Chapter 433 - 17-18

Chapter 17: UA High

"Today's the day."

Tenko looked over at Izuku as he said that, stood beside him in front of the imposing sight before them, and placed a gloved hand on his shoulder. "You okay, Izuku? You've said that twice now."

"H-Huh? Y-Yeah, I'm okay." Izuku swallowed, taking a deep breath and nodding to Tenko, inwardly cursing that he couldn't keep the wobble of trepidation and excitement out of his voice. "I just... I never thought I'd make it here. Not after everything growing up."

"You'd have found a way to be a Hero whatever happened," Tenko said, squeezing his best friend's shoulder. "I know you too well to know that anything would have stopped you from getting here."

"What he means," Setsuna said, stood on Izuku's left and shooting a teasing glance at her cousin and his best friend, "is you're too stubborn to have been stopped anyway."

"H-Hey!" Izuku looked at Tenko for validation, only to see his best friend smirking in his usual dark way. "Don't say that, it's mean."

"She's not wrong." Tenko shook his head, shaggy blue hair shaking like a medusa. "Although I was trying to be nice. There's no way any other character class would fit you. And I'm sure they'll see it too."

"I hope so..." Izuku gulped, putting his hands into the pockets of his green hoodie. "I just hope we all get in. I don't know what I'd do without either of you."

Setsuna cracked her knuckles, as she looked up too with a grin. "We'll get in, Zuzu. We'll show them all we can be the next best Heroes."

"They're not gonna be ready for our party," Tenko agreed, balling his hands into fists now and nodding with a determined look. "What is it they say here? Go beyond?"

Izuku looked up at the gates in front of him, at the logo he had dreamed of seeing his entire life, and nodded with determination. Finally, he got to say it. "Plus Ultra..."

Today was the day he tried to get into UA.

Time had flown since Izuku, Tenko and Setsuna had found out that they had been accepted to attend the Entrance Exam at UA, one of the greatest days of Izuku's life to date. The few days between their letters coming and the big day itself had been packed with preparation- Inko and Setsuna's mom had insisted that they threw a proper party with a massive meal on the night they all knew, but Izuku had no intention of letting the chance he had dreamed of for years slip by him.

Every little opportunity he could find to hone his skills, to practice the fluidity of switching between the blasts of his Air Force Quirk and integrating the pull of the Steal Quirk into it seamlessly, he had taken. Every chance he and Tenko had to scour the Internet for hero videos and research on the school, he had made the most of, and every time Setsuna had come up with some crazy idea for teamwork moves that usually resulted in shenanigans (this was Setsuna's planning, after all), he had relished. He was not going to miss out on getting into UA, the alma mater of All Might, the almost-holy birthplace of modern Heroics. Not on his watch.

Inko had dropped them off at the entrance of the school, high on the hills above Musutafu and shrouded in dense forest that had at times overgrown the old roads up to Japan's finest hero academy. The tidal wave of proud tears from his mother as she watched her son and his friends stand outside one of the most prestigious gates in the world hadn't drowned Izuku, miraculously, and even more miraculously he hadn't cried yet himself. But this was UA! The one and only UA! As terrified as he was that he may not pass the exam, he was going to savour every moment of being here. It would always have a place in his fanboy heart, after all.

Needs a lick of paint.

The brief passing thought jolted Izuku out of his reverie before he could descend into a cascade of Hero-inspired muttering, or pull a notebook out of his backpack where he had stashed the costume made for him by Inko and Tenko. As jarring at the thought was, it wasn't wrong. UA's iconic tower stood firm, early morning sunlight glinting orange off of the windows and throwing long shadows across the grounds, but the outside wall where they stood had seen much better days. A sign of the times, perhaps, that graffiti and angry anti-Hero sentiments seemed to clutter up every available inch of the beige concrete wall outside. It appeared that if UA had ground staff, they hadn't been brave enough to venture outside to scrub the slogans off, or replace the heads on the once-white marble statues which stood timeless guard over the entrance, or clear out the weeds that had started to sprout through the slabs of the pavement in front of the massive gate.

Izuku was not deterred. Nothing in his wannabe-Hero heart would be. Of course he was upset to read what some people had daubed on the walls of this temple to heroism; of course reading the outcry and anger of people who wrote messages like 'A tyrant with a cape is not a hero', in jagged kanji for all the world to see, made him wish the world was a better place. But this was why he was here, why Tenko and Setsuna were here. He wanted to be the sort of Hero people could be proud of, so that people wouldn't be splashing their rage in smeared red paint on those hallowed walls, like signatures of blood objecting to the new age of Heroes,

He swallowed, and for just one moment in the middle of it, he was numb to the rest of the world. All that mattered was the gate in front of his big green eyes, the gateway to a brighter future, and the words he was about to murmur in a hushed tone under his breath, the words that just felt right. "I am here."

"Say," Setsuna wondered aloud, her head tilted in confusion as she stared at the gate, "wasn't someone supposed to come and let us in? I don't see anyone else here, so they've gotta have been let in, right?"

Tenko stepped up before Izuku could say anything and walked up to the gate, somehow the one piece of the outside wall which had survived unblemished from the resentment of UA's neighbours. For a moment the Decay user ran a gloved hand over the painted-blue concrete, and for some reason Izuku's brain flashed with an image of the gateway corroding in Tenko's hands, before he spotted something and stopped. "There's an intercom here. Wanna ring the doorbell and find out what it does?"

"Somehow that makes me feel like a kid on Halloween," Setsuna said, raising an eyebrow. "It's like we're gonna ask them trick or treat."

Tenko smirked. "You can chuck your head at them for the trick if you like."

"Oh sure. That'll definitely get us into UA with a good first impression."

"Whatever. Everyone saved their progress?"

Izuku shook his head with a little laugh- Tenko would never change. "Just ring the bell, Tenko."

"Jeez, someone's impatient." Reaching forward with his gloved hand, Tenko dusted it off -quite a lot had had accumulated- and thumbed the lone switch, stepping back as he heard the buzz.

It was a good job he did.

"HELL~LO THERE!" screamed a voice so energetic the owner undoubtedly drank espresso like water, and the wave of sound that rolled out of the small speaker nearly laid Izuku and his friends flat on their backs. "WELCOME TO UA HIGH, LITTLE LISTENERS!"

Izuku blinked, managing to calm his racing heart a few paces as his inner fanboy kicked in. "Is- is that Present Mic?"

Tenko grumbled, shaking his head as if to clear his ears of the ringing. "Nobody else screams like that in the world."

"If you're hearing my lovely voice," continued the voice, and somehow the inflection of his tone alone managed to make it perfectly clear that he had winked, "then you must be prospective UA students here for the exams!"

"That or Girl Scouts bringing cookies," Setsuna snarked behind them, not missing the opportunity for a joke.

"Cookies always go down well, but I'm afraid it'll take more than that to get through our Entrance Exam, Miss Tokage!"

The response from Present Mic nearly floored Izuku more than the initial outburst of Voice over the speakers. "H-He can hear us?!"

"And see you too, young Mister Midoriya!" As if to demonstrate, a buzz from overhead signified the wiggling of a security camera covered in paint and rust, that had looked utterly defunct until a moment ago. "How else do you think I'm letting only loyal subscribers through these gates?"

"Suppose I should have expected it from UA," Setsuna said with a wry smile, waving to the camera. "No cookies for you, Present Mic. Sorry!"

"Oh my god!" Izuku began reaching for his backpack and his notebook, his eyes wide with excitement. "It really is Present Mic, I can't believe you're still teaching at UA! I love your radio show, I'm a huge-MRMPH!"

Out of a sense of mercy to the teacher and knowing what was coming, Tenko had clamped a gloved hand over Izuku's mouth to silence him before they lost a whole day. "Yeah he's a fanboy, sorry about that. He's gonna probably beg you to sign his notebook when we get in, he's relentless."

On the other end of the speaker, Present Mic chuckled. "No sweat, Tenko Shimura! I'll sign whatever he wants when we're done with the exams." As Izuku squealed underneath Tenko's glove, he continued. "You three are actually some of the last to arrive, and I can see on my north camera our last caller of the day is just coming up on the door. You might wanna hold there so she doesn't panic she's late. Then I can let you all through together! You can thank me later for helping you make friends, YEAHHHH!"

"Another caller..." Izuku spun to face north. "Then it's another applicant! This is great, we..." He trailed off, frowned, squinted, as the person came in sight. "No way..."

"Huh? Who's the NPC?" Tenko turned and stared in the same direction, a stunned look passing on his face as he caught sight of the clothes they were wearing and recognised them. "You're kidding. Is that-"

"Aw man." Setsuna chuckled to herself as the individual sprang towards them, light on her feet as she ran and with such a familiar smile on her face. "You've really gone and done it now, Zuzu."

Well isn't this cute.

"Hey Izuku!"

"H-H..." Izuku was speechless for a second as his brain caught up with the site in front of him, as she skidded to a halt besides the group and beamed at him with that fanged smile he couldn't mistake for anyone else. "H-Himiko?! What are you-"

"Doing at UA? I know, right?" She clicked her heels together as if saluting and grinned wildly at him. "I can't believe I got a place at the Exam either! Heh, I kinda left it late to apply. But it all worked out!"

"Well look at this, my listeners all know each other already!" Present Mic chimed in from the PA. "I feel like a proud parent! Welcome to UA, Miss Toga, YEAAAAAH-"

"Hell yeah!" Himiko punched the air besides Izuku, the enthusiasm of Mic apparently infectious, before a mock look of shock passed over face. "Don't tell me I'm the last one here?! You all waited for little old me?"

"I thought you might want some friends to come in with!" crackled the voice of the Hero and teacher. "I didn't know you already knew 'em- even better! No reason to keep you all waiting outside now!"

The gate buzzed now, and with the clanking of machinery which sounded at least a hundred years too old for the job it was doing, it swung open to reveal the campus on the other side. "You'll wanna head straight up the main drive, keep going past that fountain and the fallen tree, and head into the main building! From there, it's the second door on your right, with the big old UA logo painted orange on it. One of my lovely colleagues will be there to greet you and help me explain the exam when I get in there- she can't wait to meet you all!"

"GO BEYOND, kids, and welcome to UA High! I'll see you in your exams! PRESENT MIC OUT!"

With a final burst of feedback, the voice of the man that gave sound technicians across the world nightmares cut out, and left Izuku and co standing stunned with a grinning Himiko in front of the long drive up to the main college building. Izuku wasn't blown away by the view though, by the spectacular colours of the trees as they lined the path, by the crystal clear water that danced on the fountain halfway up the path. He was blown away by the company besides him and his group, the girl who had arrived at the last minute.

"Himiko..." He walked through the gate behind her as she sprang through, humming to herself with her cardigan flying out behind her like a cape. "How... what... why-"

"I'll ask, for my broken cousin," Setsuna interrupted, digging a detached elbow into his side as she and Tenko followed. "How did you end up applying here? From all you told us... I thought you didn't like Heroes."

"I still don't."

"Huh?" Tenko asked, confused at the immediate and blunt response from the blonde girl. "Then why-"

"Because of Izuku!" Himiko spun to face him, and Izuku was taken aback for a second by the smile on the blonde girl's face. It wasn't the toothy grin of her usual self, the mocking look- it was small, and framed with a vivid blush on her cheeks as yellow eyes met green. "You always kept saying about how you wanted to be a better Hero than the others, and I wanna see what you can do. But... it's more than that. You told me when that Yakuza came after us that I could be one too... nobody has ever told me that."

She blinked, and wrapped her arm through his to cling to his side as they continued to walk; Izuku felt his own face flushing red at the feel of her on his arm. "If you believe in me that I could be one, with no hesitation, no doubt I could be a Hero... then I'm gonna try. I'm gonna do what I can to help you, Izuku. And make you proud."

Izuku heard a squeal from Setsuna behind him which he did his best to ignore. "You don't have to do anything like this to make me proud, but, for what it's worth... that's amazing, Himiko. You really did help us out, so if you wanna become a Hero with us..." He smiled at her, and his heart leaped a little as the blush widened. "Then I can't wait to do this with you too."

Her eyes gleamed with something, a sense of pure joy. "They're not gonna know what hit 'em, Izuku."

"Doesn't it warm your heart, Tenko?"

Izuku looked behind him at Setsuna's voice to see that his cousin had wrapped her own arm through Tenko's as they walked, one hand dramatically clutched to her chest as if overcome with emotion. "Sh-shut up guys-"

"Young love!" Setsuna cried, with an exaggerated flourish. "Star-crossed lovers reunited at last, but wait, is there a twist? Will they have to face each other for a place at this established school! Oh, the horror-"

"He wasn't flustered until you pointed it out," Tenko groaned, trying his best to shut the reptile-loving girl up as Izuku and Himiko both went practically crimson. "I didn't sign up for this shit today. Himiko?"

"Yessir?"

"Don't call me that. Are you ready for this today? I know you didn't train as much as we did when we were in that warehouse-"

"And yet I still saved your ass from that Yakuza," she replied, sticking her tongue out at him. "I've got this."

"Right answer." Tenko nodded, a determined look suddenly on his face. "We can all do it, and whatever happens, we stick together, got it? We'll show them what we're made of."

"Tenko..." As he and Himiko came to a stop outside the big glass door at the front of the main building, Izuku took a moment to close his eyes and breathe, grateful for his friend's interruption to steady him and get him back on track to do the best he could. He turned to his best friend and smiled. "Thank you."

"Anytime... Small Might."

Izuku tried not to laugh and failed. "I told you I'm not using that as a hero name." For just a moment he opened his eyes and looked at the little crew they had formed, standing on the front doorstep of UA High- the wide-eyed and bouncing Himiko, the self-assured smirking Setsuna, the determined and resolute Tenko, and him, smile on his face ready to face whatever they threw at him. Look how far they had come and what they could do. Time to show UA just what they'd be getting. "Are you ready, everyone?"

"Hell yeah!"

"Born ready, Zuzu."

"Let's show them what we can do."

"Alright." He nodded to himself to steel his nerves, straightened himself, and pushed the door forward, his inner fanboy jumping for joy at the sight of the famous halls and the giant class doors with the inimitable logo of the world's most celebrated Heroics institution.

The world had changed drastically in his lifetime, and society's opinions on Heroes had been battered and bruised after years of failures, cuts, legislative rollbacks and negative headlines. The world no longer had the Symbol of Peace, the most famous graduate of this remarkable institution, and UA itself had gone reclusive and private in the face of hostile attempts to take control of it for a supposed greater good. But this was the UA of his dreams still, polished and ready to teach the next generation of Heroes as it always had done, and now he could realise every single dream he had ever had.

He stared up in awe at the school's corridors as his friends filtered in behind him. His breath was take away by it all, the photographs of famous alumni winning their Sports Festivals, pictures of its most famous graduates and illustrious staff in their finest moments of their Hero careers. It was everything he had ever hoped for. "Wow... this place really is Plus Ultra."

"I'm glad you still think so," a female voice called out, and Izuku turned to see a black-haired woman with glasses leaning out of the door to the classroom where they would all be gathering. In her dark grey blazer and skirt, with a purple shirt and school tie on, she looked the epitome of professional and cool. "We've had to change a few things around here, but it's still something that takes your breath away every day you walk in the front door."

"Hey..." Setsuna's eyebrows shot up in recognition. "You're... Midnight, right! I didn't know you taught here?!"

She shot the group a coy smile, and Izuku's eyes widened as he realised he had somehow missed the infamous R-Rated Hero standing right in front of him, one of Japan's most recognisable and revolutionary heroines of the modern era. Teaching them at UA! "Surprise, honey. It's my true love besides my Hero work, being a teacher. The passion of you youngsters, the fire within you to do the right thing..." She shuddered, and Izuku recognised the hungry look he had seen on her face on countless Hero commercials and post-fight videos. "I wouldn't miss teaching here for the world."

"R-Rated, huh..." Tenko looked at the teacher, seemingly unfazed by the slightly flirtatious edge in her tone. "That costume's kinda PEGI 12, if you ask me. What, do they not let you get away with much in a school?"

"Oh, I don't know about that." Midnight smirked at him, and Izuku gulped as he saw the fire flash in her eyes. "I can always get the whip out if you'd prefer me to put you in your place, gamer boy."

Rather against the survival instinct of most, Tenko laughed, as Setsuna backed away from him slightly. "Like you actually have a whip."

Wordlessly, Midnight brushed her fingertips at the buttons of her shirt, then delved a hand inside between her breasts. When she withdrew her hand, lo and behold, there was a rather well kept flogger-whip in her hands. With a flick of her wrist, a snap rang out in the corridor as she flicked it in the direction of Tenko, who jumped back with a squawk and snapped straight up to attention in response.

Gripping both ends of the whip with authority now, Midnight's eyes were full of mirth; she had clearly enjoyed being challenged. "Good boy. I knew you'd get the picture."

Setsuna chuckled, nudging Tenko with an elbow. "You have the survival instincts of a lemming, dude. Sometimes I just don't know what I see in you."

"Oh my, young romance among my students?" The speed at which Midnight switched from sadistic enjoyment to shooting looks of adoration over Tenko and his cousin took Izuku by surprise. "How exciting! You'll have to tell me more later."

"Any time." Setsuna grinned a toothy grin. "You're one of my biggest idols, Miss Midnight. It's a pleasure to meet ya."

"Figures, the way she flirts with me," Tenko muttered under his breath, at a volume only Izuku could pick up on.

"I'm flattered, Miss Tokage," Midnight replied, stashing her whip away. "I'll do my best to live up to it as your teacher... provided you get in, of course."

"YOOOO NEMURI!" The shout from behind Midnight was deafening even without a Quirk being activated, and Izuku's eyes widened at the unmistakable sight of the Voice Hero, Present Mic, sidling up to join Midnight. While a few heroes tried to rock leather jackets and cool sunglasses, nobody else combined it with a giant blonde tuft of hair that rose like a gelled-up cliff to pierce the heavens. "Are we gonna spend all day chatting outside, or are we gonna get this party started? We've got twenty kids to examine and only one day to do it, ya dig?"

"Wait," Izuku asked, thrown by that last comment. "What do you mean, twenty to examine? What happened to the others?"

Midnight threw Present Mic what could only be described as an old-fashioned look, and sighed. "You heard right from my loudmouth friend-"

"HEY!"

"- But I'll explain when we're in." She paused as Present Mic scribbled something on a clipboard he was holding, which appeared to be some sort of register, and then gestured to the open door. "If we're all here, we'll start now... I hope you're ready."

Izuku tried not to gulp at her tone as he and his friends were ushered into the classroom, but as heads turned towards them and other students chimed their greetings, the little part of his personality which appreciated Quirks in all their forms soon overruled any other emotion, and in his excitement he didn't quite know how to even begin to describe just how cool some of these other students looked. His eyes flirted from a girl with pink skin and horns, waving at them from besides a guy with a wide grin and spiky red hair, to another girl whose whole head was covered in a writhing mass of vines for hair, to the stoic young man sat on a desk with the jet-black head of a raven, and even to someone who appeared to be completely invisible, only identifiable due to the T-shirt and skirt she was wearing.

They were the distinctive ones, but even so, Izuku could tell he was surrounded by young people with power at their fingertips. This wasn't just a class of youngsters who wanted to change the world; this was a class that could.

He waved awkwardly to the pink-skinned girl and her redhead friend as he and Himiko slid into seats at the back of the room, Setsuna resting her elbows on his shoulders and her chin in his messy green hair. Tenko scoffed at them and leaned against the wall, lounging as Present Mic and Midnight made their way to the front.

Midnight coughed, and in a moment she had the attention of the room; Izuku had half been expecting Mic to yell at everyone. "Good afternoon. Glad to see you've all taken interest in being heroes."

She gestured elegantly to herself. "My name is Nemuri Kayama and I'll be one of your assessors for the exam today." With a wink, she added, "but you may know me better as Midnight. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

Just in front of him, Izuku heard a boy mutter to another person. "Well well... the R-Rated Hero is still teaching."

He looked at the speaker, a blonde boy with wide eyes and a sarcastic smirk on his face, muttering to a skinny young man with spiky black hair held up by a bandana. Bandana boy chuckled, his feet up on a chair in front of him. "Heh. Still don't get how she's appropriate for a school."

Midnight coughed again, slightly more pointedly this time, and Izuku resisted the urge to laugh as the boys shut up immediately- it wasn't just Tenko she had the better of. "On behalf of Principal Nezu and the rest of the staff at UA, I'm grateful to you all for coming. We appreciate that since a few years ago, UA has taken itself out of the public spotlight, and we know that there is significant pressure on young students to attend elsewhere. In spite of this, you have all applied, and made it through our application process."

Present Mic winked at the gathered students, and spread his arms wide. "Good job on that too, little listeners! You're the only ones who made it here, after all!"

"Eh?" Setsuna asked, in a whisper only Izuku could hear. "What does he mean by that?"

Present Mic appeared to read her mind. "Normally you all would be the first of a few classes of students we would assess, and pick from that group who we want to take forward. In the past we would have matches against training robots, or team exercises we would have a little view of! In times like these though, we've gotta think outside the box, you get me?"

"So we don't get robots..." Himiko trailed off, and Izuku was alarmed to see some of the colour rush from her face. "Oh no."

"We've changed the test this year," Midnight continued, "to reflect that we as a school can no longer afford to run a training program for the numbers we had before. Instead of examining over two hundred students for forty places... you twenty will be the only students we pick from this year."

"Excuse me!" Before the class could kick off a boy shot up in the front row, ramrod straight, and he appeared to chop the air as he spoke. "You say that you will pick from the twenty students assembled here to make a class. Do I take it to mean some of us won't make it into your class?"

Midnight's smirk was evil all of a sudden. "... That's right."

"But UA has always had classes of 20! Surely-"

"These are troubled times, listener," Present Mic interrupted, as the boy sat down abruptly out of deference to the teacher. "We've gotta make sure we're getting the best of the best, you hear me?"

"This is UA, after all, dear students." Midnight's aura had turned sadistic. "As a dear friend of mine would say, if you can't give it your all, you shouldn't be here. Go beyond, Plus Ultra, right?"

"You heard it from her! Plus Ultra all the way, YEAAAAH!"

"Do you wanna tell them how it goes," Midnight asked her fellow teacher with a wink, "while I go and set myself up?"

"Sure thing, Nemuri!" Present Mic, for some reason unknown to Izuku, shot her finger guns as she walked out of a door to the back of the classroom marked 'A' and left with the widest smirk on her face. "This year we aren't fighting robots, or showing off on big stage battles! Midnight loves it intimate, so we're getting up close and personal with a Quirk Assessment presentation! Bet you didn't see that coming, huhhh?"

"Quirk Assessment..." Himiko murmured, so faintly next to Izuku, and he was confused. Why was she now trembling?

"Here's how it works! When I call your name, two of you at a time will go to the back of the class and go through the magic doors of destiny over there!" Present Mic was hyping it up as best as he could to a class of very uncertain students. "Midnight will assess half of you through door A, and a special assessor from outside of UA will do the rest through door B. You'll have five minutes to show off your power and what you can do with it, and show us why you deserve to be a hero student at UA! The rest is up to you, my listeners! ARE YOU READYYYY?!"

Stony silence from a bunch of stunned and slightly petrified teenagers met the scream of their host with the most volume, and to his credit Present Mic didn't bat an eyelid. "It's okay, tough crowd, we'll get more into it as we go! Anyway, random selections for this one, not alphabetical, so first up..." Izuku leaned forward in anticipation. "Ibara Shiozaki!"

The vine-haired girl stood up and bowed her head, an aura of complete calm on her face. "Yes, sir?"

"I heard on the grapevine it's Room A with Midnight for you!" Shiozaki's stoic face didn't budge despite the awful pun, and she moved off towards the back of the room. "And let's see, first up for our special guest assessor... Tenko Shimura! You're the oldest applicant here, so go prove age is just a number, m'kay?"

Tenko rolled his eyes, and pushed off from the back of the wall. As he stopped at Izuku, he offered out one gloved hand to Izuku in a fist. "Guess this is it, huh? I'm about to unlock a whole new skill tree, or lose all my lives."

Izuku made a fist of his own to bump against Tenko's glove. "You're gonna do great, Tenko. Go show them what you're made of."

"Plus Ultra, right?" He swept his blue hair back and grinned at Izuku. "I'll show 'em all."

As Tenko dipped through door B with a nod to Setsuna, Izuku breathed out. "Okay. I guess we have some time to prepare for-" Himiko whirled up out of her chair all of a sudden and disappeared out of sight. "H-Huh? Himiko-"

"She's..." Setsuna looked stunned. "She did not look happy. Where do you think she's-"

Izuku stood up. "I'm going after her."

"Huh? What? Izuku? What gives?!"

"She's upset about something here, and the reason she's here is because I told her she could try." Izuku clenched a fist and made up his mind. "Whatever it is, I've got to try to help."

"Izuku she might not listen! She's not talked to us about stuff before, about her guardian or her Quirk, maybe it's not our business-"

"But maybe if it becomes our business we can help!" Izuku took off towards the door, ignoring the looks from his cousin and others in the class as he yelled over his shoulder. "Meddling in other's business is the essence of a Hero, Setsuna!"

Luckily for Izuku, as he took off out of the classroom door and shut it behind him, he didn't have to look far for Himiko. The blonde girl had fled only so far as the main entrance lobby, where she had crumpled into a heap against the wall on the opposite side, and lifted her head up as he came flying out of the door. "Huh? Izu-"

"Hey, it's okay." He scooted over across the hallway and slid down to sit beside her, offering an arm to sling around her shoulder and bring her in for a hug. "I'm here now."

Despite the fact that her eyes were wide and a small tear had formed in the corner, Himiko snorted and leaned into his hug. "You're coming after me quoting All Might? You're such a dork."

"I'm serious, I'm not going anywhere. Not until I can make you feel better."

"Izuku, I..." She lifted her head to look at him, and he didn't flush at how close they were. "I'm sorry, I just... maybe I'm not cut out for this."

"But you are, Himiko!" He squeezed her shoulder with his hand. "You saved me and Tenko from that Yakuza, I know you can do this-"

"It's not that, I..." Her head fell. "It's just-"

"Is it about your Quirk?"

His blunt question surprised her nearly as much as it surprised him, and her head shot up. "W-What?"

He looked down at the floor, not making eye contact. "I... I know you've always shied away from telling us when we practiced with ours. And now we're here at UA and they want us all to show off. I... kinda guessed it might be to do with that."

Himiko seemed to slump in his hug, and clearly she felt there was no reason to deny it. "... I'm that obvious, huh?"

"H-Hey, it's not that. You're always really honest with us about anything, which sometimes makes me a mess because you can be far more open than we can. Your Quirk is one of the things you don't feel that way about."

"I guess..."

"I'm not gonna push you to say." He squeezed his arm tighter around her. "You... have your reasons, whatever it is for saying. I want you to be whatever you want to be, but I'm not gonna do anything to upset you. If you want to tell me what it is, or even why you don't want to say, I'll listen, but.."

"But?"

He nodded. "If I have to sit out here with you and stay like this until you're happier, I will."

For a moment he saw a blush form on her face and despite everything he couldn't help but smile, but it passed in the blink of an eye. For what seemed like an age, he just sat there in silence, feeling her breathe in and out and letting her get herself steady. He wasn't going to force anything from her- not one of his crew, one of his friends.

"Izuku?"

"Hmm?"

Himiko seemed to stabilise herself for a question, and when it came out her voice was as low as he'd heard it in a while. "What if... people would hate my Quirk?"

"Hate it?" He frowned. "Why would people hate it?"

"All my life..." Himiko wavered, but then she seemed to make up her mind as one of her hands squeezed his hand on her shoulder, and she soldiered on. "All my life, everyone who learned my Quirk does told me I was a monster. They told me I was evil, tried to change me. Nobody believed I could do what I want to do except my guardian and my big bro..."

She tilted her head to look up at him, and Izuku was taken aback by how deep and soulful those feline yellow eyes of her had become. "Izuku... you believe in me. You say the sweetest things I've heard and you're nothing but cute to me. But... can you still say that? Even knowing I have a monster's Quirk, can you be true and tell me that you like me, that you believe in me?"

"I can and I will."

She raised her eyebrows as he responded. "N-No hesitation-"

"I don't need to think about it, Himiko." He squeezed her hand back. "I believe in you, and that's final."

"But my Quirk-"

"Nobody is defined by their Quirk, Himiko." Izuku remembered the things that his mother had said, all that time ago when they first learned the truth of his power and what he could do. "What their Quirk or how it works... that doesn't matter. You could have a Quirk that people think is good used by the worst villain, and it wouldn't matter. The Quirk isn't important... it's the person who uses it and what they want to do."

"I don't know what your Quirk is, but..." Izuku tilted his head sideways, and leant his head against hers. "I believe in you."

For what seemed like an age, Himiko was quiet and her eyes were closed. "... Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah." She nudged his head with her own and turned to look at him, seeming to steel herself in a mighty effort that seemed to steady her breathing. "Izuku... I... wanna tell you something."

"A-About you?"

"Yeah..." Himiko looked down for a second. "I'm gonna tell you about me, and about my Quirk, and what it did to me, but only if you promise one thing."

"Anything."

"Okay..." Himiko moved his hand off her shoulder and squeezed it in her own. "If you hear it, and it changes how you feel about whether you believe in me, tell me. If you think I'm not cut out for being a hero, then say. I... I trust you. More than I've trusted anyone in a while. So I need to hear it from you, okay?"

Izuku wouldn't say what was in his heart- that he would never tell her that he didn't believe in her, or that she wasn't right for this. She didn't need to hear that, in case she thought he wasn't being honest. If she wanted to talk, then it had to be on her terms and she had to know she was being listened to genuinely. "Okay. I promise, Himiko."

She took a deep breath, blinked those yellow eyes and looked at him, and Izuku saw that the look on her face was something more serious than he'd ever seen. But this wasn't anger or rage that had made her serious- there was something deep and painful on her face, a sense of sadness and resignation. Whatever she was about to say was going to hurt her.

"Okay, here goes..."

(***)

"So you're the miniboss for this Quirk Assessment, huh? Gotta say you're not what I was expecting."

Whatever Tenko had been expecting in the next room, it was not the impeccably well-dressed man with the slicked and combed-over green hair. He didn't look like a teacher, with a very fancy suit and a weird spotty tie, and he certainly didn't look like a Pro Hero. He was exactly the sort of person Tenko would have expected to have seen standing on the train for his morning commute, or sat in the last seat in the row reading the headlines in a newspaper; in fact, as Tenko had walked into the assessment room, the man had been scouring the columns of today's paper and marking it up with, bizarrely, an All Might themed pen.

The man behind the desk pocketed his pen, and began to neatly fold the newspaper without looking up. "I presume you were expecting a recognised teacher of UA High when you walked through this door."

Something about the man's tone set Tenko on edge slightly. He hadn't asked it as a question, he was absolutely certain he knew how Tenko was thinking, and while he was correct, something about that made him wary. "If you're saying that then you're not a teacher here. In that case, why are you here to test me?"

"Good question," the man responded, not at all sounding offended by the confrontational tone Tenko had taken. "I am here at the personal invite of Principal Nezu. You will note that this year the student intake at this school is substantially reduced. The calibre of applications has diminished, but even among those deemed worthy of further examination, UA wish to make sure of certain... qualities among their applicants. As such, I was invited to assess these qualities and give my second opinion."

"And I'm one of the ones who has extra qualities?" Tenko grinned, with no humour behind it; this man's bluntness was getting to him. "I guess I should thank you for the special treatment."

"Perhaps. Although you may wish to hold back until you are certain you've passed." There was absolutely no humour in the man's voice as he scribbled a note on a piece of paper which looked like a report. "While my duties as a Pro Hero include combat, I specialise in analysis and investigation, and I leave no stone unturned. Forgive me if, in being forensic, you feel somewhat uncomfortable by my analysis. I assure you I only mean to learn the truth, Mister Shimura."

"Analysis..." Tenko ignored the emphasis the man put on his family name, and paused. He had just put some of the pieces together. "Hey... wait..."

"Is something the matter?"

"I... I think know who you are." Tenko frowned, taking a good look at the man as he steepled his fingers and looked down at the paper report in front of him. "Izuku talks about you, I've seen you in his movie collection and on his merchandise. You're... the sidekick, aren't you? All Might's former partner."

"Izuku..." The man looked at a separate sheet of paper, and nodded. "Izuku Midoriya, your friend, another applicant here today?"

"That's him. He's an All Might fanboy." Tenko snorted to himself. "All of his nerding out rubbed off on me after all."

"It would seem that way. If your friend is an All Might fanboy, then I'm sure I will have appeared in his video collection at some point."

The man stood up and looked Tenko in the eyes, piercing yellow meeting flashing red. "Forgive me, Tenko Shimura, for not introducing myself properly. My name is Sir Nighteye."

"I'm here to see what the future holds for you."

(***)

Izuku Midoriya, Himiko Toga, Setsuna Tokage. Aged: 15.

Tenko Shimura. Aged: 17.

Nemuri Kayama (Midnight) and Hizashi Yamada (Present Mic). Aged: 30.

Mirai Sasaki, Sir Nighteye. Aged: 38.

Chapter 18: People Always Reaching For The Top

The mats they were fighting on were supposed to be soft, but that didn't lessen the impact when he was slammed to the floor by the massive, flaming palm that had struck him in the chest and lifted him off his feet in a monstrous strike.

"Better."

Katsuki growled, gritting his teeth against the pain that was coursing against his ribs, as he looked up into the eyes of his assailant. "How the hell was that any better than the last? I went down in fifteen seconds-"

"Previously it was ten." The palm on his chest was lifted and the flames flickering on the forearms of his attacker simmered down from the intense levels they had been at during the fight. "Progress may be small, but it is progress."

"Urgh..." Katsuki's own forearms were starting to ache, and as he pushed himself upright he winced at the sting in his palms from overuse of his Quirk. "Dammit... you put me on the ground every time we do this within the first few hits. How do you-"

"I'm going to stop you before you start complaining that you aren't the strongest one around anymore, Bakugo." The giant of a man looked down at him and made no effort to offer him a hand up. "You're telegraphing."

"Telegraphing? The hell does that-"

"It means you're making moves that are too obvious for me not to pick up on." There was no trace of humour on his mentor's face, but to his relief Katsuki didn't see a sense of disappointment; he had to be doing something right. "You're fighting me. You're a fifteen year old boy with one fight under your belt and no field experience, going up against the Pro Hero with the highest number of villain takedowns of all time. Do you think I've not seen any of your moves before?"

"I'm... predictable?" Katsuki paused, hating the level of uncertainty that crept into his voice as he asked that. He'd had the strongest Quirk in the whole of Aldera Junior High by miles, whatever that damn Deku had to say about it, and he'd worked for years since the death of All Might to train himself up so that he could outmuscle whatever came in front of him. Boxing, Muay Thai, ju jitsu, classes which had all been welcome distractions from the world around him and stepping stones to help him on his path to be stronger than even All Might himself.

Or so he had thought. Now, it seemed he was just predictable.

His mentor frowned, fiery eyebrows scrunching, and stood firm. "If you want me to spell it out for you, I will. You always start a fight by trying to land the first blow, and you lead with a right hook. You try to use your Quirk to gain the high ground over an attacker, and you overextend yourself by doing so."

"Huh..."

"To your credit, there is some hope." His attacker turned his flaming back on him and strode across to the other side of the mat as if preparing for another round. "I can see you've taken classes, but you know enough to restrain yourself from slipping into routine combinations. And considering how your Quirk works, you power up the more desperate you become-"

"Who are you calling desperate?!"

"Oh, you're not? Then show me." Endeavor turned and planted himself in a combat stance, a vicious smirk on his face. "Or is fifteen seconds the best you can manage, future Number One?"

Oh, he couldn't take that. "I'LL SHOW YOU!"

The dojo Endeavor had taken him to was one Katsuki had never heard of before, which surprised him considering that it was only two or three blocks away from Katsuki's own home. The walls were mostly plain except for a few posters advertising fight club meets for underground brawlers and vigilantes, and the place looked quite run-down even before Katsuki and Endeavor had blasted huge gouges and scorch marks into the floor and walls; it absolutely wasn't the sort of place that Katsuki would have expected Japan's top Hero to consider a perfect spot to train. Then again, until a few weeks ago Katsuki Bakugo hadn't even known that Endeavor lived just half a mile from him. Until a few weeks ago he had still hoped to get into UA.

How times changed.

Endeavor's training of him had been utterly brutal, uncompromising, and had begun at an intensity that hadn't dropped no matter what they were doing. Exactly as it should have been, in Katsuki's eyes- he would not have agreed to be taken under Endeavor's wing if he was going to be treated like a child, and not pushed to go beyond his absolute limits. There was no vacuous ego-building about Katsuki's strong Explosion Quirk, no blind eye willing to look the other way whenever any faults became visible. Endeavor was hard on him, relentlessly so, and Katsuki knew because of this that the flaming devil at the top of Japan's hero lists really did want him to surpass him.

Endeavor raised one flaming eyebrow as his fists ignited, looking over Katsuki as he marched towards him, deliberately not charging at breakneck speed so he didn't get clotheslined again. "Oh? You're approaching me?"

Katsuki growled at the ancient reference, the familiar spark of Explosion popping in his palms as he strode towards the Flame Hero. "You wanna treat me like a joke? I'll wipe the floor with you!"

What happened next was a blur to Katsuki and he still wasn't quite clear what had happened. He knew that he had feinted with his right arm, drawing it back as if to swing a punch knowing full well that Endeavor had read his starting move and would take the bait. At the same time, he brought up the left hand and blasted out the largest Explosion that his aching palms could manage in a palm-strike, at near point-blank range to his mentor's face, knowing full well that Endeavor didn't have time to dodge...

His Explosion was met with a blast of Hellflame from Endeavor's neck and beard that overwhelmed the blast and sent it crashing sky-high, nearly putting a hole in the old ceiling. Endeavor moved with frightening speed, speed which didn't match the size of the Pro or his bulk, and before Katsuki knew it his left arm had been seized in a flaming fist the size of a bear paw. "When someone tells you it's predictable to lead with your right, it's even more predictable to immediately then lead with your left."

"BASTARD!" Katsuki brought his right arm down now and smashed his palm against Endeavor's chest, feeling the thump as his right hand's Explosion shook the man. "GET OFF!"

"With pleasure." Something about the man's tone gave him a split second of alarm before he was hefted and thrown across the mat, landing with a crunch on its very edge. He didn't have time to get his breath back before he felt the bulky Pro land on his back and press a knee into his spine, his arms pinned to the floor by two fists wreathed in Hellflame. "Yield."

"Damn you-"

"Yield." The flames intensified as Katsuki turned his mouth to the side and tried to bite at Endeavor's fist pinning his right hand down, and for a brief moment Katsuki's sheer anger at being pinned nearly overwhelmed his self-preservation instincts to try to carry on the bite. "You're done, Bakugo."

"GRAGH!" With a scream and the pop of Explosions against the hardwood, Katsuki tapped his forehead against the floor. He wouldn't ever voice his submission- there was far too much pride in him to ever say that- but he'd been beaten, and read like a book in the process.

"Eighteen seconds. Another improvement."

"DAMMIT!" Endeavor's mocking tone left Katsuki fuming and looking for an outlet. The Number One Hero had told Katsuki that he wanted to make him his apprentice, to mould him into his successor at the top of the pile, to give him the chance to prove that he was a Hero no matter what the Hero Commission might say. Katsuki had to be strong. He had to prove to Endeavor that he was worth the investment and that he would be the greatest, that he would overcome being banned from UA and Commission training to be a symbol of a new era.

He wouldn't let it carry on like this.

"Something to say, Bakugo?"

Katsuki snarled, rolling onto his back to glare at his mentor as he stood there looking down at him with an unreadable expression. "You fucking listen to me, Human Torch! I'm not giving up, you hear me?! I don't care how many times you wanna slap me around, I'll bury you one day!"

"Is that so?"

"I'll show you. I'll blast every last one of you out of my way and become the Number One. I'll be stronger than All Might ever was, and make all those scumbag villains in the world fear my name! You'll be lucky to last even five seconds against me then!"

Endeavor's stoic face cracked finally into a smirk wreathed with Hellflame, and a gleam in his eyes which almost looked like... pride? "Good. You're exactly as I hoped you would be."

"The hell do you mean?"

"Clearly it hurts you being beaten by me." Endeavor walked forward, each stride of his boot pounding against the hardwood floor. "You're not humble. You're not dignified. You're outraged and hurt every single time you lose."

"If you're gonna tell me I need to work on that then I'm walking out that damn door-"

"And if I ever told you to change that I'd walk out that door myself."

"Huh?" Now that wasn't what Katsuki expected.

Endeavor pulled him upright with ease and clamped a hand down on his shoulder. "You don't just want to save people, you want to be Number One. And if you want to be Number One, you need to have drive and ambition. You want to beat every villain, save every civilian, be stronger than everyone else. Don't you ever let up on that."

Katsuki looked up and tried not to flinch under the intensity of his mentor's gaze, fire from his beard and eyebrows causing Endeavor's eyes to shimmer. "I'm not the sort of Hero who will tell you not to beat yourself up if you fail. If you can't save a life, if someone gets away, I want it to eat away at you, to hurt you, and for you to get back up after that and work yourself to the bone to get back on track. That's what makes someone worthy of the top- not the ability to shrug off their failures, but the ability to carry them into every victory they ever have."

"Katsuki Bakugo, you have the same fire I see in myself. It's why I took you as an Apprentice after you took the law into your own hands. You will beat yourself up for every opportunity you ever miss to beat a villain, to save someone, to not be the strongest you can be. Show me you can carry that into your victories, and you won't just be a good Apprentice, my best sidekick. You'll be better than all of them."

Katsuki felt the explosions crackle in his palms at the idea, something inside him roaring like a lion, and did the only thing he could do- grin at Endeavor like a feral animal waiting to be released into the wild. "Just watch me."

"That's the spirit." Endeavor smirked back, but then some foreign emotion seemed to flicker over his mentor's face for a second. "You might just be the one who lives up to my expectations, after all."

Katsuki was perceptive enough to realise what that look was, and what he meant by that last comment. He wasn't stupid- he had seen the headlines. "Your son didn't like the tough love then, huh?"

If Endeavor was fazed by his comment he didn't show it. "If by son you mean Shoto, then no. Shoto resented the Quirk I had given him as much as he resented the changes I helped bring to the system. I haven't seen him since that day."

"So you trained your other son too? Natsuo, isn't it?" Katsuki had sat through enough hero infomercials to know the ins and outs of one of the most famous families and Japan.

Endeavor paused, blinked, and Katsuki realised that his mentor had misspoken, and was weighing up what he could say next. "... Not Natsuo."

The significance of that comment was not lost on Katsuki. "You... have another son?"

"Had. Touya. He could have been stronger than me too but he... objected to my methods. To my vision. And then... he lost control." Endeavor nodded finally, and Katsuki realised that he had been trusted with something awful and something untold in being given this knowledge. "He's... not around anymore."

Katsuki shuffled awkwardly, not knowing what to say. "Dammit. Nobody knows, huh?"

"Best keep it that way." Endeavor looked at him, and Katsuki felt the weight of years of secrets behind that gaze. "I trust that with you I can finish what I tried with my sons, hence why I can say that. You will excel where they could not. But you will not tell anyone, or there will be no corner of this country dark enough that you can hide from me."

"I get it." Katsuki was half expecting the threat, and wasn't about to lose face by letting it intimidate him. "Third time's the charm, huh?"

Endeavor huffed, the corner of his mouth turning up. "Something like that."

"Yo, Endeavor! Finished beating the shit outta the new kid yet?"

A vein on Katsuki's forehead bulged at the sound of that fired-up voice from behind him. Not her! "What the hell is she doing here?"

"I think you might like the answer to that question," Endeavor replied cryptically, as he and Katsuki turned to face the newcomer, flaming green hair writhing around despite there being no breeze in the dojo. "Burnin. I assume our designers finished what I asked for?"

"You got it! Although if he's being a brat I don't think he deserves it..."

"HRAGH! What is with you, Bed Head?"

"See! No need to be like that with me, Bomberman!"

Katsuki had gotten used to most things since he joined Endeavor's Agency as the new Hero Apprentice, and the sidekicks were one of those things. Endeavor had over thirty sidekicks, all of whom were competent Heroes who could have easily set up their own Agency and gone pro in the days before the Hero Commission tightened their grip. Despite this the literal hothead that was Moe Kamiji, Burnin, was one sidekick he just couldn't get used to. She was loud and obnoxious and fired-up as a default setting, and Katsuki fluctuated on an hourly basis between thinking she was the funniest one there and butting heads with her in sheer frustration. The loudmouth set his teeth on edge sometimes.

One thing was for sure though. Katsuki absolutely didn't like the suggestion from Kido, one of the other sidekicks, that he was pretending to not like Burnin because they were the same person on the inside. He was nothing like her!

He growled and forced himself to look at her stupid grinning face. "Why did you even come here? Aren't you supposed to be over in Hosu for the next month?"

Burnin grinned at him and wrapped an arm over his shoulder, pulling him into a headlock of a hug. "No dumbass, that's Onima! I've been working on something for you- orders of the boss!"

"GET OFF ME!" Katsuki wrenched himself out of the headlock and glared at her. "What do you mean, something for me?"

Burnin reached into the pockets of her grey jacket, the fire extinguisher she wore on her back clinking, and winked as she pulled two orange and black objects out. "Every wannabe hero needs support items to max their potential right? Think of these as a welcome present, Blasty!"

Katsuki was a little shocked by what he saw. What at first appeared to be black kevlar gloves turned out to be gauntlets with a mounted black and orange box on the top, orange flame decals that matched the insignia worn by a number of the Flaming Sidekicks (as Burnin had named them). They looked sleek and chunky and not at all cumbersome, and Katsuki's eyes were drawn to the chrome muzzle that poked out of the end of each of the black boxes. "They're... for me?"

"You will recall," Endeavor rumbled behind him, "that my Agency is sponsored closely by Detnerat, the support item company. I pulled a few strings to get you a welcome present."

Katsuki took them from a grinning Burnin and slipped his hands in, feeling how well they fitted and how light the boxes were on top. After a second, he finally put two and two together. "These... are storage tanks. You did this for my Quirk, huh?"

"He's smarter than he looks!" Burnin crowed, ignoring the angry twitch from Katsuki. "Sweat storage so you can keep reserves up for use in a fight! Targeted shots using the muzzle or one big blast like a grenade if you wanna make a big bang. Pretty neat, huh?"

"... Huh." Katsuki echoed Burnin, but he couldn't contain the grin that spread on his face. "Pretty handy."

"You're welcome." Endeavor nodded, clearly not expecting his new apprentice to say thank you. "Your Quirk, like mine, is indiscriminate and dangerous in its application. The potential for damage is catastrophic, although sometimes unavoidably so. By giving you gauntlets like these, I can at least afford you the choice to be precise, and make an impact where needed. Maybe you might escape some of the collateral damage headlines that keep chasing me around."

Katsuki hadn't respected Endeavor when he agreed to become his Apprentice. He had been incredibly angry with the Flame Hero when he had helped change society and allowed the worst among us a way in, and he was still pissed at how sore he was from being beaten up by the Pro. But somewhere in there was a man who was giving him the chance to prove he could be Number One, a man actively looking to make his chances better. Now, no matter how much he didn't want to feel that way, Katsuki couldn't help but respect the man a little. "I'll... add them into my costume when we get back to the Agency."

Endeavor's smile was small and fleeting, but it was there, as he turned and headed for the door. "See that you do. We'll head back there now, anyway. I think we've done enough for today."

"How long did he last?"

Endeavor didn't turn to look at his grinning sidekick, as Katsuki and Burnin followed him to the exit of the dojo. "... Eighteen."

Burnin whistled through her teeth, and clapped a tense Katsuki on the back. "Nice going, squirt! Onima and I didn't think you'd get past ten!"

Katsuki snarled. "Bet you wouldn't last more than ten against me, you damn sidekick extra."

"Oh, big talk for a kid with no licence-"

"Kamiji?"

Burnin perked up as Endeavor's voice cut across their argument, seeing him stopped still at the door. "Boss?"

"Were you followed here?"

"Nah, I came alone? Why do you..." She trailed off as she looked through the door and saw who had gathered outside. "Oh shit."

Katsuki clenched his fists. "Villains?" Then he saw through a gap between Endeavor and his sidekick, and he realised what they were dealing with...

Reporters. Lots and lots of news reporters.

Another of the things Katsuki had just about got used to since joining the Endeavor Agency was just how relentlessly pursued by the press they all were. Even before he had become Number One, Endeavor had courted controversy for his manner towards civilians and collateral damage, and the press had swarmed to cover his darkest hours like feasting locusts. In a world without All Might, with all the changes to the hero system and the public backlash against a wide range of heroes, Endeavor had found himself the figurehead of a new world hated by many, and an even bigger target was painted on his back. Now every day seemed to be a new story about a failure in the system, an allegation against the Flame Hero, a new villain emerging, and they wouldn't stop following them.

Katsuki had only encountered them a couple of times himself, and had been ignored in the background on those occasions as the hungry reporters descended on Endeavor hoping to bait him into a sound bite for their causes. That was half of the trouble with it all these days; nobody knew who owned half of these stations or what their agendas were, whatever criticism they had about the state of society. Some of them seemed to actively contribute towards the decay, encouraging incidents and baying for blood, fear-mongering to generate the next story for their front pages. It seemed less about reporting the news, or giving people good headlines to look at, and more about finding the angle for attack.

Not that Katsuki minded if the reporters left him alone. The incident at Tatooin Station with Mount Lady and Kamui Woods that led to him being banned from Hero Schools and being taken on by Endeavor had generated a lot of publicity. Against his better judgement he had read some of the comments in the newspapers about his own actions, and he would sooner forget some of those reports. He knew what he had done was outside the law and was vigilantism, he didn't expect praise for it, but some had called him reckless, violent, dangerous, a criminal. All for trying to do the right thing.

Unfortunately today it didn't look like they would be left alone; the reporters had seen movement behind the glass window in the door as Endeavor approached, and had spotted the trio instantly. Camera flashes were already going off; so much for a lucky escape.

"How the hell did they even know we were here?!" Burnin cried, looking wildly between the reporters and the looks of glee on their faces at cornering the Number One Hero and his crew. "We haven't used this dojo in weeks-"

"It doesn't matter how they knew," Endeavor growled, cutting her off immediately. "They could have followed you, they could have spoken to the dojo owner in advance of me coming, someone could have posted something on the Hero Network. What matters is we don't give them what they want. Do you understand?"

"S-Sir!"

Katsuki didn't know if it was fear or admiration that drove her to about-turn in tone so quickly, but there was something in the tone of Endeavor that held so much command that it had immediately reined in his most fiery and passionate sidekick. He was so strong you could even feel it in his voice, and whatever Bakugo's own opinions on the man, he couldn't help but be a little impressed. "Tch. Leave the talking to you, right?"

"I'm the one they're always after, so yes," Endeavor replied, clapping him on the shoulder. "Just keep silent. While I regret that we cannot drive back to the Agency, it's only a short walk. We'll be free of them before you know it."

The door swung open in front of Katsuki before he had the chance to reply, and like a tidal wave the horde of press descended on Endeavor, Katsuki and Burnin.

"Endeavor, have you heard anything from your son?"

"Will you be making repayments to the Onabusa family for the tragic death of their son yesterday-"

"Endeavor, what's your comment on the Hero Commission's criticism of the Pro Hero Kamui Woods?"

"Are you concerned for Shoto Todoroki's whereabouts?"

Not even the blunt question about his wayward son broke Endeavor's composure. For a pillar of flame, Katsuki admired how cold he could be sometimes. "Excuse me, everyone. It's been a long afternoon and we have a strategy meeting with the Chief of Police tonight, so put your questions and requests for interviews in writing to my Agency. Someone will be in touch when we have the time to talk. That is all. Let us pass, now."

"More polite than he usually is," Burnin muttered conspiratorially to Katsuki, but it appeared that as their group walked off briskly in the direction of the Agency, the reporters hadn't been deterred. The bulk of the group followed them, invading his space as they jabbed microphones towards Endeavor like swords, and Katsuki ground his teeth as he slouched behind Endeavor, trying not to pop off an Explosion in his palms.

"Endeavor, will you be supporting Sir Nighteye's investigations into the Yakuza?"

"Do you have any shred of guilt for what happened to the Onabusa family-"

"How much does the chairman of Detnerat pay you to-"

"Katsuki Bakugo, do you ever think you'll be a Hero?"

Katsuki stiffened at the sound of his name and that cry, and stopped dead in his tracks. That voice, so passionate, so excited and yet asking such a harsh question as if it were normal, had silenced the rest of the reporters. "Who the hell was that?"

"That's my question to you, Katsuki." The crowd of reporters parted like the sea with murmurs of shock from the gathered reporters, and Katsuki came face to face with the voice that had called him out. The woman in question stood out among her peers, not least for her blue skin and lilac purple hair swept back over her ears, but it was the look on her face that stunned Katsuki- wide eyes and an even wider smile, as if somehow she was excited to meet him. "Chitose Kizuki, from Shoowaysha Publishing. Do you ever think you'll be a Hero?"

"My Apprentice is not answering questions," Endeavor said, striding in and tugging on Katsuki's sleeve. "None of us are."

"And yet he makes me want to ask so many." Kizuki looked him up and down, and Katsuki noticed the murmurs from the other reporters, almost reverent in their tone now. Whoever she was, she was known in their circles. "I can't believe you're Endeavor's Apprentice now, Katsuki. After everything that happened in Tatooin, this must be a lifeline for you?"

Katsuki growled now, feeling something crawl up his spine. There was something far too friendly about her tone and something scary about how much she seemed to know. "Am I supposed to know who you are?"

"Bakugo-"

"Maybe not, but I know so much about you!" Kizuki clapped- she actually clapped- and beamed at him, oblivious to the frantic scrambling of the other reporters to take notes and pictures. "Katsuki Bakugo, fifteen years old, Aldera Junior High student until a month of so ago. Your power is Explosion- you sweat nitroglycerin from your palms, right? How do you keep such a destructive power under control?"

Katsuki opened his mouth to bite back at her and tell her to piss off, but she was in full flow now. "Maybe that power is why they were so quick to ban you from all the Hero Schools in Japan, after you destroyed those shops fighting the villain in Tatooin! And to think you've ended up still becoming a Hero Apprentice despite that- I can see the story now! Nowhere left to turn, nobody showing you faith, until you find Endeavor, a demon of destruction just like home... and yet you rise to become a Hero despite how much they fear you!"

"Leave him alone!" Burnin cried, although she wasn't quick enough to plant herself between Katsuki and Kizuki. "Hey-"

"So tell me, Katsuki!" Kizuki had gotten far too close to him now and looked at him with eyes wide with anticipation and a disturbing excited grin. "The Hero Commission think you're too dangerous to be a Hero? Are you really gonna be a great Hero?"

"That's enough!" Endeavor barked, clearly having enough of the situation. "Bakugo, we're leaving now-"

"NO."

Even the fearless Endeavor flinched at the venom in that tone, and everyone except the excited Kizuki took a step back from Katsuki, who by now was vibrating with anger. "Bakugo-"

"You listen to me, now." It took every fibre of Katsuki's willpower to not launch into a tirade of swears at this woman who was intent to get under his skin, and had just managed to do it. She wanted a soundbite from him? He'd give her one. "You wanna know why I did what I did at Tatooin?"

She smirked, and there was something wolf-like about the smile. "I'm all ears, Katsuki!"

"I did what I did because nobody else was doing anything to fix the real mess!" He realised all of the other reporters had their attention on him now, including their cameras, but he just didn't care. "There were two Hero Commission Pro Heroes there, and what did they do? Those bastards started a fight with the Pro who had already caught the villain, and let the scumbag get back up. They wanted to fight each other for glory rather than beat the bad guy, so someone had to do something!"

"And that someone was you?" She asked, impishly.

"I didn't see anyone else there!" He ignored the way the corners of her mouth turned up as his emotions spilled out. "What was I supposed to do? Stand by and let the villain do what he wanted? That guy needed to be put down before he hurt more people, and the only person willing to do it was me!"

Katsuki took a moment to breathe, and what he had been bottling up for a number of weeks came pouring out. "Yeah I was a vigilante. Yeah it's against the law. I'm not gonna bullshit you and say that what I did was completely right because I knew it was illegal and I still did it. I still would, because it's a stupid law to say that if you want to help someone, you can't. When we can't rely on the Hero Commission to keep us all safe, what are we supposed to do?"

The whispers became frantic among the reporters, and a couple seemed to check that their cameras were working. Kizuki just raised a delicate eyebrow. "So you don't have confidence in the Hero Commission to keep people safe?"

"Hell no," Katsuki snarled, ignoring the nudge of Burnin beside him. "All Might kept people safe. All Might wasn't afraid to put his life in danger or go after the worst villains. He gave his life fighting the worst of all. The people we're left with care more about politics and stamping on little people than being Heroes! What kinda bastard pretends to be a Hero when they can't even keep people safe from villains? When they won't keep them safe?"

"So what would you say to the argument that the Commission tried to keep people safe by banning you from becoming a Hero?" Kizuki looked fascinated by his answers. "They said your powers are dangerous and that because you act outside the law, you are not fit to be a Hero-"

"As if they have any right to judge me!" Katsuki pounded his chest. "These people changed the laws on collateral damage, and then because I'm strong they don't like it anymore? It's bullshit! I've worked for years and years to be even stronger than All Might, so I can be a Hero and beat every villain that gets in my way- don't try and tell me I don't have enough control to be a Hero!"

"The heart of a Hero, with all that power... so inspiring to all those with dangerous abilities!" Kizuki's eyes were almost glistening at his response, and that just seemed to anger him more. "And what do you say to all those people out there with powers like you? All those people afraid they can't do anything because they're afraid what people may see when they use their abilities?"

"Who cares what people might think? If you wanna do something for good and you've got a strong power, use it. And if you use it for evil..." Katsuki lit up his palms and took great satisfaction in the fact that all of the reporters bar Kizuki stepped back from him. "... then just know I'll hunt you down myself."

He turned to look at the blue-skinned woman and sneered. "How's that for your soundbite?"

"Perfect." She beamed at him, and actually waved. "Call me if you wanna talk more, Katsuki!"

"Okay, we're done here-" Katsuki felt Endeavor pull at his shoulders and he turned to continue the walk towards the Agency. "We've said enough for today. Out of our way."

As they left the reporters behind, Katsuki cursed under his breath, before turning to Burnin as they walked. "... Guess I'm in trouble now, huh?"

"Running your mouth in front of Chitose Kizuki with the cameras running? I dunno." Burnin shot a deadpan look over to Endeavor. "He might not burn you alive immediately."

"We're out of earshot," Endeavor interrupted, stopping dead in the middle of the road and pointing down it towards the Agency. "Burnin, get Bakugo back to the Agency and wait for me in my office. We need to talk-"

"Am I-"

"In trouble?" Endeavor looked him up and down. "What you said wasn't wrong, and in some ways it's reassured me I picked the right Apprentice. You have the same motivation as I do. But the issue isn't what you said, it's who was listening to it, both the Commission and others."

"Others?"

"I'll explain when we're back." Endeavor clapped a hand on his shoulder. "All I'll say for now is that there are villains out there in the shadows unlike anything you've seen before. I'll need every bit of your strength if we can defeat them."

"Then where the hell are you going now-"

"To make a call. I'll be with you soon." Endeavor snapped to his Flaming Sidekick. "Burnin, go. I'll be with you as soon as I can."

"Yessir." Burnin turned to Katsuki, tugging at his arm with surprising strength as she hauled him away. "Come on slowpoke! Leave the boss to it already!"

Katsuki held for just a second, but when he saw the look from Endeavor it sealed the deal, and he began to run after Burnin. Endeavor was usually so implacable, but something had crept into his eyes which was a look he'd never seen before on the face of the Number One, no matter how great the adversity. Endeavor was concerned...

Just how deep a mess had he gotten himself involved in?

(***)

Enji Todoroki watched his Apprentice and favourite Sidekick disappear towards the Agency, and let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding in. Bakugo had no idea what he'd just found himself in the middle of, and he had wanted time before he introduced Bakugo to the darkest investigation his agency was involved in, to the corruption at the very heart of hero society; now he didn't have that luxury.

If everything he feared was correct, Katsuki Bakugo had just become a person of interest to them.

Fishing his mobile phone from his utility belt, the phone only rang once before it was picked up. "Enji. I think I can guess what this is about."

"Tsukauchi," Endeavor acknowledged, thankful that the most reliable man in all of Japan had picked up. There was no need to waste time with pleasantries with him; Detective Tsukauchi was someone he had known even back when All Might was still alive. Endeavor was rather glad he had his help on this investigation. "Did you watch it?"

"If you're talking about your new Apprentice's first TV interview, yeah I did." There was a brief, humourless laugh from the Detective. "I can't say I'd normally advise declaring war on the Hero Commission, but the boy's said what a lot of us are thinking. I can't fault honesty."

"Did you hear who was interviewing him?" Endeavor asked.

"... Kizuki? The one from Shoowaysha, right?"

"That's her. Did you notice what I did about her?"

"Let's for a moment assume that you and I both know you're not talking about her having blue skin." Tsukauchi made a little noise, and only a few people like Endeavor would know that the man grimaced without seeing his face. "Her words. They're instant red flags."

"Ability and power, but never Quirk." Endeavor banged a flaming fist against the alley wall in anger. "She's connected to the Meta Liberation Army."

"It's circumstantial at the moment but..." The pause was heavy, pregnant. "It's concerning."

"She might be paid by them, she might be a believer, or she might be a member. Given her experience and networks, if she's a member, she's high ranking. Either way, she's walking around in public talking about Quirks in the language of Destro. Something doesn't add up."

There was a low noise as if Tsukauchi was whistling through his teeth. "I don't like what you're saying, but it checks out. I'll pull on a few threads- I assume you don't want active surveillance?"

"For now. We need a meeting in the next few days to see what we can find on her before we risk exposing ourselves. I'll have my people look too." Endeavor paused. "I'm bringing the boy to the meeting."

"After comments like that, you may forgive me for being worried he might share their beliefs."

"He's fierce, but a group like the Army are the sort of people he would hate more than anything," Endeavor vouched. "Bakugo needs to learn what hides in the shadows, because I think he's one of the few who would still stand firm against them."

"Emphasis on the few." There was a long pause from Tsukauchi. "I'll pull some strings, but we have to be careful how we handle this. Keep your cards close to your chest, Enji. We don't know how far their influence stretches."

"Agreed." Endeavor nodded. "I'll call you, Detective."

The phone clicked off without a further warning and Endeavor slipped it back into the utility belt, his other fist still aflame and balled against the alley wall. If any passer-by saw him, they would think he was despairing, broken, as if something on the phone had completely destroyed him. In reality, he was furious.

For the last few years, his investigation into the insidious Meta Liberation Army had thrown up nothing but dead ends. Endeavor had kept it quiet, not informing the public of the group's existence or his Agency's investigation, as he tried to piece together the leadership of this great threat to society on his own. But at every turn, zealots and Meta Ability fanatics had refused to give him the answers, and the key to identifying the heirs to Destro's throne had eluded him time after time. Now, it was as if they were mocking him, with someone so prominent throwing out all the buzzwords in broad daylight without a care in the world.

Society didn't want him as Number One. They didn't want him as a Hero full stop. But if he could do one thing before he was replaced, Endeavor vowed, he would wipe the scheming Army from the face of the earth.

"Bad move," he growled to himself. "I'm coming for you now..."

(***)

As the blood dripped from his sword, and he heard nothing but whispers behind him, the Hero Killer found himself enthralled by the display on the television screen.

Stain's views on Endeavor were relatively simple, and after all he had heard about the brute's capacity for violence, his lack of empathy, his complete disregard for minimising the risk of anyone being caught in the crossfire, he had decided. Endeavor would have to be purged, as one of the most guilty of all. But this Apprentice of his...

"This was the child you faced, wasn't it?" He asked, not turning away from the TV screen. "In Tatooin."

Behind him, there was an agonised gasp of a woman in pain. "Gah- that fucking brat! What's he doing, Urgh, with Endeavor?!"

Even her vapid voice set him on edge. So much arrogance and self-worship. "Apparently telling the Hero Commission how to be Heroes."

"What the fu-MRPH!"

Stain didn't have to turn around to realise that Spinner, who had been diligently going through the Heroine's files until that point, had stuffed something into her mouth to finally silence her. The fact that she had remained chatty at all in spite of her situation had frankly amazed him. Then again, she was rather known for trying to take centre stage. Mount Lady did think she was God's gift to Heroics, after all.

Her security had been woeful. Himiko had found out that the Titanic Heroine used to live in Musutafu - another fortuitous piece of trivia dug from the brain of the Izuku boy she seemed to be pining for - and had tracked down her flat, right on the outskirts of the city away from the tall buildings in the centre. From there it was only a matter of speaking to neighbours to find out when she made a habit of returning home, and he and Spinner had simply been able to lie in wait in her lounge and ambush her when she walked through the door. Without the ability to go gigantic in such a confined space, with neighbours living above her, Mount Lady had been no match for a sharpened sword.

Paralysed by his Quirk, she sat rigid on her own couch in her casual clothes as Spinner had rifled through her possessions. Stain had been thoroughly unsurprised when a number of police files turned up, unsecured and unread; her laziness had extended to not protecting confidential information, and now he and Spinner had leads on a number of crime groups in the area, not least the Yakuza they were looking at. She had been a goldmine of a find for them. He really did have to thank Himiko.

At one point, Spinner had knocked the television controls and turned it on by accident. It had only been left on as reporters had ambushed Endeavor, and Stain had stayed for the duration in case the Flame Hero added something else to justify his eradication. Instead, Stain had been transfixed as Endeavor's young Hero Apprentice had been put on the spot and bit back at the questioning, and the answers he had given were... confusing.

"Spinner?"

The reptilian young man looked up from where he was storing files away into his backpack. "Boss?"

"What do you make of his Apprentice?"

"Eh..." Spinner had been occupied, for sure, but Stain knew he had been listening. The benefit of a second opinion never hurt. "Kid seems like an ass."

Second opinions were a lot more useful if they had substance. "I can't quite make him out. His arrogance and desire for glory are appalling, but... he stood up to this fake Heroine here and her kind. He demanded better."

"MRMPH!"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. There's something about him." Spinner frowned at the TV. "He was willing to break the law and fight because he was pissed nobody was helping. It's not pure Heroics but.. it's not all bad either."

"Hmmm..." Stain licked another drop of blood from the end of the sword. Better safe than sorry. "We will need to test him in future. He could be good, but... I suspect he won't be true, in the end."

"Good plan, Boss." Spinner hefted the backpack onto his back. "We've got everything."

"The Yakuza?"

"Her files suggest they've got a supply drop in a few days time. There's other Heroes looking into it, but the Commission sent her and Death Arms to look because there's a Pro somewhere round here on the take, helping them arrange drop offs."

"Another fake to be cleansed," Stain snarled, grasping the sword tighter as he turned to the terrified and wide-eyed Mount Lady. "Fakes hunting fakes? What a mess of a system we live in."

"We've got to go," Spinner urged, looking down at a watch which looked out of place on a scaly arm. "We've got two minutes before the building security cams come back. What are we doing with her?"

Stain looked at Mount Lady, and tried not to roll his eyes at the whimpers and pleading looks in her eyes. He'd seen enough to not be fooled by the last acts of the desperate. "She's heard too much but her fate was sealed before today. We're removing one more worthless pretender from the world, Spinner."

"As is our purpose," the gecko-man said sagely. "Last words?"

"... Alright. It's only fair, after all." As the rag was ripped from her mouth by Spinner, Stain raised the sword to poke her in her ample and over-emphasised chest with its tip. "You heard my associate. Mount Lady, I can no longer tolerate the lie that you are a Hero, and as is my purpose I act now. In the name of a correct society, I sentence you to die. If you have any last words, speak now."

"... no, please... there must be something I can do-"

"Not the most original." Stain pushed forward and watched the look of shock and horror on her face with disinterest. He had seen it all before, and done it all before, so felt nothing as the sword punctured the blonde heroine, as he watched the trickle of blood that came from her mouth and the way the light fled her eyes as she passed gurgling and undignified into the next world. "One more gone, Spinner."

"Far too many to go," Spinner tutted. "Do you still wanna go ahead with the attack on the Yakuza? If other Heroes are investigating, we may have a problem-"

"And if we don't act, we may lose their shipment, and the fake Hero helping them get it into Musutafu," Stain interrupted firmly. "We have no choice but to act. We owe that much to the people here."

"Yessir!"

"I'm glad you agree." Stain paused, and nodded to himself. "We can brief Himiko when she's back from UA. If she can join us without risking her place, she would be welcome."

"Heh, got it." Spinner grinned, leading the way out of the door. "How do you think she's doing at UA?"

Stain smirked to himself, stashing the sword inside the long coat he wore and leaving the apartment of the former Heroine Mount Lady behind. "Oh, we will see. I'm not sure UA was ever going to be ready for her..."

(***)

Katsuki Bakugo. Aged: 15.

Enji Todoroki (Endeavor). Aged: 45.

Moe Kamiji (Burnin). Aged: 25.

Chizome Akaguro (Stain) and Shuichi Iguchi (Spinner). Aged: 31 and 20.