19

Chapter Text7:58 AM, Friday

The seal was a grounding weight in the palm of Izuku's hand. His thumb brushed absentmindedly back and forth over the blunt end of it, automatically memorizing its size, mass, and texture.

A fascinatingly simple support item- small and easy to carry, yet dense and heavy enough to pack a powerful punch when thrown right. Nighteye modeled his projectiles after office stamps to fit his image of a typical, everyday salaryman, and Izuku couldn't help but take after one of his favorite heroes when it finally came time to design his own costume. 

Getting to use the support gear of your heroes was a dream come true for any fanboy.

But out of the two precious seals he had been given, Izuku had already lost one attacking Kurogiri. He was glad that he took action then, of course, and was fully prepared to not get the projectile back after tossing it at a guy who was literally a human portal, yet Izuku couldn't help but be annoyed about it all the same. It was almost like he'd lost a piece of his hero merch. 

Maybe he could ask for more from the support labs?

A quiet rustle pricked the edge of his awareness, barely audible over the conversations taking place all over the classroom. Izuku glanced up just in time to see Aizawa smoothly slide through the door and over to the podium.

"Five seconds," Aizawa observed as all came to a halt, his voice as monotone as always. "Not bad, but there's still plenty of room for improvement. By the end of this year, I expect all of you to be able to notice my presence and react accordingly- not just Midoriya, Jirou, and Shoji. Staying aware of your surroundings is a crucial skill for any Pro Hero."

"Moving on, I'm sure every one of you knows what event is coming up in just a few weeks. The U.A. Sports Festival is one of the important programs in Japan, with millions upon millions of live viewers every year. This makes it the perfect chance to test your skills under pressure."

"Those of you that are aiming to be limelight heroes in the future will have the golden opportunity to show off your capabilities, while those of you going for the underground can more subtly catch the attention of Pro Heroes like me. I expect this entire class to put in its best effort."

Aizawa's eyes narrowed in on them, heavy with intent. 

"So I hope you all enjoyed your day off- because over the next few weeks, all of you are going to be training harder than ever."

9:28 AM, Friday

Izuku idly doodled in the margins of his completed English assignment, tracing out a tiny Dark Shadow from memory- a cute, bird-shaped head complete with wide eyes and a pointed beak on its end. He added little claws to the figure like the ones he'd seen the sentient quirk use during the battle trial. What a truly fascinating quirk-

"That's pretty good, listener!"

Izuku nearly startled in his seat at the sound of Present Mic's voice, so zoned out he hadn't even noticed the man leaning over his shoulder. For a hero so loud and lively, he could be surprisingly stealthy when he wanted to be.

"He looks just like Dark Shadow-kun!" Present Mic praised. "And you got everything right on the assignment, too! Nice work."

Several students looked over. Izuku resisted the urge to curl in on himself.

"Though I am a little concerned about just how quickly you finished it," The teacher continued. His voice changed as he suddenly switched languages, his accent growing noticeably stronger. "You said you were already fluent in English, right?"

Izuku nodded, responding in English as well. "I started learning pretty early on, yeah. I've always been a huge All Might fan."

Present Mic grinned at that. "The big man's pretty great, huh? People say that he's singlehandedly increased our nation's goodwill towards the States- ah, I've gotten distracted! I actually came over here to ask you to stay behind after class, Midoriya-kun."

"...Am I in trouble, Sensei?"

"No, no, nothing like that! See, the thing is-"

10:02 AM, Friday

"-word around the other teachers is that you've been breezing right through all of your assignments!" Present Mic claimed, his voice echoing throughout the now empty classroom. "Even Midnight tells me that you already know everything in her Art History curriculum- and that's not exactly common for Heroics students, you know."

Izuku scratched his cheek. "I uh, did some self-study before U.A."

"Some? You aced Ectoplasm's pre-test, listener! Trust me, impressing that guy's a real feat. It's clear that you aren't being challenged at all where you are now. What kind of educators would we be if we didn't try to fix that?"

Not a single one of Izuku's teachers in the past had tried to fix that. 

"To that end," Present Mic continued cheerfully. "Our esteemed Principal wishes to personally assess your abilities himself!"

Izuku's blood froze in his veins. 

"Isn't that great?"

"...Yeah. W-When did he uh, say he wanted to see me?" 

"Right now, actually! He said you could take your lunch break in his office- do you need me to show you where it is, listener?"

Izuku forced a smile onto his face. "No, I think I can find it. Thanks though, Mic-sensei."

"No problem!"

10:06 AM, Friday

Izuku was a huge fan of Nezu, despite how incredibly hard it was to find any information on the hero's career and past operations. Nezu wasn't a frontline fighter who brawled openly in the spotlight, nor an underground agent who quietly patrolled the streets in the night- he was the one pulling the strings behind the scenes to make sure both types of heroes survived. Because of this, Nezu was far more known to the public as U.A High's Principal than as the licensed Pro Hero he was.

Yet the fact remained that Nezu was one of the smartest beings in Japan, if not the entire world. He possessed an intelligence quirk potent enough to calculate complex scenarios and solutions within seconds, and the planning skills to utilize that to maximum effect.

Izuku had a very, very important secret he needed to keep from the world- getting the attention of someone like that was the opposite of what he wanted. Especially when said someone had just found out about Prophet's existence through a major event. 

However, there still wasn't a single thing actually connecting 'Midoriya Izuku' to Prophet as of now. There wasn't much risk in meeting the hero as long as he was careful- if anything, it would be way weirder if a hero student went out of his way to avoid the head of his own school. 

And Izuku kinda really wanted to see Nezu in person.

So he headed for Nezu's office as requested, following his memorized map of U.A. until he arrived at a room near the center of the school. He raised his hand to knock-

"Come in!" 

-only for a cheerful voice from inside to acknowledge him before his knuckles even touched the door. 

Izuku stepped in to see a modest-looking office, simple and sparsely decorated. A couple of school awards were proudly hung throughout the room, boasting various student achievements in bright yellow text. 

Most of the office's space was taken up by a desk of beautiful, polished wood in its center. It was cluttered with stacks upon stacks of documents, a mountain of paperwork that nearly covered up the creature sitting behind said desk.

Nezu had gleaming white fur and adorable mouse-like facial features, complete with little box ears and a very round nose. He wore a sharp suit with the same red tie as the student uniform. A hint of a tail peeked out from behind his chair. 

The only thing that didn't fit in with his cute image was the eye-catching scar stretching over the creature's right eye. Izuku couldn't help but wonder how he'd gotten it. 

"Am I a dog, a mouse, or a bear? Who knows! I'm the Principal, Nezu! And you must be Midoriya Izuku, yes?"

Izuku blinked at the puzzling introduction, then nodded. "Y-Yeah, that's me. It's nice to meet you, Nezu-san."

"Likewise!" Nezu chirped. "Please, take a seat!"

Izuku did. 

"Now, as Mic told you, I've called you here to assess your academic capabilities and rework your future courses accordingly," Nezu stated. "I understand that this is a little sudden, and also taking over your lunch break, but hopefully it'll be worth your time!"

The head of the school himself was worrying about Izuku's time? Huh.

"How are you going to be uh, assessing me?" Izuku asked.

"Through a special written exam that I've created myself! You'll enjoy it! But we can get to that later. First-" Nezu reached under his desk and pulled out a small bento box. "-let's eat! Your brain needs energy to function, after all, and I wish to test you at your very best!"

Izuku set his own bento box down on the desk, careful not to knock over any stacks of paper as he opened it up. Mom had packed him some onigiri today, simple and deliciously homemade, and he dug into the rice with a small smile.

It was incredibly hard to ignore the fact that he was sitting across Nezu while he did so, of course, but Izuku did his best anyway as the minutes passed. He'd never felt so painfully awkward just eating a meal before-

"Why do you want to become a hero, Midoriya-kun?"

"I need to save people," Izuku replied before his conscious mind even processed the question. Then his chopsticks froze halfway to his mouth, emerald green eyes flicking up to meet beady black ones.

"I've uh, always wanted to."

Nezu nodded. "An admirable response, if not a slightly cliche one. I hope for all of my hero students to have an answer to that question before their second year."

"...Then if you don't mind me asking, why did you become a hero, Nezu-san?"

"I suppose it's only fair if I answer that as well, hmm? Simply put, I wish to punish evil beings and make all of them suffer!"

The air in the cozy office suddenly felt far heavier. Izuku shivered a little with it. 

Then Nezu clapped his paws and the odd feeling vanished. "Ah, I see that you're done eating, Midoriya-kun! Are you ready to begin your test now?"

Izuku folded his chopsticks and napkin back into his bento box, placing them carefully off to the side before returning his full attention back to the hero. 

"I am."

"Wonderful! Then, without further ado..."

The 'test' turned out to be a small packet of paper, barely three pages long and almost entirely made up of free-response questions. 

The first one asked him something basic about math, prompting some age-old formula from the depths of his perfect memory. The second was just as easy, requiring him to balance a simple equation of chemistry elements. 

Then the assessment leaped up to the level of the entrance exam, with questions similar to those he had faced just weeks ago. He breezed through them and flipped to the next page-

-only to see stuff that was most decidedly not high school level, even by prestigious, best-hero-academy-in-the-nation Plus Ultra standards. Izuku only barely resisted the urge to glance up at Nezu as he continued, his pace slowing the further along he went. 

The third page didn't have anything academic on it at all. There was only one question printed on its front, a seemingly simple puzzle that he soon realized was far more layered and complex than it appeared. He needed to come up with a solution to perfectly satisfy a set of easy requirements- yet every single one of said requirements contradicted the others in some way. It was almost as if he was being forced to think outside the box.

It took all of Izuku's remaining lunch break to figure out a loophole that would actually work, and he found himself filling in the last page with an almost euphoric burst of accomplishment. Then he finally looked up at Nezu and handed in his test. 

It took the principal a mere five seconds to grade the fruits of Izuku's labor, beady black eyes scanning each page at inhuman speed before small paws flipped to the next. A smile formed across Nezu's mouse-like features when he finished reading and set the paper down. 

That was a good sign, right?

"So? How well do you think you did, Midoriya-kun?" Nezu prompted. 

"I have no idea," Izuku admitted honestly. "That was the hardest test I have ever taken."

"I'm glad I could challenge you, then! In fact, you did extremely well- so well, in fact, that you are already far beyond U.A.'s academic curriculum!"

"...I am?"

"Indeed!" Nezu confirmed happily. "You are quite fond of self-study, it seems, and that paired with your clear genius and memory quirk has let you learn anything you desire! Though, this does mean that as an academic institution, U.A. has been left completely in the dust. I must apologize for not noticing your plight sooner, Midoriya-kun."

"It's fine, Nezu-san! Really. I don't want to create any more work for you and the rest of the sta-"

"Nonsense!" Nezu cut in with a chuckle. "Helping humans like you is the very reason that I'm here! So effective immediately, you will be unenrolled out of all of your current classes except for Heroics. You can still attend them if wish to spend time with your fellow classmates, of course, but they are no longer part of your schedule and workload."

"In place of them, you will instead have personal lessons with me in this office! I will teach you everything I can about tactics and your future career, and do my best to develop your potential over your next three years here!"

Izuku stared at the hero, stunned. "...You want to mentor me?"

Nezu grinned in response. "Correct!"

"What do you say?"

On one hand, spending the majority of his academic career with the smartest being in the country was a very easy way to accidentally reveal his most important secret. 

But on the other, how could Izuku possibly pass up an opportunity like this? Learning under a hero like Nezu would be everything. 

So would it be selfish for him to accept? Or would it be more ridiculous to even consider saying no?

What would Ochako say?

2:58 PM, Friday

"It's about time a teacher recognized how smart you were!" Ochako exclaimed proudly when he told her, almost sounding happier than he was. "Seriously, you were just wasting your time listening to Present Mic lecture you on a language you're already fluent in."

"Yeah." 

"I'm going to miss you in Ectoplasm's class, though," Ochako sighed. "I need someone to suffer through the pain with!"

"I'm sure that you aren't the only one in our class who hates Calculus, Ochako," Izuku said, amused.

"True."

"Besides, if you think that's bad, you'd absolutely hate to see the questions Nezu made me do. I've never taken a scarier test in my life." Izuku then tapped a finger against his chin, as if he'd just been hit with an idea. "Wait, actually, why don't I just show you the memory?"

Ochako shook her head rapidly at the very thought, eyes wide. "No, no I think I'm good."

"Really?" Izuku tilted his head to the side, all curious innocence. "But I thought you loved seeing my memories..."

"I do!"

"This one could help you in your studies, though. Are you sure you don't want to see it?"

"I mean, maybe. B-But in this case wouldn't it be better to uh, not? I mean, as far as test integrity goes and all, it'd be bad if we-"

Izuku's lips twitched up against his will. His best friend abruptly cut herself off at the movement, auburn-brown eyes narrowing in on him.

He broke.

"Izuku-kun!"

"You-you should've seen your face !"

"That wasn't funny! I really thought you were going to make me live through some kind of hell exam- this is serious, Izuku-kun, stop laughing-"

3:03 PM, Friday

A thick and sturdy-looking steel door marked the entrance to U.A.'s first-year support labs, striking a sharp contrast to the ordinary wooden ones present all over the rest of the school. There was even a card reader on the side required to open it.

Ochako's gloved knuckles hit metal once, then twice before her hand dropped back to her side.

Nothing happened. 

Ochako knocked again. 

This time, the door instantly slid wide open to reveal a pink-haired girl in a dusty tank top and overalls. There were an odd pair of steampunk goggles plastered tight over her forehead and a golden utility belt full of tools tied to her hip.

Her most defining feature, though, was her eyes. Colored an odd greenish yellow and shaped with little crosses in their center, they shrunk in an infinitesimal amount as the girl caught sight of them- irises adjusting and focusing in a manner similar to that of the lens of a camera. 

They seemed to scan Ochako in under a second, passing over her hair and face and uniform before narrowing in on her hands. With the special black gloves covering three fingers on each of Ochako's hands and defined pads along the fingertips that were exposed, she had clearly noticed that Ochako had a touch-based quirk.

Then the pink-haired girl looked over Izuku's hair and face and uniform and limbs to try to figure out what his was. She found nothing at all, of course, but oddly enough that only appeared to make her more curious.

A Support student, one that had a fascinating visual-based quirk and an obvious amount of intelligence. 

Ochako opened his mouth. "Hey-"

"Hero students!" A bright exclamation cut her off. "I didn't know any Hero students were gonna be swingin' by! What do you want?"

She leaned further forward with every word, her face already pressed deep into Ochako's personal space.

Ochako somehow took her energy in stride. "Yeah, sorry that we just kinda popped over here like this. Were we supposed to make an appointment or something?"

A careless shrug. "I have no idea!"

"Then I guess it doesn't matter! I'm Ochako Uraraka, and this is Midoriya Izuku. We're here to request some changes to our hero costumes!"

"Hatsume Mei, Future Head of Hatsume Industries!" The girl introduced herself proudly. Then her eyes lit up. "Hero costume changes? I can do that! Follow me, we gotta talk to the Claw Man first!"

The support lab appeared to be pretty advanced, despite the fact that it was made for the first years. Izuku couldn't name even half of the machines in the room. Only two or three students were still working on and building stuff, not including Hatsume. 

'Claw Man' turned out to be The Excavation Hero: Power Loader, a brilliant support and rescue hero. The man was entirely shirtless and wore a huge, claw-shaped helmet that covered most of his ginger hair. 

Interestingly enough, he tensed up as soon as he caught sight of the three of them.

"Hatsume," Power Loader started, his voice carefully controlled. "Please tell me you aren't here to tell me about another accident."

Izuku blinked.

"Not this time!" Hatsume chirped back. The hero let out an audible sigh of relief.

"Alright then, what do you need?"

Hatsume spread her hands wide, gesturing towards the two of them. "Two Hero students dropped by for costume changes! Can ya give me their designs?"

Power Loader nodded. "Names?"

"Uraraka Ochako."

"Midoriya Izuku." 

"Nice to meet you, I'm Maijima Higari- feel free to come to me about any Support related concerns." A pause as he shuffled through papers. "Ah, here we go. Try not to blow anything else up."

Hatsume took the offered packets with barely restrained glee and bounced over to one of the empty work tables. Izuku and Ochako exchanged a glance before following her. 

"...So Support students are allowed to handle costume changes and adjustments?" Izuku asked. That made a lot of sense, actually.

Hatsume bobbed her head in affirmation. "Yep! We don't actually get to make your costumes- that's up to the established companies that U.A. commissions- but we're free to work on them as much as we want." Her eyes skimmed over both of their designs at a rapid pace as she talked, intensely curious. 

"Your quirk causes you some kind of nausea, right? Everything here seems to be built around that."

"Uh, yeah-"

"I have just the baby to help you, then!" 

Ochako's eyes went wide. "Baby?"

"Yep!" Hatsume agreed happily. "It's a pretty common quirk drawback, so I thought up babies to reduce it months ago!" 

Oh, she was talking about her inventions.

"What does this baby do then, exactly?" Izuku asked.

Hatsume took out an empty sheet of paper and started sketching, quickly drawing out what looked like a wristguard. It was somewhat bulkier than usual, though, and shaped like some sort of giant blob.

"It has plenty of defense, see, and if you press a button here, the inside'll clamp down hard on your pressure points! I think I could build one to fit you pretty easily."

Ochako's bodysuit already pushed against her pressure points in this way, but with just a glance Izuku could tell that Hatsume's additions would be way more effective than anything the support company gave them. The weight could be an issue, but it'd be well worth it. 

Ochako certainly seemed to agree. "That sounds perfect, Hatsume-san! Thanks!"

Hatsume beamed back, her hands placed on her hips. "Of course it does- I designed it! Just don't forget who worked on your costumes, yeah? I've heard that second years can sign exclusive contracts!"

4:19 PM, Friday

Yagi Toshinori watched a blur of white, red, and blue zoom around the training room with an almost nostalgic sense of wonder. Nearly a dozen sidekicks were laid out on the floor in its wake, clutching at their sides in pain and gasping desperately for air. 

Within a minute a single young man was the last one left standing, toned arms held high in a classic pose and a bright grin stretched wide across his face. 

"POWER!" 

Known as the strongest U.A. student and already a Pro Hero in all but name, many predicted that Togata Mirio would break into the top twenty as soon as he debuted. 

The boy possessed an incredibly impractical quirk named Permeation that allowed his body to pass through matter at will. Toshinori could only imagine how ridiculously difficult such an ability was to control and use in battle- yet despite that, Togata had managed to turn it into something truly unstoppable over years of hard work and dedication.

It was no wonder he was Mirai's protege.

"You see it too, don't you?"

Toshinori glanced over to see his old partner, the younger man's lean frame stepping to his side without a sound. 

"Mirio has the most potential out of anyone in my agency," Mirai stated, his voice carrying a subtle yet definite note of pride. "His technique is almost unmatched, his physical strength is comparable to those with power-based quirks, and his mind has quickly absorbed every piece of tactical knowledge that I have imparted to him."

"He certainly seems very impressive," Toshinori agreed. 

The two of them watched as Togata pulled the downed and winded sidekicks around him to their feet, his booming laugh just barely audible from where they stood. None of the heroes who had just been taken down by a high school student seemed irritated by him in the slightest. If anything, they all appeared to look up to and admire the boy despite his younger age.

"The most important thing about Mirio, however, is none of that- it's instead in the kind of person he is." Mirai pushed up his glasses. "Mirio is the perfect choice to become the next Symbol of Peace, Toshinori, both in personality and presence. He is exactly who we need to step up to the plate, after..."

"I retire." Toshinori finished, forcing away the cough in the back of his throat and the bloody bile that had almost slipped out with it. His injury had always worried Mirai the most. 

"...Yes."

Toshinori considered it. He watched the boy in front of him for a pensive minute, imagining the hero he would become- and the hero he could become if he was the successor to One for All. 

What would Nana do? Who would Nana choose?

Then Midoriya's words came to mind, and he quickly shut down that line of thought. No, this needed to be his and Togata's decision- no one else's.

4:25 PM, Friday

Toshinori waited until Togata's training had concluded before approaching him. The boy glanced up immediately at the sight of him and put down his water bottle with a smile. 

"Why, hello! I don't think I've seen you around here before!"

Toshinori gave him a small smile in return. "This is the first time we're meeting, yes. My name is Yagi Toshinori, and I'm an old friend of Sir Nighteye's. He's told me a lot about you."

Togata's eyes widened. "A friend of Sir's, huh? You must already know who I am, then, but I'm Togata Mirio- also known as the Pro Hero Lemillion! Nice to meet you!"

"The pleasure is mine. Why the name Lemillion?" Toshinori asked. He'd been wondering about the number stamped across the boy's costume for a while now.

"I get that question all the time! I guess people are mostly used to seeing heroes named after their abilities. Nothing wrong with that, of course- they're all pretty cool, too! But I chose this name because of my dream."

"It's impossible to save everyone. No one can be everywhere at once, not even All Might. But as heroes, we can save as many people as we can." Togata grinned brightly, his knuckles pressed into his hips. "And that's why I'm Lemillion, the hero that's going to save at least a million people!"

Ah. 

So this was what a true hero was.

"...That's quite a remarkable dream, young man. But from what I've seen of you today, I'm sure that you can accomplish it."

"Thank you, Yagi-san! I have a long way to go still, though."

Togata let out a laugh, rubbing at the back of his neck. A bead of sweat ran down his forehead. 

Toshinori pressed into the opening. "Young Togata. As someone who watched the first sports festival, and knows just how hard you have worked to become strong with a quirk like yours- do you think your dream would be any different if you had a stronger quirk?"

"If you magically had the chance to gain even more power in addition to Permeation, would you take it?"

The boy blinked twice, caught completely off-guard. Then he looked down at his open palm, clenching and unclenching his fist as he mulled it over.

His smile didn't fall.

"I wouldn't take it," Lemillion finally declared, confident and firm. "My dream would be the same no matter what quirk I was born with. But I also wouldn't be the same hero I am today if I hadn't spent all those years training to master the one I got. I'm going to be Lemillion with nothing but what I was born with, no magical gift or extra quirk needed! Even if I do uh, accidentally go naked sometimes."

And that was that. 

Toshinori smiled. "I see. Thank you for giving an old man your time, Lemillion."

"No problem!"

Notes: