After several months at Heights Alliance, UA High's student dorms, it was a given that Midoriya Izuku had grown used to living there. It had taken a bit of time, but he adjusted to the new bed and soon found himself sleeping like a baby in his dorm room. The rigorous curriculum of UA's Hero Course demanded a lot of its students day in and day out, so Izuku made sure to take advantage of opportunities to rest and recover in between all of his work and training.

At the top of that list was getting a few extra hours of shut-eye. After waking up naturally to his circadian rhythms at 7 AM, he buried himself back under the covers and happily went back to sleep.

Around 10 was usually when Izuku woke up to start his day, but on this particular morning, something peculiar caused him to stir a bit earlier than usual.

Slowly opening his eyes, Izuku blinked a few times to try and clear the grogginess. "Hm...Was my blanket always this heavy?" There was an unfamiliar extra weight spread across his body, with two very squishy things pushing down on his chest. Slightly raising his head his eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets.

"Ah, you're finally awake! About time!"

Mere inches from Izuku's face was Hatsume Mei lying prone on top of him. From his position, he could very clearly see a good portion of the orbs of flesh contained by Mei's black tank top.

'B-B-B-B-B-B-B...BOOBS!'

This...generous... part of Mei was pressed firmly onto Izuku's torso, causing the boy to shriek and squirm wildly. Mei got up onto her knees, resting on his shins and allowing the boy to sigh in relief.

"How long were you planning on sleeping for, yeesh!"

Recovering from the initial shock due to the surprise contact, a new wave of shock hit Izuku as he realized that Mei was in his room and had just been watching him sleep.

"H-Hatsume-san! What are y-you doing in my bedroom?! H-How did you even get in here?!"

Mei scoffed, twirling a lockpick in her fingers, "Please, like it's supposed to be hard to get through these locks. Anywho, get dressed, c'mon!" In her usual level of excitement, Mei leapt off of Izuku's bed and dragged him by the arm, causing him to fall butt-first onto the floor. "Oh. It looks like someone's energetic this morning. You know I think I have a baby for that if you don't wanna deal with that every morning." She remarked, nonchalantly pointing between Izuku's legs.

At Mei's observation of Izuku's...current state...first thing in the morning, the boy screamed and covered his crotch with his hands, "Hatsume-san, please get out!"

Mei paced back and forth impatiently outside of Izuku's room until he finally emerged, fully dressed and still sporting a blush on his face.

He huffed and checked his watch before turning to the pink-haired girl, "S-So what did you need that was so important that you had to b-b-b-break into my room while I was sleeping?"

"We wasted enough time already, come with me and I'll explain everything once we get there!" Mei grabbed Izuku's arm and took off in a run down the hallway.

As the boy was dragged into a run by the pink-haired girl, the ruckus brought the attention of some of the other residents in the building.

"Midoriya! You slick bastard, you!" Mineta shrieked from his doorway with a spiteful fist-shaking at the pair. "I hope you fly even closer to the sun so that your fall from grace will be even worse, Icarus!" He slammed his door shut as Mei and Izuku entered the elevator at the end of the hall.

Managing to pry his wrist free from Mei's iron grip, Izuku rubbed it gingerly, "Can you please tell me what's going on already, Hatsume-san?" He considered the pinkette a friend for sure, but there were many times where she had blatantly ignored the personal boundaries that friends should have for one another, today included. While he was no longer particularly upset with what had just transpired in his room, he at least thought he deserved to know why any of it had happened and where she was dragging him off to so hastily.

"I need your help with something super important and very much time-sensitive!" Arriving at the ground floor, Mei yanked Izuku out of the elevator as soon as the doors slid open. "I've been developing this great new baby and need a test sub— AHEM I mean extra pair of hands to make sure that it works properly! You don't mind, do you?"

Izuku knew better than to try and answer that very clearly rhetorical question and sighed to himself as his eccentric friend dragged him through the common area, passing Iida and Uraraka who were eating breakfast.

"Good morning, Midoriya-kun! Nice to see you up and about!" The bespectacled teen greeted before chugging his glass of orange juice.

"Mornin' Deku-kun! And...Hatsume-san? What're you guys doing?" She tried her best to sound genuinely curious as opposed to suspicious as she narrowed her eyes slightly seeing Mei pulling Izuku by his wrist.

"Babies!" She called over her shoulder, not even sparing the residents of the dorm (which she had entered uninvited) so much as a glance. Close behind her, Izuku gave his friends an apologetic smile before being dragged off out the front door and out of sight.

"Hmm, what do you suppose that was about, Uraraka-kun? Should we be worried about our dear friend? The last time we were with Hatsume-kun in the Support Workshop, it didn't end very well for us…" Though no longer bitter over the embarrassment that Mei had put him through during the Sports Festival, Tenya was — like anyone else who had met Mei — wary of her and her ridiculous contraptions she affectionately referred to as her 'babies'. Izuku had always been at the epicentre of her shenanigans, and while he had no doubts about the green-haired boy's judge of character and who he befriended, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor kid who seemed to always catch the brunt of whatever mishaps happened thanks to Mei's inventions.

"Hmm, I mean...Deku-kun helps her out sometimes right? And she did build a lot of gear for him that's helped him a bunch...so it's...probably fine, right?" Ochako internally berated herself. Of course, she wanted to go after them and see what was going on, but what could she say? That she was jealous that Izuku gave other girls so much of his attention? "Hey, Deku-kun stop hanging around with Hatsume all the time! She and her big bouncy boobs cause you too much trouble! Hang out with me every minute of every day instead! Who needs her boobs? Not you!"

Ochako stifled a cough as she felt heat creeping up her face. Okay, yes she was jealous of Mei and her giant boobs always whisking Izuku away to her lab to do Kami knows what to him, but she couldn't really say anything. She had no right to! She and Izuku were just friends…'just friends…' she repeated in her head, slightly saddened.

She sighed before shaking herself out of her self-induced gloominess. She had nothing to worry about. She promised herself she would sort out those feelings when the time was right because becoming a hero was her number 1 priority. Besides, Deku wasn't that kind of guy. He shone bright like the sun with his ideals and determination and people couldn't help but gravitate towards that. He was also the most helpful and generous person she had ever met, so of course, he would go with Mei and help her with no kind of perverted ulterior motive involving Mei's giant boobs. Mei's boobs weren't even that great, anyway! 'My boobs are just as good!'

Across the table from her, Tenya raised an eyebrow in confusion as Ochako suddenly puffed her cheeks out in a puff before a look of determined confidence washed over her face. "Uhh...Are you alright, Uraraka-kun?"

"I'm fine!" She barked before shoving her stack of pancakes into her mouth. She finished scarfing down her breakfast and stood up from the table.

"A-Are you certain?" Tenya asked nervously, "You seem a bit...tense." He would not admit it out loud, but sometimes the bubbly brunette really scared him with how drastically her demeanour could change seemingly out of nowhere.

"I'm fine, Iida-kun! My boobs are just as good!" She yelled before slamming her dishes into the dishwasher and stomping out of the room.

Tenya merely sat there flabbergasted as the sound of Ochako's footsteps trailed off.

"...What in the world just happened?!"

Just then, Tsuyu and Momo walked into the kitchen with concerned looks on their faces.

The two girls greeted Tenya before Tsuyu sat down at the table next to him. "Do you know why Ochako-chan was in a mood, Iida-chan? We just passed her in the hallway."

He shrugged before rubbing his chin, "I honestly couldn't tell you. We were simply sitting here eating breakfast before we saw Hatsume-kun taking Midoriya-kun out of the building. She said something about one of her inventions but not much more than that."

Momo and Tsuyu gave each other knowing looks and sighed amusedly at how ironically dense their intelligent classmate was, giggling as they watched him rack his brain so hard over something so clearly obvious to the two of them.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Iida-san. I have a hunch about what happened and can assure you that it is not much to be overly concerned about." Momo said, digging through the fridge looking for some breakfast.

"Oh! Is that so? Please inform me of the situation, Yaoyorozu-kun!"

Momo and Tsuyu gave each other another look before Tsuyu patted her male friend on the shoulder, "It's a girl thing, Iida-chan. Kero"

The look of confusion he gave them sent them into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"Alright, here we are! Home, sweet home!" Mei announced as she swung the large metal door to the Support Office open. Flipping a switch, the fluorescent tubes above their heads flickered on, illuminating the various piles of junk scattered all over the floor and countertops. Mei shoved a box of springs and wires out of her path with her foot and quickly entered a long series of numbers onto a keypad on the wall. At the press of the final button, the device chimed, causing part of the wall the slide out of sight.

"I still cannot believe that Power Loader let you build a secret workshop behind the Support Office."

Mei merely shrugged, "He said it was better than me working around everyone elsewhere there could be 'collateral damage'. Now follow me and you can meet my latest and greatest super awesome adorable baby!"

Obliging, Izuku followed Mei into her workshop where the girl put her palm flat onto the wall. Some sort of scanner illuminated, outlining her hand.

"Identification successful. Initializing Project: Dauntless."

"Uhhh...Hatsume-san? What's 'Project: Dauntless'?"

"An excellent question! The better question is, what isn't Project: Dauntless?"

As Izuku tried to understand Mei's cryptic remark, a large panel opened up in the floor, revealing a pair of what looked like hair drying stations from a salon connected to a large computer console via many wires and cables.

"So...What does it do?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Mei beamed. "Take a seat, and I'll explain to you the wonders of Project: Dauntless!"

With a slight sense of nervousness, Izuku complied, sitting down in the surprisingly comfortable chair. He leaned all the way back onto the reclined seat and couldn't help but sink into the plush leather beneath him.

"My inspiration for this lovely baby is actually kind of thanks to you, Midoriya!"

"R-Really? How so?"

"Well, you're always training your little butt off! And one time I saw you in one of the Training Gyms and man was I shocked when I saw the kind of damage you did to everything around you! I thought I was the one who busted everything in my immediate vicinity when tinkering with my craft. Ha!" Mei guffawed, slapping her knee in amusement. She wiped a tear that had escaped her eye during her raucous laughter, "Ah, anyway...So! I figured with the amount of time you spend training...Wouldn't it be cool if there was a place you could train without having to call Cementoss to come to fix it after you were done?"

Izuku blushed in embarrassment recounting the many times that Cementoss had scolded him for causing so much damage to the floors and equipment during his training. A powerful quirk like One For All tended to do quite a bit of destruction, even if unintentionally.

"So how does all this stuff solve that problem, Hatsume-san?"

"It's still in its early phases, but Project: Dauntless is...essentially… a simulation chamber!"

Izuku's eyes widened considerably, "R-Really?! You made a simulation chamber?!". He knew that Mei was a genius inventor, but even this sounded too otherworldly to be true!

"Weeeell...I mean technically it's not a chamber...I guess a simulation station would be more accurate...But in essence, yeah! You put the augmentation helmet on, I collect some biometrics and with the help of the state-of-the-art AI system I developed here," She patted the top of the large computer console affectionately, "We can immerse you in a whole bunch of different environments where you can train your little green butt off without you having to worry about causing any property damage!"

Izuku's mouth was agape as he stared up at the dome suspended above him. It was a dark steel colour, adorned with more bells and whistles than he could think of purposes for. Leave it to Mei to make something as innovative and insane as this. "Wait...But if you're training in this simulation, how does it transfer to your real body if you're just sitting in this chair?"

Mei, who at some point had begun furiously typing away, looked up from the screen with a huff, "That's the part I can't figure out yet! I have everything else working! The simulated space-time runs exponentially faster than in real life so no time is lost, the structures all render perfectly so you won't get motion sickness...It's just this that I can't figure out! I've been at it for a week straight!" She began shaking Izuku by his shoulders with a manic expression on her face, "But I'm so close, I know it!"

Izuku managed to pull himself free of the surprisingly strong grip of the deranged inventor, "So if it's not done yet, what do you need me for? No offence, but I don't really know much about all this stuff..."

"Oh come on, muscles! Of course, I need a guinea pig! You know what they say: 'There's no such thing as too much testing'! I wanted to make sure everything is calibrated and working properly every step of the way...Plus I'm pretty sure the fact that I can see 6 of you right now means that I'm incredibly sleep-deprived and am in no right state of mind to test the simulation myself! That's where you come in!" Izuku decided to ignore the fact that while she admitted to being in no condition to test the machine, Mei still thought herself to be in the condition to operate the machine with him as the test subject.

Some small part of Izuku screamed in his head to refuse Mei's request and flee as soon and as fast as he could. But Mei had done so much for him...How could he let her down? Plus, it made him happy that his friend was so passionate about her work. She was just doing all she could to work towards achieving her dreams right? That's what he was doing when he trained so hard, after all.

He sighed, scratching his head, "Alright, I'll help you. So what should I do, exactly?"

Not even looking up from the computer screen, Mei waved her hand over her shoulder, "Go get me the flash drive with the simulation environment files on them. It should be in a metal case with the initials 'HM' on the front. I think it's on the shelf by Power Loader's computer."

Nodding, he walked back out into the main workshop, spotting the shelf that she had described. He saw a stack of several identical metal cases neatly placed on the shelf, a somewhat stark contrast to the jumbled mess all around him in the office. "Let's see...Ah! Here it is!" As instructed, he grabbed the case with the letters 'HM' engraved on the front of it and popped it open. The interior of the case was lined with black fabric and a small flash drive was tucked into a pocket in the centre. "Weird, why'd they sew the pocket upside down?"

"Hurry up, Midoriya! We're burning daylight over here!" At Mei's behest, Izuku shoved his thoughts aside and hurried back to the pink-haired inventor, handing her the flash drive.

"Alright, now take a seat and get comfy. I just gotta collect some data before we get you strapped in." She resumed furiously typing away, mumbling incoherently under her breath. "Put the helmet on for me."

As Izuku was about to comply and pull the large device down onto his head, Mei slammed her hands down on the keyboard, "Wait!" She leapt up from her seat and pulled a stack of papers out of a drawer, handing it to Izuku. "I forgot, you're supposed to sign these."

"What are they?" Izuku asked, quirking an eyebrow at the thick pile of documents in his hands.

"Ah you know, just some legal stuff Power Loader made me write up for the use of Project: Dauntless. It's a whole bunch of nonsense if you ask me. Liability this, Human Endangerment that...Just sign it and we can get the show on the road!"

After a long and arduous read through of the documents — Not to mention a significant amount of pressure from Mei — Izuku finished inking his signature on the final dotted line and handed the girl the fat stack of papers.

"Finally! Now that that's out of the way, we can get started!" Impatiently, Mei brought the dome down on top of Izuku's head and pushed his shoulders back so that he was laying fully against his seat. She then attached several nodes to his wrists and put a splint-like casing over his left index finger. "Now just try and relax and keep your breathing even. The machine takes a few minutes to calibrate to your mind."

Izuku felt...odd. The sensation of the large contraption over his head sent a slight tingle up and down his body before he heard low humming coming from all around him. He had to shut his eyes as a bright light began to shine directly in front of his vision. It soon began to dim, going almost completely black except for the words 'Please Standby' printed in bold letters directly in front of him.

"Midoriya! Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, I can hear you just fine, Hatsume-san," Izuku replied to the voice over the speaker within the dome.

"Great, so the calibration should be done any second now, and I'll execute the software." Writing her last command into the console, Mei leaned down towards a microphone sticking out of the console. "Computer, list subject biometrics."

"Affirmative. Subject: Midoriya Izuku. Height: 166 centimetres. Weight: 64 kilograms. Heart Rate: 54 beats per minute. Electrocardiogram Status: Fine."

"Initialize immersion Protocol Gamma."

"Affirmative. Protocol Gamma initialized. Auto-immersion enabled. Ambient Suppression enabled. Loading...Please insert data files for immersion process."

Mei stuck the flash drive into the console, nodding happily as the storage device was recognized and the lines of code began to run down the screen. She stretched her weary shoulders, arms above her head. "Alright, Midoriya! That's about it. Now you just need to wait for the simulation to initialize and you'll be set!"

"W-Wait, so...Once it starts...What do I do?"

"It will be pretty straightforward once you get there. The simulation I have you set to be in is a copy of Gym Gamma, so once you're in just try and exercise how you normally would and see how you feel. I'll be back in a little while to see how you're doing." Mei stood up from her chair, rubbing her rumbling stomach. "Mama needs some sustenance!"

"You're j-just gonna leave me here?!" It wasn't that Izuku didn't trust the safety of all of Mei's creations...But...No...That's exactly what it was! "What if something goes wrong?"

"It's fine, don't worry! You're perfectly safe in there! Now be a good boy and test out my baby!" She got halfway out the door before stopping and sticking her head back into the room, "Oh before I forget! I may not have found a way to translate the physical sensations from the simulation to reality, but try not to die in there. I'm not saying that you're surely gonna die in real life if you somehow manage to die within the simulation, but...Yeah, let's not die in there, 'kay?"

Izuku began to sweat furiously at both the content and playful delivery of that jarring piece of information. "I-I-I'll die in real life if I die in here?!"

"Noooooo! No. You might die! But it's fine! There shouldn't be anything that can kill you in there anyway! Isn't Gym Gamma just a big empty room?"

Mei did have a point there. Gym Gamma was essentially a large warehouse that was mainly used for hand-to-hand sparring. Save for the punching bags, dummies, and occasional racks of blunt weapons, the room was devoid of anything potentially hazardous.

"So don't worry about it and have some fun! Oh and just so you know...You won't be able to use your quirk in there just yet either. I need some more time to spend working the code to account for the uniqueness of the quirk of every person that uses it so...Yeah. Be back later!"

As Mei left, Izuku somewhat calmed the nerves that had just surfaced, doing his best to relax and just do as he was told. He closed his eyes, letting his clenched muscles relax to their default position. A beep sounded off in his helmet before a loading bar popped up and began to fill in front of him. He could hear the ambient noise begin to quiet and soon only heard the gentle humming of the contraption on his head. Slowly, he found himself drifting off, losing consciousness to the soothing white noise cascading his person. Because of this, he could not hear the AI system on Mei's computer next to him.

"Error. Error. Data files provided do not match the specifications of Protocol Gamma. System will now calibrate to new data. Initializing...Now executing Protocol Omega: All-Purpose. Simulation process now remodelled for compatibility with foreign data files provided. Starting…"

"Ochako-chan. Can we come in?"

Tsuyu and Momo decided that it was probably a good idea to go and talk to their dear friend after finishing breakfast. They stood outside her room, and after receiving consent to enter, Tsuyu pushed the door open to see the brunette sitting at her low wooden table.

"Hi, guys! What's up?" To most, it would have probably gone unnoticed, but all of the 1-A girls had grown very close over the course of the school year. They recognized the strained smile on the girl's face. It was becoming more and more common recently, especially the more the subject of Ochako's thoughts seemed to get into less than desirable situations with the fairer sex.

"Are you alright, Ochako-san? Anything on your mind you wanna talk about?"

"H-Huh? W-W-What makes you think something's wrong?"

Tsuyu and Momo gave Ochako a deadpan stare. "C'mon, Ochako-chan. You can talk to us."

"That's right. While I personally do not find topics such as these the most productive from an academic standpoint, I find it unhealthy to keep your thoughts and feelings bottled up. We are here for you, Ochako-san."

Ochako's resolve started to crumble thanks to the sentiments of her friends. She averted her gaze from them, twiddling her thumbs as a slight blush crept up on her face. "I-I...I'm so obvious, huh?" She let out a dry chuckle. "I can't hide anything from you guys."

"Can I ask you a question, Ochako-san? Why haven't you told Midoriya-chan how you feel?"

"W-W-W-W-Whaaaat?! I have no idea what you're talking about!" She waved her hands in front of her face frantically, her face as red as a tomato.

"Please, let's not do this. It is painfully obvious that you hold romantic feelings for Midoriya-san. Are you worried about him not feeling the same way? Because it is even more painfully obvious that he admires you just as much, if not more."

Surprisingly bashful after Momo's claim, Ochako smiled sadly into her lap, "That's not it…" She sighed, biting her bottom lip. "I...You guys see how hard Deku-kun works and how dead-set he is on being a great hero. I believe more than anything that he's gonna be amazing as a pro...But I can't be selfish and let him get distracted with dumb stuff like this. And…I have to be the best hero I can be, too…"

The two other girls smiled at their friend sadly. Tsuyu put a hand on Ochako's shoulder comfortingly. "I get where you're coming from...But is that really what you want? Can you honestly look at me and say that you can completely ignore what your heart is telling you?" When Ochako couldn't respond, Tsuyu rubbed her back gently, "I think you should listen to your heart, Ochako-chan. Kero."

"Even if you're right...WHICH I'M NOT SAYING YOU ARE.." She vehemently denied, "It wouldn't be fair to Deku-kun…"

"Isn't that up to him to decide?" Ochako's eyes shot up to meet Momo's, "You surely know Midoriya-san better than we do, but don't you think he deserves a say in this matter? The feelings in your heart belong to you and you alone...But isn't 'fair' — as you put it — giving him the choice to decide whether or not a developing romantic relationship between you two is a distraction? Look, we won't force you to do anything, of course...Just think about what we said."

She and Tsuyu gave Ochako a warm embrace before they got up to leave. "Oh, and...While I personally do not carry any romantic feelings for anyone at the moment..If I were in your shoes, I would not be very pleased with the many...ahem...situations...that Midoriya-san constantly finds himself in. The object of my affections being involved with so many girls in such ways would surely not sit well with me and I do believe that it would motivate me to declare my desire for exclusivity with them to deter anyone else from potentially doing anything romantic or sexual. But that's just me speaking nonsense, no? Have a good day, Ochako-san~" she said with a wave.

As Momo and Tsuyu left Ochako's room, the frog-like girl turned to her friend.

"That was pretty devious, Momo-chan. Kero."

Momo flipped her hair over her shoulder with a smirk, "I have no idea what you're referring to, Tsuyu-san."

Izuku's eyes gently fluttered open, meeting a massive expanse of blue. Blinking a few times, he stared up to what he now realized was the sky as a few sparse clouds slowly drifted by.

He scrunched his brow, crinkling his nose in confusion. Gym Gamma had a roof, didn't it? He was further confused by the light breeze coming into contact with his skin. He also felt…"Grass?". Slowly sitting up, Izuku saw that he was in fact, situated in some sort of hilled field. He got to his feet and looked around, but to his dismay, he did not recognize where he was in the slightest.

"What's going on? Where am I?" Was this supposed to be part of Mei's simulation? She said that he was supposed to be in Gym Gamma...But he wasn't sure if he was even anywhere near UA Campus at all! He scratched his mess of green hair in deep thought, trying his best to assess the situation at hand. He reached for his phone to see if he could contact someone but groaned when he remembered that he had left it in his room after being rushed out of it by Mei. With little choice left, he walked up the nearest hill, hoping that the vantage point could give him some more clues as to where he was.

Upon reaching the top of the hill, Izuku was surprised at what he saw. A ways away, he could see what looked to be some sort of town. Well...Village was probably a better way to call it. The buildings he could see were very rustic in appearance, the architecture of them so seemingly outdated that it was hard for Izuku to imagine who could be living there. Between the hill he was standing on and the village, he could see what looked to be a farmland area, with a few houses placed along the dirt path bisecting the land. "I hope there's someone or something there that can help me figure out what's going on…"

As he made his way down the hill and onto the dirt road, Izuku couldn't help but look around in amazement. Everything felt so...real. The birds chirping and the wind gently caressing the foliage, the warmth of the sun rays shining down on his skin. Even the subtle crunch of dirt beneath his shoes felt as genuine as could be. Was he really in a simulation? Maybe he was dreaming? How vivid everything was made it extremely difficult to tell.

Izuku eventually came upon two children playing off to the side of the path. Curiously, they were both wearing plain navy blue yukata, and upon reaching them, they matched his look of curiosity.

"Hey, onii-san! What's with the weird clothes?" One of them asked.

Izuku raised his eyebrows, looking down at his attire. He was wearing a UA letterman jacket and a pair of blue jeans. In his mind, he was dressed completely normal. The children were the ones dressed strangely.

"Forget that! Where are you from? I've never seen you around here before." The second child narrowed his eyes, stepping in front of his friend. "Are you a bandit?! If you are, I'll kick your ass!"

"No no no! I'm not a bandit! I'm actually lost and was hoping to get some directions." Thankfully, the children seemed to believe him, relaxing from their defensive postures.

"Oh, well why didn't you say so!" The two gave Izuku toothy grins.

"I'm Yuichi!" the boy with shaggy brown hair declared. "This is my little sister, Shiyo!"

"Nice to meet you!" the girl greeted. She had emerald green hair styled into a side-ponytail.

"It's nice to meet you two. My name is Midoriya Izuku. Uhh…" He grew nervous at the wide-eyed stares that the children were giving him. "Is something wrong?"

Simultaneously, they both stuck their hands out, pointing at him. "You're lying!"

"W-What?! I'm not lying! Why would I lie about my name? I'm Midoriya Izuku!"

The children stared at Izuku for a few moments before jumping backwards and whispering back and forth between each other. They nodded to each other before returning to the teen.

"You promise you're not lying?" Yuichi started.

"That's really your name?" Shiyo finished.

"Yes, I promise I'm not lying. My name is definitely Midoriya Izuku."

The two continued to stare at him, making him sweat nervously. Yuichi and Shiyo turned to each other once more before turning back to Izuku and smiling brightly, "Okay!"

Izuku let out a sigh of relief. 'Who knew these two kids would interrogate me like that?'. "So how come you two didn't believe me at first when I told you what my name was? Are you that distrusting of strangers? Though...I guess for kids that's kind of a good thing…"

Before either Shiyo or Yuichi could answer Izuku's question, a gruff male voice interrupted them.

"Hey, what the hell are you brats doing, huh?!"

A group of 5 men, all wearing dark brown yukata, walked towards the trio.

"You know, this is our turf, right? I don't know why you're just standing here in the middle of the road, but you're gonna have to pay a toll if you wanna get home safe." One of the men said. His companions voiced their agreement and smugly smirked at the three.

Izuku tensed as he noticed that they all carried sheathed swords with them. 'Villains? No...Maybe they're bandits like Shiyo-chan and Yuichi-kun talked about? And what's with those swords? Who carries swords like that anymore?!'

Izuku was still trying to figure out exactly what was going on regarding his situation and where he was, but that took a back seat to his protective instincts and he stepped in front of the two children.

"Yuichi-kun, Shiyo-chan. Get behind me."

"Hoh? Looks like we got a tough guy!" The largest and ugliest of the men stepped forward, "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but if you wanna fight...We can lay your ass out right now!" The men all started chuckling amongst each other, making Izuku narrow his eyes.

'I guess there's gonna be no getting out of here without putting up a fight...I just need to make sure that Yuichi-kun and Shiyo-chan stay out of—'

"Screw you, you big ugly butthead!" Yuichi yelled, nailing the head thug square in the face with a rock.

The man growled furiously, causing the brown-haired boy to whimper and cower behind Izuku.

"You little shit! I'm gonna slice you in half!" He unsheathed his katana, causing his cohorts to follow suit.

"Get back, now!" Izuku commanded.

"B-But..!"

"NOW!" The pair immediately complied, running away and hiding behind a tree.

Izuku turned back to the mob of angry men, who had now surrounded him on all sides. He grimaced when he failed to call forth the quirk he had trained with for almost a year. "Looks like Hatsume-san wasn't kidding. I guess One For All won't be here to help me for now."

"Huh? What are you babbling about? Whatever, get him, boys!"

Being a power enhancement quirk, the lack of One For All at the moment in no way meant that Izuku was defenceless. He was still well versed in close quarters combat, as it was a necessary skill for any prospective frontline hero.

The man directly in front of him charged forward with his katana held above his head, but to Izuku, it was like he was moving in slow motion. 'This guy looks like he's never had any actual fighting training in his entire life!'

Izuku weaved left of the blow, burying his fist deep into the man's gut. The strike sent the man flying backwards and onto his back.

The other thugs looked at what had just happened in surprise before it was replaced with anger and they all began to attack.

From their safe spot behind the tree, Yuichi and Shiyo watched in amazement as Izuku easily handled the group of thugs. Every kick, punch, dodge, and counter from Izuku elicited a 'whoa' or 'wow' from the pair of siblings.

"Yuichi-nii! He's so strong!"

"I know! He's beating the crap out of those guys!"

Izuku now stood across from the largest man once again, the only one from the group of men still standing.

"J-Just who are you, you little punk?! Do you work for the Daimyo?! Are you a samurai?!"

Izuku raised an eyebrow, still in his fighting stance. "Samurai? I just protect people who need to be protected from people like you."

The man scowled, "What kinda bullshit is that?! Screw you, you little brat! Die!" He rushed forward, swinging laterally in hopes of decapitating the teen.

Izuku quickly reacted, arching himself backwards as the blade passed above his face. He fell onto his palms before thrusting his leg upward, kicking the man's hands up and leaving him wide open. The green-haired teen flipped backwards before pushing off of the ground, fist coiled back.

"Take this! Smaaaaaash!" Izuku's fist collided with the large man's jaw with a loud crunch, the momentum from the blow spinning the man backwards and sending him skidding down the road where he landed face-first into the dirt.

"Man, I forgot what it was like to fight without One For All strengthening my attacks," he said, trying to shake the stinging out of his hand. He turned around to see two small blurs appear directly in front of him.

Yuichi and Shiyo stared up at Izuku with starstruck expressions.

"Onii-san, that was so cool! You beat those guys up so bad!" The siblings then began making fight noises, mimicking his previous motions in thin air.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?!"

"Teach us, teach us! Pleaaaaase!"

Izuku chuckled bashfully as the kids pleaded to him excitedly, "I wasn't all that amazing. Those guys were just a bunch of thugs. I'm just glad you two are alright."

The two children bowed at the hip, "Thank you for saving us!"

"Ah, it's no problem. Although, you throwing that rock at that guy was really reckless, Yuichi-kun!"

"Ah hehe…" Yuichi rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, "But you were still really cool, onii-san!"

"Can you teach us? Pleaaase!" Shiyo gave Izuku her best puppy dog stare.

The teen felt his heart melting at the adorable look the girl was giving him, but then an idea popped in his head, "Are you guys from that village over there?" Receiving nods of confirmation, he smiled, "That's a relief! Do you think that you could take me there and help me get some information? I'm uh...not from around here."

Yuichi and Shiyo looked at each other before smiling widely at Izuku, "Will you teach us some fighting moves then?"

"I don't see why not...Sure. I can show you a thing or two."

"Hooray!" The siblings leapt for joy before each grabbing one of Izuku's arms and quickly leading him towards their village.

Momo and Tsuyu had left Ochako with a lot to think about.

After the two girls had left her room, Ochako immediately began pacing furiously, muttering each and every thought that came into her head as if they were going to give her an aneurysm if they stayed in her brain for more than a millisecond.

She had put so much effort and emotional energy into convincing herself that she should hide her feelings away. But Momo and Tsuyu had broken down those walls in a matter of minutes, leaving the brunette a flustered mess the more she thought about actually confessing to her long-time crush.

Before she could think about anything any further, her legs carried her out of her room and downstairs out the front door of the 1-A dorm.

She slapped her flaming hot cheeks with a whimper, before turning on her heel in the direction of the Support Workshop.

"H-H-Hello…? Anyone here?" Upon arriving, Ochako hesitantly stuck her head into the Workshop's doorway. Peering from left to right, she saw that it was empty and stepped inside.

"That's weird...I could've sworn that Hatsume-san said that she and Deku-kun were doing something with one of her inventions…" She then noticed a doorway that she had not seen before in the multiple times she had been to the Office for support items.

Curiously, she looked into the room through the foreign doorway.

"You!" She jumped when Mei grabbed her by the collar and yanked her into the room, where the door slid shut behind her.

Ochako was face to face with a very panicked-looking Mei, who was sweating profusely and panting.

"Ummm...Hello, Hatsume-san?" Looking over Mei's shoulder, Ochako noticed Izuku strapped up to some weird contraption with a big bowl over his head.

Mei followed her line of sight before snapping her head back and gripping the confused brunette's shoulders tightly, "I-I-I can explain!"

"Hatsume-san...What's that machine that Deku-kun is hooked up to…?" There was a sharp undertone to her voice that made Mei gulp. Ochako's eyes also spoke loud and clear. Explain, or else.

"I built a system that was supposed to put you in a simulation, so you could train without worrying about damaging any equipment or facilities or anything...And Midoriya was just supposed to test it! But...somehow the wrong thing got loaded and now he's stuck in a totally different simulation!"

"Wha—Can't we just turn it off? He'll be out of the simulation then, won't he?"

Mei shook her head, "Whatever data files that were put into the system also uploaded some kind of virus that keeps messing with my codes. All of the safety features and failsafes are all out of whack, and if we physically force Midoriya out of there then there's no guarantee his mind will survive the shock!"

Ochako stared at the inventor with wide eyes, "So what are we supposed to do?! Just leave him in there for who knows how long?!"

Mei grimaced, grabbing her head in anxious thought. This was completely her fault! A client being put into real mortal danger from support gear that their supplier gave them was the greatest shame that anyone in Mei's desired field could face.

Ochako then noticed an identical station to Izuku's next to where he was laying, "What if I go in there and get him out?"

"No! You can't! I won't let anyone else be in danger because of my stupidity and carelessness!"

Ochako was a little shocked at this side of Mei that she had never seen before. The guilt-ridden expression on her face and panicked concern in her voice was a far cry from the usual neurotic inventor she was used to interacting with.

Hoping to get Mei out of her uncharacteristic state of panic — and also a bit for her own personal satisfaction — Ochako reared back and smacked the girl hard across the face.

"Get it together, woman!" Mei stared at Ochako with wide eyes and a hand on her now stinging cheek, "Is there a chance that I can get him out of the simulation if I go in after him?"

Mei stared at the ground for a few moments, "Maybe...I honestly don't know for sure...But if there is something in the simulation that can get him unstuck from it, two heads are better than one...Plus, he could be in real danger…"

Ochako's heart sunk, "Wait...Why? Just what kind of world did you put him in?!"

"I didn't put him there on purpose, okay?! It was a mistake! The drive that Midoriya gave me had some kind of weird 16th-century JRPG in it, so now he's stuck inside some kinda alternate world that's still in the Feudal Era! Everyone's wearing yukata and there's like bandits and samurai and stuff all over the place! There isn't an electronic in sight!" Mei said with a shiver.

Ochako slowly walked over to Izuku's side, staring at him for a few moments before taking one of his scarred hands into her own, "Deku-kun…" Swallowing, she turned to Mei. "Put me in this thing. I'm going to help, Deku-kun."

"B-But…"

"You're not gonna change my mind! I don't know anything about all this tech stuff so if I don't do this...I'm useless! Just let me go help him, I'll be fine!"

Mei's shoulders slumped. She ran her hands all the way down her face before sighing, "Okay. I'll send you in there after him. As soon as you're in there, find him and try and figure out if there is any way to get out. I'm keeping track of his vitals and he's fine right now...But, just be careful in there. Both of you. I'm gonna try and fix all of the code the virus is messing up and hopefully, I can completely remove it and regain full control of the unit."

Ochako nodded and laid down in the chair next to Izuku, looking over to him once more. "I'll save you, Deku-kun. I promise."

Mei lowered the dome onto her head and initialized Ochako's immersion into the simulation, "Please come back safe...Both of you…" She wiped a tear from her eye before finishing the final step of the immersion process.

Taking a few deep breaths, Ochako did her best to calm the rapid thumping in her chest as she heard the whirring from the contraption on her head begin to hasten. 'It's my turn to be your hero, Deku-kun.' was the last thought she had before her world went dark.

So I had this idea for a story mostly thanks to my resurgence into Bleach ever since they announced the next arc was finally going to be animated. That and the current One Piece arc in Wano. You could say I have bushido on the brain. Plus, you know with quarantine

going on and me finishing my semester I ain't got shit to do anyway.

I've never formally written an isekai before, so we shall see how it goes. I started writing this in addition to continuing to chip away at my other story Beastmode, which has an update on the way hopefully.