35

Chapter Text

The last several days had been hell for Iida Tenya.

Ever since he got out of the hospital, it had all been a blur. All he could remember was that night…

Native's body hitting the ground. Stain's knife coming towards him. The paramedics tending to him with Yaoyorozu at his side, her climbing out of the ambulance. Manual's worry. The wailing of his overwrought and distressed mother...

The next day was bad.

It was only natural that he was getting kicked from Manual's agency. A permanent stain on his record.

What came next… a phone call from his brother… He could remember the disappointment. The anger.

All because Tenya lost control of his own emotions. He had blood on his hands, and brought shame and worry to his family when they were already wrought with it due to Tensei's condition.

As Tenya felt the bus lurch, he slowly got up and departed from it, feeling the crisp early summer air. He walked, eyes glued to the ground. It was still dark out, but behind him the sun was beginning to rise.

"Good morning Iida-kun."

The voice startled him, and the speedster turned, finding Principal Nezu watering the flowers that lined the walkway.

"P-Principal Nezu sir! Ahh, what are you-"

"Gardening is quite relaxing to me so every morning I water the flowers before it's time to open."

The mouse creature kept his placid smile over his features, brushing a stray leaf off of a flower before turning to face Tenya.

"I imagine it's been several troubled days for a young man such as yourself. Tea?"

Tenya fidgeted where he stood, straightening from his bow, though his head still hung low. "S-sir, I'd rather not have you needlessly waste your time on me."

"It is no waste." The principal calmly replied in assurance. "You are my student and it seems you wish to talk."

Tenya looked at him, staring down at the much shorter mutant who still held the tiny watering can in hand, smiling up towards him.

Then, reaching into his pocket, the scion of the Iida family pulled free a letter, before he lost his nerve.

He held it out to him. "Sir. I would like to formally submit my request to leave this school."

The bear-mouse's smile fell away. "Are you requesting a transfer to another hero school?"

Tenya shook his head, eyes to the ground. "No sir. I'm... I'm dropping out of the hero course completely."

"Why?"

Tenya sucked down a breath, "You know why!"

For a long interminable moment, Nezu stared at him as Tenya held out the letter towards him. The blue-haired man's shoulder slumped again, arm still stretched.

Then, abruptly, the mouse turned his back on him.

Tenya started, surprised, only to see the mouse hop onto a nearby bench, little legs dangling off the side.

He patted the seat beside him.

"Won't you join me? If this is to be our last discussion I feel we should both be seated, no?"

Tenya closed his eyes, features scrunching up before he relaxed minutely and allowed himself to walk towards the bench and sit.

He didn't speak, still clutching the letter in his hand.

Finally.

"Can you tell me what happened that night, Iida-kun?"

"I made a mistake." The words made emotion well up again in his chest, an apple lodging in his throat. There were other descriptors to be had, one's more harsher like those his brother had used… But this was the best summation.

Nezu shifted in his seat, little paws linking together over his legs. "How so?"

"I went after Stain. And I got Native-san killed."

"You are partially correct."

Confused, the youth turned towards Nezu with a questioning gaze.

"I read the reports in the news and from Manual-san's agency. Native-San was already paralyzed by the time you intervened from what I have gathered. Your intervention did not cause his death."

"But I didn't even try, Principal Nezu!" The youth hissed, sucking down the tears. "It didn't even cross my mind to try!"

"Saving him, you mean?"

"Yes!" Tenya looked down, staring at a spot on the floor. "All I could do was look at Stain. All I could see was Stain. It never even crossed my mind to try and get Native-san, to get him out. The only thing I could think about was revenge. I didn't act like a hero. I acted like a fool." His shoulders slumped.

Nedzu nodded.

"I see. And you believe this is your only recourse? Your only path of atonement?"

There was a pause; a lengthy, pregnant one.

"A man is dead... because I didn't try." He turned to Nezu. "What other recourse is there?"

The mouse creature sighed.

"I will not lie. What happened was a tragedy, and yours isn't the only voice that claims you to be at fault, Iida-kun." There. That should do it.

"Then you will accept my-"

"No."

What?

There was a finality in his voice, almost like a thunderclap, so at odds and different to the morning songbirds and crisp air that it almost felt like a slap in the face. Tenya's eyes were wide behind his glasses.

Nezu shook his head. "Not yet. You rushed headfirst into a mistake that night, and I believe you're rushing headfirst into another mistake in your grief, Iida-kun. I can't in good conscience accept your request. Not yet."

"I'm not worthy of being called a hero." Tenya retorted.

Nedzu hopped off the bench, patting himself down before turning his hand towards the letter.

It slipped free of Tenya's numb fingers and into the mouse man's paws.

"Give yourself some time, Iida-kun. Give yourself some time to grieve... and to think. If by next Monday you can think of no reason to remain a hero, no hope for yourself, then I will reluctantly accept, but only until then."

The tears made his eyes glimmer, but he swallowed them down. "I understand... sir." He stood, bowing low one more time before turning and leaving the school grounds before the other students arrived. He couldn't bear to face them.

(X)

"Shaaaaa~!" Izuku was caught off guard, seeing a familiar sight before him as she had a big tan, her skin a light bronze, her arm muscles toned and refined and, wait, that hair style!

"U-Uraraka-san?!" Izuku gawked, seeing his friend. Gone was the fair skin, but she was bronze instead! How much time in the sun did she have!?

"Hey Midoriya-chan. She's been like this all morning." Asui spoke up, sitting at her desk.

"Yeah, she's had the eye of the tiger." Ashido added. "Guess training under the Wild Wild Pussycats can do that."

"She's looking more like you, Ashido." The greenette mused, to which the pinkette grinned widely.

"Oh, hey Midoriya, how was your internship under Edgeshot?"

"It must have been tres magnifique," Aoyama added with his hands cupping his chin. "Especially since you took part in taking down Stain with Parker-san."

"Yeah, what was it like?" Ashido chirped, beaming as she approached. Izuku blanched, oh man, getting too close!! He noticed Sero, Ojiro, and Hagakure approaching too. "We've been trying to ask Parker-kun about it all morning but he's been quiet about it! Tell us tell us!" Oh man, now she was really close with that beaming grin, those gold-black eyes of hers! Too close!

"Man, learning from a Top Ten. You had it made" Ojiro wistfully commented.

"Did you learn any secret ninjutsu?" Hagakure waved her arms.

"I doubt a guy as secretive as Edgeshot would teach an intern some secret technique." The black-haired teen with tape-dispenser elbows shrugged at the invisible girl's query… before he turned towards Izuku. "Did he?"

Izuku gulped, eyes darting back and forth as his peers were mobbing him. "I uhhh... I learned a lot under Edgeshot-san b-b-but I didn't learn any super secret ninjutsu." He laughed, fiddling with his fingers. "C-Company secret, he said."

"Move it." Said a gruff voice as Izuku turned and… there was Kacchan! He was frowning, hands in his pockets as he stared at the mob outside the door.

"O-Oh! Good morning Kacchan!" Izuku moved aside, as did the others as the blond boy walked inside. Thank goodness for Kacchan, he didn't know how long he could last with Ashido-san not knowing the definition of personal space!

"Hnn." Kacchan grunted in response, and Izuku caught his eyes.

The green-haired teen wasn't sure. But he seemed more like himself. There was something there now.

Izuku couldn't contain his grin as he saw his childhood friend walk across the room towards their row. He noticed Parker was there as well as Kacchan got to his seat. Neither one said so much of a word, or even looked at each other.

Parker was looking out the window, deep in thought, his reflection neutral on the window.

That's right, Mirko-san that night wasn't happy…

Izuku's eyes scanned the room, seeing Tokoyami brooding to himse- Oh yeah he was under one of the Top Ten too!

"Hey Tokoyami, how was your time under Hawks?" He asked, walking up as the raven-headed boy opened his eyes.

"I had a great deal of self-reflection and learned. I am grateful for the opportunity, even if learning under him was a challenge." Tokoyami mused with crossed arms. "I trust it was the same for you under Edgeshot?"

Izuku nodded. "It was!" It was the truth as he looked down at his hands, his fingers scarred, but otherwise he felt as fine as ever. One step closer to becoming the hero he wanted to be, just like Edgeshot said. "I guess my experience was the same as yours."

"That's good," Yaoyorozu said as she entered the room with a smile.

"Working for Yoroi Musha must have been something else…" Izuku cupped his chin. "The man has always been secretive, more so than Edgeshot-san. In terms of his Quirk, you and him are a perfect match, so it only makes sense you were able to learn off of him and his experiences. He is also an incredible close range fighter too given his background in various weapon martial arts like Kendo and Kobudo. I heard he was also a master archer in his heyday as well, but did the limits of his Quirk go beyond simple weaponry and into complex gadgets and tinkers and other sorts of items? There's rumors he used to be a handyman in a town up north in his youth too, which may also help in his background too and-"

"Midori." A voice said, and Izuku looked up, and he saw the sitting form of Peter Parker looking up with a smile, as Yaoyorozu and Jirou were chuckling. Todoroki blinked. "You're mumbling again, buddy."

"Ack!" Izuku blushed and clammed up, placing his arms around his head. "S-Sorry…"

"It's alright." Yaoyorozu waved it off. "We can talk more of our time under our mentors at lunch, if that helps."

"Not like I have much." Jirou mused as she twirled her earphone jacks. "I helped in managing a hostage crisis, backup, escort and logistics, nothing fancy."

"Hostage situations. That sounds so exciting!" Kirishima said, before he closed his eyes and gripped his fist. "Fourth Kind had me and Tetsutetsu do community service… I had to do it, it was the manly thing to do, even if all of your internships sound incredible!"

"Hey man, nothing wrong with doing that." Peter said, with him leaning back in his seat, now fully engaged in the conversation. "I did some of that over the last couple of days. It's nice and refreshing."

"You did? I didn't consider Mirko as someone who does those kinds of things." Jirou asked, and Peter laughed awkwardly.

"After she and Edgeshot captured Stain… as a reward I was let off early… so I killed time and did some work." Peter spoke, and Izuku bit the inside of his cheek, picking up on the subtext immediately.

The anger she had that night, no way Peter 'leaving' was a reward, and Izuku again felt that guilt swell inside his chest, remembering All Might's conversation in the park that day.

'I have to be better…'

"So lucky!" Kirishima uttered, shaking as he looked aside in self-reflection. "You learned so much in so little time compared to us. As expected of ya, Ace." He flexed. "I'm gonna have to train even harder now!"

"Hey you guys!" Sero shouted, standing up and moving his arms as he stood by the door. "Aizawa-sensei is coming! Get to your seats pronto!"

Several moments later, the door opened and Aizawa entered without his sleeping bag.

"Good morning." Everyone was in their seats as the shaggy-haired man walked in. He scratched his eyes a little. "Hmm, saw some of you just entering their seats. You'll get there." He walked up to the front desk and placed his hands on it. "Let me first congratulate you all on your first internship. We have received positive feedback from the heroes most of you worked with, all in all, well done. Now, I hope you all haven't forgotten that next week is your Final Exams." He said with narrowed eyes. A large groan came from Kaminari as his head met his desk, an audible gulp from Kirishima, and a surprised squawk from Ashido. "So hopefully under your time at the internships, you brushed up on your classwork. But, this week your classes will be undergoing study periods, completing any makeup homework or assignments and wrapping up any topics that we didn't get to cover. Business will go on as usual in your Hero Course period, in which case will be the normal lessons myself, All Might, and other teachers will direct." A hand rose up from the other side of the room, to which Aizawa nodded. "Ojiro?"

"Sensei, if I may ask what is our schedule? In our syllabus it only mentioned 'Finals Week' and not much else." The tailed blonde asked.

"That is what this Homeroom will be on." Aizawa said. "As you finish up this Quarter's curriculum and study up, next week's Finals will go like this." He tapped his desk, and behind him the board displayed a holographic screen depicting the calendar. "Monday thru Wednesday will be your usual Final Exams, covering your general education in the form of written exams. Thursday however..." He tapped on Thursday, which said 'Practical Exam'. "Is your Hero Course Final, in which we will test on everything you have done ever since coming here to U.A.. What this involves will be revealed on that day." He saw another hand rise. "Asui."

"Just to clarify, but can we use any of the school's facilities so we can train and hone our Quirks? And if so, when?" She asked with a finger to her chin.

"Yeah, I need to strengthen my hardening bad!" Kirishima called out. "I need to catch up to everyone!"

"Me too, I still need to get my acid spray under control!" Ashido added. "All I can do is swing it out! Like a crazy hose!" She had her hands entwined with her hair too. "And my parents are gonna kill me if my grades remained the saaaame!"

"I'm doooooooomed…" Kaminari uttered with his face on his desk. Jirou snorted out a laugh at the sight.

"Quiet down." Aizawa uttered before anyone else could speak up. "Now, to answer your question Asui, yes. I will be enabling usage of all the Battle Centers for Class 1-A's use. Just clear it with the school and you'll be allowed to any Battle Center or training facility to improve yourself before the Practical. You will have this access until the day of the Practical, so if you feel you need to catch up in your other classes, balance your time wisely in between using the school library or the training facilities. How you use that time is up to you."

Izuku nodded, taking note of this in his head. Written exams, and then the Practical… Simple enough. He needed to look over his grades and see where he could make improvements and last minute catch-up. Last time he checked, he needed to improve his math and science a little…

"Today we will be doing Rescue Training with All Might as well before Lunch. You can use this period to start up on your studying or prepare for said training, the training grounds will be available for doing so. Another thing in that other Hero Courses above your grade and 2-B will also have access to the facilities, so don't try to make a mess and share." As Aizawa walked to the door.

Themood was clear. Their midterms were nondescript a while back, not counting for much given the Sports Festival and the situation regarding the U.S.J., but now was the big one. The Final Exams.

"Oh, and one more thing…" Aizawa said as he stopped, and looked back. "Don't be making plans for summer vacation as well during late July and August, as we will be doing a Summer Camp of sorts. If anyone fails the Practical…." He glared, his eyes glowing red and hair waving. "there will be hell, as a remedial course will be mandatory to those who fail."

'A summer camp?!' Izuku thought, a thought shared by everyone in the class that wanted to talk and blurt out their fantasies, had it not been for Aizawa's withering stare. "That'll be all." His hair settled down and he departed the room.

Silence reigned on the room… and then…

"Summer Caaaaamp!" Ashido, Kaminari, Sero and Hagakure cheered at the same time. Izuku chuckled, and he heard Peter behind him do the same as they began to dance around and clap their hands, spouting off what they might do there. For now, he had to focus on the present.

To pass that Final Exam!

(X)

Walking through the hallowed Halls of U.A, Peter found himself enjoying yet another thing that he'd sorely missed these past few weeks; the U.A cafeteria.

There were more options here than seemingly any restaurant in all of Tokyo, and Peter was taking his time picking out the meals that had kept him going back in New York. When this place started serving cheeseburgers and hotdogs, he had no idea, but he wasn't going to complain. Lunch Rush knew how to make 'em good.

Behind him, Izuku filled his own plate with a modest amount of rice and more raw protein than Peter thought the boy could metabolize, but hey, he wasn't one to judge what someone else ate.

Even the bugs that Asui ate weirded him out from time to time.

"Have you ever been to a summer camp, Parker-san?" Izuku asked, hefting his tray.

Peter shook his head, "Nope, couldn't afford them back home. Went to some class events, but not much else." Better not mention almost killing his classmates by mistake that time in D.C…

Izuku nodded, "I've never been to one before either, but if it's a hero training camp, then it has to be intense."

"Really?" Peter asked, taking a seat at an empty table and chowing down.

"You don't think it will be?"

"No it's not that, I've just haven't been giving it much thought," Peter said with a shrug, "Recently most of my time consisted of me thinking about the trip to I-Island. My ticket for I-Expo is in June, so after the Final Exam."

Izuku's eyes light up, "Oh of course, you're hoping that a scientist there can fix your suit!" He grinned. "I'm glad!"

Peter chuckled as best he could, but the sound felt hollow. Unless there was a secret super genius on I-Island whose quirk was letting them know everything, there wouldn't be anyone there that could fix the Iron Spider suit. If he and Karen couldn't get it done here in U.A. with Mei and Power Loader-sensei's help, I-Island was their last resort.

That being said, with all the different toys and the machinery there, Karen might get a head start in something.

"Y-yeah, here's hoping dude," Peter said. "I can't say that I'm not super excited for it though. Knowing this school, it's probably going to be amazing."

"I think it's going to be manly!"

"Hmm?" Peter turned around to mixed reactions. Kirishima was grinning, eyes alight. Momo and Uraraka on the other hand had confused looks on their faces.

"You don't know much of I-Island, do you?" Momo asked.

"Yeah, it's not just amazing." Uraraka added. "I heard it's incredible! Out of this world!"

Peter nodded, quickly swallowing his drink and moving to the side, giving up the full space in the booth for the three.

"That so huh?"

"Yeah! It's the Tech Mecca of the World! Makes everything in Akiba look like a third-world country bazaar!" Uraraka declared. "Everything that's cutting edge in the world is always made at I-Island!"

"Indeed." Momo said as she split her chopsticks, ready to dig into her massive helping of rice, chicken and vegetables. "From Anti-Gravity Lifts to Micro Machine Technology and Electro Enhanced Projection, I-Island has it all."

"Learn something new every day," Peter said, taking a bite. Micro Machines… "Would love to learn more about those." He added, tapping his smartwatch and looking at it.

"Will compile what I can and review." Karen said in his ear, making him grin.

Everyone piled in, and for a few moments, there was silence as they enjoyed their lunches.

"So you guys were talking about the Summer Camp?" Kirishima asked, the redhead practically vibrating on the spot just talking about it.

"We were talking about what it might be about," Izuku answered, "Because looking into it, I haven't really heard of U.A having a summer camp program. Having one now seems like overkill, but it could be that the school wants to continue our training regimen and make a habit of us training outside of school hours. After all, heroes work 'round the clock and we are expected to train in our downtime. They recommended training before the Sports Festival, so it might be-"

"Dude, breathe," Peter said, his grin up at the young man's ramblings.

Izuku looked down, flustered, an action that made Uraraka giggle, which only made the flustered boy flush as red as Kirishima's hair.

"Same ole Deku." Uraraka chimed.

"While speculating about this development is admirable Midoriya," Momo said, cutting in, "We should be focusing on our studies. As Aizawa-sensei said, finals will be the first obstacle before we can even begin to worry about the Summer Camp."

"I don't think we need to worry about that too much," Kirishima said, frowning. "Gotta make sure I pass!"

"Someone's confident," Peter commented, with a little grin of his own.

"Damn straight I am! I gotta make up for the Sports Festival, and where better to show my stuff than finals!?"

"Another Sports Festival?" Momo offered with an amused look.

Peter couldn't help but snort, and Kirishima rolled his eyes at the answer.

"I mean for the people here!" Kirishima complained, "Cause there's nothing this school can throw at me that I can't bust through with all the training that I've gone through."

"Really?" Peter asked "You're ready for the written test?" He rested his head on his chin, smirking lightly.

Kirishima didn't move for a few seconds, and Peter saw him bite his lower lip in anxiety.

"Do you need help studying?" Momo asked. "You sounded worried back in class when Aizawa made his announcement."

Kirishima's head snapped to her.

"A-are you offering to tutor me?"

"I was going to make an announcement on the group chat later about it," Momo said, "There's no rule against making a study group, and if we all work together, we can at least make sure that we pass the writing section of the final."

"Yeah, me and Momo were going to help." The brown-haired boy said with a smile. "I'm pretty good when it comes to English, Science and Math, so Momo can handle others too!"

"I handle my own in the field of arithmetic as well, Peter-san." Momo replied, sipping from her tea, but he could tell that she was amused.

"That's a great idea," Uraraka said, lighting up.

"That's our Class Reps!" Kirishima said with a flex. "Man, you two are so cool and on the ball! I need to get up to your level!"

"Chill dude, you're fine." Peter laughed, eating up some fries.

"Thanks, and I was thinking about having it at my place. My parents have already given me permission, now we just need to set a time."

"I'll get the word out," Peter said, tapping his earpiece and his phone, pseudo-texting as he saw the words fly on his screen with barely a touch.

'"I'm getting the word out," Karen said, and immediately, there was a ping on everyone's phones. Peter then looked up and smirked. "And Momo-san." He earned the black-haired girl's attention. And he racked his head for an equation. "What's Poisson's Equation?"

"Poi-what?" Kirishima asked.

"I don't know French, but isn't that just… Fish Equation?" Uraraka asked, and Peter could see the question marks floating over their heads.

"Laplace Operator multiplied by the Sought Real function of a Manifold, equalled to the Given Real function." Momo replied on the dot, conjuring a pencil and paper from her arm, writing it down. She had a slight smirk on her face, and Peter couldn't help but mirror it. "If you want to go deeper…" She said as she wrote down the functions. "We can go into the Euclidean Space." She made another similar equation, with Laplace flipped upside down with a square root.

Kirishima and Uraraka blinked, while Izuku tilted his head.

"Ohhh, I know that one." Peter chuckled. "May I?" As if on cue, Momo handed him the pencil as she resumed eating and he took the paper. "Well, you can go even deeper than that, since the Laplace Operator is these functions squared multiplied by x,y, and z…" Peter spoke out as he made a bigger equation. "Which also applies to the Sought Real Function and the Given Real Function too…"

"Hmmm." Momo nodded. "But, do you know how you can reach the equation needed to reach the Laplace Equation?"

"When the Given Real Function, defined as 'f', equals zero." Peter answered on the dot.

"But the truest way to achieve Poisson's Equation," Momo mused as she took back the paper and began writing. "Is using Green's Function."

"Ohhh, she knows her stuff." Karen added in his ear. "I like her."

"And that's a whole 'nother ball park which involves finding the linear differential operator defined on a domain, to solve it you have to wri-" Peter paused from writing down another function on the remaining space the piece of paper had left, both him and Momo turning and seeing steam coming out of Kirishima, Izuku and Uraraka's ears.

"Are you two aliens from outer space?" Uraraka asked dryly, eyes wide.

"Have to be, I didn't understand a thing…" Izuku added, eyes looking like plates.

Kirishima seemed to be the first to recover from the math babble. "Man… I didn't get a word of what you two were sayin', but that sounded like super smart math stuff!" He clapped his hands together. "Will you please help me get over math? The Pythagorean Theorem is killing me!"

Peter blinked before he looked back at Momo. Then the two laughed, Momo covering her mouth behind her hand while doing so.

"You got it dude. We can split on Math, if that's cool by you Momo-san."

"The more heads the better Peter-san, and Kirishima-san, of course. We'll go over our math class curriculum together when we get the group assembled."

"Could we do it tomorrow? I have plans with my family tonight." Uraraka said as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Alriiiiight!" Kirishima yelled. "Written Test here I come! With this training I will prove my worth as a man's man and conquer ya like the first climbers of Everest!"

The group laughed to themselves, and Peter sighed, smiling happily. He then noticed Momo look at him.

"Oh! Peter-san, before I forget." Momo reached into her school bag and brought out a piece of paper with names written on it. She handed it to the American boy as Peter inspected it. It was a list of names and…. law firms? Phone numbers and emails included! And in English too! "Here."

"What's this?"

"Patent attorneys." Momo stated as the others perked up. "For your webbing and support gear. Your gear was made on your own, yes?"

"Ummm, sort of. My suits were given to me, but my web shooters and fluid I made myself. So I can file a patent for these? Don't I have to be an adult for that?" Momo then chuckled.

"Not at all. Japan's copyright and patent laws allow even teenage inventors to claim their own creations. Hook up with any of those attorneys and they'll ensure that your creations are your own and, when you become a Pro Hero, you can make income on the side selling your gadgets and that web fluid!" Momo declared brightly. Peter beamed as he looked at it. He… never really thought about it but she had a point!

"Just make a photo of this and I'll make the appropriate emails asking for billing rates." Karen said in his ear. Peter obliged, taking his phone and taking several photos of each name.

The American boy let out an exhale. Mr. Stark probably had a fleet of attorneys with his creations and company too. He hasn't thought of any of that since... well he was just a kid, yet Momo had the foresight to look far ahead and do just that!

"Ohhhh, now you're going to make some serious dough when you graduate!" Kirishima exclaimed. "You're going to be such a man amongst men! All that funding helping your career in heroism… I gotta trademark my own gear!"

"I'm sure you can trademark your hero name, but not your gear I'm afraid, as most of us got all our gear from the Support Companies who have deals with U.A." Momo corrected.

"Good thing she looked out for us." Karen whispered in Peter's ear as Kirishima nodded at the black-haired beauty's explanation.

"Yep." He muttered back under his breath. "I'll go over these and send out feelers on these. Thanks a ton Momo-san!" The girl's smile seemed to widen, genuinely pleased and happy.

"You're welcome Peter-san."

Peter nodded. He was about to speak before Kirishima waved his hand.

"Say uhh, when are we going to do the study group thing? Me and Uraraka are in the same boat, with me and my parents going to go out to eat tonight so I'll be busy. But tomorrow onward I should be free!"

"We can start it tomorrow. Can we?" Peter asked, looking towards Momo who nodded.

"We can. It's for the best to give everyone a day to check their schedules and all."

"Sounds good! Midoriya, Uraraka, you wanna come?" Peter asked. The brown-haired girl perked up.

"Don't see why not! Studying at my place is pretty boring and tough, but if I can learn with the smartest kids in the class then I'll take it!" The girl said with a punch to the air.

"My mom should be okay with it, but she has been missing me since I've been away for two weeks." Izuku replied. "But I'll check in with her. It's not like I'm spending the night or anything." He got out his phone and began to text.

"Got some bites. Ashido, Kaminari, Ojiro and Sero are interested in joining." Karen replied. As if on cue, Peter noticed Momo look at her phone and he looked at his smartwatch, all with confirmations from his fellow classmates. Plus Kirishima, that made five excluding himself and Momo.

"And Jirou-san will be checking with her parents first… wonderful!" Momo exclaimed. "Now let's do our best everyone!"

"Yeah!" Everyone else besides Peter said, who smiled softly as he starred at the beaming black haired beauty. He looked down on his phone, going over the emails Karen had typed up in milliseconds to send to the attorneys.

(X)

Later that day...

It was the end of the day as Izuku walked through the halls of U.A. They'd had their rescue training exercise, and he was able to avoid Sero by a hair. Edgeshot's training paid off immensely in terms of Parkour Movement through Battle Center Gamma. He had gotten typical compliments from just about everyone, including Peter and Uraraka. And normally he would be on the way home for nice homemade Katsudon.

Except he wasn't, as All Might had whispered to him about talking after school. About the truth of One for All.

Izuku's mind began to race as he recounted back to where he met All Might in person for the first time and was roped into his secret on the rooftop that day. All Might had fought a villain at some point in the past and was wounded, so much so that it affected even his Quirk usage and was the reason for his skeletal appearance. The Quirk could be given to others as well…

Wait, All Might had given him his hair, which meant he had to pass on his DNA. Did that mean had Stain cut him and licked his bloo-

Izuku's blood turned cold. No wonder All Might was so furious! It all made sense! Izuku cupped a fist and bashed against his forehead, once, twice, three times. "Stupid stupid stupid!" He uttered under his breath.

On top of all the other things too, like concern for his well being and how to get better as a hero. Izuku sighed.

He noticed All Might's office, and the light was on as he opened the door, and there was the skeletal Symbol of Peace, sitting on his sofa.

"Have a seat." He said, and Izuku gulped as he set down his backpack. "I have two things to tell you." So tense…

He heard the blond man sigh. "Lately you've been through a lot, but you have improved by leaps and bounds Young Midoriya…" He said, still hunched over. "Well done."

Izuku walked over and took a seat on the other couch across from him, feeling pride swell in his chest. "T-Thank you All Might." He meant it. Praise from his idol meant the world to him and yet…

"You seem worried. Anything on your mind?" Weren't they going to talk about One for All?

"W-Well I…" Izuku looked to the side. "I just remembered about Stain and, well, my quirk and…"

"Ahhh." All Might opened his mouth and pointed at his tongue. "Stain, his quirk revolves around blood, right? The blood of others."

"Yes!" Izuku stated. "I know how you were so angry back then! Stain… Stain could have stolen One for All! Just like that time on the beach when you gave me your hair and said..." And the hours of training, looking into the mirror… His face scrunched up, shadows formed and a big toothy smile appeared. A perfect replication of All Might's visage "'Eat This' an-"

"Young Midoriya." All Might interrupted, looking distressed. Izuku tilted his head. "Don't ever do that again." The green-haired teen's face returned to normal, and he could feel the blood rush to his face. "Please."

"S-Sorry… w-was I n-not accurate? Did I not get y-your face right?"

"Not at all, in fact it's too accurate. Sheesh..." All Might shook his head. "Never mind that, but you don't have to worry. Even if Stain had nicked you, he wouldn't be able to take One for All from you."

"Hmm?"

"One for All can only be transferred if the current bearer wills it through his or her consent. It can't be stolen forcibly, however, it can be given to an unwilling recipient. Essentially, it's all on the Predecessor, not the successor." Izuku nodded. That… made some sense. "A more modern term for your youngsters is liiiike… receiving Chocolates on White Day from a very clingy and lovestruck girl, even though you aren't interested. That help paint a better picture?"

Izuku thought of a girl handing off a box of chocolates, or rather, shoving it into a flustered teenage All Might's chest. "Ummm… yeah, it does."

"Good. One for All is a unique quirk. So unique, it has an origin story." Izuku perked up, his eyes widening as he gave his mentor his full attention. "You see, One for All was born from another quirk. It's name?" His countenance darkened. "All for One. A quirk that allows its user to steal other quirks…. As well as grant quirks to others."

All for One… the way he spoke that in English… And the naming.

"All For One… Meaning everything was for this guy to take for him or herself?" All Might nodded.

"Yes. Back during the Advent of Quirks, society was in complete upheaval. The status quo was changing under a society that couldn't adapt fast enough. What defined one as a human became lost. Civil unrest broke out all over the world. Racism not for the color of one's skin or their creed or religion, but the sheer fact of those who had a quirk and everyone else who didn't. Some even used religion to attack those with Quirks or even the Quirkless." He sighed. "It was a Modern Dark Age. Humanity was destroying itself back then, as the progress of society came to a grinding halt." Izuku nodded, remembering his history classes and the articles he read online.

"Without the rise of quirks, humanity would be in space by now, is what I've heard." Izuku mused, looking out the window into the dusky sky.

"Yes. In that Dark Age… There was one man who brought an end to the chaos and unrest here in Japan." All Might's eyes narrowed. "With his power, he was able to steal Quirks from others, and give them to those he favored in return for loyalty. With it, he spread his influence accordingly. People got elected to high positions in the Diet and other places of government. Others disappeared overnight without a trace. Order was brought to Japan, but corruption and villainy was rampant in the streets regardless. Countless wicked acts were committed by him as he ascended a throne of corpses behind a government of puppets. He became Japan's King from the Shadows. A legitimate overlord of evil."

A Shadow King…

"I heard rumors online, but I thought it was just conspiracy theories, l-like those copy-paste stories you see on the web." Izuku mentioned as All Might took a break to drink from a water bottle. "There's nothing mentioned like that in the textbooks at all."

"Is the Yakuza mentioned in history textbooks? There's an old adage that history is written by the victors after all. Or rather, the ones at the top decide what gets written and what gets excluded." All Might replied wryly.

"So how is this connected to One for All?"

"Remember when I said All for One could give quirks too?" All Might said. "And that he gave them in return for absolute loyalty? Well… if some chose to resist or not be of use to him, he would give them multiple quirks." Izuku gulped. The tone he spoke of… was full of dread. "The burden of bearing multiple quirks in one body is too much to bear for a single person… Those who were found had become lifeless puppets, unable to speak, with the skin around their skull deteriorating… Just like the Noumu."

Izuku's heart stopped. That's right… The League of Villains back then said they were out to kill All Might. That was their original goal. So that dark skinned brain-exposed monster back then… was once a person? A human being?!

"But… there was a case where someone managed to survive such a state. Where the blending of quirks resulted in a mutation." All Might continued. "The Shadow King had a younger brother, who was Quirkless. He was born sickly and frail, but his sense of justice was strong. So strong, he opposed his brother whenever he could in his capacity. So the elder brother decided to give his weak sibling a Quirk, a Power-Stocker. Whether he gave it to him out of a sense of love or as a sick joke is unknown, knowing him, probably the latter." The skeletal man then broke out in a smirk. "Such a quirk given to one who is quirkless should be useless, right? No. In fact, the Shadow King was completely fooled, for his little Brother had a quirk! It was useless on it's own, and no one, not even the younger brother, had known! His quirk allowed him to pass on his quirk onto others!" Izuku's eyes widened, his mouth dropped. He said it was a mutation… which meant...!

"Yes! I can see it in your eyes Young Midoriya, that young mind piecing it together!" All Might said with a victorious grin. "The two quirks, the Transfer Quirk and the Power-Stocker Quirk combined into one! One for All!"

"I-Incredible…" Izuku whispered, gobsmacked. All Might chuckled as he took a deep breath.

"It is an ironic tale, no? Justice always seems to be born from Evil. It's sad, but it's true."

"So… If I am guessing this right, All Might…" Izuku gulped. "This villain who has All for One… Was he…" He pointed at his stomach. "Wait, if he was around during the Advent of Quirks then-"

"Yes. That person has forsaken his human name, going by the name of his quirk. Obviously, he had no intention of passing the throne to another, so at some point he acquired a Quirk that stopped aging. Essentially, he has eternal youth. And hundreds, if not thousands of Quirks at his command… He became a Symbol of Evil. The Younger Brother knew this, and he knew that as he was, he couldn't fight All for One… At least, not yet. He decided to pass on his quirk to one he trusted, giving them his mission to defeat his older brother. And that person too gave their quirk from one person to the next throughout the generations… It was weak then, but as time passed, it was like a snowball rolling down a hill, becoming stronger and stronger! Until it was ready… and it was my turn."

"You fought him then? Did you defeat him?" Izuku asked, hopeful that this tale had some closure. Some semblance of a happy ending.

All Might's sigh as his shoulders slumped confirmed the opposite. "Yes and no… I did my best. To kill him for all the evil he has committed over the years. I beat him… but he survived. I was in no condition that day to pursue." His hand came up to his face, the other rubbing his side as if feeling a nostalgic phantom pain. "Considering the Noumu that attacked the U.S.J., combined with the sudden attack on Hosu and the autopsy reports of the monsters coming back as people who had disappeared, all but confirms that the true leader of the League of Villains is not Shigaraki Tomura." All Might growled. "It has always been All For One.

"One for All was created for the specific purpose of defeating All for One!" All Might sighed, looking down at the ground in shame. "And you must one day fight this evil… all because I failed…"

Izuku did his best to soothe his racing heart as he had clenched his pants during All Might's discussion. His mentor seemed to have noticed his distress and sat up. "I apologize if this got a little bit dark but-"

"Don't be." Izuku said, gulping as he gripped his fists. "I know what I have to do now." He said, teeth clenched. "I have to get stronger, and stronger still. I remember what you said that day All Might… that I have to be better." He sat up straight, his green eyes burning with determination as he met his mentor's dark blue gaze. "With you at my side, I can do anything!" there was a pregnant pause in there that made Izuku look to the side. "Well, that's how I feel, anyway." He then looked back to All Might. "All Might… I will be better. I will surpass you. I will… defeat him!"

All Might was quiet, eyes wide in disbelief before he placed a hand over his mouth, looking at the floor. He conflicted for a moment. Torn before he took a deep breath. "Midoriya… thank you…"

There was silence throughout the room as All Might and Izuku remained still, and the skeletal man sighed and leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. Then he looked at his desk a bit, where his laptop lied as well as some framed photographs.

Ooookay, this was getting a bit awkward now…

"W-Well, I appreciate you telling me this story All Might. I'll never forget it and I better get home and-"

"Young Midoriya." All Might said. "Are you going to be busy this summer?" Izuku blinked.

"Well, the Final Exams are next week. I passed those and Aizawa said that I am able to come to the summer camp this August."

"August you say?" All Might turned, before he chuckled and a warm grin broke out at his face. "So late June and early July you're free? I did say I had two things to tell you. One was of course, the origin of All for One."

"Ummm… yeah." Izuku nodded. "I'm free. What's the second thing?"

And in a flash, All Might bulked up into the towering Symbol of Peace and on his feet. "Perfect! Now, Young Midoriya!" He pointed down at him. Izuku clammed up, eyes wide.

"Y-Yes?!"

"The second subject I wanted to talk to you about is that I will be doing proper training with you! If you are to surpass me, I must teach you everything I know! For that, I will be taking you to some of the greatest training facilities and ensuring you make the greatest connections a hero like you can ask for!" All Might declared. "After all, if you are to become greater than the Symbol of Peace, you must be able to use any and all advantages you have and are given! And the best place for that, is for you to be acquainted with my first sidekick!"

Izuku's heart swelled as he stood up on his feet. "You mean!?"

"Yes indeed! I will be taking you to I-Expo, at I-Island! There you will meet my sidekick, David Shield! And there, you will undergo plenty of training at the Hero Training Facilities the island possesses!"

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaah~" Izuku's eyes were beginning to water. I-Island, the greatest technology center in the world?! "I can't believe it… W-What will my mother say and if she will let me-"

"Well, you're correct there Young Midoriya." All Might beamed. "Talk it over with her, and I will send you an email of my invitation to you. You can share with her, and that will no doubt put her mind at ease over her son traveling abroad, and with me along no less. And most of all," He placed a hand on his shoulder. "You and I share a bond that goes beyond blood. That goes beyond generations. Across time." His dark eyes shone with warmth as he smiled, his giant hand gripping softly. "I will teach you everything I know. One day, all that is mine will be yours, Young Midoriya."

Izuku grinned ear to ear, and nodded. "I'll do my best!"

(X)

After school was done, hours later, Momo took a deep breath, feeling her lungs stretch before breathing out slowly.

It had been a good day. It'd been nice to see all her friends again after two weeks of relative absence.

As nice as it was, she was honestly a little tired. Mina especially was exhausting in her enthusiasm after she learned about the planned study group.

Right now, all she wanted was to go home, take a nice hot shower and maybe read a book before bed.

But the drive from the school to her home was slower today, a road closed for maintenance forced Matou to take a detour.

Momo leaned against the door, head bumping into the cool glass as she watched the people pass by, each one slipping across her vision as they moved at the outer edges of the park.

Then, something caught her eye. She did a double take, blinking almost stupidly before she realized what she was seeing.

"Stop the car!"

Matou was confused. "Miss?"

"Stop the car!"

Her driver didn't need to be told a third time.

Matou slammed on the brakes and Momo undid her seatbelt as fast as she could before rushing out of the vehicle, barely hearing Matou's surprised squeak behind her- "Good heavens!"

She moved quickly across the street, wincing as other cars honked their horns in protest to her sudden actions.

She made it to the sidewalk, marching into the park itself.

She moved closer, suddenly unsure and trying to verify what she had seen before she made a fool of herself.

But it was him.

He still hadn't noticed her.

"Iida-san?"

He jerked where he sat, head snapping up, blinking in her direction as though he didn't quite understand what he was seeing before he recognized her. "Oh. Yaoyorozu-san."

Momo shifted where she stood, suddenly feeling awkward.

She'd been worried. They all had, especially after Iida hadn't been in class today but... none of them had seen him that night.

She had.

Except now she didn't know what to say.

"We were worried." She finally settled on the simple truth. "You weren't in class today."

He looked down, head hanging again, elbows resting on his knees. He wasn't in his school uniform. Was he out wandering all day?

"I... don't think I'll be returning to class, Yaoyorozu-san."

Her heart skipped a beat.

Oh no.

"You're quitting?" She breathed.

After that night... it wasn't surprising. Not really. She wasn't sure if she could have continued after that horror.

But... Iida.

Iida wasn't her. Iida was a member of the Iida family, three generations of heroes. He held himself to such a high standard... tried to be an example he...

The thought of him quitting was, frankly, horrifying.

He shrugged, eyes to the ground. "I don't think I can be a hero. Yaoyorozu-san. Not after what I did."

The silence was long, a chasm opening up between them and Momo knew- by instinct if nothing else that there was a crossroads here.

She tried to think of what a hero would say, what All Might would say. Something to make the situation better, to convince the person as to what they had to do, what they could do. All Might came to her at her lowest after all. What would a hero say?

But she wasn't All Might. She wasn't a hero, not really.

She was just Momo.

All she could say... was the truth.

"I… I didn't think I deserved to be a hero."

Iida looked up.

She continued, pushing through before he could interrupt her, or she could stop herself.

"When I was young, I... hated my mother." She paused, then shook her head. "No. Not hate. That's too strong maybe. I resented her. She was always so controlling, always wanted me to do things her way, to her standards."

Iida stared at her, clearly paying attention and being polite enough to not interrupt, for which she was grateful as it let her organize her jumbled mess of words into a coherent thought.

"She wanted me to go into the family business. Wanted me to use my quirk to make money on the side, like she would have if she could. I didn't want to... out of spite more than anything. In truth, I wanted to be a musician when I was a little girl, and then, somewhere, that changed, and I wanted to be a hero." It may have been watching one of All Might's interviews, or the sight of seeing Pro Heroes in action helping others. She didn't know when. She just…

She took a breath, forcing her clenched fists to stop shaking. "Someone who could use their quirk, just like she wanted but for everything other than making financial gain. That's how I wanted to get back at her."

Momo looked down to the street, her eyes shadowed and feeling shame burn across her mind. "Saving people, didn't matter to me... Being a hero didn't matter to me. I was motivated by resentment, Iida-san."

She looked at him, meeting his eyes, and she was grateful to not see judgement there, just a calm stoicism as he listened.

"I didn't deserve to be a hero," she said.

Tenya didn't say a word.

"I thought she would be angry, furious... But... she wasn't," She remembered her own quiet surprise at that, at the change in her mother's focus without even a word. "She turned all her energy into getting me to U.A., she was the one that got me the recommendation to enter. And then I was accepted when I passed the Recommendation Exam. And I wondered if I was worthy of being a hero. What kind of hero could I be if I was just doing this out of spite?"

She didn't wait for an answer, frankly, she didn't want one.

"But I was already there, already accepted and so I promised myself I would do better, that I'd live up to what it really means to be a hero." She shook her head "What I'm saying, Iida-san... is that even if you don't think you're worthy of being a hero, you can always keep working, to make yourself worthy, and live up to the expectation placed on you."

She bowed low. "Please don't quit, unless you think that goal is beyond your reach. Because if it's not... you can become a hero, Iida-san."

She didn't wait for his answer, her heart was thundering in her chest and to face any kind of judgement on his features now would be too much. "P-Please excuse me." The heiress rushed back to the recently parked car and to the mild chastisement of the worried Matou.

(X)

"There we go." Todoroki Fuyumi said as she came into the kitchen, carrying a tray that contained her little brother's favorite meal. A nice bowl of cold soba. She set the tray down on the table, Shoto sitting across from her patiently as he sipped from some herbal tea.

"Ah. Thank you." Shoto muttered as he received the tray. The white-haired woman smiled as she took her seat, her own dinner cooling down in front of her. A nice bowl of ramen with tamago and pork.

"Not a problem Shoto." Fuyumi replied as she held her metal chopsticks.

Shoto had been with Dad at Hosu...

He looked so relieved after the Sports Festival, she could tell. Yet now? He looked as if his mind was in a faraway place, and his body was going through the motions now…

As she slurped up some noodles, she waited until Shoto had done the same on his end. "So, Shoto… how's school?"

"Good." He replied, looking at the table as he paused in eating.

"Did you… do anything cool in Hero Training? Take any pop quizzes?" Fuyumi smiled awkwardly. Shoto usually fell short when it came to conversations, and to be fair she wasn't all that great either.

"We have Final Exams next week. I'll be studying for that." The twin-haired boy replied, his tone low. "We did Rescue Training. I did alright."

Fuyumi nodded, taking a sip of tea as she felt a lump form in her throat.

"Shoto… do you wanna talk about, well… your internship?" She asked, Shoto paused in his eating.

"Father taught me well en-"

"That's not what I meant." Fuyumi asked, cutting him off. "That night… In Hosu." She swallowed, taking a deep breath. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Shoto was silent, not touching his food. He opened his mouth, as if wanting to speak. He closed his mouth. "N-Not really." Shoto has never stammered. At least, not in a long time.

"Shoto, you can talk to me."

"I don't want to talk about it." He uttered, his tone hard as he gripped his chopsticks. His face looked pained, looking away as he clenched his teeth, clearly trying to suppress a memory.

Fuyumi reached across the table and grabbed his hand softly. "Let me help you." Her younger brother opened his mouth, then closed it as his eyes darted around in thought.

"Sis… I-"

The sound of heavy footsteps and a sliding door silenced Shoto, and his vulnerable visage was replaced by a stoic expression. Fuyumi turned to see her father, the Flame Hero Endeavor, standing in the doorway, his flames off.

"Finishing up dinner?" He asked gruffly. Shoto took his chopsticks and picked up one big helping of noodles before slurping them up.

"Just now." He said, swallowing as Endeavor walked through the room. "Thanks for the dinner Sis. Can you put the rest in a container for tomorrow?"

"Shoto…" He always finished her soba dishes. He stood up and patted himself down.

"If you'll excuse me-"

"Hold on a minute, Shoto." Endeavor said, crossing his arms. "I came this way to talk to you."

"Don't feel like it." Endeavor's eye twitched at his son's retort. "Cleaning up, then bed." He didn't bother looking his father in the eye.

Fuyumi looked worried, expecting her father to lash out for such insubordination. Yet he did not, in fact taking a small step aside.

"Get your rest then." Endeavor muttered, and Shoto walked out without a word. The tall red-haired man saw his son retreat down the hall before turning, meeting the narrowed eyes of his only daughter. He said nothing.

"Couldn't have waited five minutes or taken the scenic route?" Fuyumi huffed as she blew on her chopstick serving full of ramen and slurped it up.

Endeavor said nothing as he stood in the doorway, his face unmoving and eyes to the floor. "Dad." He perked up. "What happened at Hosu?" She uttered, setting down her chopsticks as she turned to face her hulk of a father. Endeavor looked at her, straight in the eye.

"My Branch Team and I responded to a crisis call. We acted to save as many lives as we could. To not bring along someone of Shoto's caliber would have resulted in more Noumu escaping the area and caused more casualties."

"Yet it was still a massacre." Fuyumi retorted, and she felt a sense of vindication when she saw his face twitch. The armor cracked. Then revulsion came rushing through her.

…

Damnit, now she was felt awful.

"What are you doing here anyway?" The white haired woman asked, sighing and turning away as she plucked up her egg yolk and mixed it into her broth, pork, and noodles.

"I came here to tell you something of importance." Endeavor reached into his armor, pulling out an envelope as he walked over and handed it to the white-haired girl. Fuyumi took it and swiftly opened it, and saw… plane tickets?

"What's this for?"

"Tickets to I-Island. I am going to be having a business meeting there with a potential Support Company in America. They pitched me a new armor design, so we will be going to I-Island during I-Expo to test it. I am taking Shoto with me as well." Endeavor crossed his arms. "If he is to surpass me properly, he will need to meet and set up connections. My name will go far in helping him down the line in getting every single edge he can take."

Fuyumi looked at the tickets inside before closing the envelope. "I don't think he wants anything to do with you right now."

"And you're right." Endeavor reached over and used his finger to reopen the envelope. "That's why you're coming too."

"What?" Fuyumi's eyes widened as she recounted the tickets… Three of them? Her Dad hadn't wanted anything to do with her ever since she couldn't live up to his expectations as a child. Because of that, Shoto had to carry the torch. Before her, Natsuo. And before him...

Touya...

"Yes. You're coming." Endeavor closed his eyes and took the envelope back. "You'll be watching over Shoto while I conduct business. When you're at the Island you can do whatever you want with him. Attend the Expo, go to Techa Meccanica, I don't care." He placed it in his armor.

Fuyumi was silent. "So… that's it?" She asked, looking up at her father.

"Yes." He turned. "Because right now, he needs something to take his mind off of that incident. A proper distraction. School will only go so far." He looked back, his hard green eyes looking into her brown ones. "You know this."

Fuyumi took a deep breath, then she noticed her father spot the soba bowl she had on the table. He walked over, grabbing a pair of metal chopsticks from the kitchen counter and taking a knee. He plucked several noodles and cupped the food, bringing it to his lips as Fuyumi quirked her eye. He slurped them up, and he nodded.

Cold soba was his favorite dish too...

"This is good." He mentioned, taking the chopsticks and placing them in the sink. "I'll be heading back to the office. Need to finish looking over plans for a new Branch Office in Sapporo. Lock up after I'm gone, and be sure to tell Shoto everything in the morning. He'll be more receptive if it's from you. I'll even be on a different flight as well. You two will be together when you fly out of Narita."

"Sure." Fuyumi said, and as Endeavor walked past, he patted her shoulder. The woman perked up and turned.

Those emerald eyes, usually as sharp as daggers, were soft for a moment. "Good night Fuyumi."

Fuyumi looked away, saying nothing as she held onto her arm. Her father's hand left her shoulder and she heard him depart the dining room, his footfalls heavy behind the wall. Yet that wasn't the direction of the front lawn.

It was towards Touya's room.

Closing her eyes, Fuyumi went back to finishing her ramen before it got too cold.

(X)

Let the world know that Peter Parker tried to ignore a certain pink-haired girl. There was a fleeting thought, that Mei wouldn't be too surprised to see him in the Support office this late, now that he finally got the chance to implement some new ideas since the internship ended.

So when he felt Mei get… uncomfortably close, he tried not to look too creeped out when he turned to see her magnifying eyes staring back at him. She was literally resting her chin on his shoulder as he looked down at his device.

"You're still here?" she asked.

He frowned slightly at the disbelief in her tone.

"... why wouldn't I be?"

"Juuuust curious~," she said in a sing-song voice, face way too close. "Oh!" She pointed at his holographic blueprint. "We could add this in, get some extra armor-"

"Too bulky."

"Oh, then maybe thrusters to give ya flight-"

"Too heavy."

"And then, we can use cables on your hips to help with additional maneuverability and-"

"Mei, I have my webs…"

"And equip blades on your wrists! Oh! And Baby Number 127: Exploding Harpoons!"

"You're not even listening are you…?"

Peter turned around, and the pink haired girl was already back at her workstation, working on another one of her babies. Man, she was fast. He sighed, he didn't know what he expected. Eccentric didn't even begin to describe Mei, but dedicated sure did.

Which is what he'd need to be if he wanted to finish this particular endeavor.

In front of him, several holographic screens, courtesy of Karen's projectors, displayed the different sections of the Spider Suit. By god, if he could have had this when he was trying to get through the suit's protocols back in that hotel, it would've gone a hundred times faster.

Throwing away the basic design, there wasn't anything that needed changing in the mask or the outer suit. No, the big thing would be the web shooters. The holographic design left, leaving a multi-sectioned display of the web shooters.

Every piece was outlined and highlighted, letting him see both the clock and the inner workings, so to speak.

"Hey Karen," Peter said, moving the hologram of the web shooters' power system, "What would we need to put a charge from the reactor into the web lining?"

Behind him, Peter was vaguely aware of the sounds of work pausing for a second.

"Are you hoping to make a new electro webbing?" Karen asked.

"Sort of, I was hoping to see if we could find a way to have webbing hold a charge," Peter clarified.

Shocking someone that was connected to him was all well and good, but what would happen if someone like Stain fought against him again? He couldn't just hope that he would be quick enough to dodge them. Or have great back up in Midoriya.

And with all the metal sticking out of their bodies and with weapons in their hands, a little shock to those parts would go a long way.

"If you wanted to make a sustained charge, you would need to have the webbing be capable of grounding itself on whatever it connects to," Karen said.

Peter nodded, that meant that he needed to work on the formula.

"Or you could make a different grounder," Mei said, hammering away on some poor piece of metal, "Think about it. You fire the web, then you shoot something else to hold the charge, ground it, and spread the charge through whatever the webbing is connected to!" She raised a hand. "You don't get shocked, don't burn your suit's power plus you can use your webs still, and then let the grounded-charge web do its job!"

Peter thought about it, it would make things easier in the short term…

"Yeah, but the formula still needs to change if I want to make it an all-in-one webbing. And have to work on a device that can contain energy needed to send a proper electric charge…"

"I didn't say you had to go with it," Mei chirped, "Just start with a building block or somethin'. The hadron collider didn't build itself in a day. It's basically like an electro land mine with spider webs!

That was… actually a good point. And a good analogy!

"Thanks, Mei," Peter said with a shrug and a grin, "Karen, can you bring up any designs on what she talked about?"

"I can fabricate some blueprints," the AI said, the holographic pictures morphing to become a series of equations that flashed and disappeared almost faster than Peter could blink.

"So what's this baby of yours going to be for?" Mei asked, a pair of pliers in her hand to rip off the circuits of a circuit board, "Thought you Hero Course people didn't have to make anything for your Finals."

"We don't," Peter answered, "This is something that I want to do now, get a decent start on before I head to I-Island this summer."

A screwdriver and a circuit board clattered to the ground. Peter raised an eyebrow at the mechanic as she… was she trembling?

"Y-you're going to I-Island!?!" Mei exclaimed, her eyes flashing enough light to light up a city by themselves.

Peter had to jerk his head back so the girl couldn't get too close. He even leaned back since she was leaning so far forward, his wide eyes meeting her own wide target irises.

No personal space at all with her.

"Y-yeah, I got an offer to attend the expo they're showing. Won it at the Sports Festival."

"Aw, that's so lucky," Mei said, pouting at the information.

"You sound like you want to go," Peter said.

"OF COURSE I WANT TO GO!" Mei screamed.

She spun around, eyes twinkling as she stared off into the distance.

"I-Island is the home of the greatest babies in the world~! All of the greatest support contractors and businesses go there to practice their craft, to work with the best and make the greatest babies that the world has ever seen! And I-Expo is the biggest convention that has all the Support Companies show off their stuff! The Culture Festival here in U.A. apparently as their own Support Exposee which is based off of it, and I'm thinking ahead of what kind of babies I can make to display there! If I go to I-Expo, I can get so many ideas! So much inspiratioooon~! My muse wouldn't know what to do with itseeeeelf~!" Mei cheered as she twirled, as if dancing on the spot. "And with it, the more babies I can create to help others!"

Peter started. He'd never heard of this before. One would think that Mei would bring it up, but apparently, her aspirations for I-Island went as deep as they could be for someone in the mechanical world.

Which brought something else up to him.

"Hey Mei," Peter said, making the girl's head snap to him, her daydream broken but wide eyes and manic grin still plastered on her face. "Are you doing anything this summer?"

The pinkette tilted her head, thinking.

"Nope," she said, popping the word, "Just working away here, got to keep the wheels nice and greased."

"Then you want to spend the first month going to I-Island?"

With the question, Mei practically froze. That grin of her's disappeared, her mouth forming into an O.

"I was just thinking," Peter said, rubbing the back of his head. "I never really did anything to say thank you for helping me get Karen back, and I'm allowed to bring a plus one on my trip so if you want to come, I can take you."

There was a pause, and Peter was pretty sure that Mei didn't even breathe. Her eye twitched. She didn't even blink. Then, after her mouth closed, a smile etched its way onto Mei's face, split all the way to her ears.

"There's nothing about that sentence that I don't love."

Peter blinked, his turn in tilting his head..

"So is that a-"

"OF COURSE I WANT TO GO!!!!" Mei squealed, "This is the best day ever! I get to go to I-Island!" she declared, pumping up her fists in victory.

Then, she gasped, her grimy gloves on her cheeks as they left black smudge marks. Her gasp sounded ghastly too.

"I'm going to I-Island, I need a project that I can show everyone! I need to make an UberBaby!"

With a speed that no one would expect out of Mei's quirk, the pinkette was rummaging through her workstation, throwing out blueprint after blueprint as she searched for the right one. She scanned them all before she pulled on a specific glove, turned on a button and a holographic display appeared. She tapped on a folder, and cracked open a massive array of PDF blueprints as she got to scanning them one at a time with a swipe of her hand. He could hear her giddy constrained laughter as he watched her bounce on the balls of her feet, barely containing her excitement. Peter gave a small chuckle at the sight and behind him, Karen's monitor beeped.

"You know, if it were anyone else, I would think they were about to pass out with how hard they were going."

"It's… something," he said.

"You can say it's kind of weird, Peter."

"She's excited." Peter smiled, shaking his head as Mei continued to giggle like a kid on Christmas Morning. "Let her have her fun."

(X)

There was something about watching something grow that All for One couldn't put his finger on. Maybe it was the natural state of humans, to have pride in watching the things they created grow and become something beyond what anyone, even he, could imagine. Free from the evolutionary failure of aging, All for One had experienced the feeling dozens, possibly hundreds of times and it had grown rather dull.

Yet, watching this particular creation grow, it was different.

A strange mixture of emotions that All for One had not felt in a long time. Interest and excitement came to him in equal measures.

Strapped in his medical chair as he was, there was little he could do beyond hearing through the screen as Tomura worked through another Noumu, going by the sound of flesh becoming ash and the strangled cry of his creation. The artificial human practically screamed as the young villain used his quirk to atomize the creature faster than All for One remembered him being able to. He could sense Tomura's glee as he heard his protege's dark laughter. He could see it now: Tomura smiling, his cracked lips and yellowed teeth demanding more even without saying a word.

"That's the fifth one this week," Doctor Garaki Kyudai mused, tapping on his tablet.

"You have plenty of Low Ends," All for One dismissed, "If anything, young Tomura is clearing out the trash that wouldn't be of use to us anyway. They can be replaced with just a simple vagrant off the street."

Garaki didn't say anything, but All for One could feel him relent. He knew that while the good Doctor didn't appreciate the Noumu being used like this, the growth in Tomura's quirk was fascinating.

It was rare for a Quirk to evolve within someone, but All for One had seen it happen a few times. In his youth, he thought that such things were nothing but a fluke, a rush of power brought out by a body's dying gasps.

Yet, as he watched Tomura, he found himself thinking that it was desperation, not fear, that brought out a quirk's true power. When there was nothing left to lose, nothing else but the battle before someone, then they could shine.

Desperation, or perhaps drive. Yes, a drive to satisfy one's hatred.

Simple as her quirk was, the last great wielder of One for All proved it well enough. A divine comedy it might have been, it still proved a worthy enough example to compare to.

"He's asking to go after specific targets again," Garaki sighed. "He just doesn't get it, does he?"

"I heard from Kurogiri," All for One replied as he rested in his chair.

"You're not concerned?" The Doctor asked.

"It is of little consequence," All For One said, "Like most young villains, he's finally found a tangible outlet for his vendetta, and like all teenagers, he's impatient."

"And like all teenagers, how long till it takes him to strike out on his own? Or, like all teenagers, do something so boneheaded there's no correcting his mistake?"

All for One turned his head as far as the medical tubes would allow. He couldn't see the good Doctor, but there was something unsettling about being looked at with his hollowed eyes. He raised a single hairless eyebrow.

"Doctor, do you think I haven't predicted just that?"

Garaki quickly shook his head.

"Of course not, nothing could get past your intuition," Garaki paused. "I am simply… conflicted."

"Oh? Then speak your mind Doctor, let me hear what conflicts you so." All for One rested his chin on his fist, smirking in amusement.

The Doctor flinched, but it wasn't in surprise of the declaration. All for One was nothing if not diplomatic when the occasion suited him. Only a fool would think that he could anticipate everything, and after so long, All for One knew the value of hearing the opinions of like-minded individuals. He never would have become the true ruler of Japan had he not.

No, this was slight fear, which only interested All for One more.

"It is just that, all these years of nurturing the boy, you never let me give him any enhancements or other quirks. The boy is compatible with a few, and his mentality, while wild, is controllable. He's more like an attack dog if anything."

"I fail to see the problem," All for One shrugged.

"I am simply thinking, why shower him with your favor, when there are others, one in particular that could be used and be far easier to control?"

All for One paused. It was an honest question, one that a part of him respected the Doctor for asking. It was rather odd of All for One, picking favorites like this.

Perhaps it was the connection to All Might that drove him, and his other options lacked that visceral edge to them. Or maybe it was that Tomura, in another life, could've been like his dear younger brother? He does have a unique physical resemblance. Or perhaps it was that Shimura Tenko was someone who had all the chances to be a hero, if only someone other than All for One reached out their hand that day fifteen years ago.

"Do you remember how long it took me to carve out my empire, Doctor?" All for One asked.

Garaki didn't answer, tapping on his tablet.

"A few decades, if rumors are to be believed. But I'll be generous and say half a century."

"And how long did it take All Might to tear it all down?" All for One asked again. He gave his confidant no time to answer. "Eight years. Such was his influence. A symbol of what everyone could be, what a normal man could strive to be. Imagine the stain on society, of a symbol that rose to that level."

He raised a hand, practically holding up the monitor that showed a laughing Tomura as he punched the Low End's corpse, yelling "Midoriyaaaa! Yaoyorozu! Todorokiiii! Parkeeeeeer!" with each swing of his fists.

"A symbol that shows what is possible, what can rise from the shadows no matter how bright the light. That as the sun shines, an equally crushing darkness comes with it. It is that feeling, that realization, that people will come to. No matter what, even if a thousand All Might's rose from One for All, it would only make more villains to oppose them."

"And you believe the boy will be able to show that?" Garaki said, looking at the screen as Tomura howled with sadistic glee.

"I have faith that he will rise to the challenge and tear down All Might's false peace," All for One said, "And if you don't believe…"

Across his eyeless and scarred visage, the Symbol of Evil grinned.

"Have faith knowing that there are others who will… others in this world who were born wicked."