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Learning the truth about becoming All Might's successor hadn't brought Izuku the clarity he had expected to reach, instead it had fueled the fiery determination inside him along with his wish to improve himself and become stronger than ever before. But as life would have it, not everything went as planned.
Izuku had been so caught up in meeting Nighteye and all the revelations that had followed, he completely forgot about confiding in his mentor about his own troubles. If he was being completely honest with himself, he kept putting it off because he was scared of what All Might would say. Izuku genuinely feared his mentor's reaction and didn't want to disappoint the legendary hero with his stupid nightmares. All Might already had so much on his plate that he didn't need Izuku to impose on him as well. At least, that was what he kept telling himself.
Once Izuku returned to the dorm, he headed straight for his room and hit the books. A lot of his time had been spent agonizing over matters that were out of his control and as a result, his studies had been suffering. It wasn't that his grades were getting bad, he still held his academic ranking amongst his peers, but lately he had become unable to focus in class and was behind on reading. If he wanted to succeed at being a hero, he would have to buckle up and study harder. Sighing, Izuku flipped open his textbook and started reading for his next class.
The day after his debut as Red Riot, Kirishima entered his class with a little apprehension. The events at his patrol the previous day still felt surreal to him, but the encouragement and praise he had received from the civilians he had protected was making his chest swell with pride that he promptly pushed back again. It wouldn't do to become cocky in the very beginning of his internship and let his ego inflate. No, he had to keep his cool and focus on helping out wherever he could.
An image of Amajiki-senpai flashed before his eyes and he briefly wondered how his senior was holding up. He hadn't heard anything from Fatgum about his senpai's current condition and figured they would call if something happened. Eijiro had been thinking about Amajiki's loss of his quirk when Kaminari approached him, waving his phone around with an article about Kirishima's debut displayed. Uraraka and Tsuyu-chan had been spotted too and each sported a small smile at the praise they received.
As the rest of the class uuh'ed and aah'ed, Iida promptly reminded them all that although being an intern was important, the biggest responsibility of a student was to stay focused and not neglect his or her studies. Kirishima agreed with the class president and had even gone to him for more tutoring even though Aizawa-sensei had prepared supplementary lessons for him. Eijiro had vowed to himself that he would improve his grades by the end of the term and he would stop at no means before he succeeded. With that in mind, his gaze swept the handful of people who had already agreed to help him study and he felt himself sharpening his focus.
Now that he had debuted as a rookie hero, he had to keep up with everything else.
Later that week Izuku was heading out to another day of hard labor with Nighteye, but was surprised to find Kirishima as well as Uraraka and Asui on their way to their respective internships. After the initial greetings the four of them headed out together escorted by a pro hero and found out their destination was the same. They rode the same train together, got off at the same station and were all headed to Nighteye's offices.
"That's odd." Izuku mumbled to himself as they all turned another corner and spotted The Big 3 waiting outside the very same building they were supposed to meet at. After greeting their upperclassmen, the four of them followed closely behind, not aware of what was about to happen inside.
What none of the 1A students had expected was to enter the building and come face to face with heroes of all rankings. Gran Torino and Aizawa-sensei were even there, which only perplexed the newcomers further as to why they had been called. The only information the students had gotten was the meeting place and that costumes weren't needed. Seeing local heroes and big shots like Ryuukyuu could only mean that something was amiss and Izuku instantly felt the icy grip of despair seize his insides. A few calming breaths and a discreet, but worried glance from Uraraka made him able to rein himself in until everyone was called into the conference room.
The meeting that followed their arrival was nothing short of horrifying. All this time Izuku had been selfishly thinking about himself and how he fit into this new world he had entered, and he never once gave it thought that someone as young as Eri was being used to manufacture drugs. The terror that rippled through him was followed swiftly by guilt, anger and frustration. Izuku could feel sweat gather at his hairline and drip down his face and it felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. He couldn't breathe.
Beside him he could feel Togata-senpai shake from a torrent of emotions and Izuku guessed his senior was feeling exactly the same as him. How was he supposed to become the greatest hero when a little girl's quirk was being abused and he had been too incompetent to save her even as she gripped onto him for dear life? He hated how weak and pathetic he was. He should have fought Chisaki right then and there and poor little Eri wouldn't have been taken away again.
Izuku could feel all eyes in the room on him as he stood with Togata-senpai and vowed to rescue Eri.
After returning from the meeting, the four students agreed that they couldn't mention anything that had been discussed to their classmates. The information was classified so sharing it would have severe consequences and it was best to keep quiet to avoid raising suspicion. Izuku hadn't been able to sit still all day and guilt had wracked through him every couple minutes, so he had changed out of his uniform and headed straight to the gym where he spent a whole hour letting out all his frustrations. The crackle of electricity that appeared every time he activated One for All was strangely comforting and Izuku found himself repeatedly using it as a distraction for the thoughts that whirled inside his head.
After having mangled the dummy he had been using his power on, the green-haired teenager left the gym and opted for a run. As he ran, Izuku pushed himself harder than he ever had before. His lungs were burning and his legs were shaking, but he inly increased his pace as he ran laps around campus. Sweat was making his hair stick to his face and his shirt cling to his back, but it didn't stop him and he kept running until his legs gave out.
He had reached a patch of grass when pain shot up his left leg and he slowly came to a stop, gingerly putting weight on his foot. The pain hadn't been intense and his ankle wasn't sprained, so it was likely just from exhaustion or from having stepped on uneven ground. Deciding not to risk an injury, he allowed himself to rest for a few minutes and sat down on the grass. He hadn't noticed that it had gone dark as he worked out and wondered how much time he had spent thinking himself to exhaustion. A gentle breeze cooled his skin and the sweat on his face slowly dried as he sat and stared at the sky.
"What's wrong?" Izuku was startled out of his thoughts by Uraraka. He had been sitting for a few minutes and hadn't heard her approaching footsteps. She was standing next to him and bent down to join him on the grass, but he didn't look up at her.
"Everything?" Izuku sighed and leaned back on his hands to look up at the stars again. It occurred to him that she might have meant what was wrong physically, but she didn't correct him so he let the silence stretch between them and tried to find the best way to explain what was going through his head when Uraraka spoke again.