The next day...

I walked to school with Izuku, his hand tightly wrapped around mine. The news crews had given up somewhat after the alarms were sounded yesterday. I was actually really happy about this outcome. I knew I had liked him for a while but I didn't think I deserved someone as bright and amazing as Izuku. As if reading my thoughts, he turned and smiled at me.

"I love you, Izuku," I say, not realising I had said it. The words kind of just... slipped out. His face immediately turns red, matching mine.

"Ffffffffuck," I say, hurriedly removing my hand from his and waving them around in the air, my eyes wide, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that it just slipped out I'm sorry!"

"No, it... it's fine," he says, frozen to the spot, "I... I love you too."

'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA FUCK!!!!!'

"I-I need some time to calm down I'll meet you at school!" I shout, shifting to bird from and flying away faster than he can reply. I just wanted to lie down and die, but I didn't want to be late. Once I decide I'm flying high enough, I scream "FUCK!!!!!" at the top of my lungs.

"WHY DID I DO THAT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!"

After I repeat this a few times, I feel calm enough to fly down again and enter UA. On my way to the classroom, I pass Kirishima and Kaminari. Once Kirishima notices me, our eyes lock for a few moments before he turns away and his face tints red. Kaminari asks what's wrong and then looks at me. A smirk crosses his face and he nudges Kirishima.

"Do you like her?" I hear him ask as they walk out of my sight. I just barely catch Kirishima's response.

"I don't know..."

'WELL FUCK ME SIDEWAYS.'

This day was just getting better and better, wasn't it?!

~ Time skip to the bus because Author-chan is lazy ~

"Alright, everyone behave yourselves. Today, I'll be teaching you with two other pro heroes. One of them is All Might, who you already know, and the other is a professional rescue hero. Show them the same respect you would show me-"

"AIZAWA! What will we be doing at USJ?!" Kaminari asks, waving his hand in the air. Aizawa pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Disregard my last sentence. Show them more respect than you show me."

I crack a smile at his reaction. Iida steps forwards and waves his arms in the air to get our attention.

"Everyone line up in seat order! We'll take our seats in an orderly and professional fashion!"

Iida slumps in defeat as we take our seats. The bus wasn't the type he thought it was. I pat his back comfortingly.

"You tried," I say simply, then get up and move to the back. Most of the class was gathered around the front and I enjoyed being alone. That is, until Kaminari slid into the seat next to me.

"Hey, did you know Kirishima-"

"KAMINARI I SWEAR TO GOD!!" Kirishima shouts from the other side of the bus, his fist raised threateningly.

"I'm just trying to help you out here!" Kaminari shouts back. I cover my ears and draw my knees up to my chest. Some people say it looks like I'm in pain. Some other people say it looks like I'm crying. I say it's comfortable and it blocks out noise. Izuku recognises the pose and says something to frog girl.

"Could you two keep it down? You're disturbing Erin," she says, "And the rest of us."

The two boys stop yelling and I take my hands off my ears, but keep my legs drawn up. Kaminari smirks and I glare at him as a warning. He either doesn't realise or doesn't care.

"I'll show you," he says, then places a hand on my neck and raises his voice, "Wow, Erin, I didn't know you were so good at kissing!"

I punch him. Hard enough for him to fly out of the seat and hit the window on the other side. During the move, I missed Izuku's and Kirishima's reaction. They both whipped their heads around to stare at me.

"You ever try that again and you're going out the window." I growl, turning myself towards the window on my side and glaring at the trees. Everyone in the bus, including Aizawa, were staring at me.

'That boy needs to learn what boundaries are.'

He gets up, moaning with every movement, and I realise I had punched him with a bit of power from my bird form too. Baby feathers were sprouting along the arm I used and I quickly make them disappear. Kaminari limps back to the main group and Izuku gets up to come sit next to me.

"Are you okay?" he asks gently. I sigh heavily, forcing my anger back so that it doesn't seep into my voice.

"I'm fine. He just surprised me," I say, turning towards him.

"What was that even about?"

"Apparently Kaminari thinks Kirishima has a crush on me and was about to show me what he meant."

"Wait, so Kirishima has a crush on you?"

"I don't know, I don't care."

Izuku broods silently for a few minutes and I realise just as he spoke again that he was jealous. My eyes widen and I barely hold back a laugh.

"Do you think he does, though?"

"Ah crap, Izuku. You're even cute when you're jealous!" I laugh, unable to hold it back any more. His face turns red and he quickly turns away, pouting and crossing his arms. A few students turn to look at us and I lower my head.

After we arrive, the rescue hero, Thirteen, introduces themselves. As they talk, I notice a growing swirl of darkness near the middle of the centre of the building. A pale arm reaches out of the mist, then a body. The person had light blue hair, wore black clothes, and was covered in hands. Aizawa seems to have noticed as well.

"Don't move!" he shouts to us, his eyes locked on the cloud. Thirteen stops talking and looks towards the growing crowd of villains emerging from the mist. I step forwards hesitantly.

"Is this a test-"

"DON'T MOVE! Those are real villains!" Aizawa cuts in, making me flinch. He pulls his goggles over his eyes and issues his final command.

"Stay together! Thirteen, protect the students!"

With that, he leaps off the top of the stairs. I marvel in the back of my mind how he didn't hesitate at all to put himself in danger and protect us, especially when his Quirk was a bad match-up for this group.

Thirteen directs us to run to the door and none of us hesitate. We all rush towards the exit, but the dark mist appears in front of us. I shift to bird form and shoot towards it, not hesitating for a second. Just as I'm about to collide, another portal appears in front of me and I'm going too fast to avoid it.

"ERIN!!" Izuku shouts, following me in.

"Ribbit!"

I screech in surprise as I land in cold water. I shift back to human form, my wings useless while I'm floundering in the water like this. A few more splashes around me make me realise that Izuku and frog girl had been teleported with me, but the third splash was someone I hadn't seen jump in. Suddenly, something hard and sharp collides with me, dragging me under. I cry out, my only air turning to bubbles around me, the water turning red. I'm dragged downwards despite my stuggling, deeper than I'm comfortable with. Open water always had scared me.

"Ribbit!" from girl says, diving after us. Her tongue wraps around me and pulls me from the thing's grip just as my vision starts turning dark. She lifts me up above the water line and I suck in deep, rattling breaths. She dives back under to search for the others after pointing me towards the ship anchored nearby. I wait near the hull since I couldn't climb up on my own.

After the three of them - Izuku, Tsuyu and Mineta - appear near me, Tsuyu climbs up the side and uses her tongue to pull us up. Mineta drools and says he'll look at my wound, but I kick him away from me.

"I'll be fine, you perverted grape," I growl, holding my side. Blood seeps through my fingers but I ignore it, determined not to show any weakness. Then Izuku steps forwards.

"But you're not fine right now. Let me see," he says, not forcefully but with enough determination to make me obey. He makes me sit down and lifts my shirt away from the wound so he can see it clearly. His sharp intake of breath is all I need to know.

"I know I'm a proud idiot, you don't have to say it. We'll find something to tie around it," I say, wincing. Izuku grabs the bottom of his gym uniform and tears a strip of it off, tying it around my waist. The fabric stains red within seconds, and it made it a bit difficult to breathe, but it was better than nothing. He drops my shirt and I try to get to my feet, but he places a hand on my shoulder and keeps me down.

"Don't move. We'll get the teachers to come get you soon, okay? Promise me you won't move unless you absolutely have to," he says, his face entirely serious. I smile weakly.

"You're cute when you're worried. I promise I won't move unless I absolutely have to," I say, sticking my pinky finger in the air. He wraps his own pinky around mine and we shake them once.

"It's a promise!" we both say at the same time, then laugh. It was something we always did when we were kids. I felt strangely nostalgic. We're so much different than we used to be. He stands up, still smiling, and looks around at the water. He tells me that we're surrounded by villains, but he has a plan. Mineta threw one of his balls in there earlier and the villains weren't sure what it was, so he came to the conclusion that they don't know our Quirks yet.

"I've got a plan. Here it is..." Izuku says, explaining what he wants to try. I listen in closely, playing every situation in my head. It was a risky idea, but it was the best we have. When it's time to put it into action, Izuku kneels beside me and hugs me.

"Why're you acting like we won't see eachother again? Come on, have more confidence!" I say, raising a fist in the air to cheer him on. He smiles.

"I'll be right back. You won't even know I'm gone."

I laugh.

"I know, I know. Go get 'em!"

His smile grows wider and he turns to our classmates. They exchange puzzled glances at our behaviour but seem to brush it off. I watch the three of them execute their plan, then leap away. The boat rocks for a minute before settling and the villains in the water were shouting.

I wait for about ten minutes, having no idea of what's going on except for the sounds of fighting, before something large and dark flies skywards, hitting the dome and rocketing through it. I watch it disappear from view, my jaw hanging wide open.

'WHO THE HELL DID THAT?!' I shout in my head, unable to tear my eyes away from the massive hole in the dome. All the villains in the water were now dead silent. I struggle to my feet, mentally apologising to Izuku, and look over the railing. All Might was barely visible, standing in front of a cloud of dust, but as I watch, he slowly becomes smaller and smaller, more like an emaciated old man now that the muscular hero I had come to admire.

I felt like a child looking at something they shouldn't have seen. Like I had broken a rule. The skinny man looks around and locks eyes with me from across the shore. We both freeze and he signals something with his hands, almost pleadingly. I look away, ducking out of sight.

What did I just see? Was that really All Might? Why was he so small all of a sudden?

A few minutes later, a pro hero wearing a mask, cowboy hat and cape approaches me. He tells me that Izuku told him to come get me and then picked up the ball of villains, placing them on the boat and then driving it to the docks. Afterwards, a stretcher was waiting for me along with another pro hero. They carry me to the top of the stairs and I get injected with something that makes me fall asleep.

~

After I wake up again, I found out that Recovery Girl had healed me and I'm allowed to go home. I meet up with Izuku outside the nurse's office and we walk home together. I was still brooding about All Might in Izuku's room when the doorbell rings.

"I'll get it, mum!!" Izuku shouts, surprising me. We were in the middle of a game of Uno, after all. Izuku jumps to his feet and leaves the room, and I get the wild urge to look at his cards and cheat. I make myself sit still, then jump in surprise as Izuku calls my name.

"Yeah?" I call back.

"Can you come over here? It's important!" he calls back. I sigh, placing my cards face-down and walking to the door. I'm greeted with the same pro hero that drove the boat to the docks. He bows formally to me, which made me really uncomfortable since I was wearing anything but formal clothes.

"Good evening, Erin. Midoriya. It's come to our attention that Erin saw something today and we would like to explain it to her before she goes around asking questions," he says. I shuffle uncomfortably.

"I haven't said anything about it because I didn't think it was something everyone should know," I say meekly. The hero nods.

"You're very intelligent. Please come this way," he says, walking away before I have a chance to respond. I glance at Izuku, who just shrugs. I follow the hero around a few blocks before he turns down an alleyway, making me say a big fat "nope".

I swivel on my heel and run back down the road, suddenly very suspicious and nervous. The hero turns around and notices I'm not there, so he walks back out to find me. He only just catches a glimpse of me as I run around the corner and gives chase.

"Hey! Stop!" he calls. I run harder, adrenaline kicking in.

'Nope nope nope nope no kidnapping or rape today thanks nope nope nope.'

I reach Izuku's door faster than I thought I would and pound on it, glancing nervously back the way I came. The hero runs into view again, yelling at me to come back which was scaring me even more. The door in front of me opens and I immediately jump inside, almost bowling over Inko.

"Sorry mum! I just-" I say, then stop myself, my face red and my eyes wide.

'AAAAAND FUCK.'

I quickly slam the door and turn the lock just as the hero reaches it. He starts knocking on the door repeatedly.

"E-Erin? What's wrong?" Inko asks, but she was beaming. I could tell she was extremely happy about being called "mum" by me.

"This guy came around earlier looking for me because he wanted to explain something and he tried to lead me down a really dark alleyway so I noped and ran back here," I explain.

"... noped?"

"I said nope and ran away."

"Ah, okay."

Izuku walks into the hallway and glances between me, Inko and the door, which was still being knocked on.

"What happened?"

"The guy that came around earlier was looking for me because he wanted to explain something and he tried to lead me down a really dark alleyway so I noped and ran back here," I explain for a second time.

"... noped?"

"She said nope and ran away," Inko explains.

"Ah, okay."

I laugh. They had the exact same reactions as eachother. They both smile at me, then Inko turns serious and faces the door. She whips it open, glaring at the man.

"Would you care to explain why you're so insistent?" she asks, her small form somehow more threatening than I imagined she would be.

"I'm sorry to bother you, madame, but I need Erin to follow me. She ran away before we could explain-"

"Why were you trying to lead her down a dark alleyway?" Inko interrupts, still glaring. I trade a look with Izuku.

Remind me to never get on her bad side.

"Because we can't-"

"Snipe, it's fine. Good afternoon, Ms. Midoriya. I just need to see young Erin and Midoriya for a few minutes. May I enter?" an unknown voice says. The hero known as Snipe tries to argue with him for a few seconds before giving up and walking away.

"You can only talk to her if one of us is present in the room," Inko says, motioning to herself and Izuku. The unseen man nods, then enters the house.

"I'll talk with Erin and Midoriya, then. Thankyou for understanding," he says. I recognise him as the same man I saw earlier, at USJ. My eyes widen.

"Do you have somewhere we can talk privately?" he asks Izuku.

"We can go to my room."

When we reach his room, the door is closed and the secrets come out. I listen intently, especially about the part where Izuku got All Might's Quirk.

"I'm glad you didn't go around spreading information about my real form when you saw it for the first time. We need to keep it a secret, or else crime will spike. Now you know the whole story, so I'll be going," he says, standing up. I watch him walk to the door and just as he's about to twist the handle, I call out.

"Sorry I almost punched you that one time," I say. He turns around and smiles at me, then leaves. I hear Inko saying goodbye to him and the front door closing.

"... You almost punched All Might?" Izuku asks.

"Long story. Goodnight."