Ch. 16: Trust

Izuku opened his eyes to once again find himself in the dark void that had become distressingly familiar the last several minutes as he watched his body run out of control. As he floated in the vast abyss of his own mind, he could feel the presence of the... thing that he had made the mistake of letting out. He looked around in the empty darkness to find nothing that stood out, just more nothing. The searing, boiling pain from earlier had vanished when Aizawa turned off Rage Shroud and was replaced by a cold, almost freezing pressure that weighed him down.

"I know you can hear me. Why don't you say something?" Izuku asked, his voice steady but filled with anger at the lies of the other presence.

"Sorry. Our ability to speak with each other is still weak." Izuku took in the voice but strangely, he couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman speaking. It sounded familiar to him through but even he couldn't remember where he heard it. "We've only just now formed a strong enough link that we can hear each other clearly… for the most part. Hearing you was impossible for a while there."

"Is that why you decided to do the exact thing I told you not to? Because you didn't have to listen to me?"

"..."

"Oh, good," Izuku snarked, "More of this now?"

"Apologies, but can you be certain that leaving Shigaraki alive would be for the best?" Izuku looked out to the darkness, unsure of what the voice was trying to say. "Hypothetically, if we defeated him and he was arrested, would that be the end of it? That he can't escape? That he wouldn't still be a threat? He came to your school to attack and kill your class and your teachers. What good would a prison do against a madman like him? Or is the only reason you wanted to take him alive is because you didn't want the blood on your hands?"

"It wouldn't be on my hands! It'd be on yours!" Izuku gasped quietly as the voice began to chuckle at him.

"Did you forget? As far as the outside world would be concerned, these hands are your hands," Izuku looked at his hands and then thought about it. He never told anyone about the fact there was another presence in his body. Another personality. Another person.

One with the will to kill. Izuku took a deep breath and stared at the darkness with stern eyes.

"If this is how you're going to be, I won't use Rage Shroud ever again," Izuku declared to the voice, only for it to laugh at him.

"Hahahaha, you really think you can avoid it?" The voice asked, "All For One took All Might's stomach and lungs. Shigaraki and Kurogiri took Tai, a man you called 'Dad', from you. While Shigaraki is a mere child in comparison to his boss, there's no denying he can get stronger, especially after seeing what All For One could do with you."

"Even so, I can't let you risk hurting someone innocent."

"Your classmates and teachers were never harmed by us," The voice corrected, "In fact, an argument could be made that this power is what saved them. Without it, you alone may not have been able to deal with those minor foes so quickly and reach the plaza in time to save that man." Izuku began to shake as he listened to the voice talk, equally angry and unsure of himself. Could he have made it in time? And what about Jirou, Kaminari, and Yaoyarozu. Did they need his help or would they have been fine on their own till help arrived? He didn't know and he hated that he couldn't know.

"How can I trust you? I asked you not to kill anyone and you agreed. 'We have an accord' were your words. And then what happens? Those two nomus? Dead by head loss. Shigaraki? He's missing all his fingers on one hand and almost had his head chopped off too."

"...Shigaraki, Kurogiri, All For One. These men are monsters that created even more monsters using the powers they steal from others. They kidnapped you, made you like this. Can you really believe, for even a second, that they can be left alive without it causing more problems down the line?" No. No, actually, he couldn't. But, even so, he couldn't bear the thought of taking a life, even people like them. "Though, I guess it would be fine for you if someone else did the killing? Then, you wouldn't have to worry about all the negative repercussions like being sent to prison, right?" Izuku clenched his fists in rage before thinking about what was just said and calming down with a smirk.

"You do realize that if I'm in prison, you can't kill Shigaraki, right? And that means you can't get revenge on him or All For One and Kurogiri."

"..."

"Are you kidding me?! That didn't cross your mind once?!" Izuku screamed into the abyss, furious that it potentially screwed him over.

"...There was a more important matter to deal with at the time. But, back on topic, this power is the only way you have any chance of facing them. Without Rage Shroud, you have no hope. Your friends will die. Your family will die. They will destroy everything you care about. These horrible beings can't be reasoned with. They care only about destruction. Remember that."

*Thump Thump*

"It would appear our time is up for now. You can try and face the world without Rage Shroud all you want. But you will fail. Until we meet again, try not to die."

"Wait, we aren't done!" Izuku had to cover his eyes as a blinding flash of light filled his vision, banishing the darkness.

"How long will the operation take?" Izuku gasped as his head started to pound. He knew this feeling and it was more painful every time.

"Hard to say. He's so young that going too fast may break him immediately…" Another, older voice answered. Izuku's eyes opened to see another blinding light that whited out his vision for several seconds before he adjusted and was able to take in his surroundings. His wrists and legs were tied down and a man with white hair, a business suit and an unreadable face stood over him at the side of the table he was lying on. He was looking away towards another bald man with goggles and a white lab coat. Izuku looked towards his stomach and saw tubes flowing into his opened stomach. The white-haired man looked down at the boy before smiling.

"Ah, he seems to have woken up." He said, voice calm and even a little friendly. The aura he was giving off though was one drenched in death and destruction, malice and evil. Izuku couldn't move. He couldn't scream. All he could do was stare.

"Well, that's unfortunate. His screaming will be so obnoxious once the procedure begins…" Izuku's eyes widened as far as they could go as the short man walked over to a nearby control pad. "Sir, you may leave the rest to me. The Nomu process will be a while and I know you're a busy man."

"Very well. I leave the rest in your capable hands, Doctor." The man left the room and Izuku watched as the doctor calmly hit a few more buttons and a machine above him came to life. Izuku could only lie in fear before he felt like he was being stabbed on every inch of his body. Searing, completely deafening pain shot through his entire being, causing him to scream out in agony. It felt like something was being shoved into him. Something foreign and unnatural. His muscles were tensing at the process and his bones began to feel like they could snap at any moment.

Izuku tried to shoot up but felt himself held down on a gurney by leather straps laid over the entire length of his body and metal cuffs around his wrists. Izuku began to panic, unsure of if he was still dreaming or still lost in a memory as he struggled.

"Midoriya, calm down," A stern voice commanded as a white gauntlet was placed on his chest gently. Izuku looked up to see Vlad King looking at him, completely collected. Vlad himself took note of Izuku's eyes as they had returned to their normal green. "It's over. You're safe now. No one's here to harm you. The villains have been dealt with." Izuku slowly stopped shaking as he tried to catch his breath, still panting with confused fear. He took a look around to see himself in the back of an ambulance with Vlad King and a cat-headed police officer who was so startled by Izuku's sudden wake-up that he had reached for his taser. Izuku finally slumped back onto the gurney, no longer having the will to move.

"How… how are the others?" Izuku noticed how tired his voice was, likely an after-effect of being in Rage Shroud for as long as he was. Vlad King raised an eyebrow at the question, slightly surprised by it, "Is everyone alright?

"Your classmates all made it out safely. The only injury was Uraraka breaking a finger though I don't know the full story," Izuku's conflicted heart hurt as he listened. He was happy that Ochako and his classmates were safe but at the same time, his friend was hurt and he didn't know why.

"I can get in touch with Tsukauchi if you'd like to know the cause." Tamakawa offered as he finally put the taser away, no longer feeling threatened by the boy. Izuku nodded, causing the officer to get on his phone.

"And the teachers?"

"..." Vlad looked away for a moment before answering, "I'm afraid that Aizawa, Thirteen, and Paranormal have all been injured by the villains."

'Even Thirteen was hurt…'

"I'm surprised you're not asking if you hurt anyone. Or wondering if you're in trouble and about to be expelled," Vlad admitted, causing Izuku to take a deep breath as he braced himself for what he was going to say.

"I remember... everything about what happened in there…" Vlad's eyes visibly widened, astonished. He was told Midoriya couldn't remember anything while in Second Step but now he could, "I remember fighting all the villains... and then I walked up to Kaminari, Yaoyarozu, and Jirou and…" Izuku hesitated. He didn't want to say it but he knew he had to. "I scared them. They were afraid of me… of what I was… They looked at me like I was going to kill them..." Vlad remained silent as he looked over to the officer, visibly worried about what the boy was saying, "Being expelled worries me but… I didn't hurt my classmates physically, but you can hurt someone without laying a finger on them…" Vlad nodded as Izuku relaxed. He remembered seeing the Earphone Jack girl Jirou and seeing the young woman in shock from what happened. He left out a lot though, especially everything regarding the voice and his new memory. He felt a bit guilty but it would be better to keep it a secret. At least for now. The memory could only have been about him. The man that did this to him and his assistant that helped.

All For One. He had to keep it under wraps until he could talk to All Might or Principal Nezu. The officer in the room had finished explaining what Izuku had said on the other line.

"Turns out, Uraraka was injured by her own quirk when she and her friends escaped from the lake. That means none of the villains were able to harm a single student." Izuku sighed with relief at the news, thankful for that. Though, it worried him that Ochako had to go that far just to survive. Though, he probably wasn't one to judge, especially after what happened, "However, the teachers will have to inform your classmates about your… circumstances." He knew it was coming and the only reason he didn't roll his eyes is because he was too tired to really try.

"Fine. Not like I can avoid it now…" Tamakawa nodded with a sigh before telling Tsukauchi about Izuku's approval. The boy closed his eyes as he let the exhaustion take him away.

The outside of the U.S.J. looked like the scene of an actual atrocity as police cars and officers, armored transports for the villains, ambulances, and pro heroes were rushing back and forth as Class 1-A watched it all unfold in front of them. The class was asked to stay put as they were each interviewed one at a time by Detective Tsukauchi. Ochako, Tsuyu and Minoru sat on the ground and watched on as they looked towards the end of the street where an ambulance that carried Izuku away had gone.

"How are you dears feeling?" Recovery Girl asked as she walked up to the trio, a somber but professional look on her face. Ochako and Minoru remained quiet, still processing the events that had transpired.

"Mino and I are fine but Ochako broke a finger in there." Ochako held up her broken finger that Recovery Girl wasted no time fixing with a wet kiss to Ochako's finger.

"Even now, you're not going to stop calling me 'Mino'?" Minoru asked, slightly annoyed but mostly just tired.

"Nope."

"There we go, good as new," Recovery Girl said with a sigh, "I'm thankful that you're the only injury amongst the students." As Recovery Girl finished working her magic, Ochako felt the drowsiness hit her but she stayed coherent enough to speak.

"Recovery Girl, how's Mr. Aizawa, Thirteen, and Izu?"

"Yeah, and that Paranormal guy too," Minoru added.

"Are they going to be okay?" Tsu asked. Recovery Girl took a deep sigh as she scratched her bun anxiously.

"Well, I could only get a brief look before recommending all of them to a hospital but I have a general idea of how things are." Recovery Girl began, "Thirteen will be fine. Just some lacerations across the back from their quirk. Nothing life threatening. Aizawa and Paranormal, however, suffered serious injuries and that's just from what could be seen without x-rays. Both of them could need surgery before I could be able to help them, but I won't know until a more thorough exam is performed." The trio gulped a little at the thought of the damage being that bad, "As for Midoriya… Physically, he seems fine but he's still out cold. We're not sure how long he was in that state so we're also unsure of when he'll wake up…" She leaned forward to whisper the next part, "...or if he'll immediately go berserk the second he does. We sent Vlad King with him but without Aizawa, if he loses control again, we might not be able to do anything about it, short of sending All Might." Ochako sighed as she stared at her previously injured hand, wondering what else she could have done to help. As Recovery Girl walked away to check on the other students before heading to the hospital, Tsu looked at Ochako's downtrodden face.

"I know that face," Tsu began, catching Ochako's attention, "You're upset about something." Ochako pulled her knees close and hugged them.

"I just… If I had better control over this power, I might have made more of a difference."

"Well, it is what it is." Minoru commented as he laid down onto the grass, happy that the madness was over. Tsu looked over her shoulder to glare at the boy who shrugged it off with a wave of his hand, "Put the glare away, Tsu. You'll get wrinkles."

"Can't you be considerate for once in your life?"

"What do you want me to say?" Minoru fired back, "We've been here not even a week and had six pros with us, one of which was All Might. Greatest hero on the face of the planet. If they couldn't handle it, what were we gonna do?" Tsu continued to stare a hole into Minoru, but he ignored it, "Look, Ochako, we did what we could. No one died-" Minoru was interrupted as two body bags carrying the Nomus were wheeled by, "No one important died," Minoru corrected.

"Hey, you three," Yaoyarozu called out as the class started filing onto the bus, "We're heading back."

"Be right there!" Minoru called out, "I wouldn't worry about what we couldn't do. We're going to have bigger problems here in a minute." Tsu and Ochako cocked their heads at what Minoru said.

"Like?"

"We're Izuku's friends, aren't we?" The two nodded, before realizing what he was implying.

"They're going to demand answers from us…"

Detecting Tsukauchi stood at the entrance to the U.S.J, looking out to the rest of the building as a small army of police officers were escorting villains and searching the facility for evidence. The two Nomus that weren't ended by Midoriya were captured a fair distance away and were completely docile, as if they forgot what they were supposed to be doing. He tapped his foot anxiously, wondering what would happen now that U.A. had been broken into, especially after the school just shifted to a boarding school system.

"You'll go gray stressing yourself out like that, Naomasa," Tsukauchi turned to see the familiar frame of All Might who was flanked by Principal Nezu as the two walked up, "You should take a deep breath, you know," Tsukauchi followed All Might's advice and took a moment to steady himself.

"Sorry. Just wondering how the backlash is going to pan out from here. Especially when we add Midoriya to the mix."

"You leave the public relations to us," Nezu suggested, "We've prepared for the eventuality of something like Midoriya's circumstances getting out as well as the possibility of an attack so I'm not worried about that too much. We've placed a gag order on Class 1-A and once they've changed out of their hero clothes, we'll be having them sent straight back to their dorms for the time being. I doubt word will get out, even with the latest rumor I've heard circulating the halls."

"A rumor?"

"Supposedly, it got out that one of our students has a criminal record, no doubt referring to Midoriya. The odd thing is though, he's never mentioned by name."

"We've had baseless rumors like this before so I'm not going to lose sleep over it," Nezu remarked as he shook his head, "However, the fact that this one is actually correct is a bit unnerving. How did it get out and where did it start?" As Nezu spoke All Might began to wonder about it as well.

'Young Midoriya isn't careless. He wouldn't just go around telling everyone he could so what happened? It couldn't have been from him or his name would have been mentioned in the rumor…' All Might looked to Naomasa to see him deep in thought. "I suppose for now, it doesn't matter how it got out. Unfortunately, we can't avoid the fact that almost every student in the class witnessed what happened with Young Midoriya. We'll have to answer their questions."

"Personally, I would prefer if Midoriya himself were to answer them. Or at the very least, get confirmation from him that it would be alright to disclose everything to his classmates."

*Ring* Naomasa's phone came to life, surprising the detective as he pulled it out. "Ah, it's Tamakawa," *Click* "Hello, Tamakawa. How's Midoriya?"

"Conscious, lucid, and exhausted. No problems here." Naomasa sighed. He was glad that the worst-case scenario hadn't come to pass. It would be problematic if Midoriya hadn't returned to normal without Eraserhead.

"That's good to hear. We could use some good news,"

"Well, I'm not sure if this is good per se…" Naomasa listened as Tamakawa filled him in on what Midoriya was saying, stopping for a minute when Midoriya had started talking about how he was fully aware of everything that was happening around him but was powerless to stop it. Naomasa quickly pulled out a notepad and wrote down what Tamakawa had relayed to him. He also made sure to inform the officer about Uraraka's condition and how it happened to bring some peace of mind to the boy, before hanging up. Naomasa quickly informed the two heroes.

"So, he's stable then. That is good news."

"We should have him brought back to campus as soon as possible. I'm sure his mother and sister will probably be worried. Where are they now?"

"Well, I took the liberty of informing his mother of what happened and told her which hospital he was being taken to. As for Young Eri… she might still be in her room at the dorm but I don't know what Mrs. Midoriya did with her."

"In that case, I'd appreciated if you called her back and check with her." All Might nodded as Nezu turned to Naomasa, "Detective, you have the run of the campus. Do whatever you must to find the League of Villains and Shigaraki. I don't care who says otherwise."

"Much obliged, sir," Naomasa said with a bow. The principal quickly turned to leave, leaving the other two alone.

"I'd love to say, but I've only got another twenty minutes. I should head back myself,"

"Don't worry. You can leave the investigation to us. We'll find them, Toshinori."

"I'll pray for your success!" All Might shouted with a wave as he quickly made himself scarce. Tsukauchi looked at the notepad and Midoriya's recollection of events. There was a nagging feeling of something… off about it. He would need to pay Midoriya a visit

Shigaraki stared at the news report on the TV, furious as he clutched his injured, bandaged hand. How could things have gone so wrong. All the small fry? Captured. The four Nomus? Two dead and two in police custody. Kurogiri needs a new casing to sustain him and he's missing a freaking hand. Worst of all, All Might had not only survived, but was completely unharmed according to the news. The nomus, beings created for the sole purpose of killing him, were stopped dead and defeated. He was angry. He was frustrated. He just wanted to walk back there and turn the whole school to dust along with the rest of the wretched world. But, he couldn't. He was in no condition to fight and with only one hand left, he could feel his quirk slipping away from him. He had to be careful from now on.

"Tomura, if you stare at the TV any harder, you'll hurt your eyes," The voice of his master came through a second monitor though no video to see the man himself, "And I'm pretty sure the doctor told you to rest for now."

"Sensei… why…?"

"...Hmm?"

"Why wasn't All Might weaker? Why was the prototype Nomu there? Where did it all go wrong?"

"I can guarantee that All Might was weaker. It's just that our Nomus had blind spots we didn't account for. We were foolish to think that Super Regeneration would cover decapitation or for not realizing that Shock Absorption wouldn't work against a sharp blade but they say science is 90% trial and error."

'Your "error" cost me my hand!' Tomura thought to himself.

"As for the boy, I must say that even I didn't think they would actually take the boy in with how adamant this society is with locking away even the most minor of criminals. Though this also means that they are aware of my survival. As for where it went wrong; that's something you'll just have to figure out for yourself. You lost, Tomura but you're still alive. Learn from this mistake and grow from it. For now, we lick our wounds and prepare for the next fight. I ask that you overcome this failure and become stronger for it," With that, the screen shut itself off, leaving Tomura alone with his thoughts as he took in his sensei's words. He was too arrogant, thinking that all he needed was the Nomus and he'd be fine, even though all of them lacked anything resembling combat tactics beyond punch and crush the thing. Good against students. Not so much pros heroes. He left himself open when he tried to kill that one hero. He should have been more cautious about the boy when he found out he was there. They also should have taken out Eraserhead sooner rather than later. Also, the small-time villains he rounded up were far too weak. He needed stronger recruits.

He needed to fix a lot of things. Only then would he be able to kill All Might and that brat.

"I'll kill them all… if it's the last thing I do…"

"I'm not sure how much we can rely on the boy." All For One heard over his shoulder as he sat in a chair, staring at the live feed of the bar, "He's already lost access to his quirk in his right hand due to his own idiocy and childishness, not to mention the carelessness of both him and Kurogiri. He'll likely cost us precious time in the future if he fails to produce results."

"Give him time, Doctor. He still has a chance to turn this situation around," All For One reassured his confidant.

"You know as well as I do that the only reason he escaped was by dumb luck," Doctor began to rant, "Had Kurogiri suffered any more damage than he did, he wouldn't be here. Not only that, he managed to lose four of my strongest children in an operation that I can confidently call a failure. We only gained info on Subject 1113 but he has failed in every other regard."

"Indeed, he has. But, he's still alive and still angry. He will overcome this."

"As a man of science, I require evidence before I back this horse of yours. As far as I can tell, it's not a horse but a horse-shaped bag filled with giant hornets."

"Hahahaha, I guess you're still mad I chose him over your project, no?"

"He was perfect and developing nicely. He even had a wiped memory for you to mold to create the perfect heir. A young boy, scorned by society, given the power and purpose to fulfill your life's work. And by the sound of things, this is the second time my creation has embarrassed yours."

"That's true enough. Almost makes me wish we took the time to capture him last November. However, I think he will be the most beneficial to us where he is now. Society isn't fond of criminals and villains. And now, one is trying to become a hero. No one is going to let that happen without causing a scene… and a few scandals."

Class 1-A slowly but surely walked up to their dorm with Midnight as their escort. The other classes were all watching from their dorms with a mixture of confusion and worry Ochako did her best to ignore the stares. It wasn't important right now.

No, she had to figure out how the three were going to explain what was happening with Midoriya. Midnight checked a message on her phone from the principal as they arrived at the dorm, before she turned to face the class.

"Okay, before you head in, I know you all have questions regarding what you saw today. However, I ask that you wait patiently. Principal Nezu will be here shortly to explain everything." Well… that's reassuring. Ochako breathed a sigh as the responsibility was taken by a much smarter person than herself. One that was much better at dealing with people.

One that, thankfully, probably already knew this would happen.

As the class filed in, Ochako was the last one in, though the second the door shut, the entire room shifted towards her and her friends.

"Talk, now." Todoroki ordered; voice as cold as his eyes.

"No." The whole class looked down at Minoru, who stood with his hands in his pockets, defiantly staring down the ice-user. Everyone, even Tsuyu, was shocked at the brazen resistance by Minoru, who earlier that day, wouldn't stop crying about dying.

"What?"

"I said, no. We don't have to tell you anything. You heard Midnight: The principal himself is coming over to explain everything. What, you leave your patience at U.S.J?"

"I've waited long enough."

"That's nice. Why should I care? What are you going to do, huh? After what happened today, you gonna force information out of me?" The class was still as Minoru pulled his hands out of his pockets and invited Todoroki to try something, an invitation that Todoroki did not accept. "Yeah, I thought so."

"Come on, guys!" Kirishima quickly intervened, "This isn't the time to be fighting."

"I'm not fighting though. I'm just standing here, explaining that I won't be saying anything about Zuku. If he has a problem with it, then that sounds like a personal problem." Minoru quipped as he walked over to the couches and seated himself in one.

"So, Midoriya is the one from the rumor. The one about the student with the criminal record." Todoroki asked, catching the rest of the room off-guard.

"Even if I said no, you'd probably just call me a liar." Minoru quipped as he turned on the TV. As Ochako watched on, Tsu could only shake her head.

"Where did this guy get the nerve to stand up for himself?" Tsu asked under her breath.

'He's not standing up for himself. He's standing up for Izu… His friend,' Just then, the elevator opened to show Eri coming down from her room. She instantly took note of everyone standing around in the common room and quickly made herself smaller as everyone looked towards her. Tsuyu quickly ran over and picked her up, allowing her to relax. She turned and whispered into Tsu's ear.

"Why's everyone standing around for? Where's Big Bro?" The class sat down around the TV as Tsu explained to Eri what happened… as well as where Izuku was.

"..." Eri was silent. She had so many questions to ask but… Bro told her to not talk about Chisaki or Shigaraki or their respective connections. She wasn't sure what to say after hearing Shigaraki had attacked the class… and her big brother had basically stomped most of the army and took the hand villain's right hand. Though she had to admit, he got what was coming to him. "Is that why Inko left in such a hurry? Why didn't she take me with her?!" Eri pouted, upset that she didn't get to go see her brother in the hospital.

"Hello, students!" Nezu chirped as he walked into the dorm, "I'm sorry for making you all wait for me." The students all stood up to greet the principal before he waved them down, "Now, now, no need to get up. In fact," Nezu quickly stood in front of the class and performed a deep bow to the students, "I owe you all an apology."

"Whoa, Principal, you don't have to apologize!" Kaminari stated, with some of his classmates nodding.

"Yeah, it wasn't your fault that villains attacked us!" Ashido added but Nezu simply shook his head.

"I'm afraid I do. I'm in charge of this school so your safety is my responsibility. But that's not the only reason I want to apologize. I'm sorry for not making any effort to inform you of the circumstances regarding Midoriya and putting you in danger because of it." The class went silent as they processed what their principal was talking about. Images flashed in the students' heads as they recalled what Midoriya had done. Defeating the villains, the frenzied glare, the menacing aura he was giving off, the brutality he showed towards the Nomus and Shigaraki, all of the horrifying visuals that the teens had to witness so early into their school year. "We owe you an explanation, then I will give you a choice regarding Midoriya."

"A choice?" Iida asked, voice unsure and shaky. Ochako just realized that this was the first time Iida had said anything. He didn't even get involved when Minoru and Todoroki were trading words.

"Yes. I will be allowing you, his classmates, to decide whether you wish to continue having him be a member of your class."

"WHAT?!" The class shouted in unison, shocked by the suggestion.

"Midoriya will not be removed from the hero course, but if you all feel uncomfortable sharing a class with him, he will be relocated to learn on his own in special courses tailored to him and his abilities. The last thing I want is for any of you to feel threatened while you're here under my watch." The class all looked amongst themselves before looking to Nezu.

"Maybe we should hear about Midoriya first," Yaoyarozu argued, "Then we'll make an informed decision." Nezu took a seat in a chair and began to explain everything about Izuku. His kidnapping at a young age. His transformation into a Nomu, his lost memories, and his time as Noh. The class, silent as if they were receiving a lecture, could only feel conflicted as more and more information about their classmate came out.

"That is the extent of our knowledge regarding Midoriya. Do any of you have any questions?"

"I have one," Todoroki asked, face impassive, "Why did you bring Midoriya here?"

"There were a few reasons. You saw the first earlier today. Rage Shroud is a terrifying quirk on its own but the fact that the person using it has so many more on top of that just enhances its power. Another was that Midoriya possessed a genuine love of heroes and wanted to become one. With dedication and proper tutelage, that danger could be replaced with a reassuring feeling of protection as the power is turned against villains. The last reason was that I want to change how our country views criminals." The class all looked at him, confused, "We have systematic discrimination against anyone who's committed a crime, regardless of how petty or severe the crime is or even the circumstances. Midoriya was a confused boy who struggled with the grief of losing the only person he cared about and went about avenging him the complete wrong way. He's not a lost cause and it's heartbreaking to think that the world will view him like that just because he was a thief. A thief that only targeted other criminals and never an innocent. Those are my reasons. Midoriya, even with my blessing, still had to earn his way in, as I'm sure Iida over there could tell you." Iida recoiled in surprise from having his name called. "I heard from Present Mic that you two got off on the wrong foot at the test."

"Yes, sir but we patched things up after I saw how selfless he was for deciding to help others even though he didn't know about the rescue points."

"Wait, what?" Hagakure asked, "You mean he was just going around helping others with no idea that he was getting points from it."

"Well, if he's words to be believed," Shoji countered, "We have no way of knowing if that's the truth."

"Well, it would literally take me one phone call and I could have the answer to that in an hour," Nezu replied, shutting Shoji down, "I know an officer with a lie detector quirk who could easily confirm that."

"I take it this was the same officer who interviewed Midoriya, no?" Aoyama asked.

"The very same!" Nezu answered with a smile, "Now that I've told you all this, I'll let you decide what you want me to do with Midoriya. Do you want him to be moved to his own special class or are you fine with him staying with Class 1-A?" The class looked conflicted as they weighed the options. Sure, Midoriya himself seemed harmless but… the look on his face during the attack, the feral mauling of any villain in his path, his complete lack of control over it. Was it worth the risk to them?

"Excuse me, Mr. Nezu sir?" Everyone in the room turned to Tsu's lap to look at Eri with her hand up, "Is it okay if I talk about Sei-I mean, Izuku saving me." The class all reacted with shock at what Eri said. Nezu even gave her a sympathetic look as she looked him in the eyes.

"Are you sure? I don't want to bring up bad memories."

"I'm sure. I don't want you guys to talk bad about my brother no more. He's the best person I've ever met and I owe him so much that I don't think I could ever pay him back. I want you to see him how I see him." Nezu smiled at the suggestion and nodded.

"The floor's all yours, young lady."

A/N: I know a lot of you were expecting a longer chapter with more stuff happening in it but... I hate summer. I hate summer so goddamn much. It's so hot and I can barely think, much less write. I'm spending so much time in the water that I could be classified as an "Aquatic Mammal". I take breaks just to go for a swim and cool down and then I get sweaty again in like a half hour.

This season can go right to hell. I'm sure it would enjoy it with how hot it is down there!

I intended more for this chapter but one of the beautiful things about storytelling is that I can just shift some things around so I could do certain scenes later because the order of events… actually doesn't matter all that much as long as they happen. Storytelling is weird like that.

Reviews:

ProjectIceman: Yeah, sic 'em Eri… Next chapter, though because it's hot. Also, I see what you did there. I see your reference. But I'm a nice man and I'll cut you a break.

Jack Redhawke: *Sounds of Sal banging his head against his desk as he goes through literally every chapter and corrects the typos and then continues to do so until time stops* Thank *THUD* you *THUD* sir *THUD* for *THUD* tell *THUD* ling *THUD* me *THUD* (Let's be real, in his state, do you really think he could get it up anyway? I wouldn't be surprised if All For One gave him the mother of all nut checks-what the hell am I even talking about anymore?!)

AlienGhostWizard14: I'm so glad to hear it! It's so satisfying to do something and it works.

Kmbrun: Miss, do you know how fast you were going? I'm gonna have to ask you to slow down before the reading police pull you over for speeding… Wow, the heat has driven me nuts... Still, thanks for binge reading! Glad to know I held your attention for two days which is… far beyond what I anticipated my abilities to be.

Next chapter: Eri's life with Big Bro.

Till next time, Sal sweats.