Chapter 121: Second Semester Opening Ceremony

All Might apologizes for having burdened Katsuki with the secret, then decides to give him the whole account: a Quirk handed down through generations to oppose evil, the way he became the Symbol of Peace with it, the wound that capped how long he could hold the form, and his reasoning in naming Izuku. Katsuki's first response is to scold Izuku for letting the secret slip at all. All Might insists that spending everything against All For One was his own decision and that Katsuki owes no penance for it. Having heard it all, Katsuki resolves to climb higher than Izuku, and Izuku takes the challenge and promises the same in return. Watching the two of them squabble over who will outgrow whom, All Might is glad to see them finally become genuine rivals. The circle of people who know now numbers three.

Shota Aizawa patches up their injuries and then binds them both in his Capturing Weapon for brawling. As it turns out, the reason he never broke the fight up was All Might, who had promised to handle the boys himself and hand them over once it ended. Even after hearing that Katsuki's guilt over the retirement drove the fight, Shota refuses to let it slide and wants to know who swung first before sentencing. Katsuki admits he did, with Izuku hitting back. Both are confined to the dorms, Izuku for three days and Katsuki for four, tasked with scrubbing the common areas around the clock and producing written apologies. Untreated injuries go to the infirmary, and Shota forbids any thought of leaning on Chiyo Shuzenji. Then he sends them to bed.

By morning the class knows. As the two clean, Ochaco hopes they have patched things up, and Izuku says their reconciliation resists explanation. Tenya is relieved the punishment stopped at confinement and notes the rest of 1-A will attend the ceremony without them. Shoto asks Katsuki about the supplementary license lessons and gets told to mind his own business. Between chores, Katsuki critiques Shoot Style: the wind-up is oversized, useless in a close exchange, and the form does not blend with punches. Izuku is grateful for the note.

Outside, Tenya keeps Class 1-A in formation. Neito Monoma needles them over their two failures, and when Eijiro asks whether 1-B lost anyone, Neito laughs and reveals a clean sweep. Shoto apologizes for the shortfall and Eijiro tells him to let it go. Pony Tsunotori relays word from Sekijiro Kan that the two classes will share a lesson in the second semester. Denki remarks on her being foreign, and her reply comes out badly thanks to Neito's coaching, drawing a rebuke from Itsuka Kendo. A voice tells both classes to stop blocking the way; Tenya apologizes, and the speaker turns out to be Hitoshi Shinso. As he walks past, Hanta Sero notes the change in him.

The school assembles at Ground Beta. Nezu introduces himself, remarks that his diet and routine have fallen out of rhythm, and traces the cause to the incident over summer break. He discusses All Might's retirement and the damage it will do to society, with the Department of Heroics likely to feel it hardest. He instructs the upper years on internships to carry an awareness of the crisis into their work. He apologizes for souring the mood, says the heroes are doing everything they can, and states his wish to raise students capable of taking that burden on. Heroics, Support, General Education, staff included, all of them, he closes, are the successors of hero society. As Nezu steps down, All Might turns the word over. He recalls Nezu suggesting he hunt for an heir among the student body, and creating the teaching post that made the search possible, and he scans the assembled crowd while remembering the claim that the right person was certainly standing among them.

All Might explains One For All to Katsuki in full, including his injury and his reasons for choosing Izuku, and Katsuki agrees to keep it secret.

Shota Aizawa confines Izuku and Katsuki to the dorms as punishment for the fight, three days for Izuku and four for Katsuki.

Class 1-B turns out to have come through the Provisional Hero License Exam without a single failure, and Hitoshi Shinso reappears noticeably changed.

Seventeen pages long, this chapter of Kohei Horikoshi's series was published on January 9, 2017 in the sixth issue of that year and collected in volume fourteen. It closes out the Provisional Hero License Exam arc's rematch thread.

Katsuki Bakugo, Izuku Midoriya, and All Might appear on the cover. Mirio Togata debuts. The anime split the material across episodes 61 and 62, the first nine pages in the former and the rest in the latter.

Ground Beta and Heights Alliance both feature, along with the Quirks Invisibility and High Spec and the Capturing Weapon. Horikoshi's comment wishes readers a happy new year and promises to keep drawing at full strength.