Train to Recover, Recover to Train

And just like that, Class 1A's internships were over. But not without some parting words for the fledgling heroes. Some more groundbreaking than others.

Midoriya left Gran Torino satisfied, having introduced himself to All Might's former teacher a couple more times before leaving. Toph Beifong had one last spar with Mirko before leaving herself, and it was brutal.

BAM!

"C'mon Bandit! You got this! Hit me!" Mirko goaded.

Boulders erected on either side of the Rabbit Hero, colliding together to smash her. But Mirko was too fast and hopped out of the way.

Toph was using every bit of her earth-manipulation to trap and crush Mirko, but every attack was smashed to bits. It was no fair fight, but Toph had fun anyway. The main thing was speeding up her attacks while maintaining power. Mirko did that naturally with her physical attacks, but Toph had a different fighting style of waiting and countering. But doing so didn't rely on speed, so Toph fell short. Mirko noticed this and was training her to be as quick as humanly possible with her devastating rock attacks. At the Sport's Festival, her guard was strong enough to take an attack and counter, but not every villain could be blocked after all.

Every inch of the training ground was shattered and toiled in their long fight. Both of them had tons of stamina, so this wasn't ending anytime soon. Toph even knocked rocks from the ceiling to take Mirko by surprise, but her senses were incredible. She dodged effortlessly and rocketed towards the blind girl, who moved to block.

"You can't block that, girlie!" She shouted as she careened towards the Blind Bandit. But to her surprise, Toph pulled a backwards dodge, pivoting at the waist and sending a rock at her face.

CRACK

Mirko staggered and caught another attack from the ground in her stomach, sending her flying. Toph waisted not a moment to counter without getting hit. Mirko landed, taking a knee.

"HAHAHAHA! NOT BAD KID!" Blood ran down her forehead, but she was grinning ear to ear. It's been a while since she last bled in a fight. "One more round, then we're done ok?"

"You got it!" Toph shouted back. Rocks began to hover in anticipation. "Ready?"

xXx

As Shoto packed his gear away, he was thinking about a lot of things. Not just the Stain incident, but Jeong Jeong. And his father. He knew he remembered his siblings, Natsuo and Fuyumi of course, but he felt like there were older ones as well. Touya, he knew, was long gone. Assumed dead at this point. As for Touya's twin sister, Himojo, he knew next to nothing about her. Only that Endeavor trained her to the bone, even further than his own cruel training with his father. Where she was now, Shoto had no idea. And neither did his brother and sister. Even Fuyumi, who remembered her well, couldn't say where she went. Only that she had a violent side.

knock knock

The boy turned to see his fire master in the doorway.

"It's nearly time. Are you ready?" He asked. His voice was…less sharp right now. Never soft.

"Nearly." He answered. Jeong Jeong started to leave with a small huff. 'Now or never, I guess.'

"Wait, Sensei."

Jeong Jeong turned back to glare slightly at his student.

"You trained my father. You stopped, after something happened right?" He asked. He had a hunch about something, based on his mother's words.

Jeong Jeong considered not answering. He also considered setting his briefcase on fire, but that would mean the boy would be here even longer. He sighed as he re-entered the room, lighting a candle between them as he sat down. Shoto followed suit, recognizing his master's 'dramatic wisdom pose'.

"I did train Enji Todoroki, you know this already. What you don't know is that one day, he brought in his eldest son to train with me."

"Touya, right?"

Jeong Jeong closed his eyes. "No, Shoto Todoroki. Not Touya." Shoto's eyes widened. What did he mean by that?

"Patience boy! I'm not finished talking!" The old man barked at his open mouth. "As I was saying, he had one eldest son. A son that he had before he had even met your mother Rei. He was involved with a woman named Ursa at the time, but she had died in childbirth shortly after. Still, Enji chose to raise his child, naming him Zuko."

Ding! 'There it was!' Shoto thought. 'Zuko…'

"How come I don't know him?"

"Patience!" he barked again. "You do not know his because he was gone before Enji even met Rei." He stroked his thin beard as he spoke. "Young Zuko had a quirk called 'Inner Fire'. It allowed him to store and grow fire in his body through his breath and expel it at will. It was weak at first, the child could only store a bit of fire at one time but was improving well enough for his age." The flame from the candle flickered in his eyes as he continued. "But Enji grew impatient with himself, and Zuko by extension. He wanted his son to one day surpass him and the new Number One hero, All Might. Due to his youth, Zuko couldn't possibly live up to those expectations and failed his father constantly. Zuko respected and loved his father, but was betrayed greatly for it. One training session, he was in the very dojo you trained in, doing breathing exercises as he was told. Enji was present and insisted he perform more advanced techniques. Zuko, not wanting to disappoint him, went through the drills. He failed spectacularly, but what have I told you about failure?"

Shoto answered automatically. "Failure is the fire that draws success from the ashes."

"Precisely. But as I said, Enji was impatient and demanded perfection from his firstborn. So the boy tried again, and again, and again, failing every time he tried. He was thirteen at the time and couldn't hope to succeed with his level of experience. So," Jeong Jeong prepared himself. "Enji lost his temper and lashed out at his son, losing control of his own quirk at the very same moment. Zuko was scarred, not too unlike the scar you bear today."

Shoto held his breath. 'That's why father reacted so poorly to my disfigurement. Among other reasons…'

Jeong Jeong kept going. "After tending to the child, I forbade Enji from ever returning for any reason. I also swore off training any child of his, including you. So when your mother contacted me, I was furious. But not with her. I listened and decided to give you a chance."

"But…what happened to Zuko?"

"His elder brother, Iroh, offered to take care of the traumatized child, giving Enji time to revaluate his life." Jeong Jeong looked up to the shocked child. "And I believe you know the rest, Shoto."

Shoto Todoroki swayed in his spot, holding onto the bed for support. He had a brother? A long lost half-brother? But his mom clearly knew about them! Why hadn't she said anything?

"Where…" he choked out "where is he now?"

"I'm not certain. But I know your uncle. If he's anywhere with Iroh Todoroki, I can assure you he's safe. And maybe even happy."

xXx

bang

bang

bang

Within the privacy of his file filled office, Shota Aizawa banged his head against his desk. At this moment, he was irritation incarnate.

Sure, students have fucked up on internships before. And yeah, things happened out there that were beyond anyone's control, Aizawa knew that better than anybody. But four of his students abandoning their internships to take on a serial killer took the cake in his book of student fuck-ups. And that was a big book too.

He really should have seen it coming. Iida got much better internship offers than with the Normal Hero: Manual in Hosu. Hosu, where the Hero Killer was last sighted. He saw the connection but figured his most straight laced student wouldn't dare do something so illegal, and that his supervisor wouldn't let it happen. Then the attack started and all hell broke loose. Midoriya apparently stumbled across Iida and acted in defense for his classmate. He also sent a message with his location to every student he had contact with, including Todoroki and Beifong, who managed to arrive as well.

Legally, none of them were in trouble, thanks to the Chief of Police. But in Aizawa's eyes?

Yeah. Hell no.

He got up to look out the door, where his four problem children were sitting anxiously. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and pointed at Iida.

"You first, we'll go over things one at a time, then all at once."

Iida bowed his head wordlessly and followed his teacher in. Once the door was closed and the Class President was seated, he let him have it.

"Here's the deal. The law may have excused you today, but you're shit out of luck with me right now." Aizawa growled threateningly. "You took an internship to go on a personal manhunt to murder a serial killer. You, of all people, should know better. Not only is it murderous vigilantism, but you also endangered yourself and three of your fellow students in the process. Give me one reason I shouldn't expel you right this minute."

Iida stared at his knees, silent. Aizawa chose to lean back and wait for his answer as Iida remembered his conversation with his brother.

xXx

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING, TENYA?!" Tensei yelled from his wheelchair. It had been a couple days since the Stain Incident, which was covered up by the media and police pretty well. But Tenya had to be honest here. For his brother.

"I'm-I'm sorry, Tensei." He said from his seat by the hospital bed. "You were hurt by that monster and I…I stopped being a hero that day. I failed you."

"It's not me you're failing, man! You're only hurting yourself! Look at me!" Tensei gestured to his legs, which made Tenya wince. "I'm paralyzed waist down whether that bastard is alive or dead. The only person you could manage to hurt by killing him is yourself! What were you thinking?" He demanded.

"I just…you didn't deserve to be hurt by that monster! I had to do something!" Tenya yelled back in tears.

Tensei nearly yelled something else, but stopped himself to regain his composure. Closing his eyes, he counted to 10. Then counted to 30 for good measure.

"Tenya. Justice is an important part of being a hero. But we do things the right way! That's what makes us different from them! You're jeopardizing your future here, your life! If your friends hadn't found you, you would have died! Then he would've gotten us both! Do you really want that?"

Iida bowed his head in admonishment. "…I can't be a hero now, can I?"

Tensei leaned forward. "The hell you talking about?"

"It's just like he said. I wanted revenge, I clearly don't deserve to be a hero." He started to sob.

Tensei rolled his eyes. "Oh, stop being all dramatic."

"W-what?"

The former Turbo Hero rolled closer to his brother, looking him in the eye. "Listen. Being a hero is an amazing thing and requires a heart of gold. But guess what? We're human. Even heroes make mistakes sometimes, even me!"

"Even you?"

"Of course! Listen, you effed up royally. But that doesn't mean you're done for! I know plenty of heroes at my agency who were even ex-villains."

"What? How?"

"It's part of a rehabilitation program, lots of guys come in with minor offenses to do some community service and turn out better than they started! You're also still a student. You're not expected to do everything perfectly. You are expected to learn. Learn from your mistakes and move forward."

xXx

"Well?" Aizawa prompted.

Iida looked back up, his eyes set. "Aizawa-Sensei. If you deem it necessary, I will accept my expulsion with dignity. I acted without truly thinking and was overcome with grief and rage, unbecoming of a future hero. But I know that I can rise from this and be a better hero. All that I ask is a chance to learn from my mistakes and move forward from now on."

Aizawa regarded his words carefully and leaned forward. He wasn't really going to expel him, but the kid needed to the fear to be hammered in a bit. "…you know, I knew your brother in high school."

Iida sputtered. "Y-You did?"

"Yep, same class and everything. He was probably the cockiest bastard in UA at the time." He chuckled a bit. "He made mistakes too, kid. And he became a great hero. So here's the deal: you become an amazing hero too, and I won't expel you. You aren't getting off easy by the way."

Iida straightened up, his glasses flashing. "YES SIR, THANK YOU FOR YOUR GRACE AND PATIENCE AS A TEACHER OF THE GREATEST ESTABLISHMENT FOR TRAINING HEROES-"

"You're too loud. Send Midoriya in and wait with the others."

"YES SIR!" Iida marched out, more thankful than ever. Midoriya stepped in, physically shaking.

"Yes, s-s-sir?"

"Sit down Midoriya. Start from the beginning."

And so he did, from the moment he left the monorail to when he was taken by that flying Nomu, only for Stain to save him out of nowhere in the end.

"…and he started yelling about how he could only be killed by All Might before he froze in place. Not really sure what happened to him though…"

Aizawa raised a hand to stop him. "I do. Turns out one of his ribs punctured his lungs in the fight. He passed out from lack of oxygen. Don't worry, he's secure at the Villain Hospital."

"That's good…I guess."

His teacher worked out a crick in his neck before continuing. "He's the deal kid. Unofficially, you did good. You analyzed the situation quickly, prioritized the rescue first and foremost, and even sent a message for back-up. You also fought without busting yourself open with your quirk, so kudos to you. However," his gaze turned to a glare "you knew that Iida may be in trouble, but you didn't bring a Pro with you. I understand circumstances were not on your side here given the attack, but even so, any one of you could have been killed by that guy. Understand that you are very lucky that the police spun it the way they did. Got it?"

Midoriya gulped, but nodded.

"Good, sent Todoroki in."

And one nervous student was replaced with a calm one as Todoroki sat down.

"Right, from the top."

Todoroki began to tell about his point of view, how he got a message from Midoriya that was just his pinned location and figured he was in trouble. How he sped there on his ice and met Beifong along the way and made a plan ahead of time to separate Stain from the others, putting him on the defense.

"I see. But after Beifong erected the wall, you both could have attempted retreat after that right?"

"We weren't sure whether or not we'd get very far and get stabbed when we weren't looking. Standing our ground was the only course of action at the time."

"Hmm, I see. Well, it would have been best that you brought your supervising Hero with you. You were with old Jeong Jeong, right? I know his deal and he could have held Stain off, giving you lot time to escape. You did good in the end, but this could have gone much differently, understand?"

"Yes sir. Should I get Beifong?"

"Mmhmm."

Shoto left as Toph walked in.

"Beifong. How's the arm?"

"It's fine." She lied as she sat down. "Just a scar after all, I'll be ok."

"Good. Start from the top, whatever you remember about the fight."

"Well, I was directing civilians out of the area while Mirko fought one of those Nomu things when I felt something going on in an abandoned alley. I felt Iida and two others, who I found out later were Stain and some other Hero. After securing the civilians I told Mirko where I was headed and to meet me there once she was finished. I met Icyhot and the way and we made a plan to separate Stain from the others. Midoriya had joined the fight too, but was hit by the guy's quirk."

"A good plan," Aizawa commented. "but the best thing to do would've been to retreat."

"We thought at the time that he wasn't going to back down and turning away would just put us in danger."

"Hmm, go on."

"Well, we fought for a while. Midoriya recovered quickly from the paralysis and the three of us held him off for a while. But Midoriya was hit again and I had to fight him hand to hand. It was working for a while, but he gave an extra hard swing when I tried to block. He nearly cut my arm off." She shivered as she grabbed her scar.

Aizawa frowned as he looked at the mark. He had read the hospital record, her left forearm was very nearly severed right down the middle, bone and all. It took the doctors and healers all night to patch that up, leaving a mark circling her forearm.

"After I was hit, he paralyzed me and I blacked out." She looked…disappointed. "I guess…I wasn't strong enough."

She felt a hand on her head.

"Kid, you did everything you could. And in the end, you were hurt. Sometimes it goes down that way, like for me at the USJ." It was true, Toph was told about Aizawa's small scar under his eye. "You fought well, but none of you should have been in that situation at all. None of you were ready for that, whether you won or lost is irrelevant. I understand why you chose to fight close range, but after Midoriya was moved, you should have withdrawn. You can't block every single attack you face. Sorry kid." He breathed deeply before continuing. "You're talented, Beifong. But if you're going to put that talent to good use, you need to rely on others."

She quirked an eyebrow at him, regaining a little snark. "That's rich, coming from you."

He rolled his eyes. "I work alone when I can to avoid hitting my allies with my quirk. And people are annoying. But it doesn't mean I'm useless in a team. Remember that." Having said his piece, he stood up. "Let's gather the others." The two walked out of the small office to find the three boys.

Aizawa cleared his throat. "Listen up you four, due to the nature of the Hosu incident and your involvement, you are not to tell anyone about what truly happened. If word got out, the authorities' hands would be tried and you would get charged with vigilantism. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"I figure the experience itself is punishment enough, so we're letting this slide. This time." He raised a finger. "This will not happen again. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. You're all dismissed.

xXx

It felt weird for the four of them as they left to rejoin their class. Of all the internships, these four likely did the most and had the most to tell, but couldn't. Not that they particularly wanted too, but it weighed on them. Toph decided to tell Yaomomo the full story when they were alone next, she deserved to know about they scar at least.

Toph sat as she listened to Mina's and Jirou's experiences, which were…dull to say the least. Turned out that Asui fought some drug-smugglers though, so that was amazing. They asked about Toph's new scar, which she quickly lied about.

"Just a training accident, Mirko can be a tough teacher." She laughed it off as they exchanged a look. Before they could question it more…

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! HOLY CRAP! WHAT THE HECK BAKUGO!"

"Stop laughing! It's stuck like this and I can't get it back!" Bakugo snarled as Kirishima and Sero howled with mirth. "You hear me? I'll kill you both!"

"I'd like to see you try Pretty Boy!" Sero baited.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" BOOM

"AAHAHA! IT'S BACK TO NORMAL!"

Toph took her normal position, sitting back with her feet up, ignoring the scene. Sparky was talking about that scumbag, Stain, which caught Toph's ear.

"That video's something else, right? He seems kinda cool, don't cha think-"

"Kaminari!" Midoriya reprimanded as Iida twitched. Taking a breath, Iida interrupted Kaminari's apologies.

"It's alright, Kaminari. I'm sure that some can see him as "cool"." Iida said calmly. "However, that doesn't condone his methods. We're training be better than that, after all."

Toph nodded silently. 'Good for you, Iida.'

"I AM HERE!"

All Might appeared out of nowhere for their Practical Heroics class. 'Finally, some action.' She thought to herself.

xXx

Class 1A stood in ground Beta, having donned their hero gear, which was a giant maze of metal construction. Toph scanned the area quickly, the metal was thin in places and could be broken. 'Maybe I can crash through it with sharp rocks, but how will I find my way around?'

"HERE'S THE SCENARIO! TODAY'S CHALLENGE IS TO LOCATE ME AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS MAZE! FIVE OF YOU WILL PARTICIPATE AT A TIME AND COMPETE TO RESCUE ME FIRST! THIS IS A MISSION OF RECON AND MOBILITY!"

Toph frowned at her dilemma. The metalwork was going to interfere with her top-notch searching skills and her mobility. 'Maybe Aizawa put him up to this.' She held one of her bracers, then had an idea. An idea which hopefully wasn't cheating.

While All Might continued to explain the task, she slipped off some clay from her arm, making a thin blob. As accurately as she could, she shot it at All Might's leg.

Success! No one noticed. 'That solves one problem…'

"ANY QUESTIONS? NO? EXCELLENT! THEN THE FIRST GROUP IS…SERO, MINA, OJIRO, IIDA, AND MIDORIYA!

The five ran off to their preset starting points as Toph knelt to monitor the ground beneath them. Vibrations were going off under the metal, but she couldn't sense much on the metal itself. Just slight weight differences and heartbeats. 'But if I can find All Might, I can do this.'

"HUH!? WHAT THE HECK MIDORIYA!"

'Oh yeah. They don't know about Midoriya's improvement.' The wielder of One for All could now use 8% of his power in full cowl, which wasn't a lot, but the difference was noticeable in both power and better technique, surprising the class.

"So cool!"

"He's jumping around like a spider!"

"He kinda looks like Bakugo…" Uraraka mentioned.

"FUCKER STOLE MY MOVES!" Bakugo raged aloud.

Beifong only smiled at his improvement. In no time at all, she was sure he was going to make leaps and bounds to become the world's…

slip

Oh. Nevermind.

Midoriya, in his haste, slipped on a pipe and came crashing down, coming in last compared to the other mobile students, with Sero as the winner for his aerial advantage. They came back in good spirits, even Midoriya, who seemed a little worried about something.

"NEXT SET OF STUDENTS: KIRISHIMA, BEIFONG, SATO, HAGAKURE, AND TOKOYAMI! HEAD TO YOUR STARTING POINTS!"

They made their way to their spots, Toph showing a bit a difficulty navigating on the metal. Some students worried about her, but she didn't need their worry. She's got a plan.

"READY? GO!"

Toph took off, making a straight line towards All Might, which surprised the class.

"She's headed straight for him! But can't she see the walls in front of her?" Mina asked.

Apparently not, as she knocked into a wall and bolted left to find a way around it. She was definitely struggling, but she somehow knew where All Might was. She formed her bracers into blades and slashed through the obstacle, rushing towards All Might's location before banging into another wall.

Midoriya was scribbling furiously. "She shouldn't be able to sense more than a foot radius on metal, which is clear from her pattern of knocking into things, but her has a exceptional sense of of direction to continue in a straight line likesheisit'sreallycoolIwonderifshe'lleverhavecontrolovermetallikeshecontrolsearth…"

Meanwhile, Toph slashed through another pipe, sensing All Might above her. 'Got you!' She ran for another wall and reformed her bracers into hooks to scale the metal. Finally, she made it to the rescue.

"I AM HERE!" She shouted, poking fun at his catchphrase as she approached.

All Might grinned towards her. "EXTRORDINARY JOB, YOUNG BEIFONG! YOU MADE IT IN FOURTH PLACE!"

She dropped sweat at the revelation. The only one not here was Kirishima, who was just now scaling the platform where they now stood. Tokoyami stood as the winner, to no one's surprise.

"I MUST ASK, HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO ARRIVE, YOUNG BEIFONG? MR. AIZAWA WAS CURIOUS HOW YOU WOULD FARE ON A TOTALLY METAL SURFACE."

She simply pointed at All Might's leg, where a bit of black clay stained his uniform. "The clay from my bracers is unique, and I can sense it from afar. I used it to track you."

"HAHAHA! CLEAVER WORKAROUND, BUT I KNOW YOU HAVE WAYS TO IMPROVE, YES? KEEP IT UP!"

"Yes, Sensei."

xXx

"You were so cool out there, Bei!" Mina complimented as they cleaned up from class. "The way you use those bracers was epic! Maybe I should get some support items…"

"Only if you really need them, Ashido." Yaomomo advised. "It's best not to rely too heavily on support gear if you don't need to."

"Yeah," Toph agreed. "Didn't have much choice today but…" She stopped, feeling something…off.

"What is it, Toph-san?" Momo asked.

Toph stared forward with a frown. "You know those movies we watched the other day?"

"Star Wars, yes."

"I feel a disturbance in the Force." She pointed at the wall. The seven of them looked closer at the wall, spotting a big problem.

A hole. Connecting from the girl's showers…to the boys…

"Oh hell no." Toph growled. "I feel that creep on the other side, feeling up the wall! He'll be whatever blue is when I'm done…"

"Hold on, Toph-san." Jirou stepped up, having dressed already. "I got this."

The petite girl stuck an earphone jack into the hole. Addressing Toph, "Let me know when, I'm going for the eye."

Toph grinned ferally, reminding them of Bakugo a bit, and put her hand on the wall. "With pleasure."

xXx

Two weeks later…

Toph was bored, antsy, and annoyed. All at once. Don't cross her.

After her run-in with a dangerous criminal, which resulted in a serious injury, her parents had regressed slightly into "protect the fragile princess" mode over the next couple weeks. She went to classes per usual, studying as hard as she could for the upcoming Final Exam. She wasn't "dumb" by anyone's standards, but she could definitely improve in the English Department. Not that is was a hard class, but Present Mic was a hard man to pay attention to with his ear-splitting voice. Not to mention the practical…

Toph slapped her face from the backyard after dropping a particularly large stone ring. No need to worry there. Despite her recent losses, she was still one of the best damn fighters in her class. No doubt. Still, it never hurt to train a bit before hitting the braille books again. She just barely got through her fight with Blasty and was taken out by Stain. Unacceptable.

Speaking of training…

CLANG!

"SHIT! Owwww…" Once more, as she did every day, she attempted to gain some control over the metal ore she kept beside the porch.

By punching it as hard as possible. Only now, she had to gain control over this hunk of junk. She wasn't about to have a repeat of All Might's class.

But just like every other day, the metal failed to budge. Maybe Sugar Queen was wrong?

Yu poked his head out the backdoor. "Ice again, Miss Toph?"

She replied without turning, scowling at the metal. "Yeah, thanks Yu!"

"Anytime, madam."

A few moments later, as she cooled her bruised hand down, she reconsidered her current challenge. Yaomomo had sound logic. If anyone could learn to control earth and metal, it was Toph motherfucking Beifong. But she didn't know what she was missing for the time being. She could sense metal and recognize it. She could even sense through about a foot radius when standing on it, but no dice.

Yu watched with morbid interest as little Toph repeatedly injured her hand day by day. Sooner or later, that hand was going to be split open. And with her injury? This won't do.

"Excuse me madam." Yu approached from behind, knowing that Toph could sense him clearly. "But may I speak freely for a moment of your time?"

She turned towards him. "Wouldn't have it any other way, what's up?"

Yu sat on a lawn chair as he addressed the obvious. "I understand training is important to you, as it should if you wish to be a hero, but your hands cannot take that manner of punishment for so long. You'll only impair your ability to use them as time goes on."

She scowled a bit at his words. It stung, but he was a bit right. "I have to overcome this, Yu. This is my challenge." She snapped as she whiped a towel on her forehead.

"I understand, madam. But at least see someone about protecting your hands. Injuring yourself isn't much training after all. You should at least see a nurse, do you have one at UA?"

"Yeah, I think she lives there. But I'm not gonna bother her right now, it's a Saturday…"

"I'll start the car." Yu decided as he stood up.

"What? No, I'm fine! I'm-ouch!" She grabbed her hand after reaching out to stop him. It really did ache, like pins and needles were stabbing her non-stop.

Yu raised an eyebrow. "Shall I give you a few minutes to wash up?"

…

The attitude was thick as Toph washed up from her work-out.

xXx

"Honestly dearie? Training is one thing, but repeatedly punching solid metal in hopes of shaping it is downright foolish!" Recovery Girl fussed as she inspected Toph's hands. "You may have healed your injury on your left, but it's still delicate! I don't want to see this sort of injury from you again, sweetie. Understand me?"

Toph huffed at the old lady. "Fine, but how else can I train to control metal? Should I have tea with it, maybe it will listen to reason?"

"Oh, I don't know!" Toph was as sarcastic as they came, but the Youthful Hero's tongue was as quick as a whip. "Maybe try asking the many teachers in this school! That train Heroes for a living! Or maybe that's just-smmmmooooch-me!" She ranted as she healed her bruised hands. "Another couple tries, and you would have cracked something. Remember that before you just go and punch something harder than you, understood?"

Toph tested her hands, which felt much better. "Yes, ma'am. Thanks for the help."

"Anytime, dearie. Now off with you!"

Toph didn't know what to do as she left. 'I suppose I could talk to Power Loader, that Support guy. He has an earth quirk too, I wonder if…'

She walked a bit faster, but not to leave the building. She made a beeline for the most active part of the building, the Support Department.

She marched up to the large door, knocking twice. Feeling something amiss, she dodged the door as it exploded open.

"Cough cough, hello! Who are you?!" An energetic girl greeted as she waved the smoke away.

"Name's Toph. We met at the Sport's Festival?"

"I bet we have, but I don't remember much about it!" Hatsume admitted. "Come on in! I'm sure you need something, right?"

"Right." She stepped into the crowded studio, machines and support items lining every nook and cranny of the room. "Is Power Loader around?"

"Oh, he'll be here soon to kick me out again! Take a seat!" She offered as she tinkered with an arm brace with engines attached. "Any idea what you're looking for?"

"Just need advise for my quirk. It's an earth manipulation one, so…"

"OH! I GOT JUST THE THING!" She shouted as she ran off. Toph felt her dig something from a pile and sprint back. "This is Baby Number 87, Extra Legs!" It was exactly how it sounded. A harness with spider legs attached. "This way, you can dig and have better mobility in an instant! Try it on!"

Toph poked the contraption once. "…no."

"C'mon, you'll love it!"

"I said no."

"I'll just put it here…"

"Oi! I said no! Get off me!"

"It's in the name of science!"

"Doesn't make me feel better! Get off!"

"You'll love it!"

"Don't fucking care!"

The charred door opened. "Hatsume, time for you too…"

Power Loader stared at the scene. Hatsume was wrestling with a smaller girl who had a furious look on her face. Between Hatsume trying to put a machine on the poor girl and the girl's loud swearing, they were positioned…awkwardly.

"Hi, Power Loader! I think she wanted to see you or something!"

"That's what I told you! Git off!"

After everything calmed down, Toph explained the issue to the Support Hero.

"Hmm, well trying to surpass what you can and can't sense is a good start. It's possible we could make you something that can teach you to bend metal. Training wheels if you will. It will take a while, but if you're willing to wait about a week…"

"Sounds good." Toph agreed. "As for my quirk, you can also control earth right? Any advice?"

"Well, no I can't. Not really anyway." He held up his hand. "My quirk is Iron Claws, which helps me dig through the ground, but I don't actually control earth. If I had any advice for you though," he tapped his chin in thought. "I would try to create chain reactions with your abilities. You don't have to control every rock around you, just the ones the other rocks are stabilized on. Practice that and keep it up. I've never seen a Blind Hero in my time, so I look forward to you being the first."

"Thank you, sir!" Toph grinned at the advice, which gave her some ideas.

"And don't forget about those Final Exams." He said as he turned to close the studio. "They be tough as nails, so be tougher. Got it?"

"Got it!"

xXx

Two hooded figures stood outside a small bar, meeting Giran and what looked like a high-school girl. Giran was relaxed, smoking a cig as he waved to the approaching duo.

"Glad you both made it. You ready to meet the League?"

Dabi stuck his hands in his pockets. "As long as they follow Stain's ideals, I'm in. And if I'm in, she's in." The woman grinned as she scanned Giran over.

'Wonder what the best way to kill this guy is? And who's this brat?'

"Oooh! I love Stain!" the high school girl squealed "I want to see him, and chat with him, cut him, kiss him, mmmhmhmhmhmhmh…" she blushed as she hid her face.

Giran looked at the other woman next to Dabi. "And who's this?"

Dabi jerked his head towards his twin. "As far as you're concerned, this is my sister…"

"Azula."

xXx

And that's it for Chapter 14! Azula has finally been introduced as Dabi's twin sister and older sister of a certain student of UA! Additionally, I bought a commission for Toph Beifong as a UA Student, which looks incredible! Credit goes to LunLucyArt, check her out on Instagram! She's got some really amazing stuff out there, so check her out!

Aizawa's gonna have a head of gray hair by their 3rd year, I swear. And there's no way he didn't know about the Stain incident and how they were involved. Tenya fucked up and I'm surprised his older brother never talked to him about it (on-screen anyway).

Zuko's origins took some time, but I decided that he wouldn't be related to Rei after all. That's why the Todoroki's don't really know about him, sans Enji and Rei. Also, Ursa did exist in this world, but is dead. Sorry. :(

Yes, Toph and Momo have movie nights and have watched/listened to all of Star Wars in a single night. Minus the sequels. Fuck the sequels. Anyway, Mineta just needs to stop at this point. We know he won't, but seriously. You'd think he's figure it out by now.

Anyway, on to the reviews!

To vangian13

She definitely will! Glad you enjoyed!

To Alexander

Yeah, I don't like to rehash stuff. That said, it may have been better to show Jeong Jeong and Mirko arrive. As for the wound, Stain sliced her arm halfway off, right through the bone. She recovered fine, but the scar will be there forever.

To D3lph0xL0v3r

Yep! And Ozai was replaced here as well. Complicated circumstances occurred in this family, which is no surprise when it comes to the Todorokis. Diet Ozai is funny though.

The cabbage man is essential and will be fit in at some point.

To harlequin320

Thank you!

To Forum Explorer

Yeah, he really is though! Lovin' it.

To Kisame Hoshigaki

Maybe one day! As for Azula, more on that next chapter!

Rei is kept far, far away from Himojo/Azula. Endeavor made sure of it.

To AnimeLuver1492

Thank you! Stain v Toph was epic to write and was her first real fight outside UA!

Never mess with an insane woman's chocolate. That's my takeaway lol

I agree, soon.

I like them together too, but she may work with somebody else in the work studies. IDK yet.

Full head of gray, I'm tellin' ya…

Exams will be long, thought out, and will take a while lol. I hope you all enjoy this arc.

To SebjectCrimsonStorm

Good to have you back!

Till next time!