The days leading up the release of the commercial were a time of reflection for Midoriya, he's spent his entire life being timid but his meeting with Ms chiyo has begun a domino effect in him ever since the first shoot his confidence had be gradually rising. He sat in his room eyes glued to his tv, it the day. The commercial simply titled "Tension," was a cultural detonation. It didn't just trend, it dominated. The stark, hypnotic visuals, the raw chemistry, the sheer audacity of its intimacy—it was all anyone could talk about.
In the Class 3-A common room, the reaction was a perfect storm of chaos. Mineta had, for once, been rendered completely speechless, his jaw unhinged as he stared at the screen, a single tear of pure, unadulterated awe rolling down his cheek. Kaminari short-circuited, a small puff of smoke rising from his hair.
"WHO IS THAT?!" he yelled, pointing. "THAT CAN'T BE MIDORIYA! HE'S TOO... TOO COOL!"
Iida was a whirlwind of conflicted chopping motions. "The artistic merit is undeniable! The framing, the lighting, the choreography! But the public display of such... such ardent physicality! The school board's regulations on student conduct, section 4, paragraph"
"He's using his physical control to tell a story, kero," Tsuyu interjected, her finger to her lips. "It's not so different from a combat analysis. Just... with more kissing."
Uraraka was silent. She watched the screen, her face a canvas of complex emotions. She saw the way Izuku's hands held Kaya's waist not hesitantly, but with a firm, grounding certainty. She saw the unbroken intensity in his eyes, the way he met the woman's advance not with flustered panic, but with a deep, smoldering focus. A strange, hot-cold feeling twisted in her stomach. It was a pure jealousy, yes but also a dawning, breathtaking realization. The boy who used to trip over his own feet was gone. This was a man who knew how to hold a woman's gaze while she straddled him. The thought made her face burn, but she couldn't look away.
Then, Bakugo exploded. Literally. A small blast scorched the ceiling. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" he roared, his voice cracking with a fury that bordered on existential crisis. "DEKU! YOU NERD! SINCE WHEN DO YOU DO... THAT?!" This wasn't the rival he knew. The Deku he knew blushed and stammered. This... this smoldering statue on the screen was an imposter, a glitch in his reality.
The teachers were similarly floored. All Might, watching from the staff room, had to sit down. He coughed into a handkerchief, his mind reeling. "Young Midoriya... the... the passion" All Might was at a loss of word.He didn't know whether to be horrified or, in a deeply buried, secret part of himself, impressed.(Dad-might?)
Present Mic was cackling, rewinding the kiss over and over. "YEAHHHH! LISTENER! BREAKING HEARTS AND EXPECTATIONS!"
Aizawa just sighed, sinking deeper into his capture weapon. "The school's endowment fund just doubled. I'm choosing to focus on that."
But the true testament to the ad's impact was in the hallways of U.A. The day after its release, Izuku walked to class and the usual whispers were different. They weren't just shocked or scandalized. They were charged. Students, especially girls from other classes and years, didn't just stare; they looked, their gazes lingering, appreciative, and bold. A third-year from the Support Course actually winked at him, and he, to his own astonishment, didn't dissolve into a stuttering mess. He simply offered a small, polite nod and kept walking, a calm, unreadable expression on his face.
He was different. The experience had sanded down the last of his boyhood awkwardness, replacing it with a quiet, unshakeable poise. The confidence he'd found on that set wasn't an act; it had seeped into his bones. He had faced one of the most intensely intimate scenarios imaginable, performed it under pressure, and excelled. Compared to that, hallway gossip was nothing.
He caught up to Uraraka, who was walking with Iida and Tsuyu.
"Good morning," he said, his voice calm and even.
Uraraka jumped slightly, her cheeks dusted pink. "O-oh! Good morning, Deku!"
Iida launched into a rant about punctuality, but Izuku's attention was on Uraraka. He gave her a small, genuine smile, one that reached his eyes. "Did you finish the Hero Law essay?"
She blinked, seemingly thrown by his directness and composure. "Y-yeah! Just last night."
"Great. I'd love to compare notes before class," he said, his tone easy and confident.
He then continued walking, leaving a flustered but strangely thrilled Uraraka in his wake. Tsuyu croaked, "He's not the same, kero."
Izuku heard it, and the small, confident smirk from the "Vestige" shoot made a fleeting return. No, he wasn't. The videos had been released to the world, but the transformation they documented was entirely his own. He was Izuku Midoriya: hero student, model, and a young man finally stepping fully into his own power.