15-18 - boxman - LIGHTREADER

Chapter 15: The Other Side

Eijiro Kirishima was a good sparring partner. While Izuku still had to pull his swings slightly, Kirishima's quirk was by itself incredibly advantageous against weapons, quite similar to 'Uncle' Yu's quirk in how it stopped hits. While not very flashy, it gave him a decent combat ability that was probably among the highest among the First Years. If he remembered it right, Kirishima ranked only under Bakugou in the entrance exams.

Kirishima was rapidly improving as well. Whereas he relied on his own hardness to tank hits, and end up tired out, he now came to appreciate the simple act of deflecting. Izuku had done it to him, of course, sending fist after fist glancing off his blade to push back at him easily.

When Kirishima had done it to him, it was so unexpected the young man landed a solid punch that caused him to drop his sword as his arm went flying.

"Formless Prayer," Izuku announced, clapping his hands together. He couldn't always have his sword, he had learned as much when Himiko Toga managed to disarm him, which meant he had to learn how to deal with being swordless. When the palms connected, a loud clap made Kirishima flinch back. Both hands slapped the red-haired hero aspirant's chest and sent him flying. Though he was heavy when hardened, breathing made short work of that difference in strength. "Heaven's Clap."

In the image of approaching a temple to announce oneself in front of the gods, Izuku grabbed his sword again, ready for Kirishima to jump up and attack again.

Rather than doing that, the boy was laughing, rubbing his chest as he sat up. The bright smile was enough to make Izuku lower the sword, smiling back. He knew a lot of people with fangs, but none of them had a smile as human as Kirishima.

"You really don't know how to hold back, do you?" he asked. Izuku could see him struggle to stand up right. Sheathing the sword, he went towards him, pulling Kirishima's arm over his shoulder. "New moves again? Making noises like that is kinda crazy."

"I didn't really expect it to be that loud," Izuku said. Despite his sensitive hearing, he never felt too bothered by loud noises. "It's a good surprise attack, but I doubt it'd work twice. Didn't help much against that villain."

He imagined Toga would not let him pull it off so easily if she could. He would need to practice, if he could do it faster then it would be a good way to create openings.

"I knew I heard that before," Kirishima said. Izuku walked him towards the wall, where they took a seat. Izuku removed the sheathed sword from his hip and put it next to the sharp blade. Momo was swinging her weapon around, trying various moves on a few target dummies. "USJ was kind of a mess, wasn't it?"

Was, as if the effects weren't still felt a week later. Izuku knew that some people took it harder than others, despite the lack of serious injuries outside their teachers. Security around the school had been tightened, Aizawa-sensei was at the gates every morning to check for possible infiltration quirks. Things were slow in returning to normal, and that was perhaps for the best considering the upcoming Sports Festival.

"You tell me," Izuku said, sighing. Looking towards the sharp Nichirin blade, he found himself frowning. Aizawa-sensei had insisted he carried it with him now considering the deal which he wasn't comfortable with sharing. He flinched when Momo's flail crushed one of the target dummies into dust. He still had to tell her, but she had a habit of comparing herself to others that made it hard. "How have you been holding up?"

Kirishima didn't answer. He didn't need to. Kirishima had ended up bashing heads together with a few of the class 1-B kids, and while he ended up free from injuries due to his quirk, Izuku had heard that his parents hadn't taken the news about the USJ incident well.

"I kinda want things to go back to normal," Kirishima said. "Though considering you, maybe that is normal for you, huh?"

"Shut up," Izuku said, laughing softly. "You want a yakuza and a stalker to beat you up?"

"I guess the stalker would be kinda cool, but not while I got a girlfriend," Kirishima said, crossing his arms. "You still denying that you're dating?"

Izuku opened his mouth, closed it again, and sighed. There was no point in arguing with his class about it. One would think that the two people who were dating should be aware if they are, but they didn't seem to agree.

"Uraraka hasn't come in a while," Izuku said, moving on from the topic. Kirishima just grinned, as if taking the deflection as a confirmation. "And she just pretends everything is fine when I ask her if she wants to join."

Kirishima frowned. "I think if you need me to tell you what's up, it'll just be worse. You've got to talk to her yourself."

"I guess," Izuku said, sighing again. Maybe she was still upset about USJ? Or maybe her parents needed her to come home right after school because of it? Kirishima did have to do the same the day right after. "I'll see about getting Iida to mediate."

"Probably for the best," Kirishima muttered. Izuku looked at him, only to receive a shrug in return.

"Izuku!" Momo shouted. Izuku's eyes moved back to her. The ground had been cracked under her feet, she looked almost completely out of breath. Kirishima had stopped being shocked about the spider cracks over the gym's ground, accepting them as a part of Momo's quirk without asking too many questions. While he knew that she was receiving weapons training from Nezuko, the young man with the hardening quirk was still blissfully unaware of the Breaths. "Watch!"

She threw the flail and axe at the same time.

Rather than just let them hit normally, she grabbed the chain in two hands and twisted it. Izuku could hear the tremors through the chains. The chain began to turn rapidly, the flail and axe following suit.

Instead of crushing the targets, they drilled through them.

Izuku gave her a thumbs up, receiving one in return before she collapsed onto her back. He and Kirishima stood quickly, running towards her. She was… snoring, content and sleeping, too exhausted to drag herself back home to sleep there.

He supposed Nezuko could let her rest instead of making her join them at the dojo today.

"Your girlfriend's scary," Kirishima said, frowning at the drilled targets. "Or your master is. You think she can teach me a few moves, too?"

"Probably not with your quirk," Izuku said, scratching the back of his neck. How was he going to get Momo home? He supposed a short nap wouldn't hurt her. "I can ask her, though."

Kirishima was probably going to have a very easy time swinging the sword one hundred times, but Nezuko was more inclined to let Momo learn due to her family. If she wanted more students, she would have said so already.

"Thanks," Kirishima said. Nodding towards Momo's prone form, he turned to Izuku. "Are you going to wake her up?"

"Maybe in a bit. We should probably clean up some of the debris."

While the gym was cleaned (and repaired) every morning, they didn't want to make it any harder on the staff than was necessary, after all. Cementoss had, the first time that Momo had caused cracks on the ground, given them something of a tongue lashing, in between strangely satisfied praise.

Izuku was looking forward to the Sports Festival. While Todoroki kept refusing to join them at the gym, which made it impossible to spar with him, Izuku hoped he could face him there.

Izuku was on his way home. It was the usual route he took when Momo wasn't accompanying him, stepping out near the shopping district and trying to focus his breath as he jogged home, buying some groceries along the way if he had to stock up on anything.

But today something was different. Izuku could hear something that caused him to stop. A voice, young, crying for help.

His jog turned into a run towards the alley the voice was coming from. She was small, her white hair dirty, and a horn prodding out of her head. But she wasn't a demon. Her heart beat with humanity, and the shaking of her limbs was something that no demon, no matter how good of an actor they were, would be able to imitate. The desperation of someone in need of help.

He approached slowly.

She was wearing something between a dress and a hospital gown, the long sleeves reaching far further than her already short arms. The skirt, which reached all the way down to her ankles, was dirty from dragging along the ground.

"Hello?" he said, kneeling down to meet her face to face. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she lied, trying to wipe her tears away. "I'm… alright."

"I'm Izuku," he introduced himself. "I'm training to become a hero, I can help you get back home if you want-"

"No!" she suddenly shouted, standing up. Izuku didn't move, instead raising his hands slowly. "Eri doesn't want to go back! I... I mean I don't want to go back."

"Ah," Izuku said. Something had happened at home, then. And from the look of it, nothing good. "How about the police station then? I know there's one nearby, I'm sure they can help you."

"Police?" she asked, as if tasting the word like a new dish. "They… catch bad guys, right? Like heroes?"

"Like heroes, yes," Izuku said. She seemed to have a better opinion of heroes than police, perhaps an agency would be better. Before he could switch tracks, however, she nodded.

He offered her his hand, but she didn't take it. Instead, her gaze was fixed on his arm. After a few seconds of thinking, which was quite visible on her face, she spoke up again.

"Onii-san… did that hurt?" she asked, pointing her sleeve at his own arm, where the scar he had received from the Serpent Demon was still looking fresh and tender. While it wasn't quite aggressively red anymore as it had been at the start, the tightness of his skin around the area was a solemn reminder of what it meant to hold back against an opponent who was meaning to kill you.

"No," he said, shaking his head. He reached out, putting a hand on her head. She flinched for a moment, but relaxed after a second. "It didn't."

"Mine hurt sometimes," she said. Izuku froze, a cold shiver running down his spine. Eri raised her arm further, touching his hand on her head. The sleeves slipped down slightly, revealing bandages over her limb. "But Uncle Yu gives me a lot of candy, that makes them hurt less!"

"Y-your Uncle Yu," Izuku said, trying his best to keep his hand steady as he pulled it back from her hair. "Is he bald?"

"Yes," she said, blinking. "Do you know him?"

"I think we've met," Izuku said, muttering the words and turning around. They weren't being followed. The police station was still another block away. Would she be safe there? Nezuko-sensei had said she would take care of the yakuza and he didn't have to deal with any kidnapping attempts since then… he pulled out his phone. "Say, Eri, the reason you don't want to go home…"

Eri froze. Izuku could see her skin pale, almost to the point that it was indistinguishable from her hair. It wasn't his words that caused her to freeze up, however. Her eyes told a different story. She was looking at something. Izuku followed her gaze.

A hulking monster stood atop a building. He was masked, the bird-like helmet making it look like his too small head was completely chinless. Izuku could see wounds on him, cuts from a sword, a fight must have broken out and Eri got away during it. She looked like she was going to break down.

He couldn't let her go back.

Izuku quickly grabbed her and breathed. With a leap, he was already off, running through the streets with the girl in his arms, dodging between people as he held onto his phone. At the current pace, he could keep his breath long enough as long as he didn't fight. He had to choose. U.A. or his home? He had no doubts that Nezuko-sensei could dispatch the man easily, but it would also paint a huge target on the back of the entire neighborhood. The horror of Yu's attack was likely incomparable to whatever that beast or his allies could do when trying to get Eri back. The police wouldn't be able to help, quirk combat was simply not something they were trained to do.

Eri was heating up in his arms. Izuku could hear the hulk come after them, slower but confident he would catch up eventually. People he passed seemed to drop like flies. Stopping for a second, Izuku found the young girl struggling to get away from him. He put her down when he was sure that the yakuza villain would not be able to catch up for a while.

She was glowing. Her horn, which had reminded him so much of Nezuko's, was giving off an energy that caused his body to shudder.

"M-my quirk," Eri said. She crouched down, her hands in her hair, her face twisted in pain. "It's cursed. If you touch me, you'll die."

That was… inconvenient. He was sure that there were more details to this, but as he reached out he could certainly feel the spectre of death. That answered the question of who to call.

His phone still in hand, he quickly dialed Aizawa-sensei's number. The man didn't even let it ring once before picking up.

"You better have a good reason," Aizawa said, his voice in a slow drawl. Hearing Izuku's shortness of breath, the man immediately dropped it. "Midoriya, what's going on?"

"The yakuza from a while back," Izuku said. The monstrous villain was going to catch up soon. "A girl they had kidnapped ran away, I found her. I'm being chased right now-"

He looked around. The alley was familiar.

"Can you get out?" Aizawa asked. He could hear shuffling in the background, Aizawa preparing to go out.

"The girl's quirk is going haywire, I can't touch her to carry her out," Izuku said. Eri flinched at the confirmation, but still couldn't stop the quirk from manifesting. Aizawa cursed under his breath. "I can send you my location, try to fight him off, he's already hurt from another fight-"

Something crashed in front of him. The sound made him jump back, grabbing Eri and pulling her aside. Pain shot up his arm as the wound from the Serpent Demon opened back up again.

Perhaps her quirk was less straightforward than he had first expected. He could feel it pull from him. Rather than opening the scar up, it looked just as fresh as it was when he had received it. Time control?

Izuku shook his head, focusing instead on the person who managed to sneak up on him.

It was a rather familiar sight, one he had replayed in his mind a lot.

Stain, hurt as well but certainly just as unconcerned about it, was standing in the alley. Eri's eyes widened. "Y-you-"

"I thought I told you to run, girl," Stain said, hissing the words. Eri nodded, the glow around her slowly burning away. Izuku couldn't wait to hear the story of how that man of all people gave her some peace of mind. "This is my prey, Demon Slayer. Grab that girl and fuck off."

Izuku wanted to speak up. To argue. To say all the things he had been replaying in his mind he would one day say to Stain once he met him. How using the Breath to kill other humans was wrong, and how he was shaming his ancestor, who had fought hard to protect people.

Instead, Izuku nodded, grabbing Eri and continuing to run. Putting his phone up to his ear while running, he spoke up again. "Change of plans, Stain is taking care of the villain, she's calm enough to move. We're near the shopping ward."

"Idaten has a subsidiary office nearby, you should be able to find it if you jump on a roof."

Izuku did. The sudden acceleration upwards caused Eri to scream, followed by a not too unexpected sickness that made her throw up over his back. He ignored it, looking around to find an IDATEN sign on a building in the distance.

"Found it," Izuku said. "See you there?"

"Yeah." A soft beeping sound. He hung up.

Izuku ran, ignoring the sound of battle behind him. He didn't doubt Stain's ability with the blade, but there was no way he was going to risk a girl's safety based on some vigilante executioner. When he hit the ground, he did so running. The wind around him kicked off, and cracks appeared under his feet.

Izuku all but crashed into the door of the building, sliding across the reception hall and spinning around before putting Eri down. When two heroes who were there surrounded him, he raised his hands.

"Kidnapping victim," he said, short of breath as he pointed at Eri. He reached into his bag with a shaking hand, retrieving his wallet and pulling out the provisional license. "Wannabe hero. Eraserhead-"

He collapsed. That… was a lot of blood on his arm. Eri shuffled around on the ground, trying her best not to look at the blood that was streaked across the floor and wrapped her arms around him.

She was crying in relief.

Chapter 16: The Countless Family

She had refused to move. As Izuku was being treated, with the wound she had accidentally opened up again being cleaned and her desperately trying to look somewhere else as she kept her vice grip on his neck, she was remaining steadfast.

"We'll need to sew it," someone said. Izuku saw a sidekick with a rather revealing nurse-like outfit and looked away again. "The girl needs to move."

"Eri-chan," Izuku said, half-struggling to get the name out due to her grip. "It'll just be for a moment, can you let go?"

She mumbled something into his chest. He patted her on the back with his healthy arm, causing her to look up and repeat what she had said. "Your sword."

Izuku blinked. Why a sword? He looked towards the nurse who shrugged at him. Sighing, he grabbed the blunt sword from the side of the bed and held it up for her. She grabbed it rather forcefully, almost stumbling off the bed if he hadn't caught her, and sat down against the wall of the small infirmary.

It should be too heavy for her to draw, and even then, blunt as it was there was no fear she would be able to cut herself on it.

As the stitches began, Izuku breathed, trying to ignore the sudden pain. The scar would look even worse now, for sure. She was quick and clean, but that didn't make the experience any more comfortable. When she finished up, Eri was looking at him as if to check that he was still alright.

"Is Stain coming too?" she asked. The sidekick started, spinning on one heel to stare at the girl. Izuku tried not to frown. He wasn't sure if Stain had won the fight, but even if he did there was no way he'd just walk into a normal hospital, let alone a hero agency.

"He doesn't like hospitals," Izuku said diplomatically. Eri nodded.

"Ah," she said, clutching the sword and hugging it tighter. "Me neither."

"The boss is coming over in a bit," the sidekick said. "You might want to rest until then. You said your teacher's coming by, right?"

"Yeah," Izuku said, nodding. As if waiting for that cue, the man himself came into the infirmary, glaring at him. The sudden appearance caused Eri to make a frightened noise, and attempt to draw the sword in a futile motion that just saw her trip over feet.

"I've had a lot of students over the years," Aizawa said, passing the sidekick nurse without a second glance. "I don't think I've ever had to visit them getting stitched up twice in one month."

"To be fair," Izuku started, raising his hands. "It was for a good cause?"

Aizawa's hand reached out and flicked Izuku on the forehead. He yelped. Eri, who had managed to stand up, glared defiantly at the man.

"That kid," Aizawa said, pointing at her. "The group you took her from, that's the Eight Precepts of Death. It's the group that Stain was targeting."

"I had kinda guessed from the whole mask thing," Izuku said, scowling. Eri looked lost. The name of the yakuza meant nothing to her, but she knew that they were talking about her… home. "Eri-chan, come here."

She did, dragging the sword along. She left it leaning against the bed when she jumped back onto it, grabbing his arm to check on it. The stitches looked raw, but the quick bandaging around it made it look like her own arms. She nodded, apparently satisfied with the sight.

When Izuku took her own arm, she flinched back.

"Band-Aid," Aizawa said. The sidekick, now finally introduced, jumped and bowed in greeting.

"Y-yes, Eraserhead-sennnn-san?" she said, sounding more like a student than the pro hero she was before. She did look young enough, so maybe he used to teach her?

"Check her arms," Aizawa said. Izuku could see the soft red glow in his eyes as he prepared to erase Eri's quirk in case it went haywire again. Eri slowly let Izuku unwrap the bandages, revealing various wounds from where blood had been drawn.

"That's…" Band-Aid said, her face slightly green. She reached out, but Eri immediately flinched back so violently that she almost fell out of the bed once more. Izuku could feel the heat come off her again, but it died the second Aizawa used his own quirk. "That's equipment for blood donations, a needle that big shouldn't ever be used on a child."

Izuku felt sick in the stomach. Eri hid her face in his chest, her horn poking him.

"Whoever was doing that to her isn't going to the police for a missing kid case," Aizawa said, leaning against the wall.

"Or they will," a loud voice said. Izuku looked towards the door. A tall man in a familiar costume stepped in, grabbing his helmet and pulling it off to reveal the face of a more mature Tenya. Tensei Iida, the pro hero Ingenium, whose agency was rather massive considering their subsidiary offices around the Tokyo Wards. "We've received intel on a man reporting a missing child."

"Don't tell the police she's here," Izuku said, his face pale. Tensei turned to him, frowning. "The last time I told the police something, one of them was in my neighborhood to kidnap me. They have spies."

Aizawa nodded, turning to Tensei with a frown. "He's not wrong."

"We can't exactly hide her if we wish to find the people responsible and prepare a case against them," Tensei said. Izuku slowly wrapped up her arm again. "We have the capacity to protect her at the main office, or perhaps U.A. is willing to take her in-"

"No," Eri said. She was getting louder. Aizawa's quirk worked once more. "I want to stay with Onii-san or Stain!"

Aizawa sighed. The name of the vigilante executioner caused Tensei to pause, while Band-Aid all but jumped out of her skin at the second mention.

"I… wonder," Izuku said, frowning. "Nezuko-sensei could protect her, she's…"

"No," Eri insisted once more.

"She's my teacher," Izuku said. "She's practically a mother to me, and she's a loooot stronger than me."

Eri didn't seem convinced. Looking over to Aizawa, he received a shrug. Tensei did not seem to have any advice for him either. The pro hero was ordering his sidekick to look into Stain, which she went to do, likely with the help of other heroes from the big agency.

"She can teach you how to use a sword?" Izuku tried. Thatmade her loosen her grip on him. "She's very strong, like I said. She taught me everything I know."

Izuku leaned in, whispering.

"She also has a horn like yours."

Eri nodded into his chest, causing Izuku to sigh in relief. He knew that they'd have a hero presence in the neighborhood for such a case. Eri was essentially a high profile witness in a case against the yakuza, if it came to that. There was a reason why 'yakuza' and 'villains' were usually distinguished between, as the former had something of a code. While laws have increasingly punished interaction with the yakuza, driving them to become more akin to fringe elements in their society, villains were just plain malcontents.

To involve people, especially children, turned away from the 'chivalrous organization' image that they tried to push about themselves. It turned them into nothing more than common thugs who were not worth the courtesy.

Nezuko had a lot of unkind words about yakuza.

One of them was 'cowards'.

Izuku was inclined to agree.

Tensei had his phone out, looking at a message. "From what we can tell, the suspect for the kidnapping is Stain. The pursuer has been… found."

Dead. The word didn't have to be said for Izuku to know. Stain won, which meant that his identity in the case would be protected for now. Eri was falling asleep, rubbing her face against his shirt. Izuku took his own phone, dialing Nezuko.

The city was crying blood.

Izuku could feel it. Everyone could. Something was going on, and even at school it was the topic of the day.

Stain had killed another yakuza villain. While the usual response would be to attempt vengeance, as last time, they were getting bolder. At this point, it looked almost like a war. Groups of yakuza were breaking into houses and buildings that they suspected Stain was hiding in, a rival gang had been crushed, leaving half a dozen corpses bleeding in the streets just last night.

They weren't out for Stain's blood, they were out for Eri's. The girl was being protected by various heroes of the Idaten agency, who had decided to accept Aizawa's advice on keeping her location a secret until the heroes could gather for a collective arrest. Instead of overwhelming her with more and more new locations while moving around, however, he had managed to convince her to stay at Nezuko's place, who had not taken much convincing of her own to accept the girl in.

It might have been a bit childish, but Nezuko showing off her own horn made it much easier for Eri to accept staying there.

They sat at lunch. Izuku hadn't taken off the uniform jacket today, trying his best to hide the now fresh wound. Uraraka was with them, though she seemed to be elsewhere mentally. He hadn't asked Iida to mediate yet, but it was good to see her eat with them at least.

"Have you heard?" Momo said, a salad on her plate. "They're considering a curfew."

"No evening gym sessions then, huh?" Kirishima asked, crossing his arms. "Kinda sucks, doesn't it?"

"I agree," Iida said, not chiding Kirishima for his language for once. "It doesn't look like the Sports Festival will be delayed, though."

"I doubt that they think Stain is hiding here," Izuku said. Hopefully. "The heroes have been making arrests every day, they might just disperse once they have the leaders."

"Maybe," Iida said, frowning. "Midoriya-san, I've been meaning to ask you something. I hope you don't mind."

"Depends on what it is," Izuku said, laughing softly. He meant it as a joke, but Iida's hesitation in asking made him blink. "Iida-kun?"

"My brother had mentioned that you were at his office after being chased by a villain," Iida said. Momo's hand twitched. Izuku tried to laugh it off. Of course, there was no way he'd be able to hide it. Keeping something like this a secret considering the circumstances of his entrance into the Idaten agency was just hopeless. "He also said that you had a provisional hero license with you."

Momo choked on her salad. Izuku quickly stood up, patting her on the back, but she wasn't having any of it. She reached out, grabbing his collar with such a force that it almost ripped off a button, and pulled him towards her face. She was still coughing slightly, Izuku could smell the dressing on her lips as she glared at him through teary eyes.

"I can explain?" Izuku said, raising his hands in defense. Kirishima, who looked ready to jump up and celebrate, wisely shut up when Iida put a hand on his shoulder. Uraraka meanwhile was watching them with a critical eye. "It's, uh, because of the thing in Tokyo."

Momo let him go. The answer was, in a way, enough. A 'let us talk later', as the circumstances of his Tokyo trip were a secret to everyone but her, Nezuko and Aizawa, the latter who was half responsible for the entire fiasco.

"What thing in Tokyo?" Uraraka asied. Izuku sat back down, not feeling too hungry anymore. He pushed his food towards Kirishima, trying to buy time for a proper excuse. When Momo's coughing stopped, she turned to her, answering in his stead.

"He saved some politician's kid," Momo said simply. Ah, nepotism, the answer to every complicated question. "Maybe they gave him the license for that."

"Yes," Izuku said, nodding. He felt bad lying to his friends. He preferred to use the silence option, and only lie when he really had to use an excuse, which often were those surrounding his 'quirk' and Nezuko-sensei. "He kinda forced it on me, I didn't want to tell anyone because, err…"

"Of course," Iida said, adjusting his glasses with one hand. His eyes widened as he was already coming up with his own theory. "You didn't wish for the rest of the class to feel jealous or upset about it, knowing you there's no way you'd abuse it either."

"Exactly?" Izuku said. "I'd prefer if you didn't tell anyone else."

"We won't," Kirishima said, shrugging. "Of course we won't, right?"

He received three nods in return.

It was on the way back to the classroom that Momo cornered him. She grabbed him by the collar again, dragging him away from prying eyes and ears and told the others to go ahead. When Uraraka looked ready to say no, Kirishima put a hand on her back and pushed her along back to the classroom.

"You lied to me," Momo said, pushing a finger into his chest. Izuku was back first against the wall.

"I didn't lie," Izuku said, trying to defuse the situation with honesty. "I just… left out some minor details."

Her hand slapped the wall next to him. "A provisional hero license isn't minor, it's something we're supposed to work towards at the end of the school year!"

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't want it?" Izuku asked. Momo opened her mouth, her hand coming down from the wall, which crumbled slightly, to rub the bridge of her nose.

"Would I believe if you," she began, her voice rising. "Of course I believe you, you're the last person who'd want to be handed something."

"They kinda forced me into it," Izuku said, murmuring. "The demon I killed, they… expect more of them. The license was a bribe I couldn't refuse."

Momo frowned. "I'll get a license as well. I'll help you."

"NO, I mean," Izuku began, remembering Nezuko's words. He was being disrespectful by assuming Momo wouldn't be able to handle it. If anything, her quirk made her a hundred times more prepared. "You don't… have a Nichirin weapon."

"I'll get it today," she said. "I wanted to bring it up later. My parents wanted to meet you, do you have time today?"

"Yes?" Izuku said, blinking. Eri-chan should be fine with Nezuko for today, she seemed to have calmed down significantly after some of Nezuko's cooking.

"Perfect," Momo said, smiling just a little bit too brightly.

To say that the Yaoyorozu family was 'rich' would be an understatement. Their mansion was, in a way, befitting of their name. He could not tell at a glance just how many rooms it was supposed to have. Rather than the more traditionally Japanese look, they went with something that would very well fit into some western fantasy story.

They were greeted by a butler of all things.

Izuku considered for a moment whether he should give his weapons to the servant for his duration of stay, but the man had not given a second glance to them, instead moving on inside to announce their arrival.

He did say his family wasn't poor, but compared to Momo-

"It's… very impressive," Izuku said, his voice strained. Momo smiled at him, her eyes twinkling from the lights of the chandeliers.

"Thank you!" Momo said, almost bouncing around. She looked more happy to get her Nichirin weapon than he did when he was accepted into U.A.

She grabbed his wrist, dragging him not up the stairs but behind them, where a small and unsuspicious door was leading down to the basement. It had a basement of course it did. It sounded liked it did.

In a way, the mansion proved to him what he knew already. Momo was the kind of person who, not out of obligation to her family, but rather out of a genuine heroic spirit, ended up becoming a hero student. Anyone who didn't feel like they truly needed to, such as the blacksmith part of her family, could simply retire and live off their money for twelve lifetimes.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, it was to the sight of a rather plain, if very hot, room. At the end of it was a massive door out of some metal that occasionally wheezed out steam.

"Welcome to the smithee," she said. She wasn't shouting, but close to it. The hammering sounds from behind the door kept getting louder. The massive door slowly opened, revealing a woman who was definitely not dressed right for a blacksmith. "Mother!"

Momo's mother. Of course. They looked similar, though the woman had a rather funny looking mask on her face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" her mother shouted. Mrs. Yaoyorozu was tall. Taller than her daughter, even. The dress she wore was rather plain considering the surroundings, but it fit her well, and the sudden motion of grabbing his hand to shake it made him laugh nervously. "Kamado-sama and Momo had told us a lot about you."

She wasn't shaking his hand, he noticed when she didn't let go. She was checking his fingers for calluses and the like. Momo came between them, quickly separating her mother and him by pushing them apart.

"Mother," she said, almost stern. "Please don't harass my guest."

"Of course, of course," Mrs. Yaoyorozu said. She grabbed the mask, moving it up to the side of her head to reveal a grinning face. "Welcome to the Yaoyorozu Smithee, Izuku Midoriya. How has the sword been treating you?"

"Quite well, thank you," Izuku said. He took both off his back. "I'm receiving a… stipend, from the government. They'll pay all maintenance costs in the future, but in exchange I have to help them in case demons arise."

"Right bastards, aren't they?" Mrs. Yaoyorozu asked. Momo looked uncomfortable at her mother cursing in front of her friends. Izuku simply nodded. "Fortunately they can't really force our hand. Let that be a lesson, the only way to become unyielding in the face of more powerful people is to become more powerful still."

Izuku nodded slowly. Nezuko had said the same.

"Momo," her mother turned to the girl. "Your weapon is ready."

Momo nodded excitedly, running into the door without much worry. Izuku and her mother followed into the actual forge room. It was set up rather eloquently, with multiple stations and a rather ludicrous amount of heat. Izuku could feel his sweat evaporate before it even formed. He couldn't imagine spending minutes, let alone hours here.

"I wanted to ask, as you might have a better understanding of her quirk than I do," Izuku said. His voice was strained, the special Nichirin forge giving off a heat that was more painful than plain uncomfortable. "Why can't she just recreate a Nichirin weapon?"

"Ah, the woes of the slayer, never understanding just what the weapon they swing is," Mrs. Yaoyorozu lamented, perhaps a bit overdramatized. She shrugged, grabbing a chunk of crimson red ore from the side. "You have good ears, don't you? What do you hear?"

She threw it at him. He caught it. The surprisingly heavy ore felt… smooth, rather than raw. Like it had already been honed and cleaned of impurities. And it sounded like…

"Burning sunlight," Izuku said. It was a strange thing to put into words. Similar to the Dance of the Fire God, which sounded like a sunrise if a sunrise made a sound, or perhaps it did but only to the ears of those few who could hear the world in between, as Nezuko had once put it so smoothly. "It's like there's something writhing in there."

"To make sure you understand properly, the 'Sunsteel' that makes up the Nichirin blades is a special ore that, for the lack of better word, charges itself with sunlight. The exact circumstances are unimportant," Mrs. Yaoyorozu said. "This energy isn't a component you can find on the normal periodic table, the chemical makeup is almost otherworldly."

"Hence, Momo can't just re-create a Nichirin weapon, because without understanding of the energy it's charged with, she can't add it." Izuku summarized, more for himself than her. The woman nodded.

"Quite astute, yes," she said. "Calling my daughter by her first name now, hm, young slayer?"

Izuku blushed, trying to wave it off. "Ahaha, sorry, it's just that you're Yaoyorozu as well and-"

"It's all good, as long as you take responsibility," the woman said. Izuku wasn't quite sure what she meant, so he just accepted her mercy. She looked amused, halfway between motherly mirth and sisterly laughter.

Momo meanwhile returned with actual bounces in her step. The massive chain which she held now was turning from its steely gray into a more solid, almost shining gray and silver. A color that looked quite similar to the, comparatively still oversized, Breath of Stone weapon of the old Pillar.

Izuku loved to see Momo smile.

But she wasn't smiling.

He knew that look.

"The exercise hall," Momo said. Izuku nodded, resigned, following her out and up the stairs. Her mother was still laughing behind him when the door to the basement closed.

"Hey, Onee-san," Eri said, looking up at the young woman. She was dancing with the sword, similar to how she had seen Stain do it, but less… bloody. It was almost beautiful in a way, the blue sword shining in the evening sun. "How do I hide my horn?"

Nezuko stopped the dance. While only temporary, the stay at Nezuko's home had given her something of a peace of mind. The woman was, in a way, quite kind and made some amazing food.

"Some people can't hide it," Nezuko said simply. She sheathed the sword, walking up to the girl. Reaching out slowly, as to avoid startling her, she touched the horn with slender fingers. It was pulsating with energy. "I suppose if you used your quirk, it will become smaller."

"Is it the same for you?" Eri asked. Nezuko twitched. The way she spoke must be irritating to her, Eri thought. She tried to speak less, but it was hard when she wanted to say something.

"It's the opposite for me," Nezuko said. "If I use my quirk, my horn grows."

"Are you cursed as well?" Eri asked. Nezuko twitched once more, her hand freezing over Eri's head. "My… family always said I was cursed. Because my quirk kills people."

"Use it," Nezuko said, taking Eri's hand. "I can show you that it doesn't just kill. Use it."

Eri didn't want to, but Nezuko's eyes were telling a story of expectations. She knew that Izuku had told the woman about her quirk, so why? Why did she want her to use it so much?

So she tried to use it. But only slowly. The strange red-eyed man with the scraggly beard had said that she had to learn how to control it, so just a little- a little-

Nezuko did not even flinch. The glow of her horn was ripping into her, and yet Nezuko remained stoic, watching with great interest as all the energy dissipated.

A few minutes later, the horn practically was gone. All that was left was a small bit that could be hidden easily under some strands of hair.

"Not enough, then," Nezuku muttered. She grabbed a small mirror and showed it to Eri, who was fascinated by her reflection. The horn, almost entirely gone. Brushing a bit of hair over it made Eri tear up. It was hidden perfectly well. "Listen well, Eri."

Eri looked up, watching Nezuko with wide and happy eyes.

"When the entire world tells you that you were born wrong, it is your duty to look at them and tell them no," Nezuko said. The words were said with such a conviction that Eri could do nothing but nod. "Whoever tells you that your power will only kill is a fool. We are not what our powers make us, we are who we want to be."

Nezuko looked at her arm, which bulged with strange black veins and claws for just one moment as Eri was distracted by the mirror.

"Cursed indeed," Nezuko said, whispering the words in a mix of frustration and relief.

Chapter 17: Thrice Risen Prayer

Eri looked happy. She wasn't smiling. But Izuku could see she was on the way there. She swung a small wooden sword around, light enough for her to use despite her small stature and thin arms.

After the quick greeting and breakfast, they had settled in the dojo. Eri looked happy to have him watch, she looked happy to swing a sword, she looked happy to be here.

Izuku watched her. She imitated some motions that Nezuko must have shown her. She also imitated a few swings that looked like she tried to imitate Stain. Every swing came with a small 'fuuuu' of exhaustion, every chop made with a resolute glare that made him imagine she was fighting something only she could see.

Nezuko and Izuku sat at the side of the dojo, near the stairs. It was early in the morning, he finished his morning jog and the class was meeting earlier today, which meant he would have to leave soon. Due to coming back so late, he had resolved to at least see how Eri was doing, but finding her up this early as well was quite a surprise.

"The horn shrunk," Izuku noted. Nezuko nodded.

"It's related to her power," Nezuko said. "You were right, it turns back time on the affected person."

Izuku frowned. "You made her use it on you."

"I made her prove to herself that she's not a danger," Nezuko corrected. Izuku did not think that was the only reason, but someone at her level undoubtedly would know better. Letting it go, he shook his head. "Say, when you look at her, what do you see?"

"A child?" Izuku said. He was focused on Eri now. Nezuko did not say anything. Not the right answer, then. "A victim."

"Your eyes are too shallow. If you can't see, listen."

Izuku did. He closed his eyes and listened. The sword swung with fury and fear. The feet toddled with fury and fear. Her heart beat with fury and fear.

"This girl has no fear of death in her eyes," Nezuko said. Izuku flinched at the words, opening his eyes. "She fears pain, abandonment, and everything under the sky. But she does not fear death."

"How?" Izuku asked, his voice strained. Eri seemed unconcerned, not privy of the conversation as her breathing became louder with every swing. Strands of her hair whipped into her face, forcing her to stop for a moment.

"There's many ways, none of which I would trust a little girl to have achieved," Nezuko began, taking a tie out of her pocket and beckoning Eri to come to her. The girl dropped the sword. "I imagine the most simple answer is the most blunt one. We fear what we don't know."

Eri sat down in Nezuko's lap, letting the woman tie her hair up to make it less of a bother. When Nezuko was done, Eri all but jumped back towards the wooden sword and swung it around once more.

Izuku nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat.

She had experienced death so much, she had stopped fearing it.

"The Sports Festival will be an important event in your careers," Aizawa said, slapping the application forms onto the table. Though he hasn't been there for a long time, AIzawa-sensei had settled back into his role as the homeroom teacher quite quickly. "Its broadcast will be nation-wide, hero agencies will take a look at young aspirants such as yourself for some work experience. It will be the only time you're allowed to use your quirks in law enforcement before a provisional license."

The excitement grew. They knew what it meant, of course. The better they showed off in the festival, the better the chances were to be picked up by a massive company early. While that didn't matter much for people like Iida, who would likely join his brother's agency, or Momo's, who would end up in her family business as well, it was an important first step for everyone.

Whereas other schools didn't hold such public events, and relied on connections of alumni to give their students the experience they needed, U.A. had always preferred the merit based system, and considering their own alumni, it wasn't exactly a wrong choice.

"As you're certainly aware, the city is currently dealing with a rather wide-spread problem, due to this there is a curfew coming into effect this week until the end of the Festival," Aizawa continued. "I hope I don't need to tell you that we will not tolerate any trouble."

Aizawa's words were aimed at the class in warning to listen to the temporary curfew, but his eyes were fixed on Izuku. A glare which did not go unnoticed by the rest of the class. Of course, considering his record, it was obvious who would end up causing trouble.

Though he was fairly certain his provisional license made him immune to the curfew.

Izuku laughed, scratching the back of his neck. "Got it, Aizawa-sensei."

"Why are you even bothering to lie," Aizawa said, frowning. Izuku choked on his laugh, causing the rest of the class to laugh instead. "We'll have another training session before the festival begins in earnest. There will be a combat stage. Expect anyone in this class to become your enemy for it before you reveal your secrets to them. A good hero knows how much info should be public and how much should be kept under wraps."

While it was in the spirit of the competition, Izuku wasn't entirely happy about the egging on of suspicions between the class. Shaking his head, he leaned back, his eyes moving towards Momo who gave him a smile. She couldn't use her Nichirin weapon in school, but she was way more confident about fighting now.

It was after lunch, on the way back to the classroom. Uraraka was the one who had grabbed him this time, dragging him away from the group. Kirisihima, rather than stop her like he did last time, gave Izuku a thumbs up and mouthed the words 'see you', as if he was already aware of it. Momo and Iida looked as confused as him, but the latter let it go with a 'don't be late'.

"I need to talk to him in private," Uraraka said frankly, looking at Momo. Izuku just gave her a nod, and Momo moved on, falling back into step with Iida and leaving them alone under the stairs. Students were walking up and down them, the sounds too loud for anyone to overhear their conversation.

"Is something the matter?" Izuku asked. He saw her fist clench at her skirt, wrinkling the cloth. "Uraraka?"

"Call me Ochako," she said suddenly, insisting on it. Izuku blinked. "You call Momo-chan by her first name. Besides, we've known each other longer."

"Sure?" Izuku conceded. "That's not all of it, though, right? Err, Ochako-chan."

"No honorifics," Ochako insisted once more. Izuku breathed out through his nose. "I… wanted to ask if you wanted to go out and eat somewhere after school, just the two of us."

"There's a curfew."

"After the festival, then!" Ochako corrected swiftly. "She… I'm just trying to make up for missing all the training, alright?"

"I mean, sure, but," Izuku said, thinking about all the things coming up. "I don't think I'll have time-"

"We're friends too, right?" Ochako asked loudly. "But you only go to dinner with Momo-chan."

"That's… different," Izuku said, trying to sound diplomatic. It was, after all, one of the few times they could talk in private about their training. Nezuko was relentless, any time in the dojo was not a time to waste on idle conversations. They were to be spent on training and lessons.

"Why is it different?" she asked. Her voice took on an inquisitive edge. Izuku sighed. "You're not dating, so why is it different? Because you both use weapons? You have the same master, right? Can't I join that as well?"

Izuku wouldn't call any of his friends grating. Because Uraraka wasn't. She was kind, funny and friendly. He had a lot of fun just talking to her, and it was impossible for him to find any bad thoughts slipping into his mind when thinking about his friends.

Instead, it felt much more personal. It was grinding. He could feel himself run out of energy to deal with this kind of conflict, if it could be called that.

"I don't think it'll work, Nezuko-sensei… only trained her out of a favor to her parents," Izuku said. "And with your quirk, holding a sword is probably not the best-"

"Please," Ochako said. Izuku found himself hesitating. There was no reason not to ask.

"Why do you want to learn it?" Izuku asked. In the end, Momo's reason felt so similar to his that he just didn't think twice about approaching Nezuko with it. The fact that her parents were the ones who made the Nichirin blade just emphasized how she was meant for this.

"I like you," Ochako said. Izuku could feel the thought of 'finally' crop up in his head. He couldn't claim that he didn't know, in large parts due to the talks about her jealousy by the usual suspects. What he couldn't really understand was the reason behind that jealousy, and in the end, if she had feelings for him, she would tell him, right?

Well, now she told him.

"Please go out with me," she said, bowing. The genuinity in her voice, the desperate question that lay behind it. The upsetting feelings that bubbled up at the surface.

"I'm sorry," Izuku said, bowing his head. It was his first confession, and yet, he could not do it. "I don't feel the same way about you. I hope we can stay friends."

"Because I'm not her," Uraraka muttered. She grabbed her arm, looking away. "I can't compete with the great Yaoyorozu heiress."

"That's different," Izuku said again.

"You like her, that's why it's different," Uraraka said. She sounded bitter yet certain. Izuku swallowed a lump in his throat.

Did he like Momo that way?

It felt a bit too soon for him to say. He certainly enjoyed her presence more than the others, but that was something he could blame on the merit of her being his kohai in the art of the Breaths. Or perhaps they were simply best friends, if that definition could still apply at their age.

The thought, however, seemed to be all the answer she needed. As he felt his face heat up, he could hear something in Uraraka make a frustrated noise. Before he could answer, she turned around, walking away.

He didn't run after her. Instead, he ended up standing still in the hallway. He wasn't sure just how much time had passed, it must have been a few minutes. The bell had rung, but he still didn't move. It was the sound of a familiar heartbeat that made him look up.

Momo stood there. She didn't look judgemental, but somehow Izuku still felt judged. Her eyes were soft. When she walked up to him and stopped, she said nothing, as if waiting for him to speak.

"Uraraka was crying, wasn't she?" he asked. Momo nodded. Izuku felt awful already. "I made a mess of things."

"You're giving yourself too much credit," Momo said, shaking her head. "It was my fault, too."

"I don't want to lose any friends, Momo," Izuku said, his shoulders sagging. "But just because I can hear basic emotions doesn't mean I can actually read minds. Kirishima said if he had to explain it to me, I don't really deserve to know. Now that I know, I just… feel bad."

"Because you didn't know before?"

"Because now that I know, I don't really feel like this should change anything, because…" Izuku began. He knew why. He could verbalize it, but somehow saying it out loud felt like it might break something in their friend group.

Momo reached out, putting a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her, feeling embarrassed considering the topic of their conversation. He could feel his face and ears heat up. He was sure he was red by now.

"Because I don't like her that way?" Izuku said. It felt obvious, the response was 'I'm sorry, I don't have any interest in dating you', and yet it was so hard to say something he knew would hurt her.

And by not saying it, he's hurt her even more.

"You can't control how people feel about you," Momo said softly. "And you can't blame yourself for not feeling the way they want you to feel. You're not a bad person because of that."

"I am," Izuku said, stepping away from Momo. The feeling of her hand on his shoulder remained. "Because she's right, and if I said what I wanted to say right now, it feels like mocking her."

"What do you want to say?" Momo asked. Izuku opened his mouth, before shaking his head, and then nodding.

""I think I do like you that way," Izuku said. Momo didn't say anything, but he could hear her heart beat faster. "And if you don't feel the same, I'd feel like her. But-"

But.

There was always a but.

From her flushed face to the beating of her heart. Izuku could feel it. Momo looked away, wrapping her arms around herself. He grabbed his hair, pulling at it with his fingers. When he sighed and tried to move past her, back to the classroom, she stopped him. Her grip was like iron.

"Momo?" he asked. She pursed her lips and pulled him towards her. He ended up with his feet off the ground for a moment. "Momo!"

"We've had this talk before, remember?" Momo asked. She sounded upset and happy at the same time. "You don't get to make decisions for other people."

She kissed him. It was a raw, inexperienced kind of kiss, that was perhaps just a bit too forceful considering her own physical strength. He felt lucky his uniform didn't rip apart, but the rudeness of it made it hard for him to kiss back. He was fairly sure one of her teeth split his lip.

When she finally let him go, she buried her face in her hands. Her ears were beet red.

"I… guess that's an answer," Izuku said, trying to loosen the situation somewhat. Momo glared at him through the gaps between her fingers, teary eyed. "We have to tell the others, right? Uraraka won't…"

"We're not responsible for what she thinks," Momo said, decisively. She sounded almost frustrated with the topic. "If she doesn't want to accept it because of her own feelings, then… then I don't want to be friends with her."

"I-I see," Izuku said, nodding and looking away. She hugged him. It felt different than before.

He supposed it was fine to be a little bit self-centered just once.

In a small, brightly lit basement under a gas station between Musutafu and Tokyo, was a small room prepared for surgery. It was not very sterile, but the kind of people who would come here were not the kind that could afford a trip anywhere else. It was not dusty, of course, it was not damp, but it certainly had the look of a back alley doctor's office and the owner was more than happy to keep it that way.

On the table lay a lanky man. He was mostly intact, though there were multiple places where he had ended up cut from being thrown through a few windows. Strangely enough, Stain rarely if ever came in with broken bones.

"One of these days you should get yourself a proper license," Stain said, hissing in pain as he sat up. His wounds were clean and mostly not bleeding anymore, but that was only half the journey.

"That's really funny," Tenko said, shrugging. His fingers twitched. "I could've sworn I was about to say the exact same thing."

Tenko grabbed the surgical needle, looking around for the disinfectant. Expecting the mess in the wanna-be surgical suite, Stain grabbed some out of his own pants and threw it at him. Tenko caught it with all fingers, the bottle dissolving. The liquid fell over his hands and the needle.

Stain didn't complain. He rarely did. Instead, he waited until Tenko was ready, bleeding quietly as the young man prepared for the hack job of a surgery.

"One of these days you ought to complain about my bedside manners," Tenko said, starting without much fanfare. There was no anesthetic in these kinda places.

"Would you change them?" Stain asked, his voice strained from the pain as his wounds were being stitched together. Tenko simply smiled.

"I've heard you met the little town samurai." Tenko's voice was even, but the grin on his face spoke of another story. "Not a bad look, huh? He certainly looks more like a hero than you.

"You seem attached to him," Stain said. He wasn't one for smalltalk. He never was. So when he zoned in on something, it was either genuine interest or something on his agenda. "The Young Slayer."

"I guess you could say that," Tenko said, smiling. "Not like you seem any less interested. Breath users are rare, huh?"

"About one in three billion, I reckon," Stain said. Tenko shrugged. He imagined the number might be higher considering the reports he's heard about the Yaoyorozu heiress. "He's got one leg up from me, though."

Tenko knew he was talking about the sword. He also knew that if he gave him the answers he was looking for, he would be a massive bother later in the week, so he kept his mouth shut.

"Maybe I should just steal it."

"You do that," Tenko siad, smiling at him. That dirty, cracked smile he usually smiled. The one that made people rather upset to find on his face. "I'm sure that Nezuko Kamado will love to have a talk with you."

"... maybe not." Stain conceded.

The 'surgery' continued in silence. Tenko was fast, despite his penchant for distraction. When he finished up, it was with a slap on Stain's arm. The man hissed, but didn't complain. Afterwards came the bandages.

"They'll be out in the streets looking for the girl," Stain said. "Keep your head down. I'll take care of them."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're worried about little old me."

He finished up with the bandages. He wasn't even sure why he bothered at this point, Stain would immediately soak them in his own blood again the second he was out and jumping around rooftops like an old American superhero comic.

His phone rang. Tenko grabbed it slowly, narrowing his eyes at Stain. The man understood, walking out of the door after grabbing all his equipment. Rather than a wave, Tenko received a middle finger.

"Hello Mama," Tenko said, hoping the smile on his face was audible in his voice. "You don't usually call this early, is everything alright?"

"Yes, I was just…" she was having trouble speaking, he could hear the tiredness in her voice. "I heard in the news that U.A. was attacked. I want to go and check on him myself, but-"

"It's fine," Tenko said quickly. It had been a bit since the attack, the news travelled slow when she's busy. "I'll check and tell you, alright? You just focus on what you have to do."

"Thank you, Ten-kun."

"Don't mention it," Tenko said. His fingers twitched. "Just get some rest, please?"

"Of course," she said, in a voice that made it clear she was not just lying to him, but she knew that he wouldn't believe it. "Have a good night."

"You too."

Chapter 18: The Festival of Tears Pt1

They were in the changing room. The Sports Festival, as was demanded by it, would be done without their costumes. This left Momo at a slight disadvantage, due to the only concession being that she would be allowed to keep her PE uniform's jacket open.

The fallout in the class after Ochako had returned with tears in her eyes wasn't much of a fallout. The girls comforted her, and while her words were harsh to Izuku, she seemed to have mellowed out after saying them.

But it still left things awkward between them. Momo would be lying if she said she didn't miss the presence of Uraraka at their table. She resolved to talk to her after the festival.

Ochako, however, had different plans.

Everyone else had already left. Momo was taking her time, thinking. She had a strategy, she just needed to pull it off. In terms of physical fitness without quirks, the Breaths put Izuku and her at the top-

"Momo-chan," someone spoke up. Momo blinked and turned around to come face to face with Ochako. They were alone. "I… wanted to talk to you for a bit."

A glance at the clock above the door showed enough time to do so. Momo nodded.

"Of course," Momo said, her voice neutral. "Can I help you with something?"

"I wanted to talk about what happened," Ochako said. "I-I'll talk to Izuku-kun as well later, with you if you want, I just need to get this off my chest."

"We can move past it if you want, there's no need to-"

"No!" Ochako said, perhaps a bit too forceful. Momo took a step back, blinking. "I'm sorry, but- I feel awful about this, I have to say something."

"Alright," Momo said. She sat down on one of the benches, putting on her shoes. "Whenever you're ready."

"I'm egoistic and I hurt my friends. Because I didn't tell anyone, and I bottled it up," Uraraka said, clenching a fist. "I… got an earful from my mom, about how blowing up on you wasn't right. I thought that showing interest would be enough for you to… back off, but that wasn't right of me."

Momo couldn't say it was easy to forget that they were all teenagers, considering her own issues with putting her feelings into words, but Ochako seemed to put expectations on herself that others in the class didn't.

"I wanted to be a hero to make money for my family," Ochako explained. "But after Izuku-kun saved me during the entrance exam, it felt like such a bad reason. It doesn't feel like I can put up this heroic spirit that you two do, even Shinso-kun seems to be a lot more hyper about this than I do."

"I don't think your reasons for becoming a hero are wrong," Momo said, shaking her head. "Nobody could tell you you're wrong, in the end even if you do it for money or fame, you're helping people, right?"

"I know that, but knowing and feeling it," Ochako murmured, one hand coming up to her neck as she lowered her gaze. "It's just different. It's the same with my feelings for Izuku-kun. I like him, but just liking him isn't enough for him to like me back, and feeling like he owes me when I never told him until you two were already-"

"We weren't really," Momo said, barely above a whisper. Ochako sighed. "I was just… thinking it was admiration and he's not in tune with his feelings."

"It just feels like it's my fault that everything is awkward now," Ochako said.

"It's my fault as well, I should've known," Momo said. "I haven't really spent much time with girls my age, anything I know about romance is fiction. If you had told me at the start of the school year, I'd have backed off-"

"You shouldn't hold back because of me, just like I shouldn't have held back because of you," Ochako said. "Bottling this up is just bad. Falling in love because someone cuts open a robot for you is also just stupid."

Momo stood up, her knuckles rubbing against Ochako's head. "Don't call yourself stupid."

Ochako teared up, making Momo wonder whether she had actually put too much force into the motion. It had become harder for her to really measure her own strength since the training started, and under the uniform there was muscle forming in response.

"Thank you," Ochako said, crying softly. "I'm sorry."

"Friends?" Momo asked. Uraraka gave her a hug, nodding into her shoulder.

Momo and Uraraka coming out of the changing rooms together made him happy. Izuku didn't like needless conflict, and something like this would be the worst way to destroy a friendship. Seeing them smile and talk was enough to make him smile as well. He noted the dried tears and said nothing.

"All ready?" he asked. Uraraka smiled at him, giving him a thumbs up. He nodded, looking to Momo, who mirrored the gesture. "Lets go."

The class had gathered in front of the gate into the First-Year stage. Izuku knew that U.A. charged the most money for this stage in particular, as it was the only palace to see completely new hero aspirants duke it out. Or to put it in the words of Present Mic, 'people love seeing children beat the shit out of each other.'

"Let us welcome them, you know them well already! The students who had to fight off villains left and right!" Present Mic shouted. "Classes 1-A and 1-B!"

They stepped out and forward into the lights. The stadium seats were full, not just of civilians but also of heroes and other students. All Might must be at one of the other stages, as he wasn't anywhere he could see.

Izuku did not like the big crowd. While he could tune them out, his ears perked up whenever someone spoke about him.

Midnight stood on a stage, hyping up the crowd with both looks and charisma.

Mostly looks.

Present Mic continued introducing the other classes, with slightly less enthusiasm. Only one girl from the support department actually cared enough to participate, but some more of the general studies department did.

For one moment, Izuku wondered if Bakugou would participate. But he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Shinso greeted some of the 1-C students with a smile and a nod. They gave him a smile in return. It was good to see that he was still on good terms with them after his transfer.

"We shall now receive the Athlete's Pledge," Midnight said, looking down at a paper in front of her. "Izuku Midoriya, up on the stage with you!"

"Errr, me? What?" Izuku asked, pointing at himself. Midnight nodded, looking impatient already. Momo slapped him on the back, forcing him forward. He nearly stumbled over his feet. Catching himself, he walked up the stage to the microphone. Silence reigned.

All eyes were on him. It wasn't a feeling he was comfortable with at all. Looking behind him saw nods of approval from his entire class, as well as Class 1-B.

"Err," Izuku said, trying to remember it. Why didn't anyone tell him he would have to do it? He could probably rhyme something together based on the pledges he had watched in the previous years from other students. "In… in the name of all the competitors, I promise to take part in this festival to the best of my ability, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of our school and our future as heroes."

The last word came out more as a question, but it was met with cheers from the crowd and the students behind him.

Midnight smiled widely, pointing a finger at the sky. "You heard it, folks! Now let's see what we have for this year's competition! The one! The only! The joy of all students who like it rough-"

Someone behind Izuku coughed, flushing red. She pointed at a screen that appeared behind her, revealing in bold letters the name of the first competition.

"THE OBSTACLE COURSE!" Midnight read and shouted.

Izuku was certain that any obstacle course U.A. came up with would be terrifying. He would be proven right. Aizawa-sensei would keep his weapons until the combat stage, which meant that he would have to rely on his own athletic ability.

Izuku was confident in that, at least.

The stage was set on what could technically still be called school grounds. An extension of the First Year Stage, and thus the stadium, it was a long and not quite winding path that they've been set up not too far away.

The goal was to run back into the stadium.

Drones were flying overhead, recording them from every angle. The starting line wasn't quite wide enough for all students to fit, which caused some shoving to happen. Izuku stood next to Momo, who grinned at him.

"Ready?" Present Mic's voice echoed from a drone. "Set!? GO!"

They did. Izuku and Momo breathed and exploded into motion. While Todoroki quickly took the lead, it wasn't hard for them to play catchup. In the spirit of the competition, of course, it would simply get harder from here. Mines were in the ground.

Izuku could hear the mechanisms. He knew that Momo could feel them through the tremors in the ground. While Todoroki had to be more careful about his steps, the two Breath users had an easy time navigating the minefield.

It was about halfway through that things became even harder.

Multiple zero pointer robots approached. Izuku had few issues in dodging them, they were slow and lumbering, and the initial shock of one of them from the Entrance Exam just wasn't a thing anymore. If anything, Izuku would have preferred fighting one of these compared to 'Uncle Yu' and Toga.

It was Momo who had less mobility than him. She was fast, no doubt, she could easily dodge the mines, but the Breath of Stone was something that wasn't made for speed. It was made for sheer power. She trailed slightly behind.

"OUT! OF! MY! WAY!" Momo shouted. Izuku couldn't help it. He turned around, watching as a quick makeshift flail drilled through the robot and sending sparks everywhere. Momo came from the hole in its torso, the quirk-created weapon crumbling into bits and pieces.

Another robot tried to stop her, and she punched right through it with her bare fist.

Izuku swallowed, turning around again. He was faster, but once she caught up she would be faster still. Todoroki had abandoned his slow approach and made a path with ice, allowing other students who had made it far enough to use it for an easy path forward.

He had to keep his lead. His heel kicked into one of the mines as he leaned forward. His body, reinforced from the Breath and kept rigid, exploded forward.

He crashed into the entrance and rolled off the speed. When he stood up again, it was to thousands of cheers.

"Midoriya takes first place!" Present Mic shouted. "What is that boy made of? I thought we only had two hardening quirks this year!"

"He's made of recklessness and disdain for authority," Aizawa drawled. Izuku coughed, looking towards the gate. Momo and Todoroki had made it, the former just a bit later from the looks of it. She was more out of breath than him, but considering the fact that he dodged the robots instead of blowing through them in a display of sparks and metal, that was expected. "And now he has the lead. I wonder if he'll keep it."

"What doting words from a proud teacher!" he shouted. "We shall reveal the second stage after a short break! Everyone injured, please report to the infirmary!"

Though she came in third, Momo's smile was bright. She walked up to him and gave him a hug. Todoroki, however, looked at him like a puzzle to figure out. Izuku hugged Momo back.

Izuku came down from the runner's high. His breath wasn't as short as it would usually be, but the break was still welcome. In the end, Momo and him had gone to the festival infirmary to check on some of the less fortunate classmates.

Concussive landmines and robots were not what he had expected from his school, but maybe he was just looking at the old sports festivals with rose-tinted glasses. He was fairly certain that just two years ago they had a climbing wall challenge that would throw people off in various ways.

He was curious how the boy who just walked through the wall naked on national television was doing.

It was on the way back that he heard it. Removed from the crowds, in the hallways that were for student use.

An all too familiar gait. A bright, but craggly smile. He stopped, turning around to meet the gaze of the hooded teen. Momo stopped as well.

"Hey, Izu-kun," Tenko said, smiling.

"Ah, Shimura-san," Izuku said. Tenko shook his head.

"Please, let's keep formality out of the way, alright?" Tenko said. Izuku nodded, turning to Momo.

"Can you go ahead?" he asked. Her gaze moved from him to Tenko, then back, before she nodded. "Thank you, I'll be right there."

When Momo left, Izuku took a deep breath, finding a smile slipping onto his face.

"I'm just here to check up on you, but the Sports Festival is very fun to watch," Tenko said, shrugging. "I heard about the villain attack, scary stuff."

"It went well, all things considered," Izuku said. "Well, of course it's hard not to have heard about it considering Present Mic's penchant for dramatics."

Tenko laughed softly. "I suppose. You're kind of a trouble magnet, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Izuku said with a sigh. "Thank you, by the way."

Tenko blinked, tilting his head in confusion, or perhaps great interest. "What for?"

"The talk you gave me a while ago, it helped," Izuku said. "A lot. I kept thinking about it, about being too angry or too sad. You'd make a good counselor."

"Nonsense," Tenko said, putting his hands in his pockets as he leaned against the wall. "That's just ranting off the page, nothing profound."

"Still," Izuku said, "it helped. So thank you. I… kind of wanted to talk to you again, I had some questions."

"You do?" Tenko asked. Izuku nodded slowly.

"Do you know my mother?" Izuku asked, the question was something on his mind since the day they had first met. While it wasn't a very hard nickname to come up with, the only person who ever called him 'Izu-kun' was his mother.

Tenko did not react visibly or invisibly. His heart did not make a strange sound, his fingers did not twitch, his throat did not constrict for a short swallow.

"I don't think so," Tenko lied.

He was too careful with his reaction.

Nobody who spoke the truth would go out of their way to appear this honest.

"Alright," Izuku said, lying back. "I'll need to join my class now, but I'll be sure to look for you later, alright? You better watch me take this."

"Sure thing," Tenko said. He put his index fingers at the corners of his mouth and pushed them up. "Always remember, not too angry, not too sad."

Izuku couldn't help it. He found himself smiling. Something about Tenko put him at ease, despite his suspicions. He could still ask his mother eventually, and considering their interactions so far, it didn't seem like Tenko had any hostile intent. Something like that couldn't be easily masked.

The second stage was a group one. Worse than that, for the first place his reward was to have the single most individual points than anyone else had combined, making him a prime target.

It was when Momo told him she would beat him that he knew he'd have to change his approach.

Momo joined up with Todoroki, Denki and Kirishima.

He saw Monoma with his class, the boy called Hiryu, Tetsutetsu, and Setsuna Tokage.

Ibara, the 1-B girl with the thorny green hair was the one who made the first step to reach out to another class. She and Shinso seemed to know each other, talking politely until both of them nodded.

Iida and Mina joined up with them.

Izuku, being avoided, didn't know what to do.

"Hey, hey, swordsman." Someone poked his side. Izuku turned around to find the cross-slit pupils of the support student Mei Hatsuume staring back at him. "Wanna hook up?"

"I… beg your pardon?" Izuku said. Mei blinked.

"It's a group match, right? And you seem to have your stuff together, I have some tools that should help you and we can get to the last stage!"

"Ahh," Izuku said, nodding. Well, considering everyone else seemed to be avoiding him. "Sure thing. Though I think two people might not be enough, we need at least three, right?"

She nodded, looking around. Izuku's eyes met Uraraka's, who gave him an apologetic smile. It seemed that she had a group already. He didn't like being the measuring stick that people wanted to face together, but he supposed that was one way of flattery.

"Itsuka Kendo!" Mei shouted suddenly. "You remember that favor you owe me?"

Kendo turned around with wide eyes and a red face. Izuku left the two to talk, approaching his own pick for the team. Tokoyami, the raven-headed boy with a penchant for over dramatic turns of phrase, looked at him with a critical eye.

"You want me to join your misfits," Tokoyami said. Izuku nodded, smiling.

"We'll get to the finals, I can promise you that," Izuku said. Tokoyami thought for a moment before nodding.

The cheers of the crowd were deafening. Izuku and Kendo ended up sitting against the wall after the buzzer that announced the end of the match finally rang. Somehow, he had kept his points, for all that it was worth it. Monoma and Todoroki had chased him to heaven come, and Kendo seemed to have a lot of fun watching him stumble around as he failed to get a grasp on him.

Izuku wasn't good at hand-to-hand combat, but he would say that he could run rough approximations based on his actual studies. The length of his arms, the knowledge that Monoma couldn't copy his breathing, it made it rather easy until Monoma had begun using Hiryu's quirk to try and shoot him.

"Setsuna's quirk," Kendo murmured into her knees. "It's the worst."

Izuku nodded.

The girl simply cut off her hands with it and chased after him, and when Monoma copied her quirk to do the same it was just a mess. Todoroki came to their rescue, fortunately, by freezing the hands in place to take the lead himself.

"Still, we've made it," Tokoyami said, nodding. "As you've promised, samurai prince. We should make another deal in the future."

"Yes, quite," Izuku said, nodding. "This was more exhausting than dodging robots."

Mei, who looked more than happy about reaching the final stage, was fiddling with some device.

"I guess we'll have to face each other then," Izuku said, looking towards the screen that announced the combat stage. 'Single Knockout Elimination Tournament'.

Izuku sighed. Any group which still had any points were allowed to continue to the third stage. This immediately cut the number of competitors by over half, leaving only nine people from class A, six people from class B, and the girl from the support course.

Fifteen other competitors, among which were some of the strongest in his class. Todoroki, Kirishima, and Momo.

They had an hour to gather themselves before the tournament would actually start, slightly longer for those whose fights were a bit later. Kirishima and Shinso were up first, but as the former was aware of the latter's quirk, the result was already somewhat predictable.

Of course, he would finally get his wish, right in the first fight of his own.

Shinso vs. Kirishima

Mina vs. Monoma

Momo vs. Hiryu

Izuku vs. Todoroki

Kendo vs. Tokoyami

Mei vs. Ibara

Tetsutetsu vs. Denki

Iida vs. Setsuna

Izuku took a seat at the stands where his classmates had ended up in. The people who hadn't made it to the final stage didn't seem too put off considering the competition. Uraraka in particular seemed a hundred times more fired up, ready to do better next time.

It was when the first fight started that expectations were already subverted.

Shinso raised his hand before the match started. Nothing but silence for a few moments.

"I forfeit," he said. "This isn't my stage at all, not with my classmate who knows my quirk."

He lowered his arm. Kirishima looked a bit dumbfounded, and just a little bit frustrated at his earlier excitement.

"This doesn't mean I give up on being a hero," Shinso continued, turning around and walking off the stage. "It just means I gotta pick my battles better, right?"

After a few more moments of silence, the crowd exploded into cheers. It began with class 1-C, who shouted his name in joy. Izuku wasn't sure why, but the underdog seemed to have quite some fans in his old class.

"Winner, Eijiro Kirishima?" Midnight said, not sounding sure herself. Kirishima shrugged, walking off the stage and towards the stands. Shinso didn't join them, instead walking towards his old class to watch the rest of the matches with them.

When Izuku looked towards him, Shinso threw him a dirty grin.

So the matches continued.

Monoma, who had obviously touched some of his classmates to copy their quirks beforehand, had his own advantage in the fight. Though Mina was quick on her foot, the copy of Kendo's quirk slapped her off the stage all the same at the end of it.

It was time for Momo's fight.

The girl walked down with her head held high. Hiryu Rin, from class 1-B would be her opponent. He looked rather plain except for his incredibly small pupils, giving him a rather lizard-like stare. His black hair was braided, bouncing up and down as he walked onto the stage.

He held himself like a martial artist.

There were no long speeches or promises, no expectations. When Midnight started the fight, Momo breathed.

And rather than make a weapon when he formed scales around his arms, she bent down and jammed her fingers into the ground. Without hesitation, she lifted up part of the stage and threw it at him.

It was in the shadow of that attack that she made her weapon. Hiryu didn't seem too concerned, punching the stone into pieces with his fists and taking aim, scales shooting off the arm at rapid speeds onto where Momo had been standing.

Too late, the observers could tell.

She was above him, her flail, which she had created without spikes, coming down and crushing the floor below him. He lost his footing as she came down, her feet hitting his shoulders and knocking him down.

Hiryu's entire body exploded into scales when her fist came down.

It was enough to make one blow glance off. Enough to give him an opening and letting him roll away, forcing her to reposition herself. The flail was pulled back, the chain catching his ankle.

His attempt to stay standing would be his downfall.

"I'm sorry," Momo said, her voice rising. "This might hurt!"

Hiryu turned around, watching as the axe part which she had thrown off to the side was spinning around him. Both of his legs ended up wrapped up. He closed his eyes, pushing his dragon-like quirk to the limits, readying himself for impact of the axe-

Momo stopped it with one hand, grabbing the blade of the (hopefully blunt) axe with her fingers. Hiryu was wrapped up, and while Izuku was certain that he could push himself out of and break them. But even if he did so, it was clear that Momo would crush him. Her fists were stronger than his scales, the spider cracks that exploded under her feet.

Hiryu just stopped moving and let Momo roll him out of the stage. He landed with a soft thud and a groan.

"Your girlfriend's scary," Kaminari said. Izuku nodded. She really was.

"We will be back after a short repair of the stage," Midnight said. "Next fight will begin in ten minutes. Be there, Midoriya, Todoroki!"

Izuku nodded. Momo looked a bit uneasy on her feet. Walking down to meet her before she was on the stage, he gave her a hug, ignoring the crowd's reactions.

"I think I'll… go check in with Recovery Girl," Momo said. She looked a bit pale. Using her Breath that often today must have taken its toll on her recovery.

"I'll help you," Izuku said. There was still time.

"Demon Slayer," a rough voice called him out. Izuku almost started, his hand moving to his sharp sword out of reflex as he turned around. He was met with the burning face of Endeavor. "What a sight, a child playing with a sword like a warrior."

"I apologize," Izuku said, removing his hand from the hilt. "My master hasn't taught me to handle adults who try to get a rise out of children."

There were a few minutes until the fight. Endeavor, Todoroki's father, was an unpleasant person. It was just plain visible. While Izuku could not say he didn't admire the hero that had made a name for himself as number two, everything he's seen about him made it hard to keep that admiration up.

"There's something I need you to do for me," Endeavor said, ignoring his own provocation. "My son is a fool. He refuses to use all he's been given, all he was made for, out of a petty reason. You will show him the error of that."

"I suppose you can't just hold an intervention like a normal parent?" Izuku asked. Endeavor, once again, did not rise up to that challenge. "I don't need to be a genius to figure out that you had a child with the purpose of making up for your own shortcomings."

"He rejects me and my quirk. You will make him use it."

"No," Izuku said, shaking his head. "I don't think I will."

"Because you hold me in the same disdain?"

"Because he's not you," Izuku said, remembering his own issues with Nezuko. "Because trying to make him into you isn't going to work. He is better than you, not because of some ridiculous quirk eugenics, but because you're one step away from being a villain. He's a hundred steps away from where you are now."

That made Endeavor react. The man's face twisted into a ridiculous frown.

"I'll beat him, if he wants to use his fire, he will, if not, who am I to make that decision for him?" Izuku asked. "He will see that error when he becomes a hero and loses someone's life. It will stay with him like a prayer."

"You speak meaningless platitudes," Endeavor said. "And yet you're not wrong. You would have him hold back so you could take a meaningless medal home."

"Not because I want to win this," Izuku said. "But because I don't like you. You burn hot, Endeavor, but those eyes are cold. I might want that medal, but so do you, hung above the wall as proof that your training was worth something."

He had seen more warmth in Stain's eyes when the man was cutting off someone's head. It was ludicrous. He couldn't stand it.

Izuku turned around and walked out. He had a fight to win.

Izuku left the sharp sword with Midnight. She looked ready to make some joke about it, but seeing the look on his face must've made her think twice. Izuku didn't enjoy being upset. He didn't enjoy being angry.

But as Tenko had said, it wasn't about never being angry. It was about not being too angry. Todoroki looked at him with eyes that reminded him of Eri's when the idea of going back home came to her. Defeat in defiance.

"Your father approached me before the match," Izuku said, frowning. Todoroki didn't visibly react, but Izuku could hear the ice quirk cool the air. "I wonder what I'd have ended up being if my mom was like him."

"I suppose he wanted you to provoke me into using his quirk," Todoroki said. Izuku's frown deepened.

"Something in that direction, but I didn't really like his attitude," Izuku said. He drew his sword, nodding towards Midnight. Todoroki also gave a nod.

The second she gave the signal, ice exploded forward. It was a ludicrous attack, one that would have easily ended the match just with one hit.

Izuku had his own tricks up his sleeve now.

He breathed.

And with it came the breath of the wild.

"Third Form: Wolf Fang!"

The sword cut the cold air. The ice stopped suddenly, then split apart in two as if the wind itself had cut them. Izuku rushed forward before Todoroki could recover. When he was right in front of him, Todoroki sent ice upwards, ready to push him back or freeze him.

He vanished. A trick of light, perhaps. Izuku appeared above him, in a move that looked similar to Momo's own attack against Hiryu.

"Second Form: Mirror Flower."

The sword came down in a stab. Todoroki dodged, of course. It was too telegraphed. The sword pierced the ground and sent a shockwave in the form of a star in various directions.

Todoroki created a dome of ice, needing time and distance to decide on his next move. Izuku was more than happy to oblige him.

"I told your father I really don't like him," Izuku said. "But now that I'm fighting you, I feel like I like you even less. Everyone else is giving their all and you're just playing around."

Izuku could hear Todoroki click his tongue. "You wouldn't understand my circumstances, I would appreciate it if you didn't stick your nose where it doesn't belong."

"I think I understand well enough," Izuku said. "If you want a reality check, you're not the first teenager who wishes they'd never been born."

"Not quite like me," Todoroki said. He didn't sound bitter, but resolute. The dome exploded outwards, sending shards of ice everywhere. Izuku cut through the ones that were on the way to him.

"No wonder you barely talk," Izuku said, rushing forward as he sheathed his sword. The Mourning Prayer cut through another layer of ice and deflected it off to the side. His breath was already visible from the cold. "You don't even believe half of the things you say yourself."

"Someone who grew up in a loving household shouldn't cast judgement on people who didn't!" Todoroki said.

"Sorry," Izuku said, letting go of his sword. It fell onto the ground with a clang, and he balled a fist, winding it back. "I forgot this was a schoolyard brawl."

He punched. Todoroki put up a wall of ice, but he crushed it all the same. His fist connected, forcing him to pull the punch slightly. Todoroki stumbled backwards, more ice shooting forward which Izuku jumped over.

"Use your sword!" Todoroki shouted. Izuku grinned, punching his palm with his fist.

"If you're going to half-ass this, I will do so as well," Izuku said. "I will crush your delusions all the same!"

Chapter 38 - 15-18