61

Ochako woke up with Deku's arm around her like she did almost every morning. Mina and Momo were on his left, which meant she got his right side all to herself, and she was using it. Her arms were wrapped tightly around him, pulling herself as close to him as possible. Her legs were wrapped around his, and her head was pushed firmly into his shoulder. She looked like a koala hanging off a Deku tree.

They hadn't gotten a chance to really talk the previous night, as they were all so exhausted, but they could all tell that something was troubling Deku. The reason she was clinging to him so tightly was because she knew he was hurting, and she wanted to help him as best she could. Until he woke up and they could talk, this was the best option. Hopefully, her affection would seep through and make him feel better. 

She looked up at his face and saw that his eyes were open, much to her surprise. Normally when he woke up, he would make this cute growling noise and give one of them a kiss on the forehead, but he was just staring at the ceiling. 

He noticed her moving and looked down at her face with a soft smile, but she could still see the worry behind his eyes. Ochako untangled herself from him and drew herself to her full length along the bed so she was looking down at him instead. She propped herself up on her elbow and leaned down to kiss his forehead before gently stroking one of his horns.

They really had gotten bigger since they started dating; each one now extended from above his eyebrows to around his temple, curving along his head like the beginning of a laurel crown. His beautiful green eyes looked up at her, still looking quite humanoid, unlike the permanently-slitted eyes of his father, uncle, and cousin. She wondered when that change happened; perhaps once he had mastered his full transformation? Now that she thought about it, were they thinner than they had been at the start of the year, or was she just seeing things?

Deku closed his eyes as she gently stroked his horn, but the purring that normally rose from his throat was nowhere to be found. She had waited long enough; it was time to figure things out.

"Momo, Mina," she called firmly, but not too loudly. Momo's eyes opened softly at her name, but Mina's flew open. Unlike her normal morning sluggishness, Mina seemed ready to go.

"We're all awake?" Mina asked. "Great. Midori, talk." 

He nodded as he lay there, his arms wrapped around all three of his girlfriends. Momo propped herself up on her elbow much like Ochako had, forcing Mina to roll over so she was almost on top of Deku, which she didn't mind. 

"My trainer yesterday was Purifier. My uncle Hatsuo," he began slowly. "He's… basically always hated me." 

"Hated you?" Ochako repeated.

Momo raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that who Todoroki interned with?"

Deku nodded. "Yes. To both. Do you remember when I explained that chromatics are evil to you all? My father believes that I can be what I want to be, but Hatsuo always thought he was being a fool for training me."

Ochako furrowed her brow. Nobody should tell Deku what he can't do. 

"He thinks you are doomed to be evil?" Momo asked. "That sounds… defeatist. Does he think you have no control over yourself?" 

"He's seen what chromatics can do," Deku said softly. "Terrorflame killed his father." 

Mina bristled a little. "Terrorflame killed your dad's dad too and that doesn't stop him from loving you. Purifier wants you to, what, give up? Throw away all the work you've put in?"

Deku paused before he spoke. "No… No, I think he accepted that I won't do that, so he wants me to… 'accept who I am'. In his mind, the dragon is who we are, not the person. To him, he is Purifier, and Hatsuo is the 'mask' he wears."

"But," Ochako protested, "that's not how you've described it to us. That's not what your dad said back in the hospital. He's not Stormclaw." 

"He is sometimes," Deku mumbled. "Just like I am Defiant sometimes. But… all the time?" 

Momo looked deep in thought, but she wasn't saying anything.

Ochako touched Deku's horns again. "Deku, we know you have dark thoughts, dark impulses, but that's not who you are. We fell in love with the kind, considerate, heroic parts of you. You are not your instincts." 

Deku smiled softly, but there was still doubt in his eyes. "Hatsuo said the exact opposite. 'You are your instincts'."

"I think I understand," Momo said suddenly. "To your father, the baseline is Hisashi. He becomes Stormclaw with his quirk. To your uncle, the baseline is Purifier. He can bring Hatsuo out, but he always returns to Purifier."

Deku looked at Momo fondly. "That's a good way of putting it."

"That explains why he hates chromatics so much," Mina noted. "For him, he can't escape his quirk, so he thinks you can't either. That must sound like hell to him." 

Deku's eyes moved down to Mina. "He said he was afraid. Just like I am. Afraid of what Defiant can do." 

There was a silence in the room. The women looked at each other and then back down to Deku. 

Ochako spoke first. "I've never thought you were a bad person. Your quirk isn't you."

"That line is getting more blurred every day," Deku responded. "I can't run from it anymore."

"You haven't been running from it since the USJ," Mina said, running her fingers up his stomach and chest. "You've been fighting it." 

Momo reached over and tousled his hair a little. "You know as well as I do that we're hardest on ourselves. I don't think you're as 'evil' as you think you are." 

"You're Defiant, right?" Ochako asked. "You're not going to let someone tellin' you that you're evil stop you from bein' a hero, are you?" 

"No," Deku said immediately. "Never. I just have a lot to think about. A lot to consider."

Mina laid her head down on his chest. "So, what do you think? Which one is right? Your father or your uncle?" 

Deku paused for a few moments. "Neither. And both. I can never be fully Izuku. My quirk is ever present. But… Defiant isn't who I am. Not yet, at least." 

"You're making it sound so final," Mina huffed, almost pouting. "Midori, as far as I see it, Defiant is new in all of this. You are training your quirk every day, you're changing every day. None of us are the same people as we were at the start of school."

Momo gave Mina a small hug. "She's right. The Defiant of the festival isn't the Defiant of today, is he?" 

Deku thought for a moment. "I… guess not." 

Mina smiled. "There, see? You're still figuring things out; we're still figuring things out. This isn't a question that's going to be answered snuggling in bed."

"Yeah," Ochako agreed. "You told me in the first week that you had an evil quirk. That you were a villain waitin' to happen, but look at all the good you've done! You saved us at the USJ, you saved Tsu, you survived Stain. You've helped almost everyone in the class with somethin'. You're the Deku who does his best, the one who never gives up. You're the Deku who can do it!" 

He smiled wide for the first time, showing off his fangs. "There have been a lot of close calls but… with you all, I'll make it through. I just don't know exactly who I am right now."

"You're Deku," Ochako answered.

"You're Midori," Mina followed.

"You're Zu."

"You're a hero."

"You're our boyfriend," Mina said with a giggle.

"Our class representative," Momo added.

"You're Izuku," Ochako said firmly.

"You're Defiant," Mina continued.

"You're you," Momo finished.

Deku's mouth fell open. "I… did you all practice that?" 

Mina giggled. "No, but it was super cool!" She reached over and gave Ochako a high five as they all laughed. 

"Thank you all," Deku almost whispered as he grew his arms longer and wrapped them all up in a tight hug. "I'll figure it out, but I won't do it alone." 

Ochako giggled again and kissed him on the lips. "We'll be beside you." 

He released the hug and they all slumped back down on the bed. They lay there in a comfortable silence for several minutes, each of them enjoying the lack of tension that was now in the air. 

"You know," Momo said after a while, looking down at Mina, "you make very astute observations about people. You find connections that I would never have seen. Why can't you do that well with your other studies?"

Mina laughed once. "Ha! People are easy. Calculus can suck my dick."

"You don't have a dick," Ochako pointed out.

"No, but that is a fantastic segue!" Mina said with a teasing grin. "Do you know who does have a dick?"

"Um," Deku mumbled as his face began to turn green, but Ochako saw that excited glint in his eyes.

The three women grinned as they began to move.

Izuku was filled with a wonderful afterglow as he pulled his shirt over his head. His jaw was a little sore, but seeing the goofy, satisfied smiles on the women's faces was more than worth it. They'd helped him work through his stress and his worry in more than one way, for which he couldn't be more grateful. His mind was clearer and his quirk was less agitated, meaning he could actually have his head on straight for the rest of the day. 

He took a moment to appreciate the smells flowing through the room. The diminishing scents of the women's satiated desire mixed with their natural scents and the smell of their bodywash and shampoo made his quirk hum like a lazy, content cat. 

Mina tossed a towel that Momo had created to the side after wiping herself off and then stretched her arms high. She still wasn't wearing a shirt and he couldn't help but glance down at her healthy chest. They were perky and large, smaller only than Momo in their class as far as they knew, but even Momo was smaller than Pony. That secret had stayed a secret, however. He wouldn't break the trust of any of his hoard. If he included women not in the class, then Momo and Nejire were about the same size, but he didn't have all day to think about breasts, even if three very nice pairs were in front of him.

Mine.

"You're a lucky guy," Mina said with a smirk as she caught him staring. "Three beautiful, sexy women all to yourself." 

He smiled softly. "And each other."

Ochako grinned as she leaned against Mina and gave her a kiss. "Who could forget?"

"And yeah, I know," Izuku added. "I'm the luckiest guy in Japan."

"Gee, Izuku, how come your mom lets you have three girlfriends?" Mina asked in a strange voice.

Izuku blinked. "Um, my mom? What?"

"Forget it," Mina added quickly. "Are you feeling better?" 

He eyed her suspiciously before nodding. "Yes, I am. Thanks for talking with me. I know it'll be tough, but I have to keep moving forward."

Momo smiled as she created a perfectly-fitting and very comfortable-looking bra over her own chest. "Exactly. You didn't let me flounder when I was in turmoil, we won't let you flounder."

"God, I'm so glad you're over that," Ochako sighed. "It hurt to see you suffering."

Momo pursed her lips as she created a new pair of underwear to replace her recently destroyed pair. "'Over' might be a strong word, but I am making progress. Good progress, thanks to you all."

Mina reached over and gave Momo a big hug as she looked over at Izuku. "Finals are getting closer. Do you know what that means?"

"The end of our first semester?" Ochako asked.

"Our biggest tests to date?" Momo suggested.

Izuku locked eyes with Mina. "Tsu."

"We have a winner!" she declared cheerfully. "I've been trying to get her more and more used to the idea about being partners with us. Ochako and her are basically best friends, Momo and her have been very friendly ever since that date."

"It was a very nice date," Momo said softly. 

Mina grinned. "I can't wait to go on one myself. Where was I? Right. I've spent more time with her, hanging out and watching scary movies. She loves them almost as much as Ochako hates them."

Ochako pouted. "I don't get what you like about being scared."

" Anyway… " Mina teased as she stuck her tongue out at Ochako. "Midori, you had the internship with her and I know you two have aquatic training once or twice a week, but I was wondering if you wouldn't want to do something a little more… direct."

"You're working on her platonically, but you want her to get more used to the idea of physicality," Izuku deduced.

Mina sighed dreamily. "God, you're hot when you're smart."

"He's always smart," Ochako laughed.

"Your point?" Mina asked with a knowing smirk. "But, yeah. What do you think?"

Izuku rubbed his chin in thought. "I have an idea. It may give me a chance to… practice with Defiant. Or perhaps more accurately, to let Defiant practice."

"Practice what?" Momo asked. 

"One of my biggest strengths is persuasion and manipulation," he reminded her. "I have a plan to help reinforce what she has waiting for her. I have to go talk to Kacchan first, but after that, I can hunt her down."

"Poor Tsu," Mina giggled.

"Don't worry," Izuku assured her with a fanged smile. "I'm not going to lay a hand on her."

Tsuyu was walking down the stairs later that morning when she heard a familiar voice call her name.

"Tsu, I was hoping to run into you."

She turned to see Izuchan walking toward her, smiling widely with Bakugou at his side. What was he doing going up to the fifth floor? None of his girlfriends were up here.

"Did you need something?" she asked, tipping her head to the side. 

His smile widened more, showing off his sharp fangs. His eyes were glowing a little and he looked almost predatory, but it was offset by the kindness on his face. Besides, she trusted him; he had saved her life at least three times. "I just wanted a moment of your time, if that's alright." 

Bakugou kept walking as he stopped to talk to her. The two men exchanged a nod as the blonde continued up and entered the fifth floor. 

"Of course, Izuchan. What's up?" she responded as the door closed.

"Well, Mina told me about what you told her, about how you were waiting until finals to try anything," he explained, never losing his grin.

Oh. It was going to be one of those conversations. Tsuyu nodded as her eyes traced slowly over his fangs. "Yeah?"

He chuckled. "Well, finals are almost here and I just wanted to say a few things. We're in a strange position, wouldn't you say?" 

"What do you mean?" she asked. Tsuyu had a pretty good idea of what he meant, but she felt like being coy for some reason. 

"You've declared your intentions to be in a relationship with us, haven't you?" he clarified, moving a little closer to her. "You went on a date with one of our girlfriends. You hit on me back during internship week, and you told Mina that you'd join us after finals. You're basically already dating us." 

Tsuyu blinked up at him. "I want to focus on finals before I get involved."

"A noble goal," Izuchan said in a low voice, much different than his normal way of speaking. "But you do want to get involved."

She felt her breath getting heavier. "Yes, ribbit."

His eyes closed as he chuckled softly. When he opened them, they were draconic and glowing with a firm light. "Are you looking forward to it? Us holding you, hugging you, kissing you… Spending the nights snuggled up between Ochako, Mina, Momo, and myself?" 

Her heart rate began picking up more and more. She nodded. 

"We're looking forward to it, too," he growled as he put a hand against the wall on her left side. He leaned down as he moved even closer. His fanged smile and his slitted eyes were making the froggy part of her brain panic, but her feet were rooted in place. "I can hardly wait for my first taste of you, prey." 

"Prey?" she said softly with trepidation. It felt like her mind was running in two different directions. One wanted to run, but the much stronger part was responsible for the heat pooling down in her depths. Honestly, the 'flight' part of her was just making her hotter.

He chuckled darkly again as his teeth parted, showing off his sharp fangs even more. "Yes. I am the hunter. And you are the prey. Make no mistake: I always get my prey." 

Her breath hitched as a powerful pulse of desire echoed through her. A low, needy ribbit rose from her throat as she looked up at him with lidded eyes.

Izuchan leaned in closer. His muscular chest and arms were keeping her in place. She could feel his breath on her neck. She couldn't see it, but she knew his fangs were only inches from her. Her eyes closed and her legs began to shake with anticipation as she tilted her head to the side, almost presenting herself to him.

"But one of the most important parts of being a hunter, " he began as his voice became deep and draconic, " is patience ."

There was a beat where time stood still, then she heard the sound of footsteps on stairs. Tsuyu opened her eyes and saw Izuchan walking down the flight away from her, giving her a friendly wave. His draconic eyes were nowhere in sight, and his smile was cheerful and friendly. "Good chat! I'll talk to you later, Tsu!" 

She blinked at him as he waved one last time and disappeared through the door to the fourth floor. 

Tsuyu stood there for several moments, her back pushed against the walls as her legs trembled and she panted heavily. The heat in her depths was burning bright and her heart was still racing as she finally managed to move. 

She took a step down the stairs, but she realized she had completely forgotten what she was going to do. Her mind was completely filled with thoughts of Izuchan and his girlfriends and her hormones were making it all but impossible for her to think about anything else. 

Tsuyu let out a ribbit that was halfway between needy and annoyed as she turned around and began to walk slowly back up to the fifth floor. She needed some 'alone' time.

Katsuki knocked on Kirishima's door firmly. Izuku had found Asui on the stairs, so he didn't get to hear what his friend wanted to talk to her about, but he had more important things to worry about. He had just finished his chat with Izuku about fucking Purifier , which seemed to have gone surprisingly well. The surly bastard was trying to 'help' Izuku in his own frustrating way. 

Now it was time to deal with bullet point number two on his 'exhausting social bullshit' calendar for the day. Izuku was in a good enough spot and Katsuki made sure his head was still on straight, so it was Kirishima's turn. 

She had been acting weird all last evening after they had gotten back from their training and Katsuki wasn't the kind of person to let that simmer. He dealt with this crap head on. 

The door opened to reveal a messy-haired Kirishima with a sweatband around her head. She was in a tanktop and shorts and he had obviously interrupted her working out, judging by the dumbbells sitting in the middle of her floor.

"Hey, Bakubro, what's up?" she asked, wiping her forehead with a towel. 

"Can we talk?" he asked directly. 

"Oh, uh, sure," Kirishima said as she stepped aside to let him in. He walked over and sat down in the chair at her desk as she closed the door. "What's the problem, can I help?"

Katsuki shot her a glare. "I'm here to talk about you, Shitty Hair. I don't do this for just anyone, so be grateful." 

She immediately stiffened up. "About me? What do you mean?" 

"Come on," Katsuki scoffed gruffly, "don't fuck with me. You came back from training all twisted up. Something's bugging you and you're gonna spill it."

Her eyes went wide. "Oh, you're uh, concerned for me?"

"Of course I am!" he growled. "You're my friend, dammit. Now come on. What happened yesterday?"

Kirishima sat down on her bed as she looked down at the ground. "Um, I don't really think I should talk about it."

Katsuki sighed. "What're you always saying? No regrets? Come on, don't bottle things up. Only weaklings do that."

"You know, this is the most aggressive help I've ever been offered," she noted. "I guess that's kinda on brand for you, huh?"

"Look, I beat the stupid out of Izuku a long time ago. When he has a problem, we talk about it. Same goes for me." He pointed at her directly. "You are still holding onto that stupid. I'm not gonna let you keep going around with all that whatever stuffed in your skull." 

She blinked at him for a few seconds before she cracked a small smile. "Alright, I get it."

Katsuki nodded. "Good; then talk."

She sighed, looking down as she rubbed the back of her neck. "It's about Aniki. So maybe you know something about it, yeah?"

His eyes narrowed.

"Well, I saw him looking all scared when Purifier showed up, and I thought it was weird because it was like, his uncle, but he was all freaked out. I was worried so I told Hadou and she seemed worried too so we flew over to where Aniki and Purifier were training and we overheard them talking." 

'Oh crap.'

"They were talking about all this weird stuff," Kirishima continued, "about like, instincts and hoards and like, I don't even know. It was really weird." 

" Fuck ," Katsuki said aloud as he ran his hand down his face. 

"You're best friends with him, have you heard him talk like this before?" she asked concernedly. 

He pulled out his phone and unlocked it. "Need to get Izuku here."

"Woah, woah!" Kirishima exclaimed. "N-no way! I don't want him to know I overheard that!"

"You don't understand what you heard," Katsuki said firmly. How could this have happened? "He needs to know and he needs to talk to you."

"Um, are you sure?" She looked pale and about as nervous as Izuku did the first time they met All Might. 

"Yes. Don't worry, he's not going to be mad at you," Katsuki reassured her as he hit send on his phone. 

It was a tense and awkward few minutes that the pair sat in silence until the knock came at the door. Katsuki got up to get it, throwing the door open to see a curious-looking Izuku.

"What's up?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Come inside," Katsuki replied, turning away and heading back to his seat. 

"Is everything alright, Eiko?" Izuku asked, his voice heavy with worry as he shut the door. Katsuki could see the telltale glow of his worried quirk firing off in his eyes.

"Um, yeah, no, I'm fine," she mumbled.

Izuku could tell something was off, just like Katsuki could. Honestly, Izuku was so much more intuitive than him when it came to people, that the subtle signs that Katsuki was picking up were probably like blaring sirens to Izuku.

Katsuki ripped the bandage off. "She overheard some of your conversation with Purifier yesterday." 

Izuku's eyes erupted in a light that he almost never saw. Scales flashed up his neck as his entire body tensed. "What?!"

"Woah, woah, I'm sorry!" Kirishima exclaimed, stunned by his visceral reaction.

Izuku immediately regained control of himself. "No, no, Eiko, it's fine. I'm not upset with you, that was just… very surprising."

"How the hell did neither of you notice her?" Katsuki asked. "She's not exactly the epitome of stealth." 

"Well, Hadou helped-"

Izuku flinched again, which cut her off. "Did you say that Nejire was with you? Did she overhear too?" 

Kirishima nodded.

"We were so focused we didn't notice them," Izuku groaned as he held his head. He was silent for a few moments as he thought about what to do. "Well, I suppose what's done is done. I'm glad it was you two if it had to be someone." 

"I…" Kirishima began, "don't really follow. What's going on?" 

Izuku sat down on the ground and motioned for her to join him, which she did. "Eiko, what you overheard yesterday was my uncle and I having a discussio- argume- a fight about our quirks. You know how Tsu is a bit odd because of her quirk?" 

She nodded, concern clear on her face while she listened intently. 

"It's like that, but more subtle. At the same time, it's much more oppressive. Do you remember when Aizawa erased my quirk at the USJ?"

"Yeah, you got all weird," Kirishima said softly. "Like you forgot your memories and stuff."

Izuku nodded. "My quirk actually powers part of my brain. Aizawa gave me a sort of temporary lobotomy with his quirk. The only reason I survived was because my quirk was still weak. Anymore, Aizawa could kill me with just a look." 

She gasped. "Kill you?! No way!" 

Katsuki raised an eyebrow. Izuku was laying it on thick; normally he was more subtle and careful about stuff like this.

"It's true," Izuku continued with a solemn nod. "My entire family is like this in one way or another. It's subtle things that make us think or act differently than normal people." 

"What do you mean?" she asked. "You seem pretty normal to me, Aniki."

He smiled. "That's good to hear."

"She overheard the words 'instincts' and 'hoard'," Katsuki pointed out.

Izuku furrowed his brow. "How much did you hear?"

She paused to think, then told Izuku everything she could remember. As she spoke, Izuku's brow furrowed more and more. Even Katsuki was surprised by how much she had overheard.

"That is… a lot," Izuku said with a heavy sigh. 

"Sorry again," she said softly.

He took a deep breath to bolster himself. "I am flattered that you were concerned for me; please do not feel bad. Let me explain."

"But Momooooo," Mina whined.

Momo sighed. "You're the one who wanted help studying, don't complain when I actually make you do it." 

Mina dramatically collapsed face-first into the math textbook in front of her with another groan.

Ochako leaned over and patted her on the back gently. "Come on, we only have another chapter to get through for today. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel." 

"I'm not gonna make it, go on without me," she mumbled into the pages. 

Momo rolled her eyes. "What if we go do something else, then come back to this later? Maybe you just need time to decompress."

Mina perked up immediately. "Board games! I just got a new three player game and I want to try it out!" 

"That sounds fun," Ochako giggled, "but we need to finish this homework."

"One game and then we'll come back," Mina bargained. 

Momo nodded. "That is acceptable. I'll just have to beat you quickly so we can get back to business." 

"Winner gets to sleep in the middle tonight?" Ochako suggested. 

Mina ran over to her closet and pulled out a box. "You're on!"

Eiko's mind was racing. "That's… wow. Aniki, I had no idea." 

Aniki nodded solemnly. "I know it's a lot to take in. I hope you don't think ill of me." 

"Never!" she said immediately. "I look up to you, man. Ever since the USJ, you've been an inspiration to me. Knowing you're struggling with all this stuff just makes me even more impressed."

He smiled widely. "Thanks, Eiko. That means a lot to me."

"Can I just say something?" she asked. Aniki nodded. "Your quirks are… I mean, I can just harden, but you've got… all of that! It's just like an old storybook. How does that work?"

Aniki leaned back onto his hands. "I've thought about that a lot, actually. I'm thoroughly convinced that a major part of quirks is human imagination."

"Imagination?" Eiko repeated.

"Sure," he said with a smile. "Quirks exploded onto the scene about two centuries ago, which any biologist will tell you is far too quickly for any sort of natural evolution like that to take place. Even if you assume that, thanks to our intelligence, our selection was anything but natural, it doesn't make sense. Take Iida for example; he has a bonafide combustion engine in each of his calves, which is an invention only a century or so older than quirks themselves. Where did the DNA code for that come from? A purely human creation suddenly finds itself coded into the very genetic structure of the Iida family? Impossible if you assume only natural processes. At least, assuming the natural processes that we know exist." 

Eiko considered this for a moment. "So you think that imagination had a part in the creation of quirks because they're too complex and strange to be anything else?" 

He nodded. "Be it magic, a higher power, or something else entirely, humans have somehow begun to embody our own collective mythos and culture in very literal ways. My family is proof of that."

"I have one last question," Eiko said as she looked up at him.

"Shoot."

She took a deep breath. "How can I help?"

His smile grew and she saw a pulse of light from his eyes. "Keep being my friend. Stand by my side and put your all into being a hero. I'll make sure to keep pushing you and supporting you, so do the same for me. Oh, and keep all of this secret. I'm trusting you with this."

"I promise," Eiko declared emphatically. "Your secret is safe with me. I know you didn't want me to find out about this, but I'm glad you trust me."

"He was gonna wind up telling you eventually," Bakugou interjected with a scoff. "He says it's a big secret, but he tells anybody he gets close to." 

"Wait…" She faltered a little bit.

"Don't feel bad," Bakugou added, seeing her doubt, "that just means he trusts you and wants to be close to you."

"I'm right here, Kacchan," Aniki muttered.

"Tell me I'm wrong then," he snarked.

Aniki grumbled, but didn't say anything. 

"Yeah, he's not that hard to figure out," Bakugou continued, turning to Eiko. "Other than me, his literal best friend, think about who else he's told." 

"His girlfriends and Tsu?" Eiko posited. 

Bakugou nodded. "You're in good company. Welcome to the club. Now you don't have an excuse to not have to deal with Deku's bullshit."

"I feel so loved," Aniki muttered, but he was still grinning. He stood up from the floor and Eiko followed. She looked up into his eyes which were about four inches above her own and glowing with a soft light. She wondered what his quirk was saying.

Aniki leaned forward and gave Eiko a tight hug, hooking his head over her shoulder. She leaned into it and hugged him back, giving him a firm squeeze and holding him there as he did the same. She smiled as the pleasant smell of his hair and clothes filled her nose. After a moment, she realized she could smell Ochako, Mina, and Momo on him as well, and… maybe a hint of Tsu? Either way, he smelled nice, which only added to the comfort of the hug.

The two broke apart and turned to Bakugou, who was still sitting on the chair. He stood up and rolled his neck. "You feeling better now?" 

She nodded. "Yeah. Got a lot of things to think about, but yeah, I'm good."

"Good," he replied. "You still want my help studying later?"

With everything happening, Eiko had almost forgotten. "Oh yeah, for sure. I'll come by after lunch?"

He nodded as he and Aniki headed for the door. She gave them a smile and a wave as they left, closing the door behind them and leaving her alone in her room.

She stood there for a moment before she picked up her dumbbell and began to lift again. Aniki was dealing with more than she could ever imagine, but he was still pushing forward. Those things that Purifier had said… some of the things that Aniki had said… 

Eiko was determined to be his wall now more than ever. He deserved it.

Shouta was putting the final touches on his notes as Hizashi looked over his shoulder. 

"Wait, you're not putting anyone against me?" he asked, sounding hurt.

"No, I thought these matchups would better test my students," Shouta explained.

"This isn't because I forgot about our anniversary last week, is it?" he asked quietly.

Shouta looked up at him and blinked.

Hizashi's eyebrows dropped. "You forgot too, didn't you?"

"It's been a busy semester." 

"Okay, so it's not that. But come on, why leave me out?" Hizashi whined.

"I already told you," Shouta said with a sigh. "I think Kan has plans for you, so don't feel too left out. Maybe I just thought you'd be too much for any of my students." 

"With how much you talk about them?" he asked. "Doubtful. You actually have hope for this year." 

"How dare you?" Shouta said with a small smile as the rest of the teachers and even the president himself began to file into the small conference room.

It took several minutes for them to stop socializing and take their seats before Aizawa could begin speaking. "Thank you all for coming. Let's get right down to business. I'm setting each of you against a pair of my students for the physical part of their final this semester."

He ignored the indignant huff from Hizashi. 

"My plan is to try and assign students whose strengths are countered by your abilities. I want them to have to think. Any comments before I begin?"

Nobody spoke up.

"Ishiyama," he began, glancing up at Cementoss, "I'm setting you against Kirishima and Satou. They tend to have single-minded solutions to problems that normally involve brute force. Don't let them get away with that."

The stony man nodded.

"Ectoplasm, I'm assigning you Ashido and Asui. They're two of my most mobile and acrobatic students, but you should be able to overwhelm them."

"Understood," Ectoplasm muttered.

"Thirteen, you'll take on Uraraka and Jirou. Neither of them will be able to get close to you, and even Jirou's ranged attacks involve a physical part of her."

"I think that Uraraka girl is a fan of mine," Thirteen noted. "Don't worry, I won't go easy on her."

"Sero and Mineta both have decent mid-range ability that specialize in capture and immobilization. They need to be challenged by someone who is hard to lock down and dangerous up close. I was thinking Ectoplasm first, but I think you'll be able to handle this better, Nemuri." 

"Of course you put Mineta against me, Shouta," Nemuri huffed, raising an eyebrow. 

"That's part of it, too," he confirmed. "Moving on, Maijima, I'm assigning you Iida and Kouda. You'll be able to keep the ground disrupted so Iida can't just run past you, which will force Kouda into action."

Power Loader gave him a thumbs up.

"Snipe, you'd honestly counter most of my students," Shouta began.

Snipe chuckled. "Guns tend to do that."

"Right. I'm assigning Shouji and Tokoyami to you. Shouji's brute strength won't be any help out in the open, and Tokoyami's quirk can be countered by bright light, such as muzzle flash or flashbangs." 

Snipe tipped his hat.

Shouta turned to Vlad King. "Kan, your assignment is one of the trickier ones."

"You're giving me the invisible one, aren't you?" he predicted.

Shouta nodded. "Hagakure and Tsunotori. Tsunotori will try to overwhelm you with a direct assault while Hagakure will try to sneak around. Make them have to think outside the box."

"I hope you know I'll return the favor for my finals," Kan noted.

"My two top students academically are Yaoyorozu and Midoriya. They're smart; potentially smarter than any students I've had before, in fact. However, there is always a bigger fish. Nezu, I'd like you to outthink them."

"Oh, this will be fun ," the president chirped. "I'm already looking forward to it."

"Two of my most powerful students are Bakugou and Todoroki. They both have exceptionally strong quirks and spent their lives being trained by pro heroes. However, they have one of the worst relationships in my class, and don't work well with others on the best of days. All Might, I'm tasking you with making sure that doesn't fly." 

All Might smiled widely like he always did. "I've noticed the same thing in my classes. I agree with your assessment, Aizawa!"

'Probably only because Hadou pointed it out,' Aizawa thought to himself. "The last two students will be handled by myself: Aoyama and Kaminari. They're my worst students and tend to rely too much on their quirks. That won't work with me. Truth be told, I was expecting this to be Kaminari and Ashido when I was beginning to prepare this earlier in the semester, but she's shown rapid improvement in her academics. I believe it has to do with her relationship with my top student, Yaoyorozu." 

"Oh, they're dating, right?" Nemuri leaned in, clearly interested.

"Why do you care?" Shouta asked.

"Young love is so exciting!" she answered. "So romantic! Oh, I can remember you and Hizashi back in your junior year-"

"That will be all," Shouta muttered forcefully, cutting her off. "Please let me know if you have any issues or questions. Otherwise, see you all on finals day."