AN: All rights belong to Kohei Horikoshi and affiliate studios/publishers.

This is a deep AU. All deviations from canon or fanon are intentional, without exception.

THREE YEARS LATER

Everything rushed past as he roared through the sky. He blew through golden clouds, thick with moisture that attempted to cling to his naked form before burning off just as quickly. The sun greeted him on the other side, large as life, rejuvenating with its unparalleled warmth. Beautiful. He was tempted to cling to it a moment longer, and yet he drifted away from its searing light in search of more.

Twin eyes of jade, set wide with wonder, reflected the turning of the world around him; cerulean gradually shifted to midnight blue and eventually to black. Then he was gone. The stars, ever distant, grew close. Closer and closer until, with a thundering heart and a herculean effort, the stars melted; bled into streaks of white fading into the corners of his vision as he pushed harder, ascended faster, flew further than he ever had before; into the heavens.

Flew.

Like a god.

Beyond the wind itself.

Then Izuku Midoriya woke.

He blinked. Once. Twice. He robotically shut off the All-Might alarm blaring on the bedside table without so much as a glance as he sighed in disappointment. Or at least, he tried to. His mouth was incredibly dry, like sandpaper, and instead of a sigh, what came out was a faint rasp. Izuku absently licked his lips, his mind elsewhere.

The dream had felt so real this time. His body had reacted to it on every level. Even now, his heart was racing, his back was drenched in sweat, and in his pajamas well, he supposed it was the morning, after all. Regardless, the dream had been more vivid than the previous night, or any of the nights before for that matter, and it was no exaggeration to say that he'd had the dream often; sporadically, ever since the snowy day on which his quirk had manifested.

Izuku paused from putting on a shirt as he thought of that day. Even three years later, the memory never failed to elicit a smile from the green haired teen. The revelation - the fact - that he had a quirk. Even more astonishing, he'd discovered it in the midst of actually saving someone (and himself) at a time when he'd needed it most, just like the heroes of old.

His quirk? Fūjin.

Aptly named after one of the elder Shinto gods, specifically the green-skinned deity of the wind. What he had once mistaken for a heightened version of his mother's quirk, telekinesis, was instead known as aerokinesis; the ability to manipulate, generate, and ultimately command the wind. A truly awesome quirk, as versatile as it was powerful.

Though, unlike in his dreams, he couldn't use his quirk to fly.

'At least, not yet,' he thought determinedly.

The disappointment from waking quickly faded, replaced by a sense of contentment. With a small smile, he opened his bedroom curtains to the new dawn and began to go about his standard morning routine. At least, until he realized what day it was.

He checked the time on the All-Might alarm clock. 5:45.

"I've got time."

'He's running late… again.'

Shimizu Tsubasa's sigh was void of any true exasperation, though her eyes roved across the moving crowd as she absently fiddled with her watch. She stood on the corner outside of the popular udon restaurant that had recently become their meeting place, still waiting for her friend ten minutes after the agreed upon time. Her petite form, standing at a modest 144cm, was at risk of being swallowed up amidst the crowded foot traffic of the busy intersection. It was mid-noon on a Saturday, after all.

The mild-mannered and admittedly introverted girl was beginning to feel overwhelmed with all the people shoving to and fro. Just as she was about to call her friend for an update, a shock of green hair stood out in the crowd currently crossing the street towards her. Relief filled her at the familiar sight.

Drenched in sweat, with an apologetic smile on his freckled face, Midoriya Izuku rubbed the back of his neck as he greeted her.

"Hey, Tsubasa-chan! S-sorry I'm late," he said sheepishly once he got within hearing distance, his voice barely carrying over the din of traffic. "I had to prepare something for later tonight and it threw my whole morning routine off a bit. I, uh, hope you weren't waiting long," he finished with a frown of concern.

Tsubasa's relief must have shown on her face when he walked up, but she couldn't help the smile that formed as she replied. "No, not long. I always expect you to run a little late these days anyway, Izu-kun," she teased. The viridescent boy pouted at that, but she knew he couldn't refute it. He was prone to tardiness more often than not lately. "You still squeezed in some training?"

She took in the appearance of her friend as he gracefully led them away from the busy intersection and down one of the side streets towards the downtown theater. Izuku stood a fair bit taller than her, at 170cm, his shoulders broader, and his overall form far more lean and athletic than just about all of their class, due to his consistent training. He was still dressed in his black joggers, his track hoodie unzipped to show his sweat-matted undershirt, and his signature red running shoes. He'd clearly just come from another intensive session, though what exactly her friend did during those sessions was anyone's guess.

Izuku nodded at the blonde apologetically. "Yeah, you know the spiel - I can't afford to miss even a day if I hope to be prepared by the time the exam comes around."

Tsubasa rolled her eyes at her friend. "The Yuuei Entrance Exam is a whole ten months away, silly! Besides, if you ask me, you're already good enough to ace the practical as you are now. And I bet I don't even know half of what you can do!" The blonde almost grumbled the last part, causing Izuku to chuckle good naturedly.

No one in their class really knew what the late-blooming boy could do with his quirk or where his limits were. Several of them had seen snippets of it here and there - the rare aerokinetic properties impressing them through small displays throughout the years such as preventing a tripping student from crashing whilst running track, or floating a book over from another table in the library - but only a couple of them had ever seen a fraction of what Izuku could really do. The humble boy preferred to keep his abilities low-key, much to the chagrin of his gossip-prone classmates.

Tsubasa suspected she was one of two people in their whole school who'd seen Izuku actually go all out with his quirk, and that was nearly three years ago. The other person being…. well, the less they said about Bakugo Katsuki and that whole ordeal, the better.

She was almost certain that given his arduous and consistent - albeit secretive - 'training', the verdette had grown in leaps and bounds with his magnificent quirk since then, and it made Tsubasa, a self appointed hero-otaku, nearly salivate at the thought of what her best friend could accomplish now. This fed into her grumpiness that he insisted on holding back around her, barely even using his quirk in public, unlike a vast majority of their peers who took every opportunity to break their statute of limitations and flaunt their quirks around her.

This was because Izuku was unerringly wholesome, and kind, and considerate...

...and because Tsubasa herself was quirkless.

"N-no, I wouldn't say that." Tsubasa saw her friend turn bashful at the praise. "I'm pretty sure you have a good grasp on my quirk as it is. Besides, you can never be too prepared for something... The Yuuei Exam is the hardest entrance exam in the country, after all." He finished with a contemplative tone, as though concerned.

Tsubasa merely scoffed at her friends self-doubt. It wasn't that Izuku lacked confidence, so much as he was a self-pessimist. When it came to others, he always believed in the best possibility; the slightest of chances, the sunny side of things. When it came to himself, however, he was flighty with his positivity. Constantly harsh on his progress, almost repressively so. She assumed this was a side-effect of going over a year believing he was quirkless, as though her friend believed his quirk would disappear one day just as suddenly as it had manifested. In her opinion, it wasn't Izuku's most endearing trait.

Tsubasa rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You're great - the greatest guy I know - and you'll continue to be great, including being great at that great big exam, and becoming a great hero, and making everything just great." With a big smile on her face, she turned to look at her friend who'd stopped. Izuku stared at her with wide, comically glossy eyes. She allowed a giggle to escape at his awed look. "Neh, your face has gone all ugly again, Izu-kun. You're not going to cry are you?"

The aspiring hero blinked invisible tears out of existence as he blushed. "N-no, of course not! I just…" Tsubasa felt something inside of her flutter at the sincere look her friend sent her, his eyes narrowingly as though he were solving a difficult math problem. "...you're really weird, Tsubasa-chan."

Nearly face faulting, she leveled him with a deadpan look, but he plowed on.

"But the good kind of weird! The best kind of weird… Heck, the greatest kind of weird!" His smile, his hands in his pockets, the sun shining behind him; it all turned the flutter in her gut to roiling knots of emotion. "Which, I-I think, makes you p-pretty great, too."

"..."

"...Tsubasa-chan?"

KONK!

"B-baka! Of course I'm great, too!" Tsubasa had delivered a swift thump to the back of the taller boys head before speed walking ahead, her fists clenched and the swing of her arms exaggerated as she tried to fight the flush creeping up her neck at his earnest words. "Hurry up, hero-boy! We're going to be late for the movie." She continued to grumble about tardy, dense boys saying stupid-cute things and not knowing their effect, scaring passerbyers with her fast-paced mumbling - a habit she picked up from the verdette teen.

She barely heard the confused mumble from the trailing Izuku. "G-girls are weird…"

"I heard that! Now get a move on slow poke. By the time you're done dawdling, Yuuei's exams will have come and gone!"

Across town, weekend remedial courses for Nabu Middle School were just getting out for the day. As students went off in groups or milled about the entrance, talking, laughing, and even break dancing around the campus, one student made his way home with his head hung low, alone.

'Yuuei? Of course she'd be going there… maybe if I had a quirk as eye catching as Mina's, I'd have the courage to say, 'I'm aiming for the hero course at Yuuei, too!' Tsk. I can't even do that, though, can I?'

Kirishima Eijiro bit his lip in frustration at his lack of resolve. He had no remarkable features; typical dark hair that was only somewhat messy sat atop an average face, of a boy who stood at an average height, and possessed an average quirk.

'Average, huh? I suppose that's a nice way of saying it. What did Kimiko-san call me again?'

An image of a pug nosed girl flirted into his mind. '"You're so boring, Kirishima!"' she guffawed.

'Damn it!'

Kirishima kicked a pebble lying in his path as he made his way across the street and through the narrow back roads of the southern suburbs. His hands hardened subconsciously as his frustration threatened to spill out. Boring. The word hurt, but only because it was the truth. He went to kick a soda can negligently tossed beside the road by an unconcerned citizen when a sound carried to him from around the corner.

"...and the weather in Tokyo tomorrow will also be clear and sunny…"

'Eh? Is that.. the news? Either someone's TV is really loud or… hmm… It's coming through all fuzzy.'

Interrupted from his downtrodden thoughts, Kirishima turned the corner in pursuit of the static ridden broadcast but stopped short as his vision was impeded by a shadow. A very large shadow.

'W-what the hell is that?' the fourteen year old gulped.

Gargantuan.

That was a word for the man - thing - that made the cars on the road look inconsequential in comparison. Kirishima couldn't make out any details, due to an abnormally large cloak covering the person from head to toe, but he found the source of the fuzzy broadcast emanating from a radio chained around the strangers neck. It, too, looked tiny around the massive mystery figure.

Said figure stood across the street, looming over two understandably terrified girls. Kirishima recognized them as classmates, though their names alluded him. Not that it mattered. What mattered was that he'd clearly stumbled upon a disturbing situation and the two girls, shivering in their skirts, clearly had no way out of it. He was about to run over and intercede for them when the giant figure spoke once more, it's deep, rumbling words drowning out the radio and freezing Kirishima in his tracks.

"Rmmb. I ask again - where is the office of the hero Springer? Rmmb. It is said to be in this area."

'Springer? The Spring-like hero, currently ranked 31st in the billboard charts? If I remember correctly, he's not but a few blocks from here!' Kirishima wracked his brain for reasons why this imposing figure would want to know such information, and none of the answers he came up with were good.

"I-I don't know," answered the more composed of the two, though she was shaking like a leaf. Her friend looked close to tears already.

The figure didn't seem to believe her and the oppressive aura around the stranger grew even more violent. The radio broadcast cut off completely without any prompting from the giant, a harsh white-noise blaring through the speakers as the stranger lowered what could only be its head to stare deep into the eyes of the girl.

Kirishima was frozen in his tracks. What he could only assume was killing intent - something that the vilest of villains were reported to have in their battles against heroes - washed over him. His sweat glands exploded, his knees locked, and as he tried to scream out something - anything - to pull the dark strangers attention from his classmates, his throat locked up as he saw his own death violently play over in his mind..

'I… can't… move..!'

The white noise grew louder, its static almost deafening. The looming stranger reached a mammoth, almost scaly hand out towards the fear-frozen girl, and Kirishima felt his knees finally unlock as he made to blitz the creature…

...and then, like a divine wind, Ashido Mina was there, sliding into the narrow space between the stranger and the girls with a wide, apologetic smile on her face, her arms nonetheless spread wide to shield the two behind her.

"S-sorry about that, sir! My friends here are new to the area and extra shy to boot! The Hero Springer's office isn't too far, though! Turn 'round that bend over there and take a left at the main road. After that, it's a straight two kilometers to the building. Can't miss it!"

Kirishima saw the pink-skinned girl breathing heavily as sweat matted her horned forehead. He was in practically the same condition, his heart hammering in his chest as he watched the girl he envied bravely confront and try to appease the terrifying, two-story-tall stranger.

The silence stretched out longer than expected, the grating white-noise on the radio the only sound heard on the block for several seconds.

'Please work…' Kirishima pleaded to whatever deity he knew.

At last, the figure pulled back, just as the radio seemed to tune back in to a proper frequency, halting the white noise.

"Congratulations caller! You've won a-"

The figure spoke once more, its rumbling voice easily cutting through the chatty anchorman.

"Rmmb. Thank you, miss… have a nice day… Rmmb."

And just like that, the oddly polite stranger turned and began walking away with surprisingly soft thumps for something its size, following Mina's directions without a second glance back. Only when it rounded the bend completely did the four students let out simultaneous sighs of relief.

Bewildered, the terrified girls nonetheless turned to their pink-skinned friend, tears falling down their cheeks, as they whispered their thanks. One clung on to the horned girl with a sob. "Ashido-san! Thank you!"

"You totally saved us," babbled the other.

"Think nothing of it, ladies. Let's not celebrate yet, either!" Mina replied, her own voice cracking with emotion. "I totally fibbed on those directions. When he finds out, we'd best be far from here!"

With that terrifying thought, the three girls ran with urgency to the nearest police station to report the incident, leaving a conflicted Kirishima unnoticed across the street.

'I'd been unable to move. To save them. Even though the stranger didn't actually threaten the girls, the malice I felt in the air… it was unquestionable. Yet, even when I did work up the strength to move, Mina was one step ahead of me. I'm a failure still. But she…'

Kirishima looked to where the girls had been standing a few moments ago. A thought occurred to him - if the suspected villain failed to find his query, what would he do? The thought was disturbing, especially in the middle of the city. Weighing the options in his head, his feet found their way sprinting towards where he recalled the actual hero office of Springer was.

'They can warn the police, and I'll warn Springer.' As he ran, Kirishima replayed the memory of Ashido sliding in to defend the girls without hesitation. 'Mina… She's a true hero, but that doesn't mean I can't be one, too. Today… I'm going to save lives, just like her!'

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"Wow."

"Seriously."

"Wow."

"You said it," came the feigned excitement of Tsubasa. Her amused face blossomed into a teasing grin as Izuku stopped in his monosyllabic praise for the film to look at her.

"Y-you didn't like it?" the freckled boy asked, clearly surprised at her lack of enthusiasm. Tsubasa knew he had been more or less speechless as soon as the credits had rolled, and he'd likely assumed her own silence had been due to a similar amazement with the film.

"I did," she defended, her teasing smile still in place. "Just clearly not to the same degree as you, fanboy." She raised an eyebrow at her friends raised forearms, his fists clenched in excitement minutes after having left the theater.

Izuku took notice of his hyped pose and quickly unclenched his hands. He blushed as he muttered an apology for his zealousness. "Sorry. I mean, it wasn't super great, but I guess I really liked it because-"

"-because it featured a main character clearly based on All Might, right?" Tsubasa finished for him.

Izuku's blush deepened, but he nodded nonetheless.

"Pfft. I know you too well, Izu-kun. I like the guy, too, but your borderline obsession for a grown man is a little disturbing," she teased.

"It's not an obsession!" her friend defended as they made their way through the afternoon crowds. "It's just he used to be the main reason I wanted to be a hero for so long. The reason I wanted to help people, with a smile, like he does."

The fervent look in his eyes made Tsubasa's teasing grin morph into a genuine smile. Izuku got like this whenever the subject of heroes came up, especially if it was All Might. For someone as talented and smart as he was - tied for first in academics at Aldera Junior High - he often came across as little more than a modest fanboy. It was endearing, and oddly inspiring to the quirkless girl.

But she caught something he'd said.

"Used to be? Does that mean someone has replaced the Symbol of Peace in his number one fan's heart?" She had meant to be teasing, Izuku being the only boy in their class that the petite girl could tease, being quirkless and thus shunned as she was. She had expected an avid denial from what she suspected was All Might's main source of income - Izuku's room was filled to the brim with memorabilia and knock-off merchandising of the blonde hero - but she got something else instead.

Izuku looked off, as though taking the rhetoric question seriously. His hand subconsciously went to grab something over his shoulder, as though out of muscle memory, before he caught himself and awkwardly lowered it again. His eyes grew distant.

"There will always only be one All Might. He's irreplaceable, not just to me, but to the world. But… but I think there is someone I've taken more after than I'd ever realized. Someone closer to me… someone bigger, if possible."

'Bigger?' thought a bewildered Tsubasa, also a hero-otaku like her friend. She knew Izuku wasn't speaking literally about size, but impact. 'Who on Earth could be bigger than All Might?'

"...at least, bigger to me." Izuku finished softly, the distant look slowly fading from his jade green eyes.

The questions mounting in Tsubasa's head were put aside as she felt a vibration in her pocket. Her phone alarm had gone off, signifying she needed to check in with her mother once again. Shooting off a quick text, she turned to the now silent Izuku as they walked aimlessly throughout downtown proper.

'He's such an enigma, sometimes,' Tsubasa thought to herself. 'One I can't help but want to solve.'

"Hey." Her voice, softer than she'd expected it to be, caught Izuku's attention. "My mom won't be back for a little while yet, so I've got time to kill. What say you dish on this new hero of yours over a bowl of ramen?" Izuku seemed hesitant. Whether due to the topic she wanted to flesh out or the type of food she was craving, she wasn't sure, but she pressed on. "Come onnnnn. It'll be my treat?"

"I don't know…" She knew she had him with her smile. Izuku was surprisingly easy to coerce. Despite his more athletic appearance, his face and mannerisms were that of a sweet cinnamon roll. "I have something important I have to do later today."

"Pleeeease? It'll be quick, I promise. Besides, how often are we going to see each other once we move on to high school?"

The guilt may have been laid on a bit thick, but it did wonders for her cause, as Tsubasa saw Izuku's eyes widen and his fists clench. The thought of them growing apart seemed to distress him somewhat, and that made her feel warm inside.

"Just lunch, right?" At her eager nod, the verdette finally relented. "Alright… I've got time."

"It'll be fast," she assured, as she started pulling him towards the place she had in mind, hiding her pleased smile in the process.

Tsubasa didn't see it, but Izuku had a content smile as well while he allowed himself to be pulled along. "Hmm. How fast are we talking here?"

"Terribly fast. Faster than it takes Endeavor to roast a marshmallow," she put on an air of poshness, like she was some authority on the matter of speed.

"Oh my, that is fast." Izuku played along, feigning astonishment like they were in some infomercial.

Tsubasa's giggles followed them as they disappeared into the crowds.

A bell rang, signifying an order was ready. "Shio ramen! Katsudon!"

Izuku made his way to the register where two steaming bowls of food were waiting. He picked out a few choice tempura on the self-serve bar along the way, while a stern looking woman vigilantly wrung it all up. Tsubasa, who had opted to gather their drinks, had already found a pair of seats for them at the far window, facing out into the city.

Thanking the gruff cashier, who immediately began wringing up the next customer without so much as a glance his way, Izuku carried the tray of food over to the now salivating brunette.

"Shio ramen, katsudon, ebi and shiitake tempura." He placed the dishes down with a mild flair. Tsubasa and he shared a smile and an appreciative intake of breath before they snapped their chopsticks in sync, gave thanks, and dug in with equal gusto. "Oh, that hits the spot."

Munching away at his katsudon, Izuku looked up as a raindrop smacked against the window. Another soon followed, and before he could finish his next bite, the whole window became bombarded by the soft, rhythmic pitter-patter of rain.

"Well, looks like we're bound to get a little wet when we leave," he joked, as the clouds stretched out as far as he could see, grey and foreboding. "Makes that ramen of yours all the more suitable, don't you think?"

Izuku looked over to see his friend slurping away at her noodles, a subtle blush coloring her cheeks that he assumed was due to the heat of her food. He had no idea that it was at the thought of the two of them sharing a walk in the rain. He turned back to his food, already finished with the pork cutlet, now munching away at the fried shrimp, as he basked in the ambiance of the busy establishment. Feeling eyes on him, he took a sip of his drink before turning to Tsubasa once more, who had a strange look on her face.

"Uhm… yes?" he questioned, feeling a little self conscious at her stare. "I-is there something on my face?"

"Mhmm." Tsubasa nodded, her expression even. "Your face."

Izuku nearly face faulted into his food while he heard her amused giggle beside him. "You really are weird, Tsubasa-chan."

"I know!" she said cheerily, returning to happily slurping her noodles. A strange air hung between the two. Not quite unsettling, but strange nonetheless. Foreign. Izuku wanted to dispel it, so he figured he might as well get weird, too.

Tsubasa quickly noticed his own fixed stare at the corner of her lips, and seemed to blush. "Ba-baka, what are you doing?"

"Staring," he said, teasingly. Tsubasa really brought out a side of Izuku he hadn't known existed. He admitted he liked that side of him, even if it took him nearly three years to discover it.

The petite girl rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, there's something on my face?"

"Ye-"

Kra-KOW

Izuku's witty response was cut off as what sounded like a thunderclap reverberated throughout the diner. Some of the patrons gasped as everything fell silent save for the steady working of instruments in the kitchen. The two teens looked at each other, a little caught off guard, but then smiled reassuringly as the rain continued to pour outside.

Went unnoticed by most was that there was no accompanying flash of lightning...

"Sorry," Tsubasa said, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear as she leaned in closer to Izuku, who was suddenly feeling a warmth beyond what the chilli flakes in his meal had provided. His best friend had a foreign look in her hazel eyes that made his heart race. He tried to convince himself it was due to the thunder. "I believe you were saying something about my face, Izu-"

KRA-KOW!

This time, the building shook and the sound of thunder came from right across the street. Before Izuku could voice the fact that lightning was nowhere to be seen, a figure blurred across their vision through the window, colliding into a van and causing it to fold in. Jade eyes widened in shock and no small amount of fear.

There, unmoving amidst the caved in metal, lay a hero.

Then the windows of the establishment shattered and the screams started.

"Move, move, move! Come on people, let's get you all to safety!" came the reassuring growl of Death Arms, as he continued to usher fleeing civilians further away from the battle ground.

Next to him stood the Rabbit Hero, Miruko, currently ranked No. 11 on the billboard charts. Despite being older than the heroine, Death Arms knew to let her take the reins on the situation, as her number of solved cases would soon rival a young Endeavors. Experience, not age, won battles like the one they were about to enter.

"What's the situation here, DA?"

"Command says a suspected villain was seen headed this way by a bunch of school kids. I was on patrol in the area and sent to follow up on the lead. Didn't think anything would actually come of it." Death Arms spit in frustration, though it was lost in the rain instantly. "Arrived just in time to see some big baddie hurl my boy Springer through a floral van."

"Springer, as in the Spring-like hero? What on earth was he doing here?" Death Arms shook his head to say he had no clue, and Miruko huffed before her eyes settled once more on the unmoving mammoth figure standing in the middle of the intersection. The figure hadn't so much as moved after it had tossed the No. 31 hero like a softball. "So we've got a tough guy here, huh? He doesn't even seem phased at the sight of us."

For a rabbit based heroine, Death Arms felt her grin was absolutely feral.

"That's a mistake he'll regret."

"What are you thinking?" Death Arms flexed his arms in preparation for battle, his adrenaline climbing.

"We don't know what the villain's after, and we don't know if that strength of his is his quirk, or just his natural ability. Without information on his objective or his capabilities, it'll be like fighting in the dark."

"Aren't most of our fights like that?" grunted Death Arms, not too impressed by the woman's ability to spell out the obvious.

"Sure. But if his size is any indication, then rationally he shouldn't be too quick on his feet. The fact that he relied on strength and not some emitter type quirk against Springer means he probably doesn't have much range either. He likely got the drop on your buddy there. It's all dangerously assumptive, but provided I'm right about this, between my legs and your arms, I think we can take tall, dark, and silent without a problem. Meanwhile, my cute interns will take care of Springer and get him out of this rain."

Miruko didn't like teaming up with others, preferring to work alone and rely on herself, but Death Arms had arrived there first and she wasn't going to step on the older mans toes and count him out of the fight. Besides, he let her take the lead, so she was feeling gracious.

"Hmm." Death Arms smirked. He actually agreed with her reasoning. "So do you have a plan of attack?"

"The plan is simple, DA: attack."

Death Arms cracked his knuckles, liking the simplicity of the plan. "You aim high, I aim low? Keep him from bobbing out of the intersection and causing any further collateral damage 'til he's fully subdued?"

"Just like a pinball machine," grinned Miruko, glad they were on the same page.

As the last of the bystanders fled, guided by a couple of aspiring-heroes currently interning with Miruko, the two combat-oriented pros charged at the unmoving giant, intent on pummeling him to the pavement.

"Whatever happens, don't let go of me!"

Tsubasa heard the voice, recognized who it belonged to, but had trouble associating it with the soft spoken teen she had a crush on. Izuku had only hesitated for a moment at the sight of the fallen hero before his face morphed in the blink of an eye. While everyone else flew into a panic as the diner windows exploded, Izuku had grabbed on to her tightly before jumping up on their table and raising his voice above the chaotic commotion, ushering the panicking crowd out the back door furthest from the situation just outside, and encouraging them to remain calm and quiet, so as not to attract the villains attention.

His steely voice, accompanied by a strong gust of wind from out of nowhere that rattled the plates, grabbed the crowd's attention immediately. His charismatic, almost placating voice was what got people - even the older, most gruff looking men - to heed his words. Tsubasa felt as though she were already staring at a hero.

"Come on," breathed out a suddenly pale Izuku. If Tsubasa had to guess, his instincts had driven him to speak out and he was only now catching up with what he'd done. "Let's get out of here."

They were the last to exit the diner, slipping out into the pouring rain and doubling back onto the main road where a crowd had begun to gather around the four-way intersection. It was then, as their combined curiosity got the better of them, that they fully saw the villain responsible for the violence.

"He's huge," whispered Tsubasa, clinging tightly to Izuku. If he noticed the pressure on his hand, he didn't show it, as he too stared steadily at the mammoth man standing still in the pouring rain. "Come on, Izuku... Let's go."

"Wait," he whispered back, as more and more people pushed them closer to the edge of the intersection. The crowds were just as eager as he was. "The heroes are coming. Look! I can see Death Arms and… is that? No way, that's Miruko!"

"Y-yeah, but…" Tsubasa found herself leaning forward to get a better glimpse at the No. 11 heroine, her fan-tendencies getting the better of her logic only momentarily. "H-hey, come on. Didn't you say you had somewhere to be? Something to do?"

"Yeah, but I've got time," Izuku absently replied what seemed to be his mantra for the day.

Just then, the two heroes charged at the motionless villains blindspot, the Rabbit Hero using her powerful legs to launch herself into the air and aiming a super-powered kick at where the man - creature's? - head would be, while Death Arms drew his right arm back and aimed at the villains torso.

Neither strike landed.

With speed that, while not excessively amazing, nonetheless caught the attacking heroes off guard, the villain grabbed the airborne Miruko's outstretched leg and spun, carrying her into the path of Death Arms, effectively using the Rabbit Hero as a club against the veteran pro.

"No!" gasped Tsubasa, along with the crowd.

Both heroes were sent flying, Miruko the worse for wear as she both took her fellow pro's considerable punch meant for the villain and was used to send the both of them flying several meters away. As such, she was out cold before the fight even began.

"N-no way…" muttered Izuku. His mind was spinning as the crowd backed further away from the dangerous villain. Miruko was known for more than just her tenacious attitude and thundering kicks. She had speed and agility on her side. So why had she been so thoroughly caught off guard? Was it simply arrogance on her part? She didn't think the behemoth could move that fast and she reacted too slow, compromised as she was in mid-air? Her powers were impressive, but aside from her legs, her body itself wasn't much more durable than other heroes, so a hit like that could very well have knocked her out cold, but if she's already out, and she's No. 11, then that meant the villain…

"Izuku!" Tsubasa yelled, as the veritable storm of words erupting from her friends over analytical brain began to gather attention. "This isn't the time or place for your muttering… you're causing a stir."

She saw Izuku look around, and in contrast to his bold actions in the diner, his fearful (albeit instinctive_ analysis had been heard and quickly processed by those around him. They looked equal parts upset and downtrodden at his logic. Tsubasa saw his eyes widen in guilt.

"I-I'm so sorry," he said softly, bowing his head.

"It's ok." Tsubasa squeezed his hand reassuringly. "Come on, we need to go now. Other heroes will come, but if we just stay here before then, who knows what that thing will do."

Izuku shakily nodded his head, and she knew why he was so shaken. Neither of them had ever witnessed such a renown hero beaten so easily before. Miruko was on the cusp of being Top Ten material, and those lot didn't buckle to just anybody. This meant that the villain was really strong, and if it was just Death Arms left… Tsubasa shuddered at the thought, praying another hero would arrive soon.

Just as they turned to walk away, noticing that a few others - but not enough - had also caught on to the foolishness of lingering, Tsubasa heard another gasp from the crowd. Against her will, her body turned back to the intersection.

It appeared that two heroes, though they weren't likely to be pros as they were almost her age and she didn't recognize them, joined the fray as they charged the gargantuan villain, currently pummeling a stubborn but bloodied Death Arms into the pavement. She recognized them as the two who had circled around to help the first hero they saw crash through a van. Springer, if her knowledge served her right. Said Spring-like Hero was still lying unmoving in the wreckage of the van, which means the two (likely) interns had abandoned their mission in lieu of aiding their fallen mentor.

It was a mistake that would cost them everything.

With snap reflexes, the gargantuan creature, still hooded despite his brief skirmish with the pros, turned towards the closest intern - a red horned canary - and punched. Hard. Once. The intern only had time to give a 'caw' of surprise before she crumpled instantly, unmoving. Her partner, a long haired boy with blades for arms roared at the villain in blind rage. Slashing wildly, he barely got within the giants guard before a swift kick from a massive leg caught the teen and launched him into the window of a perpendicular building. Again, time passed, and no movement was sensed from within.

'Dead… are they all dead?'

Tsubasa felt something grip her heart with ice-cold claws, even as tears fell down her face.

Terror.

Pure and primal, overwhelming everything - her anger towards the monster responsible, her logic demanding her to run, even her empathy for the heroes and interns who risked their lives and may have even given them to protect her and the crowd, and her own sorrow- as it froze her in place.

As the villain turned slowly to regard the gathered crowd, equally as frozen as she was, they caught a glimpse of his horrendous visage. Spiky hair, like the devil. A dark-grey colored hyde, almost as though scaled, covered a broad face with pointed canines and blank eyes. There was no satisfaction, no triumph, no sorrow or regret. Just a look of emotionless, neutral evil.

And it looked right at her.

In that moment, Tsubasa felt that she would truly die. "Mother…"

But then something else - something colder than even the icy-grasp of terror on her heart - gripped her. Literally, gripped her. Looking at her numb hand, she realized that she still hadn't let go of Izuku.

Izuku, whose eyes were covered by wet bangs and shadows.

Izuku, whose hands were squeezing so tight that it began to hurt her, though she couldn't cry out.

Izuku, whose shoulders shook and teeth gnashed.

"I-I-Izuku?" she whispered - afraid and worried and confused all at once - no louder than the rain falling all around them. She received a small, reassuring smile in return. He said something to her. Something she only picked up on by reading his lips, the words were so faint.

The wind picked up into a howl. And then her hand was free.

And Izuku was gone, leaving her alone in a crowd of lonely people.

She turned, as though in slow motion, eyes wide in complete horror at the sight of her best friend a few feet away from the villain, his words playing only now in her mind.

"Don't worry. Everything will be alright.."

AN: Tsubasa is the only named OC you'll find in my story, and while her part may seem significant in this beginning arc, she will be considerably less so as we approach canon territory. I, myself, am not a fan of original characters in fanfiction when there are so many blank-slate characters walking around in canon, but her quirkless character serves as an important part of Izuku's development going forward, so be patient for a chapter longer. For those curious, she is somewhat physically inspired by Kimiko-senpai from Haikyuu.

This work is un-beta'd. All feedback is appreciated.

Mahalo.