Chapter 294 - 39

Chapter 39: Countdown to Term Finals! Part 1

4 Weeks Until Term Finals

Izuku sat in silence along with several police officers in a small meeting room. It had been two weeks since the world found out about Himiko and things had, for the most part, returned to a calm, if a little uneasy, peace. At the very least, he and the rest of his classmates were able to get on with their school work and prepare for their upcoming term final exams. His own progress had been slow but steady. Izuku could now breath fire on command and no longer had any more accidents.

The last one being an unfortunate burp in the middle of lunch after drinking a soda pop a bit too fast. Fortunately Eijirou hardened his hair quickly enough that it didn't immediately catch fire. Or it was all the hair gel he used that protected him, Izuku wasn't sure.

So with things calmed down, Izuku took the opportunity to follow up on an idea he had back during the craziness a few weeks ago. It was after more training with All Might that he, Himiko and Ochako were sitting down in All might's office for some tea, and blood for Himiko, that Izuku had finally explained everything he, and the police knew about Eri and asked if she might lend her expertise in helping identify who had hurt her. A couple of days later, after All Might had spoken to the police, Himiko was looking over the documents regarding Eri.

As Himiko scanned everything, from photos taken of Eri's scars, to the pictures she drew after her nightmares, to the vague descriptions Eri had offered, to finally the slightlyredacted official reports on the whole thing.

"So," Izuku asked hopefully, "Do you think you know who might have done this?"

Himiko clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Sorry. Never heard of someone matching this description when I was on the streets or with Mr. Stain."

Izuku slumped in her chair. "Oh…"

Himiko drummed her fingers on some of the drawings. "A beak… I ran into quite a few heteromorphs but never someone with a beak. And unfortunately people that like to hurt little girls are well… a dime a dozen really. So that doesn't really narrow it down."

Izuku winced. That was not a very pleasant thought. Himiko had offered to have Izuku not be in the room when she started talking about what she knew. No matter what, she was going to be talking about unpleasant stuff, but Izuku refused. He wasn't going to hide from this ugliness.

Himiko moved from the drawings to the photos. "These though… These are definitely surgical cuts. Sharp tools and a steady hand. This guy has a background in surgery or some field of medicine. A back alley doctor at least. The white hands Eri mentioned, those are probably surgical gloves."

Izuku tilted his head at that phrase. All Might then explained. "It means a person who practices medicine without a license. They were popular with certain gangs and yakuza when they needed members patched up. Still are, but they focus on villains who escaped from a hero fight. Or something similar." 

"If you know of any of these back alley doctors, we'd like their names. They might know something if it's someone in their field," an officer asked.

"I knew a couple, but they might not be around anymore. Moved on or dead. Got pretty good at patching myself up towards the end so I didn't need their help. Plus I'm almost sure my reputation made them a little squeamish. Sometimes I'd go to their 'office' and they'd pretend no one was home. Think they were afraid I was there to eat them." Himiko paused and tapped the table. "You might try and find some black market information brokers. They might know something… though the best in the area is damned near impossible to find. Met him once… I think…"

An officer stopped taking notes. "You think?"

"Memory is kinda hazy." Himiko frowned when she noticed a couple of officers looking at her funny. "Okay, so I know that's the line that comes before the bribe, but it's the truth. I met someone once, who was supposed to be a great broker, but I can't recall anything about the meeting. Or the guy."

"Hmm, perhaps he possesses a Quirk that affects a person's memory about him."

Himiko shrugged. "I dunno. Could be. All I know is that he's really good at his job and really good at not getting caught… if he can make you not remember him then that explains a lot actually."

Izuku leaned forward. "Toga, what about the last thing? That this person can break things with a touch?"

Himiko groaned, scratching her hair. "I hate saying this but that's not a lot to go on. Lots of people are good at breaking things. Hell, the first person that pops into my head when you say that is Shigaraki."

Izuku thought about that. It was true, Tomura could decay anything he touched, plus, "He does have those white hands… things all over himself."

"They're severed hands, Izuku. I got close enough to see them. They're real."

Izuku shuddered.

"But, Shigaraki doesn't have a beak, plus," Himiko picked up one of Eri's drawings, "the colors don't match. She used a lot of brown on the… um head," Himiko made sure she was looking at the crayon scribbles right, "and purples around the neck, feathers I guess. Not a match to our Mr. Bad Touch."

"Young Eri said touch though. Correct?" All Might asked with Izuku nodding in affirmative. "That seems an important distinction."

"I agree," one of the officers said. "We will continue to look through the Quirk registry but, if this person is a villain it's possible he never had his Quirk registered."

After that, the meeting was soon over and the police and All Might soon left the room. Himiko stepped out with them briefly before she came back into the office. Izuku sighed, not doing a good job at hiding his disappointment.

"Sorry, Izuku."

Izuku shook his head, "It's not your fault. I shouldn't expect you to know all the evil people out in the world."

"You weren't totally wrong to ask about this shit, though. I know more than some heroes." Himiko moved to sit next to Izuku. "Still sorry."

Izuku rubbed his hands together. "Is it weird that part of me hopes we never find this guy? I don't want to have to put Eri through the pain of having to deal with this monster again."

"Maybe this is just because of all the time I've spent with Midnight but I think the best thing for Eri is going to see this guy dealt with and locked up. It's a small miracle she can even act like a normal kid after the shit she went through."

"It took some time but me, Mom and Uraraka were able to get her to come out of her shell. It helps that she doesn't remember anything that happened."

Himiko frowned. "There are a lot of drawings on that table for her to not remember, Izuku. Pretty soon those bad dreams are going to start spilling out when she's awake. At that point…"

"Never seeing the one that hurt her again means she might always be afraid he is still out there, looking for her."

"Yup."

Izuku groaned into his hands. "We really do need to find him."

"Or he'll find you."

Izuku blinked and looked over at Himiko questingly.

Himiko groaned at her slip up before she shrugged. "This is gonna get a little fucked, so just… know I'm saying this from… experience." Izuku nodded. "Okay so… whoever this guy is, he was putting work into Eri. Those cuts, I said the guy had surgical experience, it's more than just that. I told the officers this outside because I didn't want to freak you out but…. You need to hear this I think. Those cuts weren't random. This wasn't some guy using Eri as a practice dummy for fun, they looked exploratory. She looks like she was cut up for a purpose."

Izuku looked pale and Himiko began to question if she was right to have started this. But she couldn't stop now. "If he was putting in some kind of effort then he might not like his experiment getting away. Odds are, he's probably looking for her."

Himiko watched Izuku closely. At first he looked disturbed at the idea. Just like she expected him to. Then his look shifted. Looking more like he did in that alley in Hosu City. Before he ripped the place apart. Himiko swore she also saw little jagged red streaks of energy dance under Izuku's skin.

"Hey Izuku, maybe don't get too hung up on the idea of finding this guy."

"Why?" The harsh tone in Izuku's voice didn't match the boy at all.

"Because if that's how you're going to look with it on your mind, you're going to terrify Eri."

Izuku blinked, startled, before he closed his eyes and let out a long sigh and calmed down. "I guess you have a point."

"Of course I do. I'm your specialist."

Izuku chuckled. "That's why I brought you into the 'inner circle' so to speak."

"So you know you should listen to me on things I know about?"

"Yes…" It took Izuku a second before his head snapped up as he realized the landmine he'd just stepped on. "Now wait just a seco–"

"So in the matters of love…" Himiko said with a huge cheshire cat smile.

Izuku quickly began waving his hands about. "We are not doing this again!"

"Oh, we totally are!"

"Dang it Toga!" Izuku exclaimed as he got up. "There is nothing to talk about."

Himiko shook her head. "Nothing to talk about? So are you saying you don't love her anymore?"

Izuku flinched like he had just gotten zapped by Denki and turned to look back at Himiko who was grinning up at him with a look that just screamed 'got you.' For the last week Himiko, much to Izuku's utter chagrin, had taken an unprecedented interest in Izuku's love life. Or lack thereof.

"Why are you so obsessed with this?"

"Because I'm your friend Izuku and I want you to be happy."

Throwing his hands up, Izuku exclaimed, "I am happy!"

Himiko broke out into giggles and even Izuku had to admit the absurdity of proclaiming his happiness so angrily.

"Okay, you're happy. But you could be happier."

Izuku rubbed his brow. "Toga I explained that–"

"And I blew that explanation out of the water back at the hospital weeks ago. Unless you want me to remind you?" Himiko got out of her chair and glided over to Izuku. Putting enough sway in her hips that her school skirt billowed out a little. "I'd be more than happy to give you another demonstration."

The conflict that danced over Izuku's face was hilarious for Himiko and she started laughing. Leaning on Izuku's shoulder for support.

"You're a horrible friend, Toga."

"But I am your friend. And that says more about you than me, I think."

Izuku snorted and Himiko laughed. Then, still leaning on his shoulder she moved her lips close to his ear. "I saw how you looked when we were watching those news reports a few days ago. When you saw the footage of Ochako carrying you."

Izuku blushed and stuttered, "I-I-I I was j-just thinking how… cool she looked, is all."

Himiko's lips brushed against Izuku's ear. "You were thinking about being carried in her arms."

Izuku chirped.

"I don't blame you, those soft strong arms. I'm still waiting for my turn to get picked up by her. You've gotten to be held a few times already too. Lucky boy."

Izuku recalled a few of those times. "I'm pretty sure I was almost dead for a few of them actually."

Himiko blinked and thought back. "Lets see… yeah actually, you were… Why does All Might's successor keep getting his ass handed to him all the time?"

"Not funny," Izuku gripped.

"It's a little funny… in hindsight."

Izuku let out a huff. "Are you done?"

"Hmmm," Himiko made a show about thinking about what she was going to say next, even though she already had this talk planned out a day or so in advance. She didn't plan on bringing it up right now, but it was on the docket. "I guess I'm a little happy I'm not the only one that thinks you and Ochako would make the cutest couple."

"I hate that entertainment news channel."

"Oh poor baby, it must be so hard getting talked about so positively on the news. How you suffer so." Himiko patted Izuku's head in open mockery.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up."

Himiko did just that and giggled as she pulled away and went back to her seat. "I'm going to make you crack, Izuku. I may have to bludgeon you with some doses of reality, but it's for your own good."

Izuku threw up his hands. "Okay I think I'm going home now. Where it's safe from…" Izuku motioned at all of Himiko. "Whatever this is."

"Riiiight, because Ochako doesn't tease you at all either."

Izuku thought about how to respond to that, and deciding that any answer he gave would damn him, he decided to make a quick retreat. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, Toga. Thank you again for your help. I know talking with the police probably isn't… something you enjoy doing."

Himiko waved that off. "If it's to help that little gremlin, I don't mind at all. Just wish I could have done more." Izuku was at the door before she called out to him, "One last thing, Izuku."

Izuku was tempted to just run at that point. Himiko's words, like her knives, always had a way of sticking into him. Especially now that Himiko was obsessed with his love life. All her 'final' words always hit home.

"Tell me the truth. How does it feel knowing that Ochako is always there for you? Knowing that if something happens to you, she's going to be there to protect you. I joke about it but you didn't see how she was after you got knocked out. She was ready to go to war to look after you." Himiko had joked about the time right after everything with Izuku and Ochako. Calling her a mother hen and the like. But even though she joked about it, the truth was still that the moment Izuku had been hurt, Ochako stepped up and made sure nothing happened to Izuku. Or herself, but bringing that up would cloud the goal of her last question.

Izuku stood at the door, facing away from Himiko but she could see the tips of his ears were bright red and there was even a little smoke wafting up. A clear sign he was overheating a bit. Turning to look at Himiko, face red and eyes wet, Izuku answered honestly, "It's one of the reasons I love her."

Himiko's smile wasn't smug. Wasn't just smug but genuine when she said, "You should tell Ochako that."

Izuku shook his head, accepting the idea as impossible and left.

"No no no no no no no AHHHHHHHH-!"

CRACK

SNAP

CRASH

THUD!

Ochako flew through the air, in an uncontrolled spiral as her hover boots propelled her into a tree where she hit every branch and limb into the center of the tree. And then after defloating herself, proceeded to hit them all again as she came crashing down to the ground. "OOF!" Hitting the ground, Ochako let herself sprawl out and just lay there.

Clap

Clap

Clap

Nejire clapped happily as she lowered herself to the ground, yellow swirls of energy making her descent graceful and almost angelic. "There you go, you're getting the hang of it!"

Groaning, Ochako lifted her head up off the grass. "Really?"

"Well… no, not really. You still kinda… super suck."

Ochako let her head fall back into the grass. "Ugh, I'd like to stop now."

Nejire shook her head, "Nope. You asked me to help you learn how to fly, and that's what we're going to do. No take backs." Reaching out, Nejire let small swirls of her Wave Motion Quirk drift out and encircle Ochako. Lifting her up and plopping her back on her feet. "Now, what do you think you did wrong?"

Dusting herself off, and picking some twigs out her hair, Ochako grumbled as she thought over her latest failed attempt at flight. "I dunno. I swung my feet to the side to try and turn but I kept going straight."

"That was because you had understeer." Nejire then gave Ochako a poke. "You were going too fast. All your momentum was going that way," Nejire pointed into the tree, "even though you turned yourself to go that way instead." She then pointed towards the clearing away from the crash sight. "Some basic rules of flight, the faster you go, the longer it takes to turn."

Ochako grumbled and dug a toe into the ground. "I swore I wasn't going that fast though. I thought I was using the same amount of power you were using when you were flying around."

"Hmm, that might be the issue. To get up in the air, you make yourself weightless right?"

Ochako nodded. "Yeah. I can turn my gravity off… Oh. Oooh!" It suddenly clicked for Ochako what Nejire was getting at. Because she was weightless, it took a lot less power to get her going. Nejire smiled happily as she saw Ochako get it.

"You should probably get that little bit of info forwarded to the support company that's working on your upgrades. You don't want them giving you something uncomfortable after all."

Ochako agreed and made a mental note to do just that. Nejire smiled brightly. "Great! Then I think it's time to run through the obstacle course your friend Hatsume set up."

Ochako's face fell as she turned to look at the series of floating rings that dotted the small forest. Some over the tree line. Some floating just off the ground and some more mixed in with the branches.

"But um… this is the first time I've even tried flying and I keep hitting the trees. Shouldn't I get more practice first before I try failing at that?" Ochako motioned at the course.

"The best way to learn is to fail. Isn't that what you've been doing practicing with those other bits and bobs? Judging by your face, you've been learning a lot."

Ochako reached up and pressed a finger into one of the large welts she got the day before. Practicing had left her pretty marked up. A fresh cut, held together with a butterfly bandage, still stung, another lesson that just because something looked easy in a video didn't mean it was actually easy. Ochako eyed the cord of leather and cursed the horrible thing.

"So ready to go?" Nejire asked as she walked over to the starting line.

Ochako sighed and followed after her. "This would be easier if I had your natural talent, Hadou."

Nejire shook her head. "I don't have a natural talent. In fact for a while a lot of people were convinced my Quirk wasn't suited for combat, let alone flight."

Ochako felt her eyes bulge. Nejire had been helping her train for a few days now, and the idea that her Quirk had been looked down on was ridiculous. In her first day with the senior, she had talked Ochako into a spar and had thoroughly trashed her. Her Quirk had made it impossible to even get close.

Nejire could read Ochako's reaction easily. "My Quirk has two major faults. One, it draws on my own stamina. My life force. Use it too much and I get exhausted. And the other drawback," she opened her hand and let a little swirl of energy dance in her palm, is that my blasts are always twisted and coiled up. Unlike most energy blasts that just go vroom, off in a single direction, mine are much slower because of the swirling."

Then with a huge smile, Nejire pointed her hand out towards a group of trees. "So I had to work hard. First so that I wouldn't get tired after using my Quirk and secondly," the little swirl of light suddenly grew into a vortex of yellow energy and blasted away a wide berth of trees, "if I couldn't be fast, I needed to find a way to be strong. Unlike a beam I can affect a much bigger area."

Nejire then lifted herself off the ground, the power of her Quirk dancing around her body. "You're taking your lumps now, but if you keep at it you'll be where you want to be before you know it."

Ochako floated herself up next to Nejire. "I'm not opposed to putting in some hard work."

"Obviously. If you were, I don't think you'd be all busted up."

Ochako laughed darkly. "I don't look that bad, do I?"

"Like a round raccoon with those twin shiners."

Ochako would have wept if she wasn't sure the tears would sting her eyes.

3 Weeks Until Term Finals

With only a few weeks left before their term finals, the students of 1-A were now training and studying hard to ensure they passed the tests the school had for them. Also to make sure they avoided the threat of summer school hell with Aizawa. So with so little time left, a casual observer would assume that the students would have no time for anything else but their preparations. Studying for a term final was stressful enough for any normal student. Add on a heroics practical exam and the stress should be astronomical.

But 1-A were not normal students and the Dekusquad, currently at U.A. after hours and sitting around a round table playing poker, were even more not normal.

On top of their studies and training, the group had set aside evenings for a 'game night.' A Nezu approved time to hang out after school hours with Himiko or even sleep over. After the incident, U.A. and the Hero Public Safety Commission thought it best that Himiko not leave campus for a while. To avoid any more unfortunate incidents that might arise being out in the public eye. This meant that opportunities to hang out with her friends, which were already small to begin with, had been cut to almost nonexistent. That was until Izuku was able to get permission for the 'game nights.'

One time they had camped out in the forested training zone. Another had been a night long monopoly showdown that ended with a room thoroughly destroyed.

Sometimes Mei would drag the group to the Development Studio workshop to have her friends try out new babies. Poor Tenya had almost been launched through the ceiling trying on some new arm rockets Mei had invented.

Tonight though, the group was playing card games. And after a few tries to agree on a game, drew straws and Himiko's game was picked. Poker. After seeing how well she shuffled and how unusually confident she looked, more so than normal which was saying something, the group banned her from being the dealer, and was immediately searched for cards.

"So, is anyone going to say anything?" Hitoshi asked from his seat. Ignoring the dirty look one slightly charred boy shot him. "Also two cards."

Mei hummed as she dealt Hitoshi two new cards and went back to looking at her own cards. "About what?"

Hitoshi's eyebrow twitched as he looked at his new cards. "About the fact that this is the fourth time—"

"Fifth," Tsuyu cut in.

"Fifth time Midoriya has almost started a forest fire on campus."

Izuku grumbled as he laid his cards down. "It wasn't my fault. Also, I fold."

Tenya's hand chopped in Izuku's direction. "Midoriya, it's not your turn. Wait for Hatsume to begin the betting phase first. Then after Tsu and Todoroki have placed their bets you may choose to bet or fold."

"I'm preemptively accepting my failure."

Himiko snickered. "That's why you never draw four cards, Izuku."

"Can we get back to the part where Midoriya, the one here with a fire Quirk, is saying that he isn't responsible for almost burning down Ground Omega." Hitoshi sarcastically replied, picking up a few chips from his stack. "Because I want to hear this."

"Jerk," Izuku said as he got up to get himself a drink.

Mei threw a few chips into the center of the pile. Tsu tapped her chin, before she matched Mei's bet and then added a few more chips. "I'll raise. Why does All Might take you to Ground Omega to train anyway, kero? Everything there is flammable."

"Call," Todoroki said as he matched Tsuyu's bet. "I would imagine since it's isolated from any buildings that the risk of damaging anything that can't be replaced is greatly reduced. U.A. is lucky to have gardeners who can regrow the damaged areas overnight."

That, and it's far enough away All Might and I can speak openly about One for All and other things. Izuku thought to himself.

"Raise," Himiko said, pushing a huge pile of chips into the center of the table. Getting a few groans from everyone else. "Hey, if you've got a problem, fold and give me the chips."

"Again, getting back to the point," Hitoshi said as he waved for Midoriya to grab him a drink from the fridge as well. "If it wasn't your fault, then whose is it?"

Izuku pointed and a gasp of insulted indignation came from Himiko, who still had some soot on her nose. "How dare you try and blame me! It's your fault you totally overreacted!"

Izuku returned to his seat, passing Hitoshi a drink and then snatching a chip, calling it a service fee. "You snuck up on me while I was practicing breathing my fire in a large spray."

Himiko pointed at herself. "I said hi!"

"You snuck up on me and blew into my ear."

"I did no such thing. Where do you get off claiming I sneak?"

Collectively the whole group turned to look at Himiko. The various looks she got made it clear they thought that was utter bullshit.

"Er… I mean, where do you get off claiming I was sneaking around today?"

More looks of 'bullshit'.

"... I'm starting to think you guys don't trust me."

Ochako rolled her eyes. "Why would you ever think that?"

Himiko stuck out her tongue.

After the final round of betting, Himiko smiled widely as she laid her cards on the table, earning groans from her friends. Cackling maniacally, Himiko scooped up her winning and organized them into a steadily growing pile. "You guys have the most obvious tells."

Tsuyu tapped her chin as she watched her. "By the way, what's the winner getting?"

Tenya pulled out his phone and scrolled through the ideas they all had. "It's down to a snack from each of the losers or we pitch in for a movie."

The group eyed Himiko's pile, then the other person she was neck and neck with. Mei.

"You know we can still go with my idea if no one wants to spend any money," Himiko began but was immediately cut off.

"No strip poker, Toga"

"Absolutely not."

"You're killing Midoriya just making him imagine that, you know."

"We are students of U.A. and we have a moral obligation to act morally and upstanding, Toga."

Himiko rolled her eyes. "You guys are such squares." Then a mischievous smirk spread across her face, "And you got a lot of nerve Tenya. Trying to act all high and mighty. Talking about morals."

Tenya's head snapped up, along with Izuku, Ochako and Shouto. Alarmed at what Himiko might be talking about. Before they could cut her off though, she thundered on, "It's not like you haven't already seen me half naked."

Mouth moving but unable to say anything, Tenya suddenly found himself under some very startled and a couple of very harsh glares.

"It's always the ones that follow the rules you have to watch out for," Hitoshi said, shaking his head.

"TOGA IS GREATLY MISCONSTRUING THE FACTS!"

Himiko nodded. "Riiiiight. So you didn't interrupt me while I was watching some porn and masturbating. Come banging on my door, demanding to be let in."

Ochako and Tsuyu were giving Tenya arctic looks.

"NOT TRUE! NOT TRUE AT ALL! YOU OPENED THE DOOR!" Tenya paused as he realized that wasn't the best way to put that. "I MEAN, I HAD NO IDEA!" Tenya was pretty sure he was about to be killed.

"Yeah, but it's funnier to tell the story this way," Himiko said with a laugh. Everyone looked at her as she explained. "He had no idea and I let him in because I was bored and wanted to play a prank. I had a pretty long shirt on, so he couldn't see anything."

Izuku, red as an apple, covered his face and shook his head. "Toga, that's terrible!"

Himiko rolled her eye. "Says the boy that totally copped a feel when we were in the hospital."

Steel fracturing makes less noise than Ochako's neck as she turned her full attention towards Izuku. "Deeeekkuuuuu."

"Wha wha wha what!? I never did that! I'd never touch you like that!"

Himiko pointed at her chest. "Your hand was right here, mister forward."

Izuku quickly countered, "I touched your scar!"

"Which is where?"

"On your cheeeeee…" That moment it dawned on Izuku that the scar he had touched was indeed on Himiko's chest.

"Hey, I'm not complaining at allll. You got some big warmhands that I'd love to feel again." Himiko paused and then grinning added, "You could do all kinds of things to a girl with hands like those. They're just perfect for playing with any girl you'd like."

Izuku's eyes darted to the side, which Himiko saw and knew who he had looked at, before there was a sudden puff of smoke that popped out of his mouth, then he tumbled backwards over his chair.

Ochako, realizing what Himiko had just done, again, groaned, "Well, you just killed him."

Mei leaned over the table to look. "Is he going to be okay?"

Ochako waved it off and motioned for Mei to deal the next cards. The table went through two quick poker hands, Mei winning both and Himiko cursing her luck at her last few hands, before Izuku pulled himself up off the ground.

"How about a different game, kero? Maybe then my luck will get better." Tsuyu looked down at her pitiful pile of chips.

Mei nodded and then began to shuffle the deck. "Texas hold'em?"

Tenya looked at Mei skeptically. "How do you know all these poker games?"

"I work with 'grease monkeys,' so of course I know how to play poker."

Hitoshi leaned over towards Himiko. "Ever get the feeling that you've been played?"

Himiko looked at Mei's chips that were starting to get bigger than her own. "Yeah… I think I just got hustled."

With the deck shuffled, Mei started dealing out two cards face down to each person. Everyone silently checked their own cards. Izuku pulled up at the corners so he could take a peek at what he had. Queen of Clubs and Two of Clubs.

Not the greatest, Izuku thought to himself. I could just fold now and save what's left of my chips for another hand. But if I keep doing that then either Toga or Hatsume is going to run away–

"Deku."

Izuku looked up to see Ochako snickering. "You're muttering."

"Oh! Sorry."

"Don't overthink it, Midoriya," Hitoshi said, "when it's your turn, just fold."

Mei started the round by pushing a few chips into the table from her hoard. "Let's get this going."

"Call," Tsuyu said, adding her chips.

"Call," Shouto added as he pushed most of the few chips he had left in. Out of the group he had yet to win a single hand. Everyone at the table had figured out his tell. If the room got cold, good hand. Warmer, bad hand.

Izuku tapped his chips, before matching the bet. "Call."

"Fold," Himiko said immediately, "also I want a new dealer."

"I fold as well." Tenya added, "I only have so many chips left. I must be careful."

"Call." Ochako tossed a few chips in. "But those next three cards you put out better be good, Hatsume," she added with a fake growl.

"Fold," Hitoshi finished. "Hatsume is counting the cards. Only explanation for why I haven't gotten a good hand all night."

Mei wasn't bothered at all as she flipped out three cards and lined them up in front of everyone. Jack of Diamonds, Jack of Clubs and a Ten of Clubs.

Ochako's head smacked into the table. "I'm going to throw you into space. That's what I'm going to do."

"Uraraka's dream of a mochi dinner is floating away?" Izuku teased, not bothering to hide his smug smile.

Ochako, head still on the table, rolled over to face Izuku. "They'd never find your body, Deku."

Deciding not to risk it, Izuku quickly backed down.

Mei picked up some chips matching her first bet, letting them clink together as she tossed them from one hand to the other. "So, Midoriya. How's your training been going?" Mei then put the chips back onto a small stack and pushed that into the pile. "I raise by the way."

"It's going pretty well actually. Took me a while, but I'm starting to get the hang of my Boric Pyre. Can't really doanything besides breathing fire though… and smoke I guess."

Tsuyu tossed her chips into the pile. "Call."

"Fold." Shouto shook his head. He didn't have the chips left to cover the bet. Not that he had the cards to even try. No one was surprised either. The room was getting a little toasty.

"I'll raise," Izuku said and added a few more chips on top of the bet,. "Why do you ask? With all the stuff you keep hooked up to me, I thought for sure you'd know even more than me."

Ochako looked at her cards, looked at the three on the table, looked down at the bet she was going to have to cover, then collapsed into her seat. "Fold."

"Oh, I get all kinds of data of course. I have enough now to start working on some babies for you. But I'm curious to hear what you have to say. You're point of view vs my data. Since I'm going to have gear for you soon, I'm also going to be at your practices to make sure everything is working right. I think I know how things are going, but I want to hear it from you."

Mei drew the fourth card and laid it on the table, an Eight of Clubs.

"Well, the main thing I've been working on is making sure I have control of my new Quirk. Aside from that I've also practiced some more with my Psychokinesis. Fine tuning it and thinking of smarter ways to use it."

Tenya nodded. "Very wise. After seeing how much damage you did to yourself because of your lack of control over both Quirks, making sure you fix that issue first before moving on to anything else was a good call by All Might. No one wants to see you injured again."

Everyone that had been in Hosu City to see what had happened to Izuku nodded. Even the ones that hadn't were nodding as well. The descriptions they had been told were enough for them to get a pretty clear picture of what Izuku had looked like.

"And what about that other thing?" Mei asked as she pushed a huge pile of chips, almost her whole stack, into the center of the table. "That Tactile Psychokinesis?"

Tsuyu gulped at the suddenly huge pile of chips in the center of the table, "That was mean, Hatsume. Fold, kero."

Now it was only Mei and Izuku left. Izuku frowned at the pile. "My Tactile Psychokinesis? What about it?"

She has to be bluffing with that huge bet. She probably has a Straight. I have the Flush. But to call her bet…Izuku counted the chips.

"Yeah, I'm just curious if you've been practicing it at all?"

Ochako, getting up to get herself a snack, looked over at Mei. "Why so curious?"

"I'm making Midoriya's support gear. I do need to know what's going on with his training. Especially when it comes to Quirks. Making babies that can handle the effects of a Quirks is tricky. Multiple Quirks is a whole new challenge. Like the crest I made, it helps with his Psychokinesis but I'm going to have to make sure it can also hold up to whatever heat Midoriya's Boric Pyre is going to put off. Both from the fire, and how it heats his body. So, when it comes to Quirks, I need to know."

Izuku was tapping his chips as he counted them off. "Well I have been practicing it. Last time was only a couple of days ago in fact." A few startled looks from his friends came his way. Izuku quickly clarified, "But only under All Might's supervision. And even then, I'm not allowed to use it. It's more a point to prove that the move wasn't a fluke."

Technically, this wasn't a full bold face lie. As Tactile Psychokinesis was his cover up for One for All, it was technically true. A couple of times during the last few weeks, All Might had Izuku tap into One for All. Wanting to make sure that Izuku could touch the power at will, and to make sure he didn't accidentally use it again like back at Hosu City. Of course, while he was allowed to touch the power of One for All, using it was still banned. Izuku still recalled the last time All Might had asked him to try to call upon One for All. Filling his arm with all the power One for All had, red streaks of energy crisscrossing over his skin, Izuku had really wanted to throw a punch. With Ochako watching he wanted to show off a little. Maybe not the smartest thing, but he wanted to show her how much stronger he was now. But when he had asked, All Might had asked one thing, how did his arm feel?

Izuku had been honest and said the power there felt like it was going to make his arm explode. All Might and Ochako had immediately told him to let the power go and to notthrow that punch. In hindsight that was probably for the best. Thinking back, the feeling in his arm had been exactly the same as it had been when he had used One for All the first time. And he knew exactly what had happened after that.

"Call, and all in," Izuku stated with confidence as he pushed all his chips into the pile. A couple of whistles from his friends made him smile. He had this in the bag.

Mei nodded and drew the last card. Flipping it over and laying it with the rest. A Four of Spades. "Really? Huh, then I might need to recalibrate the sensors I have on you."

Izuku blinked. "Huh? Why?"

"Because I haven't seen anything from them like I did the night you were attacked. No huge spikes at all." Mei tapped her cards. "You've been getting stronger, yeah. The heat readings I've been getting have been steadily going up, and even the kickback readings I get from your Psychokinesis is smaller as the power you use goes up. Whatever training you're doing is definitely working. But no spikes in power."

Nothing that Mei had said was accusatory. It sounded like genuine questions from her. It also made sense that these would be the questions she would ask. But there was something itching at the back of Izuku's mind that told him he had just walked into a trap. But he brushed it off. "I guess it's like you said. My training is working. I'm able to at least hold the power steady in my body. Can't use it for anything yet though. That also might be the reason. I haven't actually used the move."

"Hmm, maybe I just need to see it with my own eyes. If I see what you're doing I can make sense of the data."

"Well it's All Might who decides what I'm doing any given day. So if he doesn't want me using the move," Izuku shrugged, "nothing I can do. He's been very adamant on when I can do things."

"I suppose that's fair. Still, once I have the prototypes ready I'll be there anyway to see how they work," Mei said with a smile.

Izuku smiled back. "I'm looking forward to it." Izuku then flipped his cards up. "Flush by the way."

Everyone looked down at the hand Izuku had. Queen, Jack, Ten, Eight, and Two. All Clubs.

Mei whistled, "Good hand Midoriya. It's almost as good as your bluff."

"You'd be surprised. I can totally bluff just as good as–"

Mei flipped her cards. "Just not good enough."

Eight of Clubs, Eight of Diamonds, Eight of Hearts, Jack of Diamonds and Jack of Clubs. A Full House.

Mei reached over and racked in her winnings while looking Izuku dead in the eye. "Almost as good as your bluff."

While Mei was congratulated by the rest of his friends, Izuku felt that itch in the back of his mind acting up again. Not sure if he had lost more than the poker game.

"100 yen says whatever Izuku is going to show us backfires."

Ochako rolled her eyes at Himiko. "That's terrible Toga."

There was a pause before Himiko looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "So you're not taking the bet?"

"You think I'm crazy? I'm not risking my money against a sure thing like that."

"..." Izuku turned to look at the two, glaring pitifully at them. "You know I'm right here and can hear you."

Both Ochako and Himiko broke into a fit of giggles while Izuku began to debate if tossing the kiddy pool full of icy water was worth the beating and stabbing he'd get. As they kept laughing, he was leaning towards it being worth it.

"Now, now, let's not antagonize the poor boy," All Might said, motioning for the two to calm down.

Izuku glared up at his hero. "You're not really defending me, All Might."

From the sidelines with Ochako and Himiko, Recovery Girl pointed her cane at Izuku. "Have you done anything to prove them wrong?"

"I–" Izuku began before Recovery Girl cut him off.

"If you try to lie, I will give one of these young ladies my cane and let them deal with you. Because I can't be bothered to come over there and whack you myself."

Izuku stood, scowling before turning away in a huff back towards All Might. "Can I at least show off my idea now?"

"Yes yes. Now, just so that everyone else is up to date, Young Midoirya called me last night requesting that today he'd be allowed a chance to demonstrate a technique he had thought up to use One for All."

Ochako crossed her arms. "I thought he was supposed to be focusing on his Boric Pyre still? Isn't it a little too soon to be shifting focus?"

Izuku shrugged. "I'm going to have to learn to use One for All eventually. Isn't it better that I am trying to figure it out instead of ignoring it until the last minute? Plus, I've made a lot of progress with Boric Pyre. So I don't think I'm losing anything by looking into One for All."

All Might rubbed his chin. "It was that reasoning that made me agree to see what Young Midoriya had come up with. As this will be the first time you'll be allowed to use One for All in training, I've also asked Recovery Girl to come and be ready to help you if anything were to go wrong."

"Lets just not make a habit out of it. Understand?" Recovery Girl stated. While the double meaning was lost of Ochako and Himiko, it was received loud and clear by All Might and Izuku.

"Young Midoriya, the floor is yours."

Izuku nodded. "So the problem right now is that even after a few tries holding One for All in my body, it still feels like it'd really hurt me to use. My arms, my legs, just filling them with the power of One for All makes it feel like they're one wrong move from exploding off my body. And that's not something I can afford if I'm in a fight. So, I was thinking of a way to minimize how much of my body is put at risk, while still being able to attack. Then I remembered something you do All Might, with your punches."

"Oh?"

"Your punches make shockwaves. You threw a punch that sent a shockwave into the sky and made it rain."

Himiko frowned. "Okay, so you want to try and copy those shockwaves All Might makes?"

"That's right."

"Buuut, he does that by throwing a punch," Himiko scratched her head. "So how can you do that if you're not going to use your arms?"

Izuku raised his hand up and pointed it away from the group and left himself turned so they could all see what he was doing. Pressing a finger strongly into his thumb, Izuku filled the finger with the power of One for All. The red crackle of energy danced through the skin of his finger. Then with a crack, he flicked his finger.

BOOM-CRACK!

The blast ripped through the air, creating a sonic boom that echoed like a cannon blast. Quickly after, a column of trees were ripped out of the ground and shredded into splinters. A vast cone of destruction, all from the flick of a finger.

"Holy fuck!" Himiko exclaimed, her jaw slamming to the ground. "Izuku only just… Holy fuck!"

Ochako could only nod numbly, the vast amount of power Izuku had just displayed was insane. Especially since he had only flicked his finger. It wasn't on the same scale as from his punch back in Hosu City, but the blast had still done a level of damage that was hard to fathom.

"Deku that was incre–" A tap from Recovery Girl's cane stopped Ochako in her tracks.

"Show us that hand," she ordered.

Ochako blinked before she turned her eyes away from the swath of destroyed forest and refocused on Izuku. Now noticing that he was clutching his right hand up against his chest. She could also see he was shaking. "Deku?"

Slowly, Izuku turned to face everyone, a closed fist raised up for everyone to see. "S-see. I can still fight."

Ochako looked harder and saw that one finger in Izuku's fist, the one he had used for the demonstration, was a deep dark purple, and swollen. Ochako rushed forward and took Izuku's hand into her own. Gently she opened his hand up, and gasped. "Deku, your finger is broken! What happened?"

This wasn't right, wasn't the whole point of this demonstration supposed to show a technique that was going to prevent Izuku from getting hurt when he used One for All?

"Yeah… figured this was what was going to happen." Izuku said with a tired sigh. "Still, everything worked like I wanted it too."

Ochako's head snapped up. "Wait, what? You were expecting this?!"

"I mean, yeah." The way Izuku replied, like the outcome should have been obvious, ticked Ochako off.

"I see. To maximize the power you have to attack, but at the same time minimize the damage to your body, you focused One for All into the smallest point inside your body and used that to attack."

"Pretty much. This way I can use One for All and not take myself out of a fight." Izuku looked so proud. "Plus compared to the other times I've gotten hurt, this isn't too bad."

"An ingenious solution Young Midoriya. I can say the idea of pushing One for All to a specific part of my body has never occurred to me," All Might said. Rubbing his chin as he considered the technique.

"Toshinori!"

"Did you really just fucking approve of that?!"

Izuku jumped at the venomous reactions from Himiko and Recovery Girl. Desperate for some backup he turned to Ochako but the glare on her face made it crystal clear he wasn't going to get it from her. At least she wasn't looking at him, but at All Might.

All Might's hands went up fast. "Now hold on one second! Let me finish!" All Might knew he needed to get ahead of this quickly. "Let's not forget that Young Midoriya is attempting to get control of a completely new Quirk. On top of the other new Quirk he just recently came to have. That he was able to come up with such a radical idea on how to use One for All should not be dismissed out of hand. Even if the reason behind it is for his well-being. Such harsh words won't accomplish anything. Especially for someone that's grown up hearing harsh criticism from those that should have been his friends."

Recovery Girl tapped her cane. "A fair point. But we weren't yelling at Midoriya."

All Might coughed into his hand. "Err, yes. Fair point. But you all still jumped the gun. Please give me, his teacher and mentor a chance to finish my thoughts before interrupting. If you don't mind." When it looked like the three were giving him the chance he wanted, All Might turned to address Izuku. "Now, Young Midoriya. I was telling you the truth. Your idea was indeed an ingenious solution to a problem you have with One for All. But it's not the problem you need to address. You are focusing on mitigation, where you need to only worry about elimination. This technique is a short term fix. I want you to think long term. So I don't want to see you using this technique going forward. Especially in the upcoming test. Understand?"

Izuku glanced down at his hand. The black and swollen finger throbbed and twitched before with grim determination he clenched his hand into a fist. The shattered bones popped and cracked as he did but Izuku ignored it. "But isn't this better than nothing? This way I can attack up to ten times before I'm forced to use one of my arms."

"How the fuck are you going to attack ten fucking times?" Himiko asked, "What, you're just going to keep breaking your fingers? Oh, and you can't flick a thumb. So you have eight ti–"

Izuku stuck his thumb into his mouth and caught it in his cheek before snapping it out with a pop! The group, All Might as well, stared at him in shock.

"–fucking shit, Izuku. What the hell?" Himiko couldn't understand this. What the hell could be pushing Izuku to this kind of extreme. She was supposed to be the crazy one. Not him.

Ochako was also looking at Izuku with increased distress. This wasn't normal. The whole point of this training was to make sure he didn't hurt himself anymore but here he was, defiant and set that this was the right answer. Something was going on here. Something was driving Izuku to an extreme. And she needed to find out what it was. Now.

"Deku," Ochako reached out, took Izuku's hands back into hers, and gently asked, "Talk to us. Talk to me. What's going on?"

Izuku looked away, his eyes falling on Himiko. Filled with guilt and regret which wasn't missed by either her or Ochako. Then he looked at Ochako and the same guilt and regret was there. "You both almost died because of me. Because I left myself unable to defend myself or protect you."

Himiko shook her head. "Izuku I got hurt–"

Izuku shook his head as he cut her off. "Because of me! I knocked myself out and you got hurt. I should have been ready for One for All, but I wasn't even thinking about it. If I had, I might have been able to prepare myself. And you wouldn't have gotten stabbed. And you, Uraraka." Ochako jumped as Izuku refocused on her. "That Nomu. It had its hands around your neck! It was killing you and I couldn't–" Izuku's voice hitched as tears started running down his cheeks. "I could hear you choking. You were fighting to breathe and all I could do was hang there and be useless.Worthless. You mean so–" Izuku closed his eyes, stopping himself from saying something that shouldn't be said. "You've been there for me so many times, and the one moment, the one moment you needed me I wasn't able to help you."

"Deku, you did save me."

"I got lucky. Some fluke with One for All or whatever it was. I got lucky and started breathing fire. If that didn't happen…" Izuku shuddered, turning sickly pale. "Uraraka… Toga… there are nights where…" Izuku looked like he was going to be sick, but he pushed the final words out, "I've had nightmares where I watch you bleed out in that alley Toga. And I hear that Nomu strangle you, Uraraka… or I hear your neck…I hear your neck snap."

Izuku forced the horrific thoughts back down along with the bile rising up in his throat. Forced back the feelings of helplessness with his anger and determination. Izuku then startled Ochako by taking his hands out of hers and then clasping her hands instead. Squeezing them tightly.

"I will never let that happen. I will never let you, either of you, get hurt again. Not while I'm still alive. I will protect you. I will protect both of you. All our friends and classmates. I will never leave you to defend yourselves while I'm left unable to do anything. Never again."

Izuku looked Ochako in the eye and squeezed her hands one last time. "Never again. You will always be safe with me. So I'll do whatever it takes to make sure I can use every Quirk I have. A broken finger is a small price to pay to keep you safe."

"Deku, I wish you had said something sooner. If I had known that Hosu City still hurt you like this, I would have…" Ochako searched for the right word. "I would have tried to make you realize things were not your fault."

"Uraraka, I–"

"'I am responsible for my own actions. And the consequences. Not anyone else.' Your words right?" Ochako reminded Izuku kindly. "You're not the only one that gets to live by that. I make my own choices. Understand? I chose to jump after you. My choice. And what about my nightmares, Deku?" Ochako asked quietly.

Izuku looked startled. "Your?"

"My nightmares. That's right," Ochako confirmed. Ochako wished she had known that Hosu City haunted Izuku like it did. He had never said anything before. And until today Ochako hadn't suspected anything. Could his drive to be ready for the exam have been filled by more than wanting to pass? The evidence seemed to point that way. She cursed herself for missing something so obvious. Izuku always thought of others first. So not being able to help, of course that would hurt him.

"Deku, I hate seeing you hurt. I hate hate hate it. I have nightmares of what happened to you at the USJ after that Nomu hit you, of when you threw yourself at Shigaraki. Seeing you crawlout of that crater, your arm and legs destroyed and just so much blood." Ochako shuddered. "And now you're telling me you're going to do this? Deku, no. Please, I'm begging you, don't make this okay. This," Ochako looked down at Izuku's broken finger, "this isn't selflessness. This is selfishness. You're thinking you getting hurt only affects you and it doesn't. When you hurt, it hurts me too. And Deku, I'm tired of hurting."

"So what am I supposed to do, Uraraka? Because I can't… I won't accept letting Hosu City happen again. I won't."

"We get stronger." Ochako answered. Simply but confidently. "I get stronger so you never feel like you have to hurt yourself to protect me. And I get stronger so no one ever hurts you again. Sounds good?"

Izuku looked down at his hand, before nodding. "Deal."

"So, no more accepting that you getting hurt is acceptable? No finger flicking."

Izuku laughed softly. "I get the feeling if I tried, you might not ask me to stop so nicely the next time."

"Darn right." Ochako said with a nasty grin. Her features softened however as she added, "And Deku. Don't keep things like your nightmares a secret from me. Please? If you're hurting I want to know."

Izuku blinked, and shifted on his feet. "I thought… me hurting, hurt you?"

"It does, but learning you've been hiding your pain from me hurts just as much… if not more. Because if I don't know about it, how can I help you?"

Recovery Girl said nothing but watched Izuku carefully. All Might went out of his way to not look at Izuku. Both things Himiko picked up on immediately.

"Just so you two love birds know," Izuku and Ochako leapt away from each other, blushing up a storm, "you don't have to worry too much. Before anything can get to either of you, it'll have to go through me." Himiko calmly pulled out a knife, one that neither her friends or teachers were aware she was allowed to have, and whirled it around. "And I'll make sure whatever is threatening you is chopped up into nice little chunks."

Izuku laughed while trying to make his face not red anymore and grateful that the topic had been shifted away from wounds and hurts he may or may not have been hiding. "Why does that fill me with both confidence and dread?"

"Probably because we'll be the one cleaning up the mess," Ochako laughed.

Himiko slipped the knife away. "By the way, Izuku. I don't have to say it right?" Himiko tapped her eye patch.

Izuku shrugged. "I'm going to feel how I feel Toga."

"You're a fucking hopeless dork, Izuku," Himiko said with an exaggerated sigh. Izuku didn't argue with that. "Oh, and by the way," Himiko grinned wickedly which sent shivers up her crushes' spines, "what were you going to call that move?"

Izuku glanced at his finger. "I didn't get that far, honestly."

"Maybe Finger Bang?"

Ochako coughed.

"Hmm, not a bad name," Izuku hummed to himself. Ochako was shooting Himiko a death glare.

"Would have been fun if you got to use it in training. Give someone a huge scare. Maybe even when you and Ochako are in a sparring match."

Izuku shook his head. "Oh no. I'd never try to surprise Uraraka with a Finger Bang. I'd want her to know it was coming…what?" Himiko fell over laughing wildly while Ochako slapped her hands over her face and started floating away into the sky. All Might was coughing up blood and Recovery Girl just looked done with all of them. "What'd I say?!"

"I'm going to try whistling."

"No."

Ochako's swift but bored denial made Izuku lay his head on the lunch table. "I'm going to do it."

"Nope." Ochako then took a bite of her food, not even looking at Izuku.

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not."

Izuku groaned in annoyance, while the rest of the table barely paid the 'argument' much attention.

"Midoriya's still complaining, kero?" Tsuyu asked as she opened a bag of chips and offered some to the table. Himiko reached over to grab a few for herself.

"Hasn't stopped since last night apparently."

Tenya's hand came up as he addressed Izuku. "Midoriya, I understand your frustration, but remember you've only had a few weeks of practice with your Boric Pyre. You can't expect to have the same kind of control of it as you do with your Psychokinesis."

Shouto nodded. "He's right. I didn't just start being an expert with my fire the day of our match. I've been working on honing that part of my Quirk since then. Even my own father didn't expect me to show the same level with my fire as I have with my ice."

Lifting his head, Izuku slouched into his chair. "But you were able to use it in combination with your ice. I can't do that with my Psychokinesis at all."

"Midoriya, maybe you're expecting too much at this point?" Hitoshi suggested. "Not every Quirk is super versatile. Breathing fire seems pretty straightforward."

"There's something there, I can feel it. I just need to try something different. And whistling is different. Maybe it'll give me something besides a blast of fire."

Sighing, Ochako finished her bite and looked over at Mei. "Is Deku still overheating?"

"Regularly," Mei stated. "His body temperature can get pretty wild."

"Deku, why did your father tell you not to try whistling?"

Izuku pouted. "Because it could quickly overheat me."

"So why are you still on about this? I'd say it's settled, you're not trying to whistle."

Tsuyu tapped her chin. "What are you expecting anyway? Fire is fire."

"Endeavor has Hell Spider. He can make his fire so condensed that it can cut through metal and concrete," Izuku countered. "He's a prime example that fire doesn't have to be just fire."

"And my father has a Quirk that lets him control fire at will. You breathe it. I don't think it's rational to think you can imitate him to the same degree."

"I'm not expecting to start breathing lasers or something, but it feels like I've hit a wall and it's really annoying."

"Again Izuku," Himiko threw in, "you've had a few weeks to practice. You've only just learned how to not sneeze up a fireball."

Ochako sighed. "And he's learned how to breathe out smoke." Which is what started this whole mess, Ochako thought tiredly. Upon seeing what a 'hand warming breath' was able to do, Izuku's Quirk obsessed mind went into overdrive trying to see what else he could do. After a few days of nothing Izuku was clearly becoming frustrated.

"My father said breathing is key to this Quirk. It's not like there are different ways to breathe. Whistling is the only drastically different thing there is, and I know it does one thing different from what my father said. If I could experience it, then maybe I'd be able to get over this wall I've hit."

"Or you could end up hurting yourself by accident," Ochako countered. A little heat coming into her voice. "And I thought we'd talked about that?"

Izuku slumped deeper into his chair. "I know, I know."

"Good. So let's take whistling off the table and think of something different."

"But I can't think of anything else. People just don't breathe differently."

Then a new voice cut in. "Singers do."

Everyone at Izuku's table turned to look where the new voice had come from. At the table right next to theirs sat Momo, Kouji and the one that had spoken up and was now nervously fidgeting under their combined looks, Kyouka. "Um sorry, I couldn't help but overhear." Her jacks tapped into each other nervously as she realized she might have been a little rude to interject into a private talk like that.

Izuku wasn't upset at all, and everyone at the table could see the gears in his head starting to speed up. "No, it's alright. You said there are people who breathe differently?"

Kouji was nodding his head and pointing at Kyouka who straightened herself up. "Um, yeah. Singers use different breathing techniques all the time. For warm-ups and for when they're on stage giving a performance. I've actually been helping Kouda with a few breathing tricks."

Izuku's notebook was out, startling a few at the table that still wondered where he was hiding that thing all the time, and he was taking notes. "Like what?"

"Well, there's things like yawn-signing, humming, lip buzz vocals, tongue trills and vocal sirens to name a few warm-ups. Also, there are tons of different ways to breathe too. Diaphragm breathing is a huge one singers learn how to do. There's huge breaths vs quick breaths, like gasps and pants. Plus there's what happens when you sing, period. Depending on what tone you're going for, that affects things too."

Izuku's pencil was going a mile a second as he wrote everything down. Kouji then pointed at Kyouka then towards Izuku. Momo beamed. "That's a wonderful idea Kouda. I'm sure Jirou would be able to teach Midoriya a lot of things to help him."

"I mean I don't mind giving him some help. If he wants to, that is."

"Please take care of me Jirou!" Izuku said with a deep bow. Getting a few laughs from both tables.

Himiko laughed before she leaned over towards Ochako and whispered into her ear. "Wonder if he'll learn to sing some serenades, hmm?"

Ochako's face went scarlet as she imagined herself leaning on a balcony, with Izuku under her singing up his love to her.

Himiko cackled at how easy it was to press Ochako's Deku Button.

"Hey, do you guys know if there are any places in the United States that are always on fire?" Izuku asked as he looked up from his hero notebook. Standing on a raised platform for Mei to work on him in the Development Studio, Izuku had passed the time going over his notes. Trying to come up with names for super moves he could use with his Boric Pyre.

His friends all looked at him with varying degrees of worry. "Midoriya," Tenya said. "That's a disturbing question to ask."

While Izuku quickly tried to explain his reasoning, Mei stepped up to him and began putting on the first piece of gear.

"Um, Mei? What's all this?" Himiko eyed a large table that was covered in random bits of support gear and lots of scrap parts and miscellaneous tools. Mei's work station was a mess even under the best of circumstances but today it was even worse. Most of the time the stuff left out was for Izuku's costume. Dealing with the latest project, keeping him from overheating. But now there were obviously bits mixed in that were not for him. Since some had the squad's names sticky noted to things. Himiko grabbed a peculiarly long metal case with her name on it and opened it up.

"Oh, all that? Those are some bits and bobs I thought up for you guys. When I had a little spare time to tinker. Most aren't done yet," Mei said offhandedly as she worked on putting the new prototype onto Izuku.

Tenya paled as he looked over the mess for anything with his name on it. "It's not more rockets, right?"

"Nope. For someone with engines in his legs, you can't handle speed very well, can you?"

Ochako snickered while Tenya's hands chopped as he explained he could handle high speeds just fine. When he has control, that is.

Mei glanced over at Himiko. "I came up with that when I thought about what you'd do if you couldn't throw your knives."

Himiko blinked and opened the case. "If I can't throw my knives? How could something this big helllllll," Himiko trailed off as she looked inside. The rest of the group looked to see what had taken her breath away. Himiko lifted the gear out of the case and up for everyone to see. "Bitch, this is a gun!"

Tsuyu croaked, "I'm leaving, kero."

Hitoshi groaned. "Great, that's what the serial killer needs. A freaking gun."

Mei's cheeks puffed out. "It's not a gun! That would be boring!"

Himiko held up the not-gun, which looked exactly like an old American Tommy Gun. Complete with the large round magazine. "This is totally a gun."

"No, no, no! Guns shoot bullets." Mei pointed to a wall that was heavily dented and scorched. "Go try it!"

Everyone that was able to move, hurried to grab ear protection and got super close to Mei, which in turn made Izuku, standing on a raised platform for Mei to work on him, the closest to the impending disaster. The perfect shield.

Himiko, after putting in some ear plugs, cocked and loaded the gun and pressed it into her shoulder. "And what does this fire then that makes it 'not a gun?'"

"Knives, of course."

Head snapped up and looked at Mei like she was insane while Himiko had a grin that looked down right euphoric as she pulled the trigger. "Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho h-"

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!

The recoil slammed Himiko back and made her pull the barrel upward as she lost control of the not-gun and fired not just into the wall but the ceiling as she landed on her back. After a couple of seconds the drum was emptied and silence returned to the room.

Himiko dragged herself off the floor and put the not-gun back into its case. "Mei, you're insane! What the fuck…?! Owww, my fucking shoulder."

While Himiko nursed her definitely bruised shoulder, everyone looked at the carnage she had caused. Knives were now sticking out of the wall and ceiling. On closer inspection, the knives were closer to sharpened shrapnel as they were all missing any kind of handle. Consisting only of a blade and tang.

Shouto walked over to the wall and attempted to pull one out of the wall, but immediately gave up. "Hatsume, isn't the Department of Support only supposed to make non-lethal gear?"

"It's only lethal if the target dies."

"Second question," Hitoshi interjected, "Toga is a stealth specialist. Isn't that thing a little um, loud?"

"And out of control, kero."

"Yeah, that too."

Mei shrugged. "It's a prototype. Just a funny idea I had. Plus, I don't know why you're so shocked about the recoil. Do you know how much propellant is needed to fire something as heavy as those knives? It's the equivalent of a fully automatic .50 caliber."

Himiko glowered at Mei. "I'm fucking murdering you in your sleep. Gonna find where you live and shank you then and there… God damn it, I think my shoulder is broken."

While Shouto iced down Himiko's shoulder, Mei went back to working on Izuku. "So how does the new respirator feel? Any different from the old one?"

While Izuku's old respirator had been split in two, one side covering each ear, and sliding out to cover his mouth and nose when he needed it, this new one was a more solid piece of equipment. Visually it was still very similar except the side coverings were thicker and wrapped around the back of Izuku's neck, almost like a brace. The reason for this simple change was the added cooling element. The back portion would cool his neck, similar to how athletes would drape cold towels over their necks to cool off during a summer game. The front part of the mask was still hidden away like before. The sliding metal panels could form the basic face mask he was used to, or fan out small slots so that Izuku could breathe fire through them.

Moving his head around confirmed that the change was minimal as far as he was concerned. "Feels pretty much the same, Hatsume."

"Hmm, good. Now remember, this isn't meant to drastically cool you off. This is just to take the edge off, or for when you've only used your fire a little bit. Got it?" Hatsume removed the respirator and handed it to Ochako to put on the table.

"Yup. I understand," Izuku confirmed.

Ochako looked over the piece of gear. "If this isn't going to solve Deku's overheating, why'd you make this first?"

Mei stepped down from her step ladder and went over to get the next thing for Izuku to try on. "The respirator was the easiest thing to modify. Make it heat resistant and add a minor cooling element. And I didn't make it first. It's just the part that got finished first. Started all the pieces at the same time. Now let's get this baby on you, Midoriya."

Mei hoisted up a piece of gear that more closely resembled the chest armor for a medieval knight. Noticing the worried looks, Mei rolled her eyes. "Remember, this is just a lab prototype. We're testing to see if the cooling method will even work. By the time we try a field model it'll be lighter and less bulky."

"And fit my costume's look too, right?" Izuku asked hopefully.

"Yup. If we're lucky, I'll shrink it down to fit inside your utility harness. There might be a little more going on on your back but your cape will hide it. Overall, you'd have to look pretty hard to tell the difference. Uraraka, take the back panel, will you?"

Mei handed Ochako the back panel, and she was startled at how heavy it was. "You're going to shrink this down?" Looking inside, there were tubes and vents lining the plate. On the back there were more tubes that connected to some kind of cylindrical slot. Ochako imagined this was all to help cool Izuku somehow.

"Midoriya, arms out," Mei ordered. Izuku did as told and Mei pushed the chest piece onto him. Ochako followed her lead and pushed on the back. Mei quickly attached the two parts together, making the parts hiss as they were sealed. Once that was done, Mei walked over to the table and opened up an ice box you'd be used to seeing carrying liquid nitrogen. Super cooled water vapor billowed out of the box as Mei, with gloved hands, pulled out a cylinder with several blue rods inside. "So these rods are filled with a super cooled liquid that will pump through the vest," Izuku eyed the armor he was wearing, questioning if vest was the right word, "and cool you off. At the same time, the liquid will absorb the heat you put off and store it back in the rods. This should keep you from overheating."

"Should, kero?" Tsuyu asked as she watched Mei put the cooling rods into the vest's back.

"These things are used for keeping heavy machinery from overheating in environments of extreme heat. Forges, volcanos, that sort of thing."

"Volcanos?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah. Scientists that study that kind of stuff need to make sure their tools don't melt."

"Wait, so this stuff is for cooling off machines?" Ochako asked, starting to get nervous. "Has it been used for something like this before?"

"Nope," Mei answered simply, "but that's what testing is for. Once I'm sure this is fitted right, Midoriya will start wearing it while he trains."

Izuku had flashbacks of all the testing he had to do to get his crest to function properly. The shudder that ran up his body was not because of the cooling vest.

2 Weeks Until Term Finals

"Heeeeeeeey! You guys watching?!" Eijirou called down from his perch on top of a multi-story building in U.A.s Ground Beta training ground. Below him Denki and Hanta waved back that they were watching. Mina waved as well but she was a little nervous at how high her old Jr. High friend was and how perilously close to the edge of the roof he was. Katsuki grumbled and swore that if the training method Eijirou wanted to show off wasn't worth his time, he was going to kill him.

"Cool! So watch this!"

Mina tilted her head to the side. "What kind of training could he be doing all the way up there?"

"Balancing?" Denki offered.

Mina swore she'd deck Eijirou if he really was trying to improve his balance and was using the ledge of a building as incentive not to fall over. "If he wants to have better balance, I could teach him some dance exercises that I– DID HE JUST JUMP?!"

Four heads snapped up and followed Eijirou as he plummeted to the street below. Bringing his arms in to cover his front, he slammed into the street face first. Sending up a cloud of concrete dust and rock. The four stood in silence before Eijirou popped out of the dust cloud, hardened arms raised in the air as he celebrated. "Is that not the manliest training method!"

"It's something, alright," Hanta laughed. "I think I'll stick to swinging off buildings, thank you very much."

Denki shook his head. "You almost gave me a heart attack, man. That had to be almost ten stories!"

Eijirou smirked. "Yup! When I was training for the sports festival I stuck to the smaller buildings. Been gradually working my way up. My goal is to get high enough so I can hit terminal velocity. Man just think of the crater I'll make th–"

"YOU IDIOT!" Mina, face now closer to purple than pink, barreled through Denki and Hanta and made a beeline for Eijirou. Her black eyes narrowed into slits as she jabbed a finger into his chest. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?! IS ALL THAT HAIR GEL AND HAIR DYE SEEPING INTO YOUR BRAIN?!"

"Hair dye?" Denki asked but was ignored.

Eijirou threw up his hands. "Whoa, whoa! Come on, it's not that big a deal. Like I said, I've been doing this for a while and–"

"That doesn't make it any better!" Mina screamed. "You just jumped off a building! Do you have any idea how stupid that was?! That's how you train?! You utter moron!"

"C-come on, don't you think you're overreacting a bit?"

Mina pointed up to the ledge he had jumped from. "You got up there, knowing full well none of us knew what you were going to do, and then jumped. You don't think that's messed up?!"

In retrospect, Eijirou concluded, that might not have been one of his better ideas. Desperate for some back up, Eijirou looked over at Katsuki who was standing off to the side. "Come on, man. A little help here?"

Katsuki snarled. "Do that again and I'll fucking kill you."

Mina's finger returned to jabbing Eijirou in his chest. "And when I'm through with you, you're going to wish he'd killed you. Cause you know what I'm going to do?" Eijirou suddenly felt very nervous. "I'm going to let the whole school know what you were like back in Jr. High. I'll plaster your yearbook photos all over the halls and by the time I'm through, you'll be the one everyone is talking about. Not Toga. Am I clear?"

While Eijirou looked absolutely terrified that Mina would make good on her word, Hanta scoffed at the idea. "Riiight. Because I'm sure Kirishima has enough skeletons in his closet to hold a candle to Toga. And she has literal skeletons."

Denki winced, "Dude."

"What? She was literally using her body count in Aizawa sensei's 'interrogation' lesson when she and Kouda were doing the good cop, bad cop bit."

Mina, satisfied that Eijirou wasn't going to be jumping off any more buildings, turned back to the group. "I mean yeah, she can, but us? That feels like a good way to get jumped."

Katsuki's hands crackled and popped. "Let some extra try it."

Denki groaned. "Please don't make us any more hated. The fact people put whole tables between us and them at lunch is rough, you know."

Hanta nodded. "At the very least the other hero classes and the support departments don't seem to hate us… 1-B notwithstanding."

"A whole lot of them did come to our room to apologize for how they acted. And how some of them were still acting," Mina added.

"Not all of them though. A couple didn't really look like they wanted to apologize at all."

"I don't fucking care," Katsuki growled. "If it wasn't Bun Bitch, they'd be pissy about something else. We're leaving them in the dust and they can only complain. They're fucking pathetic."

"At least the ones who looked forced are just being jerks now and not actually trying to start trouble. It's a good thing their class rep Kendou was able to get Monoma settled down in time. When he had led some of them to our class and tried to confront Toga when school started up again I thought for sure Midoriya and Uraraka were going to rip them apart. You see the look Midoriya had? Scary," Denki recalled. Seeing Izuku get right into the thick of things before the first bell had left the class a little on edge. A few recalled the look Izuku had in the surveillance footage from the USJ attack. When he had marched through a hallway full of villains.

Mina's eyes sparkled a little, "Those three are so close now. I wonder if they're dating."

Katsuki looked ready to vomit while Eijirou groaned. "Oh no, Ashido, don't start with the shipping thing."

"Oh, I started that ages ago."

While Eijirou shook his head, Hanta scratched his. "Wait? Who's shipped with who?"

"Obviously, Toga and Midoriya are a thing at this point. She's always hanging on him," Denki said with confidence.

Hanta frowned. "Really? Because my money was on Toga and Uraraka."

"But they were always fighting before the sports festival," Denki countered.

"You've never heard of Enemies to Lovers? She's pretty much attached at the hip with Uraraka. Hell, I swear I've seen her grinding on her," Hanta said confidently.

Eijirou shook his head. "Guys, don't encourage Ashido. Please."

Mina waved him off. "Oh, get over it. Besides, I know what the real deal is."

Denki and Hanta leaned forward. "You do?"

"Oh, yeah. Those three are definitely in a," Mina paused for dramatic effect, "Ménage à trois."

"Oh my god, that makes perfect sense!"

"It's so obvious!"

Mina grinned happily. "Right! Those three are totally together together at this point."

Hanta nodded. "We better make sure Mineta doesn't hear about this. Poor guy will blow a gasket for sure."

"Oh yeah. He'd–"

An explosion from Katsuki that ripped a hole through the side of the nearest building made everyone jump. "I swear, if you guys keep talking about this worthless bullshit that makes me want to puke, I'm killing all of you."

Eijirou agreed, but not as violently. "Yeah, talking about them like that isn't fair. We know how Toga met Midoriya, and Uraraka and he became good friends and trained to get into U.A. It makes sense that the three would become friends. You don't have to make it something it's not, you know. And more importantly, it's not our business. Let them be friends."

Mina pouted. "You don't have to take this seriously. It's harmless gossip."

Denki laughed. "Yeah, man. Besides, no one here actually thinks they're together like that. I don't think Midoriya's poor innocent heart would be able to handle it."

Hanta agreed. "Yeah, no kidding. Plus, I don't think Uraraka has even shown any interest in that kind of stuff. She's pretty serious when it comes to her hero training and studies."

Mina rolled her eyes at that, but then looked over at Katsuki. "I don't suppose you'd know anything? Since you went to Jr. High with them?"

"I. Do. Not. Care. About. Their. Fucking. Crushes!" Katsuki exploded. "I don't care what the fuck Round Face does, and I sure as fuck don't care about whatever fucking thing Deku is doing!"

"But isn't Midoriya your rival?" Denki asked. "Doesn't that mean you care what he's up to a whole lot?"

Katsuki looked ready to blow something, or someone up. Deciding he was done with everything he just stormed off. "I don't care! Drop it!"

Mina sighed. "Okay, okay, we get it. Honestly I guess that makes sense. I figured once you learned he was getting singing lessons from Jirou you'd have gone to yell at him or something."

Katsuki came to a sudden halt and whirled around. "The fuck did you just say?"

Mina blinked. "Eh?"

"What did you just say?!"

"Um, that a couple of days ago, Jirou offered to give Midoriya some singing lessons. I think it was to help him with his–"

Katsuki growled as an explosion rocketed him upwards and he began roaring through the training ground away from the group.

"Um… What?" Mina scratched her head. "What just happened?"

"I don't think Bakugou knew about the singing thing, Ashido," Eijirou said nervously.

"And isn't that way," Denki pointed at the trail of smoke Katsuki was leaving, "the direction towards Ground Omega. Where Midoriya trains?"

The four students stood in silence as they realized that Mina had just set Katsuki loose on an unprepared Izuku.

"Oh, I've done a bad thing."

"Okay, are you good to try again, Midoriya?" Kyouka asked.

Izuku started to nod, before checking behind himself. Mei was busy fiddling with the cooling vest, pulling out the now red hot cooling rods, the hiss they made as she held them in her gloved hands still making him nervous, and replacing them with fresh blue rods. Once those were inserted and she gave him a thumbs up, Izuku confirmed with Kyouka he was good to go. "I'm ready to try again!"

Kyouka gave him a thumbs up before she turned to Momo. "Another steel plate please."

Momo, from behind a tree for modesty, nodded and went to work. A dull thud soon followed as a large thick plate of steel hit the ground. After getting the all clear from Kyouka, Tenya and Hitoshi came over and hefted the metal up and anchored it to a stand so it was upright and a perfect target.

Huffing, Hitoshi stretched his arms. "Remind me. If All Might is here, why are we the ones lifting these heavy things?"

"Ha ha ha ha! To help build muscle, of course," All Might answered with a smile.

Hitoshi glared at the teacher. "You just don't want to do it."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

While that was going on, Izuku watched Mei toss the cooling rods into a tub of ice that hissed and steamed at the contact. "I'm going through those rods pretty quickly. Aren't I? How many do I have left?"

Mei grimaced. "You're wearing the last of them… Your back and chest still numb?"

"No. I'm better. Though I get the feeling the third time is not going to be the charm."

Training had been interesting for Izuku. It had started with going through the breathing exercises and warm ups Kyouka had been teaching him. Breathing with his diaphragm. Izuku had been shocked at just how much of a change that single technique had helped. The much deeper breaths now let him breathe fire for an extended period of time and not feel light headed afterwards. She had also taught him quick breath techniques, gasping and panting which had the effect of giving Izuku an almost rapid fire ability with his fire.