his eating and was giving Izuku a careful look.

Izuku noticed all of this, and with a calm wave of his hand, at the very least dispelled any ideas he was about to start trouble.

"Monoma. I'd like to speak with you." Izuku was working to keep his voice calm and steady, hoping that it would show he wasn't about to just walk over to him and deck him. With the way people were looking between them, like they were about to get a show with their dinner, it was debatable if it worked.

While Himiko might have put fear back into the loudmouth blond, that clearly only extended to her. Because with Izuku, the cocky grin was back. "Uh oh. Looks like it's Midoriya that has the thinnest skin of 1-A."

Izuku frowned, and he had to make himself not ball up a fist. Thinking about it, this was probably the hardest he'd ever forced himself not to act out violently. Even when Katsuki would badmouth Ochako, it was at least another clue that he wasn't his normal self at the moment. "I said I wanted to talk."

Neito crossed his arms, looking smug. "Oh, and I'm sure you'd like us to go somewhere private, right?"

Izuku scratched at the back of his neck. "That's… probably not a good idea. We can talk here."

"Oh, and why's that?"

"Because if we were alone… I'd probably just knock your block off." Izuku just casually stating he'd punch someone was not normal. 1-A was giving each other startled looks while 1-B was wondering if they needed to step in and save Neito's bacon.

Ragdoll leaned over towards Mandalay. "This is the nice boy you were talking about?"

Mandalay didn't say anything as she watched the scene unfold. Confronting an issue wasn't necessarily a bad thing. As long as things stayed non-violent.

Pixie-Bob just shrugged. "Boys will be boys. Ow!" Mandalay reached over to swat her.

"Eh, let them fight," Tiger grunted. Mandalay didn't want to hurt her hand so she avoided smacking him.

Neither Aizawa or Vlad King commented while they waited to see how this played out. They were in favor of their students finding their own solutions to problems. Only deeming it necessary to step in if their solutions were the wrong ones. And while Aizawa was certainly willing to give Izuku's leash a little more slack given what he just went through, he also had a firm grip on it, because he knew the boy had limits. He could be understanding. But that didn't mean he was going to tolerate fighting.

"So, me standing here, in front of witnesses, keeps me safe from your temper tantrums, hmm?" Neito smugged smugly.

Izuku didn't take that bait. Instead he just addressed the issue he wanted to bring up. "I want an apology."

Neito snorted, and this time so did some of 1-B. However, a sharp look from Itsuka got them to shut up. She had felt the eyes of some of 1-A come their way. Which could lead to all sorts of other issues.

Neito however hadn't seen Itsuka's warning look, so his snort devolved into a full on laugh. "Ha ha ha ha! Oh, that's rich! 1-A is so thin-skinned they have— Ha ha ha ha! You'd think the famous 1-A would be able to take a few critical jabs. What, can't handle it when people aren't singing your praises?"

Izuku sighed. "Look, I get you probably got a lot of flack growing up because your Quirk has to rely on other people to do anything. And the concept of a hero needing other heroes to be a hero probably didn't do anything to help the self-esteem and inferiority complex you have, but if you need to talk down to others to help yourself reach your dream, fine. Knock yourself out. Or get knocked out, honestly, don't care. I grew up dealing with people mocking me too, but I didn't grow up into a jerk. But to each their own."

Neito's eye twitched while many in 1-B winced. "Damn, I thought it was Toga that went for people's throats."

"Huh, I thought Midoriya wanted this to be public so he wouldn't murder him," Kyouka chuckled.

Neito's hand shot up, jamming a finger into Izuku's chest. The contact had people jump. Ochako was on her feet now and both homeroom teachers took a step forward.

"You—"

"Apologize for what you said about my mom."

Neito snatched his hand back like he'd touched a hot stovetop. "What?"

Izuku crossed his arms. "I know what Toga and Tsuyu talked to your class rep about yesterday. Since she knocked you out, I'm assuming she talked to you."

"…And?"

"You said something, someone told someone else to tell you to stop. You haven't mentioned her since."

Neito threw his hands out, dramatically motioning to the mess. "Situation solved."

"No." Izuku was quick to reject that. "You owe me an apology. You say you're sorry, and then you don't mention her again."

Neito waved him off. "Look, the mom thing was a low blow, I admit that, but you are making this way more dramatic than it needs to be. Your mom got a few bumps and scrapes. That's no reason to go on and on like a—"

"She was dead." Izuku had to fight to keep his voice calm. Keep himself from shuddering violently as those words left his lip. "She was… or at least… as close as someone can get."

Neito rolled his eyes. "I get you're scared for your mom, but—"

"I FOUND MY MOM IN A POOL OF HER OWN BLOOD!" Izuku snapped. Fire spit from his mouth and tears leaked from his eyes. He had to take a deep breath, to get himself calmed down. He wiped at his cheeks, drying the tears. Or at least trying to.

"She was… it was everywhere, and she was… just on the ground." Izuku paused again. Knowing everyone was looking at him at this point. He didn't really care. "I've been hurt bad. Really really really bad. But not one of those times, was I in a pool of blood."

Izuku swung out a hand, pointing towards Katsuki. "Toga looks at me funny when she thinks I don't notice. Kacchan hasn't looked at me the same since! He was there, and he's been treating me like I'm fragile! Him!"

Katsuki sneered, but did something really telling. He turned away. Grumbling about damned nerds. But the kind of response one would expect from him, didn't happen.

"I didn't see the worst, but I saw enough."

For the first time since anyone in 1-A had met him, Neito didn't look smug anymore. His mouth was tuned down, his eyes searching. "That doesn't line up with anything. She walked out of the mall. Released the same evening."

"I'm aware. Mom's been sticking to the story too." Izuku was clearly not happy with that fact.

"So what, by some miracle she suddenly recovered?"

"Yes."

Neito blinked. "Huh?"

"It was Eri. She's the reason my mom isn't… She's the reason my mom's okay."

Neito frowned. "Eri?" That wasn't a name of a student from 1-A. And he was pretty sure he knew all the nicknames the school had for the class' students. Flattering and unflattering. And yet, it felt like it was something he had heard, but from passing a conversation.

Izuku was guarded again, giving Neito a hard, even stare. The change in demeanor got Neito's attention, especially since Izuku had waltzed up acting all calm and friendly. "She's… she's someone Ochako and I found after escaping someone who was hurting her. A lot."

Instant recognition. "Oh. The poor thing your family took in." Izuku blinked. "Despite my best efforts to warn them of the dangers to their reputations, some of my classmates like to share gossip with some of yours. So we heard about the kid."

Izuku was still guarded. Neito blinked. "You're not expecting me to mock a child are you? Wow, that's douchey. Very 1-A of you to make that kind of assumption." The arrogance and offense in Neito's voice was a wonder.

Mina threw her hand up. "Wait? Eri has a healing Quirk?!"

Katsuki answered. "Healing is like calling my Quirk, Firecracker. Damn thing wasn't like Recovery Girl's or anything you see at the docs. Kid has something insane in that horn of hers. Most violent healing I've ever seen." He paused, then added solemnly, "But it did the trick."

"How… how bad was it?" came the nervous question from Eijirou.

Katsuki glanced at Izuku, something everyone noticed, then just answered, "Bad."

To be told Katsuki is acting differently with Izuku, to actually seeing it… Seeing him leave things at 'bad' was shocking. And added a lot more weight to Izuku's words. So as the students murmured and talked amongst themselves, their attention was pulled back towards Neito, to see how he would respond.

Arms crossed, and looking appropriately subdued, Neito weighed everything. Finally, "Sorry. For throwing your mom's attack in your face yesterday." Neito didn't look exactly happy saying it. But people don't tend to look happy when they admit they were wrong.

1-B sighed in relief while 1-A were glad he rightfully relented. Now eyes turned to Izuku, waiting to see if he would accept the apology. Some, mostly Ochako, thought that Izuku deserved more. Maybe some bowing to help round things off.

Izuku, though, was satisfied. "Apology accepted. And thank you."

Neito sighed. "Yeah, yeah."

"Now," Izuku pivoted, "about what you said about Ochako."

"Uh uh!" Neito held up a hand, cutting him off. "I'll keep your family out of things, but your class is fair game! Just because you're dating doesn't mean she's off limits!"

1-A and 1-B groaned. Izuku glanced back at Ochako, and she just shrugged, with an eye roll. It seemed Izuku was going to have to take what he got, and leave it at that.

But at least, he felt a little more like himself now.

Pulled from the group, Himiko sighed dramatically. "I'm so sorry. I won't ever do something like that aga—"

"Cut the crap and don't lie to me." Midnight let go and glared down at Himiko. "Do you have any idea how many lines you just crossed?"

Himiko shrugged.

"Don't. Don't give me your attitude right now." Midnight pointed down at her. "I could have you restrained and shipped back to U.A. if I wanted. And I'm really close to making that call."

Again, Himiko seemed unperturbed.

"So, you get one shot here. Otherwise I'm putting you to sleep here and now, then it's on the bus back to school. And we both know you suddenly being gone is going to make a few people really sad." Midnight crossed her arms, noting the facial twitch. "You answer me now. Things are bad with Midoriya. Aren't they? Because they'd have to be for you to pull a stunt like that."

Himiko glanced away.

"You went full scorched earth scare tactics, hoping that if everyone is afraid of you, then they won't risk pricking people you're close to either."

Himiko chewed on her answer. Then, with a grumble, she answered, "It never occurred to Izuku, until we talked to him, that he should try asking Monoma to stop."

"…Oh…" Midnight let her arms drop. "Oh."

"Yeah. The three of us, we thought it was just a case of him having a short fuse right now. Being on edge and all that. Plus, he's defensive of people he cares about. Ochako for sure has been a button that was always a bad idea to press." Himiko looked worried. "He's not walking around with a short fuse. He's a grenade with its pin pulled. The lever is held down but, once that's let go… boom." Himiko made a little explosion effect with her hands.

"I need to talk to him, Toga. You three have formed ranks around him, but you have to let me speak with him." She knelt to get at her eye level. "You three think you can help him, but this kind of trauma, he needs people with experience to help him through it."

Himiko hated it when Midnight was right. "The girls are planning a get together tonight before bed." She gave Midnight a look. "So I suppose that would be your best bet."

"Thank you, Toga."

"Hmph."

With things settled, or at least as much as they were going to be, Izuku claps his hands together, ready for another curry plate. Because man, dealing with douches gave him an appetite. Hopefully there was enough for a plate.

Huh, it's a wonder I'm not as round as Fatgum.

Katsuki's brow twitched. "Oi, why're you looking at me?"

Izuku turned. "N-no reason." And hurried to the pot. Where there was only a little of the curry Toga had made left.

"Kouta, it's time for dinner! Come eat before everything is gone! Kouta! Kouta!" Mandalay called out as she looked around. However the little boy was nowhere to be seen.

Izuku, his plate made, felt his eyes drift up. Overlooking the campsite was a small rocky hill, and Izuku, plate in hand, slipped away.

But his absence did not go unnoticed.

"H-how'd you find me?!" Kouta glared angrily as Izuku approached him.

After a short walk up a well worn path, Izuku was up at the top of the hill, where Kouta was hiding away. As he rounded a corner, Izuku could hear water before he saw splashing spray and a large puddle on the ground.

As he neared, Izuku's footsteps must have carried, as there was a startled yelp before Kouta bolted around the corner and pointed angrily at Izuku, his hands dripping.

"You?! How'd you find this place?! Get out of my secret hideout!"

Kouta was very much not happy. At all. And Izuku started to realize he had walked up here, to find a kid that seemed to positively hate him. And had just invaded his apparently personal spot.

"O-oh, sorry… A secret hideout, huh?" The area had a lot of space to move along. And Izuku was standing there, realizing he didn't really have a plan.

Oh… uh oh.

"You're probably hungry, aren't you?" Izuku held up the plate. "You can eat this curry."

The glare didn't let up, and Izuku realized he hadn't answered the question. "I um… noticed the spot, and then found a path with your footsteps. And with your aunt calling you for dinner, I figured you might want something to eat."

Kouta's eyes darted to the plate, before they were back on Izuku. "I'm fine. I don't need any." He snapped. "Especially something from you."

Izuku shifted his weight from one foot to the other nervously. "I did what you're doing too. I worked a lot to improve my Quirk. When you really get into it, you work up an appetite."

Izuku hoped that maybe this topic would help Kouta feel less hostile. Everyone loved talking about Quirks. Especially kids at his age—

"It's gross."

…Did I just make things worse?!

"N-no it's okay. I get it. You're trying to get stronger to be like your parents, right? Water Hose. You inherited their water Quirk, huh."

Kouta's face scrunched up, and now he had a sneer on his lips.

Oh… ohhhh I did bad.

"How do you know anything about my parents?!" His face was darkening at an alarming rate. "Mandalay! What did she tell you!"

The anger was now starting to spread to other people. Izuku, not wanting Mandalay to deal with his screwup, and feeling extreme guilt at the whole situation, worked fast to at least make sure at the very least, if Kouta was going to be mad, better it was directed at him.

"Oh! Oh, no, um, uh… Sorry! It's nothing like that. I like looking up heroes and I kind of ended up hearing about it. And she… your mo… I mean Mandalay is your aunt, so… I just sorta drew a conclusion. Especially after you, um, sprayed me and Ochako." Izuku knew he was digging himself deeper. "I, um…. I'm sorry about what happened. I'm sure it's been rough for you."

"Shut up! People like you don't care. All you care about is calling yourself a 'hero' and other people 'villains' while you go around fighting, hurting and killing each other without caring about who you hurt in the process." Kouta looked down at his hands, and looked sick. "You all talk about Quirks like they're these great things. All you're doing is getting better at showing off. Just doing the same stuff the adults do. And it all ends up the same. It's all the same."

I thought it was just heroes… but it's everything connected to them too. The world we live in, our Quirks. He hates everything about it.

The thought that someone so young could feel like that. It made Izuku so sad. And think of something he had heard before. Even past the haze that day was, Tomura Shigaraki always stood out like an exposed nerve.

"You heroes are the trash of this society. Government officials with a license to commit horrendous acts of violence on the ones you deem threats."

Izuku hated that Kouta's hate reminded him of what Tomura was spewing at All Might back at the USJ. A hate of heroes. A hate of the world that propped them up.

Kouta wiped his hands off and turned to leave. "If you're done talking, then go away!"

Izuku should, he knew that there wasn't anything he could say here. Besides, who was he to stick his nose into this? This was a deep personal issue. The best thing to do, would be to turn around and leave. It would be the best thing to do.

But not the right thing to do?

"I grew up weak. For pretty much my whole life, I couldn't do anything." It was shocking that Kouta wasn't the most shocked person on the hill when Izuku kept talking. "Everyone had better Quirks. But… I couldn't hate them for it. I admired them. Even if they weren't a hero's Quirk, I found them fascinating. Quirks are… a part of our world. A fundamental part."

Izuku looked at Kouta softly. "There's a lot of different ways to think about them. Not just for heroes and villains. But rejecting them… I don't think that will lead to anything good. It won't take the pain away. I think all it'll do is cause others close to you to hurt too. It's a hurt that will spread and spread… like rot…" Izuku knelt down so he was able to look at Kouta. "Your aunt… she seems really sad, you know."

Kouta's face twisted and he turned away. "Shut up! Just go away!"

Izuku looked down at the ground. "Sorry. I just started rambling." Izuku laid the plate down. "Here. I'll leave this in case you want some."

Kouta didn't turn or say anything else, and Izuku knew it was time to leave.

Izuku had his head down as he walked the path back. The sun was now setting behind the mountains, so everything was cast in the soft glow of twilight.

Izuku kept his hands in his pockets as he walked back slowly. "I probably shouldn't have said anything." Izuku was pretty confident he had just caused Mandalay a lot of problems.

He was so distracted, he didn't notice someone slipping behind him. Of course, he wouldn't have noticed even if he wasn't distracted. He noticed when his shoulders were grabbed and suddenly he was backpedaling as someone stirred him until his back was against a tree.

"Wha wha what?!"

"Oh shush," Himiko smirked as she slipped out of the shadows cast by the trees and stood right in front of him. How she could just do that while in front of him was crazy. "You sound like you're in danger."

"T-toga?! I, ahem, didn't, um… see you there." The attempt to play off his shock just made her chuckle.

"Yeah. You weren't supposed to see me. You or that kid."

Izuku jerked, startled to hear Himiko say that. "Wait? You followed me? When? How long?"

Himiko tapped her chin. "I got away from Midnight pretty quickly. Didn't get to hear you apparently settle things with the douche. But I was back in time to see you 'sneaking' off with a plate. Soooo," Himiko walked her fingers up Izuku's chest, emphasizing each word with a little step, "I. Followed. After. You."

Each touch made the spot tingle, even through his clothes. Gulping, Izuku glanced away. "So… you, um… how much did you hear?"

"Oh, all of it."

Izuku winced. "Feel like I just made things worse."

"Oi, none of that now. The kid has issues. Some serious ones by the sound of it. You'd be surprised what the simple act of reaching out to someone can have."

Izuku huffed. "Really?"

"I mean," suddenly the little space between them shrank drastically, "I'm living proof."

Izuku turned, looked at Himiko's gentle smile, then glanced down.

She's still in that leotard.

Izuku's eyes snapped back up, hoping that she hadn't noticed him take that peek.

She had, and the way her smile turned, he knew she knew he had. And she was happy.

Izuku gulped as Himiko had her hands pressed into the bark on either side of his face, leaning in on him with a knowing smile. "You. Are just so cute. You know that?" She wasn't touching Izuku, but she was getting close enough that it didn't really matter.

"Yes?" Izuku gulped. "I mean…" Any worries that his answer might have come off as arrogant were silenced when Himiko chuckled.

Her breath felt hot, and Izuku was suddenly very unsure what she was about to do to him.

Her eye had a sparkle in it as she moved her head so her lips were hovering just by his ear. "Do you think I don't know when someone's playing a game? It's my game."

"I—" Izuku whimpered when Himiko blew a little puff at his ear. "I'm not… not playing any game."

"Oh?" She moved her body closer, slipping a foot between Izuku's so her leg was between his. Still not touching, but there was no denying the intimate posture. "So earlier, you weren't trying to rizz the three of us up?" Her smile widened and her fangs dripped as she eagerly licked her chops when Izuku gulped loudly. "I'll admit, you play my game with a softer touch, showering us with praise and such. It sure threw me for a loop. But, it's obvious. You want something, don't you." It wasn't a question. She knew.

Izuku started to turn away, and an apology was about to leave his lips, before one of Himiko's hands moved from the tree to gently cup his cheek. Keeping him from looking away. "Hey. Do I seem mad to you?" She paused and added, "Do they?"

Soft chuckles from Izuku's blind spot. Implications were many. None of which Izuku was given time to think about.

"Besides, it's nice to know you can play too. It's not as fun when it's only the three of us. You should feel good you can, hmm, weaponize your innocent qualities to really get our blood pumping." Himiko really was happy that Izuku was sitting at the game table with herself, Ochako and Tsuyu. It opened up so many possibilities.

"I… want to kiss…" Izuku gulped. "I really… really like kissing." Himiko cooed. But then, despite knowing it was selfish, he added softly, "I also… want to be kissed."

Izuku, a little distracted by his own guilt for admitting something so selfish, did not realize he'd just flipped a switch. He was the only one in the area that wasn't aware.

Himiko shuddered. Her toes clenched. A jolt of lightning ran up her back. Then, she looked to the side and saw smirks and approval.

"Izuku." Himiko's voice dripped with cinnamon and honey. "Want me to kiss you, like I kissed Ochako?"

Izuku's eyes snapped wide, just as Himiko grabbed his wrists and pushed them above his head. At the same time, she pressed her body against his. "Let me give you what you want. Let me give you what you need."

"I… hmm…"

"You've thought about it, right? How it would feel for me to kiss you, like I kissed her." She moaned softly. "Like how I kiss Tsu."

Izuku's head jerked in a nod.

"Fair warning." Her tongue slipped out. Tantalizing pink and wet. "I'm not for the faint of heart."

She was toying a little. She couldn't go full force. Izuku dreamed of kisses. She could touch, and grind, but she knew, there were steps and places she had to hold back. But there was still so much she could do to, and for, Izuku.

Above the waistline still left so much to play with.

A fire ignited inside Izuku. Each point of contact was sending Izuku's nerves into euphoric twitches. His body pushed back against her, and he let out a needy, "Please."

Himiko pressed back, overwhelming with touching and grinding. And when he opened his mouth to moan, Himiko covered his lips and mouth with hers. Claiming his lips with her own.

She slid her tongue in to twirl around his. Playing with it, showing just how talented her tongue was.

She nipped at him as she pulled on his tongue and sucked on it, savoring the feeling and taste of his saliva and that slight iron flavor of blood.

Izuku let out a wanton moan in the back of his throat. Their bodies flush, Izuku could feel a lot more of Himiko than he was prepared for, sending him into orbit, while her warm breath coming out of her nose as she kept his mouth claimed, was wondrously smothering.

She owned him in this moment. Overstimulating his senses. Making his world revolve around her.

Izuku lost himself in the kiss, in Himiko. His body burned against her. His own tongue wiggled weakly inside Himiko's mouth, as she sucked and played with him, dominating him with her experience and gusto. She had been dreaming of this moment. The chance to give Izuku an experience.

And a show, as a bonus.

When Himiko pulled back, slipping her tongue back into her mouth and giving Izuku's bottom lip a playful pinch between her fangs, she let go of Izuku's wrists so he was able to drop his arms down to his side. A count later, his knees gave, and he slipped down the side of the tree and was left sitting on the ground, a crumpled, sputtering mess, smoke wafting from his mouth and from his nose like a cute green bug coil pot.

Himiko ran her tongue over her lips, put her hands on her hips, and let her head lull to the side to look over at an amused and dusted pink Tsuyu, and a gobsmacked and openly staring Ochako. Then, wagging her eyebrows, Himiko brought a hand up to her lips, mimicking like she was holding a cigarette between her lips, and blew. Exhaling a mouth full of smoke she'd sucked out of Izuku fervently.

Tsuyu watched the smoke drift and fade, then glanced down at Izuku. "You sucked the soul outta him, kero."

Himiko chuckled while Ochako nodded hurriedly. Though she didn't say anything, too busy taking mental notes over everything she'd just watched so she could try her hand at giving Izuku that hungry of a kiss.

Tsuyu smirked. "Guess the 'rizzing' got one of us to blink, kero."

Himiko laughed. Then turned to address Ochako. "Make sure," Himiko started, reading Ochako like an open book and putting on her Toga-sensei persona, "that when you try, you make sure he can't touch you."

Ochako chirped but was paying attention.

"Remember how I told you he's touch starved? Well, you wanna take advantage of that by making sure that his attention isn't split between what he's touching and what you're touching. Make sure the only sensation he's feeling is your touch. If that's the only thing he's getting, well," Himiko motioned to the absolute wreck at the base of the tree, "you'll turn him into mush."

Not being touched by Izuku while she was kissing him would be a sacrifice, but looking at the blissed out smile on Izuku's face, it was a sacrifice Ochako was willing and eager to make.

Tsuyu tapped her chin. "I think I'm jealous. Midoriya looked like he had a lot of fuuuuUUUUNNNhmmmm!" Tsuyu's dry humor got cut off as Himiko pounced. Swinging Tsuyu into a deep dip. One hand cradling her, resting between her shoulder blades. Her other hand, openly and unashamedly groping below. Tsuyu didn't have the same waistline rules, and Himiko happily filled her hand with froggy cheek, while she consumed Tsuyu's lips.

Himiko had no reservations, her kiss was a furnace of wet desire and burning lust. Tsuyu let out a throaty, pleasurable moan as her body twitched in Himiko's arms. Himiko's tongue pushed into Tsuyu's mouth, before dragging Tsuyu's tongue into hers to slurp and suck. While at the same time, her hand massaged Tsuyu's ass, making sure she was giving Tsuyu her own loving full-body experience.

Himiko's fingers kneaded Tsuyu's juicy cheek, squeezing and stimulating the area.

Tsuyu's tongue coiled and swirled with Himiko's as they rocked in a rhythm, Tsuyu quivering happily from the attention. She was melting into Himiko's embrace. Happily letting her take her for a ride.

Soon, Himiko lowered Tsuyu onto her back in the soft grass, giving Tsuyu one last playful nip, before pulling up after the kiss was done, and letting Tsuyu's tongue slip from her lips, leaving her in the exact same state Izuku was in. Himiko straightened up, and made sure her leotard was still on right. Then, she turned to Ochako, wiggling her eyebrows.

Ochako gulped at that look. She knew that look. So she was left standing with a bright red blush and hands wringing in front of herself.

"Hey there, pink, round and mean," Himiko teased.

When Ochako's cheeks puffed in indignation, and it looked like she was about to say something, Himiko pounced. Leaping out, she tackled Ochako to the ground, pinning her arms down, and swinging her leg over her, straddling Ochako. "There we go."

"Wha wha wha?" Ochako stuttered, trying to figure out which way was up after getting flipped.

"Yeah, this is right. You on your back, me on top." She licked her lips. "Making. You. Mine."

Ochako squawked.

"Oh, don't be like that. We both know," Himiko moved a hand, and grabbed a few brunette locks in between her fingers, pulling softly to make Ochako expose her neck, "you're a girl that needs it a bit rough."

And like Carmilla and Laura from the old Sheridan Le Fanu novellas, Himiko leaned down, and pressed her lips against the sensitive skin that covered the thumping, drumming, vein underneath. And as Ochako moaned at the start of the suck, Himiko pressed her fangs in.

Not enough to break the skin, but enough that the mix of pain and pleasure had Ochako start to writhe under her, whimpering as Himiko sucked and pulled, working her head around her own personal toy to play with.

With a wet pop, she broke away from Ochako's neck, and while Ochako cried at the loss of contact, Himiko wretched her hair firmly, pulling her open, defenseless mouth towards her own. Silencing her cry and with just the right press of her body, making those whimpers become full throated moans.

Himiko kissed and slurped and dominated Ochako's mouth, while one hand roamed down the length of Ochako's body, passing over Ochako's stomach and rubbing her fingers down the indentions of her muscles.

Ochako gasped at the attention and arched her back, only for Himiko to press her back down, her fingers scraping down the front of her shirt, and leaving long red marks on her abs.

Pressed and held down, Ochako was left at Himiko's mercy, as she worked her mouth and toyed with her body, fingernails scratching along her hardest parts, mouth sucking and kissing in time with each finger press and scratch. When Himiko's fingers came close to Ochako's softer parts, she let her fingertips press and massage where the area began to soften, but never crossing into those untouched sensitive areas Izuku had yet to discover himself, at the same time her teeth sank into Ochako's lips and tongue.

Himiko mixed pain and pleasure, switching what part of herself she gave Ochako, her hand and mouth a reflection of her insanity as she inflicted both sides of herself onto Ochako. One gave pleasure, the other pain, and Ochako was coming apart underneath her.

Himiko left Ochako with no say, no choice. She was hers, and she could do anything to her.

When she was done driving Ochako mad with the manifest of her mania, Himiko let her butt rest on Ochako's lap. Said girl was sprawled out on the ground under her, chest heaving up and down while she drooled from the corners of her opened, panting mouth. Her shirt was rolled up where the long red welts ran up and down her exposed muscles.

Himiko looked down at her, then over at the still recovering Tsuyu and dazed Izuku. "Hey. You two call me Himiko from now on. I think we're past needing to use last names." She pressed her butt down, and Ochako made a very nice sound. "Right?"

Ochako gurgled out a drunken affirmative sound, while Izuku, still too dizzy to know where he was, just giggled. Which Himiko took as a yes.

"Good!" Himiko cheered with a clap. "Now, we probably need to get back. Pretty sure everyone is gonna be heading for the baths soon. And I don't think having the teachers coming to look for us would be good for us."

Himiko gave Ochako's cheek a little pat. "And we girls have plans for tonight, don't we?" Another blissful gurgle. "But hey, maybe tomorrow night, why don't we find a nice quiet spot after dark, and see what happens?"

Even blissed out of their minds, Izuku, Ochako and Tsuyu had enough sense to make nervous, but affirmative chirps and croaks at the idea.

It wouldn't hurt just to see what happened, right?

Once everyone had come back to their senses—and each realized that telling Himiko back during their little meeting, to let what happens happen, might have been signing over waaaay too much power over them, not that they were exactly complaining—the walk back had Himiko helping each three, since they were all a little wobbly. Slipping behind Izuku, she helped steer him back on the road, and moved so she could whisper into his ear.

"So, would you like Ochako's cheat code?" She smirked as even in the fading light, she saw him blush. "Since you were still out of it when I was kissing Ochako. You might've missed how I got her so out of it."

While she giggled, her laugh was broken when she heard Izuku start muttering to himself softly. Oh, he was thinking about the idea pretty hard alright. Then, Himiko was surprised when he looked back at her, and shook his head no.

"Eh?"

"I'm sad I missed the k-kiss. But I'm… honestly… I kinda want to… figure out all of Ochako's… secrets myself. Wh-when we're ready."

Oblivious that neither of the two were as quiet as they thought, as Ochako chirped after Izuku said that.

And it was. A very excited chirp.

"B-but thank you, To... Thank you, Himiko."

Himiko hummed happily and slipped away when she saw Tsuyu start to wander off the path. "So you're sad you missed me kissing Ochako, hmm? Someone here likes to watch, it seems." Himiko's golden eye practically glowed in the dark. "I'll have to remember that when we start our group make-outs."

All three blushed heavily at that idea.

But no one said anything against it either.

Baths were done and it was getting time for everyone to get some sleep. Or at least Izuku thought it was.

"Wait, what are you all doing in 1-B's room?" Izuku asked while he glanced into the overcrowded girls room as the last of the 1-B girls moved inside, with Mei setting something up for the group.

He hoped it wasn't a still. Because it looked like a still. He breathed easy when he saw chocolate get handed to her and then the jug of milk.

Oh it's hot chocolate…. That'sto make hot chocolate?!

Himiko leaned over Ochako's shoulder with a grin. "We're just having a big old slumber party. Gotta have a little fun tonight after the hell we went through today, you know."

"Oh, that does sound fun," Izuku said with a smile. Before adding, "Should I help keep Mineta away?"

Mina waved her hand. "Nah. He's been behaving lately, so we should be fine."

Kyouka smirked as she kept pouring the drinks for everyone. "I think the poor guy lost too much blood today from training." Everyone winced a bit, knowing his scalp was probably pretty sore. "I doubt he's gonna do anything besides sleep."

"That's true," Ochako agreed.

"I guess I should duck out so you all can do… whatever girls do," Izuku said with a smile.

Himiko rolled her good eye. "Yes, escape the cooties, Izuku."

Ochako pushed her away. "Honestly Deku, it's nothing weird. We're just hanging out, is all."

"And talking about some of us that thought hiding their secret crushes was a good idea," Tooru giggled.

Ochako sighed, having had to deal with this already, and glared at Tooru, or at least where her head should be, while Izuku winced. "You call each other out on that stuff?"

Mina grinned evilly. "Oh yeah we do. Plus once we get bored with Ochako, Tsuyu and Himiko, we can have fun with everyone else. There's always more gossip and supposedly secret crushes to talk about."

"Oof. Well good luck, Jirou. I'm rooting for you." Izuku gave her a thumbs up and turned to leave. Missing the totally shocked looks from everyone and the look of horror on Kyouka's face. Himiko, Tsuyu and Ochako traded wide-eyed looks before they grabbed Izuku and dragged him back.

"Hold it right there!"

"Deku, what did you just say!?"

Startled, Izuku looked between the three. "Oh I'm sorry, did I spoil the fun?"

"Forget that. Why'd you single Jirou out, kero?" Kyouka chirped when Tsuyu pointed at her, her ear jacks tapping against each other nervously.

Momo had frozen, looking at Kyouka. Then her eyes drifted towards—before she snapped them back to pay attention to Izuku.

"I mean… it's obvious, right? Her crush? And you guys said that's what you give each other hard times over. And since Ochako's crush is… well…" Izuku flushed, earning an eye roll from Ochako before he moved on, "And Tsu and Himiko are out too…" Izuku looked around. "Did I not get a joke?"

Ochako leaned forward. "Her obvious crush!?"

Izuku nodded. "Yeah. She totally lik—!"

"AAHH!" Kyouka bolted for the door and ripped Izuku away and proceeded to drag him down the hall, away from everyone. Well, far enough that no one in the room could hear anything as she talked with him. While that happened, the rest of the girls crowded the doorway, wondering if what they were seeing was real.

"There's no way Midoriya saw something like this right!?" Mina shrieked.

"I mean… he seems so oblivious," Setsuna observed.

"Tell me about it," Ochako said with a sigh.

Himiko shook her head. "There's no way. Just no way in hell this is real."

"I mean… he called me out, remember? Hasn't he been… spot on recently, kero?"

Ochako and Himiko shared looks before they turned, with the rest of the group, and watched closely as Izuku and Kyouka had an animated talk. At least animated on her end. Izuku looked very lost and confused. Then he said something, and Kyouka screamed and slapped her hands over his mouth, face a deep shade of scarlet and ear jacks tangled into knots.

Ochako's jaw dropped. "No way."

Momo covered her mouth with her hand. "I wonder who it is?" No one heard the anxious tone in her voice and despite herself, cast a worried look over at Itsuka, who she noted was watching the scene with great interest.

Though so was everyone.

Mina was tearing at her hair. "Midoriya? HIM OF ALL PEOPLE SAW SOMETHING!?"

Himiko crossed her arms. "That boy and me need to have some words."

"That's 'that boy and I', Toga," Momo corrected absentmindedly as she kept glancing at Itsuka.

"You too, huh?" Himiko deadpanned.

Izuku then bowed and hurried away. Leaving Kyouka alone in the hall. Slowly she turned to the group, and her red face turned white. Twisting on her heel, she made a beeline to escape, but Tsuyu's tongue shot out and grabbed her. Kicking and screaming, she was pulled back into the room.

Izuku made a hasty retreat away from the girls' room, Kyouka's screams echoing down the hall, making his pace near a dead sprint. Rounding a corner, Izuku pressed his back against the wall, and had a hand over his chest as he huffed and puffed from the run.

"Oh." Izuku now realized the gravity of his mistake. "Oh, I just left Jirou to die. Oh, I'm a bad person."

"Sometimes you have to do what's best for you, and run as fast as you can," came a surprising new voice. Midnight glanced down the hall, shaking her head. "Poor girl was doomed the moment you said anything. Best to run while you have the chance."

Izuku jerked off the wall. "Midnight-sensei! Um, I was just… ummm…"

"Leaving poor Jirou to those vultures?"

Izuku blinked. "I'm dating one of those vultures, you know."

…

…

"Ooooh, please don't tell Ochako I said that."

Midnight just smirked. "My lips are sealed."

Izuku sighed in relief. "Oh thank you. She'd kick my butt if she knew I said something."

Ochako paused as she worked to tie Kyouka's jacks around a chair while the other girls held her down.

I think Deku needs to be kicked.

"So Midoriya. With the girls occupied, you're free right now, right?" Midnight observed, though her tone made it pretty clear she already had decided on Izuku's answer. Izuku also seemed to realize he wasn't in a position to decline, as Midnight led him away.

The room he soon found himself in almost looked staged for the two to talk. Or at least two people to talk. "Is this where you and T… Himiko come to talk while we're here?"

Midnight raised an eyebrow, noting the name change. "That's right. I still think it's important we keep her talking. Even during this time, and maybe because of it. Her being exhausted could inadvertently open up new topics of discussion." She motioned to one of the chairs. "Please Midoriya, take a seat."

Izuku had a feeling he wasn't really being given a choice. But looking at the seat made him feel uneasy. He didn't want to be here. "Do we… have to do this?"

"I think it's very important that we talk. A lot has happened to you recently. A lot more than most students go through their entire high school careers. I want to see how you're doing." She saw Izuku looked unsure and was waiting for something specific. "So yes. I'm saying you have to do this." She made sure to say that as gently as she could. But clearly she had to make sure Izuku was aware, this wasn't a request.

She had a feeling, a few days ago, she wouldn't have had to make it clear like that.

Still better to break the ice with someone more pleasant.

Himiko's warning about his mental state had Midnight treading carefully. She was making him have this talk, but she didn't want this to be an unpleasant time for him. Happily for her, Izuku seemed willing to accept he was here and was in his seat to have their talk.

"So, how's the poly life treating you?"

Clearly, the first thing Izuku expected to be asked wasn't that. He puffed out several clouds of smoke before he answered, "Wh-wh-wh-what do do do do you mean?!"

Midnight chuckled. "Come on now. You know I'm a bit of a gossip. And if you think I'm not going to notice that Asui is suddenly now a very close member of your group…"

Izuku glanced away, poking his fingers together.

"And now you're using Toga's first name. And so's Ochako, if I overheard right."

Boy, the ceiling was super interesting to Izuku.

"Plus. The day you all had that little meeting, she's now a member of your future agency. And…" Midnight smirked, "I saw you four when you came back."

"Earlier today?" Izuku asked hopefully.

"Tonight," Midnight corrected.

Izuku gulped. "I don't know what you're talking about." The stupid blush on his face, and slightly glazed over eyes as he thought about earlier, made it pretty clear that it was a bold-faced lie.

"Oh really?" Midnight chuckled. "Everyone that believes that, go ahead and stand up."

Neither Izuku or Midnight left their chairs. Midnight leaned forward, offering a soft smile. "I'm not trying to embarrass you, Midoriya. And there's nothing to be ashamed of. Polyamory doesn't have any negative implications like it once had."

Izuku stiffened. "Negative implications?"

Midnight waved it off. "Some people might have labeled people involved in relationships like that as promiscuous."

Oh, Izuku didn't like hearing that at all. His brow knotted down and he frowned deeply. "What kind of people exactly?"

Midnight blinked. Whoa! He went defensive fast.

"Reign it in, young man," Midnight said with a laugh. "We're talking pre-Quirk worldviews. Nothing any of you are going to need to worry about."

Izuku rubbed his hands together, his face softening. "Right… right."

"Good job confirming my question though," Midnight teased while Izuku blinked and covered his blushing face. "Adorable."

"Has, um…" Izuku peeked through his fingers. "What had Himiko said about… us?"

"Honestly Midoriya, I'm more interested in hearing what you have to say about things. And I'm pretty sure you already know how Himiko feels about all this. You all did have that talk not too long ago."

"Me?" Izuku chirped.

"Like I said, I want to talk to you." Midnight held out her hands in a welcoming manner. "So, how are things with everyone?" Start small and work towards the hard stuff. Make him comfortable. Safe. Focus on happy feelings, before making him face the bad. These were the simple rules Midnight felt would help her get a good grasp where Izuku Midoriya was.

Izuku lowered his hands, wringing them together. "Good. Things are… good between us."

"You sound like you're unsure."

"No! No, I'm ecstatic! Really," Izuku quickly moved to dispel that idea. "Honestly. I don't… I can't remember the last time I ever felt like this…" Izuku chuckled. "Probably because I've never felt like this."

Midnight made a soft hum, having an idea as to what the issue was. "It's not that you're unsure that things are good. You're unsure what to do since things are good."

"Everything I've read about polycules and polyamory relationships point to making sure no one feels left out. Making sure there's no axle-and-spoke dynamics."

Midnight raised an eyebrow. "So you've been doing research, huh?"

"Yup. Been reading so, so many romance books and how-to guides."

That got a little snicker from Midnight. "Romance guides, hmm?"

"It was a little easier when I was prepping for Ochako… you know, when I asked her out for our date to I-Island… and a little before, after I sorta kinda eavesdropped on a conversation between her and Himiko."

"I recall seeing the notebook and all the date plans you showed Himiko to keep her from biting your head off. It's good you have the 'avoiding one member being the center' issue down. That can lead to a lot of hurt feelings, and can spread through the group faster than you'd think."

Izuku blinked, and Midnight could see the look in his eye. Inquisitive. He was a boy that had an eye and mind for details. "So, I was involved in a poly relationship myself once. And I know some of the pitfalls. When someone… becomes unhappy, that feeling can spread throughout everyone if it's allowed."

Midnight tapped her fingers on the armrest for a moment or two, looking thoughtful and a little melancholic before she was back to her normal self. "Best advice I can give you, Midoriya. Communicate. Talk often. Talk talk talk. Even if someone doesn't want to talk, you talk to them. Because you always want them to know that line is there."

Izuku nodded, and Midnight noticed that his hands were twitching, like he was writing that all down.

"So. You mentioned it was easier to research before. Any particular issue you run into trying to research how to have a poly relationship?" Midnight noted the blush was back on Izuku's face. And despite herself, her tendencies worked themselves out. "Oh. Oh, you mentioned you were looking at romance books. I bet," she was smirking wide now, "what you really mean is you came across the mountains of novellas?"

Izuku was a blushing mess now. "Everything was so…"

Oh this poor boy. Midnight had been told by Himiko that he was coming out of his shell. He was more confident. But Himiko had also made it very clear. Izuku will always be Izuku. "Erotic novellas do dominate the poly space. For better or worse." Izuku chirped. "But, if you're finding ones that are written from a female perspective… well, there's some good references there."

Midnight smiled brightly when she saw Izuku nod. Small and jerky, but it was there.

"Also remember, the type of affection given between you all is just as important as the act of giving it." Midnight pointed out, "No one person just fits into a 'one size fits all' situation."

"R-right."

"Take Toga for example. You wouldn't give her the same kind of attention you would Asui, right? Toga thrives on the physical. The very core of her being, biting and drinking blood, is a huge reflection of her personality. She expresses her love through touch."

Izuku gulped. "She sure does." Midnight snorted, and gave Izuku a once over. Izuku quickly looked away, but Midnight knew. The kid gloves were starting to come off now.

"She's physical, and it's give and take."

Izuku nodded. "Ochako… she… I think she likes touching. But it's also the whole… package." Izuku frowned thinking of the right word. "I think intent matters. She gets flustered so easily, it's praise and affection are important to her. I just have to be careful that I don't come off as condescending or my acts somehow take away her independence."

"Don't do anything that'll make her feel like she has to depend on you." Midnight was impressed. "That's a great insight, Midoriya. Balance is important with Uraraka. You want to lift her up, without her feeling like she's being held up. Good. That's very good."

Izuku puffed up with pride.

"And what kind of attention would you say is best to give Asui?"

Aaaaand instant deflate.

"Tsu… is… I think is the most mature out of all of us. It kinda feels like… in a public setting, she'd want restrained and more thoughtful acts. Maybe like what you'd see a married couple share… But privately… Himiko said she's ver—" Izuku clamped his mouth shut. Midnight raised an eyebrow but let Izuku finish on his own time. "Himiko, um… said things, and Tsu sorta… Actually, I'm not sure it's my place to say anything about that unless they tell us they've talked to you. I mean, technically we're still two separate couples so it'd be wrong of me to… gossip with anyone about their private matters."

Not going to just start talking about the fact that apparently Tsu is just as needy and exuberant as Himiko is. Also she's more intense too and wild. Which given her Frog Quirk…

Izuku definitely wasn't thinking of the way Himiko teased Tsu that time during their double date. Calling her her 'horny toad.'

"Two separate couples?" Midnight asked coyly.

"…There's a lot of overlap and we're open to letting things happen if they happen. But we're making sure we're good on our own first and foremost."

"Letting things evolve naturally, hmm. Mature and considerate of all of you. You wouldn't be using this time out here to 'see what happens' would you?"

Izuku glanced away. "No comment."

"Ha ha ha ha!" Midnight laughed heartily. "That's fair. I won't pry into things you don't think are your business to discuss. However, I would like to focus on something. Asui seems to be a bit of an unknown to you. So why don't we do something? I'm going to say a name, and you say the first thing that pops into your head. Don't worry about trying to make it neat."

"Oh, um… okay?"

"Tell me how you feel about Uraraka."

"Ochako? I'm in love. It feels like she filled a piece missing I didn't have for years."

Midnight nodded. Taking note of the idea that Izuku felt he was missing a part of himself for apparently a long time.

"Toga?"

"Himiko… It's a different kind of love. But it's love. She became a part of me but differently. Like she added herself to me. Ochako made me whole, but she expanded me."

Midnight nodded again. That description got to a T. Himiko very much inserted herself into Izuku's life. But to say she added to him, instead of sticking with something that could have a negative connotation, like insert, was a huge thing. And showed that while new, these feelings came from a strong place.

"Asui?"

"Tsu… weird. Not that I'm saying she's weird or anything!" Izuku corrected quickly. "It's just… she's blunt so it's hard to really know what she's thinking. Though she's definitely not afraid to tell you what she's thinking," Izuku ended with a chuckle. He had already seen her pull on Himiko's leash a couple times. Which was amazing to witness.

"But weird like… The moment she became a part of things, someone who shared feelings for someone I was realizing meant so much to me, the dynamic changed. She was a friend, a really good friend, but still a friend. Now, even if things stay… I think she used the term metamour, well, she's going to be special to me." Izuku held up his hands, making them like claws, as he turned them at the wrist, like he was trying to figure out how to make his hands clasp together. "It feels like we're two puzzle pieces. And we're turning and flipping, to see if or how we'll fit together." He clapped his hands together and set them in his lap. "I feel a little guilty about that. That I don't have an answer for her."

"With Uraraka, you had a whole year of training together to build up what you have now. You were practically already living together by what I've heard." Izuku chirped. "Toga, she's unique. So the way things have gone with her, shouldn't make you feel that's how it should apply to anyone else. You and Asui are part of something brand new, and need time. There's nothing wrong with both of you getting a feel for one another." Midnight smiled softly. "Think about how you described her and you. Pieces of a puzzle trying to figure out how you fit together. It sounds like you think you both want it, but it's all so new. You need time to figure out how it'll work. It's mature that they are taking the time, and not smashing the pieces together. That choice can make things bad for everyone involved."

Izuku was nodding and Midnight added, "You're doing fine. That you're so focused on making sure everyone is happy is so important."

"Of course!" Izuku puffed out a little bit. "I'm going to make sure they're happy! … If I'm not too busy being the center of attention and making them miserable." He deflated at the end.

Midnight leaned forward, initially debating if it was time to move things towards the heavier topics, but if Izuku was going to take things there naturally she wasn't going to stop him. "Is this something you feel is something that's happening?"

Izuku sighed, slumping down, and looking tired. "Considering they're having to keep an…" Izuku paused and gave Midnight a look. "Anything I say here stays between us, right?"

"Of course. Minus if you start making threats of violence or anything along those lines." Midnight felt that should be enough, because Izuku wouldn't be making threats.

"…"

Why isn't he saying anything?

"Ahem… So as long as I don't just say, 'I'm going to do XYZ,' it's fine?"

…Well that's fucking alarming if he's looking for specifics.

"Midoriya, I think we both are mature and smart enough to know the difference."

Izuku was quiet for a few seconds. Finally, "I'm not… okay. After what happened to my mom. I knew it wasn't fine but… I didn't know just how not okay I was. But Ochako, Himiko and Tsu knew."

"How not okay are you?" Midnight asked softly.

"I've… well I guess I've been pretty close to… punching Monoma. Um… multiple times on this trip."

"Well he can be a handful, but—"

"I was close to punching him while using my Quirk. And I didn't even realize I was… well…" Green sparks danced over Izuku's palm and arm. Giving Midnight a pretty good idea.

"They stepped in today… after Monoma called Ochako a gorilla. When they pulled me aside, they talked to me. And it sorta hit me…how dumb I was being, but… I almost didn't care. I just wanted him to stop. And… I knew I could make him stop."

An alarming statement to hear for sure, but at least Midnight knew this issue had some resolution, as she had heard about it from the other teachers.

"I'm grateful they got my head back on straight and I was able to talk to Monoma and have him apologize for what he said about mom." Izuku frowned deeply. "But it never should have gotten to that point. I was acting dumb… and distracting people important to me."

"I doubt anyone feels like that," Midnight reassured.

Izuku groaned. "Which somehow makes it all worse… Mom kept trying to say everything was fine… but it's not. She's not." Izuku leaned his head back, looking up at the ceiling. As he stared up, thoughts creeped into his head. Little insect legs creeping around his head. Dark thoughts buzzing far at the back of his brain. "None of this would have happened if I was there." Izuku's voice was dark, cold and certain.

"You know that's not true, Midoriya. There was nothing anyone could do in a situation—"

"I'm. Psychokinetic!" Izuku snapped, making Midnight jerk. That was not a tone she was used to hearing. Even when he rebuked her at the sports festival, it wasn't like this. "I could have grabbed Shigaraki. Pulled his hand away from mom."

Midnight shook her head. "Midoriya, I know how your Quirk works. When you use it on a person it doesn't work as well. You've said before, you have to be careful you're not applying too much force too."

Izuku pressed his hands together, and squeezed. "I wouldn't have to be careful with Shigaraki."

Midnight eyed Izuku's hands. Noting the way his knuckles turned white from the force.

Midnight was careful, slightly alarmed at the way the conversation was starting to lean. And the fact that Izuku was expressing some very uncharacteristic violent intentions. "Midoriya. Your mother got hurt. And we know, despite how the media is portraying it, it was serious. Of course you feel like if you had been there, things would have turned out differently. But nothing good will come from making the assumption things would have turned out differently or for the better if you had been there to inter—" Midnight was hit with a strong feeling that using interfere wouldn't have been the right word, "—involved."

"Except that every time I have gotten involved, I've saved the people in danger," Izuku countered pointedly.

"No th—"

"The sludge villain with Kacchan. The zero pointer with Iida. In the USJ, if I hadn't gone through those villains in the hall, they would have swarmed Ashido. Ochako, Tsuyu, Himiko and Kacchan with that large group of villains. All Might when I threw myself at Shigaraki the first time. Then there's Stain…" Izuku trailed off. Not going into detail because he wasn't supposed to, but Midnight knew. And she was flinching as Izuku kept listing off his examples. It was an unfortunately long list by this point. "I know I would have made things better. Despite what people like Aizawa-sensei like to say."

"Midoriya…" Midnight looked down at her hands, wringing them together as some weight of the past pressed down on her. "I know you're probably tired of hearing Aizawa say it. But the hardest part of being a hero is knowing when you mustn't act, and knowing that inaction is going to cost lives. Because the hard truth is, doing nothing might save more people than doing something in the long run."

It was one of the most unfortunate truths for a hero. Maybe she was taking a page out of Aizawa's book, putting such an unappealing and frankly cruel fact out in the open. But maybe it was a lesson that needed to be taught sooner. How many kids come to hero schools these days, thinking that the stories they hear as little children are real, only to cruelly learn first hand that they aren't. Maybe it should be the teachers' job to dispel these comic book ideas as soon as possible.

"He's wrong."

It wasn't what Izuku said that had Midnight snapping her head up. It wasn't even that Izuku didn't agree. It was the tone of anger and alarming disgust.

And when Midnight looked at the boy sitting across from her, Midnight knew she had just made a huge mistake… Izuku wasn't just angry that this idea was just told to him. He looked reviled at the very idea of anything she'd just said.

"So what. He's saying that instead of acting, I should be like… like those… those frauds out in the world? Like Death Arms and Kamui Woods?!"

Shit shit shit!

Whatever progress Midnight might have made tonight was going down the drain. "Midoriya, just hold on—"

"They were going to stand back and let Kacchan die! Is that what I'm supposed to do?!" Izuku was out of his chair, and Midnight had her hands up, trying desperately to get Izuku to calm down.

"He's a grenade with its pin pulled. The lever is held down but, once that's let go…boom." Himiko's warning was in her ears. Fuck! Fuck!

She'd gone too far. She'd just wretched the hand off the grenade lever. Maybe she had assumed Izuku would be easier to talk to. Even if he was dealing with trauma it couldn't have made him anything like Himiko had been.

Fuck!

She had been very very wrong. "Midoriya, please. Aizawa has a rough way of teaching, but he cares for you all. We… I just think—"

"He cares?! Aizawa-sensei?! Who's so unhappy being a teacher that he goes out of his way to let our class know we can't trust him by lying to us practically every day! And because we caught onto him on day one, he's decided to take out all his negativity by making me his favorite punching bag. All because apparently, no one likes that when the heroes fail at doing things they're supposed to be good at, I step in and do their job for them!"

Izuku threw his hands into the air, his frustration hitting a crescendo. His body was sparking up, and suddenly things felt dangerous. "At least my teachers in junior high just stuck with doing nothing when my life was being made a personal hell, but Aizawa-sensei seems to love putting on a personal touch. Always, always making sure to call me out in front of the class, so I wouldn't dare speak out or complain."

Izuku was breathing fire now. "'Just do what you're told, Midoriya.' 'Don't complain, Midoriya.' 'Trust us, Midoriya.'" He turned and pointed at Midnight. "Well, I've tried that, and it would have gotten my friends killed and now my mother's been attacked and no one's done anything about it! Because I wasn't there to act, my mom almost died! Trust?! Trusting you all doesn't seem to work!"

Furniture was rattling around. "None of you can point to one situation where me doing nothing would have been the right thing to do!"

By the end of the sudden rant, it was hard to tell who was more surprised. Midnight, who was frozen in place as she tried to quickly digest the rant just thrown at her. Or Izuku, who had a hand up to his mouth like he was checking to make sure it had actually been him that had spewed the sudden, unplanned, vitriol.

Upon realizing that he had actually said what he had said, out loud and with another person in the same room, and said person being a teacher, Izuku promptly decided that this little session was over and he needed to leave now. "I-I have to… I need to go. I… need to go."

Midnight, still in shock but also with enough sense left to know when it was time to quit, "Sure. That's alright. It's… going to be okay." Izuku was already at the door at 'sure.' Pausing only at that last bit before he ran off. Leaving Midnight to hold her face in her hands.

When Midnight walked into the shared living space for the teachers, Aizawa and Vlad King looked up, and had to do a double take.

"The hell happened to you?" Aizawa asked as a very disturbed looking Midnight walked over to the fridge, found a beer and slammed it back.

Vlad King chuckled. "Looks like she had a rough talk with Toga. I told you you didn't need to get on her case too much over the incident today. It was a good learning experience for Monoma."

"I wasn't talking with Toga," Midnight hissed as she tossed the can away and grabbed another to press against the throb in her skull. "I was talking with Midoriya."

Vlad King blinked when Midnight gave Aizawa a particularly nasty look.

Aizawa for his part put down the student planner he was prepping for the extra study session for tomorrow. "What?"

"You fucked up…" She almost slammed down the full can. "I fucked up. It's all fucked." She cracked the can open. "I handled Toga, so of course handling Midoriya shouldn't have been an issue. But nope, I didn't listen when Toga warned me he's a fucking pinless grenade."

Aizawa frowned deeply, not having seen Midnight like this after a talk since the early days with Himiko. "Slow down. What happened?"

Midnight to a swig, then lowered her can. "We might need to grab Ragdoll and ask that she make sure Midoriya doesn't run off."

That got Aizawa and Vlad King's attention. "Wait, is that an actual concern?"

"I honestly don't know. Probably not, but I just misplayed Midoriya bad, so I might not be the best one to make the call."

Aizawa glanced at Vlad King, who got up. "I'll just knock on her door and see if she can tell us where he is. If he's in his room, no worries."

Now it was just Midnight and Aizawa. "So. What happened?"

"You know how the mother isn't exactly a fan of us?" Aizawa nodded. "Well you can add the son to the list."

"Are things really that dire?"

"Midoriya is a hero fanboy, right? Well, that fanboy just started throwing around the word fraud. And he had names to go with it."

That was actually a surprise for Aizawa. "Names?"

"Death Arms and Kamui Woods."

Aizawa took a moment to give that a thought, then rubbed his brow. "The heroes involved in the sludge villain incident. They were part of a group of heroes that weren't able to act to save Bakugou."

"The incident where Midoriya ran in to try to help."

"…And the incident where All Might complimented Midoriya for his bravery in acting. Reminding him that heroes are supposed to risk their lives," Aizawa finished.

Midnight gawked. "WHAT?!"

"I've had a few conversations regarding Midoriya with All Might. Apparently he himself wasn't willing to act due to… his circumstances. To see Midoriya act… well…"

"That dumb fuck!" Midnight exploded. "Well, great. Thats three teachers that have fucked up!"

Aizawa frowned. "Midoriya is a raw nerve. Whatever was said was probably built up due to the situation with Monoma. I'll speak to him and push him to focus on his training. It helped me to compartmentalize after… it helped me so it should help him."

Midnight shook her head. "Maybe, but I don't think it should be you."

"I'm his homeroom teacher. It has to be me."

"He. Doesn't. Trust. You," Midnight said like she was stabbing in each word. "hHe exploded at me because he feels like not only do you hate your job, but that he feels he's now the best target for you to vent your frustrations." She held up her hand. "Don't even try to say it's ridiculous or anything. As far as he's concerned, he's a target, and to make matters worse, as far as he's concerned, every time you've come down on him for taking action, is basically you telling him to act like a fraud hero, and let people die." She took another drink. "He's convinced if he had been there at the mall, he would have saved his mother… and fuck me if I don't think he has an argument."

Aizawa frowned. "That mindset isn't helpful for breaking Midoriya out of this destructive habit." Aizawa got up, and decided that Midnight had the right idea, and grabbed himself a beer. "You've made your point over my teaching techniques. I can only apply my own life experiences as best I can."

"Right, because how you were as a pro is healthy." Midnight recalled many a night finding Aizawa treating his own injuries during those last few weeks of their last semester.

"Hard work kept my mind clear. Hopefully after a few more days of our training, Midoriya will burn out this… funk he's in. And after that… I can have a talk with him." Aizawa cut off the objection from Midnight. "I'm not going to talk down to him. I'll let him talk and… express his side of things."

"Good… that's good." Midnight sighed. "Yeah, now isn't the time to do it. He needs time to breathe. Wait until after this camp at least. Maybe… maybe before the next semester starts will be alright."

"Hmm."

"You're going to listen?" Midnight sounded genuinely shocked. Relieved but shocked.

"Hmph. I suppose I should learn from your example. Especially if things are as dire as they seem."

"They are." Midnight looked down at the can in her hands, "I'm pretty sure the thought of killing Shigaraki is floating around in Midoriya's head right now. Not a pleasant notion."

Aizawa glanced over at her. "Is he the only person Midoriya wants to harm?"

Midnight nodded. "I think Monoma giving that apology prevented a potentially horrific situation. The thought of asking for one only just occurred to him, after his… friends stepped in."

"Midoriya isn't violent by nature."

"He isn't."

Aizawa nodded, settling on his plan. "Then we'll make sure he doesn't have time to consider violent acts. He'll be too exhausted." Aizawa cracked open the can. "I think Midoriya has great potential. It's our job to make sure he lives to achieve it."

When Vlad King returned, he confirmed that Ragdoll had Izuku asleep in his room. And both teachers breathed a sigh of relief.

In a swirling cloud of black, multiple figures stepped out onto a flat outcropping, jutting out from a mountain. Down below was the vast forest belonging to the Wild Wild Pussycats. Lady Nagant stepped up to the ledge, and deployed her rifle, looking through the scope. Behind her, Chimera crossed his arms as he tested the air.

"Do you see anyone?" Chimera asked. Though he had a pretty good idea what the answer was going to be.

"No. We're at the far edge of their property here. And that should be outside Ragdoll's search range."

Dabi huffed as she stepped up beside them. "Should?"

Chimera answered after he didn't smell anyone in the vicinity. "Large range Quirks always mean you should be cautious. There's always a chance a hero might keep a trick or two about their abilities close to the chest. Just in case."

A large man, wrapped in a tattered cloak cracked his knuckles. His voice was twisted and deranged. "He's down there isn't he. What are we waiting for?!"

"He he he he." Deep within Kurogiri came an almost inhuman laugh. Obscured by the black mist, a black elongated figure peeked through. Bright yellow eyes peering past the darkness. "I wonder if he's still strong. I hope he's strong. So long. Sooo long. I want to see him… he he he he he."

The last member of the group to walk through, making sure to stay at the far edge of Kurogiri's portal to avoid the lanky monster and towering man, grumbled as he pulled at his school uniform. Noting that the thing didn't quite fit like he wanted.

Chimera looked him over. "Nothing scarier than a school boy."

The shortest member grumbled behind the tightly sealed mask on his face. "This is what I was wearing when my life changed. Plus, I want everything that happens, to be traced back to her." The tiny member let his fingers run along the metal of the gun at his waist. "So when do we go?"

"Man, you crazy bastards need to shut up," Dabi grunted, slipping his hands into his long coat pockets. "We'll move when all fourteen of us are here. We were put together as a strike force. But you don't send in a unit like us with only a quarter of the members present."

Lady Nagant looked over at him. "Look at you, acting like a big shot, hmm?"

"It's just common sense." Dabi looked out at the forest, almost smelling the smoke. "After tonight, these 'heroes' will realize that their false peace is about to come to an end."

Lady Nagant had to admit, taking a bat to the stained glass window this world was, sounded especially enticing.

Kurogiri's portal shifted as he began to close. "I will leave you all to scout then, while I collect our remaining members at the designated point."

Lady Nagant nodded. "Sounds good. Once everyone is dropped off, we'll need to move fast. It's like Chimera said, Ragdoll and her Search Quirk might have other ways of sensing when someone is in range. We need to move like she doesn't have to see us." Kurogiri nodded. "One last thing. Any word from our inside man?"

"No. They relayed the location of this training facility to Master. That is all I know about any communications."

Lady Nagant huffed. "Would love to know how All for One got someone inside." She paused and more seriously added, "Would also love to know who they are. Don't think All for One would take too kindly to his mole getting taken out during our attack."

"He has assured me that that will not be a concern." Kurogiri could tell there were some eyes on him. "And I'm afraid I don't know who they are. This is a secret Master has chosen to keep to himself."

The tiny member grunted. "What, like need-to-know kind of thing? So if someone is caught they can't accidentally spill the beans? Or use it to cut a deal." All heads turned to him. "What? It's what they do in those crime tv shows."

Chimera pulled out a cigar. "Then we need to assume that we'll be getting no inside help. Either directly or indirectly. Them sending this location to us is the extent of their help."

The large man grumbled. "Bunch of cloak and dagger bullshit."

Lady Nagant eyed the big man wearily. There were definitely a few members of this new League of Villains that had a lot of potential to be assets to the mission. Some—she looked to the side at the youngest—were more tagalongs that would be getting their first real taste of violence tomorrow. Then there were the wild cards. The ones that relished the carnage and violence. Then there were people like this one. The ones that were crazy, but also had their own agendas they wanted to fulfill. They, even more so than the insane members, were the ones she had armor piercing rounds for.

They were the ones that always went off script.

Chimera lit his cigar. "All right people, let's get hiking. Lady Nagant will be overwatch while we get close. I want us in position with time to spare before we launch the strike."

Lady Nagant kept her scope trained on the forest as the group set off. Behind her, Kurogiri wished them good hunting and said he looked forward to bringing them back after their victory.

The lone, twisted figure, still hidden behind the portal cloud, started laughing again. It was almost time and he was so excited. "He he he he, just you wait. Just you wait. I'll get to see if you're still strong. When I find you, I'll get to see if you're still strong, Bakugou."

Inko sat at her dinner table. Eri was tucked in and so she sat in silence by herself. Except she wasn't alone. At least not in her mind. She sat at one end of the table. At the other, sat her old self. Muddy and bloody. Together, Inko began to lay out what she knew.

"He's up to something."

"He is."

"Reforming the MLA?"

"He never had that kind of drive before."

"You know he loved the power being a general gave him. All those people falling in line at his word."

"He doesn't have the connections. We don't even know where anyone from the island is."

"Forget about anyone from Bespin. Those aren't the connections he should be focusing on."

"…"

"Remember all those people? At the dinner. That's what you want if you want to make an army now."

"People with influence."

"Political, industrial and entertainment."

"And money."

"He's leveraging Izuku. Somehow Izuku is important to this. He keeps wanting to bring Izuku around his boss. Bring him to that city."

"Why?"

Both voices were silent. Neither had a clue. Izuku was important, but to what?

"I don't have enough information." Inko tapped the table. "Too many pieces missing."

"Haven't even flipped them over after pouring them out of the box. Take it one step at a time. Get the edges filled out first. Outside and work in."

"Hisashi is our only piece though…"

The reflection shook her head. "You still have that card?"

And then, when Inko blinked, she was gone. Shaking her head, Inko got up and walked to her room. Finding her purse, she dug around, and pulled out the card that Chitose had given her. Flipping it over, there was the private line she had written down. Inko remembered seeing her back at the mall after the attack. Saw her looking at her before she was pulled away.

Was it a stretch to assume she was part of things? A part of Hisashi's whole thing? Inko didn't think so. At least she couldn't see the blue woman being someone that would play any game Hisashi was playing. But…

Inko found her cellphone and hit the numbers. At the same time, she was pulling open her closet, and started to pull clothes out. Surprising herself as she noticed she was paying attention to anything that was cut low, or maybe had a slit in the skirt.

"Yes? Oh hello. Yes. Yes it is me." Inko smiled, putting on a friendly voice, as she was answered by a surprised but almost enthusiastic woman. "Oh it wasn't anywhere near as bad as the news made it sound. I'm fine. Totally fine. But…"

Inko pulled a top out and eyed it. "Oh, nothing's wrong. I just… well… after such a close call. It got me thinking that maybe I shouldn't just wait around on things anymore." Inko nodded. "Exactly. So… I thought maybe you and I could grab some dinner? It's short notice I know, bu—"

Inko blinked in surprise. "Oh. Oh, that's a wonderful spot. But isn't it always busy?" Inko, despite herself, smirked. "'You'll figure it out.' Okay… okay then, I'll let you figure out how we'll get a table. And me… well, I'll just focus on making sure I'm dressed to kill."

Inko switched to another top. Something she was sure Mitsuki had gotten her, because she would never buy something with such a deep cut. She'd be too afraid she'd pop out of it.

"Eri? Oh… no. I think I can convince my friend to look after her tomorrow. You met her. I'm sure she can look after Eri for me. So we can," Inko pulled from experience she hadn't used since Bespin. Using a voice that could get her anything she wanted back in the day, Nenshouki put on the charm, "so we can have some fun. Without worrying about any interruptions."

Authors Notes:

Sorry for the delay folks, but here's the next chapter! A lot of story threads are getting pulled now. But I'm sure it'll all work out. *Eyes cover*

It's nice to finally really start to dig into the Momo/Kyouka ship. I had it tagged for so long but only dropped a hint to two. Now, well, someone's about to need a wingman.

Oh, and in case you all are curious, I do have all the poly kids planned out and named! Will any of this matter? No, but damn it I wanted to try my hand at the kind of puns Hori uses for names!

1) Eri: 壊 (break, e) and 理 (reason, logic ri)
2) Toshi: 禄 (A Gift from Heaven)
3) Juuriko: 重力 (jūryoku = gravity) + 子 (ko = child)
4A) Dokun: 毒 (doku = poison) + 爪 (kun = claw)
4B) Yu: 結 (To assemble) + 雨 (Rain)
5) Kojiko: 紅 (ko=Red) + 慈 (ji =Compassion) + 子(ko = Child)

It's always fun to write a flashforward. Means I get to add all sorts of little hints at what's to come. The fun ones are the ones that should be obvious but you'll miss it and I get to watch and laugh ;)

Aside from that, yes that was a Star Wars Knights of Ren reference, and yes that was a Moclan Orville reference.

Hope you all liked the chapter and I'll see you at day three of camp. Which we all know was the most boring of all the camp days.

A huge shout out to my beta reader WereTech!

As always, comments reviews and critiques are always welcome!