Chapter 34: Catching Up

"Man, I screwed up."

"Yep."

"Things were going so well."

"They were."

Mineta grabbed his head and shook it as he proclaimed, "Ugh, what the hell is wrong with me."

Midoriya could only sigh at the sight of his friend flailing on his bed. He had only minutes ago come upon his neighbor's door, which was slightly open. Izuku then heard Minoru's groans from inside and asked if everything was okay, which led him to his current situation.

"Is there any hope for me?"

Midoriya figured being blunt was the best course of action here and said, "Considering that Ashido-chan was treating you the best out of the girls and you blew it, it's not looking good."

Mineta then grabbed his pillow and drove his head into it. Soon he began to roll around his bed with frustration.

During their joint training lesson, Minoru, while saving Mina from an attack, used the feedback to "accidentally" propel him into her breasts. This, of course, was all planned, and Ashido was quite angered by it. Midoriya rarely saw his classmate be this genuinely agitated, besides when needing to study.

"I guess I should apologize."

Izuku put a hand to his forehead as he asked, "You haven't yet?"

Minoru's head hung lower as he said, "No."

"That's the first thing you should have done. Prolonging it will only make it worse to salvage your reputation with her and the others."

Though at this point, it felt a little too late. What goodwill he had established with the girls was all up in smoke. Midoriya felt things were going well, considering everything Mineta had done with Uraraka and Ashido during their planning, and in the final match was in no way perverse in his actions. Until "that" happened.

Trying to make sense of it, Izuku asked, "So why Ashido-chan? Were you afraid of Ida-kun's wrath if it was Uraraka-chan?"

Minoru laid on his back as he responded with, "Convenience. That Twin Impact quirk of Shoda-san looked like a great opportunity to exploit, but you and Uraraka-chan had run off to deal with Monoma-san and Shino-san."

So had Uraraka been there, it would have been open season, Midoriya internally groaned. But then again, this didn't seem beyond Mineta. He did try and grab a peek of Hagakure's underwear in front of her boyfriend during the first day of the second term. It seemed like he genuinely hadn't learned much these past few months besides being more discreet. Which Izuku did suggest Minoru do but as a starting point, which seems he hasn't gone beyond.

Frustrated at the entire situation, Midroiya explained as kindly as he could what was happening. "There isn't much I can suggest to help you, Mineta-kun. You were establishing some genuine trust with the girls these last few months and blew it all up for a moment of pleasure. It's up to you to make amends with Ashido-chan and work from there."

"But that's hard," Mineta said with a long drawn-out groan.

Izuku argued, "And keeping your thoughts mostly to yourself these past few months wasn't? Talking to her for a few minutes should be a breeze compared to that."

"And if she doesn't want to talk?"

"Be persistent. She should eventually at least hear what you have to say."

Minoru then seemed to be lost in thought.

Midoriya also figured at the very least he might try and talk to Ashido about it tomorrow, as it would be Thursday, and it would be time for another dance lesson. He hoped bringing it up wouldn't sour her mood enough to affect practice.

Mineta then jumped out of his bed and proclaimed, "Alright, I'll apologize right now!"

"Uh, it's past 10 pm, she could already be asleep. Plus, I doubt any of the girls want you to be in their hallways right now."

"Oh, right."

To further poke holes in Minoru's gung-ho plan, Izuku said, "You need to think up a good apology as well. An honest one."

Mineta then slumped onto the side of his bed before saying, "This is going to be tough."

"At this point, it would be impossible for it not to be. Pick a good time and meaningful words, and you might get yourself out of this."

"I'll try," Minoru said with a bit more confidence.

I hope that's enough this time, Izuku thought.

"I'm guessing you did some talking to Mineta," Ashido stated dryly.

The two were taking a break from dance practice, so this took Midoriya off guard.

"I did," Izuku said nervously. "What happened?" He thought, did Minoru already screw up? It had only been a day.

"Stopped me three times today to try to make up for what happened on Tuesday."

Three times? Guess he took my advice on being persistent, Midoriya thought. Though he didn't expect Mineta to do it so fast as he took much longer with Hagakure. Though considering Mineta's initial drive to try and talk to Ashido yesterday, perhaps he should have seen this coming.

Midoriya scratched the back of his head as he asked, "How'd you know it was me?"

Ashido huffed before answering, "Only you and Kaminari-kun actively talk to him, and I can't see the latter giving him advice on making amends for what happened. I'm sure he was giving the thumbs up in the background that day."

Izukus sighed before saying, "I thought he learned his lesson after the start of the term."

"That was nice of Hagakure-chan back then, but it's a lot harder to forgive him now."

Midoriya nodded and then stated, "I agree, but at the very least, I thought he should apologize once I learned he hadn't yet."

"I appreciate it, Midoriya-kun, but I would have much rather he did that of his own accord."

Silence followed as Mina started to stretch once more.

So the gesture seemed hollow since Minoru was pushed to do it, Izuku thought. But there was still something not known.

"Did you listen to what he had to say?"

"The last time, after school was over. It was serviceable at best."

Perhaps I should have given him more guidance, Midoriya pondered. He then said, "Sorry for interfering."

Ashido sighed and then said, "You were just trying to be a good friend. I can't fault you for that." She then focused on her pupil and asked, "Why are you his friend, anyhow?"

This gave Izuku pause. He took a few seconds to think of an answer before saying, "After the unforeseen simulation joint incident, he started to hang out with me from time to time, and things grew from there."

Mina was now the one in thought before she said, "Oh yeah, he was with you and Tsuyu-chan in the flood zone that day."

"I think he sorta looks up to me, in his own way." Midoriya assumed this by going from a conversation the two had back during the summer trip.

"I kept thinking, what would Midoriya-san do and it all came to me what had to be done. You really got me out of a pinch there."

Mineta had credited Midoriya for passing his final exam. While Kaminari was friends with him for having interests in girls, Midoriya was a different case.

"I guess you do bring out the best in people. You helped out Todoroki-kun a lot back during the hero festival, and even Bakugo-kun is turning for the better as of late. Though in that case, that was more you two knocking the snot out of each other outside of a school function." Mina started to laugh, and Izuku joined her. Once they both stopped, she said, "I said I would think about what Mineta-san had to say, but I wasn't so sure." She then gave a small smile before saying, "Well, considering it would be in everyone's interest in our class to get along I will give him a chance."

"That's very kind of you."

"Too kind really," Ashido stated with a groan. "I'll give him a good chat once I am up to it." She then walked over to Izuku and said, "Alright enough talking, you aren't going to master Finales if we talk about that pervert anymore."

"Yes, ma'am!"

The next half hour went by quickly. The movement and close proximity to Mina made Izuku's body burn red hot, but he endured it. They only had two more lessons after this before Christmas, so he needed to get through this as best he could.

Once it was all over, the two took time to cool down. After a few minutes of panting by Izuku, Mina spoke up and said, "I can confidently say you were nailing this segment today. We're ready to combine all the elements in our next lessons!"

"Thanks," Midoriya said with a huff and puff.

"Still red as an apple, though," Ashido stated as she got up and walked over to kneel and poke her pupil's face.

Izuku let out a weak chuckle before saying, "I guess I am still not a hundred percent over getting so close to someone."

"But, you did great today!"

"Physically, yeah, mentally, it's always a rollercoaster. It will be even worse when Tooru-chan is involved. I hope I can get my nerves in shape by the time it's Christmas."

"You can make out with her, but the thought of dancing makes you quake in fear."

"Love is complicated, okay?"

"Sure sounds like it," Mina stated while patting Izuku's shoulder. Once she was done, she asked, "It's hard to believe you can handle being physical with a girl at all."

"It's still a work in progress."

"Yeah, but like, how have you dealt with it?"

It didn't take long for Midoriya to respond with, "Well, at first I didn't. It was mostly just me freezing up and letting whatever happens, well just happen."

"So what changed?" Ashido had now moved to a sitting position in front of her classmates, eyes at full attention.

It took some courage to say, but eventually, Izuku explained, "I wanted to return her affection. It didn't feel fair for her; she was initiating everything. It started with me giving her hugs after we became a couple. Then I kissed her on the cheek on her birthday."

"And then swapping spit with her back in October," Mina stated with a smirk.

"Yeah, t-that too."

"Still hard for me to imagine getting too worked up considering you can't see anything naughty. No cleavage or panty shots for you with a girl like her," Ashido said before sticking out her tongue jokingly.

So Mina knows about Tooru's underwear situation, Izuku thought. He then tapped his index fingers together before saying, "That doesn't s-stop me from i-imagining it, though."

"Oh," Ashido said slowly with a rare blush upon her face. "Guess that eventually comes up no matter how innocent you are."

"I don't think anyone is immune to such thoughts."

Ashido's left eyebrow rose as she asked, "Even Ida-kun?"

Midoriya recalled the boy's sleepover from the end of their first term. "Yeah, even him."

"Oh man, that must be insanely awkward for him."

"It is. Though I'm sure Uraraka-chan gets good comedy from it."

"I know I would," Mina stated while holding in a laugh.

"I must say Midoriya-kun I didn't expect to see you here today," Kyoka said as she continued to lift two dumbbells in each hand.

"Sorry, I wanted to talk with you before dinner," Izuku responded. It was Saturday night, and they were in the workout gym. With all the drama of Tuesday, he had forgotten his promise to Koda the week before. He wanted to remedy it as quickly as possible.

"So what brings you here? You usually work out with Hagakure-chan, no?"

"When we find the time."

Kyoka set aside her weights and sat down on a bench press stool before saying, "So what gives?"

Izuku took a deep breath before asking, "Is everything okay between you and Koda-kun?"

"He's been acting a bit distant as of late but nothing different on my end. If anything, I was thinking about asking you what was wrong. What did Koda-kun tell you?"

"It's about the outing you two had not long ago."

Jiro shook her head before saying, "I guess we might have pushed him too hard again."

"Koda-kun is just confused. He thought the outing was great. The problem is that he thinks he might have upset you."

"I wish he would be more open about things like this," Kyoka stated while rubbing her temple with her free hand.

"He's afraid of losing a friend." That was the best way Izuku felt he could say that. Telling her about Koji's crush on her would be a terrible idea.

"Look, I was only angry with Kaminari-kun as he was trying to help too much. We had a game plan, and he decided to try and take the wheel as we weren't making too much progress. Any frustration I had was directed at him, not Koda-kun."

"What about telling Koda-kun to wait to go and do something again on another weekend?"

"I needed time to think of a new approach and activity I could do that might not be as scary. Particularly something not involving Kaminari-kun. I'm not as smart as you, Midoriya-kun, so it's taking me some time."

"Oh no, that's not a good idea!"

Jiro leered as she asked, "And why is that?"

"I feel Koda-kun would prefer someone else there. Being alone with a girl would probably make things worse."

Kyoka then crossed her arms as she asked, "Am I that intimidating?"

"I think all girls are intimidating for him."

"Fair enough, I suppose. I had to end up ordering food and drinks that night for him since the waitress left him silent."

"Yeah, that sounds about right for him."

Jiro sighed before saying, "I guess it's better this way. Trying to convince Kaminari-kun that he couldn't come to our next outing would have been difficult. He hates being left out."

"I'm sure both of them would appreciate it."

All Might sipped his tea before sighing and saying, "So no progress, huh?"

Izuku shook his head. Black Whip was nowhere closer to appearing than it was on Tuesday night.

"I figured as much."

"Huh?"

"It wasn't until Friday that it came to me, but I wanted to wait until your day off to bother you with this. It's been a hectic week," Toshinori stated with a sigh. He then crossed his arms as he explained, "We've been going about this the wrong way. This isn't something we can force to happen; we need to try a different angle. The only one that has worked."

Midoriya was puzzled at the answer that was needed.

"Emotion."

"Oh...right. It's so obvious."

Black Whip was tied to how one felt; the sixth user had said. If Izuku was frustrated, then it was an offensive weapon, if calm, a supportive tool.

Yagi then said, "What you need to do is treat it as something to master, not something you already possess. In that line of thinking, I feel we need to train it like your Full Cowl, especially since One for All is boosting its power, making it that much harder to wield."

"So a little power at a time."

"Exactly, but since we are on the subject of Full Cowl, I want you to try something."

Intrigued, Izuku said, "Sure thing."

"Go beyond 20%."

"Uh, like right here and now?"

"Yes, I want to confirm something. Considering what we know, we shouldn't have an issue with you going overboard, so inside here is fine."

Midoriya nodded uneasily and stood up. After a few seconds of mental preparation, he closed his eyes and activated his quirk. Izuku then slowly began to raise its percentage. Eventually, his eyes opened in shock as he realized he had broken 20% without it going wild. The excitement made him lose concentration, and the quirk dissipated.

"Well?"

Midoriya stared at his hands as he said, "It worked?"

"How much?"

"Uh, it felt close to 25%. It bumped up once I passed 20%; it surprised me how easy that was, so I lost it, but that was completely different than last time where I had to fight tooth and nail to do the same thing. Do you want me to go again?"

"Another day, perhaps. I only wanted to confirm that your progress was being blocked, and now it's been lifted. It seems we will need to visit the first user and the other previous bearers of One for All regardless if we want to continue your training with only the base power for the quirk."

"So, now what?"

"Focus on Black Whip for now. We'll get back to your percentage increase later. It's best if you master this new ability, so we have a game plan for the others when they eventually pop up," All Might answered before reaching over and grabbing a booklet. He then said, "I'm not going to slouch on work either. I've started researching our predecessors. Knowing what quirks you will be obtaining beforehand will be invaluable. However, information is sparse, but I'll do the best I can."

Temptation took over Izuku as he asked, "Can I read what you have obtained so far?"

Toshinori shook his head as he set the booklet to his side. He then stated, "It's quite barebones at the moment. Plus, I promised Nezu-san the full report before handing it over to you. Our dear principal is allowing me access to a lot of resources that have been crucial to my research. I owe him that much considering all the help he is providing."

Midoriya exhaled and stated, "I understand. I look forward to it."

"As do I," Yagi said as he stood up. He then said, "Focus on Black Whip daily when you have the time and text me with any updates if anything happens."

Izuku got up as well and he responded with, "Yes sir!"

The two then exited the room, but before the two departed All Might said, "Oh yes, one more thing. Monday's meeting will just be a discussion, so suits are not required. Be sure to pass along that message to your friends."

"Uh, will do sensei."

After their goodbyes, Izuku speculated what this could mean as he exited the building. But before he could get deep into thought, his phone vibrated. Midoriya was surprised to see it was a private message from Uraraka.

Bubbles: Afternoon!

All Might: Hi?

Encyclopedia: Greetings.

Izuku thought, Momo too? What's going on here? He then checked, and no one else was in the chat room. Why these two?

Bubbles: Hey, so are you busy, Deku-kun?

Encyclopedia: This should only take a few minutes of your time.

All Might: I'm walking back to the dorms from the library.

All Might: So I'm free. What is it?

This was his usual cover when he was busy meeting with All Might. It hadn't failed him, yet.

Bubbles: Good good.

Bubbles: So Yaoyorozu-chan and I were talking, and we want your input on something.

All Might: Yeah?

Encyclopedia: I feel it's time my relationship with Mashirao-kun was known to the class.

All Might: Oh.

All Might: How does he feel about it?

Bubbles: Avoiding it.

So just like Tooru and I, Izuku thought.

Encyclopedia: So Uraraka-chan and I thought of letting it be known anyways. It would be for the best.

Bubbles: And considering Ojiro-kun outed you and Hagakure-chan, we thought it would only be fair for you to chip in as well.

Midoriya thought, like revenge? In the end, he was glad Ojiro did what he did. But considering that, maybe it was better to just get it over with.

All Might: Why not include Tooru-chan in all of this?

Bubbles: Oh, those two are always trying to get under each other's skin. Besides, I feel she will have a good laugh; however, we go about this.

Encyclopedia: It's okay if you would rather us two come up with an idea Midoriya-kun.

All Might: I need a minute.

Izuku then went into deep thought. Considering how invested Ochako was in this, it felt she wanted to be a bit flashy. He wasn't against the idea, but he thought it would be best that Momo initiated whatever it was going to be. Then the concept of her quirk came up, and an idea quickly formed. Midoriya grinned as he happily typed away on his phone.

All Might: I have the perfect idea.

"So it was a dud," Tenya stated with a sigh.

Izuku shrugged as he said, "Afraid so."

"Well, on the bright side, Aizawa-sensei is looking out for Eri-chan and being a good dad," Tooru said.

"I wouldn't go that far," Mashirao said before yawning.

Hagakure was quick to snap back, "Have you seen the way she dresses as of late? With all the cat stuff? That's prime Aizawa-sensei right there. Totally acting like a doting dad."

"It is pretty cute even if it is a bit gaudy," Uraraka stated with a giggle.

Midoriya had just explained his visit with Eri on Wednesday. After the class battle, Aizawa had asked Monoma to accompany him the following day. Eraserhead also invited Izuku and Mirio to see. The teacher wanted Neito to try and use his quirk to copy Eri's, and potentially see what its controlled power could do and could teach her how to wield it. However, besides growing a horn similar to the little girl, the student couldn't do anything. He explained that he could only copy a quirk's base power, so any stockpile quirks did nothing. This was the reason why Monoma couldn't use Midoriya's quirk during their scuffle on the main campus roof from many months ago.

Izuku had told Tooru what had happened late Wednesday. The others were left in the dark until Ochako asked while they were waiting for the teachers to arrive in the gamma gym. They were particularly late today.

"I'm so proud that everyone in our class now has a provisional license now," Momo said with glee.

Midoriya then tuned back into the conversation. They must be talking about Kacchan and Todoroki, he thought. The two had finished their final remedial lesson yesterday. While they passed the make-up exam back in a while ago, they were still required to take weekly lessons to earn their license.

"And not even an hour into getting their license, they run into trouble," Hagakure said before sighing.

Ojiro shrugged before saying, "It was only a bunch of pickpockets. Not like it was a huge deal."

"I'm just saying Bakugo-san attracts problems no matter what it seems."

"As small as it was, it did attract the attention of the media. I wonder if they'll be interviewed," Tenya stated.

"Oh, that sounds like a disaster," Ochako said and then laughed. The rest of her friends joined in as well.

"Considering those two and the timing, it actually went quite well."

The students turned to see All Might and Eraserhead following behind him.

"Though I feel half the reason the media got involved was because I was there," the former pro hero stated with a grin.

"Even when retired, you sure do draw a crowd," Aizawa said after a loud exhale.

The teens greeted their teachers and got up from the bleachers to start the lesson.

The homeroom teacher was quick to say, however, "Stay seated. We're only going to talk today." He then walked over to get two chairs.

All Might nodded before explaining, "Yes, we want to have an in-depth analysis of what happened last week. That training should serve as a great observation lesson for you all."

The students sat down and listened intently.

Once Eraserhead returned with the chairs, the two sat down. Both brought out clipboards and took a glance at them. Shota began by saying, "Again, the joint training lesson was the first time I have put the entire class in a situation with larger teams. Not exactly to this level, we have here, but definitely something closer to what we want than the teams of two lessons that had dominated our first two terms of the hero course."

All Might then said, "We want to go over what worked and what didn't for you and your classmates. From there we can advise future self-training in the coming months as we shift focus on these meetings starting with the third term."

Ida then asked, "Are you saying this is our last TAC meeting for the year?"

Aizawa nodded before responding with, "Indeed. We want to give you time to reflect on what is covered today and possibly work out any issues on your own as the focus on covering one's weakness is over. It's time to move on."

Before any of the teens could ask what, the former pro hero was quick to say, "We'll cover what that is at the end of the discussion. For now, let's focus on the task at hand."

Aizawa then said, "So for round one, what was class B's biggest blunder."

Yaoyorozu spoke up and said, "They really should have stayed together and had either Shishida-san or Shiozaki-san as their center."

"Very good. The latter's Vines quirk would have been much more useful if she was with the rest of her teammates," the homeroom teacher stated.

All Might then said, "That brings us to the point of this question. Who would be the best center for your team?"

This seemed to stump everyone as no one gave a response.

"Take your time," Eraserhead stated before yawning.

Izuku mentally went by each of his teammates, including himself, and weighed how each would fare at the center. In the end, one stood out amongst the rest, and this spurred him to say, "I think Ojiro-kun would be the best choice for us."

Mashirao was taken aback from being called out.

"Explain," Shota said with a smirk.

Midoriya cleared his throat before saying, "Out of everyone in our team, Ojiro-kun had the most defensive options. His fighting style heavily leans to defense and would have been an excellent point to regroup on since most of us are lacking in that area." Most of the group were pretty much glass cannons. Izuku knew he was an exception, but since he was still grasping the mechanics of One for All, he wasn't as reliable as Mashirao in such a situation.

"Most intriguing. I like it," All Might stated with enthusiasm. He then began to write notes as he said, "We'll be sure to incorporate that into future training."

Midoriya pondered, wait, did they even know the answer to the question?

Aizawa then said, "Now with round two. Yaoyorozu-san, your Lucky Bag you've been working on came in handy for Tokoyami-san. Is there anything else you think this training helped with?"

Momo answered with, "If I hadn't sparred with Ojiro-kun so much, I don't think I would have been able to keep up with Kendo-chan. His tail isn't as big as her hands, but it did help me in fighting against large objects."

Sadly it still ended in a stalemate. After Momo launched off her lucky bag to her teammates, the two girls fought. Just as Momo brought down her bō staff on Itsuka's head, she received a decisive blow to the stomach, knocking them both out.

"And Hagakure-san, it seems your Stun Punch prototype did its job. Be sure to keep working with those at the development studio to improve its usage," the former pro hero said with a thumbs up.

"Hatsume-chan, and I will work hard on it!"

All Might then said with seriousness, "Still it should be brought up, it wasn't perfect. With Yaoyorozu-san being separated from the main group, 1A's team struggled greatly. The center's job is to protect its leader unless the leader is the center of course, but that wasn't the case here. Now in this team make-up, who would have been the best center?"

"Tokoyami-kun," Ida answered quickly.

Eraserhead continued the point by saying, "Correct. I will say even I underestimated Fukidash-san's quirk; it caught everyone off guard."

"We'll worry about leadership in this group another day, but let's move on to round three," All Might stated before turning his attention to Mashirao. "Ojiro-kun, how do you think you fared?"

Mashirao sighed before saying, "Mixed. My new gloves allowed me to keep Kaibara-san's Gyrate at bay since my tail has no protection from drills, but all that did was leave us at a stalemate. And then, since I have no way to deal with ranged attacks, Tsunotori-san's Horn Cannon easily subdued me."

Aizawa asked, "So how should you counteract that?"

Ojiro turned to his girlfriend and said, "We talked about it with Momo-chan and I'm going to learn Bōjutsu. It should extend my range enough to deal with some forms of ranged attacks from my opponents."

The girl in question stated with confidence, "I've never taught anyone about weapon training, so this will be a new experience. I'll do my best!"

"Well, that's definitely going to take longer than the holidays to master, but I look forward to your progress," the former pro hero stated before turning to Tenya and asking, "Recipro Turbo's debut was fantastic Ida-san, that training you mentioned paid off."

Holding back tears of joy from the praise, Tenya replied with, "That means a lot coming from you All Might-sensei. Still, it's not perfect, and I will continue to push my limits."

Eraserhead looked over his notes before saying, "With the fourth round, it's a lot easier to say what went right than wrong with 1A's performance. So, what did they do wrong."

"Bakugo-san should have let his teammates have some input in the plan," Hagakure stated. "He was sorta lucky it worked despite leaving them in the dark."

All Might then chimed in by saying, "More his team and the opponent's make-up allowed such a plan to go through, but yes. His ability to work with others has improved dramatically, but he needs to learn that forced leadership rarely works."

Izuku knew Tooru was slowly warming up to Katsuki but didn't mean she was going to praise him when he still had issues to work on.

"Last but not least, the final round," Shota stated before looking at Ochako. "As I said that day, you genuinely have improved a lot since the Overhaul raid back in September, Uraraka-san. Those doubts you told me about seem to be gone entirely."

"It wasn't easy," Uraraka said with a chuckle.

"It rarely is. Now, however, in Midoriya-san's case, it's a mystery to everyone," Aizawa stated with a curious glare.

Midoriya gulped before saying, "My quirk sure is unstable."

"See to it you get a hold of that new power of yours; we almost canceled the match because of it."

Izuku then said, "Thank you." This statement turned a few heads to him.

"Eh?"

"For letting us continue."

Eraserhead just hand waved it off and said, "I figured if I gave you some time, you might be able to reel it in, that's all. My hunch was correct in the end."

All Might then cleared his throat before saying, "All in all, a great performance by the lot of you. So now, let's shift gears to our focus for the next term."

The homeroom teacher flipped over his clipboard to show a paper that read, Team Tactics. "In the coming months, we are going to be working on formations and strategies for multiple types of situations."

"Scouting, rescue, battle. With larger teams, you need to coordinate how you approach each situation differently than when going solo or with a duo/trio. With more people, more things can be accomplished. But it also means it's easier to be inefficient if you don't plan your formation and tactics plus lack good communication," All Might explained.

With that, both teachers stood up, and Eraserhead said, "That is all. See you here again after the holidays."

"Afternoon," Izuku stated as he entered the workshop.

A grunt greeted him from Mei, who was busy taking measurements of a massive metal fist.

Midoriya internally sighed, yep she was mad. He then looked around further before saying, "Where's Maijima-sensei?"

"He's off-site, went to fulfill a special request from some pro hero that lives in Iwate. Said he couldn't pass up the opportunity," Hatsume said. She didn't stop her work, however.

That prefecture is up north, Izuku pondered. It must have been pretty important for him to leave for the day.

Midoriya then exhaled loudly before saying, "So um, sorry about wrecking my right air force glove."

"Easy replacement," Hatsume stated. She then opened a drawer and pulled out a new one. "I finished last night, no worries." Mei then put down her yardstick and spun in her chair to face her guest. "What you should be sorry about is not coming last week."

"A lot happened."

"Yes, yes, a black explosion came from your right hand. Hagakure-chan told me all about it over the phone. At least you could have texted me you weren't coming."

Izuku still was in disbelief that the two girls had become good friends. He then bowed and said, "I'm truly sorry. My quirk manifesting a new power dominated my thoughts all day. It wasn't until Tooru brought it up that I realized I had forgotten to come over."

Mei got up and jotted down some notes as she said, "You are obsessed with quirks. I guess your own quirk doing something new would have you obsessed over it."

Midoriya nodded to this comment but said no more.

Hatsume then chuckled before saying, "I guess if I wanted, I could have Hagakure-chan be my alarm system to tell you to come each week."

"If it puts you at ease, go for it." Izuku felt being pestered by Tooru to remember was worth it, as he didn't want to disappoint Mei anymore.

Hatsume shrugged before saying, "I'll think about it. Anyways, did you like your girlfriend's new upgrade?"

"You mean Stun Punch?"

"Indeed. It might only be a prototype, but its first run proved to be a success. Now to give it more juice, usage, and to eventually tackle the whole invisibility thing."

"That's a tall order on that last one, but I like the idea of it. Tooru-chan needed a more offensive option."

Mei wagged a finger at her guest as she said, "Oh ye of little faith. Just give me some time. I'll figure it out eventually. I always do!"

"I look forward to it, but hey, what about this other piece of equipment you're working on?"

Perhaps he would have better luck, Izuku hoped.

"You get no special treatment. Project secrets are secrets to all," Hatsume replied with a smirk.

Midoriya could only groan in protest.

"Oh, quit whining. If you must know, it's a support item, but that's all you're getting out of me."

"Appreciated." It was at least something, Izuku didn't want to push Mei at the moment about it.

Hatsume's tone became serious as she asked, "I do have a request, though."

"Uh, s-sure?" Was she about to ask him to be a guinea pig as "punishment", Midoriya feared.

"I want to join this Team Appreciation Club."

Izuku's mouth was agape for a few seconds before he could ask, "H-How do you know of it? No wait, it was Tooru-chan, wasn't it?"

"Nope. I found out when making upgrades to Ida-san's gear. It took a bit of snooping, but eventually, the truth came to light," Mei stated as she flipped on her signature goggles. "Nothing escapes my eyes."

Still clueless on how this happened, Midoriya asked, "Does Ida-kun know that he let it slip?"

Hatsume giggled before saying, "Not a clue."

Izuku thought, oh man, this is going to infuriate him to no end. Few people got a rise out of Tenya, and Mei was one of them.

"So, how did it happen?"

"Some clients like to give details via an oral report of what they want. Ida-san gave our department a very detailed, written request."

Yeah, cause he wanted to avoid you, Midoriya wanted to say but instead thought.

"In his notes, the letters TAC kept coming up. I couldn't get in contact with him, so I started to do some searches on the school database. It wasn't long until I found a particular permission form with you and a bunch of other's names on it," Mei explained with glee.

It made no sense for Tenya to even hint at their meetings to others. So why was it all over his notes? Unless. Izuku then asked, "Did Ida-kun request for Maijima to work on it?"

"He did, but I am quite good at getting my way sometimes," Hatsume said before sticking out her tongue.

Well, that explains that, Midoriya guessed. Ida assumed it would only be seen by a teacher, not a student he loathed.

"Anyways, I don't know if you'd fit into our group at this point. We've been working together for some time now."

"Oh, I should have specified. I don't want to be an official member; I want to be your group's mechanic. I have already worked on half your team's gear, so why not make it official?"

"I'll have to ask the others first," Izuku stated before sighing.

"Okay by me."

"Uh, do you mind-," Midoriya tried to ask.

Hatsume was quick to interrupt, though by saying, "Yeah yeah, keep it under wraps, I got it. Not even Maijima-sensei knows."

Now, how do I break the news to the others, Izuku pondered.

It was Saturday night, and earlier that day, tragedy struck. A small city almost wiped off the map in less than an hour.

The place? Deika City, in Aichi prefecture.

An unknown group of twenty villains attacked the city intending to denounce heroes. They used a distraction to lure the pros outside the city, leaving it vulnerable. While the heroes scrambled to return, citizens of Deika got caught in the crossfire and tried to defend themselves. Even once the heroes returned, it was a bloodbath. All the villains were dead, and a decent count of civilians had perished too.

Midoriya was absorbing as much as he could as information leaked. He was currently looking at an article about Detnerat. Izuku had heard about the company before, as it recently got into the hero support industry. They formally only dabbled in quirk lifestyle support items, which was why he hadn't heard of them until as of late.

"You okay there, Midoriya-kun?"

Izuku sat up on the couch and saw Rikido approach. He was wearing a thick jacket, which prompted him to ask, "Did you just come from 1B's dorm?" Midoriya wasn't in the mood to try and spread the sadness of the event to others once more. Everyone had felt enough during the day as it unfolded.

"Yeah, I was talking with Kendo-chan. We were finalizing some details for our next joint activity with her class. I wanna fill in our class leaders, but it's a bit late, so that will have to wait till tomorrow," Sato explained as he took off his jacket and sat opposite of his friend.

"It got approved?"

"The day after the joint training we had last week. It seems they wanted that to happen before we tried this," Rikido stated with a shrug.

"So when will it happen?"

"That's up to mother nature," Sato said with a big grin. "If worse comes to worst, we might have to wait till the holiday break, but we're all hoping that's not the case. We all could use some fun antics as a breather between school.

"Can't argue with that," Midoriya stated while scratching his chin. He was curious about what they had planned, but he knew they wanted to keep it a secret for as long as they could, going from previous conversations. Anyhow, another curiosity was tugging at Izuku, and he asked, "How is 1B doing?"

"Considering we won last week's exercise, not much has changed. Monoma-san is more insufferable than usual, but at this point, most of the dorm approves of my presence there. The only other significant change has been Tsunotori-chan seems sad that Mineta-kun hasn't come to visit. They used to watch anime together a few times a week."

Izuku pondered about the situation. Was it because Pony was disgusted by Minoru's behavior? Was it because the latter was too ashamed to see her? Was it both? Or did Mineta just fear for his life if he stepped into the 1B dorm again? Many over there wouldn't be so keen at seeing him again, Midoriya figured.

Trying to turn the conversation elsewhere, Izuku asked, "There were some students that didn't welcome you there?"

"Well, besides the obvious, Tetsutetsu-kun and Yui-chan were quite suspicious of me from the get-go. The former was quite vocal about it and the latter well...if you don't know her she seldom shows much emotion. But man, she would give me this stare sometimes. I thought she wanted to hurt me at times," Rikido explained with a somber tone. It switched to be more warm though as he said, "But after a couple of weeks I won them over. We often hang out when I visit."

"What was the issue before?"

"Kendo-chan. They are quite protective of her. The first thing they learned about me was that we had gone on a date. And that she rejected me. So, terrible first impression," Sato answered before giving a short chuckle

"That does sound quite awkward."

"The worst. It felt like visiting the parents of whoever you were dating, but of course in reality that wasn't it at all.

Izuku shivered upon hearing this. He remembered the feeling of visiting Tooru's house for the first time. However, minus a few moments with her mother, the trip went well.

Sato's situation sounded much worse.

"Everything going well with you and Hagakure-chan?"

"Oh, uh yeah. Got a date planned early on Christmas and then a double date for Uraraka-chan's birthday not long after."

Rikido's eyes lit up as he asked, "Would you mind me baking a cake for her? I still have a lot of spare ingredients."

The opportunity intrigued Izuku, and he replied, "You know I might just have something in mind that you could help with."

Oh man, a week late. : (

Well, a combination of a heavy workload this past month, writing outlines for many chapters to come with the opening the Villain arc has concluded, and the vast editing this chapter required, caused this delay. Hopefully, the wait was worth it for you readers.

On the bright side, a lot of commission updates. First, two weeks ago, I got a commission for Momo's birthday involving Mashirao that was done by yousaymanamei on Twitter. Second, I have another in the works with hazel0217 on Twitter/Tumblr, which will be ready for Halloween. Like my last request with the artist, expect holiday-themed interactions with the three ships in the fic. I initially wanted to do it in the summer, but the artist was on hiatus until recently. There's always next year for swimsuit time. Finally, I have some MinaDeku/IzuMina art planned for later this month as well, to celebrate Awkward Energy's 3rd anniversary.

Been a bit since I had a longer chapter. The title was initially "catching up with friends," but I decided to just go with the first half. The chapter was mostly an update on a lot of other characters which were needed.

Starting with Mineta, the lack of overly perverse things he has done of late (minus his "titty bar" and "can't wait to see you in 10 years" comments) had me hopeful for him. He has shown his best growth in the Final Exams, and so I was vying for the same in the Joint Training arc. And for most of it, Minoru was, until he went face first into Mina's boobs.

Sigh.

It would be easy to write Mineta off as irredeemable / bash him to no end, but that's what everyone else does. I'll continue to salvage what I can of him unless Hori continues to write him into the ground, for jokes I guess. Then I might have to diverge a lot more from canon on this character than I already have. And considering the previous scene, it made sense to make Minrou the focus for the start of Mina's scene as well.

I wish I could have done the Jiro scene earlier, especially since it was so short, but with all the drama of the Joint Training arc, I felt I needed to push it back a bit. As I said many chapters ago, it's prevalent when writing a rare/crackpair that writers try and avoid mentions/interactions of a character who is usually paired with whoever they are writing. I brought this up for the reason I wanted Mashirao to be a part of this story. In a more recent reason to bring this up, I could easily throw Kaminari to the side if I wanted to, but again, that's the easy route. He's good friends with Jiro, and to ignore him to make it easier to hook her up with Koda just didn't sit right with me.

I felt All Might needed another talk with Izuku considering everything that happened, and it foreshadows a few things in the manga too. The phone call that happened afterward was a fun treat to write. Expect to see that plot thread answered in chapter 37.

The TAC meeting was done to reflect on the improvements the team training has made to some characters (no matter how minor) and to shift its focus to a new goal. The training portion was feeling repetitive at this point, and the results of the Joint Training arc felt like a good time to switch its purpose.

I could have easily ended the chapter after the TAC meeting (about 6k words), but I wanted an update on Mei, as well as tease the next joint "fun" activity between class 1A and 1B. This will be at the back end of the next chapter and will be quite long! Initially, I was going to have the Villain arc summary be in 35 but after mapping out my timeline, it fits better here. Plus its occurrence will have a slight change in things going forward so I wanted it to be introduced earlier.

The release of Chapter 242 changed my plans slightly. I figured the kids would be able to go home for the holidays, but nope they are staying in the dorms. So this meant I needed to change how I was going to do the Christmas date since the kids had a Christmas holiday. I made edits to Chapter 32 to cover this. Chapter 243 then also brought up the kids needing an escort to and from school (for New Years). This is an unexpected development, and I plan to expand on it with both dates!

Night Foliage was able to edit both chapters 22 and 23! There were 41 and 37 edits, respectively.

And with that, see you in November. Hopefully on time once again. :x