Author's Note: There is a time skip between Chapters VII and VIII

Kamino Ward in Yokohama City had been completely destroyed in the battle between All Might and the villain known as All For One in an event now known as the Kamino Incident. Subsequently, All Might announced his retirement as The Symbol of Peace, thus ending his era as the world's greatest hero, an announcement that left all of Japan reeling. Though eternally grateful for the man that had protected them for the past thirty years, public opinion of professional heroes had reached an all-time low, and UA High Schools' once prestigious reputation was sinking faster than a stone cast in the ocean.

The public, the media, and most especially the parents of those students who had been attacked by the League of Villains, demanded accountability. So, with their foreheads to the ground, the staff of UA approached the families of their students and begged forgiveness. They promised no more harm would befall their children and ensured that, through UA's guidance, their children would grow up to become incredible heroes. With their permission, some more reluctant than others, parents allowed their children to return to UA, and approved the construction of the student dormitories, Heights Alliance.

One week after the Kamino Incident, twenty of the twenty-one students in Class A gathered on the steps of the 1-A alliance, where their homeroom teacher, Shōta Aizawa stood waiting for them.

"I'll explain how your dorm assignments will work shortly." He told them after a brief hello. "First however," he clapped his hands, "we haven't forgotten about the provisional hero licenses you were supposed to get during the training camp. This is important, listen well." Shifting his gaze, he looked sternly at the five students who had given him such a headache over the past week. "Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, Midorya, Iida. You five are the ones who broke the rules and went to rescue Bakugou that night." They shrunk beneath his gaze and the rest of the class fell silent. "Based on your reactions, I assume the rest of you were at least aware of their plan. I'm going to set a number of issues aside and just say this. If it weren't for All Might's retirement from the Hero scene, I would expel everyone here except Bakugou, Jiro, Hakagure, and (L/N). The five of you who went, of course. But also, the remaining twelve who didn't stop them. You betrayed our trust. Even if it was to keep your friends from getting into trouble. And Yaoyorozu," he said seriously, "(L/N)'s still in a coma because he risked his life to save yours. Endangering yourself the way you did seems a poor way to repay that sacrifice."

[My Hero Academia]

"I was surprised to receive your letter." Mr. Nakamura said as he led the visitor down the halls of Shonien's. "At first, I thought it must have been some kind of joke."

"I assure you my offer is quite serious."

"Of course, I didn't mean to offend." The orphanage director said hastily. "It's just, well, ever since the emergence of quirks everyone seems to have become so engrossed in the world of heroes and villains that they seem to have forgotten that the biggest injustices are the ones that you don't see on the television. So, to have received a letter from your school..."

"It's alright. I completely understand."

Mr. Nakamura nodded as the two continued their path through the peeling painted halls of the orphanage. They stepped to the side as two girls came running down the hallway, Ms. Sasaki's scolding voice chasing after them.

"We do our best for the children." Mr. Nakamura said. "But government funding only allows us to do so much. The world just doesn't seem to care anymore. Most of these children will likely be with us until they come of age. Once that happens, it's out of our hands."

"I sympathize with your struggles. And I loathe to say, 'it's the world we live in', but even after seven generations we're still struggling to adapt. The economy, though flourishing in many areas, has been crippled in others due to quirks, and regrettably, it's children like these that end up suffering the most."

"That's why it's nice to see someone like you is still looking out for them." Mr. Nakamura said. "Though, to be completely honest, I still don't understand why the Principal of UA High School has taken an interest in him."

"As I explained in my letter," Nezu said, "I'm scouting potential students to receive a scholarship to UA."

"But why specifically (L/N)?" Mr. Nakamura pressed. "There are many children here the same age who would love to go to your school."

"Yes, I'm sure there are. But I'm afraid there's a limited availability for our scholarship program."

"I understand, I do, but... well, perhaps once you meet the boy..."

"Do you have something against him?"

"No, not at all." Mr. Nakamura said hastily. "But, well, how should I put this? He's more... difficult... than the other children."

"Difficult how?" Nezu asked.

The director glanced at the principal out of the corner of his eye. "He scares the other children."

"You mean he's a bully?"

"Not a bully, no." Mr. Nakamura shook his head. "But he has trouble controlling his quirk. It's a dangerous power he's got. Well, they can all be dangerous. But his can be more... destructive. Not that he ever uses it in such a way, but, well, like I said, he has trouble controlling it. He used to have these fits, related to his quirk we believe, where he would get these headaches in dead silence. We had to separate him from the other children because he was scaring them.

"And then just a few years ago there was an incident between him and a group of the other children. Not that he was in the wrong, the others ganged up on him, but he ended up maiming a poor girl. It's been a fight to get more than two words out of him ever since. If you want my opinion, I'd recommend considering one of the other children for your scholarship."

"I see." Principal Nezu said thoughtfully. "And is that opinion based on the other children's merit, or is it because you don't think (L/N) deserves the opportunity?"

"I-I didn't... t-that's not what I meant." Mr. Nakamura stammered. "All I meant is he can be a challenge."

"Is that why you've given up on him?"

Mr. Nakamura's chest swelled as he looked at the principal with indignation. "I never said I'd..."

"You didn't need to say it." Nezu said. "But I do wonder when the last time someone actually sat down with the boy and tried talking to him."

Mr. Nakamura opened his mouth to retort before thinking better of it. After all, this... mouse? Dog? Whatever it was, it had just written the orphanage a large check. Large enough to convince the director to sacrifice his pride over what he considered a trivial matter. Honestly, he'd probably be doing him a favor by taking the boy away. Even if it was just for a couple hours each day.

Rounding the final corner, the two came to a stop outside the home's utility room and Mr. Nakamura knocked twice on the metal door. "(L/N)." The director said through the heavy steel. "It's Mr. Nakamura. There's someone here who wants to see you. We're going to come in." He said after they were met only with silence.

Twisting the handle, Mr. Nakamura opened the door on a dimly lit room several degrees cooler than the rest of the building. The lights from the hallway entered behind the two men, casting long shadows on the cold cement floors. Past the furnace and water heater seated beneath the only window in the room was an old wooden desk. A small sunbeam barely managed to shine through the dusty glass, landing on a strange assortment of abandoned trinkets. There was a discarded pawn from what was now an incomplete chess set, a small stuffed bear that was beginning to show signs of aging, and an aging white envelope that bore old crease marks from being crumpled. A thick layer of dust had settled on the desk and its contents, speaking to how they had long since been forgotten.

Aside from the old table, the only other piece of furniture was a rickety bedframe that sat in the dark corner of the room, identical to the ones upstairs. Atop it was an old mattress whose cotton had long since matted and grown hard. Sitting on top of it with his back against the wall and his knees drawn up to his chest was a teenage boy, his emotionless face obscured by a white cloth secured around his eyes.

The rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor was the first thing he noticed. It seemed to pull his consciousness back to reality and anchor him in the present. The second thing he noticed was the familiar burning sensation clawing at the back of his eyes, though there was an added tenderness to the area around them as well. Slowly reaching up to examine the skin, his fingers ran along an irritating piece of cotton that had been wrapped around his eyes.

"Careful there, young man." An unfamiliar voice said. "The tissue around your eyes hasn't fully healed yet." A pair of hands gently pushed him by the shoulders, encouraging him to lie back down. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel... tired." (L/N) said groggily.

"That's not uncommon for patients just regaining consciousness. Any pain?"

"I don't... I don't think so."

The doctor ran him through a series of tests for the next ten minutes, checking his vitals and breathing. After she was satisfied with his condition, she exited the room and was replaced by two others.

"It's good to see you're finally awake."

"Principal Nezu?" (L/N) asked, recognizing the voice. "What... happened?"

"We're still trying to piece that together ourselves." A second person he identified as Mr. Aizawa said. "What we do know is that a group of villains somehow managed to track down our location and attack the summer training camp. Several students were injured in both classes, but aside from Midorya, your injuries were the most severe by far."

"I... I don't understand." (L/N) said, still in a daze.

"You've overexerted yourself." Principal Nezu explained. "The amount of power you released put a serious amount of strain on your body and almost killed you. You've been in a coma for the past two weeks."

"Two weeks?" (L/N) grimaced as the world came into clearer focus.

Aizawa coughed into his fist to clear his throat, and though he stood at the foot of (L/N)'s hospital bed, it sounded as though he were mere millimeters from his ear. He could hear the principal's eyelids every time he blinked and each rustle of Aizawa's scarf. The sounds of the hospital became louder and louder until it overwhelmed him. He could hear the patient snoring from next door and someone's cough from two floors down. The 'splat' of the janitor's wet mop hitting the linoleum hospital floors, the rattling of the stretchers rickety wheels, and the soft sound of the surgeon's scalpel cutting into the patient's flesh, amplified, and hammered against his eardrums.

Clutching his head, he instinctively reached for his pocket, but his fingers were only met with the sandpapery cloth of the hospital gown. Aizawa held up his right hand, a glass bottle between his thumb and forefinger. He gave it a small shake, and cannon blasts rang in (L/N)'s ears with each rattle of the blue and white capsules.

"Looking for these?"