This is a new year, and we finally have a new chapter. This wasn't too hard to write; the only issue was that I had this because of a scheduling error on my part. Another story's chapter was meant to be uploaded the same day, which really makes me thank the fact I wrote excess chapters for that second thing, or else I would be screwed. But with the Epilogue for the Demon's Reign nearly finished, I can switch some things around so I don't end up pulling my hair out over it.

Chapter 45: Back to the Grind

After the mess that was Hosu, their internships continued with little fanfare. Of course, the cover story meant that Kendo now had much more attention on her, a fact Midoriya was sure a straight-laced girl like her must have found vexing. Still, considering she never broke the story as it was told, she could stomach it.

Todoroki, from what he knew, continued his internship with his father pretty fast, as his injuries from fighting Stain were more minor, glorified cuts and bruises, while Iida remained in the hospital an extra 2 days, only getting back into his time with Slidin' Go. As for Izuku, Crust and he got back into the flow of things easy enough, continuing his training on layering with some other stuff thrown in. But the week eventually ended and he returned to the sanctuary and awaited for the start of the following week.

"Midoriya, I hope you didn't have much trouble in Hosu." Midoriya looked up at Shiozaki, who seemed greatly worried for him, which he appreciated.

"It was just chaos. I don't know what the League was thinking or what they were after. It seemed like they wanted to see the entire place burn down." He shook his head. "I mainly stuck to leading people away, or carrying anyone too slow or injured."

"I would expect as such if they needed 2 top heroes around, even if they did end up focused on Stain," Shishida added, as the news had talked non-stop about Crust and Endeavour's team-up to take in the Hero Killer, more so than the rest of the attack.

"No kidding, Crust barely had time to tell me what was happening before he was rushing off. Those Nomu creatures are no joke, as we had to get creative to keep them down." Midoriya sighed, going along with his part of the story, which was to act like Crust did leave when he had been close to Midoriya for most of the attack.

"Better mindless monsters over the Hero Killer. I'm unsure if Kendo is brave or foolish to take him on." Tsuburaba stated.

"It has to be some mix of the two, right Kodai?" Monoma looked towards Kodai, who sat while scrolling something on her phone. With attention on her, she looked up to respond.

"Hmm."

"Still, while our little kitty over here was out fighting villains," Tokage ignored how lacking Kodai's response was and how Midoriya argued about the kitty comment to focus on more pleasant things. "You were strutting your stuff and gaining some fans, Kodai. I saw the pictures; if you weren't a hero student, you'd be a shoo-in for Ms. Japan."

Kodai, Kendo, and Yaoyorozu's performance had been all the talk in the fashion world, which was a realm that just about all of them didn't have much interest in and missed but when news broke that the Sports Festival winner and now rising heroine had also done some modeling for a world-famous designer-well, that become a major talking about with the two students with her gaining clout by proximity.

Of course, it wasn't like they weren't gorgeous. Yaoyorozu pulled off the refined and regel princess look like it was nothing, while Kodai was like an intelligent, scholarly beauty. They were all students, and yet people were already talking about potential merch lines and fan groups.

"As far as I'm concerned, she's already Ms. Hero course." Honenuki joked, with the rest agreeing with him, Tetsutetsu even going the extra mile and picking up a surprised Kodai.

"Yeah, we have the hero course idol!" The class cheered and laughed as Kodai asked to put down, but Tetsutetsu refused with a hearty laugh.

"Things must have been quite lively with you, Kodai," Komori asked her, a little jealous that her classmate was getting the spotlight but also happy for her.

"Hmm," Kodai replied, accepting that she was going to be treated weirdly for a hot minute. "Yaoyorozu's not bad. Same as Kendo."

"Wait, wasn't she in Hosu? Were you in Hosu as well?" Awase asked, as it just now dawned on him that the timing seemed…off. If he wasn't mistaken, that photo shoot wasn't anywhere near Hosu.

"She was with Uwabani, but she requested to spend time with Crust when we bumped into each other." Midoriya was there to add the details, clearing the air for them.

"You could do that?" Monoma asked, and when Midoriya nodded, the copy quirk user hummed. "Must make for an interesting internship. As for me, well, things were pretty quiet for us. Ms. Joke spent more time teaching me the tricks of the trade."

"Please don't try and make us laugh, it'll be creepy," Shoda told him.

"Very," Yanagi added.

"That's so uncalled for!" Monoma argued with them while Shishida turned to continue the conversation with Shiozaki.

"Did anything happen while on your internship, Shiozaki?" The vine-haired girl shook her head.

"We were forced into a few situations where we needed to resort to force, but mercifully, they were all resolved with no injuries." She was pleased with at least that, though she would have better appreciated it if they needed to work with minor rescues more than crime fighting.

"I would assume that was a given when you have Kamui Woods and Shiozaki on the case. I do recall seeing you guys with Mt. Lady a few times." Fukidashi pointed out, with Shiozaki frowning harder as she recalled the interactions with the older heroine.

"Yes, and while I can acknowledge the results she gets, I wish she wasn't so…" She struggled to find the words to describe her.

"Hey, she has the goods and isn't afraid to show them." Awase threw his hands up, though his smile said enough of what he thought about how Mt. Lady performed for the cameras.

"It's indecent," Shiozaki replied.

"Maybe for you-OW!" Awase's response was cut by Shiozaki smacking him, leading to the two getting into an argument over the virtues of decency and, in Awase's words, 'Shaking that ass.'

"Back to the issue with the hero killer, be honest. Did any of you see the video?" Kuroiro asked, the black-skinned student not needing to elaborate on which video that was.

"I must admit that I was tempted to do so; it was…quite the viewing." Shishida admitted that Stain's video had taken the internet by storm, even with the government and video sites, at least legitimate ones, taking it down every time it popped up. The one he watched had 50K views when he saw it last.

"More like the ravings of a madman." Kaibara scoffed as Stain's ideals were insane. Hero work should only be done by the pure of heart? With no pay or reward for it? How would people feed themselves in his fantasy realm? Charity, or the second job he seemed to hate so much for distracting pros from their true profession?

Midoriya didn't see it like that. "Madness can be as attractive as a pretty lady to the right audience."

"And if you're not into girls?" Tokage asked him, to which he turned a cheeky smile her way.

"Then imagine a pretty lady with tickets to a new dinosaur exhibit, never before discovered remains that prove dinosaurs could back-flip." The way Tokage's eyes widened and brightened was both amusing and a little scary.

"Oh shit, that's a deal, I'll sell your kidney for." She started.

"Don't you mean your kidney?" Midoriya raised an eyebrow.

"I know what I said."

Vlad appeared right as the morning bell sounded, ending the conversations as students quickly made their way to their desks. "Morning, students. I hope you all enjoyed your time out for internships." Vlad greeted them. "You'll be expected to go through that another two times before you graduate, but we can focus on that later; right now, we have other matters…"

Vlad explained some details to them now that they had some experience with internships under their belts, mainly things that only made sense with that prior knowledge before the day on as usual. When it came time for their hero training, they were instructed once they changed into their hero gear to head to one of the areas which they hadn't yet been to, not as a group anyway, where they found something of a surprise waiting for them.

That being All Might who welcomed them in a means only he could, a hearty laugh that could shake you to your bones with the power contained in just that act. However, most were more excited to finally have All Might as a proper teacher. "Right, students, let's hit the ground running with some basic hero training!" He started.

"This will be the first class I handle with you all, and I hope I make up for missing out on that earlier in the year, but without further wait, let's get to explaining!" All Might quickly apologised before moving on. "Today, you'll all be handling some rescue training in the form of a race through ground omega!" He gestured to the large, fenced-off forested areas that lay behind him.

Honenuki raised his hand. "Excuse me, is this to make up for us missing out on rescue training at the USJ?"

"Nope, you'll have your time there, rest assured. However, that was designed for training for disasters. Remember, I said this was a race!" All Might laughed as he explained things.

"A tightly packed forest of diverse tree species, planted to mimic natural ecosystems. You'll be broken into groups of 5, starting at different spots of equal distance to the center. When I send the distress signal, you must use your quirks, skills, and creativity to reach me first!" He explained, which seemed simple enough, though Midoriya knew painfully well how dense and unpredictable a forest could be. The canopy overhead could make it hard to spot things like roots and vines, which could easily trip you up.

"Of course, while this is a forested area, heroes are nothing if not respectable towards Mother Nature, so try and keep damage to a minimum." All Might added, which got some muttering that their plans were shot, mainly Kamakiri, who no doubt was plotting on just cutting through everything.

Much like their first hero class, they were grouped through a random selection, as All Might had a box with balls in them marked 1 to 4, with 5 of each ball inside. They pulled out a ball one at a time, with Midoriya getting one with the number 1 on it. Soon enough, he saw who else got them. With them being the first, All Might escorted them into the forest by way of picking them up and jumping to their assigned spots and leaving them there, the man's speed and strength allowing him to get them all sorted faster than if he had led them via a group, or just told them where to go.

With the rest, they were taken to an area inside the area, a clearing out of the way where a stage with a large screen had been set up. Cameras watched the students as they prepared, allowing them to keep track of who was where.

"We're starting strong with this group." Monoma mused as Kamakiri, Kuroiro, Shishida, Tokage, and Midoriya's faces all appeared on the screen.

"No kidding, it's just about everyone who has a mobility or speed advantage," Kaibara noted as Shishida and Midoriya seemed to be doing stretches. However, Midoriya seemed more feline, working on getting his back and legs ready. In contrast, Shishida stuck to more general ones.

"I would say Shishida's at a disadvantage. Sure, he can just rush through everything, but we're meant to keep the damage down." Tsuburaba pointed out.

"A problem that neither Tokage nor Kuroiro has," Rin added as both seemed to be relaxed, Kuroiro even leaning against a tree where he was, well into the shade it cast.

"Which just leaves Midoriya and Kamakiri to race through the brush," Yanagi stated as Kamakiri wasn't stretching. Still, he seemed to be brimming with energy, an eager grin.

"I wouldn't discount them. No way the forest is so dense that they can't find ways through, and we've seen Kamakiri and Midoriya in obstacle courses." Honenuki suggested that the U.A. wouldn't create a zone too heavily against students. Sure, they've seen stuff where some have the advantage, but putting them somewhere they'll founder in seemed counter-productive.

"So it's fair to say that they all have a good chance of winning," Shoda concluded.

"I'll put my money on Tokage. A bird's eye view is worth its weight in gold when searching for their target." Monoma sat and got ready to watch a show.

"It's not like All Might's hiding. Kuroiro can take advantage of the shadows cast by the thick foliage and zip right toward him. Obstacles be damned." Yanagi pointed out that even from here, they could see the place had plenty of shadows for their classmate to work with.

"Midoriya will surprise, he always does." Tsunotori pointed out.

"Start!" All Might set off the siren. At the go-ahead, Tokage didn't waste time as she split into 8 pieces, which all shot into the air, well above the tree line, and started zipping towards the center, an eye going ahead of her to better spot the hero.

"See what I tell yah? Tokage's already taken the lead!" Monoma cheered, though it wasn't like the others were slacking off either as Kurorio vanished, the cameras unable to pick him up most of the time, the boy barely seen when he would jump out of a shadow to enter another that wasn't connected.

Shishida raced through the forest like a bear on the hunt; he was slow but not too slow as his nose helped him track All Might better than everyone else, allowing him to find and stick to the shortest possible route. Kamakiri and Midoriya avoided the ground altogether, as both were leaping from tree to tree, Midoriya proving to be the faster of the two, bending and twisting his body in ways that seemed both impossible and painful to manage most of his bounces with trees and branches.

'There's too much noise to pinpoint him, but' Midoriya smacked off a tree, recalling the view of the place when All Might dropped him off. There were a few clearings, but most were nowhere near the center. 'He's gotta be in the clearing.' Midoriya concluded as he jumped off a branch towards another, grabbing onto it to spin himself around, landing atop it to use it as an elevated jumping pad.

The others could also hear the progress of their fellow racers. "Wow, he's really moving," Tokage noted.

"I gotta hurry, else I'll be left behind." Shishifa huffed as he raced through the forest on all fours, following All Might's scent right to him.

Kuroiro came out of the shadows to better orientate himself, smirking when he heard the update. "Of course, we're in his domain."

"I'm not letting him first place without a fight!" Kamakiri put more speed into it, cutting branches that got in his way on his way towards All Might's location.

"I'm nearly there." Midoriya smiled as he raced through the branches and leaves, spotting light in the distance; he sped up and landed in the clearing and saw…

No one was there.

"What?" Midoriya blinked, looking around but not seeing a soul; there weren't even signs that someone had been here recently.

"We have a winner!" All Might's voice came through the speakers.

"It was a really close race, but you managed to win. Congrats!" All Might presented Tokage with the winner's sash, the rest having arrived to see it.

"You made it a real challenge to find you." Tokage laughed, as Shishida had nearly got there before she did; she had won by a literal hand, which she sent ahead of her. Midoriya crouched, his head hung low, as he muttered that he had been punked. All Might hadn't been in a clearing, but instead, he had been set up at the tallest tree in the center area.

"Goddammit," Kamakiri growled, kicking at a tree.

"Such is life," Kuroiro noted, hardly bothered by his loss.

All Might gathered them to give them some advice and feedback. "Listen, young Tokage might have come in first, but compared to the beginning of the year, you've all shown improvements in how you think about using your quirks. Keep that up, and I'm sure you'll ace your finals!" He finished with a thumbs-up, raising the spirits of those who lost at least a little.

"Yes, sir!" With that done, All Might grabbed them and, again, one at a time, carried them off to the others so that the next group could step forward, now a little wiser as to how All Might would hide.

When class ended, All Might gave them parting words before having them head to the lockers to shower. "First class and they certainly don't hold back," Honenuki noted as the boys dried off and put on their uniforms.

"No kidding, but that's what I love about it! No pain, no gain!" Tetsutetsu flexed.

"Didn't you come dead last in your group?" Kaibara's question deflated the shark-toothed boy somewhat.

"Such activities aren't my strong suit; it would be best if you were paired with someone skilled in intelligence gathering." Monoma pointed out as he buttoned up his shirt.

"You're a jack of all trades. All you did was copy Tokage's quirk, and you nearly won your group's race." Rin reminded him.

"True, but while I may copy their power, I can't copy their skills with them. if I could, I would have won." Monoma replied that unlike Tokage, who could split herself into at least 20 pieces, he could only manage the 6 anymore and lost focus.

Midoriya was putting on his shirt when he shook his head. "I went in thinking I already knew where All Might was and paid for it, 3rd place really stings." Man, that was a mistake in judgment.

"Hey, is it me, or wasn't something there before?" They looked towards Awase, who was pointing towards a section of wall between the corner and the lockers.

Stepping to it, Shoda looked the spot over, his brow creasing. "No, I'm pretty sure there used to be a poster there."

"Looks like someone did some work on the wall," Honenuki did the same; training with his quirk helped him better tell the signs of such. "Looks like it dried recently, like in the last hour recently."

The boys stopped to think about it, as they were incidents that would require the wall to be repaired, not any they had heard about. But why would work have been done? "What do you suppose was there?" Kaibara asked.

"I don't know, a peeping hole? The girl's lockers are on the other side." Kamakiri pointed out which Shishida took immediate offense to.

"Preposterous! These locker rooms are for hero students; who would dare use, never use, such a thing?" He lectured as Tsuburaba laughed.

"I'm eager to see what the girls look like, but I don't have a death wish." The solid air user stated he had forgotten ones like Shiozaki; he was sure that most of them could make you pay for that in some creative and painful ways.

"I would have imagined you would say you have better manners," Kuroiro noted, to which Tsuburaba shrugged.

"What are manners if not means to avoid embarrassing yourself or dying a fool's death? " he joked, getting some of the others to laugh, Midoriya included, as they returned to getting dressed, the freshly done wall fading from importance.

At least, it did till Shoda recalled something. "Well, class A has hero classes before us, so maybe one of them reported it."

Shishida nodded. "Yes, that seems like the logical explanation. It's pleasing to know our sister class is filled with upstanding individuals." A man as morally upright as Iida would have indeed reported it once he learned about it.

"Didn't Mineta and Kaminari trick class A's girls into dressing like cheerleaders?" Midoriya reminded them, as Kendo had been less than happy about that stunt, even if she hadn't been roped into it. "Seems like something they would use."

"Come on, I doubt they're that desperate to see something." Kamakiri snorted, which Midoriya agreed with.

Unknown to them, they were half right. Kaminari didn't try and look through it, but Mineta did, and now he sat in class teary-eyed with an occlusive dressing covering his left eye, the same one whose Jiro's earphone jack had aggressively pocked when he tried to catch a look at the girls dressing after they showered.

He was teary-eyed; the rest of the class ignored his pain as Kaminari tried to dissuade him, so this was merely his just dessert.

"Before the day ends, I wanted to bring up something with you. Namely, you're approaching summer vacation." Vlad spoke with his students minutes before the final bell rang. As I'm sure you can guess, you in the hero course aren't going to just have the month off."

"Summer school?" Komori asked, worried.

"Say it isn't so!" Tetsutetsu cried as he had so many things he wanted to do!

Vlad shook his head. "Yes and no. We will hold a week-like training camp in the woods, where you will have some free time to enjoy your summer." He could see some start to perk up at his words, as a week with the entire class in the woods sounded like a recipe for some fun times!

"Where's the but?" Midoriya rained on their parade, as this sounded a bit too close to what Shizune would do, promise something nice but make it hell to get it.

Vlad's smile only made that feeling all the stronger. "They'll be fun times but it's only open to those who pass the finals. Should you fail, you'll not only be training your asses off, but when everyone else gets to have time to relax, you'll be spending your free time with either Eraser or me studying. Every. Day."

They all froze at that, terror in their blood as Vlad might have been more laid back than Eraser, but that didn't mean he slacked off with them. And they had heard about Eraser's teaching methods, either from the current class A or in passing comments from seniors. If he had his way, they'd spend every night till the early morning hours studying!

Midoriya shot to his feet, turning to address his classmates as their class rep. "All right, people! You heard the man; I don't want to see anyone fail!"

"If you do, we'll make you regret it! This is our chance to have some summer fun as a class. We can't blow it!" Tokage rose as well, eyeing everyone who seemed either nervous about the finals or determined to at least pass them, as there was too much on the line.

"Oh, if it's the woods, there's bound to be tons of fungi and mushrooms I can see; I can even show you some of them." Komori cheered, to which Kaibara let out a rare laugh.

"I can snap some pictures of them and some other sights, as what's some summer fun without fireworks?" He was itching to break in his new camera, and now he had the perfect opportunity to use it and the several attachments it came with.

"Fireworks and a crap ton of snacks and food. Should we bring our own or just cash to buy it?" Fukidashi asked, what was a summer without a bonfire and barbeque? Tsunotori seemed really excited about that last part, mentioning that she could show them how they roast meat stateside.

"Forest training…that will definitely be something out of our element. Most of us plan to work in urban areas when we go pro." Yanagi muttered, focusing on the part that won't be their typical summer break.

"Maybe, but heroes need to be able to adapt, so training in unfamiliar grounds seems like a good idea," Rin replied.

"It'll be like one big sleepover; we can tell ghost stories and scare the shit outta each other!" Tsunotori was so excited that she switched to English, leaving most of them in the dark about what she said.

"I didn't catch most of that, but I got the jist!" Tetsutetsu gave her a thumbs up, just as pumped for this as she was.

"Well, safe to say you're all properly motivated." Vlad's amusement reminded them they were in class. "That's good. It might be a cliché, but to play hard, you need to work hard first. It makes that time off the clock all the more rewarding."

The golden afternoon sun draped over the sprawling estate, casting long shadows across rolling fields and its many buildings as its residents finished up their business for the day. Children continued to play, trying to squeeze every last drop of fun out of the day before it got too dark and parents and older siblings came to collect them.

Overlooking this, Kenmikoto sat on her private balcony, lounging with a glass of vinho verde, taking the moment to relax, though even so, she was never far from work.

"Have you made contact?" She spoke, slightly turning to see Hanen standing at the door.

"Not yet. I have to meet with the broker first, and then he'll make the introduction, " he replied, crossing his arms.

Kenmikoto smiled at that, as she did enjoy parts of this dangerous game, relics of her younger years, her more daring years. "Just be sure to act natural. He's not the type that'll care about your…well, lack of provable criminal record."

Hanen scoffed. "I would retire if people could tie me to any of those alleged incidents. Still, you never did explain why I'm being sent into this?"

"Scared?" She teased.

"Hardly, this is just another job, nothing more. But I am curious." Hanen replied that she had been one of her agents for years and one of her best in recent years. He has done things, gone places, and handled matters for her that would, at best, be considered morally questionable and legally debatably. And not once has he flinched or failed her.

"My visit with All Might…it sparked something in me," she explained, recalling her little meeting with the symbol of peace—a man who, for reasons she couldn't quite understand, felt…off to her. The flow of tenet around him was all wrong. "He seemed surprised when I mentioned I knew of All for One, and when I mentioned my gratitude towards him for killing him, there was something…off about his response."

Hanen shrugged. "Makes sense. He's like the biggest hero out there. He probably doesn't like being reminded that he probably pounded some dude into a bloody paste."

She hummed, but she didn't buy it. "I thought so, too, but it didn't sit right with me. It seemed less my discomfort from my thanking him for murdering that monster and more…uncertainty."

"Of what, killing him? Come on, no way All Might could mess that up with his power." Hanen pointed out, as this was a guy who, with a single punch, could alter the local weather. If he was coming at you with intent to hurt, you might as well pre-book a hospital room. And if he, the golden boy of the hero world, wanted you dead…well, nothing could save you.

Still, Kenmikoto was unconvinced, as she had spent a few nights thinking about this, and the more she did, the more things didn't add up. "Still, All for One was crafty, and one of the, if not the most slippery bastards out there. If there was a means for him to have survived whatever encounter with All Might, he could have found it."

"Okay, so you think he's related to the League then?" Hanen asked, deciding not to fight her on this. She would know more anyway.

"Yes, those Nomu creatures remind me far too much of those living bomb Next-Level Villains created by that Villain Factory group. Mindless beasts, no regard for their safety or health, and what seems like multiple quirks." He frowned at that reminder, as they had also looked into that but found little. Rokuro Nomura died near the factory's end, and so did Kuin Hachisuka, a quirked bee of all things.

Still, they had their suspicions that more was happening, but with the factory shut down and its main players dead or captured by the heroes, they reluctantly closed the case.

But when she said things like this, Hanen could see why she was so concerned. However, while it could fit in some places, it didn't in others. "Still, this doesn't fit his MO. Didn't you just say he's crafty? What's to gain from the assault on the USJ or Hosu?" he asked, setting aside how the factory and the League operate completely differently; perhaps that was a change in leadership.

"That's part of why I asked you to contact the League. I need answers as if that monster is still alive…" Kenmikoto paused, recalling the many years she spent hunting that bastard. Witnessing the aftermath of his and his minions' handiwork. She had done…many things when she was hunting the underworld king. She had slain God knew how many of his enforcers and goons, shutting down operations, legit or otherwise related to him.

Even with heroes like Glider and Gran Torino, they could only stem the bleeding. It wasn't till All Might that they could do more and ship away at All for One's criminal empire till, at last, it came crumbling down…at least, she hoped it did.

Hanen could see how she held her wine glass tightened, the crystal seconds from shattering. He stepped forward and laid a hand on hers, calming her if only enough so he could take the glass and set it aside. "All right, you don't need to explain more."

I have to admit, I thought this would be shorter, even with the new style of writing, but I was able to cover what was basically an entire chapter's content, baring the story about OFA and its origins as they still happen, just replacing Midoriya with Kendo. More than that, none of the characters have reason to know about it. Still, I've set up some things here, which I'm happy with.

The next chapter will be out on Jaunaury 31st but if you want to read it early, well the link is at the bottom for my p a t reon.

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