Percy hated to admit it, but the sight of a calm Bakugo was unsettling. The normally ballistic boy, with anger on a hair-trigger, was never calm. He was never quiet. Which was why the sight before him was a little unnerving. Bakugo was focused, his normal glare somehow more heated, but with a calm determination lingering under the surface. Percy was still confident in his own abilities, but Bakugo clearly had something planned. Wanted to pull something out of his ass.

Well, if that was how they young man wanted to play it, Percy was more than willing to play that game. If he wanted to try and outmaneuver Percy, he would simply have to do what he did best.

Disrupt those plans.

"Are both combatants ready?" Midnight asked, looking between the pair of them, even she seemed slightly unsettled by the sight of a calm and focused Bakugo. Percy nodded, and Bakugo mirrored the motion.

"Begin!"

The moment the words left her mouth, Bakugo was moving. He swept out with his right arm, bringing the limb across his body, summoning his quirk as he did so. The resulting explosion kicked up a layer of dirt and cement, creating a veritable smokescreen, that temporarily blinded Percy.

So that's how you want to play it, huh? He won't attack me from the front, which means…

He focused, first trying to listen for the telltale explosions that indicated that Bakugo was using his quirk to maneuver. But the roars of the crowd were overwhelming his senses, and he couldn't hear anything beyond the screaming masses. He changed tactics, channeling his will outward. Focusing on nearby bodies of water; he felt the nearby bay, he felt the water lines of the city, he felt and saw the thousands of bodies in the stadium, even the forms of Midnight and Cementoss. He ignored them all, focusing on the source of water that was moving behind him.

Spinning, Percy dropped to one knee, right as another explosion soared over his shoulder, right where his had been moments before. He thrust his right palm outward, shooting a torrent of water through the smokescreen, using Bakugo's own tactic against him. He didn't stay idle though, not caring if his attack hit or not. It was a distraction of his own. He dove to the right, where he assumed Bakugo's momentum would carry him. But the boy had been a step ahead. True to form, he had avoided Percy's surprise attack, and maneuvered where Percy had anticipated.

However, Bakugo was quick on his feet. Just as Percy burst through the smoke screen, Bakugo repositioned mid-air. Using his quirk to shoot backward, out of the way of the tendril of water Percy launched as he landed. The attack soared over Bakugo's head, as the boy dodged throwing down another smokescreen. Percy, still using his enhanced sight to track Bakugo's movement, followed the explosive-user.

Percy caught onto Bakugo's plan. Bakugo clearly understood that, in a straight fight, he was horrifically outclassed. Which meant that he was going to try and keep his distance, and take cracks at Percy's defenses with hit and run tactics.

Well, if that was his plan, then Percy was going to do his best to disrupt that. He charged back into the smokescreen, his divine connection to all sources of water guiding him. Using the wind to enhance his speed, he quickly closed the gap, appearing in Bakugo's defenses faster than the boy could anticipate.

Bakugo let out a squawk of surprise at Percy's sudden appearance, and tried to launch a blast, whether to distance himself, or simply a reaction at his arrival, it didn't matter. Grabbing onto the outstretched arm, Percy threw the limb aside, casting the incoming explosion away so that it blasted harmlessly into the ether. He placed a hand against the boy's chest, and focused a blast of compressed air into his hand.

He didn't want to hurt the kid, just send him flying.

The blast came out like a bullet, impacting Bakugo's diaphragm. He gasped, spittle flying out of his mouth in the brief moment before the blast shot Bakugo through the air like a ragdoll. He spun, out of control, directly in the direction of the out-of-bounds line. But Bakugo refused to go down so quietly.

Just before he flew out, he managed to correct himself, using his quirk to redirect himself so he flew out to the side, just barely skirting the edge of going out of the ring. He growled in frustration and changed tactics, and shot a pair of explosions behind him, and charged at Percy. Percy arched a brow at the change of tactics, and brought one hand up, summoning a wall of water in Bakugo's path, but he managed to maneuver around the impediment, and got within a few feet of Percy, but he didn't try and close the distance. Instead, he stretched out one hand, an explosion forming in his hand.

"Stun Grenade!" he roared, as an explosion of light slammed into Percy, blinding him.

Percy grunted, as his vision went white, and he lost all vision. While he was blinded, it didn't mean that he couldn't see, he could still feel Bakugo's water, as he redirected himself skyward. Using his power to shoot a story into the air, the boy contorted, before allowing himself to dive back down in a free fall. Twisting his body in the air, Bakugo summoned as much of his power into his hands as he could, using the momentum from his spin and fall to add strength to his attack, when he was within ten feet of Percy, he unleashed his attack.

"Howitzer Impact!" He shouted, just as an enormous explosion ripped into Percy. The force of the attack, and because he was so close, caused Bakugo to get caught in the blast, and he flew backward, landing in a heap on the other side of the ring. The area Percy had been standing in, was little more than a smoking crater.

Panting from the exertion of his consecutive attacks, Bakugo hauled himself to his feet. "Tch," he scoffed, spitting out a gob of spit as he rubbed a dollop of sweat from his forehead, "I knew he wasn't that tough, serves him right for underestimating-what!"

As the smoke cleared, it revealed the result of the attack. Percy was not unconscious, nor had he been launched out of bounds. Instead, the smoke dissipated, revealing Percy still standing, precisely where he had been a few moments before. Steam and smoke billowed off his one bare shoulder, his tank-top a shredded mess of black fabric. Apart from his tattered clothing, he looked none the worse for wear.

"W-what…" Bakugo mumbled, "B-but-how-what!"

"Well that's annoying," Percy muttered, "That's the second one today," and he gripped the front of the remains of his top and ripped the loose fabric free of his torso. Much to the utter delight of the crowd.

"Oh my,"

"Jesus,"

"Specimen,"

"TAKE THE REST OFF YOU COWARD! OW! FUCK OFF USAGIYAMA LET ME HAVE THIS!"

Percy did his best to ignore the catcalls, and looked at Bakugo, who was shaking where he stood.

Let's see if we can't test his anger management a little

"Not bad man, that was a hell of a blast," he called out with a cheeky smile, "Mind if I take my turn now?"

That seemed to do the trick, instantly, Bakugo seethed, "DON'T MOCK ME YOU BASTARD!" He roared, shooting towards Percy in a fit of blind rage,

Hook line and sinker. Really got work on that temper kid. Gotta let your anger fuel your instincts, not control them

The moment Bakugo launched himself, Percy slammed a foot into the ground, and twin tendrils of water formed from the earth, one shot directly at Bakugo, and predictably, he dodged it. Which was when the second tendril slammed into his side. Bakugo, in his blind rage, had forgotten for a moment about the second tendril, and was knocked out of the air, and fell to the ground, rolling across the cement. He tried to use the momentum to his advantage, and roll up into a new attack, but the second he was up out of the roll, Percy was there, inside his guard.

"Getting better, but you're not there yet kid," Percy said with a wink, as he shoved his palm into Bakugo's chest, shooting another cone of compressed wind into his midsection. The attack hit true, and Bakugo was blasted out of the ring, landing in a crumpled heap on the grass outside the arena.

"BAKUGO IS OUT OF BOUNDS." Midnight announced, "WINNER PERCY JACKSON!"

The crowd roared once more. Happy that the clear favorite had won in such a decisive manner. Like the previous matches, Percy tuned out the noise, in favor of approaching his defeated opponent.

Bakugo had sat up, and was simply sitting in the grass, his eyes gazing off into the ether. Seemingly unable to comprehend what had just happened. Percy approached, and reached out with one hand to the boy.

"Good match man." He said, doing his best to sound sincere,

Bakugo just turned a dead eyed stare at him, "Why," he asked, voice little more than a whisper,

Percy's face scrunched in confusion, "Why what?"

"Why can't I close the gap?!" he yelled in frustration, slamming his palms into the sodden earth beneath him, unconsciously setting off a minor set of explosions as he did so. "Every time I feel like I take a step forward, it feels like you take two! Even after you lose a damn arm, you just keep moving further and further beyond me! HOW?!"

Sighing, Percy knelt on one knee, "You really want the answer to that?" he asked,

"Of course, you fucking idiot!" Bakugo shouted,

Suppressing another sigh, Percy ran a hand over his face, "It's cause' you've never actually been challenged before Bakugo." he said simply, Bakugo just turned an unamused glare his direction, one Percy met evenly,

"I'm serious," Percy said, "Tell me, honestly, how often have you had someone actually push you? I'm not talking about someone nagging you to do something. I mean when have you had someone who was not just your equal but someone who outclassed you. Someone who pushed you to get better, and I don't mean me," Bakugo didn't have an answer to that, choosing instead to look down at the grown, his jaw clenched, as he ground his teeth together.

"That's what I thought." Percy said, shifting so that he was sitting in the grass next to him, "Everyone needs someone to push them Bakugo. We can't grow if we don't have something worth growing towards. If we achieve everything, we want without having to work for it, we haven't actually grown. You're strong, man, no doubt about that, maybe even stronger than I was when I was your age, but I got better. Know how?"

Percy didn't wait for an answer, he knew he wasn't going to get one, "Because I had people around me that I needed to get better for. People who were constantly pushing me, people who, if I didn't work even harder than, I would never be able to keep up with. People who would pass me by, who would leave me in the dirt. I don't mean to say you aren't improving, because clearly you are. But you aren't going to see the kinds of growth you want to, unless you stop thinking you're better than everyone else. Human beings need to be pushed, they need to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into growing. Both as a person, and as a warrior."

Bakugo growled, pointing an accusing finger at the box of students, looking every bit the petulant child throwing a temper tantrum, "Have you seen those losers? Who is supposed to be push me out them? That half-n-half bastard is the only other person that comes close and I'm still better."

Percy actually laughed at that, "Well that's bullshit and we both know it." Percy scoffed, "Pretty sure you had to take Uraraka seriously in your first match. What about her. Or what about your boy Midoriya?" Bakugo's glare turned positively venomous.

Huh he might have some gorgon in his family somewhere. Even Medusa would be impressed by that

"Never! Compare me to that quirkless, useless bastard!"

Percy's expression grew condescending, "We still talking about the kid that beat you in the first event? Or how about that sparring match we had a week ago, you know the one where he almost beat you?"

If Bakugo ground his teeth together any harder he was going to chip something, Percy groaned,

"Entirely too much like Clarisse," He muttered in English, but Bakugo understood him,

"Who the fuck is that?" he demanded,

Percy chuckled, "An old friend, who was entirely too much like you to be comforting." Bakugo's answering growl, and crackling palms told Percy what he thought of that particular explanation, "She was also one of the strongest, toughest, and most formidable people I've ever met." Percy continued.

It dawned on him that stadium was quiet, listening to the entire exchange with mounting interest, but Percy stopped caring, he'd been opening up to people all day, might as well just throw it all out there,

"When I first got to camp, the one made for those of us with special powers, she was one of the first people I'd met. Like I said, she was a lot like you. She was strong, capable, intelligent, and had great instincts. Problem was, she knew how great she was, and knew that there weren't many people good enough to keep up with her. Hell, the first time we fought, I should have lost outright, only reason I didn't was because she didn't know what my powers were and underestimated me. After that? Every time we fought fairly, for a long time, she beat the piss out of me. It took a long time, but she became my first stepping stone, and eventually, I managed to turn the tables on her. Soon I was the one beating her when we sparred, soon she was the one striving to beat me."

"The fuck are you trying to say? Bakugo spat, "Whatever you're trying to say, just say. I don't have the patience for these stupid games"

Percy wanted to point out that since he'd been eliminated from the tournament, he had nothing but time, but opted not to mention it.

"The point," Percy emphasized, "Is that Clarisse was little more than a bully when we met. Arrogant and far too sure of herself. She let herself get complacent because she had no one to push her. She had no one to call her on her shit. You're arrogant, you're a bully, and you're strong. But you've got a long fucking way to go, and you won't get there the way you are right now. You've been getting better, true, and your attitude has taken a turn for the better. But you're still an upstart little shit, who's far too confident in abilities he's still figuring out how to use properly." Percy stood up so he was looking down at him, "You can be something great Bakugo, one of the best, I'm sure of it, but you'll get nowhere acting as you are now. Eventually, you'll plateau, and worse, you'll isolate yourself from everyone who wants to help you, and you'll have nowhere to go but down. I want to help you, want to see you grow, but I can't do it all myself. You have to want to get there too," Percy reached out a hand, mimicking that day in heroics class all those weeks ago,

"So, what do you say? Let me help you. Let me help you grow."

Bakugo stared at the offered hand, and it was clear that Percy's words had struck a chord with the boy. Had it been anyone else, Percy was sure the angry teenager would have simply batted the hand away, but Percy knew the boy better than that. Bakugo respected strength. More than that, in spite of his attitude, he was smart. He knew that Percy wouldn't be telling him these things if there wasn't a point to it. Beyond that, he knew that Percy had been working with Midoriya, had been working with most of the class, and he had seen for himself the exceptional growth the rest of the class had been seeing.

He didn't look at Percy, didn't meet his gaze, and looked like he wanted to be literally anywhere else.

But he accepted the proffered hand.

BREAK

"You know, when you said he was a bit of a papa bear, I thought you were exaggerating." Rumi commented, propping her feet up on the balcony. Watching in no small disappointment, as Percy leapt up to the student boxes, to retrieve a new top from one of the students there.

Her conflicting feelings about the man aside, she appreciated a free show.

Ragdoll laughed, "Total Mama Cat. You should see them in class, little kittens follow him everywhere. It's honestly kind of adorable."

"He has a commanding presence, and is a natural leader," Tiger agreed, "It's no surprise the other kittens follow his example."

Rumi was going to comment, but stopped when her phone buzzed, pulling it out, her eyes widened, at the same time, the Cats' phone all buzzed as well, and they followed suit,

"Son of a bitch," she growled out, anger overriding her every nerve ending.

On her phone was an announcement from the Hero Announcement Network, the government's way of contacting all licensed pros of important announcements.

HERO KILLER ATTACK IN HOSU.

INGENIUM IN CRITICAL CONDITION

WILL ADVISE AS SITUATION PROGRESSES

Rumi's eyes narrowed, as her breathing came in shallow, infuriated pants,

She needed to plan a trip to Hosu.

BREAK

After a brief recess to repair the field, and for Percy to retrieve a new shirt, he and Kirishima made their way back to the stage.

"The final match between Kirishima, and Jackson is about to begin. Combatants are you ready?" Midnight announced, looking first to Kirishima,

The young man nodded, his body stiff, but an eager grin on his face. "This isn't going to go like it did during the first hero exercise Percy! I'm ready for you this time!"

Percy chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest, "Show me how much you've grown Kirishima," he replied, equally excited,

Midnight looked between the two once more, before shrugging, "Begin!" she called out.

Kirishima activated his quirk, just in time as well, as Percy released a blast of air, that threatened to throw the young man clear out of the stadium. Thanks to his quirk, Kirishima's added density kept him grounded. Percy wasn't one to remain idle though. As Kirishima tried to keep himself in the ring, Percy reached both of his hands out to either side of him, and summoned several large ice spears. Percy thrust his hands forward, and like ballistic missiles, the ice spears fired from Percy's side, tearing through the air towards Kirishima.

Because Kirishima's quirk made him hardier, it meant that Percy could cut loose a bit, and show off a little. Kirishima, unable to move due to Percy opening attack, could only raise his arms in front of himself, and try and tank the sudden onslaught of missiles. He grunted in pain, as several of the spears impacted his chest, face, and arms, knocking him off balance.

He staggered, and tried to regain his balance, only for Percy to have already closed the distance, and catch him across the face with a hard, right hook. Part of his skin chipped away, as the sheer force of Percy's attack, threatened to tear straight through the diamond like armor of his skin. But Percy didn't let up in his assault, reaching out as Kirishima stumbled away, Percy grabbed onto the boy's flailing arm, and pulled Kirishima back into Percy, who drove his left fist directly into the boy's hardened stomach.

Kirishima gasped, spittle and bile spewing out of his mouth at the brute force of the attack. Stunned, and in too much pain to counter effectively, Kirishima was helpless as Percy crouched, sweeping the legs out from under Kirishima as he did so, in a sweeping kick. Coming out of his sweep, Percy caught Kirishima's leg as he fell, wrapping his metal hand around the boy's ankle. With a heave, Percy twisted, and threw Kirishima's stunned body clear out of the arena, and into the grass.

"Kirishima is out of bounds, which means that Percy Jackson is the winner!" Midnight announced, and her proclamation was nearly drowned out by the cheers of the crowd. Percy laughed happily, raising his hands in the air in celebration, and gestured to the crowd that he wanted a louder reaction. A request that happily answered, as the roar became deafening. Chuckling, Percy leapt off the stage, and jogged over to Kirishima, who was nursing his jaw as he sat up.

"Man, I figured I was going to lose, but I was hoping to put up more of a fight than that," He moaned, sourly, grabbing Percy's offered hand as he yanked the boy to his feet.

"Bro, you've been training for a month, I've been training for years. You'll get there," Percy consoled, patting the young man on the back.

Kirishima laughed, and smiled, "Yeah, you're probably right." He said,

"Besides," Percy continued as he led the way back to the stage for the award ceremony, "You proved your strength to the pros here, that's what this was all about, so I wouldn't worry so much about the tournament."

"Hell yeah!" Kirishima said enthusiastically, pumping a fist in the air, "You're right, all of the pros would have definitely seen how manly we all were, we're sure to get lots of offers for our internships!"

Percy smiled, that was why he liked Kirishima. The boy was endlessly positive and upbeat, it was hard to feel to down in the dumps around him. Turning back to the smiling crowd, Percy just had one last thing he needed to do.

He looked, and saw the camera, without him even having to beckon, the flying machine flew towards him. Only for Percy to wave it off, he had something different in mind. He had made the same joke twice; he wasn't going to try for a third.

He just needed to find Yaoyorozu before the ceremony started.

BREAK

"Let's hear it for all of our first-year students, for a wonderful performance in this year's sports festival!"

The crowd answered Midnight's call to action with ferocity. Somehow able to find the strength to still scream, in spite of all the yelling they'd been doing all day. The cheers were answered in kind, as fireworks launched into the air, high above the stadium, painting the skyline in a plethora of rainbow hues.

Rumi groaned, stretching her arms over her head, enjoying the series of pops as her back cracked. As much fun as it had been watching Percy clean house all day, she was not used to being idle for so long, and her body was stiff from sitting all day.

"Now, it is time for us to present the winners of the festival!"

There was a puff of smoke by Midnight's umpire stand, as a large platform rose from the ground, and three students rose to the sky on the winner's podium. On the lowest level, sitting by himself, was a sullen looking Bakugo. In spite of Percy's heart to heart, he looked like he was still struggling with the overwhelming loss he'd faced.

On the platform on the far left, was Kirishima, a series of bandages wrapped around his head and torso, the effects of Percy's beatdown having taken their toll on him.

Finally, standing tall and proud, on the highest level was Percy, only something had changed about his appearance-

Rumi choked, her face flushing darkly, and her ears standing on end. On the other side of the room Ragdoll and Pixie-Bob were cackling. Mandalay was doing a very poor job of hiding her giggles, and even Tiger was chuckling.

On Percy's head, standing tall, and obnoxiously fake, were a pair of fake bunny ears, the same shape and composition as Rumi's own. But that wasn't the worst of it, he'd even made a sign, that was hanging from a piece of thread around his neck.

Call Me Peter Cottentail, Cause I'm Gonna Hop On Down The Bunny Trail

Was written in dark black kanji, with a crudely drawn pair of rabbit ears under the symbols.

"That little-when I get my hands on him-who does he think" Rumi spluttered indignantly, as the camera in the stadium suddenly shifted, showing their box, and zooming in on her blushing face.

She screamed.

BREAK

Percy laughed, Rumi's yell of indignation cutting clear over the buzz of the crowd. There was something about the small rabbit eared woman that he enjoyed teasing, he wasn't sure why.

"Um bro," Kirishima said awkwardly, scratching at the back of his head and looking a little embarrassed, Percy turned to look at him, "You sure it's smart to piss off the number seven like that? I know you're tough but still…"

Percy just laughed harder, and waved off the concern, "Don't worry about it Kirishima. Miruko and I got history, it's all in good fun man."

Kirishima didn't look convinced, "If you say so,"

Midnight cut over them, "Now to announce our winners. Third place was a tie this year! Between Bakugo Katsuki, and Iida Tenya. Unfortunately, Iida had a family emergency and could not be here for the award ceremony, I hope you all understand."

Percy arched a brow at the comment, he hadn't heard anything about that, but looking out into the crowd of gathered students, he saw that Uraraka and Midoriya had both of their heads hung low. Clearly, they knew more about the situation than he did, he would need to make a note to ask about it.

"In second place, we have Kirishima Eijiro. And our winner, Jackson Percy!" The crowd screamed and hollered in celebration of the winners.

"And now," Midnight said over the noise, "To present the winner's their medals, who else would it be, but U.A.'s own All Might!"

"I have brought the medals!" All Might's loud voice announced, at the same time as Midnight. In a flash of red, blue and blonde, the hulking frame of the number one hero, landed in front of the award podium, his entrance kicking up some dust as he landed.

"Sorry!" He said with a smile to Midnight, "I cut right across you," Midnight waved off the concern, and grabbed the tray of medals from the larger man, allowing him to present the awards individually. Bakugo almost seemed like he was going to reject the award for a moment, but ultimately, he did accept the prize. Percy couldn't hear what was said, but whatever All Might whispered in his ear, clearly struck a chord with the young man. He averted his eyes, and responded. But the response was lost to Percy.

The same scenario was repeated with Kirishima, who seemed much more excited about the ordeal. Like Bakugo, All Might wrapped the young man in an embrace, and whispered some words of what Percy assumed were either advice or encouragement. He wasn't sure. Then, the man was in front of Percy, the golden medal gleaming in the late afternoon sunlight.

"Percy," The large man said softly, gazing down at him, the forever smile still plastered on his large face, "I cannot accurately articulate the joy I feel at seeing how well you have recovered. And I am not just referring to your injuries. A hero's ability to battle through the unseen enemies, the demons that haunt us when we are alone with our thoughts, are often the most difficult. And yet you have overcome. You have conquered, and you have shown the world today, the kind of man you are, and the legacy I have no doubt you will leave behind."

Percy bowed his head, and All Might wrapped the medal around his neck. It was heavier than Percy was anticipating, and then, All Might wrapped Percy up in a tight hug, "And between us, thank you for you have been doing for Young Midoriya, I have…a vested interest in his growth, and it is thanks to your tutelage that has grown as he has. Thank you." Before Percy could question what the hell that meant. All Might pulled away. Walking down from the top platform, he turned to address the crowd of students,

"This year!" He announced, sweeping his hand towards the podium, "These fine young men were the winners. But!" He raised a single digit in the air, and then pointed out at the students, "Any one of you could have been up here with them! It's as you've seen today! Competition, determination, and the drive to push one another to reach new heights! It's the only true way to grow as both a hero, and an individual." He swept his hand once more over the crowd,

"Looking out at all of you, I see the sprouts of the heroes of tomorrow, already starting to blossom!"

"AND WITH THAT" He roared, hoisting a finger to the sky, "THAT LEAVES JUST ONE THING YET TO BE SAID, YOU ALL KNOW WHAT IT IS, SAY IT WITH ME NOW"

As one, the crowd reared back, and shouted once more with all their might,

"PLUS ULTRA!"

BREAK

Percy closed the door to his building behind him, not concerned in the least as the rain pelted his uniform. Springtime showers had decided to finally make their appearance, and the previous few days had seen steady thunderstorms. Not Percy minded, rain was far less obnoxious when you could simply will yourself dry wit nary a thought.

Percy was anxious to get back to class, they'd gotten the previous two days off, following the end of the festival, and the idleness never sat well with him. He needed to always be doing something, needed to be moving, active. If he wasn't then he got jittery, and when he got jittery, he tended to do things without thinking.

So yeah, he was thankful to be back in the routine of going to class, it was familiar. Percy needed familiar. The comfort of a routine, and the sense of stability that came from familiarity. It helped remind him that this was all real, and kept him grounded.

He stepped into a puddle, ignoring the way the water seeped into his shoes. The water was gone the second he stepped out anyway. He was just passing the entrance, the steady downpour still not so much as even dampening his hair, when he felt the beads of water disappear from around him. He looked up, surprised, thinking that there was no way the storm had so suddenly stopped, only to see a navy-blue umbrella blocking his view of the clouds.

Confused, he glanced to the side, only to see Nejire, humming happily, umbrella in her hand, and a periwinkle rain jacket covering her uniform.

"Nej," Percy greeted with a small chuckle,

"Hey Percy!" She chirped, "What are you doing without an umbrella, you'll get sick! Oh, and I heard you won the tournament, that's so exciting, Mirio won the third year. Do you think you'll get many offers? I bet you will! OH! I hope you get an offer from Ryukyu, then we could see each other all the time! That would so fun!"

Percy chuckled, letting the girl ramble for a bit. That was the trick with Nejire, she built up a head of steam, and you just had let her work her way through her thoughts or else she'd just keep getting off track. It was also all about timing your intervention, she took a breath and Percy got his opening.

"Don't need an umbrella, my quirk keeps me dry but thank you. Thank you, how'd you do? And that's no surprise, Mirio is a powerhouse right? I don't know if I'll get many offers, I'm only looking for one in particular, and I suppose if Rumi actually goes through with her threat and doesn't offer me an internship, but Ryukyu did, I'd happily take it."

Nejire blinked at him, her head tilted to one side as she looked up, "Who's Rumi?" she asked,

Percy reached out, gently pulling her out of the way so she didn't accidentally walk into a pole as she stared at him,

"Sorry," Percy apologized, "you might know her better by her Hero name, Miruko"

Nejire's eyes widened, and her mouth opened in a silent gasp, "You're getting an offer from the number Seven?" She asked

Percy shrugged, "Hard to say, she's pretty stubborn, but I think I managed to impress her."

Nejire was still staring at him, "Wow, sounds like you two know each other pretty well," she stated, an unusual tone in her voice,

"Eh, not that great," Percy said, shaking his back and forth an uncertain way, "I know her personality pretty well, and I think I got a good read on how she thinks and acts, but we've only really hung out like one time."

Nejire just continued to stare, "You talk about the number seven in such a casual way, you know how weird that is right?"

Percy just raised a brow at her, "You can fly, and shoot energy beams, and I can literally make water my bitch but I happen to strike up a casual friendship with a woman and suddenly that's the weird thing?"

"YES!" Nejire said, a bit more aggressively than she intended, as several heads turned to stare at her, but she didn't pay it any mind.

Percy just gave her an incredulous look, before deciding it wasn't worth the battle and ignoring it.

They entered the building, and Nejire collapsed the umbrella, shaking the water off, as she started peeling her jacket off to throw in a nearby set of lockers.

Percy, having no coat or umbrella to rid himself of, simply waited, with his hands in his pockets. Nejire finished with her chore, and turned before freezing again. Percy just cocked his head in confusion, but then he got his answer to her unusual behavior. In a blur of blue, she appeared on his side, and was hefting his metallic arm in her hands, their previous conversation completely forgotten,

"Whoa," She breathed out, running her fingers over the cool metal, prodding the individual rivulets, and grooves of the arm. Percy just sat back and let her do her thing, "Does-does it hurt?" she asked, her voice uncharacteristically soft. Percy shook his head,

"I get phantom pains every once in a while, but nothing wrong with the arm itself, it's a masterpiece," he grinned, at her, and she looked up, her own eyes widening before she smiled back up at him.

"By the way," Percy began, taking a few steps away as he took off towards their classrooms, a thought had occurred to him. More accurately perhaps, he had remembered something he'd wanted to ask Nejire "I got a question for you. Actually…" He amended, scratching behind his ear, "More like I want to ask you for a favor,"

"Anything," Nejire said happily, without any hesitation,

Percy smiled, "I've had this idea in my head ever since I was a kid, but never actually tried it until the festival. With my quirk I can control air currents, and I can use them to manipulate my body, and can enhance my jumps with them, but I think I can do more with it, I just don't know how to go about it."

As he talked, Nejire stopped walking, her eyes going even wider than normal, and her mouth growing into a larger 'O' as he spoke,

"I was kind of inspired by the way you use your quirk to fly, and I think with the right application of my own power, I can do something similar," Percy finished, stopping with the girl,

"So, what do you say Nejire? Teach me how to fly?"

There was pause. A solid second, where there was no reaction. Just silence, and a dead-eyed stare.

Then she screamed.

Percy grunted as the small blue blur slammed into his chest, her excited scream muffled by his chest. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her, so she wouldn't fall to the floor, in turn, she tightened her grasp and wrapped her legs around his waist. He stumbled, the force of her blow staggering him slightly, and he fell backwards into the wall, but managed to stay standing.

Nejire, who had finally sopped screaming, pulled her head out of his chest to look up at him, a beaming smile on her face,

"I take it that's a yes?" Percy chuckled, and Nejire just nodded her head enthusiastically,

"YES!" Nejire cheered, finally Un-latching herself from Percy. "Oh my gosh I'm so excited! I've never gotten to teach before! How does your wind work? How do you deal with the changing winds at higher revelations? Can you manipulate multiple layers at once? How fast can you make it go? How fast can you go? Can you-"

"Nejire" Percy laugher as he laid a hand on her shoulder to calm down her excitement, "We can talk about it more later" he promised, glancing at a nearby clock, "Right now, we need to get to class,"

"Oh," she gasped, covering her mouth with her hands, "Gotta go, text you later, have a great day, bye," her words spilled out of her mouth and then in a blink, she vanished from sight.

Percy chuckled at the excitable girl, it was enchantingly refreshing to be exposed to a source of such endless cheer and optimism.

"You done there, lover boy?" A voice giggled from a nearby doorway.

Percy turned an unamused stare at Ragdoll, who was doing a poor job of hiding her amusement.

"Cute, real cute," Percy grumbled as he shuffled into the room,

"No need to be embarrassed," she snarked back, "you should be flattered, I mean I know that Pixie wants a piece of you too. Thinking of starting your own harem?"

"Please stop,"

BREAK

The class had an excited air to it. Everyone was flying high after the festival, even those who hadn't done as well. Percy was relaxing, having a mild conversation with Momo and Todoroki about the pre-quirk world, when the homeroom door opened.

Aizawa stepped in, finally free of the bandages that had been wrapped around his face and arms. Though he did sport a nasty looking scar under his right eye, a permanent reminder o his fight with the Nomu.

Percy could relate.

"Hey Aizawa, lookin' good," Percy called out from the back, Aizawa ignored him.

"It's nice to see you healed sir," Tsu commented.

It spoke to the man's deep, unyielding love for Percy, that he responded to Tsu instead of him.

"Recovery Girl always goes overboard when it comes to healing." He said easily, sliding into his usual position behind the podium.

"Today for homeroom, we will be doing something different, though it will prove vitally important for the remainder of your hero careers."

The room tensed at his words, as the class almost unanimously thought they were about to be tested again.

Instead, Aizawa simply placed a cue card on the podium and read it out for the class,

"Code names," he said simply, and the majority of the class let out a communal sigh of relief. "While these code names can change over time, for many, the names chosen today will go on to become the names the go by for the remainder of their hero career. They will also be what you go by during your internships." He puller a remote out of his pocket,

"As you'll recall from before the festival, the purpose of the event was for pro heroes to scout you. The internships during your time here, often result in offers for sidekick positions after graduation. So take them seriously. These are the total number of offers broken down by the individual."

He clicked the remote and a digital display appeared on the screen. There, at the top of the screen, was Percy's name.

Percy Jackson: 5,022

Part of him was rather proud that he'd garnered the kind of interest that he had. He was proud that his abilities, his strength, was being recognized. But he didn't care about all of that. He just hoped that of all those offers, at least one would have Rumi's name attached.

"Normally the offers are dispersed more evenly," Aizawa commented, "but this year, almost of the interest was in these four," he gestured to Percy, Todoroki, Bakugo, and Midoriya.

Momo turned in his seat, as the students commented idly to one another about their offers,

"Congratulations on so many offers Percy," she said. Percy glances up to the screen, and checked to see her name there too, with a little over four hundred offers herself.

"Thanks!" he said with a smile, "You too, four hundred is nothing to sneeze at," he said seriously. The girl blushed an averted her eyes. Stammering out a thank you.

"Honestly though, I'm not interested in most of them, there's someone in particular I'm looking to sign on with,"

Momo arched an eyebrow, "I assume it is Miruko? That would certainly explain why you called her out at the end of the festival,"

Percy chuckled, "Subtly isn't my strong suit,"

"Understatement of the century Jackson," Aizawa chimed in from the front, and Percy felt his face twitch slightly in irritation, "Now settle down, all of you. I'm no good at this code name thing, which is why I brought in some help for you."

On cue, the door to the room opened, and Midnight strutted into the room, and began handing out dry erase boards and pens.

"One last thing before you begin," the teacher said, pulling his sleeping bag into his hands, "Your name is an important indicator of where you see yourself going, and is a reflection of the hero you want to become. The phrase 'names and natures often agree,' means a lot."

For the next few minutes, members of the class took the time to present their new alter-identities, either receiving the go-ahead from Midnight, or getting sent back to rework the name. For the most part, Percy was only half paying attention. Listening only well enough to commit the new code names to memory, as he focused on his own name.

He would be lying if he said it hadn't been something he'd been thinking about. Of course, he had. Along with a costume, having a superhero name was something he took great pleasure in as a kid. But now that it was real, all of the names he'd come up with a child felt…well, childish.

Riptide felt…a tad overplayed,

Hurricane presented the wrong message.

Aquaman was asking for a lawsuit.

Plus, none of them carried the kind of personal meaning that Percy wanted. Percy wanted his name to not only reflect the hero he wanted to be, but to memorialize those that had come before. Those who had fought so hard for a peace, that nobody would ever hear about.

He thought about the camp, about his friends. His family. Annabeth,

He thought about the many quests he'd been on, looking for some kind of inspiration but finding none.

Then it hit him.

He'd never been overly creative, never felt that burst of inspiration he'd seen Annabeth get in her eyes when she finally put the missing piece of whatever architectural puzzle she was trying to solve.

Until that moment.

He smiled, feeling nostalgic, and more than a little watery eye-d as he wrote down what he felt was the most fitting title he could think of.

A memorial to the seven braze teenagers, who'd boarded the Argo II and gone off to save the world.

A memorial to all he'd lost, and all he'd go on to do.

As Bakugo was sent back to his desk, Percy stood up, catching the eye of Midnight as he did so. She cocked her head in interest,

Percy placed his board on top of the podium, hiding the name from the class, "I guess you could say that I'm playing off the Greek theme of my quirk, but this seems…fitting," he said, meeting Midnight's knowing eyes with a soft smile,

He turned the plaque around,

"The Olympic Hero: Argonaut,"

AN: AND BREAK! Alright folks, this is the end of the second arc, it also means the end of the stockpile of chapters I had pre-written. Like I said back in beginning, this fic will be going on a minor hiatus in order for me to work on my other stories.

Now, just so we're perfectly clear, it might be a while for me to update anything, this is because I've changed up how I'm writing my stories. I'm writing them in bulk, so I have multiple chapters written and then can be released sequentially like I have been with this story, once I feel they reach a satisfying break. So, like this story, how I had this entire arc prewritten during the month of June, so I could drop each chapter daily. I'll be doing that with most of my other stories. This is mostly to make sure that each story receives attention, and I don't burn out on a particular story. However, this means that nothing will be posted for a while, as I continue to write and build up these stockpiles.

First up in the schedule is One-Seven. I plan on writing to the end of the current investigation. Then will be Our Protector, followed by Half-Blood Prince. This means that it could be some time before this fic see's anything, I promise you however, this does not, by any means, mean it's abandoned, just waiting for its turn.

All of that being said, I wanted to thank you all for being so awesome and supportive of this story. It's only been alive for a month and it's nearly the most followed story in the category. You guys are incredible, and have been so lovely in your support. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Hope you've enjoyed the ride, and I look forward to seeing you all again relatively soon.

Love,

LilDB