Walking out of the ring, the crowd's roar washes away behind him, a cacophony of excited shouts and cheers resonating throughout the corridor leading out of the arena. Dimming with each step he takes towards the locker room. He should probably go to the infirmary, yet, he can't help but seek a couple more minutes of peace before submitting himself to recovery girl's lecture. Looking down at his bruised and battered arms, he figures he probably deserves it.

Pushing the door open, he hisses as pain blooms and races across the limb. He had almost been successful in ignoring the ache up until now. Almost.

The moment he steps in, someone collides with him. His gut throbs at the impact and his fall is abruptly stopped by an outstretched hand. Twisting and wrinkling the fabric with the effort to keep him upright.

Angry red eyes glare down on him, almost shining with intensity. Katsuki, it seems, has been waiting for him here.

"What the hell was that out there" The blond hisses, low and dangerous, almost fuming as he pulls Izuku towards him, knuckles white as he tightens the grip around the rumpled gym shirt. "Are you looking down on us, damn nerd?!" He shouts.

Izuku sighs, already feeling the headache he's been sporting intensify as the teen's voice resounds through the room. He just wanted a few moments of quiet. Was that too much to ask?

Raising his hands in mock surrender, he hopes the boy in front of him realizes just how tired he was.

"I'm not sure what you mean, Kacchan." He sees the explosive teen's eyes hone in on the bruises marring his arm and feels the deathly grip loosen as Bakugou suddenly decides to let him go. Stepping back as if he's been burnt.

"Why did you throw the fight?" His voice is low as he speaks, an echo of the angry shouting he's been doing mere moments ago.

He takes a moment to think about his answer.

He knows why, he just... Can't find the right words to convey his reasoning. This was just a game, after all, a school tournament. There were no higher stakes, no lives on the line. So there was no logical reason for him to go all out. It's not like he didn't fight. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to his opponent. In the end, nobody wanted to fight with a monster. "I don't see what the problem is." He says finally, voice firm as he bypasses the blonde, making his way back out the door. "Nobody died, right?" Nobody died, today was a good day.

With that, he takes his leave. It seems his lecture would come earlier than he expected. He just hopes Recovery girl will go easy on him.

________________________

Rubbing his cheek, he wonders how someone could ever make a healing kiss be passive-aggressive at the same time. As expected, Recovery girl chewed him out for his recklessness. Healing his injuries three-quarters of the way to teach him a lesson. Honestly, he doesn't get what all the fuss was about. All the injuries he sustained were deliberate, they were necessary for him to clear his quest. People just didn't understand that out here. Maybe they never would.

Huffing slightly, he turns the corner, wanting to get back to the stands. Watch the rest of the matches.

He doubts Todoroki will instantly be comfortable using his fire, however, he believes that his actions today at least encourage the half and half user to reconsider his beliefs. He just hopes Bakugou doesn't take it too personally when the teen inevitably gets distracted.

The corridors aren't empty he notes, faintly he hears someone talking. The voice is familiar, the conversation one-sided, a phone call, his mind concludes.

He shouldn't eavesdrop, it was unethical and rude. However, the faint panic he hears in the boy's voice is enough to convince him otherwise. In the end, his curiosity wins out.

Rounding the corner, he activates his listening skill, senses almost immediately heightening as he leans back against the wall.

He instantly recognizes Iida's voice, now that the sound was clearer. The boy sounds distressed, as he talks to whoever was on the other end of the line.

"-happened? I-is ni-san okay?" The teen asks, voice breaking as he speaks.

His brother? Wasn't his brother Ingenium? Did he get hurt on duty?

"I'll be right there." He says finally. A new sense of urgency in his movements as he hurries out of the hallway in the opposite direction.

Opening the news application on his phone, a quick search gives him what he wants.

The headlines read in big, bold letters, the following. 'Ingenium; career-ending injury' 'Hero killer Stain still at large."

Guilt gnaws at him, making him painfully aware of his transgression. He shouldn't have done that. Iida was hurting right now. He didn't need an invasion of privacy on top of it.

The hero killer, he's heard of him in passing. Not really kept up with the news since his return.

It seems the world was a dark as he remembered it.

__________________________________

The sports festival goes without a hitch. As predicted, Todoroki doesn't use his fire properly. His hesitation leads to his loss. Bakugou takes first place. The boy is oddly quiet during the awards ceremony. His eyes are trained on his feet as All Might places the medal around his neck.

The teen doesn't react, he stays unresponsive until the end of the event. Izuku is the only one there, when Bakugou, the moment he steps out of the arena, rips the medal from its resting place and shoves it into his pocket. The hostility in his actions is palpable, the low growl he lets out makes him wince with sympathy. He may have stolen something important from Bakugou today. All the teen wanted was a fair fight. A good win.

Sighing for what feels like the hundredth time today, he walks away. Aizawa expected them to be in class. Probably intending to go over their performance.

_________________________

Hero names. They were supposed to choose hero names.

He watches, silently contemplating his options as one after the other, his classmates present their chosen Codenames.

A hero's name was supposed to be special. A way for them to determine their identities, the image they want to give to the public. A hero's name is supposed to inspire hope and the feeling of safety when heard or uttered by a civilian.

However, Izuku doesn't think he'll ever be that. A symbol of hope, or anything close to that.

Uraraka chooses Uravity. Asui, Tsuyu as she repeatedly requested he calls her, chose Froppy.

The rest of the class had similar names to offer. Good heroic names.

Well everyone except Iida and Todoroki, that is.

When it's Izuku's turn, he steals himself and marches towards the podium at the front of the class.

He already had two identities, did he want a third one?

Izuku was the name of a child. A naïve, quirkless kid who wanted something unreachable. Who longed to prove himself.

Kirito was the name of a swordsman. A fighter who would do anything and everything for the people he loved. Who would do anything for them to survive.

A killer.

Did he want that to be his hero name?

Or maybe this was his chance to turn his mantle around. To change the meaning of the word.

Shinshi knew him as Kirito. He fell in love with him after all.

His heart ached at the mere thought of discarding that part of himself.

He writes the name down.

Kirito wasn't just a part of him.

He was an unyielding, almost primal force of nature within him. He knew he wouldn't be able to change that anytime soon.

With that thought in mind, he twist the board until the name is clear for all to see.

'The swordsman hero: Kirito.

_________________________________

Toshinori didn't know what to think. Ever since the battle training exercise, he's been keeping a close eye on Midoriya Izuku. The boy showed great skill and even greater potential. Up until the one-on-one battles his mind had been made up. However, seeing the boy gives up his chance at victory made him hesitate.

One on hand, the boy was clearly doing it to help the Todoroki kid. However, on the other hand, he seemed to be constantly holding back. He remembers the recount stories and the brief conversation he had with Tsukauchi after the USJ incident. He knows how much power is hidden within the teen.

He wonders briefly if it was a mistake even considering giving his power to a boy with already too much of it. One who've seen horrors and has already been through his own kind of hell.

The SAO incident was infamous. The suffering of those involved was made public for everyone to know and talk about. Not to mention the fact that most of them were kids, kids who were forced to fight in a death game for two years.

Midoriya has probably had to kill before. He knows this, even if he can't be certain.

So, he did the only thing that seemed logical. He contacted his old master. Hopefully, Gran Torino will be able to assess the kid and see if he was a good candidate after all. The future of One for All depended on it.

That is if the kid even accepts the internship offer.

_____________________________

The bar's lights flicker, the warm glow coming from the lamps hanging on each side of the walls bathes the room in soft orange light.

The warm atmosphere is greatly contrasted by the cold, unforgiving aura that emanates from the figure hunched over the counter. His fists are clenched, knuckles white as he glares at the screen ahead. Snippets of the sports festival play on a loop. All of them show one person only.

"Kurogiri." His voice is steely as he calls for the man. "What did the doctor say? Is it ready yet?"

"Patience Shigaraki, the good doctor will have it soon enough." The villain fights against the urge to throttle the man before him. Barely resisting the impulse, he opts to disintegrate the glass cup held tightly in his grasp. The ash and dust that slips between his fingers do nothing to diminish his anger.

"That damn brat is using my skills Kurogiri! He's playing with them in front of the world!"

"It would be wise, young master, to focus on other crucial parts of the plan for now." The warp villain amends gently as if placating a child.

It does its intended purpose, distracting the villain from his frustration. Making his focus, instead, on a new goal.

"How's the other brat anyway" He snarls cruelly, his voice devoid of any compassion. "I don't get why we haven't killed him yet. He's useless to us now. He doesn't even have it."

"Calm yourself Tomura." Shigaraki flinches at the distorted voice that erupts from the screen on his left. "He may not be valuable to us now, but I believe he will prove to be invaluable in the future, given the connections he has with the desired target. Leverage is, after all, instrumental in any given strategy. You should know that by now."

"Yes, of course, master." The villain hopes the slight tremor in his tone isn't noticeable.

"Kurogiri, have the doctor start the physical therapy for subject X, we'll need him to be in good shape in order to proceed with our plans."

"Of course," Kurogiri replies, with a steady difference.

_____________________________

Shinsou always liked silence. He used to look for an ounce of it, any moment of peace he could find.

His foster home was always rowdy, the chaos ever present with all the kids his guardians took in. It wasn't bad. In fact, he grew to quite like it when his foster siblings weren't being too annoying.

Now, sitting here, a worn-out mattress under him, cold, hard metal at his back, and bathed in unbreakable stillness. He longed for it, to hear the noise. Any sound at all. It was the first thing he noticed all those months ago when he woke up. The quiet.

He's been trapped here for so long, he wondered how much time passed in the real world.

All he could see beyond the metal bars surrounding him was a forest. Trees and greenery seemed to stretch out for miles upon miles. Not that he could explore any of it, locked in here as he was. The silence threatened to chip away at his sanity, little by little until all that was left was quiet. An unbearable silence, as if he was the only living thing in this world. And, maybe he was.

He wondered if his body was starting to waste away. Waning and wilting under the stillness it was being subjected to. Maybe it would've been better, kinder if he had died that fateful night.

Closing his eyes he can see it, memories of that night still sharp as photographs, as if he was back there once again. The pain and horror he remembers seeing on Kirito's face makes his heart clench painfully in his chest. Dying to save his love. He figures it was a good end. An honorable one. Not that he cared about that. All he remembers feeling back then was the overwhelming urge to move. To save.

His body stirred on its own, running and intercepting the blow before his mind caught up with his actions.

Was Kirito even alive? He can imagine the toll his death might have taken on the smaller teen. The game had been cleared. Shigaraki's presence alone was a testament to that. So, why was he?

He died that day. Then, how was he here? What did they want from him?

Sighing heavily, he leaned back against the bars, wishing once more he was out in the real world. If only to get the answers his mind so desired.

His last thought before his eyes closed of their own accord, sleep overtaking his senses and pulling him in, was of emerald green eyes, and a bright smile.

He needed to stay strong, if only to see that smile once more.

Author's note:

Okay, so, I'm so incredibly sorry for this long, so so long wait. I've been so focused on finishing my other books that I completely overlooked this once. Not to mention college and all the work I've been drowning in this past year.
Thank you so much for sticking with me! I promise this book hasn't been abandoned. In fact, i promise that no matter how long it takes for a chapter to be posted, it will always be, in the end. I intend to finish all my books so you guys don't have to worry about that!

Hope you liked this chapter!