Aizawa wasn't sure what to think. Today had been a cluster fuck in more ways than one.

  He'd been praying that it would be a normal field trip, but wasn't expecting much with his problem child full class.

  Of course it didn't go to shit in the way he'd expected it to, since a horde of psychopathic villains showed up hell bent on slaughtering his students.

  He'd managed to take down almost all of the villains that gathered in the plaza, leaving only the leader, the warper, the big guy and a handful of trash that fell easily beneath his boot.

  Then the guy covered in hands spoke, and the big guy blurred out of existence just like All Might did. Something grabbed him and pulled him out of the way just in time, then he was launched to the left while the 'Nomu' went after whoever had saved his life twice now.

  It was Midoriya, because of course it was.

  The leader, Shigaraki, bragged about Nomu, and how many quirks it had, but it seemed forced, ingenuine somehow. Like he was playing a part.

  Somehow, Midoriya beat the thing that would have given All Might a run for his money and taunted the villains, a determined grin on his face.

  He was not proud of him damnit.

  Then Shigaraki said something about a rematch, and Midoriya being a hacker and 'Player Two'.

  The kid's grin fell, several emotions flashing across his face starting with horror and ending on what Shota could only describe as blinding fury.

  Midoriya had screamed then, his eyes ablaze with pure hatred, mouth twisted into a furious scowl as the lightning around him intensified for just a moment, the green energy carving furrows into the concrete below him, his hair blowing back in an invisible wind.

  "TOMURAAAAAA!!"

  The kid vanished. He didn't blur away, there was no afterimage or lightning trail, he just vanished, leaving scorched, splintered concrete in his wake.

  Shota thought that the only reason Shigaraki wasn't dead was because of Midoriya's hesitation before throwing himself at the villain.

  "Kill you next time... Izuku Midoriya."

  The villain new his student's name. How did he know his name? How did Midoriya know Shigaraki's name?

  Shigaraki (Tomura?) had disintegrated the hands that he'd come here adorned with. That seemed almost like a message. Symbolic. To who? Shota would bet good money it was for Midoriya.

  The kid's fist met the concrete where Shigaraki had been standing in a terrifying parallel of what had occurred when he'd yanked Aizawa out of the way of Nomu.

  He'd screamed again, but this time there were no words, just fury, pain, anguish.

  And grief.

___________

  "And that's when All Might arrived?" The detective asked.

  Shota nodded. "Yeah. A few minutes after that the rest of the faculty burst through the doors."

  "Can you tell me about what happened with Midoriya afterwards?"

  "The kid just knelt there. His quirk was active and a bit.. erratic. He seemed to be somewhat in control of himself though, so I just let him be. Eventually he muttered something to himself, stood up and walked back to the entrance." The hero replied.

  Tsukauchi nodded, noting down a few points in his notepad.

  "Thank you Eraserhead, that's all I needed from you." He said.

  Shota nodded, getting up from his seat and leaving the room, heading down the corridor from the meeting room and opening the door of the teacher's lounge.

  "Shota!" Mic exclaimed, standing from his desk. "Are you alright?"

  "I'm fine Mic, not even a scratch on me." He reassured his old friend.

  A second blonde stood from his chair, this time the skinny form of All Might.

  "I'm sorry Aizawa, I should have been there.." he said, bowing low.

  The hero examined the other for a moment before speaking.

  "You should have, yes. It worked out alright this time thanks to Midoriya, but next time we might not be so lucky." He said.

  Ectoplasm tried to object, thinking Aizawa to be too harsh, but the man kept talking.

  "You are a teacher now, that means your students come first, then your hero work. I don't care if someone's shop is getting robbed, there are plenty of heroes in Musutafu who managed to do just fine before you moved here, and they will continue to do so when you decide to focus on your classes." He said.

  Yagi hesitated for a moment before conceding, nodding his head in acknowledgement.

  "I will do better in the future."

  "You'd better."

____________

  "Run Izuku, I'll hold them off! Take Round Face and go!"

  "Izuku, go with Katsuki and Ochako, I'll hold the line!"

  "Don't you worry guys, this is one wall that'll never fall!"

  "Go on you guys, I'll be fine!"

  "I will meet up with you all later, after disposing of these vermin."

  "May the shadows conceal you from the hordes of the damned."

  "Remember to keep smiling 1A! See you guys on the other side! POWERRR!"

  "Izuku, kid, you need to listen to me. They're coming and they're coming fast. Once I'm gone- kid, listen! Once I'm gone, they're going to look to you for guidance. You have to keep strong, I'm sorry, but you're the only one I can trust with this. When you see Eri again.. tell her I'm sorry. Can you do that for me Problem Child?"

  "We meet again Player Two."

  "It's okay Izuku, it's okay. I lo-"

  "Looks like I win, Hero."

  Izuku shot out of bed in a cold sweat, tears stinging the back of his eyes.

  Kid, you're alright, just breathe, okay buddy?

  Izuku, darling can you hear me?

  Nine, just breathe!

  Kid, calm down! You're safe, he's not here!

  Take a deep breath.

  Izuku gulped down air with trembling, heaving gasps.

  Release it slowly.

  Izuku breathed out, squeezing his eyes shut and resting his forehead on his knees.

  Thank you Fourth.

  It's nothing. Living your life with social anxiety makes you pick up a few things.

  Izuku snorted, sitting up and opening his eyes.

  "That fucker followed me." He whispered.

  It's alright Izuku, he didn't have All for One.

  He seemed more like Tomura than All for One...

  Maybe he was the only part of them sent back?

  One can only hope.

  "Things are going to change. He won't let things play out like they did last time."

  He probably doesn't want to be put under All for One's thumb again either, so that's a plus in our favour.

  But if he goes through with the body evolution then he'll still be a match for Izuku, even without All for One and the associated quirks.

  But now that he's prepared for All for One's attempt to take over his body...

  There was a brief, horrified pause.

  A month until the Sports Festival, another after that until end of term exams, summer break, then the Kamino incident. A month between then and convincing Garaki of his claim to the 'throne', then four months until his evolution is complete.

  "8 months until Doomsday 2." Izuku muttered. "And that's not considering whether he'll manage to move up the deadline further somehow."

  Or if getting just the body and not the quirk will take that much time.

  "So I need to get 68 percent back in 7 months..."

  Should be doable. So long as One for All really is working overtime to try and regain what was lost, you should manage that.

  There is another idea we could use..

  Daigoro that is a terrible idea.

  It would work!

  Perhaps. Or it could blow Izuku's arms off.

  Save it as a last resort. For now Izuku, just work on One for All as much as you can. You already have all the techniques you'll need, now it's just power that's missing.

  Izuku nodded, climbing out of bed and picking up one of his heavier weights.

  "Right!"