Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia. All rights for it belong to Kohei Horikoshi.

The Aftermath

The camp after the attack was an absolute mess. The teachers made sure to call the authorities to come here as quickly as possible. When they arrived, there weren't many injuries as much as there was confusion and fear among the students. Of all the 5 victims of the attack, only Izuku and Ragdoll needed to be taken to immediate surgery. There were only three students who suffered gas poisoning. Still, due to Izuku's actions when the attack first began, Manga and Shoda woke after being administered adequate medication. At the same time, Jiro was said to recover fully, but it might take a few days for her to wake since she inhaled too much gas. The rest of the students suffered from low to mid injuries. The only person missing was Kamakiri whom the villains kidnapped for some reason. This alone caused a massive outrage among the students.

As for the villains, here is where things get a little dicey. Dangerous villains managed to escape such as Muscular who was defeated but teleported away. The dinosaur villain whom Shishida seemed to know was also teleported away according to the testimony of the harpy sisters. The rest were arrested; Mustard was handed to Vlad by Kendo and Tetsu, the harpy girls were taken by Gran who had something special to help them, and Moonfish was found knocked out cold in the forest.

What truly worried UA was the aftermath of the attack. News agencies swam toward the gates of UA like sharks going after the smell of blood. They were practically trying to tear down the walls of UA to get an exclusive with the administration to see what they had to say about the attack.

All in all, to summarize, the attack on the camp provided a huge stain on UA's reputation and hero society as a whole governing body of sorts making people wonder if they were truly safe…

…Shigaraki got what he wanted, he managed to shake the people's faith in heroes.

The next day at UA, parents of students were trying to enter the school premises to have their questions answered if their kids were truly safe there. It was only thanks to the school's advanced security systems they weren't able to break through.

"Please, I understand your concern. I have children myself," Gentleman; a hero who worked at UA as the biology teacher for the second year, he wore a white suit with a pink visor over his eyes, spoke, "But you need to understand that the facility is having a meeting as we speak. And they are trying to get to the bottom of what happened yesterday. If you'd just calm…"

A piece of can was thrown against his head, "You can't ask us to calm down. those are our children's lives at risk, not yours." One of the parents yelled, "This isn't the first attack either."

Another yelled, "Yeah, for a so-called training camp, it sure yielded unexpected results."

"And you have a student kidnapped," another protester yelled, "How am I supposed to go to sleep knowing that my child, my sister's child… hell even my neighbor's child next on the chopping block."

A woman screamed, "This is shameful. You're the best hero school. Act like it. Not even rookie hero school had this happen to their students under their care."

Nezu looked at the raging crowd outside UA's gates and sighed, "This whole 'villain revival' thing… I have to admit we took it too lightly." He looked at the faculty members who were present with him in the conference room, "They already began their war… they aim to destroy society as we know it. We can't stand ideal while they do as they please."

All Might looked at Nezu before lowering his head and taking a breath due to the frustration he was feeling right now. He turned his head toward Midnight who said, "The real question is could we have prevented it if it ever occurred?" she planted her elbows on the table and leaned on them, "Most organized crime has been reduced to nothing after the rise of All Might. This is probably the best of the worst that we've experienced so far."

Present Mic entered the talk, "Bottom line people is that we're grown soft and complacent." He crossed his arms, "If we weren't, then those clowns wouldn't have been able to pull something this big from under our nose without us finding out until the last moment."

All Might put his hands on his forehead and pressed his thumbs against his temple as he berated himself, "I can't believe that I was relaxing while my students were fighting for their lives."

"I can't reckon we can continue to pretend that we are undaunted anymore… like how we went and aired the sports festival after the USJ attack." Snipe said slamming his hand against the table, "Letting a student get wrangled… this a huge stain on our name that will be edged for generations to come." Snipe leaned back in his chair, "Wasn't Kamakiri only kidnapped? This made people lose faith in the hero system."

"The media is having a field day with us," Nezu said smiling as he pulled out a newspaper, "Well, I have a few reasons to explain why they kidnapped Kamakiri, but for now, the relevant theory is the villains hope to enlist Kamakiri to their ranks due to his appearance, but I commenced my private investigation into the matter, and I think I have a clearer reason why they took him, but for now…" the rat-bear thing clapped his hand, "Let's hope they don't manage to turn him over because if that happens, we can say goodbye to the educational system."

"Speaking of losing trust," everyone looked at Present Mic who had a very serious expression, "I looked the other away the last time because it could have been a coincidence, but now this can't be ignored anymore." He gazed at everyone, "We have a mole inside UA"

Midnight spoke, "Mic, I know the situation is stressful, but…"

Present Mic cut her off, "No, this has to be said. Only the teachers here and the Pussy Cats knew where the camp was going, but we have to consider other options." The man carried on, "If one of the students had a GPS on him, the villains could have found the…"

Midnight stopped him, "Mic. Stop right there…"

Present Mic argued back, "No, we're solving this now. We have to find how this traitor is…"

Snipe retorted, "Can you even cough up proof that you aren't one?" Snipe looked at him, "Yeah, since we don't have proof that we aren't the traitor, I suggest you calm down."

Mic hummed a little, "Umm… what are you aiming at?"

Snipe put his hands together, "If we want to solve something like this, we need to be careful." He looked at Mic, "If we start suspecting each other and jump at each other's shadow, we'll destroy everything from the inside. If we want to search for the mole, it has to be done surgically."

"For what it's worth, I trust all of you, though I also have no proof regarding my innocence." Nezu interjected, "Anyway, we'll talk about this later since the important issue I wanted to address is the safety of our students. Due to the attack and the possibility of a mole, I want to enforce something that I've been planning for a while now."

"That's why…" Nezu was cut off when the sound of a ringtone filled the room.

Everyone looked at All Might who seemed embarrassed by this. the man looked at his phone and saw it was Tsukauchi. The man stood up, "I'm sorry, but I have to take this. it's important."

All Might walked to the door as Present Mic yelled, "This is an important meeting. You should have kept your phone quiet." All Might apologized before exiting the room.

The man stood in front of the door and sighed, 'I can't believe this. while my students were fighting for their lives, I was doing nothing but sleep peacefully. What kind of symbol of peace can't protect his students?' He clenched his fist, 'Some kind of hero I turned out to be!'

The man replied to the call, "Moshi, Mosh. All Might here, how I can help you, Tsukauchi?"

Tsukauchi answered, "We're getting the statement of your colleague regarding what happened that night, but we have a new development that we just discovered."

"We might have found the location of the League of Villains," All Might was shocked to his core, "About two weeks ago, one of my men was looking for information when someone told him he saw a man made from patches enter into an empty building. We searched through our database to find someone fitting his description, but no one popped out. After some investigation, we found the building had a bar that was more like a shelter. At the time, we didn't look too much into it, since it wasn't too important, but now given that the man fits the description of one of the villains who attacked the camp according to the testimony of the harpy sisters that Gran Torino apprehended! Given the situation, we're going to raid the place as soon as we gather enough evidence. This is highly classified, but I figured you should know."

"For this search and rescue mission, I'd like you to join us," Tsukauchi asked, but he was met by silence from the other side of the line, "All Might? Are you still there?"

"You're one heck of a pal," All Might replied to Tsukauchi as steam rose from the hero's body. The man entered his buff form, "Count on me to be there to say 'I AM HERE' so we can fight back."

In the hospital, parents were swarming their children to make sure the kids were fine, but a certain lizard girl was sitting in her bed hugging a dinosaur plushie as she looked at the wall remembering the events of training camp which made her skin crawl.

She hated the feeling of being weak. She hated that Izuku, the boy she loved, almost died to protect her while he fought that freak Muscular. And to add salt to the injury, the madman wasn't found there. the villains helped him escape. This madman might be still out there…

…she was afraid that this madman might come to finish what he started with Izuku.

The girl hugged her plushie harder as someone entered her hospital room. It was Izuku's mom. Tokage fixed her hair and greeted the woman, "Good afternoon, Miss Midoriya. How are you doing?" the girl stood to handshake the older woman's hand, but Inko told her to stay on her bed.

"Please stay rested, sweetie." The woman said as she sat beside the girl before flicking Setusna's forehead, "And how many times do I need to tell you to call me Inko? There's no need for formalities between us." The girl blushed and looked away from the woman.

The woman asked the girl, "How are you doing? I heard that you were injured."

The girl replied, "I'm fine. It was nothing serious." They remained there in silence until Setsuna decided to break the silence by asking a question.

Setsuna asked, "How is Izuchan doing? I heard that they took him out of the surgery room the day before yesterday. Did he wake up yet?" The girl heard that her friend was put into a medically induced coma since his injuries were too severe. In fact, he was the most injured person in this whole attack aside from Ragdoll who took number two on the injury list.

Inko sighed, "No, he didn't, but according to the doctors And Recovery Girl, he's going to wake up sometime this afternoon." The woman rubbed her shoulders, "Seeing him in such a state makes my heart tear apart. I never imagined he be injured to this extent."

Setsuna chuckled dryly, "Well, this is going to be a regular thing in the future." The girl pointed to her eye which still had a black ring around that was starting to fade, "This is the hero business after all. You can't get out of a fight without some few scars."

"I know, but this is just too much…" Inko said, "Honestly, I'm thinking about pulling him from UA at this point." Setsuna's eyes widened, "I know he's training to be a hero, but this is just getting ridiculous. Two villain attacks… two attacks where students were almost killed. I'm beyond frustrated and UA wants us to have faith in them."

Setsuna replied, "But do you want to do that?"

"…" Inko remained silent for a while and then answered, "I don't know. If I take him out of UA, I can rest peacefully knowing my son will be safe, but he will continue trying to be a hero in another school and heroism goes hand-in-hand with injuries."

Setsuna spoke, "Ma'am if you want my advice, I think you should let him decide what to do. I don't think you should take him out for two reasons. It's like you said… even if you took him out, he'll still be planning to be a hero. He will work with hero agencies which means he will be injured, though I think any job can lead to injury. Even something as mundane as teaching can lead to injury if, for example, the teacher gets into an accident going to his work. This is just a part of life. The second reason is that you'll be ripping him from his support system and forcing him to go to a new environment where he'll have to start from scratch which he might find hard."

Inko was looking at her shocked making Setsuna blush, "That's what I think." The girl began to fiddle with her hair.

The older woman sighed, "And that's one of the many reasons stopping me from taking him out of UA." The woman clenched her fists, "My son's life changed for the better, and he made friends who care about him and aren't bothered by a simple joint in his toe. I don't think I have the heart to tear them away from them, but at the same time, I want to keep him safe."

Setsuna understood where Izuku's mom was coming from. On one hand, she wanted her son to be safe, but on the other, his safety came with the price of him being happy which made the woman feel conflicted about her decision. It was a very hard decision to take.

Inko shook her head, "I'm sorry I kinda went on a tangent there, so tell me how did your parents take the news of the attack?" she said attempting to change the subject.

Setsuna rubbed the back of her head, "My dad went ballistic. My mom was planning to shut down UA until my father stopped her. And finally, my sister was laying back and enjoying the chaos that was unfolding in front of her eyes." Inko tilted her head in confusion, "My sister thinks my mom makes a great comedian when she threatens to shut down schools."

The older woman laughed, "This is one of the funniest things I ever heard. This is hilarious."

The two continued to chat for a little bit until Inko left the room leaving Setsuna alone for a bit. The girl began to think once again about the fight with Muscular. Her main thought was if she could have done more to help Izuku in the fight. The rational part told her no and that she did what she could against someone who was way out of her league, but the other part said that her inactions almost cost the life of Izuku.

She shook her head trying to get those thoughts away, but she couldn't help it. Every time she closed her eyes the only thing, she could see was the mangled state Izuku was in when they took him to the hospital.

The girl hugged herself and looked outside the window to the night and thought, 'Could I have done something different?' the girl sighed once again and grabbed her plushie and asked it, "What do you think, Rexy? Was I good enough that night?"

The girl hugged it tighter and thought, 'I need to tell him how I feel as soon as possible. Just seeing him like that tore my heart apart.' A tear slid down her cheek, 'I can't wait around anymore. I don't want my confession to be when both of us are dying.'

The girl looked at herself in the mirror and puffed her cheeks, "Come on, Setsuna." The girl slapped her cheeks, "You can do this. once he wakes up, you walk up to him and say 'Mister, I'm in love with you and we're going on a date whether you like it or not' making him fall in love with you on the spot." She stopped to think about it for a while before shaking her head, "No way, that will make me look desperate." She tapped her chin and began to think about a different approach.

The girl continued to talk to herself in the mirror for a while and tried out different ways to approach Izuku and tell him her feelings for him.

The girl was so invested she didn't notice the door open and someone slithering into the room, sitting on her, and watching with an amused smile.

Setsuna turned around, and her face turned white with fear and shock, "Nee-san, what are you doing here?" she shook her head as a blush colored her face, "and how much did you hear?"

Hana laughed at her sister, "I heard good enough," she then made a kissy face and began to imitate her sister, "Oh, Izuchan, kiss me, and let's go live together on a beach house where we can play hero and have many children to run around us."

Setsuna's already hard blush achieved a new shade of red as she covered her face with her hands.

Hana then said, "Izuku and Setsuna sitting in a tree K, I, S, S, I, N, G…" She then fell from the bed and began to laugh at her sister's little fantasies of her love life.

Setsuna regained her composure and crossed her arms, "Not cool" she said with a pouty face.

Hana hugged her from behind, "Oh come, don't be such a sore loser. It's just fun between sisters."

"It's not fun when I'm the one being made fun of." Setsuna pouted, "It's much more entertaining when I'm the one teasing you, not the other way around."

Hana laughed, "Like you can ever tease me, dwarf." She puffed her chest, "No one is capable of teasing me under any circumstances…" the girl boosted but Setsuna cut her off, "Unless, it's your boyfriend then you become a blushing mess." The older girl became quiet and had a small blush on her face as she glared at her sister for mentioning this.

Setsuna laughed a little at her sister before asking, "What happened to all the macho you just had?" Hana's face remained hard for a bit before she joined her sister and laughed with her.

Both sisters just sat there laughing for a bit before looking at each other and Hana asked, "So, how are you feeling? Does your eye or wrist still hurt you? I brought some of your favorite snacks and those horrible dino nuggets and crackers you live on." She lifted her sister's shirt and admired her fit body for a moment, "Remind me, how are you fit even though you eat this trash?"

Setsuna shrugged taking the bag and grabbing a chocolate bar from inside it, "That's for me to know and for you to never find out." She finished the bar before fishing for something else, "It's basically the trade's secret."

The older girl nodded, "Yeah, the trade's secret. Are you sure it has nothing to do with the treadmill you have in your room which is always annoying me?"

Setsuna hummed, "Yeah, and running helps too."

Hana shook her head, but her face morphed into a more serious expression, "Now, put all jokes aside, how are you feeling? Are still having nightmares?"

Setsuna looked away, "I'm still having them. every night, all I see is Muscular killing Izuku and Kota while I stand there doing nothing. it is really frightening me." She wiped a tear from her eye.

Hana hugged her, "It's alright. This I just a nightmare. There is nothing to fear anymore."

Setsuna shook her head, "No, this problem isn't the nightmares or that Muscular is out there. the problem is that I just stood there and couldn't do anything to help."

Hana began to rub her sister's head, "But you did your best, Setsuna." The younger girl looked at her, "You were fighting against a villain in a league way higher than yours. You can't blame yourself for something you had no control over."

Setsuna sniffed, "But I could have done better." The girl clenched her fists, "I'm planning to become a hero, and when the time to be a hero came, I just froze there. I couldn't do anything…"

Her older sister sighed, "You're still a child, Setsuna. You've done your best. You're guilty and that's natural." The older girl caressed Setsuna's curly green hair, "but don't set your standards too high. There's a limit where you have to stop and ask for help." Setsuna looked at her, "You're going to become a hero and that's true, but that doesn't mean you can do everything."

Setsuna frowned and whispered, "But a hero stands his ground no matter what." She wiped some tears from her eyes, "Izuku gave it his all while I stood there doing nothing. He was strong and continued fighting even when his arms were shattered, while I failed at…"

"This is called 'self-reproach'," the older girl explained, "You did your best, and yet you're feeling guilty about what happened. It's because you saw how Izuku was badly hurt. This is the basic definition of 'self-reproach', so please don't harm yourself."

Setsuna remained quiet and her sister hummed her song, she used to sing to her when the girl was younger and was having nightmares. The older girl stopped and looked at her younger sister and asked her, "Are you feeling better now?"

The younger girl nodded, "Yeah, a bit. I just can't help but feel guilty, you know."

Hana sighed, "Look, you're still young, and you're going to make many mistakes along the line to become a professional hero." The older girl's expression hardened a bit, "And some of those mistakes might unfortunately cost people's lives. This is the sad truth about life. You can't save everyone." Hana's expression then softened a bit, "The thing is that you aren't All Might. You can't hold yourself up to impossible standards. You need to balance yourself. Setting impossible standards will lead to failure. I know that when you become a hero, you just can't forfeit a fight when the heat is too much, but you can retreat to make a new plan, stall for time, or at the very least help people escape. I know 'Plus Ultra' and all, but even this should be within the realm of your capabilities. At the end of the day, you can't judge a fish how good it is if you ask it to climb a tree like a monkey does. The fish flourish in its own habit. You couldn't have even hoped to defeat Muscular and your friend knew that too, so that's why he fought that hard. It's to keep you safe. Sometimes even a hero needs someone to protect them from danger."

Setsuna sat there for a moment and thought about what her sister said, "You really think I did well." the older girl nodded, "But…"

Hana put her finger on her sister's mouth, "No more negative thoughts. You did what you could and that's what really counts." She then smiled slyly, "Plus, I don't think your boyfriend would like to see you blaming yourself like this. you might hurt his feelings."

The younger girl blushed and looked away, "He's not my boyfriend." He began playing with her hair, "At least, not yet anyway."

Hana hugged the younger girl and squeezed her hard, "I can't believe my baby sister is about to become a full-grown woman who has a boyfriend to spoil her whenever she wants to."

Setsuna pushed her away, "Get off me, you huge dork." The girl straightened her outfit and winced in pain from ribs which felt broken due to her sister's bearhug. The girl pouted, "Are you trying to put me in bed today, so I can't go and talk to him?"

The older girl winked, "You don't know. Mom might have sent me to put a dent in your plans." She then giggled a bit, but stopped when she saw Tokage's small frown, "Don't tell me you're still upset about what happened yesterday? Even I was a little angry because I thought he took you to a dangerous situation! You know Mom meant well this time around and you saw how worried she was when she heard he was in the intensive surgery room."

Setsuna glared at her sister, "You took her side?" the old girl sweat nervously and looked away.

Hana retorted, "You can't blame us." She huffed and sat down on the bed, "It's not like there was a huge attack where students were harmed and taken to emergency rooms to have surgeries performed on them. add to that, it's not like a student was kidnapped."

Setsuna frowned, "Yeah, I guess I can see where you're coming from, but still, did she have to be so blunt in calling him a troublemaker and someone who loves to throw other people's lives in danger just to satisfy his bloodthirst?" the girl finished and had many veins on her forehead.

Hana rubbed her shoulder, "Yeah, you know how Mom becomes when she loses her filter in anger." She looked away, "But you also didn't help the situation when began arguing back and telling her how embarrassing she is. you just have to tell her she was a tyrant who is suffocating you with her overbearing attitude," she noticed the unimpressed look on Setsuna's face, "Look, I know Mom acts like but there's no need to go and say it to her face."

"I'm just angry that she immediately blamed him for my broken wrist and black eye," Setsuna said with a huff, "If I didn't tell her that I was the one clung to him and refused to leave him, I don't know what she could have done to him."

Hana nodded, "Yeah, I get it, but you saw how she changed her attitude when she heard how he risked his life to save yours and the little boy from Muscular."

Setsuna didn't smile but Hana added, "Now, she's just angry that you spoke back against her." She looked outside the window, "You two almost made a scene. Good thing Dad took her away before you two can try to rip each other's throats out."

Setsuna made a mocking face, "I wasn't going to rip her throat out. No matter how much I disagree with her, I always love her, but I need her to listen to me more, and stop listening to whatever gossip magazine she gets her mothering tips from."

Hana laughed, "I once saw her read something from 'Motherly Diary'." The older sibling had a disturbed face, "I have to admit never had I seen so many odd suggestions for mothers in one sitting. It just tells you about how low the quality of the written material declined nowadays."

Setsuna nodded, "And there my friend is why Mom needs new books." The two girls then laughed.

The two sisters sat together for a small while before Hana had to go back home and promised Sestuna to bring her more dino nuggets or as she called them 'dietary abominations' making Tokage laugh a little before she sat down back on her bed and took a nap.

5 hours later, Setsuna was woken up by Itsuka yelling, "Setsuna, Midoriya woke up." The girl jumped from her bed in shock before following Itsuka to Izuku's room.

The two girls reached Izuku's room and entered it. Setsuna's heart clenched seeing how roughed up Izuku seemed to be. The girl started talking, "Izuchan, how are you feeling?"

The boy looked at her and smiled, "I'm feeling better. I've been awake for a while now." He tried to move his arms but winced from pain. They were in casts. He looked down at his hands and chuckled, "They're going to let me out of the hospital tonight after Recovery Girl finishes her treatment for me. Isn't that great?"

Setsuna chuckled nervously, "Right because getting manhandled by a villain like Muscular is something that happens every day of the week." Izuku decided to imitate her.

Itsuka sighed, "Well, the important thing is that you're alright." She rubbed her forehead, "Why the hell did you decide to fight Muscular anyway? Couldn't you just escape from him?"

"It was impossible," Izuku replied, "If I tried to escape, he would have followed me and killed everyone in his way including Setsuna, Kota, and me. Fighting was the only viable option that I had back then. God knows what would have happened if I let him through." Itsuka nodded as Izuku added, "The important thing is that he's off the street right now."

Both girls cringed a little. They didn't know how to tell him that Muscular was still out and about wreaking havoc and death. It would make everything Izuku did that night useless since Muscular walked away with only serious injuries and didn't pay for his crimes.

Itsuka decided to tell him rather than him finding out if Muscular decided to hunt him down, "Midoriya, I don't how I should tell you this, but Muscular…" Izuku stared at her and felt his throat grow dry, "…the villains whisked him away from there. he's still free."

The boy looked down at the ground dreading what he heard, "This is worse than I thought. I thought I crippled him, but Muscular being out there makes the situation even worse than it already is." Izuku was worried that the villain might seek him out to fight him once again.

Setsuna said, "Don't worry, Izuchan. You did some real damage to him." the girl crossed her arms, "It will take him quite a while for him to come back and begin terrorizing others."

Itsuka added, "Yeah, so please rest for a bit. You've been through a lot," she then fished for something in her back pocket, "I have to give you something important someone told me to give to you no matter what happens."

Itsuka went to hand him a letter addressed to him but noticed that he lacked usable arms right now, so she opted to open the letter and leave it in front of him as Setsuna teased him for it

Izuku grinned, "it's from Kota."

Setsuna raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that the little boy who you saved from being turned into paste?" Kendo elbowed her in the stomach, "I mean isn't he the child who punched you in the nuts."

Izuku nodded as Kendo said, "I guess saving him showed him that heroes aren't people who just wave around their flashy quirks for attention. Isn't that cool?"

Setsuna retorted, "I think anyone who saw who Izuku fought against Muscular will know that heroes mean business," Setsuna began to twirl a strand of hair, "Izuku pushed himself beyond his limits to save me and Kota. I tried to help, but I could…"

Izuku cut her off, "Nonsense, Setchan." The boy said without looking away from the letter, "You were amazing during the fight." He looked in the eyes and gave her a huge smile, "If I wanted anyone to be stuck with during my fight, I'm sure glad that it was you."

Setsuna blushed while Kendo laughed a bit. The orange-haired girl leaned into the other girl's ear and whispered, "Try not to look too much in love, okay?"

Setsuna frowned and fired back, "Says the girl who just came back from a date with her boyfriend!" Kendo blushed a little since she told Tetsu how she felt about him when she was walking back with Mustard after they defeated him.

The boy was more than excited when she told him her feelings, so he asked her to go on a date on the spot which made Kendo a little bit flustered, and accidentally slapped him across the face with her giant hand knocking out for a while.

Kendo looked at her and glared as the door was opened. Both girls looked and saw Tetsu and Kinoko standing there looking at Izuku with worried expressions.

Kinoko was the first to speak, "Oh my god, Izuku. You look horrible." She was whacked a little by Kendo causing her to say, "It isn't like I'm lying. How are feeling right now?"

The green-haired boy looked up from his letter, "I feel like I'm much better today, but my arms still sting me a little bit. The doctors said that Recovery Girl will come here later and heal permanently."

Tetsu nodded, "That's good, Mido-bro." he sat on a chair in the room, "You looked really messed up when I last saw you." He smiled, "It's good to see you up and running again." He then noticed the letter in Izuku's lap, "What is that?"

Izuku replied, "It's a letter written to me from Kota." Tetsu and Kinoko looked at each other confused making Setsuna say, "The boy who punched Izuchan where the sun doesn't shine."

Kinoko laughed, "It was a funny scene back then."

Tetsu frowned, "Yeah, getting punched there is not funny at all." He crossed his arms, "It's like a woman being pinched in…" he noticed three girls looking at him with raised eyebrows making him look away and being quiet.

Setsuna then said, "Wise move on your end. You should treat all women like queens."

Tetsu looked at her with boredom, "If it's like you, I'll take her to the nearest dumping grounds…" he remained silent for a bit before adding, "Well, you can see what's going to happen after that."

Setsuna glared at him, "Look as I perform this magical trick." The girl covered her right hand before unveiling it relieving that she was showing her middle finger to Tetsu, "Did you like the trick?"

Tetsu groaned, "Don't you have any new tricks up your sleeve?" he smiled mischievously, "I think you're getting old, Set. Maybe you should go to an elderly…" The boy froze feeling 3 terrifying auras in the room. He quickly shut himself up remembering one of the most important lessons his father taught him when dealing with girls; Never comment on a female's age.

Izuku commented, "A wise move, my friend." He mumbled to himself, "Plus, Kendo is the big sister of the class so she's probably the oldest between us."

Kendo grabbed his head and smiled menacingly, "You don't say now, do you?"

It then occurred to Izuku that he mumbled this out loud. He gulped, "I should not have said that."

Kinoko laughed, "Remember this, things are now in motion that can't be undone." They looked at each other before they burst out laughing at the funny moment.

Kendo then wiped a tear of happiness, "Okay, now this was funny, but in all honesty, I'm happy that you're alright, Midoriya," she sighed, "Though it would have been happier if that freak Muscular was still out and about."

Izuku waved his hand, "Look guys, let's not ruin the mood with this right now."

Tetsu nodded, "Yeah, but I think you were cool fighting him. I heard your punches from my place."

Kinoko smacked him, "Don't encourage this. his arms are completely totaled." The girl sat down back on her chair, "I heard the doctors say he was lucky his arms weren't ripped off."

Tetsu pouted and turned his head away, "You know what I meant. I just meant he was amazing for defeating Muscular while many heroes failed to stop him." he felt the girls and Izuku giving unimpressed looks and remembered Kota's parents, "I'm sorry."

Setsuna patted him, "There, there, Captain Bucket Head. I'm sure you meant well."

Izuku hummed, "Still, I wish Muscular wasn't saved by his comrades." He looked down at his hands, "He should be rotting behind bars, but there is no helping it. The villains caught us with our pants down. this is going to make people lose faith in heroes, especially with Kamakiri's kidnapping."

Itsuka agreed, "But we can't give up now, we'll have to just fight harder than ever to prove to people their trust isn't misplaced with us heroes." She then raised her hand and yelled, "Who's with me?"

The 5 students began to cheer together in enthusiasm and swore to become the best heroes they could be in the future.

Izuku said, "So, how was your parent's reaction to what happened?"

Everyone froze in shock and began to whistle awkwardly as Itsuka began, "Well, my father went ballistic. He swore to take me out of the school, but my mom stopped him from doing that." She put her hand on her head, "I honestly thought this was going to be the last time I see any of you."

Kinoko bit her lip, "Yeah, I'm not going to enter the endless hours of begging and weeping to convince my parents not to change my school. It took my internship mentor promising them to handle my work studies whatever those are to make them calm down a little."

Setsuna replied, "Work Studies are just large-scale internships where we get paid." She took some money from her wallet and threw it over Kinoko's head, "Money Baby." She then coughed, "Regarding my parent's reaction, the less said about it, the better."

"Mine were chill enough." Tetsu said, "They were angry at the attack, but said this was part of becoming a hero and I'll eventually be in more dangerous situations down in my career."

Izuku hummed, "My mom was a bit anxious, but she just told me to stop putting myself in these dangerous situations and try to escape if I can help it." Setsuna remembered her conversation with his mother. She was pretty sure Izuku begged a little to make his mother calm down.

Izuku then said, "Well, this was really cool. Thank you for visiting me and making sure I'm alright."

Itsuka punched his shoulder making him wince in pain, "Sorry," the girl immediately said before saying, "This was our job as your friends. I just hope you can jump back up soon."

Izuku gave her a thumbs-up as Tetsu said, "Yeah, I hope you get better." Kinoko on the side was nodding her head vigorously wishing him to become better.

Setsuna walked to Kendo and whispered, "Itsuka, can you take out the other two outside the room?" the orange-haired girl raised her eyebrow in confusion, "I want to talk to Izuchan alone."

Itsuka's eyes widened in realization and nodded, "No worries," she then walked over and whispered something to Tetsu making the boy walk outside the room before she went to Kinoko and lifted her like a bag of potatoes, "Sorry, Kinoko, but I need you for something important."

The shorter girl was confused but nodded. Kendo then exited the room and winked at Setsuna.

The green-haired girl frowned and flipped her off making the redhead laugh a little.

Izuku looked at Tokage, "So, Setchan, do you have any plans this weekend? Do you want to meet at my house and play video games like we usually do?" after the beach meetup, Setsuna frequented Izuku's house because she liked spending her time with Izuku and she found in Izuku's mom someone who she can vent to about her life.

Setsuna began to play nervously with her hair, "Well, I wanted to tell you something. But first…" the girl stood up and bowed taking Izuku by surprise. She knew he didn't blame her for what happened with Muscular. Her sister and everyone else told her so. She knew he wasn't angry at her, but she wanted to get this off her chest, "I'm sorry for not helping you good enough against Muscular."

Izuku's eyes widened and began to wave his bandaged hands in the air, "Don't say that, Setchan. You did your best and that is what counts at the end of the day."

Setsuna looked at him, "But look at you, your arms were completely pulverized."

Izuku gave her a soft smile, "and it was totally worth it. Even if I had to die that…"

"Don't say that," the green-haired girl yelled, "Don't talk about dying so causally. It hurts."

"Sorry, but that's how I see it," Izuku looked at the casts, "If I die saving one person, it is worth it."

The boy was tackled into a hug, "Don't ever say that again! How can you be so cruel?" Setsuna took him out of the hug and made him look her in the eyes, "What about the people who care about you? What about your friends? What about your mom? What…" the girl's voice became minuscule, "…about me?" the girl finished with a sniff.

"But the essence of a hero is sacrifice." Izuku countered making Tokage shake her head.

"That's true, but remember what I told you at the beginning," Setsuna said frowning a little, "There's a fine line between self-sacrifice and suicide. Never say that you'll throw your life away to save one person. You don't know how much it hurts those who love you and care about you."

Izuku looked at his bed, "I understand, but sometimes you have to go all out like I did with Muscular." He moved his cast and put it near Setsuna's face and began moving it a little, "The reason I went all out against him for you and Kota. So please, don't blame yourself. If I have to fight him a hundred times over for you, I do it a million times." He put his forehead against hers and gently rubbed it making the girl smile.

"Izuchan, thank you for those kind words, but please be more careful." She grabbed his casted arm, "That night against Muscular I felt absolutely useless seeing put your life on the line. It made me feel like I was about to lose someone very important in my life." Her face soured, "I never felt this weak in my whole life. I wished that I was better when I saw your destroyed arms."

Izuku hugged her hard, "There's no need to say that. I did because I wanted to."

"I know," Setsuna admitted, "but it doesn't make me feel any better. Seeing you hurt makes my soul feel anguish. After this fight, I realized, I need to tell you something."

Setsuna got out of the hug, "Izuku, ever since I met you, l really liked your company. From the moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew you were an amazing person. You were the only person who treated me normally and always looked me in the eyes." The girl moved a strand of hair and put it behind her ear, "You never treated me like some kind of damsel in distress. I felt safe around you. I didn't have to pretend to be invincible. I could be myself. You were the first person to compliment my quirk and praise it with honesty. You made me feel special, but as time went on. I began to feel something more. I began to see you in a different light…"

Izuku was getting anxious, "Setchan, of course, I'll do all those things. I care about you."

Setsuna hummed, "but I feel much more. Izuku, you helped me smile genuinely. Before UA, people only befriended me for two things; popularity and beauty. Girls became my friends because they wanted to be friends with the popular girl. Boys wanted to befriend me because they thought my attitude meant I was an easy target." This made the boy's skin crawl, "You don't know how much that hurt. But you make me feel something different. I don't have to fake smiles around. You're such a goddamn honest person that I couldn't help, but…"

Izuku saw her bit her lip, "…you couldn't help but what?"

He saw the girl take a deep breath, "…I couldn't help, but fall in love with you." The girl finished with a huge blush adorning her face as she looked away.

"You love me?" the boy tasted the words on his lip. He never saw himself as someone to be loved. Add to that, a lot of girls from his previous school used to prank him. giving him fake love notes and taking on a wild goose chase only to have toilet water or honey and feathers dumped over his head making him an overnight internet star. So, the first words he asked were, "Why me when there are others so much better guys than me for you?"

Setsuna had a wet smile, "Because you're you. I like the goofy nerdy guy who likes to analyze quirks. I like the hero who wants to see everyone…" She stopped for a moment before adding, "…with limits and the basic sense of survivals." Both of them laughed a little, "I like the guy who stares at my face not my chest. I like the guy who helps everyone in our class. I like you."

Izuku stayed still for a moment and asked, "You really like me?" the girl nodded.

The girl began to play with her hand, "I really do, but I understand if you don't." the girl sighed, "I wanted to tell you how I felt about you because I didn't want my confession to be when one of us was holding the other as his life was slowly sipping away. It may seem romantic in movies but it sucks in real life…" the girl said before noticing Izuku spaced out, "Izuchan?"

The boy was right now remembering a conversation he had with his mom before the camp…

Izuku walked home after his… well, disastrous seemed to be the only word he could describe his dinner with Setchan and her family. Her sister seemed like your typical older sister. Her father seemed intimidating like any father would be if he found a boy befriending his daughter…

…her mother on the other hand seemed to hate his existence. Plus, it hurt him deeply she tried to burrow into his personal life when she had zero to little information about what went on between him and Bakugo. It reminded him of every other adult who used to justify Bakugo's acts against him. when he arrived home, he flopped down on his bed and sighed.

He spent the next hours waiting for his mom to come to talk to her and ask her to explain to him why his heart was feeling so much pain from the idea of Tokage's mom influencing his friend to hate him like her.

His mother eventually came, and they had dinner together, but his mother sensed something was off, so she inquired, "Okay, Izuku." The woman grabbed the boy's attention, "You've been staring at your dinner for quite a while now! What's on your mind? Tell your mother so she can help you."

Izuku sighed and told her everything and what happened at Tokage's home only for his mother to put a hand on her cheek and say, "Oh my, that's quite the pickle you're in. If it's the father, you're a rebel. If it's the mother, you're toast."

Izuku gave his mother an unimpressed look making her backtrack, "I'm sorry sweetie. I just wanted to lighten the mood a bit, but what's happening is called 'love', my baby."

Izuku tilted his head, "Love"

Inko nodded, "Yes, you love that girl. I'm so happy for you. I thought you were going to ignore your feelings forever, but now I can rest knowing I will have future grandchildren."

Izuku jumped back, "Mom, calm down. I'm not even sure I love her. Don't jump to…"

Inko rolled her eyes seeing her son go on a rant about how she was jumping the gun, so she used her quirk to pull his hair making him quiet down, "Alright, tell me one thing, when I ask you about the most beautiful girl you know, who's the first person you think of?" he opened his mouth, "And I certainly don't count on that list."

Izuku first thought went to Setsuna making him blush. This also made Inko smile and she carried on, "Does her presence near you make your heart beat quickly?" the boy nodded, "Does her smile make you feel at peace?" Izuku nodded, "Do you imagine yourself without her at your side?" Izuku shook his head, "Seems pretty dark without her, doesn't it? Are you afraid her mother might make her hate you?" Izuku nodded, "That means you love her."

The woman stood up and left him to his thoughts. 'I love Setchan.'

Izuku looked at her and grinned, "Thank you for telling me your feelings, Setchan." He then put his bandaged hands in hers, "Now, it's my turn to tell you how I feel."

Izuku took a deep breath and began to spill his guts out, "Setchan, you were my first friend in many years. You showed many how true friends act. You accepted me for me. It didn't bother you that I was quirkless for many years. You stood by my side and cheered me on even when I was extremely hopeless." The boy put his head on top of hers, "Your presence put me at peace. Your beautiful smile makes my heart jump every time I see it. You helped me advance in my studies."

He then hugged her, "I can't imagine a world without you smiling at me every day in the morning. When I fought Muscular that night, you and Kota were at the top of my priority, but when he hurt you, I was so angry back then." Izuku sighed and said, "What I am trying to say is…"

The girl looked at him with some tears in her eyes, "I love you too, Setchan."

Author's notes:

Welcome back to a new chapter of my story. This chapter was mostly filler tackling a bit of the aftermath of the attack, and most importantly Izuku and Setsuna finally admitting their feelings for each other. Some might hate it, some might love it, and some might say it's a cliché, but I tried my best to make it emotional and worthwhile. The next chapter will focus on the formation of the rescue squad, Izuku telling his new girlfriend some important info, and hopefully the beginning of the Kamino Ward Incident.

As always please take care of yourselves, write your opinion about the current chapter in the reviews, and tell me how I can make the story.

And finally, I hope you all enjoy reading my work, and see you next time with a brand-new chapter.