A/N: Why on Earth do I keep making these longer and longer?

Clocking in at 12k words this time.

Enjoy ^-^

…~AIV~...

(Outside of Dingy Apartment Building)

"Okay, here goes nothing." Izuku knocked on the door, nervously awaiting an answer. After about ten seconds with no response, Izuku knocked again, and this time heard a crash and thud from the other side. "G-Gran Torino? Is that you? Are you alright?" He was met with silence once more, so Izuku decided to take action. After testing the door to see if it was unlocked, he steeled him, readying One For All as he slowly opened the door. He was met with an old man in a hero costume, face down on the ground, motionless, and what seemed to be blood oozing out from the body. “...It's honestly sad that at this point I'm already not surprised anymore."

Torino's head shot up, "What about this for a surprise?"

"AAAH!" Izuku jumped a little and clutched his chest, trying to calm his heart down, "WHY?!"

Torino chuckled as he stood up, picking up the plate of sausages he had spilt, "How clumsy of me. So, who might you be?"

Izuku let out a sigh of relief, setting down his suitcase and bowing towards Torino, "I-I’m Izuku Midoriya, sir. F-From UA."

"...So, who might you be?"

Izuku's eyes widened, his curious gaze moving back up to Torino, "...Um...Izuku Midoriya. You know, u-uh…" Izuku lowered his voice to a whisper, "...All Might's successor."

"...So, who might you be?"

Izuku stood up straight, sucking in through his teeth, "Ooooh no."

"Toshinori?"

"I-I...No, that's All Might. I-"

Torino cut off Izuku by walking over to Izuku's suitcase and opening it up, "Nice costume. It's a bit strange, but decent."

Izuku cleared his throat, pulling out his phone and moving back towards the door, "Th-Thanks, um, I need to make a quick phone call." Izuku clicked his contacts app in an internal panic. He knew Gran Torino had to be old, but Izuku didn't expect him to be completely senile. How was he able to live on his own? Then again, with the state the apartment was in, it wasn’t that surprising.

“Before that, show me your One For All.”

Izuku paused with his hand on the doorknob, “What?” He looked back to Gran Torino, only to find him with his dopey expression back on his face.

“...So, who might you be?”

Sighing, Izuku frowned and turned back towards the door, “I’m sorry, sir, but I-I really don’t have time for this. I’m on a time limit with One For All. I need to master it as soon as possible, and if you can’t help me, I can’t stay. I’ll call All Might and tell him about your condition. Hopefully he can still accept me as an inter-''

“God, you talk a lot. Fine, I’ll cut to the chase.”

“Excuse m-?” Izuku turned around to find Gran Torino gone, a gust of wind hitting his face. All Izuku saw was a yellow blur bounce around the apartment before hitting Izuku in the back, pushing him towards his suitcase. 

Izuku spun around, looking up to see the old man above the door, his hand dug into the wall to keep him up there. 

Torino sneered at him, “I said, put on your costume, and come at me. Now. I need to see just where Toshinori succeeded in teaching you, and where he failed. And I have a strong feeling it'll be more of the latter than not. Now quit your gawking and suit up!”

“I-I-...Yes, sir!” Izuku quickly began unbuttoning his blazer, tossing it to the side and moving to the rest of his clothes to put his costume on. Izuku bent down to pull out his suit, but found a note on top. 

~Guess who just made her first official costume for her favorite and first client who she forgot the name of!~

-Mei (Future Queen of the Support Industry)

P.S. ~Don’t worry if your costume explodes.~

Izuku’s eyes widened, ‘Why would I not be worried about that? Wait a minute, WHY WOULD IT EXPLODE?!’

P.P.S. ~Don’t worry if this note also explodes.~

“Wha-?”

*POOF*

Izuku coughed as the paper in his hands erupted into smoke. Waving the smoke away, Izuku shook his head, hoping the same wouldn’t happen to his costume. He began suiting up, putting on the now more padded jumpsuit, with black lines replacing the old white ones and white now being the seamlines. His black shoulder pauldrons and elbow pads were still there with the white lines running down the center. But, now Izuku’s gloves were gauntlets designed to better sustain the kickback from his quirk, although he doubted it would do much to help him with higher percentages, if at all. They connected with his elbow pads. His legs were now covered with black armor, also for kickback, and with a single white line running down the center of each to match the rest of his armored pieces.  

Kyouka was insistent on more black for his updated costume. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the idea, he thought it would look cool, but he wondered why she was so persistent about it. To which Kyouka responded it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she thinks black would look sexy on him.

...So, he was sold by that point.

Izuku clipped on his belt, and turned back to Gran Torino. “A-Alright, uh,” He cleared his throat, standing up straight, “R-Ready!”

Torino rolled his eyes and hopped down to the floor, “Geez, kid. You and this stutter, and you talk so meekly. Aren’t you supposed to be All Might’s successor?”

“I-I’m not very good with new p-people, sir...Or, just people. I-I’m working on it.”

“Hm. Well, whatever you say. Let’s get started.”

“Oh, um, where are w-we going to train?”

Torino threw his arms out, gesturing towards the apartment, “Right here! Where else?”

“Well, I-I mean, I don’t want to destroy your home. I-I’m still getting the hang of all this an-”

*ZIP*

Izuku gasped as Gran Torino began bouncing around the room again, hitting off of every wall until slamming into Izuku’s gut, knocking him down. “I said we’re getting started!” 

Izuku quickly got back up, clutching his stomach, “I-I thought you just wanted a demonstration!”

Torino landed on the windowsill, his sneer back on his face, “This is the demonstration, kid. I wanna see if you’re the wet blanket your attitude makes you out to be. So far, I’m not impressed!” At those last words, he shot forward again, sending a kick towards Izuku’s chest. But, this time he was met with nothing but air. Torino landed against the wall, looking back to see Izuku moved to the side, green sparks dancing around his body. Torino chuckled, “There we go.”

Izuku steeled himself, getting into position, ‘He’s fast, but I think I can keep up. For now, at least. Five percent should be enough. Unless he’s holding back, in which case…” Izuku shook his head, readying himself for Gran Torino’s next move.

“Alright, noobie. Let’s make things interesting.” Torino launched at Izuku once more.

…~AIV~...

(Keldor Luxury Bullet Train: Just Outside of Tokyo)

"So, have you ever been to Tokyo, Young Jirou?" 

Kyouka looked away from the window and towards All Might across from her. She had been on bullet trains a few times, but not one so high class. The luxury perks of training under the number one hero were already beginning to show. Kyouka had raised a brow at All Might when they arrived at the station, but he claimed it was only because she was his guest and wanted to give her a good experience. She rested arms on the table between them, nodding her head, "A few times. My parents have had quite a few concerts there, but I didn't go to most of them."

Toshinori tilted his head, "Hm, why's that?"

"They're busy the entire time," Kyouka shrugged. "It's just me alone in the hotel room the whole trip. I'm not comfortable going out in a big city I'm unfamiliar with all by myself, and my parents wouldn't want me to do that either."

"Well," Toshinori chuckled, "you have someone to go with you now."

"Izuku and I exploring Tokyo by ourselves is basically asking for trouble."

“Hehe, fair enough.” Toshinori suddenly furrowed his brow, “You alright?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“You’re sort of fidgeting.”

Kyouka quickly realized she had been pulling at her clothes in random spots, not liking how parts of it felt on her. “Y-Yeah, sorry. Just kinda nervous, I guess.” 

"Ah, I see. This is basically your first time venturing into the hero world to learn on your own. Without peers, I mean. Don't worry, though. Obviously we want to avoid normal patrols, so you don't have to worry about the public eye just yet. We'll be doing some civilian patrols tomorrow though."

"Civilian patrols?" Kyouka asked with a raised brow.

"Well, it's-...Oh! You'll learn tomorrow, it looks like we're here."

Kyouka looked out of the window once more to see the sprawling landscape of Tokyo approach them, their station not too far ahead. 

The bullet train came to a full stop at the station, allowing the duo to exit their compartment and make their way down to the city streets. 

Kyouka laughed curtly to herself, "Ah, Tokyo. Just how I remember it. A denser version of Musutafu."

Toshinori chuckled as he hailed a cab, catching one's attention quickly. "That's every city if you don't look hard enough."

Kyouka picked up her bags and placed them in the back of the taxi, "Why did you move your agency to Tokyo? Sure, it's the capital, but Musutafu is a pretty big city, too. And it's your hometown."

Toshinori opened up the car door for her, "Mm, bad memories."

"You came back, though. Time heals all?"

Toshinori smirked, "More like time makes everything numb."

…~AIV~...

(All Might Agency Building: Tokyo Branch)

“...Wow.” Kyouka looked all around her as they continued to walk through the main foyer into the building. Crimson walls with gold embroidery covering the pillars. Shimmering pale ceramic tiles, cushy couches and chairs in the waiting area, it all looked like the main entrance of the priciest hotel in Japan.

“Trust me, it’s not this annoyingly gauche on the working levels. I was told it was for show,” All Might said with a roll of his eyes at the decor. He had buffed up in an alley just outside of the building beforehand.

“You didn’t pick out any of this?”

“Oh, God no. Comfort over luxury, remember?”

Kyouka looked to her left with a raised brow, “Even that?”

Toshinori pursed his lips as he looked over at a giant statue of him fighting “KraKaiju”. A man who’s quirk turned him into a giant sea monster who tried to destroy Fukuoka about fifteen years back. “It was a gift! An artist spent four years on it, I couldn’t just put it in storage.”

“Well, I guess you can give it to Izuku as a birthday present.”

“I prefer my student’s to not have heart attacks.” 

“All Might?!” Both turned to see a formally dressed, brunette woman with a bob-cut come from around the corner. She hurriedly ran up to him, bowing in greetings, “I’m so sorry no one was here to greet you! Our receptionists have been helping everyone set up for your arrival.”

“Haha, no matter. I’m no special guest, Ms. Haruko. Or excuse me, it’s Mrs . Hana now, isn’t it? How is Sae?”

The woman Kyouka now knew as Haruko blushed lightly, “She’s doing well. Although, she’s a little upset that she was too busy to come and meet you today.”

“Ha! Well, I’ll be here all week. But, where are my manners? I may be no special guest, but my young friend here is,” All Might replied, gesturing to Kyouka. 

“Ah, of course! So sorry!” She bowed to Kyouka with the teen returning the gesture, “Kyouka Jirou, correct? We all saw you in the Sports Festival. It’s no wonder you’ve been picked to be here. I’m Haruko Hana, director of human resources.”

“Thank you. It’s an honor to be here,” Kyouka replied as they walked to the elevator, heading up towards the main office area.

“Are you kidding me? It’s our pleasure! Do you know how long it’s been since we had an internship? We’ve been bored out of our minds.”

All Might raised a brow at that, “That reminds me, what exactly have you all been doing in my absence? I haven’t heard much about any new heroes coming through this place.”

Haruko blushed before clearing her throat, “W-Well, mostly just paperwork, going through all your stopped crimes, working with the police on cases, collateral control, but...Uh, since you stopped coming around things became far more…” The elevator doors opened up to reveal a large portion of the office workers sitting around a large collection of desks they had grouped together, all playing competitive fighting games. Another portion of workers were playing darts while trying to aim between another worker's fingers, and another group was sitting in front of a projector screen, seemingly debating about the woman on screen who Kyouka could identify as Hilary Swank. “...relaxed.”

Everyone turned their heads and froze at the sight of All Might, an awkward silence ringing in everyone’s ears. Haruko pressed the button to close the elevator doors, waited a few seconds, and then opened them back up to find everything back to normal with all of her coworkers standing under a “Welcome back, All Might!” banner.

“All Might!” They all cheered happily, approaching the pro with enthusiasm. 

Recovering from what he had just witnessed, All Might smiled brightly at them all and began bowing and shaking hands with everyone he could, “It’s so wonderful to see you all again after all this time! I hope my absence hasn’t caused any issues.” 

One man in the back chimed in jokingly, “How can we have issues when you’re out there solving them all?”

The group had a laugh before letting All Might Continue, "Now, I hope you’ve made all the preparations for our special guest. I believe you all know her from the Sports Festival.” He placed his hand on Kyouka’s shoulder, gesturing to her with his other hand, “Everyone, please welcome Kyouka Jirou!” 

Kyouka cleared her throat, giving a tentative two-fingered wave, “Sup.” For the most part Kyouka could see nothing but warm smiles as they greeted her back, but she could tell a few faces showed confusion as to her being there. She just hoped none of them questioned it and moved on with their lives. 

All Might’s phone started ringing out with his ridiculous “A PHONE CALL IS HERE!” ringtone. Ignoring the chuckles from his employees and the “Are you serious?” look he was getting from Kyouka, he perked up at the sight of the caller ID. “Uh, please excuse me! I must take this. Please, welcome our guest with top of the line treatment! Mrs. Hana, would you please?” 

Haruko nodded, “Of course, sir!” She quickly placed a hand on Kyouka’s shoulder and guided her towards the employees, “First the accountants. This is Sato, Masuda, and Uchida. Our statistics team, Fujikawa, Arusaka, Niiji-”

Toshinori did his best to contain his laughter as Kyouka’s eyes widened with every new name that was rapidly being thrown at her by the second. 

Perhaps they should have discussed sending a fairly reserved girl into an extroverted, social work environment. But, he had no doubt she would adjust. It was only for a week after all.

Toshinori backed away from the group as they began to show Kyouka around the office area. Slipping into the hallway, he kept his voice low as he answered the call, “Please tell me my suspicions were completely wrong and you found absolutely nothing.”

Tsukauchi sighed from the other end, “I really wish I could.”

Toshinori grimaced as he leaned against the wall, “Of course. Okay, go on. I might as well bite the bullet.”

“Okay, well, we ran a full DNA analysis on the Nomu, and the main strand was just some petty criminal. Nobody major.”

“Main strand?”

“Yeah, that’s the thing. We found four other sets of completely different people’s DNA in him. Each one being related to an individual quirk the Nomu has. But, just infusing someone’s DNA into another person’s wouldn’t give them their quirk. So...Well, I guess you can assume the rest from there.”

Toshinori’s hand was over his eyes as he shook his head, dragging it down his face before he responded, “Y-Yeah, yeah, just...Look, I have to go.”

“You alri-...Who am I kidding? Neither of us are alright after this.”

All Might barely managed a chuckle, “You can say that again. Keep me updated.” He ended the call, pocketing his phone before placing a hand over his stomach, memories flashing back to him.

“You okay?”

Toshinori was startled out of thought as he swiveled around to find Kyouka standing at the end of the hall. “Yes! Yes, just...Did you listen to that?”

“No. I do my best not to use my quirk to eavesdrop. Izuku’s not in trouble is he?”

He walked over to his intern, a slight frown on his face, “No, no, not that. Well, I’m sure Gran Torino is giving him one hell of a time, but he’ll be fine. It’s just...we need to talk later. I just received some news you and Young Midoriya should hear, but it looks like you’ll be the first to know. C’mon, let’s get back so you can be shown to your room.” 

Kyouka followed along, but she was still worried. She knew whatever the news was, it likely was about All For One. She was worried before, but now things might be ramping up. Kyouka pushed it from her mind for the time being, her internship remaining her main focus. 

After more greetings from various other workers whose names Kyouka already couldn’t remember half of, she was guided by Haruko to the elevators and up to the fourth floor where all of the residential rooms were. She was told to pick a room, put on her costume, and meet All Might down in the basement facility to start training. 

Kyouka simply picked at random, opening the door with an impressed whistle.

All Might wasn’t lying. This was some five-star hotel material.

Kyouka looked around the room from the king-sized bed, to the fully stocked kitchen equipped with top-of-the-line appliances, hardwood floors for the bedroom, and dark blue mosaic tiles for the kitchen and bathroom, the bathroom of which being that of western-style with all the appliances in one room. There was a walk-in closet, flatscreen TV, a...massage chair? 

This was getting ridiculous. 

...Wait.

Kyouka looked into the bathroom to see that the large bathtub was also a jet-powered jacuzzi with another TV hung up on the wall to watch while relaxing in the tub.

Okay, now it was ridiculous.

Kyouka shook her head, shaking her out of her thoughts. She was being waited on, so she could indulge in this later.

Kyouka set her briefcases down on the bed, opening up the smaller one first to find her new costume. It was very similar to her first one, but her jacket had been updated with more padding, red seam lines to separate the sections. And, she still had the purple soundwave running down her left arm. After the USJ and the Sports Festival, Kyouka realized just how much physical combat she was likely to get in, so some armor was important. She had also headed a chain running from the front of her waistband to the back, purely for aesthetic, but one never knew.  But, the most important addition was the built-in magnet in the back, designed for the new gear she was most excited about.

Kyouka clicked open the larger briefcase, her smirk growing wider as she gazed at the contents inside. Kyouka raised her new tuning sword out from its case, "The Equalizer" engraved into the side of one of the prongs. It was heavy, but Kyouka was managing to swing it around properly thanks to Izuku's training. 

She grazed her hand across the length of the weapon, "Ooooh yeah. You're almost as beautiful as Izuku." Kyouka began undressing from her school uniform and putting on her costume. As she was fastening the belt, she looked over at the full length mirror and gave herself a once over. 

After her call with Izuku about her legs, she hadn’t thought about that part of her in a while. That was mostly due to Izuku proving he was completely serious and truthful with his feelings about it.

In fact, as things between them continued to ramp up at their set pace, Izuku kept up with his promise of continuing to admire and speak out about how he sees her. 

...It just so happened she had caught him admiring more than either of them had expected. 

…~AIV~...

(Four Days Ago: Kyouka’s Room)

Kyouka placed her foot up on her chair at her make-up table as she tied up her shoe laces. "Thanks for helping me with that essay. Usually I'd procrastinate, but it's actually pretty nice to have it out of the way so soon."

"Mhm."

"Why would they even assign an essay on parking laws? That's not even a part of our job. Heroes can't give out tickets."

"Mhm."

Kyouka furrowed her brow, looking up into the mirror at Izuku's reflection to see him not paying attention, as expected. But, he was paying attention to her...just not the part she was expecting.

"Izuku?"

"Mhm."

"...Are you staring at my butt?"

Izuku jumped, his heart stopping as he fully realized what he was doing, his face going completely red. "I-...I-I am so, so sorry."

Kyouka blushed heavily, "Uh...Wow. I guess that's what I get for tying my shoes directly in front of you."

"I-I-...I don't...I-..." Izuku covered his face, a groan escaping his lips. "I'm not trying to be a creep, I swear. I'd never make you uncomfortable. I'm so so sorr-"

"H-Hey, it's fine. Really." Kyouka quickly took his hands away from his face, seeing he was legitimately distraught over it. She knew Izuku would take something like that badly. The last thing he ever wanted was to hurt her in any way. "I mean...at least I know you like it."

Izuku's eyes widened, "S-...S-Seriously?"

"Well, we'd have a problem if you didn't. A-And, well... it's kinda a part of your job to...um... appreciate me, I guess."

She couldn't lie, it did actually feel...nice. It was one of those moments where her mind had nothing to combat her with. It couldn't try to convince her Izuku was just trying to be nice. He stared on his own volition, his own desire. 

It was a topic they hadn't really discussed yet, and one the dark side of her brain kept trying to bat away. 

One way or another, as embarrassed as they both were thinking about it, Izuku was sexually attracted to her. 

As much as she could barely believe it, and her brain kept trying to trick her into thinking it wasn't true, Izuku desired her body. Of course, she knew Izuku cared about her for far more than that. He wasn't shallow. Hell, he was probably physically incapable of being shallow. 

But, being physically attracted to one another was a part of the relationship. And Izuku, whether intentionally or not, showed that. He'd complimented her, called her every word for beautiful in the book, ogled her at the beach, even admitting to doing that far more than Kyouka knew, and now the simple act of bending down for a few seconds rendered him nonfunctional. 

It was just so weird to her. Izuku contradicted her negative thoughts so frequently Kyouka didn't even know what to do about it, besides just let him continue. 

She knew she was becoming dependent of him. The second he was gone for even an hour, she'd be plagued with negative thoughts about herself once more. But, even when he was gone, Kyouka at least could tell herself there was someone who desired her.

"And well...I stare, too, ya know."

Izuku's eyes widened, "You...You do?"

"Well, yeah...same part, too." Kyouka couldn't help but laugh at Izuku's reaction once she said that. His eyes shot open and his lips puckered, his breath hitching. 

This was the dork that desired her body?

Yeah, that was about right.

She hugged him tightly, nuzzling his chest. "I care about you so much, Izuku."

His brain functions returning, Izuku hugged back. "I care about you, too."

"...Just don't stare when my parents are in the room."

"I promise to try."

Kyouka chuckled, sighing into Izuku's neck as she moved her head up. "So...you really like it that much, huh?"

Izuku cleared his throat, "How honest do you want that answer? Because this is turning into the legs call again, and that was already super embarrassing for both of us. This is so much worse."

"Well, you said you want to help me with my self image. Give it to me. Completely honest."

Well...if it was for Kyouka, Izuku would do anything. "...It's perfect."

Kyouka's eyes widened, "Oh...Okay, well tha-"

Izuku grasped her arms, looking her dead in the eye, "Kyouka, I'm not exaggerating. I swear on all my All Might merchandise. It's perfect. Almost too perfect. So perfect it legitimately scares me sometimes.”

Kyouka turned beet red, covering her face with her hands, “Shut up.”

“I’m serious!”

One of Kyouka’s jacks covered Izuku’s lips, “Just...Just…” She honestly had nothing. What was she supposed to do? Reprimand him? “...I’m going to go wait by the door.” Kyouka walked out of the room, trying to put an exaggerated sway to her hips. To which Kyouka internally cringed, 'I definitely didn’t do that right.’

Izuku breathed out in relief once the door was closed, his eyes never once being able to tear away from Kyouka's lower half when she left.

Did she always walk like that and he just never noticed?

"This woman is going to be the death of me. Or, she already killed me, and this is heaven."

…~AIV~...

(Present Day)

She had heard him say that through the door, and it sent her heart to the races once more. She couldn’t help but smile at the memory now.

Her mother was right. Boys will be boys, and even the most polite of them can’t help it sometimes.  

Kyouka put the rest of her outfit on, and placed The Equalizer on her back, and headed out the door to begin her first lesson.

…~AIV~...

(Gran Torino’s Apartment)

“Well, I guess that wasn’t the worst display I’ve ever seen,” Gran Torino chuckled. Izuku merely groaned in response from his position on the floor. Torino grabbed his cane before walking over to Izuku. “I’ll admit, you’ve learned more than I expected with Toshinori as a teacher. Last I checked, he told me you broke your bones during the Entrance Exams. Lo and behold a few months later I see you took the first step in controlling your power properly. Hm, maybe I’ve underestimated my old student.”

“U-Um…” Izuku pushed himself up with a grunt, leaning back against the couch, “...w-well, y-you see...All Might didn’t exactly t-teach me that.”

“...What?”

“Y-Yeah, I kinda figured it out. With some u-unintentional help from my gir-”

“Wait. Wait...Toshinori didn’t teach you that? What about your fighting skills?”

“Um, a-a little bit. Some basic moves. Enough to handle myself.”

“And the lightning stuff?”

Izuku shifted his eyes to the side, “Um…”

Torino dragged his hand down his face, “You’ve gotta be kidding me? Has he taught you anything?!”

“Uh...th-the microwave mindset.”

Sorahiko furrowed his brow, “That what?”

“H-He told me to treat my power like an egg in the micro-”

“Nevermind!” Torino said, waving his hand up, “I don’t even wanna know. I should have known from what I’ve seen so far. I’ve praised you enough, now to all the negatives.” He lightly thwacked Izuku on the head with his cane, “Your awareness is terrible! You’re a fast thinker, but you’re so caught up in your own head that your instincts don’t even have time to kick in. You might have learned how to not break your body, but you’re still completely reckless with it! You’re like a neanderthal who just figured out how to use a rock as a hammer. Throughout our entire spar you tried to push your body’s already minuscule limits.”

“I-I can handle anything under ten percent...I-I think.”

“Can you now?” Torino lightly poked Izuku's arm, causing the teen to instantly flinch as his entire arm curled and locked up with cramps. “Better than breaking your bones? Sure, but being unable to move after only five minutes in battle isn’t worth squat. And what percentage were you at just now?”

“M-Mostly five, but...I went t-to around s-seven or e-eight at times.”

“That’s what I thought. Can you even stand up?” Izuku nodded, grunting as pain shot through his body at his attempt to get on his feet. Using the couch for leverage, he made it up onto strained and shaky legs. “Good.” Torino then jabbed Izuku in the gut with his cane, causing him to clutch his stomach as he fell onto the cushions, his muscles tightening immensely. “Now, what about this new ability I saw during the Sports Festival. Electricity or something?”

“I’m n-not entirely certain it’s electricity, at least not for sure. It’s like energy of some kind. I-I think it’s overflow from One For All. S-Since my body can’t handle all of it, I expel extra power. I-I’ve just learned to control it...well, to an extent.”

“Hmm…” Sorahiko began pacing in front of the couch as he processed the information, “You learned to control it, or One For All evolved?”

“Evolved?” Izuku asked, perking up in his seat. 

“I’ve been told you’re sort of a quirk aficionado of sorts. Surely you know about quirk evolution.” 

“Yeah,” Izuku nodded, “it’s an extremely rare occurrence. There aren’t many cases on record, even on a global scale, but extreme, stressful, life or death situations can cause quirks to evolve or ‘awaken’ as it’s sometimes called. The quirks can gain entirely new properties and abilities, even slight changes in function.”

Sorahiko chuckled, “Look at that. You said all of that without a stutter. You must really be serious about quirks after all.”

“But, c-can One For All really evolve?”

“You say that like it’s not just another quirk. A very unique quirk, but a quirk nonetheless. All quirks have the capabilities to evolve, and One For All is no exception. The fact that it’s a quirk that was able to merge with another quirk is already an evolution of sorts.” Torino pulled up a seat and sat across from him, “When did this power first appear? Would you consider it a life or death situation?”

“It was during the USJ villain attack. Someone very dear to me was seconds away from dying in front of me. M-My power is what stopped it.”

“Your first true major villain attack, combined with the near death of someone close to you. That checks all of the boxes, kid.”

Izuku began rubbing his chin in thought, “But, I-I’ve always had energy around my body. Even before the USJ.”

“You might have had it, but your awakening gave you the ability to control and release it at large levels. It’s true that it probably is overflow from One For All, but now you can use it to your advantage. So, what does it do exactly? I have to assume with One For All’s track record, it has a backlash, doesn’t it?”

“Pretty much,” Izuku chuckled, “I-If I use it too much it gets weaker over time, a-and in turn it drains me of strength. After that I have to ‘recharge’, so to speak.” 

“Hmm…” Sorahiko’s gaze moved towards the floor as he thought everything through, deciphering what exactly the next move of Izuku’s training should be. The kid had figured out how to contain it properly, but now there were new components to the equation. Training Toshinori was simply training him tactics, reflexes, etc. He never had to actually work with One For All himself since it came so easy to Toshinori. This kid was proving to be more complicated than originally planned. “For now, let’s focus on this new ability of yours. Who knows what other opportunities that could open up? But, first I’m going to go get some grub. I ruined what was supposed to be my dinner,” Torino said, referring to the plate of sausages he had dropped earlier.

“Dinner?” Izuku checked the clock on the wall, “I-It’s only 4 o’clo-OW!” Izuku yelped in pain as Torino stamped his cane down on his foot. 

“I’m old! I don’t wanna hear it, kid! Besides, I can’t think on an empty stomach. Since you’re so adamant on this not being a proper time to eat, I won’t grab you anything. You wait here and continue focusing on just exactly what you need to do to further get control of your quirk. I won’t be too long.” At the speed Torino was walking towards the door, Izuku had a feeling it was going to be long. Torino reached the door before looking back at Izuku, “Think about how it feels not just to call upon the power, but how it feels to use it, and how it feels afterwards. Remember, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. This isn’t a new power, it’s simply a new characteristic. We’ll discuss further once I get back.” 

Torino left, leaving Izuku to his thoughts. ‘Every action has an equal and opposite reaction? What did that have to do with this?’ He sighed, grunting as he tried to sit up straight with the pain still running through his muscles. He heard his phone vibrate from the drawer he had placed it in to keep it safe from the brawl. Izuku limped his way over to the kitchen counter, removing his gauntlets before taking the call. “Hey. Making sure I’m not dead yet?”

Kyouka scoffed from the other end, ‘You of all people should know that’s a valid concern to have about you.’

“I d-didn’t say it wasn’t.”

Kyouka chuckled, “I guess you didn’t. So, you’re not dead, then how bad is it?”

“Not terrible, but...confusing. He tried to trick me into thinking he was senile, but then he made me fight him. He praised me, criticised me, specifically saying I’m a neanderthal still learning how to use a rock as a hammer, and just now he left for food. S-So, things are up in the air right now. What about you?”

“I’m in the underground training area right now. We’re waiting for the facility operator to come down and set it up for us. Not sure what All Might has planned, but if it’s anything like the training regiment he put you under, it looks like I’ll be the first one to die.”

“I doubt it, but if he does, tell him I veto that decision. I’d much prefer you alive.”

“That makes two of us. There’s something else though. All Might got a phone call earlier, and he looked shaken up about it. He said we would talk later about it, and that he would catch you up once he had the chance.”

Izuku quickly grew concerned, his brow furrowing, “What do you think it means? Do you think it’s about All For One?”

“With everything that we’ve learned as of late, I think so. This is the only thing he ever really gets really serious about. But, that’s all I know. Once he tells me, I’ll tell you.” Izuku felt his heart beat a few ticks faster. He knew he was on a time limit, but life seemed adamant on making sure his time lessened far faster than expected. “ Alright, I should go, I just wanted to check in really quickly before I get too busy. Call me tonight?”

“Of course. I’ll text you if that changes. I care about you.”

“I care about you, too.” 

Izuku hung up, returning his phone to the countertop and moving his way back to the couch. He couldn’t think about that now. If anything, this was even more reason to focus on mastering One For All. His body seemed to be recovering quickly, so thankfully One For All’s backlash for slight over-usage was a little more merciful than using one-hundred percent. Izuku slumped back down onto the couch, and began focusing his power. “How it feels to call upon it, use it, and how it feels after.” Izuku breathed in deep as glimmers of One For All’s energy began popping around him, “Okay, let’s see…”

…~AIV~...

(All Might’s Agency Building: Tokyo Branch. Underground Training Facility)

Kyouka hung up, walking back to the other side of the room to join All Might. The control room was similar to the control room of Ground Beta back during the battle trials. However, instead of only security cameras, there was a large window leading towards the actual training area. The lights were off inside, but from what Kyouka could see, it looked like a completely empty room in a grid design. Gray squares covered the walls, floor, and ceiling. It wasn’t nearly as large as UA’s training areas, this one only about the size of a large gymnasium. "Alright, I'm back. Sorry about that, just checking in with Izuku."

All Might, who was now in his hero costume, turned away from the control panel, a smirk appearing on his face, “Didn’t you just do that like, two hours ago?”

“First time apart. Don’t judge me.”

"Haha, fair enough, Young Jirou. And, uh...I care about you, huh?”

“First of all, rude of you for listening, especially when I didn’t listen to your phone call. Second, I am not going into the inner workings of our relationship with you.”

“That was all I heard, I swear.”

“Uh-huh,” Kyouka replied unconvinced.

“...It’s very cute.”

“Shut up!”

Toshinori laughed, leaning against the panel board behind him, “How's he holding up with Gran Torino?"

"Apparently he praised him for his progress so far."

All Might raised his eyebrows in legitimate shock, "Really? That's gre-"

"Aaand then immediately berated him for still not really knowing what he's doing, comparing him to a neanderthal just figuring out what a tool is."

"...Welp, that sounds about right. Gran Torino has always been a bit of a "tough love" teacher, so to speak...he just seems to have forgotten the love part. But, if anyone can teach Young Izuku, it's him."

Kyouka faltered, turning to the hero with a raised brow. "Isn't that supposed to be your job?"

Toshinori's eyes widened, scratching the back of his head as he tried to explain himself. "I...I-I just meant as an internship. Once he gets back, we'll begin again right where we left off in his training."

"Which was when?"

"...Uh...Decemb-?...January?..."

Kyouka's unamused stare continued to bore into All Might's soul. "What were you teaching him?"

"...Um…"

A man Kyouka had to assume was the operator suddenly came through the door, “Alright, are we ready?”

"Ah, of course! Young Jirou, let us begin!" All Might quickly said, changing the subject away from him. “Tsukasa, how’ve you been?” 

Tsukasa bowed, his long maroon hair sweeping down with him, “Even better now that you’re back in town. And, of course, with new blood.” He greeted Kyouka with another bow, with the teen returning the gesture, “Jin Tsukasa, main operator and co-architect of this facility. I’ll be helping set this place up for your training. Good to meet you, Ms. Jirou.”

“Likewise.”

“Now, Tsukasa,” Toshinori said, “I’m thinking small buildings, just a simple basic setting.”

Tsukasa nodded, sitting down at the control panel. “Coming right up.” He began fiddling with buttons across the panel. Using a touch screen to adjust certain heights and patterns that Kyouka couldn’t discern. The lights inside of the training area came to life, the squares on the floor suddenly sprang up, all of them varying in heights. Some opened up on the inside, looking like extremely basic buildings. By the time he was done, Kyouka gawked at the small little metal town that had been building in front of her.

Kyouka whistled, impressed with the display, “How’d you make all this? This is nuts!”

Tsukasa chuckled, “I’d still call the massive scale replicas your school has more impressive, but this is a fine work of engineering. We simply make any setting that can fit the inside of the given area. A friend of mine, and All Might’s, helped me create this. A man in America named David Shield.”

Kyouka felt like she had heard that name before, likely someone Izuku would nerd out over, but she had no time to dwell on it before All Might continued on with the lesson.

“Now, you might be wondering what we’re going to be doing here. I call it, Hide and Beat.”

Kyouka’s eyes widened, “...Beat?”

“Let’s be completely honest here, Young Jirou. Even if you were a veteran pro-hero, your quirk doesn’t exactly give you an advantage in head-on combat against someone like me.”

“You say that like literally anyone else in the hero industry could beat you.”

“Myself aside, there are many opponents you won’t be able to face in head-on combat, like your fight with Young Todoroki, and your quirk is suited perfectly for taking down combatants without doing so. So, the first lesson is learning how to fight villains bigger, stronger, and faster than you. As you can see, the training area has been set to mimic basic hallways, upper sections and enclosements, and a central open street portion. We’ll both begin on opposite ends of the arena, with my goal being to find and capture you with tape, like your first battle trials. However, your goal is simply to hit me.”

“Wait,” Kyouka stopped him, her brow furrowed. “Hit you? Like, just once?”

“Correct! All you need to do is hit me just once, and you win the trial. But, be wary, I won’t make it easy. Now, let’s begin!” All Might quickly zoomed off down the hallway before Kyouka could even get a word out. 

"...Oh boy." Kyouka went through the same hallway, making a right and entering the large arena with the large door behind her. It felt claustrophobic when actually inside of it. The metal cubic buildings were so densely packed together, the spaces between them were barely wide enough for her to walk through. The only wide spaces were what were supposed to be "streets" through the center of the room. 

She looked down the main street to find All Might on the other side of the room, his arms crossed and his usual smile donned on his face. “Are you ready?!” he yelled so Kyouka could hear him. 

“If I say no?!”

“Too late! I’ll turn around and count to ten, and th-”

“Ten seconds?! Against you?! I need like twenty-seconds minimum just to get a good distance away from my starting position!”

All Might hummed in thought before finally shrugging and turning around, “Fine! Twenty-seconds it is! Starting...Now! One, two, three, four, five…”

Kyouka scrambled away, sliding in between a couple structures, slipping through to the other side of the alleyway. She kept her jacks raised and focused so she could hear whenever All Might was finished counting.

What exactly were her chances of winning this?

Slim to none…with a bias towards none.

But, she only needed one hit. One.  Surely she could manage that. Kyouka entered one of the buildings close to the center of the room just as All Might yelled out, “Twenty!”.  She headed up to its second level and crouched down next to a window looking out over the main street. She peeked outside to see All Might turn into a blue blur and zip around the entire training area, bouncing up and over buildings in search of his student. The wind from his sprint whirled around and slammed into the metal buildings, his footsteps shaking the ground. 

Kyouka’s eyes widened as she whispered, “Jesus Christ! That’s basically cheating!” All Might then suddenly came to a halt directly below Kyouka’s window. She quickly covered her mouth and slipped back down out of sight. 

She was trying her best to ignore the irony in a sound-based hero having to be completely silent.

Kyouka peered out of the window once more, seeing All Might seemingly contemplating his next move. Maybe this was her chance. It seemed far too simple. But, and not to demean All Might in any way, but she doubted she could overthink any plan he had. His battle lessons at UA weren’t exactly the most complicated scenarios.

So, Kyouka took her chance. Placing her foot silently on to the windowsill, Kyouka raised The Equalizer, focusing her jacks towards All Might just in case she could hear him about to move his position. 

“Damn, I’m starving…” Kyouka heard him mutter under his breath, “What should I have for lunch?”

Kyouka deadpanned down at her teacher, using every ounce of effort in her body not to facepalm. ‘Yeah, definitely not overthinking this.’

Kyouka leaped down, swinging her sword towards All Might, she smiled as she made direct contact…

…with the ground.

“Wha-? AH!” Kyouka yelped as she was suddenly raised in the air by her foot, All Might holding her up by the capture tape he had wrapped around her ankle. 

“Well done. In any other setting, you might have caught me. Buuut…” All Might gestured to the arena around them, “We’re fighting in a shiny metal neighborhood.” He then pointed at the building across the street, and Kyouka followed his hand to see a foggy, distorted reflection of them on the wall. “Not to mention the ample amount of echoing in here. Don’t just mind your opponent, mind your surroundings.” 

Kyouka sighed, “Noted.”

He dropped her to the floor, cracking his knuckles as he began walking back to his starting position. “Let’s run it again!”

Kyouka stared blankly at the ceiling and blew a raspberry. It was going to be a long day.

Kyouka just hoped Izuku’s training with Gran Torino was going well.

…~ AIV~...

(Gran Torino’s Apartment)

Things were not going well.

At this point Izuku was staring at the ceiling completely out of ideas, his head resting on the back of the couch. Practicing using his power any more was out of the question, as he had already accidentally shut off the power multiple times. He just didn’t get it. What was he supposed to do differently? The only thing Izuku could think of was trying to release his excess power at lower levels than a big explosion. He had been kind of successful in that endeavor, but nothing major. 

What else was he supposed to do? 

He was a walking EMP. His energy explodes…and that was about it.

“You’re stumped, too, huh?” Izuku swiveled his head towards the front door to see Gran Torino walking through the door with a takeout bag. 

“O-Oh, sorry. I didn’t hear y-you come in.”

“Like I said, your awareness is terrible. Always in that head of yours.” Closing the door behind him, Torino walked to the chair he sat in earlier and placed the bag on the coffee table between them. “There’s some pork dumplings in there for you.” 

“Oh! U-Uh, thank y-you, sir.” Torino hummed in response, taking out his own food and digging in. Izuku saw Torino’s calm and grizzled demeanor return, clearly signs he was a true veteran of the hero industry. “S-So…” Izuku continued after swallowing his first bite of food, “...you said too. You c-can’t think of anything e-either?”

“It’s my job to teach you, which doesn’t mean give you all the answers. It’s to give you the push to think and learn for yourself, albeit with help along the way. I have ideas, but I want to see what you can do first. Something I honestly thought would be easy for you.”

“What do you mean?”

Torino peered at the teen across from him, not giving a straight answer. “I’m surprised you haven’t asked me about my quirk yet, kid.”

Izuku’s eyes suddenly brightened as he reached for his bag, pulling out his journal. He immediately flipped to his next blank page and began writing down bullet points. “It’s hyper-compressed air from the soles of your feet, right? It can’t come from your pores, there aren’t any on the soles of your feet. Are their holes on your feet? Do you have a genetic mutation in your calves? Does it relate to your breathing? Do…” Izuku paused his question onslaught, leaning forward with a curious squint in his eyes, “Are…Are your lungs in your legs?”

“Geez, kid,” Torino chuckled, “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“R-Right, sorry. Th-That’s stupid.”

“Not that, I-...Well, yes, that last idea was pretty stupid. What I mean is I didn’t even tell you my quirk yet, and you can think all this up. You even lost that pesky stutter of yours. You can’t do that for One For All? What did I say before?”

“Th-That One For All isn’t special?” Izuku asked with a furrowed brow.

“It’s a quirk. Nothing more, nothing less. A quirk. And yet you limit that brain of yours when it comes to it!” He yelled, lighting thwacking Izuku on the head with his cane. “It’s fight like All Might or nothing! You should know more than anyone that a quirk’s potential can be experimented and explored. You wanna write about quirks and heroes in your book? Write one about yourself.”

Izuku looked down at his notebook, his head tilting as he contemplated what Torino said. “A-An entry on myself? B-But my books are for heroes a-and their quirks.”

“And what the hell are you?”

Izuku bit his lip as he looked back down at the book in his hands. He had never considered writing an entry on himself. Outside of his general love for quirks, the notebooks were born from his sense of loss and inner turmoil due to his lack of quirk. It was meant for heroes and future heroes.

Now that Izuku thought about it, he had never actually fully faced the fact that he was really going to be a hero. He had spent his whole life with his hopes far from high, and everything that had happened since then felt like a dream come true. 

It was hard to believe it was finally a reality, after all those years, all the pain and struggle…

“...O-Okay.” Izuku cleared his throat, looking back up at Gran Torino. “Okay! I will!”

Torino smiled a little, “Maybe there’s hope for you yet, kid. I expect a full entry by tomorrow morning.”

*BZZT*

Izuku perked up at the vibration of his phone, looking down at the message he just received.

"Sorry, i-it’s my girlfriend. She’s just checking in, we’ve been doing that a lot today. Apparently All Might’s training is tougher than she thought it would be."

Torino's face fell into a grizzled yet sad frown, "Your girlfriend?"

"Y-Yeah, she's interning with All Might, actually."

Torino's brow furrowed as he stood up and grabbed his cane, "So...she knows."

"Oh, well, yeah. We told her not too long ago. I-I figured she deserved to know if we were going to-"

"End it." Torino began walking away towards the hall, not looking back. 

"I'm...I'm sorry?"

Torino stopped, still not looking back at Izuku, his voice came out low, "End things with her. You're going to get her killed."

Izuku stood up from his seat, "Wh-What? I…No. No, I...That won't happen. I won't let it. Besides I-...I-I need her. All Might e-even encouraged me t-to-"

Torino shook his head with sigh, then began walking down the hall once more. "And when has Toshinori ever been good at giving legitimate advice? Maybe I was right and he did make a mistake. Because that's just damn selfish." He opened the door to his bedroom, and stepped inside, "I already think it's a bad idea bringing kids into this. It was bad enough when Nana did it to Toshinori, and now the big oaf has gone and done it again. This life is already dangerous enough, but..." He turned around, finally facing Izuku. "Our odds are already bleak, kid. Don't drag her down with us. I've watched it happen once. I can't see it again. And if you love this girl, then once you see it, you're not gonna come back from it." 

He closed the door, leaving Izuku alone.

…~AIV~...

Kyouka frowned at the now thirteen capture tapes still wrapped around her leg. All Might told her to keep them on to keep score, which proved to Kyouka that he was enjoying this far too much. 

Kyouka was doing her best to evolve and change with every attempt, but All Might was doing the same. Now he had begun to actually enter the buildings and search around inside. 

At the moment, Kyouka was hiding in a vent as All Might looked around in the room in front of her. ‘Vents are way bigger in the movies! I can barely breathe in here!’ Then again, she did have a giant tuning fork on her back, which definitely didn’t help. Kyouka further backed away from the grate, as All Might stepped past it, keeping her breathing shallow to not make too much noise. ‘Okay, okay, c’mon think, Kyouka! What can you do to catch him off guard? Think like Izuku. Think like Izuku.’

Self-sacrifice until All Might is miraculously hit…

‘...Okay, think a little less like Izuku. Think like Izuku’s quirk expert brain.’ 

What did his notebook say about Kyouka’s quirk? The last time she read it was on the beach months ago, and she was more focused on the drawing of her. She remembered the gear ideas, the hand-to-hand combat ideas, but what about the rest? Stealth operations, hostage situations, building hazard situations, anything!

Kyouka’s eyes widened as she finally remembered one of the bullet points on her page.

~ ”Her quirk will become extremely useful in power outages as well, or perhaps quirks that can derive people of sight. Maybe suggest further study into echolocation?” ~

‘Izuku, you adorkable genius.’ All Might finally left the room in search of other locations to scour through. Kyouka slowly opened up the vent and crawled out, backing away in the opposite direction. She slipped through the alleys until she reached the edge of the room and placed her jacks on the walls. She could hear the faint humming of electrical wires behind the metallic wall. 

Kyouka looked up at the ceiling and grimaced, inwardly apologizing to Tsukasa for what she was about to do.

Surely they could afford new lights, right? 

…And wiring.

Kyouka plugged in her jacks to the pommel of The Equalizer, turning the crank on the base to its highest setting. It immediately began vibrating at an alarming rate as Kyouka sent her jack’s soundwaves into it and did her best to keep hold of it. She had seen videos of large tuning forks and just how loud and intense their vibrations could be, and this was five times that size and it supercharged quirk.

‘...This should be interesting.’ Kyouka turned on her sound-cancelling headphones, swinging her sword back and hitting the wall as hard as she could. 

*TWWAANG!!!*

The piercing shriek that rang out was somehow even worse than Kyouka was expecting, and the ache in her jacks reminded her to never use her gear at full power unless absolutely necessary.

But, it clearly didn’t affect her as much as All Might.

“AAAAHHH!!! WHAT THE HELL?!?!? WHY?!?!?”

Kyouka’s smirk grew even wider as the lights above shook violently and shattered. Covering her head to protect herself from any falling glass, Kyouka breathed a sigh of relief that her plan was working so far. 

Now, the entire training area was pitch black. The only light came from the control room window up above, and the lights in there were already very dim. She could only see Tsukasa due to his computer screen lighting up his face. Kyouka put on her headphones and cranked up the volume. 

She placed her jacks on the ground, honing in on any sounds and vibrations. Thankfully, All Might had quite the heavy step. But now his steps were different from before. They were slow, tentative, which meant he was shuffling around and trying to find his way through the darkness. 

Kyouka gave a strong tap to the floor with The Equalizer, doing her best to visualize the vibrations. It was difficult, and Kyouka ran face first into more walls than she cared to admit, but she managed to make her way closer and closer to All Might. 

All Might didn’t have her level of hearing, but he obviously wasn’t deaf. So Kyouka slammed her sword into the ground, causing another high-pitched sound to tear through the room, masking her own footsteps. But, she could still hear All Might. 

Finally, from what she could tell, she had reached a straight away, and All Might’s footsteps were directly in front of her. She couldn’t screw this up, and the direct approach clearly didn’t work before. So, Kyouka felt around next to her, finding a slim alley to slip into.

She waited for her last soundwaves to die out, the room now dead quiet. 

All Might had stopped moving, listening for any movement. Kyouka held her breath as she carefully reached her sword out into the street, and…

*Tap*

Kyouka barely held her ground as a massive gust of wind blasted through the alleys. All Might had taken the bait, the sound of Kyouka tapping the ground made him immediately take the offensive. 

Kyouka swung her weapon around the corner, feeling true satisfaction as she felt it connect with her target, and she heard All Might grunt from the impact. “YES!!!”  Kyouka jumped out from around the corner, her fists in the air, “Gotcha!” She pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight, “Finally I-Ooooh.” Kyouka sucked in through her teeth as she saw All Might coughing up blood and clutching his stomach. “I probably should’ve thought about your stomach, uh…Sorry.”

 Toshinori waved his hand, trying to keep his smile up, “No! No, you did very well! Well d-done, Young Jirou. I-I’m s-ackh! So proud!” he said with a strained voice. “Why don’t you just go on ahead to your room and meet me in my office in about ten minutes, I’m…I’m just gonna lay here for a bit.”

“Do you need me to help you back or anything?”

“No, I’ll be just fine. Just…Just took a direct hit is all. Go on. Please, I insist.” Kyouka rolled her eyes with a smile, grabbing All Might’s arm and hoisting him up. Well, as much as she could assist someone of his size.

“C’mon, let’s get you to your office. Besides, I can show you off as a trophy proving I beat you.”

“You hit me. Two very different things.”

They began making their way towards the doors with Kyouka as the guide through the dark, “I dunno, I seemed to wind you pretty badly.”

“Well, when someone has an injury such as mine, a vibrating club tends to do unexpected things.”

“Sword, not club.”

“But, it’s a blunt weapon.”

“Sword sounds cooler.”

“Hehe, you’ve got me there.”

…~AIV~...

(Top Floor: All Might’s Office)

“Well, at least they didn’t turn this into a game room.” All Might had returned to his normal state as he slumped into his chair. Kyouka looked around the office, once again impressed by just what being the number one hero got you. There was a small lounge area on one side fit with a bar, and his office area on the other with a very large desk, obviously intended to be up to scale with his hero form. A large rug in the center was half American flag and half Japanese flag. And both of the actual flags were raised prominently on the wall behind All Might. The far wall was made entirely of one-sided tinted glass, the sunset shining its golden light through the cityscape and into the room. 

Kyouka sat down across from her teacher, “Don’t give them any ideas.”

“Good idea. Speaking of good ideas, your final performance today was spectacular. That was quite the plan, despite the final results coming out of our pocket.”

Kyouka blushed a bit, her eyes shifting to the side, “Yeah, sorry about that. I’d offer to pay you back if I had any hope of ever having that much money.”

Toshinori chuckled, “Don’t worry about it. Clearly we’re well off here.”

“But, it wasn’t really my idea. I remembered something from Izuku’s notebook.”

“Well, did his notebook say to turn off the lights? Did his notebook say to bait me, or to cover your own noise?”

“Well, not exactly, bu-”

“Then I’m giving full credit to you.”

Kyouka played with the hem of her shirt, shrugging her shoulders, “Thanks. But, what about your phone call earlier,” Kyouka said, desperate to get the topic of conversation off of her.

She watched Toshinori’s face immediately fall, “Ah, I guess I did say we would talk about that. It’s not exactly much of an update, but…I received a call from a close friend on the force, someone within our Circle of Trust. Do you remember that creature from the USJ? Nomu?”

Kyouka crossed her arms, resting them on the desk, “It’s kind of hard to forget, especially after it nearly killed Izuku and I and then stabbed it in the brain.”

“Right, well, apparently that thing used to be a man. He was just some two-bit criminal, but he was mutated beyond belief with multiple other people’s DNA and practically brain dead. His mutation gave him multiple quirks if you remember. My hope was that it was some miracle, or atrocity, or science. But, after some testing was done, my friend told me that the only way Nomu could have those quirks…”

“Is if they were given to him,” Kyouka finished for him. 

“Exactly. Which sadly means…Which sadly means it’s basically guaranteed All For One is still out there.” 

“I thought you already knew he was back?”

Toshinori sighed, biting his lip as he leaned back further into his chair, “Not exactly. I told Young Midoriya ‘if’ he was out there, but the conversations after turned more into assuming that he was. In hindsight that’s a good thing, because now Young Midoriya is at least a little more mentally prepared instead of constantly trying to convince himself that All For One wasn’t back.” Toshinori sighed, “Sadly, like I’ve been trying to do. But, now I have no choice but to accept the truth. He’s out there.” Toshinori leaned forwards at Kyouka’s concerned features, “Listen, Young Jirou, if you want to-”

*Beep*

Toshinori’s desk phone suddenly lit up, “All Might, you have a call on line one.”

He leaned forward and pressed the call button, “I’m a bit busy at the moment.”

“It’s Gran Torino, sir. He said it’s important, and that he was to speak to you alone. Um…he also said to answer your cell phone next time, you…I don’t think I can call you that and not be fired.”

All Might sighed and nodded, “Just one second. We’ll continue this conversation another time, Young Jirou. Besides, I’m sure you want to inform Young Midoriya about all of this. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Kyouka nodded, standing up from the chair and leaving the office. She entered the elevator, leaning against the wall as she headed towards her floor. Kyouka sighed, closing her eyes as she rested her head on the wall. Kyouka’s fear was still running rampant through her mind, but there was something else. 

For some reason Kyouka felt anger boil inside of her. Anger towards All For One, anger towards herself for still not having any idea as to how she was going to help Izuku fight this, and somehow…

Anger towards All Might. 

How he was handling the whole situation, especially with the life of a teenage boy on the line…Kyouka was just unsettled. She also had a strong feeling she had been taught more by All Might in one day than Izuku had in the last six months. And, even then she learned most of that herself, and it was through Izuku’s information.

She liked All Might. She really did. He was a great man, had done so much for the world, and meant everything to Izuku. And, from what she could tell, Izuku meant a lot to him as well.

Kyouka shook her head as the elevator door opened. Maybe she just didn’t understand everything yet. This was a situation running back literally over a century. She couldn’t judge at the moment.

She needed to focus on the good things. Like the fact that she had actually landed a hit on All Might, she was about to relax in her top-of-the-line room, and she was about to call the best boyfriend she could ask for. 

Life was perfect for the moment. She needed to enjoy it while it lasted.

…~AIV~...

(15 Minutes Later)

"So, how's it been going over there for you since your last call? Is Gran Torino's place really that bad?" Kyouka asked as she sunk further into the hot water of the bath. Her phone sat on a nearby shelf with the speakerphone turned on. 

"He beat me up for three hours, I took an ice cold shower because he used all the hot water, if there was any to begin with, and now I'm sleeping on the couch. You tell me." Izuku sighed, trying to make himself comfortable. "But, I’m not complaining. It’s been an educational day, if anything. I hope you're being treated well over there."

Kyouka's eyebrows slowly rose as she looked at her paused movie, the smoothie in her hand, and the jet-powered bubble bath she was resting in. "...Nothing too fancy. Just the essentials."

"As long as you're happy and comfortable."

"...Yep."

Kyouka made a mental note to pamper Izuku a little bit once they got home.

"Enough about me though. You texted earlier saying you had to fight All Might! How'd that go?"

Kyouka gave a curt laugh, “Technically all I had to do was hit him once, but I did manage to…after about thirteen tries, but I’ll still take it.” 

“Really? That’s amazing! I could hardly keep up with Gran Torino, but you landed a hit on All Might. How’d you do it?”

“Well, I have a really smart boyfriend who keeps extensive notebooks on quirks, and I may have remembered one of his ideas.”

“A-Ah I don’t know a-about REALLY smart. Which one was it?”

“The echolocation idea. The one for when I can’t see.”

“Oh! You used my Daredevil idea!”

Kyouka raised a brow, “Daredevil? Why is it cal-...?” She pinched the bridge of her nose, “Oh my God.”

“...Is that lame?”

“No, I’m just kicking myself for getting it only just now. It wasn’t exactly like that, but I get it. Trust me, it’s not lame. It’s the only reason I won.”

“Don’t give me all the credit. You put the whole plan in motion and executed it. All I had was a vague, untested idea.”

“Are you ever just gonna let me praise you?”

“Are you?”

Kyouka squinted, taking a sip of her smoothie, “Touché.” 

“Speaking of my notebooks, Gran Torino actually suggested something to me today. Well, two things, but this one is actually good. He told me I’ve been limiting how I think about my quirk, and that I should start making notebook entries of myself.”

Kyouka smiled warmly, “Adding yourself to your grand tomes of heroes.”

“Yeah, I-I…I guess I am. I’ve just never really thought of myself in that way before, even after getting One For All.”

“I get it, believe me. I’m proud of you. But, what about the other thing Torino suggested? You said it was something bad.”

She could practically feel Izuku shift uncomfortably as he spoke, “W-Well, it’s not bad exactly, he means well. It’s just…after he learned about you, he said I should break up with you. He said we would get you killed, and I’m assuming he’s talking about All For One.” 

Kyouka stepped out of the tub and began drying herself off as she replied, “Did you tell him we’ve already discussed this?”

“I-I didn’t really get the chance. He went to his room directly after he said that.”

Kyouka picked up her phone, walked to her bags and pulled out her pajamas, “I get the feeling that’s what he called All Might about today. After my training, All Might said that the phone call he got earlier was news about that Nomu thing at the USJ and how apparently it was given multiple quirks, which means All For One is likely behind the League.”

Izuku sighed, “It’s not that I don’t understand where he’s coming from. You already know I considered it before. He said it’s happened before, and he didn’t want to see it again.”

“All Might’s master?”

“I think so.”

Kyouka threw on her tank top and shorts, moving to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She raised her voice for Izuku to hear her, “I saw a picture of her at All Might’s place. Seems like a touchy subject for them. Not just her, but everything surrounding her.”

“Yeah. I wish I knew more about her.”

Kyouka rinsed out her mouth and walked back into the room, “Maybe we should just ask. You of all people deserve to know.”

“Maybe…It’s just that whatever happened to her and her family has Torino shaken up about you and I even more than All Might. I know it’s selfish, b-but…I still believe what All Might told me. I can’t let All For One control my life.” Back at Torino’s apartment, Izuku looked over at his notebook, which sat open on the coffee table. He steeled his gaze at the header of “Deku (Izuku Midoriya)” written boldly. “...This is a new chapter for me. I don’t plan on ever turning back the page. This is my life, and I want you in it more than anything.”

Kyouka, now dressed in her pajamas, got under the covers and turned off her bedside lamp before nodding, “That same goes for me. We’ll find a way. I care about you.”

“I care about you, too.”

Kyouka rolled onto her side, plugging in her phone to charge and laying her head down on her pillow, “Do you remember how after the night after our first date, that movie freaked me out so much you talked with me on the phone until I fell asleep.”

“Of course.”

“...Can you do it again?”

Izuku got settled on the couch, laying down as well, “I’m more than happy to.”

“My hero.” 

…~AIV~...

~”So, Toshinori Yagi, huh?”~

~”You’ve got a lot of heart, kid. What do you think, Torino?”~

~”I’m so sorry, Kotarou.”~

Izuku shot awake, nearly falling off the couch in shock. ‘What…What was that?’

…~AIV~...

A/N: We'll check in with the other internships next time, as well as dive into some interesting conversations. Should be fun.