Chapter 121 - 5

Chapter 5: Breaking Down

Izuku Midoriya stood in the "Arena", staring down his opponent, a considerably larger boy roughly the age of ten.

They didn't speak for a while nor did they move. Izuku just coldly glared at the other kid.

He was the last thing standing between Izuku and being well-fed tonight. Sure, he had been well-fed for what seemed like weeks now, but if faced with a choice between not eating and eating, Izuku would choose the latter every time. He didn't care if the other person was starving; he was not going back to those days of being underfed if he could help it. He'd do everything in his power to make sure he ate. If he got too much food, he could just share it with the other "loser" that he dined with. Better to have too much than not enough, in his opinion.

The faceless man's voice echoed throughout the still room.

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

"I'm giving Ren a chance to surrender."

The man laughed boisterously at Izuku's comment. "We're getting a bit cocky now, aren't we?"

"Not at all," Izuku said simply. "With his Quirks, he could never even reach me. His Giant's Might is useless if he can't grab a hold of me in the first place. Same thing with Split, or Bone Reconstruction."

"Oh?"

Izuku frowned. "You should've designed him better, sensei. He's strong in close range, but he has no way to close the gap. Blood Rush takes too long to boot up, and it's too inflexible and easy to dodge."

"I'll show you that I can close the gap!" the other boy noisily declared, charging full speed at Izuku.

Sighing, Izuku nevertheless began to smile. It's not that he liked a good fight, no, it wasn't anything as simple as that, but…

As Ren was getting too close for Izuku's taste, Izuku melted into the floor (or, more accurately, the shadow on the floor) and reappeared behind Ren in his own shadow. Since he knew Ren was under the effects of Blood Rush, Izuku knew that the older boy couldn't make any sharp movements or turn around quickly. Izuku took this opportunity to point an open palm at Ren, and the match was decided with that single action.

After a brief tug in his gut, a high volume of pressurized water ripped open Izuku's palm and blasted outwards, engulfing the other boy and sending him barreling to the ground. Izuku imagined opposites and swapped the charges of the water, adding a nonlethal electric current to it with a flex of the hand. Nonlethal evidently did not mean nonpainful, as evidenced by the agonized screams of the older boy.

"Do you submit?" Izuku asked, clenching his jaw and adding a good dose of King's Will. The pressure in the room dramatically increased as he did so, but it didn't have the effect that Izuku was looking for. So, he leapt at the boy, about to continue battering away at him until he admitted surrender, but the faceless man held him back with the words:

"Stop, Izuku. Look."

Ren had simply passed out.

Izuku promptly stopped hosing him down and toned down the charges. There was a wide, bloody opening on his palm where the water had burst from, but he began healing it with a combination of Chrono Force and Regenerator. While the pain was magnified as he did it this way, he knew it would be over soon; he'd gotten used to it. Sure enough, the cut was gone, and the wound looked like it never existed in the first place.

"Did I do good?" Izuku asked, turning and ignoring the still-twitching body on the floor.

"Yes, you did, Izuku." The voice that came out was warm, gentle even. "But I am curious about something. Have you ever turned that analytical gaze on yourself? What could I have done to make you better?"

Izuku tapped his chin thoughtfully. "If I'm being honest, I don't spend much time thinking about how I could have been made better. I've spent more time thinking about improving what I've got."

"I see."

"But, if I had to say something, I guess I'm just missing a physical-enhancement Quirk." Izuku nodded to himself. "I've got range, I've got healing, I've got an escape method, and I've even got an AOE debuff. If there was something missing, it would definitely be something related to my close combat fighting potential, something that serves as a last ditch resort."

"That makes sense," the man agreed. The two of them watched as some people in lab coats took the still-twitching, unconscious Ren out of the room and presumably to the medical bay. "A Quirk for close quarters combat would round out your arsenal of Quirks quite nicely, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah," Izuku grunted. "But I'm learning to manipulate shadows, sensei. If I get good enough at that, I never even have to be in close quarters with anyone."

"Excellent, excellent!" The man clapped gleefully. "I'm glad to see you figuring out new, inventive ways to use your Quirks! If only the rest of you could be as studious as you are… oh well, looks like I'll have to look forward to the next batch of 'subjects' then…"

He sighed.

Izuku reached up to pat the man on the back. "It's alright, sensei. I promise that I'll make up for them and more."

The faceless man laughed loudly. "Never thought I'd be comforted by the words of a child. I'm glad to have found you, Izuku."

Izuku practically melted under the praise. It felt good to be praised like that, to be noticed. He spent far too many weeks in his earliest days being unnoticed and starving since he couldn't use his Quirks. He was determined not to go back to those days.

"Does that mean—"

"Yes, yes," the faceless man rolled his eyes good-naturedly, "you'll get your food."

"Hooray."

Unbreakable

Breaking Down

Izuku had just finished showering up and was about to go to bed when he heard a tack sound.

At the same time, his phone buzzed. He picked up his device, rather tired, but immediately perked up when he saw that it was a text from Himiko. He hurriedly opened it to read the text message she had just sent.

Himiko: im outside

Another buzz.

Himiko: let me in

Himiko: let me innnnnnn

Then, she sent a GIF of a man grabbing a fence with his hand with flashing text "LET ME INNN" underneath it. Izuku wasn't sure where it was from, but he was certain that he'd seen the meme somewhere before.

Izuku went to the window and saw Himiko standing far below on the ground. Judging by the way she was standing with her arms crossed and the way she was tapping her foot, she seemed upset or… impatient for something. He opened the window and saw that he had a call waiting for him on his phone.

Picking up, he let out a muffled, "Hello?"

"Izu." The voice on the other side was flat. "I wanna see you. Let me in."

"Uhm, okay." Himiko's tone left little room for debate. Izuku wasn't sure why, but he began blushing. Maybe it had something to do with the idea of Himiko in his room, alone, again. No, it definitely had something to do with that fact.

He extended a few strands of Blackwhip down to her, gently picking Himiko up and retracting the strands. He saw her put her phone away, and when she reached the window, Himiko hurriedly climbed through the window and glomped him, causing Izuku to let out a surprised eek!

He stood there awkwardly, hands slowly coming together to pat Himiko on her back. She just squeezed Izuku tighter, burying her face into his chest and… taking a deep sniff of him?! Izuku panicked, wondering if he smelled bad, but if he did, she gave no indication of it. She just stood there, squeezing the life out of him and inhaling his scent.

After a few moments, she relinquished her grip on him, but Izuku had no time to recover. With a gentle push from Himiko, Izuku fell backwards onto his bed, and Himiko immediately sat in his lap, straddling him. Her face was so close to his. Too close. The concept of personal space evidently did not matter to Himiko, not that Izuku particularly minded…

Izuku averted his gaze, unable to look Himiko in the eyes, but Himiko would not have any of that. She grabbed Izuku's chin and turned his face so that he was looking directly at her. His face, as usual, was quickly resembling a ripe tomato.

"No running away~" she hummed, gazing at him with her yellow, cat-like irises. " Tell me about the rest of your day and how it went."

Giving up the fight against his furious blush, Izuku replied, "Well, we had Foundational Hero Studies. It was a combat training exercise. Did you… did you watch it?"

The last bit was spoken softly, Izuku shyly looking Himiko in the eyes.

God, I want to devour him.

Shaking her head to clear her mind from less savoury thoughts, Himiko decided to respond to Izuku. "Not really." At his crestfallen expression, she quickly added, "Except for yours, though. It was the only one I really paid attention to."

Watching Izuku's face brighten up was one of the better moments of Himiko's day.

"Really?" Izuku smiled bashfully. "What'd you think?"

I want to cut that bitch that dared to hug you at the end. "Well, I couldn't even see how you defeated your opponents, it happened so fast."

"Ahhh," Izuku scratched the back of his head, "sorry about that. I couldn't give Todoroki a chance to react. You see, he has a super strong ice and fire Quirk that…"

Izuku began ranting about this Todoroki person's Quirk before quickly shifting to talking about some kid named Iida's Quirk. She barely paid attention to the words that were coming out of his mouth, instead focusing on him. His eyes lit up, and he stared at her directly, no longer minding the short distance between them as he was talking about, quite evidently, his favorite topic of Quirks.

"But then again, it wouldn't have been possible without Yaoyorozu—"

Himiko immediately paid rapt attention to what he was saying. He sang her praises, especially regarding her versatile Quirk, Creation, that could create any non-organic material from her body. She quickly catalogued the information she was receiving, and Izuku, oblivious to what was going on, kept on supplying her with more and more details.

As he finished up, Himiko remarked flatly, "Well, you seem to like her a lot."

Poor Izuku didn't have the experience with girls to understand what he'd just gotten himself into. "Yeah, I do! I think she's especially—"

Even Izuku couldn't miss the way Himiko's hands clamped down on his arms the second he said that.

"B-But n-not like that! Not in that way," he quickly amended.

Himiko just stared at him impassively.

Mustering up what little courage he had, Izuku added, "I like her, but… not in the same way I like you, Himiko."

That calmed her down considerably. Now with a somewhat pleased expression on her face, Himiko teased, "Oh? And in what way do you like me?"

Izuku let out a garbled little noise and pouted. "Now I feel like you're just bullying me."

Himiko giggled, all traces of her earlier unhappiness gone. Izuku looked too cute with that pout on his face. "Maybe. Maybe not. So, how did it feel? To win," she further clarified.

"Well, I don't know how to describe this, but…" Izuku trailed off. At Himiko's expectant gaze, he gathered his thoughts and continued, "I enjoyed it. Winning, you know? Or not exactly winning, but…"

Himiko's lips inexplicably curled up into a smile. She knew just what to say. "Dominating them?"

Izuku remained silent for a second. Then, quietly: "Yeah, I think so. No, that's exactly right. But I don't know… does that make me weird? Freaky?"

"No, not at all." Himiko's smile just grew larger at hearing his admission. "In fact, that's just like the Izuku I know."

"Really?" Izuku blushed, but he wasn't sure what he was blushing at. "I always considered myself more of a masochist…"

"A what?"

"Nothing, nothing!"

He looked down, away from Himiko's alluring eyes. That's just like the Izuku I know. Those words haunted him a little bit. He didn't know when he'd awoken to it, but it just sort of happened. For example, when he was fighting the giant robots at the entrance exam, he remembered that, while he found the exercise itself to be a bit of a slog to get through, the feeling of utterly outclassing the robots, of dominating them in battle, was exhilarating.

He'd never had that feeling before… or at least he didn't think he had that feeling before. The only person he'd fought before was All Might, and in no way was Izuku even close to fighting All Might on equal footing, much less dominating him, so the giant robots were the first time he could just let loose.

Izuku wondered if it had to do with the feeling of constantly being belittled for being Quirkless, if he had something pent up from all the times that he was looked down on, of being deemed worthless, or if it was something deeper than that…

Wisps of a memory lurked on the fringes of his consciousness. But, try as he might, he couldn't access it.

"A masochist, eh?" Himiko murmured to herself.

"Please forget you heard anything."

"No." Himiko smiled. "I don't think I will. Though, I don't think that you're a masochist…"

Based on their interactions for the past few years, Himiko guessed that Izuku secretly enjoyed being teased. It wasn't on the level of being a masochist, per se, but it was an instinct of his. Himiko could probably guess where it came from.

After all, the harrowing experience the two of them shared… it wasn't strange for him to have come out with a few gears loose, even if they did seemingly erase his memory. Having to fight for yourself constantly, having to become so selfish and fight without a regard for other people's safety, it was perfectly natural for someone to develop a secret desire to surrender yourself to someone, to let them baby you, to let them take care of everything for you.

A penchant for dominating others, yet a secret desire to be dominated by someone close to you. The dichotomy of Izuku Midoriya. 

Well, that was a theory she could test right now.

With a hand on his chest, she leaned forward, pushing Izuku so that he was lying on his back with Himiko sitting tall on his lap. She gathered his wrists and pinned it high above his head with her own hand and leaned down over him. He weakly tried to protest verbally, but Himiko shushed him with a finger from her free hand pressed against his lips.

"No talking," she commanded. "I don't want to hear a sound escape your lips. Eyes on me."

Izuku stared up at her, eyes wide.

Well, Himiko had his full attention now. His eyes weren't darting off to the sides any more; he was just looking at her like she was the greatest thing he'd ever laid eyes on. His look alone was starting to make her blush.

So, she started with a kiss on the tip of his nose. Izuku blushed like he always did, turning a fearsome shade of red. She followed up with a kiss to both cheeks, then one to the forehead before tenderly rubbing her nose against his. For some reason, it was this that made Izuku finally shut his eyes and stop looking at her.

She took a moment to stop and admire the scenery before her. Izuku Midoriya, blushing a delicious shade of red, was holding his breath with his eyes shut, eagerly waiting for whatever she was going to do to him. He trusted her enough to do all this, a fact that reinforced her earlier theory. Maybe Izuku just wanted someone he could relax around and "surrender" himself to to counterbalance the fact that he was forced to (well not anymore, at least, but back then) be so dominant over others. It wasn't strange for him to have developed a twisted liking for both of them. That was her theory, anyways.

Well, she could work with that. She liked being the teaser, anyways, not the one being teased, though she wouldn't terribly mind being teased by Izuku. Himiko just had to come up with a few plans for what they did from now on…

She decided to peck him on the lips. She didn't think it was possible to blush any deeper, but he somehow did.

With his eyes screwed shut and body squirming slightly underneath her, she was suddenly greeted by an instinct she had that had gone previously unheard due to her thinking about her little "theory" too much.

I—

Want—

To—

Devour—

Him.

I want to devour him. 

I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. 

I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him. I want to devour him—

For once, instead of holding herself back, she went along with her instincts. Himiko smashed her lips against his oh so vulnerable lips, teeth clacking awkwardly together. She didn't mind, though, and Himiko continued ravenously devouring him.

After a few not-so-short moments, Himiko pulled off of him. Her lips were already starting to feel bruised, and a thin line of saliva connected the two pairs of lips together.

"That's just the teaser~" she breathed out, a bit out of breath.

Izuku bit his lip, nodding, eyes still screwed shut.

He looked so cute and nervous with his eyes shut and face red. For some reason, a possessive instinct flared up in Himiko seeing him in this state. Well, it would be more accurate to say that her normally extremely possessive nature just went from a ten out of ten to a twenty out of ten in this scenario.

Izuku was hers. He was hers.

And yet that bitch still could not get herself the fuck out of Himiko's mind.

"Hold still," she commanded—not that Izuku was going to move in the first place, but still, it was just for flavoring.

Himiko dipped her head so that her lips could find purchase on Izuku's neck. When she found it, she sucked greedily on it, using her tongue to push down on the skin. Her sharp canines pierced skin, and Izuku's warm blood started flowing into Himiko's mouth.

Oh, fuck. No matter how many times she had Izuku's blood, she would and could never tire of it.

She pulled off of him to admire her handiwork. A dark, purple splotch was now born into existence on Izuku's neck, and she reveled with the feeling of triumph for being the one to put it there and for Izuku having relaxed enough around her to not "freeze" the spot while she was sucking on it. Well, she gathered that based on what she understood of his Quirks, anyways.

"Thank you for the meal~" she whispered sensually in his ear, letting go of his hands and sitting up on his lap. There was definitely something hard digging into her, but she… she would deal with that matter after some more research, yeah. She couldn't just fly with her instincts on that; Izuku was probably a virgin just like she was, and she wanted to make sure that their first time together was as enjoyable as possible.

Hehehehe. Just the thought alone was enough to get her giddy. To be connected as one with her darling Izuku—oh, just how sweet that would be if she was drinking his blood at the same time.

But, yeah, she definitely needed to do some more research.

.:.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaawn… 

Waking up at six in the morning, Izuku washed up in the bathroom and noticed, to his surprise, that Himiko's "mark" had disappeared during the night. Where a dark purple bruise had been, a clean and unblemished patch of skin existed.

He flushed hard as the memories of last night washed over him. Himiko's lips on his…

Izuku splashed cold water on his face to cool down.

Did he really just make out with a girl? That was just… it was just so unthinkable, for him of all people. He wondered why Himiko even chose someone like him! He just kissed her like, a day or two ago, and they were already moving to making out? That was pretty fast, in his opinion, but he didn't… he didn't really mind. No, he didn't mind at all, actually. He found it exciting. 

Not to mention just how comforting it was to be held down like that. He didn't think he'd enjoy that situation normally, but with Himiko it was different. He could trust her. He felt safe with her.

Back to this issue. Extending his neck, his fingers brushed over the clean spot he could vividly remember Himiko sucking on last night. He figured that he probably healed quickly or something. Even back when he was practicing martial arts at the dojo, he noticed that he healed abnormally fast. Either way, he chose not to put that much thought into the subject matter, opting to go on a morning run before breakfast.

Throwing on his sweats and a random t-shirt he found, Izuku went outside of his dorm after brushing his teeth. He slipped on his workout mask that Himiko had gotten him for his birthday and put in some earbuds connected to his phone, which laid strapped securely around his arm. After some debate, he chose to jog normally since using One For All out in public this early in the morning would probably wake some folks up with the surges of light that it normally emitted.

Putting on some tunes, he began jogging at a somewhat fast pace. Even though he wasn't using One For All, Izuku's base physical prowess was still high, so he was still moving with good speed. The purpose of the jog was to wake him up, stay in shape, and work on stamina. The stamina part was especially important; he didn't want to be fighting while exhausted.

As he made laps around U.A. University, he noticed that there seemed to be a crowd of people gathering at the front gate. On closer inspection, they looked like news reporters, with their cameras and notepads blatantly revealing their identity. There was also an out-of-place hooded figure standing in the midst of them, notable mostly because the person wasn't holding anything unlike the crowd of reporters he was in. By the time Izuku noticed him, his quick pace was already taking him away from the crowd, so the figure left his attention.

It was getting worrying, though. Each time he passed by U.A.'s entrance, there seemed to be more reporters at the ready trying to get in. They were being held back by the physical barrier that U.A. had set up presumably for cases like this and two large, burly security guards, but the situation was looking grim for the school.

As he finished up his laps, took off his mask, and started walking to cool down, a commotion suddenly sprang up from the entrance. Somehow, the physical barrier had been erased, as if it had never been there, and a swarm of reporters were booking it to every single student in sight.

Unfortunately… that meant Izuku was getting targeted as well. Before he could react to what was going on, he'd already been swarmed by a group of reporters. He was pinned down by a group of them, stuck between a wall and a mess of human bodies.

"You there! What's your school year and class?"

"Are you a part of the heroics course?"

"Can you answer a few of my questions?"

"Ahhh, uhm, uhhhhhh," Izuku fumbled, feeling pressured and very out of his element.

"What's your name? Do you mind if we disclose your identity in our paper?"

"Pose for the camera?"

"How does it feel to learn at such a prestigious institution?"

"Uhm, I'm sorry, I've gotta go…" Izuku muttered meekly, but his request was ignored.

As the interviewers kept on asking questions, it felt as though he was sinking into quicksand with no way out. They'd ensnared him, and they weren't letting go anytime soon. If they weren't going to let him leave, Izuku was seriously considering activating One For All and leaping out of there. Just as he was about to do just that, his saving grace came.

"Cut that out. Can't you see that you're bothering him? If you have questions, ask them in an orderly fashion. I'm Momo Yaoyorozu, his classmate."

An angel. She was literally an angel descending from the heavens.

Perhaps it was due to the authoritative tone she took on, or perhaps it was due to the fact that she was a very cute girl, the tabloid people immediately quieted down. Momo walked to his side by the wall and stared down the reporters.

"Ah, but," Momo said, "we have class soon, so I'll only answer the first three questions." She held up a hand with three fingers extended.

Izuku could immediately tell that that was a lie, but he did not point that out. After all, she was lying for his sake. They had a long time until class started.

"What's your phone number?"

"Denied," Momo said instantly. "You only have two questions left."

As the reporters all verbally attacked the man who tried to hit on Momo, Izuku noticed something. Momo's left hand that she wasn't holding up in the air was balled into a fist by her side and shaking slightly. An exchange between the two of them popped up in his memory.

"I just, you know…get nervous in front of crowds."

Izuku finally realized. She was confronting a fear of hers for his sake. Feeling somewhat awed by her bravery, he decided to offer what little comfort he could. Shifting so that his body trapped Momo's hand between the wall, he slowly raised his hand to grip her trembling one. Due to his positioning, none of the reporters could see what had occurred.

Nervously, he looked at Momo's face, wondering if he had crossed a line of some sort. She looked defiantly ahead, but a faint blush could be seen coloring her face. Izuku guessed it came from working out prior to this chance meeting, and not from some ridiculous reason like him holding her hand.

It wasn't like he was holding her hand, though, Izuku quickly amended to himself. He was providing support to her in the small way that he could.

The arguing reporters came to a consensus and finally asked a question. "We heard rumors that a student has broken All Might's record on the Entrance Exam. Do you know if this is true?"

Izuku broke out into a cold sweat. Well, he was already sweaty from his workout, but everything within him froze over. Thanks to Eijiro's outburst on the first day, everyone in the class knew he had scored two hundred and fifty-eight points on the entrance exam, blowing All Might's old exam score out of the water.

"Hmmm, I wonder," Momo hummed, making a show of thinking deeply about it. "I heard a rumor that someone in Class 1-B had scored first on the entrance exam. I would start with them if you want to figure out anything."

"Are you not in Class 1-B?"

"No, we're in Class 1-A, so we wouldn't know anything about it." Momo took on a commanding tone. "Now, that's three questions. We have class, so we'd appreciate it if you all dispersed."

It was clear from Momo's voice that she wasn't making a request.

After some fuss, the reporters all ran off, trying to find someone from Class 1-B. As they finally disappeared from sight, Momo and Izuku both let out a long sigh of relief.

Then, looking at each other, Momo giggled. "Ahhhh, thank God that's over."

"You can say that again," Izuku mumbled.

"Ahhhh, thank God that's over."

"… what?"

"You gave me permission to say it again."

Laughing, Izuku shook his head at Momo's little joke. Then, he said, "Seriously, though. Thank you for getting me out of that situation. I know it must've been hard on you, too."

"True, true. But a friend was in need of saving. And you know what they say."

Her free hand clenched into a fist, where she put it against her heart. "When a friend is in need…"

Izuku finished for her. "… you should never fail to save them! Now look at who's picking lines from Learning With All Might."

She looked away. "Well, I figured you already knew it."

"That I did," Izuku nodded. "But seriously, thanks. You saved me."

Momo still stoutly looked away from him. For some reason the tips of her ears were red.

While Izuku wondered what was going on with her, the inner machinations of Momo's mind were a mess.

He's still holding my hand! 

What do I do?

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE—

As if sensing her thoughts, Izuku looked down at their hands. "Oh. Sorry about this," Izuku said instantly, letting go of her hand that he was still clutching. "I just wanted to help in what little way I could. I freeze up in the weirdest spots, so you really helped me out there."

"No, I don't particularly mind it or anything…" Momo said quietly. "Thank you, though. I'm glad that I could help."

They stood and stewed in an awkward, soul-crushing silence before Izuku spoke up. "Should we head back?"

As Momo nodded, the two began walking back in the direction of the dorm. The walk was uncomfortably silent, and so Momo endeavored to do something about it.

"I like your shirt," Momo complimented, causing Izuku to actually pay attention to what shirt he was wearing.

It was one of his many All Might shirts. This one in particular had him in his Golden Age costume. Then, naturally, he focused on what she was wearing: a dark grey tank top with a very high cut, dark running short shorts, and a pure black baseball cap. It seemed like she had been out jogging as well.

"I could guess why you like it."

"Well, he is wearing a superior costume."

Izuku let out a short laugh. "I will argue to the death that Silver Age All Might is the best All Might."

"Oho? I hope you're prepared to stand and die by those words."

And thus began a needlessly long but fairly enjoyable argument over which costume was best.

.:.

In class the same day, Aizawa-sensei spoke curtly:

"You're going to select a class president."

"WHAAAAAAAAT?" a vast majority of the class shouted.

"You have forty minutes. I'll be back by the end of it. I hope you have an answer by then." With those words, Aizawa began to walk out of the classroom. "Oh, select a vice-president and secretary while you're at it."

As the class erupted into an uproar, Aizawa took his leave swiftly.

"That seems like an ordinary school thing to do, though," Izuku murmured.

No one heard him except for Kyoka Jiro. Even though she was sitting multiple seats away, she still turned towards him and laughed. "I know, right?" she said over the clamor. Izuku could tell she was talking to him since they easily made eye contact. "It seems like everyone likes making a big deal out of nothing."

Tenya overheard and immediately raised his objections. "This is a big deal! We should endeavor to take this seriously." He stood up from his desk and spoke loudly. "Everyone! We should hold a discussion to get everyone's thoughts in order, then settle this with a vote. Any disagreements?"

"Can't we just vote and get this farce over with?" Katsuki grumbled.

"No!" Tenya denied vehemently. "Proper discourse is the foundation of a good democracy. We should allow the people who wish to join the race speak up for themselves. Anyone?"

After a brief period of silence, Mina simply said, "Shouldn't the strongest people be class officers?"

"Hah? Who the fuck said I wanted to be class president?" Katsuki snarled. "Though, that doesn't sound too bad…"

"Not you! I'm talking about Midoriya!"

"Huh?" Izuku was instantly bewildered at becoming the topic of conversation. He'd been planning on sitting this discussion out and voting for whoever the class decided on, but this sudden turn in the conversation threw him off guard.

"I'll make you eat shit for saying that," Katsuki glowered at her. Mina just stuck her tongue out at him and blew a raspberry.

"Well, it is true that Midoriya is the strongest in the class currently," Tenya said. "He scored first on the entrance exam and first on the Quirk Assessment Test. And he seems… normal." While saying this, he shot a side glance at Katsuki and Shoto. "Do you have any objections, Izuku?"

"Eh? Uhm…" Iuku ran over the potential upsides and downsides in his mind.

In the first place, he doubted his limited social skills would be able to carry him successfully through the role. He wasn't assertive enough and just did not fit the role of a leader. But, just as he was about to deny Tenya, another thought popped up in his head.

Couldn't he consider this as training?

If he were to ascend to the top of the hero rankings, he would have to interact with people on the regular. Furthermore, if he got used to interacting with all different kinds of people now by utilizing the opportunities that being a class president offered him, that could only be beneficial for the future. Sure, he wasn't that good at social interactions now, but he could get better by being class president.

"I have no problems with it," Izuku said, but then he faltered. "If you'll have me, that is."

"Alright, that settles it. I'll pass out a sheet of paper to each of you, and you can vote for or against Midoriya becoming class president. The voting will be anonymous, I assure you, and in the end I will collect all the slips and count them up." Tenya paused for a breath. "That sounds good to everyone?"

The class let out voices of approval, and Tenya immediately got to work. After he distributed the slips of paper to everyone, people began writing down their yes or no votes. When everyone was done, he collected them and counted through the results. Izuku left his blank, uncomfortable with voting for himself.

"Only two votes for no," Tenya reported. "A resounding success, Midoriya. Congratulations."

Izuku laughed nervously. "Thanks, everyone." While he was glad for the opportunity for growth, he wondered if the class would've been better off having someone like Tenya be class president.

Tenya immediately moved onto the next subject: a vice-president. "Well, since we have a male as our class president, I think it's only fair to have a female be the vice-president, and we can have anyone be the secretary. Any arguments against that?"

There were no objections to that.

"Umm, if I may?" a voice spoke up. Everyone turned to the owner of the voice… or, they at least tried to. Toru Hagakure, their resident invisible girl, had spoken up, and all that could be seen was the skirt and shirt of the college's uniform. "I nominate Yaoyorozu. I feel like she has that dependable aura about her, and if we're talking about strongest, she scored second on the Quirk Assessment Test. Wouldn't she be perfect?"

Humorously enough, Momo had the exact same reaction as Izuku. "Eh?"

"Yeah, if it's a girl, it's gotta be Yaomomo," Mina grinned.

"No problems here."

"Yep, I agree."

One by one, the girls in the class gave their approval for Momo's nomination. Tenya, wanting to do things properly, asked Momo outright, "Yaoyorozu, are you fine with being nominated?"

Momo seemed to fiddle with her hands, and for a brief moment, her searching eyes caught his. Izuku tried to offer as reassuring of a smile as possible, wanting to convey his feelings of: we'll both be out of our natural element, but at least we'll be out together. She took a deep breath before saying in a seemingly calm tone, "Yes, I would be honored to receive the position."

"Okay. We'll vote using the same rules as last time," Tenya said. After he passed out the papers and recollected them, he reported almost robotically, "Wow. A unanimous vote. Congratulations, Yaoyorozu."

Momo let loose an embarrassed smile. "Thank you all for the vote of confidence."

"No worries, Yaomomo!" Mina said cheerfully. "You're def the most suited to the task."

Tenya cleared his throat. "Alright, now that that's taken care of, let's discuss who should be secretary. Does anyone—"

"Ah, I have a suggestion."

Surprisingly, it had been Izuku who spoke up.

"I'm n-not particularly talkative or anything, it's a skill I'm still working at. For that reason, I'd like the secretary to be an outspoken person." Izuku swallowed before continuing, trying to keep his voice as level as possible. "I think Iida fights the bill perfectly, so I'd like to nominate him."

Tenya remained silent for a moment. It seemed, strangely enough, that he was going to cry out of gratitude or something. Maybe being a class representative meant a lot to him…?

"I agree. Iida seems like a reliable bet," Momo threw in her opinion, likely reaching the same conclusion that Izuku had. If they had a secretary that was as assertive as Tenya, that means there was less of a demand for Izuku and Momo to fulfill that role in which they both inherently were not good at.

"Well, if the pres and vice-pres both agree to it, I see no issues," Eijiro said.

"Yeah, no issues here. Being a class representative kinda seems like a pain, so I'm glad you three are all up to it," Denki laughed.

Noticing the boy in question's silence, Ochaco asked, "You're… up to it, right, Iida?"

Izuku thought he heard Tenya sniffle. "I'm sorry. I was just trying to hold back my tears at having been nominated for such a prestigious position. I swear that I will not let you down! But first, we have to vote—"

"Aghhhhhhh, fuck the voting! That shit takes forever!" Katsuki roared. "Raise your hand right now if you're okay with shitty four-eyes being class secretary!"

A large portion of the class raised their hands, Izuku and Momo included. After making a rough count, Katsuki announced, "Sixteen out of twenty. Four eyes is our class secretary. Now, someone call Aizawa back in or something so we can continue on with our day."

Tenya stood there, an unbelieving look flashing in his eyes. "You all are really okay with me?"

"Oh, shut it," Katsuki said roughly. "We've already decided."

Tenya sniffled again. "Everyone, I'm so touched by your generosity. I swear that I will perform to the best of my abilities—"

"Oh, shut up!"

.:.

Momo stretched, getting ready to head down to the common area.

At the end of the week, it was announced that on the following Monday, the class was going to go to the Unexpected Simulation Joint, or the U.S.J. for short.

Its purpose was to train hero students in disaster prevention and rescue, containing many different zones designed to simulate real life accidents. Located a fair distance away from the main campus, it would require a bus to shuttle the students to and from the premises.

Before she could gather her bearings, it was already the Sunday before their class trip.

Izuku, having received his first task as class president, braved the unknown and asked for all of his classmates' numbers to create a group chat. He was met with surprising success, all of his classmates giving their numbers to him. Momo giggled, remembering the adorable, flustered way that he asked for her number. Of course, her being the vice-president and all, she got everyone's contacts from Izuku already.

Her phone buzzed. Taking a glance at it, she saw that Izuku had officially created the group chat.

Izuku: Hey, everyone! This will be the group chat for the class. I'll post the details for the Unexpected Simulation Joint in this chat later.

Mina: whos who

Katsuki: thats my question

Katsuki: who the fuck is everyone?

Katsuki: deku wh so seriouys btw

Tenya: I think everyone should say their names.

Eijiro: pussyslayer6999

Having just hopped into the elevator, Momo stared, dumbfounded, for a moment at her phone.

Eijiro: GUYS THAT WAS MINETA HE TOOKMY PHONE I SWEAR

Eijiro: CAN SOMEONE HELP ME FIND THE RATBASTARD I DONT NOW WHERE HE WEBNT

Rolling her eyes at the antics of some of her classmates, Momo took this opportunity to type in her response.

Momo: I'm Momo Yaoyorozu.

Ochaco: Ochaco Uraraka

Putting her phone away as she arrived at the bottom floor, it seemed like most of her classmates were spending their free time before dinner relaxing in the common rooms. A couple of her male classmates were playing pool, and a few even brought down their laptops and seemed to be playing a computer game together.

"HE'S DEAD ON MY SCREEN! HE'S DEAD ON MY SCREEN!" Denki screeched, suddenly slamming his fists up and down repeatedly like a jackhammer. "We didn't get him! Fuuuuuuuuuuu—"

"Shut up, shut up!" Katsuki raged back at him. "We're already fucking loosing, so please shut the fuck up!"

"We need Midoriya baaaaaaaaack," Denki whined. "He was carrying usssssssssss."

"He had to go help with cooking. It can't be helped," reasoned Fumikage. "It's already bad enough that Kirishima went AFK to find Mineta, so let's not argue."

The avian boy was much calmer than the other two, so Momo decided to call out to him. "Tokoyami, what game are you guys playing?"

Fumikage was momentarily snapped out of his concentration by her words. "League of Heroes."

His quick answer answered all of Momo's questions. As a hero fan, she knew of the massively popular game where you picked a hero to fight a 5v5 game. Personally, she was a Rabbit Hero: Mirko main, but she would rather walk off a cliff than admit that right here right now. Though… it seemed like a random squad of people playing: Izuku, Fumikage, Katsuki, Denki, and Eijiro. The last three she could imagine together, but definitely not Fumikage.

Oh, well. Video games bridged the gap between all different kinds of people.

Also, it sounded like Izuku played the game as well, another conversation topic for them in private. Momo smiled to herself inadvertently, thinking of the discussions she could have with him. While she didn't peg Izuku as the type of person to be heavily invested into video games, it was just like him to play League of Heroes.

"Yaomomo~"

She was ambushed by Mina, who glomped her from the side. Momo almost let out a shriek, but fortunately, she held it in.

"The boys are making us dinner in preparation for the U.S.J. tomorrow. We girls are watching a movie the room over. Wanna join?"

For some reason, Momo knew Mina was not about to take "no" for an answer. Sensing some ulterior motive but being too lax to guard against it, Momo said, "Sure. I came down for food, so if the boys are going to prepare it, I guess I have time for a movie."

Mina beamed. "Excellent! Come, come."

She was led to the next room, where Mina promptly allowed her in and shut the door, locking it. A movie was playing on the TV, but no one seemed to be paying attention to it.

"I've secured Yaomomo. We're all present. Fortify the area," Mina instructed.

Alarms began going off in Momo's head.

"Roger~" Toru said cheerfully, walking up to the blinds and shutting them, casting the room in darkness save for the light from the TV. Her outfit was surprisingly revealing—a small, low cut tank top and extremely short shorts—but it could hardly be considered revealing if one couldn't even see the person in the outfit.

With the blinds to the room down and the door locked, it truly seemed like Momo waltzed right into a secret meeting of some sort.

"Umm, guys, what's going on?" Momo asked, uncertain.

"I'm glad you asked," Mina said. Crossing her arms, she stated generously, "Welcome to the first bimonthly boys of Class 1-A ranking tier list determination party!"

Momo's jaw fell open. "… what?"

"Are you familiar with the concept of tier lists?"

"Yes, but—"

"Good, that makes this easy." Mina pulled out a big sheet of paper, a stick of glue, and what appeared to be individual cut outs of the boys' ID pictures. How she got that material, Momo didn't want to know. "We're making a tier list, but with the guys in our class. Any objections?"

"Uhm," Momo started, "doesn't it seem wrong to objectify the other—"

"No objections, sweet!" Mina laughed heartily, completely ignoring Momo's statement. She wrote, from top to bottom, S, A, B, C, and trash on the big sheet of paper. Without a second of hesitation, she glued Minoru Mineta's ID picture into the trash tier. "Any problems with me doing this?"

A chorus of no's answered her. Momo couldn't help but be swept up in their pace and answered no as well. The looks she sometimes spotted Minoru giving her… she didn't like thinking about it.

"Oooh, this'll be interesting." Mina held up an image of Katsuki Bakugo. "Thoughts?"

"Quick question. Are we basing this off of looks or personality?" Kyoka asked.

Toru spoke up. "Both, I guess. We're wholistic in this institution."

"Fine. Well I think looks, A, personality, trash. So low B, high C?" Kyoka said. "Though, admitting that his looks are A leaves a disgusting feeling in my mouth."

A few of the girls nodded in agreement while Momo reserved judgement. Katsuki was fine and all, looks-wise, but his personality was pretty problematic. His appearance wasn't even close to Izuku's—wait a minute, wait a fucking minute. Where had that rogue thought come from?

"'Kay. So… low B, or high C?"

A few mutterings of low B sealed Katsuki's fate.

"On to the next one!" Mina announced.

The dealings went on like this for some time, Momo paying half attention and not really offering any of her opinions on the boys that were called—she simply didn't have any opinions on the boys judged so far and the act of objectively deciding a tier for a boy didn't exactly sit well with her. She simply wasn't brave enough to come out and denounce it when all of her female classmates seemed to be enjoying it.

Idly, she wondered if she'd be brave enough to do it if Izuku was with her…

Momo shook her head. She was having weird thoughts. Perhaps the mood of ranking people had gotten to her.

Denki Kaminari, B tier. Eijiro Kirishima, A tier. Tenya Iida, A tier. Shoto Todoroki, S tier. Not one of these mattered to her until—

"Oooh, this'll be fun. Izuku Midoriya!" Mina announced, instantly catching Momo's attention… for some reason.

"He's strong and good-looking, that's for sure, but… isn't he kind of shy? I'm not too into that," Toru said.

"But he's so kind!"

Strangely enough, it wasn't Momo who said that. Someone had beat her to it. Ochaco, who had been quiet up until now, suddenly started speaking. "He may be shy, yes, but he's probably the kindest person in our class. After all, he… during the entrance exam, he saved me without a second thought, like it was nothing."

Tsuyu spoke simply. "Also, he's totally hot. Ribbit."

"Tsu, what?" Ochaco said, flustered by Tsuyu's straightforward statement. Based on her rapidly reddening face, it was likely that Ochaco thought the same as Tsuyu.

"Objectively the most attractive boy in our class," Tsuyu clarified. "Todoroki's the prettiest, that's for sure, but Midoriya's got power and a good personality to match. I don't mind the shyness, I actually find it cute. That has value."

It was twisted logic, for sure, but it was logic that Momo agreed with… wait, what?

Mina had her doubts. "But… he's kinda short, isn't he?"

Before she could stop the words from flowing out, Momo interjected for the first time during their ranking session:

"I don't mind."

She instantly regretted saying what came to her mind. Not just Mina, just about all the girls were looking at her with a flabbergasted expression. Only Tsuyu shot her a thumbs up with her usual expressionless face.

Momo tried to salvage her situation. "Of course, by that I mean I don't mind it if a guy is shorter than me."

"Hoho~" Mina said, developing a devilish grin, "are you sure you just don't mind that Midoriya's shorter than you?"

Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Momo responded resolutely, "That has nothing to do with anything. I'm just talking about my personal preferences."

"Tch. No fun, Yaomomo," Mina sighed. "And here I thought I was about to find something juicy. So, what are we thinking, ladies? B? A? S?"

Momo temporarily bristled with anger at the outlandish suggestion that Izuku should go into B tier. If she didn't watch herself here, she might slip into another rant like the one she had in front of Izuku about Golden Age All Might.

"S," Tsuyu declared unreservedly.

Looking like she was so embarrassed that she could very well faint at any moment, Ochaco murmured, "… S."

"A, I guess," Toru said.

Kyoka gave him an A without thinking too much about it.

Mina snorted. "Wow, I think you guys are wayyy overvaluing Midoriya. I personally think he's low B, maybe even lower than Bakugo."

Unable to hold herself back, Momo cried out, "Haaaah? Are you kidding me? Lower than Bakugo? In my opinion, Midoriya should be top tier, higher than Todoroki. He's just so—"

Momo blinked.

She stared at the shit-eating grin onMina's face and realized that she got baited.

"The only words we get out of Yaomomo are when Midoriya's involved, eh?" Mina observed, chuckling to herself. "Well, don't hold back. He's just so… what?"

Momo was aware of her face slowly starting to heat up. She had really gotten herself into this situation. But, that was alright. She had been trained for tough situations like these. Calm down, and kill the emotions.

"It's nothing."

"Ehhhhh? Is it really nothing?"

"I was just speaking from an objective standpoint. Nothing more, nothing less."

Mina looked like she wanted to probe a little deeper, but, fortunately for Momo, she relented. "Well, I guess, if you say so. I was kidding, by the way. I think Midoriya's an easy S."

As the girls happily chattered away, Momo's brief slip up brushed away, she let out a sigh of relief.

It would really help Momo to not get into hairy situations in the first place. She should work on that. Life would be so much easier if she could hold herself back from these problematic outbursts. Showing weakness was not the Yaoyorozu way. Being mature and dignified—that was the Yaoyorozu way, the way that had been instilled within her from her childhood.

But she couldn't help it sometimes. Maybe it was just against her natural personality. But even so, Momo would endeavor to get rid of that weakness. She would kill that side of her, so that only the cool, collected Momo remained. Momo barely managed to hold onto that image that she worked so hard to develop in front of the other members of her class.

But Izuku…

He knew about the side to her that she never showed anyone. And what's more is that he seemed to be delivering on his promise of not telling anyone. For that, she was infinitely grateful. And—it was only this gratefulness that she had for him that she ranked him S tier, okay? Definitely not anything else, definitely not his cute freckled face or the feeling of his warm hand enveloping hers, they had absolutely nothing to do with it!

Izuku had been taking up a lot of Momo's focus, and she didn't quite know why—oh, wait, of course! The mystery of his Quirk and what it had to do with All Might's! His conversation with Aizawa that she had eavesdropped on—ahem, accidentally overheard on the day that she was moving in was the sole, yes, the sole reason that she was interested—even slightly—in Izuku! His Quirk was just too interesting, yes, that was it!

It had nothing to do with how warm her hand felt in his. Nothing. Absolutely zero.

.:.

Rage.

That was all he could see because of that fucking game.

Katsuki barely registered the doors to the kitchen sliding open. As they did, Izuku exited the kitchen and walked into the common room to inform everyone that dinner was almost ready.

The scene that greeted him was a slightly bruised Minoru chirping happily with his other male classmates. The guy could definitely take a beating, but he didn't seem to let that affect him, as deserved as it might have been. Also, Eijiro seemed to have graduated from wanting to tear off that "rat bastard's" face, which could probably be said to have been an improvement.

"Hey, hey," Minoru said, "now that the girls are gone, how about we make a tier list based off of how hot the girls in our class are?"

"No thanks. Do I look like a fucking child?" Katsuki snapped, still in a sour mood from his session of gaming.

Izuku added his own two cents. "I, ah, don't think that that's a great idea. It feels wrong to objectify our classmates like that."

"You're all a bunch of pussies," Minoru huffed.

"Keep running your mouth and I'm gonna triple the beating you received from Kirishima, I swear to fucking god." Katsuki swept a hand through his spiky hair and leveled a glare at the people that he pretty much just wasted an hour of his life with. "You bastards are lucky that it's grub time."

"Thank God," Eijiro sighed. "Any more games, and I think Baku-bro was about to pop a blood vessel."

"This has been entertaining," Fumikage said grandly, shutting down his computer. "Would you gentlemen like to partake in that again sometime in the future?"

Katsuki thought about that for a second before responding. "Sure, but definitely not anymore tonight. I think I'm going to murder someone after Kaminari fed the opposing All Might eight kills."

"That's because it was two versus one! Kirishima left, remember?" Denki attempted to defend himself.

"Just sit back and stop feeding! It's that simple!"

Before the conversation could devolve into a pointless argument, Tenya popped up, coming from the game of pool. "Now, now, let's stop arguing. The food is almost ready, and we should all make sure to eat up before our trip to the U.S.J. tomorrow. A battle should never be fought on an empty stomach, after all."

"Okay, mom," Katsuki said crossly, shutting down his laptop and returning it to his bag. "Who's gonna get the ladies? They look like they're having a goddamn cult meeting of some sort."

"I will!" Minoru instantly spoke up, and before anyone could deny him, he sprinted off towards the secretively locked door. There, he knocked twice before informing the girls that "their lovely presences were requested at the dining table." After some muffled words that Katsuki and the rest of the boys couldn't really hear, Minoru turned to face them, a lone tear streaking down his face.

"Uwahh, dude looks like he got his soul crushed," Denki observed.

Katsuki said simply, "Serves him right." Whatever the girls said to him were definitely not kind words. He got up from the table and walked to the formal dining hall, not bothering to check if anyone was following him. Katsuki didn't particularly care if he was followed or not; he just liked being one of the first to do something.

As he walked into the hall, he was greeted by several different types of soba spread out on a massive table with chairs surrounding it. There were also a multitude of different sweets, courtesy of Rikido Sato, who was currently in the process of putting the finishing touches on a cake.

Katsuki took one of the seats at the head of the table, absentmindedly pulling out his phone to check it while he waited for food to be served to him. As the other students slowly filed in, Katsuki found himself thinking of an issue that was never too far from his mind these days:

Izuku Midoriya. Or, more specifically, Izuku Midoriya and the Quirk that he shouldn't have.

Izuku Midoriya had been Quirkless from birth. That was verified, tested, and true. The other students didn't know Izuku like Katsuki did. They used to be the best of friends, until Katsuki developed his Quirk and Izuku didn't. Then he bullied Izuku to fuel his own ego. It was a shitty thing to do, but that's what happened. Katsuki wasn't one to run from the mistakes he committed in the past.

But then…

Katsuki still remembered the day Izuku had been taken, a summer day when they were eight. He was ganging up on him with two other similar bastards, when the man walked up to them.

"May I ask what you are doing to that boy?"

"What does it look like?" Katsuki had responded. To him, he was the king of the world, he had a powerful Quirk, and that was all that mattered. "He's a Quirkless nobody, so I'm just showing him his place."

Those were words that he truly believed back then: that Quirks were everything that mattered. He, blessed with a strong Quirk, had the right to look down on those born Quirkless, like Izuku. Looking back on it, it was a fucked up mentality, but he wasn't about to deny his past where he believed wholeheartedly in those words.

"Ah, I see. I have no problems with that. The world ought to be ruled by the strong, after all."

Even now, Katsuki could remember the look of sheer despair on Izuku's face. He had once reveled upon seeing it, but now, it just brought him regret. Regret that he'd been such a fucking idiot back then.

"But… something you said interested me."

"What?" 

"You said he was Quirkless?"

"Yeah, so what?"

Then…

… fear.

"I'll be taking him with me, then."

Katsuki had never felt so much raw terror up until that point in his life. He didn't think that he would ever experience the same level of fear in that one moment. The man, who Katsuki should've recognized as a villain, floored Katsuki and the two other bastards without lifting a finger. Just the man's aura made Katsuki inadvertently piss his pants.

Glancing up at the man, Katsuki had just realized that he did not have a fucking face. That should've been red flag number one.

"Hm. King's Will is an interesting Quirk," the man said blandly. Then, he looked at Izuku. "Though it doesn't seem to be working on you."

The man knelt down so that he was closer to Izuku's prone body. Countless bruises and gashes could be seen. "I see. It's not working on you because—well, you have already experienced true fear, haven't you? So, of course the false alternative wouldn't work on you. You who have already been reduced to nothing…"

A twisted expression broke out on what should have been the man's face.

"… will be beautiful to rebuild."

Then, he grabbed Izuku and promptly, the two of them vanished.

It had been a shitstorm afterwards. Katsuki and the two other bastards couldn't even move from the spot; they had to wait until someone found them accidentally and brought them to the hospital. The other two immediately blabbered about a villain abducting Izuku, but they couldn't find a hint of the villain's presence. The only thing that proved their story was the fact that Izuku hadn't shown up at home that day or the next day.

At first, Katsuki and the other two shitters were suspected of foul play. But after passing their story through a person with a lie detector Quirk, their stories were verified. The authorities were properly informed, and the three were let go.

Three months passed. And then, out of nowhere, Izuku showed up to their class again, without an indication of anything having even been wrong in the first place. Since he wasn't even remotely popular and there had been a rumor that he had been ill, people took it at face value and left it at that.

But, it was strange. The Izuku that returned was not the same. Katsuki couldn't muster up the courage to ask what had happened, and their distance grew naturally. Gone were the days of Katsuki bullying him; the thought of even approaching Izuku made that same fear that he felt from that day resurface. Not because he was scared of Izuku, but because he was scared of what had happened.

It was an Izuku who Katsuki pretty recently guessed had his memories wiped clean of the past three months when he was gone.

Just what had happened?

What could have happened to make him this way? To fuck him up so badly that he needed his memories of the entire incident wiped?

And the worst part of it all? Katsuki knew it was his fault. If he hadn't picked on Izuku, if he hadn't dragged him out there to bully him with those two other fuckheads, then none of this would have happened. Izuku wouldn't have had three months of life stolen from him. But, if Katsuki was being brutally honest, it wasn't even that that bothered him the most. It was because…

Because he was made someone else's bitch. Because that moment proved to him that he wasn't hot shit, that true monsters existed out there in the world. Because he felt utterly powerless in that moment.

It was a wakeup call for Katsuki, a truly sobering moment.

And so, from that moment on, Katsuki swore to himself: he'd become strong; no, he'd become the strongest. Strong enough to look down on all those that dared to oppose him. Strong enough to never let someone be taken from in front of his fucking face again. Strong enough to protect those closest to him, at minimum.

It was a shitty reason, he knew. He wasn't doing it for justice or some bullshit like that. He was doing it just so he didn't have to feel powerless again.

And, for as long as he can remember since developing his goal of becoming the strongest, the way he judged himself came back to the start of it all: Izuku. It was a weird, bullshit psychological excuse, but it was what it was. If he could reliably protect Izuku, provide him with safety, then maybe Katsuki was worth something.

It worked well as a metaphorical goal. As Katsuki worked out, perfected his Quirk, and even entered into close quarters combat lessons, that was all he thought about: to be strong enough to have protected Izuku on that day. He naturally parted ways with Izuku as they entered different classes in high school and drifted apart. Of course, Katsuki ceased bullying Izuku, but he wasn't comfortable enough with himself to begin talking to him like nothing had ever happened. Izuku didn't approach him either.

The incident that brought them back together, news of Izuku's plans of taking the U.A. entrance exam, was the first time Katsuki had actually talked to Izuku in years, save for that one moment with the damned sludge villain. He couldn't believe it—that Quirkless Izuku was still going to try to get into U.A., just like he said they would when they were daydreaming back when they were best friends.

Katsuki had initially been extremely irritated by that fact. Powerless people should just let themselves be protected, after all. But then, Izuku had betrayed his expectations by outperforming even Katsuki on the entrance exam.

That forced Katsuki to rethink everything he thought he knew about life when he saw Izuku's name above his on the rankings. And, to be honest, he was still in the middle of thinking about things, the first of which was the topic of his relationship with Izuku.

He'd taken steps to slowly rebuild their relationship. It was something he'd never done before, so he was shitty at it, but he was making an effort by inviting Izuku to do things with him, such as playing that damned League of Heroes or encouraging Eijiro to invite him out for lunch. Izuku seemed pretty receptive towards his attempts at reconciliation, but Katsuki knew that they had a whole lot of stuff to sort through before they could be considered friends again.

But… it didn't seem that bad of an idea to work towards. He knew his past actions were undeserving of forgiveness, but a fool can dream, no?

.:.

It was finally Monday, and Class 1-A was currently strolling into the U.S.J.

After hopping off the shuttle walking into the building, Izuku had the vague sensation that something was off… but he had no concrete evidence for it. He couldn't very well voice his discomfort at something that did not exist, after all.

Entering the massive complex, it looked more like an amusement park than a training facility. Multiple different zones stood out to him: a shipwreck zone, a forest fire zone, even an urban earthquake zone. Those were the only ones that Izuku could see, but he was sure that there were more zones. That nagging feeling from before didn't disappear, either. It felt almost like he was being watched.

Following Aizawa, the class had gathered at the staging grounds. Their tagalong professor, the Space Hero: Thirteen, was an expert at rescue operations, and with the U.S.J. specifically being a facility to train young heroes in rescue operations, it made sense for Thirteen to be here.

While listening to Thirteen give a speech about how saving people from natural or manmade disasters was also one of the main jobs of heroes outside of fighting villains, Izuku looked around at his surroundings.

He could've sworn that he saw shuffling behind the thick foliage of the forest zone. And it seems that he wasn't alone.

"Oi, aren't we supposed to be the only ones here?" Katsuki interrupted Thirteen's speech, raising his voice. "Then who are those shady people over there?"

Everyone looked in the direction that Katsuki was pointing. Faint shuffling could be seen behind the brush, and the outline of several hulking figures appeared.

Among them, a… man, thing? A black… fog-like creature wearing a bartender's suit appeared before them. Long, yellow slits of light appeared on the spot where his eyes should have been if he had a face. Even the thing's hands were that dark purple, fog-like substance.

"Sharp. I don't particularly dislike that," the thing said. It was a distinctly deep, male voice.

"Everyone get back!" Thirteen warned, shielding Class 1-A. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"We just want to play with one of you," the dark villain replied easily.

"This is an ambush," Aizawa realized. "But—why? Forget that. Kids, this is not a safe environment. Stick together and be on the defensive until we get reinforcements."

He pulled out his cellphone and immediately frowned. "It appears that they've set up a jammer of some kind. This was thoroughly planned out in advance. We'll need to manually contact the school. Godammit, I thought we shored up our defenses. How did something like this happen…?"

"That's a secret," The villain chuckled as more and more villains gathered around him. A massive human-like villain appeared from beyond the brush. This one stood heads above the rest, with a completely black body and an exposed brain. And its eyes, they—

They seemed to be directly trained upon Izuku.

And… Izuku somehow… somehow he felt connected to the monster, like it was familiar to him.

"Hey, hey," a large villain with jagged spikes for hands said excitedly, "we get a bonus if we bring back the ponytailed bitch, yea?"

"Yep, long black hair, probably tied up in a ponytail," one of the villains recited. "That's her. Looks like our little lady has a grudge for some reason."

Izuku and the rest of the class stepped in front of Momo on instinct. Izuku wasn't sure why, but it seemed like Momo was being targeted.

"You will all die before you get to lay a hand on my students," Aizawa stated coldly, getting into a battle-ready stance.

"Oh, Shota-kun, still the same protective nature as ever, huh?" the fog-like villain remarked casually. This simple statement caused Aizawa to freeze up instantly.

"Who the fuck are you—"

"Ah. Question time is over. Now," the warped figure seemed to swirl with energy, "disperse."

Before Aizawa even had a chance to activate his own Quirk, black portals opened up underneath Izuku and the students, whisking them away to some other destination.

.:.

As soon as Izuku was dropped out of the portal, he recognized two things: one, he was on top of something that appeared to be a ship, and two, he was not alone.

Izuku got into a fighting stance, calming his frayed mental state. His eyes stared at the front end of the ship.

There, a figure stood.

The first thing that Izuku noticed was the hands. More than ten disembodied hands were attached to the figure, who Izuku now identified as a young man, in varying places on his body. Most notably, there was a large, deathly gray hand covering his face, hiding everything save for two eyes, two eyes which slimmed as if to indicate that the man was smiling.

"Good, I see Kurogiri followed through on his promise," the man commented blandly, speaking as if he was having a normal everyday conversation.

Izuku didn't let his guard down.

"Well, where are my manners," he said, perfectly calm and composed. "My name is Tomura Shigaraki. You can call me Shigaraki if you'd like. I won't tolerate you calling me Shiggy, though—that's where I draw the line. Before you speak, I will say that there is no need to introduce yourself, Izuku Midoriya. I already know quite a lot about you, senpai."

Izuku froze. Just what is he talking about?! he wondered to himself, slightly panicking. And why is this grown man calling me his senpai? What the hell is up with that?

"Oh, well, I see you're still playing along to this farce of wanting to be a hero," Tomura said, shaking his head. "Just when are you going to wake up, I wonder?"

"What are you talking about?" Izuku demanded.

"Ah, ah, ahhh. I can't spoil things for you, I have to let you figure things out on your own… or at least that's what he says, but whatever." Tomura took a step towards Izuku, who tensed at that action. "I think I'm free to leave you hints, though."

All of a sudden, Tomura dashed towards Izuku. Izuku, having prepared for the situation in which he would be attacked, immediately went fifty percent, rolling forward with a right hook aimed at Tomura's head.

The blow should have been clean. Its speed should have caught Tomura off guard, smashing into his cheek. But the thing was—

Tomura caught Izuku's fist with his left hand.

Tomura caught Izuku's fist with his left hand. 

He caught it like it was effortless, like he wasn't even trying. No visible exertion could be seen anywhere on his body. He just went and caught a punch that crushed steel robots like it was mere child's play. His movements were so sharp and fast that Izuku couldn't even see it.

"And it'll start to hurt… now." Tomura lowered his pinky so that he was fully touching Izuku's fist.

And Izuku was injected into a world of agony.

The pain was excruciating, worse than anything he'd ever experienced. It felt like his entire arm was being crushed, like it was being ground to tiny bits, like he was disassociating at the molecular level—wait a fucking moment, he was! Izuku watched with horror as he literally saw his arm disintegrate, and he couldn't help but let out a primal roar of pain.

"… aaaaaaand stop. Sorry about this, by the way."

The pain stopped. Rather, the pain of having his arm disintegrated stopped, but the base pain of having a hand forcibly removed did not. His bloody stump of a right arm bled profusely, and he grew sick at the sight of it.

Izuku wanted to throw up. The phantom tingling of his right hand was still there, but his hand—it was just gone. It was just gone. What had been his… his right hand was now just dust and ash, falling to the ground. God, it was just gone.

But he couldn't let himself get distracted and bit through the pain. This villain was quite possibly the most terrifying one he'd ever faced. Yet the villain, Tomura, did not move. His two eyes, poking out from behind the fingers of the hand stuck to his face, narrowed.

The words that came out of his mouth were simple. "Now. Bring your hand back."

What?

Izuku moved to kick Tomura, but he backed off with inhuman speed. And then he said—

"Visualize reconstructing, not healing."

Izuku froze.

Tomura walked up to him, but Izuku could not move. He couldn't. He couldn't explain why; his body just shut down. The words "visualize reconstructing, not healing" ricocheted off the corners of his mind, growing into an inexplicable feeling of raw terror. He'd felt this pure terror once before in his life, and it was—

"Visualize opposites."

"Visualize reconstructing, not healing."

And more after that.

"Visualize — firing from your hands but with —."

"Visualize sinking into the —."

"Visualize —— than everyone else."

"Visualize—"

A splitting headache roared across Izuku, causing him to physically flinch. It felt like his head was coming apart at the seams, that something was ready to burst and come out kicking and screaming. A memory—

A cold, dark room.

A warm, comforting hand.

And the words: "You… are my greatest creation."

Too much was happening. Far, far too much. Izuku could not keep up. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down. He was breaking down.

He was breaking down, and he didn't even know why.

"You've stopped moving," Tomura observed with that calm voice of his. "And you've stopped thinking. Maybe I've overstimulated you? Ah, shit, I better not have broken hisfavorite toy…"

He walked up to Izuku, who was hyperventilating. Short, rapid breaths came in and out of the boy, and his eyes were wide and dazed.

"I didn't want to do this, but…"

Tomura cocked back and smashed a fist with great force into Izuku's cheek. Izuku was instantly floored, cracking the hardwood floor with the heavy impact. Instantly, the world came back to Izuku, who, despite the pain of both his disintegrated hand and his face (which surely had some cheekbones cracked from Tomura's blow), leapt up in a battle ready stance, shaken out of his previous stupor.

"You're going to fight me without your right arm?" Tomura asked, still in a laid-back stance. "You do realize that you're missing a whole hand, do you?

"Yes, I am. That doesn't matter to me, you're a villain and—"

Tomura interrupted him. Finally, it seemed like he was getting annoyed. "God, you're such a dumb fuck. I'm trying to help you, not fight you. Hurry up and visualize reconstructing, not healing."

The words made Izuku freeze up again.

"Look, I know I seem like a bad guy," he said, throwing up air quotes around the words bad guy, "but I am genuinely trying to help you out. We're the same, after all, you and me."

"No, we're not." Izuku grit his teeth, staving off the pain. "You're a villain, and I'm a hero."

"Mere semantics," Tomura scoffed. "We're all just using our Quirks for violence. Nothing more."

That phrasing sounded oddly familiar.

"If a society wants to be built upon these notions of violence, then we might as well follow it to its logical conclusion. The world," Tomura said quietly, "ought to be ruled by the strong. Hero and villain, such designations won't matter in the new society I'll create. And I'd like to have you up there with me."

"What?" Izuku panted out, struggling to stay conscious. The blood loss was really getting to him. "I'd never join you."

"If you can't even figure out how to use your Quirks, I don't even want you," Tomura spat. "Visualize reconstructing, not healing on your right hand, or something, I don't fucking know. This is getting too annoying. Kurogiri, get me out of here."

The last part of his words was whispered into his wrist, as if he had a hidden mic. Instantly, a black portal, the exact same one that brought Izuku here, opened up behind Tomura.

"Well, I'll see you again sometime. Hopefully you're more down to talk next time." He waved at Izuku. "Oh, and if you want to save your friends, you might wanna do something about that." He pointed at Izuku's bloody stump.

And with those words, Tomura stepped through the portal before Izuku could even react, disappearing and leaving Izuku all alone.

The dim sounds of his classmates could be heard in the background all around him. While he was off chatting with Tomura, his classmates were in real danger. Izuku was never in any real danger; he now realized that if Tomura wanted him dead, he'd genuinely be dead. No doubt he could've just been disintegrated without even a chance to fight back. In essence, Tomura had been in control the entire time and had even spared Izuku for whatever twisted reason.

Izuku was going to make him regret that. But first, he had to help his classmates get to safety.

He tried looking around for something that could stop the blood flow from his arm, but the pain was making him lightheaded. Combined with the splitting headache he still had, it was hard to think straight.

It still felt like something was struggling to get out.

Like something was bubbling under the surface in Izuku's mind.

In his delirium, he actually considered following Tomura's advice. The words still conjured up feelings of terror, but he ran over them in his mind, over and over.

Visualize reconstructing, not healing. 

Visualize reconstructing, not healing. Visualize reconstructing, not healing. Visualize reconstructing, not healing. 

I… 

I can do that.

Never had he thought something with such clarity before. It was so clear that it frightened him. Reconstructing, he could do that. It was just as easy as reversing what had been done to him, not healing it.

And, as he focused on his hand and thoughts of reconstructing, of reversing what had happened, he did it.

His hand, slowly but surely, reassembled back into existence. It wasn't like it was growing out of the stump into his hand, it was more like it was being rebuilt, un-disintegrated. It was sick, but fascinating all at once.

Izuku let out a sharp cry of pain.

And, oh, did it hurt. It hurt so bad. It was like the feeling of his hand being disintegrated in the first place multiplied by ten. But the pain was purely psychological, and Izuku… Izuku could deal with that. Gritting his teeth, Izuku watched as his hand was reconstructed in the span of four, five minutes.

A bit dumbfounded, he stared at his newly reformed hand. He flexed his fingers, and they felt just as good as new, if not a bit tingly.

He next focused on the spot on his face where Tomura had punched him, reconstructing what was probably a broken cheekbone. After a minute of rather intense pain, the throbbing pain on his cheek was gone.

He had so many questions.

What was this power? How had he done it? How did he instinctively know what to do? And, perhaps the most pressing one of all: how did Tomura Shigaraki know about it before Izuku did?

But those questions could wait for later. His classmates were all in danger while he'd been off getting toyed with by Tomura. His head still hurt like crazy and it seemed like something was threatening to break through, but Izuku just ignored all of that. He'd… he'd already failed. In the face of a villain much stronger than he anticipated, he froze up. If it were not for Shigaraki's whims, he'd probably be dead right now.

Slapping his cheeks lightly, Izuku decided not to think, period. There were too many questions. There were too many thoughts. All that mattered right now was that his classmates were in danger.

He had to save his classmates.

He had to save his classmates.

Izuku didn't know what was more effective: allowing himself to break his arms by going one hundred percent and then reconstructing them, or just fighting at fifty percent. He decided to go with fifty percent, since he wasn't quite sure just exactly how much he could reconstruct, and it took a fair bit longer to reconstruct his arms after destroying them. It was probably more effective for constant fighting to be at fifty percent.

Deciding on his battle plan, he decided to let his instincts take over, allowing his active mind to take a backseat for now. There was time in the future to think, and he couldn't afford to freeze up like he did. He couldn't afford to freeze up, period.

He leapt off of the ship, and using Blackwhip, he headed off in the direction where he heard the most screaming.

A fair amount to the right, it seemed like something was burning. Familiar-sounding explosions resounded in the air, and Izuku determined that to be Katsuki's location. From the looks of things—everything being on fire, that is—it seemed like he was in his natural element.

Ignoring that, he swung to a densely-packed forest of some sort. He saw a few of his classmates—Denki Kaminari, Eijiro Kirishima, Mina Ashido, and a couple of others. Mina appeared to be bleeding profusely from a cut on her abdomen, and the other classmates, Kyoka and Tsuyu, were giving her medical treatment while Denki and Eijiro fended off their attackers.

Perhaps it was due to frustration at having been bested so easily, perhaps it was due to the situation that he was in, perhaps it was anger at seeing his classmates hurt, or perhaps it was something deeper… but Izuku wasn't about to hold back.

… something long suppressed switched on within him.

With a furious roar, he locked onto the nearest victim, a hulking villain with a shark head, with Blackwhip and delivered a crushing blow to him with fifty percent of his power—no, it accidentally seeped into one hundred percent territory. He felt his arm straining as he pummeled the villain with a straight right hook that sent him flying off the floor, spinning and crashing with a sickly crunch into a nearby tree. The tree groaned under the sudden force exerted on it, and soon it crashed and fell, taking a couple of other trees with it.

His classmates stared at him with wide eyes.

A villain with two antennae spoke up. "Hey, who is—"

In an instant, Izuku dashed to the man and launched him into the sky with a superpowered uppercut. He didn't know, at this point, how much of One For All he'd put into the blow. The villain flew up twenty or thirty feet and then landed with a painful sounding thud on his back.

The remaining villains began to flee the scene. It was only a natural response; after all, in the face of an insurmountable foe, one's only course of action was to flee or get crushed. A tiny spark of… something popped up within him, and if he took the time to observe himself, Izuku would find that he had a savage grin on his face.

Izuku wouldn't let them flee. He caught up to them in an instant, brutally and efficiently dispatching the four remaining villains with a series of blisteringly fast punches and kicks. Teeth were broken and knocked out as he targeted their jaws, vicious sounding cracks and popsresounding in the forest. He managed to keep his blows under control this time, not going any bit beyond fifty percent, but the slippage to a hundred percent was troubling. Again, another thing not worth thinking about currently.

The pain in his arms and legs became numb.

These villains… they weren't worth shit, just like how Izuku wasn't worth anything for letting that villain Shigaraki get away—

Izuku took a deep breath. Don't think about it. Don't think, period. Get them out of here first.

He looked at the group of students, who flinched as his gaze passed over them. Because for them, what they saw was…

A man, glowing viridescent and flashing arcs of ethereal green electricity around him, with a downright terrifying look on his face.

If Mina were to describe it, the usual shy Izuku that she had come to know transformed into… an animal. For a brief moment, Mina was terrified that instead of coming to save them, Izuku had come to hunt them. It was a strange feeling to have relief at being saved mixed with fear of the person saving you.

Her worries were dismissed as soon as Izuku leapt off further into the forest without a single word.

Mina let out a sigh of relief that she didn't know that she was holding in.

.:.

Tomura Shigaraki was watching the carnage unfold from the basement of the bar that Kurogiri manned.

Tens of screens showed Izuku's rampage through the USJ. He was a blur of green, shooting off frayed bits of electricity. He usually incapacitated villains in one or two punches, but that didn't matter to Tomura. They were meant to be fodder, anyways.

Most notably, Izuku had his right hand back.

Tomura mumbled under his breath, "Hmm, it really worked. Just like the notes said, I guess."

"Though, that Quirk he used when he tried punching me. I don't remember seeing any physical-enhancement Quirks on his file. Very interesting..."

Then, the world became muted. All color drained from his vision.

"No… it couldn't be…"

"Is there something wrong?" a shadowy wisp of a body that was vaguely human asked him.

"It's nothing, Kurogiri. Just a crackpot theory," Tomura dismissed. "… unless it isn't."

Oh well. He could just ask her to dig a bit deeper into the successful prototype known as Izuku Midoriya.