Nezu cackled as he watched the news.

Midorya really was something.

He was hoping that this event might help to repair the broken, tainted reputation that Midoriya had.

Tempest was an overseas villain, and very few people knew of him. Being an arsonist, people could argue that he didn't have much fighting skills, and that Midoriya was weak to be taken down by him.

However, the same couldn't be said for the take down of Akaguro. Akaguro was an S-rank villain, well known in Japan as the feared Hero Killer. His reputation for taking down heroes showed that he wasn't a push over. And for Midoriya to have taken him down, live, was sure to boost his reputation.

Hopefully, people will start seeing that Midoriya was much more than what his quirk was.

--------------------

They did.

But in the wrong way.

Instead of finally treating Midoriya like he wasn't some sort of lesser being, the community started to fear Midoriya.

After all, what kind of monster, what kind of freak, was able to keep up with the feared Hero Killer? The Hero Killer who's aura left the the Number Two hero paralysed, and rendered all the other heroes at the scene unable to react?

While quirkless, all the more?

News of a terrifying beast had spread. One called Midoriya Izuku.

--------------------

"Ne, are you guys okay?" Midoriya asked, as he walked into the hospital room that Todoroki and Iida were in.

"Yeah. I'm good." Todoroki raised his left arm, showing the bandages over where Akaguro had thrown his knives.

Iida nodded, "Same here."

"Ah. You guys are awake." Mizushima sighed.

"Izuku!" Yamada shrieked, "You idiot!"

"Mic-sensei!" Midoriya lit up.

"We have a lot of stuff to say to you guys, but we have a visitor. Hosu's chief of police, Kenji Tsuragamae." Yamada pointed his thumb behind him, as a dog headed person entered the room.

Iida and Todoroki shot to their feet alongside Midoriya, and Kenji started, "You're the UA student who brought down Stain, right? And you two helped before the others came along?"

Midoriya nodded.

"Regarding his arrest, he has burns and broken bones and is receiving treatment under strict guard."

Midoriya gulped. Did he make Akaguro's injuries worse?

"As UA students, I'm sure you know that when superpowers were still becoming the norm, the police attached high importance to leadership and standards to make sure quirks weren't used as weapons. An individual's used of force and power could easily kill others, actions that would normally be appropriate to denounce, to be accepted officially, is thanks to the early heroes who follow the rules of the profession, woof."

Midoriya rolled his eyes. Yeah. You can't use quirks without a licence blah blah blah...

"Look, sir." He was trying to be polite. "If Iida-kun didn't interfere, Manual would be killed. If I didn't interfere, both of them would have been killed. If Sho-kun didn't interfere, all of us would have been killed! No one knew the Hero Killer was present. You're saying we should follow the rules and let people get killed!?"

His tone turned sarcastic, "Oh, there's a hero getting killed in an alleyway! Let's just sit back and watch!"

Midoriya growled, "Is that what you guys want? Letting a hero die because of some dumb rules? Letting people die because no, they can't use their quirks, they either die or break the law!?"

"Hang on, Izuku." Yamada tried to calm the boy down, "Hear him out a sec, kay?"

"Even against the Hero Killer, for uncertified individuals to cause injury with their quirks without specific instructions from their guardians or supervision is a clear violation of the rules. Midoriya Izuku, because you don't have a quirk, technically you don't fall under these rules, but as a student of UA, we agree that you should know better. However, you are lucky that Manual has stated that he gave you permission to use your quirks. Otherwise, the three of you, Endeavor, Present Mic and Manual will receive strict punishments."

Iida looked at Manual in shock. While it technically wasn't a lie, Mizushima only gave them permission neat the end of the fight. Despite not listening to the pro hero, the fact that he was willing to cover it up for them confused Iida. Mizushima shot them a look that said that they would talk about it later.

"Because you were given permission, and that Midoriya's second fight with the Hero Killer was broadcasted over the news... this ends here, woof. However, I believe your mentors would have something to say about you fighting the Hero Killer." Kenji ended.

Mizushima sighed, "We need to take responsibility for being negligent in our duties, though I would say I'm grateful that you kids stepped in to help, I still believe it would have been wiser to call for more back up instead of fighting him head on."

"I did! Sho-kun came!" Midoriya grinned.

"I told my father I would be here, and to send backup as fast as possible." Todoroki deadpanned.

Mizushima blinked. He had assumed that like Midoriya, Todoroki had just stumbled upon them by accident.

"I'm sorry. I should have called for help instead of jumping in." Iida apologised to Mizushima as he bowed.

"Yeah. Next time. Don't do that again, okay?" Mizushima lightly smacked Iida's head in a very Iida-like fashion.

"As someone who helps to protect the peace, I can say thank you." Kenji thanked them.

"You know.. you could have just said that, right?" Midoriya asked Kenji, "I though Iida-kun would get a heart attack."

"I apologise, but it is the official procedure when we handle delicate cases like this, especially when there are students involved." Kenji apologised, before exiting the room.

--------------------

Yamada and Mizushima sighed again.

The easy part was over. They were dreading how they were going to break the news to Midoriya.

They knew that while Midoriya only got a sprained ankle and a cut on his arm, he was worried about his friends and still hadn't heard or read about the new rumours floating around about.

"Um... Manual... why did you cover for us? You could have gotten into trouble and - "

Mizushima cut him off, "Look, I'm grateful that you guys came and saved me. If not... I'm not sure what would have happened to me... but I won't be able to be a hero anymore. But now, I need you guys to understand that the outcome of this entire incident was pure luck. You three made it to the top four of UA's sports festival. You are the strongest ones in your school. If it wasn't the three of you... I fear the entire thing would have spiralled out of control. You don't deserve to be punished for doing something right, but you need to learn to not be so rash and accidentally bite off more than you can chew."

The three students nodded.

He was right. They were lucky. Midoriya's experience, Iida's speed and Todoroki's power made an almost perfect combination to take Akaguro down. If they had Kaminari, who had no direction control, or Bakugou, who was rash and attacked anything and everything, everything would have gone downhill in an instant.

Shinsou would have been great against Akaguro, but Midoriya did not want his precious little (tall) student anywhere near the Hero Killer.

"That goes for you too," Yamada lightly smacked Midoriya's head. "I get that you met Stain before, and that you knew what his quirk was and how to counter it, but seriously? Can you please stop getting yourself into situations where you end up fighting against some high class villain?"

"In my defence, I didn't antagonise him!" Midoriya retorted.

"Yeah. He did that at the USJ." Todoroki said.

Midoriya shot him a mock look of hurt, "Sho-kun! I trusted you! Why!?"

"Why would you antagonise the villains you fight?! Just... WHY!?" Yamada screeched.

"It makes them angry! Then they make more mistakes!" Midoriya replied.

Mizushima made a chopping motion, and Yamada sighed.

"Look... we have some good news, and bad news. Which do you wanna hear first?"

"Good news, please." Iida spoke up, seeing as neither Todoroki or Midoriya seemed to have a preference.

"Alright. Both you and Todoroki will be discharged soon. You didn't have that many injuries, so there's that." Mizushima said, "We spoke to the doctors just now. Just take it easy on those arms for a few days and you'll be as good as new. You might have a few scars but nothing that might affect your future hero careers."

"And... what's the bad news?" Midoriya hesitantly asked.

"Did you... hear the news?" Yamada hesitantly asked.

"About what?"

"About... you."

Midoriya blinked, confused. "No? What did I do, besides beating Stain?"

Yamada sighed again. He realised he was doing that a lot.

"The media has... a lot of stuff to say about you." Yamada started, "You already heard how bad it was before, but now... they're calling you a lot of nasty stuff."

"Like?" Midoriya gulped. After all, what was worse that being looked down on, being called useless, worthless?

Todoroki moved to sit beside the green haired boy. Iida did the same, sitting on the opposite side of Midoriya.

"I think... it's better if I show you. I myself can't bear to say them out." Yamada slowly handed over his mobile device, which had a news site on display.

As Midoriya scrolled through the news page, his heart kept sinking.

No, they didn't call him worthless or useless anymore, or a lesser species, or something degrading.

It was worse.

The entire community now feared him.

They feared the power he weld. They feared that no one would be able to stop him if he decided to turn to the bad side. Quirk suppressants wouldn't work on a person who didn't have a quirk, after all. How were you supposed to stop a person who was able to leave a crack on the road?

They feared how strong he might get if he somehow acquired a quirk. As if that was possible - ... wait that guy Yagi was talking about could...

He just wanted to be a hero. He just wanted to help.

He knew he shouldn't take the public's words to heart. They didn't know who he was, after all, and it was natural for an intelligent species to fear the unknown, as they didn't know all the different variables.

His heart clenched.

He knew he should ignore it.

Midoriya nearly dropped the phone.

His hand unconsciously reached for his face as he covered his right eye, absentmindedly scrolling through all the fearful comments as he peered through his left. His gaze was starting to be slightly blurry, and his arm started shaking. Soon, his entire body was trembling as he continued to read the articles..

It hurts...

It hurts so much.

Why did it hurt so much!?

Todoroki carefully placed an arm on Midoriya's shoulder, and he jumped, relinquishing his hold on the device as he squeaked from the sudden contact. Luckily, his reflexes were still on point and he managed to grab the phone midair before Yamada's phone made contact with the floor.

Yamada frowned, concerned for the boy.

He hadn't even heard Midoriya yelp before. In pain, yes. In surprise, nope.

Midoriya was almost impossible to sneak up on, if his fight with Hagakure said anything. He was alert, and he was somehow able to sense the area around him, or pick up on any hint anyone made to determine their location and intention.

The reaction Midoriya gave was very different from what Yamada had imagined. He was actually hoping that Midoriya would start spouting some stuff on how they shouldn't judge him for his quirk, or how he trained to actually get to where he was. He knew how to deal with people when they were talking.

The quiet people were Aizawa's strong suit.

"Look..." Mizushima looked on the ground, breaking the silence that had leaking into the hospital room, "I'm sorry. I referred to you by your lack of a quirk while we were facing Stain. That was very rude and disrespectful of me. I probably hurt your feelings." He bowed, "I apologise."

"It's fine... people called me that all the time before when I was a kid... it's nothing new... I should have gotten used to it..." Midoriya sighed, apologising back.

"You shouldn't apologise. How the public treated you is wrong. They shouldn't judged you by what quirk you may or may not have." Iida protested.

"No. I was wrong. The public is wrong. We shouldn't judge you based on your abilities, but on who you are as a person." Mizushima said.

"Izuku. Don't take it to heart." Yamada pat him on the back, "It doesn't matter what they say. We'll stick with you through and through."

Todoroki nodded in agreement.

He wanted to cry.

"Crying is a sign of weakness."

They had already seen how vulnerable he could get. He didn't want them to see how weak he was inside as well.

Midoriya shakily glanced up at them, and smiled.

"Yeah. Thanks."