The text of courage

The training was hard, Aizawa-sensei deciding it was a good idea to wake them all up at 5 am for an early start, making them all focus their training on their quirks over the last two days. As their sensei had said, their quirks were like muscles and needed to be trained to their limit if they wanted to be successful heroes.

After only a few hours, even with the aid of his inhuman stamina, Izuku was already exhausted.

Breathless, as he plonked himself down onto the ground for a rest, he could only imagine how tired the rest of his class felt.

He silently thanked the faded stars that using One for All didn't make him hungry on its own.

Panting heavily as he rolled onto his back, catching his breath, he couldn't help give a beaming, breathless laugh; nothing bringing down his euphoric emotional high.

Nothing, apart from more food he was expected to eat! Izuku couldn't help let out a small sigh of annoyance as the bowls of steaming, nauseating curry swirled around them; why did normal people have to eat so much!

He had already make excuses to skip out on their dinner yesterday and both breakfast and lunch earlier that day, and now it was starting to attract attention from his classmates; some of whom had started asking him if he still felt sick enough to eat dinner, to which he said he was fine and would eat dinner just to get them off his back.

Unfortunately in hindsight that wasn't a good promise to make because at this rate, he was going to have to follow through with his word; ugh gross...

Close his eyes and taking a deep breath, he tried to settle his stomach as he helped chop up a pile of carrots for their curry beside a silent Bakugou.

Thankfully, at one point Ochako came over and offered to switch jobs with him.

"We can switch jobs if you want!" She called out to him with a smile as she lugged over lumps of wood, "I was just collecting some wood for the fire.

Izuku could almost sigh with relief as she gave him another means of escape from the unpleasant situation he had found himself in.

"Oh! Alright, sure!" He replied, a little surprised.

Ochako gave him a warm grin as she bounced over and genitally took the knife from his hand as he moved out of the way for her; not missing the way Bakugou was watching their interaction with something akin to revulsion, at what Izuku could only assume was from the cuteness of it all.

Some part of him almost wanted to laugh at that, but not wanting to stir up any trouble he just gave Uraraka a small smile of gratitude and a wave before jogging off to collect more logs for the fire; he'd have to remember to thank her properly later.

As he walked into the woods, the camp just visible in the distance, he couldn't help but feel at peace with himself. Everything was so calm, his feelings so genuinely happy and normal that it felt unnatural to him, and Izuku couldn't fault it once.

He took in a long deep breath, free from the polluted city air.

Things were truly starting to look up.

Ever since the Hosu attack, just two months ago, he hadn't seen any police, he hadn't needed to kill anyone thanks to both Hide and Kaneki.

He'd been apprehensive at first, terrified that Hide wasn't going to stick by and he'd have to go back down the path of a serial killer because even if he didn't like it, the reality was that was what he was...

He also knew that even with the help of Uraraka-san and Todoroki-san's help, he couldn't have held on much longer the way he was going; the scars on his arm from after the sports festival and the bitter feelings of disgust and horror he felt towards himself showing more than proof of that.

Even with so much still going on, his ghoul quirk still affecting him daily, the ongoing police investigations which were so close to the truth, and the teachers who hovered over them all like flies; he couldn't help but feel where finally starting to get better and calm down away from the past he would always carry.

Deep down he still was a little scared, in all honesty, he knew he probably always would; but for now, he smiled, lzuku would relax whilst he could.

Gathering all the sticks he could find, he walked back to the camp where their dinner was starting to be served. Grabbing a small bowl, he very slowly and painfully slurped it down, making his small portion seem as if it was lasting.

Once everyone was clearing up from their meal, he slipped away to the toilet and purged it down the drain; small tears pooling in his eye as he crouched down on his toes in front of the bowl.

While things were seemingly getting better, his ghoul quirk would always haunt him; wherever he would go...

Sat in Nezu's office, Yagi could say, was probably not one of his favourite things to do. However, this meeting was unaviodable, with One for All only holding his All Might form for one hour it was necessary; it was important that Nezu got him up to date with information from the Bloody Stain case and any information about the possible traitor they had in their midst.

Even though Yagi would have preferred to be included in their meetings, both he and Nezu had agreed that there was no point wasting his muscular form on a meeting with a couple of heroes and police who didn't know his true form; he could always be informed at a later date.

In all honesty, Yagi was kind of glad there was little for Nezu to report.

"…..Unfortunately, we have no information about the identity of the traitor at the moment and no lead to follow," Nezu had begun, pulling out his teat tray as Yagi got himself settled in the chair opposite the small mammal," and there have been no reports or sightings of the Bloody stain in a little over two months!"

All Might nodded at the principal words, grabbing the small china cup of tea before taking a sip, "Do you think the Ghoul situation may be over now then,?" he had asked, somewhat hopefully.

Nezu sighed light as he dropped two cubes of sugar into his own cup.

"Unfortunately, I'm going to have to disagree with you Yagi-san. People with quirks such as that don't just vanish."

All Might nodded again solemnly, not really wanting to believe what he had thought inside.

"Something must have happened in the week or two after the attack at Hosu, and if we want to keep any hope of catching them, we need to figure out what. "Nezu continued, his normally cheery attitude muffled by the seriousness of their subject, "The case has gone cold and we need to find a new lead."

The two adults sat silently as they took a small tea-drinking break, both taking the time to think over what Nezu had said.

"I had a conversation with Aizawa-San, a little while ago, about the chances of the official police document having a leak and the possibilities of someone feeding or giving the Bloody Stain food." Nezu started, after taking a sip of his tea before placing it back down to let it cool some more.

Yai grimaced at the thought of someone adding the ghoul in such a way, feeding them people going unnoticed by the heroes and police.

"He suggested the possibility that the league could be Wing their Nomu as a source of food."

Yagi's eyes widened slightly at the possibility, "You don't mean to say that you think they could be working with the league, even after they tried to kidnap him during the Hosu attack?"

Nezu nodded solemnly, "Unfortunately, with no leads or sightings over the last few months, it's definitely becoming more plausible...

All Might could only sigh as he lifted one of his hands up to rub the sides of his aching head, "This is becoming more and more stressful than I originally anticipated.

Nezu could only nod with agreement before he lifted his head up with a new cheerful tone, trying to deter the subject away to something better.

"On a lighter note, how is Midoriya-kuns' training going along..?"

Yagi looked up at Nezu with surprise before chuckling weakly, lowering his hand from his head,

"He's doing a lot better with One for All since he trained with Gran Torino, he's been able to use a percentage of it over his body without having to heal any broken bones."

Nezu nodded, already having been made aware of the invisible healing quirk Midoriya hadn't known aboyt before receiving One for All, "Well that's good to hear that he's improving!"

All Might rubbed the side of his face with a sense of pride flowing through him, "That boy always ceases to amaze me..." He began as he smiled fondly of the memories of the days on their beach,

"I still can't believe he managed to clean the entire beach in the time he had, even with the step back and reduced time he had to take because of the surgery he was healing from."

At the mention of the surgery, Nezu lowered his cup with confusion, "Surgery? There isn't one mentioned on his medical file from before his time

at UA."

Yagi tilted his head to the side, confused, " Really..?

I would have thought it should have been, it was a pretty serious injury. I'd been kept in hospital for a couple of days and I had to forbid him from doing any training for at least a month."

Nezu furrowed his invisible furry brows, "Do you happen to know what surgery he had? We should probably mention it to Recovery Girl so she can be aware of it for future reference."

Yagi nodded his head, still a little unsure where this was going, "Yeah... sure. He was caught in a villain attack and had to have his stomach replaced using his next-door neighbours stomach, actually, i think she was actually his..."

He trailed off as the spoon Nezu was holding stopped swirling in his tea, the white-furred mammal slowly letting go of his spoon before dropping his paw onto his desk, his face calm and expression emotionless.

Stiffy Nezu raised his head from his cup of tea before looking over at All Might in the chair opposite him.

"Please excuse my missed hearing... But did you say stomach surgery.?"

With their meal over, it was time for the test of courage pixie bob had been so excited to tell them about earlier that day. After Aizawa-sensei had dragged the remedial class students away for their lessons, class 1-A were sorted into teams of two as

1-B made their way into the forest to hide.

Izuku was relieved as he was partnered up with Ochako, Mineta starting to cry in the background at the thought of having to walk through the test of courage by himself.

Walking through the woods at night, even though it was filled with people trying to scare them, didn't seem all that spooky at all.

One they had stepped far enough away from the start, izuku turned to speak to her, "Uraraka?"

Ochako turned to him with a questioning eye,

"Yes?"

He looked back up at the forest around them, "I've been meaning to thank you for everything you've helped me with ever since the USJ and even before that..."

Uraraka eyed their surroundings cautiously as he had spoken, a little worried someone would overhear them; thankfully Izuku had already foreseen that.

"Don't worry, I can't smell anyone nearby."

Uraraka visibly eased up at that, looking away from the forest and towards him as he carried on speaking, "I never apologized to you for how horrible and distant I was to you after you found out, I'd been so stressed but I know now I shouldn't have taken that out on you."

Uraraka tilted her head slightly with confusion, "I accept your apology, I know why you were acting like that at the time and I don't really blame you for it; but if you don't mind me asking, where is this all suddenly coming from?"

"It's just that everything's been so calm recently..."

Izuku began, relaxing his shoulders as a small smile formed on his face, "We went through so much stuff at the beginning of the school year, and while my quirk still affects me, it's nice to finally relax.

He turned his head back towards her and offered her a rare yet bright smile, Uraraka offering her own one right back.

Unfortunately, their calm, undisrupted conversation was set on pause as the smell of smoke and the lights of fire illuminated the forest in the distance.

Uraraka was the first to comment on it as Midoriya furrowed his brows with confusion, "Hu? Did Bakugou or Todoroki-kun get so scared they started a fire..?"

Izuku was about to reply when at that moment the unfamiliar scent of people lingering around the forest caught his attention, his eyes widening with fear at the nearing blue flames.

"…Those aren't UA students..." He muttered out quietly, his words muffled to Uraraka from the sizzling sounds in the distance.

He had never smelt anyone like that before... Not once in the summer camp so far, not even from class 1-B.

This was someone new...

Aizawa was sitting comfortably in the corner of the room when the call came through, ringing out in the middle of the remedial class from deep inside his sleeping bag; distracting the six kids from their lesson as he got up with a sigh at the caller ID and left the room to take the call.

"Nezu-"

His voice was cut off by Nezu urgently interrupting him, his eyes widening with shock as he looked up to the window; just catching the walls of flames in the distance as he did so.

"Aizawa-san, I've got something serious I need you and Vlad-san to be aware of immediately"

He hummed in response as he legged it out of the small classroom's door, his attention too distracted by the blue flames which didn't belong to any of his students...

"I'm a little preoccupied at the moment here, Nezu..." He spoke breathily, as he sprinted outside; the screams of terror from his students and the blazing flames heard from all directions, just as Mandalay's quirk kicked in.

'We're being attacked by villains! I repeat! We're being attacked by an unknown group of Villains!'

Horror tore through his body as Nezu, unknowing of the situation, urgently carried on.

"Aizawa, we think we may have discovered the identity of the Ghoul."

Nezu went unheard as Shout sprinted towards the flames, wind rushing past his ears, to where his students and class 1-b were.

"We have good reason to believe Izuku Midoriya to be behind the Blood Stains murders."

The pure fear in Nezus' words caused the pro hero to pause in his steps, just as the sight of Pixie Bob pinned to the ground came into view. The villains glaring at him with a vile grin as they pressed her head into the dirty ground below.

"Nezu, we've been found... We're being attacked by villains..."

The Principle suddenly went silent as his words sunk in down the line. The villains over the court looking at him as some of his students came running by-

"It seems as if your concern has you distracted, Erasure...

Aizawa didn't have time to dodge out the way as those dark words hit his ear and the wave of skin searing heat exploded towards him, his phone call with Nezu timely getting cut off as the phone dropped into the floor in a small pile of ash.

Petrifying terror coursed through Izukus' body, finally horrifically aware of what was going on;

Villains.

Stifling his fear, he reached down and grabbed Urarakas wrist, pulling her back towards camp; where the Wild Wild pussy cats and Aizawa and Vlad sensei were both located.

"We've got to go..." He said aloud, Uraraka slowly getting the gist of what was truly happening, as the fear soon etched itself onto her face as well;

both of them turning to run to safety.

As shouts and started to fill the air, Izuku could stop the feeling of dread flowing through his body as he held on to Urarakas' hand as they sprinted through the woods.

Hagakure.. When had she had the chance to inform the league.!? All his efforts of watching her gone to waste...

As the screams of fear rang through the air, his guilt, and fear only grew stronger.

This was his fault... He could have prevented this...

This Was All His Fault.

As his thoughts trailed to the consequences of his actions, the repercussions of not coming clean to the authorities came clear, he couldn't help but realize the danger he had put everyone he had cared about in.

He should have told someone, he was a coward, a stupid idiotic Coward!

And now it wasn't just his friends who were in danger... Class 1-B, the rest of his own class and their sensei's, the wild wild pussy cats...

And Kota! Where was he?

Sliding to a stop, causing Uraraka to gasp at this sudden movement and turn towards him, he looked up towards the direction of the cliffs he had delivered the young boy the curry to his secret base only the night before.

"Deku-Kun! What's going on..!" Uraraka shouted desperately, fear shaking in her tone as he started walking in his new direction before concentrating on the smells in the air.

"Kota might be in danger..! I think I can smell him up at his base and I think there is someone nearby..!" Izuku paused to turn to her quickly," Uraraka, I need you to carry on running back to camp where Aizawa-sensei is! I need to go and make sure Kota is alright and bring him back too..."

Ochako nodded seriously, terror clearly visible in the edges of her expression.

Leaving her behind, he used One for All to launch himself into the sky, in the direction of Kotas base; not noticing the knife-wielding villain he had left her nearby.

As he reached the tree line edge and raced up the cliff edge, his eyes landed on the young boy in question as a large looming figure above him pulled back their arm with the aim of killing him.

"Kota..!"

The fear in the boys' eyes was palpable as he rushed towards him petrified, shoving the small child out of the way as the villains' fist connected hard to the side of his chest as he shoved Kota away.

The attack sent Izuku flying across the cliff edge to the rocks which stood behind them; breath gasping out of him as the pain sheared through his body, ribs cracking and breaking before rapidly re-healing themselves as he slumped forward groggily onto the cold floor.

Shit..! He needed to avoid healing!

Kota's voice rang out across the cliff as Izuku tried desperately to push him up off the floor,

"Midoriya...! I-it's Muscular.!"

Muscular.?

A chilling laugh rang out across the rocks as Izuku gathered his bearings, adrenalin flushing through like small gaps in a dam as the pain soon numbed itself away, quickly allowing Izuku to reactivate his hold on One For All.

"Oh..! You're one of the brats Shiggaraki said we needed on the list... Midoriya... Aren't I in luck..!'

Izuky grunted as he slowly pushed himself back up onto his feet, fear wreaking havoc in his mind as the realization of Musculars' words hit him.

Shiggaraki wanted him kidnapped…..

He flinched back slightly as the wave of dread overcame him, his theories and possibilities quickly coming true...

All for one wanted to steal his quirk..! All the warning All Might had given him about One for All... All his interactions with the league and their spy...

Monitoring his growth this entire time..!

The tantalizing fear, which had made his senses tunnel, was cut short by the small cries coming from behind him.

"M-um... Da-d..!" Kotas voice wobbled out filled with terror across their deadly silent surroundings, eyes frozen onto the villain, petrified by its presence, "It was You..! You killed them.!'

As the Kotas words registered in his head, Izuku couldn't help but shiver at the formidable villain in front of them, realizing the true depth of trouble they had both found themselves situated in.

Musculars' manic laugh bellowed out, creating shivering chills down his spine at its malicious intent; the same villain who had killed the water hose heroes only a few short years ago; who had escaped Kotas parents with one eye missing...

The villain slowly raised his head from behind the hooded cloak, dropping the white mask he wore onto the ground, revealing a single mechanical eye shimmering with the reflections of the fires which surrounded them.

The terror paralyzed Izuku to the spot, now knowing the outcome of this battle wasn't looking bright.

He doubted he would be able to win this battle alone...

Standing defensively in front of Kota, he carefully turned to try and reassure him, not once taking his eyes of the murder in front of them.

"Kota, I'm going to get you out of here alright.!" he managed to wobble out, as the villain before them menacingly walked towards them," Just stay back alright.!"

He didn't have time to listen to Kota's response, as with a loud shout, Muscular shot across the ground towards them at lightning speeds, sending a powered blow towards Izuku's skull; only his advanced reflexes, and agility allowing the green-haired boy to keep ahead in their game.

"I really don't get why Shiggaraki put you on the no-kill list, I don't see anything special about you, you're just another shrimp."

Izuku didn't reply to the villains' taunt, far too terrified and concerned with keeping both himself and Kota safe, as he slid back across the ground to a stop on the balls of his feet; dodging another attack before diverting his assault.

One For All rapidly powered throughout his body without a second thought, giving Izuku enough boost to launch himself behind Muscular unprotected nape before charging One for All Heavily into his arm, directing a heavy onslaught towards his head; gusts of wind billowing around from the two opponents sharp attacks.

Izuku winced as he felt his arm smash into what felt like thousands of pieces as he pushed his body's limits to 100%.

God damn it, another limb rehealing; he couldn't keep doing this..!

Muscular wasting no time before reacting, deflecting his attack with fibers of muscles that rapidly grew from their neck and shoulders; the attack still managed to push the pair away from each other.

"Hey? You wouldn't happen to know where a kid named Bakugou would be?"

Izukus' eyes widened at the name of his classmate.

They were after Kacchan too! Why the hell are they looking for him!

Muscular took his silence for a no, launching himself back at Midoriya whose millisecond distraction was enough to leave an opening for the villain to punch Izuku's skull into the cliff behind them, denting the rocks from the force of the impact; breaking his ribs once again.

Gasping from the pain, fatigue slowly starting to settle in, Izuku managed to slump out of the rocks.

He couldn't afford to think about Kacchan now, Kotas and his own lives were both at stake, he had to focus on the enemy in front of him. Muscular gave taunt after taunt, slowly approaching him, just as Izuku channeled his willpower up and launched his leg towards Muscular, trying to catch him off guard.

Unfortunately, with his possible concussion from hitting his skull onto the ground, his movements had slowed; giving Muscular the opportunity to grab ahold of his skull tightly, pain vibrating through his head violently.

Muscular gave Izuku a vile grin, swinging him around before smashing his skull into the ground; only his reinforced body from his ghoul quirk allowing him to take such a beating without facing a gruesome death.

"That attack was even weaker than before!"

Izuku choked on his own blood in his mouth, as the force made him bite down on his tongue, as his head slammed into the ground. Desperately trying to recoil from the pain before noticing the looming fist headed straight towards his body.

Swiftly, his hand flashed above him, catching Musculars' fist as it pressed him further and further into the ground trying to crush him alive.

One for All was slowly reaching his limits, and Izuku didn't think he could win with One for All alone...

He wasn't strong enough to win against Muscular on his own...

The despairing thought came violently flashing to the forefront of his mind, a thought so deep in the back of his subconscious which was locked away behind lock and chain, something he had always been

terrified of ever having to admit..!

He couldn't win this with just One for All alone...

As the green sparks of electricity buzzed violently, with Muscular's quirk weighing him down like a grim reaper waiting to strike, the world was slowly narrowing around him.

And both he and Kota were going to die that night, if he didn't do something about it...

No matter what everyone else saw him as, as a villain, vigilant, or monster, Izuku wanted to be a hero and wouldn't allow that to happen; no matter how terrified he was, and how much he knew deep down that his next actions would ultimately change the choice of his life and the ways the world viewed him.

Izuku scrunched his eyes tightly shut, as he pushed with all of his might up against the excruciating weight of Muscular above him;

fighting shame, self-loathing, and cowardness that had held him back in fear for so long.

He spared no thought about the witnesses and the consequences of his actions, Izuku screamed with fury as he combined the full force of his control of One for All into the RC cell sec in the center of his back.

This is what Gran Torino had taught him, all those weeks ago, taking All Might's quirk and controlling One for All as his own; and now he was finally doing what the old man had said once again

Finally taking control of Akumas quirk and utilizing it as if it were his own..!

As the RC cells exploded out, tentacle after tentacle shot out in each direction, creating a huge spider-like formation around him, All ligament covered in static green electricity; outshining the wild blue flames which coated the forest in the distance.

"What the-!"

Muscular was never given a chance to finish his final words, the intense force coming from Izuku's back pushing the villain of his body.

The callous murders eye-widening with pure shock and at the intense electrical tingle coming from Izuku Kagune as it twisted and turn between them before impaling in right thought the body; ravaging everything in their path.

The sharp dagger of his kagune wrapping themselves together before gouging right through the thick layers of muscles and tissue which coated him until the dark point of his kagune glistened with blood from the moonlight and flames above.

'Yes... Your ghoul quirk...

As Izuku speared right through his body, blood, organ, and gore spewed out at the force of his attack, soaking the surroundings as he threw Muscular up and away from his own body.

The villain now convulsing on the ground in a spasm as blood poured from his mouth, before rolling off the cliff edge; plummeting to his death with a sickening squelch.

Panting heavily, Kagune buzzing brightly around him, eye glowing viciously through the night, he crawled over to the edge of the cliff.

Izum couldn't find it in himself to feel guilty, as he vomited up only his saliva and the water he had to drink only an hour or so ago at the sight of the body below.