Chapter 1

The Accident

It had taken months to repair the USJ, but now that it was up and running, with new and improved security measures, it was time for Class 1A, with special guest Shinso, to make up for lost time with rescue training.

The ride over had been full of joking and laughing, even though everyone couldn't help but have a little trepidation returning to the place where things had gone so wrong last time.

They entered and found the place as magnificent as it had been – if you didn't know what had happened, you wouldn't have known that the USJ had been totally devastated less than a year ago. Thirteen greeted them as before, this time with someone else in tow. "Welcome back UA students. As you can see, the facilities have been restored. I'm sorry that this lesson was delayed, but I'm glad you'll have an opportunity to practice rescue work with better mastery of your quirks. We'll be working in teams of two …"
"Since Shinso's tagging along, won't that mean someone's by themselves?" Kacchan interrupted, a faint note of hope apparent beneath the anger. The rudeness earned him a side glare from both Iida and Mr. Aizawa.

"That's where Ms. Gianakos comes in," Thirteen said, unfazed by Kacchan's interruption. She motioned forward the young woman who'd been standing behind her. She was a pretty European woman dressed simply in a loose blouse and blue jeans, who waved shyly at them.

"Hello, nice to meet you, I'm Leto," she said. Her Japanese was very heavily accented.

"Ms. Gianakos is a physics student who is using her quirk to advance the field in new and exciting ways, but she wants to obtain a license for emergency hero work in the EU, and reached out to me for an internship. She's still improving her Japanese but she speaks English, it may be easiest to converse in that language."

"I also speak French," Leto added shyly. "I hope to improve Japanese soon!"

"I'll be her partner!" Mineta said enthusiastically, even though Thirteen hadn't said anything about how partners would be picked. He also received a glare from the class rep.

"Aoyama, you're the only one in this class that's studied French and your English grades are decent, you'll be partnered with Ms. Gianakos," Mr. Aizawa said, as though Mineta hadn't spoken.

Thirteen continued as though the interruption had never occurred. "Everyone will be working in pairs for safety reasons. This facility is of course closely monitored and your teachers and I will be on standby, but the simulations are realistic enough to present real danger. It is important to stay alert and take this exercise seriously. For today, everyone will rotate through the different areas with five civilians to rescue in each area. Because of the potential danger, the Help Us Company is not able to place actors directly into the situation, but the 'civilians' you assist will be represented by high tech stress test dummies with live voice work provided by HUC actors monitoring your actions." Next to Deku, Shinso bristled a little bit. Another instance of him not being able to train using his power. "The dummies include monitors that will tell us if a real human would have survived their rescue uninjured. No points will be rewarded if the civilian is not saved or receives potentially fatal injuries during rescue, points will be deducted for non-fatal injuries caused by the rescue or actions that would cause unnecessary emotional distress, as determined by the HUC actors. This evaluation will tell us where your strengths as a rescuer are, what needs to be improved, and will hopefully help shape your idea of where you'll be able to help the most people as pro heroes. We'll work on these strengths and weaknesses in future lessons, but for now, just do your best, and as I said, be careful! Aoyama, as Mr. Aizawa said, you'll be working with Ms. Gianakos, everyone else, you'll be drawing lots for your team."

Deku was paired with Mineta, who groused about the missed opportunity to be paired with the Greek beauty for most of the first three sections. "What would you have even said to her?" Deku asked, in annoyance as they waited to start the exercise in the Earthquake area.

"What would need to be said?! I just wanted to admire her sunkissed Grecian body in the water rescue area … do you think she had a swimsuit? In Europe they have nude beaches, maybe she's going to go …" Mercifully, the timer started, and Deku rushed for the nearest dummy without a second thought.

It was a very long day, and at the end, everyone was sore and exhausted as they regrouped at the front entrance. But it had been an excellent day, and sort of fun since no civilians were really in danger. "How was it, Shinso?" Deku asked as he fell into step with the future transfer student, who was ringing out his shirt from the water rescue area.

"It was better than I thought. I was pretty useful in most of the situations – the actors told me to just manipulate the dummy as though they were doing what I told them if I got them to respond to me, like my power was working on them all though obviously it wasn't. It made it easy to keep people calm and stop them from making their own situation worse." Shinso smiled, and rubbed his neck with one hand. "It's nice to imagine … that being a real thing." His enthusiasm for hero work was so admirable. Deku's heart was lighter – he was glad they'd managed to give Shinso the encouragement despite the limitations of the simulation.

"Attention everyone!" Iida called, and everyone fell silent, except Leto and Aoyama, who were deep in rapturous conversation and took a second longer to be quiet.

"All right everyone, excellent work today. Mostly," Mr. Aizawa said once quiet was achieved. "It's late, so we'll have dinner before we return to the dorms. I expect everyone to be on their best behavior and represent the school well."

"Mr. Aizawa! Ms. Thirteen! Can Leto … Ms. Gianakos come with us to dinner?" Aoyama asked enthusiastically. She wasn't French, but she was European, and that was close enough for the Francophile.

"You can ask but college kids usually don't want anything to do with …"

"Oh, may I please? I need more Japanese practice!" Leto asked with her hands clasped in front of her, clearly catching Mr. Aizawa off guard. But he smiled.

"I don't have any objection," Thirteen said.

"Of course you may, Ms. Gianakos," Mr. Aizawa added. Leto grinned and hurried to join them.

Most of the way to the restaurant, Aoyama was telling them how sophisticated, intelligent, and cultured Leto was, oh and her quirk was impressive too, while Leto blushed knowing she was being spoken of in such a manner but unable to understand much of it. "Wait, wait … your quirk is what?" Kirashima asked, leaning in.

"Um I … May I explain in English?"

"Yeah go ahead, Momo can translate if we don't understand."

"Okay so …"

Momo did indeed have to translate, as most of them had only caught snatches. "So Leto has a quirk that allows her to open warp gates, not that dissimilar to Kurogiri, only she thinks hers operates on a slightly different mechanic. That's part of why she came to Japan – she wanted to work with the scientists who've studied the crimes Kurogiri was involved in to see if she can learn more about her own quirk or how they're different."

"That's awesome! And you don't want to be a hero full time?" Kirashima asked.

"Um, no. I …" she turned to Momo again, who translated what she said next.

"She loves physics too much, but she wants to be able to help in an emergency. If an earthquake or a villain attack happens in front of her, she doesn't want to be useless." Momo turned back to the girl, and complemented how admirable this was in English, which made Leto blush again.

"Please, please, no more about me. Tell me about you, please!" Leto pleaded.

The host at the middle-scale restaurant they walked into initially narrowed his eyes at a group of bedraggled high schoolers, their teacher, and one young adult foreigner entering his establishment, but then those eyes widened in recognition. "UA students! Please, come in!"

They had an excellent night, recounting what had happened in individual rescues to each other over good food. Accommodations had been needed for Koda's power as well as Shinso – the USJ staff hadn't wanted to endanger real animals for a simulation – so Thirteen had quickly been running numbers on the plausibility of him recruiting the assistance of the animals he named for help with the rescues and giving feedback to the actors about how to respond. Kacchan had lost points on his rescue manner (which he thought was deeply unfair, as he insisted he'd been working on it and was nicer than last time). Tsu had set a new record in the water rescue area. Deku noted many of the stories mentally, to add to his notebook later.

"Are you okay? Don't you like the rice?" Mina asked Leto.

"Oh I do I just … I practiced chopsticks but rice is hard." She'd done okay so far. Twenty voices started offering advice at once.

"Guys, one person. Bakugo, advise our guest," Mr. Aizawa cut them all off. Kacchan had been the only person who hadn't offered, but on being directed, he sighed.

"Come on, it's easy! Just hold your chopsticks like this and … no not like that …" She adjusted. "Okay like that … no you have to hold the bowl up too, it's too easy for the rice to fall if you don't." Deku wasn't sure if Kacchan withheld the worst of his spicy tendencies for her sake or if he was just too tired for it. Leto's eyes lit up in recognition, as she did as instructed and found the rice manageable after all.

When they got up to leave, Deku noticed Leto had suddenly gotten quiet. Well, her manner of quietness had changed. She hadn't spoken much during dinner, but it was clear she'd understood most of what was said and she seemed very happy. Now she seemed quiet in an uneasy way. Mr. Aizawa noticed it to. "Do you need help getting home?" he asked, in excellent English, with a gentle hand on her arm.

"That's okay sir, I wouldn't want to trouble you."

"Where are you staying?"

She gave the address, and Deku rushed to speak up.

"Mr. Aizawa, that's two blocks from where my mom lives. Would it be all right if went with Ms. Gianakos and crashed at my mom's place tonight?"

"You realize we made the dorm system largely because of you, problem child?" Mr. Aizawa glanced at Leto, who was following along but nervously playing with her purse string. "Yes, Midoriya, you can accompany the young lady. Text me when you get to your mother's place. And you'd better be at class on time

in the morning."

"Yes sir! Leto, do you mind if I go with you? I know taking the subway alone at night can be scary." Especially for a foreigner, and a woman, and a shy person. Of which she was all three.

"Thank you Izuku!" she said and leaned down to kiss his cheek. Deku felt blood rush to his cheeks, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Mineta staring in envy.

They walked mostly in silence to the subway station, and the silence was still uncomfortable. "I can't believe I had to get help from a child, I shouldn't have come," Leto finally said as they took their seats, putting a hand to her forehead.

"That's okay! We're glad you came! You're brave to travel so far to learn."

She started to cry, and Deku felt a rising panic. Had he said something wrong? His English grades were good, but maybe he'd accidentally horribly insulted her?

"You're so nice!" she managed through the tears in barely understandable Japanese and pulled him into a hug.

The rest of the journey was a more comfortable quiet – both of them were too tired from the day to speak much even if there hadn't been a language barrier. Lots of guys stared at Leto, which made Deku feel he'd made the right choice coming with her.

They emerged from the subway with plans to walk the rest of the way. They had barely taken the stairs above ground when Leto froze. "What's wrong?"

A man stepped forward. "Leto, please," he begged in English, though he was a Japanese guy.

"Katzu, not here. You can't keep doing this," she pleaded. Deku put a hand on her arm.

"Do you know him?"

"Yes …" she said, and seemed … embarrassed? Terrified? Both?

Katzu said something in English so fast Deku didn't catch all of it – something about giving him another chance.

"I don't think she's interested," he said firmly.

"Back off pipsqueak, she's not into you. She just lies and says she feels one way to get her way then 'changes her mind.' "

"That's not true." She was so upset she didn't even try Japanese.

It was late, but not late enough no one was out. People were starting to gather to gawk at the scene unfolding. "You're making a scene, please just let me take her home," Deku said firmly. Katzu began to speak in fast English again – Deku only caught "lots of people" "desperate" and "make me," and he had a very bad feeling. He had no idea if this guy had a quirk or what it might be, but Leto pleaded back in slower English, probably by virtue of her terror.

"No, please, Katzu, your problem is with me, not with anyone else!" And that was enough. Deku got between Leto and Katzu.

"You need to leave, I am a provisionally licensed hero and I will act as necessary to protect Leto and everyone else." And just over the course of the threat, Deku's throat got so dry of thirst he could barely finish the sentence. People started to step back at the threat of a brewing fight, and possibly feeling the effects of his quirk as well, but there were still too many people around.

"Katzu, oh hee!" Leto called desperately, abandoning all her second languages. People all around started to cough – whatever he was doing it had to stop now. Deku called on the power of One For All, and aimed a punch. He would only use five percent power – he didn't want to hurt Katzu if he didn't have to, and he couldn't count on his quirk giving him any protection.

"Deku, down!" Leto shouted, then called a move right as the punch landed, knocking Katzu back.

Everything dissolved in a disorienting blend of color and light.

Deku felt very ill and disoriented for a moment. He stumbled forward and fell, but he wasn't hurt, and the nausea resolved as quickly as it had begun. Had he been hit by Leto's quirk? But no, glancing around, he was still in the same part of the city …

"Are you okay, Mister?" a sweet voice asked as Deku got to his feet.

"Eri, what are you doing here?" The little girl's eyes widened in surprise as he spoke. She was wearing an outfit he'd never seen her wear before, including a floral-print face mask and a hat pulled low on her brow, but he still knew her anywhere. "Eri you should go, find Mr. Aizawa," Deku said as he stood to take stock of the situation.

"Oh … okay …"

The street was clear, people were walking about as though nothing had happened. Neither Leto nor Katzu were anywhere in sight. A few glanced at him curiously, but that was the most commotion. That didn't make any sense at all – Deku glanced back at Eri and saw her hurrying away, holding hands with an unfamiliar man. His stomach sank. "Eri?" he called, and started to follow. He kept his eyes open, looking for any sign of the fight he'd come from, but his only thought was Eri.

The man she was with had picked up the pace, and was practically dragging her. Deku picked up his pace in turn. "Eri!" She turned back to look at him in fear, but didn't resist the man pulling her forth.

He'd become so focused on the little girl, that the blow came out of nowhere, knocking him to the ground. "What the hell are you doing?" It was a voice Deku would never forgot, could never forget. He knew who it was before he looked into Chisaki's eyes.

Deku didn't have time to question how or why Chisaki was here, instead of prison, in a plain black mask and without the feathered coat. He acted without thinking, getting to his feet and calling on One For All's power, aiming a punch at the man's face. The blow hit hard, but not as hard as it should have – only with Deku's own strength. He'd only felt this way in one specific circumstance before, but he didn't have time to process it as Chisaki stumbled back, but regained his balance too quickly. Two men grabbed him from behind, and Deku struggled. Chisaki grabbed the front of his suit and pulled himself close. "How do you know her name? Huh? Why were you following her?" the villain demanded, the crazed look in his eyes Deku would never forget, seeming to have broken out in stress hives.

Deku managed to slip his arm from one of the men, just as Eri ran to Chisaki's side, clinging to him. "Uncle Kai," she said, pleading, and he put an arm around her, more protective than Deku had seen before, and he hesitated.

"Eri, it's all right, you don't have to protect anyone, I'll keep you safe …" Eri's hair started to float a little, and her horn was visibly glowing through the hat she wore.

"No, not here, not here," Chisaki muttered desperately, putting a hand over her horn to hide the glow, and as soon as it had started, her hair stopped floating, and Deku's world went black with a blow to the head.

Chisaki grabbed the girl to pull her away so violently that Shota had to step in, if briefly. "Hey, hey, it's okay, it's over," he said, keeping a backward glance on the lunatic kid, who didn't stir. If it were anyone else, he'd put a hand on their arm. "Let's just go." A crowd had gathered, and that was dangerous for all of them. Eri clung to her uncle, sobbing into his side. He wasn't a perfect father figure, a lot of times he wasn't even a good one, but he was what she had.

"Namura, Kon, get him to the shed, I want to know who the hell sent him," Chisaki said without looking directly at them, and pulled Eri into his arms. Carrying her was going to be quicker. "And you …"

"I know, I'll watch him until he wakes up. Don't be hard on the girl, she's already terrified," he said to Chisaki's departing back. There was no acknowledgment. Shota sighed, and turned to face the boy being pulled into an alleyway. He even had a costume, like in a comic book or something – who the hell was this kid?

Eri had stopped sobbing, but was still sniffling, when they got to the car.

Kai set her in her seat and fumbled with the clasps. He was furious, but Aizawa was right – she wouldn't be able to tell his anger was at what had just happened, not her. Okay, a little bit of it was at her. "Eri, you have to be careful, you know what will happen if someone sees your power?" he said, after glancing to make sure no one was around, keeping his voice soft.

"They'll take me away and do bad things to steal it," she said fearfully as he finished fastening her in. Internally, he cursed how complex the seat was.

"Yeah, and we don't want that." He climbed into the driver's seat, his entire body in revolt at the stress and the unknowns that had been thrown in his lap with no warning at all. He let Eri out for one damned night, and let her go with one of his guys to throw a coin in a fountain by the subway station, and then … this. He'd never wanted to use his power so badly as he had on the teenager following her.

"Uncle Kai, what if someone sees you use your power?"

"That's not going to happen."

"But what if …"

"It's not going to happen. Did you tell that boy your name?"

"No, Uncle Kai." He ground his teeth. That meant he'd been sent by someone. But who? No one from the Yakuza would have been stupid enough to send a child to execute anything in public, even if they somehow knew about her, so who else? Someone from her father's family, maybe?

The drive took entirely too long. Eri fell asleep, which was just as well since Kai didn't want to share any of his thoughts with her. Getting her out of the seat without waking her was an adventure, but the kid could sleep through almost anything.

Aiko was waiting for them, probably anticipating a little girl either hyped up on excitement or tuckered out on it. When just the two of them entered, Kai's expression no doubt stormy, her face fell. "What happened Mr. Chisaki?" she asked in a whisper, taking Eri from him.

"A boy chased after her, a teenager. He knew her name. Tried to use his power on me, in public. Aizawa kept it from being a worse scene," Kai answered, his voice clipped. Aiko drew a sharp breath, but before she could ask anything, he cut her off. "Can you get her in bed?"

"Of course, sir," she said, bowing her head and beating a retreat. Kai almost regretted dismissing her.

Deku stirred, his head ringing. His hands and feet were tied. He was laying on a mattress in a small, cold room – was it a shed? "Hey kid, how are you feeling?"

Thirsty, desperately thirsty, but that mattered less than Eri, and Leto.

Mr. Aizawa was sitting in a wood chair next to the mattress, dressed like he was when he had to talk to the press, but he was wearing very dark sunglasses. Deku didn't know what to make of the latter detail, but he was relieved. "Mr. Aizawa, where's Eri? What happened with Leto?" His voice was a harsh croak, and Mr. Aizawa practically pushed water into his hands.
"Let's back up a little bit. How do you know Eri?"

Deku almost choked on the water. "I … what do you mean how do I know Eri? We rescued her from Chisaki together …"
One eyebrow rose. "We? And why did she need to be rescued?"

Deku stared in dumbfounded silence. "I … we … he was harvesting her blood to make quirk removing bullets!"

"Quirk … is that some cute name for powers? And using her blood to …" he paused, looking thoughtful. "Look. Go to the beginning. Tell me everything. Starting with your name."

"Mr. Aizawa … you've known me almost a year!" Deku said, on the verge of tears. Nothing made sense. "Izuku Midoriya, I'm in your home room class!"

Mr. Aizawa laughed. "Home room? That makes it sound like there's a school."

Deku was stunned to silence for a long moment. Mr. Aizawa put a hand on his shoulder. "Midoriya. Start from the beginning. Tell me about this school. I promise I'll stop interrupting."

So, Deku did. He told him everything, including occasional exclamations of things the man before him had done and therefore should know very well, often crying, from being rescued by All Might to rescuing Eri, only omitting the nature of One for All. He talked so long he got hoarse again, at which point Mr. Aizawa gave him more water, and then he continued. The entire time, he watched his teacher's face closely, but Mr. Aizawa's expression was guarded. Now and then, Deku caught surprise or puzzlement, but not much else.

And when he got to today, Deku suddenly realized – what if this was all a ploy, and he'd just been very, very stupid? Was he talking to the real Mr. Aizawa? If he was a mimic, they had studied the real Mr. Aizawa for some time.

"That's quite a story, Midoriya. And the crazy thing is I believe it. I don't understand how it can be true, but I believe it."

Deku felt a bit of relief from his fear he was losing his mind, but the dread from his newfound fear he was talking to a mimic only intensified. "Mr. Aizawa, do you really not know me at all?" he asked tearfully.

"I'm afraid I don't, I wish I could tell you otherwise. There's a lot of things I wish I could tell you I remembered." That sounded … ominous. "Midoriya … there's a few things you need to know."

Next Up: A World Without Light

Aizawa provides some startling information to Deku, and Deku sees another familiar face.