Izuku went home that day, an unfamiliar feeling blooming in his chest. For the first time in forever, he didn't feel so alone anymore.
He'd used to dream about this, about actually enjoying going to school, having friends. People that genuinely cared for him.
For once, life didn't seem so bad. He came home to an empty house. A note taped on the fridge. Inko would be away for the next three days, it didn't say where. She never tells him where she goes. She just disappears for a couple of days every now and then.

He didn't care though, he learned not to look a gift horse in the mouth. That night he watched some movies in the living room, enjoying these rare moments of freedom. He's usually forced to remain in his room, his mother didn't appreciate him interrupting her peace and quiet.

The next morning, he woke up feeling safe. A welcome change from the constant state of alert and nervousness; not knowing when the next beating will be, the next lesson, the next punishment. He gets dressed, for once enjoying a small breakfast and taking his time doing his morning routine. It all felt surreal. Like life was just waiting for the right moment to pull the rug from under him.

He arrived early at school. As he was entering the classroom, his stomach dropped. Of course, his luck would run out.
He feels stupid now, thinking it would last. Thinking that maybe this time was different. Yet here he was, standing right in front of none other than Bakugou Katsuki. His suspension must be over.

Kacchan isn't sitting at his usual desk. He recalls it to be Kirishima's desk. Aizawa must have made them switch. He seems distracted by something. The only other people in the class are Uraraka and Iida. They're both glaring daggers at the blonde sitting in front of them.

Izuku freezes at the doorway, body tensing up and a phantom ache making itself known in his shoulder.

Bakugou finally notices him and they make eye contact. "Deku," Bakugou whispers in a low voice. It's the quietest, Izuku has ever heard him speak. He gets up and marches towards him in long strides. Unfortunately for him but mercifully for Izuku, Iida decides to step in between them, effectively blocking Kacchan's path.

"I believe you should stay away Bakugou. You've done enough." Iida's voice is firm, leaving no room for argument. However, Kacchan doesn't seem deterred. The latter scoffs and speaks up.

"Get out of the way four eyes, I just want to talk to him." He's not yelling, Izuku notes. Kacchan's whole demeanor is different than usual, he's quieter, more subdued.

"It's O- Okay Iida, Ka- Bakugou won't do anything to me." Kacchan flinches at the lack of nickname. It seems his shoulder drop even more.

"Are you sure about this Deku?" Uraraka, who has been quiet until now speaks up. Her voice is tinged with worry but her eyes are focused on him. Trying to convey some sort of message to Izuku. It's okay if you're not. Her gaze says it all.

Izuku nods and Iida relents, he steps aside but his and Uraraka's eyes are still narrowed on Bakugou. Their glare is piercing and their bodies are tense, ready to intervene at any moment.

"Deku I'm only going to say this once and you better listen up." His voice rises a little and he falters at the beginning but his eyes are burning with emotions, Izuku has never seen him like this. "I'm sorry." He says it like it physically pains him but he says it nonetheless. The fire in his eyes shows the sincerity behind those two simple words. Before Izuku has time to reply or react in any way, Bakugou turns around and heads back to his seat. No other words are exchanged between them.

The rest of the class trickles in, all of them eyeing Bakugou warily. However, seeing the lack of animosity between the blonde and their green friend. They move on.
Aizawa arrives, he glances around and seems satisfied with seeing Bakugou sitting quietly in his new seat. He announces that they'll be having a small field trip today.

"This time, All Might, myself and one other will supervise."

"Uhm what are we doing exactly?" A student calls out raising his hand. Izuku remembers him as Sero Hanta, a tall, lean boy, his dark hair has spiked ends. His eyes are almond-shaped and are as black as his hair. His most prominent features are his large teeth that seem to dominate his grin and his cylindrical shaped elbows taking the form of tape dispensers, from which he fires his Tape quirk.

"We're preparing you for disaster relief, from fires to flood." Aizawa raises a hand, a card in his grip reveals that they'll be having rescue training today.

The classroom erupts in exciting cheers. Aizawa's eyes flash red and his hair floats up, promptly intimidating the students into silence as he continued his explanations.
"Quiet down, I'm not done. It's up to you whether or not you wear your costumes"
He pulls out a small remote from his scarf, pressing it and presenting them their costumes for the second time. "Get ready, we'll be going by bus. So, meet me at the front gates once you're all suited up"

Soon enough, they're all sitting in the bus, Izuku sits between Tsuyu and Uraraka, on the opposite side of them are Iida and Kirishima. They dissolve into comfortable and excited chatter. Izuku isn't wearing his costume, it's still being repaired by the Support Department. He opted to just take his support items with him and wearing his usual long-sleeved gym cloth.
He sits between his classmates, content to just sit there and listen to their interactions.

Tsuyu nudges him a little to gain his attention. Once she has it she speaks up.

"I generally say what I'm thinking Midoriya." She turns fully towards him, making eye contact.

"Oh, what is it Tsuyu?" He asked hesitantly, there it goes. Maybe they finally realized he wasn't worth their friendship. His stomach drops at the thought. He clenches his fist, anticipating the inevitable humiliation to come.

"You're quirk really reminds me of All Might." What?! That wasn't what he expected. Then again this is Tsuyu. He doesn't know why he thought she'd be mean to him. He really should stop overthinking and doubting his friends. However, the anxiety that pools in his stomach doesn't calm down as he's called out for his connection to All Might. How did they notice so soon?

"R- Really? N- No I don't- "He stutters out, his nervousness palpable to everyone listening in. Thankfully Kirishima speaks up and shifts the attention away from him

"I think you have a really cool quirk Midoriya, you can do a lot of things with it, unlike my hardening quirk." He hardens a part of his hands to emphasize his point. "I'm good in a fight but it's really boring."

"I think you're wrong Kirishima. Your quirk is awesome. You could easily go pro with it. Saving people and acting as their shield, not to mention the potential you have in fights!" Izuku quickly dissolves to his usual muttering habits, scaring some of his classmates.

"Woah Midoriya, slow down. Thank you bro, it's really nice coming from you!" Kirishima beams at him, his sharp and toothy grin shining ever so brightly.

Throughout the entire conversation, Bakugou stayed uncharacteristic quiet, even when Kaminari, the blonde guy with the electric quirk, called him out for his brash and harsh behavior.

Soon the bus slows to a stop and Aizawa announces their arrival.

"Welcome to the unforeseen simulation joint!" A deep voice greets them on their arrival. In front of them stands A pro Hero dressed in an astronaut suit. He gestures behind him to the huge dome-shaped building.

"OHH it's the space hero Thirteen!" Izuku exclaims before he can stop himself, his Hero nerd side controlling his reactions.

"The gentleman hero who does his best work in rescue scenarios! I love thirteen!" Uraraka gushes next to him, her presence reassuring him that he's not alone in his feeling towards the hero.

The hero leads them inside, they all stare in awe at the massive space inside the dome. Thirteen informs them that the room is divided into multiple sections, each one representing a disaster scenario. There's a flood zone, a landslide zone, a conflagration zone and so on... pretty much every disaster and accident you can imagine.

Aizawa walks towards the Hero and they exchange a few hushed words, Izuku sees thirteen holds up three fingers. He assumes she's talking about All Might. The number one hero isn't here, he probably passed his three-hour time limit. Izuku had checked the hero news this morning and saw that All Might had stopped two robberies and one car crash. It must have taken a lot out of him. It explains his absence.

Their conversation ends and they both turn to proceed in addressing the students.
"Before we get started I'd like to make one or two points." The hero says. "As you may already know, my quirk is called Blackhole. It can suck in and tear apart anything."

"And you've used it to save people from all sorts of disasters!" Izuku interrupts the hero in his gushing, Uraraka nods frivolously next to him in agreement.

"Indeed...However, my power is deadly. I've no doubt that some of you have similar abilities. In our superpowered society, the use of quirks is heavily monitored and restricted. It is easy to forget that the system we live in isn't a stable one. One wrong move from an uncontrollable quirk and people can die. In your quirk assessment test with Aizawa you came to learn some of your quirks hidden potential and with your battle exercise with All Might, you saw the danger your quirks impose on the people around you." Bakugou visibly stiffens at that and his hands clench into a fist. "Today, our goal is to show you a new perspective. Your quirks aren't meant to harm people. You have within you the potential to save lives, you will learn in this class that being a hero doesn't mean fighting villains and hurting others. Being a hero means saving and helping others." Thirteen's features are hidden by their astronaut mask but just from their tone of voice, Izuku could hear the pure determination and sincerity behind their words. "That's it. Thank you for listening."
The whole class claps and cheers at Thirteen's motivating speech. Every one of them is fired up and ready to face their next step in their journey towards becoming heroes.

"Great, now first of- "Aizawa speaks but izuku tunes him out as something else catches his attention.
Across the room, down in the central field near the fountain. A swirl of black mist suddenly appears. It's getting bigger by the second and a deep feeling of dread consumes Izuku.
Aizawa must have noticed something wrong because he's suddenly addressing him.
"Midoriya is everything okay?" His tone is flat but Izuku senses some concern behind the question. He wordlessly points at the black mist and his doubts are confirmed when Aizawa stiffened and begins shouting at thirteen.

From the swirling black mist emerges dozens of people, all dressed in combat attires and holding heavy weapons.

"Hurdle up together! Thirteen get the students out of here!" he urges "Those are villains!"

A man speaks up. His quirk covers all of his features by a dark swirling mist. "Thirteen and Eraser head now is it? According to the schedule we received a few days ago. All Might should be here." His voice is deep and threatening but oddly respectful. The oddity making shivers run down the student's spine.

"Where is he? We've come all this way. And brought so many playmates. All Might the symbol of peace. Is he here?" A man speaks up from his place near the fountain. His hair is a pale shade of blue and his body is covered by amputated hands. The sight makes the bile rise in Izuku's throat. Next to him stands a massive figure, it's more monster than human. The creature's brain is exposed and its eyes look around frantically like it's not even conscious.

"So, it was you, behind the intrusion the other day." Aizawa mutters to himself.

This is it, he thinks. This is what it means to take on the job of a hero. This is what pros are up against. What they face in the field. Izuku stared at the hundreds of villains they were about to face and thinks that this is what it means to face evil. The malicious intent flowing from these people reminds him of his mother. However, this is different. He knows his mother would never hurt him to the point of fatal injuries. Yet this doesn't apply here. These villains are out for blood. They're out to kill.

"I wonder if some dead kids will bring him here?" The blue haired man continues.

"Thirteen evacuate the students and try calling the school! One of the villains must be jamming the sensors if the alarm didn't go off. There's a chance one of their electric types are causing the interference!" Aizawa- no Eraser Head readies his capture weapons in his hands, his usual tired and sleepy demeanor gone. Leaving in its place a cautious and experienced pro hero. He marches ahead in confidence, reassuring the students that everything will be okay. "Kaminari! Try using your quirk to signal for help." He urges the blonde boy.

"But Sensei! You can't fight them alone!" Izuku calls out to his teacher. "Against that many opponents... your quirk can't nullify them all! You're fighting style revolves around stealth and the element of surprise! You can't fight them head on!" He voices his concern, trying to convince his teacher to think of a better plan.
"You can't be a pro and be a one trick pony Midroriya. Don't worry, I got this." He reassures as he calmly puts on his goggles and leaps head first to the central field. Aizawa dodges a bullet coming his way and glares at a villain with gun heads as fingers, the villain tries shooting again but his quirk doesn't work. Eraser Head promptly knock him out with a swift roundhouse kick to the head, he then moves on to the two villains running towards him and closing in on him. He leaps over them, the action resulting in knocking them both into each other. He then proceeds to render a villain immobile with his capture tape and knocks him out using a force that shows the pure strengths he had honed in his body. That's how it goes for the many more villains he encounters. They don't attack all at once, Aizawa's goggles make it impossible for them to know which one of their quirks will be erased and therefore Aizawa has an advantage. They don't stand a chance. His amazing and impressive hand to hand fighting style and the strategic use of his quirk shows years of experience. It makes Izuku and the rest students watching, sigh in relief. However, Izuku knows that He won't last long like this. He's bound to get tired.

He's interrupted in his musing by Thirteen, they tell him to follow them towards the exit, their path is then blocked by the sudden appearance of the man with the black mist. He seems to have a wrap quirk. Izuku notes that from what he'd seen, the man's quirk must consist of the ability to form a wrap gate in order to teleport himself and the people that step inside it.

"Greetings, we are the league of villains. Forgive our audacity, but...Today, we come here to end the symbol of peace life. We were under the impression that All Might would be here. Was his schedule revised? No matter, my objective remains intact. I must prevent you from escaping-" His speech is interrupted by Thirteen's voice.

"You will do nothing. I will not let you hurt anyone today." Thirteen aims their palm at the wrap villain. Their quirks activate and a black hole begins absorbing the wrap gate villain. Izuku sees it first, their mistake. He's too late though. Before he has time to call out to them, a wrap gate appears behind the hero and their quirk is turned against them. Thirteen's body is heavily injured before he's able to stop his quirk again. He falls to the ground, suit heavily damaged and body shuddering.

"Well, it makes my job easier." The villain comments as he turns towards the shocked and scared students. Before any of them has a chance to react, wrap grates appear all around them. Iida and Shoji- the kid with the mutation quirk that lets him replicated body parts on the tip of his tentacles. - They both manage to get some of the students out of the way of the warp gate. Iida pushes Uraraka and Ashido out of the way and Shoji gets Aoyama and Sero. The rest of them aren't as lucky.

Suffocating darkness envelops izuku and suddenly he's falling.

He hits the water hard, it's cold and his support items makes it hard for him to swim. He reaches the surface but the first thing he sees is a shark-like figure rapidly closing in on him. the villain opens his mouth to bite him. Izuku panics and tries to swim away but he's too slow. The villain has a shark mutation, this is his turf. He closes his eyes and braces himself for the inevitable pain but nothing comes and he's suddenly out of the water, yanked by something and soaring in the sky.

His mind registers that he's being lifted by Tsuyu's tongue. The frog quirked girl deposits him on a wrecked ship. He's not the only one she saved it seems since Mineta is here too. The short purple haired boy is too busy sobbing to notice him though.
He takes a moment to calm himself before turning towards his savior.

"Thank you Tsuyu. You saved me!" He hopes she sees the sincerity in his gratitude.

She nods in acknowledgment before turning and checking the water for the villains. He follows her gaze and gulps. Under them, swimming in the water, are at least a dozen villains. They all have some kind of water-related quirk, Izuku notes.

He thinks about where they are for a moment and speaks up. "I don't think they know about our quirks."

Tsuyu tilts her head to the side "Why do you think that Midoriya?" Her brows furrow in confusion.

"If they knew about our powers, they wouldn't have put you in the flood zone. It's exactly because they don't know about our quirks that their strategy was to scatter us and overwhelm us with their numbers. They got us beat in power and numbers so our best chance to win would be to exploit the fact that they don't know about our quirks! Look!" He gestures at the villain swimming beneath them "They're not trying to get on board, that supports my theory" It also means that they won't underestimate us.

"You're pretty smart Midoriya," Tsuyu states bluntly, promptly ignoring the way Izuku's face turn bright red and the stuttering mess she'd reduced him to. She continues her statement. "Do you have a plan?"

Izuku regains his composure and straightens up again. His focuses on the task at hand. "I need to know both of your quirks first. If we want to get out of this safe we need to look into every possibility." He looks over to Mineta who somehow calmed down and has been listening to their exchange." My quirk is strength enhancement, it gives me heightened reflexes and speed and super strengths. But I can't control it fully yet. What about you guys?" He enquires, His gaze serious and urgent, given their limited planning time.

"I can jump really high and stick to walls. My tongue also can extend to about twenty meters. I can do pretty much anything a frog can do." She explains the rest of her quirks details and then gives the spotlight to Mineta.

"I have these purple balls on my head that I can remove and throw, their pretty sticky and we get stuck to anything for a long period of time. Except they bounce right off of me." Izuku and Tsuyu pause and stare at him for a few moments. How did he defeat robots with that quirk... Mineta seems to catch on their train of thoughts and dissolves back into his previous crying state.
Meanwhile, the villains seem to have gotten bored and one of them uses its quirk and splits the boat in half. Now, standing on a rapidly sinking ship, Izuku calms his nerves and tunes them out in order to think of a plan. He looks back at the two in front of him and explains their next course of action.

Izuku gets up on the ships ledge and launches himself from the boat, taking a page from Kacchan's book he yells at the top of his lungs at the villains." GO TO HELL!" and with a One for all powered flick of his finger, he sends a shockwave of force straight at the surface of the water. The villains go tumbling helplessly as the water surface rapidly spreads apart from the point of impact; those that aren't knocked out by the initial strike are left flailing in the current and fighting just to keep their heads above the water. He yells for his classmates. Tsuyu performs a stunning leap and catches him around the waist with her tongue. Hanging from her arms, Mineta screams in fear and defiance as he hurls sticky balls into the water until blood runs down his face.

The water converges again, bringing villains and sticky orbs with it. In a matter of moments, the menacing force is trapped in a struggling pile, stuck fast to each other as they bob in the still heaving water. Tsuyu carries them clear of the villains. They hit the surface at a safe distance and swim the rest of the way to shore.
They take a moment to catch their breath, his plan worked. Izuku knows it was a reckless plan but he's glad they managed to get out of there safely.
Their happiness is short-lived as they witness their teacher fighting with the hands' villain. Aizawa is holding up his own, he seemed tired and cuts and bruises adorn his body. Nevertheless, he's still kicking and jumping around the villain with swift and calculated moves. He doesn't know what the villain's quirk is. His best bet is to keep his distance and erase their quirk constantly. However, this is easier said than done. His quirk's weakness is that it deactivates when he blinks. Having dry eye doesn't help easier. He has to blink at some point and the villain knows that too. He waits and for the right moment, just as Aizawa blinks for the first time in five minutes. He makes his move.

He kicks and punches the hero and promptly grabs his elbows. The skin peels and disintegrates at the touch. Muscle fiber and bone becoming visible. Aizawa retracts his now useless hand with a barely contained hiss of pain.
The pain is sidetracking him. His movements are getting slower by the moment and the exhaustion from his constant fighting is finally catching up to him. he doesn't know if he can keep this up for much longer.

"I'm getting tired of this." The creepy guy with the amputated hands says. "Nomu" He calls out to the creature who, up until now, remained still and inactive. "Break him." It happens in a blur. One moment the Nomu is standing to the side, completely motionless and unresponsive and the next thing they know. It's standing over Aizawa, pinning the hero to the ground with a death grip. It moved so fast they didn't even see it moving. The creatures speed could rival All Might's. It suddenly all makes sense. The villains came here believing they could kill All Might. They came here with this creature, this unbelievably fast and strong massive creature.
He doesn't have time to think about it though. His more urgent thought right now is his homerooms teacher.

Mineta, Tsuyu and Izuku can only watch, frozen in horror as the Nomu snaps Aizawa's arm. The appendage going limp and hitting the ground with a thud. Static roars in his ears as every instinct in him yells at him to move. To do something. ANYTHING. To save his teacher. His body seems to think differently as all he can do is stand there. Frozen with fear. Pathetic.

The wrap gate villain suddenly appears next to the hand villain and Izuku hears him talking about a student that managed to escape. That gives him hope. If one of his classmates managed to escape, it means it's only a matter of time before helps arrives. Shigaraki, the guy with the wrap quirk called the hand villain.

He needs to stall, he needs to create some sort of diversion. The villains don't know about their presence yet. He can take advantage of that.

Shigaraki seems to read his thoughts though, because as soon as he's done talking with the mist villain. He turns towards them. In a second, the villain's hand is outstretched towards Tsuyu's face.

Izuku remembers Aizawa's elbow, he remembers the sight of the disintegrating skin, the hiss of pain. He imagines Tsuyu's face disintegrating, her whole body turning to dust. The pain and the screams. He remembers his body freezing. He thinks NO. NOT AGAIN. His body moves but he's too slow. Shigaraki's hand makes contact with Tsuyu's face and Izuku's blood runs cold.

A moment passes and nothing happens. Shigaraki retracts his hand and grins. "You're so cool Eraser Head. But you've been nothing but a thorn at my side. Nomu Kil- The rest of his order is cut off as he's suddenly tackled to the ground.

Izuku believes that this time, he will not stand by and watch as another person he cares about gets hurt. He's not going to freeze up anymore. This time, he moves on instincts and tackles the hand villain to the ground. Making sure that the latter's hands are pinned to the ground in the process. The villain struggles under his grip but the sheer amount of strengths Izuku puts in his grip is impossible to get out of.

Izuku hears it before he sees it and quickly leaps out of the way. A wrap gate appears right where he was standing seconds ago. Shigaraki stands up, his features aren't visible because of the disembodied hand he has on his face. Izuku swears he can feel him glaring at him.

"Shigaraki Tomura. Do you want me to take care of this? "The wrap gate villain asks. His gaze never leaving Izuku's.

"NO! He's mine!" The villain yells back. It vaguely reminds Izuku of a child throwing a tantrum over a toy. "You think your strong hero. Come at me with everything you've got."

He rushes towards Izuku with a surprising speed. Izuku sidesteps him and dodges the outstretched hand. His relentless training had made his reflexes sharper and his responses faster. He swiftly grabs Shigaraki by the wrist and twists until he hears a snap. The villain hisses and backs up. It doesn't deter him for long though, not a moment later he's rushing Izuku again. His movements are more erratic, frustration and anger fueling his every action.

"Shigaraki- "

"NO!" Shigaraki yells at the mist villain in anger. "I TOLD YOU TO STAY OUT OF THIS." He turns back to Izuku and addresses him again. "You think you're so strong brat, but we came here today to kill the final boss and win the game. The symbol of peace. You seem to be the mini-boss, I'll gladly disintegrate you."

"You seriously believe you can kill All Might?" Izuku's voice comes out steady and calm, despite his pounding heart and fear that's threatening to take over him. "How much of an idiot can you possibly be!" He spoke before he could stop himself and did he just call the guy with the disintegrating quirk an idiot?! At least he's doing what he tried to do originally. Stalling for time.

"Shut it brat. I can and I will kill him. we've finally managed to create the perfect soldier. Standing over your dear teacher is the Nomu, the perfect Anti-Symbol of peace.
His strengths, speed, and multiple quirks will easily match your all mighty Symbol Hero's powers." Multiple quirks? Anti-symbol?

Izuku schools his features to hide his surprise. He needs to stay focused and stay alive.

They circle around each other, Shigaraki holds his broken wrist with his other hand and Izuku decides that he won't wait for him to make the first move anymore. He promptly leaps at him, green lightning envelops his body as he kicks the villain in the stomach, the force behind his hit sends the villain, flying into a wall, hard. The latter wheezes as he clutches his stomach and tries to get back up.

This seems to make him snap. His frustration and anger morphing into blinded rage and fury. Izuku realizes his mistake then. He's been taunting and beating the villain that had access to an extremely strong and massive monster.

"Nomu Attack."

His last thought is 'Oh shit' before he's suddenly held up by the throat by the hulking figure of the Nomu. He didn't even see it coming. At least it's off of Aizawa now, he thinks. He managed to save someone. The Nomu tightens its grip on him, enough to suffocate him without killing him.

He catches movement at the corner of his eye. Tsuyu and Mineta are trying to get to Aizawa. Probably going to try and help him up so that he could fight. He must have passed out from the blood loss, at some point. He needs to distract the villains enough for them to get away.

"SH- SHIGARAKI!" He manages to get out, the grip on his throat barely letting him get a word out. "FIGHT ME YOURSELF YOU COWARD" Tears are gathering in his eyes as his visions blur and darkens. He can't pass out. He still has people to protect. He can't let anything happen to them.

"You won't be so arrogant once Nomu is done with you Brat." The villain taunts, Izuku notes that he's still clutching his stomach. That thought strangely satisfies him.
Nomu releases his grip on Izuku's throat. He coughs violently and shudders rack his body as he tries to savor the precious air he's getting. His relief is short-lived as the Nomu proceeds to pin him to the ground and snap his arm like he did Aizawa. The pain is excruciating but years of abuse have made his pain tolerance skyrocket. He stifles a scream and glares at Shigaraki.

"Still acting tough, are we?" Shigaraki calls out, slowly approaching them, the glee in his voice ever so present.

Nomu releases him and opts to lift him off the ground by his broken limb. This time Izuku screams, the pain is blinding. He opens his eyes, now only realizing he closed them in the first place. The first thing he sees is the ground rumbling. He grins up at Shigaraki and laughs. It comes out sharp and hysterical.

"Are you an idiot or just suicidal? Why the hell are you laughing? "Shirataki's frustration is palpable from a mile away.

"It's over Shigaraki. Do you know why? Because he is here." As soon as he says those words the entrance to the USJ blows up, from the dust and rubble emerges the hulking figure of the Symbol of peace. He's not smiling.