my-rewrite-academia

[my-rewrite-academia]

Week 23 (Final Exams - Part 1):

Nerves

Final Exams are coming up next week, and the hero students are scrambling in their attempt to figure out what it is. Midterms were just ordinary exams, but U.A. isn't an ordinary school. They have no doubt that it's going to be something big. 

They start training extra long, pushing themselves further. Izuku incorporates his new grappling hook to his costume, and Mei, who volunteers to look after his costume, modifies it even further to turn it into a hookshot of sorts. It's basically a wristband with the grappling hook attachment, making it more subtle and accessible. (See: Ocarina of Time.)

But, while they train a lot, it doesn't make them any less anxious about their upcoming exam. Mei has already been told what it is for the support course – to make the best item they can. Kisai already knows her too – to create a presentation to introduce a theoretical new hero. Some of their new gen-ed friends know theirs too – written exams based on their after-school course they chose at the start of the year.

1-B haven't been told either. The older students have two different stories. The third year had to fight robots, while the second year had to fight one-on-one with each other, like the final game of the Sports Festival. Online forums have a multitude of stories too, some doing a large obstacle course, some fighting sidekicks of pro heroes, and so much more.

In other words: they have no idea what's in store for them.

While they do their best not to, their anxiety does end up affecting their concentration in lessons, (most of them, anyway). All Might takes notice of this, doing his best to assure them that all will be okay. Mic, also, tries to cheer them up, swearing that it won't be as dreadful as they're making it out to be. It will be fair.

Against all odds, it helps. To an extent. It's still nerve-wracking, but they can finally focus on their studies, making sure not to let them drop for the written portion. 

Bakugou is informed that he's now allowed to participate in combat, but that right can be revoked should the situation arise. He agrees, excited beyond belief, but also simpered by the knowledge that he could be stuck with a dummy for the rest of his days if he steps out of line.

-

It's WHAT!?

Saturday comes, their final day before the exams next week, and Aizawa finally comes out with it. (Vlad King, also, finally tells his students too.)

It's all part of his 'ruse', as he says. To make the students wary of the exam by not telling them what it is in advance, and thus gaining a better understanding of how they'd react to a scenario where information is scarce, and how they'd fare with an exam they have little preparation time for. 

Many of the students are spiteful of this, but they can't deny that it is a learning experience. As heroes, they will have to deal with not knowing on a regular basis. If they folded from this amount of pressure, they'd never handle it when they become heroes… Not that it erases the mental burden they'd already been carrying.

Aizawa comes out with it. "It's a civil war." Immediately, they're all listening intently, sweating in their seats. "There are two teams, each of which will be lead by two students: Team A by Yaoyorozu. Team B by Iida." Eyes turn to them, both becoming rigid. It makes sense – they're the class representatives. "You will decide who else in your team amongst yourselves. Each team cannot have more than eleven students."

Both Tenya and Momo begin to take notes, eyeing all the students around them, trying to figure out who to pick and who not to pick.

"Only those in this class are able to compete. Receiving any outside help will result in a disqualification. The goal is to capture the enemy leader, and keep them captive for five minutes. If neither team is able to capture the enemy leader within the time limit of two hours, both teams will lose. You have today and Sunday to decide your teams, and Monday morning to finalise them. The exam will take place after the written one at 10 am, beginning at 1pm."

The class realises exactly what this means. They have to decide whose side they're joining within one and a half days. They have to come up with some sort of plan within that time. They have to fight each other.

Aizawa grins. "By the way… There's a trip coming up the week after your finals. The team that fails… will not be allowed to join." 

Everyone, and I mean everyone, stills. A burning will flames in their hearts. Izuku's hand tightens on his pen. Half of the class won't be able to join the trip. And nobody wants to be the person who lets their team down. 

"Good luck. Work hard."

Or else it's your trip at stake.

-

Team-up!

The dorms are chaotic, both 1-A and 1-B scrambling to form teams. Momo and Tenya are both overwhelmed as their classmates struggle to decide who to team-up with, arguing with each other and hesitating. A poor choice in their team could spell the end for their trip.

(Itsuka and Setsuna, similarly, are being bombarded by their classmates, trying to sort through them and struggling horribly.)

The chaos comes to an end when Momo creates an alarm and blasts it, cutting through the noise. "That is enough! You are all acting unprofessional, and, quite frankly, I have half the mind to not allow anyone to join my team!"

"Agreed!" Tenya says, chopping his arms for emphasis. "We all need to calm down and decide on our own!"

"How?" asks Tsuyu, cocking her head. "We all don't really want to pick a side, kero."

Then Shouto raises his hand. "I want to join the team Midoriya's not on." Izuku is, frankly, insulted. Others are stricken by this too, but Ochako, surprisingly, agrees with Shouto too. 

As if to spit on him, Tenya does too. "This may sound selfish of me, but I, too, wish for Midoriya-kun to join the opposing team." By now, Izuku is practically dead. His closests friends. All wishing to be in a different team. "Please do not misunderstand me, Midoriya-kun!" He peers up, wondering how on Earth it could be a misunderstanding. "I think of you as my rival. It wouldn't do for rivals to team up."

"Me too," Shouto agrees. "I want to beat you. I can't do that if you're my teammate."

Ochako nods. "You're a great friend, Midoriya-kun! But, I really want to beat you."

With that, Shouto and Ochako join Tenya's team. Respecting their wishes and feeling something similar, Izuku joins Momo's team. With Izuku on Momo's team, Bakugou turns to Tenya. "Let me join your team. Please." And maybe it's because he was polite for once, but Tenya agrees, only making Bakugou promise to work together. Bakugou agrees.

Mostly to look after Bakugou and make sure he stays on the right path, Eijirou also joins Tenya's group, Denki and Mina following after him, mostly wanting to keep the group together and fight alongside their friends, not against.

Seeing Mina in Tenya's group, Tooru joins Momo's, excited to have a rematch against Mina. Yuuga also joins Momo's group, reckoning that he could probably work well with Tooru. Hanta joins Momo too, mostly wanting to prove himself against a group with so many powerhouses.

Hearing Hanta's reasoning, Fumikage joins Tenya's group, deciding that it will be interesting to fight against those with the power of light like Yuuga. Kyouka decides to join Momo's group, mostly because she knows that Izuku, at least, is a good strategist. Mashirao, however, joins Tenya's group, believing that he can get his time to shine after his many losses. Agreeing with him, Rikidou joins Tenya.

Tsuyu decides that she wants to challenge herself and joins Momo's group, mostly because she wants to know how she'd hold up against ice-user Shouto and acid-user Mina. Kouji follows after Tsuyu, believing Momo's group could help him realise the full potential of his quirk. Mezou also joins Momo, with the idea that he'll be able to help more in their team.

Minoru is left, and he observes both groups closely. Tenya's group full of powerhouses, or Momo's group with more tricky quirks to work with. He decides to join Momo's group, because maybe they'll help him figure out how to be strong.

With that, both teams have been decided. 

Team A, led by Yaoyorozu Momo, with Aoyama Yuuga, Asui Tsuyu, Hagakure Tooru, Jirou Kyouka, Kouda Kouji, Midoriya Izuku, Mineta Minoru, Sero Hanta, Shouji Mezou.

Team B, led by Iida Tenya, with Ashido Mina, Bakugou Katsuki, Kaminari Denki, Kirishima Eijirou, Ojirou Mashirao, Satou Rikidou, Todoroki Shouto, Tokoyami Fumikage, Uraraka Ochako.

From now on, they are enemies.

-

Confidence

To be honest, Momo is... concerned. She can't do this. She's not the right person for the job. In her opinion, there are other far more equipped for the job.

That's why, when Team A gathers for a meeting, the first thing she does is apologise. She apologises for being their leader, apologises in advance for her poor performance, and claims that she will accept all culpability, as the leader, should they lose.

And, for a moment, nobody speaks. Until Tooru does, "No way!" Tooru expresses that there's a reason Momo was voted as class president, and why they decided to join her group. Of course, Momo is taken aback, but also refutes this, stating that she has nothing compared to Tenya. That she's not cut out for action.

Fumikage, of course, disagrees, stating that Momo had no trouble fighting Tenya in the Sports Festival. Uwabami's words plague Momo's mind, reminding her what she's really good for.

Mezou backs Fumikage and Tooru up. Even if Momo is not as physically capable or weaker than Tenya, she makes up for it with her brain. They joined her team, not because they had no choice, but because they trust her leadership.

Izuku speaks up too, believing that Momo has some of the best potential in their group, the most versatile. If she can't believe in herself, then she can at least believe in her allies.

Momo... thinks about it. She thinks about how she couldn't do much of anything in the USJ, how she lost against Ochako in the Sports Festival, how she learned nothing but a woman's role in the industry in her internship.

She thinks about her friends' words of encouragement. She thinks about the trust they place in her, the honesty in their eyes.

"... Okay," she says. "I'll do my utmost to live up to your expectations! Thank you for trusting in me!"

-

Suspicion Afoot

Mic arrives in Nedzu's office, eyes dark, exhaustion coating his bones.

"I think… I've narrowed it down. To three."

Nedzu pulls out a cup of tea, inviting Mic in. "Come! Enlighten me."

-

Notes:

GASP! A civil war?? Oh my goooosh. Yeah, I decided not to go with the whole 'fighting teachers' thing. Not just because I wouldn't change much from canon, but also because this allows me to give even more students the spotlight

GASP! Bakugou being included?? Oh my goooosh. Bakugou has gone 23 weeks of counselling by now, and he's improved quite a bit. No longer screaming at everyone or insulting them, even being moderately friendly to other courses. He's allowed by now, I think

I love a good friendly rivalry. I will deliver on them. 

Conclusion:

Final Exams are next week

Aizawa tells everyone in advance what the exams are

Momo gets a pep talk

Mic reports to Nedzu, stating that he thinks he's narrowed 'it' down

[my-rewrite-academia]

Holy Trinity & Jouhou Katei:

Warida Shiki

Name: Warida Shiki (meaning 'Calculate', and 'Formula')

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Quirk: Calculator He can instantly process any mathematical equation. He can get overloaded/overwhelmed if the amount of equations increases over one hundred

Year/Course: Year 3, Management, 3-K

Appearance: Shoulder-length, black hair, tied into a ponytail. Wide, dark purple eyes. 171 cm/5'7" in height.

Tsukuru Kizaru

Name: Tsukuru Kizaru (meaning 'Build', and 'Creative')

Age: 18

Gender: Female

Quirk: Torch Her hand can turn into a welding torch. She cannot produce small flames from this. This also increases her heat resistance in her hands.

Year/Course: Year 3, Support, 3-H

Appearance: Pastel purple hair in a pixie-cut. Rounded, golden eyes. 162 cm/5'3" in height.

Shun Keichi

Name: Shun Keichi

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Quirk: Super-Process He can process information at supersonic speeds. It cannot shut off. It's nigh-impossible to overwhelm him with information.

Year/Course: Year 3, General Education, 3-C

Appearance: Slicked-back, silver hair. Sharp, lapiz-blue eyes. 174 cm/5'7" in height. A bit chubby

Jouhou Katei

Name: Jouhou Katei

Age: 16

Gender: Male

Quirk: Psychometry He instantly understands the make-up on any object he touches, but only through at least one of his fingers. As it's always active, he has to wear gloves.

Year/Course: Year 1, Support, 3-G

Appearance: Arctic-blue hair with an undercut. Same coloured-eyes, wide and round. 160 cm/5'2"

-

Reminder: they’re not going to overshadow the MCs, as I personally don’t like major OCs, (with certain exceptions), so if you’re the same way, worry not! They’re here to flesh the school out, and are minor repeating characters.

[my-rewrite-academia]

Week 22:

Holy Trinity

With Summer Break over, students return back to U.A. Izuku is bombarded a lot by his classmates, who were told about his interaction with Tomura in the mall. They all apologise for leaving him alone, and they swear that, from now on, when they hang out, they will always travel in pairs, at the very least. Izuku reveals that he was already questioned by a man by the name of Tsukauchi Naomasa, a detective on the League's case. He didn't have much to say, just Tomura's description and his reaction to Izuku's words.

When lessons kick back in, Aizawa has everyone remember their report of their internships without looking at it. Only a scant few are able to recall it exactly, with Izuku, Tenya, and Shouto omitting their part in Stain's takedown. Most are unable to recall everything, only the most exciting parts, and even then, not all of it. 

Aizawa reveals this to be a test. Many times, heroes will have to revisit past cases, small or otherwise. They have to ensure that they will remember even the smallest details. He explains that in two weeks, they'll have their final exams. After the exams, he'll ask everyone to summarise their own performance and what they remember from it. This, of course, will aid in their situational awareness. He tells his students to not get too caught up in it, else they'll be swept off their feet.

The first two days go on as normal. Many of them are already trying to keep aware of their surroundings, in the event that Aizawa throws a sudden surprise test at them. It doesn't come. Instead, when they arrive in their classroom on the third day, three people are waiting for them, standing by the board.

A boy with black hair, long enough to be tied in the back, and golden eyes, glasses over his eyes, with a thin frame. A girl with purple hair in a pixie-cut, golden eyes, and broad shoulders, sleeves rolled up. A boy with slicked-back silver hair, blue eyes, and a bit of chub on his body. 

When class starts, Aizawa introduces them. Black-haired boy is Warida Shiki, a management student from 3-K. The girl is Tsukuru Kizuna, a support student from 3-H. Silver-haired boy is Shun Keichi, a general education student from 3-C. Together, the three of them are known in U.A. as the 'Holy Trinity', each ranked first in their courses across their year.

They then introduce themselves. Shiki is a very excitable person, cheerfully greeting everyone with a smile on his face. Kizuna is more quiet, simply waving at everyone. Keichi could be mistaken for Keisu's brother, just as energetic as him. In fact, they only stop talking when Kizuna puts both in a chokehold. 

Mina, as much as she sorta likes them, is also confused as to why they're here. When she asks Aizawa, he explains: as far as academics go, they're the best. While the heroics course has their own 'top three', they should be looking up to the Holy Trinity for their education. Shiki is already known within the heroics industry for his top-tier performance in business. Kizuna already sells items to people, and has many companies offering her a contract. Keichi is skilled in many areas and has his own selection of jobs to go into.

They're here to explain the benefits of forming good relations to people in their own respective courses, and why staying away can harm your future as a hero.

Shiki goes first, as 1-A already kind of understands why they need to communicate with the management course, from their experience with their hero names and gearing up for internships. Shiki asks them first why management is important for heroes.

Tenya suggests that the reason heroes are able to gain fame is their publication, which their managers will handle most of the time. Momo adds that they will help them maintain their hero personas in front of the general audience.

Shiki is somewhat impressed, but not completely. He explains that managers also handle jobs by deciding what they call 'raids': a process in which heroes are collected to handle a large group of villains, or incredibly powerful solo-villains. While heroes can decide to join raids of their own volition, their managers are the ones who decide whether or not to inform them of the raids. Managers will also handle communication between other heroes and agencies. They're the ones managing the agency's money, publication, and workers.

It's important to build connections within the management course now, so they can either work with that manager when they become heroes, and because they can learn more about managers to know what to look out for later on.

Kizuna goes next, explaining why building rapport with the support course is important. Most of 1-A already knows the main reason: those support students will be the ones making their items and their costumes in the future. If they have a negative relationship, those items will suddenly go missing, or take longer to make, or break easily. Their costumes won't be up to par, or be made differently from how heroes wish. 

She explains that those in the support course will also work in tandem with managers to create merchandise. That merchandise will help you gain both popularity and money, depending on how successful it is. The more those support creators like you, the more those positive feelings go into the merchandise. 

Keichi goes last, and nobody really knows why the general education course is important to build a relationship with. But Keichi has far more to say than any of them think. He explains that it's true that general education students may go into any career, many of which have nothing to do with heroics. Still, it's good practice to become acquainted with them, at least. Because they are the ones who can and will speak about them in the future.

They will have that power to speak about them in the future, and dictate whether their careers will rise or fall. If they tell the public they were bullies, or looked down on them, that will drag down their reputation. If they tell the public how kind they were, or treated them as equals, that will bring their reputation up. There is no witness like a first-hand one, after all.

It doesn't hurt that, because these general education students can go into a multitude of careers, there is a chance that they've befriended a future CEO, future doctor, future lawyer, future idol, future anything. There is no telling, thus it's important to gain as many connections as they can. Just because they're in general education, it doesn't mean they aren't important.

1-A, however, recalls how many of those who ambushed them after the USJ, who spread rumours about them being 'arrogant' were all in different courses, and their main antagonists were in 1-C. They've built a decent relationship with the management course, specifically 1-J, but, as far as they're aware, the rest of the school still thinks of them as 'arrogant attention-seekers'.

Still, with this new information granted by the Holy Trinity, they find that they should probably work on their relationship.

-

Bad Reputation

Now, with the Holy Trinity's lesson in mind, 1-A begins to reach out to the other courses. They're already friends with their management partners, but they haven't reached out to others. They don't really have a chance to speak with anyone outside of lunch breaks, so that's when they strike. Lunch comes around, and they split away from their usual tables. 

Izuku, Ochako, Tenya, and Shouto sit on a table where Hatsume Mei is, along with a boy with light blue hair and light blue eyes, gloves on his hands. Mei is all for it, introducing the boy as Jouhou Katei, from 1-G. His quirk is psychometry, hence the gloves, and she recruited him into her force after learning about it. 

Now, Katei is initially hesitant, recalling the rumours about 1-A being arrogant, but this is a group full of the most friendly in 1-A, so that idea gets shot down immediately. Izuku is incredibly excited about his quirk, bombarding him with x-many questions, Ochako intervening every so often to calm him down. Mei and Tenya get along well already, with Mei thanking Tenya for advertising her babies and Tenya accepting it with modesty. Shouto is quiet, but once spoken to, he speaks well and politely.

Katei quickly realises that everything he heard from 1-A is a lie, because these four are so friendly, and they're not rude in the slightest.

All around the cafeteria, many students come to this realisation too. Eijirou, Mina, Denki, and Bakugou sitting with a group of general education students, with Bakugou reigning himself in. Kyouka, Fumikage, Mezou, and Tsuyu sitting with some management students, (outside of 1-J), getting along well. Tooru, Mashirao, and Rikidou with some support students, listening intently as they rattle on about their latest reaction. And so much more.

By the end of the day, students from all courses speak about how wrong they were about 1-A, about how they didn't expect the hero course students to interact with other courses outside of lessons. 1-B quickly gain news of this, and they decide that they won't be left behind. The next day, both 1-A and 1-B are hanging out with other courses during lunch.

In his office, Nedzu observes, pleased to see the inter-course mingling. It's been a while since he's seen it on such a scale, and it's heartening to see.

-

Blemished Rogues

In a lone street, a certain lizard mutant stands before five people. All six of them gather for a single reason: Stain. 

"I am Spinner, and I want you guys to join my gang!" Spinner stands before them in a shabby Stain cosplay, grinning widely. "Stain has spoken. There are corrupt heroes out there who have no business in the hero industry! They don't deserve to be in the same profession as All Might. Before, Stain alone took on the burden of staining himself for the sake of a purer world.We shall share that burden for him!" He points. "Introduce yourselves!"

Dabi, Toga Himiko, Twice, Magne, and Mr. Compress introduces themselves one by one, each speaking their own motivations.

Dabi, "I agree with Stain. Fake heroes should be culled."

Himiko, "Well, Stain is like my idol! So cute, spilling all that blood. I wanna follow in his footsteps."

Twice, "Society cast me aside. People like Stain would understand me! Stain is just like them!"

Magne, "The world wronged me, so I'm gonna wrong them. Maybe it'll set them right."

Mr. Compress, "I wish to reveal the fake heroes! Steal from the rich, for their wealth is made from our backs!"

Spinner, of course, loves it all. People who think just like him. Outcasts, people who see the fakes, who want to make a change in this rotten world, who aren't afraid to face reality: heroes won't change unless they get their hands bloody. It's something few are able to truly understand, and he's found people who do.

"Then!" He spreads his hands wide, welcoming. "Welcome to my squad! From here on out, we shall be known as the Blemished Rogues! We will weed out all those fake heroes, aid Stain in his journey, and protect what it means to be a hero!"

-

Notes:

Holy Trinity! Yes! I always felt like it was a big missed opportunity for the Big Three to only be hero students, so I created the Holy Trinity, full of the best students from each course, bringing them all into the spotlight, even for just this post

Making the hero course interact with other students from different courses, and not just one from each? Hell yeah! I fully intend to bring more of the academia into this rewrite

Sorry if you don't like OCs. Then again, that just means this ain't for you. I have more OCs incoming to fill in for roles I felt were missing

Blemished Rogues! Yes! Spinner making his own, separate group. Anyone from the Vanguard Action Squad not mentioned here have joined the LOV. Because Stain called the LOV, I felt this was more than appropriate. (Blemished also means 'Stained', fun fact)

Conclusion:

Students return from their break

The Holy Trinity are introduced

Spinner creates the Blemished Rogues: Dabi, Himiko, Twice, Magne, Mr. Compress

[my-rewrite-academia]

Week 16-21 (Summer Break)

Summer Break

With the internships over, students leave for the summer break right away, only spending the first Monday back in U.A. to report back from internships. For breaks, students are to return to their homes, though exceptions can be made depending on the circumstances.

While there, plans are made. 1-A have two dates planned. One on the first day of summer break, the other a week before it ends. Shouto rejects the first date, already planning to visit his mother for the first time, but they're all free for the last one. Even Bakugou, who Eijirou drags into it. 

Monday ends, and the following Tuesday, everyone meets up at the mall. It's almost exactly like their first hang-out, with the exception of Bakugou now joining in. Bakugou makes an effort to never approach Izuku and mostly sticks with Eijirou and his group. At first, Mina is against Bakugou being there, salty at his appearance – she knows a bully when she sees one. 

However, throughout the day, she sees that Bakugou really is trying, cutting himself off whenever he begins to yell, referring to everyone by their real, family names, and just overall being more docile. Also in their group, Kyouka is the first to reach out, telling Bakugou outright that they don't care if he's angry; they care if he's a dick. Mina breaks next, telling Bakugou that he'll have to do a lot to redeem himself in their eyes, which he acknowledges, but he's not that bad right now.

Bakugou, as much as he refuses to admit it, is touched. And confused. He doesn't get what they mean by his anger being okay, and he has no idea how he's supposed to reform himself. But it's okay. There are people willing to guide him onto a better path.

Now, let's look at the IzuCrew! While Shouto isn't with them, that doesn't stop them from having fun. Ochako finally reveals her Kansai dialect, and Izuku and Tenya take it in stride, Momo admittedly being confused as to why she hid it, and Yuuga goes a step further, stating that being true to herself has made her more beautiful. 

Tenya feels a lot better already. None of them mention the new scars on his and Izuku's arms, and it doesn't matter anyway. They all notice how lighter he looks, smiling far more often and engaging with everyone. He hasn't returned to his previous demeanour, no. He's far less rigid, more open to everyone, and his laughter is heard a lot more.

Momo, on the other hand, is less okay, and they all notice that she's dressed a bit differently than usual. Her normal looks are modest and elegant. This, however, is not that. It's not raunchy, exactly, but she wears it like it's supposed to be exactly that, even winking. Knowing what Tenya nearly did, Izuku questions her about it, but she waves it off as 'experimenting'. Ochako actually defends her, arguing that a girl can wear whatever she wants to wear, Yuuga agreeing and calling Momo stunning. Tenya and Izuku are less sure, but, hey. They don't know how women work, so they leave it. 

Izuku is happy. Over the moon, even. He never used to be able to hang out with anyone but his family, yet he's out here with eighteen other people, having fun, and it's everything he never knew he needed. Sure, he's wanted it. But he didn't think it was a necessity. Now? Now, he can't imagine a life where he never spent time with his friends.

-

Dearest Mother

Let's take our attention over to Shouto, shall we?

He's been planning to visit his mother since the Sports Festival. However, with the dorms, he would have to request a leave, and he really didn't want to bring anyone's attention to the fact that his mother is in a psych ward. Before U.A., the idea of visiting his mother was met with a hard refusal. Not because he hated her or blamed her for anything. But because he was scared.

He had no idea if she would look at him with those eyes, full of fear and hatred, seeing Endeavour more than she saw him. Before the Sports Festival, before Izuku, his scar would ache at the thought of her, a reminder of his father's cruelty. 

(People may assume his scar was from a fire or heat, without taking in the logistics of his fire-side being heat resistant. Ironically, his scar wasn't from the boiling water, but from his mother icing it over. His scar is a freeze burn. Because his mother iced the burn she also inflicted.)

So, yeah. He was scared for the longest time that his mother hated him. That visiting her would only hurt her more. Then one Midoriya Izuku barged into his business and decided it was his business too. And, by God, if he weren't grateful for that. Memories he didn't realise he had, of his mother loving him before Endeavour drove her into insanity, affirming that he could be anyone he wanted to be, all of it came back as Izuku reached out to him.

Now, he walks into Fujitani Hospital, into Rei's room, and he's terrified but it doesn't look so scary anymore.

"… It's been a while." He cringes at his own words. Of all things to say! 

But, Rei turns to him. And she smiles. "Shouto… I've missed you."

The tears sprang to his eyes. He smiles, stepping forth, and she opens her arms, inviting him in. They hold each other close, and Shouto forgot how warm her hugs were, even with her Frost quirk. "I missed you too, okaa-san."

He was terrified. He's not scared anymore.

-

Welcome Home!

Two weeks into the break, the Midoriyas get a very special guest. Now, they already have a guest. Someone who's been taking refuge in the Midoriya household and learning first-hand many things: a parent-child relationship, a pseudo-brother, the ferocity of Inko when they play games, that Izuku inherited his tear ducts from Inko considering the movie nights. 

Yeah, Shouto has been spending more time with the Midoriyas than at his own house. Fuyumi understood why, even encouraging him to spend more time with his friends, and Endeavour can't do much. Shouto went on his volition, and trying to force him to go back would only paint a bad light on him. 

So Shouto has been staying with the Midoriyas, sleeping over often on a futon in Izuku's room. It's new to him, but he likes it. If it pisses off Endeavour, then even better.

Now, like I said before, two weeks into the break, someone special arrives, knock-knock-knocking on the door. That's right: coming all the way from America. The man, the myth, the legend! The one who helped Izuku pick up a katana! It's Midoriya Hisashi! 

He arrives without a word in advance, wishing to keep it a surprise, and boy did he surprise them! Izuku and Inko are both ecstatic, jumping him and crying all the while, Hisashi hugging them back and ignoring his luggage for the moment. Right now, all he cares about is his family.

When the emotions settle down, they introduce Hisashi to Shouto. He works in America, specifically as a data scientist geared towards heroics in the U.S. His job revolves around analysing a multitude of heroes' careers in America as well as support companies. He works freelance, like Inko, but he's so well-known that he doesn't need to be tied down to have a stable income. 

Izuku also reveals that Hisashi used to be a hero known as Salamander, picked because of his fire breathing quirk. Shouto doesn't recognise his name, and Hisashi explains that he wasn't very well known, only to Musutafu. More of a house-hold name than anything else. He doesn't explain why he left heroics, and nobody really asks. 

Hisashi spends time at home, expressing joy for Izuku and how far he's come, and assuring Shouto that their home will always welcome him. He brings a gift for Izuku – a grappling hook. He also makes Izuku swear to learn how to use it with his teacher's there before actually trying it. 

Shouto watches Izuku and Hisashi together, with Inko fawning over them, and he wonders if this is how a family should be. Even though Hisashi doesn't get to see them often, he loves them both dearly, and Inko showers them all with affection, and Izuku is so eager for their love.

Seeing this, Shouto honestly can't wait for his relationship with his mother to improve, and maybe he'll gain a relationship with his siblings too.

-

Hey Brother

Tenya, finally getting the chance to, visits Tensei. He's nervous. Before the internships, he only visited Tensei twice. The first when Tensei was admitted, the second when Tensei was asleep, and Tenya swore to take down Stain for him. Now, he visits, knowing that he nearly crossed a line he could never return from, and Stain's words plaguing him.

There was a reason Stain targeted him. A reason why he called Tensei 'corrupt' and a 'fake'. As much as Tenya looked up to him, as much as hated the idea of it, he had to know. If there truly was a reason Stain went after him, Tenya needed to know. Ignorance is bliss, but it's a hero's job to combat misery.

So, he visits Tensei, nerves at an all time high. His stomach churns when he sees Tensei and the brand on his neck – Stain's personal mark. It's scarred onto Tensei's neck, despite the many quirks that can get rid of scars such as that. Tenya subconsciously touches his neck, wondering if he would have received it had Stain not decided to kill him, (and only fail with Shouto and Izuku's entrance).

It takes a while to get to the question. For the most part, they play catch-up, Tensei expressing that it's nice to see Tenya in a lighter mood, but he also looks so tired. Tenya agrees, and finally asks, "Why did Stain target you?"

Tensei is quiet for a bit, but he sighs. "I was going to tell the public anyway." He gestures to his brand. "There's a reason I didn't get this scar healed." With that, he explains, "I was stupid, in short. I completely forgot the basis of heroics. That is, to save people. I… turned my back away from those who cried for help." 

Just like that, Tenya's word comes crumbling around him.

"There were a lot," Tensei says. "The laws dictate that using your quirk in self-defence more than necessary is illegal, and I followed it blindly. The amount of people who I've turned into villains is… revolting. I can't even remember their faces. All I remember is that they defended themselves and I labelled them a villain for it." 

'That's it,' Tenya thinks, hands clenched into trembling fists on his legs. "The laws…"

"The laws are cruel," Tensei retorts, exhausted. "I understand why they're like that. If you're under attack, you're only allowed to run away. If you harm your attacker, you can only do so in order to run. If you harm them more than necessary, it will be classified as assault. The issue is that, unless you're trained for such situations, people can't control how much they use their quirks when they're panicking. And I called many a villain because of that. All because they were scared."

Tenya shakes. His own brother, the one he looked up the most, punished people for defending themselves. For accidentally going too far when they were scared, unable to control their quirks in their panic. There must have been many who didn't even intend to use their quirks – their bodies attacking before their minds could register what was happening. 

It wasn't fair at all to punish them for being scared, for defending themselves. Yet that is exactly what his brother did. 

"In the end," Tensei continues, cupping his brand, "I'm glad Stain saw straight through me. He opened my eyes when I didn't even realise they were shut. Well, I don't agree with his methods, but somebody needed to call me out. With the state of our society, I can't think of anyone else willing to."

Tenya breaks even more, tears flooding his eyes. Tensei was grateful for Stain's intervention. And Tenya tried to kill him. 

-

Greetings, Hero

Throughout the summer break, many things happen. The Izuku, Ochako, Tenya, and Shouto hang out a lot, with Momo and Yuuga joining from time-to-time. Ochako works for her family a lot, (and she often wonders if Stain would have targeted her for becoming a hero for money). Tenya thinks a whole lot about Stain and his brother. Shouto studies the family dynamics of the Midoriyas. Izuku spends as much time as he can with Hisashi before he goes back to America. 

Then the second 1-A hang-out comes around, this time with Shouto there.

Both Shouto and Momo are taken to try fast food. Shouto is honestly excited to try it, as he's always wanted to try the crap Endeavour banned, while Momo is more tentative, having heard a lot about how 'disgusting' it is. But, with the power of Mina and Tooru combined, they have no choice but to, at least, give it a try.

They love it. They wouldn't eat it regularly, but it was nice to try it. Of course, Momo is appalled when Denki explains that even the healthy options aren't healthy, but it tastes nice, and she liked this minor form of rebellion. Shouto doesn't care either way – he knows that a single meal won't affect his general health, and he can't wait to tell Endeavour that he ate something as unhealthy as fast food.

Yuuga makes everyone go on a fashion trip with him, dressing them up stunningly. He even gets a few of the guys to wear feminine clothing, specifically: Izuku, Denki, Eijirou, and Mezou. They all rock it, with Mezou wearing a rather revealing set that many gush over. Many girls feel like they've lost to them. 

All throughout the dress-up, Minoru keeps his eyes away, even bashing his head at some points to get him to stop getting worked up over Mina in acid-wash shorts, Momo in a spaghetti dress, Tsuyu in a summer dress and– NO! Then the boys come out in skirts and he suddenly realises that he's screwed. He ends up fainting, and wakes up to see Yuuga carrying him bridal-style, wearing a full face of make-up, and he decides that he might just die instead.

The girls are happy to see that he's actually doing his best to control himself. At least he's actually improving. Their intervention did wonders.

There's a merchandise store. It's selling Stain merch. Many of them eye Tenya when they go past it, none ignorant or oblivious enough to point it out. But, Tenya can see them looking, and he waves it off. While he would never understand why people liked Stain, he can now understand why people acknowledge him, even if he is a serial killer. Besides, if even a victim can be grateful for Stain, then Tenya won't deny his impact. Even if he doesn't like Stain or his methods. (There are other ways to call heroes out.)

For a while, they just spend time together, having fun. Then, they all split up, some going to the music store with Kyouka, others to an arcade with Mina and Denki, a few checking out the merchandise store, or buying more school supplies.

In the end, Izuku is alone, holding a few bags, some left behind by Ochako, who left him to find a gift for her parents. He guards the bags, waiting for Ochako to come back. Then a hand snakes around his neck. His first move is to throw the one holding his neck over his shoulder, but then the guy speaks, and he freezes.

"Not so fast, hero." The rasp in his voice, scratchy, sending shivers down his spine, the scar around his wrist stinging, his bones aching from a fight long ago. Even without those hands covering him, Izuku knows who this is. "Hey. Did you miss me?" It's Shigaraki Tomura. "Let's have a chat, shall we?"

Izuku gulps. "And why should I listen to you?" 

"Look around. All these people gathered in one place. Like nothing could ever harm them. Let me ask you: how many people here do you think I can kill before you take me down?" Izuku falls quiet. He doesn't have any weapons on him. Only bags full of clothes, hero merchandise, school supplies, and nothing more. "So… Let's talk, shall we?" 

With Tomura's hand wrapped around his throat, only one pinky away from killing him, Izuku can only agree. They sit on a bench, and Tomura leads the conversation. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"The League were the ones to send Hosu into disarray," he says. "I ordered those Noumu to wreak havoc. Yet all everyone talks about is Stain." As if to mock him, people around them speak about him attacking Native, about his speech to Endeavour, some holding a Stain plushie. Even the NEWS speaks of him. "Why? We did more than Stain that night."

Izuku, for a moment, has half-the-mind to tell him what he wants to hear; just lie and say that people are talking about them. But then he remembers that Tomura is searching for an answer. There's a reason he hasn't just killed him. So, he tells him the truth. 

"Because you don't have a purpose." Tomura hums, and he listens. "I will never agree with Stain's methods. He didn't need to hurt people or kill them to get his point across. But you can't deny that he had a point." It's like ash in his mouth. "There are heroes out there… who use their status for their own personal gain. People are heroes to satisfy their own greed. 

"Native was targeted because he protected a drug ring for its monetary value. Past heroes he's targeted have done bad things. Icy Hero: Frost, beating villains to death, only with mutations. Natural Hero: Ivy, hiring villains to attack for her to take down and hurting civilians in the process. Night Hero: Star, taking bribes from villains to let them go. And many more. They were all corrupt, and nobody knew it until Stain targeted them."

It's exhausting, for Izuku. Recalling all those corrupt heroes, those 'fakes', and knowing he once looked up to them. 

"You attacked the USJ, attacked Hosu, and nobody knows why. We still don't know why you want to kill All Might, or why you attacked Hosu. It's just senseless violence. Nobody knows what you stand for, or what you'll fall for. Until that day comes," he swallows the lump in his throat, "you're nothing more than a group of delinquents."

He looks up, and his spine goes rigid. Tomura smiles, and it's horrifying. His lips dry, splitting from his wide grin, his eyes squinting as his cheeks rise, dark, dark circles running around them. There's light in his eyes, and his hand trembles with this new-found realisation. Izuku sees it and he's terrified. It's wrong, wrong, wrong.

"I see…" Tomura speaks with a low voice, breathy almost. His hand tightens around Izuku's throat, and he struggles against it, breath cutting short. "Senseless violence, huh…? It all makes sense now! None of you, not a single one, gets it… Look! Everyone is having such a good time, like a hero is always going to help them!" 

Tears sting Izuku's eyes as he struggles against Tomura's hold, but he's less scared of dying and more scared of that gleam in Tomura's eyes, psychotic and oh-so-cheerful.

"You know whose fault that is, hero? That's all because of All Might. Always parading around with that annoying smile! Like there wasn't a single person he couldn't save!" Izuku wheezes, and, shit. He's going to die. "It's all bullshit. I'll show them. I'll show the whole world that they should be scared! After all," his hand tightens even more, "you heroes can't save everyone." 

He's dead, Izuku morbidly thinks. He's going to die and then Tomura will kill everyone else and– 

"Who are you?" Ochako approaches, a bag in hand. "You're… not his friend. Let go of him." She's scared too, Izuku realises, then remembers who's holding his neck.

"It's okay!" he yells, panicked more than anything. "I'm fine, Uraraka-chan!"

She steps forward. "No, you're not." She reaches out, eyes darkening. "Oi. I said to let go of him." 

Tomura looks up at her, and he smiles. "Oh, I didn't know he came with a friend!" He lets go of Izuku, and he coughs, choking on it as he finally gets to breathe. "I'll be off, Midoriya." 

"W-Wait!" Izuku calls though his coughs, Ochako keeping him from collapsing. "Shigaraki! What are you planning?"

But Tomura doesn't answer him. He walks on, neck itching, hands twitching. Nobody takes them seriously because they don't understand what he stands for. So, he'll show them. And he'll kill All Might to do it.

-

Notes:

Once again, I did not expect this to be this long! 3.5k words! Whaaat???

Yeah, I finally gave Bakugou a bit more time in the spotlight, and he's finally getting along with his canon friends. Also, look! He's learning! Not quite educated yet, but he'll get there. This time, with Mina and Eijirou there to help

Rei and Shouto finally get to see each other again! Hisashi came back home for a short while! Stain had an actual reason to go after Tensei! 1-A actually having fun for a while! Minoru getting development! Yay!

Tomura and Izuku meeting, and earlier than canon. In canon, it was only after finals, but finals happen later in my rewrite, and as students live in a dorm, this is one of the few chances they'll get to meet. Their discussion is different from canon, as it didn't feel like Tomura really learned anything from it, other than, 'Man. I'm so right about hating All Might'

Conclusion:

Internships are now over, and the students are on Summer Break

Hisashi comes home to congratulate Izuku, and it's revealed he was once a hero

Shouto spends more time with the Midoriya's than at home, and finally visits Rei

Stain's reasons for targeting Tensei are revealed

Tomura meets Izuku

[my-rewrite-academia]

Week 15 (Internships - Part 3)

Present Mic to Bakugou Katsuki

Bakugou, left with default heroes, (staff members), decides to go with Mic, as he's the highest ranked hero of the staff, at Rank 28, apart from All Might, who doesn't do internships. Mic also accepts Neitou and Kyouka. Throughout the internship, Neitou is an elite hater. He doesn't even use words – all he needs is his face. Kyouka, unlike the rest of 1-A minus Eijirou, does not ignore Bakugou. No, she's above that. She has no trouble calling him out for his crap.

They do a lot in Mic's internship. Helping on his radio, patrolling, (though Bakugou is not allowed to fight at all), and greeting fans. Out of the three, Kyouka is the best at speaking, having learned a bit about it from her parents. Neitou is up there, but he gets overwhelmed from time-to-time. Bakugou, of course, is the worst, wearing a scowl and snappy. Mic intervenes a lot for Bakugou, and the others from time-to-time.

A few days go by, half-way through the week, and Mic takes Bakugou aside. 

Now, Bakugou has been improving. He doesn't scream at people or insult them. He keeps his mouth shut. He doesn't hurt anyone… But, otherwise? He's not done much. He's apologised to Thirteen, yeah, but nothing else. After all, he snaps at strangers, and he still wants nothing more than to be strong. 

So, Mic takes Bakugou aside. "Why do you want to be a hero?"

Bakugou is… confused, to say the least. His partner in management asked the same question, and his answer has always been the same. "I wanna be the best. The strongest and the richest. I want the world to know my name!" Back then, his management partner sighed, disappointed. 

Mic does too. He asks Bakugou if he knows why All Might is the number one hero.  Of course, Bakugou says it's because he's the strongest. He's the strongest and coolest hero ever. But Mic rebukes this. He says he's the number one hero, but Endeavour has the most takedowns. There are some heroes who could theoretically destroy All Might in a fight. It was never about his strength.

It's about his heart. Bakugou is confused, of course. Heroes have to be strong. What the hell can 'heart' do without strength to back it up? Mic goes on, explaining that nobody would like All Might if he was a bad actor – if he hurt people or looked down on them. The only reason Endeavour is number two is because of his takedowns. When going by the general public's opinions, it's highly likely Endeavour wouldn't even be in the top ten.

"Right now, from what I've seen, you don't look like the next All Might. You look like the next Endeavour." Mic's not saying this from a hater's perspective – he genuinely wants Bakugou to succeed. And if that means being cruel, then he'll be cruel. 

Bakugou is left reeling for the rest of the internship, silent. Kyouka is so grateful for this and the relief to her ears. Neitou observes him with a critical eye.

Mic, meanwhile, hopes that Bakugou has learned something.

-

Uwabami's Lesson

As in canon, Momo goes to Uwabami. She's the highest ranked hero in her requests, and she's pretty decent in rescue heroics. At least, her popularity must prove this. Because Momo, and Itsuka, do not learn anything about rescue heroics.

It's subtle at first. Uwabami admits that she was interested in them due to their appearances rather than anything else, which hurts, but they'll have to learn how to handle criticism when they become public figures anyway. It's no big deal.

Two days in, and all they've done is get dressed and wave to citizens and the cameras. Momo is in deep denial, of course, insisting to both herself and Itsuka that Uwabami will teach them something worthwhile. She has to. Itsuka is less convinced, managing to convince Momo to do some of their own training via daily duels. 

Time passes by. Four days into the week, and Uwabami has an exciting announcement for Momo and Itsuka! … They get to perform in an advertisement. Momo, who (foolishly) got her hopes up, reasons to herself that maybe this was some sort of test. There's more. There has to be. 

But, the shooting comes and goes, (with a bit of difficulty), and Momo feels so defeated. Itsuka, whose expectations were low since day two, is less distracted. During one of their spars, Momo is unable to react in time to a strike, which she would usually be able to dodge. Kendou's fist hits her face, bruising the cheek, with Momo's teeth cutting her lip.

Which is apparently a massive issue the next day, when Uwabami sees Momo's bruised face. She freaks out, then scolds her and Itsuka for being so reckless. Momo denies this, stating that injuries are inevitable in heroics and she can't be a hero if she's afraid of being hurt.

"It's not the pain, sweetie." Uwabami hovers her fingers over Momo's bruise, frowning deeply. "It's the face." Of course, Momo is confused. Itsuka is too. It wasn't like her face was disfigured or anything. Uwabami sighs. "Tell me, do you really think women can succeed in this business without looking pretty?" 

"I do," Itsuka instantly says, not backing down an inch. "All Might and Endeavour can do it."

"They're men," Uwabami retorts. "The rules are different for women. Name one female hero ranked above a hundred who isn't attractive. I'll wait." Both Momo and Itsuka fell flat. "… Exactly. For us girls, our biggest weapon isn't our quirks or a weapon." She cards her fingers through Momo's hair. "It's our sex appeal." 

Momo… Momo really wants to deny this, but she honestly cannot think of a hero above rank 100 who isn't pretty. With the hesitant exception of Tooru, who has no face to judge, all the girls in the hero course are attractive. As much as she doesn't like it or want to admit it, there is truth to Uwabami's words.

Itsuka is less convinced. Being pretty can't be all there is to it. This can't be the only lesson Uwabami teaches them.

The end of the internship comes. They're taught nothing else. 

-

Fumikage to Hawks

Fumikage is excited, of course, for Hawks' internship. His excitement is dulled, however, by confusion. He didn't progress past the second game, yet Hawks decided to send a request for him? While he wasn't self-conscious or undermining his abilities, he didn't quite understand why Hawks chose him over anyone else. Like, say, Shouto or Ochako – two of the top three in the Festival. 

It's odd, to say the least… But he gets his answer as soon as the internships start. Introductions are done, they have a small conversation about how Fumikage is liking heroics, and then Hawks asks about the USJ. About the creature his teachers fought, and any information he had on the villains who attacked them. It becomes clear, then, that Hawks had no real interest in Fumikage. Just the information he had.

After the 'interrogation' of sorts is done, Hawks doesn't do much of anything, complaining to himself about the distinct lack of information Fumikage had about anything regarding the villains, and they fall into silence shortly after. 

Fumikage does manage to ask why he chose him out of everyone, and Hawks' reasoning is simple. Birds of a feather flock together.

Now, Fumikage may have a bird's head, but that is a secondary mutation that has little to no impact on his actual abilities. Sure, it may give him better eyesight than normal humans, and he has a bird's hearing, but his strength and skills are all his and Dark Shadow's doing. 

Speaking of Dark Shadow, as the first day goes by and Fumikage has learned nothing but to never meet your heroes, Dark Shadow speaks to him. "Make him teach you," he says. "Threaten to make U.A. sever ties with him, or get hurt and sue him for negligence! Anything it takes!" Fumikage is the reasonable one of them and, naturally, rejects going to such lengths.

But when he's half-way through day two and he still has yet to learn anything, he sees the reason in Dark Shadow's words, and follows through. Hawks has no idea, and thus is taken by surprise when Fumikage uses the information Hawks gave him against him.

"It appears that you desire to obtain knowledge of the villains, even taking in a student you know little about just to increase your level of knowledge." Fumikage looks down at Hawks as he sits on his desk. "Our Principal takes matters regarding education quite seriously. As a matter of fact, should I inform him of your refusal to tutor me in any regard…" His eyes darken. "I have no doubt he would cut ties with you." 

Hawks straightens, realising exactly what was at stake. 

Fumikage goes on, "Should I do such a thing, the knowledge you so desperately long for would be out of your reach. Would that not be such a shame, Hawks?" 

And… Hawks folds. "Alright, alright, fine! I guess I could teach you a thing or two!" He sighs, standing up from his chair as Dark Shadow internally celebrates, Fumikage feeling elated that he was finally learning something from the number three hero. "Now, let's see if Dark Shadow can help you fly." 

-

Miruko and Rage

Ochako arrives in Chiba, anxious but prepared for anything. For a while, her mind stays set on Tenya, concerned about his silence, his colder eyes and demeanour. She arrives at Miruko's estate like this, distracted by her friend's turmoil, directed to Miruko's personal dojo, unable to focus on her internship entirely.

That all goes flying out the window as soon as she steps in. A foot comes flying at her, and Ochako has half-a-second to react, pulling her arms up to defend the side of her head. It does nothing, as Miruko's foot slams into her arms and sends her flying to the, (thankfully), padded wall. 

"You're slow, kid!" Miruko charges forth, and Ochako scrambles to her feet, panicking but desperately trying to pretend otherwise, managing to dodge some blows, block others, and completely fail on most. Miruko wears a grin the entire time, taunting Ochako all the way through, not a damn left to give. 

And Ochako is slowly becoming more and more frustrated. She would be a fool to expect Miruko to be nice. After all, Miruko is known for her ruthlessness in battle, never once working with another hero, rejecting any sort of promotion, only rising to fame because others took videos and spoke of her. She's the definition of a lone warrior, and she's not going to drop that for anyone – not even a young student.

Ochako knew Miruko would put her through the wringer, and she was excited for it, but she didn't expect this. Not even an introduction. At least, not a proper one. A foot to the face is no polite greeting. That's not to mention Miruko's aggravating words.

"That all you got!?" "You won that festival like this!?" "You're making me yawn here, kid!"

It gets to a point, and Ochako really cannot hold herself back any longer. So, she doesn't. 

"Shut yer trap!" she yells, finally shifting away from defensive to offensive, throwing her first punch back. "Yer pissin' me off!" Now, if she were in a less tense scenario, she would be mortified at both her words, and her accent slip. Instead, she doesn't give a flying flip, and instead properly engages in the fight.

It doesn't last that long. Maybe ten minutes. By the end of it, Ochako is bruised and sweaty and tired, lying on the dojo floor, while Miruko is completely fine, if a bit sweaty. 

"So…" Miruko leans over Ochako's collapsed body. "You got a Kansai dialect, huh?" Immediately, Ochako realises that she'd slipped up, and she's flustered, denying it, putting on a Tokyo dialect, but Miruko doesn't buy it for a second, laughing at her denial. "Nothing wrong with it, kid."

"Yes, there is," Ochako rebukes, out of breath. "It's not the image I want."

Miruko rolls her eyes. "Please! I'd rather we get another aggressive chick than an 'I can do no wrong!' kinda girl. Gets tiring." She grins, grabbing Ochako's arm and pulling her up. "'Sides, you didn't choose me 'cause you wanted to learn how to be cute. And I sure as hell won't be teaching you that. No, I wanna make you angry." 

Ochako reels back, but Miurko keeps going. 

"That gritty style you used in the Sports Festival, against that Acid Trip girl and the ferocity of your match against the Izanami girl. I wanna see more of that. That's the reason I request you." Her grin is viscous, eyes alight with an odd mix of malice and passion. "All that fear of being brutal? Yeah," she cracks her knuckles, "that's gonna go by the time I'm through with you."

Ochako gulps, nerves high. Nevertheless, she steels herself, accepting Miruko's challenge. "Right!"

Her internship is brutal, but Ochako leaves feeling free.

-

Notes:

Bakugou is slowly getting there. He needs to understand how wrong his mindset is: not just towards Izuku or his fellow classmates, but his perception of heroics. Mic truly cares about his role as a teacher, so I thought he was the perfect person to take Bakugou aside and actually tell him where he was going wrong, rather than just saying he's wrong

I know some people were expecting Uwabami to actually teach them something productive, and I'm sorry to let y'all down, but this is important for Momo's character arc. Also, I do not believe in Uwabami's words. That's what she and an overwhelming majority of women in the industry believe

Now. Fumikage and Hawks. I was not gonna do him dirty. Fumikage has far more self-worth than to let Hawks get away with wasting his internship, and Dark Shadow would never let that slide

Ochako!! My girl is from Mie – she has a Kansai dialect. Sorry, I don't make the rules. Miruko refuses to let the cute 'innocent' heroes become the norm for girls. She sees vicious, she'll make Ochako vicious

Conclusion:

Bakugou gets a lesson from Mic

Momo is told by Uwabami that women in the field have to look the part to be successful 

Fumikage forces Hawks to teach him something

Ochako allows herself to be as violent as she wants in battle thanks to Miruko

[my-rewrite-academia]

Hi! Hello! Where have I been, you ask? I've been in the pits of writer's block. Fear not, however! I discovered that the walls had grooves within, and each one slowly restorted my motivation. Now? Now, I am on the surface, breathing that fresh air, and I have gained inspiration!

Seriously, I went wild. I discovered motivation, like, three days ago, and I wrote so much. As in, on Sunday, I'll post three (technically four, I guess), erm, 'chapters', let's call them, even though they're not what I would call chapters. Parts? Summaries? Whatever you wanna call them, they're coming out.

So, don't worry. This is not being abandoned. Thank you all for your patience, and I'll see you soon! With three (technically four) posts! Just as a little apology for not posting anything for the past couple of weeks.

The first post will be the third, and last, part of the Internships Arc. The second post will be take place in the summer break. It's its own thing, as is the third post. The third post is the first week back in school, with a bit of focus on how other courses interact with the hero course. The (technical) fourth post is an introduction to some minor OCs.

Again, thank you for your patience, and I'll see you on Sunday!

[my-rewrite-academia]

How did you decide (out of universe) on the hero names for 1-A? Working on my own little universe/sandbox has got me curious.

Hello!

-

I first look at their quirks and character traits. For example, let's look at Satou Rikidou. In canon, he goes by 'Sugarman', which honestly came off to me as lazy and unoriginal. I mean, Horikoshi just personified him by his quirk.

Rikidou, in MRA, goes by the Sweet Hero: Fornax. Fornax is the divine personification of the oven. In Ancient Roman times, people would pray to Fornax for aid. Like a hero. Now, Fornax is a goddess, but the name is ambiguous enough to be male too.

In canon, Mina's hero name was the Ridley Hero: Alien Queen. I didn't understand why she went by 'Ridley Hero', considering Ridley does not look anything like her, and Ridley's (from Metroid) are sadistic, which Mina is not. I went, instead, with 'Alien Hero: Acid Trip', keeping the alien identity, while keeping in mind her acid quirk, and relating it to her bubbly personality.

Something that I kept in mind was how effective it would be in battle. The biggest issue I had with Yuuga's name was how long and inconvenient it would be in the field. Spotlight is short, memorable, convenient, and keeps the subtle foreshadowing.

Really, I went through a lot of names. I wasn't originally going to change Momo's name, as Creati is both cute and effective, but I wanted to ephasise how capable both her and her quirk is.

Minoru's was, really, the hardest one to change. I've mentioned this in a previous post, but one of the names I wanted to give him was 'Grapist', but I thought it was a bit too far, especially since he's already had his intervention by then.

It was hard to find a non-perverted name. I mean, his quirk is literally just sticky balls. Haha, Horikoshi, so funny. In the end, I did find inspiration from other people, especially on reddit threads, (actually useful for once), and fics that redeem Minoru rather than bash him or remove his existence.

All in all: keep in mind character traits, the quirks, and its usability in battle.

-

Thanks for the ask!

[my-rewrite-academia]

In your rewrite, will the villains from the movies appear? Like Nine, he's a pretty interesting antagonist, plus he actually ended up being what Tomura was supposed to be.

Hello!

-

I, for one, love Nine. Well, not love, but he's easily the best written antagonist in MHA, which says a lot, considering he exists only in the movies.

So, yes, movie villains and movie characters will be included. I have plans for David and Melissa, currently working on somehow getting Rody Soul, and Nine is a definite... as long as I figure out where and how to include him.

Tomura and the League of Villains will still be the main antagonists, but the movie villains (some of them) will make an appearance.

-

Thanks for the ask!

[my-rewrite-academia]

Are there some rules in your writing process to decide wich character will be stronger or do they just use luck and KyouBrainMagic? Since quirks don't play a big role in who wins in your story and i don't get why the invisible girl just wins all the time. Thank goodness we don't see her much in the actual story(haha get it? Cuz she invisible)

It's kinda like, "Izuku is so great and helpful and great and awesome! Look at him beating mega-quirk student! Isn't he so incredible! He's proving to us anyone can be a hero!" It's better than what we got in the actual story wich is just Izuku being belittled at every action but it gets a bit repetitive and predictable i guess. It ain't showing anything new apart from "great superpowers≠practice"

Hello!

-

Short answer: yes!

Long answer: there's been a lot building up to justify why Tooru wins a lot. First of all, in the Q.A.T., instead of it being ironically biased towards strong, flashy quirks, the students do a physical exam entirely quirkless. Tooru gets second place because I made her far buffer for this rewrite.

In Week Two, she is one of the few (Izuku, Momo, Shouto, Tooru, Rikidou, and Mashirao) who understands the value of combat outside of quirks, because, before Izuku analysed her quirk, she believed she was only invisible, so she made up for that by improving her muscles and combatitive ability.

This post explains why she's buff and a good fighter. This post also explains that Tooru is as muscular as Izuku, though people obviously can't see this due to her being, you know, invisible.

Her quirk analysis also explains why she's good match-up against most people. She beats Shouto because she can manipulate energy/radiation. In other words, she can melt his ice. Now, if Shouto didn't go straight for the kill, he would have beaten her, simply by pushing her away with the ice rather than trapping her. But, because he trapped her, she was able to melt the ice by manipulating the thermal energy and take him down while he let his guard down. Shouto was overconfident, that's all.

In the King of the Hill game, she doesn't beat Shouto. She pushes back against his ice and directs his attention towards her, but that's it. Against Mina, she bluffed her way into making Mina attack the way she wanted. Mina's acid would burn her, but Tooru made it sound like it wouldn't, so Mina didn't bother trying.

In the One-on-Ones, she beats Itsuka by using her stealth and gaining the advantage. She could see Itsuka, but Itsuka could not see her. Then she loses to Izuku.

Tooru does not keep winning, and I do try to keep battles logical while also subverting expectations - again, in a logical manner.

Mina beats Ibara by melting through her vines. Ochako beats Shouto by making his ice collapse in on itself, and Shouto can't bring himself to use his fire, because trauma isn't so easily beaten. Izuku beats Tooru by taking her by surprise, with gravity on his side.

And Izuku loses too.

He lost to Tomura when he broke into U.A., and he couldn't fight back against a nameless villain in the USJ. He couldn't do anything to the Noumu. He loses to Shouto, and then loses to Koujirou. If he was alone, he wouldn't have stood a fighting chance against Stain.

And I do not intend to make Izuku the greatest, strongest hero who can overcome any enemy ever. That's not the point of this rewrite or his character.

He doesn't win because he works harder than anyone else. His intelligence doesn't make him better, it gives him a platform to stand on. In fact, he doesn't win all that often. Yeah, he won against Momo back in Week 2, but he also then lost to Mashirao afterwards. He didn't even get in the top three in the Labrynthe. His team comes fourth place in the King of the Hill. He doesn't stand on the podium in the Sports Festival. Let's remember that he only landed one hit on Stain and was paralysed twice during the fight.

I know that not everyone who works hard succeeds, but I also believe that everyone who succeeds works hard. This rewrite isn't even a quarter of the way through, and there will be plenty of moments in the future where Izuku loses badly or messes up big-time. Times where he's in over his head and pays the price for it.

Izuku has only won five times. He got first place in the Entrance Exam, and that was only because the exam was reworked to favour heart over brawn. He won against Momo in a sword fight. He won against Hitoshi and Tooru in the Sports Festival, neither of whom have a super strong quirk. He won against Stain, but only because he was backed by Shouto and Tenya, and Stain was in rush to kill them and leave before more heroes got there.

In 23 plot-focused posts, Izuku has won 5 times. Out of 13 fights, he's won 5. He's lost 8 times. I don't think that's out of line at all, especially considering the people he won against. His wins were against people whose quirks weren't traditionally powerful, like Shouto or Bakugou.

Luck will always take place, no matter the moment. But it also takes skill to take that luck and turn it into opportunity. That's exactly what Izuku does, and what many other characters do. Like Mina metling Ibara's vines, or Mina believing Tooru's bluff, or Eijirou being better at hand-to-hand combat than Tetsutetsu because people more skilled than him at it happen to be in his class.

I'm sorry if it feels repetitive, but I do think carefully about who should win fights and how they can in the first place.

-

Thanks for the ask!

[my-rewrite-academia]

15 weeks has passed in-universe, congrats! Now on to my question, how has the impressions 1-A and the UA Staff had of Izuku changed since the beginning of school? Feel free to do a "then vs now" format if would be easier for you.

Hello!

-

First all, thanks! It took a while, but we're here now.

I usually get this ask the opposite way around, so this is quite interesting. I'll seperate it by groups and/or individuals.

First of all, we have Ochako, Tenya, Eijirou, and Mina. They're the ones who immediately liked Izuku. Tenya had a somewhat rocky start because of the entrance exam, but he quickly changed his perception of Izuku during it too. The four of them have always liked Izuku, believed that he could become a hero, and they've just been proven right again and again.

Then we have Momo, Kyouka, Mashirao, and Denki. People who didn't have any strong feelings one way or the other about Izuku. Throughout U.A. they've become closer with Izuku one way or the other, and now deeply respect him. Momo from mostly the Sports Festival, Kyouka and Mashirao from the USJ, and Denki from his analysis.

Then there's Aizawa. He didn't really believed Izuku would last as long as he has - after all, it was hard with a quirk so it must be even harder without a quirk. However, Izuku has proved himself capable, getting further than Aizawa expected of him. He can now see Izuku becoming a quirkless hero, though he's not quite, hm, respectful about it. Though, he's just an all-round hardass anyway.

Shouto is a category in and of itself. He just didn't care about Izuku. Didn't think he was useless, but also didn't think he was worth keeping an eye on. It's not until the Sports Festival that he starts taking Izuku more seriously. Then, of course, Izuku saves him. Changes his entire life. At this point, he considers Izuku both his saviour and his closest companion. A friend, if you will.

Mic has always believed in Izuku. Not because of anything grand, but because he just believes. To Mic, there's nothing more admirable than chasing after your dreams despite your limitations, and Izuku is a prime example of that. He cheers Izuku on, and he always will.

Now, All Might. I'll consider this from the start of school, so by that measure, All Might has respected Izuku's dream since the beginning, and considers him a great hero already. Even after he lost to Tomura, was hurt in the USJ, lost to Shouto, he believes that Izuku will become a great hero.

Finally, we have Bakugou. Bakugou's feelings are... complicated, to say the least. He utterly despised Izuku at the start. He believed Izuku was looking down on him, and, somewhere inside, he knew that Izuku was stronger than him and that scared him. As of right now, he himself has no idea how he feels about Izuku. If he hates him or if it's something else entirely. Bakugou, right now, is confused.

-

Thanks for the ask!

[my-rewrite-academia]

If you could, how would you make your story if it were a game? Like how would you explore the characters and the world if MRA was a game? Would your game be like Persona?

Hello!

-

Oh, this an interesting question. Fun fact about me: I did Games Art and Design in college! English college, so that's typically 16-18, for anywhere that calls University 'College'. So, I guess a know a few things about game design.

Now, there are two routes one can go with this. A: creating a game based upon MRA, or B: creating a game using the story. Option A would be a game like Hogwarts Legacy, while Option B would be like the AOT games, where you play out the story's events.

I'm going to assume that you meant Option B, as Option A wouldn't really make sense for this blog.

In the daily life, yes, it would perform like Persona games, wherein the player controls Izuku, and you can unlock what would be called 'Allies', to fit with the hero aspect.

Each 'ally' would have ten rankings, and it's up to the player to decide which ally to rank first. Of course, many would be locked until certain story points, such as Shouto being locked until after the Sports Festival, and Bakugou being locked until far later. I can also imagine Tenya's rank being halted during the Internships.

Outside of ranking up allies, you can increase stats by doing various tasks. Going to the gym would increase HP and strength. Going to the track field would increase accuracy/evasion and movement. Inviting allies to train with you would increase defence.

I imagine the Support Course acting as your shop, of sorts. Getting some sort of credit system, allowing you to gain better armour and equipment.

As for battle, it would be a mix of RTS, (Real-Time Strategy), and Dynamic Combat. This would reflect on how Izuku uses his intelligence in fights, and how thrilling hero fights are. Confused? Let me explain.

You would have a max of six characters to choose from. You can move these characters around a board, so long as it matches their allowed movement - like the Fire Emblem games. When your characters match up against enemies, you would then take control of that character in a Dynamic Combat fight - see: Tears of the Kingdom or God of War.

It would have a bad, a good. and a true ending, though it wouldn't be a choice-based game.

-

Thanks for the ask!

[my-rewrite-academia]

do you have any facts for Shinsou and Mei

Hello!

-

This has been sitting in my inbox for a while - my apologies. Anyway! Let's get to the facts!

Shinsou Hitoshi:

Mega rich. As in, Momo amounts of richness. Nobody expects it, and he keeps it quiet

Has insomnia as a by-product of his mother's quirk, which makes it so that she doesn't sleep. Unlike his mother, who gain energy the more she doesn't sleep, Shinsou gains no advantage

Used to get bullied in pre-school, before his parents pulled him out and sent him to a private school where he escaped all the bullying

Since Mina, Denki, Izuku, then Aizawa called him out, he's been working out in the gyms

Hastume Mei

Used to want to be a hero, but her passion for creating overtook her honestly small desire for heroism

Buff as hell. She rarely works out, and it's only really to aid in her creation

Currently creating plans to steal Momo after seeing her quirk in the Sports Festival

Always keeps a stack of business cards just in case

In middle school, she used to get bullied for being a 'freak'. She put an end to it after creating a mini bomb and threatening to use it against her bullies

-

Thanks for the ask!

[my-rewrite-academia]

piggybacking off of the previous anon's ask, how do you start re-writing in the first place? how can you tell if there's gaps in plot or missing information/information that doesn't correlate? I've always been so interested in people who re-write things and wanted to know how you start to do this?

Hello!

-

Hm, this is strange. Not the question, of course, but my answer. I can't speak for everyone, but when it comes to rewriting stuff, there's only two reasons, for me:

One; I find the world and characters interesting.

Two; I find the world and characters lacking.

For 'One's case, I want to rewrite the story, not because I was disappointed with what we were given, but because I'm greedy and want even more. If the geographical world building is amazing, then I'd want to see that translated into the historical world building, and vice versa. Maybe it's not necessary for the story, but I find myself wondering even more.

More often than not, the first case leads to a regular fanfiction, rather than all-out rewrite. After all, if I tried to do a rewrite where I'm satisfied with mostly everything, it's more of a novellisation than anything else. So, a fanfic does me just fine in those cases.

Now, for 'Two's case, it's a bit more complicated, and it's the reason I decided to rewrite MHA. Both the world building and the characters, in my opinion, were lacking. Geography-wise, we have no idea how countries outside of Japan function with quirks and heroics. History-wise, we only know about All for One and the birth of quirks. No idea what happened after quirks were discovered, just that it led to the present in canon.

When it comes to deciding what I want to rewrite, I sit on it for a while, figuring out if I could actually do something with what I'm presented with, if I could really handle anything or anyone better than canon did.

With MHA, the answer is easy. Because it's easy to handle a character better when that character barely exists in canon material. Most of 1-A are placeholders, so I knew that I could make them more interesting by giving them an actual arc.

how can you tell if there's gaps in plot or missing information/information that doesn't correlate?

This is more of byproduct of reading something critically, rather than out of enjoyment. This isn't for everyone, of course. Many people dislike reading fiction critically, as it may take the enjoyment out of it. For people like me, however, I actually enjoy looking at stuff critically. Acknowledging the faults in something, after all, doesn't mean I can't enjoy it.

Plot holes aren't as damning as some may paint them to be. Stuff like a character saying they hate coconut in an early chapter, but enjoying it in a later one isn't a deal breaker. I can look past that, as it's nothing big.

For example, in Race to the Edge, Tuffnut says and hears 'tears' many times, but it's revealed in a later episode that he can't hear 'tears' without crying. In later episodes, this is forgotten once more. This is, of course, a continuity error, but it's minor enough to be forgiven.

There actually aren't too many plot holes in MHA, but there are a lot of plot contrivances. For those who don't know, a plot hole is defined as a gap or inconsistency in a storyline which contradicts the established logic within the world. A plot contrivance is when plot points are forced or artificial in nature.

Using MHA as an example, a plot hole would be how Shouto uses his quirks simultaneously during the Sports Festival, but is later revealed to be unable to do so.

MHA is full of plot contrivances: Tooru getting into U.A. (the off-switches are not canon), Minoru staying in U.A., nobody having an issue with Bakugou post-USJ, Nighteye's death, Bakugou's apology, Iron Might, and so on.

These are all plot contrivances, as they're forced into the story. There is no explanation as to why Tooru got into U.A., why Minoru hasn't been punished for sexual harrassment, why Bakugou isn't hated by his peers, why Nighteye was forgiven in his death, why Bakugou's apology did anything for Izuku, why Iron Might had to happen, and so on.

These make up most of the issues with MHA, when looking at it with a critical eye. There's also the fact that Horikoshi just... didn't do anything with much of what he had.

Horikoshi is good at a lot of things. His art is amazing, his foreshadowing is great, his build-up is great, his designs are... mostly good. But he also sucks at a lot of things.

The world of MHA is very interesting, but it's never really drawn upon. We don't know much about heroics as a career and lifestyle works. Did the MLA actually have a point? How do quirks affect lifestyles other than heroics? How has society progressed with quirks?

There's a lot of unanswered questions in MHA, which is a large reason why I wanted to rewrite it. To create answers to those with my own hands - Horikoshi certainly wasn't going to give them.

-

Thanks for the ask!

[my-rewrite-academia]

Week 15 (Internships - Part 2)

Mount Lady

Izuku leaves in the early morning to get to Toyama from Musutafu, where Mount Lady is located. He goes in his casual clothing, with his hero costume in his backpack. As he waits on the train, he messages the class group chat, which Shouto finally joined before the Internships started. It's just over two hours to get there, so he has a lot of time.

While many of his classmates respond, he notices that Tenya is online but doesn't respond to anything, even when he usually would. Such as Denki or Mina jokingly saying they'd do something dangerous, or the banter between others. Tenya would usually reprimand Denki or Mina, or step in if he thought someone was going too far with their banter. He doesn't.

Izuku messages him, asking if he's okay. He gets no response. Ochako and Izuku text each other about it, as she is also ghosted by him. In the end, they can't do anything but worry about Tenya's state of mind, as Ochako arrives in Chiba and Izuku waits to arrive in Toyama. 

Two hours pass, and Izuku leaves the train. Mount Lady, during her twelve months of being active, never really associated with any hero agency, though she isn't an independent hero, like Miruko is. She often collaborates with other heroes, and gets along well with them, from what she's shown in interviews and in the public eye. That being said, it isn't really surprising that she has Izuku show up to, not an establishment or a dojo, but to her living quarters - a modest house with two bedrooms and two floors. 

He knocks, waits, knocks again, waits, and it's on the third knock that the door is finally answered. Mount Lady opens the door, curses under her breath, having forgotten that today was the day of the internships, and invites an honestly somewhat confused Izuku inside. She's also not wearing her costume, dressed in pyjamas. It's a bit concerning.

Mount Lady yawns, asking Izuku to make her some tea. Still confused and, well, underwhelmed, Izuku makes the tea almost mindlessly, wondering if this is some sort of test. He gives the tea, sits down, and waits. As he does, he looks around.

Her house is a mess. No other way to put it. Laundry is thrown all over the place, a small stack of plates in the sink and on the table, rubbish all over the floor and around the full bin. The shoe shelf by the entrance is a mess, and there's muddy footprints on the floorboards. Mount Lady herself is a mess, her eyes baggy, hair all over the place, and he's pretty sure he can see bruises underneath her clothes. 

It's a mess. Plain and simple. 

After minutes pass of nothing but Mount Lady sipping tea, Izuku finally asks, "Why did you request me?" 

Mount Lady shrugs. "I felt like it."

"Not many people would request the quirkless kid on a whim, regardless of placement."

"They haven't seen you in proper action," she shoots back, smiling behind her cup. Izuku jumps. She reveals that she still remembers him from the Sludge Villain incident. Despite how she scolded him back then, she was grateful all the same that he pointed out such an obvious flaw in her battle tactics. Even if he didn't mean to, he made her realise that she was relying on her quirk way too much, just by telling her to shrink down. "You're smart. Makes me wonder what else you could make me realise."

Izuku is not-so-quietly freaking out about this. That he made such an impact on a hero he met just once. Plus, he's not that smart. He's just weird, and notices all those small details. It's not being smart, it's just being a creep. He says as much and Mount Lady sighs, before tapping the top of his head with her cup.

"You calling me an idiot?"

"N-No! I would never–" 

"'Cause it would have taken me a lot longer to realise that I didn't need to rely on my quirk to fight." Izuku pauses. Mount Lady continues, "Your self-confidence is shit, kid. You gotta work on that." Izuku falls quiet again, head bowing down. He knows. He knows he isn't exactly confident, even if he has his moments. But it isn't as easy as telling himself he's worth it. 

Mount Lady knows this too, and instead changes the topic. She acknowledges this is a pretty awkward setting, then introduces herself. Mount Lady; her real name is Takeyama Yuu. She isn't exactly sure how internships really work, but she'll start by taking Izuku out patrolling with her, finding a spare set of communicators for Izuku. It's an earphone. A tap to the earphone opens the line, another tap closes it. Izuku wears it, and follows Mount Lady out.

The patrol is more bland than Izuku thought it would be. The first hour has them doing little-to-nothing, apart from interacting with a few fans. Selfies are taken, and Izuku avoids saying his hero name for the most part. The first crime is two hours in, and they come across a guy who snatches a purse.

Mount Lady rushes after him, while Izuku really only tags along for observation. The guy has a smoke quirk, (we'll call him 'Smokey'), and Izuku notices how he can't control the direction of the smoke, and the smoke makes many civilians cough. The closer they get to Smokey, the more affected they are, some even falling to the ground.

He opens the comms and tells Mount Lady this, theorising that disturbing the windflow will disrupt Smokey's quirk. Mount Lady hesitates for a moment, but ultimately takes his advice, growing somewhat bigger and using her now-enlarged hands to fan the smoke away. She then tells Izuku to get a hit on Smokey while she gets rid of the smoke.

Izuku, flustered and excited, does as told, rushing in faster and slamming his sheathe into Smokey's gut. Mount Lady uses the chance to jump in and deliver the final hit, rendering Smokey unconscious. They wait for the police to arrive, Mount Lady greeting fans and Izuku trying to hide away from the attention. 

After everything is cleared up, Smokey is arrested, and the purse is returned, Mount Lady and Izuku manage to escape the crowd and find refuge in a fast food place, where they spend about twenty minutes on break, before returning to patrolling around. Mount Lady explains that interns can only join in battle if their 'teacher', so to speak, is present and has given permission.

They stop three other minor crimes, and the patrol is over after six hours and a short, twenty minute break every two hours. 

They return to Mount Lady's house, and they're both exhausted. Izuku's legs hurt after all that walking, and his muscles ache from the four short chase-fights they'd been in. Mount Lady gives Izuku permission to crash on her couch, tells him to grab anything from the fridge if he's hungry, and goes to her room to take a nap before her night patrol. 

Izuku wants to take her up on that offer, but the couch is as messy as everything else. He thinks about how tiring just one patrol was, and how there was another patrol to come later on. To his research, Mount Lady doesn't take days-off. Maybe she'll skip morning or night patrol, but she's busy doing other things, such as interviews, marketing, ads, photoshoots. 

As he sits on the couch, taking in the dirty house around him, he thinks about how naive he is. He's always known that heroics wasn't an easy career, but he never really thought about how it would affect his private life, aside from being recognised in public. He's never thought about how hard it would be to take care of yourself and your home with how tiring just a mostly-uneventful patrol is. 

Messages ping on his phone – from his friends, probably. But he keeps staring at the mess around him, thinking about how Mount Lady lives like this because she can't bring herself to be any cleaner, thinking about how tired he is and how tired she must be, and he thinks about how he wants to be a hero to help and save people.

So, he goes to Mount Lady's closet, finds cleaning supplies, and decides that he can forgo a nap if it means he can help her.

Mount Lady wakes up three hours later, around six in the afternoon, to a clean house and a passed-out Izuku on her couch. It's the first time her house has been clean in months. The sight alone nearly makes her cry, but she stomps it down, and instead decides that she'll treat the kid with her very own, (pretty decent), cooking.

-

To Hosu!

Night patrol came with two more crimes than in the morning. Mount Lady explains that crimes happen more during the night, and it's also when Underground Heroes tend to work the most. Limelight Heroes work the night too, but mostly in the busy areas and without any subtlety. 

Day two comes around. Morning patrol for Mount Lady and Izuku goes pretty much the same as the previous morning patrol. They run across a few crimes, Izuku gives his analysis and advice, and Mount Lady deals with the threat. Once again, Izuku manages to keep his hero name a secret, especially as people are far more invested in Mount Lady than a kid they've never seen before. 

Back in her home, Mount Lady and Izuku take a short nap, and Izuku wakes up first. With nothing much to do, he pays back Mount Lady by cooking a small meal, with the TV on in the background. As he cooks, he hears the NEWS speak of Stain. 

Stain, true to his title, always leaves his mark, branding the heroes he targets with two, intersecting blades. More often than not, he leaves his victims alive. The first time, anyway. After a few months, the heroes he brands either retire, admit to a big scandal, or they're killed. The method of death always ends up being blood loss, via sharp weapons. Though, there have been cases in which they die from blunt trauma or shock. Either way, each of his victims have two gashes on their torso, like an ×. 

As the NEWS plays, Mount Lady wakes up after smelling the food cooking, and walks in as Izuku begins to mutter, hands moving unconsciously as he cooks. He mumbles about Stain's patterns, how he tends to mark or kill three heroes per prefecture, then moves onto the next one, again and again, until he circles back around to kill or confirm his victim's actions. In Hosu, he's only marked two. There's a high likelihood he'll return to claim two other victims, or to kill one. And, if he recalls correctly, the hero Native had been marked by Stain three months ago, and he patrols in Hosu. 

Mount Lady approaches Izuku from behind and interrupts his mumbling with, "Then, I know where we're patrolling tonight!" 

Izuku shrieks and nearly turns around to hit her, but she easily catches his arm. She smiles, leans in, and says, "While we're on the train, you should tell me more about your Stain theories."

"T-Train?" 

"Yup! We're going to Hosu!"

"… Huh!?"

-

Conflicting Ideologies

As in canon, Stain is brought to the League. He's stalking Native when it happens, thinking to himself about how it's heroes like him that bring a bad name to heroism. As he watches Native leave his agency, a purple portal appears beneath him, and he lands in the bar. 

His first instinct is to attack. Kurogiri attempts to protect Tomura, but Stain notices the metal brace and figures out there's a body underneath the purple fog. Aiming for the arm, Stain manages to cut Kurogiri and paralyses him in an instant. Tomura lunges out, and Stain dodges his arm, stabbing his shoulder with his katana and pinning Tomura to the ground, paralysing him for good measure.

"Why did you bring me here?" Stain asks, and Tomura snickers despite how his shoulder hurts.

"I want you to join us, Stain," he says, with much difficulty considering he's mostly paralysed. He says that he also wants to kill heroes, that they were the ones to break into U.A., and he wants Stain to join their cause.

In response, Stain asks what the cause is. Tomura repeats himself, confused, because he just said it, didn't he? But Stain only pushes his sword in more, ignoring how Kurogiri calls out for Tomura. "You misunderstand and underestimate my goal. I do not wish to kill heroes. I wish to rid heroism of the corruption it holds. If killing those fakes is what it takes, then that is what I'll do. So, I ask you once more. What is your cause, Shigaraki Tomura?" 

Tomura's eyes are wide, crazed. "I want to destroy what I hate. The hero system that hurts people like me. The earnest heroism that makes me sick." He grins. "I want to kill All Might."

Stain reacts instantly, grabbing a knife and pointing the tip at Tomura's neck. "Then, we shall never see eye-to-eye. All Might is one of the only true heroes in this wretched society!" He pushes the blade into Tomura's neck, making him hiss. Kurogiri calls out to him. As Stain begins to carve, the symbol many corrupt heroes wear or wore, Tomura's hand comes up, grabbing Stain's knife and decaying it.

He can move. 

Stain is taken back, realising that Tomura must be a type O, and is taken aback once more when Tomura grabs his wrist. Stain reacts quickly enough, ripping his arm out of his grip, pulling his katana out of Tomura's shoulder, and backs away, prepared to fight.

But, Tomura grabs onto his bleeding shoulder, and only tells Kurogiri to send Stain back. Stain tells Tomura that his cause is pathetic and ultimately worthless, spotting images of Izuku and All Might on the bar table, before Kurogiri finally regains his mobility and sends Stain away. Back to Native's agency. Stain moves, intent on finding Native once more.

In the bar, Tomura asks 'Sensei' if his toys are ready. They are. 

-

Hero Killer: Stain

Tenya goes to Manual's agency. Manual knows, okay? He knows that Stain always targets three people before moving on, and he's only gotten two people. One of which was Ingenium, Tenya's older brother. It's not a reach at all to recognise that Tenya chose him, out of many, because he's based in Hosu. He tells Tenya that revenge clouds judgement, and it will only harm him in the long run. Faced by this, Tenya agrees, but his eyes tell a different story, full of rage. And Manual can't save a person who doesn't want to be saved, so he can only keep an eye on him. 

They patrol, morning turning to night. As the sky turns dark, several things happen at once.

Fire erupts to the East, people screaming as they evacuate. Large, hulking monsters drop from purple portals, at several locations. Heroes in the area rush to fight off the threat. Endeavour, too, is there, and Shouto is with him. Using his fire. Finally, Tenya disappears. 

On the train to Hosu, where Mount Lady and Izuku are, a flying beast appears, breaking through the train. Mount Lady reacts instantly, tackling the beast out and growing to fight it. Izuku recognises it as a Noumu – different from the one in the USJ, but terrifying all the same. He has no idea if it has the same quirks as the USJ Noumu, but he lists them off to Mount Lady anyway, leaping out of the train as it comes to a stop, using whatever he can to scale down safely. 

Izuku realises that Tenya's gone after Stain. He needs help, and Izuku decides he will be Tenya's help, but not before telling Mount Lady to go for the exposed brain. 

In the centre, Izuku arrives, just as Manual appears, yelling out for 'Iida'. It takes a moment. Maybe two.

He pieces it together: Tenya's odd silence, his cold, angry eyes, his odd choice of internship, his attitude, his behaviour. It was something he didn't want to think about, but with Tenya's suspicious absence, he can't avoid it any longer. Tenya's after Stain. And Izuku won't let him go through this alone. 

He turns around, scaling to the rooftops for a better view, mind rushing, calculating Stain's patterns, where the heroes branded or killed were found, comparing it to a mental map of Hosu's streets. There are only three streets as narrow as the ones his previous victims were found, and two of them are by the big fight – something Stain would avoid due to the attention and people there. Location found. Now, he can only hope he gets there in time.

-

A few minutes prior, Tenya came to the same conclusion, having spent the past week researching Stain's patterns thoroughly. With his speed quirk and the distraction provided by the Noumu's, Tenya finds Stain with a relative amount of ease.

Rage floods his being. Tensei's neck flashes, that brand searing into his mind, and he hates, hates, hates. It's not a career-ending injury. Tensei can recover and return to heroism. But, the fact alone that he was targeted did more than enough. Ever since it got to the public, people everywhere have been talking about it. About how Ingenium must have done something bad to deserve Stain's attention. People are already calling Tensei a corrupt hero, that he probably deserved being attacked, that it was only a matter of when. 

Tensei can still perform as a hero. But the damage has been done. People are calling him a fake. All because Stain targeted him. Branded him. That damage can never be undone.

It is with this rage that Tenya finds Stain, seeing him and only him. He rushes in, kicking at Stain, only for Stain to slash at him with his katana, knocking Tenya's helmet off. Stain tells him to get lost, as he's not after a child wearing a suit.

Tenya's rage grows, realising Stain doesn't even see him as a threat. He glares up at him, and Stain recognises the anger in his eyes, warning Tenya that, in certain scenarios, even children will become his target. 

Pushing himself up, Tenya glowers at him, teeth grinding. "Listen up…! I am the little brother of a hero you targeted. A hero who did no wrong! He cannot be here to take you down, so I shall take revenge for him! Do not ever forget this name: Ingenium! For it is the name of the hero who will take you down!"

Stain looks at him, twisting his head. "I see… Die."

Tenya rushes in once more, aiming for Stain's head with a powered kick. Stain easily twists out of the way, regarding such a fatal move as unbefitting of a hero. Tenya yells at him to shut up and try to punch him, only for Stain to cut his forearm, but Tenya, simply reacting to the pain of being cut, accidentally hits Stain's hand, making the blade fly away. 

While inconvenient, Stain is unbothered, simply grabbing another blade and rushing once more. But, Tenya has experience with a talented blade wielder, and is able to dodge many more of his slashes, though it comes close many times, his armour taking the brunt of many slices, scratching and chipping away at it.

Eventually, Stain is able to get a hit in, sending Tenya to the ground. He brings the blade to his tongue, and Tenya is paralysed. With a foot on Tenya's head, Stain begins to lecture Tenya, asking him if he even questioned why he targeted Tensei. Tenya merely states that there is no reason. 

Stain laughs, "You must be ignorant, or as corrupt as your fake brother."

"Shut your mouth!" Tenya snaps. "My brother is a splendid hero! He did nothing to deserve such cruelty! I'll kill you!"

"Save him first." For the first time, Tenya notices Native, shoulder bleeding sluggishly. Stain glares down at him. "That's the problem with you fakes. So egotistical, you can't even do your job and save people. No, you put yourself first. At the end of the day, you only care for yourself." Stain raises his blade over Tenya's neck. "I'll get rid of you now. Perhaps your death will do good for your revolting brother."

Tenya shakes, eyes flooding with tears. "Shut up! No matter what you say…! You'll always be a rotten criminal who hurt my brother!"

Stain swings down.

-

Izuku's heart is thumping wildly, eyes darting all around the place, trying to find the alley as fast as he can, nearly falling off the rooftops in his flurry. He can't let Tenya do this, fall into a darker path or march to his death. He can't. He can't, he can't, he– 

He spots a glint. 

Safety be damned, he jumps down, using the narrow space to get down with relative safety. Stain raises his katana above Tenya's neck, and Izuku lands, katana out, knocking against Stain's blade. His ankles and knees sting from such a feat, but he manages to get Stain's katana away from Tenya's neck. 

Stain reacts, slashing at Izuku, only for him to block it. Izuku kicks out, sending Stain away and keeping his katana trained on him. Behind him, Tenya yells, "Mi– Kyou!? What are you doing here!?"

Izuku smiles. "What does it look like? I'm here to save you!"

Stain cocks his head. "Such a nice statement. Unfortunately, it is my duty to kill these men and purge the world of fake heroes. If you get in my way… naturally, the weak will be culled."

Izuku shivers. Tenya calls out to him once more, telling him to just run away, as he's paralysed by Stain's quirk. At first, Izuku figures he could grab Tenya and run, but he spots Native and realises he can't leave with two people, especially with Tenya's heavy armour. 

He holds his katana in one hand, pointing it towards Stain and angling his body away, hiding his hand as he pulls his phone out and sends his location to the group chat. "I want to be a hero, I-ngenium. You can't expect me to abandon you now!"

"No! This has nothing to do with you!"

"And!?" Izuku pockets his phone once more, holding his katana with both hands once more. "So what if it has nothing to do with me? I'm not a hero yet, but I could never be one if I stayed out, just because I'm not part of whatever this is!" He levels his katana towards Stain, his grin wobbly but a grin nonetheless. "If I get hurt because I decided to save you, then that's fine by me!" 

And Stain?

Stain grins. 

The battle starts, Izuku matching Stain's blade with his own, straining against the shocking amount of strength in Stain's swing. Tenya lays on the floor, only able to watch as Izuku and Stain fight. Frustratingly, he notices that Izuku's a better match for Stain, possibly due to their matching weapon choices. Their swords clang together, metal scratching upon metal. Unlike the Sports Festival, Izuku's blade is not blunted. 

But, as skilled as Izuku is, Stain has far more experience. It takes only a few seconds, less than a minute, for Stain to get the upper hand. Izuku slashes up, and Stain ducks down, moving his katana and slicing it against Izuku's abdomen. It doesn't go too deep, but it's enough to draw some blood, and Izuku falls to the ground, paralysed. As he falls, he notices Stain bring his sword away from his tongue, and realises it's not from being cut, but from him licking blood. 

Stain marches over to Tenya, stating that there are dozens, hundreds of fakes in hero society, and it is rare to see anyone who isn't just talk. He will allow Izuku to live, as there is worth in doing so. However, for Native and Tenya, they shall be culled tonight. Stain raises his blade above Tenya once more, Izuku screaming for him to stop, to no avail. 

As Tenya shuts his eyes, a blast of fire erupts towards Stain. 

-

Shouto had been with Endeavour. There was only one reason why he chose to intern with his father. As horrid of a person he is, a worse father, Endeavour was a good and efficient hero. The best to learn how to use his fire from. He will never like Endeavour, never love him, but he can't deny his expertise. 

Ever since the Sports Festival, since Izuku saved him, he's been paying closer attention to his classmates. He notices how Izuku still flinches at contact, how Ochako's tone is a bit too-sweet sometimes, how Momo portrays confidence but folds at challenges, how Yuuga rarely if ever speaks of himself. He notices how angry and cold Tenya's eyes are. How Tenya looked just as Shouto did before Izuku's interference. 

He knows without asking that Tenya is suffering, and his silence only makes it worse. He knows that Tenya needs saving. 

He goes to Hosu with Endeavour, and it becomes rampant with three Noumu's. For a moment, he's scared, remembering how strong the Noumu was in the USJ. But, Endeavour superheats one, and it falls dead. Its weakness is fire, he realises. In the same moment, he also realises that, if he used his fire in the USJ, Aizawa, Mic, and Izuku could have been spared so much pain.

Before he can really delve into that, his phone pings. The group chat he finally joined the week before. Izuku sends only his location. It takes a moment, before he realises it's in Hosu, where he is, and he turns. He finds a hero, telling them the location Izuku sent to him and requesting immediate back-up. Then he chases after Izuku, praying he'd get there in time. 

And he does. Just as Stain tries to kill Tenya, he shoots his flames out at him, forcing Stain to back-up, then creating a platform of ice, catching Tenya, Izuku, and Native, sliding them all behind him, narrowing the street even further in the process. Izuku warns Shouto that Stain ingests blood to paralyse people, and Shouto decides that he can fight long-range. At least, so long as Stain doesn't figure out how to shatter his ice like Izuku did. 

At that moment, Stain throws a knife, cutting Shouto's arm and drawing blood. He then throws his katana up, distracting Shouto momentarily, and Stain comes in, trying to lick the blood. Shouto sets his side on fire, making Stain back-up once more.

They're woefully outmatched. But they can't back down now. As Shouto fights, relying mostly on his quirk, Izuku's hand twitches, and he realises he can get up. Stain gets the drop on Shouto, and Izuku leaps in, arm blade released as he blocks Stain's katana, then kicks him away. Izuku then theorises that he can move either because Stain's quirk lessens the more people he paralyses, or a difference in blood types.

Stain confirms that it's blood type, though knowing so doesn't do much. Izuku asks Shouto to provide long-range back-up while he fights upfront, tapping his communicator and asking for back-up from Mount Lady. Tenya, once again, begs them to leave, only for Shouto to yell at him that they can't. They will save Tenya, Native, and themselves. If Tenya really wants them to go away, then he should stand up and make them. 

"Look closely at the hero you want to be!" 

Tenya hates. He hates a lot. He hates that he's so weak, hates that he can only watch as his friends put their lives on the line for him. He hates that Tensei's career has been so thoroughly damaged, and he can't do anything about it. He hates that he's the reason his friends may die. 

Izuku battles Stain up-close, switching his style to more offensive than defensive. Shouto provides ample long-range back-up, sending wave after wave of fire and ice. Stain isn't so phased, managing to dodge Shouto's attacks while keeping Izuku away. 

Then Stain manages to cut Izuku's arm, and he's down once more. As soon as Izuku goes down, he charges at Shouto and his katana is so close to slicing his arm clean-off and–

Tenya moves. A recipro burst, his foot slamming against Stain's katana at the side, snapping it cleanly in half. Mobility regained, he apologises to Shouto and Izuku once more, then states that he'll make up for his wrongdoings by making sure they come out alive.

Stain rejects this idea, believing that it takes far more for one to rid themselves of their corruption. Izuku, on the floor, puts it together. Why Stain brands his victims and returns within three months. He gives them a chance. A chance to come clean about their corruption and to show palpable change. That's why many of his victims either lose their careers, confess to their wrongdoings and change, or they stay silent and are thus killed. 

Shouto rebukes Stain too, as it took one stubborn kid to change his entire worldview, and change for the better. 

In Izuku's comm, Mount Lady finally responds, telling him she's on her way with back-up. Izuku relays this information, and Stain moves faster and stronger. Tenya takes a throwing knife to his arm for Shouto, and Shouto sends a sharp pillar of ice at Stain, who cuts it but is forced back. 

Tenya hates himself thoroughly at the moment, but he'll hate himself more if he allowed his friends to come to harm and he did nothing. He asks Shouto to cool down his engines, just as Izuku regains mobility. Stain rushes, and they all notice how frantic he seems. 

But, of course, he's frantic. He failed to kill Native, failed to kill Tenya. It's a three-v-one scenario, and he knows there are heroes on their way. He has to hurry.

Izuku pushes himself up, arm bleeding sluggishly, and it hurts to hold his katana, but he has to push himself. If he stops now, then they may not leave alive. He jumps from wall to wall, scaling up. 

Shouto readies his fire, building a platform of ice for Tenya at the same moment. His arm hurts too, but it's nothing right now.

Tenya's engines burst, and he uses Shouto's platform to fly up. Stain swings down at him, but Izuku drops down at him, cutting into Stain's wrists. Tenya kicks right into Stain's ribs. Shouto fires, searing Stain's face. 

The three of them drop down, and Shouto readies himself once more, Izuku and Tenya shooting to their feet and– 

Stain is down. Unconscious. 

They nearly collapse from the relief. 

-

They find some rope in a garbage bin, tying Stain up with it. Native remarks on how useless he was the entire fight; more of a liability than anything. He decides that he never wants to go through with that again, and he'll turn himself into the police along with Stain.

Tenya asks Native why Stain marked him and tried to kill him, and Native confesses that he's been protecting a drug ring. He didn't want to let go of the money or his career, which was his undoing. Stain was right about him.

Izuku, Shouto, and Tenya are all affronted by this, but Native has said that he'll turn himself in for his crimes, so there's nothing they can do.

As they leave the alley, Mount Lady, Manual, and Endeavour's sidekicks arrive. Manual scolds Tenya for leaving him, while Mount Lady frets over Izuku. She holds him up, trying to check for all his injuries, accidentally opening the cut on his torso further. As she apologises for doing so, a claw comes down, wrapping over Izuku and taking him away.

Mount Lady thought she had finished it – its brain was bleeding from her punch, after all, some of the blood flying from it and landing on her cheek. She begins to grow in order to chase after it, only for a tongue to lick the blood off her cheek, paralysing the Noumu.

Stain leaps, his wrists screaming in pain as he both grabs Izuku and stabs the Noumu in the brain. It falls, and Izuku is free, though underneath Stain's foot.

"The fakes who call themselves heroes… And the criminals who aimlessly throw their power around… They are all my targets, who shall be culled. All of this… is for a just world!" Izuku struggles under his foot, trying to get away from him. Stain's mask falls, his eyes wide with wrath. 

Endeavour comes around the corner, searching for the flying Noumu. He sees Stain, and grins, knowing that this will contribute to his fame.

Stain's eyes widen further, bloodlust rising at the sight of him. "ENDEAVOUR!" 

Everyone. I mean, everyone, freezes, trembling for Stain's fearsome rage. 

"Another fake! Someone… Someone must stain themselves in his blood. The word 'hero' must be restored!" He steps forward, and Endeavour steps back. "COME! JUST TRY IT! YOU FAKES! THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN KILL ME IS ALL MIGHT!" 

And nobody moves, less it's to fall on their asses. Stain, alone, stands strong, demanding that these fakes dare try to take him down. 

Upon a rooftop, Tomura watches, wondering what the hell Stain was doing. He sighs and, as he does, Stain turns. To his direction. Tomura shivers, scratching his neck. 

Before he knows it, Stain is scaling up walls, and he's suddenly in front of Tomura, knife branded. He tries to cut Tomura's neck, only to fall flat with his injured wrists. "Hear me now, Shigaraki Tomura!" he yells, gaining the attention of the shock-still heroes on the ground. "Your cause is weak! Useless! The boy you target is a true hero, and he will not be killed for such a worthless cause. I will come back for you, and I will stain myself with your dirty blood!" 

-

Stain gets away. Heroes chase after him, after the blood trail his wrists leave.

They lose him.

-

Aftermath

In the hospital, Izuku, Tenya, and Shouto share a room, each of them with a scar on their arms. It's a bit ironic.

Tenya, once again, apologises for allowing his hatred to blind him, and thus putting them in harm's way. Shouto waves it off, and Izuku immediately forgives him. They reckon that Stain allowed both Izuku and Shouto to live, at first, only cutting deeper when he was getting desperate. By all accounts, they should not have survived that attack. 

Shouto notices scars on Izuku's arm that weren't there before, and Izuku reveals that they're from the Sports Festival. Shouto feels guilty at first, but Izuku forgives him easily. A physical scar is nothing compared to healing Shouto's mental scars. 

Tenya reveals that his left hand, the one he used to protect Shouto and take that throwing knife, has nerve damage. While their society is now at a point where they can heal damaged nerves and perform surgery on them, he will leave them until he can view himself as a true hero. Izuku and Shouto decide that they'll also keep their scars, despite being able to get rid of them, to help Tenya on his journey.

Tenya deliberates on Stain. Native has already turned himself in, and the drug ring he protected is being taken care of. Many of Stain's previous victims also had a tendency to turn themselves in. In that case, what did that mean for Tensei? He never asked Tensei why Stain hurt him. He just assumes his brother would never do anything wrong. 

Before he can really think about it, the door opens. 

Mount Lady and Manual come in, followed by Chief Tsuragamae Kenji, of the police department. He commends them on holding their own against Stain, and that it was a shame Stain managed to escape. Nevertheless, even if they didn't capture Stain, fighting with their supervisors present and permission given is illegal. They could be tried for it, in other words.

Shouto argues against this, (though he doesn't call Kenji a 'mutt'). Mount Lady intervenes, calming them down.

Kenji then goes on to say that he is willing to overlook their battle, so long as they keep quiet about their involvement, and give the credit to their supervisors. Shouto relaxes, though he hates that he has to give Endeavour credit for any of his actions. Izuku agrees, as does Tenya. 

The conclusion of that fight, and the fight in general, wasn't what they'd call amazing. If anything, it was a big eye opener. The USJ villains were scary, but Stain was terrifying. That fight was a look into how far they needed to go before they could become heroes.

And it's a challenge they're eager to meet.

-

Notes:

Mount Lady actually teaching her intern? You betcha! Izuku realising that heroics can affect more than going out in public? You betcha!

So, in canon, Stain says that he let Tensei live to spread the rumours, but we never really find out if he targetted him solely to spread rumours, or if it was a secondary objective. I've decided that there is a reason, and we'll find that out in a later update

Stain getting away and having a go at Tomura couldn't possibly have an affect on the story going foward... Right? Mwehehe

Next week, we're gonna take a look at a bunch of other internships, so be ready for that!

(This was 6,163 words long. I'm so glad I pre-wrote a bunch of this)

Conclusion:

Izuku is properly introduced to Mt. Lady and analyses Stain's pattern, leading to them going to Hosu

Izuku tracks down Tenya, saves him, and sends an SOS to the 1-A group chat, which Shouto responds to

Stain is able to get away, and acknowledges Izuku as a 'true hero'

Tenya is left in shambles as he thinks about morality and heroism

[my-rewrite-academia]

Did not mean for Aizawa to call Izuku's offer count 'lofty'. Just editted it to 'miniscule'. Sorry for any confusion regarding that

[my-rewrite-academia]

Week 14 (Internships - Part 1)

Make a Choice

The Sports Festival ends with a bang. While some of the students don't feel as though they displayed everything they wanted the Pro's to see, a large number are satisfied to a certain, agreeable extent. Ochako is still buzzed, not quite believing that she truly came out on top, flustered and fired up when people around her praise her performance. 

In 1-B, Juuzou is constantly getting bombarded with praise by his classmates, who are so happy for him, and assure him that he did them proud, standing on the podium for all of 1-B – and, of course, for himself.

Shouto approaches Izuku at the start of the week, though he only says good morning before returning to his desk. On the other hand, Tenya comes in ten minutes later than he usually would, (still twenty minutes early), has been locking himself in his room outside of school, and his smile is strained whenever he wears it. Both Ochako and Izuku express concern for him, but he waves it off. They chalk it up to grief. 

Aizawa, during homeroom, announces that internships are coming up. A one-week interval where students learn from a pro. Pro Heroes will have seen the Sports Festival, and they will send an invitation to whomever they want. Should students not get picked, they will intern with a member of staff from U.A. With that, he shows a list of everyone, (in 1-A), who was sent an internship request, and how many.

Todoroki Shouto: 1,201

Uraraka Ochako: 1,079

Iida Tenya: 786

Ashido Mina: 635

Yaoyorozu Momo: 598

Kirishima Eijirou: 521

Aoyama Yuuga: 427

Hagakure Tooru: 201

Tokoyami Fumikage: 198

Sero Hanta: 167

Kaminari Denki: 154

Midoriya Izuku: 19

Immediately, there's quite a bit of outrage. Izuku assumes they're mad they didn't get a request, but then– 

"Midoriya got fourth place!" yells Tooru, hands flailing in her rage. "I lost to him, so why did I get more!?"

Yuuga frowns, "As a matter of fact, I lost first out of everyone, yet I received more than Hagakure-san and Midoriya-kun?" 

While Izuku tries to assure everyone that it's fine, because it's better than he was expecting, Shouto speaks up and says, "No." Izuku goes quiet. In fact, the whole class does, as Shouto speaks. "I suspect I got the most due to being Endeavour's son. But, while Uraraka beat me, you were the one to push me the hardest. It doesn't make sense for you to get so little."

To hammer the final nail, someone says, "It ain't right." To that, Izuku's far too taken back to say anything. Not when it's Bakugou saying this. While Bakugou doesn't add anything else, Izuku falls quiet. In the back, Eijirou nods at this change in attitude. 

See, all throughout the Sports Festival, Bakugou had no choice but to watch. To watch as Deku, as Midoriya, proved exactly why he's thriving in the Hero Course, while Bakugou was unable to do anything but wallow in his own self-misery. Watching Midoriya give his all, watching others return it, watching people win in all these gratifying ways, was nothing less than superb. And Bakugou, a wannabe hero, was left to watch. A bystander. 

It was pathetic. 

Aizawa drags everyone's attention to him once more, explaining that, even if they were impressed, the Pro's will look at people they can actually hope to train, unless they're high-profile. While he doesn't agree with the miniscule amount of requests Izuku received, there's nothing they can do about it. The class finally calms down, though many are still ruffled by it.

Those who received requests will have them emailed to them, while everyone who didn't will have this week to decide which member of staff they'll intern with. Bakugou included. 

However, with the internship, it's likely the hero will have the students patrol with them, if only to watch how pro's act in combat. As such, it's about time the students begin to create a hero persona, should they wish to go Limelight. Aizawa announces that, once again, they'll collaborate with the management course to work on this.

-

Who are you?

With the management course, Izuku and Saki paired up once more. They go through the steps, first with how Izuku wants people to view him. It's a loaded question, despite being so small.

Does he want the general public to see him as a strong hero? Or does he want them to see him as a mark of safety? Maybe he wants the villains to see him as a threat, or even underestimate him? Ultimately, however, his mind goes back to Saki's question from weeks ago. What does he want to achieve through being a hero?

He wants to save people. He wants to save people who can't save themselves. He wants to save those quirkless kids, so they cannot be branded by 'kyou', so they can look up to a hero that looks like them. 

"I want to inspire hope," he says. "Hope that people can be saved, that someone will save them, even if it's not me. Hope for their own future. That's what I want people to see in me: hope."

Saki smiles, writing his response down, already jotting down some ideas, especially with the future she saw in him. Speaking passionately in front of all those people, holding that little girl in his arms. 

The next step is figuring out how he wants fans to view him. If he wants to be seen as strong or approachable. Izuku thinks about it, really wanting both, but if he's to inspire kids, then he would like to be approachable first and foremost. He wouldn't want people to avoid him for any reason, especially if he could change their lives. 

Their session goes on, Saki getting to know more about Izuku and his goals, writing down and crossing out many ideas, before they decide to put it into practice. They don't do anything about his costume, as it's both appealing and practical, but they do go through faux interview questions. 

She makes Izuku introduce himself until he's speaking with his whole chest and no longer stuttering. She makes him answer personal questions without divulging any actual information. 

"Do you have any family in heroics?" 

"I consider my mother my greatest hero," Izuku says, heart beating rapidly. 

"Why did you become a hero?"

"To save lives, of course!" 

"Were you the kid involved in the Sludge Villain attack!?"

"I– Wait, how did you– OW!" 

Saki pinches the area between his thumb and pointer finger. "I did some research on my own. You have to be prepared for unexpected questions. Now, were you the kid involved in the Sludge Villain attack?" 

Izuku rubs his nose, but collects himself soon enough. "I was present…?"

"Again."

"I was present during the attack." 

Time goes on, everyone going through similar steps, and this happens throughout the week, with 1-A, (and 1-B), spending time with the management classes to better their hero personas and learn how to act as a public figure. Bakugou, in particular, has difficulty, his partner regarding him as too dismissive to be seen as likable. Mezou also has trouble, seen as stand-off-ish. Denki and Mina have a habit of distributing too much information.

-

Decision

Everyone who has requests go to Momo's dorm, (though 'dorm' isn't the appropriate word for what's basically a flat/apartment), in the living room, each of them with their own appliances, and Ochako borrowing Momo's tablet due to being more convenient. Tenya is strangely quiet, sifting through his requests without speaking once. 

Shouto, though already knowing who he will go to, sits with them. Well, he sits next to Izuku and says nothing, but the fact that he's there at all is an improvement to his previous behaviour. 

Izuku, naturally, is the go-to for advice and information regarding unfamiliar heroes. Though, there are still a few they look-up instead. Not even Hero-Maniac Midoriya Izuku knows every hero in existence, after all. 

Momo eventually decides on the highest-ranking female hero in her list, Uwabami. Izuku ponders on this, but he supposes that Momo could be wanting to see how Uwabami locates disaster victims, so he doesn't say anything. 

Eijirou decides to go with Fourth Kind, which Izuku agrees with, knowing that Fourth Kind is adept at close-combat, which Eijirou would benefit by learning more of. 

Fumikage then reveals that Hawks sent in a request for him, which greatly surprises him, as he didn't get far in. Nevertheless, it's a great opportunity and many in the room are jealous that he was picked. Dark Shadow holds it over all their heads.

Izuku asks Tenya who he's going for, and he quietly says he will intern with Manual, stating that he admires Manual's perspective on heroism. This, however, doesn't convince much of anyone, though he let it go, not wanting to push Tenya. 

Everyone chooses theirs, and Izuku goes through the nineteen requests he has. Most aren't wouldn't be very compatible with him. Quite frankly, he has no idea how to check if they really want him, or if they want fourth place in the Sports Festival. He can't tell by their hero persona alone, as he's come to realise after the management classes. There's every chance they're secretly discriminatory, even if they act like they're not.

Then one name catches his eye. There's not really any reputable ones in his list, mostly people who are either desperate for a U.A. intern, or people he's not sure he can trust, being quirkless and all. But one name is pretty popular at the moment. He saw their debut, and he's even interacted with them in action.

Mount Lady. Why she's sending him a request, he has no idea, but he at least has some semblance of her personality. Out of everyone in his list, she's honestly the best option at the moment. So, he goes for her. He will intern with Mount Lady.

Ochako is still struggling to decide, and that makes sense, considering she's gotten over a thousand requests. There's a bunch who she could intern with, but she has no idea what she would want to learn from them, especially when many probably only want to brag that they got the student in First Place. She stews on it, throughout much of the week, until Friday hits. The deadline, and she has no idea who to choose. Izuku gives a lot of advice, going through many of the best options, but she's still not sure if they're suitable. 

Then Aizawa approaches her, face twisted for some reason. "We've received one more request for you. She had to get her license to intern you, so that's why it's so late." He sends the form, and Ochako chokes. As does Izuku, who stands by her side, peering over her shoulder to look at her phone. 

Just like that, Ochako has her answer. She's interning with Miruko. 

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Notes:

Hehehe, that's right!! Miruko was the woman watching Ochako's fight. Her reasoning will be explored later

Oh, poor Tenya. Nobody wants to feel like they're intruding, without realising that intruding will, in fact, be key to saving him

I love involving other courses for things that make sense. Of course the management course would be the perfect place for the hero kids to learn how to handle the media!

Yeah, Izuku's going with Mount Lady. No, Minoru is not going with Mount Lady, as he didn't get far enough for her to request him

Conclusion:

Students choose their internships

Before then, they are introduced to the management course to learn how to act as a public figure

Izuku interns with Mt. Lady

Tenya is suspiciously distant

[my-rewrite-academia]

admittedly not sure which blog to send this too but it is about your rewrite so ig it is fine to send it here? (also not looking for advice im just nosy).

so! what is your process when creating/writing for your rewrite? like how often do you look at the manga or anime for ref, how far in advance do you pre-write the parts, how indepth is your outline/how far into the story does your outline go atm, have you run into roadblocks involving the plot or characters yet, etcetera

Hello!

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This is completely fine, even without the clarification, so don't worry!! Honestly, I wanted to answer this ask as soon as I saw it, but, well, life hit hard. Sorry about that. Anyway! Now to actually answer this...

Honestly, I don't look at the source material too often. I looked at it a lot for the Shouto vs Izuku battle in the Sports Festival, as Horikoshi genuinely did really well with it and I wanted to, sort of, be on even ground with it. Like, I wanted to make sure the character points hit, without making it a one-to-one copy. If I don't change something from canon material, I usually add, 'as in canon', or something among those line.

Really, I only look at the source material for character basis, but even that is few. Outside of centric cast, everyone is really, hm, flat. Either always happy, always calm, or edgy. I believe this to be why characters who go against this, (e.g. Bakugou, Aizawa, Shinsou), are so popular - it offers a new personality type.

For pre-writing, it depends. I don't pre-write entire posts, but I will pre-write specific scenes I know I'll have trouble with. Prime examples being the mini-battles in the King of the Hill game; Mina and Ochako's fight; and the downtime snippets between battles.

My outline is pretty deep, with all the arcs for the first year being completed, and I have a rough idea of how the second and third years will go down, just without all the details. I actually use the 'conclusions' at the end of every posts as my outline notes, which makes it easier for the TL;DRs.

I also have a sheets document for each year planned, with arcs and post numbers at the ready, which I add as I complete more of my outline. This helps me keep track of how much I have left to write for either the arc or the year.

I have most definitely ran into blockages, especially concerning characters who didn't amount to anything in canon. Something I want to do is give each student in 1-A their own, at least, mini-arc, and up the importance of others. After all, I think I can handle more than three characters at once... *cough*Horikoshi*cough*

While I have a general idea of what those arcs will be, I don't know how to intergrate all of them into the story just yet, but I'm working on it. At least, it will be properly planned out by the time it comes around.

Whenever I create a new character or change a character design in any way, (e.g. hero costumes), I tend to sketch it out, either in my sketchbook or clipstudio, whichever I'm more bothered to use, to be honest. As I have aphantasia, this helps me understand how they fit into the world of MHA, and if they would look natural with other canonical characters.

I do have a post here, where I answered a similar ask, though not in nearly as much depth.

I've also been assembling a playlist specifically for this rewrite that I listen to so I can get into 'the mood'. I know you didn't ask for advice, but I do highly recommend creating specific playlists for projects, writing or otherwise. I do this for my other project as well, and it helps a lot to get me locked in.

Also, if you do use this, try making character-specific, scenerio/genre-specfic, and relationship-specific playlists too. So it's not all clashing.

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Thanks for the ask!