Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Welcome back to Good Morning Tokyo. With just two days away until the start of the new school year, the country has found itself in a state of unrest. Why? Because in two days, in over twenty-five schools, the hallways will not only be filled with fresh new faces, but have secret agent assassins hiding in the midst. 

“As you may recall, on March 6, the world was made aware not only of the location of the villainous Tentacle, but of the students our government permitted him to teach. These students were trained to kill their teacher, but now that their mission is complete and target eliminated, the public fears their children might be next. Tensions are still high even after the government claimed the students are being monitored as agents of a new defense police, the Emergency National Defense, or END. This is what one mother had to say about it—”

“I can’t believe these assassins are being permitted to walk around nearly unmonitored with other students! The government claims the agents are safe, and say they are actually here to protect us, but I don’t believe it one bit. This END nonsense is exactly that — nonsense! A ruse to lure us into a false sense of security. These children are dangerous. They were taught by the Number One Villain! How can they not be?”

-.-.-.-

“Agent Bark. Do you copy?”

“Loud and clear, Agent Quirk. What’s the consensus?”

“Agent Connect has hacked the security system and determined there are three guards 100 meters in front of you. Take the next right turn to avoid confrontation,” Izuku instructed the coyote quirk boy. Muramatsu grunted in response. 

“Got it. Talk to you guys in a sec.”

Through the Ritsu-cams located on the ‘E’ on their uniform’s collar, Izuku was able to watch the mission unfold live all the way back in the control base. It was a simple mission: infiltrate, grab the documents, and get out. Muramatsu was sent ahead to scope out a path and clear the area if needed while Nagisa snuck in from above with Itona to break into the locked safe. And while it was simple, it was still the Beta unit’s second mission, which meant Izuku’s nerves ran high. 

At least he wasn’t as panicked as he was the first time they had a mission. He almost cried three times that day. 

“Alright, Mur-Agent Bark, Agent Tentacle and I have reached the safe. Breaking into it now,” Nagisa said over the comms. Izuku’s eyes switch to that screen and watched Itona place a hand to the safe’s lock keypad — thank goodness it was electronic — and after a few passing moments of silent, he said, “The combination is 83051.”

Nagisa quickly punched in the numbers and the safe opened up with a pop. “Alright, Agent Bark. We’re in. Get out of there.”

“Sure thing, captain!”

The three agents retreated from the building and Izuku held his breath all the way until he was sure they were out and safe before he joined the Gamma Unit in on their cheers.

“Another mission success! Good job everyone!” Ritsu cheered, appearing on the screens.

“While this wasn’t how I expected to spend the break before starting high school, I have to admit, we’re pretty good at this,” commented Takebayashi.

“It certainly helps that Agent Quirk over here is so thorough in his mission analysis,” Nakamura said, leaning on Izuku’s desk. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was trying to steal my captaincy.”

The glint in her eye was wicked and playful, and Izuku held his hands up innocently. “I just want to help. Sigma never gets assigned anything and I just get so worried not being apart of the action, and, well, Karasuma-sensei said it’s alright to loan agents between units, it’s why we sent Itona out with Beta today and all, and—”

“Whoo, slow your horses, you sound like you’re speaking at Mach-2,” Mimura teased. “Besides, we’re more than grateful for the help. Anything that makes the job go smoother is welcomed on my part.”

“While I’m grateful too, I’m surprised by how much time you’ve been spending at the mountain base, Midoriya,” Fuwa added, snapping her fingers. “With high school starting in a few days, I figured you would want to start preparing for U.A. and all, given how much pressure is surrounding you.”

Izuku winced at the reminder. With the media, public and school all watching him like a hawk, it was made very clear that he and Shinsou had to be on their absolute best behavior if they wanted to survive. If so much as one student at U.A. felt credibly threatened by their presence, they could be expelled. It was a cruel standard to be held to, especially given they just saved the world.

About one year ago today, Midoriya Izuku was a normal boy placed in Kunugigaoka Junior High’s ostracized E-class simply because he was quirkless. In the year that followed, he not only had the Number One Villain as his middle school teacher, but was trained by the government to try to kill him.

And now, one crazy, hectic, unbelievable year later, they succeeded. But for E-class, while their time as classmates had come to an end, their mission was far from over.

Okuda leaned forward and softly asked, “Have you and your mom figured out where you’ll be staying?”

Oh, yes. Among Izuku’s long list of new problems (right below ‘The world hates me’ and ‘I can’t use my new quirk without choking on blood’), there was the issue that he and his mom lived in Tokyo while U.A. was located in Musutafu. They’d already reached out to their old landlord and could move back if they wanted to, but that meant his mother leaving her new position at work, and well….

After the incident making the public aware of the E-class student assassins, he and his mother’s relationship was a bit...awkward. When he came home after sneaking out to kill Korosensei, they had a huge heart to heart which involved them crying on the floor for hours.

(“I’m so sorry, Izuku,” his mother cried. “I’m so sorry I yelled, I’m so sorry I questioned you. I’m so sorry this happened, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

There have been two other instances when his mother apologized like this. But for once, it finally didn’t hurt.

“It’s okay, Mom,” he said, holding her hand. “I shouldn’t have lied to you, or scared you like that, but I didn’t have a choice. I had to do what I did. I had to. I saved the world today, Mom. I was a hero.”

“Yes,” his mother cupped his cheeks, her lip quivering. “Yes, you were.”

So overcome by joy and relief, Izuku attacked his mom with another hug. He didn’t realize he had moved at Mach-2 until he was suddenly coughing up blood and his mom was screaming.)

It took all night to explain to her what happened. He showed her the scar, told her that Korosensei not only saved his life, but gave him a gift in return. His mother stared at him in horror, and Izuku wasn’t sure what she was more freaked out about: the fact that her son died and came back to life, or the fact that he now had a sliver of a quirk from the Number One Villain.

“Right now, the plan is that I’ll be bunking at Hitoshi’s apartment. She doesn’t like the idea of me being on my own, but until she can get approved at work to transfer back to Musutafu, we don’t have much of a choice…”

“Enter: Agent Control. Enter: Agent Snake. Enter...”

Speak of the devil. Ritsu announced the entrance of the brainwasher as well as the returned Beta team members.

“I take it the mission was a success?” Shinsou asked. Nagisa (who cut his hair immediately after graduating E-class, the long hair now styled in a way similar to Karma’s. Despite it, he still looked extremely androgynous) nodded and immediately passed the documents to Nakamura.

“Thanks, Agent Gender!” she cheered, making the blue-haired boy bristle.

“That’s not my codename!”

“Hey, Shinsou,” Mimura interrupted. “How have your U.A. preparations been going?”

“Boring as hell,” the brainwasher replied, collapsing into a chair. “I don’t get to do anything fun like submit a hero design costume like Izuku.”

The green-haired boy jolted. “Oh crap! I need to do that soon!” He paused and turned to Shinsou. “Wait, what am I going to submit? We never officially declared a winner of our bet. Our last fight was during the civil war, and it was a tie.”

“Well, I’m more than willing to wipe the floor with you right now—”

“That won’t be necessary,” Itona cut in, his face unreadable. “I’ve been told I’m not allowed to speak about it, but don’t worry about your hero costume.”

Muramatsu growled and smacked the technopath with his tail. “Idiot, you can’t go saying that, now they’re all curious!”

“What? I didn’t tell them anything.”

-.-.-.-

r/END of the world
9.5k likes - Posted by u/endeavorfan823 - 6 hours ago

Rumors of U.A. Accepting Two END Agents Confirmed?
For those of you who are unaware, it was rumored that two agents took and performed extremely well on the U.A. Recommendations Entrance Exam. While U.A. has remained silent on the issue, someone claims they leaked the roster for U.A. Class 1-C, a General Education class, and on it is the purple-haired agent famous for brainwashing dozens of reporters a few weeks ago. If this is true, what are your thoughts?

xiodre - 4 hours ago - 5.2k likes
Thank god it’s not the hero course

omgidontknowanything - 5 hours ago - 2.1k likes
Who let them take the Recommendations Exam in the first place? Like wtf

mrskamuiwoods - 2 hours ago - 603 likes
Aren’t we being a little harsh on them? I mean, think about it. It wasn’t their choice they were trained like this. The Tentacle wanted the teaching position to entertain himself and the government gave him what he wanted. The kids aren’t the bad guys here. And honestly, didn’t they already save the world? I don’t see why they couldn’t be heroes.

sp0rtf3stivalfanat1c - 1 hour ago - 6.6k likes
If two agents applied, then what course is the other one in?

-.-.-.-

“Hitoshi? Are you scared? For tomorrow, I mean.”

“Scared of going to school with a bunch of high-and-mighty classmates that either hate you, fear you, or avoid you like the plague? No. It’ll be just like old times.”

Izuku sat up in the bed. “But it won’t be like old times. The entire world is terrified of us. People have published collages of all of our faces from media attacks so the public will recognize us and know to avoid us. Two kids have already dropped out of U.A. after the 1-C roster leak. There’s literally nothing we can compare this to.”

His best friend sighed and shoved his face further in the pillow. “No. There isn’t. And it’ll probably take a fucking miracle to change it.” 

Izuku nodded. “Karasuma said that interfering and helping with villain attacks would boost our public image, but it’s only made things worse. People are accusing us of mocking heroes, trying to steal their jobs and take the glory. They think it’s not genuine, that it’s just a PR stunt—”

“It kinda is.”

“—but it’s also not! None of us are helping people because we have to, we’re doing it because we can. We have the ability to save lives and keep people safe, but even doing that, we’re still accused of being dangerous. I-It’s like nothing we do can convince them otherwise. Not even saving the world could!”

His rant was cut off by a hand on his shoulder. Shinsou looked at him, his eyes soft and sad. “Get some sleep, Jolly Green. We have a big day tomorrow.”

-.-.-.-

On the morning of their first day at U.A., Shinsou had to brainwash Izuku to get ready since he was panicking too much to function on his own.

When he released the hold, he asked, “Do I have to brainwash you to walk to school too?”

“N-No.” Yes.

He really should’ve accepted that offer to be brainwashed. And not because he was a mumbling, anxious mess the entire way. Not because he kept fiddling with his tie because he was convinced if one thing was out of place, he’d be expelled.

No, it was because, as they made their way to school, someone decided to rob a store and then grow the size of a two-story building. Because if he was brainwashed, he wouldn’t have been able to convince Shinsou to interfere.

“Izuku, we can’t. We’re going to be late for school. The heroes will be here any minute, it’ll be fine.”

“B-But I already reported it to Ritsu and she determined we’d be able to take down this villain much faster and with less civilian injuries and already gave us the green light to attack?” he stammered, holding up his Ritsu-watch partially as proof, and partially because he was afraid his best friend was about to punch him in the face. 

“I outta kill you for that,” the brainwasher pinched the bridge of his nose. “We can’t attack him like this! We’re in our U.A. uniforms, everyone will recognize us!”

He had a good point. Izuku looked down at what he was wearing. The jacket was easily the most identifiable piece of clothing, and maybe the red tie too. The pants were plain blue, just a little darker than their END uniform. So, the green-haired boy took off his jacket and tie, reached into his backpack, threw on his END jacket, grabbed a knock-out bomb and a nerve-knife, and turned back to Shinsou.

The brainwasher looked ready to have an aneurysm, but after Izuku smiled pleadingly, he finally did the same, taking out a nerve-gun and his capture rings.

“Just keep your hood on,” he said, violently pulling Izuku’s up. “No point in giving the media what they want.”

Throwing their backpacks back on, they pushed through the crowd unseen. The villain was poised to smash a woman standing protectively over her infant child. Izuku snapped into action, careful not to use his speed (he didn’t want to weaken himself right off the bat and spend the rest of the battle coughing up blood). He interfered just in time, knocking the giant fist away with a slash of his knife. It was a very shallow cut, but that’s what these knives were designed to do: just break the skin enough to allow the nerve-tranquilizer Okuda invented to seep into the bloodstream.

“Huh?!” the villain cried, his limb already going limp. “Who are — an END agent? Why are you—”

He was cut off when thin but unbreakable wires lashed out and pulled down his other arm, followed by a zap of electricity running up the capture weapon. Shinsou’s Version 3 of the capture rings, designed by Itona and paid by the government, were by far the best ones yet; they were thin, almost untrackable, but incredibly durable and accurate. And now they were electrified. 

The villain roared and tried to pull away, and Izuku used the distraction to run up his nerve-immobilized arm and plant the now activated bomb on his neck before jumping and rolling to safety. The villain tried to see what it was, but without his arms and its strategic placement, it was impossible to.

“What did you—?” The explosion went off, releasing a smog of purple gas. “AHHH!” The villain screamed, but it only made him inhale more knock-out gas. Within seconds, he was on the ground, unconscious and shrunken down to human size. 

“That was easy,” Shinsou muttered, slapping the guy with full-body quirk canceling cuffs. 

“Ritsu did say it was —ah! We’re gonna be late!” He stared at his Ritsu-watch in shock. 

Shinsou cursed. “Shit, I told you! Ritsu, report the arrest and call the police. We’ve gotta go!”

The AI girl giggled. “Already done. The police are on their way, and I’ve added the villain point to your weekly total. You guys are now it 18th place.”

“Figures,” Shinsou muttered, the duo sprinting for their lives, still dressed in partial END gear. That fact actually worked out in their favor because it meant that people avoided them and they could use parkour to get to school without being questioned. “Those other units are always racking in the mission points. Sigma isn’t ever deployed.”

“Well, we are the failsafe team. It’s probably a good thing; means the world isn’t ending.”

“Shut up.”

They ducked into an alley just before they arrived at U.A., making sure they weren’t followed, and changed back into their school uniforms. They still had 15 minutes until school started, but it was a little too close for comfort in Izuku’s opinion. 

Which is why, when they walked through the gates and were immediately told to report to Principal Nedzu’s office, he almost started crying.

“Stop mumbling, Jolly Green. We aren’t late — at least not yet — so he can’t punish us for that, at least.”

He knew Shinsou was just trying to comfort him, but it really, really wasn’t helping. 

“Oh, good, you’re here! Please, come in.”

Nedzu ushered them into his office and gestured them to sit down on the sofa before taking a seat at the opposing one. “I will try to make this quick, seeing as the bell is about to ring. And while I wish this could be about congratulating you on your impressive villain takedown this morning, I’m afraid I have some bad news first.”

Of course he did. Even when the mouse seemed nicer than usual, when did they ever get good news from Nedzu?

“Tadaomi and the government have informed me how your team on END will be less likely to get called away for missions during class, and you should be able to attend any and all classes uninterrupted. While this is good news for your education, I’m afraid the school board was also informed and have demanded you no longer bring any END weaponry on the campus.”

Their objections were instantaneous. “You can’t take away our weapons, we’re ordered to keep them on our bodies at all times in case of emergency!”

“I understand that, but once again we are against much stronger opposition. It’s not just the board, but the entire public demanding security for their children.”

“And taking away our means of protecting them is going to ensure that?” challenged Shinsou.

“Of course not. But in the end, it is my hope that you needing to protect U.A. will be unnecessary. Pro-Heroes will always be on hand to diffuse any situation. For now, I say we look at this in a positive light. Not only will it alleviate pressure from you and let you be normal students, but it will also make your classmates more comfortable around you. So with that reasoning, I must ask you to leave them in my office for today and no longer carry them on campus.”

“What about using them with our hero costume?” Izuku asked.

“You are more than welcome to have them when you are in costume and training if you so desire — I will ensure this. But for now, please be understanding. Students may be quick to accuse you of something bad if they see a weapon on you, even if you’re not using it, and we can’t let that happen. We’re already treading on thin ice here, my boys.”

Izuku wanted to fight, object, but what choice did he have? Principal Nedzu had a point. Their every move was being taken as a threat. They needed to seem as unthreatening as possible, even if it meant inhibiting their ability to help.

Surprisingly, Shinsou was the first to cave, locking his capture rings in their case and tossing it on the desk. “I better not come back and find you or some crazy support kid tried to open this up. Ritsu alerts me every time it is.”

Grumpily, the two students dumped out their weapons from their bags and pockets. Honestly, it was kind of embarrassing; he didn’t even remember packing that much, yet he pulled out six knives, three guns, three knock-out bombs, one smoke bomb, four packs of nerve-bullets, and even a set of tranquilizer covered ninja stars. 

Nedzu looked extremely alarmed. “Is that...all?” 

“Uh…” Izuku patted down his body to double-check before remembering. He reached for his shoes and opened up hidden compartments in the soles, revealing a pocket knife in one and a mini-gun in the other. “Now that’s it.”

“Uh-huh…” Nedzu flicked his ears. “Well, boys, I encourage you to get going. The bell should ring in about forty-five-seconds.”

“WHAT?!” 

“I apologize for keeping you so long, but I don’t believe there’s much need for alarm. If I recall, Izuku is now capable of ensuring both your timeliness, correct?”

Izuku froze. His quirk was declared a government level secret, but apparently Nedzu has heard of Izuku’s inherited ability and was eager to see it in action; see how similar it was to Korosensei, to calculate how much of a threat he could be, assuming Karma’s theory was right.

“Don’t, Jolly Green, we’ll just be tardy—”

It was too late. Izuku scooped up his best friend and ran at Mach-2, dropping him off at the 1-C doors. Before he could hear Shinsou’s shout, he was already gone, appearing in front of the (concerningly tall) 1-A door.

“Just in time — blah!” A hack of blood came surging up and splattered all over his clean white dress shirt.

Oh no.

-.-.-.-

He went full panic mode, scrambling to wipe it clean. “I can’t go in like this, what am I going to do, what am I going to do? Should I leave? Wear my END uniform jacket? This tie is red, maybe I can disguise it as—”

The door flew open, revealing a guy with black hair and glasses. “Not only are you almost tardy, fellow student, but you are incredibly too loud for a place of learning and — huh?!”

The guy scrambled back in fear. Izuku could only imagine what this looked like. A kid standing at the door, shirt stained with fresh blood, caught literally red-handed, looking like a deer in the headlights. That added up with the fact that his distinct green-hair made him pretty easy to recognize, and, well. There was little doubt they knew who he was now.

Maybe it’ll make introductions less awkward if they know for certain I’m in END instead of questioning?

He banished the hopeful thought. Maybe that would be the case if he walked into class looking normal and formally announced it. Not when he showed up covered in blood. Even if it was his own.

“AHH!” screamed a pink girl that looked vaguely familiar. “Is that someone’s blood?!”

“No!” he squeaked, but then backtracked. “I mean, yes, but, you see, there was this villain attack on the way to school—”

A flamboyant-looking blonde boy sitting closest to the door literally ran from his seat. “Is that the villain’s blood?!”

“No, you don’t understand, I—”

“Excuse me, I need to get inside before the bell — oh my! Y-Y-You’re an END...”

A girl trying to brush past him to get inside fell to the floor, quivering in fear. Izuku felt his eyes bulged out of his head when he saw who it was.

“You’re...You’re Uraraka Ochako. Kunugigaoka Class 3-B…” he said and held out a hand to her. “Here, let me help you up.”

The girl stared at his bloodstained hands and screamed. The glasses boy from earlier rushed forward and pulled her away, as if she needed saving. Saving from…

If he felt like crying earlier, this was much, much worse. His classmates, the people he’d be spending the next three years of his life with, stared at him with open fear. He understood why. They thought he had someone else’s blood on his shirt for crying out loud. His first impression, and he looked like a crazed killer. Just like the media played him out to be.

“Care to explain yourself,” a frighteningly familiar voice said, “Deku?”

His eyes jumped to the blond boy in the back of the class, and just when he thought this day couldn’t get any worse, it did. “K-Kacchan...”

Bakugou looked murderous, his explosive hands smoking threateningly. Izuku took a step back, thinking it’d be awfully fitting that the boy everyone saw as a dangerous assassin was killed by a ‘normal’ student on the first day.

“So dramatic. And loud,” a gruff voice said, and suddenly all attention was turned to the yellow form outside the room. Izuku’s heart stopped. Not because the form reminded him of Korosensei — which it did, painfully so, and his heart yearned to be back in 3-E — but because he vividly recalled the last time a yellow form like this reminded him of his octopus teacher. And he knew exactly who was going to be inside.

Eraserhead rose from the sleeping bag, lazily slurping on some kind of jelly pack. “Midoriya Izuku,” he said, staring right at him, and Izuku froze. Froze because this man didn’t know his name because he memorized the roster. No, he knew Izuku’s name because Izuku told him during the mountain raid, right before he kicked the Pro-Hero unconscious. 

Oh my Korosensei, I’m going to die, he’s going to kill me or expel me or do anything to get revenge, why was I so stupid, I did it to save Korosensei and I don’t regret it but maybe I’ll regret it when my body is hung from that capture scarf and—

“Welcome to U.A.’s Hero Course, kid,” the hero continued, shocking Izuku to his core. “I’m Aizawa Shouta. Your teacher.”

Izuku reeled, but he’s not sure what shocked him more. The fact the man didn’t attack or expel him on sight? The fact he welcomed him to the hero course? The fact that he’s Izuku’s teacher?

“There’s something on your shirt,” Aizawa said as if he was pointing out a food stain. “No matter. I need everyone to change into these anyway and go outside.” He pulled out a blue track uniform with strange white and red lines. “We’re going to have a quirk assessment test. Whoever comes in last gets expelled.”

-.-.-.-

Aizawa took them out to the back fields and explained his reasoning for making them test instead of attend orientation. He explained how in junior high (or, all junior highs other than Kunugigaoka, Izuku noted), the playing field between the weak and the strong was designed to seem as equal as possible, meaning they never got to use their quirks in physical exams before. Izuku wanted to laugh, thinking back on the brutal end-of-term quirk exams Kunugigaoka held.

“It’s irrational to let those with the most power not excel,” the man stated, and Izuku had to blink to make sure it wasn’t actually Principal Asano standing there.

Deciding to give it another try now that he wasn’t covered in his own blood, he leaned toward Uraraka (pretending not to notice the wide berth around him) and whispered, “Sounds a lot like Kunugigaoka’s ideals, huh?”

The girl almost jumped out of her own skin. “Uh, I, uh…” She shamelessly scooted away from him, and he tried not to think about how much that hurt. He bit his lip to hide how upset he felt.

He heard them whispering when they walked outside, saying things like “I can’t believe they actually let an END agent into the U.A. Hero Course. Are they out of their minds?” and “Do you really think that was blood on his shirt?” and “Why is he standing so close to me? He’s so scary.”

Honestly, it was kinda funny. If he didn’t have the media’s reputation of END over his head, he’d probably look like the least threatening kid in class. He’d probably be able to reconnect with Uraraka and be her friend. But instead, he was labeled as ‘too terrifying to be around’. Him. The guy who was quirkless less than a month ago. The guy who choked on blood every time he used his new quirk.

Maybe, he thought, watching Bakugou throw a baseball over 700 meters with his quirk and be admired despite how frightening the feat was. Maybe I can use this test to show them that I’m not actually scary. I mean, it’s not like I can use my quirk on it anyway, and while I could probably excel using my assassination skills, maybe that’s exactly why I shouldn’t. If I seem like a weak, normal guy, maybe they won’t be so scared of me. Maybe someone will finally talk to me.

So, he did just that. He threw the baseball like normal, not using any tips or tricks taught to him by Sugino or Korosensei. He squeezed the grip tester purposefully weak. On the standing long jump, when he could’ve jumped the distance between buildings and landed it with a flip, he just gave a measly leap. On the repeated side steps (an exercise Karasuma loved because it increased their ability to change directions last minute), he moved purposely slow, giving up before even sweating. 

He tested like he was quirkless. He tested how he would’ve before he met Korosensei. If his old teacher were here, he’d be furious. He’d probably give Izuku a big lecture about not letting other's opinions affect his performance, and that the best way to gain their trust was to prove himself to them.

But Korosensei wasn’t here. Korosensei was dead. And, well, Izuku’s tactic seemed to be working.

The whispers changed from “Why is he here? He’s scary.” to “Why is he doing so bad, are you sure he’s END?” They weren’t avoiding him, now staring at him with open curiosity. 

He almost screeched after he faked the standing long jump test and found himself being stared down by a familiar red-and-white-haired boy — the ice guy from the entrance exam! He knew what Izuku was actually capable of, he was going to call him out, expose him and everyone would be scared of him again-

But then the guy just frowned and walked away, shaking his head. He didn’t say a word, and Izuku thought he was safe.

He completely forgot about Aizawa.

Just before the final test — a 50 meter dash, oh how funny it would be if he got the slowest time — the man interfered, looking furious, and Izuku realized he was too quick to assume the man wouldn’t kill him. 

“Midoriya,” he growled. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Izuku froze. “I-I’m taking m-my test, s-sir?”

“No, you’re not. You’re flopping it. On purpose.” The class tensed at the accusation and Izuku, thoroughly caught in the act, couldn’t even defend himself. “You really expect me to believe that you can only jump 162 centimeters? That your stamina is so bad you can barely do the side steps for twenty seconds? Who the hell are you trying to trick here? Yourself?”

And Izuku, always painfully easy to read, couldn’t help but nervously glance back at his classmates. Aizawa’s eyes narrowed and it was clear; he knew.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” the Pro-Hero drawled. “You’d really underperform and risk expulsion over your classmates? Because they think you’re dangerous? Pathetic.”

Izuku winced and bit his lip, trying to hide his tears. Oh, how he missed Korosensei. Even when Korosensei was mad, he never let you feel like complete shit —

“You’re all pathetic if you’re really so scared of this kid.”

— and Korosensei always cheered them- wait, what? What did Aizawa-sensei just say?

“Judging by the fact you’re here, you’re all trying to become heroes. And yet you’re scared of some kid who has a little extra training than you? Who has already taken down villains? Are you scared of me too? Of All-Might? If that’s the case, you don’t have any place in this class, and you might as well leave now.”

The hero class was stunned silent, many openly gaping. He could tell some of them wanted to argue, but Aizawa was glaring, just daring them to refute his words, and no one had the balls to go against him. Izuku felt like crying, hope actually lighting in his chest.

And then Aizawa descended upon him again. 

“And if you think hiding your abilities in some sad attempt to make friends is going to cut it, you’re sorely mistaken. If it weren’t for the fact that you’re not completely in the wrong right now, and your hand was pushed, I’d expel you without a second thought.” Izuku tensed. “Luckily for you, I’m feeling gracious. Right now, you’re guaranteed dead last in this evaluation. If you want to avoid expulsion, I want you to prove your abilities in full. Show everyone here exactly what you're capable of.”

Izuku took a small step back, not liking at all where this was going. Aizawa smirked and pointed a finger at him. “If you really want to gain your classmates’ trust, you’re going to make it very obvious just how dangerous you are. No holding back. No cutting corners. And no quirk.” The Eraser Hero activated his quirk, his eyes glowing red. “You, Midoriya Izuku, are going to fight me one-on-one using the same dangerous skills you used to take down the Tentacle. Refuse, and you’ll never step foot into U.A. again.”

Izuku’s brain panicked, not knowing what to focus on. Aizawa wanted to duel him right now, right in front of everyone? Just using combat skills? Wait, he said no quirk — he’s erasing my quirk, even though the last time we met, I told him I was quirkless. Does that mean he knows about my speed? Does he know how I got it? Did Nedzu tell him? Did—

“C’mon, kid, I don’t have all day,” Aizawa said, crossing his arms. “You going to attack or not?”

Izuku stupidly glanced behind him and saw how horrified his classmates looked, and he panicked. “No, I can’t, I’m sorry—”

The capture scarf lashed out without warning, and Izuku’s instincts kicked in. He dodged to the side and flat-palmed the weapon away while also blocking the kick to his face. Aizawa jumped back, smirking.

“There we go. There’s that oh-so dangerous skill the world is so afraid of.” The Pro-Hero smirked. “Doesn’t seem like much if you ask me.”

He went for another kick, which Izuku dodged. The teacher was obviously playing down Izuku’s skill — aka the kid who kicked his ass a month ago — but the green-haired boy realized it was on purpose. If Aizawa seemed so unequivocally unimpressed with Izuku’s assassination skills, then his classmates would begin to think similarly. After all, if the teacher had nothing to fear, why should they?

It was honestly kind of brilliant. And in a weird way, it wasn’t much different than what Korosensei would’ve done.

(Except Korosensei definitely would’ve been nicer about it.)

Giving in, Izuku started fighting back. He went for a cross punch, cleanly landing it, but Aizawa barely reacted. He was clearly more prepared than on the mountain, especially with one less opponent. His fighting style, Izuku noted, was fairly similar to Karasuma’s. Guesstimating his teachers’ ages, would they have been classmates? Or maybe junior and senior? Have they fought against each other?

Aizawa went for a leg sweep. Izuku dodged and elbow-jabbed. A hit. He went for another, but was stopped with an uppercut to the jaw (ouch, okay, Aizawa was stronger than he looked). The capture weapon struck out, coming in on both sides, and without his enhanced speed, there was no way he could simply dodge. So instead, he took a step back, bent his legs, and leaped over the capture scarf and his teacher with a single bound. His landing was messy, and he somersaulted to recover, crouching a good distance away.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he said, smiling lightly. “I can jump farther than 162 centimeters.”

Aizawa’s eyes went wide but he smiled back (it was extremely weird-looking, and it was nothing like Korosensei’s. But maybe that was a good thing).

“Holy shit!” a classmate with weird elbows exclaimed, almost sounding impressed. Not wanting to get his hopes up, Izuku ignored it, and the fighting resumed.

They exchanged blows back and forth. It wasn’t like a duel with Shinsou — they knew each other’s fighting style so well they could predict every move and it was near impossible to land a hit. No, with Aizawa, hits and blows were exchanged left and right, but they kept on fighting. One particularly hard blow — a well-aimed kick to the chest by Aizawa — knocked Izuku hard on his back. He was immensely grateful his Ritsu-phone (which Karasuma ordered they keep on their body in all conditions if possible) was unbreakable because—

Wait. His Ritsu-phone. The phone Karasuma had designed for END. Which meant….

Which meant Principal Nedzu would probably be mad if he found out about what was going to happen, but that wasn’t stopping Izuku at this point.

He pulled out the device — “Why is he getting out his phone?!” screamed a blond guy with a lightning bolt in his hair — pressed the special button, and the hidden nerve-knife popped out of the case.

“What the hell, did he just pull a knife from his phone?!” the lightning guy continued, grabbing onto a spiky red-haired guy. “Oh my god, he really had a knife in his phone!”

Aizawa, the professional, wasn’t even distracted by the surprise. He lashed out his capture scarf, aimed right at Izuku’s knife and—

And with a fluid motion, Izuku stabbed the knife through the scarf, brought the blade down to the floor, pinning the capture weapon. He used his momentum to kick up both legs into a handstand, and pushing off the knife, slammed both feet into his teacher’s face to bring him to the floor.

The class screamed. Spiky Hair and Lightning Hair clung to each other. “OH MY GOD!”

Not hesitating for a second, Izuku spun off his downed teacher and brought his leg up for the finishing axe-kick and—

A hand shot up. “You really think I’d fall for that move again?”

Aizawa grabbed Izuku’s leg and pulled him to the floor as he heard multiple students parrot, “Again?!”

Izuku rolled once he hit the floor, knowing better than to stay down too long in a fight, no matter how exhausted he was, and he sloppily popped up. Through the haze, he brought his fists up, expecting another blow, and flinched when he heard the slow clapping.

“And there you have it, students,” Aizawa said, clapping as he stood back up. “The dangerous strength of an END assassin. If that doesn’t make you scared, then you’re lying to yourself. But if that also doesn’t make you want to work your ass off, then get out of my class.”

There was a stunned silence. His classmates stared in complete shock — even the ice guy, and he already had a glimpse of Izuku’s abilities — and Izuku was scared to meet their eyes. But he did, and he saw how fearful they all looked, even Bakugou a little bit, and he realized that this was all for nothing, and his heart broke.

But then someone started clapping, and it wasn’t Aizawa.

“That was the most incredible thing I’ve seen in my life!” Spiky Hair declared, running up to Izuku and giving him a friendly pat on the back. Izuku almost fainted. “I didn’t know it was possible to move like that! That was so freaking manly, you’ve gotta teach me some tricks!”

Izuku could only blink and stammer, “Uh, I, uh, well, um, t-thank you-u?” His face felt as red as this guy’s hair.

Spiky Hair grinned. “You’re welcome!”

And while none of his other classmates were as eager as this guy, they did seem a lot more at ease. Spiky Hair was a pretty well-liked guy already, so him being so comfortable and casual helped a lot, though he knew it wouldn’t have been possible without Aizawa’s (insane) teaching tactics. But, well, Izuku was nothing if not used to unconventional teaching methods.

“Well, kid,” Aizawa said, stepping in front of him with his arms crossed. “I’d say you well avoided your expulsion. Though part of me still wants to given how stupid you were being.”

Izuku laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. “Yeah, it was a dumb idea. Did I really do so poorly?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t bother even recording your scores when you were doing it half-assed.”

“O-Oh!”

The teacher smirked at his obvious alarm. “You still have to finish the test, though. Our fight proved what you can do as an assassin. Why don’t you show them what you can do as a hero?”

There was a gleam in his eyes, and Izuku had no doubt the man knew about his quirk, yet he was still eager to see it? Maybe he wanted to compare it to Korosensei, see how similar they really were, like Nedzu? Yeah, that’s probably it.

Nonetheless, Izuku stepped up to the starting line. Aizawa set up the device to measure and record his time. “Whenever you’re ready, kid.”

Whenever he was ready. Izuku took a deep breath and felt for his quirk, the gift left to him by Korosensei. Even with only 10% of Korosensei’s speed, he could still feel the electric strength of the quirk. Korosensei gave it to him saying it was his most heroic quirk to give. And now was the time to prove it. 

His eyes snapped open, and he ran.

If you blinked, you definitely missed it. Hell, even looking you probably still did. Running 50 meters at Mach-2, the equivalent of moving 686 meters per second, meant he finished the race in 0.07 seconds. Not that it was calculated. The resulting wind from moving that fast completely knocked over the recording equipment.

Everyone stepped back in shock. He heard Aizawa choke out, “S-So fast. When Nedzu told me, I didn’t—”

The glasses guy from earlier (who he recalled also had a speed quirk) literally fell to his knees. Bakugou looked seconds away from exploding. Spiky Hair, Elbow Guy and Lightning Hair were all screaming. Uraraka covered her mouth. Ice Guy stared at him like he was trying to uncover the secrets of his soul.

Izuku gave a weak smile before bending over and throwing up blood.

-.-.-.-

“Oh, so that’s why you were covered in blood this morning!”

Izuku shakily nodded as Spiky Hair and Aizawa helped him to his feet. “Y-Yeah. I was running late, so I used my quirk, but because of c-circumstances, I can’t use it properly right now. Usually end up like this.”

“Why didn’t you just say something?” a pony-tail girl asked, and Izuku bit down a spiteful answer, knowing anger wouldn’t help much.

“W-Well, I tried…”

His classmates looked away, incredibly awkward as they realized how presumptuous and bullheaded they’d been. Izuku shoved away any bitterness, just grateful they admitted their faults.

Suddenly, his honed assassin instincts tingled and he subtly glanced around, feeling on edge. He spotted a disturbingly sunken-in looking man with wild blond hair watching him with shadowed eyes and blue irises. He looked shocked, perturbed even, but Izuku didn’t know why.

Whoever he was, he instantly felt suspicious, and Izuku subtlety took a picture with his Ritsu-watch. He wasn’t sure who the sunken-in man was, but in case he appeared again or did something bad, Izuku wanted to have something to go by so he could track the man down.

Before he could act on his suspicion any more, however, Glasses Guy went in a full 90-degree bow, making Izuku jump back with an eep! “I apologize! It was my overdramatic reaction that caused the situation to escalate. Please forgive me!”

It was incredibly forceful for an apology, and Izuku had a feeling it was because the guy was still scared of him. They probably all are, even Spiky Hair guy. But as he stood among them — “O-Oh, it’s alright, please, th-there’s no need to bow!” — and noticed that the distance they kept was just a centimeter smaller, and the look in their eyes just a little less hostile, a little less terrified, he thought, maybe things would work out.

He wasn’t going to earn his classmates’ trust in a day. He knew that coming in. But the fact that they were already moving toward it, already on the path to becoming equals, to becoming friends, Izuku had hope. Hope that one day, people would look at him, and they wouldn’t see a terrifying assassin, or an END agent, or Korosensei’s quirk. 

They would look at him, and they’d see a hero.

-.-.-.-

ALL MIGHT IS MY DAD @tinymighty135
All right hero nerds, taking a poll. Who’s scarier, villains or END?

Villains(13%)
END(36%)
THEY BOTH SCARE ME SHITLESS(51%)

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When Midoriya dropped him off at his classroom door at Mach-2, Hitoshi was furious.

“You stupid piece of shit!” he screamed, but his best friend was already gone.

The idiot! Did he realize he was going to start his high school career covered in blood? He was under strict orders to refrain from using his quirk to help the healing process so he could use his quirk sooner rather than later, but no. The guy had to be a hero, even saving Hitoshi from being tardy on the first day.

Stupid piece of shrubbery.

Fired up, he opened the 1-C door probably a little too aggressively, and he probably looked a little too pissed off, because the moment he stepped inside the room, every student froze in fear. The horror was near palpable, and he even saw a tiny raven-haired girl with pink eyeballs duck under her desk.

Trying to remain unfazed, Hitoshi walked inside and made his way to the back of the room. His classmates ducked out of the way, and the moment he claimed the open desk in the back corner, the kid in front of him shamelessly picked up his desk and inched it forward.

Hitoshi sighed. Honestly, he expected worse. He was easily one of END’s most notorious agents after Karma, and given the fact that the 1-C roster was leaked, it only meant his classmates knew he was coming and were prepared to fear him. Midoriya was right. This wasn’t like how his old classmates used to treat him when they heard about his quirk. Because those kids saw him as a villain.

These kids? They saw him as a killer.

His eyes remained on his desk when another person walked in and cheerfully called, “Oh, hello everybody!”

He heard the classmates around him gasp in shock. The boy in front of him stood up. “M-Midnight?!”

Oh. Oh hell no.

The Pro-Hero known for her sexiness stood in the front wearing her vastly inappropriate costume, waving to the students. All the other boys and even some girls were drooling, but Hitoshi didn’t even react. He wasn’t in the least bit fazed by it — he’s seen Bitch-sensei naked (a story he’ll take to his grave). Nothing could faze him now.

“Hiya class! As you know, I’m Pro-Hero Midnight, your new homeroom teacher! Welcome to General Education!”

This time, he did react: by slamming his head on his desk.

This could not be happening. He just escaped Bitch-sensei. He could not deal with another goddamn year being taught by a woman like —

“Isn’t this so exciting?! Who knew even non-hero courses could be so fun?” he woman cooed, giving them a sexy-cute pose.

— that.

-.-.-.-

The rest of the day was mind-numbingly uneventful. They went to orientation, everyone avoided him like a plague, blatantly sitting multiple chairs away from him. Hitoshi was fine with it. It didn’t bother him. Not a little bit.

He was so caught up in looking for Midoriya (where was the shit, he better not have gotten himself expelled already) that he didn’t even notice someone had sat next to him until he was being pulled in for a boob-suffocating embrace. Instantly, his brain defaulted to Bitch-sensei and what is she doing here, oh my Korosensei I’m going to brainwash her and make her walk off a cliff and not even Karasuma can stop me, I swear!

“Oh no, what is one of my students doing, sitting all alone? That just won’t do!” 

With practiced ease, he slipped out of the grip and inhaled deeply. “M-Midnight-sensei?”

The Pro-Hero (looking slightly perturbed by how quickly he broke free) threw him a peace sign. “Hiya! You’re one of my students, right? What was your name? I’m pretty bad at remembering them.”

That was a blatant lie. There was no way she didn’t already know his name. So why bother faking it?

“...Shinsou Hitoshi,” he answered, and the dark-haired woman grinned.

“Nice to meet you, Shinsou! Hey, don’t you think you should be sitting with your classmates, getting to know them?”

Hitoshi eyed the group of students. Most of them wouldn’t even look at him, and those that did looked positively terrified, like they thought he was going to upping knife Midnight or something.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’d go over so well. I know you know why,” he said, and Midnight’s smile dropped. “While I’m more than willing to make friends with them, it’s kinda hard when they won’t even let you stand near them, much less talk to them. Plus, I doubt any of them ever want to talk to me.”

He sighed, trying to ignore how unbelievably bothered he felt. He shouldn’t feel like this. He was used to this kind of behavior, these kinds of reactions; he’s been receiving them as long as he could remember. Had things been different in middle school, he probably could stand in front of an entire class of students and declare “I’m not here to make friends” and actually, genuinely mean it.

But being around E-class — ever accepting E-class, who admired and praised his quirk even after he ordered Korosensei to shoot himself in the head — changed him. Made him soft. Made him need to be accepted by his classmates, to have a bond with his classmates. He 100% blamed Korosensei, but it only made him miss the octopus that much more.

Great, now I feel like crying. 

He was snapped out of his near bout with emotions (heaven forbid) when Midnight slapped a firm, friendly hand on his back. “Well, I’ll talk to you then, how about that?”

He didn’t know why she was acting like this. Didn’t know why she was being so friendly. He doubted Nedzu put out some order to the teachers to treat the END agents nicely, so why was she treating him like this? Like he was a normal person, a normal kid?

Maybe because you are one? His brain supplied, and he promptly told it to shut up. As if, after everything he’s endured, he could ever be considered normal. 

-.-.-.-

He finally saw Midoriya again at lunch. He immediately grabbed his best friend’s head and slammed it into a wall. 

“Ow, Hitoshi, why?!” Midoriya screeched, holding his forehead, tears forming in his eyes. Everyone in the hallway with them went stiff, looking at them like they expected them to break out into some huge assassin brawl. Hitoshi sighed and let go of his friend’s hair.

“I’ve had enough of your reckless dumbass choices. I’m kicking you out of my apartment. You can sleep on the streets,” he stated, walking off and glaring at anyone he caught staring.

“What?! Wait, stop, please, I’m sorry, I promise to never do it again—”

“I know you won’t because I’m no longer talking to you.”

“Hitoshi!”

They made their way outside, Hitoshi trying hard to ignore the whispers — “Wow, is that how assassins normally behave?” “I know, isn’t it scary?” “To be honest, it was kinda funny.” — as he scanned for a place to sit. Most of the tables were full. Everyone seemed to be grouping off as classes, but Hitoshi knew he’d be far from welcome at his.

“You got any buddies that are accepting of us in your class?”

Midoriya paused. “Well, there was this guy named Kirishima, I think, that seemed the least scared of me, but he’s sitting with Kacchan right now—”

“Poofy?! He’s in your class? The hero course?”

“Yeah. He’s always wanted to be the Number One Hero, and he’s so strong, I’m not surprised. Oh, and the Ice Guy from the entrance exam is there too! His name is Todoroki, by the way. He stared at me a lot, but I don’t think he wants to talk to me? Doesn’t seem like a talking person, you know, after what happened with Wind Guy. Plus I’m scared if I try, I’ll accidentally let something slip about Karma...”

Hitoshi snorted. “So, in other words, no.”

“Yeah, no.”

Hitoshi eyed the lunch area. He thought the courtyard would be less packed than the cafeteria, but that clearly wasn’t the case. He sighed, not really seeing any open spots that would elicit peace and quiet. Granted, people would probably get up and move away from them no matter where they sat, so…

“You got any ideas?” he asked, turning to his best friend. Midoriya gnawed on his lip, glancing around before freezing.

“You promise not to kill me if I use my quirk?”

“What the hell does that mean, Joll-”

Before he could finish, he was being picked up and suddenly found himself off the roof. His vision blurred from the Mach-2 speed and he had half a mind to roll out of his best friend’s arms before he spit up blood.

“Oh my Korosensei, I don’t need to kill you when you’re going to end up killing yourself,” he muttered, but pulled out a wad of tissues he determined was necessary to keep on his body at all times because his best friend was an idiot.

“Thanks,” Midoriya said, wiping his mouth. “Sorry. I knew we could get up here by climbing pretty easily, but I didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention, so…”

“It’s fine. But next time, let’s take the stairs,” he said, gesturing to the door behind them. Midoriya blushed.

“O-Oh, right, good idea.”

They settled down on the roof. All things considered, it was a pretty good idea to come up here. They were alone, undisturbed; no frightful stares, no whispering rumors. It was just them and they could be themselves, prejudices gone.

“Here,” he said, tossing Midoriya a sweet bun like he used to do every morning in E-class. “I quit my job after the bounty money came in, but I figured, why not stick to tradition?”

Midoriya blinked at the sweet, blinking widely, before laughing and reaching for his bag. “I thought the same thing,” he said, pulling out a thermostat of — oh please be coffee. “I filled this up with the leftovers of the brew you made this morning. It should still be pretty hot.”

“You’re an angel, Midoriya Izuku,” he whispered, greedily taking and downing drink. His best friend laughed.

“And you’re an addict, Shinsou Hitoshi.”

They finished the treat and drink, just like old times, but it only made an unsettling feeling fall upon them. Hitoshi’s fingers twitched, searching, yearning for his capture rings…

“Um,” Midoriya said, looking just as twitchy. “Well, you know, no one can see us up here, and I doubt anyone will try to join us. Do you, um. Do you want to—”

Hitoshi threw a punch to cut his friend off, and Midoriya blocked it. “Hell yes. I may not have my rings right now, but I’m still going to kick your ass.”

-.-.-.-

After school, they picked up their weapons from Nedzu, and Hitoshi thoroughly inspected the case for his capture rings. These were state-of-the-art weapons, unique to him, and he had seen the threads online of people speculating how they worked or how much they wished they could take a look at them. He didn’t trust anyone with his babies.

He and Midoriya were on a train to Tokyo, heading to meet up with their old 3-E classmates; they agreed to meet at the END base and talk about how (crappy) their first days went. That’s when Hitoshi remembered.

“Hey, Jolly Green. Why weren’t you at orientation today?”

The green-haired boy went stiff, and Hitoshi braced himself. This was going to be good.

“O-Oh, well, you see…”

-.-.-.-

The moment they stepped into the END headquarters, they were hounded by their classmates, all wanting to know how their day at U.A. went (Nakamura even resorted to pulling their hair. “Well, c’mon, spill. Everyone’s dying to know the deets!”) And when they heard about it all (from the morning villain attack, to their weapons being taken away, to Midoriya’s classmates’ reactions, to Eraserhead being his teacher and forcing him to fight to prove his strength, to Shinsou’s isolation), well, needless to say, they were very pissed.

“I can’t believe they treated that way! Do they freaking see us as serial killers or something?” Maehara exclaimed.

“I can’t believe they’d think you’d leave the blood evidence on your shirt if you actually did kill someone,” Hazama murmured, earning her an abundance of weird looks. “What?”

Hara, ever the mother figure, hovered over Midoriya threateningly. “Why are you using your quirk so recklessly! You know coughing up blood is bad, right?”

“Well, I think you all made great first impressions,”  Karma commented. Hitoshi couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not. “I like this Aizawa guy. No point in catering to the weak when heroes have to be strong.”

“Speaking of, how was going back to Kunugigaoka?” Mimura asked, and Karma grinned.

“Oh, it was great. Everyone knew who I was and practically bowed at my feet to try and get on my good side.”

Nagisa sweatdropped. “Of course they did.” He then turned to U.A. duo. “You know, your school sounds kinda similar to Kunugigaoka. Testing people on strength, threatening punishment on those who don’t measure up.”

“Well, I think that just might be how Aizawa functions, but you’re probably not all that wrong,” Midoriya chuckled. “Anyway, how was the first day for everyone else? I hope it wasn’t as bad?”

Nakamura sighed. “No, but pretty damn close. People straight up trash-talked me to my face, saying the only place I belonged was behind bars, like I’m some kind of criminal.”

Muramatsu whimpered in agreement. “My teacher freaked out when she saw me and made me sit in a seat far away from everyone else.”

“Heh, my class is full of babies who’d probably be scared of a guy who looks like me no matter what. Being seen as a scary END agent means no one has the balls to challenge me,” Terasaka said, crossing his arms, and Hazama nodded wickedly in agreement.

“Since Isogai and I are END’s PR heads, everyone recognized us right away,” Kataoka explained. “We’re the most public and always try to seem civil on TV, so they weren’t as scared of us as they could’ve been, but the school is making sit away from everyone at lunch for now.”

“You know, I’m pretty sure the way they’re treating us is discrimination,” Yada argued, and Kurahashi nodded.

“We shouldn’t have to feel like this. Midoriya shouldn’t have to feel like he should act weak just to be accepted! That’s not what Korosensei taught us!” 

Sugaya rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but when the entire world is against you, they don’t really care about your feelings.”

There was no truer statement. And boy, did it sting.

Before anyone else could share their experiences, their Ritsu-watches went off, signaling a mission. Everyone groaned. Karma, who was voted END commander (with Nagisa as second-in-command), lazily jumped to his feet and went to the control room screens.

“Alright, who do you need this time?”

Ritsu appeared. “Hostage situation in South Korea. Agent Dark and Agent Gears will need to man the bird and take Alpha and Delta units. Beta and Gamma on standby. Sigma is not needed.”

Figures. Hazama and Yoshida made their way to the special END jet pilot seats (Ritsu technically flew the plane and those two were just there for emergencies, but seeing Hazama sitting in the pilot seat of a massive military jet was still terrifying) as the units in question got geared up.

“Hey, Agent Bend, you stole my gun!” Kimura snapped at Okano. They were only supposed to use codenames on missions or when acting as END agents in public, but mocking each other using them had practically become a game.

“Oops, my bad, Agent Justice.”

“Oh, shut up!”

-.-.-.-

Hitoshi was lightly snoozing through homeroom (after his education at Kunugigaoka and with Korosensei, he could probably miss every day of school and still rank in the top of his class) when he heard someone say,

“Midnight-sensei, I understand you’re trying to bring up our spirits about being in General Education and all, but can you stop beating around the bush? It’s obvious we’re just a bunch of hero rejects.”

He blinked awake, suddenly intrigued by the conversation.

“It’s true,” the nervous pink-eyeball girl from earlier piped up. “It’s no secret not many kids apply to U.A. just for General Education.”

“We ap-appreciate you trying t-to inspire us to follow our d-d-dreams and all,” a guy with poorly dyed green hair said. “But our dreams wuh-were already c-c-crushed when we got into this class.”

Midnight looked stunned and sad. “Well, if that’s the case, then you can’t just give up! You just need to push yourselves harder. If you do well in the Sports Festival, you might be able to move up!”

A guy with leaves randomly growing out of his skin snorted. “There’s no way we can prove ourselves at the Sports Festival when we already couldn’t do it during the entrance exam. Everyone knows only hero students do well. We’re just there to make them look good.”

“Well, if you have that kind of attitude—”

“But it’s true, Midnight-sensei. In the history of the Sports Festival, the most Gen Ed kids to make it to the second round was three, and there’s never been more than one to make it to the third. I mean, it’s no shocker. We’re not allowed to train like the hero kids,” interrupted a guy with a bird beak. 

“We’re sorry we’re being such downers, ma’am, but it’s the truth. Class 1-C isn’t meant for anything but to make the strong look even stronger,” claimed a girl with a neck ten centimeters too long.

And suddenly, Hitoshi couldn’t hear any more as his mind tumbled painfully through a world of deja vu. These attitudes, the logic behind it. It was exactly how E-class was before Korosensei came.

It was easy to forget that E-class was supposed to consist of the weakest in society. The ones with quirks that didn’t measure up, or made bad grades, or had behavior issues. Principal Asano created 3-E as a way of paving the road with the weak so the strong could readily step on them. But it was so easy to forget because it didn’t stay that way. Because Korosensei came and he taught them to be strong, to be smart, to be good. He taught them to turn their weaknesses into weapons. To compensate for a weaker quirk with a stronger skill set. 

He didn’t know what kind of situation presented itself as he stared at these new classmates and saw the faces of his old. He didn’t know what it meant, didn’t know what to do. But he felt like it was something important. Something Korosensei would want him to do. 

Which meant he needed to figure it out.

-.-.-.-

His solution: call Asano. He seemed to think he knew all the answers.

“Isn’t it obvious? You’re seeing the similarities because 1-C is simply a less extreme form of 3-E.”

“Oh, wow. Thank you for such amazing insight. I never noticed that at all.”

The principal's son growled. “I’ll ignore your sarcasm because I’m feeling generous, but if you’re really not going to hear me out then—”

“No, no, I’ll stop being an ass. Go ahead.”

“Good. Now, as I was saying. 1-C is basically E-class. There’s a reason Kunugigaoka and U.A. have such close relations, and it’s because they are mirror images of each other in a way, except one is an academic school and the other is a hero school. 3-E was the academic rejects, 1-C is the hero rejects.”

“Okay, that still doesn’t explain why I can’t shake this weird feeling.”

“Must I spoon-feed you all the answers?” Asano mocked and Hitoshi bit his tongue to keep from retorting. “When the octopus came to E-class was when you all became a thorn in my side. You said so yourself — he taught you to be strong through your weaknesses. The reason you’re feeling this way is because you want to help them do the same.”

Hitoshi jolted. “What? No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do. Despite your frustrating attitude, you’re a hero at heart, Shinsou. You have a drive to not only prove yourself to others, but to help them too. While you may not be a super creature, you have the knowledge your new classmates need to become irritatingly better too.”

“Yeah, just one tiny problem: they won’t even look at me properly. How the hell am I supposed to teach them anything?”

“Goddammit — you gain their trust, Shinsou!”

“Oh yeah? How?”

That finally made Asano pause. “By proving yourself to them. By showing them that you know what it’s like to feel weak, and you know how to change that. You said the Sports Festival is coming up. Tell your classmates that you can train them and break the record for the most General Education kids advancing. If you can gain your classmates' trust, and train them well enough, maybe you can prove to not only them, but the world that flashy hero quirks aren’t everything.”

Hitoshi went silent, thinking about it. It...was actually a really good idea. Here he was, presented with the opportunity to not only prove himself to his classmates, but to prove their greatness to themselves. He may not be Korosensei, but he has a year’s worth of invaluable lessons and specially trained assassins as his friends. He doesn’t know what miracle he’s gonna have to pull off to earn their trust, but if he does — and that’s a big if — Asano’s plan might just work.

Per his deal with Nedzu and the school board, his acceptance to the hero course depended on his performance at the Sports Festival. And what better way to prove your strength while flipping someone off than to defy the system so preciously built? It’d probably drive the school crazy.

And with that, Hitoshi made up his mind. He may have already graduated from the assassination classroom, but soon 1-C will too.

Chapter Text

“Are we all here? Good, we can start.”

Three days before the start of the new school year, Nedzu called a mandatory staff meeting for all teachers and staff who would be interacting with the first years. They crowded in his office, all waiting to hear what the principal thought was so important. 

“As many of you have been made aware, two students of the Tentacle turned END agents will be attending this campus. I’ve called you here because I have a feeling many of you have questions surrounding the students — especially you two,” he gestured to Aizawa and Kayama, “given you will be their homeroom teachers.”

There was a long pause of silence, but not because there was a lack of things to say, but simply too many questions to be put to words.

“I have a question,” Aizawa spoke up. “Shinsou Hitoshi is in 1-C. Why?”

There was a tense shuffling amongst the teachers, and Nedzu flicked his tail. “There are a number of reasons why. Public outcry was the main one I would say, but ultimately the school board negated any decision I tried to make. To appease both sides, I argued that one be let in the hero course at first, and ultimately Midoriya scored higher on the exam.”

“By one question.”

Yamada nodded. “I proctored their tests. Both blew their competitors out of the water.”

Nedzu’s nose twitched. “Yes, but I’m afraid it was a losing argument. The board and public didn’t want them to be accepted to the school at all, and this was the best I could do. Dear Shinsou still has the opportunity to move up if he can prove himself through his academic performance and at events such as the Sports Festival.”

“Sir, does that mean you’ll allow him to prepare for the festival?” Kayama asked. “I know I sound like a broken record, but I don’t see any problem with letting General Education get at least a little preparation for the Sports Festival. It’s only fair.”

“And as I’ve said before, the answer is no. The General Education course is supposed to challenge students academically, not physically. While it's true that many students rejected from the hero course end up there, there are still a number of students that apply simply for the rigorous academics and prestige education. Forcing them to train to fight would be wrong and risks unnecessary injury. And Shinsou should have plenty of opportunities to train outside of school with END, after all.”

“Nedzu, surely we’re letting the public be too harsh on these boys,” Toshinori, in his All-Might form, boomed. “I may have not been there for the mountain raid, but I did lead the response team. I saw those children that night. They are not dangerous or vicious; their hearts are pure—”

“And their knives are sharper,” Nedzu snapped. “Or at least, that’s what the public thinks. I understand the situation is sticky, but I’m afraid we simply are low on options. With such a strong push back from the public and the board, there’s not much we can do without severe consequences, such as dropouts and funding withdrawals. Until END is no longer a media target, our hands are tied, and I’m afraid I don’t know how long that will be.”

“Can’t we do anything to help these boys’ public image?” Vlad King asked, and Nedzu sighed.

“I have hopes the Sports Festival will help, but I also fear it could make it worse. Consider it. Many of you encountered Shinsou, Midoriya or their classmates the night of the mountain raid, and you are well aware of how well-trained and capable they truly are. That on top of the fact that they spent a year having their minds molded by the Tentacle makes them dangerous, whether they mean it or not. Any wrong move, and the public can and will cry for blood. 

“We are in a very precious time. To prevent any problems, it is our job to reverse any effects the Tentacle or the government had on their development, specifically with dear Midoriya — seeing as he’s in the hero course, I mean, so he’ll be the closest watched by the public. I hope you are willing to assist me with this.”

The room was tense, awkward. The teachers were highly unsettled. Because Nedzu was correct, they had met the E-class children before, and they knew what they were capable of. And while they were strong, they weren’t more terrifying than the hero course students. They were playful, gentle, determined children who were just forced to kill someone they didn’t want to.

Kayama shuffled in her seat, lost in her head. All-Might’s smile twitched downward. Aizawa stared at the mouse principal head-on.

“Something’s not right,” the Erasure Hero deduced. “You claim it’s public fear, but you’re equally terrified of these kids, especially Midoriya. Why?”

Nedzu flicked his tail and tilted his head. “You may all be dismissed. I’d like to speak with Aizawa alone.”

-.-.-.-

While Hitoshi had a plan, the problem was setting it in motion. He needed an opportunity to get his classmates to talk to him and hear him out; a chance to get them to see that a year ago, and even now, they weren’t all that different. But, seeing how even by the third day of school, no one said a word to him, there inlaid the problem.

So he approached the only person who would talk to him: Midnight.

He approached the teacher after class, making sure everyone else left the room. “Midnight-sensei? Can I speak with you?”

The R-Rated Hero looked stunned, but it was probably because this was the first time Hitoshi ever initiated the conversation. “Yes, of course. Have a seat.” The brainwasher pulled up a chair and they sat across from each other. “What can I do for you, Shinsou?”

The brainwasher hesitated. He had to be very careful with his word choice or else this whole thing would blow up. “What I’m about to say is going to sound insane, but please, hear me out to the end. Okay?”

Midnight looked extremely curious. “Of course. Hit me.”

Deep breaths. “I guess first, I need to ask you a question. Why are General Education students not allowed any class periods to train their quirks? Given their requirement to participate in the Sports Festival, you’d think they’d get some kind of chance to prepare.” 

Midnight blinked, but instead of shocked, she just looked...extremely sad. “You know, Shinsou, I think I’ve been saying the same thing for years.”

It was Hitoshi’s turn to blink as he waited for his new teacher to continue. “I’ve always thought the Sports Festival was a bit unfair. It’s why I always volunteer to referee, so I can at least make sure everyone has a fair chance. The Support course kids at least get to use their inventions, and the Management kids mostly just work in sales, but it’s different for General Education. I mean, like you kids were telling me; Gen Ed is for the kids who don’t make the cut for the Hero course.

“I’ve asked Nedzu to allow these kids some ounce of training, at least to prepare for the Sports Festival, but he won’t budge; he’s adamant that Gen Ed remains an academic course.” There was a long pause. “Why do you ask, Shinsou?”

The brainwasher bit his tongue. It seemed Midnight was on the same page as him, or at least reading the same book. She acknowledged all the same issues Hitoshi saw, if not more. This meant she had to understand where he was coming from, right?

(And maybe if she didn’t and flipped out on him, he could just brainwasher her and call in Maehara to Thought Block this conversation. Sounds like a good plan.)

“Midnight-sensei…I want to help 1-C dominate the Sports Festival.”

At his teacher’s shocked squeak, he continued. “At Kunugigaoka, E-class was created to motivate the strong to become stronger by mocking the weak, but our class overcame that. We tore that system down because it doesn’t have any place in a school. And I want to do the same for 1-C.

“I know it sounds crazy, but I swear I don’t have ulterior motives or bad intentions. It’s just...a very wise teacher taught me that your quirk isn’t everything when it comes to your potential; that anyone can achieve greatness. I know people don’t like to hear this, but before Korosensei — the Tentacle, I mean — came into our lives, E-class was just like 1-C, if not worse. But now they’re all so amazing and strong, and I promise it’s a good thing, not something to be scared of. I think I can help 1-C regain their confidence like Korosensei did for us.”

Midnight openly gaped and the brainwasher backtracked, wiping his nose. Jeez, just talking about Korosensei made him a blubbering fool. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything, I’ll just—”

“No, Shinsou, stay.” His instincts screamed otherwise, but the brainwasher sat back in his seat. Midnight took off her eye mask and stared at him. “I, well. I could get in big trouble if someone else heard this, but I’ve honestly been thinking the same thing to an extent.”

Shinsou jolted, not sure he heard the Pro-Hero right. She...agreed with him?

Midnight continued, “I wasn’t patrolling the night your class raided the mountain, but I was apart of All-Might’s response team. I saw you all, kneeling over...kneeling over where it happened. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a scene more broken, a person more mourned. I-I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Why would a villain’s death result in such a reaction? And when I heard you were going to be in my class, I knew I had to find out more about what  actually happened in 3-E, not what the media claimed. I started to hear about the confidence the Tentacle brought you; how your class at first wouldn’t use their quirks until he challenged you to, and every time you did, he’d shower you with praise. 

“And the more I looked, the more I realized that this villain wasn’t who everyone thought. He wasn’t evil, he wasn’t cruel. He was a teacher, a damn good one, one I always wanted to be. I teach General Education because I want to inspire students to be their greatest no matter their program, but I still haven’t figured out how. But your Korosensei, as you say, did. And you approaching me, asking to do the same for your classmates — the same kids who openly fear you — just affirms for me what a good heart you have; what a good heart all of END has. And if you can do the same for my students, I welcome it with open arms.”

Hitoshi’s lip quivered. He probably would’ve been crying right now if Midnight hadn’t been fiddling with the strap that went between her breasts the entire time. “Uh, t-thank you…”

The thank you packed a lot more than what he said; thank you for listening, thank you for understanding, thank you for seeing me, seeing my old classmates, seeing Korosensei. Midnight seemed to pick up on the hidden message and beamed.

“So, Shinsou,” she said, suggestively leaning forward. “What’s your big plan, then?”

The brainwasher sighed and scooted back. “Well, U.A. guidelines clearly dictate what classes Gen Ed can take, and we’re not going to get that changed, but...it doesn’t say anything about training in an after school program.”

Midnight smirked. “Ooh, like a fight club? I like how you think. I’m more than willing to sponsor and oversee any secret fight club. Not that we can talk about it or anything.” She winked.

Hitoshi shifted uneasily. “Thank you. But, um, I don’t mean to offend you, but...do you actually mean it? Everything you said? You’re not just saying this while planning to report it or anything, right…?”

Midnight’s smile turned serious. “I meant every word, Shinsou. You’re my student, which means I want you to succeed. I say this with all the love of a teacher: after the Sports Festival, I hope your name won’t be on my roster. Because that means you’ll finally be where you belong.”

-.-.-.-

He texted Midoriya to go ahead without him, so when he walked into the END base for intensive training that day, everyone was already there and geared up (except for Karma, Nagisa, Kimura, Hayami, and Nakamura, who claimed the top mission point ranks. Again.) His best friend eyed him as the brainwasher suited up.

“What took you so long?”

Hitoshi smirked smugly. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“What—”

“Good, you’re all here,” Karasuma interrupted. “Let’s get started, shall we? Agent Connect, start them out easy. Level 12.”

Easy?! The brainwasher wanted to cry. There are only 20 levels!

Intensive training, as Karasuma warned them, was literal hell. The entire END training floor became a battleground as robot dummies sprung up from the ground and created various attack scenarios, from full-on brawls to hostage situations. Today, it was a full villain team-up battle. Hitoshi instantly teamed up with Midoriya as they tackled the nearby robots together; Hitoshi took care of long-distance with his capture rings, and Midoriya took on anything that slipped through.

It was clear, however, that they were becoming overwhelmed, but such was to be expected when your ‘warm-up’ was level 12. The villain robots circled in on them, and Midoriya grabbed his shoulders.

“I’m gonna try something!” he shouted. “Just trust me and don’t stop kicking.”

Not even getting a chance to retort, Hitoshi instinctively did as he was told. Midoriya hooked his arms under the brainwasher’s armpits and suddenly they were — spinning?

The world became a Mach-2 blur, Hitoshi kicked wildly at what he assumed were robots, grateful for how padded his legs were. As quick as it started, the world slowed down, the robots now gone, and Hitoshi was being tossed on the floor before Midoriya preened over and threw up blood. 

“Aw, dude, it spattered on my shoes!” Sugaya cried. Midoriya smiled apologetically.

“Sorry, Sug- I mean, Agent Ink.”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Karasuma said, passing Midoriya a towel. “Agent Connect, next level.”

Oh, come on.

-.-.-.-

Three levels later, Hitoshi and the rest of E-class collapsed on the control room floor.

“Oh Korosensei, I’m going to die so young at this rate,” Mimura whimpered. Nakamura (who was playing UNO with the other exempt members) looked up from her hand and grinned wickedly.

“What, can’t take a little hard work, Agent Screen?”

“Yeah, like you and your card game buddies would know anything about that, Agent English.”

Of all of Karasuma’s extremely weird codenames, Nakamura’s made the least sense. Sure, she was the best at English in E-class, but it’s because her quirk was omni-linguism. She could instantly know any language just by hearing it once, though she could only remember three at a time — which meant sometimes she didn’t even know English.

“Hey, we’re here because we worked the hardest during the week. You’re just jealous. Oh, and UNO.”

Midoriya groaned. He used up a lot of energy earlier on with the spin-kick move, meaning the rest of intensive was extremely brutal (but, to be fair, it’s what he gets for being so stubborn about using his quirk). “Oh Korosensei. Between hero training and this, I don’t know how I’m going to make it through first year.”

Hitoshi nodded. “Hey, don’t you have All-Might’s class tomorrow?”

“Oh, yeah! I’m really excited to meet him, it’ll be so — oh no! We’re supposed to wear our hero costumes tomorrow! I-I never submitted one!”

Kurahashi suddenly shot up with a screech. “How could I have forgotten? Itona-chan, we gotta get them!” She grabbed the poor white-haired boy and dragged him out of the room, accidentally knocking over the UNO card game.

“Hey! I was about to finally beat Karma!” Nakamura screeched.

The devil boy laughed. “No, you weren’t. Nagisa was about to play a reverse card, sending it back to me to lay down my final card.”

All eyes turned accusingly to the blue-haired boy in question. “What? It’s my only green card...wait, how did you even know that? Are you cheating?”

“Nope. I’m simply taking advantage of Yoshida’s conveniently placed rearview mirror shoulder.”

Nakamura and Nagisa went full rage mode. “That’s cheating!”

Before the fight could escalate, Kurahashi and Itona came bounding back in, holding separate boxes. “Here you go!” the bubbly girl cheered, placing a purple box in Hitoshi’s lap while Itona gave Midoriya a green one.

“Wait, hold on, let me grab my camera — Mimura, you’re Recording, right?” Okajima called, pulling out his DSLR.

“Um, my quirk is passive. I’m always Recording…”

“Okay, on three you guys,” Isogai spoke up. “One. Two. Three!”

Hitoshi popped the lid off, slightly concerned by how dramatic his classmates were making this, and froze when he saw the contents.

Kurahashi grinned. “Do you like them?”

Inside the box was a tight-fitted deep red suit with white accents and a black line down the center of its chest. Underneath that was a black combat utility belt, a pair of clear, high-tech glasses, black combat boots and gloves, and a slick, dark metal mask that would cover his mouth area. 

“Is this…?” Midoriya began, equally at a loss for words. Out of his box, he pulled out a black hooded jumpsuit with blue striped accents on the sleeves and legs, and bright yellow line accents on the gloves and boots. He also had the same glasses and belt, only his belt was yellow. The most eye-catching thing, however, was the yellow crescent moon on his chest. 

“Since you never got to determine a winner of your bet, we thought we could design your hero costumes for you,” Kataoka supplied. “We took inspiration from Korosensei’s teaching uniform that he wore every day. Looking back on it, it was almost like a hero costume in our eyes; we thought it was fitting the actual future heroes carry the legacy.”

Hitoshi looked down at the costume, suddenly overcome with a wave of emotion and burden. Wearing this uniform, he would wear the weight of the burden Korosensei left behind. It was massive. It was intimidating. But he also couldn’t help but feel like it’s exactly what Korosensei would have wanted. 

“Oh, check this out!” Sugino said, grabbing Hitoshi’s mask. “Itona invented it. It’s called Artificial Voice Cords. It allows you to mimic the frequency of another person’s voice so you sound just like them, so you can trick people into talking to you! And look at what happens when you put it in interrogation mode.”

Sugino hit a small button on the side of the mask and it lit up in an outline of Korosensei’s infamous smile. “Pretty cool, right?”

“Y-Yeah,” Hitoshi managed, feeling way too choked up over clothes. Midoriya was openly crying at this point. His classmates grinned.

“And look what feature I helped add in,” Sugaya added, taking both costumes. “If you hit the moon on Midoriya’s suit or the black line on Hitoshi’s, it triggers a setting that changes the costume into ‘assassin mode.’ Itona was inspired after he saw the camouflage capabilities of my quirk during the Reaper incident.”

Sugaya hit the buttons, and both outfits went fully black. “You can also change it to brown and white. We’re working on adding more settings.”

He changed the costumes back to the original color schemes and passed them back. Isogai explained, “We tried to insert as many aspects of all of our abilities in there, even in the smallest ways. The shoes have a suction-cup setting so you can stick to walls like Kimura — though you won’t be able to run, they force you to move kinda slow in that setting. The glasses are the craziest part; they allow you to see hologram screens that aren’t visible on the outside, and are programmed to translate languages as fast as Nakamura, calculate statistics like Takebayashi, or narrow down and point out details to help aim like Chiba. They’re also constantly recording like Mimura. And that’s just the start; Itona and Ritsu are still programming. And not to mention all of the special gadgets we created for your utility belts…”

Yada appeared next to Hitoshi. “We were going to go with a jumpsuit design for you too, but Bitch-sensei totally flipped on us, saying no Honeypot can work in some baggy jumpsuit. She tried to get you in some weird latex costume with this massive plunging neckline to show off your abs, but this was the compromise — clubbing and bad guy ready.”

Hitoshi sweatdropped, immensely grateful they stopped the demon teacher from over-sexualizing his freaking hero costume. And that’s when it hit him.

Oh my Korosensei, I have a hero costume.

Nagisa smiled sadly at him. “We know that you won’t be able to use it right now, but, well, the Sports Festival is a little more than a month out, so we figured it was close enough. Why wait until after you win the bet when you can speak it into existence now?”

His chest swelling, Hitoshi grabbed his sniffling best friend and forced them to bow together. “Thank you. We promise to make you and Korosensei proud.”

-.-.-.-

Later that evening, instead of getting on the train to head back to Musutafu, Hitoshi decided to make a stop by his father’s hospital. He was well overdue for a visit.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Midoriya asked anxiously before they parted ways. The green-haired boy gnawed his lip and fidgeted, so Hitoshi laid a comforting hand on his best friend’s shoulder.

“I’ll be fine, Jolly Green. Go visit your mom for a bit; I’m sure she’s worried about you. I’ll see you back at the apartment.”

Midoriya nodded half-heartedly and squeezed Hitoshi’s arm before turning to walk to his mother’s apartment. The brainwasher sighed and made to walk to the hospital, body moving on autopilot. Before he knew it, he was winding his way through the stale white hallways and standing in front of his father’s room. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Oh, Shinsou-kun,” the nurse greeted, in the middle of switching out his father’s IV. “What perfect timing! His vitals are very responsive today.”

Despite that, his father looked the exact same he did every visit — though, for once, the flowers weren’t old and wilted. Hitoshi nodded his thanks and the nurse quickly left the room, closing the door behind her. The brainwasher slunk down in the bedside chair.

“Hey, Dad,” he greeted and wasted no time to catch his father up. “I started high school at U.A this week. I’m in General Education right now, but hopefully I’ll be in the Hero course soon. Izuku is there right now. It sounds very...chaotic. Though I doubt anyone can hold a finger to 3-E.”

Hitoshi huffed in laughter, shaking his head. “I really miss 3-E, though. My new class is...distant. They’re terrified of me, of END. The only person who talks to me is the teacher, the Pro-Hero Midnight. She’s a lot like Bitch-sensei, unfortunately, but she really does care. She even agreed to give me a chance to train 1-C and everything.”

Hitoshi explained his plans for reviving the assassination classroom, and all the similarities he saw between 1-C and 3-E. How he planned to prepare his classmates for the Sports Festivals and break as many records as they could.

“But, well...I don’t know, Dad. Even if they agree to let me train them and everything...how can I ever measure up to Korosensei? I mean, not only was he an unkillable super beast with a bunch of quirks, but he just always...understood us, you know? For all of his weaknesses and faults, he always knew what to say, always knew exactly what we needed. How can I even dream to be like him?”

Hitoshi sighed and shoved his face in his hands.

“Sadly, I believe such a dream is unattainable for even the best of us.”

The brainwasher jolted at the sound of another voice, almost falling out of his chair. His head swiveled to the door and blinked at the sight of Principal Asano holding a bouquet of flowers.

“But, nonetheless, it is a noble one,” the principal continued as he took confident strides into the hospital room. The man replaced the old flowers with new ones, which explained why they weren’t wilted. 

“Gakushuu informed me of your plans with your new classmates,” said Principal Asano, taking a seat opposite of Hitoshi. “I can’t say I was surprised to hear. That man’s legacy was too great for it not to be passed on like this.”

Hitoshi smiled softly, thinking about how Nagisa planned to become a teacher specifically so he could carry on Korosensei’s legacy. Now that he thought about it, maybe Nagisa would be a good person to approach about his plan. He would probably be a big help.

“So, since there’s no way you can replace Korosensei, how do you plan to accommodate this?”

Hitoshi contemplated the principal’s words. “Well, clearly the first step is reaching out to them and gaining their trust, or there will be no training in the first place. But even if I somehow accomplish that, maintaining that trust will be pretty difficult, especially since I won’t have an entire school day to work with them — Midnight-sensei said they only way to get around the school rules was to hold an after-school club.”

Principal Asano hummed. “Quite the predicament.” 

The brainwasher nodded. It really was, and he had no idea what to do about it.

“But, of course, you’ll undoubtedly figure it out. After all, you’re not one to cower from a challenge, Hitoshi. Your father was very much the same way.”

A nostalgic glaze covered the principal’s eyes as he gazed down at Hitoshi’s father. The purple-haired boy smiled at the implication that he and his father were similar. And, well, if what Principal Asano said was true, then he had no choice but to conquer this challenge, just as his father would. 

-.-.-.-

r/END of the world
7.2k likes - Posted by u/downsideupdown - 12 hours ago

END AGENT IN U.A. HERO COURSE?????
My cousin is in U.A.’s management course and just confirmed that there is an END agent in Class 1-A! I’m not even joking, she saw him with the purple guy (who is in 1-C, meaning the leak was right). Are they really going to be letting an assassin become a hero?
*Update* She says it’s the small green-haired one.

cinnabunhun - 8 hours ago - 1.3k likes
The short one? Really? Lmao

allrightallmight746 - 10 hours ago - 4.3k likes
Well I know who I’m watching for in the Sports Festival. Can you imagine what a fight between them would be like? Insanity.

omgidontknowanything - 6 hours ago - 4.2 likes
Wow it really is the END of the world

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

While Izuku knew he was hardly experiencing the isolation the rest of E-class was, his interactions with 1-A were...interesting, to say the least. 

No one was actively seeking to be his best friend, or reaching out to ride the train home with him (a good thing, since he usually went to the END headquarters anyway) or trying to sit with him and Shinsou at lunch (though that might be because they hide out on the roof). He was finally starting to learn their names naturally, even if no one formally introduced themselves; only three people did, actually.

The first was the Spiky Hair guy. After the quirk assessment test, when they went back to the classroom, he bounded up to Izuku with a wide smile.

“Hey, I forgot to introduce myself earlier. I’m Kirishima Eijirou,” he said, holding out his hand. Izuku stared at the palm widely, surprised the boy was willing to get so close. Everyone still avoided him like he thought he was going to pull a knife on them (which, considering he just pulled one out of his phone earlier, was an understandable assessment).

“U-Um, nice to meet you too. I’m Midoriya Izuku,” he said, taking the hand and shaking it. Kirishima laughed.

“I know that. Aizawa-sensei said it. Say, why does Bakugou call you Deku?”

He gestured to the explosive blond that was watching their exchange with disdain. After the quirk assessment test, Bakugou flipped out, and probably the only thing that kept him from attacking Izuku was the fact that the assassin still was holding his phone knife.

“Oh, it’s a nickname he gave me as a kid...y’know, to insult me…”

“Really? I think it sounds really cool though! Deku, the assassin hero!”

“O-Oh, thanks?”

The other interaction came when they took their seats. Kirishima was the only one willing to sit in the seat beside Izuku, but that left the seat in front wide open. He figured he’d just end up being moved to the front so no one had to sit in front of him, but that meant someone had to sit behind him, and probably no one wanted to do that either, maybe Aizawa will speak up and help? No, he won’t want to deal with such childish issues, all he’d do is call them out. Maybe —

Suddenly, his vision was filled with a mix of red and white, and he felt his mind, body and soul stop when he saw the Ice Guy from the entrance exam (and Karma’s long lost twin) sitting in front of him, staring with heterochromatic eyes and not saying a word.

“Uh, h-hi?!” he squeaked, and god he sounded so pathetic but those eyes were so intense and why was he sitting here, no one wanted to sit here—

“You mumble a lot,” Ice Guy gruffed and Izuku stopped breathing.

“Oh...sorry,” his whispered, not trusting his voice. “Um. I-I’m Midoriya Izuku?”

Why did he make that sound like a question? That wasn’t a question, it’s a fact.

“...Todoroki Shouto.”

“N-Nice to meet you, Todoroki…”

There was a long silence, and Izuku figured this conversation was done, but Todoroki (oh Korosensei, is that what Karma’s family name would’ve been?) didn’t turn around. He kept on staring. Up close, Izuku realized that the red splotch over his right eye wasn’t a shadow from his hair, but a scar. Or maybe a birthmark? Except he didn’t remember seeing it in the baby picture Karma showed him…

“My father hates END,” Todoroki suddenly said, and Izuku froze. “He thinks you’re all a menace to society and should be locked up.”

Considering Endeavor’s interactions with END consisted of Karma stuffing wasabi up his nose, Izuku wasn’t surprised. But why was Todoroki telling him this? And if that was the case, why was Todoroki even talking to him? Wouldn’t he share his father’s views?

“O-Oh. Well. I gu-guess he’s pretty wrong about that.”

Todoroki blinked widely and no more words were exchanged.

The third and final proper interaction was with a pink-haired and skinned girl, and she didn’t so much introduce herself as Izuku kinda did it for her. Since he first saw her, he swore he recognized her, but he just couldn’t place it. It wasn’t until after English during his second day that he finally remembered. 

“Hey, you’re Ashido Mina, right?” he asked, and the girl looked absolutely horrified. Right, that sounded kind of stalkerish. “W-We met a while back at a summer festival, remember…?”

Realization dawned in her black and yellow eyes. “Oh, yeah! You were with the guy in the sling. You were both really good at the games, and when I asked how, you said it was because your school teaches you...odd...tricks…”

Needless to say, the rest of that conversation went downhill fast. 

The remainder of the class was, well, there? Bakugou looked constantly ready to kill him, the speed guy, Iida Tenya, still bowed 90 degrees every time they saw each other. Oh, and Uraraka didn’t scream when they accidentally brushed shoulders the other day. There was another girl, Yaoyorozu Momo, who was constantly competing with him to answer questions, but he doesn’t think she hates him for it? Maybe? 

Aizawa thankfully didn’t pull out any other tricks, and Izuku assumed the dwindling hostility was because everyone feared expulsion more, but he’d take it. Anything was better than getting stared at like a monster.

-.-.-.-

When All-Might burst into the classroom declaring they would be doing combat training in Hero Basic Training, Izuku was actually somewhat excited. Not only would they get to start applying their skills and learning new techniques, but today was the first day they got to wear their hero costume prototypes.

Izuku was more than in love with his hero costume — and why wouldn’t he be? It was super cool looking, practically given to him by Korosensei and made special by his closest friends. Wearing it felt like he never left E-class, especially with all the special features that let him mimic some of the E-class quirks; it changed colors, for crying out loud! Oh, and don’t even get him started on the wonders that were the utility belt gadgets, or his gloves, or his shoes, or just — anything. This suit was the most amazing hero suit to ever exist, and that was just a fact.

The problem was, well, he forgot that his new classmates might not see it that way. Especially when they saw the crescent moon center.

He really should’ve thought this through.

He ran out from the tunnel a little behind his classmates (he had to wait for everyone to finish in the locker room before he changed, not wanting them to see the scar on his chest), which meant they were all able to experience it at the same time.

The reactions were very polarizing, to say the least. 

“I-Is that—?” Hagakure screeched. Her invisibility quirk paired with her hero costume of gloves and boots meant everyone could clearly see her pointing at his chest. 

“Holy shit,” Elbow Guy, Sero, muttered, eyes wide. 

“Perhaps this is some fear tactic to remind villains of Midoriya’s success in killing the unkillable villain. If that’s the case, it’s quite brilliant,” Iida wondered allowed, and Izuku was about to correct him, saying how this wasn’t a way of flaunting Korosensei’s death but to give his legacy life. A low explosion cut him off.

Bakugou growled and bared his teeth. “What kind of fucking statement are you trying to make, Deku?” 

Izuku flinched, surrendering his hands. “I-It’s not like that, I swear, it’s just my costume, my friends made it for me and it’s actually pretty cool—”

“Well, I’d say!” Kirishima said, though his cheerful tone wavered. It was clear he was also bothered but was trying to hide it to lighten the mood. “The yellow and blue on black is really eye-catching, and I like the hood. Very clean.”

Kirishima’s eyes were looking everywhere but the center of his chest, but Izuku was honestly grateful for it. Man, if they were so caught up by his chest with his hero costume, imagine how they’d react if they saw what was underneath.

“Alright, young students!” All-Might exclaimed, distracting everyone’s attention. Izuku’s sharp eyes noticed the Pro-Hero was also staring at his chest. “What strapping heroes you are all becoming!”

Despite the obvious discomfort (of course All-Might would find it weird, Korosensei was his arch-nemesis in ranking), the Number One Hero went on to explain the training assignment. They were going to be doing an indoor training exercise, where they would break into teams of two and fight, with half the teams being ‘heroes’ and the other half being ‘villains’. The villains had a fake nuclear weapon hidden somewhere in the hideout, and the heroes had to find and dispose of it within the allotted time.

Izuku was barely able to hold in a laugh, hiding it with a cough. Just last week, Nagisa and the Alpha unit completed a very real version of this training assignment, with Izuku and Gamma walking them through it. He wondered how his classmates’ tactics would differ. He highly doubted anyone was going to hang the enemy off a building for interrogation like Karma and Terasaka. Well, at least he hoped.

“Hmm. This situation sounds awfully unrealistic,” muttered Iida, and this time Izuku did giggle, eliciting an entire class of stares. He blushed profusely.

“I-I’m so sorry! It’s just that...um...p-please continue, All-Might, sir,” he squeaked, trying to use his hood to hide his face

The Pro-Hero coughed awkwardly. “Yes, of course! Now, time to pick teams!”

They picked teams by random drawing. Izuku prayed and prayed, please don’t end up with Bakugou, please don’t end up with Bakugou, please don’t —

“Oh, Team A, huh? I think you’re with Uraraka,” commented Kirishima, and Izuku’s brain went into panic overdrive.

Uraraka, I can’t be with Uraraka, she’s so scared of me the mission will never get completed, we’ll just spend the whole time awkwardly avoiding each other, and then All-Might will see how bad we are and he might report it and get me expelled, I have to do something!

Acting in pure desperation, Izuku used his Mach-2 speed to switch the drawings for the people around him, going so fast he would’ve been mistaken for the wind. As soon as he was done, he turned around, pulled out a tissue from his utility belt and casually coughed up blood. 

“Hey, wait, I guess I was reading it wrong! Wow, that’s weird, I could’ve sworn...” Kirishima shook his head. “Anyway, you’re on my team! Uraraka’s with Bakugou.”

I’m so sorry Uraraka, I had no choice…

“Huh?! I swear, my team assignment just changed right before my eyes!” Iida exclaimed, and Izuku winced, praying he wouldn’t get caught. It only worsened when Sero spoke up too, saying he thought his paper also changed. 

“Ha! You guys are funny! You probably just can’t see with those crazy costume masks you’re wearing,” Kaminari teased, and Izuku’s knees almost gave out as the class seemed to buy the logic. Thank Korosensei, he got away with that one or else he would’ve been in deep —

“Hey, look, we’re up first as the hero team! And we get to fight against Bakugou and Uraraka!”

Shit.

-.-.-.-

While the rest of the class went to the monitor room, the two competing teams remained. The villain team got a five minute set up period, which meant the hero team had five minutes to devise a battle strategy.

Or, in Izuku’s case, lose his goddamn mind.

“What am I going to do, Kacchan is going to kill me, he’s been trying to kill me all week and now he gets to, Karasuma-sensei is going to be so mad at me and Hitoshi is going to kill me again if I get killed, um, again, and oh no what am I going to do?” he spewed frantically, much to Kirishima’s increasing distress.

“Whoa, dude, you’re freaking me out a little with all of your mumbling!” the spiky-hair boy appeased. “I don’t know why you’re getting so worked up. You do realize how badass you are, right? You could probably take down the entire class in a mission like this, I bet.”

“N-No way,” Izuku muttered. It was a common assumption, especially after the mountain raid when they took down multiple Pros, but that was only with luck and great circumstances and planning on their part. “Everyone here is so amazing, especially Kacchan…”

“That’s what you call Bakugou, right?” Kirishima asked, and Izuku nodded. “You said you knew each other when you were kids. What happened?”

The green-haired boy tensed. “A lot happened. We grew apart as Kacchan grew stronger. I...could never keep up. When I transferred to Kunugigaoka, I thought that’d be the end of it, but now after everything that’s happened, it’s just become so much worse. While everyone else is scared of me, Kacchan is just angry. And it’s never good when he’s angry.”

Growing determined, Izuku turned to look Kirishima in the eye before hitting a button on his glasses, activating them so the screens lit up on his side and became shaded on the outside. “Kirishima...if we want to win this, you have to draw Kacchan away from me as long as possible. I know he’s going to come after me, and that’s how we’ll win. If we can keep him focused and frustrated on trying to find me, but you keep intercepting him, it’ll mean the weapon will only be guarded by Uraraka. I’ll go straight for it and try to avoid a conflict, but it’s up to you to keep Kacchan away from me.”

The spiky-haired boy blinked widely but nodded. “I’ll do my best, but Bakugou is pretty intense. I’m not sure I can give you enough time to find the weapon and take out Uraraka. Hey, can’t you just use your super-speed and finish this mission in seconds?”

“Maybe, but I don’t want to risk it in case I get intercepted or held up. For now, I can’t use my quirk without it hurting me. To be frank, if I use it too much and try to fight someone with it for a long period of time, I could choke on my blood and die.”

“H-Huh?!”

“We don’t need to worry about finding the weapon, though. I can do that right now,” Izuku said, Chiba’s Eye of Detail programing popping up on the glasses, pointing out every important detail, from which direction the wind was blowing, to which window was unlocked from the outside, to the instabilities in the structure. In seconds, it locked on the smallest imagery of the weapon peeking through the top story window. 

“The weapon is on the top floor. I’m going to scale the building from the outside; hopefully, Kacchan won’t expect it and it will bide us more time. You go inside and make some noise. And be safe. Who knows what Kacchan's rage will make him capable of, and I don't want you to get hurt for my sake.”

“What?!” Kirishima squeaked, but was cut off by All-Might’s voice echoing through the intercom, telling them to start the mission. Izuku hit the crescent moon center on his costume, changing the coloring to white so he could blend in with the side of the building. The action only made Kirishima squeak again.

“We’ll keep in contact on the comms,” Izuku said, adjusting it in his ear. “Stay safe, Kirishima.”

The red-haired boy nodded determinedly and smiled. “You too, dude!”

-.-.-.-

Bigger Than the Moon: An Analysis of the Tentacle's Impact on Society 

By Ikehara Hisoka

It was the explosion that shook the world and cracked the foundation of hero work forever. With just one act of extreme power, the Tentacle became the most feared and revered villain in the world — the Number One, the Symbol of Terror. A beast so powerful, not even the Number One Hero, All-Might, stood a chance. But even in wake of his death, done by the hands of the school children the world governments permitted him to teach, the effects of the Tentacle can still be felt throughout society.

To the children of the future, the moon we knew will be one of fiction and history. The unchallenged reign of All-Might will forever hold a blemish. But above all, there will never be another villain so great, so impactful as the Tentacle. And it's not because he permanently destroyed the moon. It's not because his legacy is still carried on the back of the students turned END agents that loved him and killed him. 

It's because, despite being the greatest Symbol of Terror, his track record is astonishingly limited to one crime. Beyond the moon, the Tentacle never attacked again, never hurt or killed innocent citizens, never tried to maintain his reign as Number One. And yet, he is still feared, still seen as the greatest villain to ever exist.

And that is what makes him so terrifying.

[Preview end]

-.-.-.-

Izuku was already outside the top story window, prying it open with a knife when he felt the first explosion go off. His hand went to the comm in his ear. 

“Kirishima! Are you alright?”

Another explosion, followed by the sound of Kirishima grunting. “All good here, Deku! Wow, thank goodness my Hardening protects me from Bakugou’s explosions, amiright?”

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that. He suspected as such, which was the only reason he entrusted Kirishima with distracting Bakugou. 

“Good. I’ve infiltrated the top floor. Stay safe.”

“You too!” Kirishima responded, and in the background, Izuku could hear Bakugou shouting, “Where the hell are you, Deku?!”

Exhaling shakily, Izuku silently slid through the opening of a window. He almost felt bad, avoiding Bakugou like this, but he knew it was bad strategy heading straight into a fight like that. He knew Bakugou was gunning for him, and as an assassin and a student of Korosensei, he’d be a fool to ignore such vital information. Fighting him, with the emotions so high, would only cause trouble and unnecessary harm, and likely nothing would be solved. A training assignment was no place for personal confrontations.

Making zero sound, Izuku turned his costume all black and crept through the shadows of the room, his Eye of Detail feature pointing out anything that would risk him making sound. He peered around the corner and spotted Uraraka standing in front of a giant fake missile, looking frustrated.

“I can’t believe he just ran off like that and left me to guard the missile alone. Doesn’t he realize who we’re fighting against? Why would he want to go after Midoriya, he’s so scary! I mean, sure, he’s not normally so scary and actually seems kinda nice in class, but in battle? He’s terrifying, no one can stop him! He doesn’t even need his quirk to actually kill you, much less knock you out; even if he’d probably apologize for it afterward…”

Izuku grimaced hearing the speech. Well, this is going to do nothing but fuel the fire. I’m so sorry, Uraraka.

Pulling out one of Okuda’s smoke bombs, he came out of the shadows with a sheepish smile. “Um, will it be better if I apologize in advance too? Because I really am—”

Uraraka screamed at the top of her lungs, undoubtedly alerting Bakugou and probably the whole city of their location, and Izuku cursed, setting off the bomb. He could already imagine Karma breathing down his back, telling him: “This is why you can’t be nice to your targets!”

The glasses still gave him enough visibility through the fog, so he quickly jumped at Uraraka, poised to take her out with a swift jab.

And then the entire room started floating upward.

Oh no, Uraraka’s Zero Gravity. I only got to see her use it once with the baseball throw, where she scored infinity! I don’t know how it’s activated, though, I’ll just have to take her out now.

Dodging out of the way of a table, Izuku reached out to hit a pressure point in her neck that would take her down without really hurting her, but was stopped as the girl spun around, desperately slapping the air rapid fire. Her palm just barely brushed his sleeve, and by the time he realized what was happening, he was floating through the air.

Uraraka curled up, holding her hands in front of her face desperately before realizing what she did. “Oh my, I can’t believe it actually worked, I survived!”

Gritting his teeth, Izuku tried to swim through the air, but that only seemed to send him upward faster. The ceiling was fast approaching, and he could hear Kirishima speaking in the comm, saying he wasn’t sure he could hold Bakugou much longer. He needed to think of something fast, he needed—

His eyes landed on his shoes.

Plan formed, he risked moving his arms at Mach-2, since typically it was moving his whole body that caused him to cough up blood. It worked, and he rocketed to the ceiling. He reached down to push the buttons on both shoes, kicked out his feet, and shoop. His feet suctioned to the ceiling. Experimentally, he tried to walk, noting that it was hard to do. The suction on the shoes had to re-adhere every time, unlike Kimura’s quirk that did it naturally, but it worked nonetheless. He quickly marched so he was posed directly over a shell-shocked Uraraka.

“H-How are you doing—”

With an apologetic smile, Izuku whipped out a gun from his utility belt and shot it right at Uraraka.

“AHH!”

A grappling hook launched out of the end, embedding itself in the ground right next to Uraraka. The girl, thoroughly distracted with screaming and dodging, didn’t even realize Izuku had attached the other end to his belt and was being pulled to the floor until he was kicking her unconscious.

“I’m so sorry, Uraraka!” he pleaded, checking to make sure she was okay. He looked down at his hero costume in wonder. “Whaaaaaa, this suit is totally OP—”

The door exploded off its hinges, and Izuku barely reacted fast enough to grab Uraraka and roll out of the way before it hit them both.

Bakugou Katsuki stood in the doorway, looking more furious than Izuku thought possible. Kirishima came scrabbling in from behind. “I’m so sorry, Deku, I tried to hold him off but he got the best of me and—”

“Shut up!” Bakugou growled, setting off another explosion. “This is between me and the lying bastard.”

Izuku slowly stood, not backing down as he stared Bakugou in the eye. The explosive boy sneered. “You’re a real fucking coward, trying to avoid me and all. Sending Shitty Hair to slow me down. Are you trying to insult me?!”

“Kacchan,” Izuku said carefully. “Now is not the time for this. This is just a training exercise, it’s no place for—”

“Now is the perfect time!” Another explosion, and Izuku had to dodge again. “You’ve got a hell of a lot of explaining to do, starting with that.”

He pointed at the crescent moon on Izuku’s chest, and Korosensei’s words from the night he died echoed in his ears. 

“For an assassin, no matter how clever or how long they avoid it, the fight will always come where they must put every last ounce of strength to the test.”

Izuku clenched his fists and raised his gun.

-.-.-.-

Izuku stared down the barrel at his old childhood friend, who was positively fuming. 

“What, you’re not even to use your fancy new quirk to take me down?” he spat. “Real pathetic, Deku. I guess you really are just a fucking killer now.”

The green-haired boy tensed and fired his weapon, making everyone in the room duck. The grappling hook shot out again, this time latching on Kirishima’s costume, and Izuku hit the button to pull the boy inside, out of harm’s way.

“What the?” Kirishima screeched, stumbling at Izuku’s side. “Holy shit. Okay. That just happened. Are we going to take him down together or…?”

“Kirishima,” he said. “Grab Uraraka and get out of here. Take her to the capture zone or something, just stay clear of this room.”

Kirishima looked like he wanted to argue, but Izuku sent him a desperate glance, begging him to leave. Finally, he did, throwing the unconscious Uraraka over his shoulder and high-tailing it out of the room. And then it was just Bakugou and Izuku. 

Izuku pursed his lips. He could easily grab the fake nuclear weapon and leave, completing the mission before Bakugou ever got the chance to fight him. It’s probably what he should do. But he knew doing so would only make everything so much worse in the long run. Bakugou was on a warpath, and Izuku couldn’t run anymore unless he wanted everyone else to get hurt. 

“I don’t want to fight you, Kacchan,” he said, putting away the grappling gun. Bakugou sneered.

“Do you think I give two fucks about what you want?” Bakugou set off another explosion and Izuku flipped out of the way. His costume was fairly temperature resistant, so while he couldn’t feel the heat, the fabric was slightly singed. “Just look at you. Wearing that monster’s emblem on your chest like some sick disciple. You know it’s awfully suspicious that a quirkless kid goes away, gets a villain for a teacher, and then comes back with speed just like the Tentacle, don’t you think?”

Bakugou threw a punch, which Izuku easily blocked and grabbed onto the arm, swinging Bakugou upside down with a judo flip. The explosive boy grunted in shock as Izuku pinned his chest with his foot.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Kacchan! Whatever you think you know, you’re dead wrong.”

Bakugou shoved him off with an explosion. “Is that right? I’m not stupid like all of the other extras in this damn class, Deku. I know what you are. You’re a fucking assassin, which means you’re nothing but a weakass villain!”

Izuku gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the jabs. He needed to think of a way out of here, and fast. His eyes scanned the room, the glasses pointing out all of the insecurities in the building structure that just kept increasing with every explosion. He noticed the high amount by the window, and figured maybe, just maybe, he could make this work. He jumped diagonally with a kick to Bakugou’s chest before landing at a point near the window. Instantly, an explosion was fired at him, and he jumped out of the way so it hit just where he wanted. He punched Bakugou’s side and jumped again, garnering the same result.

But then Bakugou decided he was done playing games. 

He pulled at the grenade gauntlets on his wrists and Izuku froze. “If you’re so determined to fight me like a coward and not use your quirk, then I’ll just have to beat it out of you,” Bakugou spat. “These grenades gather my nitroglycerin sweat. You know what that means, Deku?!”

“Young Bakugou, stop! You could kill him!” cried All-Might over the intercom, but it was useless. The grenade gauntlets began to glow.

“He won’t die if he dodges! C’mon, you villain! Show us what you’re capable of! Are you going to try and blow up the Earth too?! You deserve to suffer for what that monster did!”

BOOM!

The entire room lit up with fire and explosions, and Izuku, given no choice, used his Mach-2 speed to run right through the flame. He felt his bloodlust peeking through as Bakugou’s cruel words echoed through his ears. Going full speed, he trucked the other boy down before the explosion even finished going off and held him to the floor with a nerve-knife to his throat. 

“I said, you don’t know what you’re talking about!” he screamed, spitting out a glob of blood. “You don’t know what happened to us! You don’t know what we went through! You don’t know Korosensei!”

Bakugou didn’t even move, and Izuku plowed on. “He wasn’t evil, he wasn’t trying to destroy the Earth, he just wanted to save us! He protected us! He had faith in us when no one else did, when our own damn school set us up to fail, he helped us thrive! He sacrificed everything so I can become a hero; if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be alive! You didn’t know him, so don’t you dare call him or me a villain!”

Through his tears, Izuku realized why Bakugou wasn’t saying anything. The boy’s red eyes were trained on the center of his chest, actually looking horrified. Izuku looked down and saw why.

The explosion had completely ripped through his uniform, tearing off his hood and a good chunk of the upper portion, meaning the massive scar on the center of his chest was in clear view. While the scar mainly looked like a massive red splotch, Shinsou always said that the angriest, reddest lines seemed to form a crescent moon shape. And there’s no doubt that’s what Bakugou — and likely the rest of the class as they watched this on cameras — saw as well.

“The fuck…” Bakugou hissed, and Izuku, unable to take it, knocked the explosive boy out with a swift punch.

-.-.-.-

Izuku doesn’t remember being stabbed through the chest, but he dreams about it.

His nightmares aren't as frequent as Shinsou’s, but they are twice as violent, which was saying something. He broke so many bedside lamps in his terror that they just stopped buying new ones. In his dreams, he feels like his chest is being ripped apart, bit by bit, until there is a gaping hole that won’t stop growing until it’s consumed him.

But the worst dreams are when it’s someone else being killed. Like Nagisa, or Karma, or Korosensei, or his mom, or worst of all, Shinsou, like it was originally going to be before Izuku took the fall; before he pushed his friend out of harm’s way, only to get himself killed.

He doesn’t remember dying. So maybe that’s why he wouldn’t have any problem doing it again, if it meant others survived.

-.-.-.-

After both teams recovered, they were taken back to the monitor room with the rest of the class. Izuku stood there awkwardly with his arms crossed over his chest, trying to hide it the best he could. He did his best to ignore the whispers: (“Wow, I heard the END kids had Stockholm Syndrome or something; looks like they’re not wrong.” “That’s not very nice, Ojiro. Besides, Midoriya is so nice, he’s not a villain like Bakugou said. He’s just…” “An assassin?”) or (“How do you think he got that scar? Did he die?” “Quiet, Ashido, he can hear you! Besides, he obviously couldn’t have died if he’s here.”)

Despite who won or lost, both groups were solemnly quiet as they waited for their review.

“Well,” All-Might began. “I think it’s safe to say the true MVP of this battle is Young Kirishima.” The spiky-haired boy jolted. “Who can tell me why?”

Yaoyorozu’s hand shot up immediately. “He’s the only one that stuck to the plan and listened to orders. Bakugou went off on his own, more focused on personal vendettas than protecting the weapon, and Uraraka was so scared of Midoriya she let it dull her attacks. You can’t attack someone when you spend the whole time cowering. And while Midoriya took down both opponents, he chose to fight Bakugou instead of grabbing the weapon right in front of him and completing the mission. He let himself get sidetracked.”

The lecturing stung, but the dark-haired girl was absolutely right. He let himself lose focus on the mission at hand and justified it by telling himself there was no choice. It was unprofessional. If Korosensei were here, he’d no doubt be feeling the octopus’ rath for acting so recklessly. 

Wow, that’s kinda embarrassing.

Izuku read the message that appeared on his glasses and nodded in shame — wait, what? Message on his glasses?

There’s a camera in your glasses, remember? I’ve been watching your every move; simply for research purposes. As your leader, it’s my job to know how your training is going.

“Karma?” he hissed, low enough so no one else could hear. “Are you spying on me during school?”

What? I’m just bored, that’s all. 

“S-Stalker…”

Ooh, is Icy-Hot next?

Izuku rolled his eyes. Of course Karma had ulterior motives for creeping on him during school.

Icy-Hot, aka Todoroki, aka Karma’s Possibly-Separated-At-Birth-Twin, was teamed up with Shouji, but he hardly even needed a partner. In seconds, the boy froze the entire building, immobilizing his opponents and claiming the weapon.

Wow, he’s really strong, isn’t he? Must be nice, having such a perfect quirk.

Izuku sweatdropped and prayed for Todoroki’s sake that the two would never meet.

-.-.-.-

After their class was over, All-Might approached Izuku individually, and the green-haired boy almost wet his pants.

“M-Mr. All-Might-sensei sir?!” he squeaked anxiously. The large hero looked down at him with a wide smile.

“Young Midoriya!” the Pro-Hero boomed, and Izuku tried not to wince at the familiar nickname. Korosensei used to call him that all the time too. “I must insist you go to the nurse!”

Jolting, Izuku scrambled to cover up his chest. “Oh, don’t worry sir, I promise it was there before today, Kacchan didn’t give it to me—”

“Ah, yes, but coughing up blood is not a good thing to be doing. Trust me, I — I mean, I’ve seen many suffer from a similar problem, yes. You should get checked out for it!”

If Izuku knew any better, he would think the Pro-Hero was...flustered. Awkwardly, Izuku took off his glasses (not wanting to risk anymore spying from Karma) and pocketed them. “I mean, it’s not that big of a deal, really…”

“Nonsense!”

And the next thing Izuku knew, he was being thrown over All-Might’s shoulder and rushed to the nurse at top speeds. It wasn’t quite near Izuku’s speed, but it was still startling nonetheless.

“Wait, hold up Mr. All-Might-sensei! Please put me down!”

The hero suddenly stopped, gently placing Izuku on the floor. He noticed they were in the nurse’s office, but Recovery Girl was nowhere in sight.

“Oh no, I must quickly go to find her. Stay here, Young Midoriya!” All-Might declared, getting ready to take off again. Izuku blinked. It almost looked like the man was...smoking? Maybe an odd side effect of going that fast?

“Wait, sir, please!” he said, latching onto the hero’s cape. “Really, this is all for nothing. The situation with me coughing up blood is totally under control, I swear. It’s just...well, as you can see, I was injured a little while back, so until I heal properly my body can’t take moving at supersonic speeds and this is the side effect. There’s no reason to go out of your way for me.”

“Really, Young Midoriya, I’m just doing my duty as your teacher! I must go—”

“Recovery Girl is probably helping a student who needs it. Actually, since you’re here, I want to speak with you; you know, about what happened in class today. I’ve always idolized you and wanted to grow up to be amazing as you, and I get that everyone is scared of me because of Korosensei, but I promise I just want to be a Symbol of Peace just like you and — heh? All-Might? Are you alright?”

All-Might was most definitely smoking now. The Pro-Hero looked genuinely terrified, and then POOF! He was consumed in a cloud of smoke.

“All-Might, sir!” Izuku cried, waving his hands at Mach-2 to blow the smoke away, clearing up the room. “Are you alright, sir, what just happened — HUH?!”

Standing right where All-Might once was, wearing a baggy hero costume, was the sunken-in blond man with shadowed eyes.

Chapter Text

“HUH?!”

This wasn’t happening. There’s no way this was real. He was hallucinating, he was in a simulation, there was no way this was —

“Oh. S-Shit,” the man — the imposter — rasped.

Real.

Izuku’s mind went blank. What the…

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO ALL-MIGHT?!”

He pulled out a nerve-knife from his belt and went berserk, slashing at the imposter like crazy. The man screamed and desperately dodged, jumping over Recovery Girl’s desk and cowering behind it.

“Hey, kid, wait!”

“NO!” Izuku said, jumping on the desk and kicking everything at the sunken man. “What did you do? Did you kidnap him? Teleport him away? Steal his clothes so you can take his place? I won’t let you get away with this, villain!”

He fired his nerve-gun and just barely missed as the man ducked behind the chair. “Shit, kid, I swear, I didn’t attack All-Might!”

“Oh yeah? Then what just happened back there? A magic trick? Teleportation quirk?”

“Would you listen to me?!” The man popped up, and Izuku didn’t hesitate to fire the tranquilizer, only for it to embed itself in the book the imposter was using a shield. “I didn’t attack All-Might! I am All-Might.”

The room went completely still. Izuku lowered his gun. “Oh. That makes more sense, I guess…”

The man sighed in relief. “Yeah, so can you put down the weapons—”

“WAIT, NO IT DOESN’T!”

-.-.-.-

“So what you’re saying is...is that you were injured in a fight...and now you can only use your powers for short increments of time?”

“Yup.”

“Was...Was it against Korosensei?”

“The Tentacle?” the man — Toshinori Yagi clarified. They were sitting across from each other now, Izuku still anxiously fingering his gun. “Nah, this was way before him. I wouldn’t call my interactions with the Tentacle fights as much as they were glorified salon visits.”

Izuku snorted, nostalgically think back on Korosensei’s obsession with grooming. He wondered if he ever did end up dropping that shampoo line. 

“Well, what are you going to do now?” At the weird look, Izuku clarified. “I mean, you can hardly use your quirk anymore. How are you going to be the Symbol of Peace if this just keeps getting worse…?”

Toshinori sighed, smirking. “That is the question, huh.” He paused. “Look, kid. There’s something that’s been bugging me about you, so how about a trade? I’ll tell you my big secret — besides the fact that I normally look like this, of course — if you tell me yours.”

Izuku could feel his palms sweating, but the curiosity was just too great. What could be an even bigger secret than this? “Alright. What do you want to know?”

“Your quirk. What Bakugou was saying back there about you being quirkless until you met the Tentacle...is it true? Did your quirk really come from him?”

The green-haired boy blinked, genuinely surprised. After the Aizawa incident, he assumed everyone on staff knew about his quirk, but apparently that wasn’t the case. He ground his teeth, contemplating lying — it was a state-protected secret, after all — before deciding against it. It wasn’t right to lie to Toshinori if the man was going to be truthful with him.

“It did,” he admitted, and Toshinori tensed. “Obviously I’m not as fast or powerful as him. But, um. On the night he died — the night I got this scar — Korosensei gave me a percentage of his speed. He always believed I could be a hero, even when I was quirkless, but he knew the world wouldn’t think the same. So he gave me this, saying it was always his most heroic quirk.”

Toshinori hummed. “Of every villain I’ve fought, the one I never understood was that man. I never got his motives, even less so seeing what he did for you and your classmates. Though I guess I’ll never understand, huh?”

Izuku nodded slowly. “He’s still a mystery to us too.”

There was a long pause. “Well, I guess it’s my turn.” Toshinori sighed. “You know, given how you said your quirk was passed on to you, what I’m about to say is going to sound awfully funny. You see, my quirk isn’t like other quirks. It’s not even mine — it was given to me too.”

Izuku blinked as the man continued. “It’s called One for All. It’s an accumulation of strength and power passed down from user to user. You asked what I’m going to do about my power weakening? Well, that’s why I’m here at U.A. in the first place. I need to find a successor.”

“S-Successor?”

“Yes, someone worthy of this power. Someone who embodies the heart of a true hero.”

Izuku jolted. “I-I can help you!” Toshinori look stunned, and Izuku clarified, “Even when I was quirkless, I loved analyzing other people’s quirks. I have all these journals with analysis — oh, I think I have one in my belt!”

He pulled out a rolled notebook and passed it to the silent Toshinori. “It’s just simple analysis, nothing special, but it was always a huge help in E-class when we were plotting assassina- I mean, plotting missions.”

Toshinori blinked, awkwardly flipping through the journal. “I see. A bit of a quirk fanboy, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess so. I’m really good at deciphering people’s strengths and weaknesses too...” Izuku scratched the back of his head, inwardly screaming at himself. This man is All-Might! Why am I acting so lame around All-Might?! Oh, I’m so embarrassed.

“Is...Is this everything you had on the Tentacle?”

The green-haired boy jolted. He didn’t even realize what journal he had handed All-Might. “Oh, yeah, and all of my old classmates too.”

Toshinori hummed, going from page to page. “Not exactly the quirks you’d expect from the most feared teenagers on the planet.”

“No, not really,” laughed Izuku. “It’s funny. Most of us were placed in E-class because we were told our quirks didn’t measure up; that we weren’t strong enough. It makes me wonder if the world knew how Takebayashi’s quirk let him pull statistic calculations from his belly button, would they really be so scared?”

Toshinori snorted. “Probably not…” He closed the journal and handed it back. “There’s some good stuff in there. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but...do you really think you can help?”

Izuku nodded frantically. “Yes, of course! And I promise I won’t tell a soul about any of this! You can trust me, I’m an assassin, after all. Secrets are my specialty!”

It was supposed to be reassuring, but it only seemed to make Toshinori more anxious. “Right…”

Suddenly, the door swung open, and Recovery Girl walked in. “Hmm? Toshinori, what are you doing in that form in front of a student? And why is my desk trashed?” Her beady eyes landed on Izuku. “And what happened to his chest?!”

-.-.-.-

“Welcome back to the Tokyo View. Tonight we are joined by two very special guests, here to discuss the topic that’s been on the entire worlds’ minds: END. With us we have Agent President and Agent Myth, representing their team and here to share their side. Agents, tell me, what has it been like going from being school children to being government agents?”

Isogai smiled. “Well, in all fairness, we are still school children, just with...interesting part-time jobs.”

The news anchor laughed humorlessly. “Yes, of course. What I mean to say is, is it hard taking part in missions most professionals aren’t prepared to do?”

“Of course it is,” Kataoka answered. “While END is well-trained, high profile missions are difficult for any team, no matter how elite. It’s why we keep on training to get better so we know we’re ready for any threat.”

“You say threat, but many people are saying that your team is actually the threat here. What’s your response?”

“As we’ve said multiple times before, END is not here to hurt anyone,” Isogai answered, remaining professional despite the jab. “We have the training, yes, but that does not mean we’re dangerous. We’re here to do good. I know it’s easy to forget ma’am, but we are indeed children. We’re not villains — we’re first years in high school who just so happened to save the world.”

-.-.-.-

During lunch, after their short spar, Shinsou was busy tapping away on his phone (“I’m texting Nagisa. He’s...helping me with something. I’ll tell you later if it doesn’t blow up in my face.”) and Izuku decided, given he’d already completed his homework, to pull out a particularly gigantic book from his backpack.

“Is that Korosensei’s yearbook?” Shinsou asked, glancing up from his phone. “You’re carrying around a 4000 paged book in your backpack?”

“It’s a good workout?” Izuku justified, and the brainwasher just stared. “I haven’t gotten a chance to finish it yet. It’s just so big and thorough, I’m barely halfway through.”

“Don’t you literally have super speed?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to risk throwing up blood all over it!”

The brainwasher snorted but put down his phone, sliding so they were side by side. Izuku tilted the book so they could both have a good view. “What section are you on?”

“Student events. Just got through the manga-style chapters. They were funny, but they took a long time to read…”

Shinsou snorted. “No joke. I stayed up all night after he died to finish it, and I thought my brain was going to fall out of my head. Though I did enjoy the spread dedicated to every time you manifested your notebook out of thin air.”

“S-Shut up, Hitoshi…”

-.-.-.-

Izuku was being serious when he said he wanted to finish Korosensei’s yearbook. He felt bad taking so long, but he wanted to savor every page, not just glance at it. So when they were given free time in between English and math, he figured it wasn’t very harmful to bring it out and read it. Iida was reading during the break too, and everyone else was minding their own business, steering very clear of him. After the little...episode with Bakugou and him, it kind of felt like he was back to square one with 1-A.

He finished looking at the spread dedicated to Kurahashi and her love for stag beetles when he noticed the lighting change. He moved to quickly hide the book, but it was too late.

“Whoa, is that the Tentacle?” Kirishima whispered, and Izuku tried to relax. It was just Kirishima, Kirishima was nice, and no one else seemed to notice. Nonetheless, he awkwardly hunched over the book to cover the other boy’s view.

“Uh, yeah, it’s the yearbook Korosensei made for all of us…”

Kirishima blinked and pulled his desk over so they were touching. “That’s so cool. Can I see?” At his hesitance, the red-haired boy explained, “I’m curious to see what he was actually like. After meeting you and realizing how manly you are, it’s obvious everything the news is saying is fake. Sorry if it feels like I’m intruding and all...”

Slowly, Izuku uncovered the page so Kirishima could see. “It’s alright. It’s just a little embarrassing, he made it really big.” Kirishima laughed, looking widely at the massive book. “No kidding, that’s bigger than encyclopedias! I guess you guys had a lot of memories to fit in, huh?”

“Yeah…” Izuku said, smiling sadly.

They sat surprisingly quiet, given Kirishima’s boisterous personality. The red-haired boy only piped up to ask who people were or for the context of certain photos. He paused on a picture of Shinsou using his capture rings to save a cat from a tree.

“Hey, that guy goes to U.A. too, right? Is he in 1-B?”

Izuku awkwardly shook his head. “N-No. Because of, uh, how controversial END is, they only let one of us join the hero course, and I scored one question higher…”

“Seriously? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. You can tell how cool he is just from this picture; kinda reminds me of Aizawa-sensei, to be honest.”

The green-haired boy snorted. “You have no idea…”

They went through a few more pages before Kirishima paused him again. This time it was a spread of Korosensei’s personal tutoring sessions. There was a picture of Kurahashi smiling over algebra while holding up a knife as Korosensei patiently explained each problem. There was also a picture of Korosensei using his doubles to teach every student at once in preparation for exams.

“Wow. He really was just a teacher for you guys,” Kirishima noted. “With everything they played it up to be, I figured every day you went to school just to attack the man. Though I guess that doesn’t make sense, given how smart you are. Was he a good teacher?”

“The best,” Izuku grinned. “He made sure he memorized every teaching material there was so he could always answer our questions. And even outside the classroom, he always knew exactly what to say. It bothers me to hear everyone referring to him as the Tentacle or a villain because that’s not what he was. It’s not what he wanted to be. He just wanted to be a teacher.”

Kirishima paused. “Then why did you…”

He trailed off, but it was obvious what he was going to ask. Why did you kill him?

Izuku sighed. “It was never our choice.”

Nothing ever was.

-.-.-.-

“Hey, that guy looks like Todoroki!”

It was a picture from their trip to Musutafu when Korosensei’s shampoo accidentally washed out Karma’s hair dye, revealing his white tips. Izuku sweatdropped and turned the page, eyeing the red-and-white haired boy in front of him. It was obvious Todoroki was trying to subtly turn around and see what they were looking at.

“Yeah, so weird, that was just a prank though, oh, look at Korosensei disguising himself as All-Might, haha…”

-.-.-.-

Izuku, taking his newfound responsibility for Toshinori very seriously, got right to work with creating a list of candidates for the One for All quirk. Considering he only knew Shinsou and 1-A right now, the list was short, but it was a start. He was working on it one day at the END headquarters, and his brainwashing best friend noticed, glancing over with sharp eyes. “What’s that?”

Izuku tried to keep his face passive. “Um, it’s a new quirk journal, this time for the people I meet at U.A.” He slid the book over so Shinsou could get a better look.

“Yaoyorozu Momo?” he said, reading the top of the page. “I know her. We met at the entrance exam.”

“R-Really? That’s cool. She’s, um, cool. She’s crazy smart — the only one who can match me in class — and her quirk lets her create any non-living material from her skin if she knows how that something is made. And, given she’s crazy smart, she usually does.”

Shinsou nodded, skimming through the pages. “Hmm, interesting…”

He seemed oddly interested in the quirk journal, Izuku noted. But why…?

“Hey!” he exclaimed. “Are you memorizing everyone’s quirk?!”

He made a swipe for his journal, but Shinsou, with his superior height, easily held it out of reach. “Well, duh. These are my opponents for the Sports Festival, which means I need to beat them. Don’t you want to help me beat them?”

“Well, yeah, but that’s cheating—”

“I’d hardly call this cheating,” Karma said, swooping in and snatching the journal for himself. “Kouda Kouji. Quirk: Anivoice. The ability to command any creature in the animal kingdom. Hey, he’s like Kurahashi and Shinsou’s love child, except he’s weird looking like Terasaka.”

“OH SHUT UP, DEVIL BOY!” 

“Ooh, I wanna see,” Nakamura took the journal next. “So tell us, Midoriya. Any hotties in your class we need to keep an eye out for? Hero work always attracts the good looking ones. Don’t you agree, Agent Honeypot?”

Yada nodded exuberantly, and Midoriya sweatdropped. “I’m not going to help you hook up with my classmates, give it back—”

Just when he thought he had a hold of it, Hazama, hidden in everyone’s shadows, snatched it away. “Hmm, seems kind of lame to me. How does a girl with invisibility get in? If that’s the case, I could be in a hero course.”

The whole class stared at the gothic girl blankly. “No, you could not.”

Isogai, forever Prince Charming, finally stepped in and gave Izuku his journal back. “Alright, that’s enough teasing for today.” 

Izuku hugged the journal to his chest protectively, eyeing his classmates, daring them to try and take it again. His eyes landed on Itona and that’s when he remembered, going for his bag. “Hey, Itona, wait up.” He pulled out his damaged hero costume. “Combat training got a little too intense. I’m really sorry for damaging your suit, it was so amazing and was practically the only reason I won the mission.”

“It’s fine. It’s expected you’d take on some damage,” Itona said briskly, inspecting the fabric. “These look like burn marks. Fire quirk?”

Izuku nodded. “Explosions.” There was the sound of something dropping, and Izuku turned to find Shinsou burning holes in the back of his head. The green-haired boy squeaked. He may of 'accidentally' forget to mention that he kind of fought his childhood best friend who kind of has it out for him. 

“I’ll have to work with Karma on making the fabric more temperature resistant…” Itona pondered. “I should have it completely mended soon, and I’ll take the time to add the new upgrades. We’re lucky the government doesn’t even blink when I put in request forms for different materials. Makes working on projects really easy.”

“Y-Yup…”

The white-haired boy walked off, and Izuku tried to escape at Mach-2, only to run straight into Shinsou’s chest.

“Yeah, no. You’re only a tenth of Korosensei’s speed, you’re not getting away that easily,” the brainwasher said, gripping his shoulders and looking down threateningly. “Now what’s this I hear about fighting a guy with an explosion quirk?”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Midoriya Izuku <[email protected]> April 19, 20XX, 11:58 PM

to Toshinori Yagi

Hi All-Might, sir!

So I’ve been taking a lot of notes on my classmates and everything I could learn about students in other classes. Hopefully they’re thorough enough, I didn’t want to look over anything given how serious it is that we get this right as well as find a successor quickly. I think there are a few good options in there.

I’ll be sure to send more as I make them. And I can be more thorough if you need!

Plus Ultra!

Midoriya Izuku

[attachment file]

Toshinori Yagi <[email protected]> April 20, 20XX, 7:26 AM

to Midoriya Izuku

Kid. This is over 100 pages long.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

After giving his best friend a firm lecture (“Are you trying to die — again?”), Hitoshi made his way over to Nagisa.

“Hey, so about what I’ve been messaging you about,” he began.

“Oh yeah,” the blue-haired boy said, and they walked through the base together to get some privacy. “Are you sure I’m the right person for the job? I-I mean—”

“I don’t think there’s anyone else who can do this,” the brainwasher insisted. “I mean, for one, your quirk would make them more open to trusting us and is subtle enough that you won’t get caught, and two, no one else in E-class was as changed by Korosensei as you were. If there’s anyone who can relate to and inspire this depressing bunch, it’s you. The fact that you’re super short and non-threatening helps too.”

“Hey!”

“Kidding. But really, just think of this as your first chance to experience life as a teacher like Korosensei. Given how you reached Sakura, it sounds like you’re pretty good at it.”

Nagisa blushed and looked away, but Hitoshi didn't back down. He meant every word; he believed in Nagisa, believed he could do what it took to reach 1-C. Hitoshi knew he couldn't do this alone, and while it would still take a miracle for this to work out, Nagisa was a key piece in this metaphorical game of chess.  

“Thanks…" Nagisa mumbled. "So what’s the plan again?”

-.-.-.-

It was all set up with a very enthusiastic Midnight, who was perhaps too eager to get her students involved in a secret fight club. She got Nagisa a guest pass for campus without blinking an eye. After calling role, Midnight told the class they had a guest speaker for homeroom. That’s when Nagisa entered and Hitoshi walked up to the front. Simple.

The only problem was everyone’s responses.

“Heh? Isn’t he an END agent?”

“Midnight-sensei, why are you having the END agents talk to us?”

“What’s going on?!”

“Enough!” Midnight shouted, and the class shrunk back, not used to this side of their teacher. “Alright, kiddos. Shinsou and his friend here are going to talk to you and you’re going to listen! Sound good?”

No one said a word, and they took that as a good sign. He nodded at Nagisa, and slowly a gentle, calming feeling settled over the room.

“Um, hi,” Hitoshi began awkwardly. “I know we haven’t gotten a chance to really know each other over the past week, so I’ll just introduce myself. I’m Shinsou Hitoshi. This is my friend, Nagisa, he’s visiting from another school. And Midnight asked us to speak with you… I wanted to speak with you about…”

He struggled with the words for a second before accepting there was no eloquent way to say this. “I’ve heard you guys complaining and comparing yourselves to the hero course, and I want to show you why that’s a complete and utter waste of your time.”

The class blanched.

Great. That probably wasn’t the best thing to say. Thankfully, he had Nagisa.

“What Shinsou is trying to say,” Nagisa began. “Is that seeing yourself as weak isn’t any help to anyone, and we know that better than anyone else. I doubt you heard this over the media screaming, but before we were END, the government force, we were 3-E, the Kunugigaoka end class. We were the failures, the weak ones cast away and spit on for bothering to dream. And from what Shinsou’s told me, the way you guys are acting isn’t much different than how we used to. Before Korosensei, we genuinely had no confidence in ourselves. My quirk was misdiagnosed because I was so self-deprecating,” Nagisa laughed awkwardly, and it seemed to draw a few smiles out from the class. “We weren’t amazing by any means, but with some top-notch training and a much-needed boost of confidence, we became who we are today.”

Hitoshi nodded. Korosensei, bless Nagisa. This was exactly why he needed to bring the blue-haired boy along. He turned to the class and tried to mimic Nagisa's approach. “Before E-class, everyone told me I would never become anything but a villain simply because of my quirk and not who I was. They feared me for my power, and it made me start to hate it. But E-class helped me believe in my power again and believe it could be used for good. I always wanted to be a hero, but Korosensei and E-class made it possible.”

“W-Why are you tuh-telling us this?” the green-dyed hair guy — Sakurai or something — asked. 

“Because we want to help you realize that you’re not confined to just being 1-C,” Nagisa answered. “You can become strong too, even break the General Education records in the Sports Festival. All it takes is some training and dedication, and Shinsou is willing to help you with that. And so am I.”

“But how?” the pink-eyeball girl, Michimiya, squeaked. “Our quirks can’t hold a finger to the hero course kids. We don’t stand a chance.”

Hitoshi smiled. “The best teacher I ever had once said that ‘Your quirk doesn’t define who you are. It’s what you do with it that does.’” He paused, letting that sink in. “I know that you can become strong. I’m not trying to indoctrinate you into becoming the next END — please, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone — but I want to help you because I know what it feels like to be in your shoes. I know how it sucks to think you’ll never be good enough, never be strong enough. And I know how to overcome it.”

The class anxiously glanced around, but at least they were looking at him. Progress. “Look, you guys said the most General Education has ever sent to round two of the Sports Festival is three. I know we can change that if we do this. And before you start wondering what’s in this for me, it really is nothing. If anything, this could hurt me. The only reason I’m not in the hero course already is because the school doesn’t trust END, and I have a deal that if I do well in the Sports Festival, I can move up. Focusing on helping you guys could ruin any chance I have of making it past the first round myself, but it’s what I’m willing to sacrifice. I’d rather help others than serve myself so selfishly.”

The class was speechless, and Nagisa placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Midnight stood back up. “I agree with Shinsou here. I believe you can be great, even if you don’t see it in yourselves. We’ve agreed to give you until the end of the week to decide whether if we, as a class, wish to accept Shinsou’s help. We’ll take a vote on Friday when we vote for class representatives.”

The class was dismissed, but Hitoshi stayed up there with Nagisa. The blue-haired boy squeezed his arm reassuringly. “I think they really heard you, Shinsou. I could see their emotional levels, and they were all really receptive. It’s just a lot to take in, but I’m sure they’ll come around.”

Hitoshi prayed he was right.

-.-.-.-

Friday came with little sign of 1-C’s receptiveness changing. While they would look at him when they gossiped about him now, no one would outright talk to him still. They at least seemed to be thoroughly debating the offer, which was...something? In all honesty, he really didn’t know what they thought of his plan or even him until he and Midoriya were walking to school that morning and found a media storm outside the U.A. gates. Instinctively, they froze and hid from view, but were just close enough to hear the shouting.

“What has it been like going to school with END agents? Have you felt threatened in any way?”

Oh, great. Hitoshi rolled his eyes, bracing for a response.

“I mean, I don’t know about the one in the hero course, but the one in my class has never threatened us. He seems okay, actually.”

The brainwasher blinked. That...actually wasn’t that bad. He peered around and tried to see who was speaking, and was surprised to find the leaf guy (Yamaguchi?) speaking. 

“Hey, are you in the hero course? How do you feel about having a trained assassin as a classmate?”

A guy with square glasses stepped up. “Our classmate is a hardworking and impressive individual with skills many of us could learn from and power I admire greatly. While having him in our presence is intimidating, it is no more intimidating than being among powerful Pro-Heroes such as All-Might. He is an honorable asset to our learning environment…”

The boy droned on, and Hitoshi blinked. “Well he’s...enthusiastic. Are you guys friends? He seems to admire you at least.”

Midoriya laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it. Iida also has a speed quirk, and he tends to treat me more like a revered idol than a classmate, but it’s better than being feared, I guess.”

“I guess,” Hitoshi shrugged before pulling a hat out of his bag and putting it on. “Grab your cap. It’s time to sneak our way into school.”

Midoriya scrambled to do the same, tucking his green hair in the dark cap. “You know, I could run us past them so fast they wouldn’t even see us…”

“Yeah, and get blood all over your uniform again. Not happening. Besides, these idiots are so obsessed with harassing our classmates, I doubt they’ll notice us.”

They did eventually get noticed. They were all the way to the gate before a sharp-eyed cameraman shouted, “HEY, IT’S THE END AGENTS!” and then all hell broke loose. The media blob stormed forward, wanting to get the exclusive on them. 

Hitoshi, feeling a little extra cheeky, just took one step back and stood there waiting for the reporters to charge. He got a nice look at their crazed faces, letting them think they might get an interview with the elusive assassins, and then WHAM! The U.A. security gate slammed upward right in the lead reporter’s face.

He shot a grin back at his disturbed looking best friend. “Ah, I love these gates.”

-.-.-.-

“I hate these gates. Why couldn’t they just do their job?”

He had just met up with Midoriya for lunch and they were about to head up the stairs to the roof when the school alarms when off, announcing a security breach. The entire cafeteria erupted into chaos, and the two plastered themselves to the wall to avoid being swept away. Hitoshi used his height advantage to peer over the crowd and saw the mass of reporters trying to break through the door and being held off by Pro-Heroes. “Are you kidding me? This kind of reaction for—”

“IT’S AN ASSASSIN!”

The duo flinched instinctively, yet no one was looking at them. No one was paying them any attention, so why…?

“Hitoshi, look!” Midoriya cried, pointing to where a wide berth in the crowd had formed, everyone suddenly backing away from the exit. Craning his neck, Hitoshi just barely caught a glimpse of the crumpled form on the ground, her arm painful snapped in half, and the three other broken forms next to her. Standing above them was a dangerous-looking man with blond hair and large hands.

“Grip?!” Hitoshi hissed, recalling the last time he met this man on the island. Wasn’t he in jail? “Well, that explains how the media got passed the gate; Grip probably ripped it apart. But why aren’t any heroes coming to stop him?!”

“Ritsu, do you know what’s going on?” Midoriya said into their Ritsu-watch. “Grip is an assassin for hire. Why is he attacking U.A.?”

The AI girl popped up, looking nervous. “I can’t find any requests for an assassin to target any U.A. student or teacher, so I’m not sure. I’m trying to get in contact with a U.A. administrator, but no one is responding.”

Hitoshi cursed. “Grip let the media in so they would distract the Pros.” He watched Grip crack the arm of another student, and the circle just kept getting wider as everyone packed in. “Really? Not even the third-year hero students are doing anything. Are they really that scared of an assassin?”

“Recent polls show that since the formation of END, public opinion has swayed so that most believe assassins are the more terrifying and deadly foe,” Ritsu answered. The brainwasher snorted.

“Well, they’re not wrong, but this is Grip for crying out loud. Karma took him out with wasabi.”

“Hitoshi,” Midoriya interrupted, staring at the scene with a panicked expression. “No one else is stepping up, and the Pros aren’t here. We have to do something.”

“You are green-lighted,” Ritsu offered needlessly, as if it weren’t already obvious.

“Right. I mean, we could sneak out and alert the teachers, but where’s the fun in that?” Hitoshi muttered, sighing. Inwardly, he realized that maybe this was a good thing. If they saved the day, it would make people fear them less. “Fine. I left all my gear at the END base. You got anything?”

“Um. No? It’s all with my hero costume, which is being mended by Itona.”

“Great. Just great.” Hitoshi pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well, we need to distract him, but we still need quirk handcuffs. I can’t believe I’m asking you this, but do you think you can make it to the base and back without, like, dying?”

Midoriya pursed his lips, determined. “I’ll have to try. You think you can hold him off without getting snapped into pieces?”

The brainwasher laughed. “Give me a challenge, Jolly Green. Now get out of here!”

-.-.-.-

With his friend zipping off at Mach-2, Hitoshi leisurely slunk his way through the tight-fit crowd. When he reached the front, he frowned at the sight of five downed and injured U.A. students, and a small, teary-eyed boy in his hold, probably about to have his arm snapped in two. Grip was laughing mockingly.

“I figured this would be more entertaining,” the assassin sighed, sounding bored. “When my employer told me to wreak havoc, I at least thought it’d be more fun than this. Aren’t you supposed to be heroes?”

So he was paid...but by who? Who would pay an assassin to show up to a school just to stir chaos?

Hitoshi turned to the side and noticed a kid from his class, Sakurai, standing there protectively holding out his lunch tray like some kind of peace offering. He leaned in and whispered, “Is no one stepping up to stop him?”

The green-haired boy jolted and stared at him with wide eyes. “Yuh-Yeah, but ev-everyone who did is now l-lying on the fl-floor. This guy is c-c-crazy!”

The brainwasher snorted. “That’s one way of putting it.” He eyed Sakurai’s lunch tray. “Hey, think I can borrow that? You probably won’t be getting it back, but the school board took away all of my toys, so…”

“Are you crazy?!” piped up Shimizu, a normally leveled-headed girl from 1-C that sat next to Hitoshi. “You can’t possibly plan on fighting that monster! You see that boy right there? That’s one of the Big-Three third-year hero students, and he snapped his legs in seconds!”

Sakurai nodded. “Y-Yeah, he’s too s-s-s-strong.”

“Yeah, well, that kid needs help. And until the Pros realize what’s going on, someone needs to step up, and it seems like I’m the best one for the job,” he said, snatching away the lunch tray. “Besides, remember what I’ve been telling you? He may be strong, but I’m stronger.”

Leaving his classmates stunned speechless, the brainwasher silently approached the Pro-Assassin from behind. 

“You thought you could stop me?” Grip taunted the boy in his hold. “I can break you in two with my pinky—”

“Well, that doesn’t sound very pleasant.”

“Hmm?”

Before the Pro-Assassin could fully turn around, Hitoshi slapped him with the lunch tray. Grip went down hard, releasing the student, who Hitoshi quickly grabbed and pushed into the gaping crowd. He ignored the booming chatter as he loomed over the assassin.

“Hey, Grip, my favorite child-harming buddy. Still up to your old tricks, huh? Taking on jobs from random dudes who tell you to beat up kids. Your mother must be so proud.”

Grip spit at his feet. “I know you. You’re one of those E-class brats from the island.”

“Yup. I’m good friends with the guy who took you down with wasabi, actually,” Hitoshi mocked, and the Pro-Assassin hilariously flinched. “You know, I could brainwash you into submission, but I’ve been trying to make a point about strength outside your quirk lately; don’t want to be a hypocrite or anything.” He shrugged arrogantly. “Oh, and a little birdy told me that the public thinks assassins are scarier than villains because of END, which is altogether hilarious. Though, I bet it makes your job pretty nice, huh? Break a few unsuspecting kids’ bones and the strong ones will think they don’t stand a chance against you.”

“I will not lie, it has given me many perks,” Grip said, standing back up. “And it’s nothing personal, but I’m sure breaking the neck of an END agent will make my job even easier.”

Hitoshi picked up a pair of metal chopsticks off the floor. “Yeah, good luck with that.”

Grip lunged for his throat and Hitoshi ducked and spun out of the way, slamming the chopstick against the assassin’s thigh. It wasn’t sharp enough to penetrate the skin, but Grip grunted, nonetheless.

“You will pay for that!” Grip spat, and Hitoshi punched his jaw.

“Yeah, no.”

Hitoshi was trained to be an antagonizing fighter so he could get a response from and brainwash his opponents. But even if he wasn’t planning on brainwashing Grip, doesn’t mean he couldn’t have a lot of fun with him. He slammed the other chopstick into Grip’s side and it bent in half on impact. Flipping out of reach, Hitoshi watched the assassin bellow in pain, but in all honesty, he didn’t seem that fazed by the injury.

“You will have to do better than that,” Grip spat. “My quirk makes me as tough as my hands. Little sticks won’t stop me; they are an insulting sting.”

“Sorry, they don’t let me bring my big guns because ‘this is a school for heroes so there’s no need for END assistance’ or something, so I’m kinda having to improvise.” He twirled his remaining chopstick. “Say, are your eyes as tough as your hands too?”

Grip tensed and Hitoshi went for the jab, only to get blocked. Grip grabbed the other end of the chopstick right before it hit his eye, crushing the metal to dust with his quirk.

“Oh shit,” Hitoshi hissed, barely flipping away before his hand was next. He tossed his destroyed chopstick to the ground. “Hand-to-hand then, huh?”

Grip cackled. “You will not last very long that way.”

He had a point, but Hitoshi was out of options. He resorted to striking fast and retreating out of range, which kept him safe from Grip’s quirk, but it was extremely exhausting. He had no idea how far out Midoriya was, or if he even made it without suffocating on blood, but he knew he couldn’t keep this up forever. He had to think up a new plan soon. Unfortunately, Grip got fed up with the tactic first. After taking a kick to the stomach for the third time with no retaliation, the Pro-Assassin resorted to lashing out at the crowd and grabbing the nearest student. Hitoshi cursed when he realized it was Michimiya, the pink-eyeball girl from his class. 

“Think about your next move very carefully, or else her spine will break away from her neck,” Grip threatened, and Michimiya screeched. Hitoshi looked around helplessly, praying someone else would interfere, but no one moved an inch. They probably figured they’d end up like Michimiya if they tried.

Grip was right. He did have to think very carefully about his next move. He couldn’t make it seem like he was attacking, or else Grip would get threatened and snap Michimiya’s neck. Running away was absolutely not an option, nor was surrendering. But maybe…

“Let her go,” he tried, praying the assassin would respond. The man clearly saw right through him and stubbornly tightened his lips. Hitoshi cursed, trying to think of a Plan B. Flashes to their earlier conversation came to mind and he smirked. “Look, I’m on comm with END right now, and my buddy Karma isn’t too happy with you. He’s personally coming to take you down with something that will cause a lot more pain than hot sauce.”

The assassin flinched. Success. “He will not get here in time.”

“Who says he isn’t already here?” Hitoshi fibbed, and the look of horror on Grip’s face made it obvious he bought it. He brought out his phone. “Look, I’ll show you on our security cams. He’s right…”

Without warning, he snapped a picture with the flash on, temporarily blinding the assassin. Hitoshi dove in, kicked Grip in the chest, and safely pulled Michimiya away. They went tumbling into the crowd.

“Sorry, sorry,” Hitoshi hissed, unwrapping himself around Michimiya. He stumbled up, ready to go after Grip again, but paused when he saw who he fell on top of. “Hey, Yaomomo! You can create things, right?”

“Wha—”

Hitoshi took control. “Make me a steel bow staff.”

The girl sparkled as the weapon materialized out of the exposed skin on her wrist. Hitoshi blinked in shock (because that was awesome) and snatched up the bow staff, releasing the girl from his brainwashing. “Thanks.”

He charged back through the crowd just in time to stop Grip from attacking another student. He smacked the guy to the floor, twirling his staff expertly. “Alright, Grip. It’s time for me to beat the shit out of you.”

He brutally smacked Grip in the face, sending him flying, but the assassin just got right back up. It seemed his quirk really did make him more durable. How frustrating.

Hitoshi used the bow staff to vault over Grip and kick him in the back and followed it up with another hit with the pole. Grip growled and lashed out, but Hitoshi easily jumped out of the way, the bow staff letting him attack with excellent reach. He went for another smack to the face but this time Grip was ready; he grabbed bow staff by the middle and squeezed, snapping it in half with his bare hands.

“Your weapons are nothing compared to the strength of my hands. I will break everything you use—”

Hitoshi, now brandishing two mini bow staffs, viciously clapped them on either side of Grip’s head. The assassin crumbled like a rock.

The brainwasher spun the duel weapons effortlessly. “Dumbass.”

He watched, bemused, as Grip tried to stumble to his feet, his hands flailing out uselessly. “I-I will not b-be knocked down—”

And then finally (about damn time), a blur came rushing in, grabbing Grip by the arms, flipping him through the air, and throwing him to the floor fully bound in quirk-canceling handcuffs. The move was finished off with a tranquilizer to the neck. Midoriya Izuku appeared next to the brainwasher, panting and puking blood. 

Hitoshi braced his knees, catching his breath. “Oh, thank goodness.” He passed Midoriya a tissue.

“T-Thanks—”

“Took you long enough, Jolly Green,” Hitoshi said, wiping his brow. “Do you know how annoying this guy is? He just won’t stay down!”

Midoriya sputtered incredulously. “Well, I tried to get here as quick as I could, but I can’t fly, you know. Do you know how hard it is to avoid people and buildings and traffic at Mach-2?”

“No, I wouldn’t know because I was stuck here doing the hard work.”

“Hard work?! I just ran to Tokyo and back!”

“Yeah, and I just defended the school from a whackjob assassin. Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”

Midoriya leaned down and threw the unconscious assassin over his shoulder. “Since you decided to insult my work ethic, I’m taking your hard work and claiming it as my own so I get the arrest point and you don’t.”

“What? You can’t do that. Ritsu, tell him he can’t do that.”

“I’m impartial to the END scoring system.”

“Huh?”

The shrubbery smirked. “Have fun in intensive training without me!”

And then he was gone with a blur, leaving the brainwasher alone in a stunned-silent cafeteria crowd with no arrest points. Hitoshi had to bend down to pick his jaw up off the floor.

“Unbelievable.”

-.-.-.-

Eventually, the heroes did show up and were quite horrified to learn what happened to their students in the ten minutes they were preoccupied with the media storm. The five injured students were carried off to Recovery Girl’s office as the rest of the school was herded back to their respective homerooms. Hitoshi, thinking this might be his chance to escape, tried to slink off, only to be stopped by a distinctive dark-clad form.

“E-Eraserhead?!” the brainwasher squeaked, staring at his idol in awe and horror. While he knew this man was Midoriya’s homeroom teacher, the last time Hitoshi saw him was during the mountain raid when he...attacked the Pro…

“Kids are saying you took the assassin down,” the hero stated, his eyes intimidating despite their tired appearance . Is that how he looked normally?

“Well, Midoriya helped too. I just kept Grip preoccupied so he wouldn’t hurt anyone…”

“So I heard. Apparently, you fought him even though you aren’t permitted weapons on campus. It was unbelievably reckless of you.” Hitoshi winced. Okay, getting lectured by your idol hurts a lot more than normal. “But nonetheless, you covered our blindspots and did our job for us. Again.”

Hitoshi jolted, and Eraserhead almost looked amused. “I’m not thanking you by any means. You could’ve gotten yourself or someone else killed. The correct course of action would have been alerting a teacher. If you were my student, I’d definitely punish you. But even if it was stupid, you used your wits and kept everyone safe, and that’s something.”

“Um, thanks…” he gulped, unsure how to respond. Was saying thanks the wrong thing? “If you don’t mind me asking, why are you telling me this?”

Eraserhead rolled his eyes. “I’m telling you this so you know why the school board won’t be hearing of your involvement with this event. It was our oversight that let this happen, so Nemuri and I have this covered.”

Hitoshi blinked, not having a single clue who ‘Nemuri’ was. “Oh. Thank you, Eraserhead…”

The Pro-Hero smirked, and it was terrifying. “Don’t do any more stupid things, kid. You’ll just get yourself killed, and that’d be a damn shame.”

And then Eraserhead was gone, and Hitoshi’s pretty sure he had a heart attack in the middle of the cafeteria.

-.-.-.-

He got an even bigger shock when he finally returned to his homeroom only to be greeted by all of his classmates rising out of their chairs and bowing to greet him. He jolted back, going into a defensive position, and wondered what kind of voodoo-magic alternate universe he stepped into. 

“Shinsou,” Midnight said, looking all-too proud. “I believe your classmates have something they’d like to tell you!”

She directed the attention back to the masses, where Shimizu stepped up with a determined look. 

“We’ve reached a decision on your proposal,” she said, and Hitoshi concealed his growing panic. “The vote was unanimous. We want you to train us to become strong for the Sports Festival.”

The brainwasher blinked. “Unanimous…?" Was he dreaming? He had to be dreaming. "What...What changed your minds?”

“We saw you take on that crazy strong assassin even when third-year hero students didn’t dare try,” Yamaguchi spoke up. “And you did all by skill, not using your quirk, just to show us it was possible.”

“You saved my life,” the ever-timid Michimiya spoke up, her pink-eyeballs downcast. “I thought I was going to die because I didn’t have any way to defend myself. My quirk is easily beaten, but that doesn’t mean I want to be.”

“You’re...You’re sure about this, right? Absolutely positive? It’s not just some heat-of-the-moment delirium?” he clarified because there was no way this was happening. This was literally too good to be true. Too good to be happening in his crap life.

“We’re positive,” Shimizu affirmed. “There’s not much time until the Sports Festival, but we are all willing to work hard. We know we’re not all going to get into the hero course, even if we do well, but that doesn’t mean we won’t prove ourselves. Like you said, we can break records this year, and the only way we’re doing that is with your help.”

“If your E-class can become END in a year, we can become strong enough in a month,” the girl with a long neck, Amanai, added.

Hitoshi felt all too riled up on emotions. Like before, he looked at his new classmates and saw the faces of his old; he felt like he was back in the 3-E building, and they were uniting together to take down their teacher, or A-class, or whatever obstacle was thrown their way. He felt like he could turn around and find Korosensei smiling proudly down at them—

But then he was tackled in a boob-hug, and Midnight was screeching, “What youth you all have! It’s so inspiring!” and he snapped back to the reality that no, he wasn’t in E-class with his friends and Korosensei. He was in 1-C with Midnight.

Except now, it didn’t hurt to accept that. Now, he almost felt excited to be here.

“We also duh-decided on the class r-r-representatives,” Sakurai stuttered, and Hitoshi realized that he always did that, and it wasn’t just because he was scared. “Sorry we didn’t wuh-wait for y-you. We w-w-wanted to come to a de-decision and surprise y-you.”

“It’s alright. And thanks for loaning me the lunch tray earlier, it was a huge help,” said the brainwasher, and Sakurai’s smile lit up, reminding him of Midoriya. The green hair, even if Sakurai's was dyed, only intensified the comparison. 

“A lot of them wanted to vote for you actually, but I wouldn’t let them. We can’t have our class representative leaving us partway through the year, yeah?” Midnight said, nudging him suggestively. “We landed on Shimizu and Oohira. Pretty good fit, don’t you agree?”

Hitoshi eyed the two in question. Shimizu was wearing her ever-serious expression that mirrored Kataoka, and Oohira, a boy with dark skin and hair that changed color according to his mood (almost like Korosensei, he painfully notes) was smiling, his hair a happy yellow that was much too familiar. 

“Depends. You think you’re ready to lead the most badass General Education class U.A. will ever see?” Hitoshi smirked. The two students looked at each other and Oohira’s hair turned navy, which Hitoshi assumed meant he was determined.

“We’ll do our best,” Oohira declared. 

Midnight screeched about ‘their youth’ again while Kunimi, a boy with a long, crane-like beak, raised his hand. “I have a question though. Where are we going to train? We don’t have access to all of the facilities the hero course students use…”

The class turned to him curiously, and the brainwasher smirked. “Leave that to me.”

-.-.-.-

“Holy crap, Shinsou. Did you really buy an entire building?”

The following Monday after school, the entire class arranged to meet at the location Hitoshi sent them, which turned out to be an old warehouse. That Hitoshi now owned.

“Well, not technically,” the brainwasher answered Yamaguchi, unlocking the door. “I mean, I totally could’ve given all the bounty money I still have left, but my...temporary guardian did it for me. He’s big on real estate and has always been annoyed that I won’t let him pay for my apartment, so…”

That was an understatement. Asano Gakuhou was positively insulted that Hitoshi wouldn’t take any money (because he didn’t need it!), so when Hitoshi called him over the weekend asking for tips on buying building space that would be good to renovate for a gym, the man took it upon himself to buy an entire warehouse and send Hitoshi the key with a wad of cash to buy equipment. 

He got the door open and propped it so everyone could come inside. This was the first time he was checking the place out as well, and he looked around with wide eyes. It was a huge, completely open floor, the only other rooms being two bathrooms and an elevator door to the upstairs. He flicked on the nearby light switch experimentally and yup, looks like the electricity was up and running already. Pretty quick given the building was just purchased yesterday, but one should never put anything past Principal Asano.

“Wow,” Sakurai breathed. “Th-This place is so b-b-big!”

“And gray,” Michimiya noted, referring to the fact that it was all built of plain concrete. Hitoshi snorted.

Much of the class had taken off to explore the building, though there wasn’t much to see. The only things on the open bottom floor beside the bathrooms were giant concrete pillars for the structure, and upstairs was just as bare. Nonetheless, everyone looked around as if they were in a massive museum. 

“This is too much, Shinsou,” insisted Shimizu. “I mean, I don’t even know where to start with this place. It’s so big and I’m no architect—”

“Don’t worry. You just got to have a little vision.”

The whole class spun around at the new voice, and Hitoshi smiled brightly when he saw who was standing at the entrance.

“Hey, you made it!” he greeted, and the trio consisting of Isogai, Sugaya, and Hara waved back at him.

“Agents Tentacle and Gears are on their way,” Isogai supplied. “They just had to pick up a few more things.”

The brainwasher frowned. “Agent names? Do we have to?” These were his classmates after all, not some kind of mission objective. Well, not a formal mission, anyways.

The golden-eyed boy shrugged sheepishly. “Karasuma said we had to. Obviously they know your name, but we can’t risk all of our identities getting out when we don’t know these people. He’s being paranoid, but it’s better not to cross him.”

Hitoshi sighed. “Yeah, sure, it’s just a massive headache.” He turned to his wary-looking classmates. “Hey, come meet everyone. 1-C, meet some of my friends from E-class — or END, I guess you’d be more familiar with. These are Agents President, Ink, and Bite.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Hara greeted with a warm smile. His new classmates froze in obvious fear, and Hitoshi took note that while they may be more comfortable with him, meeting new assassins still freaked them out. Probably justified given the most recent attack.

Fortunately, they had Isogai with him, who, given his position as END PR co-head, spent the most time in front of the public. And being the walking Prince Charming he was, he already had a cult following of fangirls and boys. So when he smiled and waved at 1-C with a simple “Hello everyone!” the tense nervousness immediately evaporated. Oohira’s hair turned a telling blush pink.

“I invited them to help set up our training areas. The Sports Festival is coming up fast, which means we can’t waste longer than a day getting this place up and running. And, given E-class once completely renovated a preschool in two weeks, I figured setting up this place would be a piece of cake with their help.”

“You renovated a preschool?” Kunimi echoed, but was ignored when the sound of an engine roaring filled the room. Pulling up in an oversized truck was Yoshida and Itona.

“Is he old enough to drive?” Shimizu asked, and Hitoshi snorted.

“I mean, with his quirk he’s technically been driving since birth, so…”

“Yo, Shinsou, we got all the goods! Ready to remodel this dump?” Yoshida called out. Hitoshi turned back and looked at his new classmates quizzingly. They glanced around awkwardly before nodding, and the brainwasher grinned.

“Let’s get to work.”

-.-.-.-

They didn’t waste a second. Yoshida took the strongest students to start unloading the truck while Sugaya was marking down tape and telling everyone where to put things. Hara and Isogai worked on unpackaging and assembly, and Itona was off with Shimizu doing who knows what with the electrics. They operated as one; rolling out training mats, lining out a track, assembling equipment. Sakurai opened a particularly old looking box and screeched when he saw what was inside, making Hitoshi sprint over there. The brainwasher couldn’t help but laugh when he saw the components. 

“Man, I figured they trashed these,” he said, pulling out the green anti-sensei knife.

“We insisted they were left for sentimental purposes,” Sugaya explained with a wide smile. “Now it almost feels like we’re passing down a legacy.”

Michimiya hesitantly picked up an anti-sensei gun. “They’re fake...right?”

Hitoshi shrugged. “I mean, they were real in the assassination classroom. Korosensei could only be killed using special anti-sensei material, so while the knives and BBs couldn’t hurt us, they could kill him—” The girl went two shades paler. “—yes, they’re fake. Just for training.”

They organized the weapons on racks while Hara, Yamaguchi and a few other students put together a small first aid section. Hitoshi was surprised by how quickly it was coming together. Isogai’s Merge was a huge help in assembly, and the old warehouse was actually starting to look like a gym. Sugaya pinned a giant white banner on the back wall and reached into his bag to pull out bottles of ink.

“Let’s add some color in here, huh?” he said, walking up to the wall and taping a bottle to the banner. Without explanation, he stepped back, pulled out an anti-sensei gun, and fired. The ink exploded at the same time the students yelped and took cover. Oohira’s hair turned a panicked neon orange.

Sugaya laughed and shrugged off Hitoshi’s glare (because the last thing Hitoshi needed was for 1-C to get scared off after all this hard work). “I figured it’d be a fun way to start target practice. They’re just BBs, and I can use my quirk to turn the ink splatters into something totally sick.”

The brainwasher pinched the bridge of his nose, and he was extremely startled when Kunimi ran by him and taped another ink bottle to the wall. “I wanna try!”

The ice broken (okay, maybe Sugaya’s idea was actually really good, even if it was reckless), the mass of 1-C swarmed the wall and the E-class alumni’s gathered to show everyone the safe way to handle guns, reiterating that these were weapons, not toys, and needed to be taken seriously. Thankfully, no one in 1-C was hotheaded and were about as dangerous as flies, so they didn’t need to worry about impromptu BB battles.

Hitoshi finished showing the class twins, Miya #1 and Miya #2, how to aim when he noticed Sakurai standing off to the side, looking at his gun with shaking hands and a dejected frown. Maybe it was because the guy’s green-dyed hair reminded him way too much of Midoriya, or maybe he had a bleeding heart for soft, scared-looking people, but he couldn’t help but approach him.

“Hey,” he said, and Sakurai jolted. “Want a couple tips?”

The green-haired teen looked downcast. “N-N-No, I’m alright….”

“You sure? It wouldn’t be bothersome to me or anything, I swear.”

Sakurai gnawed on his lip, considering it. “Well, I gu-guess I c-c-could use some help.”

Hitoshi grinned softly and held up his own gun. “So, when you’re first starting out, it helps to close one eye so you can focus the front sight on the target easier. You wanna keep your hands as steady as possible, take a few deep breaths, and just pull the trigger. These are fake guns, so the kick-back is barely there.”

He followed the steps and fired for a reference before turning to the green-haired teen. “Okay, now you try.”

Sakurai nodded and slowly raised his guns, but his hands were shaking so bad he could barely put his finger on the trigger. It was painful to watch.

“Sakurai,” he said, and the boy jolted.

“Ye-Yeah?”

“Calm down,” he said, taking control. What was it with green-hair and uncontrollable nerves? Was this a trend?

Automatically, Sakurai’s hands stopped shaking. Still while being brainwashed, Hitoshi told the boy to take aim at the bottle of blue ink.

“Now, fire on three. One. Two. Three.”

Before he even started counting, he released Sakurai of the brainwashing, but the boy still fired. The BB soared through the air and hit the very bottom of an ink bottle, making it spill out in masses. Hitoshi’s heart swelled with pride and he patted the other boy on the back.

“See, you did it,” he complimented, but Sakurai just looked constipated. 

“N-No, you did. I-I couldn’t have d-d-done it if you didn’t make me calm dow-down.” 

“Yeah, but I didn’t make you fire that bullet and hit the target. That was all you. I just helped you get there.”

A deep blush dawned the stuttering boy’s cheeks. “Really?”

Hitoshi smiled. “Really.”

-.-.-.-

By the time evening approached, the place was almost done. The entire downstairs was turned into a clean training area, perfect for their objective. Sugaya took the ink splatters and turned it into an amazing graffiti-esce design reading ‘Assassination Education’ with a huge 1-C behind it. Midnight popped in for a little, lugging in pillows and beanbags and blankets and declared the upstairs a loft area before she had to leave for patrol. In the end, everyone was pretty proud of the work that went into it. It may not be as high-tech as the new END building, but the grunginess is what made it so authentic; what made it feel like home, like the old 3-E building. 

They decided to call it a night, feeling satisfied with their hard work. Hitoshi stayed behind to make sure everything was good and to lock up when he heard the sound of footsteps. He tensed, instantly on high alert.

“Wow, Shinsou, you’ve really outdone yourself.”

Hitoshi jolted. “Karma? What are doing here?”

The red-haired boy entered like he owned the place, flanked by Nagisa and Nakamura. “Nagisa told me about the proposal you made to your new classmates, and I must admit, I kinda like it.”

“Really?” the brainwasher asked skeptically, because helping out the ‘weak’ wasn’t exactly something Karma took interest in. The red-haired boy scoffed.

“Oh, don’t sound so surprised. I may be heartless, but I admired what the octopus did for us. I think he’d be thrilled to know we were passing on his legacy.”

Hitoshi scratched the back of his head. “Thanks. But that still doesn’t tell me why you guys are here.”

“Why, Shinsou, isn’t it obvious?” Nakamura teased. “You can’t expect to revive the assassination classroom without all of our help.”

“All?”

“All of E-class,” Nagisa clarified. “We want to help train 1-C. While we can’t make doubles of ourselves or move at Mach-20 like Korosensei, I think between the 30 of us, we can get pretty close. We owe it to him in the end; what better way to repay him for helping us than by using his legacy to help others?”

After a long pause, the brainwasher sighed. “Not much you can do to refute that. But shouldn’t we clear this with Karasuma first? Or at least Bitch-sensei?”

“Eh, I doubt they’ll care enough to play chaperone or something; they’ve got bigger stuff to worry about, I hear," Nakamura gossiped. "They’re all tight-lipped about it, but my intel says Karasuma has some family shit going on right now — something about an orphaned nephew and a cousin that can’t take care of the kid or something.”

“Karasuma has a nephew?” Hitoshi muttered, never having thought of Karasuma having a family before. It seemed much to normal for him. “Whatever, that’s beside the point. If he’s chill with it, then I am too. But please, please. Don’t scare off my classmates. They’re just starting to trust me, and I really don’t want to go through this entire process again because someone acts a little too psychotic.”

He deliberately glared at Karma, and the devil-boy blinked innocently. “What? I would never.”

-.-.-.-

Musutafu Police @musutafupoliceofficial

DANGEROUS PRO-ASSASSIN APPREHENDED BY END AGENTS AFTER ATTACKING U.A. HIGH SCHOOL. FIVE STUDENTS NON-CRITICALLY INJURED. POLICE ARE WORKING WITH SCHOOL OFFICIALS TO INCREASE SCHOOL SECURITY.

-.-.-.-

That night, Hitoshi dreamed of Grip attacking the school, snapping Michimiya’s neck in half, only for it to shift and then it’s Midoriya being killed, and Grip becomes the Reaper, and then Takaoka, and then Shiro, and suddenly it’s him, standing above the clothed remains where Korosensei’s body once was, a knife in his hand. He woke up screaming and fighting with his sheets.

“Hitoshi! Hitoshi, it’s okay, you’re here, you’re with me. I’m okay, we’re okay. You’re safe.”

Midoriya pulled him back down to Earth, pinning him with a hug to keep him from accidentally hurting himself. Hitoshi breathed harshly, tried to focus on it. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

He slowly came back to himself, soft hands brushing away the blur of tears. He clung to his best friend like a lifeline and they sat in restless silence, neither able to fall back asleep after a terror like that.

“I’m training 1-C for the Sports Festival,” he admitted because the silence and the vulnerability of the moment made him feel like he needed to be honest. “Midnight said I could start a secret fight club if the class was willing. I got them to trust me by defeating Grip, so now I run a fight club. We’re trying to break the General Education records in the Sports Festival. Karma volunteered all of E-class to help train them. We’re bringing back the assassination classroom. Honoring Korosensei. I have no idea what I’m doing, but it…feels right. Feels like I’m doing a good thing. 1-C is a lot like E-class, y’know?”

Midoriya silently listened to him ramble, running a hand through his purple mob of hair. When Hitoshi was done spewing random word vomit, Midoriya grasped his hand tightly.

“I think…” he whispered. “I think Korosensei would be very proud of you right now. I know I am.”

Hitoshi smiled; it felt like such a huge relief to hear that. Like he thought for some weird reason, Midoriya wouldn’t agree with him on this. 

“I hope so,” he muttered, stuffing his face into Midoriya’s chest and tried to settle back down for sleep. The green-haired boy, however, had other plans.

“So…” he started. “Can I help train them too?”

Hitoshi looked up with blurry eyes. “What? No. You’re the enemy. We’re trying to beat you. If you help train them, you’ll learn our secrets.”

“Hey, that’s not fair! I wanna help honor Korosensei too! Besides, you stole my journal to learn 1-A’s quirks and secrets.”

“Yeah, but we’re the underdogs. We have special permission to do that. It’s in the rule book.”

“It’s not in the rule book, Hitoshi. There is no rule book about spying on the other classes.”

“So you admit you want to spy on us?”

“...go to bed, Hitoshi. You’re acting delirious.”

-.-.-.-

Unbeknownst to the bickering hero hopefuls, a blond Pro-Assassin made an anonymous phone call from jail.

“Did it work?”

“Yes,” a raspy voice replied. “Your interference allowed our sources to get us the intel we needed undetected. While your capture is…a setback, I believe there is some good that has come out of this.”

“Oh really? You got a plan for getting me out?”

“Hardly. It is not out fault you got captured.”

“What?! That wasn’t our deal!”

“That is correct. The deal was that you would provide distraction and bring fear, which you did. When you figure out how to escape jail, the money will already be transferred to your account.” The raspy voice paused. “However, Sensei has another offer. If you tell us everything you can about the END agents who captured you, we will give you your freedom.”

Grip paused, clenching his fists. He knew he shouldn’t have taken this damn job. He always ends up working for the fools that cause him more trouble than it’s worth.

“If you want to find out about those END agents, you can fight them yourself.” He smirked, ignoring the raspy voice’s growl. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

Chapter Text

“You’re saying an assassin was paid to attack your school?”

After their chaotic day of dodging media attacks and killer assassins, Karasuma and Irina went to the apartment of the two U.A. students to get the full story. They sat in the kitchen area, nursing the coffee Shinsou provided them.

“That’s what Grip said,” the brainwasher replied, shrugging. “I thought it was weird myself. I mean, why pay an assassin to do such a showy crime? It’s typically a villain’s job, not a professional killer.”

“Takaoka hired Grip on the island to basically do the same thing,” Midoriya noted. “We credited that to Takaoka not paying attention to who he was paying to do his dirty work. Think it could be the same thing?”

Irina scowled. “Doubt it. Takaoka hired Grip as a bodyguard instead of an assassin. Whoever is behind this hired Grip as an assassin to act as a showboat.”

The pause that followed was interrupted by a cell phone going off, making everyone in the room tense. Karasuma scowled, pulled out his phone, and sighed when he saw who was calling. He passed it over to Irina. “Could you handle this?” 

“Your cousin? Again?” the blonde agent commented wryly, but took the phone and walked to another room for privacy. The two students cocked their heads, intrigued — Nakamura mentioned Karasuma was having family issues with a nephew and a cousin — but their attention was redirected by Karasuma clearing his throat.

“You think he was hired to make a statement,” Shinsou said. It wasn’t a question.

Karasuma pursed his lips. “I think that we’re living in a very tense time right now. People are more afraid of assassins than ever before. Whoever hired Grip knew that; knew that he would be unnaturally feared and could easily make opponents submit without effort. What really concerns me is that he targeted U.A. of all places. It makes me wonder: was he trying to make a statement about heroes? Or was he trying to send a message to END?”

The room froze. “What...What kind of message?” Midoriya asked.

“Who knows,” Karasuma shrugged. “That they know you’re there, that they’re watching you. Maybe they were trying to test your strength, see if you’re really everything the world makes you out to be. See if you’re really a threat.”

The guess only made the atmosphere that much more uncomfortable. Shinsou chugged his coffee like it was an alcohol shot. “And why,” he wondered. “Do they need to know if we’re a threat?”

-.-.-.-

“C’mon, Amanai, you walked right into that.”

The long-necked girl, currently sprawled on the floor, groaned deeply after getting thrown by Nakamura. They were three days into the fight club training, and Hitoshi was genuinely surprised by how well they were all progressing. Granted, everyone still got their asses handed to them without any END agent breaking a sweat, but it was clear they were improving slowly. Just yesterday, Sakurai was able to hit the target all on his own, no brainwashing needed. It was a very proud moment for everyone.

The linguist leaned down to help Amanai off the floor. “This is so embarrassing,” she muttered. “I didn’t know it was possible to eat this much mat.”

Mimura laughed. “Hey, it happens to the best of us. But if you want to become really good, even when you get knocked to the floor, you can still attack from down there. Maybe even better than you could while standing up.”

“What do you mean?” quizzed Yamaguchi.

“Well, from the position she landed in, she could’ve easily swept Nak — I mean, Agent English’s feet out from under her,” explained Kimura. “From there, it’s just a matter of getting up first and pinning your opponent down for good.”

“Ohhh,” the students working on hand-to-hand breathed, soaking the instruction up like sponges. 

“Don’t forget you can also use your quirk,” Karma said, appearing out of nowhere. All of the 1-C students visibly flinched at his presence. While they were slowly getting used to the rest of E-class, the END commander still justifiably freaked them out. “There’s no sense in hiding your best blade in a fight like the Sports Festival.”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes. “That’s very hypocritical coming from you.”

The red-haired boy smirked arrogantly, not even bothered by the jab. “Whoever said my quirk was my best blade?”

“Alright, you two, stop interrupting my lesson,” Nakamura snapped, and the two boys held their hands up in surrender and returned to observing the other’s training.

Chiba, Hayami, and Sugino were teaching sharpshooting lessons with items other than guns, given they wouldn’t be able to carry their weapons into the arena. Terasaka kidnapped anyone with a mutation or physical quirk and was in the process of inducting them in his gang or something. Nagisa and Midoriya (who he begrudgingly let help after hours of begging) were teaching surprise attacks and secret moves. Meanwhile, Yada recruited as many girls as she could and was teaching them the art of manipulation when fighting.

“Now, this usually only works when you’re fighting an overly manly guy,” she explained. “But if he has any sense of chivalry, he won’t want to fight you if you come off as scared or meek. Take advantage of that and you can take him down without him bothering to fight back!”

“How do we do that?” Michimiya asked, her pink eyes wide. 

“It’s easy! Here, Agent Sunshine will show you. Hey, Agent Roar, we need you to spar someone!”

Terasaka obliviously approached, brandishing his claws, and Kurahashi stepped forward. She batted her wide eyes and cowered behind her hands. 

“Please go easy…” she whimpered, and Terasaka instantly backed down, retracting his claws.

“What the fuck this? You can’t expect me to beat up Kur—”

The ginger-haired girl quickly kicked Terasaka in the nose, sending him tumbling back and cursing. Her and Yada spun back to the students pridefully.

“See, just like that!”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes, smirking. At least Bitch-sensei wasn’t here trying to teach her Honeypot skills; that’s the last thing 1-C needed. It was already bad enough with —

“Oh, everything is coming along so nicely! Isn’t this exciting, Shinsou?!” Midnight exclaimed, trying to shove the brainwasher into her chest, but he skillfully dodged. The teacher, while she couldn’t be around often, liked to pop in unannounced when she could.

“Yeah, it’s great. Don’t you have patrol or papers to grade or something?” he muttered, and his teacher pouted.

“You’re so serious, Shinsou. I just wanna check up on my super-secret fight club. I am the sponsor, remember? Gotta make sure everything is safe, sane and consensual.”

His face twisted at her wording. “What are you thinking we’re doing here? We’re literally just learning material arts.”

“Yes, but it does get quite physical, you know…”

“Oh my Korosensei, get out of my building.”

-.-.-.-

Breaking News! U.A. Attacked by Pro-Assassin, Assailant Apprehended by END Agents

U.A. High School was attacked by a Pro-Assassin, who was reportedly successful in critically injuring five students before END agent students stepped in to stop him. U.A. claims staff was unaware of the attack until it was too late due to the media swarm that broke in after the assassin tore down the gate.

Click to read more

-.-.-.-

Perhaps the weirdest thing that’s come out of starting the 1-C fight club is how friendly his new classmates have become. Within days they were all chatting with him amicably during class, including him in group discussions, asking him for help on assignments. Everyone seemed to get a kick out of keeping their training a secret, talking in code whenever other students and teachers were around. It was adorable. Hitoshi wondered if this is how Korosensei felt watching them start out.

On the fourth day, he was shocked to his core when Sakurai stopped him after the lunch bell rang and asked, “Do y-you want to guh-go eat lunch with the r-r-rest of us?”

Hitoshi couldn’t help it. He just blinked. No one outside of E-class ever wanted to eat lunch with him. Ever. 

Sakurai, probably thinking he had said something wrong, quickly backpedaled. “I-I-I mean, yuh-you don’t have t-to. We just th-thought…”

Fortunately, he was saved by Shimizu. “We’re planning on strategizing, going over past Sports Festival competitions, the works. Agent President recommended it. We figured you’d want to help out, since you are the mastermind of this plan.”

The group of classmates that had gathered smiled widely, and Hitoshi still wasn’t convinced this wasn’t a dream. Oohira’s hair turned a neon orange, likely picking up on his panic.

“Agent Quirk can come too! I guess you two always eat together. He may be our competition, but he’s also helped us a lot, and I bet he could come up with a wicked strategy.”

That finally snapped Hitoshi out of his trance. “You guys can call him Midoriya, you go to school with him,” he muttered. “And I don’t think that’s a good idea. Not that he couldn’t come up with a wicked strategy — he totally could — but I think it’ll be best if we do it by working together. It’ll be a good way to start on teamwork. I’ll just ask if I can eat on my own; he’ll understand.”

His classmates frowned. “Are you sure?” Shimizu checked, and the brainwasher nodded. 

“It’ll be fine,” he reassured, sending Midoriya a quick text. The green-haired boy replied with an assuring smiley face emoji and a thumbs up. “Now, where do you sit in the cafeteria? I can’t say I’ve spent much time there outside of beating up assassins.”

-.-.-.-

1-C claimed a mass of tables on the edge of the cafeteria, trying to remain out of the hearing range and sight of others. Shimizu pulled out a stack of papers from her bag and passed them out to everyone.

“Agents Detective and Connect and I put together a list of round one and two tasks from every first-year Sports Festival in the last fifteen years,” she explained. “While it’s extremely rare for them to repeat in back-to-back years, and they’re constantly creating new tasks, we figured it’s best to have an idea of what we could be up against.”

“This is great, Shimizu,” Hitoshi said, scanning the list. He shuddered when he saw that they did pole-toppling for the second round three years ago.

“It looks like they usually do really big, individual-based tasks for the first round, like various races and free-for-all battle royales,” noted Kunimi. “It’s probably because of how many students are competing; it’s easier to keep track of everyone and narrow it down the Top-40 or so.”

Shimizu nodded. “Agent Number’s Statistic quirk calculated that there’s an 85% likelihood they’ll do a team event for the second round too.”

Hitoshi hummed. “Just because the task is set up to be for the individual doesn’t mean you have to play it that way. Making an alliance amongst ourselves and combining our strengths is the only way we’re going to get through this.”

Amanai, using her abnormally long neck, peered over Sakurai’s head to look at him. “Be honest, Shinsou. What chance do you actually think we have to get us all through to the second round?”

Every head turned to him, and Hitoshi anxiously took a sip of his water, considering it. “Honestly?” he repeated. “There’s no way we’re all getting through. U.A. typically advances just a few more students than 40, meaning they’re setting it up for every hero student from 1-A and 1-B to advance with a handful of surprises; not enough to give the other courses power, but enough to keep it interesting.”

His classmate’s faces were quickly falling, and Hitoshi plowed on. “That doesn’t mean, however, that we can’t replace a few hero students at the top. We don’t all need to move on to round two to make a name for ourselves; knock even one hero student out of the running, and we’ve already done that. If we all work together and make the necessary sacrifices as a team to ensure a decent number of us get through, then we can accomplish our goal. We want to break records, right? Well, right now the record is sitting at three Gen Ed kids in round two. Let’s set our goal at four, and if we get more than that through, then all the more to celebrate.”

“What d-d-do you mean by sa-sacrifices?” Sakurai echoed.

“Well, as I said, we are going to need to operate as a combined strength — a singular unit working together for one goal. In E-class, we knew we could never beat out Korosensei on our own because he was too powerful, had too many quirks. But together, using all of quirks, we eventually reached our goal. We had to make sacrifices along the way, some people choosing to be left behind for the greater good, but we did it. That’s what I mean.”

“So what you’re saying,” one of the Miya twins said. “Is that we might have to give up our chance of advancing to round two if it means we can get someone else there?”

“Exactly,” Hitoshi said, hoping that didn’t sound too daunting, that his classmates wouldn’t be selfish. They already put so much into this; they couldn’t give up now. “We don’t need to pick the four we try to get to round two ahead of time or anything, but we need to be aware of it once we get to the festival—”

“Well, it’s obvious we’ve got to get you through, right?” Michimiya interrupted. The pink-eyed girl flushed at the sudden attention. “I mean, you’ve already sacrificed so much for us. You said earlier that you have a deal to get you into the hero course if you do well at the Sports Festival. With your training, you could totally leave us in the dust, and not even bother — we’re your competition too. It’s only right that we focus our efforts on making sure you do well.”

Hitoshi blinked, blushing. “Well, I mean—”

“Good point, Michi,” the other Miya twin echoed. “This may be a mission to break Sports Festival history, but it wouldn’t be possible without Shinsou. We owe you, dude.”

“Yeah!” Oohira cheered, his hair Korosensei-yellow, and Hitoshi’s heart ached. “Besides, it’s best to focus on our goal, right? We know that we need to get four people through, and we know one of those people needs to be Shinsou.”

Hitoshi ducked his head to hide how embarrassed he felt. Those stupid emotions he felt in E-class after they accepted his quirk were creeping back, and he was not okay with it. 

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” he deflected, trying to focus. “I figured I might as well bring this up now since I know Agent Devil—” everyone flinched at Karma’s name, and Hitoshi smirked, understanding the fear, “—is planning on having END bring it up during our next training. What is everyone’s quirk? If we want to start strategizing, then we’re going to need to start incorporating them into our strategy.”

His classmates glanced around anxiously, and Hitoshi prayed he wasn’t about to deal with E-class 2.0. He didn’t have the time to make deals and pressure them into revealing their quirks as Korosensei did. They needed to get this over with now.

Oohira, bless him, spoke up first. “Well, mine is pretty obvious. My hair changes colors according to my mood. I, um, have a color chart if anyone wants to know what each one means, but that’s about all I can do.”

The boy looked down awkwardly, his hair turning a sad gray, and Hitoshi smirked. “Agent Periodic’s quirk lets her see things on an elemental level; it’s just as far from being combat-suited as you, but she gets by because of her training. Just like you guys will.”

The dark-skinned boy perked up, hair going back to yellow. “Thanks, man!”

He turned to the rest of his class expectantly. The Miya twins raised their hands at the same time.

“If we touch our palms together, we can merge into one person that’s the sum of all of us put together — the size of our heights put together, our strength added up, our stamina combined. The only thing that doesn’t combine is our mind, so it’s like one massive superperson with two brains. The doctors never knew what to call our quirk, but we call it the Super Miya.”

Hitoshi jolted alongside the rest of 1-C. “How- How are you two in General Education?!” screeched Yamaguchi.

The twins shrugged. “They made us test apart, so we couldn’t use our quirk at all during the exam. We were basically quirkless.”

Of course. What a perfect system it was, that entrance exam.

One of the Miya twins patted Michimiya on the shoulder, making her jolt. “C’mon, Michi, our fellow Miya. What’s your quirk?”

The pink-eyeball girl blinked. “Um, well, uh…” she sighed. “I’ll just show you.”

She stood up and reached into her bag and pulled out...a pack of bubble gum? She popped a few pieces in her mouth, chewed vigorously, and then started blowing a bubble. A bubble that kept growing and growing and growing until the girl was completely encased in it, save for her feet. 

Kunimi, startled by the development, jerked back and accidentally popped the bubble with his beak. The pink sphere deflated and Michimiya sucked it back in her mouth without even making a mess.

“So...it’s like a bubble gum force field?” Amanai asked. Michimiya nodded, sitting back down.

“Yeah. It’s pretty easy to pop though…”

They continued to explain their quirks. Sakurai’s quirk, called No-Weight, allowed him to make any item he touched feel like 1/4th its original weight, but he had to be physically touching it for it to work. 

“M-My family owns a mov-moving business, s-s-so…” the boy shrugged.

Amanai, as he assumed with her strangely long neck, had an elastic-limbs type quirk called Rubber Band. Basically, she could be stretched to any length without pain, but she couldn’t physically do it herself. If someone were to take her arm and walk it to the door on the other side of the room, she could open it, but she couldn’t will her limb to extend that far herself.

They continued on. Kunimi had birds-eye vision alongside his beak and bird-like feet, but no wings, which he was very bitter about. Yamaguchi could grow small branches out of his skin, depending on how much sunlight he got. Shimizu could create a psychic link with anyone she touched, called Psychic Circuit.

“Wait...so you can read the mind of anyone you touch?” Yamaguchi asked anxiously. Hitoshi could help but shift uncomfortably, getting flashes of Asano.

“Kind of. While I can’t go digging in their mind, if I’m touching them and they’re projecting their thoughts — basically thinking really hard — then I can know what they’re thinking. I can also send mental messages to them too. It’s basically like having a psychic phone call, except I have to be touching you.”

It’s not the most flashy quirk, it’s still useful. The Asanos prove that much. She’d be great for figuring out the opponent’s strategies if she could get close enough...

The rest of the class went; save for the Miya twins, everyone else’s quirks were unsurprisingly not very offensive or useful quirks, and even the Miya twins were virtually quirkless if they ever got separated. Hitoshi sighed. They had a lot of work to do. But if E-class could do it when they were at their lowest, then he had to have faith 1-C could do the same.

-.-.-.-

Top Ten Scariest Things About END
Published by HeroFeed

Since their reveal, the Emergency National Defense (END) has been the talk of the online world. While some admire their skill and prowess, and others debate the horrific treatment these young agents must endure by the government and the public, the main reason their name thrives in controversy is because of how truly terrifying these young assassins are. And here is a list as to why:

1. They killed the unkillable villain, the Tentacle
This one is a given. The Tentacle was the Number One Villain who blew up the moon and could defeat any hero, from All-Might to Endeavor. He was the ultimate Symbol of Terror, yet somehow he is brought down by a junior high class? You don’t want to be on their bad side, that’s for sure.

2. Despite killing him, they act as if they loved the Tentacle
Stockholm Syndrome, anyone? The E-class students are often reported telling media outlets and bystanders just how ‘amazing’ their ‘Korosensei’ (what a freaky name for a teacher!) was, and how they loved him, and owe everything to him. What kind of killer speaks that way about their victim? And now only that, who speaks that way about the Number One Villain?

3. They’re strong enough to take down almost all of Japan’s heroes
An event dubbed the Mountain Raid, the night the Tentacle was killed, the END agents (who had been ordered to not interfere) chose to devise a plan, sneak onto the mountain, and take out any Pro-Hero who tried to stop them just so they would be the ones to kill the villain. Bloodlust, anyone?

4. Their Commander
They call him Agent Devil. He looks like the devil. Enough said.

5. This guy is Scary too
The first time the media ever captured footage of END, this guy (agent name unknown, yet to be seen acting in official missions) brainwashed all of the reporters and made them go away. Rumor has it that he’s currently attending U.A. and that he’s the one that stopped the Pro-Assassin attack last week. Scary!

6. No one knows their names
While their faces are well-published, and their agent names are occasionally disclosed when the government gives mission reports, their actual names are a mystery to the online world. Whenever someone tries to post their actual identities, it’s immediately wiped off the web. The only way to know is to meet them in person. No thanks!

7. They have licenses that let them use their quirks in public
Yup, just like the Pro-Heroes, only they’re 15 years old and CARRY GUNS.

8. Speaking of guns, they carry on campus
Reportedly they are always on-off duty, which means they need to be ready for a mission at any time. Which means they are armed at any time. Even during school. Isn’t this supposed to be illegal? C’mon Japan, we’re not America!

9. They rarely use their quirks
As this blog pointed out, in the government’s official mission reports, the agents rarely are reported using their quirks. Which means they can complete high-profile missions without them.

10. The U.A. Hero Course agent
Not only is there an agent in the top hero course in Japan, but there’s a lot of rumors flying around this kid. He’s placed low on this list since there’s no way to confirm them as being anything more than rumors, but apparently this kid can move as fast as the Tentacle, someone who was unmatched for speed in every way. Tentacle Jr. in the making, maybe?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Izuku wasn’t too bothered when Shinsou texted him, letting him know he’d be eating lunch with his 1-C classmates; in all honesty, he was happy for his best friend. He was worried going into the year that Shinsou would struggle with his placement in General Education, but seeing him take it and thrive in a way Korosensei would be so proud of — Izuku was beyond proud of his friend too. 

Personally, he quite enjoyed 1-C. After following Shinsou around and forcing him to let him help out with the ‘Fight Club,’ he found that he really enjoyed the class. They were nervous but determined, and it was incredibly nostalgic. He’d be lying to say he wasn’t even more excited for the Sports Festival knowing he would get to compete against them.

So while he was happy Shinsou was connecting with his classmates, it did leave Izuku in a bit of a pickle. Because, despite all the work he’s done in training and class, he can’t exactly say the same for him and 1-A. It was leaps and bounds better than how it was the first day of class, sure, but the distance was still there. While the outright terror was gone, he couldn’t help like it was just being channeled another way; they respected him now, as Aizawa intended, but it still felt like they respected him because they feared him.

The best way to describe it was that he almost preferred being around Bakugou out of all of his classmates, because at least Bakugou still treated him the same — with anger and hatred.

It was a sad reality for Midoriya Izuku, to say the least.

I’ve got them to stop seeing me as a killer, but I still need to get them to not see me as an assassin, he noted to himself as he glanced around the cafeteria, looking for a place to sit. The only question is, how? Aizawa’s tactics just emphasize my training even more, but if I go back to acting weak, I’ll probably get expelled. Oh, what to do…

He was so lost in thought, he didn’t realize he was about to run into someone until seconds before it happened. His training kicked in, and he jerked to the side, admittedly using a hint of his speed. He swallowed down the small dollop of blood. 

“Oh, Shouji, I’m so sorry…” he apologized to the tall boy. Shouji looked down at him with scrutinizing eyes before forming a mouth in one of his dupli-arms.

“It’s alright, Midoriya.”

Izuku tried not to squirm. Out of all of his classmates, Shouji’s quirk was by far the most...unsettling. He couldn’t help but look at the arms and think of tentacles. To make things worse, he knows he’s not the only one.

During the quirk assessment test, the only one to stir up nearly as much gossip and whispers as Izuku was Shouji. Since the rise and fall of Korosensei, anything remotely mimicking a tentacle or an octopus was treated with extreme caution. As much as he could empathize with Shouji’s treatment, he still couldn’t help but feel bad.

“You’re staring.”

Izuku jolted, his cheeks burning under Shouji’s unamused stare. “I-I’m so sorry, Shouji. It’s just…” Wow, he felt so terrible.

Shouji’s face was impossible to read. “Do they...do they remind you of him? Of the Tentacle?”

Izuku, not expecting the blunt question, awkwardly glanced around. He wasn’t sure if he should look at the mouth speaking to him or Shouji’s face. “Well, not that much, to be honest. His tentacles looked really different and couldn’t do what yours can, but I guess it’s just the thought of it that brings back memories. I mean, seeing Aizawa in a yellow sleeping bag reminds me of him, so…”

Shouji blinked, and Izuku thought he looked surprised. “Everyone else always said they looked like his. I want to show them they’re wrong.”

He walked off, leaving Izuku to panic inwardly about what just happened. Feeling like he was in a trance, he opted for sitting at an abandoned table and spent the whole lunch writing in his journal for Yagi, thinking about tentacles.

-.-.-.-

The next day, they were informed that they would be leaving school for Hero Basic Training to work on rescue missions with Aizawa, All-Might and one other mystery hero in an off-campus facility. Izuku couldn’t help but feel dread buildup inside him. 

Because this meant they were going on a school trip. Nothing ever good happened on school trips.

He fiddled anxiously with his gloves as they waited for the bus to arrive. They were instructed to change into their hero costumes, but since Izuku’s was still being repaired by Itona, he had to go with the simple blue school P.E. uniform paired with all of his support items, like his belt and glasses. He contemplated wearing his END uniform instead since it’d provide more padding, but then reminded himself he was trying to make friends.

“Dude, why are you acting all antsy?” Kirishima quizzed, and Izuku jolted, trying to act nonchalant.

“O-Oh, it’s nothing really, I just haven’t had very good experiences with school trips in the past, I guess? They normally go horribly wrong…”

Kaminari laughed. “It’s a school trip. The worst that could happen is that you get stuck with someone like Bakugou as a seat buddy.”

The explosive blonde bared his teeth, but the electric boy either didn’t notice or didn’t care. Izuku wasn’t sure which was worse and feared for Kaminari’s life.

“Um. What’s happened in the past that makes you hate school trips so much?” Uraraka anxiously asked. 

“Yeah, I bet they’re not all terrible,” Kirishima added. Oh boy, if you only knew. 

Izuku bit his lip, not knowing where to start.

“I mean, there was that one trip to Musutafu when my friends and I got attacked by a villain, that was pretty bad. And then we went to an island as a class, which seemed really nice at first, but it turned out we were being targeted by our old P.E. teacher who hired assassins to poison and kill us, and then he tried to kill us himself and even shot Hitoshi in the shoulder...”

He trailed off as he noticed the frightened stares he was getting from everyone in the class, and quickly backpedaled. “But, you’re right, they’re not all bad! One time we infiltrated the Japanese Space Center and Hitoshi and I got to go to outer space and raid the International Space Station!”

The class blanched. It seemed that did not make the situation any better.

“I’m- I’m sorry, but outer space, as in—” Kaminari gaped, frantically gesturing at the sky. “How do you even — you know what, I don’t even wanna know.”

Fortunately, the buses arrived before it could get any worse. Iida and Yaoyorozu, who were elected as class representatives, loaded everyone on the bus. Izuku was surprised to find Asui sitting next to him, the girl’s large frog eyes staring into his soul practically the entire ride. Izuku tried not to show his panic and fiddled anxiously with his Ritsu-watch.

“I’ve been told I’m quite blunt,” the girl suddenly stated. Well, that was one way to start a conversation.

Izuku blinked. “Huh, what do you mean, Asui…?”

“Call me Tsu,” the girl demanded, and Izuku felt oddly felt like he was being interrogated. “Your quirk is like the Tentacle’s. Is Bakugou right about you?”

Izuku almost jolted out of his seat. “W-What are you talking about, Asui?!”

“I told you to call me Tsu—”

“C’mon, there’s no way he has the Tentacle’s quirk. Sure, he’s fast, but they said the Tentacle could move at Mach-50 or something, and also had like a hundred other quirks,” Ashido inserted. 

“Um, actually, it was Mach-20…” Izuku mumbled, but it fell on deaf ears.

“There’s no way he had a hundred quirks, that’s just insane!” Kirishima laughed. “Besides, how can you have someone else’s quirk? It just doesn’t make any sense!”

The class bickered back and forth and Izuku sunk very, very low in his seat and wished he could disappear.

-.-.-.-

They arrived at the USJ, aka the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, and everything was already going wrong. Pro-Hero Thirteen, who designed the USJ, was there acting as their surprise teacher, but All-Might was nowhere in sight, apparently no longer able to attend. Izuku, being the only student who knew of the Symbol of Peace’s illness, tried not to let his worrying shine through.

It got even worse as Thirteen went on a long explanation about how easy it was to kill someone with your power and how heroes should put their quirks toward saving people (that felt like a major sucker-punch to the gut). Izuku couldn’t shake off the growing sense of unease like something bad was about to happen. Every bone in his body was screaming at him to run away.

He should have trusted his instincts.

Seconds later, a zap of electricity ran through the building, and a swirling portal appeared in the middle of the USJ, and an army came pouring out.

-.-.-.-

Izuku was far from ignorant. He was taught by the Number One Villain, trained by a top government agent, mentored by a legendary assassin. He faced enough bad guys in his life to instantly recognize that the people walking out of the portal were villains. 

“Don’t move!” Aizawa ordered the panicking students, slipping on his yellow goggles. 

At the back of the hoard of villains stood three figures: a purple-black mist figure who likely formed the portal, a giant muscled monster with an exposed brain, and a gray-haired man covered in hands. 

“Thirteen and Eraserhead...the intel we received a few days ago said that All-Might would be here too,” the purple-black figure said. Izuku felt his stomach drop.

A few days ago? Does that mean…?

“You’re the ones that hired the assassin and orchestrated the media trespassing,” Aizawa concluded. 

“What tedious work it was, especially with those damn END brats interfering,” the hand-villain said. “All this effort for All-Might to not even be here? No mind. I’m sure he’ll show up if we kill a few kids.”

Training kicking in, Izuku snapped into action. He pulled out a nerve-gun and tried to contact Ritsu through his watch, only to despairingly find the watch wouldn’t even turn on. He tried his glasses next, but they weren’t responding either. Something was blocking it…

“One of them must have a radio-transmission quirk that’s blocking outside interference,” he realized, making his classmates tense. “It’s why the trespasser sensors didn’t work. They’ve isolated us in a building far from the main campus with no way to contact help.”

“Wait! So we can’t contact the school or — or even END?” Kirishima yelped. Izuku pursed his lips and double-checked just in case. His fears were only confirmed.

“Not as long as we’re in here,” he said, his brain trying to formulate a battle plan. The villains were approaching fast, and Aizawa was preparing to fight them. Izuku could probably run and get help as he did with the Grip situation, but that was just one assassin. He knew Shinsou could handle it. Aizawa and Thirteen against all these villains while also trying to protect the students…?

It was like asking for a death sentence.

“Thirteen, evacuate the students. I’ll hold them off,” Aizawa ordered, his capture scarf flaring to life. Izuku jolted.

“Sir, you can’t fight them all on your own! Let me help!” he cried.

“No, you’re not trained enough for this kind of situation.”

Izuku reared back like he’d been slapped and forcibly grabbed onto the Pro-Hero’s arm. “Yes, I am.”

The bite in his voice made the Aizawa turn and look at him as if he’d forgotten which student he was talking to. As if Izuku hadn’t dedicated a year of his life stopping the greatest villain of them all.

“No matter who you are, it’s always smart to have someone cover your back,” he continued. “I’m not just your student, Aizawa-sensei. This is what I’ve been trained to do.”

The Pro-Hero gritted his teeth and pushed Izuku’s hand away. “Put your training towards getting to safety. I’m not risking the life of my student for pointless reasons.” He shoved Izuku towards Thirteen. “Get them out of here.”

Aizawa turned and leapt the staircase in a single bound, meeting the villains at the bottom and taking a large group of them out with a single swipe of his capture scarf. Even if his quirk wasn’t offensive and couldn’t erase mutation quirks, this man was Pro-Hero for a reason. He easily held his own against the mass of villains. But that wasn’t the issue here. The issue was that everyone had a limit. And if Aizawa was so determined to ignore his own, it could be his doom.

Izuku tried to rip his arm away from Thirteen’s hold, determined to help his teacher whether he liked it or not, but he stopped when the purple-black figure appeared in front of the retreating class. The green-haired boy loaded his gun and pointed.

“Allow me to introduce ourselves,” the figure said. “We are the League of Villains. Our mission is to be the new Symbol of Terror and do what the pathetic predecessor never bothered to try — kill All-Might.”

Karasuma’s words the day END was announced — the day Korosensei died, echoed in Izuku’s head.

“With Korosensei gone, the Number One Villain spot is up for grabs, and who knows what kind of monsters will come up trying to snatch it.”

These — These were the monsters trying to claim the title. Villains like these were the result of Korosensei’s death.

He fiddled with his broken Ritsu-watch. He needed to contact END right now.

-.-.-.-

He was so lost in his panic, he didn’t even realize Kirishima and Bakugou tried attacking the warped figure until the entire area was covered in smoke, soon followed by a purple-black cloud. Izuku jerked, about to run away using his Mach-2 speed, but stopped himself. If he used his quirk now, he risked tiring out early. He learned that the hard way through intensive training. It was best to save it for emergencies—

And then suddenly he was falling from the sky, about to plummet into the water, and he realized that this was an emergency!

He crashed into the water berating himself (Stupid, stupid! Obviously that villain has a teleportation quirk, I should have run away! Hitoshi is going to kill me!) and finally used his quirk to rocket to the top, coughing up blood as he reached the surface. His honed senses told him to duck, and he jerked back just in time before a shark-like villain hit him.

“Ha, looks like this one’s already bleeding!” the villain mocked. Izuku gritted his teeth and reached to grab a nerve-knife—

And then suddenly he was being pulled through the air by something that reminded him way too much of a tentacle, and the next thing he knew, he was being dropped on a ship, Mineta and Asui in front of him.

“Th-Thanks,” he breathed as Asui retracted her tongue. He glanced over the edge of the boat and saw that a ring of villains was formed around them. “It would seem they separated us and sent us to their traps. They did say they planned on killing children, so it looks like they’re being serious.”

Asui nodded. “I got lucky that they dropped me here. I’m strongest working in water.”

Izuku eyed the frog girl, realizing she was right. They gave them a huge advantage sending Asui here, so it seemed odd that they’d drop her here instead of the landslide or fire zone, where she’d struggle more... 

Then it hit him.

“This whole plot was methodical — cutting off our ability to get help, coordinating villains where their quirks would be the strongest. They want to kill All-Might, and they’re taking every measure they can to ensure they do,” he muttered. “There’s no way they would overlook sending us where our quirks would be weakest if they had the choice. They must not know what our quirks are.”

Asui croaked. “If what you’re saying is correct, does that mean they have a weapon they believe could kill All-Might?”

Izuku gritted his teeth. She was right; he knew she was. And it just made him think of everything All-Might meant to him. All-Might was his inspiration. Korosensei may have been the one who pushed him and helped him achieve his dream, but All-Might was the reason the dream existed. He thought of the shrunken man, fighting a damning injury while trying to remain a Symbol of Peace. Yagi still hasn’t found a successor and Izuku had promised he would help find the next Symbol of Peace. 

And he wasn’t going to let a couple of villains change that. 

“How are you remaining so calm about this?!” Mineta cried, flailing uselessly. “Do you hear yourselves?! These people who can kill All-Might are trying to kill us! We don’t stand a chance against them!”

“We don’t have a choice,” Izuku insisted. “We have to stop them before they kill All-Might.”

“Are you crazy?!” the purple boy screeched. It grated Izuku’s ears to no end. “We can’t stop them. We were just in middle school a month ago, we can’t fight villains this strong! You’re just going to get us all killed, and I can’t die this young—”

Izuku snapped, slamming Mineta against the boat wall and pinning him with a nerve-knife to the throat. “A month ago, my classmates and I assassinated the Number One Villain,” he hissed. “Age or training doesn’t matter right now; what matters is that we have a duty to fulfill. Aren’t you trying to become a hero?”

The purple boy whimpered, and Izuku released him with a huff. He took deep breaths, trying to rein in his emotions. This kid got into the hero course and not Shinsou? 

Asui eyed them apprehensively. “Midoriya-chan,” she said. “I also don’t think they know you’re the END agent. They mentioned ‘those damned END agents’ yet they didn’t try to single you out in any way.”

Izuku pursed his lips. “I think you’re right. At least for now, they haven’t recognized me, which might work out in our favor…”

Suddenly, a giant hand-shaped wave crashed into the boat, slicing it in half. The three barely stayed upright as their vessel slowly began to sink. It would seem the villains were done waiting for them.

“Asui — I mean, Tsu,” Izuku said. “We need to stop these villains, quick. Since they don’t know what we’re capable of, they don’t know what to expect.”

“What are you thinking?” the frog girl asked. Izuku eyed his two teammates. 

“If you hold on to me with your tongue, I can jump at the water surface and use my quirk to create a whirlpool. While the villains are being sucked in, you can jump us to safety and Mineta can throw his sticky balls at the center of the whirlpool to capture them,” he declared.

Mineta sputtered. “How do you know so much about our quirks already?!”

Izuku really didn’t feel like explaining his quirk journals right now, so he ignored the purple boy. Asui glanced between her classmates and the villains, concerned. “Midoriya-chan, won’t you hurt yourself? You said you can’t use your quirk without coughing up blood…”

Izuku pressed a button on his glasses, making them shaded on the outside. The screens still wouldn’t work, but it still helped protect his identity. “If I just use my arm and not my whole body, I can usually get away with it. It’s our only chance.”

“I still think this is a really bad idea guys—” Mineta tried, but Izuku didn’t bother listening to him. He stood on the edge of the boat just as Asui’s tongue wrapped around his torso, and jumped. 

The villains mocked and taunted him as he flew towards them, but he didn’t pay them any mind. Asui’s tongue held him just above the water surface so only a hand was submerged, and he spun his hand at Mach-2. The water whirled with him, unable to defy the sound barrier-breaking speed, and the villains were instantly swept away. 

“Tsu, let’s go!” he said, and the frog girl leaped off the boat, taking the boys with her. Surprisingly, Mineta actually listened and started throwing sticky balls at alarming speeds. The villains and balls alike were pulled to the center of the whirlpool and stuck together as a giant blob. The students landed at the edge of the Shipwreck Zone, safe from their villains. Mineta was still sniffling and sobbing, but Izuku didn’t have time for that. He needed to figure out a way to contact someone. Hopefully, Ritsu losing connection with him would at least raise some alarms, but there’s no telling if anyone would know to act on it or what to prepare for. 

He gripped his watch, eyes darting around. From their hiding spot, they had a clear view of the central plaza where Aizawa was still fighting the vast group of villains. He was holding up surprisingly well, but Izuku wasn’t stupid. He could tell his teacher was weakening; the amount of time he could spend using his quirk was lessening. He needed help.

Izuku pulled out a grappling-gun, making sure it was correctly loaded. Mineta screeched when he saw it. “Why do you have that out? Are you stupid?”

“If you guys go along the edge of the building, you should be able to get back to the entrance unharmed,” he said, ignoring the purple boy. “Just keep your heads down. We got lucky with the first group of villains, but I doubt it’ll happen again.”

“What about you, Midoriya-chan? You can’t seriously think…” The frog girl trailed off, eyeing their teacher’s fight.

“Aizawa-sensei needs my help. If he doesn’t get backup soon, he’s going to overexert himself. I didn’t train as much as I have to let him get hurt,” Izuku said.

As if he spoke it into existence, the hand-villain launched forward to attack. Aizawa held him back, but his hair fell as he was forced to release his quirk. Instantly, his elbow began to disintegrate under the villain’s hold. 

Izuku leaped into action, shooting the grappling-gun. Similar to Shinsou’s capture rings, it lassoed around the hand-villain’s wrist, ripping it away from Aizawa. As his freed teacher jumped away, Izuku set the gun so it pulled him towards the hand-villain, pulling a nerve-knife from his belt. He released the grappling-gun last second and sliced downwards at the villain, but only succeeded at cutting the man’s clothes when he dodged.

Cursing, Izuku flipped away so he was at Aizawa’s side. The Pro-Hero whirled on him. “Midoriya, you fool, I told you to stay out of this!”

The man wrapped another thug in his capture weapon and used her as a shield while Izuku sliced at the attacking thug, knocking him unconscious with the tranquilizer-laced knife. 

“I know, sir, but I couldn’t just stand and watch!” Izuku insisted, firing a tranquilizer dart at another thug’s forehead. A meatloaf-looking villain tried to come up from behind, but Izuku flipped him over his head and knocked him out.

The hand-villain, recovered from Izuku’s interference, sighed heavily. “You must be the END agent. I was wondering when you were going to show up; the plan was to get you out of the way early on, but our sources were being annoyingly pesky in giving us the necessary information. It was quite…frustrating.”

Izuku blinked, honestly surprised. He could deduce that Grip was their source, but why wouldn’t the assassin give up the information? Had the deal gone bad? Had the villains assumed Grip would comply like the other brainless lackeys they hire?

Izuku ducked to avoid another attack and punched a thug in the stomach with a spinning kick before flipping out of the way and tranquilizing another mid-air. The hand-villain hummed.

“Wow, you’re quite the fighter, aren’t you? Such is to be expected, I suppose, by such a talented assassin. Rumor has it that most END agents don’t even use a quirk to fight; looks like you’re one of those agents, huh? It’s too bad, really — I guess you really won’t stand a chance against the final boss.”

A year of training against Korosensei and dealing with monsters like Shiro left him more than paranoid, meaning he was already rolling out of the way before an attack could come. Aizawa, injured and exhausted, wasn’t so lucky, and barely turned around in time to see the giant, brain-exposed creature coming down on him. Like many times before, Izuku didn’t think, just moved, his feet running without being told to. Zipping at full Mach-2, he tackled his teacher to the floor right before the creature crushed him. They rolled as they landed, and while he probably hurt Aizawa’s elbow even more, it’s no doubt better than the alternative. 

The hand-villain jerked back. “That speed!” he hissed. “How — The only creature capable of moving at those speeds was the Tentacle!”

“You’re wrong,” Izuku gasped, spitting out a glob of blood. “I’m nowhere near as fast as Korosensei.”

Growling, the hand-villain gestured to the monster again. “Well, that works out just fine. After all, it means you really are no match for my beast.”

The creature attacked again, this time targeting Izuku. He ducked and dodged, evading the attacks completely. This beast wasn’t slow by any means, but it was clear its quirk was based around strength. So long as Izuku was faster, he was safe. However, he forgot to take into account how injured Eraserhead was, as well as stubborn. He grabbed Izuku and threw him away from the beast protectively, but not even the Pro had the speed to also dodge the creature’s attack. It grabbed him by the head, slamming Aizawa into the ground, and Izuku could hear the sickening crack of bones.

“No!” he screamed, running at Mach-2 and slicing at the beast with his nerve-knife. It cut through the creature’s skin, and Izuku watched as the wound...closed back up?

So shocked, he couldn’t even defend himself from the retaliation. The creature smacked him out of the way, sending him flying, and wow, he was strong, maybe even as strong as All-Might —

Izuku hit the ground hard, coughing up blood, and he’s pretty sure it’s not all from using his quirk. The hand-villain laughed, raspily. 

“Your little weapons won’t work on him. You see, END agent, you should be very well-acquainted with a powerful bioengineered beast like this. Designed to be the perfected Anti-Symbol of Peace, this is the creature that will kill All-Might. We call him Nomu.”

Izuku held back bile, memories of the night Shiro attacked and Korosensei died came rushing back to him. The Reaper — Shiro said when he created the Reaper —

“Replace that irritating super intelligence your teacher so proudly flaunts with immeasurable power, and you have the perfect soldier. I call it: Nomu.”

Nomu. Shiro’s last creation, last monster. The beast he attempted to make Korosensei into, the beast he succeeded with the Reaper. How were there more? How many were there? And how did these villains get their hands on one? Shiro was dead, right? He vaguely recalled Shiro repeatedly mentioning a contractor; were these villains the ones who hired him?

But most of all, if this was one of Shiro’s Nomu...where was its tentacles?

His thought process was cut short as a swirling-portal appeared, and the warp villain from earlier manifested at the hand-villain’s side.

“Shigaraki,” the purple-black figure said. “I’ve put Thirteen out of commission, but I’m afraid a student succeeded in getting past me and escaping the facility.”

Izuku blearily sat up. Did someone get outside? That means they could finally get help. Knowing Ritsu, the AI girl was likely trying to get contact with anyone associated with Izuku; hopefully, she’d locate whoever escaped and deduce what was happening. 

The hand-villain, Shigaraki, growled, scratching violently at his neck in a way that reminded Izuku of Takaoka. “Kurogiri...you fool! There’s no way we can win if dozens of Pros show up...we must leave now.”

If he were anyone else, he’d probably be celebrating right now. The villains were retreating. They were safe.

But Midoriya Izuku was no idiot. He’s seen this trick before when Takaoka tricked Nagisa into thinking he accepted his apology. There was no way the villains would just retreat, not now. Not when this was the best chance they had at killing All-Might; when they still had the element of surprise, the upper hand.

Sure enough, Shigaraki spun around, headed straight for Asui and Mineta — why haven’t they escaped yet?! — and Izuku recalled watching Aizawa’s elbow disintegrate under Shiagaraki’s touch. This villain could probably turn one of them to dust without trying. Izuku jumped up and sprinted at Shigaraki at full-speed, his blade brandished and ready. He slammed into the hand-villain, vaulting him away while simultaneously swiping with a nerve-knife. This time he was successful, making a shallow cut into Shigaraki’s left arm. The villain landed far away and looked at the small wound.

“That’s all?” he mocked. “And here I thought you were an assassin. You could have killed me, but instead, you barely nick my skin? Are you a fool—” Shigaraki paused, looking down at his wound again. “My arm. I can’t move my arm.”

Izuku wiped the blood dribbling out of his mouth — that was the fifth time he used his quirk in such a short timespan, and it was already getting harder to breathe; his scar burned — and pointed his nerve-knife at the villain. “You’re right; I could have killed you. But just because I can, doesn’t mean I will. In END, we focus on immobilization and capture, which is why all of our weapons are non-lethal. The line of morality for an assassin is blurred, even more than a vigilante’s, but in honor of Korosensei, we choose not to kill anyone else if we can help it.” 

Shigaraki scoffed, cradling his immobilized arm. “Such morals disgust me; makes me want to smash each and everyone one of you END brats to pieces, starting with you!”

The hand-villain waved his palm, and suddenly the Nomu was looming over him again. It grabbed his arm, and Izuku braced himself for the worst—

But then suddenly, everyone froze at the odd, screeching sound filling the USJ. It seemed to come from every direction, students and villains alike looking around to pinpoint its source. Izuku’s instincts tingled, and he looked up just in time to watch multiple glass ceiling pans fall to the ground and shatter. And rising from the carnage were dozens of figures in familiar blue uniforms.

“You’re going to smash us?” Karma mocked, unhooking the rappelling wire from his belt harness. Behind him stood the entirety of END, all having come in from the ceiling on rappelling wires as well. “That’s funny. I was planning on doing the same to you.”

Chapter Text

It was hard to put into words what Izuku felt watching his friends, his classmates and team descend from the ceiling like guardian angels coming down from heaven, here to save them from the horror that this field trip became. Everything kept juxtaposing itself, canceling itself as quickly as it came. Relief. Panic. Thrill. Fear.

But no matter what he felt, one thing was absolutely clear as he saw the fury settled on Karma’s face.

These villains were so screwed.

-.-.-.-

There was barely any time to process what was happening before END sprung into action. 

Shinsou lashed out with his capture rings, flinging the U.A. three students and teacher far from the villains’ reach. While their enemies were still focused on the newcomers, Yada skipped forward with a wide smile and waved at Kurogiri.

“You have a warp quirk, right?” she said, her eyes gleaming. “Mind sending groups of us to wherever you trapped the other 1-A students?”

It seemed the mix of END’s shocking appearance and Yada’s nonchalant approach meant Kurogiri was thoroughly distracted, his arms robotically lashing out. The dark purple warp enveloped his old classmates, save for Nagisa, Shinsou, and Karma, who pointedly stepped away from the swirling dome. When it disappeared, the assassin team was gone, supposedly sent to wherever Izuku’s new classmates were trapped. Shigaraki took a step back so the Nomu blocked him, yet he cackled arrogantly.

“You — You fools!” he spat. “You send away your troops to deal with small fry and leave yourself to be smashed by the obvious threat? It would seem all the rumors about you are fundamentally false. You’re just a bunch of stupid kids!”

“Hardly,” Karma replied with a smirk. “Until now, END has never operated as a full team because we’ve never needed to. We usually only need one or two units to take down the biggest of opponents. The only reason you get the full treatment is because you targeted one of our own, and we don’t take very kindly to that.” Karma chucked. “Though don’t feel too special; we’re still missing our handler agent, who could totally kick your ass without trying. But he had family issues, and, well. He knew we could handle this on our own.”

Shigaraki sputtered. “You think you three brats will be enough to take us down?!”

“Well, given Agent Quirk here has already done the honor of immobilizing your arm, I don’t think it will be much of a challenge, no,” Karma drawled, eyeing Shigaraki’s limp limb. The hand-villain hissed and pointed at them with his usable arm.

“Take them out, and make it bloody,” he ordered. The Nomu charged, appearing right in front of the three agents. As he smashed at them, they jumped out of the way, Karma going back while Nagisa and Shinsou went to the sides. As Nagisa took the opportunity to slash at the Nomu with a nerve knife and Karma shot at its brain, Shinsou sprinted over to Izuku and the three others.

“Shit, Jolly Green, that’s a lot of blood,” he hissed, eyeing the stain of coughed up blood on Izuku’s chest. The green-haired boy shook his head fervently.

“I’ll be okay. We have bigger problems to worry about,” he insisted, gesturing to the injured Aizawa and his terrified classmates. His teacher, while not as badly injured as he would’ve been if Izuku didn’t interfere, was in no condition to battle anymore.

“Aizawa-sensei, you need to get Mineta and Asui out of here. Kurogiri mentioned something about taking out Thirteen, we need to make sure he’s okay!” Izuku exclaimed. His homeroom teacher scowled deeply.

“I’m not leaving a bunch of kids to fight that monster on their own,” he deadpanned. Izuku was about to object again, but he was surprisingly beaten to the punch by Shinsou.

“All due respect, sir, but you can hardly see us as kids right now,” the brainwasher stated, bravely holding Aizawa’s intimidating stare. “You’d probably erase my quirk before I could use it on you, but if I have to force you to retreat, I’m not above dragging you.”

Izuku tried not to squeak, deeply fearing for his best friend’s life. It felt difficult to breathe, the two staring each other down, their similar auras mixing and suffocating. If Aizawa wasn’t hurt, he probably would’ve tried to punch Shinsou in the face by now. Fortunately, he was, and after a painfully long time, the Pro-Hero conceded.

“Any of you kids die out there, and I’ll kill you myself,” he grunted before roughly trying to stand up, only to collapse. “D-Damn it…”

“Aizawa-sensei!” Midoriya cried, reaching out to catch his teacher, but stopped when Sugino and Okajima appeared out of nowhere, both wrapping an arm around Aizawa.

“We got this, Agent Quirk,” Sugino assured him. “We were dropped in the shipwreck zone, but it looks like it was already taken care of. Agent Myth is doing one last sweep to double-check. You focus on taking down the big boss, and we’ll get everyone else to safety.”

The two agents led the teacher, Mineta, and Asui away, and Izuku breathed a sigh of relief before turning to his best friend with an incredulous stare.

“Hitoshi, are you insane…?”

The brainwasher shrugged. “He’s not my homeroom teacher, so I guess I’m not as fundamentally scared of him as everyone else.”

Before Izuku could point out how illogical such logic was ( did he have a death wish?), their conversation was cut off as the Nomu came pummeling at them, fists flying like crazy. They barely jumped out of the way. Shinsou rolled over next to Nagisa and Izuku had to basically be caught by Karma.

“This sucker is a little hard to take down, huh?” Karma muttered. “Our weapons barely have any effect on him.”

His brain slowly catching up with him, Izuku grabbed onto his commander’s arm. “Kar- I mean, Agent Devil. Those villains earlier, they called that beast—” He paused to pick Karma up and zip them away from another attack by the creature. Between hacking up more blood (wow, he really shouldn’t be using his quirk this much), he got out “—th-they called this. This thing.” 

Heavy coughs racked his body, and Karma smacked his back, getting impatient. “Spit it out, Freckles!”

“They called it a Nomu!”

The battlefield went still. Nagisa and Shinsou, who were trying to hold the beast down with their grappling hook and capture rings, looked up in shock. It was clear they all recognized the term. After all, how could they forget about the beast that almost killed them all? That almost killed Korosensei?

“Nomu, you say?” Karma drawled, reaching into his belt and pulling out a nerve-gun. He turned to Shigaraki and Kurogiri. “And how on Earth did you two get your hands on one of these?”

-.-.-.-

Nakamura liked to think she was a pretty level-headed person. It’s how she was able to keep her dumb-blonde facade up for so long; she could see everything so clearly, she knew exactly what to say in every moment to play down her actual intelligence. She also liked to think she was pretty good at dealing with impulsive meat-heads that couldn’t be level-headed even if you beat their skull in with a hammer — it’s why she’s often teamed up with idiots like Terasaka. Someone’s got to keep him in line.

So, when she was dropped into the ruins zone and immediately tranquilized a chameleon villain that was trying to get the jump on two U.A. boys, she wasn’t too bothered when the blonde one turned around and started screaming in her face.

She was a little ticked off, though. 

“You know, you could say thank you,” she muttered, unimpressed. That only seemed to make him angrier.

“Thank you? For what, stealing my villain? I had it handled without your shitty interference!”

His fists were balled and sparking, but before he could do any real damage, the other student quickly stepped in. “Woah, Bakugou, you can’t talk to a woman like that. Especially someone who just saved our asses.”

“SHE DID NOTHING FOR ME!”

“Hey!” Terasaka, who also seemed to have been warped to this zone, screamed, jumping between them. Nakamura did a quick once over and spotted Maehara tying up downed thugs behind them, but that seemed to be it. “We’re just here to help! So back down unless you want me to pummel your ass!”

“I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU FUCKING TRY!”

“Hey, a little less screaming, a little more strategizing, yeah?” Nakamura cut them off. “Now, it looks like you guys mostly cleared out this area of villains, but I wouldn’t be surprised if your screaming attracted more to our location. The radio interference hasn’t cut out yet, so there’s no way of contacting anyone else. If we want to find out what’s going on, we’ll have to get out of here and see for ourselves.”

Bakugou sneered. “And who said we want to work with END freaks like you guys?”

The E-class students tensed as the atmosphere turned dark. However, before it could escalate, the other U.A. boy cut in.

“Oooookayyyy, Bakugou, that’s enough for today. They’re not the enemy here, remember? So, let’s just start over. I’m Kirishima Ejirou, and pouty here is Bakugou.” The explosive boy growled threateningly. “You guys are Midoriya’s old classmates, right?”

Nakamura relaxed at the mention of her ex-classmate. “Yup. Agent English at your service. This is Agent Roar—” she gestured to Terasaka, who was still baring his sharp teeth threateningly, “—and over there is Agent Blank.”

“Codenames? So cool!” Kirishima squealed, earning him an elbow to his hardened stomach by Bakugou, which he ignored. “So, you guys are like, assassins, right?”

Maehara shrugged. “We were trained that way, I guess, but we have a pretty big no-kill policy if we can help it. I think the best term is to just call us agents.”

“Awesome!” Kirishima cheered.

Bakugou crinkled his nose at the ‘no-kill policy’ part and muttered, “That’s fucking lame.” He paused for a long second, looking at Maehara scrutinizingly. His face suddenly turned indignant. “Hey, you’re that shitty faced bastard!”

Nakamura blinked, turning to her fellow unit captain, who looked thoroughly offended. “Shitty face? I’ll let you know that many women find me quite attractive. You wish you could look as good as me.”

“Do you want to die—”

“Alright, that’s enough!” Nakamura cut in, rubbing her temples. Her brain was going to explode by the end of this mission if they kept this up. “Goddammit, why’d that warp villain send me to the place with all the stupid boys?”

-.-.-.-

Nakamura was hardly the only END agent struggling with her mission. It was a pretty consistent issue across the board, though the reasoning varied.

Kataoka at first didn’t get warped away, diving into the nearby shipwreck zone to make sure the villains captured there weren’t getting away any time soon. Her speedy tail and mermaid-like abilities let her complete it pretty fast, and once she was done, she shot out to join Okajima and Sugino, who were escorting Midoriya’s injured teacher and two new classmates. Sugino had an arm around the teacher, making sure he didn’t collapse. Kataoka guessed the man probably had a few cracked ribs and maybe some other broken bones, but nothing totally life-threatening, thankfully.

“I tranquilized all of the shipwreck villains, so we won’t have to worry about them breaking out,” she informed her fellow agents the moment she touched land. Her tail instantly dissolved back into feet, her clothes thankfully appearing with it. She never really understood where her clothes went when she transformed, but she never questioned it. 

Unfortunately, the weird purple grape student looked like he was, eagerly watching her fish-scaled top dissolve back into her END uniform. Kataoka uncomfortably folded her arms over her chest. Even Okajima had the decency to look away when she transformed. Hell, not even Korosensei was this indecent when dealing with his perverted ways.

“Your clothes…” the kid mumbled, and was he drooling? Even Okajima seemed bothered by the creepy boy, grabbing his ear and hissing, “Look, kid, keep your eyes to yourself, got it?”

However, the boy didn’t seem to get the message and continued to shamelessly stare. Kataoka felt her patience wearing thin and tried to block it out. She’s put up with worse, she didn’t turn her back on Korosensei, she could—

But then she watched the grape-boy feign tripping so he could conveniently fall into her chest, and Kataoka snapped. She pulled out a tranquilizer gun and leveled it on the boy’s head, letting the barrel stop his fall.

“You try that again, and I’ll shoot your eyes out, pervert,” she snapped. The grape-boy screeched and cowered behind the emotionless teacher.

“Aizawa-sensei, aren’t you going to do something? She just threatened me!”

The teacher didn’t even hesitate. “In my opinion, it sounds like it was self-defense.” 

“Aizawa-sensei!”

-.-.-.-

On the other hand, for Ojiro in the fire zone, it wasn’t so much as him causing problems for the END agents as it was him being totally lost about what was happening. One moment, he was fighting for his life all alone in a fiery hell, and then next the warp gate that dropped him here appeared again and left three random teens.

“Hiya! Need some help?” a perky brunette asked, pulling out a knife Ojiro recognized was like the one Midoriya used. Upon further inspection, he caught a glimpse at the yellow E on these teens’ collars and realized that they were END agents. But why the hell were they in the USJ? Was this their rescue? Where were the Pro-Heroes?

His train of thought was sufficiently cut off when he spotted a sword-wielding villain charging at the friendly agent’s unsuspecting back. He was too far away to stop it, and could only helplessly shout, “Look out!” before the villain took his swing and...missed? But how, the girl was right there, where did she—

And then Ojiro realized the girl didn’t go anywhere. Her upper body just disappeared from view when her spine snapped in half so she could dodge the attack. 

The sword-villain screeched and jumped back, also frightened by the display, and that’s when he was shot down by a serious-looking girl holding a large sniper gun. 

“Who...what…?” Ojiro mumbled, earning him the attention of the agents again. 

“Oh, sorry dude, I guess we should introduce ourselves,” a kind-looking boy casually standing vertically on a building said. “I’m Agent Justice of END’s Alpha Unit. This is my teammate Agent Bend—” he gestured to the friendly-girl who was snapping back up like it was a normal thing to do “—and that’s Agent Balance from the Beta Unit. We’re here to rescue you!”

“...right,” Ojiro weakly said. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed movement and immediately sprung into action. “Get down!”

With practiced ease, he was just about to kick the woman down using his special move, but before he could even reach the thug, she was sniped down. Ojiro spun around to look at the sniper agent in shock.

“Aw, I was gonna get that one!” Agent Justice, now standing next to Ojiro — how did he get over here so fast? — cried. “Now Agent Balance has two and I have none. I need to catch up!”

“Not if I take them out before you!” Agent Bend challenged, and the two took off, smacking down villains left and right with moves that made Ojiro’s martial arts heart quiver with admiration and jealousy. No thug stood a chance against the speedy and flexible duo, and on the off-hand one did escape, Agent Balance immediately shot them down. It was like Ojiro wasn’t even needed anymore.

“That’s four for me!”

“Ha, that’s weak, Agent Justice! I have six!”

Were...Were they counting how many villains they could take down? Were they not concerned about more pressing matters like, who knows, getting killed?

“It doesn’t matter,” the serious girl agent deadpanned, hanging upside and taking down three villains with one shot. “I already have eleven.”

It’s official. END agents are actually insane.

-.-.-.-

“Eep!” Ashido screeched, jumping back from the figures that suddenly appeared from the warp. “W-What is going — you’re END agents? What are you doing here?”

“Please tell me they’re not here to kill us too,” muttered Sato, and Sero elbowed him in the stomach (which hurts a lot given the size of Sero’s elbows) and hissed, “Not cool, dude.”  

Yada rolled her eyes and rushed over to the downed teacher in front of her. “Agent Periodic, the hero is destabilizing fast! We need to do something!”

“Ah, right, Agent Honeypot. I don’t want to do this because of how contaminated Thirteen is, but we have no choice. Agent President, you need to Merge the hero costume closed!” Okuda exclaimed. 

“Hey, is that a good idea?” Uraraka asked. “Iida escaped, so the Pros should be getting here any minute. Maybe it’ll be better to wait—”

“Bad idea,” Takebayashi interrupted, pulling a slip from his belly button. “According to my Statistic, the chance of Thirteen’s survival goes down by 25% if we wait. We have to act now!”

“Don’t worry,” Isogai said, giving the terrified students a reassuring smile. “We’re here to protect you; that’s our job, after all! We promise we’ll do whatever it takes to keep everyone safe.”

The U.A. students stopped objecting as they took in his famous smile. Agent President was well known to the public for being able to take down even the most hostile of people with his polite grin. Large pink hearts appeared in Ashido’s eyes and she leaned over so she could whisper in Uraraka’s ear.

“Wow, he’s really the Prince Charming Aoyama wishes he was.”

-.-.-.-

In the landslide zone, the situation was seemingly neutralized, all of the villains having been taken down by Kaminari — therefore mentally taking Kaminari out as well. Which meant when a portal opened up above the blonde’s head and dropped three teenagers, he was in no way capable of dodging and ultimately became their landing mat.

“Oh, shit!” Sugaya exclaimed, rolling off the electric student. “Sorry, dude, are you good?”

Fuwa and Kanzaki, who were dropped with him it seemed, rolled away and peered and the blubbering student concerningly. Kaminari mumbled nonsensically and gave them a thumbs-up, but when he tried to stand, all he did was crash to the ground again.

“I think we broke him.” Fuwa muttered while Kanzaki moved forward to make sure Kaminari was okay.

“Don’t worry about it, he was already like that before you came. His quirk fries his brain apparently,” Jirou said, peering out from under the insulated sheet. Unfortunately, she forgot who was also under the sheet with her — and more so, what state said person was in.

“OH MY KOROSENSEI, SHE’S NAKED!” Sugaya screeched, slapping a hand over his eyes. Fuwa, on the other hand, just reached out and touched the sheet.

“Wow, you really created this entire blanket with your quirk and took out the villains on your own,” she noted calmly before spinning to two girls in question. “Your quirks look like they’re so cool! You’re true comic book protagonists!”

Yaoyorozu and Jirou looked equally freaked out, though it was probably more so because of the sudden appearance of END agents than Fuwa’s fangirl enthusiasm. Yaoyorozu scrambled to cover up her chest from the strangers. Sugaya, still trying to navigate the world with his eyes closed, waved his arms around before he finally smacked Fuwa.

“Hey, don’t go fangirling about someone without a top on!” he hissed, and Fuwa rolled her eyes.

“Oh please, my manga’s have shown way worse.” 

“That really isn’t something you should be flaunting, Agent Detective.”

Their bickering was cut off by a series of gurgles from the third U.A. student, who still looked pretty down for the count. Kanzaki cradled his head in her lap gently, checking for a concussion.

“Mmmm,” Kaminari groaned, blinking blearily up at the female agent. “G-God?”

Sugaya couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing, leaning on Fuwa for support. Yaoyorozu (now fully clothed and fully embarrassed) eyed the two uncomfortably, wondering how they could be so calm and nonchalant surrounded by villains — even if they were all unconscious. Jirou, on the other hand, just rolled her eyes.

“Dumbass Kaminari would mistake God as a random woman.”

-.-.-.-

When the END agents appeared and started taking out the villains, Dark Shadow was initially insulted. He didn’t need their help, he could take down every villain in the world without even trying. He didn’t need motorcycle boy, or no-eyes sniper boy, or overly bubbly ginger girl who was bonding with Kouda over animals, or—

He paused, watching an agent dressed differently from the others. Instead of wearing the blue combat uniform, she was wearing thin black clothing that almost perfectly blended in with her shadow skin. She rose from the shadows of the buildings, sneaking up on villain after villain and taking them down before slipping back into the darkness. Her moves were elegant and meticulous, and she wielded her darkness with expertise. 

Nevermind. Dark Shadow decided he was alright with having these END agents around.

(Tokoyami eyed his shadowy companion. He seemed to be heavily distracted by the appearance of END, never taking his eyes off the shadow-quirk girl. Tokoyami was very concerned.)

-.-.-.-

“Are you kidding me? You’ve already taken them all down?” Muramatsu whined, eyeing the ice-laden field. “What’s the point of us even being here then?”

“No kidding,” Mimura muttered. “I’m missing out on my English quiz for this. It’s gonna be hell having to make it up.”

“English quiz?” Todoroki echoed. Villains were attacking, plotting to kill All-Might with their beast according to that villain he just interrogated, and these...kids were talking about school? Weren’t they supposed to be top government agents?

“Yeah, buddy. You do know we’re full-time students as well as full-time military dogs, right?” Muramatsu barked, chuckling quietly.

Todoroki filed this information away because, quite frankly, he didn’t really know for sure. While Midoriya was obviously an agent and a student, he figured he was an exception since he was trying to be a hero.

“Whatever,” he dismissed the issue. “There are bigger things to worry about. These villains have a beast they believe is capable of killing All-Might, which means we need to kill it first.”

Itona hummed, brushing his watch, and sighed when all he heard was silence. “I remember seeing a monstrous form when we first arrived. There’s no way of contacting our commanders or Sigma, who stayed behind to fight it; not until we can get the technology working again.”

“We’ll just have to get to them ourselves,” Hara asserted.

“What?” screeched Hagakure. “We can’t go after a beast capable of killing All-Might!”

Very slowly, the END agents turned to the invisible girl, just now realizing she was there. They eyed her floating gloves and boots, the dots slowly connecting.

“Ugh, it’s like Hazama vs Best Jeanist all over again!” Muramatsu exclaimed, looking away while Mimura smacked a hand over his eyes, muttering about how he’d have that forever Recorded in his head.

Itona, completely unfazed, turned to Hara. “Take the idiots and the students and get them out of the building. I’m going to go find Agent Devil.”

The Goat-Bite agent nodded, grabbing Muramatsu and Mimura by the collars and politely gesturing for Hagakure to follow. Todoroki stubbornly stayed behind, staring down the white-haired boy.

“I’m coming with you. I can guarantee my ice quirk is stronger than yours, which means you’ll need my help,” he deadpanned. Itona rolled his eyes, not really caring.

“Whatever. It’s not my fault if you get hurt,” he muttered, but then paused, eyeing the half-white half-red boy curiously. “Wait a minute. Ice quirk? Why would you think I have an ice quirk?”

Todoroki didn’t say anything and just eyed Itona’s frosty locks. Itona felt his brain short-circuit.

“Wha — You do realize hair color doesn’t dictate everyone’s quirks, right?”

-.-.-.-

THE MOUNTAIN RAID: How Did Junior High Students Defeat Japan’s Top Heroes?

Published by UndergroundAnalysis

To be completely candid, when news broke that a junior high class took out and snuck past Japan’s top heroes to get to where the Tentacle was being contained, I thought it was a joke. Kids? Random kids took out Pro-Heroes? I’d be surprised if even third-year hero students from U.A. could accomplish such a feat, but random middle schoolers? No way. Trained by the government or not, there’s no way it was real.

But as reports kept coming in, reality settled in, and my questions changed. How did some kids that were trained for only a year take out Pros that have been doing this for years?

It’s been hard to gather information, the government being extremely tight-lipped about the night, but I’ve narrowed it down to a few possible reasons. 

• They were not just trained as government agents. They were trained to be assassins to take out the Number One Villain. The work of an assassin is very different than a hero, or a villain, or an agent because they only follow one simple rule: take out the target. They’re usually not going to hurt others to achieve their goals like villains, but they’re not law-abiding heroes by any means. They don’t feel compromised by rules of right and wrong.

• Homefield advantage. That mountain was where they went to school, where they trained, where they spent the most time. For the Pros, however, it was a random location they were told to defend. 

• Superior intel and element of surprise. The student knew they were going to attack that night and they prepared for it accordingly. The heroes were none the wiser. The students could look up information on any hero they wanted, the quirks and strength just an internet search away. There was no way for the heroes to know what the kids were capable of, even if they knew they were coming.

• A battle of wills. Those students were determined to get to the top of that mountain, and they had the mindset that nothing was going to stop them. They weren’t afraid to fight heroes. The Pros, on the other hand, were uncertain how to proceed, unsure if they should be attacking these children. If these students, now END agents, ever develop such a resolve again, I fear for their opponents tremendously. Because above all things, that’s what made them the most unstoppable. 

-.-.-.-

Hitoshi eyed the villains warily as Karma confronted them while also keeping an eye on the beast — or Nomu, as Midoriya revealed. He tried not to shudder at the thought that the Reaper and this creature were technically one and the same. The last time they faced a Nomu, it (temporarily, at least) killed Midoriya, and almost killed Korosensei. And while this beast looked nothing like Shiro’s creations, he still wasn’t any less cautious.

“It makes no sense, really,” Karma continued. “The creator of the Nomu is long dead, and the paranoid bastard took all of his research with him. I know this to be fact. Of course, maybe him being gone is the very reason for your beast’s odd appearance. I don’t recall Shiro’s Nomu looking this ugly.”

“It doesn’t matter how we got one,” Shigaraki sneered. “What matters is that it’ll be the last thing you ever see. Nomu, kill him.”

The Nomu lurched forward to attack, but just before the beast could move, a chilly frost filled their area. Hitoshi turned to Karma, surprised, because Karma avoided using his quirk on missions if possible and—

But then the Nomu’s entire left side became totally covered in ice, freezing it in place. Which means it couldn’t be Karma, since Karma could only control temperatures, so it could only be him.

“The villains I fought claimed you have a weapon capable of killing All-Might,” Icy-Boy, Todoroki said, his expression unimpressed. “I worried the first help to arrive would be the Symbol of Peace himself, meaning he’d be in danger. I’m not sure if I should be any more worried that it was teenage assassin agents instead.”

Hitoshi felt his eyes bulge out of his skull. Next to him, Midoriya squeaked, looking equally terrified, while Nagisa kept glancing from Karma to the newcomer with wide eyes.

Karma, on the other hand, looked concerningly hard to read as he took in his long lost twin for the first time. It’s concerning, because usually whenever Karma wasn’t being expressive (or outwardly sadistic), it means he was plotting, and that means he was probably angry.

“Well, look what we have here. First has arrived,” Karma drawled, and Hitoshi blanched at the nickname. Karma laughed innocently. “That is to say, the first of the little hero kiddos to make their way over here, of course. That’s a pretty cool quirk you’ve got there, First.”

And that’s why Hitoshi feared a blank-faced Karma. Because the nickname ‘First’ definitely wasn’t because Todoroki arrived first.

Todoroki just looked confused, frowning deeply. But before he could retort, they were interrupted by Shigaraki’s screeching.

“Don’t just stay frozen, idiot Nomu, break out and kill these pests!”

The agents and students watched in horror as the Nomu broke free of the ice trap by ripping his frozen limbs right off, only for them to regenerate seconds later. Hitoshi filed that away as a quirk similarity this Nomu shared with the original.

“Agent Tentacle,” Karma spoke up, bracing for another attack by reaching into his belt. Hitoshi took note of Itona for the first time; he must’ve been dropped wherever Todoroki was. “I need the comms back up to contact everyone else so we can take this bastard down. Find who or what is causing the interference and dispose of it, please.”

“Yes, commander,” Itona responded, but before he could run off, Kurogiri materialized in front of Itona.

“There will be no more interference from you children,” he said, reaching out as if to grab Itona. Hitoshi frowned. If Kurogiri planned on grabbing Itona, that meant the misty villain had to have a solid body, right?

Going out on a whim, Hitoshi lashed out with his capture rings, feeling a satisfying pull as the wires went taut wrapping around the warp villain’s arm. He pulled with all of his might, knocking Kurogiri off balance and distracting him long enough for Itona to run away.

However, there wasn’t much time to celebrate. The furious warp villain lashed out with his quirk, clouding Hitoshi’s vision with black mist. His capture rings retracted, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the glowing yellow eyes appear. Without hesitation, he reached into his belt, pulled out a nerve-knife and swiped, but Kurogiri dodged.

“You children are well trained, but you are still no match for the League.”

Before Hitoshi could respond, something solid closed around his throat, cutting off his windpipe. An arm was wrapped around his throat and he could feel Kurogiri’s body behind him, holding him tight in the triangle chokehold. Hitoshi squirmed, trying desperately to break free.

“It’s time for you to die, little one.”

His vision spotted in and out, and he felt like he was back with the Reaper, his throat being stepped on as his tooth was violently ripped from his mouth, the circular cuts on his body still fresh and bleeding and—

Oh hell no. Not again.

Overcome with a new tenacity, Hitoshi reached up so he was gripping Kurogiri’s neck armor with both of his hands and flipped his momentum, vaulting himself over the warp villain and taking Kurogiri with him. The villain’s choke loosened and that’s when Hitoshi flung Kurogiri as far away as he could. His vision was still consumed by the dark warp, but he could finally breathe again, and for now, that’s all that matters. 

Just as he was about to go after the warp villain again, however, everything was filled with explosions. Hitoshi rolled to safety, breathing heavily, and looked up to find Poofy pining the warp villain to the ground.

Instantly, Hitoshi’s pride kicked in, because no way in hell was he going to be saved by Poofy of all people—

“Woah, dude, you okay?”

Hitoshi turned to find a spiky red-haired guy and deduced that this was Kirishima, who Midoriya told him a lot about. He was basically the only person Midoriya saw as a friend in that class, if he recalled it correctly.

“Fine,” Hitoshi muttered, standing up and rubbing at his neck.

“Looks like you guys got the fun targets,” Nakamura commented smoothly. Hitoshi eyed the party she arrived with. Terasaka was bickering with Bakugou, and Maehara was screeching about being called ‘shitty face’ and Kirishima was having to act like the Great Wall to keep them from killing each other.

“Looks like you got stuck with babysitting duty,” he shot back, and the blonde girl scowled.

“Hitoshi!” Midoriya cried out, running up to him (thankfully at normal speed. That boy can’t take much more of his quirk). “Are you alright?”

“Never better, Jolly Green,” Hitoshi answered before looking back at Nakamura. “Do you know where everyone else is? We’re gonna need the whole team to take this thing — get down!”

He tackled Nakamura and Kirishima to the floor right before the Nomu took them out. The beast flew over their heads, not even bothered that he missed, and continued to head straight for —

“Kacchan!”

The area where the explosive boy was pinning Kurogiri down exploded into dust, and Hitoshi’s eyes widened, thinking the worst. Sure, he hated Poofy’s guts, but that doesn’t mean he wanted him dead.

“Get the fuck off me, Deku!”

Nevermind. The Nomu can have his ungrateful ass.

Using his Mach-2 speed, Midoriya was able to beat the Nomu and pull Bakugou to safety before the beast smashed him to pieces. And Bakugou was fuming over it. He shoved Midoriya away with an explosion, his hands continuing to spark threateningly.

“I didn’t need your damn help, shitty—”

Suddenly, Bakugou’s when blank, sirene even, and the sparks in his hands went away. The anger and outrage on his face were replaced by relaxed calmness.

It was extremely uncomfortable to look at.

“Thank you, Agent Snake,” Karma muttered. Hitoshi glanced over and saw Nagisa staring at Bakugou, his hand raised and face tight with concentration. It would seem Nagisa finally learned how to Project emotion only into one person. Good for him. “We don’t have time to act like fools with our heads cut off.”

Shigaraki laughed cruelly. “You stupid brats are an embarrassment. You can’t even stop fighting each other; of course, what can be expected when END is involved? What kind of hero brat would want to work with killers?” The E-classers tensed at the jab. “After all, assassins are hardly any better than villains, if not worse. They commit violent acts for hire, but unlike heroes, they don’t care who their target is. The plain one—” he pointed to Midoriya, “—tried to preach about how END uses non-lethal weapons and avoids killing, but that doesn’t erase the fact that he can probably kill everyone in this building in seconds. But it’s okay that he’s that powerful, that dangerous, because not only is he being monitored by the government with END, but he wants to be a hero.

“The world openly admits they fear assassins more than villains these days, and you wanna know why? It’s because while heroes and villains are always at each other’s throats, it’s the assassins who are holding a knife to everyone’s back. Call them agents, call them kids, but they are murderers trying to disguise themselves as saviors. And I’ll be doing the world a favor when I kill them all off!”

Shigaraki pointed at the END agents, and the Nomu, now fully regenerated, spurred into action and charged. And Karma, being the psychopath he is, charged back.

“Kar- Commander, don’t!” Hitoshi shouted, but it was too late. The beast and the boy reared back to punch each other at the same time, and Hitoshi wanted to slam his head against the table, because not only was Karma’s only hidden quirk a temperature one, but he’s a certified genius, which means he should now he’s about to freaking die—

But then Karma’s punch ripped right through the Nomu’s arm like it was jelly, and the brainwasher reconsidered his assessment of Karma’s quirks and abilities, because since when was he like All-Might?

The Nomu crashed on the ground, writhing in pain and right arm completely missing, and Karma landed a few meters beyond it in a crouch, completely unscathed. 

“I wasn’t sure it was going to work, given how different your Nomu looks from Shiro’s,” Karma began, standing up and brandishing the familiar green plastic knife peeking between his knuckles. “Your Nomu is also at least slightly receptive to normal attacks, even if they don’t do much damage. But watching it regenerate just like Korosensei could…I figured it was worth a try. Thank goodness I’m such a paranoid bastard and never gave back my anti-sensei knife, huh?”

Those who weren’t END agents were openly gaping. “He…He did all that damage with a plastic knife?” breathed Todoroki, and Karma laughed harshly.

“Don’t be silly, First. This is no plastic knife. This is the very weapon that killed the Tentacle.” Ah, that explained why Karma held onto it, the sentimental bastard.

“Impossible,” hissed Shigaraki, stopping his feet like a child. “Nomu’s shock absorption should’ve stopped that attack entirely!”

“Clearly you haven’t heard of the effects anti-sensei material has on beasts like your precious Nomu,” Hitoshi retorted, and the mastermind villain sneered.

“You stupid brat—”

Shigaraki went blank-faced.

“Oops, what were you trying to say? Hey, my fellow purple man, you might want to check on your buddy.”

Kurogiri growled, expanding his mist so he appeared a threatening size. “What have you done—”

Too easy, Hitoshi mused, taking control of both of their minds. “Well, that should buy us some time. Any plans on how to kill this thing?”

“It’s regenerating at a slower rate than when half-and-half froze off its arms. I say we cut him up while he’s down and explode the remaining pieces until he can never come back,” suggested an uncomfortably soft, unnaturally calm voice that was so weird he didn’t even know who said it. Midoriya did, jerking backward harshly.

“K-Kacchan? Are you alright?”

...wait, that was Poofy speaking?

“Of course I’m fine, Deku, don’t ask stupid questions.”

Indeed it was.

The explosive boy, now completely out of control of his emotions, stared at them blankly, as if he couldn’t understand why everyone else was reacting weirdly. Hitoshi hid his cackles behind his palm.

“Whoa, Bakugou, my bro, I barely recognize you when you’re not all, you know,” Kirishima growled and sneered, perfectly mimicking Bakugou’s usual deranged expression. 

Maehara scoffed. “And he calls me shitty face.”

“That’s because it fits, Agent Womanizer,” Terasaka mocked, and Nakamura piped up with an, “Ooh, I like that codename change, I’m stealing it!”

“Guys, we need to focus! The Nomu is standing back up!” interrupted Midoriya.

“Agent Devil, do you have any more of those anti-sensei knives?” Nagisa asked while staring intensely at Bakugou to keep the boy’s emotions in check. Karma sighed, scowling at the creature.

“No. And as intriguing as Sir Explosion’s suggestion is, I don’t know if we have the power to make it work with just one knife. We need to find a way to blow this beast away, just like Korosensei did with the Reaper.”

“Can’t we just stab it through the heart like with Korosensei?” asked Maehara.

Nakamura clicked her teeth. “There’s no guarantee that the Nomu’s heart is located in the same spot, though. It’s clearly a different generation of superbeast with a completely different format and appearance.”

Hitoshi sighed. “Alright, so, blowing him away. How are we going to do that?”

At the same time the Nomu rose back to its feet, Midoriya snapped his fingers. “Yaoyorozu knows how to create cannonballs; I saw her do it once!”

“Jolly Green, we established that anti-sensei material will be much more efficient at taking this beast down—”

“I know, I know, but Isogai can merge two objects together, right? What if he were to take the knife and the cannonball and — look out!”

The warning came just in time for everyone to jump away from the Nomu’s attack, but the explosion of it punching the ground knocked them down. Hitoshi smacked his head against Terasaka’s, and he could feel his brainwashing hold on Shigaraki and Kurogiri slip away. Judging by the sheer amount of cursing and shouting that followed, Nagisa also dropped his quirk.

Karma was grumbling to himself from where he kneeled on the ground, “While we may have some powerful hero hopefuls and all of the unit captains here, it’s still not enough to take this Nomu bastard down. We need to get this plan working…”

The END commander stood tall in front of the other teenagers. “Alright, listen up!” Karma called out, sounding similar to how he did giving orders the night of the mountain raid, and student and agent alike snapped to attention. “Here’s the plan. Sir Explosion, First, Agent Roar and Fellow-Red-Head, you deal with the Nomu. Keep it busy and distracted. Agent Snake and Agent Blank, you two work on containing the warp villain; don’t let him interfere at all. And Agent English, you go find Agent Tentacle and help him get my damn comms back up!”

“Yes, sir!” the female agent replied, taking off in the direction they saw Itona leave. Bakugou, now no longer being calmed by Nagisa, growled indignantly.

“I’m not taking orders from you, you Discount Shitty Hair!” His hands sparked threateningly, but before he could do anything, he was being dragged away by Terasaka.

“Let’s go, Explodo Boy,” the lion-boy grumbled, and the other two U.A. students cautiously followed while Nagisa and Maehara jumped into action, using their mental and emotional based quirks to incapacitate Kurogiri’s ability to think and function for himself.

“Midoriya,” Karma continued, spinning around and holding out the anti-sensei knife. “We’ve got about three minutes to make this happen. Until the comms come back online, I have no idea where anyone is. Hunt down whoever you need, just make that cannonball happen. Oh, and grab Sugino. We’re going to need a good arm to launch that Nomu bastard to the shattered moon.”

Midoriya nodded and took the anti-sensei knife. Hitoshi patted his best friend’s shoulder, looking pointedly at the harsh bloodstain already covering his chest. “Don’t push yourself too hard, Jolly Green.”

Midoriya grinned. “Stay safe, Hitoshi.”

The green-haired boy took off at Mach-2, leaving the two E-class masterminds alone. Hitoshi turned to his scheming friend, eyebrow quirked.

“And what are we gonna be doing?”

Karma grinned, his golden eyes gleaming. “Isn’t it obvious? We’ve got the fun job.” He pulled out a knife from his utility belt, a real one, not a plastic anti-sensei knife or one of Okuda’s nerve-knives. “We’re gonna go after the whiny hand-bastard.”

-.-.-.-

Even though it felt like his lungs were turning inside out and his airways were drowning out completely, Izuku ran harder and faster than he ever had before. Karma guessed they had about three minutes before the fight with Nomu got out of hand, which meant he couldn’t hesitate, couldn’t wait, couldn’t worry about himself when there were so many other lives at stake. The Nomu was likely strong enough to crush everyone if given the chance, and with Izuku holding the only weapon really effective against it, he needed to work fast to keep everyone safe.

He tried to think of a game plan, making a mental list of who he needed to find. They needed Isogai to merge the knife to the cannonball, but that meant they’d first need Yaoyorozu to create the cannonball. And Karma said grab Sugino, who he knew was taking Aizawa-sensei, Asui, and Mineta to safety. Logically speaking, the best course of action was to find Yaoyorozu first, have her make the cannonball, carry the cannonball to Isogai, make him Merge it with the knife, and then grab Sugino and return to the fight.

The only problem with that plan, however, was that he only knew the location of the person on the last step.

Gritting his teeth, Izuku took off, running at random, just trying to find where everyone was. Thankfully, his speed would let him check and clear the entire building in about ten seconds, but it was ten seconds he didn’t really have. 

He finally found the intelligent girl in the Landslide zone with Jirou, Kaminari, Sugaya, Fuwa, and Kanzaki. They all jumped when he suddenly appeared in front of them, covered in way too much blood.

“Midoriya!” His current classmates exclaimed while his old ones said, “Agent Quirk!” The two groups stared at each other awkwardly, but Izuku didn’t have time for uncomfortable interactions.

“Yaoyorozu!” he said, facing the girl. “I need you to make a cannonball, preferably one the size of a baseball!”

The girl blinked widely. “Huh? Why?”

Before Izuku could answer, Fuwa cut him off. “Agen- Midoriya, what the hell is going on?”

Izuku pursed his lips. What wasn’t going on? There were so many issues, he didn’t have the time to even give her the shortened version. “Ka- I mean, Agent Devil is trying to get the comms up. I’m sure he’ll explain everything then, but right now, I really need this cannonball, Yaoyorozu. I’m not really asking.”

Yaoyorozu flinched as Izuku’s expression grew serious, but she nodded. “Alright, sure.” Her stomach glowed and materialized the item in question. “Here you go—”

“Thanks, bye!”

Not wasting another second (by his calculations, he was down to two minutes and thirteen seconds), Izuku took off, this time in search for Isogai. Considering he hadn’t seen the ex-class president in his initial sweep, it made him a lot easier to find than Yaoyorozu. And it seemed the fates were at least slightly in his favor because he found him at the USJ entrance, the exact same place Sugino went.

“Midoriya! Are you alright?” Sero and Sugino exclaimed at the exact same time when Izuku ran up to them. They glanced at each other awkwardly before looking away, and Izuku was already so sick of this bizarre crossing of worlds; yes, they both know him, yes, they’re assassin END agents, yes, you are now working together.

“I’m fin— eh? Is Thirteen okay?!” he said, noticing the injured and unconscious teacher laying on the ground. The Pro was being cared for by Aizawa, who was forcibly being cared for by a determined Okuda and Takebayashi under Yada’s watchful eye. Izuku wondered if the girl had to Persuade his homeroom teacher into accepting the first-aid; it was highly likely that was the case.

“He’ll live,” Aizawa answered gruffly. “Your friend here—” he gestured to Isogai “—was able to close up the costume and stabilize Thirteen to prevent any further injury.”

“Are you sure you’re alright, Midoriya?” Kataoka asked, and Izuku nodded, trying to focus on the task at hand and not the blood spilling out of his mouth. He was down to one minute and fifty-one seconds. He didn’t have much time.

“Doesn’t matter,” he dismissed, making the E-class class rep’s face turn cross. “Agent President, I need you to Merge these two things together.”

He held up the cannonball and the anti-sensei knife, and the END agents’ eyes turned wide at the familiar weapon.

“Why do you need an anti-sensei cannonball?” Okajima questioned, the others staring him down sharply. Izuku sighed.

“Look, I don’t have time to explain. The comms should come back on soon and Agent Devil will tell you everything, okay?” he repeated just like he did for the group before, resisting the urge to smash his head into a wall. “So, will you please stop asking questions and just listen to me?”

His ex-classmates exchanged glances with his new classmates, and Isogai took a step forward, holding his hands out. Izuku immediately passed over the cannonball and knife, and the dark-haired boy carefully pressed the two items together. His hands began to glow, and Izuku watched as the knife melted into the cannonball, completely encasing it with a green shell. He passed the new anti-sensei weapon back, and Izuku turned to Sugino.

“Agent Pitch, we’re gonna need your quirk,” he said. Sugino eyed the small cannonball with an arched eyebrow, but there was a knowing look on his face.

His new classmates, however, looked completely, utterly lost.

“Midoriya, what is that?” Uraraka asked while Ashido cried, “Dude, you’re totally covered in blood!

“There’s no way you’re going to make it back to that fight while carrying someone else in this state, and there’s no way you’re going to stand a chance against that beast even if you get down there,” Aizawa said, his eyes as sharp as they were exhausted, and Izuku should have known his teacher at least had a grasp of the situation. Aizawa was part of the mountain raid and hero response team, so he probably knew of the beast that attacked Korosensei, and he has already experienced the power and strength of this new Nomu.

Izuku sighed. “We don’t have a choice.”

Before Aizawa could react, Izuku picked up Sugino and disappeared. He arrived there seconds later, basically dropping Sugino and collapsing to his knees, hacking up way too much blood. With the last of his energy, he shakily took in the battlefield.

Kirishima, Bakugou, Todoroki, and Terasaka surrounded the Nomu and were barely holding the beast back by sheer brute force. Todoroki would freeze the beast, and that’s when the other three would attack, punching and clawing and exploding the Nomu, but even that barely fazed the massive creature. Nagisa and Maehara exchanged blows with Kurogiri, who was clearly not as versed in combat as the teen assassins, and it seemed Nagisa was using his quirk to keep the warp-villain from getting overly aggressive. It seemed everyone was holding their own.

But then his eyes landed on Karma and Shinsou, and Izuku’s heart dropped for completely different reasons.

Shinsou’s capture rings were wrapped around Shigaraki’s wrists, making it impossible for him to touch anything and use his quirk, while Karma held a knife at the villain’s throat.

“I’m going to ask you nicely one last time,” the END commander threatened. “Tell me where you got the Nomu.”

Shigaraki laughed. “What, are you going to kill me? I thought you brats were supposed to be goody-two-shoes, stopping villains without killing. All in the name of your Korosensei, isn’t that right? I guess since you’ve already killed the big-bad, you probably see no reason to sully your hands with us small fry.”

The two agents tensed and Shinsou sent a zap of electricity up the capture rings, making Shigaraki scream. Karma pressed the knife against the villain’s throat, just barely drawing blood.

“You know, you’re pretty right about us,” Karma drawled. “We do know how to kill, even if we choose not to. I’d guesstimate from the moment I meet someone, I’ve already figured out at least twenty different ways to assassinate them. This means no matter who I’m around, I always hold their life in my hands, which means I hold all the powers. Villains like you are always trying to use violence and fear to gain power, but there’s always a hero to take it away; it’s why you want to kill All-Might so badly, right? The Symbol of Peace pushes away any fear or terror you try to bring.

“You want to know why Korosensei was the ultimate Symbol of Terror? Why he was feared, unstoppable and unchallenged by any hero or villain? Because he too constantly held the power of an assassin, the power of people’s lives. The moon, that was just to make a statement, but that’s hardly what made his reign strike fear into the hearts of everyone. Because unlike you overly predictable villains, no one could ever figure Korosensei out. He wasn’t constantly fighting All-Might or trying to kill school children; instead, he would avoid hero fights and taught students. He went against everything a villain typically tries to do, and through this, he brought more chaos than any villain before him.”

Karma glanced over and made brief eye contact with Izuku, nodding in his direction and making a quick gesture to Shinsou. The brainwasher nodded and snapped Shigaraki back, flipping the villain to the ground and stepping on his back.

“There’s another difference assassins hold from heroes and villains that you missed,” Shinsou hissed, slashing the nerve-knife at all of Shigaraki’s limbs, immobilizing him. “As Korosensei always said, assassins never fight without a second blade.”

Shigaraki screamed, but with his legs nonfunctional, the villain couldn’t do anything else. Karma and Shinsou sprinted towards Izuku and Sugino, Shinsou immediately pulling out his first-aid kit and rushing to his best friend’s side. Izuku focused on not passing out, letting his friend manhandle his weakened body, while Sugino spun to Karma, gesturing wildly.

“Dude, what the hell is that thing?! What’s going on?!”

Karma pursed his lips. “They call it a Nomu. I hope that explains everything else for now.”

Sugino’s eyes widened, but he nodded, and Karma turned to Izuku. 

“You have it, right?”

Izuku nodded and passed over the anti-sensei cannonball. When he tried to stand back up, he was quickly pushed down by Shinsou.

“Not a chance, Jolly Green. You need to focus on not coughing up any more blood right now.” His voice was firm and eyes challenging, meaning if Izuku tried to protest, Shinsou was just going to brainwash him into submission. The green-haired boy conceded and slumped against his best friend, getting flashbacks of their island vacation last summer.

“This Nomu’s quirks seem to be regeneration, shock absorption, super strength, and enhanced speed. He’s not as fast as me — I’d guess around Mach-1 or less — but he’s crazy strong,” Izuku explained, and Karma nodded.

“Well, we don’t have to worry about the shock absorption, right?” Shinsou quizzed. “Karma’s knife went right through him with barely any effort. We just need to throw that thing with enough force that it’ll rip every piece of the Nomu apart.”

The Alpha unit captain and END commander hummed. “By my calculations, I doubt Sugino’s quirk alone will be enough. We need something to supercharge the energy in Sugino’s throw.”

A particularly large explosion went off as Bakugou smashed his fists into the Nomu’s face. Karma grinned.

-.-.-.-

Before anyone could advise him otherwise (seriously, did Karma have a death wish?), the END commander marched right up to Bakugou and grabbed him by the hair.

“WHAT THE HELL?!” 

Karma ignored the screams and, due to his temperature quirk, was barely fazed by Bakugou’s explosions, which seemed to piss the boy off even more. He marched back to the other END agents, graciously dropped Bakugou on the floor, and punched him in the face.

“Listen up, Sir Explosion. You seem like a prideful one, so I bet you’re dying to be the one to claim he took down the beast capable of killing All-Might,” Karma began with little preamble. “So how about you do as we say, set off an explosion the same time Agent Pitch here—” he gestured to Sugino, “—throws this cannonball, and you’ll be a hero. Isn’t that supposed to be an appealing offer to you U.A. kids or whatever?”

Bakugou stared, blank-faced, as if he couldn’t believe anyone would dare talk to him like this, before sneering. “Like hell I’d ever work with you END freaks.”

Karma sighed. “Sorry, not an option.”

Bakugou sputtered indignantly and Izuku tried his hand at appeasing his old childhood friend. “Please, Kacchan. If you set off an explosion while holding Agent Pitch’s hand when he throws, then he can take the energy and manipulate the throw so it’s supersonic and will tear the Nomu to pieces, just like you suggested.”

He prayed the explosive boy would be more reasonable hearing it from someone he knew, but (of course) it only seemed to piss him off more.

“So what, you want me to do your work for you because you freaks are too fucking weak to do it and your own? Hell no! There’s no way in hell I’m going to help you, and I’m never going to hold someone’s fucking hand—”

“Too late.” Karma smashed Bakugou’s hand against the back of Sugino’s and locked them together with wire. He then turned to the battlefield, where Todoroki was. Karma’s eyes narrowed and it suddenly became extremely cold. Todoroki seemed the most affected, his ice wielding side suddenly throwing out a massive wall of ice encasing the Nomu, and the boy stared at his hand in shock.

Izuku blinked, realizing what just happened. He heightened Todoroki’s temperature, not only making the ice more powerful, but forcing him to use his quirk against his control. The heterochromatic boy spun around, looking for answers, but Karma had already turned away, signaling Sugino to go.

Sugino (and a cursing Bakugou) winded up, and surprisingly Bakugou set off the explosion the same time Sugino threw the cannonball. It soared through the air, perfectly aimed at the frozen Nomu. Izuku, being the only one with kinetic vision that let him see things at supersonic speeds, was able to track the cannonball the entire way. Even if the Nomu wasn’t frozen, there was no way he’d be able to move away fast enough. By Izuku’s calculations, he guessed it was going upwards of Mach-3. Within less than a second of it being released, the cannonball smashed into the Nomu’s chest and completely shredded the monster.

The impact itself would’ve torn apart any target, but the anti-sensei material coating it meant that not even Nomu’s shock absorption stood a chance at protecting it. It practically disintegrated him, leaving nothing for the creature to regenerate back from.

There was silence on the battlefield. Student and villain alike stared in shock at the feat. The massive beast supposedly capable of killing All-Might, smashed to pieces with a single throw.

Izuku turned to look at the duo that made it happen. Sugino’s hand smoked and his glove was completely torn off, but he didn’t have any burns — likely Karma’s doing, if Izuku had to guess. Bakugou looked constipated, like he wasn't sure if he wanted to start screaming or pass out. The wire connecting their hands was gone, and the two quickly stepped away from each other.

The silence was finally cut out by a crackling in Izuku’s ear. “Comms are back on, Agent Devil.”

Snapping out of his stupor (it seemed not even Karma predicted the plan to work so flawlessly), the red-haired boy touched the comm in his ear. “Excellent work, Agent Tentacle, Agent English. The main threat has just been neutralized.”

“So that’s what the massive explosion was,” Kataoka mused. “Something tells me there’s a big explanation behind this one.”

Nagisa laughed harshly over the comm. “You guys have no idea.”

-.-.-.-

At the same time Shigaraki started screaming (“WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY NOMU?!”), the front doors of the U.S.J. burst open, and the man of the hour finally arrived.

“Never fear!” All-Might declared. “For I am- huh?”

Immediately, the man was cut off by multiple END agents standing in his way, blocking him from moving.

“Agent Devil, the target has arrived. We’re keeping a guard on him until all villain threats have been neutralized,” Isogai informed them over the comms.

“Excellent job,” Karma responded, while Kirishima whispered, “Uh...why are you stopping All-Might from saving us?”

“Because All-Might is the villain’s target, which means he’s in danger,” Nagisa explained, pointing his nerve-gun at the downed Kurogiri’s head. “And while we may have just eliminated their main weapon, it’d be foolish to assume the villains went through all this trouble and not have a contingency plan.”

Shigaraki began laughing slowly, hollowly. “You brats got us all figured out, huh? Looks like you really are as good as they say — even if you did cheat.” He looked up at them, his red eyes bulging from underneath the hand mask. He stared at Izuku and Karma specifically, and the green-haired boy shivered. “I can’t wait until I make you all pay.”

Izuku noticed the thugs starting to circle back up and instantly pulled out a nerve-gun from his belt, the other END agents doing the same while his classmates braced themselves for another fight. 

But before they could move, a flurry of tranquilizers and knives rained down, taking out every thug in seconds. Izuku spun around and spotted Okano, Kimura, and Hayami coming out of the fire zone. 

“That’s twenty-three for me!” Okuda cheered, while Kimura bragged, “Oh yeah? I have twenty-four!”

“Will you stop bickering already?” Hayami hissed, cocking her gun. “Besides, you know you don’t stand a chance. I have more than fifty.”

“You’re such a downer sometimes, Agent Balance.”

“Hey, Agent Control!” Mimura walked up, waving nonchalantly while dragging an unconscious, tied up villain. “Think you can help me study for my English quiz later? Our local linguist refused already.”

Nakamura jumped down next to Itona, scoffing. “Maybe if you’d stay more focused on the mission instead of schoolwork, I’d be more open to helping you.”

Slowly, Izuku’s ex-classmates circled up, all looking pretty unharmed. They were smiling and laughing like this was just another day on the job; like they hadn’t just taken down an entire villain organization in a matter of minutes. Like, at the end of the day, the most concerning thing was catching up on missed schoolwork, not fighting to survive. E-class was pretty amazing sometimes, but sometimes, it’s sad to think of why they’re so good at what they do — why they can do the job as good as the Pros.

Shigaraki hissed, trying to move but unable due to his paralyzed limbs. “Looks like they're regrouping. How bothersome. Get us out of here, Kurogiri.”

The warp gate opened again, sucking the two villains in, and Karma cursed. “Like hell you’re getting away! Stop them!”

Shinsou lashed out first, his capture rings wrapping around Shigaraki’s wrists and pulling him back out of the warp. Nagisa held out his hand and aimed his empath powers at Kurogiri, making the man struggle to move as his will to escape was ripped away from him and replaced with something else. Just when Izuku thought they might actually capture the masterminds, however, he noticed a warp open up behind Nagisa, about to suck him in.

“Agent Snake, look out!” Izuku warned, and without telling them too, his legs moved, finding the strength to run once more. Moving at Mach-2, he ripped Nagisa away from Kurogiri’s clutches, saving him from any potential kidnapping disaster, but unfortunately letting the villain regain control of his emotions again.

“What pesky children,” Kurogiri growled, turning his attention to where Shinsou was trapping Shigaraki. A warp appeared below his best friend’s feet and Izuku screamed, trying to save his best friend, but found himself unable to move. He collapsed in a pool of his own blood and just tried to breathe. 

When it seemed all hope was lost, however, two hands shot out and grabbed Shinsou at the same time, pulling him to safety. Unfortunately, it meant the brainwasher was forced to release Shigaraki, and the mastermind villains escaped in their warp. But for Izuku, all that mattered was that his best friend was safe.

But then he realized who saved Shinsou.

Each grasping a shoulder, Karma and Todoroki stared each other down with so much intensity it was oppressive. Karma quirked an eyebrow, almost amused, and the temperature of the room rose insanely fast. A flicker of flame danced across Todoroki’s arm, and the moment the boy ripped his hand away, the heat vanished.

“Pretty fast reflexes, First,” Karma drawled, and Todoroki gritted his teeth, meeting Karma’s stare. Before the moment could get any more awkward, however, Shinsou — stuck in the middle — broke it up.

“Yeah, that’s enough of that.” The brainwasher shoved his way through the two estranged brothers and quickly ran over to Izuku. “Shit, Jolly Green, you okay?”

Izuku tried to reply but ended up gurgling his own blood. Needless to say, no one believed him when he later assured them he was fine.

-.-.-.-

By the time the rest of the Pros showed up, END was already wrapping it up.

The entire U.A. staff was stunned and mortified knowing such horrors happened underneath their noses again. Nedzu flicked his tail as he observed the scene, his expression darkened.

Shinsou and Sugino carried Izuku over to the entrance where everyone was rendezvousing. Thirteen and Aizawa were passed off to Recovery Girl, and All-Might stood to the side, basically on house arrest, and pouted. Managing to escape his escorts, Izuku snuck over to the Pro-Hero’s side.

“I’m really sorry about this, Yagi, sir,” he whispered, and All-Might jolted, taking in Izuku’s beaten and bloodied form. “But it’s for the best. You can’t risk dying before...you know…”

All-Might sighed, glaring at his clenched fists. “Doesn’t matter,” he muttered. “I should’ve been here from the start; I should’ve protected you. What kind of Symbol of Peace sits back while child soldiers fight for your life?”

“The kind of Symbol of Peace that needs to keep living in order to make work easy for these child soldiers,” Izuku said, grinning sheepishly. “We may be young, but we know what we’re doing, and we’ve faced worse villains than this.”

It was sad and true, and it only made All-Might scowl more.

Before they could talk anymore, however, Izuku was quickly whisked away by a nagging Hara and a hovering Okuda who were equally stressed over his current state. Which meant Izuku was dragged right in the middle of the ‘1-A formally meeting 3-E’ mess.

“Hey, can anyone explain Planck’s Constant to me? This chemistry homework is too hard for high school, I swear,” Sugaya complained, and Yada laughed.

“This coming from someone who went to Kunugigaoka? Just what high school are you attending, Agent Ink?”

“Um…” Ashido interrupted, looking pensive. Much of 1-A was just standing on the sidelines watching while U.A. staff members perused around to check on them and END agents handcuffed and tranquilized thugs. “Are you guys really discussing homework while you tie up villains?”

Izuku’s old classmates exchanged a few awkward glances. “I mean, why not?” Fuwa asked. “We’re students, just like you guys. Most of us were in the middle of a class when we got the call to report for this mission, and we’ll probably go right back to school when we’re done.”

“We don’t all want to fight bad guys for a living like you guys,” Mimura added, shrugging as he placed a tranquilizer in a thug’s neck. “We’ve got other goals. I want to go into communications one day, not hero or military work.”

And there it is. The side the media and public never like to acknowledge. The fact that these big, bad, scary END agents are just normal kids trying to pursue normal lives despite being forced to act for the government. 

After all, it’s easy to forget when you see what they can do; when you watch Nagisa spar five men at once and win; when you see Karma outsmart everyone in the room in a matter of seconds; when you hear Nakamura relaying intelligence not even most military personnel know. It’s easy to forget when they are constantly being called ‘Agent Whoever’ and ‘Agent Whatever’ that they aren’t even old enough to legally sign up for the military.

“Oh…” Ashido whispered, looking away, as did much of 1-A. Izuku sighed. Great. While his classmates probably won’t fear him now that they’ve met END, they’re definitely going to start pitying him.

Clearly just as annoyed, Karma pushed off the wall he was leaning against and sighed dramatically. “Oh please, don’t look like that. It just means we get to beat up whatever assholes we want and the government will cover it for us. It’s pretty great, actually. There’s nothing more satisfying than slamming your fist into someone’s skull and not worrying about the consequences.”

He demonstrated this, brutally punching a nearby thug. Izuku’s pretty sure Kouda fainted.

Nagisa rolled his eyes and sighed. “What our commander means to say, is that what happened here today needs to stay in here. As I’m sure you’ve gathered, we don’t exactly want much information about us leaking, which means whatever version of this story the media is going to get is going to be very watered down, and you need to keep it that way. No telling anyone anything about us, our quirks, our techniques, our identities, or else there will be consequences.”

Karma, just for good measure, kicked another thug in the nose, and all of 1-A nodded vigorously. Izuku sighed. 

Karma, stop intimidating my classmates.

“Agent Devil,” Isogai interrupted. “We’ve swept the facility, and it would appear every thug and villain is accounted for and captured, save for the two that escaped earlier.”

“The police can take it from here,” Cementoss stepped forward. “U.A. thanks you for the commendable work you’ve done here. You saved our students’ lives today, even at your own risk.”

Karma smirked. “It’s hardly any risk to us, Blockhead.” Everyone blanched at the rude nickname (“Don’t go insulting Pros, asshole!” Shinsou hissed), but Karma continued, unfazed. “Save for the two who got away, everyone else was amateur at best, and even those two were questionable. Compared to who we used to target every single day, this was child’s play.”

“Child’s play? We nearly got murdered!” Mineta hissed.

“Nonetheless, you worked quite flawlessly despite descending on the fight with little knowledge other than your friend and teammate was in trouble,” Nedzu said. “It’s quite impressive. Of course, what went on here will have to be hashed out in greater detail later. Please let Tadaomi know that he should expect a call from me very soon.”

And then the mouse principal left to go check up on Aizawa, and Izuku breathed a sigh of relief knowing that’s all he had to say. Karma pursed his lips, his face twisting inexplicably.

“Well, I guess that’s our cue to leave. Gears, Dark, get the bird rolling, will you?”

“Got it,” Yoshida responded, and he and Hazama left for the exit. That’s when Izuku noticed something particularly odd.

“Um. Tokoyami? What’s up with Dark Shadow?”

The bird-faced boy, who had been staring at his sentient shadow with unease, jolted. “I am...not sure myself.”

The shadow bird was staring intensely at something and almost looked like he was...blushing? Can shadows blush? Hazama can’t but that’s probably because she doesn’t feel normal human emotion—

And then, very slowly, all of the dots began to connect in Izuku’s mind, and he wasn’t the only one.

“Holy shit, does your shadow have a crush on Agent Dark?!” screeched Muramatsu, and all hell officially broke loose.

“Can sentient shadows have crushes?” wondered Yaoyorozu.

“What the hell is going on?!” Terasaka growled protectively.

“Someone finds Hazama attractive?” Shinsou muttered just loud enough for Izuku to hear, and the green-haired boy tried not to burst out laughing.

“Hey, don’t act so surprised!” snapped Hazama, spinning around to face the group with her arms crossed. “I bet I could be a part of the Honeypot Trio if you’d let me.”

“No, you couldn’t,” Shinsou, Yada, and Maehara deadpanned at the exact same time, making the shadow girl growl.

“Oh, shut up!”

“Wait, if your quirk makes your whole body a walking shadow, why do you wear clothes? Doesn’t it get in the way of your quirk?” Hagakure asked innocently, and then squeaked as twenty-eight murderous stares turned on her. Why, just why did she have to bring that up? Who would’ve ever guessed 1-A would be the bad influence for 3-E?

“See! This class understands me! They’re okay with her not wearing clothes because they know it’s necessary!” Hazama argued, but she was already being dragged away by Terasaka’s gang.

“Yeah, but she’s invisible. We can still see you without your clothes on,” Muramatsu explained, running his fingers up his snout in a soothing manner.

“Yeah. You’re welcome.”

And with that, E-class made their departure. Karma ‘accidentally’ dropped his knife on another thug’s leg and grinned at 1-A innocently, making Mineta almost pee himself. Kurahashi waved vigorously to a shy-looking Kouda while Fuwa gushed her goodbyes to Yaoyorozu and Jirou. Shinsou rubbed Izuku’s head comfortingly.

“Try not to get in any more trouble, Jolly Green, or else I’m putting you on laundry and dish duty for a month,” he said, and Izuku pouted playfully.

“That’s hardly fair; it’s trouble that finds me, after all.”

“I know, and my heart can hardly take the stress of that alone, much less the stress of chores too.”

Shinsou and the rest of END left in the jet. Izuku watching them depart wistfully and wishing he could go with them, but he knows he’s needed here, with his new class. He turned around and ran into Uraraka.

“To handle threats with so much professionalism and prowess, even though they’re the same age as us. They’re hardly as powerful as Pros like All-Might, but they still defeated the enemy just by clever teamwork and strategy…though I guess it’s to be expected from the group that took down the Number One Villain,” Uraraka mused to herself before looking up and making eye contact with Izuku. “Midoriya, your old classmates are really weird.”

Izuku blinked and smiled softly. “Yeah. They really are.”

-.-.-.-

Villains Attack U.A. Students Again! School’s Ability to Protect Students Called Into Question — “The Students Are Safe.”

Elite hero academy U.A. takes another blow today after reports of a gang of villains attacking a field trip for class 1-A broke out. The students reportedly defended themselves on their own for nearly fifteen minutes before END agents and later Pro-Heroes stepped in to save the day. Unconfirmed sources say that 1-A student Bakugou Katsuki succeeded in taking out the main villain threat… [Read more]

-.-.-.-

“Come again, Mickey Mouse? You want us to do what?” 

Following the attack at USJ, Karma, Nagisa, and Karasuma met with Nedzu in his office to discuss what happened. It started out fairly typical — Karma throwing careless insults, Nagisa asking the pointed questions, Karasuma trying to rein them in, and Nedzu acting playfully unbothered. They discussed how the main enemy got away, how the Nomu seemed imperfect and unlike Shiro’s, and how this was a problem. But then, after Nedzu went on some big spiel about having a “common enemy” and “the public fears U.A. cannot protect its students” while it also “is terrified of END, isn’t this quite the conundrum,” the principal asked the (seemingly) unthinkable.

“I propose that END act as extra security at the Sports Festival,” Nedzu said. “Not only will your presence ensure public safety, but it will allow the people to see you up-close and make their own judgment of END, instead of just believing whatever the media tells them.”

Karma and Nagisa exchanged a look of disbelief. The blue-haired boy shuffled, unsettled.

“You’re not telling us everything, are you?” he asked. “Your emotional state is frazzled, desperate. There’s some other reason you need us as security, isn’t there.”

Nedzu blinked, seemingly shocked, before smiling. “Impressive job, Nagisa. I’ve been told by other empaths that I am extremely difficult to read.” The mouse reached under his desk and pulled out a sheet of paper. “Unfortunately, you’re correct. Following these attacks, my close staff has theorized we might have a traitor among our ranks — and I can only pray it’s not a student.”

Nagisa hummed. “That would explain why it took so long for the teachers to be made aware of Grip’s infiltration.”

“And how the villains knew All-Might was supposed to be on the trip. We know Grip couldn’t be the source because he only stayed in areas with students, but it could’ve been a distraction for the spy,” Karma added.

Nedzu eyed Karasuma sharply. “You’ve been oddly quiet, Tadaomi. Care to enlighten us?”

The senior agent scowled and sighed. “You say you and your staff hopes it’s not a student, but has it crossed your mind that one of those staff members could be the traitor?”

The room was silent, and Nedzu’s nose twitched. “Yes, I have. At this point, anyone could be a suspect, even heroes outside of the U.A. faculty.”

“Which is why you are asking us to come instead of local heroes,” Nagisa concluded, and Nedzu nodded.

“Indeed. You will be heavily accommodated for your services — I will supply a base of operations for you to monitor this new threat. I also suggest we allow you to...show off a bit. Not that you can participate with the students, but we do have intermediate activities between rounds. I’m sure a section dedicated to END would be quite enjoyable.”

Karma smirked. “Sounds like a pretty good offer.”

Karasuma, on the other hand, silently groaned at the thought of 3-E ‘showing off’ for the cameras. The chaos was going to be a massive headache — and so will the paperwork.

“Of course. Everyone enjoys a good show, after all.” Nedzu smiled. “So, do we have a deal?”

Chapter Text

Izuku sensed it before it ever came. The hairs on his neck tingled, his trained paranoia sent off a warning signal. Before the blow could ever hit his back, he reached back, grabbed the arm by the wrist, and judo flipped Yamaguchi over his head and onto the mat.

“Oh, shit,” the leaf boy cussed, rolling over on his stomach. His partner, Michimiya, anxiously squeaked and tried to run away, but Izuku simply dropped to the floor, kicked her feet out from under her, and spun back up before she even hit the ground.

“Time!” Hara called out. “4.31 seconds. Midoriya wins. Again.”

1-C groaned in unison. “That’s it. We’re doomed,” despaired Kunimi.

For their training exercise that day, 1-C decided to team up in pairs of two and go head-to-head in knockout matches with an END agent. If a 1-C team beat an END agent, then the team got to stay in the ring while a new agent stepped in a vice versa. If no one is taken down within fifteen seconds, both teams are disqualified. The goal was to strike fast and survive, and quirks and combat skills were fair game.

Unfortunately, that did not mean it was a ‘fair game.’ Izuku alone already knocked out half of the teams, all in under five seconds and without using his quirk. 

“You’re hardly doomed, guys,” Isogai reassured them. “You’ve been training for over a month now. You have the skills.”

“If anything, you saying you’re doomed is the reason you’re sucking so bad right now,” Sugaya declared, earning him an elbow to his side by Sugino and Mimura. “Ouch! What?”

Before this could get any worse, Shinsou stepped in to reassure his classmates. “Look, you can’t doubt yourself right now. If you doubt yourself on the day of the Sports Festival, we’re going to lose and all of our hard work will be a waste.” 

“But how do we know if it’s because we’re doubting ourselves or it’s because we’re not strong enough?” Shimizu asked. It was a fair question, but Izuku didn’t even need to pause and think about the answer.

“Because we were the same way,” he said, capturing everyone’s attention. “When we first tried assassinating Korosensei, we would only use the weapons and never our quirks. We justified it that it was because the weapons were the only thing that could harm him, but in reality, it was us hiding, us hesitating, us doubting ourselves and our strengths. When he helped us see through that, that’s when we became strong. He helped us realize that it didn’t matter if you had the lamest quirk in the world or even qu-quirkless—” his voice caught on the word, and Nagisa placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, “— we could succeed by giving it our all. And we did.”

Shinsou shot Izuku a grateful smile, while Karma, standing in the back, nodded approvingly. Terasaka marched up to Amanai and Kunimi (his most recent gang inductees), and slapped their backs, almost making Kunimi fall over.

“Don’t forget, we’re relying on you to kick those hero course brats asses — no offense, Freckles — so you better not let us down.”

Kataoka smirked. “And don’t forget, we’ll be cheering you guys on every step of the way. We believe in you.”

“We wouldn’t put this much effort in helping you guys if we didn’t think it was worth it,” Nagisa affirmed, sending a warming spark through everyone. “We know you’ll do great. And in the meantime, let’s keep training, yeah?”

1-C exchanged determined looks. “Yeah!”

-.-.-.-

“You know, if you really want to guarantee success against the hero course, you should try to sike out your competition,” Asano hummed. 1-C and 3-E were settled together in Midnight’s lounge area while the principal’s son paced around. “If you get it in their head that you’re a threat even before they see you perform, then they’re going to be cautious of you from the get-go, and you can use that to your advantage.”

Shimizu frowned. “But wouldn’t we risk losing the element of surprise?”

The pompous boy scoffed. “Hardly. The enemy will still be clueless of your capabilities, but now they’ll be nervous, and that’s when they’ll slip up. They’ll be so focused on you they’ll forget to focus on themselves. A-class used to do it to E-class all the time before the Octopus came around.”

1-C nodded thoughtfully, taking in Asano’s suggestions. Shinsou, on the other hand, scowled. 

“Yeah, why are you here again?”

Asano smirked spitefully. “I was the one who suggested you start this up, was I not? That plus the fact that my father owns the building, and I think I’m more than welcome to show up whenever I want.”

Shinsou pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why do I even bother?”

Izuku, feeling incredibly awkward, turned to Asano. “So, um, how do you suggest they do that?”

Sugino chuckled. “C’mon, Midoriya, you know the answer to that. Asano would do it all the time; just walk up to one of the classes and start intimidating them.”

“Ooh, if you go to 1-A’s classroom, you can bring up the USJ attack,” Nakamura piped up. “That’ll definitely get in their heads.”

Izuku blinked widely. “Wait, g-guys.”

“You just need to act needlessly high and mighty. Not necessarily like you’re better, but like they’re not good enough. It’ll seem more realistic,” suggested Asano.

“Guys.”

“And make sure you all go together,” added Hara with a proud smile. “You guys are a team, and there’s always strength in numbers.”

“Guys!” Finally, everyone turned his direction. “C’mon, these are my classmates you're talking about. You don’t need to treat them like supervillains.”

The group got silent, some of them even looking guilty. But then Sakurai, surprisingly, raised his hand. “Bu-But they’re still the en-en-enemy, r-right? Wuh-We can’t-t afford to guh-guh-go easy on anyone. Even y-y-y-you.”

It was silent again, but for a completely different reason. Everyone was stunned that scared little Sakurai of all people would speak up and say that. Shinsou looked like he was about to have an aneurism.

“Holy shit,” Muramatsu breathed, snapping everyone out of it. Terasaka came up behind Sakurai and slapped him on the back, nearly knocking the boy over.

“Damn straight they’re the enemy, Hair-Dye,” he cheered, prompting the rest of 1-C and 3-E to do the same. Izuku sputtered, barely able to comprehend what just happened. Were they really turning against him?

Shinsou, looking much more recovered from Asano’s annoyance, nudged Izuku and smirked. “Told you.”

-.-.-.-

Meet me in my office after class.

It was the note All-Might slipped Izuku before hero training, and his brain was racing all class wondering what it could mean. Thankfully Aizawa was still on medical leave for the remainder of the week (his injuries weren’t as bad as they could’ve been, and only had a few bandages around his arms and forehead instead of, say, his entire body), so he wasn’t around to call Izuku out for spacing.

“All Might, sir?” he greeted, bowing as he opened the door. “Is everything okay?”

Yagi, still in his All-Might form, gestured fervently. “Ah, yes, Young Midoriya. Come in, come in.” Izuku did, stepping inside and sitting on the couch Yagi directed him to. “Now, it’s nothing too urgent. There are just a few...things I wish for us to discuss.”

Yagi closed the door, and immediately he went up in a cloud of smoke, his smaller form replacing him. “Ah, that’s better. Always have to be super careful now after what happened with you.”

Izuku jolted. “O-Oh, I’m still so sorry about that—”

“Forget about it,” Yagi waved him off, taking a seat across from him. “Hopefully it’ll work out better for both of us in the long run. Which brings me to what I want to talk with you about, actually.” All-Might paused, lacing his fingers together.

 “As I’m sure you’ve deduced, the Sports Festival will be our best opportunity to find a possible candidate. While I’ve had my eye on a third-year student for a bit, and the suggestions you’ve sent me have been extremely helpful, this will be the best opportunity we can get to virtually see everyone perform at once. And not only will we get to see their current skill level, but we’ll get to see their drive as a person — see if they actually have the heart and desire to become a great hero.”

“The Sports Festival is one of the best opportunities for recruitment from agencies and it’s how most students land internships, so it’s almost required you go all out,” Izuku agreed, bringing a finger to his mouth. “It’s basically the first time you declare yourself to the world — a pre-hero debut, in a way. Even for second and third years, doing well is crucial to their success later on in life if they want to be scouted by a good agency. So logically it only makes sense for us to do some scouting as well.”

Yagi smirked good-heartedly. “I figured you’d understand. Principal Nedzu says he’ll also help keep an eye out for any promising candidates, but we don’t get to go behind the scenes like you do. And while I’m sorry to ask this of you since you should be focusing on your own performance — like you said, this is your pre-hero debut — I’d like for you to keep an eye out down there. Someone who can look good from afar might not be a team player and vice versa.”

“No kidding…” Izuku mumbled, thinking of Bakugou. The boy was insanely powerful, sure, but he was also just insane sometimes. He tried to imagine Bakugou received One-For-All. 

“You better fear because I am here, you little bitch!” the little Bakugou in his head shouted, and Izuku shuddered. Yeah, definitely no.

“But I’ll be sure to do that, All-Might, sir! We got lucky with USJ, keeping you from going head-to-head with the enemy and spending your energy, but there’s no guarantee how much time we have left. Finding you a successor is my number one priority.”

Yagi chuckled and rubbed his eyes. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, kid. Your performance is just as important, if not more. All eyes will be on you, especially with your affiliation with END. This is your chance to prove yourself as a hero, and to be more than the Tentacle’s student.”

Izuku blinked. “But how am I supposed to do that? I can’t use my quirk without hurting myself and using my assassination skills are not only a dead giveaway that I’m in END, but people probably won’t like it if I do that because of their bias against my skills and assassination. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone accuses of me cheating or calls me a monster or—”

Yagi groaned and suddenly popped into his All-Might form, pointing at Izuku aggressively. The green-haired boy yelped and flinched back in his chair.

“Listen here, Young Midoriya. Despite everything else going on, this is your chance to declare to the world — I am here. To make a statement that resonates. And I won’t let you ruin that chance trying to help me.” 

Izuku’s eyes widened and brimmed with tears. Hearing that come from someone like All-Might — someone he looked up too for so, so long — it brought a burning hope in himself that he hadn’t felt...hasn’t felt since Korosensei was alive.

And wasn’t that a depressing thought?

Sobbing for real now, All-Might waved his bulky arms panickedly. “I’m sorry, I did not mean for my words to upset you! They were simply meant to encourage—”

Izuku shook his head blearily. “No, no, it’s just — thank you, All-Might, sir. I’ll try my best to make you proud.”

And he would. He’ll make everyone proud. Especially Korosensei.

-.-.-.-

“Hey, Midoriya, how’s training coming along?”

Izuku jolted and looked up at Kirishima. He had been in the middle of packing up his things, the school day finally over. “H-Huh?”

“You know, your training for the Sports Festival. You feel prepared?”

Izuku sagged in relief. Of course Kirishima wouldn’t be aware of his training with 1-C, there’s no need to be paranoid. 

“Yeah, as well as I can, all things considered with my quirk and all.”

Kirishima nodded thoughtfully. “That’s true; it’s gotta be hard, not being able to use your quirk at all…” He shrugged and laughed. “But we all know you don’t really need it. You could probably kick our butts without it — but don’t let Bakugou know I said that.”

The comment was harmless, but it still twinged Izuku’s heart a little (and made him sweat. Oh, if only they knew). “Well, I’m not so sure about that…”

“Okay guys, what’s up with the crowd?” Sero asked aloud, and Izuku jolted. Was it that time already?

It was, he realized as he made his way to the door. A massive crowd of students, many Izuku recognized from 1-C, but also some that he didn’t — likely other General Education students recruited to make the crowd larger for effect. It was a smart tactic and was clearly working; many of Izuku’s classmates looked uncomfortable or intimidated. Kaminari was practically hiding behind Jirou, Uraraka laced her fingers anxiously, and Mineta whimpered and cowered behind Sato.

“Hey, we can’t get out!” Ashido noted worriedly. 

“Do you students have some sort of business here?” Iida asked, gesturing at them robotically.

“Isn’t it obvious, idiots? They’re scouting out the competition,” Bakugou said gruffly, stalking toward the crowd. “We’re the class that survived a real villain attack. These extras clearly just want to see what real future Pros look like.”

“Is that so?” Shinsou challenged, moving his way to the front of the crowd. Instantly, all of 1-A, including Bakugou, tensed at the sight of the END agent. “I wasn’t aware surviving a villain attack was all it takes to become a Pro. Guess I’m more set than I thought.”

Izuku resisted the urge to facepalm. Why...why..?

“But what do I know? I’m just an extra, right? And you’re the asshole that took down the big scary enemy.”

To minimize the amount of information regarding END’s involvement with the USJ, the story was that the agents arrived towards the end and captured any remaining villains while 1-A held off the enemy. The media currently believed Bakugou defeated the Nomu all on his own — a credit anyone would be happy to take. Anyone except Bakugou.

“What’d you say?” Bakugou hissed, and Shinsou smirked.

“You know, a lot of General Education students wanted to be in the hero course. It doesn’t seem very fair that they only take egomaniacs. Good thing we can change that with the Sports Festival.”

1-A jolted again, and that’s when Amanai stepped up. “What? You haven’t heard? If we do well in the Sports Festival, there’s a chance we can be moved up to the hero course.”

“And in case you can’t do math — I know the hero course isn’t as academically challenging, after all,” Kunimi mocked, pointing his beak up in a snobbish way. “That means some of you might be moved down to make room.”

Even though Izuku knew this was going to happen, he couldn’t help but flinch with his classmates. Seeing 1-C unitedly stand up against 1-A, publically challenging them — it was extremely intimidating. 

Looks like Asano was right. Shinsou must be fuming.

“We’re pretty determined,” Miya #1 said.

“So you better give it your all,” Miya #2 continued.

“Or — Or we’ll steal your spot right from under you!” Michimiya pushed her way between the twins.

“Yuh-Yeah!” Sakurai echoed, soon followed by nearly all of 1-C.

Shinsou glanced at his classmates approvingly before smirking at the stunned hero class. “I recommend you take us seriously. Because for us, this is war.”

-.-.-.-

After the crowd cleared and the chaos settled (1-B even got in on it, further terrifying 1-A. Izuku’s pretty sure Shinsou didn’t plan for that, but he’s probably not mad it happened), Uraraka turned to Izuku in horror.

“Midoriya, did you know that was going to happen? Isn’t that guy your friend?”

1-A turned to listen in. Hiding his true emotions (he was proud of 1-C, okay? He felt like Korosensei watching E-class succeed), Izuku shrugged.

“He is, but that doesn't mean he won’t fight for this. He wants to be a hero more than anything,” he supplied. “And he’s right. The Sports Festival is his best chance of moving to the hero course, and he’s going to do it. Shinsou is one of the best fighters I know, especially when he’s determined.”

Next to him, Mineta gulped and started shaking. That’s right, you better be scared.

“What — What about all the other people chiming in? Are they really good enough to knock some of us out?” Kaminari exclaimed, and Izuku shrugged. Best to keep them fearful but oblivious.

“I don’t know. But they sound confident, so we better play it safe.”

Because while he may have helped 1-C along, these were still his classmates, and he wanted them to succeed too. He knows he’s going to do whatever it takes to help Shinsou get in 1-A — he just hopes it's a fair fight.

-.-.-.-

ALL MIGHT IS MY DAD @tinymighty135
Is this legit??? #SportsFestival #UA #END
|
[link] BREAKING NEWS: END REPORTED TO ACT AS SPORTS FESTIVAL SECURITY

-.-.-.-

“Wow, who would’ve thought the first-year stands would be so crowded. Looks like we’ll need to have security clustered there,” Karma drawled nonchalantly into the comms. Hitoshi, who was going through stretches with 1-C in the locker room, grimaced. Of course END would find a reason to attend the first year competition.

“You better not embarrass us,” Hitoshi muttered quietly, making Karma cackle.

“C’mon, Shinsou, we just want to support our friends and protegees,” Nakamura teased.

“Sugaya even made signs,” added Yada, while Kurahashi distantly cheered, “And t-shirts!”

Terasaka scoffed. “Yeah, so you better not screw it up or we’re gonna look like idiots.”

“You always look like an idiot, Terasaka,” Itona deadpanned, making the lion boy growl.

Hitoshi violently tried to massage away his growing headache, just grateful he didn’t have to see the chaos END was causing. 

After going over their strategy one last time, Shimizu and Oohira lined up 1-C to head to the tunnels. They passed 1-A locker rooms at the same time that class was leaving, meaning the two classes ‘at war’ with each other awkwardly had to walk side-by-side. Shooting a glance at Midoriya, Hitoshi and him subtly slipped to the back of their respective lines.

“Your bandages make you look even more like Aizawa-sensei,” Midoriya joked.

Hitoshi sighed and looked down at his arms. The Sports Festival uniforms were short-sleeved, and Hitoshi definitely didn’t feel comfortable showing off his Reaper-delivered scars to the world. He didn’t even let 1-C see them.

“Oh, and guess what,” Midoriya continued, looking ready to have a mental breakdown. “Todoroki challenged me in the locker rooms. apparently, he sees me as his greatest threat — has ever since the entrance exam.”

Hitoshi blinked. “I’m honestly surprised it took him this long to confront you. He was basically the first person in this school to see what we’re capable of — you’d think he’d target you earlier on.”

“I guess, but now he’s determined to beat me, and he pissed Bakugou off, so now there are even more people determined to beat me out. I’m going to die, Hitoshi!”

“What’s new?” Hitoshi said before the two groups split up since 1-A always enters the stadium first. As he waited for the classes to be called out, Hitoshi closed his eyes and just tried to block everything out, only focusing on himself and his goals.

“Now introducing, classes C, D, and E of General Education!”

It’s showtime.

-.-.-.-

After Bakugou’s embarrassing opening speech, it was time to announce the first game. Hitoshi was mildly surprised that END hasn’t made more of a presence with their supposed signs and t-shirts, but knowing them, they were probably waiting for the perfect time to strike.

Midnight, acting as the referee, stood in front of a giant screen and raised her whip. “What will it be?” she drawled, the screen shuffling at a rapid pace. Finally, it landed on one, and Hitoshi nearly fainted. “Obstacle race!”

Hitoshi couldn’t believe his ears. A race? Were they joking? Not only was this great for 1-C’s strategy, but Midoriya was the fastest human alive, and it’s a race of all things? Was that even fair?

“Hey Midoriya, congrats on first place,” Nagisa joked over the comms, making multiple END members cackle, while those stuck monitoring other stadiums asked what happened.

END wasn’t the only one who noticed the unfair balance. 1-A was all staring at Midoriya, some glaring, some in shock. They knew Midoriya was guaranteed to win this if he used his quirk — and maybe even without it.

“Wow, Midoriya’s so lucky! He has this in the bag,” Michimiya commented.

“Hey, so do we. A race was the best-case scenario, which means we’re going to kick some hero course ass, right?” declared Kunimi, and Hitoshi smirked.

“You bet,” cheered one of the Miya’s, throwing his arms around Sakurai and Amanai. “The festival won’t know what hit it.”

-.-.-.-

When the countdown ended and the stampede for the door started, 1-C (and Midoriya) didn’t move. They let the crowd run, getting stuck in the doorway. A few of his classmates,  Hitoshi noted, got swept away by the masses, taking out six team members, but the rest stayed still.

“What’s this?” Present Mic’s voice echoed through the stadium. “Looks like some students are staying put. Is this a weird strategy or an act of protest?”

As if answering the question, the doorway exploded in ice, freezing virtually every student to the ground. 1-C, however, was left untouched. Just like they planned.

“Look at that! Todoroki Shouto takes off from the pack with an explosive start, and those students who stayed behind are left unscathed. How’d they predict this?!”

They didn’t predict it. But Shimizu did use her quirk to find out Todoroki’s plans for taking down Midoriya.

“Let’s go!” Hitoshi shouted, and instantly his classmates took off. Picking up speed on the dirt, Hitoshi jumped onto the iced floor and let his momentum slide him across with no problem, using frozen students to push off and pick up speed. It appeared the majority of 1-C caught on to the idea, and together they slid past the initial mass of competition.

“Jolly Green, is there a reason you haven’t zoomed off yet? You have an icy boy to beat, remember?” Hitoshi asked, pushing off a group of business students. Midoriya laughed lightly.

“I want to help you guys out. I did the math. Going full Mach-2, it would only take me six seconds to complete the race from the starting line—”

“Which is why you should be done by now!”

“—but it means I have time to spare! And I want you guys to succeed, and I’m not going to let some challenge stop me!”

Hitoshi fell silent. Honestly, he was grateful his best friend wanted to stay by his side. “Fine, but you better still win this or I’m never letting you live it down.”

Thanks to their purposeful late start, by the time 1-C made it to the robot zone, there was hardly any obstacle left besides vaulting over the metal remains. Hitoshi shuddered at the sight of the bots — they looked way too similar to the ones Kunugigaoka used for their second quirk exam. 

One robot tried to attack them last minute, but instantly the Miya twins merged together in a blast of light and their giant form punched the beast to pieces with one hit. 

“This is for the entrance exam!” the twins exclaimed, kicking away another robot and defending the class until they were finally in the clear. Hitoshi smirked, easily sidestepped a robot’s attack. He reached to grab the wires sticking out, tearing them away and killing the robot immediately.

I hope the U.A. School Board is screaming.

The class ran past the robot stage with ease, and by this point, they had easily surpassed all the other General Ed, Support, and Business course students. However, they could still see the hero course ahead of them, and they had a lot of catching up to.

Luckily, it seemed the next obstacle was slowing a few people down. It was labeled the Fall — a giant canyon with thin ropes to help you get across through platforms. Sakurai shook visibly as he stared down the pit.

“Is-Is-Is-Isn’t this a lit-little intense for high scho-o-ol?” he cried.

Oohira bit his lip anxiously. “There’s too many of us to get across fast enough. We need to enact the Emergency Exit plan.”

Hitoshi scowled. “Not yet.” It’s way too early for that.

“But—”

“Shinsou!” Amanai huffed, clearly out of breath. “I can — If some just — Be a bridge!”

By some miracle, Shinsou actually got what she was trying to say. However, he noticed her shaking limbs — athletics were never her strong suit — and he knew it wouldn’t be enough.

“You’re sure?” he asked, and she nodded.

“Yeah—”

Hitoshi brainwashed her and grabbed her hands. Midoriya asked, “Hitoshi, do you want me to run across instead?”

He shook his head. “No, save your strength for the end.” He turned back to 1-C. “Someone needs to stay behind and hold her feet. Who—”

“I can,” Yamaguchi volunteered. “I can make my branches root me in the ground so I don’t slip.”

Hitoshi nodded gratefully and secured his hold on Amanai. Here goes nothing.

Praying his plan doesn’t fail, Hitoshi instantly started running across the thin rope with no problem, bypassing multiple shocked hero students. Thanks to Amanai’s quirk, the girl’s body stretched without any resistance. To pick up speed, Hitoshi skipped running on the rope entirely during some of the shorter distances, vaulting between the platforms like they were the building roofs back in middle school.

“Hey Shinsou?” Kataoka’s voice crackled over the comms.

“Little busy! What is it!”

“Purple Pervert on your right is trying to hitch a ride on Yaoyorozu. Please take care of it,” she asked. Hitoshi’s eyes slid over and spotted Mineta trying to use his nasty sticky balls to attach himself on Yaoyorozu’s back.

“Hey, Purple Freak! Are you looking for a death sentence?” he shouted, making both Yaoyorozu and Mineta jump.

“Are you th-threatening me?” Mineta cried indignantly, and Hitoshi took control.

“You bet. Now leave Yaomomo alone and stick yourself to the ground until every other competitor has passed.” 

Mineta obeyed, and Yaoyorozu nodded at Hitoshi gratefully. The brainwasher shrugged. He was planning on taking the purple boy out anyways. He was a bitter soul, through and through.

In less than a minute, Hitoshi reached the other side of the Fall and carefully held Amanai’s hands low to the ground so she could act like an even bridge for the class to cross. Giving them a thumbs up, 1-C started to run across, Midoriya following in the back to make sure everyone was safe. The class made it across relatively easy, and once they were in the clear, Yamaguchi released Amanai’s feet. Her rubber-band like body retracted, and the Miyas and Hitoshi pulled the girl back up. 

“Huh, wha?” she mumbled, looking around as the brainwashing let up. “Did — Did it work?!”

“It was amazing!” Michimiya cheered, giving Amanai a huge hug. “You saved the day!”

Amanai’s face totally went bright red, but Hitoshi wasn’t going to say anything. Yet.

-.-.-.-

They sprinted to the next obstacle, now catching up with the upper half of the pack. When they reached the minefield, Hitoshi could see Todoroki and Bakugou duking it out as they neared the finish line.

“Looks like time is up, Jolly Green,” he said, and Midoriya gnawed his lip.

“But what about—”

“Nope!”

Not giving him another chance, Hitoshi kicked Midoriya in the back, sending him straight for the minefield. His best friend had no choice but to take off at full-speed or else he’d set off an explosion. Midoriya disappeared into a blurred streak, moving so fast the mines didn’t even register. He plowed right through Bakugou and Todoroki, shoving the two apart, and was gone.

“What a plot twist!” declared Present Mic. “Midoriya Izuku races out of nowhere to claim first place! Wonder what made him hold back until now? And someone get that boy a tissue!”

Hitoshi smirked and turned back to his teammates. “We need to find a way to get over these mines as quickly as possible. I’m thinking of Operation Slingshot.”

Sakurai, a key component to that plan, squeaked. “Ah-Are you sure?”

“We have no other choice,” Shimizu declared. “I also think it’s time for Emergency Exit.”

While Hitoshi didn’t want to admit it, Hitoshi knew she was right. Emergency Exit was the contingency plan — sacrifice everyone they could in order to advance exactly four people and break the records.

“Well, clearly Shinsou needs to go then. And Sakurai and Amanai too in order for this to work,” Kunimi pointed out.

“You should also send Michimiya,” Miya #2 said.

“M-Me?!” the pink eyeballed girl squealed. “N-No, you guys would be much better in the second round.”

“We’re useless alone, though, and there’s not enough room to send us both,” the other Miya argued. “If you go, you can create a bubblegum forcefield that will at least protect you all once from the minefield if you hit it.”

It was a good point, and they didn’t have any more time to argue it. Hitoshi placed a hand on Sakurai and Michimiya’s shoulders. “Look, we got this. We trained for this. Okay?”

They nodded meekly and 1-C rushed to set up their plan. Amanai’s legs acted as the rubber bands on a slingshot while she would be carrying Hitoshi, Sakurai, and Michimiya — something made possible by Sakurai’s ability to negate people’s weight to near-nothing. When they’re mid-air, Michimiya will blow a bubble around them that will protect them if they hit the ground.

The remaining classmates split in half, each taking one of Amanai’s feet, while the Miyas merged again and pulled the human blob back.

“Make sure the angle is right!” Oohira shouted. The Miyas lowered and aimed, and Oohira started the countdown. Hitoshi couldn’t help but get flashbacks to his entrance exam with Midoriya where they first used this tactic.

Hopefully, we won’t land on anyone this time.

“Hold on tight!” Amanai said, and Sakurai and Michimiya both whimpered. Hitoshi just prayed they could stay focused enough not to die.

“GO!”

The Miyas released, 1-C dropped Amanai’s feet, and they were flying. Hitoshi tapped Michimiya’s shoulder to remind her to create the bubble, and she thankfully did. Through the now pink-tinted haze, Hitoshi could see the shocked reactions of other students as they flew over them. It was so satisfying, seeing the despair on the hero kids faces when they realized they were going to lose to —

“Shinsou! The ground!” 

Hitoshi’s eyes snapped forward just to see the ground fast approaching. He cursed. They predicted this might happen, but not so soon. Not when they were only halfway across the mine.

“Duck forward and hold on!” he shouted, making sure he had a firm grip on his classmates and forcing them to pivot forward. Michimiya and Sakurai started screaming, and Hitoshi said a silent prayer to Korosensei that this would work.

Their pink bubble hit the ground and popped at the impact of the mine explosion. Since they still weighed like nothing, the force was enough to send their tight ball of human limbs flying forward again.

Great, now this was exactly like the entrance exam. AKA: this was going to hurt like hell.

The tumbled and flipped and rolled mid-air, just barely making it across the minefield. They hit the ground hard (though not as hard as they would if they weighed normally) and rolled (thankfully not on top of another person) halfway through the tunnel.

Having experienced this before, Hitoshi was the first to recover, pulling his groaning classmates off the ground. “Time to go, time to go.”

He all but dragged them through the tunnel. As they approached the exit, Hitoshi could hear the cheering crowd and it pushed them to run harder. They finally stumbled across the finish line and basically collapsed on each other in relief.

“I can’t believe it! Taking 26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th are four underdogs all from General Education! This is record-breaking, people!”

The crowd cheered louder, and Hitoshi glanced at a particularly loud section just to find a large chunk of 3-E standing there, screaming their heads off and waving colorful signs that said “1-C for the Win” and “Go 1-C (And Jolly Green)!” and “General Education Kicks (1-A)ss!” 

“Some security detail you guys are,” Hitoshi muttered sarcastically over the comms. 

“Oh please. We could probably cover the entire Sports Festival with two units and you know it,” Nakamura snarked. 

“Technically, we are covering the entire Sports Festival right now with just two units,” Nagisa pointed out, which explained why he didn’t see anyone in Alpha or Beta in the crowd.

“Oh hush.”

“Hitoshi!” Midoriya cried, rushing up to him and enveloping him in a massive hug. “You did it!”

The brainwasher laughed. “And you won first — with minimal bleeding, too.”

It’s true. There was a lot less blood staining Midoriya’s uniform than there would have been if he ran the whole race at Mach-2 (thank goodness).

The remainder of the top 42 slowly trickled in. Hitoshi noticed 1-B was largely occupying the end half, and they mostly came in as a large group: they must’ve had a similar teamwork strategy as 1-C. To their indignant horror, however, it wasn’t just 1-A they were fighting against for spots to advance. 

“Wait a minute — Shinsou, I think the Miya twins advanced!” 

Shinsou jolted and looked to see where Midoriya was pointing on the leaderboard. Sure enough, tying for 40th place were the super twins, meaning six members of 1-C advanced, and therefore doubling the previous record.

“This is insanity!” Michimiya cheered, running over to the twins and the gathering 1-C ranks. The remainder of their classmates, while not advancing, finished respectably, taking up all the low 40s and high 50s — well above the rest of General Education.

“We did it! We really did it!” Kunimi squawked, jumping up and down, and Hitoshi resisted the urge to tear up. It felt like the time 3-E beat out 3-A for the most top spots on the end-of-term exams again.

“Well folks, that finishes up our first round. Quite the unexpected turn of events, I must say. 1-B has the most students advancing, with eighteen students, followed closely by 1-A with seventeen students—”

“I wonder who the other two are,” Midoriya mumbled, looking genuinely sad. Mineta was a given — the boy came in dead last, Hitoshi’s brainwashing not letting up until every student had passed him.

“—And, in a surprising twist, 1-C managed to advance six students, an unprecedented number for any non-hero class in Sports Festival history. I guess you can say they know how to switch up the END result.” Present Mic laughed, and all of Hitoshi’s classmates, old and new, cringed. “And then finally, finishing up the ranks is our singular Support class representative. Quite the diversity we have here!”

Hitoshi wondered what world they must live in where this would be considered diversity, but honestly, he’s too happy with their performance to truly care. They did it. They defied the odds. They overcame the impossible. They pushed past their boundaries. Just like Korosensei always taught.

And as Hitoshi glanced up at the crescent-shaped moon, he liked to envision it was Korosensei, smiling down from above.

-.-.-.-

“I’m here reporting live at the U.A. Sports Festival, where round one for the first-years just came to a jaw-dropping conclusion, with an unprecedented seven non-hero course students advancing — six of them all coming from class 1-C. I asked audience members about their thoughts on what just happened.”

“It’s clearly END’s meddling!” declared an older man. “It’s obvious — everyone knows there’s an END agent in that class. Didn’t you see the group of END agents cheering them on? I bet they infiltrated the class ranks or something.”

“I think it was awesome!” answered a young teen. “Those two boys with the explosion and ice powers looked like they were going to win, and then BAM! The green-haired kid came out of nowhere! My friends and I have a bet that he’s the END agent rumored to be in the hero course — only an END agent could be that cool.”

“All competitors competed fairly and well within the rules,” Midnight, the first-year referee, said. “Surprises like this are the best parts of the Sports Festival. Everyone loves a good underdog story — I know I do~”

-.-.-.-

Hitoshi had a feeling the second round would be a team event — he studied enough Sports Festivals to predict there would be at least one — so he wasn’t as freaked out hearing about the Cavalry Battle.

He was freaked out, however, hearing that Midoriya’s headband was worth ten million points.

Isn’t that a bit overkill?

Midoriya looked like he was about to pass out while Maehara and Nakamura cackled loudly in the comms.

“What’s happening?” demanded Terasaka. Alpha and Beta were the current units on patrol outside the first-year arena. “Dammit, can we switch out already? The second-year competition is so boring.”

“Mmm, I agree. Time to switch shifts,” Karma commanded, to much protest.

“Hey, this isn’t a dictatorship!”

“We can’t leave yet, it’s just getting good!”

“Ugh, this is so pointless!”

Hitoshi, unable to take it, temporarily turned off his comm. He needed to focus right now. 

“Jolly Green,” he said. “We’re teaming up.”

Midoriya jolted. “A-Are you sure? I’m a huge target now and everyone will be going after me, which means anyone on my team is going to have a really hard time advancing and—”

“I know,” Hitoshi interrupted. “Which is why I need to guarantee you advance too.”

Midoriya blinked before smiling brightly, tears brimming in his eyes. “H-Hitoshi…”

The brainwasher snorted and grabbed his best friend by the back of his shirt. “No time for crying. We have a team to form.”

Pretty much everyone was avoiding the duo — two END agents, one worth ten million points, wasn’t a very appealing offer. Thankfully, Hitoshi didn’t really care. He wasn’t planning on teaming up with hero students anyway.

“Alright,” he said, turning to his 1-C classmates. “How are we going to divide this up?”

-.-.-.-

Hitoshi settled on top of his team and adjusted the headband — reading 10,000,230 — on his forehead. Their strategy was rushed and shaky, but at this point, it was all they had.

Midoriya stood in the front, acting as the main legs — such is to be expected with the guy with super speed, even if they couldn’t use Midoriya’s quirk very often. Giving them the ability to utilize said super speed if needed was Sakurai on the back left; the other green-haired boy was terrified at the prospect of even competing in the second round, much less on the team that must advance, but his quirk would make it possible to for Midoriya to carry everyone and run. 

Choosing their fourth and final member was a little tricky. They couldn’t go with the Miya twins — taking only one twin is pointless, and taking both means they wouldn’t be able to use Midoriya’s quirk. It was down to Amanai and Michimiya. While Amanai was easily the better combatist and athlete, her quirk was more offensive in this type of event, and their team really needed more defense, especially with the target on their backs. 

“I say we go with—” Hitoshi started, but stopped when a pink blob invaded his vision. “Uh. Can I help you?”

The pink-haired girl drew back, grinning ambitiously. Her strange yellow eyes analyzed every part of the two END agents. “I believe we can help each other,” she declared. “I’m Hatsume Mei of 1-H, and want to take advantage of your fame.”

The brainwasher felt himself short circuit. “What?”

“The attention you bring, having the biggest headband, being END agents, and being underdogs will definitely get my babies noticed!” Hatsume continued, not put off by the assassins’ dumbstruck expressions. “I want to team up with you guys!”

While Hitoshi wasn’t completely opposed to the idea, and quite enjoyed the sentiment of non-hero students supporting each other, he knew logically that it was a huge risk. He didn’t know what Hatsume or her...babies(?) were capable of doing, and they didn’t have the time to completely revise their strategy.

“Let’s put her with the Miyas and Amanai, and we’ll team up with Michimiya,” Midoriya whispered, nervously eyeing the pink-haired girl behind them. “Michimiya will at least give us some kind of defense, and Hatsume will still get to team up with one of the ‘underdog’ teams.”

They presented the plan to the girl, and she accepted it rather graciously. But on one condition.

“You want to see our tech?” Hitoshi repeated, and Hatsume preened.

“Everyone knows END prefers weapons over quirks, so what better way to advertise my babies than market them to the people who will use them the most!” Hitoshi just now realized that she was talking about inventions when she said ‘babies’ and he was very afraid. “Plus, I’m just dying to get my hands on the current tech. I heard one agent has the puppet-style capture rings, and I must touch them.”

The brainwasher, while he didn’t have his capture rings on him, held his hands closer to his chest subconsciously. Yeah, hell no. Those were his babies.

...wait.

-.-.-.-

Acting as the rider for his team, Hitoshi eyed the competition and identified the biggest threats. He mentally placed 1-A over 1-B — not to disregard the other hero course (they did have more students advance, after all), but Hitoshi has seen what 1-A is capable of. The clear threats were Team Todoroki and Team Bakugou, but Team Asui (with a surprising team-up of Tokoyami, Asui, Shouji, and Uraraka) looked pretty threatening as well. Their long-range capabilities were something to worry about.

“Remember, our only goal is defense for now,” Hitoshi reminded his team. “Everyone will be coming for us. If we can defend this headband, we’re set. We won’t focus on getting other teams’ headbands unless we lose this one.”

“Think of it like the knockout matches,” Midoriya added. “Strike fast and survive. We can do this.”

Sakurai and Michimiya nodded. Behind him, Hitoshi could hear the aggressive cheering of both END and 1-C. It seemed E-class brought out the mystery t-shirts for this round, which proudly declared: “I bet you didn’t C that coming.” Hitoshi wondered how Karasuma felt about all of this.

Hitoshi’s attention snapped back to the front as Midnight began her countdown. Three...two...one…

“Begin!”

Just as expected, nearly every team rushed them. Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow lunged forward at the same time Jirou launched her earjacks — damn, how Hitoshi wished he got to bring his capture weapons — and before they could run, Honenuki of 1-B turned the ground to quicksand.

“Shit,” he hissed. “Michimiya!”

Just before they could get hit, Michimiya encased them in a bubble. It protected them from the initial attack before popping, but they were still stuck. Midoriya’s quirk was useless if they couldn’t run away in the first place. 

“Check it!”

The massive Miya form jumped in front of them, protecting them from the next attack. Amanai held out her arm, and Hitoshi immediately wrapped it around his waist.

“Hold on! Sakurai, touch the Miyas’ leg!” the long-necked girl shouted, and that’s when Hitoshi noticed the jetpack on the Miyas’ back.

The jetpack fired up, and to Hitoshi’s shock, it actually worked, pulling them out of the quicksand thanks to the near weightlessness achieved through Sakurai’s quirk. Unfortunately, the jolt from being pulled out and launched into the sky made Sakurai let go of the Miya's leg, and the jetpack started sputtering because of all the weight.

“My baby!” Hatsume cried as they started to descend. Michimiya blew a giant bubble below them to make their crash landing less harsh, and both teams just barely managed to stay upright. For a moment, they were safe.

But not for much longer.

“No, our headband!” Amanai cried as Asui’s tongue retracted with their headband in tow. Hitoshi felt guilty, knowing they sacrificed themselves for them, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it as the attacks started pouring in.

“Hold it together, guys!” he said, warding off Asui’s tongue with hand-to-hand (it reminded him of sparring with Korosensei, he noticed). They were about to be boxed in by Team Tetsutetsu and Team Asui again, and Hitoshi tapped Midoriya’s shoulder.

“You take Asui, I’ll take Tetsutetsu.”

Midoriya nodded, using his superior speed in his arms to stop Asui’s attacks while Michimiya kept blowing bubbles to stop Tokoyami, and Sakurai struggled to maintain a grip on everyone. Hitoshi turned to Team Tetsutetsu.

“You’re better off just handing it over!” Tetsutetsu yelled. 

“I think I contest with that ideology,” Hitoshi snarked.

“Heh, big words for-”

Hitoshi took control of the team leader’s mind and smirked. Now he just has to—

Just before it could attack, Hitoshi spun around and knocked away Ibara’s vine that tried to sneak up on him. It sliced through his bandages on his left arm, cutting a large strand loose, but that was it. The team looked absolutely furious, and Hitoshi could feel his heart pounding. 

“Jolly Green!”

“Yup!”

Making sure Michimiya and Sakurai could hold them both, Midoriya jumped up next to Hitoshi and the two began to fight off the attacks side-by-side. It limited their mobility, but right now, they weren’t going anywhere.

“Whoa, Team Shinsou now has two riders! Is that allowed?” Present Mic commented.

“The judges say it’s okay!” Midnight declared, winking at Hitoshi.

Together, they easily fought off Ibara and Asui’s attacks. When Team Asui got bold and tried to charge, Hitoshi grabbed onto Midoriya’s arms and swung him out like a sword, nearly knocking Asui off and pushing them back. Team Tetsutetsu, still confused as to why their team leader was unresponsive, lowered their defenses significantly. 

Hitoshi glanced down at his loose bandages and smirked.

It was almost too easy with them, but the best part was that no one had a clue what just happened. That he just—

“Look at this amazing teamwork, folks! But look out, here comes Team Bakugou!”

Well, that explains why they haven’t noticed. Leave it to Poofy to soak up all the attention. 

Hitoshi was able to duck before Bakugou flew over his head, trying to swipe the headband. Sero pulled the explosive boy back, but with three teams now ganging up on them, Hitoshi knew they couldn’t hold back any longer. They were about half-way through the Cavalry Battle — hopefully Midoriya would have enough strength.

“Jolly Green, get us out of here!”

“O-On it!”

Midoriya flipped back down to the ground, and Hitoshi pulled up Michimiya and Sakurai so they were both off the ground just before the world became a total blur. 

“What an insanely quick escape by Team Shinsou! Looks like they’ll hold onto that headband a little longer!”

The world came to an abrupt stop, and Hitoshi put his teammates back down while Midoriya bent over and coughed. They were on the far end of the arena, seemingly safe from any—

“Look out!” Sakurai screeched, and Hitoshi cursed.

Standing in front of them was Team Todoroki.

-.-.-.-

“Damn. Looks like our getaway was wasted,” Hitoshi said, watching as Todoroki and virtually every single team charged them. It would be stupid to use Midoriya’s quirk again with still half of the game to go, and Michimiya used a lot of bubble gum defending them from Tokoyami. Hitoshi doubted he could brainwash everyone, which meant they had no choice but to fight.

(At least they didn’t have to worry about Team Bakugou, which was preoccupied with some 1-B class that stole their headbands. Even from across the field, Hitoshi could hear the blond 1-B kid, Monoma, sarcastically bringing up how ‘cool’ Bakugou was for supposedly being the one to take the Nomu down and save the USJ. 

Bakugou, who got pissy anytime someone brought up the cover-up story since it gave him credit for something he didn’t even do on his own, was fuming and hungry for blood. The brainwasher felt a little bad for the 1-B kids. Hopefully they’d survive to the end of the festival.)

Hitoshi was about to order his team to return to the two-rider defense form, but then he saw what Yaoyorozu was making with her quirk.

“Michimiya, shield us!” he shouted just in time. The girl blew a large bubble-gum shield right before Kaminari sent out a massive wave of electricity, taking out nearly every team. Michimiya’s bubble protected them mostly from the attack, only getting a small shock in the end, but it was costly.

“I’m out of gum!” she cried, and Hitoshi wondered how this could get any worse. 

And then Todoroki iced the field.

Thankfully, Midoriya saw it coming, shooting them back, but they only had so far to go before they hit the wall of the arena. That, plus the wall of ice Todoroki created, and they were thoroughly trapped until Midoriya could regain his energy.

Which meant it was up to Hitoshi to fight.

Great.

For a while, the two teams just stared each other down, the clock ticking by. There was about a minute left in the game. If they could hold off a little longer, they would be fine.

But then Hitoshi heard the roar of the engine, and he deduced what was about to happen before it ever did. He threw up his arms and —

Team Todoroki shot by, yanking the headband off of Hitoshi’s head with ease, and the crowd went crazy.

“Holy smokes, folks! Looks like Midoriya isn’t the only speedster in the stadium! Thanks to Iida’s surprise move, Team Todoroki takes — wait, what?!”

Hitoshi smirked as the whole stadium looked between the field and the scoreboard in shock. Even his team couldn’t believe their eyes, but there it was, at the top of the list — Team Shinsou, 10,000,230 points.

-.-.-.-

“But how...what did Team Todoroki grab?!”

The icy-hot boy stared at the headband in complete and utter shock. Clutched in his grasp was a headband reading 705 in bold red ink.

“Wait a minute folks — that’s the headband for Team Tetsutetsu! Then what—”

It was then that everyone in the stadium realized that the headband around Tetsutetsu’s head wasn’t only blank, but it wasn’t even a headband. 

It was a torn bandage strip.

“WHAT?!”

Hitoshi smirked, proudly adjusting the ten million point headband. Thanks to his crazy purple hair, no one even noticed that he was wearing two.

“I made sure to pull the other headband in front when I saw you coming,” Hitoshi explained. “You guys were fast, I’ll give you that — but I’ve fought against much faster.”

Team Todoroki sputtered, but without the use of Iida’s quirk anymore, there wasn’t much they could do about it but fight using brute force. They gave it their best, charging with ferocity, and Hitoshi’s eyes widened when Todoroki threw a fiery punch.

“Huh, I thought you didn’t use this side in battle?” Hitoshi said, dodging the blow. It made Todoroki hesitate, and that’s all Hitoshi needed. Gripping Midoriya’s shoulders for balance, he kicked Todoroki square in the chest.

It nearly knocked icy-hot to the floor, and while his team struggled to upright him, Team Shinsou made their great escape. He could see Bakugou in the background, flying right at them, but it was too late.

“Tiiiiiiimes up!”

-.-.-.-

In the end, the advancing teams were Team Shinsou, Todoroki, Bakugou, and Asui. Not a single member of 1-B advanced, while a record-breaking three from 1-C advanced. 

Hitoshi could barely believe it. 

1-C absolutely lost their minds, making more noise than anyone else in the stands. It was only intensified by END’s smug celebration. At this point, it was clear the entire audience knew something was up between 1-C and the old 3-E, but what could be done about it?

Hitoshi gripped Midoriya’s shoulders. “We...We did it. We really did it.”

Midoriya broke down in sobs, hugging Hitoshi around the waist, and soon Sakurai was crying, and so was Michimiya, and okay, Hitoshi teared up a little too. But how could he not?

They conquered the impossible. They beat the system. They got justice — for 1-C, for Hitoshi, for Korosensei. They proved something today; something that Korosensei always taught.

That even the weak could be strong. That there is no dead-end in life. That a system set to build the strong up at the cost of the weak will never work.

Because with the right motivation, they will always fight back.

Chapter Text

“Good afternoon, Tokyo. We are currently at the noonday lunch break here at the U.A. Sports Festival, and I am here with Agents President and Myth, the PR Heads of the Emergency National Defense. Agents, there are a lot of questions out there about what exactly END is doing here.”

Isogai blinked. “Well, as we released in a statement last week, after the numerous threats made to U.A. High School in recent weeks, Principal Nedzu asked us to provide a security detail for this event. You will also get to see us participate in a half-time game for the first-year competition in a little bit.”

The reporter laughed condescendingly. “Yes, yes, but what are you doing here, at the festival, exactly? There are lots of reports of you actively cheering on the first-year underdog group from 1-C. Care to explain that?”

“Our displays of support for 1-C is simply that — displays of support. As you may know, Kunugigaoka was based on a system of academic oppression where 3-E was set up to fail, yet we rose above it,” Kataoka explained. “We see a lot of ourselves in 1-C, so when we saw them performing well, we couldn’t help but cheer.”

“So you’re saying you didn’t have a preconceived bias or opinion for 1-C?”

“We did not. Our only biases were for our competing teammates.”

The camera zoomed in on Isogai and Kataoka ‘Team 1-C’ shirts and back to the dumbfounded reporter. 

“Are you sure—”

“President! Myth! We’re supposed to go on in 10 minutes!” Kurahashi shouted, running up to her fellow agents. Next to her, Takebayashi silently held up a sign that read: 'Hero course students eat soup with chopsticks. Go 1-C (and Jolly Green)!'

The agents left, and the reporter turned back to the camera. “I...I honestly don’t know what to say.”

-.-.-.-

During the noonday break, instead of celebrating with 3-E like he was hoping, Izuku got kidnapped by Todoroki.

He really doesn’t know how it happened. He was planning on meeting up with Yagi to discuss any possible prospects they saw, and the next thing he knew, he’s cornered in the hallway by his stoic classmate. 

Why does this sort of thing always happen to me?

“I don’t use my left side in a fight. It was your friend that made me break my promise to myself,” Todoroki began, and if this was an issue with Shinsou, then why wasn’t he here? “But that’s not what’s been bothering me.”

Huh?

Todoroki scowled. “Your quirk. It seems like it’s always shrouded in mystery. At first, I thought you didn’t want to talk about it, and kept it a secret to have the upper hand, but after the USJ attack, I realized something. END seems to know a lot about your quirk, and they are keeping the secret about it too.”

Midoriya was starting to panic, and he knew he couldn't hide it. What does Todoroki know?

“Seeing it up close today, it was only confirmed to me. So, I must ask: Are you supposed to be the Tentacle’s successor or something?”

...HUH?!

“W-What, n-no, not at all, I promise it’s not supposed to be like that, it’s just a coincidence and — blah...”

Izuku started panicking so much, he accidentally activated his quirk, making him spit up a mouthful of blood. Todoroki frowned but had the decency not to comment about it.

“Your wording is interesting. What’s it supposed to be like?” he asked, and Midoriya panicked again because, well, what is he supposed to say?

While I technically was given a portion of Korosensei’s speed to become a hero in his honor that doesn’t really mean I’m going to be his successor because I want to be a hero and let everyone know that, not pretend to be a villain when I’m actually a hero like Korosensei was. So while I want to carry on his legacy I don’t actually want to succeed his title. I want to be a symbol of peace, not terror, I swear.

Yeah. That would go over really well.

“I ask this because, as you know, my father, Endeavor, hated the Tentacle more than anyone else in the world. He thinks the existence of END is a blemish on society that should be taken out by any means necessary; I’m sure the fact that you and your old classmate beat me has him even more pissed off. At this point, taking out the person heavily correlated with his greatest enemy besides All-Might would be the only thing that could appease him.”

“W-Wait, Todoroki. Why are you saying this?”

The red-and-white-haired boy paused, his harsh eyes landing on Midoriya. “Have you ever heard of quirk marriages, Midoriya?”

He has. They were common in the early times of quirks, with people being forced into relationships to create even stronger quirks. He also recalled Karma mentioning how his biological parents, Todoroki’s parents, were in a quirk marriage, and that’s why Karma was given up by his mother. Because his brother had the quirk that was needed.

“My father is a scumbag. He bought my mother’s relatives to get his hands on her quirk and create me,” Todoroki said, confirming Izuku’s worst fears. He gestured to the scar on his eye. “My mother couldn’t stand even looking at my left side and poured boiling water on my face.”

Izuku flinched, and he felt like his heart was beating out of his chest. Todoroki’s heterochromatic eyes stared into his soul. “This is why I must beat you, and take first place without his power. To show the world that I reject every part of him, and can beat even his greatest enemies without it.”

Izuku clenched at his chest. In a weird way, Todoroki’s mindset resembled so much of 3-E before Korosensei. The deep hatred of his quirk. The determination to do without it.

“Todoroki,” he said. There was so much he wanted to say, but he didn’t even know where to start. “We all have scars.”

Todoroki’s eyes narrowed at Izuku’s chest. “What—”

“Oh, there you are, Agent Quirk.”

And just when he didn’t think this situation could get any worse, it did.

Karma rounded the corner, smirking to hide the darkness in his soul. His hands were in his pockets, seemingly casual, but every muscle was tense and ready to fight.

And Izuku knew that Karma heard everything. And his friend was pissed.

“Everyone’s looking for you. END is supposed to go on for recreational activities in ten minutes, and Nedzu gave permission for you and Agent Control to tag along.” Then, obviously being spiteful, Karma turned to Todoroki and gasped. “Oh, First, I didn’t expect you to be here. Well, I guess it’s not First anymore, huh? Looks like Second is fitting you much better this Sports Festival. But I guess that’s what happens when you’re only putting in half the effort.”

Todoroki clenched his fists, and Izuku just wanted to disappear. This was worse than Nagisa and Karma’s confrontation during the class Civil War.

“Oh, I’m sorry, was that insensitive of me? I mean, it’s blatantly obvious to anyone watching that you have some kind of beef with your father. What, are your daddy issues so bad you don’t want to use the quirk he gave you?”

“Karma!” Izuku hissed, because while he can’t control Karma like Nagisa can, he’s not going to let him be a total asshole.

Todoroki was shaking. “And what would you know about my father?”

Karma’s face turned hard, his smile cold and unforgiving. “You’re right. I guess I’ve never had the pleasure to formally meet the man. All I’ve done is shove hot sauce up his nose.”

The tension dissipated, and Todoroki blinked. “That was you—”

“Hey, dumbasses!” Terasaka barked, marching over to them. “Are you deaf? We’ve been trying to reach you on the comms for the past five minutes. It’s time to go!”

Terasaka, the oblivious lion he is, didn’t even seem to notice Todoroki, grabbing Karma and Izuku by the necks and dragging them away. For once, Izuku was actually grateful for the delinquent lion boy.

But even as they exited, Karma wouldn’t stop glaring at Todoroki, and he knew this mess wasn’t over yet.

-.-.-.-

For END’s portion of the festival, Nedzu suggested they go the traditional route and pay homage to the giant sports event that preceded the time of quirks — the Olympics.

“What is this even for?” Kanzaki asked, picking up a long plastic pole. 

Ritsu was keeping an eye on the festival while END acted as halftime entertainment for the Sports Festival, and Izuku was increasingly realizing that the entertainment will more likely be caused by 3-E’s complete cluelessness for traditional sports than actual skill.

Hey, in their defense, they were banned from participating in sports at Kunugigaoka, okay?

An array of fields and events were laid out for them. Izuku recognized some of the more obvious ones, like the targets for shooting and archery, or the mats for martial arts fighting. But not all the random bars and poles and foam mats and trampolines (he thinks some of them are for gymnastics, but he isn’t sure. Does track and field use mats and poles too?)

Of course, E-class has never been one for doing things the traditional way. Chiba and Hayami moved first, having a shoot off that kept intensifying with each shot. By the third round, they had to hang upside down on one of the gymnastic bars and shoot. They both made bullseyes.

Kimura and Okano, still locked in some weird competition, instantly started trying to outdo each other on the gymnastics vault, and honestly, it’s hard to choose a winner. While Kimura sticks every landing perfectly, Okano can contort her body to do some insane flips midair. 

Isogai and Maehara, who have always been some of the top knife combat fighters, decided to adapt their fighting style with fencing. It’s a little sloppy, the weapon much larger than what they’re used to working with, and they’re definitely breaking some rules, but at least they look cool doing it. Next to them, Terasaka was challenging everyone and anyone to wrestling, and while he beat all of his squad members with ease, he ultimately got his ass handed to him (surprisingly) by Hara.

Izuku made a mental note not to piss her off anytime soon.

After some internet searches by Itona, they figured out the pole Kanzaki picked up was for pole vaulting — a sport where you run and try to use a pole to launch you over an even taller, horizontal pole. 

And, with E-class being E-class, the competition naturally escalated from ‘Who can vault the highest’ to ‘Who can do the most tricks while also vaulting the highest?’

Currently Karma, Nakamura, Kataoka, and Nagisa were tied for the top, matching each other’s moves easily. Shinsou and Izuku, who needed to rest before the round-robin tournament began, were appointed as judges. 

Kataoka cleanly executed an astounding feat of flipping all the way to the pole instead of running with it, picking it up without breaking momentum, and flipping continuously the entire time she vaulted. Izuku wondered if his classmates were even human while the crowd absolutely lost their shit.

“Very fancy, but she didn’t vault as high as the others with that trick,” Shinsou mused.

“Yes, but she also did about twice the amount of tricks, starting with them so early,” commented Izuku before writing down his final score.

In the end, Nagisa won that competition by vaulting off the ground and balancing the pole on its tip while he did a handstand for nearly a minute. Izuku thought only Hayami was capable of having such insane balance, but clearly he was mistaken.

“Wow, this is so much fun! We should do it more often!” Yada declared during the middle of their quirk-infused volleyball game, which had become ‘Sabotage Sugino’ because his quirk gave him such an unfair advantage. 

“Yeah! This is waaaaay better than the other PR events!” Kurahashi agreed. Izuku, acting as referee, glanced back at the crowd, which looked a mix of stunned, horrified, and awed by their performance. Well, at least some people looked less terrified of them now.

“Sugino! Stop spiking the volleyball hundreds of kilometers per hour! It’s not fair!”

“Sorry!”

Izuku sighed. 

-.-.-.-

Time for the round-robin matchups came, and Izuku came to the sickening realization that there’s a very good chance he’ll end up fighting Shinsou, and what will happen if it’s in the first round, Izuku doesn’t want to get knocked out so early but Shinsou has to do well to move up and—

“You’re thinking very loudly again, Jolly Green,” Shinsou muttered, and Izuku snapped to attention.

“O-Oh, sorry!”

Sakurai (who looked more and more panicked the longer the festival progressed) turned to his fellow 1-C classmates and Izuku. “G-G-Guys, I think I should-d-d sit ou-out of the finals.”

The trio blinked in unison. “But why, Sakurai-kun? We worked so hard to get here, we can’t give up now!” Michimiya protested. 

“But everyone e-else is so s-s-s-s-strong, and I’m—”

“Going to give them a fight, because you worked your ass off for this, Sakurai,” Shinsou cut in. “Look around — look at how many people aren’t advancing while you are. That’s not a fluke, Sakurai.”

Izuku nodded. “Without you, there’s no way any of us would be advancing today. We got here, we made history, and you’re a part of that. You can’t give up your spot just yet!”

Sakurai teared up, visibly shaken but touched, and Michimiya wrapped him up in a big hug. “Just you watch, Sakurai. You’re gonna be amazing.”

-.-.-.-

The bracket paired them up at random. To Izuku’s great relief, he’s not paired with Shinsou in the first round. Instead, he’s up against Shouji, while Shinsou is against Kaminari. And since they’re in different brackets, they wouldn’t meet until the third round.

“Thank goodness,” Izuku muttered. He really doesn’t want to fight Hitoshi, and statistically speaking someone else would knock them out before they ever reached each other. 

“Lame! You guys better make it to round three together!” Okajima complained over the comms.

“Yeah, and when you do, make it real flashy for the camera. You gotta make up for not playing in any of the Olympic games!” added Mimura. 

Izuku rolled his eyes and focused on the rest of the brackets. In the first bracket along with Izuku was Todoroki against Sero. Great, that’s just great. He might have to fight Todoroki next round. Even if he really wanted to fight against Shinsou in the third round, it’d take a miracle for him to get there.

Meanwhile, in the second bracket with Shinsou, Iida had to fight Asui. In the third, it was Bakugou versus Uraraka (while he felt bad for the girl, at least it wasn’t anyone from 1-C fighting Kaachan), and Kirishima against Michimiya. The pink eyeball girl looked absolutely terrified, like she was wishing she dropped out when Sakurai mentioned it.

“Kirishima’s strong, but he’s also really nice, I promise!” Izuku tried to assure her. Granted, being nice didn’t matter much in a high-stakes competition. But it’s better than going up against Bakugou ‘Die, Extra!’ Katsuki.

In the final bracket, Tokoyami was paired with Yaoyorozu, and finally Ashido was up against Sakurai.

“In all seriousness, this is a best-case scenario for you,” Shinsou pointed out to keep Sakurai from freaking out. “Ashido likes to make friends with everyone, so even if you lose, you might get a friend out of it?”

Sakurai still freaked out.

-.-.-.-

They were given time to prepare themselves for the matches. While Michimiya and Sakurai were swept away by 1-C, Shinsou and Izuku hunkered down in the END temporary headquarters Nedzu gave them.

“Okay, but realistically speaking, we know you’re both going to win your first matches,” Fuwa pointed out. “So what are you guys going to do if you both make it to the third round?”

Shinsou and Izuku stared at each other but didn’t answer. They didn’t know the answer.

“Welp,” Hazama said, breaking the silence. “I bet on Midoriya.”

...huh?

“Pffft,” chortled Okajima. “Shinsou totally has this in the bag. One Kiss of Death and Midoriya is done for.”

Shinsou sputtered. “I’m not kissing anyone on live TV.”

“Yeah, I’m with Okajima. Shinsou has way more to fear if he loses,” Maehara added, ignoring Shinsou’s protests. “We all know Bitch-sensei will have his head if he lets her down so publically.”

Mimura rolled his eyes. “By that logic, Lovro will have Midoriya’s, and we all know Lovro is way scarier than Bitch-sensei.”

“You’re all wrong. Again.” Nakamura smirked, eyeing her nails pettily. “I bet it will end with one of them pulling out a dirty little trick to get the upper hand, since they’re so evenly matched when they fight fairly. Well, that, or they’ll have to do a tiebreaker.”

“Tiebreaker? Is that even a thing?”

“You always make the craziest bets, Nakamura.”

“Yeah, but have I ever been wrong?”

“Why are you making bets on this?” Izuku cried. Wow, it’s like Valentine’s Day all over again.

-.-.-.-

Izuku decided to watch the first bracket fights with END. He didn’t really feel like being around anyone else right now, especially 1-A. What if someone tries to kidnap him again?

And at least 3-E’s commentary was entertaining.

“Seriously, Tape Elbows vs. Icy Hot? How is this fair?” Yoshida grumbled. 

It really wasn’t. Todoroki didn’t even try holding back. Poor Sero barely got a single hit in before he became completely encased in a massive wall of ice. 

“Wow, that was kind of overkill,” noted Yada, and Sugaya nodded.

“The dude seemed totally pissed off. I wonder what happened to him.”

Izuku tensed and glanced at Karma. The END commander’s face was blank, but his eyes were ablaze. Dangerous.

No. Whatever happened between the two long-estranged twins was definitely not over.

-.-.-.-

The next round featured Iida against Asui. This match was much longer, and much more entertaining to watch. While Iida had the upper hand with speed, Asui was much more agile and had the advantage of long-distance attacks. 

“She’s going to win,” Hayami declared, having just come back from her security shift. They agreed to rotate every match to keep things fair (and to keep them from getting bored again).

Takebayashi frowned. “Statistically speaking, actually—”

“She’s going to win,” Hayami repeated, giving no explanation, and no one dared challenge her again.

(Asui, ultimately, didn’t win, but it was a close match. Iida just barely managed to knock her out of bounds mid-leap, and almost fell out of the ring in the process. No one said anything to Hayami. Everyone knows you never go against Hayami.)

-.-.-.-

And suddenly, it’s Izuku's turn, and he feels overwhelmingly underprepared.

“What am I going to do?” he fretted. Shouji was so much bigger, and stronger, and versatile, and—

“Easy,” Shinsou deadpanned. “Win.”

And then, just like in the obstacle race, Shinsou kicked Midoriya in the back and forced him into the arena.

Shouji’s and his match started with little fanfare. As soon as Present Mic declared start, the larger boy charged. Izuku easily dodged two punches and tried to swipe Shouji’s feet out from under him, but he dodged.

In terms of brute strength, I’m no match for Shouji, Izuku pondered as he dodged another hit. Which means I just have to be faster and smarter.

It was just like Nagisa said before his match: “These hero students were trained to fight, but you, Midoriya. You were trained to kill. So take him down.”

And because, like every good assassin, Izuku had a second blade, which meant we would win.

Izuku slid underneath Shouji’s legs and popped up fast enough to kick the boy in the back. Shouji stumbled and whirled around, fists flying, and Izuku flipped to safety.

“I’m sorry, Midoriya,” Shouji suddenly said. “But I need to win this. I need to show them all.”

Izuku recalled their earlier conversation in the cafeteria about his tentacles. “Everyone else always said they looked like his. I want to show them they’re wrong.”

And suddenly, Izuku felt very, very sad. Because he understood. He knows what it’s like to be judged for your quirk and abilities. He knows the feeling, the drive to prove yourself. He knows. 

But he couldn’t back down.

“I’m sorry, Shouji,” he said and decided to go for the finishing move. He didn’t have weapons on him, but it should still work.

Rushing at the taller boy, he kicked out, purposely going wide. Shouji leaned back, distracted by the attack, and that’s when he brought out the instant-kill. He clapped his hands in Shouji’s face, the crack like thunder, making Shouji lose balance. Izuku grabbed the massive tentacle arm and judo-flipped him out of bounds. 

“Wow! And just like that, one of the biggest contestants gets KO’d by one of the smallest! And that attack, what was it? It’s not a quirk, right?!”

“No,” Eraserhead mumbled. “It’s a move only known by the top assassins.”

Izuku left the arena immediately, and he felt sick to his stomach. The crowd murmured, unsettled by the shocking technique. Of the open display of an assassin move in a hero tournament.

He hoped Lovro never saw this. The man would have his head for so publicly displaying his greatest move.

-.-.-.-

Shinsou managed to beat out Kaminari fairly easily, but he looked inexplicably embarrassed about it and refused to talk about it with anyone.

“Just, please, dont,” he said after extreme pestering. Izuku would give it an hour before a close-up video of the fight was in the E-class group chat.

The tournament continued on. Uraraka put up a surprising fight against Bakugou but ultimately lost. Following them was Kirishima vs. Michimiya, and Izuku sat in the weird mixed crowd of E-class and 1-C that formed for this match, feeling genuinely nervous. 

“She’ll be fine,” Shimizu said. “I checked Kirishima’s thoughts earlier. He doesn’t like the idea of fighting her either, so hopefully he’ll be gentle?”

It’s the only thing they could hope for, given how unbalanced the fight is.

It doesn’t help that Michimiya was already crying when she stepped into the ring.

“Now, remember, you can surrender if you want,” Midnight reminded them while staring at Michimiya, clearly concerned for her student. It’s probably not a bad option right now.

The fight started, but neither of them moved. Kirishima clearly was stuck. If he fought her right now, he’d look like an asshole, and that’s not really the impression you want to make with agencies. Plus Kirishima was such a nice guy, it would be against his morals to attack someone so cruelly.

Kirishima released his Hardening and took a cautious step forward. “Hey, Michimiya, I promise I’m not going to—”

He never got to finish his statement. The entire stadium descended into complete silence.

Because small, scared Michimiya just high-kicked Kirishima in the face.

Oh.

“HELL YEAH, MICHIMIYA!” cheered Yada, Nakamura, Fuwa, and Okano.

“She did it! Our technique really worked!” Kurahashi exclaimed, jumping up and down. 

“Bwahahahaha! How does it feel, sucker?!” Terasaka roared.

The kick didn’t actually do much to Kirishima besides snap his head back, but he was clearly humiliated. And who wouldn’t be? The crowd was abuzz, many howling with laughter at the sheer absurdity of it all. Blushing brightly, Kirishima Hardened his skin again and politely picked up Michimiya. The pink eyeballed girl tried to kick and punch, and even blew a few bubbles in Kirishima’s face, but the boy wasn’t phased at all. 

“I’m so sorry,” Kirishima said before gently placing Michimiya out of bounds. The girl pouted a little, but she clearly expected the outcome.

“Wow, thank goodness Kirishima’s such a gentleman,” Isogai observed. “Anyone else and they might have seriously tried to fight Michimiya after that.”

Izuku instantly envisioned Bakugou’s response to getting kicked in the face like that, and he shuddered. Thank goodness, indeed.

-.-.-.-

Following Tokoyami overwhelmingly (and shockingly) outmatching Yaoyorozu was Sakurai’s match against Ashido.

Shinsou (and much of 1-C) looked like they were going to be sick.

Surprisingly, Sakurai seemed fairly composed when he stepped into the arena. While it’s less likely Sakurai has some surprise trick up his sleeve like Michimiya, it at least looks like he’ll be composed enough to put up a fight. Maybe.

Apparently, Izuku didn’t know Sakurai that well. Either that, or the old one was replaced by an imposter.

The match started, and Ashido charged Sakurai by sliding on her acid. Sakurai didn’t move at all — was he insane? — and simply held out his palms. They connected with Ashido’s shoulders and...knocked her back?

Heh?!

Izuku started smacking Shinsou’s shoulder excitedly. “I get it! He’s eliminating Ashido’s weight so it seems like he has super strength. Since Ashido is already sliding around on acid, it’s even easier to push her around!”

It was so brilliant, Izuku couldn’t contain it. Sakurai was a genius!

“Hmm, something tells me he got a pretty good pep-talk beforehand,” Shinsou said, nodding to the side. Izuku turned and saw Nagisa and Nakamura high-five while Karma sat there smugly, and it made a lot more sense. But that didn’t stop Izuku’s heart from feeling warm.

Ashido clearly didn’t understand what just happened — she likely didn’t even bother finding out what Sakurai’s quirk was. She charged again, using the same methods, and Sakurai simply pushed her back again. She came dangerously close to sliding out of bounds.

“What’s this?! Looks like the upper hand in this match is sliding around!” commented Present Mic, while Eraserhead bluntly said, “Please stop.”

Ashido was getting nervous. She shot acid at Sakurai, but the boy dodged it perfectly (“He’s come so far!” Muramatsu whimpered). Ashido tried running at Sakurai normally, and that’s when Sakurai pulled out the biggest shock of all, side-stepping Ashido’s attack, grabbing her arm, and throwing her across the arena. By canceling out her weight, for Sakurai it was as easy as throwing a softball, and Ashido went sliding out of bounds.

And that’s when everyone really lost it. Izuku started crying.

“Did you see that?! The underdog of all underdogs took out 1-A’s Ashido Mina! How did this happen?!” Present Mic exclaimed.

Eraserhead huffed. “She went cocky. She didn’t bother creating a strategy or finding out her opponent's capabilities and just assumed it would be an easy win. Given the strategic performance 1-C has pulled out the entire festival, I’m not surprised she lost.”

“Nice commentary!”

“I’m just stating the obvious.”

-.-.-.-

Before the second round, Izuku got kidnapped. Multiple times, actually.

The first was by Yagi, who wanted to congratulate Izuku on his performance.

“To be honest, I’ve been having a hard time looking at other students. The performance you and the other first-years have put on is amazing,” the shrunken Pro-Hero commented, and Izuku tried not to tear up because All-Might just said he was impressed with him and that was a very valid reason to get emotional

The next was Kirishima, who also wanted to congratulate Izuku, but also lament his woes.

“It was so embarrassing, dude! I was worried the crowd would start booing me anytime I got near her. And now I have to fight against Bakugou! Why can’t I just get one good round?”

Izuku politely comforted his friend because he understood the pain (he was going up against Todoroki next, for crying out loud), and the two parted ways as Kirishima left to comfort a moping Ashido.

He was on his way to his match against Todoroki when he got kidnapped a third time. Only this time it was by Endeavor which is, obviously, a billion times worse. The Pro-Hero stared Izuku down intensely, and for a while, they didn’t say anything.

“It’s despicable that Nedzu and the board let you compete,” Endeavor finally said. “It’s bad enough that you’re at this school. Now you’re just making a joke of it all.”

Izuku blinked. “I-I, uh—”

“But I guess it’s too late for that,” Endeavor huffed. “I want you to know that my son will destroy you next round. That’s what his training was for. He’ll surpass All-Might one day, and if that beast was still around, he would be the hero to put a stop to the Tentacle. But I guess beating the brat with powers like the monster is good enough.”

Endeavor started to walk away, and Izuku felt something inside himself snap. “Endeavor,” he said, and the Pro-Hero froze. “I am not and will never be Korosensei.” I could never be so great. “And Todoroki may be your son, but he isn’t you.”

Endeavor glared, and Izuku realized just how lucky Karma was. Who knows what kind of torture Todoroki suffered because of this man. From the looks of it, Karma’s mother was his savior that day, not his abandoner. 

Izuku walked away first, his blood boiling more and more intense the closer he got to the arena entrance. How dare this man call himself a hero? How much abuse did his family suffer because of him?

But most of all, what would a man like that do if he ever learned about Karma?

-.-.-.-

Standing in front of Todoroki, Izuku knew he’d have no choice but to use his quirk in this fight. 

So by the time Todoroki (predictably) sent a wave of ice straight for him, Izuku was behind the ice boy and tackling him to the ground. He pinned Todoroki down and reared back for a punch, but by then his opponent was already firing another wall of ice. 

He’s quick too, Izuku noted, spitting out blood. If he wanted to take him out, he’d have to use his quirk for an extended period of time, but there’s still no guarantee it would work. If he uses all of his energy and fails, he’s doomed.

“We all know you have a time limit, Midoriya,” Todoroki said. “And if this comes down to endurance, I know I’ll win.”

He sent another ice wave, and at this point it’s getting near impossible to move in this stadium. So, Izuku ran around the ring at Mach-2, breaking the sound barrier and encasing them in the sonic boom that followed. Todoroki managed to not get blown away, but his ice walls completely shattered. Izuku made eye contact with Karma in the stands, and the red-haired boy pointed at his skin and smirked. Izuku looked and saw the patches of ice starting to form on Todoroki’s skin.

And suddenly, Izuku had a feeling Todoroki wouldn’t be able to last long in an endurance match either if he refused to use his fire side. 

“I’m not so sure, Todoroki,” he said, wiping blood from his mouth. “Because it looks like your time limit is almost up too — and you’ve yet to even touch me.”

Todoroki gritted his teeth, but he seemed to take the words to heart, this time charging Izuku himself. It’s a foolish move, however, to get too close to a hand-to-hand expert. The moment he was in reach, Izuku punched Todoroki in the stomach, followed by a rotating kick and another punch. Todoroki went skidding across the ground, just barely remaining in-bounds. This only seemed to anger the ice boy more, charging again but sending walls of ice at the same time; except they were smaller, slower. He won’t be able to hold up much longer if he refuses to use his left side.

And while this should be a good thing, it just made Izuku even angrier. 

Izuku used his speed to get through Todoroki’s defenses, grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him against a wall of ice. “Are you crazy? Use your fire already!"

Todoroki growled and pushed back. "What the hell? You don't know what you're talking about-"

"I do! I know better than anyone!" Thanks to Shiro, he knew all too well what it was like to have a power you hated pushed on to you. But thanks to Korosensei, he also knew what it was like to have a power gifted to you so you can do good. "It’s your quirk, Todoroki! Yours!”

Because Izuku spent fourteen years of his life never having a quirk and suffering so much for it. And here Todoroki is, letting himself suffer because he hates half of his powers. It’s not okay.

“You say the Tentacle is a monster, but do you want to know one of the first things he taught us?” Izuku said, throwing a stunned Todoroki to the ground. “He taught us to love our quirks! He taught us that our quirk doesn’t define us, but what we do with it! So use it, Todoroki! Use it for yourself!”

Izuku went for another blow, but he was suddenly blasted back by an explosion of fire.

Finally.

“You’d really try and encourage your opponent like that?” Todoroki said. “Alright, then. I’ll show you what I can do with my quirk.”

The explosion that followed was even bigger than when Korosensei triggered his Absolute Defense Form. It blew straight through Cementoss and Midnight’s attempts to stop their fight and nearly took out both heroes in the process. It was amazing. It was powerful.

And when the smoke cleared, Izuku, who avoided the explosion by running to stand right where Todoroki was, threw his stunned opponent out of bounds.

-.-.-.-

“What is this?!”

Endeavor’s shout could be heard easily in the stunned silent stadium. Izuku looked at the Pro-Hero in the stands disdainfully.

“How could he possibly survive that? He must have cheated!” the Pro-Hero roared. “Aren’t you going to do something about it?!”

When no one moved, Endeavor raised his flaming hands and moved towards the arena field. “Fine. Then I will—”

Before Endeavor could attack, a hand struck out and grabbed the fiery arm.

“Sorry, sir,” Karma said. “But I think you need to cool it.”

Izuku could feel the sudden chill on the field and watched as Endeavor’s flames completely dissipated, unable to contain enough heat. Endeavor looked enraged and even slightly scared, but then again, this wasn’t the first time he met Karma. The man was probably looking out for hot sauce packets now.

“How is he…?” Todoroki breathed, his eyes quick and calculating as he watched the exchange. Oh, if only he knew.

“Sir, please follow us,” Nagisa said, and Izuku knew he was using his quirk because the Flame Hero actually followed without protest.

“Midoriya,” Todoroki said. He was standing up, but his eyes wouldn’t leave the spot Endeavor just was. “Who is that red-haired boy?”

Izuku tried to remain passive. “Agent Devil? He’s the END commander and Alpha Unit captain.”

“And his quirk?”

Izuku paused. Todoroki turned back to look at him, and Izuku could see the suspicion in his eyes.

“You’ll have to ask him yourself.”

-.-.-.-

Five Photos that Sum Up the Chaos that is END at the Sports Festival

1. This interview. Just. This.
[Photo: screenshot of the moment when END said they didn’t plan on supporting 1-C yet they clearly did. Reporter looks ready to cry.]

2. Pole...vaulting...gymnastics?
[Photo: collage of END doing weird things while pole vaulting, featuring Nagisa’s handstand, Nakamura using her feet only to vault, and strangest of all, Okajima eating a pork bun mid-vault.]

3. He may not be acting for END today but — the Cavalry Battle ending, people.
[Photo: Shinsou triumphantly showing off his ten million point headband, with audience faces in the background looking absolutely flabbergasted. In the far right, Nakamura is being handed a wad of money from Terasaka after winning another bet.]

4. Audience members or security?
[Photo: two photos, one showing END agents walking around and monitoring the area, and the other showing END in the stands cheering on 1-C and Midoriya, t-shirts and signs on full display.]
UPDATE: Um, well, they escorted an upset Endeavor from the stadium after his son lost.
[Photo: Endeavor being taken away by Nagisa and Karma while the stunned audience watched.]

5. Is this actually happening?
[Photo: a collage of photos of END during their Olympic game presentation. One of Chiba making a bullseye upside down on the gymnastic bars, through the volleyball net, and splitting an arrow in half. Another photo of Kimura and Yoshida endlessly racing around the arena, one of Okuda creating explosive ping-pong balls.]

-.-.-.-

Look. Hitoshi has a pretty good reason for avoiding talking about his match with Kaminari.

He didn't really have much of a gameplan going into the fight, mainly because he didn't know what to expect from his opponent. Kaminari seemed like a pretty talkative guy, so it’d be easy to brainwash him. But does he want to fight that way? It seemed pretty cheap, but then again, if Kaminari planned on electrocuting the crap out of him, he’s not going to have much of a choice.

Which is why, when Present Mic told them to begin and Hitoshi literally just held up his fists, he was completely unprepared for Kaminari’s reaction.

“Eep, don’t hurt me!”

He said it so quietly, Hitoshi barely heard it, and Kaminari immediately slapped a hand over his mouth afterward — he’s vaguely aware of Hitoshi’s quirk, then. And usually, a reaction like this, of open fear and suspicion, would annoy him, but honestly, all Hitoshi could feel was...pity?

Does he really think I’m going to beat the crap out of him? Hitoshi wondered, but then remembered how Midoriya just ruthlessly destroyed Shouji, and it made a little sense. And okay, Hitoshi has a massive hero complex, so when he sees someone so terrified of fighting him, he’s not going to just beat them up. That’s Karma’s thing.

But, still, Hitoshi wants to win, which leaves him with only one option.

But how to go about it?

“Look,” Hitoshi started, and Kaminari flinched back, holding his mouth tighter, like he doesn’t trust himself. Great, just great. He needs Kaminari to reply to him if he wants this match to finish painlessly, but how?

“With my techniques, however, I have no doubt people will forget themselves and fall for responding to you,” Bitch-sensei’s voice echoed in his head, but Hitoshi shoved it away. There’s no way he’s going to use the Kiss of Death on TV or any of her other techni—

...wait.

“Oh, fuck it,” Hitoshi mumbled, because unless he wants to get electrocuted, he doesn’t have any more options. This seemed like something Kaminari would fall for, anyways.

Straightening himself up with perfect posture, and smiling just coyly enough to distract his target, Hitoshi went for the kill.

“Hey, pretty boy, I swear I’m not going to hurt you.”

A long pause. “P...Pretty boy?”

Kaminari’s face was blushing brighter than a tomato when Hitoshi brainwashed him, and it stayed like that the entire time as he slowly walked out of bounds. And honestly, Hitoshi was equally embarrassed.

“Looks like you have been keeping secrets, Shinsou,” Midnight cooed, her eyes gleaming. Hitoshi jolted and made a great escape for the tunnels.

Which is exactly where he was intercepted by Kaminari.

“Hey dude!” Kaminari started, and paused, like he expected Hitoshi to say something. He doesn’t. “Well, I just wanted to say that your quirk is totally awesome.”

Hitoshi stared. He honestly doesn’t know what to say.

“A-Anyways, um, thanks for not, like, hurting me and all? Not that I didn’t want to fight or anything, because I’m totally down for fighting, but like, you END agents are just so good at fighting, and Midoriya took out Shouji like he was nothing, and I could never — I mean, I can fight just fine, but you guys, you know, you guys can really, really...fight.”

Wow, this is more painful than dealing with a mumbling Midoriya. “Uh, thanks? We trained hard to get to where we are.”

Kaminari laughed. “I can tell!” He paused, his face scrunching up. “Well, so I’ve heard. Midoriya mentioned that you’re one of the best fighters in END, which has to mean a lot because Midoriya is the best fighter I’ve ever seen, so I guess that’s why I freaked out at the beginning of the match. You look pretty intimidating when you’re serious.”

How do you respond to this? “Um. I’m sorry.”

Kaminari beamed, and it felt like the sun started shining. “No sweat, dude! I’m jealous — I wish I could be as cool as you. Actually, do you think you could give me a few tips in fighting sometime?”

Hitoshi blinked. “I guess...”

“Awesome! Here, just—” Kaminari pulled something out of his pocket, grabbed Hitoshi’s hand and started writing on it. Even though the brainwasher could knock Kaminari out with his pinky, he felt inexplicably frozen. “—There! Now you have my number, so you can message me when you want to meet up.”

Hitoshi looked down at the sloppily written chain of numbers on his palm. “...Is this in sharpie?”

“A-Ah, yeah, sorry about that, I didn’t really think that one through.”

The blond awkwardly scratched his head. Taking a deep breath for his sanity, Hitoshi lowered his hand and tried not to think about it. He definitely wasn’t blushing right now. “It’s fine. I’ll...message you when I’m free.”

Kaminari beamed again. Hitoshi wondered if he’d go blind if he kept staring. “Sweet! And hopefully we can fight again when you make it to the hero course!”

Kaminari probably wasn’t aware, but Hitoshi noticed how he said ‘when’ instead of ‘if,’ and it meant a lot more than he expected. His smile was genuine.

“Thanks. I hope so too.”

(And when the blond was gone, he very quickly rewrapped his bandages so they covered his palms too. There was no way he was letting E-class or, Korosensei forbid, Bitch-sensei see the random phone number. Because they’re evil, and they’ll make assumptions, and just no.)

-.-.-.-

Hitoshi didn’t really have anything against Iida, but clearly the boy had something against him. He glared harshly the moment he laid eyes on the brainwasher. Well, this should be fun.

Before the match could start, Iida said, “You dishonored me during the Cavalry Battle when you blatantly disregarded my greatest move. I won’t let you do it again.”

Hitoshi arched an eyebrow. Was that so?

The moment they called start, Iida rushed him, and Hitoshi just barely managed to sidestep in time. Iida skidded to a stop and gritted his teeth. 

“I will make you see me as a threat!” the normally composed class president declared before activating his Recripro Burst. He kicked at Hitoshi at rocket speeds, just narrowly managing to brush the brainwasher’s side, and rounded up for a second one, but then he stopped. Iida’s whole body tensed up, as if he were being brainwashed, but...

“I wasn’t being insulting when I said I’ve fought faster opponents,” Hitoshi said, now standing behind Iida and pressing harshly on the pressure point in his neck. “I was just telling the truth.”

Before Iida could continue, Hitoshi hit another two pressure points, knocking his opponent unconscious. Present Mic announced him the winner, but Hitoshi was already walking away.

Because this meant both he and Midoriya advanced to the third round. They were going to fight in the festival.

-.-.-.-

Bakugou managed to defeat Kirishima, and Sakurai didn’t stand a chance against Tokoyami — his quirk had no effect on Dark Shadow. He was knocked out of the ring in seconds, but the cheers he received from 1-C would make you think he won the whole tournament. Hitoshi and Midoriya didn’t even bother watching Bakugou and Tokoyami’s match for the third round. Instead, they spent the whole time stressing in the headquarter room and talking with Karasuma and Bitch-sensei.

“Would it even be smart to spar like we usually do?” asked Midoriya. “The whole reason END is here is for good publicity, and if Shinsou and I fight and scare the public away, it will all be for nothing.”

“I wouldn’t go that extreme,” Bitch-sensei argued. “The public is clearly aware that you guys are freaks of nature. Besides, they just watched a kid knock someone out with a massive ice wall. Why would they be scared of you two sparing?”

“Because we’re END?” Hitoshi suggested, making his ex-mentor scowl threateningly.

“There’s also the concern of the enemy watching,” Karasuma pointed out. “We’ve gotten lucky that they haven’t tried to attack yet, but there’s no doubt they’re watching this, looking for weaknesses. We need—”

Their teacher was cut off by his phone ringing yet again — it’s been doing that a lot lately, Hitoshi noted with narrowed eyes. He got a glimpse at the caller ID reading ‘Sousaki Shino’ and wondered if that was Karasuma’s mystery cousin. He'd have to question Nakamura about it later, since the girl seemed to know all the gossip surrounding the situation.

While Karasuma stepped out of the room, Bitch-sensei turned to the students and sighed. “Well, I say you two fighting to the death will cover up our greatest weakness at least.”

The duo jolted. “What?!”

“Oh, not literally to the death,” she retorted, crossing her arms. “Think about it. END’s greatest weakness is how much the students care for each other. You hurt one of us, you hurt all of us. If you two go all out, the enemy will see this as us showing that we won’t hold back, even against one another. It’ll reduce the risk of them exploiting us that way.”

The room was silent. It was...actually a really good point. Karma even admitted it to Shigaraki — if you really want to piss E-class off, then target one of their own. They couldn’t afford to let their enemies take advantage of that.

“Well,” Hitoshi finally said, scratching the back of his neck. “We never did get to declare a winner of our bet last year. How about, instead of designing a hero costume, the winner picks hero names?”

Midoriya jolted. “Huh? Isn’t that a pretty big thing to bet?”

“Yup. And in the spirit of the past, how about we do it with no quirks too. Unless you're too scared.” He held out his hand and raised his eyebrows mockingly. "So, you on, Jolly Green?"

-.-.-.-

“Up next, we have perhaps the most anticipated match of the tournament. Taking first place in both rounds, we have Midoriya Izuku of 1-A versus the ringleader of the 1-C underdogs, Shinsou Hitoshi!”

The crowd roared, and Hitoshi stood across from Midoriya. Their faces were blank, betraying no emotion. But on the inside, Hitoshi was abuzz.

How’s Green Shrubbery for a hero name, hmm?

Present Mic declared start, and Hitoshi felt everything slow down. He observed every twitch of Midoriya’s muscles, the stutter of his breath, the rustle of the wind in his hair.

And then he struck.

He kicked out fast, and followed up with another judo spin kick. Midoriya dodged the first kick and blocked the second, pushing Hitoshi’s attacks away. Hitoshi steadied himself defensively before Midoriya took over the offense, throwing multiple cross punches and a kick at Hitoshi’s stomach, which he carefully dodged and knocked the punches away with a quick swipe by his feet. Midoriya tried to knock Hitoshi off balance but failed, and they both pulled away from each other, unharmed.

Looks like I need a different tactic. 

This time, Hitoshi let Midoriya attack first before grabbing his feet and flipping him upside down. Midoriya was prepared for this, carefully rolling to stand back up, his fists already prepared to block hits by Hitoshi. Midoriya tried to sweep Hitoshi’s feet out from under him, but the brainwasher jumped up and flip-rolled over Midoriya’s crouched body to get behind him. He almost landed a kick to the back but was stopped.

“This is crazy! Midoriya and Shinsou are exchanging blows so fast, I can’t even tell who’s doing the most damage!”

“Neither,” Eraserhead huffed, making Present Mic yelp. “They’re yet to land a decent hit on each other.”

“Are you saying they’re holding back?!”

“No, I didn’t say that. I said they haven’t been able to land a hit. They clearly know each other’s fighting styles as well as their own, which means they’re predicting every move and blocking it before it comes.”

“Huh?! Wow, folks, can you believe that?!”

Midoriya went for a mount, and Hitoshi easily shoved him off and pinned him to the ground. The crowd exclaimed, but Midoriya very quickly kicked at Hitoshi’s face and maneuvered his way out of the hold. He tried to jump-spin kick Hitoshi in the back, but the brainwasher jumped away and knocked Midoriya’s feet out from under him. Midoriya stumbled, but frustratingly, he still didn’t go down.

“You certainly aren’t making this easy, Jolly Green,” Hitoshi muttered, parrying Midoriya’s punches with his own.

“I can’t lose! I want to pick my own hero name!”

“Oh yeah, what do you have in mind? Small Might?”

“Sh-Shut up!”

Their fight continued on like most of their spars do; seemingly endless, lots of attacks and little hits. It probably looked like a coordinated movie fight, not an actual spar. However, unlike other fights, there were no weapons to tip the favor in either direction (and Hitoshi absolutely refused to use the Kiss of Death).

Think, idiot, he could picture Asano lecturing. What other techniques led to you beating Midoriya before?

Easy. Using his capture rings.

And that’s when Hitoshi got an idea.

Grabbing at a loose end of his bandages (who knew these would be so useful?), Hitoshi jumped behind Midoriya and wrapped it around his arms and torso, immobilizing his upper body. The green-haired boy lashed out, but Hitoshi dodged, and for the third time that Sports Festival, Hitoshi kicked Izuku in the back. 

Was this his thing now? Apparently. 

To Midoriya’s credit, he actually managed to keep from falling out of the ring. But when he was focused on breaking out of the bandages, Hitoshi struck again, round-body kicking his best friend in the chest and finally pushing him out of bounds.

“Oh, thank Korosensei that worked,” Hitoshi muttered, slouching from exhaustion but still holding out a hand to Midoriya. The green-haired boy was pouting, but gratefully accepted it.

“And it’s his resourcefulness that scores Shinsou the win! I have to say, it looked a lot like something you would do, Eraserhead.”

“Hmm.”

Hitoshi and Midoriya snorted at the banter and walked side-by-side to the exit — something no other competitors did. It went to show that there were no hard feelings between them ever, no matter what was at stake. Because, when it came down to it, their bond went much deeper than a simple fight. 

-.-.-.-

“Hitoshi?”

“Yeah?”

They were walking through the tunnels, headed back to the waiting area when Midoriya abruptly stopped. Hitoshi froze, worried his friend was more upset about losing the fight than originally assumed.

“What…” Izuku tilted his head. “What's that on your hand?”

Hitoshi felt his body go cold. When using the bandages to wrap up Midoriya, he unknowingly exposed the sharpie phone number on his palm. The brainwasher sweatdropped and shoved his hand in his pockets.

“Uh, nothing?”

“Really? Because it looked an awful lot like phone numffff-”

Hitoshi bounced, muffling his friend with his hand and pinning him to the ground. He only had a few moments of peace, however, before their comms crackled to life.

“Oh, Shitsou~” Bitch-sensei drawled. “Guess what Chiba just said he spotted with his quirk during the fight. You little dog, seducing your opponents; I’m so proud!”

Hitoshi groaned and slammed his head into Midoriya’s chest, lamenting the betrayal (how could Chiba do this to him? He should’ve never beat the other boy in chess so much). His best friend patted his hair and turned off Hitoshi's comm so he wouldn't have to hear the teasing before his next match. Because Midoriya Izuku is a saint and too good to be Hitoshi's best friend.

"It's Kaminari's phone number, isn't it?"

He takes that back.

-.-.-.-

The final round was Hitoshi versus Bakugou.

It’s as fun as it sounds. 

“Poofy, nice to see you’ve made it this far,” he mocked as they entered the ring together. Bakugou growled and looked ready to punch the brainwasher even though the fight hadn’t started.

But here’s the thing. Hitoshi was very tired. He just went head-to-head against his best friend in probably the greatest martial arts fight ever, and he really doesn’t feel like fighting anymore. He mostly just wants to take a nap. And a pain pill.

That doesn’t mean he’s not going to win, though.

“Quite the match-up we have for our final round!” Present Mic declared. “Bakugou Katsuki, one of the most powerful students in the competition, versus Shinsou Hitoshi, easily the most resourceful and versatile fighter. Who will win?”

“Me,” Bakugou growled, almost subconsciously, and Hitoshi smirked.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of yourself, Poofy.”

The match officially started. 

“Shut your fucking mouth!”

And then it ended.

-.-.-.-

“And just like that, Shinsou Hitoshi is the winner!” Present Mic declared. “Wow, after seeing his fight with Midoriya, I even forgot what his quirk was!”

Hitoshi released Bakugou from the brainwashing the moment he stepped out of bounds. Admittedly, that was a terrible idea.

“You...fucking...BASTARD!” Bakugou screamed, charging. “What, you’re really not going to fight me like a man?! Stop being a fucking coward and fight me for real!”

Thankfully, Midnight subdued the boy before he could do any real damage. As she carried the unconscious Bakugou away, she stopped by Hitoshi and smiled.

“Something tells me you aren’t going to be my student much longer,” she said. “But even then, I’m still going to brag to the world about what you and your classmates accomplished. You’ve made me very proud.”

Hitoshi grinned softly. “We hoped we would, Midnight-sensei.”

Midnight sniffled. “Such fervor and youth!”

Hitoshi barely evaded her crushing boob hug in time.

-.-.-.-

If Hitoshi knew this would be the consequence for winning, he would have never competed in the first place.

“Wow, I can’t believe the winner of the Sports Festival is one of us,” Nakamura cooed, draping herself on his back. “Remember us, now that you're famous?”

“Hey Shinsou, can I get your autograph? I bet it’s worth something now!” Sugaya asked.

Maehara laughed. “Hey, since we have the same mentor, mind sharing in the glory with your fellow Honeypots?”

“Would you be freaked out if I took your bandages and sold them on the Black Market for thousands of dollars?” asked Hazama.

Hitoshi blinked and held his bandaged arms close to his chest. “Um, yes?”

Thankfully, before E-class could pester him more, 1-C arrived.

“Shinsou!” called Oohira. “You crazy purple man, you actually did it!”

“You’re our hero, Shinsou!” Yamaguchi declared.

Kunimi nodded. “I heard some kid talking earlier about how they weren’t going to apply to U.A. because they didn’t think they’d pass the hero entrance exam, but now they’re going to go for General Education because of you! You’re an inspiration.”

Hitoshi was thoroughly blushing. “It was hardly just me. We all worked together to achieve this.”

“But we couldn’t have done it without you,” Shimizu pointed out. “You believed in us, Shinsou. We’ll never forget that.”

It's because Korosensei believed in us first, Hitoshi wanted to answer, but he settled for a smile.

The Miya twins slapped his back at the same time. “And even though you’re leaving us for the hero course, we’ll still miss you back in 1-C.”

Michimiya confidently marched forward. “And you better come visit.”

Hitoshi immediately agreed because, well, he’d seen her kick. He didn’t want a broken nose. 

-.-.-.-

All-Might was the one who gave out the medals. Midoriya and Tokoyami both claimed third place, and Hitoshi noticed All-Might lean in and say something specific to Midoriya. That’s...interesting. Since when were they acquainted? 

Bakugou had to be physically restrained and encased in cement to receive his medal, still pissed off and trying to fight Hitoshi ‘for real.’ All-Might resorted to making Bakugou hold the medal with his mouth since he refused to get it put around his head.

“And finally,” All-Might said, holding out the gold medal. “The first-place medal. And might I add, very well deserved.”

Hitoshi graciously took the medal. And then, turning towards where END stood, he brandished the medal and held up his hand. To everyone else, it looked like he was making a C and referring to his class. Only E-class would know what it really was: a crescent moon.

Because this win was for Korosensei.

-.-.-.-

ULTIMATE U.A. SPORTS FESTIVAL RECAP
Didn’t get a chance to tune in to the biggest tournament in Japan? From the shocking underdog stories, to END’s takeover, to the insane quirks, to the stunning performance by the student who won it all, here’s everything you need to know about this year’s Sports Festival.
[Read more]

-.-.-.-

“We have a situation.”

After the Sports Festival, everything seemed to be looking up for END. The public’s opinion of them had skyrocketed (“We have memes, guys!” Kimura brandished), Shinsou finally proved his right to be in the hero course, and 1-C did them proud by breaking every record they could.

But then Karasuma called together the END captains and lieutenants, and everything began to fall apart.

“The Hero Killer?” Fuwa said, eyeing the documents.

“He goes by Stain, and already he’s racked up a large number of victims,” Karasuma explained. “The most recent was Pro-Hero Ingenium.”

Kanzaki gaped. “Is he dead?”

“No, he survived, but barely. He won’t be doing hero work ever again, though.”

Hayami thumbed through the numerous reports. “Do we know where he’s going to strike next?”

The screen behind Karasuma shifted, showing a geographical profile of all the places Stain had hit. “By Ritsu’s calculations, we estimate Hosu City will be next.”

Maehara gnawed his lip. “Well, if we know where he’ll strike, I say we get boots on the ground and monitor the situation as much as we can; try to prevent something before it actually happens.”

“I think that’s a terrible idea,” Karma snapped, and the Delta captain jolted back.

“Excuse me—”

“Think about it,” Nakamura pointed out, apparently following Karma’s mindset. “We know this guy has beef with Pros, sure, but what has been a bigger hot-button issue as of late, especially following the Sports Festival?”

There was silence, but Isogai was the one who actually said the answer they were all thinking. “Us.”

Karma hummed. “Exactly. Us. And I bet you he’s been watching extra close lately.”

The group paused, letting that sink in. “So I guess the question is,” Nagisa said. “What does the Hero Killer think of assassins?”

Bonus:

Todoroki exited the hospital and just tried to breathe. He went there originally to tell his mother he planned on becoming his own man and would start using his power to be the hero he always wanted to be, like Midoriya said. What was brought up was anything but.

“I hope you are happy, and that you save many people, Shouto,” his mother said, patting his face. “I’m sure Haruji thinks so too.”

It’s not the first time she’s said something like this — Shouto was well aware of his stillborn twin. How could he not when some of his earliest memories involved his father yelling at his mother for “Not keeping the other alive!” or telling Shouto “You’re here because you’ve already defeated your greatest competition. You won, and you’re here, and he’s not.”

No, Todoroki Shouto was well aware of Todoroki Haruji. But for some reason, it bothered him more than usual to hear that name. 

“Mother…” he began. “There’s something I need to ask you. About Haruji.”

Todoroki Rei blinked. “What is it, Shouto?”

“You always talk about him like he’s still alive. Why...Why do you do that?”

Because like his siblings, Todoroki always credited it to his mother’s crumbling mental state, another harmless delusion. But no one actually bothered to ask.

His mother blinked at him so innocently. “Haruji is alive, Shouto. What are you talking about?”

And so Todoroki left the hospital, and the entire ride home he researched his suspicions. Page after page, article after article, and finally, finally, he found what he was looking for.

“Akabane Karma,” Todoroki mumbled. “Who are you?”

Chapter Text

After the Sports Festival, Hitoshi and Midoriya quickly learned that they couldn’t get anywhere without being recognized. It was a huge problem. They couldn’t even buy groceries.

“You’d think being a part of END would scare them away,” Hitoshi muttered after narrowly escaping a mob at the grocery store, hiding behind a cart of watermelons.

Midoriya sighed. “END’s popularity has only gone up, though. We’re probably the most famous pair too, thanks to the Sports Festival.”

“I LOVE YOU, SHINSOU!”

“SIGN MY SHIRT, MIDORIYA!’

The brainwasher sighed. “Wonderful.”

-.-.-.-

“Oh my Korosensei, it’s the winner of the Sports Festival! Could I give you my phone number? Oh, wait, you already have someone’s number.”

“Shut up.” 

Hitoshi easily pushed Nakamura out of his face. It was annoying enough that this was his life; he didn’t need it from his friends too. And he definitely didn’t need the reminder of the phone number still written on his palm, no matter how much soap he used. He had to wear a band-aid to cover it up. Stupid permanent markers. 

Sugino laughed. “Man, and I thought I was popular after the Sports Festival. I had five club captains beg me to join their teams — before the festival, no one would even take my application!”

“My chemistry teacher asked me to lead a demonstration today in class.” Okuda proudly exclaimed, earning her lots of praise.

Okajima came in wearing sweats and slippers and dramatically collapsed in a chair. Muramatsu scowled. “Man, do you really need to rub it in?”

“Of course!” the ex-class-pervert declared. “I’ve been trying for weeks to make the top five, and I finally did it! Enjoy intensive training, suckers!”

“Intensive training is canceled today,” Karasuma announced as he walked into the base. Okajima fell out of his chair.

“W-What?”

Okano cocked her head. “How come, Karasuma-sensei?”

Karasuma gestured for everyone to gather on the second-floor command center before explaining. “There’s been new information that’s come out after the Sports Festival, and the unit leaders and I agreed that we needed to share it with you immediately. Ritsu, if you may.”

The screens shifted, pulling up two different pictures. Hitoshi automatically recognized the first one as the Nomu from the USJ. The second photo was a rugged, creepy looking man carrying a large sword and—

“Uh, where the hell is his nose?” Yoshida asked. 

Karasuma pointedly ignored the comment. “As you know, the enemies at the USJ attack somehow obtained a Nomu weapon. While there wasn’t much left of the creature, Takebayashi and Okuda have been cross-checking the remaining DNA with DNA remains of the Nomu-Reaper—”

“We have the DNA remains of the Reaper?” Hitoshi repeated, unsettled by the thought that any bit of the Reaper still existed in the world. The scars on his body tingled at the mention of the man.

“—and found that while they are similar enough to say this Nomu was a purposeful replication, the differences suggest that they were definitely not created by the same person. Which makes sense, given that Yanagisawa is dead.”

“So what, a copycat?” asked Kimura, and Karasuma shook his head.

“Unlikely. Some of the genetic code is eerily identical, and I doubt a random copycat could do that. No, whoever made this was at least aware of the original Nomu creating process.”

“A successor,” Midoriya realized, and Karasuma nodded.

“Korosensei explained that he was created in a lab, and while he claimed to kill everyone working there except Yanagisawa the day he escaped, it’s possible a scientist avoided the slaughter. Whoever contracted Yanagisawa originally has likely hired this scientist to recreate his work.”

Mimura hummed. “At least the genetic coding related to anti-sensei material is the same, or else this would be a huge headache.”

Karasuma went on to explain that the Gamma unit was working non-stop to find out who this mystery contractor was and where the Nomu was created. But, until then, they were to keep their eyes and ears open.

“A special reconnaissance team headed by a government agent will go out in hopes of digging up information on where the two USJ villains are hiding out,” Karasuma explained. “So be prepared that you might be asked to participate.”

“That’s great and all, but can you please explain Voldemort already?” Terasaka grumbled. Their ex-P.E. teacher glared but nonetheless moved on to the nose-less elephant in the room.

“This is Stain, but you all might know him as the Hero Killer,” Karasuma explained. Everyone in the room tensed. Of course they knew about this guy, and just about everyone did. A crazed villain who went around killing and critically injuring Pro-Heroes — yeah, they knew about this guy, alright.

“Is he our new mission?” Kurahashi asked, clearly terrified, and Hitoshi was grateful in that moment that Sigma never got deployed. Facing the Hero Killer was not on his bucket list exactly.

“No. I tell you this because you’ll likely start hearing more and more about him in the news, and I’m here to command you to not engage. If you hear he’s anywhere near where you are, run away immediately.”

The shocked and indignant responses were instantaneous. Sure, no one particularly wanted to chase after a mass killer, but were they really being commanded to not act when people were getting hurt? To run away?

“Are you kidding?! We’re just going to let a murderer run around?”

“This isn’t what Korosensei would want us to do!”

“Since when did you become such a crazy overprotective dad? Family issues getting to your head?”

“Guys, enough!” Nagisa snapped when Karasuma failed to rein them back in, and instantly Hitoshi felt calm and receptive. Damn empath quirk. “All of the captains and lieutenants agreed this is the best thing we can do. We know Stain hates heroes, but we have no idea how he’d respond to us. For all we know, he could hate us more. It was either this or go on lockdown until the authorities finally catch him.”

Okay, that was understandably the worst option (who would want to be in lockdown for months?), but Hitoshi still didn’t like the idea of this. If anyone could stop a crazed killer, wouldn’t it be people who were trained to kill themselves? That not only knew how Stain would think, but could take the necessary measures to take him out? Hitoshi eyed the documents Ritsu pulled up about Ingenium getting attacked. That’s Iida’s brother, right? Iida’s brother was in critical condition because of Stain.

Someone had to do something. And if Hitoshi can’t do something as an END agent, he’ll do it as a hero.

-.-.-.-

The day they got back from their break after the Sports Festival, Nedzu called Hitoshi into his office. And for once, it was a good thing.

“Due to his abysmal performance in the Sports Festival, along with a plethora of sexual harassment complaints, Mineta Minoru will no longer be apart of the hero course,” Nedzu chipperly explained. “And as the reigning champion, it is only fair you take his spot. And might I say, I was quite blown away with your performance.”

Hitoshi smirked. “I didn’t want to leave any room for questioning.”

Nedzu’s tail flicked and the principal smiled. “I thought you should also know that, after seeing the performance by your classmates, the board has also agreed to revise the entrance exam practical to cater to more student and hero types. Also, I am personally making revisions to the General Education workload, specifically regarding Sports Festival preparations.”

About damn time, Shinsou wanted to say but instead settled for, “I’m glad to hear that. When will I officially move into 1-A?”

“Right away. Both Nemuri and Shouta agree that it would be foolish to let you get behind in the hero course any longer than you already are. Official transfer papers will take a while to go through, but you can attend class with 1-A from now on. Congratulations, Shinsou.”

Hitoshi smiled.

-.-.-.-

“Awwww, we’re going to miss you Shinsou.”

Hitoshi went to 1-C one last time to pick up his things and say goodbye to his old classmates. It was weird, walking in here knowing it’ll likely be the last time he does. It was uncanny to think of the first time he walked in this classroom and compare it to now. You’d think they weren’t even the same classes.

He’s mostly surprised that he’s going to miss it.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ll see of the hero of 1-C,” Midnight cooed, winking. Well, miss most of it.

“It’s going to be so boring now, not training at the warehouse anymore. What am I supposed to do with my free time now, study?” Kunimi grumbled, and Midnight squawked.

“You mean you haven’t been studying?!”

“What are you doing with the warehouse, anyways?” asked Amanai. Hitoshi scratched the back of his neck.

“I think Principal Asano said something about turning it into storage space? I don’t know, I didn’t feel like questioning him.”

“Shame. How will we train for the Sports Festival next year?” mumbled Miya #2.

At hearing that, Hitoshi felt his heart soar. Hearing that the work they did here, the change they experienced, it didn’t end with the festival. The experience for 1-C, the influence of Korosensei’s methods and ideals would be passed on even further. Maybe one day they’ll change someone else’s life the same way.

“Hey, doesn’t that mean we’ll be your competition next year, Shinsou?” Oohira asked. The brainwasher blinked because, well, they would be.

Shimizu smirked. “Looks like we’ll have to keep you on your toes then.”

This response. This resolve. What more could Hitoshi ask for?

-.-.-.-

r/END of the world

49.7k likes - Posted by u/randommmmfactsss158 - 6 hours ago

Endeavor is Canceled, END said so.

Here’s a meme of Endeavor being kicked out of the Sports Festival by END agents lmao

[Photo: Endeavor screaming at Midoriya, captioned, “I WILL DESTROY YOU!”]

[Photo: Karma easily stopping him with just his hands, captioned, “Imma about to END this man’s whole career.”

trashdeavor - 4 hours ago - 15.2k likes

The best part is that it’s super accurate #EndeavorIsOverParty

sp0rtf3stivalfanat1c - 2 hour ago - 9.6k likes

The most BAMF moment in this BAMF-filled festival, prove me wrong.

-.-.-.-

“Ayyyy, Shinsou, welcome to the party!” Kirishima greeted the moment Hitoshi stepped into 1-A’s classroom. He threw an arm around Hitoshi’s shoulder, and the brainwasher blinked because, sure, he was Midoriya’s friend, but they definitely didn’t know each other like that. Was all of 1-A this friendly?

Arguably, yes.

Everyone (except Bakugou) was very civil with him, offering polite greetings, but they were clearly more reserved. Based on how they also interacted with Midoriya, this was just a side effect of them being somewhat terrified of END still, but it wasn’t bad by any means. Hitoshi could work with this.

At one point, Jirou, Yaoyorozu, and Uraraka all approached him and thanked him for getting Mineta kicked out.

“He was terrible,” Jirou stated. “I’m actually going to feel comfortable in school again.”

Which, quite frankly, is a terrible thing to hear. Why did they keep the purple creep around so long?

Kaminari also came over, swatting his back and exclaiming, “Now we really can get a rematch! And don’t forget to message me sometime, dude!” (an unneeded reminder), while Iida merely nodded his head in acknowledgment. The class president clearly was bothered by something, and Hitoshi knew it wasn’t the Sports Festival. It looked like the situation with his brother and the Hero Killer was really getting to him.

“Hey,” Hitoshi decided to check in on the boy. He knew better than anyone what Iida might be feeling right now. “I know we didn’t exactly get off on the right foot, but...remember that there are people here to support you.”

The class president blinked widely. “I’m afraid you’re mistaken. I’m fine, just a little tired-”

“Of feeling helpless?” Iida’s mouth slammed shut, and Hitoshi sighed. “Just...talk to someone, if you feel you need to. Suffering in silence only hurts yourself more; trust me, I know.”

“I, uh.” Iida shook his head and cleared his throat. “Thank you, Shinsou, but I promise I’m fine. Welcome to the hero course, by the way. You deserve it. No hard feelings from the fight, yes?”

He held out his hand and Hitoshi took it to be civil, but he wasn’t stupid enough to believe Iida. No one went through what Iida was going through and was ‘fine.’

He was trained as an assassin, after all. He knew what it looked like when someone was concealing their bloodlust. 

Eventually, Aizawa came in, his arms no longer covered in bandages. He gave an official introduction of Hitoshi to 1-A, and bluntly informed them that it was time to pick their hero names. Hitoshi grinned victoriously while Midoriya slammed his head against the desk.

“This is totally unfair.”

“Wow, Jolly Green, nice to see how much faith you have in me.”

Aizawa explained that they were picking them in time for internship drafts. After the Sports Festival, management agencies can put in offers to students specifically, but even those who didn’t get offers were still expected to work internships and get real hero experience for a week.

“Because of this, you need to pick temporary hero names, but make sure you take it seriously or—”

“You’ll pay for it later!”

This time, it was Hitoshi’s turn to slam his head on the desk when Aizawa announced the newcomer who would approve their names.

“Shinsou~ I told you this wouldn’t be the last you see of me!”

Because of course it had to be Midnight.

-.-.-.-

They were handed boards to write their hero names on. Hitoshi very smugly plucked Midoriya’s out of his hands.

“Hey, Midoriya, what’s up with that?” Sero asked.

The green-haired boy sighed. “We made a bet that whoever won our match at the Sports Festival would get to pick the other’s hero name.”

“And I won,” Hitoshi needlessly pointed out, just to rub it in. Bakugou growled and started writing more aggressively.

“Wow, I guess that explains why your match was so intense,” commented Kirishima. “I was so sure it would have to end in a tiebreaker or something before Shinsou did that cool trick with his bandages.”

“Why were you wearing bandages, Shinsou-chan?” Asui asked. “You didn’t look like you were injured.”

There were suddenly way too many eyes on him for a topic that is way too sensitive to talk about with classmates he hasn’t even had for a day. Hell, he didn’t even feel comfortable sharing them with 1-C. Hitoshi awkwardly rubbed his arms and turned his head away.

“Old wounds,” he answered blandly. No one asked any more questions.

-.-.-.-

One by one, their classmates presented their names. There were the more...interesting ones, like Aoyama’s, or the more practical ones, like Yaoyorozu’s. Shouji stood up there and stared Hitoshi and Midoriya down as he presented his name.

“All I’ve wanted to do is turn the stigma around me and others like me around, and it starts by reclaiming my abilities.” He turned around his board. “I’m the tentacle hero, Tentacole.”

The whole class paused, and some even glanced back at the ex-E-class students to see their reactions. Midoriya was smiling sadly, while Hitoshi arched an eyebrow.

“Hope you can achieve your goal,” he finally said, easing the tension in the room. Hope you know what big shoes you’re trying to fill.

The closer they got to presenting, the more fervently Midoriya tried to get a glimpse at the board Hitoshi was very purposely angling out a view. The green-haired boy pouted.

“Can’t I at least have some input?” 

“Nope.”

To be honest, Hitoshi felt more confident with Midoriya’s hero name than he did his own. Despite thinking on this topic for nearly his entire life, nothing ever seemed right when it came to his hero name. 

Mindjack? Cliche.

Mindblock? Sounds like Maehara’s quirk.

Brainwave? Maybe?

Cerebrum? Um. Science.

Puppeteering Crossdresser? Wait, what?

Hitoshi scowled at the message that just appeared on his Ritsu-watch. Very funny, Nakamura. 

Another message popped up on the watch and Hitoshi tilted his head. Well. There were worse ideas out there.

-.-.-.-

3-E Group Chat

Isogai: Hey Midoriya, Shinsou! Have you picked out your hero names?

Shinsou: Nakamura can’t keep quiet about anything, huh?

Nakamura: I plead the fifth

Nagisa: wrong constitution?

Midoriya: We did!!! Well, Shinsou picked mine lol but I like it ^.^

Fuwa: don’t leave us hanging, what is it???

-.-.-.-

Hitoshi eyed his (annoyingly long) list of agency offers with disdain. How was he supposed to go through over 3,000 offers and pick the best fit for him? Why were there that many agencies in Japan?

Midoriya was having a similar issue and was mumbling at the speed of light as he went through his list and weighed all of his options. This was definitely going to take a while.

“I bet you have some really great agency offers, winning the festival and all,” Ashido said, looking at his list with jealousy. “I didn’t get a single offer.”

“You got beat by a General Education student. Who would put in an offer for you?” Bakugou grumbled.

Kirishima scratched the back of his head and gestured to Hitoshi. “Uh, Bakubro, technically we all got beat by a General Education student.”

“Shut up! Eggplant doesn’t count!”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Poofy.”

Before the bickering could get any further, Yaoyorozu cut in. “Are there any particular agencies that have caught your eye, though?”

Hitoshi shrugged. “Sure, but I feel weird about it, considering I’ve met a lot of these heroes during the Mountain Raid…”

Midoriya jolted. “Oh no, I didn’t even think about that, will any of the heroes hold grudges about that night? I should probably play it safe, I doubt all of them are like Aizawa-sensei. I’ll go through the list again and cross out every hero that was there the night of the raid. Should I cross out anyone who is a part of the All-Might response team too? What should I do?!”

Hitoshi sighed and went back to looking at his offers. Maybe if he stares hard enough, the one he’s actually interested in doing will pop out at him.

-.-.-.-

They were leaving class when All-Might appeared and suddenly requested to talk to Midoriya. Immediately, Hitoshi got suspicious.

“Is there an issue?” he questioned. Midoriya and All-Might exchanged panicked looks, and his suspicions grew.

“Not at all, my boy!” All-Might declared. “I just came to inform Young Midoriya that he had a last-minute offer put in. I understand that you already have plenty to consider, but this one was marked priority. To be honest, the rest of the faculty was quite confused. No one’s heard of this agency before.”

All-Might passed over the paper. Midoriya glanced at it and yelped.

“What is it?” Hitoshi snatched the paper. When he saw what it said, it felt like the air was ripped from his lungs, as if the man was actually here.

Lovro Specialist Agency

“What the hell?” Hitoshi voiced. Why was this man requesting Midoriya? How was he even able to submit an offer, much less get it marked priority? Does U.A. really not know who this man is?

“Huh? Is something wrong?” All-Might asked.

That seemed to snap Midoriya back to reality. He grabbed the paperback and, using his hands at full speed, ripped the request paper to shreds.

 “Izuku!” Hitoshi hissed, making sure All-Might couldn’t overhear. “You can’t just ignore Lovro like that! He’s going to be pissed!”

“He’s never going to know,” Midoriya argued before turning back to All-Might and smiling. “Nope! Nothing’s wrong, sir!”

All-Might’s smile deflated slightly before snapping back into place. “Right! Well, on that note, there’s something else I would like to discuss with you, Midoriya. Would you mind walking with me?”

Hitoshi arched an eyebrow as Midoriya frantically looked between the two. “Ah, Hitoshi, I’m sorry—”

“It’s fine,” the brainwasher said blandly. “I’ll be at the base if you need me.”

He walked away, but didn’t take his eyes off the duo. He’s noticed for a while, but what the hell was going on between Midoriya and All-Might? It didn’t seem bad, so maybe he’s just being an overprotective best friend — in all honesty, he should be happy for Midoriya, getting to know his idol and all. He’s just being paranoid.

(Justifiably, given what happened with Takaoka and the Reaper and Shiro, and Hitoshi never fully trusted Lovro, and Korosensei is dead, so the trustworthy adult influences in Midoriya’s life are limited.)

However, that didn’t mean he won’t be watching that duo a lot closer from now on.

-.-.-.-

The day to leave for the internships came, and Aizawa escorted the class to the train station to see them off. One by one, they departed. Midoriya left to go intern with some random dude named Gran Torino, claiming they had similar quirks. Hitoshi was 99% sure All-Might had something to do with this, but at the end of the day, at least he didn’t cave and intern with Lovro.

(Hopefully Lovro wouldn’t kill Midoriya for that.)

Once everyone was gone, Aizawa turned to Hitoshi and scowled. “You never picked an internship.”

Hitoshi returned the stare. “I didn’t.”

“Why?”

Aizawa was clearly losing his patience, and Hitoshi was surprised the man hadn’t tried to hit him or something yet. That was a good sign, right?

“None of them would be beneficial for the type of hero work I want to do,” Hitoshi argued, and Aizawa paused, his eyebrows arched.

“Oh? And what would that be?”

“Underground.”

He said it without hesitating, not once breaking eye contact with his new homeroom teacher. He could see the mild surprise cross Aizawa’s face, followed quickly by hardened realization.

“No.”

The Pro-Hero started to walk away, and Hitoshi sputtered, running to cut him off. “No? What do you mean, no?”

Aizawa rolled his eyes. “I don’t do interns, kid. Never have, never will.”

Hitoshi couldn’t believe his ears. What kind of teacher bluntly rejects a student’s effort to learn? Korosensei would never—

He must’ve accidentally voiced his thoughts, because suddenly Aizawa was spinning on him, his eyes glowing red. “I’m not ignoring your efforts. I’m merely telling you to look somewhere else.”

Instead of dissuading Hitoshi, it only pissed him off further. “Where? You know better than anyone how hard it is to make it as an underground hero! If I knew another or got an offer from someone underground, I would have taken it. I’m not going to waste my time following around some Pro while they soak up the spotlight when I could spend my week learning something useful.”

This at least got Aizawa to back down, releasing his quirk and sighing heavily. “Look. I respect your ambition, and I respect your desires — happy about it, even. At least you’re not delusional, trying to make it big with your quirk and fighting style. But unfortunately, I don’t have time to babysit a student this week because, as an underground hero, I’ve already committed to cases—”

“Like the Nomu? Or the Hero Killer?” Aizawa blinked, and Hitoshi rolled his eyes. “They’re my cases too. And I’m willing to bet I know some pretty valuable information about them.”

Aizawa paused, clearly conflicted; he wasn’t the type to ever give in. But finally, finally, he relented. “You’re persistent. And annoying. If you want to survive this week, I’d stop immediately.”

Relief hit Hitoshi like a ton of bricks, and he smiled. “Sure thing, sensei.”

Aizawa went back to glaring. “Nope. This week, I’m Eraserhead and only Eraserhead. And you’re — what’d you pick, again?”

Hitoshi tried to stand up straighter. “Zugzwang.”

The Pro-Hero blinked. “Chess, huh?” He rubbed his eyes and walked out of the station, signaling for Hitoshi to follow. “Could be worse. At least it’s not annoying like half of your classmates choices — or your goddamn first name. Well, let’s get going, Zugzwang.” 

Aizawa suddenly kicked off between two buildings to reach the roof. “And try and keep up.”

-.-.-.-

Nakamura

(8:53) fine, fine. what about Zugzwang, then?

(8:53) it’s a chess term. it means that no matter what move someone makes, it’ll be to their disadvantage

(8:54) so when someone responds to you and says your name, they’re admitting that they’re totally screwed. it’s perfect

(8:54) come on, i know you agreeeeeeee

(9:02) you’re welcome

-.-.-.-

When All-Might suggested the prospect, Izuku didn’t really hesitate to accept Gran Torino’s offer. Sure, he didn’t really know much about the Pro-Hero, but it just made sense: someone with a similar quirk as his who’s especially skilled in training control. The fact that he knows about One For All, therefore someone else he can talk about it with, is a definite plus.

He didn’t exactly have high expectations and all, knowing this man was long retired. But that didn’t mean he was prepared to open the door to Gran Torino’s house and find the man facedown in a pile of his own blood.

I thought he was supposed to teach me to not do that? his brain originally cried before realizing, oh my Korosensei, is he dead?!

But then the man’s head popped up, and Izuku got flashbacks to the time Shinsou brainwashed Korosensei and made him shoot himself in the head, only for the man to regenerate seconds later. He resisted the urge to faint like he had back then.

“S-Sir, are you okay?!” he squeaked, rushing to help Gran Torino up. The man rose shakily, heavily relying on his cane.

“Yes, I’m fine, I’m fine. I’m just so clumsy I slipped and fell all over by food,” he hummed. “Now, who are you?”

“U-Uh, I’m Midoriya Izuku, sir.”

The man blinked. “Who?”

Oh no. This was not going to happen. After getting so many hero offers, why did he have to choose the crazy old man? He should’ve gone with Kamui Woods all along. Maybe if he begs, he can convince All-Might to let him intern at his agency? Shinsou said he was successful in convincing Aizawa in the end.

“I’m sorry, sir, I just need to — hey, what are you doing?!”

The crazy old man had picked up the case carrying Izuku’s hero costume, newly repaired by Itona with a few upgrades. He pulled out the suit, carefully inspecting the crescent moon on the chest.

“So really are the Tentacle’s boy, huh?” His voice was harder, sounding nothing like the frail old man from moments before. Izuku’s mind instantly switched on the defensive. Just who was this guy?

“Even though I’ve been retired for a while, they called me in when he first appeared, hoping I could match his speed.” The old man laughed. “I couldn’t even come close. His power was greater than anything I’ve ever seen — maybe even greater than One For All. Thank goodness the bastard’s dead now.”

Izuku saw red. “Don’t say that! You don’t know him, you don’t—”

He came to his senses much too late and slapped a hand over his mouth. Great, his big old mouth was going to probably get him kicked out of U.A. because he got in a fight with a Pro-Hero on his internship.

Gran Torino, however, didn’t seem to be bothered by the outburst and raised an eyebrow. “There’s rumors going around that you’re as fast as him. That true?”

Izuku tensed; he didn’t like the idea of rumors flying around in the hero world about his quirk. “N-No, I’m not—”

He barely dodged the kick to his head in time, having to tap into his Mach-2 speed to do it. The man landed and perched on the wall behind Izuku’s head and smirked.

“You’re right. You’re damn quick, but I never came that close to hitting him before.” He eyed the blood Izuku coughed up and tried to hide. “I watched you very closely in the Sports Festival. While your combat skills are out of this world, you rely too heavily on them. When you’re faced with a powerful quirk, you’re forced to weaken yourself with your own. It’s strange. It’s almost like your body wasn’t designed for your power.”

Izuku tensed at the implications and gritted his teeth. “I came here because All-Might said you could help me control my speed, not to get lectured on the circumstances surrounding it. If you’re not going to do that, then I’m leaving.”

Izuku reached for his case, only to get cut off by Gran Torino zooming in front of him. “So testy. Fine, I will train you, but it won’t be easy.”

Izuku grinned. “If my training in life was ever easy, I wouldn’t be here today. So, give me everything you’ve got!”

-.-.-.-

Izuku switched into his hero suit, mentally taking note of all the changes made. While the base suit was basically the same, just with more durable material, the tech was where the real changes were made. There were new 3-E inspired add-ons in his utility belt, including hot-sauce bombs kindly invented by Karma. His gloves and shoes were tweaked slightly so that the suction cup aspect was more refined, and they added a hologram projection factor to the glasses. 

It seemed Gran Torino’s preferred form of teaching was jumping around at supersonic speeds. Izuku was easily able to track the man’s movements and moved out of the way before the kick to his back landed. The old man scowled and jumped around before going for another hit, which Izuku again dodged without needing to tap into his speed. Was this training actually supposed to be beneficial?

“C’mon, boy, stop dancing around and actually try to hit me back!” howled Gran Torino.

Izuku, accepting the challenge, waited for just the right moment to pull out his nerve-knife and swipe at the retired pro. Since he wasn’t moving at Mach-2, Gran Torino was able to dodge and land on the wall, but Izuku went after him. He triggered the sticky feet aspect on the boots, stuck to the wall next to Gran Torino, and fruitlessly sliced again.

“Too slow!” Gran Torino mocked, jumping away, and that’s when Izuku fired the grappling hook he was hiding behind his back. It wrapped around the old man’s foot, and he came to a screeching halt before crashing on the floor.

“Well that was unexpected…” the old man mumbled before spinning on the hero in training. “And it’s a prime example of what I was trying to tell you! You rely much too heavily on your combat skills and fancy superspy technology that you purposely avoid using your quirk. How do you expect to get better if you won’t use it?!”

Izuku flinched. “I-It’s not that, it’s just, my injury, I might cause complications if I use it too much—”

“That didn’t seem to stop you in the Sports Festival.” Gran Torino sighed. “Look, kid, Toshinori told me about your old wound. It’s been months; you should be fine by now. The reason you keep coughing up blood is that you’re letting the power harm your body, not because your body’s already harmed. You’re letting it be your greatest enemy.”

Izuku blinked, stunned while Gran Torino carefully freed his foot and walked to the door. “Think about that while I’m out, kid.”

-.-.-.-

To be quite frank, Izuku was pissed off. Not only was he annoyed with Gran Torino, but he was angry with himself. Why couldn’t he just figure this out? His quirk being his greatest enemy? Letting his quirk hurt him? How does he even address that? Too bad Gran Torino’s best advice seemed to be limited to ‘Work on it.’

While the old man was sound asleep for the night, Izuku went in the back alley to train away his frustrations. Everyone else in the class was probably getting to go on patrol and witness real hero work, and here he was, training himself outside the house of a crazy old man. Maybe he should see if he could finish out his internship with END? At least he’d get real field experience with them.

Izuku sensed the man’s presence before he ever stepped out of the shadows and instinctively threw out a nerve-knife. A gloved hand shot out and grabbed the weapon mid-air.

“Good to see your instincts haven’t dulled.”

That voice. Izuku knew that voice. But what was he doing here? How did he even find Izuku?

“You seem shocked to see me,” Lovro said, stepping out of the shadows. “Did you think I’d really train a student and then forget about them? Especially a student that makes a spectacle of themselves on live TV?”

Oh shit. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

“M-Mr. Lovro, sir! What, um, why are you here? How did you even find me?”

The Pro-Assassin leveled him with a hard glare. “I am the most powerful assassin in the world, and you are a child wearing a giant crescent moon on his chest in a dark alley. With my connections, it was very easy to find you.”

What does that even mean?! Izuku wanted to scream, covering up his chest self-consciously.

“I also called Karasuma and he sent me your location based on the tracker in your watch,” Lovro continued, and Izuku sagged for a second before processing the words. How could Karasuma and Ritsu betray him like this?!

“I must admit, it was very shocking to see my ex-student, who I always knew as quirkless, moving as fast as that damn octopus on television. I’m sure you can understand my concerns.”

The man glared murderously and Izuku jolted, waving his hands frantically. “I promise I never lied to you, Mr. Lovro, sir, I really was quirkless while I was in E-class. It’s just that when the Reaper attacked, he kinda maybe stabbed a hole through my chest and I kinda maybe died, but it’s okay because Korosensei stitched me back together and saved my life! And, uh, I guess he kinda maybe gave me a small percentage of his speed quirk as a parting gift because he knew I wanted to be a hero and it would be hard for me and—”

The oxygen in the alleyway disappeared for a short second, long enough to shut Izuku up. Lovro huffed, aggressively pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Dear problem child, what do I even do with you?” he mumbled, and Izuku chuckled sheepishly. “Nonetheless, that still doesn’t explain why you ignored my internship offer.”

“Huh?” Izuku blinked. “Sir, it’s a hero internship program. You — You’re an assassin, not a hero! How did you even submit an offer in the first place?”

“I have my connections,” Lovro answered simply, which Izuku deduced translated to ‘I called Karasuma.’ Izuku was going to have words with the END handler once this internship program was done.

“Besides, it would appear that interning with me would have been much more beneficial for your training,” Lovro said, eyeing Gran Torino’s rusted house and the crummy alleyway. Izuku sighed and moved to gather his things.

“I came here to learn to control my quirk, not assassinate people.” He brushed past his old mentor and bowed his head. “You helped me a lot last year, Mr. Lovro, and I’m grateful for that. You had no reason to train me, to help me, but you did and I won’t forget that. But I don’t need that kind of training anymore. I need to learn to control my quirk before I hurt myself or anyone around me.”

He left the Pro-Assassin in the alleyway. He was a fool to think that’d be the end of it.

-.-.-.-

The next morning, while Izuku was pouring over old hero notebooks for inspiration, there was a knock on the door. Gran Torino was singing about a microwave or something, so he didn’t think anything of it when he went to get the door.

“Huh? You’re here for Midoriya, you say?”

The green-haired boy’s head shot up, and sure enough, standing at the door was Lovro.

“Sir?! What are you still doing here?”

Lovro expertly maneuvered his way into the house without Gran Torino realizing it until the door was already closed. “I’ve decided I am going to oversee your training.”

“HUH?!” Gran Torino and Izuku exclaimed at the same time. The green-haired boy scrambled out of his chair and ran to his old mentor.

“Mr. Lovro, I already explained that I don’t need your training—”

“Which is why you won’t be getting mine. I am simply going to oversee your progress. You are and forever will be one of my students, and I don’t take such matters lightly.”

Izuku gaped, absolutely speechless, while Gran Torino looked terribly confused. “Huh? Who is this man, Midoriya? He’s not the delivery man, is he?”

Lovro looked extremely insulted by the notion, and Izuku scrambled to make peace before the Pro-Assassin could do anything drastic like kill Gran Torino. “U-Um, this is Lovro. He’s my — well, he was my — back when I was in E-class—”

“I am Izuku’s old mentor and one of the greatest assassins in the world,” interrupted Lovro, and Izuku facepalmed. Did he have to add the assassin part?

Gran Torino hummed, his eyes narrowed as he took in the tall foreign man. “You’re sure he isn’t the delivery man?”

Lovro growled, but Izuku’s starting to realize that this is what Gran Torino does when he’s observing something knew — playing dumb, throwing off suspicion. 

Gran Torino sighed and walked away to the kitchen. “Well, whoever you are, I don’t see any reason for you to be here. Sounds to me that you’ll only be a distraction for my student.”

This situation was hilariously similar to the first day Izuku training with Lovro and Korosensei crashed the meeting, getting all defensive over his student. Oh, how the tables have turned.

Lovro scowled. “I’ve known and worked with Izuku for a year now. I don’t see how my presence can be anything but an assistance for your training.”

The two powerful men stared each other down and Izuku stood to the side, quaking and terrified that his mentors were about to duel to the death or something. Should he contact Ritsu? Is this an issue worth reporting?

“Midoriya,” Gran Torino said. “Do you trust this man?”

The green-haired boy froze. Trust him? Why was a question like this even necessary? But nonetheless, not wanting to start a fight, Izuku answered truthfully.

“He was my mentor, sir. I trust him a great deal.”

Lovro blinked and smiled faintly while Gran Torino nodded firmly. “Very well. He can stay, so long he keeps himself and his assassin skills out of the way.”

Izuku exhaled, relieved that the two skilled men weren’t trying to attack each other anymore, but then the reality started to settle in. “Wait. Does that mean…”

“Yup. Mr. Scary Assassin is going to help us figure out how to control your damn quirk.”

Izuku’s mind began piecing Lovro and Gran Torino’s teaching styles together. He wondered if it was too late to run back to U.A. and hide. Or maybe to the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

-.-.-.-

Izuku spat up large globs of blood into the trash can. It felt hard to breathe, and it wasn’t because of Lovro’s quirk. His lungs were collapsing in on themselves, and he’ll probably die if he keeps this up.

“This is pointless,” he coughed. “It’s still the same, nothing is changing—”

“Well, have you actually tried changing anything in your approach?” challenged Gran Torino. “You’re smart — too smart, maybe. You can analyze another person’s skill set incredibly well, and you’re innovative enough to think of ways to apply it to yourself. However, you’re not doing much analyzing on your own capabilities.”

Lovro hummed, leaning forward in his seat. “The old man is correct, Izuku. We both know the circumstances surrounding your ability are very unique, yet you turn to others for inspiration. It is possible this isn’t working because they simply do not….how do you say...translate over.”

Izuku huffed, slumping against the trash can. “Well, what do I do then? If there’s no one else to compare myself too, then what do I look to so I can learn?”

“But there is someone, isn’t there?” Gran Torino murmured. “Someone who had this quirk before you.”

Izuku tensed. Did...Did he know? How could he know? Did Yagi tell him? The government? Lovro? No, Lovro just learned himself, it couldn’t have been him.

“I told you I faced the Tentacle. Did you really think I wouldn’t recognize his power, even if it’s only a small percentage of it?” Gran Torino continued, smirking. “After all, you’re not the first person I’ve met with an inherited power.”

He’s talking about All-Might! Why is he talking about All-Might in front of Lovro? Doesn’t he know Lovro is going to get suspicious and then reach out to his ‘connections’ to figure it out and then he’s going to learn about One-For-All and All-Might and—

“Oh, you are talking about One-For-All, yes?”

...what...the…

“HUH?!” Izuku and Gran Torino exclaimed, turning to the professional assassin. Lovro looked vaguely exasperated by their reaction.

“I have been in this business for a very long time. The underground knows the ins and outs of heroes and villains better than anyone else in the world. I’m well aware of All-Might’s mysterious power, as well as All-For-One.”

Izuku blinked. “All-For-One?”

The two adults exchanged looks. “A conversation for another time,” Gran Torino decided. “For now, let’s focus on fixing your quirk. I can tell you aren’t nearly as fast as the Tentacle — is this a conscious choice or a limitation?”

Izuku tried to focus back in, but his brain kept slipping back to this mysterious ‘All-For-One.’ “Uh, it’s a limit. Korosensei only transferred me ten percent of his speed, so my limit is Mach-2.”

The elderly hero whistled. “Still insanely quick. Ever thought of using less?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“You hardly need to go Mach-2 constantly, especially with your combat skills to back you up. Hell, you don’t even need to go Mach-1; I’m lucky if I can even come close to that, and I was fine. If you restrain your power, use less speed, maybe that’ll work.”

Lovro nodded. “One of the main lessons I teach my students is to treat their quirk like a muscle. If you try to pick up the biggest weight right away, you’re going to hurt yourself. That’s probably why your body responds the way it does — you haven’t built up your muscle.”

It...made a lot of sense, actually. His body went from having no quirk to suddenly being able to move double the speed of sound. Of course that would cause strain beyond the injury in his chest. He needed to start small, work his way up to full speed, let his body adapt. 

After all, Korosensei always treated their quirks as just another weapon for them to train. This whole time, he’s been seeing his quirk as a completely different entity to his skill set, but in reality, it wasn’t much different than his preferred weaponry. Which means he should just treat it that way.

Before, he treated his quirk a lot like firing a gun — pull the trigger, let it go. It worked, but it was violent, uncontrolled. He needed to control his power, the amount of force behind it. He needed to treat it like...like using a knife. He could go all out, throwing it, or he could wield it, slicing and jabbing and cutting. Deliberate. Controlled. 

“Okay…” he said. Wield the knife. “Okay, I’m going to try it.”

He closed his eyes, visualizing the weapons in his hand. Don’t pull the trigger. Don’t throw the knife. Just...slice it. Go small, think small.

He ran across to the other side of the room. It took him about 1.5 seconds — much slower than before, but still inhumanly quick. He froze and waited for the hot, metallic taste of blood, dreading it…

“I’m...I’m not coughing up blood,” he whispered, turning to his two mentors. “It-It worked! It actually worked!”

Gran Torino grinned triumphantly. “And you still moved plenty fast — around the same speed as me.”

Lovro nodded and hummed. “You’ll need to work up your speed on your own, but this should be sufficient for now. I expect updates, however, no more disappearing without a word like last time.”

Izuku flinched under the assassin’s glare. “Y-Yes, sir!”

He looked down at his hands in awe, still unable to believe it. He actually figured out a way to control his quirk. Korosensei’s quirk. If Korosensei were here, he’d probably be tossing Izuku in the air, and gathering the whole class to celebrate, and…

Oh, if only Korosensei were here.

Thankfully, Gran Torino snapped him back to the present before he could get too low on himself. “First and foremost, though, let’s see how well you can keep it up.” The retired hero shot to the other side of the room and grinned. “Let’s try the challenge again, huh?”

-.-.-.-

They’ve been training for three days now. Izuku’s new control with his quirk was shaky but manageable. He would still lose control sometimes, pulling the trigger, but he was getting better with each mock battle. It was entertaining and terrifying to see Gran Torino and Lovro working together to train Izuku, but it was even more bizarre during breaks. Gran Torino would go back to acting like a crazed old man, and Lovro would hide in the shadows and tap away on his phone.

Izuku wondered if he was coordinating assassinations while helping with Izuku’s hero training. Probably.

Izuku spent his breaks catching up with his old and new classmates. Kirishima ended up at the same internship with Tetsutetsu, which he wasn’t happy about. Isogai and Kataoka were so overrun with PR work ever since the Sports Festival — everyone wanted to get the scoop on the ‘new’ and ‘loved’ END — that they had to recruit Sugino and Kanzaki to help out. 

In the most recent news, the special reconnaissance mission Karasuma mentioned was being headed by Ms. Jelavić. Izuku quirked an eyebrow and wondered how Shinsou was taking that information. He quickly sent a message to his best friend.

Izuku: Have you heard about Ms. Jelavić heading up the Stain mission?

Hitoshi: oh trust me. i've heard

Izuku: Oh! Well, how’s your internship with Aizawa-sensei going?

Hitoshi: it was fine until bitch-sensei got her mission. now she’s trying to kidnap me

Izuku: ???

Hitoshi: she got to choose her team and is trying to get all of the honeypots together. aizawa is big mad about it, and midnight keeps trying to fight her about boob sizes. any chance i can crash your internship?

Izuku: Oh, um!

Hitoshi: jolly green…

Izuku: Okay, so Lovro may have tracked me down on my internship but it’s okay, I swear! He’s actually been helpful and focusing on hero training and everything.

Hitoshi: … 

Izuku: (◠‿◠)

Izuku paused in his messaging when Lovro suddenly stood up. “I’m afraid I must leave now. I have a meeting I must attend in Shinjuku.”

“Shinjuku, huh?” Gran Torino repeated, rubbing his chin. “Highly populated area, probably a lot of crime. Perfect place for an assassin meeting, I bet.”

Lovro glared, and the elderly hero cackled. “Ah, so serious. Though, it’s not a mad idea, going to a city like that. I’m sure there’s lots of hero work there.” Gran Torino nodded to himself. “Yup. Midoriya and I will be coming with you.”

Both Izuku and Lovro jolted. “What? No, you will not.”

“Nope, my mind’s made up,” Gran Torino said, munching away on one of his snacks. “You called a taxi, right? Midoriya, go put on your hero costume.”

“Uh…” Izuku paused, looking between his two mentors. “Okay…”

He wondered who had it worse, him or Shinsou. 

(Probably Shinsou. Ms. Jelavić, Aizawa-sensei and Midnight was a combination he never wanted to think about.)

-.-.-.-

They were on the train to Shinjuku when a Nomu attacked it. Because of course it did.

The creature burst through the side of the cart, a Pro-Hero in its claws. It looked different from the one at the USJ, with four eyes and pale blue skin, but the large exposed brain gave it away. Izuku didn’t hesitate, firing a nerve-bullet between its eyes. It didn’t do much, but it distracted it from the Pro-Hero.

“What the hell is that thing?!” Gran Torino exclaimed. Izuku activated his glasses so they’d send video transmissions back to the END base (hopefully someone was there this late), and turned on his comm.

“A Nomu is attacking a train in Hosu City! I repeat, there is a Nomu in Hosu City!” he declared and prayed someone would hear. He turned to his Ritsu-watch. “Ritsu, what’s going on?”

The AI girl appeared, looking terrified. “Multiple reports of giant monsters attacking Hosu City have appeared. By my calculations, there are possibly three different Nomus in the city right now. I’m calling in all the END reinforcements that I can, but I cannot guarantee they will be permitted to deploy.”

“Why-”

But then Izuku remembered why. Karasuma wasn’t letting anyone go to Hosu City right now because that’s where the Hero Killer was.

Was he a part of these attacks? It seemed a little too flashy for him, but maybe he wasn’t alone. It wouldn’t be surprising if he was working with the League of Villains. 

“Just...keep me updated, Ritsu.”

He turned off the watch and focused back on the Nomu. Lovro was shooting at it freely, but even his real bullets still had little to no effect. They needed anti-sensei material. Oh, why wasn’t he as paranoid as Karma and carrying it around all the time? He should’ve learned after the USJ incident.

Suddenly, Gran Torino pushed off the train wall and into the Nomu, knocking the two of them out of the train. Izuku cursed and put away his nerve-gun. “Lovro, c’mon!” He grabbed his ex-mentor and, making sure to watch his speed, rushed them out of the cart and into the streets where Gran Torino landed.

Hosu City was in complete chaos: people ran down the streets, fires erupted on all sides, the screams of civilians and Nomu blended together. He found Gran Torino protecting citizens from the Nomu, using his quirk to strike and get out of the way. As Izuku put Lovro down, he stole a large, serrated knife from the Pro-Assassin’s trench coat and launched himself at the Nomu. Using his speed and momentum, he sliced the beast’s arm clean off.

“Eh, g-gross,” he whined, eyeing the squirming limb. The Nomu screamed and...didn’t regenerate. It didn’t die, and only seemed mildly fazed by the lack of limb, but the arm never grew back. Huh. Then that must mean…

“You’re not like the other Nomu,” Izuku realized. “You’re weaker, not as developed... If our theory is right, and someone is trying to replicate Korosensei’s experiment, then they must’ve created you from a different trial. Which means you’re more susceptible to normal attacks.”

This was honestly the best news they could receive. If these Nomu were weaker, then the Pro-Heroes might actually be able to take them out without END intervening. 

The Nomu screamed again, but before he could charge again, he was engulfed in flames. Izuku shot back to avoid becoming collateral damage in the wild attack.

“I think it’s time you went back to creeping in the alleyway, END,” Endeavor said. “Leave this one to the real heroes.”

Izuku gritted his teeth (of course it had to be this guy), but then Gran Torino shouted out another warning. The green-haired boy grabbed Lovro and dragged him to safety before the Nomu suddenly shot back the flame with an absorb-and-release quirk. His muscles started augmenting as well — so he still had multiple quirks, even if his body was weaker — and his tongue shot out at Endeavor and Gran Torino like a giant web. Izuku didn’t hesitate, using his quirk to shoot right through the tongue and, mid-air, fired an entire round of nerve-bullets down the monster’s spine. It paralyzed it long enough for Gran Torino to slam down onto the Nomu, fully knocking it out.

“I think our focus should be protecting the city, Endeavor,” said Izuku, reloading his gun. He eyed the sidekicks surrounding the famous Pro and frowned. “Where’s Todoroki? Isn’t he interning with you?”

Endeavor scowled. “He got a message and ran off somewhere — 4210 Ekou Street. Said a classmate might be in danger.”

“A classmate?” What classmate could be in danger in Hosu? Was there someone interning here? Izuku racked his brain, trying to think of any classmate who would’ve wanted to work in Hosu City; it wasn’t exactly well-known for crime or hero work. Until tonight, the Hero Killer was the only big crime in this—

Wait. The Hero Killer. 

Iida.

-.-.-.-

Izuku took off without a word, sprinting through the streets as fast as his body and quirk would let him. Thank goodness Endeavor knew the address; he found the alleyway within seconds, which was almost a few seconds too late as he spotted Todoroki, Iida and the Pro-Hero Native on the ground. Stain stood above them with his knives drawn.

He plowed into the murderer, knocking him away from his classmates, before landing a good distance away from the Hero Killer. 

“Midoriya?!” Iida said. “What are you doing here?”

“And where have you been?” Todoroki muttered, which, okay, weird. Did he expect Izuku to just magically be where danger was at all times?

(...okay, given his track record, maybe that was a fair assumption.)

“You guys need to get out of here!” Izuku exclaimed, but neither of his classmates moved. Why weren’t they moving?!

“That symbol, on your chest,” rasped Stain, and Izuku froze. This crescent moon was causing more trouble than he planned. “You’re an END agent, aren’t you?”

The villain licked his lips, his tongue abnormally large, and Izuku reached for his nerve-knife. “And if I am?”

The Hero Killer tracked the movement. “I’ve been quite curious to meet one of you. It seems like everyone I meet has their own opinion on your group, yet no one can agree on one narrative.”

Stain dragged his blade against the ground, painfully slow. “Some say you’re monsters, others call you heroes. Murderers or victims. Assassins or children. Quite the conflicting storyline.”

“Midoriya,” Iida rasped, still frozen in his spot. “Don’t let him cut you with his knife. Just run. Get away from here while you still can.”

Izuku blatantly ignored the boy, his eyes trained solely on the Hero Killer. “Wanna know what I think?” Stain continued, lifting the blade and pointing it at Izuku. “I think your little class is just another example of why these false heroes need to be purged.”

The three heroes-in-training tensed. Out of the corner of his eye, Izuku could see Todoroki starting to move again. Stain’s quirk must have some kind of temporary paralysis aspect, something with his knife-like Iida said. Now he could just pick up Iida — but no, wait, there’s still the Pro-Hero. It’s going to be a lot harder trying to escape with three people, especially if two were paralyzed. He’s going to need to stall until the quirk finally wears off.

“It’s disgusting to think about. Our precious heroes were too weak, too pathetic to stop the Number One Villain, so what do they do? Throw their burden onto children and move on. Let the children take care of the problem, let the children suffer and become killers, and then try to come in at the end and take all the glory.” The Hero Killer laughed hollowly. “But what can you expect from these fakes? If something isn’t going to bring them money and fame, then they don’t care. If you ask me, the best moral influence you had was the Tentacle.”

Izuku felt like he couldn’t breathe, each word coming from Stain’s mouth a stab in the heart. Well, at least we know what he thinks of END now…

“Todoroki,” Izuku breathed. “Take Iida and get out of here. I’ll protect Native and take care of Stain—”

“No,” Iida growled. “I will not run until I bring this man to justice for the crimes he committed. For what he did to my brother!”

Even without Nagisa’s quirk, Izuku could feel the bloodlust pouring out of Iida. It horrified him. The burning drive for revenge blinded Iida’s ability to think logically; no wonder he stupidly charged after the Hero Killer. And until Stain was taken care of, no way was Iida capable of making rational decisions.

“You’re better off saving yourself, END agent,” Stain drawled. “I have no reason to fight you right now, but if you get in my way, I’ll have no choice but to eliminate you too. These are my targets to kill, and you have no right to interfere. Isn’t that the assassin code?”

Izuku gritted his teeth and pulled out his own set of knives. “I’m not here as an END agent or an assassin, Stain. I’m here as the aspiring hero Korosenai—” he pointed a knife at Stain,  “—and as a hero, it’s my job to interfere.”

The Hero Killer charged and Izuku rushed to meet him, parrying Stain’s knives with his own. He probably could’ve taken Stain out with a few slices, but he still needed to focus on getting his classmates somewhere safe. Well, that, and Stain was way faster than Izuku expected. He was able to keep up with Izuku’s reduced speed irritatingly well.

“Korosenai, huh?” Stain gruffed, pushing his blade against Izuku’s and leaning in close. “That means unkillable, right? A bold name for a hero, kid. A little arrogant.”

“The Tentacle was Korosensei to us, and I carry on his legacy more than anyone else.” Izuku jumped back long enough to clutch the crescent moon on his hero costume. “It’s not being arrogant; it’s honoring him.”

Stain’s eyes narrowed and attacked again. Izuku needed to devise an escape plan for his classmates, so he decided to copy Korosensei’s double-creating technique to talk to Todoroki and fight Stain at the same time. He was moving a fraction of Korosensei’s speed, so the communication was choppy.

“Todoroki—” block the attack, “-you need to get—” twist Stain’s knife away, “-Iida out of here—” kick Stain’s arm, “-I don’t know why—” roll underneath the swipe, “-you’re here but if—” grab Stain’s wrist and push, “-it’s for revenge, you need to—” narrowly keep Stain from advancing, “-put your feelings behind you and—”

“What do you mean, you don’t know why I’m here?” Todoroki asked. “You’re the one that sent me the location to this place.”

“What? No I didn’t-”

He foolishly let himself get distracted, and Stain attacked, slicing his knife across his arm deep enough to draw blood. He watched in slow motion as the Hero Killer smiled triumphantly, slowly bringing the knife up—

But wait. I can still move, even though he cut me…

Before Stain could bring the blade any higher, Izuku tapped into his speed a little past his limit, going about Mach-1, and ripped the knife out of Stain’s hands. He coughed up the smallest dribble of blood before sprinting to the other side of the alleyway.

So his quirk isn’t activated just by cutting you. Then what—

Izuku watched, horrified, as Stain reached down and dabbed his finger in the small dot of blood he coughed up. 

“Sorry, kid.” Stain ran his long tongue over his finger, and Izuku’s body went stiff. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move.

“Huh. So that’s how it works.”

Izuku couldn’t turn his head to see who spoke, but he didn’t need to. He’d recognize that condescending tone from anywhere.

“Your quirk was quite the mystery, Hero Killer, but I think I get it now,” drawled Karma, jumping down from the rooftop. “By ingesting someone else’s blood, you can paralyze their body. From my calculations, how long varies from blood-type to blood-type, right? Pretty useful for someone with a vendetta like you, but I have to ask — how do you not catch diseases from the blood?”

...really Karma? Of all the questions to ask?

Stain tilted his head. “Pretty accurate analysis. How long have you been watching me?”

“Long enough to hack Midoriya’s phone and send this location to half-and-half here,” Karma answered, patting Todoroki’s shoulder. “We decided as END that we wouldn’t engage you since we didn’t know your thoughts on END, but our handler never said anything about observing. We knew Hosu City was your next target, so I had Ritsu monitor the area until you finally made a reappearance.”

The Hero Killer hummed. “I was wondering why your little team hasn’t tried attacking me yet.”

“Yeah, none of us really want to do anything for END, being forced into being government dogs and all. We take any pass on a mission that we can get,” joked Karma as he casually strolled over to where Izuku was frozen. He grabbed Stain’s stolen knife, twirling it around with a smirk.

“Oh?” Stain mimicked, licking his lips. “Then why are you here?”

Karma grinned sadistically and brandished the blade. “Well, if the government is going to let me get away with murder all I want, then I might as well take advantage of it!”

It was a blatant lie. Karma doesn’t kill, just like the rest of END, and he doesn’t engage in a mission unless he has to — that, or if there’s someone he’s trying to protect. 

Stain scoffed. “Much different outlook than your little friend here.”

Karma eyed Izuku and winked. “Well, he is a hero-hopeful. What else can you expect from them?”

The red-haired boy was clearly just stalling at this point; Izuku guessed he was mentally timing how long Stain’s quirk worked on Izuku. Iida was finally starting to move again, shifting so he stood next to Todoroki, but the two stubbornly wouldn’t flee. 

The Hero Killer hummed and pulled out the katana on his back. “Well, your friend said he interfered with me because he’s a hero. What’s your reasoning then?”

“Oh? Isn’t it obvious?” Karma laughed, high and condescending. “Because you’re my target. And as an assassin, it’s my job to take you out.”

He lunged, sudden and sporadic yet so controlled. He sliced the jagged weapon at Stain’s chest and it connected. The cut was shallow, but blood still sprayed everywhere. Izuku worried for a second, wondering if Karma was serious about killing Stain.

But then Karma secured the knife to his belt and pulled out his set of nerve-knives. His golden eyes seemed to glow as he slowly smeared Stain’s blood across his cheek. 

“Hey, your quirk wouldn’t happen to work against yourself, would it?” he questioned. “Because it’d be an awful shame if you accidentally ingested some of your own blood, now that it’s covering everything.”

The Hero Killer tensed, and Izuku sang mental praises for the ingenious move. Karma smirked. “Hey, First, Glasses. You guys gonna actually help me or are you just going to keep staring?”

His words jolted the two hero students into action. Todoroki sent a wall of flames at Stain while Iida activated his Reciprio Blast. He kicked Stain’s katana, shattering it with the force. Stain growled and pulled two new knives from his waist, but they were met with Karma’s. The red-haired boy forced Stain back, matching his skill level with the knives easily. Stain swooped low to cut Karma’s leg, but he was knocked back by a wall of ice from Todoroki.

“Thanks, First!” Karma said, falsely chipper. Todoroki scowled at the continued nickname. 

Finally, finally, Izuku felt the immobilizing effect of the quirk wear off. He zipped over and barrelled into Stain’s chest again, kicking off him to launch himself where his friends stood.

Stain chuckled as he slowly pulled himself to his feet again. “Oh, you END kids are turning out to be just as entertaining as everyone said you were. You act on selfish desires like this scum—” he pointed at Iida, “Yet you openly acknowledge it, not bothering to mask it with claims of goodwill or duty. You act for money, you act because you want to, because you’re forced to — I can’t tell if I’m disgusted and amused.”

Karma rolled his eyes. “Well, at the end of the day, we’re not much different than you. You hurt and kill for your own selfish desires, don’t you?”

It was apparently the wrong thing to say. The Hero Killer bared his teeth and spat pure bloodlust. “I kill to purge this society of the cancer that is these false heroes. I do not kill without reason. I eliminate those unworthy of the title of hero.”

“Mhm, that’s nice and all, but who’s to say your moral standard is the end-all?” Karma scoffed. “Don’t get me wrong, I agree with you. Hero, villain, they’re all just a bunch of nonsense titles that supposedly differentiate the good from the bad. In reality, they just perpetuate the divided society we live in. I mean, they call Endeavor a great hero and the man’s an abusive asshole, amiright, First?”

Todoroki flinched and Izuku and Iida’s jaws dropped. Karma plowed on, unfazed. “When you said the Tentacle was our best moral influence, you couldn’t be more right. They called Korosensei the Number One Villain, but the worst thing that man did was read porn magazines during lunch breaks. Oh, and supposedly blow up the moon.” Karma scoffed. “And yet he’s dead and Endeavor basks in glory. Trust me, I see the issues in this society plain as day, but murdering people you deem as ‘unworthy’ is hardly a righteous cause.”

There was silence for a long time as Karma’s words sunk in. As much as Izuku hated to admit it, he could see sense in Karma’s words. Korosensei was undoubtedly a hero, but the world instantly dubbed him a monster. They condemned him to death.

Suddenly, an explosion of bloodlust unlike any other — unlike Takaoka, unlike the Reaper, unlike Shiro — came off in waves from Stain. Izuku gritted his teeth and struggled to remain upright, to breathe. He grabbed Iida’s shoulder. 

“Follow my lead!” 

Iida blinked but nodded, and together they charged Stain, kicking and punching him at the same time. Stain went flying back and, barely conscious, tried to slice at them with his knife. However, instead, he got a face full of fire from Todoroki. He crashed to the floor, burned and unconscious. Karma pulled out his gun and fired a nerve-bullet, ensuring the Hero Killer was out.

For a second, no one moved. Everyone breathed heavily as they stared at the fallen monster. Izuku felt sick to his stomach observing the murderer. This man really wanted to kill Iida, a child, just to fulfill his own ideals.

Finally, Karma moved, handcuffing Stain and removing all of his weapons. He grabbed the stolen knife from his own belt and...held it out to Iida?

“W-What?” Iida breathed, flinching away from the weapon. Karma tilted his head.

“Isn’t this why you’re here? To get revenge for your brother?” He flipped the blade so that the hilt was facing Iida. “Well, now’s your chance.”

“Karma,” Izuku hissed, not even caring to use the boy’s codename. The red-haired boy blatantly ignored Izuku and stared into Iida’s horrified eyes. 

“So what will it be, Glasses? Do you want to be the man who avenged his brother? Or do you want to be the man your brother actually wants you to be?”

The dark-haired boy flinched back. “I-I…”

His eyes lowered to the floor, and Karma stared a little longer before sighing and tossing the blade away. “Acting on revenge is foolish and counter-intuitive. Nothing is going to change what happened to your brother, especially not this. So if you really want to do your brother justice, move on and become a hero worth respecting.”

Karma left to go check on the injured Native and call in back-up. Izuku placed a gentle hand on Iida’s shoulder, and he could feel the boy trembling.

“He’s intense, but he means well, I promise,” Izuku assured him. “He was probably just annoyed when you tried to interfere with Stain while he was stuck observing. He doesn’t like it when people get hurt and he’s not allowed to do anything about it.”

Iida nodded silently and hung his head. Todoroki frowned and eyed the END commander. “Why would he contact me of all people? And why would he pretend to be you?”

Izuku shrugged. “He probably knew you were in the area. Until he got confirmation on Stain’s opinion on END, he wasn’t allowed to interfere. As commander, he could get in huge trouble for going against orders. He probably figured you wouldn’t respond to a text unless it was from someone you knew.”

Todoroki nodded slowly and lowered his voice so only Izuku could hear. “Midoriya. I’m going to ask you a question. It is going to sound strange, but I need you to answer me truthfully.”

“Sure, what’s up?” Should Izuku be concerned? He felt very concerned.

“Is your commander adopted?”

Izuku coughed up blood and choked on it.

Chapter Text

Despite his initial reluctance, Aizawa worked seamlessly having an intern. Though Hitoshi had expected this; from what he’s seen and heard from Midoriya, the underground hero was an amazing teacher. In some aspects, he could even hold a candle to Korosensei. He wasn’t exactly the ‘slow-down-and-explain-it’ type, but Hitoshi was used to that. He learned 90% of Bitch-sensei’s techniques by her using them on him first.

This meant that Aizawa didn’t waste any time getting into the real work. On the first day, he and Hitoshi went down to the police station to meet with the lead detective for the USJ case.

“Since when did you have sidekicks?” Naomasa greeted, eyeing Hitoshi skeptically. He was changed into his hero costume, the metal mask resting loosely around his neck. Aizawa seemed unimpressed when he first saw the costume, but he became more accepting when he learned it could change colors to all black.

“I don’t,” replied Aizawa. “This is Zugzwang. He’s here to provide us with intel.”

“I’m his intern,” Hitoshi supplied helpfully. Aizawa glared.

Naomasa nodded and shook Hitoshi’s hand. “Didn’t you win the Sports Festival?”

“I did. And to answer your next question, yes, I am in END.” He answered bluntly, and Aizawa sighed. Naomasa led them back to his office, where a blond, disturbingly sunken-in man was sitting. It was quick, but when he saw Hitoshi, the brainwasher could see the alarm in his eyes. His eyes narrowed. Who was this guy?

...and why did he look familiar?

Aizawa’s frown deepened upon seeing the blond stranger but he took a seat next to the man nonetheless. Hitoshi sat next to his mentor much more cautiously, keeping an eye on the blond man the whole time. Naomasa took a seat across from them at his desk. “Eraserhead, Zugzwang, this is Yagi Toshinori. He’s a...consultant for this case.”

Yagi nodded his head politely. Aizawa rolled his eyes and Hitoshi’s suspicion grew.

Naomasa pulled out the case files, explaining what the police knew so far about the attack and the Nomu, which wasn’t anything new from Hitoshi’s previous knowledge. 

“There wasn’t much of the beast left after the attack, but we were able to gather enough DNA samples to run an analysis of it.” He pulled out a mugshot of a man with disturbingly large lips. “The DNA matched a human criminal who, according to our records, doesn’t have a quirk that lets him turn into a giant monster. However, we did find a surprising substance infused in the man’s DNA.”

“Anti-matter,” Hitoshi mumbled, already knowing the answer. Naomasa blinked and nodded slowly.

“Yes...has END already run the DNA tests, too?” 

Hitoshi smirked. “Yes, but we didn’t need to.” He pulled out the green anti-sensei knife he kept in his utility belt. “This weapon was what destroyed the USJ Nomu, and it only harms beings made of anti-matter. That, and this wasn’t our first run in with a beast called ‘Nomu.’”

“The creature that attacked the mountain?” Aizawa supplied, and Hitoshi could see the wheels turning in his head. Hitoshi nodded.

“Yes. The Reaper was the final form of the Nomu — the perfected weapon. Korosensei was technically the first Nomu, but a botched and incomplete prototype.”

“If I’m following you correctly, wasn’t the creator of the Tentacle and the other creature killed the night of the mountain raid?” Yagi asked. “How is it possible that there’s still Nomus running around? And how did this ‘League of Villains’ get their hands on one?”

There was no way this guy was some random ‘consultant.’ What happened during the mountain raid was a top government secret, confidential on a need-to-know basis. Was he involved in the government somehow? No, if he was, he’d be more up to date on END’s discoveries. 

Hitoshi reached up to his glasses, making it look like he was adjusting them. He pressed the button to start scanning Yagi’s face so Ritsu could pull up his information.

“END suspects an apprentice or successor of Yanagisawa is creating and giving them to the League,” he supplied as his glasses got to work. “The Nomu at the USJ was a fraction as strong as Yanagisawa’s perfected Nomu, which suggests whoever this is doesn’t know his final formula. From what we’ve gathered, Nomus are created by injecting anti-matter and quirks into human subjects, turning them into near-invulnerable bio-weapons.”

“But that Nomu was hardly invulnerable,” Naomasa pointed out, and Hitoshi smirked.

“Far from it. Compared to Yanagisawa’s Nomus, it was very lacking. It didn’t have as many quirks, it could be harmed by normal attacks, it didn’t have any tentacles, and it was unbelievably stupid. If this was baking, it was like the creator was trying to make a Nomu without a recipe.”

His glasses pinged the information, and Hitoshi smothered his shock as he read up what the government had on this ‘Yagi Toshinori.’ It was...unexpecting, to say the least. The adults continued discussing the Nomu and the USJ attack and Hitoshi reeled from this bomb for information. Did Midoriya already know about this? He probably did, the little green punk. Naomasa and Aizawa probably knew too, judging their reactions earlier.

“Are these weapons the only way to defeat the Nomu?” Yagi asked, and Hitoshi redirected his brain to the conversation.

“It might be the only way to easily kill them, but I doubt it. The USJ Nomu showed some susceptibility to normal attacks, at the very least.” He shrugged, twirling the knife between his fingers. “Normal attacks should at least incapacitate him. If you got to the USJ before END, All-Might, I’m sure you could’ve eventually smashed him into submission.”

The room went silent. Yagi’s beady eyes were blown wide and Naomasa’s mouth hung open. Aizawa sunk into his seat with a sigh, reconsidering all of his life choices.

“Did...Did someone…” Yagi choked, and Hitoshi grinned spitefully.

“Tell me? Nope. Though you suggesting it means someone close to me must know about it. Lemme guess, Midoriya?” Yagi flinched, and that was all the answer Hitoshi needed. “If it makes you feel any better, All-Might, I wouldn’t have known for sure if it wasn’t for your U.A. hiring files.”

“You went through my hiring files?”

“Nah, but Ritsu did.” He held up his phone for reference, and the AI girl giggled and waved. Aizawa massaged his temples now.

This was going to be an amazing internship.

-.-.-.-

The mugger came out of the shadows, pulling a knife on the poor, unsuspecting couple. Aizawa held up his hand, telling Hitoshi to stay back while he silently descended the building.

“C’mon, I know you have more than that,” the mugger nagged, holding the knife very close to the smaller woman’s neck. The taller woman held her partner close.

“That’s all the money we have, I swear. Please, just let us go.”

“Hmm, I don’t believe you—”

The wrist holding the knife suddenly became encased by the capture scarf. “You have five seconds to drop the weapon and give the money back to these women.”

The mugger yelped and foolishly tried to pull his wrist free. Aizawa came out from the shadows and tugged the capture scarf, dragging the criminal with it.

“AH! Okay, okay, I’m doing it, I’m doing it!” He dropped the knife on the ground and Aizawa quickly kicked it away. The mugger scrambled to pull the money out, and that’s when Hitoshi glasses notified him, pointing out the tiny detail no normal eye could catch.

Oh, bless Chiba’s quirk.

The man pulled out the gun and aimed it at Aizawa’s head, but before he could do more than that, Hitoshi’s capture rings wrapped around the barrel of the gun and yanked it out of the mugger’s hand. 

“W-What-?”

Just for shits and giggles, Hitoshi turned his artificial voice chords on interrogation mode and jumped down from the building. The Korosensei-like smile glowed on the mask, illuminating his eyes, and the mugger cowered.

“That was a very stupid thing to do,” he said, his voice dropped multiple octaves for effect. The mugger turned, visibly shaking, and that’s when Aizawa reached out, knocking the criminal unconscious.

“Was that really necessary?” the Pro-Hero grumbled, handcuffing the villain and handing the money back to the women. Hitoshi turned off the mask and lowered it so Aizawa could see his actual shit-eating grin.

“Probably not, but it sure made it interesting.”

For the 58th time that internship (Hitoshi has been counting), Aizawa sighed.

-.-.-.-

“Why do you use those?”

They were taking a break in training. Along with patrols, Aizawa had also taken over sparring with Hitoshi using the U.A. gyms. So far, Aizawa succeeded in winning every spar, but only by a very small margin. Hitoshi was close to beating him, he could feel it.

Hitoshi glanced over at his mentor and saw him pointedly staring at Hitoshi’s capture rings. “These? I’ve had them for a while. I originally designed them myself, hoping they’d help with assassination, but then I just got used to them. Itona designed these ones, so they’re a lot more reliable and high-tech.”

Aizawa was still scowling. “But why rings? You have to use your hands, so they limit your range of combat. What do you do if you’re subduing an enemy from afar and another villain tries to fight you hand-to-hand?”

Hitoshi shrugged. “Well, if I’m doing my job right, no one will get close enough to me to worry about that.”

Aizawa sighed. 96th time.

-.-.-.-

“I really don’t understand why you’re making me be here.”

His internship for Aizawa was turning out to be everything he could hope for and more. He got to work on and contribute to major cases outside of END, he got to cause Aizawa lots of stress, and he got to go on patrol every night so far. Thank goodness he was already an insomniac and could function on near-zero sleep. Only the strongest of people could work 22-hour days and live to tell the tale.

But there was one big downside to interning for his homeroom teacher. And it’s that his homeroom teacher still has academic responsibilities even when his homeroom was out for the week. 

Aizawa passed Hitoshi another graded essay (a 23? Ouch, sorry Ashido) to enter in the gradebook. “You’re the one who wanted to follow me around and get experience as an underground hero. Well, this is part of my job.”

Hitoshi figured that translated to ‘this is what you get for being a cheeky little shit,’ which, okay, fair.

Hitoshi sighed and entered in the next essay (Poofy got a 100 on an essay about hero ethics? How did that make sense?) He wondered how Midoriya was doing on his internship and contemplated messaging him, but he decided against it. Aizawa would probably kick him if he even reached for his phone.

The classroom door slammed open.

“Hey, Shouta, I was wondering if you knew — Shinsou?!”

Midnight stood at the doorway, holding a stack of papers. Hitoshi instantly evaluated his escape routes.

“Shinsou, you’re on campus? And you haven’t visited me yet?!” she pouted, hovering over the brainwasher.

“I literally saw you four days ago,” Hitoshi grumbled, leaning backward. “And besides, I’m technically working for my internship right now.”

Aizawa smirked, and Hitoshi prayed the man wouldn’t say anything. Midnight didn’t need to know that he was complaining about this work earlier.

“Oh, are you interning for Shouta? Makes sense; you’re basically the same person.”

Hitoshi and Aizawa both glared at the woman and deadpanned, “No, we’re not.” 

Midnight’s smile only grew.

-.-.-.-

Crazy Blonde Bitch

(12:42) Hey brat

(12:42) Pick up your phone, you have a mission

(12:46) This isn’t an option

(12:58) Shitsou? 

(13:00) I swear if you don’t respond I’m going to come get you myself

(13:08) Ritsu is pinging your location right now!

(13:10) Really? You’re at your stupid school?

(13:10) Since when aren’t you on your phone in school? Are you ignoring me???

(13:26) See you in a little bit, you piece of shit

-.-.-.-

They were just finishing up grading the essays (it ended up taking way longer than necessary thanks to Midnight’s constant commentary on Aizawa’s grading style) when the door slammed open again and a high heel went flying through the air, nailing Hitoshi in the back of the head.

“There you are! Don’t you look at your damn phone?!”

No. This wasn’t happening. “B-Bitch-sensei? What the hell?”

The blonde assassin stood at the door, her other heel clutched in her hand and pointed at the brainwasher. She looked absolutely murderous, but that still didn’t explain why she was at his school.

“Shinsou,” Aizawa said, placing a hand on Hitoshi's shoulder. His voice was quiet, cold and dangerous, and his eyes glowed red. “Do you know this woman?”

Midnight was already pulling at her sleeve, ready to release her quirk. Hitoshi knew he needed to act fast if he wanted to prevent an all-out brawl between his teachers.

“Yes,” he grumbled, glaring at the blonde woman. “She’s my old English teacher.”

The U.A. teachers lowered their defenses (though Aizawa didn’t deactivate his quirk). Bitch-sensei crossed her arms and scoffed.

“Oh, I was a lot more than just his English teacher. But we don’t have time for that, Shitsou, because we have a mission.”

“Mission?” Hitoshi echoed while Aizawa muttered, “Shitsou?” he sounded way too amused by that nickname.

“Yup, a mission, so let’s go.”

And suddenly he was being dragged across the classroom by his ear, Bitch-sensei’s nails digging into his cartilage hard enough to pierce it. He hissed and tried to pry the fingers off, but it was ultimately Midnight and Aizawa that saved him. They blocked Bitch-sensei's exit and looked ready to fight again.

“You’re not going anywhere until you explain who the hell you are and why you’re here. Thoroughly,” Aizawa growled, his red eyes very intimidating. Bitch-sensei tsked and let go of Hitoshi’s ear so she could lean against a desk.

“My name is Irina Jelavić. I’m a special agent for the Ministry of Defense, and until a few months ago, I was the number one honeypot assassin in the world. Like Shinsou said, I was his English teacher in 3-E. Now, as for why I’m here, the ministry has authorized me to form a reconnaissance team to look into the location of the two villains behind the USJ attacks. And I’m recruiting Shinsou for the team.”

Why me? Hitoshi mentally bemoaned. It seemed he and Aizawa were on the same wavelength, however, because he asked, “And why Shinsou?”

Bitch-sensei smirked. “Because back in 3-E, Shitsou was my protégé, so there’s no one I know better.”

Very slowly, the two U.A. teachers turned to face Hitoshi. The brainwasher resisted the urge to slam his head against the wall. 

“Pro-té-gé…?” Midnight articulated. “No, no, you must be mistaken. There’s no way Shinsou would seek mentorship from someone like you.”

“I didn’t,” Hitoshi grumbled, thinking back to when the woman showed up at his damn house. Neither woman paid him any mind.

“Excuse me?” Bitch-sensei bristled, and Midnight smirked.

“Granted, if that’s really the case, it makes sense why Shinsou would come here so he could be guided by a real woman.” Midnight very pointedly pushed her chest forward, her boobs nearly knocking into Bitch-sensei. Hitoshi suppressed a scream while the blonde assassin’s jaw dropped.

“Real...I am a real woman, you bitch! My boobs are just as real as yours!”

“Hmm, even if that’s true, mine are still bigger.”

“No they’re not!”

Hitoshi shuffled so he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with a deadpanned Aizawa. “Can we please leave for patrol now?”

It was mid-afternoon, but Aizawa didn’t hesitate. “Grab your suit.”

They succeeded in sneaking out of the classroom. They were walking through the U.A. courtyard, Hitoshi lamenting his woes to Midoriya via text. Aizawa side-eyed him suspiciously.

“So, honeypot assassin, huh?”

Hitoshi flushed and refused to meet his teacher’s eyes. “Those were dark times, okay? I did what I could to survive.”

Aizawa huffed, something akin to a laugh, and Hitoshi wished he’d go back to sighing. This really couldn’t get any more embarrassing.

“Shitsou, get back here!”

Or maybe it could.

Bitch-sensei was sprinting across the courtyard while simultaneously cat-fighting with Midnight. She could move frighteningly fast for a woman in heels, but granted, Hitoshi was taught by her to do the same, so…

Hitoshi cursed and started to run. He barely turned the corner before he was cut off again. 

“C’mon, Shinsou, you can’t bail on us now,” taunted Maehara. Yada beamed and giggled, “It’s a honeypot bonding experience! You can’t miss out on it!”

“I can and I will.” He turned around, planning on just out-running Bitch-sensei, but he was cut off by Nagisa. The annoying blue ninja must’ve used his quirk to conceal his presence and sneak up on them. How are they even getting in here? Isn’t U.A. supposed to be a secure campus? ...but then again, Grip of all people broke in. Maybe he should put in a word to Nedzu about security because their current system clearly wasn’t working.

“Sorry, Shinsou,” Nagisa said, and at least he actually looked apologetic. Granted Nagisa technically wasn’t a part of Bitch-sensei’s ‘Honeypot Trio,’ which means he was probably dragged into this mission as well. 

Bitch-sensei finally caught up to them, yelling curses and promises to make Hitoshi pay. Aizawa watched the exchange with bored eyes before finally interrupting. “You said this mission was to hunt down the villains from the USJ, right?” Bitch-sensei hummed in affirmation, and Aizawa’s frown deepened. “Then why are you trying to get Shinsou involved? He’s a U.A. student — one of their targets. Shouldn’t we focus on keeping him far, far away from the villains trying to hurt him?”

Bitch-sensei paused, reevaluating the Pro-Hero. “Your concern is valid, but the sad reality is that probably every villain is gunning after Shinsou or his classmates, both old and new. And that’s not going to change by wrapping them in bubble wrap and locking them in a closet.”

Midnight frowned and stopped attacking the blonde woman. “Yes, but keeping them safe while the Pros handle it—”

“Teaches them nothing,” deadpanned Bitch-sensei. “Call it the cynical reality of being an assassin, but in this world, everyone is a target. If you want to survive, you have to take the people after you out first.”

The U.A teachers were silent, and Hitoshi decided enough was enough. Sighing, he handed the case containing his hero costume over to Aizawa and accepted his reality. “It’s better to just get this over with. I’ll be back tomorrow and ready to finally kick your ass in training.”

“Language,” grumbled Aizawa, as if that was the most important thing here, and Hitoshi smothered a laugh. The teacher turned and glared at Bitch-sensei with glowing red eyes. “You better keep him safe.”

Bitch-sensei smiled. It was sad, reminiscent, and full of regret. “I will.”

-.-.-.-

They gathered back at the END headquarters for the mission debriefing. It was the first formal mission debrief Hitoshi has attended — Sigma never gets assigned missions, and there wasn’t time for a debrief with the USJ attack. He browsed through the files.

“The police interrogated all of the criminals from the USJ attack,” Karasuma explained. “They’re all low-life thugs, street-villains for hire. Claimed they heard from friends and contacts that some big shots were planning on taking out All-Might and decided they wanted in on the glory. None of them had even seen the two masterminds before the day of the attack.”

“So I take it we’re looking for the middle man?” asked Maehara, and their ex-teachers nodded.

“Most of the villains claimed they were recruited in the underground bars and fighting rings that criminals like to congregate in,” Bitch-sensei said. “There appears to be three major areas, which will be our points of infiltration. We’ll have to split up — I’ll go alone to the Mudai Fighting Club. The other two places are sister bars in the Yokohama ward of Kouhoku; Nagisa and Shinsou will go to Nijiro, and Maehara and Yada will infiltrate Iseiro. If you find a middle-man, arrest him and bring him in for interrogation immediately.”

Hitoshi took one glance at the club name and his mission partner and scowled. “This is a gay bar, isn’t it?”

Bitch-sensei grinned wickedly. “Well, we wouldn’t want you feeling uncomfortable, Shitsou.”

Ten minutes later, Hitoshi was given his mission disguise, and he felt very uncomfortable.

“How is it possible to cover so much skin and leave you still feeling naked?” Hitoshi marveled. As much as he hated his life right now, he had to admire Bitch-sensei’s handiwork. She managed to perfectly cover up all of his scars while still making him look promiscuous. He was shoved into a long-sleeved crop top that showed the small area of his torso and abs that the Reaper didn’t scar. The high waisted denim shorts barely fell mid-thigh, but the rest of his legs were covered by micro-fishnet tights that he wanted to burn. He was (unsurprisingly) shoved into a pair of stilettos with actual knives for the heel, and his wild purple hair was tamed down, the fringe falling in his eyes. He was just grateful the makeup was limited to concealer for his eyebags, mascara, and eyeliner.

It could be worse. He could be shoved in a dress like Nagisa. Or — heaven forbid — forced to do drag again.

‘Queer Party Boy Look’ Bitch-sensei had called it. ‘Bane of my existence, thank Korosensei that Aizawa and Midnight aren’t here to see this’ seemed more appropriate.

-.-.-.-

It was embarrassingly easy to sneak into the bar, and from there, he and Nagisa started feeling out the people. They talked, flirted, and manipulated their way through every conversation, but so far all they were finding was an abundance of useless thugs. No middle man.

He stood at the bar, pretending to nurse some alcoholic drink that was bluer than Nagisa’s hair and listening in on the conversations around him. Nothing exciting, just a bunch of stupid villains talking about the times they’ve evaded arrest or bragging about the strongest hero they’ve fought. Was that the villain equivalent for comparing dick sizes?

“Does that drink not fit your tastes?” 

Hitoshi suppressed the urge to flinch and very calmly turned to face the man next to him. He was older, probably mid-30s, with burnt orange skin and bright red hair. He looked like a walking clown.

“Never been one for alcohol,” Hitoshi said, eyeing the newcomer. The man grinned.

“You’ve probably just never tried the right drink. Here, allow me to order you something better.” He signaled the barkeeper, who nodded. The man turned back to Hitoshi, leaning in way too close for comfort. “So, what brings a pretty face like yours to a seedy place like this?”

At least he’s self-aware, Hitoshi mused. He gave a practiced smile. “I heard this was the go-to place to get recruited for jobs.”

“Oh?” the man echoed.

“Yeah. In fact, I heard this is one of the places that League of Villains — you know, the ones who attacked those hero students? — recruits from.” He leaned in coyly. “You wouldn’t happen to know who I could talk to about that, would you?”

The man grinned. “As a matter of fact, I do.” Hitoshi perked up, and the man leaned in, his mouth next to his ear. “But I’m not quite sure I should be telling END agents about it. Not without a little...compensation.”

Hitoshi tensed and gritted his teeth. Damn disguise wasn’t good enough apparently; maybe he really should’ve gone for the drag look.

The brainwasher tapped his Ritsu-watch to alert Nagisa they’ve been compromised, and blinked when he got no response. The man grinned and, faster than Hitoshi expected, grabbed the agent’s wrist and pulled it so it was eye level.

“Don’t go wasting your time with that. I’ve already guaranteed our privacy that way.” EMP quirk, then. Just great. “Though something tells me we’re still not alone. Let’s take a walk, huh? Somewhere a bit more private.”

Hitoshi was tempted to just brainwash the man and walk away, but he hesitated. This man had information they desperately needed, and he seemed willing to offer it up if Hitoshi complied. While every bone in his body screamed, this was exactly the type of situation a honeypot was trained for. He knew what he needed to do.

The drink arrived, and Hitoshi grabbed it with his free hand. He tilted his head, his bangs falling into his eyes, and played with the straw with his tongue. “Lead the way.”

The man grinned and wrapped a muscular arm around Hitoshi’s waist, leading them out of the bar. With Hitoshi’s wrist now freed, his hand shot to the knife strapped to his upper thigh and didn’t move. They walked for quite a while, putting a good distance between them and the bar. Hitoshi’s gut tightened. He prayed Nagisa would be okay. Finally, the man led him to a dark alleyway on the far end of the Kouhoku ward. There wasn’t another soul in sight.

“So what’s this ‘compensation’ you’re demanding?” Hitoshi asked, pushing away from the man so they stood face to face. 

“Not arresting me after this is done would be nice,” the man smirked. “But, if you’re offering…”

Hitoshi tried not to throw up, and he pulled out his knife. This man was a real dumbass, thinking he could lure an assassin into a hidden alleyway and have the upper-hand. 

“Tell me what to know and maybe you’ll leave this alley in one piece.”

The man’s smile finally dropped and he sighed. “Fine, fine. This so-called League came recruiting a couple weeks back for some big mission, talking up how they’re gonna wreak havoc on society and kill All-Might. Now, I’m a criminal, but I still have a code. I’m kinda like your Tentacle teacher — I don’t do killing.”

Hitoshi's eye twitched. It was disgraceful for this man to even say Korosensei's name, much less compare himself to the teacher. He glared and brought the knife a little closer to the criminal's throat. The man got the message and continued talking.

“So I passed on the mission — and thank goodness, since everyone who accepted got arrested by your END friends — but I still heard where the League hideout is.”

Hitoshi arched an eyebrow, waiting. “And?”

The man's disgusting grin returned, and he reached out to touch Hitoshi’s exposed waist again. “Look, I feel like I should be getting a better deal for exchanging this invaluable information — AH!”

The brainwasher grabbed the arm and twisted it until he heard a satisfying pop. The man screamed and collapsed to the ground, and Hitoshi shoved him down. He delicately placed a bladed heel against the man’s temple. “Okay. Here’s the deal. You tell me everything you know about the League of Villains and their whereabouts, and I won’t stab my heel through your head. Sounds good?”

Sure, this wasn’t the most hero-like of interrogation methods, but he wasn’t here as aspiring hero Zugzwang; he was here as a honeypot assassin, as Bitch-sensei’s protégé, and as a really pissed off END agent. He wasn’t actually going to kill this guy, but no one else needed to know that.

“Yes, yes! They say the League of Villains hides out in Kamino. One of the other Yokohama districts! I don’t know for sure where, but they say it’s some abandoned bar!”

Abandoned bar in Kamino? Wasn’t Kamino right next to Kouhoku? Even without Ritsu online, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find. “Anything else?” he demanded, putting the slightest bit more pressure on his heel. The man whimpered.

“I-I, well…” The pressure increased, and the man panicked. “I-It’s only rumors, I swear, but people have been saying that the Hero Killer Stain is meeting with them tonight!”

Hitoshi lifted his heel and stepped away, shocked. The Hero Killer? In Kamino with the League? Tonight? Were they creating some kind of team-up, negotiating to work together? Or maybe they already had an alliance. What were they planning?

Having heard enough, Hitoshi brainwashed the man and commanded him to sleep. As his thoughts raced, Hitoshi pulled out his devices, but they were still out of commission from the man’s EMP quirk. Well, shit. Now he was stranded in Yokohama without any way of contacting END and—

...and somewhere else in Yokohama, the Hero Killer Stain was meeting with the League of Villains, possibly planning the end of the world, and he was doing nothing about it. And it’d be incredibly, incredibly stupid to do this without backup, but who knows how long it would take him to reach the bar and hunt down Nagisa? Stain might already be gone by then.

Which means, if he's going to be a hero, he has to go to Kamino and find the League of Villain’s hideout himself.

-.-.-.-

Hitoshi took the nearest subway to Kamino, ignoring all the looks he got on the streets (yes, he looked like a teenage hooker, stop staring!) as he hunted down this ‘abandoned bar.’ It only took brainwashing a few locals before he finally found what he was looking for. 

The building was old, extremely run down, and all of the windows were boarded up. However, he could still see a sliver of light coming from inside. He crept over silently, pressed his ear against the window, and strained to hear the voices inside. 

“You lack conviction,” a voice growled. “Men like you just wish to destroy and kill with no real purpose. Even these assassins you loathe so much have more of a moral standard than you.”

...the hell?

“You say that, but you’ve never even met the little freaks,” said Shigaraki (he’d recognize that raspy, grating voice anywhere). “Kurogiri, send this man anyway already. I’m quite finished with him.”

“I...I can’t move. It must be his quirk.”

Paralysis quirk. If it really was Stain in there, that was good information to know. 

“You’re right, I haven’t met an END agent, and I don’t really care to — they’re not a problem in society, just a byproduct of it. If the world wasn’t filled with fake heroes chasing after easy fame and money or spineless villains that cause harm without cause, then that situation would have never happened. If you really want to be a villain, you should aspire to be more like the Tentacle than a petty thug.” Hitoshi tensed at the mention of Korosensei while Stain continued, “The Tentacle never pointlessly murdered children like you want to do, and yet he’s still more feared than you’ll ever be. Just one act of evil — one that didn’t even directly harm people — and he became number one. He made society think differently, see where their heroes have failed them. Any other villain is pathetic compared to him.”

Shigaraki growled. “The Tentacle was weak. He had the chance, the power to kill All-Might, to destroy the society set up by the Symbol of Peace; he already weakened the foundation by blowing up the moon. But what does he do instead? Teach precious school children and let the current society rebuild itself with his death.” 

There was the sound of a struggle before Stain said, “While many of our goals and methods are different, our desire to destroy the current society is the same. Perhaps when this is over, I’ll spare you and your precious League.” There was a tense silence, and Hitoshi found himself holding his breath. “I believe we’re done here. Send me back to Hosu; I have unfinished business there.”

There was no doubt about it now; this was definitely the Hero Killer Stain, and he was about to go back to Hosu City and kill who knows how many innocent heroes. Hitoshi glanced around, his eyes landing on an air vent leading into the building. An incredibly stupid plan formed in his mind, but he knew it wouldn’t work if he didn’t contact END somehow.

He pulled out a phone that he swiped off the man from the alleyway. It still worked, and Hitoshi was feeling petty, so he stole it. He couldn’t unlock the device, but he was capable of making an emergency phone call. But there was just one small issue.

He didn’t know who to call.

What was he supposed to do? Call the police? What could they do? He didn’t know Nagisa’s number, and he had no way of contacting END on their secure line; not with Ritsu so heavily guarding it. He didn’t have any memorized phone numbers—

Hitoshi paused, his eyes landing on the bandages on his palm. The bandage that was still covering the permanent marker-written phone number of one Kaminari Denki. Well, of all people to inform of his extremely stupid plan, he wasn’t the worst.

He tore off the band-aid and dialed the slightly faded numbers (Kaminari used one good sharpie, that’s for sure). The phone rang and he prayed, prayed the boy would answer. Sure, he might be busy with his internship, but this was life or death and—

“Hello? Who is this?”

“Kaminari!” Oh, thank the lord.

“Shinsou? Hey, man, what’s up? How’s the internship going?”

“Kaminari, listen, I don’t have much time,” Hitoshi whispered, already starting to climb into the air vent. “I’m on a mission right now—”

“For END?!”

“—and my phone and watch have been taken out with a quirk, so I stole the villain’s phone. I don’t know any other numbers, and the police are useless for this situation, and you’re the only one who can help me right now.”

“...wait, is this because I gave you my number at the Sports Festival? Wow, am I going to save the world because of that? And Ashido said giving out my number made me look desperate.”

Why, of all things, are you focusing on that?! Hitoshi wanted to scream, but he held it in. “Yeah, possibly. Look, I’m about to do something very, very stupid, and I might get killed—”

“Wait, what?!”

“—so I need you to help me contact END. You’re interning with Kamui Woods, right?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Good. After I hang up, I need you to call him. All Pro-Heroes have access to END’s secure emergency line. Tell him he needs to tell END to head to Hosu City immediately, and that the Hero Killer and the League of Villains are about to attack the city.”

Kaminari sputtered with protests, and Hitoshi gritted his teeth. He was running out of time. “Kaminari. Can I trust you to do this for me?”

The blond went quiet before saying, “You can. I’ll get it done, Shinsou. But please, please try not to die, okay? We, uh, we still got to have our rematch.”

Hitoshi smothered his grin with his hand and shoved the sudden bout of emotion away. “I’ll see you later, Kaminari.”

.-.-

Hitoshi’s done a lot of stupid and reckless things in his life. He’s gotten shot, kidnapped, and tortured for crying out loud. But arguably none of that compares to him sneaking into Kurogiri’s warp gate before it closed and hiding on the wall of the water tower where the three villains stood. Man, if Nagisa or the League of Villains didn’t kill him over this, then Aizawa definitely would. Or Midoriya. Or Bitch-sensei. Or Karasuma, or Karma, or Midnight, or Kaminari, or...well, the list goes on.

Stain went on about how only people who achieved great undertakings should be great heroes, and everyone else is fake; the usual spiel at this point. Hitoshi silently recorded it with the stolen phone. He was about to follow the Hero Killer when the man jumped off the building to “finish his business in Hosu,” but he froze at Shigaraki’s words.

“That guy really pisses me off,” he growled, and Hitoshi could hear him scratching away at his skin like Takaoka used to do. “All of his self-righteous preaching, calling the Tentacle a great villain or END the victims of society. He’s a damn fool.”

Kurogiri replied, but Hitoshi’s mind was racing elsewhere. Was that really Stain’s view of END? As victims? As unwilling pawns in the government’s game? How is it that of everyone in the world, the one man that saw through the facade, saw the truth...was a crazed murderer?

Oh, their luck.

“Stain and I will never fight for the same goal,” Shigaraki spat, redrawing Hitoshi’s attention. “Kurogiri, bring out the Nomu. We might as well make this interesting. Sooner or later, I’m going to destroy that big bad Hero Killer.”

Nomu?!

Another warp gate opened below the water tower, and three brain-exposed beasts walked out. They looked much different than the Nomu from the USJ; they were smaller, and one even had wings. It looked like whoever was creating these new Nomu was still tweaking his formula. The Nomu leapt into the city and wasted no time to cause destruction. Hitoshi winced at the screams and considered his options. He had no way of contacting END, no way of knowing who was in this city to defend it. He could go after the Nomu and Stain, defend the city himself, but he’d leave the League of Villains unmarked. After the USJ attack, that’d be a very stupid thing to do. So, with that in mind, Hitoshi made his decision.

He had to take the two mastermind villains out.

-.-.-.-

While he was training to be a hero, Hitoshi’s instincts would always be those of an assassin’s. Which meant that instead of charging the villains head first like most Pros would, Hitoshi lied in wait for the perfect time to strike.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait for long. About fifteen minutes into the attack, Shigaraki and Kurogiri were discussing how destructive and useful the Nomu were when Shigaraki mentioned, “These stupid pets make it much easier. I don’t even have to bother fighting while I’m injured.”

Injured? That was news to Hitoshi. The USJ attack was weeks ago, so it shouldn’t be from that. Sounds like the confrontation with Stain was even worse than Hitoshi thought.

Nonetheless, knowing that at least one of his opponents was injured was something he couldn’t pass up. He silently flipped his body upward so he was crouched behind the villains on the water tower. Making sure to stay in the shadows, he slipped on his capture rings and pulled out a nerve-knife.

“Yeah, your shoulder looks pretty messed up,” Hitoshi drawled, slicing his knife at Kurogiri’s arms to immobilize them first (he’s learned from last time). “Aren’t knife wounds the worst?”

“Who’s there? Wait, no, I recognize that voice. You’re that brainwashing brat from END,” Shigaraki growled, taking a step back. His fingers twitched. “How the hell did you get up here?”

“If you recognize me as the ‘brainwashing brat,’ you should at least have the decency to remember how my quirk works,” said Hitoshi, brainwashing the hand-villain instantly. “But if you really want to know, I snuck in through Kurogiri’s warp gate. It was surprisingly easy to do.”

Kurogiri at least had the brain to remain quiet. His arms were paralyzed thanks to the nerve-knife wounds, but Hitoshi still remained on edge. 

“You know, you guys are quite terrible at making alliances,” he continued to bait. “Here you have one of the most feared villains in the world since Korosensei, and you decide to throw your little pet monsters around and make his life a pain? Not exactly the negotiation strategy I was taught. But, granted, it sounds like you guys are still bitter about Korosensei, so you’re probably just jealous that this guy has more of a reputation than you guys, huh?”

Still silence. Hitoshi sighed and brandished his knife. “Don’t worry though, you’ll have plenty of time to learn to make friends in prison.”

Hitoshi finally stepped out of the shadows, revealing his honeypot get-up to the villains for the first time. Kurogiri’s glowing eyes widened.

“I thought you were a boy.”

…

“REALLY? THAT’S WHAT IT TAKES TO GET YOU TO RESPOND?!”

Bristling like a cat, he put away his weapons. “Can’t believe I foil your plans, take advantage of your quirk, cut your arms, and call you out for being stupid, and all you have to say is that I look like a girl? Stupid Bitch-sensei with her stupid techniques and her stupid costumes ruining everything. I can’t even kiss someone without worrying about almost killing them…”

Shigaraki was brainwashed, so there’s no way he could react, but Hitoshi sensed he was screaming on the inside.

Hitoshi was contemplating how to contact the police without his Ritsu-watch when the winged Nomu appeared out of nowhere. His massive wing slammed into Hitoshi and the villains, throwing them off the water tower and onto the rooftop below. The brainwasher hit the ground hard with Shigaraki landing right on top of him.

Oh shit.

Knowing the blow knocked them free of brainwashing, Hitoshi scissored his legs around Shigaraki’s hips and flipped them around. He straddled the hand-villain, pinning his legs, and he grabbed both of his wrists and pinned them above his head. Through the hand mask, Hitoshi could see Shigaraki’s red eyes bulging out of his head, and he wasn’t fighting back at all. Though it disgusted him, Hitoshi’s training took over, and he gave his killer a seductive smile. 

Kurogiri, however, kicked Hitoshi in the side hard, knocking him off Shigaraki. Though his arms were immobilized, it seemed he was still capable of fighting. Both villains rose to their feet, Shigaraki slowly snapping out his honeypot daze.

“While it’s impressive you were able to sneak in through my warp gate,” Kurogiri said. “That will ultimately be your demise, child.”

Hitoshi smirked and drew his knife again. “Doubt it.”

He flicked out his capture rings with his left hand and swiped with his right, taking out one of Shigaraki’s legs. The villain howled and reached for Hitoshi’s throat, but he ducked and kick-spun the hand-villain in the chest. Kurogiri kicked at the brainwasher again, but Hitoshi blocked it and shoved him back as well.

Out of the corner, Hitoshi spotted a news helicopter flying nearby. He tensed, feeling exposed. His distraction allowed Shigaraki to attack again, limping forward on one leg. Hitoshi barely jumped out of the way and kicked Shigaraki’s side.

Neither villain was talking now, wary of Hitoshi’s quirk. He wished he had his artificial voice chords. This was the last time he was going on a mission with so little gear, costume aesthetics be damned.

At least he still had his capture rings. He flicked them out, wrapping both villains up and electrocuting them. They screamed, both falling to their knees, but then that stupid flying Nomu returned, slamming into Hitoshi’s back. He stumbled forward and realized now what Aizawa meant when he said the capture rings kept him from using his hands. Shigaraki charged forward and grabbed the sleeve of his crop top, disintegrating it. Before he could reach his skin, however, Hitoshi released his capture rings and sucker-punched Shigaraki’s face so hard his hand mask came off.

Hitoshi got one glance at the villain’s face and shuddered. “Oh, shit, no wonder you wear that thing—”

The brainwasher barely avoided the warp gate in time, jumping to the other side of the building. Kurogiri seemed to be regaining movement in his arms, then. Hitoshi should’ve cut him deeper.

He was preparing himself for this fight to get a whole lot worse when Shigaraki — who laid on the ground and covered his face with his hands like a pouting child — rasped, “Kurogiri, get us out of here.”

And before Hitoshi could do anything about it, the warp appeared, consuming them. Before his head disappeared, Shigaraki looked at the brainwasher one last time and sneered his cracked lips.

“We’ll make you regret this.”

Then, they were gone.

-.-.-.-

“I’m here, live, in Hosu City! We’ve just received word that the two men associated with the attacks of U.A. were spotted in the city. We have reason to believe that they are the ones behind the three monsters attacking the city. Footage was captured of the villains fighting a mysterious young woman before fleeing the scene. No one knows who this woman is, but some say she looks very similar to the END agent who won the Sports Festival last week.”

-.-.-.-

Todoroki was staring at Izuku, not backing down, and Karma was glaring, and Izuku was panicking and choking and he didn’t know what to say because how was he supposed to answer a question like that, especially with Karma right behind him, listening in? Does he lie, does he tell the truth, a half-truth, what’s the protocol? Why is Todoroki even asking this, oh Korosensei does he know? 

His worrisome thoughts consumed his mind, and the next thing he knew, the world was turning upside down and he was being held in the air by his foot. Lovro glared and the green-haired boy squeaked.

“Why are you letting your guard down with a villain nearby?” his ex-mentor growled, gesturing to the Hero Killer. “Just because you apprehended him doesn’t mean he’s not a threat; you know this, Izuku.”

The green-haired boy whimpered. “Y-Yes, sorry, s-sir…”

Thankfully, the attention was drawn away from him when Karma approached. “Lovro. I didn’t know you were in the area. Shouldn’t you be in a meeting in Shinjuku?”

There was a challenging threat in the air. Lovro dropped Izuku and he crashed into the ground while the Pro-Assassin turned to the END commander. “There was an unforeseen change of plans…” The assassin and the agent walked away, leaving Izuku alone with an unconscious Stain, a traumatized Iida, and Todoroki. The half-and-half boy had yet to stop staring. 

“Ah…” The panic returned. “I-I-I don’t really, um, think that I should, uh, be commenting on that. It’s not my place to share…”

Unfortunately, this seemed to be all the answer Todoroki needed. His eyes sharpened and landed on the commander’s retreating form. 

“I see.”

What do you ‘see?’ Izuku wanted to scream. What do you know, what are you thinking, how much do you know, are you aware that Karma is your long-lost—

“Who is that man?” Iida interrupted, oblivious of their conversation. His lost eyes were locked on Lovro, and Izuku was grateful for the distraction.

“That’s Lovro. He’s one of the top assassins in the world, and he’s famous for training most of the upcoming generation of assassins. He used to mentor me back in E-class,” explained Izuku, and his two classmates stiffened. “He was, uh, less than pleased seeing me in the Sports Festival and decided to crash my internship.”

His classmates were stunned silent, but Izuku welcomed it. He barely had enough energy to keep up these half-assed excuses and vague white lies.

But then Gran Torino showed up with Endeavor and his sidekicks not far behind, and Izuku was two seconds away from leaving because nope, he definitely didn’t have enough energy for this.

“Shouto,” the man growled, eyeing his son (well, the son that he knew was his son). “You didn’t tell me you were leaving to partner up with...them.” The Flame Hero glared at the END agents. Karma stopped walking, his body completely tensed. Todoroki’s posture was the same, and Izuku fought the urge to punch Endeavor in the face. 

“I was protecting my classmates, sir,” answered Todoroki. Endeavor frowned, and that’s when he noticed the tied-up form of Stain on the ground. His flames blazed, forcing everyone back.

“Hero Killer!”  The Number Two Hero roared and raised his flame-ridden hand at the villain. Izuku moved without thinking, jumping in Endeavor’s way.

“What are you doing?!” he screeched. “He’s already been apprehended!”

“Out of my way, END. He deserves to burn for his crimes,” growled Endeavor. 

“Stop it, Endeavor. He’s tied up and going to jail. I’m not going to stand here and let you kill him!”

People shouted for him to back down, but Izuku refused. He wouldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t. 

Gran Torino waved desperately. “Kid, just move!”

“No! I won’t let this happen! The hero code doesn’t support killing for a reason, even if it’s a villain! We have no right to take their life just because they’re criminals, no matter how many people they’ve hurt. Bloodlust only creates more bloodlust. It’s this mindset that killed Korosensei, that made us kill—” His voice cracked and his vision blurred with tears. Endeavor’s flames crept closer, but Izuku couldn’t feel any heat; no doubt Karma’s doing. He stared at the Pro-Hero’s cold, calculating eyes. 

“An assassin stopping someone from killing?” the Flame Hero spat. “Isn’t that just—”

A large, flying form smacked into Endeavor, sending the Pro-Hero flying across the street. The form, some kind of winged Nomu, crashed to the ground a few feet away, and the mysterious person on top of it sauntered off. Izuku did a double-take. It couldn’t be- there’s no way- but that purple hair, who else could it be?

“I would say the landing could’ve been a little better, but I think it was pretty spot-on,” Shinsou drawled, releasing the capture rings that were acting like horse reins on the flying Nomu. His razor blade heels punctured the beast as he walked, thoroughly taking it out. For a moment, all people could do was stare.

While the purple hair was still a dead giveaway of his identity, even that looked different than usual. It was down. Izuku lived with Shinsou and he’s never seen him with his hair down; he literally just woke up with perfectly spiked hair. While water could dampen it for a little bit, a minute of towel drying later and it was back to its Einstein-like poof. His clothes simultaneously left nothing and everything to the imagination, and the light dusting of makeup somehow made him look more androgynous than his drag queen disguise.

And then he saw how annoyed his best friend looked because of all the staring, and he had to turn around to keep himself from laughing. Karma didn’t even bother, cackling profusely.

“Good to see you, Agent Control. Having a nice night out?” 

Shinsou glared and flicked his capture rings so they’d smack Karma in the face. It only made the Alpha Unit captain laugh even harder.

“Is that...Is that Shinsou?” Iida sputtered, his cheeks tinted pink. Todoroki cocked his head.

“Why is Shinsou dressed like that?” 

Izuku smothered his own laughter with his hand while his best friend turned red in the face. “This is just a disguise for a mission.”

“A crossdressing mission?”

“No!” Shinsou screeched, scandalized, while Karma popped up and unhelpfully shouted, “Yes!”

The laughing intensified, and even the sidekicks and Izuku’s mentors looked a little amused. Shinsou rubbed his face and sighed. “I’m going to ignore this and…” the brainwasher trailed off, his eyebrows arching as he stared at something behind Izuku. “Um. Is he supposed to be standing?”

Izuku spun around and found Stain on his feet and the bonds by his feet. He held a knife, one they must’ve missed when they patted him down, and the bandage covering his lack of nose had slipped away. Everyone moved to attack, but that oppressive aura suffocated them and left them as paralyzed as Stain’s quirk would.

The Hero Killer whirled on Endeavor. “You. You are the epitome of a false hero.” He took a step forward, and the crushing aura only intensified. “People like you have destroyed the word hero! I can see why the Tentacle only let these children kill him; only they are worthy to stop villains like him or myself!” The END agents tensed, and Stain pointed his blade and jumped at Endeavor. “So die, you disgusting—”

A tranquilizer bullet struck the side of his neck, and the Hero Killer collapsed at Karma’s feet. His gun remained pointed in the air, and even though that oppressive aura was gone, even though the Hero Killer wasn’t using his quirk...no one moved. They could only stare at the scene before them. At the fallen villain and the downed hero, and the teenage assassin standing in between them.

It’s a privilege to be assassinated by you all, Korosensei had said. Izuku always thought it meant something personal, something out of love. Yet here the Hero Killer was, saying something similar. Saying they were the only ones worthy of stopping great villains. Is...Is that what Korosensei meant that night?

Izuku turned his head up and stared at the permanent crescent moon, as if it would hold all the answers. As if Korosensei would be there to explain.

It didn’t. He wasn’t.

-.-.-.-

The police and Delta Unit arrived shortly after, along with an enraged Nagisa and Ms. Jelavić. They took turns strangling Shinsou (“Why didn’t you contact us?! Who trained you?!”) while Maehara and Kanzaki instructed their team to create a civilian perimeter and tie up the Nomu and Stain.

“I’m glad you were still able to move,” Izuku told Karma after the fight. “His aura was so strong, I thought it was going to crush me.”

Karma smirked. “Trust me. Sparing against Nagisa is much worse.”

A set of EMTs arrived to check out their injuries, along with some more heroes. Izuku was stunned to see Kamui Woods among them; what was he doing in Hosu City?

“Shinsou!”

...Kaminari too? What the hell was going on?

The yellow-haired boy sprinted towards the brainwasher. “Hey, dude, I did exactly what you said. I hope we got here fast enough…”

Shinsou turned away from Ms. Jelavić and Nagisa, letting Kaminari see the ‘Queer Party Boy’ disguise in its full effect. Kaminari turned so red, Izuku worried for his health. Ms. Jelavić’s eyes lit up and she grinned devilishly.

“Hmm? Who’s this, Shitsou?”

The brainwasher sighed. “This is Kaminari, the one who contacted you for me. The person I ran into knocked out my watch and phone, and I didn’t know anyone else’s numbers. I didn’t go radio silent on purpose.”

Nagisa nodded and introduced himself to the blushing boy, while Ms. Jelavić’s eyes just narrowed. “And why would you know... oh.” She rushed forward and pinched Kaminari’s cheeks. “You must be the boy who gave Shinsou your number during the Sports Festival! I’ve just been dying to meet you.” She released Kaminari’s cheeks and grabbed his hair. “And he’s blond too! Oh, Shitsou, I told you~”

Her boobs were dangerously close to Kaminari’s face, and his blush somehow became worse. Izuku was really starting to worry about his health.

-.-.-.-

r/END of the world

29.9k likes - Posted by u/undergrounderrr - 3 hours ago

Hero Killer Apprehended by END in Hosu

Read this news article about the Hero Killer getting taken down by END agents in Hosu City. This video of his ‘final stand’ and backstory got leaked a few hours ago. Basically, a lot of heroes are fake and only do it for fame and money, END only exists because heroes can't do their job, and society needs to be fixed. Thoughts?

ludiludi - 3 hours ago - 15k likes

As terrifying as Stain is, I can see where he’s coming from, especially regarding END. It’s all pretty fucked up imo.

princrys830 - 1 hour ago - 5.1k likes

Do you guys think this could spark a new age of villainism?

-.-.-.-

Izuku laid awake in the hospital bed, Todoroki and Iida asleep in the beds adjacent to his. Shinsou and Karma were checked out by the EMTs for having minor injuries and left with END; judging by the grave expression on his best friend’s face, it seemed Shinsou’s mission brought about a lot of unpleasant news. Izuku was sure that if he didn’t hear it in a mission report by morning that Shinsou would tell them at the apartment later on.

Following their admission to the hospital, the Hosu Chief of Police, Tsuragamae, came in to inform them that Stain was officially in custody, but the good news stopped there. Since they used their quirks without their supervisors there, Iida, Todoroki and the heroes they’re interning under had to receive punishment for breaking the law. Izuku and Gran Torino were spared because, as a government agent, Izuku could use his quirk to fight. 

The punishments weren’t terrible, thankfully. Iida and Todoroki weren’t allowed to get any recognition for helping take Stain down and their involvement was kept under wraps. Instead, END claimed full responsibility, which was a rarity; usually, they pushed credit onto other heroes or organizations. It’s why they claimed Bakugou took out the Nomu at the USJ.

“Midoriya?”

The green-haired boy jolted and looked up at the voice. “Todoroki? What’s up?”

The red-and-white-haired boy sat in his bed, staring at his hands. A small flame danced across his fingertips. Izuku blinked at the open display of the fire quirk.

“Would it be alright if I shared something extremely personal with you? It’s been bugging me all week.”

Izuku blinked. Todoroki’s mannerisms were just so...strange. It wasn’t exactly normal to ask a classmate you barely know that. Then again, it’s also not normal to corner a classmate and tell them how your dad is an asshole and your mom poured boiling water on your face. A lot of things Todoroki did wouldn’t exactly be considered normal. 

Realizing he was taking too long to respond, Izuku scrambled to answer. “A-Ah, yes, of course. I’ll just—” he glanced at Iida’s sleeping form and lowered his voice. “—come over there so you can...yeah.”

He awkwardly scampered across the room and sat on the far end of Todoroki’s bed. He tried not to focus on how fast his heart was beating. 

“I went to visit my mother, after the Sports Festival,” Todoroki began. “To tell her I was going to become the hero she always wanted me to be.”

There was silence, and Izuku felt the need to fill it. “That’s great news, Todoroki…”

The red haired boy hummed. “Yes. She seemed much better than the last time I saw her; much more aware of her surroundings. But there was something that hadn’t changed, and it’s bothering me. Something about my twin.”

Izuku tensed and tried to play dumb. “Your...twin?”

“Yes. A fraternal brother. He died shortly after being born, and my siblings tell me it was the final straw for her mind. She was never quite able to cope; she always addressed him as if he was still alive, would buy everything in twos. It angered my father; he wanted the memory of the son too weak to live to be erased forever.”

Izuku balled his fists. A dark part of him, the assassin part of him, wished they let the Hero Killer attack Endeavor at the end.

“It was brushed off as another sign of her illness; a hopeless delusion of a heartbroken mother. She claimed that my twin was simply sent away, and that he’d be back one day and we’d be a family again. When I was really little, I believed her and dreamed of the day I’d meet Haruji. I wasn’t allowed to get close to my other siblings, but I prayed to stay by Haruji’s side when he returned. Obviously, I quickly learned the truth of what happened to my brother, but even after all these years, I couldn’t help but hope…”

The flame grew a little brighter, and Izuku felt sick to his stomach. Korosensei, how could he keep this secret when Todoroki looked so broken? How could he look Todoroki in the eye and say ‘it seems like you really love your twin brother, sorry he’s dead’ when he knows that’s not the truth?

Please don’t make me say it, Todoroki, please don’t…

“The hospital workers say she’s getting better. That her mental health has almost fully returned.” Todoroki turned, his heterochromatic eyes staring into Izuku’s soul. “So why...why does she still insist that he’s alive?”

Izuku’s throat tightened, but thankfully Todoroki didn’t see his silence as guilt. The flame on his hand extinguished.

“I’m sorry if this made you uncomfortable. There’s just not many people I can talk to…”

Izuku, the emotional baby he is, teared up. “T-Todoroki…”

He reached out, not sure what he was going to do — grab Todoroki’s hand, hug him, do something to comfort him. He froze under Todoroki’s piercing gaze, his hand outreached, and Todoroki shuffled forward—

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

His Ritsu-watch blared to life and Izuku jolted so hard he tumbled off the bed. Blushing bright red (what just was that?!), he rushed to silent his watch and risked a glance at Todoroki. The red-and-white-haired boy stared at his own hand accusingly, as if he was blaming himself for the moment being ruined, and Izuku’s blush grew.

“Hmm…” Iida stirred and sat up in his bed. “Midoriya? Is everything alright?”

“A-Ah, yes, sorry to wake you, Iida…” He trailed off as he read the incoming transmission on his phone. His stomach churned.

“Midoriya?”

He blinked and turned to his concerned classmates. He lowered his wrist and tried to smile. It was fake, forced. “Everything’s fine, guys. I promise.”

He lied.

-.-.-.-

Agent Control’s recordings and intel prove the League of Villains responsible for Hosu attacks. Gamma Unit is detecting unprecedented amounts of talk in the underground. Agent Tentacle is trying to remove a circling video of Stain’s propaganda that is suspected to be behind it. Agent Statistic predicts a spike in crime to occur over the next few weeks. All agents instructed to be on high alert.

-.-.-.-

“Goodbye, Gran Torino! Thank you for helping me! I...I don’t know if I could’ve come this far without your help.” 

Izuku bowed farewells to his new mentor (Lovro having left not long after the incident in Hosu City). The elderly Pro-Hero grinned and patted his head.

“Make sure you don’t strain yourself as you increase your speed. If I hear you’re running around coughing up blood again, I won’t hesitate to contact Lovro.”

(His two mentors seemed to have reached a begrudging alliance on the basis of dealing with him. Izuku was very afraid.)

The green-haired boy sweatdropped. “A-Ah, of course, sir…”

He turned to leave Gran Torino’s apartment when the man stopped him again. “Midoriya.”

“Yes, sir?”

Gran Torino frowned. “I shouldn’t say anything, but since you already know about One For All, it’s only fair…” The man sighed. “When you get back, ask Toshinori to tell you the whole story of his quirk. Something tells me it plays a bigger role than you think.” The old man shook his head and grinned farewell. “I’ll see you around, Korosenai.”

Izuku gaped and nodded, leaving in silence. Possible implications of Gran Torino’s words swirled through his head as he walked to the train station. The whole story of One For All? Plays a bigger role? In what? What was All-Might hiding?

-.-.-.-

When he returned to his own apartment, he found Shinsou hunched in a ball in front of his laptop. He barely glanced up when Izuku walked over.

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” he stated with no context. “How is this…”

He spun the laptop around aggressively. Izuku yelped and cowered while his best friend pointed to multiple things on his screen.

“This stupid video of Stain. The news footage of the League of Villains fighting me in Hosu. The recordings I got when I was following them. None of them should add up to what it has, so why does it?” He pulled at his hair, and Izuku stayed quiet, waiting for Shinsou to give him more context before commenting.

“Shigaraki hated the Hero Killer. That’s why he sent the Nomus loose in the first place. Why did he bother pretending to cooperate with Stain at first though? And if Stain’s capture is unearthing a bunch of his villain disciples, why is there a peaked interest in the League of Villains when the two hated each other? Tried to sabotage each other? How did this rumor that the League follows Stain ideologies come about in the first place? It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t make sense…”

Izuku gently grabbed his best friend’s hand and pulled it from his hair. “You’re right. It doesn’t make sense...unless maybe...but wouldn’t we have heard something…?”

Shinsou snorted. “What’s going on in that big head of yours, Jolly Green?”

It was a ridiculous question. Izuku never understood what was going on in his head; his subconscious always outmoving his ability to think. But…

“What if there was a boss pulling the strings? Someone like Shiro?” he breathed. “You said Shigaraki didn’t want anything to do with Stain, but clearly someone within the League did — someone with more power than who we thought their leader was.”

“A chessmaster,” Shinsou added, his tired eyes becoming a bit more clear. “Shigaraki may be the League’s king, but that doesn’t mean he holds the true power. Of course, that explains so much now; Shigaraki is too much of a man child to actually come up with these plots. But who is it? Kurogiri? No, Shigaraki bosses him around too much…”

Izuku sweatdropped at the mumbling. So this is what it’s like to be one the receiving end.

“Let’s go to bed, Hitoshi,” he said, closing the laptop. “We can think about it more in the morning.”

-.-.-.-

Their first day back in 1-A was total chaos. Everyone was discussing their internships at once, it was overwhelming. Jirou and Asui apparently got some basic hand-on experience stopping villains and drug smugglers, respectively. Uraraka marched up to Izuku the moment he stepped into the class, a terrifying aura around her that vaguely reminded him of Devil-Karma.

“My internship was very enlightening. Next time we fight, I’m never going to flinch again,” she declared. Izuku squeaked and meekly congratulated her.

“Aw, Poofy, what’d you do to your hair?” Shinsou mocked, grinning at the boiling Bakugou. Apparently, Best Jeanist didn’t approve of Bakugou’s usual hair and forced him to comb it down. Izuku giggled too. That was one of Korosensei’s favorite punishments for students too.

But the majority of the talk surrounded Iida, Shinsou, Todoroki, and him, and their run-in with the Hero Killer. Granted, the class wasn’t aware of the true story; all they knew was that they got attacked, and that Stain was eventually apprehended by END agents and Pro-Heroes. 

“That’s so intense, man,” Kirishima said. “I’m relieved to know you’re all okay!”

“Was it scary? Were you and Shinsou the ones that took him down?” Ashido asked and then paused. “I mean, if you’re even allowed to share that information and all.”

Izuku exchanged silent glances with his three companions. They long agreed with the story they were going to go with — that a distress beacon was sent out and respective backup was deployed and diffused the situation for them. That was basically the truth, anyways.

“No, we didn’t. We just got really lucky another END agent happened to be nearby,” answered Todoroki, glancing at Izuku suspiciously. The green-haired boy tried to remain passive looking.

“Hey, Kaminari, wasn’t Kamui Woods one of the heroes called in to Hosu City? Did you get to go too?”

Izuku panicked momentarily — they never got the chance to talk to the blond boy about their cover story — but Kaminari just grinned and scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, but I didn’t get to actually do anything, you know? Just tagged along!”

Kirishima grinned and threw an arm over Izuku’s shoulder and lightly punched Kaminari’s arm. “Well, whatever the case, let’s just be glad it’s over.”

Izuku laughed but couldn’t bring himself to agree. Gran Torino’s words echoed in his mind, and he had a feeling this was far from ‘over.’

-.-.-.-

For Hero Basic Training their first day back, they would be doing a simple rescue training race. They were broken up into groups of five and had to race against their group to ‘save’ All-Might, who was standing in the middle of Ground Gamma.

Izuku took a deep breath, recalling everything he learned on his internship. Ground Gamma was a mock industrial city, filled with tall factories and winding pipelines — plenty of road bumps to slow him down. With his old control, one slip-up and he’d be on the floor throwing up blood. But now, if he can just rein in his power…

The green-haired boy evaluated his opponents. Ashido could slide around pretty quick with her acid, but she’d struggle to climb and jump around fast enough. Ojirou and Sero’s quirks let them fling around extremely quickly using the pipeline systems. Shinsou, while having no physical quirk to enhance his performance, was the biggest threat in Izuku’s eyes. Shinsou, like all of 3-E, was a master of parkour, and everyone else would probably be underestimating him — a lethal mistake to make about an E-class assassin.

I can do this. If I run at my reduced speed, I’ll still be a hundred times faster than everyone else here, and I won’t have to worry about my quirk weakening me. I can win this.

All-Might called start and Izuku took off. He activated his glasses, allowing Chiba’s quirk setting to pinpoint the perfect place to land his feet. Taking inspiration from Gran Torino, Izuku used the terrain to his advantage to push off and pick up momentum while running. He rushed passed Sero, Ashido, and Ojirou with ease, and All-Might was coming into view and—

“AH!”

His ankle caught on something, and he fell flat on his face.

“Wha…?” He glanced down to see what tripped him — he could’ve sworn there was nothing there, but nonetheless, his feet were undeniably tangled up in Shinsou’s capture rings. “How?!”

A shadow passed over Izuku, and Shinsou flew over his head. His rings retracted, freeing his feet, but Izuku was too stunned and embarrassed to react.

Oh, Korosensei, I can’t believe I just got trip-wired in front of All-Might!

-.-.-.-

After school, Izuku cornered All-Might in his office. Even though they haven’t really spoken since before the internships, the man didn’t seem too surprised to see him. If anything, he seemed to have predicted it, opening the door in his shrunken form and everything.

“Ah, All-Might, sir. I’m sorry to intrude, but, um, there’s something I need to ask you about.”

Yagi nodded and gestured for Izuku to take a seat on the opposing couch. “Yes, Gran Torino mentioned as much. Speaking of Gran Torino — it looks like your internship training was a success, even with the incident. I meant to say this earlier, but congratulations. It makes me very proud to see you begin to master your power and...are you okay?”

Izuku sniffled and wiped away giant globs of tears. “I-I’m fine! It, it just…” He took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. “It means a lot to hear you say that. You know, being my idol and all.”

Yagi’s gaze softened. “You’ve come a long way, kid. I may have not known you for long, and sometimes it feels like I should have met you months ago…” The man trailed off, shaking his head. “But nonetheless, you’re doing good. I’m sure your...Korosensei would think the same thing if he was here.”

Tears welled up again. “Really?”

Deep down, he knew Korosensei was proud of him, but to hear All-Might of all people say that...Izuku’s heart swelled. A year ago, he could barely even dream of meeting his hero, much less receiving such kind words of praise and encouragement.

The Number One Hero huffed but smiled. “Really. Now, about what you wanted to speak with me about.”

Snapping back to reality, Izuku flushed and tried to compose himself. “R-Right. Well, before I left, Gran Torino told me to ask you for the whole story about your quirk. About One For All. He said he thinks it’s playing into this conspiracy plot. Do...do you know what he is talking about, sir?”

Yagi sighed and stared out the window at the glowing sunset. “Yes. In fact, I’ve been suspecting the same thing for a while now. I just didn’t want to — I was a fool to think that he was really gone—”

Even though he was speaking vaguely, Izuku’s mind clued him in on the implications. His eyes landed on Yagi’s torso, where the massive wound laid. 

“Young Midoriya,” Toshinori said, his eyes turning back to the green-haired boy. “I think it’s time I told you about All For One.”

Chapter Text

Shigaraki sneered at the photo in his hand. It was the stupid purple and green wannabe heroes/END agents when they were fighting in the Sports Festival. In the heat of battle, their faces were cold and determined — just like you’d expect from assassins. Deep, burning hatred bellowed up in the pit of his stomach, and before he knew it, the photo was disintegrating under his fingers.

“Oh no,” a voice called out. A voice he really wasn’t in the mood to deal with. “Someone looks grumpy. Did we come at a bad time?”

The new recruits were infuriating. It was embarrassing they had them at all, but Sensei insisted. Since Stain left, his impact was...something Sensei didn’t want to pass up on. All of these new villains were coming out of hiding, preaching what Stain said. The problem was that Stain was a damn END sympathizer. 

“Why do we have to go after the END kids too? Stain said they’re just another result of heroes’ failures. They’re not much different than us,” Spinner argued once. Shigaraki almost disintegrated his face off, but Kurogiri stopped him.

“They’re hardly innocent,” Sensei explained for him, knowing his student would lose his temper if he tried. “Whatever the reasoning behind it, they’re a known obstacle for our mission. If you wish to accomplish what Stain tried, you must accept that they’ll be the first to get in your way. That’s where Stain failed, and that’s how he got taken out by them.”

“What do we even know about them?” asked Dabi, the most infuriating of them all.

“Agent President is so dreamy on TV. I want to meet him so badly!” Toga gushed like the creepy school girl she was.

“The most problematic are these two brats,” Shigaraki flicked away the ashes of the photo. “But their two commanders are also annoying, especially the red one.”

“Ah, yes, Agent Devil,” Mr. Compress said. “He seems like quite an interesting character. So hard to get a read on him.”

“What’s it matter? They’re all annoying and I want them taken care of.”

“And how do you suggest that? If I recall correctly, END’s kicked your ass every time without really trying,” Dabi pointed out. Normally, the comment would send Shigaraki into a fit. Instead, he slowly pulled out his secret weapon — a prize, left for him by the purple honeypot. 

“Don’t worry. Sensei’s already taken care of that.”

-.-.-.-

“So what you’re saying...about All For One…”

Izuku stewed over the information Toshinori shared with him. Of a time when a previous villain claimed the title of Number One. A villain that could steal quirks from others and ruled by inciting fear and oppression. A villain that accidentally created One For All, and has spent decades trying to destroy it and its users. A villain that gave All-Might the wound that would soon end his career.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Izuku mumbled, his brain moving faster with every passing second. “All For One must be the contractor behind all the Nomu experiments. He must be the one who hired Shiro years ago, who supplied all the quirks that created Korosensei and the Reaper and all these new Nomu. There’s no one else who could be behind it, he must also be the one pulling the strings for the League of Villains like Hitoshi speculated. I’ve got to tell Karasuma and END about this, they need to know — but wait, I can’t tell them about One For All, I have to find evidence first without blowing your secret—”

“Kid!” Yagi interrupted, gripping Izuku’s shoulders. “Calm down, you’ll stress me and yourself out.”

Izuku blushed sheepishly and took a deep breath. “S-Sorry. It’s just...a lot to think about. If my theory is right, and All For One really is the mastermind, the chessmaster, then...it just answers a lot of questions we’ve had for a while.”

Yagi huffed. “Certainly sounds like it. You really think All For One was the one who commissioned for the Tentacle to be...created, so you said?”

“He must be. Korosensei told us that, back before he became the Tentacle, he was a quirkless assassin. He was forced to become Shiro’s lab rat, but he said someone else was giving Shiro the quirks and funding for his research. It has to be All For One.”

The blond Pro-Hero shook his head, laughing breathlessly and staring out the window. “To think the Tentacle, the one who dethroned All For One in the eyes of the public, started out quirkless, just like All For One’s brother...justice does have a funny way of being born from evil, huh?”

Izuku nodded. It was amusing to think that twice All For One created powerful beings capable of challenging his strength. But the only problem now was that one of those beings was no longer alive to stop him.

...but that doesn’t mean he was gone.

“We’ll stop him together, All-Might,” Izuku declared, staring into the man’s sunken eyes. “You carry the weight of One For All, and I carry the legacy of Korosensei. Our powers are destined to stop him.”

Yagi blinked incredulously. “Kid, I don’t think you understand how powerful this man is. I barely survived last time; in my weakened state, there’s no way—”

“Then we’ll just have to find you a successor to carry on your work, like Korosensei did! He wasn’t granted enough time to stop All For One himself, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be there when he’s taken down. He’s always here—” he placed a hand over his chest, over his scar and his heart, “—and I know you’ll be doing the same, if you have to pass down your power to your successor. It’s just all the more reason for us to focus on looking. I’ve been looking at the third-year students…”

Izuku rambled away, pulling out his quirk journal and flipping through the pages, brandishing his favorites. All the while, he missed the deep, contemplative, and conflicted look in Yagi’s eyes. He missed the fact that All-Might wasn’t looking at the pages in the hero journal.

He was looking at Izuku.

-.-.-.-

While they were a little late on upholding the promise (between the League, Nomus, Stain, and hero training, it was understandable), they eventually set up a time for Hatsume to check out some of END’s tech.

“You’re sure this isn’t some lowlife trying to steal our designs and sell them on the black market?” Itona grumbled, hugging the box of support items close to his chest. Shinsou snorted while Izuku laughed meekly.

“No, Hatsume’s not like that, we promise,” Izuku swore, but the brainwasher shrugged sarcastically.

“Well, she might copy some of your ideas to sell them to hero agencies, but not on the black market.” Izuku glared and elbowed his best friend because such commentary was not needed.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, Itona. Who knows, maybe you’ll even get new support item ideas from her,” Isogai said cheerfully. He was assigned the duty of ‘chaperone’ since this was END tech being shown here, and Karasuma and Ms. Jelavić were out on ‘undisclosed business’ — a term everyone in E-class has well come to understand meant ‘Karasuma’s family issues.’

(“I heard they’re taking in Karasuma’s nephew,” Nakamura gossiped when their handler agents abruptly left the base. Mimura rolled his eyes.

“Okay, of all your ‘bets’ Nakamura, that one is by far the craziest. Karasuma and Bitch-sensei? With a little kid? Are you hoping the Earth is going to blow up again or something?”

Izuku had to agree. Even though he knew they were together, he couldn’t imagine his two teachers ever having kids, much less adopting one so soon. But if it was true, he wondered what the family issues were. Wasn’t there some rumor about a cousin no longer being able to take care of the kid? What happened there?

Nakamura shrugged nonchalantly. “That’s just what my sources tell me.”

“Oh yeah? What are your sources? Fuwa’s fanfic collection?” teased Okajima. The boy was swiftly kicked in the face and the balls by both girls.)

They met Hatsume in one of the Support course labs. Surprisingly, the girl didn’t immediately attack Itona or his tech, instead staring intensely at Isogai, and not in the star-struck fangirl way.

“Isogai Yuuma...I thought you were done with the hero support world?” she asked tensely, her eyes wild. Isogai, E-class president, elite combatist, top marksman, professional agent and assassin, flinched hard. 

“You know each other?” Shinsou asked incredulously, sounding exhausted. Honestly, Izuku could relate. The last thing he needed was another weird connection between his old and new classmates. Karma and Todoroki were enough, okay?

Trying to compose himself, the P.R. head nodded shakily. “We met a couple years back, at a hero support conference — which was the last one I ever went to because I have no intention of ever going into hero support!”

It was strange watching Isogai, the most fawned over boy in E-class, not instantly be loved by everyone he met. But finally, Hatsume let up, seemingly satisfied with the answer, and turned her attention to Itona. Her bubbly personality returned, and Izuku blinked. What happened at that support conference?

Unsurprisingly, Itona and Hatsume actually got along super well. While Itona seemed a little put off for her loud personality at first, he warmed up once they started taking engineering and design. They bounced off each other, bringing up bigger and better ideas and concepts, and Izuku’s brain hurt trying to keep up. Shinsou didn’t even bother and opted for taking a nap in one of the chairs.

“What about the capture item puppet rings? Do you have those?” Hatsume pestered, and Shinsou jolted out of his nap. He gestured widely behind Hatsume’s back, begging Itona not to say anything—

“Huh? They’re Shinsou’s special weapon; he came up with the initial concept and version himself. Why don’t you ask him?”

The terrifying aura reappeared around Hatsume, and Isogai cowered underneath a desk. The pink-haired girl turned to the brainwasher, a mad look in her eyes. 

“Is that so…”

Izuku sweatdropped and ducked next to Isogai. Rest in peace, Hitoshi…

(In the end, after Hatsume chased down the brainwasher for ten minutes using every support item in existence, Shinsou agreed to demonstrate his capture rings’ abilities and let Hatsume touch them under some intense supervision and promises to not hurt his ‘babies.’)

-.-.-.-

animatedthinker
My Thoughts on the Emergency National Defense, A Post
So, like post people, when I first heard about this ‘END’ group made of child assassins that managed to kill the Number One Villain, I was scared shitless. I’m a goddamn university student that can barely tie my shoes, and there’s children out there that could kill literally anyone. I was terrified. I didn’t like hearing about them, nor thinking about them, and I couldn’t believe there were kids out there going to school with them.
But then I actually saw them.
Alright, I’ve seen END multiple times through media outlets and news coverage and PR conferences — my whole family watched every second of the mountain raid news coverage. But it wasn’t until the U.A. Sports Festival that I really saw them, and I saw...children.
Maybe it was the context that changed by view; seeing END next to terrifyingly powerful hero students the same age as them, or maybe seeing them with those ridiculous t-shirts and signs while cheering on the underdogs, or maybe seeing them play around during the intermission games, but it wasn’t until the Sports Festival that I finally realized that they’re...children.
They’re children who repeatedly save the world (likely against their will, since I doubt the government gave them an option joining), and I’m a goddamn university student that can barely tie my shoes and treated these poor kids like shit and feared them for no reason and contributed to the problem.
And it’s not okay.
|
aoitsubes
This. Everyone needs to read this because it’s so true.
|
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superduperherofan
#SaveEND #ItsNotTheirJob #LetThemBeKids

-.-.-.-

Before Izuku knew it, the end of term exams had already arrived. There was a distinct lack of Korosensei doubles rushing around the classroom, trying to individually assist every student at once. There was no competition with Asano and 3-A, or bets to take out tentacles, or promises to rank in the top spots of the grades. The only thing that was on the line was making the summer training or not.

It hurt a lot more than he expected.

At U.A. for exams, they didn’t even create a final ranking between all of the classes like Kunugigaoka; which, in a way, made sense. The workload covered the Business course was different from the Hero course, so their tests were different and therefore non-comparable. But it was still weird to think that the only competition for rankings would be between 1-A. He brought this up with Uraraka in class (who was a lot more open around him after the Sports Festival and her hero internship), and the brown-haired girl sheepishly admitted she was relieved.

“Kunugigaoka was always so serious about rankings, I thought I was going to die every time exams came around. Every time I got my results back, I was so scared I would be dropped to E-class — ah, no offense of course!”

Izuku waved her off; that mindset was the reason Principal Asano created 3-E, after all. He was more surprised by her nervousness. “Really? But...weren’t you in 3-B? Shouldn’t your rank be higher…?”

Uraraka looked away and awkwardly scratched her nose. “Um, no, not really. I was usually in the lower half for exam rankings, but they kept me in 3-B because they knew I wanted to go to U.A. and said my quirk had a lot of potential.”

Ah. It made sense, given how many students they sent to hero schools, that they’d made exceptions for students that showed interest and had the potential. 

“Ughhh, I’m totally doomed,” Kaminari lamented, leaning against an equally miserable Ashido. The duo received the lowest scores in the class on the written midterms earlier in the year. “I didn’t have a second to study last time because of all the events, and now they expect me to pass a written and practical exam? Wasn’t the entrance exam enough?”

Tokoyami and a few others hummed in agreement while Shinsou snorted bitterly and Izuku smirked. At least they didn’t have to experience the hell that was Kunugigaoka's practical exams in middle school.

The electric blond noticed and pouted. “Eh, why are you guys so unbothered? Aren’t you the busiest out of all of us?!”

Logically, that would be the case. Between END missions and training, classwork, homework, and hero training, there shouldn’t be any time in their schedules for studying. And if they’re being honest, there isn’t. But…

“When you go through Korosensei’s cram sessions,” Shinsou explained, brandishing his midterm results that displayed him #1 out of 1-C. “You never need to spend hours studying for tests again.”

Kaminari and the rest of 1-A gasped, gobsmacked. Ashido turned to Izuku, shaking in disbelief.

“I-Is that—?” she sputtered. Izuku looked down at midterm scores and held it up, smiling sheepishly. The pink girl looked faint. While the class knew Izuku ranked first on midterms, this was the first time they saw that he got a perfect score.

“To think...I was bested in the one thing I’m confident in...so effortlessly,” Yaoyorozu lamented as if the soul just left her body. She’s been a lot more down on herself ever since her less than satisfactory performance against Tokoyami in the Sports Festival. Izuku thought she was being way too hard on herself; doesn’t she know how amazing her quirk is?

“I wouldn’t say effortlessly,” Izuku sweatdropped, thinking about how much studying he had to do to prepare for exams last year. Korosensei was talented, but he was also ruthless with his teaching techniques.

Bakugou growled and exploded his midterm results, which listed him in fourth, while Kirishima fearlessly leaned over the explosive boy to talk to Izuku. “Still, I’m really jealous, dude. I bet you’ve got some awesome studying tips now.”

Kaminari perked up at this and suddenly latched on Shinsou’s arm, startling the brainwasher out of his chair. “Study tips! That’s it! Please share your Tentacle-gifted study tips, Shinsou!”

The brainwasher sputtered and tried to shove the electric blond away (“Didn’t you hear me? I don’t have to study for tests anymore, that’s not a tip!”) Yaoyorozu suddenly perked up. “You know, it would be fun to host a class study session. While I may only be second—” Why does she say that like it’s not an accomplishment? “—I’d be more than willing to share a few of my studying tips. You can even meet up at my house.”

Ashido squealed and clapped her hands. “Yes! Study session with Shinsou and Yaoyorozu! I’m in!”

A couple students voiced their interest, while Shinsou grumbled, “I never agreed to this.” However, he stopped resisting Kaminari’s clinging. 

Kirishima grinned. “Sounds pretty cool! Want to join in, Deku? I could really use your help.”

Izuku grinned and opened his mouth to agree, but then Bakugou shot up in his seat and pulled Kirishima back. “Stupid Shitty Hair! You don’t need his study tips! I can help you just fine!”

Despite being held by the collar, Kirishima didn’t even look fazed. Izuku blinked. When did those two become casual with each other? Now that he thought about it, they were teamed up for the Cavalry Battle…

“Geez, calm down, Bakubro. You can join in, you know?”

“Why would I want to do that?!”

Izuku grimaced. “Ah, it’s alright if you want to join us, Kacchan…” he muttered, to which Bakugou replied, “I don’t need your stupid help!” and Shinsou grumbled, “It is?” Izuku glared at his best friend, who just arched an eyebrow challengingly.

In the end, their study group consisted of Jirou, Sero, Ojirou, Kaminari, Ashido, Shinsou, Yaoyorozu and him, with Kirishima popping in at the end after escaping Bakugou’s tutoring. Yaoyorozu’s home was better described as a mansion, the biggest he’d ever seen. It was extremely intimidating to be around so much wealth, and Izuku was technically a millionaire. 

A week before the final exams arrived, they had gathered for their study group when Yaoyorozu announced, “A close business partner of my father and his son are stopping by sometime today, so you might see them around. They should ignore us, though, but I just wanted you to be aware.”

The group shrugged it off and got back to studying. Izuku worked on algebra with Ashido and Ojirou while Yaoyorozu covered chemistry with Jirou and Sero — thanks to her quirk, the girl’s chemical compound knowledge was as extensive as Okuda’s. Kaminari and Shinsou were conversing with each other in English, which was both of their best subjects.

This went on for about an hour. Yaoyorozu’s comment was a distant memory at this point, so Izuku was very surprised when the butler announced the guests to them and they turned to find Principal Asano and his son standing there.

“Gakuhou, great to see you again,” Yaoyorozu’s father greeted before gesturing to the teens behind him. “I’m sure you remember my daughter, Momo. These are her classmates from the U.A. Hero course.”

Izuku’s classmates bowed their heads obliviously while the green-haired boy sat frozen, feeling oddly caught in the act. Shinsou resigned himself to pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. Asano Gakushuu was pitifully attempting to smother his smirk behind his hand. His father, who had a much better poker face, looked absolutely delighted by the scene in front of him.

“Ah, Hitoshi, Izuku. Good to see you’re making friends in high places,” the school principal commented, and Shinsou’s head dropped to the table with a resounding smack. Kaminari squawked. 

Everyone in the room was visibly taken aback. “You, uh, know some of these students?” Yaoyorozu’s father questioned, and Principal Asano grinned.

“I suppose you could say that. Hitoshi and Izuku both attended my school, and legally speaking, Hitoshi here is my ward.”

“Heh?!” the group echoed, and Izuku sunk lower into his chair. Yaoyorozu’s father was at a complete loss for words, so Principal Asano delightfully elaborated, “Yes, he’s Toshio and Hikari’s boy. I’m sure you remember them?”

Yaoyorozu looked pale. “Toshio...Shinsou Toshio, the famous neurosurgeon is your father?!”

Ashido turned to Shinsou in total disbelief. “Eh, Shinsou, are you filthy rich too? No fair!”

They were unknowingly approaching a very touchy subject, and both Shinsou and Izuku tensed. He knew he needed to interfere before it got out of hand, but he wasn’t sure how. Thankfully, Asano had it covered. During the commotion, the cynical teen made his way so he was standing behind Shinsou’s chair. He leaned over to see what they were working on and scowled.

“Hmm? Out of Kunugigaoka for a few months and you’re already back to the basics, are you, Shinsou?” mocked Asano, but it lacked the spite it had a year ago. Now it was just a teasing distraction that Shinsou eagerly took advantage of. He lifted his head off the table and lazily gazed at the other.

“No, I’m helping other people study, Assano. I’m sorry if that’s not a concept you’re well-acquainted with.”

Kaminari, awkwardly stuck in the middle, glanced back at Asano. “Hey, so you’re like Shinsou’s unofficial brother, right?” The two boys crinkled their noses at the description. “Nice to meet you, dude. I’m Kaminari Denki.”

The electric boy held out his hand, and there was an awkward moment where Asano just stared at it, a playful smirk on his face. Izuku tensed, wondering just what that boy could be plotting, but then Shinsou elbowed Asano in the stomach and glared. The principal’s son sighed and very briefly shook Kaminari’s hand.

“Nice to meet you too. I’m Asano Gakushuu.” The playful glint returned to Asano’s eyes. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to be the boy Shinsou fought in the first round of the tournament, right?”

A harsh blush flashed across both Shinsou and Kaminari’s cheeks and Izuku smothered a laugh. Korosensei, if only Karma were here to see this trainwreck…

“U-Um, yeah, I am! Why do you ask?”

“Oh, no reason…”

Eventually, the Asanos left with Yaoyorozu’s father, and the group got back to studying. Shinsou proceeded to glare at anyone and everyone who tried to ask about what happened for the remainder of their study groups.

-.-.-.-

The written exam came, and all of 1-A succeeded in passing it, to everyone’s delight. Izuku grinned as they celebrated, getting flashbacks to 3-E again. Shinsou leaned against his shoulder, a nostalgic look on his face, and it was clear the brainwasher was thinking the same thing. But the exam process still wasn’t over, their right to attend the summer training camp still not earned. Now they had to pass the practical exam. There were rumors flying around that their obstacle was just to defeat robots, but their hopes for an easy exam were suddenly crushed when Nedzu popped out from the capture scarf around Aizawa’s shoulders.

This could only mean bad news. 

Instead, due to the recent increase in villain attacks, the U.A. faculty decided to make the tests much more realistic. They were going to be paired off into teams of two and fight a U.A. teacher. Izuku didn’t think it was possible, but U.A. somehow managed to make their practical exams even more insane than Kunugigaoka’s.

“This is crazy! There’s no way we can take out Pro-Heroes!” Sero argued, and All-Might, one of the teachers some poor soul would have to fight, grinned.

“Of course not, and we wouldn’t expect you too. Instead, you can pass by either apprehending your opponent with these handcuffs, or by at least one team member escaping the battlefield. And, to even out the playing field, all the teachers will be wearing these super compact weight bracelets that—” the Pro-Hero put one on, and his arm drooped, “—are a lot heavier than expected! Who designed these things…?”

Izuku glanced at the bracelet and sweatdropped, recognizing it as the device Itona and Hatsume were collabing on. Well, at least he knows they’ll work…

Aizawa announced their pairings, and Izuku suspected that they weren't randomized. What were the chances that Shinsou would be assigned to take down Midnight? There’s no way the busty teacher didn’t arrange that herself, especially if her sinister grin was anything to go by. Shinsou looked ready to forfeit the test before it even started.

And then Izuku’s pairing was announced, and he knew, no way was this randomized.

Because his opponent was All-Might, and his teammate? His teammate was Kacchan.

-.-.-.-

“This is total bullshit,” Shinsou muttered before they were sent off to their respective exam areas. “They can’t make you do this. They can’t.”

“C-Clearly they can, Hitoshi…” Izuku sighed, already accepting his doom. Bakugou was livid whenever their pairing was announced and has been avoiding Izuku since, not giving them a chance to discuss strategy at all. And you can’t just go up against the Number One Hero and not have a strategy.

“The dude fucking hates you. He basically tried to kill you at the beginning of the school year. He’s nothing but an asshole to you twenty-four-seven. This is a disaster waiting to happen.”

Izuku nodded mindlessly. “Maybe...maybe that’s why they did it. Maybe they’re testing to see if we’re capable of getting over our issues and work together to take down the strongest opponent possible. They don’t exactly make these practice exams to be easy…”

Shinsou scoffed and adjusted the Artificial Voice Chords around his neck. It was the first time in his hero costume in front of the class, Izuku noted fondly. He looked like he fit right in. (It probably helped that he didn’t have a giant crescent moon on his chest, but that’s because they haven’t seen the interrogation mode Korosensei smile on the mask yet.)

-.-.-.-

Surprisingly, his fight against All-Might with Bakugou was...uneventful. Bakugou ignored him 99% of the time, but Izuku had the quirk advantage, especially now that his reduced speed kept him from choking on blood. Bakugou set off a few explosions to distract All-Might, Izuku used his stealth training to sneak up behind and put the cuffs on the Pro. There was a small hiccup where All-Might almost got away, but Bakugou’s quick thinking knocked the hero off balance and led to their ultimate victory. Then the blond stormed out of the arena without saying a word. 

“Thank goodness you’re not coming to me coughing up blood anymore,” Recovery Girl said when giving his formal checkup after the fight, and Izuku sheepishly blushed.

Besides him and Bakugou, the only other team to finish this early was Todoroki and Yaoyorozu. Izuku was surprised Shinsou wasn’t done yet. It was hard to tell through the monitor, with Midnight’s sleep aroma fogging up the area. Sero, Shinsou’s teammate, was knocked out from the start, but the brainwasher was nowhere in sight.

“Oh, Shinsou,” Midnight said, cracking her whip. “Why won’t you come out to play with your favorite teacher? It’ll be so much fun to put your special skills to the test. What did your old mentor call it — honeypot assassination? Mmm, sounds delectable.”

Yaoyorozu hummed as she observed the battle. “Midnight’s aroma must’ve consumed the arena by now. If he’s not already out, it won’t be long before Shinsou’s taken down; there’s no way he can hold his breath much longer.”

Todoroki nodded, and Izuku hid a smirk. Because he knew that wouldn’t be a problem for his friend — Itona was way too thorough in his designs for that.

A shadow passed behind Midnight, and she moved to strike with her whip, but the Pro-Hero was distracted by Sero shouting, “Look out, Shinsou!”

Everyone in the room jolted, and Midnight spun around, sputtering. “How are you awake—?” She cut herself off, however, when her eyes landed on Sero’s unconscious form. Midnight’s eyes widened as she realized her mistake, but by then it was too late.

“I wouldn’t call it delectable,” Shinsou said into Midnight’s ear. The Artificial Voice Chords mask worked as an air filter too, because Itona was thorough and paranoid. The brainwasher held a nerve-knife to Midnight’s throat. “Deplorable, bothersome, to name a few. I mean, it’s not like I enjoy exploiting this side of people.”

The knife lowered, swiftly nicking both of Midnight’s arms. Her limbs immobilized, it was only seconds before Shinsou put the special handcuffs on the Pro-Hero. Recovery Girl went on the announcements to declare that Sero and Shinsou passed while Midnight grinned up at her ex-student.

“Ah, I’m not surprised you’re so handy with handcuffs. Maybe I should ask your little blonde mentor what other tricks she’s taught you.”

Izuku prayed for Shinsou’s sanity.

-.-.-.-

“Why me?” Kirishima bemoaned, leaning against Izuku’s shoulder. The green-haired boy awkwardly patted his friend's back.

In the end, everyone passed the practical exam except two groups: Kaminari and Ashido, and Kirishima and Sato. Izuku felt particularly bad, knowing how hard they all worked to make sure they passed the written exam, only to get shut down by the one they weren’t as worried about.

“Man, and I was really looking forward to the trip!” Kaminari sulked, and Ashido nodded miserably.

The classroom door suddenly slammed open and Aizawa walked inside. “Everyone’s going on the trip,” he declared, making the entire class scream.

Apparently, claiming failure on the test would exempt them from the trip was a logical ruse to get everyone to take the exams more seriously. Those who ended up failing were just going to have to complete extra intensive training courses. Izuku just hoped Aizawa’s version of ‘intensive training’ wasn’t anything like Karasuma’s.

(But then again, given how similar the two teachers were, it probably was.)

“Where is this lodge even at? This paper doesn’t even say…” Shinsou muttered, glaring suspiciously at the trip guide Aizawa just handed.

“Yeah, and where are we supposed to get half of this stuff?” Sero added, which was a good point. Some of the things on this list were downright bizarre. Why would they be expected to own paintball helmets? Or better yet, why did they need them?

Since no one owned most of the stuff on the list, Hagakure suggested they all head to the nearby mall. Which is how all of 1-A, minus Bakugou and Todoroki, found themselves at the Musutafu mall together. Shinsou wanted to stay back too (“You’ve heard of online shopping, right? It’s way easier than walking around a mall,” he complained), but Izuku didn’t give him a choice. He needed to start socializing with his new classmates, and this was a good way to start.

“Let’s split up!” Uraraka suggested, and the class agreed. Izuku and Shinsou wordlessly stayed by each other’s sides, not ones to separate when they didn’t have to. 

“Where do we want to start first?” Izuku said, glancing down at the list. “There’s a lot of basic camping stuff, so maybe we should start at an outdoor supply store?”

“I guess, though we might want to start with the more bizarre stuff since it’ll take more time to fi—” the brainwasher stopped so abruptly, Izuku ran straight into his back. The green-haired boy frowned and looked around, instantly on edge. 

“Hitoshi, what’s wrong?” he said, instinctively reaching for a nerve-knife, only to realize it wasn’t there. He came straight from school, and he didn’t think to grab a weapon from his hero suit before he left. Didn’t think they’d find danger here of all places.

“Izuku…” Shinsou said cautiously, fiddling with his capture rings. Izuku was grateful at least one of them was paranoid. “Remember how I fought Shigaraki and Kurogiri in Hosu City?” Izuku nodded tersely, not liking where this was going. “Well, did you know that I knocked off Shigaraki’s mask during the fight?”

A wave of nausea hit Izuku with the words, but he resisted the urge to start looking around. He needed to avoid suspicion. He leaned into his best friend’s side and whispered, “Where is he? Has he seen us yet?”

Shinsou visibly gulped. “He’s standing about fifteen meters behind you, and he’s staring right at us.”

Paranoia made it so it was like Izuku could feel the eyes staring at his back. “R-Right. We...We need to tell Ritsu, notify Karasuma.”

“No.” Izuku jolted, and his friend continued, “He’s in civilian clothes and he looks like he’s alone. If we tell END, they’re going to send a whole unit and the situation could escalate; innocent people could get hurt. We need to hold off, find out what Shigaraki wants, and then make our judgment call from there.” 

Izuku didn’t like the sound of that plan at all; didn’t like the idea of approaching a dangerous villain without backup, especially with all of their classmates so unaware of this unforeseen threat. “Hitoshi, I don’t know, I’d feel better if we called in an END unit—”

“Izuku, we are an END unit.”

Oh. Right.

It was easy to forget that he and Shinsou made up Sigma, the failsafe unit. They never got deployed as a unit, only occasionally helping out their teammates on missions. But Shinsou’s right, they are an END unit, they’ve been trained to deal with situations like this. 

“C’mon,” Shinsou said, moving towards Shigaraki. “Let’s go see what the bastard wants.”

-.-.-.-

ALL MIGHT IS MY DAD @tinymighty135

New poll: Do you guys think the government should disband END?
Yes! They’re just kids! No child soldiers! (78%)
No. They still need to be monitored. (8%)
lmao who would keep us safe if they disband? heroes?? (14%)

-.-.-.-

“Two against one?” Shigaraki rasped when the duo approached. “That seems hardly fair. But then again, you’d have to be a fool to ever expect assassins to play fair.”

They didn’t answer. Hitoshi brushed his fingers against his capture rings, trying to soothe his nerves. Every instinct screamed to attack this man before he could attack them, but he resisted. It’d be foolish to start a fight that might not even need to happen, especially with so many civilians around. 

“Why are you here, Shigaraki?” Hitoshi snapped, wanting to get straight to the point. Instead of answering him, however, the villain arched an eyebrow and pursed his crusty lips together. Well, at least he’s learned his lesson, for better or for worse.

Midoriya finally repeated the question. Shigaraki’s intense red eyes narrowed in on the green-haired boy.

“You know, I really hate you,” Shigaraki responded bluntly, and Hitoshi resisted the urge to retort because the feeling was very mutual. “I hate your little assassin group, I hate you little hero classmates. I hate everything you stand for, everything your damn Korosensei stood for. And I hate that the stupid Stain guy supported the annoying octopus.”

The villain scratched at his face, and in that moment, all Hitoshi could see was Takaoka. “Well, you guys knew the octopus bastard pretty well. Tell me, what made him so great, huh? What made him so worthy of all the recognition, all the respect? What made him the Number One Villain?”

He wasn’t a villain, Hitoshi wanted to shout, but he restrained himself. They needed Shigaraki to talk, to give them information, and he wouldn’t say anything if Hitoshi was the one talking.

“He didn’t want it, you know; he didn’t want to be the Number One Villain,” said Midoriya, and Hitoshi nodded along. “Everyone was always more obsessed with his villainy than he was. All he cared about was being a teacher. We know that more than anyone. Like Stain, he didn’t do things to cause chaos and scare people, he had a different goal in mind — a goal of justice. Their ideas were very, very different, but I can still understand them because of it. But you…”

Shigaraki sneered and the scratching intensified. “What, do you think I don’t have a goal? I thought I made it very, very clear what it was — I’m going to be the one to kill All-Might and tear society apart. That’s all the justice I need.”

The goal was so short-sighted, so selfish that it made Hitoshi’s stomach churn. After spending a year with the supposed Number One Villain, it’s become hard to remember what real villainy was like. Real villains were the people Korosensei fought — Takaoka, Shiro, the Reaper. Real villains were monsters like this man.

Shigaraki suddenly started cackling. “Ah, look at your faces! So horrified, so pathetic! What, can you not stand being around a villain that’s not so self-righteous?” Shigaraki scoffed. “You know, I think I finally understand what I hate most in the world — self-righteous people. Korosensei, Stain, All-Might, they’re all disgusting in my mind. I just can’t stand them; I want to destroy everything they represent, everything they care about.”

Like hell, Hitoshi glared, using his eyes to say the words he couldn’t speak. Like hell we’re letting you anywhere near E-class. Near our classmates, our friends. 

Having heard enough, Hitoshi reached for his Ritsu-watch. Unfortunately, Shigaraki tracked the movement and sneered.

“Sending the battalion, are you? No need, I’ll stop interrupting your...shopping trip.” When Hitoshi didn’t move, the villain’s eyes narrowed. “I’d choose your next move very carefully unless you want blood on your hands.”

He flexed his fingers threateningly, and Hitoshi relented, shoving his hands in his pockets. The villain smirked and stood up to leave. 

“Keep your guards up, brats,” he said, walking away. “Next time, we’ll see who the better killer is.”

-.-.-.-

Karasuma: So let me get this right, problem children. You spot a known wanted hostile at the mall, and you decide to approach him without informing END and without securing backup. And you thought this was a good idea why?

Karasuma: You’re lucky the police know has a task force to deal specifically with the League of Villains now. When I get back to the base, we are going to have a long talk about protocol.

Shinsou: aye aye, dad

-.-.-.-

The day to leave for the trip finally arrived, and Hitoshi couldn’t be more relieved. The class cluttered together, waiting to get on the bus, and the brainwasher idly listened in on all of the gossip. 

“I heard they changed where our training camp is being held,” whispered Hagukure. “Apparently it was supposed to be with the Wild, Wild Pussycats, but they changed it last minute for some reason!”

“Awww, really? I would’ve loved to meet the Wild, Wild Pussycats!” Ashido pouted. “I wonder why they changed it?”

“Probably didn’t want to waste their time with pathetic wannabes like you,” Monoma, a condescending, 1-A hating kid from 1-B, mocked. “You guys think you’re big and bad because you guys made it farther in the Sports Festival, but we’re going to show you up! We don’t care if you have END agents on your side!”

In all honesty, Hitoshi didn’t have much of an issue with Monoma. Sometimes, he even found him amusing, especially before he joined 1-A himself. But if there was one person in 1-B that Hitoshi genuinely, truthfully adored, it was Kendou Itsuka and her ‘no-bullshit’ self. 

“Leave them alone, Monoma,” the orange-haired girl said, using her large hands to pick up Monoma and drag him away. “We apologize for him.”

“Her and Kataoka would get along,” Hitoshi muttered, temporarily picturing the two of them meeting. Immediately, he brushed off the thought. The last thing he needed right now was for more of his new friends to meet his E-class friends. His brain wouldn’t be able to handle it.

-.-.-.-

Honestly, they should have caught on a lot sooner than they did. It was embarrassing it took them so long; Korosensei would be ashamed.

“Hey, we’re getting close to where I went to junior high!” Uraraka commented, peering out the window. They've been on the bus for a few hours now. Hitoshi, who was scrolling through his phone, nodded absentmindedly before it hit him that — wait, we went to the same school. He jolted up in his seat and, sure enough, they were driving along a very familiar street. In the distance, you could see the Kunugigaoka main campus, and even further from that was the E-class mountain.

Hitoshi exchanged fond glances with Midoriya at the sight. He wondered if any of E-class was there right now on the base, hanging out over the summer break. Now that he thought about it, the class group chat has been quiet all day, and he doesn’t recall seeing any mission alerts for other units. Maybe they’re actually taking time off for the break? They deserve it.

“Wait, if that’s where Uraraka went to school then — whoa, is that the mountain?!” Kirishima exclaimed. “We’re going to pass the place where the Mountain Raid happened?!”

“Oh, we’re going to do more than pass it,” Aizawa mumbled. Suddenly, the bus came to a stop right at the base of the mountain and the doors opened.

“Cool! Pit stop!” Kaminari cheered, racing outside with 1-A close behind. Hitoshi stood up much more slowly. It was an odd sensation, standing in a place he’s been so many times before with a new set of classmates. His heart felt heavy.

He barely took a step outside before his instincts started tingling, and instantly he was on edge. He looked around, trying to assess where the threat was, and could see Midoriya doing the same. He pinpointed it at a particularly dense part of brush and reached for his capture rings when—

“You better stop right there, Shitsou,” a voice called out, and three figures walked out into the opening. Bitch-sensei rolled her eyes at her pupil. “Props to not being totally oblivious and all, but if you still haven’t pieced it all together yet, then I’m embarrassed.”

Pieced it all together? What did that—

Like a slap in the face, it all made sense. The sudden change in trip plans. The secrecy on their destination. The random stop in Tokyo. The communication silence from END. And while Hitoshi felt like screaming because Korosensei, why was this his life, Hitoshi was much more preoccupied with one small other detail going on in the moment.

“Who the hell is the kid?”

Standing behind Bitch-sensei and Karasuma like a pouting puppy was a small child, probably around 5 years old, with spiky black hair covered by a red hat. He stared at the class like they were the bane of his existence. Hitoshi wondered if it was healthy for a child to glare that much.

“Good to see you too, Shinsou,” Karasuma greeted dryly. “Midoriya, please breathe.”

The green-haired boy in question was performing some odd mime routine, frantically swatting at the air and silently struggling for words. “Kara- Ms. Jel- How, why, wh-who…?”

“Welcome to the Mountain Base,” Karasuma greeted, ignoring his students in favor of the whole class. “I’m Special Agent Karasuma, and this is Irina Jelavić. We’ll be overseeing your training during the camp.”

“Huh?!” 1-A was openly confused — not that Hitoshi could blame them. It felt like his brain was splitting in two.

“After some safety concerns were raised due to the increased villain activity, it was decided we change the camp’s location to here,” Aizawa explained. “Not only are there more people to keep an eye on you this way, but this training experience will be very...unique.”

Hitoshi did not like the sound of that.

“Unique? What is that supposed to mean?” Sero mumbled to himself. Unfortunately for him, Karasuma heard. A playful smirk, the same one whenever he was planning some insane P.E. exercise, dawned the agent’s face, and 1-A sweatdropped.

“Since your teacher decided he wants your class to get some extra-special instruction, we’ll start out with what I like to consider a classic. The E-class building is located at the top of the mountain. You have an hour to make it there. Fail to do so, and you can expect severe punishment.”

“Hike up a mountain? That’s it?” mumbled Satou, oblivious to the hell that was about to come.

“Ha, give us a challenge. I remember hiking up this stupid mountain for that fall festival; this’ll be a piece of cake,” Bakugou grinned, cracking his knuckles. 1-A buzzed with anticipated success. Midoriya pulled out a notebook and started scribbling.

“What are you writing?” Hitoshi questioned; he didn’t see anyone using their quirk.

Midoriya looked up at him with large, mournful eyes and said with genuine sincerity, “Their eulogies.”

-.-.-.-

It didn’t take long for 1-A to realize they were completely, utterly unprepared for what was on the mountain. 

Within seconds of starting on the path, a volley of paintballs rained down on them. Todoroki and Tokoyami used their quirks to shield the class from above, but that only left them more vulnerable on the ground. Iida ran ahead using his quirk, but he got caught in a hidden net.

“I’m getting deja vu,” Kataoka said, popping down from her hiding spot in the trees and grinning at Ingenium’s brother. 

“Ah, shit, it’s END!” Ojirou warned as if it wasn’t blatantly obvious from the beginning. He attempted to swipe at Okano’s side with his tail, but the girl bent in half to dodge.

“Hi there! Long time no see!” she cheered, flipping through the backbend and kicking Ojirou in the face.

Jirou tried to use her heartbeat trick to pave a path for them, but the sound was canceled out by Terasaka’s roar. Isogai stole all the weapons Yaoyorozu created for the class and merged them into some crazy superweapon that he pawned off to Kimura. Kirishima and Satou tried to protect everyone from the entourage of baseballs being chucked at the class at lightning speeds by Sugino. Hitoshi, hiding in the trees with Midoriya, watched the whole fight go down. As much as he wanted to go down there and protect his classmates, if they were going to make it through this together, he needed to come up with a plan.

“It’s just Alpha Unit right now,” Midoriya pointed out. “They probably divided the mountain between all the teams. Alpha Unit to slow us down at the beginning, and I bet Gamma is right after, watching this happen and gathering data to give to the other units. Beta will probably be after that, with Delta defending the top.”

It made sense, but Hitoshi still felt uneasy. “If that’s the case, then where is—”

He ducked out of the way of the knife, and it embedded in the tree next to Hitoshi’s face.

“C’mon Shinsou, Midoriya. Aren’t you going to join in on the fun?” Karma mocked, jumping onto their tree branch. Hitoshi and Midoriya retreated to the ground; they may be giving Karma the high ground, but the farther away from him, the better.

“You know, if you run ahead on your own, you could probably reach the top in minutes without ever getting hit,” Karma pointed out, twirling his knife. Hitoshi smirked.

“And leave our classmates on their own? That doesn’t sound very hero-like.”

The red-haired boy grinned, clearly pleased with the answer. He jumped down and, as if to test their reflexes, swiped with his knife. The two hero-assassins easily dodged. “Well then,” Karma said, glancing over at the chaos that was 1-A. “You better start saving them; they look like they could use a hero right now.”

He had a point. Midoriya sprinted away to cut Iida free of the net, while Hitoshi used his capture rings to immobilize Sugino’s wrists. Bakugou screamed and jumped at Kimura, but for some reason, his explosions weren’t working.

“WHAT THE HELL?!” he screamed, his whole body tense. “Why is it so cold? Why am I not sweating? You better cut it off, Half-n-Half!”

“It’s not me,” Todoroki growled, also struggling with maintaining his body temperature, ice slipping up his skin. He looked back, locking eyes with Karma, who was casually leaning against a tree. Todoroki’s eyes narrowed.

“Aww, are your quirks not working for you? How ever will you fight now?” Karma mocked apathetically. Hitoshi shook his head; this was exactly what END wanted. They wanted 1-A to get preoccupied with fighting so that they’d forget the objective at hand — getting up the mountain.

“C’mon, let’s move!” he ordered, jumping in front of Kimura and disarming him with a few quick moves. 

Slowly but surely, the class surged forward. Like Midoriya predicted, Gamma Unit was next, greeting the hero hopefuls with an abundance of clever and annoying traps. Facing Beta was by far the hardest and most frustrating portion of the mountain. Between Hayami and Chiba’s constant sniping, Okajima, Muramatsu, and Yada’s distractions, and Nagisa’s general existence, Hitoshi wasn’t sure they’d ever make it through.

“How is that little blue guy everywhere — AHHHHHH!” cried Kaminari, trying to run away from Nagisa, only to somehow run directly into the Beta team captain hanging from a tree. 

Midoriya and he jumped around, trying to save all of their classmates from utter embarrassment and tragedy. Hell, was this what Korosensei felt like all the time, dodging all these attacks? The man really was superhuman if he never got annoyed by it.

At the top was Delta. By now, 1-A was exhausted, having expended their endurance early on. To make things worse, his E-class thought it would be funny to have Kanzaki use her quirk to create a hologram of All-Might waiting for them.

“Oh, thank goodness it’s over—” Uraraka breathed, running forward obliviously.

“Uraraka, look out!” Midoriya called, dragging his friend to safety. Seconds later, Yoshida came zooming through, almost running them over. Ashido pulled on her hair and wailed.

“Whyyyy?!”

Fortunately, the people on Delta, like Kurahashi and Hara, were a lot nicer and less mischievous than most of E-class. Kouda was able to use his quirk to counteract the animals Kurahashi teamed up with, and Sugaya’s camouflage was outmatched by Shouji’s senses. The hero class trudged to the top, all but collapsing outside the old 3-E building. It had taken them nearly two hours to reach the top of the mountain. Hitoshi braced for whatever ‘punishment’ Karasuma had in mind.

The dark-haired man glanced down at his watch and hummed. “Honestly, I expected you to take longer. I applaud you on your teamwork and ability to stick together.” 1-A seemed surprised to be receiving praise, and Hitoshi smirked. He knew how Karasuma worked, and a ‘but’ always followed. “But, I couldn’t help but notice how heavily you relied on Midoriya and Shinsou. Now, this could be accredited to the boy’s distinct advantage for this challenge, but I question how different the results would have been if those two weren’t there.”

Hitoshi winced and eyed his classmate’s reactions. There were some (Bakugou) that looked furious, while the majority just looked sheepish. Todoroki stared at his left side as if he was expecting it to suddenly ice over again. 

“Of course, I couldn’t help but notice that Shinsou and Midoriya were never outright attacked, giving them ample opportunity to assist their classmates,” Karasuma continued, this time staring where E-class was gathering, looking much too smug and cheeky.

“We saw it as a calculated strategy,” Nagisa explained, smiling lightly at the two hero students. “If we focused on stopping them, it’d probably take away too many of the forces that we needed for 1-A. We figured it was best to keep them busy fighting us inadvertently.” 

Karasuma hummed, pleased by the reasoning. Aizawa took the pause as his chance to finally address the class. 

“I know this isn’t what you had in mind for your summer training, but I hope you can see there’s a lesson to be learned here. Today was a glimpse of what we Pro-Heroes experienced during the Mountain Raid, how woefully unprepared we were despite having years more of training and experience and, above all, stronger quirks.” Aizawa paused so he could look every single one of them in the eyes. “My goal for this camp is that you learn the importance of skill and technique over power. Because, as we learned that day, just being stronger isn’t enough to guarantee you’ll win.”

While it was nice to hear him say that, standing here, in front of their old classroom, hearing a lecture so similar to Korosensei’s but not… It hurt more than Hitoshi could admit. He tried to focus on everyone else around him, not wanting to deal with the growing pain in his heart. Bakugou looked ready to blow a fuse, but he wasn’t the only one who looked skeptical. Like, even after getting their asses handed to them on the mountain, they couldn’t fathom being beaten by nothing but a strategy and a knife.

Oh, how they’ll learn.

-.-.-.-

Before any hellish training could commence, they were first given time to settle in and wait for 1-B to arrive in a more sane manner (lucky bastards). The END building barracks were extended to accommodate everyone, separating the girls and boys into different living spaces. It was insanity, cooping the hero students and 3-E in the same space, but Hitoshi was just grateful he could talk to his old friends easily. There was some serious shit that needed to be addressed.

“Okay, is that kid who I think it is?” he asked the moment his teachers were out of earshot. The rest of 1-A and 1-B were setting down their stuff, so the brainwasher made a beeline for 3-E’s side of the barracks. He flopped onto Terasaka's bed. The lion boy growled but didn’t push him off.

“You mean the mysterious child that’s apparently Karasuma’s orphaned nephew that he’s now obtaining guardianship over that Nakamura’s been telling us about but no one really believed her?” Mimura asked. “Yeah, and my empty wallet can testify. Why do I even bother making bets against her? She knows everything, I swear.”

“I mean, she is the captain of the intel unit and E-class’ best gossiper. What else would you expect?” teased Sugaya. 

“He seems really upset,” Midoriya commented, eyeing the child in question. The boy stood next to Karasuma, slouching and scowling like he hated the world. “Do you think he’s upset about living with Karasuma? Didn’t Nakamura say he was originally staying with a cousin or something?”

“I don’t think that’s it,” Nagisa said thoughtfully, looking just as concerned. “He’s angry about something, but it’s gotten worse ever since all the heroes and U.A. students arrived.”

“Hah, guess he hates you uppity heroes too. Looks like he’s got a good head on his shoulders,” snorted Terasaka. Hitoshi kicked him off the bed. “Hey!”

“Maybe he just doesn’t like being around all these strangers? We should go introduce ourselves,” Midoriya suggested. Hitoshi, who’s been through many foster homes and experienced many angry orphans, tried to advise against it —”Jolly Green, wait!” — but the green-haired boy was already gone, approaching the grouchy kid.

“Hey there! We didn’t get to really meet earlier, so I thought I’d introduce myself. I’m Midoriya Izuku from Class 1-A — hey, what are you- OOOF!”

Without warning, the kid tried to punch Midoriya right in the balls. Being a trained agent, the green-haired boy dodged the first attack and reached down to stop the boy, but he left himself vulnerable to the follow-up attack. The grumpy kid kicked Midoriya right in the nose and sent him sprawling.

...don’t laugh, don’t laugh, don’t laugh...

“BWAHAHAHAHA!” cried Terasaka, falling off the bed again. “Looks like the little brat really is related to Karasuma!”

Hitoshi couldn’t hold it in, muffling his laughter with his hand. Karasuma spun around, grabbing the boy’s arm. “Kota! What are you doing?”

“Not bad, kid. You took down one of our best agents, I’m impressed,” Karma commented, grinning devilishly. Surprisingly, the kid’s scowl dropped to one of confusion.

“Agent? I thought he was one of those stupid hero kids,” he grumbled, and Hitoshi finally composed himself enough to answer.

“He is, but he and I are also in the U.A. hero course,” he explained, walking over to help his best friend stand again. Kota’s scowl returned and Hitoshi took a step back, not wanting to get kicked in the face too. What was this kid’s deal? Did he have a problem with hero students or something?

“You’re wasting your time, wanting to become a stupid hero. What good would it even do you if you’re already an agent? It’s stupid.” Okay, correction, it seemed he had an issue with all heroes in general. But why? Weren’t kids supposed to be All-Might obsessed and endlessly optimistic? Just what happened to this kid?

Midoriya seemed to notice the same thing, glancing back at Nagisa to confirm his suspicions. Before Kota could complain anymore, however, Karasuma picked the kid up and silenced him with a glare.

“I’m sorry about that. I’ll address the situation in full tomorrow, I promise,” he said to the E-class boys before raising his voice to address all the students in the male barracks. “Training will begin tomorrow morning. Curfew is at 22:00 sharp, but until then, you’re welcome to explore the mountain. Feel free to ask the agents for an escort; I’m sure they’d be happy to help you.”

He glared, silencing E-class’ complaints before they could even come. There was a long, awkward silence after the teacher left; the three classes stared at each other, daring someone to break the silence. Thankfully, with the high concentration of idiots in the room, they didn’t have to wait long.

“Soooo, tell us, END agents,” Monoma said, grinning like a maniac. “Where are the ‘best’ places on this horrid mountain?”

Isogai, the Prince Charming saint he was, took the liberty to answer. “Um. There are some really amazing stargazing spots we could take you to. Oh, and there’s also a swimming area in the river if you want to go there.”

“Swimming?! Dibs!” Kaminari and Sero cheered, scrambling to get their swim trunks. 

-.-.-.-

When they woke up for training the next day, the last thing Hitoshi expected was to find Aizawa and Karasuma practice sparring.

It was... intense. This made his fight against Midoriya in the Sports Festival look like child’s play. The two teachers spun and parried and flipped and struck so fluidly, it was like a well-choreographed dance. Every student, both END and hero course, watched in slack-jawed awe. After going on forever, it ended in a draw.

“You’ve improved a lot,” Aizawa said, handing Karasuma a water bottle. The agent smirked.

“Well, I’m not the same kid I was when you graduated, senpai.”

“HEH?!”

Both classes blanched. Hitoshi did the math. Karasuma would have been a first-year while Aizawa was a second-year student. Their fighting styles always did seem eerily similar... It made sense in retrospect, but it wasn’t any less shocking.

The teachers quickly redirected their attention. Aizawa started out by explaining his objective for their training. While they’ve grown a lot emotionally and technically, they still had a long way to go with their quirks and, above all, their versatility. 

“The Sports Festival opened my eyes to how one-sided a lot of you treat your quirks and your fighting,” Aizawa explained. “While some of you may be more creative with how you use your quirk, take it away, and you’re severely stunted. If you want to become a Pro, you need to carry more than one weapon. That’s why we invited Karasuma and his agents to help us out.”

Vlad King nodded. “As I’m sure many of you are aware, the members of the Emergency National Defense, while the same age as you, have undergone elaborate training to respond to a variety of scenarios, but what makes their training so unique is that it emphasizes minimal use of quirks. The focus is to keep the agents comfortable with their quirks while not treating them like a crutch.”

“Who’s to say we’re treating them like a crutch?” Bakugou gruffed. The moment the question left his mouth, Karma grabbed his arms and judo-flipped him.

“If you weren’t using them as a crutch, that wouldn’t have happened.” 

Bakugou bristled and tried to attack, but Aizawa stepped in, his eyes glowing red. “That’s enough. You can let your frustrations out in training.”

Karma relented, letting Bakugou stand back up. Karasuma eyed his student disapprovingly.

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself — this training camp isn’t a one-way streak.” All of E-class tensed. “Just like I expect the U.A. students to learn non-quirk fighting from us, I expect you to learn quirk-fighting from them. This was Korosensei’s goal in the long-run, was it not?”

The explosion of protests was instantaneous. “No way! That’s not what you told us when we agreed to help out!” Terasaka protested, and Karasuma grinned.

“I know. That’s why I’m telling you now.”

Hitoshi smothered a grin and cracked his knuckles. Training both his quirk and his combat skills for a week? Give him a challenge, at least. He couldn’t wait to see the faces on everyone’s faces when the new transfer student kicks their ass—

“Oh, and Shinsou and Midoriya?” Karasuma cut in, smirking. That was never a good sign. “Since this is nothing out of the ordinary for you, you’ll get special training specifically with me.”

Trying to not show too much emotion (E-class was cracking up and the hero kids just looked confused as to why this was a big deal), Hitoshi turned to his best friend and gripped his shoulders.

“Jolly Green,” he said. “I hope you wrote our eulogies too.”

Chapter Text

The moment Izuku saw Kota, he had a lot of questions.  

While, of course, he was curious why a random child that looked a lot like Karasuma randomly appeared. But he had heard the rumors and had a basic understanding of a possible why. But the more he observed the child, a different question came to the forefront of his mind: why did this child seem to hate heroes so much?

It was honestly bizarre. When Izuku was growing up, it was almost required to be obsessed with heroes. The first thing any child did after getting a quirk was imagine how they could use it to become a Pro-Hero. While he could understand a child being less enthusiastic about hero work than others, however, to outright hate it? Did something bad happen to Kota?

Logically, something bad had to have happened; why else would he be suddenly moving in with Karasuma? And while it probably wasn’t any of his business to know, he couldn’t help but wonder what exactly happened. But since it wasn’t his place to know, he figured he’d never have an answer.

But then Kota almost fell headfirst into the river.

The male students had been enjoying their time in the substitute swimming pool Korosensei made the year before. Despite the large group with varying personalities and opinions of each other, there hadn’t been any incidents. Everyone seemed to decide to tolerate each other for the sake of getting through the training camp, or at least the night.

But then Kota, who had snuck out to spy on them, slipped and fell off his tree branch. Izuku had never been more grateful for his quirk than at that moment. Before Kota was even halfway through his fall, he was there, grabbing the boy mid-air and carrying him to safety.

“Oh, shit!” one of the 1-B boys exclaimed. Nagisa immediately sprung out of the pool and sprinted to the rock where Izuku was standing. Kota was breathing heavily and his eyes were squeezed tight, making his face all scrunched up.

“He’s really distressed,” Nagisa said, holding out his hand lightly touching Kota’s brow. Instantly, his squirming stopped as he fell unconscious. Nagisa frowned. “I calmed him down, but I guess this is his body’s way of dealing with the shock. We should get him back to Karasuma.”

“Right,” Izuku said, his heart still beating out of his chest. Nagisa sent him a concerned look, and suddenly a calm feeling enveloped him like a hug. He gave the blue-haired boy a shaky smile. “Th-Thanks.”

They carried him back to the base. Their ex-teachers looked haggard when they saw the young boy. Irina instantly took the boy, muttering, “Little brat, won’t listen to a word I say.”

“Thank you for taking care of him,” Karasuma said, turning back to the two students. “It’s been...difficult, adjusting to having him here. There’s quite a few issues we’re still running into, as you can see.”

Izuku nodded. He felt uncomfortable asking, but after what just happened… “Why was he spying on us, sir?” he settled on. “It seems weird for him to do, especially if he’s going to be at this camp with us.”

Karasuma sighed and scratched his neck. “I’m afraid that’s my fault. I...made a bit of a deal with him. To see if he could find the difference between agents and heroes. I’m trying to show him that there really isn’t much of a difference. But he’s determined that heroes are the bane of his existence. Since he doesn’t have an issue with agents, I was hoping we could use this camp to help him see that heroes aren’t so bad.”

“Karasuma-sensei,” Nagisa said. “I don’t mean to pry but...he harbors really negative feelings towards heroes. If you don’t mind us asking...what happened that made him feel this way?”

Their ex-P.E. teacher sighed and motioned for them to take a seat with him. It was odd, seeing him look like a long-suffering parent. “I was planning on telling everyone after the camp, but I guess this is the least I could do since you took care of him tonight. If anything, maybe you two knowing the situation will help.”

Karasuma proceeded to explain that Kota’s parents, his sister, and brother-in-law, were the Pro-Hero team Water Hose together. Izuku recognized the name; he also knew that they died protecting civilians in a villain attack a few years ago. Karasuma explained that while his parents were praised as true heroes, Kota saw it as them abandoning him over their job. Which was why he was so jaded about heroes and villains.

“I was on a long term international mission at the time, so our cousin offered to take him until I got back, but then Korosensei happened and I...maybe they were all excuses, but I didn’t feel like I could take him in. Maybe this is all my fault; if I had taken him in sooner, I could have helped him better. My cousin is the Pro-Hero Mandalay — heroism is a standard in our family  — and she felt like that always kept her from being able to reach Kota. If anything, it only made everything worse.”

Karasuma sighed, loud and heavy. Izuku clenched his fists, unsure what to say; should he comfort Karasuma about the loss of his sister? No, it was a while ago, that might be awkward. Should he ask why Karasuma became a government agent instead of a hero like everyone else in his family? No, Izuku, focus, that’s a stupid question!

Fortunately, his teacher kept talking so Izuku didn’t need to fill the silence. “When news of END broke, Shino, my cousin, said that Kota seemed...intrigued by END. Curious. He didn’t exactly like it, but he didn’t hate it like he does heroes. Shino saw that as a sign that he’d be happier being with me and, well, there’s only so many times you can avoid responsibility like this before you become a monster. It took a while to sort everything out, and it didn’t help that Kota saw this as Shino abandoning him for heroism but...I guess, here we are.”

Izuku thought of the scowling boy with a heavy heart. If he was being honest, well… he didn’t understand it. He grew up like everyone else, loving heroes with all his heart. And now he’s lived the life of being a government dog, felt the hate and distrust from the public. He only understood that heroes were liked and agents or assassins were not. So to think that Kota viewed things completely differently…?

“Thank you for sharing this information with us, Karasuma-sensei,” Nagisa said, stirring Izuku out of his thoughts. “Is there anything we could do to help?”

A gentle, relieved gleam flashed in Karasuma’s tired eyes. “At this point, any effort to reach him would be appreciated. I can’t think of better students to do it, either.”

Izuku and Nagisa blushed under the praise and left with promises to do just that. They weren’t sure how, or if it was even possible, but in Korosensei's honor, they were going to do everything they could to help Kota.

-.-.-.-

The training camp was...chaotic, to say the least. Karasuma, Aizawa, and Vlad King devised a system so students were trained in areas where they’d benefit the most — or, in other words, where they were currently lacking in the eyes of an assassin. It should’ve been well-structured, especially considering E-class already had experience after teaching 1-C.

However, 1-C was much different than the hero courses.

“We do what now?” Sero echoed, gingerly holding a practice anti-sensei knife. Maehara, who teamed up with Isogai and Kataoka to teach knife fighting, sighed for the umpteenth time since the lesson started ten minutes ago.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I was accidentally using my quirk on them,” he muttered before demonstrating the proper way to hold the weapon again.

Kataoka glared at two 1-B kids. “Stop fighting like five-year-olds with plastic swords. You’re wasting time by not paying attention.”

Kendou sighed and smacked her two classmates before turning to the ex-class reps apologetically. “Sorry about them. I’ll make sure they listen this time.”

Isogai smiled his killer smile, giving a polite “Thank you!” and bow. Hagakure gasped and shook Kendou’s shoulder dramatically. The orange-haired girl nodded knowingly.

“So dreamy…”

-.-.-.-

Chiba eyed the students wearily while Hayami went over basic gun safety. “You never want to aim your gun at a person unless you plan on shooting them. When you’re not fighting, you aim at the ground.”

The students did as instructed. Something gleamed out of the corner of Chiba’s eye, his quirk warning him. “Hey, be careful, you’re aiming at your-”

The gun went off, and Kaminari shrieked as the BB bounced off his foot. Chiba rubbed his temples.

-.-.-.-

Uraraka threw out her fist, just barely missing her opponent. She anticipated this, however, and quickly spun around, kicking Tsuburba's feet out from under him. The moment he hit the ground, she twisted his arm behind his back and pinned him.

“Amazing job, Uraraka!” Okano cheered. “You completed the move perfectly! And good job dodging the first attack, Tsuburba. Just make sure you don’t let your defense fall, even when you try to switch to offense.”

Uraraka preened. Her classmates mumbled enviously, wishing they could get positive feedback from their instructors. Terasaka scoffed and smacked Aoyama and Honenuki on the back of their heads. “Pay attention, you losers! You’re getting shown up by girls!”

Ashido pouted and whispered to Komori, her sparring partner, “This is too hard without our quirks. How long are we going to have to do this?”

She thought she was being quiet, but a devilish aura told her otherwise. “Maybe until you finally beat the underdog from 1-C, huh?” Karma taunted, his face morphed into something sinister. Both girls screeched.

-.-.-.-

“But my quirk makes me almost invincible! Why wouldn’t I use it to fight?” Kirishima argued, and Tetsutetsu echoed, “Mine too!”

Fuwa and Sugaya sighed. “Mimura, replay the presentation.”

Todoroki turned his attention from the PowerPoint (this was the fourth time they were shown it) and stared down at his left hand. Midoriya had yelled at him to embrace his fire quirk, and now his friends were telling him to not use it. Was this supposed to be so confusing? 

-.-.-.-

Izuku collapsed on the mat. Karasuma had thoroughly kicked his ass into the next week. An equally exhausted Shinsou, who’d been training with Ms. Jelavic, collapsed next to him. Apparently, the blonde woman still held a grudge from when Shinsou ran away from her in front of the U.A. teachers, and she was not holding back at all. 

“This is so unfair,” the purple-haired boy grumbled, wiping off his sweat with his shirt. “Why does Poofy just have to spar with Nakamura while I have to deal with the devil incarnate?”

(Judging by the infuriated and constipated look on Bakugou’s face while Nakamura ‘critiqued’ his combat style, the explosive blond would not agree with that sentiment.)

“Do you think they’re okay?” Izuku asked, glancing out the open base door where he could see most of the training being held outside. “They seemed pretty annoyed knowing that 1-A and B were going to be teaching them later on in the camp, so they might not be going as easy, which makes no sense because they’re just asking for trouble if they do that, but most of them don’t have any sense of self-preservation anyways—”

“A relatable trait,” Shinsou muttered.

“—and I just want them to get along because there’s no real reason for them not to, you know? They seemed fine at the pool last night but now I’m not so sure and I’m just worried.”

Shinsou lifted his head, looking over at their classmates’ training. Nagisa was working with Hazama and Kanzaki to teach stealth techniques to Iida and Satou. Nakamura was openly taunting Bakugou (“You look like the kind of guy who thinks he can explodo-punch his way out of anything, huh?”) in a tactless approach to insult his pride and get him to work harder. It was working. Nakamura deserved a medal. Kurahashi stood with Tokoyami, Yaoyorozu, and Shouda. “This stag beetle enclosure is amazing, Yaoyorozu! And I love the bunny pen, Shouda. Aww, look, Dark Shadow likes the birdhouse!”

“What exactly are we supposed to be learning out of this?” Yaoyorozu mumbled, cautiously throwing treats to the gathering bunnies. Tokoyami hummed in agreement and shuffled awkwardly. He seemed embarrassed that Dark Shadow was nesting in the birdhouse. 

“Self-positivity!” Kurahashi cheered.

Shinsou dropped his head back to the ground. “They’ll be fine.”

-.-.-.-

Muramatsu was kind enough to make his famous acorn noodles for dinner. Kirishima and Sero looked ready to cry, while Bakugou hunted the coyote boy down and aggressively asked for the recipe. Todoroki, who had taken a seat next to Izuku, hummed happily into his bowl. It was the most positive emotion Izuku had ever seen out of the boy. He didn’t get to embrace the moment, however. He and Nagisa had a mission.

It didn’t take long for them to find the angry boy. Kota was sulking at the bottom of the waterfall, throwing rocks into the river. Izuku blinked away the flashbacks — the last time he had been here, he fought Shiro for the first time, and it didn’t exactly end in his favor. Kota was, as expected, completely unreceptive to their arrival, demanding they leave immediately. Nagisa and Izuku exchanged knowing looks before placing the bowl of noodles next to Kota and sitting away to give him space. 

The dark-haired boy scowled deeper. “Why do you even bother?”

Izuku frowned. “You really should eat—”

“Not with that. Why do you even bother helping out those wannabe heroes? You’re wasting your time trying to teach them anything; all they do is use their stupid quirks for whatever they want and bring just as much violence as the villains.”

“Do you think assassins or agents are different, then?”

Kota seemed thrown off by Nagisa’s question, his guard dropping slightly (likely due to Nagisa’s quirk). “I...at least you guys don’t try to fake it or hide behind some stupid power. You guys hardly use your quirks, right? That’s what they always say on TV.” Kota shook his head. “It doesn’t matter; they’re all pointless titles anyway. Villains use their quirks for selfish reasons and hurt people, and heroes pretend they’re being selfless to fight back, but they just hurt people more. And least assassins and agents don’t fake it.”

“I agree,” Nagisa said, and Kota jolted again. “There’s no denying that heroes hurt people too. They hurt us deeper than you can ever imagine, the day Korosensei died.”

Izuku reluctantly nodded; it pained him to admit it, but when Nagisa put it like that, he couldn’t ignore it. He couldn't ignore the heaviness in his heart. “Not all titles make sense, either. I mean, they called Korosensei the Number One Villain, but all he did was teach school children. It was the pressure from society and heroes, and the training by agents that made us learn to kill. If it was up to him, we probably would’ve just graduated as normal junior high students; it’s what he always wanted, because his heart was good, and his intentions were pure. He was just a teacher to us, but he was a villain to the world because of the moon.”

Which wasn’t his doing, Izuku didn’t add, no matter how much he wanted to. Even if this kid was now the ward of an elite government agent, it wasn’t fair to throw such top-secret information on him like that. 

“What we’re trying to say, is that thinking one group is better or worse than the other, you’re only going to make yourself more confused,” Nagisa said. The duo stood back up to leave together, their dinner break almost over. “There are heroes that hurt, and assassins that are monsters, and villains that are misunderstood. That’s how the world works, and you can’t be mad at the world for that. You’ll only hurt yourself more.”

-.-.-.-

Wild, Wild Pussycats Attacked! Villain At Large!

Superhero rescue team Wild Wild Pussycats were attacked last night. The team was in the middle of an avalanche response when an unidentified villain attacked. The team's company reports that Ragdoll was seriously injured and hospitalized in critical condition. The extent of her injuries has not been disclosed at this time. Heroes have been put on high alert to find out more about this dangerous mystery villain before they attack again. 

-.-.-.-

For their second day of training, the roles were switched, with the emphasis put on quirk training. After much persuasion (begging), Karasuma permitted Izuku and Shinsou to train with their classmates. Izuku was surprised when Aizawa assigned him in a group with Maehara and Yada, instead of Iida’s group. 

“You’ve established a mental resolve that keeps you from pushing you past your physical limits with your quirk,” the underground pro said. “Let’s see how well you do when that mentality gets challenged.”

Shinsou, on the other hand, was paired up with Monoma to test his mental resistance if he went up against a copy of his own quirk, as well as learn if Monoma could still copy other’s quirks while under brainwashing. 

“Hmm, I must say, I’m quite excited for this pairing,” Monoma said, a wicked gleam in his eye. Shinsou sighed and looked back longingly at where Ms. Jelavic and Karasuma stood, regretting all his life decisions.

“Glad someone is...”

Kurahashi and Kouda were paired together, Kouda helping her better understand the animal calls she could mimic, and the girl helping him get over his fear of bugs one stag beetle at a time. Terasaka and Muramatsu were paired with Shishida, Shouji, and other mutant-type quirk students, much to his pleasure. Izuku cringed to see Karma in a group with Todoroki. Satou and Hara were trying to test their sugar consumption levels together.

“DIE! DIE! DIE!” Bakugou screamed, letting off explosion after explosion. Fukidashi ducked behind Sugino, who cringed away from the blast.

“You’ve got to focus your energy,” Sugino recommended. “You’re just letting it go everywhere like, well, an explosion. It’ll be more powerful if you focus the blast.”

Bakugou bristled and bared his teeth. “What’d you say, Baseball Boy?! You’re supposed to be learning from me!”

Hazama was put in a group with Hagaukre and Kuroiro from 1-B. She looked very unimpressed. “Am I supposed to learn something here?” she deadpanned.

“Dude...you literally have their quirk combined,” Sugaya pointed out, and Hazama scoffed.

“At least I don’t have stupid silver hair that makes me stand out from a mile away,” she grumbled, and Kuroiro touched his hair self-conscious. “Fine, I’ll work with them, but if she gets to walk around naked, so do I.”

“NO!”

-.-.-.-

Despite the begrudging attitudes at the start of the camp, it seemed the mutual tutoring aspect of it really helped everyone get along, despite all the strong personalities. Terasaka and his gang quickly started rounding up all the mutant quirk students to hang out at mealtimes. Okuda and Yaoyorozu were chatting non-stop about different chemical compounds and experiments. Izuku had been joking around with Sugino and Fuwa when he noticed Uraraka and Iida watching him, looking solemn. 

“Uraraka, Iida, are you guys okay?” he asked, and the normally bubbly girl smiled sadly.

“I’m fine, Deku-kun, it’s just…” she shook her head. “We were just talking about how you seem so happy and close with your old classmates.”

“Oh,” Izuku blinked, not really sure where this was going. “We’ve been through a lot together, so I guess you can say that. You guys aren’t upset about that, right?” He gnawed on his lip, hoping he hadn’t offended his classmates. Iida violently shook his head.

“Not at all, Midoriya! We were just talking about how ashamed we are now for our behavior towards you at the beginning of the year, and for our prejudice towards your old classmates. We hope you can forgive us.”

Iida started to bow again while Uraraka nodded fervently, and Izuku’s cheeks flushed. “A-Ah, please, there’s no need to apologize! Really, it’s nothing! I mean, yeah, it stung a little at the beginning, but I can’t blame you for only knowing what the media told you, and you guys have been really great ever since. Please stop bowing, Iida!”

However, the talk of the camp come dinnertime was the uncanny quirk similarities between Isogai and Awase from 1-B, who had a quirk called Weld. 

“I’m no expert quirk analyzer like Jolly Green, but this is plain freaky,” Shinsou deadpanned, and the group laughed.

“No kidding. Are you guys brothers or something?” joked Mimura. Izuku tensed and elbowed the other boy in the stomach.

“Uh, please don’t say stuff like that around Todoroki,” he whispered, gesturing to the dual-quirk boy who was eyeing Isogai and Awase suspiciously. Karma slung an arm over Mimura and Izuku’s shoulders and smiled threateningly.

“Yes, how about we not?”

Since the start of the camp, Karma had been on-edge anytime Todoroki was around. It didn’t help that Todoroki constantly stared at the devil boy. After their conversation on the night Stain attacked, Izuku knew Todoroki had some inkling of hope that his long-lost twin was still alive. His curiosity with Karma did not bode well either.

(Well, it didn’t bode well for Karma, who was the only reason this secret was still a secret. If it was up to Izuku, he would’ve told Todoroki that night in the hospital, and he knows Nagisa is bothered by it too.)

They should’ve known, all things considered, that things were going to blow up sooner or later.

-.-.-.-

It was Kirishima that let it slip.

Now, it’s not like he flat-out looked Todoroki in the eye and said “That super terrifying END commander guy is your twin brother that you thought was dead,” because Kirishima was completely, utterly unaware of the situation in the first place. Like everyone else in the hero course, he didn’t even know Todoroki once had a twin, much less anything about Karma. Which is why everyone was caught off guard by his story.

It was the third night, and everyone was getting ready for bed. Kirishima looked over at the E-class group with a frown.

“You know, I feel like I’ve met that scary red-haired guy before…” he said, and Sero snorted.

“Uh, you have, dude. They saved our asses back at the USJ, remember?” 

Kirishima shook his head. “No, I mean before that. It’s weird, I know, I just…” He went to towel dry his hair and suddenly froze. “Hair dye!”

“What?!” Izuku squeaked, dropping his toothbrush. 

“Hair dye! He’s the guy that told me what hair dye I should buy, back when I first started dyeing my hair."

Bakugou sneered. “You mean you choose to make your shitty hair that color?”

“C’mon, Bakugou, my hair color is awesome and you know it." Kirishima wasn't even fazed by the insult. Surprisingly, Bakugou backed down, diverting his attention to his clothes and flushing red. “Anyways, I’m almost positive that’s how I know him. He knows a lot about red hair dye too, so he’s probably been doing it for a long time.”

“He dyes his hair that color?” Todoroki interrupted. The glint in his eye was unidentifiable, and Izuku’s panic skyrocketed. 

Kirishima nodded. “Yeah. He mentioned something about having to try out a lot of brands to get the specific color for his hair or something — I guess he’s really picky about it, I don’t know. But isn’t that so weird?”

“It’s a small world, man,” Kaminari agreed, but Izuku wasn’t paying attention anymore. His eyes were locked on Todoroki, whose eyes were locked on Karma. As if he sensed it, the END commander turned around. The temperature in the room dropped, and Izuku wasn’t sure which twin was to blame. Hoping to deescalate the situation before it could even happen, Izuku stepped forward and grabbed Todoroki’s arm. It was the wrong move.

“Midoriya,” he said. His muscles were tense under Izuku’s hold.

“Y-Yeah?”

“Tell Akabane Karma I want to speak with him in private.”

He wrenched his arm away and stalked out of the room, and Izuku froze. How...how did Todoroki know Karma’s name? Like with 1-C, they were still on orders to go by agent names except for himself and Shinsou. So how did he...just how much did he know?

Across the room, Karma watched Todoroki exit, and Izuku didn’t need to be a telepath to know what he was thinking. Without Izuku prompting him to, the red-haired boy walked outside as well. Izuku contemplated his options (following them could very well result in his accidental death) before bolting after them. Thankfully, he wasn’t alone. Nagisa trailed after his boyfriend, sending an alarmed ping to Izuku when they made eye contact. He shrugged helplessly; at this point, there was nothing else they could do.

They opted to watch from a distance. Todoroki and Karma were having an uncomfortable, silent stare down in the middle of the forest. The smirk on Karma’s face was ruthless, mocking, as if he was daring Todoroki to speak up. The icy boy’s eyes narrowed, and the temperature in the room got even colder.

“You already know, don’t you?”

Karma’s laugh was sarcastic and condescending. “Know what, First? I’m going to need to know a bit more context than that.”

It was a blatant lie, and Todoroki knew that. His body was tense, his eyes ablaze. His hands trembled, literally shaking with rage. Not that Izuku was too surprised; Todoroki spent his whole life dreaming of a brother he thought he never had, and now he finally meets him. Except, it’s the spiteful devil known as Akabane Karma. 

“I’m not playing into any game. Just answer the question. Do you already know? Are...are you really Haruji?”

Silence. Deafening silence. Izuku didn't breathe. Karma didn't react. But then he hummed and tapped his chin.

“Ha-ru-ji?” he articulated. “Is that what my name is supposed to be? How lame.”

The temperature skyrocketed, but Karma didn’t flinch. He tilted his head to the side, his eyes gleaming. With a twitch of his fingers, it returned to normal. “No need to get so heated, First. What’s there to even be emotional about?”

“What’s there-?” Todoroki was at a loss for words. “How can you- do you really not care?”

“Care? Do I look like someone who wastes their time caring about anything?”

It was the final straw. “Stop giving such indirect answers!” Todoroki swung his hand out, but a wave of heat evaporated the ice. “Stop acting like this is nothing! Don’t you understand what this means? Don’t you know how this changes things?”

“You want to be direct?” Karma spat. “Fine. This changes nothing, First. I don’t know you. You don’t know me. End of story.”

“How- how can you even say that? Don’t you have questions too? Don’t you want to know? Know what, why this happened?”

“No,” Karma deadpanned. “Why would I bother wondering questions I already know the answer to? You’re the one they wanted, and I’m the one they threw away.” Todoroki flinched, and Karma’s smirk grew. “What, you didn’t know? Did that woman never tell you what she did? And yet you still figured it out — I have to admit, I’m impressed. You’re not so dull after all.”

Nagisa facepalmed, and Izuku prayed to Korosensei that Karma would stop. It was a fruitless wish.

“What are you talking about?”

Karma tilted his head to the side. The crazed look in his eye sent a sharp ping of terror right to Izuku’s heart. “Want me to tell you a story, Oniisan?” (Suddenly, Izuku wished Karma stuck with the original nickname.) “It’s about twins being born to a quirk marriage, and only the elder surviving; you’re familiar with this version, yes? Well, in my version, the younger didn’t die, but instead his poor, mentally unstable mother tried to throw him away because she didn’t need him. Fortunately, he was rescued by a nurse and raised as their own, but his whole life had to be a lie, a fake version of what it was meant to be. His name, his appearance, his quirk all had to be lied about for the sake of a charade, while the elder continued on with his life as it was meant to be. And then, suddenly, they’re reunited, and the elder has the audacity to ask the younger why he would care about a family that threw him away. A family that saw him as weak, as unnecessary.” Karma laughed. “So, Oniisan. How was that for an answer?”

Todoroki was silent for a long, long time, to the point where it was becoming even more uncomfortable (which was impressive, considering this entire situation had been suffocatingly uncomfortable from the start). Karma never backed down, didn’t even blink as he stared down his long-lost brother. Finally, Todoroki responded.

“Is...Is that really how you see it?” His voice was shaking; Izuku had never heard his voice tremble before, not even that night at the hospital. “If what you’re saying is true, and our mother really did that...is that how you see it? Do you not understand what she did for you? You have to understand, after everything that happened with Stain and our father and — do you not realize what she did for you?”

It was the wrong thing to say, challenging Karma’s intelligence and pride. No matter the circumstances, it was a bad idea, but when the emotions were so high…

Nagisa jumped in just in time. He grabbed Karma by the waist, pulling him back before he could lunge at Todoroki. The icy boy went on the defense, and Izuku zipped over, grabbing his right arm mid-swing. 

“Did for me?!” Karma spat, struggling against Nagisa’s hold. “She fucking abandoned me, that’s what she did for me! She’s a coward who can’t protect her family properly and just hurts them even more! Look at your face!”

Todoroki jolted, almost throwing Izuku on the floor. His quirk was the only thing that kept Todoroki from using his fire side too.

“Don’t you dare say that about her! You weren’t there, you don’t know anything!”

“You’re right! I wasn’t there! I wasn’t there because she gave me away! She didn’t want me, she just wanted you! You were the one they wanted and I was just disposable!”

“Do you think she wanted that marriage, huh? Do you think she wanted to worry about her kids’ quirks from birth? Don’t blame this on her!”

“What does it matter? We were babies, how could she have known, huh? She didn’t even give me a chance, no, just one look and I was gone.”

The surrounding temperature was fluctuating so much it was nauseating, and Izuku struggled to hold his classmate back. Todoroki was near tears, but he hid it with his anger. He snarled at his brother. “How can you be so bitter about this? Can you still not realize what she did?”

Karma laughed. “Oh, I know what she did. She chose to keep you!”

“And she chose to save you!”

Karma physically recoiled. There were so many emotions on his face: rage, confusion, bitterness, disbelief. His mouth opened, but no words came out. For possibly the first time in his life, Akabane Karma was speechless. 

And Izuku knew Karma. He knew Karma was too smart, too cunning to not consider this possibility. To not look at the facts in front of him and realize that the reason he was given away, the reason his mother cast him aside, was to protect him. But also knowing Karma, and knowing the hurt and bitterness this situation caused him — he didn’t even want to know who his birth family was for 14 years, and Karma was obsessed with knowing everything — that scenario was pushed away any moment it arose. Because if it was true, it changed everything. 

Karma wanted to be bitter and angry about the situation, about being overlooked from birth and never given a chance. His whole mentality was about proving himself as the strongest, the smartest, the best in every way. To be better than his mystery twin who had apparently been superior from birth. If he was thrown away, he could be angry. But if he really was saved...if it was done out of the love of a mother, a desperate mother, a hurt mother, to protect at least one child; to give at least one child a happy life…

It. Changed. Everything.

A sharp, oppressive calm hit like a wave, and the two brothers stopped struggling. Nagisa’s eyes were hard, his lips pursed. “That’s enough. We can deal with this later. Midoriya? Can you take Todoroki back to the barracks? Karma and I are going to talk.” 

Izuku would’ve felt bad for Karma if he hadn’t spent the last 10 minutes acting like an asshole to Todoroki. He nodded and gently tugged the icy boy away. Thanks to Nagisa’s quirk, he was very calm and complacent, and he didn’t change much even after they were out of the empath’s range. He stayed silent, stoic the entire walk back to the END building. He came to a sudden halt right outside the doors and turned to Izuku. His eyes were even more haunted than they had been the night at the hospital.

“It’s real, right? He’s really…?”

“Yeah,” Izuku replied. He wished there was more to say.

-.-.-.-

ARO ACE DRAGON @mightydragoon
I made memes about END because they deserve rights and Agent Devil is a bad bitch

-.-.-.-

It was clear by the next morning that everyone could tell something was up between Todoroki and Karma. Thankfully, 1-A just brushed it off as some quirk rivalry — they could connect the dots of the similarities of the two quirks, even if they were clueless of the true reasoning. E-class, on the other hand, guessed the worst. And unfortunately, the worst was the truth.

It took Shinsou about two seconds to grab Izuku by the collar and hiss, “What the hell happened last night?”

“Too much,” Izuku replied hauntingly. There wasn’t much time to go into detail, so Izuku tried his best to give a vague rundown (“And Karma was being a jerk, and Todoroki got upset, and everything was going wrong-”) before they had to head out for training. Today, they were back to working on assassination skills, but with a new end goal set up. 

“Beyond the obvious tension between U.A. and END, I’ve been informed there’s a bit of a rivalry between 1-A and 1-B,” Karasuma said, and multiple people glared at Monoma. “This, however, might work out in our favor. To test what you’ve learned and to release a little tension, I propose an E-class classic: a civil war.”

Whispers broke out immediately. “A civil war? You mean you want us to fight each other?” Iida exclaimed, and the government agent smirked. 

“Exactly that. It’ll be a simple capture the flag-type game, except everyone will be armed with practice guns and knives. Quirks are free to be used as you wish, but the only way to get someone out is to use your weapons. The game won’t start until tonight, so you have time to practice and hone your skills. Let’s see which class is getting the most out of their experience here.”

There was a competitive tension in the air as the two classes eyed each other. Sugino raised his hand. “What about us, sir?”

The grins on ENDs’ faces were even more wicked than usual and only grew at Karasuma’s answer. “Like before, you guys will get to pick which team you join. All I ask is that you split the numbers equally — both in numbers and strength,” he added, glaring pointedly at Nagisa and Karma. The devil-boy grinned.

“What? I think if the 1-A kiddies get to have Shinsou and Midoriya, then it’s only necessary we even it out. Seems much fairer that way to me,” Karma argued, and 1-B grinned triumphantly at the thought of getting both of END’s top fighters.

Takebayashi hummed and quickly reached under his shirt to pull out his statistics. “He has a point, sir. Karma and Nagisa match Shinsou and Midoriya in terms of strategy, stealth, and strength, so it’s only fair they’re split up. Though Shinsou and Midoriya arguably have the quirk advantage…”

Sero blinked. “Did you pull all of that out from your belly button?”

Takebayashi frowned and pushed his glasses up his nose. “You shoot tape from your elbow. I don’t see why I’m the weird one.”

Ashido scratched the top of her head. “Does the bellybutton calculate the statistics for you? How does a belly button do math?”

“I-I don’t know?!”

Takebayashi was bright red, and he backed away from the 1-A students as if that would make him safe. Without hesitating, Nakamura grabbed his shirt and flashed his stomach.

“Hmm, looks like a normal bellybutton to me,” she mused, reaching out to prod the spot in question. Takebayashi squawked and flailed to cover his body.

“H-Hey, cut it out! Don’t poke my belly button!”

Kirishima barked with laughter before turning to Izuku. He was buzzing like a toddler on a sugar high. “This is going to be so cool!” he declared, shaking Izuku’s shoulder. “So you guys did this in E-class? That’s so cool! Did your team win? I bet they did-”

“I wouldn’t be all smiles,” Aizawa cut in, glaring at the joking group. “You’re lucky you’re being allowed to participate in this activity. If it weren’t for the fact that this game needs even numbers to be played, none of you who failed the exam would get to play.”

The students in question flinched and voiced their thanks to their homeroom teacher. Izuku winced, very grateful he managed to pass the exam despite going against All-Might and somewhat Bakugou. 

“Well, let’s split it up,” announced Kataoka while Maehara and Isogai walked over carrying the familiar buckets of colored BBs and plastic knives. “1-A red and 1-B blue? That sound good?”

E-class nodded and moved quickly to choose their sides. Kurahashi quickly snatched up a red knife and brandished it at Kouda triumphantly. Takebayashi joined the blue team, eyeing Sero and Ashido. They were still staring at his belly button. Fuwa cheerfully grabbed a blue knife, declaring, “I love rooting for an underdog!” (was that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?), while Ritsu again agreed to remain neutral.

“The teachers and I will also be neutral parties and act as referees,” Karasuma explained. There was a loud huff, and Karasuma sighed, glancing over at the angry, glaring child beside him. “Kota too, so try not to be too destructive, alright?”

The rest of the class split up systematically, trying to keep it as even as possible. Chiba and Hayami went on different teams so both teams had a sniper. Okuda went to 1-A to balance out Takebayashi (and likely because she and Yaoyorozu were becoming fast friends). Class 1-A got Nakamura, Isogai, and Kataoka, 1-B got Maehara, Okano, and Kimura. 

Hazama, who had chosen red (probably because she had beef with Kuroiro from 1-B for no reason), was eyeing Dark Shadow suspiciously as the quirk not-so-subtly stared at her. Monoma eagerly welcomed every agent that joined his “mission to bring 1-A to their knees!” Terasaka glanced down at his blue BBs, obviously regretting his life choices. Karma, however, grinned and crossed his arms as he stared down 1-A.

“Don’t worry,” he said. His glare landed on Todoroki and stayed there. “We’ll make them regret they ever challenged us.”

-.-.-.-

Come evening, there was an excitable buzz running through the camp. Even Bakugou, who had been grumpy the entire camp, was happily brandishing his dual rifles. Shouji was showing off his skills wielding six knives at once, while Yaoyorozu worked with Okuda to create endless amounts of ammo.

“Now, does anyone need a reminder of their positions and assignments?” Iida tried to direct over the noise and bustling, his robotic-like arms waving in every direction. “Well, in case you need a reminder, our defensive team will consist of—”

Shinsou came up behind Izuku, throwing his arms around his shoulders. “You ready to crush this thing together, Jolly Green?”

Izuku grinned and playfully shoved the arms off. “We don’t even have the same positions, Hitoshi. We’ll be on opposite sides of the mountain.”

“Yeah, but at least we’re on the same team this time,” Shinsou pointed out, and Izuku nodded, glad he didn’t have to duel his best friend again. While Izuku was tasked with scouting out the enemy territory, Shinsou was put in charge of guarding the flag with Sero and Itona. 

Before it started, Itona strapped a camera to Izuku’s chest that transmitted back to Itona, basically making Izuku his ground drone. “They may have Mimura, but this will work even better,” he explained before turning to strap one on Iida as well.

“Remember this is just a game. Play fair, play safe, and play smart.” Karasuma announced through the comms, and then the countdown started. Izuku focused on the flashing numbers while simultaneously taking in his surroundings, looking for any alarms. There were three seconds left when he spotted a suspicious glare far in the distance. The clock flashed zero, and the gunfire rained down. It was only thanks to his supersonic reflexes that he was able to dodge and run for cover.

“Agent Balance already has eyes on me — I’m going to take her out!” Izuku reported over the comms.

“Don’t get out early, Freckles,” Nakamura, who was acting as the brain of the operation, instructed, and the green-haired boy took off. 

It was obvious right away how different this Civil War was from the first one E-class had. Not only were there nearly twice as many as opponents, but 1-B’s approach was so different. Izuku barely got 100 meters before he suddenly ran into a wall of vines. Backpedaling, he barely managed to escape before he was completely ensnared in Shiozaki’s trap, only to walk straight into another trap.

“You 1-A losers are so predictable,” Monoma mocked, firing his gun. His aim was off, but it distracted Izuku from Kendou’s attack from behind. The massive hands completely immobilized him, and he squirmed to get free.

“Hold him right there, Kendou, I got this!” Tetsutetsu called, charging with his knife drawn. Just before he could reach Izuku, however, he was stopped by a blur of red. Kirishima (who was a little too enthusiastic about being on the red team and insisted on wearing red face paint no matter how much Sugaya advised against it) shouted triumphantly and wrestled with Tetsutetsu aggressively. 

“Rabid dog chomp!” Muramatsu declared, jumping out of a nearby tree and biting into Kendou’s hand. The orange-haired girl screeched and dropped Izuku. 

“Get out of here, Deku, we got this!” Kirishima assured before punching Tetsutetsu in the face. Judging by how much he was struggling to land an effective hit on Tetsutetsu (their quirks were too similar), the statement was questionable, but Izuku had to trust him.

Monoma pointed his gun again. “You’re not getting away — huh?!”

Faster than the blond boy could complain, Izuku sprinted by, leaving a red paint slash across his shirt.

“Monoma — Out!”

It was satisfying to get the first hit of the game, but the triumph was short-lived when Ritsu soon after announced the elimination of Sugino and Satou. He ran for a little bit more, zigzagging around to throw off Hayami as he locked in on the sniper’s position. He came across Kaminari and Jirou going toe-to-toe with Tokage and Yada. Jirou was using her quirk to drown out Yada’s voice while Kaminari wildly shot his gun. His aim was dismal (it didn’t help that he got scared and closed his eyes every time the gun went off), but by some miracle, he managed to hit Tokage. 

Knowing she was outnumbered and outmatched, Yada quickly retreated. “After her!” declared Jirou.

“Wait, Jirou, don’t!” Izuku tried to warn, but it was too late. The earphone jack girl ran straight into one of Hara’s net traps. She screeched and Kaminari flailed his arms helplessly.

“Dumbass, stop standing there and cut me down!”

“Ah, right!” Kaminari said, pulling out his knife. He paused, realizing it was plastic, and Jirou facepalmed. “Uh, one sec, just let me put this away — OW!”

Kaminari, trying to free up his hands, decided to put his gun in the back of his waistband. However, he forgot to turn on the safety, and sure enough, the gun went off.

“...Kaminari?” Jirou deadpanned in disbelief. “Did you just shoot yourself in the ass?”

“NO!” Kaminari screeched while not so subtly nursing his butt. A few seconds later, Ritsu announced, “Kaminari — Out!”

“Aw, man,” Kaminari whined. His eyes suddenly landed on Izuku, and he flushed bright red. “Oh dude, please tell me you didn’t just get that on camera.”

“He totally got it on camera,” Nakamura helpfully announced over the comms, and Kaminari wailed in shame. Izuku grinned sheepishly and untied the trap, lowering Jirou to the ground. The dark-haired girl didn’t hesitate to shoot Kaminari in the chest.

“Hey!” the blond yelped. “What was that for?! We’re on the same team!”

“I know.”

Eliminations continued to be called out like wildfire, with both sides losing evenly. It was good to know that both teams were well matched, but the lack of gap made Izuku nervous. Karma had to be planning something big, and the green-haired boy didn’t want to find out what. He finally tracked down Hayami. She retreated to the cliff next to the waterfall, making it very difficult to reach her. You were also forced to attack her from the front, which was a death sentence with Hayami. 

Standing at the base of the waterfall was Kota. He must have chosen this spot to act as a referee. Izuku felt an added sense of pressure. I have to do well in front of Kota. Karasuma-sensei said he was watching to spot the difference between an agent and a hero. This could be my chance to change his mind about heroes!

Izuku made a plan. If he rushed Hayami using his speed, he would be faster than her bullets. Just when he went to move, however, a sharp pang of fear shot through his heart. He stumbled. The next thing he knew, a blue blur descended upon him, and Izuku knew it was too late. Reacting on pure instinct, Izuku jumped back, narrowly missing the swipe to his chest. Another sharp burst of fear filled his heart, and Izuku’s body reacted and froze. Before the adrenaline could kick in, however, numbing tranquility extinguished it.

Izuku was woefully reminded why he didn’t like dualling against Nagisa. No one wants to go against a snake when it strikes.

“I walked right into this one, didn’t I?” he asked sheepishly, and Nagisa smiled sympathetically. 

“You know Karma’s all about eliminating the biggest threats.” The blue-haired boy lashed out, swiping at Izuku’s chest. He dodged, but thanks to the emotional interference, he wasn’t quick enough for the leg sweep that followed. Nagisa pounced, locking his legs around Izuku’s neck in a scissor hold. The green-haired boy tried to break out, and then—

THUMP!

Hayami, waiting for her moment to strike. Her bullet spared Nagisa and nailed Izuku in the stomach with a well-aimed snipe.

“Really? You barely put up a fight,” whined Kota. “You could have dodged it if you paid attention and didn’t focus on talking.”

 This was coming from a child, and maybe that’s what made it so embarrassing. Izuku’s cheeks flared up. “Like uncle, like nephew,” Nagisa said.

“Yeah, I’m sure Karma’s thinking the same thing,” Izuku sighed, waiting for the beratement to flood his comm. He was honestly surprised the END commander hadn’t said anything yet...actually, he can’t hear any chatter on the comms. Izuku glanced down at his Ritsu-watch. The AI girl never announced his elimination either. Nagisa tapped his watch, but his screen was also dark. Izuku pulled out his Ritsu-phone and found the same results. He couldn’t stop the flashback to the USJ and glanced over at Hayami and Nagisa.

“You don’t think…?”

Their answer came before they could even speculate. A huge blue fire sputtered to life near the END base, and screams followed. A massive villain with a robotic eye jumped down from the cliff and landed right next to Kota. He grabbed the little boy by the back of his shirt and held him up as bait. The villain seemed unfazed by the three guns drawn on him.

“Well, this seems fun,” the villain sneered. “Now, let’s not do anything stupid, hmm?”

-.-.-.-

The villain’s name was Muscular. He was a part of some group called the Vanguard Action Squad, which was working with the League of villains. He wanted to smash as many people as possible. And END’s nerve formula didn’t work on him, or any of the villains attacking. Hayami tried to shoot him and save Kota. Muscular was unfazed by the tranquilizer and attacked the sniper. He grabbed her from her perch and slammed her against the cliff hard. There was blood and undoubtedly crushed bones and Izuku screamed.

“NO!” Nagisa cried, using his quirk to specifically target Muscular’s emotional state. He got the villain to drop the unconscious girl. “Why didn’t the weapon work on you? Is it your quirk?”

The villain probably would have sneered, but he wasn’t in charge of his emotions anymore. “Your little neutralizers aren’t going to work on us. While that little brainwasher’s fight with our boss was humiliating, we still got the upper hand with a souvenir knife left behind. You guys aren’t the only ones with smart guys that can create poisons and antidotes.”

Oh, Korosensei, this was bad. This was very, very, very bad. END’s weapons weren’t designed to kill — Izuku even told Shigaraki that at the USJ, how stupid could he be?! — but they were meant to neutralize, to ensnare and confine. They weren't any good otherwise.

Cruel emotion twisted in Muscular’s face. Nagisa was physically shaking, trying to keep the villain under his control. “Which means I can smash all you annoying assassin pests and you can’t even put up a fight.”

No. He couldn’t let him attack again. Izuku sped forward, trying to stop the fist, but he vastly underestimated the villain’s quirk. He was smacked away like a fly, and he could feel his ribs crushing, his mouth filling with blood. He rolled back, landing near Kota and Hayami.

The villain huffed. “You move pretty fast. You wouldn’t happen to be the number one target on the list, would you? Midoriya Izuku?” Izuku’s shocked face spoke for him. Muscular laughed. “They told me you’d be hard to catch, but they never said you’d be dumb enough to try and fight back. Bleed a little more, will you? That’s what we need. And while we’re at it, you think you can tell me where that Bakugou kid is too? If I bring in both of you, they’ll have no choice but to promote me.”

Izuku gulped. What did that even mean? Target? List? And what did they want with Kacchan? 

No, no, he couldn’t focus on that, he’s got to get his friends to safety. That was his only priority.

“Midoriya,” Nagisa whispered, standing in front of them protectively. “Take Kota and Hayami and run. I’ll deal with this-”

“NO!”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t Izuku who objected to the suicidal plan, but Kota. The dark-haired boy was teared up and sniffling, but he stood in front of Hayami protectively. Nagisa blinked. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry-”

“No! You don’t get it, you don’t get it!” Kota shook his fists. “That’s the villain who killed my parents! I’m not going to run away, he has to pay!”

Oh. Oh, no. By what odds was this how it turned out?

Nagisa cried out. The blue-haired boy was picked up and thrown back on the ground so hard his body bounced. Kota’s outburst caused Muscular’s emotions to surge, allowing him to overpower Nagisa’s weakening control over him. The enraged villain turned to the child and spat.

“Make me pay? If your dear old mommy and daddy died fighting me, what makes you think you can even lay a hand on me? Pathetic.” Muscular bared his teeth. “You want a tip from a real pro, kid? Stop believing in the impossible and making promises that you can’t keep. That’s why your parents died after all — they swore to protect people like good heroes, and all that did was put them in coffins!”

Muscular reared but paused. A tense, murderous bloodlust filled the air — only it wasn’t Nagisa Projecting it.

“Really? That’s all you have to say for yourself?” Izuku shakily stood up and spat out a mouthful of blood. “You’re blaming their deaths on themselves? On the oath they took as a hero, to protect people even if it means risking their own life? You mock us for playing heroes despite being taught by a villain, but you clearly have no idea what Korosensei stood for.”

Korosensei openly admitted that his greatest weakness was his lack of strength, and Izuku understood that better than ever now. In a head-on brawl with Muscular, he was dead. But Korosensei also proved that you didn’t need to be strong to be unbeatable.

Besides, he was already coughing up blood — what’s a little more going to do?

Tapping into a power he hasn’t used in weeks, he grabbed one of Muscular’s growing muscle tissue and ran. The villain’s quirk allowed him to augment his muscle fibers, and Izuku was curious to see just how far they’d go. At full Mach-2, he zipped around Muscular like a tornado and mummy-wrapped the villain in his own muscle. The shockwave that followed knocked Nagisa, Hayami, and Kota back, the blue-haired boy almost tumbling into the river

“Are you guys okay?” he asked, zipping over to them. Nagisa nodded and stared at the mass of muscle anxiously. 

“Midoriya...I think all you did was make him angry.”

He was right. The muscle-turned-rope unraveled itself. Izuku gritted his teeth. What other tricks Korosensei would try? Their old teacher also had about a dozen other quirks at his disposal; Izuku was much more limited. Wait, no, he couldn’t think like that. Korosensei gave him this quirk, his most heroic quirk. He taught Izuku to win a fight by always having a second blade — a second blade that he honed for months in E-class. If he could outwit his opponent, he could win.

He assessed Muscular. He was too strong to be restrained, even by his own muscles. He was fast enough that using his slower speeds weren’t enough, but he couldn’t keep up with his Mach-2 speed. He didn’t care who he killed, child or not, but his group apparently did have a target list, and Izuku was one of them. He wasn’t sure if this meant Muscular couldn’t kill him, but he wasn’t really willing to risk it. The villain wanted to make him bleed.

And that’s where Izuku was going to exploit him.

He could feel the gentle nudge of comfort, a boost of encouragement coming from Nagisa. The blue-haired boy stood in front of Kota and Hayami, ready to protect them at all costs. And with that, Izuku moved. He sprinted around Muscular in a zig-zagged circle pattern. The goal was to keep him contained and keep him distracted. The wind speed of Izuku’s quirk countered the majority of the villain’s attacks at bay. He confused Muscular by stopping for split seconds at a time, almost creating his own version of doubles like Korosensei used to do. They weren’t as good as the octopus teacher’s, but they were getting the job done.

A massively muscular arm struck out just in time to grab Izuku and slam him to the ground.

Okay, maybe not!

“You think your little tricks can work on me?! It doesn’t matter how fast you can run, I’m still going to crush you to pieces!” Muscular spat. At this point, Izuku was coughing up so much blood that he didn’t know what was from overusing his quirk and what was from Muscular crushing his lungs.

“Midoriya!” Nagisa screamed, horrified, but there was a look of pure determination in his eyes. And then the emotions started flooding in.

Pride. Admiration. Worry. Accomplishment. Happiness. Sorrow. Nostalgia. Wishfulness. Satisfaction. And love. So, so much love. The kind of love only a teacher could have. These were the emotions of Korosensei. These were what he felt about E-class all throughout their time together. This was how much he loved them.

It was like Korosensei was there, giving Izuku the strength to fight back, to move even faster. He started drilling punches into Muscular’s arm, going faster than he ever had before. The villain didn’t stand a chance, couldn’t react fast enough to defend himself from the onslaught of attacks. He ripped through the muscles like a paper mache. 

Izuku had never felt so powerful. This was so much more than Mach-2, so much more than 10% of Korosensei’s power. This was all of his teacher’s speed, all of his emotions, all of his being. With a final few punches, he broke through the villain’s muscular defenses. With his temporary Mach-20 speed, he created a ring of doubles around Muscular and attacked simultaneously. The villain cried out and, against all odds, finally collapsed.

Izuku stood there, took in those beautiful, glorious emotions (Korosensei, please don’t leave) one last time, and proceeded to do the same.

-.-.-.-

He woke up to a sharp pang of terror in his heart, one he hadn’t felt since the Reaper was poised to rip a hole through Shinsou. 

“Hitoshi!” he gasped, sitting up with a jolt. There was an immediate gentle hand on his shoulder, and the panic was quickly forced away by a deep, soothing calm.

“Sorry,” Nagisa apologized. “I couldn’t get you to wake up any other way…”

Izuku nodded shakily as reality settled in. He glanced over and saw Muscular lying unconscious a few feet away. Kota was clinging to Nagisa and Izuku and looked ready to cry. 

“We need to move,” continued Nagisa. “There’s no saying how long he’ll be unconscious, and we won’t stand a chance against him a second time. We need to get Kota to safety, and Hayami needs medical attention. Can you move?”

 “Yuh-Yeah, I think so.”

With help, Izuku got to his feet. His breathing was patchy and it felt like his lungs were dented, but he could move. Using his quirk, unfortunately, was out of the question, but it didn’t matter. No one could navigate this mountain faster than E-class, with or without a speed quirk. 

Kota charged at his legs and wrapped around them like a koala hug. He looked up at Izuku with big, watering eyes. “I get it now.”

“Hmm?”

“I get it. W-What makes a h-hero so different,” the boy sniffled. “Th-Thank you so much. You almost d-d-died for me and I could never be so strong and — thank you…”

Izuku smiled softly and patted the boy’s head. “You don’t need a license or a cape to be a hero, Kota. Trust me, you’re plenty strong.”

Nagisa picked up Hayami while Izuku carried Kota on his back, and the group ran towards the base. Pretty quickly, Izuku noticed how weird and shaky his body felt. It made it difficult to keep up.

“Don’t worry, I’m just a little tired. I think tapping further into Korosensei’s power messed me up a bit,” he dismissed, but it only made Nagisa more concerned.

“Is...Is that what happened? I thought you were moving faster, but it was hard to tell. Did you really access more of his quirk?”

Izuku blinked. Had...Had that not been Nagisa’s intention when he Projected Korosensei’s emotions?

“A-Ah, yeah, just for a little bit. I don’t think I can do it again, especially since my body still can’t handle Mach-2.” He laughed it off, but deep down inside, he was scared. Was it a fluke? A coincidence, a stroke of luck? Maybe he wasn’t actually moving that fast and the adrenaline tricked him? Or maybe—

He looked down at his shaky hands for answers and did not like what he saw. Because while the dark made it hard to tell, he swore that the veins in his arms were green.

Chapter Text

Before this whole Civil War exercise even started, Hitoshi looked Karasuma in the eye and said, “This is going to go to shit.”

He meant that the tensions between 1-A and 1-B were too high for their fight not to get out of hand. He meant Bakugou was going to go batshit and try to explosion-murder people — this time, with a gun. He meant Monoma was going to recruit the more morally corruptible members of E-class to commit war crimes for the sake of justice for 1-B. He meant that Todoroki and Karma were going to have a super dramatic battle that would either lead to their issues being resolved or to them literally killing each other. He did not mean that villains were going to show up and try to kill a bunch of schoolchildren. Though, given their track record on school trips…maybe he should've seen it coming…

The siege started subtly. So subtle, in fact, that only one person figured it out before the first villain struck. Hitoshi stood watch with Itona and Sero, stationed as last-defense guards for 1-A’s flag. One minute, Itona was monitoring dozens of camera feeds and coordinating strategy over comms, and the next, he was jumping away from his portable system like it burned him. Hitoshi assumed it actually did — maybe Karma figured out how to use his quirk to overheat it — but there wasn’t any smoke, and the screens weren’t cut to black. They were…frozen. Karma’s quirk definitely didn’t work that way. Hitoshi demanded to know what happened, and Itona turned, switching out his paintball rifle for his nerve-knife. 

“It’s Ritsu. She’s been hacked.”

“Huh? Isn’t she supposed to be a neutral party? Why would 1-B target her- whoa!” Sero startled as Itona ripped the drone camera off the boy’s chest, threw it to the ground, and smashed it under his boot. “Wha-?! What was that for?”

“1-B wouldn’t target Ritsu. Someone else hacked her system and took over our audio and visual feeds. They didn’t shut it down like they did back at the USJ. They’re using it to watch us,” Itona said, ripping off his Ritsu-watch and tossing it into a faraway bush. Hitoshi grimaced as he did the same with his phone, cringing as he heard the soft smack as it hit the ground. He was sending his bill for a replacement phone straight to the Prime Minister after this. “There. If they’re using our trackers, this should throw them off our trail.”

“Wait a minute, who is tracking you guys? What is going on? Should we be panicking?” Sero’s arms flailed as he took cautious steps back, head whipping around like he expected the threat to pop out of the bushes immediately. Hitoshi hoped they did; at least they would know who they were dealing with. Maybe Sero’s instincts were onto something, though, as seconds later, a bright blue flame blazed over the treetops, a pillar of smoke billowing from the direction of the old 3-E building.

“I don’t recommend panicking,” Hitoshi said, loading his gun with nerve-bullets. “Trust me, when you’re fighting for your life, you can’t afford to slip up.”

“Excuse me?!” Sero wheezed, clutching his chest, sweat already beading his forehead. In any other situation, Hitoshi might’ve laughed, but now, all he felt was pity — pity for Sero, understandably terrified by the idea of someone trying to kill him, and pity for himself, numb to thought at this point in his young life. 

“We need to get to Ritsu’s hard drive. I need to reboot the system to bypass the hackers. Until we get communications up, we’re a bunch of scattered, sitting ducks,” Itona said. Hitoshi nodded firmly and glanced back at Sero.

“If you come with us, we’ll protect you, but understand we could be walking right into the attacker’s hands.”

Sero worried his lower lip, arms crossed as he rubbed his tape elbows. “I’ll…I’ll come with you. There’s strength in numbers, right?”

The END agents nodded and sprinted for the base, Itona taking lead with Hitoshi covering back in case someone snuck up from behind. How long has it been since Ritsu went down? One minute? Two? Such a short passage, yet so much opportunity for destruction and disaster. How many of his friends were in danger or hurt in that time? That blazing forest fire alone could’ve hurt dozens of students at once. Without communications, there was no way to know if it was critical, if someone was bleeding out from injuries or de-

No. He couldn’t focus on that. Not yet. His classmates — both old and new — were skilled. They’ve proved themselves more than capable time and time again. If he let doubt consume him, then he was good as dead himself.

They slowed their approach to ensure their stealth as they reached the END base from behind, opposite to the wall of flames. Flickering blue light danced along the trees marking 3-E’s main mountain path, a never-ending force of heat and destruction leading all the way to the 3-E building. Their old building, with its rickety wooden walls and finicky sprinkler systems; the place Hitoshi’s father used to help Principal Asano host cram school in; the place Korosensei entered their lives and changed them for the better. A classroom revered and preserved for the symbolism it held to the students it touched the most — now, emblazoned into kindling.

“No…” Hitoshi’s feet dragged to a stop. Even from their distance, he could feel the suffocating heat resonating from the unstoppable power. Memories of E-class, of their successes and failures, friendships and rivalries, dedication and growth, seemed to reflect in the unique color of the flame before withering into ashes and smoke. 

Itona grabbed his arm, meeting Hitoshi’s eyes with equal rage and heartbreak. “Later.”

Later. Later, they could find the villain who did this, who destroyed their last piece of him, and make them pay. But now, they must save their friends before they faced a similar fate.

-.-.-.-

To their surprise (and great unease), the END base appeared unguarded and even untouched by any attackers. The outside of the building was much more flame resistant, protecting it from the growing forest fire for now, but even the more vulnerable interior was free of scorch marks or tampering. The villains didn’t get inside the base.

That, or, that’s what they wanted people to think.

They maneuvered in complete silence, communicating through hand signals and gestures. Though Sero wasn’t trained to know the exact nuanced meaning of every signal, he kept up enough, following close to Hitoshi. Tense clenching of his teeth betrayed his otherwise composed and alert demeanor. Once they secured the bottom floor, they ascended to Gamma’s control floor. They spread out just a bit, checking under every desk and behind every monitor. Still, not even a pencil looked out of place. Itona raised his hand, calling them to a halt. He swiped a downturned palm across his neck in a throat-cutting motion — danger area. Itona pointed down the side hallway to Takebayashi and Okuda’s lab. The door was closed, but in the dimness of the base, a sliver of light shined through the bottom.

Hitoshi brought his arm from his shoulder and swept it out in front of him to the side. He pointed at Sero and Itona, held up a two, and gestured the large monitor system that held Ritsu’s mainframe. He then pointed to himself and repeated the throat-cutting gesture. Itona scowled, and Hitoshi repeated the gestures with more aggression and urgency. This wasn’t a matter for debate. Every second spared was precious. Itona rebooting Ritsu took top priority; it was his and Sero’s job to make sure the mission was accomplished. If that meant putting himself in the line of fire to distract their attackers away from Itona and the mainframe, then so be it.

Itona relented, nodding and leading Sero toward the mainframe. Sero gave him a wavering smile and a thumbs up — ironically the signal for ‘message received,’ which Hitoshi doubted he meant to communicate. Hitoshi returned the gesture with a half-smile before creeping down the hallway.

Please don’t be Shigaraki or Kurogiri, he prayed as he lined up next to the door, gun raised to his chest. He doubted he could fight them two-on-one and win again; the first time was a damn miracle in high heels.

He contemplated if it was possible to sneak through the door without alerting the villain. But ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the risk of them escaping unseen first. He checked the handle — unlocked, despite the door being programmed to automatically lock when closed. Hitoshi slammed it open, eyes locking on a black-clad figure, and fired a nerve-bullet into their back immediately. If it turned out to be friendly fire, like Aizawa, then it would only paralyze the man temporarily. He would understand Hitoshi’s need to be overly cautious…probably.

 The figure squawked, peering over their shoulder to see what hit them. “Well that wasn’t very nice of you,” the intruder gruffed and pulled the dart out of his shoulder.

Huh. Turned out it didn’t matter at all. 

Fuck.

A lab stool flew for his head, and Hitoshi ducked, wincing at the echoing CRASH as it bounced off the metal door behind him. If there were any other villains in the building, they all knew where to find them. 

“Well, he is doing his job, so it’s not his fault,” the villain said to himself in a softer voice. His dark suit was paired with a grey top mask. Hitoshi didn’t recognize him, and with Ritsu’s server down, she couldn’t help identify him. 

“Who are you? What do you want?” the brainwasher asked.

“Why would I tell you?” the villain spat, only to perk up and then say. “The name’s Twice, kiddo.”

Insane. That was the only explanation. Like genuinely, beyond the usual villain-level insane. The moment the strings to his mind appeared, Hitoshi snatched them, unnerved by the interaction alone. He scanned the area Twice clearly rummaged through, glass test tubes and beakers carelessly broken and files scattered everywhere.

“You’re looking for something…” Hitoshi mumbled. “What did you take? Give it to me.”

Twice reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small vial. Hitoshi snatched it away immediately. The side felt faintly sticky, with just the smallest residue of white specs. Someone tore the label off.  “What is this?”

Hitoshi stared into Twice’s empty, unmoving eyes, praying for a miracle. While his internship with Aizawa was cut short, the man encouraged Hitoshi to practice expanding the bounds of his quirk. He focused the majority of the training camp doing just that…but it was clearly going to take more than a few days of practice. Hitoshi huffed and used his capture rings to physically restrain Twice before lifting the tether on his mind. He held up the vial. “What is this? Tell me.”

“I’m not going to tell you shit,” Twice spat before his brows furrowed. “Why would we tell you that?”

Not even blinking, Hitoshi activated the electrocution feature on his capture rings for a few seconds. Twice screeched and gurgled, limbs twitching and spasming after it passed. His eyes narrowed.

“I’m still...not...telling you…”

Hitoshi weighed his options. He could keep trying to get the villain to talk, but as much as he put up a front, Hitoshi took no pleasure in torture. That’s why END had the weapons they did; they were painless, non-lethal, and effective. Since they appeared to be non-effective with this villain, he needed to find a way to work around it.

“Who are you working with? The League?” he tried, and the villain snickered.

“Ding ding ding, we have a winner, and on the first try too!” the villain cheered before sobering up. “Granted, I’m a bit of a newbie. Bottom of the food chain, foot soldier, so to speak. Nothing too special, I swear, though I’m sure you know what I’m talking about; bet you END agents get treated the same by the government-”

“Is this the formula for our tranquilizer? Is that why it didn’t work on you, because your quirk let you create some kind of antidote?” Hitoshi pressed. Twice actually doubled over laughing.

“Hell no, we already got access to that way before this. My whole team is immune to your stupid little weapons.” Oh shit. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. This was so much worse than- no, this was actually the worst possible thing that could happen. “Not to insult the weapons, of course, I hear they’re quite useful when they can be, well, used.”

“Then what is-” Hitoshi stopped dead. His eyes landed on an emptied metal box, completely smashed open. The label on the outside was just legible: eap r-N mu-D A

eap r…eaper…Reaper? Hitoshi’s head jerked back. The pieces slotted together.

Reaper-Nomu-DNA.

Fog covered his brain — a defensive blanket of security, triggered by even the slightest thought of the Reaper. Paralyzing fear (rough hands, cold chill of a blade, cut, cut, pull, stab, blood, so much blood) consumed him, and rage and bloodlust took the reins. He yanked Twice forward with the capture rings and slammed his back into the table. 

“What the hell does the League want with this?”

Twice’s eyes narrowed. “I think you already know.”

He did. And there was no way in hell he was letting the League get what they wanted. He smashed the vial on the lab table, and it disintegrated into dust in his hand — literally.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

“Wow, you’re so strong!” Twice stood, somehow freed from Hitoshi’s capture rings. “It’s not impressive. My doubles aren’t that durable anyway.”

“Doubles-” The mud-like dust slipped between Hitoshi’s fingers as Twice brandished an identical vial. 

“Welp, my buddies and I have one more sample to collect, so I’ve gotta go. Toodaloo~” Twice shoved over a table, throwing an array of glass and specimen and chemicals at Hitoshi, who stumbled back, throwing his arms up to protect his eyes. Shards dug into his exposed skin, the tiniest one’s stinging the most and only exasperated by the burning pain of the unknown liquids intermingling with his exposed flesh. Another smash of glass reverberated through the lab. Twice jumped out of the window. Hitoshi pulled a larger glass shard out of the side of his palm with a hiss and kicked the strewn table.

“Goddamnit!”

-.-.-.-

Shouji was accustomed to being feared.

His hometown was known for treating heteromorphs like shit. His earliest memories were tainted with whispers and pointing, parents pulling their children away from him on the playground, and classmates refusing to sit at his table. He remembered the day a little girl burst into tears the moment she saw his face. He’s worn a mask ever since. It helped, if only a little — until the moon blew up and the Tentacle made his debut. Then it got so, so much worse. 

Maybe that’s why he connected with Tokoyami so quickly. Both heteromorphs with frightening-looking quirks and calm, quiet demeanors. Tokoyami knew what it was like to be treated as other, lesser because of his ‘unnatural’ appearance. He knew what it was like for people to openly fear his quirk. But while Shouji was determined to reclaim his tentacles and prove them heroic, Tokoyami jumped away from corners too shadowed.

And as the villain Moonfish sliced off one of his dupli-arms right in front of his friend, Shouji finally got a glimpse at why.

Dark Shadow loomed, a monstrous expanse of darkness to contrast the equally dangerous fire blazing in the far distance. Like a beast starved of prey, it stalked through the trees. It hunted for anyone misfortunate enough to come across its path — friend or foe. Anyone with sense would run for their lives, but Shouji remained, ducked behind a thick tree trunk. For his friend, his first in many, many years, remained ensnared at the heart of Dark Shadow’s rage. An apex predator has no natural enemies. In the dark of the night, hours until sunrise, Dark Shadow reigned supreme. Tokoyami was helpless to contain it. Shouji stood no chance challenging it — he learned that the hard way, nursing his additional injury. Not even the END agent they were battling when the villain arrived stood a chance, Dark Shadow batting away the boy’s tranquilizers with ease.

“You sure there’s nothing we can do?” whispered the agent — Agent Blank, he believed he was called. The one who was a worse womanizer than Kaminari. He cradled his right forearm, sliced through by one of Moonfish’s blades. A belt was strapped painfully tight above the wound (“Gotta cut off the artery,” the agent said, eerily calm). Shouji insisted on carrying him, and despite the agent’s composure, the weakness in his body won out.

“I’m not sure, Agent Blan-”

“Maehara. Call me Maehara. My blood’s all over you, so I think we’re far past the formalities.”

“…Maehara, then. Perhaps, if we manage to find Todoroki or Bakugou. The light created by their quirks might be enough to keep Dark Shadow at bay,” Shouji said. Maehara hummed.

“Maybe…I haven’t seen them since before the game though. My quirk and weapons are useless, and there’s no way my assassination style will work on…” The agent trailed off before gasping. “Shouji. I got an idea. Fall back to the boundary line.”

“I’m not leaving-”

“You don’t have to! In fact, we’ll bring him with us.”

“Wha-”

“HEY, BIRD BRAIN!” Maehara screamed and patted Shouji’s arms with growing fervor. “Time to run, time to run.”

Baffled and annoyed, but having no other choice, Shouji sprinted with all the speed his long, powerful legs would allow. He heard Dark Shadow’s screech, the rusting of leaves as it slammed past trees and bushes. Maehara watched his back, letting him know how close Dark Shadow was and when to duck for cover. 

“Go there! By that weird tree!” 

Shouji obeyed, springing toward it. The tree was bent over like an arch, a dense bush growing behind it, creating a pitch-black cavern. Did Maehara do all this for another hiding spot? It didn’t matter if Dark Shadow was already upon them!

“Hazama! I know you’re in there, you’re so predictable and always hide in there!” Maehara shouted at the bush. The ground shook with Dark Shadow’s every step. “Look, I can’t believe I’m asking you this, but- ugh, do you really think you have what it takes to join the honeypot trio?”

Nothing, except for Dark Shadow’s ear-bleeding screech. The bush shifted — no, not the bush. The darkness. Shouji’s sharp eyes barely made out the outline of a girl in the minimal starlight. 

“You mean the honeypot quartet?”  

“Yes, honeypot quartet! Now can you just-”

Dark Shadow screeched and lunged, arms outstretched to crush the students. Shouji felt a slight shove as the shadowed girl brushed past him, swaying like a palm tree as she walked.

“Fix your posture! Sway your hips, not your head!” Maehara hissed. Hazama ignored him, stopping right in front of the rearing beast.

“Hey, big boy. You’re looking good,” she rasped, and Dark Shadow…froze? “Stop, you’re too much. You know I like them big and…scary.”

Dark Shadow preened like a dog being praised, all that rage and violence abandoned as it turned its head almost shyly.

Yes. Yes, this was very scary. Scary for his ears and his innocence.

“Look, big boy, you know I’m always down for a date night. But with the mountain on fire and my phone not sending any texts and that creepy gas mask guy taking a piss on my favorite bush, the vibes, the setting is just…are throwing me off, you know? So maybe we take a raincheck? Try again another night? Maybe in a dark movie theater, with all the lights turned off…”

Maehara made a sound that resembled gagging. Shouji wasn’t sure how aware Tokoyami was of his surroundings; he hoped not at all. The boy would surely never recover if he heard someone propositioning Dark Shadow.

“Want...fight…” the beast growled.

“Fight? Why would you want to fight me?” Hazama whined, raspy voice clearly trying to imitate the likes of Hagakure. Dark Shadow withered back, shrinking in size. “Please don’t fight me, big boy. I really don’t like it; it’s such a hassle…”

Dark Shadow flinched again with a weakening caw, echoed by Tokoyami’s desperate gasp. The boy grunted, forcing his body to curl inward, pulling Dark Shadow with him. The beast struggled weakly, reaching out to Hazama. Hazama brushed against him lightly.

“Don’t worry, big boy. We’ll see each other. You owe me a date now.”

With a pained scream, Tokoyami regained control, calling Dark Shadow back. The boy collapsed to his hands and knees, chest heaving, and Shouji rushed to steady him. He couldn’t carry him on his back too — neither he nor Maehara were the tiniest — so he settled for having Tokoyami prop against his side.

“Hmm. How’s that for a Honeypot kill?” Hazama propped both hands against her hips, jutting out her chest. Shouji recalled seeing her in normal clothes earlier, meaning…ugh. “You’re welcome, boys.”

-.-.-.-

Moments after meeting Death, Monoma met the Devil. 

They were both assholes.

Death was all-consuming. An overpowering, ever-burning light that suffocated his senses, ensnaring him in this fiery hell. An obnoxiously blue fiery hell. 

His life never flashed before his eyes before sending him to this hellscape. It was downright insulting. Now, the last thing he saw before Death was the stupid face of that annoying zappy 1-A pest whining about shooting himself in the ass (now that part, admittedly, was highly enjoyable). Death arrived in a fury, erupting from the old 3-E building before ripping over to the eight students sitting in the ‘out’ zone in the courtyard. Monoma remembered feeling the initial wave of blistering heat, hot enough to scorch him down to his soul, followed by a cool chill accompanying their demise. 

Then the Devil arrived.

Molten eyes of rage and vengeance, a trickle of blood dripping from eyebrow to cheekbone, gleaming teeth bared to rip out a throat. He emerged from light, and the flickering blue surrounding him dimmed and drew back. Standing above Monoma like a god to a peasant, his piercing gaze shifted beyond. In the reduced brightness, Monoma saw the other seven students followed him to hell. He mourned for them — not so much for Zappy or Sugar Boy, but the others… Kodai, expressionless face struck with confusion and terror; Tokage, clinging to Fukidashi so tight that if you tried to move her, her limbs would surely come off. At least they would have each other in the afterlife.

The Devil’s jaw clenched, hungry for a victim. He didn’t linger on the students though — what, were they too unworthy of his time? — and prowled a little further. Whatever he was looking for, he didn’t find it, and he kicked over a flaming equipment rack with a guttural scream. 

 “Karma!” So that’s the Devil’s name, huh? How…fitting. The two END agents in the ‘out’ zone (taken out by 1-B, ha!), rushed their commander. “Our building, it’s-”

“Gone.” Karma gazed his now soulless eyes on the old wooden building engulfed in flames, the pace of incineration slower than Monoma would expect for a termite-infested ruin. “My quirk is doing what it can to protect it, but my range won’t hold to get everyone here out. There’s nothing we can do to save it now.”

The coyote-faced agent sniffled, wet nose flaring, while the agent carrying the baseball turned his head to the side to hide the forming tears from everyone. A burning instinct encouraged Monoma to take his chance, to laugh at their tears and mock their pain. It was a shitty building! One big gust of wind probably would’ve sent it tipping. If he made fun of their vulnerabilities first, he could knock them down before they noticed his — noticed how utterly terrified he was. How his heart rate still wasn’t recovered once he realized it still worked; when he realized how closely they cheated death. 

Monoma kept silent, allowing the somber moment to pass. A small mercy in exchange for the Devil saving his life.

The coyote agent gulped, glancing back at the stunned-silent U.A. students. “Dude, if…if you hadn’t been here, or reacted so quickly-”

“I know. The question is- did they know I was hiding inside and targeted me specifically? Or was this some brazen way to make a statement? Either way…it’s their mistake to pay,” Karma said, glaring at the building one last time before turning to the group. An air of authority fell over him with far too much ease. “We need to move. This villain might be too cowardly to face us head-on now, but we only make ourselves vulnerable if we stay put. I’m only going to say this once, so I hope it gets through your thick skulls. If any of you idiots step too far out of my range while we’re still in this fire, you will die a slow, painful, incinerating death. So stay. Close. To. Me.”

Oh, the numbskulls heard him loud and clear — too much so. The hero students clung to him like toddlers holding onto their parents’ shirts in a crowd. Karma’s eye twitched, pressing a palm into Kaminari’s face to keep him from hugging the commander’s torso while muttering, “Save it for Eyebags.”. 

Monoma, of course, wasn’t an idiot like the others, and kept a reasonable distance of exactly one meter. He didn’t really know or understand what Karma’s quirk was, and it likely had a decent range given he protected them from inside the 3-E building. Still, after everything, Monoma wasn’t taking any chances. His hand itched to reach over and copy the END commander’s quirk for himself, but since he didn’t know fully what it could do, and they were actively walking through fire, Monoma resisted. 

Wow, that’s twice in one night Monoma resisted his instincts. Kendou must be so proud…assuming she wasn’t already-

“Where are we headed, Devil sir?” Monoma really tried to hide the gleeful lift in his voice, but, come on. The scariest teenager from the scariest group of teenagers was barely visible behind the wall of students clinging to him. 

“Out of this fire and down the mountain. That’s, of course, assuming the entire mountain isn’t on fire, or that we don’t come across another unpleasant pest. Communications are down, Ritsu is unresponsive, so we’re really just walking blind here. Why? Are you scared?”

Monoma sputtered for a response — No, of course not! Him, scared? Of what? He was just…reasonably curious! Obviously! — but Karma beat him to it.

“Because you should be. We should all be terrified right now.”

Monoma huffed, crossing his arms. “Oh, please. I’m sure you END agents have faced way worse than this.”

“We have,” Baseball agent said. “But Korosensei was there to protect us back then.”

Monoma stopped asking questions.

They walked a very strange path for a group trying to leave a mountain; they climbed up rocks, moved in a pacing zigzag, practically combing every inch of the forest fire. Just when Monoma thought they might be approaching the fire’s edge, the commander turned, dragging them all with him on his nonsensical escapade.

“I haven’t seen or smelt anybodies,” Coyote Face said, and the insult for his grammar was right at the tip of Monoma’s tongue-

Any…bodies… 

Clarity hit him like a smack in the face, followed by a gymnastics display from his stomach. He covered his mouth to force the bile back down. 

“Is it stupid luck, or are our enemies just that stupid…” Karma muttered.

“H-Hey! Is- Is someone there?” a distant voice called. Tokage peeled back from Karma’s bicep.

“Rin!”

They clearly wanted to sprint to the voice, but the END agents moved painfully slow. Monoma watched Baseball agent reach into his belt and pull out some gleaming metal object. 

“To-Tokage? Is that you?”

They finally broke through the fire line, color and shadow returning to the world once more. Monoma gasped for the fresh air, only to hack up a lungful of smoke.

“Holy shit, how are you- you guys were in- how did you survive that?” Rin asked, fully scaled to protect against the heat. 

“He saved our lives!” Kaminari declared, trying to go for another hug. Now free from the flame, the END commander side-stepped, letting the 1-A idiot leap right into a tree.

“No time for this. Keep up, Scales.” Karma marched down, and like ducklings, the hero students followed. Monoma, of course, paused to huff and show his displeasure for being ordered around. If he skipped a little to make sure the others didn’t get too far ahead, well, it’s not like anyone could prove it.

“Well, what do ya know. You’re a like rescue hero, aren’t you?” Monoma said, ignoring how scratchy his voice was after coughing up a lung. “I always thought it was so unfair 1-A got both the END agents. I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard to convince U.A. to let someone like you into our class. I bet that would finally knock them out of their superiority complex!”

“Hey! We don’t have a superiority complex!” annoying sugar boy protested. Monoma sneered.

“Hmm. As tempting as that sounds, I’m afraid you’ve read me all wrong. I’ll never be the hero type,” said Karma. A nearby bush rustled, and the commander stepped protectively in front with his weapon drawn. A pale hand lifted a tree branch, and Yanagi peaked out, blinking widely.

“What’s happening? Who set the forest on fire?” 

Karma sighed, lowering his gun. “Another one. Join the crowd, Poltergeist.” He reached out to help the girl over a fallen log. 

Coyote agent snickered to Baseball agent. “Maybe Loud-Mouth is onto something. He’s gonna save the whole mountain at this rate.”

“The Devil Rescue Hero, Karma. Now that just sounds all kinds of bizarre.”

-.-.-.-

Tetsutetsu was so locked in on his epic duel-to-end-all-duels with his ultimate rival and brother-in-quirks that he didn’t notice the weird purple smog until it was centimeters from his face. Kirishima landed a punch across his cheek right at that moment, perfectly knocking Tetsutetsu’s face away from the weird gas, and he had half a mind left to grab Kirishima’s wrist and yank him with him as he stumbled back.

“YES! You’re out!” Kirishima declared, a red-tipped plastic knife harmlessly poking Tetsutetsu’s chest. “I knew I could-”

Tetsutetsu slammed a hand over Kirishima’s mouth and pointed at the expanding purple mist. The forest was quiet — far too quiet for what was an intense war zone moments before. 1-B’s strategy to counteract 1-A’s sprinters was to congregate their defense forces in two areas near the boundary line, luring Midoriya and Iida into perfectly set traps while also throwing off the rest of 1-A about the real location of their flag. It was absolute chaos from the moment Midoriya broke through Shiozaki’s vine blockade and onward. Their target passed, and 1-B’s offensive reserve charged the line, following the river upstream just like Agent Devil suggested. The fight was so loud, Tetsutetsu could barely hear Kendou’s battle orders. Now, besides him and Kirishima, no one made a sound. 

The fuck?

The two hero students exchanged a glance. “This isn’t one of 1-A’s quirks.”

“Not 1-B either. Maybe END…?”

“I don’t think so. Midoriya would’ve warned us of something like this. Which only means…” Kirishima gasped, shark-like teeth grinding together. He took one running leap toward the mist before Tetsutetsu gripped his collar and yanked him back,

“Idiot! You can’t just charge in like that! Your Hardening doesn’t do shit against creepy gas mist!”

“But, that’s our classmates in there! We gotta do something!”

“Yeah, well…” Tetsutetsu glanced around, a hopeless feeling crawling in his chest. He wasn’t a brainless meathead, but he wasn’t a brilliant strategist like Kendou — Kendou, who was likely trapped in the purple fog that did who-knows-what. His eyes caught on a slight gleam of metal — glasses. That nerdy END agent that hung around Yaoyorozu a lot peered through the bushes to the side of them, scrutinizing the fog. “Hey! Hey you! Do you know what’s going on?”

The girl was deep in thought with herself, barely acknowledging the hero students as they ran up to her.

“Carbon, hydrogen, calcium…definitely concentrated CHCl3 vapor, likely perforated via a quirk that can accredit the unexpected colorization and seemingly controlled spread. Likely used for anesthetic attacks to subdue opponents in mass numbers, so it’s plausible the attack specifically targeted this area. I counted nine, maybe ten students in the affected zone before the attack, so it’s likely our locations were known. Need to subdue before prolonged exposure causes increased risk of toxicity. Since the chemical makeup of the quirk gas is quite simple and common, it may be possible to trigger appropriate chemical reactions to alter the production and turn it benign…”

“Uh…” Tetsutetsu liked to think he was pretty good at science (knowing chemistry and physics came in handy for his quirk), but he’s pretty sure his brain melted a little bit there. 

“Ah, sorry. Agent Periodic, at your service. Our enemy has a chloroform gas quirk.”

“Chloroform…” Kirishima mumbled, face scrunched, while Tetsutetsu nodded, finally starting to catch on.

“And you think you can take them out, right?” said Tetsutetsu. Agent Periodic eyes grew as large as her glasses.

“Wuh-Well, I might be able to use concentrated chemicals to counteract the quirk, but, uh, I’m not like those END agents. I’m not strong enough to take him out myself…”

“Well, that’s fine! You got us! We’ll be, like, your personal detail!” Kirishima mock punched a fist, and Tetsutetsu nodded, fisting his hands and turning them to steal.

“Yeah, your bodyguards! That sounds badass!”

The agent rubbed her chin. “Hmm, that might work…”

Tetsutetsu scoffed. “Might? Nah, it’s gonna work. We’re gonna make it!”

“Hmm, then it’s settled.” Agent Periodic snapped her fingers. “I officially declare you my lab assistants!”

“Alright! Now we’re talking!”  Kirishima whooped and cheered, and it was only instinctual for Tetsutetsu to join in.

“Hell YEAAAAH!” He pumped a fist, but paused, leaving it hanging mid-air. “Wait a minute. Lab assistants?”

-.-.-.-

Uraraka used to wish she was in E-class. 

Not that she’s ever admitted that out loud! It was just, all throughout her (torturous) time at Kunugigaoka, it always sat in the back of her mind. The school wanted everyone to fear being in E-class; to fear the ridicule, the shame, the lack of resources, and the delinquent students. It was a guaranteed one-way ticket to academic failure, her teachers always said. Work hard now, because if you end up there, any hard work will mean nothing. So Uraraka worked and worked, spending endless hours in tutoring or the library, doing schoolwork until sunrise, and even when she felt bonedead, she kept pushing. No matter how hard she worked now, her parents worked even harder, and if she wanted to give them the good life they deserved, she couldn’t give up now!

But, as test after test and assignment after assignment came back marked to the brim with red, as her teacher’s called her into conferences and her classmates gossiped behind her back, Uraraka couldn’t help but wish someone would just lay down the final nail and ship her coffin to E-class. It’s where she deserved to be with her test scores, and everyone knew the administration rigged it to keep her in the higher courses.

“I wish my quirk was heroic enough that the school didn’t care I was an idiot,” a classmate told her to her face once during the middle of a lesson. They weren’t allowed to leave during lessons, so Uraraka sat there in front of everyone, forced to keep her tears silent. Her classmates didn’t bother being so quiet with their snickering.

At least, she reasoned, if she was in E-class, she wouldn’t be so alone.

When she met Midoriya, and E-class started testing the best in the school, Uraraka became more desperate than ever to join. She even purposefully flunked assignments, hoping the dismal performance would get her transferred. But for some reason, the administration seemed more determined than ever to not transfer anyone down to E-class, no matter how bad their grades got. Then the truth came out about the end class, and for the first time, Uraraka feared being in E-class. She saw the headlines, saw her parents’ frantic horror as they asked her if Kunugigaoka taught her how to kill too, and she let it completely corrupt her memories of 3-E and the kind boy who risked his grade to save her during the quirk exam maze.

There weren’t enough apologies in the world for Midoriya Izuku and the sacrifices he and his classmates made. But at the very least, she could make it up to them by embracing the E-class education she once so desperately (and ignorantly) desired.

“LOOK OUT!” She smacked the back of Agent Justice’s head, and the boy floated upward as a horrifying green beast crashed in from the sky, right where the boy was just standing. 

“OwwuuAAHHHHH! WHAT IS THAT?!” The agent flailed mid-air, trying desperately to regain footing. Right, he had a running quirk, right? Something with his feet? Midoriya warned her about him and Agent Bend, predicting the two of them would make a bold offensive charge. He was right, of course, and Uraraka was ready to crush them.

But, then this creepy ugly green beast with an exposed (and likely useless) brain and six chainsaw protruding arms crashed into them, ruining her chance to prove her kickass combat skills she’s worked since her internship to build.

“What is that thing?!” Tsunotori screeched, stumbling back into Agent Bend. 

“It…It looks like the thing from the USJ,” Uraraka said, pulling the still-floating Kimura back from the swiping blade. 

“A Nomu,” Okano answered, fear shining through her serious expression. “Crap, I left my anti-sensei weapons back at the base!”

Kimura pulled a throwing dart out of his utility belt and chucked it at the Nomu, embedding it in his neck. The beast didn’t even react to swat it away, flinging a chainsaw at Okano’s torso. It sliced right through the tree behind her, and the Nomu’s arm pulled back, revealing the pair of legs missing the rest of the body.

“OKANO!” Kimura screeched, his flailing propelling him higher. Uraraka scrambled to release her quirk before the boy floated too far away, and instead of faceplanting as she expected, he landed with cat-like grace on his feet.

“Yeah?” The legs spoke, sprouting a torso as Okano unfolded from the most unsettling backbend Uraraka’s ever seen. “Also, I don’t think your nerve dart did anything.”

“I really hate when you do that,” Kimura said, unaware of the Nomu swinging for him next. Unlike Okano, he failed to dodge, just barely evading the serrated edge as the Nomu’s arm smacked him straight into a tree. Two horns shot out, aimed at the Nomu’s eyes.

“C’mon, we need to run!” Tsunotori said, sending another horn to pick up Kimura by his hood. The boy’s head slumped, completely unresponsive. Uraraka nodded and grabbed Okano’s wrist, pulling her like a balloon. They sprinted, retreating to the river while Tsunotori did her best to slow the pursuing Nomu with her horns as Uraraka floated and dropped as much debris on it as she could. Still, the raging beast kept pace.

Uraraka spotted Tsuyu standing at her river guard post. Kataoka was talking with her, gesturing downstream where the END representative was supposed to be guarding.

“Tsu! Run!” Uraraka screamed. When they reached the other girls, the Nomu could just be seen through the dense forest, chopping through every tree that got in his way.

Kataoka gasped, pulling out her gun, already filled with nerve-bullets. “I suspected something was wrong. I noticed a purple mist further downstream. I didn’t recognize it from 1-B’s quirks, but I swam over to check with Asui first. It must be the League.”

Before she wasted her bullets, Okano stopped her. “It’s resistant to our nerve formula.”

Kataoka gritted her teeth, eyeing the fast-approaching beast. “Then we must retreat.”

“No, we can’t! We’ll just lead it to more students and put them in danger! We have to stop it before it hurts anyone else!” Uraraka surprised herself with her objection, but she tried to look strong, gesturing to Kimura. “If we work together, I know we’re strong enough to stop it.”

Uraraka looked between the four other girls, desperate but determined. She worked her ass off to get better at fighting villains, and what kind of hero would she be if she turned and ran now? E-class faced a beast just like this at the USJ and won — Uraraka knew they could do it again. They had to.

Kataoka met her eyes, analyzing before smiling. “Well, you got a point. We can’t let any other stupid boys get knocked around by this thing, now can we?”

The Nomu burst through the treeline — right into Uraraka’s perfectly laid trap. She touched her fingers together, dropping the giant floating rock right on its ugly head. She pumped her fists victoriously.

“Let’s do this! Plus Ultra!

“Plus Ultra!” Okano cheered, while Kataoka huffed and shook her head.

“I’ve told Isogai E-class needed a cool cheer. Typical Mr. Perfect never listens…”

-.-.-.-

Isogai should have listened to Nakamura. The class gossip-turned-intelligence expert seemed to have her fingers in everything. Her bets were always well placed and predictions eerily accurate. Only an idiot would ignore her warnings.

“You gotta watch your smooching levels, Prince Charming,” Nakamura told him after what he thought was a very successful press conference. “That million-watt smile might get you out of a lot of trouble now, but keep it up, and it’ll start attracting it.”

Nonsense, he thought. How could a smile get him into trouble?

“Ahh, you’re even dreamier in person,” the girl above him fawned, a deranged obsession fixated in her gaze. She came out of nowhere, targeting him when he was alone. He tried to defend himself, but his nerve-knife did nothing but make her excited. She had a thing for knives, apparently. 

“Who are you? What do you want?” Isogai said, backing up slowly. He eyed the forest around him, but it appeared he was completely alone with this girl. 

“I’m Toga! Toga Himiko! And you’re Agent President, aka Isogai Yuuma! I’ve watched all your interview clips, and I’ve just been dying to meet you.”

She knew his name. How did she know his name? Itona and Ritsu made sure their personal information stayed off even the dark web. So how…

The girl lunged, blade in hand, and Isogai reacted a second too slow. The knife dragged across his cheek, shallow but stinging. He gasped, stumbling back to get distance, but Toga followed him, crowding his facing with lustful eyes.

“Just when I thought your face couldn’t get any more beautiful — ah, you look truly stunning in red, Isogai-chan. I love it when you bleed…” Her obsession left her open, and Isogai took full advantage of it, grabbing the wrist holding the knife, and twisting it. He swiped the blade from her while pinning her arm behind her back.

“Look, I don’t know what you’re here for, but you don’t need to do this. Just stand down now and no one needs to get hurt.”

Toga giggled, peeking over her shoulder to look at him. “Such a gentleman too. But I’m afraid I can’t do that. I’m here for blood. Yours isn’t the goal, which is why I’m so happy we stumbled into each other. You’re just so cool and charismatic and handsome and everyone loves you. I’ve always wished I could be just like you…”

A sharp jab pricked his thigh, like a snake bite, and he yelped. He caught a glimpse of the strange syringe coming from the device on Toga’s back penetrating his uniform, a trail of red moving up the tube, leeching his blood. 

“Get away from him!”

A blur of green rushed by, ripping Toga and the needle away. Midoriya stood there, chest heaving and body clearly already battered. He pinned Toga to the ground with trembling arms, yet he still looked at Isogai with such concern. A trail of blood dribbled from his lips — didn’t Midoriya learn how to overcome that issue? He must be really worse for wear…

“Are you okay? She didn’t hurt you, right?” 

“I’m…I’m fine. Are you okay, Midoriya?” 

“Huh? Oh, yeah…Nagisa and I, we got caught by this really strong villain. He hurt Hayami and almost hurt Kota. Nagisa’s taking them to find the teachers, but I ran ahead because we learned that the villains are here to…”

Shrill, deranged giggles overtook Midoriya’s concentration, staring down at the villain below him. A bright pink flushed Toga’s cheeks, and she was practically drooling as she stared up at Midoriya. 

“You…You’re just as perfect as I imagined…walking right into my hands, already bleeding…I hear your blood is extra special, Midoriya Izuku.”

“Huh?”

Isogai jumped forward. “Midoriya, look-”

Gleaming metal launched for him, and Isogai ducked as another knife embedded the tree where his neck had been seconds before. Toga was suddenly pounced atop Midoriya, needle syringe buried in his chest — right where the Reaper ripped through months ago. Midoriya’s legs scissored Toga’s neck, ripping her away from him, but not fast enough to stop the strange device on her back from leeching away at Midoriya’s blood. Toga tumbled back, straightening her skirt and smiling while Isogai rushed to Midoriya’s side. 

“As much as I wish we could spend all night together…it seems I’m carrying precious cargo now. But I’ll have both of you closer than ever, so it’s like we’ll never be apart, yeah?”

Midoriya gasped, struggling to stand, but the strain of the night’s battles was catching up to him. Isogai barely kept him from faceplanting. Toga giggled, muttering something about how cute they both were before running off into the woods, leaving the two boys reeling.

-.-.-.-

Irina was having a terrible summer. Between the stress of Karasuma’s nephew, to all the additional brats they needed to train, absolutely nothing was going right. So of course, while she’s stuck playing referee for some hero kid class showdown, she gets attacked by a massive villain with a massive magnet. 

“WHAT THE FUCK!” she screeched, barely avoiding her skull getting smashed in. “Watch the face! It’s my money maker, you bitch!”

The villain didn’t seem too sympathetic to her plight and was more interested in attacking Irina, which was yet another problem. Irina was a honeypot assassin, not a melee brawler. She wasn’t equipped for this close-combat shit. 

Luckily, she knew there were some particularly powerful boys nearby who were perfect for this kind of battle. She heard them bickering earlier, the explosive one surprisingly astute enough to see through 1-B’s diversion plan and deduced where they were likely actually hiding their flag. The ice and fire boy followed but kept holding them up, seemingly cautious to charge into enemy territory. 

Irina released her quirk, pheromones begging anyone who smelt it to come save the poor damsel in distress. Seriously, she’s broken two nails dodging these annoying attacks. 

“DIEEEEEEEEEE!”

Ah, finally. Her saviors arrived.

They fought fiercely (of course they did, she’s not letting them be weak when defending her) with explosions of fire and ice and curses. The villain’s quirk flung them around, but Irina’s honeypot refused to relent, not letting her saviors back down. A barrage of paintball gunfire joined the fray, which surprised her — she didn’t realize her quirk reached the boundary line. Yet when she turned around, she found Chiba obsessively firing paintballs at the villain. The 1-A girl (the one with more revealing clothes than Irina in her prime) stood there too — What did Shinsou call her? Yaomomo? — her face perturbed even as she continued to manifest more and more paintballs for Chiba.

“Oi! What are you doing here?” Irina called. Her quirk didn’t work on women, even women who loved women (Irina clocked Yaomomo with that punk rock girl. She wasn’t stupid, unlike that bisexual disaster that flirted with her as much as he flirted with Shinsou).

“Oh, thank goodness! A teacher! I was stationed with Chiba to supply him ammo when all of the sudden — it was like he got possessed. He ran over here and started attacking — what is going on? Is it the villain’s quirk?”

“Hmm? No, it’s mine.”

Yaomomo gasped. “What? Why are you-”

“Please, spare me self-righteous bullshit. I needed a hero, so I honey-trapped those two idiots. Chiba just got caught in the frays of my quirk as well.” Irina crossed her arms, observing the battle. There was another massive explosion, and the two boys got knocked on their asses as the villain approached Chiba and them, clearly annoyed by the rain of paintballs.

“But I was right next to Chiba, so how come your quirk had no effect on me? Ah, not that I’d expect you to need me to be your hero. You were right, Bakugou and Todoroki are really strong and capable, so using them was a safe bet…”

Irina eyed the girl. The way she crossed her arms over her chest, head ducked and shoulders slouched, pensive look scrunching up her features. A beautiful young woman turned into a pathetic self-conscious child. It was an absolute crime.

“Hardly. My quirk only works on men. If I could control someone with a quirk and a brain as amazing as yours, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

“O-Oh…thanks?”

“Did you say your quirk only works on men?” the villain said, using the giant magnet to block the gunfire. She stopped approaching, squinting at Irina closely. Irina glanced her opponent up and down, taking in her shoulder-length hair and enviously large lips paired with a muscular figure and square jaw, 5 o’clock shadow peaking through. Another beautiful woman (and villain, unfortunately) who too often allowed the hateful voices of the world to harm her. 

Irina tilted her chin up and smirked. “Only men. We women are too smart to get caught in a honeypot trap like that.”

The villain paused, holding her gaze for a moment. Irina must’ve stopped using her quirk to influence her saviors as the attacks ceased as well. Well, Chiba ran out of ammo since Yaomomo stopped producing it, though the boy still seemed frantic to find more. Odd. If he was still under her quirk, then why did Explodo and Icy-Hot stop…

“Hmm. Seems Mustard’s gas mask does the trick as well,” a deep, theatrical voice said from behind them. Irina tried not to show her alarm as she turned around; she was a professional assassin. How did she not hear this guy sneak up on them?

Perched up in a tree, the villain’s appearance matched his tone — a dramatic top hat, gaudy yellow trench coat, and a gas mask atop of a black-and-white stage mask. He brandished two blue marbles in his fingers like he held the ultimate prize. He looked hysterically ridiculous.

“I always hate to derail an impactful moment but, as I’m sure you know from your time as an assassin, the mission always takes precedence. Thank you, Magne, for making the delivery so easy. I think it’s best we go now.”

“Good catch, Compress. Another time, ladies,” Magne chased after the trenchcoat villain. Before she disappeared out of range, Yaomomo materialized some odd metal object from her wrist and handed it to Chiba. The boy swiftly loaded it and fired, nailing Magne’s magnet. If Magne noticed, she didn’t show it.

“Uh, Ms. Uh…Bitch-sensei? Where did Bakugou and Todoroki go?” Yaomomo asked. Irina hummed, glancing over to where the boys were — now, not a soul in sight. Oh. So that’s why they stopped attacking. 

Irina groaned and pulled at her hair. Worst. Summer. Ever.

-.-.-.-

It was irrefutable that Hitoshi’s demise could only be blamed on his own dumbass choices.

He could practically hear Karasuma’s voice, interrogating him after a mission gone wrong, trying to get to the root of the issue. “After Twice fled, what does mission protocol order you to do?” Return to Itona, report the incident, and determine the next course of action as a team. “And what action did you choose?” To jump out the window.

Hindsight was 20/20. Hitoshi in the moment could only think about the Reaper and how the villains had his Nomu DNA, they had the Reaper, and Hitoshi needed to get it back and destroy every last trace of that monster. Nothing else mattered. Hitoshi in the moment couldn’t think ahead, and couldn’t anticipate where the retreating villain might lead him.

Right to all the other retreating villains.

There was enough sense left in his to approach stealthfully, creeping silently in the shadows of the treetops, peering down from a sturdy branch. Twice joined three other villains — a top-hat magician, a big woman with a bigger metal weapon, and a lizard Stain cosplayer. 

“About time you showed up,” Lizard Stain muttered.

“My dudes! And Magne! Good to see you’re alive and well!” Twice waved and then crossed his arms. “I take it you also retrieved your objectives.” 

“Of course. Grabbed an extra one while I was at it. They were practically handed to us on a silver platter; it would be foolish to skip out.” The masked magician held out a hand, revealing two marbles in between his fingers.

“Nice! I, of course, got my sample, though that END-hero kid gave me hell for it. You know, the brainwashing one with purple hair? Dude actually tried to torture me a bit for information. If Shigaraki didn’t hate his guts so much, I’d say we grab him too. Real villain potential with that one.”

Hitoshi’s teeth ground, painfully dragging and forcing him silent. He composed himself by focusing on what Twice said before that comment. Grab him too. Too. 

Hitoshi adjusted the dials on his artificial vocal cords, honing on Lizard Stain’s voice. “Who did you end up grabbing?”

Lizard Stain blinked, glancing around, while the Magician hummed. “Forgotten the objective already, Spinner? Bakugou Katsuki, of course, and Endeavor’s boy.”

Hitoshi immediately latched onto the strings, seizing the villain’s mind with a death grip. He turned his mask to intimidation mode, a red glow emitting the outline of Korosensei’s harshest smile. 

“I didn’t ask you-”

“Release them. Now.” A deep, gravelly tone replaced Hitoshi’s own. Twice yelped as the other two villains gasped, readying their weapons. The Magician held out the two marbles.

“Compress, what are you doing?!”

The marbles dropped, hitting the ground with a puff of blue smoke, depositing Bakugou and Todoroki’s bodies. There was no time for anyone to move before the explosion ripped through the area, shaking the ground so much it knocked Hitoshi from his tree. He landed like a crouched cat ready to pounce as Bakugou jumped back, dragging Todoroki with him.

“YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!”

Spinner groaned, picking himself off the tree stub Bakugou blew him against. “Looks like your brainwasher friend followed us, Twice!” 

His cover was blown, but at least he wasn’t outnumbered one-to-four. He stepped out, nodding to his classmates. “They're after you, Bakugou. We need to retreat. Now.”

“Wha- Huh?! I’m not running away like some coward. If they want me, then they can have my fist in their faces!”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes and plucked the string to Bakugou’s mind. The boy’s face dropped blank, and Hitoshi raised an eyebrow at Todoroki, begging him to try something stupid. Todoroki, wisely, kept his mouth shut and nodded. 

Hitoshi glanced back at the villains, who were starting to pick themselves back up. Twice still had the Reaper’s DNA. If he ran now, there was no chance of getting it back. He didn’t know what the League wanted with it, but his worst fears could guess. 

“Follow me,” he said, throwing a smoke bomb at the ground and running toward the mountain path. He already failed his task as an END agent; he couldn’t fail again tonight as a hero.

-.-.-.-

They nearly reached the path down the mountain when a wall of blue flames encircled them. Hitoshi panted, backing up to make sure he had a hand on Todoroki and Bakugou. The flame ate away at the oxygen, making it near impossible to breathe, and the trio wheezed. Todoroki counteracted with a wave of ice, but it only doused the flames for a second before another blast of flame trapped them again, even hotter than before. At this rate, the villains would cook them before they captured them.

Todoroki gritted his teeth, wiping the sweat from his brow and slamming his hand to the floor, creating a continuous stream of ice that formed an archway in the flames. Anytime the fire tried to eat it away, Todoroki summoned more.

“Get out of here! I’ll hold it off!”

“Not leaving you, IcyHot!”

Todoroki pursed his lips, staring Hitoshi down but refusing to respond. Refusing to let Hitoshi force his will away from him. Hitoshi glared, gripping Todoroki’s sleeve even harder. Two could play that game.

The heat wavered, Todoroki’s ice erupting from his hand in the largest wave yet, completely swallowing the flames. “Ah, two idiotic heroes, hopeless to use their brains,” a familiar voice mocked. “I guess I really am a rescue hero tonight. Add you three, and I believe that brings my total to seventeen.”

Karma stepped out, the ice melting too fast evaporating puddles where he walked. He glanced around, a scowl marring his amused expression.

“And yet the villain behind these flames still won’t show himself. How…disappointing.”

Blue light flashed from a tree behind Karma. Hitoshi and Todoroki saw it at the same time, Hitoshi threw out his capture rings while Todoroki shout out another wall of ice. Neither was fast enough as a fiery blue blast smacked into the END commander, consuming him until only his silhouette was visible. Karma sighed loudly, partially stepping out from the flames so they highlighted his back like a hellfire cape. 

“I stand corrected. This is disappointing too.”

He pulled out a knife — a real one, one that can kill — and threw it at the source of the flames. The blade embedded in the villain’s throat with a squelch and then clattered to the ground as the villain dissolved into mud. 

“Twice!” Hitoshi hissed. He readied his capture weapons, but another blue light enveloped him — only this one wasn’t caused by fire. An unseen force gripped his entire body, yanking him and his classmates back and throwing them at some random schoolgirl. The girl squealed, bracing her hands in front of her face right before the boys collided with her. Hitoshi groaned, realizing he was completely crushing her under his body and struggled to stand.

“Ouch — uh, sorry-”

The girl grinned, and a sharp sting against his neck, right above his vocal cords, made Hitoshi freeze. With a hysterical giggle, the girl pressed the knife a little harder, breaking more of the skin. A warm trickle slipped down his neck, and her eyes tracked it as she licked her lips.

“Don’t respond to him, Toga,” the fire villain said, this time walking out from the opposite side. Toga hummed, reaching up the wipe his dripping blood. She stared at it in fascination, inspecting how it coated her fingerprints.

“You got it, Dabi. No responding.” She held a bloody finger to Hitoshi’s lips and hushed him. He tried not to gag as the taste of his own blood tainted his mouth. Toga’s grin widened.

Hitoshi took a deep breath, imagining his teacher’s instructions. Focus. The villains haven’t won yet. Identify the threats, Aizawa would say. There was Toga pinning him with her knife. Dabi held Todoroki, a flaming hand threatening to clutch his throat, while Twice struggled to restrain Bakugou, the boy exploding his doubles at rapid speed, yet there always seemed to be another ready to replace the last. Karma remained unrestrained but surrounded by the last three villains.

Identify your allies. You're not alone in this, Korosensei would say. Hitoshi locked eyes with Karma. The END commander was clearly running through a thousand scenarios in his head, making use of the intelligence he once seamlessly passed off as a quirk. 

“You sure we can’t just take them all? We got them right here,” Spinner said. 

Dabi scoffed. “The more we grab, the more of a liability they become. Do you really want the heroes and the END agents on our asses? Let’s just take the one we came for and get out of here.”

“LIKE HELL!” Bakugou roared, followed by a less-than-impressive explosion — it didn’t even hurt the doubles holding him. Frigid air sent a shiver down all their spines, so cold it made their breaths visible. Dabi’s flames flickered while ice started building up on Todoroki’s skin. Karma shoved his hands in his pockets a bit too casually.

“It’s curious, really. I can’t fathom what could be so interesting about these two that you’d go through all of this trouble. I mean, surely you know how my agents get when it comes to silly sentimental things, yet you go and destroy our building, attack our mountain, our friends. END doesn’t kill, but I offer you no promises after tonight.”

The villains tensed, glancing at each other. It was laughably pathetic; did they really not consider that before they attacked END on their home base? 

“The Nomu-Reaper DNA, they sto- augh!” Hitoshi rushed words fell silent as the knife cut deeper into his fragile flesh, even more blood pouring out. Not enough to be fatal, he didn’t think…but probably not far from it.

“Careful, Toga. I believe Shigaraki wishes to end that one himself,” Compress warned. Toga huffed and rolled her eyes.

“Well, he should’ve called dibs on someone less mouthy. The other one is way cuter anyway…” She smiled dreamily, brushing her hand against a vile on her backpack filled with red liquid.

Karma tilted his head to the side, devilish smirk curling up his face. “Let’s play a game. I tell you exactly what your plan is, and you take the only offer that involves all of you leaving here with your lives. Sound fun?”

Magne scoffed. “Now why would we-”

Karma pulled his hands out of his pockets, loaded something into his gun, and fired. Magne screamed as a bullet ripped through her leg, and Hitoshi couldn’t help but wince sympathetically, phantom pain pounding from his shoulder. Spinner tried to run to Magne’s side, but Karma aimed the gun at him next. Real knife, real bullets — where did Karma even get them? Why did he have them with him? This was his ally, yet Hitoshi didn’t feel at ease seeing him gain the upper hand.

“You came here as the newest attack dogs of the League of Villains. Hacked our system to spy on our locations and used Kurogiri’s quirk to drop you accordingly. Four teachers to target, three objectives to obtain. The rest of you focused on the areas with the most students to maximize on casualties. You came for Bakugou, fooled by his crudeness in the Sports Festival and thinking he’ll be an easy and powerful recruit. You came for the sample of the Nomu-Reaper DNA because your Nomus are laughably pathetic compared to Shiro’s masterpiece. But that’s not the only remaining sample of Shiro’s work. No, there’s one more — the legacy of a Nomu more powerful, more intelligent than any hero or villain.”

Izuku.

Panic hitched Hitoshi’s breath, eyes latching on the vile of blood. Izuku. They went after Izuku. They knew Izuku’s quirk came from-

Karma laughed, grinning triumphantly. “So predictable. Do you still not understand what made Korosensei the greatest villain of all time? Because even when he laid out his every plan, his every action out, not a single person could guess his next move or anticipate the trick up his sleeve. You’re nothing but little leaguers in his shadow.”

Karma tilted his head more, locking eyes with Hitoshi and snapping him out of his panic. Work as a team. You’re at your strongest together, Karasuma always told them. Hitoshi mirrored the head tilt as much as the knife let him, angling his head toward Bakugou. Karma smirked.

“Hmm, quite astute. And your offer?” Compress said. The END commander aimed his gun.

“Don’t move.”

The gun fired at the same time Compress shrunk himself down. It soared through the empty air — and headed straight for Hitoshi. 

Memories of Takaoka flashed with the gunfire, but he held his ground and didn’t move a centimeter. The bullet whizzed by, catching the handle of the knife and grazing Toga’s hand. The transferred momentum sent the knife flying to the side as the bullet embedded a tree. Hitoshi snagged Toga’s wrist, wet with fresh blood, and swung the girl around, catapulting her into Twice’s doubles. He tackled Bakugou away from them, thankfully safe from any explosions as Karma continued to freeze the area out, preventing any sweating.

“Can’t believe that actually worked,” Hitoshi gasped, grimacing and cupping his throat, every movement tugging the split skin apart. The recovered Twice doubles approached, and Hitoshi flung out his other hand, wrapping as many doubles as he could and dialing the electroshock all the way up. More than ever, he wished he listened to Aizawa about switching to the capture scarf — it would make for a pretty good bandage right now. Bakugou, clearly annoyed by his lack of explosions, worked double time to build up a sweat as he pummeled through the remaining doubles.

Compress tried to use his quirk on Karma, but he sacrificed his gun to the quirk. As it dropped into a marble, Karma roundhouse kicked Compress in the face, cracking the bottom half of his mask off. Karma immediately punched the exposed mouth. He turned around just as Spinner attempted to attack from behind, sidestepping the attack from the hodge-podge collection of swords being held together by belts and chains.

“What, can’t even afford a welder?” Karma mocked, holding up a leather belt. Spinner lifted the weapon, only for the tip of it to bend awkwardly. Karma flicked the belt like a whip, cracking it against Spinner’s eye, making him howl. Another kick to the face sent the lizard sprawling. 

Karma spun on the last victim of his rampage. Dabi and Todoroki wrestled with sloppy hand-to-hand as they struggled to cope with Karma’s chokehold on the temperature. Karma, however, appeared to be thriving as he used the belt to lasso one of Dabi’s wrists. He tugged, forcing the man off balance, stumbling away from Todoroki and into Karma’s awaiting fists.

“That’s for the 3-E building.” A sharp knee into Dabi’s gut. “That’s for all the students you tried to cremate.” A foot pressed against Dabi’s elbow, forcing it to snap in the opposite direction. Dabi screamed. “That’s for trying to snatch First over here-”

Hitoshi gave up putting pressure on his cut, flinging out his other capture ring around the arm Karma winded back for the follow-up punch.

“Karma! That’s enough.”

Wild eyes snapped toward him, deranged with bloodlust and vengeance. Hitoshi wasn’t like Nagisa. He couldn’t control Karma the way he needed the most; couldn’t pinpoint the emotions that set him off into the state or how to bring him back down to earth. He couldn’t talk sense into him like Korosensei used to — no one could. Ever since the day he died, Karma was teetering further and further on the edge, the stress and pressure of his position only making the cliff steeper. Only Nagisa had a firm grip on their friend anymore, but Nagisa wasn’t here. Instead, it was Todoroki, someone who only made Karma want to nosedive.

A black portal opened behind Toga, and a blue humming light enveloped everyone’s bodies. Hitoshi’s instincts moved before his brain, capture ring releasing Twice, and anchoring it around a sturdy tree. His feet lifted off the ground, weightless flipping his stomach around. 

And then that invisible force pulled. 

Everyone went flying. The rings extended as far as they could go, tugging against the magnetic force. His shoulder burned, feeling like it was about to be ripped from its socket. A matching pain erupted in his other arm as the ring around Karma fully extended, catching the other boy before he tumbled into the portal. Both of his hands desperately gripped Todoroki, while Bakugou helplessly tumbled into the awaiting palm sticking out of the portal. It gripped the boy’s neck with all but one finger, and Shigaraki finally showed his ugly face, peaking just his head through the portal like the coward he was.

“It’s been fun, but it seems our time is up. But seeing you struggle so much…well, it wouldn’t hurt to claim another prize.”

Shigaraki latched out, grabbing Todoroki’s ankle and pulling even more. Burning, ripping pain consumed Hitoshi’s back and arms, topped with an echoing POP as his limbs were torn in separate directions. Pain shook his whole body, fingers begging to lose the rings, to end it all now. He kept his fists clenched, focusing instead of the pain of his fingernails digging into his palms. 

Though his vision blurred, he could see Todoroki and Karma staring at him, could see Bakugou’s horror and Shigaraki’s growing glee. Karma’s gaze hardened. He held his wrist to Todoroki, winding the cutting metal around his arm…and unwinding it around his own.

“What…what are you doing?” Todoroki said, voicing the thoughts Hitoshi was too pain-stricken to vocalize. Golden eyes met a mismatched blue and grey, fated twins torn apart too soon joined together for the first time since birth.

“Saving you.”

But fate was cruel to them, and always would be, together or apart.

Karma turned his head back up to Hitoshi. “I’m a proper rescue hero, after all. Call me…Gambit.”

The last of the wire unwinded, the magnetism ripping Karma into the portal, crashing him into Shigaraki. The pulling ceased, the blue glow fading, dropping Hitoshi and Todoroki to the ground. While Hitoshi screamed and gasped as dislocated joints crashed against rock, Todoroki screamed to stop the vanishing portal, his brother gone once again.