Float With Me (2nd Semester) - FifthDancer - 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia (2024)

Chapter 1: Season 3 Trailer

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry Deku,” Ochako shook her head, “I can’t be a part of this. I hope you and Kendo and Kodai and Mirko and Momo and Shiozaki and Kyoka and Todoroki have a good life.”

Izuku reached out to her, trying to stop her from leaving.

“I was willing when you had a Quirk to keep you safe, but …” Ochako shook her head, “I couldn’t bear it if you died because you did something so dangerous, and without your power that’s simply too likely.”

“I heard you were looking for new members,” Neito said, folding his arms as he looked over the League of Villains, 10,000 members strong now, “I was cheated out of my license by an inferior student. I’d like to bring about a world where the strong rule, where people with Quirks that affect other Quirks reign supreme.”

All for One held out his hand.

“Welcome to your Villain Academia, Phantom Thief.”

“I heard you needed soldiers.”

The President of the HPSC turned, looking over the man with blue skin.

“Humarise would be happy to trade manpower for a few… concessions.”

“Overhaul,” Izuku said, holding out a strand of his hair, “You too can be a Hero.”

The white-haired figure above him, her bird-mask hanging low like a sad vulture, reached out to accept his gift.

“It’s time I showed the world the true meaning of the word “Hero”,” Lady Nagant smirked, her rifle pressed against the head of the skeletal All Might, Stain leaning against her other shoulder with a grin.

“You know, I could always call you Shibari,” Kyoka joked.

Ibara grabbed her wrists, pushing her against a wall and leaning in for a passionate kiss.

“Only if you ask nicely, and promise to bring dental dams…” she whispered as she closed in.

“Do you regret breaking up with him?” Mina asked, stretching out on the couch.

“A little, but Minoru-chan’s way better in bed,” Ochako giggled, “He must have picked up some of Mt. Lady’s Quirk on his internship, ‘cause… whew.”

“Fumikage…” Pony whined, pulling the blanket off to reveal her expanded stomach, “I’m pregnant. And it’s Morrigan’s.”

“That’s why we’re all going to get temporary sex changes for my birthday,” Itsuka explained, patting Mirko’s shoulder and ruffling Yui’s hair, “That way when you give me birthday sex: it can be super good for me! You’re gonna be a mommy, Izu!”

Izuku passed out, his remaining arm clutching at his heart.

“It’s a simple procedure,” Melissa assured him, pointing at a diagram, “We simply remove Kurogiri’s brain, place it in this jar, and then insert this super AI which has been programmed to be identical to your old boyfriend, and bob’s your uncle.”

Shota nodded, considering.

“Make sure you include his massive libido in your programming.”

“That’s right, Kamui Woods!” All for One cackled, “I stole Mt. Lady’s Quirk! Now I will be the massively-sized woman the world desires!”

“There’s only one way to fix this,” Izuku said, turning to the camera, “We need to go back in time and rescue a pair of humpback whales from 1986. Mei: We’ll need a space ship capable of warp 9, a cloaking device, and transparent aluminum.”

Shoto nodded, her long, feminine hair flowing in the wind.

Will Izuku-chan ever notice my love for him?

“I finally have them all!” Toga giggled, holding up the seven vials of different-colored blood, “Now I can become-”

She downed all of them, and her hair went from blonde to spikey gold, an aura of star-like fire encompassing her body. Toga lifted from the ground, her muscles expanding and her eyes turning to a solid teal color.

“SUPER SAIYAN TOGA!”

Chapter 2: Power Arc: Let's introduce FOUR MORE Named Characters!

Chapter Text

“Everyone be sure to welcome Shinso,” Aizawa yawned, gesturing at the new desk at the back of the class, out of alphabetical order but no less glad to be there, “He’ll be behind in terms of procedure and technique, so be sure to help him whenever possible for these first few months. He probably won’t ask for it, but given how stubborn you all are: I doubt that will stop you.”

There was a lot of laughter at that.

“Otherwise, I’m glad to see you all made it back into my class. I knew you could do it, yada yada…” he continued, rubbing an eye, “To get right to it: We’ve had to move a few things up due to personal requests by people who Nezu and I owe favors, so we’re doing this now.”

He looked at the door.

“Come on in.”

Aizawa never wasted time doing anything by itself, already explaining as the new arrivals came in. One was a dark-haired boy who seemed incredibly timid, one was a blue-haired girl more bubbly than Ashido and Uraraka combined, and then a blonde with a smile that could match All Might’s in terms of radiance.

“You heard Principal Nezu mention Work-Studies yesterday at the opening ceremony,” their teacher informed them as the new trio lined up, “These three will be explaining the difference between them and the internships you went on earlier this year. They took time out of their busy schedules to talk to you, so do give them your full attention. They are the top students in the school as of right now, and unofficially known as the Big Four. One of their members is currently visiting Recovery Girl for unrelated reasons.”

He turned to look at them, and Hitoshi raised an eyebrow. He wouldn’t have marked any of them as particularly powerful, but what did he know?

“Amajiki, would you like to introduce yourself first?” Aizawa asked.

The dark-haired elf-boy took one step forward. Literally, he didn’t even bring his other foot forward to stand straight. He looked up with a glare of such intensity that some of the class recoiled. Hitoshi met his eyes and glared back, trying to see if he could outdo the boy. Evidently he… could?

Amajiki recoiled and slammed his head into the wall, hiding his face and muttering something. Hitoshi wondered if Aizawa was messing with them, trying to see if their senses had gone dull with a month away from his classroom.

Luckily for the sake of Class 1-A’s instruction, the blue-haired girl spoke up.

“Tamaki’s not super good with crowds, but I’m very good with people!” she said cheerily, “I’m Hado Nejire, but you can call me Nejire-chan, like my Hero name! I’m gonna tell you about Work-Studies! They’re the greatest thing probably ever. Hey, Shoji-kun, why do you wear that mask? Fashion or do you got a cold? I don’t like getting sick, it makes me feel dizzy. Oh, Todoroki, you’re in the back. How’d you get that cool scar? Midoriya? Why are you over there, your girlfriend’s on that side? Shinso, all the way in the back, behind Todoroki? All alone? You should put your desk in the middle, so you’re always surrounded by friends. Friends are good. Like Work-Studies! Mine’s with Ryukyu, and she’s the bestest! She’s like a mama on top of my mama. But not like my papa is on top of my mama. Different kind of on top. Like Ice cream on top, not like pie crust on top. Ashido, do you like pie? You’re a cutie pie, so you should like pie. Hey, if you break those cute horns: do they grow back? Or do they not, and you used to have lots more? Or or are you super careful?”

Hitoshi blinked, not sure if she was screwing with them all or legitimately just that easily distracted. He supposed he could pull out something shiny and see…

“The Outlook’s Looking…!” the blonde one shouted out of nowhere, interrupting “Nejire-chan” and then holding his hand to his ear as if expecting a response in the dead silence which followed.

The heck are we supposed to respond with? Who is this guy?

“GRIM!” he laughed, “You Were S’Posed To Say Grim. Not A Fan Of That One, Eh? That’s Okay!”

There were mutters of confusion and dissent going around now. Hitoshi didn’t blame them. Not one of these people seemed like a Hero student, let alone one of the, quote “Big Four.”

“I’m seeing a lot of faces that say “Who are these guys?”” the blonde’s voice suddenly changed to something more serious, “You all are wondering: “Why should we care about these things? They’re optional, and these three seem pretty screwy from them.””

Everyone sat up a little straighter, Hitoshi included. The guy had just changed his entire feel from a goofball to an actual adult.

“Y’know what?” he said, looking to Aizawa, “This isn’t gonna go anywhere if they don’t have a point of reference. Can I go beat them all up?”

Aizawa shrugged.

“Feel free to try.”

“Alrighty!” the blonde grinned, “Let’s Go To Gym Gamma! You Can All Try To Beat Me, And Then We’ll Talk!”

Rolling his shoulders and stretching to try and make sure he was nice and loose, Izuku looked around at his friends. They’d trained their butts off, got their licenses, and now it was time to clash with whoever the leader of the Big Four at UA was. He seemed pretty plain, all things considered, but Izuku remembered seeing him during one Sports Festival. He’d ended up pretty low in the rankings, and his whole deal had been kind of uncomfortable and confusing (ending up nude on live TV was never a good sign), but Aizawa never did things irrationally, so there was something to be learned here.

“Pleashe shtop…” Ashido whined, and Izuku glanced over, seeing Hado-san was playing with her horns, watching them move back and forth with a finger.

“Hehe, they move,” she giggled softly before releasing the pink-colored Heroine-in-training.

A threatening crackle came from behind him, and Izuku glanced back at Kacchan, who was eyeing Hado with a murderous gaze. When she let go: he relaxed. Izuku had to smile.

I guess we’re both a bit protective of people we care about.

“Well, whenever you guys are ready,” the leader called, “Just go ahead and attack. Whoever wants can go first.”

Izuku stepped forward, and was surprised to see the group part for him. He supposed he was kind of their de facto leader now. Tenya was the Class Rep and their technical commander in such things, but he was the one who trained them up for the License Exam, and he’d earned the respect of both 1-A and 1-B over the summer.

Then again, I suppose they expect a lot from the “Symbol of Hope”...

At Kamino, only two months prior, Izuku had been duplicated twice by the villain… Twice (pretty on-brand, all things considered). They hadn’t been conscious during the event, so he’d ended up being called Izuku 1 (by pure happenstance). Izuku 3 had tried to go undercover with the League, managing to evacuate Toga Himiko and one of her clones to the police, while Izuku 2 had ended up confronting All for One directly.

While Izuku 2 and some kind of clone offshoot of the Vestiges within One for All had fought the League, Izuku 1 had used his Quirk power Ukiyo to fly injured Heroes off to safety, bringing in Kurogiri to medical attention and capture, as well as saving the lives of half a dozen injured Pros. His actions had been captured live, and while he put a bad taste in the Hero Public Safety Commission's mouth: the public had started to entitle him the Next Symbol after All Might’s retirement. Rather than the Symbol of Peace however, they called him the Symbol of Hope.

Unfortunately: the world was getting a tarnished Symbol. With the death of Izuku 2, along with each of the Vestiges, he’d lost access to their Quirks. He hadn’t been able to fly with Ukiyo, use Shadowvines to ensnare, swing, and reinforce his body, sense the world around him with Danger Sense, or produce lavender colored and scented smoke with Smokescreen to veil himself since that day. He’d even started losing access to Stockpile’s enormous energy, now down to 21% of his maximum potential when first given the Quirk.

Izuku had only confided in a handful of people about his Quirk, but only Ochako, Itsuka, Shinso, and All Might knew of his suspicions that All for One had actually managed to steal the Quirk somehow. If he had it or it was destroyed when the Vestiges died: he didn’t know.

“Ah, Deku,” the leader nodded, seeing him come forward, “I heard you got to fight Mirko. She’s pretty cool, right?”

Choking out a laugh and a smile, Izuku grinned and nodded.

“She’s… something alright.”

Charging up to 9% of One for All’s Full Cowl, Izuku pushed his body to its utmost limit of safety, knowing there would be no room for caution.

“You aren’t all coming at once?” the leader asked, tilting his head, “Okay, but join in whenever you like. I’m gonna hit you either way.”

Izuku glanced back at Tenya, and a silent command passed between them.

“Formation C!” the Class Representative called.

The close-combat fighters fell into step at Izuku’s sides, while the ranged attackers moved into a mirroring pattern. They formed a double chevron, with Izuku at the point of the first and Momo at the point of the second. Their “wings” angled forwards towards the Leader, giving ample protection for the famous YaoMomo Canon Cannons.

“Go!” Izuku called, rushing forward to strike, Kyoka and Morrigan at his sides.

The Leader just watched, and then his clothes fell off.

Kyoka tripped and fell on her face, covering her eyes with her hands as if burned.

“WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME?!” she begged the universe.

“S-sorry!” the leader apologized, trying to pull his pants up, “The fine-tuning’s-”

Izuku had learned from Kyoka herself that cheap-moves and taking any advantage were key in battle, so it seemed only fitting that he took that moment to rush the guy, his foot kicking for the waist as his hand grabbed for the pant leg.

His plan was to pull his unstable legs out from under him and knock the guy over for Shoto to freeze, but something odd happened. Izuku got the pants, but his foot seemed to go… right through his opponent.

“IZU WHY WOULD YOU PANTS HIM, OH MY GOSH!!” Kyoka wailed, rolling over and curling into a ball.

“Wow, you really don’t hold back, huh?” the leader noted, impressed.

Izuku gaped as he saw Acid, Tape, and even cannonballs fly through him like nothing. But his analytical brain never stopped working, and he noticed two other things. Morrigan’s shadow, Aoyama’s Naval Laser, and Hagakure’s new laser attacks all passed directly through the guy.

But I can still see him. So, he must be reflecting some kind of light.

“Take this lesson in!” Aizawa called from the sidelines, “So far as I know: Togata Mirio is the closest person in the country to being the next #1 Hero, Pros included. Learn well.”

Togata vanished, taking advantage of their teacher’s distraction, reappearing near Momo somehow, still completely naked.

“YaoMomo!” Izuku and Kyoka called, watching as her turn and staff slash were both too slow.

Togata’s fist slid right through her staff and impacted her head. She managed to resist, thanks to her training to maximize her latent enhanced physiology, but then he kicked her up the jaw, and Izuku’s technically-not-sister dropped.

Rage flooded Izuku, and if he’d still had Shadowvines (or even Blackwhip’s more basic form) it would have exploded and tried to strangle their senpai. Instead: he rushed out to try and intercept the guy. He saw how he dropped into the ground again, so in theory he would pop out…

There!

Morrigan had recalled to surround Tokoyami in their new move: Fighting Falcon, and that was evidently enough of a threat to warrant the second out. Izuku was there to support, his fist swinging towards the spot the guy was going to emerge from. He mis-timed it by a half second, Togata appearing right before his hand and managing to phase through Izuku’s whole body at the last second. Izuku cracked the ground, and his bird-shaped friends behind him got pummeled.

“Not bad,” Togata praised, “But you gotta be more mobile.”

I would be if my original power was still here, Izuku silently protested, leaping after him as their senpai vanished again.

“Hagakure,” he called to the pale girl, waving her over when Togata didn’t reappear for three seconds, “Everyone else: spread out. Close enough to support each other, but not so close you can get hit simultaneously.”

They all did as he asked without question, sticking close to friends they worked well with rather than by Quirk compatibility. He’d known that teamwork was most important during the exam, but Izuku was starting to realize he’d over-focused them on that point.

“What’s up, Midoriya?” the lime and pink-haired girl asked, coming over.

“He’s still visible when he phases,” Izuku briefed her quickly, “Some kind of light is hitting him and bouncing off, so that means you need to find what it is. Keep a beam on his eye and just rotate through the wavelengths until you find it. The rest of us will keep guard.”

“Gotcha!” she agreed, placing the heels of her palms together.

The area near Hagakure darkened, and a beam of white shot from where her hands met, touching the wall.

“Ready!” she confirmed.

And still Togata didn’t appear. Izuku realized he was baiting them, trying to get them to relax or waste energy.

Air would have to go right through too, so he must only have as long as he can hold his breath, Izuku reasoned, looking around for a nose or mouth stuck out of the ground suspiciously.

“Kyoka, subsonic,” he requested.

“A’ight, everybody turn your head!” she agreed, plugging into the ground and closing her eyes.

A massive reverberation shot through the building, and everyone felt their lungs spasm involuntarily, most of them coughing once, rather violently. Even the bystanders had to do so, and so did the face hiding behind Sato’s boot.

“I got ‘im!” Ashido called, firing a spray of acid at the lips.

“No-!” Izuku tried to warn her, but then most of the close-range fighters were on the ground, wheezing and clutching their ribs.

“DIE!” Kacchan tried, his explosions hitting air and then dirt before he was double-hand slammed into the ground.

Hagakure’s light hit his shoulder, but it went right through. She started moving across the spectrum, and any time it seemed to stop on his skin: she would wait to check if he was just tangible. Usually he was, but then-

“Got him!” she confirmed, her light stopped at his head even as Kirishima’s fist went through it and he got folded.

“Fry him!” Izuku cheered her on, leaping after Togata again as he shifted his gaze towards Ochako.

The light beam lit up, and Hagakure swiveled to hit him the instant he emerged. Izuku wasn’t heading to attack this time. Instead: he dove to tackle Ochako out of the way.

Well, that was what he was hoping he looked like he was doing, anyways. Ochako could hold her own pretty well, and Izuku knew that if Togata could spot him in a room as “Deku” not just as “the green-haired kid”: he would know Izuku had a soft spot for her. So, Izuku had to pretend to be played to play Togata.

His plan barely worked. Togata emerged and flinched at the sudden burning along his back as he realized he was no longer invincible while phased. He was right behind Izuku, clearly intent on knocking him into his girlfriend and then move onto the clean-up. But as he turned tangible again to avoid Hagakure’s attack power, Izuku whirled in midair, his shoe smashing into solid ribs.

“Nice!” Togata praised, right before he smashed Izuku’s face with a fist… knocking him into Ochako so he could move onto the clean-up…

“You got in a good hit,” Togata admitted, cracking Hagakure’s head through Ojiro’s tail and then slamming Shoto’s head into Kyoka’s back, “But you all lack a certain…”

“POWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!”

“Whew,” Togata breathed, thankfully dressed again as he stood before the groaning and stomach-clenching class, “That was pretty good! You landed two solid hits in, and I just barely managed to keep my junk hidden for the sake of the ladies in the class.”

“CbuOllUshGitH!” Kyoka coughed, having been unfortunately exposed to them not once but twice.

There would have been laughter, but everyone was still holding wherever they’d been bashed, kind of burnt out.

“So, who thinks they know what my Quirk is?” Togata asked, still happy-go-lucky.

“Superposition,” Bakugo guessed.

“Teleportation but stupid,” Mina tried.

“Phasing through supertime,” Kirishima guessed.

“I already said those!” Bakugo insisted, before clutching his stomach again and doubling over.

“Oh, oh, me-me-me!” Nejire tried, bouncing up and down, “Pick me! I know! It’s Permeation!”

Togata laughed, patting her shoulder and apologizing softly.

“Well, to be fair: you’re all close,” Togata admitted, “But it’s just the phasing power.”

He seemed to be about to continue when he paused and looked to Kyoka’s side. She smirked, having already heard the mutter storm beginning. As expected, Izu was listing out all the possibilities he could think of (most of which she doubted Togata had thought of).

Sure enough, when the guy who’d just beat them all up tried to explain how his Quirk worked: the conversation was more or less a dramatic retelling of Izu’s analysis. Right down to Mina’s insistence he was like a glitchy video game character.

“Well,” he sighed, seeing his big spiel was being undercut, “anyways: the key to developing this power from being less than worthless was in life-or-death situations! The scarier, the less prepared you feel, the more you grow in the moment. No teacher or class can teach you to grow that way, which is why the Work-Studies are something you can’t substitute with classes or wait for your sidekick career to work on. If you take too long: you’ll find yourself falling behind, no matter what your Quirk or your grades say!”

Kyoka giggled as she heard Momo say something to the effect of “only four sentences”. While his explanation of his abilities had been a bit dull, he’d been quite quick when explaining why they ought to take up some studies.

“Thank you for your time, Togata, Hado, Amajiki,” Aizawa muttered, waving them off, “I’m sure you’re being missed in your usual classes.”

That made her frown. Why was he so eager to get them out of the way? He’d given them free reign when they arrived, and they wouldn’t have been there at all if they weren’t welcome…

“Unlike the Internships,” Aizawa-sensei continued once the Big Four minus-one had left, “Work-Studies will be completely optional. You’re free to use any methods you like to contact a Hero who will take you in for however long they agree to, and normally I would be suggesting you use your Internship contacts, at least to get started, but that’s not going to be possible this year.”

Kyoka let out a silent “ah”. Of course. Given the recent tensions of Kamino, All Might’s retirement, the escape of the League of Villains by unknown parties, the HPSC cracking down on Izu’s new Symbol of Hope shtick, and rumors of upheaval in the China Nations: she bet the teachers had taken a vote on if even doing Work-Studies should be allowed that year. Knowing Aizawa-sensei: he’d voted in the negative.

“After some debate during your summer camp: we’ve decided to limit Work-Studies to only the Heroes in the top 50, Hero Teams who’ve been stable for over ten years, or ones who have a track record at UA of keeping students safe. The list encompasses less than sixty active agencies, and only twenty of them have agreed to allow Student Heroes right now. That’s not enough to allow you open-access.”

The class didn’t say anything, a lot of expectant looks at him wearing down their teacher as he sighed and muttered to himself so low and so nonsensically that Kyoka couldn’t even guess what he was trying to say.

“We aren’t technically denying you the option,” Aizawa admitted, “but don’t expect to take part in one this semester. As of right now, only four of you have been specifically requested by Hero Agencies, so only four of you will be going unless something changes.”

The hope started ebbing away, and Kyoka admitted to herself that she probably wasn’t one of the four. She could guess who was though…

“Todoroki,” Aizawa glanced to the dichromatic boy, “Endeavor has requested you for weekends.”

Mutters of “yeah, that tracks” and their equivalents moved through the students.

“Tokoyami,” he surprised the class by pointing to, “Ryukyu would like to have you work with her on Thursday evenings, starting next week.”

A few praising cheers and pats on the back made the bird-headed boy nod in gratitude.

“Midoriya,” the obvious choice was called next, “Mirko is pulling you out of classes tomorrow and whenever else she feels like. Be sure to attend supplementary classes whenever you finish up.”

Mineta and a couple of the boys (as well as Mina and Toru) muttered how he was lucky, but Izu just seemed kind of pale. Had the autograph signing gone that badly? She’d requested him, so it couldn’t be too bad…

There was a moment of tension as everyone hoped they would be the next one called. Kyoka had a handful of guesses. Bakugo, the other member of their class’ “Big Four” was an obvious pick, Shinso’s lack of experience might make him a prime candidate, Momo was a pretty popular girl, Ochako might have snagged notice, Ida’s brother could totally get him in, and heck: maybe Gang Orca was impressed with her sonic attack enough to bring her in?

“Uraraka,” he completed, “Rock-Lock saw how you handled yourself at the exam, and wants to see you Friday and Sunday mornings. I’ll pass along all the relevant addresses and times to your student emails. That’s all, be sure to pick up your homework from the classroom and so forth. Those of you dating: remember that the dorms are a shared space, and whatnot…”

There were a few blushes around the class, but Kyoka was not one of them. After all: she had no intention of disrupting the peace except in retaliation.

“That green boy hit you pretty good, huh?” Nejire was saying, bouncing around Mirio and Tamaki like she was performing a strange, rabbit-themed summoning ritual, “Did you get a bruise? Can I kiss it better? Tamaki can kiss it better. He has the best mommy kisses for boo-boos. Remember that time he turned his arm into a dolphin fin? That was super funny. Almost as funny as the time you tripped on a rock and only your feet stayed solid, and you hung from your ankles inside the ground. It was super funny.”

“Yep!” Mirio agreed, “I should do that again for Sir sometime! I bet he’d like Midoriya. He likes All Might stuff, and he seems kind of All Might-ish. But smaller.”

Nejire laughed aloud at that, stopping in front of him and pointing at his nose.

“He’s a Small Might!” she giggled, unable to contain her mirth as she resumed dancing around, evidently proud of her pun.

Mirio smiled. He was usually smiling, but Nejire and Tamaki made his smile easier, broader, more genuine. They made him feel cool, and he liked to think he made them feel cool too.

“I-Is your side okay, Mirio?” Tamaki asked softly, almost too quiet to hear.

“Yeppers!” Mirio informed him with a bright beam, “Whacked my ribs good, but he didn’t have the good power to knock me down!”

“OH!” Nejire remembered something else, stopping and walking backwards in front of them, “Wasn’t it cute? Small Mightish and his girlfriend? They’re like cinnamon buns right out of the oven: warm and fluffy and sweet!”

Mirio hadn’t noticed. He supposed they would make a nice couple, if he was looking at it aesthetically.

“I guess so, but they don’t have good teamwork like us!” he laughed, pulling his two super-ultra-mega buddies into either arm, “And if you wanna date and do Hero work: you gotta have the teamwork! Plus Ultra!”

“Ultra!” Nejire agreed.

“u-ultra…” Tamaki whispered, raising a small hand very timidly.

“Dude, you’re the luckiest bugger to ever live!” Kirishima was telling him, “uber-rare multi-Quirk, Girlfriend in the first semester, two more on the way before the next, the self-proclaimed Symbol of Hope, buddies with twenty-something Heroes, and now an internship with the manliest Hero since Crimson Riot?!”

“Yeah…” Izuku admitted, itching the back of his neck guiltily and a bit ashamed, “It’s a lot… I’m really blessed.”

Kacchan grumbled something that sounded like “timid bastard”, which Izuku took as a compliment.

They were waiting for Kayama-sensei to come in for their class with her, and due to the wait: they’d started to wander and mingle. The girls had clustered around Ochako, talking about how lucky she was to get a work-study, while most of the boys were hanging around Tokoyami and teasing him about going to the Dragon Lady, given he now had a dragon to tame also. Many innuendos flew around that went way over Izuku’s head, only registering as innuendos because Mineta would react to them as such.

Izuku and Shoto were left alone, both of them kind of expected at this point, evidently. Only Kacchan and Kirishima were nearby him, and Shoto was entirely alone (although the way he was taking a nap told Izuku he really wasn’t bothered about it).

““Blessed?”” Kirishima asked, frowning, “Dude, you say that about… like, everything that happens to you. You said that when you won the footrace against Cementos. The guy’s not exactly fast.”

Blushing a bit at the implication he was being overly-humble, Izuku muttered something even he didn’t know what about, trying to handwave the issue. Kirishima just laughed, clapped him on the back, and then went to lean in and hang across Kacchan’s back and start chatting about how they should get in contact with Best Jeanist and get him to request them.

Smiling as he heard Kacchan explain that Best Jeanist was actually still in recovery, he’d only shown up because he was technically allowed to leave the hospital and sit still if he took it easy, Izuku started as he heard the door slide open. Kayama didn’t walk in with her usual confident posture, rather… she slumped in. She looked dreadful. Her normal bedhead style seemed legitimately off, her eyes had bags, and she had a bit of a bowed gait to her walk.

“Take your seats or… don’t, I don’t fkn care…” she grumbled, grabbing a supposedly empty seat and dragging it over so she could sit down.

Hagakure squeaked in alarm as she was yanked around, but her clothes reappeared and she let Kayama take it. Izuku pulled his chair around and slid it up so she could use it. Doing some air-chair for that period wouldn’t hurt.

“Sensei, I’m almost afraid to ask, but… Are you ill?” Tenya asked, very warrily.

Izuku could guess why. Given what had happened a month and a half ago when they’d trained at his house.

Kayama snorted, a legitimate smile slipping onto her face for a moment.

“No, this isn’t Tensei’s fault, he didn’t rail me that hard on the weekend,” she clarified, burning Tenya’s face as the whole class was let in on the implications of that, “I just had to go out to Tartarus on Sunday. My guide would not shut up!”

“Why were you visiting Tartarus, sensei?” ATsuyui-schan asked.

“Eraser, Mic, and I needed to interrogate a prisoner,” she yawned way too casually, “For really bothersome troublemakers they need us to be on-hand just in case. Don’t worry, nobody broke out.”

That sent a shiver down Izuku’s spine. He’d helped put away a few people in Tartarus himself, and he didn’t want any of them getting out. Stain (the real one, not a bunch of half-co*cked clones), Muscular, All for One, Kurogiri… Himiko and Himiclone. Had they even let the first copy live? Probably, they wanted to limit Twice’s access to her copies, but that didn’t necessitate making her life a good one.

“Was it any of our captures?” Shoto asked, sitting up finally.

Kayama’s grin fell.

“It wasn’t one of the three from the camp, no,” she muttered darkly.

Izuku caught the loophole right then and there. It’d been one of those from Kamino. The more dangerous of the two types, if Izuku put aside his humility for a moment. Moonfish, Mustard, and Muscular were bad, no doubt, but… they didn’t hold a candle to the ones who’d escaped with him.

He started muttering to himself about which of the four she could have gone to see. All for One certainly would be a danger that having a Quirk-cancel on-hand would be exceptionally helpful, but Kurogiri was probably a difficult one to hold too, not to mention knocking out the Togas without hurting them would be a boon to the guards. Of course, the girls might not be affected by Somnambulist, given their orientation being entirely towards bloody people, so that might be why Kayama was so out of sorts, having to deal with them all night without use of-

“Midoriya, PLEASE,” Midnight cut him off, “Headache. Talked to death already. I know my Quirk won’t work on the twins, thank you for reiterating.”

There was some laughter at the sarcasm in the final remark, and Izuku blushed.

With that they finally started the lesson, Kayama seeming a little better off now that she’d vented a bit.

“Deku?” Momo said, tilting her head in confusion.

Momo’s vine-haired girlfriend was of course welcome to visit the 1-A Dorms whenever she wished, and she was glad to see Ibara, but Momo felt she was justified in hoping that she would come by to see her and Kyoka, not so urgently and with a single mind to speak to one of her besties.

“Well, I believe he’s upstairs in his room. Shall I call him down, or… do you need to go up?” Momo asked, putting some weight in the question.

Ibara seemed a bit scandalized at the thought.

“Oh, it’s nothing that needs to be said in private,” she assured her, “I simply have an urgent bit of information to share with him.”

Gesturing her inside and out of the cold, Momo glanced back at Kyoka, who gave a thumbs up and jogged towards the elevator.

“You’re disappointed I’m not here to spend time with you two,” Ibara sighed, stepping close and surprising her with a hug, “I’m sorry. I would be, but Itsuka insisted tonight be a girls’ night for 1-B.”

“So you’re just here to tease us?” Momo poked at her, not really meaning it and hugging back so she knew.

“Only so much as I torment myself,” her girlfriend sighed, resting her head on Momo’s shoulder.

“IZU! SHIBARA’S HERE TO SEE YOU! STOP MAKING OUT WITH OCHA AND GET YOUR BUTT DOWN THERE!”

Everyone looked up at the ceiling, hearing Kyoka’s shout even from the ground floor. Ochako, who was lounging on the couch, seemed amused.

“DEKUN!” she called, knowing he probably wouldn’t hear but Kyoka might, “YOU’RE MAKING OUT WITH ME WITHOUT TELLING ME? HOW DARE!”

That earned laughter from the room, including from Ibara, who was still resting on Momo’s shoulder. It felt nice, and the heiress felt rather protective of her for a moment, wrapping her arm tightly about the vine-covered shoulders.

“I wish I had a way to be with you this way always,” she whispered, so quiet Momo almost thought she’d imagined it.

She just gave her a tighter squeeze. She didn’t have the words to explain how she felt, or what she thought. It was a relatively new experience to her.

The elevator dinged, and Kyoka shoved Izuku out of it playfully, walking swiftly behind him and pushing so he would keep up a swift pace. He was just letting her go, his red, indestructible shoes skidding along the ground. He waved at Ochako as he passed, and she just smiled and shook her head.

“One Midoriya Izu, as requested, Madame Shibara ma’am,” Kyoka presented him, patting his head, “Are you gonna pat my head and tell me I’m a good girl?”

To Momo’s alarm and amusem*nt: Ibara actually did. She let go (disappointingly), reached out, and ruffled Kyoka’s deep indigo hair.

“Thank you, dear heart,” Ibara praised, smiling and making Kyoka’s face turn bright red.

Turning to Izuku (who had been tactfully avoiding listening, only betrayed by his crimson ears), Ibara bit her lip and seemed to force herself to talk.

“You’re going to Mirko tomorrow.”

It wasn’t a question, but Izuku nodded anyway. Ibara bit her lip, her confidence suddenly fading as she came to the reason of her visit.

“You know… of my beliefs,” she began, looking at the three of them.

Izuku nodded, as did Momo and Kyoka. Their knowledge was both intimate and miniscule in the matters of her religion and her spirituality, but they at least knew of them.

“Among them is a certain connection to the divine, a line of communication between myself and one who sees more,” she continued, her voice getting very small, “I won’t bore you with details, but suffice it to say: I have a message of sorts which you should know.”

That caught their interest. Momo could not recall Ibara ever delivering an actual divine “message of sorts”.

“It’s… it’s not anything official,” she tried to clarify, “I’m not called to deliver divine judgment or directives. I don’t have any right to tell you what the Lord’s plan is for you, even if I knew it. A-and I don’t want to seem like I’m telling you what-”

Izuku placed his hand on her shoulder, smiling kindly.

“I understand,” he assured her, “But you have a feeling in your heart, and you’re nothing if not one who wants to help her fellows.”

She seemed to relax, placing her hand on his.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Taking a hard swallow, Ibara let out a breath.

“When I heard you were going to perform a work-study with Mirko: I was… prompted. Izuku… You shouldn’t go to her.”

Momo was shocked at the very idea. For Ibara to suggest Izuku forgo and possibly offend one of the top 10 Heroes? It was unthinkable! But… he seemed to be considering it.

“Do you know why?” he asked, not sounding even the slightest bit condescending.

Ibara bit her lip, considering and then shaking her head.

“No. No, I just- It might sound silly, but I get the impression that you’re needed somewhere else.”

“Here?” Izuku asked, still completely serious, “And when? Tomorrow?”

Shaking her head, her face scrunched up in pain as she no doubt hated herself for her answer.

“I don’t know. I don’t know, I just know: you belong somewhere else this weekend. Someone will need you, and Mirko won’t be where they are. I’m sorry, I wish-”

She was starting to drip tears now, but Izuku didn’t let go of her. In fact, he pulled her into a hug, followed swiftly by Momo and Kyoka. Momo might not have the same conviction in Ibara’s “Holy Ghost” and “Christ” and “God”, but she did believe in Ibara, as did Izuku.

“I can’t just not show up, she’d come back and destroy the dorms,” Izuku confessed once they’d broken apart, “But if there’s nothing to be learned: I promise to come home.”

Ibara leaned against Kyoka, sighing and nodding. Momo thought she looked like she needed another hug.

“Whatever you think is best,” she agreed, “I just felt you should know.”

Momo imagined there were many places Izuku could be that would need him. If he was just at home: Ochako would be off at her internship, so… who could need him so badly?

“Eri-chan…”

Eri flinched, the sound of Overhaul’s voice freezing her blood. No, not again. Not another trip to the room.

When she was bad, or when Overhaul wanted her to: she was taken to the room, and he would cut her, and touch her arm and make it not be there anymore, and pull her apart and put her back together wrong. And she tried to put herself back together right, but it was hard, and she always felt wrong whenever he said he was done for the day.

She used to throw up after visiting. No food, just some stinky sloshy stuff, but she couldn’t hold it in when she was littler. Now she had to be bigger, and they weren’t nice if she made messes like that. They didn’t like it when she got sick either. When her head got hot and her nose was stuffy: she got taken to the room and taken apart until she wasn’t that way anymore. She’d learned to stop getting sick too, or at least to hide it.

His black shadow cut through the rectangle of light like one of his knives, his darkness somehow worse and colder than the normal darkness in her room. Eri curled up in her blanket, as if it could somehow protect her from his hands.

“This fellow will be taking care of you from now on. No more running away now,” Overhaul hissed, stepping into her room and then out of the doorway.

Eri felt herself being pushed by his mere presence, barely noticing the person next to him. But then a new voice spoke up.

“Hello, little miss,” the person said, his pee-yellow hair covering almost his entire face except for big teeth that looked mean, “Would you like some toys?”

“N-no… no, I get enough from you in the real world.”

The nightmare figure of Kacchan continued to walk towards him, unimpressed by Izuku’s insistence that he wasn’t real.

“I always knew you were weak. You’ve always been a waste of space. Now you’re a waste of a Quirk too.”

“Stop!” Izuku shouted, charging One for All in an effort to blow away the illusion.

The lightning backlash he’d endured before was less than before, but it still rendered him completely immobile so long as Full Cowl was active.

“If he’d given it to me: the League would be gone by now,” the nightmare of Kacchan continued, “All for One would be dead, and All Might would have had his quiet retirement. Instead: you’re using the dregs to get beat around by a stripper.”

Dropping his power, Izuku felt his muscles cramp, but he was able to move again. He rushed forward, trying to cover his mouth, desperate to silence Kacchan’s lies. He passed right through the nightmare figure, his hand crumpling against the concrete behind him.

“Even with all this power: you don’t have the strength to use it,” he mocked, his biting laughter echoing in Izuku’s ears for the rest of the night.

Chapter 3: Power Arc: Mirko, pt. 2

Chapter Text

Katahano yawned. It was such a dull day. He didn’t even have any meetings to look forward to, just a long haul in the cubicle he worked at, maybe a jaunt out to lunch if he remembered to eat, and then… back home to make dinner and clean the kitchen before bed.

Nothing interesting ever happens here. It’s worse than Namek…

Naturally, that was when fate decided to retaliate for his hubris.

“There is not a Shark attacking us!” someone screamed as she ran by.

“...huh?”

He turned, looking the way she’d come. Contrary to her statement: there was indeed a man with shark heteromorph properties running down the street at him. His teeth were very sharp, and currently chewing on a car. It was about then that he realized he should be panicking and running away.

“Don’t Move!” he called to everyone who hadn’t noticed, “There’s not a shark attacking us!”

…huh?

“There isn’t a villain chasing us!” he tried again.

The heck?!

“I’m going to miss so many meetings!”

Why did telling a lie not have a problem?!

“He has very dull teeth!”

ファック！ he mentally cursed.

For some unknown reason: Katahano had lost the ability to tell the truth. Which meant, naturally, he could neither call for help or warn anyone.

“Luna Impact!”

Purple leggings and a white jumpsuit flashed through Katahano’s vision, slamming into the shark’s face and knocking the engine from its mouth.

“It isn’t Mirko!” Katahano cheered.

That was when he got his face kicked in by another purple foot.

“WHY ARE YOU SO EXCITED IT’S ME, HUH?!”

Perhaps it is best to go back around two hours.

Izuku woke up bright and early, with maybe six other members of his class up. Tenya and Momo were going on a jog, Kirishima and Kacchan were fighting over who would have beaten Togata-senpai if they’d known his Quirk beforehand, and he thought he’d heard Koda taking care of his rabbit earlier.

Unfortunately: he didn’t have time for a lengthy breakfast or to join his friends on the run. Mirko had sent him an email on her estimated patrol route, and he was supposed to meet her at a cafe a city over for breakfast. He’d have to be on the train in under an hour to make her deadline.

Getting his daily death-threats from his buddy, Izuku waved and decided to run to the train station. It wasn’t too far, and he had the endurance, even with his heavy Hero suitcase on his back.

“Where you off too, you bad boy?” someone whispered in his ear.

Izuku stumbled and nearly planted his nose in the grass, were it not for the vines which caught him.

“Do be careful!” Ibara protested, catching him and getting him back on his feet, “Damaging his face prior to meeting a pro Hero of such high ranking could be disastrous, Itsuka!”

Once he was back on his feet, Izuku saw the pair of girls who had caught up to him. He pouted, annoyed they’d pranked him so early, when he was in a rush.

“Guys!” he huffed, “I’m gonna be late for Mirko!”

Itsuka gave him finger-guns, while Ibara gestured that they should continue running. Always the practical one: the vine-haired girl won the argument.

“We just saw you going for a jog, and figured we’d see you to the gates,” Itsuka admitted, smiling and slugging his shoulder, “Make sure you don't get seduced by the thunder thighs of legend, especially when you’ve got a couple bombshells back here.”

Izuku nearly fell on his face again, snorting.

“What?” Itsuka asked, offended, “We not good enough for you, Mr. “Symbol of Hope”?”

Izuku panicked, waving his hands to placate her.

“No, it’s not that. I just- I actually already got to see Mirko try to run. It’s the goofiest thing you’ll ever see,” he explained with a soft giggle, “she hunches over and it’s honestly more of a shuffle. Mirko is much less seductive in motion, I assure you.”

Itsuka looked aghast at the news. Ibara seemed a bit smug, but amused. Izuku would have to ask about it later.

“Well… okay, I needed an excuse to say hi,” Itsuka admitted.

Izuku smiled and bumped her shoulder.

“You could have just said that. You don’t need to veil everything in subtext. I get lost in there sometimes!”

The girls giggled at that, but he really did need to be off, so he waved and turned at the gate, jogging down to the train station to begin his first Work-Study. Unfortunately, while Izuku did manage to snag some more sleep on his train ride, he soon wondered if he would regret coming to work with Mirko.

Her temporary HQ was a love hotel, which she’d informed him of earlier as her preferred way of staying mobile, and that his first test was to get into her room. He’d considered just paying for a room, but he really didn’t need his mother, Ochako, Itsuka, Ibara, Momo, Kyoka, Tenya, Shoto, Asui, Kodai, AND All Might wondering why that charge was on his card, so he decided to try being more clever.

Heading into an alleyway, Izuku charged up Full Cowl to 7%, bouncing up either wall and landing on the window of the room she’d told him she was in. He listened close to be sure, and when he didn’t hear anything: pulled out his phone and called her.

[“Your train late or something?!”] she barked, both in his ear and through the glass, [“You need to be more mobile, Symbol! Get your tail into the air and run if you have to!”]

Izuku pulled open the window, slipping through the curtains to stand behind Mirko as she continued to rant into her phone. She turned when his suitcase hit the floor, about to roundhouse kick him no doubt, but he was already on his knees in shock.

“Oh, you’re here,” she said, a bit abashed at being surprised, but Izuku’s focus was on the bed.

Laid out was a perfect imitation of Mirko’s costume (not her real one, she had that on), with a fake set of bunny ears and even a tail. It was very clearly sized for him, not her.

“Huh? Oh, the uniform,” Mirko realized, seeing his stunned state, “Yeah, I don’t get a lot of branding, so you’re gonna go twinning with me today. Ain’t that something?”

Izuku pushed his suitcase to the side, moving to inspect the garb. He had a fear, and as he inspected the leotard: he realized it was a justified one.

“Alright kid, chop chop,” she snapped, making no move to turn around or point him to a bathroom, “You’re early but you need to be ready faster than-”

Opening his case, Izuku popped open one of the smoke canisters Hatsume had added (and he’d totally missed at the Test, like a moron), filling the room with lavender colored clouds. Mirko swiped her leg through it and cleared the room in an instant, but Izuku was already dressed in his new Mirko costume. He was blushing up a storm as she looked him over, very self-conscious that while her legs were shining and bound with muscle, his own were… less pristine. His arms matched her, if a little smaller, but there was little the costume left to the imagination.

“Well, that seals it: you get to keep the costume,” Mirko said suddenly, nodding, “Your girlfriend is going to pounce you like a bench in heat when she sees you in that. Meantime: let’s get to work! Patrol time!”

She hopped to the window, and Deku forced his blush back down his throat and into his stomach. This was no time to fantasize about Ochako wearing various costumes, as his mind had automatically jumped to when Mirko mentioned her. Which of course led to the second issue with the costume.

“Mirko?” he called, leaping after her and deflecting off a wall to try and keep up with her larger hops.

The pro didn’t even look back, her legs propelling her into the air with an almost gliding effect. Deku kicked Full Cowl up to 9% to keep up, knowing his current safe cruising power was her casual power.

“Mirko?” he asked again, his face positively crimson as he tried to adjust the costume.

“No time for chat, say your piece!” she commanded, leaping a little faster.

“M- Yes ma’am,” Deku agreed, his gloves making it hard to pull on the tight fabric around his body, “This costume… it was designed for a girl, or at least a female.”

She shot him an incredulous look.

“Um… yeah?”

“I’m neither.”

Mirko just kept looking at him, waiting for the point.

Deku felt like his cheeks were going to explode.

“My balls are going to fall out the sides of this thing,” he hissed, annoyed he had to lay it out for her.

Her red eyes widened with realization.

“Oh- oh sh*t, I totally spaced it,” she admitted, “You wanna get a temporary sex-change for the day? I know a girl who-”

“No,” Deku grumbled, looking away, “I’m- I have enough to think about without adding press about my identity to the list.”

The Pro Heroine smirked, not even losing focus as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop.

“So it’s just the press? You wouldn’t mind?”

Deku shrugged, having to focus a little more to make sure he didn’t hit an alleyway and fall to his death.

“It would be interesting to try, but I doubt I’d be able to focus. I’ll just… be careful not to get aroused. Or spread my legs too much. Or stretch. Or run.”

Mirko laughed, twisting around to jump backwards while they talked.

“You’re alright, kid. Still say you’d be better as a chick, but hey: there’s always time. Now, why don’t you try out the first villain we see? I wanna see you fight without flashing the crowd.”

Naturally, one thing led to another, and Deku ended up running across a shark heteromorph the size of a truck whose Quirk was actually to make you constantly lie in his presence. It was a bizarre encounter, but he was subdued quickly, and Deku didn’t have to answer interviews, risk standing around long enough for people to gawk at his costume’s contours, or otherwise stick around for people to realize the “Symbol of Hope” was running around in Mirko cosplay and trying not to get arrested himself for public indecency.

“Now that that’s all sorted out, I think I know what I’m gonna have you do,” Mirko nodded, “I’m gonna go this way, you’re gonna go that way, and we’re gonna count up who can capture the most villains by lunch. Meet you at the Libeccio at the eastern edge of town at noon. Ready? Break!”

“Wait, I thought I-” Deku tried to protest, but she was already gone.

“Remember to stay on-brand!” she called after him.

Huffing, Deku secured his ear headband, turned, and leapt into the sky the other direction. He was incensed that she wasn’t actually going to let him observe how she worked, but he supposed he should have expected that.

Well, at least I can go save people now.

“Uraraka, please,” Tenya said, chopping his arm before her face, “This is the fourteenth forlorn sigh you’ve released this morning. Cease progression this instant!”

Uraraka just gave him a deadpan look.

“...okay,” he admitted, sitting down, “I miss him too.”

Neither of them had seen him before he left on his work-study, and it was strange not to have him in class. Sure, he’d missed a few lessons before due to injury, but never the homeroom, and not since they’d become much better friends. It was like an empty space in the classroom, a wound that for all of Shinso’s dry wit: he couldn’t quite fill.

“It’s not so bad,” Yaoyorozu spoke up from her chair, smiling easily, “He’ll be home tonight, and then we can all hear about how he did. I expect he’ll have quite the set of stories to tell. In the meantime: we all have our own training to do. I for one am looking forward to seeing and testing out the new costumes we’ve been given. I understand Hatsume managed to get several pieces of technology out of Beta and implement them.”

Uraraka seemed to consider that, pulling out her phone and tapping on it for a moment before stiffening. She let out a soft squeak, more like a strangled gasp, fumbling her phone for a moment before setting it down and covering her mouth with a hand. She peeked at the screen, then set it down. She put her head in her hands, pressed her forehead to the table and took several deep breaths.

“Uraraka?” Tenya asked, frowning, “Are you- …okay?”

She nodded into the desk.

“Then… it’s good news?” Asui asked.

Uraraka picked up her phone and looked at it. She took a shuddering breath and nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s really good news,” she assured them, “Um… I need to call my parents. I’ll be back before All Might gets here.”

She stood up and stepped out of the classroom, leaving everyone perplexed. Except Jiro, of course, who was just listening smugly. As was the norm, everyone watched her reactions to try and guess what was going on. She was hard to read when she was keeping secrets, and sometimes she would throw out a fake reaction to get a rise out of everyone, but here and there they could spot a little something.

She wasn’t giving anything away though. Just nodding, her eyes fixed on the ceiling so she didn’t have to look at anything as she listened in. Tenya couldn’t determine anything from her expression, so he went back to looking over his day plan.

They had Hero Studies in a few minutes, but Tenya always marked that with a “TBD” because of how chaotic things often were. Instead, he was focused on the latter portion of the day. When he would do what homework, when he would construct a nutritious and delicious dinner, when he would eat his nutritious and delicious dinner, when he would bathe, when he would retire to his room, and which homework he would tackle that night before bed. No one else was so organized, but he didn’t begrudge them that. It was hard to be so perfect.

“I-!” a familiar voice echoed through the room, “-Am Here at the proper time!”

All Might, or rather: Yagi-sensei strolled into the room, seeming incredibly frail and small. They’d seen him a few times after his secret and retirement had been made public, but Tenya still couldn’t get over how… well, how strange he looked.

Tenya had grown up in the Era of All Might, looking up to Japan’s and truthfully: the World’s #1 Hero. He’d always been the muscle-infused unit of a man, taller and stronger and braver and better than anyone else, the ideal superhero. To see the dropping yellow hair, the sunken face, the skeletal frame; hear the wheezing voice… it was still hard to associate the two as the same person.

“Hello All Might-sensei,” Asui greeted him, “How’s your morning been?”

Asui’s lack of a filter and immediacy with which she spoke was always impressive to Tenya, if a bit nerve-wracking. She had almost no sense of decorum, and would no doubt get them all into trouble one day. Still, the former #1 found it endearing.

“Not too bad, Asui-shojo,” he chuckled softly, “I hope you all had a smooth adjustment to the dorms? You’ll want a good night’s sleep before today’s class.”

There was a simultaneous gulp from everyone. With Yagi: they’d either be doing something amazingly easy and fun, or else insanely chaotic and horrifying. There was no in-between with that man.

“First thing’s first: everybody get into your new costumes and head down to Ground Lambda! Class 1-B is already there, and we don’t want to keep them waiting!”

The class stood and rushed to grab their cases, everyone jogging after Tenya as he led the way.

“Remember not to run in the school!” he reminded them all.

“You’re running faster than the rest of us!” several of his classmates retorted.

They all swapped out from their uniforms to their costumes in an instant, not wanting to be shown up by class 1-B, which meant no one had time to see what advancements Hatsume had shoved into them since yesterday. They were all quite concerned, given she now had a rather limitless access to their things.

Fortunately, it seemed like everything worked at least well enough to walk to the location specified.

“Seeing as you all got along so well with Class 1-B, we’ve decided to have a little game to get you back in the swing of things,” Yagi explained brightly as they arrived, “Yanagi, Shinso, and Ashido: you’ll be team leaders today. You’ll be picking whoever you want. Teams don’t have to be even, but have them separated out in the next five minutes please. Once you’re sorted: I’ll explain the game.”

He stepped back, letting the trio make things up. Tenya worried about which team he’d get. Ashido had a lot of weight in popularity, and would probably bring a good number of people to her side by sheer number advantage, but she wasn’t the brightest banana in the bunch, and might waste that on a foolish plan. Yanagi was less known to him, and while he knew she was a powerhouse with her Quirk and one of the more intelligent students in 1-B: she was exceedingly antisocial and probably would have the smallest team. Shinso’s lack of experience meant he was probably the worst of both. Few teammates, no real way to make up for it tactically.

“Okay, we’ve figured it out!” Ashido decided suddenly, “Cross-class lovey-doveys: go with Yanagi-san-chan! Other ships: you’re with me! Anybody here not kissing their bestie: Shinso’s your captain today!”

…I’m going to strangle her when we finish.

Tenya strolled over to Shinso, followed by Aoyama, Kota, Sato, Shoji, Sero, Mineta, Kamakiri, Kuroiro, Shishida, Shoda, Tetsutetsu, Tokage, f*ckidashi, Honenuki, Bondo, & Monoma. It seemed his guess about numbers was entirely wrong.

Ashido got Uraraka, Ojiro, Kirishima, Hagakure, Bakugo, Kaibara, Kendo, Kodai, Komori (crying she had to fight her girlfriend), & Tsuburaba.

Yanagi’s team consisted of Jiro, Tokoyami, Yaoyorozu, Shiozaki, & Tsunotori.

“Hold on-“ someone mumbled, looking at the cluster still standing around.

“Um, what are you all doing?” Ashido asked, frowning.

Kaminari shrugged, looking around.

“All of us are dating… people not in either class?” he reminded her, “and Rin’s married.”

There was more whispering from the team leaders.

“If you’re dating a Hero outside the class: you hang with Yanagi,” Ashido announced, “If you’re super cool and date a civie: hit me up!”

Asui and Todoroki went to join with the ghost girl, while Awase and Rin went to Ashido. To Tenya’s amazement: Honenuki strolled over to stand with Ashido as well.

“Oh-hoho!” the pinkette giggled, “We’re having a talk later, bad boy.”

“Mina,” Kirishima grumbled.

“I’m not gonna steal him too! Jeez!”

Tenya saw Kaminari still standing there, clearly conflicted. Ashido seemed about to yell at him to move, but then seemed confused too. Tenya could imagine why. Melissa Shield was not technically a Hero, but no one doubted her heroic nature or that of her job. But then again: their relationship was long-distance, meaning they likely could not progress to the “kissing your best friend” stage.

“You’re with us, Chargebolt,” Jiro called him over, “Don’t overthink it.”

That left them with Team Shinso at 17, Team Yanagi at 9, and Team Ashido at 14. Yagi seemed to find their process amusing.

“Excellent,” he beamed, “follow me.”

He trudged off towards a gulch nearby, albeit one with some… odd protrusions in the center. They seemed to be a series of platforms laid out in a row, with a handful of pairs interrupting the lineup and a larger, rounded down at the far end. A boulder sat on their side of the crack in the ground, somewhat at the base of the platforms.

“Team Shinso: left side,” Yagi directed them, “Team Ashido: right side. Team Yanagi, you’ll be going up the center.”

Everyone looked a little more closely at the terrain, with several people groaning.

“That’s right!” Yagi confirmed, “Today is dodgeball, but with a twist! Team Yanagi will be playing hopscotch down the center, while everyone else will be trying to knock them into the gulch, or else knock the other team in after them. The game is over if Team Yanagi gets all of its players across the whole route, or if two teams lose all their players to the breach. No going over or around the pit if you’re one of the side teams, and if you go below the ground line: you’re out.”

He turned to grin at them all, and Tenya could see All Might’s insanity in those blue eyes.

“Any questions?”

…where’s Izuku at a time like this?

“uAH!”

Deku was blasted back by the impact of the punch, flipping in midair to skid back on the iron soles of his Mirko cosplay, one gloved hand scraping along the ground to slow him.

The lesser villain was pretty strong, his Quirk able to produce phantom arms from nowhere for surprise punches, but Deku had trained to deal with worse. He’d just needed to test the limits of the guy’s strength.

“Eastwind!” Deku challenged him, standing and leveling a finger, “You’re charged with unlawful use of a Quirk in public, theft, public assault, and disrupting the public peace. Surrender now, or I’ll be forced to incapacitate you before arresting you!”

The man grit his teeth beneath his hat, glaring at Deku and raising both his normal fists and the ghostly appendages which seemed to emerge from just above them. Deku gave him a shrug, as if to say “I warned you.”

Deku zipped forward in an instant, right under the man’s guard, twisting and kicking upward into the guy’s jaw before he could even react with more than a few punches into the air well over his rabbit ear headband.

“uh-”

He didn’t get anything else out before he was launched, but Eastwind wasn’t one to quit easily. He reoriented in midair, his phantom arms lunging out at maximum speed and in numbers to overwhelm any defense or evasion.

“Ah-RARARARARARARA!”

So Deku didn’t bother. He kicked off the ground at maximum speed, his arms up in front of his face to protect his eyes as he dove through the onslaught, tanking the blows along his chest, arms, sides, and even down to his hips.

“Slide Rock SMASH!”

As soon as he was through the onslaught, Deku cracked the guy in the jaw with a punch. They landed together, Deku on his feet and a bit bruised, Eastwind out cold and his hat awry.

“Officer?” Deku called to one of the nearby police, “Would you like to take him into custody?”

“Yes ma-- Mir-- si-- um… who are you?” the woman asked, accepting Eastwind’s body.

“I’m Deku,” he introduced himself, pulling his license out of the only pocket the suit had. “I’m just… working for Mirko today…”

“Ah. Well, good work with the costume,” the officer nodded, clearly blushing herself now. “You- I’ve seen cosplayers move a lot less and show a lot more.”

Deku’s face was burning.

“I-- I’ve gotten too used to wearing odd things as of late…”

With a salute from her and a nod from him, Deku leapt back into the air.

“You could have beaten him almost two minutes faster if you hadn’t stopped to jabber,” Mirko said from right next to him.

“BAGH!” Deku squeaked, flailing in midair before landing hard on the top of a building, having to roll a bit to avoid hurting himself.

“Hi,” she greeted, landing smoothly atop an AC unit. “Nice recovery, but you’re still too slow. Not nearly aggressive enough either.”

Dusting himself off, Deku folded his arms and frowned, tapping his foot a bit like a bunny.

“Let me guess, you would have just fought him from the get-go?” he checked.

“And avoided giving him the chance to defend himself, yes.”

“He deserved the right to surrender,” Deku insisted, “to turn back from his actions. You know: I’ve taken down three people today who surrendered after the first exchange. I’ve saved time, lives, and maybe some people doing that.”

“Their chances at parole, maybe, but not time,” Mirko argued, her own arms crossed and a frown on her face. “I’m at 47 arrests, and I’m counting groups as one. You’re at-”

“21 arrests,” Deku admitted, before countering with: “9 rescues, 14 public assists, and 11 fan services. That puts me at 55.”

Mirko scowled at him.

“You’re too sassy to be a boy. I’m telling you: there’s like five places you can get that fixed on this block if you-”

Deku clenched his hand so hard it cracked, cutting off the Pro.

“I told you: I’m not changing. I don’t need ‘fixing.’”

She rolled her eyes at him, before waving him along.

“Fine. I’ll watch this time,” she conceded, leaving Izuku wondering if her voice could be any more condescending.

Turning away, Deku leapt back towards the streets, his eyes and ears piqued for danger or people in need. He could hear Mirko bouncing along after him, her feet thumping along whatever she found, be it glass or concrete, while Deku made sure to limit himself to sure-footing.

Despite her spectacular combat abilities, Deku was starting to lose confidence in the rabbit Hero. While her anti-team attitude was well known and a bit irritating, he hadn’t expected it to bleed into other, more vital areas of Hero work. She rarely performed the simple acts a Hero could do, neither escorting elderly women across streets nor helping deliver little children to the proper stands. She seemed only interested in fighting, and begrudgingly would rescue someone from disaster if it took place. In the whole day they’d been going on together: he hadn’t seen her give so much as an autograph, let alone pose for a camera or chat with a civilian who needed someone to talk to.

In his heart, Izuku knew it was a fair enough disposition. She enjoyed fighting, and it was better she was fighting villains than becoming one. But he still found it hard to take her seriously when she grumbled and groaned at saving a little girl from walking into traffic. He tried not to judge her for it; she was doing the important work at the end of the day. But a part of him, a part he hated but privately acknowledged had a point, reminded him of how a certain blade-carrying villain had thought of people who were too busy with their own ends to take proper pride in their jobs.

Their clashing ideals came to a head when they reached the bridge. There was a man standing on the railing.

Mirko went under, Deku went straight. She was clearly intent on catching him, while Deku wanted to try and talk him down.

“Hey!” Deku called brightly, waving like he was greeting an old friend. “Whatcha doin’ up there?”

The man looked at Deku with baleful eyes, his expression one of utter defeat.

“That bad, huh?” Deku sighed, hopping up beside him and sitting on the railing instead. “I’ve been there. Wanna talk about it?”

He seemed shocked at the offer, looking around as if expecting a prank.

“You haven’t been where I am,” he insisted, turning away. “Go home kid.”

Deku waved his hand, a gesture of admittance.

“Well, not exactly where you are. I didn’t have a bridge nearby, but I did have a lot of tall buildings.”

The man turned to look at him, now kind of angry-looking.

“A child could never know what I’ve gone through!” he shouted at Deku, tears welling up in his eyes. “You know nothing of suffering!”

Looking up at him wryly, Deku showed the man the scars all up and down his arms. He reached to the front of the leotard to pull it out where it was loose (he didn’t have the cup size to keep it taut like the rest) revealing the marks across his chest from years of abuse by his classmates, still sharply in relief from Mirko’s fading bruises.

“I know more than I should,” he said simply. “There isn’t much I can do about it. I’d much rather know about yours, so I can help.”

The man looked at Deku, now more bewildered than anything.

“You’re a Hero,” he said, though he didn’t sound sure, “You got those from your job.”

Deku shook his head.

“Tell you what,” he proposed, “you sit next to me and tell me about your scars: I’ll tell you about mine.”

There was a moment of silence, but the man hopped down from the railing onto the sidewalk, sitting beside him and sighing. Deku could tell by the way the guy hunched over: he was tired. Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, spiritually (if Ibara was to be believed) even.

“You first,” he prompted Deku.

Pulling off the glove from Mirko, Izuku showed off how his scars spiraled around his arm, the fingers and flesh not quite right anymore.

“Misdiagnosed at 5,” he started. “Instead of learning to control my Quirk: I was shut up in the classroom and told to read quietly. Quickly became apparent that my classmates didn’t appreciate that. Ten years later: I try to take an entrance exam at UA. Emergency situation, my body realizes it has to act or I’m dead, and what do you know: I do have a Quirk. A stockpiler, so it didn’t have much power until it built it up, meaning I should have been able to actually use it around 7, and keep the energy levels manageable. Instead, it just kept building and building and building, not unlike the bullying. Right up until that day, when it nearly blew my arms off.”

He shrugged, holding out his hands for the man to see.

“I’m figuring it out, but I can’t undo what I went through. All I can do is try to make tomorrow better than yesterday, ya know?”

The man seemed to be only half-listening, right up until Izuku clarified what he’d misdiagnosed with. Then his eyes got a bit misty, and he looked down at his knees.

“How about you?” Deku asked.

The man didn’t say anything for a bit, but before he spoke: tears started to fall from his eyes onto the pavement.

“My little girl was born seven years ago,” he said softly. “She just got the news… we thought-- that is, her hair--”

He seemed to be fighting back a good deal of emotion.

“If she’s Quirkless, then she isn’t even mine,” he sobbed. “When she was born, her hair was bright pink, but it’s turned almost orange now. My wife doesn’t have that color, and none of her family do. Mine don’t either! When she was born, I thought it was related to her Quirk, but if not-- if not--”

Izuku was aghast. It was unthinkable that someone would betray their partner’s trust like that.

“She had a boyfriend before we got married,” the man heaved, burying his head in his arms as he slid down the railing. “She never said anything, but with her Quirk-- she could have been pregnant the whole time and I just never knew! And my supervisor is going to see the results because we paid through insurance, and when word gets out-- how will I even be able to support them now, even if she’s mine?!”

Deku let him go on for a little longer, letting him get all the negative emotions out. He made sure to pay attention to the whole thing before offering his thoughts.

“Do you love her?” Deku asked, before clarifying, “your daughter, I mean.”

The man seemed affronted at the question.

“O-of course I do!” he protested. “But she--”

“Would you love her as much if she were adopted?” Deku interrupted softly.

The man closed his mouth, nodding slowly.

“Then it shouldn’t matter if she’s not yours or not. And: that means you have at least one reason to stay,” Deku smiled, holding his shoulder. “Take it from someone who grew up with what she’s going to go through: having you there is going to help. It might not seem like it now, but it will.”

“But my job! The insurance money will--?”

Deku sighed, shaking his head.

“I can’t predict the future, that’s not my Quirk,” Deku admitted, “but you’re more than a money-maker. You’re going to be a critical part of that little girl’s life-- you already are. If you vanished, she’d lose that. Forever. And as hard as this is… there’s always another job. There’ll never be another you.”

They sat there together for a while, talking and slowly reassuring each other that it would be okay in the end, somehow. Perhaps a half hour later: the man got up and hailed a taxi to take him home. Deku waved as he vanished from sight, sighing happily.

“Oh my lanta, are you done yet?!” Mirko asked, landing beside Deku and instantly ruining his mood.

He glanced at her, frowning. Why was she expecting him to be done faster?

“All you had to do was wait below, grab the guy, hand him over to the police for suicide watch, and move on,” she huffed, folding her arms, “Instead you waste time and who knows how many lives on making him feel better.”

Deku rounded on the rabbit Hero.

“I’m getting a little fed up with your demeaning other people’s feelings,” he admitted. “And I take it you’ve never been on suicide watch?”

Mirko snorted.

“Please. I’m not weak enough to-”

Deku swung his fist into her face, knowing she would block. She caught his hand before it was even close, but missed the fact his opposite leg was whirling to crack into her shin.

“Gah! What the fu--!” she tried to curse, only for Deku to flick her in the nose to shut her up.

“I’m going to give you a little insight,” he said darkly. “Life isn’t 100% about strength and weakness. Sometimes it’s about context, and if I can help someone live again, it’s worth more to me than forcing them to survive another day.”

Mirko ran her fist across her face, her eyes frenzied in the way they had been back during the Provisional License Exam.

“You’re such a brat,” she growled. “Why couldn’t you just be a little older, huh? I’m not asking much, just two more years’ worth.”

Deku rolled his eyes and bent his knees, leaping across the bridge to his next patrol zone. He had to make up time, and he was starting to suspect Ibara was right about this internship.

Vine sneezed mid-vault, her eyes closing and her balance wavering for a critical moment in midair. A blast hit her in the side, sending her spinning towards the dark maw in the ground below.

“Vine!”

Strong, soft hands slid under her knees and around her shoulders, and Ibara felt herself lifted up and away from the “out zone.” She looked up in awe at the raven-haired beauty carrying her to safety, the sun shimmering behind her.

“Creati…” she breathed, feeling her cheeks heat up.

Momo winked at her as she let Ibara off on her next tile. She made sure to land on one foot, as was proper, despite the platform being several meters long. Her dear one was hovering beside her, careful to weave around the projectiles and Quirk techniques flying around as she returned to her own tile.

Thanks to Melissa’s hard work, Uraraka and Izuku’s flying Quirks had been reverse-engineered much like Blackwhip had. It was exceedingly hard to utilize without a massive generator, but rather than expending fuel as a propellant: Creati’s new streamlined boots could let her fly as easily as Deku himself. She also wore a new pair of bracers which could slingshot any package between them like a railgun. Uraraka had her own set of similar flight gear in her boots and up her spine, though her bracelets seemed to be more of the same, ball-shaped implements for some reason.

Evidently the patent alone had made a mint, and the rising “Uravity-Tech” was quickly removing money as an object in the lives of Izuku, Uraraka, and Melissa Shield. Momo had confided in her earlier when showing off the boots that Uraraka was planning on buying a summer home in Hawaii to give to her parents as a Christmas gift, should the income last until October, while Izuku was planning to get his mother some Tai Chi classes and save the rest for a rainy day. The only one happier was Hatsume, who was just glad to have a new toy to play with.

Using her vines to push herself into another super-charged leap, Ibara landed her other foot on the next tile, careful to keep her remaining tendrils on guard against the various attacks from either side. Most were simply damaging, but Mineta, Sero, & Monoma had lingering effects, meaning she had to drop the vines or else hold them well clear of the others. Setsuna, Itsuka, and Shoji grabbed her vines, but she started sucking vitality from them and they let go real quick.

Vine was careful to plant both feet on the final, rounded platform, shuffling about so her soles never left the ground.

Halfway there…

The issue wasn’t with crossing the normal spots, it was with the boulder. Like any other game of hopscotch: they had to toss a rock to determine which they then had to jump over. In this case: a rather heavy beast of a stone which was almost too big for Kyoka and Kaminari to lift. Seeing as they were allowed to cross the pit (so long as they didn’t touch the ground) anytime, they’d decided to test with Ibara, so everyone else could figure out how to support one of their more all-around players.

So far, everyone behind her was good at playing defense, and Creati’s flight had covered her misstep, but Vine didn’t think that trick would work twice. Their classmates were too clever for that, and would be waiting to exploit the opportunity the next time. The issue was how to counter the obvious weakness.

Skipping from platform to platform in one bound wasn’t easy, but it was possible. Leaping over one entirely and still landing on the appropriate foot was nigh impossible. Vine’s sneeze had been inopportune, but the jump itself had left her in midair for too long not to become a target. Going one at a time wasn’t an option, and All Might had told them that for every person they lost: someone would have to run it again in their place.

Deciding to put a bit of flare into her next vault over the stone she’d landed at the 8 slot, performing a tuck and roll with her vines splayed out to give her spin. The attacks went wide, but she put too much into it, so she stumbled on her left leg when it planted on the 6 tile. Her balance was only just maintained, but she was open to attack in that instant.

“Sonic Shields!” Earphone Jack called from the group, unleashing a pair of sound barriers on either side to deflect the oncoming attacks of opportunity.

Vine didn’t waste it. She lifted the rock into her hair and leapt onward, trying to finish as quick as possible. The extra weight sapped her energy and yanked her down more forcefully, which came to a head at the final leap home. Her final jump was too slow, and Bakugo’s blast hit her calf midway up. She was sent spinning towards the pit, her vines too weak to keep her aloft and also carry the stone, with Creati’s boots probably similarly outclassed.

“GOT ‘ER!” Bakugo cheered.

“Same!” Emily agreed.

Ibara felt her weight vanish, her body and the stone lifting up and softly setting down back at the starting line. A familiar pink aura was around her, which faded away as she got to her feet.

“How was it?” Todoroki asked.

Shaking her head, Vine passed the stone.

“We can’t make this work long-term,” she said, “Getting over the boulder is harder in person, even if you can make the jump. We need to get over in pairs, at least.”

Emily nodded, thinking intensely for a moment. Then she handed the boulder to Chargebolt and Earphone Jack.

“Throw it together onto the first tile,” she instructed them, “You’re one leg. Jack: you’re the other. We’ll try to support you from here, and I can give you that first toss to the second platform, and then bring you back over.”

Kaminari flexed his fingers, the electricity in them crackling for a moment. He looked to Ibara with a strange grin, then to Kyoka.

“Can we borrow two of your vines?”

Popping them off with ease, Ibara slithered them over to her other dear one and Kyoka’s bestie. Kaminari snagged them up, holding them out to Kyoka and miming with his arm in a way only she could comprehend. They placed their arms around each other’s shoulders, draping the vines from either hand to rest on a leg.

There was an electric crackle, and Ibara felt them stiffen and stick together, forming a much stronger set of limbs. Earphone Jack plugged into the rock with her jacks, miming lifting it while Emily did the work.

“Three?” she asked.

“Two,” Emily agreed.

“One,” Chargebolt finished.

“GO!” the three of them shouted together.

The rock landed on the first tile, and the two leapt over it like a very squat All Might. Thanks to their similar weight, Chargebolt’s static hands, her vines, or some combination thereof, they landed safely on Earphone Jack’s right leg, balanced together on that one implement and Ibara’s vine, which she kept sturdy for them. She gave an extra push, and she felt a jolt of electricity boost Jack’s leg into the bound to the next one. They each landed on 3 & 4 respectively, jumping together to land on Chargebolt’s left leg for 5.

They were moving much faster than Ibara had, using their experience as a team to grant them a confidence she’d lacked and bought for them. Their team was faster at blocking attacks now as well, with Emily and Rocketti making use of rocks to drop in the way of some attacks while Shoto made what looked like an ice catapult to hurl boulders at the heavier ones.

Ibara let out a squeak of alarm when Chargebolt landed on the last tile, only to backflip and land them both on 9 & 10 again. Her dear one wouldn’t have approved that move unless they were starting to feel fatigue and needed speed over security. She slithered the vines down from their hands to coil around either leg, forming into a spring shape below their shoes. She’d be able to compress it to allow them to touch down, then launch them up again, but it would destroy the vines in a few bounces.

Kyoka’s eyes met hers and she could tell they had the same plan: Sprint it.

Oh, how did I get to be so lucky? …and so utterly doomed…

“Deku-san!” one of the people in the pack was calling, “Is it true you’re being romanced without your girlfriend by a member of the enemy class, and intend to leave her for a stronger woman?”

“Is it true Battle Fist threatened three innocent girls trying to get your autograph?”

“What was All for One like? Is he actually hot under the mask?”

“Did you save Best Jeanist because of his illicit love affair with your mother?”

“Are you actually the son of All for One, which is why you have multiple Quirk powers which he has now taken back?”

“Are you actually All Might’s son, cloned by All for One to kill him?”

“Is this new costume a statement for anti-Gender Role support in Japan?”

“Show us your balls!”

“When will the transition take place?”

“How does Uravity feel about your choice to become a girl?”

“When will you admit you and Bakugo Katsuki are actually lovers and Uraraka is just acting to protect you from accusations of abuse?”

“Is Todoroki really as hot as in the pictures?”

“Are you actually a copy created by the villain known as Twice to infiltrate UA and corrupt the Hero world from within? And if so: where is the real Midoriya?”

“Is it true your Quirk creates telepathic links between you and your lovers, allowing you to absorb their Quirks and they yours?”

“When were you planning to announce Froppy’s pregnancy with your quintuplets?”

Just ignore them. Don’t give them anything and they’ll fall behind sooner or later.

Deku had informed the cluster of raving paparazzi lunatics that he did not consent to having his photo taken, and given he was technically still in High School they could either respect that or face Principal Nezu in court. They’d wisely elected to stick to bombarding him with invasive questions which were so outlandish it was clear they just needed a headline.

“Mr. Deku, rumors circulate that you’ve been having inappropriate contact with villains being held in Tartarus, with an inside source at the prison stating you visit regularly to use those you’ve captured for unethical experiments and coerce into sexual encounters. How would you like to address this rumor?”

“What is the name of your Quirk, and why haven’t you been flying today?”

“Is it true you have the ability to give away aspects of your Quirk and implanted your fellow Hero Student Creati with your flight in order to secure funding from the Yaoyorozu Corporation and/or her hand in marriage following graduation?”

“Is it true you’ve had intimate contact with the Mormon girl revealed to be living at the UA dorms, despite her religion being proven false almost a century ago?”

“Do you care to comment on your relationship with the various women at UA who seem remarkably close to you, leading some to speculate you are in fact using a Quirk to impair their mental abilities and seduce them all or else are performing the ancient act of closeting and hiding your hom*osexual nature?”

“Mr. Deku, what is your opinion on the most recent Hero physical appeal rankings, which have come to include your class this year due to their suspension and then re-enrollment?”

“Do you endorse any Hero support companies like Citsitla, Detnerat, or Erbapak?”

“Have you considered using the newest lotion from the Sakamoto line?”

“Will you be performing in the “Naughty Girls” photoshoot tomorrow morning with Mirko and Mt. Lady?”

“Is it true you learned how to perform cunniling*s from Midnight herself?”

“There have been speculations that you endorse the murderer formerly known as Lady Nagant, even owning one of her limited, final edition dress-up dolls. Would you care to explain why a man of your age would have a 1:7 scale model of a woman several times your age, who is also a convicted criminal?”

Okay, that one’s a little too far; also has she been in my house?!

“Are you aware that high school romances are statistically less likely to last more than three years than being struck by lightning?”

“D-Deku-sama? Can I get your autograph?”

“What is your safeword?”

“You’ve been implicated in several acts of defacing public property, do you have any defense for them?”

Izuku froze so quickly the paparazzi kept going a good few meters before realizing they’d left him behind. He looked around, eyes flicking from face to face as he tried to find-

“Hello there,” Deku smiled, stepping forward and kneeling before the little boy. “Did I hear you right? You want an autograph?”

The kid was pretty young, maybe five or six, and Deku couldn’t identify his Quirk at a glance, but his eyes were earnest and the little board he had in his hands was clearly one meant to be framed. Izuku couldn’t help but see a bit of himself in the little guy.

“Y-yes, sir,” he said, his shoulders hunching a bit almost like he was ashamed to admit it.

Deku held out his hand for the pen and board.

“I’d be happy to.”

The kid lit up like a firework, handing them over and beaming excitedly. Deku returned his smile, marking the center with his Hero Name before pausing.

“Who am I writing this too?” he prompted.

“E-Eki Jirou,” the boy stuttered.

Smiling, Deku added a little flourish.

[To my first fan in the field, Eki Jirou. I hope you stay brave and follow the brightest path to the future you’re headed for. Your Friend: Deku]

“I have a friend named Jiro,” Deku told him, handing the board back. “But it’s her family name, and it’s spelled different. If you ever meet her, she’ll probably be able to tell you some good jokes.”

Jirou nodded, holding Deku’s autograph to his chest. Deku ruffled his hair and nodded for him to head along his way. Standing, he noticed the crowd of Paparazzi still hanging about, suddenly silent.

“No comment.”

“Well, that was fun to watch.”

The kid was gasping for air, hands on his knees as he doubled over, the smoking rubble behind him only just settled.

“I could have done it faster, but-”

“Shut… up…” Midoriya wheezed.

“Pardon?” Mirko asked, placing a hand to her perfect ear. “It sounded like you just told me to-”

“Shut… your… mouth,” Midoriya reiterated.

Smirking, Mirko jabbed a thumb at a nearby building that would get them some privacy.

“It wouldn’t do for the public to see me get turned on by a minor calling me names,” she teased.

He just grunted in response, still a little winded from his last rescue of the day. Mirko gave a couple hops and bounded up to the spot to sit and wait, dangling her legs over the edge.

Despite her hard knocks, Mirko had to give him credit: it was a good save. Somehow an apartment complex had caught fire, and he’d been on the scene and inside to save people faster than her for once. She’d arrived just in time to see him burst out of the top floor with a pair of lovebirds who hadn’t had time to put on anything fancier than their lingerie and a towel, the pair of them secured in a quilt burrito he’d used to prevent them from being so exposed. His cheeks might be hot from the flames or the sight, but he’d been too busy giving a statement to the police for her to check.

About a minute later, Deku managed to get in a good leap and land beside her, still a bit wobbly but passable. He dropped into a seated position beside her, his chest still expanding a bit heavily.

“So. You don’t like me, huh?” she asked, not really bothered either way.

“I— it’s not that—”

“It’s okay,” Mirko assured him, laughing a little. “I’m used to getting some hate. I’m too awesome not to, and you can’t please everyone.”

He let out a deep sigh, rubbing his face.

“I don’t hate you,” he insisted, “I just… you’re not the kind of Hero I want to be.”

Bringing one of her legs up to rest on the lip of the building so she could rest her chin on the knee, Mirko raised an eyebrow and let Midoriya say his bit.

“You’re- you’re a warrior. A fighter and a brawler and probably in the running for the top 10 this year, and I should be counting my blessings for even meeting you.”

“True but go on.”

He took a deep breath, clearly taking a second to control his feelings.

“But you’re also rude.”

Mirko smirked at him.

What? She wouldn’t deny it.

“You’re too focused on yourself, on taking care of the numbers and fighting strong people. I understand you like to fight. I even understand liking to fight. Itsuka… fighting her is special. It’s like there’s this— this connection you have with your opponent. You know them. To really, intimately understand them and why they’re doing what they do.”

Nodding, Mirko looked out over the city and the sunset in the distance.

“Yeah. It’s a wild ride,” she agreed. “But it never lasts. Partners get stale, enemies go down… you gotta keep hunting for new game.”

She made a fist and thumbed her heart.

“Of course, it’s not always easy. When I was in school? Nobody with a plain animal Quirk thought of being a Hero. ‘Rabbits are for fu<king, not fighting.’ ‘Bunnies should go to into cuddling, not combat.’ ‘That dark skin ruins your fluffy vibe.’ So I showed them all up, and now I’m living my best life.”

“Can you really say that, back to back?”

Midoriya sounded almost heartbroken, and Mirko frowned, confused at his question. Midoriya sighed and rubbed his face a bit.

“Mirko… have you ever realized how incredibly lonely you sound?” he asked her, point-blank. “I don’t know if you had the wrong partners or I just haven’t been with mine long enough, but each and every time I fight Itsuka or Kacchan: I’m tearing myself apart just to keep up. They’re always thinking of new ways to push me, and I hope I’m driving them forward too. I couldn’t imagine going a month where I can’t see my friends or so much as call Senchan. But for years? Just me? Going around looking for another thrill? …that sounds to me like some kind of hell.”

She let out a forced chuckle, waving the comment away.

“I’m fiiiine,” she lied assured him. “I prefer being alone. No one would stick around with me that long anyw—”

“If you asked for a team-up, I can think of a dozen Heroes who would leap at the chance to spar with you, and work with you besides,” Deku interrupted her. “And as for non-Heroes: trust me when I say there are a few civilians who would find you… well, quite tame.”

That made Mirko laugh aloud.

“Impossible,” she snorted, shaking her head.

“You’ll never know if you don’t try and just keep pretending to be fine.”

“...then I’ll never know,” Mirko sniffed.

They sat in a morose silence for a bit, Deku clearly trying to figure out how to prove her wrong again.

“Head on home,” she told him. “I’ll see you in Morioh tomorrow, same time.”

Nodding, Deku got up and sighed.

“Alright. But this isn’t over.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

He leveled a finger at her.

“Because I’m going to save you too.”

“Everyone, Izuku’s back!”

“MIDORIYA!”

“How was it, man? Did you beat up some good baddies?”

“Were you safe? Do you need to visit Recovery Girl?”

“Was she as hot in person?”

“Did you whoop her trash?”

“Did my Babies do well??”

“Where’s my hello kiss, Izu? Nothing for your not-girlfriend?”

“Mm.”

It was a bit overwhelming to come into the dorms and be blasted by the sound of voices, but Izuku was used to more aggressive explosions, so he merely blinked to brace himself until it ebbed a bit.

“Oh, Hatsume, Itsuka, Kodai,” he greeted the three non-residents of the 1-A dorm. “What brings you over?”

“Babies!” Hatsume insisted, holding up a trio of support items she was currently tinkering with. “Power Loader-sensei said to go to a dorm and get some sleep, so now I’m here!”

Momo reached over and took a pair of boots away from her, dusting them off daintily and handing them to Ochako.

“We’ve been getting used to the new Uravity Boots, and she’s already changing them,” the heiress sighed.

“I’m here to take your girlfriend out on a date,” Itsuka confessed, reaching over and picking up Ochako with a completely normal arm. “And also to drop off Yui. She wants that tour.”

“Mm-mm,” the surprisingly verbose girl agreed.

Izuku was caught between the three points. Did he ask about the new Uravity Boots? Did he ask if Ochako was okay/needed him to chaperone? Should he take Yui on her tour of his Hero Collection without Ochako? Should—

“Bye Dekun,” Ochako waved as they passed, still held up on Itsuka’s hip like a basket of wash.

She snuck a kiss to his cheek, making Izuku’s face light up red as he realized the entire class just saw. Her own was crimson as well, but she was heading off to a date of some kind. She could escape.

“Lucky…” Mineta grumbled. “Gets three girls in under a year? I knew I should have gone to Shiketsu…”

“Oh, that reminds me!” Hatsume beamed, rushing over to steal Izuku’s Hero case. “V-chat Girl said you need to talk to her, and also: I’m upgrading your suit again.”

“Wh— but I just talked to Melissa!” Izuku protested. “And you just built that!”

Hatsume wiggled her hand in an iffy way.

“I mean, this old thing’s been built for over a month now. You just first used it a couple days ago.”

She skipped away with his stuff, leaving Izuku thoroughly confused. Kodai came over and took his arm, pulling him towards the elevator.

“Mm.”

Sighing, Izuku nodded.

“Sure, we can take that tour. Just let me get some—“

She handed over a cup already full of steaming, instant ramen, the chopsticks peeking out of the paper seal. Izuku realized she must have been waiting quite a while, and was not going to wait.

“This is it,” Midoriya said timidly, turning on the light and revealing the most spectacular of All Might otaku rooms. “Welcome.”

“Pardon the intrusion,” Yui whispered, stepping in with awe.

The walls were filled with All Might posters, shelves filled with memorabilia, a bookcase full of art books, comics, rare items, and items Yui couldn’t even guess at. His bed was bedecked in sheets and his window hung with curtains that carried the red, gold, and blue of the #1 Hero. But he wasn’t the only Hero on display. A trio of figures still in boxes sat at the top of the bookshelf, two of them very old Heroes, at least two generations back, and one with familiar pink and purple hair. Even more adorable was the row of plushies laid out on the next row, each of which represented a member of the 1-A class.

“It’s a lot,” Midoriya apologi- apologized?! Why was he apologizing! Oh no, she was being weird again, wasn’t she?

“N-not at all,” Yui forced out, wishing the words didn’t feel so clammy in her throat. “It’s very impressive. I don’t have nearly this many rare items.”

“Yeah, well I—“

He cut himself off, blinking at her.

“You collect Hero Merch too?”

Yui nodded. She pulled out her phone and showed him. Her room was more conservative in terms of volume, but the mint-condition cards proudly framed and displayed on the desk, the poster signed by All Might, a handful of matryoshka dolls which displayed the last few years’ top 10, and the “Dream Team” figurines on her headboard certainly indicated something.

Midoriya was awed at the sight.

“All Might, Nighteye, Star & Stripe, and David Shield in the Allmobile?!” he gasped. “How did you find all four? They only ran that series for—“

“Six months,” Yui confirmed. “My dad knew in advance. He was part of the marketing team, so he put down a pre-order for my birthday the second they were open. He actually got three of them.”

“One to display, one to keep safe, and another just in case?” Midoriya asked, his eyes bright but a little dull.

Yui nodded, tilting her head and leaning close to inspect his face a bit. She blinked in alarm at the exhaustion he was clearly hiding. He was evidently beat to the end of his rope, and yet still taking the time to show her around.

“Do you have All Might pajamas?” she asked, hoping it sounded off-hand.

Midoriya vanished into his closet and then reappeared in an instant, holding a folded bundle.

“A whole bunch, but my current favorite are these,” he explained, unfolding the t-shirt and sweatpants. “They’re pretty subtle, but they’re sooooo comfy.”

Looking them over, Yui had to agree. Fuzzy lining, a simple “I am Here!” embossed over the left knee, and the All Might emblem on the right pectoral; it was practically off-brand for the over-the-top style of their Hero Studies teacher.

“Change,” she instructed him, turning to leave.

“I— huh?”

“Change,” Yui told him again. “I’ll be back.”

He seemed confused, but she had a feeling he’d comply.

As for Yui: she pulled out her messenger bag and retrieved a Star & Stripe sleeping gown. The hallway was empty, and thanks to the boy behind the door beside her: she needed only a moment. She knocked, hearing a soft voice answer.

“Okay, I’m changed. What did you-”

Opening his door, Yui stepped in and dropped her bag by his desk. Midoriya was dumbstruck at her appearance, and she was fairly certain she saw a bit of a nosebleed which he quickly covered with his hands as he clearly thought he was seeing something private.

Take that Itsuka, I didn’t even have to punch him to do that.

“You are going to lay down in that bed, and continue telling me about your collection,” she informed him. “I don’t have the upper body strength to lift you up if you collapse while standing, so this will save time.”

“I— oh,” Midoriya blinked, turning back to her. “But you—“

“It’s comfy,” Yui told him shortly.

It wasn’t a total lie either. The fact she intended to sneak into his arms after he passed out and steal the second cuddle was entirely superfluous to the ones she’d presented. Of course, having talked to Uraraka about it: they’d agreed it was the only way unless she was willing to wait until the heat-death of the universe for him to stop muttering about all the potential ramifications.

Midoriya got under his comforter, and his exhaustion almost immediately showed. Yui guessed he would get through two, maybe three explanations before he was sawing logs. As it turned out: he’d made it five. She’d been sure he was nodding off after explaining the plain suitcase in the closet was THE Young Age costume he’d been given as a birthday present (very jealous, not gonna lie), but then he’d got a little more out explaining the plushies and then the Lady Nagant figure he’d taken out of storage.

“Before her arrest, she was my biggest inspiration,” he admitted with a yawn. “I loved All Might best, of course, but she… she was special.”

“Hm?”

“You ever see that one interview with Snipe? The one where he admitted she could out-shoot him any time of the week at triple or more range?”

“Mhm.”

“That was so cool to me, as a kid,” Midoriya admitted, blinking groggily. “That enough skill and training could outshoot a Quirk. That it’s possible to just… be better than someone who relies on their Quirk. Being who I was at that part of my life… it was the coolest thing ever to me.”

“Didn’t Snipe say it was her bullet-making ability? And she’s also kind of a murderer, which is… less than ideal,” Yui pointed out.

“There was only the one news agency that published that story,” Midoriya yawned, “and anyone can buy specialized bullets. I like to think… maybe… she’s not…”

What Lady Nagant wasn’t was something Yui would have to wait to hear about evidently. Izuku let out a soft breath, and he was out like a light.

Based on the way his arm grasped at the empty space between his knees and chest: he needed something to cuddle, and as his pillow was busy with his adorable head, and Uraraka was busy ice-skating with Itsuka: she guessed she’d just have to fill that role.

Giving him another minute to be sure he wouldn’t wake, Yui pulled the duvet up and slid in after him. She positioned her head in the crook of his neck, let his strong arms embrace her, and closed her eyes. She wasn’t nearly as tired, but being held by a strong cutie like Itsuka or Izuku was simply too comfy not to get drowsy.

I wonder if sleeping with Uraraka will be better or worse? she wondered as she drifted off. She’s a lot squishier than they are. Then again, she’s got some muscle too…

Chapter 4: Power Arc: What fight are you here for?

Chapter Text

Izuku felt much better waking up than he had when going to sleep. He was warm, there was a familiar, soft sensation at his chest, and when he took the deep breath that he did every morning to help himself return to the land of the sun: he would catch a whiff of that sweet, familiar mochi-scent that Ochako always seemed to have about her.

Inhaling and blinking slightly to clear out his eyes, Izuku appreciated the scent of wood polish and pine in the black locks pressed against his jaw-

Izuku jerked, and would have sat upright if not for the weight on his chest. That was not Ochako.

“Hrnnnn,” Kodai groaned, pushing him back down and squirming into his chest. “‘S too early…”

“K-Kodai!” Izuku squeaked, his hands (which had been around her waist) quickly in the air. “What are you- how did you- when did you-”

“‘Raka said I could,” she whined, trying to push him back down. “Lay down, you’re comfy…”

His entire mind blanked, ran static, and tried a hard reboot. He sat, immobile, for nearly three minutes as he processed.

“Kodai?” Izuku asked quietly, trying not to sound mad or panicked or happy or confused or scared or guilty or any of the other things he was feeling. “Why are you in my bed? And why are we snuggling?”

“It was night time,” she answered simply, a bit of an adorably grumble in her voice at being forced to stay awake. “It was comfy. You were comfy. We got permission, I came, you got your sleep, I got my cuddles. Which part of the progression escapes you?”

There was a moment of silence as Izuku tried to process if sassy Kodai was something he liked more or less than normal Kodai.

“Well, I need to… go…” Izuku tried to disentangle himself, only to find Kodai squeezing him harder.

He tried to get out from under the covers, but Kodai’s legs were firmly ensnared around his thighs and her arms around his chest. He was evidently not letting him go.

“Kodai, I need to go to my work-study today,” he protested.

She just whined.

“Kodai, I really need you to move,” Izuku huffed, starting to get a little irritated with her.

“Make me!” she whined.

Dang it, stop being so cute!

“Yui,” Izuku said, blushing as he used her given name, “I really need you to get up. You have to sneak back to your dorms, and I really need to go find breakfast.”

There was an adorable sigh from the girl atop him, and Kodai slid off him. Then she stole his pillow and snuggled into it instead, however.

“Fine. Go to your stupid Mirko play-date,” she grumbled. “I’m calling in sick today and playing with your toys when I wake up.”

Izuku stared at her, horrified.

“I won’t touch the collectables,” Kodai appeased him.

Rolling his eyes, Izuku got up and went to get changed.

Yawning as she dragged herself downstairs, Yui sat down next to her doppelganger and stole her rice bowl. Uraraka grabbed it back without even flinching.

“How was the date?” she asked, reaching to get her own breakfast.

“Better than expected,” Itsuka said, appearing behind her and placing a kiss on her cheek. “Is he as good of a cuddler as Ocha’ boasts, or do we need to give up on the Alaska King-size?”

Taking a moment to swallow her bite, Yui nodded.

“She’s been downplaying him. Hard as a rock, soft as a feather.”

“Well, somebody’s wordy this morning,” Itsuka giggled, sitting between her and Uraraka. “One of two things happened then. Ocha, did you give her permission to-”

“No,” Yui cut her off. “We just talked. He showed me his Hero collection; I gave him a glimpse of mine. Then we went to sleep.”

Itsuka blinked at her, seeming confused at her poor mood. Yui sighed and glanced at her girlfriend, giving her a baleful look.

“Midoriya left before I got all my cuddling in, and there were no sexy times,” she explained briefly. “So how was your night?”

“Not as bad as I thought it might be,” Uraraka cut in, handing Yui a cup of juice. “Turns out Kendo can be quite the gentleman when she wants to be. Who knew?”

Yui shrugged.

“News to me.”

“Hey!” Itsuka protested. “I thought you liked my wild side?”

Holding her arm out with the palm facing down and her pinky and thumb out from the other fingers, Yui wobbled her hand back and forth. Itsuka put a hand to her mouth, mock-horrified.

“I can’t believe my own girlfriend didn’t tell me she wanted me to be gentler!” she said, exasperated. “Well, I guess that means no more-”

“Oi, we letting 1-B walk all over us now?” Bakugo cut in, dropping into the chair opposite the girls. “Don’t you have your own dorms? Or are you so desperate not to be around Monoma’s superiority stench you have to hide in Deku’s bedroom all night to degauss?”

It took Yui a second to realize that Itsuka hadn’t stopped talking to listen to Bakugo. She simply continued speaking as if he hadn’t interrupted, her eyes somehow missing him if she faced where he was.

“-and of course that includes the ponytail. Ocha, do you think I’d look okay with shorter hair, or is it too late to change? I don’t think I’m too set in my brand yet, but I’m not into fashion.”

“Why do you think I would know?” Uraraka asked, laughing as she similarly ignored Bakugo, his redoubled demand for attention appearing in snarled comments. “Mina and Toru are the fashion girls, maybe YaoMomo. Plus, can’t you ask Tokage or Tsunotori? They would know.”

Itsuka surprised Yui as she slid up against Uraraka and threw an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a side hug.

“Aw, I thought you knew by now: I like it when you talk,” she teased, laughing even as Uraraka pushed her off.

“The date. What happened?” Yui demanded.

“Yeah Ochako,” Jiro said, pinning her in on the other side with an elbow, a dish of mochi, and a sh*t-eating grin. “Tell us how the date with your new girlfriend went.”

“I- She- We-” she protested, before sighing and burying her face in her hands, her little fingers crossed and away from her skin so she didn’t fly away. “Ugh, I’m never gonna hear the end of this unless I spill, am I?”

Yaoyorozu shook her head, sitting down beside Ida.

“Most likely not,” she confirmed. “Speaking of: you did just use the S-word. You know that-”

“WHERE’S THE TEA, TEAGIRL?!”

Ashido’s shout echoed down the hall, and she was barreling down towards the table right behind the sound. Yui lifted her plate and cup off just in case she smashed into it. When she somehow avoided crashing, Yui let out a sigh and replaced them on the wood.

“So, they have a crush on Deku,” Uraraka prefaced, dragging her hands down her face in resignation. “She wanted to check in with me to see if she could date him, like you do. I said she had to prove she was worth his time, we fought, I beat her up-”

“Cheeks, you act like you won that-” Itsuka tried to butt in, but in a move Yui found incredibly hot: Uraraka reached up, grabbed the back of Itsuka’s neck, and swung her down so her forehead was a hair’s breadth from the table.

“I’M telling the story, Itsuka!” Uraraka informed her, before calming herself with a sigh and letting her up. “Now, where was I… oh yes.”

She went back to her usual squishy, adorable self, and Yui wondered if it was innate or just a talent one developed after a first date with Itsuka. She hadn’t got that far yet, they’d just had sex a few times, so she supposed she’d find out.

“So, she somehow got the idea of romancing both of us, but we reminded her she needed to resolve the tension she had with Kodai-chan, so she laid off for about three days until she’d solidified their relationship. Then the attack happened, she went with me to rescue Dekun, she broke his arm when he was being stupid, and then she totally stole my Gravity Chamber,” Uraraka rambled, quickly losing some of the class at the outer edges.

“But, long story short: we bonded during the License Exam, she asked me out, and I said sure,” she continued, her energy bringing the focus back. “First we went to this nice grill, they made everything right on your table and it was amazing. She paid, super classy, and then took me to an ice-skating rink. I’ve never been, so we held hands and just kind of went around the loop together.”

Hagakure and Yaoyorozu let out little coos at the cute mental image. Ashido seemed expectant.

“...and?” she pressed.

“And we talked,” Uraraka shrugged. “We talked and told some jokes and skated around together. And then we came back here, she dropped me off-”

“Get to the good part, sister!” Ashido begged. “Did you kiss her goodnight?! Did you break beds?! Did you get the snuggles?!”

Uraraka didn’t dignify her with an answer except for a frown. Itsuka twisted her head so she was perpendicular to Ashido, and placed a finger on her right cheek. The pink girl gasped, and her eyes lit up like stars.

“OH. MY. GOSH. YOU GUYS TOTALLY-”

“She’d earned a kiss,” Uraraka said flatly, before grabbing the mochi so Ashido couldn’t withhold it. “She’ll have to work a lot harder to get past first base.”

Itsuka’s triumphant expression vanished, replaced by alarm.

“Harder?! I was the perfect date! I opened the doors, I pulled out the chairs, I bought you ice cream after you fell- …down.”

Uraraka was smirking, and Yui couldn’t restrain a smile of her own. Itsuka was too easy sometimes.

“Next up is Hatsume,” Power Loader said, closing his eyes in preparation for the destruction of his classroom. “She will be providing a practi-”

He paused, looking at his clipboard.

“...no. She’s providing an oral report on her summer project?!” he revised, looking at what she’d put down.

There were gasps around the classroom, heads turning to face the girl who was so out of it that she was already working on another gadget while she waited for something to catch her attention. She had never given anything but practical reports, demonstrating and usually destroying her projects in spectacular fashion.

Whispers flew around, wondering if she’d lost her touch, if she was having a mental breakdown, if she was on new meds she was actually taking, if she’d been possessed or replaced by a villain.

Hatsume stepped up to the front, snapping her fingers and pulling down her goggles as she tinkered with a box of circuits Power Loader recognized as one of her gravity regulator units. He prayed she didn’t have any generators nearby, otherwise something nearby would start being flung around the room. Which of course meant he was distracted when the lights dimmed, and the screen activated. Hatsume had got to the display system again.

“This is the forty-seventh project I undertook this summer, but the one I feel is the most apt to display the progress I’ve made during my tenure in the first semester,” she explained, not looking up as the projection started shifting without any visible indication from her. “I call it: Project One-in-All!”

There was some general muttering of confusion and anxiety. Power Loader wondered if she’d intentionally placed a reference to the villain who All Might had defeated at Kamino, or if she was just that divorced from reality.

“The concept is to implement Quirk-replicating materials into a functional, non-obstructive harness, and allow for Heroes to carry a wider array of abilities into action!” Hatsume explained, the projector showing off various silhouettes, each marked with a codename, and five glowing dots of various colors.

“Test Subject ‘Suripa’ has a non-physical Quirk,” she said, the first silhouette showing the shadow which looked like a tired boy with messy hair. “He required the ability to improve his mobility and combat prowess, and trained with Aizawa to utilize capture weapons. However, they are too heavy and too easily countered in the modern era. So, I paired him with support set #1, the Mark III “Shikamaru” items.”

The black dot moved over and flashed over the outline of the person, and revealed a purple, grey, and white suit with an indigo-haired boy inside, but with shadowy tendrils floating around his neck and arms.

“Reverse-engineering the Quirk Ability Blackwhip alongside our friends at I-Island, I was able to develop capacitors for the ability and allow someone to carry them independent of the original host,” Hatsume explained, showing footage of the student swinging from items like a man-arachnid of some kind. “It contains all the features of the original user, and several improvements!”

She rotated through various videos showing the newfound applications of the items.

“Utilizing the adhesive properties, he can of course swing from place to place, but he can also deploy them from his gloves and boots to crawl on walls and ceilings. The beads carried in his sleeves can hold a Blackwhip charge for several minutes, allowing him to fire adhesive patches or capture nets, and the high quality durability allows for action-packed fighting without worrying about breakage or excess weight!”

“Of course, I couldn’t just show this off with someone who knows how to use all this and call it a day,” the pink-haired girl continued, and another silhouette moved over, this one much rounder. “Test Subject ‘Kurubi’ has a Quirk which can cause Gravity to fail on an object, or connected objects. She obviously can’t use Blackwhip, as it’s energy, not matter. So, I threaded a hyper-thin, hyper-light line of Fairy Feather silk through a Blackwhip capacitor, creating a wound coil of the two. With the Quirk providing the power and durability, and the silk the matter, she can fire her lines from her gauntlets like grappling hooks, and also gravitize distant objects! The ultra-light mass of her line allows her to instantly begin filling connected objects, rather than try to alter a heavy wire first!”

The image of the brown-haired girl who’d won the sports festival shooting and zipping by like a flying, vampiric mammalian-themed guy faded to just the silhouette of ‘Kurubi’ again. Then another color came over to her. Pink.

“Of course, we couldn’t simply leave such a Quirk as ‘Kurubi’ untapped,” Hatsume grinned evilly. “So, I employed her Quirk in creating the newest Hatsume-brand launchers!”

The Uraraka girl reappeared exactly as before, but this time with a cross-section of her gauntlets. They could see the coils of Blackwhip, but also a pair of rails on either side of the four launcher holes.

“My Mark I “Chodan” railguns can fire any object at high speeds, even fast enough to outpace a human eye!” she cackled, showing off ‘Kurubi’ and ‘Suripa’ firing Blackwhip strands without obvious kickback, and even shooting the little capacitor beads between two fingers.

They too vanished, replaced by a much taller silhouette with a cape. She received a red color, and appeared to be Yaoyorozu, who Power Loader remembered had come in to see him at the end of the first term.

“Test Subject ‘Kabigon’ interned with AirJet, and took to flying. Rocket boots and jetpacks are simply out of fashion, so I developed the Quirk ability Float to grant her incredible aerial mobility with boots so comfy and small: they look more like leggings!”

They did indeed look incredibly lightweight, and her flying leaps and soaring pirouettes were quite impressive. She seemed to be as agile as Captain Celebrity had once been while visiting.

“The Mark II ‘Kaguya’ boots also come in a wide array of fashions!” Hatsume explained, showing that Uraraka also had a pair. “But of course, those are a lot harder to use. Something a lot easier comes from my ultra-reliable Mark V ‘Kemuridamas’!”

A shorter… person (it was hard to tell) appeared with a purple outline. They twirled around and vanished in a puff of lavender smoke, but a cloud that expanded a lot faster and a lot more densely than he would have expected from such a small item. Sure enough, Power Loader’s eyes had not deceived him, and the figure showed off the tiny, coin-sized ball which served as the propagator.

“Smoke bombs more potent than any on the market!” Hatsume cackled with glee. “You can fill a room with one the size of your thumb, or a building with one the size of a baseball! They spread quick and fast, and are completely impenetrable by radar, infrared, or normal vision, without being toxic, poisonous, damaging to the eye, or any other form of hazardous! Quirk no kagaku wa sekai ichi!!”

Power Loader cleared his throat, and her inner Nazi calmed down a bit. Hatsume cleared her throat and looked up for once.

“The last step was combining these various technologies into a single, unstoppable unit!” she explained, showing off the last silhouette and a green color. “Test Subject ‘Lucario’ has a failing Quirk factor due to unknown circ*mstances, and is looking at becoming a Quirkless Hero. So, I’ve implemented all of these into his new costume as the ultimate fighting proxy!”

It hurt Power Loader’s heart a little to see the image become Midoriya. The poor kid had enough to deal with without becoming Hatsume’s pet project and becoming a Hero without a Quirk.

“He can fly, shoot Blackwhip strands, fire air blasts and capacitor balls from his gloves, deploy smoke, and in an entirely unique piece of gear: the ‘Namikaze’ Radar! It detects pheromones released by humans with negative emotions, allowing him to localize nearby threats far quicker than his eyes!”

The costume for Deku was quite impressive, barely altered visually from the suit Power Loader had helped to build earlier that month. It would be impressive to see how he handled it.

“A question, Hatsume,” he put in. “Aren’t you about half-a-mountain over the Student Application Budget?”

She stiffened, her grin becoming strained. Power Loader thought so.

The “National Student Application Budget” was implemented to prevent students from becoming reliant on support gear, and had certain restrictions on how much any student could utilize each year. Electronics were highly regulated, with Quirk DNA fibers and high numbers coming in close second for “not until third year” exclusives that everyone wanted day 1. Power Loader objected to the catch-all rule, with students like Hagakure forced to go into action with almost no protection, and Yaoyorozu still carrying around that freaking dictionary after her request for a visor was denied.

Unfortunately, that meant Midoriya would almost certainly be cut half his equipment by the HPSC, who were not doing him any favors of late. He was surprised they allowed Monoma to have multiple stop-watches, honestly, given Yaoyorozu, Bakugo, Jiro, Uraraka, and Aoyama had all been restricted to one item each, despite every reason to be allowed at least two. Bakugo’s Gauntlets had to be massive, purely mechanical weights of heavy metals to work. Jiro’s original speakers were pitiful and so heavy they’d had to be mounted to her boots so she could even move. Uraraka’s boots--which were a safety feature--meant she lost her original request for a parachute. And Aoyama’s refraction lasers had to be combined with his belt to be allowed, so he wore a single breastplate for armor instead of multiple plates, restricting his movement and limiting his available places to put lasers.

“That’s the genius part!” Hatsume exclaimed, clearly past the point she’d been ready to explain. “We don’t tell anybody!”

“Hatsume-”

“They’re all integrated into the suit, so they’re all the same piece of gear!” she tried to play it off.

Power Loader and the class looked at her sympathetically. Her “don’t tell anybody and hope” idea was looking better and better by the second.

“Hold on, they ‘are?’” he asked her, alarmed. “Does this abomination of technology and fabric actually exist somewhere?!”

He’d never seen Hatsume look guilty before. It was a strange sight, to say the least.

“Oh Kami, tell me you still have it.”

She was looking everywhere but at him. Power Loader felt a weight drop into his stomach. Deku was working alongside Mirko today. There was no way he wouldn’t-

“Please tell me you at least didn’t tell Midoriya how to use them all?”

“I gave him the user’s manual, but nobody ever reads those things.”

“I gotta say, I liked you in my costume better,” Mirko admitted, frowning at his flight suit-looking outfit, with the dumb bunny ears and in-built goggles. “I’ll admit, you’re at least pretty fast this time around. You got your flying back?”

Deku twirled around in midair, evading an attack from the villain he was fighting and sending her a scathing look. Mirko rolled her eyes, watching as he flipped over the egg attack and held in the air for a moment longer than should have been possible before axe-kicking the poor paper-storage guy in the head and dropping him.

“It’s a work in progress,” he admitted, kicking his legs one at a time as if they were stiff; the pink highlights around the ankles quite stylish.

He leapt into the air, this time a purely ballistic arc, heading towards the next street, pursuing the villain’s companion. Mirko hopped after him, going backwards so she could sass him and also chat.

“Have you thought about what we talked about last time?” he asked, using a strand of something black from his wrist to swing around the corner and after the blue one running for his life.

“About the friends thing? I mean… not really?” Mirko deflected.

“Who’d you pick?” Deku asked, sprinting after the guy as he leapt into a passing truck bed and sped away.

“I didn’t say yes!” Mirko huffed, annoyed at the kid for getting in her head. “I know you’re all set on “saving” me, but you’re more annoying than anything right now.”

“Oh please,” Deku laughed, leaping into the air and using his Blackwhip launchers and floaty-boots to parasail behind a car after the guy. “There’s no way you don’t have your entire plan already figured out by now.”

Bounding along after him, Mirko grit her teeth, trying to figure out what the stupid villain was trying to accomplish. He was running for the center of town, which was sure to just have more Heroes, and he hadn’t used his Quirk yet. Something fishy was going on in this crazy town.

They continued the pursuit, Mirko’s hops not quite fast enough for the panicked driver flooring his truck, and Deku’s idea of leapfrogging cars nearby still only gaining him a little ground. At least, so she thought.

An object lanced out like a bullet, Deku’s index and little fingers pointed at the tailgate with the rest curled up. The object impacted the truck’s bumper, expanding into a sort of black parachute. The vehicle slowed like it had slammed on the breaks, and Deku launched himself down.

“That’s as far as you go!”

Deku caught hold of the villain’s shoulder, pulling him out of the car and leaping free to glide down as if he was as light as a feather. Mirko skidded to a stop beside him, shocked at the sudden reversal.

“You utter fools!” the blue-haired criminal cackled, holding his arms out. “Don’t you recognize where we are?”

The pair looked to each other, then around at the rest of the cars passing them. They were just on the main road through Morioh from what they could see, right up alongside the ocean and about to pull into the main city part of the town. The villain leveled a finger at Mirko, unable to do so with Deku without pulling his arm way back and probably earning a headbutt.

“My ability: Tower Defense is the Ultimate Stand Quirk!” he boasted. “It activates when I feel threatened or if I’m in danger, even if I’m unconscious! Usually it’s a purely defensive power, but here, on the main road: it will cause a hazard so great that my comrades will be able to roam free for days!”

He grinned with a manic light in his eyes.

“Tower Defense creates a structure of my desire, which becomes immovable when the four corners touch down! It will be entirely under my control, and defend me from any conceivable attack! And with it: I will rule the commute through this town, and what’s more: I will control the power!”

“That is,” the blue-top smirked, turning to Deku, “unless you let me go. After all, you can’t weigh the balance of one villain versus the traffic of an entire town, now can you? How many people will go hun-KYAGH!”

The last word was cut off as Deku uppercut him into the sky.

“DEKU, NO!” Mirko cried, reaching to stop him all too late.

They could catch him in a minute when he ran off somewhere they could deal with his power, but now he’d take down the whole city!

Sure enough, Tower Defense was already active, a framework of metal appearing like a ghostly mirage around the villain and expanding. Mirko was horrified to see the outline of a transmission tower begin to generate, the wires at the top snaking their way through the sky towards the nearby lines.

He’ll drain the whole city of power! Mirko realized, horrified.

“Perfect.”

Mirko glared at Deku, wondering if he’d gone insane. The boy just bent his knees and leapt up after the villain he’d sent flying. Mirko might have been impressed with his leaping form, but he was just in too much hot water.

Deku’s arms shot out, firing those black tendrils out towards the four feet of the ghost tower in midair. Each one that connected made the metal snap into existence around it, slowly extending up to the top where the villain was. Once all four were touched by the strands: the entire tower suddenly cracked like a gun, displacing the air and shooting up a little further as it grew to full size, hanging above the traffic like a thundercloud.

“You said it becomes immovable once it touches down?” Deku called up to the man, who seemed a bit dizzy from the sudden jolt upwards from the change to reality. “Well now you’re stuck!”

It took Mirko a moment to realize he was right. The thing wasn’t falling, and based on the slack in Deku’s lines: he wasn’t holding it up. It was just… stuck there.

“Fool!” the villain cackled, though his tone made it evident he knew he’d lost and was just trying to play for time until he thought of something else. “Now you too are trapped here! And when my power deactivates: this entire tower will fall and crush the road below! You’ve lost!”

“Really?” Deku called back, evidently interested. “When will it deactivate?”

Mirko picked up a rock, about to throw it at her stupid intern. Now what was she supposed to do with this guy?!

“Once it’s gathered enough energy to become real, of course!” came the response.

The wires whipped down, connecting with Deku and shocking him with enough power Mirko could see the volts crackling along his suit. Deku screamed in pain, and she leapt up to pull him down, only to be knocked back as her fingers brushed his costume.

“It will draw energy from the things around it until it can become matter, and then it will crash! It will crash down and I will be free!”

Deku suddenly stopped screaming, the electricity still dancing along him without change. Mirko worried he’d been knocked out, but then he called to the villain one last time, his voice eerily calm.

“And what happens when I do this?”

The Blackwhip tendrils snapped, their dark, smokey forms fading into nothingness as Deku shut down his generator or something. The tower flickered and vanished, only a pair of bolts appearing to remain as the villain was suddenly falling. Evidently he lacked the energy to pull off his move again, because he dropped like a rock.

Deku caught him, of course, but Mirko wouldn’t have. Prick was just annoying. His ability was situational at best, and he thought he’d had the winning hand?

With the police taking care of the out-cold villain, Deku got ready to head into town and keep working. Mirko followed, smacking him upside the head as they landed on the first building taller than a single story.

“That was far too risky,” she chastised.

“‘Risk is our business,’” Deku quoted to her, walking off her blow and hopping down to the rather empty street. “And it was a calculated one. If it didn’t work, he’d still be stuck up there and easier to deal with. And if it had fallen: I could have thrown him in the ocean and let him electrocute himself.”

Mirko blinked, surprised with his more casual attitude. Maybe it was the suit?

“So. Names. Who did you pick?” he pressed.

It took her a second to remember what he’d been on about, making Mirko grit her teeth in annoyance.

“If you put a gun to my head, I suppose I’d team up with a bat with nails through it,” she prodded back, not in the mood to talk about her actual thoughts regarding… people.

Deku snorted, unable to contain his laughter. Mirko kicked him, only to miss and stumble a bit as he got some distance and wiped under his mask and goggles at his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, settling down. “I just made the mistake of thinking your friends would be, well… sentient garbage.”

There was a pair of snaps as Mirko’s thumbs curled and her hands clenched into fists.

“I’m not in the mood for your attempts to socialize me, Deku,” she told him, suddenly feeling the annoyance at the slow day starting to catch up with her.

“And I’m not in the mood for your immature evasions,” he retorted, his posture going serious like he did when facing an enemy.

“It’s time for you to shut up and get back to your patrol,” she warned him.

Deku held his hands out, showing off the barebones mainstreet of the usually noisy town.

“Don’t stop moving,” he snarked in an annoyingly good imitation of her voice. “Can’t stay in the same place for more than a few seconds or I might have to face the fact I have no friends and can’t hold down relationships with other people like a big girl.”

The concrete cracked as she took a step towards him. To Deku’s credit, he didn’t flinch.

“If you don’t put that tongue of yours back behind your teeth: I’m going to pull it out with my boot.”

There was a tense moment, and Deku reached down to grab his mask. He moved it up and secured it over his exposed face, sealing off all of his visible skin.

[“Alright then,”] he agreed, before meeting her eyes. [“Come take it.”]

Mirko didn’t even remember jumping, but she was on him in an instant. Her boot launched at his face in a devastating front kick. Pissing her off even more: he barely moved to dodge it, simply leaning his head out of the way. She kicked with the other leg as she used the force of her swing to bring the first back down, only to find him doing the same evasion. Mirko twisted and kicked towards his ear, but he just turned the other cheek, and her foot passed by harmlessly, barely fluttering the stupid bunny ears on his hood.

She must have really been pissed, because she punched at him a few times, only to get him evading with the most effortless of dodges, and even getting in a bow under her roundhouse. Mirko had him with that, twisting it into an inverted axe-kick to bring her toes into his back. She gasped as the hand behind his back opened and caught her attack.

Deku yanked it around as he stood, flinging her away and pirouetting once to fall into a combat stance that she couldn’t place. Mirko got her own guard up, and the two held their positions. He tilted forward, and she eased back. He tilted, and she mirrored him.

Then he punched, and Mirko spun to dodge, feeling the wind whip past her ear. He couldn’t be using more than his 18% power, probably only 9 or 10 if she had to guess, but somehow he’d focused all his power into a cylindrical area in front of his fist.

But Deku wasn’t content with just one. He kept going, driving her back and forcing her to dodge a steady stream of punches and kicks. She never knew which was coming next, and had to keep her eyes on his every move in order to evade or block. Mirko knew she had to hit back, and started throwing attacks just to keep him from advancing too quickly, still trying to figure out where he’d learned to fight so wildly and yet so smoothly.

“Kick her butt, Deku!” someone nearby called.

“Teach him respect, Mirko!” someone else cheered her on.

Mirko danced too and fro, trying to get in a hit but finding each attack blocked or dodged with streamlined efficiency. Her own defenses were holding up, now that she was on-point, but it was clear that if he pushed himself beyond his current output: she’d be back on the back-foot in an instant.

What happened to him? He was not this strong yesterday!

She spotted a pattern and stepped down to catch his metal boot under hers, her left arm jabbing out and cracking across his jaw. She wasn’t a fist-fighter, she was a kicker, so her fists were a little less powerful than her thighs, but the blow should have knocked him flat. To Mirko’s alarm: he just looked into her eyes with a wild glee, winding back for a straight so obvious she knew it was meant for her to dodge.

Soaring back, Mirko saw she was right when a cannon of air shot out from the attack. The outer edge caught her foot and sent her into a bit of a flat-spin, but she recovered by landing atop a lamppost. She had him now.

Deku raced in after her, and Mirko leapt over his kick, backflipping over his twirling blow to land on his shoulder. She was going to knock his head loose, but in a move of flexibility she’d never expected from him: his leg shot up, almost pressed against his chest. He only bashed her shin, but it hurt enough to get her to back off.

She returned to the air, landing on the general store roof and smirking down at him. It gave her maybe a second to dodge before the bullet of air was flicked from his middle finger and knocked off a bit of the concrete barrier she had just been balanced on.

Landing on another building, Mirko glowered at him. It wasn’t fair that he had ranged attacks too. She would just have to keep him in motion until she could close in again.

Mirko ran across the buildings on one side, and Deku took the other. His new air-bullets shot across to her, and she made sure to kick some his way as well. More powerful, but less accurate. Shotguns to his rifle.

One of her shots seemed to hit the mark, only to kick up a cloud of lavender smoke from whatever it had impacted. Mirko froze, knowing that if he’d vanished: running in blindly was the wrong move.

Deku shot out of the fog like a bat out of hell, crashing into her guard and sending her spinning down to the street below. She saw him coming and let him get close, reengaging him in hand-to-hand and feeling her advantage of power and experience come back, but only barely. They danced around for a bit, and she almost got in a couple hits, but he was somehow still dodging her far easier than she was him.

The opening was too perfect, and Mirko kicked Deku in the chest. She barely noticed him placing his hands, palm-out, between them and using her attack to launch himself away.

sh*t.

His air bullets came at her again, this time joined by Blackwhip bolts which would seal her to whatever they caught. Mirko evaded them, feeling the thrill she guessed gamers got from playing bullet hells. She noticed his pattern again, and decided to take advantage of the opening he was probably intentionally leaving her.

“LUNA EDGE!”

Spinning once, Mirko slashed her leg through the air diagonally, sending a razor-sharp blade of air cutting through to knock Deku back or maybe kill him, she didn’t really know or care.

They glared at each other down the road, unable to see the fire in one another’s eyes or faces but sensing it all the same. Mirko tensed her whole body, ready to beat him to a pulp. She saw Deku’s aura crackle with the full power he’d shown at the License Exam. She braced her foot, ready to charge.

Something shifted in the air, and suddenly the green lightning vanished. Deku’s posture returned to casual, and he stood up straight. He lowered his mask and Mirko could swear he was smiling at her. That was the final straw. Mirko saw red and dove in, cracking the concrete as she leapt towards her prey.

“Mirko!”

She froze, the tip of her toe a millimeter from Deku’s neck. Her eyes snapped to the side, seeing a blue-skinned reporter holding out a microphone.

“...gorram paparazzi,” she hissed between her teeth.

“I think she’s from a legitimate news network,” Deku smiled.

Mirko punched him in the gut, and this time: he let out a wheeze of pain. She felt a lot better.

“Kizuki Chitose, Shoowaysha News and Publishing,” the reporter introduced herself, handing off the microphone and pulling a notepad from her belt like it was a knife. “Mr. Deku, you’ve just been filmed performing intense combat with the Pro Hero Mirko, a hopeful for the Top 10 Heroes of Japan this year. Would you care to comment on why you incited this villainous incident?”

“That’s- that’s not right,” Izuku shook his head, confused at her comment and trying to figure out how far away to keep his mouth from the microphone. “If you filmed, you should already know that she attacked first. I’m here on a work-study, and I’m used to her impromptu sparring and training sessions like that. I was under the impression we were just doing that.”

There was a pause as Kizuki looked at him, her green and black eyes filled with an odd light. They reminded him of Ashido’s when she smelled a couple to ship, but a little less honest.

“Is that right?” she asked, turning to Mirko.

“Tch!”

The Rabbit Hero turned aside.

“He’s a meddling little bugger, trying to convince me to do a team-up. He wouldn’t shut up, so I decided to teach him the value of silence. Evidently I haven’t got through his thick skull yet.”

Izuku was about to protest, but a gloved hand dropped atop his head, ruffling his hair. He could see a smile fighting through Mirko’s grit teeth, and the annoyance in her eyes had faded away some.

Huh, she’s like Itsuka. She needs a good fight to destress now and then; get her brain reengaged.

“You two seem incredibly close for only being accomplices for two days,” Kizuki noted, turning back to Izuku. “Is it possible you two already know one another? I notice your hood carries a reference to her ears in those adorable poofs up top, and your jumping style is impressively similar. To quote one of my most avid readers: Mayhaps “a secret love child?””

There was a choking sound from Mirko, and Izuku fought back a laugh of his own.

“Oddly enough: this isn’t the first time I’ve been asked that, just not about Mirko,” Izuku admitted. “The head-poofs are an homage to All Might’s hair tufts, like Star & Stripes’, but a little less… overt, evidently. He’s just so cool, and he inspired me so much: I couldn’t bear to have my costume not carry something for him.”

Kizuki nodded, jotting that down.

“Speaking of costume tributes, I notice you’re carrying around quite the camouflage on your arms,” she pointed out. “Mind giving our readers an insight?”

Izuku blushed, touching his left arm.

“These bands are colored to match important villains I’ve helped defeat or capture,” he explained, sliding down the list. “Stain, Wolfram, Muscular, Himiko, Himiclone, Kurogiri, & All for One.”

He pivoted and showed the other arm.

“These mark the happy times though. Like training for the Entrance Exam, or the week I spent learning martial arts with all my friends.”

“Then this last band is marking your success in the Provisional License Exam?” Kizuki asked, pointing to an addition near his wrist.

“Yep, that’s the one,” Izuku confirmed, touching the purple band marked with yin-yang swirls and a coiled snake. “The colors indicate special people to me at those times. This one has stuff from my friends who made up my team in the exam.”

“Then I suppose the million-yen question is easy,” Kizuki laughed. “Will your work-study with Mirko be adding another band to your arm on the left arm, or the right arm?”

“Hopefully both,” Mirko butted in, leaning against Izuku’s shoulder with a smirk, “but that can be for tomorrow’s story. If you’ll excuse us, Kizuki-san, we’re still on patrol.”

“Of course,” the reporter nodded, her eyes still glinting with that slightly unhinged light. “Thank you for your enduring recourse. We depend on you for our quiet lives here.”

“Thank you for your support!” the two of them called back, leaping into the air towards the next street.

They made it two blocks before Izuku collapsed on a rooftop and started breathing like he’d run a marathon. His hand gripped his chest, and his eyes watered as he tried to get off his knees.

“Well, not the worst reaction to someone’s first full interview,” Mirko laughed, stopping beside him.

“Oh my gosh, that was so stressful, I thought I was gonna have a heart attack!” Izuku wheezed.

“Don’t worry, you get used to it as you get older,” she assured him, patting his back. “Come Usagiyama Izuku, Adventure Awaits!”

Izuku groaned, trying to remind her he wasn’t actually her son, but giving up when he felt his stomach lurch and nearly sent his lunch across the rooftop. It would be best to keep his mouth closed.

“I want them.”

Ochako looked up from her homework, a bit too tired to bother asking or caring what precisely Itsuka wanted.

“When will you be done?” Itsuka insisted.

“When I finish,” Ochako said noncommittally.

There was a groan of exasperation from the orange-haired girl, and she dropped herself on the bed to wait. Ochako sighed, knowing she’d never hear the end of it if she didn’t ask.

“Okay, what precisely do you think you want?”

“Cuddles,” Itsuka answered instantly.

“Kodai’s back at your dorm. I know we look alike, but-”

“I want cuddles from you.”

Pausing mid-equation, Ochako blinked and ran the conversation back in her mind. Had she heard that correctly?

Their date had gone alright, she’d grant, but cuddling? Specifically from her? That was a bit out of left field. She turned to look at Itsuka, frowning and waiting for her to explain that. The orangette took a moment to pick up on her expectations before nodding and smiling.

“So, you’re gonna be snuggled up with Izuku tonight like usual, and Yui got to him before me. So that means it’s only fair if I get to you before she does.”

“So this is about fairness?” Ochako asked, frowning. She would admit to being a little disappointed.

“Oh heck no!” Itsuka laughed. “I want some prime cuddles and I want you to give them willingly. I figure it’s either right now, while you’re waiting for Izuku and remember our fantastic date, or I try later when you’re too sleepy to make a reasonable judgment between the two of us. Given your disposition, I figured the former would be safer.”

Ochako blinked a couple times, processing the request. It had been a long Wednesday, and she wasn’t really sure if she was going insane or if Itsuka had already lost her marbles.

“...fine.”

“Yeah?” Itsuka perked up.

“Yeah,” Ochako sighed. “Give me a second.”

She shut her book and notepad, organizing a little pile of things she’d need and taking them over to the bed. She set them down and pointed to the mattress. Itsuka hopped on with a soft bound, making the poor springs squeak and heave for a moment. Ochako rotated her hand and pointed upwards. Her guest frowned, sitting up a bit and propping herself against the wall.

“What’s-?” she started to ask, but Ochako crawled up after her, depositing herself at Itsuka’s hip and leaning against her.

“Now be quiet while I work,” she commanded, opening her books back up to continue with her homework. Ochako reclined against her much comfier back-rest, enjoying how Itsuka warmed up at the contact.

“This- this isn’t what I had in mind…”

“You should have thought of that before bugging me in the middle of homework time,” Ochako yawned, starting to write up her latest answers for Ectoplasm.

There were a few moments of silence, then an arm slipped around her waist.

“I can work with this.”

“Good for you. Now please be quiet, I’m not very good at this stuff.”

“Oh, did you want some help?” Itsuka asked, sounding surprisingly giddy at the idea.

Ochako thought about it for a moment. Usually she would only accept Deku or Ida’s help, but…

“Sure.”

“YES!” Itsuka said between her teeth, pumping her fist.

Itsuka was actually pretty smart. Okay, she was really smart. Like, Deku & Momo smart. Ochako thought she was pretty okay, but she was starting to wonder with so many geniuses around her. Of course, she couldn’t hide her self-doubt from Uwabami’s other student, and each time she got thinking about it: Itsuka was reminding her of how awesome she was. It made Ochako’s cheeks very warm.

“Have you noticed anything odd about YaoMomo and Kyo lately?” Itsuka asked, pointing to an example that she’d missed earlier which made one of the equations make far more sense.

Ochako paused, considering both the example and the question.

“Not really?” she admitted. “They’re a bit less openly affectionate than they used to be, but that’s pretty normal. New dorms; busy and all.”

“Hm…”

The Big Sis of 1-B vibes were becoming evident, even to Ochako. She twisted around to look up at the orange-haired girl expectantly.

“It’s just- well, whenever they’re over at our place: it’s only one of them. They don’t come together to see Ibara anymore, and I’m worried they’re gonna tear their little polycule apart. It’s not healthy if they’re only staying together for Ibara’s sake, but it’s also sh*te timing for them to hit a rough patch. She’s being held together quite literally by a prayer and those two girls.”

Ochako nodded. She’d seen first hand a couple times how fragile their favorite plant-themed Heroine was. She tried to think back on any interactions she’d seen between Kyoka and Momo lately, humming as her brain took a break from her calculations.

“They haven’t been sitting together at meals,” she realized, frowning. “They’ll sit with Shiozaki, but always on opposite sides of her. I thought they were being supportive, but-“

Glancing to Itsuka, Ochako sighed.

“Yeah, and I think I have a guess why.”

The sun was starting to go down when it happened. Izuku had been about to ask Mirko if she’d like to get some food and talk about her friend plans when the last dregs of Danger Sense had flared up.

“What-?”

“[M I R K O. Y O U H A V E B E E N S E L E C T E D.]”

The two of them whirled, horrified at the figure standing atop the restaurant with a very fancy italian name. It was vaguely humanoid, but with purple skin, a metallic head which resembled the EVA 01, robotic legs, and being nearly twice as tall as Mirko. The two of them were in combat poses the moment they registered the thing, but it was simply unnerving to look at. It made it hard to focus on anything else.

“The hell do you want?” Mirko called up at it.

The…being leapt down, landing with a crack of asphalt and continuing forward without even breaking stride. Deku held his ground, his eyes narrowed as he pulled his mask up.

“[Y O U H A V E B E E N S E L E C T E D,]” it repeated. “[I H A V E B E E N C R E A T E D T O S U R P A S S Y O U, A N D R E P L A C E Y O U I N T H A T W H I C H I S T O C O M E.]”

Deku gave a little shake of the head. This thing had just sealed its fate.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!”

The robot-person-thing held out its arms, its expression hidden but a definite aura of smug superiority.

“[I H A V E B E E N C R E A T E D T O S U R P A S S Y O U,]” it said once again. “[M Y S I G N I S O P H I U C H U S, T H E S N A K E - C H A R M E R. I T S U G G E S T S S E C R E T S A N D S U C C E S S T O D E E P - L A I D P L A N S.]”

“I’M ABOUT TO LAY MY FOOT UPSIDE YOUR HEAD!” Mirko barked back. “THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!”

The creature seemed to consider that. Then it lowered into a combat crouch identical to Mirko’s.

“[I T I S T H E W I L L O F M Y C R E A T O R S T H A T Y O U E N T E R Y O U R N E X T L I F E.]”

“Finally!” Mirko groaned, pulling her hand down her face in annoyance. “See, this is why I like to keep on a tight schedule, Deku. Morons like this actually get to the point if they know I’m going to get bored and kick them, but nooooooooooooooooo, you wanted me to give them a chance to monologue.”

Deku held up his hands in surrender, fully ready to admit he was wrong about this particular case.

“[D E K U?]”

His eyes snapped back to the villain, suddenly realizing it was staring at him intently.

Uh Oh.

“[H E R O: D E K U. S U B - T I T L E: S Y M B O L O F H O P E,]” it recognized him.

“[P R I O R I T Y: H I G H.]”

“[T H R E A T L E V E L: L O W.]”

“[P A R A M E T E R S: E L I M I N A T E.]”

“[D A N G E R: A C C E P T A B L E.]”

UH OH!

It rushed them, and Deku barely had time to leap out of the way as the monstrosity pounded across the ground towards them with blitzing speed. Mirko got clear as well, but the tip of her shoe grazed past the thing’s skin. There was a terrible screeching sound as the two surfaces met, and the Rabbit Hero was flung even further off by some kind of red, hexagonal field that appeared between them. She screamed in annoyance or pain, crashing through a building with a sickening crack as her hip hit the door frame.

Deku bounced back again, trying to keep his distance. He focused on running rather than leaping, knowing his control of the Uravity Boots was still well below his old flight skills. Deku tried firing back bolts of Blackwhip to secure it to the ground or surroundings, mixed in with bolts of hard air from his Air Force Gloves, but they seemed to get stuck on the same field or barrier that had thrown Mirko away, leaving the creature within untouched.

“Who are you?!” Deku called back at it, trying to at least get through to the person inside.

“[V O C A L I N T E R A C T I O N I S N O T N E C E S S A R Y.]”

Wonderful.

Stopping on a dime, Deku powered up to 15% and smashed into the barrier with his fist, trying to test its strength. He felt the crackling energy against his gloves, along with heavy bowing as he pushed through for a moment before being repulsed. With a quick flex of his feet and hips, he felt his Uravity Boots stabilize his wild flight, letting him land softly and on his feet several meters away.

It was definitely too hard for any of his ranged attacks to work, and even if he hit it with something at the upper bounds of what he could still use: it might only give way, not carry through.

I need Mirko to hit it and pierce through so I can deliver a follow-up, he determined, firing a strand of Blackwhip to grab onto a nearby lamppost and swing around back towards her.

Thankfully, Mirko was already getting back on her feet by the time Deku got around to where she was. He snagged her on a strand and pulled her after him, trying to get her moving instead of to slow down for once.

“I have a plan,” he informed her.

“Good, because I’m pretty sure the bastard gave me a concussion.”

The plan worked great! The first time.

She swung down from Deku’s arm like some kind of fedora-tipping archeologist, crashing into the defense field and breaking it just enough for Deku to soar in after her and land a blow on the thing’s chest. The impact sent it flying back, a deep indent in the center of its torso. It crashed into a lamppost and bent it like a sapling before rolling off.

As it stood, Mirko noticed the purple skin on its back had torn. She was about to grin and call out that they’d achieved first blood when it had all gone wrong. The flesh had knitted back together, leaving the wound as if it had never happened.

“Nomu…” Deku breathed, sounding horrified. “Wait, but this one- this one talks! Maybe it’s just the robotic parts?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Mirko huffed, leaping away and giving him a shove to get going. “If the League’s involved: you’re getting out of here.”

“But-”

“No but’s,” she snapped. “Now: you head for main street, find me some other Heroes. I’m gonna try and keep its attention!”

He grit his teeth, but nodded and broke off to head back towards the center of the crazy, noisy, bizarre town. Mirko sighed, wishing she didn’t have to send him away. The kid could learn from a fight like this, not to mention he was pretty useful in a fight. Problem being, well… she kind of had a soft spot for him. He might push too deep sometimes, be a little self-righteous, and overall get on her nerves, but there was still a special part of her heart for someone who kept picking himself up out of the dirt like he did.

Reengaging the Nomu, Mirko tried to puncture its shell once again, this time by jamming a bit of loose metal into its face. The sharp end bent and deformed against the barrier, but in the end it got through. She grinned as it scraped across the metal head, leaving a long gash that didn’t automatically fix itself, even if it hadn’t done much damage.

“[E R R O R. D A M A G E T O E X T E R N A L H E A D P I E C E. A C T I O N: R E T A L I A T E.]”

“Oh balls.”

It reached out a hand towards her, grasping at empty air as she leapt back. A strange distortion appeared in its hands, and Mirko felt a shooting pain in her legs as they passed through a similar warping of space between them. She screamed as they were crushed and twisted into unfamiliar and agonizing shapes.

As a Pro Hero, Mirko was trained to handle pain. She landed on her hands and used them to push off even further, but she did it through tears and blood. She could feel her world starting to shatter around her, not unlike the bones in her calves. To never jump again? It was-

“FOR MORIOH!”

A whole squad of Heroes leapt past her, engaging the Nomu as she got clear.

Kami, Deku got them here fast!

“That was what you told me to do,” a familiar voice said, grabbing her under her arms and pulling her away from the fighting. “Plus, it’s- it’s a really small town.”

Glancing up, Mirko gave Deku a painful smile. He glanced at her legs and nodded once.

“Their leader has a kind of healing Quirk. Once he gets here: he’ll fix your legs up.”

Mirko nodded, swallowing hard. She didn’t trust herself to speak right then.

The group fighting the Nomu seemed to have just what they needed. The shortest had some kind of gravity powers, preventing the spatial distortion from getting anywhere but its own body. Another had a very destructive slashing effect which was slowly wearing down the barrier field. The third seemed to be some kind of power-enhancement Quirk, just beating the Nomu so fast he blurred in the air, joined by Deku (who naturally had used the loophole of retrieving the other Heroes to get out of running away like she wanted).

She was about to scream at them when she heard an odd clanking sound by her right ear. Mirko rolled over, trying to see what it was, blinking in amazement. It was a tiny, toy tank. She was pretty sure it wasn’t real, just a delusion from the pain, especially when it spoke.

[“They’ll never get past the barrier,”] it squeaked. [“They’re only wearing it down little by little. They need more firepower all at once, eh Tiger Bunny?”]

Mirko stiffened. Not just because the thing had used her old name, but because she recognized the vocoded voice from within the tank.

“Sunrise-! You fu-”

[“As pleasant as trading banter with you would be,”] the tank said shortly, [“we are on a bit of a time-crunch. So, I propose a plan. You get this little tank into a hole in the thing’s shield, and then I go boom. The tank’s heat-seeking, so it isn’t exactly great for hunting robots.”]

“You-” Mirko almost cussed the thing out, before grabbing it and holding it close. “Your Quirk doesn’t have the power to hurt that thing. You didn’t even trust it enough to take out Mama Sow and MaQueen!”

[“True,”] the toy tank admitted. [“Except this little toy is my favorite little helper. I call it my UraniTank. Do you know why?”]

Mirko’s blood ran cold.

“You wouldn’t-”

[“Best get it inside the shield before I accidentally set it off, eh Tiger Bunny?”]

There was no time to retort, a soft hand touching Mirko’s legs and filling them with pins and needles as they started to put themselves back together. It was an agonizing sensation, and she didn’t even get a chance to see the Hero who started her annoying but hopefully proper return to form. The tank started to groan in her hand as she squeezed it, but she managed to keep herself from crushing it and exposing the deadly core.

With a gasp of sharp pain up into her femurs, Mirko felt her body return to its normal shape. Her legs twinged horribly, but they felt like they’d work.

“You, scrapey-guy!” she called at the one trying to wear down the defenses bit at a time. “Get me a hole!”

“OI!” he agreed, slashing a nice hole for her arm.

Mirko shoved the UraniTank inside, then kicked off the body and braced against a bench.

“Everybody get down!”

She saw dark strands from Deku shield anyone too far from cover, his own body completely exposed. The Nomu reached up to grab the toy, only for it to click as it touched the thing. There was a blinding flash of light, the miniature nuclear explosion contained within the field for an instant.

“THIS POWER!” the punchy-guy shouted as a bit broke through, throwing him across the street.

No one was killed as the blast faded, but just about everyone was hurting. Mirko was still on her feet, and glanced at Deku immediately. What would she tell Nezu if the kid had taken a nuke to the face on his second day? That was like… fourth day stuff, bare minimum. To her alarm, he seemed fine. There was a bit of ash on his costume, but otherwise he was unaffected.

That’s some fine material I guess…

“It’s down to you and me!” Mirko shouted, seeing the Nomu’s barrier fade and flicker out, its skin pockmarked with blisters and rashes that didn’t seem to be healing.

“[N E G A T I V E.]”

“Oh, you know something I don’t, meatbag?” she challenged.

“[T H E R E A R E C U R R E N T L Y T H R E E C O M B A T C A P A B L E U N I T S P R E S E N T.]”

The short guy pulled on her glove for a second, stepping forward and clapping his hands together. The distortions reappeared, though now only at the Nomu’s feet. Evidently he was going to be the reliable one today and keep them from all getting crushed by… whatever the thing had used on them.

“AUHHHHHHHHHHH!” Mirko screamed, leaping forward and crushing the thing’s face in with a kick.

She beat it with everything she had, knowing it wouldn’t be quite enough but trying anyways. It hit back now, unable to move very quickly or use its special space crush, but its arms were plenty mobile. That and the heat-vision it shot at her anytime she got in front of its wedge-face.

A punch to her hurt legs and a headbutt to her abs made Mirko try a bit more range, but then she had to close the gap again to get under its laser eyes. Each second felt like an eternity, and she could only imagine the property damage and injuries they were stacking up.

Mirko decided to go for the kill. It would probably end up with her having two new holes under her belt, but she might be able to tear the thing’s head off. She grit her teeth, tensing her back foot and charging.

“Hey, Snake-Charmer!” a voice called from behind it. “Don’t you know the saying about Morioh streets?”

The Nomu’s head turned like an owl’s, disgustingly twisting the muscles as it looked at whoever was shouting at it. There was an explosion of black fibers, grabbing at every centimeter of the thing and holding it steady for her. Deku had come through.

“NEVER TURN AROUND, DUMBASS!” Mirko hollered, her thighs snapping around the skull and squeezing.

The metal bent, and she yanked until the spine snapped. The head flew off, and she crushed it against the pavement. Scrapey-guy gave it a quick slash, and what little was left was sure not to regenerate.

There was silence throughout the area for a moment as they all took a moment to breathe. Mirko was about to lecture Deku, only to feel a sharp stabbing in her legs. She dropped to her knees, gripping them both tightly and wondering what had hit them.

“Yeah, that’s what happens when you overuse something I fix,” the Hero who’d healed her explained. “My Quirk lets me put things back together, but only so well. I’ve been more or less holding your body together while you fought, and now that it’s over… well, you’re gonna want to seek medical attention. That last move kind of went past what I can override.”

She nodded, groaning and sitting down.

Crap… now I have to go off the job for a while and talk to my old team again…

“Deku!” she called, wincing as she adjusted her legs. “I need to have a little chat with you.”

Izuku bowed to his mentor, apologizing again for not being able to do more.

“Enough apologies,” Mirko insisted. “Just go get checked out for radiation contamination, get home, and…”

She seemed to struggle over her next words.

“Make sure to find a new Work-Study,” she sighed.

Izuku was horrified, but she stopped him from protesting with just a look.

“I’m gonna be on the mend for a bit, looks like. You need to keep learning, Symbol of Hope. I don’t know if there’s anything else I can teach you though. So go find someone who can. And the next time I’m in your neck of the woods… you and yours can come spar with me and mine.”

That made Izuku light up with hope. She rolled her eyes at him.

“You ever hear of the Zodiac Girls?” she asked, wincing as she got comfy again.

“I- I can’t say that I have, Mirko,” he admitted.

“Team of twelve spectacular ladies,” she sighed, her expression growing nostalgic. “Each one of us was themed after a different animal from the yearly zodiac. I was the Rabbit, obviously, but that was back when I called myself Tiger Bunny. There’s… there’s been a development or two, and I think it’s time I talked with them again.”

Izuku smiled, bowing again.

“I’m glad to have been of help,” he thanked her for the opportunity.

“Yeah, shut up,” she grumbled through a smile. “See you around.”

With that, Izuku headed for the train station, knowing he would only have more trouble saying goodbye if he stuck around. He was glad he’d come, but she was right. There wasn’t anything more he could learn from her. Deku wasn’t going to be a numbers Hero. Deku wasn’t going to be a jumper, or a kicker. He was going to be his own Hero. He was going to fly.

Once she’d been bandaged up and given a room, Mirko got out her cell and dialed up some old numbers. She sighed, hoping she could still get through.

While she waited for the conference call to begin, Rumi let the nurses fuss over her casts and IV, wondering why they were so concerned. It wasn’t like she was going anywhere.

“You kids today,” an invisible doctor said, her only visible parts her clothes, “always on your phones. My daughter’s the same way.”

Rumi had to smile at that. She liked being seen as a kid, as opposed to an old lady. She still felt young.

“Sorry Doctor-” she squinted at the nametag, “Hagakure, but this is Hero business.”

Doctor Hagakure laughed.

“Precisely what my daughter says. And Shizuka is fine, Miss Usagiyama.”

They exchanged smiles (or at least, Rumi thought they did, it was hard to tell with an invisible person), and she was left alone. She checked the screen, nodding at the eight “online” markers as she hit the start button.

“Hey cuties,” she said, feeling a pang in her heart as she spoke to her old team. “It’s been a while.”

[“A while indeed,”] Ryuko agreed, her tone sounding kind of miffed. [“I believe the last time we spoke was- oh yes: when you told me to “put my thighs to work at the local brothel, seeing as they weren’t doing me any favors in my personal life” wasn’t it?”]

“You still pretending to be eighteen?”

[“You little-!”]

[“Oh, it’s so good to hear you two bickering again,”] Uwabami swooned over the phone. [“Unfortunately… I think Mirko has something to tell us. And might also pass out soon from her medication.”]

Rumi shook her head, still wondering how the woman could do that.

[“She better,”] Yawara huffed. [“This line was shut down for a good-”]

“I ran into Anytime Sunrise today,” Rumi said flatly.

There was a shocked silence across each of the lines.

[“Um, Ru’ I’m supposed to tell the jokes here,”] Emi spoke up.

“No joke,” Rumi insisted. “It was her vocoder, and I saw her explosive Quirk go off. Same as ever. Good news: she isn’t with the League of Villains. Bad news: she’s probably with somebody just as twisted.”

More silence.

[“I won’t be back in Japan for a while,”] Clair sighed, [“but… if you find that bitch: you can count me in on the takedown, no matter how far I have to fly to meet you.”]

Rumi swallowed as a round of agreements met her ears.

[“I take it you have a plan?”] Uwabami asked.

“Yeah. She was in Morioh today; acted too quickly to the new Nomu I had to kill for her to be working long-range,” Rumi deduced, thinking back. “Not a lot of reasons to come to this little town. It’s fairly quiet, so I have to guess she was specifically targeting me.”

[“Vain, but not unlikely,”] Tomoko agreed.

[“Have you ever known Rumi not to be?”] Shino giggled.

Another round of consensus.

[“So, you plan on investigating the entirety of Morioh?”] sexier Ryuko asked, that characteristic dry wit carrying across the signal perfectly. [“I thought we trained you better than that.”]

“No, you’re right, that’s a dumb idea,” Mirko agreed, “but I get the feeling I know who she is now.”

[“Oh?”]

“There was a blue lady who spoke to me today, Kizuku Chitose from Shoowaysha Publishing. Around the right age, and she had some of Chiki’s vocal ticks. “Mayhaps,” “million-yen question,” and even her “enduring recourse” to name just three. I didn’t put the pieces together until I heard the stupid vocoder call me Tiger Bunny.”

She waited for their responses. Was she just going crazy, or could it be that they’d found her after all these years?

[“I’ve heard that name before,”] Uwabami admitted. [“She’s known as something of an extremist when it comes to interviews. I’ll look into her at once. She always thought I was an airhead, even before… well.”]

[“You are an airhead,”] Ryuko joked, [“but yeah, she’ll suspect you the least. I guess we’re all on standby then, huh?”]

“If Uwabami turns up evidence: then yeah, we should all be there,” Rumi agreed. She looked down at her hands, clenching them a bit.

“It’s long past time she paid for what she did.”

“Hey mom, I’m home!” Izuku called, closing the door and sliding off his shoes.

“I’m in the kitchen!”

Letting out a sigh of relief at finally being home, Izuku was about halfway down the hall when he realized he was supposed to be living at the dorms.

“OH- Oh No!” he gasped, realizing Nezu was going to flay him alive for not getting back to UA before curfew. “Mom, I love you, but I have to get back to UA! I’ll come see you this weekend!”

He ran for the door, pulling on his shoes and rushing out the door.

Only to find himself stepping into his house all over again.

Izuku paused, turning to look back. Sure enough, there was the hallway out. He looked forward, and it was there too.

“Oh no… not you…” he gasped, realization dawning on him and horror gripping his heart.

“If you’re staying, come into the kitchen!” his mother’s voice echoed to him from both hallways.

Closing his eyes, Izuku closed the door and stepped back into the hallway he’d begun in. He put his shoes away and walked to the kitchen.

“Any way I can help with dinner?” he asked.

“No, just set the table,” his mother’s voice said, the woman herself invisible as Izuku kept his eyes directly on his socks.

He did as he was told, putting the items where they belonged. They seemed too easy to set, no weight in any of them. But of course not. They weren’t real.

“I heard you walked out on Mirko today,” he heard his mother say, disappointment in her tone.

“I didn’t walk out,” Izuku protested. “She got hurt, and she said I needed to find-”

“You were going to leave regardless,” she accused more directly.

Izuku wanted to say no, but the word caught in his throat.

“Yes. There wasn’t anything else for her to teach me.”

“How incredibly proud of you,” Inko’s voice said with so much disdain Izuku didn’t recognize it. “I sacrificed everything for you, but you can’t even bring yourself to be humble and accept what you’re given? What kind of a son are you?”

Clenching his fists, Izuku forced himself not to snap back.

“It’s because I don’t want to waste what I’ve been given that I would have left either way. I want to make the most of what I have. Staying would-”

“I, I, I, I, I,” Inko’s voice snarled. “It’s all about you, isn’t it Izuku.”

“N-no! That’s not what I-”

“There’s that word again. Can’t you think about anyone but yourself? Can’t you think about your poor mother? The mother who had a heart attack because you couldn’t keep yourself out of trouble! Did you even think of me once when you handed yourself over to those villains, or were you too busy playing the selfless martyr?”

“Of course I-!” Izuku shouted, whipping his head up to scream at the phantasm of his fears. He stopped short when he saw no one was there.

He was all alone.

Izuku tried to find a way out of the apartment, to escape the nightmare, but each window led to an identical one in a mirrored version of the first, and every door led either to the room he knew perfectly or to the alternate apartment. He was trapped, utterly and entirely cut off from anyone else.

“This is what you deserve.”

Chapter 5: BONUS EPISODE: Ibara’s Birthday Presents

Chapter Text

“Get in, Birthday girl!” Kyoka called from the back of the limo, “We got permission, you’re going birthday hopping!”

Ibara smiled, pretending to sigh with resignation as she was pulled in and placed on a rather comfortable seat. Momo gave her a small wave from her left and Kyoka maneuvered her into the center and took the other window seat. The door snapped closed and she pointed towards the windshield.

“Onwards, Uchimura!” Kyoka cheered, making Ibara smile at her energy.

“Right you are, Miss Jiro,” the elderly man at the front agreed, grinning back at her, “Miss Shiozaki, a pleasure as always. I take it I can trust you to chaperone these two in my absence?”

That made Ibara giggle. It was heartwarming how much Momo’s family loved her, the staff of her childhood home being no exception to that.

“Most certainly, Uchimura-san,” she promised, “There will be nothing more intimate than PG kisses, you have my word.”

Kyoka threw an arm around her shoulders, grinning evilly.

“She would say nothing more intimate than hand-holding,” the violette said with a positively malicious grin, “But as we’ve proven quite conclusively: Ibara’s handholding is better than other peoples’ foreplay.”

Ibara casually swung her arm around Kyoka’s shoulders, pulling her close in a sharp movement so her lips were next to her ears.

“And just how would you know that, my dear?” she hissed.

Kyoka’s face turned crimson and she mumbled something that sounded like “research”. Momo seemed to be entirely out of the discussion, just smiling up a storm and watching. Ibara could fix that.

“I don’t suppose your “ Research Partner ” took notes in my absence?”

Momo’s giggles behind her hand stopped dead, and her cheeks turned an adorable pink.

“I— that is— we haven’t— not that we— without informing you of course, you see I—“ she fumbled through her words.

Ibara let Kyoka go, nodding and hiding her smirk.

“Quite,” she confirmed.

With her two lady loves entirely flustered to appropriate levels, Ibara relaxed and enjoyed the ride. She closed her eyes and put her hands into her usual praying position. Strangely enough: she wasn’t actually doing it for the sake of prayer. While she was devout in her conversation with her Heavenly Father, her issue at the moment was far more… mundane. Her hands were entirely habitual in their pose, given she’d needed to close her eyes.

After a few minutes of driving, she heard Kyoka finally recover enough to whisper to Momo.

“Do you think she fell asleep?” she asked softly, clearly trying not to wake her, “She doesn’t usually pray this long…”

“I’m perfectly conscious,” Ibara informed her, remaining in her pose through both her words and Kyoka’s alarmed jerk back, having leaned over her to speak with Momo, “I simply… I need to keep my eyes closed right now.”

“Why? Is the limousine so offensive to look at?” Momo asked, sounding more concerned than offended.

“N-no,” Ibara mumbled, peeking out at her in embarrassment, “I simply… I get carsick easily.”

She waited for them to laugh at her, or at least for them to tease her, but she didn’t hear any.

“You mean to tell me: you can swing around the world like Spider-Girl all day, be flown along Momo’s magic new boots like a princess, and sleep upside-down on a plane: …but you get motion sickness in cars?” Kyoka asked, sounding like she suspected Ibara was pulling their legs.

Ibara nodded, already a bit pale.

“I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t even experience it when I’m the one driving, it’s incredibly—”

Something soft and cool was pressed to her forehead, and Ibara sighed with surprised relief. She peeked at Momo, seeing she had made something to help with her discomfort. It made Ibara smile, and she placed her hand over Momo’s gratefully.

As they drove, Ibara sighed and realized she should probably ask sooner rather than later.

“Are you two fighting?”

The silence grew suddenly tense.

“Why would we-“

“No.”

“So you are,” Ibara sighed, leaning back and wondering why she was involved with the two of them.

“I— it’s not really fighting,” Kyoka tried to spin it.

“So you messed up, and Momo won’t forgive you,” Ibara summarized.

“Dang it girl, reading people is my thing!” Kyoka whined, the squeak of leather telling Ibara she’d slumped down in her chair.

“And reading the two of you is most definitely mine ,” Ibara agreed, peeking and turning to Momo.

The heiress let out a soft breath, glancing down at her knees.

“It’s— it shouldn’t ruin your birthd—“

“The only thing ruining my birthday is worrying the two of you are holding in pain I could help heal,” Ibara insisted, grabbing either of their hands and holding them to her heart. “Please tell me.”

There was a moment of silence, and Ibara worried she’d ruined the entire trip. Then Momo admitted her feelings, and Ibara realized they needed to get them dealt with now.

“Kyoka killed someone to keep me safe.”

Ibara’s eyes flicked to the violette, who nodded.

“There was a… a clone or a shapeshifter or something,” Kyoka muttered. “The one you ran into. Looked like you and- and it tried to go for Momo. I didn’t even think, I just… stabbed. And then it melted.”

“You didn’t check first!” Momo reprimanded, her voice soft but harsh. “She could have been a human, and you would have pierced her heart!”

“I didn’t want to risk losing you!” Kyoka insisted, shouting and with hot tears running down her cheeks.

“Perhaps in doing so: you did anyways?! —!”

Momo clapped her hands to her mouth in horror at what she’d said. Kyoka seemed equally shocked.

“Kyoka,I—“

“No,” the shorter girl huffed, turning away. “No, I get it. You don’t want to be around someone with that kind of instinct. I— I understand. It’s fine.”

She tried to pull away, but Ibara held firm. She pulled Kyoka close and hugged her to her chest.

“It isn’t fine,” she denied her the easy way out. “It’s something— it’s something we need to talk about. To come to terms with.”

“Ibara, you don’t—“

“No, I don’t know how terrifying that would be,” Ibara agreed, not giving Kyoka a chance to pull out. “I couldn’t have done it, even knowing.”

She turned to Momo.

“But if I had to kill to protect you two: I would too.”

The heiress gasped in alarm.

“That’s right,” Ibara nodded. “Even I, the one who hates hurting anything, would take a life if it meant defending you, Kyoka, or anyone else in our class.”

She looked at Kyoka.

“I would expend every possible avenue not to beforehand, but if it was one or the other: I would choose to stain myself rather than allow you to come to harm.”

Tears threatened to overwhelm her, but Ibara held firm.

“And it’s okay if you won’t do the same,” she insisted. “It’s noble if you can’t. It’s a terrible, awful burden to take life, and you’re better for it if you can avoid it. But please, Momo, please don’t hate her for what she felt she had to do. Please don’t hate me for choosing now that I will if it comes to it.”

Momo stared at them for a moment, her neck working as she swallowed a few times.

“How could I ever trust you, knowing you’re willing to end someone’s life to extend mine?” she whispered.

Ibara didn’t have an answer for her. Kyoka did.

“Because you’re the best of us,” she answered, equally quiet. “Because knowing you would look at us like this if we ever do so is what I had to weigh before I attacked. I had to choose: see you get hurt by a monster wearing Ibara’s shape, or know you’d think I’m a monster for doing so. I chose the second option, because at least this way: you’re alive to hate me. You have the chance to still be happy, even if that means I’m not in the picture.”

The limo came to a stop, and Kyoka managed to break away, trying to leave. Ibara barely registered the flash of maroon and black that shot across her lap to grab hold of Kyoka and pull her away from the door.

“I— I don’t hate you,” Momo said into her back. “I was just— I’m just—“

“Scared.”

The pair turned to Ibara as she pulled them into a hug of her own.

“Scared that— that the girls you fell in love with have vanished,” she said, her throat catching a bit. “That they’re no longer within your reach, and when you need them— that when you need them: they won’t be there.”

She squeezed them close, some distant part of her worrying about ruining their clothes with her tears.

“…yes,” Momo agreed. “I was scared. But- but I can’t think of anywhere better to learn how to be brave than here. With the two of you.”

It was Kyoka’s turn to start bawling. She spun around in their arms and curled up against Momo.

“I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “I’m sorry, I should have found another way! I just— I—!”

“I know,” Momo assured her, rubbing Kyoka’s back and looking to Ibara with understanding. “I’m sorry too. I’m sorry for- for pushing you away. I didn’t think about how- how it might be tearing you up to have done it.”

Kyoka let out a little whine as she nodded into Momo’s chest. Ibara felt a pang of jealously and squished closer so Kyoka would be equally close to both of them.

“I’m sorry,” she informed them, meaning to apologize for being captured in the first place, but the two of them shifted and silenced her with a hand each.

“Don’t you da—“ Kyoka started.

Ibara smiled and pulled their soft fingers down from her lips, showing off a motion as she kissed either of them on the top of the ring fingers, just shy of the knuckles.

“I’m sorry for taking so long,” she rephrased. “But the rules did say: not until 16.”

“Rules?”

“Pardon?”

Smiling wider, Ibara shuffled their little group around so the girls were sitting again, and she was kneeling on the floor.

“Jiro Kyoka, Yaoyorozu Momo,” she said, holding their hands lightly. “Would you two do me the honor of allowing me to become your girlfriend?”

Momo was positively giddy when they entered the Karaoke bar. Ibara was finally, finally, FINALLY her girlfriend! Officially, no caveats, no provisos, no quid pro quos.

Certainly, there wouldn’t be eternal smooth sailing for them (she still had a bit of a wariness around the two women who had confessed to being willing to kill for her, which rather than being romantic: was somewhat unnerving in reality), but at least they had something official now! Most people would probably say it was no different than what they’d been doing, but Momo knew better.

Ibara was a girl who was quite particular with her words. She didn’t grant titles or adjectives haphazardly, so her officially requesting (and being accepted as) being their girlfriend meant she was committing to it. To them. To herself. To each other.

Momo was quite giddy about it, to say the least.

They’d planned Ibara’s birthday to have three phases, one from each aspect of their relationship. Momo’s contribution was an exquisite dinner reservation which they’d been too busy enjoying to speak, barring the occasional moan of delight, which meant Kyoka’s was next on the list. Karaoke.

“Booth six, ma’am’s,” the attendant sent them in, sounding far too bored for one of the most amazing birthdays of all time.

“Thankyou thankyou,” Momo beamed, skipping along and tugging her girlfriends towards the clear-glass box set aside for them.

“You’re certainly quite excited for this.” Ibara’s eyes held an affectionate light, watching her with a sparkle that had been missing since before the attack on the camp.

“ I have been practicing my singing,” Momo said proudly, picking up the microphone and hopping up onto the little stage. “And now: I get to use that to wow two of my girlfriends at the same time. I’m not entirely certain this isn’t my birthday.”

Her girlfriends giggled, sitting together and intertwining their hands as Momo looked for the proper song. She let out a small “Ah, there we are” as she located the proper title.

Turning back to her companions, Momo gave them a wink and hit the play button, ignoring the words as they popped up on the monitor behind them.

“ ~You make me dizzy,

“~without rocket boots strapped on.

“~You say I’m silly,

“~whenever we’re all alone.

“~I’d take offense, but,

“~I know that you like that too, too~”

She shot a wink at the pair, glad she had an eidetic memory for times like these. She’d been preparing the words for quite a while in preparation for this.

“~Before you met me:

“~I was alone;

“~My head was full of figures,

“~You entered my life,

“~Now all of my equations:

“~They always end in three; you and me!”

Pointing to the pair and then to herself on the last words, Momo felt herself fight back a laugh of joy. She didn’t know why, but having them just made her entire being sing. So she gave it all to her chorus.

[Chorus]

“~We are on, our way tonight,

“~Nothing left,

“~but Love.

“~We can step, into the light,

“~In your eye:

“~I see: our forever!”

“~They might see:

“~A pretty heiress but,

“~You make me:

“~A Hero caught in love.

“~All my dreams:

“~They start with you, so don’t ever hold back! Don’t ever hold back!”

“~My life starts,

“~when you’re next to me!

“~It’s my lot,

“~to make you family!

“~Can you feel?

“~I’m here for you, so don’t ever pull back! Don’t ever pull back!”

Momo was vaguely aware of Kyoka and Ibara cheering her on, but she was getting lost in the music, their shouts just part of the rhythm.

“~I might be crazy,

“~head over heels in love,

“~But when we’re sleeping,

“~Snuggling under sheets,

“~I swear I’ve found you:

“~Perfect matryoshka doll.

“~One and all.”

She took a breath before returning to the [Chorus], quietly wondering when she’d started dancing, and when her hair had come loose around her head as it whipped too and fro. But she kept singing, even as a new addition to the song approached.

“~I can feel your vines meet me,

“~’round my heart it seems,

“~make my spirit gleam b-right!”

“~Pull you in-between my seams,

“~you command my dreams,

“~I can see your souls alight!”

There was a pause, and Momo took the time to inhale deeply, Kyoka snuggling up to Ibara and squeezing her jacks in one hand so she could appreciate her final chorus. Momo had one little surprise for them however. This particular location recorded her chorus for her, allowing it to play back so she could sing a new piece over it.

“~KYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

“~BABYYY!”

“~I-BA-RA!”

“~IT’S YOU AND ME, SO DON’T EVER HOLD BACK, DON’T EVER HOLD BACK!”

She moved back to matching the chorus, making it sound like two Momo’s were serenading her loves, which she knew would make both of them quite giddy.

As the song finished, Momo found herself breathing hard and holding her knees, trying to keep herself from passing out.

How on God’s Green Earth does Kyoka do this so well? Her lungs would have to be twice as large as mine, and that would be bigger than her entire body!

“Woohoo!” Kyoka cheered her on, running up and hugging her tightly. “Who the Gal? You the Gal!”

Momo smiled at her, turning her cheek to get a kiss. To her amazement, she felt another pair of lips go for her other cheek. She found Ibara up beside her, equally excited for her.

Life was pretty good some birthdays. Even when it wasn’t her own.

“You know, I didn’t actually think we’d be going on a four-way date,” Itsuka admitted. “I was dead certain that none of you would be for it.”

Yui folded her arms, pouting at her girlfriend in annoyed curiosity. The orangette quickly explained, getting a little flustered under power of the pout.

“W-well, I thought you’d be too jealous to share,” she admitted, before turning to Uraraka. “Same for you. And Izu…honestly, I figured you just wouldn’t because Ocha said not to.”

Ocha put a hand to her breastbone, evidently offended at the implication (or at least pretending to be). Izu folded his arms, grumbling about not having to ask Ocha about what he eats for breakfast. Naturally, Yui jumped on that.

“Mm,” she said, making the other two’s cheeks burn.

“Okay, she might take issue with me having… that , for breakfast,” Izu admitted, blushing furiously, “but that’s entirely a different story.”

“Entirely,” Itsuka agreed, pulling her dates into a booth and reaching for the mic. “But now isn’t the time for such comments! Now is the time for us to play full house!”

She looked around, expecting rolled eyes and good-natured smiles, only to find her girlfriend and other dates giving her blank expressions which rivaled Yui’s best.

“Like in poker?” she prompted, trying to get them to laugh. “Three queens, two kings?”

“No, we got it,” Ocha said, snatching the mic from her hand. “It was just weak, and there’s only one Izuku here. If you went for two-pair or four of a kind: that would have been funny.”

Itsuka was too shocked to answer, letting Yui sit her down as the brunette went up and cycled through the songs to find just the right one. Itsuka was about to suggest one when she suddenly stopped, cycled back, and picked one before she could catch the title. The screen turned a dull green-blue, with lens flares of all things, and the lines appeared. But Ocha didn’t sing the lyrics which appeared on the monitor alongside the guitar.

“~Got my back to a corner, now that I’ve met you.

“~Gonna fall underneath your spell if you make your move.”

Huh, she’s singing this for Itsuka, Yui mused, smiling behind her eyes as she listened and rested against Izu’s shoulder.

“~I was raised on cardboard, not a princess of the land,

“~Now I’m:

“~Fallin’ for two girls, ‘cause they’re comin’ for my man.”

Yui nudged Itsuka to make sure she was paying attention, her smile touching her lips slightly now.

“~Not just a kissin’ buddy, she’s the real deal,

“~She’s not: go~old, just a bit hotter than I am.

“~I know I make no sense,

“~But when I: look at you.

“~”How can I be smitten, when I’m still in love with you?””

Ocha’s question was directed to Izu, her eyes so full of affection that Yui was jealous. It was clear they were together for the long haul, and Itsuka and her were going to have to work pretty darn hard to find spots on the ride.

“~Because one day I woke up, and knew that I want you three,

“~And my heart starts to wonder: “How on this earth can it be?”

“~I say maybe we’ll find out all of the things we can be,

“~’Cause they see me as a Hero, not a girl from the street!

“~So I’m in~vest~ed~

“~I’m in~vest~e~ed!”

While the instrumental part played, Itsuka cheered, shaking Izu and Yui to get them to do likewise. Ocha blushed, but shushed them as the words came up and she kept her own rendition.

“~Itsuka said: “Deku will be mine.”

“~’Say’n: “That’s just not happenen’: f’it’s just me, and him: with you.”

“~Wouldn’t let him go, even to her fiery hair!

“~”If Deku goes with you: I’ll be along for all the ri~ide!””

Ocha leveled a finger at Itsuka, then to Yui. Evidently even she was included in that, even if her hair wasn’t fiery. Yui was okay with that.

“~Because one day I woke up, and knew that I need you three,

“~And my heart starts to wonder: “How on this earth can it be?”

“~I say maybe we’ll find out all of the things we can be,

“~’Cause they see me as a Hero, not a girl from the street!

“~So I’m in~vest~ed~

“~I’m in~vest~e~ed!

“~I’m in~vest~ed~

“~I’m in~vest~e~ed!”

Neither of the others seemed to notice the slight change to the chorus, but it made Yui’s heart flutter. If she remembered this song: there were three renditions of those words. Could the last one include…

“~People talk about my guy, who's che~ating on his girl,

“~Oh no.”

Ocha waggled her finger back and forth, as if playfully denying the aforementioned rumors.

“~There are no holes in his heart, just a vacancy or two~”

She pointed a finger at Yui and Itsuka each, winking at them as she used Yui’s favorite word in place of a line.

“~M~m!

“~And one day we’ll be famous, as the Heroes one and two,

“~And maybe they won’t know it, when they see us on the news,

“~But when we run and come together:

“~Being home will mean with: Yo~u!”

When Ochako gestured for who “you” was, she used an open palm, indicating all of them at once. Yui felt her heart flutter in a way it hadn’t in a while.

“~I’m prepared to fall for you,

“~I’m prepared to fall for you…”

She took a deep breath and nearly belted her last chorus, confirming Yui’s suspicions and making her smile openly, just for her.

“~Because one day I woke up, and knew that I love you three,

“~And my heart starts to wonder: “How on this earth can it be?”

“~I say maybe we’ll find out all of the things we can be,

“~’Cause they see me as a Hero, not a girl from the street!

“~So I’m in~vest~ed~

“~I’m in~vest~e~ed!

“~I’m in~vest~ed~

“~I’m in~vest~e~ed!

“~Got my back to a corner, now that I’ve met you.

“~Gonna fall underneath your spell if you make your move.…”

So Ocha could sing. And she was amazingly sweet. And also perfect.

Well sh*t, Itsuka could top that! And she could do it in less words, damnit!

“Okay, give me that,” she grumbled, standing up and accepting the mic when Ocha tossed it to her with a sassy wink. “...shut up.”

Ocha didn’t say anything, simply snuggling up with Izuku adorably. Itsuka would show her.

Oh, come on, where is it… C’mon, you’ve gotta have— Aha!

She rolled up the volume and hit play. The screen filled with hearts, and she rounded on her audience, already knowing the song by heart. She started with a finger pointed at Yui.

“~Hell: it’s by the way you look at meeeeee,”

She added two more fingers and indicated all of them

“~Know: that you’re the only ones I seeeeeee.”

She switched to pointing at Izuku.

“~He: is very very: extraordinary.”

She opened her palm, gesturing at them all.

“~We: are even more than any single one can adore.

“~And Love:

“~Is all that I request, from you.

“~Love: it’s more than just a game for two.”

Itsuka shot Yui a wink, but knew all of them would be in the line of its effect.

“~A feeeeeeew in Love might make it,

“~Steal my heart but please don’t break it.

“~Love: was made for me and youuuuu.”

The trumpet solo was nice. It gave Itsuka a chance to sway her hips the way she knew all three of them liked. She gave a nice little walk around in a circle, like a slow pirouette as the words started again.

“~Now: be sure you always look at meeeee,

“~So: I’ll be the only one you seeeeeee.

“~Seeeeeeeee, I’m very very: extraordinary.

“~Me: is even more than any one of you can know.”

“~And Love:

“~Is all that I would give, to youuuu!

“~Love: it’s more than just a game for twoooooo.

“~Twooooooooo in love might make it,

“~But two more might just not break it,”

Turning to Izuku and Ocha, Itsuka addressed her finale to them especially.

“~Love: could be for we and youuuu!

“~Love: could be for we and youuuu!

“~Love: could be for we and youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”

She got polite applause, but they seemed surprised it was already over. Itsuka frowned, surrendering the mic to Yui, who was giving her a smug look.

“What, it’s a classic!” she protested, only to be pushed down into a seat where Izuku wrapped an arm around her as a consolation prize.

…it wasn’t the worst participation award she’d ever gotten.

“Twenty minutes, that’s all I’m askin’ for, ya Big Bakubaby,” Ashido whined, pulling on his arm enough she was almost swinging from it.

“You— grrr… fine. Twenty minutes, and I’m timing it,” Katsuki huffed, letting her drag him into the building alongside Kirishima.

“Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssss,” Ashido whispered, hissing her last letter like a teapot. “Come on, Kiri and I got the perfect song for us to try. You just wait!”

Katsuki pursed his lips, fairly certain he was going to be severely disappointed. Not that Ashido was a bad singer or anything, she was pretty good (he would accept no less from his… companions), but karaoke had never been his thing. That, and the place seemed kind of like sh*t. Dilapidated paneling on the walls told him the bar was hitting hard times, and he doubted it would have nearly as many bells and whistles as Ashido liked on her… everything.

Ashido being crazy was status-quo by that point. The more surprising thing was Kirishima’s willingness to go along with it. The guy couldn’t say no to Ashido, that was no surprise, but helping her drag Katsuki to a karaoke bar was… well, it was a new level for the guy. Respectable, but also a bit concerning.

“You’re gonna love this place!” Ashido insisted one last time, pulling them inside and gesturing to the shockingly spacious studio inside, with giant screens inside each booth and a raised dais for the singer to jam out on. Katsuki’s jaw hit the floor.

“What the fu—”

“Soooooooo, I may or may not have found this place while looking for ideal wedding venues,” Ashido said, looking more pink than usual. “Turns out the front entrance is for like, super big wigs like Yaomomo, but the owners don’t make enough that way, so they got this back door for normal students to come in without making the top customers worry their favorite place to jam out is going to the “commoners.””

The way Ashido said “commoners” was like she was doing her best impression of a posh, British lady… who also spoke Japanese. Kasuki forced himself not to laugh.

They paid and grabbed one of the smaller booths, with Kirishima waving to some guy with a two-by-four for a head as they passed. Katsuki didn’t even want to know.

“Okay, we’re up first,” Ashido insisted, grabbing the pair of mic’s and tossing one to Kirishima. “You just sit your cutie booty in that there sofa and chillax while we serenade ya, kay?”

“I temper my expectations,” Katsuki warned her as he sat down with a flump .

“That’s the spirit!” she cackled, thumbing through a few songs before hitting select. ”This one’s for all my lovely blondes out there. Stay sassy now!”

Katsuki just blinked at her as a guitar started. She took a deep breath before looking him dead in the eyes and beginning.

“~It’s our way, we’re all the better,

“~When it’s night; hold you close until dreams settle.

“~Oh I know: we’re not much better

“~But my friend, we don’t give up.

Katsuki had no idea she could sing like that. So melodious and… not hyperactive or squealing.

“~Spend your days cursin’ us all,

“~Prayin’ you could be the best and win it all,

“~Oh my dear: you could be better,

“~But my friend, you still stand tall.

Kirishima hopped over, and the two of them started on a chorus that made his blood boil in a lot of ways he wasn’t sure he liked, but also couldn’t say he hated either.

“~You ain’t no Number One,

“~It’s not your final toast,

“~I know we’re the ones who let you sleep at night, you need the most

“~He’ll be your strong man,

“~I’ll be your utmost,

“~We’ll be the moon, you’ll be the rain, you’ll see the dance you love the most!

“~Oh!

“~You’ll see- we’ll be- he’ll be- you’ll be- I’ll be your lamp post, buddy!

“~Oh!

“~You’ll see- we’ll be- he’ll be- you’ll be- I’ll be your lamp post, buddy!

Ashido took a step back, and Kirishima took up center stage. His voice was a lot rougher, but he was clearly giving it his all.

Manly bastard…

“~Don’t change your ways, just let us stay,

“~Cry your tears and we will take them all away.

“~Please just give us just one day,

“~Oh my bro, just let us in.

“~See Endea~vor at the top,

“~Break the chains and take your place where you belong.

“~Know your heart’s a bit at war,

“~But my bro: we don’t give up

“~So my guy: please take us up.

Kirishima kept the main post, invigorated and with his voice warmed up, but Ashido joined in with all her passion and pressed the chorus hard. Katsuki wiped at his eyes as they started to water from the noise.

“~I ain’t your Number One,

“~You’re not a haunting ghost,

“~You’re just the one who wakes us up at night and holds us close.

“~You’ll be our strong man,

“~We’ll be your lamp post,

“~We’ll be the sun, you’ll be the day, you’ll be the way you want the most!

They finished out with a weaving remix of the chorus, with Ashido taking the words while Kirishima did a neat mix of tune and melody in the background with “ooh’s”.

“~Oh!

“~You’ll see- we’ll be- he’ll be- you’ll be- I’ll be your lamp post, buddy!

“~Oh!

“~You’ll see- we’ll be- he’ll be- you’ll be- I’ll be your lamp post, buddy!

“~Oh!

“~You’ll see- we’ll be- he’ll be- you’ll be- I’ll be your lamp post, buddy!

“~Oh!

“~You’ll see- we’ll be- he’ll be- you’ll be- I’ll be your lamp post, buddy!

It took Katsuki to react after they finished, some kind of dust in his damn eye making it all watery and drippy. He rubbed at it to get the thing out, conveniently hiding and drying the precipitation that had collected there.

“Was that supposed to be some kind of confession?” he asked, his voice all choked up because he’d been getting a cold lately. “It was f*cking weak. I’ll show you how you do a proper confession…”

Getting up, he took both microphones and looked for an appropriate song. Mina placed her lips on his cheek probably to taste for weakness, and Kirishima bumped their foreheads together because he was a shipdit who didn’t watch where he was going. Katsuki grabbed both of them in a bear hug to show them how to properly attack someone, then let them go so he could show them up.

Absolutely.

“You guys didn’t have to do all this, ya know,” Izuku mumbled, smiling sheepishly at the three as they discussed the next song. “Losing my work-study sucks, but I’ll find a new one.”

Ochako gave him a baffled look.

“Why wouldn’t we try to cheer you up?” she asked, clearly confused.

Izuku shrugged and poked his fingers together awkwardly, not really sure how to say what he wanted to.

“I just… I guess, I’m not really as awesome as I used to be. You should take time to focus on cooler people. Like you!”

Itsuka stared at him like he’d started speaking Finnish.

“Izuku, do you have more or less of your Quirk than you did at the Sports Festival?” she asked out of nowhere.

“Um… a little more I guess?”

“That’s funny,” Itsuka said, a bit too aggressively passive-aggressive. “‘Cause Yui here says that was when you were at your coolest.”

“You thought I was awesome, Yui?”

“Mm!” she agreed with a nod.

“…how?” Izuku asked, baffled out of his mind how that could possibly be so.

“Well…” Yui mused, clicking on a song.

“~She said: “There’s nothing like his smile, sort of goofy and gentle, and real.” Yui sang, pointing at Itsuka accusingly.

“~She said: “He never knows how wonderful that smile can make someone feel.” Itsuka took the lines and ran with it, pointing at Ochako instead.

“~A-And she saw: Whenever you get bored you doodle clouds on the edge of your notes. Ochako stammered, pointing at Yui as she tried to get into the groove of it.

“~And she noticed that you still take time for checkers when your friend comes and asks you to play. Yui flipped it right back on Ochako before stealing through to the chorus.

“~And we kept it all inside our heads,

“~What we saw: we left unsaid!

“~’Cause though we wanted to:

“~We couldn’t talk to you,

“~We couldn’t find the wa~ay

“~But now it ends toda~ay

Ochako and Itsuka jumped in on Yui’s singing, joining into a beautiful melody of voices.

“~’Cause we would tell you:

“~Tell you everything we see,

“~If we could tell you:

“~That you’re everything to me.

“~Oh, there’s a million words at heart

“~We don’t know how we could even start

“~To try and tell you!

“~To try and tell you…

“Did she say anything else?” Izuku asked before he could stop himself.

“About you?” Itsuka raised an eyebrow, smirking a bit at his fishing for compliments.

“Nevermind, it’s not really my place—” he backtracked, only for Ochako to interrupt him.

“N-n-n-n-n-n-no-no-no-no! It’s just— she said so many things, I’mtryingtorememberthebestones, ya know?”

She let out a hard cough, as if preparing for a long recitation.

“Um…”

“~I thought:

“~You look really handsome—

“~She means: You look Really Cool! Itsuka interrupted.

“~—when you have emerald bolts in your hair. Ochako finished, looking to the side and tapping her fingers together nervously.

“You did?”

“Yeah, totally!” Itsuka insisted.

“~And I wondered how you learned to stand,

“~When all the rest of the world wouldn’t dare… Yui confessed softly.

Ochako, not to be outdone, stole the next chorus for herself.

“~But I kept it all inside my head,

“~What I saw: I never said!

“~”If I would tell him:

“~Tell him everything I see,

“~Then I would tell him:

“~That he’s everything I need!

“~And there’s a million words at heart…

“~And I don’t know where I would even start.

“~If I should tell him!

“~If I should tell him!! Itsuka agreed, going full force to make up for her lack of lines.

“~But whaddya do when he’s the kinda guy…

“I’ve just never thought that way…”

“~And whaddya do when he never takes a hint? Ochako teased.

“I guess I don’t know anything…”

“~Then how could I say:

“~I love yo~u, Yui asked softly.

“~I love Yo~u, Itsuka affirmed.

“~I Lo~ve Yo~u! Ochako insisted with her whole heart.

“~I love y~ou… Yui trailed off, tears in her eyes as she finished them..

Itsuka took the last few bars, singing a lot softer than even her usual tone of voice.

“~And, from those million words at heart…

“~I think that’s how I should prob’ly start…

“~If I could tell you~u…

“~If I co~uld…

Needless to say, Izuku was bawling his eyes out and needed a really big hug right then. His hearts were only too happy to reciprocate.

“Okay Ibara, you’re up,” Kyoka said, tossing her the mic. “Why don’t you sing us something from your childhood? Like, something you heard on the radio that you just jammed out to?”

Ibara tapped her lips with a finger, considering before she nodded and started looking for one.

“This one always resonated with me somewhat,” she confessed. “Hopefully I remember the words.”

Using that as an excuse, she turned towards the screen instead of towards her girlfriends as the music started. A sassy piano opened her up, and she could hear the gasps from behind her.

“~Straight hair,

“~Straight A’s,

“~Straight cannon,

“~Straight lance,

“~She’ll cut off corners,

“~She makes a point to be on time.

“~Head of the Student Council!

“I’m only vice-president…” Momo mumbled to herself.

“~Violet,

“~And eyes like onyx,

“~Her song,

“~Is Rockin’, Jammin’

“~If you ask her how she’s doin’

“~She’ll say:

“~”Shaboom”

Kyoka snorted, mumbling that it wasn’t fair as Ibara continued.

“~I was defeated when I saw you,

“~My eyes, they got me smitten,

“~Missin’

“~I asked myself: “What can I do,

“~if they decide to come knockin’?”

“You say “yes” to the date!” Kyoka called, making Momo and Ibara giggle in their own ways.

“~Those pretty girls walk by me greenhouse,

“~My heart gives a shudder and I can’t help mutter a prayer,

“~’Cause this is just absurd behavior for little miss angel!

“~Nanana-nanana-no,

“~I can’t risk giving up my throne,

“~Lalalalala-lalala-love,

“~Is something I can’t ever know.

“~Black hair!

“~Black eyes!

“~Black T-shirt!

“~Black out!

“~Little Miss Angel:

“~Tha~at’s me!

Ibara could hear her girlfriends wincing as they realized she was making it that kind of cover. Well, she had to be honest with herself, and with them. She knew they’d understood.

“~One night:

“~I sought my mentor,

“~We fought,

“~And broke a tower,

“~Something about him pissed me off—

“~What?

“~It’s nothing to admonish!

“Wanton destruction!” Momo cheered, of all people.

“~That night:

“~I caught my fire,

“~His face:

“~It cracked like amber,

“~Moments went by like hours,

“~Then:

“~I finally got the feeling!

“~She takes my hip,

“~I find her lips

“~She makes a joke,

“~I go for broke

“~With vines for hair:

“~I sit here,

“~Risking it for the first time!

“~Next thing I know:

“~I lose control

“~I finally ask them,

“~Now I know:

“~I feel a voice in my breastbone,

“~And my heart starts to go:

“~Nanana-nanana-no,

“~You won’t risk giving up your throne,

“~Lalalalala-lalala-love,

“~Is something you deserve to know.

“~Nanana-nanana-no,

“~You won’t risk giving up your throne,

“~Lalalalala-lalala-LOVE!!

The sighs of relief were audible from her loves, and Ibara was glad they were picking up on what she meant.

“~...you don’t even know,

“~Confined. It won’t get eas’r.

“~Tell them the Truth, and free her.

“~”You don’t want me,” believe her:

“~When she says I’m not the one.

When they’d come up to hold her, Ibara didn’t know. She just knew her voice had trailed off to a whisper and her vines were holding them closer than she’d ever held anyone. Her anchors. Her loves.

“~She’s hardly worth it…

“~She’s no Littl~e

“~Mi~iss

“~Ange~el…

“Okay, it’s my turn,” Izuku insisted, taking the lead mic and going into the more unknown song list. “Gotta prove I’m not just here for the attention.”

“You say as you take the main spot of attention,” Itsuka sassed, only to be silenced as Yui pulled her down onto the couch and put a finger to her lips.

Clearing his throat, Izuku hit play and got his shoulders loose. As the music started with a quick beat, he whipped around, pointing directly at Ochako.

“~You are my star!

“~You are the one!

“~You make me smile when the world’s come undone!

Izuku’s finger found Itsuka.

“~You are the one: Who sweeps me off my fe~et, Yeah!

Yui was next.

“~You totally rock!

“~You’re crazy and cool!

Back to Ochako

“~Everything’s all that I love about you!

Spreading hand, he gestured to both of the girls who had not yet become his official girlfriends.

“~Girls of my dreams: you would make my life complete!

“~Oh, but you’re a distant dream to me!

Izuku put both hands on the mic as he prepared for the oncoming chorus.

“~Oh, and I know, yeah I that I’m out of my--

“~Oh, that I’m out of my league!

“~How could it ever be?!

Izuku tried to be cool and spun around on his heel, having to do it again since he only came around about halfway.

“~What am I supposed to do:

“~Just stand here and not fall in love with you?

“~Can I do anything to conceal it?

“~Can I lock up my heart and not feel it?

“~Tryin to run from the fact,

“~But there’s no turnin’ back,

“~I’m in love!

“~You leave me weak, he shot Yui a wink.

“~You make me strong! Itsuka was praised with a direct look.

“~All that I need is to know I’m not wrong!

“~If I’m this blind, how do I make you se~e me?!

“~You’re my PYT, he informed Yui

“~My cherie amour!

“~One look at you and my heart starts to soar! Izuku sang to Itsuka

“~No other girl could compete with your esprit! he made sure to reassure Ochako

“~Oh, and if your hearts would just agree!

“~Oh, and I know, and I know that I could be

“~Oh, I could believe!

“~More than I’d ever need!

“~What am I supposed to do:

“~Just stand here and not fall in love with you?

“~Can I do anything to conceal it?

“~Can I lock up my heart and not feel it?

“~Tryinna run from the fact,

“~But there’s no turnin’ back,

“~I’m in love!

“~And like the autumn leaves:

“~I just can’t help myself.

“~I’m fallin’ and there’s no doubt.

“~It’s you and no one else.

“~Is there any chance,

“~For this Dream Romance?

“~Should I just give up?

“~What’s a fool to do?

“~How’d you fall for me,

“~Like I fell for you?

“~What am I supposed to do:

“~Just stand here and not fall in love with you?

“~ How can I not fall in love with you?

“~Can I do anything to conceal it?

“~Oh no!

“~Can I lock up my heart and not feel it?

“~ O-a-o!

“~Tryin to run from the fact,

“~ There’s no turnin’ back!

“~But there’s no turnin’ back,

“~ I’m in love!

“~ I’m in love!

“~What am I supposed to do:

“~Just stand here and not fall in love with you?

“~ Oh, I know I cannot fall in love with you!

“~Can I do anything to conceal it?

“~Can I lock up my heart and not feel it?

“~Tryin to run from the fact,

“~But there’s no turnin’ back,

“~I’m in love!

(Author Notes:

Yes, I’m aware I barely changed this song. It’s “ Not Fall In Love With You ” by Jeff WIlliams, giving credit, and I didn’t know what else to do but have Izuku indicating each girl as he went through. That being said: I’mma do it again.)

Kyoka looked Momo dead in the eyes and nodded. Her rich-as-f*ck girlfriend grabbed the song while Kyoka got Ibara into position. She was gonna be on the stage this time.

“Care to dance?” Kyoka asked, offering her hand.

Ibara seemed a bit afraid, blushing as she responded.

“I… don’t know how.”

“Then I’ll teach you,” Kyoka promised softly, making sure they all had a mic as she started.

“~Baby!

“~It’s time to make up your mi~ind!

Kyoka started with a simple body roll, offering her free hand towards Ibara, who tried to match her.

“~I think:

“~That tonight is when our stars ali~ign!

Momo joined in, singing and with a simple side to side rocking.

“~Honey, it’s time to leave the doubt behi~ind!

“~Take my hand, ‘cause you and I are gonna Shine!

Kyoka let Momo have the first verse, showing Ibara how to flow with the rhythm.

“~I was cold in the dark,

“~It was empty in my life.

“~From the outside it looked so bright,

“~But nothin’ felt right,

“~To me…

“~Like a sky with no sun,

“~Like a night that has no day,

“~My heart was eclipsed by the dark,

“~Then something changed!

Kyoka joined in with Momo, getting a little more energetic with her movements.

“~I saw a little ray of light come through,

“~The tiniest of sparks came into view!

“~And then:

“~You made me hope again!

Kyoka leaned back and hollered into her microphone, just having fun with it as she threw her other arm out and twisted in place like she was backstroking upright.

“~Wooh!

“~Hoohoo!

“~Hoowohoo!

“~Whoowohoo!

She snapped right back to normal singing as soon as the words kicked in, fixing Ibara with a look as she shifted her dance moves back to just her shoulders. She could be seductive if she wanted to.

“~I’ve been watchin’ you, helpin’ you,

“~Wishin’ that you’d see:

Momo hopped in, her loose hair bouncing around her face a bit crazily but too full of fun to be bothered.

“~That the girls you’ve been waiting so long for: could be we!

Kyoka let Momo take over for a bit as she got a couple deep inhales, knowing she’d need them for the next bit.

“~Now I’ve never been in love, but I think this is it!

“~It might seem like a schoolgirl crush, but I have to admit:

“~I wanna take a chance, and make you see:

“~I think that you’re the one who’ll rescue me!

“~This time:

“~You’re finally gonna see you should be mine!

Ibara was starting to loosen up, dancing simply but with her arms up and shoulders relaxed for once. Kyoka rewarded her with her full singing passion.

“~But baby!

“~It’s time to make up your mi~ind!

“~I think:

“~That tonight is when our stars ali~ign!

“~Honey, it’s time to leave the doubt behi~ind!

“~Take my hand, ‘cause you and I are gonna Shine!

What happened next shocked both of the girls into silence. Ibara started sliding back and forth, going wild into her mic and singing along like she’d always known the words.

“~I won’t need any dreams, it’s all there if you’re by my side!

“~Every moment’s enough and you take me to paradise!

“~When I needed a Hero: you knew it, and you were there!

“~And I’m scared, but I’ll open my heart up, I’m ready to dare!

“~I know I’ve never felt like this before,

“~I never really knew what love was for!

“~I dreamed,

“~But never did believe!

All three of them came to finish the song off, leaning in together as if sharing a mic rather than all having one of their own. Yet, even as they sang so close: they still danced.

“~But baby!

“~It’s time to make up your mi~ind!

“~I think:

“~That tonight is when our stars ali~ign!

“~Honey, right now we leave the doubt behi~ind!

“~Take my hands, ‘cause you and I are gonna-

“~Light the Sky until it’s dawn, and-

“~Baby, you and I are gonna Shine!

(Author’s Notes:

Song credit: “ Shine ” by Jeff Williams, sung by Casey Lee Williams)

Chapter 6: Power Arc: Sir, Yes Sir!

Chapter Text

“Thank you for accepting me,” the young man bowed, his black garb fluttering a bit as his Quirk emerged from his shadow and did likewise.

“Awwwwwww, widdle Dark Shadow!” Nejire squeed, hopping over to pat the poor thing’s head. “She’s sooooooooooo sooooooooooooooft!”

Ryuko reached over with a hand and gently tugged Nejire back.

“I’m glad to have an up-and-comer like you aboard, Tsukuyomi,” she said easily. “Of course, you no-doubt recognize that I chose you for more than simply your potential? Normally I only accept women into my agency, excluding even those as bound-for-greatness as yourself or your friend Deku.”

The poor kid stiffened, no-doubt quite worried she was going to send him home if he didn’t answer correctly. Which was, of course, quite silly. She waited for the second day to torment him like that.

“Is it because I’m a girl?” Dark Shadow spoke up.

“First I’ve heard of it,” Ryuko admitted, looking at the abyssal, starfield of a figure before her.

“Oh! I’m Tokoyami Morrigan,” she re-introduced herself. “Adopted, but, well…”

For a few seconds, Ryuko just stared at her, not quite sure what to make of that. She shrugged and decided to just make do.

“I’m glad to meet you too, Tokoyami-chan,” she smiled, inclining her head. “I take it you’re going to be acting as Tsukuyomi’s Quirk, not as your own entity?”

The shadowy girl nodded.

“That’s what I do, but please: call me Morrigan. That’s my Hero name, of sorts.”

“Excellent,” Ryuko beamed, “in that case you should have quite the lack of things to do.”

“Huh?”

Morrigan seemed incredibly put out, but more worried she’d offended her. Ryuko wanted to quell that quickly, if for no other reason than Nejire was pouting like she’d kicked a puppy, er- pigeon.

“I’m known as Ryukyu: the Dragon Hero,” she explained, placing a hand on her hip and smirking at the boy in the room for a moment.

“Oh no…”

“Oh yes,” Ryuko confirmed. “That means that Morrigan and Nejire are gonna go play for a bit, while you, me, and that marvelous beast in your robe are going to have some fun.”

Nejire tittered madly.

“That sounds like an innuendo,” she teased.

“I mean, I don’t have much point of reference, but I’m pretty sure comparing him to a dragon is-”

“Morri!” Tsukuyomi squawked, his feathers puffed out in what Ryuko could only imagine was intense embarrassment.

The girls giggled to themselves, but Ryuko ignored them. He’d have to get used to such gossip if he wanted to get anything done.

“Regardless: your control of Crimson Dragon is quite limited, isn’t it?” she prompted.

Tsukuyomi swallowed, nodding and folding his arms.

“He- my control over my Demons is centered around a certain emotional state. Controlling that emotion is key to controlling the Quirk,” he explained. “While Morrigan -once Dark Shadow- was controlled by very primitive, childish emotions of fear and anger, Crimson is… less simple.”

Ryuko shot Morrigan a look, seeing if she would corroborate that. The girl shrugged, which was quite impressive, seeing as she’d transformed into a ball which Nejire was juggling.

“I won’t deny it. I was made out of a fear of the dark, and various other emotions a five-year-old has when they have their first nightmare. I mean, he could phrase it better, but that’s what I am.”

Nodding, Ryuko jerked a thumb towards the door.

“Let’s see your Dragon then,” she decided. “And we can see if he has anything to say about what motivates his existence.”

Tsukuyomi grimaced, but he nodded and followed her into the sparring yard.

“We can attempt it, but… Crimson Dragon doesn’t talk,” he forewarned her.

“Let’s just say… I might speak his language.”

Trying to be mysterious, she left it at that, stepping out into the sunlight and stretching a bit. It was always good to stretch before getting to work.

“Okay, let’s meet the big guy,” she prompted, placing her hand in the gauntlet which rested on her face before starting her transformation.

Her body began to expand, hard scales forming along her skin. Wings expanded from her back, and her spine extended into a razor-edged tail. She let out a roar-like yawn, stretching and popping the joints that only existed when she was a dragon, as opposed to a human.

“Well?” she rumbled, looking down at her intern.

He stopped gawking, nodding and curling up a bit before throwing his arms out and leaning back like a vampire.

“CRIMSON DRAGON!”

A brilliant red beast exploded from his torso, expanding from a small lizard to the size of a car in only a few moments. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to get anywhere as big as she’d seen it before; the train-sized behemoth that had been seen at both the Camp and the Provisional License Exam was entirely absent. Still, she could work with what she had for the moment.

Unlike her, Crimson seemed to be an eastern dragon, albeit a very stylized one. His reptilian snout and iconic horns were fearsome, while his four limbs were surprisingly unimpressive. The claws were either retracted or it lacked any, and the four-digit appendages were clearly meant for grasping terrain and not finer objects. His tail had an adorable little tuft of fur and/or feather at the end, and while he was quite wild and bestial in how he slithered and twisted: his eyes burned with a completely rational fear, rather than a wild one.

“Well, he certainly seems more manageable than I feared,” Ryukyu chuckled, her voice rumbling with amusem*nt. “Don’t worry, you can let loose. I’ll keep him from doing too much damage.”

Tsukuyomi strained, clearly trying, but nothing much happened aside from the serpent writhing a bit and circling her like a wary dog approaching a larger hound. Ryukyu whipped her tail, and he leapt back, growling.

“I- I can’t make him… grow,” the bird-headed boy grumbled, seeming annoyed.

Shrinking back down herself, Ryukyu frowned and walked up to the creature, noticing the heat from its jaws. Could he breathe fire? That would be a shocking development. Still, he remained submissive to the dominant predator there, which was comforting.

“Have you seen him expand to larger sizes before?” she asked, walking the length of the beast and eyeing the scales with a practiced gaze.

Tsukuyomi considered for a moment.

“There was when he first emerged, in the forest,” he started, “then I let him out at the camp a few times -but he was always pretty small then- when I fought Rocketti, that’s when he was the biggest, and then at the Provisional License Exam: when I had to evacuate a large group of people.”

He frowned.

“If he only grows larger when I’m in imminent danger: training won’t be very functional.”

“No, it wouldn’t be,” Ryukyu agreed. “Luckily: I don’t believe that’s necessary.”

Stepping back, Ryukyu nodded at the Quirk a few times before asking offhandedly, “How’s your girlfriend doing? Adjusting to being back in class and all?”

Tsukuyomi’s stammered evasions would have been quite amusing, if not for the fact they were missed by the explosive burst of size in Crimson Dragon, appearing about the size of a semi truck now. Of course, his triumphant surge of power led to his master panicking even more, trying to control him, and subsequently making the beast grow to the size of a train once more, and then towards the scale of an airliner.

“Ah, so it’s concern,” Ryukyu confirmed. “Concern for others, specifically. Excellent, he’ll make a wonderful Hero implement.”

The beast roared, a gout of flames scoring the wall as it thrashed around. She supposed she should handle that.

Growing once more, Ryukyu was surprised to be dwarfed by another dragon. It had never happened before. Still, she had fought a bigger villain than her once, so she had a couple tricks. She leapt atop the beast’s neck, forcing Crimson Dragon to the ground with her claw at its skull. He growled at her, his body whipping around as if to strike her, but her rumble was a deeper, more ancient sound; the sound of a predator that has lived for a long while and won’t be cowed by a hatchling.

Seeing him subdued, Tsukuyomi was able to regain control and shrink it back down into a manageable size. Ryukyu was amused to see it curl up around his neck like a scarf, still growing at her with an adorable little sound.

“I have a plan,” she announced, flapping her wings once. “You, Tsukuyomi, will not return Crimson Dragon to your body today. He will remain out at all times, as you accompany me. Morrigan will stay behind with Nejire today and have a tea party.”

She could tell how little he liked that by the fact Crimson Dragon immediately became large enough to ride.

[“Mori-mori-mori-mori, Morioh-cho Radio!”]

[(“-oh-cho Radio…!”)]

[“Good Morning! Good morning all you listeners out there, and welcome back to another beautiful, orange-skied day in Morioh!”]

Izuku frowned and rolled over in bed, cracking open his eyes and staring groggily at the All Might alarm radio beside his bed. As well as the three girls huddled around it with horrifying looks of excitement. They’d all abandoned cuddling to listen to the radio? What the heck?!

[“...other news, the Pro Hero Mirko is still taking steps in her recovery here, leading many to wonder: what ever happened to that warrior of freedom and justice who fought alongside her and our very own Morioh Warriors? For those unaware, the publicly-proclaimed “Symbol of Hope” fought alongside the Rabbit Hero during a recent battle against an unknown villain. Deku was instrumental in helping out all day long, and we’ve received several comments from people living nearby that he was “just the sweetest” when he came by.”]

The trio each reacted to the news differently, but Izuku just rolled over and buried his face in his pillow, wishing he could go back to sleep. Ochako was squealing with delight that he was “so cute.” Itsuka was making little chops and punches in the air, talking about her “kickass BFTB!” Yui was nodding sagely, as if Izuku didn’t have enough problems from the other two.

“Why…?” he groaned into his sheets, not sure himself if he was asking why they’d all been in the same bed the night prior, why they were no longer in said bed, or how they’d managed to find the one radio station on earth that was talking about him.

“Because my boyfriend is the best in the world,” Ochako giggled, sliding up again and giving him a hug.

“Because you met Mirko and didn’t get her to sign my thighs,” Itsuka teased.

“Mm.”

Leveling a finger at the black-haired girl, Izuku turned to glare at her.

“Don’t you sass me this early, Yui,” he huffed.

“Mm.”

“That’s it, you’re going down!” he half-threatened, half-laughed.

Scrambling out of bed, Izuku tried to grab hold of his girlfriend’s semi-identical twin, but forgot that Ochako was still hugging him around his blankets, meaning he just got tangled and fell on his face.

“Ouch!”

“Oof!”

“Get ‘em!” Itsuka cried, tackling the pair of them in a hug.

There was a pause as Izuku tried to get his breath from under the two, only to find Yui kneeling before him, laughter in her eyes.

“Shut up,” he grumbled, blushing.

She ruffled his hair with a hand.

“Kay.”

Squirming to get his arm free, Izuku caught hold of her wrist.

“Got her! Ochako: help me hold her down!”

The girl crushing him shook her head, betraying him in his hour of need.

“This is between you and Kodai,” she informed him.

“I have two people on my back, and I only have one arm!” he complained.

“And now it’s a fair fight,” Itsuka agreed.

Looking back to Yui, Izuku had to admit: she was struggling quite a bit. He gave a bit more pressure, and she nearly toppled over. Something flickered in her eyes, and suddenly Izuku was yanked up and out of the pile, sending Ochako and Itsuka tumbling away as she lifted him over her head. Izuku was too stunned to react, just staring at her in awe.

They all remained still for a moment, before she squeaked and threw him on the bed. Literally threw him, he felt himself catch air before bouncing a bit.

“Yui-!”

“Kodai-!”

“Wait!” Ochako called, but the door slammed, and she was gone.

The two seemed torn about going to check on him or her first. Izuku waved them on, picking himself up and following as they raced after her. They heard the ding of the elevator as the door opened, but Izuku had another way out.

Mentally thanking Mirko for her help with jumping, Izuku rounded on the balcony, soaring into the air in his PJ’s before landing softly on the grass. He jogged around to the side of the dorms, waiting for the door to open before pouncing. Sure enough, Yui was as shocked to see him as he was to have guessed right on the first try.

Izuku pulled her into a hug that lifted her off the ground, keeping his arms tight so she couldn’t run, glad he was taller than her.

“Let- Go!” she choked out.

“No,” Izuku denied her firmly, hugging her tighter.

“You’ll- get- hurt!” Yui insisted, struggling to break free with each word.

“Better me than someone else. Especially if that someone else is you.”

Yui paused in her attempts to break free, looking slightly down at him with a heavily restrained expression. Izuku almost let go in surprise as he saw the vein on her forehead start to pulse. He’d always known she was a bit unemotive, but it hadn’t occurred to Izuku how much effort she must put into it, to never even look surprised.

“Please put me down,” she requested, her voice strained.

Lowering her back to her feet, Izuku made sure to maintain his grip around her waist, hugging Yui for a little longer.

“Please let go,” Yui whispered, though she leaned into the hug a little bit.

“If you promise not to run away again?”

There was a soft sigh, and a nod into his shoulder, and Izuku let go. Yui brushed off her nightgown, frowning at Izuku and folding her arms.

“K- Yui,” Izuku decided, trying to get through to her. “Why did you run off like that? We were worried you’d hurt yourself.”

She looked away.

“I’m not mad,” he assured her. “That was actually really cool, how you picked me up. I didn’t realize you were that strong!”

Izuku could see the discomfort in her eyes, but the rest of her was quickly following suit. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her so expressive before.

“I’m not…”

The way she paused, she clearly expected Izuku to interrupt her, but he kept his peace. He wanted her to tell him what she was comfortable telling him, so long as she actually said something instead of hiding whatever was wrong.

“...My Quirk,” she went on, her eyes softening as she looked at him now, “it makes little things big, and big things small. I can’t use it on organic things, but it does somewhat affect… my emotions.”

Izuku nodded.

Of course! It would naturally shrink her emotions, hence why she seemed not to have any most of the time!

“It makes them big,” Yui said, her eyes downcast like she was ashamed of the fact. “Really big. Big enough I can’t trust them not to make me… do things. Things I don’t want to do. Or things I do want to, but shouldn’t.”

That threw Izuku for a loop. How could someone with emotions so powerful be so neutral all the time?

“When you and Itsuka escaped from Kamino: I got so angry I punched through a TV screen. When I got frustrated just now: I nearly threw you across the room. When Itsuka and I… well, let’s just say I think she’d prefer we be gentler in bed from now on.”

Izuku’s ears and cheeks burned with embarrassment at that admission, but he nodded for her to continue.

“I never wanted to hurt anyone,” she said, her voice hitching slightly. Izuku felt another bolt of shock run through him as he realized Yui was starting to cry. “I wanted to be normal. Like everybody else. Not- not always one step away from throwing a desk through a wall or bursting into tears because someone doesn’t like my hair. So I tried to put these feelings away. To hide them. Repress them so they couldn’t control me. But- but Itsuka- and you, and Ura- Uraraka…”

He was hugging her again, and he felt two pairs of arms join him. He didn’t know when the others had arrived, but they were all there for Yui now.

“I want to feel!” Yui whimpered, squeezing Izuku almost harder than Itsuka could. “I want to be able to love you guys! But I don’t want to wake up with your blood on my hands. I can’t let that happen!”

They stayed quiet for a few minutes, just holding her while Yui sniffled.

“Well,” Itsuka said, a little choked up herself, “I guess that means it’s time to talk to Ibara.”

“And Hound Dog,” Ochako agreed, leaning in and placing a soft kiss to Yui’s hair. “We’ll be here with you the whole way. All three of us.”

The noirette raised her head to look at them, a question burning in her eyes. Izuku smiled, hugging her even tighter.

Mm,” he said.

He couldn’t answer it any better than that. Sometimes words were insufficient.

“Keep your eyes up, Uravity!” Ken shouted, leaping back from a broad swing.

“Right!” the student agreed, twisting in midair by no means he could see in order to arc over the villain’s attack and crack him on the head with a bicycle kick.

The villain in question let out a choke of pain and annoyance as he stumbled back, trying to use his cane to support himself. He clutched at his face with his other hand, his visible eye glaring at Rock Lock’s intern.

“You have a broken boyfriend. No, girlfriend. No, you have the will-they, won’t-they’s. No, wait! Broken boyfriend, broken will-they, won’t-they girl, and… someone you can’t stand because you don’t know if you’re burning with desire or jealousy.”

It would have been comical, the way Uravity squeaked and crashed into a wall, except they were working and it wasn’t funny hour. That started at five.

Ken punched the guy in the jaw, watching the man crumple and fall like a closed ladder. Uravity stumbled over, nursing a bloody nose.

“Sorry…” she mumbled, looking incredibly embarrassed and guilty.

“Your love life is none of my business,” Ken told her, “but while you’re on the job: it’s none of yours either. Leave that stuff at home.”

“Right.”

Ken nodded.

“Then we won’t say any more about it. …also… good luck.”

“Thank you…” Uravity squeaked.

“So, this is the end of the mighty House of Drugs,” the villain groaned to himself. “Brought down by a girl with more people in her pants than Best Jeanist and a guy who can’t sleep without having his wife next to him and the baby monitor turned up to full volu-”

Rock Lock kicked the villain in his gimpy leg, shutting him up. He glared at Uravity before she could say anything, but she just held her hands. Evidently she knew better than to call him out on being just the tiniest bit hypocritical.

“That’s the head,” Ken sighed, tossing the limp body over to a couple police officers who’d come along. “So, now we have to find the other three.”

Uravity nodded in agreement.

“Four-man, Bleeding Heart, and Chaser; right?” she checked.

Ken confirmed her retention. Her first day and she was already good at quick memorization.

Excellent.

The House of Drugs, despite its name, was not a drug ring. It was an organ sale ring, operated by a quartet of disgraced doctors. Rock Lock had some intel from an ally of his that said they were specifically contracted to acquire heteromorphic organs and specific people carrying specific Quirks. If Nomu were starting to be built from the ground up: they were in deeper crap than the HPSC was letting on, even after Mirko’s… adventure.

The man they’d just taken down had no codename, their leader and founder with the Quirk Holmes. He was able to string together minute details into their core facts, analyzing based on reactions and even nigh-microscopic tics. He’d disproven over a dozen cases of misdiagnosed Quirklessness before he was fired for drug overuse while on-duty.

Four-man was the second in command, and their next target of the day. He was able to generate three illusory copies of himself which acted autonomously, making it appear as if he’d split into four. Very good for vanishing in plain sight.

Bleeding Heart was the token girl on the team, but also the key to their operation. Her Quirk caused whoever she talked with to become emotionally vulnerable to her requests and suggestions. Ken bet there were more than a few people who’d ended up with less kidneys because she’d sung them a sob story.

Chaser was the guy who actually did the grab and bag. His Quirk was False Love’s Kiss, a pretty name for a horrifying power. His lips carried a toxin which made the target burn through their entire energy reserve, from fat cells to blood sugar, and then to collapse into a death-like coma. The perfect way to turn a victim into their own get-away car and then gift wrap them for invasive surgery.

“Alright then: how do we find the other three?” Rock Lock asked Uravity, wanting to see just what the girl was made of.

At first she seemed affronted, but then she bit her lip and considered. She frowned, pacing back and forth for a moment before pointing to him.

“How did we know where this guy was going to be?” she asked, striking on something. “He’s always in the back, he lets the other three play the game. So how did we catch him first?”

Ken nodded in approval, nodding for her to follow him as he started making himself some stairs by throwing his wooden plates into the air.

“There used to be more members of the House of Drugs,” he explained, ascending to the rooftops and catching the various blocks as they lost energy. “But the other six started disappearing a few weeks ago. One of them caught on and dropped us some intel on where the leader would be today, while the other three are out on a grab. Best to take them all on one at a time if possible, no?”

Uravity nodded, keeping pace as if in an elevator rather than flying. Rock Lock had to admit: her boots were pretty cool. He wondered how she’d got them around the NSAB, but that wasn’t a question he really needed an answer to at the moment.

“So the other three are out and about?” Uravity confirmed. “In that case: where are they? I can’t imagine you just let them go grab some civilian so we could catch Gimpy over there?”

Smirking at her wit, Ken gave her an approving nod.

“Right you are. A couple friends are having some fun with them right now. But let’s assume we only know that they aren’t here, and we found his hidey-hole by chance. How do you find them?”

She paced back and forth on the roof for a moment, clearly thinking hard. Ken sighed, wondering if she even had the cognitive power to figure it out yet. She was pretty young, and it wasn’t exactly an easy question.

Uravity snapped her fingers, pointing to the police cruiser which held their latest capture.

“With something as organized as the House of Drugs: they won’t just let him go down easy,” she determined, lining up her arm with the building opposite them and pointing two fingers at it. “They’ll go to get him out or to silence him. I’m guessing they have some kind of panic button, so he’ll already have called them. So if they’re going to be anywhere: they’ll be coming to him.”

A tendril of pink and black smoke shot out of the wrist-mounted ball on Uravity’s wrist, attaching to the building she was pointing at and pulling taut. Ken was impressed to see how fast she used the grappler to launch her after the car. Certainly her boots made her stay up, but they didn’t give her any momentum or motion laterally. The way she shot off though: Rock Lock would have thought she was equipped with rockets.

Chasing after her, using random bits as quick stepping stones between buildings, Ken followed alongside.

“Good call. In fact: our friends say Bleeding Heart isn’t there with them, and the other two are headed our way. They’ll probably be here any moment.”

Ken could have done without Uravity’s excited smile, but he’d give her points for a correct supposition.

“Her Quirk, Sympathy, how precisely does it work?” she asked, growing serious once more.

“We don’t have specifics, but from what we gather: it’s similar to the Quirk of that boy from the Sports Festival. Shinso, right?”

Uravity nodded, staying on the move even as she got her intel. Good. There wasn’t time to sit down and chat about it.

“She makes you feel sympathy for her, to any degree, and you’re hypnotized?”

“Supposedly, yes. Very dangerous,” he agreed.

“Then I guess I’ll just have to be quick about this,” Uravity decided, grappling another pair of buildings and slingshotting herself ahead of where Ken could keep up.

Dang, she’s a quick one.

“Don’t get yourself killed!” he called after her, earning a thumbs-up.

Ken grit his teeth, certain he was going to find her bleeding out on the side of the road either because she crashed or because Bleeding Heart entranced her and threw her into oncoming traffic.

His fears came to a head when the car they were escorting suddenly swerved and came to a stop right beside a blonde woman holding her leg and limping across the road.

“Uravity, don’t-!” he called as she dropped towards the scene.

To his horror, the girl landed perfectly, walking over and putting her arm around Bleeding Heart’s shoulders to help her into the driver’s seat of the police cruiser. She’d been bamboozled, and he was still two blocks behind.

Rock Lock sprinted to try and stop them, only to come up short and stare on in shock as Uravity suddenly twisted on her foot, lifted Bleeding Heart over her head, and slammed her down into the pavement. She looked up and gave him the “A-OK” sign before shoving her elbow into the villain’s back and kicking the shins of the two officers who were starting to draw their weapons on her, breaking their hypnosis.

“What was-” Ken tried to ask, only for Uravity to hold up a finger as she gave Bleeding Heart a quick chop to the neck, just in case.

“Sorry, I had to make sure she was out,” she explained brightly. “It’s not the first time I’ve run into someone good at using your emotions against you. I figured: she’s probably used to it working on cute girls who don’t know any better. A winning smile later: and she was ready to let me touch her.”

“Which is when you used your Quirk?” Ken surmised.

“Huh? Oh, no, I didn’t want to risk that if I guessed wrong,” Uravity shook her head, holding up her fists and flexing her little fingers to show their dexterity. “Just in case she was actually some weird lady who’d hurt her leg.”

Ken shook his head. Kids were crazy sometimes.

“Aw, you already caught her?” someone asked from behind him. “Boo! I wanted to snag her.”

“Did you get the other two?” Rock Lock asked, turning to face Pixie-Bob as she dragged Four-man’s unconscious body over to toss atop the other two.

“Jetty’s got the other one,” the puss*cat said, pointing up.

Sure enough, Chaser dropped into her arms and then into the car a moment later, courtesy of Airjet.

“You know, if this is your idea of a date: I think I need to plan the next few,” the armored Hero informed Pixie-Bob, landing beside her and folding his arms.

Ken let out a groan of delayed warning, before turning to see Uravity’s eyes had lit up.

“You two are dating? Good for you!” she congratulated them.

Unfortunately: he wasn’t worried about Uravity talking about dating.

“Yep!” Pixie-Bob agreed, throwing her paw around Airjet’s shoulders and nuzzling into his helmet like a kitten. “He was just so reliable at Kamino a few months ago, don’t you think? Real protect and provide vibes, always flying around and blocking attacks from the baddie there. You know what that feels like, right? Super cool Hero boy who isn’t in it for glory and just does all the saving?”

Uravity blushed, nodding.

“Y-yeah, I get you,” she admitted.

“Okay,” Rock Lock tried to cut them off, “fun as this is: let’s try to stay focused on-”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Pixie-Bob continued, poking at Airjet’s armor with a pout. “He’s not the cuddliest guy ever, and a little older than I was hoping for, but… y’know, I’ve always been into more mature guys. Mature as in emotionally, of course, not a senior citizen like Jetty here.”

“I’m- I’m pretty sure I’m younger than you are, Pix,” Airjet tried to remind her, but of course that just set her off on her usual “eighteen at heart” spree.

It was going to be a long Friday.

Midoriya was looking a little wistfully at the empty chair beside him, even as he rested his head on the orange ponytail at his other side, so Mirio figured it was the perfect time to distract him with good news.

“Midoriya-kohai!” he greeted, dropping down into the open spot and resting his elbow on the verdet’s shoulder. “What’s Up?”

It was pretty funny to see Midoriya start in his chair, shaking the orangette, who in turn jostled the noirette, who bumped the vine-head she was chatting with, which pushed her into the tall one’s lap, making her squeak and have the violette flinch, her shoulders knocking into the pinkette’s elbow just right to make her jump back from the nerve-pinch, knocking over the two boys grumbling next to her; so now all nine of them were now looking at him with restrained annoyance.

“Um, not much?” Midoriya answered, at least sounding more confused than bothered.

“Awesome! You Busy?” Mirio asked.

“Um… no?”

“Great! Then We’re Off!”

He got up and strolled away.

“Hold on!” Midoriya called, getting up and summoning him back.

Mirio paused, his partners leaning to look around him at Midoriya as he turned to see what the verdet needed.

“Yeah?”

“Where are we off to? And why? And- what?”

“Oh, I Didn’t Say?” Mirio laughed, itching the back of his head guiltily. “Sir Wants To Meet You! Your Work-Study With Mirko Just Finished Up, Right? Well, Sir Said He’d Like To See You About Taking You On For Another!”

Midoriya seemed positively flabbergasted. Mirio took that as a yes.

“We’ll Meet You At The Train Station!” he called back as they headed out. “Don’t Worry About Bringing Your Costume, Sir Likes New Interns To Work On Weekends!”

Giving his partners a quick hug, Mirio gave them a wave and got going. There was only so much time in a day, after all. It seemed Midoriya was of a similar mind, coming up alongside Mirio before he was even out of the gates.

“Wow, You Said Goodbye To Your Girlfriend Already?” Mirio laughed. “You’re A Quick One!”

“They aren’t my- nevermind,” Midoirya sighed, rubbing his eyes. “How did your mentor even know about me?”

“I Dunno!” he admitted. “I Guess He Just Thought You Had Potential? He Likes To Keep An Eye On People Who Remind Him Of All Might.”

Midoriya picked up his pace to get in front of Mirio, looking up at him with confusion.

“Really?”

“Yeah! He’s The Biggest All Might Fan!” Mirio confirmed. “He Was His Sidekick Once Upon A Time, After All.”

The news that Sir Nighteye had requested him left Midoriya comatose for the rest of the trip, which was pretty funny. But when they arrived at the office itself: he made sure to get his kohai ready to go.

“Listen,” Mirio said softly, leading him up the stairs. “Sir is a particular kind of person. He values laughter a lot more than you’d think for how serious he is. This interview won’t go well if you can’t make him laugh before the end.”

He couldn’t see Midoriya’s reaction, but he heard him swallow. Hopefully he had a plan; Mirio could hear Bubble Girl screaming, which usually meant Sir was in a bad mood.

“I Am Here With Midoriya, Like You Wanted!” Mirio announced, throwing the door to Sir’s office wide.

Midoriya squeaked in alarm at the sight of Bubble Girl strapped down and being tickled, the four of them staring at each other for a moment as he recovered. He took a deep breath, stepping forward and bowing.

“I’m Midoriya Izuku, from UA High,” he introduced himself. “Can I please rescue the poor blue girl before she pees herself?”

The question stabbed Mirio through the chest, stunning him dead.

Oh, he is screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewed!

Sir just stared at him for a moment, then took a step back, gesturing to the tickle table. Midoriya straightened and inclined his head before going to free her.

“Did Mirio tell you to make me laugh?” Sir asked, watching as Midoriya heaved Bubble Girl out of the restraints and then down onto the couch.

“Yes,” Midoriya answered, checking Kaoruka’s wrists for a moment before turning and facing Sir again.

“Was that your attempt?”

“No.”

“I see.”

Sir took his place at his desk, nodding at a stack of papers resting on it between them. Midoriya stepped forward and looked at them, frowning a bit.

“Stain,” Midoriya said, shuffling through. “Wolfram. Muscular. Toga. Toga. Kurogiri. All for One. Assorted street thugs. Superfly. Nomu Thirteen.”

Mirio leaned over to see what he had. They were police reports, but his eyes widened as he saw the name on each of them for the capture credit. Midoriya Izuku.

Wow, he’s got almost as many as me this year!

Mirio’s stomach dropped as he saw that more than three quarters of the pages listed Mirko on the assist capture. The kid must have been through the wringer.

“So, you’ve done your research,” Midoriya confirmed, making sure to get the pages organized before moving them out of the way.

“Keep reading,” Sir prompted softly.

Midoriya flipped to the back, pulling out a page which was quite clearly different. The approval paperwork for his Work Study. Unmarked.

“I don’t know if I want you here,” Sir admitted. “Do you think you should be?”

Folding his arms, Midoriya looked over the page. He set it down before Sir and nodded.

“Yes.”

“Oh? Are you trying to be amusing?” Sir pressed.

“No, but you clearly think I should be, even if you don’t want to admit it,” Midoriya smiled, touching a part of the page. “This is dated from a week ago.”

Sir’s head whipped down as he peered at the date line. The way he slowly tilted back up to glare at Midoriya made Mirio smirk. Sir’s jaw was tight, clearly holding back a smile. The line in question was blank.

“That was me being funny,” Deku smiled. “But evidently you really were considering it.”

“So it would seem,” Sir agreed, readying his weapon.

Midoriya pushed the page closer, and the stamp came down. On the desk.

“But consideration isn’t confirmation,” Sir continued, his hand continuing to come up and down to stamp the table.

“No, but I’m here, and that means there’s a chance,” Midoriya countered.

Mirio had to turn away to repress a snort of amusem*nt as Midoriya started sliding the page over to try and catch the stamp anyways. Sir moved his arm, and Midoriya followed. The two started some kind of staring contest as they got faster, the black stamp and the white page blurring as they moved all over the desk.

Sir sighed, closing his eyes and bowing his head as the page crumpled slightly, his arm freezing and the ink setting.

“You’re quite clever, I’ll give you that,” he sighed, standing up and waving to Mirio. “Lemillion: give me a moment alone with Deku. Take Bubble Girl with you.”

Ruh Roh.

“I didn’t show you those files to feed your ego,” Sir Nighteye said, standing and coming around to lean on the front of his desk instead. “I wanted you to see what precisely you’d accomplished in the seven months since you’ve acquired One for All.”

Izuku frowned, not sure why he would be reminding him of something he knew pretty darn well. He had been there after all.

“It’s not enough,” Izuku sighed, not so proud that he couldn’t recognize his own weakness. “All Might would have-”

“You are not All Might.”

The statement shut Izuku up instantly.

“You’re the Symbol of Hope. An entirely new entity,” Sir Nighteye continued, folding his arms. “And someone I owe… an apology.”

Izuku didn’t interrupt to ask why, or to accept it. For all he knew: Sir Nighteye was his father and had been too ashamed to ever be around, until now.

“When I first drafted your papers to have you come here: I intended to request you give up One for All to Mirio,” Nighteye admitted, pinching the bridge of his nose under his glasses. “I’d heard about your sudden drop in power, and believed it was proof of what I told All Might when I first heard you would receive the power.”

Izuku nodded.

“That’s a good idea. If I still-”

“I didn’t change my mind after looking at that list,” Nighteye interrupted. “What changed my mind was speaking with a few of the people on that list. Do you know that Stain still sings your praises in Tartarus? Publicly denounces his clones; says you’re his true successor.”

“That’s… not the most ringing endorsem*nt,” Izuku mumbled.

“He wasn’t the only one,” Nighteye continued, a hint of a smile at the edge of his lips. “One of the people in Tartarus told me to give you a chance. Quite persuasive, in fact. So: I’m giving you just that: a chance.”

Holding up the stamp, Nighteye glanced to the clock.

“I give you… two minutes to take this from me,” he decided. “Starting… now.”

Izuku was used to people giving him no time to prepare by now (thanks Mirko, Tiger, & Aizawa), so he’d started lunging for the hand before the time had begun. Unfortunately: Nighteye was dodging before he’d even opened his own hands.

So, some kind of precognitive or sensory Quirk. Let’s see… Well, these are technically mine…

Using his momentum to hit the desk, Deku grabbed the stack of pages and threw them into the air, trying to fill the air as he grabbed hold of the remaining embers of One for All within him. He had two plans, and the second would require using up whatever was left of his older Quirks.

His next attack was equally futile, touching nothing but air as he dove through the pages.

Either he can detect a large number of objects in real time and account for them, or it’s precognitive then, Deku confirmed. Either way: those two are close enough that this should work…

He spent the rest of the first minute charging up, continuing to use minimal effort to acquire the stamp. He couldn’t grab it one way or the other, but doing nothing would give his foresight more information than Izuku wanted him to have.

On the dot as the first minute ended, Deku threw his arms out and released everything left of Smokescreen and Blackwhip, feeling them burn out completely. In such a confined space it was somewhat impressive; the lavender smoke filling it to the brim and obscuring even the slightest bit of vision, and the dark tendrils attaching to every wall like a massive spider’s web, but Deku knew that he had maybe ten seconds before both faded into nothing.

There was a slight vibration as Nighteye touched a tendril, and Deku pounced, grabbing the man’s hand and yanking at the stamp within. He let go of the other Quirks and pulled against Nighteye’s grip as the smoke faded unnaturally quickly. The two of them struggled for a moment, but Deku just smiled.

“Your Quirk is only useful for information, not direct confrontation,” he pointed out. “All I have to do is turn on Stockpile and I’ll have it. The question is: how many of your fingers will I be taking with it?”

Nighteye inclined his head.

“You used the smoke to obscure any visual senses, while using the tendrils to sense my location and entrap me if I bumped into one, hedging your bets that my Quirk wasn’t an ultra-sensory power which would render me immune either way. Clever, but how did you know I wouldn’t just stand still and wait you out?”

Deku grimaced guiltily.

“Honestly I was just hoping,” he confessed. “I was hoping the papers could give me some information on how it worked, but that just told me you were extra dangerous. And if your Quirk had been detailed and broad enough to sense everything in the room all at once: I at least could have limited your movement for a second. Just because you know where everything is doesn’t mean you can necessarily avoid it.”

Nighteye nodded and let go of the stamp.

“True. But in future you ought to try and predict my moves as well.”

“Then there will be a next time?” Izuku asked, hopeful. He had the stamp, but Nighteye could just as easily let him go.

“I should hope so,” Nighteye nodded, resuming his chair. “After all: I trained one potential replacement for All Might, how hard can another be?”

That made Izuku’s heart drop. He sat down opposite the man and sighed.

“I’m no replacement.” He shook his head, a bit down but not as much as he had been. “All for One got One for All back. He either stole it or destroyed it, I don’t know. What I have left is… a shadow of what it once was. You were right: it should have gone to Togata-senpai.”

They sat in silence for a few moments. Then Nighteye chuckled.

“I’m sure it isn’t your intent, but the fact you actually believe that is amusing to me,” he apologized, waving a hand. “But let’s say you’re right. Let’s say you’re a half-step away from being Quirkless again. The world is waiting for another Symbol to rise. They picked you. Are you going to shirk your duty? Shun what destiny has offered?”

“N-no!” Izuku assured him, alarmed he would even think that. “I’ll be the very best Hero I can be! I just- I just won’t be doing it as the next All Might.”

Nighteye smiled approvingly.

“Good. Then it’s about time you got to work preparing to do that.”

The Pro stood, and Izuku did likewise.

“You’ll be here every Saturday for patrol with Lemillion. He’ll teach you how to be a Symbol,” Nighteye dictated, sounding much more like his businessman persona now. “Thursday nights you’ll be on patrol with me. If you’re going to be a Quirkless Hero: I’ll teach you how to do that. After all, my Quirk is next to useless in the field, unless circ*mstances are very fortunate. I’m surprised you haven’t sought out other Heroes like me before.”

Izuku pursed his lips, looking away guiltily.

“I… kind of burned all my favors getting my friends into the License Exam,” he admitted. “Aizawa’s already training Shinso. Mandalay and Ragdoll are working double this time of year. Ms. Joke doesn’t like me for some reason, I don’t know why. And I don’t know any other Heroes like that; well, at least in any way I could ask them.”

Nighteye rolled his eyes.

“You, young man, are a wonder to behold. Alienating or making bosom buddies with Heroes in your first year. And I thought Skycrawler was hasty…”

Smiling at the comparison to the man who’d given his mother directions once, Izuku looked down at the stamp in his hand. It was heavier than he’d thought it would have been, based on the size. He gave it a little toss, then offered it to Nighteye.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he thanked the Pro. “I’m honestly relieved you found my self-deprecation funny. My original plan probably wouldn’t have worked.”

“Oh?” the man asked, raising an eyebrow. “Pray tell.”

“I was going to do my All Might impression,” Izuku admitted. “But specifically his smile from the Vinegar Riverbank Incident. I know you like All Might stuff from Togata-senpai, so I thought I’d try to stump you with one of his rarer saves.”

There was a moment of silence, and Izuku wondered if he’d just lost his Work-Study.

“You’re right, that probably wouldn’t have worked,” Sir agreed. “But it would have been amusing to see. Not many people know about that particular event. Not nearly flashy enough. But I get the feeling flash isn’t what you’re focused on. That’s good. This agency isn’t about flash, it’s about substance.”

Izuku blinked.

“Was- was that a pun?”

“Yes. You’re supposed to laugh,” Sir deadpanned.

Glancing to the tickle machine, Izuku grimaced.

“I don’t get put in that if I don’t, right?”

“It depends on my mood.”

“...good to know,” Izuku thanked him, horrified.

“Dude! You shouldn’t have,” Itsuka beamed, slugging Izuku on the arm as she looked through the massive booklet he’d given her.

In most situations: a calendar as a birthday present was a bit of a no-no, but it was no ordinary almanac. Izuku had somehow found life-size fold-outs of Mirko instead of the normal page-sized ones. Some were cute, some were heroic, some were tame, and some were going to be very carefully kept away from Yui unless she had a free weekend and room service, but each and every one of them had been signed by the Big Rabbit Herself, plus a little blurb to her specifically.

{“To Itsuka. Keep things interesting. Sparring partners come in all shapes and sizes, so you’ve got to do the same for yours.”}

If that wasn’t a motivator: she didn’t know what was.

Yui came forward next with her present, which seemed to be a briefcase. Itsuka accepted it, confused but excited. She popped it open, only to find it full of American Dollars. One-dollar bills, precisely.

“Sweet! Are we planning a trip to Hawaii without the Uraraka’s or something, because that’s kind of rude without asking first,” she teased.

Her girlfriend shook her head.

“You don’t get to unwrap your birthday present,” she said softly. “But you might find those… useful, while you watch.”

Itsuka looked down at the foreign money. She looked at Yui. She looked back down. She looked back up. Something clicked.

“Oh- OH! F*K YEAH!” she cheered.

Ibara made use of the birthday present she’d been given earlier that night: a pillow shaped like the Bible. Specifically, she hit Itsuka over the head with it.

“Horny be-gone!” she shouted softly, half-laughing. Everyone else was cackling along with her, Itsuka included.

She gave Yui a bop too, and everyone fell apart into hysterics as it bounced off and landed in Tetsutetsu’s lap.

“Horny be-stay,” Yui countered with a blank-faced wink and then a hint of a smirk.

Smiling from ear to ear, Itsuka bent down to pick the discarded tissue paper off the floor and help fold it up for the next birthday.

“Thanks guys, this was really fun!”

A familiar, scarred hand caught her wrist gently, easing her back up from her attempts to clean up. She met those seductive, emerald eyes, daring him to keep holding her wrist like that and still attempt to remain unkissed and unpunched.

“Ochako and Momo want to give you your gift outside,” he said softly, letting go.

Itsuka pouted and started to ask why. She was cut off by a roar outside. A familiar, sexy roar.

“Nhoo,” she grinned, looking towards the door outside. “They did not.”

Izuku gave her a little push, and she positively sprinted to see. Itsuka was nearly bowled over by the sheer yesness waiting outside.

Purring like the dangerous predator she was: a Lennier-Garibaldi 2035 Starstuff V motorcycle idled on the drive, her powerful heart rumbling in her steel breast. Sitting astride the gorgeous mechanical masterpiece was a girl who was all curves, her trimmed down denim shorts, pale leggings, and teal leather jacket making her look like the tastiest snack ever. She popped the neon pink helmet off, shaking out her bob of brown hair and smirking over at Itsuka.

A full three minutes passed as Itsuka just stared, her jaw open and various bodily functions working overtime, her heart rate only one of said functions. She was vaguely aware of Ochako and Momo starting to look concerned, but only vaguely.

“I think you made her crack,” Setsuna said, stepping forward and waving a hand over her eyes. “Too much motorcycle. Too Gay. Brain broke. Have a nice day.”

Itsuka shook herself and got her head working again, reaching over and pulling Izuku to her side.

“Please tell me the bike comes with the girl,” she said desperately.

“Um, hello,” Ochako called, dismounting and strolling over with a walk which was much too sassy for that late at night. “The Girl is giving you the bike. You haven’t earned The Girl yet.”

Maybe her brain was still too addled from “pretty girl on MY NEW F*KING MOTORCYCLE, LET’S F*KING GO!” but Itsuka took a second to process the implications of what Ochako had said.

“Wait, you’re giving me the bike?” she checked. “I thought YaoMomo-?”

The heiress shook her head.

“Ochako came into some money recently,” she explained, nodding back to the much closer gift-giver.

Itsuka looked at the brunette expectantly. Ochako’s hot, confident biker persona faded away in an instant as she blushed and looked at her shoes.

“Well, Melissa kind of studied our Quirks at I-Island, and after looking at mine and Dekun’s… um… maybe kind of patented her synthetic version? And maybe, possibly, might have to pay me royalties anytime anybody uses that design? So, um… I might be buying my parents their retirement house and a three-month vacation in Hawaii as soon as I find the right times and places?”

The news was almost more shocking than the bike.

“Are you telling me you’re loaded now?” Itsuka asked, grabbing Ochako’s shoulders.

“I- I mean, not as much as Momo, and it’s mostly invested for later, but-”

“And you!” Itsuka said, rounding on Izuku. “Your Quirk BS helped! Are you getting royalty checks too?!”

He did the smart thing and nodded honestly.

“Am I the only broke one in this relationship?!” Itsuka cried, looking between them and Yui.

“Mhm,” Yui nodded.

“Fudge!”

Sighing and letting go of Ochako, Itsuka took a second to calm down. Then she grabbed her again and shook her like a ragdoll.

“YOU GOT ME A BIKE! OH MY GOSH I LOVE YOU FOREVER!”

“Mooomooo goooot yooooou spaaaaare paaaaaarts,” the poor girl managed to get out as her voice oscillated from the shakings.

That earned her a release as Itsuka whirled to stare at her pal from another corral.

“...I could kiss you right now,” she said, dead serious.

Ibara made a sound of disapproval, shuffling around to stand between them. She glared at the little group of others, one of her vines smacking Kyo and getting her to act disapproving too, rather than fantasizing about the Class Reps making out.

“So are you just skipping us entirely and moving onto greener pastures?” Ochako asked, just the barest hint of disappointment in her voice.

Itsuka could have made a joke about Ibara, Izuku, and Setsuna being the greenest of pastures, but she had a better idea. She glanced to Yui, got a look of approval, to Izuku and got his half-impatient, half-amused nod, and faced Ochako full on. She stepped close, invading her personal space and looking down at the cutie in the sexiest outfit of all time. Ochako’s brown eyes went wide in realization, but she didn’t retreat. Itsuka’s hand found her cheek, and those chocolate orbs fluttered closed.

The kiss was everything she’d dreamed it could be. It was very much like a kiss with Yui, and yet somehow: nothing like it. Ochako’s lips were rougher, and much poofier. She also had to lean down more. But most of all was the style, or maybe the technique. Yui’s kisses were passionate and a bit wild, often putting her into the following role. Ochako was much more timid, her motions slow and focused, but equally deliberate and with a will of iron behind them that was as hot as the engine only a few meters away.

They broke apart, and Itsuka realized a few wolf-whistles and cheers had gone up from her classmates. She didn’t care.

“...damn, you are a good kisser,” Ochako breathed, a bit flushed.

“Better or worse?” Itsuka poked her.

That earned her a sardonic smirk.

“Different,” she appeased Itsuka.

“Tease. Just for that: you don’t get the first ride,” Itsuka laughed back, gesturing “come hither” at Yui.

Mounting up and accepting the helmet from Ochako, Itsuka straddled her new bike and felt it rumble between her legs. Yui slid on behind her, hands wrapping around her waist tighter than was strictly necessary but definitely not too tight for Itsuka’s liking.

“We’ll be back. Or we won’t. Who knows?” she giggled, kicking up the stand and giving her newest girl some gas.

The beast between her thighs roared in excitement, and Itsuka leaned low as she raced along the dirt road which traced its way through UA.

“Good birthday?” Yui asked, her helmet pressed against Itsuka’s back as she leaned into her.

“The best.”

Chapter 7: Nighteye Arc: Precious One

Chapter Text

“Today will be both patrolling and monitoring,” Sir said, leading the three of them out into the early morning sun.

“Monitoring? Who?” Deku asked, securing the goggles in his mask a bit.

“A small-time crime group under the name Shie Hassaikai,” Sir explained. “We don’t have any proof of wrongdoing right now, but we suspect they’re working on something big. After all: you don’t try to set up a meeting with the League of Villains just for afternoon tea, and Humarise doesn’t fund just any gang on the streets.”

Deku shivered at the name on instinct. Humarise was a conglomerate of zealots, and he had a bad feeling they were going to be a problem sooner or later. But something worse made his stomach clench as he stepped faster to ask Sir something.

“Um… You don’t think they’re messing with Quirk theft, do you?” he asked, putting some pieces together.

Sir nodded solemnly, but Bubble Girl seemed surprised.

“How did you put that together so fast?” the blue, daba-dee, daba-die girl asked.

“Well, the League of Villains is more or less the only organization which has some method of Quirk-meshing, given their Nomu soldiers,” Deku deduced, careful to keep his intimate knowledge of how they did that to himself. “And they’ve been employing secondary groups like the House of Drugs to acquire specific people and organs lately. Meanwhile Humarise is a- …”religious extremist organization” is the closest description I can think of. Anyways, it espouses that Quirks are a disease which need to be cured, so if they’re funding anyone: it’s because they think they can get some kind of anti-Quirk work done through them.”

“Yeah, but how did you know that just off the top of your head?” Bubble Girl asked, frowning in annoyance. “I spent hours in the Tickle Hell trying to figure it out!”

“I’ve… had encounters with members,” Deku said simply, thinking back to how they’d tried to recruit him.

They continued down the road, a few civilians waving to them. Evidently they knew Sir pretty well.

“Regardless: that is the assumption we’re working under,” Sir continued. “One of my contacts guessed they were working on some way to improve Trigger or even something which reverses the effects. During the Nomu attack in Morioh: the leader of Shie Hassaikai, Chisaki, tried to get in contact with the League of Villains more openly than before, and Humarise approached him. The analysis seems to be correct, so we’re going to treat any more intel from my source as accurate for the time being.”

Turning around, Sir held up a small pin. It featured a rather spikey lotus design, and Deku knew it couldn’t be Sir’s. He also offered a few pictures.

“All members of this Yakuza group have this symbol displayed on them somewhere,” Sir explained. “Leaders in the group have these plague doctor masks, so keep an eye out for those too. It’s part of the prestige Chisaki is trying to reinstate.”

“He wants his people to be marked as criminals?” Deku asked, frowning and memorizing both the symbol and the faces they knew.

“He wants them to be recognized as Yakuza,” Sir Nighteye corrected.

“Yakuza Aren’t Villains Or Criminals Like You’d Think,” Lemillion agreed. “They’re Kind Of A Mix Of Hero And Villain. They Run The Criminal Underworld If They’re In Power, But They Think Of Themselves As Protectors!”

Bubble Girl nodded.

“But don’t believe it too much. I saw a Yakuza guy help a little girl find her mother. Stuck with her for six blocks until they met up. Turned right around and beat a guy nearly to death for being late on protection money. I took him in, and he came quietly. Said I was just doing my job, and he didn’t fault me for it. He even said he was wrong for being dumb enough to threaten someone while I was watching.”

Deku nodded. They certainly were a complex group to deal with.

“So, what leads do we have on how they’re catching Humarise’s eye?” he asked, getting them back on topic.

Sir shook his head.

“We don’t,” he confessed. “We believe it to have some relation to Trigger, which is their standby product right now, but that doesn’t make sense for Humarise. Even repeated use of Ideo Trigger doesn’t fully destroy a Quirk, and we’re still not sure how they got ahold of that particular formula.”

Ideo Trigger. The scourge of Naruhata. A variation on Trigger which supercharged someone’s Quirk to the point they received permanent physical changes. If used more than twice: it tended to degrade the base Quirk, but there was an addictive element to the stuff which made it rare for the user to think about that particular downside.

“For now: just keep an eye out for any suspicious activities,” Sir instructed him, turning to go one way while Lemillion and Deku went the other. “We don’t want to spook them, so act like we know nothing. We’ll meet back up for lunch. Be safe, try not to cause an international incident.”

“No promises!” Deku and Lemillion called back cheerfully, before looking at each other and laughing.

Despite the danger, Deku couldn’t help but feel the patrol was a lot smoother than his last. A lot of the civilians waved when they passed by, with a pair of girls even cheering. It was rather quiet, and they were only strolling rather than leaping from spot to spot.

Assuming I even can anymore…

Looking down at his hands, Deku let out a breath. He’d done a test after his meeting with Sir the day before. He was completely out of his other Quirks, unable to even control the artificial Blackwhip anymore, beyond what he’d practiced with Shinso. Worse: he was down to 3% constant power and 11% emergency boost. The 11% lasted long enough for him to use his Air Force gauntlets for one attack, but he couldn’t make it stay. He was edging closer and closer to Quirklessness again. His promise to become the greatest Hero was passing away like a fleeting dream.

“That’s A Pretty Wacky Costume You Got There!” Lemillion laughed, poking at some of the bands on Deku’s arm.

“Huh? Oh, yeah…” Deku agreed, smiling a bit sheepishly. “They’re a… special reminder.”

“Cool! I Like Reminders Too, But I Don’t Keep Them On Me,” the blonde Hero student laughed.

Deku frowned, looking up and down his companion. He noticed a distinct lack of exposed skin for someone who couldn’t wear clothes and use his Quirk.

“What about yours? Don’t you have to lose it before you can go all out?” Deku pried.

Lemillion laughed.

“You’d Think, But Nope! This Costume Came In This Year; Finally Was Allowed To Use Quirk DNA Fabric!” he explained, waving his glove through Deku’s chest. “My First Two Costumes Had The Cape So I Could Wrap Up Whenever I Lost My Pants.”

“Right, the NSAB,” Deku remembered. “One of my friends has to deal with that. Her Quirk makes her invisible, so she has to go into battle, um… also without clothes. I really don’t like the budget, honestly. Some kids need that support gear! Like, my friend Creati: she has to have a whole bunch of exposed skin to make her Quirk work, which leaves her open to attack and cold almost all the time.”

Nodding, Lemillion held up a finger.

“Ah, But If They Got Cool Gadgets Like This From Day 1: They’d Never Grow,” he countered. “Your Invisible Friend: Would She Have Ever Learned To Control Her Light And Hide Normal Clothes If She Hadn’t Needed To? And Your Creation Friend: If She Has To Act Without Her Support Items On Hand: Can She?”

“Well, yeah,” Deku admitted, stepping behind his senpai so some civilians could pass more easily.

“Ah! And If She Was Reliant On Quirk Fabric: Would She Grow Used To The Convenience, And In An Emergency Be Handicapped Without It?” Lemillion posited.

Deku’s first instinct was to say that she would absolutely adapt to the situation and be fine. Then he thought about it. Momo had been incredibly rigid in her thinking only a few months ago, during the Sports Festival Specifically. Would she have been able to adapt if not for the mild inconveniences to overcome before they hit true adversities?

“Precisely,” Lemillion assured him, evidently seeing Deku had realized the point. “Now, Should There Be Exceptions? Absolutely. But On The Whole: The Budget Actually Helps In The Long Run.”

“I guess there’s a reason why we do things sometimes,” Deku admitted, coming back around to stand beside Lemillion. “Still, it’s a nightmare if you actually need the gear. Right now my costume has to be fully-integrated to make up for my-”

“Uf!”

A little weight bumped into Deku’s leg, and a tiny voice let out a breath of pain as it hit the ground. He turned and saw a little Sheikah girl with a horn coming out of the right side of her forehead, currently sitting on the edge of the sidewalk after running into him. Her ratty dress and bandaged arms seemed almost like a fashion choice for a moment before Deku realized what they were. He knelt and offered his hand, careful to keep the palm up so she would see he wasn’t trying to harm her as he offered her a hand up.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he beamed. “I didn’t see you there. Are you okay?”

She looked from his hand to his face, then behind her into the alley she’d just run out of. The little girl accepted his hand, but to Deku’s alarm: she yanked herself forward and grabbed him for what seemed like dear life.

“run…” she whispered into his ear.

Danger Sense might be gone, but Deku could nearly taste the sudden peril in the air. He held the little girl in a soft hug, placing one hand at the back of her head to gently stroke her hair.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” a voice said above him. “My daughter was just in the middle of a scolding, and she threw a bit of a tantrum. I’m sorry if she-”

Deku’s eyes whipped up, widening slightly as he saw the hooked mask and golden eyes of Chisaki.

“sh*t…”

It took Deku a moment to realize it wasn’t just his own thoughts he’d just heard. The Yakuza leader had shared his sentiments openly.

He knows who I am. Crap, I have to play this right or Sir’s plans are going to go up in smoke!

“Really?” Deku said, standing and picking the little girl up into his arms, still running his hand through her hair to try and calm her down.

Her grip on me is almost inhumanly tight… How scared is she of this man that he terrifies her even before he’s in sight?

“Yes,” Chisaki confirmed, clearly trying to smooth over his momentary slip. “Eri is a bit of a troublemaker. She’s in her rebellious phase, I think. I’m not sure if I should be thankful it’s before her teenage years or worried that it’ll last until then, but it really is something I’d like to try and take care of myself. You know how family life is.”

Nodding, Deku glanced to Lemillion. He knew his senpai was probably panicking, thinking Deku was going to do something foolish like give away the whole surveillance. If he hadn’t just been through the grinder with Mirko: he might have. Now? He was more worried about his next move while he played along openly.

This girl is clearly being abused in some way, but I have to weigh that against spooking the Yakuza… Why do I feel like I’m pinned between more than two wrong choices?

“Oh, Absolutely!” Lemillion agreed brightly. “There Are All Types Out There, After All. Maybe She’s Just Trying To Figure Herself Out. She Might Be Intimidated Because Her Papa Is Already So Sure Of Himself? I Recognize That Mask Of Yours! You’re With The Hassaikai, Right? You’re Famous Around Here! I Know If My Dad Was That Cool: I’d Be Pretty Worried About Not Living Up To Him!”

While Lemillion distracted Chisaki for a moment with pleasantries, Deku leaned close and whispered into Eri’s ear.

“We’ll protect you if you need,” he assured her.

“please… don’t go…”

That was all Deku needed to hear.

“...time I got Eri home,” Chisaki was saying. “She might be in trouble, but it’s important a growing girl like her gets her nutrients. Come along, Eri: we’ll have carrots, your favorite.”

Eri just clung tighter to Deku, a feat he wouldn’t have believed possible.

“Oh, very well,” the Yakuza leader sighed. “I’m sorry to ask this, but would you mind escorting us home? Eri can be such a handful sometimes, but if you brought her back: she might be a little less contentious for once.”

He turned to go, a hand tugging at one of his gloves. Deku felt a rise in the bloodlust emanating from the man, and before he could pull Eri behind him: she pushed off and ran after Chisaki.

“Hm? You don’t want the nice Heroes to come home with us?” Chisaki asked.

Eri shook her head, the motion timid and feeble.

“Well alright then. Apologies for delaying you two,” he shouted back. “Good luck on your patrol.”

Something rose up in Deku’s chest as he saw how Eri curled up on herself, following her captor.

“Eri!” he called after her. “If we meet again: I’ll take you flying!”

She straightened a little, turning back to look at him as they vanished into the shadows. Her red eyes glistened with tears, hope and fear mixing in a way that shouldn’t have been possible for a girl that young.

“Isn’t that a nice offer,” Chisaki said darkly. “Eri, what do you say to the nice Symbol of Hope?”

“Th- thank you…” she murmured.

Deku pulled his mask up, hiding his smile. The little interaction might have made Chisaki suspicious of him, but he’d completely missed something else. As the pair disappeared down the alley, the Yakuza man was utterly oblivious to the single strand of black hair amongst the white. A rather smokey lock of hair, as a matter of fact, one which was quickly hidden amongst the white tresses as they fluttered in the wind.

“Eri…” Overhaul hissed, his voice coming like his teeth were closed, “What did you tell that nice Hero who you met?”

A spike of horror shot into Eri’s heart, and she winced at the sound of her own name.

“N-nothing!” she promised.

“I heard you SPEAK,” he snapped, making her flinch away, “Now: What. Did. You. Say?”

“I- I asked him not to go!” she admitted.

They fell into silence, Overhaul leading her back into her room. But he didn’t let her in.

“Eri,” he whispered, that scary happiness in his voice, “You ran away again. You almost hurt someone when you touched that boy. You know what the punishment is.”

She shook her head, silently pleading for it not to be so.

Overhaul didn’t give in to her wishes. He pulled off his glove and brushed his hand along her sitter’s arm. She closed her eyes and turned away as the man was reduced to a bloody mass.

“I’ll do that again,” Overhaul promised blackley, “Except your next babysitter will do that in your room. You’ll sleep with their remains all around you, as a reminder.”

Eri nodded swiftly, understanding his meaning.

“Good. You: get over here. You’re going to watch her now.”

“Come little miss,” her new keeper said, though their voice was much gentler than most people she knew.

She was led into her room, and she quickly hid in the corner, holding her blanket around her protectively. The person followed her, kneeling beside her. Eri peeked out at them, unable to see their mouth or nose because of their tall, dark red collar. But their eyes… those grey eyes didn’t seem so mean.

“I hope we can be friends, little miss,” the person said, “At least until your Hero comes back for you. He will come, and when he does: you will fly away with him.”

Eri had never heard anyone talk like that. She let the blanket fall down a little more.

“Who--?” she whispered, before realizing she shouldn’t talk and hiding again in case they hit her.

But they didn’t hit her. Instead, they reached around and slid their hand through her hair, pulling out a little, silver disk and pressing it into her hands with a finger over where their lips would be.

“My name isn’t important,” they insisted. “What toy would you like?”

“You aren’t going to spend your day with your mystery mentor?” Aizawa asked, swinging alongside Hitoshi as they performed some impromptu patrolling.

“They said they were taking a new job a couple weeks ago,” Hitoshi shrugged. “Said to train with you now, even though you use the capture fabric wrong.”

The erasing Hero grumbled at that, clearly quite annoyed. Good, he needed to have more sass in his life. Stress, no. Sass, always.

“Did you-” Aizawa stopped, sliding a bit on the gravel atop the roof and looking around. “…nevermind.”

Hitoshi frowned, retracting his arm tape and folding his arms.

“Did I what?” he pressed.

Aizawa shook his head.

“Did you feel a… a sort of drop in your stomach? Like, a feeling of foreboding? No… a sense you’d been replaced somehow?”

“No.”

“Oh. I worried it was a Quirk attack. Looks like I’m just drowsy.”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes.

“I’d have never guessed.”

“I’m Sorry Sir, We Didn’t Mean To Run Into Him. It Was Like An Anime Where The Transfer Student With Toast In Her Mouth Comes Around A Corner And Bumps Into The Main Love Interest,” Mirio apologized. He noticed Deku giving him an odd look and smiled awkwardly. “Sorry, That Was A Strange Thing To Reference. Yuyu And Tamaki Like Cute Anime’s, So I’m Pretty Versed In The Tropes Of Cute Girl Romance Shows.”

Deku nodded knowingly.

“Yeah. Itsuka made me watch Modern Marvels. I never thought I would know so much about the cereal industry.”

“Quite,” Sir said dryly. “I see I need to keep a better eye on you two. Lemillion, how badly did Deku screw our plans?”

“Hey!”

“He Didn’t,” Mirio assured him. “He Did What A Good Hero Ought To Do, While Also Letting Chisaki Go About His Day. Oh, And There Is Some Good News! We Have Some New Intel: Chisaki Has A Daughter!”

Sir Nighteye looked at Mirio, then at Deku. He seemed hesitant, almost scared.

“A daughter?”

Deku nodded, taking over the conversation with an indignant look at Sir for implying he’d have to screw up.

“Her name is Eri. Her arms and legs were covered in bandages, she flinched at an upturned hand, and had an unnaturally tight grip for a six year old,” he listed off like a medical diagnosis. “She’s a victim of abuse, and I’m going to save her as soon as Chisaki isn’t around to stop me. I slipped a tracker onto her to make sure.”

Mirio blinked at his kohai. He sounded… kind of pissed. Sir snorted, drawing Mirio’s gaze instead.

“I should have expected that from someone who spent twenty-four hours with Mirko,” he sighed, rubbing his eyes. “I suppose that means I need to fix that. I’m going to say this as condescendingly as possible so you remember, just so you’re aware.”

Oh, if that didn’t sound familiar. Mirio smirked, remembering his first patrol with Sir.

“Enough with that kind of arrogant thinking,” he chided. “You aren’t so special or so powerful that you can just save anyone whenever you feel like it. Haste makes waste, and if you overextend: Chisaki will slip through our fingers. As much as preventing child abuse is a key part of our mandate: preventing mass Quirk attacks outweighs that for the time being.”

He raised a finger in his favorite lecturing pose.

“We must first predict our enemy’s pattern. Only when we know how they will act can we move against them safely. Unguided actions will result in death and damage. You can’t simply be a Hero whenever you want. The world will not allow reckless abandon to go unpunished.”

Lowering his hand, Sir waved to his to interns.

“You can go back to the agency. Your patrol for the day is done.”

Mirio nodded and turned to go, but Deku turned the other way.

“I need to stay on patrol for a few more hours, Sir.”

Turning back, Mirio was shocked to see him refuse an order like that. He was only on a day and already rebelling? He liked Deku, but he was starting to scare Mirio a bit.

“Don’t go after Chisaki,” Sir warned, but cut himself off when he saw Deku’s eyes. Mirio was alarmed too, blinking at the emerald gaze as the young man pulled his hood back.

“If I go home now: I’ll end up rushing to save her in the middle of the night,” Midoriya admitted, wiping at the tears threatening his cheeks. “Call it getting out of my system if you have to, but I need to keep going for a while.”

There was silence between the four of them as the rain started, the heavy droplets snapping against the cement and their heads. Sir watched him for a moment, their eyes locked in a staring contest for a few moments. Then the Pro relented.

“Bubble Girl: go with Deku and patrol the rougher parts of the city,” he instructed them. “You’ll be safe until dinnertime. Lemillion: would you like to come with me or go home?”

“I’m Always Up For Some Fun!” Mirio beamed.

“Good. I have something I want to discuss with you.”

They parted ways, the blue and the green heading towards somewhere he could get a fight, while Sir took Mirio towards the parts of the city which were typically a little safer. For a bit they remained silent, just doing their usual stroll. Then Sir rubbed his face the way he did when he was making a bad decision for a good reason. Mirio braced himself.

“Midoriya Izuku. Deku. First impressions: go.”

Taking a moment to think back on his experiences with the guy, Mirio tried to compile them into something cohesive. He was a pretty complicated guy.

“He’s… Headstrong,” Mirio settled on. “If He Thinks He’s Found The Right Course Of Action: He’ll Take It, No Hesitation. And He’s A Little Impulsive.” That last made him giggle a bit.

“But… He’s Also A Genius,” Mirio continued, more seriously. “Our First Battle: He Figured Out My Quirk And How To Fight It. Got His People Lined Up So I Couldn’t Take Them Out All At Once. Predicted Where I Was Going To Be Too. And He’s Kind. The Way He Handled Eri…”

Mirio shook his head, lowering his voice.

“It was like watching a father find his long lost daughter,” he admitted softly. “The second she was in his arms: I could feel that he wouldn’t let anything touch her. She was safe, for as long as he held her. I was worried the whole time that she wouldn’t let go, and I’d have to watch Deku blow the operation by turning Chisaki into ground meat.”

Swallowing, Mirio asked a question of his own.

“You knew Chisaki had a daughter, didn’t you, Sir?”

The defeated sigh was all Mirio needed for a confirmation.

“Why Haven’t You Said Anything?” Mirio asked, alarmed. “She’s An Innocent Girl, And We Could Have Saved Her Today And Only Strengthened Our Facade Of Just Being Normal Heroes!”

Sir turned back to him, and Mirio saw the same mixture of anger, pain, regret, and sadness he’d just seen in Deku.

It was really quite alarming to see how much his father had changed lately. Shoto wasn’t sure if it was his confrontation with All for One, being made Number 1 by default, or something else: but the ever-focused gaze of Endeavor -the cold eye which looked past everything but his goal- was gone. It had been replaced by uncertainty, by conflict. He acted like he was in a trance, saving people and fighting villains without even seeing them.

From the outside he didn’t seem to have changed at all, but Shoto could tell that the opposite was true. Everything had changed within his father.

Before Kamino: Endeavor had been doing the job because that’s all he could ever think about, part of his ladder to the top. Now: Endeavor was doing the job because he couldn’t stop thinking about everything but the top.

Being #2 was easy. All Endeavor had to do was save lives, beat villains, come home to his hot asian wife, and let the process show who he was and what he did. As #1, he had to do all that (minus the coming home part, Endeavor kind of failed at that for the last decade anyways), plus reach out to the entire nation. He had to be a Symbol, a testament of all that should be striven for. He had to appear on TV and preschools to make kids smile; make the world seem safer just by being there.

But Endeavor had never reached out to anyone. And the nation had already picked a Symbol to strive for. Endeavor wasn’t being asked to appear on TV or at any schools, and certainly didn’t make kids smile. The world only felt more anxious knowing he was at the top.

Shoto was having the time of his life, in other words.

Using his ice to make himself a track to follow Endeavor along at his supreme speed, Shoto found himself begrudgingly admitting to the immense gap between himself and the top. Even Midoriya would probably have trouble keeping pace with the new #1, if for no other reason than all Shoto could do was follow.

Technically speaking, Shoto was pretty sure he could find a way to beat Endeavor in a footrace. His ice and fire combo (especially with the halves oriented so his feet were producing a surface and his hands acting like jets) would likely outpace the plain engine power of the Fire-user, even along a winding or unguided path. If he had to pursue someone: Shoto was especially sure he could catch up faster, if for no other reason than his ability to turn better.

But Endeavor knew where to go. Shoto was never quite sure what he’d seen or where he was heading until they were almost on top of the event, and by then he was too far behind to cross the gap. It was actually rather frustrating, and for the life of him: he couldn’t figure out how his father did it.

“Your power has developed nicely, but you aren’t nearly proficient enough with its employment yet,” Endeavor was criticizing. “Not to mention: you’re being distracted entirely too easily.”

Shoto frowned, not sure what his father could mean. Camie didn’t seem to have any idea either.

“No cap? What’s got him tit* up?” she asked, peering around his shoulder as his ice ramp eased them to the ground.

Endeavor looked like he was going to explode. He’d asked several dozen times why Shoto had insisted Camie be allowed to join the agency as well, but Shoto always gave him the same answer each time. Camie was his girlfriend, and as a loyal boyfriend: he had to take her with him and protect her. Endeavor hadn’t bought it the first time, but Shoto wasn’t changing his story. And it was… at least partially true. She was indeed his girlfriend, of sorts.

“Whatever,” the flame Hero huffed. “Stop being so reactionary and start being proactive. You’ll never stop a crime if you wait until it’s already over.”

Shoto was about to ask for advice on how to do that, but Endeavor was already jetting off again. Camie gave his waist a squeeze to show she was secure, and off they went.

“This is fun,” she said with a smile. “Just wait, soon there’ll be a baddie with a whole squad, and when we pull up: they’ll be flat crash.”

He had no idea what she was saying, of course, but Shoto thought it was good she was smiling. He’d seen quite a few people reduced to a whimpering mess by his father’s gruff demeanor, so the fact she could still make jokes was hopefully a good thing. It certainly made Shoto happy to see her eternally piss off Endeavor.

“You should teach me what you mean with all your funny words, magic girl,” Shoto said conversationally, catching up to his father as he tried to figure out where he was going.

“Cash money, that’s a pog idea!” she agreed. “I can get muh clap on with my thicc thighs, and you can learn to use your tongue!”

Endeavor nearly hit a building, so Shoto quickly agreed to her plan.

“Picture the student clearly in your mind. Do you have them? …good. That image is accompanied by an emotional response, yes? Describe for me what that feeling is like.”

...it’s like… there’s a burning in my chest. I want to squeeze him and shake him for his stupidity. Everything feels tight and clenched.

“Now if you could see this emotion in physical form: what would it look like?”

It’s like- it’s like a fire being held in a box, ready to explode at any moment.

“Then imagine that fire is given a vent; a single direction it can flow out as harmless smoke. Watch as it slowly releases more and more, until it burns itself out, and the box no longer holds in such pressure. It is no longer a part of you.”

There were a few moments of silence.

“Once you begin to detach yourself from your emotional responses: you grow closer to controlling them. Eventually, you can eliminate them altogether, if you choose.”

But wouldn’t it be bad to live your life without feeling?

“You are not eliminating the emotions themselves. More accurately: you strive to control your feelings, rather than let them control you.”

There were a few moments of soft breathing.

“These techniques are the beginning, but you must learn to develop them on your own, to control more than just emotions.”

More?

“Yes. Emotions have great power, but they are matched by the underlying drives. Love for instance, is incredibly powerful, and hazardous, if left unchecked.”

Love? Now you’re just being dramatic.

“No, I’m trying to help you understand. Love is the most dangerous drive of all. It produces many emotions in its wake which can distract and overcome you on their own. Jealousy, shame, rage, grief… you must learn to temper them all, otherwise: they will consume you.”

A tense pause fell between them.

“I can sense your emotions building within you even now, like a gathering storm. If you begin now: you may be able to marshal that power, rather than waste energy suppressing and squandering it.”

But you can’t control all of these emotions! Some have to be destroyed; removed. The dark ones… the ones that give pleasure when causing pain, or driving you to take what you want and damn the consequences.

“...without the darkness: how would we recognize the light? Do not fear your negative thoughts, for they are a part of you; a part of every living being, even me.”

You? But you’re…

“My heart was forged from barbarism and violence. I simply learned to control it. But it is still part of me. To pretend it does not exist is to provide an opportunity for it to escape.”

…so dating both Jiro and Yaoyorozu at once is being controlled?

Ibara opened her eyes, reaching over to smack Yui on the side of the head.

“Mm.” Right, sorry.

“You better be,” Ibara huffed, smiling slightly. “Besides, I said it was a work in progress for me too.”

They resumed their meditations, the two of them making a habit of convening in one of their rooms or in the common room of the 1-B dorm, depending on the need. If they’d had a particularly trying week: they’d take Ibara’s room on the top floor, where it was quiet. If they’d had a good week: they’d pick Yui’s room on the second. If it was average: they’d practice meditation through distraction in the common room.

They’d decided to do their work together when Yui confessed to having trouble controlling her emotions; usually focused on suppressing and eliminating them. Ibara had a similar past, and was trying to pass on some of her experience and failures to help Yui overcome them more easily than she had. So far things were going well.

“Mm.” I saw you three made it official the other day?

Ibara sighed, opening her eyes and nodding.

“You were at the karaoke bar on my birthday too?”

“Mhm.”

“I take it all four of you were?”

“Mm.” Itsuka would have kissed Uraraka sooner if it weren’t for the fact she interrupted her second song.

“That would tend to make things problematic for a bit.”

Ibara closed her eyes, hoping the conversation would end there, but Yui had one last question up her sleeve.

“Mm.” So, are you gonna do the deed on Yaoyorozu’s birthday?

Izuku settled into his bed, pulling his pillow to his chest to hold close without Ochako, Itsuka, or Yui to nestle in his arms. He’d grown used to having someone close, someone he could wrap up and protect all night, but he understood that they were busy and needed to spend time in their own rooms now and then.

He hugged the cushion tighter, thinking about the little girl he’d met that day. Eri.

He knew letting her go was the practical call, but some part of him still felt like he’d made a mistake letting her go. The way she’d clung to him, the way she’d begged him to stay…

Izuku didn’t know quite how to describe it, but Eri felt like Kota. Someone who needed saving, someone who… he needed to save. To protect, to care for, to give everything in the world so she could be happy. If he didn’t know better, he’d say his paternal instincts had kicked in when-

“You left her.”

Sitting bolt upright, Izuku found himself face to face with a familiar black-haired woman, her white cape unmistakable as it fluttered in the wind and moonlight. The room told him she’d come in through the balcony, leaving the door ajar, but her face told him she’d come from somewhere else entirely.

“Nana, how-” he tried to ask, but the ghost just glared him back into silence.

“You left her.”

Chapter 8: Nighteye Arc: Seiko, Hibara, Ohana, & Shizuku

Chapter Text

There was an ear-shattering scream of horror and alarm, making half the members of class 1-A and the other half of 1-B jump to their feet, ready for combat. Ochako was too tired from her patrol and still fighting off the stupid cold she’d picked up from the stupid villain to do any of that, so instead she looked up lazily at Shibara, who was staring at Kyoka and Momo like they’d been replaced by giant spiders. The plate of pancakes in her hands had been expertly caught in her vines, which were standing up in a hilarious mockup of a comic book’s interpretation of terror, but Ochako didn’t need fifths quite yet.

“What- what are you doing??” Shibara screeched, her tone one usually reserved for finding Itsuka and Yui naked on the 1-B couch at 3 am (which Ochako had heard all the way from Deku’s room).

Kyoka looked down and around herself, then back up at her girlfriend.

“Eating your pancakes?” she tried.

“GOODNIGHT EVERYBODY!” Mina shouted, blowing a kiss to the room at large, only for Kacchan to grab her by the shirt and pull her back down.

“Like ThAt?!” Ibara hissed.

Ochako gave a hard look to the plate in front of Kyoka, wondering why she was being so venomous to her girlfriend. Shibara was almost constantly polite to people, and it wasn’t her time of the month based on how relaxed Itsuka and the rest of the 1-B girls seemed. But it looked like Kyoka was just eating normal pancakes.

“Like what??” Kyoka responded, just as freaked out as Ochako would normally be if her nose wasn’t clogged and her joints sore.

Shibara slid up to her with a crazy look in her eye, jabbing a finger at the food and pulling it away clean.

“No syrup,” she whispered so loudly Ochako wondered if it still counted. “No strawberries. No whipped cream. No powdered sugar. No blackberries. No jam. No jelly. No orange juice. No— no anything!”

The entire room went silent, everyone looking from Kyoka’s perfectly plain pancakes to their own and everyone else’s. Ochako glanced down at her stack of syrup and butter-topped ones, then over at her friends’ plates. Momo’s seemed to be more like a layered cake, with each flapjack covered in something different and then stacked onto the prior one. Deku’s was syrup and powdered sugar. Ida’s was piled with fruits. Toru had so much whipped cream that her invisible nose had gained a white button of the stuff to mark her face. Itsuka seemed to still be making hers, using the butter like a glue stick and running it over the entire surface to cover it in a dull yellow. Yui’s had circular strawberry slices or maybe tomatoes, she couldn’t be sure. Kacchan had waffles.

“Yep,” Kyoka nodded, taking another bite.

Shibara held her hands over her mouth as if forcing herself not to throw up, or maybe to avoid screaming, taking several deep breaths as she stared at Kyoka, who was holding eye contact and taking another bite. She took a deep inhale, before extending a single finger and pressing on Kyoka’s forehead.

“Does your blasphemy know no bounds?” she whispered.

Kyoka chewed contemplatively for a bit, then swallowed and leaned around to her girlfriend’s ear and whispered something. Shibara did her impression of a tomato vine, then stood up, walking back to the kitchen as she grumbled about “smart alec’s.” Ochako shook her head. When would the poor girl realize she had Kyoka wrapped around her little finger, and all she needed to do was ask nicely?

“That was poooooooooooooooooooog!” someone called down the hall, running in and crashing into the ground behind Ochako.

“Good morning, Utsushimi-san,” Ida greeted their other visitor. “I see you’re in good spirits from visiting Todoroki?”

The fawn-haired girl stood up, brushing off the overly-large t-shirt she was wearing like a sundress.

“Spirits? Duuuuuuude, you got booze?” she asked excitedly. “And here I thought you were a mad meaty-pop!”

Ochako snorted into her glass. The day Ida let alcohol in their dorms would be the signal the end-times had begun.

As she bantered back and forth with their class rep, Todoroki wandered down the hall much more slowly, taking a spot on the opposite side of the table and stealing a waffle from Kacchan to eat like a cookie. She was pretty sure she could hear Shibara having an aneurism in the other room.

“What’s up with Motorboat?” Kacchan asked him, snatching back the bottom half of his waffle and shoving it into his mouth whole as if to spite Todoroki.

“We had sex. It was fun.”

Utter silence dropped over the room, only broken by a few dropped forks and Utsushimi still yammering on about how sake tasted (of all things), but she quickly shut up when she saw everyone was staring at her with flat shock.

“…ye?”

Mina stood up, walked over to Todoroki calmly, picked him up by his collar, and shook him for all she was worth.

“YOU WHAT?!”

Mina’s war cry was taken up by everybody in the room except Ochako and the people she’d kissed. And Yui. Izuku was busy lighting his pancakes on fire with his cheeks, Itsuka didn’t seem to have noticed, and Ochako was too tired and sick.

It could have been the lighting, but Ochako could have sworn Todoroki’s hair had gotten longer as Mina shook him. She squinted, sniffling and trying to see, and he definitely seemed to have shoulder-length locks. Blinking, she noticed it was long enough to hit Mina’s face, getting caught in her horns a bit. The pink girl screamed in pain as the strands caught and they snapped together like a rubber band, cracking their heads together and pulling apart.

“Ow!” Todoroki complained, holding his head. Only, it wasn’t his head anymore.

“Aw yeah! It’s time for Round GD 2, sneeches on the beeches!” Utsushimi cackled, grabbing the dual-haired student and vanishing back up the elevator.

“Uhhhhhhhhhhh, what?” Mina asked, letting Kirishima help her up. Or rather- “What in the heck?!”

Still up in arms about Todoroki losing his v-card, most of the class took a second to notice, but Ochako was left slack-jawed as she saw what had happened to their local Pinky. Her once curvaceous figure had become hard, muscled almost as much as Kirishima’s, and most definitely masculine. Her squishy smile had turned into a strong jaw, and the tight t-shirt she was wearing was now strained against pecs instead of tit*.

“WHY AM I A GUY?!”

Kirishima smiled shyly, bumping his shoulder against Mina’s.

“I think it looks nice.”

Mina grabbed her— his— grabbed boyfriend #1 by the collar, shaking him like a replacement Todoroki.

“OF COURSE I LOOK NICE! I’M A FREAKING BOMBSHELL! THAT ISN'T THE POINT!”

Ochako rubbed at her nose, wondering if she was just having a fever dream. It was relatively tame, if she was, but it certainly wasn’t like her normal dreams. Izuku wasn’t doing heroic things, for one. He also still had sleeves.

“Senchan?” her boyfriend said, touching her shoulder tentatively.

“Hrm?” Ochako grumbled, accepting the tissue he offered her.

“Are you doing okay?” Izuku asked, rubbing her shoulders out of habit. “You don’t look so good.”

“Is that your way of saying this cold makes me look like sh*t?” Ochako asked, trying to smile coyly but just managing to grimace.

“Um— that’s not what I mean,” Izuku mumbled, itching at his wild tangle of green hair. “It’s more… I can kind of see your skull?”

Ochako blinked at him.

“Huh?”

He reached over and touched her cheek, but rather than pressing squishy goodness like she loved, he hit her cheekbone almost immediately. Ochako felt her face in alarm, wondering how she could have lost that much weight in one day. Her hands were met with an almost angular plane of skin, far more like Izuku’s face than her own.

“I think you brought something back from your last mission, Kero,” Tsuyu said, currently a boy thanks to his quirk.

“Just a cold, not a parasite sucking me of all my nutrients!” Ochako protested, horrified at how hoarse she sounded.

“I don’t think so,” Kyoka said, looking at her hands with alarm. “I think you caught something a little more… contagious. And problematic.”

Ochako wasn’t sure what she was on about, but Momo evidently saw something. She gasped in alarm, eyes wide with realization.

“Huh?”

“Senchan, you didn’t happen to get hit by some unknown Quirk today, did you?” Izuku pressed.

“I mean, one, but it just gave me a cold!” Ochako protested.

“Yeah, I don’t think you’re spreading a cold, hot stuff,” Mina said, holding out a mirror he’d found somewhere.

Ochako looked into it and jerked back when she saw someone who looked like her dad, albeit much younger. She gasped, realizing—

“Oh for the love of—!”

A call to Rock Lock confirmed it. Poetic was the Quirk’s name, and it was annoying even when it wasn’t being cute. It generated a virus which acted like a common cold, only it would always have one annoying side effect while it lasted. In Ochako’s case: it exchanged the physical sex of the one who caught it for about five hours while it ran its course. Naturally, Utsushimi had pounced on the opportunity to have more sex with Todoroki, now also a girl, and would probably keep them pinned there until she caught it and then at least one round after he got better and she still had it. Kyoka couldn’t blame them.

Momo nudged Kyoka, and he looked up from his hands. His girlfriend was smiling down at him smugly, which could only be bad news.

“Told you I’d know.”

Kyoka pouted, folding his arms.

“Yeah, yeah… you knew,” he admitted.

“You know you’re still beautiful, right? Or would you like me to call you handsome?” Momo prompted.

Kyoka shook his head.

“I’m fine. I’m just trying not to get excited.”

“Excited?” Momo asked, sitting down beside him on the couch.

Looking up at the oblivious love of his life, Kyoka sighed and gestured at his still-flat chest and the torso below.

“I have different organs right now. I’d rather not get used to them and miss them when they’re gone,” he deadpanned as much as he could.

Thankfully Momo got the message, blushing adorably and nodding.

“Well, it should only last another hour. Would you like to do something while we wait?” Momo offered, halfheartedly gesturing towards the common room and the TV Hatsume had thrown out for some reason or other.

Kyoka nodded, following her over to cuddle and watch a movie. Tsuyu had a bunch of great films, and had brought her collection with her to the dorms. Thanks to their quarantine: she’d pulled them out of her room and laid them out by the entertainment center. She also was the only member of the class who hadn’t been switched into the opposite sex, given she could do that on command.

The movie was adorable, something to do with a robot who fell in love, but Kyoka got distracted around the finale, when her body shifted back. It was around that time that her awesome pillows vanished, and she found herself cuddled up to the chest of a very strong-looking boy with black hair that framed sharp eyes and a handsome face which seemed both friendly and also able to kill her in an instant.

Oh… oh wow…

Kyoka’s cheeks burned red as she looked up at her g—boyfriend, tentatively glancing down at the skirt which was… well, Momo’s chest mass had to go somewhere.

Oh man…

“Hm? Oh, this is an interesting sensation,” Momo mused, patting his loose shirt and stretching his back a bit. “And— oh my.”

Kyoka grabbed Momo’s arm and yanked him towards the elevator.

“We’llbebackinafewminutes, giveusasecguys!” she insisted, shoving her boyfriend into the lift and slamming her finger a couple times on the button to Momo’s floor.

“Kyoka, what’s—” he tried to protest, his voice like thick, rich, honey.

Kyoka shut him up with a kiss as the doors closed, leaving a very flustered, tall boy once she pulled back.

“Oh— oh my,” he stammered.

“Yeah, it’s different, huh?” Kyoka mused, remembering one time she’d tried being a boy and got a kiss. “But the big thing we need to do is get you into something that’s made for… well, your new anatomy.”

Predictably, Momo lifted up his skirt to inspect the new addition, making Kyoka panic and shove her hands to pull the skirt back down, blushing an even deeper shade of red.

“Let’s get you back to your room, then you can use your full-body mirror and figure it all out,” Kyoka insisted. “I’ll ask Todoroki to lend you some clothes, K?”

“But I can make clothes,” Momo protested, holding out his arm and activating his Quirk to make a t-shirt.

Kyoka snatched it out of the air and held it to Momo’s chest.

“Yeah, clothes for girls. You’re still thinking with boobs. Now go… do your nudity thing while I get you something to at least copy from.”

Momo seemed confused and a little hurt, but Kyoka reassured him by placing a kiss on his cheek.

“After that we can go back to cuddling. Trust me: it’s awesome to have a cold girl in your lap when your body’s pumping testosterone.”

Momo blushed, nodding obediently and disappearing into his room. Kyoka braced herself and knocked on Todoroki’s door. The panting within paused, and a deep voice called towards it.

“Yo! ‘Sup, bra?”

That’s Camie.

“I need to borrow some clothes for Momo. She’s a he now, and all his clothes are for the wrong proportions.”

Kyoka tried to mentally bleach out all the sounds and scents she was picking up from the room, promising herself she’d have Momo make her a memory-erasing gun later. Thankfully: when the door cracked on a dark room: the clothes which flew out looked like they were folded and pulled out, rather than picked up off the ground.

She was about to knock on Momo’s door when the elevator opened and Denki came rushing out, a horrified look on his face. Or rather—

“Kyo!” Denki gasped, her long, golden hair falling into her eyes as she came to a stop. “Kyo, help!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” she soothed, dropping the clothes to grab her shoulders and force Denki to breathe. “Denks, take a second and tell me what’s wrong. I can’t help if I don’t know anything.”

Denki swallowed hard, pulling her hair around to rest on her ears so she could see.

“So, I got the cold thing, and now I’m a girl, and at first I was just: so excited.”

“Yeah? You like?” Kyoka giggled, noticing Denki wasn’t too different, just a little more curvy and with her normally crazy hair now too long to just ignore as bedhead.

“Oh yeah, this is really cool, but that’s not what I need to talk to you about,” she insisted, blushing and looking around.

Looking like she’d come to a decision, Denki closed her eyes tight and grabbed her belt. She yanked it down with a jerk, revealing her tighty-whities. Kyoka squinted and looked away on instinct, until she saw the patch of red in the white fabric.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh

“Sorry, but I don’t know any of the girls but you,” he apologized. “And I don’t trust the guys. Even the guys who are girls right now. Especially not Mineta.”

Kyoka patted his shoulder and held up a finger.

“Let me drop these clothes off and we can go to my room and talk. And also get you some pads or something.”

As Yaoyorozu, Jiro, and then Kaminari vanished, Minoru was having the time of his life. He’d never seen so many hot guys and girls in one room before, especially since they kept switching from one to the other and back, which was just too cool. His personal favorite had to be when Bakugo’s little trio got flipped.

Ashido was pretty hot for a guy, his curves translating oddly well, and his smile actually pretty dreamy. Kirishima was topless, which was awesome for all of eleven seconds until Ashido stripped off his useless bra and slapped it on Kirishima’s shockingly pronounced breasts, hiding them under that and his shirt. Ashido going topless and Kirishima being in two layers felt wrong somehow, but they pulled it off.

Bakugo was hilarious, actually losing a cup size in the change, but otherwise not being any different. Unlike the other boys who became girls: she didn’t even get longer hair. Minoru just watched it all in bliss, waiting for his inevitable catch so he could retreat to his room and get pictures for… research. And then probably video himself doing other stuff for “research.”

“Hm…”

Turning, Minoru saw Kendo holding Kodai by the waist, except his hands were expanded so he was cupping most of Kodai’s thighs and back. Kodai was also about as handsome as Todoroki on a good day, so… that was awesome.

“Kero, you look like a Yaoi Hentai cover,” Asui noted.

“Yea— hey, wait!” Minoru protested, looking at the frog person (they’d transformed like a dozen times so far, he couldn’t tell what they were anymore). “How do you know what Yaoi Hentai looks like??”

“Kero.”

Momo stretched a bit as she stepped out of her bedroom, back in normal clothes after the virus had run its course. Kyoka had spent most of the time talking with Kaminari about the detriments of the female body, but she didn’t begrudge her girlfriend helping her bestie out. It was only natural he would want an expert on hand during what could very well be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him to discover if he was a she, or simply a different kind of he.

Being a boy had been fun enough, she supposed. She’d decided not to return downstairs, instead lounging around in her room with the male physiology to experiment with how it affected her. Clothing was an interesting experiment, much more loose but also tighter in strange ways. She felt more self-conscious about her shoulders than she’d expected, and while normally she enjoyed relaxing alone without clothing: she’d found the… addition had made it more comfortable to wear the boxers from Todoroki and comfy pants, though going shirtless felt even more liberating than normal. She’d also been able to admire her abs, which didn’t show as well as a girl, unlike Kendo’s which actually popped less when she’d switched over.

“Oh hey, you’re back!” Kyoka called, jogging towards her from the elevator as Kaminari went down, a deeply introspective expression on his face.

“Indeed. It was a nice experience, but I much prefer being female in physiology,” Momo admitted, beaming at her girlfriend. “I also believe you like me much more in this form? As I recall you have a particular partiality towards my breasts.”

Kyoka slugged her shoulder, which hurt the shorter girl’s knuckles more than it hurt Momo.

“Well, I guess all that’s left is to go back downstairs and cuddle while we— hang on where’s—”

“Ibara!” Momo agreed, having been so caught up that she’d forgotten their girlfriend was cleaning up brunch.

The elevator dinged open, and Kyoka rounded on the doors, Momo just looking over her head at the figure standing in the middle of the car. He had a ponytail of vines, a proud face with high cheekbones, and the figure of a runner. He stepped forward with a dark purpose, a mysterious and seductive fire burning in his deep, forest eyes. Momo had to take a moment to steady herself.

“Shi— I mean, Hibara,” Kyoka joked weakly, clearly trying and failing to diffuse the tension. “We were just—“

Ibara grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled Kyoka into a deep kiss, dipping her and shocking the purple-haired girl for a moment as her eyes went wide as saucers before dipping closed and reciprocating the embrace with a heavy passion. Then Ibara pulled back, pouncing on Momo as Kyoka gasped and protested.

“YOU’VE BEEN THAT GOOD THIS WHOLE TIME?!”

Momo had never experienced a kiss with quite as much desperate need, or as skilled a tongue. She melted into the embrace, drifting after the retreating lips for a moment in a haze.

“I— I thought you weren’t supposed to kiss us like that,” Kyoka mumbled, a little blearily.

“Girls aren’t supposed to kiss girls at all,” Ibara purred, his voice sending a bolt of heat through Momo’s chest and into her legs. “But I’m not a girl right now. I’m a boy, and boys with girlfriends are supposed to show affection in a lot of ways.”

Momo’s brain was a little slow just then, but even she realized what Ibara was getting at.

“You—”

“I won’t be doing anything overly sensual in the next five hours,” he shut her down quickly, before running his fingers up her arm with tantalizing dexterity. “But I have a lot of pent up kisses to give out and massages to provide. Consider me at your service until I turn back. As an… early birthday present of sorts.”

Kyoka evidently knew something Momo didn’t, as she grabbed his spare hand and yanked him towards the door to Momo’s room.

“I call your right hand! Momo: get in here and lock the door!”

“Wait, we—“

“—Have five hours, two of the most precise hands on the planet, and a tongue that just told me I need it used properly at least sixty more times before I die,” Kyoka interrupted. “Either you get in here with us, or we drag you in, because you are not missing this!”

She got the message. Momo pulled her door open and then locked it behind them. It turned out that Ibara’s vines were good for a lot more than just Hero work, but Kyoka was right: those fingers and that tongue were certainly put on the Earth for a very specific purpose.

Making out was also Really fun.

Since they couldn’t leave the 1-A dorms: Yui had to convince Izu and Ocha to lend them one of their rooms, which Ocha finally relented on in exchange for their promise not to stain or break anything, and also that they sign a contract she was, and forever would be: the top woman in Izu’s life, and that she could request them to lay off him and her for any seven days of her choosing. Yui had no problem with any of that, and expected she could profit off of it later somehow.

In the meantime: Yui had a floor, Itsuka had a boy’s body, and they were going to enjoy the entirety of their quarantine with 1-A.

“Done already?” Ochako teased, watching as Itsuka and Kodai dragged themselves back into the movie room, looking exhausted.

“Shut up, boy stamina is crap,” Itsuka grumbled, dropping into a chair and letting Yui collapse atop him.

“Mm,” Yui agreed, even his hum sounding winded.

“You’re probably just using it wrong,” Hagakure insisted, cuddling up to Ojiro on the couch.

The tail-girl seemed grateful for her invisible boyfriend to hide behind, clearly not comfortable being a girl. Hagakure was staying invisible, which probably meant he needed the contact just as much.

“How could we use it wrong?” Itsuka protested weakly. “It gets going in half a second once it sees anything sexy, it floods your brain with “do it now” vibes, and then can’t even get through more than two positions before you’re all out. At this point: I might not even want to date you anymore, Izu. Knowing the wedding night’s gonna be over that fast? Bleh.”

Izuku, for his part, stayed quiet. He was embarrassed to be around so much blatant sex talk and implications. He couldn’t blame the couples and trios which were experimenting with one another, seeing as the opportunity probably wouldn’t come again without substantial expense, but it was a lot for him. He wasn’t even sure he’d be comfortable talking about it with anyone but Ochako and maybe Itsuka, and even then: only in private.

Luckily: Ochako came to his defense.

“No, Toru’s right: you’re totally using it wrong,” he insisted, his cute, brown bob of hair unchanged during the swap which should be over any moment now. “In fact: I’ll guarantee it! Once Deku and I do the deed: I’ll time it.”

“Um… Senchan?” Izuku prompted.

“Yeah? Oh, fork!” he cursed, remembering that Itsuka and Yui not coming after Izuku was kind of Ochako’s primary backup plan. “Actually, we won’t do that. Definitely don’t-”

“Nope, too late, messed it up,” Itsuka laughed.

“I—” Ochako started, only for her voice to crack as it turned back to a girl’s, suddenly much more shrill again and back to the adorable ball of death Izuku loved. “You—!”

Yui couldn’t withhold his laughter, chuckling into Itsuka’s shirt as they cuddled and Tsuyu put in another movie.

Unfortunately, the fun eventually came to an end. Ibara made sure to finish her work, even though she was back to being a girl, which seemed to only make her girlfriends that much more satisfied when she completed the task her hands and mouth had set to. They were gasping messes on Momo’s bed, while she was barely ruffled.

“You look… sexy as f*ck with a ponytail,” Kyoka managed, before curling up under the sheets and into Momo’s collar.

Ibara flicked her ear to remind her not to swear, then kissed them both on the cheek as she left. It had been an interesting experience, and one she’d definitely become addicted to in just those five hours, which meant it would be all the more painful to abstain from it ever again, but she’d wanted to show them at least once how much she loved them. Physically, anyways.

Downstairs was a mess. Almost everyone was through their swap cycle now, and were watching Asui’s film collection while they waited for the last stragglers to finish so the quarantine team could check them out and confirm they weren’t going to spread a new cold on the world. The only ones left were Aoyama (who was currently performing karaoke with the voice of a broadway actress), Kota (who was staring out the window like a victorian era lady of the house lamenting the absence of her dearest love), and Izuku. Somehow, despite being cuddled up to Patient 0 almost all day: he still hadn’t turned into a girl. It was most concerning.

Watching from the hallway for a moment, Ibara watched as he laughed with the people chanting and taking bets on when he’d change (or if he’d already changed without them realizing), but she spotted the pain in his eyes when he thought no one was looking and his mask was forced to relax from exhaustion.

“I worry about him,” Morrigan said from her side, having taken a few hours as a boy as well, perfectly synchronized with Tokoyami. “He’s been having nightmares since the training camp, and probably before, given how he just forced himself back to sleep.”

Biting her lip, Ibara nodded. She’d been having night terrors since the camp, and she could imagine he was almost as bad off. She’d been shown how to deal with them, and sneaking off to cuddle her girlfriends when it had been really bad had helped, but Izuku would only have the latter, and infrequently.

“Can you get him to meet me in his room?” Ibara asked, worried for her friend and knowing he needed someone who hadn’t been there to truly confide in. Someone who had been through pain comparable to the deaths he’d endured.

“Depends: why his room?” Morrigan asked warily. “Four girls would be a lot…”

“He’s my brother, in a sense,” Ibara assured the bird woman. “I’m not interested in men. I hid from my girlfriends all day while they were boys, and I love them to bits.”

Morrigan gave her the thumbs up, then floated over to tap Izuku’s shoulder. He looked up, then over at Ibara. She gave him a low nod, and he made some excuses before coming over to walk with her to the elevator.

“What’s up?” he asked cheerily, thankfully comfortable with her now.

“I wish to speak with you,” Ibara said simply. “Privately.”

They ascended to his floor in silence, Izuku clearly confused but not worried. He opened the door to his room, and she took a moment to place her hand on the door when entering so it stayed open. He seemed relieved, and took a place on his bed after she sat in his desk chair.

“What can I do for you?” he asked, offering a friendly smile.

Ibara gestured to Izuku with a hand, her expression solemn.

“It’s the other way around. You need me,” she insisted.

Frowning, Izuku seemed to think about her offer.

“I don’t— think so?” he confessed. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re an awesome friend and a great Hero, and I’m super lucky to know you, but specifically right now I don’t—“

“Tell me about Kamino,” Ibara cut him off, realizing she had to cut right to the point. “And I’ll tell you about the forest.”

Izuku’s light vanished in an instant, and he seemed terrified. Her ponytail fluttered ominously towards the door; warning him that she could stop him from getting away if she wanted. Izuku’s Quirk had given out recently, and whatever sparks were left couldn’t compete with hers

He seemed to sag a bit.

“I— I don’t want—“

“You need to,” Ibara insisted. “You don’t want to, but it’s a weight in your chest. It’s constantly pulling you down, making you try to use fancy gadgets and methods of distraction to pretend you aren’t weighed down by so much you think it might bring you crashing to your knees at any moment. You tried to tell your girlfriends, but they don’t quite understand, and you feel like you have to hold back to protect them. You don’t feel like you have time to talk to Hound Dog, and you think that if you do: you’ll be giving into the fact you failed. That even if you succeeded: somehow going for help feels like failure.”

Izuku stared at her, slack-jawed as he nodded, his eyes tearing up a bit as she listed out how she felt, which seemed to perfectly parallel him.

“And each night: you’re afraid to go to sleep, because you know that there’s a chance you’ll be tormented by whoever’s waiting for you.”

That really got to him.

“I’ve seen— I’ve seen everyone,” Izuku confessed in a whisper. “Everyone but you, and Ochako. All Might. All for One. My mom. My dad. Itsuka, Yui. Melissa. Momo, Kyoka… Kacchan, Hagakure, Ashido, Kirishima… Everyone… and they all berate me. They tell me I messed up. That I’m not worthy. And my Quirk— my Quirk’s gone, Ibara. It burned out, and I’m stuck with gear. Forever. All the training, all the practice: it’s all been for nothing!”

He didn’t know when he’d started to cry, or when Ibara had moved to hug him, letting him bawl into her shoulder. Izuku was just grateful to have someone there who understood.

“I saw my father first,” Ibara admitted, her voice quavering a bit as she held him, her vines moving to wrap them both up in a hammock or cocoon. “And my mother, and my spiritual leaders, and my friends… and yes, even my girlfriends. And when I ran out of people: they started coming back. Each came as if to taunt me for not being good enough. For giving in.”

She swallowed hard and rested her head on his.

“In the forest, when they— when they hurt me: they took me in a sneak attack. I had no chance to retaliate, but when they were trying to find a way to secure me to the cross: there was… a moment.”

Her voice shuddered as she forced herself to continue.

“A moment where I could have fought. Fought and likely died, but fought nonetheless. And in that moment I—…I gave up.”

Izuku tried to look up at her, but Ibara shook her head and hugged him closer. If she stopped: she wouldn’t finish.

“I failed. I wasn’t good enough. Not just because I gave into love, but because I gave into fear and despair. I did something wrong that was indisputably for the wrong reasons, and all of my fears and heartache broke free to drown me. Please… don’t let it conquer you. You’re so much stronger than I am.”

As she pulled back to insist he was, Ibara blushed and found she was holding a girl with curly, green hair, adorable freckles, and emerald eyes that shone like stars.

“Please, Izuku,” she forced herself through her sudden realization that her found brother was beautiful as a girl. “Try to forgive yourself for what you didn’t do. Try to remember: we love you. You’re our friend, and in many cases: significantly more. I— well, right now I could, but normally I’m incapable of being attracted to you, and yet I still can’t imagine my life without you in it. You’ve become a part of me— of all of us. No one blames you for how things went. No one but you. So you’re the only one who can forgive.”

Izuku blinked back tears a few times, then bowed her head.

“I can try.”

Ibara kissed her on the crown of the head, then held her sister close again.

“That’s all we can ask.”

They stayed there until Izuku felt ready to go back down.

Wiping at her eyes as the film came to an end, Shizuku gave Ochako a peck and promised she’d be back soon, heading back towards the elevator up to her room. As usual: the frog student had picked the perfect pastime for the evening, and Shizuku had come to a realization about halfway through. The little girl in the movie didn’t have red eyes and white hair, but that didn’t stop her from seeing Eri every time the girl was on screen.

Pulling out her phone, Shizuku called her internship, waiting patiently as it rang. It took him nearly five minutes before Sir answered, but she didn’t waste any time once he had.

“I’m going after Eri.”

The line was silent for a moment before he responded, clearly confused and trying to hide it.

[“You sound strange. Also, no you aren’t.”]

“I’m fine, and yes I am,” Shizuku said sharply. “She needs to be saved, and she hasn’t moved from where they took her all week. Do you want the address and how many floors beneath ground level she’s being held?”

[“How do you know that?”] Sir asked, slightly bewildered.

“Call it maternal instinct if you must, but know that I’m going to get her out of there one way or another. You can either come with me and help, or you can watch.”

Another pause broke the conversation.

[“Why now? What’s changed your mind in the last seven days?”]

“Ohana.”

[“...your jokes haven’t improved, Midoriya.”]

Izuku scowled into the receiver. Sometimes he really didn’t care for Sir’s “funny at all times” attitude.

“Because “Ohana means family. Family means: nobody gets left behind, or forgotten.””

[“...I’m sending you an address. Meet me there tomorrow with the other students interning right now, and if you think you’ll need anyone to pull this off. You better be right about this, and remember that the more you bring: the more you risk.”]

“Will do. …thank you, Sir.”

[“Don’t thank me. This is going to be all of our heads.”]

“Then thank you again.”

Izuku hung up, smiling grimly. He was going to get Eri back, and he wasn’t ever going to let her go again.

Chapter 9: Nighteye Arc: The Meeting

Chapter Text

Izuku looked at his team, all alone in their train car. While the rest of them were sitting, he’d chosen to stand at the head of the car. All of them were quiet, either meditating or quietly looking at their phones to make sure they weren’t left behind in class. He’d only taken the very best.

Ochako, Tokoyami, Morrigan, and Shoto were there, of course, but when Sir had said to bring whoever he thought he’d need: Izuku had limited himself to only three others. He wanted to bring everyone, but he knew that every life he brought was a life he risked. Chisaki was not to be trifled with.

In the end, he’d decided that what he needed was more intelligence, close-quarters firepower, and someone to think up the plans he couldn’t. He’d asked Kyoka, Hagakure, Tokage, Honenuki, Itsuka, Kirishima, Kacchan, Tenya, and Momo if they were willing.

Kyoka would have the best intel gathering, but was a risk in combat against large groups. Hagakure was good at stealth, but her other abilities were lacking. Tokage was a safe bet, able to regenerate her eyes and ears as they gathered intel, but she was more limited than Kyoka, and similarly low in combat rating. Honenuki was also a bit of a liability in direct combat, but his versatility in subterranean warfare couldn’t be underestimated.

Itsuka could probably act as both CQC and his backup brain, but… he was worried enough to have Ochako along, not to mention either of the other girls he had feelings for. Kirishima was working on a new move, and Izuku had a feeling he could be very useful, but… did he have a right to risk his life? Kacchan would show up on his own if Izuku didn’t invite him, and thankfully doing so had meant the explosive boy had rejected the offer.

Tenya had been an obvious choice. His second in command, his best friend and brother, but also someone who functioned best in open terrain. Momo was the second. Her nickname of “the Quartermaster” was amusing, but he more considered his third in command. She was the analyst, the genius, and the arsenal all in one. She was adaptable, but at the same time… she was precious to him.

In the end: he’d chosen Momo, Honenuki, Kirishima, and Kyoka. Maybe he was biased for picking mostly 1-A. Maybe he was biased for picking his sisters and not his crush. Maybe he was biased for taking two people he trusted more than himself. Maybe he should have taken others. It was too late to change it now, and he was lucky he got to bring anyone at all.

The stop was nearing, and Izuku swallowed hard.

““Get Tactical Marines,”” he called to them, and his friends gave him serious nods, standing and putting their phones away.

They filed off, coming around a corner to see a trio of familiar faces, along with a girl whose hair was some mix of pink and orange. The Big Four.

Izuku nodded to Togata, who gave him a big smile.

“That’s A Lot Of Friends,” he laughed. “Of Course, I Can’t Say A Lot. I’m Here With My Boyfriend And Our Girlfriends.”

The other three waved hello, each in interesting ways. Amajiki was timid, while the new girl was casual. Hado was enthusiastic and glomped Morrigan.

Inside was even more alarming. The Internship Heroes were there of course: Sir Nighteye, Endeavor, Rock Lock, Ryukyu, Fat Gum, and even Indelible; but more interestingly: so were Gran Torino, Eraserhead, and Uwabami.

“Oh, my baby!” the snake woman cried, her eyes watering as she rushed forward to hug Kyoka.

The violet-haired girl just sidestepped her and tried to trip Uwabami, which Izuku thought was uncalled for, but they were both smiling so what did he know? Shoto didn’t seem bothered; evidently more interested in speaking with his father and… some girl in a catsuit who was trying to use Burnin’s arm like a swing.

“If we could all remain calm, now that the last of the stragglers have arrived,” Sir Nighteye sighed, gesturing them towards the inverted U-shaped table which dominated the room.

Everyone fell silent, greetings interrupted halfway through and questions left unanswered. They all looked at him and began to shuffle around.

“It’s time to discuss Shie Hassaikai.”

Bubble Girl would have been ecstatic to be handing out pamphlets, she really would, but Sir had decided there was a better job for her: standing behind Midoriya while Centipeder stood behind Mirio. She really wished she didn’t have to be there, but it was necessary.

“Over the last few months: my agency has been looking into one of the remaining Yakuza organizations in Japan: Shie Hassaikai,” Sir was explaining as he handed out the files to everyone. “Thanks to each agency represented here: we’ve gained insights into what they’ve been doing and how.”

He gestured to Endeavor.

“Over eighty-percent of our data comes from information recovered by the Endeavor Agency, regarding the innumerable underworld contacts Shie Hassaikai has been making of late. Following the advent of Heroes and villains: the Yakuza have been reduced to a shadow of what they once were, but in the last few months: the new leader of this specific family has restored them to what they once might have considered a prosperous state.”

Sir tapped a button and revealed a map of Japan, with dozens of red lights appearing across the island.

“These are the confirmed contacts who have been receiving funds from Shie Hassaikai and then been forced to pay back said funds with interest for time spent, bringing them into the Yakuza’s pocket. The key to their recent windfall is this.”

He held up a small vial with a dark green liquid in it.

“A new variant on Trigger. Stronger, so much so that it has to be diluted in Saline at a ratio of nearly 1:10,000. If injected directly: this solution would cause a person’s Quirk to become so far enhanced: they would likely explode. Even when diluted as we said: it still provides a marked increase over normal Trigger, so much so that it’s being marketed as a blend of Ideo Trigger that doesn’t drive you insane or leave such an obvious mark. It’s non-addictive, which means it’s more addictive than normal Trigger because idiots feel safe to use it. It’s also supposedly able to permanently cure erectile dysfunction.”

Some of the adults in the room snickered at that, while most of the students just blushed in embarrassment.

“Thanks to the Rock Lock Agency’s takedown of the House of Drugs: we now know that they’re distributing this in small vials amongst hundreds of legitimate medication or other materials. Not every shipment carries them, and even ones that do can hide the vial extremely well in a small space which might go unnoticed. Since it has to be so diluted: they can spend that much money just to get one out to a little villain group or satellite branch.”

Sir set down the green bottle and the screen changed to the symbol of Shie Hassaikai, alongside an image of a hand-covered face and a question mark.

“Gran Torino and the confessions of the House of Drugs members have confirmed that Shie Hassaikai reached out to the League of Villains after they went underground,” Sir said, a white bar between Shigaraki’s face and the lotus symbol appeared on the screen. “Additionally, thanks to work from Uwabami’s Agency: we now know the deal was exceptionally limited, and the League has since gone back underground.”

The line was changed to dotted.

“In theory that would mean we only need to keep an eye on any such exchanges in the future. Unfortunately: the Ryukyu Agency recently turned up evidence that another organization has begun to supply funds, data, enforcers, security, and even cutting-edge scientific and medical equipment to the Yakuza in exchange for massive sums of this new Trigger, along with another product they’ve been distributing.”

Sir held up a red injector bullet, setting it beside the Trigger vial.

“This is a prototype drug they’ve been testing for the last two weeks. An anti-Trigger. Instead of boosting a Quirk: it degrades it. The last registered use of their prototype was on a member of the Fatgum Agency: Sun Eater. He lost his Quirk entirely for thirty-six hours.”

There were a number of gasps and people asking if he was okay, but Akajimi simply showed his hand was fine and turned it into a cow hoof.

“This new faction has been incredibly hush-hush, but thanks to data from various agencies and an inside source: we now know that they’ve forged this alliance specifically to perfect both this new drug and a third. An antidote to the anti-Quirk. The intent is that the Yakuza will be able to erase Quirks in their entirety, and restore them if they see fit.”

Shock emanated through the room, mirroring what Bubble Girl herself had felt when he’d revealed the information to her and Centipeder.

“Erase like Eraserhead?” Indelible asked.

“No,” Sir shook his head. “Erase as in: devolves you into a pre-Quirk human. Our source says that they haven’t managed to develop it quite that far yet, but they have a prototype being shipped out of the country which acts not unlike the old gene replacement injections: able to eliminate someone’s Quirk for almost three months, and if taken regularly: would eventually rewrite one’s DNA to no longer have said Quirk.”

That got everyone really worried. There were scared and angry mutterings, but Sir didn’t stop there.

“Given the leap from the street prototype encountered by Sun Eater, the initial waves prior to the aid of this new group, and the information from our source: it’s safe to assume they will have a single-use drug of sufficient density and potency to permanently reduce a person to Quirklessness in a single shot within the month. In fact, projections estimate they may already have a prototype of such a drug, and they’re simply waiting for production to catch up so they have enough to test and confirm.”

That got people angry. Endeavor slammed his fist into the table, his teeth grit in fury.

“Then why are we all standing around?! We should be busting in there now!”

He wasn’t the only one. Most of the Heroes were yelling and crying for an attack that very second.

Sir held up a hand, and waited for them to fall silent. It took less time than she’d feared, but it still took a minute.

“We could not attack until now for one reason,” he explained. “A common element between the new Trigger and this erasing drug. Until yesterday: we couldn’t confirm how they’d managed this incredible density or this unprecedented feat of evolution reversal. In theory they shouldn’t have been able to do this, and we had to confirm how before we attacked, or else we might simply exacerbate the problem and lead to dozens of splinter cells manufacturing the substance and making even worse variants.”

He tapped the side of the injector.

“This is empty, clearly designed to leave no trace. However, yesterday evening: we were able to get a hold of a full vial. Our contact smuggled one out to us, and confirmed our suspicions due to their position in Shie Hassaikai.”

Sir set the second injector beside the first.

“The material within revealed a horrifying truth. The unknown substance in the new Trigger was cross-compared to that in the Quirk-B-Gone serum, and analyzed in detail. The compound contained within it human DNA and blood cells.”

“So they’re using someone whose Quirk is to destroy Quirks?” one of the Heroes mused.

“It certainly gets them a monopoly on the stuff,” another agreed. “Even if they give out the super-dense stuff: you can’t make more. The cells won’t multiply, even if you extracted them from whatever artificial activation serum they’re swimming in.”

The screen showed several different images, separated into boxes. One was the map of Hissaikai’s contact, one a chemical analysis of the two compounds, one the alliances, and then three black boxes.

“Combining these things, we also established three other facts,” Sir explained, giving a nod to Bubble Girl and Centipeder. They placed their hands on the boys’ shoulders, keeping them from moving.

“First,” he listed, illuminating the first of the dark boxes with a map of the incredibly fractured China. “The organization that has allied with the Yakuza family is not simply some gang or villain group. The state-of-the-art technology and experts we’ve seen them bring in for consultation are simply too extensive for anyone less funded than a country. At the moment we suspect China: who would have the most to gain by having a way to permanently eradicate Quirks. Several elements and factions in that nation would relish such an ability, while others would like to be able to negate that with the antidote, and still more would simply like a Trigger Bomb to wipe out a city with minimal attack risk.”

“Second,” Sir continued, showing the second box with the beak-like mask and profile of the key villain. “The young leader of Shie Hassaikai is a man named Chisaki, or Overhaul. He has the ability to deconstruct and rebuild whatever he touches, so long as he understands what he’s working with and how to make it. It is doubtless that he is the key to creating this serum, and if he is not captured quickly: he could theoretically learn to generate it from base chemicals.”

“Third,” Sir swallowed, nodding and silently instructing Bubble Girl to hold extra tight to Midoriya’s shoulders. “Chisaki is currently in possession of a “daughter” with no records of her birth.”

An image of a white-haired girl with a horn and red eyes appeared in the last box. Her arms and legs were covered in bandages, and she seemed to be pleading even through the screen. As Sir predicted, Midoriya jerked in his seat, right alongside Mirio. Both of them would have dashed off to attack that very second if not for Sir’s instructions to keep them in place.

“Given information from Deku and Lemillion’s encounter, as well as our informant’s testimony: we have confirmed she is the source of the serum as of right now. A simpler component for Overhaul, and the genesis of the cells. If any prevention of this drug’s reality is to be achieved: Chisaki’s daughter must be recovered at all costs.”

“Her name…” Midoriya whispered, his voice a shadow of deepest despair and fury, “...is Eri.”

“So,” Rock Lock asked practically after the shouting and outrage died down a second time. “What exactly is your plan? She can’t possibly be at the main compound, not with how much they have going for them right now. She might not even be alive. Capturing Overhaul from inside a villain base filled with Quirkless goons and low-level Yakuza is fine for a weekend raid, but getting her out isn’t going to be so simple. And who’s this informant you keep mentioning?”

Nighteye turned to Midoriya, who was sitting limp in Bubble Girl’s grip. The two boys at Nighteye’s left hand seemed to be dead in their seats, but Midoriya managed to stir and nod to the screen.

“When we ran into… Eri,” he said, swallowing hard. “I knew Chisaki was mistreating her, but was told to let him go. I managed to slip a tracking device into Eri’s hair, which likely is still attached given the power readings it sent out since. It hasn’t moved from the general area of the main compound in the last week and a half, about seven stories underground. Given how long her hair is: it’s likely Overhaul doesn’t want to risk her head when using his Quirk, so I doubt he’s found it.”

Nodding, Nighteye turned to Rock Lock and the rest of the room.

“As to our informant: they’re an unnamed member who recently joined Shie Hassaikai and is acting as Eri’s caretaker. They were able to slip this data to me while buying toys for Eri, and say she has mostly been left in her room as of late, given Overhaul doesn’t trust their new partners not to try and steal her if they know who she is.”

“And we can trust them, why?” Fatgum asked, folding his massive arms.

Aizawa-sensei coughed, raising a hand.

“They’ve been vouched for,” he assured the room. “They won’t be around long, they’re just here to help with this, but they are committed to this mission.”

Eijiro didn’t know why they were all so wound up about details. He wondered why they weren’t going now, especially since they had all this info now.

“Um… when are we going to hit then?” he asked, deciding to be bold.

The entire room turned to him, then to Nighteye. Nighteye seemed almost to smile.

“Tonight,” he assured them all. “We’ve waited too long as is, and now we simply need to wait for the right moment. Namely: a shipment from out of the country. Whatever they’re bringing in tonight will mean the Yakuza will be out in force to keep an eye on their allies.”

“And we… want them to be ready for an attack and organized in large numbers when we hit because… why?” Jiro asked pointedly from Uwabami’s side.

Now Eijiro was sure Nighteye was smiling behind his hands.

“Because of the key difference between villain alliances and Hero team-ups,” he explained. “The extra-nationalists want the drug to erase Quirks. They don’t care about the Hassaikai longer than it takes them to produce that serum. If they can get Eri: they can cross off the Yakuza from their budget. The Yakuza know that, and won’t want anyone but themselves anywhere near Eri for that very reason.”

“I see,” Gran Torino grumbled. “So it’s a pincer. With the tentative allies coming in from the outside, the goons will come up to keep an eye on the newbies, leaving the inside of the hideout less defended. If we can get them to fight, or even take them all in a conflict up top: they won’t have anyone to guard or evacuate the girl.”

Nighteye inclined his head.

“Exactly. Of course, we can’t assume they won’t have a key person watching Eri at all times, or even our informant. We also can’t assume they’re dumb enough to put all their eggs in one basket. While drawing them out and containing them is key, we have to strike in a pincer, not a single thrust.”

The screen blanked and showed a 3-D map of the area, including underground tunnels.

“Team Alpha will do as Gran Torino suggests,” Nighteye confirmed, indicated by a violet light which flashed at the front door. “We’ll draw out the enemy and engage Shie Hassaikai directly. We have to assume this “priority delivery” is going to involve some heavy hitters from their backers, so that will mean issues there and from whoever the Yakuza pull out of the woodwork to counter them. For this reason, Team Alpha will consist of almost our entire force.”

A purple light flashed in the corner of the screen, clearly meant to be out of the map.

“Team Beta, led by Endeavor, will be undertaking an exercise to locate the League of Villains and ensure they don’t join the fun. Even a simple hit and fade will do, just so long as they don’t interact with the Yakuza at the same time we do. We cannot allow someone like Shigaraki access to Eri either.”

A yellow light flashed at a building a few blocks distant.

“Team Gamma will infiltrate from the back or through the ground, engaging the minimal defenses underground around Eri to extract her quietly,” Nighteye explained, showing the yellow dot drop down to a white dot, and then the two head back up and out. “If and when Team Gamma gets Eri out: we will call off the attack and let the villains tear each other apart underground. We can clean them up later.”

Turning to Togata, Nighteye nodded.

“Lemillion will lead Team Gamma. Deku’s tracker will be joining him, as will an elite team chosen by Lemillion from the people in this room. We won’t be able to spare many, or anyone that will be missed, so you’ll be limited to interns, sidekicks, and lesser known Heroes. You also don’t have time to bore down to the catacombs, so your team should be light and fast, but able to follow you.”

Togata turned to Midoriya, then looked around the room.

“Who Do You Think We Need?” he asked his evident second.

Eijiro watched Deku consider them all, wondering what he was thinking; how he was planning it. Suddenly he sat up with bright eyes, evidently having just got an idea.

“Earphone Jack, Mudman, Creati, and Eraserhead,” he said with determination.

“You can’t have Eraserhead,” Nighteye shut him down. “He’s required on Team Delta with Gran Torino.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean for the operation,” Midoriya corrected himself. “I mean right now: I need Eraserhead to run an errand for me. Don’t worry, it won’t be a problem for the actual raid in…?”

“Six hours,” Nighteye confirmed, closing his eyes and nodding once. “Fine. Team Gamma: go ahead and get ready however you need. Remember to check your radios for the timing, and study the profiles in your folders. Endeavor: if you’d like to wait to break off Team Beta until after the general briefing-?”

“No, my team will be fine with my assessments,” the unofficial #1 Hero grumbled.

With a jerk of his head: Gran Torino, Indelible, Shoto, and Illuso-O-Camie left. The four members of Gamma followed close behind, Aizawa-sensei coming along with an exasperated look. Nighteye didn’t even lose his pace.

“Team Alpha,” he informed the rest of them. “During the mission we will not mention the other teams or ourselves as Alpha in any way. We cannot allow their presence or lack thereof to be noticed. Are we clear?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure.

“Got it.”

He seemed begrudgingly satisfied.

“Now, our plan relies on intelligence, which means we need to brainstorm how to deal with a minimum of ten critical foes. As of right now we only know those on the Yakuza side, so pay attention so you can give intelligent ideas later.”

The screen shifted to an image of a familiar, muscle-bound figure.

“These are the Eight Bullets, according to our source,” Nighteye explained. “Eight highly trained and exceptionally deadly members of the Hassaikai. We have limited profiles on them, mostly limited to their Quirks and general personality.

“Rappa Kendo, Quirk: Strongarm,” Nighteye began, showing a picture of a hulking man with brown hair and, a slightly crazy smile. “His punches are able to deform steel quite easily, and he doesn’t have a lot of build up time. Pretty standard power-type, but he employs it with a lot of finesse. He was once involved in underground Quirk fights, but currently serves as one of Chisaki’s eight main enforcers. He doesn’t appear to have any direct loyalty to the Yakuza, but he does have an innate drive to challenge strong foes. His personality seems to be motivated by some strange sense of honor, so be prepared to exploit that.”

Eijiro thought that exploiting honor was kind of unmanly, but he supposed he should at least know, just in case he was… well, about to die. Still, he seemed like someone Fat Gum could handle.

“Setsuno Toya, Quirk: Larceny,” Nighteye continued, changing the image to a blonde guy who kind of looked like a sleazy version of Sero. “He’s able to steal small objects, attracting them into his hand simply by seeing them. Not especially powerful, but he’s done some rather remarkable things with it. The key issue is his lack of mental stability. The man seems to only value his place in the Yakuza, in contrast to Rappa. He’s suicidal, so expect everything from him.”

Eijiro frowned, wondering if maybe they should try to help the guy after he was, well… arrested for the list of deaths on the side of his profile. Probably best he fight Setsuno, given he didn’t have anything to steal.

The image changed to an even bigger guy than the first, one who seemed like he liked to hit the gym, by which Eijiro meant the guy looked like he punched buildings to work out.

“Katsukame Rikiya, Quirk: Energy Suck. He can draw out your strength and vitality with just a touch, placing you into a drowsy state, or a coma, or even killing you. He’s also addicted to Trigger use -no known specifics on blend, he just likes it- which lets him draw others vitality from nearby just by inhaling. His body expands to accommodate the muscle, which means Ryukyu: you’ll need to be ready for him.”

The Dragon Hero nodded, and Eijiro thought that was a good idea.

“Nemoto Shin, Quirk: Confession,” Nighteye said, the screen shifting to the next person.

It looked like just some business guy, from what Eijiro could see.

“Nemoto can make anyone answer truthfully to any question he asks them. You can’t just close your mouth and not answer either, you’ll spill your deepest, darkest secrets in an instant. Our informant says it’s his favorite way to fight too: making his opponent out themselves on the mat. He also carries a handgun. Shockingly: he actually has a license to do so.”

That one made Eijiro raise his hand. Nighteye seemed surprised he wasn’t just blurting it out, and nodded at him.

“How did Informant Person get past Nemoto if that’s true? The Quirk stuff, not his owning a gun.”

There were mutters of agreement, and Eijiro felt a touch of pride.

“They say they were able to get around that because they joined for entirely selfish reasons, and had no intention to betray the Yakuza at the time,” Nighteye explained. “Thanks to how the question was phrased: they managed to avoid mentioning that they also had every intention to serve the old boss, rather than Chisaki.”

Eijiro supposed he could accept that.

“Next is Sakaki Deidoro, Quirk: Sloshed.”

This guy had black hair and crazy eyes.

“He can cause nearby people to lose their senses of equilibrium and become motion sick. He’s always drunk, so we aren’t sure if the amount is related to the alcohol in his bloodstream. If at all possible: avoid injecting him with it just in case.”

That earned a few snorts of amusem*nt, and Uraraka cracked her knuckles in anticipation. Eijiro remembered she’d once had an issue with nausea, so maybe she would be immune?

“Tabe Soramitsu, Quirk: Food.”

Several people make sounds of alarm at the horrifying smile and open jaw on the screen.

“Yeah, he’s crazy. Probably the most unhinged of the bunch. Long story short: he can bite anything and swallow it instantly. You can’t intoxicate, poison, inebriate, or medicate him via oral means. He can’t even get nutrients from what he eats, meaning he has to get his real food intravenously, ironically enough. Yes: he will eat human flesh, and yes: he can eat through your Unbreakable form, Red Riot.”

Being called out like that made Eijiro kind of hurt, but nodded solemnly.

“We’re planning to have Eraserhead deal with him, or else Sun Eater: as you can generate more mass to help offset that.”

“Mmm…” Amajiki mumbled in embarrassment.

“Hojo Yu, Quirk: Crystalize.”

Thankfully this new guy looked pretty normal. A bit tough, but fine.

“He also carries a firearm, but usually relies on his ability to generate crystals from his skin. In hand to hand he’s both tricky and powerful. He’s also deceptively clever, even if he has an inferiority complex.”

Last up was some kind of monk knock off guy.

“Tengai Hekiji, Quirk: Barrier. He’s Rappa’s keeper of sorts, able to provide defense to Strongarm’s offense. He’s also undyingly loyal to Chisaki, meaning he keeps the big guy in line. The biggest issue with him is that he’s a cool customer. He’s also incredibly selfish. While he might neglect a team: he’s going to stay calm and summon a personal forcefield quickly and without a fuss if he’s in any danger. Sneak attacks are key.”

Looking around the room, Eijiro didn’t see anyone who would be particularly good at providing a sneak attack. They were all pretty straight-forward Heroes, except for Uwabami. Why a rescue Hero was there he couldn’t figure.

“So, what did you need Aizawa-sensei for?” Ochako asked after the meeting dispersed, sitting down beside Deku and the rest of Team Gamma.

They’d found a table to wait for the time to move, munching on light snacks in their Hero outfits and drawing up plans and contingency plans. Deku was inspecting a funny-looking device which seemed to react to Kyoka’s jacks.

“Huh? Oh, hey Senchan!” he gave her a fake smile. “I just needed him to talk to Shinso for me. And also get Shinso thrown in prison.”

Ochako was going to ask why he was messing with her, but it was pretty clear that the more important thing to address was his mask. Not the metal or fabric one he wore, but the one he was putting up behind his eyes. She grabbed his shoulder and floated him up to the ceiling, folding her arms as he crashed into it and looked down at her in silent protest. She just waited for him to show he was ready to admit whatever was wrong. She knew his Quirk had been acting up to the point of being gone now, but this had to be something new.

Dropping his gizmo and tossing it to Kyoka, who plugged in and stretched her jacks to run some tests with Momo, Deku held out his hands and glanced to the door. Ochako took that as good enough and dropped him back down, admiring how he used the Uravity bands in his costume to slow himself and land on his feet. She took his hand and led him out of the room to talk.

“It’s Eri, isn’t it?” she asked, having a pretty good read on her boyfriend by now.

Deku sagged, bowing his head as utter distraught contorted his features.

“I had her… I had her in my arms , and I… I let her go. For the sake of some stupid cover story…” he gasped, as if getting the words out physically hurt him.

Ochako hugged Deku as he talked, slowly sinking down the wall to the floor as the tears began to flow. Not the over-dramatic tears he usually gave, but shaking sobs and streams of emotion that wracked him with clear guilt and sorrow.

“She told me to run, Ochako… She knew I was her only chance, and she still thought about us first… Eri… Little Eri…”

He let out a soft whimper as he buried his face in her shoulder.

“She doesn’t deserve this. Any of this…”

Rubbing Izuku’s back, Ochako nodded into his hair, swallowing as she tried to empathize with how broken he must feel just then. He always blamed himself first, and put his well-being last. Now his beliefs that he wasn’t doing enough had been reinforced, when in fact he was still working himself too hard and too far.

They stayed there until the tears stopped, which wasn’t until Izuku had fallen into a fitful sleep, curling up to her almost like he needed to be sure she was still there. Ochako stayed with him until he woke. She wouldn’t leave, not while she had a choice.

She knew he wouldn’t have either.

“No… no,” Izuku prayed, stepping back as he heard the familiar footsteps coming down the hallway of UA, almost around the corner. “Not you… anyone but you…”

The steps didn’t waver, continuing to draw near no matter how far he ran.

He’d seen everyone now. Everyone who mattered.

He’d seen his mother, his father, Kacchan, Aunt Mitsuki, Uncle Masaru, Tenya, Momo, Kyoka, Ibara, Melissa, Nana, and All Might.

He’d seen Itsuka,Yui, Himiko, and Himiclone.

He’d seen Aoyama, Tsuyu, Ashido, Ojiro, Kaminari, Kirishima, Morrigan and Fumikage, Shoto, Mineta, Rin, Yanagi, Tokage, Shinso, and Aizawa.

He’d seen Koda, Sato, Shoji, Sero, Hagakure, Awase, Tetsutetsu, Honenuki, Monoma, Shoda, Bondo, Tsuburaba, Tsunotori, Shishida, Kaibara, Kuroiro, Komori, Kamikiri, f*ckidashi, Hatsume, Mongoose-san, and even Sashimi.

He’d seen Gran Torino, Edgeshot, Mirko, the puss*cats and Kota, Midnight, and Indelible.

He’d seen All for One.

…he’d seen Eri.

There was only one person left, and he begged the universe, his subconscious, and anything else to let him not see her.

Eventually he was driven into a corner, cowering and screwing his eyes shut. One for All didn’t answer his call, even if he was willing to risk the pain. He was useless. Quirkless. A--

“Deku?”

He started crying as he heard her voice, knowing the friendly facade would end any moment. He didn’t trust the hand which cupped his cheek and gently guided him up to meet chocolate eyes which shone with the light of a million stars and a thousand galaxies.

“Don’t you think it’s time you forgave yourself?”

Chapter 10: Eri Arc: Alliances

Chapter Text

Suneater was… well, he was really nervous. Sure, they were all there for him, but he tended to get antsy when things were going down. It was adorable, and she loved him for it, but he could also stand to chill a bit when things were tense. The Chief of Police had dropped off the warrant, and the officers were pulling back now, which meant it was only a few seconds before someone started attacking.

“You okay, Suneater?” she asked, nudging her boyfriend’s shoulder with an arm.

“I-I’m good, Leg Lass,” he mumbled, hunching his shoulders even more.

Leg Lass gave him a one-armed squeeze, a sign she knew it was just nerves, and she was ready to talk once they had time. His eyes told her how much he was grateful for that.”

“Thanks…” he mumbled, curling up on himself a little. “It’s just… lots…”

She noticed he was growing clam armor around his neck and head, literally trying to hide in his own shadow. Adorable, but very much in need of undoing.

“Come on, you know you always feel better once things start,” she prompted. “Just imagine-”

Her words and smile were frozen as a sharp whistle and crack sounded through the air, and Tamaki slid sideways, dropping to the ground in a heap. A slender, wooden shaft was embedded in the armor he’d been making; green fletchings seeming frozen in the wind for the instant Leg Lass watched him fall.

“SNIPER!” she screamed, leaping atop him to pull Tamaki out of the line of fire and make sure he was alive.

To her relief, he was still breathing, but Sun Eater was out cold.

The rest of the Heroes had scattered for cover, just in time for the enemy to attack. An army of mooks exploded from the doors to the Yakuza base, followed by a giant man with a beak-looking mask covering his whole head with a normal-sized guy perched on his shoulder with a bottle of sake. At the same time, a mass of other figures burst out of various cars and trucks parked nearby. Leg Lass felt her blood chill as she realized they were the villains’ allies, but more because she recognized them.

White hoods draped over iron masks and crimson robes; a six-point wheel emblazoned on each of their uniforms. The new arrivals weren’t simply some rich American R&D team or a national espionage team, they were something altogether more dangerous and more dedicated. They were religious zealots.

Another arrow impacted the ground near Leg Lass’ knee, and she grit her teeth in fury. No one shot at her partners, not even cultists.

Standing up and holding out her arms like she was drawing a bow, a bolt of lightning appeared between either hand shaped like it needed to be fired from a ballista. Leg Lass let out a scream of fury, and the round shot towards the glimmer of green she could see on the distant roof. The rogue archer leapt down just in time to miss the attack, safe from having Yuyu smite them this time.

Grabbing hold of a nearby fire exit ladder, Leg Lass clambered onto the roof and prepared a smaller, faster arrow to hit the enemy sniper before they could shoot her. She couldn’t see them yet, but by attacking: she’d made herself a target. It was only a matter of time.

A wooden shaft slashed the air by her cheek, the green trail of energy telling her it was guided. Leg Lass decided to reveal she could do that trick too, her own bolt following the trail and crashing into a building with a crack of thunder. The response was a trio of arrows, making her sprint for the next roof to avoid another hit.

Their exchange of blind fire continued for a few moments, but Leg Lass was fine with that. As long as the enemy was focused on shooting her: they wouldn’t be shooting her allies. Below, the mass of the three sides had crashed into one another with titanic force. Ryukyu and the giant Yakuza seemed evenly matched, both in size and strength, while the tanks like Morrigan and Fat Gum handled the grunts. She didn’t see any fliers though, which concerned her.

Nejire-Chan, cutest being in the universe, would fly all day if she could. The fact she wasn’t was concerning. Uravity should have been up and about too, but she seemed to be lost in the mob below. Leg Lass considered adding some support from above, but an arrow nearly catching her exposed stomach told her to focus on her own fight.

“Gotcha!” she cried, firing an ultra-light and maneuverable bolt as she dove to the side and tagging the enemy archer in the hip.

The enemy screamed in pain, her green hood flapping in the wind as she too hit the roof hard. They were separated by the road, but now that they’d come almost to knife-fight range: neither would be able to retreat. Showing their backs would be suicide, and that tended to be frowned upon by people with functioning amygdalas.

“You have to know you aren’t getting out of this now!” she called to her adversary.

Silence.

Okay, I guess we aren’t gonna banter back and forth. Fine. I’ll just whoop on her with one-liners.

“SNIPER!”

Uravity threw herself to the ground behind a car, seeing another green shot crash near the fourth member of the Big Four as she pursued the enemy combatant. She got to a knee, preparing to leap up and support her in getting from roof to roof when her legs suddenly caught on someone else’s hand and she came crashing down.

Catching herself with a hand, Uravity glanced around at the others trying and failing to stand properly. Her temporary pause gave her a brief moment to think and observe the world around her, spotting the strange cult appearing from nearby vehicles while Yakuza started scrambling from the main building. She realized one of the enemy Quirks had to be the problem, but she wasn’t sure who or how.

“Uravity, what- oohg,” Bubble Girl tried to ask, only to clutch at her mouth with nausea.

Nausea…

Something clicked into place like an I-beam, and Uravity whipped her head around to try and find a specific mask. Her eyes snapped onto the figure in a moment, noticing him guzzling sake like it was going out of style. Now that she was focused on it: she could sense the slight disorientation and balance loss. She’d simply trained for so long in zero-G that it was a habit to ignore the sensations and move on.

The giant man was carrying Sakaki on a shoulder while he battled for dominance with Morrigan, one of the few others not affected by the Quirk, which would make it difficult to get close. Even worse: the cultists far enough away had ranged Quirks to attack the Heroes with.

Save first, combat later, she decided, leveling her arms at her allies and firing out an array of pink and black strands from the holes.

Her tendrils of Pinkwhip were a special blend of Melissa’s studies, Hatsume’s technical know-how, and a personal request to line each tentacle with a gossamer-thin wire. Normally her Quirk didn’t work on energy-based particles like Blackwhip, and with normal wires or cables she would have to zero-G the entire spool to start working on whatever they connected to, but Ocahko and Izuku had brainstormed using those to their advantage. The silk was fragile and would snap instantly on its own, while the Blackwhip tendril could not carry her power at all. The latter held the strength, while the former let her range her Quirk.

The entire group of Heroes remaining were pulled clear as cannon blasts, green lasers, sonic waves and even giant steel balls rained down on where they’d just been. Uravity had to yank them all into an alleyway to ensure no collateral damage, while also easing the effects of Sloshed a bit so the others could start getting up. Morrigan was still fighting, but under heavy bombardment. Nejire-chan was also up, but keeping her distance in the air.

I gotta take out the drunkard!

Dashing forward, Uravity fired another grappler towards the giant, zipping towards them at breakneck speeds. Her aim was true, but she had to act precisely to make it worthwhile. Thankfully the only person who could shoot precisely enough to cut her line was currently occupied with Leg Lass.

Disengaging her line at the last second, Uravity tackled Sakaki from the giant’s back with both hands, floating him and sending both of them into a skyward tumble as they rose towards the clouds at a tepid pace.

“Huh? Washhishabou-?” he slurred, peering at her as if he couldn’t see well. “Wharyunohtipshy?”

“Simple,” Uravity smirked, firing a line to connect with the man’s stomach. “I’m not a lightweight like you.”

Zipping in before he could throw his wobbly knife, Uravity kneed him in the gut and sent him spinning away, releasing chunks of… ew. Well, he wasn’t gonna be fighting much longer.

Okay, Uravity thought, firing her thrusters to avoid the puddles of floating sick and grab him by a leg to take back down to the police. Who’s next?

“KAW!” one of the cultists screamed, their bird-like wings flapping wildly as they soared towards Uravity in a sloppy spiral.

Ah, a volunteer.

“Don’t get close to him!” Morrigan screamed, trying to twist her adversary around to use as a shield against the attacks from the strange cultists who had come from nowhere. “He’s been trying to steal my energy this whole time, he’s crazy!”

The other Heroes seemed to get the message, but that didn’t exactly help. Sure, Fat Gum and Centipeder were tangling up the goons from the house nicely, but Rock Lock and Nighteye weren’t really able to slow much of the constant gatling fire and lasers constantly slamming into her back and making her weaker.

Katsukame slammed her with a fist, sending Morrigan down on a wing at an angle that would have broken it if she’d been made of physical matter. As it was: it hurt like a bench.

Morri, pull back, she sensed her other half instruct her.

But I-

It’s time for the special move.

Ooooooooooooooh.

Writhing back in slightly-pretend fear from the pursuing giant, Morrigan waited until she got the signal before suddenly leaping into the sky and spreading her wings into a gigantic display that caught the attention of all the combatants. Then she dove, impacting Ryukyu’s hulking form as she batted away a giant cat-man-thing with a french accent.

Their wings wreathed over one another, her beak coming to guard Ryukyu’s face like armor and her talons covering her claws. It was sort of like her and Fumi’s move Fighting Falcon, but much larger. It also wasn’t finished.

“CRIMSON DRAGON!”

A blast of red flame shot out from his chest, writhing in a spiraling fashion before slamming into Morrigan. His fire couldn’t hurt her, and his light didn’t weaken her like others did. It was hard to pull off, and it required herself, Ryukyu, and Tsukuyomi to act in perfect sync, but by their powers combined: it was a super move that could hopefully beat the oncoming wave of large foes.

“Dragon Agency Super Move!” they shouted in unison. “BALROG!”

The roar of heat and sound was enough to make some of the mooks cut and run- run right into the arms of the police a few blocks away. The pair of other giants (one from the cult and one from the Yakuza) took a pair of steps back as Ryukyu was wreathed in flame and shadow, her claw attachment glowing white and trailing indigo smoke.

Naturally, they did the smart thing and tried to run.

“Who are these schmucks?” one of the spare Heroes asked, headbutting one of the cultists and dropping the woman with power sockets for hands.

“They’re better organized than I expected,” Nighteye said, finding it difficult to dodge attacks from the masked warriors who he had no context to read intent from.

His Quirk was one of reading others’ futures, but he’d trained himself to predict people even without his Quirk, and passed that ability onto Lemillion, and to a lesser extent: Deku. However, it required two prerequisites, not unlike his Quirk. The first was that he know the goal of his opponent, even if only an immediate one like survival. The second was that he have some level of basis for how his enemy thought. Unfortunately, the unknown cultists had been remarkably clever in hiding their identity even from his source inside the Yakuza. He didn’t know if the opponents they were facing intended to delay the Heroes, defeat them, kill them, turn them loose on the Yakuza later, or some other unknown path. Further: as religious zealots their mental architecture was wildly different from normal, rational beings. They could perceive death for the cause as acceptable, or they might find such a death unpalatable because they didn’t truly believe. Where the line was in either case was highly fluid, depending on the dogma and their level of indoctrination.

The best Nighteye could do was press his opponents to rely on their base instincts of survival and then knock them out at the first opening. Thankfully, most of the cultists were weaker than a trained combatant, and the truly dangerous ones were being tackled by Nejire-Chan. Still, he didn’t like being sidelined.

“We’ve about dealt with the mooks they sent from inside,” Fat Gum called, grabbing a trio and shoving them into his gut to keep them secure. “How’s your side?”

Dodging a punch, Nighteye kicked someone in the rear end and sent them into their fellow, the two falling into a heap but not hindering the oncoming masses any more for it.

“They’re a bit more tenacious,” he admitted. “Focus your efforts on countering the ones in the robes, they seem to be better-trained.”

“Bajingan!” one of them gasped as Nighteye elbowed him in the mask and fell to his face.

“They also seem to be from foreign nations,” Nighteye noted. “Try not to cause an incident.”

“Ne-ne, how’s it going, Uravity-chan?” Nejire giggled, swooping by the pink girl currently spinning someone around like an olympic hammer toss before sending them up into the cloud of flying foes.

“Oh, you know. Could be be-YAH!”

Uravity had to pause to kick a woman with wings for toes in the chin, grabbing her by her feathers to prevent her from falling to her death. Nejire thought she was a silly friend, but a good friend. A fighty friend! Friend with benefits! COMBAT Benefits! And also flying! She needed flyier friends. Ones who had the power of flyingness were much better for going on midnight flights with.

“Could be better,” Uravity finished, pausing and stretching a bit between fights. “There are a lot of wackadoos around right now. I thought this was supposed to be a surprise.”

Nejire shrugged.

“I thought it was s’posed to be a big trap. Like- like a piece of candy and a rope is around the candy, and then if you grab the rope it tightens around your arm and pulls you up a tree! Although… how does the rope know when to get smaller? Did ropes used to be smarter?”

“Nej-”

“Or did the people getting trapped have to tighten the rope themselves? That’s silly, they would just escape when they were s’posed to. Maybe that’s why this trap didn’t work? They was s’posed to tighten the rope and they figured it out? We should get a smarter rope. Do you know anyone with a smart rope Quirk? Or a smart string Quirk, I’m not picky. If we-”

“NEJIRE-CHAN!” Uravity screamed, getting her attention.

“Huh? Oh, shiz.”

Dodging around, Nejire blasted a silly man with a silly jetpack, sending him back down into the mass of other robe peoples. She had to hit him again so he didn’t land on Ryukyu-chan, who was currently finishing off a kitty giant with a one-two punch which was super loud. The other big giant was eating lots of energy from nearby peoples, but he was still too small for Ryukyu-chan plus Morrigan-chan plus Dragon Dragon chan. They were like a super cool GoLion, but with three dragons instead of five lions!

“After this, do you wanna go get food? I know this really fun Taiwanese restaurant that’s only a few blocks from here, and Tamaki-chan makes the cutest face when he eats the fried chicken. Plus, Mirio-chan and Yuyu-chan can tell you awesome stories while we eat, and they tell jokes that are mega-funny!”

“Nejire-Chan, watch-!” Uravity protested again, but Nejire made sure to kick the oncoming foe in the nose. “...out…”

“But maybe you’re more in the mood for Chinese?”

Ryukyu was loving doing the super-move Morrigan had come up with. She was tough, durable, looked amazing, and the pipsqueak trying to fight back was slowly being pummeled to a juicy pulp just in time for the flu season. The only downside was she had to be deliberate and careful with her actions, or the two Quirk beasts from Tsukuyomi would fall out of alignment and that could end poorly. That tended to make her pretty bad against small foes, and Katsukame was starting to figure out how to keep clear of her swipes.

“Such power!” he cackled, trying to absorb her vitality. “I will have it for my own!”

“Good luck with that, I’m a Quirk monster!” Morrigan laughed.

“Then I’ll take it from your MASTER!” the yakuza cackled, turning to where Tsukuyomi was rooted in place, carefully directing the flaming serpent emerged from his stomach.

sh*t!

Whirling to try and grab him before he got close, Ryukyu was a moment shy. Her claw slashed his shirt, but the man himself got clear and began to absorb the bird-headed student’s energy. Crimson Dragon whipped back into his master, vanishing as Morrigan screamed for her other half. The boy himself dropped to one knee, then collapsed entirely, even as Katsukame grew to equal Ryukyu and her Fighting Falcon armor.

“No you don’t!” the dragon-Hero barked, grabbing at him to try and stop the monstrous villain from absorbing any more.

She was still too slow, watching as Rock-Lock and Fat Gum started to wane, Centipeder and Bubble Girl already losing the battle and forcing the remaining Heroes to start playing defense against the army of robed wackadoo’s.

“GET BACK HERE YOU SLIME!” Morrigan screamed, pulling Ryukyu to the skies and sending her crashing atop the now slightly larger-than-she-was man.

Ryukyu’s tail constricted around his throat, pulling his Quirk to a halt before he got Nighteye or Nejire-Chan in the wave. His fists hit like wrecking balls against her armor, but she didn’t let up. Four pairs of wings flapped, pulling him up towards the sky.

“GET ‘IM, GIRLS!” Ryukyu commanded the two fliers.

“You got it, Ryukyu-chan!” Nejire giggled, putting her hands over her head and then bringing one down to her forehead. “Time for my ultimate attack! SPECIAL NEJIRE CANNON!”

Uravity had a dozen unconscious warriors in the air with her, all of them ensnared with pink and black tendrils which she swung around into a hammer toss to impact the man’s diaphragm. She didn’t shout a cool attack name, but the impact was similarly impressive as they smashed into him, even as Nejire’s compressed spiral of golden death fired from her fingers to drill into his chest and send him crashing to the ground.

“That was a nice move, Ura- …oh… oh no’s…”

Nejire-Chan was tipping, her spirals fading beneath her feet as the giant began to expand, a miniscule syringe dropping from between two of his fingers.

Ah frell, Ryukyu thought to herself in alarm.

It wasn’t small, it just looked that way in his massive hands, but the fluid within would have been as potent even if it was only as large as it seemed. It was the new Ideo Trigger, the one the Yakuza were producing and supercharging themselves with. The dosage Katsukame had taken was enough to kill the man, but she had a feeling she wouldn’t like what she’d see while he lasted.

The man exploded into the sky, throwing his arms wide and summoning vitality from the entire army below. Ryukyu felt him start to pull from her and even Morrigan, the Quirk Girl starting to sag atop her scales as the entire mass of combatants started to flag and stagger.

“You cann- you canno- you- not- urgh,” a red Oni-looking cultist groaned, dropping onto his face and crushing some of his fellows beneath his bulk.

“Morrigan… I need-” Ryukyu grit her fangs and clenched her claws. “I NEED WINGS!”

The Dark Shadow on her back shifted and transformed into a pair of gigantic limbs, unfolding into shade for the entire block as they flapped and yanked Ryukyu into the sky after the Yakuza who was starting to plummet back to the ground and absorb enough vitality from those still there to render them lifeless. The Dragon Hero uppercut him back into the air, her claws leaving wicked slashes along his bursting chest only for them to heal instantly as he fed off her and Morrigan.

“You cannot hold me here forever, little dragon,” the yakuza man cackled, grabbing her shoulders and drawing out her life force even faster.

“Then I’ll just…I’ll just hold you…long…long enough…” she managed, the flap of her and Morrigan’s wings slowing.

A pink bolt shot up from below her, Ryukyu’s sluggish brain not registering what it was until Uravity impacted their foe’s jaw, knocking him skyward at a speed the Dragon Hero wouldn’t have believed possible for someone that small. She felt her strength start to return as the man was flung even higher, but still not enough to keep her airborne. Even worse: she saw what it had cost.

Uravity was tumbling in midair, neither falling nor rising, her body limp and covered in bruises which peeked out of her shredded costume.

Taking a few deep breaths, Leg Lass swung around out of cover, firing her arrow at the bit of cover the enemy was using. She had to snap back down almost immediately, evading a green line of death which nearly clipped the skin off her cheek.

“I’ll give you this: you’re a lot more accurate than I am!” she called over, knowing that her electrical attacks had to make up for it with splash damage.

“It is my curse to hit that which I see!” the other woman shouted back, her accent slightly european, maybe Othean? “Beros has never known defeat!”

“That is until today, sweetheart!” Leg Lass screamed, leaping high into the air to shoot a pair of arrows down towards her foe.

The first twisted around wildly, spinning like a fan to shred the oncoming shafts from her enemy while the second raced down to crash into the concrete beside “Beros.” The splash of electricity caught the woman at the edge, sending her into a spasming scream as her next shots went wide, reducing her quiver’s capacity to zero.

“Gotcha bi-AH!”

Leg Lass’ cheer of triumph was cut short as a piece of concrete swung around and cracked her on the head, knocking her to the ground and twisting her mask askew.

“PISS!” she huffed, ripping it off and throwing out a trio of electrical arrows at random to spin them around her as another set of shields.

It was a good thing she did; stopping a series of new attacks she couldn’t have evaded even if she’d seen them. Once her eyes were clear, Leg Lass got up to one knee and sprinted for another batch of cover, only to twist and stop midway to evade the predictable attack which would hit there if she’d kept on. As expected, the area exploded with shrapnel from fired rebar and concrete bits a heartbeat later, directly where she would have been if she hadn’t reversed course.

Focusing her next shot, Leg Lass took careful aim at the cover her enemy was using before letting-fly her attack. It soared in low, out of Beros’ line of sight for a moment before twisting up and over to impact the woman directly with a renewed scream of agony. It was an advantage she didn’t hesitate to press.

Sprinting at the gap between them, Leg Lass leapt skyward, using a difficult move of firing an arrow while she was holding it to give her a boost before landing on the opposite roof and stumbling to pursue Beros as the other woman tried to run. Yuyu wasn’t letting her boyfriend’s attacker get away that easily though.

Diving forward, her arms tangled in Beros’ legs, sending her crashing to the ground in a heap. She scrambled atop the other archer to straddle her hips, her fists doing the talking while Beros blocked and countered with spectacular skill.

Jeez, where did they find this chick?! She’s got more skills than bills to pay!

Twisting back as a counterattack clocked her in the jaw, Leg Lass guarded her face on instinct while Beros instead went for her ribs.

“You cling to your sins! Their unclean ways!” Beros frothed, evidently quite the true believer. “We sought only to save you! To save everyone! All of us! Why are you so determined to remain impure?!”

Leg Lass answered her by grabbing the woman by her hair and pulling her off.

“STOP BEING SO UNCUTE!!”

Their clash devolved from there. Lots of name-calling and dirty moves, with Yuyu almost certain she’d gone for a bite for a moment before realizing she probably should save that for the proper time.

In the end: Leg Lass knelt victorious atop her enemy’s chest, the other archer lying weak against the ground as a knee was pressed into her rib cage to keep her motionless.

“WHY?!” Leg Lass demanded, grabbing Beros by her collar and lifting her from the ground. “Why did you hurt him?!”

“To be healed…” the woman whispered, her throat suddenly tensing as her eyes squeezed closed.

Her hand went limp, a small dead-man’s switch falling from it and rolling across the ground. There was a rumble through the earth as something exploded, but Leg Lass didn’t focus on that. She placed a finger to the archer’s throat, feeling the pulse drop off.

“Oh no,” Yuyu scowled, creating a final arrow and stabbing the rod of electricity into her neck.

Beros gasped as her heart was restarted, unable to scream as her nerves were overcharged.

“You’re not leaving that easily.”

Chapter 11: Eri Arc: The Light is Green

Chapter Text

Earphone Jack plugged into the two disk-like gizmo’s Creati had made, giving a nod to Lemillion. He gave her a thumbs up and handed off his visor, stepping through the wall and heading off to the spot she’d found for him earlier. She could hear each and every step he took, right up until he got to his target and dropped through the ground.

They’d had to wait until the attack had begun, but it was a close action. If he was spotted: the element of surprise wouldn’t matter.

There was a soft thump of boots, and Lemillion’s breathing came back. Jack waited a heartbeat, then mercifully heard the sharp click of him popping his tongue in his cheek. The gadgets registered the sound, marking distance and relative position. There was a soft chime from Creati’s phone as they sent the data to her, and she started crunching the numbers.

A few moments later: Creati whispered something to Deku, who tapped out the data on his own phone. Earphone Jack stayed plugged in and listening, just in case they needed to abort and reposition. There were a few sounds of a scuffle, but Lemillion gave the all clear signal, so evidently he’d handled it.

They waited, the echoes of the battle reaching Jack’s jacks as she waited for whatever Deku had planned to happen. She had utmost faith in him, of course, but he’d been remarkably tight-lipped about the plan. Evidently they “wouldn’t like it.”

She couldn’t help but squeak with alarm as something appeared out of nowhere in front of her. A black mist, tinted with purple, was swirling into existence before her. A very familiar mist.

“Oh crap!” Jack gasped, pulling back and feeling Deku catch her.

“It’s okay,” he assured her. “Shinso’s got us.”

She gave him an incredulous look, then gasped as the blonde hair and blue eyes of Lemillion emerged from the portal, smiling broadly.

“Landing Zone’s Secure,” he told them, accepting his visor back as Deku gestured for her to follow.

Jack just shrugged, no longer surprised by anything Deku pulled off. They followed him through, emerging into a dimly lit, cement hallway. On the ground were a trio of unconscious people, Yakuza based on their mask shape.

“Chronostasis Down And Out, Plus Two Mooks,” Lemillion said proudly. “Now, Where To, Deku?”

Holding out his wrist, Deku stepped forward and let his tracker give him a direction. He pointed, and nodded to Jack. She plugged into the walls and took a sound reading, echolocating the entire complex as far as she could.

“It’s a massive labyrinth down here,” she mumbled, eyes closed as she searched.

She tightened her headset to block out any interference from her ears, checking down the angle Deku had indicated.

“Got her,” Jack confirmed, hearing the soft heartbeat of a little girl at the utter edge of her range. “Creati: 2, 3, 2, 4, 2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 2, 2, 2, 0, 1.”

She listed the number of entrances and exits she could detect directly between them, with the 0 representing a room too large to get them on her narrow ping. Jack adjusted a few degrees and repeated the process, slowly feeding Creati a slowly expanding conical view of the underground between them and Eri.

It took them twelve pings to get a route, which wasn’t direct by any means. Even jumping walls: Lemillion wouldn’t get there very fast.

“Come on, we can’t waste any time,” Deku insisted, already rushing down the nearest hall on their route. “If they suspect and leave: we’ll never get this chance again.”

“Right,” Lemillion agreed. “We Have To Make This Right.”

Shaking her head, Earphone Jack stood and ran after them. She was last in line, not a supersoldier like Deku and Creati, or just tall and buff like Lemillion, but she didn’t dare ask for them to wait up.

She kept performing short-range pings to try and detect any possible threats. None had popped up on her scan, but her route-finding had been narrow to avoid detection, and intended to give her a view of the walls specifically, not whatever was between them. Any small objects had been too muddled to identify, and she wasn’t even sure if what she’d picked out as a fidge wasn’t actually a bomb or something.

Their only warning was a gasp from Earphone Jack as she leapt forward and tackled Deku to the ground. Lemillion phased through, but Creati was a step back and caught all of it as it passed. A hulking man had exploded out of the wall and buried Deku, Mudman, and Earphone Jack in rubble before crashing through the opposite side and tumbling into a cavernous room. Another person was waiting there, surrounded by a golden bubble.

“Ah, visitors,” the second man said, waving a hand as if in greeting.

Barriers snapped into existence around them, holding the group in place.

“Le-Lemillion-“ Deku gasped, starting to dig them out. “Go!”

“Right!”

The third-year nodded to them and dashed on, leaving the three of them behind to deal with the wackos who’d ambushed them.

“I heard there was some commotion going on upstairs, and Overhaul suspected this would happen. Still, such a pitiful force? Even we wouldn’t waste children on something like this.”

Creati had heard enough. She created a shotgun-looking device, but with a steel cap on the front instead of a barrel. Placing it against the barrier Lemillion had gone through, she pulled the trigger and it jolted forward ever so slightly. The golden wall shattered like glass, and she threw Earphone Jack through. Deku and Mudman were still trying to get free, but she knew the latter could get them around just as fast.

“I’ll catch up,” she promised as they were cut off by another.

“Creati-!” Kyoka tried to protest, but Creati shook her head.

“Save her first.”

Swallowing hard, Earphone Jack nodded and dashed after Lemillion. A few moments later: Mudman’s head popped out of the rock alongside Deku’s. Deku gave her a nod, and Creati smiled. She’d get it done.

“Look at that! She’s putting them first and coming for a fight herself? And showing off her abs like that? So honorable!”

She turned to the larger figure, struck by deja vu. The words had been different, but the energy was identical to Kirishima and Tetsutetsu. Well, that could work.

“Are you going to fight me while I’m stuck in a bubble?” she asked, breaking the wall holding her out of the room and stepping inside. “I can pop the walls alright, but it’s a little heavy and hard to switch to actual fighting.”

Sure enough, the big guy was nodding along to her question.

“Yeah! Yeah!! Let’s go 1-on-1! Come on Tengai, let the shields down so we can fight!”

“You do recall that Overhaul said not to let anyone pass, yes Rappa?” Tengai sighed. “Just kill her and-“

To Creati’s utter lack of surprise: Rappa slammed his fist into a barrier which had popped up between the two.

“If I’m gonna kill someone I’m gonna do it my way!” Rappa roared.

There was a moment of hesitation, then Tengai sighed. He waved, and the barriers vanished. All except the one around himself and another stopping Creati from leaving.

“Very well.”

“Alright!” Rappa cheered. “You want a count-off?”

Creati nodded, making a pair of mma gloves and dropping her shield-popper. She nodded up at him.

“Call it a handicap, seeing as you’re so much taller than me,” she said, laying into his ego.

Rappa gave her a thumbs up.

“Sure, gloves are fine. I’ll probably break ‘em through.”

“Undoubtedly.”

She took up a stance, as did Rappa. She noticed he seemed to be ambidextrous, but also favored his left side.

“Three?” Creati prompted.

“Two,” he agreed.

“One.”

The fist impacted her cheek before she could even finish the word, throwing her back a step as Creati forced herself not to fall unconscious. Her training in the gravity chamber had accelerated her already unique physiology’s development, and her body was far more durable than it had any right to be, but she was still susceptible to brute force.

Letting the impact knock her back, Creati grit her teeth. She hoped this would work, or she’d be in a lot of trouble. She swung her fist around to crack along Rappa’s own head, but the padding popped open as it met a bubble sphere around Rappa. It vanished as he punched again, but Creati wasn’t in the mood to play that game.

Grabbing a handle protruding from her side, Creati yanked out a chaingun she’d started making as soon as she saw the barriers. She planted her foot, drawing and priming the octuple barrels. The bullet belt was still half-submerged in her stomach, meaning she could continually feed them into it. Gripping the trigger, she unloaded a stream of hot lead into Rappa’s chest alongside a battlecry. As expected: the shield appeared and surrounded him, preventing even one of the bullets from getting close.

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Rappa protested.

“Wasn’t trying to be,” Creati apologized, moving around to make sure she was at an angle that if Tengai decided to skimp on his buddy’s defense: he’d be at her mercy as well. If her adjustment made sure the rounds were slightly offset from Rappa’s body, well, that was pretty good too.

“A clever stalling tactic, but ultimately meaningless,” Tengai sighed. “Soon you will run out of bullets, and then you will be weakened and have pissed off Rappa.”

Creati shifted a few shots to bounce off the shield near Rappa’s face, causing him to flinch back. She smirked and looked back to Tengai expectantly. His brow furrowed as he no doubt tried to figure out why a Hero was so sad*stic. His answer came a few moments later.

“Uh… Teng- Tengai… I don’t feel so… Ugh…” Rappa groaned, falling to a knee. “I- she- uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.”

That last was drawn out as he groaned and landed on his face. Creati stopped firing, dropping her gun on the ground and stretching to make sure her balance wasn’t thrown off by the amount she’d burned.

“What- you never even landed a hit on him!” Tengai protested. “You don’t have a telepathic Quirk, you’re a creator!”

Creati had to give it to him, he was rather astute.

“No, but he hit me,” she reminded him, touching her slightly-bruised cheek with a finger and rubbing off a bit of powder that hung in the air for a moment. “Remarkable how quickly sedatives work when you’re in a closed off environment.”

Tengai removed the barriers without a second’s delay, except for the one around Rappa, trying to ventilate the air so he wouldn’t be similarly knocked out. Creati rolled her eyes. Evidently he was prone to panic when he thought he was in real danger.

“That’s why you scared him,” Tengai muttered. “You got him to breathe harder from anxiety so he’d fall faster…”

“That’s two for two, you are quite clever,” Creati praised, picking up her shield popper and strolling towards him casually.

Another bubble shield popped up instantly, and Creati smiled patronizingly. Placing a hand on the barrier, she began releasing a crimson gas from her arm just like Midnight. This one was visible, rather than the powder along her cheek which had been more potent and required Rappa’s quick impact to make gaseous.

“You can enjoy your stay in there all you like,” she beamed, watching the area fill up with red fog. “Given it’s not letting the gas in: you must not be allowing it to diffuse gasses. You can drop it now and be affected, or burn your oxygen supply until you pass out and the shields drop. Either way, you only have so long before it drops and you get a full lungful.”

She tossed a tracker on the ground, turning to follow her friends.

“We’ll arrest you later. We have things to do.”

Lemillion’s fist impacted Nemoto’s head, dropping him in an instant as he completed his ultimate move: Phantom Menace. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like there was anyone else nearby. Earphone Jack and Deku were already catching up, and all he’d accomplished was eliminate another idiot with a gun and a gambling problem.

“We’re close,” Deku assured him. “Only a couple corridors away.”

Inhaling and calming himself, Lemillion nodded and followed them once more. Deku’s tracker was periodically letting out a soft chime now, which hopefully meant they were close.

“A right at the next intersection and we’ll be there,” Deku recalled, pulling ahead as they rounded a corner and froze.

Coming in close behind, Lemillion skidded to a stop as well. Directly before them: the hallway turned left.

“Earphone Jack?” Deku asked, getting into a fighting stance as if he expected there to be trouble.

Closing her headphones, she did a quick ping, shaking her head.

“It should be right there,” she protested. “There wasn’t a turn-off there before…”

“Which means we’re under attack by an enemy Quirk,” Lemillion deduced.

Jack was about to perform another scan to find the enemy, but Lemillion stopped her with a hand, pointing at the wall they should be going through.

“How close is the opening over there?” he asked, wondering if he could bypass the blockage like he had the shields earlier.

She closed her eyes and checked the wall, then shook her head.

“You could have about two seconds ago, but the entire hallway just filled up with rock. It was like water, it just… flowed in.”

Mudman’s head popped up by their feet, shaking back and forth to clear it of gunk as he climbed out.

“Everything’s changing down there, I keep getting rerouted,” he apologized.

Deku was quick on the draw, nodding to himself a few times as he ran through the possibilities.

“Either it’s Chisaki, or it’s Mimic on some sort of booster,” he deduced. “Either way: we’re too late. We need to get over there, now.”

Lemillion didn’t know what they could do. If either of the villains had reworked the underground: they’d have to re-map the entire place, even assuming there was a correct path at all anymore. The entire plan had relied on surprise.

He turned back towards the wall and then to Deku.

“Can you throw me?” he asked, wondering if he could go intangible and shoot through the rock like a diver through water.

Deku seemed to think the same thing, but Earphone Jack stepped between them with a smirk.

“Don’t worry: I’ve got this,” she insisted, plugging into the ceiling and the floor.

The boys all looked to each other in confusion, then realized what she was going on about. They clamped their hands down over their ears, but the pulsing sonic waves were coming up their feet and into their skulls. Mudman made a bit of the ground liquid to dampen the effect, but the air and cement seemed to vibrate like the inside of a massive speaker system, a beat crashing through their chests and blocking out their thoughts.

For a moment it seemed to work, the corridor reverting to normal for a moment only for a massive crater to appear in the floor beneath their feet. Deku caught Mudman and Lemillion by their wrists, the pink bands on his shoulders and knees glowing as he struggled to hover in midair, but Earphone Jack let herself fall.

Her arms opened into a spread-eagle, descending down the center of the swirling earth beneath them. He peered down to try and figure out what she was doing, and spotted the angry jaws at the base of it. They seemed to be screaming at her.

“Get to Eri!” Deku shouted into his ear, getting past the ringing as he tossed Lemillion across the pit towards the way through.

This is starting to become a trend…

Still, he knew it was the right move. Impacting the ground hard, Lemillion rolled and sprinted down the available hall towards Eri’s room, Mudman just behind him.

Someone was at the door, mouthing something as Lemillion rushed him. For some reason he could feel his own mouth moving too, but he still couldn’t hear anything. Ignoring the Yakuza aside from kicking his gun down the hall, Lemillion spared only a glance into the room before continuing on towards where he had to assume Chisaki had gone. Mudman paused to seal the enemy in rock, but Lemillion had bigger fish to fry.

I hope her ears aren’t damaged from Earphone Jack’s attack…

As expected, Mimic-man or whatever his stupid name was focused entirely on Earphone Jack as she fell, totally ignoring her companions. She didn’t have a plan per-say, but she figured that the stupid wall man not paying attention to either of them was a bad idea.

Her not-plan paid off, which was nice, as half-a-dozen Blackwhip beads firing down and ensnaring the guy’s mouth to yank him up and out of the hole. He was suspended in a mass of dark tendrils, unable to possess any actual mass as Earphone Jack flipped to use him like a trampoline and not die upon impact with the distant ground.

She only got a little height before something snagged her wrist and tugged her upwards, but looking up and seeing her girlfriend hauling her into the air via grappling hook was more than worth trading for soaring up and performing a cool landing.

“Thanks babe,” she beamed, only to see Creati point at her ears and shrug in exasperation.

“Wha- oh,” Kyoka frowned, realizing her little pulse would have probably deafened everyone underground for a bit. Hopefully it wasn’t permanent, she’d been going easy to make sure the guy knew where to come and kill her.

“Sorry,” Earphone Jack apologized in JSL, receiving a response from both her friends.

“Try think next time,” Creati signed back with a look of resignation.

“We hurry now,” Deku agreed with his hands.

Creati evidently forgave Earphone Jack, because she used the princess carry to leap over the pit with her gravity boots, rather than just throwing her to Deku, so that was nice too. They came across some guy embedded in the cement and trying to reach a gun, so she gave him a quick chop to the carotid artery so he wouldn’t shoot them.

Deku’s tracker brought them to a room without any labels, but he threw the door open with utter certainty. He vanished inside, and both of them were close on his heels.

The room was decorated like someone was trying to pander to a little girl and had no idea what little girls were like aside from infomercials. Dozens of boxes of toys, crayons, glitter, and stuffed animals littered the ground, all unopened. The overly-large bed looked hard and unfriendly, the faded, rose-pink sheets tangled in a way that told her the occupant had been ripped out of them after curling up into a cocoon to try and pretend safety.

Kyoka noticed a fine layer of dust coating everything but the path to the door and the bed, almost breaking her heart as she realized Eri must have been too afraid to go anywhere else. Deku ignored all of it, stepping to the bed and pulling the pillow aside. Beneath was a little stuffed bird, with a tiny tracker disk underneath it like an egg it was protecting.

“Oh, Eri…” Deku whispered.

“CHISAKI!!!” Mirio screamed, soaring forward and smashing his fist into the young boss of the yakuza.

The villain who had proclaimed himself as “Overhaul” was flung away and crashed into the ground with a hard impact, but he didn’t lose his cool even for a moment. His hand slapped the floor beside him, and the entire hallway became a cavern of razor-sharp cones. The single person left on his team dashed out of the way just in time, Eri clutched in their arms as they swung back from the attack. Lemillion just let them pass through him as he swung back for another punch.

“Diseased maniac,” Chisaki hissed, holding his cheek with one hand and grabbing the floor again.

Lemillion kicked him in the gut, continuing the pursuit to try and separate him from Eri. The plan was for Mudman to grab her from whatever mook was left, as Chisaki was too dangerous to let him be near her. Fortunately, that meant Lemillion got to take the easy job and just beat the villain into submission.

Popping out of the floor and walls was easy, as was laying the beatdown. The issue was that the annoying grunt still hanging around was somehow keeping pace with them as they rushed down an adjacent hallway. No matter which way or how hard Lemillion punted Chisaki: his pal was right there the next time Lemillion popped up.

“You Fool!” the young yakuza boss barked. “You’re supposed to be getting Eri out of here, not following me!!”

The other figure didn’t respond, simply continuing to keep pace before suddenly throwing their hand into Lemillion’s face right as he emerged from a wall. A blast of lilac caught him in the face as he tried to get another breath in on instinct, forcing him to fall and cough instead of landing an attack.

Rolling out of the cloud and getting to his feet, Lemillion froze as he saw the hallway led into a small room with no ways out. Rather than Eri, Chisaki, and the last goon however, the three figures inside were the backup squad from the Bullets.

“Well well well,” Tabe cackled, his mouth opening wide as he drew out the words. “A meal, mayhaps?”

Why oh why did I have to lose all of the Quirks which would give me a speed boost?!?! Deku pleaded with the universe as he ran flat-out down the hall in a vain hope to find Eri at the end of it. Earphone Jack was close behind, with Creati even closer. Neither could catch him, and he was slowly extending the gap as he pushed himself to his limits.

He’d promised he wouldn’t leave her. He’d sworn an oath to protect people.

He’d failed both charges. Now it was time to make things right.

Deku’s tunnel vision was broken when his foot hit something solid and he was sent crashing to the ground.

“Deku!” Mudman gasped, holding his head and rubbing at the spot he’d accidentally kicked.

“Mudman!” Deku groaned, getting up off the ground and offering his pal a hand up. “Where’s Lemillion?”

“He left me behind,” the 1-B Recommendation Hero confessed. “I’ve been trying to catch up, but I don’t know which fork they took.”

Glancing around, Deku realized there were indeed three paths for them to take. He glanced to Earphone Jack, but she shook her head. She tapped her jack tips and made an X with her index fingers.

No go on detecting them…

Analyzing what was left of his team, Deku noticed Creati was starting to lose steam and Jack was acting a bit too protective. Mudman was unsteady on his feet after so much swimming and what was probably an accidental concussion on Deku’s part.

“Jack, you and Mudman take the right path,” Deku ordered. “He’ll need your firepower. Creati: you’re with me, we’re going straight.”

The three of them seemed alarmed at his decision, but Deku didn’t have time to explain. He pointed at the left path and touched his temple, then pointed up. He remembered those paths led back up into the manor, which wouldn’t be where Chisaki would flee, and with Mimic out of the picture: he deemed the risk of skipping it manageable.

The four of them hesitated for a moment, wondering if they’d see one another again. Then they ran to it.

“They’ll be okay,” Mudman assured Earphone Jack, noticing how she kept glancing back at the path the other two had taken.

“It’s not just them I’m worried about…”

Okay, Ominous…

They continued to run for a few minutes, not spotting any sign of anyone. Each room was benign and empty, barring a few cages with animals in them. Then something shook the entire complex, and Mudman acted on instinct. He threw himself atop his companion, shielding her from oncoming debris as he sunk them into the ground in a divot he managed to carve with his Quirk.

The explosion wasn’t much compared to some of the hits they’d seen before, but it was enough to be a problem. Clambering out of the dip in the ground, Mudman gasped in horror as he saw the trio of strange warriors getting up out of the rubble. They wore white robes and masks, with a strange red wheel on their chests.

“Humarise,” he breathed, horrified.

“Wait, those religious anti-Quirk wackjobs?” Jack asked, glancing at them. “I guess everybody’s here today, huh?”

Mudman didn’t have the chance to answer as one of the zealots spotted them and leveled an accusing finger.

“INFIDELS!!”

“Well, hello to you too,” Jack grumbled.

One grew four arms, holding a medieval sword in each hand.

“Hero Jackenobi,” the villain cackled.

The other two produced green energy; one some kind of threads from her fingers while the other made balls which floated from his hands and seemed to be guided via palms.

Clenching his fists, Mudman glanced at the energy users and then to the sword man.

“Call it,” Jack told him, readying a pair of small speakers from her wrists.

Her confidence reassured Mudman, and he remembered Kendo’s words.

Trust 1-A. They’ve been through some sh*t; Kyoka and Izuku especially. If they move: it’s time to take action.

“I’ll take the twins,” he decided. “Try not to get stabbed?”

Earphone Jack cackled with a sad*stic glee, waving her jacks like snakes.

“If he gets close enough to touch me: I’ll have to retire in shame.”

Shrugging, Mudman dove into the ground directly at the zealots’ feet, sending up a splash of liquified concrete to intercept a few of their attacks. He might get tagged, but he knew he could beat them too.

“I’m fine, Deku,” Creati tried to assure him, but he knew she wasn’t.

“Even so: you’re stronger supporting from behind when you have a powerhouse like me who can engage in close-range-”

A blast knocked the pair of them off their feet, tumbling back a bit as they saw an amphitheater-sized room filled with debris as something broke in from the top. Peering through the dust cloud and gloom, Deku spotted four figures facing off in a rough diamond. One was holding Eri, and one was Chisaki, but the other two were something else. The smaller of the two wore a familiar uniform which Izuku had once considered wearing himself, while the other was a titanic man with white skin and red horns.

“Speed play,” Deku decided. “Get me in there and I’ll pull Eri out.”

Attaching strands of Blackwhip to either wall, Deku tried to pull himself back like a slingshot. Creati nodded, getting up and helping him with her superior strength.

“I’m trusting you to get me close,” Deku confided in his adopted sister.

“I’m trusting you to come back,” she agreed, closing an eye and taking aim before firing.

Deku soared through the air like he hadn’t for a long time, using his Uravity Gravity rings to keep himself level. He grabbed Eri out of the arms of the goon who’d captured her, firing a strand from his glove to yank them back out of the combat zone.

“I’ve got you!” he cheered, landing into a run alongside Creati as they charged for a way out.

Eri gasped, then hugged Deku.

“You came!” she whispered.

“I’ll always-”

Something caught Deku’s foot, yanking him to the ground and stopping his retreat. He twisted to keep Eri from hitting the concrete, but the same tendril of fabric slashed out and pulled her away from him.

“NO!”

Getting up as fast as possible, he tried to catch her only to gasp in horror at the figure who he’d only just recognized.

“Hello, Deku,” En said, their capture bandages holding Eri in a cocoon to prevent her from escaping again. “I see you’ve finally made it.”

Chapter 12: Eri Arc: En, the Sixth User

Chapter Text

“En??” Deku gasped, staring at the yakuza grunt who’d stolen Eri back from them.

“You know them?” Creati asked, confused at why Deku was hesitating.

“We’re old pals,” the villain said, their eyes glittering above their collar.

Deku’s expression tightened, and his emerald eyes darkened with intent.

“They’re the Sixth User,” Deku hissed, making Creati’s mind work overtime.

Yes, yes she had seen that face and outfit in the Kamino footage. Now that she knew where to look: she could see the figure’s similarities.

“Then that means--” she gasped, only to suddenly feel a blow to her stomach.

En had zipped right up to her, closing the gap in an instant and sending her skidding back with a single punch. She barely registered the flicker of midnight blue lightning around their skin; a signature of Full Cowl.

Deku lunged for Eri at the same time En attacked, never losing sight of his target, but without One for All he didn’t stand a chance. The Sixth User was back on him in an instant, knocking him back and hefting Eri onto a shoulder without evident effort.

“They always knew you were weak,” En sighed. “I suppose it’s just fate. Some are born to be kings, and others are destined to kneel.”

Creati generated a canister of sleeping gas, knowing Deku’s mask would filter it while En would be more limited in their defense, but before she could launch it: a familiar golden bubble appeared between her and the battles beyond. She whirled around and saw Tengai; exhausted but incredibly conscious and enraged.

“Let them have their little fun,” he insisted, despite his breaths being rather ragged. “We never finished our little one-on-one, now did we?”

Ejecting the bottle, Creati caught it and stored it in her belt before preparing a new shield-popper.

“I don’t have TIME for you!” she screamed, charging in and breaking through one of the barriers which separated them.

Tengai cooed affectionately, putting up more between them as he sat down against a wall.

“Well, I’m hurt,” he mumbled sleepily. “And here I took a full dose just for you.”

The words shook Creati, and she gasped in horror as she realized what he’d done. The barriers weren’t fixed after generation now, they were moving and shifting size; blocking her from him in whichever way they could. Even worse: the one around her was starting to compress, with her and the air stuck inside. The pressure made her ears pop, but she knew she could endure at least a few minutes more than a normal person thanks to her training. It wasn’t much, but she might be able to work with it.

“Poser,” she spat, using one of Kyoka’s favorite insults as she broke another pair of barriers as she charged Tengai.

Each shield she broke was replaced by two more, and closer together. Her advance was slowed almost to a standstill, and she realized he was going to win their duel of attrition. Lugging around the popper was too much for her to do continually, and she wasn’t advancing fast enough to make it worth the prolonged use. She had to change strategies, and fast.

“It’s pointless, my dear,” Tengai moaned weakly. “Soon you’ll be dead… and I’ll be faaaaaaar awaaaaay…”

Momo swung at the wall once more, but the shield-popper slid off and she tumbled to the ground, laying flat as the pressure made her head pound. It was so hard to think.

“Goodbye, Creati…”

The Heroes still standing or recovered after the massive battle up top regrouped at the entrance to the Shie Hassakai estate. Nighteye was pleased Suneater was back up, and that Nejire and Leg Lass were in motion. The Big 4 were truly impressive. Ryukyu was too weak to continue, barely able to retrieve Uravity and Morrigan after the battle had ended. Almost all the Heroes were beaten to a pulp, but the interns had taken more than their share.

“We need to continue the operation,” Nighteye decided, forcing himself to be logical. “Team Gamma hasn’t reported success, so we must assume Eri is still in Chisaki’s custody. We have to push inward to support them, or at least draw away enemy forces.”

“Right!” Leg Lass agreed, alongside nods from her paramours.

They made their way inside, carefully stepping over the unconscious bodies as the police began to round up the villains who had fallen. Nighteye had no compunctions about breaking the place now, after such a forceful resist of arrest, so he had Suneater make some listening implements to find a secret way down before having Nejire blast it apart. He wasn’t expecting the wall to come apart on its own.

Red blades slashed the hidden door to shreds, sending splinters of wood and stone into the four of them as they retreated two steps. A woman stood in the entryway, grinning wildly and strolling casually into the main room. Her hair was the same blood color as the implements which had cut the door apart, as were the claws on her hands. Her face was mostly obscured, but what Nighteye could see was truly unhinged.

“I’ve been asleep for sooooooooooooo long!” the woman yawned, stretching a bit. “And this new body is so old! I wish they’d found me a fresh one…”

The woman leaned forward and peered at the two girls in Nighteye’s group, her smile turning lustful.

“You two would do nicely as new hosts,” she hissed, her hair sharpening and stiffening into blades as her claws did the same. “I’ll try not to hurt you too much. Me, or my babies.”

Nighteye knew there was no time for a warning. He threw one of his ultra-heavy stamps at the woman’s head, knocking her back just as she tried to attack. Her weapons swung a hair’s breadth from his throat, but his eyes were focused on the face which had been revealed beneath.

The woman seemed to have once been quite pretty, but her left eye was entirely missing. In its place was a dark chasm, filled to the brim with what looked like a swarm of honey bees.

Oh no… they broke her out, Nighteye realized in horror.

“Now look what you’ve done,” Queen Bee crooned, her children exploding from her eye and swarming wildly through the air. “You’ve got the little ones all fussy. I suppose they’ll need some warm blood to help get back to sleep.”

En released a cloud of Smokescreen, obscuring themself and Eri as Deku lunged for the pair. He grit his teeth and leapt up into the air on instinct, managing to just avoid the swipe of a punch which would have broken his jaw if it landed.

“Let me tell you a tale, O descendent of mine,” En sighed from the cloud, even as Deku found a bit of cover and hid to likewise keep his opponent blind. “Long ago I was the leader of a yakuza family just like this one. All for One mostly left us alone, and for the longest time we were more heroes than the Heroes were. We didn’t fear retribution because we could justify our noble deeds as part of defending our territory.”

Placing down a pair of smoke bombs, Deku set them to slow release before quietly moving to another point in the ragged hallway they’d found themselves in. He hoped the slight disturbance would lead En the wrong way without their realizing why it seemed suspicious, while also keeping the screen up and strong. Deku had never been able to see through the screen himself when the Quirk was his, so he had to assume it worked in both directions.

“In fact, when Lariat attacked my family: I was one of those who went to stop him. Our battle was intense, but in the end we parted ways.”

Deku paused. He hadn’t realized the two had met under those circ*mstances. Could En have been the one to determine how One for All could and couldn’t be transferred? Through trial and error to attempt its theft?

“One thing we both agreed on, despite our many differences, was that Quirks are the root of villainy,” En continued, their footsteps continuing towards the first smoke bomb as Deku mentally shook himself and snuck around to get behind the Sixth User. “Yakuza like me were heroes and criminals; keeping drugs and senseless violence off the street and keeping rival gangs from throwing their weight around. But Quirks changed everything. The right Quirk was stronger than an army, and rather than keeping a city under control via hard work and dedication to our code: command of anything was entirely determined by luck. By Quirks which may or may not be passed down like lessons and blood.”

There was a flash of lightning as En lunged, and Deku had to leap clear of the gust of wind which blew away almost all of the smoke. His glove was caught by the shearing currents of air, ripping off a finger and tugging on various delicate components which were housed within the support item. Deku hit the emergency shut-off in his mask, making sure it didn’t explode and give him away, but also disabling Blackwhip. He couldn’t turn the device back on by himself--only Hatsume really knew how the thing worked--but he would make do.

I don’t need support items to save you, Eri…

Diseased heathens…

Overhaul grit his teeth behind his mask, furious at the interruption. First the Heroes had arrived early, next the religious fools who took the natural order and imagined it was somehow religious in nature had shown up in force to betray him, and finally he’d lost Eri to his newest joinee; some wackjob from an old family whose nepotism had snuck a viper into his camp.

Deciding to end the battle quickly, Overhaul slapped the ground and sent stone drills and spikes into the two zealots who had descended first, trying to crush their bodies against the breach and stop more from invading his ruined facility. The fool with drills for hands was immediately shredded and turned into so much dog meat, but the big one simply roared and rammed through the attack.

sh*t--!

The attack which would have broken Overhaul’s body was stopped by a sudden wall of concrete and steel, reinforced with a support strut just in time to stop the punch.

“How dare you try to touch me!” he growled, reaching out to disassemble the strange beast man with a hand.

The red horn-looking things atop the zealot’s head whipped down and caught his hand, the goopy substance for some reason not letting him overhaul it. Overhaul let out a scream of rage and pain as his skin burned and froze at the same time. He yanked back and turned the wall into blades to try and ward off the monstrosity, grabbing his ravaged arm and quickly restoring it before it distracted him further.

“So… your Quirk is energy-based,” Overhaul hissed. “Irritating…”

The figure grinned even broader, letting out a deep rumble as it held out its claws and dug them into the ground.

“I too can command the earth,” it said in a surprisingly cultured voice. “It is why they call me Leviathan.”

With a slash towards Overhaul’s face: the ground was torn into cyclones of stone and earth around Leviathan’s fingers. Quickly dodging down, Overhaul summoned a pillar to throw himself into the air, evading the attack and getting some distance.

Landing on the ceiling gave him a moment’s reprieve; just enough time for Overhaul to summon a dozen sharp spears to slam into Leviathan’s chest. Annoyingly, rather than killing the plague-ridden monstrosity: the Humarize attack dog simply broke them with his body and swung them into a fresh batch of shrapnel.

Interesting… this one might be useful…

Hurling himself towards the monster, Overhaul let out a scream of fury and self-loathing as he prepared to do what he had to.

“Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, what are these?!?!”

Leg Lass-chan flailed a bit at all the bees attacking them, and Nejire wasn’t doing much better. Her spirals didn’t seem to get too many of them, and they all had sharp tips and scary faces.

“THIS ISN’T CUTE!” Leg Lass-chan squealed, slashing her electric bow through a clump of them and managing to hit two or three.

“Watch out!” Sir-chan insisted, tackling Suneater-chan and Leg Lass-chan out of the way as the scary maroon lady slashed with her hair like a massive scythe over their heads.

“NO ONE TOUCHES MY BOO’S!” Nejire screamed, charging up a double-palm attack blast directly at the woman.

The bee lady got shot through the wall, but didn’t stop smiling the whole time. Nejire only had a moment before she was swarmed by the multitude of miniscule minions, thrown back as they got into her face and started to sting her.

“NO! NO NOT THE BEES!” Nejire pleaded, clawing at the little buggers. “OH NO, THEY’RE IN MY EYES! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

A strong arm caught her from behind, grabbing her by her feet and swinging Nejire around like a hammer. For a second she thought the person holding her was trying to make her throw up, but then she realized he’d thrown off all the bees with his move.

“Take Her Out! Now!” Rock Lock-chan commanded her, releasing her calves and launching her back into the house with extreme speed.

“RIGHT ON!” Nejire squealed, charging a double-blast. “DON’T POKE ME WITH BEES! I MIGHT BE ALLERGIC!!!”

The slicy-bee lady looked at her with incredulity, but Nejire wasn’t in the mood to let her get a quip back. She blasted her for all she was worth, sending her tumbling down the stairs into the catacombs below.

“Come on guys!” she cheered, crashing down after her. “Revenge is a dish best served cute!!”

Her tackle was interrupted by the lady charging back up the stairs, carried by a mass of bees on her back like a collection of golden-white wings.

“HOW DARE YOU HARM A QUEEN?!” she screeched, slashing at Nejire’s hair with her talons and severing large chunks of her hair with each swipe.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!!” Suneater-chan ordered, his tentacular fingers grabbing the villain and slamming her into the ceiling.

“DON’T TOUCH OUR NEJIRE!” Leg Lass-chan agreed, unloading electric arrows into her with impunity.

The bee villain just screamed again, her voice reverberating through the bees and driving sonic spikes into their ears. Nejire tried to charge another attack, but there were simply too many stings coming across her arms, back, and face.

“NO ONE CAN RESIST THIS MANY STINGS!!!”

When Eijiro came to: he needed a second to remember where he was. Then he heard the screams and it all came rushing back. The big guy had absorbed his vitality, leaving him exhausted. He’d fallen on Fat Gum, who had shielded him a bit.

Pulling himself free, Eijiro slapped his cheeks and looked around. The Police were gathering up unconscious villains, but the house still shook and echoed with the sounds of battle. He needed to help, but he was still so groggy…

Dragging himself forward, Red Riot forced one foot in front of the other, Hardening each leg to keep himself upright as he forced himself to stay awake.

I can’t… fail them… he thought blearily. They’re… counting on me…

Leaning against the frame of a door, Red Riot was met by a mass of wings and buzzing. He hardened his body on instinct, continuing forward through the horde and blinking away the ones that tried to get into his eyes.

A blade slashed his side, chipping his body and drawing blood. Red Riot fell to a knee, peering through the swarm to try and spot what had hit him.

I can’t use my big move here or else I’ll be frozen!

Another impact caught his shoulder, and Red Riot fell to his hands; teeth clenched against the pain.

Nothing for it…

“RED RIOT: UNBREAKABLE!” he shouted, armoring up just in time to stop himself from being decapitated.

Standing with a groaning creak, Red Riot took a step forward towards the next attack. The blow bounced off his eye, not even phasing him as he lumbered after his opponent. The bees swarmed his body, trying to sting through his armor, but nothing worked. The field thinned enough he could see her: a red-haired woman taking a step back and keeping out of range.

Damn it! I need to be faster! If only I could move more quickly, like with Gatling--

Red Riot’s eyes widened, and he clenched his fists.

If I un-harden my joints: the hard parts will tear the soft bits to shreds! But if I just make them normal hardness…

The woman slashed at his chest, tearing his sleeve a bit as her attack passed but leaving him unaffected.

If she realizes what I’ve done I’ll lose an arm! Or my head!! I’ll have to hit her fast!. But how?

Winding back an arm, Red Riot waited until he felt her last attack ping off his knee. Then he shifted his joints to level 1 hardness and pounced.

The woman gasped in shock as he leapt across the distance between them, landing a blow across her cheek. She gasped in alarm, falling back with what looked like a stunned expression. Red Riot didn’t give her time to recover, landing a second blow into her solar plexus and knocking her clean out.

The bees began to fall in droves, hitting the ground and sputtering a bit before giving out. Eijiro managed to catch himself against a chair before his Quirk gave out entirely.

“WHERE IS CHISAKI?!” Lemillion demanded, continuing to beat the trio of villains into balls of bruised pulp.

One of them whimpered in pain while the other cowered in the corner. The last was currently under his fist, sporting a pair of black eyes and a burst lip.

“I SWEAR, WE DON’T KNOW!” he pleaded.

“AND I SWEAR I DON’T BELIEVE YOU!” Lemillion countered, throwing him into his buddy and going after the last one.

“GO BACK DOWN THE HALL AND SWING A RIGHT!” the final good squealed.

“TABE!”

“DON’T HURT ME!” the villain begged, curling up further. “I NEVER HURT HER PERSONALLY!”

Lemillion blasted out of the room and sprinted for the right path. He saw a turn-off he’d missed before while on pursuit, dashing down the way and skidding to a stop. The scene before him was truly alarming.

Creati was collapsed inside a sphere of energy, crumpled like a doll with her strings cut, being laughed at by a clearly power-high Tengai. A trail of lavender smoke drifted down one hall, while down another he saw Earphone Jack and Mudman kicking and stomping on a trio of Humarize goons who were on the ground and curled up to protect their heads.

What did I miss?

A roaring scream echoed through the chamber and Lemillion was thrown off his feet. He glanced towards the hallway Tengai was blocking, trying to figure out what was going on when his vision was filled with a blinding light.

Phasing on instinct, Lemillion fell for a few seconds before slipping back up into the air and checking with just his head. He found the situation changed in the heartbeat he’d been gone, though definitely in the Heroes’ favor.

Creati had somehow come back to her feet, though her hands and the center of her chest looked burned. Tengai was on his back, more severe burns across his face. Earphone Jack was guarded by a mixture of Mudman’s submersion and Red Riot, who seemed to have fallen through the hole above the three Humarise goons and blocked whatever Creati had done.

“Chisaki…” Creati murmured, pointing behind her before dropping and barely avoiding impact with the floor by a vine which slithered out of her cape and caught her before turning to ash.

Without waiting for anyone else: Lemillion yanked himself free of the ground and rushed past her. Red Riot was limping along after him; Mudman popping up to help the hardening Hero follow.

Unfortunately: none of them were prepared for what awaited them within.

Deku caught a glance of Creati, his blood chilling as he recognized the stance she’d taken up on the ground.

During their training: Creati had discovered that she could generate energy as well as matter. It was incredibly difficult; requiring her to compress and expand a single point in a highly specialized way, and the resulting test had damaged the gravity chamber to the point they’d stopped using it afterwards. He’d instructed her not to use it again until her body and Quirk could progress further to handle the power, but she’d evidently ignored his warnings.

If she uses it now, she might kill us all! Deku fretted, still trying to stealth around En and find an opening to defeat his Quirk ancestor. The blast will probably shatter her bones like my Quirk used to, even if she focuses it. I have to save her before she risks it!

Gritting his teeth, Deku decided to throw caution to the wind and risk a quick victory. If he could just break a bone: En would break and return to the world of the deceased. He hated the necessity of it, especially since he knew En held a treasure trove of knowledge which could give Izuku experience and skills for fighting essentially Quirkless. But taking them alive was no longer possible.

Tackling the vestige, Deku caught them around the throat with one arm while his other pinned En’s arm to their ear. He brought his leg down on En’s calf, trying to snap the fibula and tibia quickly, but En jerked free in a single motion and slammed Deku into a wall.

“You’ll never win without a Quirk of supreme power!” En insisted, their elbow pressing into Deku’s kidney. “Destiny and Fate don’t favor hard work and morals anymore!”

Gritting his teeth, Deku grabbed En’s bandages and tangled it in his fingers.

“Then I’ll twist it into a new shape!” he screamed. “A Shape That Favors Justice! JUST! LIKE! THIS!”

Bending his grip, Deku sent the capture weapon into a strange twisting pattern, ensnaring En’s throat again and releasing Eri from the cocoon. Grabbing it with both hands, Deku yanked it around to pull En off him and plant his foot against their chest.

Deku looked to Eri with alarm, not wanting her to see, but she was curled up and holding her face as if to hide from the things happening around her.

“How?” he begged, watching as En lost air and yanked at the leverage of the fabric around their throat to no avail. “How could you betray One-for-All??”

En looked up at him, still defiant for a moment. Then their eyes turned sad, and full of defeat.

“We-- …we worried we’d made the wrong choice,” En wheezed. “That I-- that I ruined-- …everything.”

Deku didn’t know what they were on about, but didn’t have the time to find out.

“You did,” he said, devastated that he had to pronounce that judgment upon one of the past users. “You should have remembered that no matter how dark the night: light will always rise to banish it. Quirks aren’t light or dark. They’re just the landscape we have to live with. Some days they cast shadows, and some days they reflect the morning until it’s blinding.”

En smiled behind their little collar, the edge of their lips poking up.

“I should have,” they admitted.

Bringing their spare hand to their mouth, they bit open the pad of their index finger, offering it.

A flash of light filled the area and Deku gave a final yank, breaking the clone into a puddle of goo and blood, thankful Eri couldn’t see.

“I’m sorry, En,” he sighed. “But Justice can’t be faked. Not if you want it to last.”

With that, he walked over and knelt before the girl he’d come to save.

“Eri? It’s okay now. I’m here.”

The trio of Heroes still standing skidded to a halt as they saw Chisaki and Leviathan battling. The terrain around them broke and twisted into confusing patterns and spirals, shattering and reforming as the two Quirks fought for dominance. Red Riot prepared the stamp Sir Nighteye had given him, prepared to knock out the winner once one was made clear. But then everything changed.

The scream from before was apparently Chisaki’s fault: using Overhaul to make one of Leviathan’s arms backwards, but evidently he had other plans for the endgame. Rather than destroy or deform his opponent: Chisaki dodged in under an attack and grabbed Leviathan’s mangled arm with his left hand. Meanwhile his left grabbed his own chest.

A tortured, inhuman scream broke from the two of them as they suddenly exploded into a mass of colors and gaseous clouds. Their voices echoed through the room for a moment before merging. As did the particles.

Eijiro took a step back in horror as a new figure formed before them. He had the size and claws of Leviathan, but the beak mask and wild posture of Chisaki. Stone wings had been formed from the material caught in the zealot’s horns, stretching and flexing as he looked towards the three staring him down.

“WHERE IS SHE?” the abomination asked, its voice a deep base and horribly callous.

Lemillion charged without fear, trying to end the fight before it began. Mudman was close behind, trying to sink the beast. Red Riot acted on instinct, charging and turning Unbreakable out of fear. Their attacks seemed to do nothing aside from confuse the villain.

“EN HAD HER. WHY AREN’T YOU GOING AFTER THEM?”

Mudman tried to resume the hardness of the ground, but it just reformed without evident input from the beast’s hands. Then Red Riot saw that its feet were actually Leviathan’s hands, now able to channel Overhaul. Lemillion’s attacks weren’t strong enough to do anything, leaving him little more than a stalemate against the monstrous creature.

Swallowing hard, Red Riot decided to risk everything. He loosened his joints, not just to normal Hardening, but to an unpowered state. He felt his body tearing apart, but he would stop the thing before him from getting to his friends.

“BECAUSE WE HAVE TO KEEP YOU FROM HER!” Red Riot proclaimed. “RED RIOT: VULCAN!!!”

His fists became a blur of blood and punches, leaving heavy indents against the Titan’s skin. It stumbled back, and Red Riot pushed his advantage.

“TENGAI: REMOVE THIS PEST.”

Eijiro turned his head just in time to see the man he thought was knocked out level a gun at him. He felt time slow down as the bullet fired towards his spine. He couldn’t harden fast enough to deflect it. He would be paralyzed, or worse, and their only tool against the abomination would fall.

A flicker of green caught his eye, and suddenly something was between him and the shot.

Deku had taken the bullet for him.

Chapter 13: Eri Arc: TEN

Chapter Text

Deku felt a jolt shoot through him from the center of his chest where he’d been hit, both burning and at the same time almost soothing. He looked down, seeing the red bullet stuck into him via a needle. He plucked it out almost numbly, looking at the empty syringe.

“I--” he started to say before suddenly letting out a scream as white lightning coursed across his body.

The power now within him was agony to hold, almost like it was fighting itself to get out. Eri held onto his back, curled up in his white cape as he fought to move away from the Titan made of Overhaul and the white Leviathan.

Kicking on instinct, Deku sent the Titan flying back with a blast of what might have been 20% once. Somehow: the Quirk-removing bullet had reverted his Quirk back to just before Stockpile and Pass On had merged into One-for-All. Back when it had been intended as life support so Yoichi couldn’t commit suicide by refusing food. And it didn’t like being that way.

Did All For One intentionally make Stockpile painful to hold?? Izuku wondered, curling up into a ball as he tried to fight through the agony. I need to get it to stabilize! I need to--

Lemillion knelt by his side, holding Deku’s shoulder and checking Eri.

“Deku, What--”

…oh.

“Hand!” Izuku gasped, pulling off his useless gauntlets and grabbing for Mirio’s.

“Wh--”

“HAND!”

Mirio offered his palm and Izuku used a sharp stone to scrape their index fingers. He pressed the open wounds together and looked the Number One Hero from UA in the eye.

“Reach deep into your soul,” he hissed. “Punch that thing as hard as you can, and when you do: pull on the part of your soul that screams for justice. From those depths: say this word…”

“What-- What Word?”

Izuku pressed his finger hard into Mirio’s feeling the pressure produce blood that passed between them.

“...Smash.”

Izuku opened his eyes in the mindscape where he’d spoken to the vestiges before, but the world was gone. All that floated there with him was Yoichi and a pair of glowing lights.

“Are you sure about this?” First asked.

Looking up at the lights, Izuku nodded.

“It’s time. Besides: this way we can assemble it properly. Safely.”

A shadow of Mirio appeared between them, and Izuku took down the spheres of light in either hand. He could tell the one in his right hand was Pass On, while the one in his left was Stockpile.

“It won’t build up power quite as well, but it’ll safely assimilate Quirks this way,” Izuku explained, pressing Stockpile into Mirio’s shadow.

He watched as the spark which represented Permeation slowly orbit the other Quirk until they merged into a single light.

“Our version was Pass On based and only absorbed the new Quirk when they passed on to another,” Izuku explained, slowly feeding the final piece of his borrowed Quirk into Mirio. “This time: it’ll be keyed to Stockpile and absorb the Quirk of its new user first so they won’t be torn apart.”

Yoichi nodded, and Izuku watched as he and a flaming shadow of himself moved to stand beside Mirio, who was slowly becoming more solid.

“Well, I guess this is it?” Yoichi mumbled.

Izuku nodded.

“It’s been a wild ride.”

Lemillion gasped as he felt energy flow into him. He was filled to the brim, positively bubbling with it!

“What Was That?” he asked, patting his chest as Deku shook himself and stood up with a sad smile.

“Smash,” Deku reminded him, then turned and sprinted for the exit with Eri.

The Titan roared at Eri’s removal, charging to take her back as the three Heroes still in the room moved to block him. Lemillion did the only thing he could and followed Deku’s instructions.

Winding back, Mirio felt back into his past and into the part of his spirit which wanted to save a million people. His body glowed with blue lightning as he was surfused by energy he’d never felt before. It was completely unlike Permeation, yet somehow shockingly similar. As his fist impacted the flesh of the monstrosity Chisaki had become, Lemillion felt himself scream forth a word he’d never found more appropriate.

“POWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!”

The Titan was launched back so hard it was embedded in the wall in a cartoonish hole shaped like its arms and legs splayed out. Lemillion landed on one hand and knee each, his fist bruised and his glove torn from the attack. The force in his body had been incredible, like a thousand suns burning inside him all at once. It was almost too much for him, but if he was careful to throw his punches right: Lemillion could use whatever energy Deku had given him.

The ground shook as the Titan dragged itself free of the hole, causing more of the ceiling to cave in. From the top: a half-dozen bodies fell into the cavern with them. One was the giant energy-absorbing guy; dragging Ryukyu down as she tried to lift him out.

“DON’T LET THEM TOUCH!” Lemillion gasped, launching off with so much speed he felt his shoes skid.

Winding up a kick, he blasted the unconscious villain back up along with the Dragon Hero, just barely phasing in time to avoid being grabbed by the Titan’s hand himself.

“Oh No, Buddy,” he laughed, spinning back and folding his arms. “It’s Just You And Me Down Here.”

Someone coughed, and the pair turned to see Mudman poking his head out of the ground.

“Also me,” he said smoothly. “By the way: your wings are stuck.”

The Titan whirled around, noticing that his stone and energy wings were indeed coated in liquid concrete which Mudman had softened and then stiffened into a hard turtle-like shell.

“Might wanna fix that before--” Mudman started to explain, only for Lemillion to slam another blow into the Titan’s bird-like jaw. “...that happens.”

Eijiro hadn’t moved since the gunshot only moments before, hardening to the point he couldn’t move. Midoriya had just… and now he was running back up to the surface… How could he have done that? Done it, and continued on as if it was nothing to worry about?

Hey! Hey, man-among-men!

The voice in his head startled Eijiro enough he was able to take note of his surroundings. The monstrosity which had once been two villains roared, starting to slash around the room and collect various bits of debris which collected in the red energy from its horns, wings, and claws, only to suddenly be reformed into hard armor across its body. Lemillion’s attacks were somehow tough enough to break them, but each blow only had time to crack the material before it was fixed.

“Wha--?” he muttered, only for the voice to cut him off.

Listen, this is hard to do while carrying Momo, so be quiet for a sec, Jiro’s voice said into his head.

“How are--”

Subsonic waves, your armored form makes a good receptor. Shut up and listen!

“K.”

Nighteye gave you that ultra-heavy stamp, right? It doesn’t sound like things are going well down there, and Deku’s busy taking Eri to the top. Get an opening and break that f[bleep]er’s face open!

Eijiro thought the 1000 Hz sound was a nice touch, but realized he needed to get his head back in the game.

“Will do. Stay safe.”

Hah! Fat chance of that… Oh sh--

Her voice cut off, but Red Riot didn’t have time to check. Clutching the ultra-heavy stamp in his hand so the top stuck out between his middle and ring finger, he charged and slammed his fist into the armored but unguarded knee nearest him.

His fist hit true, cracking the armor open just in time for Lemillion to punch through Red Riot and snap the joint backwards. The pair of them were thrown across the room by the resulting scream, but Mudman had a slide ready to catch them (not that Lemillion used it).

“Hey Lemillion!” he shouted as the other man deflected off the beast’s chest in another attack. “Catch!”

Hurling the ultra-heavy stamp like a baseball, Red Riot grinned as it deflected off the exposed part of the beast’s chest, cracking ribs and sending the monster sprawling just before the armor closed. Lemillion caught the item and grinned, slamming it into the wings trying to free themselves and blowing one clean off.

“Goin’ under,” Mudman said, not explaining.

Red Riot had an idea though, and took a breath as the ground suddenly turned sloshy under him. Kicking for all he was worth, he felt Mudman drag him along through the softened ground for a few moments before giving him a hard pat on the shoulder. Nodding, he went Unbreakable despite the pain it was causing him.

The use of Vulcan had shredded a lot of the skin and bruised the muscle around his joints, still imperfect as it was. Red Riot guessed he was running on adrenaline, and would probably pass out soon, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him from breaking the monster’s face.

The ground suddenly heaved with an impact and Red Riot was sent skyward. He burst free with a mighty punch, carving his way up the monster’s chest and leaving a wicked gash from crotch to jaw.

That’s for Deku, he thought wryly, landing in a tumble and barely making it to a knee before his strength suddenly wavered.

Forcing his other leg under him, Red Riot tried to stand, but his energy was still mostly depleted.

No! I can’t stop! he pleaded mentally. I have to avenge my friend! I have to prove I’m worthy of being a Hero! I have to help!

An idea came to him. A terrible, awful, wild idea. It might just be the most manly thing he’d ever thought of.

“Lemillion!” he called, stepping forward and getting into a sumo stance. “Sword and Shield!”

The metaphor wasn’t especially clear, but luckily the Big 4’s top member was a smart cookie. As Red Riot went Unbreakable one last time, he closed his eyes and let himself harden deeper than ever. He wouldn’t be moving again until he woke up, but it might just be worth it.

Lemillion landed behind him as the Titan charged them. It threw a blow, trying to knock Red Riot out of the way, but Mudman had hardened the ground and held him firm. The attack stopped dead against Eijiro, and he could tell from the sound that his plan was working.

Deku ran for all he was worth, feeling surprisingly different after giving up the Quirk he’d been given so long ago. His chest felt empty; like he was missing a lung. The slight buzz of power which had always been there, even after he’d thought it was gone, had deserted him.

Eri was curled up against his chest, sniffling as he carried her up the stairs.

“It’s okay,” he promised softly, squeezing her close. “We’re almost out of here.”

She was so small in his arms, almost skeletal. Her breathing came in gasps and shudders each time something shook or an echoed shout met her ears.

“Please don’t go,” she whispered.

“I’m here, Eri. I’m here,” Izuku promised, coming to the top of a flight of stairs and glancing around the path for the best way out.

With a quivering hand: Eri pointed left. Deku took her directions and continued with all the speed he could manage. Without One for All: he felt himself tiring a lot faster than he used to.

“There’s one! Slay the infidel!”

Whirling to face the trio of Humarise goons who’d emerged from seemingly nowhere: Deku swung Eri onto his back and secured her with the remains of En’s arm ribbons. She held on for her life, but didn’t seem afraid or too tight.

“Come on then,” he muttered at the approaching zealots.

The first had claws for hands, earning a kick to the solar plexus and a quick jab to the throat. She went down with a cough and a gurgle, thankfully providing Deku the opportunity to evade further when the others advanced.

The second was longer ranged, his hands firing like cannons. Deku’s quick attack and retreat let him avoid immediate damage but he knew the wrong move would spell his and Eri’s demise. He was out of his Blackwhip spare bombs and Smokescreen pellets, and his Zero-G braces had shorted out after he’d been hit with the eraser bullet. Deku had to defeat him without support gear aside from his iron soles.

The third carried an electric whip in one hand which they lashed at him to keep him from getting too close and eliminating the second’s range advantage. Their attacks weren’t especially fast or accurate, but they warded him off well enough.

Hefting a stone: Deku hurled it like his own cannonball towards the whip-user. The cannon-man twisted and destroyed the attack, leaving himself open for a quick rush from Deku while the whip-user was blinded. He kneed the man in his stomach before twisting him around and hurling the groaning body at his companion. The pair impacted with the whip between them, both being electrocuted by the resulting impact.

“You okay back there, Eri?” he asked, glancing around.

Eri’s eyes were wide, but not entirely with fear now. There was a spark of wonder and excitement playing around in her red eyes.

“We went fast…” she mumbled, curling up close to his back again. “Can we go fast again?”

Deku beamed at her behind his hood and mask, nodding.

“Absolutely! Hang on tight, okay?”

“Oh kay.”

Using Red Riot as his shield left Lemillion free to throw punches from a single position, phasing his arms so they passed through his ally and slammed into the Titan too fast for him to self-heal. He’d pushed the beast back with Red Riot moved forward by Mudman, pinning their foe against a wall. Each time he tried to grab something to overhaul it: Lemillion broke his hand. How the thing was able to self-heal without available palms wasn’t clear, but it meant they were all in big trouble if they couldn’t find a way to end things soon.

“Mudman!” Lemillion called, phasing his hip so Sir’s stamp fell out of his pocket. “Headshot!”

The 1-B Hero popped up and nodded, but pointed to Red Riot.

“I can’t move him and get up there at the same time,” he warned Lemillion.

“Go!” he insisted. “Hurry!”

With that: Mudman vanished into the ground. Lemillion redoubled his attacks, feeling the lightning growing more comfortable to him just as he did to it. Each impact did more damage than before, and he was starting to bruise less and not feel quite as sore.

His last remaining ally dropped from the ceiling like a skydiver, holding the stamp in both hands like a sword he was going to plant in a dragon’s head. It slammed down into Chisaki’s skull, shattering the armor and embedding slightly before Mudman was thrown clear and into a wall he only just had time to soften and bounce off.

“Yes!” they both cheered, seeing the monster suddenly tilt and fall to the side.

Their joy vanished as a black pole suddenly appeared from the monster’s head and swept them both off their feet, even dislodging Red Riot. Lemillion dove and pulled his unconscious and invincible friend out of the way just as the Titan yanked the rod from his skull. He gave it a twirl like a bo staff, the armor on his body melting into more of the material and forming a pair of small nubs on either end.

“YOU WERE FOOLS TO OPPOSE ME,” Chisaki’s unnaturally undulating and deep voice mused from the reforming beak head. “AND NOW: YOU HAVE GIVEN ME A WEAPON WITH WHICH TO BREAK THIS WORLD OF QUIRKS…”

He swung it down with alarming speed, cracking it onto Red Riot’s body. The tip broke off, the bulbous, brick-sized end snapping off with a dull thump as it embedded into the ground, but what was more alarming was the sudden shattering of Red Riot’s skin. His multitude of hard edges suddenly became crack marks like he’d been whipped for days on end. Blood dripped from his innumerable lashes, but he didn’t stir as he fell limp.

“Mudman! Get Him Clear!” Lemillion ordered in horror, handing him off and watching his only support run into the tunnels where hopefully Chisaki couldn’t follow.

The monstrosity just laughed at him.

“I SUPPOSE I SHOULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING,” it mused with malicious glee. “SUICIDE HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE PATH OF COWARDS LIKE YOU”

Lemillion wound up another punch, diving through the ultra-dense spear and spiking Overhaul’s head towards the ground. He gasped in horror as he saw the armor darkening into the same shade as the ultra-dense stamp he’d tricked them with.

“AND NOW: ALL WILL SUFFER FOR YOUR MISTAKE.”

It took no time at all for Lemillion to realize he was right. Overhaul couldn’t hurt him, but he couldn’t halt him either. And in the meantime: the Yakuza boss was free to destroy anything he wanted.

Coming out to the surface: Deku skidded to a halt at the sight of the Heroes laid out in droves. Humarise and Hassaikai agents both were being hauled away, unconscious and battered, while the initial police and Heroes were getting medical care. Sir Nighteye, Leg Lass, & Nejire-Chan were all covered in bee-stings. Suneater was covered in small cuts and bruises, but was able to help some of the others to their feet and into ambulances.

Creati and Earphone Jack had made it to the top first, with the latter helping Rock Lock to get Fat Gum off of a cluster of still-thrashing Yakuza members. The only ones missing were Lemillion, Mudman, and Red Riot; still down in the caverns below.

“Who’s in charge up here?” Deku asked at large, but no one took notice. Everyone was either incapacitated or too busy.

Realizing he couldn’t just stay and clean up: Deku figured the best thing to do was to get Eri as far from the site of the battle as possible. He double-checked the straps and took two steps towards the train station when she suddenly let out a small sound of protest.

“M--Mr….” she mumbled, almost like she was afraid of speaking up. “Mr. Deku?”

“Y-yes, Eri?” Deku asked, surprised she knew his name.

“That man… is he okay?” she asked, pointing at Sir Nighteye with a wavering finger.

Glancing at the unconscious body of his Work-Study overseer, Deku swallowed as he saw just how intense the bee-stings were. Was Sir perhaps allergic to them?

“I-- I don’t know, Eri,” Deku admitted.

She tugged at his shoulders a bit, and he took her over against her better judgment. She looked at Sir for a moment, then glanced at her hand. She closed her eyes and put her hand on his sleeve. Her horn lit up with a white-gold glow, and Deku watched with amazement as Sir’s skin began to smooth out and heal. In a few moments: he was back to normal, though still unconscious. Eri pulled away, and Deku knelt to check Sir’s heartbeat and found it regular.

“Eri, that’s amazing!” Deku praised.

Eri didn’t respond. He twisted to look at her, seeing she was still glowing and curled up in a ball against him.

“It-- It doesn’t stop…” she cried, holding her head tightly. “I can’t-- It won’t--”

Realizing she didn’t know how to turn her Quirk off: Deku moved to stand near the two injured girls beside Nighteye.

“Here, heal them and see if that helps,” Deku suggested, slipping his mask down and his hood off.

Eri nodded, touching their arms and slowly undoing their damage. When her horn continued to glow: Izuku took her to some of the other hurt people. Not only did her power not stop however: she started healing them faster than before.

By the time they got to Ochako: Eri had to poke and recoil as fast as she could to edge them back from the wounds instead of going too far. Izuku cupped his girlfriend’s bloodied cheek for a moment as she was restored, placing a soft kiss to her forehead as she was finished.

“Feeling any better now?” he asked Eri, who shook her head and grabbed at her hair.

“It won’t stop!” she cried.

Deku reached towards his belt, pausing as he heard a deep bellow from the ground below and the hole he could see down the road began to widen. He also felt a soft buzzing in his breastbone; a soft tingle like Kaminari had accidentally fallen asleep on his chest. Flexing a hand, he felt the skin of his palms prickle like they were about to go numb.

Reaching back, Deku grabbed hold of his hood and tore it from his suit, producing a hat mask of sorts. He twisted around and held it out to Eri, prompting her to look up at him in confusion.

“Technically: only Heroes are allowed to use their Quirks on other people,” he said, offering the hat to her again. “But if you want: you can be a Hero for today. Would you like that?”

Eri looked from him to the hat a few times before nodding. She pulled it on, getting her little head into the fabric and peering at him through the glass eye holes. Her horn poked through the fabric, but Izuku didn’t care. He patted it around her head so it was secure and smiled.

“I need to go save some more people. Want to help me, Hero Eri?”

She swallowed, nodding once.

“I’m scared, but I can be brave for you, Deku-san.”

“I am Shigaraki Yoichi, the first User of One for All. I was born at the dawn of Quirks, when no one knew what would come of this new element. My brother sought to use his power for his own ends, couched in the facade of helping others. He saw me as his property, nothing more.”

“I resisted him, and in the end my dream had to be carried on by another. Justice was not my life, but my legacy.”

“Remember this, always: the light of the sun may vanish in the dark of the night, and even the reminder of the moon may pass away in time, but the dawn will always come. I leave you this wisdom: be the light, however weak, that one day a brilliant one may shine in your wake.”

Lemillion beat the armor until his hands were bloody messes, the skin long since broken as he tried to marshall his new power to break the armor he’d unwittingly given the villain intent on destroying the world. Overhaul let him, his wings straining to provide lift out of the cavern they’d fallen into while his claws fought the crumbling concrete. He’d tried to make stairs, but they’d broken under the weight of his new defense and he seemed unable to make more.

The person he fused with must have had Trigger in their system when he merged them, but now it’s worn off, Lemillion guessed, grabbing the rocks which had fallen and trying to use them as tools to crack the armor.

If he could break through, now that Overhaul couldn’t self-heal without his hands, Lemillion knew he could beat him. He just needed some way to get through.

“IT SEEMS I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO DEAL WITH YOU AND EXCHANGE THIS ARMOR WHILE I MAKE MY LEAVE,” Overhaul decided, suddenly whipping around just as Lemillion’s attack landed and flinging him clear. “BUT HOW TO KILL YOU? BURYING WON’T WORK… BUT MAYBE YOUR DRIVE TO SAVE OTHERS WILL DO?”

Overhaul put a hand to the ground, and the entire underground began to warp and change. Lemillion gasped with horror as the cavern widened and the ceiling opened up to form a massive pit, like a sunken colosseum. A handful of bodies were now on the ground with them. Some were Humarise, a handful Hassaikai, one woman who he didn’t recognize, and two fellow Heroes. Earphone Jack and Mudman--evidently going back in to bring out some of the captured villains--were now half-submerged in the concrete and dazed from whatever had happened during the overhauling.

Hefting his ultra-dense spear, Overhaul took aim and paused. He gripped his weapon and it transformed into a collection of tentacular spears, sharpened to a razor’s point.

“WHO WILL YOU CHOOSE, I WONDER?”

He threw his hand open and each spine shot towards a different person. Lemillion couldn’t get to any of them in time unless he threw himself with full speed and intercepted the weapon. Even with his new strength: moving a significant amount of ultra-dense material would be a challenge. He couldn’t pick.

Moving before he’d finished thinking, Lemillion threw himself towards the nearest person: a yakuza member who seemed to be quite a bodybuilder. He felt the spike catch his cape for a moment before it was suddenly yanked away with terrible force. Landing hard on his side, Lemillion spun and saw the entire weapon had been shattered and knocked away from the various targets. Overhaul twisted to watch as something dark spun past him to break the rest of the staff before slamming to a halt in midair.

It was the end of the weapon which had broken over Red Riot’s head. The remains of the fractured end made the thing look not unlike a sledgehammer which had snapped too far up the haft. The rounded knob had even been shaved into a rectangular shape.

For a moment it simply hung, tipping like it was about to fall before suddenly swirling in a long arc backwards the way it had come. Overhaul snapped his head after it, and Lemillion did the same, tracking the weapon as it soared past them to the edge of the arena next to Mudman’s empty spot. But it wasn’t the intern from 1-B who caught it.

Chapter 14: Eri Arc: Two for All

Chapter Text

“I am Kudo, the Second User of One for All. I led the first resistance against All for One’s shadow rule, and sought to strike at him in any way I could. I found his secret abode and the brother who he professed to be his only remaining family. My partner and I would have killed him in an instant, but what we saw stayed our hands. For we saw not a vessel of evil, but a prisoner in the dark.”

“Had we been foolish enough to act without thought: we would have ended all hope in ignorance.”

“I leave you this wisdom: keep mercy in your heart, for power alone cannot undo the wrongs the world has scarred upon us all.”

Deku caught his new makeshift hammer, twisting halfway around as the recoil impacted his palm. Eri held on tight, but she wasn’t breathing as timidly anymore. She sounded excited, though terrified of the monster which awaited them.

“ERI…” the Overhaul Beast growled, reaching towards them.

Pulling out the last strands of En’s bandages from his pocket, Deku wound a grip for his weapon and leveled it at the villain. He exhaled once, attempting to touch a power he’d been without for too long.

Dark blue lightning flashed and snapped across Deku’s skin, lancing out and dancing over his hammer in a wild display of energy. Winding back in a spin to give himself best access to the Quirk he’d just touched: Deku hurled the weapon at Overhaul and sent the mixture of ultra-dense material and electricity smashing into his outstretched hand, blasting it off his wrist and sending the shards into his armored face like a thousand daggers as Deku’s weapon arced around and landed in his hand once more.

“Don’t you dare touch her,” Deku hissed, barely audible over the chaotic and wrathful energy of his new Full Cowl.

The monster roared, grabbing its arm and repairing it before lunging at them with full force. Deku wound up with his weapon and slammed it into Overhaul’s beak. The entire monster froze in midair, brought to a dead stop as Gearshift shifted him to gear 0. Winding back for a low-arcing strike, Deku uppercut the monster immobilized before him, but only succeeded in a slight nudge upwards. He pummeled the monster’s face until he felt he’d performed enough blows and reverted Overhaul to gear 1.

The built-up kinetic energy finally released from its Quirk-enforced prison, launching Overhaul skyward with so much speed his wings were torn from his body. Deku dropped his hammer and jogged over to Lemillion.

“We need to get these people out of here,” he insisted, noticing his senpai’s bloodied hands and twisting so Eri could heal him with a quick pinky-poke. “I can hold him off for a bit, but not if I have to keep him off of this many people.”

The stunned look on Lemillion’s face vanished and he nodded. His smile returned, and he lit up with his own sky blue lightning.

“Will do, Deku,” he agreed. “Then I’ll be back to help you deal with this villain.”

Deku held up a fist, which got him a bump in return. Their energies crackled and kicked their knuckles apart as they met, but Deku took it as a good sign.

With Lemillion off helping Mudman and Earphone Jack evacuate: Deku double-checked with Eri to make sure she was still doing okay. Her fear was evident, but there was a measure of courage and even excitement in her which Deku was proud of her for.

Overhaul impacted the ground with a heavy crash, slowed by quickly-assembled gliders between his arms and legs. He looked incredibly inhuman now, like a strange hybrid flying squirrel, silverback gorilla, and vulture. Deku charged him with a shout of defiance, winding back and accelerating his arm with both Full Cowl and Gearshift to clock the villain to the side mid-charge.

Eri’s Quirk rewound his cells back to just before the impact, but she wasn’t just unwinding his physical maladies. Each second filled One-for-All with new power, with new life. He could feel the vestige of Yoichi once more, and Second had reformed as well. Third was already beginning to take shape in his mind, building the power within him even further.

“I am Bruce, the Third User of One for All. I followed my commander to our deaths, fighting even as villainy clouded and choked the life from within us. The world was destined for a future of subjugation and eternal fear, even if the common citizen would never know why. I found this untenable, and sought to bring down the evil which had ensnared us all. Yet my strength was not sufficient when my end came. I had seen my commander fall to All for One, even with our joint power, and knew that passing on the power to another was the final step before fighting.”

“I was wrong. I entered the battle with the expectation that I would die, and that I would fail.”

“I leave you this wisdom: A man who’s convinced he’s going to die tomorrow will find a way to make that happen. You must live and think with the intent to live.”

Evading the pressure and debris which flew from the battle, Lemillion grabbed a pair of Hassaikai flunkies and tossed them over a shoulder each. Mudman was drilling them a hole in the colosseum wall, helped by Earphone Jack as she used her sonic gear to drill into the reformed concrete even faster.

“Stand clear,” Lemillion prompted them, handing off his loads and winding back for a heavy punch to the center of the hole they’d made.

His attack shot down the tunnel with alarming speed, cracking and blasting the cavern open to the street beyond. The police had cleaned up almost all of the first waves of villains and Humarise, and the handful of Heroes on the other side were looking exhausted. Rock Lock and Sir seemed to be mostly recovered, which meant they could help.

“Here,” Mudman said, handing up Red Riot’s limp body from the ground. “I kept him safe.”

Nodding, Lemillion handed the young Hero off to Ryukyu and started a quick hand-off chain with the others. As the fastest: he could gather them up and bring them to Earphone Jack at the tail end with the most safety, which she seemed only too happy to agree to. He noticed the girl seemed exhausted, which didn’t surprise him. They’d all pulled more than their weight on this one.

Trying something new, Lemillion dove into the ground and tried to use his usual “teleporting” move while also using the new power Deku had lent him. To his amazement: he felt his shoulder dip slightly with weight, and brushed off some dirt which had somehow come with him. Popping up beside a Hassaikai goon: Lemillion grabbed on and tried going under again. The man came with, though it was probably lucky he was unconscious and didn’t panic when the suffocation and sensory deprivation came along.

“Hey, Is This Guy Still Alive?” he asked, emerging up to his torso and handing off the strong-shouldered dude to Earphone Jack.

She gave him a quick once-over and nodded.

“Yeah, why?”

“No Reason, Just Wondering,” Lemillion grinned, heading back under to grab some more victims who needed help.

Overhaul skidded back, watching the upstart Hero and Eri face him down with unwavering confidence. It sickened him.

“YOU ARE BRAVE, LITTLE HERO, BUT YOUR POWER WILL NOT BE ENOUGH TO SAVE YOU. SHE WILL CONSUME YOU IN HER REWIND, AND THEN I WILL EMERGE VICTORIOUS.”

Crossing his arms over his face, Deku threw his arms to either side with a sudden explosion of power. The lightning which wreathed him turned red and a new aqua-blue aura flared up around him like fire.

Bracing himself too slow: Overhaul felt a burning strike slam into his gut, shredding his muscle and stomach to chunks for a moment before he was able to clutch the wound and repair it. It hurt more than anything else to be torn apart and reassembled so, but the punch was a close second.

The little Hero leapt onto his arm, running up to his shoulder and unleashing a hailstorm of blows onto the side of his head. They were far weaker than the attack prior, and the aura around him was gone save for the lightning. Overhaul had no idea what was going on, up until the flames reappeared and another agonizingly powerful blow sent him hurling across the arena.

“I SEE,” Overhaul groaned, twisting around to watch the miniscule figure check with Eri before moving to re-engage. “YOUR POWER IS NOT JUST ENHANCED STRENGTH, BUT A CAPACITOR NOT UNLIKE THE METER OF A SUPER MOVE IN A FIGHTING GAME. AS YOU FILL IT: YOU CAN RELEASE PERIODIC ATTACKS OF GREAT POWER. BUT NO MATTER. I CAN UNDO ANY DAMAGE YOU DEAL. YOUR STRENGTH IS EVEN LESSER THAN THAT OF THE BLONDE. MY DREAM WILL COME TO FRUITION, AND QUIRKS WILL BE NO MORE.”

Deku squared up and Overhaul slashed at him with a claw, using Leviathan’s Quirk to reach well beyond his normal range and send stone cyclones out to ravage his foe.

A single stone managed to scratch Eri’s cheek.

Deku landed behind him, and for a moment there was silence. Then Overhaul heard him release a scream of rage so fierce that he would have never expected it from a boy so small. The aura of soft cyan flames exploded into the sky, taller than Overhaul himself. Deku launched faster than he’d seen before, and with a tumultuous blow: shattered every bone in his body at once.

“I am Shinomori Hikage, the Fourth User of One for All. I was given this power to be both conduit and focus for the strength, not to use it. I learned and expanded this power’s habits like a gardener; tending and nurturing this growth. While the power which I passed on was a boon, my actions were too timid; too reserved.”

“I was a hermit, and without my intervention: All for One grew in power faster and nearly unopposed. By the time I passed on this power: my successor had a task greater than any other before him.”

“I give you this wisdom: you must actively participate in the events of the world, even if you feel you aren’t ready. If you only wait for the perfect moment: you will never act.”

Overhaul landed in a heap; arms, legs, and even his back bent around in ways they shouldn’t be. Deku didn’t feel especially bad about it either. The man would just overhaul himself in a moment anyway, and when he did: it would hurt about the same amount as it had when Deku put him that way. Six or seven dozen more times and he’d be up to about as many times as he’d rebuilt Eri. Then Deku would actually knock him out.

A sudden stabbing sensation jammed into Deku’s head as his lightning shifted from harsh red to a lime green (a bit paler than his own had ever been). He leapt back moments before Overhaul produced a tail of metal and the ultra-dense material he’d assembled earlier, whipping through the air Deku had just been in.

Landing with graceful ease, Deku watched Overhaul explode and reassemble, now looking far more like Leviathan than before. His face had come back too, though it was attached to the neck with unnatural sinew and colors which made him look stitched on. Four long but tough arms were now situated at the shoulders, while his legs seemed more agile than before. The ultra-dense armor was layered into bracers and greaves and a heavy breastplate, rather than universal coverage.

I see. He’s consolidating his defense and gambling that he can block my attacks by being quick enough. Let’s see if Fourth’s power is as good as I remember it…

Overhaul swung at Deku with blindingly fast punches; a mixture of hooks and straights that would have demolished any solid object in their way. However, it seemed something strange was going on.

Deku and Eri didn’t appear to be moving.

No matter how much Overhaul attacked or how furiously he struck: he seemed to punch right through them. It was as if they’d suddenly gained Lemillion’s powers of Permeation rather than a sixth sense. Speaking of…

“What Sorcery Is This???” the villain growled, his voice a little less booming now.

A blonde head popped out of the ground between Overhaul’s feet, grinning like a madman.

“Hi.”

The leader of the Shie Hassaikai barely had time to tilt down before Lemillion uppercut him into the air. Overhaul landed on all seven of his appendages like an amputee spider, glaring across the sand at them. Deku sighed with relief and held up a hand for Eri to give him a high-five.

“Thanks for the assist on those last ones,” he said as Lemillion slid over. “He almost got me.”

“No Problem, Deku!” Lemillion beamed. “Now: Shall We Pummel Him?”

“Oh, after you, I insist.”

“Enough!!!” Overhaul screamed, slamming his hand into the ground and reforming the arena’s ground once again.

Deku went up while Lemillion went down, watching with alarm as the entire area turned into a labyrinth of pillars and walls. Even worse: Deku saw it change with each moment, slowly reshaping itself as Overhaul dragged his spare hands across the walls. Permeation would be useless in such a maze, with no certainty of how far a wall was or where it was safe to phase back in.

His leap carried him to an open area, and his view of the landscape changed to a dark row of concrete on either side. It didn’t seem to change from where they stood now, but he knew that was just an illusion.

“Deku-san?” Eri whispered, holding tight to his back. “I’m scared…”

Reaching up, Deku caressed her head softly. Headpats always made him feel better.

“Don’t worry, he can’t sneak up on us like he thinks he can,” Deku promised her.

“W-why not?”

In answer: Deku leapt forwards and kicked without warning or visible reason. He timed it perfectly, Overhaul suddenly popping out of a wall which had swung aside, only for the villain to receive a kick to the head and go tumbling down another alleyway while Deku ran off. Eri screamed at the sudden appearance of her tormentor, but she was giggling by the time they’d turned a corner.

Overhaul was stupid enough to try it four more times, and received four more kicks to the nose for his idiocy. Eri was able to laugh by the third time, and probably was giving away their position, but Deku was just happy she was starting to see how pathetic Chisaki truly was.

When Overhaul finally changed the game again: Deku was ready to start taking things seriously.

“I am Banjo Daigoro, the Fifth User of One for All. I was the first Pro Hero to accept this mantle, and I used it to great effect. I fought villainy and saved lives with this power, bolstered by those who had come before me. But I was often alone, and failed to properly rely on those around me when the going got rough. When I encountered All for One at the end of my life: I had no backup. I had no plan. I was nearly killed, and had no successor to give this power to. Only an ally, who I once called my enemy, was able to take up the mantle.”

“I died alone, as I lived. I failed to prepare and trust those around me.”

“I leave you this wisdom: One for All is a power unlike any other, but its true strength lies not in the culminated energy or even the multitude of Quirks within: but in its ability to inspire and call others to greatness around it. You must build a fortress of your friends.”

Popping back out of the ground, Lemillion found a forest of towers waiting for him. Overhaul was perched atop one like a massive gore crow, his body contorted into an almost totally avian form. His wings were mostly made of captured material and the red fluid energy of Leviathan’s Quirk, while massive hands formed talons for feet. Chisaki’s face was still distinguishable at the front, but his mask was now an actual beak once more; clacking and chittering at the ground below.

Lemillion watched as Deku appeared, orange lightning crackling along him with incredible fury. He leapt from pillar to pillar in an attempt to climb them, only for Overhaul to swoop down and slash at him with his deadly hands. By forcing Deku to move predictably: he’d limited the usefulness of however Deku had spotted his sneak attacks before.

Deku evaded with a couple careful air blasts by slashing his hands like blades in the air, but it was clear he couldn’t evade the villain forever that way.

“Looks Like You Need More POWERRRRRR!”

Lemillion launched himself up through one of the pillars like a cannon, soaring high and landing on Chisaki’s back. He stamped on the weak joints of the wings and sent the monster tumbling down towards earth. Overhaul recovered remarkably quickly, spinning his head around to peck at him, but Lemillion just slid down to stand atop another pillar and wait.

“YOUR ATTACKS ARE PITIFUL, LEMILLION,” the bird-man screeched. “YOUR POWER IS NOTHING COMPARED TO MINE.”

“How about Mine?!” Deku screamed, soaring up out of the crevices and slamming into Overhaul’s breastbone with both feet.

Lemillion grinned as he saw a black-blue strand held in his hands, attached to a pillar as he swung past and around. Deku fired another strand and caught the air, moving unnaturally quickly through his pendular arc before shooting skyward again. He curled his legs under him like some kind of arachnid-boy as he caught air before shooting another thread and arcing back around towards Overhaul.

“WHY WOULD YOU EMBRACE THIS MYRIAD OF ABOMINABLE QUIRKS?” Chisaki asked, sounding almost bewildered at Deku’s actions. “YOU WERE FREE OF THIS CURSE. FREE TWICE OVER. YET YOU NOW SEEK MORE???”

Deku’s next thread caught Chisaki between the eyes as he yanked himself close and landed on the villain’s head. Lemillion landed across from him, winding up a two-handed slam to crack the monster’s back.

“It’s never been about the Quirks,” Deku insisted, setting his feet and slamming Overhaul’s head into the pillar he was perched on. “It’s WHAT YOU DO WITH THEM!”

The bird Overhaul fell into the forest of pillars, wailing up at them as he fell.

“THIS POWER CORRUPTS!”

“With power does come risk,” Deku admitted, glancing back at Eri. “Which is why it also requires you be responsible with that power.”

“I am En Tayutai, the Sixth User of One for All. I was born into a time when All for One was at the height of his influence, and the Yakuza families were still strong. Honor was cheap, and Quirks were expensive. Those who wished to survive paid for the latter, and sold the former to the highest bidder. I inherited my family business and sought to change that. I assassinated those who had strong Quirks, promoted Quirkless to roles of power and prestige so they could pass on their ideals and perhaps sway the world back from this unbalance.”

“But I failed to see until much later that Quirks had already forever altered the landscape, and even a return to normal wouldn’t restore a world of honor. My acts intent on restoring good had been soaked in evil. Only after the Hero who hunted me was forced to trust me to carry on his legacy while on his deathbed of broken rubble did I see the truth.”

“I leave you this wisdom: Good and Evil are two sides of the same coin. When it is spun or melted down the line becomes blurred and even merges the two. You must stamp the world with your mark so it never forgets where your fire ends and the cold of your enemy begins.”

They landed in the dark shadowy area very quietly, which made Eri hold her breath to try and stay quiet too. Deku-san took a deep breath, letting it out with a hiss like someone had broken one of the sleepy tanks Chisaki-san used when she kept crying after he put her back together. But it wasn’t sleepy gas that came out of Deku-san. It was the same fuzzy clouds that En-san made.

“Wh-where is he?” Eri asked, almost too timid to ask.

Deku-san let out a soft shushing sound, though his shush was gentle, not like the harsh spit that Chisaki-san made when he wanted her to be quiet.

“Somewhere,” Deku-san whispered back. “He could see us come down, so he probably thinks he can get us before we can get him. This smoke will help keep him from seeing us, so we’ll both have to rely on sounds. So: how do we catch him?”

Eri wasn’t sure why he was asking her. She didn’t know things. She was just a burden.

“W-we…um…listen?” she guessed.

“Very good,” Deku-san nodded, smiling at her in the dark. “We wait and listen to the air and the earth. If we’re patient: we can get out of the way and be just fine.”

“Okay…”

Closing her eyes, Eri listened very carefully. She didn’t hear anything at first, but she felt her hair pull a little bit to the side from some air.

“Gotcha,” Deku-san muttered.

He went fast again, zipping around a pole just as Chisaki-san crashed through where they were just standing. Eri’s heart jumped up into her neck ‘cause it was so scared, and her horn glowed lots under Deku-san’s hood he’d given her.

“WHERE ARE YOU ERIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII?” Chisaki-san crackled, his voice scary and slithery.