Izuku clenched his fists under the table, his nails digging into his palms. How foolish he'd been to think he could ever win Aizawa over. His resilience, his drive—they had meant nothing to a man who had decided long ago that Izuku didn't belong.
"I see… my quirk is that good that you are willing now to pull a 180 in your attitude with me to get me to stay… I would be lying if I said I didn't see that one coming," Izuku said, cutting whatever good atmosphere Nezu tried to establish.
"Midoriya…" Nezu said, picking up the despondency in his voice. He looked at his eyes, and aside from the fact that they were red now, they were also terribly dull; the light his original green eyes had was gone, and Nezu didn't like that one bit.
"Save your breath. I made up my mind already before you stormed into my home. I just listened to you out of courtesy and to see if there were better alternatives to my final decision," Izuku said. That statement unnerved Nezu.
"And what is that final decision of yours?" Nezu asked while holding his breath.
Before responding, Izuku meets Aizawa's glare with one of his own.
"You win, asshole. I will abandon the Hero Course, just like you and the rest of the pisspoor excuse for heroes in training wanted. And you know what, I'll do you one better and abandon UA too!"
In a way, Nezu saw this outcome coming and hoped he could salvage it.
"Now, Mr. Midoriya, while your reasoning is sound and justified given the poor decisions of the past month on our part," Nezu began, ignoring an indignant snort from Aizawa because of his boss' words. "—but leaving the university entirely when you've met all the criteria to be a model student even before your Quirk manifested would not be good for your future."
"According to your faculty, I didn't have much of a future in your institute to begin with," Izuku raised his voice. No point in being respectful when he plans on leaving. "I did EVERYTHING to prove I belong in UA, but because of something I seemingly lacked my entire life, I was treated as less than human. A waste of breath and life. As if human beings hadn't already existed for millions of years before this accursed mutation poisoned our lives!"
"So that's it then. After everything you claimed to have endured, now is when you decide to walk away, just when you have finally proven to actually have potential worth acknowledgment?" Aizawa questioned, past the point of being unamused with his most unfavorable student's defiance.
"Aizawa…" Nezu warned.
"You're the last person alive to judge me, Eraserhead!" Izuku was now shouting, not caring for the consequences, with his mind already made up. "Compared to me, you're the true freak among Heroes."
"Excuse me?" Shota was now growling.
"Don't act like you don't know. The Underground Hero who has never beaten a Villain unless their Quirks are unusable. Since the day you were born, you've lived and fought as a Quirkless. A Quirkless with a loophole. That's the whole reason you are kept around in UA, right? Not because you're a "stellar" teacher who everybody loves. But because you're a convenient tool for when naughty children misbehave. You might as well have been relegated to a guard dog sleeping comfortably in the Dean's office because that's all you ever want to do instead of doing the job you agreed upon, which is to teach "Problem Children"to finally get their heads out of their assess and become Heroes!"
"I can do that for you now if you wish," Aizawa said, now out of patience.
"As pleasing as it would be to leave you toothless for the rest of your life, I'd rather not have a beaten-to-death homeless man on my conscience. At least not by my hands," Izuku scoffed.
Seeing how things have gotten way out of control, Nezu speaks up again.
"If UA has done nothing but give you a disservice, then I owe you more than an apology," He interjected. "Would transferring over to Class 1-B be more to your liking? I highly doubt you'll feel as you do now under Vlad King's guidance."
"I have no beef with Vlad-Sensei, but I do have more than one bone to pick with 1-B's resident disgusting copycat," Izuku sneered, thinking about the detestable Neito Monoma, not that the rest of that class are saints either. He has a little bit of hope concerning Itsuka Kendo, but he won't hold his breath for her either. "Either you don't get it or refuse to listen. I am done with heroics. I don't care how many lives I could potentially save with this wretched mutation! It's eighteen years too late to hold any weight in my life."
"If not for this power of yours, you'd be dead, just as you would've been if you had continued to persist with your ridiculous dream of becoming a Hero without a Quirk," Aizawa reprimanded.
"Better to die for your dreams than to live as a ghost! Betrayed. Forgotten. Abandoned!" Izuku became more bitter as he said that. "Without purpose. A reason to move forward and achieve something so precious to you, one's life is utterly meaningless. Just another grain of sand. We might as well sit still and let ourselves be crushed by falling debris."
Without him ever realizing it, Izuku's words shocked Aizawa to his core, as flashes of his past as a UA student resurfaced, along with the death of a precious friend returned to the surface of his mind.
Aizawa didn't get to ponder these terrible thoughts as Izuku was looking at him again, this time with hatred in his new red eyes.
"Who the hell DIED in your wretched life and gave YOU the right to decide MY FATE?!"
To that, Aizawa could say no more. Izuku's mind was made up and was no longer worth fighting over.
Realizing this as well, Nezu gets on his feet. "If Heroics no longer appeals to you, then so be it. That said, I urge you to remain in UA and instead transfer over to our General Course. I was informed about your notebooks the other day, and we can at least help you get a prosperous career in the field of Quirk Science."
"That sounds like something semi-worthwhile, sure," Izuku conceded. "But my next homeroom better be Class 1-E. I don't want to be near Present Mic and Midnight while they remain besties with this hobo."
"An easy arrangement," Nezu nodded, as that'll be enough for now. That said, Nezu will not give up on putting Izuku back in the Hero Course. He just needs to wait until he calms down and regains his original, kind persona.
With nothing left to say, Nezu and Aizawa leave Izuku alone in his home.
The now-former Hero in Training lies down on his couch, head facing the floor and hands above his head, trying to fight the raging headache he is now feeling.
"I'm done… I'm done. My dream is dead. It's dead…" Izuku lamented his circumstances, but he couldn't keep pretending that everything would be okay. Nothing will ever be the same, and he can't be happy about it.
Word traveled fast: Izuku Midoriya was officially out of the Hero Course and just another face in the General Course. His new classmates in 1-E were no different from 1-A in terms of their disdain for him. The reasons, however, were different.
Where 1-A had disrespected him for being Quirkless and undeserving of his place, 1-E looked down on him as a failure and a coward for leaving the Hero Course.
They whispered behind his back, sneered in his face, and some wanted to bully him, but Izuku's new appearance also invoked intimidation; no one wanted to risk potentially being burned alive.
Things came to a head when Neito Monoma of Class 1-B showed up at 1-E's classroom door, flanked by some of his 1-B classmates. Unlike Monoma, however, his peers seemed reluctant to be there; no doubt they came to make sure Neito doesn't go overboard.
"Well, well, if it isn't the former hero wannabe," Monoma announced, striding into the room with his signature smugness. "How does it feel, Midoriya? To know you're nothing more than a quitter? A disgrace? I mean, I always knew you didn't belong in the Hero Course, but to see you actually give up? Priceless!"
Izuku didn't respond, calmly staring at Monoma, which only seemed to infuriate him further.
"Oh, come on, don't just stand there like a kicked puppy. Cry for us! Show everyone what a failure looks like!" Monoma sneered, stepping closer.
"Neito, that's enough," One of the 1-B students muttered, looking uneasy.
"Shut up," Monoma snapped, waving them off. "This is between me and the reject."
At that moment, another voice joined in. "Monoma's got a point," Hitoshi Shinso said, stepping out from the crowd. His glare was sharp, his tone biting. "You don't belong here, Midoriya. You should've just stayed Quirkless and spared everyone the trouble."
"You again," Izuku muttered, his eyes shifting to Shinso with annoyance.
"Yeah, me again," Shinso retorted. "Unlike you, I never got the chance to prove myself because the damn system's rigged against people like me. And yet here you are, wasting a spot you didn't even deserve in the first place."
"Is that why you're here?" Izuku asked, his voice dripping with disdain. "To complain about how unfair the world is? Or is this just another attempt to make yourself feel better over your mediocre existence?"
Shinso's jaw clenched, but before he could respond, Monoma cut back in.
"You think you're so clever, don't you, Midoriya? But let's face it: you're nothing without that flashy Quirk of yours. Just another loser pretending to be special."
Izuku's calm demeanor finally cracked. Slowly, he stood, his eyes locking onto Monoma with an intensity that sent a shiver down the spines of everyone present.
"Says the man who can't accomplish anything without someone holding his hand every step of the way," Izuku challenged, his voice low and dangerous.
"Don't be a smartass with me, you—"
Before anyone could react, Izuku moved. His fist connected with Monoma's face in a blur, sending him sprawling to the ground with blood pouring from his nose. Without missing a beat, Izuku turned and landed a second punch on Shinso, who staggered back with a grunt of pain, clutching his face as he fell to his knees.
The room fell into stunned silence as Izuku stood over the two, his fists still clenched and smeared with their blood.
"There will be no mercy next time," Izuku said spitefully, his voice echoing in the stillness. "Trash like you only learn through pain and violence. And since the faculty clearly can't be bothered to stop this kind of nonsense, I'll handle it myself. So stay out of my way."
"You… you damn freak!" Monoma spat, his voice shaking with rage and pain. "You son of a bitch! You have no right to—"
"—To what?" Izuku cut him off, his tone sharp and biting. "Open your eyes, Monoma. I'm the one with the "flashy"Quirk. Unlike you and your class of second-rate degenerates, I can do whatever I want without punishment. I hospitalized two of my former classmates, even rendered one of them Quirkless, at least temporarily, and all the Dean did was leave me with a slap on the wrist. You and Shinso? You're just another duo of naturally born villains. No one will miss you if I do the same to you. With the damage you could potentially bring, the world will thank me if I do."
The words hit harder than any punch could have. The students around them froze, horrified. It was an unspoken truth, something no one dared to say aloud, especially those who were looked down upon for having weak or Mutant Quirks. And how one's place in Hero Society, whether or not they can become Heroes, is solely based on how good one's Quirk looks for the cameras, and that all other forms of merit are absolutely meaningless, much less if the person in question is actually good or not.
They certainly never expected to hear this from someone like Izuku Midoriya, who, if nothing else, at least showed the right attitude for how a Hero has to behave.
Hearing it from him was like getting stabbed through the heart.
Monoma and Shinso, too humiliated to respond, scrambled to their feet and left without another word, their classmates trailing behind them. Izuku returned to his seat, ignoring the stunned silence and the fearful glances his new classmates exchanged.
The days following Izuku's departure from the Hero Course were unsettlingly calm for UA, at least on the surface. The students were busy preparing for their Hero Agency Internships, buzzing with anticipation as they selected their hero codenames. Yet for Class 1-A, the excitement was dulled, overshadowed by the aftermath of Izuku's departure and the absence of Bakugo, who is still recovering in the medical wing.
Todoroki's icy demeanor had grown even colder, his smoldering anger a constant presence. Iida, once the dependable class Vice-Rep, was withdrawn, his usual vigor crushed under the weight of his brother Tensei's defeat and career-ending injuries at the hands of the Hero Killer. Even the most upbeat students in the class struggled to find the joy they once had.
Nothing would ever be the same again.
Elsewhere, Minoru Mineta, the shortest and most despised student in UA, trudged toward the cafeteria. Having been expelled from the Hero Course by Aizawa, Mineta's bitterness knew no bounds. Unlike other expelled students who were forced out of the university entirely, Mineta had avoided such a fate by applying for the General Course as a backup during his entrance exam.
That decision was his saving grace, sparing him the permanent black mark on his record that could've jeopardized his future career prospects.
Still, the sting of being tossed aside like garbage burned in his mind every day. His hatred for Aizawa was deep, but it was nothing compared to the seething contempt he felt for Izuku Midoriya—the "Quirkless parasite" who, in Mineta's opinion, should never have been allowed to set foot in the Hero Course.
It was bad enough that Midoriya had survived the UA Entrance Exam and the USJ Incident despite his lack of a Quirk. Worse still, the boy had somehow manifested an absurdly powerful Quirk that catapulted him into the spotlight, making him the kind of hero Mineta could only dream of becoming.
Lost in his thoughts, Mineta didn't notice the figure in his path until it was too late. He bumped into someone solid and instinctively spat out, "Hey, watch where you're going, you bit—"
The words died in his throat when he looked up into a pair of unholy, crimson eyes.
"M-Mi… Midoriya?" Mineta stammered, his voice trembling, the former Quirkless's new appearance making him look like a demon now.
The last time Minoru laid eyes on Izuku was after the USJ Incident, when the General Course students, along with some of 1-B, gathered at the entrance of 1-A's homeroom to declare war on them for the Sports Festival, refusing to let their newfound popularity of surviving a real villain encounter get to their heads.
If Mineta didn't hate his unsympathetic former classmates before, he certainly did at that moment, as almost none of them remembered him during their brief time together. Only Midoriya recognized him, and that made Mineta feel worse because that meant only trash remembers trash.
"Just the fruit basket I was looking for," Izuku said, his tone laced with uncharacteristic condescension.
Minoru snapped out of his surprise and regained his previous scorn. "I got nothing to say to the likes of a freak."
Before Mineta could react, Izuku grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into a secluded corner, away from the prying eyes of cameras. With one arm, Izuku pinned him to the wall, lifting him clean off the ground.
"Wh-what do you want to talk about, best buddy?" Mineta squeaked, his bravado crumbling under Izuku's infernal glare.
Izuku's lips curled into a faint, humorless smile. "Yes, Minoru, I am your buddy. And why? Because we share a common enemy."
"C-common enemy?" Mineta echoed, his voice trembling.
"I'm not the one you should hate for what was done to you," Izuku continued, his tone sharp and deliberate. "We're both victims of Aizawa's repugnant excuse for "teaching."Whether I had it worse than you is up for debate, but one thing is certain—you can't keep relying on luck to avoid the consequences of your failures."
Mineta swallowed hard. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying you need a permanent solution to secure your future. Aizawa isn't just your problem—he's a liability to every student who's ever crossed his path. And it's time we exposed him for what he is."
"H-how do we do that?" Mineta asked, desperation creeping into his voice.
Izuku's eyes glinted with calculated malice. "By gathering allies. Believe me, Mineta, there are plenty of students at this university who'd love to see Aizawa brought down. Take our upperclassmen in 2-A, for example. You think you're the only one who's been chewed up and spat out by his methods?"
Mineta hesitated, the gears in his mind turning. "… Why are you helping me?"
Izuku leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Because UA is no place for future heroes to be groomed, and while I no longer desire to be one, I refuse to live in a world where fakes are allowed to thrive, so I'll force the world to change. And you, Minoru, are going to help me make it happen."
Mineta's eyes widened as Izuku's grip loosened, dropping him to the floor. "Think about it," Izuku said, stepping back. "You can either keep wallowing in self-pity, or you can stand up and fight. Your choice."
With that, Izuku turned and walked away, leaving Mineta to sit in stunned silence, the weight of Izuku's words sinking in.
Mineta felt something he hadn't felt in a long time—hope. Twisted, vengeful hope.
Izuku quickly discovered that not everyone would be as easily convinced as Mineta. He needed to be cautious and meticulous in his approach. A single misstep could alert the UA staff, particularly Aizawa, to his scheme. His first priority was identifying which of Aizawa's former students among the upperclassmen still carried bitterness over their treatment, and who could be trusted to join his crusade.
One critical piece of information Izuku had unearthed about Aizawa after leaving the Hero Course was the truth behind the man's notorious expulsions. What the current 1-A students still didn't know was that these so-called "expulsions" were part of Aizawa's so-called "logical ruse"—a twisted method of teaching by giving his students a "taste of death." In reality, Aizawa would eventually re-enroll these students at UA, hoping the brush with failure would instill a newfound seriousness about heroics.
On paper, the plan sounded clever. In practice, however, it was a disaster.
The fake expulsions left lasting scars—irreparable damage to a student's standing in life, their relationships with family, and their mental health. Worse, the black marks on their records were very real, thanks to Dean Nezu's administrative approval. Izuku couldn't help but suspect that Nezu's status as a hyper-intelligent animal, not human, meant he failed to grasp the emotional toll these marks inflicted. Or, more disturbingly, perhaps Nezu did understand and simply enjoyed watching the fallout: students kicked out of their homes by ashamed families, driven to suicide, or forced into villainy just to survive.
Izuku couldn't let it stand.
Through careful observation and subtle questioning, Izuku learned that the second-year Hero Course was divided into their feelings toward Aizawa. Most students carried hidden resentment, though they seldom voiced it openly.
Only one, Mawata Fuwa, seemed to wholeheartedly agree with Aizawa's methods and remained fiercely loyal to him. Izuku deemed her a lost cause.
One upperclassman stood out to him: Chiura Chiyumi, a girl with a dog-like Quirk and a head to match. Through what Izuku believed to be another latent ability of his Quirk, he could sense strong emotions in others—whether it was rage, hate, or desire. Fire and heat were often tied to such emotions, and Izuku used this ability to discern truth from lies.
Chiura's resentment toward Aizawa burned the brightest. When Mawata wasn't around, Izuku carefully approached her.
"Chiyumi, right?" He said with a polite but serious tone, catching her attention after class. "You don't know me well, but I think we might have something in common."
Chiura raised an eyebrow, her canine ears twitching in curiosity. "Oh? And what's that, Midoriya?"
"You hate Aizawa," Izuku said bluntly, watching her reaction closely.
Her eyes widened slightly before narrowing. "What makes you think that?"
"I can tell," He replied evenly. "I know how it feels to be betrayed by someone you were supposed to trust. And I know I'm not the only one."
Chiura glanced around to ensure no one else was listening. "You're bold, I'll give you that. But let's say you're right—what do you want from me?"
"I want the truth to come out," Izuku said, his voice firm. "Aizawa's methods have ruined lives, and they'll continue to ruin more unless someone does something about it. He is untouchable because his actions, or inaction, given his insomnia, continue to go unnoticed by everyone outside of UA, and no one will take the word of a student over a Pro unless every victim this university failed comes together, and I think you know others who feel the same way."
Chiura hesitated, her expression conflicted. "Even if you're right… What's your plan?"
"Spread the word," Izuku said. "Discreetly. Find others who've been hurt by Aizawa and get them to talk. I'm not asking for loyalty—I'm asking for justice."
After a long pause, Chiura gave a slow nod. "Fine. I'll see what I can do. But if this backfires—"
"It won't," Izuku assured her. "Not if we're careful."
With Chiura cautiously on his side, Izuku turned his attention to another lead provided by his new allies in 2-A. There was a former student, Daichi Noguchi, who had been expelled from UA entirely when Aizawa decided to wipe out his entire first-year class the previous year. Unlike most of his classmates, Daichi had never returned.
Instead, he was working a dead-end job as a cashier, disowned by his family after his expulsion from the country's most prestigious hero academy. With a black mark on his record, no other university would accept him, not even the non-heroic institutes.
It didn't take long for Izuku to find him. The convenience store was small and dingy, the kind of place people only visited out of necessity. Daichi was behind the counter, his posture slouched and his expression vacant.
Izuku stepped forward, placing a bottle of water on the counter. Daichi glanced up, his eyes widening as recognition dawned.
"Izuku Midoriya?" Daichi said, his voice laced with disbelief. "The guy who made it farther into UA than anyone expected… and then dropped out?"
Izuku gave a small, humorless smile. "That's me. But I'm not here to talk about me—I'm here to talk about you."
Daichi frowned. "What about me?"
"I know what happened," Izuku said softly. "And I know it wasn't fair. You didn't deserve to have your future taken from you."
Daichi's eyes darkened. "What do you want, Midoriya?"
"I want to help you get your life back," Izuku said, his tone earnest. "And I want to make sure no one else ends up like you. But I need your help to do it."
For a moment, Daichi said nothing, his expression unreadable. Then, slowly, he leaned forward.
"I'm listening."
Kogane University, though a reputable institution, lives perpetually in UA's shadow. Known for its academic rigor and professional pathways, it is often seen as a fallback for those unable to gain admission to UA's Hero Program.
This reputation, combined with Dean Nezu's infamous cunning, leaves Kogane staff quietly resentful but too cautious to act against UA, content to welcome the students Nezu deems… not cut out for his university's tougher management.
One such student is Imari Tengo, an Aldera Middle School alumnus who knows all too well the despair of falling short. His Quirk, Finger Length, allows him to extend his fingers slightly—a power as unimpressive as it is useless in combat.
While he once harbored aspirations of heroism, he has carved out a comfortable life at Kogane, embracing the independence of university life.
But the recent UA Sports Festival shattered his fragile contentment. Watching the broadcasts, he recognized two familiar names from his past: Katsuki Bakugo and Izuku Midoriya. The former was the self-proclaimed king of Aldera, while the latter was the powerless punching bag they all called "Deku."
Seeing Izuku on the grand stage, wielding a power that could flatten cities, left Imari seething. The Quirkless loser had surpassed them all—and Bakugo, of all people, had been humiliated.
Imari hated Katsuki. He always had. But he hated Izuku more.
Late one evening, as Imari left Kogane's campus and wandered toward a nearby convenience store, he was lost in thought. The memories of Aldera haunted him: Bakugo's explosive temper, the fear of being targeted, and the cruel games they all played to survive. Imari remembered his role well—the willing lackey, always just close enough to power to avoid its wrath. He remembered the insults, the taunts, the recordings.
Those recordings.
He'd kept them all. Videos of Bakugo's rampages, the cruel pranks, the fights. Even now, he sometimes watched them, clinging to the fleeting satisfaction of seeing someone else suffer in his place. But tonight, those memories felt like a noose tightening around his neck.
"Hello, Tengo."
The voice came from the shadows, venomous, but unmistakable. Imari froze. Slowly, he turned to see a transformed Izuku Midoriya, standing with his back against an alley wall, arms folded across his chest. The green-haired man's new eyes were like fire from a black abyss that made Imari shiver.
"D-Deku?" Imari stammered. The name slipped out before he could stop himself.
Izuku's lips curled into a humorless smile. "Come now, I know you saw the Festival," He said, his tone dripping with venom. "And saw exactly what happened to the progenitor of that damned name."
Before Imari could respond, Izuku stepped forward, grabbed him by the collar, and yanked him into the alley. The movement was effortless, as though Imari weighed nothing. He slammed against the brick wall, Izuku's hand gripping his shirt tightly.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Imari yelled, his voice breaking. He tried to struggle, but Izuku's strength was overwhelming.
"Shut up!" Izuku snapped, his voice low and dangerous. "I'm going to explain. And you're not to interrupt. Got it?"
Imari swallowed hard, his heart pounding in his chest. "O-Okay…"
Izuku's gaze bored into him, the heat of his anger almost palpable. "Good. I know that we haven't seen each other and the rest of Katsuki's Legion since we escaped from Aldera but I'm willing to bet you're still the same sniveling, petty, jealous pissant who cowardly hid behind a stronger being to hide how much of a rat you truly are," Izuku said with such venom that Imari started to feel sick from hearing his voice.
"I'm also willing to bet that you still have all those "lovely"videos of Bakugo flaunting his power and tormenting everyone he felt like harassing, especially me, and you started watching those videos again to make you feel good about yourself when you found out I made it to UA, and you didn't."
Imari's blood ran cold. He tried to feign ignorance, but the look in Izuku's eyes told him it was pointless. "W-What if I did?"
"Then you're going to give them to me," Izuku said, his voice steady and unyielding. "Every single one. And if you're still in contact with anyone from Aldera—anyone who has similar recordings—you're going to tell me."
Imari's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. "W-Why do you want them?" He asked, his voice trembling.
"That's none of your concern," Izuku replied with scorn. "The only ones who should be concerned are Bakugo and the Aldera Staff. It's really not a serious request, but it's not like you would've been cooperative if I had asked nicely."
Imari flinched at the accusation, shame, and fear mixing in his gut. "A-Alright," He whispered. "I'll give you the videos. Just… don't hurt me."
Izuku released him, stepping back but keeping his fiery gaze locked on Imari. "Good choice. I'll be in touch. And remember, I'm the one with the "flashy" Quirk now. No matter what you do or what I do to you, people will always take my side from now on. Just like how Aldera did for Bakugo."
As Izuku disappeared into the sunset, Imari slumped against the wall, his legs shaking. He felt truly powerless and left with nothing but bitter regret for his past actions.
Toshinori Yagi, known to the world as All Might, had dedicated his entire existence to embodying the ideal Hero—a symbol of hope and justice, the unshakable pillar that could stand against any storm.
His life's mission was singular: to create a utopia of peace, a world where smiles flourished, and fear had no place. He fought not just to defeat Villains but to erase the very roots of despair that allowed them to thrive.
Toshinori's zeal stemmed from personal history, a childhood spent under the oppressive shadow of lawlessness. He remembered the days when Villains roamed freely, their cruelty unchecked, their reigns of terror an unrelenting reality.
Toshinori had witnessed horrors no child should endure, watching helplessly as neighbors and classmates were taken, snuffed out by those who had forsaken their humanity in favor of dominance.
Those memories haunted him, resurfacing in the quiet moments when his guard dropped. Nightmares replayed the scenes of his youth: the screams, the blood, the lifeless eyes of friends who had shielded him at the cost of their own lives. Even now, the strongest man in the world felt the cold grip of that powerlessness, a sensation he had sworn to erase from the lives of others.
What few people knew—what Toshinori had concealed for most of his career—was that he had been born Quirkless. Like Izuku Midoriya, he had once been one of society's forgotten, dismissed as weak and incapable. But in Toshinori's youth, Quirklessness wasn't the stigma it had become. Back then, the world respected courage over power; bravery was the measure of a person.
Those who stood against Villains, even without Quirks, were hailed as comrades worthy of respect. Bravery could only take you so far, sure, but Toshinori had saved someone from a Villain before obtaining One For All. That one act of heroics was all the proof his younger self needed to know that he was born to be a Hero, not One For All.
That said, meeting Nana Shimura, the Hero who became his mentor and savior, was still the most significant event of his life. A greater chance to fight back. She gave him One For All, the power to stand tall and carry the hopes of the powerless. And carry them he did—so well that he unknowingly reshaped society.
In his quest to create a better world, Toshinori had made an unforgivable oversight. By becoming the paragon of Quirked heroism, he had inadvertently buried the legacy of Quirkless courage, leaving those he was once one of to be seen as inferior, expendable, or worse—irrelevant. Toshinori hadn't realized the depth of this until it was too late, until Izuku Midoriya, the first Quirkless student to pass UA's Hero Course in decades, awakened a dormant Quirk and walked away from it all.
Toshinori vividly recalled the first time he met Izuku during the Sludge Villain Incident: a small, scrawny boy who radiated a golden-hearted determination. Back then, Toshinori had failed to see the boy's potential, dismissing him as just another dreamer. Even when Izuku proved himself repeatedly—passing the UA entrance exam, and surviving the League of Villains' ambush—Toshinori had doubted him, questioning if he could truly bear the weight of heroism.
Now, watching recordings of Izuku during the recent incidents, Toshinori saw the consequences of his own failure. The bright, hopeful youth who once dreamed of saving everyone with a smile had become a figure of controlled rage, striking down classmates like Kirishima and Monoma when they harassed him.
Izuku's golden heart had hardened into black steel, and Toshinori couldn't blame him.
The guilt weighed heavily on him. He had failed Izuku, just as he had failed the Quirkless community. All Might, the great Symbol of Peace, had not been a hero for everyone like he had hoped all his life.
A sharp ringing jolted Toshinori from his grim thoughts. His phone vibrated on the desk, the name Naomasa Tsukauchi flashing on the screen. Grateful for the distraction, Toshinori answered, hoping his best friend could lift his spirits as he so often did.
But the moment he heard Naomasa's voice, Toshinori knew this was no ordinary call.
"Toshi… there's been an incident," Naomasa said, his tone heavy with regret.
Toshinori sat up straight. "What kind of incident?"
Naomasa hesitated, and Toshinori's chest tightened.
"It's about Ingenium's younger brother, Tenya Iida," Naomasa finally said. "Toshi… he's… gone."
The words didn't register at first. "Gone?" Toshinori echoed, his voice rising in disbelief. "What do you mean "gone?"That can't be true!"
"I'm sorry," Naomasa said softly. "I wish it weren't true. It happened at the same time that monsters similar to the ones the League of Villains used to try and kill you attacked Hosu City last night. The younger Iida had his internship there, and his body was found alongside a deceased Pro-Hero in a back alley."
The phone nearly slipped from Toshinori's grasp. His mind raced, replaying every moment he'd spent with Iida—the young man's discipline, his unwavering commitment to justice, his desire to honor his brother's legacy. How could someone so full of life, so determined to do good, be gone?
"WHY?!" Toshinori's anguished cry echoed through the UA Administration Office, startling the other teachers. Heads turned, and whispers spread, but Toshinori didn't care.
Naomasa's voice brought him back. "I thought you should hear it from me first."
Toshinori gripped the phone tightly, his knuckles white. "Naomasa… thank you," He said, his voice trembling. "I need… I need time."
As the call ended, Toshinori buried his face in his hands, the weight of his failures and the loss of yet another brilliant young hero pressing down on him.
The early morning commute to UA was as chaotic as ever. Izuku sat in a train car, surrounded by the usual hum of activity. The seat beside him was empty, as were a few others scattered across the space. It wasn't unusual—people had never been particularly drawn to him.
Even after making it into UA, he was often treated as an afterthought, his presence ignored. Back then, train rides had been a quiet reprieve, offering him solace in a life filled with noise and judgment.
But all of that changed after the Sports Festival.
Now, eyes lingered on him. Whispers followed him. Some people admired him for his "transformation," while others judged him harshly for dropping out of the Hero Course after achieving what no other Quirkless individual had before. The mixed reactions mirrored the conflicted opinions among his former classmates.
Today, however, the commuters were mercifully preoccupied with their own lives. No one approached him. No one said a word. Izuku hoped this newfound indifference would become a trend. He rested his head against the window, letting the rhythmic clatter of the train lull him into a rare moment of peace.
That peace was shattered when the train stopped, and a familiar voice pulled him back to reality.
"Is this seat taken, kero?"
Izuku looked up, his gaze landing on a figure he recognized immediately: Tsuyu Asui, wearing her UA uniform, her amphibious features as striking as ever. Unlike Izuku, she didn't seem to realize who she was addressing—at least, not at first. When their eyes met, her expression faltered.
Izuku's heart sank. He wasn't in the mood for this.
"Do as you wish," He said curtly, lowering his head to avoid further eye contact.
Tsuyu hesitated, then sat down beside him. The silence between them was palpable, growing heavier with each passing second. For Tsuyu, it was uncomfortable. For Izuku, it was routine.
She wasn't like Kirishima, who would push and prod relentlessly. Nor was she like Ashido or Hagakure, whose energy could fill a room. No, Tsuyu was quiet, blunt, and straightforward. In their time as classmates, her honesty had often come across as cold, even cruel. She had been one of the many voices telling him to quit the Hero Course—one of the voices that made him feel like he didn't belong.
But Izuku had no intention of dwelling on those memories. Not today.
"You're making a mistake, kero," Tsuyu said finally, breaking the silence.
Izuku sighed, the weight of her words like a thorn in his side. "The croaking of your voice is like needles to my ears," He muttered, hoping to shut her down. But Tsuyu wasn't deterred.
She pressed on, her tone as steady as ever. "Throwing away all the effort you put into the Hero Course just to spite everyone won't fix anything. You're only hurting yourself."
Izuku's eyes narrowed. So that's what Aizawa had told them—his decision was nothing more than petty revenge. He scoffed bitterly.
"Hilarious. You're calling me spiteful when quitting was exactly what you all wanted. Don't act like you care now."
Tsuyu's lips tightened, and she seemed genuinely unsure of how to respond. Memories of her own words came flooding back to her—words spoken carelessly, without thought for how they might affect him. She remembered the Battle Trials when he had narrowly defeated her, and yet she'd still told him to quit.
She remembered the USJ when she was warped by the Villain Kurogiri into the Conflagration Zone, how the intense heat weighed her down, leaving her vulnerable to another Villain who wanted to rape her, only to be saved by Midoriya, and despite that she had dismissed him as a liability.
But now, she saw things differently. His Quirk had changed everything. He had proven his potential. He deserved a chance.
"I'm just saying you should think things through," She said carefully. "You have a lot to offer, Midoriya. Don't waste it."
Izuku's laugh was sharp, bitter. "Offer what? A Quirk past its deadline? A life that died when I was four? You think I should be grateful for this… thing inside me? All this has done is mock everything I've worked for. Everything I've endured. I had such high hopes for you, you know. I thought you, Ashido, Tokoyami, Shoji, Koda, and to some extent, Sero and Ojiro would understand, considering what you are."
Now it was Tsuyu's turn to get offended by what he was insinuating, but he would not give her the chance to bite back, his eyes cold and unyielding. "Say what you want about the Quirkless, but don't forget that you also have a radical cult out there that would love to skin you alive like the animal you are."
Tsuyu froze. His words cut deeper than she wanted to admit. The Creature Rejection Clan—fanatics who targeted anyone with Mutant Quirks, spreading fear to those like her family for years. Their hatred was a scar many Heteromorphs carry every day.
"Midoriya—" She spoke one last time.
"Don't," He said, his voice low but firm. "You don't get to lecture me. Not after everything."
The rest of the ride passed in silence. When the train finally stopped, they both stood up to leave without another word, with her usual composure shaken and left with a bitter reminder of the damage they had all done—and the price they were still paying.
Little did she realize that the worst had yet to come.
Izuku did not expect much to happen today, though he became curious after his chat with Asui because the full week of Internships for the First-Year Hero Students was not over, and her having a train ride with him meant that Classes 1-A and 1-B, or just Asui, were pulled out for some reason.
He asked the gossipers around who were more willing to answer after making an example out of Monoma and Shinso, but there was not much they could say, as all they knew was that Dean Nezu called every Hero Agency where his hero students were taking their internships and requested that every student be brought back to the University.
The answer came quickly because when classes started, his new homeroom teacher instead told the students of 1-E to gather in the UA Auditorium as the Dean had an announcement for every first-year student.
In no time, Classes 1-A to 1-K were gathered together in the University Auditorium. There was a weird tension in the air as everyone eyed each other across the seats. This was the first official introduction the students were given since starting UA, and no one had any clue what the reason was for bringing them together.
In his seat, Midoriya could feel sets of eyes boring a hole into the back of his head. He did not need to turn around to know who was causing this slight disturbance. And without giving it much thought, he moved his hand to the back of his head and showed the middle finger to those from the Hero Course glaring at him, such as a recovered Kirishima and Monoma. His way of letting them know how he notices them and couldn't care less about how they feel.
This brazen, yet understandable action further caught the hero students off guard, still trying to process that the Midoriya they once knew was gone.
On the stage at the front of the auditorium sat almost all of their teachers, including Vlad King, Snipe, Thirteen, and Hound Dog. All of them looked rather unsettled, and it was pretty obvious that something major was going on.
Before the whispers and assumptions could get out of hand, Dean Nezu and All Might entered the room. The hulking hero walked with his usual strut, but Midoriya noticed the Symbol of Peace wasn't sporting his usual trademark smile. Whatever was going on, it had to be serious for him, of all people, to be wearing a frown on his face.
Once they were on the stage, Nezu wasted no time walking up to the podium and addressing his students. "Greetings, everyone. It warms my heart to see you all doing well and safely returned from your internships, and you can join us today. As much as I would love to pretend that this assembly I've gathered you all for was a positive one, I can't quite bring myself to do that." The white-furred mammal said in a somber tone.
"I'd prefer not to mince words when speaking about this subject, so I'll just get right into it if you don't mind. A couple of you are already aware of this, and we've managed to keep it a secret up until now. But it brings me great sorrow to announce to you that your classmate, Tenya Iida, died last Thursday."
Silence fell over the room as the hero course hopefuls processed the Chimera's announcement. Everyone began looking around at one another with a myriad of different expressions, but no one dared to say a single word. Some were confused, others were just plain shocked. Ibara Shiozaki from 1-B immediately let out a silent prayer as she clasped her hands together.
"The Iida family has chosen not to disclose this information to the general public for the time being, but has permitted us to tell you all. Their family is going through quite a troubling time as of right now, so this was no doubt hard for them to do. They ask that you keep this information to yourselves until the official announcement has been made."
"What the hell…" Setsuna Tokage said under her breath while sinking into her seat.
Izuku, despite holding 1-A with contempt, was also mortified by this revelation. He heard about the tragic fate of Tenya's brother, Ingenium, and that he's been emotionally broken since the aftermath of the Sports Festival, but for him to suddenly die…
"Dean Nezu, sir. What happened?" Monoma decided not to let things drag out, raising his hand as the first person to work up the nerve to speak out loud.
A heavy sigh escaped the Dean's mouth before looking towards the hero student. "Young Iida's life was brought to an end by the hands of the Hero Killer: Stain. He and another individual were found dead at the scene after the attack on Hosu was brought to an end."
"Oh my god," Itsuka Kendo dragged her hand across her face.
The sound of sniffling and coughing echoed from the back row of the group, and Midoriya once again turned his gaze to see what was going on. In his line of sight, he could see his former crush, Uraraka, looking as if she were on the verge of a breakdown. Tears were running down her face, but his surprise did not earn her sympathy from him.
"I understand that this is very alarming news for all of you," Nezu stated once again. "I also want you all to know that our faculty is here for you if you need it. Inui-kun will be providing counseling sessions to anyone who wants to speak with him after we conclude this assembly. And anyone who feels as though they need time off can request it through their homeroom teacher."
That certainly made a lot of sense. Of course, some of the students would need time to wrap their heads around and come to terms with this entire affair. They just lost a classmate to a deranged murderer.
"In addition to this, the funeral for young Tenya Iida will be held this Saturday in Tokyo for those who wish to pay their respects. All of you have been invited, and I would be grateful if you were to attend and give his family your regards."
A long moment of silence followed that announcement. It didn't take long before the waterworks were in full effect, and most of 1-A were sobbing in their seats.
The only people who didn't seem to be shedding any tears were Todoroki, Tokoyami, and Shoji. They still looked pretty surprised by this, so maybe they were still reeling.
"Now, students, I'll turn the floor over to Aizawa. He has a few things that must be addressed. I know all of you still need time to come to terms with the passing of your classmate, but please do your best to listen to what he has to say."
As Nezu stepped down from the podium, Aizawa made his way up.
"Forgive me for having to change the mood so drastically." The black-haired man began. His voice was tired and raspy, and he looked as if he hadn't gotten any sleep in days. "But there are some details about this situation that you all need to be made aware of."
"Can you please elaborate, sensei?"
"From the information that we have, along with several eyewitness testimonies, it has come to our attention that this incident could've been avoided." He stated.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm going to give it to you straight. Iida purposely went looking for a fight with Stain. The Pro-Hero that he was interning under told us that as soon as the League of Villains attack started, your classmate ran off on his own and tried to hunt down the Hero Killer."
"What?!" Several students shouted in disbelief.
"As many of you know, his brother was injured by the man as well. With this in mind, along with the fact that he chose an internship in Hosu over anywhere else, it stands to reason that Iida went there with the full intention of confronting the Hero Killer himself. Stain is known to operate and secluded alleys away from the public, and that's exactly where Iida's body was found. I'm not going to speculate what his exact reasons were. But the fact of the matter is, he went looking for a fight, and he found it."
"That can't be true!" Uraraka suddenly shouted. The girl looks absolutely ragged. "Iida would never do something that reckless!"
"Uraraka's right! Iida's way too smart to go after someone like that on his own." Kirishima followed up.
'Those two always were among the dumbest of the pack,'Izuku scoffed at the ignorance of Ochaco and Eijiro.
The two of them were completely oblivious to their own friend's suffering before his demise. Tenya always came off as arrogant, entitled, and pathetically bossy. Growing up in a rich family of veteran heroes, it would be a miracle if he were 100% humble. He was so used to having things his way that the slightest defiance set him off, almost like he was on the verge of having a meltdown. And what could be more life-changing, unexpected, and heartbreaking than nearly losing a brother to a deranged lunatic?
'Of course, Tenya would lose his shit and abandon all reason in favor of revenge. Ironically, he was no different than Katsuki despite the mutual antipathy,' Izuku shrugged, the shock now gone and replaced with apathy. 'Good riddance.'
"I understand how you feel, but take all of this into account. Several local heroes spotted him running through alleyways in the area, and it was confirmed that he abandoned the Pro-Hero that he was with the first chance he got."
"You can't be serious?"
"I want all of you to understand that you are still students. Some of you may have gone through your fair share of ordeals, but you are a long way away from being licensed heroes. Acting foolishly and taking things into your own hands will almost always result in outcomes like these. You all need to understand that so something like this never happens again."
Deciding that his students had had enough of his bluntness, Aizawa backed away from the podium and retook his seat. The assembly ended shortly after that, and the students made their way back to their classrooms. As expected, a good portion of 1-A stayed behind to talk to Hound Dog and amongst themselves.
If Izuku weren't feeling so vindictive, he would try and give condolences to his former classmates, but he won't bother with them anymore. Whatever else happens, they have it coming.
As 1-E exited the assembly hall, he noticed Todoroki glaring at him with a hateful expression on his face.
"Bite me, you fucking failure," Was all Izuku said to the pathetic son of Endeavor, and that really set Shoto off but thankfully, he restrained himself from doing something he would regret in the future.
Once classes ended, Izuku didn't return home immediately. Instead, he made his way to a nondescript building just a few blocks from his apartment. He took the elevator to the fifth floor, stopping in front of a specific door. After knocking, the door was opened almost immediately by Daichi Noguchi, the apartment's owner.
"Midoriya," Daichi greeted with a curt nod, stepping aside to let him in.
Inside the apartment, several people were gathered in the modest living room. Some were current UA students, while others were alumni. Among them were Minoru Mineta and Chiura Chiyumi, former students of Shota Aizawa. Izuku glanced around, noting that not everyone in their network had made it to this meeting.
"Where are the others?" Izuku asked, his tone neutral.
"They couldn't make it," Daichi explained. "But they're only a call away if we need them. Let's get started."
The group settled into their seats, the atmosphere heavy with tension. One of the attendees, a young woman with sharp eyes and a confident smirk, spoke up. "The reporter you chose came through, Midoriya. She's already biting at the chance to write the story. She wants to expose UA and make them bleed."
Izuku nodded, unsurprised. He had carefully selected the reporter, knowing she would accept their request without hesitation. She wasn't just any journalist; she was a former UA student, expelled during her third year. Though she hadn't been one of Aizawa's students, she had been his classmate.
Her expulsion, orchestrated by Aizawa, was allegedly due to something unforgivable she had done. Whether she truly deserved her fate didn't matter to Izuku—what mattered was that she had the skill and the grudge necessary to follow through with their plan.
As the group discussed logistics, Chiura raised a concern. "Iida's death changes things. If we release our stories now, there's a chance that it'll backfire with UA twisting the narrative and making it seem like we're exploiting his tragedy. Best case scenario, the university takes full blame for what transpired."
Izuku sighed, a rare moment of vulnerability flickering across his face. "Iida wasn't an easy man to work with," He admitted. "Too rigid, too quick to act without thinking. But out of everyone in Class 1-A, he had a better understanding of what being a Hero was all about."
The room fell silent as Izuku continued, his voice soft but firm with hidden manipulation. "The Iida family has produced many true heroes. They deserved every bit of respect they earned, and none of the suffering that came their way. I hope Stain is caught and left to rot in Tartarus for the rest of his miserable life."
For a moment, the group shared in his quiet mourning. Then, Izuku's expression hardened, his tone shifting to the burning determination they had come to expect from him. "But let's make one thing clear: UA is primarily to blame for Iida's death."
Eyes turned to him, all lingering doubts silenced as he continued.
"Like that hypocrite, Aizawa said, his death was preventable. Ingenium's tragic defeat wasn't some secret—it was national news. Everyone knew Stain was last seen in Hosu. And yet not one teacher thought to check on Tenya Iida, to see how he was coping. No one cared enough to guide him through his grief. Instead, they expected him to push it aside and act like nothing had happened, as though his brother's ruination didn't matter. And when he couldn't, when his anger got the better of him, they let him walk straight into a trap."
Chiura, who had initially voiced hesitation, looked away, shame flickering across her face.
"If Aizawa cared at all for us, like his "logical ruses" and "tastes of death" were supposed to imply, he should've banned all Internship offers from Hosu and prevented any student from entering that city until the threat of Stain had passed. And what was it that Aizawa did instead?"
Daichi was the one to answer, his voice laced with venom. "Taking a week-long nap, as usual."
"Bastard," Chiura muttered under her breath.
Izuku pressed forward, his voice rising with conviction. "UA's arrogance is its greatest flaw. They've let their past successes blind them to their shortcomings. The League of Villains' attack was just the first example. Iida's death is another. The world needs to see this—needs to see that UA isn't the infallible institution it claims to be. Only then can real change happen."
He scanned the room, his piercing gaze locking onto each of them in turn. "But if our actions have consequences—if exposing them leads to irreversible damage—then it's not on us to fix it. That responsibility falls to the real heroes, not us."
The room fell into a heavy silence as his words sank in. Then, one by one, the group members nodded in agreement. Their resolve had been renewed, their course set.
There would be no turning back.
That said, before Aizawa would get what's coming to him, Izuku would settle with his personal grievances first.
A metaphysical dark cloud loomed over UA as the days dragged on. While preparing Hero Students for the upcoming mid-term Final Exam remained essential, the staff recognized the need to give Class 1-A time to breathe and process everything they had endured.
They had gone from a promising class that withstood their first villain attack to a group constantly under scrutiny, with two or three students already removed under circumstances that brought shame.
Adding insult to injury, Tsuyu shared her encounter with Izuku on the train, revealing his scorn for them. It wasn't just his words but the raw truth in his tone—Izuku hated them. His Quirk, whatever hope it could've brought them, meant nothing to him. Kirishima was the only one willing to voice the dark possibility that Izuku might be laughing at Tenya's death from afar.
In the conference room, the UA staff gathered, their expressions weighed down by grim realities. Tenya Iida's death by the Hero Killer Stain had left a scar on their collective conscience, and as they reviewed the situation, guilt gnawed at them.
They should have paid closer attention to Tenya's mental state and reevaluated his internship choice.
"We failed him," Midnight said, breaking the silence. "There's no way around it. We should have seen how much he was struggling."
"We can't undo what's happened," Nezu interjected, his tone measured but solemn. "What we can do is ensure no more students slip through the cracks."
"That's easy to say," Power Loader muttered. "But it's not like we have the resources to monitor every student's personal life."
"No point in doing that because that ain't heroic," Present Mic bemused. "But there's no guarantee that this won't happen again, so we have to try something."
Aizawa, seated at the end of the table, pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, we all know what needs to change. Better communication. Stricter oversight. I get it. But right now, we need to focus on how we're going to handle the fallout. When this gets out, the media's going to tear us apart."
"We can't let them twist this into our fault," Ectoplasm added, frowning. "The Hero Killer is responsible, not us."
"But we didn't stop it either," Vlad said quietly.
Toshinori remained silent, his thoughts elsewhere. His mind churned with everything he was juggling: learning to teach better, Mirio Togata's training as his successor, the unresolved tension with Izuku, and now the Iida family's suffering. 'I should have seen it sooner, He thought bitterly. 'But seeing isn't enough, is it? This isn't a problem I can punch away.'
The door burst open, breaking his reverie. Thirteen, without her space costume, rushed in, looking frazzled. "We have a situation," She said breathlessly. "It's about Bakugo."
"What now?" Aizawa groaned.
Katsuki is still in UA receiving medical care from Recovery Girl as Chiyo has to keep him under surveillance to fully heal his arms and Quirk Factor before he can be taken to Shiketsu to face his suspension and Villain Rehabilitation. To say that he's been an unpleasant guest and patient would be too kind a term to describe that mad dog.
Thirteen held up her phone. "You all need to see this."
One by one, the staff checked their devices. The videos she referred to were everywhere, spreading like wildfire across the Hero Network. The content made their blood run cold.
Each clip depicted Bakugo as an aggressive school bully, flagrantly violating laws with illegal Quirk usage and outright assaults on his classmates. One video showed him slamming his fist into a student's stomach while the victim tried to placate him.
Another showed him blasting a heteromorph student down a hallway, his laughter audible over the screams. There were recordings of him kicking a girl off a bench at lunch, pinning another student against a locker, and detonating explosions dangerously close to their ears.
Aizawa's scowl deepened. "These have to be fake. Katsuki's a hostile little shit, but he's not this depraved. If he were, we would've figured it out before we let him set foot in this institute."
Power Loader shook his head. "There's too much here, Eraser. These videos go back years to Bakugo's middle school days. Did we catch any of this? Because it sure looks like we didn't."
The room fell into silence as the majority of the videos had one thing in common—Bakugo tormenting a young Midoriya. The meek, quirkless boy barely flinched under Bakugo's relentless abuse. Toshinori felt his chest tighten as the image of the Izuku he remembered—the boy who smiled through his tears—was reduced to nothing more than a punching bag.
Midnight finally spoke, her voice trembling with anger. "He's not just a troubled kid. He's a villain in the making."
Nezu steepled his paws. "If this is true, then our oversight failed more than just Tenya Iida. It failed Katsuki Bakugo. We need to decide, as a staff, what we do about this—immediately."
Aizawa sighed. "Whatever happens, he's still being transferred to Shiketsu. But if these videos are real… we might have been sending them a ticking time bomb."
The room erupted into arguments, accusations, and questions about how they had missed so much. Toshinori sat quietly, the image of Izuku's scarred face lingering in his mind. 'If we couldn't save him from Bakugo, then… how can we call ourselves Heroes?'
The Hero Network is an internet service that requires a Professional Hero License to access. It contains activity reports of Pro-Heroes across the country. Users can also request the assistance of other Heroes who may have a useful Quirk for a determined job. Students in Hero Academies are granted minimal access to this network, not only to help with their training by gaining a clearer vision of how Pro-Heroes operate, but also to enhance their utility on other websites, including publishing videos.
It was through this access that an anonymous user leaked hundreds of videos showcasing Katsuki Bakugo's violent actions for all to see.
All of UA saw them. The response was immediate: a mixture of mortification and disgust over the lengths one could go simply because they were born with a powerful Quirk. No one at the university was blind to how violent and vulgar Bakugo was, but no one spoke up about it because the teachers had never done anything to truly address it. The most they had done was hand him routine detentions, treating his behavior as a mere annoyance.
Other teachers were quick to reprimand Katsuki's misbehavior, but none ever treated it with the gravity it deserved. His homeroom teacher, Eraserhead, simply told him to "grow up" and stop "wasting his potential," while All Might, too new to his teaching role, appeared either oblivious or too focused on inspiring the students to intervene effectively. Having the Symbol of Peace's presence had been a thrilling novelty for the students, and they turned a blind eye, assuming everything would sort itself out.
Class 1-B, long resentful of the attention and privilege they perceived 1-A as receiving, found some validation in the videos. They had always painted 1-A as arrogant and undeserving of the spotlight, and this seemed to confirm their beliefs.
Yet, even some among them could admit their assumptions were flawed. Monoma, reflecting on his own actions, begrudgingly acknowledged that Izuku Midoriya might have been the most deserving of the title of Hero out of all of them; they were just too focused on his lack of a Quirk to see through everything else, and if nothing else, Monoma no longer begrudges Midoriya for breaking his nose.
For 1-A, the fallout was catastrophic. They had tolerated Bakugo's cruelty for a full month, some out of indifference, others because of Aizawa's pressure to focus solely on their hero training.
Many were also swayed by Bakugo's portrayal of Midoriya as a weak, Quirkless nuisance. Even those who had doubted Bakugo's narrative had allowed themselves to be persuaded in the end. Now, their future felt darker than ever.
Kirishima, once Bakugo's staunchest ally, looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack, his faith in the one he'd called "manly" utterly shattered.
Katsuki Bakugo, his arms healed enough to move and perform basic tasks, also saw the videos. He watched in growing horror as years of his misdeeds played out for the entire country to see. He wasn't stupid—despite his barbarity, he had always understood, deep down, that his actions aligned more closely with those of a Villain than a Hero. He had acted out of a desperate hunger for recognition as the strongest and an obsessive hatred for Midoriya. He had convinced himself that his past could remain buried, that UA's prestige and the watchful eyes of his teachers would shield him from any real consequences.
But they hadn't done a good enough job, and now his dirty laundry was out in the open.
Katsuki's mind spiraled into chaos. Not being allowed to stay in UA was suddenly the least of his concerns. He couldn't be a Hero anymore. His dreams, his future—it was all over. Panic clawed at his chest, threatening to consume him whole. In that moment of desperation, his fractured psyche latched onto the only thing that made sense, the only thing that had ever mattered to him: finding someone to blame.
His grip on his phone tightened, and his face twisted with raw fury.
"DDDDEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"