My Hero Academia: School Briefs V

My Hero Academia: School Briefs V (僕のヒーローアカデミア 祝 V) is the fifth School Briefs light novel spinoff, based in the My Hero Academia universe and the sequel to My Hero Academia: School Briefs IV. It is illustrated by Kohei Horikoshi and written by Anri Yoshi.

Summary
It’s time for Class 1-A to start getting ready for the end-of-the-year holidays, and that means undertaking a big winter cleaning. The unsuspecting students get a big surprise when their cleaning leads to a crazy discovery. What's this mysterious entrance?! They have no choice but to rustle up some Plus Ultra spirit and venture inside!

Part 1: U.A.'s Underground Dungeon
During the wintertime, Class 1-A are doing the typical end-of-year cleaning for each of their dorm rooms. Tenya Ida finished tying up his completed books to be returned, and checked on his fellow classmates, including Mashirao Ojiro and Denki Kaminari, to assist them. Izuku Midoriya spends his time wiping down his All Might figurines and taking care of his collection. Shoto Todoroki peers in to return a pencil and thinks to himself about possibly collecting a figurine, leading Izuku to offer him one of his, and go into one of his endless rambles in the process. His neighbours, Yuga Aoyama and Minoru Mineta, also appear to check in on the commotion.

Koji Koda is doing his usual of cleaning up after his pet rabbit, Yuwai, while Eijiro Kirishima is throwing out his punching bag he accidentally broke, passing by Tenya. He comments that he still has some tiny corners in his rom to clean up, and that Katsuki Bakugo's almost completely done his. The two decide to help Eijiro toss the heavy bag out, taking it outside where they spot Fumikage Tokoyami with his own garbage bag, pointing them toward the new garbage spot, as well as also assisting to carry the bag with Dark Shadow. The students end up passing by Power Loader hanging out in the forest, wondering why he's eating outside, and if it's just for a change of pace.

Fumikage asks the others if they’ve noticed the earthquakes happening at night lately, which Koji also heard, but Tenya and Eijiro haven't due to always going to sleep early. Fumikage notes that he's heard it over 20 times recently, and Koji mentions Kyoka Jiro has also heard it, leading the two to more believe their claims. They then stumble upon Mezo Shoji, who was helping throw out the girls' trash, and mentions that he too heard the earthquakes. In one of his boxes, Fumikage notices a decoration of the character "Batboy", a popular American superhero, that he immediately draws his affection toward. Fumikage’s trash accidentally breaks, resulting in his “Dark Night Crystal” (a crystal ball he named after his favorite Hero) rolling away, leading him to give chase into the forest. The four quickly follow him where they find the ground to be softer than usual, when it suddenly gives in swallowing the boys up.

After recovering, the group notice a mysterious red light from a light bulb and realize they must be in some underground maze/school facility, with Fumikage theorizing the tremors came from the construction of this place; unbeknownst to them, a figure is watching them from a live feed. While an excited Dark Shadow wants to explore, Tenya tries to figure out the best way for them to escape, since their main way out is covered by rocks. The group discuss their options when they’re suddenly surprised by a monkey doll with two cymbals moving on the ground.

Eijiro, while using his Hardening Quirk, picks it up to question what it’s doing there, only for it to start clashing the cymbals together, causing Eijiro to freak out and drop it. The others laugh about getting scared at it, until the monkey starts going berserk and shooting lasers out of its mouth. Running away, Fumikage tries to use Dark Shadow to attack it but is promptly shot by the laser and forced to retreat. Eijiro tries next, using Hardening to withstand the laser, but the monkey dodges his attacks. Mezo uses his Dupli-Arms to throw boulders at the monkey, successfully knocking it over, but when they go up close to inspect it, all they're met by is the damaged doll creepily saying “curse” over and over.

Things get worse as the monkey doll gets back up and proceeds to start flying, chasing the boys. As they make their way into a corridor with multiple pathways, more monkeys shooting lasers start showing up and attacking them, as the group look for Tenya for advice on how to fight them. He tells Eijiro to be a distraction, using his Hardening to withstand the monkeys' beams, while the others take down the dolls, even though they are worried about whatever the “curse” might be. As they finish up checking if anyone’s hurt, they realize Koji has gone missing, and considering they’ve now lost their way after being run out, they head off to look for him.

Meanwhile, back in the dorms, Katsuki shows up to Eijiro’s room looking for his lint roller only to find him missing. As he enters the room and picks it up, he notices a bunch of dust located under his bed, annoyingly muttering to himself if he even cleaned his room, taking care of it. After that’s done, he notices a poster on Eijiro’s wall starting to peel, so gets to work fixing it. Hanta Sero walks by asking what he’s doing, having figured that due to Katsuki’s perfectionism, he was irritated at Eijiro’s half-assed cleaning and wanted it fixed. Hanta proceeded to tease him, saying if the hero gig doesn’t work he’ll be a great handyman, leaving Katsuki to yell back at him.

Back in the maze, as the boys continue to look for Koji, they come across a wall with a mysterious button on it, increasing their urge to push it. The boys start to question the button, and the whole labyrinth’s true purpose, with Fumikage suggesting it could be an emergency switch to alert their prescence, while Mezo and Tenya seem convinced it may not be a U.A. facility, due to how dangerous and incomplete it is, leading them to worry if it could potentially be a Villains’ base. Not paying attention, Dark Shadow emerges from Fumikage, noticing the button and excitingly pushes it, causing everyone to freak out.

Thinking about possible booby traps, Eijiro suggests there could be a trap door, causing them to evade the middle, only to instead be surprised by the ceiling starting to erupt with giant boulders threatening to crush them, forcing them to run away. Fumikage uses Dark Shadow in Black Fallen Angel to fly away, while Tenya grabs ahold of Eijiro and Mezo to boost with his Engine out of there. They think they’ve escaped, only to come faced with a monitor on the ceiling counting down, causing them to panic as a trapdoor opens beneath them. They are stuck sliding down a slimy slide, nearly about to fall into a giant metal bird cage below, until Dark Shadow re-emerges and manages to fly them away to safety.

Continuing down a nearby tunnel, the group becomes more convinced it is a villains’ hideout due to all the traps. They’re soon forced into running again as a giant boulder starts rolling its way toward them. Once they reach a dead end, Eijiro activates his Hardening to face the boulder head on, splitting it half, which each half is dealt with by Tenya and Mezo. A rogue rock is about to hit Fumikage, so Tenya quickly jumps in the way to cover for him, hitting his shoulder causing him to bleed. While Tenya doesn’t feel too bad about it, Fumikage becomes distressed with himself letting him get hurt like that, causing Dark Shadow to overpower him and start to go berserk. Tenya tries to use his cell phone to shine a light and calm him down, but Dark Shadow smacks it away and continues thrashing about. Just then, a swarm of bats show up and overwhelm Dark Shadow causing him to cool down and return into Fumikage. They realize the bats are being controlled by Koji, with Fumikage referring to him as “Batboy.”

The other boys ask Koji where he was, saying he had fell in a trapdoor, but was able to find his way back by talking to the bugs and bats. Fumikage thanks him and greatly compliments his Anivoice Quirk, causing him to blush. A giant hose then appears out of nowhere sending a huge rush of water straight towards the boys, as they grab ahold of Mezo who helps save them. Making their way further down the path, they mysteriously come across an underground hot springs, with several towels and shirts set aside. Confused, but still pretty tired from everything they went through, they decide to relax in the hot spring for a bit, before eventually getting dried and dressed in the extra clothes.

Mezo then tells them that he hears voices in the wall, supposedly sounding like villains preparing to attack U.A. They get ready to fight as Dark Shadow and Eijiro bust the door down, only to end up in a small movie theatre, with a C-list film called “Ridge Racers” currently being played. They proceed to explore around other rooms nearby, including one with a sofa and posters of cars hung on the wall, one with a full-size racetrack with classic cars around, and a workshop filled with various machinery and devices. A pile of the inventions suddenly fall and start to all go active, forcing the group to avoid the lights, lasers, and missiles, and destroy them.

After resolving the issue, they are surprised by the appearance of Principal Nezu, who tells them not to worry. He explains that the whole area was an old U.A. training ground that was left unused due to being too dangerous. When Tenya asks about the hot springs and other rooms, Nezu claims they are his break rooms while he’s been assessing the area, telling them to head back to the dormitories not to worry about anything else. After being escorted outside, and getting their injuries healed with Recovery Girl, they realize that it is evening, as the boys breathe a sigh of relief and slight excitement over their little adventure as they head back to prepare for dinner.

Back in the labyrinth, it turns out that the area was not actually for Nezu’s own personal use, but in fact Power Loader’s. What started as a place to store all of Mei Hatsume’s excess inventions, Power Loader started enjoying himself more and more, to the point of expanding the underground facility to include rooms for him to relax in. After uncovering the hot springs, he decided to create a labyrinth for the students’ benefit, accidentally digging too close to the surface, with the monkey doll being one of Mei’s creations. Nezu initially suggests opening the space up for the rest of the staff, but quickly rescends it, aware of Power Loader’s introvertedness and allowing him to keep a personal space for himself, but also reminding him to make the place safer if he wants to keep using it. Nezu also teases him saying that he’d want to be able to use the hot springs every now and then too.

Bonus Track 1-A Homecoming Tales #1: The Jiro Family
Kyoka is at a livehouse on New Year's Eve watching her parents perform; her dad, Kyotoku Jiro, is playing the drums while her mom, Mika Jiro, plays guitar and sings. She watches the show from the side of the stage with Ectoplasm, who's acting as her escort. He asks her why their parents chose to spend New Year's at a small venue when they could've gone to a larger location, and Kyoka responds that since this was the place where her parents first met, there’s sentimental value for them. She then starts to think about her New Year's assignment that Eraser Head had assigned to them over the break, which was to write a "kakizome", calligraphy that expresses an aspiration for the coming year, which she struggles to decide beyond her usual Plus Ultra attitude.

As the countdown concludes, ushering in the New Year, Kyotoku shouts for Kyoka to join them on stage and sing a song for everyone; she is flustered being asked out of nowhere but reluctantly gives in seeing how earnestly her parents want to see her sing live, as everyone cheers her on. She sings the song they performed at the Culture Festival, Hero too. Ectoplasm, being a huge fan of karaoke, watches on glad that he is finally able to see her sing, having been disappointed at missing the performance last time, and commenting that she has a great voice. Finishing the song, she's flustered at the response, but seeing her happy parents makes her happy too. She decides for her assignment she's going to write the kanji for 響 ("hibiki/kyo"), meaning "sound", "reverberate", and "resonate", representing her desire for her heart going to rock out so hard that her good vibrations will bust down every obstacle that's thrown at her (though also thinking about Denki and Minoru probably making fun of her for using her own name’s kanji as motivation). Her parents, Ectoplasm, and the rest of the audience call for an encore, as she gives them one more performance for the night.

Part 2: The Unlikeliest Santas
Principal Nezu meets with several of the U.A. staff, including Eraser Head, Present Mic, Midnight, Thirteen, Vlad King, Hound Dog, and Ectoplasm. He informs them that despite no suspicious activity from the students, indicating none of them are probably spies for the League of Villains, they decide to have each of the students escorted by a teacher or Pro Hero back home over New Year’s Eve for their safety. As they prematurely try to leave the meeting, Eraser Head lets them know he’ll be bringing Eri to Class 1-A’s Christmas Party in the dormitory, bringing joy to the other teachers, who’ve incredibly warmed up to Eri’s presence living in their dorms. Nezu agrees to cut the meeting short, informing them about bolstering security measures, but most of them leave before they can hear him.

After the Christmas party, Eraser Head and Eri head back to the teacher’s dormitory and to her room. Eri wonders where to put Fumikage’s giant sword that she won from the gift grab, insisting on keeping it since it was her Christmas present. She mentions how surprised Mirio might be to see her with the sword, while Eraser Head thinks about just how big an impression Izuku and Mirio have left on her. She thinks about all the good food she had at the party and feeling both full and hungry; Eraser Head asks what her favorite food was, and she says the chocolate covered apple slices, which made her think of Izuku’s candy apple. She then asks him if Santa will visit her and Izuku, having just learned about Santa Claus recently, as Eraser Head reassures her he will come.

Later that night, Eraser Head waits outside Eri’s room for Present Mic, with the intention of acting as Santa and leaving her a gift to find in the morning. Present Mic arrives completely dressed in a Santa getup, to Eraser Head’s bewilderment, which he claims is in case Eri accidentally wakes up. Due to the last disastrous time when Eraser Head tried to get clothes for Eri, he had Present Mic choose to present, which turned out to be a DJ set for kids, which he reluctantly accepts. As they are about to quietly enter the room, they’re suddenly surprised by two figures already in the room dressed up as Santa as well; Thirteen wearing a suit over her space suit, and Midnight in a sexy Santa girl outfit.

So as not to wake Eri, the four quickly crowd into her bathroom to talk. They both mention how them, and the rest of the staff, wanted to give her presents to help her smile. Thirteen thinks about how much time she’s spent looking after Eri during the morning and bath time, and Midnight thinks about drawing pictures and reading books with her, leading her to nickname her “Miss Art.” Present Mic also thinks about how he’s been teaching her English, and how happy he was when she started to sing the ABCs, as well as beginning to call him “Mister English” and “Mister Mustache.” The three proceed to voice their jealously over Eraser Head being the closest to her out of all the teachers.

Midnight reveals she got Eri a picture book, which Present Mic laughs at assuming Midnight had gotten her something more adult-oriented, which she defends herself saying it’s not until she’s much older. Thirteen then says she got her a large teddy bear, and imagining Eri hugging it got a big thumbs up from the other two. Eraser Head convinced them not to waste any more time and to put the presents on the bed. As they are about to place them, Eraser Head notices an angel doll on her shelf he’s never seen before, while the rest are distracted by the presence of the sleeping Eri. They notice she has a small sock on her pillow, figuring out she learned that Santa puts presents in socks, and try to figure out a way to put one of their presents in it.

Just then, they hear a faint noise outside the window, leading the four to act on guard, only for it to be Vlad King, also dressed as Santa, accompanied by Hound Dog, dressed like a reindeer and pulling a sled, who have also arrived to give Eri presents. The commotion leads to another figure suddenly showing up in the darkness, freaking the teachers out, revealing it to be Ectoplasm (dressed as Santa as well) with a present too. Vlad King had been teaching Eri gymnastics, and was happy to hear her call him “Mister Exercise”, while for Hound Dog, she was initially scared of, but eventually warmed up to after he showed her some wildflowers and she drew a picture for him. Ectoplasm also scared her at first, but she eventually became comfortable enough to call him “Mister Song.” Ectoplasm gifted her nursery rhyme CDs (which she can play in Mic’s DJ set), whle Vlad and Hound Dog got her a comb, hairpin, and hand mirror, which they received help from the Class 1-B girls.

Right as the teachers decide where to place the gifts around the bed, they notice the eyes of the angel doll suddenly turn red. Before they can react, a shield barrier surrounds Eri and her bed, as the doll starts shouting “intruder detected!” while shooting lasers at the teachers. They then recall Nezu’s words about tightening security, specifically in Eri’s room, and that the doll was created by Power Loader off of one of Mei’s robot monkeys. The teachers become trapped by a sticky rope, and when they realize they shouldn’t destroy it since Nezu just installed it, they need to figure out a way to disable it. Eraser Head orders the teachers as they each take a separate plan to break free, leave the presents, and escape, however it proves to be much more trouble than they expected, as they’re forced to spend the rest of the night fighting the angel doll.

The following morning, Eri wakes up to see all of the presents at her bedside. She runs into the lounge to see Eraser Head and is surprised to also see the rest of the teachers all sleeping on the sofas, having been too exhausted to get back to their rooms after dealing with the angel doll just an hour prior. As they start to awaken at her arrival, Eri tells them about Santa leaving her a ton of presents, as her beaming smile infects the rest of the teachers, making them feel all happy too.

Bonus Track 1-A Homecoming Tales #2: The Asui Family
Tsuyu Asui returns home for the New Year's, ready to see her family for the first time in a while. She wonders to herself how her brother and sister, Samidare Asui and Satsuki Asui, have been doing, since she was so used to taking care of them most of the time while her parents were away on business trips. She decides she should try and help clean the house before their parents get home with the food, however when she enters the house, after being greeted by her siblings, she notices they have already started cleaning up themselves. She recalls how at most they would only ever assist her with cleaning dishes, so it comes off as a shock to her. While Tsuyu wants to help with something, Samidare insists she just go to her room to relax, where she notices just how much they’ve prepared, with hot tea and sweets laid out, thinking how much the kids have grown. It all leaves a bittersweet feeling for Tsuyu, as she was worried for her siblings when she was moving into her dormitories, however seeing them being able to pick up everything just fine does make her happy.

She then receives a phone call from her friend, Habuko Mongoose, saying she learned she returned home from her brother. After catching up and chatting for a bit, Tsuyu hears a bang in the other room, so goes to check it out. In the kitchen she finds a large pot fallen on the floor, with Samidare and Satsuki looking surprised. They say the pot was heavier than expected and accidentally dropped it. Tsuyu picks it up and prepares to handle the cooking herself, but after remembering just how hard they've been working, she instead says she wants to help make soba with them, patting them on the head, which they happily accept. As they work on the soba, she thinks about her winter break assignment and what word to represent her aspiration for the new year, deciding on 和 ("wa") for “peace and harmony”, which is what she wants for her siblings when she can't be there for them. At that moment, her parents return home, as the family happily reunites together.

Part 3: Awkward New-Year's Soba
Shoto arrives home for New Year’s Eve where he finds his sister, Fuyumi Todoroki, hard at work cooking. She is surprised he was able to come home and asks if he is hungry, but he mentions he already ate earlier while visiting their mom, Rei Todoroki, at the hospital cafeteria, having gotten permission to stop there first, having been unable to visit her as frequently since the dorms were implemented. While cleaning himself up, he reflects on how long it's been since he last ate with her like that, thinking about how she chose beef stew and he chose katsudon, reminding himself of Tenya and Izuku who always order that. He recalls talking to her about general conversations, how he finally got his provisional hero license, and her final words about her making an effort too. He thinks about while it took awhile, he’s finally got himself on the right track on following his dreams and becoming the hero he wants to be. Back in the kitchen, Fuyumi mentions that both their brother, as well as father, will be coming by later, and when Shoto insists on helping, she tells him to set up his futon.

Natsuo Todoroki soon arrives at the house, where Fuyumi teases him about his girlfriend not being with him, which he says she’s spending New Year’s Eve with her family, and that they’ll be visiting the shrine together the following day. Wondering where Shoto is, Natsuo heads inside to go check in on him. Fuyumi tells him that Endeavor will be coming by later, but Natsuo insists that he’ll be leaving before he arrives, apologizing to her. She tries to tempt him with her handmade soba, as Natsuo chuckles that she could be quit teaching and become a a pro noodle-wrangler at this point. After washing up, he heads into their batsudan room for their brother, Toya Todoroki, surprised to find a fresh incense still burning, realizing Shoto had come in earlier. He thinks to himself about how "not normal" their family is, before lighting up a new incense and telling Toya that he's home.

Natsuo goes to Shoto’s room to find him sleeping on the futon, as seeing his facial scar leads him to remember all the screaming and crying his mother and brother endured the night the incident happened, and how much it must have hurt him, thinking about how much of a better life he could've had if he hadn't inherited both his parents' Quirks. He remembers how he was still in elementary school when it all happened, feeling angry and pathetic over how he used to be before Endeavor's abuse started. Before Shoto was born, he was always craving his dad’s attention and affection, but would never get it, but still had his mom to care for him. But once Shoto was born, it felt like he had took their mom from him since she focused so much time trying to protect him from Endeavor's "training", but after the painful incident, he felt embarrassed of himself.

Natsuo heads back into the kitchen to help Fuyumi with their meal, when he starts to reflect on why they were born as Endeavor’s children, causing Fuyumi to feel a little awkward with his venting, before he eventually changes the subject not wanting to talk about him for too long. He praises some more of Fuyumi’s cooking, who says the food is their mom’s recipe, with the two exchanging various bites. Fuyumi recognizes Natuso still feeling uneasy so asks him what's wrong, leading him to bring up how he still feels bad he was unable to do anything to help Shoto while he was being abused, and that the pain they dealt with was nothing compared to him. Fuyumi comforts him by patting him on the head, telling him he doesn't have to compare his suffering to others.

Just then, a sleepy Shoto arrives in the room, saying they should’ve woken him up. They both try to ask Fuyumi to help, but she just kicks them out of the house to feed the koi pond, intending on giving the two boys some alone time. Natsuo tries to find a way to have a “normal” conversation with Shoto, since they were never able to talk much, remembering hearing Rei mention about Shoto’s friends but unaware how to bring it up. While looking in the shed, Natsuo finds a soccer ball they used to play with and, bringing back old memories, decides to throw it at him to surprise him. Expecting him to easily catch it, instead Shoto is shocked as it smacks right into his body, before running to go pick it up, only to fall into the koi pond, causing Natsuo to laugh as he helps him up, only to slip in himself.

Fuyumi scolds them for getting wet as the two boys go to take a bath together, where they both awkwardly apologize to each other. Natsuo thinks about how he can’t remember ever taking a bath with him, while Shoto tells him it is their first time taking a bath together. Looking at his muscles, Natsuo thinks about just how hard Shoto is working to accomplish his dream of being a Pro Hero, despite everything that happened, and how it was Fuyumi that pushed him to keep at it, with the goal of wanting to support wounded souls like their mother; seeing his conviction and drive caused Natsuo to feel pathetic about himself again.

They start up some small talk with each other, asking about how their times at their respective schools have been. Shoto reveals he knows about Natsuo’s girlfriend from Fuyumi, causing him to get embarrassed and hide his face. He asks if Shoto has any girl that he likes, but he says no. He talks about his friends, particularly Izuku and Tenya, who he has lunch and studies with, and Katsuki who he wanted to get closer with during their remedial courses. Shoto then tells him he was surprised when he threw the ball, because he recognized it from watching his siblings play and always wishing he could join them, causing Natsuo to start to tear up, thinking about how he should've tried to invite his brother back then. He enthusiastically states that they should go play soccer right after their bath.

Right before they get out, Fuyumi tells them she's about to head out to get more mochi for their meals. As they enter the kitchen, seeing all the ingredients for soba laid out, which excited Shoto, Natsuo decides they should go ahead and make the soba themselves to surprise their sister. Not having any experience, they look up videos online, with the two unsure of what exact soba they should try to be making, eventually going with Shoto's insistence of full buckwheat. Fuyumi soon arrives to find a mess of soba colored dough on the table. They apologize for ruining the dough, which she says she's fine with it, but also tells them they'll have to eat what they made since they don't have any more flour, to Shoto's disappointment.

As the siblings set the food out in their room in front of the TV getting ready to eat, Fuyumi points out that Endeavor is running late. Natsuo comments that he’s probably just working and reminds her he’ll be leaving when he gets there anyway. They decide to start eating, with Natuso excited about the sashimi and Shoto reluctantly biting into his messy soba. Suddenly, a news broadcast appears on the TV of a giant gorilla villain with a "King Kong" Quirk climbing the Shizuoka Tower, only for everyone to be even more surprised when they realize the villain is holding Endeavor hostage. The siblings are confused wondering why he isn’t fighting back, only to notice he has several grocery bags also in his hands. As the gorilla tightens its grip, Endeavor reluctantly uses a Prominence Burn attack to instantly defeat the villain, but at the cost of incinerating the bags, containing all the food he was meant to bring to New Year's.

Endeavor is pissed at the resolution, sullenly looking on the ground for any remains, while Fuyumi is glad he's okay, and Natsuo agreeing to stay a while longer realizing he’ll be late. Fuyumi breaks out some top-end sake Endeavor had recently received, as she states her excitement about being able to drink with Natsuo next year once he's of age, and Natsuo excited about eventually being able to drink with Shoto. Fuyumi tells Shoto that the sake goes well with soba, instantly grabbing his attention. Natsuo talks about how he's looking forward to drinking with their mom once she gets out, and that they need to practice their soba making to surprise her too. The siblings happily enjoy their New Year's, as they hope moments like this can one day be their ordinary.

Bonus Track 1-A Homecoming Tales #3: The Uraraka Family
While spending New Year's Eve with her family, Ochaco Uraraka participates in heir local tradition of the mochi-pounding event, receiving lots of praise from her neighbors for her physical strength. While enjoying the food, a kid goes up and asks her if she's getting bullied by Katsuki. She’s initially confused by this, until the kid says that’s what it looked like during their fight at the Sports Festival. She explains to him that wasn’t bullying, but that he was fighting her seriously, saying that even though it’s frustrating to lose, it’s better than having an opponent that holds back, adding that Katsuki has a good side, even though his mouth should get washed up; she also points out that Katsuki isn't Katsuki without the bad words. Her parents proceed to praise how delicious the mocha is, which Ochaco attributes to her muscle strength, which her mother touches to confirm, causing her to laugh with happiness.

Ochaco then starts to think about what she wants to write for her winter break homework, and what her New Year’s aspiration is. Her parents suggest several ideas but none catch her attention. Ochaco thinks about what Izuku would write, thinking something about working hard or All Might related, causing her to unintentionally smile. Noticing this, her mother butts in asking if she has any crushes, causing her face to turn red in embarrassment. Her father, meanwhile, turns pale and starts to ramble to himself about how much Ochaco has grown, jumping in to say it's too early for her to think about marriage, causing a ruckus as the other neighbors start to get involved, and Ochaco tries to deny everything. Once everyone’s calmed down, Ochaco thinks to herself how she probably will get married someday, but now’s not the time to think about that, and that there is more to do first if she wants to become a hero who can bring smiles to others. After looking at her mochi, she decides to write 餅 (“mochi”) as her aspiration, because she wants to be as tough and tenacious as it is. Happily munching on her food, full of satisfaction, Ochaco prepares to get even more motivated for the future.

Part 4: New Year's with a Childhood Friend
It's been a couple days since Izuku, Katsuki, and Shoto have started their Work-Study at the Endeavor Agency. The three chase after a robber, who uses a smoke screen Quirk to try and escape, as they prepare to corner him down an alley, but Endeavor shows up and stops him before they can. Izuku is impressed at just how fast he was able to get ahead of them, and how he was able to re-direct the villain away, while Katsuki and Shoto are mad they couldn’t beat him to it. Endeavor leaves with Shoto to deal with a news interview, which he reluctantly agrees to, while Izuku and Katsuki are left to go on lunch break. As Katsuki angrily walks away, Izuku thinks about how their relationship has developed from childhood friends, to persecuted and persecutor, and now since they've started at U.A. how they’ve slowly started getting to an equal ground.

He goes to the convenience store and, remembering that it’s New Year's week and he hasn’t gotten his New Year's blessing yet, heads to the nearest shrine to get one. Just then, he bumps into Katsuki, who had the exact same idea as him, yelling for supposedly stalking hin. Izuku tells him not to yell or cause a scene, but Katsuki points out it’s someone else causing a ruckus, which is when they notice to be two elementary school boys fighting. Izuku steps in to try and mediate, but one of the kids, named Takkun, turns to him calling him “Broccoli-head”; Katsuki laughs at and tries to stop him from running off until he calls him "Villain-face", allowing him to escape after he's distracted.

The other boy, Macchan, starts to cry in despair, leading Izuku to try and calm him down, while Katsuki eats his lunch nearby. Izuku introduces himself and Katsuki (to his annoyance) as current hero interns for Endeavor, and asks what's wrong. Macchan says that he learned he will be transferring schools soon, and finally told Takkun just now, leading up to get upset and have their fight. He then laments how the two of them were supposed to take part in a Hero karuta tournament the following day, something Izuku remembers playing alot as kid with his mother. This causes him to once again break down over Takkun not wanting to play with him anymore after they practiced so much. Izuku wants to help him, but after realizing his break is over, is forced to leave the kid alone as they head back to work.

By the evening, the three interns return to the Agency building, where they'll told by Burnin to go eat dinner alongside the rest of the Flaming Sidekickers. She recommends the daily special of katsu curry, which they all choose, with Shoto also having a side of soba. Shoto asks if they checked out the “Meta Liberation War” book Hawks recently gave to them, with him and Izuku saying they've been unable to finish due to always falling asleep after work, and Katsuki not even bothering. Izuku notes Shoto’s love for soba, also noticing that there is a soba side fro everything on the menu, leading Kido and Onima to mention that Endeavor had requested the menu add soba to everything since Shoto's last internship with them, which greatly annoys him.

Izuku ends up going into one of his long rambling analyses about Endeavor's work as a Hero, leading Katsuki to shut him up while he's trying to eat. This leads him to share an anecdote about Katsuki’s experience with curry back when they were kids, causing him to explode back in his face and leading to another scuffle amongst the two. Shoto questions them wondering why they are on such bad terms if they're childhood friends, with Katsuki responding that just because you know someone for so long doesn't mean they'll get along, citing Shoto's relationship with his father as an example; Shoto adds back that he considers Izuku his friend, which brings a smile to him.

After the three finish eating, cleaning up, and studying, Izuku thinks about Macchan and Takkun and hoping they'll be able to patch things up. He then starts to think about Shoto's words and wondering what changed between him and Katsuki that led to them being on such bad terms. He notes he can't remember what the reason was, even despite them being on speaking terms by now. He had always referred to their relationship as "childhood friends", but wonders if that would be appropriate if they don't get along in the first place.

As he heads to get a drink, he spots Katsuki nearby on the windowsill, once again calling him a stalker. Izuku thinks aloud asking if the two kids will be alright, with Katsuki responding he doesn’t care; he says the crying kid reminded him of some loser he knows, which Izuku knew meant him, with him replying back that the foul mouthed kid reminded him of Katsuki. He tells Izuku that he shouldn’t be wasting time acting all "high & mighty" worrying about a fight with some kids he's never met, which is one of the traits that's always annoyed him about Izuku, before leaving.

Starting their patrol the next day, Izuku struggles to keep up with the kids still weighing on his mind. Endeavor then receives an emergency call from Mirko asking for assistance dealing with a villain, so promptly speeds off telling the three students to keep patrolling with the sidekicks. By lunchtime, Shoto goes to finish his interview, while Izuku heads back to the shrine in hopes of finding the kids again. He finds Katsuki already there, asking if he was worried about them too, but he claims he was just looking for more pop-up stores. They both then stumble across Macchan and Takkun, with the two still continuing to bicker with each other. Izuku approaches them, knowing they both want to take part in the tournament and just need to talk it out, before Macchan suddenly grabs his arm declaring he’ll join him in the tournament instead. Katsuki taunts Izuku about this, saying a hero is supposed to help people, until Takkun grabs his arm saying he’ll join him, leading Izuku to throw the line back at him. Takkun goads Katsuki in joining through his sense of competition, as the two interns enter alongside the two kids.

Izuku explains to Katsuki, who's never played the game before, that it's all about hearing a phrase describing a hero be read out, and that you must quickly point out the correct Hero in the karuta card set. Once the match starts, Izuku and Macchan demonstrate their skill quickly winning the first couple slots. Takkun starts to feel upset over their skill difference, but Katsuki motivates him to keep fighting, as they manage to come back and win a couple themselves. Izuku and Katsuki continue to openly support and backup their partners, while Macchan and Takkun become more openly competitive. However, at once point, the other three start to notice Macchan purposefully slowing down, annoying Takkun that he's holding back against him. Katsuki is about to say something, but Izuku jumps in first, telling Macchan he needs to play seriously, leading the two kids to get back in the fight. Seeing all this leads Katsuki to think about seeing someone acting out of a simple desire to help others with no ulterior motive was always sickening to him, especially regarding Izuku, but after their confrontation, the sickening feeling had started to wane, even if he couldn't exactly figure out what still bothered him about Izuku.

The rest of the match continues with Izuku and Macchan winning and making it to the second round, only to be promptly defeated by a team of twins. Macchan and Takkun proceed to reconcile with each other as they promise that even though Macchan will be moving soon, they'll play the game together in the future, with Izuku and Katsuki watching on. After they leave, just as their lunch break is about to end, Izuku informs Katsuki he's going to get his New Year's blessing so he doesn’t accidentally follow him back, but Katsuki insists on getting his blessing first, so the two end up going together anyway. After receiving their blessing, Izuku asks what Katsuki wishes for, which he tells him to shut up; Izuku thinks that he probably wished for the same thing he did, to be the best hero who can win and save, and save and win. He thinks about even through the worst times and the bad experiences of his life, he can’t imagine a world without Katsuki, and how it’s all lead him to the path he’s on now after meeting All Might. Shoto arrives to see the two of them together, asking if they’d reconciled, causing Katsuki to blow up at him and Izuku to laugh it off. They then get a call from a sidekick asking to regroup with them, as they head off from the shrine, back down their path to become heroes.

Bonus Track 1-A Homecoming Tales #4: The Yaoyorozu Family
The Yaoyorozu Family holds their annual New Year's party where they invite hundreds of people from their elite social circles to their home to celebrate together, with everyone dressed up in suits and gowns, and with Momo Yaoyorozu standing at front to greet everyone as they enter. The guests each ask her about her time in U.A., which she politely answers. During the party itself, Momo is expecting to see the usual artists or entertainers that hold a live performance there, but instead she sees her father under the spotlight, introducing a special movie, which is revealed to be called "The History of Momo Yaoyorozu", highlighting all of Momo's moments from birth to now. As the video starts playing on the big screen, Momo becomes incredibly embarrassed and confronts her family why they got it made, with her father mentioning why put it together hastily when they learned she was coming home for New Year's, and how they wanted the guests to learn more about how wonderful they feel she is.

They proceed to talk about how surprisingly small her dormitory room is, and how she has to share a communal bath, leading them to suggest the possibility of building a spa in U.A. for private relaxation times, which escalate into them discussing building shopping malls and amusement facilities. Momo interrupts them, saying that while she is happy they are trying to accommodate for her, what matters most is being able to live with her other classmates. She talks about everything she’s learned by being with and talking with them on a daily basis, like how she's started listening to metal music with Kyoka, and that she respectively has started looking into classic music thanks to her. She tells them how important communication is and not only how much experience she’s gained, but also how happy it makes her.

Her parents understand and apologize, saying how just hearing her coming home for the break made them go a bit overboard. Their butler, Uchimura, mentions how much her parents have missed her since moving, including how they both would huddle around the first matryoshka dolls she ever made to remind them of her and cry. They feel embarrassed, but Momo, watching the screen, thinks about how much they truly love her and know it’s natural why they would be worried. Remembering her winter break assignment, she decides to choose 実力 ("jitsuryoku") as "competence", thinking about how she wants to grow competent enough for others to feel comfortable relying on her, so they don't need to worry. She mentions to her parents since they were talking for most of the time that she’d like to watch the movie with them again later, which they happily agree to. Momo then looks at the screen again as she sees herself as a child and her parents in awe as she creates her first matryoshka doll with a bright smile on her face.

Part 5: Hot Pot Party to Get Fired Up!
After finishing up their week of work studies, Classes 1-A and 1-B get together to enjoy a hot pot with everyone and share their experiences. The 1-B girls show up first, assisting 1-A in setting up the common room best; Yui uses her Quirk to help move things around. Denki and Minoru fantasize over all the girls being around them, with Kyoka snapping them out of it. Neito appears soon after, heading directly to analyze the classes selection of hot pots, including soy milk, kimchi, mixed, and creamy sesame. He considers them as being “too samey”, which Rikido calls offense too, just as the rest of the 1-B boys show up with their own set of hot pot, which Neito claims to be far superior. Tenya comments that they didn’t need to since 1-A had made more than enough for everyone, but Neito uses this as an opportunity to incite another competition to judge who’s hot pots are the best. He tries to taunt Katsuki into accepting, but he calmly rebuffs his comments, enjoying his kimchi hot pot. Neito then chooses to insult the kimchi instead, which Katsuki takes offense to since he helped make it. Rikido defends Katsuki saying how he added his own set of spicy seasonings and ingredients to make a unique flavor and that he should try it out; Eijiro stands up moved at Katsuki’s actions and happily accepts the challenge, which soon the rest of 1-A and 1-B do too.

1-B starts with trying 1-A’s hot pots, which they all respond incredibly warmly too, to Rikido and Katsuki’s satisfaction especially. Neito then brings in 1-B’s hot pots, including one that is a sukiyaki hot pot full of high grade meat, which Ochaco becomes immediately attracted to. 1-A tries it out, with Izuku heading into one of his deep analyses about how the ingredients all mesh together so well; Katsuki gets annoyed at this and throws a water bottle at his head to shut him up. They next bring out a hot pot including fish and vegetables, which the class find to taste phenomenal. Momo recognizes the fish as rockfish, a delicious but expensive ingredient, and that their rich classmate, Jurota Shishida, had it sent from his hometown and got it as a year-end gift; Ochaco winces at the thought of their family’s idea of “year end gifts.” After tasting them all, they have to decide the best, with Neito instructing everyone to stand in front of which one they liked the most. Majority of students stand in front of either the sukiyaki or rockfish hot pots; Eijiro stands in front of the kimchi hot pot, but is shocked to see Katsuki chose the rockfish which he liked the most, especially adding his ichimi seasoning. Neito laughs triumphantly that 1-B was decided the winner, with the rest of the class turning to 1-A and apologizing for his behavior, as he then declares 1-A must take part in a loser’s dare, which Katsuki is annoyed at since they never agreed to it; the rest of the class reluctantly give in and agree.

He states the penalty is to endure the “hot pot of darkness”, which Izuku explains you have to eat the hot pot in the dark, meaning you have no idea what was put in each. The students each take their turns trying the hot pots, which include random ingredients like cucumbers, candy, meat, something stick, and spinach; Eijiro gets excited about the spinach because it was something Tetsutetsu added. Fumikage bites into an apple, which he is happy about since it’s his favorite food (and reminds him of when he and Eri both ate some at Christmas). Shoto bites into something hard, to Izuku and Tenya’s concern, which turns out to be the shell of escargot. Itsuka is mad at Neito for putting something inedible, but he refutes it saying it’s “edible on the inside.” After they finish, 1-B tries the remaining concoction left over, which they all gag at the terrible taste and smell of it all; Neito says he added tofu, ice cream, chocolate, cake, meatloaf, chips, strawberry milk, bananas, pineapples, and anything else that wouldn’t fit together. Just then several of the other students, including Denki and Mina, return from their bathroom break, where they find the hot pot has been finished. Neito still tries to taunt them for running from their punishment, but Itsuka grabs ahold of him. He declares they should have a rematch, which piques the boys’ interest; Katsuki proposes a sauna challenge where they have to withstand the heat the longest. The boys all agree and head into the bathroom to take part in it, while the girls all stay back to have a chill time with tea and snacks.

Sticking with the girls, Momo prepares her special picked tea for everyone, as they all discuss amongst each other about everyday things. Itsuka mentions she enjoys going to the sauna and drinking ice coffee, with Setsuna making fun of her for it. Mina also mentions she enjoys them, but Kyoka says she doesn’t like them. She asks Momo if she likes saunas, with her mentioning about the one she has in her home that her father ordered from Finland; 1-B react in awe hearing about Momo’s extravagant lifestyle, which she gets a little self conscious about. She mentions that it can fit about 50 people, causing everyone to react again at just how big it is. She invites everyone to come and use her sauna sometime, which they all get really excited about; she shyly turns to Kyoka to ask if she’d still want to join, which she blushes and responds she’d still like to go to her house even if she doesn’t use the sauna, causing Momo to smile brightly.

Meanwhile, the boys are preparing for their sauna challenge, using the 1-A shower room as a makeshift sauna, with the heat provided by Shoto’s flames. Neito taunts Katsuki, saying that due to the nature of his Quirk and how he uses sweat that he’s used to the heat and that he chose an activity in which he has an advantage, which Katsuki scoffs at, though Neito then adds they also have Tetsutetsu who can also withstand the heat (same with Eijiro). Yuga and Minoru very quickly forfeit themselves leaving to go to the cooler bath tub, to Katsuki’s annoyance. They tell Denki to join them, but he remains vigilant. 1-B’s Kojiro and Nirengeki reach their limits and forfeit themselves, with Neito getting worried and asking if they’re okay. Tenya arrives with a cooler of drinks to help everyone rehydrate, to their pleasure. Eventually he and several other people drop out, to Katsuki’s frustration as he tells Shoto to make it hotter. Despite looking like he’s in pain, Neito gets Manga to use his Quirk to make it even hotter, using the word “meramera” to “burst into flames”. Katsuki then gets Mezo to take all the 1-A boy’s towels to whirl them all together to create even hotter air. While Eijiro and Tetsutetsu continue their war of attrition, Izuku finally gives in and starts to retreat to the bath tub. Katsuki yells at him to show his guts, throwing the shower bowl to the floor, causing it to bounce and accidentally hit Izuku in the balls. He faints as Tenya quickly runs up to take care of him, Shoto creates a ball of ice which Tenya uses to help cool down and applies to his pelvic region. The rest of the boys look on and empathize with the pain he’s feeling. A bit later, Hanta is ready to leave and tries to get Denki to join him, but he stands firm to try and beat Neito, even though the allure of the cold bath starts to attract him. Shoto then starts to add ice cooling down the heat, leading to more enraged comments from Katsuki and more taunts from Neito. He starts to add ice into the other bath, but then finds himself unable to stop it from coming out. Katsuki gets up to growl but suddenly finds himself passing out, Eijiro goes to see what’s wrong only to pass out himself. Denki rushes over to them, only to soon notice every single one of the other boys starting to drop out like flies, with Neito and Sen the last to finally give in, as Denki looks on confused at everyone around him frozen due to the sudden cold. Eventually, Tenya and Mashiaro manage to rescue everyone, and Neito has to copy the unconscious Shoto’s Quirk in order to reverse the effects and fix the temperature levels. In the end, the distressed boys once again lament over getting themselves into another situation like this.