Izuku grunted as Denki threw him to the ground for the third time in a row, "Oof, good job Denki! You're gonna be able to handle whatever UA throws at you."

Denki rolled his eyes, "Admit it, you're going easy on me."

"I have no idea what you mean." Izuku said innocently, then laughed. "But seriously, I'm really not! You've gotten really good at controlling your power output so that it temporarily paralyzes the muscles of your opponent so they can't fight back while you pin them. I could always counter you by wearing rubber soled shoes and making sure that no other part of my body ever comes into contact with literally anything else, but I'd only be able to do that if I knew I was going to be fighting an electric quirk and was physically stronger than you."

Kaminari: Wait so... I'm actually getting stronger.

Bakugo: Of course you are dunceface!

"Which you are." Denki pointed out.

Izuku shrugged, "Maybe a little, but you've been getting a lot stronger!"

Kaminari: Now if only I could actually get that progress in this world too...

Denki sighed and collapsed on the grass, "You really think I've got a chance at UA?"

"I think they'd be crazy not to take you." Izuku said confidently. "You're a good fighter, you're practically an amateur electrician at this point, and you're going to be a great hero."

Kirishima: You definitely are!

"I think you're going to have to keep hyping me up all the way until the entrance exam." Denki said wryly. "I still don't understand why you're not applying."

"I'm quirkless." Izuku shrugged. "There's only 40 spots in the hero course and there's no way I can compete with hundreds of other kids with super powerful quirks and I don't want to take one of those spots agway from someone who deserves it. The only way I'd get into UA would be in the general education course and if it comes down to that, I'm better off staying online."

Inko: I'd say he was wrong but... I don't know if he could compete against the robots...

Aizawa: Knowing problem child he'd just bash them with a stop sign or something but yes I see your point.

Tsukauchi: And Eraser would recognize him if he applied.

Gran Torino: He doesn't know he works at UA though.

"I guess you're right..." Denki frowned. "I still think you could beat me, though."

"It's alright." Izuku said. "The world doesn't need me as a hero."

Uraraka: Yes it does...

Denki groaned and stood up, "Ready to go another round?"

Izuku grinned, "Always!"

Katsuki glared at Akiko as she shoved his shoulder again, "Knock it off, Pigtails. I'm trying to be a better person and that doesn't include beating you up!"

Bakugo: Why can't I get a single friend that doesn't annoy me all the @&(*$ time?!

Jana: Language but that's what friends do I guess. (she can't really tell because she's pretty sure she doesn't have any)

"Come on, Kacchan!" She grinned. "We wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't annoy you every once and a while! Now come on! Read us your list!"

Bakugo: Oh not you too!

"I said @#$*( off!"

To his chagrin, the stupid nickname that Stain had spread had ended up sticking. Well, Akiko and Maki had started calling him that to piss him off and Dabi absolutely refused to call him anything else, probably for the same reason. At first, he'd thought that'd be the extent of his torture, but no. Apparently Dabi hadn't wasted any time in telling practically all of his info broker contacts that Katsuki was the Kacchan that Stain kept going on about. It had opened a lot of doors and meant he'd made a lot of connections that might have taken years to make otherwise, but that didn't mean he had to be happy that half the new people he met only knew him by some cutesy nickname.

(everyone laughed as Bakugo started roaring at the screen)

Mei(giggling): Everyone's calling him 'Kacchan'!

"Now, now, Akiko, Bakugo doesn't have to share his list if he doesn't want to." Amplifier came up and laid a hand on Akiko's shoulder. "Listing the things you've improved on can be intensely personal."

"Exactly." Maki said. "There's no shame in being shy, Kacchan."

Bakugo: I'm not shy and stop calling me that!

"I'm not shy!" Katsuki yelled, blushing. "Fine! I'll share my stupid list if it'll shut you extras up."

"Cross my heart and hope to die." Akiko smirked. She always got so smug when she got her way.

"So, no Ogawa today?" Amplifier asked curiously.

(everyone stopped laughing as they remembered what happened to Ogawa)

Akiko shrugged, "Guess not. He's got perfect attendance though, so he's fine to miss one lesson."

"Oh, yeah." Amplifier waved her hand dismissively. "He'd basically have to miss the rest of the course to fail out, I'm not worried about that. I was just curious if he was sick or something."

Toga: No... worse...

"Not that I know of." Maki shrugged. "Probably just got busy, but we're hanging out tomorrow, so we'll be sure to tell him you said 'hi'."

It was weird that Ogawa hadn't shown up yet, but Katsuki understood. Stuff happened and he'd been hanging around the underground enough to know that when someone lived in that grey area the way they did, sometimes )@!#($* happened without warning. Well, that was just part of being human, but it seemed to happen even more often to people in the underground than it did to just average joes. The weirdest part of it all was that he still hadn't texted them. Normally if he couldn't make it to one of their hangouts, he'd at least shoot them a message, but so far Katsuki hadn't received anything. Whatever, he'd give the guy a hard time for leaving them on read when he saw him tomorrow.

Mitsuki: Except you won't...

Hawks: Someone file a missing person's report already please...

"Now, I think Kacchan here was about to share something with the class?" Akiko leaned over the back of her chair. "So, tell us kiddo, what are you most proud of?"

Now that they only had a few weeks left in the redemption course, Amplifier was having them look back on their progress and point out how they'd changed and come closer to who they wanted to be. Katsuki wasn't quite sure he was any more worthy of being a hero than he had been when he started this whole thing, but...

Midoriya: You're not a bully anymore.

"I'm not a bully anymore." He said finally. "That's obviously the first thing on my list. I don't beat kids up just for fun anymore and I step in when I see other people doing it. My school is still a piece of !(*&^, but once I get into UA, I'm outta there and I never have to see those stupid villains again."

"Woohoo!" Akiko applauded and Maki slapped him on the back. Katsuki rolled his eyes, but almost smiled, not that he wouldn't yell at anyone who tried pointing that out.

(everyone smiled)

"You're doing really well, kid." Maki said proudly. "I think that, out of all us, you've probably made the most progress."

"Don't sell yourselves short." Katsuki grumbled. "At least Pigtails finally blocked her deadbeat ex's number."

"Hey!" Akiko yelled indignantly. "I told you that in confidence!"

(everyone laughed)

Bakugo: Payback for you calling me that nickname only Deku's allowed to use!

"So what?" Katsuki smirked back at her as Maki laughed.

Yeah, he may not be where he needed to be yet, but he'd learned he didn't need to be perfect to be on the right path. He'd have to work hard at UA to make sure he became the kind of hero Izuku could look up to, but he'd do it.

He was the strongest he'd ever been.

Mirko: You sure are, blasty.

All for One was content.

(everyone glared at the screen)

For once, things were going exactly to plan. Queen Bee was adjusting well to her new host and was on track to pass the UA entrance exam with flying colors. He had all the quirks he needed to create a prototype of his masterpiece and, if the experiment went as well as the doctor assured him that it would, Tomura would have his perfect assistant by the time classes began at UA. Rumors were already beginning to circulate that All Might would be taking a teaching position at the school, right along Eraserhead and Present Mic, so everything was coming together perfectly!

Tsu(gulping): So Queen Bee's really going to UA... ribbit...

He simply needed to ensure that it stayed that way.

There was nothing that All for One delighted in more, however, than using his enemy's own tricks against them so they knew exactly how powerless they were against him. If a troublesome vigilante insisted on playing a kazoo in the middle of his symphony and creating a distraction, then he would simply have to create a louder one! He would put a set of bagpipes out in the lobby, making sure to play just loud enough to distract the troublemakers from what was happening onstage, all while the main symphony continued unimpeded. With how close his plans were to creating perfect harmony, however, the distraction would need to be significant, just to ensure that everything ran as smoothly as he intended. All for One wasn't concerned, though, he'd already almost killed the number one hero.

The number two would be child's play.

(everyone froze and slowly looked at Endeavor who scoffed)

Endeavor: Like I would let some simple bees hurt me.

Todoroki: You were killed by a teenager's plan in Mastermind.

Endeavor: I'm not going to die in two worlds.

Dabi: You'd better not because other me hasn't got revenge yet!