Hey guys so I'm not dead and neither are my stories! I have had a ton of things happen and change in my rl but my stories have never left my heart. I'm working on all of them right now, but this was the first one I was able to finish, and I hope you all enjoy it.

I own only my characters and my plot, everything else belongs to the creators of my hero academia.

Chapter 5: New ones rise.

"There you go… now let's try simulation one-thousand-seventy four…."

The Pinkette hunched over her desk was interrupted by a knock on her door. Slowly the door opened and she quickly closed the program as her mother entered the room. "Mei… When was the last time you slept?"

Mei turned back to her desk with a huff. "I don't have time to sleep. My babies need me."

"Well, it's good to know that some things will never change."

Mei whirled back around and saw Dalton grinning at her. Her mother shook her head before giving Dalton room to wheel himself into the room. Mei's smile began to falter as she looked at the metal contraption her friend was bound to and he chuckled. She glared at him. "I still don't understand why you won't use my rocket baby."

Dalton grinned. "You couldn't get it to stop blowing up. Remember?"

Mei turned away with a mock pout. "I would have!" Dalton stared evenly at her and she sighed. "Eventually." Dalton chuckled again and Mei found herself joining in.

Dalton smiled at the pinkette and sighed. "It's good to see you again Mei."

"You too, cowboy." She missed the obvious wince at the painful reminder as she turned back to the blueprints that littered her desk. "So what can I do for you?"

Dalton shook his head. "Nothing this time. Just visiting a friend." He began to slowly back the chair up. "Anyways, I know you'll be keeping yourself busy, but I'll be here for two weeks if you wanted to work on a few designs together like we used to."

Mei frowned at the wall. Two weeks? She needed more time. "Oh?" She needed to work faster. If she upped her caffeine intake she could go other fifty-seven hours with only a two percent drop in efficiency.

"Yeah…. I'm just dropping by the area to catch up with you and the rest of the gang."

The efficiency loss wouldn't slow her by more than- Her entire train of thought crashed as his words registered. The hesitation and uncertain delivery made her stop what she was doing. He was lying….. but why? "Well, then you'd best be on your way to see the rest of them! By then my babies will be ready for you to help out on."

Dalton flinched at her dismissal but perked up at the end. She wasn't trying to be rude. She was just Mei. He chuckled as he started to wheel backward. "You got it…. Doc."

Pony frowned as she made her way to the UA gate. She got a notification that someone was asking for her, but she couldn't think of anyone that wouldn't just have texted or called her. Stepping outside the gate she looked around for her caller only to stop as a man in a wheelchair smiled at her. He grinned. "I'm sorry miss, but I lead a sign the wrong way and my time-"

He was cut off as Pony crashed into him. "DALTON!" She cried as she wrapped her arms around her friend.

Dalton smiled as he wrapped his arms around the blonde. (Hey there, Pony.)

She slowly let him go and straightened wiping at her eyes. (What are you doing here?)

Dalton opened his mouth…..and then closed it. With a side glance at the gate, he shook his head. (I can't tell you…..at least, not yet.) Pony frowned at him and he pleaded with her. (Please, Pony….)

Reluctantly she nodded and her smile returned. (Okay…. But I'll be waiting you know!)

(I'll tell you by the end of the week. I promise.)

She grinned. (I'd hunt you down if ya didn't!)

They both chuckled for a minute before Dalton began to turn his chair. (Got some time to catch up?)

(Only if you let me push.)

Dalton froze mid-turn. (You don't need to do that. I'm fine.) His voice was cold and emotionless, cutting at Pony's heart. She shook her head as she slowly stepped towards him.

(I know you don't need it.) He looked up at her with glassy eyes and she put her hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. (I just WANT to help.) He closed his eyes and looked away before slowly nodding. Pony blinked the warmth away from her own eyes as she stepped behind her friend. (Besides,) she said with a grin (your stories are better with your hands-free! And believe me, I have quite a few questions for you, Mister-I-don't-call-or-write!) She then took off at top speed, leaving Dalton to clutch at his armrests for dear life as the two shot down the street.

(PONY!)

Dalton felt his smile begin to falter as he wheeled down the darkened hallway. Dropping Pony back off at the dorms had taken longer than he wanted. He had tried to get out before everyone knew he was back, but it was pointless. Tetsutetsu had been in the common room with Kirishima and once he saw him any attempt to get out unnoticed was futile. It was hard to tell his friends that he couldn't stay and chat and had taken him far longer than he had wanted. He could only hope that-

"Veckar?"

He stopped at the sound of the voice behind him. He slowly turned his chair and was put face to face with his former teacher, Vlad King. The big man seemed to freeze when he met Dalton's gaze. Dalton gave him a short bow. "Vlad-sensei. I am running late for a meeting or I would love to stay and talk." He began to reach for his wheels but stopped when the big man looked at the ground.

"I'm sorry… I never got to say that before."

Dalton tilted his head in confusion. "For what? I wanted you to replace me once I…." He trailed off as Vlad slowly raised his head.

"For everything. I should have known about what Monoma was capable of, I should have done things differently, I should have-"

"Monoma didn't put me in this chair." Dalton's voice was firm and caught Vlad off-guard. "A car did that. But I would have done it for anyone."

Vlad nodded slowly and gave him a small smile. "I believe you kid."

Dalton smiled and turned to continue on his way. "And as for you not apologizing? You never needed to."

"You're late."

Dalton looked away. "Yes, sir."

"I trust you can be more punctual in the future?"

Dalton's head snapped up. "Sir?"

The man across from him gave a small grin. "Relax. I know what kept you. And I also know that this won't happen again….. right?"

"No, sir!"

"Good." The man took a sip of tea as he opened a file. "You probably are unaware of this, but I have been involved in more faculty meetings about you, than I have been in for any other student, save for one." Dalton's eyes widened at this and the man continued. "As if I didn't get enough sleep already, I had meeting after meeting once you got hit. I was also on the inquiry into that incident. But I never got a chance to get your side of the story."

The man took another sip of tea and waited for Dalton to speak. Dalton gripped his armrests and then forced himself to release them. He knew this was coming. "Mei and I were on our way home after school. I was carrying her when I was stuck from behind by Neito Monoma. We had an altercation in the sparring ring that day, and I took it personally and had hurt him, resulting in both of us getting punished. He was still angry and was trying to provoke me into another altercation. I sent Mei across the street and then I insulted him back. I headed across but when I turned back I saw Monoma charging at me even though the walk light was gone. There was a car speeding towards him and I pushed him out of the way."

The man closed the file. "That is a very precise version of events."

"Thank you, sir-"

"But it tells me nothing. Why did you hurt a classmate rather than reporting the incident?"

Dalton looked away. "Because I was angry."

"Why?"

Dalton met the man's eyes again. "Because this….." he let out a sigh of frustration then straightened. "Because he had the gall to insult and demean others' goals simply because he couldn't achieve his fairly."

"And heroes don't cheat?"

Dalton's determination faltered. "Well…. I mean…. Sometimes the situation may call for underhanded tactics….. but against fellow heroes in something with no real stakes?"

"Then why save him?" The man leaned forward on his elbows. "Why not let a Toyota Corolla keep such a man from being a hero ...after all you survived, didn't you?"

Dalton shook his head as if he had already had this discussion before. "I survived because of my armor. And either way, it doesn't matter, a hero saves everyone, no matter the cost."

"But what about all of the lives you could have saved if you didn't save him? Instead, you cost the world two heroes instead of one fake one. This doesn't bother you?"

Dalton's mouth opened but nothing came out. How could he admit that he had thought about that? How could he admit that he had countless days he wished he had let Monoma die? Then, he pushed those dark thoughts back down. "If I let him die…. then I wouldn't be any kind of hero at all."

A third voice spoke up from the doorway. "If you don't take him, I will."

Dalton's head snapped to look at the newcomer and the man across from him sighed. "I told you I would tell you how it went Higaraki…"

The support teacher chuckled. "As if I would just take your word on that."

Dalton raised his hand, which made both teachers chuckle. "Um… Senseis?"

Higaraki turned to Aizawa in surprise. "You didn't even tell him?"

The dark-haired man let out a groan. "I was going to if he passed."

"Oh, as if you thought he would fail." Dalton's head was dealing. What were they talking about? Why was Aizawa being so cryptic and what did Higaraki mean by 'taking him'? Seeing a free moment before the two could start arguing again, he raised his hand, causing Higaraki to chuckle. "You can speak freely kid."

Dalton nodded and sheepishly lowered his hand. Then he turned to Aizawa. "Why did you call me here, sir?"

Aizawa picked up the file in front of him. "Because there is something I want for my students…. Preparation." Seeing Dalton's confused expression he opened the file. "Electrical bursts, infinite creation, acid generation, rock-like skin, sound amplification, and power enhancement. These are all abilities of students in my class, and each one of my them has no idea how to take a villain down without their powers." He closed the folder with a sigh. "One of them was going to apply to UA without even knowing of his quirk or having a plan." He rubbed his eyes and looked down at the file. "They need more than that…. But I don't have the time or energy to teach them. Nor do I know how to teach them how to construct what they may need out in the field."

Dalton's jaw fell. "You… want me to be a teacher?"

Higaraki grinned. "That's the gist of it, kid."

"But why me? I'm still a kid….. Anyone can teach them how to fight… And Higaraki-sensei could teach them the technical knowledge of support devices!"

Higaraki shook his head. "I don't have the time either. Between the League of Villains and your nightmare of a best friend, my hands are full."

Dalton opened his mouth to contest the point but Aizawa cut him off. "I'm not talking about throwing you into the deep end. You would work as my assistant for a year, then you would take a small group as an initial class, and then as you continue the group would slowly grow into a full class. You acted like a hero once already, I'm asking if you can do it again." Dalton looked at his legs before slowly meeting Aizawa's expectant gaze.

"Can I have some time to think about this?"

Aizawa nodded. "You have a week. I'll be here every night until eight for one week. Give me your answer anytime within that week. If you don't give me your answer within that time I will take it as a rejection of my offer."

Dalton nodded absently. "Yes, sir."

Aizawa stared for a moment longer before gathering the papers on his desk into a neat pile. Sensing the conversation was now over, Dalton turned his wheelchair and left the room. As the door closed behind him, Higaraki grinned at Aizawa. "You like him."

Aizawa grunted. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Higaraki chuckled. "Sure. And that's not the most words I've heard you say all month."

Aizawa only grunted in annoyance as a response.

Whew. That took far more than I was expecting. Anyways, there will likely be two-three more chapters after this. One for him to talk to his friends and come to a decision, probably one of him living with said decision, and one epilogue.

As for this chapter, I don't really have much to say in terms of clarification or points of interest. The teachers might be a tad OOC but I think they are at least consistent with this fic, which is all I can really try for at this point!

I really hope you guys all enjoyed this, and if you did, or you didn't please leave me some feedback. Reviews have been the biggest help to me growing as an author and I can't wait to see what you guys think of this!