A/N: It's been 3 months. I had to finish this, to get the last 3 ideas off my chest and round out the story you have been so patient with. It was 75% wisecracks, 20% drama, 3% ship teasing, and 2% one-off chapters devoted to One obscure hero at a time. Please check my math, as I'm abysmal at this.

And I'd like to apologize for losing steam. It happens but I really wish it didn't. My love for the story didn't go away, but my ability to generate content did and for that I'm sorry. I want to give you guys the world for sticking with me so long, but I guess we'll settle for the hand life deals us. If I had a quirk, I guess it would be something to do with illusions, a-la lipstick on a pig.

or,... This ending isn't what you beautiful people deserve, but it's what I've got. Thank you sincerely for the reviews, comments, and compliments over the course of this story. I appreciate it more than you know.

Anyway. Here's the epilogue, un-beta'd and with only a passing glance at canon as usual. Enjoy.

She had brought a water bottle full of iced tea, as the seats were outdoors and the arena was heating up. Perhaps not the temperature, but if her stress-induced sugar uptake was anything to go by…

Shouta kept sending her that pleading look. Inko shook her head slightly. He was the one who invited her to get him out of hot water. If he couldn't stand the heat, he should've invited someone else.

"Eraser! You never told me you were dating my doctor! This changes all of my plans."

Ms. Joke was and always had been a riot. Inko had to say, despite the fact that the comedy show was never-ceasing, the brightly clad hero was one of her favorites. Nobody short of All Might succeeded in getting the children's wards so cheerful. And the kind of mirth Ms. Joke made sure to bring kept the smiles glowing for days. Inko hadn't been a pediatrician, but she'd seen the pep in her colleagues' steps long after a laughter-filled visit.

And it served Shouta right. If he thought he could solve all of his problems by glaring at them he was sorely mistaken. Admittedly, his attempt at saving himself some mental anguish by attempting to make Inko his human shield had been a crafty move. But it was backfiring. If he had been straightforward with his scheme, he might've learned the truth sooner.

"Oh don't worry." Inko said after finishing a sip of her tea, "I'm no homewrecker. Far be it from me to ruin my old friend's dream wedding."

Ms. Joke practically howled. For a moment, she was so side-splittingly amused by the comment that she had to tear her eyes away from the knock-down-drag-out of teen spirit below. Her students were changing the weather, turning people to meatballs, and doing all sorts of incredible and terrifying things down below. Inko put on her best poker face as she managed to find her son conferring with some of his classmates. Izuku would pull through. The show with higher stakes was playing out in the stands.

"Inko you are dead to me." Shouta growled under his breath. It seemed like, just his luck, he only added fuel to the fire with his deadpan commentary. The way Ms. Joke's eyes twinkled when she turned back around spoke volumes. That was a better reaction that she'd expected.

Though, the torment was not ceaseless. From their previous encounters and a few knowing looks exchanged between parent and hero, Inko knew Ms. Joke wouldn't take this too far. She liked a good laugh, especially one aimed at her old pal (or her rival, since there was clearly some competition there) but there was a line she wasn't crossing.

And dare she say it, Shouta appeared to be playing along. Not often, and not noticeably, but there was far less of a steel edge in his tone than when he was deadly serious. He didn't enjoy the jokes being on him, it seemed.

Inko sipped her tea and thought about his logical ruses. Once a year, Shouta got his payback in spades.

"So, Doctor Midoriya, your little fella is the spunky-eyed, green-haired, All Might devotee? I can see why Eraser's absolutely gaga over this class if they're all like him. Always got a smile when he's charging into action!" She kicked her feet on the empty stadium seat in front of them. "But don't take that the wrong way. My students are going to give him a run for his money before the chicken crosses the road!"

Inko and Shouta stared blankly at her. The only downside of being the physical barrier between her friend and the friend he wouldn't admit to having was that Inko had to bear the brunt of the color commentary.

Ms. Joke's grin never wavered. "You know! Why did the chicken cross the road? It's a classic!"

"Of course." Inko said politely. "Well, I would expect great things from your pupils. They're all working hard, and I can see many of them have already advanced."

It surprised her to see Ms. Joke's shoulders relax slightly after being let off the hook. It had to take energy beyond Inko's comprehension to be a hero teacher and keep up such a taxing persona. Even if it wasn't all an act, there were expectations that came with any hero identity. Just look at All Might. It made sense that Shouta went underground and put almost no effort into developing, well, a hero's personality.

Just because he acted like a snapping turtle with goggles didn't mean everyone else could do the same.

"I'm proud of this class. They need some more discipline drilled into them sure, since they've got a couple screws loose." She grinned. "They take after me! But they've made their cake, and now they must lie in it. At least until we pull together new assessments."

To Inko's surprise, Shouta spoke up. "I've already taken note of a few things. The growth is obvious, but so are some of the shortcomings. I'd watch that kid with the flesh-shaping quirk. He spends a lot of time standing there and talking."

Ms. Joke nodded. "He's a regular motormouth when you get him going. But I think this will be a valuable experience for them all." She paused as she surveyed the arena. "But all jokes aside, I don't like the way these things are set up."

That got Inko's full attention. She'd been scanning the rocky zone for Izuku and come up empty. But Ms. Joke's tone begged an audience, and not in her usual way.

"Their self-worth is too closely tied to rank. I mean, all of ours are, in a sense. Whether we act like it gets to us or not." She laced her fingers together but kept her eyes on the arena. "Only the top hundred from the first event? It's what a barfight and a preschool have in common."

Inko and Shouta only blinked.

"Fast, loud, and everyone ends up snoozing on the floor. And only two kinds of people walk out unscathed: the bartenders and the teachers. At the end of the day, I can only ask myself if I'm pouring booze on a bonfire or actually watching over these kids."

For all the talk of alcohol, it was sobering commentary. Inko remembered her own struggles in school with the limitations of her quirk. She could, conceivably, have passed this little test when she was younger with enough time and quick thinking. But would she have? And if she hadn't, how would she feel? She might be envious of the classmates that had passed, or find herself pitying them if their situations were reversed.

"I think it's a necessary evil." Shouta spoke up. "Or if not necessary, then inevitable. Heroes aren't the only ones pitting themselves against their peers. But while it may exist in every profession, we don't have to like it."

He inclined his head towards the battlefield. "I've got one student down there who talks to animals. That's it. Apparently, he's been told all his life just to become a veterinarian. It's a noble career and it suits his quirk. He'd make money. There's always a demand and he wouldn't have to bother competing against heroes with more physical power."

Inko knew how that felt. She hadn't realized it until much later in life, but she'd given up any dreams of becoming a hero at an early age. True, they weren't near as powerful as Izuku's longing, but she'd dismissed them in a 'logical' and 'practical' manner before they'd ever taken flight. Not that she was wrong in choosing the path she chose. Thinking back on it, Inko didn't believe she would've done things differently if the pressure hadn't been there. But, she might've liked living without that shadow hanging over her.

"And look at him now. He's in the hero course at the nation's top school." Inko saw Ms. Joke twitch out of habit, but she didn't interrupt. "Somebody let him know it was the potential behind the person, not their quirk, that mattered."

For the first time since they'd arrived, Shouta addressed Ms. Joke without the underlying threat of violence in his tone. "I don't like it either. But like you said, we have to go about our day like it doesn't matter. We have no control over what the law constitutes as a worthy test of ability. We simply have to make our own, do what we can, and hope our students are strong enough to face the world as it is."

"And as it's going to be." Inko added. Because while the world was growing more dangerous every day with the threat of villains looming, there was hope. The fact that these teachers were working so hard to do what a blessed few had done in her day was enough to make her heart swell. Izuku hadn't had an easy time of it in the beginning, but these teachers saw him and his classmates as people outside their quirks. Sure, there was an emphasis on power and flashiness. But if the summer camp training showed her anything positive about UA, it was that the school was invested in honing individual skills regardless of who that individual was.

And that was important. Because these kids had to fight the horrors of today and the horrors of tomorrow. They weren't heroes at all, yet. But they were going to be.

"It's our responsibility to help them however we can." Inko said. "We shielded them, and now we have to teach them to shield themselves."

"The only thing running contributes to society."

Inko and Shouta just stared. Ms. Joke had the grace to look sheepish. "Passing the torch… OK, that one was a stretch, but they can't all be gold! Some of them have to be silver and bronze-"

"And tin." Shouta interrupted. "And dirt."

"Nobody wants a dirt medal, Eraser."

"Then why are you so eager to give them out?"

Inko nearly choked on her tea. More than getting to see Izuku in action, this was fun. Somber and sobering, but pretty fun. Getting to see two old friends snipe at each other over some puffed-up argument ages old was worth the price of admission. That price being free this time, as she was allowed All Might's spot.

No, it was all good. Somehow, everything had worked out. The world was still broken, her son was in danger, and at any minute catastrophe could befall the world. But one of the things that had been shaken now only stood more firm: her trust. Even if she'd been deceived by her friends, her son- everyone had grown. Everyone. That was just the way of things. People changed and grew, but Inko could see her trust was unshakable because now she knew it was reciprocated. Izuku trusted she had his best interests at heart, and would support him as long as she could trust him to temper his bright, chaotic passion with some reason.

Toshinori trusted her with a side of himself that wasn't the glitter and glamor of All Might. Shouta too, trusted her with his real self. And others had extended that same faith in the past. Patients, friends, mentors, strangers… That was what their society truly ran on. The world was a terrible place, but without faith in her fellow citizens- ordinary people - to keep striving for a better world, what was the point? If no one believed in the effort to make things better, why stop the villains?

That was it, wasn't it? The line between heroes and civilians began to blur when the chips were down. Like her homeroom teacher said, everyone had the capacity for greatness. And their greatness wasn't from displays of power, but from the power they had to shape the lives around them. Whatever they contributed to the common good was their noblest and purest effort.

A weight seemed to lift from Inko's shoulders as she watched her son and his classmates battle to prove themselves. Win or lose, they were already making a difference just by trying.

Like she had. Like she would keep doing. Every pitfall in life was a chance to learn something.

All you had to do to be a hero was be willing to show up.