Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

...

"Okay, I accept. Just tell me more about them."
...
"I can't see them? Why not?"
"You will meet them sometime in the future. Just be patient, child."

The constant thoughts juggled through my mind. I knew of a story, of a life, of another person. Someone whose life was far worse than mine. I was told I could only visit them after I passed the exam in UA High, the most prestigious Hero School that I'm aware of. Well, if it's for the sake of someone else's, then I may as well give it a go.

"You've been learning how to handle offense and defense with real, minor villains, yes?" The voice in her phone asked, silence in the room as they did. She responded with an "Mm-hmm" before checking outside her window, the rustling leaves on the tree by her house aiding in keeping the awkward atmosphere from feeling too imminent.

"I learned how to solidify my shadows. I just need to be able to control them at a wider range... and to do more than just three at a time." She said as she looked at her hand, crossing through the barrier between her room and the outside, her shadow right on the surface of the exterior wall. She looked at it closely before it lifted off the surface, like paper molding into a shape caused by crafting. "Ensure you make a spot in Class 1-A. Don't disappoint me, Iku." The voice said before hanging up.

She took a deep breath as she watched her shadow rise and tangle around her arm, a soft but subtle smile perking on her face. Her eyelids were half-opened, her dark brown pupils focused on her quirk's ability, and her free hand tapping the edge of the window.

Just then, she heard a yell nearby. "Help! Villains!" The scream of an old lady, she feared. Her eyes widened and her brows furrowed before she placed her other hand's fingers on her chest, shadow forming and covering her like a hero costume. She took a few steps back from the window before sprinting and leaping out, the shadow by her right arm stretching to a tree branch in their backyard. She switched to her left hand and swung to where she overheard the screaming.

"Bastard, we're here to steal her stuff, not end up killing her!" One of the thugs said, knuckling the thin thug on the head as he had made the lady unconscious. "I didn't expect her to be too weak for my quirk, okay?!" He panicked but attempted to maintain a calmer form, his breathing pacing up. Suddenly, Iku finally dropped down.

She did not hesitate. She clawed the air with her right hand, and two tentacle-shaped shadows arose from the two thugs and tightly wrapped around them both, nearly causing them to choke and suffocate. They looked at her, still covered in the shadows that she sprouted off around herself. All they could see were her eyes, fierce and determined.

"What the- Damn it, Hook, use your quirk and get us out of here!" The bigger thug said, squirming to escape the tightly-wrapped shadows around him. "I'm trying, man! I can't move my hands-" As Iku overheard this, she tightened the shadow's grip harder around the thin thug, nearly causing him to fall unconscious. "Fuuuc- this brat's quirk is unbelievably strong." He said, his voice creaking by the end of the sentence.

The two thugs shivered, their hearts palpitating and their eyes quivering with fear and anxiety. She slowly stepped closer to them, as they were by the streets, before a group of dark red feathers flew through and halted the entire incident. "I'll take it from here, kid." That voice...

She lost focus momentarily to look up, the shadows' grip loosening. The thin thug took this opportunity and gnawed off the shadows, a scratch appearing on Iku's left cheek. That made her alert again. She tried to tighten the grip on the thugs, but it seemed as if the third male who caught her off guard managed to help out a bit more.
...
"Shit, it's Hawks!" The two thugs yelped in unison before they got attacked by the Number 3 Hero's Quirk- Fierce Wings. The feathers he controlled aided the shadow quirk Iku still had around the two, before he struck some of it through vital areas of their bodies, causing them to pass out. He looked at the shadow-covered girl before clearing his throat. Iku looked back at him before blinking profusely and bowing her head. "Um... Thank you for the help." She said silently. Hawks simply chuckled lightly before holding both villains with some of his feathers, lifting them off the ground. "Hey, kid, no problem. If ever, I should say thanks to you for being here before me. They might've run a bit sooner without you." He complimented her for her reaction time and quirk's strength. "Although.."

"Don't do this often." Iku tilted her head upon hearing that final statement. "What do you mean by that?"

"It isn't obvious? You'll get yourself in real trouble if you do what you did earlier, losing focus like that." He pointed at the small scratch that stayed on her cheek. "Dunno what you wanna do in your life, kid, but if you wanna help save people, you should know how to keep yourself protected at all given times." He said before flapping his wings and flying back up.

"Aaanyway, see ya around, kid." He then flew away with the villains flying right behind him, as quick as a flash. "Wait, the lady." She looked at the civilian and unwrapped any bindings around her. Seeing as how she was still unconscious, she looked around and tried to determine where to bring her. "Oh wait... maybe I can... learn something new with my quirk."

Chapter Text

She recognized how Hawks had the capability of sensing his surroundings with individual feathers, and thought up of seeing how she could probably manifest that with hers. It felt impossible, but maybe, just maybe...

That idea was crashed down when the old lady suddenly woke up. "Oh, dear! Another villain!" She yelped in fear, not knowing that it was just Iku covered with the shadows. That reminded her of how Hawks even saw through all that and spotted the scratch... were her shadows too translucent? Nevermind all that.

"Ma'am, me and a Pro Hero saved you from the thugs. They're gone now." She politely told her, lending her hand to help her up. That deescalated the situation. "Oh, my apologies then for calling you a villain. Thank you, hero!" She then waved goodbye at the old lady. "Please, just call me..." It took her a moment.

She has never considered giving herself a 'hero name', let alone a fictitious one while she's barely close to being a real hero. She made use of her knowledge of hiding her true identity whilst determining the most appropriate name to use at the time due to her quirk.

Shadows... manipulation of shadows... Only see me at night... I wonder what exactly would work as a name... until...

"Eve." She said, her eyes softly smiling at the lady. The lady smiled back and nodded her head. "Very well, Eve! Thank you again for saving me." That was the end of that fine evening.

The following day, she learned that UA high was going to have a big entrance test in 10 months. She got a call from the same voice and instructed her to train extra harder so she'd be able to make it to the top for the exam. Considering things, she  practiced day in and night out, getting ahold of her quirk better and more efficiently.

She undergone extensive training, going to a building with a bunch of harmless dummies daily that the same voice allowed her to train on. Iku would gradually learn to stop requiring her hands to summon the shadow figures, and inspired by Hawks, she began manifesting solidified shadow wings to aid in her future hero work. 

Through that time period, she also found a neat trick so she could sense what each shadow figure would feel, see, and touch. She harnessed the idea that each shadow was a part of her, having always remembered that night when her cheek was scratched surprisingly.

A few months passed by as if they were petals falling from a flower. Until the big day finally arrived. She was nervous, like any other teenager would, but she also strived hard to ensure her goal of making it in would happen. She felt determined, for her sake, for that one person's sake, and perhaps for everyone else she'd help soon.

She took a deep breath before walking alongside the other eager civilians who would soon either make the start of their journey towards becoming a Pro Hero, or face reality that they're not meant to be one just yet. She looked around, saw some people.

There was a green-haired boy who seemed to have been just as excited and nervous as she was, maybe more than her. She saw him trip down, but a brown-haired girl caught him right before he fell to the ground. She looked elsewhere. There appeared another boy who seemed quite the opposite from the first guy. Blonde, red eyes, and an attitude that anyone could sense from just looking at him. And a lot more students with various appearances. Iku subtly chuckled, her half-opened eyes looking at the ground again, before making her way inside.

There was an announcement and introduction coming from none other than Present Mic. She listened attentively, but looked around for any hope that a certain student would also be there. Hmm, perhaps she should try looking later on the physical exam.

And so, all the examinees were gathered into different sections of the exam location. She recalled of how the scorings worked. The more dangerous the enemy, the more scores someone could get. When the exam finally started, every other examinee made their way around the map. As for her, she simply stood her ground, manifesting her quirk exponentially before waiting for the right time to release it.

She took a few deep breaths in before looking at her shadow, lines upon lines branching out from it to sense where all the big enemies were at. She calmly focused on each direction, regulating her breathing, as she still found subtle difficulty maintaining that many shadows, especially in the day.

A few minutes passed, some examinees noticed the black figures on the ground, but considered them as harmless as they resembled shadows anyway. When the timing felt right, she sharply looked upward, making most of her shadow figures pop out like paper maché formed inside a pop-up book. The seemingly harmless figures rose on more than half the robots, becoming spiky and impaling them, automatically giving the points to her. As soon as she felt like the got the points, she coughed out a bit of blood. The shadows retracted nearly instantly back to her.

Shoot. I thought I could maintain those a bit longer. 

Her head was spinning a bit after that, her footwork dritzing up. She firmly held her stand and grabbed her head with her left hand, slowly moving it to cover her mouth. That took a bunch of her energy, it seemed. She felt like she won those points anyway, so she made kne last effort to move herself up to a building using one large tentacle-shaped shadow, allowing her to have a bird's eye view of the entire place.

She observed them before seeing something quite unexpected. That same green haired boy landed an immense punch towards one of the biggest robots, saving the same girl that kept him from embarrassing himself at the school gate. Her energy began to regenerate so she tried to leap through the roofs of the buildings to get a better view of the place. But it seemed that it was already over.

Oh. Well, time flew by too soon. I wonder what their names are, even... Couldn't even see that other guy I was tryna look for.

She went home, only to get a call from her phone.

"Don't push yourself too close to the spotlight, Iku. I admire your efforts, but I wouldn't want them to become curious about your quirk."

"Sorry. I only wanted to really ensure I'd get in."

"Just don't show off like that again."

"...Right."

"You did well, though. Good job, child."

And the call ended.

Chapter Text

It was no surprise that she managed to get in, especially with how she got to gather most of the UA teachers' attention. Even All Might was surprised over the strength her quirk had. Nevertheless, this was simply a stepping stone to her ultimate goal. A random selection for each student that made it in, Iku had been brought into Class 1-A. There, she finally met one of the students she'd been looking for: Shoto Todoroki. She didn't want to get to the point with him, especially as she didn't know everything about his history, so she decided to wait for the right time. She sat by the entrance of the class just for safety measures.

She had estimated that the class would be silent, but it seemed that the same blonde spiky-haired guy decided to have a bit of a chat with another person who made a commotion at some point during the exam day. Tenya Iida... he seemed quite a critical-thinker. After a few minutes, someone came in the class and it was that same green-haired guy. Izuku Midoriya, as mentioned in the names of the top 10. The blonde was named Katsuki, and then came along the girl who Iku saw that got saved by Midoriya- Ochaco Uraraka. Iku simply observed their behavior, and it seemed as if there was something else about to happen. Before anything actually happened however, the homeroom teacher arrived. It was none other than the Pro Hero, Eraserhead.

He got out of his yellow sleeping bag and presented an alternative UA outfit, all dark-blue with stripes of red and white. He then spoke, "Put this on and go out onto the field." The class was in shock, besides Iku. Barely a minute in and their teacher already wanted them to head outside for, perhaps, a quirk assessment. And so, that assumption was correct. Aizawa explained that everyone was to use their quirks in 8 different tests, and whoever would be at last would be expelled. Once again, the entire class felt shocked. Iku glanced at everyone, most deciding to charge themselves up with adrenaline to overcome the challenges. Then, she looked back at the only ones she recognized at the moment: Midoriya, Uraraka, Tenya, Shoto, and Katsuki. She had a feeling these 5 would be able to excel in most of these tests.

"Don't show off too much next time, Iku." This was something that Iku made sure to remember for each test done. She didn't hesitate in lowering her power output to stay in the middle, which managed to keep the attention away from her and instead went towards two of the 5 that she mentioned- Midoriya, who was called "Deku" by Bakugou, and Katsuki himself. When the 8 tests finished, Aizawa showed them the results. Thanks to her not using her current full potential, she brought herself down to 8th place, just a rank above Kirishima, another guy with spiky hair and a seemingly red dye. She had expected those results quite some time since the 2nd test, but upon looking at the 20th, she felt conflicted. She looked at Deku, who seemed to have been in total dismay upon seeing the results, and decided to tap on his shoulder. He didn't respond.

"This was all a lie, by the way, to make you all use your quirks to your full potential." Another shocking remark coming from Class 1-A's homeroom teacher. "Of course it wasn't serious... It'd have been obvious since we all passed the entrance test." A girl with long, black hair, exclaimed upon seeing Deku freaking out. Iku thought to herself and shrugged. "I mean, you'll never know..." She glanced at how relieved Deku felt, before glancing at the other students. They all seemed enthusiastic after the big reveal.

The day came to an end, and everyone went home. Some in groups, like Tenya, Deku, and Uraraka, and a yellow-haired guy who seemed to have an electricity-related quirk with someone whose quirk had relevance to ear jacks. Iku simply looked at minor groups forming, perhaps due to how they all were impressed or interested by each ones' quirks, before looking at someone else whose quirk was oddly similar to hers. She tapped on his shoulder before waving at him, a subtle smile on her face. "Heya, your quirk's pretty cool."

The boy looked back at her, his eyes seemingly not fazed. He nodded his head as a reply, before saying back, "...Your quirk's quite good too." Iku raised her hand, gesturing a handshake with him, before he pulled his hand off from his pants' pocket to her hand, shaking it back. "Asawe Iku. And your name?"

"..I'm Fumikage Tokoyami."

"Don't have anyone else walking home?"

He shook his head. "I don't mind my solitude, but if you're going down the same street as mine, then you can go with me." The two of them did indeed take a similar path to their respective homes, keeping a minor distance as this was their first time interacting. Iku didn't necessarily need to speak with the rest of Class 1-A, but she felt like she needed some connections with other strong students to better help her in the future.

"Dark Shadow... really close to my quirk's name which is Shadow Manipulation." Iku lightly chuckled before they stood by a pedestrian lane. "Ah, you're going to cross?" Tokoyami asked. She nodded her head. "My home's a little bit over there, and I'll still need to take a few more turns so... I'm guessing you're taking a left here instead, hm?" He gave a short nod before raising his hand, gesturing a formal goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Tokoyami." The two parted their ways from there.

As Iku got home, she was welcomed by her mother with a box, wrapped in shiny wrapping paper. "Iku, since you finished your first day at UA, your father and I decided to give this to you." Her mother, eye smiling at her, held out the supposed present to Iku as she removed her shoes by the front door. "Ah. Thank you, mother." She bowed her head before grabbing the present and walking to her room. "Dinner in 30, make sure you come down, Iku." Her mother calmly said before heading to their kitchen, prepping up the rest of their meal.

Iku simply sighed as she entered her room before settling down her belongings by her bed, changing to her casual outfit- a dark shirt with matching dark pants. She put her long hair up in a ponytail, much like the other girl from earlier, and went back to check on the present. "Oh boy... another present. Yay." Iku was fairly used to her parents gifting her anything, so this wasn't too big of a deal. Except...

"From: S." It had a very particular outfit inside, along with some form of earpiece. She put them both out and noticed the fine material used for the attire, which had similarities to a bartender's outfit. Maroon vest, egg-white long-sleeves, a pair of scarlet finger gloves, and a darker shade of purple for the pants. She felt confused as neither of her parents' names had an initial of "S", pondering if it was from the same voice who she had been speaking with.

Ah, nevermind all that. I'll just consider this as the outfit I'll use for my temporary hero costume... even though I already gave my request to the school. 

She put the outfit back inside and set everything back to where they should be, forgetting about the earpiece that she left on her desk. She had dinner, and went back up, before opening up a journal on her desk.

Today, I managed to meet one of them. Shoto. I'll be one step closer once I get to be friends with him... somehow. He doesn't seem like a talker, but I'll manage. I also got into the same class as Midoriya or Deku and Katsuki. They have quite interesting quirks too.

She continued to write about each student on the journal, having already decided which students would be best to mingle with and which ones would only serve as a hassle. After a while, she put her journal back in its initial drawer and brushed everything else off, falling to slumber.

Chapter Text

"Do your very best, Iku. We want to see you at the top."
"...okay..."

That nuisance of a feeling came back to her once more. She knew what she was doing. She understood her goal. But she wasn't going to gain anything from the first one who told her to work on all of this.

"A battle?!" The class asked in chorus. It was going to be a supposed hero versus villain activity, where the class would be divided into pairs and the heroes had to stop a bomb that the villains would be protecting. 

The Symbol of Peace, the #1 Pro Hero... All Might. 

He announced to Class 1-A of this activity, to which the class took positively. "This is gonna be great! I'm so pumped up for this!" Kirishima exclaimed as he formed a fist with his right hand, momentarily activating his quirk. She looked at Tokoyami and the others who seemed to be taking this a bit more seriously. After all, this was a Hero course.

The pairing was random, and Iku ended up getting matched with Shoto. Ah, this was probably fate for her. She had to interact with him because of the goal, but neither of them spoke a word with one another. 

...All Might drew the groupings for who would go first as the Heroes and first for the Villains. By chance it started off with Deku and Uraraka as the heroes, with Katsuki and Tenya as the villains. Iku looked at Deku. He seemed nervous. She glanced at Katsuki who seemed a bit more frustrated than normal.

"Huh.. you think they've gone through something bad when they were growing up?" Iku whispered to Shoto. Shoto simply looked at Iku and replied nonchalantly, "I'm not sure." He then looked back to the 2 pairs who were about to head to the building and start the fight.

Everyone was fixated on the 15-minute battle, focusing especially on Katsuki and Deku. Iku simply silently observed and felt a heavy conclusion that the former had some pent up emotions and issues that had to be resolved, but she also sensed that this fight wasn't it.

She looked at All Might, smiling as always, but decided to ask him, "Are you concerned over how this will go?" He was surprised over the question, but showed as if it didn't make him flinch.

"Haha, this is quite an interesting battle, but I'm not too concerned over what will happen. I'm positive that things will end up smoothly for the two teams." Seemed like he didn't want to mention their names specifically, so she didn't bother asking further.

The fight between the two teams ended with Deku and Uraraka winning surprisingly, although the girl with long black hair, whose name was Momo, gave her comments on each student, stating that the heroes were reckless. Based on Iku's insight, Momo was correct and she didn't want to end up getting criticisms relevant to being disruptive of the location once it was her and Shoto's turn.

The second batch came, and it was Iku and Shoto on the heroes with Tokoyami and Tsuyu, the girl with a frog-like quirk, on the villains side. Iku took a deep breath as they both entered the building, but Shoto halted her. 

"Go back outside. It'll be dangerous if you stay in."

Iku didn't mind and rebutted, "It'll be more dangerous if I let you alone." 

Clearly, they both wanted to use their quirk to an extent without damaging anything. Shoto sighed before explaining what he wanted to do, but Iku still didn't pay attention to it.

"Tokoyami works in the dark, I work better in the dark as well. Come on, Shoto."

Shoto froze up a bit, hearing how she called him by his given name. "I haven't even told you my-"

"I know your quirks, but I'd rather have us both working together." She then looked at the corridor, forcing her quirk to surpass its current limit by forming numerous spikes around the walls, ceilings, and floor. It abruptly went up to the highest floor, where Tsuyu and Tokoyami were still at.

"Use your quirk on mine once I find where they're exactly at."

Shoto stayed silent, clearly not amused by how she really felt eager to work together, but shrugged it off as he nodded his head. In just a minute of them walking, Iku sensed a presence by two floors above. Tokoyami's Dark Shadow was on the move.

"One 2 floors up." She said, and as soon as she did, Shoto immediately grabbed one of the shadow spikes and froze them, causing an icy chain that reached up to where Iku mentioned.

From above, Tokoyami did what he could to avert getting struck by the icy spikes, tumbling through them, before Iku sprinted up with the help of her own quirk lifting her and Shoto past the previous floors swifter. Tokoyami looked back and by instinct, he casted Dark Shadow to fend off any incoming attacks while aiming for the offense. 

"That's no use, you know." Iku taunted, although her voice sounded a bit of of breath. 

Shoto looked at her before mumbling, "I could have finished this sooner if you weren't stubborn. I'll go find the other. Stay here." She wanted to say more, but it was true that she was kept busy there by Tokoyami.

Although seemingly a powerful quirk, Iku's Shadow Manipulation had a few drawbacks. One of them was that the only instance her quirk would not affect her was if she used it as an actual barrier, and not as anything else. Morphing it into weapons or clothing would indirectly damage her real body. The infusion of Shoto's ice quirk with her shadow spikes made her body temperature lower down.

Tokoyami took note of the difference in her demeanor before sprinting to her in an aim to attack with Dark Shadow. An icy exhale, Iku manifested her quirk to form a big wall between him and her, blocking him away. He tried to slash the shadow wall away, but she forced her willpower onto the wall, making most of the shadow spikes in the lower floor disappear. She maintained the remaining spikes at the top floor to aid Shoto as he was following the trail to where Tsuyu and the supposed bomb was at. 

She wanted to head up with Shoto but chose to hold Tokoyami back off. "..Shoto, I hope you can keep your word."

In just a few moments, All Might announced, "Heroes win!" to which Iku instantly turned off her quirk, her body exhausted as she tripped up subtly, holding the wall nearby to assist her body weight. 

Tokoyami sprinted to her. "Hey, you okay?" She looked at him before forcing a light smile and a thumbs up. "I must admit, your quirk is quite stronger than mine." He said as he tried to help Iku head down to ground floor, Tsuyu and Shoto also walking past the same corridor. Iku accepted his help as the four went down.

The rest of the class continued with their own turns, showcasing their quirks. She looked around the room as she recovered her stamina, Shoto glancing at her a few times.

Oh, does he feel bad that I kind of got hurt? I should probably tell him this is nothing... but first, I feel like we're missing someone here.

She took a head count, and she was right. Deku wasn't there. She sighed before getting up from her seat, All Might quickly noticing.

"Young Iku, heading to Recovery Girl?" He asked, noticing how she was still a bit tired out from the fight. She hesitated to answer, as she wanted to speak with Shoto again, but decided it would be for the best if she went to check up on Deku. She decided.

"Yes, I am." She faintly replied, bowing her head lightly and making her way to the clinic.

Chapter Text

She got to the clinic and saw Deku, an IV connected to his arm. She felt concerned, but at least she knew his current condition. She looked at Recovery Girl, who already knew what she needed. "Temperature down? Lucky for you there's that heater nearby." She pointed at a heater by the window side. "Make sure to go back to class when you feel all better!" She reminded as she attended to her own things again.

She sat by the heater, a thought suddenly recurring in her mind.

"You're pushing yourself too much again. But this time you want to just explode, right? I know you wanna."

"No, I don't." She said, her right wrist shaking up a bit. She quickly held it with her left hand.

"Hmmm? Are you talking to me?" Recovery Girl snapped Iku out of that brief thought she had. She shook her head. "I... was just rambling, sorry." .."Mmhmm! If you say so." Iku decided to look back at Deku, who was still recovering. A few minutes passed by before Recovery Girl asked her to leave. "Wh...why?" .."You're all better now, go back to your classmates!"

It was strange to tell someone to leave without properly confirming if someone was okay or not, but admittedly, she only felt really cold after the fight and the nurse's quirk would consume her stamina which could make her further tired, so this was an okay decision. While Iku walked back to Class 1-A, she felt a gush of wind flow past her. She looked back, it was All Might. She tilted her head. "Why's he going there..." She decided that he was probably just concerned over Deku as he went through the most pain compared to the rest of the class.

She went back inside the class, and a few of her classmates seemed to want to talk to her. She forced a light smile at each of them, waving her hand. "Yeah, I'm alright. Deku's still in the clinic." She replied to their questions. "Denki Kaminari! Your quirk's really great. I wonder how my quirk would work with yours." Just the thought of it already shocked Iku, considering she might get electrocuted over that. She gave an awkward smile and replied, "I'd rather not wonder about that, thanks."

A few more students conversed with Iku, becoming acquaintances. Just then, Deku finally came back and the attention lured back to him. What a relief, Iku thought. She sat back at her place and stretched her arms a bit. When she looked back at the crowd, Deku was gone and a few of them followed towards the window to see where he rushed off to. Iku decided to join in.

They looked at Katsuki, who was apparently making his way home early. Iku looked at the girls with her and asked one of them. "Uraraka, why's he going home early?" Two of them looked back at her. "Well... after the fight between me and Deku versus him and Iida... I guess he didn't like that..." Her voice got quieter and shyer at the last bit. Iku sighed audibly, looking at Deku trying to keep Katsuki from leaving too early. Her curiosity made her want to use her quirk to listen in better, though...

Without anyone realizing, she looked at a nearby bush outside and manipulated it subtly, trying to make it gain a new side-ability besides being able to solidify and sense physical interaction. She wanted to surpass her limits yet again, and after a little adjustment...

"I don't need you to tell me this." Katsuki said to.. All Might. Iku realized that she did manage to make her quirk gain the additional feature of hearing nearby soundwaves, but couldn't hear anything between Katsuki and Deku's conversation. She turned off her quirk, feeling her ears bleeding up a bit. Tsuyu, who was one of the girls watching, noticed this. "Iku, your ears are bleeding." Her eyes widened before she covered her ears, moving a finger by her ear to graze it a bit. She looked at her finger. There truly was blood. She glanced at Tsuyu before awkwardly chuckling. "Ah... that's probably because of earlier."

"How would that happen though? I thought Todoroki's quirk only made your temperature lower..." .."No clue.. but it's the only reason I can see why they'd just bleed out like this all of a sudden." Tsuyu gave an "mhm" before looking at Deku and All Might walking back towards the school. "We should head back, guys." Mina, the only pink-skinned one in Class 1-A, said. The other 3 girls nodded in unison as they headed in class.

It was home time, and Iku felt a bit too tired from today. This was surprising to her. Was the training she's had for a long while not enough? Did she have to push harder just so she won't need to worry about  exhausting her limits? She could only ponder. She went home with Tokoyami again, but he noticed her in deep thought.

"Something bothering you?" He asked her calmly. Iku didn't respond for a moment before realizing he was talking to her. "Ah, I was just thinking about how to manage my quirk better." She said, giving him a reassuring smile. He looked back to where they were walking, before giving a nod. "I should do that too. Although your quirk is stronger than mine right now, I want to prove to you that my quirk will grow better." He seemed a bit more determined to do better. She felt the same.

They once again waved goodbye at the same crossroad as Iku went back home, getting greeted by her parents as she went back to her room. She then noticed the earpiece she forgot on her desk last night, blinking red. She grabbed it and although hesitant, she put it on her ear.

"I was wondering how long you'd take to actually put this on." It was the same voice she would hear on her phone. "Oh, so it was from you. I figured." .."How was your day today, Iku?"

"Eh.. I could have managed today better, but it wasn't horrible."

"Ready yourself. There will be bigger hurdles in the future, and I want you to be ready for all of them." She hummed in agreement before saying goodbye.

"Keep this earpiece someplace away from most people. I can't tell exactly who puts this on." "Yeah, yeah. I don't think anyone would like to hear your voice either way anyway." She lightly laughed before closing the earpiece. She then looked around and decided to hide it in a cabinet of hers, there in the far back. She then checked the time. "Oh, dinner."

And another day came to an end.

Chapter Text

"Your quirk scares me... get away from me... please... PLEASE-"

Iku had been having these nonsensical memories as dreams for the past few nights, but she decided to shrug it off for now. She managed to get closer with half of Class 1-A, much to her surprise. Everyone was considerate and seemed to find her quirk really interesting and versatile, which she suspected was the reason why they were kind to her.

She had lunch with Tokoyami, both of them eating in silence, when all of a sudden, the alarm rung and everyone panicked towards the exit. Although she herself wasn't nervous, she rushed with Tokoyami to the flood of students. "Ah- there's too many of us going through-" He yelled. This was quite a commotion. One of which Iku didn't want to be bothered with for this afternoon. She decided to wrap herself with her shadow quirk, thanks to the numerous shadows caused by the stampede of panicking teens. She lifted herself and Tokoyami upward, before speeding past everyone mid-air.

"Everyone, stop!" That voice came from none other than Tenya. The students calmed down after he reassured to them that the alarm was just for a bunch of mass media telecasters and reporters that managed to break past the UA barrier. Everyone then went back to the cafeteria, before returning to their respective classrooms. Iku, however, took a detour.

She used her quirk to quickly check the damage caused that made the broadcasters even get inside, noticing how the barrier seemed to have disintegrated like dust, simply over the sense of touch. She couldn't confirm it herself, but that was what she concluded from it. She felt something retract back in her mind over that before brushing it off as she was still in school. She returned to class as normal, and the class seemed to have chosen Tenya as the Class Representative, with Momo as the Secretary. She lightly chuckled over the decision.

There was going to be another activity. A rescue-type activity at the U.S.J. or Unforeseen Simulation Joint, a place made by Pro Hero Thirteen as to teach UA students how to handle different natural disasters in an actual battle. The entire class was in a bus on its way there. This felt like a nice time to converse with some of the students. Iku sat down by Deku, who she hasn't managed to converse with just yet. She gave him a subtle smile and wave, and he did the same, acting shyly as he glanced back at the others who were on the opposite side of the bus. For some reason, the seating placements prompted everyone to face each other.

"Your quirk's kind of similar to All Might's." Tsuyu said to Deku, which caused him to freak out. Kirishima pointed out that All Might wouldn't get hurt over his quirk, unlike Deku with his own. This made Iku speculate some things, nevertheless, as she was tuning in to their conversation. Everyone seemed to be quite energized for what was to come, which made her simply become a listener and not bother to join in to the conversation. And so, they eventually arrived at USJ. Everyone got out in a one-file line, as instructed by Tenya, before making their way inside, Aizawa just in front of the entire class.

There were 8 different sections, to which Iku had already learned off when she made some research for UA High back in her preparation arc. Before anything else could occur, however, a warp portal appeared on the opposite side of where everyone else was at, causing the entire class and two Pro Heroes to be alert. Villains. Villains with different quirks coming out from the portal. Iku felt the urge to use her quirk to put them all to a halt, but Aizawa then shouted, "Everyone, go back!" .."But Aizawa-sensei-" Tenya was interrupted by their teacher, who was putting on his goggles, activating his Erasure quirk onto the incoming villains. He meant no time to waste and was preparing to sprint towards them all.

The students followed as he said and dashed back to the entrance with Thirteen. Despite them doing so, another warp gate appeared right in front of them, a mysterious figure with a misty head and glowing yellow eyes coming out from it. "Hm.. We were told All Might would be here." He glanced at the students before shaking his head lightly. "Never mind. We may as well keep you all here so he would really show up." Suddenly, a big dome-like mist began appearing from the ground, attempting to do something to the students. They all ended up in different groups, with a few managing to get out of the mist thanks to Tenya's engine quirk. Iku tried using her own quirk to shove herself out of the mist, but it was a bit too late as she got warped elsewhere.

She ended up being at the Mountain Zone with Shoto. They looked at each other before nodding their head once and looking around, seeing numerous villains on their way to attack. "Don't try hurting yourself this time, Iku." Shoto said as he pressed his foot down, ice imbuing onto the floor and immobilizing all the villains. She stayed silent, subtly impressed that he can really manage on his own, before looking back and using her quirk on incoming villains, turning their shadows against them as they wrapped around each villain tightly, immobilizing them mid-air. "What made you villains think that you guys can kill All Might?" He asked one of the villains before completely freezing them up. Iku quietly chuckled as she saw him do so before taking a moment to sigh and lift herself up with her quirk, the shadow being used as a small platform. She gave herself a bird's eye view to see the situation in each area.

"I wonder... should I wrap this up for them already? Or could this help them expand their usage for their quirks..." She pondered as she sat on the platform. Shoto and a few others by the Mountain Zone could see her. "Oi! Iku! Wouldn't mind some help down here!" Kaminari, who was almost about to go past his limit with his Electrification quirk, yelled at her before a few villains pounced at him, Jiro, and Momo. Iku glared at the villains before raising her arm, winding and twisting them up together like a caught school of fish in a fishing net using her quirk. Momo then completed making a large blanket, covering her and Jiro. "Now, Kaminari!" She exclaimed, triggering Kaminari to use his quirk at max output, electrifying all the villains within reach. Due to Iku's quirk being tied around them, however, she had to endure some of the voltage output that she received from his quirk. Her skin got scathed, but she feigned ignorance over that as she jumped down to them.

Momo and Jiro got out of the blanket, unharmed, before noticing the abrasions on her skin. They showed a sense of concern over it. "Ah- Iku, are you alright?" Momo asked before making something with her Creation quirk to treat the wounds she gained. "Ah, yeah. Don't break a sweat." .."Are you sure?" Iku nodded her head before pointing at the other fields of USJ. "We should get to where the others are at." Jiro looked at Kaminari who seemed to have 'dumbed down' over using his quirk at such high output. She sighed in subtle annoyance. "Guys, Kaminari's acting off. Guess we shouldn't have pushed him too much on this." The two nodded in agreement. "Okay, enough chit-chat... Let's go." Iku said as she dashed out towards the center of the place, towards the light-blue haired guy with hands all around his head, arms, and torso.

"..."

Chapter Text

"That's just brutal... why would his father do that to him?"
"Maybe he just never loved his son in the first place."
"But... but..."
"You've endured your own fair share of pain with your parents before, correct?"

They're not wrong.

..

Iku glanced at Tomura Shigaraki, the guy with those freakishly realistic hands by his body. She took a moment to realize that it was him and not some other minor villain who started all of this. She held a fighting stance, focused on him, before noticing Aizawa on the other side. She felt startled for a moment due to the display. A black humanoid with large, numerous teeth, eyes that seemed to have popped out of its own sockets, and a very muscular form... it was a so-called Nomu. In the flesh. She did not wish to hesitate at all, especially after seeing Aizawa seemingly crushed below the Nomu. Was he injured badly? Could he be in a truly fatal condition? It didn't matter as she knew one thing- she must prevent all this from continuing.

She glanced at Momo, Jiro, and Kaminari, before quickly wrapping tentacles around them. "Ah! Iku, what are you doing?" Momo yelled, before Iku quickly dismissed it and sent them towards the exit. As she did so, she focused back at the Nomu and Shigaraki. She sprinted towards the two of them, shadow figures rising above from the ground in an attempt to stop the two. They wrapped around Shigaraki and the Nomu, stopping them momentarily. But suddenly... he spoke. "..What is this poor excuse of a quirk?" He placed his hand against the surface of the shadow, causing it to decay. To Iku's surprise, she felt her skin dry up at that moment, making her take a step back. Shigaraki looked at Iku. "You." He walked towards her, a smile creaking from his rough, dry lips. "I have to admit, that was weak. But you're still holding your ground, I'm impressed."

Iku froze up. Her eyes glared at him, and she did not expect him to just pass through her quirk, let alone damage her in the slightest. The Nomu continued to struggle against her quirk, which she focused half her strength on, before reinforcement arrived yet again. Deku, Tsuyu, and Mineta were by the end of the Flood Zone, the area they got warped at earlier. They noticed Aizawa down on the ground, all bruised due to the Nomu. "Aizawa-sensei!" Deku yelled as he tried to dash towards him, but Iku looked back at the boy and stopped him with her quirk, lifting a shadow barrier in front of him as she forced them to maintain distance from Shigaraki.

"No. Don't. Let's just.. wait for All Might right now." She said from her spot, her breathing growing irregular as her energy began to plummet down gradually. Shigaraki chuckled, his shoulders moving as he did so. "Yes. Let's wait for the Symbol of Peace to arrive. After all, he is the reason I brought all these villains here!" He enthusiastically said before Kurogiri, the one who caused the eerie warps, came back and quietly said something to him. The ego that popped out from him turned into hesitation. "You got one of the kids away!? Great, now we actually have to go. Game over." He muttered afterwards, clearly frustrated, "...if it weren't for your warp teleporting quirk, I would have just killed you." Kurogiri simply stayed silent, taking note of the battlefield at the moment.

Scratching. Lots of scratching. That was what the hand-covered male did as he felt such irritation over how the plan seemed to have turned south. Yet he tried to maintain his composure after a bit and came up with an idea. He glanced at a student before speaking out his thoughts, "..before we leave, what if I decided to crush the Symbol of Peace's pride by getting rid of one of his students?" He leapt towards the flood zone, aiming to use his quirk on the unsuspecting Tsuyu. Fear arose within her and the other two, but Iku remained vigilant and rushed towards them, moving the barrier she made and morphing it into numerous small-sized tentacles, wrapping around Shigaraki's limbs and torso. He attempted to use his quirk on those shadow figures again, but to his and Iku's surprise, it didn't work. He immediately realized who caused it- Aizawa.

He looked back at him, who was using his Erasure quirk despite the damage done by the Nomu to him. "You really are cool, Eraserhead. Even when you're down, you're still using up all your energy to help your students." He cheered calmly before harshly grasping the shadows by his hands as the Nomu broke through the shadows that Iku had placed around it, immediately bashing Aizawa's head down to the ground, forcing his quirk to get disabled yet again. Shigaraki used this moment to decay the shadows he was holding, causing scratches onto Iku's skin again. She hissed before pulling him to the ground using the shadows around his feet, lifting him off and swinging him in the air. As she was aiming to send him flying across the zones, they all heard a loud thud coming from the main entrance. Fog emitted as the door was brutally kicked down by a tall, recognizable man. "It's fine now!" A smile crossed through the faces of each UA student as they recognized that voice. "I'm here!" It was All Might, who had finally arrived at the battlefield. "All Might!" They all jeered in relief and joy.

Shigaraki growled and bent forward, an attempt in causing Decay onto the shadows tightly placed by his feet. "I will not miss this opportunity over a feeble quirk like yours, girl!" He yelled, kicking his legs around to loosen himself from the shadows' grip. Iku continued to sprout more tentacles towards him, her focus solely on him as she knew he was the biggest threat here besides the Nomu. All Might noticed that Iku had been keeping Shigaraki company, along with Aizawa on the ground, Thirteen who seemingly was incapacitated, and the other students who seemed to have been giving their all at their respective zones fighting off the villains. He looked furious as he couldn't be there to prevent all of this from happening. He lunged forward towards a group of villains, hitting them all with a few punches and dealing enough to cause them to fall unconscious, as he grabbed Aizawa out of the scene. He looked back and leapt forward again, quickly grabbing hold of Tsuyu, Deku, Mineta, and Iku on his other arm. "Everyone, to the entrance. I'm leaving Aizawa to you. He's unconscious, so hurry!"

Deku and Iku simply looked at All Might, both of which were eager to assist him. Iku's quirk was still in effect as she made sure to keep Shigaraki upside-down. "All Might! Let me help. My quirk can still-" He gave her the hand treatment, raising his arm up a bit as a gesture for her to remain silent and focus on what he had asked them to do. "I'll handle this. You and your classmates have done enough for now." Deku also tried to speak up, but All Might simply looked at him, a smile on his face. "Young Midoriya! It's okay." He stayed silent, carrying Aizawa on his back, before nodding his head and heading towards the exit with Tsuyu, Mineta, and Aizawa. Iku felt a rush of adrenaline aching to flood through her veins, seeing all of this with her eyes.

I want to help... I need to help... The days need to pass better... She was stubborn, as usual. "I'm sorry, All Might, but I-" Before she could even finish her sentence, All Might was already rushing towards Shigaraki. The Nomu she let go earlier was then the one who was fending him off from Tomura. She didn't hesitate and decided to make further use of her quirk, before...

!!

"What's this... feeling-" She knelt on the ground, her head beginning to ache severely. "No- not now- f.." She groaned in pain before deactivating her quirk, freeing Shigaraki from it. He fell down, although no injuries, before getting back up to watch the fight between the Nomu and All Might. Moments passed by quicker, and as if it were candles being unlit, Iku witnessed something she hadn't expected to occur all of a sudden.

Chapter Text

"You've been going out too often, haven't you?"
"I hate staying indoors. I really do."
"I can see that. You said you wanted to know about him, though, correct?"
"Mhm, can you?"
"Just don't let anyone know I'm telling you about all this, alright?"

....

All Might, the Number 1 Pro Hero, subtly getting overpowered by two mere villains. The Nomu managed to hit him at his weak spot, aided by Kurogiri's warping quirk. This was an unruly sight to see, especially for heroes-in-training. Iku had to get up. She couldn't just suddenly fall down over a sudden headache. No. She was stronger than that. Rather than focusing on Shigaraki or the Nomu, She decided to play... shadow with shadow. Abruptly, she forced shadow spikes towards Kurogiri, aiming for his neck and torso. This caught him hazily off guard as he retracted backwards, morphing into a big fog to avoid it.  However, Iku didn't stop there. She began to make countless of shadow spikes arise from the ground, planning to impale both the Nomu and Kurogiri. Seeing how she became into a threat, Kurogiri attempted to spawn a warp below her. She noticed this and quickly leapt up, now aiming towards All Might's direction to faze the Nomu who was still ever so obediently holding him in place. Although...

An explosion occurred on her right side. It was Katsuki! He, Shoto, and Kirishima finally made their way towards the center and aided All Might. Shoto used his ice quirk to freeze the Nomu half-way, all the while avoiding contact with any of Iku's shadows. With that being said, Deku had made his way back. He felt the need to do so, especially after having seen a drastic condition of All Might moments before. "Shoto- What took you so long to get here?" Iku asked, remembering how they were brought at the Mountain Zone earlier. "Doesn't matter. These villains think that they can just kill All Might with some lame monster. They'll have to try harder." He coldly said. Iku looked back at Katsuki, who managed to put Kurogiri in a tight spot. A silver, metallic neck was visible. There seemed to be a physical body behind that all that mist, and Katsuki managed to get to the bottom of it.

"Ah..." Shigaraki finally spoke again. "Kids these days are amazing. But your quirks aren't enough to get the League of Villains to lose. Nomu." As he called out the Nomu, his body dropping down the warp that was still left open. It passed through the warp and got back up, allowing its frozen side to shatter as its muscles and skin regenerated. The students and All Might were shocked to see such a sudden event, showing that it had numerous quirks. "Now then, I need to get my warp gate back. Nomu." He called out again, and in an instance, the Nomu responded by dashing towards Kurogiri and Katsuki, aimed to throw the boy off of him. Iku yelled in frustration before sprinting, raising an arm to immediately summon a shadow barrier to stop the Nomu from passing through. It caused another fog as spectacles of dust emerged to the air.

Iku flinched, her legs shaking as the Nomu forced an impact against the barrier. She coughed up blood, looking at the damage it did to the barrier. A near-perfect circle, but thankfully it prevented the Nomu from getting close to both Kurogiri and Katsuki. But the Nomu didn't stop there. Not until it got to grasp Kurogiri away from the heroes. It dashed past the barrier and aimed once more for Katsuki. Iku, who already felt heavily injured, raised her other arm and summoned two more barriers to block off the Nomu's path. It bashed through the walls, surprisingly causing a stronger impact at Iku.

She tripped back before Deku swiftly kept her from falling to the ground. "Hey-" he whispered at Iku, "you can stop... You're getting too hurt right now." She wanted to retaliate, but she sighed instead and looked at All Might, who managed to rush to the scene to get Katsuki out of the way. The Nomu had managed to grab hold of Kurogiri due to him focusing on rescuing Katsuki rather than fending it off. Shigaraki then began to cackle, spreading his arms out as he spoke, examining what Iku and the others did. "You all really enjoy hurting yourselves for others. Causing destruction here and there just to save people. You know, All Might... I'm sick of how society treats people so two-sidedly. Violence is only seen as good as long as you do it to save the so-called innocents, but it's bad if you're the one who starts it all." He raised his tone afterwards. "Symbol of Peace? Ha! You're just here to repress violence. Violence gives birth to even more violence, and society will soon realize this all once we kill you!"

Iku wanted to continue tuning in to that conversation, but she heard more voices than necessary at that moment. She cupped her mouth with her hand, looking at Deku who was still keeping her from dropping to the ground. "Deku... can... I leave this to you guys for now?" She weakly asked him, her eyes seemingly starting to close shut. Out of concern, Deku grabbed her tighter and shifted her weight against his torso. "I can't let you go back on your own..." He looked at the others who were just as ready to fight. "Kacchan, I'll be right back." "...Where do you think you're going, Deku?" Katsuki asked, his tone being the usual irritated one, before noticing a wound by Iku's stomach. He showed mild uneasiness before glaring again. "...Just make sure you get back here. All Might would need us here anyway." Deku nodded his head before sprinting away with Iku carried on his arms. The others noticed them fleeing the scene. Shoto spoke up. "We still have the upper hand. 3 against 5." "...And once Midoriya comes back, it'll be..."

Those voices got quieter as Deku sprinted faster towards the rest of Class 1-A. And just like that... her consciousness was also growing wearier. "Hey, Deku..." Iku said, her voice frail, "thanks." With her last ounce of energy, she wrapped them both with shadow tentacles, pushing him back to the others as she flung herself towards the other students. Uraraka saw her flying towards them and leapt up, placing both hands by her shoulders but avoiding her pinky fingers to make contact with her body. She wrapped her arms around Iku, who had passed out already.

....

"I need to get stronger..."
"I... need to."

Chapter Text

I need to keep it all together. Keep it to myself. I mustn't let anyone truly know what's going on in my mind. No one likes me. I don't want it to get worse. I need to strive for the best. They're counting on me. 

They...

They

aren't worth

a single ounce of my strength.

Iku woke up, looking around the room she was in as her eyes adjusted to the light in the room. It was the nurse's clinic again, and to her side was Deku who was in just a bad condition as her. She noticed another figure besides him, yet couldn't recognize who it was. She tried sitting up to get a clearer view, but her stomach ached as she tried to move, causing her to yelp out. "Don't move yet! Your body's still patching up." Recovery Girl exclaimed, making her way towards Iku. "Oh, but I thought your quirk could help fix up the wounds fast enough..." She said, her eyes shifting towards Deku and the other figure again. "You lost a lot of energy during the fight at USJ, so it's natural for your body to recover a bit slower right now. Don't worry, though! You'll be all better soon, just wait a little while more." She tried to reassure the girl, despite her lack of awareness on the situation. Iku didn't realize that it was more than just some wounds and gashes that she received and endured during the fight.

Her stomach was aching as it suffered from internal bleeding caused by the brute force of the Nomu towards the shadow barriers she casted that day. Her blood pressure was low, and her consciousness wasn't exactly in tact. She didn't realize the condition her body was going through at that moment, but it seemed as if she didn't really mind it either way. Recovery Girl tried to heal her faster with her quirk, but to no extent. She simply sighed before speaking, "I think you should rest up, child. I can't do more until you gain enough stamina again." Iku nodded her head as she sighed silently, shutting her eyes closed. Minutes passed by before she heard an inaudible conversation to her left. Deku and that figure were both there, from what she could recall. She took a peek to see and listen better.

"Young Midoriya, thank you again." The man said to Deku who was still on the bed. Iku tried to examine the individual, noticing a frail appearance yet a very familiar hair style, much like All Might's. She wished to speak up to join in on the conversation, but seemed as if they were just about to conclude it. "I'll have to go back to check on your classmates. Don't worry! I'll come visit again later." His voice and the way he spoke his words seemed coincidentally similar to the Symbol of Peace... it was uncanny. He made his way outside the clinic, not having noticed Iku was awake. That was when she decided to speak her mind to Deku. "Oi, Deku." She said, her voice a bit sore. Deku mildly panicked, concerned that she had been conscious since earlier. "Oh- Iku... I didn't realize you were already up." He looked at her, nervous yet also attempting to force up a smile. "Are you alright? You were really injured, according to Recovery Girl." 

Iku smiled in return, softly chuckling, "yeah, don't worry. I'm fine." She looked at the door before glancing back at Deku. "Who was that guy you were speaking with?" Deku flinched for a moment before responding, "Ah- Oh, him! He's just- Uh- He's someone who wanted to check up on me, yeah! I... no means am hiding anything or something like that!" He sounded flustered, his pitch raising high up. He was obviously not wanting a conversation about that man and him. Iku simply let out another chuckle before looking at the ceiling. "Alright, if you say so, Deku." She didn't wish to pry into more depth, especially with how they were both needing some energy after that fight. "So... you sure you're alright, Iku? I mean, I shouldn't be asking so much but you did manage to help us a lot over there." Deku asked her, worried about her physical state. "I'm fine... you should be resting up yourself, Deku. I can still see the scars on your skin caused by your quirk." She calmly advised, before completely falling into a blank, unconscious state.

"Was I really made for this...?"
"Your quirk is marvelous. Don't overthink, dear Iku."
"But I don't find it anything special... how did you and they... see it as such?"
"..." They hesitated to respond. They're just covering it all up again.

"Iku... that's your name, yes? I want to make your life better."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You..."

Knock, knock. Iku woke up from a surge of dreams again, stretching her limbs gently before realizing that she had finally recovered from the injuries she got during the big fight at USJ. She looked around, and it seemed as if Recovery Girl wasn't around. She checked the windows. It seemed like she spent the night and missed her classes for today. She didn't like that, and wanted to check on her classmates. Then again, would it have been okay if she just got up and left without notice? She glanced to her side. Deku was also already gone. She presumed that his wounds were treated faster and more efficiently. She sighed audibly before trying to get up from her bed, slowly making her way towards the clinic door. As she opened it...

"Iku! You feelin' better?" It was a few of her classmates, particularly Kaminari, Deku, Tokoyami, and Uraraka. She focused on Deku. "I should probably also ask that to him, Kaminari." Deku subtly turned red before scratching the back of his head, awkwardly laughing. "You really didn't have to worry so much about me, Iku... I already told you that." Uraraka spoke, "but really though... Iku, is your body all fixed up now?" Her eyes showed genuine care, which warmed Iku's heart for a bit. She nodded her head firmly, a light smile on her face. "I'm okay, now. Don't think too much about me." Uraraka then brightly smiled, wrapping her arms around Iku to give her a hug. Iku mildly felt confused, but she raised her arms and wrapped it back around the girl.

"Uraraka, mind her condition." Tokoyami said, reminding her of how Iku just recovered. Uraraka gasped and let go near-instantly upon remembering. "I'm sorry, Iku! Did I hurt you?" Iku shook her head, the same light smile still visible on her lips. "It didn't feel like anything, in terms of pain or stuff of the sort. You guys can hug me if you feel like it." The others simply smiled before giving Iku a quick group hug. "Want me to walk with you home after you get dressed?" Kaminari asked Iku. She simply chuckled at his idea of an interaction with her before answering, "it's fine, I've got Tokoyami walking towards my house anyway." Tokoyami nodded once in confirmation. "Oh, I didn't know that! Alright, then."

Iku went to change to her school uniform, even though it was already dismissal time, and headed back outside to check on the others at class. Most of them felt relieved and happy to see her up and standing again. She looked at the other students, glancing if Shoto was still there. It seemed that he already took off early. Katsuki too, for some reason. She simply shrugged it off before grabbing what belongings she had left in class and making her trip down to the entrance. She waved goodbye at the other students and walked down the same path with Tokoyami. "Iku," Tokoyami attempted to initiate a conversation with her, "I heard that UA high's going to be temporarily closed." ..."Like, to the public or..." Tokoyami shrugged, "I'm not so sure. Maybe just to the public, as how it should be. They might toughen up the security there too while we're home." Iku quickly pieced it together, thinking out loud, "..they're definitely not going to just stop classes over an attack. UA High's better than that." She commented, before they noticed a store newly opening by the streets they were walking at.

"Hey, look at that- Haven't seen that here. Guessing it's new?" Iku pointed at the stall. "Do you want to check that out before going home?" Tokoyami asked her, noticing her interest for the place. She nodded her head, lightly smiling. "I haven't seen anything new here for a while, so I wouldn't mind dropping by this place." She took a minor detour, heading to the store, not long after asking Tokoyami if he wanted to tag along too, to which, he accepted. They skimmed through and noticed it was a bookstore. Iku seemed to be really enticed after realizing it. She saw a nifty book named "The 7 How's and Why's - A Guide to Decisions" and chose to grab it, aiming for the cashier to purchase it. Tokoyami found a book for himself too, a book of which was relating to the shadows and the like. 

"Ah, you also bought something." Iku noticed the book he bought as they headed out. "Yeah. I'm really fond of darkness, in general." She lightly giggled. "I can understand why." Tokoyami then wondered, "what book did you buy?" ..."Oh, right." She pulled out the book and showed it to him. "A book about decisiveness... I see." They both made their way to the same stop and waved goodbye after.

And marked the end of another day.

Chapter Text

She felt ill that day. Mentally and emotionally ill. She should have felt scared for what was to come for her life, but she simply remained indifferent, as if what just happened wasn't anything big. Maybe it felt like a sigh of relief for her. Maybe she learned to stop caring for those who brought life into her. But all she knew was...

She kept moving.

...

It was yet another day at UA High, and after the incident at USJ, Tokoyami and Iku's predictions were correct. Staff and management were on high alert, ensuring that every corner of the school was protected and that there were no unguarded locations. They quickly handled the damages done by the League of Villains, the ones who made a scene that day. Iku overheard what some of her classmates were discussing, particularly the mass media having shown the incident on news. "Just thinking about my face on screen, even for a moment.. Gahh!" Mina exclaimed, feeling shy over the fact that Class 1-A was flashed on TV for the supposed broadcast. "I'm unfazed over it, honestly..." Iku added, turning the pages of her journal as she felt like jotting something down at that moment.

Tenya rushed towards the entrance, informing everyone that class was about to start. Everyone was sitting in their respective seats as they awaited their teacher. "I wonder who'll be here for Homeroom, since Aizawa-sensei is still recovering right now." Uraraka wondered, but to everyone's surprise, it was still Aizawa who arrived. Some took note of how he was still determined to handle the class despite his injuries. He then announced to the class of another event that was drawing near, "there will be a Sports Festival where every student from each course can participate to showcase their abilities." The students were surprised but enthusiastic that they were all finally going to do something a bit more normal, as opposed to what they've been doing so far. This piqued interest for everyone, especially Uraraka. Everyone noticed how fired up she was, which was unsettling due to her natural bright personality. It felt strange for Iku as well, but she too had some reasons to feel outbursts of emotions like that.

Lunch time. Iku lined up with the queue of students and eventually had her meal, sitting by a table at the center of the cafeteria. Deku and Uraraka also sat at her table, curious about something. "Iku!" Uraraka tried to catch her attention. She looked at her, setting her book aside, "yeah? What is it?" Deku and Uraraka glanced at each other before asking her something, "can we know why you joined UA High?" It was a question given to her out of the blue, but it wasn't something so bizarre to ask to a student. She swayed her wrist a bit as she held a bottle of grape juice, taking a sip out of it. "I want to finish here to be able to accomplish something very few people can do- taking the Hero Course and actually becoming a Pro." Deku tried to analyze what the deeper goal was behind what Iku said. "And no... this doesn't sound heroic at all, I'm aware of that," Iku added, "I simply want to reach this dream and achieve it." The two stayed silent for a bit, unsure of how to respond to this.

The bell rang, calling for them all to return to their classrooms. The afternoon passed by swiftly, and before anyone knew, there was an influx of students hanging outside Class 1-A. This was likely caused by them being the only class that was affected by actual villains the other day. "Move aside, extras. I'm going to be the Number One for the Sports Festival, and none of you can make me think otherwise." Katsuki voiced out, barging his way past all the pupils who wished to see who they were up against for the event. It was no wonder that he, of all students, would be the one to make a scene as brash and blunt like that. Iku looked at the other students before passing through them as well, mumbling, "honestly, he's not wrong about these people..." Someone overheard it before speaking up, "what a nuisance of you to even think that." She turned to face that voice, and it seemed to be someone not from any of the Hero Courses. Iku simply sighed as she put on an indifferent expression, exiting the situation. The other students also left overtime.

She went home and looked around. Neither of her parents were there. "I'm guessing they're late today. Oh well, I can make my own meal." She got herself changed and went back downstairs, rummaging through the leftovers in their fridge. There was still some Wagyu from the other day, along with a few portions of Otoro and Unagi left in the fridge. She scanned some more in the chiller before deciding to take out a bento and heat it up. As she waited for it to heat up, she received a text message from someone. She glanced around the place before opening her phone and checking to see who texted her. It was the same person who gifted her the temporary hero outfit, S. Iku sighed as she read through their chats.

A few minutes dropped by, and Iku was already eating her bento as she continued to converse with them.

"So, at least top 3?"
"Precisely. Don't go all out, but make sure you get enough attention from the top 3 heroes."
"Which agency do I accept if all three end up wanting me?"
"Whichever gets you closer to the end goal."
"You won't tell me?"
"Figure it out yourself, child."

Iku sighed in subtle frustration before finishing up her meal and disposing it as normal. She rolled her eyes before texting them a goodbye and heading back to her room, skimming through some of her other belongings. She was starting to feel tired while organizing her possessions, yawning in the process. She checked outside her window again when something flashed through her mind. It was a boy, a young child, who was holding onto something he considered as dear to him. He was sad, and he felt quite abandoned. By who? By what? Why was he there? She could only see it happening in her mind, but it was truly as if he were down by the tree that had been upright for the past few years. Her thoughts began to squabble with one another, something that had been ongoing for some time now. She simply chose to ignore all this and focus on the present and the future. She took a deep breath in...

Her chest felt like it was aching. Had she not recovered just yet from the fight at USJ? No... it felt more serious than that. The experiences she gained in such a short amount of time with strangers who she never considered as anything more than classmates, the reflections that she had undergone due to certain people's dutifully good nature, the selflessness others presented to her... It felt overwhelming. She couldn't remember the last time she had moments like these with her fellow peers, and it was utterly profound. The longing she had when she was younger... the attention she wanted from various individuals... her thoughts raced through and overstimulated her. 

She grabbed her journal and sat down on her bed. Rather than actually writing her entry for the night, she chose to look back at the very first entry she had inputted.

"October 31 21XX - My First Entry
Today's my birthday, and that means another batch of gifts from my parents. I've decided to make use of this new journal for my own thoughts. Maybe this could help lessen my thought-processing or at least help myself in improving? Anyway, I just turned 16, if that still needs to be mentioned. I don't know what they have in store for me, but they told me next year will get more hectic than how it is right now."

"November 18 21XX - 18.1
What do I do as a present for him? I mean, I know he's already left and all, but I can't help myself... He deserves a gift. Maybe some soba? Would he like that? Or a plushie? ...too simple. Maybe some haikus... or maybe all of them? Gosh, I wish I knew about him sooner."

As she scanned through the entries, she shook off some of her thoughts, making her drowsier than how she felt earlier. She decided to put the journal back on her desk, checking on her phone as she noticed a new notification. It was a friend request from Deku. Her eyes stared in surprise as she didn't tell anyone about her number nor her social accounts. She accepted the request nevertheless before asking him why he was still awake.

"It's just 8:30pm... I wouldn't sleep at a time like this yet, Iku" Deku replied to her text message. Iku simply sighed before texting back, "well, I sleep at early times like these so you should, too"

"Really? It isn't just Kacchan who sleeps early?"
"He's probably so strong because of how much energy gets stored back to him. Maybe copy that bit about him :)"
"But I'd still have to work on some other stuff... oh also! Do you want to join our group chat?"
"Who's gonna be in it?"
"Everyone we've added so far in Class 1-A. Kacchan still hasn't accepted, nor has Todoroki, but we're trying to convince them both! Maybe if you joined, one of them might join too?"
"ehh... can I not talk as much?"
"As long as you're in it, I wouldn't mind!"
"Well then, invite me."
"Yay! I'll add you right now!"
"Alright.. but I'll get sleeping now, night night."

Iku rolled to her side, closing the lamp, before resting the phone on the desk. She used her quirk to grab the charging port and connect her phone to the charger, along with the outlet. She rolled to her other side and wrapped herself underneath her blanket, finally dozing off.

Chapter Text

The time given for everyone to prepare for the Sports Festival lasted up to two weeks. Iku worked on increasing her range further, ranging up to several kilometers, while getting the gist of her shadow wings better. She headed up to their roof top and leapt down, summoning her wings mid-air as she flew up by 100 meters. Subtly nervous beforehand, Iku felt relief upon activating her quirk. She smiled for a brief moment before attempting to fly through town. She felt a vibration in her ear. It was the voice again.

"Iku, how is your control with your quirk?" they asked her. She flew towards a road and landed atop a building, making the wings retract to the ground once more. "It's doing as expected, S." She walked by the roof top of the building she landed on and saw a familiar face. It was Deku, running through the streets in his cyan jogging outfit. "You must be outside right now. Let me know if you get home. I sent your parents another gift for all of you." She hummed in response as she placed a foot on the edge of the building and replied, "I'm gonna go." She jumped down to an alley and decided to follow Deku around the sidewalk.

A minute passed, and she finally caught up to him, tapping him on the shoulder as he was clearly focused on his run. He felt startled as he saw her, a subtle blush of embarrassment and shyness appearing on his face. She gave him a light wave as they made a turn, both their paces slowing down to catch some breath. "So... what brings you here, Deku?" Iku initiated the conversation. "Ah! I was just exercising my legs to gain some speed and regulate my energy while running. It's a kind of technique I decided to practice alongside using these things on my hands just to be able to..." Deku was rambling on as they gradually stopped in front of a convenience store. Iku pointed at the store with a smile on her face as she asked, "Wanna grab a snack or a drink? You seem pretty tired now." He shook his head. "That would be bad for me since I still have to do a few more laps around here..." She pulled out her wallet, a soft smile appearing on her face. "My treat." Deku raised and shook both his hands, surprised over her generosity. "Oh, no! It's okay! You don't need to exactly buy anything for me, you know?" Iku rolled her eyes before grabbing his wrist as she opened the door. "At least join me in here, Deku."

The two chattered a bit while Iku grabbed some healthy snacks around the isles along with two bottled waters, giving them to the cashier afterwards. "Do you live nearby here, Iku?" She shook her head. "I live a few..." she estimated where she could have been, "maybe, 50 kilometers away?" Deku's eyes widened. "50?! So why are you here then? Something important here?" She shook her head again, quietly chuckling at the thought, "I was testing out a new factor for my quirk, that's all. Wanna see it?" Deku smiled and nodded enthusiastically, "yeah! You haven't really used your quirk much in class besides for those shadow tentacles, which from what I can recall is your most frequent and possibly versatile quirk since you can use it for offense, partial defense, restraint, transportation, and a few more that I listed in my notebook!" Iku felt speechless, blinking profusely, "you have a list of my quirks? So you have everyone else's quirks down there too?" "Yup!" He pulled his phone out and showed a few snaps of the pages, particularly the notes about her quirk. "Kacchan may have gotten my first notebook worn out before, so I decided to start capturing each page once I have them finished up."

She skimmed through each line, realizing how detail-oriented Deku was. "I see... Well, wanna see the top of the buildings for a few minutes?" she asked, opening the door of the store. Deku nodded once more, and they stepped out of the place. "Hold on."

"Hold on how?"

"Ehh.. just... uh..." Iku hasn't really used her quirk with another person mounted, at least consciously. She then thought of something to also enhance her upper body strength. "Just.. grab on to me." She extended her arms, gesturing Deku to go on her arms bridal style, which flustered Deku. "A-are you sure? Wouldn't you get tired? Or um..." He was making excuses and caused Iku to laugh. "Come on. You're gonna be a hero; don't feel so shy over this." He hesitated a bit more but eventually rested his back and legs on her arms as she activated her quirk. Deku was astonished to see it pop out from the shadows of their legs and crawl nearly instantaneously to her back, flapping like authentic wings. "That's really impressive... and I'm guessing you flew all the way here with those?" he asked, beginning to take mental notes of Iku's quirk activation. She hummed as she flapped them, her feet getting off the ground. "You're not too heavy from how I expected you to be, which is good, I guess. A light body can help in keeping yourself agile and flexible in a battle." 

They spent a few minutes up in the sky before Iku dropped them both down nearby at UA High. "Alright, here's our stop." She put Deku down before deactivating her quirk. "Hey, do... do you feel okay? Your right eye's twitching..." Alongside that, Deku had noticed that Iku was starting to look a bit paler. Iku simply raised her hand, a light smile on her face, and said, "Yeah, don't worry. I'm good. You keep training for the festival. It's only a few days left, after all." She then left without any additional things to say. "...See you there, Iku." Although she couldn't hear it anymore, Deku still tried to say his goodbyes before looking at the time and heading off.

Iku stopped by another alleyway, her breathing wavering subtly. Her vision seemed blurry as she looked to her left and right, and her right hand faintly twitched as well, which has not happened in quite a while. "Shit... no. Not yet. That wasn't even much. Or maybe I've been using my quirk past its limits too often recently?" She recalled what she's done so far, and it was unfortunately true that her excessive use of her power for training was overkill for the past few weeks. She could have noticed the warning signs when she began hearing her voices again. "I wonder if you'll just annoy me to a brim on the day itself, Sōko." She heard faint yet audible laughter after speaking. She sighed deeply before looking behind her, wondering if she should use her quirk to fly back home. "Go on... use it." The voice spoke. Iku hissed and defied the order, brisk walking to her house's direction instead. "I don't need to spend so much of my energy on this. Our house is near here anyway. So shut up..."

...

"Who are you? Why can I hear you?"
"You don't have any friends at school, do you? That's why I'll be your friend from now on!"
"But... I don't want to be your friend."
"That's too bad. I'm never leaving you from here!"
"No-"

...

Right. That was exactly how it started. And ever since, she never left my side. But she's been less intrusive. I wish she would shut up more, though.

A few days passed, and it was finally the day of the Sports Festival. Everyone seemed so hyped up for this moment, and Iku understood why. The event would be broadcast for the entire world to see, after all. And from then on, they would see each and every student at UA High either excel in the activities or fail miserably. Iku brushed off that latter thought and considered what the voice told her before—to reach the Top 3 without having to needlessly use her quirk past her limits. She and the rest of Class 1-A waited in a lobby by the stadium, while the rest of the audience were all cheering and waiting for the students to come out.

"Deku." That voice was Shoto's. He looked straight at the green-haired lad and walked towards him. The rest of Class 1-A went silent. "I'll make sure I beat you here." Deku simply hummed quietly in response, subtly uneasy by the tension Shoto placed in the atmosphere. "After all, I'm not here to make friends anyway. I'll win this and you won't get in the top 3." Iku then stood up and tapped Shoto on the shoulder, "Oi, Shoto." He glanced at her and glared, "You too, Asawe. I won't lose to your shadows." Iku stayed silent before lightly chuckling, "I doubt you'd win in a fight against me, Shoto." The tension only rose after that, and the two of them stared at one another for a while, both eager to demolish the other in the games. "Everyone, it's time to head out!" Tenya opened the door, moving his arm as he gestured back and forth from the lobby and the entrance towards the center of the stadium. They all got up and fell in line, making their way out.

So many faces here and there. Yelling all around the stadium. There was even a large flat-screened TV that occasionally flashed faces of the students or particular audiences. She took note of where some Pro Heroes were waiting and eventually noticed them lined up together. A man of muscular tone with eyes matching the sky blue of Shoto's left eye, fuming with an intimidating aura caused by both his quirk and his glare. It was Shoto's father, Endeavor, in the flash. Iku quickly understood why he was so eager earlier to beat the ones he considered a threat to his chances of winning. He didn't want to be a disappointment to someone else too. Despite all this, emotions slowly unlocked within her heart as she began to feel subtly annoyed over the sheer volume of the audience's jeers and yells. She took a deep breath... and...

Present Mic and R-Rated Hero Midnight commenced the opening ceremony, explaining what would happen throughout the festival and additional mechanics. They then eventually handed the stage to one representative from each class. Bakugo, considering he was first in the entrance test, was Class 1-A's representative. "Oh no..." "Don't say anything too arrogant, Bakugo!" His classmates tried to remind him, but he didn't pay attention to them. He looked at everyone in the stadium with that glare of his, though more timid than usual, and spoke through the microphone, "I'll be the number one in this, just watch." Everyone couldn't believe his ego! Iku simply sighed in disappointment as she glanced at everyone's reaction to his statement. Class 1-B seemed frustrated over what he said, and so did their classmates in 1-A. Nevertheless, it was time to start the first match.

The TV's contents began rolling the first minigame, only to show that... Was this a race? All participants were then asked to wait by a door that would open in a few moments. Truly, this was a race now, wasn't it? First to clear? Most attacks while passing through the course? What mattered was... "As long as none of you leave the course, anything is allowed!" As stated by Midnight. That meant...

The door opened, and Present Mic finally gave the go signal. No more time to hesitate. Everyone rushed through, attempting to get past one another. Iku fell back and remembered the incident during lunch the other day. She used her quirk and formed wings behind her back, flying upward then past every participant in record time. "Woow! A daring and quite smart usage of Asawe Iku's shadow quirk! She's already up ahead from everyone in 20, 50, 100, 200!? Her speed is accelerating! What a splendid quirk and an even more splendid quirk user from Class 1-A!" Present Mic exclaimed with his volatile tone and voice.

Shoto, Bakugo, and a few others didn't let this slide and also began to use their quirk, but not before Shoto stomped his foot against the floor, causing it to freeze and immobilize the legs of every other student who hadn't jumped in time! He then dashed past everyone and attempted to catch up with Iku. This further frustrated Bakugo, to which he blasted the ground and got himself flying midair with his explosive quirk. Momo, Tenya, and Tsuyu also managed to go through the icy obstacle set by Shoto as the five of them began chasing after the first placer.

"Huh, I should've expected the others to try hard too, I guess." Shoto said as he sprinted faster, his head gazing for a moment behind to see who was on his and Iku's tail. He glanced back at Iku, who was already past the next stage—a stage none of the students knew yet, called the Robo-Inferno stage—before using his quirk to slide through the ground and reach the second stage. There were numerous robots that appeared just after Iku passed by them. They were the same bots that were supposed to be ignored during the entrance test. Large, dangerous, but it was best to avoid it at the time. Much to Iku's surprise, she glanced back and noticed them. Shoto simply froze one of the robots, causing it to go off balance and trip over, as he dashed past the rest and was nearly catching up to Iku. Realizing this, Iku used her quirk once more and began to fly through the next stage, the Fall.

Back with Deku and the others, they also managed to make their way to the Robo-Inferno stage. They began using their quirk to fight against them, some of which bypassed the bots, and eventually made it to the next stage with Shoto and Iku. The third stage was another breezy one for Iku, as she didn't have to worry about falling. She wondered though on why no one has managed to consider sabotaging her flight, but didn't think too hard over it as she overcame all the pillars and made her way to the final stage, the Minefield.

Iku's energy still had barely depleted, especially since the entire track was barely anything compared to her flight sessions the past few weeks. Shoto wanted to make use of his quirk to hopefully pass by but couldn't, as any instance of him making contact with any of the mines would disrupt the entire play. This truly was an advantageous minigame for Iku, as she managed to fly past the finish line first thanks to her shadow wings. She looked back and saw Deku, Shoto, and Bakugo eventually catch up a minute or so after her.

"This game was built for Iku's quirk! Wowza!! Have you ever seen anyone pass through this obstacle race so fast, Eraserhead?!"
"No comment."

The rest of the participants eventually got through the entire course, and Present Mic revealed that only the first 42 students that passed through will make it to the next stage. Iku then took note of what had happened at the festival so far. She, quite frankly, asserted herself too much. She sighed before looking at some of her classmates' faces, some bummed out, some marveled at her ability, and some were envious. "Hey, I guess you really worked hard to not run out of stamina with your quirk, right?" Iku looked to her left and saw that it was Deku. She nodded her head and smiled at him. "Thanks for pushing me extra the other day. I got to control my quirk way better after that." He simply smiled back and nodded.

"Show off... I'll beat you in the next, Iku," Shoto remarked, glaring at him and then at Deku, who managed to pass 2nd, leaving him at 3rd and Bakugo at 4th. Iku looked at Shoto before overhearing that there would be a quick break.

Was it time to say something nice, at least?

Chapter Text

"A 5-minute intermission for everyone!" Present Mic announced as a portion of the audience got up, presumably towards the restroom or to grab some things from the stalls outside the stadium. The 42 students were requested to stay within the ring, however. "It's a fairly short intermission, so you students should stick to staying in here." Midnight explained, and the students nodded their heads. Iku looked at Shoto again, deep in thought on what she should do. Tokoyami noticed this and cleared his throat, "Iku? You seem to be pondering about something. Anything up?" Iku noted his concern for her before smiling at him, "I'm fine. I was just wondering if I should work on any special move again in the next mini-game, that's all." She was quite deceptive with the information she would spout to people, and she was skilled at it too.

The 5 minutes passed by, and it was finally time for the next game. Everyone looked at the TV and anticipated... Then, it finally revealed the second game for the festival—a Cavalry Battle. The mechanics were as such- A team up to 4 members was to hold one person up as the rider while the others were to carry them around. Everyone had a headband with points accumulated based on their placement in the first game. Starting at 5 points, increasing by 5 for every rank higher than the last. The twist was that the first placer possessed... 1,000,000 points. When this was mentioned, the other 41 players stared at Iku, some of them straying back from her. She felt surprised over everyone's reactions but kept it subtle, crossing her arms and looking nonchalantly to her side. Her peripheral view noticed Deku, who was hesitant about who to ask to pair up. "You all have 15 minutes to decide who to pair up with! And don't worry if you fall off to the ground, you won't get eliminated over it." There were other rules given, such as not having the band below the neck and using your quirk being allowed so long as no other person were to get harmed via its usage. Iku simply sighed as she wondered who would want to team up with her, given how she held the highest points.

She glanced at Shoto. He looked away. Iku understood that no one would necessarily wish to team up with the highest-ranking player for the entirety of a match, so she decided to continue skimming through the other participants. A few minutes passed by before someone finally spoke to her first. "Iku." That voice was familiar. It was Tokoyami asking, "Would you like to team up for this match?" He seemed to have not minded the fact that she possessed the one million band. She lightly smiled at him before nodding her head and answering, "Sure. Let's look for one or two more people to tag along to this." Tokoyami nodded his head back in response, and they both skimmed together. They looked at their other classmates, who all seemed to have found their own teams, before focusing on the other classes. One of them spoke up to them, seemingly with a desire to mock them both: "Looks like no one's foolish enough to tag along with you, shadow girl." Iku glanced at who was talking, and it was someone from Class 1-B, Neito Monoma. He was cackling while atop his three other classmates, all of whom were subtly glaring at him for his cocky behavior. "Well, either way, good luck keeping that band of yours!" The way he said it sounded more demeaning than sincere.

There was one minute left on the timer, and it was still only Tokoyami and Iku together. She was starting to feel uneasy over this before someone tapped on Iku's shoulder. "I shouldn't bother myself here, but maybe I can help?" Iku glanced at the student before nodding her head once, a firm smile on her face. And so, the battle commenced. Everyone's initial goal was simply to chase after the number one participant, Iku. Deku's team, composed of Uraraka and Hatsume of the Hero Support Class, dashed their way towards Iku and Tokoyami. Katsuki's team, which had Kirishima, Mina, and Sero, also tried to make it to the two as Deku and Katsuki himself attempted to grab the band by Iku's neck. She cast a shadow on her back and flew her and Tokoyami past the two teams, attempting to make their way towards the other end of the stadium. However, Sero used his tape quirk and wrapped it around the wings, forcibly causing them to stumble down to the ground. Tokoyami immediately used Dark Shadow to slash off the tape and get back the mobility that was temporarily lost due to the tape being around Iku's shadow wings.

"I think we should just hold them off with our quirks rather than flying away..." Iku said as she cast a large sum of shadows below everyone's feet within a 50 meter radius. "No harm done in doing this, right?" She held a chuckle before making the shadows crawl up to everyone's feet and legs, forcing them to grow immobile. Shoto's team was also caught in the crossfire. Katsuki yelled, "You pathetic, cowardly, lurking scum! Fuckin' extra-" Kirishima coughed, wishing he didn't even say that aloud. "Knock the trash talk off, Bakugo!" He said, before using his hardening quirk to try and get the shadows off of their legs. "Oi! Guys, use your quirks!" Mina used her acid quirk on the surface of the shadows to see if it would retract, and yet they didn't. Kaminari, who was on Shoto's team and was about to use his quirk, was held off by Tenya and Momo. "Wait!" they said, "we'll also get electrocuted if you try to go on the offense!" Tenya considered using his motor quirk to potentially beat the force holding them in place, but Shoto had another idea. "Just stay still." he told them before swaying his right hand towards the shadows and aiming, making ice spread against the surface of the shadow freeze up and cause an impact on Iku. Iku's body temperature indirectly lowered, but that didn't stop her from holding them back. Tokoyami used his quirk and began to strike the incoming ice off of Iku's quirk, but Sero attempted to use tape once more to hold Dark Shadow back from even fighting against the attacks done by Shoto's team.

The other teams, unaffected by the quirk, tried to make their way to Iku, Deku, Shoto, and Katsuki's team in hopes of getting their bands as they were all preoccupied with one another. Tsuyu, who was teamed with Shoji and Monoma, tried to use her quirk and snatch one of the bands around either of the four via means of her tongue. Uraraka noticed this and was ready to use her gravity quirk against Tsuyu. Tsuyu, however, was aiming for Iku's band. Iku sensed someone from behind before extending her quirk's range below up to Shoji's team, making its way to stop Tsuyu from grabbing her band by wrapping a mildly unstable shadow hand around Tsuyu's tongue. Tsuyu tried to pull her tongue back abrasively, but the grip was strong enough to keep her from doing so. "Oi! Is this even allowed?!" Mineta questioned while hiding with Tsuyu inside Shoji's dupli-quirk. "Ha, I should be asking that to Shoto..." Iku looked at Shoto's team, still attempting to use their quirks against the shadows. Kirishima was still going non-stop at hitting the quirk, but it seemed as if Iku's resistance and capability of withholding her ground exponentially got better over time. She looked at Tokoyami before looking at the other teams who were also on their way here, asking, "Okay, wanna fly up once the rest make their way here?" Tokoyami paused for a moment as he looked back and forth at the teams before nodding his head.

The rest didn't want to get any closer to the pool of shadows, forcing everyone to move away. A student yelled to Present Mic and the other teachers, "Hey, is this really not seen as harming other participants!? Look at some of them!" However, it was clear to the teachers that Iku was just in a similar state as the ones stuck within the range. "No one's really hurt right now, but we'll intervene once that actually happens," Midnight said in response, a serious expression on her face. The student raged before going feral against the quirk, attempting to get through it and aim for Iku's band once more. When he and his pair made it near the center, Iku flapped out her wings once more and cast a long barrier upward to keep Sero from stopping her again. Shoto glared at her before increasing the amount of ice spreading through the shadows, which was much larger in scale compared to what Dark Shadow could actually fend off. Iku felt shivers as he did all that but still resisted and flew up, away from the other 5 or so teams within the area. Tokoyami tightly grasped onto Iku as they got to bypass them, leaving most still within the shadow pool.

All of this was starting to get Iku quite exhausted, but she still carried on with keeping them back until she finally landed her and Tokoyami down safely. The moment they got far enough was also the moment that she deactivated the shadow pool, allowing everyone to move freely again. There were, unfortunately, only a few minutes left for the rest of the teams to make it to the top of the rankings. Some of the lesser valued teams decided to aim for the 2nd and 3rd rankings instead, which were teams Shoto and Deku. Bakugo's team still attempted to get their hands on Iku's band, so they made their way towards the two of them. Iku was about to hold them off again, but she ended up feeling subtly lightheaded, a chill running down her spine as she breathed out with some fog emitting out of her mouth. "Shit. Tokoyami, run." He did as she asked and made their way running around the stadium, Dark Shadow still in the back to fend off any incoming attacks from Bakugo and the others.

...

Iku... let me help you.
"No... I don't need your help."
You're exhausted, aren't you? Let. Me. Help.

...

Iku was nearly caught off-guard while in her thoughts when a different team nearly dashed towards her and Tokoyami, hopeful in grabbing the one million, only for Iku to snap back and cast a shadow tentacle around the team. She recognized the three of them—Ojiro and that person who wasn't taking a Hero Course. There was another subtly familiar face, one with white hair and a quirk that was similar to Kirishima's. She didn't hesitate and proceeded to hold the team in place as she glanced back towards the other teams. "Iku, I think we'll make it," Tokoyami said as he pointed towards the big screen showing the remaining time. "00:20", only twenty seconds left. Deku and Shoto's teams were doing their best to fight the other teams aiming at their bands, while Bakugo's team was hell-bent on chasing after Iku's band. Sero used his quirk one last time to try and wrap around Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, succeeding after and allowing his team to slide through the ground, passing by Ojiro's team and almost grabbing hold of their rider's band. Iku's quirk was in the way, which kept them from actually stealing their points. Iku stopped glancing at everyone and focused on the screen.

"00:03"...2...1—It was over. "Time's up! Let's see the top four teams now!" Present Mic announced, enthusiastic over the results. Everyone stopped using their quirks, stood tall, and waited for him to announce the top four. "First place, Iku's team!" Iku sighed quietly, relieved over the fact that no one managed to get ahold of their bands. Katsuki growled nearby, pissed off over how close he was to reaching Iku's band. "Oi, calm down, Bakugo." Kirishima gave him a firm slap on the back to get him back to his senses. "In second place, Team Midoriya!" Uraraka and Hatsume cheered audibly, with Deku nearly tearing up as he was happy yet shocked that they retained their place on the rankings. "We almost got first! That would have stirred up more potential fame for me if you thought hard about it," Hatsume commented while striking a thinking pose as she looked around at the audience. "Hey, everyone! Check out my precious baby that our team leader used! I made it myself, so if you're all interested—" Her momentary advertisement got cut off by Present Mic announcing the third and fourth placers.

"Third place, Team Shoto!" Shoto seemed unamused over only reaching third, but it was no different from Momo and Tenya, who seemed pensive and somewhat pressed over where they ended up. "Well, it was quite difficult bypassing that sudden shadow pool of Iku's. If we had known sooner about that nifty trick of hers, I could have probably thought of something to aid us better earlier." Momo crossed her arms, sighing as all that was said were simply notes for the future. "I'm sorry I couldn't do better, everyone." Tenya apologized to his team. "It's fine. Neither of us expected it, anyway," Shoto nonchalantly reassured him. "Exactly. You did great helping our team, Iida," Momo added, a soft expression imminent on her face. "In fourth place, Team Bakugo!" Katsuki set a minor distance from his team and sat on the ground before screaming in frustration, his quirk subtly setting off. "Oops, guess he really wanted to get first, huh?" Mina asked Sero and Kirishima. "Clearly. I mean, I was set on getting a higher rank too, but Bakugo's dead set on first place," Sero replied.

That was a total of 13, but it wouldn't have been enough for the final match, so Aizawa then spoke. "Since there's only 13 people on the 4 teams, the team placed in 5th also moves up to the 3rd mini-game." He glanced at Ojiro's team. "Fifth place, Team Shinso." Ojiro was surprised to hear that they even made it in despite numerous setbacks near the end of the match. "We got in...?" Ojiro looked at Tetsutetsu, who was also confused before shrugging it off and smiling instead, speaking, "I guess we did! Ha, who woulda thought?" Shinso, the student from the General Course, simply had a smug look on his face as he glanced at the screen and back to the top four teams. Everyone had mixed reactions. Some were happy, others just felt the heat rising up further as this was most likely the final game. Present Mic announced once more. "These five teams will advance to the final round! But for now, we'll have an hour's break before proceeding to the afternoon festivities!"

"An hour long this time..." And that thought came back to Iku's mind as she glanced at Shoto once more. She glanced away before sighing and pacing a bit, following the rest of the group as they exited the stadium.

Chapter Text

The place was silent and serene. Everyone was elsewhere, having their meals and their needed rest. Nevertheless, Shoto was on his way to talk to Deku at a corridor leading outside and another towards the stadium. Iku wanted to speak with Shoto but noticed how he was behaving and decided not to intervene for a bit before Katsuki arrived. "Oi," he asked, "what are you doing here?" She shushed him before pointing to her side, gesturing that Shoto and Deku were about to talk to each other about something. It was wrong to eavesdrop, sure, but Iku did come there to speak with one of the two. She and Katsuki simply stayed silent to hear their conversation.

As they listened in, they realized how Shoto was wanting to try harder in this particular event due to Endeavor. Iku took a deep breath in as she wanted to say something about that, but Katsuki saw how she behaved over the situation and firmly grabbed her wrist, distracting her from what she was potentially going to do. Her eyes widened as she looked at him. His brows furrowed as he shook his head. Iku gave a subtle nod in response. They continued to tune in and heard Shoto mention quirk marriages before talking about his mother.

"Your left side is unsightly. My mother said that to me before she poured boiling water on my face." Iku clenched her fists, a surge of emotions flowing through her as she kept listening to his story. "...I'll reject him completely by winning first place without using it." At that point, Iku's self-control was beginning to falter, and she wanted to say something. Anything. Katsuki stopped her from moving, shaking his head again. "...Deku's got his words. He'll definitely have something stupid to say to Todoroki." Iku was speechless, but she sighed quietly before replying, "Fine, I'll wait for later then." Katsuki wasn't wrong. Deku managed to handle the tense atmosphere between him and Shoto quite well, even giving him a boost to do better in the fight. The two then stopped conversing. Then came footsteps. "Good luck on whatever you wanted to say to him," Katsuki said as he walked further away from them. Iku took another deep breath, leaning against the wall as she swiftly put her earphones on, acting as if she hadn't heard anything nearby. When she saw a silhouette to her side, it was... Deku.

"Oh! Iku, I didn't realize you were here." Iku took an earpiece off and looked up at Deku. "Oh, hi Deku." She gave a subtle smile at him. Deku felt subtly convinced that she didn't hear anything but wanted to be cautious, asking, "How long have you been here standing?" Iku looked at the time on her phone before replying, "Just around 3 minutes. What's up?" Deku hummed for a bit before shaking his head and hands. "Ah, it's fine. I was just wondering if you've managed to eat already or if you were just waiting for the next events to start." Iku got in an upright pose, tapping her phone and putting her earphones back in her pockets. "The next games might just be recreational, considering how Present Mic said 'afternoon festivities' and not directly the final match. I'll just go rest up during that time," Iku explained before putting her phone aside. "So... how about you? Eaten already?" Deku nodded his head, a bright smile on his face as he responded, "Yup! Already got to eat earlier. Well, I'll go wait up at the stadium too."

...

"So you know him? Or at least his father?"
"I always heard about his father, but never saw them both in person."
"Well, do you want me to talk a bit about how he's like?"
"You know??"
"Why would I not?"
"Tell me, then."
"No manners?"
"...I don't care, tell me."
...

Iku finally tagged along with the remaining participants by the stadium, with Midnight on a stage as she held a box with the label 'Lots'. Iku pondered over how Aizawa mentioned including the 5th placers' team to keep things even and glanced at the screen, which had brackets. She quickly realized that it was going to be a one-on-one match between the final participants. After a minute of drawing lots... "Kaminari?" Iku was off to fight against Kaminari for the first round. She glanced at him, who seemed faintly frustrated yet challenged, in a good way. He turned to face her and raised his hand, a smile appearing on his face, before saying, "Well! I didn't think we'd be having a more proper rematch this time." Iku crossed her arms, subtly smiling back. "Yeah, now it's a 1-on-1 fight. Good luck." He chuckled before doing a finger gun pose at her, responding, "May the person with the best resistance win!"

Iku took note of the other pairings after and saw the following: the first four pairings were Deku and Shinso, Shoto and Sero, Kaminari and her, Tenya and Hatsume, while the second half were Tokoyami and Momo, Jiro and Mina, Katsuki and Uraraka, Kirishima and Tetsutetsu. "Jiro..? Not.. Ojiro?" She then decided to listen in to some people nearby. "Ojiro didn't remember what happened in the last fight, so he decided to back out." Another said, "That's a waste, but I get it." She stopped tuning in as everyone was then asked to head up to take a seat as they watched the first two pairings battle it off: Deku versus Shinso.

She was still not quite sure of what the latter's quirk was. All she could speculate, based on how he appeared, was that it wouldn't be something that could visibly affect a person. But that was simply off of the gaze his eyes had. He seemed quite arrogant in his mannerisms, yet he also seemed to have subtle moments where he was at his lows. Could he be playing a trick on anyone? She was about to find out after watching his fight against Deku.

The fight began with a twist; Shinso simply spoke, yet as Deku responded, he went frozen in place. Iku's eyes glued onto them both and pieced it together. "Turn around and leave the circle." Shinso commanded. Manipulation— perhaps that was his quirk. It was deemed useful in Iku's eyes. Nevertheless, it could have been her own misinterpretation, and the quirk was different from just manipulation. She leaned forward from her seat and watched the fight unfold, only to see Deku's finger blast a surge of energy out and snap him away from the brain-washing Shinso put him into. That was his moment to fight back as he dashed towards the opposite end of the circle, pushing Shinso out after struggling for a moment. Deku came out victorious. "Huh. Ended sooner than I expected," Iku murmured to herself.

The next fight was between Sero and Shoto. As anticipated, Shoto won the fight by using an large amount of ice, throwing Sero off the circle. With that match over, it was Iku's turn to fight Kaminari.

They both walked down, all prepped and energized. Iku took a deep breath in... It was time to start the battle. Kaminari charged towards Iku, sprinting as electricity crackled around his arms, aiming to fight her in a short-ranged battle. Iku cast a shadow barrier right below him to bump him off the ground. Kaminari reacted quickly by grabbing onto it with his hands charged with electricity. He exerted a surge of volts ranging around 10 kV through the shadow, attempting to inflict paralyze Iku. But she didn't flinch over the amount and instead summoned blobs of tentacles from the sides of the barrier, swarming around the place and making their way to Kaminari. He did a backflip and grabbed one of them, his hands still exerting electricity. He raised the output to 20 kV and his legs were also charging up to double the damage.

Iku was still unfazed by his efforts, deciding to end this faster by moving the tentacles outside the circle. "Oh no, you don't!" He let go of the tentacles and slid down one, amplifying his electric output exponentially as he pressed the palm of his hands against the surface of the shadow. Iku stayed silent and kept a firm expression, focusing solely on Kaminari who was about to hit the ground. The other figures chased after Kaminari as Iku cast the same shadow pool from earlier in the cavalry battle. Kaminari noticed this and quickly leapt, tugging onto an incoming shadow tentacle and swinging from it to the next, avoiding touching the ground.

"This fight is turning out to be a cat-and-mouse chase, Kaminari!" She yelled before casting a pair of shadow wings by her back. "I may as well finish this faster if you can't do your best right now." Taunted by her words, Kaminari swept down towards her and growled, yelling back, "Why don't you get off that high horse and fight me better, Iku?!" An eerie smile made its way to her face, her eyes lighting up for a moment. She chuckled before making all of the shadow figures drip down to the floor, causing Kaminari to fall down. She cast a new set of figures and wrapped them around his torso. Kaminari blasted an ample amount of electric bolts, but it was no use. Iku was walking towards him, a smile slowly creaking from her lips and eyes. "I wasn't supposed to act like I was showing off, but unfortunately you're making it too hard for me to not do so."

Instantly, the shadows sent Kaminari flying to the other end of the stadium, not letting him retaliate any further. Iku realized the expression she had on her face before clearing her throat and bringing back her composure from moments back. "Aaaaand what a striking finish! It's game over for Kaminari as Iku manages to throw him off the circle! Truly a strong and terrifying quirk!" Present Mic announced. Iku simply sighed as she looked around the place once more, gripping onto her right wrist as she walked outside the fighting zone.

Thus, she was making it to the next stage.

Chapter Text

"Of course, Iku. You need to do your best if you want to make Mama and Papa proud! So come on, that's barely anything. Keep pushing yourself up!" Iku said to herself as she gazed at the mirror on her dressing table, her hands firmly pressed against the surface of the desk. She felt her right hand shake up again as her head ached. "Don't you see what they're trying to do to you? You're getting tired of this. Just stop trying."

"You're just being annoying as hell... Shut up, Sōko. I know what I'm-" Her right hand clenched her throat, the nails on her fingers clawing against her skin as it began to leave a few marks. She retaliated by grasping her wrist with her free hand, drawing both hands down against the desk. "Leave me alone..." Iku said as her breathing became inconsistent in pacing.

"...Iku. Iku!"

She realized she was dozing off all of a sudden. Iku glanced to her side and saw Deku, who seemed to have been trying to shake her back to a conscious state for a few minutes. She tilted her head and asked, "How long was I unresponsive?" Deku let go of her shoulders and fidgeted with his fingers, soon subtly scratching the side of his neck as he looked over at Tenya. He seemed relieved to see her up and running again. "From the moment you sat down again and waited for your turn up to now... I guess almost half an hour?" Deku shrugged.

"Iku! Everyone's been waiting outside for the two of us for 5 minutes! Are you ready now?" Tenya asked her as she stood from her seat. She stretched her arms, legs, and back, before giving a thumbs up and walking towards Tenya. "Good luck, by the way," Iku said, a faint smile on her face as they made their way to the stadium. "May the best quirk user win the round, Iku!"

The crowd roared in anticipation as they noticed the two walk to the center, both of which ready to make it to the next stage. "Let's go, folks! Tenya, with his Engine quirk, pumped to the fullest, versus Iku, with her Shadow Manipulating quirk!" Present Mic's voice echoed all around, everyone jeering further for the round to begin. "Tenyaaaaaa!!!" There was someone screaming at the top of their lungs nearby. They seemed to be quite a fan for him.

The rest of Class 1-A stared at the two, both in their battle stances. Deku pulled out his notes and began jotting down possible outcomes. "By default, I have a huge feeling that Iku may win this. If she wasn't affected by Kaminari's voltages, and even wiped him out by throwing him out of the ring, then surely she could do the same. But what if Tenya out speeds her shadows? He can do the same like what he did to his opponent last round. Iku can manipulate anyone's shadows at a fixed range as of now, however, so she could simpl-"

"Can you shut the hell up, you nerd?" Backlash from none other than Katsuki. Kirishima quietly chuckled. "Isn't this just Midoriya being Midoriya?" Katsuki growled at Kirishima. "The hell do you mean by that?" Kirishima simply shrugged. "Thought you'd be used to his hyper fixations, Bakugo." Deku simply sighed and closed his notebook. "I-I'll just keep it down." He locked his gaze back at Iku and Tenya.

"Are you all ready?!! The round..." Iku took a long, deep breath, her eyes glancing upward. Tenya wondered what she was looking at for a moment before bracing himself, lunging his legs halfway. "Begins now!!" As soon as Present Mic announced it, the two charged towards each other. One was speedy with his legs, while the other was quick in lifting herself up with her shadow wings. Tenya pulled the shadows back and grabbed Iku by the leg, pulling her to the ground. Iku anticipated all forms of jumps so she morphed the wings into a cocoon, rolling herself below and past Tenya.

She instantly leapt and turned the cocoon into a normal shadow again before glancing behind her. Tenya was rapidly making his way towards the opposite side of the ring, his arms right in front as a way to push her out the moment their bodies make contact with one another. "Aiya, I'm not gonna lose to my own trick too," Iku said calmly as she cast a big shadow barrier, circled around Tenya. He looked surprised, but immediately decided to climb over the barrier, lunging his legs on both sides and clawing his way upward. "Unfortunately, Iku, you just chose the wrong form of offense against me!" He yelled as he reached the top and booted his engine to max, rushing down and ensuring to grab Iku by her shoulders.

The moment they made contact, Iku grasped onto his hands and quickly flipped him over. Tenya was aiming to push her off the ring before himself, but Iku took advantage and used brute force to shove him out instead. The crowd went silent. A little smug expression appeared on Iku's face before it turned nonchalant again, turning all of her shadow figures back to normal once more. She looked at Tenya who was also just as surprised as the audience before standing up and dusting himself off. "I didn't think this would end too soon," Tenya paused, slightly upset. "However, good game Iku." He raised his arm as a sign of sportsmanship. She shook hands with him and slightly shrugged. "Good game, Tenya."

...

The next three matches were Shoto versus Deku, Katsuki versus Kirishima, and Tokoyami versus Jiro. Shoto struggled against Deku, but eventually won after having used his fire quirk. Katsuki managed to get Kirishima out of the ring, and Tokoyami won against Jiro. Of the three matches Iku observed, she was very keen on each action Shoto did while fighting Deku. They talked more than necessary, but Deku sparked Shoto's fire side by motivating him enough to use his true potential. Tokoyami winning against Jiro was no surprise thanks to his Dark Shadow. Katsuki was headstrong from the start, which meant Iku also didn't expect him to lose to someone with just a hardening quirk.

It was eventually the semi-finals. For who Iku was facing this time... "I." Shoto glared at Iku, who seemed nervous over how they were up against each other. They made eye contact. "This time. I'll prove to you that I'm better by beating you." There were other people in the room who overheard and simply stayed quiet. "Shoto, I don't-"

"Iku Asawe. If that even is your real name." The atmosphere went from cold to grim. Someone got up from their seat and went outside soon after. "Why are you mentioning it like my surname's not real?" Iku's eyes widened in confusion, her hands forming fists. "If it were real then you wouldn't feel so much over my comment, right?" Deku got up from his seat and went in between them. "H-hey, aren't we all getting a little too serious over a sports festival?" He tried to make the atmosphere more subtle, but Shoto pushed him back. "I looked your name up on the Internet and you weren't even listed on anything. Just who are you?"

"T-Todoroki, I think you're-"
"I think you're being nosy with my life too, Midoriya. Both of you are. Neither of you have a clue on what I need to prove by the end of this." Iku was starting to feel irritated over this and unintentionally wrapped an appendage around Shoto's neck. "Stop talking."

"Did my father send you here so I'd start to really show off? I don't mind having to fight more aggressively against you later." Shoto said as he iced the shadow figure, causing it to retract. Iku's breathing became out of pattern again. The fury in Shoto's eyes, the fact that he targeted her family name, the way that such a flame sparked against them both for no reason...

"You know what? I get it. I also have to uphold my reputation here," Iku stated before clashing with Shoto's shoulders, walking towards the door, before adding, "May the best perfect child win, Todoroki's fourth-born." Shoto and Iku had more to say with each other, but the tension in the room was too much that even the most dense student inside could feel it. Tokoyami tapped on Deku's shoulder and nudged his head out. Deku followed him, leaving Shoto and a few others still inside the room.

"Midoriya, ignoring the argument back there..." Tokoyami placed his hands in his pockets, "Do you know any tips on beating Bakugo?" He was up against the explosive kid after all, and a perfectionist at that too. "Oh, right—you're up against Kacchan. I can give you a few tips..."

Minutes passed by. The last 4 were getting ready at the entrance of the stadium. Shoto and Iku didn't bother to make eye contact with one another. Likewise with Tokoyami and Katsuki, with both of them having her hands in their pockets. "I'm going to crush you like an insect," Katsuki blabbered as he made a quick yet sharp glance at Tokoyami. "...I'll just make sure not to embarrass either of us," he commented back. Iku sighed deeply. "As long as I keep myself from letting her loose, everything should go out fine," she mumbled to herself before walking out with Shoto. The other two simply watched them make their way to the center.

The air felt suffocating for every step they both took. Iku looked up and quickly eyed on the heroes that were watching. That's right, everyone was watching. Not just people outside of UA high, not just the teachers, the entirety of Japan was watching. All eyes were on them both. She was reluctant not to mess it up. She took a deep sigh, her vision blurring subtly just by looking at Shoto. "I'm not here to make friends. I was never here for that. I was always here to talk to you and change your mind." Thoughts crossed in her head as she took a step back, the edge of her shoe almost touching the thick white line on the ground. "Are you scared to lose to me?" Shoto's cold tone grazed past her eardrums, signaling her senses back before taking a firm pose back on the circle. "No. Absolutely not. Because I won't be losing to you, Sho- Todoroki." They both stared immensely at one another, before the match finally began.

The two used strong moves as their openings, with Shoto swinging his right arm and causing a massive spike of ice on the ground, becoming extensively bigger the farther they are from him. Iku cast a pit of shadows to swallow up half of the ice, using its own refractions to break them into miniscule pieces. Shoto moved his arm again and maneuvered incoming fragments behind Iku, shoving her towards his side of the ring. Iku pressed both her hands against the glaciers, trying to contain it with a large container of shadows. She looked back and noticed how near Shoto was from her, so she chose to take on the offense.

Using Shoto's own shadows, she cast a medium-sized shadow tentacle from behind. Shoto was heavily focused, so he looked back and used his left arm, burning bright enough to lessen the impact of the appendage. Iku's skin felt warmer over that. "This isn't enough to beat me, Todoroki!" She exerted more energy and forcibly wrapped the figures around the masses of ice, shattering them and keeping her from getting out of the circle's bounds. Shoto grabbed Iku and pushed her off, but managed to cast her wings and fly them both upward. He activated both of his quirks onto her torso, both causing a mixture of fire and ice to attack her skin and temperature. "You piece of-" Iku glared at Shoto before casting small viny shadows from the shards of ice on the floor to grab his limbs and tug him off of her.

Shoto iced all the incoming tendrils, thick enough for him to slide down, before extending the iced-figures to slash Iku's wings. She retracted her wings and scooped some of the ice, following Shoto to ground level. "You're not gonna win against me, Asawe. I won't allow it," Shoto growled as he placed his right hand on the ground and created a massive ice tower, imbuing fire on his left hand and aiming towards Iku's torso. Using the shadows from the enormous ice figure, Iku cast a shadow barrier and fended of the flames from directly attacking her. She clawed onto the dark wall and slid down once more.

Iku was getting impatient. Her breathing quickened as she attempted to find up a way to bring the match to an end, before...

"You're right, Todoroki. I won't be able to defeat you..." Iku took a few steps back from the chaos the two have released. "...but she can," Iku cackled before her eyes glowed, emphasizing her ruby pupils. "What do you mean by 'she'?" Shoto was puzzled before realizing something odd with her right arm. Her shadows covered her entire right side as she charged back to him, clawing the ice with her fingers like a lion on its way to hunt down its prey. Her demeanor became far from timid. Her expression showed aggression as she leapt high up, a menacing grin on her lips.

"GO ON, FIGHT ME WITH YOUR TRUE POTENTIAL!" Iku(?) yelled, an indigo aura surrounding her. Shoto did not hesitate to use both hands and imbue a strong mix of flames and chills to block her off, his feet distancing from one another as he braced for impact. Iku(?)'s slash was strong enough to break through the layers Shoto had quickly prepared, tearing up his sleeves. Blood pursed out from him as she roughly grabbed his shoulders and lunged towards the edge of the circle.

Shoto winced over the pain but did the same with her, piercing her skin with his nails as he activated his quirks another time. They both tried pushing each other off the icy platform, their steps landing on slippier areas than the last. Soon, Shoto tripped and they both were falling. 50 meters off the ground. "IKU!" He growled before snatching her wrists and holding them in place with his right, icing them together and forming a slide midair, making him swoop down the ground and make a concussion against the ice tower. Iku's eyes dimmed back to black as she shook her head and broke the ice that chained her up on the slide. She stood tall and saw Shoto, who slowly got up, breathing heavily from the fall.

"I." Iku stayed silent as she looked at him, running out of breath because of the fight. She wanted to go down, but what if it was all a trick? Surely he couldn't have gotten all worked up over that, could he? "Get.. down here," Shoto's voice cracked, "we're not yet done with this." Iku took a deep breath and went down the ice slide, keeping distance from Shoto. She looked at the tower before back at him. "Planning on breaking it down? Go ahead. Do it." They both circled around eachother, avoiding all the rocks on the floor...

They charged towards the tower and used their quirks to break it down, causing ashes and dust to emit in the air. The audience couldn't tell what was going on within that moment. "Shoto," Iku's voice was firm. "How badly do you want to prove yourself to Enj- Endeavor?" Shoto stopped moving after she asked the question. "What?"

"I can step out right now. None of them will realize. So go on, answer me now. I'll let you win." This puzzled Shoto even further. "I thought-" A shadow figure managed to sneak its way towards his legs and tugged him away rapidly. Shoto felt furious to fall for her trick and yelled, "You tricked me!" He turned and tried to freeze the figures on his legs, but an extra pair of shadow tentacles held his arms up as he was dragged closer towards the circle. Iku held her smile and chuckle, remaining nonchalant as she watched him forcibly be pulled past the boundaries.

The dust finally cleared, and Shoto was wrapped around appendages, infuriated. He could easily get out at that point, but what purpose would it be if she had already won? He glared at her, who lightly waved at the crowd, cheering both in confusion and in applause. "We don't exactly know what happened in those last moments, but WOW!! They both truly showed their best potential for this match, but Iku did an outstanding performance!" Present Mic announced, with Eraserhead sighing as he massaged his forehead. "And the winner for the first half of the Semi-finals is... Iku."

Chapter Text

Iku had won against Shoto in the Semi-finals, which left a foul taste in the dual-quirked boy's mouth. He didn't see her as a threat back in the first few days, but Iku managed to become more formidable through the course of the weeks and activities that they all did as a class. He hated this all too much, far more than when he first lit his other half of flames to beat Deku in the 2nd round. But even by using that against her... It was futile.

The 2nd half of the semi-finals composed of Tokoyami fighting against Katsuki. It would have been a tougher choice on who to pick as a winner, Iku thought. She sighed and went back up to her seat along with the rest of her classmates. Kirishima glanced at her with a faintly worried expression before raising his hand. "Oi," he called, "What happened down there?" The spiky-haired boy forced a smile but felt deeply concerned over things, especially when he noticed the damage done on both sides.

"Don't worry much. Neither of us got hurt that bad," Iku claimed. "Todoroki still hasn't gotten back... have you checked on him?" Deku asked her, to which she shrugged. "Well, we made eye contact down there and he was going to say something else. I noticed how he could move his limbs fine, like me. He probably just wanted to cool off somewhere else where I won't be at, I'm assuming." The others wanted to say something over that reason, but knowing how no one's close yet with Shoto, they just let it be. "Well, I'll go look for him after this event later. Are you going to do the same?" Deku asked again.

The girl nodded her head as she sat down and eyed on the two boys, the round about to begin. "I also still got more to say... and maybe an apology for winning like that." Deku tilted his head, his mouth opening. He was going to ask one more thing, but it didn't feel like the time. The green-haired boy simply stayed silent and focused on the ongoing fight. Currently, Tokoyami was seemingly doing well in holding Katsuki off.

"Oi! Get your ass here, bird brain!" Katsuki yelled as he charged towards Tokoyami, who seemed to have been evading all of his attacks so far. He was taking a keen note of each blast Katsuki did. Left, up, a barrage of explosions behind. "Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami summoned Dark Shadow, and out its hands emerged, spreading wide to grab Katsuki at any given instance. Katsuki quickly noted the positioning of its hands and blasted around the hands, quickly swerving himself midair and grabbing Tokoyami by the collar.

Dark Shadow barged through the two and separated them, but Katsuki raised his output thrice the amount, weakening it due to the light caused by the explosion. Tokoyami used this moment nonetheless to push him off the ring. In an effort to avoid this, however, Katsuki grabbed the other by his collar and tugged him around, making Tokoyami's foot step an inch past the border. Close call for the blond, Iku analyzed. "AAAAAND the winner for the 2nd half of the semi-finals is... KATSUKI BAKUGO!" Present Mic announced. "Either of the two could have won that. Good thing there's a close up view," Aizawa added, the screen replaying a slowed down clip of the last few moments with Katsuki outsmarting Tokoyami in a sense. "It's time for the final round, I guess," Iku implied, getting off from her seat and waving at Deku, who waved back and said, "Good luck! Kacchan's a really formidable foe, after all..." Iku lightly snickered at his remark, before mindlessly swaying her arm. "Formidable this, unbeatable that... Katsuki's still someone worth fighting against."

A few minutes passed before it was finally time for the final round. The long-awaited, highly anticipated battle between the finalists. Iku and Katsuki didn't interact with one another as they were busy prepping up. However, as they both went back to the ring a final time, Katsuki muttered something to himself. "She's really dangerous compared to the other extras here. Gonna need to really give it my all. I know she's not gonna hold back anyway, seeing how she didn't even feel fazed over Icy-hot on the ground after defeating him." Iku held herself back from smiling and simply looked at him, unfazed. "Hey," she said, "Don't get too pissed if I win." Katsuki then growled and yelled, "DON'T GET SO COCKY INFRONT OF ME, SHADOW GIRL!" She let out a laugh. "Shadow Girl? Good to know you actually know who you're fighting. That I'm not just some extra." His eye twitched and his brows furrowed over her response.

"Ladies and gentlemen! It's the moment you've all been waiting for! The final round to see who'll be the winner for this year's Sports Festival!" Present Mic enthusiastically announced, with the cheer of the crowd backing it up. "KATSUKI BAKUGOU!!" A cry could be heard from afar. Katsuki clicked his tongue and glared upon hearing that yell. There weren't many people calling out for Iku's name, ironically. That didn't bother her, though. She didn't mind it. "Are you all READY?!" The audience roared in unison, "YES!" "YEAHH!!" "WE ARE READY!!" The volume of their voices was exponentially louder than the last few rounds. Perhaps the rounds where Katsuki was in were just as loud, along with those that had Shoto, but their yelling here was on a whole 'nother level. "Damn, let's just get this over with!" Katsuki screamed. Iku sighed and nodded.

"The fight begins in 3!"
Eyes open. Focus. Breathe.
"2!"
I can't let her win over me like this again.
"ONE!!"

Just relax and...

"LET THE FINAL ROUND BEGIN!!"

Katsuki made the first move as he aggressively blasted himself midair towards Iku. She stood still, waiting for the perfect instance to attack with her shadow figures. That's it, get closer, Iku thought to herself. The moment he was a meter or two away, she used his shadows to grab his legs. But Katsuki already anticipated this and blasted all the way up, stretching the shadows until they became slim as a rope's width. He directly aimed his blasts towards the figures and managed to scratch Iku's wrists. Iku cast a different shadow figure with her own shadow. She made a grappling hook and maneuvered the upright shadow into continuing to follow Katsuki.

"Getting more creative, huh, Shadow Girl?" Katsuki sneered as he drafted diagonally, circling around the chasing shadow and causing it to make a knot out of itself. Iku scrapped the figure and immediately used the shadow form on her hands. It extended up to the level the blond was at, attempting to wrap itself around him. He swerved through and grasped the layer of shadow, speeding towards Iku. She deactivated her quirk and sprinted towards the other end of the ring, casting her shadow wings. She branched her arms and reached for the boy, aiming to do the same trick in the previous rounds.

The ruby-eyed boy wasn't going to lose to her that easily. He blasted a series of explosions towards Iku, making a distance between them both. She flew in a U-curve as Katsuki continued to burst more attacks in direction. "DIE!" He yelled, the speed of his blasts only increasing as Iku remained to pass through them. She raised a hand over her arm, making a shadow, before forming a shield to block off the next incoming attacks. "That's not very heroic, Katsuki," Iku remarked as she flew closer to him. He wasn't losing momentum from the air. He used his attacks to keep him up while also taking the offense by spamming at her. "SHUT UP! That's just my expression!" Iku rolled her eyes before casting shadow vines to finally drop him to the ground. "Express your shock over this!"

He was not fazed. After all, he had analyzed every possible move she could do to fight against him. Katsuki tightly grasped the incoming vines, which wrapped around his arms, and let himself be swung near ground level. Iku flew down and decided to throw her shield towards him as a distraction. Katsuki grabbed it with his feet and threw it back towards her. "Can't make me lose focus, dumbass!" Iku sighed. Annoying callouts... But I'll make him feel lost on my next moves just to see how well his focus really is.

She made the vines swoosh Katsuki across the ring. He kept his arms in place, the sweat building up the longer he kept it inside. Iku finally stepped on the ground and deformed her wings. She looked at Katsuki's facial expression, a mix of fury, determination, and... joy? He had a plan, but she wasn't too keen on realizing it just yet.

"You're enjoying this round, Bakugo?" Iku asked as she made the vines rise up, consequently making Katsuki be lifted off the ground yet again. "Who said I was enjoying this?! Not until I beat you, Shadow Girl!" He finally blasted himself off of the vines, an extreme burst coming from his hands due to the sweat that built up. Iku took a step back since it was strong enough to damage more than just her skin. Her eyes' perspective 'glitched' in a sense. Seeing her close her eyes, Katsuki exerted an even stronger attack towards the vines and her, aiming to weaken her senses further.

"I thought you were strong! You're such a gifted kid, do better!"
"I'm doing my best, shut up already..."
"What was that?"
"I said shut up-"
snap

Of all moments to retract back to such an annoying...

Iku didn't like this. No, Sōko didn't want this. Iku forced her eyes open, a red glow imminent on both irises as she cast a wave of shadows to arise from the ground, like a surfer about to meet his largest wave at the ocean. The blond wasn't aware of Iku's true condition and only saw the sudden surge of figures, a wicked grin on his face. "That's more like it!" He increased his output further and blasted towards Iku. "You're getting in my nerves, Bakugo." Iku(?) said, her voice echoing as the shapes charged at the blond rapidly, keeping him in a container of shadows. The figures kept him inside, with Iku just a few meters away. "You think this is gonna make me-" Spikes of shadow sprung from inside, one-by-one. "The hell?"

From the audience, Deku clasped his fists. He was breathing slowly, trying to make his heart rate pump normally again. Uraraka saw this and poked his shoulder. "Are you worried?" Deku flinched, nodding his head a moment later. "I kind of remembered something over this... Not to mention, I'm not so sure what Iku's planning since she could just make those shadows bring him off the ring right now. At this point, Kacchan would find a way but I'm seeing a lot of-" Deku continued to blabber, his tone shaky at some moments.

There were a few people mumbling with one another over this. "That blond kid also went full out against that floaty girl in the earlier rounds too, right?" One asked. "Yeah. Consider this karma for him, but damn is this girl's strong as heck." The other replied. Further chattering could be heard as the two continued with the round. "Aizawa, do you see what's going on down there?" Mic asked Aizawa, his hand covering the microphone. "I can. If worse comes to worst, we'll have to intervene," Aizawa replied as his eyes were waiting for him to activate his Erasure quirk. The other UA teachers were also there, watching. "Is she trying to make him run out of oxygen?" Thirteen wondered, concerned over Katsuki who was busy trying to get out of the shadow shape. "... I'll talk to the two after this is over," Aizawa added, his tone serious.

Despite the damage being done on the shadows, which also hurt Iku in the process, she kept him inside a bit longer. "DAMN YOU! What are ya trying to get outta this, huh?!" The blond was furious. He was starting to reach his limit. "Just want to see how much firepower you've got, blondie," she chuckled before making the size of the container smaller. "Although I guess I can just end it now, right?" Her glowy eyes pierced through. She could sense him growing more infuriated inside the shadows. "YOU B-"

strk.

There were still spikes sprouting from the edges of the shadow, and one of them struck through his torso. He saw it a second beforehand, so it didn't strike anything vital. "FUCK-" He burst the shadow off, but it still landed a mark. The distance between him and the edges of the shadows was just a meter at that point. Why couldn't he get out? It was as if the shadows were more than just solid for him to blast off. Iku(?) giggled as more spikes sprouted. That's it... "Struggle more," she mumbled, a smile staying on her lips. The crowd went silent, with one muttering, "is this really what a hero would do?" That same question was asked when Katsuki fought with Uraraka.

Katsuki went on full-defense mode, bursting all the incoming shadows as a gush of blood slowly dripped down his body. He growled, "OI, YOU FREAK! Your stupid spikes can kill, you know!" The smile on the girl's face slowly disappeared before she quickly morphed the container into a shadow tentacle. "I know that." Katsuki froze for a moment, noticing the strong glow on her eyes. "You..." he whispered, avoiding it to be heard from anyone in the audience. "You're the one that beat two of 'em, huh?" That was not supposed to mean anything. It really wasn't. Yet it triggered something within her again. What was going on? What was... what?

The shiny red on her eyes faded when he asked her that question. She quickly shook her head, the grip of the shadow subtly weakening. "Why are you asking that kind of-" Katsuki used this moment and let out his strongest attack yet, making the figure disappear as Iku took a few steps back, hissing. He wasted no time and charged towards her, grabbing her wrist and back before shoving her outside the ring. She was about to retaliate, but realized the drops of blood coming from them both, before acting like she was caught off guard.

"W-WOAH! A turn of events! Now it seems like..." As Present Mic continued to speak, Katsuki glared at Iku, finally giving himself some moments to breathe. He held the wound on his torso, a nearly fatal blow that would have been disastrous had it stayed pierced longer. You're fucking psychotic... was what he thought to himself as he abruptly let go of the girl. She took a few steps forward before regaining balance. "Katsu-"

He simply walked away, his feet and legs subtly failing him as he limped away. Right. They were going to have another short break before the final results get shown. Clean up crew had to make the center neat, getting rid of the sediments and other forms of dirt that happened in the final game. Iku watched as a few staff members of the school went and dusted off everything. Then, she followed Katsuki outside, heading towards the Infirmary.

...

bzzzt. That was Iku's phone ringing. It was inside the lobby from where everyone else was waiting earlier, but the only one there at the moment was...

"Todoroki!"

Chapter Text

In the midst of the Sports Festival, a handful of the audience was rooting on numerous students. Plenty felt intrigued over how the results turned out, and one of them was...

"Torihiki (取引)"

Shoto had been watching the phone vibrate for the past 2 minutes. He was just sitting next to Iku's phone. That was when Deku went inside the room and saw him staring at the ringing gadget. "Todoroki!" He called the heterochromia-eyed boy's attention. "Oh, Midoriya. I didn't see you," Shoto responded, his gaze turning over to the other. Deku walked towards the table and looked over the name on the phone. "Torihiki...? Ah- nevermind that..." He glanced back at Shoto.

"Are you okay?! Your fight with Iku was really intense and-" Shoto nodded his head. "Yeah. I'm okay. I just don't want to talk about that fight for now." His eyes kept switching between the phone and Deku before asking, "is the match over? I wouldn't be surprised if Iku won again." Shoto said, crossing his arms. "Oh, yeah. But Kacchan won, actually!" The green-haired boy expressed his enthusiasm, both his hands clasping into fists. "Huh? Bakugou won? Then that might be why Iku's phone started receiving calls."

Deku stayed silent for a moment to try and analyze the connection. "Are you suggesting that someone wanted her to win first place and is now calling?" He asked, curious of Shoto's interpretation. Shoto nodded his head. "The idea I had that my father might be the one behind her entering UA High just got scrapped anyway since I lost to her, and he didn't really react when I did lose. But, this caller could be anyone else who's invested enough on her or something of the sort," he explained. "Invest?"

"You know how I said I looked her name up and there weren't any results?"

"Well, yeah, but—" Before they could continue their conversation, Iku went inside with Tokoyami. "Ah, there's my phone," she said, grabbing it whilst avoiding Shoto's gaze. "Deku, how long has my phone been ringing?" she asked him. Deku quickly eyed Tokoyami's hand, which was holding a phone. Oh, so the caller was Tokoyami? Why is the name of the contact different then... "Deku?" Iku was tapping his shoulder. "AH! Sorry, yeah, it's been ringing for uhh... 3 minutes? We didn't want to take the call since it might be personal." He responded, scratching the back of his neck. Iku quietly giggled. "I appreciate your concern for my privacy."

Iku then looked back at Tokoyami, giving him a thumbs up, and he nodded his head. "I'll see you three at the grounds. Awarding for the Top 3 is in a few minutes," he reminded as he shut the door. Deku and Iku looked back at each other, before Shoto stood up. "I'm going." He then also headed for the door, before looking back at Iku. "Well? Heard you reached 2nd. Wouldn't you want to get moving too, Asawe?" Iku really hated people calling her by her surname for some reason. "Whatever, Todoroki. I'll be there after this call." She glanced at Deku. "You can go on ahead too, Deku." She gave him a subtle smile, to which the boy returned with a warm one. He followed Shoto out, waving at her, before closing the door.

Alone in the lobby, Iku finally called back. "Did you leave your phone in the lobby room?" The voice asked her. "It's not like it'd come out in perfect condition if I brought it to the field, you know."

"That's true," they said. "Did you hold back with the blond? You had high advantage midway. I'm surprised you played around." Iku hummed. "I felt bad that I couldn't control Sōko at all during the final game. Also, I think Katsuki might find out more about me. Uh... Todoroki's also been wary of me," she added. "Do you wish to follow your goal of being friends with the latter?"

"Well, yeah. I still have things I want to talk about with him. Uhm..." Iku hasn't used filler words in a while, which the voice was quite aware of. They sighed audibly. "Keep things civil with the boy, then. I never told you to be hostile with anyone, anyway," they stated. "Gomen, sensei." The voice heard sincerity in that. "Iku, child. I'm not upset. I am giving you all the freedom in the world to do as you'd wish, after all." Iku then heard loud cheers from outside. "Ah, I have to go. I still made it in second anyway," she then hung up and rushed towards the grounds.

Katsuki was there, all patched up. He was quite the opposite from his usual, stubborn self. In fact, he was just standing at the top of the 1st-place standee. Tokoyami was at the 3rd-place standee since he lost to Katsuki. The rest of the participants were in front of those. All that was missing was Iku. She skipped over and stood tall at the 2nd-place standee, just next to Katsuki. Midnight was also there at the grounds, and...

The ground shook. Everyone saw a figure at the top of the stadium. Considering the open space, everyone could see it. It was All Might! "It's time to award the winners!" Midnight announced, "All Might will be awarding the top 3 participants for this year's Sports Festival!" All Might was in his hero costume. He did his iconic laugh before leaping down. Midnight handed 3 medals to him, instructing, "All Might, please present them the medals, starting from the 3rd place winner." The crowd applauded and cheered in excitement as they saw the Number 1 hero making his way to the winners.

Iku wasn't paying much attention to the Pro's comments, but she heard some encouragement and praise from him as he placed the first medal on Tokoyami. He then moved onto her. "Young Iku," he said, "you did an exemplary amount of effort during the games! Very well done!" Iku nodded her head and gave him a light smile. He was also going to give her a hug, like with Tokoyami, but Iku raised her hand to hold it off. "Thank you for the nice words." All Might had a few more to say, but he then moved to Katsuki, who really couldn't tell what to express at that moment. Once again, Iku didn't want to hear any of it. The applause, the noise, everything. She muted it all out as her thoughts simply wandered about, until the closing messages were given and everyone could then exit the stadium, concluding the event.

She was about to go home once the event finished, before noticing the absence of one of them: Iida. She looked for Deku and asked him something. "Hey, Deku." Deku paused his conversation with some of the others. "Oh! Iku, what's up?" Iku looked around the premises one more time before continuing, "Where's Tenya?" His eyes widened for a moment. "Ah! Iida just has some matters to attend to with his family, if I can remember correctly. Why's that?" Iku shrugged. "Just curious. Thanks for the info, Deku," she lightly smiled at him before waving and leaving. However... "Iku." That was Aizawa's voice. Iku looked over her shoulder and turned around after. "Sensei," she answered as she noticed Katsuki behind him. "I need to talk with the two of you for a bit. This is regarding what happened in the final round," Aizawa stated before pointing at a distance. The three walked over there soon after.

For the most part, Iku was acting neutral over the talk. "I didn't stop either of you in your matches since I wanted to make you both realize that you shouldn't be trying to break your opponents that harshly. This is just a match after all, not a real fight," he scolded. Neither of the two had a fairly good reason to excuse their actions, so they simply eyed elsewhere. "Eyes on me," Aizawa instructed. The two did look at him. He stared back and forth at them both, reminding them, "If I see either of you two make a big fuss like that in any future school activity, I'll be reporting these to your parents, and I'll be forced to make some disciplinary actions. Understood?" His tone was firm. He didn't want anyone else getting hurt, after all. "Understood," the two replied in unison. "Alright, you can both leave now." They then made their way to the exit, Iku ahead of Katsuki. "Oh right. Bakugou." Katsuki looked back at Aizawa. "Is that wound feeling better?" The blond nodded his head once before asking back, "Uh. Is yours alright too?" He still had a subtly grumpy tone, but he felt bad anyway. "I'll be fine by tomorrow. Thanks for asking." 

When Iku finally arrived back home, she saw a note on their fridge.
"Me and your father are going to have a business trip for a bit. We won't be sure exactly when we'll be back, but if you need anything, message us."

Iku sighed. "Of course... it is almost that time of the year again, anyway." She glanced at the calendar. The first day of May, 2161. A Friday. She went to her room and lied on her bed, thinking of everything that had happened that day.

Sports Festival. I won first in the first two games. Shoto's been pissed over random things with me, and I still don't get why. Could it be because of me constantly trying to be on par with him? Feels like a petty reason to start things with me, but I guess I ignited the flame more with my competitive talk. Katsuki stopped me from interfering with Deku and Shoto's conversation. I know those two are childhood friends, so that checks out why they know each other's habits a lot. Sensei called a bunch of times. I got questioned for it. I couldn't keep Sōko from spiraling during the 1v1s. At least she wasn't a hassle in the Cavalry Battle... Then again, we didn't have to fight anyone there in a lethal manner unless we wanted to get disqualified. What else... I keep getting reminded of why I'm here, I suppose. That's all.

It was all she could recall from the top of her head. But with how 'little' information that was, it ironically said a lot. A little bit too much. She scratched her head and furrowed her brows as she stared at her window, looking down at the grass and flowers swaying to the flow of the wind. Her chest felt heavy. She got up from her bed and decided to take a jog downstairs. Then, her phone rang again. "Oh," she subtly reacted before answering the phone. "What is it?"

"It won't be a hassle if they were gone for a while, will it?" She hummed, "it's fine. I'll manage." The voice replied, "Alright. Take good care of yourself and the house," they reminded. "Yeah, yeah. I know." A moment of silence before... "There's an internship after this//Will there be an internship--" They both mentioned the same topic. "Oh. Yes, there will be. It'll last a week. I'm sure I've told you this already." The girl hummed in response again, "You did. I just wanted to check if it really was going to happen this week or the next," she added. "Next week. This upcoming week is more so for choosing which internship to head to, but I'm sure you've already set out which one to go for, correct?"

"I..." Iku took a moment to answer. She knew where to head over to, but given the situation, she decided to... "I want to go with Hawks' agency."

"Hawks?"
"Is that a bad idea?" The voice responded, "It isn't. I just thought you'd favor the #2 Hero's agency more, that's all." Iku sighed. "But," they added, "if you want to go with that winged boy's, then go. I won't stop you. Just remember the things we've discussed before." Iku then answered, "I obviously won't forget anything. You know that." And then they hung up. That call made her want to lie back down to reconsider some things, before she grabbed her journal and skimmed through some entries again.

"January 18, 21XX
I miss it all, kind of. I missed a lot of things. I want to go back, but maybe I won't regret these in the future. Anyway, I asked my parents to make a buffet for today. It just feels right, that's all. Also started a separate journal solely for memories. A bit of poetry. A bit of that 'emo' thing, too. I don't consider myself emo, but I tried to fit the style."

"February 25, 2161 - Day Before
I feel nervous. I know I'll make it in, sure, but what next? Do I just go with the flow? What if I end up hurting some people again? I don't want that. I want to keep everyone safe. I want everyone smiling, even if it doesn't exactly make me smile anymore. Well, either way, good luck to me. Not just for tomorrow, but for the incoming year."

The entries she read made a faint smile appear in her eyes. Eyes that felt gloomy over remembering it, but eyes that showed cheeriness in front of them all. Don't let anyone worry over you, after all.

Chapter Text

"You look lost, kiddo. Isn't today your birthday, too?" An ambiguous person with a mask asked the young girl. "Where'd you hear that from?" She asked them back. "It's been a while since I've known. Interested in this block?" They asked her, pointing towards a dismantled household. "Oh, actually, I guess," she answered. "I can let ya in on a secret. Consider it my gift."

"Come."

The weekend went by pretty quickly. Iku went to a convention along with Deku, Uraraka, Tokoyami, Momo, and Katsuki to relieve themselves from the sports festival. It was a speedy trip thanks to Iku borrowing a flight vehicle for it. At that time, the girl was also looking around for some other business that she disclosed from the rest of the group. The trip went well, so to speak.

It was finally Monday again. May 4th, 2161. Everyone was well rested once more, and another week had begun for Class 1-A. Iku had roughly 6 hours of sleep and made herself some miso soup before taking her leave. She turned on her playlist and listened to some classical music as she flew to UA High. 

As she soared across the sky, her phone buzzed from her pocket. She took the call while making her way past the flock of birds. 

"Yes?" She waited for the other person to answer back.. but it was dead silent.

"Am I not who you were wanting to call? Wrong dial on the phone?" she kept asking. All she heard was the wind breezing through the line, along with a quiet chuckle that was barely audible. 

She then pulled the phone away from her ear and sat on the edge of a nearby building to see the ID of the caller. "Huh... was that a prank call?" Iku sighed before hanging up and flying towards UA High again.

A few minutes passed by before she made it. She took her time flying since it was still early. Half of her classmates were in the classroom. However, it seemed as if they were already making a fuss over something. 

"Oh," Iku thought, "that's right. Internships..." She sat down and listened in to the conversation behind. 

"How many offers did you get, Sero?" Kaminari asked. 

"Managed to get 14 Pros offering me! What about you?" He asked the blond back. 

"Ahh! I managed to get 272 offers." Sero's eyes widened. 

"Gah, really? That's a lot!" Kaminari shrugged, a cheeky smile on his face. 

"Lots of people really liked my quirk, I guess! But you know who else got a lot? The top 4 placers!" Kirishima walked inside as the two continued to babble. "Oi! What are you guys talking about?"

Iku decided to dismiss her listening and focus on her own list. But where did they get it from? Emails? Messages? She hasn't bothered checking in on anything anonymous besides the call from earlier, mainly because she was set on picking Hawks' agency, whether he offered her or not. 

She got up and walked to Momo, who was at the back of the class, before waving. "Oh, hello, Iku! How are you?" she greeted. Iku lightly smiled and bowed her head subtly, greeting back. 

"Good morning. I wanted to know where the others saw their offers from. I haven't checked to see if I got anything since I went on 'Do Not Disturb' mode since Friday evening," she answered.

"Well, I suggest checking your emails then... or your spam mail. Anything close to those, especially since I'm pretty sure you managed to get a lot. You did wonderfully during the event," Momo praised. "Aha, I did... er... a lot, during then." Iku then waved again and walked back to her seat, opening her email and seeing something different.

From: UA High
To: Iku Asawe, Class 1-A
Subject: Pro Hero Offers for the Hero Internship Program

Iku read through the mail and saw that she had roughly 2,360 offers waiting for her. She felt overwhelmed and flinched over the 4 digits. At that moment, a few more of her classmates were walking inside. 

One of those was Tokoyami. "Ah," he noticed her sitting down. "Iku. I see you got here before me." 

Iku nodded, a flushed look on her face. 

"Is something the matter? Your face is..." 

Iku cut him off, raising her hand as she took a deep breath. "I'll settle my things down while you cool yourself down, then," Tokoyami added as he walked to his seat. Just right after him were Jiro, Tenya, and Shoto coming inside. Tenya seemed upset over something, but it wasn't quite obvious. 

Even in a fazed circumstance, Iku noted how firm Tenya clutched his left fist and his uneasy eyes. She also noted how Shoto looked a bit calmer compared to the other days. Analyzing them managed to distract Iku and help her regain composure. She set her phone on the desk, facing downwards, before standing up and walking to Tokoyami.

"Yes, Iku?" Tokoyami decided to ignore what happened when he walked inside. 

"Do you know how many Pro Heroes offered you for the Internship?" she asked, her face unsure if she was going to smile or hold a steady look.

"I do. I got 360 offers, but I've chosen to go with one of them already," he answered, looking at his screen as he scrolled past a handful of Pro Hero names. 

"Oh? Which one?" Iku asked. He pointed at 'Hawks'. "Ah, I see," Iku subtly reacted. 

"How about you? How many offers did you get?" Tokoyami asked in return. 

"Well... around 2,6- 2,360," she shyly replied, a sheepish smile unable to hide as she eyed the board to her right. 

"Ah... now I get why you were really surprised earlier. Did you only get to see it here in class?" Iku nodded, glancing back at him. "Though I shouldn't have been too surprised since I guess they offered one to me for... my quirk. I guess they saw this as versatile." Iku crossed her arms. "At least, that's what Deku once told me," she added.

"So, which one are you going for?" Tokoyami asked her.

"I've set my mind to Hawks' agency," she answered back. "You too?"

Iku nodded. "He seems friendly. And I'd feel more comfortable having an internship with him rather than with the #2." 

Shoto overheard her and walked towards them. "Endeavor offered you?" Iku nodded again.

"Say, how many offers did you get?" She asked Shoto.

"Um. 4,123." 

The rest of the class reacted. "THAT'S A LOT!" Mina commented. "Way more than Bakugou's too!" Sero added. 

"Oh? Katsuki managed to get offers?" Iku teased. 

"I mean! He did do really well in the festival; you have to admit that," Deku commented.

 "Well, I guess. How many did he get?" Iku asked them. 

"He got 3,556," Kirishima answered. 

"THAT'S A LOT TOO!" The others reacted. 

Iku shrugged. "Oh well."

Eventually, classes started. Midnight went inside and mentioned how everyone had to have a hero name for the internship program. They were given some time to think up a name. Iku took note of everyone's names.

Momo went with 'Creati' to express her quirk Creation. Kirishima went with 'Red Riot', which was to emphasize his enthusiasm for Crimson Riot. Mina went with 'Pinky' simply because Midnight didn't like her initial idea of 'Alien Queen'. Uraraka went with 'Uravity', Tsuyu with 'Froppy', and Jiro went with 'Earphone Jack'. 

The others had simple hero names, but Tenya, Deku, and Shoto went with their own names for the time being. Iku was looking for inspiration from the others, but she couldn't find anything that complex out of their names. 

Then stepped Katsuki from his seat, making everyone react over the name he chose. "King Explosion Murder." It sounded too violent, so Midnight denied the hero name. It left a chuckle out of Iku, however. It also gave her an idea of what to use for a temporary hero name.

Iku finally wrote something down on her board, left her seat, and stood at the front of the class. A few brows raised, while others were invested in the name she gave herself. "Shadowbane". Midnight tilted her head in wonder. 

"What made you consider this hero name, Iku?" 

The girl looked back at her and answered, "I just considered the ideas regarding my quirk, mainly because my shadow figures can get really destructive once I put more effort into a fight." Deku took a mental note of that as he nodded his head. 

"Ooh, alright. I see where you're coming from. Approved!" Midnight reacted, and Iku went back to her seat.

The week passed on quite fast, and everyone had finally chosen which agencies to head off to for the next 7 days. Tokoyami and Iku were to go to Hawks, Deku with a Pro named Gran Torino, Shoto with Endeavor, Katsuki with Fiber Hero: Best Jeanist, Tenya with Normal Hero: Manual, Uraraka with Battle Hero: Gunhead, and Momo with Snake Hero: Uwabami. Iku wasn't aware of where the others were heading off to, but those were what she heard from some of them.

Early in the morning, Iku got a call from Tokoyami. She answered her phone. "Ohayou," Iku greeted. 

"Ohayo. Are you ready? I'm going to take a bus then a train to his agency. What about you?" Tokoyami asked the girl. 

"Ah. I'm planning on flying over there. I could head over to your place and fly you there too, you know," Iku replied, quietly chuckling at the end of her sentence. 

"Oh, no need. Thanks for the offer, though." Tokoyami then added, "You aren't planning on taking the jet, right?" Iku let out a laugh. 

"No! I was going to just use my quirk, don't worry. I'm not going to be flashy for this, okay?" She then grabbed her brown bag and went to her house's balcony. "Anyway, catch you there?" Tokoyami hummed in response before hanging up.

Iku cast her wings and flew, opening her phone for the location of Hawks' agency. "Okay, so his place is... at Kyushu. Oh my. Okay, I can fly that far." The distance was unbearable, frankly. She should have just taken a train, or maybe even their family's private jet. Nevertheless, she already set it in her mind that she would be using her quirk for this. 

She took a deep breath and continued to soar through the sky. Some kids in her neighborhood started getting used to seeing her up in the air more frequently. A few waved, mainly because it was so rare for anyone with a quirk to show off a lot in their area. Iku took some breaks here and there, but she minded the time so that she could make it in an hour.

Nevermind. That was an intense estimation.

Within 45 minutes of flying, Iku felt something off with her head and body again. 

"I'm tiring myself out. Fuck. Maybe I should have gone with Endeavor's agency. Faster," Iku stopped to take a moment to relax atop a skyscraper. She felt hungry. Her energy was down. No. She didn't want to eat just yet. That would be bad for her digestion and for later.

She stretched her arms a little, stretched her head, did a few more for her legs, and then soared back up, flying faster than before as she brisked through the cities of Shizuoka, Nagoya, and Tsu. 

It was roughly 9:15 am. 

Iku eventually dropped down to the streets out of complete exhaustion before calling Tokoyami again.

"Ah, Iku. How are you doing?"
"Terrible. I thought I could get there sooner, but... fuck, I'm tired," Iku replied as she dusted herself off and walked inside a tea shop. "Where are you at right now?" she asked him, wanting to know who's closer so far.

"Still in Nagoya. The train's just taking a while, but I think I'll be there in a few hours," Tokoyami answered, the bustling noise of the atmosphere audibly playing through his end of the call.

"Ah, so I'm actually ahead?" Iku giggled before feeling a rush of adrenaline go through her.

"I suppose so. But this isn't a race... don't push yourself too hard, Iku," he reminded her. 

"Mhm... fair enough. I'll probably keep flying until I reach uh..." Iku glanced at the map. "Osaka. Yeah. That's pretty near. Then I'll take a train until I finally arrive at Kyushu." Tokoyami questioned, "Do you think we'll find each other at the same stop?" Iku shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. I am still ahead by a bit, so I'm not sure."

They hung up after. Iku drank some green tea and left the shop before flying back to the sky. Just considered something... Is this legal? Iku paused for a moment at the top of the tea shop before glancing to her right. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm just saying... Not like your quirk was ever really registered to be used city to city... heh."
"..."
"I'm kidding. Ignore what I said; let's go." Iku cast her wings once more and flew all the way to Osaka in around 15 minutes. "I think I can still fly to Kochi at this rate. I've got enough energy, anyway," Iku said to herself before soaring up to Tokushima. 

She went a few meters above the water form that greeted her as she crossed through the cities again, before going back up near the clouds as she made it to Tokushima. She passed through a shrine before using her quirk to snag a few leaves from some trees, rustling them to ease her mind. She kept flying, making her way to Kochi, before getting a text from someone. She dropped down to Kochi Castle, making sure no one saw her bypass the place, before opening her phone to see who it was.

Torihiki
"Iku, did you forget that someone was going to come pick you up?"

Oh.

Iku
"You didn't tell me...?"
Torihiki
"I messaged you last night about it. Where are you now?"
Iku
"Kochi Castle."
Torihiki
"Are you trespassing?"
Iku
"Maybe."
Torihiki
"..."
"I'll let the owners know that I'll pay them for your short visit there. Just get moving already. Or would you like Suzu to come over there and pick you up?"
Iku
"Can they?"
Torihiki
"Are you tired already?"
Iku
"I was... before I drank some green tea."
Torihiki
"So you can manage now?"
Iku
"Yeah, I can."
Torihiki
"Okay. Take care, child."

Iku had heard some footsteps nearby before using her quirk to distract them away from her direction. She sneaked off and flew again, going at an even more rapid speed just so that no one would notice her arrival and departure. This was quite a long trip.

After roughly 2 hours, Iku finally made it to Oita, the capital of Oita Prefecture, which was found in Kyushu. She glanced around before realizing that she just needed to go to the city north of Oita, which was Fukuoaka, before making it to the agency.

Time check: 12:40pm

Iku groaned in frustration before asking Tokoyami where he was. "I'm at Kitakyushu, you?" Iku sighed before texting back, "Oita. I kind of made a wrong turn, but at least I'm near. I'll meet you there in a bit." 

She then cast her wings one last time, subtle fury motivating her to fly at an extremely rapid speed, making her arrive at Hawks' agency a few minutes ahead of Tokoyami. She was breathless, but she shook it off. Tokoyami was surprised to see her there before him.

 "Oh, you flew pretty quick last minute," he commented, taking note of how she looked. 

"Yeah, I did. Didn't want to be that late, you know."

"Well," Tokoyami reassured, "he probably wouldn't be that strict. Hawks seems to be quite laid back based on what I've researched about him." Iku's brows raised. "Think so?" He nodded his head. "Speaking of, he's here."

--------

10/5/24: oh my days i got so bored writing this LMAO- uhh i hope you guys enjoyed?

Chapter Text

5pm. The other kids were walking by.

"There's a cute little toy here... if I can just grab it and—"

The Pro Hero just arrived from another mission. Iku noticed how his hero outfit didn't change as much. His fit was comprised of a black shirt with a bunch of horizontal golden lines, his jacket and pants, both golden in a way, black gloves and boots for warming him up, along with headphones and a visor that would protect him in the sky. And of course, his big, red wings that swayed ever so gracefully in the air. 

As for Tokoyami, he did some research on Hawks before and recalled that he was 22 years old. One of the youngest Pro Heroes to ever debut, and perhaps the fastest top Pro for acquiring the third ranking.

He glanced over at Tokoyami, then at Iku, before his brows raised. "Aha, I knew it," he mumbled, though it was more audible than not. Iku tilted her head.

"Do you recognize me, Hawks?" He nodded his head, chuckling. "You were that kid who helped me fend off some small-time thugs before, right? Unless I suddenly found another kid with the same quirk..."

Tokoyami cleared his throat. "May I something?" Hawks looked at him and nodded, a bright smile on his face.

"Why, of course! This isn't a military camp or anything. After all, I'm here to show you both the ropes on the basics with Hero Activity," he answered, maneuvering his hand in a circular motion. "Well, me and Iku do share similarities with our quirks." 

Hawks nodded. "I know, but the way you both handle your own... let's just say they're different. And I'm not saying different's bad! Having your own style to combat is good."

The winged hero stretched his arms and neck before swinging his hand in a curve. "Anyway, let's get going." As he said that, he flapped his wings outward and flew up to the sky. Tokoyami was flabbergasted, but Iku decided to pull out her own set of wings and flew up. She grabbed Tokoyami by the waist and carried him upwards as well. The three then soared across Fukuoaka, roaming about to see if there were any minor crimes nearby.

There was some form of chit-chat between them. The conversation usually started off with Hawks, though. He would ask them about some common things, like how they feel about being in UA High or being part of the top 3 in the recent event. Tokoyami wasn't too chatty, and Iku only kept a facade of being a chatterbox.

"So... Shadowbane and Tsukoyomi, right?" Hawks checked to see if he got the two's hero names correctly. "Mhm. You'll be calling us by that for the entire week?" Iku asked. "Yup! So I hope you two really thought well on your hero names."

They soon stumbled upon some villains attempting to rob a bank, but Hawks swiftly immobilized them using his Fierce Wings quirk. The feathers managed to snatch what they stole, put them all upside down, and wrap them around his feathers. The villains squirmed and tried to get away, especially the one with a liquifying quirk that could change her atoms into a freer form. 

Iku and Tokoyami decided to stop them from escaping, with Iku using her quirk to clasp the liquified villain, keeping her at bay, while Tokoyami used Dark Shadow to grab any other villains trying to run away.

They turned them over to the police, and Hawks commended the two. "Good work out there, you two! Bare minimal effort, yet full on efficiency. I like that!" 

He was good at sweetening any form of message that would come out of his mouth, which was honestly something so new for Iku again. A person? And not just any person, but a hero? And the #3 Pro Hero too, to top it off. She wouldn't hear such enthusiasm from S. Even less so with her real environment... Tokoyami noticed an eye smile from her, which also made him smile.

"Alright, just got another ring," Hawks mentioned. "East from this street. Race ya there." He flew as fast as daylight. Obviously, neither of the two were going to slow down or anything of the sort, so they dashed through the sidewalks. Iku on air, Tokoyami on land.

Iku sped up thrice as fast and almost got ahead of Hawks. Almost. He still managed to get there sooner, but the winged hero took note of her increase in acceleration. They quickly took note of the situation, and Hawks simply did a few swooshes and managed to make the villain in question unconscious. Iku was speechless.

"Oh, you didn't need me or Tokoyami's help." 

He chuckled again. "Well, I guess I'm just too fast--" he then flew all over the place, most likely another cry for help that was signaled to him by his agency.

The rest of the day went by like bees pollinating numerous flowers. Iku, who had spent the morning flying around, already felt her body and mind getting sore. Tokoyami felt the same. Hawks saw the exhaustion on their faces and slowed down. 

"Alright, we'll end it here today. You both did great for the first day. Good job!" He commended them, clapping his hands as well. 

"Thank you, Hawks," Tokoyami and Iku said. 

He waved them goodbye. "I'll catch you both tomorrow at 9am, same place. Just at the front of my agency. Alright?" The two nodded, and there Hawks left.

"Okay, so..." Iku took a moment to catch her breath, her vision blurring. "Uh... Aizawa-sensei gave us a place to stay nearby his agency, right? That hotel over there?" She pointed at the ever-so-tidy building. 

Tokoyami nodded his head. "Actually, I did check us both in before I arrived at Hawks' agency." Iku's eyes widened. "Oh! So that's why you were late... okay, I see." The two made their way to the hotel and checked in before finally calling it a day.

The following day was more chaotic. They kept getting alerts and cries for help here and there due to the sudden influx of minor villains roaming about the city. 

Tokoyami couldn't do anything since he had to run barefoot. Iku, at most, would be able to cast some barriers to stop certain criminals from scurrying away. However, Hawks was simply too fast for the two students to constantly catch up with. 

They both eventually got tired throughout the second day, which the Pro Hero realized.

"Alright, you two. Want to take a quick breather?" He asked them, stretching one of his legs back and forth. Iku and Tokoyami, breathless, nodded their heads. The three made their way back to Hawks' agency and were greeted by those working in the place.

They went to a near-empty room. There was a long, red couch and a few small couches circled around a rectangular glass table placed at the center of the room. One of Hawks' assistants was sitting down on a couch, encoding some things on his laptop. Hawks sat on the long couch, tapping the backside. "Oh, it's okay," Tokoyami calmly said. Iku didn't want to stay standing up, so she took the offer instead and sat near Hawks.

"Hawks, there are a few more cases in-"

"In a few minutes," Hawks interrupted his assistant. "In the meantime, try calling a nearby hero, a cop, or an investigator. Whichever one is needed for those cases." His assistant nodded and pushed a button on the table, alerting the front desk to assist in calling some Pro Heroes. Iku glanced at Hawks.

"You're gonna let other people do the work?" she asked him. "Well," he explained, "you both wanted to rest for a bit, right? So let's take this time to cool off for a bit. Quick chit-chat." After hearing this, Tokoyami decided to also take a seat alongside the two. The Pro smiled brightly before extending both of his arms across the couch, resting them.

"Chit-chat? About?" Iku asked. Hawks slightly tilted his head back. "Considering how we've already talked about how it is to be in UA High, I want to know a little bit more about a pretty big and recent news report that happened there," Hawks answered, implying about the USJ incident.

The two students understood what the topic was going to be but still wondered why. Well, Iku already had a feeling about why he would be interested in knowing more. "Sooo? Got anything to tell? You both seem to already get the hint." Hawks was kind of pushing one of them to speak up.

"This is about what happened with the League of Villains, isn't it?" Iku had to clarify. Hawks nodded his head. "Yup. Don't wanna sound like a broken recorder, so say whatever you want to say about that day."

Iku looked around the room, wondering what she should even tell him. Oh yeah, I could have easily swooped most of the thugs there except for this one guy named Tomura Shigaraki? Iku pondered for a moment. "Alright, here's a more direct question: Do either of you know anything else about the League of Villains?" The two quickly darted their eyes at him.

"Unfortunately, I don't know much. I'm not quite aware about who they are, either. They just seemed to be a large group of small-time villains..." Tokoyami answered. "What about you, Iku? Know anything?"

"Not really, no." Lies. Hawks didn't completely believe that since she had thoughts going on in her head before the main question itself. However, he didn't want to pry further. Hawks then stood up. Tokoyami got up as well, and a moment later, Iku too.

The winged hero looked at his assistant, who seemed focused on his job, before clearing his throat. "Atsuko, did anyone pick up the job or will me and my mentorees have time to do them ourselves?"

"Only one hero answered, but she's busy clearing something up in her city's vicinity, so it'll take longer too," the assistant responded. "Alright, drop the locations, and I'll be there. To the cases you mentioned, that is."

He pointed at an area on the map on his laptop's screen. "East from here, a group of villains were found causing a riot. One of them has a hostage."

"Anything else? What are they asking for?" Hawks asked. "Can't be sure. But I have a feeling that you would know what to do once you get there, so we'll be counting on your wits and reaction time there," he said to the Pro. Hawks chuckled before extending his wings.

"Alright, you two," he called out to Tokoyami and Iku, "break time's over."

They dashed to the location: Hawks with his wings, Tokoyami and Iku using her shadows to keep them flying high. Once they made their way to the place, there was chaos everywhere. Some of the bystanders couldn't leave because of the rubble scattered, there was a building about to fall down, and it looked like one of the three villains had a flame quirk. It made sense why a riot started.

"On my signal, Shadowbane, Tsukoyomi. Keep the buildings from falling on anyone. One of you can distract them with your quirk. Then follow my flow from there," he instructed. One of the villains noticed someone flying from a distance and immediately signaled his fellow villains to do something. What exactly the action was going to be was a mystery.

It didn't matter anyway.

Hawks still managed to save the hostages while Iku took advantage of her quirk's range by knocking the villains out and holding any falling debris using everyone's shadows. Tokoyami assisted in getting the civilians away from the place while trying to calm any of the aggressive civilians down. Hawks did the same. Things started to smooth down.

A few minutes later, the police arrived. "Alright, officers. Villains are over there by the pole, aaaand..."

"Hawks, more villains a few blocks north! This one's urgent since there's..." Hawks got another ring. "It's my time to go. Thanks for arriving on time!" And he flew up again, racing against the minutes. Tokoyami was still busy, unfortunately. Iku decided to brisk through the rest of the problems in the area and settled anything vulnerable on the floor before following Hawks up.

"Wait- Iku!" Tokoyami ran towards the two to catch up. Iku managed to match Hawks' speed, which impressed him. "Well, well! Someone's learning fast."

"I mean I did race against the clock yesterday trying to get here on time..." Iku commented as they still flew across the blocks. "Alright, try racing against me on who can spot the villains first."

Iku manipulated the shadows within the blocks and used them to sense any lingering trouble. Petty, unusual but not major, weird... Okay, I didn't have to sense this one... She scanned all the problems in each house and lot before her skin got slashed. Hawks immediately noticed this and looked surprised. "What happened?"

"It's fine. I found them-" Her body froze up, but the wings she cast remained intact. Hawks grabbed hold of her shoulders before settling her on the rooftop of a commercial building. 

"Oi! Stay here. Where are the villains?" he firmly asked, a subtly upset expression on his face.

Iku tried to point somewhere but really couldn't move her body. "Shit. Okay, uh... The building across this street. 3rd floor. I think their quirk can hold a person in place... That, or they realized their shadows were moving on their own and jabbed a knife at it."

Hawks nodded before flying across. Iku didn't like this at all. "This is bad. I hope I'm wrong on my first guess," she said to herself.

A few minutes passed by before police cars arrived at the street. There were quite a handful of vehicles that arrived, actually. Some officers went inside the same building Hawks was at. Iku tried to move again but couldn't. Perhaps her second guess was correct.

Suddenly, she heard her voice again. "Aw, struggling?" Sōko. Iku glared to her side before forcing her arms to move, but nothing happened. Sōko laughed. "No use trying if your own body's still too weak for any of this."

"Shut up. I liked Saturday more when you didn't bother me at all."

"I felt bad for a bit. But now I don't! Or maybe I do still care. Why would I come and annoy you now, right?" Iku took a deep breath before asking, "What is it?" Sōko chuckled. "I love it when you ask! Just a little bit fun after I help, that's all," she answered.

Before Iku could say anything, Hawks flew back to her. Sōko stopped meddling again. "You alright, Shadowbane?" he asked her. For once, she answered,

"No, I still can't move my arms nor my legs." Hawks swooped Iku up and flew them both down. "Alright, we'll get this checked. Thankfully, there's around two ambulances on their way here," he told her. "Ah. Okay."

Tokoyami managed to arrive shortly after. He was surprised when he saw Iku completely still. "Iku! Are you okay?"

"Well, Tokoyami... not really. Villains managed to slash my shadows, I guess, and hit me in a really vital-"

"She got away," Hawks said. Iku raised both brows. "She..?" He nodded.

"That girl can poison anything from the inside. Almost got me, but thankfully I dodged by using my wings. She threatened to take away the lives of a lotta people if I made a move so..."

"Case not closed... I see. What did she look like?" Iku asked. "No. I mean, you need to rest up. As for you, Tsukoyomi, I don't think you can help for this either. Sorry." Tokoyami nodded. "It's fine, even though I don't feel like I helped much today..." Hawks realized how the atmosphere got really grim before livening up the mood.

"Hey, though! I didn't mean it that way. I'm still both your mentor, and your safety matters most. Being a Pro takes a lot of mental and physical strength, so you both just need to keep training to work at peak performance," he reminded, trying to lift their spirits up. Iku understood that before asking, "You said you used your wings to block off her poison, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Is that why there's a second ambulance on its way here? Can you still fly long range?" Hawks lightly laughed. "Oh, no. Unlike your quirk, I'll be fine even if my feathers get damaged. Though I do have one weakness..." he said the last line quieter. "You? Have a weakness?" Tokoyami asked. The Pro nodded.

"Fire. If I'm in a room filled with that, then I may as well be fried chicken. I get it, I'm tasty, but don't take it to a literal extent!" Iku and Tokoyami burst out a chuckle and laugh from that. Hawks smiled as he saw them finally lighten up.

The ambulances finally arrived, and Hawks carried Iku up again. "I'll let them know that you got affected by the girl's quirk, and they'll treat you after," Hawks assured Iku. "Oh, what about Tokoyami? And uh.. the other things-"

"Don't think about this issue anymore. I've got it handled. Focus on getting yourself better, kid," he said as he brought her inside the van, carefully placing her on the stretcher. Since she was finally lying down, her brain decided to doze off a little.

And then... She awoke on a hospital bed.

---

10/31 - this was a lengthy chapter compared to the previous ones, but i guess that's just what happens once you start enjoying the plot?? maybe?? or when you don't have the word count bugging you so much (i wrote these on notes earlier lol)

Chapter Text

"I'm sorry. I don't know if this means much, but I really, really mean it. I'm sorry."

"You always say this, yet you keep repeating your mistakes. You only apologize if you mean it."

"But I do-"

"If you meant them all, why keep doing your mistakes over and over?"

...you can't force a 7 year old to try so hard in something that they can't enjoy.

Iku laid there on the hospital bed. Her mind felt fuzzy, and her vision seemed a bit blurry. She slowly sat up straight and looked at the sky. Did she sleep through? It was only the afternoon earlier, yet the sun was up again. Her chest felt light, she knew that. But why?

She glanced to her side. Her phone was right there. She tried to grab it, but her hand was shaky. 

"Ah, don't move yet, please," a nurse said, entering the room with some medical tools. "How do you feel, Miss Iku?" she asked the girl. 

"Huh... oh! I'm okay. Can you get that for me? I need to talk to some people." Iku asked the nurse back. 

She grabbed the phone for her before opening it. "The time at the moment is 8:49am, and I can assist you in calling those people. What are their numbers?"

Iku shook her head lightly. "Wait, I actually don't know his number yet... How about uh... is Hawks outside? Or did he only drop me off here? I get it if he left me here... since..." Just then, a few knocks were heard.

"About that..." It was Hawks and Tokoyami, both of which wanted to check up on her. A faint smile creaked on her face. 

"O-oh! Hello, Hawks! I'll be leaving you three some privacy now, then," the nurse said, bowing her head as she closed the door and left.

"Iku," Tokoyami said, "you've been unconscious for a day." Iku looked confused. "Yeah! I know. But why's the sky so... blue. Is that blue? It was almost 6 in the evening earlier and..."

"No. It's already the 4th day of the internship." When Iku heard that, she didn't completely comprehend it. 

"4th day? Did I pass out longer than 12 hours?" The two stayed silent as they nodded slowly. The painkillers that got injected on her may have made her feel light and unfazed, but knowing that she really passed out for long made her phase out of that momentarily. 

Her brows furrowed before she closed her eyes. "What do you mean it's been over 24 hours since I last woke up? What happened out there? I still need to know who that person was!"

Hawks noticed the way her expression tensed up. He thought that she might have had a number of questions to ask, but before anything else... "Heyy, it's alright! I did tell you to get some rest, and you did do as I asked. Well done! And thank you."

The final remark stopped further thoughts from entering Iku's mind. Her brows eased up, but her face looked confused again. "What? Why?"

He looked at her and chuckled as if she was supposed to know fully well the answer to her question. Iku really couldn't think of why at that moment. 

A few moments passed before Hawks answered his own question. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have dodged her attacks." Iku still didn't get it, to which the Pro chuckled off before going straight to the point. 

"You saved me out there; good job, kid." Iku felt subtly flustered over that, a smile perking on her face after. 

"Hehe, I saved a Pro Hero's life?" Iku asked, before glancing at Tokoyami. He seemed like he had something to say, too, but decided to nod his head for the time being.

"You were great out there, Iku," he commended. Iku lightly giggled before lifting her arm. 

"You were cool there too! I mean, I definitely was better but..." Hawks held back from laughing.

"This isn't a competition, kid." 

"I know, but stillll..." Iku whined before remembering that Tokoyami looked like he needed to tell her something. "Oh right! Is there something wrong, Tokoyami?" She asked him, her face turning into a subtle look of concern. 

"I'm not sure if I should tell you about it yet or if I should let you rest for now." 

Iku shook her head. "I already asked, so tell me. I wanna know about what you were gonna say," she answered, her expression more determined than not. Tokoyami was speechless but went on with what he was going to say.

"You're aware that Iida hasn't been doing fine since the Sports Festival, right?"

"I mean, yeah? Why?" Iku asked again. Tokoyami looked at Hawks for a moment before glancing back at her. He took a deep breath. "Shoto, Midoriya, and Iida are currently hospitalized too."

Iku felt something she hadn't strongly felt in a bit before. If earlier was something strong, this erupting feeling only grew worse. A spur of rage flowed through her vessels. Her chest felt heavy again. Did the lights get dimmer? The air was starting to lessen, too. What was this? Over hearing them in the hospital like her? Her head ended up aching. 

Painkillers weren't enough to keep her from her true feelings. Hawks and Tokoyami noticed this before quickly making their way to her sides, with Tokoyami holding her shoulder to make her snap out of that infuriating feeling. She felt his grasp, which made her breathe deeply before looking back at him. Everything still seemed grim in her eyes.

"Why are they there? Who did it?" Firm to the brim, those were the first words that came out of her mouth. She asked in such a loud volume, distressed. She was quickly used to hearing Deku be hospitalized due to his self-destructive nature, but for Shoto AND Tenya to be included... All the while she was unconscious... She couldn't bear it. She had to know. She needed to clear everything out. 

"Hey, calm down, Iku. It's been taken care of," Hawks said, once again trying to reassure the frustration lingering in her mind and heart.

"Who." They really couldn't leave her upset like this.

"Okay, we'll tell you once you calm down," The Pro added, trying to exchange information with her emotions to go back to normal. 

"BUT I..." She grunted before deciding to breathe in and out a few more, her head feeling lightheaded, before relaxing her face. The meds' effect was slowly retracting at this rate. "Alright. Tell me now, you two."

Tokoyami scrolled through his phone before showing a picture of a man with a big, tattered scarf around his neck, a gray tank top, dark pants, and bandages around his arms and eyes. His black hair was messy, and he had an ominous smile.

"This is Hero Killer: Stain. From what we've heard, he's been killing heroes left and right. But he only puts specific ones out of the limelight and also mentioned that All Might's the ideal hero," he explained to her.

"Yup. Iida's brother Ingenium got into that mess too, so he had to go face-off with Stain in return. Good thing your other friends showed up or else you might've lost a friend in your class," Hawks said, crossing his arms. He wasn't joking around. Iku remained quiet before asking, "What does his quirk do?"

Hawks scratched the back of his neck, awkwardly chuckling. "Good question. It's kind of the same thing that happened to you. Bloodcurdle, which lets him paralyze anyone as soon as he ingests their blood."

Iku was startled over quickly seeing the similarities. "Wait, do you think I..."

"Hm?" They asked in unison.

Iku stayed silent again before shaking her head, a very subtle smile on her face appearing. "No, no. Nevermind." For once, she tried chuckling it off.

"Would you have died if you faced him? I doubt it." Hawks had an idea that this was what got in her head after he mentioned what Stain's quirk did. Iku seemed aloof over it. She couldn't really hide her feelings well at that moment. She wasn't able to hide it at all since she woke up. Her chest was hurting, but not as painful as how it was just a few moments back.

"All of this is a lot to take in... I should rest more, shouldn't I?" she asked, not making further eye contact with either of them. The two understood what she was feeling. 

"Guess so. But remember: We'll always be one ring away!" Hawks said, attempting to make her feel lighter over things. Iku smiled at him. "Thanks, Hawks."

He did a two-fingered salute as Tokoyami and he were by the door. "Rest easy, kid,"

"...Message us once you feel better," Tokoyami added. Iku waved at him before he stepped out the room as well. 

And so... They were gone. 

It was Iku by herself once more. She let out a big sigh before pressing her hands against her forehead, massaging her scalp as she went to comprehend what just happened in the course of 72 hours.

I spent time trying to get here... flying... then... We spent the first day starting off the internship. The second day, Hawks asked us about the League of Villains. Honestly, I get why he was curious, but I didn't expect him to be more curious than the average person. And then... That girl from across the building poisoned me apparently. Then... I'm assuming the incident with Tenya and his brother happened yesterday? I didn't see any news about it before I fell unconscious, so...

Despite her hands still subtly shaky, she went to grab her phone. It dropped down, but she quickly made use of her quirk to hold it for her. She opened her phone and looked up for Ingenium. 

"Hosu... oh, that's actually pretty far. Actually wouldn't have been able to help in time." After realizing that Hosu was far from Fukuoka, she concluded that she wouldn't have been able to help Tenya and the others.

She then decided to keep looking up information regarding the incident, checking on information about Stain. Given her connections, she was able to skim through lesser-known articles and saw a good bundle of details regarding the hero killer. Most articles were about how some found his ideology to be twisted but reasonable, but there was one that was quite different.

"Huh? Stain spoke with... Tomura?" That piqued Iku's interest. She read through the article, in which certain keywords managed to spark more in her mind.

"Stain was found near a bar, and a commotion happened there. Someone managed to sneak a peak and discovered that he was going to form a negotiation with the infamous League of Villains..." She kept on reading.

"It seemed like they had a disagreement going on. Perhaps their tales are similar, but the path they want to walk on lies on opposites? Stain wants a society where no heroes are corrupt. It shows how he badly wants our society to turn out—fair in all manners. Although his methods are rash, it helps in spotting which heroes are genuine and which aren't." 

Iku lightly nodded her head. "I mean, fair point. Not everyone in a society is true to their actions." She continued to read the rest of the article.

"Tomura Shigaraki, we don't know much about him, but it seems as if he wants any image of All Might to be wreaked into havoc. Maybe his mom never taught him how to love, but the Symbol of Peace was always what made society seem better." Iku stopped reading. This was getting really subjective. She closed the tab and shut her phone again before resting her head against the pillow on her bed, slowly drifting back to sleep.

A few hours passed by...

It was lunchtime. The medicines and painkillers completely wore off. She woke up to the smell of a beverage and the sight of fruits and vegetables, all neatly chopped and sliced for her to eat without any hassle. 

"Oh, arigatou," she thanked the nurse that brought the food to her. 

"Of course, miss! If you need anything, feel free to buzz this button and we'll be here immediately!" She told Iku, bowing once more before leaving her be in the room.

Iku feasted on the meal. Although it wasn't her typical set of foods, she didn't mind it as they were all healthy for her anyway. A few minutes passed before she saw her phone light up. She grabbed it, but that was when the after effects of the painkillers popped up. 

Her hands dropped the phone. "Seriously..?" She used her quirk to grab the phone and type for her. Upon looking at the screen, it was a notification from someone.

izuku
IKU! please tell me you're doing okay. i found out from tokoyami that you got hurt and couldn't even wake up yesterday...

Iku took a bit to adjust in reading the screen, but slowly worked on typing things out.

iku
oh, dw. I'm alright. what about you? could have been there to help if I knew about Tenya's reason for taking his internship at Hosu.

Her writing seemed off, and she didn't want that. She decided to quickly dial Tokoyami. He picked up after a few rings. 

"Hmm? Is there anything you need there, Iku?" He asked, the brisk noise audible on his end of the call. 

"Can you type out some things for me? Deku messaged me, I can't seem to write much at the moment," she asked. 

"Don't worry. I'm on my way."

As he was pacing towards her room, Iku looked back at her phone. A new message from Deku could be seen.

izuku
huh? im doing okay too don't worry
iida and todoroki are doing fine now, if that's what you wanted to know about too
and as for what happened... well, i dont know how to explain it well enough

She left it on read for a while before Tokoyami finally entered the room. "Yay. Here's my phone, I'll just tell you what to type out," she gently instructed. Tokoyami nodded. "Tell him..."

iku
It's fine. I looked up what happened. I'm well-informed now on the stakes that were put up there.
izuku
oh- okay! i didn't expect there to be news about him already, but that makes total sense
after this internship, do you mind if we did some training together?
iku
Hmm?
izuku
i just need to try something out with what i've learned so far, and i think fighting against your quirk would be really helpful
iku
Ahh... I don't mind. I'll go easy on you, though.
izuku
huh?
iku
Whatever my potential was back in the Sports Festival... I feel like I've gotten more agile than that now. And the trip to Omotesando Hills was quite rejuvenating for me, too.

Tokoyami lightly chuckled. "I still wonder what you two were up to away from us," he teased. "I already told you guys, I met up with some friends..." She lightly sighed. "Mhm, okay."

izuku
if you're worried about me getting injured, it's okay. that's why i want to train with you anyway, to get stronger and understand how to fight against more formidable foes

Iku lightly chuckled when Deku indirectly called her a "formidable foe." 

iku
If that's what will make you feel better, then sure. Are you going to bring anyone else along?
izuku
well if the others want to join in then i don't see a problem with it!
iku
Can you get Shoto to join?

Tokoyami glanced at Iku. Iku gave him a stern look. "Okay, I'll stop joking around." Iku relaxed her expression.

izuku
SPEAKING OF! how much do you know about what happened the other day??
iku
Hm? Stain is a type of anti-hero who hates the false heroes but really admires All Might for his sincerity in saving people. His quirk has something relevant with blood and paralyzation of those whose blood he's consumed... And then Tenya's brother, who's known as Ingenium, was severely injured by Stain, which was why Tenya went to Hosu.

Tokoyami then spoke again. "How much research did you do before this?" Iku lightly shrugged. "I could still feel and see better before the meds wore off, that's all I can say," she told him.

iku
I also know that you and Shoto were there to help. I don't know how you arrived there, but that was very timely and fortunate.
izuku
so you don't know that we fought a nomu and stain saved me from one nomu with wings?
iku
I'm sorry what?

"Did we not tell you?" Tokoyami asked her. 

"Uh, no. You guys only told me about the hospitalization and such." Tokoyami rubbed his neck, quietly chuckling. 

"My bad."

izuku
yeah
iku
No. I didn't see this. Though I am aware that Stain and the League of Villains have had a quick interaction with each other...
Frankly, it does make sense why Stain saved you. You're a genuine person, I must admit that.

Tokoyami looked back at Iku. "What about me and the others?"

Iku was caught off-guard over that question. "I mean you're all pretty genuine too! But... I guess Deku's noble and a lot more?" Iku sighed before shaking her head in disappointment. "Let's move on."

izuku
you're honest and true too, iku!
iku
If you say so.
Going back to Shoto...
izuku
oh also- endeavor was there to fight the other nomus that arrived
iku
Ah. I see. Okay.
Before we get off topic again, please ask Shoto to join us in the training.
izuku
i'll see if i can convince him, but at most-- uraraka, iida, and Kacchan might show up
iku
And I suppose I'll be inviting Tokoyami and Momo into this, then.

Tokoyami lightly smiled as he typed that down and sent it to Deku.

izuku
that would be nice! we could use the group chat again, and just add iida there :D
iku
Mhm. Anyway, I think I should go get a bit more rest. I may be starting to feel better, but I want to make myself feel completely recovered by the time we meet again.
Also, my eyes hurt right now.
izuku
oh! okay, i completely get that. please take care, iku!
iku
You too, Deku.

Tokoyami settled Iku's phone down on the surface of the drawer to her side once more. She took a deep breath in, then breathed out after a while. 

"Is there anything else?" He asked her. 

She shook her head. "It's alright now. Thank you very much, Tokoyami," she thanked him. He nodded his head. "No problem. I'll be going now. Just call me or the others again if you need anything," he reminded. Iku lightly smiled. "I will."

He left the room once more, and Iku started to ponder for a while on who even was the person that poisoned her like that.

"Actually, nevermind all that, I suppose. Thinking more of this might wake her up again." She then slowly went back to finishing her meal before drifting off to slumber.

"Your quirk scares me so much... and yet you think you can be a hero? In your dreams, weirdo!"

"I liked it more when you still didn't have a quirk. Now you're just so weird."

"Get away from me! You're cute but that won't change what you say and do normally!"

...I don't get it. Why do you all think

this won't hurt me?

Chapter Text

The rest of the Internship went by smoothly after Iku recovered that day. On the 7th and final day, Iku asked for Hawks to have them end the program early.

"Oh? Is it because you wanna meet up with your friends before school? I mean, I don't mind at all. You've gotten a buncha progress done here with me," Hawks said, checking on his phone and swiping through some of his feed.

Iku nodded. "I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity. Also, I would like to excuse Tokoyami early." Tokoyami quickly glanced at her. "So we're really going back today?"

"Yup. And this time, we're taking the jet. I'm done flying around for now," Iku answered as she crossed her arms, looking up at the sky. "Oho, you have a jet?" Hawks asked, intrigued.

"Uh, yeah. My family's quite well off, so we have one." Hawks rubbed his chin, curious. "So where exactly do you live then if ya got the money for all that?"

Iku looked around, her arms still folded, before answering, "Somewhere nearby Musutafu. It isn't much of a hero-centered place, ironically, but yeah." Tokoyami wondered subtly. "There aren't many heroes there?"

"Yeah. Not much crime to begin with, so heroes don't seem needed there." Hawks bobbed his head a bit before patting Iku's shoulder. "So you're kinda a big shot in your neighborhood then, huh?" Iku raised both hands, shaking them. "Nope, nope. I'm more lowkey there than here."

"How can you act lowkey if you're rich and go to a hero school?" The Pro asked again. "I'm... just good with separating my personal life from my profession?" Iku was eyeing away, gesturing to hold off any more questions at that point. Despite Hawks wanting to ask more, he shrugged before gesturing his fingers to his lips, zipping it.

Iku glanced back at her phone, waiting for a response from S, before Hawks spoke up again. "Say, before you two go back," he suggested, "why not take a little stroll here?" Tokoyami thought about it, but Iku was already glancing between her phone and the sky.

She pointed up, the two looking to see if it was the jet. "Ah, nevermind then! Alright, stay safe on your way back, Iku, Tokoyami," Iku cast her wings and wrapped another around Tokoyami. They waved at Hawks, and he returned it with a bright smile as the two flew up a building and went inside the jet. Tokoyami and Iku sat down on one of the chairs, and Iku noticed a familiar face right after. Suzume was there.

Suzume was wearing quite a casual fit today, unlike their last encounter. They were wearing a plain shirt with a long-sleeved polo shirt wrapped around their waist. The same ruby accessory was around their neck, still shining as bright. They chuckled at Iku.

"Hey, Iku!"

"Thought we weren't gonna meet any time soon, Suzume," Iku said, although she didn't sound displeased at all. Tokoyami didn't know who they were, so he stayed silent. However, Suzume noticed him and waved lightly at the boy before glancing back at Iku.

"Soooo, this is the one you got to spend time with here, hmm?" They smirked, albeit a teasing tone audible again. They were looking at the boy from head to toe before looking at Iku, a cheeky smile evident. Iku sighed before nodding her head.

"Yes, this is my friend, Tokoyami." Iku massaged her temple. "Just. A friend," she wanted to clarify that, to which Suzume burst out chuckling. "And Tokoyami, this is my close friend, Suzume," Iku introduced them with one another, both of which waved at each other.

"Nice to meet ya, Tokoyami!" They greeted each other enthusiastically. He nodded in response. "It's nice to meet you as well, Suzume-san." Iku then wanted to point something out.

"By the way," Iku said, "Suzume's pronouns are they/them." Suzume smiled over her telling him. "Aww, you actually didn't forget to mention it this time!"

Iku shrugged. "Things aren't as secretive as that last meeting." Tokoyami pieced out some of the context before asking, "May I ask if this was who you and Midoriya met with last week?" Iku lightly giggled before nodding. "There was another, but yeah."

"Who was that?" He asked once more. "Hmm... another friend who moved cities recently," she said, before getting a ring on her phone. "Oh, Deku and the others are also on their way to UA High."

Suzume chuckled. "Ohoo, I'm finally gonna get to see them all?" She shook her head. "Stay here. Also, it'll just be me and a few... friends." Suzume pouted and rolled their eyes before standing up.

"Welp, I'll go upfront and tell Noru-kun to get the engine started. Dropping you off at the school, or nearby?" They asked, making their way to the front of the jet. "Just nearby. We can walk from there," Iku replied. "Alrighty, Iku!" And so, they were off. It was finally time to leave Fukuoka and return to Musutafu City.

The jet finally took off and it was peace, quiet, and the sky for them. Iku at one point felt calm, timid. She rested her hand by the window as she eyed on the cities that she flew by last week.

This was quite a trip... Suffice to say, she hadn't been too annoying.

She looked in front of her and saw Tokoyami, who was also just looking at the aerial view on his window seat. He wasn't much of a fidgeter, so his hands were clasped together neatly on his lap.

Neither of the two made a word with the other. They did spend a handful of time together within these past few days, so there wasn't much to share about. Until...

"Iku," Tokoyami spoke, "Who are you most comfortable with in the class?" It was more of a small talk type of question, but Iku responded nonetheless.

"I guess Deku? You too, of course. How about you?" Tokoyami showed a subtle smile before glancing at her. "I also feel most comfortable engaging with you," he answered. "That's good. Why'd you ask, actually?" She asked once more.

"You're quiet, like me. I wanted to see if my hunch would be right, and it was," Iku nodded, understanding what he said.

"Hm... how many friends do you see in the class?" Iku vaguely asked. "Hm?"

"Like, the number of friends you consider to be friends with. For me, I can only see around 3 to 4 at the moment." After realizing the question, Tokoyami replied, "I think I see a few more than that for me now."

"Oh? Like who?"

Tokoyami rubbed his chin. "Midoriya, Uraraka, Koda, Shoji, you, and a late arrival... Bakugo." Iku cackled. "Katsuki? You? Is it because of all the meet ups we've had the week of the Sports Festival?"

The boy nodded. "He's a bit of an aggressive person..."

"Not just a bit. He's really damn aggro. And it annoys me, but go on."

"You can see that he tries to do his best, which I find admirable," Iku let out an "ahh" after he pointed that fact out. "Fair enough. I must admit that he really is hot-blooded and an academically hyper guy. Can't really tell when he'll calm down, but I see your point now."

"Who are those 3-4 friends you said earlier?" Tokoyami had to ask. "Oh. You, Deku, and Momo. I want to include... well, Shoto... but I'm still working on it," she elaborated, her eyes looking a bit sad after.

Tokoyami wanted to jokingly ask something. "May I ask-"

"No. I don't."

"Haven't even asked the question."

"No need," Iku sighed before shaking her head and checking her phone.

After around 20 minutes, they arrived at a mounting area. The jet landed on it, carefully being maneuvered as to not damage the jet nor the nearby objects. Iku and Tokoyami left the jet and made their way to UA High, taking a shortcut to get there faster. "Tokoyami," Iku decided to nudge in some small talk again. "How do you feel about the Internship?"

He thought for a moment, shoving his hands in his pants' pockets. "It was a big learning experience. I admit, I had a difficult time trying to catch up with Hawks. Even with you, actually. You seemed to just get faster and swifter as the days passed," Tokoyami noted, feeling down over his performance. "It makes me wonder how long you've been training... and how much you've been holding back so far."

Iku laughed over the last statement. "Oi, I'm not holding anything back. I mean, I am but that's for the better of everyone," she exclaimed. "Are you worried that you might hurt us badly or something close to it?" He asked her. She stayed silent for a moment, her face softening. "Kind of, yeah." Tokoyami looked at her. "Well, from what I've learned so far, you don't have to hold back. We... all need to learn to grow and be prepared for anything," he assured her.

"I mean, yeah, I guess. But... mmm... say, how do you feel about our classmates?" She switched the topic. Tokoyami decided to follow along and answered, "Again, hm? Well, I think they're all really nice. Everyone's respectful with each other."

"Count Mineta out," Iku cackled soon after. "Oh, true. He is kind of... an odd person," Tokoyami commented. "A pervert. I hate people who eye up others like they're just meat or toys to begin with," Iku added, her face turning serious.

Iku, for the most part, never bothered to take a long mental note on each of her classmates, but she was planning on doing so right after this meet up with Deku and the others. After all, there was a reason why it was only them and not the whole class. Getting to know everyone, one-by-one, group-by-group, felt more efficient than all at the same time.

Uraraka, Deku, Katsuki, Tenya, and Shoto were there. Tenya was already stretching his legs a bit, and Shoto with his arms.

When Uraraka saw Iku and Tokoyami, she smiled and called, "Hey, Iku!! Hi Tokoyami!" Iku waved at them and saw that Tenya and Shoto did indeed attend. She held back the feeling of success and simply glanced at all of them, a soft stare in her eyes.

"Okay, everyone. Ah, wait, where's Momo?" Uraraka fidgeted her legs and fingers. "She couldn't attend since it's Sunday..." a lonely pout grew visible on her face. "Well, at least you all still showed up. I know we're all tired from the program, so let's take this practice easy, okay?" Iku asked them nicely. The others cheered in unison.

There wasn't a concrete plan on how the practice would work, but per Deku's request, Iku and he would be paired to fight.

"You're fighting against her?!" Katsuki aggressively asked, a stern look on his face.

"W-well yeah... it shouldn't be a problem since I did ask her to train with me and-"

"Not happening. Me, you, right now. I'm not letting the fight last time in the 2v2 stay up. I'm beating you this time, and you're not gonna say no!"

Shoto stared at the two before looking back at Iku. "Say," Shoto spoke, "Since Bakugo considered that idea of him and Midoriya fighting as a form of a rematch, what say you?" Iku was flabbergasted.

"I... still haven't gotten my payback for you winning against me in the Sports Festival," his eyes were sharply gazed at Iku. He really wanted to get some form of revenge over it.

"Wait!! What about us 3?" Uraraka asked, her hands waving all over the place. "We can spar, a 1v1v1," Tokoyami suggested.

"That would be ideal! So no one gets left out," Tenya added.

"Huh! Okay, let's do that then!" She commented, her face looking eager.

Deku and Iku both looked bothered as they glanced at each other. Their eyes locked in. She didn't mutter a word, but they had a quick conversation at that moment.

"You wanna do this?" Iku asked him, her brows doing the talking. A very minor nod coming from Deku, followed by his brows furrowing and his fists forming, Iku knew the answer. They both looked back at Katsuki and Shoto, respectively, before speaking up,

"Okay, let's do this!" They exclaimed, all 7 of them pumped up for this sudden training-turned-pvp.

They first flipped a coin to check if they were all going to fight simultaneously, or if they'd fight one by one. Tails won, so they all had to take turns. They did rock-paper-scissors to see which group would fight first. It was Tokoyami’s group that won. 

“Okay, let's do this!” Uraraka yelled in excitement. They were all then dressed in their hero costumes to better aid themselves in the fight. The other 4 sat down and watched them battle against each other.

“Remember, everyone: This is just for training purposes! If anyone gets badly injured, immediately call the match over!” Tenya reminded, hoping that everyone would follow through.

“Don't worry, we'll keep that in mind,” Tokoyami said as he began to ready Dark Shadow into combat. Uraraka got in her battle stance, taking a step back as her arms were in a ready position. Tenya, too, got into position as he resonated energy by his legs and calves.

“3... 2... 1...” The three took deep breaths in... “Go!” And they finally charged at one another. Tokoyami took the opportunity of them being under the shade of the school and trees and unleashed a strong attack, aiming towards Tenya. 

Tenya dodged, sliding across the ground before making a U-turn and flinging his leg across the air, attempting to hit Uraraka from behind. Uraraka took note and grabbed hold of his leg, swinging him around before activating her quirk on him.

“Ack, no!” Tenya reacted before nudging the trapped leg off from her grasp. However, it was too late. A part of him got lighter, and quickly enough, he was floating. Tokoyami didn't hesitate and used Dark Shadow to grasp Uraraka without directly touching her.

Using the Martial Arts lessons that she had during the internship, Uraraka leapt back and did 3 reverse cartwheels, avoiding the clutches of Tokoyami's quirk. “Very swift, Uraraka,” Tenya commended, clapping slowly. “Aren't you going to try and go down from there??” She asked him.

Tokoyami didn't want to waste more time so he cut their chat short and made Dark Shadow scoop up the small rocks on the grass, deliberately aiming it at Uraraka. Tenya, who decided he shouldn't quit so soon, rolled around mid air and released a surge of power through his engines, allowing him to move towards the ground.

Uraraka dodged Tenya and the rocks, flickering them with her hands and using her quirk on each individual object, before dashing past Dark Shadow and aiming at Tokoyami. Tokoyami leapt up a tree, but Uraraka grabbed his leg and tossed him back to the ground. “Fuck! Dark Shadow!” He yelled, summoning it back to him.

The fight continued and Katsuki simply had his arms crossed. Deku was analyzing their movements, noting how Uraraka had gotten quite stronger in the course of a week.

“Iida would be at an advantage right now if he wasn’t tagged too soon by Uraraka... But he’s making good use of him being in the air! Tokoyami could have a better grasp of the fight if the setting were darker, but-”

Iku cleared her throat. “I have a feeling he’ll get better, just wait on it,” she assured Deku.

A few minutes passed, and it seemed as if neither of the three were going to step down. Katsuki grew tired of waiting and got off from the bench, aggressively grabbing Deku by the collar. “I’m bored. Let’s go duel, nerd,” he said as he dragged the other to the opposite side of the yard, an open space with also a handful of trees surrounding the edges.

Shoto overheard Katsuki and looked at Iku before standing up from the bench. "If those two are going to start a duel, I'd want to fight you right now," he said, his eyes looking straight into Iku's.

"I... okay," Iku responded as she also got up from her seat. The latter pair were going to excuse themselves from the three, but they were quite pumped up to the point that they weren’t paying attention to the other four. “Let’s just go to where Midoriya and Bakugou are at,” Shoto exclaimed, his eyes serious.

Deku noticed Iku and Shoto following them both before reacting. “Ah! Iku, Todoroki. You both also want to start your 1v1 now?” He asked them.

“Mm. I want to beat Iku this time,” Shoto said.

“Hey,” Iku spoke, “just thought of an idea. Another 2v2? This time, it’ll be me and Deku, and you and Katsuki.” The question was directed towards Shoto, but Katsuki rebutted. “Nah. I’m fighting Deku on my own. Pretty sure Icy-hot here wants that too,” Shoto glared at Katsuki for a moment before rolling his eyes.

“Okay, then. 1v1, me versus you, Shoto,” Iku said as she went up to the other end of the yard, preparing herself. The other three got ready as well, all of which were determined to win the duel. No one was making the countdown. It was all up to each one’s instinct on who would move first.

Shoto’s right hand was ready to spur out ice. Katsuki’s hands were sweating, which was essential for his quirk to work. Deku... his one week training taught him something valuable. To not overexert power on one part of his body. He was ready, maybe, to use it against someone.

Iku was well aware that both Deku and Shoto had to fight Stain the other day, so she was eager to see how well they’ve improved since. A smile appeared on her face as she thought of it, which led Shoto confused. But it didn’t matter. He was going to attack....

Now.

Shoto dashed first, his right foot freezing the ground as he swooped his hand across, his right arm pressed against his face, before charging a spike attack with his ice. Iku cast a shadow barrier and deflected the ice towards the ground, but the boy imbued both of his quirks on the shadow, a strong amount being inflicted onto it.

Iku felt her body temperature shifting between hot and cold, which didn’t matter as she leapt high in the air and quickly cast shadow appendages behind Shoto, aiming to grab his limbs.

Meanwhile, Katsuki and Deku had already begun their fight. Katsuki blasted behind himself and lunged close to Deku, a menacing grin on his face as he yelled, “DEKU!” Deku was prepared, however, and knew each of his movements by heart. He sprinted towards Katsuki and aimed to go below his arms.

As the two boys got nearer to one another, Deku charged up 5% of his power on his arm, and the rest of his energy all over his body. He gave Katsuki an uppercut and a cross to his stomach, but the blond blasted at Deku and dodged the cross punch. He indirectly made himself turn towards the direction of Iku and Shoto. 

The appendages that were going to immobilize Shoto had been interrupted by Katsuki flinging directly at it. Shoto noticed immediately and turned the rest of the barrier into ice as he climbed over it and aimed to grab Iku. Iku, however, spun about and punched the ice on the barrier before making the same figure scoop Shoto inside.

The boy punched and kicked the figure, but it seemed as if he was encapsulated in it. “Is this the same trick you did in the Sports Festival...?” He asked a rhetorical question, but nonetheless still wondered why he didn’t realize soon enough. He pressed his left hand against the shadow, imbuing a powerful fire attack on it. “This’ll probably do the trick, won’t it?”

Deku saw Katsuki fling away along with Shoto getting trapped in the shadow. He glanced at Iku for a moment before quickly focusing on Katsuki as he went on a ready stance. He didn’t want to be the first to attack considering what might happen, so he waited for the blond to come back.

And so Katsuki did. He blasted at a faster rate towards Deku, aiming to roundhouse kick him on the head. Deku readied one arm for blocking and another for a counterattack.

The second they made contact, Katsuki’s leg was nearly grabbed by Deku’s blocking arm, but he anticipated this so he kicked with a different leg, causing Deku to go off-balance. This gave him an opening for a barrage of punches.

It seemed as if Deku and Iku were both on the losing side of the coin, but Deku quickly regained balance and slid below and past Katsuki, with a goal of grabbing him by the arms and pinning him down the ground. Iku, on the other hand, ignored the burning sensation and instead molded the spherical shadow into a smaller one, trying to make Shoto feel his own heat.

“Oi, Shoto,” Iku called, “I wonder if you can take your own flames.” She made the ball become even smaller, nearly suffocating Shoto inside. Deku, who was about to grab Katsuki’s arms, saw this and yelled, “Iku! That’s a bit too much-” But he got cut off as Katsuki grasped his shoulders and pinned him on the ground instead.

Deku yelped before trying to kick and push Katsuki off, but the blond also anticipated this and pressed his legs on Deku’s, swiftly moving his arms to both of his wrists and keeping him down. “Hah, I fucking win,” Katsuki said, his eyes staring intensely at Deku.

Deku groaned as he remained vigilant whilst attempting to turn things around. However, he sighed sharply and spoke, “okay, Kacchan, you win! Let’s- ack-” Katsuki got off and dusted himself off before dashing to Iku and blasting her. “K-Kacchan!” Deku yelled.

Iku swiftly dodged. “What’s this for?” Her attention was shifted to him. That was the goal. From inside, Shoto stopped using his quirk and tried to claw his way out of the figure. It was still as solid as a rock. “You’re fucking suffocating your opponent, aren’t you damn aware of that?!” Katsuki asked, enraged by her actions.

“He hasn’t said anything yet, why make such a big fuss over this?” Iku asked back. “W..well, fights usually have an equal balance on who might win and...” Deku wanted to explain more, but Katsuki butted in.

“Nerd’s right for once. Drop him and fight him headstrong! Don’t play your damn quirk like this,” He added before marching on the bench nearby, glaring at her. Iku didn’t realize how the two were capable of agreeing on something like this. She quietly chuckled before dismissing the spherical shadow, and out came Shoto who had been preparing to use both quirks again.

Deku quickly sat down next to Katsuki and watched the two fight a second time. He didn’t know what to tell the blond. After all, Katsuki wouldn’t actually care since Iku did the same thing to him before.

“K-Kacchan,” He tried to start a conversation, one that hadn’t happened in a long while. “I don’t wanna hear it, Deku,” Katsuki instantly replied, his arms crossed once again as he tried not to look at the boy.

“I.. just want to say thank you for realizing why I got caught off-guard.” Katsuki let out a “tsk” noise as his brows furrowed more.

“That won’t happen again, remember that,” Katsuki mentioned.

“I... I would  be happy if it would happen more often, though,” Deku added, which made Katsuki look at him. “Why would I care if what I’d do would make you feel happy, huh? You think just because we’re even on this that I’m going to do all that?!” Deku sheepishly laughed it off as he scratched the back of his head. “Maybe some other time...”

Katsuki growled. “Knock it off, nerd. You’re just lucky you even won the first time.” And out came more mumbling and rattling from the blond, which Deku didn’t mind. The two continued to watch Iku and Shoto, and from the looks of it, Shoto was getting tired before Iku could even break a sweat.

“Why are you still so energetic? And you aren’t acting like how you were back in the Festival...” Shoto said breathlessly, his stance faltering. He twisted his neck and breathed loudly, his vision taking a toll on the intensity of their fight.

“Let’s just say that ever since the Festival ended, I wanted to make things better. Not just for myself, but for everyone around me too,” Iku elaborated, which made Deku and Katsuki realize some things that had been happening since then.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say, but frankly I don’t think I should understand it now,” Shoto said as he did one final move- the same massive ice glacier that he caused back then. 

Iku saw how Shoto genuinely felt surprised over her improvement. She decided to lessen her efforts, simply dashing past the ice rather than using her quirk to stop it. Deku started to analyze her movements from there, not like he hadn’t been since the start of the fight. Iku paid close attention to Shoto as she turned her own shadow into vines.

Shoto ran up on his own ice glacier and flipped, grabbing some of the vines with his hands and forcing them around Iku’s eyes and torso. Iku reverted the shadows before going on a fist-to-fist fight with the boy. This was far from practical, as Iku is physically weaker than Shoto, but a barrage of quirk usages would lead to a draw eventually. That, or Deku and Katsuki would call her out again.

Iku was mostly on offense, and Shoto was seamlessly avoiding all of her punches and kicks.

“You need to brush up on your reflexes, Iku,” He said before swiftly turning his head under an incoming punch and grabbing Iku by the waist and neck, freezing her body while holding her head in place. She actually didn’t expect him to come up with this.

“I- Okay. Well played, Shoto,” Iku said, her body quickly growing cold because of the ice on her body. Shoto burned the ice and freed her before looking away. “No handshakes?” Iku asked. “Is Tenya the only one who does that?”

Shoto glanced at her, bewildered. “What’s the point of a handshake after a fight like this?”

“We aren’t trying to actually kill each other, nor are we enemies, right? Shoto?” Iku wanted to hear his answers. “...I wouldn’t say we’re not enemies,” He said. Her facial expression softened a bit, but quickly realized so she went back to her poker face. “I see. Maybe it’s time for me to say it then,” She expressed. “What?”

“I’m sorry for what happened in the Sports Festival. I really am. When I asked you about...” She glanced at Katsuki and Deku, who were still listening in, before looking back at Shoto. “I meant it. I just... I...” She couldn’t tell him exactly why she pulled off such a bait of a question at the end of their fight. It was something that wasn’t supposed to be made aware of for anyone.

“What did you ask me? When?” Shoto genuinely didn’t remember which part this was. He lacks comprehensiveness behind context clues. “Um... our fight. Remember when I asked you if you really wanted to prove yourself to...” Iku didn’t want to finish the question. At that point, Shoto understood.

“Oh. That.” His expression grew subtly annoyed and he looked away. “I just considered that you were pulling an ass move on me then. We were fighting for the finals,” He wanted to brush that incident off.

“And, there’s more, if you can remember,” Iku tried to get his attention back.

“More? That was the last thing you asked me in that fight.”

Iku nodded her head. “I know. But you were also there when my phone was ringing then, right? After my fight with Katsuki?” Shoto’s brows raised. “Yeah, I was. Why?”

“I’m sorry for not noticing you much there, almost ignoring you. I just didn’t know how to say sorry then for... our fight. So I want to apologize now over it,” Iku looked straight at Shoto. He couldn’t understand why she was apologizing in the first place, so he asked, “Why are you feeling sorry for those? Do you think I’m holding a grudge or something?” 

Iku looked to her side, her fingers fidgeting. “I mean... Kind of. Why would you ask me to do a 1v1 with you rather than follow through my suggestion of a 2v2?” She asked him back. “Well,” Shoto cleared it up, “I wanted to just get back at you for the fight itself. But besides that, I’m not holding anything against you,” Shoto said, though he was looking to his side too.

“Are you sure? You didn’t even accept my invitation the day after the Festival...” Iku recalled. “I was tired. And I had a scheduled meeting with someone close on that day,” Shoto explained.

Iku nodded her head. “Okay, I see... Well, you know, since I apologized, you can still tell me anything that’s bothering you or anything like that. You aren’t going to confirm it, but I know you’ve some questions for me, so ask away.”

Katsuki and Deku wanted to ask some things themselves, so one of them spoke up. “Iku,” Katsuki called, “Are me and Deku allowed to ask some stuff? Or is this just for him?” Iku coughed, nearly forgetting that the two were just there.

“Aha, uhm...” She awkwardly smiled at them. “I guess I can open up the discussion with you two, too?” Deku shook his head. “Oh, I’m good! It’s alright!” He looked at Katsuki and told him, “Kacchan, let’s go back to Tokoyami and the others.” 

“Eh?” Katsuki glared at him for a moment before glancing back at Iku’s uncomfortable expression. He sighed before rolling his eyes and standing up. “Yeah, fine. Let’s head back,” He answered. Deku stood up and waved at Shoto and Iku. “See you, I guess!”

At that point, it really was just the two of them there. “So,” Shoto said, “You really want me to ask you anything? Anything ?” Iku nodded once. “I mean, you did confront me too right before our fight. And it’s also why I know that you have more to tell me than just ‘I only wanted to get back at you’ as a reason.”

“Okay, if you say so. When we were fighting, you switched up so abruptly on me. Almost like I was fighting a different person, a person way more experienced in fighting. Did anyone train you prior to this?” He asked her.

“Well, yes actually. I’ve been training for quite a long time now,” Iku answered calmly. “Who, if I may ask?”

“Uhm, no one too special. They’re just really skilled, I guess,” She answered again. Shoto tried to connect the dots a bit more. “So... is it the one who you were on the phone with?”

Iku awkwardly chuckled. “Yeah, uh, good guess. That person is indeed the one who had been training me.”

Shoto pulled a thinking pose. “Are they the reason why you’re here in UA high?” He asked once more. She nodded. “Well. Them, and because I have my own reasons to be here,” She stated. “Reasons that I’m not open to elaborating with to anyone as of now, so don’t bother asking about those specifically.” She had to add that to keep Shoto from asking too much.

“Very well. May I ask about your status right now?” That was a sudden question, but Iku responded, “Uhm... Single?”

“No, I mean your status in terms of finance, if you don’t mind.” That caused a brow to raise for her, but she was confident with what she had. “Well, I could say that my family’s quite wealthy.”

Shoto snapped his fingers. “There it is. It’s quite contradicting that you’re so skilled in fighting and that your family’s well off when you mentioned that your trainer isn’t anyone famous or any of the sort,” Shoto pointed it out.

“And not to mention, a few more things don’t add up. Neither your surname nor background really exist. It’s almost as if this were all fictitious. Why is that?” He called that out.

Iku subtly gulped. Why is he going down this rabbit hole again? She thought, before giving him a stern look. “Excuse me? Are you really going to ask this again?”

Shoto stared immensely back at her. “Yes. I looked everywhere on family names and they’ve never been recorded anywhere. If your family were so wealthy, how come I’ve never heard of your parents? It’s unlike Yaoyorozu, or Iida’s family. Yaoyorozu’s family has a business, and Iida has a brother who was known as Ingenuim. There’s no record of you or your family at all.”

“Well...” She took a deep breath, subtly irritated over this assumption. “My father has a company, too.”

“The name?”

“Must I really say it?” Shoto crossed his arms upon hearing her answer. “Is it so hard to answer the question? Thought you wanted me to ask you anything.” She stayed silent, her eyes slowly piercing through his.

“I think we should skip this question. I can’t be asked so much about this,” She told him. “But-” Shoto was persistent that it started to really bug her.

“Stop asking these kinds of questions if you want to keep things civil between the two of us, Shoto.” Her tone grew annoyed at his insistence on this topic.

God damn it, I expected him to just be curious on why I’m here since he thought that I only showed up as his “opponent”. Why is he driving things to more personal topics?

Shoto started to notice her annoyance towards his questions. He didn’t exactly want to cause a fight, so he cleared his throat. “Sorry, I’ll stop. Since I asked a lot, you can ask me anything in return.” He said, looking away briefly to ease the tension.

Iku already had a handful of knowledge about him and his family, so she asked about something more personal between them both. “Do you really consider me as an enemy? Or was that response earlier just... caused by the intensity of the fight?” Despite her frustrations, this lingered in her mind.

“I didn’t exactly say that we’re enemies. I just considered the fact that we aren’t close,” Shoto responded. “I.. see.” So what are we, Shoto? Acquaintances? Classmates only? These questions bugged her mind, but she didn’t ask it aloud. “Well, thanks for letting me know about that,” Iku then sighed deeply, calming herself down soon after.

“Anything else?” He asked. “Uhm... do you miss-”

Her question got cut off when she heard Uraraka and the others from the other side. “Wait. I think we should check out what’s going on there,” Iku said, dismissing her last question and sprinting to the other end of the yard. Having nothing more to add to the discussion, Shoto followed her to them.

As the two arrived, they overhead Deku congratulating Uraraka for winning the fight against Tokoyami and Tenya. “Oh, the fight only ended now?” Iku asked them. “Mhm. Uraraka proved to be quite a formidable opponent,” Tokoyami complimented Uraraka. “Heh, you two were pretty tough too, you know!” The girl cheered back.

“Oh, Iku!” Tenya called the girl’s attention. “Who won? Was it Todoroki, or you?” Iku pointed at Shoto. “He did well, so...” She answered him. “...You did well too, Iku,” Shoto added, which briefly caught her off guard.

“Ah- Thank you?” She nearly smiled over that, but held back. “So do we switch pairings now?” Uraraka asked them.

“Actually,” Iku spoke, “I might have to rest a bit now. You guys can keep practicing with each other.” Tenya lifted his hand. “I’ll have to call it a day as well for me, everyone. It was great training with you all!” He exclaimed, bowing at them.

“I’ll take my leave, too,” Shoto said as he glanced at Iku and Deku, before making his way back to the yard’s entrance. “Oi, Icyhot,” Katsuki called him. The two exchanged glances before Shoto continued his way to the entrance. The blond clicked his tongue before glaring at Deku. “Did you want to fight him too?” Deku asked him.

“..Not what I was going to do,” Katsuki answered before making his way to his bag by the bench. “Anyway, I’m gonna get going too.” Tokoyami glanced at Deku and the others before commenting, “It feels like we’ll all be parting ways from here, then. I’ll get going as well, everyone.

Uraraka and the others gave a nod. “Right, see you all tomorrow!” Deku cheered. “If that’s the case then okay! See you guys!” Uraraka cheered as she got her bag and followed the others, leaving.

At that moment, it was Deku and Iku who were left alone. Deku knew there were a bunch of things that just happened within the day, and he had a feeling that there were more things running in her mind at that point. “Iku?”

“What is it, Deku?” She asked him, grabbing her bag and glancing at the boy. “Are you doing okay? I mean- from earlier and...” Deku paused at his words, rubbing the back of his neck. Iku nodded. “It’s fine, he and I made up,” She pulled out her phone and messaged someone as she sat down on the bench. Deku sat next to her.

“We didn’t get the chance to practice against each other, too,” He added. Iku looked at him. “Do you want us to have a quick 1v1 now?” He fidgeted his fingers, wondering. “I mean... Sure. One quick fight,” She told him, settling her phone and bag down. However, her phone rang.

Deku glanced at who was calling. “Suzume-nii” It was Suzume. “Oh, Suzume-san’s calling you,” He pointed it out. Iku quickly grabbed her phone and answered it. “Hey. No, Tokoyami already left. The others too.”

“Psh, I don’t lik- No, okay, yeah I’ll get going there. Just quit messing with me like that... haiya,” Iku seemed to have relaxed more after talking with them. Deku lightly smiled over it. “If you need to go, then feel free, Iku! I was just asking, but I’m glad you agreed in the first place,” He told her.

“Okay, see you there, Suzume... mhm,” Iku hung up before glancing at Deku. “Are you sure?” She asked for confirmation. He nodded his head. “Yup. Maybe next time?” He suggested. “Well, alright. See you tomorrow, Deku,” She waved at him as she made her way to the entrance. Deku waved too and followed her out.

And so, the little training session came to an end.

Chapter Text

"Baby, please, please! You need to stay alive, you still have so much to live for! Come on... Our little sunshine... please..."

"Wait, I think I see something. Her hand, look!"

"Oh! Wait, what is that?!-"

With the end of the Internship and the group training session from yesterday, everyone gained more experience and have been quite eager to show off their progress to the class. However, the others were more intrigued over what happened at Hosu City with Tenya, Shoto, and Deku.

"Yo! Iida, how are ya guys?!" Asked Kaminari.

"Was it scary? That Hero Killer looked so menacing on TV!" Commented Mina.

"I mean, he did seem quite scary, sure, but I could say he was more so... unique. Compared to other villains, that is," Tokoyami added. Iku glanced at him and the others, to which the former noticed. He gave her a subtle but concerned look. Iku simply chuckled and shook her head, swaying her fingers at them. She didn't want to be the talk of the town, either, so this was fine for her.

Her memories for the month flooded her brain as she kept writing on her journal, nonchalant to the ongoing conversation. She already knew of it all, after all. And she even got to fight against one of the three, so there wasn't much for her to feel concerned over.

After the chit-chats, Class 1-A had a Rescue Activity, wherein the class would be grouped into 5. Iku was with Deku, Shoji, Momo, and Sero. They were to race through a very obscure area whilst ensuring that they would be able to keep their civilian safe with them.

Iku sighed, holding the "civilian"— it was simply a dummy wearing clothes. They were instructed that no part of the dummies would be seen scathed by the end of the obstacle race. Or if everyone's dummy had some form of damage, the one with the least would have the highest points. Of course, the fastest one would also be given extra points.

"Get ready, you five!" All Might called.

The 5 were holding their civilians in the most convenient ways possible for them. Shoji, using his lower pair of arms to grasp it, Momo, who created a belt of sort to keep it on her back, Sero, who had securely held it by his back using his quirk, Deku, who placed the civilian's torso against his chest and shoulder, and Iku, using her shadows to grasp the civilian.

Katsuki and the rest of 1-A were watching the 5 from behind. "Woo, go Iku! Go Deku!" Uraraka cheered, and the other girls also went to cheer on them.

"Wait, we're allowed to use our quirks like that?" Toru asked, whereas Ojiro answered. "I suppose it makes sense since in an actual situation, you'd wanna be practical and quick."

Kaminari nudged Katsuki and asked, "So, who are ya counting on finishing first here?" The blond growled at him before crossing his arms and looking at Deku.

"No answers? Or is who you're lookin' at the one you expect to go first?"

"Shut up. Most of them have their advantages here, especially Shoji and Iku since they can just fly through all this," Katsuki rebutted. "Oh! Are you guys going to make a bet on who'll win first?" Kirishima asked, making his way to the two.

"No, but that sounds fun!" Kaminari smiled at Kirishima, enlightened by the idea. "My dibs are on Sero! Gut-feeling, you know?" The red hair said, raising a fist before hitting his chest.

"I'll go with... Iku. She won first on the obstacle course last time, so she'll defo win this too," Kaminari betted, looking at Iku who seemed to be messaging something.

Are they placing bets on us? She thought to herself, taking a quick glimpse on her list. Nevermind. I'll just have to go through this, easy.

"I'm not betting shit."

"Aw, don't be like that, Bakugo! This'll be fun. If your bet's right, I'll pay ya triple!" Kaminari told the blond. "Not interested in money." He really didn't want to play along with this gamble.

Mina overheard the three and tagged along. "Are you guys placing bets?? Can I join?" She enthusiastically asked. "Of course! The more, the merrier!" Kirishima told her. "Placing my bet on Yaomomo!" She told them.

Irritated, Katsuki spoke. "Okay, fine. I'm joining. I'm placing my bet on that damn nerd, Deku." Kirishima lightly chuckled. "Alright, so that's our betting for 'em! Whoever's in last place has to pay everyone."

"That's kindaaa unfair!" Mina mildly complained. "Okay, then everyone has to pay the one who betted on the first-placer!" Kirishima replied.

"Wait," Kaminari said, "Someone's gotta bet on Shoji!" Katsuki shrugged. "Meh. It's fine. If he's first, then whoever betted on second gets the money."

Iku could still hear on the rest of the conversation, but she finally overheard All Might speak again. "Alright, everybody! The race is about to start."

Iku and the other 4 were in their ready stance, all of their civilians placed at their respective areas. "On your mark... get set..."

Always hear this... okay. Focus.

"Go!"

Then they were all off, with Shoji and Iku taking the lead. Iku was using her 2nd signature move— her shadow wings. "Aha! Iku's gonna win, I knew it!" Kaminari proclaimed. "We'll see about that- Go Yaomomo! Wooo!" Mina was cheering her on. Momo looked back at her and lightly giggled before focusing on what was in front— Iku and Shoji.

Deku started to gain momentum through all the leaps and jumps he had to do in the obstacle course. Of course, with so many pipes found everywhere, it almost seemed like a disadvantage. However, in his internship, he learned a move that would strike everyone shocked- "Full... Cowl!" The boy suddenly hopped through the pipes without hurting himself for once!

"Goddamnit, he actually learned a thing or two while we were away!-" Katsuki thought to himself. But wasn't this good for him since he was betting on his win anyway?

"So far, it's a neck-in-neck fight between Iku, Midoriya, and Shoji! Gah, this is so fun to watch!" Toru was covering her mouth, eager to see who might come out as first.

Then... an idea came to Sero's mind. There weren't any disqualifications or restrictions behind the lengths of their quirk usages, after all.

Sero took advantage of Iku's quirk. He used his own and managed to wrap tape around got a big leap ahead despite Iku trying to shake him off of her shadows. This was quite annoying for the girl. Meanwhile, Izuku almost fell out of the pipelines. Luckily, Iku saved him and even catapulted him a bit ahead. Momo came up with the idea of doing what Sero did but with Shoji instead, creating a lengthy fabric and picking up the pace to snag it around Shoji's leg.

"Oh shit! Sero and Yaoyorozu are REALLY wanting to win this!" Exclaimed Kirishima.

Tokoyami clasped his hands by his beak and looked intensely at the 5. Iku was ironically at last, Deku was neck-in-neck with Sero and Momo, and Shoji was up ahead. "Things aren't looking good for her..." He mumbled to himself, his thumbs' grip against the bottom side of his beak hardening.

Despite Shoji having flown past everyone, he couldn't shake Momo off. He kept trying to do so, but that resulted to him accidentally damaging the civilian he was holding.

"No!" He yelled, tugging the dummy closer and forcing Momo off. Subtly agitated, he flew even faster and passed through the lane first.

"And we finally have our first placer! For the race, at least!" Narrated All Might.

"Damn, someone really shoulda picked him, huh?" Kaminari asked Katsuki and the others. "Tough luck, but look who's next!" Mina proudly said.

Momo, who grabbed hold of her civilian before allowing herself to drop off  from Shoji, managed to spring about from the surfaces and passed through the additional obstacles.

Using all her wits and stamina, she surpassed Deku and Sero, winning the Rescue Race at 2nd. Right after Momo was Sero, who felt astounded over the fact that the former considered doing the same strategy as he did and even got ahead of him. He steadied himself and the civilian he was holding, looking at the girl, before taking a deep breath and scratching the back of his head.

"Jeez, Yaomomo. Great work on copying my homework!" He teased. "Aha, sorry, Sero. Your technique felt unfair at first, but it was quite a good idea nonetheless. Thank you for showing it to me!" Momo expressed, looking for any damages on her dummy. It was clean!

The last two were Deku and Iku. The former hadn't even realized that Iku was in last. He panted heavily, his hands clasped on his knees, before he noticed the girl uncasting her quirk and stopping herself from walking as she arrived at the finish lane.

"I-Iku, you- you're last?" The boy was shocked, obviously. How could the winner of the Obstacle Race in the Sports Festival be the last to finish a subtly less difficult one now?

"It's fine. I wanted to save you. Also, someone was grabbing onto the reason I even had mobility in the first place." She glared at Sero, who whistled about and acted innocent. She sighed heavily before glancing back at Deku. "Anyway... it's over, I still got to pass it."

Deku felt bad. "I-"

All Might then called the attention of everyone. "Okayyy! We have our results now!" That was fast. He managed to check everyone's dummy and finally came to a verdict on who won first, second, up to fifth.

"As we all know, Young Shoji managed to pass through the race first!" He brightly said. "However! Out of everyone in the Race, it seems like the one who has the least injured civilian is... Yaoyorozu! Congratulations, that makes you the winner for this round!" All Might exclaimed. Mina, on the other hand, cheered and jumped around.

"Pay up, guys!" She cheekily asked the other 3. "Damn it! So close yet so far..." Kirishima reacted, sighing before looking at Mina. "Alright, I'll pay you when we get back to our classroom."

"Now! The third one who completed the race, and is also in 2nd place overall, is none other than Sero!" Sero happily celebrated over it, with Kirishima and the other participants also clapping their hands. "Your tactic was quite abrupt though, but we didn't give any rules against something like it, so you still made it! You were great, Sero." Commended All Might.

"Thank you, All Might!" Sero bowed fast at the Pro. "For third- He may have been fourth in the race, but he ensured that his civilian wasn't as damaged! Therefore, the third placer for this round is none other than Young Midoriya!"

Deku felt like he gained wings and flew to heaven over that. Katsuki simply folded his arms and glared to the side, grunting. Kirishima noticed it and nudged him by the elbow. "Tough luck, huh?" The blond simply growled and walked away from Kirishima.

"As for fourth and fifth are Young Shoji and Iku, respectively." All Might was calmer when he declared that. Kaminari looked disappointed and kicked the ground ever so subtly after. Iku saw that and mildly fidgeted her pointer fingers.

"Young Shoji," All Might called, "You did well in this race. Please do not be discouraged at where you landed at in the placements. Your speed and grasp in utilizing your quirk is commendable, be proud." Shoji simply nodded to his comments, folding his main set of arms together.

"Young Iku, even if you're in 5th place, what you showed out there was exceptional work and versatility. Great job." Iku subtly smiled at All Might and nodded. "Thank you," she said.

And so, the next few batches were going to start. However, Iku didn't want to pay much attention to those as she heard something from a distance.

"Midoriya." It was All Might, whispering something to Deku. Iku quickly glanced elsewhere but used her quirk to hear what they were saying, activating Shadow Manipulation on the two guys' shadows and utilizing the extra ability of hearing using the figures.

"Let's talk after class. You did amazing too." After class? All Might really is close with Deku then, I see.

After Iku and the others finished their respective rounds, they all went back and changed from their Hero fits to their UA uniforms.

Iku still couldn't twist her head around all of this. But she had been sensing that something was truly special with more than one of her classmates.

There was Katsuki, the boy who had been gifted with such an extravagant quirk that marked his point up to where he was at. Momo and Tenya, who have their predecessors that led them to this path. Uraraka, who seemed to have such a strong purpose of being her for the sake of her family.

And then, there was Izuku.

From the first time she had met the boy, she already saw such disruptive yet immaculate potential in him. He broke his limbs for every instance of using his quirk, up until recently. As if it was his first few times of using it.

And then, there was All Might.

Why was he so inclined on speaking with him? Come what may, Iku never wanted to think too closely. But that day...

A man was talking to Izuku. When we were both injured after the USJ incident. That man looked crippled yet had similar features with All Might. Call me delusional, but that was no sheer coincidence.

Iku finally had the time to follow Deku to the teacher's lounge. She kept her distance but ensured that she was close enough. Although she had managed to hone a better limit, it was still better effective the closer she was to her figures.

Deku got inside the room and immediately did Iku activate her quirk.

"Sit down, Young Midoriya. I believe it's time I told you the story of One For All."

No-

"The story?" The boy asked All Might. "Yes. It all started around the beginning of quirks..."

It can't be that-

"Two brothers. One had possessed a quirk so powerful, it could take the quirks of others. He used it and controlled numerous people and powerful ones too, to top it off. However, that same brother forced his younger sibling to possess a quirk that can keep other quirks."

It just really... grh-

Iku wanted to stop listening, but she knew she had to hear the rest.

"You said that the older brother lived at the rise of Quirks, right?" Deku cautiously asked. "Yes, I did. You'd think he would have died throughout these years but I think he stole a life-enhancing quirk to keep himself alive," All Might elaborated.

"But how is this all related to One For All?"

"His brother's quirk, mixed with that stockpiling quirk... it created OFA. And that's how it managed to pass on through different users. The first wielder, All For One's younger brother, tried to defeat him. And he thought he did, but he failed. And that's why..."

It went silent.

"This scar exists. He was the one who I fought 6 years back."

Deku and Iku finally understood the situation at hand. Iku was about to stop using her quirk when all of a sudden...

"Wait, you said All For One's records were hidden yet had a strong influence on powerful people too, right? Weren't there existing clans that subsided then?" Deku asked once more.

That's...

"Ah. Unfortunately so, you're correct. A handful of clans I could recall were... the Mutō, Fujita, Fujimoto, Taira... and Minamoto clans. The Mutō clan broke down into smaller groups," All Might explained.

...Mutō. Fujimoto. Fujita. I've heard enough for today.

She deactivated her quirk and walked towards the hallway, sulking, before she received a phone call.

"Torihiki."

She still answered the call, but ensured that she was far from the lounge.

"Yes, S?" She sounded stale. "I'm assuming you're in a bad mood right now?" They asked her. She simply sighed in disappointment.

"Listen. I..."

It's always been like this.

The call ended briefly, and Iku had to prepare for anything big in the future. As she always did, of course, but this time felt more intense.

I can do this. I'll pull this off. I am what I chose to be.

Chapter Text

"I'll always be here for you. I promise!"
"Really now?"
"Mhm! After all, my family doesn't intend on moving yet, so if you would like, you can come visit me any time!"
"That's a very generous offer, Kouyou. I'll keep that in mind."

One of the best people I met in my earlier days...

Iku and the rest of Class 1-A had one last thing to worry about for this and the following month: The examinations. Aizawa had instructed that whoever failed overall for it was going to have some form of program to make up for it, which didn't sound so bad at first but was a mishap for the others' minds.

tokoyami
Iku, what do you think of the program? Is it anything bad, or are the others just thinking too negatively on it?

iku
Well, realistically speaking it's nothing serious. On the other hand, they might be considering that it'd be extra work, but I'm sure we'll all be given something just as heavy by then.

tokoyami
Is that so?

iku
Mhm. Anyway, I'll be reviewing for the exam now. Catch you later, Tokoyami.

tokoyami
I may as well do the same. See you tomorrow, Iku.

Iku closed the conversation, turned on her playlist, and started skimming through her notes. This wasn't too difficult for her, as she had already been paying keen attention to the discussions. Besides hero studies, there was also one for English and communication, both of which she found to be just as simple as such.

Eventually, the exam days did arrive and it apparently consisted of two sessions: One for the written exam, and the other was a physical one. 

For the most part, everyone got to pass through the exam. The tougher one was clearly the latter as the students had to pair up and pass through a built-in city. What made it more challenging was the opponent for each pair was a teacher, meaning the staff clearly deciphered which Pro was going to be able to pose a threat for the pairs.

Although, Iku managed to brisk through it alongside Shoto, both of which who had to face off Eraserhead. It was tough at first, but the two knew better than to not get along even in the slightest for this fight.

The end results? Almost everyone passed through. Almost. Sato, Sero, Mina, Kirishima, and Kaminari didn't manage to pass their physical tests. Iku didn't feel too bad over it, though, because as she was aware of, the program wouldn't be too drastic or any of the sort.

...

In another area, just within Kamino City...

"I'll kill you both!"

The voice was coming from none other than Tomura. He was agitated over the two new faces that a man with gray, slick hair showed to him.

"Calm down, Tomura. You'll be needing more people to help you off in the future, and these two are proven viable for your cause. Hear them out at least," Kurogiri calmly told the angsty boy, who was on the verge of murdering a blonde girl with golden eyes and a black, spiky-haired man with scars on his face and arms.

"Listen, these two new recruits are good, I tell you!" The gray-haired man attempted to persuade Tomura.

"Giran," Tomura called, "I don't trust these people."

The girl pouted and fidgeted about on her place. "You know, Mr. Handguy..! I only really wanted to see Mr. Stainy!" She waved her hands about, her fangs showing as she called out 'Stainy'. Her smile radiated brightly, and her eyes gleamed of enthusiasm.

"I want to see Mr. Stainy, and be like him! And I want to kill him too!" She exclaimed, a gleeful expression evident as she kept gesturing with both arms.

"...No way is this girl this big of a psycho." The black-haired man inched to his side, stepping away from the girl.

"I don't even know either of your names yet. Why else am I going to recruit you both, huh?" Tomura was quite antagonistic of the two.

The girl posed and grinned at him. "My name is Toga! Himiko Toga! Let's get along, okay Mr. Handguy?" 

"..." Tomura glared at her, though his eyes were the only ones visible due to the hand on his face.

"Dabi. I'm just really here for the hell of it, so don't expect me to help as much." The black-haired guy introduced himself, just like Toga.

The tension in the room was still evident, but as the two introduced themselves to Tomura, he sat back on his chair and became less hostile towards them. "Okay, I'll give these two a shot."

Giran seemed relieved, Dabi looked nonchalant, Toga was excited, and Kurogiri felt calmer knowing that Tomura took his advice.

"Our first plan with you and a handful of other villains we found will take place soon. Be ready," Tomura told them, which enlightened the girl even more. "Can't wait!"

"...Also, stop calling me Handguy. Shigaraki or Tomura works," he added.

"But Handguy's a fun name!"

"I don't like it." His voice was stern, but it didn't really bother Toga. He just sighed, scratching his neck due to her stubborn attitude.

...

Back at Class 1-A, Iku and the rest of them were heading to Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall. They had to prepare things as there was going to be an upcoming forest training with all of the ones who passed both exams. The ones who failed the physical had to get extra lessons after the training.

The groups consisted as followed:
Katsuki, Kaminari, Sero, Mina, Kirishima, and Mineta were a group; Koda, Sato, Shoji, and Ojiro were together; Most of the girls besides Iku tagged along with one another; Shoto, Tenya, Tokoyami, and Iku grouped themselves together, and Deku was by himself.

"We'll all meet up here at the center in 2 hours, everyone!" Tenya proclaimed to everyone. "Please make sure that you all stay within the mall so by the time we have to do a head count, we'll all be here on time."

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, guys! There's this store that has a bunch of materials good for the training!" Sero called out to them.

"Man, I'm still bummed we lost the fight..." Kaminari sighed, a sappy look on his face.

"Your fault for not passing through. I didn't break a sweat with my fight against All Might," Katsuki boasted.

"Aaand who exactly wanted to give up in the middle of a fight?" Kirishima asked the blond, chuckling. "Go fuck off, I didn't quit!" Katsuki screamed back. 

"Yeah, yeah, sureee..." Kirishima and the others laughed over it.

On Iku's group, she felt like someone was being left behind. "Hey, guys." She pointed at Deku, who was mapping out the stores he'd be visiting. "I'm gonna go stick with Deku for now. Everyone's got a pair but him so..."

"Oh, sure! See you later, Iku!" Tenya said to her. Tokoyami and Shoto gave her a nod, and she waved at the three before running up to Deku.

As she made her way to him, however... A man wearing a dark hoodie creeped up behind the boy. "Hey..." He whispered to Deku.

"Can we talk? I'm such a big fan of you..." The man wrapped four fingers by Deku's neck, which concerned Iku, before she cleared her throat and quickly used her quirk to pull him away from Deku.

"Oi, what do you think you're doing with my friend, h-" Iku froze at the sight of the face. It was covered by a hand, therefore it was quite evidently Tomura Shigaraki. She kept him around her quirk, his shadows all wrapped around his hands and legs to immobilize him. He simply glanced over at her before using his quirk to decay the solidified figures back to its original, light-based form.

Deku was going to intervene when Tomura looked back at him, removing the hand on his face and showing his imperfections. "I'm not here to fight, okay? I wanted to talk. Just you and me," Tomura told the boy.

Conflicted, Iku took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves down. "Okay. Fine. Spill out whatever you need to say to him, but I'm going to hear what you're gonna say too. Not leaving this place in case you try anything funny," She threatened him.

"I'm fine with that, as long as you don't fight me again without reason..." He told her back, before he rested his arm around Deku's shoulders and guided him to a seat in the mall. Iku followed them and sat beside Deku.

"Ah, right." Tomura realized something. "I haven't properly introduced myself. My name is Tomura Shigaraki."

"...Izuku Midoriya." 

"I- we're doing this now? Okay. Iku Asawe." Tomura stared for a moment at her before looking back at Deku.

"Formalities aside, I just want you both to listen to what I have to say. I hate many, many things in this world, from heroes, to hypocrites, to society as a whole. But do you want to know what I really despise? Stain." 

"Stain? But wasn't he one of you villains?" Deku asked Tomura. "No. He was never part of the League of Villains to begin with. It's just that the media believes in it just because of how prominent our standings are to society now."

"But you want to know why I hate Stain? Because everything I've done so far... everything the League of Villains has done so far... it's all for nothing. Because Stain's in the mainstream. Neither of us are heroes. Neither of us have done anything close to doing morally good actions, yet he gets all the fame and recognition while my name goes under the god fucking bus. Do you know how annoying that is? All the attention is on him. All eyes are on him. And so, where the fuck does that bring me to? NOTHING! It's all a fucking waste without anyone giving me the recognition I've been seeking for!"

Iku found it funny and coincidental how he was talking about Stain like this, especially after remembering a few articles she read off the day she was stuck in the hospital. "Okay... where's your end goal on this, then?" She just had to ask.

"...Right. I want to know what's the difference between me and some guy like Stain."

Iku gave some thought on it, but given how Deku had a first-hand experience dealing with the hero killer, he answered first. "I think it's because the media... understands why Stain is doing all this. Honestly, I. Um. I don't understand why you or the rest of your..."

"League of Villains."

"Why the rest of the League of Villains are fighting society's rules. That's a key difference between you both. He wants to change how heroes are, and while I don't agree with his methods, I can understand why he wants to get rid of some heroes," Deku elaborated.

"...I see now," Tomura got up from his seat.

"Hm?" The other two wondered.

"I feel great to see... why you both annoy me. You..." Tomura pointed at Deku. "And Stain. Because you're both like All Might. You're both hoping for something good, living all happy and shit. And I hate that so much." Deku didn't have much to say over that, but Iku did.

"You hate a person for wanting to be happy? Are you allergic to happiness or something?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tomura glared at her. "Hey, I'm just asking." She got up and looked close into his facial features. Scratches by his eye bags, a scar on the left side of his lip, and one by his right eye. "By the looks of it, it just feels like you've never had a chance to be happy your entire life."

That snapped something in him.

"You're wrong. I managed to be happy with my family when I was young. It was all happy for me. Very happy. Very joyful." He sounded like a broken recorder, or maybe he himself was broken.

"Let me guess, you had a mother who made everything better?" She lightly joked, but that just pissed him off for some reason. "Stop talking!" He was going to use his quirk on her over that remark, which made Iku surprised. "I- Sorry."

Nearby, Uraraka saw the conflict between the three and wanted to walk towards them, but Iku noticed. "Deku, can you speak with Uraraka for a bit?" She wanted to get them both out of there. "Oh, by the way, Midoriya," Tomura added, "The next time I see either of you? Get ready. I'm done talking, so you're both dead to me."

He fled the scene, and Deku walked up to Uraraka. "Who was that, Deku?" She asked him. "Tomura Shigaraki, the same person who led the attack in U.S.J." He told her.

"W-wait, really?! That was him?!"

"Shh... keep it down, he might come back. But we need to call the police just so that no one gets hurt while he's here," Deku mentioned.

Iku wanted to focus on the two's conversation, but she couldn't help and think about what just happened. She sat back down. Honestly enough, she felt a weight on her chest get heavier. What was that all about, right? Why did he specifically find him... hell, how even did the odds go about that he's just here?

Iku's right hand started twitching a bit again. Fuck, that's right. Just ignore it. It's nothing important. She took a few deep breaths in and eventually got off from her seat. 

Eventually, the two went to Iku and told her that they had to head outside the mall.

"I'm sorry, what? We haven't even started yet on-"

"The mall's going to be closed down, so we're being asked to go," Deku explained to her. "So come on, let's go."

Minutes passed by and the rest of 1-A was outside the mall. Some of them were wondering about why the mall was being closed down, while the others already found out thanks to Deku and Uraraka. 

Then, a man in a detective-like attire walked up to Deku and Iku. "Excuse me, are you Izuku Midoriya and Iku Asawe?" He asked them both. "Yes, that's us, Officer," Deku answered.

"I'm Officer Naomasa Tsukauchi, and I need you both to follow me to the police station. This is with regards to the incident that had just happened regarding Tomura Shigaraki," he calmly but firmly asked the two.

"O-oh! Yes, we'll follow you there," Deku nodded his head, before Iku asked Tsukauchi something. "Is Tomura nowhere to be found?" He looked at her, nodding once. "Which is why having you both be brought to the station is more needed now, so let's move along."

At the police station, Tsukauchi asked them separately. He first asked Deku, which lasted around 15 minutes. Right after, Iku was called and she had to explain what happened there.

Midway into the interrogation...

"Midoriya stated that you used your quirk and it wasn't enough to hold him back. However, you also have the ability to constantly make new shadow figures, is that correct?" He asked Iku, his pen and paper still jotting down the last few things mentioned by her earlier.

"That's right, but if I used it again, I'd get hurt. There's a limit to how much damage my shadows can take without actually inflicting it back onto me, so I didn't want to risk it. His quirk is Decay, after all. And I helped fight against him before, too." 

"You were one of them? The ones who directly fought against the League of Villains?" He asked once more. "If you're talking about the incident in UA High, then all of us did have to fight them, one way or another. A-anywho, this is irrelevant to what happened earlier so let's move on."

"Right." He wrote down what had just been stated.

"Did you feel something off-putting when you saw him? Or thought of something? Maybe recognized him from somewhere?"

Iku shook her head. "The most I thought of was that I didn't want anyone to get hurt that time. He also doesn't look that familiar to me, but he looks kind of troubled."

Tsukauchi looked at Iku, unsure of how her verdict was from that point onward. "Do you mean to say that he's a troublesome villain?"

"N-no. I mean to say that he has problems. I can sense it, and especially after having met him twice." Her tone was firm, and she looked right at him too.

"Well, everyone has problems." He brushed it off before writing a bit more on his notes. "Anyway, thank you for your time. Though what you said is mostly what we know, too, we still appreciate that you cooperated with this brief interrogation."

They both got up from the seats and left the room. "By the way, you two," Tsukauchi called both of their attention. "There was little collateral damage, and no lives were lost today. So even if we didn't get to arrest Shigaraki, your quick wits helped prevent something disastrous today. Good work."

Deku smiled and bowed at him. "No, thank you too for having your team show up quickly!" Iku just gave a subtle smile before tapping on his shoulder.

"I'll get going. Didn't get to buy anything, but that's fine. I just wanted to tag along for the most part today," she told him before waving and leaving the station. Deku followed right behind and saw All Might waiting by the entrance.

"All Might!" Deku waved and rushed to him, a smile on his face clearly visible. Iku looked closely at the two before looking back out and checking on her phone.

iku
Where are you guys at?

Suzume
give me a sec lol

iku
kk.

As Iku waited for Suzume, she heard an eerie noise nearby. "Heheheh..." Oh, go fuck yourself. She sighed in irritance before speaking. "What is it."

"Oh, I'm so glad you decided to care about me again!" Sōko emerged out of nowhere and swirled around, giving Iku a very faint and intangible hug. "I'm asking. What is it." Her essence switched from a bright violet to a gloomy blue before dispersing.

"Don't you miss our talks, Iku?"

"No, I quite literally don't. Just go straight to the point already," Iku quickly felt annoyed over this nuisance of an anomaly. She heard sighing.

"Fine... well, here's one thing: That officer was onto something, and you should check on your thinking more!" Sōko advised her. "Er... actually. You've got a point. For once." 

"See? You're just the bummer one here ruining the fun I'd actually offer up to you," Sōko said before leaving her alone again. After that, Suzume arrived and they dropped her off at her house.

The following day, Aizawa said something to the rest of the class in regards with what happened.

"The training camp will take place in a different location. Also, no one will know the location of the place until the given day." The mystery behind the venue seemed to surprise a bunch of the class, such as Kirishima, Mina, and Kaminari, but it made quite a lot of sense because of how frequent villains have been on their tail within just a semester.

With that in mind, Iku wanted to piece everything out. Right after that day.

"Let me know about how your week goes over there, alright? If the training is more efficient than the ones you've had with my equipment and help, or if anyone else gets a significant change thanks to the program." S told her through the call.

"Yeah, of course."

...

I want you to realize how much I hoped you'd stay for long. Because I'm staying strong for the sake of you, and one other. Just the two of you.

Chapter Text

----×××

|

|

6:58am, August 10, 2161

Mrs. Asawe
Iku. Have a safe trip later. We'll be back by January, remember.

 

iku
Thank you.

---- x x x

A brief but concise message, as expected of her mother. She prepared everything needed for the trip- her hero outfit, extra pairs of jogging wear, shoes, some accessories for her hair, light makeup throughout the week, all the essentials. And of course, the earpiece she was given by S, along with her journal to keep track of everything that would occur in the vicinity.

She got in a car with Suzume driving and shortly arrived at UA High, before seeing two buses parked outside the area. It seemed like it was more than just 1-A heading to the camp, but also Class 1-B.

"Well, well! If it isn't the overly-obnoxious, pathetically horrendous Class 1-A!" That eccentric tone... it was Monoma. If 1-A had the aggressive arrogant Katsuki, 1-B had the ironically obnoxious and arrogant Neito.

His voice is so infuriating. Iku was going to use her quirk on him, but the class president, Kendo, whacked him on the head with her hands that surprisingly grew massive instantly.

"...That was awkward," Mina commented as Kendo dragged Monoma towards their bus, yelling "Sorry!" at the 1-A students.

"Agreed..." Momo and Tsuyu added.

Soon, everyone finally arrived and Aizawa asked the students to enter the bus. For Class 1-B, their teacher also instructed his students to go inside. And so, the trip was off.

Iku sat down at the front side, mainly because she liked being closer to the exit and favored the window seat. Next to her was Tsuyu, who wanted to have a quick talk with her.

"Kero, hello Iku." Tsuyu quietly greeted her. Iku glanced back and lightly smiled. "Hi, Tsuyu. This is quite surprising to see you sit by me. What about the other girls?"

"You seemed to act different since the hero internship so I just wanted to ask: Did anything big happen then, kero?" That was quite a flustering way to start a conversation.

"I- uhm. Not really. Why?" Tsuyu could read expressions, so Iku acting confused just made her a bit more curious. However, she knew they weren't that close anyway so it was best not to push it too much.

Then again...

"Well, I overheard from Tokoyami that you had to be hospitalized. I felt worried over that, and maybe something else happened while you guys were busy with Hawks, kero. If it's too hard to explain, I'll stop asking though." Thoughtful. Iku sighed before crossing her arms and looking at Tsuyu.

"Okay. Yeah, something big happened. But I myself don't know who did it or how it happened exactly. Most I can say is that whoever caused my hospitalization had a vaguely similar quirk with Stain's... and... that's all. Hawks didn't tell me anything else about it," Iku elaborated to Tsuyu.

Tsuyu nodded her head, understanding the bits of information she had just been given to her. "I see. Thank you for sharing that. In return, would you like me to tell you about my experience during the internship?"

"Oh, sure."

The two had a good exchange of words before eventually... The bus had to make a stop over.

"Mr. Aizawa, why are we stopping here?" Tenya asked. Aizawa glanced over at the students before giving a brief reasoning.

"To ensure we're not being followed. We'll be having stops like these every now and then just to see if anyone's on our trail. For now, stay within my line of vision. We'll be here for 15 minutes."

Iku noticed some making their way to the restroom, while others were getting out to take a gush of clean air. She decided to head outside the bus too and look around the place.

"Cell service is weak here- That's so..." Jiro complained.

"Well! We are on our way to nature so I guess that's why!" Mina exclaimed, looking at the scenery they're in.

Birds were in their nests, peacefully humming to the breeze that flew the students' way. There was a river within eye's view, but it was still subtly distant to actually head off to. The road ahead seemed to have more curves than the last few turns they did...

"Where's 1-B?" Momo wondered, trying to look far back with a pair of binoculars that she just made with her quirk.

Jiro shrugged, trying to use her ears to sense some sound waves passing by, just to get nothing but trickling noises of the water, both coming from the restrooms and from the water forms. "No sign of them near..."

Iku used modified shadows to sense anyone from a 200-meter radius. Nothing much. Just...

The ground began to shake. Too intense!- Most of the students dropped to the ground because of the sudden shake! Shoji flew up to navigate what caused it, but up to no sign of what was the cause.

"Everyone, get somewhere safe!" Aizawa ordered them, looking around to find the culprit so he could use his quirk on them.

"You all heard Mr. Aizawa! Find someplace spacious now!" Tenya told the rest, but some were stubborn.

Deku, Katsuki, Iku, and Shoto used their quirks to find the one behind all this. Tsuyu stretched her tongue to grab the others still near the epicenter and get them to safety. Koda used his quirk to call some animals and find out if this was really caused by someone or just a bizarre, intense coincidence.

"AAAAGHHHH!" Katsuki blasted his way about and broke a small building! "Bakugo!" Aizawa was going to scold the blond.

"Wait, look!" He exclaimed, revealing a woman with reddish brown hair. She glanced over at Aizawa, who had eye contact with her for a bit. All of a sudden, the roots and branches slithered towards everyone still in the air, or just within the girl's range. That included Katsuki, Shoji, Shoto, Deku, Iku, Tenya, Tsuyu, and Aizawa.

Just as when the others were about to attack the woman, Aizawa activated Erasure and cancelled everyone's quirks. "WHAT THE FUCK, ERASERHEAD-"

bam.

"I am not allowing you to yell nor swear at our teacher, Bakugo!" Tenya bonked the blond's head. "YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" He yelled at Tenya.

Tsuyu tried wiggling away from the branches, but they seemed to cling harder.  Deku was going to inflict aerial damage when he finally recognized the woman keeping them captive.

"Mind Pro Hero: Pristele!" The others couldn't completely recognize her, but Iku and Katsuki were keen on it soon after he called the name. When her identity was revealed, Pristele undid all of the damage done within the area. The ruptures on the ground and buildings were repairing itself like clockwork. She then clapped her hands, applauding Deku.

"Good eye, green haired kid. Alright, Willow! You can come out now."

The rest was confused. "Willow?" Asked Tenya. Pristele nodded. "He along with my partner Dozzle will be keeping you all on your toes for this training session. Hope you don't mind more leaf-based attacks for the week."

A grassy figure with horns wrapped in a lengthy flower made his way towards the rest of 1-A, who were collectively regrouping back to the bus with Aizawa and Pristele. He waved his hand at them, his circular marks on his arm visible for them to see.

"Guy looks like those cool hunter characters on action-adventure games," Kaminari whispered to Mina. Mina giggled and agreed. "His style's so unique!"

Willow bowed at them before briefly introducing himself. "Hello, everyone. Pristele already mentioned my name, so I'll just explain what my quirk did. I can control plants and trees to my will."

"That's right. Your school chose me, Willow, and Dozzle since we have the advantage here in the forest. Much more than other Pro Heroes, so that means this training will be a challenge for you kids.. and for villains who'll attack us, if ever," Pristele explained. Aizawa nodded before looking at the rest of 1-A.

"Given all the circumstances we've faced so far, it's clear that the League of Villains is targeting us, and I'm not going to let anyone here get injured or worse by them. Therefore, everyone is to follow the Pro Heroes and avoid getting too far away. Understood?" Aizawa asked the students, to which everyone agreed.

"Well then. Let's get back on the bus and we'll head off to the venue soon."

And so, they all got back inside the bus and made their trip to the Beast's Forest, the location of the camp.  Everyone went back to their respective seats, and Iku simply went to take a nap for a bit...

"Iku, this man here takes care of #$37&@. Treat him with respect as you would treat others."
"Hello, 27&$€1&1."
"Young Iku, greetings. If you are looking for #$37&@ I unfortunately still can't allow you to visit him. He's sick right now."
"That's okay, I was told I'd wait for a while..."

"...I don't know how long though, but I trust 9."
"Thank you, Iku. Don't worry, time will tell when you can have the long-awaited meeting you've been waiting for."

...

Evening. The bus finally arrived at The Beast's Forest. Class 1-B also made it a few moments after their bus stopped. Iku and the others grabbed their stuff and went down, before seeing a man with a slim body and golden eyes waving at them.

"Everyone, this is Dozzle. He's the other person I've mentioned earlier on the way here," Pristele introduced. Dozzle waved at the students.

“Hello, everyone!” He called. Iku recognized Pristele, but not much of him. She analyzed his appearance further and noticed how his tone of voice felt... manipulated? Okay, I could be wrong, but was he ever biologically female? Gah, why am I thinking of this? Too trivial for me.

Iku crossed her arms as she used some shadows to grab hold of her bag. They were all going to sleep in a cabin, with the girls sleeping separately from the boys.

“Yo, Iku.” That was Sero. There wasn't much business between them, but she set aside her stuff by one of the beds in the girls’ room before looking back at him.

“What's up?”

“Your quirk's been really impressive. You chose Hawks for your internship like Tokoyami, right?” He asked. “Yes, I did. Is something the matter, Sero?”

Sero pulled tape off his elbow and grasped an apple from a distance. He placed it on his hand and tossed it up before doing some quick tricks using his tape quirk.

“You could see how my movement was. I'm still wanting to make things more seamless, if you get what I mean,” Sero wanted Iku to do some quick training with him. Speed and mobility.

“Oh, I suppose I could help? I guess? I'm not sure why you're consulting me for this-”

“You were hella fast in the Sports Festival, don't lie.” Caught her good on that. “I want to know your techniques and secrets behind being able to hone your quirk like that.”

“I really don’t see the appeal behind all this, but very well, Sero. We can go train some skills of mine tomorrow. For now, I think we’re all just going to have to settle in?” Iku crossed her arms before noticing a small boy with a red cap kicking Deku in the-

“YEAOWCHHHH!” Deku didn’t expect that. Sero didn’t either. Neither would Iku, nor any other bystander who had to witness an approximately 5-year-old kick a teenager’s crotch like that. And for what, even?? Just because he greeted the kid?!

Tenya rushed to the scene, along with Pristele who overheard the scream nearby. “Midoriya!” Cried Tenya. “How hard did that boy hit you?! Wait, let’s bring you inside! Or wait, no! Stay here, I’ll get something to help relieve that injury!” Deku was going to cry. Genuinely. That kick of the kid was quite impactful, which was exactly why he had to quickly sit on the small staircase by the boys’ area.

“Oh, dear. Kid, your name’s Midoriya, right?” Pristele asked Deku, clearly feeling bad over the situation. “Y-yes.. Aaow...“

“That kid who just kicked you. That’s my nephew, Kota. Sorry about that.” Pristele quickly used Telekinesis and lifted Deku up, aiding him in standing. “Alright, Midoriya. Let’s go find your classmate to-”

Before she could even finish her sentence, Tenya came back with a variety of items inside a medical kit. “MIDORIYA! I’m back. Let’s attend to that pain you just got.”

“I- I’m fine now, don’t worry so much!” He clearly wasn’t. Pristele crossed her arms and subtly shook her head. “Heroes should accept help when they need it. You can’t rely on your own body if you know that you’re still in trouble,” she told Deku.

That was actually solid advice. Might use that some other time to someone in the future. Just as the conversation continued, it was time for everyone to have a meal before heading off to sleep. Iku went into the main cabin and saw the others grabbing a tray and falling in line for the food.

Minutes later...

Something felt off. Iku just had that gut feeling. She cast some shadows nearby to sense for any suspicious movements. Within a few moments, she felt some abrupt motion from the eastern portions of the forest.

“Damn it, so I was right.” She hastily finished her meal, put the tray at the other used trays, then ran out to get a clearer feel of what was going on.

..

“Don’t worry, everything’s under control.”
“How can you say that?”
“I’ve got back up plans for all possible outcomes.”

Chapter Text

“I’m so confused- So you want me to 21** the descendant?”

“Yes, by my side, if possible.”

“I’m sorry. We both hold a grudge against that €1&*’% connections, but I doubt %!M would know anything about our grieving. Have you considered moving on?”

“Have you considered taking a bullet for people who share your blood?”

. . .

Iku had sensed something infamous to occur, but at such a time during dinner? Really? She sighed in annoyance as she hastily stumped through the grass and used her quirk.

She subtly called out, “Shadow Sense: Vision.”

You did not just think of a name on-the-spot, girl. 

That voice... Iku glared at her side, although there wasn’t anyone there. “Shut. I need to find where that motion was coming from.”

Thud. Trickle. Tip, toe. “Movement northeast from here.” Iku swept the flooring her foot was on to leave a guide for the others before creeping up towards the direction. The closer she got, the heavier the air felt. What was going on?

Her eyes drifted from in front of her to all around the place. There were obscure markings on the tree trunks. She went up close to see if this was caused by the other students, but it seemed fairly impossible. It was a cross, with a wavy bunch of lines within it. 

Just then, she heard branches breaking from one of the areas her quirk was on. Before anything else could happen, she attempted to retract her quirk. However, she was a moment too late. There was a bite mark on her arm.

“Fuck, what?” She wasn’t scathed by any wild beast during the day, and especially not just now. But this mark...

She immediately cast her shadow wings and flew to the sky for a bird’s eye view. Nothing. Shit. She grumbled, fuming with rage that she couldn’t discover what or who was behind this, before flying back to the camp. 

“Aizawa, Willow, Pristele... Dozzle. The Class Reps... everyone. I need to tell them what’s going on, now,” she mumbled to herself, determined to get a hold of the situation.

A few moments passed by and she quickly retracted her wings once more, dashing towards the teachers’ cabin. “Mr. Aizawa! I need you and the others to come outside, quick! ”

This startled them. “What’s going on?” Asked Aizawa. “I believe someone infiltrated the place,” Iku answered. The others gave each other surprised expressions before getting up.

“Lead the way, Iku,” Aizawa said. They soon arrived at the same spot Iku last scouted... only to find nothing.

“Ehhhm... I thought someone was here?” Dozzle asked before getting hit on the arm by Pristele. “Maybe that thing’s somewhere else?” She tried to reassure Iku. But Iku shook her head. This just wasn’t it. If there was anything she hated, it was to be wrong about something. 

“I swear, I saw- you see this right?” She raised her arm, but the bite also disappeared. Her eyes dilated ever so subtly. How did it just vanish?! Aizawa clearly didn’t want to see one of his students distressed, so he spoke up.

“If you’re concerned about the well-being of everyone here, I’ll believe you. I’ll be on guard for any peculiar instance, how about that?” Iku’s eyes lit up and she faintly smiled at him. “That would be amazing, thank you, Mr. Aizawa.”

“Alright, now that we got that settled, I think it’s best that you get some shut eye,” Willow reminded her. “Ah, yes, I should. Thank you again for coming here with me, everyone...” She still felt anguish over how what she saw simply disappeared, and it couldn’t get rid of this eerie feeling within her. 

I wasn’t seeing things now, was I? 

“For the record, I saw it too. You’re not crazy.” The voice replied to her. “Ah yes, because me talking to an entity no one but myself can hear is absolutely, completely, truly damn normal. Thank you soooo much for the reassurance.” Iku couldn’t help but sigh, her body growing tired as she made her steps towards the girls’ cabin.

As she went inside, she noticed that the rest of the girls were asleep. All except for Ochaco and Mina. “Psst, Iku- What happened?” the former asked Iku. Iku shook her head. “I’m not in the mood to discuss anything just yet... and I need to get some shut eye for now. Good night, you two.”

“But Iku-” Mina was too late. The moment Iku lied down on the bed, her mind fell into a deep slumber. 

...

“No... Get away from them-”

The silhouette had an eerie feeling. So similar to...

That day at the internship. It’s her. “I can’t let you do this, you prick!” She charged fast towards the silhouette, who was making her way towards...

“NO!” 

Shoto, Tokoyami, Izuku, Momo...

Suzume... Kouyou... #M~2$ and #$7V@...

#$&1!121-

Iku cast her wings and flew as fast as she could, arms reaching out to hopefully grab the silhouette. But she was too slow. Too weak. Too pathetic. The silhouette had already managed to inject poison into their veins, causing them all to fall ill and down to the ground. Iku watched as they yelped in pain, their faces becoming more purple overtime, before turning paler... 

And paler...

...

“No!” She almost woke the others up with that. She felt stunned. 

“Did I just..?” Iku blinked profusely, looking around the cabin. It was a dream. It was all a sadistic fantasy.

“Fear...? No.”

Liar. You’re scared.

She shook her head. “No, I... Christ, I wish I could call Suzume or Hiki right now.” 

She paced around the cabin before heading back outside, just to see Pristele and the other heroes guarding the area. 

“Ah, Iku. Trouble falling asleep?” Willow warmly asked her. She shook her head. “Just wanted... some fresh air. That’s all.”

They could see through that lie that she was worried. “Listen– you’re in safe hands. Don’t worry too much! We’ll feel worse if you’re not ready for the training later and for the following week.” Pristele consoled her.

“Plus– You’d be needing the energy for fights, so rest is definitely a necessity right now,” Dozzle added. Iku sharply sighed before nodding and going back inside to sleep again.

An entire morning and afternoon passed without much of an issue. Iku managed to train with Sero, Kaminari, Kirishima, Tokoyami, Momo, and Shoji today. Lunch was good for everyone, too. 

There was no sign of a villain of any sort within the perimeters. 

Except.

August 11, 2161. 4pm.

A dark, purple warp appeared someplace south within the camp. Out came... the League of Villains. There were a few extra people, but they didn’t brand danger like the first three who popped up.

“Oooh, this is the place?” Toga giggled as she observed the place. She frolicked around before getting tugged by the collar by Dabi. 

“Don’t move so much or you’ll blow our cover, Toga.” His voice was stern, almost raspy. Right, he had a stare that was cold to the brim, too. But within that coldness was also an ounce of concern.

Tomura scratched his neck as he glanced at Kurogiri, who was just by his side. “Where’d that poison girl say she marked? Northeast?” Kurogiri nodded his head. 

“However, it’s still too early to attack them. I believe at around this time, they’re still training.”

“Then why not strike them now while they’re still using up their shit energy?” Tomura asked again. Dabi shook his head. “You don’t get adrenaline. If we jump on them right now, they might accidentally use the power they’ve been training onto us. I’m not gonna let myself get more scars from people besides myself, got it?” 

Tomura rolled his eyes, although that wasn’t quite visible due to the hand on his face, covering most of his facial features. He crossed his arms and grumbled before sitting on a nearby rock. “So we’re just supposed to wait here until nighttime?!”

“Hey, I don’t think that’s a bad idea. This sucks!” That voice came from a man in a gray skin suit. “Your name’s Twice, right? Twicey-Wicey?” Toga teased, eye smiling at him.

“Uh, yeah? I will not allow you to call me Twicey-Wicey! That’s a cute nickname, hehe, I like it!” 

Another man with a mask and a large trench coat rubbed his chin as he analyzed the members. “Why, this will truly be an entertaining sight to see...” He mumbled, although it was louder than just a mere mumble.

“We can hear you, clusterface.” Dabi rutted. An anthropomorph wearing a costume eerily similar to Stain’s listened closely to the conversation, his arms crossed.

“Ach!- I have a name, you know!” The masked man acted all hurt and pained. “It’s Compress... Mr. Compress!” That tone he had was over-the-top, which only annoyed Dabi further. “God, if you just want to show off your ‘entertainer’ side, you should have auditioned for a theatre play instead.” 

Tomura quietly chuckled over that before shaking his head again. “Enough! I can’t focus with all the noise coming from everyone’s mouths.” 

“Crazy you’re saying that when I’ve heard you cry about All Might for such a long ass time earlier,” Dabi’s relentless insults just seemed to never stop. “Why- you!” Kurogiri used his quirk to warp Tomura’s hand away from Dabi, which was aiming to hit the latter. 

“Cool yourself down, Tomura Shigaraki. You need to keep your allies alive if you want this mission to turn out as a success,” Kurogiri reminded Tomura. The manchild couldn’t take it. He felt irritated. He was always irritable. So easily annoyed by anything that got in his way.

Dabi glanced over at the other person in the group who seemed so taken aback by something within the surroundings. “Hey, big guy.”

That quickly made them look at Dabi. “I’m a ‘she’, mind you.” Dabi, unaware, coughed. “Oops. Then, hey, big girl. You’ve been staring at something for a long time. What is it?” She crossed her arms before pointing at a mark by a trunk.

“Hang on... Ah! Hey, y’all, we were supposed to follow V’s marks to the base, right?” She asked them.

“Yeah! Did you see some already?” Toga cheerfully asked. 

“Yeap! Over there. But– ooh, we’re supposed to stay here for some time, right?” The others nodded. “Hey, off topic, what’s your name? We got sent here without even introducing ourselves to one another...” Compress asked her.

“The name’s Magne!” She did two peace signs before extending a hand out to Compress. “Aah, I see. Well, I’ve already introduced myself! What say you, edge lord? Scarface? Spiky-boy?” He teasingly asked Dabi.

“It’s Dabi. Just Dabi.” Toga giggled over hearing his name. “Dah-bii! That’s such a fun name! And Magne is such a cute name, too!”

“Awh, I’m glad you think so!” Magne smiled at Toga. She simply did a cute face afterwards.

“Soooo....” Toga pointed at each of them.

“Twice, Dabi, Tomura, Magne, Compress... what about you?” She looked at the anthropomorph. He didn’t expect to be noticed all too much but cleared his throat anyway. “Spinner.”

“Like, a fidget spinner? Do you just get all nervous if you see a big, scary hero coming your way?” Dabi mocked. Spinner drew his blade and swiftly placed it just below Dabi’s chin, to which Dabi responded with placing his fingers by the sides of the sword and activating his quirk mildly. 

“I did not come here to be insulted. So shut up already, Dabi,” Spinner told him, clearly pissed. Twice nodded his head. “Yeah! You’ve just been a big bully with us.” Dabi rolled his eyes before raising his arms. 

“Alright, alright. I’ll shut up since that’s what everyone wants me to do right now. But if it gets too quiet, it’s not my fault.” 

He glanced up. Time couldn’t pass any slower than this. The others sat next to each other and chit-chatted. Kurogiri noticed how eager Dabi was to go to the center already, much like Tomura earlier. He gently patted Dabi’s shoulder, to which the latter reacted by retracting his shoulder.

“What?”

“Are you here for another reason?” Kurogiri asked, curious. Dabi glared at him before looking away. “My business is none of yours. I’m here for my own wants, you’re here because you’re a slave to a freak with hands.” 

Kurogiri remained silent. “Was I right?” Dabi couldn’t help but chuckle, his arms folded. “Not quite, but I do still wish to know what roams in your mind to be so carefree with your words.” The formality was killing Dabi. Fuck formal conversations, right? That wasn’t worth anything.

After a grudgingly 2 hours worth of waiting, Tomura got up.

“It’s time. I’m getting bored of this small talk. Bring the others in,” He ordered Kurogiri. A warp appeared behind them once more, and out came more villains.

“It’s showtime!” Exclaimed Mr. Compress, preparing some... marble-sized balls.

“Hehe, this’ll be fun!” Toga jumped as she readied her gear.

“I agree! No, this will be a disaster!” Twice followed Toga.

“...For justice.” Spinner fixed the cloth around his face.

“You’ve got a twisted sense of justice, scales.”

“Dabi.” That was Kurogiri and Magne.

“Everyone, shut it.” And that was Tomura, who was finally making his way towards the markings Magne noticed earlier. The others followed suit.

Chapter Text

“Save you. I’ll make sure I’ll save you. I can’t let you go, not after everything I’ve dropped for you.”

“Do you really mean it?”

“Yes. I do. Don’t forget it, okay…?”

“As long as you don’t forget yours, I’ll try not to ruin things for you.”

 

…

“Is this really necessary?!” That remark came from one of the students in 1-B. It was Kosei Tsuburaba. He seemed quite dense, quirks aside.

“I think this would be beneficial training for all of us…” Tokoyami muttered. “Right, cause your quirk works better in the dark.” Katsuki growled, his arms crossed.

Technically, it really was going to be useful to train their combat skills at night since they would have to expect the unexpected. That meant villains lurking in the corners, traps set up for any incoming heroes, and the unfortunate instances of being forced against a stronger opponent blindly.

The two classes were divided into two. And although the first half was successful, it was time for the second half.

Below were all the groups matched by both Eraserhead and Vlad King:

Group A:

Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu (Quirk: Steel)

Itsuka Kendo (Quirk: Big Fist)

Tenya Iida (Quirk: Engine)

Momo Yaoyorozu (Quirk: Creation)

Iku Asawe (Quirk: Shadow Manipulation)

Group B:

Tsuyu Asui (Quirk: Frog)

Ochaco Uraraka (Quirk: Zero Gravity)

Denki Kaminari (Quirk: Electrification)

Kyoka Jiro (Quirk: Earphone Jack)

Toru Hagakure (Quirk: Invisibility)

Group C:

Yosetsu Awase (Quirk: Weld)

Mashirao Ojiro (Quirk: Tail)

Kinoko Komori (Quirk: Mushroom)

Jurota Shishida (Quirk: Beast)

Izuku Midoriya (Quirk: Super Strength..)

Group D:

Katsuki Bakugo (Quirk: Explosion)

Shoto Todoroki (Quirk: Half-Cold, Half-Hot)

Fumikage Tokoyami (Quirk: Dark Shadow)

Mezo Shoji (Quirk: Dupli-Arms)

Kosei Tsuburaba (Quirk: Solid Air)

Just like the two Pros mentioned, the four groups would have to face off the challenge in the forest, which would be manipulated by Pristele and Willow. A key and a box were conveniently placed somewhere in the area, and the first group that would return with both the key and box would win.

The only rules were that no other group was allowed to sabotage the other in means of hurting them or using their quirk unfairly. The environment was enough of a struggle for them.

…

“Iku?”

That was Tokoyami. Iku glanced at him. “Yes?”

“May the best group win.” He gave a light smile. Iku quietly laughed. “Yeah, good luck to your group, Tokoyami.”

The four groups were by the entrance of the forest. Only two goals were set: Find the key and box, and come back outside with it. Shouldn’t be too difficult, right?

“On your mark!”

Ready your mind.

“Get set!”

One goal. Mustn't let them win.

“Go!”

Vlad’s voice could be heard across the place. Those who failed the physical exams could just hear it from inside the building. And the following who failed in 1-B were… oh. Was… Monoma. The blond was grouchy hearing his homeroom teacher, but Aizawa snapped him back to focusing on the discussion.

“Why do I have to be the only one here? And the fact that there are more 1-A students who failed compared to my class just shows how incompetent you all a-”

“Enough, Monoma,” Aizawa’s voice was stern. Almost like the boy had been complaining for the past hour already.

Hour…

One more hour, yes?

7:00pm.  

It took another hour for everything to set right, but it was finally the moment to begin the operation.

“There you all are.” Tomura did not want this scheme to turn out a failure. He glanced at everyone on the scene.

“You all know where to go, what to do. If any of you slip up, I’ll kill you. Got that?” No sense of remorse. The other villains stayed silent and simply nodded. This was going to be a problem if they screwed up, after all.

“On my signal. Remember that,” Tomura added. 

“Yeah, got it. No more chit-chatting from here, huh?” Dabi asked. Tomura simply grunted before heading southwest. Mr. Compress leapt to a branch high up, getting a good view on everyone else.

Spinner, Toga, Dabi, and Twice slowly inched their way towards the main grounds of the forest. 

Meanwhile, with the heroes…

Izuku’s group was the last to enter, mainly because they had wanted to set up a better focus on where it could be at. They carefully walked towards the trail. Kinoko and Yosetsu were chattering about what they could do to find the box with their quirks.

“I’m sure my quirk can be useful here! Just one hint of what the box could feel like and I’ll surely get to use my shrooms to get it for the taking!” Kinoko sounded quite confident.

“Yeah, and if anyone tries to take the box and key before us, I’ll just use the trees here to keep them from moving. Oi, Jurota, Ojiro, you can help us in stalling the others right?” Yosetsu asked.

Jurota crossed his arms, wary. “Wouldn’t that be sabotaging the other groups, though? Mr. Vlad and Eraserhead told us that we couldn’t do that.” He had a point.

“M-maybe there’s a loophole behind all this?” Ojiro was hesitant on joining in the conversation, but not much could be done since they were grouped together.

“Hm… you’re right. Hey, Midoriya, you’re good with plans. Do you have any suggestions?” Yosetsu really wanted to hear everyone’s thoughts on this.

…

On Iku’s side, she already had a good idea of where the box could be. But something just felt wrong again… something… someone… more than one…

“Argh, I can’t believe we got ahead of them! Ah, but I wish Kirishima were here… It’s just not fun without him, you know!” Tetsutetsu was blabbering about Kirishima. I suppose they do have fairly similar quirks, like with me and Tokoyami. But was now really a time to think about him? Kendo firmly patted Tetsu’s shoulder and gave a reassuring smile.

“Once we get out of here, you can go talk to him about training with us tomorrow. For now, let’s go find that box, alright?” Like a typical class president, not wanting any trouble to happen. Oh… speaking of.

Tenya. Momo. The class representative and vice. I’m nearly surrounded by people with some form of ranking in a classroom. Iku sighed.

Just then, the ground got softer. This was the work of Pristele.

..Or was it?

Iku used her shadow figures to sense out anyone nearby… No. No one was here. Not in the small area she covered. 

“Everyone, be on guard. The challenge has begun, and we’ve already set foot in it!” Tenya exclaimed, though his voice couldn’t be any quieter than that.

“Yaomomo, I can call you that right? Please make a pair of snowshoes for us.” Kendo instructed. Albeit confused, Momo quickly made a pair. Kendo quickly grabbed the pair and handed it over to Tenya before using her quirk on the others.

“A-ah! Am I supposed to charge through this?” He asked her. Kendo nodded. I could just simply fly… Oh, right. I might not be able to get a good grasp of what’s on the ground if I did that… I guess. 

Tenya put the shoes on. Kendo, holding Momo, Iku, and Tetsu, got on his back. He grunted. “Perhaps my quirk can be of use-” Kendo glanced at Iku. 

“Can you lighten the weight on us?” She asked her. Iku nodded. With the three still on Kendo’s right hand, Iku wrapped Kendo in shadows and placed makeshift wings behind her. Tetsu was impressed by it.

Tenya felt the weight lighten a bit, but he could still feel them over his back. It didn’t matter though. With a fleeting stance, the group slid through the muddy environment and found themselves at a big boulder. The place seemed like the center of the forest? Tenya lunged to the top of the boulder and Kendo quickly got off, settling the others down beside her.

“So… we’re at the center of the forest, I assume?” Momo looked at Iku. “Uhm. I think so.” She took a deep breath in before moving her shadows to the ground.

As the figures slithered across for more information, she felt a sharp poke on one of them, making her lightheaded. Momo noticed and quickly held her arms, keeping her from collapsing.

“I-Iku! Are you alright? You can retract your quirk if it’s too much!” She said, worried about the girl. But it didn’t stop there. Soon enough, there were purple-like mushes on the ground, and on the boulder they’d conveniently sat down on.

And soon… a scream would be heard from there.

“VILLAINS!” That was Izuku.

“Not again, no!” And that was Kaminari. He sounded relatively closer than Izuku.

...

“Villains? But this could all be part of the-”

“I know what this mush looks like, and it sure as hell can’t be from any of the Pros!” Katsuki snapped at Kosei.

...

“If all this is true, then-”

“The League of Villains must be here!” Izuku exclaimed, cutting Yosetsu.

...

“Everyone…” Iku said to her group. 

“Get someplace safe.” Izuku said to his.

“We need to find-”

Smoke… Purple gas?

What was this?

Iku noticed the gas and quickly used her quirk to cover their mouths. “Momo, make masks. 15 masks. Now, please.”

Momo did as instructed and handed them out to Iku, before Iku put one on and gave one each to them. Kendo looked around, and the place was really filled with this eerie mist.

Calm down… just calm down… It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s fine. It’s fine.

Iku glared south. She pointed there, hoping that the others would understand what to do. But as she turned to look for the others…

She was transported elsewhere.

“Iku!” Momo yelled, but she also got sent somewhere else. The same happened to Tenya. Only Kendo and Tetsu were left on the boulder. Kendo gruffed before going down the boulder, to which Tetsu tried stopping her, but she nudged him away.

“Oi! Where are you going, Kendo?!” He asked her.

“She pointed south. She must’ve found out that the villains are there. If they split up, then at least we’ll be able to stop one of them, right?”

The masks Iku asked Momo to make were cluttered on the ground, too. This was escalating faster than Iku could process. 

…

Everyone was split up by the warps.

Warps.

Kurogiri. League of Villains. They arrived. So my suspicion the other day…

“Iku Asawe.” That voice came from…

“Tomura Shigaraki.”

Chapter Text

“Do you think you’ll be able to live life the same again?”

“I don’t know. Maybe not.”

“I want you to start a better one.”

“Not until after I finish what I’ve started.”

…

Back at the main building… 

“Now, we’ve managed to discuss the difference between utilizing your quirk for rescuing a civilian, in self-defense, and as a mere offence. Do any of you have questions regarding this?”

No one was listening. They looked tired over the discussion. Just when they believed it was all to stay a bore, Eraserhead picked up a connection.

“Eraserhead! We heard something nearby. I think one of your students was right about villains infiltrating the forest. Get the kids back to the cabins!” It was Pristele, who used one of her quirks, Telekinesis. She contacted everyone in the vicinity.

He simply rubbed the temple of his head before looking straight at the students’ gazes.

“Villains are here...” Mineta freaked out. Aizawa told him to stay calm and stay put, but he stretched the lower lids of his eyes.

“We’re goners!”

“No, no we aren’t. Now behave yourself.” Aizawa’s voice was rough. He briskly headed towards the door and gestured to the rest to go outside. 

It wasn’t obvious, but Aizawa was worried. He wasn’t certain on how many villains were here this time, and with the range of the forest, it would be harder to navigate and capture all of them. He, along with Mina and the others, dashed to the entrance. 

Vlad was outside the building before yelling. “Oi! You kids follow me back to the cabin! I’ll keep you all safe while we get there.” Mina and the others went to him. Aizawa made sure that the building itself didn’t have any lurking villains, possibly eavesdropping.

A minute or so passed, and he saw that there weren’t any, so he was on his way to the forest.

However, he was halted by a large wave of blue fire. 

Blue… fire. 

It covered a good amount of the sky at this point. Aizawa took a big step back and saw that the area they were just in had been surrounded by flames. He quickly looked at the direction of the cabins, eyeing any suspicious face, but it was clear. Surely, Vlad and the other kids were unaffected by this.

With his vision, he looked around to see who caused this mess of a fire.

“A second too late, Eraserhead.” A deep, raspy voice. It was Dabi. Quickly enough, Eraserhead turned to use his scarf against the lad. But Dabi swiftly dodged it. He had a grimacing expression, and the scars on his face only made this more eerie.

“You’ve got an interesting hobby of keeping some perfect fruits in your stash,” he mocked Eraserhead. But that form of mockery only confused the latter more than annoy or surprise him.

He felt confused. “What?” 

As they continued their little conversation, Dabi set the ground aflame, aiming to corner Eraserhead further. Eraserhead simply dashed away and maintained his focus on Dabi, about to use his Erasure quirk. However, Dabi simply laughed and used Blueflame. The fire grew stronger and larger, making it near-impossible for Eraserhead to get a good look on him. The Pro hastily swished the material around the sky, vying for some leverage. Being able to see him was necessary to stop him. He lunged sidewards, avoiding most of Dabi’s additional attacks.

“Haha, struggling to catch me, Eraserhead? Didn’t realize how bad you were at your job!” Dabi was trying to get in Eraserhead’s nerves, but frankly, it wasn’t as efficient as he had anticipated.

“This won’t really get us anywhere,” Aizawa thought to himself, before his scarf finally landed on a solid surface. He hoisted himself upward, unbeknownst to Dabi.

“Enough chit chat,” Dabi spoke. “I hate heroes, and I especially hate your choice of a profession. Shouta Aizawa.” He was going to pull a big surge of flames all across the area, but…

Eraserhead got to see Dabi’s face. He quickly used his quirk on him, and there died the other’s flames. Dabi clicked his tongue. He looked above and saw Eraserhead, sitting on one of the trees’ branches.

“To think those kids actually mean anything to you. You’re desperate to save them. It disgusts me. None of them deserve any special treatment.” That was it. Eraserhead got upset over that.

“I’m not giving them special treatment,” He snapped back at Dabi. But seeing his reaction made Dabi want to knock him out even further.

“Oi!” Dabi yelled, “Get your good-for-nothing self down here, Pro Hero!” He charged towards the tree Eraserhead was on, preparing to walk on it and tackle him.

But know never to mess with a man like Eraserhead.

Eraserhead managed to wrap his scarf around Dabi’s wrists and neck. Dabi tried pulling away, but his grip was firm. He binded Dabi’s arms, his scarf wrapping up around his torso, before heaving him up the tree and kicking him back to the ground. 

Eraserhead hopped down before pressing his knee against Dabi’s back, finally restraining him. But rather than getting infuriated or cornered, Dabi chuckled. 

Out of nowhere, he…melted? Into a mushy brown.

“Damn it, so that was just a clone?!”

Aizawa growled in frustration before looking back at the forest. He took a deep sigh and remembered the other students. 

“They’re in danger. I have to get the other villains at least.” Saving the kids was a bigger priority, but he could hit two birds with one stone if he ran in there to face off the League of Villains.  

As he thought about the students…

…

Izuku’s Group.

“Get someplace safe, everyone.” The others couldn’t just stand by and watch though. So why was Izuku telling them to stay put?

“We need to find out what’s going on, Midoriya! We have to-” Ojiro noticed the warp behind Izuku and attempted to snag him away. Yosetsu tried to weld the rocks and sticks onto Ojiro to keep him from getting pulled in. Jurota and Kinoko also tried using their quirks, but then…

“Heroes!”

“There you are!”

“We’re going to get rid of you now!”

“Heroes! Die! We hate you!”

Those were coming from… Twice… Twices. Twice the impact, why were there so many villains of the same face?!

Kinoko steadied herself, and Izuku had his battle stance ready. However, they overheard a noise nearby. It was  the sound of a child.

“Kota!” Izuku exclaimed, subtly panicking. He quickly counted the duplicates… 5, 10, no, this was over 20! If there was a way I can get rid of these now and save Kota, I could just do it now! I just have to use One For All and-

“Sir Midoriya, allow us to take it from here.” Izuku was caught off guard. He glanced to his side. Jurota was about to activate his quirk. His chest felt heavy. He couldn’t really leave them to fight off this many villains, but…

“Yes, we can handle this. From how I see it, I think Kota would want you there more than any of us…” Ojiro timidly added. “So please, go help him!”

The pressure was being dropped on him. They didn’t intend to, but if there was a kid in danger, it’d be best for Izuku to save them, right?

“Okay, I’ll get going. Please take care of yourselves, everyone!” Izuku dashed west, where Kota’s scream could be heard. 

Faster… Faster…

Run faster, because you have no idea what could happen to him!

As he arrived at the scene, it was only something he wished he could work with better.

There was a man with an extremely buff build. His muscles were visible, much more than the greatest bodybuilder one would know of. His flesh was covering up his body. Layers upon layers. He also had a scar on the left side of his face, and it seemed as if the eye was gouged out.

Kota couldn’t move an inch. He was frightened. He couldn’t even mutter a letter out any further, besides what he yelped out moments before that. The man that bore in front of Izuku and him was the same man who killed his parents.

Just a few years ago… No hero managed to save them. And that was why the poor boy couldn’t find himself rooting for heroes. He lost hope for them.

Pristele mentioned this to Izuku earlier. He found out everything about Kota after one conversation. And it was no doubt that this villain he had his eyes on was truly, indisputably, the man who shattered this child’s life.

Izuku took a good look at Kota, and he had a strong feeling. He bore a strong desire to bring justice to his parents’ deaths.

…

Justice, right? How hypocritical.

There wasn’t much justice for a handful of the villains that appeared in the forest that night. And one of them wanted to avenge Stain.

It was Spinner. Alongside him was Magne, who in hindsight, wasn’t given the treatment she wanted for transitioning. Society was truly hypocritical for people, let alone one of the Pros before them received better circumstances for wanting to be a guy. 

Now, for what they were supposed to do at that moment… was to  distract the other Pro Heroes in the forest. They caught sight of where Pristele, Dozzle, and Willow were at. 

“Jackpot!” Magne used her quirk, Magnetism, and magnetized Dozzle and Willow. The two got pressed against each other abruptly, their backs getting flung south towards a group of trees. Because of the compression, the trunks broke apart and they went further south, up until Pristele used her quirk and made a large sum of the ground rise and act as a wall.

The two made a thud.

“Are you guys alright?” Pristele asked, running up to them before getting magnetized as well. She quickly looked around and saw Spinner and Magne.

That was their cue.

Spinner charged at them, his blade up and open, ready to strike the Pros down. Willow tried moving his arms… surprisingly, he could still lift his fingers! He quickly summoned vines on the ground, wrapping them tight around the anthropomorph, swinging the blade up and him to the ground.

But Spinner didn’t let go of the blade. Despite the vines around his wrists, he wielded the weapon around and slashed the vines, continuing to charge at them.

Dozzle was about to use his quirk to locate more villains or students nearby, until…

The mist reached them.

Magne noticed and quickly yelled, “Mask!”

The two quickly snatched a gas mask from their pockets before continuing their attack on the Pros. Pristele was stunned, but Willow tried to use his quirk again, making leaves drop to them and hopefully craft a makeshift mask.

“To anyone- Nearby- Help- Near the center!” Pristele used Telekinesis one last time, hoping it’d reach others.

Tenya was there. He was warped away from Iku’s group, but he got closer to the Pros instead. He caught word of the message that Pristele casted, and immediately, he dashed towards them.

There was mist all over, but he had a mask on, so hopefully it wouldn’t be so bad. For the others without though…

It was, in fact, getting annoying for them. The smoke’s incense had nearly affected everyone stuck within the forest. The ones unaffected by this were those with masks or anything to block it out and anyone closer to the entrance than those not. 

…

“Head south.”

“Surely, there are other villains there!”

Right. Right was Iku’s intuition. Kendo and Tetsu arrived to see a heavy fog, and the scent was making them hazier. It was getting hard not to inhale the incense of the mist… 

“Tetsu, I brought some of the masks earlier. Put these on,” Kendo asked him. He nodded and put two extra layers on. It was uncomfortable, but it was better than falling victim to this trap.

There they were, faced against a murky shadow. Kendo activated her quirk and looked at Tetsu, who had an idea on what was going to be done. They ran opposite each other and sneakily circled around the villain.

“Do you two really think trying to hide is going to do anything? I can still sense you both within my quirk!” The boy yelled. Oh dear. He couldn’t be any older than 14. What was he doing here as a villain?

Kendo stopped moving. “Can sense us, huh…” Kendo grabbed a handful of bushes before tossing them around, along with a few trees. 

“Do not try to defy me, Heroes!” The masked villain had… a gun?! He shot nearby Tetsu, but the latter had activated his quirk and didn’t get scathed by the bullet. 

“Shittt how do you have a gun?” Tetsu freaked out and instead charged sidewards, trying not to be a sitting duck for the villain. “Does it matter? All I want right now is to win against you heroes!” 

It was concerning enough that the League of Villains had infiltrated the forest, but for them to make a KID fight? Kendo couldn’t handle this. With all her might, she lunged forward, several items just tossed and thrown out and about to keep the boy from sensing which one was her.

You might think I’m confused but… I know exactly which one here is living and not!

BANG.

The noise… It was nearby. 2 gunshots that could be heard by almost everyone. Perhaps Izuku and his group couldn’t hear it, but it was very audible for the ones located east.

…

Ochaco’s group .

Ochaco and Tsuyu were separated from Kaminari, Jiro, and Toru, but they were found by Momo. Or rather, Momo was found by them. They made sure they were unharmed before looking around.

“Iku said that there was a villain south, although given the circumstances, I have a feeling there are more everywhere now,” Momo explained.

“...This place was supposed to be safe, kero.” Tsuyu felt uneasy. Ochaco hugged her arms tight, anxious. Then, she remembered what happened last night.

“Right- Iku was out last night, too. You don’t suppose she already had this coming?” Ochaco looked around. She didn’t want to think of that, but it was hard not to.

“Are you trying to-” 

The three felt someone else’s presence nearby. And for one of them, she felt something staggering.

 The pain was burning hot, making itself known quickly. Momo cried out; despite all the training and battles endured, the pain of being stabbed was still unbearable to her. 

The knife left as soon as it came, exposing the wound to the air. Tsuyu and Ochaco, alerted by the scream, activated their quirks, just in case the person sneaking about would strike again. The bushes and trees obscured their vision, keeping them from seeing who it was. Momo readied her quirk as well, not letting herself be the weak link of the group.

“Yaomomo! Please don’t move. Or better yet, make something for yourself to get be-”

!!

“Toga… <3” The subtle voice of someone despicable.

Ochaco dropped to her knees, but Toga grabbed onto her and dragged her a bit, just to keep the two from attacking her. Tsuyu used her quirk on Toga, but the latter had a back up knife and sliced her tongue. She retracted herself.

“K-kero!”

“What are you doing?! Who even are you?!” Ochaco couldn’t hold it in anymore. She had to ask. Her friends were hurt because of the blonde. But all she did was giggle and hug her tighter.

“I… was simply getting acquainted with the three of you!” Toga pulled Ochaco away, and instead settled her down on her lap. She sat across Momo and Tsuyu with a wide smile.

“You…” Toga pointed her equipment at Tsuyu. “Are Tsu-chan! And you…” She pointed it at Momo. “Are Yao-Momo!”

“D-don’t call me that,” Momo said. “Me too. Only my friends can call me ‘Tsu-chan’, kero…” Tsuyu added. But saying that didn’t faze Toga as her attention went to Ochaco.

“And youuu~ You’ve been awfully close with… Deku, was it? Hehe, he calls himself that, right? Deku? Deku-kun?~” 

The three froze, but Ochaco’s heart pounded faster. “You shouldn’t be saying his name like that…”

Toga giggled before stabbing her equipment on Ochaco’s thigh, making the latter scream in agony. “But I think it’s a really cute name~ Deku-kun, Tsu-chan, Yaomomo… Ochaco-chan~ Your name is extra lovely, you know?”

Tsuyu felt agitated and tried to run to them, but Toga’s cute demeanor disappeared as she glanced at them. “Get closer and I’ll kill you all.” That was threatening enough to keep the two stay put as they watched Ochaco get hurt.

“Chup, chup, chup~” The blonde was enjoying every instance of this. Her equipment was taking out groups of blood out of Ochaco. Tsuyu and Momo couldn’t take it. They didn’t move, but they had to say something at least.

Ochaco began to feel light headed, trying her hardest to fight; the blood loss was simply becoming too much for her to concentrate on doing so.

“Stop doing that!” Tsuyu reacted.

“W-why do you even need that much blood…?” Momo asked, although she knew she wasn’t going to get a proper response.

And she really wasn’t given one. Toga simply glanced at the two before giggling. “Hehe, hey, Ochaco-chan?~” She looked closely at the brunette. The latter didn’t want to make eye contact, but her mind was already getting fuzzy. 

“I really like you. And I really like Tsu-chan, and Yaomomo, and Deku-kun~” Ochaco’s eyes nearly dilated. Like me? Deku-kun? And yet you’re doing this… Shivers went down her spine and across her arms.

“Ssstop calling him..” Her voice was weak.

Toga simply giggled before pressing the equipment a bit harsher against Ochaco. Ochaco yelped. Toga got close up her ear. “But I really like you guys… I want to be like you guys… And I only take the blood of those I love… So know that you’re very special to me, Ochaco-chan…”

The mist was starting to reach them, but it stopped. Toga was subtly alarmed by it. “Eh..?” She got up and noticed a few more coming their way.

Kaminari. Jiro. Toru. Tetsu. And Kendo. That wasn’t good news for her.

“Well, this was a fun chat and all, but I guess I gotta go… Byebye, everyone!~ Let’s meet again soon.” She then dashed away, and although Ochaco and Momo wanted to get her, they were too wounded to do anything.

“Yaoyorozu! Asui! Uraraka!” Kaminari just looked more panicked than the three of them. By his side was Jiro, unconscious. Toru was moving more dazed than usual, too.

“Kaminari! What happened to you three? A-and for you two, Tetsu, Kendo, are you both alright?” Momo asked them.

Kaminari looked really uneasy, but he spoke. “One of the villains almost got me and Jiro. But we’re fine now. Jiro’s just really, really tired.” Toru let out a very subtle “Mhm” a few moments after.

“As for us, well… We found the one who caused all this. The mist, I mean,” Kendo responded. The five of them looked at her. She crossed her arms and sighed sharply.

“A kid who calls himself Mustard did this. Almost shot me but Tetsu ran up faster than he could pull the trigger so… I’m okay.”

“And the… kid?” Kaminari asked.

“...I tied him up. He’s nearby, so we’ll just go back there.” Kendo said.

Everyone looked weary over the situation, but they had to get going. Kendo helped Momo and Ochaco up, while Tetsu was with Kaminari and Jiro.

…

So much going on in one night, this shit’s the worst.

Chapter Text

“Do you want to know why I got this scar in the first place?”
“Hm? Why?”
“It’s a long story… I wonder if your l’il brain can take the info up without exhausting itself.”

…

People can be cruel to others just because they can’t understand who they’re dealing with.

Of everyone in the forest who got ambushed, separated, or gravely wounded, Katsuki’s group didn’t get that sort of treatment. As a matter of fact, it was a horrid combination of all three.

There was a man in full black. His body was mostly bound by a straitjacket, and his eyes were covered up. What a shame, one would assume from just the idea of someone walking blind in a forest. Until one would realize the danger this man was to bring to the table.

When the ambush of the League of Villains occurred, he was left astray. He simply roamed about, northwest of the forest. And that was when he was lured into the key prize. Katsuki was yelling and ordered Shoto, Tokoyami, Shoji, and Kosei to focus their quirks all over the place. They ended up splitting into two, with Kosei following the first pair. 

Jackpot! 

The man mindlessly walked towards the sound of quirks being activated.

“Must… find… Katsuki… Bakugou. Katsuki Bakugou screams… lots. Lots of yelling. Yes… That voice must be him…” Moonfish, the man in all black, mumbled to himself. He felt wonderful. He felt like he achieved so much already. He made his way, ever so slowly, yet ever so surely… and-

“Look out, Shoji!” Tokoyami yelled, noticing the man right behind Shoji. But it was quite too late for warnings. Moonfish had already activated his quirk, Blade-Tooth, and punctured Shoji’s limbs with the sudden webs of blades that came out from his mouth.

“Gah!-” Shoji tried inching away, but the blades only struck deeper. The boy was hoisted up as Moonfish’s quirk made his teeth longer, already far above the trees at that point. Shoji acted quickly and budged his body upward, some of his arms still stuck on the villain’s blade.

Tokoyami could only feel irked over what occurred, but there was no time to waste. He casted Dark Shadow and covered Shoji as they ran towards Shoto and the other two once more, straying away from Moonfish.

“Everyone! There’s a dangerous villain back there,” Tokoyami worriedly mentioned, with Shoji leaning against him as his duplicated arms continued to regenerate.

The three were surprised over what they saw. Kosei panicked over it. “Sh-shit- So we should run and find the Pros, r-right?!”

Katsuki quickly regained his composure and stared straight into Kosei’s eyes. “Ya think that’s the only villain here? I’m sure these scummy dirtbags already got to attack the other groups, meaning that the Pros would be fighting the ones at the center. We’re 2nd closest to the entrance, so the only ones here would be Eraserhead and Vlad,” the blond explained, though Shoto could sense subtle uncertainty in his voice.

“Do you plan on fighting that villain alone?” He asked Katsuki.

“...I’m sure I can beat that guy.”

“No, I’m coming with you.”

“Listen, burnface, I don’t need your help.”

“Hey, Bakugou, now’s not the time to-”

“Shut it, airhead. Make yourself useful by bringing Tokoyami and… Shoji here, to the cabin.” Katsuki told Kosei. Though insulted, Kosei didn’t have much of a choice but to help the wounded.

The three fled, leaving Katsuki and Shoto in the forest. Tokoyami glanced back for a bit, though something in him felt… different. Eerily stagnant.

“So, you don’t mind me joining?” Shoto asked Katsuki, who was already channeling his focus on his hands.

“Just don’t fuck it up, k?” The blond answered before cautiously making his way towards Moonfish.

Despite being careful, however, Moonfish could easily sense the blond. He laughed, as if this were all just a little game.

“Got you… Katsuki Bakugou!”

The blond was caught off guard for a fraction of a second, but quickly blasted himself mid-air to avoid-

No, the villain looked up and used his quirk yet again! The saber-like blades charged towards Katsuki. Shoto used his ice quirk and slid across, making a tall barrier to give Katsuki some time to readjust himself.

“Shit, this guy’s fuckin’ insane.” Katsuki thought to himself as he shifted sidewards, blasting nearby trees. Shoto aimed to freeze Moonfish to immobilization. 

With both explosion and ice, it was less a synergy and more a chaotic distraction, which only tempted Moonfish further. He cackled as he continued using his quirk, the blades getting longer and sharper. He turned his head around, which forced Katsuki to blast the incoming attacks into shards.

It was no use. Moonfish simply continued his reign of sawlike ambushes.

“This is… fun… very pleasant, Katsuki Bakugou! Flesh… your flesh would be… No. No. No… don’t get in my way!” His voice was raspy to the core. And creepy. Not like his demeanor hadn’t been any creepier.

Katsuki felt disgusted. “Flesh..?” Then a thought came to him. No, it makes sense. People’s quirks can affect their personality as they get older and… since this fuckface’s quirk works around his mouth-

The blades got closer.

“Fuck!”

Katsuki couldn’t just keep blasting the stems of the teeth out. He needed to devise a better strategy. Then he looked at Shoto. Shoto quickly understood what was needed to do, but he wasn’t sure if it would work.

“Just do it,” The expression on Katsuki’s eyes was saying that, Shoto thought. He took a deep breath in before stopping his ice quirk. That was Moonfish’s moment to attack. The villain lunged forward, and out the blades came from his mouth.

“Watch out!” Katsuki yelled. Shoto had to move, but the blades were coming from all angles. To both his sides, and even above. Moonfish laughed louder, the trees getting chopped down due to how sharp his teeth were at that point.

Nearby..

Tokoyami, Shoji, and Kosei could still hear the explosions. The ice breaking into fragments. Trees just thumping to the ground. Everything felt wrong, and something in them knew what they had to do. They were students of a hero school, this urge to come back and help kicked in naturally.

“Wait, Tsuburaba-san,” Tokoyami called out to Kosei, to which the boy looked at him. With just a glance, he already had a gut feeling on what he wanted to do. Kosei’s pupils dilated, his body quivering with anxiety.

“No, no, no! I- I don’t like that look you’re giving me, Fumikage-san. Please, let’s just bring Mezo-san back first!” He pleaded, Shoji looking at the two before forcing himself up on both feet. They looked at him before assisting him, but the lad simply brushed them off.

He pointed back at Shoto and Katsuki’s location.

“Let’s go back. I can fight with you all, don’t worry.” That was somewhat relieving for Tokoyami, but still not enough to get Kosei convinced to come back. Shoji, seeing this, sighed and glanced at Tokoyami.

“What?” 

“Let’s bring Kosei out, then we’ll come back as soon as possible,” Shoji suggested as his arms fully regenerated. Tokoyami agreed, and they quickly headed to the entrance again. 

Except…

As they walked closer to the gates, Tokoyami felt Dark Shadow grow larger, and he couldn’t seem to keep it from being so swift. Swift to the point that it wrapped itself around his limbs, torso, and face!

Shoji and Kosei gasped before the former tugged the other down to the ground. Dark Shadow swung hard and ripped several trees just within proximity! Immediately, Kosei used his quirk Solid Air, blocking off the trees by a pinch. His heart skipped a beat.

“We have to run…”

“Run back to Todoroki and Bakugo!” The boy ran as fast as he could, with Shoji following suit. He couldn’t fly just yet, which was a minor disadvantage. But with what they had in store for the villain keeping Shoto and Katsuki stuck, this was the perfect offense.

The noises from Dark Shadow grew louder and fiercer, concerning everyone within earshot. Moonfish could hear the thumps of the quirk, the pebbles and rubble on the ground shaking as the three got nearer.

“WHAT THE FUCK-” Katsuki was stunned to see just how immense Dark Shadow appeared, but also flabbergasted at how Kosei and Shoji were luring him there. Shoto dashed towards the blond and told him to move back.

“RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHH!” Total anger. Infuriation. An unexplainable occurrence coming from Tokoyami, or rather, his quirk. This aggravated Moonfish, causing him to focus more on the sentient figure over the other students in the area.

“How dare you interrupt my snack time, you-”

And that was enough of a distraction to get Dark Shadow to attack Moonfish. With just a single swoop, it clawed itself on the villain and harshly shoved him across all the bushes, rocks, and trees before completely plummeting him against the soil, several meters away from the group.

Katsuki chuckled and smiled at Tokoyami, who was unconscious. But they weren’t aware of him being unconscious. No one was. And no one was taking control of the ever-growing strength of Dark Shadow.

“Okay, big guy! Think that tooth-fuck’s out of commission. You can stop this now!” He commented. Of course, Tokoyami couldn’t hear it, and Dark Shadow responded by swinging an arm towards the lad. Katsuki dodged, lunging down and dashing right, next to Shoji and Kosei.

“What the hell? OI! BIRD BRAIN! You can cut the act now!”

Kosei gulped and spoke, “I- I don’t think he can hear you, Bakugo.”

“What, does he need me to SPEAK LOUDER?!”

“That’s not the issue,” Shoto added. He used his left side, lighting up the darkness that was cast by the night and Dark Shadow. It didn’t weaken the quirk, but Katsuki understood from that point on what they had to do.

Light up the place and weaken Dark Shadow.

While they were busy fighting the sentient quirk, Deku was on the verge of defeat against Muscular, the man who killed Kota’s parents. But was he going to give up?

In front of a child?

At a place where no one would be able to see it happen? No.

With all his might, Deku kept fighting. He swerved himself around, dodging and maneuvering past Muscular’s hits. The guy was fast, but Deku was training for this. He charged himself around, hoping to find a blind spot against him. However, Muscular found one for Deku first.

THUD

Muscular kicked Deku right on the stomach, kicking him against a rock wall. Deku was outmatched by the villain’s strength. He tried getting up, but Muscular asked a question. Something that befuddled him.

“Before I kill you, can you tell me where Katsuki Bakugo is?”

Ba… K..Kacchan? Deku’s pupils darted right at Muscular the moment he mentioned Katsuki. “What. Do you want. From him.”

His tone was cold, almost as if he was charged for murder or something dark. The villain laughed.

“Are you scared?”

“Scared? No…” And slowly, Deku got up, blood trickling down his face. His guts felt twisted, and his mind lost focus that he didn’t notice Muscular charging towards him with an incoming punch. Hastily did Deku dodge the attack, which reminded him that he had to stop Muscular before anything else.

“Is mentioning Katsuki Bakugo enough to get you to forget what you were wanting to do earlier? Haha! Pathetic!” The villain taunted Deku, which only infuriated him even more. He rushed backwards and charged his able limbs with just enough energy…

“Dela….” He put all his focus onto this, despite Muscular sprinting even faster towards him. He crouched and dashed sidewards, making his and the villain’s legs bump against each other. Muscular recovered briskly and leapt up, making another fist on both hands.

“A pathetic excuse for a hero!” Those insults would have rubbed off on Deku if he was actually paying attention to his words and not his own movements. “...ware……” His eyes, closed, could only entrust the other senses for where the villain and where Kota would be at.

“Your quirk’s nothing but a downgraded version of mine, and you know it, weak shit!” Says the man I’ll put to misery dare he lay a finger on Kota or Kacchan.

“Det……” Deku swiftly dodged Muscular’s incoming attacks, large swooshes of light emanating from his arm and legs. It was as if he were being lifted by air that he was simply going past the hits and blows.

With his loudest and strongest, Deku yelled, “......DETROIT SMASH!”

He pulled a 360 as he jabbed Muscular on the head. Of course, he wasn’t going to let a student beat him. He blocked the jab with a hand, but that wasn’t enough. Realizing this, he quickly swung his free arm towards Deku, but he kicked the hand and used his other leg to strike the arm blocking his jab.

“What the fuck?! This brat’s gotten stronger!” Muscular’s egotistic expression looked more serious as Deku continued his attack.

A few seconds passed yet Muscular couldn’t push Deku back! He groaned and exerted more force, which did the trick. Deku flew back but quickly stood up and channeled most of his energy on his arm this time, sprinting at the villain with an even stronger attack.

“DELAWARE DETROIT SMASH!”

Muscular shielded himself with his quirk, but the blows finally caught up to him.

“AARRGH!” He screamed, unable to defend himself from the offensive move. “Villains like you… Don’t deserve to have second chances!” Deku exclaimed, though it was more of something that he said during the moment.

The villain got shoved back by at least 50 meters, crashing through the wall and inside it. Dust and smoke covered the air right afterwards. Deku took deep breaths before looking close to see if he really was down.

He wasn’t moving. But was he truly unconscious?

Before he could process anything else, he glanced at Kota, who didn’t try to leave the fighting zone. He looked terrified, his eyes teary, but he ran up to Deku. The latter couldn’t do anything to stop Kota from doing so.

“H-hey,” Kota asked, his voice shaky, “...why did you do that?”

Why? Why would this be a question…

Though tired, Deku put a smile on his face. A clearly weary smile, but still worth something.

“Because heroes will do anything to save someone.” That sentence made the boy freeze.

Heroes would do anything to save a person… even if it meant getting hurt or worse, dying. What Deku did for him was definitely going to lead him to something worse, so why? This was something that stuck with Kota, before…

“Okay, come here. I’ll bring you back-”

Back with Magne and Spinner…

Tenya was stunned at the sight of everyone. All the Pro heroes were knocked out by the mist. Willow, Pristele, Dozzle. To top it off, they were all magnetized against a rock, held captive by Magne. Spinner eyed the hero from head to toe and instantly recognized who he was.

“You,” he called, “you were the one that brought Stain’s end, weren’t you?”

Tenya was surprised by that question. “How are you-” He quickly examined Spinner’s attire. From the outfit alone…

“Oh, right. That outfit perfectly matches Stain’s.” This was not looking good at all for him. He got ready for a fight. Magne was about to inflict Magnetism on him, but Spinner called her off for it.

“This is my battle against the one who shattered my hope for a brighter future,” said Spinner. He drew his makeshift sword out, and ferociously lunged towards Tenya.

The hero rapidly charged and slid across the ground, avoiding Spinner’s attacks at first. With a high amount of blades chained together like that, it was best to watch the scaly villain’s movement for a pattern he could take.

But his moves were too random. Improbable.

“You can’t keep dodging, you self-righteous brat! Fight me like how you fought against Stain, now!” Spinner’s eagerness to kill Tenya absorbed his attacks, making him attack faster and more spontaneously from moments ago. Tenya quickly took note of it and decided he had to land a hit on him now.

To defeat a formidable foe…

Take what makes them formidable, or break it.