Outside, sitting with Tsuyu

Class was relatively calm so far. Even if it was outside, for most students of Classes A and B it was more a time to hang out and study rather than anything else. A few students made the detour to the locker rooms, changing into their PE uniform before making their way to Training Ground C, which was just an open field surrounded by trees with a large pond in the middle of the area.

"Man, UA must be rolling in grants and donations to be able to afford such diverse training grounds." Izuku was still in awe at the sheer amount of effort to give hero studies students as much experience as possible. "Between maintaining all these different, ridiculously huge training grounds and repairing them when they get damaged enough, they must be spending tens of millions of yen each semester! They must be getting help from some outside pros every now and then to cut down on costs otherwise. Kamui Woods could probably help maintain the forest, and since the Wild Wild Pussycats are contracted with UA Pixie-Bob probably helps out with leveling the ground in outdoors areas where Cementoss's quirk would be useless. And there are tons of different ways to enlist the help of other heroes if they were willing to do the work!"

"It is kinda ridiculous, Kero." Tsuyu said from her spot on the ground close by. She was leaning back on a rock, the week's Art homework in her hands as she sketched some heroic poses she could do for the public. "So, what are you working on, Izuku?"

"Oh, just something Principal Nezu wanted me to write up." Izuku sat back down, having did a few small exercises to curb his need to bleed off energy for a small while. "He wants me to do a before and after psyche evaluation of our class after the whole USJ incident. He said it's a good skill to have as both the student council president and a future hero, being able to quickly tell the mental health of fellow heroes, civilians and even villains when on the field. I saw something about psyche being for third years in the syllabus though, so this is even more advanced than yesterday's art lesson."

"That's really cool, Kero. Principal Nezu must think you're something else to be getting homework from the smartest being in Japan!" Tsuyu praised him earnestly, looking directly at him with a shine to her eyes.

"Either that, or he thinks I'll need it, like how he only approved Ms. Kayama to teach us about seduction and stuff because he thinks we'll need to defend against it earlier than others." Izuku said, looking down at the third page of his report for the Principal. He'd started it that morning after finishing lovingly ravishing Kaoruko and leaving her unable to get out of bed with what all of His Girls would call a 'blissful pain.' "Still, thanks Tsu." He smiled at the frog girl. "Actually, I could use your help a bit. I need another perspective. Other than most of our classmates being driven to better themselves even harder, have you noticed anything about them that's changed since the USJ? I try to keep up and pay attention, but I'm only one guy so things might have slipped by me, or they may not have shown that anything was wrong in front of the class."

"Well..." Asui put her finger to her mouth as she tilted her head up in thought. "I haven't really noticed anything too off about any of our classmates, Kero. At least, not in connection to the USJ. Kasumi is surprisingly calm today, at least for her."

Why is she so calm? Normally she's bitching about something. Kaminari Denki had asked, talking to Mineta as he usually did in the morning. The two had struck up an odd friendship, born out of the fires of perversion. Usually they were talking about the various girls of UA, but they did talk about more normal things such as shows they were watching or manga they were reading on occasion.

Hmmm... The grape-haired young man thought, looking at Kasumi from a relatively safe distance as classes 1-A and 1-B mingled in the extra large classroom they'd be sharing until Aizawa's recovery and return to teaching. Though they had their respective groups for the merged class period already, the classes continued to mingle among themselves until it got closer to class time. I have two ideas on why she could be acting like this. I am not sure which is more likely.

The grape-man blushed, leaning into whisper in a softer voice to his friend. Either she's got reverse PMS, and is much calmer when it's her time of the month, or... Or, she finally got laid with Midoriya and that's why she wasn't in class the rest of yesterday. The tiny pervert giggled lecherously, Kaminari chuckling along with him.

Tsuyu had been about to swat the midget for his perverted nature, but Kasumi beat her to the punch as she walked up to them in their moment of puerile distraction. The air of pure malice she was exuding made the two of them freeze up, her glare much more scarier for the twisted grin under her eyes as she put her hands on their heads, sparks shooting out from her palms.

What did I just hear from you two chuckle fucks? Kasumi asked them lowly, her usual roaring nature replaced with a sinister growl. I'd better not have heard what I think I just heard.

It was all Mineta I swear! Just please don't burn the hair, please! Kaminari quickly chickened out, grabbing onto the hand that tightened its smokey grasp on his scalp and trying to pry it off as he threw Mineta under the bus.

So not cool, dude! Mineta cried, tears forming as Kasumi lifted him off the ground, not giving him a chance to try and grab his hair balls as she dug her fingers into his hair. It had quickly became known to the class that Mineta's hair wasn't sticky until after it had popped off his head, and Kasumi made sure her fingers were grabbing at the roots of his hair. I'm not lending you that boxed collection of anime now!

Shut. Up. Kasumi ground out through her deadly grin, shaking the diminutive adult. If I ever, ever hear you talk about me like that again, all they'll find is a black outline of your fucking worthless self. Am I clear?

"She's actually scarier when she's not raging constantly." Tsu told Izuku, thinking back to just over half an hour ago. "Though she did save me the trouble of dealing with Mineta, so maybe I should thank her for that."

I don't know if I should be upset that Mineta is right about that. Is that an indication of just how much my life is like a Hentai? Izuku thought, shaking his head. "I guess Kacchan is still sore after yesterday? Being scolded, I mean." Izuku said, coughing into his hand as he looked back down at the list. "Anyway, thanks for that, Tsu. I'll have to talk to Mina, maybe Hagakure about these psyche profiles as well. Mina is really a social butterfly, and Hagakure could watch people without being noticed if she were careful, so she might have noticed something that anyone else wouldn't have been able to see."

"Sorry I wasn't much help." The girl seemed to droop slightly.

"Ah, no no no, don't feel bad!" Izuku told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's fine, Tsu, really it is. We've only known each other for a month and a week! It makes sense that we don't know each others normal behavior all that well yet!" He tried to comfort the young woman, smiling at her when she looked back at him with minute gatherings of tears in her eyes. "Besides, I've decided to do a preliminary report for the Principal, and a more detailed one after the Sports Festival the week after next. So if you notice any changes in our classmates behavior, let me know if you think I should put it in my report. I'm going to need help making sure to get these psyche evaluations right, and I really want to know if any of our class is having issues dealing with the aftermath besides that. It can't have been easy for anyone."

Izuku stopped for a moment, thinking for a moment before he turned more fully to face Tsuyu. "Are you feeling okay, Tsuyu? I know it can't be easy, almost dying like you did to the woman with all those hands on her." He looked into her eyes. "If you ever want to talk about it, let me know. I'll try to make time, okay? Or anything else, really." He smiled again. "I've been told I'm a really good listener."

"Kero kero." Tsuyu nodded as she ribbited, the smallest twitch of the corners of her mouth upwards signalling her happiness. "Thank you. I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Izuku."

"Trust me, it's no trouble. Here, take my number." Izuku ripped off a piece of blank paper from his notebook, quickly scribbling his cell number into it and handing it to the girl. "If there's anything you want to talk about, feel free to call anytime. Literally, since I don't sleep these days anymore." Izuku told her, looking over what he'd written down regarding his classmates once more.

Tsuyu was silent for a moment, watching him go over his work, mumbling silently to himself as he tapped the eraser on his knee. She just stared at him, her expressionless face impassive to anyone who might have been watching. Izuku turned to lean back against the rock himself, and Tsuyu took the chance to scoot so they were shoulder to shoulder.

Izuku didn't notice anything, so used to female contact by this point that he only pulled himself from his work when he felt Tsuyu press her lips to his cheek. His eyebrows were raised, and his hand went up to touch the point of contact as she pulled away as he looked at her.

"And that's thank you for saving me back then." Tsuyu told him in whispered words, the tiniest blush on her face as she continued to stare at him. "I'd rather have nightmares than be dead, and it's only because of you that I'm still here. Thank you, Izuku."

"Anytime, Tsu..." Izuku said, looking at her earnest, hopeful eyes. "Tsu, I really hope you didn't think I was expecting any reward for saving you. I would have done it for anyone."

"I know, kero." Tsuyu gave the tiniest nod at him. "And while it's probably just a bit of hero worship coupled with trauma, I wanted to give you at least that. It's not often the frog gets to kiss her Prince Charming, so I had to take the chance while I could." She tilted her head, the hope in her eyes giving way to hints of worry. "Are you mad at me for doing that?"

"No." Izuku quickly shut down that train of thought. "No, I'm not mad. I'm actually kinda happy that, even if it's just a bit of hero worship, you feel comfortable enough to just up and kiss me. I really wasn't expecting that at all." He smiled a bit at the girl, wrapping an arm around her and giving her a chaste side hug for a moment before he pulled away just slightly. "But give it some time to get past the hero worship before you do anything else like that, please. I don't want anyone jumping into anything because of that whole thing at the USJ."

Izuku stood up slowly, patting Tsuyu on the shoulder. "I've got to go see Shoto. He's the one classmate of ours that pretty much no one knows anything about. I've been wanting to talk with him, but never had the chance until now. I think I saw Revenant pull him aside for some reason." He scanned the field, seeing a red-white mop of hair in the distance close to the black clothed Huntress Hero. They were on the opposite side of the field, with a patch of orange hair and blond hair that could only have been Kendo and Monoma not far from them. "There they are. It'd take a while to get across the field, and I don't want to miss the chance to talk with Shoto. Gonna have to use my quirk a bit."

Izuku did the calculations for making it across the field in a single leap. His legs would probably feel sore on landing, maybe a few hairline fractures in each leg, but those would heal fast enough. He stepped back a few paces, prepping to take a running start before he looked back at Tsuyu. "Seriously Tsu. If you want to talk about anything, just give me a call. Even if it's about... whatever you may feel about me." He smiled once more before he jogged a few paces before letting Incubus Fuel and One for All charge through his legs as he pushed hard on the ground and went soaring through the air.

XXX

Tsuyu watched her green haired class president rocketed off into the wild blue yonder, uncertainty stewing in her gut. Was that a rejection of what she felt, or was it him trying to make sure she didn't get hurt? Even she knew it was more than likely a bit of hero worship of Izuku who had, despite the Nomu bearing down on him, leaped into action to save her just as the villain lady with hands all over her body tried to touch Tsuyu's face with her quirk that seemed to turn everything the villainess touched to dust. Using the Nomu's arm as a gymnasts bar to launch himself at the villainess, kicking her away moments before said villainess made contact. The look of rage on his face as he flew through the air, that fiercely protective stance he took in front of Tsuyu before the Nomu barreled up to him again with intent to crush him into paste. It made her insides churn thinking about it, made her heart beat so loudly her ears felt like they were going to explode no matter how many times she tried to calm herself!

It may have been hero worship, but darn it if she refused to care about that!

That Izuku wanted her to wait out the storm in her mind to see if her feelings would last only made her heartbeat faster still, though it did nothing to clear her mind of such thoughts about him in the slightest. If anything, it only made her think that her feelings were more steadfast than even just moments ago when she kissed him!

"Hormones are a pain, kero." Tsuyu said to herself, sighing. "I just hope my quirk doesn't decide that the rainy season is a good time to prove how frog-like it really makes me."

"Oh Tsu~yu~? Is that love I smell on the air?" The eternally peppy voice of Class 1-A's resident pink demon giggled out as Mina crawled over the rock, her upside down face blocking Tsuyu's line of sight.

Oh no... was all Tsuyu could think, the two of them ignorant of the fact that there were two more people watching the scene. An eye floated away, and a certain masked teacher grinned from afar as yet another opportunity presented itself to her. And neither of them noticed a small doll slinking through the grass back to the treeline.

XXX

Izuku landed not far away from Kendo and Monoma, his landing kicking up tons of dust and forming a tiny crater under his feet. He hissed in pain as his prediction came true regarding his bones, multiple hairline fractures shooting from his ankles to his hips. Already the pink lines of Incubus Fuel's stores of energy surged through his lower body, the glow kept hidden by his uniform pants as the damage mended.

"Ack! G-geez, Izuku..." Kendo coughed, enlarging a hand to wave away the dust. She let Monoma join her as she tapped his arm, giving the quirk copier her quirk and he quickly got to work. "What the heck was that for?"

"O-obviously," Monoma coughed, but somehow made even that sound haughty. "He's here to show off in front of an unaffiliated hero. Since class 1-A is so much better than us, trying to earn favor from a heroine in the international community will be a cinch, won't it?"

You have some serious issues, Monoma. Izuku thought, holding what he thought of the boy close to his chest. "Uh, no. I actually need to talk with Shoto, and I didn't want to miss him. It's really important. Sorry about kicking up a lot of dust." Izuku bowed at the two of them.

"Really? Because you needed to talk to another of your high-and-mighty classmates you had to land right next to us?" Monoma turned to level his slimy stare at Izuku, crossing his hands as they once again shrunk. "And we were having such a good day, but of course you had to ruin it with your needs, didn't you?"

Izuku could only feel pity for Kendo, who slapped her face as Monoma seemed to draw himself up to launch into a verbal dressing down of Everything about class 1-A. She sparred him having to listen to it as she quickly chopped him in the neck, sending him crumbling to the ground in a heap. "You really need to go see Mr. Inui. This hatred can't be healthy for you." She told his **** body. "Sorry about him, Izuku." Kendo smiled at him.

"It's fine, really." Izuku smiled at the girl. "It's enough that you stop him from getting too long winded. His eyes are actually kinda freaky when he starts in, you know?" Izuku scratched the back of his head with a small laugh. "Have Todoroki and Revenant been talking long?"

"Not long, as far as I know." Kendo shrugged. "Monoma wanted to talk to her, but when she pulled Todoroki over to the side he started a small rant." The orange haired girl sighed. "I've been here talking with him, trying to keep him from having one of his breakdowns."

Izuku nodded, sitting down on the ground. "Well, I might as well wait for them to get done talking. Mind if I just... sit here? Or will that upset Monoma?" He asked, not wanting to upset the blond or make things harder for Kendo.

"I'm not going to stop you. Though I might have to make sure this idiot knows to keep his mouth shut for now." She nudged the blond student with her foot before she sat down not too far from Izuku, keeping herself between the blond and verdette.

"Thanks, Kendo. I'll try to make it up to you somehow." He told her, wondering exactly how to do that. Maybe it'd just have to be an unspecified favor? Those were dangerous, obviously, and had the potential to come back to bite him. On the other hand, he knew Kendo was a reasonable girl. She almost certainly wouldn't ask him for anything too crazy, right?

XXX Several Minutes Ago XXX

Revenant watched the students spread out across the field as Izuku separated from her presence in silence. She took note of the groups that stuck together, the students that went their own ways as soon as possible. Her Love seemed to naturally gravitate to one of the girls in his group from when they were in the class as he pulled some papers out of his bag. Tsuyu Asui, she recalled.

Hmm. We wonder if there is anything there? We shall have to ask Our sisters here at the school at a later time. A shared drink with them and as many others as can gather sounds good. Revenant thought, putting that matter on the back burner. Connecting more with her sisters in love while she could was important, but slightly more important was averting tragedy from becoming of the Next Generation of heroes.

That led her to once more watching Shoto Todoroki for some time, the boy quick to divorce himself from all human contact as soon as possible and begin to practice with the ice half of his quirk. Not unusual, especially for a teenager or young adult, but the aura surrounding him disquieted her. Like she had told Izuku, the disdain she saw in Todoroki's body for being near his peers, the hate that raged behind his eyes that was cold and burning was not one she saw often in heroes. At least, not anymore.

The ones that survived to carry out that vengeance often never lived long after fulfilling that dark desire.

"Shoto Todoroki." Her voice whispered around her, the familiarity with the quirk of Banshee allowing her to focus and project her voice only near him instead of indiscriminately letting all around her know that she wished to speak with him. "Could We, per chance, speak with you?"

To his credit, the boy did not tarry nor rush. He jogged to her, his face impassive. His scar stood out on his otherwise blemish free face like the sore that it was. But she had seen far worse, had far worse done to herself and had done worse to those she hunted. It was easily ignored in the sense that it bothered her not in a sense of revulsion, only of curiosity and worry. What was slightly more worrying, however, was how half of his body grew cold and yet he did nothing to warm it up even as bits of frost covered his arm.

He bowed to her, every movement of his stiff. "You wanted to speak with me?" His tone was curt, a bit haughty but obviously not without reason. She'd read that he was incredibly intelligent and a powerful combatant, if one who relied too much on his quirk. Or rather, half of his quirk.

"Yes, We did." Revenant nodded at him, beckoning him a bit further away. "Come, young man. We wish to ask you some questions." She walked a while, Todoroki walking stiffly behind her.

When she judged they were far enough away, she stopped and turned to the boy. She was silent, her face even more emotionless than Todoroki's collected facade. Once again, he showed his nerve or arrogance by not fidgeting under her gaze, the Eye of Tenbo never blinking as she kept an eye on both the young man in front of her and the rest of the field. The vision of a Dragonfly was immensely useful.

"Hmm." Revenant breathed out, hunched over again as she leaned back on her tail. "Pray forgive if this One oversteps her bounds to far, Todoroki. But We are curious. We have watched you train, but you only use your ice. Your file says you have the ability to command both ice and fire, yes?"

Ah, when she mentioned his fire, he tensed. He has something against it, then. Mayhaps a training accident when he was younger gave him the scar, maybe hurt someone close to him?

"I can." He said, fighting to keep his voice even, keep the narrowing of his eyes as slight as possible.

"We thought as much. One would be remiss to think that a school such as UA would give misinformation." She nodded, her wings slowly beating. Her hair began to grey once more, roiling as her thoughts turned stormy. "So We ask then. Why do you not train your fire? Do you feel you have greater command of your fire and not your ice?"

Shoto was silent for a second, his eyes finally darting away. "No."

"Then perhaps you are training half your body to resist the chilling effects of only using your ice then?" She pressed. "Or do you think your fire is too destructive to use around your fellows?"

"No."

"No? Curious then. You do not think you have control over your fire, nor are you training yourself through the lack of it. And yet, you are in one of the best places to train it." She tilted her head, lips pursed. "May We ask why?"

"It's personal." He ground out, his body still but his narrowed eyes an obvious sign of him wanting to leave.

"Very few things are personal when you are a Pro, young one." She chided softly. "Your quirk will never be one of them." She quieted in contemplation. "Nor will your scar."

Ah, finally he showed overt emotion. His mouth went from frown to snarl in a moment before he collected his emotions again. "Was there a reason reason you called me over, Ma'am?" He almost spat out, barely keeping himself in check.

"Oh, yes. There was, and still is." Revenant replied coolly in the face of Todoroki's hate. "We noticed it as soon as We walked in that classroom, young one. There is a look in your eye, one that We know so well. That look of rage, of hate, of the fact that any determination you have is fueled by those and those alone. It is a look We saw often in the early years of Quirks. Back then, We saw it every time We looked at our reflection. We wished to see if you would be willing to speak to one who has experience in such matters."

"No. Now if that's all."

"Wait." Revenant ordered, her voice suddenly hissing out in a low tone that was dangerous, all softness gone. The wings on her back flared, the bones radiating a dark-red aura of malice and Fear. Todoroki froze in his place, flames and ice licking from his body as sweat formed on his body in an instant. "Listen to this Ancient One, Child. We do not do this out of any ill intent. Cast aside Our advice at the end of the day if you wish, but you would do well to hear Us out to know what you discard."

The most ancient heroine let up on the true power of the Blade Wings, letting Shoto breathe once more as he stumbled back. His eyes were wide, his pupils shrank as his hand twitched upwards but never rose above his chest as he took several calming breaths. "My... apologies." He said, averting his eyes.

He seemed sufficiently chastised now. Maybe he would listen.

"Look at you, young one. Overcome with surprise or fear, and your flames came hither at the cry of your soul. But as you said, you do not have control over them." Revenant sighed. "What happens were you to be startled such while rescuing civilians? Or simply in public? You have talent yes, and power in spades, Todoroki. But from where We can see, you are squandering it in the worst way possible. To never use it is one thing. It is your choice. But to not even train it, to learn to control that instinct to burn all around you..." She trailed off, looking at him sadly. "It has to do with the scar, does it not?"

"...Yes." Todoroki said, finally letting his hand drift up to the scar.

"Hmm~" Revenant hummed, gesturing him to go on. She noted that the blond boy and orange haired girl, two members of class 1-B, were waiting from a distance. Good, at least they had the manners to give space to something obviously private.

"It... My father..." Shoto found himself floundering for once. "I hate him."

"Ah, yes. Your father, Endeavor." Revenant nodded. "A surly sort, harsh and swift to demand obedience from what we have seen. It makes sense that he would cause your scar, he does not strike Us as the family sort." Revenant shook her head in pitious contempt of the man. "Does it bring you pain to use your Fire? Physical or otherwise, it matters not the form it takes, only if it does or not."

"No..." Shoto shook his head. "It doesn't hurt. It... reminds me of everything I hate." He held up his left hand, looking as if he wished to cut it off. "So I refuse to use it in any large way. At most, I will use it to thaw what I have frozen. Never for battle. Never to hurt."

"An admirable moral philosophy, if you were not here to be a hero." Revenant tsked softly in shame. So much potential wasted. What would she tell Izuku, that one of his classmates was too stubborn to listen to even one with two centuries of experience when it came to hatred and vengeance? He would be so despondent, surely. Her Love refused to not see the best in those that he believed could be helped. "There will come a time you can not use your ice, but your fire would help. What will you do then? Will you watch as something you could have prevented comes to pass if you were not so obstinate?" Her voice grew harsh once more. "Listen well, Boy. You'd best rethink if your holding onto that hatred is worth the amount of lives you could have saved, the people you could have helped. Will that hatred be enough to keep you going, after you've realized that you are less for it? Or will you drown in the blood of regret when you look back at all you have squandered to reap your desired ****?"

Her hair was stormy, crackles of thunder and sparks of lightning filling the air with light and sound. This child, yet another who would be lost. Though even if he refused to acknowledge the whole truth of her words, hopefully her breath would not be wasted in preventing him from dragging others down with him when he finally snuffed himself out for eternity.

"Many times have We seen ones such as you, hating with such intensity that all other facts pale before its greatness. Many times, that was Us, in the chaotic quiet of Our own mind as we hunted and hunted and bathed in blood of those who would kill those who wished to hold Civilization together. In Our first century, we let so many that we could have helped perish, so caught up in Our hunting. And to this very day We regret all of it." Revenant stood up to her full height, towering over Shoto as she strode up to him, the Eye of Tenbo catching sight of her Love in flight, quickly deducing he would land close to her. "There are enough people We could have saved to fill a grave the size of Tokyo, and yet We didn't. Because We were too caught up in Ourselves. It is something too great and terrible to come to terms with in a single life, Boy. Do you think you can stand such a burden, Shoto Todoroki?"

He was silent, staring up at her with eyes unyielding. But he was thinking, that was clear, as he'd yet to open his mouth and try to refute her.

Revenant once more sighed, this time at herself. She touched the young man's head, feeling him flinch as she slowly groomed him with a sad look in her eye. Her hair once more calmed, water dripping from it as the thunder and lightning ceased. "Please, young one. Take heed of Our words. Such hate is not to be ashamed of, nor is it something to wrap around your soul like chains that drag you down into your grave that will inevitably be filled with more than just you. We have seen too many people with great potential throw themselves away. This One hopes you will be better than that."

She waited a few minutes, watching Shoto run a gamut of thoughts. It was no surprise to her that rage was chief among them, his teeth gnashing behind closed lips as his eyes warred.

We have spent enough time with this child. We should see what these two would ask of Us, and maybe Izuku if there is time still after class. She thought, turning and striding to meet the trio, one of which was ****.