I only own this fan fiction. May contain Out of Character moments.

Minoru slowly, but surely, began feeling out his new fighting style. He's gotten faster at switching between his staff, baton, and Quirk in the middle of a fight, making for a confusing time for others to fight against. Kazama, whom the shorter boy struggled against before, was now on the receiving end as he now had to predict several dozen possible outcomes of a single attack chain. Is this attack a feign or will it strike my guard? Will he follow up with his baton, staff, or Quirk? What angle will he come from next, low or high?

Those sorts of questions.

But as the next day ticked over, Minoru had to train against Master Vengador. And he wasn't nearly as successful against him as he was against the student from Tsujigiri. The Spainard's footwork was superior, attacks came out much quicker, and he could recognize feints more easily. Even Gentle, who stepped in to provide a more reasonable opponent for Minoru, was still quite the challenge for the reasons mentioned above. He really was putting his former Villain experience, information from their prior fight, and his new training to work against Minoru. As a result, the shorter boy only won a little more than half the spars he had against the reforming Villain.

Who knew all Gentle needed to become a threat were skills with a sword and a sturdy walking stick?

Still, all of that gave Minoru more experience with his new fighting style. Which gave him the means to survive the next day's trial, which was a series of battles against Master Soren and his senior instructors. Once again, the shorter boy must deal with multiple opponents with his new fighting style. But unlike the time against Ectoplasm and Aizawa, these guys were bulkier and had shields and armor. To even have a chance, Minoru had to make greater use of weak spots and turn the enemies' strengths against them.

As a result, he sort-of made a mess of the Thunder Hall in his efforts to win.

Still, none of that compared to his ultimate trial at the Moon Hall, where he must use everything he learned to fight Master Eclipse. He represented the ultimate ideal of Minoru's new fighting style. Misdirection, targeting weaknesses, sowing chaos in the enemy's mind, decisive strikes…

This is what it means to become the 'Moon'.

"Shit!" Minoru thought, barely blocking a strike from above. But before the shorter boy could strike back, the cloaked man leaped back and faded from sight. Minoru would be over-tuning his senses right now to catch even the slightest hint of Eclipse's position… If he hadn't been already doing that for the past dozen spars. But the menacing Hero didn't give a single bit of his intention or position away, allowing Eclipse's attacks to come from anywhere and be nearly uninterruptible.

Eclipse appeared again, this time swinging his wooden sword from his right side. The shorter boy blocked it easily enough, only for Eclipse to toss something at his face from within his cloak. It burst upon contact, splattering Minoru's face with a thick cream-colored slime. Some of it went into his mouth, making him realize what it was…

Pudding. It was vanilla pudding.

But before Minoru could properly react to the strange use of the sweet treat, he received a swift kick to the chest.

"Don't get distracted. You'll die that way." Eclipse said, returning his limbs back into his dark cloak.

"Yeah… Thanks for the advice… And what's with the pudding? Aren't you supposed to be using sand or something?" Minoru replied, getting up from the floor and wiping the pudding off his face with a towel.

"Those are reserved solely for my enemies. Students just get pudding slightly past its best-by date."

"Oh gee, thanks… But how am I supposed to defend myself if I can't see?" Minoru asked, to which the cloaked man simply shook his head.

"You already know how to detect and avoid attacks outside your line of sight. So you should be able to handle scenarios where your perception is robbed from you. Am I wrong?"

"... No sir." Minoru replied after a moment of thought. He was right, the shorter boy had been able to react to things that were outside his vision. Minoru is also used to how Eclipse attacks, so he should reasonably intercept some of his attacks without the use of his eyes. However, before the two could start up their next spar, Fenghuang appeared before the two with a manilla folder in hand.

"A mission, Shifu?" Eclipse asked, facing the woman. She nodded and handed the folder over, causing the cloaked man to review the material within. While Minoru was glad for the break in the non-stop ass kickings he's been receiving, he could tell this was something he's going to get dragged into one way or another. So Minoru decided to turn to Fenghuang and began fishing for information to mentally prepare himself.

"Is our great ninja about to do some infiltrating?"

"Indeed. An illegal gambling den has been discovered in Inuito's shipping container yard by the port. One of the containers isn't a container, but a secret entrance to an underground casino where patrons try to win big. Not only that, the heroes who performed the initial recon discovered there's a counterfeit money operation going on too. It's how they've been 'paying' their patrons who won, taking their legitimate currency and giving away fakes." Fenghuang explained.

"Illegal gambling, counterfeiting, and plain thievery… I will not allow such illicit operations to continue. Grape Shot, we are moving out right away." Eclipse said, glare hardening as he closed the folder. Minoru couldn't help but raise his eyebrows to the cloaked man's words. Right away? As in 'right now'!?

"Huh? But Master Eclipse, this is a raid mission! Shouldn't we take an hour or two to prepare?"

"No need, I already know what we should do. Will Vengador be the one leading the assault, Shifu?" Eclipse replied curtly before turning to the Radiant Wing. She simply nodded and Eclipse began walking towards the hall entrance of this floor. Minoru looked to his shifu, unsure of whether or not to go through this mission with the cloaked man. However, Fenghuang simply gave him a reassuring smile and gestured for him to follow.

So with a gulp…

Minoru ran off to get into his Hero costume, putting faith in his teacher and her trust in Eclipse.

…

…

…

After a short drive, mostly because of Eclipse's incredibly aggressive handling of his car, Minoru and Eclipse arrived near the port. They weren't at the site itself because it could tip off the criminals that a Hero raid was going to happen soon. Eclipse had also explained how the two of them will, before the assault team arrives, cripple the enemy's defenses by eliminating their means of escape and security. Which means locating the emergency escapes and traveling straight into the heart of the gambling den.

Minoru wasn't sure how they'd find such an entrance... But he decided to follow the barely visible form of Eclipse, who wasted no time in running down the street they were on. How the cloaked man moved through the afternoon crowd with such ease, Minoru didn't know. But the shorter boy did make sure to keep Eclipse's shimmering shape in view as he turned down a side alley. And upon following him into it, he found him next to a man-hole.

"Y-You already found it?" Minoru asked quietly as he hid behind a nearby trash can.

"I found this on patrol a month back. I didn't know what it was or why it was here of all places, but I kept it in mind. Now that we've received word that the nearby shipping container yard is home to a hidden gambling den, I know for certain this isn't just a normal service hatch." Eclipse explained, prying open the heavy cover with a rod he produced from under his cloak. And with a little effort, the cover was lifted slightly before Eclipse shifted it over to fully open the hole.

"If you were suspicious back then, why didn't you report it?" Minoru asked as he saw Eclipse descended into the hole. The shorter boy followed, deciding to cover the hole behind them as quietly as possible. It was now pitch black as the shorter boy climbed down the metal ladder until he hit concrete beneath him.

And it was dead silent.

"Master Eclipse?" Minoru asked, turning his phone's flashlight on. But almost instantly, a hand covered the light and forcibly turned his phone off. This plunged the shorter boy back into the unnerving darkness and silence of the tunnel he was in. However, before Minoru could say or do anything else, a voice that could barely count as a whisper was heard.

"Perceive the space."

Minoru closed his eyes, which was sort of pointless since it was already pitch black but it was in the spirit of things, and took a deep breath. The shifting of his feet, the sound of his breathing, the beating of his heart… It began to sound much louder than it did before. And as Minoru continued to attune his senses to truly feel the environment, he smelled a faint but sweet scent next to him. It was mixed in with the musty smells of the tunnel he was in, making it almost impossible to detect…

But it was definitely there.

The shorter boy reached out to it and grasped a cloth.

"You found me. Remember, people can never truly erase their presence, including myself. You simply need to use all your senses and pick up the slightest of signatures. Once you master this, the space is yours. Now, let go and try to follow me." Eclipse said, gently removing Minoru's hand from his cloak.

"Yes Master Eclipse."

Without another word, the cloaked man began walking and Minoru followed. Due to the opening of his senses, the shorter boy was able to pick up on the subtle sounds of Eclipse that he never noticed before. The cloth draped over his hat actually makes incredibly small noises, especially when he moves any faster than a jog. It's completely imperceptible in any other environment though, so Minoru's not sure how useful this information is outside of this tunnel.

But he managed to keep up with Eclipse for the first time since training under him.

Eventually they came to a stop after 10 minutes of walking around in the dark.

"We're here. Keep talking to a minimum once we climb up." Eclipse said, placing a hand on the ladder. Minoru nodded, though it was still too dark for anyone to see. But the cloaked man must've reacted as the shorter boy heard him start climbing the ladder quietly. He followed up just as silently with Eclipse opening up a service hatch once he reached the top.

They were in a storage room, with shelves full of labeled bins. From jewelry, to watches, to phones, each item was placed in its own categorized bins. These must have been confiscated from the patrons when they couldn't pay their losses in cash. But luckily, none of the bins were as filled as Minoru expected, about only 5% if you combined everything. Eclipse, however, didn't care for that and immediately went for the door.

He placed the rounded part of a stethoscope onto it, carefully listening for movement from beyond it. And when he stopped, he held a single finger up to Minoru that warned him of an approaching person. The shorter boy quickly but quietly closed the hatch behind him and climbed a shelf to reach the ceiling. There, he'd just stick to it and wait.

Eclipse simply stepped away from the door and became fully invisible.

"Another moron, another paycheck." A man with an insect mandible said, walking in with a couple pieces of jewelry on a tray. There was also what looked like a security guard, based on the guy's bulk, mean glare, and scaly skin. And while the first man, Insect Jaw as Minoru will now call him, was placing the items in their appropriate places, Minoru saw Eclipse's form shimmer slightly. A signal. The shorter boy nodded and began slowly moving until he was over Insect Jaw.

"Man… Why can't we just pawn these off already? My girl's birthday is in a week and I still don't have the cash!" Insect Jaw complained.

"Boss's rule. That is unless you want to take a loan from him?" Scaly skin replied, his voice as rough as his skin.

"Are you kidding me? I ain't a moron like that lady we won these off of. She'll be needing a second job just to make those rates, probably a third and fourth if she wants to get out." Insect Jaw said, turning away from the other man. Before Scaly Skin could respond, Eclipse's wooden sword was placed over his neck and the cloaked man began choking him out. By the time Insect Jaw noticed, Minoru fell from the ceiling and clubbed him in the back of the head with his baton.

The two fell to the ground, completely unconscious, as the shorter boy quickly worked to stick them to each other and the ground. Eclipse removed the men's handkerchiefs from their pockets and stuffed it into their mouths, before taping it shut. He'd also removed a key card from Scaly Skin, no doubt some kind of clearance is needed in certain parts of this place. Eclipse then opened the door to the outside and walked out while fully invisible. And only when he shimmered did Minoru follow.

The corridors were bland and uniform, reminding the shorter boy of the Hassaikai underground base. But unlike before, he felt no dread in the air at all. This is most likely because Minoru is with the one person who has more malice in his body than cells. And every time they came across a patrolling guard, Minoru saw the extent of that malice first hand.

Eclipse would strike them all down like he wanted to kill them.

The shorter boy stopped as Eclipse's form shimmered, the two of them stopping by a door with a 'SECURITY' plaque on it. The stethoscope came out again and was pressed against the door.

"Six guards, CCTVs, lax about security. It's little wonder they haven't discovered most of their comrades are gone. We'll charge in, I'll draw their fire, you take out who you can." Eclipse said, readying the stolen key card. Minoru nodded and extended his baton, waiting for the moment the cloaked man would strike. The door opened with a beep, drawing the attention of the 6 guards. Their confusion was quite apparent as to why no one was there…

Until Eclipse dropped his invisibility and threw several eggs at the men. 4 of them took it to their faces while 2 of them barely dodged it, avoiding the powder that was currently burning the retinas and throats of those who got hit. Eclipse drew his sword and swiftly moved towards the 2 men, who couldn't even look up before one of them was struck down unceremoniously.

Minoru bounced in, clubbing one of the 4 men in the neck and forced him to the ground. When another guard tried to turn to face the shorter boy, fighting through the tears in his eyes, he had stepped into the baseball Minoru threw under his foot. Naturally, he slipped, fell into the other two, and caused them all to start falling to the floor. Minoru quickly scattered a bunch of hairballs in front of the 3, sticking the guards to the ground and each other.

And before any of them could scream for help, he knocked them out with a blow to the head each.

"Security room secured. Go restrain the others, I'll check the CCTVs for information about the rest of the rest of the facility." Eclipse said, handing Minoru the roll of tape. The shorter boy nodded, picked up his baseball, and began his job. And by the time he was finished, with all the guards all stuck to one another and gagged, Eclipse was speaking into something. It was probably his earpiece to the rest of the Heaven and Earth Temple.

"We've cleared about 70% of the security force and spotted the man behind this whole operation… I will Shifu… Good hunting."

"I'm guessing we'll be going after the big boss instead of meeting up with them?" Minoru asked.

"Yes. He's currently examining the latest stack of bills. He'll be stirred into a panic when the raid starts and will retreat towards the emergency escape. You remembered to seal it, right?" Eclipse replied.

"Yeah. I may not be as experienced as you, but I'm not a moron."

"Excellent. We'll corner him on the way. Let's go."

The two left the security room, but not after Eclipse smashed the card reader with a kick and Minoru sealed the door with his hairballs. And with the map that the cloaked man had swiped from the room, the two of them made great time to the press. They've even got 7 or 8 more guards along the way, further decreasing the threat the enemy will pose to the assault team.

Eventually, after a couple of minutes, Eclipse and Minoru arrived at the doors to the printing room. Once again, the stethoscope came out and the cloaked man listened in.

"5 people, a machine working at full speed, and the sound of laughter…" He said.

"If we're going to trap them, should I start laying some traps?" Minoru asked, gesturing to the hairballs on his head. Eclipse turned visible for a moment to give a nod before becoming invisible again. With that confirmation, the shorter boy immediately began spreading them all over the floor where they just came from. It wasn't the only way to this point, there were two other corridors, but it'll force the people inside to take a longer route.

"Hide, the raid will start very soon."

And as if on cue, a decently loud rumbling was heard in the distance. The people in the printing room could be heard shouting so loudly, Minoru could hear them from outside. It was a bit chaotic, but he heard someone calling the security room for updates. When there was no answer, the man asked the gambling floor what was going on. And with a single word, the man began to panic and started giving orders to 'clear house'.

"Leave everything! I'm not staying to find out if that invisible ninja freak is here!"

Minoru raised his brow as he stuck to the ceiling right above the door. Has Eclipse dealt with the boss before? And based on how it sounds, the guy must've been traumatized by the cloaked man. The shorter boy doesn't blame him though… Eclipse is not a Hero you want to be caught by.

The door was kicked open, 4 guys came out with handguns and Quirks at the ready. The one that held a fireball noticed the bunch of hairballs lining the floor. Curious, he walked over and poked it with his gun… Only for it to get stuck. A curse rang out through the hall and the fireball guard abandoned his firearm, warning them to not step in the sticky hairballs.

"They've already made it this far!? Move! I'm not getting caught again!" A thin man in a red suit shouted, pushing his guards to hurry along.

"Too late."

More eggs shattered against the faces of the guards, this time it was a deep red liquid that smells spicy. Eclipse became visible and struck one of the gun-toting guards in the head. Minoru dropped down and did the same. The shorter boy then bounced off a nearby hairball and clubbed the fireball guard in the neck, knocking him unconscious. This left the red-suited man to scramble to grab the gun out of the last guard's hand. But by the time he got it into his hand and aimed it…

Eclipse grabbed his hand, instantly twisted his wrist, and promptly stole the gun from his loose grip.

"Uwaki." Eclipse said, his contemptuous eyes peeking through the slit in his hat's cloth. Combined with how he aimed between the other man's eyes, the threat was very clear.

"E-Eclipse… This isn't what it looks like…" Uwaki replied nervously, putting his hands up slowly.

"Grape Shot, what do you think?" Eclipse asked, head turning slightly to the shorter boy. Minoru had finished off the last guard and was in the middle of restraining them all. And naturally, he shook his head unimpressively at Uwaki. This caused the poor man to sweat even more as Eclipse's eyes came back on him.

"My student thinks otherwise. Now turn around and slowly put your hands behind your back."

Uwaki, though still hesitant, did so. Minoru quickly placed a hairball between the man's hands, sticking it together. And with a slight push of his arms, it was now stuck to his back. Eclipse nodded and flicked the safety on the gun, removing the magazine and chambered bullet shortly after. He proceeded to do the same with all the other guns, including the one stuck in Minoru's hairball.

"Now, let's get going. You and everyone down here will–!" Eclipse began before tackling both Uwaki and Minoru onto the floor. Something then sailed over their heads and flew into the counterfeiting room, blowing it all up. Sitting up, both Eclipse and Minoru saw a brute of a man in black military armor lugging around a rocket launcher. A rocket shaped object appeared in his hand and he began loading it into the launcher.

"D13-G0! You could've hit me!" Uwaki shouted as Eclipse picked him up. Minoru just as quickly got onto his feet and the two of them ran like crazy. And from behind, he heard the crazed words of someone with more than a few screws loose.

"I just need you alive to get paid! No skin off my bones if you lose an arm or a leg!"

Another rocket was fired their way, but Eclipse and Minoru quickly turned the corner and were far enough from the blast to be unaffected.

"Who uses a rocket launcher underground!?" Minoru asked, throwing down some hairballs behind them. It won't stop him, but surely it will slow him down. As the shorter boy did that, Eclipse immediately began warning the others through his earpiece.

"Vengador! Rocket launcher! Start evacuating!"

"Where did this guy even come from!?" Minoru asked as Eclipse and Minoru turned the next corner. Straight ahead was the gambling floor, where everyone else was. If they got together, maybe they could do something about this explosive nutjob.

"Question it later! Just keep running!" Eclipse replied.

"That's my paycheck you're carrying off!" D13-G0 shouted, emerging from the flames behind them. He took aim, ready to fire another rocket. But with the only possible exit ahead of them, Minoru gritted his teeth and ran faster. That was when he noticed Eclipse remove his hat, pull the chin string with his teeth, and threw it at D13-G0 just as he fired a rocket. Somehow, the cloth on the hat spread out from the rim and went completely rigid. Before Minoru could question it, the rocket blew up against Eclipse's hat.

The explosion, though, was a lot stronger than expected and had sent the 3 flying into the room. Minoru was used to having such explosives go off near him, something he has to thank Bakugou for, and was able to recover rather quickly. His ears were still ringing though… Upon looking around, there were numerous people on the ground while several Heroes had just finished dealing with the remaining guards.

Fenghuang, Vengador, Saigai, Kazama, Izuku… And several more were just looking in shock at the explosive arrival of the shorter boy and Eclipse.

"Let's test your luck boss! Here comes the jackpot!" D13-G0 shouted as he loaded an even larger rocket into his launcher. And as he took aim, Minoru found himself stumbling to get to his feet. Eclipse was faster, but he was running to get the shorter boy off the ground. Something he won't be able to do in time, not without both of them dying in a fiery explosion.

"Grape Shot!" He heard Izuku shout.

The next thing that Minoru knew, the entire room was filled with an incredibly dense purple smoke. He couldn't even see his hand in front of his face.

"Oh for fuck's sake, can't make it easy on me can you? I'll just carpet bomb the whole room then!" D13-G0 shouted, the sounds of him fiddling with his launcher were then heard. Panic would no doubt soon erupt and make things very hard for the Heroes to get everyone out of this alive. So, tuning his senses to the room, he located the sounds of the rocket launching maniac quite easily.

He immediately made a mad scramble towards the source, dodging people finally erupting into panic and trying to find their way out. With a hairball thrown to the floor, Minoru bounced towards the sound and drew his heavier retracted staff. He readied to swing at the unmistakably large silhouette of D13-G0…

Only to find that the man had the rocket launcher at the ready, with Minoru staring down the barrel of it.

"First come, first serve!" He shouted with a manic grin.

But before the trigger could be pulled, a crescent of silver sliced clean through the entire length of the launcher. On Minoru's left, the shorter boy saw the familiar silhouette of Eclipse and felt his contemptuous glare through the smoke. But with this chance given to him, Minoru swung into the face of D13-G0 and felt the weighty metal bite into his face. And before the shorter boy could make a harsh crash landing onto the floor…

He felt a pair of arms catch him.

"Grape Shot, are you okay?" Izuku asked as they landed.

"I'm fine… But all that smoke came in just in time, or I would've been pulped."

"Yeah… That was me… Or rather, the egg." Izuku answered sheepishly as he put his friend down. Minoru wanted to say something. But considering the number of people around, it was probably best if they didn't say anything right now. Still… A smoke Quirk… That's bound to have some utility for both of them in the future.

For now though, they needed to help clean up and get people out of this smokey mess.

…

…

…

By the time they had left the underground gambling den, night had fallen.

Minoru could see a few dozen people being loaded into several police vans. The guards were being indignant, the gamblers were breaking down crying… A sad sight really. But as they say, crime really doesn't pay. There was news media on scene, interviewing Fenghuang as she gave credit to the Heroes that discovered the location, performed infiltration, to the raid itself. Vengador was also there to provide additional comments on that evening's events. Both of them navigated the questions of the media with ease…

Though they never brought up the contribution of Eclipse and Minoru.

Speaking of…

The shorter boy looked up at the shipping containers above them, spotting the shimmering form that was watching over the clean-up. Minoru tugged on his partner's sleever and pointed up. Izuku simply nodded and readied his body to boost his friend up. Minoru jumped onto his partner's hands before the force of One for All sent him all the way to the top of the containers. He landed on his feet and turned to face the shimmering form.

"I'm sorry." Eclipse said, revealing his form. He then turned to the shorter boy and knelt before him, head fully down. Minoru was in utter shock that an apology was the first thing he had to say. What on Earth was he apologizing for? What did Eclipse do that required him to kneel and lower his head?

"We shouldn't have been in that position. I shouldn't have put you in that position. Had I done my due diligence, no one would've been able to sneak up on us. And the decisions that followed only worsened the situation and put your life and the lives of our peers in danger. I will reflect and do better on our next mission…"

The shorter boy considered the words spoken to him. Sure, there could've been a bunch of stuff they should've done… But that's all behind them now. All they could do is simply learn from this and move forward. So, with a deep breath and a hand full of emotion, Minoru reached over and placed his hand on Eclipse's shoulder.

"It's okay Master Eclipse. That last attack would've blown me to pieces if you didn't save me. So all in all, there's a bunch of stuff I got to work on too. We're still human underneath all the powers and costumes, so we sometimes make mistakes. But as long as we're still alive, we'll learn not to make them again." Minoru replied. It was weird to do this pep talk with a professional Hero that has far more experience… However, the shorter boy needed to let Eclipse know how he felt.

Eclipse looked up, his normally malicious eyes appearing gentle and understanding for the first time since Minoru met him, and nodded.

"Then I vow to not make the same mistake. I will learn. So will you continue to learn alongside me?"

"Yes Master!"

And that has been Chapter 134!

Just some more in-between chapters, showing off the training and growth of Minoru and Izuku.

Other than that, I don't have much else to say this update. So...

Until Next Time. T1.