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Chapter 685 - 14

"Try not to die on the way home, Midoriya."

It had been two days and three nights since then. Nearly 60 hours of anxiety, waiting and wondering if and when the other shoe was going to drop. Midoriya didn't know who had whispered that chilling message into his ear—he considered forcing a loop to determine the speaker's identity, but his predecessor's warning and the possibility he could end up trapped on the boat again made looping a risk he wasn't willing to take. Now that their extended weekend was over and school was back in session, he could finally stop waiting around and be proactive.

As he sat in class, Midoriya tuned out Present Mic's lecture and kept his eyes fixed upon his notebook. He fought to keep himself from muttering as he rhythmically tapped the end of his pen on the page and glared at the rather short list of possibilities he had narrowed down from the available information.

The background noise of the station made identifying them from their voice difficult, but he could tell that they were probably female. He knew their hands were small. He knew that they were able to blend into a crowd easily. He couldn't fully discount the possibility that he was mistaken in this regard, but he was more than 90% certain that speaker was not only one of his classmates, but among the group who had come to karaoke.

Asui Tsuyu: Quirk rules her out. Hands too large, voice too distinctive. Possibility of being suspect, 0%.

Ashido Mina: Too easily visible in a crowd. Other passengers extremely likely to have remembered seeing her. Her possibility of being the suspect is greater than 0%, but not worth serious consideration until others are cleared.

With those two names crossed off the list, there were only three remaining possibilities:

Yaoyorozu Momo

Hagakure Tooru

Jirou Kyoka

Midoriya stared at the three remaining names. The likelihood varied from person to person, but with their respective capabilities, all three were entirely capable of ferreting out his secret, letting him know and disappearing in an instant. However, the most vital question of why they would do this still remained unanswered. Why would they let him know they knew about his quirk? What were they after?

'The good news,' he thought, 'is that if they're my enemy, then they clearly aren't very smart.' He paused. 'That probably means I can scratch Yaoyorozu off of the list…or at least, I can assume that if it was her, then she wanted me to figure it out. She's simply too smart to be that sloppy if she wanted to remain anonymous. Hagakure is definitely a good candidate, her invisibility would definitely explain why nobody I asked remembered seeing anything. Jirou's earlier behavior also makes her a prime suspect, and her appearance is just generic enough that most people would simply overlook her.'

Midoriya was so preoccupied with this issue he barely noticed when a heavily bandaged Aizawa announced that the UA Sports Festival would continue as per usual—though with drastically increased security as a result of the recent villain attack. In sharp contrast to Midoriya, the rest of the class was brimming with excitement for the major event and immediately began to discuss it when lunchtime rolled around.

"Man," Kirishima exclaimed, "I'm so freaking pumped! If we show our stuff during the festival, that's a huge step towards becoming a pro!"

"Everybody…" Uraraka said, her face uncharacteristically intense, "let's do our best!"

"What the heck?" Ashido exclaimed, taken aback at the unexpected behavior from her consistently carefree classmate. "You aren't looking very…Uraraka right now. It's kinda freaking me out."

"Yeah!" Uraraka thrust her fist in the air, ignoring Ashido. "I'm gonna crush this! Bring it on!"

"Midoriya!" Iida greeted him with a chop of his hand. "Let us go and eat! We'll need our strength for training this afternoon!"

"…Yeah, sure, let's go." Midoriya nodded and snapped his notebook shut before storing it in his desk. 'He's right, I'm not going to figure anything out right now, and I can't let my performance slip during training.' He mostly stayed silent while Iida and Uraraka chatted on the way to the cafeteria, only reacting when she mentioned her regret for not being able to join them at karaoke.

"I really wish that I could have heard you and Deku sing," she said wistfully, "that must have been a hoot. My money situation just isn't very…stable…right now." She clenched a fist. "That's why I really need to do well at the Festival. I need to nail down a high-paying job as quickly as possible."

Midoriya smiled faintly, "When you say it like that, it sounds like you just want to be a hero for the money."

Uraraka went completely silent and began to stare out the window.

Midoriya blinked. That had been a joke. "Wait, seriously? You want to be a hero for the money?" When Uraraka's face went beet red, he realized how his statement must have come off. "Oh…sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound so judgmental."

Uraraka dropped her eyes to the ground. "It's fine, you aren't wrong…I know that compared to you two, it's pretty selfish."

"Nonsense!" Iida interjected, "Wanting financial stability is a perfectly natural desire!"

"Motivations aren't important. Intentions aren't important," Midoriya said bluntly. "Only your actions matter. Many of the worst atrocities in human history were committed by people with noble intentions. As a hero, what you'll be doing is saving lives. Quite frankly, I wouldn't care if you only wanted to be a hero for an excuse to beat people up, as long as you follow the law." Iida and Uraraka stared at Midoriya in shock. "What? Did I say something weird?"

"No…you made valid points. I just wasn't expecting that from you," Iida replied.

"Yeah," Uraraka said. "I got the idea that you were a lot more…idealistic than that. You know, with the whole 'wanting to become the next All Might', thing."

"Really?" Midoriya said. "How is that cynical? I'm not saying that the ends justify the means, I'm actually saying the opposi—"

"Young Midoriya!" All Might's booming voice cut them off and the large man stuck his head out from behind a corner. He held up a packed lunch, almost bashfully. "Care to eat lunch with me?"

Uraraka started to crack up. "He's like a maiden!"

'I almost forgot…my mysterious stranger isn't the only person who I need to sort things out with…might as well get this over with.'

"Sure," Midoriya agreed, pasting a neutral smile on his face. He turned to Iida and Uraraka, "Sorry guys, I'll catch up with you later."

"Think nothing of it!" Iida boomed, "Given your stated goals, you would be a fool to turn down a chance to talk privately with All Might!"

 

XXX

HEROES NEVER DIE

XXX

 

After making it to the teacher's lounge, the two hadn't been sitting for more than a minute when All Might delivered some news that hit Midoriya like a punch to the gut.

"Fifty minutes?" Midoriya repeated, feeling slightly sick. "That's a 60% percent drop, you strained yourself that badly?"

All Might nodded. "I can barely maintain my hero form for an hour, and my time limit is getting shorter by the day now that I no longer possess One for All." He grimaced, "At this rate, I don't have much longer as the Symbol of Peace. A couple of months, at best."

"You have a more immediate problem than that," Midoriya pointed out. "How are you going to teach classes, All Might? An hour isn't enough time for one lesson, let alone several."

"Don't you worry about that," All Might reassured him, "I'll work with the other teachers to figure something out. That aside," He poured himself and Midoriya a cup of tea, "I assume that you've had sufficient time to 'cool off' from our previous conversation?"

"Somewhat," Midoriya gazed into the murky depths of his tea. "I'm still not happy about it, but I did some reflection…I understand my anger and resentment towards you and my mom was because I felt like I was being robbed of my sense of control over that information."

"That's a very mature assessment," All Might noted. "Insightful as well, I can see how the nature of your quirk would make any sense of control a precious thing."

"Wait," Midoriya said, "before we say anything else, I have a problem I need to talk to you about."

"And what is that?" All Might calmly asked, blowing on his tea to cool it.

"Hold on a second." Midoriya replied. He walked over to the closed door to the teacher lounge and suddenly threw it open. He stuck his head out the door and looked in both directions to make sure nobody was nearby.

'Okay, we're clear…I think. If it was Hagakure or Yaoyorozu, that wouldn't do much since she could just plant a bug or be invisible, but this is all I can do for now.' He shut the door and locked it. Then he took out his phone, pulled up some music and set it next to the door before heading back to his seat. All Might watched all of this with an amused expression.

"Was all of that really necessary?" All Might asked.

"It most definitely was. Someone knows, All Might." Midoriya said in a low voice, "I think someone in our class overheard us that day. Someone knows about my quirk, and maybe even One for All and you, too."

There was a moment of tense silence.

"Are you sure? How do you know this?" All Might leaned in, his voice deadly serious. "I need you to tell me absolutely everything. Don't leave out any details, no matter how inconsequential they may seem."

All Might remained silent throughout the entire story, beginning with Midoriya's meetup after his appointment with Recovery Girl and up until his interaction on the train. With All Might's permission, Midoriya ran to the classroom and fetched his notebook with his theories and notes as to the identity of the individual. It was at times like this—when All Might set aside his goofy, joking persona—that Midoriya understood raw power was only a small part of what made All Might the greatest hero of all time. After a minute or so of perusing the information, the emaciated man shut the notebook with a snap and set it on the coffee table.

"I can't say I'm surprised, but you're quite thorough. Even though you weren't able to, most people your age wouldn't even consider asking to review the CCTV footage. Out of curiosity, what did you say to them when you asked?"

Midoriya frowned at the reminder of his failure. "I told the security team that I had been approached by a long-time stalker with a history of violence and that the footage might be my only chance of proving that they violated their restraining order. They told me to come back with a warrant."

"I see, it was a good attempt, but sometimes that's how these things turn out when secrets have to be kept. This is indeed a situation worth taking seriously," All Might said, "but I doubt that whoever approached you was an enemy—or at the very least, not the enemy I was concerned about."

"The enemy you were concerned about?" Midoriya repeated. "What enemy?"

All Might nodded. "It goes without saying that you must keep this information to yourself, but our investigation into the League of Villains' attack has revealed inconclusive, but compelling evidence that there is a traitor among us."

"That makes sense." Midoriya said. "They couldn't have known that you were supposed to be teaching the class that day unless they had prior knowledge, not to mention the fact that they knew how to shut down all of the alarm systems."

"Our thoughts exactly." All Might replied. "However, despite our best efforts over the last several days, we have been unable to produce any clues as to the identity of our enemy informant."

"Which is why you don't think that whoever approached me is the same person," Midoriya noted. "Anybody capable of fooling both the police and the entire staff of UA wouldn't be so sloppy when it comes to me, especially if they know about the connection between us."

All Might nodded. "It is still important that you discover the identity of whoever approached you and determine what they know about One for All and our connection before serious harm can be done, but I don't believe that your life is in any danger."

"I'm not worried about my life." Midoriya reminded him. "I'm worried about my privacy. It actually might have made things easier for me if they had killed me that night. It would have given me another chance to find out who they are."

"…Right…time travel," All Might coughed out a small gout of blood and wiped his chin. "I suppose I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the whole thing."

Midoriya snorted. "You should try being me. Trying to keep track of what I've said or done in one timeline versus another can be a major pain." He took a sip of his tea and made an appreciative noise. "…Wow, this is pretty good."

"I had it specially imported." All Might said. "After my injury, I had to give up alcohol and many of my favorite foods. Now, a good cup of tea is one of the few ways I can still indulge myself."

"I see." Midoriya said, casting an appreciative eye at the most likely exorbitantly expensive beverage in his hands. "Was there anything else you wanted to discuss with me?"

"Yes." All Might said. "I've been thinking about where we left off in our last conversation. About you talking to someone about all of…" All Might swirled his hand around, "this, I mean."

"I'm still not getting therapy." Midoriya flatly told him. "There's nothing that you can say that will change my mind on that, All Might."

"I don't plan on changing your mind." All Might replied. "I've done some reflecting of my own over the last couple of days, and…" he sighed, "unfortunately, I believe that you are correct. For better or worse, from the moment I handed you that hair, I made a long-term investment in you, and speaking to a therapist would unnecessarily put that investment at risk."

"Interesting choice of words. If I am an 'investment', I don't believe that you'd give up on your concerns so easily," Midoriya noted. "Can I assume that means you have something else in mind?"

"I do," All Might nodded. "I feel somewhat foolish for not thinking of it immediately. You are remarkably well-adjusted given your experiences, but you aren't an island, young man—isolation eventually breaks even the strongest of wills. You still need someone to confide in. I might not be a therapist, but I believe I can fulfill that role."

Midoriya hesitated. "I don't know if I can do that," he replied. "I wouldn't even know what I would say…hiding this stuff is just a way of life for me. Forget talking about it, I try to not even think about some of this stuff if I can help it."

"I don't expect it to be easy for you." All Might insisted. "I don't expect it to be easy for either of us. That's why I'd like to establish a relationship of 100% honesty between us from this point on. I will hide nothing from you, provided you reciprocate. I will also treat you as an adult to the greatest extent that I can, given my position. Naturally, the details of any conversations will remain entirely between us…is this acceptable to you?"

Midoriya thought for a second, and then nodded. "That's fair. More than fair, even."

All Might smiled, "Excellent, young man, I'm glad you—"

"Just keep in mind," Midoriya interjected, "that I've been habitually lying to every person in my life for over a decade, so I can't promise that I'll be able to…open up…right away, but I'll do my best."

"That's all I ask." All Might took a sip of his tea and the two were silent for a moment. "I'd also like to speak to you about the upcoming sports festival. As I said earlier, I don't have much longer as the Symbol of Peace…unfortunately, there are those with villainous intent who have begun to realize that as well. The Sports Festival is an event that the whole country will be watching, as my successor, the next Symbol of Peace, this is the perfect opportunity for you to announce to the world, 'I am here!'"

"Don't you worry about that, All Might." Midoriya smiled. "Compared to all of this cloak and dagger nonsense, this straightforward kind of challenge is a relief. I'll give them a show that they'll never forget."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," All Might beamed. "Now, back to the problem of your mysterious classmate…do you have any idea on how you plan to investigate from here on out?"

"Yes." Midoriya replied. "I'm starting with Yaoyorozu, since she's the easiest. We're both on the student council, so I'll have plenty of time alone with her. She's also smart enough that if it was her who approached me, it's because she wanted me to figure her out. If I drop some oblique hints, she'll either play ball or have no idea what I'm talking about. It's Hagakure and Jirou who are going to be the challenge. I don't suppose you have any ideas to help me out there?"

"Hmm…let me think," All Might murmured. "Honestly, Nighteye was the one responsible for this kind of work, but I did pick up a thing or two. Let me see that notebook of yours."

 

XXX

(10 Days Later—UA Cafeteria)

XXX

 

 

"…And then she said 'Sorry, but you're kinda dumb!'" Kaminari complained, "Like, what the hell? I just asked her if she wanted to catch a movie! She could have just said no!"

"I told you not to approach her." Ashido retorted with zero sympathy. "Uraraka was clearly in a bad mood after losing to you in sparring. And then there was the thing from the villain exercise, how did you think it was going to go? Besides," she gave Midoriya a mischievous smirk, "I think somebody else is a better match for her." She elbowed Midoriya in the side, "Huh? Huh? Huh?"

"…Uh-huh." Midoriya absently replied, not really paying attention to her.

He didn't know whether to be flattered or annoyed, but his customary spot near the back corner of the cafeteria had somehow become the cool place to be. As much as he appreciated his classmates' friendliness and attempts at comradery, he would be lying if he said that he didn't miss his quiet, peaceful lunches with his sketchbook. Not that he'd be leisurely drawing even if he were alone right then…he had more important matters on his mind at the moment.

None of his sessions working with Yaoyorozu had turned up anything. Every vague hint or oblique reference to his quirk seemed to pass straight over her head. He supposed that it was possible that she was merely playing dumb, but that didn't make any sense to him given the circumstances. Also, she'd have to be one of the best actors he'd ever seen to pull off confused ignorance so convincingly.

Hagakure actually turned out to be much easier to rule out than he had anticipated. Apparently, she lived in the same part of town as several of their other classmates, and a few subtle inquiries produced a rock-solid alibi for the transparent girl. She had multiple accounts placing her aboard a different train when Midoriya had been approached.

With those two crossed off the list, only one suspect remained. And suspicious barely scratched the surface of her behavior for the last two weeks. Jirou was actively avoiding him. Midoriya had been trying to talk to her while she was alone for several days now, only to be left frustrated at every turn. With her quirk, trying to catch her by surprise was a difficult proposition, to put it mildly. Even when he tried disguising the sound of his approach, or even hiding within a crowd, she still somehow knew when he was coming.

He had nearly reached the point of simply asking her to speak privately when she was with a group, but that would raise questions that he didn't want raised. Ideally, nobody would ever know that a conversation occurred at all.

'Today's the day.' Midoriya thought for the third time that week as he stared at Jirou, who was sitting at another table. 'Today's the day that I finally find out what you're up to. You aren't getting away from me this time, you little…'

"Hey Midoriya," Kaminari asked with a grin, "do you have a crush on Jirou or something?"

Midoriya's disposable chopsticks snapped in his hands with enough force that one of the pieces went flying and he began to choke on the mouthful of rice that he'd just inhaled out of surprise at the sudden question. Sitting next to him, Ashido snickered as she reached over and clapped him on the back, clearing the obstruction. He took a long swig of tea from his thermos.

Midoriya stared at Kaminari as if he'd grown another head. "Do I have a what?"

"It's no big deal if you don't wanna say," Kaminari quickly backtracked. "I was just wondering."

Ashido leaned in. "I'd also like to hear the answer to this question."

"I bet you would." Midoriya said flatly, shaking his head. "No, just…no. Where is this even coming from?"

"Well, you've been staring at her a lot since we went to karaoke." Kaminari said.

"Oh?" Midoriya said. "Have I really?" 'I mean, I was keeping an eye out for opportunities to confront her alone, but I thought I was being subtle…I guess I wasn't subtle enough.'

"A lot," Ashido added. "A lot."

"I see," Midoriya took a moment to calm himself down and think. "Is that why she's been avoiding me lately?" He asked, "She thinks I…like her…and she feels awkward?"

"Well either that, or she thinks you want to kill her." Ashido joked.

"Hmm." Midoriya hummed, still thinking about how to deal with this problem. "That's inconvenient."

Ashido and Kaminari shared a look. "Inconvenient?" They echoed together.

"Yes. Inconvenient," Midoriya repeated. "I'm the class rep, I will need to speak to her occasionally." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jirou leave the cafeteria on her own and he rose to his feet. "Excuse me," he said, "I'm going to clear this up right now, privately." Before he walked away, Midoriya paused and turned around to face Ashido, who had subtly shifted in her seat as he moved past her. "Privately," he stressed, "That means don't follow us."

"I'm offended that you would think something like that of me!" Ashido protested. "I know what 'privately' means!"

"I'm not kidding around about this, Ashido," Midoriya said severely. "I'll ask her if anyone's nearby, so don't even think about it."

"Tch," Ashido scowled. "Spoilsport!"

 

 

Jirou did her best to remain as elusive as she had been for the last week and a half, and five minutes after she had left the cafeteria, she was leaning against the façade of UA, breathing slightly heavily from her desperate attempts to keep away from her implacable pursuer.

She normally took care to not be alone while on campus, but nobody was willing to go with her to grab her phone from the classroom where it had been charging. She had hoped that sitting with Ashido would keep him distracted long enough for her to retrieve the device, but Midoriya was on her tail almost immediately.

Jirou tapped one of her earphone jacks against the wall and focused on the thousands of tiny vibrations running through the building. She furrowed her brow when she couldn't identify Midoriya's distinctive footfalls—his left leg was a few millimeters longer than his right, making his strides slightly uneven.

'Maybe he tried to take off his shoes again.' She closed her eyes and listened for any elevated heartbeats—this was a much more difficult application of her powers with a far shorter range, but it was good as an emergency resort. When she couldn't identify anything within her range, she let out a sigh of relief. 'I think I lost him.' She thought. 'That was close…I can't believe that I forgot to charge my phone last night…I can't keep this up forever, he's getting harder to avoid.' 

"Jirou." Midoriya's voice suddenly appeared from behind her, and she let out a small shriek of surprise.

Midoriya understood better than most that people were creatures of habit—especially when they were under duress. Cornering a person who could pick out the sound of your heart, or your unique stride from a crowd was difficult, but not impossible—all it took was a little raw data and the ability to plan ahead. And after three days of wild goose chases, he had had plenty of data.

"H-How did you?" Jirou stammered. 'How the hell did he sneak up on me!?'

"Magic," Midoriya replied, not wanting to reveal that he had jumped out of a window. 'Her little trick sticking her earphone jack on the wall is a good one, but it dulls her situational awareness to everything not connected to the structure.'

"…Magic?" Jirou repeated incredulously. "You know I know you're lying, right?"

"You've certainly led me on a merry chase," Midoriya ignored Jirou's call out, "but it's over now. I need to talk to you." He looked around. "Is anyone else nearby? I'm sure you know, but this is a sensitive topic."

Jirou took a deep breath and tried to calm her pounding heart. "Sorry, Midoriya," Jirou said, "I'm flattered, but you're not really my type."

The instant that the words left Jirou's mouth, Midoriya slammed his hand against the wall, right next to her head. Practically nose to nose, Jirou involuntarily froze at the sight of Midoriya's glowing eyes, and the arcs of green electricity crackling in her ear made her hair stand on end.

"Don't. Don't fuck with me on this, Jirou," Midoriya said in cold, tight voice. He stared at her for several seconds without blinking. "I know that you know."

Jirou forced herself to take a shuddering breath. "What the hell is your problem, dude? You're acting like a total creep! Get away from me!"

Jirou tried to shove him out of her way, but found that it was like trying to move a boulder. Midoriya continued to stare at Jirou for several seconds before he deactivated One for All and stepped back. "…I'm sorry," he apologized, "that was over the line…but I'm pretty sure you know why I'm so worked up." He narrowed his eyes at Jirou, "After all, you hear a lot of things, right?"

"I…" Jirou's chest froze up at her words being thrown back at her.

"Why did you run at the station?" Midoriya asked. Jirou twitched and began to fidget uncomfortably under his unblinking gaze. "Don't deny it, you basically spelled it out for me at karaoke, why did you run away after what you said?"

"…Can you blame me?" Jirou finally replied after several tense seconds. "I was just…at first I was trying to drop hints to ease you into the idea, but you didn't make the connection. I didn't want to just hold onto a secret like that for the next couple of days, so when you were about leave, I made a joke…"

"A joke?" Midoriya incredulously repeated. "'Try not to die on the way home,' was your idea of a joke? Are you freaking kidding me right now?"

"Uh, yeah, I don't know if you've noticed," Jirou dryly replied, the knot in her chest starting to loosen now that the sudden fury that had overtaken Midoriya had fled. "But my sense of humor is kind of sarcastic."

Midoriya closed his eyes and counted to ten. He opened them again and shook his head slightly. "…Okay, fine…whatever." He motioned with his hand, "Continue."

Jirou swallowed. "I know now that that was basically the worst possible way to let you know, but you totally freaked. Your heartrate went through the roof and I saw those sparks start to come off you…I just…I panicked."

"…When and how did you find out?" Midoriya asked.

"After the villain attack." Jirou answered, staring at the ground. "I had gotten all the way home when I realized that I forgot my math book…even though we had the day off, we still had homework, you know? I was on my way out when I heard a crash coming from the infirmary…I went to check it out…and that's when I overheard you and All Might talking."

'A crash?' Midoriya thought, 'Must have been when I was showing All Might Black Whip.'

"How much did you hear?" he asked in a low voice. "How long did you eavesdrop on us?"

"…A lot." Jirou answered.

"Details, Jirou," Midoriya demanded. "Now."

"Hey!" Jirou snapped, "Watch the tone! I know that you're upset, but there's no need to be an asshole."

"You don't get to lecture me on manners," Midoriya retorted with a glare. "I'm not the one who listened in on a private conversation and overheard things I shouldn't have."

Jirou flushed angrily but bit her tongue. "Fine. All Might is injured, and you have his quirk somehow. There was some villain who could steal quirks. Your original quirk is called Death by Design, and you go back in time when you die. All Might wants you to get therapy. You said no. Then Recovery Girl and that policeman came. Happy?"

"No Jirou," Midoriya said. "I'm not happy. But I have one more question, and then I'll be satisfied. Did you tell anyone?"

"Are you crazy? No," Jirou answered immediately. "I'm smart enough to know that isn't something to spread around!"

Midoriya let out a breath and released a load of tension that he'd been holding in since Jirou whispered in his ear. "Good."

The two stood in silence and Jirou began to shift in place awkwardly. "So…what now?" she asked.

"I don't know." Midoriya answered honestly. "Nobody my age has ever believed me before." He paused, "Wait a minute, why do you believe me? I'm naturally agitated when I talk about my quirk, so there's no way you'd be able to use my heartrate as a reliable metric."

Jirou smiled. "I wasn't totally sure at first, but you just spent the last couple of days chasing me down at every opportunity. There's no way you would do that unless it was true."

Midoriya snorted. "I guess that makes sense."

"Sooooo," Jirou drew out the syllable, "I'll ask again, what now?"

Midoriya thought for a moment. "Are you free at all this weekend?"

Jirou blinked. "Uh, I was planning on training for the Festival, but sure, I guess I have some time on Sunday. Why?"

Midoriya pulled out his phone and texted Jirou an address. "Meet me here at 11:00AM."

"A beach?" Jirou said, looking at the pinned address. "What are we going to do at the beach?"

Midoriya smiled faintly. "We're going to set some ground rules regarding this…situation. I don't want to talk about it on campus anymore. And…" he trailed off.

"…And?" Jirou said.

'Payback for the anxiety you've caused me for the last two weeks.'

Midoriya's smile widened. "We're going to do some training," he said cheerily.

Overcome by an ominous feeling, Jirou swallowed a lump in her throat.

 

AN: Poor Jirou. She has no idea the hell that awaits her at the hands of a vindictive Midoriya. For those of you who saw this coming, congratulations. For those of you who didn't, HA HA. I'll be updating Semper Fast next, so the next release will be in 2-3 weeks. Until then, Plus Ultra.