45

Chapter Text

Toshi grunted as he sat down in the teacher's break room and looked at his three students. "I should reprimand all of you for what you did in the summer camp and in Kamino, but... I'm glad to see you all have such heroic spirits, and I'm happy to see none of you got hurt."

Izuku, Mina, and Toru chuckled a bit, and Toshi poured some tea. "So you wanted to talk to me about something, Young Hagakure?"

"Yeah," Toru said as she accepted a cup of tea. "When I was in the forest, I saw these silhouettes. I think there were eight of them, and they all had glowing eyes. One looked a bit like your skinny form."

"Oh, you finally saw the vestiges. I was wondering when that was gonna happen." Toshi said nonchalantly as his students stared in shock.

"The what?" Mina asked as Toshi sipped his tea.

"The vestiges are these sort of shadows of the previous users. I only ever saw them twice in my life, and my master says she saw them a few times as well. I'm not entirely sure what they mean or signify, but Nana always thought they were omens of danger."

Toru rubbed her chin. "Well, right after I saw them, I was attacked by Dark Shadow, so that could be it."

"Has anything else happened? Any problems with your quirk or changes?"

"No. Everything's fine. How about you, sir? We all heard the news that All Might is officially retired." Toru said.

Toshi sighed and nodded. "I am recovering, and yes, All Might is no more. I cannot use my muscle form, and I don't feel One for All inside me anymore. You're the only one with that power now, Young Hagakure."

Toru let out a deep sigh as her partners held her shoulders. "I guess I am... Thank you for putting All for One away. Now, all we need to do is capture the League of Villains."

"Yes. Well, the heroes are working on that, so please don't rush into anything. You are all still students, so please leave this to the professionals." Toshi said as he looked at his phone. "Oh. Nezu says he needs to see you three."

Izuku sighed. "Guess we should go see what he wants then."

Toshi laughed as he stood and followed his students to the door. "I'll be sure to check on your summer training once it starts, so don't slack off."

Mina laughed. "Like we've ever slacked off on our training."

Toshi closed the door with a deadpan look on his face, and his students headed toward Nezu's office.

_____________________________________________________________________

As the students arrived at Nezu's office, they could tell something was off. Not only was the dean present, but Aizawa and, more surprisingly, Hawks were also waiting for them, and none of them looked happy. Nezu put on a smile as he motioned for the trio to sit on one of the couches present in his office and said. "Please, you three have a seat; we have quite a bit to discuss."

The trio looked amongst themselves before taking a seat as Izuku asked. "What's this about, sir?"

"Himiko Toga." Hawks said, immediately getting the full attention of the three students. "You three are familiar with her."

Izuku, Mina, and Toru exchanged glances. None of them had said anything about Himiko being present during the summer camp or Kamino. Even with Ochako telling the police about her, they shouldn't have her name. Hawks sighed. "It's ok. You three aren't in trouble for knowing her or being friends with her."

The trio looked up in surprise, and Hawks continued. "Between your acceptance to UA and your summer camp, you three haven't seen her. There's a reason for that."

Toru tensed along with her partners, and she asked. "Do you know what happened to her? H-how she ended up with the League?"

Hawks grit his teeth as he seemed to mentally prepare himself before explaining how after their acceptance letters were delivered, Hawks was given orders to kidnap Himiko Toga and bring her to the HPSC's black ops group known as the Undercover Heros Department, where villains with people to protect are forced into doing the Commissions dirty work.

The number three hero went on to explain how the three students' futures as heroes were held over Himiko, and she was forced to carry out espionage and assassinations. Hawks confessed to his guilt over bringing her and several others into the UHD and using them. He told them how he decided to free Himiko and the others by working with Himiko to gather info to connect the UHD to the HPSC and then go public with it once Himiko was in a safe place.

As he finished explaining how things went wrong with Psion taking Himiko before he could get her out, Izuku stood suddenly and approached Hawks. "Sorry about this in advance, sir."

Hawks closed his eyes and braced himself, already knowing what was coming. Izuku cocked his fist back and punched the number three hero in the face, his fist connecting with Hawks cheek and making the man stagger.

Izuku grit his teeth and glared at Hawks. "What the actual fuck! I thought you were a hero, not just a puppet for others to control! If you hadn't just accepted orders blindly, none of this would be happening!"

Hawks swallowed the blood he could taste in his mouth and said. "I won't deny I've done terrible things, but I'm working to correct my mistakes and keep others from suffering. I know you three may hate me for what I did but just know that I'm not hoping for your forgiveness, just your help when the time comes."

Izuku took a deep breath and retook his seat with his partners before asking. "What do you mean?"

Hawks rubbed his cheek a bit before saying. "I found some info on Psion's quirk. The short explanation is that she has a sorta hypnosis, and she can alter memories. I learned recently that the memories will only go back to normal if she wills it. We could have forced her but... we found her body in Kamino. She had been stabbed several times, and there were signs that someone had drunk her blood."

The room was silent for a moment before Hawks continued. "I followed a trail of similar bodies. It seems that Himiko is going on a killing spree. She was stable the last time I saw her."

Aizawa looked at the trio and asked. "Midoriya, was anything off about her when you were with the villains?"

Izuku tensed before saying. "Yeah... when she saw me and talked with me, she kept grabbing her head and saying it hurt. One of the villains told me Himiko had said she was experiencing conflicting memories, and while I was captured, she seemed irritable and bloodthirsty."

Nezu hummed. "Perhaps Psion's quirk wasn't fully integrated, and meeting Midoriya caused a fracturing of her mind and drove her to her old self."

"What do you mean, old self? You're talking like Himiko's a villain." Toru said as her annoyance rose. They were talking about her friend like she had been a villain all along, but that couldn't be true.

Hawks sighed and said. "She wanted to tell you this herself, but you need to know. Himiko Toga is responsible for multiple murders even before she met you three."

The trio looked at the number three hero in shock and disbelief. Sure Himiko was odd, but they couldn't believe she was a murderer. "She was driven by a desire for blood and wanting to be like the people she loved. It drove her to cut and bleed people before drinking their blood and using her quirk to become them. It was only after meeting you three did she stop killing except for once, and as I understand it, she killed that man in self-defense."

All three of the students remembered that night back in high school when their friend had been found covered in blood and completely out of it. She had disappeared for months after that and came back with a scar on her arm and a missing eye. Hawks let them process their realization before saying. "By any meaning of the word Himiko is a villain, but she is one that can change, and right now, she is under the effects of a quirk that has shattered her mind. I believe she can still be saved."

Mina stared down at her hands and asked. "What... how can we save her?"

"I'll find her, and I'll get her the help she needs to recover from Psion's quirk." Hawks said as determination filled his eyes. "Once we have her somewhere safe, I'll need you three to help support her on the path to recovery. Then hopefully, she won't have to suffer because of her quirk anymore. That is if you still want to be involved with her."

Toru looked at her partners, and the three immediately came to a decision. Toru spoke for all of them when she said. "We have a lot to talk to Himiko about. You may have told us about her, but we need to hear directly from her, so yes. Whenever you need us, we'll be there to help her, and once she's back to how we know her, we'll sit down and talk. We're planning to be heroes, so that means we need to save people even if they're villains."

Hawks smiled a bit before bowing. "Thank you very much. I'll be in contact once I've found and secured Himiko. In the meantime, keep growing into fine heroes."

With his business done, Hawks left, and Nezu dismissed the students to go about their days, making sure to remind them that summer training would be starting soon. As the students walked back to the dorms, they silently contemplated the new developments about one of their oldest friends.

____________________________________________________________________

Momo sat in her room as she contemplated how things had gotten to this point. She had developed feelings for one of her closest friends, and she knew that she couldn't be with him, but it didn't seem to matter. Her heart had made its decision, and her brain was still trying to deny it.

A knock at her door pulled her from her conflicting thoughts about what to do. She went over and opened it to reveal Ochako and Tsu. "Oh, hello, you two. Is there anything you need?"

Ochako smiled and said. "We're just a bit worried about you, Yaomomo. You've been held up in your room all day. I don't think I even saw you yesterday either."

Tsu ribbited. "I saw you yesterday morning, and you looked upset, but that was it. We just wanted to know if anything was wrong and if we could help."

Momo gave a shaky smile. "I'm fine. Really I've just been... busy with some personal things."

Tsu hummed. "Is it something about Midoriya? In all honesty, you've been a bit off since he got back, kero."

Momo mentally cursed Tsu's observant nature as she tried to think of something to deny it, but Ochako stepped up. "Did something happen during your rescue mission?"

"Um... no, it's not that. It's just uh..." Momo was floundering. She didn't know what to say to these two.

Tsu put a hand on Ochako's shoulder. "She's probably freaking out about her crush on him, kero."

Momo felt heat climbing her neck at a breakneck pace as Ochako tilted her head. "What are you talking about, Tsu? Yaomomo doesn't have a crush on Midori."

"Yes, she does," Tsu said flatly. "If she's not spending time with the other girls or us, he's the one she spends time with the most. The two are always working on something together, and she told us before that they met during the recommended exam and spoke at length about their admiration for Midnight. It's pretty obvious that after Midori's kidnapping, it pushed her to realize her feelings, kero."

Momo opened and closed her mouth repeatedly as she tried to think up a denial that wouldn't sound insane before she let out a defeated sigh. "Why are you observant, Tsu? It's very inconvenient when I wanna hide these things."

Tsu put a finger to her chin and tilted her head. "I care about my friends, and I wanna make sure they're ok kero. So what are you going to do? I'm sure if things were simple, you'd have taken care of it by now."

Momo stepped aside and motioned for them to come in. "I uh... yeah, I suppose I would have."

The other two girls entered, and Momo closed the door and sat with them on her overly large bed before explaining how she had feelings for Izuku but that she didn't see Toru and Mina in a romantic way. Tsu hummed and said. "You should just tell him."

Momo and Ochako both looked surprised, and Ochako said. "Wait, are you sure? Wouldn't it be better if she gave it some time? Maybe it's just the shock of Midori getting kidnapped and then rescued that's got her like this. It could pass."

Tsu gave her best friend a flat look and said, "Trust me, I'm pretty sure it won't just pass. The best thing for Yaomomo is to just say it so she can move on, kero."

The frog girl looked at Momo, who looked like she'd rather do anything but that. "Trust me, Yaomomo, I know what I'm talking about. If you sit on these feelings, you'll regret it, and sure, when you tell him, even knowing how it's going to go, you'll feel like you're dying, but it'll pass, and you'll come out the other end better for it."

Ochako squeezed Tsu's shoulder, worry on her face, and the frog gave her a subtle smile as Momo processed her options. "I... I will consider what you said, Tsu. Thank you for your words."

Tsu smiled. "Kero. No problem. Do you want us to stay? Do you need anything?"

Momo sighed and shook her head. "No, I think I'll be ok. I just need to-to think things over."

Ochako and Tsu gave the taller girl a tight hug before leaving her alone to think over her feelings.

______________________________________________________________________

Aizawa stood before the entire class A who were dressed in their hero costumes. "Alright, Jiro and Tsunatori are back and cleared for training, so now for the news. Due to everything that's happened this year, we're going to spend the rest of the summer preparing for your provisional hero license test. Usually, we try later in the year, but Nezu thinks you can handle it, so now it's my responsibility to make sure you actually can."

The teacher pointed back at Gym Gamma. "Cementoss, Midnight, Ectoplasm, myself, and All Might will be helping you develop super moves and hone your existing move set. Also, take this time to put in a request with the support department for changes and upgrades to your costumes because you will be using them during the exam. Now come on, let's get inside."

The class entered and marveled at the raised platforms and barriers of concrete separating areas of the gym. Each student followed an ectoplasm clone that started talking to them about what Aizawa and All Might said they should work on as well as getting them started on super move ideas.

As they worked, Toshi looked around and spoke to Aizawa. "Do we have enough time to get them ready?"

Aizawa grunted. "Hm, as long as you don't play favorites with those three."

Toshi scoffed and floundered a bit. "What? I haven't played favorites with any of the students."

"I'll admit you keep it to a minimum but don't think I don't know about all those extra meetings and time spent with Hagakure, Ashido, and Midoriya."

Toshi kept his confidence up as he said. "I'm simply giving advice and speaking with students who come to me. That's not favoritism."

"It's easy for them to talk to you because you've been teaching them since before UA," Aizawa said flatly. "You're All Might. You're an intimidating person to approach, especially for students."

"Wha- how do you know about that?" Toshi asked as he looked over at the underground hero.

"Midnight told me," Aizawa said as he looked at the former number one hero.

Toshi sighed and looked over at his three students in their various places as they practiced. "I saw potential in all three of them and helped their training along, but I didn't hold their hands. I pointed them in the right direction and encouraged them to reach it on their own. Once they were in UA, I did my best to treat them like any other student."

"Well," Aizawa said as he started walking towards Hanta, who was gesturing wildly as he explained something to Ectoplasm. "You've certainly done better than I thought you would, so keep up the good work, former number one."

Toshi chuckled a bit as Aizawa stepped in and helped Hanta get the idea he was trying to explain across to Ectoplasm. "I'll do my best."

_____________________________________________________________________

Izuku yawned as he headed to the support studio. He had spent the past couple of days working on his various weak points and helping his fellow classmates when they asked. He had much to Mina, and Toru's annoyance stayed up late drawing up plans for changes to his costume. He added in the suggestions Shade had suggested, which consisted of adding some gas canisters to his utility belt and a bandolier of ammo for a breech-loader grenade launcher.

It took a somewhat lengthy conversation with Snipe and Aizawa to let him add it to his suit. Snipe initiated on training Izuku on how to operate, clean, and maintain one, which was good because asking for that training was going to be Izuku's next question.

As Izuku approached, the doors to the support studio opened, and Momo stepped out. Izuku stopped as he watched her carefully. She had been avoiding him specifically, and the memory of her about to cry as she made up an excuse to get away stuck with him.

Momo noticed him and immediately seemed more on edge as she walked. Before she could brush past him, Izuku turned and said. "Yaoyorozu."

The dark-haired girl took another two steps before stopping, and after a second of hesitation, she turned to face Izuku. "Y-Yes, Midoriya? Do you need anything?"

Izuku swallowed and said. "Are you ok? Or did I do something? You've been avoiding me for the past couple of days. If I did something-"

"No!" Momo blushed and floundered for a moment. "No, I mean um... you didn't do anything. I um, this is my own fault, really. You're not at fault... I'm sorry, but I should get back to training."

Izuku didn't have time to think; he simply reached out and grabbed her wrist before she could run. When Momo turned to look at him with shock on her face, he quickly let go. "Sorry... I- uh. If you want to talk, maybe I can help."

Izuku watched Momo's eyes flick around as she thought for a moment before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "I... I don't know. It's hard to talk about."

Izuku smiled a bit. "How about this. I'm gonna go in and deal with Hatsume. When I come out, if you're here, we can find a quiet place and try to work out whatever's bothering you. If you're not here, then I'll drop it, and I won't bother you."

Momo swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. Izuku gave her a soft smile, and her heart leapt back into her throat as he walked inside and after a moment, Hatsume's excited squealing could be heard as Power Loader audibly cursed.

______________________________________________________________________

Izuku stood at the support studio door and took a deep breath. Over the past few days, he had thought about what could have made Momo act the way she had been. He'd even asked Mina and Toru for their thoughts on it, and the possibilities were daunting. He hoped it was something simple, but he knew it wasn't because if it was, then Momo would have taken care of it already.

After taking another breath, Izuku opened the door and found Momo standing where he had left her. He put on his bravest face and gave a soft smile but mentally kicked himself when he saw her smile strain a bit. His usual kindness seemed to be bothering her. "Do you have anywhere you'd like to talk?"

Momo hesitated but nodded. "Y-yes. Everyone is training, so the courtyard at our dorms should be vacant. Are you ok speaking there?"

Izuku nodded and followed Momo. The two walked in silence as both parties prepared for their talk. Momo was doing her best to hold firm and remember Tsu's words. This was going to hurt, and she would hate it, but if she wanted to move on and grow, she needed to put words to her feelings and let Izuku know them.

The two passed through the common room and entered the courtyard. Once there, Momo took a deep, slow breath and turned to face Izuku, who kept his face neutral. Momo pulled her courage and resolve. She needed to do it all at once. Don't leave anything unsaid.

"I... when we met at the recommended exam, I thought you were an interesting person. Your admiration for and understanding of Midnight was something I didn't see much of. Then we got into the same class, and I was glad. You were someone I felt I could get along with easily, and I did. It was- is easy to talk to you. You're smart and kind. You embody heroism in your desire to help others."

Momo chuckled. "You even made Mineta a decent person. Most people would have just written him off, but you decided to help him. That's what you do. You help people because it's what comes naturally. I admire that about you. I admire a lot of things about you, and I-I know I've said it before but thank you for all your help."

Izuku looked at her in concern. "What do you mean?"

"You helped me become a better hero. You helped improve my costume even though I didn't ask you to, and you helped me improve and keep my confidence. Thank you, Izuku, for helping me with all that."

Momo took a shaky breath as tears pricked her eyes. "You-you got kidnapped and when I heard the news. I-I had a panic attack. I've never had one of those before. It was terrifying, and it made me realize."

Momo looked up at Izuku as she said. "It made me realize I really do love you and not as a close friend but as someone I could spend my life with a-and it hurts." Momo clutched her chest as the tears started to spill over. "It hurts because I know you love your partners, and I don't feel the kind of love for them that I do for you. Mina and Toru are my friends, and I care for them, b-but I don't love them. I-I can't love them like this. Not like how easily I can love you."

Momo shook as tears continued to spill over, and she dropped her head. She couldn't look at him. It would hurt too much to see whatever face he was making. As she breathed shakily and tried to stop her tears, she tensed when he spoke.

"I-I probably shouldn't apologize... no one did anything wrong. I never tried to lead you on. You never tried to pull me from Toru and Mina. Things just happened." Izuku took a deep breath to steady himself. "I guess what I want to apologize for is pushing you to talk about this. I'm sorry if I force you to speak about your feelings."

Momo's body moved before her brain could. She closed the distance and wrapped him in a tight hug as she said. "D-don't apologize. I-I knew I needed to say this an-and I wanted to say it, so I c-could. I don't know, so I could keep going, I suppose."

Izuku's arm wrapped around her gently, and he patted her back. Momo pulled her head back from Izuku's chest, and her breath caught. She hadn't meant to get this close to him. She didn't want to be this close because she knew it was dangerous. Izuku looked at her with concern, but she couldn't think about it. Her eyes caught on his mouth, and a thought flashed across her mind. She could do it. It would be quick and easy to just lean in quickly and kiss him.

Momo pushed away from Izuku as she discarded the thought. That would be too much. Their friendship wouldn't survive, and she would never get the closure she needed. "I'm sorry."

Izuku smiled softly and said. "It's ok. I-I'm sorry, but I can't reciprocate your feelings. You're one of my best friends, and I care about you, Momo, but-but unless someone can love my partners and myself, I can't be with them. I love Mina and Toru with everything I have. I hope... I hope that this doesn't end our friendship. I hope we can keep working together to make ourselves and our classmates the best they can be."

Momo took a moment to compose herself and let out a shaky breath. "I need time to-to come to terms with everything. In the meantime, c-can, you let me handle all the class rep responsibilities?"

Izuku nodded. "I'll put in more effort with our classmates, so they don't have to go to you. Whenever you're ready, I'll be here to strategize."

Momo wiped away the rest of her tears and nodded. "Thank you, Iz- I mean Midoriya."

Izuku chuckled. "Call me whichever one you want."

"As long as you do the same," Momo said, doing her best to put on a smile.

Notes:

So I added notes to the beginning and end of chapter 44 like a day after I posted it so some people may have missed it. the top note was telling you to go back to chapter 43 to read the two new parts I had added to it. one being Nemuri's reaction to her son being kidnapped and the other being Momo's reaction. the bottom note was thanking a commenter who inspired me to think up those scenes. I don't have their name right now but it says it in the note. thank you to that person.

to those who really wanted Momo to join the poly, I am sorry but she won't. don't despair because the one-shot Creation of a Romance is up and in the Hypno Verse series. it's a what-if of Momo having feelings for the who group not just Izuku. go read it if you wanna.

in other news, I finished Symphogear and wow it was good. Crunchyroll has terrible subs for it though so best look elsewhere for better subs.

also, I got a comment about the most recent chapter which is fine because they didn't spoil anything but I figured I'd say it now. while I do keep up with the manga and usually do know about and see the leaks please don't spoil anything for other people in the comments.

also, my use of canon is kinda cherry-picking. I select aspects and things I enjoy and use them in my fics. anything I don't care for or feel like changing I change freely because that's what fanfiction is all about. it's about making something that's different from canon. whether it be drastically or subtly is the writer's choice and I like that. so yeah if something's different from canon I most likely decided to just change it for whatever reason. ask and I'll probably tell you unless it would spoil something in my story.