Chapter 19 - Great Heroes

"Starsky Roberts was a student I went to school with at Justice High." said Matthew. "He was a lot like you, Togata; tall, strong, good-looking, positive attitude. You would get along with him if you met him. Anyway, he was part of the Epic Eight, a group of third-year students who were well on their way to becoming heroes. However, three members of the Epic Eight proved to be bullies, and they would often use their quirks to bully younger students who were starting out for the first time."

"Isn't there rules about using your quirk without permission?" asked Midoriya, as he walked along with Eri holding his hand.

"Oh there is." Matthew replied. "But sadly, most of the school staff turned a blind eye to it. Don't ask me why, but that was the way it was. Being the only kid without a quirk, it was open season on me. And this was before I had my whole 'get tough or die' attitude, so I was often terrorized. If it wasn't for Starsky, I would've probably never made it pass the first three months. The first time he defended me was when I was walking home one afternoon, and the bullies jumped me in a park. Starsky was the first of the Epic Eight, so nobody dared disrespect him, not even the bullies."

"What was his quirk?" asked Togata, who was walking behind Matthew and Midoriya.

"Starsky's quirk was called 'Buzzsaw'." said Matthew. "He could vibrate his arms extremely fast, allowing him to cut through anything. It was a pretty impressive quirk to have, and it made him an ace in combat training. However, he had to time it right when using it, as activating it at the wrong time could cause loss of limbs for whoever he was using it against."

"Wow! That sounds like quite the powerful quirk!"

"It sent the bullies running. Anyway, we talked together in the park after that, and Starsky said I had guts for being a quirkless among people with quirks. He asked if I would like to be trained by him, and I said yes. Because not only was he the best student in Justice High, but to say 'no' would be a waste of valuable information. So, we began training together, and I became stronger and more confident. We buddied up a lot after that, and he became my best friend; I've never had an older brother, so I looked up to him as one. But one day… something bad happened to him…"

"What happened?" asked Midoriya.

"He was killed." Matthew replied sadly. "We did a hero internship together, and we encountered a villain who took a family hostage. We got split up, and Starsky ended up fighting this villain one-on-one. He won the battle and saved the family, but the villain mortally wounded him. I got to him in time, but he died before the paramedics could get to him. Before Starsky died, he told me that I was a good friend, and he made me promise him that I would be a great hero one day. I promised him that, and he died smiling, right there in my arms…"

"Wow." said Togata, his tone amazed. "That's quite the story."

"Yeah. After that, I made it my mission to become a great hero. And when people ask me how I got to the status of legend, I will tell them about Starsky Roberts and the sacrifice he made for me to succeed. Anyway, I could tell you more, but we better check on how Aizawa and the rest of the American students are doing."

"Good point! Who's knows what kind of mischief that Hado and Amajiki are up to! Not that Amajiki is one for mischief…"

After Togata said that, the four continued walking, often chatting with each other on different topics. As the two of them walked together, Matthew and Togata started gaining respect for each other; Matthew for Togata's sacrifice of his quirk, and Togata for how Matthew was going to honor his fallen friend. Despite just meeting each other, both had the feeling that they were going to be fast friends.

The group of four made it to the classroom, with Togata and Matthew now trading terrible jokes with each other. However, the jokes were actually pretty funny, and even Eri was giggling at one joke that Midoriya attempted to tell. They opened the classroom door and suddenly stopped their chatting. Matthew, Midoriya, Togata, and even Eri all gained shock expressions on their faces when they saw what was going on in the room!

Aizawa was lying on the ground in his yellow sleeping bag, sound asleep. Milo and Sunshine were trying to console Amajiki, who was still staring at the wall. And Hado was stretching Murdock's nose to an extremely great length, with both Joshua and Annabelle watching in both confusion and surprise!

"Hey, what in the world is going on in here?!" Matthew yelled out in surprise.

"Matthew!" said Milo, greeting him with a wave. "Glad you could join us!"

Before Matthew could reply to the greeting, Hado stopped fooling around with Murdock and suddenly ran up to him! This in turn caused Matthew to move back somewhat, as she was shocked by how fast she moved up to him!

"Oh wow!" Hado spoke, her voice childishly giddy. "You must be Matthew Noble, the quirkless kid! I've heard so much about you from your friends! Are you really quirkless?! How are you able to hold your own against those who have quirks?!"

"I'll tell you if you calm down." Matthew replied, putting his hands up defensively.

"I can't help it! I like meeting new people and learning about their quirks! Tell me, please?!"

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you. Just calm yourself down, girlie-girl."

Midoriya, Eri, Togata, and Matthew entered the classroom. Togata and Matthew talked with Hado, while Midoriya and Eri went over to speak with Aizawa, who was awakened by Matthew yelling out in surprise. After he got out of his sleeping bag, Aizawa got on one knee and greeted Eri with a kind embrace. Joshua took notice of this and, in spite of himself, he grinned at the sight of the little girl hugging Aizawa around the neck. Eri, as she was hugging Aizawa, saw Joshua and gave a small wave, to which Joshua responded with a small wave of his own.

After names were swapped and people were introduced (Eri and Togata to the rest of the American students, and Matthew to Amajiki and Hado), Midoriya left to head back to Class 1-A. As for Mirio, he took his place at the front of the class, behind the small desk, and began speaking.

"When I look at this room, and see all of you students from America, you know what I see?" Togata asked.

"Potential?" Milo replied with a question.

"Correct!" Togata replied confidently, like he was about to make a grand speech. "You American students have potential to become heroes, but first, you have to know what it takes to be a hero! As a hero, you have to remember that its not about the awesome names, the great costumes, or the rankings in which you'll be judged! What matters the most to being a hero is helping people, putting others before you, standing up for the little guy, and giving it your all! Take for instance, when All Might was once the Symbol of Peace! He thought about the people rather than himself, and would often work hard to make sure that they could live their lives, without being in constant fear of villain attacks! In the end, he sacrificed his title as the number one hero, and his powers, to stop a great villain from destroying everything! That right there is the true meaning of being a hero! Any questions?!"

Matthew raised his hand and asked, "So, you mean you have to look past what the people say in order to achieve greatness?"

"Correct! Although it is important for image, what the people think does not come first! What comes first is doing the right thing, even if seems like its the wrong thing! Any other questions?!"

Nobody responded, so Togata continued by saying, "Alright, now onto our next topic: have the six of you heard of special move training?"

Sunshine raised her hand and Togata pointed to her. Sunshine then put her hand down and replied, "Yeah, we've done special move training before back in America. Not to toot our own horns or anything like that, but our special moves are quite powerful."

"Really?!" Hado suddenly asked, her tone of voice cheerful. "Tell me about them, please?!"

"Uh, maybe after Togata is done talking?" Sunshine replied.

"Okay…" said Hado, sounding somewhat dejected, like a child who was told to wait.

"Anyway, on Monday, we'll be holding special move training!" Togata spoke up. "You Americans, along with Class 1-A, will be demonstrating your special moves to us, to which we will give you some pointers on how you can improve them! We'll be holding it in Gym Gamma!"

"Gym Gamma?" Murdock asked. "I don't think we've been there before."

"It's this really big, open gym where you guys can pretty much do anything without having to worry about destroying the property!" Hado replied. "I can't wait to see what kind of moves you six can do, right Amajiki?"

"No…" Amajiki muttered, his head still against the wall.

"See?! He's excited!" said Hado, not taking to the fact that her fellow classmate was still hiding his face.

"Calm yourself, Hado…" said Aizawa. He then looked to Togata and said, "Anything else to add?"

"Nope! I'm all good!" Togata replied, giving a thumbs up.

Aizawa nodded in reply, turned to the face the American students, and said, "Okay, that's it for this meeting. Tomorrow's Sunday, so you all have the day off. And, since today is a half-day, school ends after lunch. Enjoy the free time you have for today…"

The six American students got up and, after saying goodbye to the Big Three and Eri, left the classroom. Aizawa knelt and said goodbye to his foster daughter, let Togata take her hand, and then followed the American students out of the classroom. As for the Big Three, they left and began making their way down the hallways.

"Quite the impressive bunch, wouldn't you agree?" Togata asked, as he walked in the back with Eri holding his hand.

"They are… interesting…" Amajiki replied thoughtfully, walking beside Hado.

"Interesting?" Hado asked, her voice joking. "You had your face against the wall the entire time! How could you find them interesting if you couldn't see them?"

"I could hear them…" Amajiki replied. "That one with the goofy looking hat sounds funny…"

"Its just too bad we didn't have a Q&A!" said Hado, her tone somewhat disappointed. "I wanted to learn so much about those guys!"

"Hey, don't worry; we'll be meeting with them again on Monday, so you'll be able to ask all the questions you want." Togata replied. "Even better, we'll get to see how their quirks work."

"Awesome! I can't wait! Especially with Matthew; he must be pretty skilled to be in U.A, despite being quirkless!"

The Big Three, along with Eri, continued walking through the halls and talking with each other, heading for the cafeteria in order to get some lunch. Their thoughts were focused on the American students at the moment, and what kind of special moves they had. Hopefully, their moves would be as powerful as Sunshine said they were; it would give a good reason for them to be brought to U.A.

The American students and Aizawa rejoined Class 1-A at the cafeteria. There, the American students split into two groups of three, so that they could go join their groups. Joshua, Annabelle, and Murdock went to go sit with Jiro, Todoroki, and Yaoyaorozu, while Matthew, Sunshine, and Milo sat with Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida, and Ashido. Ashido, for some reason, looked rather downcast, unlike her usual, cheerful, bubbly self.

"So, how did it go with Aizawa?" asked Uraraka, as the American students sat down with their lunches.

"It went good." Sunshine replied, sitting down at the table. "We weren't in trouble or anything; we just had a meeting with these upperclassmen called 'The Big Three'."

"The Big Three?" asked Iida. "They're the best students at U.A. If you don't mind me asking, why did they come to speak with you?"

"They just talked about how to be a hero and all that good stuff like that." Milo replied. "But get this, we found out what kind of training we're going to do on Monday; we're going to be doing special moves training!"

"Special moves training?" Midoriya asked. "Are we going to work on our special moves?"

"Looks like it." Sunshine replied. She then looked to Matthew and asked, "What do you think, Matthew?"

Matthew didn't respond, as he was deep in thought. Sunshine called his name again, and Matthew replied, "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about my costume."

"What about it?" Milo asked.

"Considering the fact we have special move training coming up, I need to have a better costume than what I already have." Matthew replied. "It's not that my original costume is bad or anything, it's just that it's kind of bulky to move around in. I need a costume that's more… streamlined, so to speak. Something that allows me more freedom to move around in. You know what I mean?"

"I guess." Sunshine replied with a shrug.

"So, you need a costume that allows you more freedom to move around?" asked Midoriya.

"Basically speaking." Matthew replied.

A thoughtful gleam appeared in Midoriya's eyes, as he had an idea. He then said, "I think I know who to talk to about that; we'll go to her right after lunch."

Suddenly, a cold chill ran up the spines of Uraraka and Iida, who both had a look of horror on their faces. Sunshine noticed this, and asked, "Uraraka, Iida, you two alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Iida replied, his tone somewhat worried. "It's just that if Midoriya's talking about who we think he's talking about, things are going to get very hectic."

After lunch, the group of seven made their way down the halls of U.A. Matthew, Midoriya, and Uraraka took up the front, Iida and Sunshine took up the middle, and Ashido and Milo took up the back. Back at lunch, Milo had taken noticed of Ashido being downcast, and decided to ask her what was wrong as they walked in the back of the group.

"Hey, you alright?" Milo asked, his tone worried.

"Huh?" Ashido asked, being broken out of her thoughts. "Yeah, I'm alright."

"You don't look alright." Milo replied. "I've only known you for a few days, and you're very cheerful and bubbly. But right now, you're kind of downcast. What's up?"

"It's nothing, just…" said Ashido. "We were given a pop quiz in class today, and… I think I flunked it."

"Oh… schoolwork troubles, huh?"

"Yeah. I can handle physical aspects of being a hero, but I can't when it comes to thinking out problems. All the other girls do well in their schoolwork, but I end up getting bad grades! I'm not dumb, its just that these problems can be so boring, and my mind drifts off from them and then I lose track! Usually, I can laugh it off and joke about it, but I'm afraid of falling behind!"

"Yeah, I know how you feel." Milo said thoughtfully.

"Its not only that." Ashido continued, her voice sounding anxious. "Last year, before summer vacation started, we took exams, and I was the only girl who failed the physical exam! I was able to do well on the written exam, but when it came to the physical, I didn't do so well! I All the other girls got to do things that I couldn't, and I had to take extra classes! I honestly don't know what do with myself! It's hopeless!"

Milo didn't say anything for a few seconds, but then he stopped walking and called out to the group, "You guys go on ahead; Ashido and I need to talk."

"Understood!" Iida spoke up. "We'll wait for you two when we get there!"

Milo nodded in reply, and the group of five continued walking, leaving Milo alone with Ashido, who had also stopped walking.

"Mina, it's not hopeless for you." said Milo. "It's just that you think things differently than the other girls do. You can't focus cause the problems are told the way they want you to think, not the way they need you to think. Thinking like a hero is important, but sometimes thinking exactly like a hero doesn't work for everybody. I know this because I was in the same trouble you're in when I first started Justice High."

"You mean unable to do problems and getting bad scores?" Ashido asked.

"Yep." Milo replied. "When I first started Justice High, I had trouble with the way they were teaching me. I could handle the physical parts, but the exams and quizzes went right over my head. Just like you, I tried laughing and joking about it, but I was really afraid of falling behind. One day, it came back to bite me right on the butt; I ended up being the only one in my class to fail an important exam. Nineteen out of twenty students, and I was the only one out of all of them to fail. I couldn't do things they could do, and I had to be assigned a tutor. But, during that time, I had an epiphany."

"A what?"

"An epiphany; a wake-up call for the mind. I learned that in order for me to succeed, I had to look at things differently. I couldn't just roll with the whole 'hero' mindset, and I began developing my own mindset for thinking things through. For instance, I had a math problem talking about how long would it take to take down armed henchmen in a room, while also having time left over to deactivate a bomb. Now, I could've thought about it that way, but I also thought about it in my own way; Instead of armored henchmen and a bomb, I thought about it like how I do art. I thought about how long it would take me to draw something depending on how big it was, then to paint it."

"But I'm not an artist like you, Milo." Ashido replied. "How's that supposed to help me?"

"What I mean is, I like to draw and paint, so I made it an art related problem." said Milo. "You like to dance, so make it a dancing related problem. If it's math, thinking about it like taking steps when you dance. If it's language arts, think about it like what you would say when you dance. If its reading, think about it like… uhh… I had something going in my mind, but I lost it. But, the point is, look at a problem from a different point of view. You do that, it changes the way things work."

"I don't know how to do that…"

The two were silent for a few seconds, until Milo asked, "Do you want me to tutor you?"

"Tutor me?" Ashido asked, her tone of voice hopeful.

"Yeah, you know; help you with your schoolwork."

"You'd do that? For me?"

"Of course!" Milo replied, his tone of voice cheerful. "Anything to help out a fellow student! Plus… I like you…"

Ashido smiled when he said that and replied in a cheerful tone, "You're very sweet."

"Hey, there's the happy girl I know." said Milo. "So, what do you say?"

"Yes!" Ashido replied excitedly. "Yes!"

"Okay, I'll tutor you, but one condition; you have to keep teaching me how to dance."

Ashido laughed in delight and hugged Milo, who was a little shocked that she hugged him all of sudden. However, he kindly returned the embrace and said, "Glad to have you back, Mina."

Ashido's hug then ended, and she asked in a cheerful tone, "So, we can still go to the mall after school, right?"

"Of course." Milo replied. "We're not going to start the tutoring just yet. Anyway, we better get back to the guys; wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

"Okay; race ya, Milo!" Ashido said cheerfully, before sprinting off.

Milo laughed and began racing after her, the two of them quickly heading down the halls of U.A. To say the least, Milo was glad to be helping out a fellow student and, even more so, somebody he definitely liked…