20

58 AM, Saturday

Naomasa let out a hiss through tightly clenched teeth, letting his head fall into his hand as the phone call ended.

Three days. 

That was how long the Musutafu police force had managed to hold the ringleaders of the USJ attack- Shigaraki and the currently unnamed warp villain- in custody. 

The Nomu had been found hundreds of meters away from the school and promptly carried off to a lab when it became obvious that the monster with an exposed brain was, in fact, not human. Early reports showed that the Nomu didn't move or respond at all to any external stimuli outside of Shigaraki's voice, like some sort of terrifying attack dog. 

Which was creepy as hell and all, but Naomasa could handle that. It wouldn't be the first time a villain had gotten a little too creative trying to kill his best friend.

Then the next day they found out that the Nomu had multiple quirks. Not just one quirk with multiple functions or a dual quirk or even a rare case of two quirks in one individual, but at least five entirely different abilities in one body. And even worse, five entirely different abilities in one body that all countered All Might. 

There was only one villain that could engineer a monster like that. 

Naomasa immediately alerted the Commission and gave the order to move both Shigaraki and the warp villain to a far more secure facility. But it hadn't mattered in the slightest- as soon as he decided to break out his underlings, which turned out to be today, it was done. Both of the ringleaders of the USJ attack were missing and Naomasa now had over a dozen guards who would never see their families again. The bastard had even drilled their skulls in- exactly like he'd done to Toshinori's stomach five years ago- to drive it all home.

All for One was alive, recovered, and gunning for a rematch. And the only hero strong enough to stop him was weaker than ever. 

10:39 AM, Saturday

It was almost like a dance at this point. 

He took a step forward, and she took a step back to match.

He struck fast and precise, with hooks and jabs at her face and stomach that she only just managed to block. Kicks that would've toppled her over months ago were now carefully dodged and sidestepped.

And then she countered, her hands lashing out at him like whips in an attempt to activate her quirk. He weaved through them with practiced ease, her padded fingertips grazing the edges of his clothes with every missed attack.

She took a step forward. He took a step back to match. And so on and so forth they went, trading blows across the tatami mat. 

Izuku couldn't keep the grin off his face even if he wanted to.

He won the spar a little over 53 seconds later, pinning her to the tatami mat in a move that'd make a pro wrestler proud. It was super tricky to beat Ochako like this- since he had to restrain her in a way that prevented her from touching anything if he didn't want to suddenly find himself floating off the ground- but the challenge of it all only made his achievement that much more satisfying.

Still riding on an adrenaline high, Izuku waited for Yagi to call the match.

One second passed. Then two.

Yagi did not call the match. 

Izuku looked up to see the hero completely out of it, so much so that he hadn't even noticed their spar had ended. His face was twisted into something that Izuku had never seen before, burning blue eyes focused on something far beyond the dojo as his stick-like frame tensed up straight.

"...Yagi-san?"

And then the look was gone, a thin smile taking its place on Yagi's face.

"My apologies Young Midoriya, Young Uraraka. It seems that I zoned out a bit there. Who won your bout?"

"Izuku-kun did," Ochako told him. Then she frowned. "Are you feeling okay, Yagi-san?"

"Perfectly fine, I can assure you," Yagi responded. "Just feeling a touch tired, that's all!"

"Getting a healthy amount of sleep is very important, you know," Ochako said slowly. "Even for people your age."

Yagi's smile turned a bit more genuine. "Why, are you calling me old, Young Uraraka?"

"Me? I would never!"

Izuku tracked Yagi's facial expressions as the man talked, watching him swiftly hide that small bit of something with the same mask that he wore as the nation's strongest hero. The only difference, though, was that his fake smiles were way easier to see through in his true form. 

But as much as Izuku tried, he couldn't match that expression to anything he had ever seen in his memory from Yagi Toshinori or All Might. He had no idea at all what his hero was feeling or how to help him.

Yagi chuckled. "Of course!" 

Maybe the man really was just feeling a little tired. Heck, the pressure and duties of the Symbol of Peace combined with the responsibilities of a teacher for one of the most prestigious institutions in the nation must be a lot to deal with every day. It was only natural that he'd feel kinda worn out sometimes.

That must be it.

10:41 AM, Saturday

That definitely wasn't it.

Ochako wasn't born yesterday- it took the emotional intelligence of a microwave to take a look at their tall skeleton mentor and realize that he was fucking pissed at something, not tired or whatever dumb excuse he'd given them.

Which was something she'd never imagined thinking before. All Might had been such a steady, unchanging image for peace and safety throughout her entire childhood that the very thought of him being angry was like, impossible. Endeavor? Sure. All Might? Never.

But of course, Yagi could get mad at stuff too- he was a real-life person, not just a cardboard cutout. He just rarely did because he was the kindest old dude ever. 

So it was all the more terrifying for Ochako to imagine what could possibly put that look on his face. 

"If anything, I should be the one giving that lecture to you two," Yagi said. "Being teenagers in your growing phases and all. I read somewhere recently that 13-18 year-olds are recommended by experts to get a whole nine hours of sleep every single night."

At her side, Izuku tilted his head. "That's an outdated pre-quirk era statistic, actually. We really only need around seven now."

"Still! That's quite a lot, is it not? Likely more than the amount required of a man of ah, slightly older age."

"Fair enough."

Ochako felt her lips quirk up. "You really are getting super into this teacher thing aren't ya, Yagi-san?"

Yagi grinned back. "I certainly am! Speaking of which, how did yesterday's Heroics go for you both? The Great U.A. Sports Festival Training Plan hasn't been too harsh on your class, has it?"

"It's uh, a lot," Izuku admitted. "We have less than a week until the Sports Festival, so it makes sense to increase our training like this and all. But maybe you should go a little bit easier on them- I think Kaminari almost passed out last class."

"Young Kaminari? But he seemed perfectly alright when I ended for the day..."

Ochako couldn't help but snort. Even after decades of being a celebrity, it seemed like the man still didn't know how his fans worked.

"It's still pretty new to all of them that they're learning the actual Number One Hero himself- of course Kaminari's gonna force on a brave face after surviving one of your classes. I mean, if me and Izuku-kun hadn't met you before U.A., we'd probably be acting just like he is right now."

"...I see."

"But besides that," Izuku hurriedly added. "You're doing a great job at pushing everyo- almost everyone past their limits. Ochako and I are more than ready to go Plus Ultra and show our skills off to the world at the Sports Festival."

Ochako punched her fist into her palm with a satisfying smack in ready agreement. "Yeah!"

"Though we're uh, still working on Ochako's speech."

All of that bravado left her in an instant, soon to be replaced by cold fear. "...Yeah."

The worst part about knowing someone with perfect memory was that whenever you tried to forget about something- say, the incredibly important speech that you're gonna have to give to millions of people- they were always right there to remind you of it.

Yagi chuckled at that. "Ah, public speaking! I still remember the very first time that I had to give a speech as a novice hero. It felt even scarier than the villain I had just defeated!"

"Which is saying a lot, considering the fact that said villain was as tall as a building," Izuku muttered. "Though you made the takedown look effortless anyway."

"I did have to speak English as well, since this happened in America."

Ochako forced out a laugh. "I'm glad I don't have to do that, at least!"

"However, you are going to have an immensely larger audience than I did, Young Uraraka," Yagi added after a moment. "Hundreds of times larger, in fact! But I believe you can do it. Good luck!"

He flashed her a thumbs-up, awkward yet oddly sweet just like everything else Yagi did. 

"...Thanks, Yagi-san."

2:03 PM, Monday

The real reason that Ochako and Izuku had been so quick to assure Yagi that he wasn't being too hard on his students was, of course, because Aizawa was infinitely worse. 

Unlike All Might, Aizawa had more than just a few months of experience training teenagers. He knew exactly how much they could take, exactly where their limits were, and exactly how to push them past those limits.

Yet the man was still always fair. Everything that Ochako had seen him do the past few weeks had been to teach them to be smarter, more careful- to be better heroes. Even though his classes were all super hard and scary. 

And today's lesson was shaping up to be his most terrifyingly fair class yet. Aizawa had the nineteen of them change into their hero costumes as usual and line up in Gym Gamma, right next to a large circle outlined in red paint.

"You're all going to be sparring again," Aizawa drawled as soon as they were all there. "With a focus on the hand-to-hand techniques that I went over in class last week. Think of this as a little test of your current combat ability."

Being a class full of enthusiastic and mostly high-energy teenagers, his words instantly hyped everyone up. Ochako was right there with them, clenching her fists tight in front of her in excitement.

Who'd she get to go up against this time? She really wanted to try out some of the new stuff she'd learned! Hopefully, Aizawa would let them pick partners this time so she could get that rematch against Ojiro-

"Ah, yeah, you guys won't be pairing up with each other today," Aizawa continued after a moment, almost as if it were an afterthought. "Instead, all of you are gonna be fighting me, one by one."

Ochako's smile slid right off her face. Ehhh?!

1-A's chatter died out in an instant. But instead of giving rise to much-deserved fear, like her, the 18 other members of her class only seemed to be feeling a mix of confusion and anticipation. None of them had even heard of the name Eraserhead until Izuku revealed his identity, after all, and most of them had been too focused on Present Mic and Kurogiri at the U.S.J to see the awesome moves their teacher pulled off on the villain army. 

Izuku had explained what Aizawa's quirk did to everyone already, but how many of them actually understood just how humbling the ability was?

" Finally, a chance to see what the damn hobo is really made of!"

"Bakugou, stop referring to our teachers in such a rude manner-"

"Shut the fuck up, Four-Eyes-"

"What a mad banquet of darkness."

Aizawa recaptured the room's attention with a lazy wave of his hand and a single raised eyebrow. "If you're so confident then, Bakugou, why don't you go first?"

Bakugou's face twisted into a grin at the challenge. "I thought you'd never ask!"

Izuku and Ochako exchanged a glance as the blonde stepped up to the circle.

He's fucked, isn't he?

Yup.

"The rules are pretty simple. The match ends when someone surrenders or is knocked out of this boundary. Make sure you quickly move off to the left side once you lose to make space for the next student. All quirks and gear are allowed. Got it?"

"Let's fucking go already!"

Bakugou leaned forward slightly, placing his body's weight almost entirely on his front foot as his hands stretched out flat behind him. It was painfully easy for even Ochako to predict what he was gonna do next.

Aizawa nodded, appearing almost bored in his all-black hobo clothes. He didn't bother reaching for the white scarf around his neck or even getting into a stance.

"Alright, then. Go."

Twin explosions instantly blasted Bakugou toward his teacher. The blonde lunged through the air with a right hook, his open palm aimed right at the older man's face.

Two things happened in the millisecond before he made contact. 

First, Bakugou's entire face suddenly spasmed with a satisfying amount of shock as his reaching hand failed to release any explosion at all.

Then, Aizawa sidestepped the strike with casual ease and performed a picture-perfect roundhouse kick to an airborne Bakugou's side. 

From the sidelines, Ochako watched with pure glee as the blonde asshole went flying with the impact.

Bakugou twisted in mid-air and thrust his hands behind him to counter his momentum with his quirk- only for nothing to happen once again. The blonde ended up hitting the ground in a roll that nearly put him out of bounds. 

He pushed himself to his feet with a glare. "So your quirk-erasing bullshit's fucking instant, huh?"

"Correct," Aizawa nodded, his eyes glowing red. "What're you going to do about it?"

Bakugou answered with another lunge. He seemed to still be pretty fast without his quirk- managing to fake a second right hook just like the first before he feinted into a quick punch with his left. 

But Aizawa wasn't fooled. The real blow was caught firmly in his palm before the hero delivered a sharp counter to Bakugou's stomach, nearly knocking the boy clean off his feet. The blonde rushed in carelessly afterward only to take another strike, this one actually throwing right out of the red circle.

Within seconds, one of the strongest members of their class had been taken down with almost no effort at all. Ochako mentally bumped down her chances of beating her homeroom teacher from extremely unlikely to nonexistent. 

But that didn't mean she couldn't try, though!

"You're way too expressive, Bakugou," Aizawa stated. "Your eyes and body language give away every single move you make. I don't think I need to explain why fighting like that is a bad idea, do I?"

Bakugou grumbled to himself under his breath and stalked off the mini-field. 

Aizawa glanced over at the remaining nineteen of them- who had suddenly developed a healthy amount of respect for him over the last minute.

"Who's up next?"

Kirishima bravely volunteered himself for the challenge. He went on to activate his quirk on his entire upper body as soon as his match started- only for his rock-like skin to fade back to normal instantly under Aizawa's gaze. Kirishima startled at every blow he took as he was forced out of bounds, probably never having taken a hit without his Hardening before.

Tokoyami and Dark Shadow were both down and forced to surrender as soon as it became known that Erasure kept Dark Shadow completely restricted inside of his host. The bird-like boy didn't really seem to know how to fight without his shadowy partner- he really needed to work on his hand-to-hand combat, Ochako thought.

There was a brief moment where she thought Iida was going to win from sheer speed, but apparently, Aizawa could still effortlessly react to the boy's attacks anyway. What the hell?

Ojiro had burst out some super fancy moves with his tail, soon followed by a quick flurry of flips and kicks. He lasted the longest so far, holding out an impressive minute before Aizawa kicked him out of the ring.

Ochako glanced over at Izuku as that fight ended to see his beautiful emerald eyes still focused on their teacher, tracking and analyzing every single move he made. His face was touched with something approaching pure wonder. 

What a fanboy.

"I'm gonna have to ask you for your memories of this, after," Ochako murmured just loud enough for him to hear.

"Sure."

"Especially that bit where Bakugou got absolutely destroyed. That was fucking hilarious."

Izuku laughed softly at that. "It was, wasn't it? I can't believe I used to be scared of that guy."

Ochako grinned back at him. "Me neither."

He turned his attention back to the ring, where Shoji was rapidly losing. It was a weird sight to see- a much smaller Aizawa easily overpowering the much larger, multi-armed figure in front of him. Ochako couldn't believe she was gonna get a chance to fight someone so strong.

"You're going up next, aren't you?" 

Huh? "How did you-"

"Your eyes kinda uh, light up when you're right about to do something exciting," Izuku explained quietly. "It's impossible to miss."

Ochako felt her face heat up in her helmet. 

"...They do?"

Izuku smiled at her. "Yeah, they do. Good luck, Ochako."

She blinked back. What was she even supposed to say to that? 

Ochako was almost glad when Shoji got thrown out of bounds a few seconds later(sorry, Shoji!) and gave her an excuse to escape from the amazingly adorable existence that was Midoriya Izuku. 

"I'll go next, Sensei!"

Aizawa just grunted. "Alright."

She bounced over to the red circle and met her teacher's eyes across the distance, forced to crane her neck up slightly as she did so because of the lanky man's height. Her fingertips tapped a quick rhythm against her sides, unable to contain the growing anticipation within her. She could do this!

"Go."

Ochako sprung forward, her boots launching her off the ground and propelling her far farther than normal. Her body felt weightless and free. There was a familiar glint of pink at the edge of her vision and an even more familiar swell of nausea deep within her stomach. 

This much usage of Zero Gravity was nothing to her now thanks to her training. And, well-

Aizawa's eyes flashed red and she was suddenly weighed down by gravity once more. The ever-present tingle running through her hands and fingers vanished along with her body's pink glow. 

-it wasn't like Ochako was going to be using her quirk much in this fight, anyway.

Since she'd been expecting him to use Erasure, the deactivation of her quirk didn't throw off her balance much. She landed smoothly on her feet, her temporary weightlessness getting her just close enough to throw a straight punch with everything she had.

"Hiyah!"

Aizawa casually deflected her attack off his arm but Ochako didn't stop there, aiming a second one directly at his face. Izuku had told her that his quirk forced him to keep his eyes open, so if she could only make him blink this fight would be way easier. 

Unfortunately, her teacher seemed to be used to people trying exactly that. Her fist was caught squarely in his larger palm before his leg snapped up into her side, the exact counter that he'd hit Bakugou with.

It was way too fast for her to block. But unlike Bakugou, Ochako wasn't in mid-air when she was kicked- so she could grit her teeth in, plant her boots on the ground like an anchor, and just barely stop herself from getting knocked clean off her feet. Ouch! 

A flicker of surprise crossed Aizawa's blank features as she powered right through his blow to attack him once more. She swung at his face again, then again, her bulky new wristguards(courtesy of one Hatsume Mei) narrowly missing him with every pass-

Until Ochako finally made a mistake and overextended, her fist shooting out a little bit too far on her next punch. There was only a split-second thought of oh fuck before Aizawa grabbed her arm and launched her flying right over his shoulder. She was airborne and falling toward the edge of the circle before she could even blink.

But then the reflexes born from years of experiencing zero gravity kicked in. She flipped herself in mid-air to face her teacher, reorienting herself in a practiced motion and pointing her arms straight out. There was a quiet click as she curled her fingers in to push a button on her costume.

Twin pink grappling hooks fired from her wristguards- only barely missing Aizawa as he leaped back to dodge- and embedded themselves into the floor. She pulled herself back into bounds with them just in time, landing in a crouch on the floor before the grappling hooks retracted back into her hero costume.

Ochako decided there and then that she fucking loved these things. Thanks, Hatsume!

She straightened herself up to go again, her fists held out in front of her in the boxing-like stance Izuku taught her. Her heart pounded in her chest.

"Didn't expect you to be using those so soon," Aizawa commented lazily. His red eyes were now bloodshot, little red lines streaking across his scleras. It was scary as hell. "Those types of support items usually require a bit of practice."

Ochako grinned back, fierce. "I'm a quick learner!"

"Hm."

This time, Aizawa went on the offensive. 

The space between them was crossed within a single breath, her grin vanishing as a second burst of oh fuck flooded her brain. This was no time to get cocky, Ochako!

She shot out both of her hooks- only for him to somehow dodge both at point-blank range as he advanced, one flying past his jaw and the other grazing his baggy black costume. She crossed her arms just in time as a powerful punch crashed against her hasty defense.

Ochako ducked under the next swing but couldn't react fast enough to the kick that followed it, nearly getting knocked off her feet a second time and granting her stomach membership to the rapidly growing 'Aching Body Parts' club. She stumbled back a step and yanked on her hooks, the long metal wires flying back past Aizawa to her wrists and giving her a precious moment to think.

Ochako was completely and utterly outmatched here. He'd been coming at her for like, two seconds and she was already screwed. What could she even do in this fight? She could barely keep up with his attacks while one of them struck hard enough to threaten instant loss. Ochako wasn't even fast enough to hit him-

But what if she didn't have to be? 

Aizawa lunged in with another punch and instead of blocking or deflecting or dodging it, Ochako stepped directly into the blow. She could feel the man automatically pull back in that split-second so that she wouldn't take it full force (so he did care!) but the strike to her sore stomach still hurt like hell anyway.

But she'd gotten the opening she needed.

"Gotcha!"

Ochako pushed through the pain once more and gripped the offending arm in front of her with both hands, trapping him in place, before she put all of her weight into a reckless tackle at the lanky man's center of gravity. 

Aizawa was way too close to react to the unexpected move and as a result toppled right over when her helmet smashed bodily into his chest, his eyes widening ever so slightly with the impact. His back slammed flat against the gym floor as she landed on top of him, her open palms swinging blindly up at where she thought his face was-

The warm tingle returned to Ochako's fingers as if it had never left.

-before she activated her quirk on his entire body with a push. She looked up to see Aizawa's now glowing, weightless form float helplessly toward the edge of the red circle. 

A small glimmer of hope rose up within her chest the further away he flew. No matter how strong Aizawa was, he couldn't do anything while stuck in zero gravity!

Was Ochako actually going to win this?

Then, as if he'd heard her thoughts, her levitating teacher proceeded to perform possibly the sickest move in human history. One of his arms reached up to grab the scarf around his neck as the rest of him leaned gracefully back into open air. And then he spun, so fast that he turned into a blur of black and gray, and slammed something into her helmet hard enough to make her see stars. 

"What-"

Ochako reeled backward in shock- only to realize that she was held in place by the surprisingly sturdy cloth now coiled tight around her waist. When had that happened? Before she could even process it she was already being yanked right off the ground and up, up towards her floating teacher.

"-the-"

There was a single, surreal second where a wrapped-up Ochako was finally pulled up to Aizawa's height and the asshole actually grinned at her, showing off way too many teeth. His eyes were their usual dull black and entirely dead of emotion as he did it, too. It was the most unnerving face Ochako had ever seen. 

"- fuck ?" 

"Nice try, kid." 

And then Ochako was crashing down, down to the ground as he flung her away with his capture scarf. She tumbled against the gym floor for a bit, her helmet and bodysuit absorbing the impact, until she finally came to a stop several meters away from the red circle to stare blankly up at the ceiling. 

"What the fuck?" Ochako repeated to herself in a winded whisper.

So this was what fighting a Pro Hero was like. Holy shit.

She wanted to do it again.

Her quirk vanished again with the soft rustle of clothes. Ochako lifted up her head to see Aizawa land gracefully within the red circle and walk up to her, his capture weapon hung back around his neck and his hands already stuffed deep into his pockets. 

"That wasn't bad, " Aizawa stated, sounding almost impressed as his eyes lost their red glow. "Your quirk is incredibly useful in close combat, and you have clearly trained to make full use of that. The fundamentals aren't bad, though you definitely need experience. And that last move- that kind of unpredictability is exactly what I want to see from all of you when you fight."

He was using Ochako as a positive example? Whoa.

"But you're way too reckless when you attack, and that makes you too easy to counter. That's illogical. Work on that."

"...Um, okay."

Aizawa only grunted in acknowledgment as he walked back over to the red circle. She just kinda laid there on the floor after he left, her limbs all heavy and sore.

Then Izuku poked his head into her field of view, his curly green hair framing his upside-down face as he looked down at her. The overhead gym lights back-lit the entire sight of him and somehow made the freckles dotting his cheeks look extra noticeable. She had the sudden urge to poke them.

"You okay, Ochako?"

"My body feels like one giant bruise," Ochako told him honestly.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I can't even imagine. Aizawa-sensei's strong, isn't he?" 

Understatement of the fucking century right there.

"But you did amazing against him, anyway," Izuku continued. He beamed at her. "You forced the Eraserhead to use his capture scarf. You've improved so much so quickly that it's incredible, Ochako."

Her fingers twitched a little against her will at the praise. "Well, I've had some pretty great teachers. That could be a part of it."

"Could be," Izuku agreed. "Can you stand?"

Ochako wordlessly stretched a hand up in response and he took it in his, pulling her right to her feet. She wavered slightly where she stood for a second, still kinda dizzy from being spiked into the ground by an overpowered hobo, and held onto Izuku a little tighter for balance.

He didn't let go of her hand after she was steady, despite the fact that it was probably really sweaty and gross right now. But then again, this was the same guy who'd put her through countless hours of exhausting training over the past two years. He'd definitely seen her at worse without caring before. The thought made her feel a little happy yet also kinda embarrassed.

What a weird feeling.

"Are you fighting next, Izuku-kun?"

"No, I'll be going last."

Ochako hummed. "Ah, so that you have the most time to analyze him first, right?"

Izuku nodded. "I'm going to need every advantage I can get against-"

A dozen meters away, Aizawa slammed Sato into the gym floor and held his massive form down until he surrendered. The poor guy practically sprinted away from the red circle as soon as Aizawa let him go.

"-that."

Ochako couldn't help but wince at the sight. "...Is it weird that I'm more terrified of Aizawa-sensei than actual, established villains?"

"Even after fighting him?"

"Especially after fighting him."

Izuku laughed. "A little bit, yeah. But I can't say that I blame you."

"Like, how the fuck is he that fast? Even Iida couldn't blitz him!"

"He's just that fast."

"Bullshit! That is clearly superhuman speed-"

"He probably trained like, super hard or something-"

"And don't even get me started on his fucking scarf-"