" Ochaco-chan..." Sora looked up at the girl doing her best for the sake of their friend.
" We looked at him. So what? Don't tell me you want us to get all beat up like that, too?"
Will these guys ever get the point here!?
" You want us to be covered in mud, too?!"
" Only the heroes will be covered in mud! Just give us some time to wash off that mud and dirt!" She wiped away the sweat and rain covering her face before shouting again. " Can I reassure you all right now? Sorry, I can't. Because we're also uneasy. Because we're neighbors, just like you all. So please lend him your strength! So that we can smile together in the future! With all of your power! Please, will you let him rest beside you? Will you let him prepare? Midoriya Izuku is trying to take on the burden of his power, but he still has a lot to learn! He's just a normal high schooler!"
By that point, tears were streaming down Midoriya's face.
" But-"
" Please... let this place... continue to be his hero academia!"
As the boy fell to his knees, Sora tried to make for him only to be held by Yuu. " Look..." He gestured back towards the crowd as a large woman who apparently had a mutant Quirk and the kid they recognized as Kota came rushing to him. " This isn't our turn, it's theirs."
They both came to comfort Midoriya while a man among the crowd cried out to calm out the angry people. " Before blaming him hysterically, can't we listen to what he has to say? It's not like that kid's planning to stay here permanently. Right now, we're short on resources and personnel. So this is the only place he can rest up without worrying too much, right? That's what you heroes were trying to explain, right?" Nezu and the other teachers nodded.
" He can't go to Shiketsu? The facilities are the same level, right?"
" But then, the same thing would happen at Shiketsu..."
" It's strange right..." Sora looked back at her friend as he spoke. " How just the actions of one person could spur so many. How the courage of a few could pull on others." He looked at Uraraka, at Kota, the giant woman by Midoriya's side and the man still trying to convince the rest of them. " As long as just we have someone who could muster enough courage to speak up, to act..."
" Answer this. If you rest here, will things go back to the way they were before?"
" As long as we have that someone..."
" I'll get it back." Midoriya held on to his scarf. " Because everyone's here with me... We'll get it all back."
" Then the rest would follow up their suit," Yuu said as the people once blocking their path moved up to them, sharing their umbrellas with Midoriya and the whole of class A.
" Everyone is..." Sora could hardly contain her tears at the sight before her.
" Papa... Why did you become a caretaker?" She asked once when she went to visit his workplace.
" I wanted to look after other people and help them."
" But isn't this the job of a hero? To help others?"
" Maybe, but do we need to wait for heroes to wipe our noses?" He smiled as he kneeled before her and patted her head. " When you find a kid crying or getting bullied, do we have to wait for a hero to help them?"
" I don't know... should we?"
" Listen Sora, it's not that heroes are those who help others, it's those who help others are heroes. When you find a chance to reach out to someone in need, you shouldn't hold back, just hold out your hand and help them..."
In a society where superpower reined, where villains spread fear and destruction and heroes fought for peace, the cries of a child who lost his balloon or lost his way home would be easily drowned among the murmurs of the crowd. People grew accustomed to heroes dealing with everything for them they forgot to look after each other, always convinced heroes would solve it somehow, and so the child would continue crying on and on. Even sharing one's umbrella was a rare feat. But then, at UA, a change was made, and for the first time, instead of heroes shielding civilians, it was the other way around.
" Sora!" Sora snapped when she was pulled into a bone-breaking hug by her grandmother. " I was really worried and scared there!"
" It's alright Grandma." Sora patted her back, letting the warmth of the hug seep through her chest. " Everything is fine now."
" I didn't think you were capable of shouting that loud." Yuu snapped when an umbrella was held above him and looked back to see Yuusuke looking down at him with a broad smirk.
" Nii-san!?"
" 'Since when did people become what their Quirks are?' didn't know you were a philosopher."
" Stop it!" He shouted pulling his hood over his head, hiding his face behind it. He didn't know even how he stepped up to talk in the first place.
" You know everyone was looking at you back then, right?"
Yuu pulled his hood even further over his face, as though wishing to disappear within it. " I know..." He groaned.
" I meant it, everyone. Even them." Yuu snapped his head up at that and Yuusuke's smirk widened as he looked over his shoulder. Standing a little further from them were his parents, and for the first time in their lives, they weren't looking at Yuusuke, but rather at him...
________________
The rain let out by the time they reached the dorm. Kaminari and Kirishima were hauling Midoriya as they all burst through the door. " The water should be at 42 degrees C!" Kaminari shouted.
" Heat it!" Ojiro joined as they tore across the living room.
" Strip him!" All of Midoriya's clothes were sent flying in the air as they rushed into the bathroom.
" Wash him!" Wielding the water hoses like some weapons, Ojiro, Mineta, Kaminari, and Kirishima splashed the boy from head to toe.
" This will take too long!" Mineta complained.
" You guys better step back." Everyone looked back at Yuu as he began summoning some spirit. " I know exactly who can take care of him."
Before them, stood some green creature with a turtle's shell, a yellow beak, and an upturned dish on its head. Its webbed fingers clutched a soap and a brush as it looked down at Midoriya as though he was some prey.
" K-Kappa!" They exclaimed as the creature lunged at Midoriya.
One moment, he was covered in soap bubbles as Kappa scrubbed at every inch of his body, the second, Midoriya was shining as though he was just polished.
" Awesome! And he is so fast too!" Sero commented watching the Yokai saluting Yuu as if he were a soldier who just finished his mission.
" Well then!" Kirishima yelled as he and the other trio dunked the boy in the tub. " Submerge him!"
" Most things can be fixed if you just take a bath," said Kaminari as they all joined Midoriya in the tub.
" Hey! You're making the bathwater dirty!" Bakugo shouted. " Scrape his skin with steel wool and an undiluted industrial strength detergent!"
" You need to follow the directions and recommended amounts!" Kirishima retorted.
" You don't have to worry about that, Bakugo-san," Yuu said as he joined them in the tub. " No one is better than Kappa in cleaning and rinsing."
" And he does massages too," Mineta stated as he allowed the spirit to scrub his back. " You should have introduced him sooner, Seijin!"
" Really! Let me go next!" Kaminari said stepping out of the bathtub.
" I'm after you!" Added Sero.
" Even though, despite his apology for his mistake, nothing changed," Tokoyami said looking back at the ash blond.
" Go around!" Sato told him just as he jumped into the tub and splashed water at them. "C'mon, go around!"
"It's not that I've given up on becoming number one. And the fact that everyone's my rival hasn't changed, either. Including you, D- Izuku!" Bakugo punctuated his statement by splashing water at Midoriya's face.
The boy shook his head." You don't have to do it if it's impossible. 'Deku' is fine, Kacchan."
" My dictionary doesn't have the word 'impossible' in it!"
" Well, having ambition's a good thing... is it?" Sero wasn't sure when it came to Bakugo.
" Let's take this chance to dunk Bakugo underwater!" Mineta suggested as he jumped into the pool too.
" Fat chance!"
As Kaminari, Kirishima, and Mineta stood up to the challenge, Midoriya looked back at Yuu. " Seijin-kun... About earlier, thank you."
Yuu blinked for a moment as though he was trying to comprehend what was Midoriya talking about.
" There is nothing to thank me for." Yuu held his hands up. " Plus, I'm sure you would have done the same thing if you were in my place, Midoriya-san."
" Still..."
" If you need to thank someone then thank Uraraka-san." Yuu smiled at him. " She was the one who moved everyone back then."
Midoriya nodded before he sank himself underwater.
" You don't have to think so much about it," Yuu said as he noticed his bothered look. " It's just as you said, everything will be fine as long as we're together."
Blowing bubbles under the water's surface, the green head nodded again...
________________
" Where's Uraraka-san ?" Midoriya asked as soon as he entered the living room.
" Sleeping," Jiro answered. " It looks like after she stopped worrying, she felt drained. The other girls, too."
" I see." He said as he sat down. " Everyone, thanks. And sorry for causing you trouble."
" Yeah, about One For All, right? You should've told us!" Ashido remarked as she walked in with a towel draped over her shoulders. " Thanks to your letter, I'm not surprised or anything anymore, though."
" And to think you knew about it too, Sora." Yuu looked back at his friend who gave a wary smile.
" Well, I didn't know all about it." She defended.
" To go from being Quirkless to having a super strong power... it must have been tough," Ojiro said leaning beside the boy.
" Anyone's bones would've been breaking left and right if they suddenly got that much power." Sero pointed.
" What does One For All feel like?"
" It's... well..."
" Midoriya's probably the sleepiest out of everyone," Todoroki said as he came out of the bath. " Let him sleep. Why'd we bring him back otherwise?"
But Midoriya was far from sleeping. He was feeling sorry about acting mean toward All Might his mind couldn't rest without apologizing. It was then that all of them pointed at the window where All Might was pressing his face against the glass like some ghost haunting them.
After letting him in, they were all taken aback when All Might bowed his head to apologize to Midoriya. " That's not true! You helped me a lot!" The boy told him.
" If you're gonna apologize, then apologize to us, too, All Might!" Ashido cried. " Don't just run off without saying anything!"
" The day of the final battle... is probably coming soon."
" This is not the apology we expected." Yuu blurted.
" You know, you're slightly taking after Whisper," Sora remarked before looking back at All Might. " Did something happen? Have you figured out something?"
" First I need to say sorry for causing you worry." Sora glimpsed something off about him, like a dying flame fanned back to life. " I won't go into detail, but we've gotten information. We'll have answers soon. We will need everyone we have. Even me... I'm limited with what I can do with this body, but even so..."
" All Might!" Midoriya cut him off. " The pork cutlet lunches gave me so much strength! I'm sure I ended up like that because I distanced myself from you... so, together-"
" Let's protect everyone!" Iida joined in. They all nodded their heads in agreement. All Might seemed moved by their resolution.
" Thanks."
The man didn't stay long, there was something he needed done. Ashido, Sato, Ojiro, and Tokoyami saw him off.
" Endeavor and the others won't come into UA?" Sato asked and the rest of them looked up at that.
" Speaking of that, they didn't want to come inside with us when Thirteen took us in." Sora pointed.
" Neither were you, Todoroki-san." Yuu looked at their friend as he walked in with a blanket in hands.
" Their appearance might have made things more complex." The boy answered. " Seeing my old man will bring Dabi to everyone's mind. Even with what just happened, it's not like all the evacuees here have changed their minds and become our allies."
Yaoyorozu then drew their attention to the sleeping green head on the sofa and Todoroki wrapped him in the blanket. " As Dabi's brother and Endeavor's son, people must still be uneasy about me inside, too. That's why I didn't want to walk in with the rest of you."
" You're always too serious about things, Todoroki-san," said Yuu.
" Just because of your family. That sucks..." Kirishima spoke up. " It's not like you did anything yourself."
" I did. I was so obsessed with bloodline that I lost sight of my origin. But it's different now." He looked back at the rest of the class. " I'll prove it. So everyone can be at ease."
They all smiled back at him while Kirishima was holding back tears.
" Not all the evacuees are our allies, huh?" Jiro played around with her earphone jack. " It's that, right? That..." Using them, she pulled Kaminari, Yuu, Yaoyorozu, and Tokoyami closer to her.
" It's kind of weird to put them on the same level, but during the school festival, there were those who were uneasy about us, right? We want them all to be reassured... And laugh... So we thought about what we could do..."
" I see..." Yuu mumbled while the girl pulled Bakugo by the collar of his shirt so he could join the band team.
" Like what we did back then, let's do what we can with everything we've got. We did it once already! Let's not just get it back- let's make things better than before. Let's all go together - Go beyond!"
" Plus Ultra !" They all said in their best mild voice so as not to wake Midoriya up...
________________
With the first rays of the sun, all of them had come down to the common area.
" Good morning, everyone," Uraraka told them before she glimpsed the boy sleeping on the sofa. " Did Deku-kun spend the night here?"
" He was too tired we didn't want to wake him up to get back to his room," Yuu told her as he helped with setting the tables for breakfast.
" Why don't you wake him up, Ochaco-chan? Everyone is here and breakfast is ready, let's eat together." At Sora's suggestion, the girl nodded and marched on around the sofa to their classmate. However, before she even touched him, the boy snapped awake and unleashed black whips.
Uraraka took a moment to realize what happened before she smiled broadly at him. " Deku-kun, morning."
" Uraraka-san..." It seemed like he was still in a daze. "... Where... am I?"
" Hey hey, you're still half asleep, Midoriya?" Kaminari asked as he walked over to him.
" This is UA," Yuu said as he gently patted his shoulder. " It's alright. It was just a dream."
" You're safe now." Mineta pointed at the wriggling whips in the air. " Hurry up and put that black thing away."
"Oh, s-sorry!" He said squeezing it back into his hand.
" Don't worry, Midoriya-kun," Iida reassured him.
" We'll be with you from now on," Yaoyorozu added.
" Yeah, we'll all fight together." Kirishima joined.
" We're class 1-A after all," Sora said sitting down on the armrest beside him. " No one of us fights on his own."
" Yeah." Midoriya smiled softly at all of them. They all gathered around him, making a silent vow, that together, they were going to go beyond the despair that had befallen them...