Chapter 9 Deku: The Telekinetic Hero by sremiehzla

The World of the Pros

"Everybody!" Aizawa shouted, looking back at his class. "Huddle up and don't move!"

The students gathered together hesitantly, not entirely sure what was going on. They whispered about whether this was real, or just some test from the teachers. Suddenly, the black mist expanded and ten... No, twenty... Forty... More than a hundred people ran out of the darkness, and Aizawa visibly tensed.

"What're those?" Eijiro asked, squinting down at the people. "U.A. employees? More robots like the entrance exam?"

"Don't move!" Aizawa shouted, pulling back his scarf and pulling up yellow goggles from the fabric. Fastening the eyewear to his face, he scowled. "Those are real villains!"

"Those goggles!" Izuku gasped in realization. "Aizawa Sensei is the Erasure Hero, Eraserhead!"

"Eraserhead?" Eijiro asked. "Never heard of him."

"I have," Hitoshi said, narrowing his eyes and grinning. "He's an underground hero. He doesn't like the attention of media."

"But those are... real villains?" Eijiro asked. "What villains would be stupid enough to break into U.A.?"

"Sensei," Momo asked Thirteen, "aren't there intruder sensors around the school?"

"Of course there are!" Thirteen said, sounding at a loss.

"Are they only here, or at the main building too?" Shoto asked. "Either way, if they can get past the sensors, it has to be one of their Quirks that's doing that. Also, this building is far from the campus, and they picked a time when there'd be few people here. They may be smarter than they seem. This attack is too well-coordinated for them not to have an objective."

Most of the class was shocked by Shoto's analysis, but Izuku had been thinking along the same lines.

Aizawa turned back, yelling, "Thirteen! Begin evacuation and try calling the school! If one of their Quirks is jamming the sensors, it's probably an electric-type Quirk causing interference. Kaminari, try using your Quirk to signal for help!"

"G-Got it!" Denki confirmed, fiddling with his headset.

"Sensei, you can't fight them all alone!" Izuku said. "Against so many, you won't be able to erase all of their Quirks! As Eraserhead, your fighting style relies on erasure and quick capture! Head-on fighting isn't–!"

"No good hero is a one trick pony, Midoriya!" Eraserhead called back. "Thirteen, take care of the students!"

Then Aizawa jumped down the stairs, unraveling the cloth around his neck as his hair shot up on end. Izuku saw several villains approach him and then hesitate in confusion, before Aizawa brought the cloth around them and slammed their heads together. He fought hand-to-hand, and overpowered and outsmarted the stunned villains.

"He's keeping up even though he's outnumbered!" Izuku gasped.

Ochako grabbed Izuku's arm and whipped him around, saying, "C'mon Deku! Time to go!"

"Now isn't the time for analysis," Tenya agreed. "We must evacuate!"

As Izuku turned to evacuate with his classmates, the black mist that was in front of the fountain materialized in between them and the entrance. Izuku wasn't sure, but he thought that the two yellow streaks at the top of the mist resembled some kind of eyes.

"Sorry, but I can't allow that!" A deep, proper-sounding voice announced. "Greetings, heroes and heroes-to-be! We are the League of Villains! I apologize for our audacity, but... Today, we've come to U.A.–this bastion of heroism–to end the life of All Might, the Symbol of Peace!" For that one moment, his proper tone became a bit darker, before normalizing again. "We were under the impression that he'd be here today, but it seems his schedule was revised... No matter! My personal role is not affec–"

Suddenly, Katsuki and Eijiro jumped up at the mist. Katsuki let an explosion loose against the darkness, followed by a forceful kick from Eijiro.

"Not if we kill you first!" Katsuki snarled.

"Heh," Eijiro huffed, pointing his thumb up at himself. "Betcha didn't see that coming!"

"Well, that was close," the mist chuckled, emerging from the smoke. "Although you're only students, you really are the best of the best! It might prove troublesome if you were allowed to stay here..."

"No, get back!" Thirteen shouted, but it was too late.

"Begone!" The mist rapidly expanded, covering most of the class.

Seeing his friends each get swallowed up by the darkness, Izuku quickly turned and reached out to Ochako, shouting, "Uraraka!"

Their hands missed each other and as Izuku's vision filled with blackness, the last thing he saw was Tenya grabbing Ochako while holding Rikido in his other arm. Izuku felt a cold blast of air hit him as he shut his eyes, and when he opened them, he was falling above the collapsed zone. He looked around and noticed that Mina Ashido and Mashirao Ojiro were falling with him. He called out to grab their attention, then used his Quirk to maneuver within 15 meters of them both. Before they hit the ground, Izuku was able to slow their fall enough to land safely.

"Thanks Midoriya," Mina said as she stood up with a bright smile.

"Yes, I also owe you my thanks," Mashirao said, bowing his head.

"Ah, no! No need," Izuku said sincerely. "We should focus on our current situation right now."

"Of course, you are right," Mashirao said.

"Well, U.A. is being invaded by a 'League of Villains'," Mina said, holding her fingers up in air quotes. "Totally easy to focus under these conditions."

"Ashido, this is serious," Izuku said. "They knew that All Might should've been here... They somehow knew U.A.'s schedule. They probably used that media invasion yesterday as a cover to get in and get intel..."

"They said they came to kill All Might," Mina recalled. "But there's no way, right? Like, he's All Might!"

"Ashido, they wouldn't come here if they didn't think they could beat him," Mashirao reasoned.

"I hate to admit it, but he's right," Izuku agreed. "This attack is too organized for them to be that stupid."

"THERE YOU ARE!" a gruff voice shouted at the three students. They looked up and saw a large group of villains walking at them, headed by an emaciated and pale bald man with a scar across his shirtless torso (In fact, his only clothing was a pair of grey shorts with a giant hole on one leg, and he held a machete). "AHAHA! Finally, time to collect our payment! A few young FLESH BAGS TO MAIM!"

"M-Maim?" Mina asked, before chuckling nervously, "Ahah, h-how about no?"

Izuku used his Quirk to grab bits of rubble lying around the street they stood on. He launched them at the villains, knocking a few of them out while some managed to dodge. Those remaining ran at the aspiring heroes, only to meet their match in Ojiro. He dodged and countered, holding them back while Izuku pelted them with more debris. They couldn't deal with both of their attacks, and they were all eventually knocked unconscious.

"Woah, you two are real cool!" Mina exclaimed. "Ojiro, you dodge really well!"

"Ah... Um, thank you, Ashido," Mashirao said with a nod.

"That's strange," Izuku muttered. "It seemed like they knew about our class, but I guess they aren't as informed as they should be."

"What do you mean by that?" Mashirao inquired, quirking an eyebrow.

"They put me in the collapsed zone, where there's plenty of rubble for me to manipulate."

"Ooh, so they don't know all of our Quirks?" Mina inferred.

"That's my guess," Izuku confirmed.

"Hey, I think they're over here!" a shrill voice squawked nearby as the young students heard footsteps bounding closer.

Looking around, Izuku noticed that there were no more chunks of crumbled buildings or debris that were the optimal size for his Quirk. Glancing at Mashirao and then at Mina, a plan formed in his head.

"What's that you're muttering about, Midori?" Mina asked.

"Oh, I was just–" Izuku began explaining before catching what she called him. "Midori?"

"Ah, your name's too long," she said, waving her hand. She grinned, "Midori is way cuter, and also quicker!"

"A-Ah, I guess it's faster," Izuku nervously chuckled, scratching his cheek.

"Midoriya, do you have a plan?" Mashirao asked.

"Oh, right!" Izuku remembered. "Ashido, use your acid to break down the big pieces of debris and buildings into smaller chunks. Ojiro, you and I will work together to hold them back."

"How big do you want em?" Mina asked as she began melting a large piece of concrete in half.

"About the size of a backpack is good, maybe a little bigger," Izuku said. "Oh, and can you control the acid's strength?"

"Yep! Sure can!"

"That's great! Coat the pieces in a weaker acid that can't break down concrete, but can burn skin. That way, it'll be more effective!"

"Oh, good thinking Midori!" Mina said, smiling widely at the Telekinesis user.

Mina had prepared a couple of projectiles by the time the villains rounded the corner of their street. Mashirao ran at them while Izuku launched a ranged assault, trying to hit them with his telekinetically controlled acid-covered pieces of concrete. If they dodged the floating makeshift weapons, Mashiro took advantage of their openings. If they dodged the tailed teen's martial arts, they got burned and beaten by the acid-covered projectiles. More were added to the flurry by Mina until they became unavoidable, and the villains were defeated after a few minutes of their effort.

At the front entrance, where everyone had been gathered moments ago, there were only a few students left along with Thirteen to face the dark mist.

"Where is everyone else?" Tenya asked, looking around at Ochako, Rikido, Mezo, Hanta, and Thirteen. "Can we confirm their locations?"

Mezo formed an ear on one of his appendages, before confirming, "They're all scattered inside of this building."

"Physical attacks won't work if this guy can just warp away," Hanta sighed as the mist collected itself in a single smaller mass. "This guy's Quirk is too much to handle."

"Iida!" Thirteen called as he came to a realization.

"Yes, Sensei!" Tenya replied, at attention.

"With your Quirk, you need to get back to the school and report what's happening! The alarms aren't sounding and the phones aren't working. With Aizawa erasing the villains' Quirks, that means that whomever is jamming the signal is hidden elsewhere! Our best option right now is for you to go back to U.A.!"

"I can't just abandon–"

"Just go, Iida!" Rikido shouted. "There are alarms outside, so that means the villains must only be in here!"

"And they can't follow you!" Hanta said as well. "Just go fast!"

"Please, use your Quirk to save us all," Thirteen pleaded.

"We got your back, Iida!" Ochako assured with the others nodding in agreement. "Do it!"

"Aside from the fact that it's hopeless anyways," the mist mocked, looking over them, "the fact that you're discussing this plan where I can here it is foolish!"

"It doesn't matter if you can hear it," Thirteen said, opening a latch on the tip of his glove. "You can't stop us!"

Hitoshi hit the water hard. Luckily, he looked down and had been able to take a breath before plunging into the flood zone. He blinked, adjusting his eyes to being underwater, only to see a villain with gills upon him. Before the villain reached him though, Tsuyu Asui came and kicked him in the side. She wrapped her tongue around Hitoshi and brought him up to the surface, allowing him to take a couple of breaths before tossing him over the side of a large boat.

Hitoshi coughed, leaning down on all fours as he gasped for air. He looked up at Tsuyu as she climbed over the side of the boat as well, and panted, "You could've been more careful, Asui."

"Call me Tsuyu," she reminded him. "Kero."

"Yeah," he sighed, "thanks Tsuyu."

"Don't mention it," she shrugged, before turning and looking over the water. "They said they came to kill All Might, kero."

"They wouldn't have come if they didn't have some plan," Hitoshi said, slowly standing up.

Tsuyu turned and tilted her head at him. "And they said they'd kill us, too. We'll have to hold out until the pros get here. But even then, these guys think they can kill All Might, kero. What other pro can keep up with that?"

Hitoshi looked past his froggy classmate and saw multiple heads poke out of the water. "We just have to deal with it. Time for me to get to work."

"What'll you do, kero?" Tsuyu asked. "I'm good in water, so I should–"

"Just watch," Hitoshi interrupted her. This was no time to be chatting.

He climbed up onto the side of the boat, taking a moment to balance himself before looking down over the villains in the water. A couple of more heads popped up out of the water.

"The hell are ye doin up there?!" one villain rasped up at him.

"Waiting for us to shoot you down or something?" another one called in a much more normal sounding voice.

Hitoshi scoffed, "Heh, no problems over here! I just need verbal consent for what I'm about to do to you!" A few villains yelled at and mocked him, making him crack a grin. "So, how about it? Who's too chicken to fight a high schooler like me?!"

The villains below exploded in a chorus of retorts and threats, until Hitoshi activated his Quirk. He didn't know what to expect since he'd never used his Quirk on over 20 people simultaneously, but a sharp pang of pain shot through his head as their consciousnesses put pressure on his mind.

"Ah," he grunted, putting a hand on the side of his head as he stumbled back against the boat's cabin.

"Are you okay?" Tsuyu asked, though that just added to the pain of his headache.

"It's just... a lot to use my Quirk on so many people... I don't know how long I'll last, so... I'll make this quick." Hitoshi pushed himself back to the railing of the boat and shouted out over the mind controlled villains, "GO BEAT THE HELL OUTTA WHOEVER IS IN CHARGE OF YOUR LITTLE ATTACK!"

As they turned and swam towards the shore of the flood zone, Hitoshi collapsed, clutching at his head. He felt Tsuyu's hand on his shoulder, but she didn't say anything. Either that, or it was drowned out by the pounding pressure in his brain. He pushed through the pain for what felt like ages before he heard Tsuyu speak.

"They're far enough away now, kero. You can release your Quirk."

Hitoshi felt like a hundred pounds of pressure were lifted from his head. He screamed and breathed and relaxed and clenched his fists as he pressed his forehead into the ground. His heartbeat pounded in his head and he became aware of his hyperventilating. After taking a moment to collect himself, he lifted his half sore/half numb body and looked at the villains who were now up out of the water. The villain covered in disembodied hands was yelling at the water villains, who just seemed confused.

"Come on, let's go before they come back, kero," Tsuyu suggested, tapping Hitoshi's shoulder.

"Right," he sighed before he followed her down into the water.

Looking down, Shoto Todoroki saw what looked like a small cityscape engulfed in flames. He reacted quickly, making a slide out of ice so that he'd land safely. He thought he heard a noise behind him, like someone else was on the slide, but nobody was there. It was hard to tell due to the crackling of the flames around him, so he chalked it up to his imagination.

The flames annoyed Shoto. Aside from the distracting noise and movement, they reminded him of his father, and it put him on edge. Of course, they just had to drop him here.

"Look what we got here!" called out a feminine voice to his right.

Shoto didn't hesitate, just shot out a pillar of ice that encased about a quarter of the conflagration zone. Normally that would've chilled him a bit, but the fire around him seemed to help keep him from overcooling.

"What the hell?!" the woman with purple hair screamed as her entire body was encased in ice. Several villains behind her who also got caught by his attack shared the sentiment.

"If you're in there for too long, you'll get frostbite," Shoto deadpanned, walking towards her. "I'm trying to be a hero, so please don't make me do something disagreeable."

"Dumbass, this ice will melt in no time!" she laughed. "And I bet that took most of your power, since it was such a big attack. I'll just kill you once I get out of here!"

Shoto looked around at the flames once again. True, the villains would fully thaw within minutes. So, he did the sensible thing and began freezing the entire zone. It took a couple of blasts since the fire weakened his ice slightly, but there was eventually no fire left. He cocked his head back towards the woman.

"So, now you'll tell me everything about your 'League of Villains' and what your objective is. Or your body will become unusable."

"Y-You wouldn't, right?" she chuckled nervously.

"I'm in a bad mood now, so yeah I would," he said, looking her in the eye.

Katsuki set off explosions below himself, slowing his descent into the landslide zone. While he did so, he saw Eijiro diving past him. The redhead landed face-first, imbedding his head in the soft dirt ground.

"Oi, shitty hair!" Katsuki yelled as he landed and ran over. "The hell are you doing, dumbass?!"

Eijiro's arms pressed into the floor and he pulled his head up, leaving a hole in the ground. "Man, that was a rush!" He turned to Katsuki while trying to knock dirt from his ears. "Oh, hey Bakugo! I guess we're in this together my man!"

"You... are a fucking dumbass," Katsuki growled, placing his hand on his forehead.

"Yo bro, WATCH OUT!" Eijiro shouted, jumping in front of Katsuki and blocking a leaf that actually cut his hardened arm. "Damn, what the hell?! What kinda leaf can cut through my hardening?!"

"Ahahaha!" The villain was tall, with a dark plastic mask covering the top right quarter of his head. Long silver hair hung down to about his shoulder on his left, and his left eye had a white iris. He had a somewhat elegantly adorned metal chest piece, and he had metal gauntlets and greaves, with black clothing underneath. He called out in his deep, calm voice as other villains began appearing around the heroes-in-training, "So, you're our prey? Humph, Shigaraki put me in the wrong zone then. Whatever, maybe you'll be able to give me a little bit of entertainment."

The villain flexed his fingers. There were multiple trees in the debris of the landslide zone, and all of the leaves on their branches disconnected and oriented themselves at the blonde and redhead.

"Oi dumbass," Katsuki whispered, "get on my back when I give the signal."

"Huh? W-Why?" Eijiro looked seriously put off by Katsuki's suggestion.

"I don't really like it, but it's probably the only way I won't kill you." He tapped his gauntlet and pointed at the pin.

Eijiro's eyes widened in understanding and he nodded his head, before placing his hands on Katsuki's shoulders. Katsuki aimed straight down and glared up at the villain. The villain in question flicked his fingers, and the leaves all shot at the two students.

"Fucking NOW!" Katsuki shouted.

Eijiro gripped onto Katsuki and lifted his feet off of the ground, and the blonde jumped before letting rip the massive explosion. Every single leaf was incinerated in the blast, and the shockwave propelled the students up and knocked multiple villains over.

"Why you!" The leaf villain shouted up at the teens.

"Yo, that was super manly!" Eijiro said excitedly as they continued going upward.

"Shut the hell up, shitty hair!" Katsuki shouted back.

"Hey, I just got a super manly idea!" the redhead grinned. "Throw me down there with an explosion!"

"Do you wanna fucking die?!"

"No, man! I'll use my hardening, and I'll be just like a human cannonball!"

Katsuki cracked a grin and chuckled, "Alright, if you say so!"

He repositioned Eijiro in midair and planted his hand on his feet, aiming at the largest group of villains below them.

Once their upward momentum died, Eijiro shouted, "Now!"

"DIE!" Katsuki shouted as he blasted Eijiro straight down.

The hardening teen screeched, and Katsuki couldn't help but chuckle at how unmanly it was. He followed Eijiro down, propelling himself with explosions. The villains panicked and failed to get out of the human cannonball's way, mostly getting knocked unconscious instead. Eijiro got up faster than Katsuki expected and started fighting the villains with his hardened fists, which Katsuki did with his explosions once he joined him.

Katsuki was having a blast. He was finally able to cut loose and take out villains, though they weren't exactly able to match up with his skill. And he had to admit, he was impressed by Eijiro's grit and 'manliness'. He got some respect in Katsuki's book.

"Wooh, what a workout!" Eijiro wiped sweat from his brow "Now, let's go help the others! Since we're here, everyone else is probably still in USJ too. Some people don't have the same combat abilities as us, so I'm worried about them. Besides, we were the ones who charged the villain like that and probably gave Thirteen Sensei more work. As men, we've gotta–"

"Fuck that, you can go it alone," Katsuki grunted. "I've got a grudge to settle with that misty fucker."

"Huh?!" Eijiro exclaimed. "What's with you and grudges, man? This isn't the time to be immature! Besides, regular attacks don't affect him!"

"Fuck off with that," Katsuki waved his hand. "He's their mode of transportation. If he goes down, they can't run away. Besides, I do have a way to take him down, idiot." Katsuki turned and slammed a villain who was sneaking up on him into the ground. "Besides, if these are the best they've got, we shouldn't have any trouble."

"Woah, where'd this calm, rational side come from?" Eijiro snickered.

"I'M ALWAYS CALM, SHITTY HAIR!"

"Aha! You're back!"

"Whatever, I'm gonna go find that asshole," Katsuki scoffed, turning and walking away.

"Hold up, bro!" Eijiro ran up next to him, hitting his fist into his palm. "A man's gotta trust his comrades, and you convinced me!"

"Heh," Katsuki grinned. "Damn straight."

Izuku and co. walked through the streets, searching for the edge of the collapsed zone. the green teen kept his eyes open and picked up little rocks and bits of rubble as they walked.

"Why you picking those up?" Mina asked, tilting her head curiously at the boy.

"Ammunition," Izuku said as he added another stone to the pile in his arms. "If we run into more villains, I need to have something to use my Quirk on."

They walked for a bit longer until they finally emerged into the main plaza, where they elected to hide behind a broken concrete pillar that laid on its side at the edge of the collapsed zone. Izuku looked around at the other zones. He heard explosions and screaming in the landslide zone next to them, so he assumed Katsuki was there. He couldn't tell what was going on in the mountain zone. There was a zone that was mostly covered in ice and had few large ice pillars jutting out from it, though he was sure it used to be on fire. Across from them was the flood zone, and Izuku could see Tsuyu and Hitoshi in the water, moving towards the plaza. There was a dome next to it, though he didn't know what was in there. He looked up at the entrance of USJ and noticed that there were still students up there, including Ochako. He looked, finally, at Aizawa as he fought back the villains in the plaza.

"Aizawa Sensei is drawing a lot of villains there," Mina said suddenly, leaning next to Izuku.

"He is," Izuku agreed, looking over the plaza. There were more than too many villains there, and it was obvious that Eraserhead was slowing down. "... There are too many of them. He's definitely holding his own, but there are too many villains. He knew that, but he still jumped in to protect us..."

"Are... you serious?" Mina asked nervously.

"Serious about what?" Mashirao asked, before piecing it together in his head. "Actually, I think that we should go down and help too."

"I'm not saying that we should fight head-on with them," Izuku said to Mina, "but we should at least look for any opening to lighten his load."

Aizawa darted through villain after villain, making his way to the one with bluish hair and disembodied hands around his body. All the while, the hand villain was quietly counting, until he reached out and grabbed the hero's elbow. It started unnaturally crumbling to dust in his grip, causing Eraserhead to shout in pain and jump back.

"It's hard to notice when you're jumping around like that, but there's a little moment where your hair falls back down in front of your face," the villain rasped. "And your max duration is getting shorter and shorter! Don't push yourself, Eraserhead!"

Aizawa socked the villain on the side of the head, where the hand didn't cover, before kicking him to the ground. Two other villains attacked the pro hero, but he skillfully avoided them both and countered.

Slowly picking himself up, the hands villain continued, "Your Quirk isn't very good in long battles, huh? You normally specialize in quick sneak attacks, yet you jumped right into this fight to make them feel safe." He began chuckling quietly. "So cool, so cool. Oh, and by the way, hero... I'm not the biggest bad guy here!"

Aizawa barely had enough time to turn around and look up at the hulking beast before it grabbed him and slammed him into the floor. Its skin was an unnatural, leathery blackish blue, its brain was fully visible on the top of its head, and it had a yellow metal beak instead of regular lips. It didn't say anything, but gargled incomprehensible sounds as it broke Eraserhead's arm.

As Thirteen unleashed his Quirk on the mist, trying to suck it up, the mist chuckled, "Oh, Thirteen... It looks as if even the best rescue heroes can't measure up to ordinary combat heroes in a fight!"

Suddenly the mist swirled, and a second mass of darkness manifested behind Thirteen. His Black Hole ended up being sent through the portal, destroying his own back instead of the villain.

"Sensei!" Ochako, Tenya, and Mina yelled.

'He warped my Quirk?' Thirteen thought. 'I'm done for!'

"Iida, he told you to run!" Rikido shouted to the Engine Quirked teen.

"Damnit!" Tenya yelled in frustration, before shooting off towards the entrance.

"Poor scattered children," the warping villain teased, appearing in front of Tenya.

Suddenly, Mezo jumped in with his six webbed arms and wrapped up the villain. "Go Iida! I've got him!" he yelled.

'Damn!' Tenya shot off again. 'Everyone... Please hang on!'

Suddenly, as Tenya was about to reach the door, the villain warped towards him again out of Mezo's grasp. Ochako saw the glint of something metal in the mist, and ran after him.

"You underestimated me, Four-Eyes!" the cloud laughed as he cut off Tenya. "Now, vanish!"

Ochako grabbed the metal. "I don't know exactly why you're wearing this thing, but that must mean that you have a real body!" She flung him up towards the ceiling, no gravity to stop his altitude gains. "Run for it Iida!"

"As if–" the villain started, but cut himself off as Hanta's tape caught him in midair.

"Go Iida!" he yelled.

And with that, Tenya booked it for U.A. High's main campus.

"If he calls for back up, it's game over..." the warp villain sighed in disappointment before disappearing completely.

Izuku couldn't believe what he was seeing, and apparently, neither could Mina or Mashirao. They all stared in utter shock and fear at the giant villain that held their teacher to the ground with one hand, and gripped his broken arm in the other. Villains, what heroes dealt with every day... They hadn't seen anything yet!

"C-Can you get him off of Sensei?" Mina asked Izuku, her normally peppy demeanor cracking a bit.

"H-He's out of m-my range," Izuku stuttered, unable to look away from the horrible scene. "B-Besides, that guy might be too heavy anyway." He noticed that Tsuyu and Hitoshi were watching with equally shocked expressions from the water.

"Eraserhead, meet the Anti-Symbol of Peace," the hands villain said proudly. "The bioengineered Nomu!" The villain strolled around Nomu to get a better look at Eraserhead, who was struggling to get up before his head was slammed again into the floor. "Erasing Quirks is pretty useful... But against this guy's insane strength, you might as well be completely Quirkless."

Nomu reached down and grabbed Aizawa's other arm roughly before snapping it like he had the other arm.

"GRRAGH!" Aizawa yelled, gritting his teeth. 'He snapped my arm like a twig! I definitely nullified his Quirk... That means that this is just his base strength! He might be as strong as All Might...'

Nomu lifted the hero's head up once again and slammed it back into the ground.

"T-This isn't good," Mashirao said nervously.

"Yeah!" Mina agreed, lowering behind the concrete and looking away.

Suddenly, the black warping villain appeared next to the hands villain, saying, "Tomura Shigaraki..."

"Kurogiri?" Tomura addressed the other villain. "Is Thirteen dead?"

"He's incapacitated, but..." Kurogiri hesitated, as if afraid of Tomura's reaction. "There were some students that I couldn't warp away and... one escaped."

"Oh? Huh..." Tomura started scratching his neck, and soon began doing it more violently. "Kurogiri... If you weren't our way out, you'd be ashes now. We don't stand a chance against a bunch of pros... It's game over. For now... We're leaving."

"Leaving?!" Mina gasped, jumping back around to look over the pillar again. "We're saved!"

"No," Mashirao shook his head. "Just leaving after putting in so much effort... I guess it'd be logical to avoid any more losses, but the hands don't make me think he's the logical type."

"Yeah," Izuku agreed too. "Besides, there's no way U.A. would let this happen again, and they'd lose their shot at All Might."

"But before we go," Tomura said, turning his head toward the trio who had thought they were hidden, "let's leave some dead kids!"

The gap was closed quicker than any of them would've thought. Tomura was upon them in less than two seconds, reaching for Mina's face. But right before he made contact, he stopped in his tracks and was covered by a faint green aura.

"Eh?" he grumbled, trying to move his arm. "What the hell is this?"

"You aren't going to touch her!" Izuku yelled, getting up on top of the concrete pillar. No one could see, but Izuku could feel that Tomura suddenly began to struggle against his Quirk's hold.

"No... No! Nomu!" Tomura shouted in frustration.

Izuku didn't even see movement before Nomu grabbed his right arm and held him up by it. After a few seconds, although Nomu barely visibly moved, Izuku felt the beast tighten its grip and his entire forearm suddenly shattered. He let out an extremely pained screech as he grabbed at Nomu's arm with his other hand.

"Well, whatever," Tomura sighed before reaching down and grabbing Mina's face before she could get away. But nothing happened. Looking back at Aizawa, whose face was up and glaring at him, Tomura chuckled, "Heh... You really are cool, huh?"

"DEKU!" Ochako shouted down as she ran down the steps. When she heard his scream she looked over, and when she saw his arm in the vice grip of that villain how couldn't she run down there?

Izuku tried to pry open Nomu's fingers with his Quirk, but they held their grip tighter than his Telekinesis could fight. Then he tried using the rocks and rubble he'd collected to attack, though they had no effect at all. Suddenly, the sliding doors to USJ were blown open with incredible force, causing every student, hero, and villain still conscious to look up. Even Ochako, who actually tripped and fell down the stairs before using her Quirk on herself to stop from tumbling.

"FEAR NOT!" All Might's booming voice echoed throughout the dome. "I AM HERE!"

When he stepped into the light, his presence was both amazingly comforting to the students and horribly unsettling. Nobody had ever seen him without a smile on his face, even in the worst of disasters. But now, an angry scowl made his face horrifyingly intimidating. Still, the students let out tears of joy. They would be safe with him there. Also, he was wearing a button down shirt and tie. Nice.

"I got a bad feeling, so I cut my conversation with the principal short. And then, I met Young Iida on the way here. He explained what basically happened." 'And it made me so damn pissed! You must have all been so scared, and my colleagues did their best... But that's exactly why I must stand tall now!' "Fear not. I AM HERE!" All Might ripped off his tie.

"You took your time, Symbol of Peace!" Tomura laughed, standing up and seeming to forget about the students. "How worthless you are, you trash!"

"I-I've never seen him in person!" one of the villains yelped, taking a step back.

"Shut the fuck up, wimp!" another one shouted, cracking his knuckles. "We got a job to do! Let's kill this fu–"

All Might moved faster than anyone could see more clearly than as a blur. A dozen villains that were between him and Aizawa were instantly knocked unconscious as All Might reached his fellow hero, kneeling down and picking him up.

"Aizawa... I'm sorry..." he said quietly, looking at his colleague's injuries. He hoisted him over his shoulder before turning an intense glare towards Tomura, Nomu, and the three students that were with them. Just as quickly as he moved before, he grabbed all three of them along with Tsuyu and Hitoshi and returned them to safety, knocking the hand off of Tomura's face in the process. "All of you, get to the entrance! Take Aizawa, he's passed out!"

"S-So fast," Hitoshi said, stunned, as he picked up his teacher.

'No, All Might is low on steam,' Izuku realized. 'He's pushing too far, isn't he?'

"Huhhhnn," Tomura grumbled angrily, slowly shuffling towards the hand on the ground. "No good, no good. I'm so sorry... Father..." He reached down and placed the hand back onto his face with some care. Suddenly, he laughed, "Throwing punches to save people? Ahahaha! There's some government-sanctioned violence for you!" He stopped laughing and leveled his head at All Might. "You're too fast for me to keep up with, but you were once faster... Is it true that you're weaker than you used to be?"

"All Might," Izuku said nervously, "that big villain is strong... Almost as strong as you! And Shigaraki, the handsy guy, called him the 'Anti-Symbol of Peace', so be careful!"

"Young Midoriya," All Might said, looking at Izuku. His face set back into its regular wide smile and he gave him a thumbs up. "Don't fear!" And then, he shot towards Nomu, holding up his arms in an X. "Carolina... SMASH!"

"Nomu," Shigaraki said calmly, taking a step back.

All Might's hands met Nomu's chest, but the villain barely moved. He stared down the #1 hero before trying to grab him, although All Might quickly dodged.

"Really? No effect?!" All Might exclaimed, hitting Nomu in the stomach with another seemingly useless punch.

"No effect, because he has the Quirk Shock Absorption," Tomura explained. "If you really want to damage him, then you'd be better off ripping him apart piece by piece... Not that he'd let you."

"Thanks for the info, I appreciate it!" All Might yelled to the villain as he moved around Nomu and grabbed him from behind. "No sweat!" All Might suplexed Nomu so hard that the cloud of dust the blow generated flew hundreds of meters up.

"All Might is really in another league, huh," Mina observed.

"But he's still a newbie when it comes to teaching, kero," Tsuyu said. "He uses cheat cards."

'Maybe they do have a way to kill him, but we're helpless!' Izuku thought, frustrated. 'What's worse is that we'd only get in his way if one of us got taken hostage! We really can only trust in All Might... But... I'm the only one that knows..!' he realized. 'I'm the only one that knows about his injury! He must've already reached his time limit for today, and... Only I know his secret!'

"Deku!" Ochako shrieked as she reached them. "Your arm! It's all broken!"

"A-Ah, I'm fine, Uraraka," he brushed it off, only glancing at the worried girl for a moment before looking back at the dust plume, which was just starting to clear.

"So, you hoped to stop his movements by embedding him in concrete?" Tomura said amusedly. "It wouldn't have worked either way. He's as strong as you are, All Might."

Izuku's eyes widened when he saw that Nomu had been driven through a portal, and came back up to grip All Might's torso. His fingers dug in and drew blood from his side where the injury was.

"Perfect timing by the way, Kurogiri," Tomura continued.

"Impressive for first offenders, but prepare yourselves!" All Might proclaimed, hiding his pain well.

Nomu lifted All Might so that the hero had to let go of him, and held him over the portal he was bending through.

"I normally don't like blood and guts in my portals, but I'll gladly accept those of the #1 hero!" Kurogiri mocked as Nomu began pulling All Might through the portal. "You see, it's the job of Nomu's speed and strength to catch you, while it's my job to close the portal while you're halfway through and cut you in half!"

"S-Stay back," Izuku said to his friends, taking a tentative step forward. 'No, All Might... There are still so many things... So many reasons you need to stay!' "ALL MIIIGHT!" Izuku yelled, running toward his hero.

"Deku, no!" Ochako screamed, though Mina held her back from running after him.

"Foolish..." Kurogiri sighed, warping in front of Izuku.

'No, Midoriya!' All Might thought, looking at Izuku. 'Don't!'

Suddenly, Katsuki came out of seemingly nowhere and let off an explosion in Kurogiri's side. Then, he pinned him down by the metal neck brace.

"What the fuck are you doing, Deku?!" he shouted. "The fuck happened to your arm?!"

A blast of ice covered Nomu's body before All Might was able to be bought into the portal.

"I heard you people are here to kill All Might," Shoto said, walking forward.

Eijiro jumped in and tried to hit Tomura, but the villain sidestepped nonchalantly.

"Damn, I almost had him!" the hardening teen cursed.

"This misty fuck isn't all that great," Katsuki sneered.

"You fools aren't good enough to ever kill All Might," Shoto announced with finality.

"Kacchan! Guys!" Izuku exclaimed, never more happy to see his childhood friend.

"Deku, I'm serious!" Katsuki yelled again. "Get the fuck out of here with that fucked arm!"

'Young Todoroki had enough control to just barely not freeze me!' All Might realized. 'So Nomu's grip is loosened!'

All Might jumped out of Nomu's grasp and landed back with the students. He tenderly touched at his sides, which were bleeding from where Nomu's fingers penetrated.

Tomura turned to Katsuki, who was holding down Kurogiri's body. "You've pinned down our way out... This is a problem."

"It's just like I thought," Katsuki said to Kurogiri confidently. "When we attacked you, you said 'that was close'. You wouldn't have said that if you didn't have a physical body underneath."

"Nng–" Kurogiri struggled to get out of Katsuki's grasp.

"Don't you fucking dare!" Katsuki snapped threateningly. "If I think you're up to anything fishy, I'll blow the shit outta you!"

"That isn't very heroic," Eijiro chuckled nervously.

"Not only did you beat our stage, but you did it with almost full health," Tomura said oddly calmly, clasping his hands. "Kids today sure are something... Nomu, kill that explosive brat. We need our escape route back."

Suddenly Nomu, even though his frozen leg and arm shattered as he did so, stood out of the portal. He began hobbling towards the heroes on one leg.

"N-No way!" Izuku exclaimed. "He's still moving even though his body is crumbling apart!"

"All of you, stay back!" All Might held his arm out at the students. "I thought his Quirk is shock absorption!"

"I don't remember saying that that was his only Quirk," Tomura pondered as Nomu's limbs began reforming. "This is Hyper Regeneration. He's a superhuman sandbag designed to take you at your best."

Nomu jumped towards Katsuki and released a punch that kicked up a cloud of dust and sent out a shockwave in all directions, knocking back the other students.

"Kacchan!?" Izuku shouted, looking up at his friend who was actually fine, though he was blown away from the warp villain who got away. "Did you do dodge that? No way!"

"Of course I didn't fucking dodge it," Katsuki snapped back. 'I didn't even see it coming!'

All Might, who had taken the hit for Katsuki, coughed up blood. "He doesn't know how to hold back, does he?" he panted.

"Anything to save a comrade, huh?" Tomura scoffed. "Like earlier, when that plain kid tried to paralyze me or whatever. Violence for the sake of saving others is admirable, isn't it?

"You know what, All Might? It pisses me off! Heroes and villains both thrive on violence, yet we're categorized into good and evil. 'Symbol of Peace'? Hah! In the end, you're just another tool of violent oppression against those of us who society disagrees with. Your violence will only ever breed more violence! I'll show that to the world by killing you!"

"What a load of crap!" All Might shouted. "Villains with real idealism have a fire in their eyes... You're just doing this for fun, you liar!"

"Heh, you got me," Tomura sighed. "You saw right through me, huh?"

"It's 3-on-5," Shoto said.

"And Kacchan showed us the mist's weak point!" Izuku exclaimed.

"These guys are tough, but with all of us, we'll win!" Eijiro said, hitting his fist into his palm.

"No! Get out of here!" All Might told the students.

"Things wouldn't have worked out so well if we hadn't stepped in," Shoto argued.

"All Might, you're bleeding!" Izuku said, before noticing the steam rising from the hero's body. "And your time!"

"Todoroki, you are right," All Might said, purposely ignoring Izuku's point. "But fear not! Sit back and watch a pro get serious!"

"Nomu, Kurogiri, take him," Tomura instructed. "I'll handle the kids."

'It's true that I only have barely a minute,' All Might thought with a grimace. 'I'm wearing down faster than I expected, but... I have no choice here! Because I am the Symbol of Peace!'

Tomura lunged towards the students, while Nomu fired straight for All Might, who met him halfway. The force of their collision actually forced Tomura to leap back.

"A head on assault?" Tomura said in disbelief. "He's got Shock Absorption, idiot!"

"That's right!" All Might shouted as he traded countless blows with the creature at 100% power. "It's Shock Absorption, not Shock Nullification! That means he has a limit! You say he's built to withstand my 100%? Then I'll go beyond that!"

'He's pushing so hard,' Izuku thought worriedly. 'And he's spitting up so much blood!'

"A hero is always willing to smash through limits to save the day!" All Might wound back his arm. "Tell me villain, do you know the meaning of... PLUS ULTRA!?"

All Might hit Nomu with a huge uppercut that sent him flying out of USJ's dome with a sonic boom.

"H-Holy shit!" Eijiro exclaimed, looking up at the hole in the dome. "He smashed through the absorption like straight out of a manga! What a bruiser!"

"And the regeneration couldn't keep up with those fast attacks..!" Katsuki said, stunned.

"AHAHAHA!" All Might bellowed, clenching his fist. "Ooh, yeah, I am weaker! In my prime, it would've only taken 5 of those hits... That was more like 200! Ahaha!" 'Damn, my time's up...' "Well villain, how about we finish this quickly, eh?"

"No... You cheated..." Tomura accused, scratching his neck. "You've weakened? No, we were completely outmatched! How dare you do that to Nomu? Damn it, I was lied to!"

"... Well, are you going to come get me?" All Might asked, glaring at the villains. "What happened to clearing the game? Well if you think you can take me, then bring it on!"

"We aren't ready for this level yet," Shoto decided and their group began to step back.

"Hey Midoriya, c'mon," Eijiro said, turning to the only one of them not walking away. "Let's hang back for now. They'll take you hostage or something if we try anything, so let's go."

'No, he's bluffing to buy time!' Izuku mentally screamed. 'He's all out of steam! He can't even move, can he?'

"Deku, let's go," Ochako said, walking up behind him. "A-And how's your arm feeling?"

"Eh? Oh, it's fine," Izuku said, turning to the Zero Gravity user. "I thought you went back."

"No way! I can't run away when you guys are being all brave!"

Tomura scratched at his neck furiously. "If only we still had Nomu... He was taking those hits so well!"

"Calm down, Tomura Shigaraki," Kurogiri said quietly. "Nomu definitely dealt some damage. The kids are holding back for some reason, and reinforcements will be here soon. If we double-team him right now, we have a chance!"

"Ah, yes, yes," Tomura sighed, removing his hands from his neck. "Right, right, right, we can do this... The final boss is right there!"

"Uraraka," Izuku said, seeing the villains start to move, "give me your hand."

"E-Eh?" Ochako's face flushed a deep red. "W-Why?"

"Just do it!" he said sternly.

"R-Right..!" Ochako held out her hand, too confused and embarrassed to realize what Izuku was doing.

"This is revenge for Nomu!" the villains shouted as they approached All Might.

Izuku grabbed Ochako's hand in an odd way, so that he touched all of her finger pads before she even realized it.

"Deku, what're you–?!"

"Thanks, Uraraka!" Izuku shouted before shooting his weightless body forward with his telekinesis. 'I'm sorry, but... I'm the only one that knows the trouble he's in!'

Izuku plunged his left fist into Kurogiri's metal brace before the villain could react, cracking it and making the him stagger.

"He's... Fast?" Tomura gawked, before plunging his arm into Kurogiri. "This is my only chance, then..!"

The hand came out at Izuku, but he moved his body back to stand with All Might. Tomura stared the two heroes down for a moment, before taking a step forward. Suddenly, a bullet shot through his arm.

"T-They're here!" All Might exclaimed gladly.

At the top of the stairs stood a dozen pro heroes, along with Tenya Iida who yelled out, "I'm sorry it took so long everyone, but we brought everyone we could!"

"Ah, game over," Tomura sighed. "Let's try again another time, Kurogiri–" The pro hero Snipe shot several more times into the villain, who crawled through Kurogiri's portal and looked back at All Might. "I may have failed here, Symbol of Peace, but you're dead the next time we meet!"

And with that, the portal closed.

"What in tarnation?" Snipe asked in confusion.

"I can't believe they just fled after such a flashy invasion," Midnight sighed.

"They took us completely off guard," Nezu said brightly as he was set down by Vlad King, the class 1-B teacher. "But right now, let's concern ourselves with the safety of the students."

"Young Midoriya," All Might said, making Izuku turn to see his mentor's state. He has only halfway transformed now, blood leaking from his mouth through ragged breathing. A cloud of steam was rising off of him. "You... If you hadn't gotten in the way, then... I'd be dead. You saved me again, Young Midoriya!"

"All Might..." Izuku smiled up at his hero. "I'm glad you're okay." Izuku winced as the adrenaline began to wear off and he felt the pain of his one broken arm and the bloody knuckles on his other hand from Kurogiri's metal brace.

"Deku!" Ochako yelled as she ran over.

"Midoriya, you okay?!" Eijiro shouted from behind her.

"Oh no, they'll find out!" All Might realized as they grew near.

Suddenly, the floor jutted up in a concrete wall courtesy of Cementoss, who told the two concerned students, "We need to make sure you guys are all okay, so go back to the entrance. I'll deal with the wounded here."

"Makes sense!" Eijiro said, starting to run for the front of USJ.

"B-But Deku..." Ochako protested weakly.

"I'm fine!" Izuku called, running around the wall of cement. "I just need some attention for my arm, so I'll go to the entrance too."

Cementoss nodded his head after a moment and the two students walked off.

"When will you stop giving me heart attacks?!" Ochako scolded. "And look at your hand! It's all bloody! And your arm is broken too! And I can't believe you just used my Quirk like that to put yourself in danger!"

"Ahaha, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Izuku laughed, scratching the back of his neck with his bloodied hand.

Once they got outside, Izuku was sent to Recovery Girl to get his arm and hand healed. The police, led by Detective Tsukauchi, took a head count of the students.

"Alright..." the detective sighed, going over the list on his clipboard one more time. "Looks like the kid with the broken arm was the only injured student."

"Hey Ojiro," Toru said, putting a hand on the tailed teen's shoulder. "You were in the collapsed zone with Midoriya and Ashido? Wow, that must've been tough!"

"Midoriya came up with a good plan to get through it," Mashirao said. "Where were you, Hagakure?"

"In the conflagration zone with Todoroki! He's crazy strong!"

Shoto realized that he could easily have accidentally frozen her along with the other villains, and was immensely glad that he hadn't.

"Does anybody have a guess as to where I was?" Yuga asked, although the rest of the students ignored him.

"... So, how sure are we that Uraraka and Midoriya aren't dating?" Eijiro asked.

"I don't know about Round Face, but Deku doesn't have the balls to ask anyone out," Katsuki chuckled. "It probably ain't happening."

Ochako didn't hear this exchange.

Yuga instead turned to Tsuyu, "Where do you think I was?"

"Where, kero?" she asked.

He declared, "It's a secret!"

Detective Tsukaichi announced, "Let's get you all back to your classroom. This is no time to collect statements from you."

"Detective?" Tsuyu asked. "What about Aizawa Sensei?"

"Both of his arms were smashed to splinters," he said. "His face was fractured, too. It doesn't seem he'll have permanent damage there, but his eye sockets were pulverized. He may have long-term vision issues."

Hitoshi seemed particularly upset, while Tsuyu offered a sad "kero."

"Thirteen has lacerations on his back and arms, but it isn't life-threatening. All Might's injuries aren't too bad, and he was sent to the nurse's office."

"What about Deku?" Ochako asked. "He's fine, right?"

"Dek–..? Oh, the other student. He's fine. He went back to the nurse's office with All Might. Actually, I have some business there, myself. Sansa, take over for me."

An officer with a cat head saluted him.

In the nurse's office, Recovery Girl looked at the two she had resting in bed. "I can't scold you two, considering what happened," she sighed.

"Damn..." All Might grunted. "I pushed it too much and probably shortened my time limit again... I'll be lucky if I have 1 or 2 hours a day."

"All Might..." Izuku frowned.

"Eheh, what are ya gonna do?" All Might shrugged, sitting up. "Bad stuff happens."

The door opened, and Detective Tsukauchi entered, saying, "Pardon me. Ah, it's been a while, All Might!"

"Tsukauchi?! I didn't know you were here!" All Might exclaimed.

"Aah! All Might, is this alright? You're–" Izuku freaked out for a moment because All Might wasn't in his muscle form.

"It's fine, Young Midoriya," All Might assured. "He's a good friend who's with the police, Naomasa Tsukauchi!"

"Thanks for the introduction," the detective chuckled. "Not to rush you or anything, but I have some questions about the villains–"

"Wait!" All Might cut him off. "What about the students? And Aizawa and Thirteen?"

"Well, besides this guy here, there were no student injuries," Naomasa said. "And the teachers are out of danger now. If you three hadn't put your lives on the line, then the students wouldn't have made it out unscathed."

"I see... But you got one thing wrong, Tsukauchi. It was the students who fought with their lives, not just the teachers. They faced such a battle so young... They know the dangers of the world, now. I've never seen such a class as first years, have you? Those villains picked the wrong fight. These kids will be mighty heroes, and I'll make sure of it."

"Touching," Recovery Girl grinned, making her way over to Izuku and handing him a piece of paper. "You're free to go, kid. Don't come back here too often."

"Yeah, I'm sorry," he nodded his head, getting up and making his way to the door. "Thanks Recovery Girl. And thanks, All Might."

Toshinori flashed Izuku a thumbs up as he walked out.

"Ah, Deku!" Ochako said as he walked out into the hallway. She held his backpack out to him. "I came to bring you this and check up on you."

"Ah thanks," he said, taking the weightless yellow backpack. "Are we being let out early?"

"Well, duh!" Ochako sighed, releasing her Quirk as Izuku put the bag on his back. "We have tomorrow off, too."

"Really? That's good, I guess." Izuku and Ochako started walking.

"H-Hey, Deku," she said, glancing at the ground. "You work out on days off, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded his head. "Whenever I don't have anything planned, I fill the gaps with training."

"W-Well, I was wondering if, y'know, I might be able to join you?"

Izuku looked at her with a smile. "Definitely! I'd be glad for some company, really. I'd work out with Kacchan, but..."

"Yeah, no need to explain that one," Ochako grinned.

"I start my morning run at about 6 usually, if you want to join in for that," Izuku said. "Otherwise, I'm ready anytime tomorrow."

"Where at?" she asked.

"Oh, I don't really have a gym membership," Izuku realized. "I just work out at my apartment. I have dumbbells, a bench with a bar, and a machine for back exercises."

"Really? That's pretty sweet!" Ochako said. "You can text me your address later!"

"Alright," Izuku said, smiling. But in the back of his mind, he was worried about how his mother would react to the fact that a girl would be going over to his place.

They walked down the steps of U.A., and were surprised to see Katsuki waiting for them.

"About fucking time, Deku," he snarled.

"What are you doing here, Kacchan?" Izuku asked.

"What the fuck were you doing, jumping out there with that damn broken arm?!" the blonde shouted. "If you fucking die, then I won't have anyone else to crush! Except the icy bastard, but that's beside the point!"

"Ah, I'm sorry," Izuku laughed. "I'll try to keep myself healthy enough to challenge you."

Katsuki joined their walk, on the opposite side of Izuku as Ochako. She studied Katsuki's scowling face from across Izuku, wondering exactly why he was there. Izuku may have forgiven the blonde for reasons she couldn't understand, but she wasn't very keen on spending time with him.

"Anyway, that was pretty crazy, huh?" Izuku said, looking at Katsuki. "We've been at U.A. for one week, and we've already fought real villains!"

"Real stupid villains," Katsuki scoffed. "Not only did they think they could take All Might, but they thought they could handle me!"

"All Might had to save you from the bird," Ochako pointed out.

"Shut the fuck up Round Face!" Katsuki shouted. "At least I didn't have to see the nurse afterwards!"

"You got me," Izuku chuckled.

"How the fuck did that happen, anyway?" Katsuki raised an eyebrow.

"The... Bird guy," Izuku admitted, chuckling nervously.

"Eh? You really let that guy get you? Fucking loser!" Katsuki chuckled.

"I'm sure I would've been fine if All Might saved me too," Izuku retorted.

"Shut the fuck up. I wasn't the one stupid enough to jump out and get in All Might's way in the end there."

"Yeah, why did you do that?" Ochako asked. "All Might had it handled, right?"

"I-I just moved without thinking," Izuku explained, scratching his neck and chuckling nervously.

"You have a bad habit of that," Katsuki grunted, crossing his arms. "You should get that fixed before you jump to your fucking death."

"Bakugo," Ochako gasped. "Do you actually care about Deku's well-being?"

"Huh? Fuck no!" Katsuki exclaimed. "I just won't let this idiot die until the next time we get to fight!"

"Well I'm glad you're okay at least, Deku," Ochako giggled. Once they reached the station, she gave Izuku a "See ya tomorrow!" as they parted, leaving Katsuki confused.

"You're hanging out with her tomorrow?" the blonde asked once they got on their train, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah," Izuku said. "She's going to work out with me."

"You two gonna be working up a sweat?" he grinned.

"Definitely!" Izuku said, before realizing what Katsuki was insinuating. "Wait! No, it's not like that!"

"No shit," Katsuki sneered. "No way you'd get a girlfriend before me."

"W-Why is everything a competition?" Izuku sweatdropped. "Nevermind. You'll be exercising tomorrow too?"

"Of fucking course I am. It's your fault you're gonna be distracted by Round Face all day instead of keeping up with me, but I won't complain if I get a head start."

Izuku laughed at his friend's attitude. 'Some things never change, but...' "Kacchan... I'm glad you're taking me seriously now."

Katsuki just scoffed and looked away.

'... Some things never change.'

"All Might," Naomasa sighed, leaning against the wall of the nurse's office. "You can't keep taking risks like that. Especially since you haven't passed it on yet."

"I know, I know," the skeletal man admitted. "But I had to do something, right?"

"Toshinori," Recovery Girl said, "when will you give it to the boy, exactly?"

"I haven't decided," he replied, clenching his fist. "But it isn't the time to give it to him yet."

Naomasa's face noticeably darkened. "You really can't wait. Considering what your old sidekick said all those years ago..."

"Don't worry," All Might chuckled. "I'm still kicking. And it'll stay that way until he's ready to receive my offer."