A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long. I've been working on an original story I started writing on Webnovel, so that's been taking up a lot of my time. If you like reincarnation Isekais like The Beginning After the End or Jobless Reincarnation I think you'll like my story: My Shitty Life in Another World.

If you'd like to check it out I use the exact same author name just without the space, so you can find me on Webnovel under the name JackBeach.

I hope to see you there and I hope you'll be patient for updates on this story while I write on Webnovel.

I hope you enjoy!!!!!

"Regular speech,"

"Flashback speech,"

'Inner dialogue,'

'Phone Text Chat'

Despite their… activities last night, Izuku woke up before anyone else so that he could go back downstairs and train.

The cold hallway made him shiver and want to go back so he could sleep next to Himiko, but getting stronger as quickly as possible was for both of them, not just him.

When Izuku returned to the ground floor, he studied the footprints Gran Torino had left in the walls each time he had bounced from one to another.

'How did he do it? Like… this?'

Izuku filled himself with One for All at eight percent and sprang left toward the wall. His feet impacted, but he hadn't calculated the split second needed to spring again to the next wall, so when he tried, his foot slipped, and he ended up flipping end over end.

He slammed into the other wall at an awkward angle and slid painfully to the ground, folding like a lawn chair.

'That hurt.'

He slowly got back to his feet, rubbing his back. There were so many marks on the walls, ceiling, and floor that Izuku couldn't fathom how the older man could handle such speed and properly orient himself so that he could fight effectively.

'I guess it's a matter of how much training and practical usage of his quirk he's had. Gran Torino is a pro, and he's pretty old, so he must be excellent.'

Izuku tensed again, and the crackling of One for All lit the room in green light. This time, he sprang at the wall, instantly shifted midair, planted his foot, and sprang at the wall across the room.

'Yes!'

He repeated the process, getting a feel for how much force he needed each time to clear the distance properly. It was slow going, relatively speaking. One for All at eight percent wasn't slow by any means, but this was nothing compared to the speed Gran Torino had used against Himiko. Even so, Izuku knew he could go faster, but he really didn't want to make a mistake and give himself a concussion just because he got carried away.

'I can't believe I didn't think of this before! I mean, I used One for All during the battle trials when fighting Kacchan, but if I'd used it like this, I would've been a lot more efficient. I wouldn't have had walls to bounce between, but I would've moved a lot more.'

Izuku just continued to jump from wall to wall, trying to speed up slowly as the time dragged on.

Izuku groaned. He had spent the better part of the morning just getting the footwork and positioning down for what he thought could become a special move. Sure, it would require tight spaces to work, but he'd develop another special move for more varied circumstances later.

But now Izuku was at the breakfast table with Himiko and Gran Torino, and the atmosphere was extremely awkward.

Izuku blushed from ear to ear every time he met Himiko's eyes. He couldn't believe how he'd acted the previous night. He'd gotten used to Himiko taking the lead during intimate activities, but something had flipped his proverbial switch, and he'd just gone wild.

And then there was Gran Torino.

He looked like he was oblivious for the first half of the process Izuku took to make them all breakfast. But when they'd all sat down, he gave both of the teens a very dry look every time their eyes strayed to his.

Izuku cleared his throat, "I, uh, woke up early and practiced your technique."

Gran Torino scoffed and gestured between the two with his fork, "That's not the only thing you practiced."

Izuku's entire body nearly combusted with how embarrassedly hot he felt, "I— uh— I mean—"

Himiko gestured flippantly with her own fork, "I'm not apologizing."

"H-Himiko!"

Gran Torino laughed, "Well, if nothing else, you've got nerve, crazy girl!"

"I-I'm so sorry, sir! I didn't intend to have anything like that h-happen while we were staying here! I'd never want to give you the wrong impression about us and make you think we're just immature teenagers! We want to get stronger really its ju—"

Gran Torino slammed a hand over Izuku's mouth, "Jeez, kid! I was just messin with ya! Who cares if you little delinquents fuck in your off time? Save the excuses for that big dope All Might. And in the meantime," he smiled very evilly, "show me what you've learned since you've been practicing."

Izuku really didn't want to let the matter go. Why were so many people thinking they were delinquents and problem children? First, it was Mister Aizawa, and now it was Gran Torino.

Izuku suppressed a tear, 'I'm not a delinquent! My girlfriend just doesn't know when to hold back, and I get carried away because of her.'

"A-Alright," Izuku's shoulders slumped, and he trod toward the entry room so that he could show the old hero what he'd been practicing.

Izuku jumped from wall to wall with as much speed as he could; the strain of keeping eight percent active was becoming less and less obvious as he adjusted to it. He was finally putting himself through his paces, going as fast as he could, when Gran Torino told him to stop.

"You're thinking a little more, and it looks like you've even started to get a grasp on how mobile you can be with One for All. But ultimately, you're just copying me. Look," he gestured at Izuku's shoe marks on the walls, and without realizing it, Izuku had almost exactly followed the path Gran Torino had made the other day, "honestly, it's scarily impressive how accurate you are at copying without realizing it. But I'm not teaching you so you can copy my moves; I'm teaching you so you can learn from them."

Izuku thought hard, 'How can I make it my own without just copying Gran Torino? What exactly does he do? Is it just the maneuverability and speed? No, he needs to go that fast because he can't deliver as much force with just a single ricochet! So he needs to keep moving so that his impacts deliver more force, but I don't necessarily need to do that. I could deliver a lot of force if I mimicked him, but it isn't strictly necessary every time.'

Gran Torino grinned, "You got a good look in your eye, kid! If you've got an idea, then don't bother explaining; just come at me!"

Izuku shot upward, pivoted, and then jumped to the right wall. He bounced between the walls three more times and then dove at Gran Torino.

"Really?" Gran Torino disappeared and suddenly spoke from behind Izuku just as his feet touched the ground, "You're just doing the same exact thing."

Izuku tensed his legs and shot away again. He was jumping at random intervals: left wall, right wall, ceiling, floor, right wall.

He passed close by Gran Torino cocking his right leg back to deliver a sideways axe kick right at the hero's exposed neck.

The old hero shot up into the ceiling and came right back down.

Izuku barely dodged the attack; Gran Torino's boot had cut a thin slice right down the middle of one of Izuku's freckles. Izuku's back slammed against the ground, knocking the wind out of him.

"This is disappointingly sad. I think you're a bigger idiot than All Might," Gran Torino crossed his arms and glared down at Izuku.

He panted, rolling to his stomach and lifting onto all fours. Despite hitting the ground fairly hard, Izuku had managed to keep One for All active, so now that he was in an impromptu runner's stance, his plan was in place.

Izuku shot forward again, swiveled, planted his foot into the wall behind Gran Torino, and looked up to trace a path he could take next.

"You really are a fo—"

But instead of jumping to build momentum, he shot right back at the hero. Izuku twisted his torso and swung his leg into an overhead strike that would slam into Gran Torino's shoulder and send him to the ground. Of course, the hero dodged this by moving his shoulder slightly to the side.

Izuku could see Gran Torino tensing to jump for a counterattack, but instead, he continued the strike that had missed and slammed his foot into the ground, sending concrete spraying up in all directions. The debris slowed the old hero's reaction time just enough so that Izuku could use the firm foot he'd planted to swivel into a right hook.

His fist passed just an inch away from Gran Torino's face, slicing a horizontal line.

Izuku stumbled and fell flat on his face, "I… guess it… wasn't good enough."

Gran Torino wiped the line of blood on his cheek away, "that was good. You used my expectations against me, kept using movements that I had said weren't good enough, and turned it completely around when I got comfortable. Not bad at all, but let's keep that up! You aren't allowed to stop until lunchtime."

Izuku paled, looked at the clock, and then gulped. This was going to be a long day.

The dim lights of the bar hummed quietly, and Shigaraki sat lazily on a bar stool. Kurogiri stood, tense and alert, staring hard at the guest they had brought.

"I get it… you're the ones who assaulted U.A.," The Hero Killer Stain licked his lips with a nasty-looking tongue, his eyes trained fixedly on Shigaraki, "and you want me to join your little gang."

Shigaraki grinned from behind his father's hand, "Yeah, exactly. When it comes to being evil, you're a pro."

Stain glanced at Kurogiri and then back to Shigaraki, "And what're you after?"

Shigaraki scratched absently at his neck, tilting his head, "Ultimately, we want to kill All Might, but I also just want to destroy everything I don't like. Oh, and if there was one other thing, I want these kids to join the league."

Shigaraki's scarred hands held up a picture; in it was a green-haired boy with freckles and a blonde girl leaning against him with a large, fanged grin spread across her face.

"They're in U.A. right now, but I have a feeling they'd make good allies, the girl especially. We're in need of a rogue for our party, and the green-haired kid should make an adequate DPS."

Stain grit his teeth and glowered at the two villains. "It's ridiculous that you really had my interest for even a second there. You're… the type I hate the most."

The Hero Killer slowly and methodically drew two knives from their sheaths on his ribs," as if I'd team up with some temper-tantrum-throwing child. Bloodlust without conviction is meaningless."

Kurogiri tensed, "Sensei, shouldn't I stop him?"

The crackling static of the TV in the corner drew Stain's attention for a moment, but his eyes snapped right back to Shigaraki. "No," a deep crackling voice spoke from the TV. "Tomura needs to figure this out for himself. Being a teacher means guiding your students in the right direction and letting them figure out the answer for themselves."

Shigaraki scratched harder and harder at his neck; flecks of blood and flesh stained his cracked nails, "who cares what you think? I just thought you might want a crack at killing some heroes and some hero-wannabes, but I guess you're more useless than I thought you'd be."

Stain lunged forward faster than Shigaraki could react; he had buried one of his knives into the man's shoulder. The other knife was poised to slit Shigaraki's throat, "only those who have a strong will and conviction can accomplish anything. Without those, it is only natural that you will be culled. Just another fool in the long line of my crusade."

Shigaraki laughed but winced as the blade in his shoulder dug in a bit further, "Owwwww! Kurogiri, send this guy away."

Kurogiri grunted; his shirt sleeve was torn, and out seeped a thin trail of blood, "I-I can't move! It must be the Hero Killer's quirk."

Stain sneered menacingly, his deep red eyes piercing through the man he had pinned to the ground, "the word "hero" has lost its meaning in this corrupt society, rife with fakers and shams. Even you criminals who aimlessly throw their weight around are all targets of my purge."

The Hero Killer moved his blade ever so slightly, and the razor-sharp blade dug Into the hand adorning Shigaraki's face, "not this hand… not this one."

Shigaraki grabbed the blade with his right hand, and when the last digit met the metal, it cracked and corroded, "you sure talk a lot… conviction, huh? Nah, I can't say I have anything as grand as that. But if I had to say what drives me. I'd say it's All Might." The blade shattered, and Shigaraki stared up at Stain, his eyes a vortex of insane hatred and hunger, "that piece of garbage and the society that worships him! I wanna turn them both to dust, but first, I want to corrupt those kids he seemed to care so much about and see the look of despair on his face as they rip his guts out."

Shigaraki lunged up at the Hero Killer, but Stain leaped away and grinned, "Our respective goals couldn't be further apart… but destroying the status quo; that's the one thing we have in common."

Shigaraki rolled his shoulder with the stab wound, grunting as blood flowed down and stained his shirt, "and I was just getting over my wounds too. You know we don't have a healer in our party yet, right? Whatever, get out of my face! Go back home and die; I'm the type you hate the most… or whatever."

The Hero Killer crouched down to get a closer look at the blade that had been disintegrated, "I was just testing your sincerity. You're an odd one, but you have the seeds of what could lead to conviction. I wonder what that seed will yield? Either way, I'll deal with you when the time comes, and the answer is made apparent."

Shigaraki glared hatefully, "Deal with me? I don't think I really want a crazy guy like you joining our party."

Kurogiri seemed finally able to move because he was wrapping a bandage around his wounded arm, "Tomura Shigaraki, he'll add some much-needed firepower to our efforts. Our negotiations were successful, so there is no need to refuse an ally."

"This guy just plans on killing my ass if he decides he doesn't like whatever "conviction" I find or whatever," Shigaraki looked at the TV, but when Sensei didn't say anything, he sighed, "But I guess we need him."

Stain turned away and looked at Kurogiri over his shoulder, "Send me back to Hosu. There's something I have to take care of there."

Izuku, Himiko, and Gran Torino all stepped outside of the dingy apartment/office. It had been two days since they'd arrived, and now that they were on their third, Gran Torino had decided they should finally go on patrol. The sun was slowly setting overhead, and by the time night had fallen, they would most likely have arrived in Shibuya.

"Uh, sir? Are you sure it's fine for us to go out already?" Izuku tugged worriedly at the strap of his chest armor and adjusted his fingerless gloves a bit.

"Fighting me all of the time will only give the two of you bad habits, and besides, patrolling isn't as dangerous as you might think." Gran Torino walked maddeningly slow, and his stride barely let him cover the distance from the doorway to the outside of the fences that ringed his building in five minutes, "the villains you've faced so far were, for lack of a better word, exceptional compared to your average street punk. I'm sure the crazy girl can vouch for that."

They limped along, following the elderly hero at his sedate pace. At their current rate, it would take them an hour or more to get to the train station, and Izuku didn't even want to think about how slow patrolling like this would go.

Himiko padded along in her dress-like costume, grinding the clawed tips of her gloves against each other. The noise sounded like a blade being sharpened on a wet stone.

Izuku balked when he looked down at the girl's feet. "Himiko! Why aren't you wearing any shoes?!"

She looked down and then pouted, "Because those idiots tried giving me high heels. I drew this outfit with shoes like yours, but the note that came with my case said something dumb, like it would clash with the outfit."

He tried imagining the elegant dress with a pair of sneakers, but the image just seemed ridiculous, "I… kinda get what they meant, but heels are bad for a completely different reason. Uraraka's costume had heels too, but the tip had a cushion for when she lands, and the heel is a shock absorbing spring, so those are a little practical."

Himiko drew closer, uncomfortably close. Her face was inches away from his. Her eyes glowed with a warning light, "Oh? And why do you know so much about another girl's costume, huh, Izu?"

Izuku gulped and fumbled with the black utility belt around his waist, pulling a small notepad he'd used during the first team battles class 1-A had, "I w-wrote down and sketched stuff about almost everybody's costumes during training."

His girlfriend took the notebook and flipped through the pages. The data was more condensed than he usually preferred because of the small pages with notes on their quirks, and the sketches of student in their class were less detailed than in his other notes, but they put extra emphasis on costume specs, "Izu."

"Y-Yes?"

She looked up at him with a grimace, "I don't think you should let anyone in the class see this. I think they'd find this kinda….. creepy."

Izuku sighed, "Yeah, I figured they might, but it's a habit I can't quite kick."

Himiko handed him the notepad and looked off to the side, arms crossed behind her head, "Do you have any notes about me?"

Izuku would really rather not answer that. The first time he had dreamed about her during middle school, he had filled a page of a new notebook with sketches of her as a child, and then when they'd met again, he had slowly filled the pages with sketches of her along with scattered notes. A few of the early ones had been analytical, like his typical notes about her characteristics and how they might tie in with her quirk. They slowly started to stray to very embarrassing daydreams that he'd absently written down and, for some reason, he hadn't bothered erasing.

'I think I need to burn that notebook before she finds it. Otherwise, I'll never hear the end of it.'

Himiko's wide grin nearly split her face, and she teasingly pocked Izuku's sides with her fingers, "Ah, so you do have some!"

Gran Torino seemed fed up with them because he turned sharply to the street and whistled at a cab, stopping it and climbing inside, "Get in! I'm not walking all the way to the train station with you two acting like that."

Himiko smiled innocently, "Okay!"

Izuku climbed inside behind her, "I'm sorry, sir."

"Just sit down and try to be quiet." Gran Torino shook his head, "Toshinori might've been dense, but I never had to deal with any girlfriends."

The taxi pulled away toward the station, and Izuku buzzed with the excitement of finally being able to do hero work. This was the entire purpose of everything he had been through, and it was exciting to finally experience what he had aspired to be.

He just hoped his luck wasn't as terrible as usual and nothing bad would happen while they were out.