Shouta watched the exam in shock.

Mic: Wait what's got Shou so shocked...?

Vlad: That never happens.

With how insistent Viridian was that he couldn't be a hero, the UA entrance exam was the last place he'd expected to find him and yet, he was currently watching a kid with an extremely distinct fighting style blow though robots like they were nothing. It was surreal, and Shouta really wanted to get his hopes up and run down to the field so that he could arrest the kid as soon as the exam was over, but he couldn't help the nagging realization that a few things just didn't match up.

Kaminari: Oh Viridian taught me how to fight so I must've accidentally copied his fighting style!

First of all, Viridian was the type of person who always gave his all... or at least Shouta thought he was. However, even after ten months, Shouta had never once heard of him using an electricity quirk, even in fights where using a quirk like that could have made the difference between victory and failure. A few vigilantes chose to hide their quirks, of course, but those were usually planning on being vigilantes long-term and Viridian hadn't been in that mindset when he was first establishing himself. He'd been planning on dying within the first few months, so there was no reason for him to hide a quirk, even if it could have identified him. Which brought Shouta to his current question: if the kid he was watching take the exam really was Viridian, why had he completely ignored a powerful potential weapon that would have helped him fight and save people?

However, even if Shouta ignored the whole quirk inconsistency, things still didn't add up. He'd asked to see the file and this Denki Kaminari didn't look anything like his problem child. That could be explained away too, of course, by saying that he might know someone with a quirk that switched faces or changed someone's appearance, or even that he knew enough about makeup and cosplay to be able to pass for another person in the low light and high adrenaline environment that was nighttime heroics, but again, the only people who would think about disguising themselves like that were those that were capable of planning for the future. Viridian hadn't been planning on living long enough for being recognized to ever become a real problem.

Aizawa: Yeah and Kaminari isn't Viridian.

Which left the obvious conclusion that this kid wasn't Viridian at all, but that somehow seemed the most illogical possibility that Shouta had considered yet. As far as Shouta knew, Viridian didn't have any formal combat training. He had learned to fight on the streets watching pro heroes take down villains and then taking them down himself, so his fighting style was one of a kind and wasn't something that Shouta had ever seen anywhere else. It was completely unique to the problem child and it would stand to reason that the only person alive that would fight with a style identical to Viridian's was the vigilante himself.

The longer he watched the exam, however, the more Shouta had to begrudgingly admit that the fighting styles weren't exactly identical. Kaminari used many of the same moves and techniques that Viridian did, but he heavily incorporated electricity and he didn't use pipes or a slingshot, even though pipes would probably prove useful in the long run if he knew how to use them. Viridian moved the same way Kaminari did, but he relied primarily on weapons and improvised strategies instead of his quirk, which was why his file was full of theories about various mental quirks rather than something more combat oriented.

Kaminari: Pipes huh...? Hm...

By the end of the exam, Shouta was still only about 50% sure that he'd actually found Viridian's civilian identity. He would need to actually confront the kid to be sure, but even though he tried telling himself that this whole situation was too good to be true, he couldn't help getting his hopes up. If this kid really was his problem child, this would be the perfect opportunity to get him off the streets, out of dangerous cases, and into therapy. It was almost too much to hope for.

Joke(sighing): And it is because that's not Viridian.

Recovery Girl: Still, though, maybe Kaminari could lead him to Viridian...

Gran Torino: He doesn't know that Midoriya is Viridian so he might let some things slip.

When the final bell announced the end of the exam, Shouta cleared his throat, "I have a few questions for one of the examinees. Is there any way we could ask Denki Kaminari to stick around for a few minutes?"

Mic chuckled and pointed at the screen, "It looks like he's not gonna have much of a choice if Recovery Girl has anything to say about it. It looks like he overused his quirk or something to stop that zero pointer there at the end."

Kaminari: Oh yeah I almost forgot...

Sure enough, when Shouta turned back to the screen, Kaminari was simply wandering around the fake city with a dazed, happy look on his face. The girl he'd saved, Uraraka, had hurried to help him down from the robot and was currently guiding him by the elbow to make sure that he didn't run into a wall or trip over any of the debris that was scattered throughout the city. Shouta made a note to ask Nezu about adding a few more rescue points to her total, because even if the exam was technically over, the true mark of a hero was saving people even when no one was watching. Knowing the rat though, he was already taking that into account.

Nezu: Oh of course.

The whole situation was yet another strike against him being Viridian, though. There was a reason that Shouta had deemed him a problem child, after all, and he knew better than most that the kid often ran into fights he wasn't prepared for and pushed himself past his limits to win. And yet, with as many times as he would have sworn that Viridian was inches away from death, he'd never never seen the vigilante wandering around dazed like that even after the worst fights. The closest he'd ever come to that state as far as Shouta could remember was the time he'd gotten a concussion while fighting that crab villain.

"That move he did with the zero pointer was extremely impressive." All Might noted. "He took down a robot larger than most buildings with a single move, which shows not only power, but an extraordinary level of control. Is that why you're taking a special interest in him, Aizawa?"

Shouta shrugged, "I'm not taking a special interest in him. He's just got potential, that's all."

Cementoss: Oh definitely because if not he wouldn't still be here. (Kaminari gulped)

He didn't want to say anything about his suspicions until he was actually sure, but Shouta could tell that Nezu had already put together the real reason why he was interested in the kid. It wasn't as if the rat was being subtle. Aizawa knew Nezu was running the probabilities of them discovering Viridian's identity just by the mischievous twinkle in the rat's eyes as he passed Kaminari's open file over to All Might, who took it with interest.

All Might(realizing): Wait...

Shouta scoffed and turned away. He needed more coffee. He didn't agree with Nezu's decision to add All Might to the staff, but so far the man hadn't done anything to purposely piss him off. Despite his lack of teaching credentials, he seemed earnest enough, if a little clueless about how school and teaching actually worked. Shouta's biggest concern, however, wasn't All Might's teaching skills, even with how dismally insufficient they were. No, oddly enough, his biggest concern with All Might teaching at UA was his connection to All for One.

After Tsukauchi had let slip that All for One was the villain that had forced All Might into a pseudo-retirement, Nezu had agreed to set up a meeting with all four of them so that Shouta could learn everything he knew about the symbol of evil. All Might had apologized profusely for misidentifying his nemesis as dead, which Shouta appreciated, even if it didn't do much good, but he hadn't been able to share much more about All for One's quirk than Viridian had uncovered.

What he had done was point Shouta in the direction of his old mentor, Gran Torino, who had been a little more knowledgeable about All for One's history if nothing else. If Shouta had to describe the old geezer, it would be as if someone had combined Shouta's logical ruses with Ms. Joke's prankster nature and given the result dementia. The fact that All Might seemed terrified of him was just the cherry on top.

Gran Torino(snorting): Well that's an interesting way to describe me.

Recovery Girl(likewise snorting): More like accurate. Old geezer indeed.

He'd actually been having a very odd cup of tea with the geezer and picking his brain about All for One when Endeavor had decided to go on his rampage. He regretted not being there, but he stood by his decision to go and chase the lead. They had had no way of knowing when or where Endeavor would show up, so Shouta had decided to chase their most solid lead and hope that it would be enough to find the villain factory before things hit the fan. Obviously, it hadn't been enough. Endeavor had chosen the worst possible timing, especially considering that the heroes' main plan for dealing with a modified Endeavor was having Shouta erase his quirk. If Viridian hadn't come prepared with a plan that didn't use Erasure, there would most likely have been a lot more casualties that night.

Inko: Yeah...

Thankfully, it appeared the experiments weren't as far along as Viridian had feared, but information on All for One was lacking. Shouta felt like there was something All Might wasn't telling him. He'd hoped that Gran Torino would be a little more forthcoming, but there was no luck on that front either. Shouta couldn't even blame it on the fact that he'd had to rush out of their last meeting, because even though they'd had several follow-up phone calls since then, Gran Torino still only shared the most basic information and seemed to be keeping something to himself. It was beyond frustrating.

Aizawa: Ah yes, the whole successor and One for All thing, which I still should've been informed of.

All Might: Well... at least you know now?

He'd brought up his concerns with Nezu, but the rat was as infuriatingly cryptic as ever and just told him to trust the symbol of peace. Shouta thought that was completely illogical, but there wasn't much he could do. Still, he hoped for everyone's sake that Viridian was wrong and All for One wasn't behind the villain factory after all, because it was one thing to have the symbol of peace come and impart his knowledge and experience to the next generation, but it was another thing completely to invite in someone with a dangerous nemesis into a school with children who couldn't defend themselves yet and risk painting a target on all of their backs.

Momo(shuddering): Yeah... we've been through way too many villain attacks...

Shouta groaned and stretched as he stood and started making his way down to Recovery Girl's office. He could deal with All for One and All Might's secrets later, for right now, he had to go meet the kid who was hopefully his vigilante problem child. At this point, he was just trying to take things one mystery at a time.

Katsuki didn't know how he was supposed to feel walking away from UA. He'd passed the exam, there was no way he hadn't, but the jealous and amazed looks that he wouldn't even have noticed ten months ago, now just irked him. He wasn't better than any of them, not really. Yeah, he had a strong quirk and he'd trained hard with it, but he'd made a lot of mistakes too, so who was he to take a spot that could have easily gone to any of them?

Mitsuki(blinking): If I hadn't watched him get to this point I'd think that vampire girl took his place or something.

Bakugo: Oh shut it you old hag I can change too!

He shook his head and tried to ignore those feelings. There wasn't really anything he could do about it besides keep working hard and try to deserve his place, so there wasn't any point in worrying about it. He'd done his best and he knew that Ogawa would be insufferable about it if he was there, but the stupid ocotupus would have to settle for Katsuki saving his dumb ass, since he'd been stupid enough to go and get himself dissapeared. Katsuki tried not to wonder if Izuku would be proud of him too. If he hadn't been such a jerk, the nerd would have been able to be there himself.

Midoriya: Yeah but I probably wouldn't have made it in. Except through the Sports Festival maybe.

Katsuki tried to ignore everyone as he made his way toward the gates, but just as he was walking through the courtyard, he noticed another examinee that looked familiar for some reason and it took Katsuki a few seconds to place him. The kid had purple hair and was tall and lanky, not that it was that noticeable with the way he was slouched, and he seemed to be absolutely pissed, which probably meant that he hadn't gotten enough points to pass. It was the eyebags that gave him away though. It was hard to completely forget about the first kid he'd really saved.

"Hey!" Katsuki called out to him. "You're that one kid. I told you that you didn't have what it took to be a villain."

Shinso: Exept I didn't make it as a hero either.

The kid turned around and glared at him, "Yeah, well, it looks like I don't have what it takes to be a hero either. Sure, I can try again at the sports festival, whatever, but what's the point when even the test is designed to make sure I fail?"

Inko: Oh boy you shouldn't have said that to Katsuki.

Katsuki ignored the glare. It was his default expression, so it was probably this kid's as well. Goodness knew how pissed off he'd be if he had to deal with people calling him villain everyday, "So you're just gonna give up? I don't know, that seems kinda weak."

"Like you would know." Eyebags turned and started walking away. "I heard what the other kids said about you, Bakugo. Explosions? Your quirk is abosolutely perfect for being a hero and destroying stupid robots to get points. You've never had to work a day in your life to get your dream, just because you were born lucky. You get to be a hero just by existing."

Shinso: Oh yikes I should stop talking now shouldn't I...?

Bakugo: Yes!

Katsuki silently fell into step beside him. A part of him wanted to tear into this kid... Shinso? Was he remembering the name right? Anyway, who did Shinso think he was to judge what Katsuki had and hadn't done? He'd worked hard for this dream, @#$(*^!!!

Another part of him, however, knew that Shinso had a point. Katsuki had never been bullied or told he couldn't be a hero. His quirk was perfect and it had opened as more doors than it had closed. He couldn't possibly understand what Shinso had gone through his whole life, and how it felt to work that hard, only to fail at the moment when it truly mattered. But, still, that didn't give Shinso the right to discount everything Katsuki had done to get to where he was.

He was quiet for another long moment before he finally spoke, almost too quiet to be heard over the noise of the street as they left the gates behind, "... You don't go from being a bully to being a hero without a whole lot of work."

Mei: Uh huh.

Shinso stopped and stared at him for a long moment as he processed that, but he obviously didn't know how to respond to it, because he ended up just shaking his head and falling into step beside Katsuki again. He couldn't blame him for not having thought of it like that. Just like Katsuki had never been bullied, Shinso had never been a bully. He didn't know just how much Katsuki had had to fight to leave all that behind and be more than just another jerk whose quirk let him get away with anything. He'd never had to uproot everything he used to be to become who he wanted to be. There was a difference.

Wanting to get away from that sore subject, Katsuki looked Shinso up and down, "You've put on a little muscle since the last time I saw you, I'll give you that, but did you even think of learning how to fight?"

"My quirk..." Shinso started like that would explain everything, but Katsuki cut him off.

Aizawa: Isn't going to work all the time.

"Won't always be there for you." Katsuki said. "Even my perfect quirk has limitations, dumbass. I sweat nitroglycerin. What am I supposed to do in the cold, huh? If you really wanna be a hero you gotta know how to fight."

They were getting close to the train station and Katsuki knew they'd be getting on different trains. He considered just leaving the kid now and never looking back. It wasn't like Shinso was Katsuki's responsibility or something. It was his own fault he'd failed the exam, he could have trained harder, but... Katsuki silently groaned. He could practically hear Amplifier's voice in his head, smugly reminding him of that stupid final lesson. Find a way to pass it on. If Ogawa were there, he'd probably take the stupid kid under his wing the same way he'd taken on Katsuki, wouldn't he?

Shinso: Hold on what's happening...?

Katsuki finally huffed, scribbled something on a receipt he'd dug out of his pocket and shoved it into Shinso's hand, "Meet me at this address at noon on Saturday. Don't you dare waste my time, got it?"

Shinso stared at the paper suspiciously, "What? What are you gonna do?"

"It's it obvious?" Katsuki put his hands in his pockets and stalked off, "I'm gonna teach you how to fight."

Midoriya: Oh boy training lessons from Kacchan.

By the time Denki started feeling like himself again, pretty much everyone had already left the infirmary. Recovery Girl was doing some paperwork at her desk and Denki grimaced apologetically as he gathered his things that someone had obviously been nice enough to bring from the locker rooms, "Uh, thanks for taking care of me!"

Recovery Girl: Of course. It's my job.

"It's no problem, dearie." Recovery Girl said kindly. "It's my job to make sure students here are kept safe, especially when they get quirk exhaustion."

"I hope I wasn't too much trouble." Denki laughed, "I can be a total idiot when I fry my brain like that, you know? I've had friends send me too many dumb recordings, so..."

Kirishima: Do people actually do that to you?

Kaminari: Uh yeah? Why are you looking at me like that? It's not like it's really mean or anything.

"You mostly just babbled nonsense." A gruff voice said behind him. "But Present Mic does that when he's at full capacity, so I don't think you have anything to worry about."

Mic(sputtering as Aizawa grinned his creepy smile): Shou!

Denki yelped and spun around. He hadn't known anyone else was still in here! Sure enough, however, there was a guy that looked like an annoyed hobo rubbing at his ears as he crawled out of a sleeping bag, "Seriously? Did you have to scream?"

"I, uh," Denki looked between the hobo and Recovery Girl, who didn't seem phased by his random appearance, "I'm sorry?"

(everyone snorted)

"Don't tease the young man, Aizawa." Recovery Girl scolded. "Don't pay him any mind, dearie, he just enjoys scaring new students, but I suppose everyone needs a hobby."

Vlad(muttering): Really shouldn't go around traumatizing kids... we have enough of that from the villains.

Aizawa rolled his eyes and turned back to Denki "That's a nasty quirk drawback you've got."

"Uh, yeah..." Denki rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I've been training different ways of