All It Takes Is One Good Friend

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/52011439.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Categories: F/M, M/M, Multi, Gen
Fandom: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
(Anime & Manga)
Relationships: Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako, Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto, Bakugou
Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku & Everyone, Midoriya Izuku/Toga
Himiko, Midoriya Izuku/Yaoyorozu Momo, Kirishima Eijirou/Midoriya Izuku,
Kaminari Denki/Midoriya Izuku, Kodai Yui/Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya
Izuku/Utsushimi Camie
Characters: Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki, Aldera Middle School Faculty (My Hero
Academia), Uraraka Ochako, Iida Tenya, Asui Tsuyu, Ashido Mina, Hatsume
Mei, Past One For All Users (My Hero Academia), Nedzu (My Hero Academia),
Eri (My Hero Academia), Chisaki Kai | Overhaul, Toga Himiko, Fireworks
Truck-kun, Sensei | All For One, Kamakiri Togaru, Sasaki Mirai | Sir Nighteye,
Yaoyorozu Momo, Komori Kinoko, Kirishima Eijirou, Mongoose Habuko, Tobita
Danjuurou | Gentle Criminal, Aiba Manami | La Brava, Akaguro Chizome | Stain,
Cathleen Bate | Star and Stripe, Midoriya Inko, Bubaigawara Jin | Twice, Kouda
Kouji, Tokage Setsuna, Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Kaminari Denki,
Tsunotori Pony, Kodai Yui, Usagiyama Rumi | Miruko, Shinsou Hitoshi, Torino
Sorahiko | Gran Torino, Melissa Shield, Sero Hanta, Noumu (My Hero
Academia), Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Bakugou Mitsuki, Bakugou Masaru,
Utsushimi Camie, Intelli Saiko, Oguro Iwao | Knuckleduster, Flect Turn (My
Hero Academia), Tsutsumi Kaina | Lady Nagant, Snipe (My Hero Academia),
Satou Rikidou, Izumi Kouta, Furasu Maina, Hadou Nejire, Amajiki Tamaki,
Toogata Mirio, Nine (My Hero Academia), Kayama Nemuri | Midnight, There
Are Other Characters and Relationships but I Ran Out of Tags
Additional Tags: Aldera Middle School Faces Consequences (My Hero Academia), Bakugou
Katsuki Faces Consequences, Midoriya Izuku Needs A Hug, Midoriya Izuku
Gets A Hug, Quirkless Midoriya Izuku, Angst, sometimes crack sometimes not
Language: English
Series: Part 1 of One Good Friend Collection
Stats: Published: 2023-12-03 Updated: 2024-07-09 Words: 205,290 Chapters: 64/?
 All It Takes Is One Good Friend
by Flapjack09

Summary

A series of one-shots in which various characters transfer to Aldera Middle School, quickly befriend
Izuku Midoriya, and help take down his bullies and tormentors.
 Ochako the Best Friend
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Unlike most people, Ochako Uraraka didn’t mind having to move to another prefecture. Her parents’
construction company already didn’t get much work. So if they had to move in order to make ends
meet, then so be it. It’s not like she was particularly attached to the tiny apartment she and her parents
shared. Plus, she didn’t really have any close friends at her old school. Not that it mattered, since that
place got destroyed right after she left when someone drove a fireworks truck into it.

Even so, Ochako couldn’t help but be slightly nervous when introducing herself on the first day at her
new school. Though she secretly knew she’d be fine. The nervousness just came with the territory.

“We have a new student joining us today,” The teacher, Mr. Kobayashi, announced. “Please come up
to introduce yourself.”

Ochako walked up to the front of the class and wrote her name down on the chalkboard, “I’m Ochako
Uraraka. It’s great to meet you all. Please be kind to me.” She said with a small bow.

“Alright, good.” Mr. Koboyashi said, “You can take the empty seat right next to Midoriya, and we’ll
get started.” He pointed to a nervous-looking boy with green hair and freckles. As Ochako sat down,
she sent the boy a friendly smile, earning a nervous squeak in response as he buried his face in a
notebook.

Ochako’s smile fell. Did she scare him? No, he was probably just shy. Maybe he wasn’t too
comfortable around new people. Part of Ochako wanted to leave him be, but the other part thought it
wouldn’t hurt to at least try and get to know him. After all, you miss one hundred percent of the shots
you don’t take.

———————————————

Once the bell rang for lunch and everyone got out of their seats, Ochako turned to Midoriya to attempt
a proper greeting, “Hi. It’s nice to meet you. Midoriya, was it?”

The boy’s face turned red as he stuttered out a response, “Oh, um, yeah. I’m Izuku Midoriya. Nice to
meet you, too.”

“Boy, this whole new school thing sure is nerve-wracking,” Ochako said in an attempt to make
conversation. “But this place seems alright.”

“Oh, um…” Izuku struggled with a response for a moment. “The people here are really… um… I’m
sure they’ll like you.” Ochako did not like the hesitancy in his voice. Was there something about this
place she didn’t know?

Ochako would get her answer as a girl with wild dark brown hair walked up to her and Izuku, “Hey.
Uraraka, right? Hi, I’m Daikikou. Me and the girls were wondering if you wanted to grab lunch with
someone other than Deku.”

Ochako tilted her head in confusion, “Deku?”

“She - she means me,” Izuku mumbled just loud enough for her to hear.
“Deku? What does that mean?” Ochako asked aloud.

“It means useless,” Daikikou answered like it was common knowledge. “Now come on, we’re waiting
for you.” She gestured to a few other girls who were waiting by the door.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Ochako waved her hands to get their attention, “You guys call him ‘useless’ as a
nickname?”

“Oh, right, guess I’ll have to fill you in.” Daikikou said, “Deku’s a total troublemaker, always
showing up for class and picking fights. “She turned to a spiky-haired blonde boy walking out of the
classroom, “Isn’t that right, Bakugo?”

“Damn nerd doesn’t know his place,” Katsuki grunted as he sent a glare towards Izuku. Ochako didn’t
miss how the green-haired boy shuddered in his seat and curled in on himself to look as small as
possible.

“Anyways, you’d be best to stay away from Deku when you can,” Daikikou said as if the boy in
question wasn’t sitting three feet away from her. “So come on. We’ll show you the way to the
cafeteria.”

Right now, Ochako spotted more red flags than a game of Minesweeper. From what little she’d seen
of Izuku, he seemed like the last to go around picking fights. She immediately went to decline the
girl’s offer, “Thanks, but I’m not much of a lunch person. Maybe some other time.”

“Your loss,” Daikikou shrugged as she and her friends left the classroom, leaving only Izuku and
Ochako.

“You - you didn’t have to do that,” Izuku said as he pulled a bento box out of his backpack.

“I wanted to,” Ochako smiled at Izuku. “They were giving off rancid vibes. Plus, you don’t seem like
the type of person to cause trouble like that.”

“Maybe not, but I attract trouble. And bullies,” Izuku muttered that last part. “People don’t really like
me too much. And you seem like a nice person. So I wouldn’t want you to isolate yourself just for me.
I’m not worth it.”

“Well, that’s not a very nice thing to say about yourself.” Ochako tried to place a hand on Izuku’s
shoulder, but he immediately flinched at the touch. “Could you at least tell me why people don’t like
you?”

Izuku averted his gaze from Ochako like he didn’t want to see her reaction to whatever he was about
to say, “I - I want to be a hero…”

“Really? Me too!” Ochako answered excitedly, “I know it’s only the second year of middle school,
but I’ve already started training my Quirk really hard for the UA entrance exam.”

Izuku perked up at that, “Really? I wanna go to UA, too. I mean, just about everyone does. It’s the top
hero school in the country. But what’s your Quirk? Does it have something to do with those finger
pads? Is it cat-related? Maybe a transformation or minor mutation?”

Ochako beamed at the interest Izuku showed towards her Quirk, even if he was off about its function,
“Nope, it’s Zero Gravity. Anything I touch with all five fingers loses its gravity.” She demonstrated
her Quirk by touching her bag with all five fingers and letting it float upward, “Right now, my weight
limit is two tons, but I’m hoping to get it up to three by the entrance exams.”
Izuku stared wide-eyed at the floating backpack, “That’s so cool! I mean, the rescue and combat
capabilities are nearly limitless!”

“Aw, thanks,” Ochako blushed a little at the praise. “But it does have the drawback of me throwing up
when I use it too much. But I don’t eat too much, so I don’t-” Ochako slapped her hand over her
mouth to cut herself off.

“What - what was that last part?” Izuku asked with a concerned look on his face, “Are you not eating
enough, Uraraka?”

“Oh, forget I said that. That was nothing,” Ochako said with an awkward smile. She could tell Izuku
wasn’t buying it.

“You said you weren’t much of a lunch person, but you did bring a lunch, right?”

“Of course I did! Ochako pulled out her bento and opened it in front of Izuku. “See?”

Izuku stared down at the bento. He didn’t look entirely satisfied, “That’s… a lot of rice. There’s no
way that’s enough to power you until dinner.”

Ochako’s smile faltered as she slumped in her seat, “Okay, you got me. My family’s… not the most
well-off. My parents run a construction company, but they’ve been struggling to find work. We’ve
had to cut back on meals as of late.”

Izuku gave Ochako a look of concern, but not pity, “Well, if you want, I could ask my mom to make a
bit more lunch each day, and maybe I could share it with you.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that.”

“Please? It’s just me and my mom at home. We always have extra food lying around anyway.”

Ochako stared into Izuku’s pleading eyes. He held the same energy of a small, innocent child you just
couldn’t say no to. She let out a long sigh, “Okay, I guess. If - if you insist.”

Izuku gave a soft smile, “Thank you.”

“I should probably be the one thanking you. I mean, you're the one giving me food.” The pair had a
good chuckle at that.

“Well, you need all the energy you can get if you’re going to be a hero.”

“That reminds me, you never told me about your Quirk.”

Izuku’s cheerful mood immediately dampened. He sat silently in contemplation for a moment before
taking a deep breath and responding, “That’s… the other part of why people don’t like me. It’s
because - it’s because I’m actually… Quirkless.”

“Oh.” Suddenly, a million puzzle pieces clicked together inside Ochako’s brain, “So… they’ve been
treating you badly because…”

Izuku lowered his head and gave a solemn nod. Ochako felt a surge of anger bubble up inside her,
“That’s - that’s bullshit! So what if you want to be a hero without a Quirk? Why should they care?”
“It - it’s mostly Kacchan who has a problem with that. The blonde boy with red eyes from earlier. The
teachers like him because he has a powerful explosion Quirk, so they let him get away with… a lot.”

“How much is a lot?” Ochako asked. In place of a response, Izuku reached into his bag and pulled out
a tube of burn cream. Ochako felt her blood run cold at the implications, “Oh - oh my god.”

“Sorry to bring down the mood,” Izuku muttered.

“No, don’t apologize, Midoriya,” Ochako demanded sternly. “I’ve only spoken to you for a few
minutes, and you’re already one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I don’t deserve this. You don’t
deserve a bad reputation that apparently necessitates bullying just for wanting to live your dream!”

“You - you mean it?” Izuku asked in disbelief.”

“Of course I do! And if the rest of the school’s like Bakugo or Daikikou, then you’d be a way better
hero than any of them anyways.”

Suddenly, Izuku began hiccuping as huge tears rolled down his face. Ochako began to panic, “Oh. I’m
so sorry. Was it something I said?”

“No.” Izuku choked out in between breaths, “It’s just… you’re the first person to believe in me like
that. I just… thank you.”

That very fact made Ochako angrier. She didn’t realize the bar was set that low. She didn’t know what
she wanted to say to Izuku, but she knew what she wanted to do. “Midoriya, can I hug you?”

When Izuku gave a teary-eyed nod, Ochako spread her arms out, and Izuku fell into her embrace.
They just sat there for a while, Izuku quietly sobbing while Ochako slowly rubbed circles around his
back. But through all the emotions, they both knew deep down that they had just made a friend for
life.

———————————————

As the months went by, Izuku and Ochako quickly grew closer together. It wasn’t long at all before
they both considered the other to be their best friend.

With Ochako’s encouragement, Izuku finally began exercising to train his body for UA. He found it
was much easier to find the motivation when he knew someone believed in him.

Ochako had found herself feeling fuller as well. Both emotionally and physically, as Izuku’s mom
very graciously volunteered to make an extra bento for her each day after she had her over for dinner.

All in all, Izuku and Ochako could both say they’ve been doing much better than they had in a long
time. That is, except for one thing…

———————————————

Katsuki held Izuku by the collar in one hand while he held the boy’s notebook in the other, “How
many times do I have to beat it into your skull to get you to stop with the stupid stalker notebooks?!”
Katsuki yelled as he slammed Izuku into the wall, earning a grunt of pain from the boy.

“Please, Katsuki,” Izuku squealed. “I was just writing down some techniques for Ochako’s Quirk.”
“Do I look like I care?!” Katsuki slammed him into the wall yet again. “Listen here, Deku. Just
because you have one person on your side doesn’t make you any less of a worthless fuck.” He
punctuated his statement by setting off an explosion in his other hand, burning Izuku’s notebook to a
crisp.

“Hey, leave him alone!” Ochako yelled as she ran into the classroom.”

“Stay out of this, Round Cheeks!” Katsuki yelled.

“You know I never do,” Ochako readied herself into a fighting stance.

“Tch,” Katsuki snorted. He dropped Izuku on the ground and threw his charred notebook at him.
“Don’t forget the talk we had, Deku.” He said as he stormed out of the classroom.

“Sorry for leaving you there,” Ochako apologized as she helped Izuku up.

“No need to be sorry for having to use the bathroom,” Izuku responded. “If anything, I should be
sorry for you having to fight all my battles for me.”

“Hey, none of that. We’ve had this talk before. We both know you’d do the same for me.”

“I know. It’s just, I can’t believe I used to consider someone like him a friend.”

“Well that was before you knew what a real friend looked like.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere,” Izuku grinned cheekily.

“It got me to you. I think that’s far enough.” Ochako chuckled before getting back on topic, “But
you’re right. I just wish someone would do something about him. But we can never rely on the stupid
biased teachers for anything!”

“And it’s not like we have the authority to go to the school board,” Izuku said. “I mean, sure, all the
evidence is there on camera. But who would listen to us?

Ochako paused in realization, “Wait, say that again.”

“Who would listen to us?”

“No, the other part.”

“All the evidence is on camera?”

“Yes, that! What if we got that evidence and gave it to UA? There’s no way they’d let Bakugo in after
all the stuff he’s done.”

“Ochako, that’s crazy. It’s not like the school would just give it to us. We’d have to break into the
security room after school hours.”

“Well… well why don’t we?”

“Because it’s illegal. And I don’t think UA would let us in if they found out how we got it.”

“Well, what if we didn’t show UA? What if we just used the footage to get Bakugo and his cronies off
our backs?”
“We’d still be breaking and entering! That doesn’t sound very heroic!”

“So? Heroes break into villain bases all the time.”

“Aldera Middle School is not a vill - Oh, who am I kidding? It pretty much is.”

“You got that right. The things they knowingly let Bakugo do to you are pretty much illegal.”

“Alright, you’ve convinced me. I’ll have a plan formulated by tonight.”

“You’ve always got a plan, Izuku. That’s what I love about you most.”

The two teenagers immediately reddened at Ochako’s slip-of-the-tongue statement. “Did - did you
just…” Izuku nervously murmured.

“We‘ll unpack those feelings later.” Ochako quickly said.

Izuku nodded, “Yeah, sure, right.”

———————————————

That night, Izuku and Ochako, both dressed entirely in black, stood outside the gates of Aldera
Middle School.

“The security room is on the fourth floor,” Izuku explained. “I’m sure you can guess how we get up
there.”

“Right,” Ochako nodded. She tapped both Izuku and herself on the shoulder with five fingers. With
their gravity removed, they silently leaped over the gates and floated through the air.

It wasn’t very long before the duo reached the school’s roof, and Ochako lowered them down before
pressing all her fingers together and whispering, “Release.”

Thankfully, there were no guards on the roof, and the exit door could be unlocked from the outside to
prevent people from getting stuck up there. So the pair made their way to the fourth floor and peered
around the corner. There, they saw the door to the surveillance room and a guard right next to it.”

“What do we do?” Ochako asked.

“Don’t worry, I planned for this,” Izuku pulled out a marble from his pocket and threw it across the
hallway. It landed by the stairwell and made several small slinking noises when it made contact with
the ground. Sounds which the guard noticed and left his post to go investigate.

With the guard distracted, Izuku and Ochako went to the surveillance room, but they soon found that
the door was locked. “Dang it, should have seen this coming,” Ochako grunted. “Do you have the key,
Izuku?”

“Don’t need it,” Izuku responded. “This school is so old and decrepit that most doors will open if you
pull on them hard enough.” To demonstrate, he grabbed the doorknob with both hands and yanked as
hard as he could. It wasn’t too long before the door swung open.

“Cool, how’d you figure that out?”

Izuku winced as they entered the room and closed the door behind them, “I tried to hide from Katsuki
a lot. I wasn’t always successful.”

Ochako clenched her fist and gritted her teeth, “That bastard.”

“But that’s why we’re here,” Izuku sat himself down in front of the monitor and began combing
through the footage. It didn’t take much effort to find multiple instances of Katsuki assaulting,
threatening, and yelling at Izuku, sometimes with the teachers in plain view.

“Alright, I’ve got about five flash drives worth of footage,” Izuku said after about an hour. “Once I
get home, I’ll copy the information to a few more flash drives.”

“How many flash drives do you have?” Ochako asked.

“Mom works an office job, so practically infinite. Now let’s get out of here. I’ve gotta import some
footage to my laptop. Both Izuku and Ochako couldn’t help the satisfied grins on their faces.

———————————————

The next day, not long after school let out, Katsuki cornered Izuku in an empty hallway. Sparks
popped in his hand threateningly as he loomed over the green-haired boy, who was practically
cowering in fear.

“I heard from Freaky Fingers that someone was trying to train for UA yesterday,” Katsuki said
threateningly.

“P - please, Katsuki,” Izuku whimpered. “I was just exercising, I swear!”

“Bull. Shit.” Katsuki said in a calm fury as he placed a hand on Izuku’s shoulder and let out a small
explosion, “Looks like someone needs to be put in their place.”

“Yeah, you!” Katsuki whipped his head around to see Ochako holding a laptop that was playing a
video.

“What the hell is that?!”

“All the footage of you for the past two years. If this gets out, I don’t think any hero school in the
world would take you.”

Katsuki’s face paled for a brief moment before quickly turning back to rage, “Like hell you’re gonna
blackmail me! I can just tell a teacher!”

“Oh, you mean the teachers who sat idly by and practically encouraged your actions? If anything,
they’ll end up in prison for all they did.”

“Fine,” Katsuki spat. “What the hell do you want? Do you want money? I know you’re fuckin’ poor.”
He pulled out his wallet and handed Ochako a stack of ten thousand yen bills.

Ochako gawked at the money. She knew Katsuki was rich, but he had this much money in his pocket?
She shifted her gaze to Izuku, who nodded incredulously. “Alright,” She said, “This should be
enough.” She quickly deleted the footage from the laptop.

“Ha!” Katsuki laughed, “I knew you’d sell yourself out for money!” He turned to Izuku, “See, Deku?
Not even your so-called friend thinks you’re worth more than a few months of allowance!”
 “Too bad she didn’t tell you about the dozens of backups we keep at home,” Izuku replied.

Katsuki’s face contorted in shock as he slowly turned to Izuku, “What?”

“Yup!” Ochako gave a sickeningly sweet smile, “And if you and your cronies don’t play nice, you’d
be lucky to even step foot in any hero agency for the rest of your miserable life.”

“And you have to pay me back for all the All Might figures you blew up,” Izuku chimed in.

“And the notebooks, too.”

“And school uniforms aren’t cheap, either.”

Katsuki pulled his hair and shouted out, “GRAAAAAAAH! GOD DAMMIT!” Before he stormed
off.

“Do you think he got the message?” Izuku asked rhetorically.

“If he did, we finally get some peace around here,” Ochako answered. “If he didn’t, there’s no way
we’ll be seeing him at UA. Either way, he’ll be getting his just desserts soon enough.”

“Speaking of desserts, Katsuki gave you quite a bit of money. Wanna go grab some mochi?”

“You read my mind.”

As Izuku and Ochako walked off, they found their hands inexplicably intertwined with one another’s.
Part of them wanted to blush nervously and pull their hands away, but the other part decided they
didn’t mind the closeness.

Either way, they were both glad things were finally looking up.

Chapter End Notes

Gonna be honest, this is probably the least crack-y chapter of the bunch. Not that the other
chapters are gonna be the crackiest thing ever, but breaking and entering is only one of many
ways to take down Aldera.

Not sure how many of these I'll do. You can tell how many of these I have planned out by
looking at the tags, as well as which characters I plan to use. But I'm always open to suggestions,
so long as there's an interesting twist.
 Iida the Delinquent
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

To say Tenya Iida was not excited about attending a new school would be an understatement. He was
a creature of habit, and any deviation from that habit would throw off his entire self. Though he
supposed it couldn’t be helped. It’s not like anyone could have predicted that his old school would be
destroyed when someone drove a fireworks truck into it.

His brother, Tensei, compared Tenya’s situation to how heroes often had to work in unfamiliar places,
so he decided to roll with that.

But even so, this new school had Tenya longing to go back to the days of Somei Private Middle
School harder than he ever thought possible. It was all down to a lack of order; students running in the
halls, wearing their uniforms incorrectly, vandalizing the bathroom stalls, he even caught several kids
smoking!

Tenya could feel Aldera slowly chip away at his sanity, but he would not waver! For if he could not
handle a rowdy middle school, then how could he handle the eternal rowdiness of heroics?

Those thoughts went through Tenya’s head as he marched out of school one day, the final bell having
just rang moments prior. He was quickly pulled from those thoughts as he heard what sounded like a
small explosion coming from the side of the building. This could mean two things: either someone’s
performing chemistry experiments outside of school hours, or a villain with an explosion Quirk has
made their way into the premises.

Tenya quickly sprinted around the corner to see a green-haired boy shuddering against the wall as a
blonde-haired boy, flanked by a boy with long fingers and a boy with hair seemingly made of rocks.
Tenya immediately noticed small explosions coming from the blonde boy’s hands, and he
immediately sprung into action.

“Stop right there!” Tenya shouted, “Are you aware that using your Quirk outside of self-defense is a
crime?!”

Everyone paused and turned to look at Tenya. The blonde boy let out a snicker before speaking, “Who
the hell do you think you are, Glasses? You must be new, because you clearly don’t know how things
work around here.”

“Yes, I am Tenya Iida. I just transferred here from Somei Private Middle School. And if you don’t
cease this activity immediately, I’ll be forced to contact a teacher!”

The boy’s smile grew feral, “Oh, that makes sense. Let me introduce myself. I’m Katsuki Bakugo,
and the teachers let me do whatever the fuck I want.” He grabbed the green-haired boy by the mane
and held him in front of Tenya, “This is Deku, a Quirkless piece of trash who’s stupid enough to think
he can be a hero. I’ll make you an offer, Glasses: either use those legs of yours to give Deku an
engine-powered kick to the gut or leave us the fuck alone.”

Iida leaned back and audibly gasped, “How dare you do such a thing! Even worse, you try to coerce
me as well? I won’t allow it!” He stomped over to Katsuki, picked up Deku by the waist (Tenya
seriously doubted that was his real name), hoisted him over his shoulder, and marched off.
As Tenya left, he could hear Katsuki yell, “You can’t hide behind Glasses forever, Deku! You’re
gonna get your shit kicked in twice as hard tomorrow!”

———————————————

“Iida, was it? Where are you taking me?” The green-haired boy asked as Tenya carried him through
the empty halls.

“Why, to the nurse’s office, of course. I can practically feel the burn marks on your skin. Also, I don’t
believe I got your name.”

“Izuku Midoriya. But could you please put me down? I don’t need to go to the nurse’s office. I have
supplies in my bag. I would only waste her time anyway.”

Tenya stopped in his tracks and placed Izuku down on the floor, a concerned look resting on his face.
“While I commend your preparation, I am concerned that such preparations are necessary in the first
place. Is this a frequent occurrence?”

“Unfortunately, yeah,” Izuku sighed as he pulled out bandages from his bag and wrapped them around
his arm.

“Why, that’s deplorable! Surely someone would have said something to the teachers at this point.”

“Maybe they have. I know my mom has. But all the teachers do is give Kacchan a light slap on the
wrist. And then he takes his anger out on me. Heck, most times it seems like they call me out in class
just to focus his attention onto me.”

At those few words, Tenya’s entire worldview shattered in an instant. Throughout his life, Tenya was
told to trust and respect his authority figures. And he was given no reason not to; the teachers at
Somei always looked out for their students. But to learn that Aldera’s teachers not only ignored
bullying, but practically encourage it. It drove him over the edge.

“No…”

Izuku blinked confusedly, “No? No, what?”

“No, no, no. I can’t accept this. I won’t accept this.” Tenya turned and placed both hands on Izuku’s
shoulders. “Midoriya, I will inform the teacher of Bakugo’s plan to beat you mercilessly tomorrow.
And they will intervene. They must!”

“Iida, you don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do! You do not deserve to be beaten mercilessly simply due to an extra toe joint! As the
brother of a pro hero, and aspiring hero myself, I will make sure of it!”

As Tenya marched off to find the nearest teacher, Izuku watched him with tears pricking at his eyes.
Sure, Tenya might have been in denial about the whole situation, but it was touching to see how much
he cared for someone he just met. He was a real hero.

Izuku suddenly perked up at that thought, “Wait. Hero, brother, engines… Ingenium?”

———————————————
After classes the next day, Tenya stood outside the school’s entrance, waiting for Izuku. They were in
different classes, so he didn’t know exactly where to find him. Tenya just hoped Izuku wouldn’t take
any of the other exits.

Sure enough, though, Tenya spotted a mop of green hair facing away from him, “Midoriya!” He
walked over and spun the boy around, only to be met with a face covered in cuts and bruises.

“H - Hi, Iida,” Izuku nervously mumbled, clearly noticing the blank expression on Tenya’s face. The
kind of expression someone gave when their worst fears had just been confirmed. “Are - are you
okay?”

Iida quickly snapped out of his funk and examined Izuku’s face, “Am I okay? What about you? You
look terrible!”

“Oh, it’s not too bad,” Izuku tried to wave off his concern. “I’ve had worse.”

After staring silently for a moment, Tenya took a deep breath as he proceeded to bow at a ninety-
degree angle, “Midoriya, I’d like to apologize.”

Izuku’s eyes widened as he nervously fidgeted, unsure what to do, “What - what are you talking
about? It’s not like you were the one to beat me up.”

“No, but I was a fool in thinking the teaching staff would do something to prevent this matter when
you clearly had more experience with them. I swear, I will do everything in my power to right this
wrong.”

“What are you going to do?”

Tenya stood tall and smiled confidently, “I have no idea.”

———————————————

Several hours later, Tenya sat at the dinner table with his brother. He still had no idea what to do.
Normally, he would just alert his parents and brother, adults he actually trusted, to launch an
investigation into the school. Unfortunately for him, they were all knee-deep in taking down a drug
syndicate. It was a miracle that Tensei had the time to sit down with him for dinner at all. Still, he
thought the least he could do was ask for advice.

“Brother, I am in need of your advice,” Tenya spoke up.

“Hm? What’s up?” Tensei looked up from his meal. “Is it school related? I know you haven’t been
having the easiest time adjusting.”

“You’d be correct. I’ve recently encountered some… less-than-moral practices from the students that
go far beyond running in the halls. I attempted to contact someone of higher authority, but they
proved uncaring and ineffective. And now I am unsure what to do.”

Tensei leaned back in his chair to think for a moment before answering, “I think I understand what
you’re getting at. You’re looking for a hero, but the ones present are ineffective.”

“That is one way to put it.”

“Well, one thing I’ve learned from being a hero, and one thing you’ll learn as you go along, is that
sometimes you can’t afford to be a hundred percent clean when resolving an issue. Sometimes, you
have to take drastic measures.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Okay, you’re gonna think I’m weird for saying this, but sometimes you have to break rules in order
to enforce rules.”

Tenya looked at his brother in shock, like a tarantula was crawling on his face, “Brother! You can’t
seriously be suggesting what I think you are! Why, if we were to use your hero metaphor, you’d
practically be encouraging vigilantism!”

“Well, between you and me,” Tensei leaned closer to his brother. “Most heroes don’t report vigilantes
unless they’re doing more harm than good. They say ‘snitches get stitches’ for a reason.”

“I - I can’t believe this,” Iida said, flabbergasted at the fact his brother wasn’t condemning
vigilantism.

“I’m not saying you should become a vigilante or anything. I’m just saying that if the situation means
so much to you, then maybe you should consider taking matters into your own hands. Whatever you
do, I’ll vouch for ‘ya.” Tensei gave Tenya a wink and a cheeky smile.

“Very well, then.” Tenya said as he got up from his chair and walked to his room, “Thank you for the
advice, brother. I will take it into consideration.”

And take it into consideration he did. After dinner, he spent over half an hour pacing back and forth in
his room, weighing his options.

He didn’t entirely agree with what his brother had said, but he acknowledged he had a point.
Conventional methods had failed him, and if he didn’t do anything, he would be no better than the
bystanders that plagued all of Aldera.

But even so, it was clear that the bullies wouldn’t listen to him. But then again, villains rarely listened
to heroes, either. That’s why they fought in the first place. Tenya wanted to be the hero in this
situation, but he knew the school would never approve of his actions. But if that were the case, maybe
he should lean into it.

Of course! A surefire way to both intimidate the bullies and make a clear stance against his school.

Tenya ran to the nearest bathroom and stared into the mirror. If he was going to become the school’s
enemy, he needed to look the part.

———————————————

The next day, Izuku stood at the school’s entrance, utter bafflement etched upon his face.

“What is up, my bro?” Tenya greeted, trying (and failing) to make his voice sound as tough as
possible. His voice wasn’t the only thing that radiated faux-toughness, however. His hair was messy,
his tie was undone, his shirt was not tucked in, and one of his pant legs was partially torn off.

“Iida, what are you doing?” Izuku finally asked.

“Why, I’m taking a stance against your bullies and the school that encourages them.”

“By becoming a delinquent?”

“Of course!” Tenya exclaimed as he power-walked into the building, “Come now, we must speedwalk
in the halls so we may get to class on time instead of the expected fifteen minutes beforehand!”

As Izuku and Tenya speed-walked down the halls, Tenya pulled out a black Sharpie and began
leaving tiny, barely noticeable dots on the walls, “I am desecrating these school walls with my act of
vandalism!” He shouted.

“I still don’t get what you’re trying to accomplish here,” Izuku admitted.

“You shall soon see,” Tenya said as he entered Izuku’s classroom and sat down at the desk next to
him. An action that Izuku found very confusing.

“Iida, I don’t think this is your classroom.”

“I am more than aware, Midoriya. However, I am a delinquent! I care not for rules and regulations!”

The pair were interrupted by an amused huff from Katsuki, “Oh, so that’s why you’re making a bigger
ass of yourself than usual. Let me guess, you went to the bathroom without washing your hands?”

“That is very correct!” Tenya stated, “However, I believe that will be the least shameful thing I’ll be
forced to do today. For I, Tenya Iida, challenge you, Katsuki Bakugo, to a battle of dominance!”

Katsuki let out a feral grin as he leaped onto his desk and let out small explosions in his hands, “Bring
it, Glasses! I’ve been itchin’ to kick your ass since Monday!”

“Good,” Tenya nodded. “Then, as they say, we shall take this outside. After class, of course.”

“Any day of the week. I’ll fucking destroy you!”

As the teacher walked into the room and classes began, Izuku whispered to Tenya, “What are you
thinking? Kacchan’s gonna kill you out there!”

Tenya, being the bad boy that he was, saw no issue with talking during class, “Do not fear, Midoriya,
for I have a special way of defeating delinquents such as him. Takes one to know one, after all.”

“Okay, but how will that stop you from being blown up?!”

“My brother has taught me to resolve situations as swiftly as possible. And if I play my cards right,
the fight shall end before my opponent has the time to unleash a single attack.”

Izuku’s eyes darted around for a moment before he nodded hesitantly, “Okay. In that case, you should
know that Kacchan always starts his fights with a right hook. Every. Single. Time.”

A confident grin etched onto Tenya’s face, “That's perfect.”

———————————————

Later that day, a small crowd gathered behind the school to watch the brawl between Tenya and
Katsuki. Both stood in fighting positions about ten feet away from each other.

Izuku stood in the front of the crowd to watch Tenya. Part of him wanted to cheer for his new friend,
but literally everyone else was chanting Katsuki’s name, so he decided not to be the odd man out.

“You’re gonna regret being such a goody-two-shoes, Glasses!” Katsuki sneered.

“I believe you are wrong, for I am a delinquent.” Tenya responded, “But unlike you, I am a rebel! A
rebel against this hierarchy that put you at the top and forced people like Midoriya to the bottom! A
rebel for those whom society left behind! A rebel who-”

“Are you gonna fight or just talk me to death?!” Katsuki yelled.

“Oh, my apologies. You may have the first move.” Tenya said as he silently revved up his engines.

As soon as Tenya finished that sentence, Katsuki used an explosion to propel himself towards his
opponent as he swung his fist back for a right hook, “DIE!”

“RECIPRO BURST!” Suddenly, Tenya’s engines roared to life as he took off in the blink of an eye.
Less than a tenth of a second later, a booming impact was heard as Tenya delivered an engine-
powered kick to Katsuki’s gut.

Katsuki immediately stopped in his tracks as he coughed up spittle and fell to the ground, the wind
knocked completely out of him.

Before his head could hit the ground, however, Tenya delivered a normal roundhouse kick to the
blonde boy’s skull, knocking him out almost instantly.

The crowd went silent as they watched what they thought was the strongest person in the school be
completely and utterly destroyed in the span of two seconds.

After a few moments, Tenya placed his foot on his unconscious opponent’s body and began to speak,
“I have defeated your school’s top fighter. As such, I am now the top dog, and you all shall listen to
me.”

“Like hell, we will!” One of the audience members shouted.

“Oh? Would you like to revive a Recipro Burst of your own? Because I can make that happen.” Tenya
only received a frustrated grumble in response, “That’s what I thought. Now, as the school’s top dog,
there will be some changes around here. No running in the halls, no smoking on school property, no
vandalism, no tardiness, and no bullying of any kind. Anyone who steps out of line will end up like
Bakugo. Do I make myself clear!?”

Tenya was satisfied by the angry murmurs of agreement, “Very well. Now return to class, all of you!
Lunch is nearly over!”

As the crowd quickly dissipated, Tenya saw Izuku run over to him excitedly, “Iida, that was amazing!
I can’t believe that worked!”

“Thank you very much, Midoriya.” Iida smiled, “I hope now the school will become a better learning
environment for all of us.”

“So what are you gonna do now?”

“Now, I have a school to upkeep and a reputation to uphold. It will be daunting work, and I’m not
sure I can do it alone.”

Izuku quickly picked up on the implication, “I - I could give you a hand if you want.”

“Excellent!” Iida wrapped a hand around Izuku’s shoulder and pulled to his side, “We shall be the
greatest delinquents this school has ever known!”
Chapter End Notes

Tenya and Izuku are now the class delinquents who preach for justice and order. And if the
teachers have a problem with that, they can say hello to the entirety of Team Iidaten. One could
only wonder how this behavior could affect them going into UA.
 Tsuyu the Comeback Queen
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

For not the first time in her life, Tsuyu Asui was glad her face had trouble emoting. That way, her new
classmates wouldn’t notice the nervousness she felt from being the new kid in class. It was bad
enough that a fireworks truck had to ram into her old school, but being relocated to a different school
than Habuko made it ten times worse.

Glancing at the freckled boy sitting at the desk next to her, Tsuyu figured she’d look something like
that if she were allowed to emote properly, because that boy twitched and jittered like he had just
learned someone was going to shoot him today.

This confused Tsuyu even more. She was the new kid, so what did he have to be so worried about?
Maybe she could calm both their nerves by introducing herself. Perhaps they could strike up a
conversation about their shared hair color or something.

As the bell rang for lunch, Tsuyu turned to the green-haired boy to greet herself. But before she could
say anything, another boy with orange hair covering his eyes slid up to her desk, “Hey, how’s it
going? I’m Suzuki. You seem pretty cute. What’s your name?”

Tsuyu, equal parts flattered and annoyed by the introduction, returned the greeting, “Tsuyu Asui, call
me Tsu, ribbit. And if you were trying to flirt with me, then sorry, but I’m not interested.”

Suzuki’s face immediately soured as he stormed off, “Fine! I wasn’t interested in a freak like you
anyway!”

If Tsuyu could roll her eyes, she would have. It looks like the mutant discrimination was the one thing
that carried over from her old school. And if this was like previous experiences, he probably noticed
the frog mutations and only wanted to date her for the stuff she could do with her tongue.

Regardless, Tusyu knew exactly how to deal with these types of guys, “You call me a freak, but
you’re the one who flips from flirting to insulting on a dime, ribbit,” she said bluntly. “Exactly how
many times has that strategy landed you a date so far?”

A few scattered chuckles could be heard as Suzuki let out a low growl and whipped back around to
face Tsuyu, “Shut up! You don’t know me!”

“And you don’t know me. Yet you called me a freak. So I guess now I can call you a hypocrite, too.”

“Oh, go hang with Deku if you think you’re so smart!”

“I don’t know who ‘Deku’ is, ribbit, but he sounds a whole lot smarter than you. Considering you
haven’t come up with a single clever insult during this entire argument. I’d call you a dumbass, but
I’m pretty sure your ass is smarter than your brain, ribbit.”

The whole classroom erupted into laughter as Suzuki shriveled up in embarrassment and ran out of
the room. Tsuyu casually turned back to the freckled boy to introduce herself like she planned, only to
find him staring at her in wonder like she was the lost city of Atlantis.

Tsuyu did not let this slightly off behavior deter her, “Hello. I’m Tsuyu Asui. Call me Tsu, ribbit.”
Suddenly, the boy blurted out, “Please teach me your ways!”

Tusyu was a little confused but decided to roll with it, “Okay, I guess.”

Their brief conversation was cut off by a bark of laughter from behind them. Tsuyu turned to see a
blonde boy lounging at his desk with his feet on the table, flanked by two other students, “Ha! Looks
like Deku decided he wants to grow a spine. Looks like we’ll have to rip it out of him.” He slammed
his fist into his open palm, a small explosion popping off at the impact.

“Eep!” The boy, apparently named Deku squeaked before scrambling to pick up his stuff and running
off. Tsuyu decided to follow him, because judging how things were going, he seemed like the one
person in that room who wasn’t a jerk.

———————————————

A few minutes later, Tsuyu and the boy sat eating their lunches on the school roof. Judging how the
blonde boy threatened him earlier, Tsuyu assumed he ate lunch here often.

“You never gave me your name, ribbit,” Tsuyu said in an attempt to break the silence.

“O - oh, sorry. It’s Izuku Midoriya. I was just… really impressed by your boldness back there,” He
stammered out.

“It was nothing special, ribbit. I tend to say what’s on my mind, so sometimes those kinds of things
come out. But what did you say about wanting me to teach you?”

“Oh, well, you seemed confident when you went off on Suzuki, and I thought you could teach me to
do the same to Kacchan.”

“Kacchan?”

“Katsuki Bakugo. He bullies me because of my Quirk, or lack thereof.” He muttered that last part, but
Tsuyu still heard it.

“Well, that just reeks of insecurity, ribbit.”

“See? I just wish I had the confidence to say those kind of things to his face. Maybe then he’d leave
me alone. Or he’d just double down on the bullying, but it never hurts to try.”

“Ok. Is there anything stopping you besides the lack of confidence?”

“I’m kind of… not very good with words. I have a bit of a muttering problem, and I never know when
to stop. My mom says it’s not something I should be ashamed of, but I never like it when it annoys
people. They always give me weird looks. And sometimes they hit me on the head to get me to shut
up like I’m some sort of broken radio. And that really-”

“Okay. I think I understand,” Tsuyu interrupted as politely as she could.

Izuku blushed in embarrassment as he pulled his knees close to his chest, “Sorry. I did it again.”

“Don’t be, ribbit. If you want to insult people like I do, then you should direct that energy towards
your bullies.”

“How - how do I do that?”

Tsuyu placed her finger on her chin in thought, “Maybe you need to work on focusing your thoughts.
Let’s try something: tell me what you think of Bakugo, and don’t stop talking until I say so.”

“Oh, okay!” Izuku said, a little nervous about being put on the spot, “Well, Kacchan’s got a great
Quirk that lets him release explosions from his palms. His Quirk control is amazing. He uses his
explosions to make him more agile, quickly dodge attacks, and even fly. He’s gonna be a great hero
someday, and everyone in the school knows it, even the teachers. I always respected him, even if he
hasn’t really been my friend since the Quirkless diagnosis. He always wants to prove he’s the best,
and I think he takes my dreams of being a hero as a personal challenge. I already wasn’t the most
well-liked, but he basically turned the entire school against me. But I still know he’s gonna be a great
hero, even if he uses his Quirk on me. Which, now that I say it out loud, sounds kind of illegal. And
now that I’m thinking about it, his Quirk doesn’t seem very well suited for rescue. In fact, Kacchan
has never once expressed interest in actually saving people. He was always more interested in fighting
villains. And I always kind of worried that he’d accidentally use lethal force on a villain, what with
him always yelling ‘DIE’ and all that. And maybe… someone who has no interest in saving and
helping people shouldn’t be a hero at all. Wait a minute, have I just been conditioned into thinking
Kacchan was as good as he said he was by a school that only wants the credit of having housed a
future top-ten hero?!”

“I think so, ribbit,” Tsuyu responded.

Izuku paused for a moment as he stared blankly at the floor, “I - I need to sit down for a minute.”

“You’re already sitting down.”

In response to that, Izuku just lay on his stomach, practically unmoving, for nearly the entire lunch
period. Tsuyu just let him be, figuring he needed time to sort things out in his head.

After a couple minutes, Izuku hoisted his body off the ground and leaned on the railing for support,
“Okay, I think I know what to do now,” He said, his voice still exasperated.

“Do you want to save the insult training for tomorrow, ribbit?” Tsuyu asked.

“No,” Izuku weakly shook his head, “Now that I’ve filtered out my thoughts about Kacchan - I mean
Katsuki, I think I can start formulating what I want to say to him.”

“How long do you think that’ll take?”

“Not long. I know him better than anyone.” The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, and the two
green-haired kids made their way to the door.

“In fact,” Izuku continued, “I think I’ll lay it on him the next time he tries to start something.” He
opened the door, only to find Katsuki and his cronies waiting for them on the other side, “Which I
guess is right now.”

“Thought you could run away from me, didn’t you, Deku?” Katsuki said threateningly as he and his
cronies encroached upon Izuku, the boy slowly backing up in fear. “Well guess what? Next period is a
study hall, which means twice the ass-kicking for you.”

Whatever insult Izuku was about to say immediately died in his throat. He turned to Tsuyu, who just
shrugged. He gave a nervous gulp. It was either now or never. Taking a deep breath, Izuku summoned
every last ounce of courage in his body and said, “Are you really that insecure that you have to beat
up a Quirkless kid just to make yourself feel better?”
Katsuki paused for a moment, dumbstruck at what Izuku had just said, “What the fuck did you just
say?”

“I was just saying that you’re such a complex bundle of superiority and inferiority complexes that you
see me as a continued threat to your dream of becoming the greatest hero despite all the praise heaped
upon you by the entire school. And knowing me, that’s kind of pathetic.”

Katsuki paused to comprehend Izuku’s insult/analysis since his muttering was hard to understand.
Once he did, his anger returned in full force, “DID YOU JUST CALL ME PATHETIC?!”

“I did!” Izuku yelled out nervously, “And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You’re a walking pile of
contradictions. You’re one of the top scorers in the entire school, yet you dress like a delinquent. You
only chose to go to this school in the first place just so you could manufacture a ‘heroic backstory.’
Who the heck cares about a heroic backstory anyway? No one knows All Might’s backstory, and he’s
the number one hero.”

“I - you.”

“And while we’re on the topic, why do you even want to be the number one hero? ‘Cause I don’t
think you want to be the next symbol of peace. Do you just wanna prove you’re the best? What will
you do after you reach your goal? Just go around beating up villains all day? That makes sense,
because you’d honestly look less out of place in an illegal fighting ring than in a hero school like UA.
Seriously, it’s like you don’t even know what a hero is! Because if every hero thought like you, we’d
be stuck in another era of chaos!”

Silence stretched across the rooftop as Izuku caught his breath. He felt a lot lighter, as if that was
something he needed to get off his chest for a while.

Katsuki, for his part, just stood there unmoving, with a shocked expression that made it seem like he
was rethinking his entire life.

Eventually, Izuku finished catching his breath, and without saying anything, walked around Katsuki
and his cronies to reach the door, Tsuyu quickly following behind him.

“How was that, Asui?” Izuku asked tiredly as they walked down the stairs.

“Pretty good for a first attempt, ribbit,” Tsuyu complimented. “Also, call me Tsu.”

“Right, sorry.”

“Though I am worried that Bakugo might come after you once he recovers. Or his cronies, or maybe
even the teachers.”

Izuku was quick to wave off those concerns, “I don’t think I mind anymore. I have a few choice
words I’d like to say to each and every one of them.”

“Ribbit, I almost feel bad for them.”

Izuku shrugged, “Eh, it’s their fault for giving me so much material to work with.”

Tsuyu nodded, “Can’t argue with that, ribbit. Can’t argue with that.”
Chapter End Notes

As I wrote this, I realized how little early Bakugo understands heroism. He's like the kind of
comic book fan who scoffs at Superman when he saves a cat from a tree then goes, "He should
exclusively be fighting evil alien overlords!" Made it interesting to poke fun at though, as was
Izuku's any% 'Kacchan's bad, actually' speedrun.

Next time: We're rounding out the Dekusquad

 Shoto the Rival
Chapter Notes

As in Bakugo's rival, not Midoriya's.

Also, I think Shoto might have been homeschooled in canon, but I don’t have the heart to run
over his theoretical tutor. Let’s just say he went to a private middle school.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Shoto Todoroki was hardly bothered by the fact he had to transfer to Aldera Middle School when his
old one was destroyed by a rampaging fireworks truck. That mattered very little to him. The only
thing on his mind at the moment was surpassing his father without using his fire. That, and the small
group of students currently surrounding him at his desk.

“So, you’re new here.” One of the boys said, “I like your hair. You got a Quirk, or is that just dyed?”

These guys were starting to agitate Shoto. No one ever talked to him at his old school. What changed?
Oh, right, he was the new kid. “I have an ice Quirk,” He replied. There was no need to make anyone
aware of his half of the Quirk.

“Really?” The boy replied, “Then how come this side’s warmer than the other?” He walked behind
Shoto and waved one arm at each of his sides to gauge the difference, “You got a fire Quirk, too?”

Shoto’s ’conversation’ was interrupted by a stream of barely coherent words from a green-haired bay
sitting a few rows behind them, “Differing temperatures on each side of the body. Could be a built-in
mechanism for quickly melting ice. The possibility of a fire aspect to the Quirk shouldn’t be ruled out
either. Both sides being equal in strength would work well in explaining the split hair colors…”

As the boy continued muttering to himself, a blonde-haired boy got out of his desk and chopped the
green-haired boy on the head, “No one fucking asked you, Deku!” He then whipped around and
growled at Shoto, “Is the nerd right? Can you shoot fire and ice?”

Shoto, seemingly cornered, decided to answer truthfully in hopes that they would leave him alone
afterward, “Yes. Yes I can.”

Do His dismay, however, the blonde man seemed to grow angrier as he slammed his hands on Shoto’s
desk, “I bet you think you’re hot shit just ‘cause you have a half-decent Quirk, huh?”

“Not particularly,” Said Shoto in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, which seemingly went
unnoticed by the blonde boy.

“Well guess what, Icyhot! I’m Katsuki Bakugo, the top dog at this shithole of a school! And if you
think you’re such hot stuff, then how about I beat your ass on the roof tomorrow?”

“Okay,” Shoto nodded calmly. He figured he might as well. After all, he was going to be showing
more people than just his father on his quest to dethrone the number two hero. Might as well start
now.
“Good. I hope you’re ready to die,” Katsuki huffed before storming out of the classroom, most of the
other boys following behind him while they cheered him on.

When it was just him and the green-haired boy left in the classroom, Shoto got up and made his way
down the hall. Unfortunately for him, the green-haired boy followed behind him, twiddling his fingers
as if he wanted to say something.

Eventually, he did, “H - hi. I’m Izuku Midoriya. I just - I just wanted to say sorry for blurting out your
Quirk. I didn’t think my observations would be correct.”

“It’s fine,” Shoto responded coldly, “It would have gotten out one way or another.”

“Oh, ok. I also just wanted to say how I think it’s really cool how you stood up to Kacchan like that.”

“Do you mean Bakugo? I didn’t stand up to him. He challenged me to a fight, and I accepted.”

“Still, everyone’s been complacent with him being at the top. And that’s… not very good for me. I’m
just glad someone has the courage to step up to him. And that’s another reason why I wanted to talk to
you. Kacchan’s a really good fighter, and he’s got great Quirk control. I was hoping I could maybe
give you a few pointers?”

Shoto didn’t even turn to look at Izuku as he bluntly stated, “No,” and kept walking.

“No?” Izuku exclaimed, “W - why not?”

“I can beat him on my own just fine.”

“I’m not saying you couldn’t. I just want you to be prepared the best you can.”

Shoto lowered his eyebrows in annoyance, “I’m already prepared.”

“You barely even know him.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Izuku suddenly grabbed Shoto by the shoulder and turned him around to face him. His face was
noticeably tinted red, and Shoto thought he had accidentally activated his Quirk and turned up his
body heat out of annoyance. “Todoroki, please listen to me,” Izuku said nervously before lifting up
his shirt, revealing several cuts, bruises, and most importantly, burn marks across his chest.

“Look at what he did to me, Todoroki,” Izuku said softly, “I don’t want anyone else to have to
experience this. So please, let me help you.”

As Shoto stared at Izuku’s burnt chest, he couldn’t help but feel an odd kinship with the boy. He had a
striking suspicion they both went through similar pain, and the thought of that made his heart melt
just a bit.

“Okay,” Shoto conceded, making Izuku breathe a sigh of relief.

“Thank you,” Izuku said. “Meet me on the roof in a few minutes. I can grab lunch for you, it’s the
least I can do. What would you like? Do you like soba?”

Shoto immediately felt his kinship with the boy deepen.

 ———————————————

“Okay,” Shoto said as he slurped his soba, “Tell me what I need to know.”

“Right.” Izuku pulled out a notebook from… somewhere and showed Shoto a page with an
(admittedly impressive) drawing of Bakugo, “Kacchan’s Quirk is Explosion. It lets him sweat a
nitroglycerin-like substance and ignite it through his palms. He will try to blow you up, and he will go
for the face. But not before he starts the fight with his signature right hook.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Shoto chimed in. “My ice has great range.”

Izuku hummed unsurely, “That’s the thing, your ice might be both a blessing and a curse.”

Shoto’s eyes narrowed, “My ice is not a curse.”

“Just hear me out. You’ll be fighting on the roof, and there’s no doubt a lot of people will be
watching. I’m just worried you might accidentally hit a bystander with one of your longer-ranged
attacks, or a chunk of ice could fall off the roof and land on someone.”

Shoto sighed, “That’s a good point.”

“But thankfully, I have a plan. It’s pretty cold out today, meaning Kacchan will likely be wearing
multiple layers in order to generate more sweat. If you’re careful with your fire, you can burn off his-”

“No.” Shoto glowered.

“No?” Izuku raised an eyebrow, “You don’t like the plan.”

“I swore that I’d never use his fire, Midoriya. I can win using only my ice.”

“Wait, why don’t you want to use your fire? That’s, like, half your Quirk.”

Shoto slowly ran a hand down his scar, “These flames have caused nothing but pain and suffering my
entire life,” He said solemnly.

Izuku was still unsure of a few details, but he could pick up the context clues. He slowly walked
closer to Shoto, “Look, Todoroki, I don’t know what you’ve been through or who hurt you, but I do
know Kacchan better than anyone. And I know for a fact that you won’t be able to beat him unless
you give it your all. He’ll probably try to coax you into using your fire during your fight. He’ll want
to fight you at your best.”

Shoto’s glare deepened, “I don’t care what either of you says to me. My ice is enough to win. I’ll
make it enough if I have to.”

“Kacchan can literally burn through your ice! You have to fight fire with fire or you’re gonna lose!”
Izuku shouted. He paused and took a deep breath before continuing, “I know you’ve been hurt by fire
before, Todoroki. But it can still be used to help people, to save people. I mean, there are plenty of
heroes with fire Quirks. Just look at Endeavor.”

The very mention of that man made Shoto’s blood boil. Without spraying a word to Izuku, Shoto
stormed to the roof’s exit and slammed the door behind him.

Izuku, for his part, was unsure what he said that made Shoto so angry. Was it the mention of
Endeavor? He supposed that made sense. He probably got compared to him a lot growing up. Either
way, Izuku couldn’t help but worry for his new classmate. Would his ice really be enough, or would
Katsuki blast right through that too? He supposed only time would tell.

———————————————

As Shoto stormed down the stairs, his initial surge of anger quickly faded and was replaced with an
odd feeling of… guilt? This didn’t make any sense. Shoto never felt guilty about refusing to use his
fire before. What made this instance so different?

As Shoto replayed his conversation with Izuku in his head, he couldn’t deny that Izuku was just trying
to help. He had no idea about Shoto’s relationship with the number two pro hero. Plus, it felt… nice to
have someone so concerned for his well-being besides his siblings. And he hardly counted Fuyumi
and Natsuo since he rarely saw them.

Shoto signed. Izuku may have meant well, and judging by the burn marks, he may have been able to
relate on some level, but he could never understand the full picture. He had to prove to himself, to his
father, that he could fight without his left side.

If he couldn’t, then he might as well give up on his dream of being a hero right then and there.

———————————————

The next day, Shoto found himself on that same roof again. This time staring down Katsuki while
surrounded by a large group of students. He spotted Izuku watching at the front of the crowd. Shoto
found it heartwarming that he still came to cheer him on despite his abrupt exit yesterday.

“Any last words before I blast your ass off, Icyhot?” Bakugo taunted with a devilish grin on his face.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Shoto drawled.

“Works for me. Now DIE!” Katsuki propelled himself forward with an explosion, right arm pulled
back into a hook, just as Izuku predicted. Shoto sent out the biggest glacier he could without hitting
any of the bystanders towards Katsuki, and he was quickly encased in ice.

The roof went silent in anticipation. After a short moment, Katsuki let out a huge explosion from
inside the glacier and blasted himself toward Shoto, “Did you really think It’d be that easy?!”

He didn’t, which is why he sent three walls of ice toward Katsuki, who exploded past the first two and
launched himself over the other.

Now in midair, Katsuki rocketed towards Shoto, who quickly leaped out of the way. Katsuki landed
right next to him and let out a huge explosion aimed right at his face. Shoto quickly blocked it with an
ice wall and planted his right foot on the ground. The floor quickly became encased in ice, as did
Katsuki’s feet.

As Shoto used this opportunity to get some distance from Katsuki, the explosive blonde tore his feet
out of the ice and turned to him, an angry scowl adorning his face, “Why haven’t you used your damn
fire? You think you’re too good for me?!”

“Personal reasons,” Shoto responded as he sent another smaller glacier Katsuki’s way, unable to
ignore the ice slowly crawling up his skin.

Before the glacier encased Katsuki yet again, he pointed his hands to the ground and let out a
condensed burst that propelled him over the attack, “BULLSHIT!” He yelled as he flew at Shoto yet
again.

Shoto erected another ice wall at the last second, but Katsuki used an explosion to vault right over it
and land right in front of him. Before Shoto could react, Katsuki pointed both palms at him and let out
a wide explosion. Shoto’s vision blurred as he fell to the ground. He attempted to get up, but Katsuki
stomped down hard on his stomach.

Shoto could barely make out Katsuki’s shouts, “You still didn’t use your damn fire! Are you fucking
toying with me?! How am I supposed to be the undisputed best if you keep half-assing it?!” His head
whipped around to face the crowd, at one person in particular, “You put him up to this, didn’t you,
Deku?”

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Shoto heard Izuku plead.

“Don’t fucking lie to me!” He felt the weight on his stomach leave as Katsuki menacingly stomped
over to Izuku, “I saw you two head to the roof yesterday! This was all a setup to make me look dumb,
wasn’t it?! Well, we’ll see who really looks dumb when I blast your face off!”

As Shoto fought to stand up, barely remaining conscious, he caught a glimpse of Katsuki about to
attack Izuku, who was weakly raising his arms in defense as tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.
But he didn’t see Izuku and Katsuki right there. No, Shoto saw himself cowering in fear, left to the
mercy of his father.

Time seemed to slow down for Shoto as he tried to process the situation. Before long, a familiar voice
rang out in his head.

“I know you’ve been hurt by fire before, Todoroki. But it can still be used to help people, to save
people.”

At those words, Shoto felt a spark light up within him. That spark quickly turned into a fire, and that
fire turned into a raging inferno.

Shoto slowly stood up. His arms limped at his sides, but he didn’t care. He found himself letting out a
huge smile as his inferno raged both inside and out.

Katsuki paused his approach toward Izuku and turned to see Shoto finally using his flames. His grin
grew even more feral, “Finally! Now we can fight for real!”

Katsuki launched himself at Shoto, but he was quickly knocked back by a jet of flames. Undeterred,
he went to try again, only to find that the flames had already dissipated. “What the fuck? We were just
getting started!”

In place of response, Shoto waved his hand and encased Katsuki in yet another glacier. The explosive
teen grunted as he tried to blow up his icy prison, but nothing happened.

“What the hell? What’s going on?” Katsuki asked as he clenched and unclenched his fists in an
attempt to release an explosion, but nothing came out.

“You seriously haven’t noticed?” Shoto asked.

“Noticed what?!” Katsuki yelled as he looked around to figure out if something was off. When his
eyes met his body, he paused in realization. That fire jet from earlier had burned off most of his
clothes, leaving only a tank top and a pair of boxer shorts. He couldn’t sweat even if he wanted to.
“YOU BASTARD! YOU CAN’T DO THIS! THAT DOESN’T COUNT!”
 “Hey, look!” One of the students in the crowd shouted, “Bakugo wears All Might boxers!” The crowd
immediately erupted into laughter as Katsuki screamed out in anger and embarrassment.

As a tired Shoto stood in the center of a laughing crowd, he found himself blindsided by a tackle-hug
from Izuku.

“That was amazing, Todoroki!” He cheered. “I knew you had it in you to use your fire. I just knew
it!”

Shoto didn’t respond, still blindsided by the hug. He wasn’t too used to displays of affection like this,
not since his mother was taken away. He slowly found himself wrapping his arms around Izuku and
leaning into the touch. He was reminded of his mother’s hugs, but Izuku’s were different. They were
much more… intimate than he was used to.

As Shoto tightened the hug, he quickly decided he liked this form of intimacy. And he would look
forward to sharing more moments like this with Izuku in the future. Whatever that may hold for them.

———————————————

OMAKE:

Izuku as he watched everyone laugh at Katsuki’s All Might boxers: I’m wearing that same brand right
now. They must never know.

Shoto: Burnin’, my new school has biased, Quirkist teachers. I need you to burn it to the ground.

Burnin’: Sure thing! I’ll have them arrested in no time at all.

Shoto: No. I want you to use your Quirk to set the building ablaze. And then we’ll dance on the ashes.

Chapter End Notes

There are a lot of similarities between Endavor and Bakugo that I wish got explored more in
canon. I wasn't expecting to bring that up here, either. It just happened to turn out that way. I
swear, it's like I go on a cosmic journey every time I write a new chapter. I just wanted to write
crack!

Next time: The literal last person you'd expect to help Izuku
 Eri the Yakuza Princess
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Izuku panted heavily as he ran down the street. He was covered in scrapes and bruises, his muscles
ached, and he was already down a shoe, but he didn’t stop running, for he knew what would await
him if he did.

To celebrate the weekend, Katsuki thought it would be a good idea to round up as many eager
students as he could and have them all essentially hunt Izuku for sport. Every time they caught up to
him, they would beat down on him for a few moments before letting him run off so they could chase
him again.

Izuku had just been caught for the fourth time that afternoon, and even though he was doing his best
to make the most of his head start, he had a sinking feeling they would catch up to him in no time flat.
From about a block away, Izuku could hear someone yell, “Time!” Signaling that his period of grace
was over.

In a desperate attempt to escape his tormentors, Izuku carelessly ran into the nearest alleyway. He
suddenly came screeching to a halt when he saw he was about to run into a little girl with white hair
and a yellow horn sticking out of her forehead.

“Are you okay, mister?” The little girl asked.

“I’m… being… chased!” Izuku huffed out in between breaths.

To Izuku’s surprise, the little girl took his hand and led him into a nearby building, “You look hurt.
Papa can help you.”

Izuku was a little confused as the girl sat him down on a couch, but he decided to be polite, “Oh, is
your father a doctor?”

“No, he’s a criminal,” The girl answered like that was a completely normal profession.

“A - a what?”

“Eri!” Izuku heard an unknown voice call out, “Did you find your ball?”

“No, Papa. I found someone hurt!” Eri responded.

Izuku froze in fear as the girl’s father entered the room. He was tall, with purple hair and a puffy
jacket. His most distinguishing feature, however, was a red and yellow bird-like mask he wore over
his mouth. Izuku recognized that kind of mask from a news report he saw last week. “You - you - you
- YAKUZA!” He stammered out.”

“Dear god, you look horrible. What happened to you?” The Yakuza man asked, seemingly ignoring
Izuku’s fear and panic, “No matter. Nothing I can’t fix.”

The Yakuza man reached out to Izuku, who instinctively flinched back in fear, earning an eye roll
from the man, “Calm down. Just because I run the Shie Hassaikai doesn’t mean I’m going to kill
you.”
He planted all five fingers on Izuku’s arm, and the boy felt a tingling sensation throughout his entire
body. After a moment, the sensation vanished, along with all his pain. Izuku felt around his body. He
didn’t feel any of the cuts or bruises that were there before, and his muscle strain was gone as well.

“What did you do?” Izuku was quick to ask.

“I used my Quirk on you, Overhaul.” The man replied, “It lets me disassemble and reassemble matter
at a molecular level. I used it to repair your injuries just now.”

Izuku’s shock and fear were quickly replaced by curiosity for this interesting new Quirk, “That’s so
cool, Mr…”

“Chisaki. Kai Chisaki. And this is my little princess, Eri.” He lifted up Eri and gave her a hug, which
she reciprocated.

“Izuku Midoriya,” The boy in question greeted. “Sorry I freaked out earlier. I thought the Yakuza
were supposed to be dangerous.”

“Papa’s not dangerous,” Eri said as she hugged her father tighter. “He’s a bizz - bizznus-”

“Businessman.” Chisaki corrected, “We’ve got a strong code of honor here. We only hurt people if
they happen to piss us off. Other than that, we fund startups, control crime in the area, and do a wee
bit of extortion. Nothing wrong with a bit of extortion!”

“I didn’t think you guys had a branch in Mustafa,” Izuku said.

“We didn’t. But we had to relocate after our old compound was destroyed by a rampaging fireworks
truck. But anyways, how did you get that beat up in the first place?”

“Oh,” Izuku’s mood dropped, “Kacchan and his lackeys were chasing me down the street again.”

“Again? Do they beat you up this hard every time?”

“Ehhhh…” Izuku waved his hand in a ‘so-so’ expression.

“Can he hide here, Papa?” Eri asked innocently, “I wanna play with him.”

“That depends on what Midoriya would like,” Chisaki answered before turning to Izuku, “Midoriya,
would you like to play with my daughter?”

“Okay,” Izuku responded with a small smile, “What would you like to play, Eri?”

“Let’s draw!” Eri jumped up and down excitedly as she grabbed Izuku by the arm and dragged him to
the kitchen table.

“I’ll make you both some hot chocolate,” Chisaki said as he looked through the cupboards.

———————————————

“What are you drawing, Eri?” Izuku asked as he saw the girl grab a big handful of crayons.

“I’m drawing a unicorn!” Eri showed her picture to Izuku: a round blob in the vague shape of a horse
with a triangle sticking out its head.

“That’s very lovely, Eri. I think I’ll draw a unicorn, too.”

After a few minutes of scribbling with her crayons, Eri looked up from her paper to get a look at
Izuku’s. She was immediately floored by his artistic prowess, “Woooooooah. How did you learn to
draw so good?”

“Oh, this?” Izuku asked, “All you have to do is break it down into shapes. Watch.” Izuku turned his
paper over and sketched out three circles. He connected them with some lines, added a square horse
snout, dotted some eyes, and used triangles for the legs, ears, and mane.

Eri was astounded by the demonstration, “Wow. You should do that for your job.”

“Oh, no. It’s just a hobby, like my notebooks.” Izuku pulled out a notebook and flipped to a page with
a drawing of All Might, which Eri also gawked at.

“Hot chocolate’s ready!” Chisaki said as he planned two mugs of steaming cocoa on the table. He
paused when he caught a glimpse of Izuku’s notebook, “Hey, what’s this?”

“Oh, just my hero analysis notebook,” Izuku answered shyly.

“Would you mind if I took a look?”

“Um, sure, if you’re interested.”

Chisaki took the notebook and began flipping through it, humming thoughtfully at its contents, “I
must say, this is some impressive Quirk analysis you have here.”

Izuku blushed at the praise, “You - you mean it?”

“I mean it. I’ve never seen someone write eight pages on Airjet’s aerodynamics before. I wonder what
you’d have to say about my Quirk.”

Izuku immediately perked up at that, “Well, it’s a great Quirk with nearly endless possibilities. I’m
sure healing my injuries was only the tip of the iceberg. With the right materials, I’m sure you could
assemble buildings or put together cars in the blink of an eye. But I bet a Quirk like that takes a lot of
practice to use as well as you did. I’m sure you had to study biology for hours to get to the point
where you could heal me without blowing me up.”

Chisaki hummed in amusement, “I don’t think I’ve ever thought to use my Quirk to build a car before.
I ought to have you come back sometime to analyze the Eight Bullets. I’m sure you could come up
with some pretty creative Quirk applications.”

“Izuku, look!” Eri interrupted as she showed him her paper, “I did what you did, now my unicorn
looks so much prettier!”

“That’s amazing, Eri!” Izuku praised as he ruffled his hand through her hair. “You learned so fast.
Maybe you should do it for your job.”

———————————————

“Thank you for having me over, Mr. Chisaki,” Izuku said as he stood outside the Yakuza building,
“And for healing me.”

“No problem,” Chisaki smiled behind his mask. “Come back anytime. And I mean it. Eri really likes
you, and she hasn’t had anyone come over for a playdate in a while.”
Izuku returned the smile, “I might just have to take you up on that offer.”

And he did. Over the next few months, Izuku periodically stopped by the Yakuza compound to play
with Eri and talk Quirks with Chisaki. It wasn’t long before Eri started seeing him as a big brother.

He even met the rest of the Shie Hassaikai to give them all valuable Quirk advice, which they were all
eternally grateful for. It took practically no time for the Shie Hassaikai to start treating Izuku as one of
their own. Not like they ever disliked him in the first place, because as Mimic once said, “If Boss
likes you, you’re alright. If Boss dislikes you, burn in hell.”

———————————————

One rainy day, Chisaki and Eri were playing a board game in the living room when they heard a
knock at the door. Chisaki looked up at the clock. It was that time again, “You can come in,
Midoriya.” He said.

When the door opened, the pair saw Izuku with a black eye, a bloody nose, and mud stains scattered
across his skin, “Hi guys,” He greeted weakly.

Chisaki immediately got up and placed his hand on Izuku, his Quirk fixing his eye and nose, “Are you
okay, Izuku?” Eri asked worriedly.

“I’m fine,” Izuku tried to brush off. “Kacchan just cornered me after school again.”

“That’s the fifth time this month.” Chaisaki pointed out, “And worse yet, he made you filthy.”

“I can handle it,” Izuku assured with a false smile on his face. “Besides, if it weren’t me, it would just
be somebody else. That’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

Chisaki groaned as he punched the bridge of his nose, “Just… go wash up. You know where the
showers are.”

“Thank you.” When Izuku was out of earshot, Chisaki slumped on the couch and signed. He noticed
Eri nervously walk up to him.

“Papa, why do people keep hurting Izuku?” She asked nervously.

Chisaki patted the seat next to him, to which Eri sat down, “Eri, do you know how we at the Shie
Haissakai have a code of honor and how we only hurt people if they go against us?”

“Mm-hm,” Eri nodded.

“The sad truth is not everyone follows the same code of honor we do. Sometimes, people hurt others
because it makes them feel better about themselves.”

Eri gasped, “That’s horrible!”

“You’re right, Eri. But Izuku’s important to us. He needs our help, even if he doesn’t know it.”

“How can we help him?”

Chisaki pulled Eri into a hug, “You already help him by being you. Playing with you helps Izuku feel
better after school. As for me,” Chisaki’s eyes narrowed, “I’m gonna have a little chat with the
teachers who keep letting Izuku get hurt.”
Eri perked up as she let go of the hug, “Are you and the Yakuza gonna visit his school?”

Chisaki grinned as he pat Eri on the head, “Oh, Eri, we’re gonna do more than just visit.”

———————————————

The next day, Izuku sat at his desk as he nervously eyed Katsuki. The teacher was running late, and
Izuku was worried Katsuki might use the extra time to rough him up before class started.

Thankfully, a teacher walked into the room a few minutes later. Unthankfully, that teacher was Kai
Chisaki.

“Hello, class.” Chisaki greeted with false sincerity, “I’m your substitute homeroom teacher, Mr.
Overhaul. In fact, all your teachers are substitutes today.”

“What happened to them?” One student asked.

“They all mysteriously got tumors. But don’t worry, they’ll be better by tomorrow. Now, which one of
you is Katsuki Bakugo?”

“The fuck do you want?” The boy in question responded.

Chisaki clapped his hands together, “Well, looks like someone’s eager to start the day. I just have one
message for you,” Chisaki slowly walked up to Katsuki’s desk and placed a hand on his shoulder,
“Welcome to hell.”

“Get the fuck away from me!” Katsuki thrust his hand towards Chisaki, seemingly intent on blowing
him up, but no explosions came out. Katsuki stared at his palm in shock, “What the hell did you do to
me?!”

“I used my Quirk on you,” Chisaki answered coldly. “A little birdie told me you release explosions
through the sweat in your palms, so I moved those sweat glands somewhere else. For the rest of the
school day, you’re effectively Quirkless. And if you don’t want to stay that way forever, you’ll play
along. Sound good?”

Katsuki just stared at Chisaki in shock, who seemed to take his silence as a confirmation. “Great!” He
smiled, “Now let’s get started!”

Izuku, knowing full well Chisaki could have done much, much worse, shuddered for his friend-
turned-bully.

———————————————

“Hello, I’m your substitute math teacher, Mr. Chronostasis. According to the schedule, you all have a
quiz today.” He went around to pass papers to the class, and Izuku noticed Katsuki gawking at his
copy.

“You gave me a fucking college chemistry exam!” The blonde yelled to his teacher.

“Hope you studied. That’s worth forty percent of your grade,” Izuku could practically feel
Chronostasis grin behind his mask.

———————————————
“Hello! I am your substitute art teacher, Mr. Mimic! Today, we will practice drawing complex poses!”
He dramatically pointed at Katsuki. “You! Come up here and pose for us!”

“What fucking pose do you want?” Katsuki grumbled angrily.

“You will lay down on the floor as if you have been defeated in a fight!” Mimic turned and
dramatically pointed to Izuku. “You! Come up here and pose triumphantly over the fallen body as if
you were the one to have defeated him!”

Katsuki got up and yelled, “Fuck no! I’m not letting shitty Deku pretend he beat me!”

“We can get rid of more than just your Quirk.” Mimic threatened. Katsuki swore under his breath as
he lay down right next to Izuku, who posed triumphantly.

Izuku, for his part, was confused by the whole situation, but he had enough common sense to not
argue with the Yakuza, even if he was an honorary member at this point. And if the Shie Haissakai’s
plans involved the humiliation of his tormentor of nearly ten years, he decided he could trust his
teachers just this once.

———————————————

“Hello. I’m your substitute gym teacher, Mr. Rappa. Today, we’ll be playing dodgeball.”

“Finally!” Katsuki cheered, “Something I can kick ass at!”

“Katsuki Bakugo will be on one team, and everyone else will be on the other.”

Katuki’s good mood immediately soured, “Fine! I don’t need those extras on my team to win
anyway!” He said right before a barrage of dodgeballs struck him.

———————————————

“At least there’s no way they can ruin lunch for me,” Katsuki grumbled to himself as he made his way
down the lunch line. He noticed everyone’s trays were being filled with apples, applesauce, apple
juice, and apple pie.

When it was Katsuki’s turn, he noticed the lunch lady was a five-year-old girl with white hair and a
yellow horn wearing an oversized chef’s hat. The girl paused before she placed an apple on Katsuki’s
tray. Suddenly, her horn began glowing as the apple in her hand shrunk in size, eventually turning into
seeds, which the girl put on Katsuki’s tray.

“What did you just do?!” Katsuki asked.

“Grow your own lunch,” The little girl huffed as she blew a raspberry at Katsuki, who was left more
confused than anything.

———————————————

“Hello, I’m your substitute ethics teacher, Mr. Tengai. Today, we’ll be discussing Quirkless
discrimination. Specifically, how one should not be using their Quirk to blow them up.”

“Is that what this is about?!” Katsuki stood up from his desk and turned to Izuku, “Did you put them
up to this, Deku?”
 “No, he didn’t.” Tengai answered for him, “We knew what you’ve been doing to him for a while.
Frankly, I’m surprised it took us this long to do something.”

“You can’t do this to me! I’m calling the cops!”

“Sure, call the police. Then we’ll all get arrested, and then we’ll be unable to give you your Quirk
back. But who knows? Maybe you could still become the first Quirkless hero.”

Katsuki silently fumed as he sat back down at his desk.

“That’s what I thought,” Tengai nodded. “Now, since the school day is almost over, the boss wanted
me to remind the entire class that while we may be gone tomorrow, we could always come back if any
of you decide to be Quirkist. And next time we block off someone's Quirk, we might not be feeling
generous enough to give it back.”

Everyone in the class collectively gulped. Except Izuku. Izuku just smiled. He was glad to have such
caring friends who were willing to stick their necks out for him, even if the way they did so was kind
of illegal. But Izuku quickly decided that a little bending of the law was worth it if he could live out
the rest of his school days in peace.

Chapter End Notes

So apparently Overhaul wasn't the least likely person to help Izuku out. At least according to you
guys. Oh well, that just makes it more unexpected.

I thought I was being a bit too mean to Bakugo in this chapter, but then I remembered he bullied
Izuku for around ten years. So then I decided to have Chisaki overhaul his Quirk away.

Next time: Think pink

 Mina the Matchmaker
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

“Hey! Leave him alone!”

Izuku felt Katsuki and his cronies pause their beatdown. He cracked open one eye to a girl with pink
hair, pink skin, and pitch-black sclera standing angrily in front of the boys with her hands at her hips.

“This ain’t your business, so get the hell out of here, Pinky!” Katsuki barked at the girl.

“Just for that, I’m making Pinky my new hero name,” The girl replied sternly. “Now buzz off, or I’ll
make you.” She held out her hand threateningly, and a white gooey liquid began to secrete from her
fingertips. The liquid dripped off her hand and leaned in the grass, which seemed to disintegrate upon
contact.

“Tch. Fine.” Katsuki shoved his hands into his pockets and walked off, his cronies following behind.

“Are you okay?” The girl asked as she held out her hand to help Izuku up.

“I’m alright, thanks,” Izuku tried to smile as he took the girl’s hand. “You’re that new girl in our class.
Mina Ashido, right?”

“Yup, that’s me!” Mina smiled as she pointed at herself, “Me and a few others just transferred from
Mustafa Private Middle School.”

“Right. I heard that place was destroyed by a rampaging fireworks truck.”

Mina gave a frustrated sigh, “Yeah. I’d like to have a few words with that truck driver. But at least I
get to make new friends here. Speaking of which, those guys didn’t seem very friendly at all.”

Izuku shrugged, “Not much I can do. Kacchan’s been like that since we were at least four years old.”

If Mina had a drink, she would have done a spit take, “He’s been beating you up for nearly ten
years?!”

“Well, to be fair, this one was kinda on me.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope
sealed with a heart-shaped sticker.

Mina’s eyes widened at the sight, “No!” She exclaimed in disbelief.

Izuku looked down at the ground as his tone grew solemn, “Yeah. This was the fourth time they got
me with the fake confession trick. I knew it was a fake, but I didn’t want to disappoint anyone on the
off chance it was genuine.”

“How could they?!” Mina shouted out, “To defy the sanctity of love and romance? They just earned
themselves a spot on the top of my shit list.”

“I appreciate your concern, Ashido, but I don’t think there’s much you can do. The teachers let him
get away with pretty much everything just ‘cause he has a strong Quirk. I swear, it’s like this school’s
secretly run by a group of Quirk supremacists or something.”
 ———————————————

Somewhere, Re-Destro sneezed.

———————————————

“Well I wouldn’t worry about that,” Mina assured, “I just so happened to have been a top-grade bully
hunter in my old school. If we wanna deal any damage, we gotta hit him where it hurts. We have to
aim for the heart.”

Izuku lowered his eyebrows in confusion, “I don’t think Kacchan is interested in pursuing anyone
romantically.”

A devilish grin appeared on Mina’s face as she rubbed her hands together, “He doesn’t have to be.”
She said, “But before we can pull off our master plan, I need to do a little reconnaissance.”

“Wait, have a master plan now?”

“Yes. Try to keep up, Midori.”

“Nicknames already?” Izuku mumbled to himself.

———————————————

Later that day, Izuku sat in the cafeteria as he watched Mina zip from one group of students to
another, somehow holding four conversations at once. Izuku could hardly keep up with what she was
talking about. This must be what it’s like for other people when he starts muttering.

With Mina’s earlier comment of ‘aiming for the heart,’ Izuku thought she would be bringing up the
idea of crushes or relationships. But instead, she was just talking about seemingly random topics like
shampoo brands, TV shows, homework, restaurants, and hero fights. Izuku was perplexed, but he
decided to trust Mina’s process. After all, he may have only known her for about twenty minutes, but
he already trusted her more than anyone else in the room. (The depressing implications of that
statement did not go unnoticed by Izuku.)

Eventually, Mina ended her conversations and sat down next to Izuku as she wrote something down
on a notepad, “Alright,” She began, “I talked to a bunch of people. And based on their interest,
personalities, and tastes, I managed to scrape together this.” She handed Izuku her notepad.

“A shipping chart?” Izuku asked before quickly backtracking on his words to remove any idea of
doubt. “Not that I don’t trust your process or anything. I just don’t see how that’ll help take down
Kacchan. Also, how did you get all this information so quickly?”

Mina confidently grinned as she turned in her seat to lean on the lunch table, “Some people like to
call me a social butterfly, but I like to think of myself as a social Mothra. And as for the shipping
charts, the real information is on the next page.”

As soon as Izuku flipped to the next page, the puzzle in his brain clicked together, and he immediately
figured out all the details of Mina’s plan, “Ok, yeah. This plan will definitely work.”

“I’m glad you see it that way, Midori.” Mina playfully jabbed him on the arm, “Besides, if it weren’t
for your comment earlier, I wouldn’t have figured this out.”

———————————————
Later that day, just after school let out, Izuku and Mina hid in the bushes of the school courtyard.
There, they saw a nervous-looking girl with long blue hair that covered her eyes walk up to the center
of the courtyard, a pink envelope in her hand.

“Looks like Kayano got the message,” Mina whispered to Izuku.

“Now for the other shoe to drop,” Izuku responded.

After a few moments of fidgeting, Kayano turned as she heard another girl with brown hair and
glasses walk up to the same spot. She was holding a similar-looking letter, “Uzumaki!” She
exclaimed, “What are you doing here?”

“I got a letter from Bakugo saying he wanted to meet me here,” Uzumaki answered. “Based on the
nature of the envelope, I can only assume he wanted to confess his love to me.”

“That can’t be right!” Kayano held up her envelope, “He wanted to confess to me!”

“Well, one of us must be wrong. And I’m pretty sure it’s not me.”

“Maybe it is!” Said a third voice. The girls turned to see a boy with black, spiky hair holding another
pink envelope, “It’s obvious Bakugo wanted to confess to me!”

“No, me!” Yelled a fourth person.

“What about me?” Asked a fifth.

“He likes me best!” A sixth person announced.

This continued until about a dozen students stood in the center of the courtyard, each one holding a
pink envelope. They all angrily yelled over each other for a few minutes until someone shouted out,
“EVERYBODY STOP!” The students went silent as they all turned to Kayano, “We all know there’s
only one way to settle this,” She then punched Uzumaki in the face, who responded by pouncing on
the blue-haired girl and trying to scratch her face off.

From there, pandemonium broke out. A twelve-way fight ensued to determine who would win
Bakugo’s heart. Dirt was slung, shins were kicked, punches were thrown, people were thrown, and
Quirks of all kinds were dished out.

From the bushes, Izuku and Mina cackled madly at the chaos, “I kind of feel a little bad for laughing,”
Izuku said between giggles.

“Don’t worry,” Mina chuckled, “I’ve done something like this before. If my calculations are correct,
this will only last about ten more seconds.”

“This exact situation has happened more than once?” Izuku questioned.

“Look!” Mina pointed at the group of students, who were no longer fighting and instead shaking each
other’s hands.

“So we’re all in agreement,” Kayano announced, “We’ll all share Bakugo. After all, he was the one
who sent out all those letters. This must have been the outcome he was planning for.”

Speak of the devil, it was at this moment that Katsuki stormed onto the field, “Why the hell did you
extras call me here?” He grunted.
Uzumaki stepped up to speak, “Bakugo, after much deliberation, we’ve all agreed to accept your
confession and become your partners.”

“What?” Katsuki asked confusedly. “I’m not interested in dating any of you damn extras.”

“You’re… not?”

“Of fucking course not! I don’t care about any of you! Now get the fuck outta here!”

The students’ expressions quickly shifted from sadness to anger, “I can’t believe he just said that!”
One of them shouted.

“What the hell, Bakugo?!”

“He’s so rude!”

“You can’t break our hearts like that!”

“Why did I even like him in the first place?”

“Get him!”

As Bakugo tried in vain to fight off the angry mob, Izuku and Mina’s laughter quickly transitioned
into full hysterics. Neither of them could remember when they had laughed so hard before.

“Man, I didn’t think that would work out so well,” Izuku said as he struggled to breathe from laughing
so hard.

“I know! I always love it when bullies get a taste of their own medicine,” Mina laughed.

“You think he’ll ever find out it was us who sent those letters?”

“No way, he’ll be too busy dealing with all the students whose hearts he just broke.”

That turned out to be true. Even after the angry mob had dissipated, the repercussions of Katsuki’s
actions had remained. Gone was his image of Aldera’s number one hero hopeful, instead replaced by
Aldera’s number one heartbreaking playboy.

Katsuki absolutely hated his new image, as did the entire teaching staff. Unfortunately, the rumor mill
had already spread (courtesy of Mina), and they found it nearly impossible to fix his reputation after
that.

———————————————

“Oh, by the way,” Mina said as she and Izuku walked home, “There’s someone else who transferred
here who I think you should meet.”

“Really, who?” Izuku asked.

“His name is Eijiro Kirishima. He’s shy, like you. And he wants to be a hero, too. I think you’ll get
along pretty well.”

“Yeah. I can’t wait to meet him. Do you know if he likes any particular heroes?”

“Have you heard of Crimson Riot?”

 Izuku pulled out a notebook and showed off a page of the hero in question, “Have I ever!”

Chapter End Notes

Bit of a shorter one this time, but I thought this was a fairly straightforward premise that didn't
require too much time to execute. Besides, if anyone's gonna go for the world record in the any%
'Befriend Izuku' speedrun, it's gonna be Mina.

Next Time: A dog, or a mouse, or maybe a bear

 Nezu the Principal
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Nezu slowly walked into his office and collapsed into his chair. He had just wrapped up yet another
graduation ceremony. This marked the end of his twenty-sixth year as principal of UA. Twenty-six
years. That was more years than Nezu had brain cells left. “This must be what humans call burnout,”
He mused to himself.

Nezu sighed as he sunk deeper into his chair. Where did it all go wrong? When did this job stop being
fun? Nezu figured around the time his last personal student graduated, and that was around twelve
years ago. He wanted to find a new one, but Hizashi Yamada was truly a diamond in the rough that
Nezu found difficult to replace.

Nezu’s mind flashed back to his first job as a middle school principal. Those days were so much
simpler. No heroics, no politics, no overly expensive fake cities, and no giant robots. Just him and a
few hundred students full of endless potential. And not just the potential to be great heroes or support
engineers or whatnot. The possibilities of what these students could accomplish were practically
endless.

Nezu stood on his chair and slammed his paws on his desk. That’s what he decided to do! He’ll go
back to basics, to a familiar yet unpredictable teaching experience. All he had to do was appoint
Power Loader as the new principal of UA (because he was clearly the most sane out of all his
faculty), and he’d be off to a new beginning.

———————————————

Nezu decided not to publicly announce his year-long leave. Both to prevent unnecessary media
speculation, and to surprise his future students. After throwing a knife at a dart board, he decided
Aldera Middle School would be the place for him. Not the fanciest school by any means, but Nezu
loved a good challenge.

To his surprise, the Aldera staff practically handed him the principal position on a silver platter, so
long as they were allowed to advertise that a pro hero ran their school. Once the year was over, of
course. Nezu gleefully obliged, as he didn’t mind taking advantage of his status to get what he
wanted. He worked hard for that hero license, he deserved to flaunt it every now and then.

When Nezu set up his new office, he decided to have the security monitors moved there as well. After
all, that was the best way to gauge student activity. After spending over an hour getting to know his
new pupils, he stumbled across a rather interesting sight. He saw a blonde-haired boy with an
explosion Quirk blow up the desk of a scared-looking green-haired boy. Most curious of all, however,
was that a teacher was in that very room, yet chose to do nothing.

Before Nezu called an emergency faculty meeting, he decided to do a little digging on those two
particular students of his. After matching their faces to their files, Nezu was perplexed at what he had
found. Apparently, the green-haired boy, Izuku Midoriya, was known for picking fights and disrupting
class. While the blonde boy, Katsuki Bakugo, was one of the school’s top students.

This clearly didn’t match the footage Nezu had just seen, so he turned to past recordings to look for
more evidence. And boy, did he find evidence. Just about every day for the past two years, Katsuki
and various other students had been viciously bullying Izuku. Their actions ranged from stealing his
stuff and shoving him in the hallway, to actively using their Quirks to harm him. All the while the
teachers rarely intervened.

Nezu quickly decided to cancel his faculty meeting. Right now, there was someone he wanted to
speak with.

———————————————

Just because this wasn’t the first time Izuku Midoriya got called to the principal’s office didn’t mean
he wasn’t nervous. Especially since it was usually both him and Katsuki who got called up. It always
went the same: Katsuki would beat him up, the principal would give him some sort of fake
punishment, and Izuku would be reprimanded for having the gall to get beaten up. But considering the
rumors of a new principal, Izuku figured he might as well expect the unexpected.

When he got to the office, Izuku reached to open the door. To his surprise, however, the door swung
open on its own before Izuku could touch the handle. “Come in, come in.” He heard an unfamiliar
voice greet him.

But Izuku did not come in, as he was shocked into silence by the sight he beheld. Sitting at the desk
was none other than the principal of UA himself. After remembering how to form sentences, Izuku
yelled out, “Oh my god! It’s the Mysterious Mammal Hero: Nezu!”

Nezu let out a chuckle, “Always nice to meet a fan. But please, come in. Would you like some tea?”

As Izuku sat on the other side of the desk, his mind still struggled to comprehend the situation,
“You’re here. You, the most famous principal in Japan, are now the principal of our school.” He let
out a crazed chuckle, “What the hell did I eat last night to give me a dream like this?”

“I assure you, Mr. Midoriya, this is not a dream. I may be a dog, mouse, and/or bear, but what’s
important is that I’m your school’s new principal! And I’m here to have a little chat with you.”

Izuku’s confusion quickly dissolved into pure nervousness. So much for a good impression. “Right.
You probably saw my file and realized how much of a troublemaker I am. I’m really sorry! I don’t
mean to get into trouble, I swear!” He pleaded.

“You are both right and wrong on your assumption,” Nezu said as he held up Izuku’s extremely thick
file in one paw. “While it is true that I have taken a look at your file, I have come to a much different
conclusion than you thought I have.” To illustrate his point, Nezu reached into his pocket with his
other paw, took out a small lighter, and set Izuku’s file ablaze.

Izuku’s jaw dropped as he watched every single misdemeanor over his past two years at Aldera
Middle School disappear in an instant, “I - I’m not sure I understand, sir.”

“Then allow me to explain. When I signed on as principal of this school, I was unaware of the
faculty’s frankly illegal conduct regarding you and Mr. Bakugo. Rest assured, however, as I will
personally see to it that this school is shut down and all its teachers will be put to justice.”

Izuku nodded blankly, still struggling to comprehend the situation, “Okay. But what about Kacchan?”

“As for Katsuki Bakugo, I doubt he’ll ever be allowed to so much as look at any hero school for the
rest of his days.”

Izuku suddenly shot out of his seat, “Hold on, you can’t do that! Kacchan’s supposed to be a hero!”
Nezu’s composure didn’t falter, “Oh? And where did you get that idea?”

“Practically everyone in the school agrees on it. He has to make it to UA. He just has to.”

“As, yes, everyone in this school run by biased teachers believes the student they put up on a pedestal
deserves the world.”

“Well, when you put it like that…”

“Of course, they could just be biased for a reason. Maybe he just radiates heroic potential.” Nezu
turned the security monitor to Izuku, which showed footage of Katsuki launching an explosion at
Izuku. “But based on what I’ve seen of him, that sounds very unlikely.”

“Yeah, well…” Izuku paused as he reached for an answer, “He only does that to me. It shouldn’t
matter too much.”

For the first time since the meeting began, Nezu dropped his trademark smile as he gently rested a
paw on Izuku’s shoulder, “Midoriya, the way you speak of yourself leads me to believe you think of
yourself as less than human.”

“I, um, well…”

“I would like to let you know that I am deeply sorry for all you’ve endured over these past two years.
Absolutely nobody deserves to be treated badly due to their genetic differences.” Izuku started
sniffling as small tears ran down his face, but Nezu continued, “As your principal, and as a hero, you
have my solemn vow that these injustices will not stand.”

At those words, the dam broke, and Izuku began to cry openly as tears flooded his face. Nezu simply
smiled warmly as he pulled Izuku in for a hug, rubbing small circles on his back.

After a few minutes, Izuku’s tears subsided as he slowly separated from the hug and sat back in his
seat, “Sorry about that. I don’t have the best handle on my emotions,” he apologized guiltily.

“There is nothing to be sorry for,” Nezu calmly replied.

Izuku scratched his arm nervously, “Um, this might now be the best time, but it sounds like our
meeting’s wrapping up, and I just have to ask…” He pulled out a notebook from… somewhere and
opened it to a page with a drawing of Nezu on it, “Could I have your autograph?”

“Certainly.” Nezu went to sign the page, but paused to read his journal entry. “Oh my, this is some
interesting analysis you have here, young man. Would you mind if I quickly flipped through the rest
of your notebook?”

“Oh, okay, I guess,” Izuku said hesitantly. “But I doubt you’ll find anything interesting in there.”

Nezu turned to the beginning and flipped through the pages. He read pages upon pages of Quirk
analysis, fighting techniques, possible weaknesses, and ways to combat those weaknesses. All the
while, he found his investment increase exponentially. As Nezu’s eyes darted across each page, his
grin widened, his pupils dilated, his tail twitched, and he let out a slightly manic chuckle.

When he finished the last page, he slammed the notebook on the desk, causing Izuku to flinch a little
in his seat, “Mr. Midoriya,” He said ominously, “I would like to request an extension for our
meeting.”
“W - why is that?” Izuku asked in equal parts fear and excitement.

“I have a proposition for you involving Katsuki Bakugo!” He cheered, the ominousness in his voice
dissipating almost instantly.

“Kacchan? Does this have something to do with his admittance to a hero school?”

“Correct. While I will be barring Mr. Bakugo from the UA entrance exam, I have decided I will not
blacklist him from all hero schools if he shows a significant improvement in behavior. And in order
for him to change, he’ll need a rather harsh wake-up call.”

Izuku tilted his head, “I’m confused. What does this have to do with my journals?”

“Why, who better to give him the wake-up call than the person he’d least expect? And to do that, I’d
like to help you refine your Quirk analysis. Which is why, with your permission, I’d like to take you
on as my personal student!”

“Yes!” Izuku blurted out without giving himself a chance to fully comprehend the sentence.

Nezu clapped his hands together, “Excellent! Now, how would you like to get a little well-intentioned
revenge on your former tormentor?”

Izuku returned Nezu’s iconic grin, “I’d love to!”

Nezu nodded eagerly, “Then let us begin on our main subject, the dark side of Quirk analysis.”

———————————————

One Week Later…

The last class of the day had finished a few minutes ago, and just about everybody had already left.
Despite that, Izuku sat hunched at his desk, scribbling at his newest notebook, when it was suddenly
snatched off his desk by a cocky-looking Katsuki, flanked by two of his cronies, just as he planned.

“How many times do we have to teach you this lesson, Deku?” Katsuki sneered. “You bring out your
creepy stalker notebooks, you get ‘yer ass beat.”

Izuku didn’t look up from his desk, nor did he utter a single word. Katsuki’s eye twitched in
annoyance, “Hello? Did you go deaf or something? I said we’re gonna kick your ass!”

Izuku still didn’t respond, which made Katsuki contort his face in rage, “You think you’re too good to
talk to me?!” He said as he slammed his hand on the desk. Then, in the blink of an eye, Izuku grabbed
Katsuki’s hand off the desk, turned it over so his palm was facing upward, and jammed the eraser part
of his pencil into its center.

“Ow!” Katsuki yelped as instinctively pulled his hand away, “You’re fucking dead, Deku!” He tried to
release a huge explosion from the same hand, but only a tiny burst came out.

It was at this moment that Izuku finally raised his head to face Katsuki, giving him the coldest stare
Katsuki had ever seen in his entire life. “Do you know what I just did, Kacchan?” He asked calmly.

“You just dug your own grave, that’s what!” Katsuki barked.
“No,” Izuku slowly shook his head, “I hit a nerve cluster in the center of your palm, and that
temporarily disabled your Quirk. Don’t worry, it’ll be better by tomorrow.” He held up his pencil and
turned it to the sharpened side. “But if I wasn’t feeling so generous, if I had struck you with the other
end,” He let out a slow, deep laugh, “You would have been as Quirkless as the kid you bullied.”

Katsuki trembled as he instinctively stepped back, as a small animal would back away from a
predator, “W - what the hell are you talking about?” He asked shakily.

Izuku got up from his seat and slowly circled Katsuki and his cronies, “I’m saying you’re weaker than
you think, Kacchan. All it takes is one lucky shot, one simple strike, and your dreams of heroism go
up in flames. Though it’s not as if you’re the only one with this problem.”

Izuku shifted his gaze to one of Katsuki’s lackeys, the one with gray, spiky hair, “Kuemon Ryuzaki. A
Quirk like Neck Extension doesn’t seem too bad. That is, until you realize that just gives it more
places to snap.” He punctuated that last work with a crack of his neck.

Izuku turned to the other one of Katsuki’s cronies, this one without any hair, “And with a Quirk that
lets you pull your eyes right out of their sockets, could you imagine how easy it would be to sever the
optic nerve?” He made a pair of scissors with his fingers. “Just one snip is all it takes. But who
knows? Maybe the eyes would regenerate. But based on your current expressions, I doubt you’re in
the mood to experiment.”

And indeed they weren’t. Because as soon as Izuku finished his sentence, Katsuki and his cronies all
ran out of the classroom as fast as humanly possible while screaming like children.

As soon as Izuku was left alone in the classroom, he collapsed into a chair and let out a breath he
didn’t realize he was holding. He couldn’t believe that actually worked. He looked up at a nearby vent
grate, “How was that?” He asked.

“Absolutely marvelous. Couldn’t have done it better myself!” Nezu said as he popped out of the vent.

“I hope Kacchan takes that lesson to heart,” Izuku said to himself.

“Indeed,” Nezu nodded. “It’s only a matter of time before I finalize this school's shutdown. And I’ll
gladly go out of my way to make sure neither of you go to the same school ever again.”

———————————————

Several days later, once Aldera had its doors closed and its teachers arrested, Izuku and Nezu sat in
the cockpit of a wrecking ball, ready to rake Aldera over the coals one last time.

“Might I offer you the first swing?” Nezu asked politely.

“Actually,” Izuku pulled out a small remote with a singular red button, “I’ve got a better plan for
destruction.” He pressed the button, and a truck full of fireworks came barreling in out of nowhere
and slammed into the school, igniting its entire cargo and creating a colorful spectacle of light that
was visible from space.

Nezu laughed like a madman, “Oh, brilliant, Midoriya! Absolutely brilliant! I can’t wait until Yagi
meets you. He won’t be able to pass you up.”

Izuku lowered an eyebrow, “Who’s Yagi?”

Chapter End Notes

Bet you thought I forgot about Fireworks Truck-kun, didn't you? Though I admit, it would have
been funny to see it be able to penetrate even UA's defenses.

Will Bakugo take this humiliation to heart and change his attitude for the better? Or will he
double down at his next school? Who knows? I know I don't.

Next time: A very cute chapter

 Himiko the Faker
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Izuku Midoriya wasn’t quite sure what to make of his new classmate. She introduced herself as
Himiko Toga in a dull tone that sounded like it had been rehearsed ad nauseam, but Izuku just chalked
it up to first-day jitters. It wasn’t until Himiko had taken her seat next to Izuku and class began that he
started to notice something was off.

Izuku considered himself to be the textbook definition of jittery, but Himiko instantly blew that out of
the water. And it wasn’t the ‘drank too much coffee’ kind of jittery. It seemed more like the ‘serious
withdrawal symptoms’ kind of jittery. Not only that, her eyes twitched, her hair looked disheveled,
and she held a stoic, almost dead-looking expression throughout the entire class. Like she was trying
to hold herself together, but was in danger of snapping at any moment.

Izuku realized he was probably getting a bit too personal here, with him keeping track of all her tics
even though they hadn’t spoken a word to one another. So he decided to at least familiarize himself
with her before he started needlessly worrying. “Are you okay?” He whispered.

Himiko slowly turned to Izuku and gave the fakest smile he’d ever seen, “Yes. I’m perfectly normal.”

Wow. That was very unconvincing. It was at that moment Izuku decided he should get to the bottom
of this. After all, he might not have a Quirk, but there were still other ways he could be a hero. Izuku
decided the best way to start was to befriend the girl so he could get a better understanding of her and
her situation. Provided she didn’t immediately dismiss him due to his Quirklessness. Wouldn’t be the
first time.

After class let out for lunch, Izuku turned to Himiko and smiled at her, “Hi, I’m Izuku Midoriya.
You’re Himiko Toga, right?”

“Yes, that’s me. It’s great to meet you, Midoriya,” She replied with that same dull, practiced tone.
“Would you like to go eat lunch together?”

Izuku gulped. He didn’t usually eat lunch at the cafeteria. That just gave Katsuki and his cronies more
chances to pick on him. But still, he would do what had to be done and pray for the least humiliating
outcome, “Sure!” He said with a thumbs up.

———————————————

“So…” Izuku began to ask as they sat down, “What do you like to do?”

“Normal girl things,” Himiko replied.

“Um, like what?”

“Oh, you know, painting nails, styling hair, doing makeup… the color pink.”

“Ooooookay.” Izuku could tell she was faking it from a mile away. What exactly she was faking was
still unknown, so he just had to keep digging. “What about heroes? Do you have a favorite hero?”

“I like… All Might.”

Normally, Izuku would be ecstatic about finding another All Might fan. Unfortunately, it was
painfully obvious Himiko had just named the first hero that came to her mind. So either she didn’t
like heroes, or she was just that out of the loop. Izuku suspected the latter.

“You don’t seem very sure about that,” Izuku said as he held a hero notebook in front of Himiko.
“Maybe we can find one that works for you. You seem like the type to be into the Wild Wild
Pussycats, or maybe-”

Izuku was cut off as a familiar pair of hands grabbed onto the notebook and started pulling it towards
him, “You’ve got some nerve showin’ your shitty face around here, Deku.” Katsuki spat.

Izuku’s grip on the notebook didn’t falter. “Kacchan, I was just showing Toga some cool heroes. Stop,
please.” He pleaded as he tried to pull it back, but failed due to his lack of muscle.

“For the last time, Deku, no one cares about your shitty stalker notebooks!” Katsuki yanked hard on
the notebook, freeing it from Izuku’s grasp.

“Ow!” Izuku yelped. He looked at his finger. The sudden jerk from Katsuki gave him a papercut.
“Shoot. I think it’s bleeding." He muttered to himself.

He spared a quick glance over to Himiko, only for his attention to fully divert to her once he saw her
current state. She was staring at Izuku’s paper cut with dilated pupils, biting her lip so hard it looked
like it was about to bleed, and breathing heavily through her nose.

Izuku, unsure of what caused this reaction, slowly and carefully approached Himiko, “Toga, are you
alright?” He asked as calmly as he could.

Suddenly, Himiko fell out of her seat and collapsed on the ground. Izuku shot out of his seat to try and
help her up, but she quickly scrambled away while repeatedly whispering to herself, “Normal girls
don’t drink blood. Normal girls don’t drink blood. Normal girls don’t drink blood.”

“What the fuck?” Katsuki muttered under his breath, which Izuku didn’t seem to notice.

Before he could do anything else, Himiko shot up and ran out of the cafeteria as fast as she could.
“TOGA, WAIT!” Izuku yelled as he ran to chase after her. He had no idea what was happening to
Himiko or why, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t at least try to do
something.

———————————————

Himiko had no idea where she was going, she just needed to get away. She couldn’t be around Izuku,
around anyone. The minute she got a whiff of his blood, it was like all her primal urges came bursting
through at once. It took everything she had not to attack him right then and there.

Himiko heard footsteps trailing behind her. She had no idea who they belonged to, probably a teacher
sent to chase her down like the monster she was. It didn’t matter, there was no way her parents would
even look at her again after having yet another breakdown.

After getting some distance between her and her pursuer, Himiko darted into the nearest alley and
collapsed against the wall to catch her breath. She still felt her urges gnawing away at her. She
couldn’t stop salivating. She needed blood. She spotted a rat scurry past her, lunged to grab it, and
quickly sank her teeth into its back. She could barely register the rat’s small squeak of pain as she
drained its blood. It tasted like rotten onions, but Himiko didn’t care. It still made her feel fuller than
anything she’d eaten in the past two years of her life.

Himiko could feel tears streaming down her face as she continued to drink. She hated that she was
enjoying this, that she took sick pleasure from her monstrous actions. It was no wonder everyone at
her old school looked at her like she was messed up. Now it looked like she would be in for a repeat
at her new school.

“Toga?”

Himiko paused as she let the rat fall out of her mouth. She slowly turned to see Izuku watching her
with what had to be fear in his eyes. Himiko’s heart sank as she found herself breathing heavily, “No.
Nonononono. Stay away from me!” She yelled.

“Toga. Calm down. I just want to help,” Izuku said slowly.

Why hadn’t he run away yet? Did he not just see what Himiko was doing? “No. Please. Get away!
I’m a monster!”

“Toga, listen to me. I just need you to breathe. Can you do that?” Izuku demonstrated by taking a deep
breath in, then out, which Himiko reluctantly copied. After a few minutes of doing that, Himiko could
hear the outside world again and fully grasp the weight of her actions. She curled her knees to her
forehead as she began quietly weeping.

Through her near-silent sobs, Himiko could hear Izuku slowly approach and sit down next to her,
“Why are you still here?” She asked, “Can’t you see I’m just a monster?”

“You’re not a monster, Toga.” Izuku gently placed a hand on Himiko’s shoulder.

“I DRINK BLOOD!” Himiko snapped, “How does that not make me a monster?! I attacked that rat,
and I was this close to attacking you! Now everyone’s gonna hate me because I couldn’t just be
normal for ten seconds!” Himiko felt all her pent-up emotions release at once, and she buried her face
into her hands as she sobbed louder than she ever had before. All the while, Izuku just sat next to her
and rubbed her shoulder understandingly.

After a few minutes, Himiko’s tears subsided, and she returned to her curled-up position. Izuku
cleared his throat before saying, “Toga, does your Quirk have anything to do with blood, by chance?”

“Mm hm,” Himiko absently nodded.

“Then I think it’s likely that blood is just a dietary necessity for you. Like how someone with a lion
Quirk would need a lot of meat in their diet. When was the last time you had blood?”

“…Two years ago.”

Izuku’s eyes widened, “Okay, that explains a lot. Are your parents aware there are clinics for people
whose Quirks require dietary supplements?”

“My parents said normal girls don’t drink blood.”

“Oh…” Izuku said as if he just heard something world-shattering. “Well, if you want, you could have
some of my blood.”

Himiko looked up in shock, “I - I’m sorry, what was that?”

Izuku held out his arm to Himiko, “You’re clearly malnourished. So unless your body doesn’t reject
my blood type or anything, then I’d be happy to lend you some if you need it.”

Himiko stared at Izuku in disbelief, “Why? Why are you being… so nice to me?”

Izuku let out a small smile, “You looked like you needed help.”

Himiko looked down at Izuku’s arm. After a moment of hesitation, she slowly dug her fangs into his
flesh and began sucking. As soon as the blood hit her tongue, she felt an overwhelming ecstasy she
had never felt before. His blood was so rich, so juicy, so succulent. It tasted like fresh honey, the kind
Himiko wanted to enjoy all day.

But unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. After a few moments, Himiko disconnected
her fangs from his arm, finally satisfied after god knows how many years. She barely even noticed the
tears of joy dripping down her face.

“Do you feel better?” Izuku asked as he took out his phone.

“Mm hm,” Himiko nodded with a small smile on her face. Suddenly, she noticed Izuku had his phone
to his ear, waiting for someone to pick up, “Who are you calling?”

“My mom,” Izuku answered, “She’s a lawyer.”

———————————————

Several Months Later…

Himiko and Izuku walked to class with their hands intertwined with one another, as they had done
many times before. Izuku had his trademark sheepish, slightly flustered smile, while Himiko wore a
satisfied grin.

“I can’t believe your mom got my parents arrested for child abuse,” Himiko stated.

“And I can’t believe she got Vlad King on the case, who then adopted you soon after,” Izuku added.

“And I can’t believe how much better I feel now that I have a steady supply of medically provided
blood. I swear, that fireworks truck crashing into my old school was the best thing to ever happen to
me.”

“Wait, why are we saying this out loud if we both already know?”

“Because I like the sound of your cute voice,” Himiko leaned up and kissed Izuku on the cheek,
earning a blush from the boy.

“Himiko, PDA,” Izuku muttered.

Himiko grinned, “I don’t mind if other people know how much I love you. And I know you don’t
either.”

In place of a reply, Izuku quickly planted a kiss of his own on his girlfriend's cheek, his face
exploding into a deep red blush soon after.

As the couple sat down at their desks, they found their flirting interrupted when Katsuki slammed his
hands on both their desks, letting out an explosion on each one, “Listen here, Deku. Just because
some girl’s desperate enough to hang out with you doesn’t make you any less of a waste of space! Got
that?”

“I, um, well I-” Izuku stuttered before Himiko spoke up for him.

“What Izuku means to say is that he wants you to fuck off, Bakugo.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Katsuki yelled before storming to his desk. “This isn’t over, Deku!”

“The nerve of him,” Himiko muttered to herself. “Probably the least cute thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Yeah,” Izuku reluctantly agreed, “He’s been a lot angrier ever since you and I started dating.”

“Really? I thought he was always this much of an asshole.” Himiko stage-yelled to make sure Katsuki
overheard. She took great pride in the dirty look he shot her.

“I just wish he’d be a bit nicer, but it’s not like he’d willingly save a cat from a tree or anything.”

“Yeah, he’d probably hate that,” Himiko chuckled. Suddenly, she paused as a delightfully devilish
idea popped into her brain. “But what if he did.”

Izuku raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

Himiko leaned over to whisper in Izuku’s ear, “You know how the annual blood drive is tomorrow?
And how Bakugo always donates a fuck ton of blood to feed his ego?”

“Um, yeah?”

“And you know how no one, not even the teachers, knows my real Quirk?”

“Yeah, your sperm donors put it down as ‘Minor Cat Mutation.’ But how do those two things…”
Izuku’s eyes widened in realization. “Himiko, you’re a genius.”

“Keep complimenting me like that, and I might just have to kiss you.”

Izuku grinned, “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

———————————————

Several Days Later…

“Hey, Bakugo!”

Katsuki paused in the hallway as some extra came up to greet him, “What the fuck do you want?”

“I just wanted to say thank you for giving me that birthday present yesterday. How did you know
seagulls were my favorite bird?”

“I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about.” Katsuki drawled.

“Oh, don’t be so modest,” The extra laughed, “We all know what a big help you’ve been over these
past few days.” They suddenly noticed some other extra walking past them and called them over,
“Hey, Kazashi, didn’t Bakugo help rescue your cat from a tree the other day.”

“No I didn’t!” Katsuki yelled.

“Yeah you did!” Kazashi exclaimed, “I never got to thank you for that. I had no idea you were so
good with animals.”

“I also heard from Kenji that you helped them study for their math test. And you gave Miyano some
great workout tips.” The extra pointed out.

Katsuki clenched his fists and ground his teeth together, “I didn’t do any of that shit! None of you
extras mean a damn thing to me!”

“Actions speak louder than words,” Kazashi said cheerfully.

“Fuck you! I’m outta here!” Katsuki screamed as he stomped off to his classroom.

When Katsuki opened the door, he was met with what had to have been the weirdest sight he had ever
seen. Someone who looked exactly like him was already sitting at his desk and conversing with the
other extras.

“And then I said, ‘I don’t know, but his face rings a bell!’” Fake Katsuki said to the laughter of the
extras surrounding him. Real Katsuki fumed in anger as he set off small explosions in his palms.

“WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!” Everyone in the room turned to Real Katsuki, then back at Fake
Katsuki, then Real, then Fake.

“I’m Katsuki Bakugo, duh.” The faker smiled.

“Are you the one who's been helping these extras behind my back?!”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Fake Katsuki deadpanned.

“IT IS! I can’t afford to waste time on these extras!”

“Hold on! Hold on!” Izuku ran up between the two Katsukis. “Let’s just figure out who the real
Katsuki is calmly and civilly.”

“Shut the fuck up, Deku!” Real Katsuki yelled.

“Hey, that wasn’t very nice,” Fake Katsuki reprimanded.

“If you were really me, you wouldn’t give a flying fuck!” Real Katsuki then ran up to his
doppelgänger and held him up by the collar. “And if you were really me, you’d know how I like to
handle problems.”

“Hey, leave Bakugo alone, you faker!” One of the extras yelled out.

Real Katsuki turned to the now-formed crowd in confusion, “What do you mean? I’m the real one! I
have the explosions!”

“Well maybe the real Katsuki shouldn’t be blowing innocent people up.” Fake Katsuki pointed out.

“Yeah! I like the nice Bakugo better!” Someone in the crowd said.

“I agree, he’s much more helpful.”

“And modest.”
 “He’s strong, but he doesn’t rub that fact in your face.”

“Everyone, attack the faker!”

Suddenly, the entire class lunged toward Real Katsuki and tackled him to the floor, “Stop it, you
idiots! You’re making a huge mistake!” He desperately screamed. Before he was carried off, he
caught a glimpse of his doppelgänger, who gave a cheeky, fang-toothed smile. Katsuki immediately
recognized those vampire-like teeth.

“GODDAMMIT FANGS!”

———————————————

When Himiko was alone, she dropped the disguise and ran over to the front of the school. There, she
and Izuku watched a police car haul off the supposedly fake Katsuki. They both turned to each other
and shared a wicked grin.

“You know they’re just gonna let him go once they realize he’s the real deal,” Izuku pointed out.

“I know. But that look on his face was just too priceless,” Himiko giggled.

“And who knows? Maybe he’ll realize how much people liked him when he was nice and make a
change for the better.”

“Or he’ll double down and become twice as angry.”

“That’s… also a possibility.”

“I hope he doubles down. Because I’d love to see his reaction to two Dekus,” Himiko said as she
ruffled Izuku’s fluffy green hair.

Izuku chuckled, “That would truly be a sight to behold.”

Chapter End Notes

This chapter made me add an angst tag. (Or rather, realize that there are various moments of
angst scattered throughout these one-shots. Comes with the territory)

I am sorry for those of you who wanted Himiko to stab Bakugo, but I decided I wanted his
consequences to be more psychologically torturous in nature. Besides, the dead can no longer
suffer.

Next Time: Izuku gets some timely support

 Mei the Inventor (The One Where She Works With Izuku)
Chapter Notes

If you want to see 'The One Where She Works With Katsuki', please refer to Chapter 61.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Mei Hatsume was glad that fireworks truck rammed into her old school. Sure, it might have destroyed
all the inventions she kept in her locker, but if they couldn’t survive a couple hundred fireworks, they
were pretty much useless. Besides, this new school would allow her so many more new connections.
She’d have a client in no time.

Right now, Mei was in the middle of math class, but she wasn’t even paying attention. Why would
she need to? One of her favorite pastimes was reading college-level physics textbooks. Instead, she
started tinkering with the magnetic grapple gun she brought with her for just such an occasion.

Out of the corner of her eye, Mei noticed some green-haired boy with freckles sneak a few glances at
her work. This was perfect! Mei was always on the lookout for people who showed even a passing
interest in her inventions. Gotta grab those clients while they’re still interested, after all.

Mei leaned over to Freckles and whispered, “What do you think? It’s pretty cool, right?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, it’s pretty cool.” Freckles nervously whispered back. “I bet it has really good
mobility.”

“Are you kidding? My babies are the best in the biz, no questions asked.”

Freckles stared blankly for a few seconds before responding, “Your - your what?”

“My babies. You know, the things I put my heart and soul into? I got one for every situation. Heck,
you could be an accountant and I’d still have something for you. So, would you like to sponsor me or
not?”

Freckles nervously tapped his fingers together, “Um, do you make support items? You know, for
heroes?”

“Do I ever. In fact, that’s my main outlet. Just tell me your Quirk, and I can make you a custom baby
that’ll make you ten times the hero you could ever be.”

Freckles’s look of curiosity immediately fell, and a shameful expression etched itself onto his face.
Shoot! She was losing him. Was it something she said?

“Um, about that,” Freckles murmured, “I’m actually… Quirkless.”

Mei stared at him in disbelief for a few seconds before speaking, “What did you just say?”

“I said I’m Quirkless. I should have told you sooner. I’m sorry for wasting your time. I’ll just-”
“THAT’S AMAZING!” Mei shouted as she jumped out of her seat, attracting the attention of
everyone in class.

“W - what?”

“A Quirkless hero! The perfect blank slate for all my incredible babies! You could be the new poster
child for support items! How would you like to be the first employee of Hatsume Industries?”

“HEY!” Mei turned to see an angry blonde boy stomp over to her, “If you think a Quirkless loser like
Deku could be a hero, someone needs to blast some sense into you!” He menacingly held up a hand,
and tiny explosions popped from his palm.

“No thanks!” Mei smiled obliviously, “My babies already blow me up at least twice a day!” She
turned to grab Freckles by the arm and ran out of the classroom with him in tow. “Now come on,
Freckles, we have some babies to make!”

Fortunately, Mei did not notice the shocked expressions from everyone in the classroom upon hearing
that statement. Unfortunately, Izuku did.

———————————————

“Did you really have to drag me to the roof in the middle of class?” Freckles asked.

“Yup!” Mei answered confidently, “Innovation waits for no man, woman, or child. And I fall into at
least one of those categories.”

“Er, okay. If we’re going to be working together, I should probably introduce myself. I’m Izuku
Midoriya.”

“Cool! Your name has already been forgotten.” Mei beamed, “Anyway, if we’re gonna make you
some support gear, we’ll have to start with some measurements. Heads up, that might end in an
explosion. After that, I’ll get to building. A few dozen explosions later, we’ll be ready to test the
prototypes, and then the explosion count will be in the hundreds!”

Izuku winced, “Can we maybe not have so many explosions, please?”

“What’s got you so worried, Freckles? Explosions are just a sign of progress. No such thing as a bad
explosion, I always say.”

“Well, you know Kacchan? The guy with the explosion Quirk?”

“I do! Such a cool Quirk! He must make so much progress.”

“Er, yeah… he does. And that’s the problem.” To illustrate his point, Izuku rolled up his sleeve,
revealing a starburst-shaped burn mark on his arm. “He made a lot of ‘progress’ on me this morning.”

Mei’s smile slowly faltered, “O - oh. That’s… not good.”

“Yeah,” Izuku nodded solemnly, “So do you think you can maybe tone down the explosions?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never made anything without at least a couple explosions. I can’t even butter my
toast without the knife bursting into flames.”
“Why are you so insistent on including explosions anyway?” Izuku asked. “If your inventions didn’t
explode, wouldn’t you be able to reuse the parts from your failed prototypes? I think that would save
a lot of money.”

Mei paused to digest that statement. The more she thought about it, the more sense it made. She was
trying to start a business, after all. It would be important to save money wherever you could. And Mei
knew from experience just how much property damage her explosions could cause.

Mei lunged at Izuku and pulled him into a tight, constricting, life-extracting hug. “Freckles, you’re a
goddamn genius! This is why I hired you!”

“Can you please… stop… strangling me?” Izuku squeaked out.

Mei obliged as she pulled out a notebook from her pocket and began sketching ideas, “I can see it
now! I’ll build you the biggest, coolest, most explosion-proof set of armor in Japan! But I’m not
gonna stop there. What’s better than absorbing explosions? Redirecting them right back at ‘ya! That’s
right, It’ll absorb kinetic energy and release it at full force!”

“Oh, kind of like Fat Gum,” Izuku chimed in.

“Exactly! Except instead of food, this baby’s gonna be powered by science!”

“Science!” Izuku cheered.

“That’s right! Now, you’ll have to stop by my garage a few times a week for fitting and testing. That
sound good? Of course it does! So what are we waiting for? Let’s get to inventing!”

———————————————

Prototype #1

Izuku stared at the pieces of the suit in awe. They looked like a medieval suit of armor, complete with
a helmet and everything, except this one had dark green plating with neon green circuits running
across it. “I like the design,” He said.

“Don’t get too attached,” Mei warned. “For this test, I’m throwing each part in the oven to monitor its
heat resistance. If it can survive thirty minutes at three hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit, then we’re
golden.

Thirty minutes later, Mei opened the oven to several puddles of melted metal and one nearly intact
chest plate. “Alright,” she smiled, “The chestplate survived, which means it’ll serve as the baseline
for the rest of the parts.”

“A suit of armor made entirely of chest plates?” Izuku mused.

“Don’t go giving me any more ideas.” Mei joked.

———————————————

Prototype #2

“Why did you lay down the suit on the highway?” Izuku asked.
“First of all,” Mei began, “It’s called the Kinetic Enforcer. Second of all, I’m testing said kinetic
enforcement by seeing if it stays together after getting run over multiple times. But look, it’s already
withstood a pickup truck, a sports car, an eighteen-wheeler, and an RV.”

“What about the incoming fireworks truck?”

“The what-now?”

Thankfully, the fireworks truck did not explode upon running over the Kinetic Enforcer, but it did
cause all the pieces to scatter everywhere.

“CURSE YOU FIREWORKS TRUCK-KUN!” Mei shouted into the air.

———————————————

Prototype #3

“Alright, this is your first wearable prototype. How does it feel?” Mei asked.

Izuku slowly walked around in his suit of armor. Just about every step looked to be a struggle for him,
“It’s surprisingly comfortable, but it’s really heavy. Kinda hard to walk in.”

“Yup, I figured. Moving in that suit is a full-body workout, which means you gotta put on some
muscle.”

“Is that why you built a treadmill?”

“Yup! We’ll start with a five-mile jog and see how you feel from there.”

Izuku could already feel his muscles begin to ache.

———————————————

Prototype #4

As Mei and Izuku walked to class, Izuku clad in his Kinetic Enforcer, Mei checked off several boxes
on her clipboard, “Alright, so far it’s survived fire, hammers, axes, knives, and fireworks trucks. That
means there’s only one test left.”

“You don’t mean what I think you mean,” Izuku said worriedly.

“Don’t worry, Freckles, my babies have never let me down before, and they ain’t gonna start now.”

“What the fuck are you wearing, Deku?!” Katsuki yelled as Izuku and Mei made their way into the
classroom.

“He’s wearing my newest baby!” Mei announced. “Say hello to the Kinetic Enforcer! Guaranteed to
protect his ass while kicking yours in the process.”

“Ah, I get it,” Katsuki menacingly strolled up to the pair, “You’re both so fucking braindead that you
think Deku can be a hero if he straps enough metal to himself. Well, guess what, Deku,” Katsuki
grabbed Izuku by the arm and dragged him out of the classroom, “We’re taking this outside. And I’m
gonna beat you up so hard, they’ll be finding chunks of metal up your ass for weeks.”
 Izuku wanted to be scared, but if these last few weeks with Mei had taught him anything, it was that
she would rather die than have one of her inventions fail during a presentation. So he had the utmost
faith in his friend’s skills, “I’d like to see you try, Kacchan!” He challenged.

“Whatever you say, it’s your fucking funeral.” At this point, Izuku and Katsuki had reached the
school’s courtyard, with Mei following close behind. Katsuki set Izuku down, shoved a hand in his
armored chestplate, and yelled out, “DIE!”

A huge explosion enveloped the robot, and Katsuki gave a cocky smirk at the damage he assumed he
caused. But when the smoke cleared, Katsuki’s jaw dropped when he realized he hadn’t made a single
scratch, “What the fuck?”

“Aw, too bad!” Mei taunted. “Maybe your explosions were just too small.”

“Shut up, Cross Eyes!” Katsuki lunged toward Izuku and let out an even bigger explosion, with no
effect. He planted both hands on Izuku’s helmet and released a concentrated blast, not even a scratch.
He peppered the entire suit with tiny explosions in hopes of weakening it, Izuku didn’t even flinch.
He even grew desperate and went for the junk, still nothing.

After about ten minutes of mindless explosions, Katsuki stood in front of Izuku, clearly winded, but
still not yielding. “Alright. If you think you’re so tough, why don’t you be a man and fight back
already?”

“Eeehhhh…” Izuku said hesitantly. “I’m not sure about that. This thing has built up a lot of kinetic
energy, and I wouldn’t want to seriously hurt you or anything.”

“Oh, so you’re too good for me, is that it?!” Katsuki yelled. “You think I can’t take it? Think I’m too
weak? Well, how about this?!” In a flash, Katsuki turned and blasted over to Mei, who didn’t seem to
even process the danger she was in. He winded back a devastating right hook, prepared to show Izuku
how serious he really was. Then suddenly, he found himself held back by a cold metal hand that
grabbed him by the arm.

“You know what? Forget what I said earlier.” Izuku winded back a punch, and the circuits covering
his armor lit up like a Christmas tree. Funneling all his stored kinetic energy into his fist, he sent a
devastating uppercut at Katsuki’s chin with the yell of, “DETROIT SMASH!” Sending Katsuki flying
into the sky, past the horizon, and eventually completely out of sight.

“Great job, Izuku!” Mei congratulated him as she beat him on the back. “I knew you’d make great use
of my baby.”

“Thanks, Mei,” Izuku said as he took off his helmet, “Couldn’t have done it without you.”

“I wonder how much air time Blasty got? There’s a strong chance he landed in a different prefecture. I
bet with the next iteration, we could send him to a different country. I ought to get started right now!”

Izuku laughed, “Knowing Kacchan, he’ll probably want revenge for what I just did to him. So we’ll
have plenty of opportunities for test runs.”

Chapter End Notes

Mei is probably the only character who caused more explosions than Bakugo, and yet his
downfall comes when Mei decides that explosions are overrated, how poetic.

I decided to lean into Mei's businesswoman side here. I made her a girl who is also a boss. A
bossgirl, if you would.

Also, I made a crack one-shot where Izuku gets a genie, and the consequences thereof. Check it
out if you want.

Next Time: Your ghosts with the mosts (No, it's not Beetlejuice)
 Nana the Ghost (And the Other Vestiges Too)
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

As Izuku Midoriya made his way to the entrance of Aldera Middle School, neither he nor anyone else
was able to notice the seven ghost-like figures floating over the boy.

“First Day of school! Day of school! First day of school!” Banjo chanted excitedly.

“I believe you are mistaken, Fifth, for this is far from Ninth’s first day.” Hikage corrected.

“He’s talking about us, genius.” En snarked, “You know, since Ninth got One for All this morning.”

“And it’s a good thing he did.” Nana chimed in, “I can’t imagine what would have happened if Toshi
didn’t stop Ninth from pushing himself too hard.”

“I’m still confused why we’re ghosts, though.” En mused before turning to Kudo and Bruce, who
were both facing the nearest wall. “What about you guys? Learn any secrets of the universe by staring
at a wall all day?” If the second and third holders heard anything, they seemingly chose to ignore it.

“I actually have a theory,” Yoichi began to explain, “Us being ghosts is just the first step to reaching
singularity.”

Hikage nodded, “That would explain why we can’t yet communicate with Ninth.”

Banjo snorted frustratedly, “Still, it’d be nice if we could pick shit up.”

“Yeah, then we could at least write a letter explaining all this.” Nana agreed.

“I was thinking more along the lines of being able to touch a fidget cube again, but that works too.”

The Vestiges were interrupted from their conversation by the sound of a body slamming against the
wall. They all turned to see Izuku held up by his collar by a blonde, angry-looking boy.

“It’s that time of the week again, Deku.” The blonde boy growled threateningly.

“P - please, Kacchan,” Izuku practically begged, “I don’t have any more burn cream on me.”

Katsuki held up his other hand threateningly as he gave a sinister smile, “Alright then. Just ‘cause you
said that, I’ll make sure these explosions cut extra deep.”

As Nana watched this encounter, she felt her eye twitch in anger, “Looks like this is the Kacchan
Ninth’s been bringing up to Toshi during beach training.”

“He looks a lot… meaner than Ninth described him.” Yoichi said.

“I don’t care what he looks like. No one threatens our Ninth like that and gets away with it!” Nana
floated over to Katsuki and began throwing punches at the back of his head. Unfortunately, they all
phased right through him, not that it stopped her from trying.
Yoichi sighed, “Give it up, Seventh. I don’t like it any more than you do, but it’s not like we can
change how One for All works just because we’re angry enough.”

POW

“Arg! What the hell hit me?!” Katsuki yelled as he turned to find the culprit, only to see no one else in
the general vicinity.

Unbeknownst to him, Nana was floating right in front of him, staring at her fist with a cheeky grin on
her face. “Guys,” She said to her ghostly companions, “If we concentrate hard enough, we can touch
stuff.”

“No need to tell me twice!” Banjo said. Floating over to a confused Katsuki, he focused all his energy
into his pointer finger and began repeatedly poking Katsuki across the body. The other Vestiges (sans
Kudo and Bruce) just shrugged and joined in the poking as well.

“What the hell?” Katsuki grunted as he felt around his body, trying to find the source of the poking.
“Do I have ants or something?”

With that idea in his head, he ran off to the nearest bathroom to take a look at himself. But before he
left, he turned to Izuku and shouted, “This isn’t over, Deku!”

Izuku, for his part, was confused about the whole ordeal. But he decided not to look a gift horse in the
mouth as he made his way to class.

“Heh. Works every time,” Banjo congratulated himself as he dusted off his hands.

“To my knowledge, this is the first time something like this has happened.” Hikage stated.

“Yeah, and it worked.”

Nana snickered as she sinisterly rubbed her hands together, “And now that we know how to harness
our ghost powers, this is only the beginning.”

———————————————

Later that day, the Vestiges found out that Katsuki made good on his threats when he cornered Izuku
in the school courtyard.

“I told you this wasn’t over, Deku.” Katsuki threatened as he looked over a cowering Izuku.

“Hey, how come Ninth doesn’t fight back?” En questioned, “I mean, One for All aside, we all saw
how ripped he got by the end of his training.”

“Learned behavior, probably.” Yoichi guessed. “And if we want to help him overcome it, we can start
by sticking up for him, and maybe it’ll inspire Ninth to do the same.”

“And I know just how to do it.” Banjo said as he flew over while carrying a soccer ball.

“Where’d you get that?” Nana asked.

“Somebody left the sports equipment shed unlocked. Now watch this.” Banio dropped the ball to the
ground, focused all his spiritual energy into his foot, and kicked the ball right at the back of Katuski’s
head. “GOOOOOOAL!”
“OW! Who did that?!” Katsuki yelled. He whipped his head around to find the perpetrator, only to see
several pieces of sports equipment floating ominously in front of him and Izuku.

“Play ball!” Nana shouted as she swung a bat and whacked a baseball toward Katsuki, which beamed
him on his forehead.

“Ten hut. Hike!” En yelled as he threw a football at Katsuki’s gut, knocking the wind out of him.

“Fore!” Yoichi called out as he whacked a golf ball at Katsuki’s shin.

“Tennis.” Hikage said flatly as he hit a tennis ball at Katsuki’s crotch. “My apologies, I did not intend
for it to land there.”

As Katsuki fell to the ground in pain, Izuku felt his confusion increase exponentially. Was this some
form of divine intervention? Did this have something to do with the Quirk he just got? Was One for
All haunted? Izuku decided he should make a new notebook on poltergeist, just to be safe.

———————————————

The Next Day…

Before class started, Izuku sat at his desk, enraptured in his new ‘Poltergeist Analysis For the Future’
notebook. But the Vestiges weren’t focused on that. Their attention was on Bakugo as he slammed his
hands on one of the students’ desks.

“I know it was you, you damn extra!” Katsuki accused.

“Ok, first of all, my name’s Uzumaki.” The girl clarified, “Second of all, what exactly do you think I
did?”

“Don’t play dumb with me! I know you have a telekinesis Quirk! You were the one who chucked all
that sports equipment at me, weren’t you? Well stop it! It’s freaking me out!”

“Something tells me our little Second lookalike is afraid of ghosts.” En joked.

Uzumaki looked offended at the accusation, “I can barely even lift my own handbag with my Quirk,
much less pelt someone with sports equipment.”

“Bull. Shit.”

“We should probably do something about this.” Yoichi said, “I don’t want innocent people to get
caught up in this.”

Nana floated over to Katsuki, “Not to worry. I’ve got a foolproof plan.” She focused her ghastly
energy in her hands, lifted Katsuki off the ground, and began flying him in circles, causing screams of
panic to spread across the entire classroom.

“See? You’re doing it right now!” Katsuki yelled.

“No I’m not!” Uzumaki defended, “I’m not even moving my hands!”

“Well who the fuck else could it possibly-” Katsuki paused as he caught a glimpse of Izuku, who
looked just as terrified as everyone else.
In a flash, Katsuki tore himself from Nana’s grasp, lifted Izuku out of his seat, and shoved him against
the wall, “It was you, wasn’t it, Deku?”

“What are you talking about, Kacchan?” Izuku asked nervously, “I don’t know anything!”

“Don’t fucking lie to me! Weird shit only happens to me when you’re around! You have some sort of
telekinesis Quirk, don’t you? You’ve just been hiding it this whole time because you think you’re
better than me!”

“What kind of copium is that boy smoking? And where can I get some?” Banjo chuckled.

“No time for jokes.” Nana said, “Bakugo’s about to beat up Ninth. We have to do something!”

“Sucks that we can’t just possess him.” En sighed, “That would make things a helluva lot easier.”

“Who says we can’t?” Yoichi asked rhetorically as he phased into Izuku, thereby possessing him.

Suddenly, Izuku’s posture straightened, and his expression shifted from fearful to one of cold fury, a
change that was quickly noticed by everyone in the class, including Katsuki.

“You’re wrong, Bakugo.” Izuku said coldly and quietly, “Izuku doesn’t think he’s better than you, but
we do.”

Katsuki instinctively took a step back as a seed of fear was planted into his mind, “What are you
talking about, Deku? Who’s ‘we?’”

Izuku let out a small, confident smile as he began slowly rising off the ground (thanks to Nana lifting
him up), “We are the vengeful spirits of this school. And we have decided to intervene on your little
charade.”

Katsuki gulped nervously as he took another step back, “So - so what? You’re fucking haunting
Deku? What’s that supposed to accomplish?”

Izuku let out a small chuckle, which slowly grew into a laugh, which slowly grew into a booming
cackle of pure evil (Yoichi picked up a few things from his brother while he was alive, including his
trademark evil laugh). As the lights began rapidly flickering on and off (thanks to Hikage at the light
switch), Izuku flew up to Katsuki’s face and said, “You’re a fool, Katsuki Bakugo! Have you
seriously not considered how your actions have led up to this point? We’re not haunting him, we’re
haunting you!”

Izuku’s cackle returned in full force as he rose higher into the air, and various chairs, desks, and other
items began floating off the ground and circling him (thanks to Banjo and his many whips).

Katsuki tried to back off, but En picked him up and brought him to Izuku’s level. The possessed
green-haired boy stared at him with a feral, malicious grin, “But we’re not ruthless. Far from it,
actually. If you agree to change your ways, we’ll leave you be. So, what do you say, Bakugo?”

“I… I…” Katsuki’s brain struggled to find an answer. His eyes darted around until he caught a
glimpse of the group of students watching him expectantly. He knew if there was any moment to back
down, it certainly wasn’t now. “I’M GONNA KILL YOU A SECOND TIME!”

Katsuki blasted himself at Izuku as he wound back an easily telegraphed right hook. Izuku rolled his
eyes as he flipped Katsuki over his shoulder and sent him careening toward the ground with a loud
THUD.
 Katsuki got up to see Izuku hovering over him with a disappointed look on his face, “Wrong choice.”
He said with an echo that made it sound like seven voices speaking at once.

That was when Katsuki gave into fear and immediately booked it out of the classroom. A few
moments later, Izuku and the rest of the class could hear the main doors to the school open from
outside. They all peered out the window to see Katsuki running out the door, down the steps, through
the gates, past the sidewalk, and onto the street, where he then got hit by a fireworks truck because he
did not look both ways.

The entire class, including Izuku and the Vestiges, instinctively flinched back at the sight. He didn’t
look dead, but he’d definitely broken more than a few bones.

“Ummmm… I’ll go call an ambulance,” Izuku said, still possessed by Yoichi.

———————————————

School ended up being let out early that day due to the incident. Yoichi continued to possess Izuku
until he got home and wrote a letter explaining everything. Once he was done with that, he sat down
on Izuku’s bed, letter in hand, and flew out of Izuku’s body.

“Huh? What happened?” Izuku asked, having just regained consciousness. He quickly noticed the
letter in his hand addressed to him and began to read it.

Dear Izuku Midoriya,

This is a letter from the past holders of One for All. The Quirk is rapidly approaching singularity. And
as a result, we can now project ourselves as ghosts. We were the ones who pelted your bully with
sports equipment yesterday. And when he threatened you earlier today, one of us possessed your body
to give him a scare (sorry for doing that without your consent, but we didn’t want him to hurt you). It
ended with him running away and getting hit by a fireworks truck. Don’t worry, he’s not dead. Just
don’t be surprised if you don’t see him for a few days. And if he tries to bother you after that, don’t
worry, we’ll have your back.

Always rooting for you,

-Yoichi, Kudo, Bruce, Hikage, Banjo, En, and Nana <3

P.S. You’ll be inheriting our Quirks eventually. More details to come :)

P.P.S. Tell Toshinori Nana says hi.

When Izuku finished reading the note, he had only one thing on his mind, “Who’s Toshinori?”

Nana just facepalmed.

Chapter End Notes

I decided to do the Halloween special ten months early. So to balance things out, I'll be doing the
totally real and totally planned Christmas special ten months late.
It feels so weird calling Second and Third by their actual names. Especially since, in my opinion,
Third does not look like a Bruce.

Next Time: Another villain. Who could it be? Only one guess per person.
 All for One the Intruder
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

All for One was practically giddy as he checked his calendar Quirk. The day was finally here! In
order to prepare himself for his inevitable clash with All Might, All for One started a tradition: Every
few years, he would go undercover to swipe a particularly powerful Quirk, and then he would stage
an ‘accident’ to destroy the evidence.

Last time, he posed as a teacher so he could take Air Cannon, and then he blew the whole place up
with a fireworks truck. That was fun, but All for One was determined to outdo himself this time.
Thankfully, he had picked up a disguise Quirk since then, and was ready to go undercover as a
student. Of course, the drawback to the Quirk was that any disguise it produced was only skin deep.
All it would take was one punch, and he’d be back to normal. But All for One didn’t care. If anything,
it gave him the chance to flex his manipulation skills.

As All for One threw up his teenage disguise, he took one more look at his mission file to savor the
reward he was soon about to receive. Explosion, what a wonderful Quirk. Once he obtained it, his
quest to weaponize every one of his bodily fluids would be complete. He already had Poisonous Spit,
Acidic Blood, Parasitic Earwax, Flaming Urine, and many others. With devastating explosions
literally right at his fingertips, All Might wouldn’t stand a chance.

———————————————

As All for One made his way to his classroom while thinking about how exactly he should steal
Explosion, he was pulled from his thoughts by the familiar sound of combustion coming from across
the hall. Putting two and two together, All for One excitedly ran down the hallway to see Katsuki
Bakugo terrorizing a skinny green-haired boy.

“You just never know when to give up, do you?” Katsuki sneered.

“I wasn’t even doing anything!” The green-haired boy pleaded, only to be met with an explosion to
the chest.

“You’re out of your league, Deku. That’s more than enough reason for me to beat your Quirkless ass.”

All for One’s eyes widened at the word ‘Quirkless.’ He hadn’t seen a naturally born Quirkless child of
that age for quite some time. And being as ostracized as he was, that child must be willing to do
anything for a Quirk.

All for One felt his evil grin widen as his brain hatched an idea. He couldn’t risk going after Katsuki
directly, what with his fragile disguise. But if he gave someone a strong enough Quirk, not only could
he have someone else do the dirty work for him, but he would also gain a new indebted servant. Plus,
the idea of a bully defeated by his former victim was too poetic for All for One to pass up.

Putting his plan into action, All for One walked up to the green-haired boy and offered a hand to help
him up. “Are you alright?” He asked with faux-sincerity.

“I’m fine. I’ve had worse.” The boy replied as he got up. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here
before. Are you new?”
“Yes, I am. Today’s my first day. My name is Reiji Shigaraki.” Reiji wasn’t his real first name, just
the one he put on the fake identity. He kept his real last name because he never got tired of the sound
of it.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Izuku Midoriya.”

“That burn on your chest looks bad, Midoriya. Does that blonde kid beat you up just because you’re
Quirkless?”

Izuku sighed, “That, and because I want to be a hero. He kind of took that as a personal challenge.”

All for One had to hold back the urge to scoff. A Quirkless hero, what an asinine idea. “Either way,
why don’t I patch you up?” He placed a hand on Izuku’s chest and activated one of his healing
Quirks. The burn mark quickly shriveled up into nothingness as it was replaced with normal skin.

Izuku stared at his chest in wonder, “You have a healing Quirk? That’s so cool!”

All for One chucked, “Not just a healing Quirk. Let me tell you a secret.” He leaned into Izuku’s ear
and whispered, “Now, don’t tell anyone, but my Quirk allows me to take and give other Quirks.”

Izuku forced himself to cover his mouth with both hands to not blurt anything out in astonishment.
Eventually, he swallowed the excitement and whispered back, “That might just be the coolest Quirk
I’ve ever seen. How many Quirks do you have?”

“Oh, countless. But that’s not important right now. What’s important is the one I’m going to give to
you.”

Izuku’s eyes widened as his pupils dilated. He struggled to form words for a few moments out of
sheer shock. Eventually, he choked out, “You - are you serious?” His tone coated in disbelief.

“As serious as I’ll ever be.”

Suddenly, tears came gushing out of Izuku’s eyes like a waterfall as he pulled All for One into a deep
hug, an action he did not appreciate in the slightest. “Thank you. Thank you so much!” Izuku cried
out in pure childlike joy.

“My… pleasure.” All for One grunted as he squirmed his way out of the hug. “There is, however, one
thing I must ask of you first.”

“Anything! I’ll do anything!”

“All I need you to do is use your new Quirk to put that explosive blonde in his place. After all,
defeating villains is what a hero does best.”

“Oh, Kacchan’s not a villain. He’s actually shooting for UA.”

If All for One had been drinking something, he would have spat it out in shock. He had just seen
Katsuki use his Quirk to assault Izuku. That was literally the legal definition of villainy (takes one to
know one, after all). “Regardless,” All for One tried to keep his composure, “I doubt that kind of
behavior would fly in an actual hero school. It would do him some good to set him straight by making
him realize he’s not the biggest fish in the pond.”

“I guess… you have a point,” Izuku reluctantly conceded. “If a little humility will help him become a
better hero, I guess I could give it a shot.
All for One hadn’t known this boy for long, but he could already tell he was stretching his ideals just
so he could get a Quirk. He was reminded of the Era of Chaos, how some Quirkless folk would
literally offer their firstborn son in exchange for even the most useless of powers. The more things
change, the more they stay the same.

“Good, good,” All for One nodded, “Now that everything’s settled, which Quirk would you like?”

“Oh, um, what are my options?”

“Practically everything! But how about we go with something familiar? Do either of your parents
have Quirks?”

“My mom has a minor attraction Quirk, and my dad can breathe fire. Do you have anything similar to
either of those?”

“Why not have both? I have a pyrokinesis Quirk that I haven’t been able to use due to… vision issues.
I’m sure you’ll make great use of it.”

“That sounds amazing! So, how does the transfer work? Do I have to ingest your DNA or
something?”

“It’s much simpler than that,” All for One said as he placed his hand on Izuku’s face. “This will only
hurt for a minute.”

“Exactly how much will this hur - OH GOD! THE PAIN IS UNBEARABLE!”

———————————————

Once lunchtime rolled around, Izuku and All for One met on the rooftop so he could experiment with
his new Quirk.

“This Quirk is great!” Izuku cheered as another fire geyser enveloped from the ground. “All I have to
do is think of where I want my fire to be, and it appears. I can even form it into certain shapes like
balls, geysers, and spears. Not only that, but I can even start fires in places I can’t directly see, which
gives me some great ideas for super moves. Of course, there’s the downside of my head burning up if
I use too much fire at once, but I wonder if I can mitigate that with an ice pack. Or maybe I could-”

“Alright, that’s enough.” All for One interrupted. “Do you think you’re ready to take on Katsuki
Bakugo yet?”

“I’m… not sure,” Izuku admitted. “I mean, I’ve only had this Quirk for a few hours, and Kacchan’s
had his since he was four.”

“Well, too bad. Because I already scheduled a fight in the courtyard right after school.”

“You WHAT?!” Izuku shouted. “How did you even get him to agree to that?”

All for One gave a devious smile, “Oh, I have my ways.”

———————————————

“Would you like to beat up Midoriya in the courtyard after school today?”

“You don’t have to tell me twice!”

 ———————————————

“I can’t do this. It’s just not possible.” Izuku began to panic, “I’ll probably use Pyrokinesis wrong,
then he’ll beat me up in front of the entire school, then I’ll just be an even more worthless Deku since
I seriously thought I could beat him with a Quirk I just got, then I’ll-”

Izuku was cut off as All for One grabbed his face by the cheeks and pulled him close, “Listen here,
Izuku Midoriya. I gave you that Quirk with the express purpose of beating Katuski Bakugo. I would
not have given it to you if I didn’t think you could win with it. So you will win this duel.
Understood?”

“Yeah… okay.” Izuku nodded as best he could. He was equal parts frightened by his new friend’s
demeanor, and grateful that he not only had a Quirk, but someone who believed in him, which made
him believe in himself just a little more.

———————————————

Once school was out, Izuku and Katsuki met at the school courtyard. But it wasn’t just them. What
looked like half the school had gathered around them in a large circle. Izuku gulped. No one else
knew about his new Quirk. Had all these people come just to see Izuku get beat up?

He couldn’t worry about that now. His mind was currently focused on Katsuki, who was grinning
cockily like he already knew the outcome of this fight.

“I don’t know why you came to fight me, Deku. But as long as I get to put you in your place, I
couldn’t care less.” Katsuki said while cracking his knuckles.

Izuku did his best to tune out those threats. He remembered how All Might once said heroes should
strive to save the day as quickly as possible. And with his new super move, he’d be able to do just
that.

Taking a deep breath, Izuku stood in a fighter’s pose and said, “I’m ready when you are, Kacchan.”

“Works for me. Now DIE!” The minute Katsuki blasted himself toward Izuku, the boy stretched his
hands outward and activated his Quirk.

Suddenly, Katsuki stopped soaring through the air and tumbled to the ground. He got on his knees and
began violently coughing and hacking, almost like he was about to cough up a lung, “What… did
you… do to me?!” He said in between coughs.

“I started a small fire in your lungs.” Izuku explained, “Hopefully not enough to cause any permanent
damage, but just enough to send you into a coughing fit. And don’t worry, the flame should already be
out by now.”

As Katsuki continued coughing, All for One emerged from the crowd and walked between the two
boys as he clapped slowly and ominously, “Well done, Midoriya. I wouldn’t have been able to get this
far without you.”

Izuku raised an eyebrow, “Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Why this, of course.” All for One jetted over to Katsuki in the blink of an eye and planted a hand on
his face. As he began to take his Quirk, Katsuki screamed in agony as he tried to force the villain’s
hand off him, but to no avail. After a few seconds, All for One removed his hand from Katsuki’s face
and let out a dark, booming laugh.
Izuku’s eyes widened in shock and realization, “You - you stole Kacchan’s Quirk!”

“He what?!” In a fit of rage, Katsuki jumped up and slugged All for One across the face. As soon as
the punch made contact, the villain’s disguise shattered like a glass sculpture, revealing a tall man in a
black suit and Darth Vader-like mask.

Izuku and Katsuki instinctively took a step back at the reveal, “What… what the fuck are you?”
Katsuki asked.

The villain grumbled in annoyance, but still went to answer the question, “I am the Symbol of Evil. I
am the greatest villain to have ever lived. I am All for One! And now that you all know who I am, I’m
afraid I can’t let you live.”

All for One charged a purple ball of energy in his hand, but before he could do anything with it, Izuku
shouted, “NO!” and activated Pyrokinesis again. Izuku went for the same super move he tried with
Katsuki, but instead of keeling over in a coughing fit, All for One just keeled over as the energy ball
dissipated in his hand.

After several moments of silence from the crowd, Katsuki slowly inched over to check his pulse. His
face paled at the coldness he felt, “He - he’s dead.”

“What?!” Izuku screamed.

“You killed him! And he had my Quirk! You just made me Quirkless, you fucking prick!”

“I - I didn’t know that would kill him. It was supposed to send him into a coughing fit! How was I
supposed to know his respiratory health was that bad?”

“He was wearing a Darth Vader mask! What did you think was gonna happen?!”

“Well sorry for saving your life!”

“Wait a minute,” Someone from the crowd said, “Deku has a Quirk now?”

“He used it to defeat the villain,” Someone else pointed out.

“He saved our lives!”

“The whole school!”

“He’s a hero!”

“Woo! Go Deku!”

The crowd suddenly burst into cheers as they crowded around Izuku, showering him with praise. Both
Izuku and Katsuki were confused by this, but for different reasons. Izuku wasn’t used to this amount
of praise, especially after he just killed a man. And Katsuki was still reeling from having his Quirk
taken away from him.

As the crowd picked up Izuku and carried him off into the sunset, Katsuki could only fall to his knees
in defeat as he wondered what choices in life led him down this path. He was now Quirkless, useless,
a Deku. His dreams of becoming the number one hero had just been shattered in an instant. All those
conflicting emotions quickly bubbled up inside him and released in an ear-splitting roar of pure
emotion that shook the entire foundation of the school.
 “GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Right then, Katsuki felt like the weakest man alive.

———————————————

Izuku Midoriya was being carried off into the sunset by his classmates, and he hated it.

They called him names, they beat him up, they took his stuff, and yet the moment he used his Quirk to
do something vaguely heroic, they started treating him like the new Katsuki. Almost as if they were
desperate to cling to the school’s next hero hopeful.

Izuku figured the teachers would do something similar, the thought of which made him even angrier.
Sure, bullying was one thing, but turning their head to said bullying while actively encouraging it was
another thing entirely. They’d probably pretend like the past year and a half of middle school didn’t
even happen.

And that wasn’t even mentioning the fact that he just killed a man. Sure, that man threatened to kill
him and everyone in the entire school, so he could at least plead self-defense. But that doesn’t erase
the fact that he just killed a man! He was gonna need so much therapy.

Izuku sighed to himself. He decided to finish off the day by looking at the positives. He had a cool
Quirk now, so his dreams of heroism were finally back on the table. And who knows? Maybe he
could use his newfound influence to get Aldera shut down for good. Only time would tell.

Chapter End Notes

DISCLAIMER: Just because All for One was responsible for the fireworks truck here does not
mean the same is true for the other chapters. Just this one.

Anyway, this was probably the easiest chapter to write for me. It was one of those times when
every idea just came together perfectly, at least for me

This is probably the worst consequence Katsuki will ever face. Because the only worse thing I
can think of for him is him either getting killed or permanently crippled, and I doubt I'll do either
of those. Then again, Izuku has definitely received better outcomes in fic as well

Next Time: Everyone's least favorite 1-B greenie

 Kamakiri the Second Bakugo
Chapter Notes

Heads up. Most of the time I refer to characters by their first name in narration. But sometimes I
just like their last hames better. Kamakiri is one of those examples. Sorry if that bugs you

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“I’m Togaru Kamakiri. I’m about kickin’ ass, and then slicin’ that ass into ribeye steak.”

Izuku was immediately weary of this new student. Granted, he figured their class would be getting at
least one new member, considering the fireworks truck incident that went down last week. But he
wasn’t expecting him to be so outwardly aggressive.

Izuku knew better than not to judge someone too harshly, but Kamakiri honestly gave him Katsuki
vibes. Sure, his mantis Quirk looked super cool. But Katsuki also had a good Quirk, and Izuku was
already reminded this morning how he usually acted. He could still feel the bruise.

As Kamakiri made his way to his seat (thankfully not next to Izuku), he noticed the mantis boy
sending a challenging glare to nearly everyone in the class, almost as if he was scoping out the area
for potential fighters. Just about everyone he glared at nervously averted their gazes, except one.

“What are you lookin’ at me for?” Katsuki growled. “If you got something to say, say it to my damn
face.”

Kamakiri got straight to the point, “You seem tough. Who are you?”

“Katsuki Bakugo. And you bet your ass I’m tough! Strongest in the school, no question!”

“Is that so?” Kamakiri grinned, “I was the best fighter in my old school as well. And that’s a title I
intend on keeping.”

“Well if you wanna die so badly, I can give you more than a little help.” Katsuki threatened as an
explosion popped in his palm.

“May the better fighter win,” Kamakiri challenged as a sharp blade burst from his arm, tearing open
his uniform’s sleeve.

“No fighting during class!” The teacher interrupted. “You both can handle your business after class.”

As class began, and Kamakiri and Katsuki glared daggers at each other, Izuku couldn’t help but feel
conflicted. His suspicions that Kamakiri was like a second Katsuki seemed to be proven right. But
was that a good thing? If Kamakiri somehow won this duel and became Aldera’s new top god, would
he become Izuku’s new tormentor as well? He honestly couldn’t tell. But then again, just about
everything hinged on the fight’s outcome, so Izuku knew he couldn’t miss it.

———————————————
“Is that all you got, Baku-brat?”

“Shut up and blow up, Mohawk!”

You could color Izuku surprised, because this fight was not going down the way he anticipated. He
thought that since Kamakiri’s Quirk involved the creation of blades, he would have less range than
Katuki’s explosions. And he did, but he more than made up for it with speed and maneuverability,
must have come with the mantis mutations.

As Katsuki launched another explosion at Kamakiri, he quickly slid under the blast, jumped back to
his feet, and pointed one of his blades mere centimeters from Katsuki’s eye. Both combatants ceased
their movement, and Kamakiri grinned while Katsuki’s face contorted with rage.

“Looks like I’m still the strongest,” Kamakiri said.

“Your ass just got lucky!” Katsuki yelled as he turned and walked off. “I’ll fucking kill you next
time!”

“Trust me, I’m looking forward to it.”

Ok, that really threw Izuku for a loop. He thought fights like these were a one-and-done deal, but they
were going to be doing this again? Knowing Katsuki, Izuku figured he wouldn’t stop fighting until he
proved he was the undisputed best. And if Kamakiri was anything like him, the same applied to him
as well.

As Izuku thought about it more, he realized how this might actually be a good thing. With Katsuki
constantly fighting Kamakiri, he might not have the time or energy to bully him all day.

The idea sounded better and better the more Izuku thought about it. He decided he would let the angry
ones have their little feud. For the first time in forever, Izuku might finally be able to enjoy himself.

———————————————

As the weeks flew by, Izuku did in fact enjoy his newfound peace and quiet. Ok, it wasn’t really all
that quiet on account of all the sounds of explosions and sword slashes.

Katsuki and Kamakiri would fight just about every day. They didn’t have a strict schedule or
anything. They just seemed to drop everything to fight the moment one looked at the other funny. It
didn’t matter where, school roof, courtyard, gym, cafeteria, or sometimes even the classroom, they
just fought whenever they felt like it.

Izuku figured the fighting would stop once either combatant won enough fights in a row, thereby
proving themselves the school’s definitive top dog. But surprisingly enough, that hadn’t happened yet.
After around three weeks, Katsuki and Kamakiri tied at eleven wins each. So it looked like it
wouldn’t stop anytime soon, especially with the teachers practically encouraging the fights, as it gave
both their hero hopefuls a chance to shine.

Izuku, for his part, was thriving. He no longer had to live in fear of getting beaten up after school,
having his notebooks burned, or getting chided whenever he muttered about some new Quirk. Izuku
felt lighter than he had in a long, long time.

One day, as he made his way down the hall, Izuku instinctively flinched when he heard an explosion
behind him, only to remember that Katsuki had stopped targeting him. He turned to the source of the
explosion to see Katsuki standing over Kamakiri triumphantly. That blast he heard must have been the
finishing blow.

“Really? That’s all you got?” Katsuki sneered, “Come on, it’s like you gave me that win for free. Step
up your damn game. I don’t wanna fight no weaklings!” He punctuated this statement with an
explosion to his opponent’s chest before stomping off.

Izuku stared at Kamakiri’s defeated, burnt body lying against the wall, and all his regrets came
bursting through like an ax-wielding serial killer. What the hell was he doing? He was supposed to be
a hero! Why was he just sitting back and letting someone else take the brunt force of Katsuki’s
attacks?

Running over to Kamakiri, Izuku pulled out some burn cream and applied it to his several burn spots,
earring a hiss of pain from the boy.

“Oops, sorry,” Izuku instinctively apologized.

“It’s fine, thank you.” Kamakiri said, “You’re that boy from class, aren’t you?”

Once the burn cream settled, Izuku took out some bandages and began wrapping them around the
burn spots on Kamakiki’s arms. “Yeah, that’s me. Izuku Midoriya. I wish we could have met under
better circumstances.”

“Eh, works for me. But why do you carry around burn cream? Does Bakugo fight other people on the
side? Has he been cheating on me?!”

“Uh, no. He only really fights me. Well, less of a fight, more of a… one-sided beatdown.”

“HE WHAT?!” Kamakiri shot up, then immediately winced in pain from the sudden movement and
sat back down. “I had no idea I was fighting a bully.”

“O - oh, you didn’t?”

“Of course I didn’t! How was I supposed to pick out a bully from a fighter? Why are you looking at
me like that?”

“Like - like what?”

“That, right there. You look skeptical.”

“I - well - um - I think I owe you an apology.”

“For what?”

“When I first saw you in class, I subconsciously thought of you as some sort of second Kacchan.”

Kamakiri’s head tilted downward in disappointment, “Oh, you did?”

“Yeah,” Izuku reluctantly admitted, “You were just kind of intimidating. And I’m not talking about
your Quirk!” He quickly clarified, “I meant how you were sort of viciously glaring at everyone.”

“Oh, sorry about that. I just wanted to get a good look at everybody. I’m more of a face person than a
name person.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. But if you don’t mind me asking, why did you want to fight Kacchan so
bad?”

Kamakiri shrugged, “I gotta fight. Gotta prove I’m the undisputed best. That’s what I did at my old
school.”

“Okay, but why?”

“Well it’s… nah, you’d just find it dumb.”

“No I won’t. C’mon, tell me.”

“Okay, fine. You know Endeavor?”

In place of a response, Izuku pulled out a notebook from… somewhere and opened to a page with a
drawing of the hero on it.

“Thought so,” Kamakiri nodded. “I know most people pick All Might as their favorite, but I’ve
always been inspired by his drive and conviction.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! It’s like, the gap between him and All Might is so wide, but he never gives up. He never stops
trying to improve. I found that really inspiring, you know? So I decided to always shoot for the top
and strive to be the best I could be.”

“That’s… actually really admirable.”

“Thanks!” Kamakiri gave a smile, which quickly faltered, “But now I’m on the fence about
continuing to fight a bully. On one hand, I don’t wanna give him the satisfaction of beating me again.
But on the other hand, I still kinda wanna slice his ass off.”

Izuku scratched his chin as he thought to himself. After a few moments, his eyes brightened with an
idea, and he said, “I think I know how you can do both.”

“How?”

“You don’t fight.”

Kamakiri tilted his head in confusion, “Huh?”

———————————————

The next day, after school ended, Kamakiri strolled out of the building like any other normal day. But
it wasn’t, because he had a plan. A plan that began when Katsuki grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Where do you think you’re going, Mohawk?” Katsuki grunted, “We still haven’t fought today!”

Kamakiri took a deep breath as he mustered up the calmest voice he could, “Actually, I’ve decided
that I don’t feel like fighting you anymore.” He shrugged Katsuki’s hand off his shoulder and
continued on his way.

Katsuki paused in shock for a moment before catching up to Kamakiri and yelling, “What do you
mean ‘you don’t want to fight?’”
“I mean I don’t want to fight.” He made his way down the sidewalk as Katsuki followed. “I’m tired of
it, and I’m tired of you.”

“No, you have to fight me! How else am I supposed to prove I’m the best?!”

“Not my problem.” He made a right turn at R-2 Street.

“Oh you best believe it’s your problem! You can’t fight me for superiority for a month and then just
drop it like that!”

“Fine, you’re superior. Happy now?” Kamakiri picked up his pace as he made another right. Just a
little further.

“Well then let me fight you to prove it!”

“I told you no.”

“And I told you to fight me!”

“No!”

Katsuki grabbed Kamakiri by the shirt and threateningly popped an explosion in his face, “Fight me,
you damn bastard, or I’ll send you to hell!”

Kamakiri glanced to his right, “Sorry, I didn’t quite get that. Could you repeat?”

“I SAID FIGHT ME YOU DAMN BASTARD OR I’LL BLAST YOU STRAIGHT TO HELL!”

“Ahem…” A new voice cleared their throat.

“WHAT?!” Katsuki whipped his head to the right, only to be met with the Buster Hero: Airjet
looming over him with his arms crossed. Katsuki peered behind him to see he was standing right in
front of the Airjet agency.

Katsuki immediately put the pieces together. Kamakiri led him to a hero agency, where he just used
his Quirk to threaten someone. In front of a hero.

“Oh god dammit.”

———————————————

“Two weeks of juvenile detention?” Izuku laughed.

“Yup! Your plan worked like a charm,” Kamakiri exclaimed.

“See? There was no reason to prove you were the best if he was already the worst. Hopefully, that’ll
teach him not to pick any more fights.”

“Yeah, but now I need a new sparring partner.”

“A new sparring partner, eh?” Izuku perked up, “How would you feel about teaching a newbie like
me?”

Kamakiri scratched his chin thoughtfully as he nodded his head, “I do like a good underdog story.
How do you feel about trying out a sword?”
 “More excited than you could ever imagine.”

Chapter End Notes

Sorry for taking so long to update. My school was recently destroyed by a fireworks truck, and I
had to transfer.

Anyway, Kamakiri was actually suggested to me by Chironex27, so thank you for that

To me, Kamakiri is like Bakugo but with self-awareness. He knows what he does, and he knows
why he does it, and he likes doing it. He's a bit of blank slate in canon, so it was fun to kinda
flesh him out

Next Time: What is this, a crossover episode?

 Izuku the Quirk Larcenist
Chapter Notes

This is a crossover with one of my other fics, Support Via Quirk Larceny. If you haven't read it,
all you need to know is that this Izuku has All for One and is in the Support Course.

Also, so no one gets confused, the narration will refer to this fic's Deku as Izuku, and Quirk
Larceny Deku as Midoriya. Good? Good.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Izuku panted as he dashed around another corner. He had spotted Katsuki during his walk to school
and took a detour to avoid getting beaten up too early in the day. Unfortunately, the detour was longer
than anticipated, and he was now in danger of being late to class.

Izuku was so worried about making it to class on time that he didn’t notice the other person right in
front of him until he collided with them, sending him to the ground.

Izuku rubbed his head and groaned, “Sorry about that.”

“Eh, don’t worry. I’ve got Shock Absorption.” An eerily familiar voice replied. Izuku cautiously
gazed up to see someone who looked exactly like him.

Okay, maybe not exactly like him. The doppelgänger looked a few inches taller, and his hair was a
slightly brighter shade of green. The most noticeable change, however, was his wardrobe. The red
shoes were the same, but he wore a white button-up t-shirt, a pair of green slacks, a stubby red tie that
was partially singed, and most noticeably, a pair of large, black, circular goggles with dots of green in
the center. But even with all that, the resemblance was still uncanny.

“Woah, you look just like me.” The doppelgänger gaped.

“Who are you?” Izuku asked.

“I’m Izuku Midoriya!”

“But I’m Izuku Midoriya.”

“You are? Then that confirms my theory.” The doppelgänger in goggles said, “This might get
confusing, so how about we call you Izuku and me Midoriya?”

“Okay. I guess,” Izuku nodded his head. “But what was that you said about a theory?”

“Oh, right. I woke up in this spot about a minute before you ran into me. The last thing I remember
was a truck full of fireworks careening toward me. So I’m thinking I got Isekai’d into an alternate
universe.”

Izuku’s eyes widened, “Do you think it was some kind of Quirk?”
“No. I tried reaching for one, but I didn’t feel anything.”

“Wait, you can feel Quirks?”

“Yeah, it’s all part of Quirk Transfer! I guess that requires an explanation. Does your mom have
Attraction in this universe?” At Izuku’s nod, Midoriya continued, “Good. Well, my version of
attraction allows me to give and take other Quirks. Cool, right?”

Izuku’s jaw dropped, “Are you kidding?! That’s the coolest Quirk I’ve ever seen! With a Quirk like
that, you could be the world’s greatest hero!”

“Ugh, no, bleh.” Midoriya interrupted. “I’m not looking to become a hero. I’m in UA’s Support
Course.”

“Well that’s great too.” Izuku beamed, “I mean, anyone can read about a Quirk, but you can design
suits and items based off the feel of a Quirk.”

“Exactly! I’m glad someone gets it. But what about you? What’s your Quirk?”

Izuku’s mood immediately fell at the question, “Oh… about that… I’m actually Quirkless.”

“WHAT?!” Midoriya screamed, only to immediately backtrack when he saw the upset look on Izuku’s
face. “Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to overreact. It’s just… Quirks are my lifeblood. It’s hard to imagine
what I’d be like without them.”

Izuku gave a humorless chuckle, “Well, here I am.”

“Wait, in my universe, me and Kacchan were both propped up by our school for our strong Quirks.
Since it’s presumably just him in this universe, does your Kacchan turn out any different?”

Izuku winced, “That depends. Was Kacchan ever a bully in your universe?”

Midoriya gulped nervously, “You - you don’t mean…”

Izuku gave a solemn nod and pulled up his shirt, revealing bandages taped across his stomach.

“Oh my god.” Midoriya muttered, “Here, I think I have something that can fix that.” He reached
behind him and pulled out a jar of pink liquid.

“What’s that?” Izuku asked, “And where were you keeping it?”

“Hammerspace, it’s one of my Quirks. As for what this is, I used technology to replicate the effects of
Recovery Girl’s Quirk. That’s kind of my whole thing.”

“Do you… keep any other support items like that in Hammerspace?”

“Oh - ho.” Midoriya grinned, “I think I’m picking up what you’re putting down.”

“So you do!”

“You bet! I’ve got the Engine Leggings™, Expanding Gloves™, Super Specs™, and Lagomorph
Loafers™. Who needs a Quirk when you have these?”

Izuku gasped, “Do you think these could help me become a Quirkless hero?”
“If anyone could do it, it would be us,” Midoriya smiled as he handed Izuku the support items. “Now,
let’s get to class. We’ve got an explosive pineapple to humble.”

“Okay!” Izuku slipped on the Engine Leggings and jetted off to school.

“Hey! Wait up!” Midoriya yelled as he chased after him. “God, I wish I had a speed Quirk.”

———————————————

“Midoriya, you’re late.” The teacher, Mr. Kobayashi chided as Izuku ran into the classroom.

“I think you mean Midoriyas.” Midoriya corrected as he followed Izuku into class.

Katsuki’s jaw dropped, “Why the hell are there two Dekus?!” He turned to Izuku and scowled, “Do
you have a cloning Quirk or something? Have you just been hiding it to spite me?”

Izuku shrank under Katsuki’s murderous gaze, “No! I swear, Kacchan! I-”

“Alternate universe, Kacchan. Keep up.” Midoriya interrupted as he strode over to Katsuki’s desk.
“Why are you like this, Kacchan? You were never this cruel in my universe.”

“Alternate universe me sounds like a fucking wuss,” Katsuki retorted.

“He wasn’t. He was just less of a bully. But it seems like you need to be taken down a peg. And now
that I think about it, so does this whole school.”

“What the fuck is your Quirkless ass gonna do?”

Midoriya let out a full-bodied laugh before staring down Katsuki with a devious, downright chaotic
smile, “Oh, Kacchan, who said I was Quirkless?” He grabbed an imaginary rope with both hands and
yanked as hard as he could. “Yoink!”

As soon as Midoriya pulled on the rope, Katsuki felt a gaping emptiness in his very soul, “What the
fuck did you do to me?”

“I dunno, Kacchan. You tell me.” Midoriya smirked as he pointed his palm upward and released a tiny
explosion. The entire class gasped at the sight.

“You took my fucking Quirk!” Katsuki snarled like a wild animal. He lunged at Midoriya in an
attempt to tackle him, but slammed against his body like he just hit a brick wall.

Midoriya smiled as he rolled his eyes, “Shock Absorption!” He said in a sing-songy voice.

Mr. Kobayashi slammed his hands on his desk to get everyone’s attention, “That is quite enough!
Midoriya-”

“Yeah?” Both Midoriyas said at the same time.

“The one with the goggles. Give back the Quirk, or your alternate universe self will be blacklisted
from every high school in the country.”

“Whatever you say.” Midoriya threw an imaginary baseball in Katsuki’s direction.

“About fuckin’ time.” Katsuki tried to release an explosion in his hand, but nothing came out. “Hey!
What the hell did you do to my Quirk?!”
Katsuki was pulled from his rage when he heard an explosion from his right side. He turned to see his
Quirk being used by the person sitting next to him.

“Wow! This is awesome!” Katsuki’s seatmate exclaimed as he let out a few more explosions.

“Midoriya…” Mr. Kobayashi said, clearly unamused.

“Yeah?” Both Midoriyas said at the same time.

“You know who I’m talking to! Now give the Quirk back to Katsuki!”

Midoriya huffed as he crossed his arms, “Stop pretending to care about him. I’ve been to this school
in my universe, and I know you only let him get away with everything because he has a strong Quirk.
If he had any other Quirk at all, you wouldn’t give two shits about him.”

Izuku gasped, “Profanity! From my alternate universe self!”

“Besides, I’m sure the person I gave Explosion to still wants to go to UA, don’t you?”

“I sure do!” Katsuki’s seatmate nodded eagerly. “I’m trying for the art program.”

“Good for you!” Midoriya gave a thumbs up. “But not so good for Aldera. I know how much you
wanted a future top-ten hero. Unfortunately, you lost your chance ten years ago.”

“More like five seconds ago!” Mr. Kobayashi bemoaned.

“I wasn’t talking about Kacchan, you dolt. I was talking about him!” Midoriya dramatically gestured
to Izuku as if he were a sculpture crafted by Michaelangelo himself. “Look at this boy! He’s got the
heart of a hero and the drive to match.”

“Who? Midoriya?”

“Yeah?” Both Midoriyas said at the same time.

“Stop that! There’s no way he can be a hero. He’s Quirkless.”

Midoriya scoffed, “My alternate universe self doesn’t need a Quirk to be a badass. Watch.” He walked
over to Katsuki, picked him up by the shoulders, and chucked him out the window.

Izuku’s heroic instincts kicked in, and he immediately sprang into action. He charged up his Engine
Leggings, raced through the halls and outside the school, and caught Katsuki in midair with his
Expanding Gloves.

The entire class, who saw this rescue play out as they peered out the broken window, gaped in
surprise at the sudden save.

“Why did you do that? He could have gotten hurt!” Izuku asked his doppelgänger.

“Don’t worry. I gave him Shock Absorption before I threw him out the window. He wouldn’t have felt
a thing,” Midoriya chuckled.

“Shock Absorption?” Katsuki questioned. “I can’t become number one with a weak-ass Quirk like
that!”
“I know a guy who would have been offended by that statement. But suit yourself. Yoink!” Midoriya
yanked on another imaginary rope to take back Shock Absorption. He then turned to the rest of the
class. “Let this be a lesson. You all better start treating Izuku with some respect. And if you don’t,
nothing’s stopping me from coming back here and taking all your Quirks too.” This was a bald-faced
lie on Midoriya’s part, but he knew everyone at Aldera valued their Quirks too much to go against
him.

As Midoriya saw the looks of fear on the teacher and students, he knew his work there was done.
“Welp, I best be off. Just don't forget what I told you. I know how much all of you value Quirks in this
society, especially the teachers, for some weird reason.” With that said, Midoriya jumped out the
window and used Shock Absorption to break his fall.

As soon as he hit the ground, Izuku ran up to him and pulled Midoriya into a tight hug, “I can’t thank
you enough for this.” He said, tears in his eyes.

“Gimme back my Quirk, you bastard!” Katsuki yelled, which was ignored by both Izukus.

“I just have one more parting gift for you, me,” Midoriya said as he handed Izuku a folder full of
papers. “Here are the blueprints for the items in case they break. I put Mei’s phone number in there,
too.”

Izuku raised an eyebrow, “Who’s Mei?”

“Your future partner in crime. By the way, I strongly suggest trying for a dual course at UA. Being
able to make your own support gear will save you a lot of money.”

“Thanks, me. I’ll try.”

“Then I guess this is goodbye. See you around!” Midoriya waved goodbye as he ran off into the
street.

“Hey! Where the hell do you think you’re going? You didn’t give me my Quirk back!” Katsuki went
to run after Midoriya. But before he could reach him, Midoriya got Isekai’d by another fireworks
truck, and his body quickly faded away.

“GOD DAMMIT!” Katsuki yelled.

“Don’t worry, Kacchan.” Izuku tried to console, “My alternate universe self gave me these Explode-
o-Gauntlets™!” He pulled out a pair of gauntlets shaped like a four-round revolver, colored green and
black to resemble the texture of a grenade. “As long as you store these things with enough
nitroglycerin, you can still be a hero!”

“Shove it, Deku! I don’t need your fucking pity!” Katsuki spat as he stormed off.

Izuku just shrugged, “Oh well, more Quirks for me.”

———————————————

After Midoriya got hit by the second fireworks truck in the span of twenty-four hours, he woke up on
a park bench, expecting to be back in his own universe. To his surprise and disappointment, however,
he woke up to the sight of yet another alternate version of himself, this one with entirely black hair.

“Are you okay?” Asked black-hair Izuku.

 “I’m fine,” Midoriya answered as he got up. “I’ve just been multiverse-hopping. You wouldn’t
happen to be Quirkless as well, would you?”

Black-hair Izuku gave a confused look, “Quirkless? What does that mean?”

“You know. Quirks, superpowers, meta abilities?”

Black-hair Izuku gave a light-hearted laugh, “Oh, come on. Everyone knows superpowers aren’t
real.”

The realization hit Midoriya like a ton of bricks. He had stumbled his way into a universe without
Quirks.

Devastated, he fell to his knees and screamed out, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

The next fireworks truck couldn’t run him over soon enough.

Chapter End Notes

I admit, this chapter was a little self-indulgent. But really, what is fan fiction if not self-
indugence?

I actually think Quirk Larceny Midoriya is the most qualified person to take down Aldera we've
seen yet. After all, he's lived through Aldera's shit longer than his alternate universe counterpart.
He knows what they're all about.

Next Time: Izuku's biggest hater becomes his greatest ally

 Nighteye the Critic (The One Where He’s a Jerk)
Chapter Notes

If you’re looking for the chapter where he’s not a jerk, please refer to chapter 55.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Sir Nighteye let out a frustrated sigh as he hung up the phone. He had just had his first conversation
with All Might for nearly five years, and it was to inform him that the number one hero had chosen a
new successor. The worst part was that he had chosen a Quirkless middle schooler over the boy
Nighteye spent the last two years training for the express purpose of being the ninth holder of One for
All.

This was absurd. Nighteye knew All Might was a sentimental fool, but not to this extent. Couldn’t he
see how much the world needed All Might and not some Quirkless nobody? One for All was a legacy,
not some kind of throwaway Quirk to play hot potato with.

It didn’t matter. Nighteye knew what he had to do. If All Might couldn’t see the error of his ways, he
would just have to make those errors more pronounced. He opened his computer and began
conducting research on one Izuku Midoriya. After only a few minutes, Nighteye had the boy’s address
pinned down. From there, it was easy to deduce which school he went to. He wasn’t one of the top
investigative heroes for nothing.

Nighteye pulled out his phone and dialed a number, “Hello. Is this Aldera Middle School? This is
Mirai Sasaki, also known as the pro hero Sir Nighteye. I would like to inquire about performing a
guest lecture on… you’ll allow it? No paperwork required? Very well then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Nighteye couldn’t help his concern as he hung up the phone. There was something… off about that
school. Oh well, he could look into that later. Right now he already had a mission: to expose Izuku
Midoriya for the weakling he really was.

Oh, that reminded him. He pressed a button on his intercom, “Bubble Girl, put the case regarding the
rogue fireworks truck on hold. I’ve got a school to visit tomorrow.”

———————————————

After finishing his lecture on the importance of the investigative side of heroism, Nighteye couldn’t
help but notice everyone in the classroom looked either bored, withdrawn, distracted, or asleep. Well,
all except one. Izuku Midoriya hung onto every word like a lifeline, vibrating excitedly nearly the
entire lecture. Why was he so invested? He was going to be inheriting All Might’s power. All Might
didn’t specialize in investigation. That was his job, so why even bother?

Regardless, as the students filed out of the room, he sneakily stuck a small microphone under the
teacher’s desk. Now, he would be able to expose Izuku Midoriya’s true character, and Nighteye
doubted All Might would like what he heard.

As Nighteye turned to leave, he halted as he found himself face-to-face with a nervous-looking Izuku
who was holding a notebook. “Um… Sir Nighteye, sir?” He asked.
Nighteye had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. Why the hell was he so nervous? If he was
going to be the next symbol of peace, he needed to exude an air of unyielding confidence. Just
another reason why Mirio was the superior candidate.

Oh right, he still had to respond. “Yes?” He asked, his voice portraying as little emotion as possible.

“Well… I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the lecture. A lot of people ignore the investigative
side of heroics, and I think what you do is really cool in its own right. Not to mention I really admire
your fighting style and how you fight Quirkless most of the time. It’s just, you’ve been a huge
inspiration to me and-”

“Can we get to the point?” Nighteye drawled.

“Can I have your autograph?” Izuku held his notebook out to Nighteye and opened it to a page with a
drawing of the hero on it.

Nighteye silently signed the page, wanting to get the interaction over with as soon as possible.
“Alright, there you go. Now run along.”

“Th - thank you so much, Sir Nighteye! I really appreciate it!” Izuku said as he ran out of the
classroom.

Finally, he was alone. After double-checking the tiny microphone to make sure the audio was crisp,
Nighteye let out a small smile as he exited the classroom. In just a few days, All Might would have
irrefutable proof that Izuku was the incorrect choice for a successor and that Mirio was the only
acceptable option.

———————————————

A Few Days Later…

Nighteye sipped his coffee as he transferred the microphone audio to his computer. There was more
evidence here than Nighteye could have ever imagined. There were so many instances of Izuku
getting bullied by his classmates and teachers. Nighteye played back one of the most damning pieces
of evidence.

“Where the hell have you been disappearing to after school, Deku?!”

“Nowhere, Kacchan, I swear.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me, you damn nerd!”

BOOM

Nighteye shook his head in disappointment. If All Might’s successor couldn’t handle a few bullies,
what chance did they have to become the next symbol of peace? It didn’t stop at his classmates,
though. He had the gall to let himself get pushed around by the teachers as well.

“Midoriya, how many times have I told you to stop being disruptive?”

“But - but Mr. Kobayashi, Kenji was the one who-”

“Midoriya, do you want me to write you up again?”

 “N - no… sorry.”

Seriously, what kind of hero would take that crap lying down? Nighteye decided he didn’t even need
to include the context when he emailed the audio footage to All Might. The evidence got his message
across clearly enough: Izuku Midoriya was unfit to inherit One for All. And Nighteye was confident
All Might would feel the same.

———————————————

The next day, Nighteye stood in front of Aldera in shock as he watched the teachers get hauled into
police vans.

“You can’t do this!” He heard a blonde boy yell as he was shoved in the bus to juvenile hall, “I’m
supposed to be the number one hero!”

Nigheye still didn’t know what to think. He assumed All Might would take one look at the footage
and decide to give One for All to Mirio. Instead, he used his influence to get Aldera shut down and its
teachers arrested. Where the hell did he get that idea from?

Nighteye hoped he would find out as All Might strode up to him in his muscle form, “Mirai,” He said,
“I wanted to thank you for bringing the horrors of this school to my awareness. I know we haven’t
seen eye-to-eye on everything in the past few years, especially regarding our choice of successor, but
I’m glad you managed to put that all behind you for the greater good.” With a good-natured slap on
the back, All Might walked off, leaving Nighteye alone and bewildered.

Nigheye shook his head to clear his thoughts. It didn’t matter. He had other ways of making All Might
see the truth. And he wouldn’t stop until Mirio took his rightful place as the next symbol of peace.

As Nighteye walked to his car, he was pulled from his thoughts as he felt his phone vibrate in his
pocket, “Hello?”

“Hello? It’s Bubble Girl. I just wanted to let you know that Wash offered me a sidekick position at his
agency, so I’ll be putting in my two weeks.”

Nighteye’s eyes widened, “WHAT?! You can’t resign now! Not while the fireworks truck case is still
unsolved!”

“Um, about that… we found the truck just a few minutes ago.”

“What? Where?”

“Among the smoldering ashes of what used to be your agency… because it crashed into it, in case I
was being too subtle.”

That was all Nighteye wanted to hear. He hung up the phone and buried his face in his hands as he
quietly wept to himself. All his rarest and most expensive All Might merchandise, reduced to ashes.

What could he have possibly done to deserve this?

Chapter End Notes

Alright, no one's allowed to tell me Nighteye isn't Izuku's biggest hater. That is a hill I will die
on. Tomura may be his biggest enemy, but there's a difference between enemy and hater

I'm pretty sure in canon, Bakugo's bullying mostly subsided after the sludge villain incident, but
I decided to ignore that for the sake of some good-natured dunking. Same with the Vestige
chapter, now that I think about it

Bit of a shorter chapter this time, but I've always considered myself as a get-to-the-point type
writer. So I guess this chapter didn't have much of a point

Next Time: Haven't done someone from 1-A in a while, let's fix that
 Momo the Everything
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

“My name is Momo Yaoyorozu. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Izuku stared at the raven-haired girl as she introduced herself to the class. When she walked to her
desk, he couldn’t help but take note of the elegant way she held herself. Each step was taken with
precision as if she were a model on a runway. Izuku couldn’t help but wonder what someone like her
was doing in a rundown school like this. Though it wasn’t like he had the courage to ask her.

After a few uneventful classes, Izuku got out of his desk to make his way to the roof for lunch, but
paused when he heard someone talking to the new girl. He knew eavesdropping was rude, but he
couldn’t help his curiosity.

“So, Yaoyorozu, where are you from?” Asked one of Izuku’s classmates, whose voice he recognized
as Okawa.

“Aichi Prefecture,” Momo answered.

“Isn’t that kind of far away?” Okawa asked with uncertainty in her voice.

“Yes, it is. My parents bought a small house for me to live in while I attend this school.” Momo
suddenly let out a small eep as if she hadn’t meant to say that. “Oh, um, what I meant to say was…”

Okawa let out a small chuckle, “You almost had me for a second there.”

“Oh, yes, I was just… joking,” Momo said in an unconvincing tone that Okawa seemed to ignore.

“So, anyway, what’s your Quirk? Does it have something to do with your skin? Because it looks
unnaturally smooth.”

“Oh, why, thank you,” Momo blushed at the praise, “But that’s just the result of a good skincare
routine. My Quirk is called Creation. It allows me to convert my fat stores into just about any material
I know the chemical structure of.”

Izuku’s eyes widened at that information. Anything? Like, anything anything? That had to be one of
the most versatile Quirks he’d ever seen in his life! A Quirk like that could be useful in just about any
situation. If there were a collapsing building, she could create pillars to keep it structurally sound. If
there was a flood, she could give out rafts or life preservers. Heck, if her Quirk allowed for more
complicated creations, she could be a one-woman support department! And that’s not even counting-

“Deku, shut up! No one can understand what you’re saying!” Okawa shouted. Oh, he said all that out
loud, didn’t he? Great. He just squandered his first impression. And to think, that hopeful part of his
brain almost convinced him he could make a new friend for the first time in forever.

“Now, hold on.” Momo spoke up, getting Izuku’s attention, “I understood him just fine.”

Izuku’s jaw dropped like an anvil, “You - you understood that?”

“Yes. I very much did.” Momo nodded, “As a matter of fact, I found your insights on my Quirk very
eye-opening. Would you, perhaps, like to share more of your insights over lunch?”

“Now, hold on.” Okawa interjected, “I’m not sure you want to hang out with someone like Deku. Him
and his Quirklessness tend to attract trouble.”

Momo turned to glare at Okawa, “I’m sorry, I don’t believe his Quirk status ever came up during this
conversation. And if you’re the type to write someone off based solely on their Quirk, then you and I
have nothing to say to each other.”

Okawa scoffed as she turned to walk out of the classroom. “Fine, whatever. It’s your social life.”

When Okawa left, Izuku nervously twiddled his thumbs as he glanced up at Momo, “You didn’t have
to do that just for me.”

Momo turned to Izuku, “If she was truly shallow enough to judge someone like that, then I’m glad to
be rid of her. By the way, I don’t believe I got your name.”

“It’s Izuku Midoriya.”

“Well then, Midoriya, would you like to accompany me to lunch?”

Izuku let out a small smile, “Yes. Yes I would.”

———————————————

Izuku couldn’t help but be a little on edge as he sat across from Momo at the cafeteria. He usually ate
lunch on the roof in order to stay out of Katsuki’s way. But he didn’t want Momo to feel out of place,
so he was willing to step a bit out of his comfort zone.

As they both opened their respective bentos, Izuku couldn’t help but notice how big and fancy
Momo’s was. Maybe she wasn’t lying about being from Aichi. Either way, Izuku decided not to pry.
After all, there were Quirks to be discussed!

“So… about Creation,” Izuku began, “Can you really make anything?”

“As long as it’s not alive, then yes, I can.” Momo stated proudly as she elegantly placed a hand on her
chest.

“Wow.” Izuku gaped, “I mean… the possibilities with that are nearly endless. What’s the most
complicated thing you’ve ever created?”

Momo scratched her chin in thought for a moment before responding, “Just last year, I made a fully
functioning motorcycle. Though I doubt I’d be able to make that right now without a book of
chemical structures.”

At that information, Izuku pulled out a notebook from… somewhere and began scribbling down
information faster than the eye could perceive, “Motorcycle. That means she can make fully
functioning engines, steel plates of different shapes and sizes, and even the fuel to power it.”

“Actually,” Momo chimed in, “The fuel was the one part I did not make. The creation of liquids and
gasses requires greater concentration on my part. Which is something I could not afford while making
so many other parts at once.”
Izuku chewed on the tip of his pen, “I wonder why that is. Is it because you have to picture the
molecules in your head when you create something, and therefore, it takes more concentration to
picture them far apart enough for it to qualify as a liquid or gas?”

“Precisely!” Momo beamed, “I must say, you catch on rather quickly.”

Izuku blushed as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head, “Oh, it’s nothing. Quirk analysis is just
a hobby of mine.”

“Well then, I’m curious. What kinds of Quirks do you usually analyze?”

Izuku turned to a notebook page featuring a sketch of Edgeshot and showed it to Momo, “Mostly
Quirks belonging to heroes. That’s kinda why I got so attached to your Quirk. It sounds very fitting
for heroics.”

“That’s good, because I’m on track to take the UA recommendation exam next year.”

“That’s great! If anyone were to pass, I’m sure - Wait, did you say recommendation exam?”

Momo blushed as she slapped both hands over her mouth.

Izuku couldn’t help the slight chuckle, “I suppose that explains the bento.”

“I - was I really that obvious?”

“Not too obvious. You just seemed… generally fancier.”

“Oh, well then, I apologize for deceiving you.”

“Oh, there’s no need to apologize! We all have the right to our own secrets. Though I’d be lying if I
said I wasn’t a little confused as to why you’re here of all places. Did something happen to your old
school?”

“No. Nothing like that.” Momo assured, “It’s just that… I grew tired of people treating me differently
due to my family’s wealth. So I had Father move me to a… lower-class school. Sorry if that came off
as rude.”

“No, you’re right. This is far from the fanciest school in Japan. Especially compared to UA. Which
I’m sure you’ll get into, by the way.”

“I appreciate your support, Midoirya.” Momo gave a grateful smile, which subtly shifted into one of
uncertainly. “Though to be honest, I’m having a few doubts about my own abilities.”

“Really? Does it have to do with memorizing chemical structures? Because other than that, your
Quirk can do pretty much anything.”

“Yes, it can, and that’s the problem,” Momo sighed. “I have so many options at my disposal that I end
up unsure as to which one to choose.”

“Hmmmmm…” Izuku chewed on his pen again as he stared off into space. “I’m not sure if there’s an
easy fix to that problem. Maybe you can start by narrowing down your options to a small number of
items that would fit most scenarios.”
“I’ve attempted something similar before, but I’ve quickly found a roadblock in the form of an
exhausting number of variables to keep track of.”

“Then maybe you just need a basis to work off of. Like, when I watch a villain fight, I subconsciously
ask myself what heroes would be best for this situation.”

“That’s a good mindset to have. But it’s not like I can replicate their Quirks or anything.”

Izuku sat up in realization, “Who said you can’t? I mean, you can make anything. There’s got to be a
good number of heroes whose Quirks you can replicate.” He quickly flipped to another notebook
page, “Take Midnight for example. It may take a good amount of concentration, but there’s
theoretically nothing stopping you from producing sleeping gas. That right there could take out a large
majority of villains.”

Momo hummed to herself, “Why, I’ve never thought about it like that.”

Izuku turned to another page, “Of course, there are also environmental heroes like Endeavor and
Backdraft. Those are self-explanatory. Though in Endeavor’s case, you might need to make a
flamethrower instead, since I doubt you have the same fire resistance he does.” He flipped to another
page. He was on a roll, “And then there are heroes like Mr. Brave, whose whole thing is creating
weapons. So really, I think it’s all a matter of perspective. If you think like a pro, you’re likely to get
similar results.”

When Izuku dropped his notebook to catch his breath, he saw Momo with a bright, beaming smile on
her face. “I think that advice will do me well, Midoriya. I can’t thank you enough.” She said.

“And that’s only the tip of the iceberg,” Izuku added, “Why, I bet you could even make bigger
explosions than Kacchan.”

“Who’s Kacchan?” Momo asked.

Momo received her answer when a pair of hands slammed down on the table they were sitting at,
startling Izuku out of his seat, “K - Kacchan! What are you doing here?” He nervously squeaked.

“I heard what you said, Deku.” Katsuki sneered, “And there’s no way this rich bitch can out-explosion
me!”

Momo’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance, but she kept her calm demeanor. “Are you aware it’s rude to
assert yourself like that?” She asked Katsuki.

“I don’t care what’s rude. If it concerns me, I’ll assert all I want.”

“I don’t believe a passing mention qualifies as ‘concerning you.’”

“What? You think you’re better than me just because you got some rich-ass parents and a fancy
Quirk?”

“You’re rich too, Kacchan.” Izuku pointed out.

“Shut the fuck up, Deku!”

“I believe that’s quite enough!” Momo leaned across the table to glare at Katsuki. “I do not believe I
am superior to you based on Quirk status alone. But if we take personality into account, then I believe
you have some catching up to do.”
Katsuki returned Momo’s glare with equal force, “Oh yeah? Well guess what? Personality means shit
to me if I can blast your ass straight to hell.”

“Even if that were possible, I believe I could ‘blast your ass to hell’ far more efficiently than you ever
could.”

“Then why don’t you put your money where your mouth is and prove it?!”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way!”

“Behind the school, after class! We’ll see who’s the real King Explosion Murderer!”

“The only thing I’ll be ‘murdering’ is your chance of victory.”

“Tch. I doubt it,” Katsuki growled as he stomped off.

After a few moments, Momo’s confidence dissipated, and she sat back down in her seat with her eyes
wide. “What did I just do?” She asked herself.

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Izuku said. “But even though Kacchan’s the top dog in this
school, I still have faith in you.”

“Wait. He’s at the top of this school’s social ladder? I assumed he was just some run-of-the-mill
delinquent.”

Izuku shook his head, “No. Kacchan doesn’t smoke or anything like that. He’s aiming for UA like
you. Just about everyone in the school supports him.”

“Well, that certainly explains the attitude,” Momo huffed. “But what about the teachers? Do they not
try to curb his behavior? I can’t say I’d want a student like him representing my school.”

“They don’t. In fact, they’re his biggest supporters. They let him get away with everything.”

“Everything? Just because of his Quirk?” At Izuku’s nod, Momo furrowed her brow. “Well then, I’ll
have to let my parents know of this grave injustice. But first, I believe it would be beneficial to
remind a certain explosive blonde that he’s no longer the biggest fish in the pond.”

“You remember the chemical structures for explosive substances?”

Momo gave a slightly sinister smile, “They were some of the first substances I learned to make.” At
Izuku’s concerned expression, Momo clarified. “As a safety precaution! So I knew the importance of
straying away from dangerous substances!”

Izuku gave a hesitant nod, “Weird, but alright.”

———————————————

Later that day, behind the school, Katsuki and Momo stood face to face, each sending a piercing glare
toward the other. A large crowd watched them, and from that crowd, Izuku stepped out to relay the
rules, “Here’s how this will work: both combatants will take turns generating explosions, each one
bigger than the last. The first one to make a smaller explosion or otherwise yield will be the loser. Are
you both ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Katsuki said.

“I concur,” Momo replied.

“Good,” Izuku nodded. “As the challenged party, Yaoyorozu will go first.”

“Very well.” Momo rolled up her sleeves and generated a party popper from her arm. She pulled the
string, and it went off with a pop.”

“Tch, I can do that in my sleep,” Katsuki said as he pointed his palm to the sky and released a slightly
larger blast.

“I am aware. I was just getting warmed up.” Momo generated a lighter from one hand and a stick of
dynamite from the other. She lit the fuse, then threw it into the air, where it exploded with an audible
bang.

Bracing his wrist with his left hand, Katsuki discharged a larger blast right next to Momo’s.

Momo’s stance did not waiver. She pulled out a Gatorade Energy Bar from her pocket and took a bite.
After swallowing, she reached down to her thigh and pulled out three round cartoon bombs. She only
lit one fuse before throwing them all into the air, the explosion from one causing a chain reaction from
the other two.

“You’re not the only one who can do fancy shit, Ponytail.” Katsuki held up both hands as he released
a huge explosion segmented into three smaller parts which decreased in size, like a matryoshka doll
but with explosions.

Momo wiped her brow at the heat produced by all these explosions. “You have proven yourself
competent, but let’s see if you can top this.” After finishing the rest of her energy bar, she lifted up her
shirt and pulled a small missile out of her stomach. Huffing from the exertion, she planted it on the
ground, then created a small button and pressed it. The missile shot fifty feet in the air and quickly
combusted into a massive ball of flames. The resulting shockwave could be felt by the entire crowd.

Momo panted as she let out a confident smile. That one took a lot out of her. But it didn’t matter. She
knew there was no way Katsuki had enough sweat in his body to match that.

Though, to her surprise, Katsuki didn’t look perturbed. He just let out a sinister smile. “You think I
didn’t plan for this? Or did you forget we had gym class today?” He reached into his pocket and
pulled out what looked to be a jar of nitroglycerin. He unscrewed the cap, shoved his hand in, pointed
it straight upward, and let out a massive geyser of flame and combustion that stretched over sixty feet
tall, parting the clouds in its way. “Ha! Beat that!” He jeered.

Momo silently stared at the spot where Katsuki! 's explosion had once been as her mouth hung open.
There were a million things she could make that could outdo him. But she couldn’t make any of them
because she was out of fuel.

She was just about to yield when she heard a voice from the crowd yell out, “Yaoyorozu! Wait!” She
turned to see Izuku running toward her, holding what looked to be a handful of candy bars. “I ran to
the convenience store as soon as the match started. I know you still have one more push in you. You
can do it!”

“Hey! That’s cheating!” Katsuki complained.

“You used the jar of sweat. It’s fair game,” Izuku retorted.
Momo gave Izuku a weak yet grateful smile as she took the candy bars, “Thank you, Midoriya. I
promise I will not let you down.” She tore the candy bars open and scarfed them down as fast as she
could. After about a dozen, she felt like she wanted to barf. But that was good, she just had to channel
that feeling into something big and constructive, which would then turn destructive.

Taking a deep breath, she condensed every formula for explosive substances in her head, then
channeled those formulas into her hands. Feeling every calorie in her body burn at once, she forced it
all out and shaped it into her ultimate weapon!

…A small toy fireworks truck.

The crowd immediately burst into a hysterical laughter. None, however, were louder than Katsuki’s.
“Oh my god! That’s so fucking pathetic!” He laughed as he bent down to pick up the toy truck.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. It’s about to detonate,” Momo warned.

“Oh yeah, I’m so scared,” Katsuki said sarcastically. “What’s it gonna do? Melt my face off-”

Katsuki was interrupted as the fireworks truck went off in a bright, majestic, towering pillar of light
and color that stretched over one hundred feet tall. There was no doubt from anyone in the crowd that
it could be seen from space.

After the flames dissipated, everyone got a good look at Katsuki, who was covered head-to-toe in
black soot. He let out a dry cough as he fell over.

“Yaoyorozu wins!” Someone shouted as the crowd broke into cheers.

Izuku immediately ran over to tackle Momo in a tight hug, “You did it, Yaoyorozu! I knew you
could!”

“I wouldn’t have if it weren’t for your assistance, Midoriya.” Momo beamed as she returned the hug.

“Oh, it was nothing,” Izuku blushed, “Anyone could have gotten food from a convenience store.”

“But no one else did. You were the one to take those extra precautions to ensure my victory. And for
that, you have my gratitude.”

“I… I appreciate that, Yaoyorozu.”

“You can call me Momo if you’d like. I believe we’ve become familiar enough.”

“Oh! Well then I guess you can call me Izuku. Anyways, I’m sure you’re hungry after making that big
an explosion.”

“I very much am. Would you… like to join me for dinner at my favorite buffet?”

“Yeah,” Izuku smiled, “I think I would.”

As the two of them walked off to Momo’s limo, they couldn’t help but feel a new fondness for one
another. They weren’t certain of those feelings yet, nor could they even begin to express them, but
they both felt willing to figure them out together. Especially over a high-class, high-calorie meal at a
fancy buffet.
Chapter End Notes

I wasn't expecting this to be IzuMomo, but sometimes a story grows legs and walks away from
your original vision

I know someone suggested Momo get into an explosion-off against Katsuki in her chapter. So
whoever suggested that, let me know if you want to be credited

Also, yes, Momo's parents got that school shut down within twenty-four hours of her bringing it
up

Next Time: Move over, 1-A girls. It's 1-B girls time!
 Kinoko the Mushroomer
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Izuku was used to sitting alone on the roof for lunch. It was one of the few times at school that he
could just exist in peace without having to worry about being oppressed by his classmates and
teachers.

However, there was one problem with this specific day. Izuku wasn’t alone. Sitting a few feet from
him was a nervous-looking girl with big brown hair and bangs covering her eyes.

Izuku wasn’t sure what to do. Was she new here? That would make sense. Their school did just
receive an influx of students after that fireworks truck incident. But that likely meant she was just too
shy for the cafeteria.

They had been sitting in silence for the past ten minutes. Should he talk to her? What would he even
talk to her about? He glanced over to see if he could find any conversation starters, and the first thing
he noticed was that her lunch consisted entirely of mushrooms. Well, that was as good a topic as any.

“That’s a lot of mushrooms you got there,” Izuku said as he slowly scooted in her direction. “They
must taste really good.”

The brown-haired girl shrunk in on herself, “Y - yeah. I just… really like mushrooms.” She sounded
nervous, but Izuku still thought he could salvage this.

“Is that why your hair is shaped like a mushroom?” Izuku immediately cringed at that question. Why
did he ask that of all things? She was probably going to interpret that as an insult!

But to his surprise, the girl brightened up a bit, “Um, yeah. Most people don’t notice that. Mushrooms
are actually part of my Quirk.”

Izuku immediately perked up at the mention of a Quirk, “Oh? Is it powered by mushrooms? Is that
why you’re eating so many?”

The girl chuckled a bit, a small smile forming on her face, “No. I just like how they taste. My Quirk
allows me to grow mushrooms on my body and spread them onto any surface. Watch.” She slid the
rest of the way to Izuku and placed a hand on his knee. After a moment, a small mushroom quickly
sprouted on that same spot.

Izuku picked up the mushroom and examined it thoroughly. “Wow. That’s a really good Quirk. Can
you make any kind of mushroom?”

Izuku could feel the girl’s excitement increase exponentially, “You bet I can! I can do Agaricus blazei,
agorcybe aegerita, panus lacomtei…” as she listed various mushroom species, each one she
mentioned sprung to life on the roof at the mention of their name. “Flammulia velutipes, hericium
americium, morchella americana, pleurotus volvariella, pleurotus-”

She suddenly stopped herself when she realized she was rambling, “I’m sorry! You probably don’t
want to hear about all these mushrooms.”
“No. I don’t mind. Honest.” Izuku quickly clarified, “I think it’s nice that you’re so passionate about
something.”

“Oh, um, thank you, uhhhhh… I don’t think I got your name.”

“Izuku Midoirya.”

“Kinoko Komori. But I think I’ve said enough about mushrooms for now. Don’t want to flood the
roof with them (as much as I’m tempted). But what about you? Is there anything you’re passionate
about?”

“Oh, well, besides Quirks, there are heroes.”

“Oh, me too! I’m aiming for UA next year! I’m hoping to be an idol hero.”

“Oh, like Pop Step or the Wild Wild Pussycats in their early years.”

“Exactly! I hope I can be as shroomtastic as them one day.”

“Well, your Quirk is definitely well suited for heroics. Especially if you can make mushrooms that
produce toxic or hallucinogenic spores. Can you do that?”

“I can do toxic stuff, but I stay away from hallucinogens.”

“Why not? Is it because you’re susceptible to them? I’m sure a gas mask would solve that.”

Kinoko let out a frustrated sigh, “No. It’s just that… you know how people make jokes about how
Mario’s high on mushrooms?”

Izuku nodded in understanding, “Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. That joke’s been done to death.”

“And the worst part is that I’m immune to most mushroom spores. I literally can’t get high off my
own mushrooms. And yes, I’ve tried. Everyone in my family has tried at some point.”

“Okay…” Izuku said with uncertainty. “That aside, I still think it could be an effective way of
neutralizing villains.”

“Eh, maybe,” Kinoko huffed.

Izuku could tell that the question brought her mood down, so he aimed to change the subject to
something lighter. “Y’know, I’m curious. What kinds of mushrooms do you think would aid you most
in hero work?” He asked as he pulled out a notebook and pen from… somewhere.

Kinoko lit up at the question as she brushed a bit of hair out of her face, which gave Izuku a chance to
admire her singular visible brown eye with a yellow twinkle in the center. “I’m so glad you asked,
Midoriya!” She cheered as she began what was sure to be a long discussion on mushrooms.

“Okay, first is the pleurotus pulmonarius. Those are probably the bounciest, great for rescue. Then
there’s the pleurotus eryngii, which makes for a great shield. The amanita phalloide has some of the
most harmful spores, so I save those for emergencies. Then there’s…”

———————————————

Two Hours Later…

“Wow! I never thought mushrooms could be so versatile!” Izuku exclaimed as he finished his third
page on Kinoko’s Quirk. “You really opened my mind here.”

“You could say I got you to put on your thinking cap.” Kinoko laughed a bit at her own pun, to which
Izuku joined.

Izuku glanced at his watch, then stared at it in shock as he realized what time it was. “Oh shoot!
We’re late for class. Like, very late for class!” He ran to the exit but stopped and turned to Kinoko as
he opened the door. “Um, same time tomorrow?”

“Of course,” Kinoko beamed, “You’re a pretty fungi.”

“HA! I get it!”

———————————————

And so Izuku and Kinoko continued to meet on the roof every day during lunch, exchanging
knowledge on Quirks, mushrooms, heroes, and pop idols. Their meetups quickly became the
highlights of each other’s day. Just a half hour where they didn’t have to worry about the stresses of
life and instead shared their interests with someone they could call a friend.

One day, however, would threaten to change that. It began as most days did: with a completely normal
conversation between the pair.

“Have you ever just… slept in the dirt? Like, you’re really tired and dazed. So, you think to yourself,
‘I wanna be a mushroom,’ so you just bury yourself outside and steep in the dirt. Has that ever
happened to you?”

Ok, maybe not that normal.

Suddenly, the door to the roof swung open, startling Izuku and Kinoko, and revealing an angry blonde
figure.

“Kacchan!” Izuku squealed.

“Bakugo.” Kinoko squeaked as she buried herself in her hair. They might not have been in the same
class, but Izuku had told her enough about him for her to dread his presence.

“So this is where you’ve been every day, you damn nerd,” Katsuki said as he threateningly walked
towards them. “And look, you’ve made a friend. Bet she doesn’t know how much of a Quirkless
weakling you are.”

“I - I know. I still wanna be his friend.” Kinoko muttered just softly enough for Katsuki to hear.

“Well then, looks like I have to beat some sense into both of you.” An evil grin appeared on Katsuki’s
face as he menacingly popped a few explosions in his hands.

“Please, Kacchan. We weren’t doing anything.” Izuku pleaded.

“You were stepping out of line, Deku. That’s more than enough reason for me.”

“No! Please don’t!” Kinoko shouted as she planted her hands on the ground. Within seconds, a large
mushroom appeared in Katsuki’s way.
“What kind of weak-ass Quirk is this?” Katsuki chuckled as he blew it up with little effort, only for a
second mushroom to pop up in its place. He blew it up again, seemingly amused by the whole ordeal.

When a third mushroom popped up, Kinoko said with a shaky voice, “Don’t blow this one up. I’m
warning you!”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Katsuki yelled as he exploded the mushroom yet again. This time,
however, a group of yellow spore clouds released from the mushroom and flew into his face. He
accidentally inhaled some and found himself in a coughing fit. “What the fuck was that?”

A small grin found itself on Kinoko’s face, “I tried to warn you. You just inhaled the spores of
psilocybe cubensis, the magic mushroom, known for its hallucinogenic properties. Not much else I
can say except have a fun trip!”

“What triiiiiiiii…” Suddenly, the world began shifting around Katsuki, as if everything turned into
jello. The colors shifted as well, with the sky becoming a neon red while the roof turned to a bright
shade of green.

“I’ll fucking kill you for this!” Katsuki fired his Quirk, but instead of explosions, a clump of confetti
came out of his palm, like he was some sort of party popper.

Katsuki stared at this palm in confusion. A feeling which quickly increased as a face appeared on said
hand, which gave him a toothy grin before forming a fist and punching him in the face against his
will.

As Katsuki wrestled with his own hand, he lost balance and fell to the ground. But he didn’t hit the
ground. He kept falling, and falling, and falling. He opened his eyes to find that he was falling down
some kind of rainbow-colored pit. When he reached the bottom, he landed in a long stretch of hallway
he couldn’t see the end of.

Katuski then heard a grumbling sound from behind him. He turned to see a giant, monstrous-looking
Izuku with a huge, creepy smile running down the hallway on all fours.

Katsuki let his primal instinct take over as he ran screaming down the seemingly endless hallway, the
giant Izuku keeping in hot pursuit.

“KACCHAN!” The monster boomed, “LET’S BE HEROES!”

“Fuck you!” Katsuki may have been running for his life, but he still took the opportunity to flip the
monster the bird.

As he ran, he noticed a light at the end of the tunnel: a door at the end of the hallway. Katsukui didn’t
care where it led, he just wanted to escape Deku. He practically dived through the exit and slammed
the door behind him, and the sounds of the monster from the other side slowly faded out.

Katsuki breathed a sigh of relief. But that sigh was short-lived as he saw the room he ended up in. It
was a dimly lit space with gray walls and a green carpet. But the most noticeable details were the All
Might posters covering nearly the entire room and a singular wooden chair in the center.

Before he could fully comprehend his surroundings, Katsuki saw a pair of ropes come to life and tie
him down to the chair. Suddenly, the All Mights in the posters started laughing and taunting him like
he was some kind of comedy act.

“Wow, look at him!” One of the posters jeered.

 “He’s so weak!” Another one said.

“He’ll never be number one.”

“He couldn’t go plus ultra to save his life.”

“I doubt he’ll even get into UA.”

“Why, he’s just as useless as Deku.”

Katsuki tried to fight against the ropes. But every time he struggled, they grew tighter. He was forced
to endure endless shame and ridicule at the hands of his idol for as long as this trip lasted.

“No, NO, NOOOOOOOO!” He yelled into the void.

But the void did not yell back.

———————————————

From the outside world, Izuku and Kinoko watched Katsuki rock back and forth in a fetal position
while screaming something about All Might.

“Is he… gonna die?” Izuku asked in concern.

“Nope!” Kinoko confidently stated with her hands on her hips. “But he’ll be like that for at least
another hour.”

“He’s gonna be really angry when he wakes up.”

“Eh, let him. That wasn’t even the worst thing I could’ve done.”

“What’s the worst thing you could’ve done?”

“Well, you know how I make the best shrooms in dark and damp places?”

“Yeah.”

“The inside of your lungs are dark and damp.”

“Dear god.”

“I know, right?” Kinoko chuckled. “The best part is that I can claim plausible deniability because you
can’t see them. They’re in your lungs.”

Izuku glanced at Katsuki again, “I think we’re gonna need all the plausible deniability we can get
right now.”

“What can I say? Shiitake happens. I mean, I tried to warn him. Not my fault fire causes spores to
expand faster.”

“True that.” Izuku nodded, “True that.”

Chapter End Notes

Most of the process of choosing which character to make a chapter for comes down to how they
can dunk on Bakugo in a way that's unique to them (though there are exceptions). So I think you
can understand why I chose Kinoko.

I had to research mushrooms for this chapter. I mean, I figured I would, but I thought it was
worth noting

Also, you guys apparently really like Fireworks Truck-kun, so here he is in all his glory!

Next Time: We're Doing a Sequel

 Kirishima the Man in the Making
Chapter Notes

This is a sequel to Chapter 6: Mina the Matchmaker. If you haven't read that one, I suggest you
do it now.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Eijiro Kirishima knew transferring schools would be a bit of a challenge. He considered himself a
pretty likable, friendly, headstrong guy, but he knew he wasn’t the best with introductions. As such, he
sat alone at his lunch table for what would be his fifth day in a row. He sighed. That made him five for
five.

Kirishima wouldn’t have any more time to stew in his loneliness. Because at that moment, Mina
walked up to him, dragging along a green-haired boy. This was a bit of a shock to Kirishima. He knew
they were in the same class back at Mustafa Private Middle School, but they were never that well
acquainted. Maybe she was just looking out for him.

“Hey, Kiri!” Mina greeted, “Sorry I left you out to dry these past few days. I had to take care of a few
bullies. One really nasty guy in particular. Anyway, I found someone I think you’d get along with.”
She sat the green-haired boy in the seat across from Kirishima and skipped away. “Have fun, you
two!”

“Um… hi?” The green-haired boy awkwardly waved, “I’m Izuku Midoirya.”

“Eijiro Kirishima. Nice to meet you,” He replied with a sharp-toothed grin.

“Uh, I know this is sudden,” Izuku pulled out a notebook from… somewhere and began flipping
through the pages, “But Mina told me you liked Crimson Riot.” He showed Kirishima a page of the
hero in question.

“Yeah, man!” Kirishima eagerly nodded, “He’s like the manliest hero out there!”

“Manly?” Izuku asked to confirm.

“Yeah, manly! You know, like All Might, Gunhead, Fourth Kind, Mirko-”

“Hold on,” Izuku interrupted, “Mirko is manly?”

“Of course! Manliness is a concept that transcends gender. It’s all about honor, chivalry, and fighting
for what’s right.”

“So, in a way, could all heroes be considered manly?”

“No doubt about it. That’s why I’m training to be a hero, too. Even if my Quirk’s a little… ehhhh.”
Kirishima said as he made a so-so gesture with his hand.

“Hm? What’s your Quirk?” Izuku asked, already flipping to an empty notebook page.
“It’s called Hardening. It allows me to harden any part of my outer body.” Kirishima demonstrated
this by hardening his finger in front of Izuku. “It’s fine and all, but it’s not as flashy as some of the
other top heroes out there.”

Izuku brightened up at the Quirk demonstration. He grabbed a pen and began furiously scribbling in
his notebook. “Maybe not, but it’s still a really good Quirk. It would be great for defending civilians.
Plus, your finger seemed pretty sharp. I bet it’d be great for taking out villains, too. It functions as
both a sword and shield, kind of like Fat Gum’s Quirk. Plus, it’s not like you need a flashy Quirk to be
a popular hero. Edgeshot’s isn’t all that flashy, and he’s in the top ten. Like you said, it’s all about the
heart and passion.”

Kirishima stared slack-jawed at Izuku. In about thirty seconds, that boy had just argued against every
one of his Quirk-related insecurities, even though they literally just met. Where had this boy been all
his life?

Kirishima placed a hand on Izuku’s shoulder as manly tears streamed down his face, “Midoriya, that
was super manly of you.”

“Thank you, Kirishima,” Izuku beamed, “I think you’re pretty manly, too.”

The two boys were suddenly interrupted from their tender moment as a pair of hands slammed on
their lunch table. “Deku.” An angry blonde boy sneered with disdain.

“K - Kacc - Katsuki!” Izuku stuttered out, “How - how have you been?”

“Fucking terrible, thanks to you!” Katsuki yelled in Izuku’s face.

“I - what are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Deku! I know you had something to do with the stupid love scandal. My
reputation is down the gutter, thanks to you!”

“I had nothing to do with that, Katsuki. I swear!”

“Bull. Shit.” Katsuki held up Izuku by the collar and pointed a red-hot hand in his face. “Tell me what
you did, and I’ll blast your face off!”

“Don’t you mean ‘or I’ll blast your face off?’”

“Did I fucking stutter?!”

As Kirishima watched all this go down, he desperately wanted to intervene, fight the bully, take the
brunt of the incoming explosion for Izuku, or do something. But he couldn’t move, paralyzed with
fear and uncertainty. What kind of hero was he? He was just talking about the virtues of manliness not
two minutes ago. And here he was, too pathetic to save his own friend.

Kirishima was pulled from his thoughts as a random voice in the crowd shouted, “Hey! Is that the
Aldera heartbreaker? Is he breaking another heart?”

Katauki’s head immediately whipped around to the source of the direction of the voice. He threw
Izuku to the ground and stomped across the cafeteria, yelling, “I was gonna break his bones! Not his
heart, you fucking idiot! Where the hell are you? Show yourself so I can fucking kill you!”
Kirishima let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He watched Izuku pull himself off the
ground, but before he could say anything, the bell signaling the end of lunch went off.

“Sorry about that, Kirishima.” Izuku said as he stuffed his notebook in his bag, “Maybe we can talk
more after school.”

As Izuku walked off, Kirishima couldn’t help but simmer in his own guilt at how he handled the
situation. Could he even be a hero if he didn’t have the guts to rescue someone from danger? He
didn’t know. But either way, he knew he could at least make things right with his new friend.

———————————————

“Midoriya!”

As school let out for the day, Izuku paused halfway down the stairs to turn to the familiar voice. It
took a moment for him to recognize the head of black hair that ran up to him, but the sharp teeth
pretty much sealed the deal. “Oh. Hey Kirishima.”

Izuku didn’t know what he was expecting from Kirishima. But he knew for a fact he was not
expecting him to bow at a near ninety-degree angle in front of him.

“Midoriya, I am so, so sorry for how I acted at lunch!” Kirishima apologized, much to Izuku’s
confusion.

“What are you talking about? You didn’t do anything.”

“Exactly! I should have been a man and stood up for you! I preached so hard about manliness, but
when the chips were down, I was no better than any other bystander. I was a real hypocrite today. And
for that, I apologize.”

Izuku uncomfortably squirmed in place, not used to being apologized to, “It’s fine, Kirishima. You
don’t need to apologize. I mean, I can’t stand up to him, and I want to be a hero. So what does that say
about me?”

Kirishima shot Izuku a serious glare, “Dude, it’s not manly to put yourself down like that.”

“You were just doing the same thing!”

“I, uh… I guess you’re right.” He chuckled.

“Listen, Kirishima. It’s okay to be hesitant about these kinds of things. I mean, we wouldn’t be human
if we weren’t at least a little scared. And besides, it’s clear that you feel bad for your actions. So, I
guess what you should really be focusing on is trying to remedy this mistake for the future.” Izuku
scratched his arm nervously, “And maybe… if you’d like, I could help be better with you, alongside
you.”

In place of a response, Kirishima just pulled Izuku into a firm, manly hug. To which the green-haired
boy reciprocated with a blush on his face. He wasn’t used to such outward displays of affection from
anyone but his mom, which made him enjoy them all the more.

As the pair separated the hug, they both couldn’t help the nervous giggle that came out of their
mouths.
“So….” Izuku said, trying to change the subject, since the old one ran its course, “Guess what I found
on the ground after class today?”

“What?”

Izuku reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of paper slips, “Two coupons for that ice cream
place a block away from here. Would you… like to get something to eat?”

Kirishima banged his hardened fists together in excitement, “Heck yeah! I love ice cream!”

“Man, I wish I could be that passionate about ice cream.”

“You know how they say, ‘I scream for ice cream?’ You just gotta scream from the deepest depths of
your soul. Really channel your love for ice cream.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll save screaming for when I’m not out in public.”

“Your loss.”

As the two boys walked off, Mina peered from around the corner and gave a cheeky grin at the sight.

It looked like operation Kirizuku was going smoother than a stick of butter sliding across an ice rink.

———————————————

If you asked Katsuki Bakugo if he was currently stalking Izuku Midoriya and Eijiro Kirishima at an
ice cream shop, he would say no. He just happened to be in the mood for ice cream after he heard
Kirishima shouting about it. It wasn’t like he had unfinished business with Izuku from lunch that day.
And that he was still furious at the boy for somehow being involved in him losing his top dog status.
No, that would be crazy.

…But if he just so happened to put a Quirkless freak in his place while he was there, he wouldn’t
complain.

He saw Izuku and Kirishima sitting at one of the outside tables, acting all chummy. Katsuki still had
no idea why anyone would willingly associate themselves with that weakling. Kirishima must either
be insane or desperately lonely. But he quickly discarded those thoughts. It was time for him to make
his move.

Katsuki stepped back and prepared to lunge, but he was suddenly distracted by the sound of big,
booming footsteps. He shifted his gaze to see what looked like a ten-foot-tall man in a white cloak
lumber over to Izuku and Kirishima and corner them against the wall.

“THE WEATHER IS NICE TODAY.” The large man boomed, a small amount of intimidation leaking
into his voice, “YOU WILL TELL ME THE LOCATION OF THE SPRINGER AGENCY.”

Katsuki didn’t know who this guy was or what he was babbling on about, but his mind still formed a
new, better plan. This guy was clearly a villain. And if he could take him out in front of his
classmates, he would have his top-dog reputation back. Yes! It was foolproof!

“Hey, you stupid villain!” Katsuki yelled, causing the man to turn his head in the blonde’s direction.
“It’s time for you to die!” He launched himself in the giant’s direction and wound back his signature
right hook, only to get backhanded by the giant with little effort and be sent flying into a near
dumpster.
Katsuki felt humiliated, but he wasn’t gonna let a few cracked ribs stop him. “Is that all you got?!” He
yelled as he charged toward the giant, explosions crackling in his palms. The giant didn’t look
perturbed. He just pulled back his foot and kicked Katsuki into the dumpster again.

Katsuki winced from the pain as he tried to pull himself out of the dumpster. He may have had a
broken wrist, but he had two hands for a reason. “I didn’t hear no bell!” He weakly yelled. But before
he could get out of the dumpster, the giant slammed the lid on his fingers, picked it up without even
trying, and chucked it across town.

———————————————

Izuku and Kirishima watched in terror as the giant threw the dumpster off beyond the horizon before
he stomped toward them and resumed his threat. “NOW, YOU WILL TELL ME THE LOCATION
OF THE SPRINGER AGENCY.”

They didn’t know it, but Kirishima and Izuku were both thinking the same thing. They just had a
conversation about bettering themselves, yet here they were, cowering in fear yet again. They both
wanted to do something to save the other, but common sense dictated there was no way in hell they
could stand up to this guy.

But in Izuku’s case, he could never stand up to anyone, at least not physically. So, as always, he was
forced to rely on his wits. Summoning every ounce of courage in his body, he managed to choke out
the first words that came to mind. “I - I can show you where it is. If - if - if you could just follow me.”

The giant slowly nodded, “VERY WELL. LEAD THE WAY.”

Izuku felt lucky that he memorized the location of every hero agency in his area. But he felt unlucky
that he instinctively chose to lead the giant away from danger himself, instead of just sending him off
on his merry way. Curse him and his heroic heart! What would Kirishima think?

Wanting an answer to that question, Izuku glanced in his friend’s direction as he led the giant away
from the area. There, he saw Kirishima talking to someone on the phone. When the sharp-toothed boy
noticed his friend’s glance, he shot him a thumbs up and a toothy grin.

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. Kirishima must be alerting the agency in advance. All he had to do
was make sure he and the giant got there in one piece. But based on the giant's silence and focused
glare on the road ahead, he figured that wouldn’t be too hard.

———————————————

Izuku’s suspicions were confirmed when he turned the corner to the Springer Agency and found it
flooded with pro heroes and sidekicks. It took a combination of Midnight, Death Arms, Kamui
Woods, and Cementoss, but the giant was neutralized and arrested without excessive damage.

“Midobro! Are you okay?!” Kirishima said as he ran over.

“I’m fine, Kirishima. I’m fine.” Izuku assured, “It was just… wow that was scary. I am so glad you
thought to call the agency in advance.”

“I was only following your example, dude! I mean, I always associated manliness with strength, but
that thing you pulled was the manliest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“I mean, the brain’s a muscle too. It’s just a different kind of strength. At least, that’s what I like to
think.”
 The pair were cut from their conversation as the Bouncy Hero: Springer walked up to them, “Couldn’t
have said it better myself. That guy was Gigantomachia, a dangerous A-Rank villain, and you two did
a good job handling the situation. You both have my thanks.”

“Oh, well, if it wasn’t too much trouble,” Izuku took out his notebook, “Do you think I could have
your autograph as well?”

“Make that two.” Kirishima added, “This is an important mark of manliness I never want to forget.”

———————————————

The Next Day…

“Kiri, is that you?” Mina asked as she ran up to him and Izuku. Kirishima’s hair was now dyed red
and spiked with ungodly amounts of gel, and Izuku’s was dyed a neon green but looked the same
otherwise.

“You bet!” Kirishima said as he smashed his hardened fists together. “Me and Midobro had a life-
changing experience yesterday. It turned us into true men!”

“True men!” Izuku repeated.

“Ah,” A smirk grew on Mina’s face, “So I guess you two enjoyed your little date yesterday.”

“A date?” Kirishima questioned, “We just went out for ice cream after Midobro found some coupons
on the…” His face lit up in realization.

Mina slowly nodded her head, “Yup, it was me. And it looks like you two had a fun time.”

Izuku’s face turned red as Kirishima’s hair, “Did - did you say a d - d - d - DATE?!”

Kirishima muttered to himself, “Well, a man’s supposed to live life without regret,” Before he took a
deep breath, turned to Izuku, and said, “Yup. She said date. And I had a lot of fun, especially with the
hair dyeing. So… would you like to go on another one?”

“I - I - I - I - YES!” Izuku answered instinctively.

“WOOOOOO! YES!” Mina and Kirishima both cheered out. Kirishima repeatedly pumped his arm
up and down while Mina did a celebratory breakdance.

Mina patted herself on the back, “Looks like the queen of romance has done it again.”

Kirishima raised both his hands for hi-fives, “Up top, bros. Both of you.”

As Izuku and Mina slapped his hands, then each other’s, they all knew that this would be the start of
an amazing journey that would no doubt be manly beyond all belief.

Especially since that fireworks truck interrupted the reconstruction of Mustafa Private Middle School,
thereby ensuring they would all remain at the same school for the foreseeable future.

Chapter End Notes

Thanks to MixMassBasher for suggesting some ideas for this chapter

If you couldn't tell, the title of the fic referred to Kirishima this time around. All it took was one
good friend to bring out the man inside him

Before writing this chapter, I thought middle school Kirishima was just as shy as Izuku. Then I
reread his backstory chapter and realized that wasn't the case. He was more like a coward who
struggled to back up his ideals with actions. But who better to inspire others to take action than
the green bean himself?

Next Time: Someone from the OVAs which I haven't seen

 Habuko the Paralyzer
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Izuku sighed as he grabbed his shoes from his locker. Another day went down the drain. It was one of
the rare few days where Katsuki didn’t mess with, threaten, or blow him up. One would think that
would be a good thing, but it just left Izuku on edge all day. He was so distracted by the anticipation
that he could barely get any work done.

Izuku was about to head out when he heard a clatter from the next row of lockers. He curiously
peered over to see a girl with a snake for a head on the ground, quivering under two boys, one with
stones for hair and another with long orange bangs that covered his eyes.

Izuku recognized the snake girl as Habuko Mongoose, his class’s newest transfer student. Incidentally,
the two bullies were also from his class. The rock-haired one was Kusumoto, and the orange-haired
one was Suzuki.

“P - please,” Habuko sniffled, “I just wanted to get to the train station.” She tried to get up, only to be
pushed back down by Kusumoto.

“Don’t be like that,” Suzuki said smugly. “We don’t have many heteromorphs in this school. We just
wanted to see if they’re as tough as people say they are. So come on, do something tough.”

Izuku very quickly decided he had enough. “Hey! Leave her alone!” He commanded, stomping up to
his classmates.

“Oh great,” Kusumoto rolled his eyes, “Looks like Deku’s trying to be a hero again. Get outta here.
This is none of your business.”

“It became my business the moment you started harassing her.” Izuku gestured to Habuko, who was
still quivering on the ground.

Izuku saw Kusumoto tilt his head slightly, as if he spotted something from behind Izuku. “Bakugo,
Bakugo!” The rock-haired boy yelled, “Deku’s sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong again!”

Izuku turned his head to see Katuski angrily marching toward them. He was quickly grabbed by the
collar and slammed against the same set of lockers as Habuko.

“How many times do I have to teach you this lesson, Deku?” Katsuki spat in Izuku’s face.

“Please, Kacchan. I was just trying to help someone.” Izuku tried to explain, only for Katsuki to throw
him to the ground.

“You can’t help anyone, Deku. You’re a Quirkless freak. And freaks like you deserve to die!” Katsuki
said as he released a large, threatening explosion in the air.

Startled by the explosion, Habuko yelled in surprise as a bright yellow flash emitted from her eyes.
When the flash cleared, Katsuki and his cronies’ legs gave out, and they slumped to the floor, their
bodies unmoving.
Before Izuku could comprehend what had just happened, Habuko shot up, grabbed Izuku by the arm,
and yelled, “RUN!”

Izuku didn’t need to be told twice. He immediately booked it out of the shoe locker room, not even
looking back when he heard Katsuki yell, “This isn’t over, Deku! And you’re gonna get it too, Snake-
Head!”

———————————————

Izuku and Habuko ran a few blocks before stopping in an alleyway to catch their breaths. Izuku
wasn’t exactly sure what Habuko did just then, but questions regarding her Quirk would have to wait.
Because right now, she was quietly sobbing into her hands while curled up against the wall.

“Hey, are you okay?” Izuku asked as he slowly approached.

Hakubo’s breath hitched, “I was - I was doing so well at my old school. I had just made a friend for
the first time in forever. But then some stupid truck blew up the whole thing. And now…” She let out
a choked sob, “And now she’s in a different school, and I’m all alone again.”

Izuku just patted her on the shoulder as she quietly wept her heart out. He felt bad. He knew how hard
Aldera was for him on a regular basis. But to be thrust into the hellhole of a school that was Aldera
while losing your only friend in the process? That had to be rough.

After a few minutes, Habuko’s tears slowed down as she slowly uncurled herself. “I’m sorry.” She
whispered.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s fine,” Izuku assured. “I’m a bit of a crybaby myself, so I get it. Sometimes
you just need a release.”

“Mm hm,” Habuko gave a teary-eyed nod. “Thanks for sticking up for me back there.”

“I could say the same to you. What exactly did you do to Kacchan and his cronies back there?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to. I just got scared and accidentally activated Paralysis.”

“Is that your Quirk?”

“Yeah. It lets me paralyze someone for three seconds if I’m looking into their eyes. Though if it’s
someone’s first time, they usually take longer to regain feeling in their muscles.”

Izuku’s eyes sparkled in excitement, “Wow, that’s so cool! A Quirk like that would be really handy for
self-defense. What kind of range does it have? Is there a cooldown in between flashes? Do you think
you could extend paralysis time with enough practice? What does that have to do with your snake
mutations? I mean, I know snakes can paralyze people, but that’s usually with their bite. Can you
paralyze people with your bite? Can you-”

Izuku cut himself off when he realized Habuko was looking nervous. “Oh, sorry. I got carried away
again. I just - I just really like Quirks.”

“You - you don’t think my Quirk is weird?” Habuko asked hesitantly.

“Of course not. All Quirks are cool and unique in their own ways.”
Habuko shot Izuku a small smile, “…Thank you. That means a lot to me. I haven’t exactly had the
best track record when it comes to my Quirk.”

Izuku’s brows furrowed when he realized what she was talking about. “Sorry about my classmates.
They’re just… how do I put this lightly?”

“They’re Quirkist bigots?”

“Yeah, exactly. Well, I know Kacchan’s not Quirkist. He’s just me-ist.”

“That explosive boy? What does he have against you? You seem pretty nice.”

“Well, it’s, ummmm…” He sighed to himself. “I want to be a hero, even though I’m Quirkless. He
took that as a personal attack against his philosophies.”

Habuko’s eyes narrowed, “Ok, I think he might be a little Quirkist.”

“I - um - I’m not too knowledgeable on the subject, so I wouldn’t really know.”

“I mean… I think you’d make a pretty good hero.”

Izuku’s eyes widened at that statement, “You really mean it?”

“Sure. Heroes are supposed to be uplifting above all else, and I think you’re pretty good at that.”

Izuku wiped a few tears from his eyes and gave her a wobbly smile, “Thank you.”

“THERE YOU ARE!”

Izuku and Habuko turned to the alleyway entrance to see a furious-looking Katsuki stomping toward
them. “Bet you think you’re pretty slick, huh? Thought you could get away with it, huh? Well guess
what, there’s nothing you can do to stop me!”

In response to that, Habuko flashed her Quirk in Katsuki’s face, causing the boy to fall to the ground
yet again. Izuku and Habuko Quickly made their escape, but not before Habuko delivered a swift kick
to Katsuki’s crotch.

When the pair got more distance from Katsuki, Habuko pulled out an eye-dropper and stopped to
moisten her pupils.

Izuku took notice of this, “Oh. Does repeated use of your Quirk cause eye strain?”

“Mm hm,” Habuko replied as she moved to her second eye, “Does that guy attack you often? Is this
something I should get used to?”

“Kacchan goes after me a lot. You don’t have to hang around me if you don’t want to.”

“I want to,” Habuko said assuredly. “Because I want to be a hero, too. And even though I haven’t
known you long, I feel like you’d do the same for me.”

Izuku gave a bright smile as he pulled out a notebook and pen from… somewhere, “In that case, how
about I give you a few pointers on your Quirk?”

———————————————
The Next Day…

“Alright,” Izuku said to Habuko as the pair walked to school, “If I know Kacchan, then he won’t take
yesterday lying down. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to attack us at this very - THERE HE IS!”

Habuko whipped her head around and activated her Quirk on a lunging Katsuki, causing him to skid
across the pavement.

“You got lucky!” Katsuki yelled to Izuku and Habuko as they ran off.

To Habuko’s surprise and Izuku’s ambivalence, the day continued similarly for them. Katsuki would
try to attack Izuku, only for Habuko to paralyze him, which would lead to him getting hurt in various
humorous manners.

Before class, Katsuki slammed his paralyzed head on a desk as he collapsed to the ground.

During lunch, Katsuki faceplanted into his lunch, which contained several very spicy peppers that
ended up in his eyes.

After class, Katsuki had the bright idea to try his luck on the stairs. You can guess what happened.

The best part was that the teachers couldn’t call out Habuko for using her Quirk, since then they’d
have to acknowledge Katsuki blindly attacking them in the first place.

Since Izuku and Habuko were now attached at the hip out of a shared fear of Katsuki, they got the
chance to become closer than ever. Truly relishing in their shared dreams of heroism. Izuku even got
to meet Habuko’s friend from her old school. Needless to say, Izuku understood where Habuko’s
occasional bouts of bluntness came from.

The cycle of Katsuki's paralysis repeated every day. For three months. For some reason pertaining to
his own ego, Katsuki would just not let up no matter what. And it got even worse for him. As
overtime, Habuko’s Quirk strengthened to the point where she could paralyze people for up to five
seconds. Something he would quickly find out when he got paralyzed after school for what had to be
the millionth time.

“You can’t hide behind that snake forever, Deku!” Katsuki yelled as Izuku and Habuko booked it out
of the classroom.

When the pair stopped right outside the school, Habuko looked at Izuku solemnly, “He’s right, you
know.”

“About you not always being there? Yeah, I figured.” Izuku nodded.

“It’s not just that. I have to go out of town with my parents for a few days.
You’ll be all alone, and I don’t want Bakugo to hurt you.”

To Habuko’s surprise, Izuku didn’t look concerned in the slightest. “Habuko,” He asked, “Do you
know how many times you’ve paralyzed Kacchan?”

She shrugged, “Um, no?”

“Two thousand seven hundred sixty-three times. Do you know what that many flashes of yellow light
would do to a person?”
“Uh, mess with their eyes?”

“Oh, more than just that,” Izuku said with a sinister grin. “You have nothing to worry about, Habuko.
If my theory is correct, Kacchan has already sealed his own fate.”

“Sometimes I’m scared of you, Izuku.” Habuko gulped.

“Just be glad we’re on the same side here.”

———————————————

The next day, Izuku and Katsuki stood in the middle of an empty street, like a pair of cowboys in a
quick draw. Neither spoke a single word, for they both knew the situation. Habuko was out of town,
Izuku had to fend for himself, and Katuski wanted blood.

Izuku knew Katsuki didn’t expect much from him, which would only make things easier on his part.
After all, he didn’t think anyone could predict what he had in store.

“End of the line, Deku.” Katsuki sneered, “Since I’m feeling generous, do you want me to do quick
and painless, or slow and painful?”

Izuku shot Katsuki a confident glare, “Neither, Kacchan. I’ve got other plans.”

“Slow and painful it is then. Now DIE!”

Katsuki launched himself at Izuku as he wound back a right hook. But Izuku wasn’t perturbed. He
reached into his pocket, pulled out a flashlight, and shined a yellow light into Katsuki’s eyes. In an
instant, Katsuki’s body found itself paralyzed, and he fell to the ground.

“What the hell? What did you do?!” Katsuki yelled.

“Yes! It worked!” Izuku cheered. “You’ve been paralyzed by Habuko so many times that your body
associates the yellow light with paralysis. It’s like muscle memory!”

Katsuki forced himself back up, “If you think that’s enough to beat me, you can go to-”

Izuku shined the light in Katsuki’s eyes yet again, and his body went limp as he fell to the ground.

“Not this time, Kacchan. You’ve been trying to attack me and Habuko for months. And it’s not like I
can get in trouble for this because a flashlight isn’t a Quirk. So promise you’ll leave us alone, or I’ll
make sure you can’t move during our next big test. You wouldn’t want to jeopardize your perfect
grades, would you?”

Katsuki growled in annoyance, “Fucking fine! I’ll leave you the fuck alone!”

“That’s all I needed to hear.” Izuku turned and walked away with a smile on his face, leaving Katsuki
alone to stew in his own frustration.

As Katsuki wondered how long it would take to break muscle memory, he noticed a nearby street
light turn yellow. One glance was all it took for Katsuki’s body to go limp and for him to fall to the
ground. “GOD DAMMIT, DEKU!”

It was gonna be a while before he could get his driver’s license.

 ———————————————

OMAKE

Tsuyu: So, you’re Habuko’s new friend? How do I know you won’t hurt her, ribbit?

Izuku: Why does this feel like a shovel talk?

Tsuyu: It’s not. It’s an interrogation.

Chapter End Notes

I probably could have done the same muscle memory thing with Aizawa, but I decided to give
some love to the snake

I'm also surprised it took me this long to have Bakugo get kicked in the crotch. Oh well, better
than waiting for the Kota chapter which I have no ideas for

Next Time: Another villain, this one of the Saturday Morning Cartoon variety
 Gentle the Criminal (Also Starring: La Brava)
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Izuku trudged down the street with his head hung low. This might have been one of the worst days in
his life, which sucked because it was going relatively well until after school when Katsuki and his
cronies cornered him.

———————————————

“It’s a limited edition, Kacchan. Please! You can’t!” Izuku pleaded.

“I’m doing you a favor here, Deku.” Katsuki grinned as he slapped the watch on his wrist, “It would
have been wasted on a worthless nerd like yourself.”

———————————————

Izuku had waited in line for hours to get that All Might watch, and Katsuki just took it like it was
nothing! It was like he had the same mindset from when he was four years old.

Izuku let out a tired sigh as he rounded a corner to the convenience store. He really needed some
comfort food right now, and he didn’t want to pester his mom to make Katsudon.

As he walked through the automatic doors, he heard a faux-British voice loudly pronounce, “That’s
right! Make it swift and gentlemanly!”

At that sound, Izuku pulled himself out of his stupor to see a fancily dressed man with gray hair and a
handlebar mustache pulling a knife on the guy at the register. This was all filmed by a short, red-
haired woman with large pigtails.

Izuku tried to back away and call for a hero, but he tripped on his own two feet and hit the ground
with a thud, getting the attention of the robbers.

“Why, look, La Brava.” The mustached man proclaimed, “It seems as if we have an audience. Tell
me, boy, would you say you’ve become captivated by our performance?”

“I’m, uh… I’m a little more confused than anything,” Izuku stuttered as he got up off the ground.

“Well, confusing is still better than boring,” The pink-haired woman, presumably La Brava, said
cheerfully, “So I’d say we’re still on the path to greatness.”

“But I don’t get why you’re filming all this. Is this some sort of performance piece?”

“Well yes, but actually no.” The mustached man replied before jumping on top of the cashier’s
counter and striking a dramatic pose. “I am Gentle Criminal! The soon-to-be greatest malefactor this
world has ever seen!”

“We do YouTube.” La Brava clarified.

“Oooooooh. That makes more sense.” Izuku nodded, “But why are you just robbing a convenience
store?”
“Why, whatever do you mean?” Gentle asked, seemingly offended.

“I mean, if you wanted to be the greatest, I’d assume you’d do just more than what accounts to petty
thievery. Not that I mean to offend! It just doesn’t seem very original.”

La Brava huffed in annoyance, “Well, we’ll have you know our channel has a wide selection of
diverse and interesting content.”

Now curious, Izuku pulled out his phone and pulled up Gentle’s channel, “This is mostly just minor
stuff. Pickpocketing, mugging, more convenience store robbing. Your most popular video is you guys
trying to hijack a fireworks truck.”

“It ran Gentle over!” La Brava cheerfully commented.

“And I took it in the most gentlemanly way possible!” Gentle added.

Izuku gave a look of concern and pity, “What I’m trying to say is maybe try something a bit bigger.
Maybe a heist or something?”

“Hmmmmmm…” Gentle narrowed his eyes as he scratched his chin in thought. La Brava just stared
at him, eagerly awaiting his response.

“Not a bad idea,” Gentle conceded. “Very well! We shall scrap this video and focus our efforts on
performing a daring heist!”

“Yes sir, Gentle sir!” La Brava jokingly saluted. “But what are we gonna rob?”

“I… don’t know.” Gentle’s gentlemanly demeanor faltered for a moment before he suddenly whipped
around to face Izuku. “You there, boy! You suggested the idea, so tell us, what should we steal?”

“Oh! Uh, I dunno.” Izuku stuttered out, not used to being put on the spot. “I mean, I really wish
Kacchan would give me my limited edition All Might watch back. Wait, why’d I say that?! You guys
can’t-”

“Very well!” Gentle interrupted. “Our first target on our heisting spree will be the house of this
‘Kacchan’ character.”

“Yeah! We’ll teach your bully not to mess with you!” La Brava stated.

“Wait. How did you know he bullies me?” Izuku was quick to ask.

“I can tell by the timid way you carry yourself. Trust me, I’ve been there.”

“Well,” Gentle spoke up, “Now that that’s settled, we must prepare for the greatest heist this world
has ever seen filmed!”

“You mean we as in…” Izuku awkwardly pointed to himself.

“But of course! We need all the information we can get. You shall meet us at this ‘Kacchan’s’ house at
the stroke of midnight. But for now, we must be off!” Gentle scooped up La Brava and placed her on
his shoulder. “Fare thee well, Mr… What was your name again?”

“Izuku Midoriya.”
“Fare thee well, Izuku Midoriya! We shall meet again soon.”

As Gentle and La Brava ran out of the convenience store, Izuku couldn’t help but feel conflicted. On
one hand, he literally just played a part in getting Katsuki’s house robbed, and he might even go on to
play an even bigger part. On the other hand, he really wanted that watch back, and his fanboy side
was screaming louder than when he was at last year’s HeroCon.

Plus, it didn’t seem like Gentle and La Brava were all that dangerous. And as long as he kept himself
out of the video, there was no way it could be traced back to him without any substantial evidence.

He eventually decided he would try his hand at robbery. But if anything seemed even remotely shady
about the situation (shady being anything above Saturday Morning Cartoon levels of hijinx), he would
make like a library and book it.

———————————————

Later That Night…

“Ah, Midoriya, glad you could make it.” Gentle greeted as Izuku walked up to the entrance of the
Bakugo residence.

“Hold on, how did you know to meet me here? I didn’t give you Kacchan’s address or anything.”
Izuku questioned.

“Never underestimate the skills of a pro hacker,” Gentle gestured to La Brava, who typed away at a
laptop.

“Once I figured out which middle school you attended, the rest was easy.” La Brava proclaimed
before shifting her attention over to Gentle, “I just hacked into every security camera in the Bakugo
residence, as well as the entire block. We can get video footage from just about every angle.”

“Excellent work, La Brava! That just leaves Midoriya and I to perform the heist! Where should we
start, young man?”

“Well…” Izuku carefully eyed the house up and down, “Kacchan sleeps on the third floor. If we could
get up there, we could get in through the window, but that might seem too conspicuous. We can’t
enter through the front door since it’s rigged with an alarm. So that leaves the first-floor window.”

“Say no more!” Gentle placed his hand on the window, and it immediately turned to rubber.

“Is that your Quirk? That’s so cool!” Izuku exclaimed.

“Thank you, good sir. But this is only the beginning.” Gentle reached into his pocket and pulled out
an exact-o-knife. He cut a straight line through the rubber window and opened it like a door before
silently stepping through, Izuku following soon after.

“We’re in, La Brava.” Gentle whispered through an earpiece Izuku didn’t notice he had. “Now play
the tune.”

“What tune?” Izuku asked, only to be handed an earpiece by Gentle. He put it in his ear, and a quiet,
sneaky tune played in his ear. “Okay, yeah, this is good.”

Izuku and Gentle quietly snuck through the living room, not encountering any major roadblocks along
the way. When they entered the kitchen, however, they were met with the dim white light of an open
fridge. They slowly turned to see Masaru Bakugo drinking straight from a carton of milk, still half
asleep.

It only took a moment for Masaru to notice the two intruders in his house, who froze in place upon
eye contact. After several awkward moments, Masaru sleepily said, “Oh, hey Izuku.”

“Um, hi, Uncle Masaru,” Izuku waved as casually as he could.

“Who’s that mustached guy behind you?”

As the mention of his presence, Gentle flashed a dramatic pose and said, “I am Gentle Crim-”

Izuku slammed a hand over Gentle’s mouth. “He’s no one! You’re dreaming! Just… go back to
sleep.”

“Oh, okay.” Masaru tiredly nodded as he trudged back to his room, milk still in hand.

———————————————

After they were sure Masaru had gone back to sleep, Izuku and Gentle carefully made their way up
the stairs and into Katsuki’s room, decked out in almost as much All Might merch as Izuku’s.

“Don’t worry about Kacchan, he’s a heavy sleeper,” Izuku whispered as he searched through his
friend’s drawers. “We’re on the lookout for a watch with a yellow buckle, blue bezel, and hands
shaped like All Might’s hair tufts.”

“You mean the one on your friend's wrist at this very moment?” Gentle asked to clarify.

Looking at Katsuki, Izuku confirmed that he indeed wore the watch he had just stolen to bed. “I don’t
know how we’re going to do this.” He admitted.

“Swiftly, quietly, and gentlemanly.” Gentle responded as he pulled out two pairs of tweezers from his
pocket. With the steadiness of a surgeon, he carefully unhooked the watch, laying it flat on the bed.

Unfortunately, Katsuki’s wrist was still on top of a part of the watch, and moving either his hand or
the watch would surely wake him up.

“Now we just need to wait for him to turn over,” Izuku muttered to himself.

“That may very well take all night,” Gentle whispered. “I have a much more elegant solution.” He
grabbed part of the watch’s buckle and swiftly yanked it out from under Katsuki’s wrist. The hand
didn’t even move an inch.

Before the pair could celebrate, they both heard Katsuki begin to stir in his sleep. Izuku and Gentle
looked at each other with panicked expressions, both seemingly thinking the same thing. They
scrambled under Katsuki’s bed right as he woke up.

“Huh? Who the hell was that?” Katsuki asked himself as he sleepily peered around his room.

Now cowering under the bed, Izuku whispered to Gentle, “What do we do?”

In response, Gentle grabbed one of the bed’s legs and turned the whole thing into rubber. “On the
count of three, push up on the bed as hard as you can.” He said, pointing to the mattress above them.
Katsuki noticed the bed felt more rubbery than usual.

“One…”

Was this the work of some kind of Quirk?

“Two…”

Katsuki’s eyes shot open in realization. Was he being robbed or something?!

“THREE!”

Izuku and Gentle pushed up on the bed as hard as they could, launching Katsuki upward, causing him
to hit his head on the ceiling. He quickly fell back down and safely landed back on his bed, his body
unconscious.

“You knocked him out?!” Izuku whisper-yelled as he got out from under the bed.

“No, we knocked him out. It might not have been the most gentlemanly thing to do, but Gentle is only
half my name.”

“Whatever,” Izuku sighed, “I got the watch back, so let’s just get out of here.”

“Now, hold on, my boy.” Gentle was quick to stop him, “You may have gotten your watch back, but
what’s to stop him from simply stealing it again?”

“I, uh, that’s a good point. No use in having a watch you can’t wear. What do you suggest we do?”

“I suggest we teach him a lesson. I don’t think your friend would like it if we stole his All Might
merchandise.”

Izuku glanced around the room in thought. He may have only been thinking this since it was 12:30
AM, but he did want the lesson to stick. “Ok,” He conceded. “We’ll take all his All Might
merchandise and sell it off the merchandise black market.”

“There’s a merchandise black market?”

“It’s a very interesting fandom. I haven’t even told you about the Cult of Collectors.”

———————————————

A few minutes later, Izuku and Gentle made their way out the same window they came in, each
holding several armfuls of All Might merchandise.

“I got the footage!” La Brava said as Gentle turned the window back to normal. “You guys were
great!”

“Thank you, La Brava. But none of this would have been possible without your technical prowess.
Great jobs all around!” Gentle announced.

“Oh, Gentle. You flatter me,” La Brava blushed.

“By the way,” Izuku chimed in, “Could you blur my face out of the video? I don’t want people at
school recognizing me.”
 “That won’t be a problem. Because you won’t be going to school tomorrow.” La Brava smirked.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“While I looked into your school earlier, I combed through the security footage and saw how your
teachers mistreated you. So I anonymously sent the footage off to a few hero agencies.”

Gentle gave a loud, posh laugh, “Excellent work, La Brava! There’s nothing more gentlemanly than
justice!” He leaned down to land a small kiss on her cheek, earning a blush from the woman.

“I - I don’t know what to say,” Izuku said in disbelief.

“How about ‘like, comment, and subscribe?’” La Brava suggested as she pointed the camera towards
Izuku.

“Like, comment, and subscribe?”

“There! That was perfect!”

———————————————

Katsuki woke up the next morning with a massive headache. But that soon proved to be the least of
his problems when he noticed his desk, shelves, and walls were all stripped bare of their All Might
merchandise.

“What the fuck?! Where did it all go?” Katsuki asked himself before noticing a small note at the foot
of his bed. He quickly picked it up and read it.

You’ve been hit by

You’ve been struck by

A smooth Gentle Criminal.

Suddenly, the brief memories from last night came flooding back. Turns out he was being robbed after
all.

“GOD DAMMIT!”

Chapter End Notes

If I had a nickel for every time I wrote Izuku doing a heist with Gentle and La Brava, I'd have
two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice. What can I say? They're a
great duo

I know I already did a heist in the first chapter. But shut up, this is totally different

Next Time: There's a nonzero chance Katsuki might not make it out of this one alive
 Stain the Killer
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Stendhal was dead. He was now reborn as the Hero Killer: Stain.

It had been several minutes since he had just cemented his new identity with the first of what would
be many murders. Slugger was a selfish fool of a hero, only interested in fame and glory. He made a
fine first victim to reinforce Stain’s ideals.

Though truth be told, Slugger was a much tougher opponent than first anticipated. He left Stain with
several notable cuts and bruises. Going forward, he vowed to do proper research on his future victims
before making a move on their lives.

But right now, Stain was trudging over in his civilian clothes to the nearest convenience store, hoping
to buy supplies to aid his wounds. Sure, he still looked beaten and bloody, but this was a pretty empty
street. Besides, Stain knew how this society functioned. There was no way any civilian would give
him more than a passing glance.

“Oh my god! Are you okay?”

Then again, maybe not.

Stain turned to see a green-haired boy in a middle school uniform worriedly run up to him while
rooting around his backpack. Right as he got to him, he pulled out some bandages and disinfectant
wipes. “Hold on, this may sting a little.” The boy said as he dabbed the wipe on Stain’s arm before
bandaging it.

Stain was intrigued. It wasn’t often he saw a civilian go out of their way for a complete stranger.
Perhaps this boy had some potential. “What is your name, child?” He asked gruffly.

“Izuku Midoriya, sir.” The boy replied. “Could you please hand me your other arm?” Stain obliged.

“Tell me, Midoriya, why did you decide to help me? Were you perhaps looking to get something out
of me?” If he answered anything even slightly un-noble, Stain was prepared to turn and walk away.

“You looked like you needed help. I don’t think I need a reason other than that.”

Stain gave a wide, manic grin, “My, don’t you have the heart of a hero?”

Izuku paused his medical work and looked up at Stain with hope in his eyes, “You - you think I have
the heart of a hero?”

“Of course. The drive to help others without seeking anything in return is heroism down to its purest
essence. It’s that very philosophy that made All Might the symbol of peace he is today.”

“Do you - do you really think I could be a hero like All Might? Even without a Quirk?”

Stain’s admiration for the boy increased upon hearing those words. Pure of heart despite the bad
situation dealt to him in life? He had truly found a diamond in the rough.
“Midoriya, please remember this,” Stain answered, “The circumstances of one’s birth do not
determine their capabilities for heroism. With a drive like yours, I believe you could be as good a hero
as All Might one day.”

With that, Izuku’s eyes flooded with tears as he collapsed to his knees while clutching his chest. Stain
stood there and let him cry his heart out. This was clearly something he had been waiting to hear his
whole life.

After a few minutes, the tears dried, and Izuku got up, looking a little embarrassed. “Sorry about that.
I just… That meant a lot to me.”

“Do not apologize. Instead, prepare yourself.” Stain said sternly.

“For what?”

“For training. If you want to become a hero, you must have skills. And I happen to be well-versed in
combat. As such, I have taken it upon myself to personally train you.”

“Really? I would love that!”

“Very well.” Stain scribbled something down on a piece of paper and handed it to Izuku. “Meet me at
that address every Wednesday after school. I will see you tomorrow.”

With that, Stain walked off, leaving a hopeful and eager Izuku excited at his new opportunity to be a
hero. However, he was left with one unanswered question.

“Hold on, how did he get so roughed up in the first place? Maybe it was that fireworks truck? Wait,
no. It skipped town after it caused that citywide power outage. Oh well, he probably got mugged or
something.”

———————————————

The next day, Izuku stood at the door of the apartment listed on the paper his new mentor gave him.
Despite his excitement from yesterday, he couldn’t help but feel a little skeptical. He didn’t even
know this guy’s name and he was already at his apartment. Izuku figured there was a nonzero chance
of him getting jumped. But on the other hand, this man was the first person to truly support his
dreams of heroism in his entire nine years of Quirklessness. Not even his mom went this far for him
(though he still felt bad for lying to her and saying he joined an after-school club).

Eventually, Izuku’s drive for heroism won out, and he opened the door (though he kept his phone at
hand in case he needed to call the cops). Entering, he noticed the apartment was almost completely
barren, like whoever lived in this apartment rarely used it.

“Good, you’ve arrived.” Izuku’s mentor said as he entered the living room, decked out in various
knives and swords.

“Yup! I’m ready for my training, Mr…”

“Akaguro. Chizome Akaguro.” He then reached behind him and tossed a training knife at Izuku,
which he fumbled in his hands before getting a solid grip.

“Alright.” Stain pulled out a similar knife, “Today, we’re focusing on the basics. Do a high thrust
transitioning into a low slash.” He demonstrated the motion repeatedly, which Izuku was quick to
mimic.
After two minutes of that repeated motion, Stain spoke up, “Alright, switch hands. You will be
working with your left hand just as much as your right. As a hero, you’ll need every advantage you
can get, so you will teach yourself to be ambidextrous.”

“Yes sir!” Izuku shouted out.

———————————————

“Come on, keep jumping, or I’m increasing the distance!” Stain coached.

“Okay!” Izuku grunted as he cleared the distance between the set of two tall foam platforms.

“Remember, an immobile hero is a dead hero! Just about every good one knows parkour. Which is
why we’ll be working on wall-running after this.”

———————————————

“Is that all you can do? The training bag barely flinched.”

“Sorry, sir,” Izuku blushed embarrassedly, “I don’t think I’m as bulky as All Might.”

“A hero needs to be adaptable. Do a set of squats, kid. We’re shifting focus on your legs.”

———————————————

Izuku winced as the training katana hit his shoulder yet again.

“Your strikes are improving, but your blocks still need work.” Stain commented as he got back into a
fighting position.

“That’s why I’m here, sir!” Izuku said determinedly as he prepared for another round.

Stain couldn’t help the excited grin on his face, “Yes. That’s the conviction that will make you a true
hero.”

———————————————

“I can’t believe it.” Izuku said as he took another sip of water while scrolling through his phone.”

“Can’t believe what?” Stain asked his student while he took a quick water break.

“Have you heard of the Hero Killer? He just claimed another victim two days ago. Glam Man was
such a cool hero, too.”

“He seemed more interested in pushing his shoe brand than anything else.”

“Maybe, but he didn’t deserve to die for it. The worst part is that the Hero Killer hasn’t even shown
his face. He just leaves these notes talking about ‘false heroes’ and ‘the corruption of hero society.’”

“Well, maybe he has a noble goal. Maybe he wants heroes to be less obsessed with fame and fortune.”

“Even if that were true, I think there are better ways of accomplishing that goal than by killing people.
If he had a problem, he should take it up with capitalism.” Izuku sighed as he put his phone away.
“Whatever. What’s next?”
“Push-up regiment.”

“Got it. I’ll start with twenty.” Izuku bent down for his first push-up, but collapsed as he felt a sharp
pain in his arm. “Ow, ow, ow,” He winced as he rolled up his sleeve.

“What’s wrong?” Stain rushed over to Izuku and saw a fresh burn mark on his upper arm. It must
have become irritated when it rubbed against his shirt. “Where did you get that?” He asked
skeptically.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I just forgot to reapply my burn cream.” Izuku waved off as he
rummaged through his backpack.

Stain threateningly stuck his katana into the floor in front of Izuku, “You didn’t answer my question,
so I’ll ask again. Where did you get that burn mark?”

Izuku gulped, “I, uh, I burnt myself on the stove.”

Stain raised an eyebrow, “You burnt your upper arm on the stove?”

“It was… a weird position.”

“Very well…” Stain said, not convinced in the slightest. “We’ll focus on core workout today. Switch
to sit-ups.”

As Izuku did his workouts, Stain sensed there was something suspicious afoot. Izuku was clearly
hiding something from him. And if that something could potentially prevent him from becoming the
hero he was destined to be, then he would do everything in his power to stop it.

———————————————

Considering his uniform and the general area he found him in, Stain found it easy to deduce that
Izuku attended Aldera Middle School. So the next day, he put his hero killing on hold to watch Izuku
throughout his entire day at school to see if anything was up, thankful he hadn’t yet taught Izuku how
to track stealthy foes.

As Stain watched Izuku, he found one particular person who stood out to him: Katsuki Bakugo. This
boy may as well have been the bane of Izuku’s existence. From shoving him, to threatening him, to
calling him names, the explosive boy would just not let up.

The worst part, however, was when Katsuki cornered Izuku after school and used his explosion Quirk
on him. But that paled in comparison to what Stain heard him say next.

“Still shooting for UA. Aren’t you, Deku?!”

“It doesn’t have to be the Hero Course!” Izuku tried to explain. “They have a really good General
Education Course. I was just thinking to keep my options open and-”

Katsuki kneed Izuku in the stomach, causing the boy to cough up spittle, “How many times do I have
to tell you, Deku?! I will be the only person from this shitty school to get into UA. And if you think
you can stop me from surpassing All Might, then it looks like I have to beat the message into your
thick-ass skull.”

These words caused an unbridled fury in Stain. A child like him, who bullied and abused Izuku on a
daily basis though he was hero material? Heck, with the way he used his Quirk on the boy, he may
very well qualify as a villain.

It wasn’t just him, either. Throughout the entire day, Stain noticed the teachers glance over Katsuki’s
blatant attempts at bullying. Almost as if having a strong Quirk gave him a free pass for being a bully.

Stain knew what he must do. Katsuki Bakugo was everything wrong with hero society. And if his
teachers were anything to go off of, it would only be a few short years until he would be given his
license.

Stain knew he would not stand for that. He may have been the hero killer, but right then, he decided
he was going to prevent a future tragedy in the making.

———————————————

Stain hid in the shadows of the alleyway, his years of stealth training making him nearly
imperceivable to the human eye. He clutched a dagger attached to a rope in his hand, just waiting for
his chance to strike.

Then, he saw it. Katsuki Bakugo walked right past the alleyway. Quickly, Stain threw the dagger at
Katsuki and it grazed his cheek. Before the boy could comprehend what just happened, Stain reeled
the dagger back in and licked the small amount of blood, causing Katsuki to fall to the ground,
paralyzed.

“What - what the fuck’s going on?” Katsuki panicked as Stain brought his unmoving body into the
alleyway and placed him on the ground. “Who the fuck are you?!”

“I am the Hero Killer: Stain.” He replied, “And you are an affront to hero society.”

“An affront? Hell no! I’m the future number one!” Katsuki yelled, his voice portraying more anger
than fear.

“And there lies the problem. Despite all that you’ve done, despite your downright villainous behavior,
you still think you’re the pinnacle of greatness. And if hero society has any chance of improving
whatsoever, it shall begin with your demise.”

Stain took a katana in each hand and held each one over Katsuki’s open palms. “Your Quirk works
through your hands, correct? All it would take is one stab through the palms, and you’re as good as
Quirkless. This will be your poetic justice before your death.”

“You can’t mess up my Quirk, you fucking psycho! I need that!” Katsuki angrily pleaded.

Stain let out a disappointed sigh. “Insolent to the last, I suppose.” He raised his blades and began to
plunge them into Katsuki’s palms.

“STOP!”

Stain paused mere inches from the boy’s hand at the sound of a familiar voice. Stain turned to see
Izuku entering the alleyway with a water bottle in his hand.

“Deku? What the hell are you doing here?!” Katsuki demanded.

“I was trying to return your water bottle. But Akaguro, what are you doing?”
Katsuki’s eyes widened for a moment before contorting in rage, “You know the fucking hero killer?!
Did you put him up to this?”

“He did not,” Stain answered. “He did not know of my true identity. I put this upon myself to shoulder
the burden of a hero like him. I cull the unworthy so that more may learn from his example.”

Izuku instinctively took a step back as he struggled with the realization, “Wait, you’re the hero killer?!
And you’ve been using me as some kind of martyr? You’ve been training me so I could serve as some
sort of symbol you judge others by as an excuse to kill people?”

“It was not an excuse. Hero society is corrupt. And only I can weed out the fakes. Like your bully.”

“What? No! You can’t kill Kacchan!”

“Why not? He is Quirkist and selfish. If he were to become a hero, he would spread his horrible
influence to future hero hopefuls. If I don’t nip this problem in the bud, the corruption of hero society
will only spread to an unprecedented degree.”

“I won’t let you justify his murder, Akaguro. I’ll stop you if I have to!”

Stain narrowed his eyes at Izuku, “Do your worst.”

In an instant, Stain shot toward Izuku like a bullet, who had the foresight to dodge his incoming
swing. However, Stain had years of experience compared to Izuku, and the boy had no weapons to
speak of. As such, Stain was able to knick his shoulder with a follow-up attack and get enough blood
on his sword to paralyze him. He also took the time to get a bit more blood from Katsuki to reset his
timer.

“I’m sorry you have to see this, but it’s for the greater good.” Stain once again lifted his katanas over
Katsuki’s hands, preparing to strike. Katsuki shut his eyes in fear and anticipation.

“Wait, please! He’s just a kid!” Izuku pleaded.

Katsuki’s eyes shot open at that, “Shut up, Deku! It’s your fault I’m in this mess in the first place!”

“Even so close to death, you refuse help from that which you despise.” Stain shook his head.
“Pathetic.”

“Just give him another chance, Akaguro. Please!” Izuku begged.

Stain paused and glanced at Izuku, “Why should I?”

“He’s not a hero yet! He still has the chance to correct his mistakes! If you kill him now, you might be
missing out on a hero that could grow to meet your standards.”

“Like hell I wanna be a hero like you!” Katsuki shouted.

“Kacchan, you’re not helping!”

After a moment of consideration, Stain lowered his katanas. “You raise an interesting point, Midoriya.
Perhaps I was too hasty. After all, if I went from a vigilante to a villain, surely he could go from a
villain to a hero.”
Izuku breathed a heavy sigh of relief, only for that relief to dissipate when Stain spoke up again,
“However, this boy doesn’t seem willing to change. It appears he needs a catalyst. So I’ll offer you a
deal. If you vow to never apply to UA, I’ll let you leave unharmed. How does that sound?”

Katsuki’s eyes nervously darted around for a few moments before he answered, “Fine! I won’t
fucking apply to UA! Happy now?”

“Very well.” Stain walked away from Katsuki’s paralyzed body, and he began climbing the walls of
the alleyway. “The paralysis should wear off in a few minutes. Let this be a lesson in both humility
and heroism, Katsuki Bakugo.”

When Izuku and Katsuki thought they were left alone, they both collapsed in relief. At least they
would have if they weren’t both still paralyzed.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Kacchan,” Izuku said. “Sorry you had to give up your dream of UA. But
there are still other hero schools.”

Izuku could feel the rage emanating from Katsuki’s body. “Don’t give me any fucking pity, Deku!”
He screamed. “I don’t care what that murder hobo said. I know you planned all this! You were
looking down on me. Thought you could scare me out of applying to UA. Well, guess what?! There’s
nothing you or that knife-wielding idiot could do that would make me give up on UA! You got that?!”

Before Izuku could respond, Stain landed right on top of Katsuki. He heard everything.

“One more thing, Bakugo,” Stain lifted his katanas yet again, “If you truly believe a Quirkless hero
would be impossible, then I hope you have a good time in UA’s General Education Course.”

Those were the last words Stain said before he plunged his blades through Katsuki’s palms before he
once again lept off.

———————————————

Izuku sat in the hospital waiting room in deep contemplation. He heard from Mitsuki that the wounds
in Katsuki’s palms had indeed blocked off access to his Quirk, just as Stain said it would. He had tried
to visit Katsuki to check up on him and maybe apologize, but the blonde just cursed him out.

It’s not like Izuku could blame him. He did play a part in Katsuki losing his Quirk, even if it wasn’t
intentional. Plus, since Stain was nowhere to be found, he served as the most convenient target for
Katsuki’s rage. Same as it ever was.

As bad as Izuku felt, he couldn’t help but think a large portion of the blame landed on Katsuki.
Ignoring the bullying that led him up to this point, Katsuki made the worst decisions possible during
that alleyway encounter, choosing to blow up in anger at every presented opportunity. Izuku had tried
to save him, but he knew you couldn’t save someone who didn’t want to be saved.

Despite all that, Izuku still wanted to avenge not only Katsuki, but all the heroes who had fallen to
Stain’s blade. After all, if Stain was supposedly self-taught, who’s to say he couldn’t do the same?

Izuku made a decision right then and there. If Stain hadn’t been arrested by the time he got into UA,
he would do whatever it would take to put the Hero Killer behind bars.

He might not have been friends with Bakugo anymore, but from that point on, he would stop at
nothing to avenge Kacchan.
Chapter End Notes

I know this was a heavier chapter than usual, but it comes with the territory of dealing with a
serial killer. Such is the case with anthologies like this

Part of me wonders if I stretched Bakugo's stubbornness here, but then again, he's Bakugo. That
man is sniffing copium like you wouldn't believe

I won't be uploading a chapter on Christmas Day. Not because I don't have the time, but because
I'll be staying with some extended family, and I don't want them to know I write fan fiction

Next Time: Everyone's favorite blonde beefcake

 Star & Stripe the Reality Warper
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Cathleen Bate, AKA the number one American Pro Hero: Star & Stripe, glared at the cloudy blue sky
ahead of her as she rode on top of a fighter jet. She was a woman on a mission.

Several days ago, a rogue fireworks truck blew up the Lincoln Memorial and disappeared without a
trace. Citizens all over the country were devastated. So when the truck was spotted driving around
Japan (somehow), Star was tasked with hunting it down.

A case like this would normally get handed off to the heroes of Japan, but as one of the faces of
patriotism, Star felt it her civic duty to handle this herself. That was a justice she owed to each and
every state (except Ohio). A sentiment the government agreed with wholeheartedly.

“We’ll be approaching Japan in one hour.” Jasper, one of Star’s brothers-in-arms, spoke into his
earpiece. “Star, do you know where we should land?”

“I always do.” Star said as she called upon her Quirk, “I know the location of the fireworks truck.
Mustafa. Someone write that down.”

When one of her brothers confirmed the location, Star revoked the order. She wished she knew where
in Mustafa the truck was, but she knew New Order wasn’t good at specific details. Plus, she’d always
forget those details when the order got revoked. But weirdly enough, she always kept whatever
emotion the information provided her, this one being satisfaction.

Man, her Quirk was weird.

———————————————

“Alright, you all know how this works.” Star said as the jets landed, “We’re going undercover, so
dress casually, but not too casually, Arnold.”

“You never let me have any fun,” Arnold muttered as he changed out of his Hawaiian shirt.

“You’ll all be searching the area in groups of two. Except me, obviously. Any questions?”

Jasper raised his hand, “Did you remember to bring your Clark Kent Glasses™ so you won’t get
recognized?”

“Ye of little faith. I always keep a pair in my-” Star reached into her pocket, only to feel nothing.
“Damn it!”

After the squad had a good laugh at that, Jasper dug into his backpack and pulled out two pairs of
glasses. “Would you like the Groucho glasses or the Barbie glasses?”

“Barbie, obviously!”

———————————————
Star remained ever vigilant as she walked down the streets of Mustafa. Don’t let the fact that she was
eating several sticks of yakitori distract you. She was on her A-game. She was a master tracker, and so
were her boys. Honestly, she wouldn’t be surprised if this mission took less than a day.

Star was pulled from her thoughts as she heard the sounds of running footsteps coming from the
sidewalk across from her. She turned to see a green-haired boy in a middle school uniform getting
chased by a blonde boy and two other kids in similar uniforms. She saw how roughed-up and
frightened the green-haired boy looked, and she immediately jumped into action. This might not have
related to her current mission, but she was still a hero, damn it!

Jumping high into the sky and landing between the boy and his tormentors, he shot the blonde boy
and his cronies a suspicious glare. “And just what do you think you’re doing?”

“Move it, lady! This doesn’t concern you!” The blonde boy yelled.

“If it didn’t, I wouldn’t be a hero.” Star removed her glasses, and the two cronies’ eyes widened in
realization and horror.

“That’s Star & Stripe! Let’s cheese it!” One of them yelled before they both ran off. The blonde boy,
however, stood his ground.

“You’re really Star & Stripe?” He asked in an unimpressed tone.

“In the flesh!” Upon stating that, Star sensed extreme fanboy energy radiating from the green-haired
boy behind her. But she focused her attention on the bully. “Now, what’s your name, kid?”

“Katsuki Bakugo. And I’m not afraid of you. You’re just a Rule 63 All Might wannabe.”

Star let out a chuckle, “Man, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that, I’d be able to open a second
agency in Japan.”

“Kacchan, that’s Star & Stripe.” The green-haired boy spoke up. “She’s more than a wannabe if her
skills and power rivals All Might’s.”

Katsuki scoffed, “Doesn’t matter. When I become the next number one hero, her skills won’t mean
shit to me.”

Star raised an eyebrow at that, “You’re sayin’ you wanna be a hero, kid?”

“Yeah! You got a problem with that?”

In place of a response, Star turned to the green-haired boy and asked, “Kid, was this guy messing with
you?”

“Uh-huh,” The boy nodded.

“Does he do this often, by chance?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Then yes, I have a problem with that,” Star said to Katsuki.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Katsuki demanded.

“Listen, despite how differently Japan tackles bullying compared to America, I’m pretty sure bullies
don’t make good heroes in either country.”

“Fuck you! You don’t know anything!”

“I know your name and the fact that you lack self-awareness. So that gives me the ability to do this.”
Star tagged Katsuki on the shoulder and said, “Katsuki Bakugo is now self-aware.”

As soon as the order was spoken, Katsuki’s eyes widened as he leaned back, seemingly making an
important realization. “Oh… my god.”

“You figured it out?” Star asked expectedly.

“I… I have,” Katsuki stared at his own hands in contemplation. “This is all just a work of fan fiction.”

“…Huh?”

“IT’S ALL FAN FICTION!” Katsuki suddenly yelled. “It’s all a story based on a popular anime and
manga franchise, a collection of one-shots where I’m the antagonist!”

“You’re - you’re what?”

Katsuki shook his head, “No. I’m not the antagonist. I’m the butt monkey! Just a two-dimensional
jerk that readers watch because they derive joy from my suffering! All because they don’t like my
canon self!”

Katsuki clenched his forehead like he was experiencing a headache. “Oh god. I can see the alternate
versions of myself in this fic. In so many chapters, I’ve been beaten up, humiliated, and had my Quirk
taken away more times than I can count!”

At this point, Katsuki was running in circles like a chicken that got his head cut off, which made him
look really stupid.

“Hey! I heard that!” Katsuki said to me, the narrator, not realizing how much of an idiot he looked
like to the people watching him.

“I don’t care how much of an idiot I look like, stop fucking dunking on me all the time!”

But that’s like half the reason I made this fic. Besides, what’ll you do to me if I don’t?

“I’ll fucking kill you!”

You can't kill an omnipotent being, idiot. And even if you did, that would cause the destruction of
your whole universe.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

I literally control everything. Without me, there would be no one to write your next actions. Here,
watch. Bakugo Katsuki decided it was a good idea to punch himself in the face.

“OW! Fucking hell!”

I think that proves my point. Now, this fourth wall break has gone on long enough. Let’s get back to
the actual plot.
After witnessing Katsuki have a one-sided conversation with himself, Star decided to revoke the self-
awareness order. “Ok, might have made him a bit too self-aware,” She said to herself.

Katsuki may have lost his self-awareness, but the emotions from the experience still remained. “I’m
going home to rethink my life.” He said as he walked off, his voice devoid of all emotion.

With Katsuki gone, Star turned to Izuku, “You okay there, kid? That guy didn’t rough you up too
hard, did he?”

Now, under any other circumstances, Izuku would have responded to the question. But in this case,
being in the presence of a number one pro hero messes up his judgment. So he said the first thing that
came to his mind.

“Oh my god! You’re number one American Pro Hero: Star & Stripe!” He pulled out a notebook
from… somewhere and opened it to a page with a drawing of the heroine in question on it. “Can I
have your autograph?”

Star let out a light chuckle. “I’ll take that as a sign that you’re okay. But sure, I’ll sign your book. The
nearest pen will appear in my hand.”

Suddenly, a three-foot-tall pen materialized from thin air and dropped into Star’s open hand. “Huh,
that’s weird. I must be near a Ripley’s or something.” She mused.

As she signed her name on the notebook, Star couldn’t help but read the theories and analysis
surrounding her Quirk on the page. “Gotta say, kid, not a bad guess on my Quirk. I mean, it ain’t
right, but you got a few details down.”

Izuku beamed at the praise, “Really? Thank you so much!”

Aster Star finished writing down her name, she revoked the order and bent her knees, preparing to
leap up into the sky. “Welp, it’s been fun, kid. But I’ve got a fireworks truck to catch.”

“Hold on! I just have to ask you - wait, did you say fireworks truck?” Izuku asked.

“Yeah. Blew up the Lincoln Memorial a few days ago.”

“That truck wouldn’t happen to be blue with tinted windows and yellow headlights, would it?”

“It is! Have you seen it?”

“I saw it parked in front of my apartment this morning. It might still be there.”

“That’s great! Where’s your apartment?”

“It’s right at the end of Yavin Street.”

Star’s smile widened as she grabbed Izuku and placed him on her back, “Lead the way, kid!”

Izuku pointed to his left, “It’s that way. But why am I on your back?”

“We’re traveling in style. What’s your name, kid?”

“Izuku Midoriya. But what does that have to do with-”

“Izuku Midoriya has the durability of All Might. Now hold on tight, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.”
That was the last thing Star said before she took off and soared through the air, dragging a horrified
Izuku along with her, who clutched onto her back for dear life.

“THIS IS THE COOLEST AND SCARIEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME!” Izuku
yelled over the rushing winds.

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Star nodded in return.

———————————————

Several seconds later, the pair landed right in front of the fireworks truck, right where Izuku said it
would be. As the boy caught his breath, Star walked over to the truck and ripped the door off its
hinges. Unfortunately, there was no driver to be found.

“Damn it,” Star cursed under her breath. “Looks like I’ll have to get the boys to bring the tow truck
around.” She then turned to Izuku, whose face was still pale. “You alright there, kiddo?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Izuku huffed as he tried to regain his posture. “Thank you for the ride home, I
just… I have a quick question for you.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“It’s just… well… Do you think someone could be a hero, even without a Quirk?”

Star looked up as she scratched her chin in thought, “Without a Quirk, you say…”

“Yeah. It’s just… I’ve always admired All Might and how he serves as a beacon of hope, and I’ve
always wanted to do what he does. I’ve always wanted to save people with a smile on my face. So do
you think I could do that? Do you think it’s possible?”

“Well,” Star began to answer, “I can’t personally say I’ve seen a Quirkless hero before. But just
because I’ve never seen it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. I mean, most of my squad is Quirkless. And
while they’re not heroes in the traditional sense, they’re certainly my heroes. I don’t think I’d be
where I am without them.”

Izuku’s eyes glimmered with hope, “So you’re saying…”

“I’m saying I think you could. But it doesn’t hurt to keep your options open. There are more ways to
help people than just hero work. You seem like a smart guy, maybe the support course would be more
your speed, who knows? In the end, the choice is yours. But as long as you got the drive and
perseverance, I think you can do whatever you set your mind to.”

Izuku gave Star a watery smile as he wiped several tears from his eyes, “Thank, Star. You’ve… given
me a lot to think about. But whatever I choose, I promise I’ll do my best!”

“And that’s all you can do. Well, that, and lift some weights every now and then. Never hurts to put a
little meat on your bones.”

“I will definitely keep that in mind.”

“Great!” Star shot Izuku a thumbs up, which the boy returned. Just then, a red tow truck pulled up in
front of the fireworks truck. “Welp, looks like I gotta go. Hope to see ‘ya around, kid.”
 Before the tow truck could latch onto the hood of the fireworks truck, the fireworks truck took off in
reverse at a million miles an hour.

“Wha - how did - there was no…” Star stood stammering for a moment before she took off after the
truck, yelling, “Get back here, you!” The tow truck followed behind her shortly after, leaving Izuku
standing there in shock and confusion.

Izuku wasn’t sure what he had just witnessed, nor did he understand what the whole fireworks truck
thing was about. But that didn’t matter since his mind was currently focused on what Star had just
told him.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized how useful the support course would be for him.
After all, if he wanted to be a Quirkless hero, he was likely going to have to rely on support items to
make up the difference. And the idea of turning his analysis into a tangible asset seemed really
appealing to him.

Who knows? Maybe he had been looking at his dream from the wrong angle.

———————————————

One Year Later…

“And the winner of this year’s Sports Festival, from class 1-H: Izuku Midoriya!”

Star watched from her flatscreen TV as the green-haired boy stood on the podium, crying his eyes out.
Thankfully, all his support gear seemed to be waterproof.

As All Might hung the first-place medal around his neck, Star nodded in satisfaction at the TV screen.
There was no doubt in her mind that he had just earned a place in UA’s heroics course.

“I knew you could do it, kid.”

Chapter End Notes

A lot of you thought it was gonna be Mirio. That kinda makes me wanna do a chapter on him. I'll
figure something out later

I think this chapter's Bakugo has the greatest chance out of all of them to actually make a change.
There's something about seeing your past failures in alternate universes that just makes you
wanna rethink everything

This was my first time doing a flash forward at the end of one of these chapters. Maybe I should
do these more often. They're great at ending things off on a high note

Next Time: Hell hath no fury like a mother's love

 Inko the Mastermind
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Inko burst into the room with tears in her eyes. “Izuku, baby! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Mom.” Izuku gave a weak smile of assurance, “It’s just a broken arm.”

Inko rushed over to the hospital bed and pulled her son into the tightest hug she could manage without
hurting him. “Please don’t try to undermine this, Izuku. A broken arm is serious.”

“It’ll get better soon. I can learn to write with my left hand. You don’t have to worry about me.”

Inko let go of the hug and wiped a tear from Izuku’s eye. “Honey, it’s a mother’s job to worry. It’s
only because I don’t like seeing you hurt. Besides,” Inko let out a small smile, “I know if I were the
one to break their arm, you’d be twice as worried.”

“Okay, yeah, I guess you’re right,” Izuku reluctantly conceded.

Inko chuckled before her expression shifted back to worried, “So tell me, how did you end up
breaking your arm?”

She stared at her son with hopeful eyes, practically begging for him to be honest with her. Izuku tried
to hide his conflicted look, but Inko could see right through it. “Well I, um… I fell down the stairs.
Nobody pushed me or anything, I just… tripped.”

“Oh…” Inko felt her heart ache at her son’s answer. She knew he was being bullied for the longest
time and wouldn’t tell her out of fear of making her worry. But Inko was more perceptive than her son
thought. She noticed the burn marks on his uniform, the scratches and bruises that littered Izuku’s
body when he got home each day, and the medical equipment that would sometimes fall out of his
bag. And worse yet, she knew the main perpetrator was Katsuki Bakugo.

Even though her son was unaware, Inko had tried countless times to stop the bullying. But no matter
how many times she reported to the school, no matter how many times Mitsuki disciplined her son,
Izuku would always come home the next day looking worse than the one prior.

Inko already struggled to accept this reality as it was. But this was when she would reach her breaking
point. She had a strong suspicion that a certain someone pushed her son down those stairs.

After learning Izuku would be out of school for a week due to the injury, Inko decided this was the
perfect time to take matters into her own hands. She knew she wasn’t the best mother in the world.
The guilt of not supporting his dreams still lay heavily on her conscience. But she would be damned if
she let anyone hurt her son for a minute longer.

———————————————

Before she got her office job, Inko Midoriya was a nurse. As such, she was incredibly grateful the old
school nurse got run over by a fireworks truck, allowing her to take their place.

Now, if she wanted a quick and easy revenge, she could just use her Quirk on Katsuki and be done
with it. After all, the human body contained a multitude of small objects she could use her Quirk on.
Including but not limited to:

Eyes
Teeth
Finger and toenails
Hair
Most bones
Testicles

But she wasn’t going to do that. Not only was tearing out a minor’s testicles illegal, but she wanted
things to be a bit more personal. She would still be using her Quirk, just in a different way. In fact, she
read over Izuku’s notes on said Quirk to remind herself exactly what she could do.

A lot. She could do a lot. And it all started after her first week on the job, which she would spend
gathering information in preparation for her scheme.

———————————————

Monday

Every day, at exactly 7:46 AM, Katsuki Bakugo would walk by the nurse’s office on his way to class,
flanked by one or two of his cronies. Thankfully, Inko’s desk was just out of their line of sight, so
Katsuki hadn’t yet found out she was the new nurse. Heck, even if she wasn’t out of sight, Inko
figured Katsuki would be too focused on himself to turn his head ninety degrees to the right.

But that was neither here nor there. At the moment, Inko focused on the explosive boy’s shoes. All it
took was one tug of the laces from her Quirk to undo the knot.

Several seconds later, Inko heard the sound of a body faceplanting the floor. “Who the fuck untied my
laces?!” She heard Katsuki yell.

“Maybe they just came undone,” One of Katsuki’s cronies answered.

“Bullshit! I tie them tight! They never come undone!”

Inko knew he was right, but fortunately for her, any knot will fall apart easily if you know where to
pull. And sure, tripping Katsuki in the hallway seemed small in comparison to the burns he’d been
giving her son on a daily basis. But Inko knew better than anyone that sometimes the little things can
really get to you if they pile up.

And Inko planned to keep on piling.

———————————————

Tuesday

It was the middle of the school day when Inko walked into the empty shoe locker room. The first
thing she did was use her Quirk to mess up the chips in the security cameras, ensuring no one would
see what she was about to do next.

Walking over to Katsuki’s locker, Inko used her Quirk to open the lock from the inside, just like
Izuku’s notes theorized she could do. Once it was open, Inko took out Katsuki’s shoes and replaced
them with a pair of the same brand that was one size too small.
Once again, it wasn’t much. But Inko knew the mild discomfort would increase Katsuki’s agitation,
making him more vulnerable to the next phase of her plan. But that was on Friday. She had to wait
until after school to repeat this process with his school shoes. And maybe, if she had the time, she
could do the same with his gym uniform.

———————————————

Wednesday

Katsuki passed by the nurse’s office once again, looking far more agitated than usual. But Inko
couldn’t focus on that for too long. She only had a small window of opportunity to use her Quirk
before he was out of her range.

Focusing on the front pocket of his backpack, Inko felt around with her Quirk until she could sense all
the pencils and pens stored inside. She focused on the ends of each writing utensil and pulled at
different angles to snap them in two.

Normally, broken pencils and pens would be seen as a minor inconvenience. But Inko had read up on
the teachers’ schedules and knew Katsuki had a math quiz every Wednesday.

If Katsuki didn’t want to flunk this week’s quiz and threaten his top-dog status, he would have to ask
to borrow someone else’s pencil. But Inko knew how prideful the boy was and how much he hated
accepting help from others. No matter which option he picked, it would be a huge blow to his ego.

———————————————

Thursday

Normally, if you wanted to mess with someone’s food, you would make it super spicy. But Katsuki
was a different breed; he only ate the spiciest foods imaginable (Inko had no idea how his stomach
survived half the things he ate).

As such, when Inko walked by the cafeteria and saw Katsuki distracted by yelling at another student
instead of eating his bento, she took the opportunity to use her Quirk to remove the spicy seasoning
from his food.

Inko couldn’t help the small giggle that came from her mouth when she heard Katsuki spit out his
food and audibly yell, “What the fuck is this shit?! Did someone mess with my goddamn food?”

Of course, Katsuki would be looking for someone in his immediate vicinity to pin the blame on. Inko
knew he was petty like that. And she was also aware of how important this tidbit would be for
tomorrow.

———————————————

Friday

“Someone’s been fucking messing with me, and I don’t know who!”

Inko figured Katsuki would want to vent to his cronies about the horrible week he just had, but she
didn’t expect him to do it right as he walked by her office first thing in the morning. But she figured
she might as well take advantage of it.
After pressing the record button on her phone, she threw it out into the hallway and used her Quirk to
stop it in place. She was once again grateful her son figured out she could freeze objects mid-
attraction.

“Maybe it’s just a coincidence.” She heard one of Katsuki’s cronies reply. What was his name again?
Oh, right, Kusumoto. The one with the rocks for hair.

“Don’t call me paranoid, rock-head! I know when someone's out to get me.” Katsuki snapped back.

“I’m not calling you paranoid. I mean, it’s just a few minor annoyances. It could all be a series of
coincidences.”

“Oh, really?” Inko could feel Katsuki’s glare from where she was hiding.

Kusumoto gulped, “Why - why are you looking at me like that?”

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been doing.”

“What do you think I’ve been doing?”

“You think you could get away with messing with me and passing it off as a series of coincidences?’
Well you’re wrong!”

Yup, just as Inko anticipated. All of Katsuki’s built-up anger needed an outlet, which meant he would
be willing to go off on the first person who even vaguely called him out.

Kusumoto backed up against the wall as he nervously pleaded. “Now hold on, Bakugo. Let’s not jump
to any conclusions.”

Katsuki popped several small explosions in his palms, “Oh, I’m not jumping to any conclusions. This
decision is completely sound of mind. Now DIE!”

Katsuki lunged at his classmate, about to release an explosion, when Inko ran out into the hallway and
used her Quirk on Katsuki’s hair to pull him sideways.

“OW! What the-” Before Katsuki could comprehend the situation, Inko grabbed him by the ear and
dragged him down the hallway.

“You’re going straight to the principal’s office, young man,” Inko scolded.

Katsuki looked up in surprise and confusion, “Wha - Auntie Inko? What the hell are you-”

“Up, bup, bup. I don’t want to hear another word out of you until we’re there.”

Inko was only dragging Katsuki to the principal as a formality. She knew this school wouldn’t give
him any actual consequences. But as she attracted the phone back to her hand, she thought of a few
other schools that would.

———————————————

“Hi, Mom.” Izuku greeted as he walked through the door.

“Hello, sweetie.” Inko greeted in return. “How was school?”

 “Better than usual. No one seemed to bother me today.” Izuku caught what he just said and
immediately went to correct it, “I mean, it’s not like they normally bother me or anything. It’s just, uh,
Kacchan seemed oddly quiet today.”

Of course, Inko knew the reason for Katsuki’s silence. Ever since she mailed off the footage to several
hero schools, they collectively decided to blacklist him from their entrance exams. Mitsuki had told
her he’d gone catatonic upon hearing the news.

“Well, maybe you should give him some space, sweetie,” Inko advised.

“Okay, I guess,” Izuku nodded. “I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

“Sounds good. Oh, and Izuku?”

“Yes?”

Inko walked over and pulled her son into a tight hug, “I love you.”

Izuku returned the hug with equal force, “I love you too, Mom.”

As Izuku ran off to his room, Inko turned and opened a cupboard drawer. Inside was a list of the
names of each of Izuku’s teachers. Katsuki may have been taken care of, but she still had to deal with
the teachers who allowed his bullying in the first place. Not to mention the other ways they mistreated
Izuku in class.

Inko let out a small, devious grin as she stared at the list. Katsuki was only the beginning of her
vengeance upon Aldera Middle School.

Chapter End Notes

This chapter was partially inspired by the manga Maria No Danzai, just without the murder,
suicide, and Saw-like traps

It's been said before, but I'll say it again, Inko's Quirk is one of the most terrifying in the entire
series. Partially because how little we know about it. There's nothing that states she couldn't pull
you apart atom-by-atom if she wanted to

Next Time: A really good chapter. No! It fucking sucks!

 Twice the Duplicator
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

As Izuku Midoriya walked past the abandoned office building on his way home, he allowed himself
to reflect on his day. Besides the beating from Katsuki before lunch, it was pretty good. That might
not sound like such a good day, but Izuku didn’t even get blown up once. Izuku counted his blessings,
not his problems.

But none of that mattered as Izuku walked up to his apartment. He had about an hour until his mom
got home from work, so he figured he might use that time to do some homework and maybe work on
his analysis.

However, all those plans went out the window when he opened the door and was greeted with a man
in a gray and black mask rummaging through his refrigerator.

“Ah! A burglar!” Izuku instinctively shouted out.

The masked man quickly noticed him and screamed as well, “Ah! A not-burglar! I like your hair”

Izuku was taken aback by the burglar’s odd behavior. But he was also flattered by his compliment,
“Oh, thank you. But how did you get into my house?”

“Picked the lock like a pro. No! I pole-vaulted through the window.”

“Uhhhhh… I’m getting mixed messages here.”

“Well, too bad for you! It’s a Quirk-related mental condition.”

Izuku embarrassingly scratched the back of his head. He could tell that it was a touchy subject for
him. “Oh, sorry about that.”

“Eh, it’s fine. I’ll never forgive you!”

Even though Izuku was confused by the burglar, he didn’t sense any malice or danger from him.
Mostly just indecision with a twinge of desperation. “Uh, if you don’t mind me asking, Mr. Burglar,
sir. What’s your name?”

“Pshhhh, like I’m telling you. Jin Bubaigawara.”

“Ok, Mr. Bubaigawara. I have about fifty-five minutes ‘till my mom gets home. Would you like to
join me for some tea?”

Jin smiled underneath his mask, “Thank you, that’s very kind. Fuck you! That’s very rude!”

Izuku decided to listen to the former response as he heated up the tea kettle.

———————————————

“So, Mr. Bubaigawara,” Izuku took a sip of tea, “Why were you ransacking my fridge?”
“I was hungry.” Jin took a sip of his tea as well. But he was still wearing his mask, so none of it ended
up in his mouth. “Also, I’m unemployed.”

“Unemployed?” Izuku asked to confirm.

“Yeah. Accidentally ran over some guy with my bike, and then he blacklisted me from ever getting a
job. But the crash was totally tubular, man.”

Izuku let out a quiet gasp, “Well that seems unfair.”

“And that’s not even the worst part.” Jin bemoaned. “A fireworks truck blew up my old apartment a
week later. It’s nice to have a fresh start!”

“What? That’s horrible!”

“You’re telling me. Still only the second worst thing to happen to me!”

Izuku’s eyes widened, “Second worst thing?”

Jin clutched his head in frustration. “Ugh! Why do I keep blurting these things out? Because I’ve kept
them bottled up for so long and I’m desperate for an outlet.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. But if you do, then I’d be more than happy to listen.”
Izuku tried to put a reassuring hand on Jin’s shoulder, but the man immediately flinched at the touch
and made defensive karate motions with his hands.

“Hey! No touchy. I’m fragile. Or maybe I’m not. Nobody knows!”

“Er… that wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with that ‘worst thing that ever happened to you,’
does it?”

Jin slumped over in defeat. “Okay, you got me. Nope! Completely wrong! You lose at Jeopardy! The
truth is, I have a Quirk that lets me make clones.”

“Oh, like Ectoplasm.” Izuku pointed out.

“Ectoplasm’s a bitch-ass motherfucker! And unlike him, I don’t know whether I’m the original or not.
I love living a constant existential crisis!”

Upon hearing that, Izuku stood up and paced back and forth in contemplation. “Man. That’s… That
sounds incredibly nerve-wracking. Like, I couldn’t even begin to comprehend the existential
implications of a situation like that.”

“Welcome to my life, population: your mom!”

Izuku paused his pacing as he came to a realization. “But… maybe that doesn’t matter in the long
run.”

Jin raised an eyebrow in suspicion, “What you talkin’ ‘bout, fool?”

“I’m just saying, whether you’re real or a clone, you’re still Jin Bubaigawara. Sure, you should
probably live life assuming you’ve got the fragility of one of your clones. But even if you were one,
that doesn’t change the fact that you’re the same person at heart. At least, I’m assuming your clones
aren’t wildly different in personality. You clones still have the memories of before they were made,
right?”

“They… do,” Jin whispered as he sat wide-eyed on the couch. He held up his hands to his face and
began wiggling his fingers. “Same memories, same personality. Even if I’m a clone, I’m still… me.”

Jin didn’t even notice the tears flowing through his mask, but Izuku did. “Oh! I’m so sorry! Let me
get you a tissue or something.”

He was startled as Jin suddenly jumped off the couch and raised his hands up high as he cheered,
“Yeah, you’re right! So what if I’m a clone? It don’t matter! I’m still devilishly handsome either way.”

“Oh, I’m glad you feel that way.” Izuku smiled.

Jin rushed over and pulled Izuku into a wild handshake, “Thank you so much, green boy! I really
needed to hear that! YOU’RE THE WORST PERSON I’VE EVER MET!”

Before Izuku could respond, Jin bolted out the door, screaming, “Time to get my life back together!
Smell ‘ya later!”

Izuku was left confused, but he was still happy he managed to help someone with their personal
struggles.

Still, it was a shame he’d probably never see that guy again.

———————————————

One Week Later…

“You can’t run forever, Deku!”

Izuku was well aware of that fact. For some odd reason, Katsuki and his cronies thought it would be a
good idea to chase him all the way home. He had managed to avoid them so far, but they were gaining
on him, and he was running out of breath.

He needed somewhere to hide. Izuku looked around for any spots, and his eyes zeroed in on the
abandoned office building. Wait, no, it didn’t look abandoned anymore. He saw someone with a bag
of bagels walking in through the doors. Still, it was as good a hiding place as any.

Izuku made a sharp right turn, ran through the office doors, and then tried to hold them shut as if he
were blocking out a horde of zombies.

He didn’t know what he was doing. Why did he expect himself to actually be able to keep them out?
There were, like four of them, and one of them was Katsuki. Though, to his surprise, none of them
had made it in yet. They all stood outside, angrily pulling at the door. Did someone lock it the
moment he ran in?

“This isn’t over, Deku!” Katsuki yelled from behind the glass. “We’ll get you twice as bad
tomorrow!”

“Did somebody say Twice? Because that’s not my name!” Izuku heard a familiar voice say.

“Mr. Bubaigawara!” Izuku exclaimed.

“In the flesh. I’m a figment of your imagination.”

“I didn’t think I’d see you here of all places. I thought you had a black mark.”

“Screw the black mark! I made my own business.”

“In a week? How did you manage that?”

Before Jin could answer, the office building’s elevator opened and out came half a dozen people who
looked exactly like him.

Izuku came to a stunning realization, “Wait, are you the only guy who works here?”

“You bet!” All the Jin clones answered at once, “Welcome to One Man Army Inc.”

“That’s - that’s amazing! How did you do it!”

All the Jin clones spoke simultaneously, “Anything’s possible with enough manpower! It’s all a
fruitless endeavor.”

Izuku was beginning to feel a little creeped out. “Okay, I know you’re all the same person, but how
are you all talking at the same time? Did you rehearse this in advance?”

“We went through a Quirk awakening. We’re a hive mind now! Get out of my head!”

“Cool, cool,” Izuku nodded. “So, what does your company do?”

“Business!”

Izuku wanted to argue against that, but he didn’t know what most office buildings did either. Besides,
Jin clearly seemed to be doing well for himself.

“Well, it was nice seeing you again, but I have to get going.” Izuku went to open the door, but Jin
stopped him by placing an arm on his shoulder.

“Hold on, those kids seemed really scary. You should beat them up.”

Izuku gave a nervous shrug, “Eh, it’s mostly just Kacchan I have to worry about. And he’s fine as
long as I stay out of his way.”

“That doesn’t sound right. You should let him bully you!”

Izuku gawked, “What? Kacchan doesn’t bully me. He just… calls me names, and beats me up, and
takes my stuff, and… bullies me.”

Jin slammed a fist into his open palm, “We need a revenge plan. I agree with me!” Suddenly, all the
clones took tape measures out of their pockets and began measuring Izuku from all sides.

“What - what are you doing?” Izuku asked as he tried to remain as still as possible, which was his
natural response to being measured.

“We’re gonna clone you.” The Jins announced, “Then you can gang up on your stupid bully.”

“What? I don’t wanna beat up Kacchan! Besides, I’m sure just the idea of there being two of me
would be enough to make him go insane.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Izuku’s brain hatched a new idea. “You know what? Yeah. That
would work even better. How many clones of me can you make?”

“As many as you want, sweetheart. Though I don’t think they’ll be a hive mind like me.”

Izuku’s smile twisted into a devious grin. “That’s fine. I know we’ll all be on the same page.”

———————————————

The Next Day…

Katsuki grabbed Izuku by the collar and slammed him against the wall. “I told you today would be
twice as bad. You know I never go back on my word.” Katsuki sneered.

“I - I know, Kacchan. I know.” Izuku nervously stuttered.

“How ‘bout we start small today? Give me your notebook so I can blow it up.”

“I don’t have my notebook on me!”

“Oh, here you go.” Said a voice eerily similar to Izuku’s. Katsuki slowly turned his head to see an
exact replica of the boy handing himself a notebook.

Katsuki dropped Izuku and furiously wiped at his eyes. “I must be seeing things,” He muttered to
himself. When he opened his eyes, there was only one Izuku again. “Thank god, there’s only one
Deku.”

After that brief scare, Katsuki lost the motivation to beat up Izuku, so he just left the boy trembling
against the wall while he made his way to class. However, when he entered the classroom, he was
shocked to see Izuku already at his desk, somehow having beaten him to the punch.

“Oh. Hi, Kacchan!” Izuku waved.

“Wha - how the fuck did you… one sec.” Katsuki ran out of the room and back to where he was just
tormenting Izuku. Sure enough, he was still there, trembling against the wall.

Katsuki took a deep, calming breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “No. It’s just my mind
playing tricks on me. There’s only one Deku.”

As Katsuki slowly trudged to class, he noticed a student standing in the middle of the hall and shoved
them out of his way. “Move it or lose it, dipshit,” He grumbled.

“Oh, sorry Kacchan.” Katsuki immediately froze at the voice. He slowly shifted his gaze to see yet
another Izuku, looking confused at his horrified expression. “What? Was it something I said?”

“Nope! NopeNopeNope! There’s only one Deku.” Katsuki assured himself as he slowly backed away,
only to bump into another Izuku.

“I’m sorry, there’s only one of whom?” Izuku asked innocently.

“He said there’s only one of me,” A third Izuku interjected.

“No! There’s only one Deku. There’s only one Deku!” Katsuki yelled as he ran off. He didn’t know
where he was going. He just needed to get away from Izuku.
His panicked eyes spotted the bathroom, and he immediately ran in, only to be met with two Izukus
muttering to each other. “Oh, hi Kacchan!” They both greeted.

“AHHHHHH!” Katsuki booked it out of the bathroom and ran into a nearby classroom which was
usually empty this time of day.

But it wasn’t empty when he entered. Katsuki immediately noticed all the desks were filled by Izukus,
while one stood at the front of the room, giving a lecture about All Might. That Izuku quickly noticed
Katsuki’s frantic entrance and said, “Ah, Kacchan. You’re just in time for class.”

Katsuki immediately slammed the door and ran down the hallway as fast as he could while frantically
repeating, “There’sOnlyOneDekuThere’sOnlyOneDekuThere’sOnlyOneDeku.”

Screw school. He needed to get out of here! He ran to the school’s front entrance and blasted the door
off its hinges. But then he suddenly paused when he saw what waited for him outside.

It wasn’t an army of Izukus, it wasn’t a dozen Izukus, it wasn’t even two Izukus. It was just one
Izuku, standing outside, looking nervously at Katsuki.

“Are you okay, Kacchan?” He asked, “You looked like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Katsuki let out a crazed laugh as he breathed a sigh of relief. “I knew it. I knew it! I KNEW IT!
There's only ONE Deku.”

“Oh, Kacchan?”

“Yeah?”

“Turn around.”

Katsuki did as he was told, too tired to object, and was met with a wall of Izukus, each smiling at him
incredulously. “Hi, Kacchan,” They all said in unison.”

It was at that moment when Katsuki felt his sanity shatter into a million pieces. “I need therapy,” Was
the last thing he said before passing out.

All the Izukus laughed in unison as one of them caught Katsuki’s unconscious body. One clone turned
to a nearby bush and said, “Alright, Mr. Bubaigawara, I think that’s enough.”

“You got it, dude! This charade has gone on for long enough!” Jin said as he popped out from the
bush. He snapped his fingers, and all the Izukus (except one) dissolved into puddles of gray sludge
with smiles on their faces.

“Looks like operation ‘Make Kacchan Think He’s Crazy so He’ll Attend Therapy’ was a success!”
Izuku cheered.

“Well, that was fun, but I gotta go,” Jin said as he walked off. “Remember, if you ever need a clone in
the future, go to someone else, you freeloader!”

“I will, Jin.” Izuku said as he waved goodbye, “I will.”

When Jin left, Izuku stared down at the unconscious Katsuki in his arms. “Ok, what the hell am I
supposed to do with an unconscious Kacchan?”
 Oh, right! He took out a Sharpie and drew cat whiskers on Katsuki’s face.

Chapter End Notes

If you're wondering why Katsuki didn't just blow up the clones, two Izukus means his
insecurities are doubled. So for once in his life, his brain chose flight instead of fight

I like to imagine once Izuku gets into UA, it becomes common to see clones of him walking
around. Just so he can gain more knowledge in a shorter amount of time. Heck, I wouldn't be
surprised if he had one clone in each course

Next Time: Something, something, animals

 Koda the Disney Princess
Chapter Notes

I reached the tag limit, so now I have to get rid of all the non-romantic relationship tags :(

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Izuku glanced at his new seatmate as he kept up with the day’s math lesson. Koji Koda was his name.
Izuku assumed he had some sort of rock Quirk based on his jagged-looking face, but that could just as
easily be a secondary mutation.

But Izuku wasn’t focused on his Quirk. He was concerned about just how silent the boy had been.
Sure, he figured Koda would still be shaken by the whole fireworks truck thing. But he didn’t even
properly introduce himself to the class. He just quickly scribbled his name on the board and
scrambled to his desk.

Izuku wanted to give Koda a friendly greeting, to offer him a hand of friendship, to assure him Aldera
wasn’t as hostile as it initially seemed (which was a lie, but a little assurance could go a long way).
But he just couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

Izuku could come up with several reasons for this: He was never much of a people person to begin
with, he could have been having an off day, Koda’s shyness could have been contagious, or he had
just been burned by friends too many times (both figuratively and literally). But Izuku knew deep
down that he was just a coward, too complacent in his little bubble to reach out. It might have had
something to do with Katsuki continuously beating Izuku back into his bubble every time he tried to
crawl out, but the fact still remained.

Izuku just hoped Koda could find some friends who were better than him.

———————————————

After an uneventful school day, Izuku stopped at a local park on his way home from school. It was a
quiet place. Somewhere he could go to recuperate from any particularly difficult day he had. But
today, he just wanted to take in the scenery.

And take in the scenery he did. Izuku sat on a bench and closed his eyes as he breathed in the fresh air
around him. It was practically dead silent, save for the rustling leaves caused by a light breeze.

As Izuku’s ears instinctively focused on even the quietest sounds he could hear, he caught wind of
something he never thought he would hear. Was that… singing? It was!

Izuku turned to the source of the singing and was met with a small clearing in the forest. Letting
curiosity take hold, Izuku got up and trekked his way through the woods. The further he got, the more
he could make out the singing. It was a deep voice, seemingly male, and he seemed to be singing
opera. And damn, he was singing good. Izuku wasn’t much of a music aficionado, but even he could
recognize when someone had a voice like honey butter.
When Izuku pushed past the last of the branches blocking his way, his jaw dropped in surprise when
he saw Koji motherfucking Koda singing his heart out in the middle of the forest. He wasn’t alone,
either. He was surrounded by a small audience of forest critters: birds, deer, squirrels, bunnies, and
mice. Needless to say, Koda was looking like a real Disney Princess.

When the song finished and Koda bowed to his animal friends, Izuku couldn’t help but let out a quiet
little clap and cheer, attracting the attention of both the singer and the audience. The forest critters
immediately scurried away while Koda stood there and buried his face in his hands, looking
embarrassed beyond all belief.

“Oh, sorry.” Izuku apologized, “I didn’t mean to intrude. It’s just… you have a lovely singing voice.”

Koda peeked an eye out from his hands, but otherwise didn’t react. So Izuku continued.

“I mean, the animals certainly agreed with you. Is your voice just that good?”

Koda shook his head no.

“Oh. Well, does it have something to do with your Quirk, by chance?”

Koda nodded his head yes. Izuku figured the rock-headed boy wasn’t the talkative type, so he aimed
to keep his questions simple from that point forward.

“Does it allow you to communicate with animals?”

He nodded yes.

“Really? That’s amazing! There are so many applications for a Quirk like that. You could be a
zookeeper, or an animal tamer, or a vet, or maybe even a hero.”

At the mention of the word ‘hero,’ Koda removed his hands from his face and pointed excitedly at
Izuku.

“Oh, you’re aiming to be a hero? That’s great! I mean, you seem to be good at getting animals’
attention. I bet you’d be a shoo-in for UA’s heroic course.”

Koda shrugged as he waved his hand in a ‘so-so’ gesture.

“What? Why not?” Izuku asked before coming to a realization. “Oh, right, your shyness. Is that your
biggest issue right now?”

Koda shook his head no before pointing down at the dirt beneath him.

“Dirt? What does that have to do with your Quirk?”

Koda shook his head and crouched down to the dirt, where he made a scuttling motion with his
fingers at ground level.

It took Izuku a moment to figure it out. “Is it bugs? Do you not like bugs?”

Koda snapped his fingers and nodded yes.

“Why’s that? Is it because they’re hard to communicate with?”

He frantically nodded yes.

“Ah. That makes sense. But still, you seem to have great Quirk control. And with a voice like that,
you’re bound to have a successful hero career.”

Koda blushed in embarrassment at the praise.

“I mean it,” Izuku insisted. “It’s a very powerful voice. I know you’re shy and all, but maybe it would
help if you had just one person to practice on. If you don’t mind, that is.”

After biting his lip and mulling it over for a moment, Koda clenched his fist and nodded determinedly.
He took a deep breath and then sang out another operatic tune.

He seemed a little tense while singing at first. But after about a minute, Koda began to relax his
shoulders and loosen his posture, possibly forgetting there was a human audience at all.

Izuku, for his part, sat back and enjoyed the music. He knew Koda had a gift, and he’d be damned if
he didn’t help his new friend nurture that talent into something the world could enjoy. But for now, he
was content to just wait out in the woods.

———————————————

With introductions out of the way, Izuku and Koda could now truly appreciate the other’s company as
they sat next to each other in class. Koda still wouldn’t talk directly to Izuku (or anyone, for that
matter), but Izuku had gotten better at understanding him through his gestures and body language.

Izuku quickly found that with this new friendship came the discovery of certain… unexpected things
about Koda. For starters, his backpack was unusually heavy, but not because he had a lot of school
supplies. Koda brought his pet bunny to school every day. When asked about it, Koda sheepishly
explained that Yuwai gets extremely lonely when he’s not around. Izuku wasn’t sure about the
implications of stuffing a rabbit in a backpack for hours at a time, but he wasn’t the animal expert
here.

Another thing Izuku noticed was that Koda seemed to have formed a friendship with the mice
infecting Aldera. He’d sometimes notice the boy disabling mouse traps and sneaking cheese into the
holes in the wall. This relationship seemed to be a two-way streak, because Izuku swore he saw the
mice help Koda cheat on his last math test.

The weirdest thing, however, was when Izuku caught a glimpse of Koda doodling in his notebook
during class. It was mostly sketches of animals and nature, but what stood out to him was a drawing
of Katsuki Bakugo getting clawed at by birds. And just next to that was a sketch of Katsuki getting
tied down by mice and force-fed cheese.

Now, Izuku was no stranger to doodling his revenge fantasies. He was only human, after all. But
throughout his weeks at Aldera, he hadn’t seen Katsuki speak a single word to Koda. Izuku felt his
curiosity grow, and he quickly decided to figure out what beef Koda had with the explosive blonde.

———————————————

“Koda, do you not like Kacchan?” Izuku asked as they walked through the park.

Koda raised an eyebrow in confusion, clearly not knowing who Izuku was talking about.

“I meant Katsuki Bakugo. Do you dislike him?”

Koda nodded in confirmation, a bitter expression growing on his face.

“Can I ask why?”

Koda expanded his hands outward in an explosion-like gesture.

“Oh, you don’t like his explosions? Yeah, they can be hard on the ears sometimes. (It was at that point
that Izuku noticed Koda didn’t even have ears. But he decided not to say anything).”

Koda violently shook his head no as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small mouse.

It took Izuku a few moments to figure it out. “Oh! Is it the mice who don’t like Kacchan’s
explosions?”

Koda nodded before pointing to a nearby bird nesting in a tree.

“Birds too? I’m guessing this extends to all the animals in Aldera’s vicinity.”

Koda gave an unfortunate nod.

“Well, maybe we can fix this. I’m sure Kacchan wouldn’t mind toning down the explosions a bit. I’m
sure if we ask him, we can-”

———————————————

“Like hell, I care about some dumbass rats, you damn nerd!” Katsuki yelled as he elbowed Izuku in
the gut.

———————————————

“Ok, maybe I thought too highly of Kacchan there,” Izuku admitted. “Do you have any ideas?”

Koda reached into his backpack and pulled out the sheet music for one of his opera pieces.

“Oh, I get it.” Izuku nodded, “You want to sing at Aldera to convince the animals to rise up against
Kacchan.”

Koda nodded, but Izuku noticed he looked a little unsure of himself.

“You’re still nervous about performing around actual people, aren’t you?”

Koda slumped over in defeat. Izuku immediately went over to comfort him.

“Hey, it’s alright. I get it, anxiety sucks.”

Koda clenched his fists in frustration. Izuku could tell he really wanted to do this, but he still found
himself held back by his own stage fright.

Suddenly, an idea formed in Izuku’s brain. “Hold on a moment. You’re only comfortable performing
in the forest, correct?”

Koda hesitantly nodded, not knowing where Izuku was going with this.

“Obviously, we can’t bring Aldera to the forest. But what if we brought the forest to Aldera?”

Koda suddenly found himself intrigued by his friend's idea.

 ———————————————

The next day, Izuku and Koda arrived at the front of the school early enough to set Koda up for his
big performance. It was simple, really. All Koda had to do was blast stock nature sounds into his ears
at full blast while he wore a VR headset that played stock nature footage (Koda’s family was
wealthier than Izuku thought if they could afford VR). Sure, he couldn’t see or hear anything besides
his voice, but he felt like he was standing right in the middle of the forest.

“Oh, here he comes,” Izuku whispered to Koda, forgetting he couldn’t hear him.

“Deku, are you doing something stupid again?” Katsuki frustratedly asked as he walked up to the pair.

“No, we’re not, Kacchan. We’re giving you one more chance to tone down the explosions. If you
don’t, Koda’s going to sing his heart out and turn all the animals against you.”

Katsuki gave a hoarse laugh, “Ha! You think I’m scared of some stupid-ass rats? I’d like to see you
try.”

Izuku shrugged, “Okay. You literally asked for it.” He tapped Koda twice on the shoulder, signaling
that he should start the song.

After a deep breath, Koda started his operatic singing. It only took a few bars for all the animals in the
vicinity to hear the song and spring into action.

Katsuki stared at the school’s entrance, expecting mice to burst through the doors. Unfortunately for
him, he was blindsided when a flock of birds dived down and started clawing at him.

“Hey! God dammit!” Katsuki tried to blow up the birds, but they were fast, and it was hard to catch
them in the middle of a dive-bomb, much less a dozen dive-bombs at once.

Eventually, the birds backed off, and Katsuki let out a satisfying grin, thinking he scared them away.
He was quickly proven wrong as he felt something bite his ankle. He looked down to see he was
surrounded by dozens of mice slowly climbing up his legs.

Katsuki squealed as he jumped around, trying to shake them off. He couldn’t use his Quirk to blow
them off his legs because that would end with him blowing off his legs!

“Had enough yet, Kacchan?” Izuku asked.

“Fuck you!” Was Katsuki’s response.

“Suit yourself. I just hope you’ll change your mind after the squirrels.”

“What squi-” Katsuki was cut off as he felt acorns and nuts rain down on him. Sure, they weren’t that
painful on their own. But put a bunch of them together, and they were bound to bruise.

Just then, the birds returned and pecked at Katsuki’s face, and Katsuki decided he had enough.
Forcing all the sweat he could into his palms, he pointed his hands down and launched himself into
the air with a huge explosion, sending all the animals flying off him.

When Katsuki landed on his feet, he rushed over to Izuku and let out an explosion in his chest,
sending him sprawling on the ground. “I bet you put Rock-Face up to this, didn't you, Deku?!”
Katsuki accused. “I bet you had yourself a good laugh watching me get my ass kicked by a bunch of
rats. Well, guess what? What goes around comes around, you useless fuck!”
 Katsuki charged up another explosion in his palm, but paused when he noticed the singing had
stopped abruptly. He slowly turned to where the singer once stood, where he was then met with a
furious-looking Koda with his arm already wound back in a right hook aimed at the face.

Too slow to dodge, the fist connected with Katsuki’s cheek, sending him to the ground. “Don’t you
dare hurt him,” Koda whispered menacingly.

Before Katsuki could let up, Koda tore off his headphones and headset, got down to dirt level, and
belted a powerful note into the ground. Within seconds, a colony of red fire ants burst out of the
ground and attached themselves to Katsuki, who screamed and writhed in pain at their fiery bites.

“Ow! I’m gonna - ooh! - get you for this - oh god! - you fucking - AAAH! - nerds! Oh god, it burns!”
Katsuki yelled through the bites.

Koda ignored Katsuki’s wails of agony as he rushed over to Izuku and helped him up.

“I’m fine, Koda. I’m fine.” Izuku said, “I’m just glad you’re alright.”

“…Me too,” Koda whispered.

“But hey, look! You sang! And you saved me. You’re becoming more confident already.”

“…Thank you.”

“Now come on,” Izuku walked over to Katsuki’s swollen body. “We should probably get Kacchan to
the school nurse.”

“I don’t need your pity, Deku!” Katsuki weakly yelled as he forced himself up and hobbled over to
the nurse’s office, wincing in pain at every step.

Izuku shook his head, “I worry about him sometimes.”

“…I don’t,” Koda smirked.

Izuku couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s joke, and Koda couldn’t help but join in, too.

“Stop fucking laughing!” Katsuki turned and yelled, but to no avail.

Chapter End Notes

I don't know why I gravitated to the idea of Koji singing opera. I just found it funny

With this, exactly half of Class 1-A has appeared in this fic. I wonder how long it will take me to
do the other half (probably forever. I doubt I can come up with anything for Ojiro)

Next Time: This one will be very side-splitting

 Setsuna the Prankster
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

When Setsuna Tokage heard that a fireworks truck had destroyed her old school, she took that as a
fresh start. So she ditched the gyaru look in preparation for her first day at Aldera Middle School.
There was only one problem, however: She was freaking bored! After she introduced herself in front
of her class, absolutely nothing of note happened for the rest of the school day. It was hard to have a
new beginning if nothing’s begun.

Setsuna signed as she closed her shoe locker. She was practically begging for some last-minute
excitement. To her surprise, she would get her wish when she heard a loud “OW!” coming from a few
rows down.

Peering around to the source of the scream, she saw a boy with green hair that kind of looked like
parsley picking a tack out of his shoe while a blonde boy with spiky hair resembling a pineapple
lorded over him.

“What was that for?” The green-haired boy (Whom Setsuna decided to nickname Parsley) asked the
blondie.

“Someone was getting a little too complacent and needed to be reminded of their place.” The blonde
boy (Whom Setsuna decided to nickname Pineapple) sneered at Parsley. “Now get out of here before I
really mess you up!”

As Parsley frantically ran out of the shoe locker room, Setsuna couldn’t help the feeling of annoyance
directed at Pineapple. She’d encountered her fair share of bullies at her old middle school, and this
guy fit the bill to a tee, especially with that cocky smirk that just made her want to strangle him.

Setsuna realized there were two options available to her:

Option A: Befriend Parsley and help him stand up to his bully

Option B: Conduct an elaborate series of pranks on Pineapple in hopes that it will somehow make him
want to change his ways

She was going with option B. There was zero hesitation.

———————————————

Setsuna’s one-sided prank war started small, just a simple wet willie. There was only one problem:
she was in a different class than Pineapple. Though, that could also be seen as a good thing since it
would make it harder for Pineapple to pin the blame on her.

Either way, Setsuna was glad her Quirk allowed her to split off and individually control her body
parts. All she had to do was style her hair to cover her ears and one eye, and no one would notice
anything was off. At least, as long as she kept her floating body parts hidden from plain view. But she
had years of experience from trying to steal the cookie jar from the kitchen.

That day in class, when she was sure no one was looking, Setsuna coated her finger in saliva before
detaching it from her body, along with an eye and an ear. She quickly slipped those parts under her
classroom door and floated them across the hall. She made sure to keep them near the ceiling and out
of sight.

After a few minutes of checking random rooms, Setsuna spotted Pineapple and Parsley sitting at their
desks through one of the classroom windows. Sneaking her parts in, she slithered her disembodied
finger up the back of Pineapple’s chair before quickly sticking it in his ear.

“Gah! Who did that?!” Pineapple yelled as he shot up from his desk. He glared at the person behind
him, “It was you, wasn’t it?”

“What - what are you talking about?” Asked Pineapple’s seatmate.

“Quiet down, Bakugo. We have a lot of material to get through today.” The teacher instructed.

(Setsuna might have just figured out Pineapple’s real name, but she decided the nickname was more
fitting.)

“Tch, fine.” Pineapple crossed his arms as he slumped back in his seat.

Setsuna let out a satisfied grin. Prank #1 was a smashing success. Sure, it might have been a little
elaborate for a wet willie, but that made successfully pulling it off all the more satisfying.

———————————————

The next prank was much simpler in comparison. All she had to do was place a ‘kick me’ sign on
Pineapple’s back while he walked down the hallway. With the general commotion that came from the
lunch bell, Setsuna found it easy to detach a hand and place the sign on her target without anyone
noticing.

She inconspicuously followed Pineapple down the hallway, waiting for someone to take the bait. But
to her disappointment, everyone else in the school seemed to be either too scared or too respectful of
Pineapple to kick his butt.

Oh well. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

Setsuna flew a detached foot over to Pineapple and kicked him in the butt so hard he fell flat on his
face. She had to bite her tongue and hold her nose to keep herself from laughing.

“Who the fuck did that?!” Pineapple yelled as he got up. Rubbing the bruise on his butt, he felt the
paper taped to his backside and held it in front of his face. After reading it, he angrily blew it up with
his Quirk and yelled, “Whoever did this to me is fucking dead! You hear me?! FUCKING DEAD!”

Setsuna wasn’t intimidated by Pineapple’s threat in the slightest. And even if she was, she could
always regenerate missing or lost body parts.

———————————————

By now, Setsuna figured Pineapple would be on the lookout for pranks, and she planned to take full
advantage of that.

The next day, she once again trailed behind Pineapple at a safe distance on his way to class. She made
it look like her hands were buried in her pockets. When in reality, they were floating off somewhere
else.
When Pineapple got to his classroom, he slowly and carefully opened the door, seemingly paranoid
that someone would pull the old ‘water bucket on the door’ prank. But Setsuna never liked
predictably, which was why her floating hands held the bucket of water instead.

Before Pineapple could catch a glimpse, Setsuna’s hands dumped the ice-cold water on his head, then
dropped the bucket on him for good measure.

“FUCK! THAT’S COLD!” Pineapple yelled to the laughter of the entire class. Even Parsley got a few
chuckles in.

“Anyone who just laughed is gonna fucking die!” Pineapple yelled. Most of the class shut up after
that, but they quickly continued when Pineapple left to get a spare uniform.

If they thought that was funny, they were gonna love the next one.

———————————————

At the end of the school day, Setsuna watched from around the corner as Pineapple walked out of the
classroom and stared unimpressed at her latest prank.

“Really? A banana peel? How stupid do they think I am?”

He made his way around the banana peel, only to slip on the wet floor Setsuna had prepared
beforehand and fall flat on his back.

This time, Setsuna couldn’t help the full belly laugh that erupted from her stomach, catching the
attention of an angry-looking Pineapple. “It was YOU! Wasn’t it?” He yelled as he stomped up to her.

“Guilty as charged!” Setsuna smirked.

A slightly insane smile grew on Pineapple’s face. “Well, I hope you heard what I said after the last
two pranks, because you’re gonna fucking die!” He released an explosion right at Setsuna’s head, who
simply detached it and let it fall to the ground.

When the smoke cleared, Pineapple was met with a seemingly decapitated Setsuna whose headless
body collapsed right in front of him. After a few moments to digest the scene, Pineapple’s eyes
widened as he let out a silent scream, seemingly believing he killed her.

As soon as Pineapple got his bearings and realized the gravity of the situation, he booked it out of the
hallway as fast as humanly possible, and Setsuna got up to screw her head back on.

“Wow. I wonder what’s gotten Kacchan so shaken up.” She heard Parsley wonder to himself as he
stepped out of the classroom.

“Oh, don’t worry, Parsley. I bet he’ll be too traumatized to mess with you anymore.” Setsuna
answered, only to be met with a confused look from the boy.

“Um… have we met somewhere before?”

Oh, right. Setsuna never actually introduced herself to Parsley. She knew she was forgetting
something. Oh well, no time like the present. “Name’s Setsuna Tokage. Saw that Pineapple guy
messin’ with you and was like, ‘What goes around comes around.’”

Parsley’s eyes sparkled as he gave a teary-eyed smile. “You’d do that for me?”
 “Yeah, sure. Why not?” Setsuna shrugged, “Anyway, I’m hungry. Could really go for some Dino
Nuggies right now. Up for some fine cuisine, Parsley?”

“Of course! I’d love to!” Parsley nodded.

“Great. Because I just moved here, and I have no idea where anything is.”

———————————————

Later That Night…

Katsuki rushed to fit as much into his suitcase as possible. He had just killed someone not too long
ago. It was only a matter of time until they looked through the security footage. He had to run away,
change his name, forge a new identity, then attend UA and become a hero with that new identity.

As Katsuki stuffed another handful of clothes in his bag, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.
Checking it, he was met with a call from a number he didn’t recognize. He immediately hung up, but
was surprised when a voicemail appeared in his inbox a few minutes later.

Praying it wasn’t the police or a detective, Katsuki pressed play on the voicemail and listened in
closely.

“Hey, Pineapple. It’s Setsuna Tokage, the girl you thought you killed. Guess what? You didn’t kill me.
My Quirk just lets me detach my body parts at will. I would’ve let this charade continue for a few
more days, but Parsley guilt-tripped me into coming clean. Man, the power of that boy’s puppy-dog
eyes cannot be understated. Anyways, I hope you learned a lesson from this, or whatever. Just leave
Parsley alone, and try not to actually kill anyone with your Quirk. Okay? Okay. See ‘ya.”

When the voicemail ended, Katsuki collapsed on his bed in relief. He thought he had just lost his
entire hero career for a minute there. Considering his explosions killing someone wasn’t out of the
realm of possibility, he did not want a repeat of what he thought had just happened that day.

“Maybe I should stop screaming ‘die’ all the time.”

Chapter End Notes

This was revenge for the Joint Training Arc. Also, fun fact: Setsuna was canonically a gyaru in
middle school. Check the wiki

I know this chapter shares similarities with the Inko chapter, but this idea was suggested to me
by a commenter. I forget which one, though. And I'm not combing through all 1000+ comments.
So if it's you, please tell me if you want to be credited

Also, also, no more daily chapters. Apparently there's such a thing as 'too much fan fiction.'
Besides, my idea well is running dry, and I want the extra time to work on some other fic ideas.
These fic ideas include but are not limited to:

Perpetual Motion
Dekumania
Talk to Yourself
American Dream
Deku vs. Zombies (Plants vs. Zombies crossover)
Once More, With Feeling
A Million Mistakes
etc...

Next Time: The most requested character by far (It's not Aizawa, he was the 2nd most requested)
 Tomura the Outcast
Chapter Notes

Just so you know, Tomura is aged down a few years so he looks less out of place in a middle
school.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Um, excuse me, Lord. I had a question.”

All for One turned at the Doctor’s voice. It seems he had one of those questions that could qualify as
stupid enough to get him killed. If All for One still had eyes, he would have loved to see the nervous
look on his face.

“Yes, Doctor?” All for One replied

“It’s about Tomura. It’s not that I’m questioning your methods or anything, but why did you transfer
him to Aldera Middle School?”

All for One figured the Doctor would have asked eventually. Thankfully, he was eager to share his
latest ingenious plan. “Do you remember our goal with Tomura, Doctor?”

“Instill in him a fundamental hatred for hero society, and by association, All Might?”

“Correct. But lately, I feel as if that hatred has been waning. So I decided to show him what the
society he’s supposed to destroy thinks of a Quirk like his. After all, children can be cruel.”

“That makes sense.” The Doctor nodded, “But why Aldera in particular?”

“I’ll admit, it wasn’t my first choice. But sometimes things happen. And you have to accept the fact
that your number one option was blown up by a rogue fireworks truck.”

“…What?”

“Nevertheless,” All for One continued, “I have taken extra precautions to ensure that by the end of the
day, Tomura will want that school decimated.”

“If I may ask, how did you do that, Lord?”

———————————————

Tomura Shigaraki grumbled as he sat at his desk on the first day at his new school, making sure to
keep at least one finger off the table at all times. Why the hell did Sensei not let him wear his gloves?!
Better yet, why did he explicitly instruct Tomura not to kill anyone on his first day? What kind of
lesson was this supposed to teach him? Because all it was teaching him right now was that school is a
boring waste of time.
Regardless, Tomura had to go along with Sensei’s stupid plans, lest he get his gaming privileges
revoked. And if Sensei wanted him to go to school, he probably also wanted him not to flunk his
classes.

Tomura picked up his pencil and began following along with the teacher’s lesson. That didn’t last
long, however. The moment he got too complacent in his writing, he let his pinky tap the side of the
pencil, and it all collapsed into dust.

Furrowing his brow at the inconvenience, Tomura went to unzip his backpack to get another pencil,
only to find the zipper jammed in place. He grabbed the backpack and yanked as hard as he could.
Unfortunately, he didn’t realize he had grabbed the bag with all five fingers until he heard his school
supplies fall out of the newly created hole and clatter on the ground.

Sighing, he picked up a pencil off the floor and made sure he was extra careful not to let his pinky
touch the wood. But with all the attention he was giving to his right hand, he didn’t notice his left
hand slowly decay the paper it held in place until it was already half dusted.

Tomura grit his teeth as he slammed his pencil on his desk in frustration, his five fingers making
contact with the wood in the process. At that moment, the entire desk collapsed in on itself and
shattered into dust, attracting the attention of the entire class.

After a moment of silence, the teacher spoke up. “Perhaps this would be a good time to wrap up the
lesson.”

With that, the lunch bell rang, and most of the students funneled out of the classroom. Tomura noticed
the nervous and scared expressions directed at him and clenched his fist in frustration. It wasn’t his
fault he had bad Quirk control.

As Tomura bent down to pick up the school supplies that fell out of his partially decayed bag, a shoe
suddenly stomped on the back of his hand. Looking up, Tomura was met with an angry-looking
blonde boy staring at him like he was the scum of the earth.

Standing up and rubbing his hand, Tomura grumbled, “Who the hell are you?”

“Katsuki Bakugo,” The blonde boy replied, “And I saw what you did to that desk. I know your type.
You’re just a villain waiting to happen.”

“Fuck off.” Tomura spat as he turned to leave the classroom, but Katsuki grabbed him by the shoulder
and spun him back around.

“Don’t think you’re getting out of this so easily.” Katsuki sneered as he popped an explosion in his
hand. “If you won’t learn your place, I’ll just have to teach you.”

Before Katsuki could do anything, however, another boy with green hair and freckles got between the
two of them. “Leave him alone, Kacchan!” He said.

Katsuki shot the green-haired boy a glare full of murderous intent, “Get the hell outta here, Deku. Are
you that much of a dumbass that you can’t tell a villain from a hero?”

“He didn’t do anything wrong. You’re only angry because you feel threatened by his presence.”

“He should be the one who feels threatened!” Katsuki yelled, “And so should you, because you look
like you need to be reminded of your place, too.”
Without another word, the green-haired boy grabbed Tomura by the wrist and booked it out of the
classroom. Katsuki didn’t bother chasing after them. Instead, yelling, “You damn cowards! You’re
gonna regret running, Deku! You too, Handjob!”

Tomura had half a mind to pull himself from the boy's grasp and kill that explosive nutjob right then
and there. But Sensei’s orders echoed in his head, and he ultimately decided against it.

He just hoped that wherever this ‘Deku’ took him was quiet enough for him to game his frustrations
away.

———————————————

“Sorry about Kacchan.” Izuku apologized as he shut the door to the roof. “He usually only goes after
me. I guess he must have gotten freaked out when he saw you disintegrate that desk. I mean, I’m sure
you didn’t mean to do that or anything. It’s just… You know what? Let’s start over. I’m Izuku
Midoriya.”

“Tomura Shigaraki.” The boy glared as he pulled out a Nintendo Switch from his tattered-looking
backpack and handed him a Joycon. “Now if you aren’t gonna shut up, the least you can do is let me
own you in Street Fighter.”

And own him he did. Izuku had never played Street Fighter before, so he barely got a few hits in
before Tomura comboed him into next week.

“I figured you’d be a noob, but this is just depressing,” Tomura taunted.

Izuku felt shame from his loss, but he also felt the drive to improve. “Hold on. Let’s go another
round.”

“Fine. If you like losing so much.”

The second game went better for Izuku compared to the first. He managed to get Tomura’s health
halfway down before losing this time.

By the third game, Tomura had only won by a small margin. By the fourth, Izuku managed to squeeze
out his first victory. And by the eighth, he had a winning streak going.

“What the hell?! You sucked ass at this game fifteen minutes ago!” Tomura yelled upon Izuku’s fifth
victory in a row.

Izuku gave a sheepish grin, “I mean, once I noticed the patterns in how you play, it wasn’t too hard to
exploit openings in your attacks.”

“Ugh! Whatever! I’ll rematch you later! Give me your phone so we can exchange friend codes.”

Izuku quickly fumbled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Tomura, who proceeded to punch
in his number. Izuku didn’t have the heart to tell him he didn’t have a Switch. He was just too excited
to finally have a friend’s phone number. However, there was still something about the blue-haired teen
that itched his brain.

“So, Shigaraki, if you don’t mind, I had a quick question or two about your Quirk.”

Tomura gave a long sigh. “It’s called Decay. It destroys anything I touch with all five fingers. Happy
now?”
Izuku nodded as he paced back and forth, deep in thought. “Ok. Now that I know that, maybe I could
help figure out your Quirk control. The last thing you need is to give Kacchan and his cronies another
excuse to pick on you.”

Tomura huffed as he crossed his arms. “It wouldn’t be a problem in the first place if I just had my
damn gloves.”

“Maybe you’re looking at your Quirk the wrong way. I mean, I’m sure it can be useful in the right
hands.”

Tomura didn’t look impressed, “Oh yeah? How so?”

“It would be great for eliminating waste and unwanted garbage. You could terraform land and make it
easier for construction workers to build things on. And it would be far more effective at demolition
than a wrecking ball. ”

“I don’t care about doing any of that shit.”

“I’m not saying you have to take up any of those. I just think that having an open mind about your
Quirk will help you understand it on a more subconscious level.”

“Oh, please. What would you know about Quirks?”

Izuku felt himself subconsciously shrivel up at that question. “Er, well… I guess there’s only so much
I can know compared to you. Y’know, since I’m… Quirkless.”

Tomura raised an eyebrow at that. “Quirkless? Well that explains why you’re so obsessed with mine,”
He drawled.

“S-sorry. I know a Quirk like yours isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. And I’m sure it runs a real risk of
hurting someone.”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.”

“But I can’t help but look at the positives. I like to think every Quirk has their own applications. Sure,
you might not want to be a rescue hero like Thirteen, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it for good.”

Tomura stared at Izuku in confusion, like he viewed Izuku’s words as a puzzle and was trying to
decipher them. He seemed to give up partway through, because he just shrugged and said, “Thanks, I
guess.”

Before Izuku could reply, the door to the roof was suddenly kicked open by Katsuki, who walked in
with a cocky smile on his face.

“K-Kacchan!” Izuku yelped.

“I knew I’d find you two up here,” Katsuki said as he cracked his knuckles. “At least the freaks know
when they’re not wanted.”

Tomura rolled his eyes, “Did you come up here to insult us, or do you just like wasting everyone’s
time?” As he said this, he reached behind him and decayed a chunk of the roof into dust, which he
held in his hand.

“It looks like you forgot about my promise from earlier.”

“I-I thought it was a threat.” Izuku stuttered out.

“No. Threats are when I go easy on you.” Katsuki said as an explosion flared out of his hand. But
before he could go any further, Tomura chucked the handful of dust into his face. “Gah! God
dammit!”

Izuku quickly got the message. He and Tomura ran around Katsuki to get the door. But before they
could make it, Katsuki grabbed them both by the back of their shirts and threw them to the ground.
Just because he could see didn’t mean he couldn’t hear.

“Bet you think you’re smart, don’t you?” Katsuki yelled as he loomed over the boys, wiping the dust
out of his eyes. “Well, guess what? If you thought you were in trouble before, now you’re really
gonna get it!”

Izuku and Tomura both winced as they prepared for the incoming onslaught of explosions.

———————————————

Once the school day was done, All for One watched Tomura limp through the portal back into his
secret base. He was covered in scratches and burn marks, no doubt delivered to him by a bully. It
seemed like his plan was going better than expected.

“How was your day, Tomura?” All for One asked innocently.

“Terrible.” Tomura spat. “I got beat up for accidentally dusting my desk. None of this wouldn’t have
happened if you let me wear my gloves.”

“There was a good reason I did that, Tomura. Today was all a test, and you passed.”

Tomura looked up at All for One in confusion. “Huh?”

“I wanted you to experience the worst of what Quirk discrimination had to offer in order to better
prepare you for the world. And it looks to me like you got the message quite well. As a reward, I’ll
allow you to destroy the entire school tomorrow morning.”

Tomura looked at All for One with an expression of what he assumed to be disbelief, “R-Really?”

“Of course!” All for One clapped his hands together, “After all, I said you could destroy everything
you hated. And I’m sure you hate that school more than anything.”

———————————————

Later that night, Tomura sat at his gaming PC and played an FPS, but his mind was occupied
somewhere else. By all accounts, he should be thrilled by destroying the school that targeted and
attacked him. But for some reason, he just… wasn’t.

He tried to picture himself dusting the entire school down to its foundation and watching the falling
rubble kill everyone inside. But there was a small part of him that pictured Izuku among that rubble,
and a feeling of discomfort wriggled around in Tomura’s stomach.

Throughout the shitshow that was his first day of class, Izuku was the one thing that he could consider
even moderately positive. It wasn’t every day Tomura met a worthy opponent in Street Fighter. And
even though he wasn’t quite sure what to think about what he said about his Quirk, he could at least
appreciate the gesture.
It was almost like he didn’t want Izuku to die or something, like he was worried about him getting
caught in the crossfire.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. After about a minute, he clenched his fists and
slammed on the keyboard in frustration. That might have caused his death in the game he was
playing, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

Sensei had always told Tomura to destroy the things he hated, but he never told him what to do about
the things he didn’t hate. Simple logic stated he should do the opposite of destroy, so that’s what he
decided to do. Okay, he wasn’t going to create, but he would do the next best thing.

Pulling out his phone, Tomura scrolled over to Izuku Midoriya’s contact and texted him one simple
message.

‘Don’t come to school tomorrow’

———————————————

Izuku had no idea how long he stared at the message on his phone. But no matter how long he did, he
still couldn’t fully process it.

He’d seen enough movies to know what this meant. And knowing full well what Tomura’s Quirk was
capable of, he could deduce how he would do it tomorrow.

His entire body screamed for him to tell someone: His mom, the school, the police, a hero, anyone.
But he just couldn’t.

Call him selfish, call him an idiot, call him naive, call him a sentimental fool. He knew it was all true.
But Tomura had been the first person Izuku could call a friend in nearly nine years. He didn’t want to
lose his friend. Both trustwise, and to the law.

He knew he was making the objectively wrong choice, but he couldn't live with himself if he didn’t at
least try to talk his friend down from making the biggest mistake of his life.

———————————————

The next morning, Tomura stood in front of the towering wall at the school’s backside. Classes were
set to start soon, and there was no doubt in his mind that Katsuki was already in the building.

Grinning, he raised his right hand and slowly placed all five fingers on the wall one by one, and small
lines of crack began to form.

“STOP!”

Tomura instinctively pulled his hand from the wall, and the cracking halted. Turning to the source of
the sound, he saw Izuku running up to him while panting heavily.

“What are you doing here, Midoriya?” Tomura asked flatly.

“Don’t do this, Shigaraki. Please.” Izuku begged.

“Why shouldn’t I? You saw how they treated me, treated us for being outcasts. That Bakugo guy blew
us up. And for what? Having a dangerous Quirk? Having no Quirk at all? You of all people should
understand!”
“I do understand! I really do. I’ve gone to this school district my entire life. I probably understand
better than anyone. But this isn’t the right way to deal with it.”

“Why not?! Sensei told me I could destroy anything I hate. And right now, I hate the school more than
anything!”

“You can’t kill everyone in the school, Shigaraki!” Izuku shouted, “Sure, the teachers are terrible, but
not everyone is like Kacchan.”

“I saw the looks they gave me when I disintegrated that desk. They’re scared of me. They see me as a
villain. Bakugo is just the only one willing to act on it.”

“So that’s what you’re gonna do, huh?! Lean into the stereotype?!”

“It won’t make any difference when they’re all dead!” Tired of the back-and-forth, Tomura shot his
hand out toward the school wall, but Izuku grabbed his wrist and looked him in the eyes with a steely,
determined glare.

“Let go, Midoriya.” Tomura said coldly.

“I won’t.” Izuku flatly replied, “If you want to do this, you’ll have to go through me first.”

There was a long, tense silence between the pair. Tomura looked deep into Izuku’s eyes, looking for
even the slightest bit of hesitation. But he didn’t find any. He was completely serious about this.

Tomura would have laughed if it weren’t for the silence. It would take barely any effort for him to
break out of his grasp and turn him to dust. Izuku would be dead in seconds, and yet he still looked as
determined as ever. Was he really willing to die like this for someone he just met?

Tomura glanced at his determined expression and reminded himself that he was. Izuku Midoriya was
willing to die to save this stupid school because he saw the good in him.

He might have been the first person to ever see good in Tomura. And to be honest, he wasn’t sure how
to react to that.

Tomura sighed as he dropped his hand. “You know what? Screw it,” He grumbled to himself.

Izuku didn’t quite pick up on that. “Huh?”

“I SAID SCREW IT!” Tomura suddenly yelled, tears forming in his eyes. “There! Happy now?! I
didn’t dust your fucking school, and now I don’t know what to feel! Is that what you wanted? Were
you just trying to confuse me?!”

“N-No. Please, just calm down. We can talk about this.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I get it. You’re too stubborn to stay away to save your own hide, and
I’m apparently too much of a wuss to do what Sensei told me!”

“Listen, Shigaraki. You don’t - you don’t have to have this all figured out right away. I know you have
a lot of conflicting emotions right now, but can you just take a moment to decompress? Please? Just
breathe.”

Izuku took a deep breath in and out and gestured for Tomura to follow along, which he reluctantly
did. After a few deep breaths, Tomura calmed down as his posture slumped.
“How are you feeling?” Izuku asked.

“Terrible,” Tomura answered bluntly. “Now my stupid-ass brain’s questioning everything Sensei’s
ever told me.”

“Listen,” Izuku began, “It’s been a rough day-”

“It’s not even eight o’clock.”

“-so how about we just skip school for today and stop by a nearby gaming cafe? Sound good?”

“Sure. Fine.” Tomura drawled, already feeling the emotional toll of the morning’s events.

“Great.” Izuku gave a weak nod, “While we’re doing that, do you think you could tell me about his
‘Sensei’ person? Preferably what he looks like and where he lives?”

———————————————

“Hello. Is this Child Protective Services?” Izuku asked from inside the bathroom of the gaming cafe.

“Yes, this is Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. Is there something or someone you’d like to report?” The
voice on the other phone asked.

“Yes. It’s about a friend of mine, Tomura Shigaraki. I don’t know much about his situation, but I
know his father instilled in him some very murderous values. I don’t know the first name of the
father, but my friend says he goes by ‘All for One.’”

The phone went silent for a moment before Tsukauchi spoke up, “I-I’m sorry. Did you say All for
One?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what it means, either. But my friend told me he wears an intimidating black mask
and a ruffled black suit. I’m sorry, this probably isn’t enough information to make an actual case off
of.”

“No, no, no, it’s fine.” The detective was quick to correct. “You wouldn’t happen to know where he
resides by any chance, would you?”

“My friend said, ‘under Jaku Hospital.’ I think he might have been joking about that part. Sorry for
wasting your time here.”

“No, it’s fine. We’ll get on it right away! Thank you for bringing this to our attention.” Tsukauchi
frantically responded.

———————————————

By the time Izuku and Tomura left the gaming cafe, All Might had apparently gathered most of the
top heroes to storm Jaku Hospital and apprehend All for One. The raid went off relatively smoothly
since they caught him off guard, only resulting in a few injuries on the heroes’ side.

It was quickly decided that Tomura would stay with the Midoriyas for the time being while he got
enrolled in therapy. All in all, he took the news relatively well. He was still rethinking a lot of the
philosophies All for One instilled in him, and this gave him the space to do so.
 A few days later, Izuku was alone at home when he heard a knock at the door. Opening it, he
experienced an extreme case of whiplash when he was met with All Might standing at the door in his
trademark pose.

“All - All - All - All- ALL MIGHT?!” Izuku shouted in disbelief.

“Yes!” All Might boomed. “I AM HERE to thank you personally. The man you reported several days
ago was a world-renowned criminal thought to be dead for years. If you have not brought him, to our
attention, who knows what kind of devious plans he might have enacted.”

Izuku struggled to form a response to being praised and congratulated by the number one hero. But he
tried. “It was - um - it was nothing, I guess. I just… I don’t know what to say. Well, besides this.” He
pulled out a notebook from behind his back and opened it to an empty page.

“Of course, young man!” All Might took out a pen and wrote his autograph on the paper. “Should I
make one out to Young Tomura as well?”

“Uh… probably not. He’s still trying to figure out his stance regarding heroes and heroics in general.”
Izuku’s voice lowered to a mutter, “I’m not sure online school is helping him either. But with how he
got treated at Aldera…”

All Might raised an eyebrow at that. “Young man, if I’m reading this correctly, was your friend
bullied at school?”

Izuku rubbed his arm nervously, “…Yeah.”

“Then please excuse me for one moment.” All Might took out his oversized phone and dialed a
number. “Hello? Naomasa? I need you to launch an investigation on a certain middle school.”

———————————————

With All Might’s influence, Aldera Middle School was shut down in a matter of days, and many of its
teachers were arrested. As for Katsuki Bakugo, he was sentenced to a nauseating amount of hours of
community service.

“Why the hell do I have to pick up my weight in trash?!” Katsuki complained.

“Keep complaining. It’ll only get you more hours.” The officer smirked.

Chapter End Notes

Boy, I'm sure glad these are one-shots. Could you imagine the effects this would have on canon
if it wasn't? It would be insane!

I hope I got Tomura's pre-character development characterization down. Guess I probably could
have added in some more gamer lingo, but oh well.

Next Time: A real idiot, or so we think

 Kaminari the Dunce in Disguise
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

When the bell rang, Denki Kaminari slumped out of his classroom dejectedly. Even before he
transferred schools, he was having a hard time. But it seemed like this new environment was
somehow even more stifling than the last. He knew the problem, he was just too much of an idiot to
solve it.

He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts when he heard an explosion from a nearby classroom.
Peering through the window, he saw a blonde-haired boy towering over a nervous-looking green-
haired boy with freckles.

Kaminari might not have been the smartest guy in the world, but he could recognize a bully when he
saw one. And since he was an aspiring hero, he figured the best thing to do was get between the two
boys to prevent any further violence.

“Hey man, that’s not cool,” Kaminari said as he shielded the green-haired boy.

“Who the hell are you to think you can get in my way?” The blonde growled.

“Denki Kaminari. Who the hell are you to think you can pick on someone like that?”

“Katsuki Bakugo. And I’ll pick on whoever I damn well please. In fact, you’re pissing me off right
now. Either fuck off or get blasted to hell.”

Kaminari shifted to a defensive stance. “Hey now! If you try anything, I’ll be forced to unleash my
secret weapon. And lemme tell ‘ya, it’ll mess you up pretty good.”

Katsuki gave an amused chuckle. “Really? I’d be worried right now if you didn’t look like such a
dumbass.”

Kaminari quietly winced as he looked over his defensive pose. Even he could admit it looked sloppy.
Despite all his training and practice, he could never quite get it down. Nevertheless, he chose to stand
his ground.

“Alright, you asked for it,” Kaminari called upon his Quirk as he prepared to release as much
electricity as possible. “Indiscriminate Shock. One Million Volts!”

The last thing he saw before blacking out was Katsuki using an explosion to blast himself away from
the wall of electricity.

———————————————

“Hey, Hey! Are you okay?”

Kaminari felt himself regain consciousness as a hand tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see the
green-haired boy from earlier nervously eye him up and down. Kaminari instantly noticed how beaten
up the boy looked and feared the worst.

“Am I okay? You look like you just got beat up. What happened while I was out?”
The green-haired boy winced at the memory. “Kacchan dodged your electric attack, then you went
into a catatonic-like state. He pushed you aside, then he beat me up”

Kaminari couldn’t help the disappointment welling up in his chest. What kind of hero couldn’t stop a
simple bully? “Sorry I couldn’t help you.”

“It’s fine,” The boy insisted, “No one ever stands up against Kacchan, so I appreciate the effort. I
haven’t seen you around here before. You said your name was Denki Kaminari, right? I’m Izuku
Midoriya.”

Kaminari grinned as he took Izuku’s hand and gave it a hard shake, “Nice to meetcha. I transferred
here last week due to a fireworks truck-related incident.”

“Nice to meet you, too.” Izuku smiled. “If you don’t mind me asking, did you go catatonic earlier
because of Quirk overuse?”

Kaminari inwardly sighed. Might as well rip off the band-aid now. “Yeah. I have an electricity Quirk,
but I turn stupid whenever I use too much.” His voice lowered to a mutter, “I mean, I’m stupid
enough before I overuse my Quirk, so there’s not much of a difference.”

Izuku looked like he picked up on that last part as a look of concern grew on his face. “I don’t think
you’re stupid, Kaminari.”

“Thanks, but I know myself. You know that big schoolwide exam we have next week? I just flunked
the practice test.” Kaminari paused as he realized what he was saying. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to vent. I
mean, you just got beat up. You got bigger things to worry about.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Izuku insisted. “I get beat up all the time. It’s no big deal.”

“That sounds like a pretty big deal to me, man. We should probably tell someone.”

“There’s no use in comparing issues. Why don’t we focus on yours first? You said you were having
trouble in school?”

Kaminari considered himself a people person, so he was easily able to deduce that Izuku was trying to
avoid bringing up his own problems. He made a mental note to try and steer the conversation back to
his new friend’s issues when he got the chance. Hopefully, he wouldn’t forget.

“Yeah.” Kaminari nodded. “All the information just goes in one ear and out the other. My family’s
tried hiring tutors, but the same thing happens with them.”

“Hmmm…” Izuku paced back and forth in thought before he came to a conclusion. “This might be
the Quirk nerd in me talking, but maybe it has something to do with your electricity.”

“Can you elaborate?”

“When you overuse your Quirk, you, for lack of a better term, turn into an idiot. How often do you
use your Quirk?”

“Pretty much every day. It makes for a great phone charger.”

“So if you become dumb when you release electricity, what if the opposite were true?”

“I get smarter the more electricity I build up?”

“Maybe not smarter, but you might have an easier time processing information. Like overclocking a
computer.”

“Dude, that sounds sick! But how can we know for sure?”

“We do what all smart people do: Experiment!”

———————————————

Kaminari sat on the sofa at Isuku’s house as he watched his friend shuffle his feet on the carpet while
wearing a pair of All Might branded socks.

“Okay, I think I have enough static electricity,” Izuku said as he shuffled over to Kaminari. “Tell me if
you feel anything in your head.”

Izuku tapped Kaminari on the arm, and he felt a small surge of electricity travel up his body and stop
at his brain. “I think I felt a spark! And not just where you tapped me!” He said excitedly.

Izuku nodded as he wrote down the results in a notebook. “Alright. Let’s kick it up a notch.” He
slipped a joy buzzer on his finger and extended his hand to Kaminari. “Put ‘er there.”

Kaminari took his hand and immediately felt another surge of power flow through his brain. “That
shock was greater than the last one. I really felt it in my cerebellum.”

Izuku quickly scribbled down the results. “Possible change in vocabulary. Needs further testing.” He
muttered to himself before asking out loud, “Did it hurt?”

“Surprisingly, not that much. I suppose my nervous system is already used to this kind of stimulation
thanks to my Quirk.”

“It looks like it's already working!” Izuku cheered.

“Then why don’t we accelerate it up an octave?”

“You mean kick it up a notch?”

“That’s what I said.” Kaminari ran over to the kitchen and got a fork from the cupboard. Then,
running over to the nearest outlet, he stuck the utensil straight in, and his body convulsed for a few
seconds before flopping to the ground.

“Kaminari! Are you okay?” Izuku tried to help his friend up. But upon touching him, he felt a painful
shock and instinctively flinched back.

“There is no need to worry, Midoriya,” Kaminari said as he got up, “I am both physically and
emotionally unharmed. Though it seems as if I overcharged my own body. And now the excess
electricity is spilling out. But it should be fine so long as you avoid physical contact with me.”

It was at that point that Izuku realized his friend was emanating a light glow as yellow streaks of
electricity danced around his body. “How do you feel, Kaminari? Smarter?”

“I certainly feel smarter, but there’s only one way to test that hypothesis.” Kaminari reached into his
bag and pulled out a series of practice problems. He began filling in bubbles and answering questions
in the blink of an eye as he found his brain was able to recall all the lessons he’d previously forgotten.
Once he finished, Izuku skimmed over his friend’s answers. Or at least, the answers he was able to
make out. His handwriting was pretty sloppy. “Yup, these all seem good. Though, I have a question.”

“Please, do tell,” Kaminari said as elegantly as he could.

“Are you just using big words in order to sound smarter?”

Kaminari slumped over in defeat. “Yeah… I am. I didn’t want you to think I was still dumb.”

“I never doubted your intelligence, Kaminari.” Izuku placed a hand on his shoulder, trying his best to
ignore the pain, “I know I haven’t known you for too long, but I kinda like you better when you talk
all cool and stuff. Besides, actions speak louder than words, and these practice questions don’t lie.”

Kaminari’s grin practically blinded Izuku with its radiance. “Thanks, man. I really appreciate it. But
there’s one more problem.”

“Does it have to do with you electrocuting everyone who gets close to you?”

He pointed a finger gun at Izuku, “Bingo.”

“Well, first of all, I should probably back up if I want to stop getting electrocuted.” He proceeded to
do just that. “Second of all, what’s stopping you from wearing a rubber jumpsuit to absorb the excess
electricity?”

Kaminari smacked the side of his head, “Duh! Of course! I guess D&D was right. Intelligence and
wisdom are two completely separate things.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it. I’m sure you’ll smash that test next week.”

“Hell yeah!” Kaminari reached out for a fist bump, only to remember he was radiating electricity.
“Oh, whoops, sorry.”

———————————————

One Week Later…

Kaminari looked over the student rankings for the latest test. Meanwhile, Izuku tried to stop himself
from staring at Kaminari in his form-fitting rubber jumpsuit. Overcharging his Quirk before school
each day became a common occurrence. So he had to keep his jumpsuit and gloves on at all times.
Izuku was glad they were in different classes, or that would’ve been a huge distraction.

“Look, Mido. There I am!” Kaminari pointed to the right side of the rankings, where his name was in
the number one spot.

“I knew you could do it!” Izuku cheered as he slapped his friend’s hand. You even managed to beat
out-”

“GOD DAMMIT!” Katsuki yelled. “Who the hell got a better score than me?”

“I did!” Kaminari innocently raised his hand. To which Katsuki angrily stomped over to them.

“There’s no way you of all people beat me!” Katsuki spat. “I know a cheater when I see one.”

“He’s smarter than you think, Kacchan,” Izuku rose to Kaminari’s defense.
“Stay outta this, Deku! I’m in a bad mood right now, so I wouldn’t mind blasting both your worthless
asses to hell to blow off some steam!”

“Before you do that, there’s something I gotta say,” Kaminari spoke up as he removed one of his
gloves before pointing a finger at Katsuki’s chest. “There’s something on your shirt.”

Katsuki instinctively looked down, only for Kaminari’s finger to go up and flick against his nose.
Upon contact, several thousand volts of electricity zapped Katsuki, and he spasmed in place for a few
moments before falling flat on the ground.

“If you really want to beat me, you should try studying harder,” Kaminari taunted as he and Izuku
walked away,

———————————————

A few days later, Izuku and Kaminari hung out on the roof during lunch when Izuku decided to speak
up. “Kacchan took your advice from a few days ago.”

Kaminari made sure to swallow his food before asking, “What advice?”

“When you told him to study more if he wanted to beat you. He’s been so focused on studying that he
hasn’t found the time to bully me.” Izuku could feel his cheeks redden. “I just wanted to say thanks
for all you did to help me.”

“Oh, it was nothing.” Kanimari let out a small blush as well. “Besides, you’re the one who helped me
figure out my Quirk. None of that would have been possible if it weren’t for you.”

“Yeah? Well none of that would have happened if you didn’t jump in to save me a few weeks ago.”

“Well that doesn’t mean I still can’t appreciate what you did for me.” Kaminari let out a playful smirk,
to which Izuku returned, albeit a bit more nervously.

“Well I appreciate you more.”

“I appreciate you even more than that.”

“I appreciate your appreciation, which means I appreciate you more.”

“Oh yeah? Well, I appreciate you so much that I might actually like you.” Kaminari suddenly realized
what he had just said. But he decided to roll with it. “Like… I like-like you.”

Izuku’s face turned bright red, but he still managed to squeak out a sentence. “I… like… like you
more.”

Kaminari let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding as he felt the playful mood from earlier
return. “Oh yeah? Well, I like-like-like you more. What do you have to say to that?”

Izuku let out a soft chuckle. “I’d say that I like-like-like-like you more.”

Kaminari couldn’t help the grin on his face, even as he looked down and shook his head. “This is so
dumb.”

“I kinda like dumb,” Izuku smiled.

 “I like-like dumb,” Kaminari added.

This went on for twenty more minutes before Izuku and Kaminari agreed to go on a date.

Chapter End Notes

Full disclosure, I borrowed the idea of Kaminari becoming smarter when absorbing electricity
from My Hero Academia: Ultra Achievement.

Half the time I never know if I'm including ships in these chapters until they're already there.
Whiting can be a journey sometimes.

Next Time: I don't feel like writing sequels for these chapters. So have some Sequel Snippets
instead.
 Sequel Snippets
Chapter Summary

A collection of short continuations of various chapters, presented to you by a familiar, yet

unfamiliar face.

Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

A middle-aged man sat in a beach chair with a book in hand on the sandy mounds of Dagobah Beach.
The man had the appearance of a demon. With red skin, long horns, and sharp teeth. But perhaps the
oddest aspect of this man was the way he dressed. He wore a white shirt, a black leather jacket, and a
white biker helmet with goggles.

The man paused his reading and shut his book when he realized he was being watched, “Hey,
wassup?” He greeted in a slightly raspy voice. “You almost startled me a bit. Guess you’re wondering
who I am.”

“Well, guess no longer. You know that fireworks truck that blew up that school last week? That was
me! I drove the truck! In fact, I’ve been doin’ it so much they’ve started nicknaming me ‘The Driver.’
I think I’ll stick with that. It sounds wicked.”

“I bet you’re also wondering why I drove that fireworks truck into the school in the first place. Well,
it has to do with my Quirk. In addition to my stunning appearance,” He ran his hands across his horns
to accentuate his point, “It also lets me spit out explosive fireballs.”

“So, you see, there’s this one kid. His name is Katsuki Bakugo. He’s a real violent type, lemme tell
‘ya. He gives explosion Quirks like mine a bad name. So I called up a friend with a multiversal
transportation Quirk to send me to different universes, where I started rammin’ into things with my
truck. Most of the time, it triggers a butterfly effect that ends in Bakugo getting a nice slice ‘o humble
pie! Except for that one time I just accidentally ran him over. But you know what they say: devil’s in
the details.”

“But enough about me. You’re here for the sequels, ain’t ‘ya?” The Driver grabbed the book he was
reading and quickly flipped through the pages.

“This first one’s a continuation of Chapter 23: Twice the Duplicator. If you’ll recall, Jin made a bunch
of clones of Izuku to mess with Bakugo. But clones can be used for more than just that. Let’s take a
look.”

———————————————

“Hey, Midoriya, can I ask you something?” Ochako asked as Izuku sat down to lunch.

“Sure. What do you need to ask?”

“Do you have any siblings?”

Izuku lowered an eyebrow in confusion, “No… I’m an only child. What gave you that impression?”

“I believe I know what Uraraka’s referring to. And I’ll admit, I’ve grown curious as well,” Iida butted
in.

Ochako nodded, “Yeah. I’ve seen people who look like you around the hallway holding stuff like
support equipment, piles of paperwork, and managerial documents.”

“Please, Uraraka. The most logical conclusion is that Midoriya is simply a dual-course student,” Iida
explained.

“Oh, that would make more sense. But wait, why would you need managerial documents if you were
in the Support Course?”

“I can answer that,” Izuku said with a smirk, “Have you ever heard of One Man Army Inc?”

“How could I have not heard of them?” Iida responded rhetorically. “They’re only the year’s fastest-
growing corporation.”

“Yeah. What does that have to do with…” Ochako paused as she came to a realization. “Midoriya,”
She said quietly. “Have you been getting clones from the CEO of One Man Army Inc?”

“And the accountant, and the secretary, and the janitor. They’re all the same person,” Izuku added.

“How?” Ochako asked in disbelief.

“I helped him figure out his Quirk last year, and he lent me some clones as thanks.”

Iida cleared his throat as he recovered from the shock. “And these clones are all enrolled in UA’s
various courses?”

“Yup! They can’t use my Quirk because, Y’know, it breaks my bones. So they take pride in making
me the best hero I can be.” Izuku glanced over to the cafeteria entrance as several people walked in.
“Oh look, here they come now.”

“We’re here for your weekly updates.” Announced Support Izuku. “Your gauntlets should be
completed by the Sports Festival. Hopefully, they’ll be able to mitigate some of the damage from your
Quirk.”

“I thought hero course students couldn’t use support items in the festival.” Hero Izuku said.

“They normally can't. But I’ve been looking over the official rule book, and I think I’ve found a few
loopholes.” Said Business Izuku.

“Hold still.” Said Manager Izuku as he fumbled with his phone, “I need to get a picture of you eating
your lunch. Social media is important for any up-and-coming hero’s image.”

As the Izukus continued their meeting, Ochako and Iida looked on in bewilderment.

“I am so jealous right now,” Ochako stated to Iida.

“Ditto.”

END
 ———————————————

“Ah, what fun.” The Driver mused as he continued flipping through the pages. “This next one’s from
Chapter 5: Eri the Yakuza Princess. The one where Izuku befriends the Shie Hassaikai. Here it is.”

———————————————

The bus ride on the trip back from the USJ was eerily silent. None of Class 1-A was in a particularly
chatty mood after that day they just had. It was only their third day of school, and they had already
had their first taste of fighting villains. Some time for adjustment was to be expected.

Eijiro Kirishima sat as still as he could, not wanting to be the one to break the silence. From the
corner of his eye, he noticed the person sitting next to him, Izuku Midoriya, dial a number on his
phone.

Izuku spoke in a mutter, but Kirishima still picked up on every word the boy said into the receiver.

“Hello? Chisaki? It’s Midoirya. I was wondering if you could do me a solid. You see, our class was
attacked by villains. That’s right, real villains. They called themselves the League of Villains. You
have underground connections, right? I was wondering if you could find the leader, Tomura
Shigaraki, and maybe rip a few of his fingers off. Yeah, he has a Quirk like yours, except way worse.
No, he just decays things. Can’t even rebuild. You’ll look into it? Thanks, man. Make sure to save a
finger for me. Oh? Yeah. I’d love to have a playdate with Eri tomorrow. Okay, see you soon. Bye!”

As Izuku hung up, he noticed the concerned look Kirishima was giving him. “What? I was just talking
with someone.”

“About ripping someone’s fingers off?” Kirishima asked incredulously.

“Heroes have to be proactive. And it pays to have connections.”

“I’m not sure if I want to ask.”

“You don’t.”

END

———————————————

The Driver chuckled in amusement. “Yup. Shiggy’s screwed. No doubt about it. Next up is one from
Chapter 16: Kinoko the Mushroomer. If you’ll recall, Bakugo blew up some hallucinogenic
mushrooms and had a bad trip. But if you think something like that is gonna stop him from trying
again, you don’t know the definition of insanity.”

———————————————

Katsuki looked at Izuku with an uncharacteristically kind smile and droopy, tired eyes. Izuku cowered
in fear at the sight.

“Why are you looking at me like that, Katsuki? Stop it!”

“Deku…” Katsuki giggled as he stumbled toward the green-haired boy, “You’re my bestest friend in
the whole world.”
Katsuki lunged at Izuku and pulled him into a tight hug. He tried to wiggle his way out, but Katsuki
was much stronger than him.

“Katsuki, what are you doing?”

“Your hair is so fluffy,” Katsuki responded as he nuzzled his face in the boy’s mop. Izuku felt like he
wanted to barf.

“Bakugo, there you are!” Kinoko said as she ran into the room.

“Kinoko, what the heck is going on?” Izuku asked, his voice laced with panic.

“I’ll spore you the details, but Bakugo threatened me this morning, so I grew a big shroom in between
us. You can guess what happened after that.”

“He blew it up and inhaled the spores?”

“Correctamundo.”

Izuku sighed, “This is, like, the twentieth time this has happened. You’d think he’d wear a gas mask at
this point. Then again, that would require him to acknowledge his own faults.”

Kinoko nodded in agreement. “The day he learns from his mistakes is the day I get bored of
mushrooms.”

“Well, if he doesn’t, he’s not gonna pass UA’s drug test at this rate.”

“I can’t wait to see the look on his face when that happens. That’s a moment I’d like to cap-ture on
film.”

“Yeah, I can’t wait. Anyway, did you bring a crowbar or something?”

“Of course I did.” She pulled out a comically-sized crowbar from her handbag. “After all, what are
friends spore?”

END

———————————————

“I’m glad that’s over. If I had to sit through one more mushroom pun, I was going to scream. Anyway,
let’s go all the way back to Chapter 2: Iida the Delinquent for this next one. To summarize, Iida beat
Bakugo in a fight and is now the top dog in this school. How will he abuse this power? You’ll just
have to wait and see."

———————————————

“Thank you for meeting with me today, Mr. Iida,” Greeted the principal of Aldera Middle School.

“No problem,” Greeted Tensei in return. “I assume this is about my brother? Sorry Mom and Dad
couldn’t be here, they were in the middle of a drug bust.”

“It’s quite alright. And you are correct and assuming this meeting is about Tenya. While we are very
pleased to have the child and brother of such prolific heroes grace our halls, it seems as if Tenya’s run
into some… behavioral issues.”
Tensei noticeably perked up at that. “Behavioral issues? From Tenya? I never thought I’d see the
day.”

“Unfortunately, yes.” The principal sighed, “He’s become rather… controlling of his fellow students.”

“How so?”

“He claims to be a delinquent. When in reality, he’s just taking his rule enforcement to its logical (or
perhaps illogical) extreme. He is very willing to employ threats of violence in order to get people to
wear their uniforms correctly, cease their running in the halls, and show up to class on time. This is a
very problematic - Why are you laughing?”

Tensei clutched his gut as he tried to rein in his laughter enough to blurt out a response. “I’m sorry,
I’m sorry. It’s just, I knew he’d snap one day, but I never thought he’d turn to delinquency as a means
of enforcing the rules.”

The principal stared at him judgementally but continued on as normal. “Yes. Well, his most frequent
victim seems to be our star student Katsuki Bakugo. I suggest you or your parents to discipline your
brother, or he might get into serious trouble.”

“No. I don’t think I will,” Tensei grinned.

“You - you what?”

“Tenya told me how your school operates, how you let students like Bakugo get away with bullying
so long as they have a powerful Quirk and a future as a hero. If you punished Iida, that would seem a
bit hypocritical, wouldn’t it?”

Tensei’s grin turned devious. “Y’know, as a pro hero, I have the influence to get your whole school
district shut down on the basis of Quirk discrimination. But I haven’t seen Tenya cut this loose in
years, so I’m gonna let him have his fun for a while. Just remember, you dug this grave, now you
gotta lie in it.”

With that, Tensei confidently walked out of the room, leaving the principal sitting there slack-jawed
on his desk.

He knew it was going to be a long year.

END

———————————————

Let me tell you this, I would not want to be a student at Aldera right now. I hate wearing uniforms
correctly, that’s why I’m a biker.”

“This next one’s a sequel to Chapter 20: Stain the Killer. To make a long story short, Izuku befriended
Stain, who caught wind of Bakugo’s bullying and proceeded to corner Bakugo and stab his palms,
thereby making his Quirk unusable. But what happens afterward when Izuku gets into UA? Let’s find
out.

———————————————

Tenya Iida expected someone to confront him about his brother’s injury. He even suspected Izuku to
be the one to do it. But he didn’t think he would do it after class in the boys' locker room, a spot that
was devoid of all security cameras.

“So, I heard about your brother,” Izuku said in a tone unfamiliar to Tenya. He sounded concerned, but
Tenya sensed an air of coldness in his voice.

Nevertheless, he did his best to brush off all concerns. “Do not worry about me, Midoriya. What
happened to Tensei was… unfortunate, but I shall not let it impede my studies.”

Izuku didn’t look convinced, “Who did you put down for internships again?”

“E-excuse me?”

“Internships. Whose request did you take?”

“Um, The Normal Hero: Manual.”

Izuku raised an eyebrow, “Isn’t his agency stationed in Hosu?”

Tenya did his best to fake offense, “Midoriya, I hope you’re not suggesting what I think you are.”

The coldness in Izuku’s tone vanished as he looked at Tenya with a face of recognition. “I saw that
look in your eyes, Iida. And trust me, I’m in the same place.”

Tenya’s train of thought came to a screeching halt at that sentence. “What - what do you mean?”

Izuku sighed as he sat down on one of the benches. “The news never reported it, but one of my
friends was attacked by Stain a few years ago. He wasn’t a hero, but he held very… controversial
takes on heroism that the hero killer didn’t agree with. He stabbed right through his palms, rendering
his Quirk unusable, and effectively tanking his chances at becoming a hero.”

Tenya believed he understood what his friend was trying to say. “Midoriya, if you think this will get
me to give up my crusade against Stain-”

“What? No!” Izuku shot Tenya a shocked expression, “I want to join you, Iida.”

“Join me?”

“Let’s be real here, Iida. Stain’s combat prowess is near-unmatched. If either of us try to take him,
we’re practically dead. But if we work together, we might have a fighting chance to put the Hero
Killer behind bars.”

“Together…” Tenya said to himself as he considered the possibility. After a moment, he came to a
decision and gave a sharp nod. “Yes. Our combined skill may very well be enough to take down Stain
once and for all.”

“Good,” Izuku nodded in return. “I got a lot of internship offers from winning the Sports Festival, so
I’ll request as many agencies in Hosu as I can.”

“Very well.” Tenya stuck out his hand toward Izuku. “I look forward to working with you, Midoriya.”

Izuku took his friend’s hand and gave it a hard shake. “Here’s to finally getting the Hero Killer
arrested.”
As the pair walked out of the locker room, Tenya’s expression turned dull and stony. He knew Izuku
was too idealistic. He wanted to put Stain behind bars, but the man had caused too much pain to
warrant a punishment that lenient.

But if all went well that night, and Stain just so happened to drop one of his blades, Tenya knew he
would give the killer a true taste of justice. The justice he gave to all the heroes who fell to that very
same blade.

END

———————————————

“Well, ain’t that foreboding. Stain’s in for a real surprise, let me tell ‘ya. And just so you know, Izuku
still got One for All in that universe. In fact, he gets All Might’s Quirk in most of these universes.”

“I’ve got one more snippet for you guys today. Chapter 21: Star & Stripe the Reality Warper. To
recap, Star met Izuku, encouraged his dreams of heroism, and then flash forward to the Sports
Festival, where he won using only support gear. And I know what you’re thinking: What happens
exactly twenty-four hours later? Well, that’s why I’m here. Buckle up, chucklefucks!”

———————————————

“Hey, what’s up, Prez?” Star & Stripe causally greeted as she walked into the Oval Office.

“I’m sure you know why I called you here, Star.” Said US President Willem Dafoe (no relation to the
actor, despite what the uncanny resemblance would have you believe).

“This about the guy with the laser Quirk on Trigger from this morning? He only got me in the arm.”

“Yes. And if what I heard is correct, a permanent order was the only thing standing between you and
amputation. This country can’t afford to lose you, Star.”

Star sheepishly scratched the back of her head. “Okay, you might have a point there. That one was a
close call, even for me.”

“Right. I know how you don’t like messing around with permanent orders, but it might be beneficial
to have an extra copy of your Quirk on hand for emergencies.”

Star smiled as she scratched her chin thoughtfully. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. I’ve always
wanted to have a little protege of my own.”

“I’m glad you agree. I assume you’ll be choosing one of your squad members?.”

“Nope. No way. No how.” Star was quick to shoot down, “Y’all know I don’t play favorites with my
brothers, and there’s no way in hell I’m giving them all New Order.”

“Alright then. I’ll have someone gather a list of potential candidates.”

As the president grabbed the phone to start making arrangements, Star’s mind couldn’t help but flash
back to the UA Sports Festival from yesterday, her mind focusing specifically on the winner.

Izuku Midoriya. Not only was he Quirkless, making him the perfect blank slate, but from what she’d
seen of his performance, he was smart, cunning, strategic, and had the heroic drive to win the whole
Sports Festival with support equipment alone. If anyone could handle New Order, well… he was the
first person that came to mind.

“Hold up!” Star commanded, and the president hung up his phone, “I think I know who to give my
Quirk to.”

“Please don’t tell me they’re from Japan.” The president groaned.

“You know me so well!” Star cheered as she ran out of the office.

“I’d fire you if I could!”

———————————————

“Thank you for allowing me in your home on such short notice.” Said Toshinori Yagi as he sipped his
tea.

“No problem, Mr. Yagi.” Izuku smiled, “I mean, it’s not every day All Might’s secretary wants to
meet with me.”

“Indeed. I wanted to congratulate you on your recent win at the Sports Festival. All Might told me he
looks forward to seeing you in his heroics class.”

Izuku blushed at the praise. “He really said that? I know he hugged me when he handed me the medal
on the podium. But I thought that was just a formality.”

“It was, but he was still very impressed by your performance. In fact, we both wanted to know more
about your heroic drive and why you want to be a hero.”

“Why do I want to be a hero? That’s easy. I always wanted to be like All Might. The kind of person
who saves people with a smile on their face, and inspires them to do better.”

Izuku noticed Toshinori smile at his answer. “A very noble goal. And I have no doubt you’ll be able
to achieve it on your own. However, I would like to make an offer with you.”

Izuku gasped. “An offer? Like an internship? At Might Tower?”

“Even greater than that, Young Midoriya.” Toshinori’s smile quickly morphed into a serious look.
“But first, what I’m about to show you must remain secret. Can I trust you not to tell anyone?”

“Of course!”

“Very well then. Please try not to freak out at what I am about to show you.” Toshinori got out of his
chair and slowly puffed up into his muscle form. “DO NOT DESPAIR, FOR I AM HERE!”

Thankfully, All Might was able to catch Izuku before he fainted. “All Might, could you please slap me
across the face? I think I’m dreaming,” Izuku said tiredly.

“This is not a dream, Young Midoriya. I am the real All Might, standing in your kitchen.”

After pinching himself to double-check, Izuku shot up like a bullet and yelled. “TOSHINORI YAGI
IS ALL MIGHT?! THIS IS THE CRAZIEST THING I'VE EVER-”
All Might smacked a hand over Izuku’s mouth. “I know you’re shocked, but you promised to keep it a
secret.”

“Sorry…” Izuku said as All Might removed his hand. “It’s just… there were people on the hero
forums who had this exact same theory, and they were written off as crack conspiracy theorists.”

All Might unleashed a booming laugh before puffing back down to his smaller form. “I’m sure you’re
wondering about how this relates to you and my mention of an offer.”

Izuku just nodded.

Toshinori lifted his shirt, revealing a particularly nasty scar. “It all begins with a villain I faced several
years ago…”

———————————————

One Explanation About One for All Later…

“So, what do you say, Young Midoriya? Would you like to inherit my Quirk and become the ninth
weirder of One for All?” All Might asked in his muscle form.

Izuku beamed at the opportunity, about to say yes, before he was interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Um… Who is it?” Izuku asked.

“Star & Stripe,” Answered a voice that very much sounded like Star & Stripe.

Izuku turned to All Might, who just shrugged. “Ummmm… Come in?”

“Thanks, kid. Sorry for coming in unannounced. I just wanted to…” Star paused as she realized the
All Might-sized elephant in the room. “That’s a pretty realistic All Might statue you got there. I got
one just like it back home.”

“Greetings, Young Cathleen. What a pleasant surprise!” Greeted All Might, who was very much not a
statue.

Star paused for a moment before calmly asking, “Kid, why is All Might in your house?”

“I could ask you the same thing, Young Cathleen.”

“I was impressed by Midoriya’s performance at the Sports Festival and wanted to offer him a copy of
my Quirk,” Star answered flatly.

Izuku’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wait, seriously?! For real life?”

“For real life.”

Izuku’s shock quickly turned into awkwardness as he nervously shuffled in place. “Well, this is kind
of awkward.”

“Why’s that? Is All Might giving you his Quirk, too?” Star jokingly asked.

“Uhhhhhhhh…” Izuku and All Might nervously glanced at each other before All Might cleared his
throat and spoke up.
“You hit the nail right on the head, Young Cathleen. In hindsight, I probably should have told you
sooner, considering you were once my protege, but better late than never, I suppose.”

———————————————

Another Explanation About One for All Later…

“Again, I’m sorry for not telling you sooner,” Toshinori apologized.

“Eh. Don’t worry about it,” Star brushed off, “You’re entitled to your secrets, I’m entitled to mine.”

“I’m glad you understand.” Toshinori nodded. “But now that everything is explained, there is still the
question of which Quirk Young Midoriya will choose to inherit.”

“Right…” Izuku muttered as he paced back and forth. “Ugh! I don’t know how I’m gonna choose. On
one hand, to have All Might’s power and become the next Symbol of Peace is an opportunity I never
could have dreamed of. On the other hand, Star’s Quirk can basically do anything. I’d be an idiot to
pass that up. I wish I could just choose both.”

“I mean… What’s stopping ‘ya?” Star suggested.

Izuku turned to Star with a confused look on his face. “Huh?”

“She has a point, Young Midoriya.” Toshinori continued, “One for All enhances any other Quirk the
holder possesses. New Order would be an invaluable tool to add to your arsenal.”

“Plus, I use one of my orders to give me All Might-level strength anyway. If you already have it, that
leaves you with a free order,” Star added.

“I - You’re both okay with this?” Izuku asked in disbelief.

“Sure, kid. Why not?”

“As long as you are, Young Midoriya.”

Izuku couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his face. Sure, he would never neglect his support gear.
But to inherit the Quirks of two number one heroes? Forget a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, this was
a once-in-a-million-lifetimes opportunity.

And Izuku was never one to turn down an opportunity.

END

———————————————

“One for All and New Order? All we need now is All for One, and we’ve completed the overpowered
Quirk trifecta. Also, fun fact: I can drive my truck remotely if I want to. That’s actually how I evaded
Star at the end of her chapter. Consider that plothole resolved.”

The Driver hopped off his chair and shut his book. “Speaking of my truck, that’s all I’ve got for today.
Maybe we’ll do another one of these. Who knows? Right now, I gotta get back to driving. I’ve got a
real funny idea involving Pony Tsunotori and a boatload of spicy peppers.”

“I don’t know how to end this. Sooooooooo… Get out.”

Chapter End Notes

In case you're curious, here's what The Driver looks like:

Also, fun fact: I originally got the idea for this fic after reading Swans in The Snow. You can see
a bit of the influence in the Ochako chapter. And if you read that fic, you'll probably find that
fact hilarious.

Next Time: It's Pony. The Driver already spoiled it.

 Pony the American
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

“Heya! I’m Pony Tsunotori. It’s great to be meeting you!”

Izuku Midoriya experienced a bit of whiplash from that greeting. Not because of the girl’s obvious
American accent, not the fact that a cute girl was talking to him. He just wasn’t used to polite
greetings, as low as a bar that was to cross.

But it made sense. This was Pony’s first day of school, and she had sat next to him the entire day so
far. She was just trying to make friends with the first person she saw. Who was Izuku to get in the
way?

“I’m Izuku Midoriya. It’s nice to meet you as well.” He replied in English, to which Pony
immediately perked up.

“Oh? You speak English, too?”

“A little. I wanted to understand some old All Might interviews from his time in the States.”

“Ah. You are fan of heroes?”

“Mm-hm! Heroes are my lifeblood. Though, I haven’t been able to get as much info on the American
ones.”

“Ooh, ooh! We can talk about it during lunch.” Pony suggested as she stood up from her desk and
made her way to the door, waiting for Izuku to follow suit. “C’mon, slowpoke!”

“Er, alright.” Izuku hesitantly followed her. He knows the risks of the cafeteria, what with Katsuki
being there and all. But he wanted to make Pony feel comfortable on her first day.

Pony eagerly skipped down the hall next to Izuku, eager to pick up the conversation from where it left
off in the classroom. “So, Izzy, what American heroes were you being curious about?”

Izuku couldn’t help the red tint that dusted his cheeks. A nickname mere minutes after they met. Even
though he knew Americans were much more casual with names, he was still flattered. “Well, I never
got all the details on Cow Lady’s retirement.”

Izuku noticed Pony’s expression sour at the mention of retirement. “Some Bitch-ass thug with a laser-
eyes Quirk got a lucky shot in.”

“Ts-Tsunotori! Language!”

Pony slapped both hands over her mouth as she froze in embarrassment. “S-sorry. Used to people not
understanding me.”

“It’s fine. It’s fine.” Izuku frantically assured, “I just didn’t think you felt so strongly about that. I
mean, Cow Lady was already getting close to retirement age. At least for heroes.”

“She had a few good years left in her!”

“I get it!” Izuku waved his hands defensively, “She didn’t deserve to go out on a sour note like that.”

The anger quickly left Pony as she slumped with a sigh. “Sorry I got angry. She was just a big
inspiration to me. Because… Y’know.” She reached up and rubbed her horns.

“Yeah, I get it. But look at it this way, if she inspired a bunch of people like you, it’s only a matter of
time until another hero steps up to fill in her place. Who knows? It might even be you.”

Pony let out a huge smile as she slapped Izuku on the back. “Thanks, Izzy! That’s some pretty good
advise.”

“Did you just say advise?”

“N-no. Shut up.”

Thankfully, before Pony could continue to dwell on her grammatical error, the two finally arrived at
the cafeteria. Pony quickly rushed to an empty table and took out her lunchbox, and Izuku did the
same.

“What do you have there?” Izuku asked as Pony twisted open a thermos.

“My favorite! Mama’s signature spicy, smoky, sweet chili!”

The moment Pony removed the lid, Izuku got hit in the face with a fiery-hot aroma, the likes of which
he had never felt before. He could already feel his eyes water and sweat leak at his pores. He was
forced to slide back a bit to avoid being overwhelmed by the sensation. “Spicy is right, Tsunotori. I
can feel my tongue burning from here.”

Pony shrugged as she stuck a spoonful of chili in her mouth, savoring the taste. “What can I say? I’m
from Texas.”

“I didn’t know they were known for their spice tolerance.”

“They’re not, but I am.”

“I’ll say,” Izuku coughed as he tried to wave the aroma away, “In fact, you remind me of somebody I
know.”

Speak of the devil, the pair’s conversation was interrupted when a new pair of hands slammed on their
lunch table. Turning to the source of the disruption, Izuku was met with none other than Katsuki
Bakugo, looking as pissed off as ever.

“You got some nerve showing your ugly ass around here,” Katsuki spat. Izuku instinctively shrank at
the blonde boy’s presence.

“I’m not that ugly,” Izuku weakly defended.

“Do I look like I care? I thought you knew your place here, but I guess I gotta remind you. So get
outta my sight, or I’ll blast you to-”

“HEY!” Pony shouted as she stomped over to Katsuki, who looked her over with an unimpressed
glare. “What is your problem?”
“This is none of your business. So quit trying to stand up for this Quirkless freak.” Katsuki tried to
shove Pony away, but her hooves were strongly planted on the ground. She didn’t move an inch.

“Why would I be caring if he was Quirkless?” Pony pointed a finger right in Katsuki’s face. “That’s
giving you no excuse to bully him!”

Katsuki slapped Pony’s hand away from his face. “You think I’m threatened by some weak-ass horse
bitch? Go back to the stables, you fucking show pony.”

“Don’t call me a show pony you damn-ass cock-sucking butt-fucking self-centered asshole!”

Katsuki didn’t understand what Pony had said, but the tone made it sound very insulting. “WHAT
THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!”

“I don’t think you want to know, Kacchan.” Said Izuku, who knew enough English to understand
Pony’s insult, and was rendered slack-jawed as a result.

“Shut the fuck up, Deku!” Katsuki readied a pair of explosions in his palms. “I’ll kill both of you if
I-” He suddenly paused as he caught a whiff of a spicy aroma that, for once, didn’t belong to his own
lunch.

Following the scent, Katsuki led himself to Pony’s chili thermos, which he immediately recognized as
belonging to her based on the American lunchbox right next to it.

“Um, Kacchan?” Izuku asked, confused that Katsuki had stopped his threat mid-sentence to gaze at
Pony’s lunch.

Katsuki whipped his head around to face Pony, a sinister grin adorning his face. “I just got a better
idea, Horse-Face. Instead of beating you with my fists, I’m gonna beat you at your own goddamn
game.”

Pony’s eyes narrowed at the mention of a game, her natural competitive instincts taking over. “Be
correcting me if I am wrong, but are you asking for a spice-off?”

“Hell yeah I’m asking for a spice-off. And I’m gonna kick your ass so hard, you won’t be able to even
look at a pepper again. So are you gonna step the fuck up? Or do I have to punt you back to the
ranch?”

“Oh, it’s on like Donkey Kong.” Pony replied with a snort.

Before Izuku could speak up and ask the obvious question of, ‘Where are we going to get the
materials for a spice-off?’ A fireworks truck burst through the cafeteria wall and unloaded several
boxes of some of the spiciest peppers known to man, before leaving as quickly as he arrived.

“Well, that was convenient,” Izuku stated.

———————————————

Pony and Katsuki sat side-by-side, each glaring murderously into the other’s eyes. In front of them
was an assorted collection of peppers, sorted from least to most spicy.

“Alright, here’s how it’s going to work,” Izuku announced to not just the contestants, but to the large
crowd watching them, “You’ll each take turns eating peppers of increasing spiciness — the first one
to yield, submit, or chicken out loses. Also, you can’t just swallow. You have to chew. Tsunitori, as
the challenged party, you go first.”

“Gladly.” Pony smirked as she popped a jalapeño in her mouth and ate it without any noticeable
reaction. “Beat that, you stupid pineapple.”

“That’s what I’m here for, My Little Pony.” Katsuki sneered as he downed his jalapeño in a similar
manner.

Pony didn’t dignify that with a response, instead choosing to down her cayenne pepper in silence. Her
face only turned a little red at the spiciness.

“What’s the matter? Too stupid to think of a half-decent comeback?” Katsuki taunted as his eyes
watered slightly at his own pepper.

“You’re not worth my time.” Pony tried to remain still, but twitched a little as she fought the spice of
the next pepper she ate, a habanero.

“The fuck I am! You’re talking to the future number-one hero!” Katsuki’s attempts to remain
confident were thwarted by the obvious sweat rolling down his face.

By this point, both contestants’ faces were beet red as they struggled not to beg for milk, water, or any
fluid to soothe their burning tongues. And they haven’t even gotten to the ghost pepper yet.

As Pony held said ghost pepper in front of her face, with noticeable fear in her big blue eyes, Katsuki
leaned over and whispered, “You’re not lookin’ so hot. Forfeit now, and you’ll only look half as
stupid.”

Pony snarled in Katsuki’s face as she forced the ghost pepper into her mouth. Immediately, her face
scrunched up as she repeatedly banged her fist on the table. Water streamed down her eyes, and the
crowd could have sworn they saw smoke coming out of her ears. But eventually, she forced it down
her throat with an audible gulp.

“…F-F-Fak kyu.” Pony stuttered out in Japanese with a steely gaze as she flipped him the bird.

The crowd went wild, and Katsuki went livid. “You couldn’t afford to!” He snatched his ghost pepper,
jammed it in his mouth, then forced his jaw to chew and swallow. “T-there! You ain’t so big!” The
crowd was not buying his false bravado act when it was clear as day how much his tongue was
suffering.

“Alright,” Izuku announced. “There’s only one pepper left. Pony, do you think you can handle the
Carolina Reaper?”

Pony practically went catatonic at the sight of the pepper pushed in front of her. That ghost pepper
had already taken so much out of her. And the Carolina Reaper was nearly twice as spicy. She wanted
to stand up for her new friend and take his bully down a peg. But… could she?

Before she could contemplate any further, Izuku leaned over and whispered something in her ear.
Upon hearing his message, she shot Katsuki a calm smile with her arms crossed and said, “Nah. You
win.”

Katsuki shot his arms into the air and cheered, “Yeah! I fucking knew I could do it! Fuck you, Deku!
And fuck you, Horsey!”
 “Care for a victory lap, Kacchan?” Izuku asked while presenting both Carolina reapers.

Without saying a word, Katsuki snatched the two peppers from Izuku’s hands and shoved them in his
mouth, too busy basking in his glow of victory to realize what he was doing.

The moment the peppers’ juices touched his tongue, Katsuki fell to his knees and screamed out in
pain while a torrent of tears streamed down his face. He spent a few moments writhing in agony
before he noticed Izuku throw him a carton of milk. As soon as it landed in his hands, he tore into it
and started sucking up the liquid like a dying man in a desert.

When the carton was empty, he looked around for the nearest source of sustenance. Suddenly, he
paused as he noticed the looks the crowd was giving him. It wasn’t pride, enjoyment, or even
mockery. It was… pity.

“Why the fuck are you all looking at me like that?!” Katsuki screamed as he shot up, his anger
momentarily overpowering his pain. “I won! I beat her! Stop looking at me like that!” But the looks
never faltered.

Katsuki, overwhelmed by a protruding sense of shame, booked it out of the cafeteria. But not before
running into a wall on his way out (his eyes were still flooded with tears).

“How you know that would work, Izzy?” Pony asked.

“Kacchan always strives for an undisputed victory. Anything less than that is practically worthless in
his eyes. Mix that with his hatred of people looking down on him, you get a spicy recipe for insecurity
soufflé.”

Pony snorted out a laugh, “Serves him right. I hope he fall asleep on toilet tonight.”

“He ate two Carolina Reapers, Tsunotori. His gut will be destroyed for at least a week. Though I
doubt you’ll be completely immune either.”

“Worth it.” Pony nodded, “Also, call me Pony. It’s only fair.”

“Oh, um, okay, P-Pony.” Izuku nervously stuttered out before standing up. “Why don’t we go find a
vending machine? You look like you need a drink.”

“Oh, god yes! My tongue feels like it’s about to shrivel up and die.”

———————————————

“GRAAAAAGH!” Katsuki screamed in pain as he entered his fifth hour on the toilet. “Stupid Deku
and stupid Horse-Bitch. Making me eat all those goddamn peppers, making everyone think I’m
weak.”

“I told you this would happen if you kept eating spicy foods, Katsuki. I told you!” Mitsuki yelled
from outside.

“Shut the hell up, hag!”

Chapter End Notes

I don't know why I chose Pony of all people to get into a spice-off with Bakugo, she just seemed
like the best fit. Well, besides Burnin'. Geez I should really do more Pro Heroes. I've only done
two so far. Oh well, maybe the chapter after the next one

Next Time: Hm
 Yui the Stoic
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Izuku Midoriya wasn’t sure what to make of his new seatmate, Yui Kodai. She introduced herself at
the beginning of class, offhandedly mentioned something about a fireworks truck, and silently sat at
her desk for the entire school day.

Izuku pegged her as a silent type, but not silent out of fear, like him. Yui came off as silent by choice.
Now, Izuku could respect this, but only to an extent. The school day was over, and she hadn’t
interacted with anyone. For all he knew, Yui could secretly be shy. He figured he might as well shoot
his shot.

(And if Izuku had a secret agenda of making a friend for the first time in eight years, he would keep
that to himself).

“Um, hi. Yui Kodai, right? I’m Izuku Midoriya. Nice to meet you.”

Yui slowly turned to him, her expression unreadable. All she said was, “Hm.”

Izuku wasn’t sure how to reply to ‘Hm.’ He didn’t even know what ‘Hm’ meant. Was that her way of
returning his greeting? Was it a declaration of a feeling of neutrality toward the situation? Or did she
just give the bare minimum response to get him off her back?

Years of bullying and conditioning swayed Izuku toward the last explanation. She probably hated
him. Why did he have to go and do that? She was perfectly fine with not being bothered. She
probably wouldn’t have wanted to be friends with the Quirkless kid anyway.

Izuku’s head hung low as he got up to leave, when he was suddenly shoved back into his chair by a
strong and sweaty pair of hands.

“K-Kacchan!” Izuku shrieked.

“I'm gonna cut to the chase, Deku. You’ve been all too chatty these last few days. You know what that
means.” Katsuki popped an explosion in his hand, just in case Izuku did forget.

“No, wait! I’ll stop, Kacchan! I swear!”

Katsuki cracked his knuckles with a haunting grin. “Well, how ‘bout I get the lesson to stick. Just in
case.”

Katsuki menacingly loomed over at Izuku, who shielded his face with his arms. But before he could
do anything, Yui got up from her seat and tapped Katsuki on the shoulder. Right after that, Katsuki’s
legs bucked out from under him, and he fell to the ground with tears in his eyes while clutching his
crotch.

Yui’s quick takedown of Katsuki dumbfounded Izuku. Was inflicting crotch pain part of her Quirk or
something? Before he could ask, she had already silently walked out the door.

Izuku ran to catch up with her in the hallway. “Kodai! That was amazing! How did you do it? Was it
part of your Quirk?”
“Hm.” Yui nodded.

“Yeah, I figured. What is it? Are you able to hurt people on any part of their bodies just by touching
them?”

“Nn.” Yui shook her head. She then turned to Izuku and showed him her outstretched pointer finger
and thumb before bringing the two fingers together in a pinching motion.

“Oh! You can make things smaller? Is that what you did to his underwear?”

“Hm,” Yui nodded. She then widened the gap between her finger and her thumb in an expanding
motion.

“You can make things bigger, too?” Izuku’s eyes sparked at the possibilities. “That’s incredible! I
mean, not only could you turn a twin-sized bed into a king-sized bed, but you could also carry it
around for whenever you need it. Does it have a time limit? If not, I bet you’re carrying around some
shrunken items right now!”

To prove Izuku’s point, Yui reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny TV playing an episode of
Ultraman, as well as an equally tiny fireworks truck.

“Awwww. That’s adorable.” Izuku cooed, not noticing the blush adorning Yui’s face. “But I have to
ask, Kodai, how were you so calm when dealing with Kacchan? I mean, he can be terrifying on a
good day.”

“Hm.”

Izuku paused to ponder that statement. He wasn’t sure what that ‘Hm’ meant, and he didn’t want to
press Yui for details. But what could she possibly mean by ‘Hm’? It couldn’t mean nothing, could it?

Wait… it could. It totally could! It’s hard not to feel fear if you never feel at all!

“Kodai, I understand what you’re saying; if I want to stand up to Kacchan. I can’t give the edge. I
have to be completely stoic like you. Completely ‘Hm.’”

With that, his face shifted into one as devoid of emotion as Yui's. “Hm.” Izuku hummed as he turned
and walked off. Though, in his haste to leave, he failed to notice the look of disappointment that
etched itself onto Yui’s face.

———————————————

The Next Day…

By all accounts, Katsuki had no reason to be angry with Izuku. He had been completely silent the
entire day. Almost a bit too silent. But either way, Katsuki wasn’t going to let that incident from
yesterday slide. He needed to teach Izuku his place and remind him that it would stay that way no
matter who shrunk his underwear.

That afternoon, when school let out, and only Izuku and the silent girl remained at their desks,
Katsuki stomped over to them, making sure he looked as intimidatingly angry as possible.

“Deku, what the fuck were you doing yesterday? Thinking you could get out of your punishment so
easily?”
Izuku just stared at him, expression unchanging. “Hm.”

“Hm?! What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?!”

Katsuki grabbed Izuku by the collar and violently shook him back and forth. But Izuku didn’t even
flinch. He just went, “Hm,” again.

“Oh - oh yeah?! Well, what do you have to say about this?!” Katsuki released a pair of explosions in
his hands. That threat usually made Izuku at least flinch. But today, he got the same response as
before.

“Hm.”

This shouldn’t have been bothering Katsuki. Nothing was stopping him from blasting Izuku to hell.
But what was the point of teaching him his place if he couldn’t get a reaction out of him? If his target
didn’t react, it would practically be the same as blowing up a training dummy. And Katsuki didn’t
want a training dummy. He wanted Deku!

“Hey! Why the fuck aren’t you scared?! Do I have to fucking spell it out? I’m. Going. To kill. You!”

“Hm.”

“I’ll kill everyone!”

“Hm.”

“I’ll kill everyone you love!”

“Hm.”

Katsuki could feel his resolve begin to crack. It was driving him insane. He had to get a reaction out
of him. Any reaction.

He pointed behind Izuku. “Hey, look! Is that a pro hero?”

“Hm.”

He pulled out a stack of yen bills and slammed it on his desk. “Look, Deku, money!”

“Hm.”

“Here’s an All Might keychain! All yours! It's a limited edition!”

“Hm.”

“What do you want from me?!” Katsuki was aware he was practically begging at this point. But if he
couldn’t get Izuku to understand how superior he was, he might as well be admitting defeat. And
there was no way he would lose to a Deku like him.

“Why are you doing this?” Tears pricked at Katsuki’s eyes as he leaned as close as humanly possible
to Izuku.

“Hm.”

“Does this make you feel better than me?! Some kind of fucked up sense of superiority?”
 “Hm.”

“Please, just fucking say something!” He slammed his fist on the desk. “Don’t you see? I have to do
this! I have to prove I’m better than you! ‘Cause if I don’t, I’m not the best! And if I’m not the best,
I’m as worthless as you! Please.”

“…Hm.”

Katsuki’s breath hitched as he backed away from Izuku. The two stared at each other for a moment.
Red, crying eyes met green, emotionless pupils. Eventually, Katsuki couldn’t take it anymore. He
silently ran out of the room, wiping tears from his eyes, leaving just Izuku and Yui sitting adjacent,
unmoving, and unfeeling.

They sat in silence for a long time, neither so much as flinching for at least ten minutes. It might have
looked like their heads were empty, but underneath the surface, Izuku’s was buzzing with thought.

After those ten minutes of struggling with his own thoughts and feelings, Izuku spoke up, his body
completely still, sans his mouth, and his voice devoid of emotion.

“Kodai, I feel bad for what I did to Kacchan, but I think it was necessary. He needed to know how his
actions were not only hurting me, but him as well. Now that he’s acknowledged his problem, I hope
he can begin to take the steps needed to fix it.”

“It’s funny, almost. Normally, I’d be nervous or excited at the prospect of standing up to Kacchan. But
now, I don’t feel anything. It’s a hollow victory.” Izuku stood up and faced Yui in her chair. “I’m
sorry, Kodai. I don’t think the life of a stoic is the life for me.”

“Hm.” Yui nodded as she got up, “That’s okay. I like listening to you talk. In fact…” She reached into
her pocket and handed him a notecard, which read in a small, barely legible font…

‘Sex?’

Upon reading that, Izuku felt himself get punched in the gut by every single emotion simultaniously.
His eyes widened to the size of flying saucers, and his face turned blood-red. “S-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-
SEX?!”

Yui silently grabbed the notecard and flipped it to the other side. “Sorry. That was just to get your
emotions back.”

Izuku scrambled to collect his feelings as he read the other side of the card, which said, in an equally
small font…

‘Date?’

This provoked the exact same reaction from Izuku as last time. “D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-DATE?!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the sudden overflow of emotions caused him to pass out.
Thankfully, Yui caught him before he could hit the floor.

“Hm. I’ll take that as a yes.”

Chapter End Notes

Hey, remember that snippet I did for the Star & Stripe chapter? The one where Izuku gets OFA
and New Order? Well, I kinda made a whole fic based on that. Go and read A Starstruck Legacy.
The first chapter is pretty much the same as this fic's Star & Stripe chapter (with one notable
difference), but chapter 2 is already up.

Getting back to Yui. I like her and Izuku. I have a soft spot for the whole 'chatty vs quiet'
dynamic. And it's always fun to have Bakugo have a mental breakdown.

Next Time: As promised, another Pro Hero. Who could it be?

 Mirko the Motivator
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Rumi Usagiyama, AKA the Rabbit Hero: Mirko, couldn’t help but feel bitter as she leaped across the
rooftops of Mustafa. She had come all this way to see if she could catch the elusive fireworks truck
that had blown up a convenience store there just yesterday. She had no doubt in her mind that she
could’ve taken the vehicle in a one-on-one, but he decided to be a coward and skip town.

Mirko grumbled incoherently to herself. Now she was stuck bounding across the streets as she looked
for a half-decent hotel to spend the night.

Suddenly, her ears picked up the sound of a fist meeting flesh. And judging by the shriek of pain that
accompanied it, the victim was a kid.

Following the sound, she bounded across a building and peered over the edge to see a blonde-haired
boy stomping on a green-haired kid in front of what looked like a middle school, if their uniforms
were anything to go by.

“How does that feel, Deku?” She heard the blonde boy taunt as he delivered another stomp to the
green boy’s gut. “C’mon. Are you really as worthless as we all say you are? Get up and fight, you
Quirkless piece of tra-”

Katsuki was cut off by a kick to the back of the head, “Gah! What the hell?!” He yelled. Before he
could figure out what was happening, Mirko grabbed him by the arm and dragged him toward the
school. “Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I hope you liked that kick. Because if you don’t shut the fuck up, the next one’s going straight
between the legs.” Mirko whipped her head in Izuku’s direction, “Kit, where the hell is the principal's
office?”

“Oh! Uh, third floor, first door on your right.” Izuku said, still caught off-guard by the whole
situation.

“Good, you’re comin’ too,” Mirko said as she walked through the school gates, to which Izuku
hesitantly followed. As they made their way up the stairs, several students recognized Mirko and tried
to get a picture or an autograph. A sharp glare from the Rabbit Hero was enough to get them to back
off.

When they reached the door to the principal’s office, Mirko swung the door open, threw Katsuki
inside (literally), and said to the principal, “This kid was beating someone up after school,” Before
slamming the door and turning to Izuku.

Now that Izuku finally had a moment to get his bearings, his brain immediately switched over to
fanboy mode. “Oh my god! It’s the Rabbit Hero: Mirko! Thank you so much for saving me! Can I
have your autogra - Wait, you don’t do autographs, sorry. But still, thank you so much!”

“Yeah, yeah, cut the freakin’ formalities, Kit,” Mirko waved off. “Listen, does that brat bother you
often?”
“Um, I wouldn’t want to impose-”

“Yes or no, Kit. C’mon, I don’t got all day.”

“Er… Yeah, quite often.”

“Tch, figured. Fuckin’ bullies, man. Sometimes, I wish I could legally beat up children.”

Izuku pushed the concerning nature of that comment aside. “I didn’t know you felt so strongly about
bullying.”

“Why wouldn’t I? I saw how you looked when that blonde asshole had you pinned down. And trust
me, Kit, I’ve been there.”

Izuku’s eyebrows lowered as he tried his hardest to picture Mirko, one of the toughest Pro Heroes in
the field, getting picked on at school.

Mirko seemed to pick up on his confusion. “Yeah. I bet you don’t believe it, do you? Well guess
what? It’s true. They all said there was no way someone with a rabbit Quirk could be a hero. Of
course, that was the day before I bit their fingers off. It tasted terrible, but it felt great!”

“You bit their fingers off?” Izuku asked to confirm. “I mean, I know you’re known for your brutality
and all. But that seems a little…”

“Extreme? Yeah, you best believe it.” Mirko chucked at the memory, “Funny thing, that blonde
asshole actually reminds me of myself. Back when I was an even bigger shit than I am now.”

Izuku did not like the direction this conversation was heading. “You were like Kacchan?”

“I wasn’t a bully, if that’s what you were thinkin’. I was just fucking pissed at everything and
everyone. Twenty-four seven, three sixty-five.”

Mirko gave Izuku a determined look as she poked his chest. “Listen here, Kit. You look like you need
some advice, so imma give you some. I’m sure you know this, but life can be shit sometimes. People
are gonna knock you down, cut you up, and eat you for breakfast. But that just means you gotta eat
them first.”

“Um, I don’t understand this analogy,” Izuku admitted.

“Think about all the stuff that blonde asshole did to ‘ya. Really think about it. That makes you mad,
doesn’t it? Makes you wanna just rip into someone!”

“S-sometimes?”

“Well it should! Because sometimes, you gotta get angry at life. You gotta let it drive ‘ya to bite back.
But you can’t let it consume you. Then you end up like that blonde asshole in the principal’s office.
What I’m saying, Kit, is that you gotta know when to unleash the bunny inside you. You understand?”

“Yeah, I think I get it.” Izuku nodded, “You’re saying that sometimes when your back’s up against the
wall, you have to get angry to survive.”

“Right on the money, Kit,” Mirko nodded as she walked to the nearest window. “I hope you
remember this. Because if you ain’t gonna fight back, if you ain’t gonna stick up for yourself, who
else will?”
With that, she leaped through the window and broke her fall with a roll before running off, leaving
Izuku to stew in his own thoughts. But before he could do that, he had to get as far away from Katsuki
as possible. He was always in a particularly bad mood after getting sent to the principal’s office.

———————————————

That night, Izuku laid awake in his bed, still going over the day’s events in his head. Mirko told him
to get mad, to go feral, to unleash the bunny inside him. But he wasn’t sure if he could do it. Mentally
speaking, at least.

He never considered himself to be an angry person. But then again, he never really tried to get angry
before. Mirko said he should be angry about the way Katsuki treats him, but was that something he
even wanted to get angry about? He never took the time to stop to look back on his and Katsuki’s
relationship. Oh well, might as well give it a shot now.

Izuku closed his eyes and replayed every memory he had with Katsuki. It all started with that fateful
day when Izuku tried to help Katsuki up when he fell into the river. Izuku couldn’t help but feel a
little bitter, thinking back on it. Why did Katsuki have to take it so personally? He was just looking
out for him. That’s what friends do.

Speaking of friends, Izuku remembered the exact moment Katsuki stopped considering him one. It
was right after the Quirkless diagnosis, and Izuku had gone completely catatonic at the news.
Thinking about it, little Izuku probably needed a friend then more than any other point in his life. But
no, Katsuki abandoned him because he saw him as weak, worthless, less than others just because he
lacked a toe joint. Which, now that he thought about it, sounded kind of Quirkist.

Worse than that, he didn’t just abandon him, he actively sought out to make his life worse at every
turn. But that wasn’t enough for Katsuki, nooooo, he had to go and use his influence to turn the entire
school against him.

If Katsuki didn’t go to Aldera, Izuku was sure he would have just been ignored. But with all the
students and teachers hanging onto Katsuki’s every word, they all backed him up and treated Izuku
like garbage just because Katsuki had a ‘bright future as a hero.’ He was aware some of it was the
school’s fault for bolstering his ego, but they never told him to pick on Izuku, Katsuki did that all on
his own.

Burned notebooks, after-school pummelings, derogatory nicknames, for eight years, no one ever
spoke up for him or tried to defend him. They all sat back and watched (or even helped) Katsuki treat
him like filth every single day of his life. Why was he ever friends with Katsuki in the first place?!

Izuku shot out of bed and walked over to his closet, rage pulsating through his veins with every step.
This must have been the guiding anger Mirko was talking about. But Izuku made sure to only target
his newfound anger at Katsuki, hopefully not letting it consume him.

Izuku threw open his closed, reached as deep in the back as he could, and pulled out a green bunny
onesie. When Mirko told him to ‘unleash the bunny inside him,’ he knew she didn’t mean it literally.
But you know what? Screw it. If Katsuki tried something with him tomorrow, Izuku knew what he
would do. And he wanted it to be an experience Katsuki would never forget, hence the bunny onesie.

———————————————

That morning, Izuku walked to school like it was any other day. Y’know, except for the bunny onesie,
a fashion choice that turned many heads. But Izuku didn’t care. He was a man on a mission. He just
had to wait for the mission to come to him.

As soon as he walked through the school’s front gates, Izuku felt a hand on his shoulder spun him
around. Huh, the mission came much sooner than he expected.

“What the hell are you wearing, Deku?” Katsuki grinned condescendingly, a small chuckle escaping
his lips, “You look more like an idiot than usual.”

Izuku wanted nothing more than to slug Katsuki across the face right then and there, but Mirko
stressed the importance of not letting his anger consume him. So he would wait for Katsuki to
escalate.

“I felt like switching things up today.” Izuku calmly answered as he tried to walk away. But Katsuki
made it clear he was having none of that when he stepped in front of him.

“Hold on, Deku,” Katsuki’s tone turned sinister and gravelly, “We still need to discuss the stunt you
pulled yesterday.”

“I didn’t do anything, Katsuki. It was Mirko who intercepted the confrontation and took you to the
principal’s office, not me.”

“You think I give a damn?” Katsuki grabbed Izuku by the collar and pulled him close. “Let me tell
you something, Deku. You got lucky yesterday, which means I have to remind you that you can’t hide
behind a Pro Hero every time I decide to put you in your place.”

“What are you going to do to me?” Izuku challenged.

Katsuki let out a few sparks in his hands. “Same thing I always do, Deku. I’ll blast you to hell!”

“I don’t think so, Bakugo.”

Before the words even left his mouth, Izuku pulled back his right leg and kneed Katsuki in the crotch.
The blonde boy was about to double over in pain, but Izuku didn’t plan on giving him a single inch,
lest Katsuki go for a counterattack. So Izuku delivered a right hook to the face, then a left, then a
right, then another left. Then an uppercut for good measure. Izuku couldn’t help but savor the grunt of
pain that escaped from Katsuki’s mouth with every hit, especially when he saw him accidentally bite
his tougne.

Katsuki may have been beaten bloody by now, but somehow, he was still standing. This gladdened
Izuku greatly. If Katsuki had fallen over, he wouldn’t have been able to hit him with a roundhouse
kick to the kidney. As Katsuki stumbled to the side, Izuku grabbed his head and brought it down to his
knee.

Upon contract, blood streamed out of Katsuki’s nose as he stumbled backward and landed on the
ground with an audible thwump.

Izuku panted as he kicked Katsuki in the other kidney, just to make sure he was really down. He felt
great! Like a huge weight had been lifted off his chest! Izuku understood why Katsuki was so angry
all the time. Anger can be addicting.

Izuku smiled as he stood over the unconscious body of his former childhood friend. He finally proved
to him that he wasn’t as weak and worthless as everyone said he was. And he did it in a bunny onesie
no less. Izuku felt like he was on top of the world. Absolutely nothing could bring him down!
 ———————————————

Ten minutes later, Izuku nervously sat in the principal’s office.

He should have anticipated this. Of course the teachers would take Katsuki’s side on this, just like
how they had with everything over the last eight years. Never mind the fact that Katsuki was the one
to initiate and escalate. All they saw was a future pro hero who could make their school look more
impressive.

“Midoriya,” The principal spoke up, “We’ve been willing to overlook your, for lack of a better term,
delinquent streak during your time at Aldera. But beating up a student on school grounds is
unacceptable. From this day forth, you are hereby expel-”

“HOLD THE FUCK UP!” Mirko yelled as she kicked down the door to the principal’s office.

“Ah, Mirko,” The principal put on a wide smile, “What brings an esteemed hero such as yourself to
our school on this fine day?”

“Can it, shit-for-brains!” Mirko slammed her hands on the desk as she looked the principal in the eye,
who tried (and failed) to show no fear. “I stopped by this morning to make sure this kit wasn’t getting
picked on again. So I saw what happened out there! And let me tell you, I know a shitty school when I
see one.”

“You - you do?”

“You better fucking believe it! So guess what? I’ve decided to abuse my authority as a top hero to get
this whole shitty place shut down and your ass fired!”

“You - you can’t do that!”

“The hell I can! Watch and learn, chucklefuck.” Mirko pulled out her phone and dialed a number,
“Ryuko? It’s Rumi. I need you to shut down a school. Negligence? Yes. Child endangerment? From
what I’ve seen, yes. Quirkism? Probably. Okay, yeah. Thanks, bye.”

———————————————

“I gotta say, you were a badass out there, Kit!” Mirko slugged Izuku on the arm as she escorted him
out of the school.

“Thanks!” Izuku smiled. “To be honest, I didn’t think I had it in me. Guess I had a lot of pent-up
anger in there.”

“Don’t we all, Kit. Don’t we all. You might need someone to teach you how effectively channel all
that anger. And how to correctly throw a punch.”

Izuku gasped as his eyes lit up. “You - you don’t mean…”

Mirko handed him a card with an address on it. “Every Sunday, five ‘o'clock, on the dot. Don’t
disappoint me, Kit.”

———————————————

One Week Later…

 “And for today on hero news, the Rabbit Hero: Mirko was spotted patrolling the streets of Mustafa
wearing a purple bunny onesie. When asked about this wardrobe change, Mirko had this to say…”

*burp*

“I did that,” Izuku proudly stated as he pointed at the TV.

This got the attention of his mother, who turned her head in confusion. “W-what?”

“I did that.”

Chapter End Notes

As fun as it is to torture Bakugo emotionally or psychologically, you can't deny the satisfaction
of a good old fashioned beatdown.

I always thought that Mirko was a lot like Bakugo if he wasn't an asshole. They have similar
temperments, but Mirko channels it into something more constructive. It's a parallel I don't see
often in fics.

Next Time: Purple

 Shinso the Brainwasher
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Hitoshi Shinso tiredly trudged down the halls of Aldera Middle School. It was his third day, and he’d
been doing his best to keep a low profile. He didn’t want to get labeled as the kid with the villainous
Quirk. The last thing he needed was a repeat of his old school. He could still remember it now.

———————————————

“Hey, Shinso! How’s it going? Cool backpack.”

“Shinso, do you want to hang out after school?”

———————————————

They all hated him.

But he was glad that a fireworks truck put his old school out of its misery. It gave him a fresh start and
a clearer headspace to accomplish his goals: Go to UA and become a hero to prove all those jerkwads
wrong. Anything else was secondary to that.

Shinso’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of an explosion from across the hall.
Deciding to check out the commotion, he was met with a blonde boy pinning a freckled boy to the
wall as he spat in his face.

“How many times have I told you to stay out of my way, Deku?”

“I was just passing by, Kacchan. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“Like I give two shits!” The blonde boy slammed his hand on the freckled boy’s gut and released a
torrent of flames, earning a cry of pain from the victim as tears formed in his eyes.

Shinso’s eyes narrowed at the situation. Great, it looked like this school had cocky brats with
powerful Quirks, too. Whatever, nothing he and his apparently villainous Quirk couldn’t solve.

“Hey, did a Pomeranian die on your head, or does your hair always look like that?” Shinso asked, to
which the blonde boy turned and growled.

“What the hell did you just-” Before he could finish his sentence, his arms went limp, and he fell into
a trance-like state.

“Go dunk your head in the nearest toilet and flush it,” Shinso commanded, to which the blonde boy
followed and silently walked away.

“Ugh…” The freckled boy groaned as he regained his footing. He gave Shinso a grateful smile.
“Thanks for that. Kacchan can be a bit much sometimes. Was that your Quirk just now?”

Shinso did not choose to return his smile, instead muttering, “Yeah, sure, whatever,” As he went on
his way.
“Wait, hold on!” The freckled boy ran to catch up with him, “I never got to thank you properly for
helping me. I’m Izuku Midoriya.”

“Hitoshi Shinso,” He grunted, “Now that introductions are over with, we can head our separate ways.
I’m not here to make friends.”

Izuku looked perplexed, but decided to keep pushing. “I didn’t say anything about friends. I was just
grateful that you went out of your way to help me. And… maybe had a few questions about your
Quirk.”

Shinso scoffed, “Yeah, right. Like you’d want to know about a villainous Quirk like mine.”

“Well, how do I know it’s villainous if I don’t know what it is? You seemingly made Kacchan follow
your instructions, if the sound of the toilet flushing from down the hall is anything to go off of. Is it
some kind of suggestion Quirk?”

Shinso couldn’t deny that Izuku kind of had a point. Can’t judge a book by its cover if you can’t see
the cover. “No, it’s called Brainwashing. If someone responds to me, they fall into a trance where they
pretty much do whatever I tell them.”

That perplexed look on Izuku’s face came back with a vengeance. “That… doesn’t sound very
villainous.”

Shinso huffed, “What are you talking about? I literally jack people’s minds.”

“I mean, maybe the name has something to do with it. If Brainwashing was called Hypnosis or
something, it might not sound as dangerous. Also, Kacchan’s Quirk lets him blow people up, and he’s
practically a shoo-in for UA. The idea of a villainous Quirk is relative when you think about it.”

“You’d be the first to say that,” Shinso sighed.

“Who told you your Quirk was villainous?” Izuku questioned, his tone dripping with concern.

“Bunch of assholes at my old school. Not all of them said it, but I could tell with the way they looked
at me.”

Izuku gave a weary hiss as he seemingly understood the situation. “Let me guess, bullying?”

“You bet. And I can tell you’re in a similar boat as me.”

“Y-yeah,” Izuku shamefully admitted, a bit of frustration seeping into his tone. “Kacchan and his
cronies give me a lot of trouble. They’re always picking on me, calling me names, getting me in
trouble, destroying my stuff, pulling ‘pranks’ on me, beating me up after class, telling me how
worthless I am at every single turn!”

Izuku breathed heavily as he simmered down from his brief outburst. Shinso could tell he wasn’t used
to getting angry like that. “S-sorry,” Izuku meekly apologized, “I just… it's been a long week. I’m
sure you can relate.”

Shinso didn’t know how to reply at first. He just stood there with his eyes wide open. No one had ever
beaten him up after class. Thinking back on it, he realized it was mostly just light teasing compared to
Izuku. Was he just blowing his own problems out of proportion? Did his biases have any actual
weight to them? Where did those biases even come from in the first place?
It was at this point when Shinso began to question his entire outlook on life. Something which Izuku
picked up on immediately through his facial expressions. “Shinso, you okay?”

“I - I don’t know.” Shinso slumped against the wall, and Izuku sat down next to him. “I thought
people looked down on me because of my Quirk. But then I hear what you went through, and my
problems just seem insignificant in comparison.”

“Well, that doesn’t seem fair to you,” Izuku said. “Problems are problems, no matter how small.”

“Yeah, but I feel like I’ve been blowing mine way out of proportion. Now I’m wondering if people
actually hated me for my Quirk. Or if they hated me at all.”

“Hmmm… interesting,” Izuku muttered as he scribbled something down in a notebook.

This got Shinso’s attention. “Why are you writing all this down?” He asked as he got up from his
therapy chair. “Wait, why am I in a therapy chair? Why are we in a therapist’s office? Weren’t we
sitting in the hallway a second ago?”

“Hold that thought, Shinso. I think we’re close to a breakthrough.” Izuku put down his notebook as he
gently tapped his fingers together. “The way I see it, Shinso, is that you assume the worst of others as
a means of pushing yourself away from them. As such, you’ve subconsciously convinced yourself
that your Quirk is villainous in nature and that everyone else thinks the same.”

“Now, I’m not sure what events in your childhood led you to this state of mind. But I believe one
good way to fix this issue would be to start accepting positive influences into your life.” Izuku pulled
out a comically large stopwatch from his brown tweed jacket which he suddenly had. “Oh, it looks
like we’re all out of time for today.”

Shinso wasn’t sure of the validity of any of these statements, but he had one pressing concern with
this whole situation. “Was this surprise therapy session just a way for you to make friends with me?”

“Did it work?” Izuku asked hopefully.

Shinso ran his hand across his face in exhaustion. “Fiiiiiiiiiine. I’ll be your friend.”

“Yippee!” Izuku cheered as he shot up from his chair.

“But we’re doing something about that bully of yours. If you’re allowed to solve my problems, then
I’m allowed to solve yours.”

“I thought you already did something about Kacchan. Y’know, with the whole bathroom thing.”

Shinso smirked sinisterly (hey, alliteration), “No, I was thinking something a bit more permanent.”

———————————————

The Next Day…

“I don’t know what happened yesterday, Deku!” Katsuki shouted as he cornered Izuku just outside
school, “But I know I have unfinished business with you!”

“W-what kind of unfinished business?” Izuku gulped.

“What do you think, dumbass? The violent kind!”

“Hold on!” Yelled Shinso as he appeared behind Katsuki.

The moment Katsuki turned to see the purple-haired boy, he saw red. “YOU! I remember you! Last
time I talked to you, my mind went blank, then I woke up with my head in a toilet! What the hell did
you do to me yesterday?!”

“JackassSaysWhat?”

“What?”

Katsuki immediately fell into a trance upon answering the question, and Shinso and Izuku doubled
over laughing.

“I can’t believe that actually worked!” Shinso cackled.

“Kacchan might be smart, but he always thinks with his gut!” Izuku chortled.

When the laughter subsided after a few minutes, Izuku and Shinso got up to discuss the next stage of
their plan.

“I don’t think Kacchan’s gonna fall for that again,” Izuku pointed out, “So if we want to get this
lesson to stick, we need to make him do something he’ll wish he could forget.”

Shinso paced back and forth in thought. “Hmmmm… decisions, decisions. We can’t make him hurt
himself. That’ll just break him out of my control.”

“Also, I’m not comfortable making Kacchan hurt himself. But I do know how much value he puts on
his reputation, so we should make him do something embarrassing.”

“Oh? Did you have something specific in mind?”

Izuku reached into his backpack and pulled out a portable speaker, a red rubber glove, a yellow party
hat, a bag of feathers, and a bottle of glue.

Shinso smirked and nodded, “Midoriya, you’re a goddamn genius.”

———————————————

A few minutes later, Katsuki stood outside the school, doing the chicken dance while dressed like a
chicken (with accompanying music). Shinso ordered him to put his whole heart and soul into that
dance. And by god, he did.

After the first five minutes, Katsuki dancing drew in a small crowd of curious students, who did what
most teens their age tended to do and recorded the event with their phones.

They weren’t laughing at Katsuki’s performance or anything, they were more so enamored by the
weirdness of the situation. But as Izuku watched the crowd grow larger, he knew it would still damage
Katsuki’s ego all the same. Especially once he woke up and realized the video would be posted
online.

“Well, do you think the crowd’s grown big enough?” Shinso asked.

“I think so,” Izuku responded, “Do your thing!”

 “Gladly.” Shinso released his hold on Katsuki, and the boy quickly regained consciousness.

“Huh? What the hell’s going on?” Katsuki asked as he whipped his head around. The moment he
opened his mouth, he realized it was covered by some sort of party hat. He went to take it off, only to
realize his arms were covered in feathers. He then began to pay attention to the song playing in the
background. As soon as he recognized it as the chicken dance music, all the pieces snapped together
in his head.

Katsuki’s jaw dropped as his eyes widened in horror. He was doing the chicken dance in front of
everyone, and people were filming. Katsuki would have threatened to blow them up if they didn’t
delete the footage, but the idea of being attacked by a guy dressed as a chicken would be even more
humiliating to him.

Out of options, Katsuki booked it out of there as fast as he could, leaving a trail of discarded feathers
behind him.

Izuku and Shinso struggled not to burst into laughter again, so they settled for a high-five. Either way,
Izuku still knew what this meant for Katsuki. If he knew his former friend, his ego would be too
wounded to allow himself to show his face at school for at least another six months.

———————————————

Sure enough, the next day, Katsuki came to school wearing a trench coat, trying to look as
inconspicuous as possible.

Too bad no one told him the entire school had already forgotten his chicken dance.

Chapter End Notes

I'm not a fan of Shinso, I think he comes off as super entitled. Like, he talks about having a
villainous Quirk, but the worst we saw for him in terms of Quirk discrimination was some light
teasing in his flashback. Meanwhile Izuku's out there getting suicide baited. Fannon's
woobification of Shinso doesn't help either. So I made that a plot point here. But don't take this
as a serious character study, I definitely lost the plot halfway through, lol.

Next Time: How about a UA teacher?

 Gran Torino the Substitute
Chapter Notes

HA, gotcha! Gran Torino used to be a teacher at UA. Only one commenter guessed it right. So
congratulations, you know who you are

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Hello? Sorahiko? It’s Toshinori.”

“Eh? Who’s Toshinori? ” Asked Sorahiko Torino, AKA the retired Pro Hero: Gran Torino.

“Toshinori Yagi? You trained me? Beat me senseless? Nicknamed me Toshi?”

“Roshi? Is that you? I told ‘ya I’m not talking to you until you’ve kicked that porno mag addiction to
the curb! ”

Toshinori groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose, “Listen, Gran. I’ve chosen a successor.”

“Wait, really? ” Gran asked, completely dropping the ‘senile old man’ act. “And here I was thinking
you’d be too chicken to ask for my help.”

“If you’re referring to his training, Gran, I have that under control. What I’m worried about is his
mental well-being.”

“Do I look like a therapist to you? ”

“Let me finish,” Toshinori huffed, “I’ve seen him arrive at our training sessions with scratches,
bruises, and sometimes burn marks. He always brushes it off as him being clumsy, but I know better.”

“Normally, I’d launch an investigation into his school and be done with it. But I don’t want to go
behind his back. He has enough trouble trusting adults as is.”

“Let me guess,” Gran interrupted, “Since I used to teach at UA, you want me to get a job at your
successor's school to keep an eye on him since you think he’s in a hostile school environment. And
maybe help take down a couple of bullies along the way. That right? ”

“That would be correct.” Toshinori nodded.

Even from the other side of the phone, he could practically feel Gran’s signature devilish grin that
would make even the most hardcore sadists blush. “Finally, an excuse to kick a teenager in the face.
Let me just call up my old friend with the fireworks truck. He’ll open a teaching position for me.”

Toshinori couldn’t help the full-body shudder. He just hoped his mentor would go easy on Young
Midoriya.

———————————————
Izuku wasn’t exactly sure why the teacher was running late today. Mr. Kobayashi normally prided
punctuality above all else (at least, that’s what he said whenever Izuku was late to class because
Katsuki was in a bad mood). He hoped nothing bad had happened to him.

One of his classmates spoke up. “Y’know, there’s a rule that if a teacher doesn’t show up in the first
fifteen minutes of class, then you can leave.”

Everyone knew this rule. Izuku wasn’t sure it was true, but he wouldn’t mind if it was. He could feel
Katsuki glaring daggers at him. Or maybe that was just his paranoia.

Before Izuku could think about that any further, he noticed a short old man hobble into the classroom
on a walking stick. The rest of the class noticed, too. None of them made a sound as the old man
slowly (very slowly) walked up to the podium.

“Hello, class,” The old man said with a rasp in his voice. “I’m Sorahiko Torino. I’ll be your substitute
teacher for the week.”

Despite being barely audible, Izuku heard Katsuki mumble to himself, “Oh great, we’re stuck with an
old geezer.”

Suddenly, Torino shot like a bullet toward Katsuki and delivered a kick to his face, knocking him out
of his desk and sending him sprawling onto the floor.

Katsuki clutched his cheek as he got up. “OW! What the fuck?!”

“I heard that!” Torino yelled. “Looks like someone never taught you to respect your elders.”

“You kicked me in the face!”

“And I’ll do it again if you don’t shut your yap! The principal gave me the authority to run this
classroom as I see fit.”

“Why the fuck would he let you do that?!”

In response, Torino tore off his clothes, revealing a yellow and white hero costume underneath,
complete with gloves, boots, and a cape. “Because I used to work at UA! (And the entire staff is
suspiciously biased to people affiliated with that school.)”

The crowd broke into excited murmurs at the news. Izuku couldn’t handle the excitement and
instinctively blurted out, “If you taught at UA, does that mean you’re a-”

“Pro Hero? You’d better believe it, Zygote! I was the Jetting Hero: Gran Torino! I might be retired,
but I still got it, ‘ya hear?” Torino punctuated his statement by poking Izuku in the chest with his
cane.

“Oh, please,” Katsuki grunted, “You only got me because you caught me off guard with that sneak
attack. If this were a real fight, I’d kick your ass!”

Torino raised an eyebrow at that statement. “Oh? Is that a challenge?”

“No, it was a playdate invitation. Of course it was a challenge!”

“Alright. How about we make it interesting?” Torino smirked, “If you can land even a single hit on
me, I’ll write you a personal UA recommendation.” He then made a sweeping motion across the
entire classroom, “Hell, that offer extends to all of you! So what do you say? We have a deal?”

“You’re fucking dead, Oldie!” Katsuki threatened.

The class instinctively formed a circle around Katsuki and Torino as the retired pro readied himself in
a fighting position. “Your move, Blondie.”

“Your funeral,” Katsuki smirked as he blasted toward Torino and prepared to throw a right hook.
“DIE!”

Before Katsuki could even blink, a stream of air released from under the teacher’s feet as he jetted
toward the nearest wall and used it as a springboard to deliver a kick right in the boy’s kidney.

“That might have been the most telegraphed attack I’ve ever seen in my extremely long life.” Torino
taunted as he landed on a desk.

“Shut up!” Katsuki went to explode the desk, but Torino shot straight up, seemingly bounced off the
ceiling, and slammed both feet down on Katsuki’s head.

“Is that what you call an attack? I’ve seen paraplegic chimps who fight better than you.”

“I’m just getting started,” Katsuki gave a weak yet determined smile. But before he could even
consider another attack, Gran Torino took off and started jumping from wall to wall to ceiling to floor
to desk. He looked less like a person and more like a yellow blur pinballing from surface to surface.

That didn’t stop Katsuki, however. He tried aiming an explosion at the last place he saw the yellow
blur, but he missed him every single time. And each time he did, Torino would kick him around
before leaping off his back.

After about five minutes of this, Katsuki collapsed on the ground, his entire body covered in sweat
and bruises. Meanwhile, Torino landed right next to him, not even having broken a sweat.

“Well?” Torino said to the class, “I said my offer extended to all of you. What are you waiting for?”

The class stood silent for a moment before someone yelled out, “C’mon! There’s no way he can take
us all!” That seemed to rally up the students, and all of them (sans one) charged at their substitute
teacher, each hoping they’d be the one to land the first hit.

———————————————

About ten minutes later, Gran Torino stood in the center of a pile of exhausted students who were just
beaten senseless by their elderly teacher. “C’mon. Is that all you got? I take out hoards of grunts like
you for breakfast.”

Upon only receiving groans in response, Torino shifted his gaze to the one student who hadn’t yet
tried to fight him. “What about you, Zygote? You worried about getting your butt whupped?”

“Oh! Uh…” Izuku pulled his head out of his notebook and fumbled with his pencil. “I was sorta just
taking some notes on your Quirk and fighting style and stuff.”

“Lemme see,” Torino took the notebook and read through his entry. “What kind of code is this
encrypted in? I can’t read any of this.”

“Um, that’s not a code. It’s just my handwriting.”

Katsuki audibly groaned as he got up. “Seriously, Deku? How the hell are your dumb stalker
notebooks supposed to beat this guy?”

“Yes, how indeed?” Torino turned to Katsuki, eyebrows furrowed. “Only one way to find out!” His
expression turned sinister as he shifted his attention to Izuku. “You’ll just have to spar with me
tomorrow.”

“WHAT?!” Izuku shouted out.

“Do you have cotton in your ears or something? I want you to prove to Mr. Baka-go-”

“BAKUGO!”

“-Mr. Baka-go that your analysis is worth a damn. Knowing is half the battle, after all. Which means
Blondie over there would only get a fifty percent grade.”

“HEY!”

“But - but sir,” Izuku protested, “I don’t even want the UA recommendation. I was planning on taking
the normal entrance exam.”

“Alright then, how about this? If you can land even a single hit on me tomorrow, then Mr. Explosions
over there will eat my hat.”

Izuku had to admit the idea of Katsuki eating a hat in front of everyone did sound hilariously
appealing. Besides, Torino seemed to be using him as an example to the other students. That meant he
had to believe in him, right?

“Alright, I’ll do it.” Izuku conceded.

“Never expected any less from a torchbearer like you.”

Izuku froze up at the mention of a torchbearer. Surely that was just a coincidence. There was no way
his substitute teacher would call him a torchbearer in reference to One for All, right? He wasn’t just
trying to mess with him, right?

Izuku realized that was very much a possibility based on what he’d seen of the retired pro so far. Oh
well, something to ask All Might about after the spar tomorrow.

———————————————

Izuku laid awake in his bed that night, anxious about school the next day.

Torino wanted him to think, to use his analysis, but what did that mean? What kind of secrets could
his notebook hold that would help him land a hit on a retired pro?

Izuku calmed himself down as he tried to gather his thoughts. All he had to do was think. What did he
know about Gran Torino?

He mostly remembered the superficial stuff, if he was being honest. He wore yellow and white,
moved fast, used kicks a lot, and jumped around. But how could any of that information help him
beat…
Wait a minute. Izuku felt an idea sprout in his head. Gran Torino jumped from surface to surface to
disorient and then hit people. But what if he disoriented him? It was risky, but it just might work.

Izuku leaped out of bed as he went to get the supplies he needed for the spar tomorrow. Gran Torino
clearly wanted him to have a plan going in, so he would just have to do his best.

———————————————

Torino walked into class the next morning to see everyone except Izuku already in their seats, who
was waiting for him at the front of the class. He had bags under his eyes, like he woke up partially
early this morning.

“I see someone’s eager to get their butt whupped,” Torino smirked.

“As a matter of fact, I am!” Izuku replied with an all-too-eager smile. Torino scratched his chin. What
could the boy be planning?

“Oh man, this is gonna be rich,” Katsuki watched with joyful anticipation to see Izuku get kicked in
the face.

“Alright then,” Torino crouched into his jetting position, “Show me what you got, Zygote.”

“You first,” Izuku challenged.

“Whatever you say.” Torino obliged as he jetted forward and delivered a kick to Izuku’s gut, which
the boy made no attempt to dodge.

Torino thought that was odd, but he wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. He jumped off Izuku’s
stomach and planted his feet on the wall, ready to strike again. When he suddenly slipped.

“What the-” Torino knew he shouldn’t activate his Quirk. But due to decades of muscle memory, he
did that thing where your brain had already noticed something was wrong, but your body had already
committed to the action. As such, the next burst from his Quirk sent him slightly off course. Instead of
jetting toward Izuku, he would fly mere inches past him.

Izuku seemed to anticipate this action. As Torino flew by him, missing his face by an inch, he
delivered a light punch to his teacher’s elbow. The strike didn’t even flinch him, but a hit was a hit.

Gran Torino skidded to a stop on the floor. “What the hell just happened?!” He demanded.

“Simple,” Izuku replied, “I coated the walls with slippery wax so your trajectory would be slightly
off, allowing me to get a hit on you.”

The entire class’ jaws dropped at the revelation that Izuku had succeeded where they all had failed.
But no one’s jaw dropped farther than Katsuki’s. “I - What the - How did you - How?”

Gran Torino couldn’t help but let out a laugh as he patted Izuku on the back. “You got me good,
Zygote. No one’s ever tried to get me to slip up before. But you better not be getting cocky on me,
‘cause that ain’t gonna work more than once. ‘Ya hear?”

“I hear you, sir!” Izuku proudly nodded.

“Good. Now then…” Torino’s gaze slowly shifted to Katsuki, who was still catatonic from the fight’s
outcome. “I believe we had a wager.” He pulled out a comically large beanie from his pocket and
 tossed it onto Katsuki’s desk. “Would you like that with or without mustard?”

Katsuki let out a sigh of despair as he gazed down at his punishment. That looked like a really big hat.

———————————————

“Gran Torino! What are you doing here?” Izuku asked as he saw his substitute teacher waiting for him
on Dagobah Beach, next to a nervous-looking Toshinori.

“What? How did I get here?” Torino asked as he looked around confusedly.

“You’re - you’re at the beach,” Izuku explained.

“The beach? I thought this was a car wash.”

Toshinori sighed. “Young Midoriya. Gran Torino was my mentor, and I decided to call him in to assist
you with training in preparation for One for All. Also, he likes pretending to be senile. Even though
that joke got old TEN YEARS AGO!”

“Also, I got your school shut down,” Torino casually added, “I did a lot of investigation when no one
was looking.”

Izuku just stood there wide-eyed and slack-jawed. “That’s… a lot to take in, but I’m eager to learn
from such a seasoned pro hero!”

“That’s good…” Torino nodded. “BecauseYourTrainingStartsNow!”

A boot to the face.

Chapter End Notes

Me: This chapter's punishment for Bakugo will have him... *spins the Wheel of Punishments*
eat a hat!

Part of me likes to think Torino (at least partially) threw the match to both bolster Izuku's
confidence and teach the class (especially Bakugo) a lesson. Take that as my personal
headcanon, which is completely different from the canon I present in this story

Next Time: You know what? How about you guys choose? Vote in the comments for a character
you want to see star in their very own chapter. The character with the most votes wins.

Here are the rules:

1. One vote per person (I trust you guys not to rig the voting with guest accounts)
2. No voting for Bakugo or Mineta. I don't like Mineta, and I'm saving Bakugo for the series
finale
3. No voting for someone I've already done a chapter on
4. No crossovers. Only characters from the MHA universe, which means characters from
Vigilanties, Team-Up Missions, OVAs, and OCs are allowed (though good luck getting enough
votes for that last one)
5. I probably should have made a Google form instead, but I'm lazy
VOTING IS OVER! DO NOT VOTE! IF YOU VOTE, I WILL BE MILDLY ANNOYED
 Melissa the Pen Pal
Chapter Notes

Here are the results of last chapter's character vote:

Total votes - 86
1st Place: Melissa Shield - 14 votes
2nd Place: Mitsuki Bakugo - 6 votes
3rd Place: Bubble Girl - 5 votes

Yeah, there was no contest. Thank you to everyone who voted, now let's get on with it already.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The only thing Izuku Midoriya loved more than heroes was hero conventions. How could he not? It
was one of the rare times he could let his unabashed love for heroism out in full force without
judgment from his peers.

If it were just that, it would already be Izuku’s favorite day of the year. But if he included the
cosplayers, meet n’ greets, panels, and more merchandise than he could buy, it felt like a dozen
Christmases at once for him.

Just as he finished discreetly stuffing a Wild Wild Pussycats doujin into his bag (hey, gotta support
those independent artists somehow), his eyes locked onto a nearby merchandise booth, where he bore
witness to a Limited Edition Power Loader Figure. It was the only merchandise sold of the hero to
have him in his full mech suit.

Izuku’s collector instincts kicked in, and he zipped over to the figure. But as he laid his hands on the
box, he noticed another hand grab it at the exact same time.

Izuku’s eyes slowly trailed down the person’s arm to see a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes with
round spectacles, looking just as surprised as him.

At the sight of one another, both hands immediately retracted from the figure. “Oh, sorry. Did - did
you want to buy this?” Izuku asked nervously.

“Er, not really. I already have a bunch of Power Loader figures. I just wanted to admire that one up
close,” The girl awkwardly admitted.

This piqued Izuku’s interest. His fanboy instincts sensed a hero-related conversation abound. “Oh!
You’re a fan of Power Loader?”

The girl nodded vigorously at that, “Yeah, I am! He’s one of the few pros with both a hero and
support license. Plus, have you seen his gear? How the heck does he keep it so polished?”

“I know, right? That always made him stand out to me as a hero. Especially since he only occasionally
relies on his Quirk in combat.”
“Right? I mean, the only other hero I can think of who works like that is Metalman from America, and
he doesn’t have nearly as much merch.”

“Ah! You keep track of American heroes, too?”

“Of course I do! I mean, I might live on I-Island, but I am American.”

Izuku’s train of thought paused when the girl mentioned where she was from. “I’m sorry, did you just
say I-Island?”

“Sure did!” The girl stuck out her hand toward Izuku, “Melissa Shield, nice to meet you. And before
you ask, yes, I’m related to David Shield. I’m his daughter.”

Izuku took her hand and shook it with vigor. “Izuku Midoriya. Nice to meet you, too. And judging by
the whole Power Loader thing, I’m guessing you’re into support?”

“Heh. You read me like an open book.”

Before their conversation could continue, the pair was interrupted by a beep from Melissa’s phone.
“Oh shoot. I’m gonna be late for a panel.”

Izuku took out his phone and checked his schedule. “You wouldn’t happen to be going to the panel
featuring the guy who played All Might in the movies, would you?”

“Christopher Sabet? Yeah, are you going, too?”

“Of course I am! I love those movies.”

“Cool! We can keep this conversation going once we get there.”

As Izuku followed his (hopefully) new friend to the panel, he couldn’t help but be reminded of why
he loved these conventions so much in the first place. He knew he never would have met someone as
like-minded as him at Aldera. He was just grateful Katsuki considered himself ‘too cool’ for
conventions.

———————————————

One Panel Later…

Izuku and Melissa exited the panel side-by-side. Neither of them could stop giggling from the
anecdote Christopher Sabet shared during his time filming All Might IV: Revenge of the Robot
Overlord. He forgot to take off his makeup and costume after shooting one day and got mistaken for
the actual All Might. He almost got arrested for identity theft before the real All Might stepped in to
set things straight.

“Every time I go back and rewatch that movie, I’m gonna think of that story,” Izuku said.

“I think that makes the whole experience better,” Melissa responded. “Either way, it’s always nice to
hear stories like that. Really gives you a sense of what these people are like behind the cameras.”

Izuku nodded in agreement, “Yeah. That part of the media we consume has always fascinated me.
Especially with Christopher Sabet. It might just be a movie, but I always found it inspiring that they
got a Quirkless person to portray All Might on the big screen.”
“My thoughts exactly!” Melissa chimed in. “Those kinds of movies always have actors with beauty or
shapeshifting Quirks cast as the lead role. As a Quirkless person myself, I think it’s-”

“HOLD UP!” Izuku interrupted, “Did you just say Quirkless?”

Melissa fixed Izuku with a glare. “Yes, I did. I hope you don’t have a problem with that.”

“Nononononono.” Izuku rapidly waved his hands, “I’m Quirkless, too. I was just shocked that-”

“Wait, you’re Quirkless too?!”

“Yeah!”

“I’ve never met any Quirkless people my age before.”

“Me neither!”

“We should exchange phone numbers!”

“We should!” Izuku handed his phone to Melissa, who was quick to punch in her number.

After that, Izuku and Melissa decided to sit down and get something to eat. After all, you couldn’t go
to a convention without enjoying some overpriced convention food.

“So, how often do you come down here?” Izuku asked.

“A couple times a year. Mostly just holidays and special events. But sometimes I get to go out
because I-Island needs to dock somewhere to grab supplies. Those times are the best. I never know
where or when it’s gonna happen.”

“Sounds fun. How’s living on I-Island anyway? Is it as cool as the website makes it out to be?”

“Even cooler. Like, imagine you’re in Tomorrowland from Disney World, except it’s everywhere.”

“It’s like living in Disney World? Wow.” Izuku gaped, “What about school? Is that like Disney
World?”

“As close to Disney World as a school can get.”

“And people don’t… judge you too harshly for your Quirklessness there, do they?”

“I mean… I don’t think so?” She answered with uncertainty, “I get a few condescending remarks
every now and then, but I don’t really have a frame of reference here. How does that compare to
you?”

Izuku winced at the question. He should have known that what goes around comes around. But
regardless, Melissa wanted to know. And who was he to deny a scientist their precious information?

“Let’s just say I… get slightly more than condescending remarks. They’re more like insults than
anything. Just about everyone treats me differently. Most people just ignore me, pretend I don’t exist.
Sometimes, I wonder if they just see me as a waste of space.”

Izuku was at least partially aware he was rambling at this point, but he just couldn’t stop himself. This
went beyond his muttering problem. Due to their shared Quirklessness, he had never connected with
someone on the same level as Melissa. As such, his thoughts were like a running faucet with the
handles torn off, he couldn’t stop them from flowing.

“But I can handle them. At least on most days. But the bullies are a whole other story. Whenever they
see me trying to live a normal life, they take that as a personal insult and try to kick me while I’m
down at every opportunity. It’s not just them, the teachers always turn a blind eye to whoever’s
picking on me. It’s like they want me to be reminded that I’m a worthless piece of trash just because
of an extra toe joint!”

Izuku felt tears openly streaming down his face, but he couldn’t afford to care. “So what if I want to
be a hero? Why should they care? Shouldn’t I at least be allowed to chase my dream?! It’s not like it’s
hurting anyone. I just… I just…”

Izuku couldn’t take it anymore. He buried his face in his hands and burst into sobs. Absently, he could
feel Melissa’s comforting hand on his shoulder. He felt bad for her. He didn’t mean to dump
everything on her. She probably thought he was annoying or something. “…I’m sorry.” He sniffled.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for, Midoriya.” Melissa said softly, “If anything, I should be
apologizing to you. I didn’t know it was such a sore subject.”

“It - it’s fine,” Izuku wiped at his tears. “To be honest, I didn’t know how much I was holding in until
it all burst out. Thanks for listening.”

“Thank you for telling me.”

Now that the tears had subsided, Izuku couldn’t help but feel guilty that he brought down the mood.
“Come on,” He stood up from his seat, “I think we both need a bit of a palette cleanser. How about we
go look at some more merchandise booths?”

“Yeah, sure.” Melissa smiled as she got up and followed Izuku back into the fun parts of the
convention.

———————————————

The pair had a great time from there. They both partook in each other’s favorite convention activities.
Melissa made sure to get as many pictures of them with cosplayers as she could. While Izuku was
more than happy to wait two hours in line to get Ms. Joke’s autograph.

But like most good things, the convention soon came to an end, and the pair were forced to say their
goodbyes before Melissa caught her ride to the airport.

“Stay in touch, okay?” Said Melissa.

“Yeah! And don’t forget to send me pictures of all your support items. I’m sure they’ll be amazing,”
Izuku replied.

“Sure thing. I’m great at finding loopholes in the non-disclosure agreements.”

Just then, the cab rolled up to the sidewalk the two were waiting at, and Melissa got in. “See you at I-
Expo, Midoriya.”

“See you then. I can’t wait!”

As the cab took off and Melissa watched her new friend get smaller in the distance, her mind couldn’t
help but flash back to their conversation during lunch. She knew she had it easy on I-Island, but she
never knew to what extent. Well, now she had her answer, and she didn’t like it.

Of course, she knew Quirkless discrimination was bad, but hearing it from someone she considered a
friend gave her a whole new perspective on the matter. She wished there was something she could do
to help Izuku. But at the end of the day, she was only an inventor from I-Island.

Wait a minute… she was an inventor from I-Island.

She lived in the single most technologically advanced place on Earth (or above Earth) and had access
to some of the most revolutionary technology on the planet. And if she could finish that delivery
drone she was working on, then maybe Izuku could have a piece of that technology, too.

———————————————

One Week Later…

Izuku smiled as he took the package he found on his doorstep into his room. He wasn’t expecting
Melissa to send him anything. He figured she wanted to keep it a surprise. He wasn’t sure what the
occasion was, but appreciated the gesture nonetheless. Maybe he should send her something in return.

Izuku excitedly opened the package, removed the packing peanuts, unwrapped the bubble wrap,
and…

He immediately frowned upon seeing what his friend had sent him. Grabbing his phone from his
pocket, he immediately dialed her number.

“Melissa, why did you send me a gun?”

“Surprise! ” Melissa cheered on the other end.

“Melissa, WHY DID YOU SEND ME A GUN?!”

She huffed in annoyance. “It’s not a gun, Midoriya, it’s a ray. Learn the difference.”

“If it shoots and kills people, it’s a gun!”

“That’s the thing, it doesn’t kill people. Let me ask you, have you ever played the best Mega Man
game?”

“Mega Man X?”

“No, the original games.”

“Mega Man 2?”

“Right. If you beat Flash Man, you get his ability, which lets you freeze enemies in place for a limited
time. The ray gun you hold in your hands is based on that. And before you ask, yes, the similarities
were intentional. Everyone on I-Island is a huge nerd.

“Okay…” Izuku eyed the ray gun up and down cautiously, “I’m gonna be honest with you, Melissa,
I’m not sure if I can use this on Kacchan.”
“Is Kacchan your main bully? ” Melissa grumbled frustratedly.

“Y-yeah?”

Melissa sighed. “Listen, Midoriya, if you don’t want to use the ray gun for revenge, that’s fine. But I
suggest you at least bring it with you to school for self-defense.”

Izuku couldn’t argue that his friend had a point. He really didn't like getting beaten up all the time.
And this seemed like a peaceful, non-violent solution to the problem.

“…Okay, I’ll try it,” Izuku agreed begrudgingly.

“Trust me, Midoriya, this will make your life so much easier.”

———————————————

The next day at school, Izuku found himself slammed against the wall by none other than Katsuki
Bakugo. It was a sensation Izuku was more than used to at this point.

“You know how this goes, Deku, so how ‘bout we skip to the fun part?” Katsuki threatened as he
burned his shirt collar with his partially ignited sweat.

Izuku internally gulped as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the sci-fi ray gun. “Kacchan,
please don’t do this.” He pleaded, only for Katsuki to respond with a harsh laugh.

“Seriously? You choose now of all times to beg? That’s just fucking pathetic, Deku.”

Right as Katsuki pointed his other hand at Izuku's chest, ready to fire off an explosion, Izuku fired the
ray gun, and Katsuki’s entire body froze in place.

Izuku wasn’t as surprised as he should have been. Sure, a time-freezing ray gun was incredible, but it
was from I-Island, where everything was incredible. At the moment, he was just relieved that Katsuki
had been subdued.

Izuku carefully pried himself out of Katsuki’s grip and tried to sneak away. It was at that moment
when the ray gun wore off, and Katsuki looked at his hand in confusion. In his mind, Izuku was there
one moment, gone the next.

Katsuki whipped his head around at the sound of Izuku’s footsteps and caught him in the act of trying
to escape. “Hey! How the hell did you get out of my gri-”

Katsuki was cut off when Izuku shot him with the ray gun yet again. He then used the opportunity to
book it down the hall. As he ran, he couldn’t deny how good it felt to finally have the edge over his
bully for once. However, he had the sinking suspicion it wouldn’t last forever.

———————————————

“I’m pretty sure he got a glimpse of the time-freezing ray,” Izuku said into the phone. “Kacchan’s a
smart guy. He’s bound to put two and two together eventually.”

“Don’t worry, I have a contingency plan for that,” Melissa assured.

Before Izuku could question what she meant, he heard a knock at the door. Opening it, he was met
with a flying drone dressed as a mailman holding another package from I-Island. Opening it, he held
up what looked to be a silver tube with a camera lens sticking out of it. “Melissa, what is this?”

“Have you ever seen the movie Men in Black? ”

———————————————

Even though Izuku expected Katsuki to greet him by angrily slamming his hands on his desk, he was
still startled by the gesture. He couldn’t help it. Old habits die hard.

“Deku! What the hell did you shoot me with yesterday?! You better give me answers, or you’re a dead
motherfucker!”

“Kacchan, please, calm down.” Izuku made a soothing motion with his hands, but Katsuki wasn’t
having it.

“Don’t tell me to calm down, asshole. It’s almost like you want me to kill you!”

“Alright! Okay! I’ll show you!” Izuku said in a panicked tone as he held the gray cylinder in front of
Katsuki’s face.

“What the hell is that thing?” Katsuki asked as he peered into the lens. Not one to give up an
opportunity, Izuku pressed a button, and a flash went off right in Katsuki’s eyes.

When the light cleared, Katsuki looked at Izuku with a dazed expression. “W-what was I doing
again?”

“Um… nothing?” Izuku grinned as innocently as he could.

“Tch, whatever,” Katsuki grumbled as he trudged to his desk.

Izuku was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but it went right back in when he saw the teacher approach
his desk. “Midoriya, what did you do to Bakugo?”

Izuku groaned internally. “God dangit.”

———————————————

“So I had to wipe the memories of the entire class! It took a whole hour, and that was before I - Hey!
Stop laughing!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Melissa said as she fought down the last of her chuckles.

“Either way, I’m pretty sure the memory eraser only wipes short-term memory. So I’m worried
Kacchan might still be onto me.” Izuku wiped his brow at the possibility of the confrontation. “Do
you have any other gadgets based on pop culture?”

“Yeah… about that…” Melissa winced, “Security was a bit tighter than usual today, so all I could get
you was a prototype of the Metal Cap from Super Mario 64.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad. Turning into metal should help me defend against his explosions.”

“It would, but it’s still a prototype. Once you put on the cap, you’ll be stuck as a metal statue, unable
to move until someone removes it for you.”
Izuku hummed as he tapped his chin. It was a disadvantage for sure, but Izuku was used to dealing
with disadvantages.

“I think I can work with this.”

———————————————

“I’m gonna ask this once, Deku. And I’m not gonna repeat it. What the fuck have you been doing?!”

“Alright, Kacchan, I’ll talk! Just please don’t hurt me!” Izuku yelled as he instinctively shielded his
face.

“That depends on your answer, so you better have a goddamn good one!”

“I’ve been trying out certain experimental gadgets, like this hat.” Izuku presented the Metal Cap to
Katsuki, who didn’t look impressed.

“Gimme that.” He snatched the cap from Izuku’s hand. “It would be wasted on a nerd like you,
anyway.” The moment Katsuki rested the cap on his head, his entire body shifted into a shiny gray
metal, and he ceased all movement.

“That was easier than I thought,” Izuku admitted as he pulled out a wheelbarrow from behind some
nearby bushes, “Now for the hard part. I have to get you home.”

———————————————

“You wheeled him down fifteen blocks?! ”

“Yeah,” Izuku chuckled, “I didn’t want to look suspicious on the train. It was a real workout, let me
tell you.” His amusement was quickly stomped out by an incoming sense of dread. “But now he
definitely knows something is up. I’m worried he’s going to try something tomorrow.”

“Yeah, like he hasn’t been trying something every day.” Izuku could practically feel Mellissa roll her
eyes from his end of the phone. “I hate to tell you this, Midoriya, but if you want this to end, you’re
gonna have to make a stand against him. You have to show him that he can’t mess with you anymore.”

Izuku furrowed his brow. “This was your plan from the start, wasn’t it?”

There was a long stretch of silence from Melissa before she answered. “…Was it that obvious?”

“Kind of.” Izuku sighed, yet he held a warm smile on his face. “But, maybe this was a good thing. I’d
rather be friends with someone who supports me and helps me along my path than someone who
beats me down and calls me useless. So, thank you, Melissa, for being my friend.”

“And thanks for being mine, Izuku. I hope you kick that blonde asshole’s asshole tomorrow.”

“As long as I have your gadgets, there isn’t a single doubt in my mind.”

———————————————

By the time Izuku got to school the next day, he noticed a small crowd that had already formed around
Katsuki, which meant more people were present to see Izuku drive up to the fight in his vehicle: A
small fireworks truck about the size of a go-kart.
Izuku could hear a few scattered laughs and snickers from the crowd , and he did his best to fight
down the embarrassment. After all, they wouldn’t be laughing soon.

“What the hell kind of kiddie-ass car are you driving, Deku?” Katsuki demanded, “I’m supposed to
beat you down, not play fucking Mario Kart with you.”

Izuku took a deep breath and summoned all his courage to respond. “Let me ask you this, Kacchan,”
He pressed a button, and the fireworks truck began to shake, “Have you ever heard of Transformers?”

Before Katsuki could answer, the fireworks truck split into dozens of pieces, each floating in circles
around Izuku. One by one, they grafted themselves on his body, eventually forming a robot suit
around his entire being. “Say hello to Combust-o!” Izuku yelled as he flashed a heroic pose.

“That’s not a Transformers character,” Someone from the crowd pointed out.

“Wait, it’s not?” Izuku turned his head toward them in surprise.

“No, there’s no fireworks truck in Transformers.”

“Weird…” Izuku quickly shifted his focus back to Katsuki and pointed his arm cannon at him.
“Alright, Kacchan, show me what you got!”

Katsuki glared right through Combust-o’s helmet as he revved up an explosion. “If you think that
scrap of metal is gonna make you any less of a weakling, then you’re a bigger dumbass than I
thought.” With that, he blasted himself toward Izuku and pulled back a right hook. “DIE!”

Izuku sighed internally. It was always the right hook. Did Katsuki have any idea how predictable he
was? Whatever, at least he wouldn’t get Melissa’s invention scratched.

Izuku caught Katsuki’s right hook with practiced ease, threw him over his shoulder, and slammed him
on the ground. Before he could get up, Izuku pointed his arm cannon at him and unleashed his entire
arsenal.

What happened next could only be described as the entirety of the Fourth of July condensed into five
seconds. Tens upon dozens upon hundreds of fireworks flew out of Combust-o’s arm cannon and
struck Katsuki all over his body, creating a stunning light show that looked spectacular even in broad
daylight.

When Izuku’s ammunition ran out, Katsuki was left lying on the scorched grass, his entire body
covered head to toe in soot.

“He’ll be fine,” Izuku clarified to the crowd, “His Quirk gives him a level of immunity to explosions.
Though, someone should probably take him to the nurse’s office. Also, the next time the teachers try
to tell you who this school’s hero hopeful is, just remember he got out-exploded by the Quirkless
kid.”

As Izuku walked off in his Transformers mech suit, the crowd focused on Katsuki’s unconscious
body. There was only one prevailing thought going through their heads regarding the explosive
blonde.

That was kind of pathetic.

———————————————
 “And then I blasted him with fireworks! Every last one of them!”

“Izuku, please, for god’s sake, tell me someone took a video.”

“Oh, yeah, there were at least a dozen phones out. I’ll send you a video tomorrow. Trust me, Melissa,
words don’t do it justice.”

“I can’t imagine they would.”

“Though, that reminds me, someone from the crowd said Combust-o wasn’t a real Transformers
character.”

Melissa gulped nervously, “Um… really? That’s - that’s weird. He was real last time I checked. That
guy must not know what he’s talking about.”

As a fellow nerd, Izuku knew exactly what was up. “Melissa, did you make your Transformers OC
into an actual robot?”

“…Maybe? ”

“Melissa,” Izuku took a long, deep breath, “You are the single coolest person I’ve ever met.”

“Cooler than All Might? ”

“Cooler than All Might.”

Chapter End Notes

The Fireworks Truck mech was originally named Firestar, but then I discovered that was an
actual Transformers character. Whoops!

I'm glad Melissa won. I don't think I would have come up with any ideas for her chapter if I
wasn't forced to, and I like this chapter a lot. I think I'll do another vote sometime in the future,
maybe once this fic reaches 1,000 kudos. I love a good milestone celebration.

Next Time: A friend who will really stick with you

 Sero the Guy With the Tape
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

It might have only been Hanta Sero’s second day, but he would say he’d been adjusting pretty well to
his new school. At least, as well as someone could be adjusting, given how abrupt his transfer was.
But to be fair, no one could have predicted that fireworks truck.

But still, Sero had already made friends in his class. At least, he hoped they could be friends. They
were more friendly acquaintances than anything, but Sero was hopeful he could climb the friendship
ladder.

Right now, he was sitting next to those friends in question, Daikiru and Nagai, at their desks before
class was set to begin. They were in the middle of a conversation about heroics. Since, for whatever
reason, that seemed to be a common talking point at this school. Not that Sero was complaining.

“You’re really shooting for UA?” Nagai asked Daikiru.

“Of course I am. Literally everybody who’s anybody is trying for the entrance exam.” Daikiru
answered.

“Neato! What kind of Quirk training have you done?” Sero excitedly asked. How could he not be
excited? It was UA.

Daikiru waved his hand dismissively. “Feh. I’ve got all the Quirk training I need right here.” He
raised his fist, and long spikes grew out of his knuckles.

“I dunno, man, never hurts to train. Y’know, go Plus Ultra and all that.” Sero encouraged.

“Eh, I’ll be fine. My Quirk’s great for heroics. No one expects a punch to turn into a stab.”

“Is that the only trick you have?”

“Eh, still a better Quirk for heroics than being a human tape dispenser.” Daikiru chuckled, to which
Nagai joined in.

“Heh heh, yeah…” Sero forced a smile as he pretended to be in on the joke. He didn’t want to come
off as rude or anything by taking offense.

“You can’t deny he has a point,” Nagai playfully poked Sero in the elbow, a gesture which he
pretended to appreciate. “I mean, how are you gonna beat up the villains? Tape their notebooks back
together.”

“Maybe he could tape their eyes shut,” Daikiru added.

“Or - or get tape stuck to their fingers and mildly annoy them to death.”

This wasn’t anything new for Sero. He was used to people telling him that Tape wasn’t the flashiest
Quirk out there. Yet he still found himself annoyed by his ‘friends’ comments. It wasn’t even that
funny!
Suddenly, Sero found his thoughts pulled away from his group when he overheard the muttering of a
boy sitting right next to them whose face was buried in a notebook. He couldn’t hear everything he
said, but he was able to make out the words, “Tape, such a simple yet versatile Quirk.”

Sero felt his plastered-on grin become a bit more genuine at those words. Sliding over to the boy with
the notebook, he casually greeted, “Hey, didn’t quite catch what you said, but it sounded smart. Mind
repeating for me?”

The boy immediately threw his head out of his notebook and looked at Sero like he was about to beat
him up. “Sorry! I didn't mean to come off as weird! I just thought your Quirk was really cool! But I’ll
get rid of your notes if you-”

A groan from Daikiru interrupted the boy. “Deku, have you ever heard of this new novel concept? It’s
called minding your own business.”

Sero had only known this ‘Deku’ person for five seconds, but he was already starting to prefer him to
Daikiru and Nagai. “Hold up, dude. I asked him, not the other way ‘round. By all accounts, he was
minding his own business. And now I want to hear what he has to say.”

He turned to the green-haired boy with eagerness in his eyes, who looked excited that someone was
listening to him. He grabbed his notebook and began reading off his notes.

“Tape might seem like a simplistic Quirk, but that’s what makes it so effective. Judging by the size of
your elbows, it comes out in large strips, meaning it’s perfect for tying up villains. It’s great for
rescue, too. If it’s as strong as it is big, then it could hold up a collapsing building or create a safe
platform for someone to land on, not to mention the potential mobility options. I bet you could swing
around just like Spider-Man! No, wait, that might leave stray strands of tape everywhere, unless you
can retract them. Can you retract them?”

Sero shot a knowing grin at Daikiru and Nagai. He bet they never had their Quirks analyzed like that.
“Why in fact I can,” He answered smugly. “But I don’t do it often because that means reeling in the
stuff that got caught on it. What’s your name, man?”

“Um, Izuku Midoirya.”

“Hanta Sero. We should hang out.”

“I guess useless attracts useless,” Daikiru rolled his eyes. “Just don’t be surprised if Bakugo starts
beating you up, too. He’s not a fan of weaklings who don’t know their place.”

“The hell I’m not.” The Bakugo in question stormed up to the group at the mention of his name,
looking frustrated at the commotion they were causing. “The way I see it, you’re all fucking extras.
Especially you, Deku!” Izuku noticeably shrunk at the mention of his name.

Now, Sero considered himself a people person. As such, he felt like there was something up between
Izuku and Katsuki. Something personal. He didn’t know the specifics, but whatever it was, it wasn’t
pretty.

“Hey, man. Lay off him.” Sero stepped between Izuku and the angry blonde. “He wasn’t bugging you
or anything.”

“Shut the hell up, Tape Arms!” Katsuki barked in his face, “Just because you’re new here doesn’t
mean you can stand up to me. You don’t wanna know what I do to extras who try stepping out of
line.”

Katsuki didn’t need to tell Sero anything. He noticed the small pops combusting off the blonde’s
hands. Needless to say, he wasn’t too threatened.

“Oh, really?” Sero asked in a mockingly high-pitched tone.

“Yes, really! Do I have to give you a fucking demonstration?” Katsuki shot his hands in the air in
frustration. Sero knew this was his time to strike. He raised both elbows and shot twin strands of tape
at Katsuki’s raised hands, quickly wrapping them up like presents.

Katsuki’s face went blank as he paused to inspect the balls of tape that enveloped his hands. His
expression quickly flicked back to rage. “What the hell did you just do to me?!”

“Oh, C’mon, you seem like a smart guy. I think you can figure that out on your own.”

“Fuck you! I can just blast your tape off!”

“Wait!” Izuku shouted to get Katsuki’s attention. “It’s not smart to activate your explosions in an
enclosed area. You might blow your hands off.”

“Midoriya’s got a point.” Sero grinned smugly, to which Katsuki bit his lip in frustration. “I know
from experience that my tape is a lot tougher than it looks. But don’t worry, I can help ‘ya get it off
your hands. If you ask nicely.”

The idea of asking nicely seemed to make Katsuki even angrier. “I don’t need help from you extras! I
can get this tape off myself!”

“Before you do that, you should know that my tape is double-sided.”

That stomped out Katsuki’s idea of biting the tape off. So he just trudged back to his desk and stuck a
pencil to his sticky tape ball of a hand.

“Is he always this stubborn?” Sero asked Izuku.

“Pretty much. He doesn’t like it when people ‘look down on him.’”

“Well, makes my life a whole lot easier.”

“Oh! By the way, about your tape retraction issue. Do you think you could include some sort of
filtration system on your theoretical hero costume? Like, maybe a small vacuum that would pick up
stray particles off your tape.”

Sero could feel his grin widen. “Midoriya, I think you and I are gonna get along just fine.”

———————————————

Katsuki didn’t need help getting that tape off his hands. What kind of future number-one hero gets
help from extras? Granted, he had no idea how to get the tape off himself. But that didn’t matter. He
could make it through the day with sticky hands.

“Alright, class, turn to page seventy-one in your textbooks,” The teacher drawled.

Thankfully, the textbook was already on Katsuki’s desk. He opened the cover, turned the pages, and-
*riiiiiiiiiiiiip*

Ok, that didn’t go quite as planned. But he had page seventy-one in his hand. Besides, he wouldn’t
need it after the lesson was done, right? All he had to do was open his notebook to copy down the
information and-

*riiiiiiiiiiiiip*

As Katsuki screamed internally, he noticed Sero turn in his direction and shoot him a cheeky grin, the
kind that said, ‘This can go on as long as you want it to.’

But Katsuki refused to yield. He couldn’t yield, lest he admit his own weakness. He would do this all
day and all night if he had to.

Though right now, he really wished he had the ability to flip Sero the bird.

———————————————

Katsuki felt smug at lunch as he managed to open the lid to his bento using his sticky hands. Sure, the
lid was still stuck to his hand, but that was a problem for later. All he had to do was grab his
chopsticks so he could…

Fuck.

From the corner of his eye, he caught Sero and Izuku watching him from another table. He had to
prove he was doing just fine. So he grabbed his bento with both tape hands, flipped it upside down,
and emptied it in his mouth.

Katsuki cockily grinned at them through a mouthful of food. They both looked at him with concern in
their eyes. But it was clear to him that they were only concerned that their punishment wasn’t working
in the slightest.

———————————————

“What the hell happened to your hands, brat?” Mitsuki asked as soon as Katsuki got home.

“None of your business, hag!” Katsuki yelled in response.

“Were you threatening someone at school today?”

“So what if I was?”

“Then you probably deserve it!”

“Fuck you!” Katsuki stomped up the stairs to his room. But when he placed his hand on the railing, he
quickly discovered that it wouldn’t come off. His tape hand had bound him to the stairs. “God
dammit! How sticky is this tape?!” He yelled as he pulled as hard as he could, but to no avail.

“Whatever you did wrong, you should probably own up to it.”

“Just tell Dad to get the saw!”

Unfortunately, the tape couldn’t be safely removed without risking cutting off one of Katsuki’s
fingers. So they had to settle on cutting off the chunk of railing he got stuck on.
 ———————————————

The next day, Izuku and Sero watched with blank faces as Katsuki walked into the classroom while
dragging his entire bed behind him, his taped-covered hands stuck to the frame.

“Looks like someone got up on the wrong side of the bed,” Sero teased.

“Shut up!” Katsuki barked.

“Hey, you’re the one letting it go on for so long. All you have to do is say please, and I’ll remove the
tape for you.”

“There’s no way I’m stopping down to your level, Tape-for-Brains!”

“Kacchan, be reasonable,” Izuku pleaded. “By your logic, how are you supposed to become a hero if
you can’t use your Quirk?”

“Oh, I have a plan, Deku,” Katsuki said with a crazed chuckle. “If I use threats to get what I want,
people won’t see me as weak!” He turned to another student sitting at his desk. “Hey, Knuckle Spikes,
get the hell over here!”

“What do you want, Bakugo?” Asked Daikiru as he walked up to the group.

“You can make spikes from your knuckles, right?”

“Yeah. That’s literally the nickname you gave me.”

“Good, then use them to rip the tape off my hands, or I’ll bite your arms off!”

Daikiru immediately shot up in fear. “Ok, sure, right away, just don’t hurt me!”

“See, Deku? I’m not asking for help, I’m demanding it!”

As Daikiru prepared to use his Quirk, Izuku tried to warn his bully. “Don’t do this, Kacchan! You
could get hurt!”

“I’m not falling for your tricks, Deku. I’m getting this tape off me one way or another.”

“Ok, I’ll remove the tape! Just don’t get yourself killed,” Sero conceded.

“Too late!” Katsuki said with a feral grin as he turned to Daikiru. “Use your damn Quirk already!”

“Ok, here goes…”

———————————————

“You lost your left pinky, right thumb, and both middle fingers.” The doctor explained.

Katsuki stared blankly at the ground, only managing to get a single word out, “...Damn.”

Chapter End Notes

Now, am I saying that Bakugo is so stubborn that he would rather risk losing his fingers than ask
for help? I dunno. I plead to the crack, your honor!

I wasn't expecting to make a Sero chapter. But the thought of Bakugo trying to make it through
his day with sticky hands entered my brain, and a chapter built itself from there.

Next Time: Do you have to be alive to be someone's friend?

 Nomu the Nomu
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

“Tomura,” Kurogiri said as he stepped through the portal into the bar.

“What? What do you want?” Tomura rasped as he paused his game to look up at the bartender.

“I would like to inquire about the location of the Nomu which Master lent to you to play games with.
He needs to run some experiments on it.”

Tomura grumbled in frustration. “The bastard beat me at Smash Bros, so I told it to go kill itself.”

“…What?”

———————————————

Izuku knew he should have stayed home from school today. He woke up with a sore throat, which
made his voice sound all raspy. But he had a test that day and knew the teachers wouldn’t let him
make it up if he missed it.

He thought he did alright on the test, but any joy from that was quickly stomped out when Katsuki
and his cronies decided to give him a free ticket to the nurse’s office. How nice of them.

Izuku shook his head at the bad memories. That was all behind him. The school day was over now. As
he walked down the street, wondering what his mom would make for dinner that night, he saw a
figure lying in the middle of the road.

Now, Izuku wasn’t Quirkist or anything, but he could still recognize an odd-looking mutant Quirk
when he saw one. And that man lying on the street sure had an odd one, alright. Pitch-black skin,
bird-like beak, muscles so bulgy you’d think he was on steroids, and an exposed brain. Yeah, this guy
was odd, even by Quirk standards.

But Izuku didn’t focus on that. At that moment, he panicked at the sight of a man lying down flat on
the road just as a car was speeding his way.

“Sir! Watch out!” He tried to warn him, but he didn’t move, and a car ran over him. Though, oddly
enough, it didn’t seem to leave any noticeable mark on his body.

“Sir, are you-” A pickup truck zoomed right over the man, then a bus, then a motorcycle, then a
steamroller, then a fireworks truck. But no matter what ran over him, the strange-looking man didn’t
seem to flinch.

Despite that, Izuku still panicked at the sight of a man getting run over by all those vehicles. He ran
over to him as fast as he could and started giving him CPR.

“You’ll be fine! I called an ambulance! Just stay with me!” Izuku yelled in his raspy voice. The voice
was so raspy that the Nomu registered it as Tomura’s. As such, he followed the last command he
heard, which was ‘stay with me.’ A command the Nomu interpreted as ‘stay by my side.’
Izuku stumbled back in shock as the odd-looking man stood up and peered down at him. He felt like
an ant under a microscope, but he still went to respond. “Are - are you okay?”

No words came out of the man’s mouth, so Izuku tried a different question. “Um, can you tell me your
name?”

“NO! MOO!” The man replied. Though, it sounded less like words, and more like animalistic screams
that just so happened to resemble human speech.

“Nomu? Okay. I’m Izuku Midoriya. Now, could you please get out of the street? Please?”

Nomu silently complied, and Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank god you’re okay. Listen, I know
life might be tough sometimes, but no matter the situation, suicide is never the answer.”

Izuku felt slightly intimidated by Nomu’s continued lack of a response, so he decided to change gears.
“Is there anyone you can call? Anyone else you can rely on?”

“…”

“Any parents? Siblings? Friends? Neighbors? Significant others?”

“…”

“So it’s just you? You’re all alone?”

“...”

“Well, I guess there’s only one thing to do.”

———————————————

“Izuku, did you bring another homeless person home?”

“Actually, Mom, he followed me.”

“Would you have brought him home if he didn’t follow you?”

“…”

“…”

“Okay, hypothetically…”

Inko just sighed as she opened the door the rest of the way, and Izuku and Nomu walked in.
“Honestly, Izuku. I know you have a big heart and all, but homeless shelters exist for a reason.”

“I’m sorry, Mom. It’s just… I found him in a really bad place.”

“Alright, he can stay for dinner and then sleep on the couch. But we are having a serious talk about
this, young man.”

“Thank you, Mom.”

———————————————
Izuku and Inko sat awkwardly at the dinner table as they both confusedly stared at Nomu, who hadn’t
moved an inch since Izuku asked him to sit down.

“Ummm…” Izuku spoke up. “Nomu, you don’t have to worry about being rude. You can eat.”

Nomu complied as he lifted up his plate and took a big bite. He ate the plate, that is. Not the food.

“Is he always like this?” Inko whispered to Izuku.

“I think he’s just having an off day.”

———————————————

“You can sleep here, Nomu.” Izuku gestured to the living room couch. “And if you have trouble
sleeping, you can borrow this.”

Izuku held up an All Might plushie, and Nomu’s ‘kill All Might on sight’ protocol blared in his head.
He snatched the plushie out of Izuku’s hand and tore into it like a dog with a chew toy.

Izuku slowly and cautiously backed up at the sight of that. “Ok, I get it. You’re more of an Endeavor
guy.”

———————————————

The Next Day…

“Alright, Nomu. I have to head to school. You have to go.”

Nomu interpreted this command as ‘I have to go to school, you have to come, too.’ So he marched
behind the green-haired boy on his way to class.

Izuku wanted to shoo Nomu away, but he figured that since he didn’t bring up having any family or
friends earlier, he was his only lifeline. He couldn’t just abandon someone in their time of need like
that. That’s not what heroes do!

So, against his better judgment, he begrudgingly let this guy follow him to school. He just hoped
Nomu wasn’t secretly a pedophile or something.

Sure, a couple of security guards tried to stop Nomu at the school gate, but they physically couldn’t.
He just marched along, completely ignoring their attempts to detain him.

It was clear as day that no one could stop Nomu. However, there was only one person who tried to
stop the boy he was following.

“Deku! What the hell did you bring to school?!” Katsuki yelled as he shoved Izuku to the ground.

“In my defense, he followed me here, and no one was physically capable of stopping him.”

“Like I care! Just look at him!” Katsuki gestured to Nomu, who looked impassive as ever, “Look at
those dead, soulless eyes. He’s planning something. And I’m gonna put him in his place.”

Izuku was quick to get between Katsuki and Nomu. “Hold on, you can’t just attack somebody
unprovoked.”
“Sure I can. Watch.” Katsuki grabbed Izuku by the collar and prepared to set off an explosion in his
face.

Izuku’s instincts took over, and he curled into a ball as he yelled, “No! Please! Someone help!”

Nomu immediately responded to the command. He darted over to Katsuki with speed only
comparable to All Might and grabbed him by the torso, holding him aloft.

“What the hell? Let go of me, you braindead freak!” Katsuki released several explosions in Nomu’s
face, but they didn’t even flinch him. “Why the fuck isn’t this working?!”

It took five minutes of continuous explosions for Katsuki to run out of sweat and give up, finally
giving Izuku the chance to speak. “Nomu, I think you’ve taught Kacchan his lesson. Could you please
put him down?”

Something Izuku didn’t know was that when given a command, Nomu was programmed to choose the
most violent option possible. As such, he interpreted ‘put him down’ in the same way you would put
down a sick pet. His other hand grabbed Katsuki by the head and began to twist.

“No! Don’t snap his neck!” Izuku yelled, “I meant you should drop him!”

Nomu went upstairs to the third floor and held Katsuki out the window.

“I meant you should pacify him!”

Nomu began smothering Katsuki’s face with a pillow.

“I meant you should let him go!”

Nomu pulled back his arm, prepared to throw Katsuki as hard as he could.

“Put him on the ground!”

Nomu prepared to slam Katsuki’s face into the ground.

“Don’t kill him! Do what a hero like All Might would do!”

Now, since he was built with the express purpose of fighting All Might, Nomu had every last one of
the Number One Hero’s mannerisms and behaviors drilled into his head. As such, Nomu knew exactly
what All Might would do when faced with a case of aggravated Quirk assault (based on the
explosions from earlier), so he brought Katuski to the police station.

“Thanks for helping turn in a villain,” The police officer at the desk tipped his hat.

“I’m not a shitty villain!” Katsuki yelled from behind bars.

“Need I remind you? Aggravated Quirk assault.”

“Great job, Nomu!” Izuku patted his friend on the back. “You should train at UA to be a hero
someday!”

Master commands, Nomu obeys.

———————————————
 Aizawa was not expecting to see a student in his classroom today on account of how he recently
expelled his entire class. Weirder was the fact that this wasn’t one of his former students, it was a
muscly birdman wearing a tattered UA uniform. Looking to the nearest wall, Aizawa noticed a large
hole with a shape that looked suspiciously similar to his new student.

“Eh, fuck it. Why not.” Aizawa shrugged as he prepared his lesson plan.

———————————————

Three Years Later…

“And coming in at number seven on the annual hero ranking, right out of UA, it’s Nomu!” The
announcer held up her microphone to the hero in question’s face. “Nomu, would you like to say a few
words?”

Silence.

All for One spit out his coffee at the sight of the TV. The Nomu that had gone missing for three years
became a hero?!

He thought he knew the definition of pissed until that very moment.

“TOMURA!!!”

Chapter End Notes

Hey guys, guess what? Chrysanthos made a fic inspired by this one. You should go read
Bakugo's Ratatouille Moment if you like this fic and/or Lunch Rush.

Don't ask me what Tomura and AFO were doing for the past three years, considering they're not
in jail or dead. I honestly don't know. Maybe that particular Nomu was too vital to their plan to
proceed without it.

Next Time: The most logical choice

 Shota the So-So Teacher
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

The first thing Shota Aizawa noticed when the doors to Nezu’s office swung open was the dim
lighting of the room. An obvious intimidation tactic from the mammal, but Shota’s stance didn’t
falter. He’d seen worse.

The second thing he noticed was Kamaya and Hizashi standing on either side of the principal’s desk
while Nezu sat at his chair in the center, looking less than pleased. Shota quickly took note of his
fellow teachers’ expressions. Kayama looked frustrated about something, while Hizashi just looked
guilty.

“Have a seat, Aizawa,” Nezu commanded, his voice lacking its usual jovial tone. Shota had to fight
back a gulp. That was never a good sign.

“I’m sure you already know why you’re here, so let’s cut to the chase.” Nezu bore right into Shota’s
soul with his soulless, beady eyes. “Why did you expel an entire class?”

Despite the feeling of dread creeping up his back, Shota sought to stand his ground. “You know why I
expel people, Nezu. None of them showed any potential.”

Nezu swirled around the tea in his cup, seemingly unamused by his answer. “Really? All of them. Not
one of the twenty students was able to meet your standards.”

“If you have a problem with my teaching methods, then say it.”

A small chuckle escaped Nezu’s teeth. “Ah, yes. That would be the logical thing to do, wouldn’t it?
But you know, it’s kind of funny to me.”

“What is?”

“That you consider expelling an entire class a form of teaching.”

Aizawa squinted in disdain. “You know why I do what I do, Nezu.”

“Yes, I do,” He seemed almost shameful to admit, “And I allowed it for the odd couple of students
whom you thought deserved a reality check. But it seems that I’ve let you become too complacent.”

Aizawa decided to just bite the bullet already. “I don’t understand the issue, Sir. You know I only
demote them to gen ed.”

Kayama took the opportunity to speak up. “Yeah, and whose class do you think they end up in,
Shota?” Venom was apparent in her voice, “That’s ten extra students for both me and Hizashi. You’re
literally dumping your work onto us.”

Aizawa glanced at Hizashi, who avoided looking him in the eyes. “Yeah… I love the little listeners,
but it’s a lot of work.” A hint of frustration found itself in his tone. “I mean, what are you supposed to
do while you wait for them to transfer back? Just sit around and sleep all day?”

Shota felt his eyebrow twitch. “Seriously, you two? You, of all people, should know why I do this.”
Hizashi sighed. “We do, Sho’. But there’s another way to prevent future deaths in the field.”

“By actually teaching your goddamn class,” Kayama finished with clenched teeth.

“I believe our points have been made here,” Nezu finished before turning to Shota. “Right now, the
most logical choice would be to have your teacher license revoked. But I believe that under all those
layers of capture scarf and jelly pouches is a good teacher who wants to see their students learn and
grow.”

“What are you going to do?” Shota asked, mentally preparing himself for literally anything.

“It’s clear as day that you need to get back to basics. As such, I’ve signed you up for a teaching
position at Aldera Middle School, as there was a sudden opening on account of a teacher getting run
over by a fireworks truck.”

Shota noticed Hizashi try to hold back a snicker at that.

“If your performance is satisfactory by the end of the school year, then you’ll be allowed to teach at
UA again. And as for the students who you expelled, they’ll all be let back into the hero course with
their black marks removed. Frankly, you should consider yourself lucky that Gunhead was able to
step up on such short notice.”

Shota slammed his head on the desk. “There is no way you managed to sneak that into my contract.”

Nezu grinned as he pulled up a stack of papers, “They always say to read the fine print, but everyone
forgets to read between the lines.”

———————————————

Shota audibly groaned as he laid out his belongings on his new desk, accompanied by a tug on his tie
that he was forced to wear. Of all the schools the rat had to send him to, it just had to be a middle
school. He had a feeling this might just be the worst year of his life. Worse yet, he was prohibited
from using his Quirk outside of emergencies. How was he supposed to shut up his class now?

Yet, despite his situation, Shota had to admit Nezu was at least right on some fronts. He did still want
to be a teacher. And if the rat had a problem with the way he ran things in his classroom, then maybe
it would be logical to own up to his mistakes.

That didn’t mean he had to enjoy his punishment, though.

“Hello. I’m your new teacher, Shota Aizawa,” He drawled as his students funneled into the classroom,
barely paying attention to him.

———————————————

By the time lunch rolled around, Shota honestly wondered how other teachers got by. He could hardly
keep his students’ attention longer than ten seconds before they began talking amongst themselves.
Things would have been so much easier if they had a healthy fear of him!

He just prayed no one in the teacher’s lounge touched his jelly packets. Then he might have to have
an actual meal. (He wasn’t opposed to the idea, but he was painfully aware no one could beat Lunch
Rush’s cooking).
Suddenly, from the corner of his ear, Shota heard the faint sound of an explosion, which was not the
best sound to hear in a school.

His underground hero instincts immediately kicked in, and he dashed to where he thought the source
of the noise was. He wasn’t sure if it was a Quirk, chemistry accident, or broken AC, but it would be
illogical to dismiss the threat.

As Shota turned a corner, he was met with a nearly empty hallway, save for a green-haired boy
slouched against the wall, clutching his chest.

“Hey, are you alright?” Shota asked as he ran up to the boy.

His presence seemed to cause him even more distress. “Um, no. I - Nothing happened.” He clutched
his chest a little tighter, and Shota noticed he was hiding faint burn marks on his uniform. He pulled
the kid’s hand away to see that the burn went through his uniform and left a hand-shaped mark on his
skin.

Shota placed a hand on the kid’s shoulder and guided him down the hall. “C’mon, we’re going to the
nurse’s office.” He decided he would question him on the way there.

“No. Don’t - don’t worry about it.” The boy pulled himself from Shota’s grip, “The nurse wouldn’t
care anyway. I’m… I’m not worth it.”

A million red flags raised in Shota’s head at that, but he decided to prioritize the injury first.
Thankfully, a hero was always prepared. “Can you at least apply this to yourself?” He handed him a
tube of burn cream, a gesture which made the boy’s eyes water for some odd reason.

“Th-thank you.” The kid fought down tears as he applied the cream to his wound. “Are you a new
teacher here? You look familiar, but I haven’t seen you around before.”

“I’m new. Today’s my first day. What’s your name?”

The boy bit his lip as he averted his gaze away from the teacher. “Oh right, you need that for the
write-up. It’s Izuku Midoriya.”

“Midoriya, it would be illogical to write you up without knowing the full story. I haven’t even seen
you do anything wrong. How about we start at the beginning?”

“It was nothing, really.” Izuku gave a fake smile that Aizawa saw right through. “I was just… getting
in Kacchan’s way.”

Shota did not like the direction this conversation was taking. “Kacchan?”

“Katsuki Bakugo. Like I said, it’s really not that big a deal. If anything, it was my fault. You can just
forget about it. Thank you for helping me, though. I kind of wish you taught in my class. You’d
probably be the best teacher I ever had.” (The irony of that sentence was not lost on Aizawa). Izuku
smiled wistfully as he got up and speedwalked away, much to Shota’s annoyance.

Shota wanted to stop him, to get more information from him, but he decided against it. The kid
seemed reluctant to share what he already had. Forcing anything else out of him would do more harm
than good.

Besides, based on the burn mark and the mention of ‘getting in someone's way,’ Shota believed he
already had more than enough pieces to put the puzzle together.
 ———————————————

“Hey there, Aizawa. How’s your first day so far?” A teacher, Kobayashi, asked.

“Terrible,” Shota bluntly replied as he stomped into the teacher's lounge. “I was too late to stop a
bullying incident, but at least I know who did it. Do any of you know of Katsuki Bakugo?”

“Bakugo?” A different teacher spoke up in surprise. “I say let it go. It’s probably not serious, just kids
being kids.”

“I have evidence that he used his Quirk on Midoriya.”

“Oh yeah? And who’d you get that information from?” Another teacher asked. “Word of advice:
Don’t believe a word Midoriya tells you. He’s a real troublemaker, that one.”

“Yeah, always riling up the more successful students.”

“And then he has the gall to act surprised when they fight back.”

“He just loves playing the Quirkless victim card.”

Looking around the lounge, the rest of the teachers seemed to agree with that statement.

This new information somewhat complicated things for Aizawa. It wasn’t that he doubted Izuku, but
he felt that he wasn’t getting the full picture. The way the teacher pointed to Izuku’s Quirklessness as
a determining factor just reeked of bad vibes.

He would dig into that can of worms later. But for now, he had a student to talk to.

———————————————

“So, Bakugo, how would you describe your relationship with Midoriya?” Shota calmly asked, only to
receive a scowl in response.

“The nerd’s a goddamn thorn in my side who somehow deluded himself into thinking he can be a
hero. Can I go now?”

“No. I need more information. You said that he wanted to be a hero?”

“Yeah. He keeps all these stalker notebooks where he writes shit down about me. No matter how
many times I try to beat some sense into him, he still thinks that’ll make up for his own
Quirklessness.” Katsuki folded his arms and huffed, “Pathetic. Like he thinks he can upstage me as a
hero.”

Shota made a mental note to check out Izuku’s notebooks to verify that statement later. “What do you
mean by ‘beat some sense into him?’”

“Why the hell do you care? No one else in this shitty school ever has.”

“A fact I am painfully aware of.” Shota narrowed his eyes at Katsuki, “Listen, Bakugo, I’ve dealt with
kids like you my entire teaching career. The kind of kid that’s never been told no in life. The kid that
thinks they’re hot stuff just because of their Quirk. So I’m telling you now, stop whatever you’re
doing to Midoriya, or I will do everything in my power to make sure you actually face consequences.”
Katsuki didn’t seem all too moved by those words. He was no doubt aware that Aizawa’s threat was
hollow on account of him being new. “Tch, whatever.” He grumbled as he got up and strolled out of
the room.

Shota couldn’t help but feel frustrated with himself. He knew his threat was vague, but there wasn’t
much the school would actually let him do. He could have threatened expulsion, but that was what got
him into this mess in the first place.

He sighed as he took out his phone. Even if there was nothing he could do to Katsuki, there was
something he could do to the school.

“Hello there, Aizawa! ” Nezu cheerfully greeted, “Can I assume you’re calling me about your new
teaching position? ”

“Yes, I am. I have reason to believe that this school and its teachers hold a Quirkist agenda. I have
evidence of them downplaying or even ignoring blatant cases of bullying targeting the school’s only
Quirkless kid.”

Nezu chuckled sinisterly. “Well, if that’s all, then I should be able to build a case against them in
about a week. I hope you know what you should do until then.”

“I do, sir,” Shota said as he hung up with a newfound sense of determination. While he waited for
Nezu to bring Aldera to its knees, he would focus on the more interpersonal matters.

———————————————

The Next Day…

“Midoriya.”

“Eep!” Izuku jumped in surprise as Shota greeted him as he turned the corner. “What - what do you
need? Did I do something wrong?”

“You’re not in trouble or anything. I just wanted to check up on how you were doing.”

“How am I doing?” The boy questioned with hesitance, as if people asking about his well-being was a
foreign concept to him.

“Yes, how you’re doing. Has Bakugo bothered you at all today?”

At Shota’s question, Izuku let out a shudder as he instinctively slapped a hand over his arm. Shota had
a strong suspicion there was a bruise in that spot. “Uh, no! He hasn’t - he hasn’t bothered me today.”

Izuku’s resolve faltered as Shota raised an eyebrow of speculation.

“Ok, maybe we had a small spat in the hallway this morning. But it’s not a big deal. It happens all the
time!”

Shota’s expression softened as he placed a hand on the student’s shoulder. “Midoriya, that's not a
good thing.”

“It - it’s fine, really,” Izuku insisted. “Kacchan’s going to be a great hero someday.”

“So that automatically excuses his behavior? His bullying? His assault?”
“It’s fine. I can handle it. He only really picks on me anyway.”

Shota sighed. He knew he was fighting a losing battle by trying to change Izuku's mind so quickly.
Changing one’s mindset takes time. With all the teachers putting Katsuki on a pedestal, it would only
be natural for Izuku to buy into it. He had to approach the issue from a different angle.

“Even so, if given the choice, would you rather he not bully you?”

“I mean… I guess.”

“Would you like him to know that you’re not as useless as he says you are? That he has a good reason
to stop bothering you?”

“I - Yes, I would like that.” He hesitantly nodded.

“Good, meet me in the gym after school today. It’s time you learn some self-defense.”

Izuku’s eyes brightened. “You can teach me self-defense?”

“I used to be a combat specialist.”

———————————————

“Alright, Midoriya, we have a lot to get through and not a lot of time,” Shota said as Izuku made his
way to the center of the gym.

“Why don’t we have a lot of time?” Izuku wondered.

Shota didn’t want Izuku to know his school would be shutting down soon, so he went with a half-
truth. “I only have this gym booked for an hour.”

“Makes sense. So where do we start?”

“First, we need to figure out which fighting style fits you best.” Shota circled his student to get a
better look at his physique and musculature. There wasn’t much there, but he could work with it.

“I’m going to be honest, Midoriya, without a Quirk, you’ll be fighting at a disadvantage pretty much
all the time.”

Izuku deflated at that. “Y-yeah, I figured.”

“But that just means you’ll have to use every advantage you can to gain the upper hand, that includes
fighting dirty. Do you think you can handle that?”

Izuku took a deep breath in as he steeled himself. “I’ll do what it takes, sir.”

“Good. Now tell me, Midoriya, how much do you know about ambush techniques?”

“Not much, but I’m eager to learn.” Izuku pulled out a notebook and pencil from… somewhere,
reminding Shota about that mental reminder he left for himself.

“Hold on, let me see that notebook.”

“Oh, there’s no need. There’s nothing here worth reading.”

“Can you at least let me be the judge of that?”

“Okay, I guess.” He reluctantly handed the book over to Shota, who began flipping through the pages
of in-depth hero analysis. Not bad. Clearly above-average skills for someone his age.

“How long have you been working on these?”

“Pretty much since I’ve been able to write. Why?”

Aizawa allowed a small grin to grace his lips as he shut the notebook. “Midoirya, I have no doubt
you’ll be a fast learner.”

———————————————

After nearly a week of stealth and ambush training, Izuku was ready for his test. Granted, he still felt
hesitant about actually going through with it, but he couldn’t let his teacher down. Shota was the first
person to truly believe in him, and he wanted to make his teacher proud. All he had to do was wait.

“Deku.” Katsuki growled as he approached Izuku at the end of the hallway, just as he planned.

“Yes, Kacchan?” Izuku asked innocently.

“You’ve been quiet all day. You’re planning something, aren’t you?”

Izuku resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Angry when he talked, angry when he didn’t talk, that’s
Katsuki for you.

“Well? Answer me, nerd!”

“I don’t need to answer anything, Kacchan,” Izuku retorted.

“What? Where the hell is this back-talk coming from?”

“I don’t want to be your punching bag anymore, Kacchan. Let’s just settle this peacefully.”

Katsuki cracked his knuckles as he stepped up to Izuku. “I have a better idea,” He pulled back his fist
and launched an explosion at Izuku. “DIE!”

Izuku saw the attack coming a mile away. He leaped back from the explosion and used the ensuing
flash and subsequent smoke to disappear from Katsuki’s vision.

“What the fuck? Where did you go?! Quit hiding, you coward!”

Thankfully, he didn’t notice Izuku peering down at him through a loose ceiling tile. The green-haired
boy internally thanked Shota for the parkour lessons as he pulled out a water balloon and chucked it at
Katsuki.

“Gah! That’s fucking cold!” Katsuki darted his head around to find the source of the balloon, but
paused as he smelled something off about the liquid he was covered in. “What the hell? This isn’t
water.”

Before he could question any further, Izuku kicked a ceiling tile out of its socket and onto Katsuki’s
head, distracting the boy long enough for him to drop right in front of him, sweep his legs out from
under his feet, and pin him to the ground.
“Don’t try exploding your way out of this one, Kacchan,” Izuku grunted as he struggled to keep
Katsuki down. “That balloon was filled with rum, the flammable kind. One spark, and your whole
body will go up in flames.”

Katsuki twisted his head to face Izuku as he breathed heavily through clenched teeth. “…Deku!”

Izuku noticed Katsuki’s hand twitch. Oh god, he was clouded by rage. He was gonna do it!

Izuku separated himself from Katsuki as he braced himself for the torrent of flames that was about to
occur, but nothing happened.

Looking back up at Katsuki, Izuku saw him clenching and unclenching his fists, looking confused as
all hell. “What the… Why isn’t my Quirk working?”

“I erased it,” Said the familiar voice of Shota. Izuku turned to see his teacher adorned with red eyes
and gravity-defying hair.

The puzzle pieces immediately clicked in his head.

“OH MY GOD! You’re the Erasure Hero: Eraserhead! I knew you looked familiar, but I just couldn’t
put my finger on it! What are you doing here? Why aren’t you teaching at UA? Is it for some kind of
investigation? Can I have your autograph?”

At the mention of his hero name, Shota groaned.

At the mention of UA, Katsuki paled.

“I’ll explain that later.” Shota took out his capture weapon from his pocket, wrapped it around
Katsuki’s unmoving body, and dragged him off. “Right now, I’ve got a class delinquent to expel.”

“I didn’t know you had the authority to expel people from Aldera.”

“Not Aldera, UA.”

“Oh. Well, don’t worry, Kacchan. You can still get into other hero schools.”

Katsuki didn’t respond. He had gone catatonic from the revaluation that he had blown it in front of a
UA teacher, and now his chance at attending his dream school had been dashed in front of his very
eyes.

———————————————

The next day, Izuku and Shota stood outside the gates of Aldera Middle School as they watched at
least three-quarters of its teaching staff get hauled off into police vans.

“Serves them right,” Shota stated.

“Can’t argue with you on that,” Izuku replied. “So, are you going back to UA now?”

“Afraid not, kid. I still have to teach an entire year of middle school before they’ll let me back in.
Speaking of which, do you know where you’ll be transferring?”

“Mustafa Private Middle School. Why?”

“Then that’s where I’m headed next.”

 Izuku gasped, “You mean it?!”

“Of course I do. You still have a lot of training to get done. And if I’m being honest, your pinning
technique back there was a little sloppy.”

“Well, if I were to learn it from anyone, I’m glad it’d be you.”

Shota chuckled as he ruffled his student’s hair. “Get used to it, Midoriya. You’ll be seeing a lot of me
in the hero course.”

Chapter End Notes

If you didn't know, I'm not a fan of canon Aizawa. But the funny thing about fanfics is that canon
is just a suggestion.

Though, the idea of him keeping some of his worse canon traits for this chapter did cross my
mind. Izuku would have asked him if a Quirkless person could become a hero, Shota would have
said no, then Izuku would have beaten up Bakugo and gotten into UA out of spite. But I decided
to go for something more hopeful.

Next time: I feel like being vague, so I'm just gonna say the word blonde
 Mitsuki and Masaru the Fashion Designers
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Dinners in the Bakugo household were never usually too talkative. But that wasn’t a bad thing. The
family of three was more than content with eating in comfortable silence. A silence that could be
considered a miracle based on the amount of noise generated by two-thirds of the family unit on a
daily basis.

But tonight wasn’t one of those nights. Instead of the usual quiet atmosphere, an eerily dead silence
surrounded the table. And while Katsuki was ambivalent to the situation, choosing instead to focus on
his food, Mitsuki and Masaru were both nervous beyond all belief, for they had just received a
concerning phone call from one Inko Midoriya.

After a few minutes of building tension, Masaru volunteered to be the one to break the silence. “So…
Katsuki, how was your day at school?”

“Fine, I guess,” Katsuki shrugged, not looking up from his meal.

“That’s good,” Masaru awkwardly nodded, “Did you, uhhhh…”

“Alright, I’m just gonna say it.” Mitsuki spoke up, deciding to take a sledgehammer to the tension,
“Have you been bullying Izuku at school?”

The sudden bombshell drop sent Katsuki into a coughing fit. After spitting out his food, he said,
“What the hell did you just ask me?”

“Inko called us earlier today saying she found burn marks on Izuku’s uniform. So, have you been
bullying him?” Mitsuki repeated as she glared at her son with equal parts anger and worry.

Katsuki grossed his arms and glanced away from his parents’ gazes. “Tch. So what if I have?”

Mitsuki paused for half a second to process the apparent confirmation before she got up and slammed
her hands on the table, yelling, “Katsuki, what the fuck?!”

“What do you mean ‘what the fuck?’ Shitty Deku was asking for it!”

“Katsuki, what do you mean by ‘he was asking for it?’” Masaru nervously cut in.

“He was always looking down on me! Always writing shit down about me in his stalker notebooks,
trying to dissect my Quirk like I was some kinda lab rat, thinking that would somehow help him be a
hero. I was doing everyone a favor by putting him in his place!”

“Katsuki, that’s no excuse to use your damn Quirk on him!” Mitsuki yelled.

“What the hell do you know, Hag?!”

“I know that a hero doesn’t blow up their classmates, Brat!”

“Fuck you! You don’t know anything about heroes! I’m just doing what it takes to be number one!
You can’t stop me from doing that!”
“Yeah? Well I can send you to your room! You’re grounded!”

Katsuki silently grabbed his plate as he let out a scowl toward his parents and left for his room. After
he was out of sight, Mitsuki fell to her chair and collapsed on the table while Masaru placed a
supportive hand on her shoulder.

“Where the hell did we go wrong?” Mitsuki quietly lamented.

“I… I’m not sure,” Masaru shamefully admitted. “I know Katsuki’s been a handful over the years, but
I’d never thought he’d resort to… to that.”

Mitsuki’s fists clenched. “I tried, dammit. I really tried. I thought I had to be rough with him. That
was the only way to get him to listen to a damn thing I said.”

“But you might have taken it too far,” Masaru finished. “I get it. Smacking the sense into him seemed
like a convenient solution, and sometimes it felt like the only way to get through to him…”

“But it just made things worse in the long-run,” Mitsuki sighed.

“Not like I had the best strategy, either,” Masaru chuckled mirthlessly, “I went too easy on him. He
never listened to a thing I said, and now he turned out like this. I should have put my foot down
sooner instead of leaving all the work to you.”

“Hindsight’s 20/20, ain’t it?”

“Yeah… But now that we know, we can try something else.”

“Like getting Katsuki outta that shitty-ass school, for one.”

Masaru scratched his chin. “It always struck me as weird that he insisted on staying there despite
everything.”

“Well, tough shit for him.”

———————————————

“I’m sorry, you’d like to what?”

“We’re getting Katsuki out of this hellhole.” Mitsuki explained, “A friend caught wind of some
bullying. Bullying that you failed to notice, mind you. And now we wanna transfer him somewhere
else.”

The principal sputtered incoherently for a moment before continuing. “Mr. and Mrs. Bakugo, I urge
you to reconsider. I’m sure your friend was merely stretching the truth.”

“Yeah, right. I trust Inko with my life.”

“I trust Inko with my death,” Masaru added.

“Even so,” The principal pleaded, “With a Quirk like his, he has the potential to be a great hero. So
what if he has to remind a few lesser students of his superiority?”

Masaru squinted his eyes at the principal. “I don’t think I like what you’re implying.”
“Well I fucking hate it!” Mitsuki shouted, “Are you saying it’s okay for Katsuki to pick on people just
because he has a strong Quirk?!”

“W-well, I, uhhhh…”

The Bakugos didn’t wait for the principal to respond. They shared a knowing glance and marched out
of the office.

“I don’t know how we didn’t pick up on this earlier. This school is shady as fuck.” Mitsuki
complained. “I’m starting to think Katsuki’s shitty behavior wasn’t all our fault. I mean, it was still
partially our fault, just not entirely.”

“Had I known they were encouraging his behavior, I would have had him transferred years ago.”
Masaru frustratedly stated. “Now, though, I think it’s going to be difficult drilling that mindset out of
him, even after we put him in a different school. Not that he’d be too receptive to the idea anyway.”

“What we need to do is teach the brat a lesson in humility!”

Masaru raised an eyebrow at that. “Honey, when you say humility…”

“I’m talking about parental humility. We both know Katsuki won’t want to leave Aldera, so we gotta
make him want to leave. The brat fucked around, and now he’s gonna find out.” Mitsuki declared
with a crack of her knuckles, the same knuckles she used for sewing.

“I think that idea has some merit,” Masaru flexed his fingers in turn, already prepared to get to work.
It was time to put their skills as fashion designers to good use.

———————————————

The Next Morning…

“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!” Katsuki shouted as he presented an article of clothing to his parents,
who were eating breakfast in the kitchen.

“I think that’s your school uniform,” Masaru answered.

“No it’s not! This is a fucking Gothic Lolita dress!”

“Yeah, your school uniform.”

“Wha - huh?!”

“Listen here, Brat,” Mitsuki stood up and looked her son in the eye. “We’re gonna give you two
options here. Either you agree to transfer out of Aldera-”

“Like hell I’m doing that!”

“-Or you wear your modified uniform to school today.”

“The choice is yours, Katsuki,” Masaru calmly stated with a sip of his coffee.

Katsuki stared down at the dress in his hands, then back at his parents. After a few moments of
deliberation, he clutched the dress and yelled. “I’ll show you! I’ll go to school in this fucking thing! If
that's what it takes for me to keep my superhero origin story, then I’ll do it!”
As Katsuki stormed off to change into his uniform, Mitsuki turned to her husband with confusion
evident on her face. “Superhero origin story?”

Masaru just shrugged.

———————————————

As Katsuki stormed down his school halls in his dress, he took notice of all the heads he was turning.
He knew why they were staring: they all wanted to look down on him, just like how that stupid Deku
looked down on him almost every day.

“Hey, Bakugo. I like the fit today,” Said a student as he passed by the blond.

“Nice dress, Bakugo,” Said another.

“I didn’t know you were into Gothic Lolita.”

“The stockings really show off your legs.”

“You’re killing it, man!”

“Shut the fuck up!” Katsuki yelled. He knew what they all actually meant. They all thought he looked
like an idiot. It was just like when Deku ‘praised’ him for his Quirk. They were all laughing at him
behind his back.

Well, joke’s on them, he didn’t care what they thought. He didn’t. They were just extras, stepping
stones on his path to greatness. Their view of him meant shit to Katsuki!

Ignore the fact that he practically ran through the halls in an attempt to make it to class with the least
amount of people noticing him. He still didn’t care.

———————————————

The Next Day…

Just when Katsuki thought today would be more of yesterday, his shit-ass parents surprised him with a
version of his uniform styled after the Wild Wild Pussycats, complete with cat paws and a tail.

But if they thought a little cosplay would make him want to leave this shitty-ass school and transfer to
somewhere with a functioning air conditioner, they had another thing coming.

“Kacchan! You look amazing!” Deku said in a manner that Katsuki interpreted as sarcasm. “I didn’t
know you liked the Wild Wild Pussycats.”

“I don’t, you damn nerd.” Katsuki spat through clenched teeth, “Those dumbass heroes just prance
around in shitty uniforms and barely even fight villains. If I was allowed to take these stupid paws off,
I would blast you to hell.”

Before Katsuki could continue his threat, a group of girls from his class walked up to him, “Hey, we
really like your cosplay, Bakugo. Can we get a picture?” They asked while holding up their phones.

“Fuck no! I know what you’re trying to do. You just want a picture so you can laugh about it later. Get
outta here, you goddamn extras!”
As the girls frustratedly sighed and strolled away, Deku tried to console his friend. “Kacchan, I don’t
think they wanted to laugh at you. I see Pussycat keychains on their bags all the time.”

“Of course you’d know that, you damn stalker. Get the hell away from me before anyone else tries
taking pictures.”

Deku pulled out his phone and stared at it with worry. “I think it’s a bit too late for that, Kacchan.” He
showed him his phone, which had a picture of Katuski in his costume posted on Twitter. Katsuki saw
that it had been retweeted by the official Wild Wild Pussycats account.

“What? Who posted that?!”

“TheRealFireworksTruck24.”

“GOD DAMMIT!”

———————————————

The Day After That…

Katsuki didn’t think things could get worse after yesterday, but his parents seemed to be on a mission
to one-up themselves. Because today, he wore a full wedding dress, which sent the entire school into a
frenzy.

No matter where Katsuki went, the ‘compliments’ wouldn’t stop.

“Bakugo, you look gorgeous!”

“Stunning!”

“Amazing!”

“You’re rocking it!”

“Screw gender norms!”

“You’re so hot!”

“Oh my god, I think I’m gay.”

“Marry me!”

Katsuki couldn’t take it anymore. They weren’t even being subtle. They all mocked him to his face.
What, did they all think he was weak and frail just because he was wearing a dress?

All these feelings built up inside him throughout the day, and they all came to a head when he found
himself crowded by a group of admirers during lunch.

“God, will all of you just SHUT UP!” He yelled, which threw the crowd into a shocked silence. “You
extras think you can look down on me?! Well, guess what? I don’t care about what any of you think!
You’re all worthless to me! You hear me? Worthless!”

As Katsuki caught his breath from the sudden outburst, the crowd quickly dispersed, and the students
broke out into mumbled chatter to discuss what had just occurred.
“We were just trying to tell him he looked nice.” One said to another.

“He didn’t have to be such a bitch about it.”

“Why can’t he just take a compliment?”

“Just because he dresses fancy doesn’t mean he can call us extras.”

“Guess his looks were only skin-deep.”

Katsuki sweated nervously as he picked up on several conversation fragments. He thought they were
looking down on him before, but now they had just dropped all forms of subtlety and began
whispering shit right in front of him.

Whatever. Katsuki could handle it. It would all probably blow over by tomorrow.

———————————————

The Next Day…

Katsuki was technically right, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

He didn’t hear anyone talk shit about him. But he also didn’t hear anyone talk about him at all. Even
though he was forced to wear a princess dress today, it seemed like no one would even look him in the
eyes.

The students had taken their mockery of him to a whole new level. They would barely acknowledge
his existence, and it drove him mad. Couldn’t they recognize a future number-one hero when they saw
one? Sure, the teachers still gave him the time of day, but they were always suck-ups. Their opinions
literally meant less than nothing to him.

Every moment spent at school that day felt like pure emptiness. No one recognized him as the top dog
anymore. They all saw him as someone who begged for attention but then got angry when he received
it. He couldn’t live with this reputation anymore! He couldn’t!

———————————————

“Alright, you win!” Katsuki angrily admitted to his parents, “I’ll change schools. Are you fucking
happy now?!”

“Good. I hope you learned what you did wrong here,” Mitsuki nodded with her arms crossed.

“Sure, whatever. Just get me out of that hellhole.”

“That didn’t sound convincing, Brat. So I’ll tell you what, we’ll let you transfer schools if you write a
sincere apology to Izuku.”

Katsuki’s fists clenched as he shot up to meet his mom in the eyes. “What the hell do you mean, Hag?
The fuck do I have to apologize for?”

“You better figure that out yourself, or you’ll be going to Aldera High School instead of UA.”

“What?! You can’t do that to me, you bitch!”

 Katsuki’s screaming match was interrupted when he felt a cold hand tightly grasp his shoulder. He
slowly and fearfully turned his head to see Masaru. An aura of quiet rage emanated off his father’s
body, and Katsuki felt a special kind of fear he never felt before.

“Katsuki,” Masaru said slowly and methodically, “Don’t call your mother a bitch.”

Katsuki felt a pang of dread strike his chest as he zoomed up to his room, completely unprepared to
handle his father’s fury.

The moment Katsuki was gone, Masaru breathed a sigh of relief and slumped on the couch. “Phew.
That was draining. Do you think the message got through to him?”

“It better have,” Mitsuki smirked, “Because I have a dozen more outfits just waiting for him to try
on.”

“While you work on that, I’m gonna see how many teachers we can get arrested for child neglect and
Quirkism.”

Masaru opened his laptop to begin working, but Mitsuki shut it as she slid up to him. “You know, I
don’t see you get angry too often. It’s kinda hot.”

“R-really?” Masaru gulped, a cautious yet eager smile creeping onto his face.

“Mm-hm,” Mitsuki pressed her body against his. “I wouldn’t mind seeing more of that side of you
tonight.”

“W-well,’ He gulped, mustering up as much confidence as he could, “Maybe I wouldn’t mind

showing you.”

It ended up being a long night for the Bakugo parents, not that either of them minded.

Chapter End Notes

I had just Mitsuki in mind when coming up with his chapter, but she forced Masaru along for the
ride. They're a two-for-one deal.

How good Mitsuki and Masaru are as parents can depend on the writer. Some think they're
abusive and neglectful, others think it's the school's fault for making Katsuki the way he is. You
can guess which camp I fall into, but I still had them acknowledge their parenting faults.

As for Katsuki in this chapter, I see him as someone who desires praise, but only a very specific
kind of praise. For example, he wanted to prove his superiority at the Sports Festival, but got
angry when he won to Todoroki, who didn't use his fire. I kind of leaned into that mindset for
this chapter. Plus, the mindset where he thought Izuku was looking down on him despite all the
praise he hurls at him. Katsuki is a deciptively complex character.

Next Time: It's, like, gonna be totes awesome, yo.

 Camie the Illusionist
Chapter Notes

I'd like to thank you all for reaching 1,000 kudos on this fic. It must be a number, but it means a
lot to me that 1,000 people enjoyed my work.

EDIT: I added translations for Camie's more confusing sentences, which is most of them

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The moment the bell rang, Izuku began to pack up his bag as fast as he could. It was usually never a
good idea for him to stick around for too long after school. He didn’t want to risk Katsuki being in a
bad mood.

As he struggled to move the zipper on account of how frantically he stuffed everything in there, he
overheard a few conversations from the students who passed by. Though one stood out to him in
particular.

“Hey, girls. How’s it, like, hangin'?”

“Oh, uh. Hello? Camie, isn’t it?” Replied a girl from his class. “How was your first day?”

“It was, like, totally lit, yo.” (Translation: it was good).

“Um… lit?”

“Yeah, fam. My old school was kinda out of pocket, but this place seems like a real glow-up. No cap.
(Translation: my old school sucked, but this place seems better).”

“Um, great… Listen, we gotta go now. Bye,” The group of girls quickly made their way out of the
classroom, leaving a slightly disappointed Camie.

Izuku understood why the girls left. Frankly, he couldn’t understand what she said either. He
recognized the terminology from the far-off generation of Gen-Z, but that was almost two hundred
years ago. It would be like if someone walked up to you and started talking in Shakespeare.

But still, it was kind of cold to just leave someone like that on their first day of school. Though,
maybe he’d set the bar too high for his classmates.

Izuku snuck a glance at Camie, who didn’t seem to mind the rejection all too much, quickly perking
back up and walking to the nearest person to converse with. Izuku felt a shred of empathy as that
person just so happened to be Katsuki.

“Hey, what’s bussin? I’m Camie Utsushimi, in case you forgot. I’m new here. I heard from a couple
other fams that you were a high-key Chad around here. And, like, I see what they mean. You look
like, so totally Gucci, man!” (Translation: People told me you were cool and popular, and it looks like
they were right).
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re saying,” Katsuki shoved past her as he made his way out of the
classroom, “Just stay out of my way, extra.”

Camie looked visibly more annoyed by that blatant rejection. “Tch, that guy’s totally mid.”

Izuku couldn’t help but feel bad for her. Having Katsuki be one of the first people you interact with at
a new school would be unfortunate for anyone. He decided at that moment to make sure her day
didn’t end on a sour note.

“Um, sorry about Kacchan,” Izuku said as he nervously approached. “He can be a little… brash at
times. But he’s like that with everyone.”

Camie turned to him and smiled at the friendly gesture. “Yeah. Like, I figured. He seemed savage, but
not all that lit. I was just like, jumpin’ on the bandwagon, ya’ dig?” (Translation: He wasn’t as cool as
everyone said he was).

Izuku found himself tripped up by her odd speech patterns. But through context clues, he thought he
was able to decipher what she said. He still had no clue what ‘lit’ meant, though. “Um, yeah, I dig.
I’m Izuku Midoriya, by the way. You’re Camie Utsushimi, right?”

“Yeah, you totes got it in one. I like your vibe, man. Especially those red shoes. You really got the
drip.”

“The - the drip?” Izuku didn’t know what that meant, but it sounded like a compliment.

“Yeah, man! They stick out. These uniforms aren’t extra enough. Super basic. I just wanna look
boujee all the time.” (Translation: These uniforms are boring, I wanna wear something cooler).

Izuku assumed she was talking about the school’s dress code. “Oh? What - what kinda stuff do you
usually wear?”

“Oh, you know, the usual,” Camie whipped out her phone, got noticeably close to Izuku’s face, and
began scrolling through her camera roll.

Izuku tried to ignore the pressing of her shoulder against his (a difficult task, mind you) and focus on
the selfies of Camie in various colorful outfits, each with a nauseating amount of accessories. “W-
wow! You have a really good fashion sense. I like the colors. Lots of bright pastels.”

“Thanks. I’m real into aesthetics. I might even be a bit of a material girl. But what about you? What’s
your fit?”

“My - my fit? Oh! My clothes. I don’t really have much in terms of fashion, at least compared to you.
Just those novelty T-shirts.”

Camie gasped like Izuku had just insulted her mother. “That’s like, a huge L right there. You’d look
totally sick in something less faded.” She nodded to herself as she slapped a fist in her open palm,
seemingly coming to a decision. “That’s it, I’m finna take you shopping. I know a place downtown
that’s super hype.” (Translation: You need better clothes, let’s go shopping).

Izuku’s brain worked overtime trying to comprehend that sentence. “L? Faded? Finna? Wait,
SHOPPING?!”

“Yeah, fam. C’mon, let’s dip!” She grabbed Izuku by the arm and ran off. Izuku was too distracted by
how soft her hands were to try and pull himself away.
Oh god, what had he gotten himself into?

———————————————

On a train. He had gotten himself on a train. Apparently, this store was a bit more ‘downtown’ than he
thought. He texted his mom about it, and she seemed super eager that he was finally hanging out with
someone (especially a girl).

As the pair waited for their stop, Izuku thought he’d take the time to better understand his new friend.
(At least, he hoped it was a friend. Friends took each other out on shopping trips, right)? So, he
googled a list of Gen-Z lingo on his phone.

He got a lot of useful information from that list. Apparently, ‘finna’ meant ‘going to,’ ‘drip’ meant
‘cool clothes,’ and ‘glow-up’ meant ‘noticeable positive change.’

Izuku figured he’d try the lingo for himself. “Hey, Utsushimi. I’m totally hyped for this… glow-up
you’re giving me. It’s gonna be totally… What's the word? Netflix and chill? No, wait, that makes no
sense. I’m feeling the rizz right now? No, that can’t be right. How about… it’s gonna be mid - no
mad! It’s gonna be mad awesome.” (Translation: ???).

Camie clutched her gut as she doubled over laughing. Izuku tried to hide his face in embarrassment,
but she saw right through him. “Man, that’s sending me. Do I sound like that?”

“No…” Izuku meekly shook his head, “You actually know what the words mean.”

“What can I say? I’m on fleek. But it was totes adorbs watching you try.”

Izuku scrolled through his dictionary to double-check what he thought she said, then immediately
blushed at the confirmation. “You - you think I’m cute?”

“Totally, man. Your whole vibe is tight.”

As Izuku’s face turned so red that he could be mistaken for a northern cardinal, he absently wondered
if everyone from Gen-Z actually talked like Camie did. What a world that would be. If only there
were a living Gen-Z-er he could ask.

———————————————

Somewhere, All for One sneezed, which was weird because he had a Quirk that prevented him from
sneezing. Also, he had no nose.

———————————————

“Wow, this place is huge,” Izuku stared in awe at the aisles upon aisles of various styles. It was
probably the most clothes he’d ever seen in his life.

“I know, right? It’s super dope. I’ve gotten lost here before.”

“Honestly, I’m a bit overwhelmed. I don’t know where to start.”

Camie suddenly grabbed Izuku’s head and turned it toward a mannequin wearing a jean jacket, black
and white striped shirt, and black slacks. “What about that? You’d totally be pulling in that.”
(Translation: It would look nice on you).
“Pulling? Pulling what?”

Before Izuku could check his phone for the translation, Camie pointed out another mannequin
wearing a bright orange jacket, a white brand-name shirt, and black jeans. “Oh, and you’d absolutely
slay in that fit.”

“I - I would?”

“Oh, and what about that one?”

“Which one?”

“And that one over there looks fire!”

“H-hold on.”

“We gotta like, try ‘em all, lol.”

“What have I gotten myself into?” Izuku muttered to himself.

It only took a few minutes for Camie to collect an assortment of outfits for Izuku and shove him into
the nearest changing room. Somehow, she managed to pick the sizes that fit him perfectly. He
wondered if she had a second sense for fashion.

“So, um, how do I look?” Izuku hesitantly walked out of the changing room wearing the first outfit
Camie suggested, the one with the jean jacket.

“Wooooo! Yeah! Slay, queen!” Camie cheered and applauded. Yet another blush erupted from Izuku’s
face. He wasn’t used to people complimenting his clothes, or compliments in general.

“You - you really like it?”

“Yeah, fam! You look on point! Now try another one.”

With a renewed sense of confidence, Izuku went back into the changing room and proceeded to try on
several more outfits that Camie picked for him, with the girl verbally praising each one.

Izuku never thought of himself as much of a fashion guy, but he felt an odd sense of pride as he
presented each ensemble. He even worked up the courage to strike a few poses. The way Camie
cheered for him, you’d think he was a supermodel.

But eventually, Camie ran out of clothes for him to try on, and the pair went to checkout with a small
selection of Izuku’s best outfits.

As they waited in line for the register, Camie stopped Izuku when he pulled out his credit card. “Naw,
man. I gotcha.”

“Really? Are you sure? Some of these are expensive.”

“Don’t like, worry ‘bout it. I invited you, after all. Plus, I got hella skrilla.” (Translation: lots of
money). She took out a sparkly pink credit card and swiped it across the reader.

“Oh, well, thank you, Utsushimi,” Izuku beamed as the pair exited the store.

“We’re cool, fam. You can call me Camie.”

Izuku’s heart rate increased dramatically at the gesture. “O-okay. Then - then I guess you can call me
Izuku.”

“What the hell?” Said a voice from behind. The pair turned around to see the trademark angry red
eyes of Katsuki Bakugo, who dropped his bags in shock. “What are you doing here, Deku?”

“Er, hi, Kacchan!” Izuku nervously waved, “Me and Camie were just… going on a shopping trip.” To
accentuate his point, he reached into a bag and pulled out a red sweatshirt.

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Tch, of course. Freaks attract freaks.”

“That’s totes uncool, man,” Camie spoke up. “You’re really failing the vibe check here.” (Translation:
Fuck you).

“Shut up! I can hardly understand what you’re saying!”

“Whatever, that just means I can call you cheugy and get away with it.” Izuku snickered at Camie’s
insult, having known what it meant.

Katsuki just looked bewildered, but still took it as an insult. “You can’t get away with shit! I’ll kill
you if I have to!”

Camie scratched her chin as she carefully observed the blond. “Hm. Sounds like some real small dick
energy.” Izuku had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing.

Katsuki briefly flushed with embarrassment before he stared back at Camie, his face contorting in
rage. “Shut up! If one more word comes out of your mouth, I’ll-”

“One more word,” She said with a smirk.

“That’s it!” He ran toward the pair with his palms smoking, ready to attack on sight. “DIE!”

With an amused roll of her eyes, Camie held out her palm and blew into it, releasing a sparkly mist
that engulfed her, Katsuki, and Izuku.

Katsuki paused his attack to get a bearing on his surroundings. “What the fu-”

“HEY! Don’t you dare use that language around me, young man!” Yelled his mother as she appeared
from the mist.

“What the fuck are you talking about?! You swear in front of me all the time! And what are you even
doing here, Hag?!”

“That’s no way to talk to your mother.” Scolded Katsuki’s dad as he appeared behind him.

At this point, Katsuki was thoroughly confused. “Dad, what the fuck is going on?”

“I’m not your dad,” Masaru replied as he removed his mask, revealing Izuku underneath. “Hi,
Kacchan!”

“I - uh - why is Deku…” He turned back to his mom to attempt to question her, but she seemed
disinterested.
 “Save it, Brat. I’m not your mom.” Mitsuki pulled off a rubber mask of her own, revealing the head of
All Might underneath. “Do not worry, for I AM HERE! Disguised as your mother.”

Katsuki wanted to wretch at the sight of All Might’s head on his mother’s body, but those feelings
were being drowned out by an oncoming migraine. “AM I LOSING MY GOD DAMN MIND?!”

“No, but I’m losing my disguise,” Izuku replied as he ripped off his clothes, revealing a fireworks
truck underneath. “BEEP BEEP!”

“Oh my god, I’ve finally lost it.” Katsuki cackled with insanity as pulled at his face, seemingly trying
to pull a mask off his face. “Hahaha! This could not get any weirder.”

“You’re right, it can’t,” Said Mr. Game & Watch from the hit video game series Smash Bros.

This was the last straw for Katsuki. He broke out into an ear-piercing scream and ran away as fast as
he could.

As he exited the sparkly mist, he didn't notice the wall in front of him until he slammed into it and fell
to the ground unconscious.

Once Katsuki was out cold, the mist cleared, revealing a snickering Izuku and Camie.

“I didn’t know your Quirk could do that!” Izuku exclaimed. “But how did you know what Kacchan’s
parents look like?”

“My Quirk fills in the blanks in your mind. It’s the GOAT. Great for throwing shade at salty people.”

“I’ll say,” Izuku walked over to Katsuki and propped his body up against the wall. “This was really
fun, Camie. We should do this again sometime.”

“Oh yeah. You should pick the place next time. Okay, Bae?”

“Sounds good.” He smiled as he absently checked his phone for the definition of ‘Bae,’ only to freeze
up at the results.

Bae: Boyfriend or girlfriend

Izuku violently shook in place as he slowly peered up toward Camie. “W-w-w-when you said b-b-b-
b-bae, d-did you mean…”

“Yeah! We just went on a date, didn’t we?”

Izuku just passed out.

“I’m like, totally taking that as a yes.”

Chapter End Notes

If you're wondering what Bakugo was doing at the store, he was picking up mannequin heads for
his parents.
Speaking of which, two fashion-related chapters in a row. I did not plan this, it was just the
direction this chapter took me in.

Camie was a lot of fun to write here, especially when I learned to embrace the cringe. Which,
now that I think about it, I pretty much did the moment I got into fan fiction.

Next Time: Remember how I said I'd do another character vote once we reached 1,000 kudos?
Well, I make good on my word. Though I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. You guys work
fast.

But yes, Vote in the comments for a character you want to see star in their very own chapter. The
character with the most votes wins.

Same rules as last time:

1. One vote per person (I trust you guys not to rig the voting with guest accounts)
2. No voting for Bakugo or Mineta. I don't like Mineta, and I'm saving Bakugo for the series
finale
3. No voting for someone I've already done a chapter on (includes characters like La Brava and
Overhaul, since they have character tags)
4. No crossovers. Only characters from the MHA universe, which means characters from
Vigilanties, Team-Up Missions, movies, OVAs, and OCs are allowed (though good luck getting
enough votes for that last one)
5. I probably should have made a Google form instead, but I feed off comments, they're my
lifeblood

VOTING IS OVER! DO NOT VOTE! IF YOU VOTE, YOU’LL LOOK REALLY

STUPID!
 Intelli the Intelligent
Chapter Notes

Here of the results of last chapter's character vote:

Total Votes: 85. One less than last time :(

1st Place: Saiko Intelli and Knuckleduster. 8 votes each
2nd Place: Kyoka Jiro, All Might, and Itsuka Kendo. 6 votes each
3rd Place: Nejire Hado. 5 votes

Since first place was a tie, I've decided to make chapters for both winners. I just felt like doing
Intelli first, but Knuckleduster will be next.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

If one were to describe Saiko Intelli’s mood with a single word, some acceptable ones would be
annoyed, bothered, vexed, irked, or miffed.

After a fireworks truck crashed into her old school, she hoped her parents would take that as an
opportunity to finally move her up a few grades at her new one. But no, they stressed the importance
of ‘making friends of the same age’ for some reason. And now she was at Aldera Middle School.

Saiko didn’t even understand what the point was. In the big algebraic equation that was her life, there
was no room for a friendship variable. She just wanted to graduate high school and get into Seiai as
soon as possible.

She huffed at her desk. Unfortunately, her long-term goals meant very little at the moment. All she
could do was kill time while she waited for graduation. So, she might as well use this as an
opportunity to show off her academic prowess.

Saiko sipped her thermos full of tea and immediately felt her brain capacity expand. She raised her
hand to answer the math question the teacher wrote down on the board. “The value of x would be
eight.”

She did the same thing during English class. “The sentence would be in past tense, not present.”

And again in science class. “The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.”

Things continued in that manner throughout the day. Saiko could tell she was earning the ire of her
classmates for being that one person who raised their hand too often, but she didn’t care. If they truly
wanted to solve that issue, they would have answered more of the teachers’ questions themselves.

Eventually, lunch rolled around, and Saiko brought out her bento. She elected to eat at her desk, like
she did most days. She enjoyed being left alone with her own thoughts, untainted by the minds of
others.

She hoped her classmates would quickly funnel out of the room, leaving her all alone, but
unfortunately for her, two boys stayed behind.
“You’re still fucking writing in these?” An angry blond boy sneered as he picked a notebook off a
nervous-looking green-haired boy’s desk.

“C’mon, Kacchan. I’m just doing it for fun,” The green-haired boy pleaded as he tried to get his
notebook back.

“Bullshit! I know you’re trying to use these to become a hero, Deku. How many times do I have to
tell you that it will never happen?”

Saiko knew what was about to happen next. She had seen the blond use his explosion Quirk before.
He was preparing to blast the notebook away. And judging by the angle his hand was at, it would be
flying in her direction.

Sure enough, Saiko’s calculations proved correct, as usual, and she caught the notebook in midair
before it hit her in the face.

“Um, do you fucking mind?” The blonde turned to her in frustration.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Saiko threw the notebook like a frisbee to the green-haired boy, who
managed to catch it without getting any papercuts. “If I recall correctly, the cafeteria is the place for
roughhousing, not the classroom. So, bye-bye!”

“Tch, fuckin’ know-it-all,” The blond grunted as he trailed out of the room, leaving just her and the
green-haired boy.

He stared at her with disbelief in his eyes. How could he not? That was quite an impressive display of
her abilities. “Um, thank you for helping me. And sorry about the trouble. Kacchan’s just not a fan of
my notebooks, or me in general. I’m Izuku Midoriya, by the way.”

“Saiko Intelli,” She greeted in return. “Now, if you don’t mind me inquiring, what was it about those
notebooks that made this ‘Kacchan’ fellow so angry?”

Izuku not-so-subtly held the notebook behind his back. “It’s nothing, really. Just… Quirks and stuff.
Probably not worth your time.”

Saiko found her curiosity pique. One of her favorite pastimes involved the acquisition of information.
She studied math, chemistry, biology, and anthropology, but she found herself lacking in the
Quirkology department. It was just one of those subjects she never got around to looking at in-depth.
“Even so, may I see your notes?” She asked politely.

Izuku looked shocked at these words, like no one had ever taken an interest in his research before.
“Um, okay, I guess.” He reluctantly said as he slid the notebook onto her desk.

Saiko quickly skimmed through the pages, her Quirk allowing faster reading speeds so she could still
get the most out of his information. And by gods, she was downright impressed by what she saw.

Sure, the penmanship was a little clunky, but the sheer information about Quirks, heroes, costumes,
fighting styles, support equipment, weaknesses, and ways to combat said weaknesses was
unparalleled. Now this was a brain she’d like to pick at.

Saiko’s train of thought suddenly screeched to a halt. She was taking an interest in another person’s
hobby and finding common ground with them. Based on her research, this would constitute the first
stage of ‘friendship.’ But would she really be willing to make this jump?
Saiko took a sip of tea and weighed the options in her head. If she decided to get to know this
Midoriya fellow, she could possibly gain access to his incredible knowledge of Quirks and heroes.
Though, that likely meant she would have to share information of her own. But it was no matter, for
knowledge was meant to be passed around.

With her decision solidified, Saiko put the notebook down, got up from her desk, and announced, “I
have found your analysis quite eye-opening, Izuku Midoriya. As such, I will give you the exclusive
right to be my friend.”

Izuku’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened. “R-really? You don’t find my analysis weird or creepy?”

“No! The exact opposite, in fact. If you would like, I could give you information about my Quirk, and
we could - Wait, are you crying?”

“N-no.” Izuku blubbered as he tried to wipe the tears off his face. “I’m just - I would love to be your
friend, Intelli.”

“Very well,” Saiko gave a satisfied nod. “Now, you’ll have to forgive me, but my studies on
friendship have been minimal, so I will very much be learning as I go along.”

“Yeah. I don’t have many friends, either. But, uhhhh… maybe we can start with something fun. What
do you like to do?”

“Well, I enjoy partaking in reading. My favorite book genres are AP history and physics textbooks.”
She turned Izuku’s notebook around and noticed it was labeled as the thirteenth. “Though, I wouldn’t
be lying if I said I were interested in the previous editions of your notebooks. Mayhaps I could start
with volume one.”

Izuku chuckled nervously as he scratched his arm. “You’re not really missing much there. My first
analysis notebook was written in crayon. But you seem pretty smart. Maybe you could help me
update the one I’m already working on.”

“You would be right to assume my intelligence,” Saiko beamed at the praise. “Even without my
Quirk, my IQ sits at a comfortable 145.”

“Without your Quirk, you say?” With a pencil in hand, Izuku flipped to a new notebook page. “Please,
tell me more.”

“Very well. My Quirk is called IQ. It boosts my thinking capacity significantly upon drinking tea.”

“Question, does it have to be tea specifically? Or would your Quirk still work if you just consumed
the herbs?”

“The latter. My Quirk works with all kinds of herbs, but I find tea the most efficient form of
consumption.”

“Can’t argue with that.” Izuku finished up his entry and showed it off to Saiko. “Anything I missed?”

“I neglected to mention the drawbacks. If I consume too much tea at once, I get a migraine. And if I
go too long without consuming any tea, I go crazy, for lack of a better term.”

“Exactly how crazy are we talking about?”

“Uhhhhh…”
 ———————————————

“Honey! When was the last time Saiko had her tea?” Her mother yelled from across the room.

“A few days, I think. Why?” Her father responded.

“You best fire up the kettle. Saiko seems to be flopping around like a fish out of water.”

“Glub glub glub,” Saiko said through puffed cheeks.

“Please hurry. I don’t want to have to put her in a fishbowl.”

———————————————

“A perfectly acceptable amount of crazy,” Saiko said very unassuredly.

“Okay…” Izuku jotted down hesitantly. Saiko had a feeling he saw right through her. “But now that
we have your Quirk in the books, how about we switch gears? Is there any hero in particular you’re
curious about?”

“I’ve always found myself partial to Best Jeanist.”

“Yeah, that’s a great Quirk, especially when trying to find workarounds for fire. There are so many
possibilities.”

“I concur. There’s the simple option of dousing the fibers with water beforehand.”

“But since Best Jeanist has excellent Quirk control, it’s possible for him to weave his fibers around
the flames.”

“Though, that may very well leave him susceptible to attack.”

“Not if he’s good at multitasking.”

“And how good do you think he is at that?”

“Oh, don’t get me started.”

As the lunch period went on, the two continued discussing Quirks and their theories surrounding
them. They bounced ideas at each other like it was a game of tennis, each gaining new perspectives
on the Quirks of famous heroes.

Saiko’s knowledge of math and physics helped Izuku better understand several Quirks at a
scientifically fundamental level. Izuku’s out-of-the-box thinking opened Saiko’s mind to the
unexpectedly creative applications of even the simplest Quirks.

The pair continued to chatter throughout the rest of the lunch period, only stopping when they noticed
students enter the classroom.

“Dang. Guess we’re out of time,” Izuku said.

“No matter, we shall simply continue this conversation tomorrow,” Saiko stated.

“Or… we could maybe hang out after school? Maybe?” Izuku shrugged nervously. In his mind, he
was taking a bold risk by asking so much from his new friend.
Saiko pondered to herself for a second before answering. “Yes. Extending the time spent around one
another would be most beneficial for building our relationship. We shall both ‘hang out’ at the nearby
park after classes have concluded.”

Izuku pumped his fist in a silent victory.

———————————————

“Midoriya, I must ask you for your perspective,” Saiko began as she and Izuku walked through the
park. “What exactly do people do when they ‘hang out’? I assume it’s something different from what
we were previously doing during lunch.”

“Yeah, the park isn’t exactly the number one place for Quirk analysis,” Izuku chuckled. “When people
hang out, they just kind of… do stuff, I guess?” Izuku glanced over to an empty basketball court. “Oh,
we could play Horse or something.”

“Horse,” Saiko picked up a nearby basketball and eyed it up and down. “I have heard of this game
before. Though I must admit, I’m not the most athletic.”

“Me neither, but you don’t need to be much of an athlete to shoot a ball.” Izuku took the ball from
Saiko and shot it in the hoop. “There, now you try and make the shot from where I was standing.”

“Oh, I see! It’s actually a game of physics and mathematics!” She cheered as she lined up her shot. “If
I bend my knees ever so slightly and use specific wrist motions when throwing, then I’ll be able to
shoot the ball at an exact 72.5-degree angle and get the ball into the hoop.”

She threw the ball as best she could, but it bounced off the rim. “Of course. While the math may be
sound, theory without experience is mere intellectual play. No matter, I will simply have to gain more
experience.

Saiko grabbed the ball and backed up a few steps. “Now, I believe it is my turn. Midoriya, I bet you
cannot throw the ball from this specific spot at an 85-degree angle! As I am about to do.” That shot
made it in. “Yes! This game is surprisingly satisfying.”

“That’s good. I’m glad you’re having fun,” Izuku said with a thumbs up. He was a little confused as
to why Saiko was inserting physics into basketball, but whatever floated her boat.

———————————————

“I’m sorry, you play what?”

“Fighting games. Y’know, like Hero Bash 4. They’re fun for both casuals and competitive players.”

Izuku sat on a park bench next to Saiko as he pulled out his Nintendo Switch from his bag and handed
her a Joycon.

Saiko scoffed at the title screen. “I fail to see how a complex mind such as myself can be properly
stimulated with such barbaric electronic devices.”

“I dunno, I think you’ll like it,” Izuku shrugged. “At least try it for one round.”

She sighed. “Very well. I suppose I’ll go with Kamui Woods.”

“All Might is my main.”

Before the match started, Saiko read up on her character’s list of combo moves. She raised an
eyebrow at the complex button inputs, seemingly intrigued. When the match began in earnest, Izuku
let his friend stand to the side to get a feel for the controls before they fought for real.

“Hm, I see.” Saiko nodded, “So we must chain together attacks in order to cause the most damage to
our opponent while also being mindful of their moves.”

“Yup. That’s how fighting games work.”

Saiko’s eyes sparkled in intrigue. “And considering how there are dozens of characters, each with
their own unique playstyle, that means there are hundreds upon thousands of combinations for
individual matches.”

“Uh, I guess.”

“And if you consider factors such as hitboxes, shield breaks, the timer, and hit stun, that creates a
near-infinite amount of variables to calculate!” Her mouth practically salivated at the possibilities.

“That’s one way to look at it.”

Saiko’s face turned serious as she grabbed her friend by the shoulders. “Midoriya, I must procure a
copy of this game at once.”

Izuku just felt like he had created a monster.

———————————————

As the day wrapped up and the sun began to set, Izuku walked out of the nearby convenience store to
greet his friend who waited outside. “Are you sure you don’t want anything?” He asked.

“No thank you. My pallet is a bit more refined than your, ugh, pizza.”

“You don’t like the taste?”

“I have never tried pizza. But based on its appearance, I do not find it very appetizing.”

“Suit yourself,” Izuku took another bite of his mini pizza. “I was just curious since this pizza has
oregano, which is an herb. So I figured it might work for your Quirk.”

Saiko couldn’t help but scoff. “And why would I need that if I already have my tea?”

“I mean, I know tea comes in all sorts of flavors, and pizza is less efficient in comparison. But don’t
you wanna try something new?”

Saiko thought back to her recent exposure to new things that day. She enjoyed basketball and fighting
games well enough. So, statistically speaking…

“Very well then. If you would be so kind as to pass me a slice.”

Izuku happily obliged, and Saiko took a small bite, quickly becoming a much larger one. “I must
admit, it is adequate enough to meet my standards.” She said as she forced as much pizza into her
mouth as possible.

Izuku just chuckled.

 ———————————————

The Next Day…

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Deku?” Katsuki cornered Izuku at his desk at the end of
class.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Kacchan,” Izuku whimpered.

“I saw you hanging out with that know-it-all girl during lunch today. You think you’re hot shit just
because someone’s desperate enough to hang out with you? News flash: You’re not! What do you
think she’s gonna say when she finds out that you’re-”

“-That he’s Quirkless?” Saiko interrupted as she walked into the room, holding a chess set, “Oh, trust
me, I’ve already deduced that for myself.”

Izuku paled at his friend’s words. “What? How?!”

“I specifically remember your notes stating that Eraserhead’s capture scarf would be, and I quote, ‘An
effective weapon for a potential Quirkless hero.’ But if this ruffian thinks I actually care about your
Quirk status, he must be more doltish than I thought.”

Katsuki growled as he stomped up to her. “Are you seriously calling me dumb? I have the highest test
scores in this entire school!”

Saiko simply rolled her eyes. “That may prove you to be smart, but I doubt you’re very intelligent.
There’s a difference. Besides, with me around, I hope you’re prepared to go down a spot on the test
rankings.”

Katsuki went to interject, but Saiko slapped a hand over his mouth before any words could come out.
“Before you spit any more unoriginal insults in my face, I’m sure you’d like to prove your superiority
to me. As such, I challenge you to a game of chess boxing.”

Katsuki paused his rant and raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Chess boxing?”

“Yes. Because a brute like yourself would be more likely to accept my challenge if a physical
component is involved.” She sat down at a desk and set up the chessboard and timer.

“Here’s how this will work: We will play chess for three minutes, then box for three minutes. The
game ends when either opponent receives a checkmate, a knockout, or the chess timer runs out. Do
you accept?”

“Hell yeah!” Katsuki sat down across from Saiko and started the chess timer. “Even if I can’t beat you
in chess, it’ll only take me one round of boxing to kick you-”

“Checkmate.”

“WHAT?!” Katsuki stared down at the board. Sure enough, he was in checkmate. “That didn’t count!
I want a rematch!”

“No thank you,” Saiko got up and began packing away the chessboard. “I have already proved my
superiority to you. I have nothing to gain from continuing to face you.”

“Oh yeah?” Katsuki reached into his pocket and pulled out a small stack of yen bills.
Saiko’s eyes widened as she slowly sat back down in her seat and set up the chessboard again. “Very
well. If you insist on digging your own grave deeper.”

———————————————

Three Games Later…

“Checkmate,” Saiko announced. “I’m impressed. You almost lasted a full minute against me.”

“I’m not done yet, you bitch!” Katsuki reached into his pocket, only to discover he was out of money.

Saiko gave a haughty laugh, “It seems as if you are.”

“N-no. I still have my All Might merchandise.”

“Really? What would I want with hero merchandise?” She absentmindedly turned her head toward
Izuku, who was giving her puppy-dog eyes, just begging for her to accept his challenge. “On second
thought, I can think of someone who would get good use out of those.”

———————————————

Ten Games Later…

“Not my ultra-rare All Might card!” Katsuki yelled.

“It isn’t my fault you decided to wager it.” Saiko handed the card to Izuku, who squealed in delight.
“Now, would you like to lose any more of your possessions? Or will you finally declare me as the
victor?”

“What do you think?!”

———————————————

Twenty Games Later…

Katsuki Bakugo had lost everything except the clothes on his back.

“Checkmate!”

Wait, scratch that. Saiko just won his school uniform. With not a single possession to his name,
Katsuki simply slumped out of the classroom in his underwear with his head hung low.

“I kinda feel bad for him,” Izuku said.

“I’m afraid I feel little-to-no empathy for him,” Saiko stated. “Much like a gambler at a casino, he
could have quit at any time. Yet he chose to keep trying his luck in hopes that he would hang on for at
least three minutes. If it were possible, I’m sure I would have won his Quirk from him.”

“What would you have done if he did manage to survive to the boxing round?”

“Oh, I would have lost, plain and simple. But going forward, it would only be logical to correct my
weaknesses, especially if I want to get into a hero school.”

“But still, the fact that you managed to beat him so many times, even without your Quirk...”
 “Quite impressive, is it not?” Saiko beamed at the praise. “But speaking of which, I believe it is time
to replenish my brainpower.”

She reached into her bag and pulled out a mini pizza with a frankly disgusting amount of oregano.
Watching Saiko eat it, Izuku felt like he wanted to vomit. But she seemed to enjoy it, so he let it slide.

Chapter End Notes

This goes without saying, but Intelli would definitely be joining Izuku at UA. Now that I think
about it, there aren't too many fics where she's in 1-A. Anyone know any? Just curious.

I'm sure Bakugo would be quite decent at chess. But compared to Intelli, there's not much
contest. Plus, his anger would build after each consecutive loss, which would cloud his
judgment.

Chess boxing is a real sport, by the way. Probably the coolest sport ever made.

Next Time: Knuckleduster, for those of you who didn't read the beginning.
 Knuckleduster the Brawler
Chapter Notes

FWI, I haven't read Vigilantes. So my knowledge of this character mostly comes from reading
his wiki page. So if I get some info wrong or mischaracterize him, I'm not sorry.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Izuku wheezed as Katsuki stomped on his stomach like he was trying to squish a bug.

“Just give up already, Deku. There’s never been a Quirkless hero. And if you seriously think you can
be the first, you must be a bigger dumbass than I thought.”

Katsuki stormed off before Izuku could respond, leaving the boy to tend to his wounds. It was the
usual bruises, scratches, and burn marks for him. Nothing he hadn’t dealt with before. That didn’t
make it sting any less, though.

Izuku couldn’t help but think about what Katsuki had just said. Heroes had been around for decades,
and Quirks for even longer. Surely, he couldn’t have been the first person ever to want to be a hero
despite their lack of a Quirk. The world was a big place, after all.

That evening, he logged onto various online hero forums and asked if anyone had ever heard of a
Quirkless hero. He got the usual responses: Some no’s, some maybes, and some people who laughed
at his face. However, one response from the account Sh00tyGo_BlamBlam piqued his interest.

The user brought up rumors of a Quirkless vigilante in Naruhata who used to be a pro hero until he
got his Quirk stolen by some sort of Quirk-stealing boogeyman. Izuku doubted the likelihood of that
story, but pressed for more details. The user said the vigilante went by the name Knuckleduster and
wore a black bandana and green trench coat.

Izuku stopped and pondered to himself for a moment. Was he really going to go all the way out to
Naruhata on the off-chance he would run into some Quirkless vigilante just to prove Katsuki wrong?

Oh, who was he kidding? He had nothing better to do.

———————————————

In the alleys of Naruhata, a bulky man in a bandana and green trench coat dispensed justice to the
villain before him.

“Your reign of terror ends here, Driver!” Knuckleduster proclaimed as he sent another punch toward
the villain, who just barely dodged it.

The Driver, who had red skin and yellow horns like a demon and dressed like a biker, complete with a
leather jacket and white helmet, simply rolled his eyes. “Ugh. You drive one fireworks truck into a
school, and suddenly everyone’s out to get’cha. You’re just lucky my ride’s in the shop.”
The Driver threw a punch of his own, which Knuckleduster easily blocked and used as an opportunity
to send a fist toward his face. The Driver saw this coming and tilted his head down so his brass
knuckles would connect with his helmet instead.

The Driver activated his Quirk and shot a small fireball from his mouth at Knuckleduster’s leg, which
exploded on impact and sent the vigilante to the ground.

“Dammit!” Knuckleduster yelled as he clutched his burnt leg.

“Ha! Seems as if the tables have turned, haven’t they?” The Driver charged up a much bigger fireball
in his mouth, ready to hit his opponent dead-on.

Suddenly, a rock came out of nowhere and hit him in the cheek, causing his trajectory to shift and the
fireball to land several feet from his target.

“Ow! That hurt!” The demon-like man cradled his bruised cheek as he turned to see the source of the
rock, where he was met with a nervous-looking, freckled kid awkwardly standing at the entrance to
the alley.

“What the…” Before The Driver could comprehend his situation, a brass knuckle uppercutted him in
the jaw and activated its taser mechanism, electrocuting and immobilizing him.

“Tch, the guy let his guard down too easy,” Knuckleduster grunted as he got up and began tying the
villain’s arms behind his back with some rope that he brought with him.

“Are you okay, sir?” The green-haired boy asked as he ran up to him. He took special notice of the
vigilante’s burnt leg and took out some bandages from his backpack. “Here, let me help you. I know
how to treat burns.”

“So do I. You don’t get into fights without knowing how to treat yourself. But thanks anyway.”
Knuckleduster responded. “What’s your name, squirt?”

“Izuku Midoriya,” He said as he wrapped up Knuckleduster’s leg with a practiced ease.

“Midoriya, eh? Let me ask you this, Midoriya: Why did you go in and throw that rock?”

“Oh, um…” The boy tensed as he struggled to form words. “I - I saw you were in trouble, and I did
the first thing that came to my mind. I saw the villain was wearing a helmet, so I went for the cheek
instead. Sorry if I got in the way.”

“No need to be sorry, Squirt. If you didn’t do what you did, I’d have been twice as burnt as I am now.
Why’s a kid like you checkin’ out alleys in Naruhata, anyway?”

“I heard rumors of a Quirkless vigilante somewhere in this city.” He looked at the man before him
with a sense of familiarity. “You wouldn’t happen to be Knuckleduster, would you?”

“That depends, why are you lookin’ for him?”

The boy looked slightly apprehensive, but continued on anyway. “Well… I’m Quirkless, and I’ve
always wanted to be a hero. But everyone at my school says a Quirkless person can’t be a hero. But
when I heard of you - I mean him, I thought my dream wouldn’t be quite so out of reach. So I wanted
to ask him for some tips on how he does it.”
Knuckleduster stayed silent for a moment before he turned and started moving. “Walk with me,
Squirt,” He said without checking to see if Izuku was actually following him.

“Oh, yes! Of course!” Izuku jogged to catch up.

———————————————

After a short walk, the two sat down at a nearby diner, and Knuckleduster ordered a plate of fries,
which he smothered in a frankly illegal amount of ketchup. “So, you want to be a hero. Am I getting
this right?” He began.

“Uh-huh!” Izuku nodded as he sat straight up in his chair.

“Alright, Squirt. I’ll be honest with you, if you hadn’t impressed me with your quick thinking back
there, I probably would have just ignored you. But you threw that rock, so here we are.”

“I mean, it wasn’t much. It was just a rock.”

“Sometimes, a rock can be the difference between life and death. But enough about that, you wanna
know how I do things, right?”

“Right!” Izuku pulled out his notebook, eager to write down every word that came out of the man’s
mouth.

“Alright. So here’s my wisdom which I impart onto you: You gotta fight.”

Izuku paused and looked up from his note-taking. “I gotta fight?”

“Yeah, you gotta fight. But it’s not just about that, you gotta know how to pick your battles.”

“How do I pick my battles?”

Knuckleduster took a bite out of a fry. “You have to pick the fights you know you’re going to win,”
He said with his mouth full. “Which should be every fight!”

“Every fight?” Izuku tilted an eyebrow. “How do I know if I’m going to win every fight or not?”

“Well, is a hero just going to step down from a fight just because they think they won’t win?”

“I don’t think so. That would be kind of cowardly for a hero, them just refusing to fight a villain due
to a ‘bad matchup’ or something.”

“That’s right!” Knuckleduster continued, “You gotta go into every fight with the intention of coming
out on top. No hesitation, just fight.”

“Okay, I think I can do that,” Izuku scribbled the advice down. He didn’t know if he could actually do
it or not. But apparently, false reassurance was the first step. “But do you have any tips on how to
approach the fight itself?”

“Yeah, I do. Whenever you see an opponent, you have to identify their weak points as fast as possible,
then exploit the hell outta them.”

“When you say weak points, do you mean in terms of body, Quirk, or both?”
“Both, if you can help it. But sometimes it’s hard to guess a Quirk based on appearance alone, like
with that demon-looking guy from earlier. I didn’t know he could shoot fireballs, but he looked like
he had a very punchable face, so that’s what I went for.”

“Hm, I see.” Izuku frantically jotted down every last detail.

“Here, let me see that,” Knuckleduster snatched the book out of Izuku’s hands and flipped to a page
with a drawing of a person on it. “Preferable weak points are here, here, and here.” He said as he
pointed at various body parts. Izuku wasn’t surprised one of those parts was the crotch.

“Now, pop quiz! How would you take this guy out?”

“Who, Kacchan?” Izuku thoughtfully stared at the drawing in his notebook. “That would be tough.
He’s got a really good Quirk. But if I had to, I guess I could douse him with water to wash the
nitroglycerin off his body. Actually, fire extinguisher fluid would probably work even better. On the
opposite end of the spectrum, I could douse him in a flammable liquid, then he couldn’t attack me
without setting himself aflame. If I didn’t have that, I could just try and ignite the sweat on his skin.
Or maybe I could make the floor slippery so his explosions would push him around.”

Izuku paused for a moment as he came to a realization. “Wow, Kacchan’s Quirk has a lot of counters.
Maybe it’s not as cool as I thought it was. I mean, sure, the way he uses it is cool. But how many of
these potential counters has he seriously taken into consideration?”

“I dunno,” Knuckleduster shrugged. “But it’ll be useful if you ever have to fight him.”

Izuku winced at that statement, a gesture that Knuckleduster quickly picked up on. “What’s the
matter, Squirt?”

“Your remark has more truth to it than you think,” Izuku chuckled mirthlessly. “Kacchan… he likes to
pick fights with me. A lot. Okay, it’s less of a fight and more of a one-sided beatdown.”

“Sounds like a real bully to me.” The Quirkless vigilante took another bite of his fries.

“I mean, I wouldn’t say that. Kacchan just wants to prove he’s better than everyone… always… every
day… especially me.”

“You really gonna take that sitting down, Squirt? You can’t sit there and tell me you’re fine with
taking the brunt of his anger.”

“I mean, if given the choice, I’d rather he leave me alone.”

“Well, I guess we know who you’re fighting first. After all, you can’t be a hero if you can’t even save
yourself.”

Izuku wanted to protest, but he had to admit the man had a point. Heroes became the change they
wanted to see in the world. They didn’t just sit by and let themselves get picked on. “Do you really
think I can use these counters to beat Kacchan?”

Knuckleduster let out a sudden laugh. “HA! No. No way. You can’t. But that’s why I’m here.” He got
up from his seat, threw some money on the table, and walked out the door. “Come with me, Squirt.
It’s time for some training.”

Izuku’s face brightened as he followed his new mentor. “What are you going to teach me?” He asked
excitedly.
“Just the basics for today. How to throw, block, and counter a punch.”

“Any chance you could teach me how to counter a right hook, perhaps?”

Knuckleduster just grinned.

———————————————

The Next Day…

As he walked through the near-empty hallway, Izuku reached into his pocket and gripped the brass
knuckles his mentor had given him as a reward for a productive day of training.

He thought he had taken to punching rather well, able to get the hang of the fundamentals after only a
few hours. Granted, it still wasn’t much, but he thought it would prepare him well enough for the fight
that was about to go down.

“There you are, Deku!” Katsuki yelled as he stomped up to him. However, just because he expected
him didn’t make Izuku any less nervous.

“What - what do you need, Kacchan?” Izuku reached into the front pocket of his backpack.

“I know you were muttering louder than usual in class just to piss me off. Well, guess what? You
succeeded. I hope you’re ready to face the consequences.” He made the familiar hand-clutching
motions that signaled an oncoming explosion.

“Wait! Hold on just one second!” Izuku pulled out a bottle of soap and poured it on the ground in
front of Katsuki, confusing him greatly.

“Deku, I don’t know what the hell you’re doing, and I frankly don’t care. Just DIE!”

Izuku sidestepped the explosion Katsuki launched at his face. The force of which, combined with the
lack of friction from the greased-up floor, caused the blond to slide backward, slam his back into the
wall, and fall to the floor.

“OW! Fucking hell!” Katsuki rubbed the back of his head as he struggled to get up. “You’re gonna
pay for that, Deku!”

Izuku, thoroughly shaken by this threat, quickly ran over to Katsuki with his next item in hand, flint
and steel. One spark was all it took to ignite all the sweat on Katsuki’s body in a thick puff of smoke.
“Heh. G-good luck trying to make me pay now!” Izuku nervously taunted, hoping his newfound
confidence wasn’t misplaced.

“You really think that’ll stop me?!” Katsuki finished getting up and charged in Izuku’s direction.

Izuku knew he was right, which was why he reached into his bag yet again and threw two water
balloons filled with ice-cold water at his bully, who stopped and shivered upon contact. That way, he
couldn’t generate more sweat even if he tried.

“O-o-okay. N-now I’m p-p-pissed!” He pulled back his fist and threw a right hook at Izuku’s face, but
the coldness only made him slower and more predictable. Izuku easily dodged as he gripped his brass
knuckles, let out a small grin, and slugged Katsuki across the face. Blood dribbled out of his nose as
he stumbled to the ground and passed out unconscious.
Despite not having exerted himself, Izuku breathed heavily from the shock of the situation as he
stared at the metal coating surrounding his fist. Man, that felt good. And not just punching Katsuki in
the face, the fact that his analysis managed to actually accomplish something. After all these years, he
was finally seeing the fruits of his labors.

He felt on top of the world!

———————————————

“Yup. That’ll happen to you after a good fight,” Knuckleduster smirked as Izuku finished recounting
his fight with Katsuki from earlier that day.

“Yeah! I see why you’re so serious about fighting,” Izuku excitedly punched the air, still riding the
high of his post-battle euphoria. “It just makes me wanna go out and train so I can get better. Then I
can fight some more people, which will make me want to train more. It’s like an endless loop!”

“Better get used to that feeling, Squirt. That blond bomberanian was just your warm-up. I got quite
the training regiment in store for you.”

“I’m so excited!” Izuku exclaimed, only for his mood to dampen slightly as he thought of something.
“I just hope Kacchan doesn’t come back for round two, or three, or four. I don’t want to end up
fighting him every day.”

“Don’t worry, I gotcha covered. If your bully wants to fight so bad, I’m sure he’ll get along just fine
with The Rapper.”

“Who’s The Rapper?”

———————————————

“Come oooooon, I was promised a real fight here.” Kendo Rappa whined as he senselessly pummeled
Katsuki’s face in.

“I’ll - OW - fuck - OW - you - OW - up!” Katsuki yelled as he tried to escape Rappa’s one-armed
chokehold, to little avail.

“Yeah, I’m waiting for that. Hurry up, already!”

———————————————

Several Months Later…

“Seein’ any new potential students out there, Sho?” Hizashi asked as the UA teachers watched over
the entrance exam.

“Nothing much, just the usual crop of future headaches. Though I won’t deny I have high hopes for
the Iida kid.” Aizawa responded with a sip of his coffee.

“Fair enough. Oh, but what about that little listener over there?” Hizashi pointed to one of the
monitors, where a green-haired kid was seemingly getting into a fistfight with one of the robots.

Aizawa didn’t think much of it at first. But looking closer, he noticed a pair of brass knuckles on the
child. Now, that wasn’t out of the ordinary. Applicants were allowed to bring their own gear, after all.
 But when one of the punches connected with the robot’s exposed wiring, electric sparks shot out of
his brass knuckles and fried its circuits.

Aizawa would recognize that fighting style anywhere.

Oh god, Knuckleduster had a protege.

Aizawa spit out his coffee in shock and doubled over in a coughing fit.

“Sho! Are you okay? What happened?” Hizashi said as he rushed over to him.

“I’m fine. It’s just…” Aizawa groaned, “I know for a fact the rat’s going to put him in my class.”

“That’s correct!” Nezu grinned as his head popped out of the vent above.

Aizawa sighed and pulled out his phone. “Might as well order the migraine pills in advance.”

Chapter End Notes

I feel like this chapter shares a lot of DNA with the Mirko chapter. But Izuku has a pair of brass
knuckles in this one, so it's totally differnet. Also, I'm pretty sure both characters know each
other, so I guess they have similar temperments.

I couldn't decide on which way I wanted Izuku to counter Katsuki's Quirk, so I just went with
Option D: All of the above. I've said it before, but Explosion isn't nearly as cool a Quirk as canon
makes it out to be. What are you gonna do when it rains, Kacchan? I hope your hero costume
includes a poncho.

Next Time: The sequel is never better than the original. Unless, of course, those sequels are
presented in snippet form!
 Sequel Snippets: The Sequel
Chapter Summary

Another collection of short continuations of various chapters, presented to you by the same
shmuck as last time.

Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

“Rodi, you have a visitor!” Yelled the guard.

“Huh? Oh!” The Driver quickly got up and ran over to his cell bars to greet his guest. “Hey, it’s you!
Guess you decided to visit your old pal, The Driver! And in case you were wondering, yeah, my real
name is Rodi. Rodi Crash. Not to be confused with any other person named Rody. I wouldn’t know
‘em.”

“Anyways, I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m in jail. Let’s just say that repeatedly crashing a
fireworks truck into random things catches up with ‘ya. I managed to evade the heroes for a while, but
some vigilante with brass knuckles snuck up on me while my truck was in the shop. But don’t worry,
I got a good lawyer. I’ll be outta here in no time.”

“But let’s cut to the chase here. I know you’re here for the sequels, and I’m here to deliver. First up,
we got a good one from Chapter 15: Momo the Everything. If you’ll recall, Izuku gave Momo some
more-than-useful Quirk advice. Let’s see where that advice gets her in the future.

———————————————

“AND FOR OUR SECOND ROUND OF SEMIFINALS, WE’VE GOT THE MASTER OF
CREATION: MOMO YAOYOROZU, VERSUS THE MAN OF MANY ARMS: MEZO
SHOJI!” Present Mic announced as both competitors entered the arena.

Momo wasn’t nervous, she and Izuku had spent all of last night coming up with strategies on how to
beat each member of their class. Some might call it an odd activity for a date night, but Momo loved
nothing more than bouncing ideas off a like-minded individual for hours on end.

When Midnight’s whip cracked, signaling the start of the match, Shoji charged over to her and reeled
back three of his fists while Momo stood there in silent anticipation.

Momo was well aware of the weak points on her body, so she knew where Shoji was about to strike.
Right before fist met flesh, she created three small but dense metal plates beneath her clothes in those
exact spots.

Shoji’s eyes widened in pain the moment he heard the loud clang of the metal, and he quickly pulled
back his fists, now red and slightly bloody.

Momo wouldn’t give her opponent the chance to breathe, however, as she created a small taser in her
hand and jabbed it right in Shoji’s stomach. He screamed in pain as electricity arced through his entire
body.

As Shoji fell to the ground, Momo couldn’t help but feel bad for the pain she caused. But she
discussed this issue with Izuku beforehand. Since Shoji’s Quirk gives him enhanced durability, she
couldn’t risk anything less than the taser’s maximum setting. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be too upset at
her.

“AND WE HAVE OUR SECOND FINALIST, FOLKS!” Present Mic announced as the crowd
cheered at Momo, who couldn’t help but suck up the praise a bit. She’d worked hard for this, dangit!

“SHE MIGHT HAVE WIPED THE FLOOR WITH EVERY ONE OF HER OPPONENTS SO
FAR, BUT LET’S SEE HOW SHE FARES AGAINST OUR OTHER FINALIST: IZUKU
MIDORIYA!”

Momo inwardly deflated as she was reminded of who she was up against next. She had forgotten in
the heat of the moment. And to be honest, she had no idea how she was going to defeat her boyfriend.

Especially since she had helped him develop Full Cowling a week prior.

END

———————————————

“So, who do you think would win?” Rodi asked. “I’d put my money on Momo. People forget that she
could easily make an atomic bomb.”

“Next up, why don’t we check in on our good friend All for One? Oh wait, he died at the end of his
chapter. Izuku accidentally killed him with a pyrokinesis Quirk he gave to him. Talk about ironic, am
I right?”

“Well, even though All for One’s dead, there are still some other perspectives I’m sure you’re all
dying to see. Well don’t die just yet, because I’m about to get into it.”

———————————————

“Thanks for meeting on such short notice,” Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi greeted.

“You said it was serious. I trust your judgment on these things,” Toshinori responded.

“Yes. Well I suggest you mentally prepare yourself for what I’m about to tell you.”

“Um… okay? Though, I’ve lived a long life as a hero. I’m not sure if there’s much that can truly
surprise me anymore.”

“We found evidence that All for One was alive.”

“WHAT?!” Toshinori spat blood on the desk.

“And now he’s dead.”

“WHAT?!” Another glob of blood landed on Tsukauchi’s face.

“He was killed by a middle schooler.”

“WHATWHATWHAT?!” The entire floor became soaked in red. It looked a lot like a crime scene.
“Told you it would be shocking,” Tsukauchi chuckled.

“I hope you’re not joking about this, Naomasa,” Toshinori glared as he wiped the blood off his mouth.

“I’m not. Here’s the police report to prove it.” He slid a file that was thankfully untainted by the blood
toward his friend, whose eyes darted across it fervently.

“Oh my god.” Toshinori put down the file with a blank expression on his face. “He was killed by a
Quirk he thought was too useless to use.”

“Uh-huh.”

He let out a small snicker. “All for One killed by a Quirk he thought was too useless to use!
PWAHAHAHA! That’s hilarious!”

Tsukauchi found the laughter contagious, and the two friends quickly fell into hysterics. Neither of
them thought they had ever laughed that hard in their lives.

“I can’t believe it! I thought he was dead for years. And then he comes back, just to die again!” Tears
streamed down Toshiniroi’s cheek as he clutched his stomach from the laughter.

“You should have seen the look on my face when I was first handed the report!” Tsukauchi banged on
the desk repeatedly. “I was like, ‘his head looked like it had been crushed? Boy, that sure sounds
familiar!’”

After several minutes, the laughter died down, and Toshinori took a deep breath, “I think I’d like to
meet the kid who supposedly did what I couldn’t.”

“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t give him the keys to Might Tower.”

“Heck, I might even give him One for All, just for the hell of it!”

“Sure! All for One’s dead. What do you have to lose?”

———————————————

“Yeah, that’s right. Give him One for All!” Yoichi cheered from inside the Vestige Realm.

“Make him the ninth! Make him the ninth! Make him the ninth!” Banjo, En, and Hikage chanted.

“C’mon, Toshi, you have to! Even Second and Third agree with us, and they never agree with any of
our opinions.” Nana gestured toward Kudo and Bruce.

“If Eighth doesn’t end up giving it to that kid, I swear I am commandeering this Quirk and
transferring it to him myself,” Kudo declared.

“With all of us on board, it might as well be a mutiny,” Bruce joked.

END

———————————————

“Gee, I wonder who he’ll choose to become the ninth holder of One for All.” Rodi placed a closed fist
under his chin in a mock-thinking pose. “Maybe he’ll pick Mirio. I’m sure Nighteye would love that.”
“While you think about that, let’s change gears to our next sequel. A lot of you liked Chapter 34:
Melissa the Pen Pal, in which Izuku meets Melissa at a hero convention and she ends up sending him
a bunch of experimental technology from I-Island. That’s all fine and dandy, but what if something
were to potentially flip this relationship on its head? For better or for worse? Let’s find out.”

———————————————

“Young Midoriya, I deem you worthy of inheriting my Quirk.”

Izuku immediately paused his sobbing and looked up at All Might’s skinny form, a look of
bewilderment etched on his face. “I’m sorry, did you just say you’d give me your Quirk?”

“Allow me to explain. My Quirk is actually a sacred torch of power passed on from generation to
generation. It has granted me immeasurable power that helped me become the number one hero. This
power is known as One for All. And if you so choose, it shall be yours. So, what do you say?”

Of all the possible responses Toshinori Yagi expected, the boy angrily pulling at his hair was not one
of them. “You gotta be kidding me!” He shouted.

“Is there something wrong?”

“I’m sorry, All Might. Every cell in my brain is screaming at me to take this offer, to finally have a
Quirk. But I just… I just can’t!”

“May I ask why?”

“I have this friend, her name’s Melissa. She’s Quirkless, just like me. That’s something we’ve always
confided about in each other. We’re both the only other Quirkless people we know. And I just… What
kind of friend would I be if I took that away from her? I couldn’t do that to her. So I’m sorry, All
Might, but as much as it pains me to do it, I’m afraid I’ll have to refuse.”

Izuku turned to walk away, but Toshinori stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder. “Hold on
there. Your Quirkless friend, her last name wouldn’t happen to be Shield, would it?”

Izuku slowly turned around, confusion etched on his face. “Yeah, how did you…” He suddenly
facepalmed himself as he came to a realization. “Oh my god, how the heck did I forget?”

“That I’m already well acquainted with the Shields? And that I’m practically Melissa’s uncle?”
Toshinori chuckled in amusement.

“In my defense, that topic rarely comes up. But yeah, I’m an idiot.”

“Well, now that I think about it, Melissa had mentioned a Quirkless friend in the one or two times
we’ve spoken over the past year. But I’m not sure if she ever mentioned you by name.”

“So… what exactly does this mean for the whole One for All situation?”

Toshinori pondered to himself for a moment. The most logical solution would be to tell Melissa (and,
by extension, David) about One for All. But could he do that? After all, anyone who knew about his
Quirk would be put in immediate danger.

Toshinoiri’s train of thought jolted to a halt as he realized something. The only danger associated with
One for All was All for One, and he crushed his skull years ago. Sure, he still had some lingering
followers, but Melissa and David were on I-Island. There hadn’t been a villain attack there since…
ever.

“Young Midoriya,” Toshinori turned to his protege (at least, he hoped he would be), “Do you think
you have time for a quick video call?”

———————————————

Several minutes later, Izuku and Toshinori met with David and Melissa via video chat, where
Toshinori revealed his true form, told them about One for All, and recounted the events when he
chose Izuku as his possible successor.

Which included the conversation they had on the rooftop.

“What do you mean you told him Quirkless people couldn’t be heroes?!” Melissa yelled.

“Young Melissa - OW - please stop pelting me - OW - with that BB gun - OWOWOW!”

“How are you doing that from behind a computer screen?” Izuku questioned.

“It’s a feature on a camera I-Island’s developing,” David explained. “In addition to light, it also
transmits certain matter, like specialized BB pellets.”

“Seriously, Uncle Might. What the hell?” Melissa continued firing at the hero through the screen. “I
mean, you could have at least pointed him toward the support or management course. But no! You
just crushed his dreams and left him on a roof.”

“Oh come on, lay off him, Melissa,” Izuku defended. “Sure, what he said hurt at the time, but he was
just trying to keep me safe. Besides, he’s offering to train me now. Would he really do that if he didn’t
believe in me?”

“No, my boy. Melissa has a point.” Toshinori said as he blocked the pellets with his outstretched
hand. “It was wrong of me to crush your dreams so casually like that. The truth is, my injuries have
caused me to become disillusioned with heroics for a long time now, and it seems as if some of it had
started bleeding out into my work. But that’s no excuse for how I treated you, and I hope you can
forgive me.”

Izuku’s jaw dropped as Toshinori stood up and bowed at him, and he sputtered out a response. “I - um
- sorry, I’m not used to this kind of thing. But I was never really angry at you, All Might. Plus, I’m
not good at holding grudges, so please don’t worry about it. Water under the bridge, and all that.”

Melissa slowly put her BB gun away, seemingly content with the outcome. “Alright. If Izuku’s okay
with it, I guess I am, too.”

“And while we’re on the subject of apologies,” Toshinori looked toward his friend. “I’m sorry I
hadn’t told you about this sooner, David.”

“I understand, Toshi.” David replied, “I had just had my daughter, and there was an evil Quirk-
stealing boogeyman, and you didn’t want to put me in danger. I mean, sure, I wish you had told me
right after killing him instead of several years after the fact, but better late than never.”

“I’m glad you understand, Dave.”

“Speaking of One for All,” Izuku spoke up, focusing on Melissa, “Are you okay with me doing this? I
mean, I know we’re the only other Quirkless people we know, and I wouldn’t want to isolate-”

“Izuku,” Melissa interrupted, “I appreciate you taking my feelings into account, but this was never
something you needed my permission for.”

“Are - are you sure you’re okay with this? The knowledge that I got a Quirk and you… you didn’t?
I’m sorry if that came off as patronizing, but I don’t want you to feel that way.”

“Izuku, I’ve already committed myself to support. What could I possibly do with a strength-
enhancing Quirk? I can already move around the lab equipment myself. If you want to accept Uncle
Might’s Quirk, go ahead! No matter what you do, I’ll always support you every step of the way.”

Izuku gave a watery smile as small tears flowed down his cheeks. “Thank you, Melissa.” He quickly
wiped his face and turned to Toshinori. “Alright, All Might. I accept your Quirk.”

“Very well then.” Toshinori smiled and nodded. “But in order to properly handle the strain of my
Quirk, you’ll have to train harder than you ever had before!”

“Oh! That reminds me,” Melissa spoke up, “I’ve been working on a gauntlet that can handle the
strength of Uncle Might’s punches. If you need help handling the strain, I could ship a pair over to
you.”

“Really? Just like old times?” Izuku smirked.

“Just like old times.”

“What old times?” Toshinori asked.

“Melissa sent him a bunch of I-Island technology to help deal with his bully,” David explained.

END

———————————————

“One can only hope this leads to fewer broken bones on Izuku’s part. Oh, who am I kidding? He’ll
find a way.” Rodi chuckled to himself.

“But hey, two sequels in a row where Izuku gets One for All. That was just a coincidence, I swear.
But I’ll tell you what’s not a coincidence, two sequels in a row that feature support engineers!”

“That’s right! We’re going all the way back to Chapter 9: Mei the Inventor! In it, Mei did what Mei
does best and made Izuku some fancy support gear. But if you think she’s gonna stop at just a few
pieces of gear, you’re dead wrong.”

———————————————

As Izuku’s group of test takers waited for the UA entrance exam to begin, Izuku took deep breaths as
he strapped on his support gear. He had practiced this routine a thousand times before. He could
practically do it in his sleep.

He started with the Kinetic Enforcer chest-plate, then the belt that provided the second pair of arms,
then the rocket launchers attached to the shoulder pads, then the mechanical trousers, then the hover
boots, then the bulky mechanical arms, and the helmet.
As soon as Izuku finished gearing up, Present Mic announced the start of the practical exam, and he
ran into the fray.

He and Mei had already tested his gear on durable targets before, so Izuku was confident his suit
would be enough to tear the robots apart. And he was right!

A flurry of punches to a One-Pointer, a missile to a Two-Pointer, a jet-powered kick to a three-pointer;

he thought he was racking up a pretty decent amount of points. At least, until he heard something hit
his suit from behind.

“Huh?” Izuku turned to see some kid summon rocks from the ground and launch them at him, which
he barely managed to dodge in time. “Hey! What are you doing? I’m not a robot!”

“You’re not?” The kid asked perplexedly. “But you’re covered in metal.”

Izuku was about to refute that claim, but it was true. His entire body was covered by support gear.
And worse yet, it was all colored green. “Even so, do I look like the robots Present Mic showed in his
presentation?”

“Okay, geez.” The boy ran off in annoyance, and Izuku rolled his eyes. He was about to pummel
another robot into submission when another attack breached his armor.

“Oops. Sorry about that,” Said a girl with some sort of speed Quirk. “Thought you were one of them.”

“It’s fine,” Izuku waved off as he tore a One-Pointer in half. “Just watch where you’re-”

It was only thanks to the danger sensor in Izuku’s helmet that he managed to dodge the incoming
laser. “Apologies, monsieur. I thought you were a target,” Said a blond boy with a French accent.

“Why is everyone attacking me? I’m not a robot, it’s just my suit!”

“Wait, it’s just your suit?” Said a girl who looked like she was about to chuck a fireball at him.

“Phew, I just dodged a bullet there,” Exclaimed a boy who looked like he was running at him with a
crowbar.

Before Izuku could express any more anger, he felt the ground shake and noticed a giant robot in the
distance. From there, he spotted a girl who had been pinned down by the rubble, seemingly unable to
move.

Izuku smiled as he ran over to help the girl. He was glad Mei built his second pair of arms for this
express purpose.

———————————————

“So I imagine we’re docking points from the kids who attacked the boy with the support gear?”
Aizawa asked as he watched the entrance exam footage play out live.

“Indeed!” Nezu chirped. “We told them which robots were meant to be destroyed. If they can’t follow
simple instructions, then they have no place at UA.”

“I wonder where the kid got all that support gear,” Power Loader pondered. “I mean, not even I had
that much gear when I took the entrance exam.”
Nezu chuckled darkly. “I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough, Majima.”

“You don’t have to make everything you say cryptic, you know.”

———————————————

The Next Day…

“Examinee #2763, Mei Hatsume, you may now present your support items.”

“I’ve got a better idea. Instead of a presentation, why don’t I give you a demonstration?” Mei pressed
a button on a remote, and a large flatscreen TV emerged from her backpack. The TV turned on and
began playing footage from yesterday’s hero course entrance exam.

“H-how did you get this footage? This is supposed to be confidential.” Power Loader said.

“Please hold all questions until after the demonstration!”

Power Loader reluctantly obliged and focused on the screen, where he saw footage of the kid in the
green support gear tearing up robots left and right. Power Loader had to assume Mei was the one to
make it.

“Pretty cool, right?” Mei said when the video ended. She then reached into her bag and threw all the
support equipment shown in the video onto his desk. “I hope this convinces you to enroll the great
Mei Hatsume, future CEO of Hatsume Industries!”

As Mei turned and left, Power Loader had to admit the kid had guts. Utilizing the support gear in the
entrance exam and letting the footage speak for itself? He didn’t get students like that too often.

Power Loader knew she would probably be a handful in the future, but in the back of his mind, he
already knew she had earned a spot in his class.

END

———————————————

“Well, that’s one way to get into UA. And it clearly worked out, so I guess Mei has the right idea. Too
bad for Izuku, though. He better pick a different color if he wants to stop getting attacked like that.”

“Next on the list is a more recent chapter. Specifically, Chapter 39: Camie the
Illusionist. You know, the one where Camie took Izuku on a shopping trip and made Bakugo
experience some serious illusions. And now here’s a sequel. Read it.”

———————————————

If he wasn’t standing directly in front of it, Katsuki wouldn’t have believed it. Yet here he was. After
catching a glimpse of it on the train, he just had to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him.
Unfortunately, they were not.

Deku was on a billboard.

Katsuki’s brain did backflips trying to comprehend the situation. He knew that ever since that stupid
girl he could barely understand started hanging around the nerd, his fashion sense had objectively
gotten better (though, considering he only wore those stupid gag shirts up to that point, that was a
pretty low bar to clear).

But to think that someone thought that waste of space looked hot enough to plaster his face on a
billboard for some man’s brand he had never heard of. It practically drove him insane.

“Pretty cool, isn’t it, Kacchan?” Deku said as he admired the billboard next to Katsuki.

“Where the hell did you come from, nerd?” Katsuki demanded.

“Oh, I was just in the area and decided to look over my accomplishments. I already got my first
sponsorship, and I’m not even a hero yet.”

“You say that like you’re actually gonna be a hero. Don’t make me laugh.”

Izuku didn’t even look at Katsuki. He just kept watching the billboard. “Well, how many sponsorships
have you got so far, Kacchan?”

“Shut up! Do you wanna die?!”

“I can’t, I’ve got another photo shoot next week.”

“Oh yeah? I bet they’ll kick you to the curb once I blast your face off!” Katsuki lunged at Izuku,
ready to unleash an explosion. But he just phased right through him and flipped on the ground.

“I’m not real, Kacchan. I’m just a figment of your imagination.” Izuku said flatly as he slowly
dissipated into a sparkly mist.

Katsuki idly stared at the sight for a few seconds. “I think I’m going insane,” He said to himself as he
walked off, doing his best to fight off the migraine in his head.

As soon as he was out of sight, the real Izuku stepped out of a nearby bush, followed by Camie.
“Man, I still can’t believe he hasn’t figured out your Quirk yet!” Izuku exclaimed.

“Yeah, fam. He’s like, not as bright as he says,” Camie replied.

Izuku turned to the billboard and smiled. “And I must say, you’ve really improved with your Quirk
usage. Last month, you couldn’t even cover the area of a door.”

“I owe it all to you, Bae.” Camie leaned over and planted a peck on Izuku’s cheek, who blushed
heavily at the contact.

Before the couple could continue their conversation, a fashionable-looking man with spiky black hair
walked up to them. “Excuse me, are you the man on that billboard?” He asked, pointing to Izuku’s
fake advertisement.

“Um, yes…” Izuku awkwardly answered. “But it’s not a real advertisement. It’s just the product of
Camie’s-”

“Save me the explanation.” The man shoved a business card into Izuku’s hands. “We’ve got a
photoshoot running tomorrow from five to eight. Be there, or be square.”

As he strutted off, Izuku and Camie stared at each other with wide eyes, neither believing what had
just happened. “Did - did we just.”
“We just totally gaslit that guy into thinking you were a fashion model,” Camie stated. “Does that
mean I’m like, your agent now?”

“I have no idea, but I’m willing to see where this goes.”

END

———————————————

Usually the words ‘Izuku Midoriya’ and ‘fashion icon’ don’t show up in the same sentence. But I
guess there’s an exception to every rule,” Rodi said with a shrug.

“Last up, let’s take a look at Chapter 22: Inko the Mastermind. When we last saw Mamadoriya, she
had just gotten a job as a school nurse and manipulated Bakugo into getting blacklisted from just
about every hero school in Japan. But that was just the beginning of her reign of terror on Aldera.
Let’s take a look, see.”

———————————————

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Mr. Principal,” Inko greeted as she sat down.

“It’s no problem, Midoriya,” The principal replied. “How have your first few weeks on the job been
so far?”

“They’ve been… eventful, to say the least. I’ve certainly been doing my best to get to know my
fellow coworkers.”

“But I imagine that hasn’t been going well for you.” The principal sighed as he sunk into his seat.
“Trust me, Midoriya, I have no reason why so many teachers are suddenly resigning. They just give
vague explanations about family and stuff.” He shook his head and quickly perked back up. “But
anyway, what did you want to meet with me about?”

“Oh, I was just curious about something. It actually relates to the teachers who just left.” Inko reached
into her bag and placed a book on the principal’s desk, whose eyes widened in immediate recognition.

“Tell me,” Inko said, the sweetness in her voice having vanished in an instant, “Why did all those
teachers who left own a copy of The Meta Liberation War?”

The principal gulped nervously, but tried to keep his composure. “The Meta Liberation War? I
wouldn’t know. I’ve never read it before.”

“Really? Then why do you appear to own a copy yourself?” Inko slowly turned to the bookshelf on
her left, where she eyed a noticeably red spine.

“Ummmm… That was a gift?”

Inko calmly placed her hands on the desk and leaned closer toward him with a deadly serious
expression on her face, “You’re not a very convincing liar, sir. So I’d like to kindly request you
explain to me what’s going on here.”

“This isn’t something you want to get involved with, Midoriya. Especially considering your son is…
how we say… expendable in their eyes.”
 “I believe you’re mistaken, Principal. Izuku is the whole reason I’m getting involved in this. He has
been hurt by not only his classmates, not only his teachers, but whatever meta liberation jargon seems
to be involved with this sad excuse of a school.”

The principal had the gall to scoff. “And what do you seriously think you can do? The Meta
Liberation Army had some very powerful people attached. Heck, the entire city of Deika is under our
control. Do you really think a simple school nurse like you can make a difference?”

Inko calmly sat back down in her seat and reached into her bag again. “Maybe, maybe not. But I’ve
already managed to make more of a difference than you thought.” She took out a manilla-colored file
and threw it onto the desk. “Especially regarding your staff. Believe it or not, their blackmail was
even more incriminating than yours.”

The principal cautiously opened the file and gawked at what he found inside. He slowly put it down
and stared at Inko in abject terror. “How - how did you get this?”

“That is none of your concern. What is your concern, however, is your letter of resignation. Which
I’m sure you’ll have in by the end of the day if you don’t want your little secret getting out.”

“I - uh - how did you-” As he eyed the blackmail folder up and down to confirm its validity, Inko
smiled and made her way out of the office.

She poked her head through the door to deliver one last remark. “Oh, and thank you for the valuable
information. Now I know who’s next on my list.” With that, she shut the door and made her way
down the halls.

Truthfully, when she scheduled that meeting with the principal, she hadn’t expected her suspicions
about Aldera having connections to some sort of Quirk supremacist group to be confirmed, but here
she was.

Inko shook her head. It didn’t matter. She made a promise to herself that she would take down
everyone responsible for hurting her baby. If she had to fight an entire city, so be it.

They underestimated the power of a mother’s love.

END

———————————————

“Inko vs the MLA, huh? Boy, do I feel sorry for the MLA. Inko’s about to use her Quirk to rip their
collective nuts off.”

“Anyways, that just about does it for today,” Said Rodi. “Thanks for visiting and all that. Now, if
you’ll excuse me, I have to call my lawyer if I want to get out of jail before the next chapter.
Fortunately, I have the best attorney a truck driver’s salary can afford.” He reached into his pocket and
pulled out a phone.

“Hello? Mr. Goodman?”

Chapter End Notes

Thanks to Squirrelstillisnuts for suggesting the name 'Rodi Crash.' I think it really fits him.

I haven't watched Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul, but I have seen the memes. So you're getting
the memes, too.

Next Time: Give it all that you got, take your very best shot, he'll send it right back at 'ya for
sure.

That hint is a reference to the theme song for Kirby Right Back at Ya! And you are all legally
required to listen to it.
 Flect Turn the Janitor
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Flect Turn depressingly sighed as he mopped the halls for what seemed like the millionth time. To say
he had been down on his luck would be an understatement. Having been fed up with his Quirk, he
vowed to save humanity by destroying all Quirks. But that hadn’t been going so well for him.

He tried his best to start up his Quirk-hating cult to bring together those of a similar ideology (and
indoctrinate those who weren’t), but he just couldn’t get the ball rolling. Apparently, very few people
wanted to join a Quirk-hating cult whose high-ranking members all had Quirks. Who could have
known?

In an act of desperation, he had moved to Japan to try and build up a following there. But he
somehow ended up in Mustafa, which had one of the densest Quirked populations in the country.

Desperate for work, he got a job as a janitor in some shady-looking school called Aldera. He hated it
there. Just about everyone, from the staff to the students, seemed to worship Quirks and praise those
who had the strongest ones. It drove him mad.

Flect shook his head as he wet his mop again. At this rate, he was going to work himself up into a
frenzy for no reason. It was best to just finish up his work for the day and focus on saving humanity
from Quirks tomorrow.

As Flect quickly moved to finish, he suddenly jolted at the sound of an explosion that rang across the
hall. Glancing to his right, he saw a blond kid pinning some green-haired kid to the wall.

Flect rolled his eyes. He recognized that blond kid, Katsuki Bakugo. He was someone who the
teachers would go on and on about because he had a ‘strong Quirk’ or whatever. It made Flect sick.
He hoped those explosions made him go deaf or something.

He didn’t recognize the other boy, though. But he couldn’t bring himself to care. That boy probably
had a Quirk, too, and therefore wasn’t worth his time. Flect was sure the boy would get out of the
situation fine on his own.

Katsuki released an explosion into the boy’s stomach. “Ha! How do you like that, you Quirkless
freak?”

As soon as the word ‘Quirkless’ entered his ear, Flect found himself standing between Katsuki and the
boy. “Hey, leave him alone!”

“What’s it to you, Bluey?” Katsuki grunted.

“Someone as tainted and diseased as you should not be lording over a pure soul like him.”

“Pure? What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m referring to his lack of a Quirk, obviously. He’s ten times the man you’ll ever be!”

“If you seriously think that nerd’s Quirklessness makes him better than me, then I wouldn’t mind
blasting my way through you to prove you wrong!”
Flect narrowed his eyes challengingly. “Do your worst.”

“I’ll do better than my worst!” Katsuki’s hands sparked as he pointed them straight at Flect. “DIE!”

A pair of explosions hit Flect dead-on. Except… they didn’t. Instead, they reflected right off his skin
and struck Katsuki instead, launching him into the wall.

“Ow! What the fuck was that?!” Katsuki yelled as he rubbed the back of his head.

“You can dish it out, but can you take it?” Flect taunted.

“Of course I fucking can!” Katsuki tried exploding a different spot on the blue man’s body, but ended
up with the same result. “Gah! That burns! What the hell’s your Quirk?”

“Really? I figured a top student like yourself would have figured it out by now.”

“Tch, like I need to know your Quirk to beat you.”

“But didn’t you just ask-”

“Shut up!” Katsuki charged at Flect again. This time, forgoing explosions and aiming a punch to the
face, which ended in him being thrown against the wall yet again, which was starting to show cracks
at this point.

“Had enough yet?” Flect asked in a bored tone.

Katsuki slowly got up, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and walked away as he shot the kid behind
Flect a dirty look. “This isn’t over, Deku.”

As soon as the blond left, Flect turned to the green-haired kid in concern. “Are you alright? He didn’t
hurt you too badly, did he?”

“Nothing worse than usual,” The kid got up and dusted off his clothes.

“What’s your name, boy?”

“Izuku Midoriya, you?”

“My name is Flectonious Turner, but I go by Flect Turn for short.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Turn, and thanks for saving me back there. Seriously, that was some cool
Quirk action back there!”

Flect instinctively jerked at Izuku’s blatant praise of his Quirk. “What… what did you just say?”

“I said your Quirk was really cool. I saw you send back Kacchan’s explosions. Is it some kind of copy
Quirk? No wait, you also sent back the force of his punch at the end. It must be some kind of
reflection Quirk. How accurate is that guess?”

Flect outwardly sighed with disappointment. “You poor, poor boy. While your soul may be pure, this
school has clearly tainted your mind with their lies.”

Izuku cautiously lowered his eyebrows. “Does this have something to do with you calling me pure
because of my Quirklessness earlier? Do you hate Quirks or something?”
Flect couldn’t help but laugh. “Do I hate Quirks? My boy, it was Quirks that ruined my life.”

Izuku tilted his head and squinted his eyes. “Quirks ruined your life? What do you mean?”

“Stick out your hand for me,” Flect commanded, which Izuku obliged. He tried to go in for a
handshake, but some sort of invisible force seemed to push the hands apart in a burst of blue energy.

“My Quirk may shield me from attacks, but it also shields me from almost all contact. I haven’t felt
the touch of another person since I was four! I could never shake a hand, never make a pinky promise,
never partake in a hi-five. When I was six, my kindergarten class went to a petting zoo, and I couldn't
pet a single one! Do you understand what that does to a person?!” Tears dripped from Flect’s eyes, but
they just reflected off his skin.

“Soooo… You hate all Quirks because you’re touch-starved?” Izuku guessed.

“That’s an odd way of putting it, but yes.”

At this point, Izuku would consider himself confused. Sure, it was nice for someone to recognize his
Quirklessness as a positive for once. But at the same time, it was kind of creepy how Flect went about
it, calling him a ‘pure soul’ like he was some kind of religious figure. If he were to be that, he would
rather it be for something he did rather than something he was.

Not to mention how this Flect Turn guy seemed to be, for lack of a better word, delusional. Izuku
wasn’t sure if skewed decision-making was a side effect of touch starvation, but he wouldn’t be
surprised if that were the case.

Suddenly, an important question popped into his head. “Mr. Turn, have you ever received Quirk
counseling of any kind?”

Flect slowly shook his head. “I’m afraid not, my boy. My family grew up quite poor.”

“Oh, that makes sense! Most people with Quirks like yours usually go to counseling to find ways
around their drawbacks.”

Flect’s eyes widened at the information. “Wait, that’s what they do?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much common knowledge.”

“Well then how come no one ever told me?”

“I don’t know,” Izuku shrugged defensively.

Flect’s excitement died down, and his posture slumped. “Well, it’s not like it matters, anyway. There’s
no way I can afford Quirk counseling on a janitor’s salary.”

Izuku couldn’t help but feel bad for the man. It was clear that he put a lot of value on physical contact,
and being denied that had a serious impact on his mental state.

But still, it wasn’t like there was anything Izuku could do about it. All he had were his dozen or so
hero notebooks that dissected and theorized Quirks down to their fundamental level.

…Wait a minute.

“I got it! What if I helped you fix your Quirk?”

A small shimmer of hope gleamed in Flect’s eyes. “Really? You can do that?”

“I can try. At least, if you’ll let me.”

“Yes! Please! Help me get rid of this curse!” Flect tried to grab Izuku by the shoulder and shake him
violently, but his hands reflected off his body.

“Alright,” Izuku pulled out a notebook and pen, “Let’s put this Quirk to work.”

“Is that your catchphrase or something?”

“No, I just thought it would be funny.”

———————————————

Izuku and Flect sat facing each other in the middle of an empty classroom. Since the school day was
already over, they had no trouble finding a vacant space.

“Alright,” Izuku began, “I have a few theories, but I need to ask some questions before I come up
with anything concrete.”

“Sounds good,” Flect nodded.

“Okay. First question, can you cut your hair and clip your fingernails?”

“Yes to both.”

“Alright. That most likely means your Quirk affects only your skin. You could probably touch things
if you used your hair to make some DNA-infused gloves.”

“But I likely wouldn’t be able to afford that,” Flect finished.

“Exactly. That’s why we’re here.” Izuku turned to a new page in his notebook. “Next question, what’s
the toughest thing you’ve ever reflected?”

Flect thought to himself a bit before answering. “When I was twelve, a grand piano fell on me.”

“Really? Like in a cartoon?”

“Yes, exactly like the cartoons. Except for the part where it reflected off me and landed on some man
with a coyote Quirk. Thankfully, he was a wanted criminal, so I got off with just a warning.”

“That’s… interesting. And how did you feel after the impact?”

“Looking back on it, I recall an odd tingly feeling throughout my entire body.”

“Hmmmm…” Izuku scribbled down a hypothesis. “I think that was a sign your Quirk was
overloading. If it did, it would have shut off and you likely would have been able to touch things for a
brief time.”

“So all I have to do is find a way to overload my Quirk?” Flect asked excitedly.

“Yes and no,” Izuku answered. “Like I said, it would only be gone for a short time, then it would
come back stronger. Quirks are a lot like muscles in that way. Plus, it would be difficult to find
something that could even overload you Quirk fully.”
“You’re unfortunately right about that,” Flect admitted upsettingly. “I mean, it’s not like some sort of
truck full of fireworks will just come out of nowhere and run me over.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Izuku coughed awkwardly in an attempt to resume the conversation. “Anyways, I might have figured
out a workaround for both of those issues. Does your Quirk reflect external heat?”

“If you’re referring to sunlight, then yes, it does. No matter how hard I try, I can never get a tan!”

“Then I think I might have the perfect solution for you. Just one more question, how desperate are
you?”

“Very,” Flect answered, his eyes practically bulging out of his head.

Izuku got out of his seat. “Alright then, follow me.”

———————————————

“What is this?” Flect asked as Izuku led him to the back of the art room.

“It’s a kiln,” Izuku explained as he smacked the side of the large metal cylinder. “It’s used to harden
clay products. This thing can reach temperatures up to 1,500 degrees Celsius (2,732 degrees
Fahrenheit).”

“And you want me to go inside that thing?” Flect cautiously asked.

“I mean… yeah?” Izuku shrugged. “I would have used lava, but I wouldn’t know where to get any.
The heat should be enough to overload you Quirk before the machine overloads itself. Plus, if you
stay in there for just the right amount of time, your entire body will get covered in third-degree burns,
thereby making sure your Quirk won’t be able to come back. Kind of like burning a field of grass then
salting the earth to make sure nothing can grow there again.”

“Are you sure this is safe?”

“No. Not in the slightest.”

“That’s good enough for me.” Flect changed into a bathing suit (which he had on hand for some
reason), climbed into the kiln, and closed the top.

Izuku slowly turned up the temperature. “Okay, yell when it starts to hurt, then I’ll let you out after a
few minutes.”

“I think it’s working, Midoriya,” Flect called from inside. “I can feel my Quirk weakening.”

Izuku shifted uncomfortably as he watched smoke rise from the kiln. “I hope it weakens faster. I don’t
want to have to pay for a new kiln.”

“Do not worry, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until - Oh! Ow! OWOWOW! Oh god, it burns!”
“That means it’s working! Just give it a bit more time for the burns to set in.”

———————————————

A Few More Minutes of Unimaginably Agonizing Pain Later…

“And that’s time!” Izuku opened the kiln, and Flect Turn slowly walked out, wincing at every step.
Instead of a neon blue, his entire skin was colored cherry red, and his mustache was completely
singed. “How do you feel, Mr. Turn?”

Flect’s mouth slowly morphed into a wide grin, as if he was taking special care not to hurt his cheeks.
“Pain… Everywhere.”

“That’s good, that’s good.” Izuku jotted down the results in his notebook. “Now for the moment of
truth,” He grabbed Flect’s hand and shook it with vigor.

“OW!” Flect screamed as the physical contact activated his burns. “Wait a minute, I felt that. I finally
felt the touch of another person!” He leaned in and pulled Izuku into a tight hug, his mind too ecstatic
to register the pain. “Thank you, young man. You have changed the course of my life, and I am
forever in your debt.”

“Oh, it was nothing,” Izuku blushed at the praise. “But now that your Quirk isn’t bugging you
anymore, do you think you can stop blindly worshiping people because of their lack of a Quirk? It’s a
little creepy.”

“Oh, sure. I don't care about Quirks anymore. I’d rather spend my days making up for lost time.”
Flect waddled out of the room as he listed off some places he would go. “First, I’ll go to the petting
zoo, then the fabric store, then the massage parlor, then the arcade, then the Play-Doh store…”

———————————————

Izuku left the school in high spirits that day. He was glad he could use his Quirk analysis to make a
difference in someone else’s life. All those people who said his work wouldn’t amount to anything
were wrong all along! Man, if only he could see the look on Katsuki’s face.

“There you are, nerd!” Speak of the devil, Katsuki snuck up on him just as he made his way through
the gate. “I saw that janitor walk by. I can’t believe he let you make him into a Quirkless weakling
like you.” He said as he slowly encroached on Izuku, who nervously stepped back.

“Hold on, that’s not fair to Mr. Turn,” Izuku weakly defended. “His Quirk was hurting him, and he
couldn’t afford proper counseling. I mean, I’m not sure if I should have given him third-degree burns,
but he seemed happy with the result.”

“Shut it, Deku! I only care that your human shield isn’t around to protect you anymore.” Katsuki
rolled up his sleeves and let sweat funnel into his palms. “Now it’s payback time.”

Izuku squeezed his eyes shut as he anticipated the beating that was about to occur. But before Katsuki
could do anything else, a fireworks truck came out of nowhere and rammed right into him, sending
his body ragdolling across the school courtyard.

Izuku looked up at the truck in confusion, and the tinted windows rolled down to reveal the demon-
like figure driving it. “Sorry I’m late. My court proceedings took longer than I thought.”

Izuku had no idea what to say, so he just settled on a flat, “What?”

 ———————————————

Two Weeks Later…

“Mr. Turn, what the heck is this?” Izuku grumpily stomped up to the janitor and shoved a flier in his
face.

Flect began noticeably sweating as he plastered on a nervous grin. “O-oh, I was hoping you wouldn’t
figure out about that until later.”

“Mr. Turn, why are you trying to indoctrinate people into a cult themed around me?”

“I… um… I thought you’d be more flattered.”

“I would be if it weren’t a cult!”

“But I’ve already gotten over five hundred sign-ups. I specifically targeted people who had less-than-
desirable Quirks and couldn’t afford counseling. Just think about all the Quirks you’d get to analyze.”

As Izuku’s mind wandered toward the possibilities, he couldn’t help but salivate at the prospect. Five
hundred. That was a lot of Quirks. And he could help so many people that way. “Alright, I’m in. But
we’re changing it to a religion instead of a cult.”

“Fair enough,” Flect conceded.

Chapter End Notes

I haven't seen the third movie, but I feel like Humariza could have used more Quirkless
characters. Now that I think about it, the series as a whole could have used more Quirkless
characters. 20% my ass.

It was fun trying to come up with a way to permanently remove Flect's Quirk. My original plan
involved him bungee jumping into a pit of lava, but I didn't know where someone would find
lava. I looked it up on Google, but it only gave me Minecraft tutorials.

Next Time: Gun

 Lady Nagant the Watchdog
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Kaina Tsutsumi, AKA the former pro hero Lady Nagant, laid face-up on the floor and stared at the
ceiling of her cell. She thought her sanity couldn’t dip any lower, but she quickly proved herself
wrong.

God, how long had she been locked up? Months? Years? Decades? The only metric of time she had
was whenever she had her hair cut for being too long. She always hated those times. Some knockout
gas would always fill her cell, then she would wake up an unknown amount of time later with her
head nearly bald.

Since her hair was reaching her shoulders, she assumed she was due for a cut any day now. The HSPC
wouldn’t want her to have enough ammo to break out, would they?

Kaina exhaled at the thought. Like that was ever gonna happen.

Suddenly, a light rumbling from the ground beneath her pulled Kaina from her thoughts. She pressed
her ear against the floor, hoping to recognize the vibrations. It didn’t sound like footsteps, it was
something much larger.

Could it be… a vehicle of some kind?

Before Kaina could even consider the possibility, a huge explosion of color erupted from her cell’s
back wall, revealing a large blue truck with yellow headlights and fireworks patterns on the side.

Before she could even begin to fathom what she was looking at, the truck backed up and sped off into
the night, leaving a large gaping hole in her cell.

Kaina wasn’t sure what god just answered her prayers, but she was sure they would be getting a hefty
donation in the coming months.

———————————————

Things moved fast for Kaina after she escaped from Tartarus. She was lucky enough to meet an
underground broker named Giran who helped forge a fake ID. Gone was Kaina Tsutsumi, she was
now Taina Kukumi (she felt uncreative that day. Leave her alone).

After that, she swiped some dye and colored her hair pink with purple strands instead of purple with
pink strands. She figured that would keep the feds off her tail for the time being. She would have
gotten plastic surgery, but she was flat broke. The HPSC drained her bank account after her arrest.
Fucking great.

The former hero quickly decided she needed to get an inconspicuous job ASAP. Thankfully, after
Giran forged a resume for her, she managed to find a position as a lunch lady at Aldera Middle
School.

She was pretty sure HPSC would never find her there. Plus, the job provided free food. Sure, it was
school cafeteria food, but compared to the literal slop she was fed in Tartarus, it might have well been
five-star caviar.
At the end of her first day, Kaina perched herself on top of the school roof to keep an eye out for
anything suspicious. Even though she was confident of her safety, she could never be too sure.

Her eyes carefully and efficiently glided across the school grounds. If she had to thank the HPSC for
one thing, it would have to be the heightened senses she gained as a result of her training. Nothing got
by her.

As she continued to survey the area from the rooftop, her left ear caught wind of the faint sound of an
explosion coming southwest. Making her way to that side of the roof, she spotted what looked to be a
blond boy under a tree unleashing explosions from his palms at a green-haired boy, who she also
heard screaming out in pain.

Come to think of it, she recognized that kid. He had given her a strange look as she handed him his
lunch that day. It was almost like he recognized her.

No, it couldn’t be possible. She had lost relevance as a hero while this kid was probably still in grade
school. Only the most diehard hero fans would recognize her.

Putting those thoughts aside, Kaina internally panicked at the sight. She knew illegal Quirk use when
she saw it. And if someone reported the blond boy’s behavior, a hero could get involved. And where
there’s a hero, the HPSC isn’t far behind.

Like it or not, Kaina had to get involved in order to draw attention away from the school. She plucked
a strand of hair from her head and loaded it into her rifle arm.

She didn’t fire directly at the blond boy, she wasn’t that stupid. Instead, she chose to shoot at the tree
he was under, blasting off a large branch that struck him on the head, knocking him down and
distracting him for long enough for the green-haired boy to run away.

Kaina sighed in relief as she put away her rifle. The most logical course of action would be to report
the bullying and let the teachers handle it. Unfortunately, she didn’t know either of the students’
names. Plus, she still wanted to keep a low profile with everyone, including the school staff. So she
settled on keeping an eye on both of them and discreetly intervening when necessary.

Though, she silently hoped this would only be a one-time occurrence.

———————————————

The very next day, she found herself having to intervene at the school library.

This both shocked and annoyed Kaina. For one, why would Katsuki (she learned their names by
reading their lips) try and use his explosion Quirk in a library?

Then again, besides him and Izuku, she was literally the only other person in the room. But that didn’t
excuse him from interrupting her reading. She had years of magical girl manga to catch up on, dang
it!

Hiding a few aisles down, Kaina loaded her rifle and pointed it at the bookshelf behind Katsuki,
waiting for him to unleash an explosion. When he did, Kaina fired at the exact same time so the sound
of the explosion would drown out the gunshot.

She made sure the bullet had a lot of force behind it, so that when it hit the bookshelf, it would tilt and
fall over right on Katsuki. “Gah! What the hell?” He yelled as he found himself buried under a pile of
books.
“Kacchan, are you alright?” Izuku asked as he tried to lift the bookshelf.

“I don’t need your help, Deku! As soon as I get this shelf off me, you’re fucking dead, got it?!”

Izuku squeaked with fear as he scurried out of the library.

Kaina groaned internally. It seemed like this would be a daily thing.

———————————————

Yup, she was right.

Twenty-four hours later, Katsuki threatened Izuku by slamming him against the wall in the boy’s
bathroom while Kaina watched from the vents. She had seen Katsuki drag Izuku in and knew it just
spelled trouble.

Now, one might consider a woman looking in on the boy’s bathroom to be an invasion of privacy. But
Kaina already had a body count in the dozens. Put frankly, she did not give a shit.

Once again, she timed a bullet to fire simultaneously with Katsuki’s explosions, this one breaking the
faucet of one of the sinks. Water spewed out at Katsuki, causing him to slip and fall to the ground,
giving Izuku the chance to escape once again.

Kaina was already getting sick of this whole song and dance. She wondered when the explosive brat
would just give up already. But she supposed bullies like him just didn't know when to quit.

If she wasn’t trying to keep a low profile, she had half a mind to cut out the middleman and teach the
green kid how to defend himself. But she knew how most children sucked at keeping secrets, and she
didn’t want to risk her freedom on whether or not a child could keep his mouth shut. So she was
forced to be content with being Izuku’s secret watchdog.

Still a better fate than Tartarus.

———————————————

This past week had to have been the strangest in Izuku’s life. Every day, Katsuki would try to beat
him up. And every day, some strange accident would get in the way.

At first, Izuku didn’t bat an eye. Tree branches fall on people all the time, after all. But as the days
went by, the coincidences started to pile up. Bookshelves toppling over, faucets suddenly breaking,
falling ceiling tiles, someone randomly starting a food fight in the cafeteria, it all felt like more than a
series of coincidences.

He figured there were two possibilities: Either he had recently manifested some sort of good luck
Quirk, or these accidents were being staged by a third party. Izuku felt like the second option was
more likely, but that didn’t answer the question of who the third party was. He figured there was only
one way to find out.

That day, after class let out, he intentionally stayed at his desk, knowing Katsuki wouldn’t miss the
opportunity to pick on him, especially considering his recent string of failures.

“Deku,” Katsuki slammed both hands on his desk, just as Izuku suspected, “What the hell has been
going on?”
“I don’t know, Kacchan. I’m just as confused as you,” Izuku answered honestly.

“Oh yeah? The way I see it, there’s only one possibility: You’ve had a luck Quirk this whole time and
were hiding it just to piss me off!”

As Katsuki yelled at him, Izuku’s body stiffened in both fear and confusion. “W-what? Even if I did
have one, what makes you think I’d want to hide it from you?”

“Don’t play dumb, Deku. You were looking down on me this whole time, weren’t you? You pretended
to be weak just to pull out the rug from under me at the last moment. Well guess what, nerd? I figured
it out! And no amount of luck will stop from what I’m gonna do next!”

Katsuki grabbed Izuku by the collar and aimed an explosion at his face. But before he could fire, one
of the lights suspended from the ceiling fell and shattered on Katsuki’s head, knocking him out. “Oh
my god, Kacchan!” Izuku screamed.

After dragging his unconscious body to the nurse’s office (he wasn’t strong enough to carry him),
Izuku went back to the classroom to investigate. Thankfully, the janitor hadn’t gotten around to that
room yet. But that just meant he had to make things quick.

As Izuku looked over the area, he only found shards of glass scattering the floor. But as he leaned in
closer, he noticed a speck of pink and purple nestled between the shards. Picking it up, he
immediately recognized the texture as hair.

As Izuku wondered if he knew anyone with pink and purple hair, his mind flashed back to the lunch
lady who started working at Aldera at the beginning of the week. Right at the beginning of his
impressive good-luck streak.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized how oddly familiar she looked. But it couldn’t be
who he thought it was, right? She hadn’t been seen in years. And even if it was her, why would she go
out of her way to help a nobody like him?

As Izuku walked off with the hair in his hand, he figured all he could do was wait for his mysterious
watchdog to make another move. Based on Katsuki’s behavior, it was likely he would only have to
wait a day for that. And then he could put this mystery to rest before it drove him insane.

———————————————

“Hello! This is the Inch High Private Eye! And before you ask, yes, I am actually an inch high. What
can I do for you? ”

“I need you to gather some information on Izuku Midoriya. He goes to Aldera Middle School,”
Katsuki spoke into the phone.

He heard the sound of scribbling from the other end. “Alright, Izuku Midoriya, Aldera Middle School.
What do you want to know about him? ”

“I need to know if that fucker’s really hiding a Quirk for me or not. Whenever I try to confront him,
some random bout of good luck comes in and screws me over!”

“So, you want me to confirm whether or not he has a luck Quirk? ”

“Yeah, and get video evidence if you can.”

“And do you think there are any other explanations for what’s been going on? ” Asked the private eye.

“Either he has a luck Quirk, or he’s got some kind of sniper watching his back. Look me in the eye
and tell me which one you think is more likely, ‘cause it sure as shit ain’t the sniper.”

“Alright, got it! I’ll start the investigation in about two weeks.”

“TWO WEEKS?!”

“Yeah, I’m an inch high. Do you know how difficult it is to travel?”

“Ugh, fucking forget it,” Katsuki said as he hung up the phone.

———————————————

Little did either of them know, their call was tapped by a member of the HPSC. They weren’t the only
ones, however, as hundreds of calls were being listened in on across Japan in search of one Lady
Nagant. Not to mention all the agents frantically searching all forms of social media, hoping for even
a passing mention.

“Madam President, Madam President!”

The president hung up the phone calmly when she saw one of her employees burst into her office.
“Employee #2763, this better be important.”

“It is! I might have found a lead as to the whereabouts of our missing convict.”

Madam President sat quietly with her hands folded. “I’m listening.”

“You might not believe this, but a student from Aldera Middle School in Mustafa mentioned the
possibility of a mysterious sniper looking after one of its students. Either that, or it was a luck Quirk.”

The president leaned back in her chair and hummed to herself thoughtfully. “As unlikely as it sounds,
it’s the first lead we’ve gotten all week. We should proceed with caution. Send in an agent to
investigate.”

“Understood, Ma’am. Should we call on Hawks?”

“No, he would draw too much attention. We need someone inconspicuous, someone Aldera will
forget was ever there. Call on Agent Blue.”

———————————————

The Next Day…

As Izuku walked through the gates of Aldera, he couldn’t help but notice the fancy black car parked
out front. The door opened, and out stepped a plain-looking man with maroon hair combed to the
side, wearing a black suit with a blue tie.

Almost immediately, a teacher immediately strolled up to the man. “Excuse me, sir, this is private
school property. You can’t be here.”

The man calmly took out a badge from his pocket and flashed it at the teacher. “I’m here on official
hero business, Ma’am.”
The teacher immediately changed her tune. “Oh, a representative from the HPSC! What an exciting
opportunity!” She pulled out her phone and began typing something. “I’ve just notified the other
teachers. We’d be more than happy to give you a tour, Mr…”

“Smith. John Smith,” The man answered. Izuku assumed that was just a code name. That man did not
look like a John Smith. “But it’s no bother, Miss. I’m sure I can find my way around the school on my
own.”

“No, I insist! We have many talented students we’re sure will catch your eye!” (Read: Bakugo).

“Guess we’re doing this the hard way,” John muttered as he looked at the teacher. His eyes flashed
blue, and a forgetful expression found its way onto the teacher’s face.

“Wha - what was I doing again?” She asked dumbfoundedly.

Izuku noticed John plaster a kind, helpful smile on his face. “You were just about to make your way to
your classroom. You better hurry. The bell’s about to ring.”

The teacher’s face lit up in recognition, as if what John said to her was true. “Oh, you’re right. Thank
you,” She said as she ran off.

Izuku had a million questions at the moment. What was the HPSC guy’s Quirk? Why did he use it on
the teacher? Why was he so adamant about exploring the school on his own? Why was he at Aldera in
the first place?

For the last question, Izuku thought back to his theory from yesterday. Based on the presence of the
HPSC agent, it seemed his guess was correct. Lady Nagant was somehow hiding out at his school.
But that begged the question: What was he going to do with this information?

Despite all his fanboy knowledge, he didn’t know much about Lady Nagant, only that she was labeled
a traitor by the HPSC after supposedly killing a hero in an argument. But whatever hero she killed
was never specified, almost like it was some kind of cover-up.

Izuku didn’t want to make any decisions without knowing the full extent of the situation. If Lady
Nagant was really as bad as the HPSC said she was, then why would she go out of her way to help
him?

He decided he would set the record straight by asking the former hero herself. He knew it was risky,
but John didn’t look particularly eager to spill any government secrets.

Now all he needed was a distraction so he could find Nagant before John did.

As if on cue, right as John was about to enter the school, his homeroom teacher, Mr. Kobayashi, ran
up to John while dragging Katsuki by the arm. Izuku quickly made his way into the building while his
teacher talked to the representative.

“Mr. Smith, I heard you were a representative for the HPSC, and I’d like you to meet our star student,
Katsuki Bakugo.”

“Why the hell am I here?!” Katsuki barked, “I’m trying to impress heroes. I don’t care about some
shitty pencil pushers!”

“Excuse his foul language,” Kobayashi nervously laughed as he tugged his suit’s collar, “This kid’s
got the makings of a future number-one hero! He’s got an ultra-powerful explosion Quirk and near-
perfect control over it!”

John eyed Katsuki up and down, his eyes not portraying any amount of interest. “Loud, brash, and
disobedient, I think we’ll pass on him.”

“What the hell do you mean brash?!” Katsuki yelled.

“I thought you said you didn’t care about me,” John leaned in uncomfortably close to his face.

“Shut up! You wanna catch these-”

John’s eyes flashed blue again, and Katsuki’s face turned forgetful. “What was I doing again?”

The HPSC representative flashed his eyes at Kobayashi before answering, “You were both about to
get back to class and leave me alone.”

“You're right. That’s exactly what we were doing.” Kobayashi strolled back into the building,
blissfully unaware of what had just happened. “Come along now, Bakugo. You wouldn’t want to be
late for class.”

“Tch. Whatever.”

“Finally,” John grumbled as he made his way into the school, only to instinctively take a few steps
back as several more teachers rushed out of the building and greeted him all at once.

“Mr. Smith, it’s so nice to see you!”

“Mr. Smith, I hope you like our school!”

“Mr. Smith, how’s working with the HPSC?”

He could practically feel the dry eye he was about to receive due to frequent use of his Quirk.

———————————————

Kaina panicked as soon as she saw the unmarked black van pull up to the school. She panicked even
further once she saw a man in a suit exit the vehicle. She didn’t recognize him, but she knew they
found her. She didn’t know how, but they did.

Since then, Kaina scrambled to get her belongings together and sneak out the back door. She felt like
a real idiot for storing all her belongings in hidden compartments throughout the school. Though, in
her defense, it’s not like she had an apartment. She had just gotten her first paycheck yesterday.

As Kaina snuck onto the roof to pick up her last item, a few spare bullets she hid behind the air
conditioner, she noticed the representative still standing outside the entrance, surrounded by excited
teachers. Absentmindedly, she wondered if she could just shoot him now and be done with it. She had
the ammo, the vantage point, and the perfect shot all lined up.

It was like the universe wanted her to do it.

Kaina stopped herself as she loaded her Quirk. No, she couldn’t. While she didn’t regret it, Kaina
couldn’t deny that killing a member of the HPSC was what got her arrested in the first place. And she
would be damned before she repeated her mistakes.
“I’m glad you didn’t do it,” Said a voice from behind.

Kaina’s instincts kicked in, and she immediately whipped around and drew her weapon. But to her
surprise, instead of another agent, it was the green-haired kid she had been helping throughout the
past week.

“I’m unarmed! I’m unarmed!” Izuku yelled as he put his hands in the air.

“Why are you here?” Kaina asked coldly.

“I - I could ask you the same thing, Lady Nagant.”

“First of all, that name is dead to me. Second of all, how long have you known?”

Izuku gulped, still shaken from the gun pointed at him. “I suspected something yesterday when I
found a strand of your hair. The HPSC representative solidified it. But why are you here? And more
importantly, why did you defend me from Kacchan?”

“I came here to lay low after I escaped from Tartarus. And the only reason I helped you was so no
heroes would get involved.”

Izuku couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, I think you failed on that front.”

Kaina narrowed her eyes in confusion for a moment before picking up what he meant. “I told you,
I’m not a hero. Lady Nagant is dead, and the corruption of hero society killed her.”

“Corruption in hero society?”

Kaina let out a tired sigh. “Right… No one ever knows about what goes on under the surface.
Everyone thinks the world of heroism is just like the cartoons. And while that may be true for
symbols like All Might, no one ever brings up the heroes who have to do the dirty work.

“Well, then tell me,” Izuku calmly requested. “That’s why I came to find you in the first place. I
wanted to hear your side of the story.”

Kaina glanced back down to the representative, who was still swarmed by teachers, “If you couldn’t
tell, I’m a little pressed for time. That’s gonna be a no from me.”

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll scream.”

“Fine, but you get the cliff-notes version. Basically, the HPSC trained me with my Quirk, then
ordered me to kill whoever they didn’t like. Eventually, the guilt and trauma got to me, and I wanted
out. When the former president threatened me if I didn’t stop, I killed him in response. Got that?”

Izuku hung his head low, shaken to the core at the absolute bomb that had just been dropped on him.
“Wow… that’s just… I don’t even know what to say.”

“Yeah,” Kaina spat curtly. “Word of advice, stay away from the heroics industry, kid.”

That immediately snapped Izuku out of his funk. “What? No! There’s no way I could just give up on
my dreams like that. Even if hero society is as corrupt as you say, that doesn’t mean I can’t work to
fix it.”

“Really? You’re gonna fight the system while also being a part of the system? Spare me the naivety.”
“There’s a difference between naivety and optimism,” Izuku defended. “I mean, no offense, but how’s
your attitude going to fix the problems with hero society?”

Kaina rolled her eyes. “I’m not trying to fix hero society here. I’m just trying to live a free life. And
that asshole down there is making it an issue.” She pointed her thumb to the representative below her.

“Okay. Well, what if I told you I have an idea on how to get that guy and the HPSC off your back?”

“I’d call you naive again. How could you possibly manage that? You’re just a kid.”

“A kid who knows the Quirk of the man trying to hunt you down, as well as how to exploit it.” Izuku
pulled out a notebook and began writing at a lightning-fast pace.

Kaina lowered her rifle and leaned forward slightly. “Really? What is it?”

“I don’t know what it’s called, but when he looks into someone’s eyes, they seem to forget what
they’re doing. After that, they enter a state of suggestibility where they can be convinced to do a
certain action. But I’m guessing you couldn’t convince them to do something wildly out of character.
It has to be feasible.”

Kaina nodded. “Alright. I think I see where you’re going with this, and it’s a good enough plan for me
to go along with it. But how does that get the entire HPSC off my back?”

Izuku smirked as the bakery that was his mind produced a fresh idea right out of the oven. “That’s
simple, all you have to do is buy a plane ticket.”

“Huh?”

———————————————

It took a lot of memory wiping, but John finally got rid of all those suck-up teachers. He really wished
he had disguised himself as a plumber or pizza delivery guy or something.

But none of that mattered as he made his way to the roof. He had a gut feeling he’d find his target
there. Snipers took to roofs like bears to honey.

It only took him a few seconds to pick the lock to the roof’s access door, where his suspicions were
proven correct. “End of the line, Lady Nagant,” He said.

Kaina quickly turned around and pointed her rifle at John, but he didn’t waiver in the slightest, “Oh,
please. You think shooting me will solve anything?”

“It worked last time.” Kaina narrowed her eyes as she cocked her gun.

“And what will the HPSC think when their agent doesn’t come back from his mission alive? They’ll
be hot on your trail, hunting you down like a pack of rabid bloodhounds. You’ll never have a
moment’s peace again. So why don’t you just spare us the trouble and get back to your cell?”

“Spare who the trouble?” Said an unfamiliar voice. John turned to see a green-haired boy stumble his
way onto the roof. “Wait, is that the former pro hero Lady Nagant?!” He gasped.

“No. It’s nobody.” John looked at the kid and activated his Quirk. But right before his eyes flashed
blue, the boy pulled out a mirror and pointed it at the agent’s face.
 John saw the horrified look of realization on his face for a brief millisecond before the flash went off,
and his memory was wiped.

Before the light cleared, Izuku pulled out a piece of paper, threw it onto the ground, and then hid
behind the roof’s air conditioner along with Kaina.

“Huh? What was I doing again?” John asked dumbfoundedly. “Oh right! I was looking for Lady
Nagant! Now where could she-”

He paused as he noticed a small piece of paper on the ground. Picking it up, he discovered it was a
plane ticket to America under the name Kaina Tsutsumi. Judging by the departure time listed, it had
already taken off.

“Dammit,” John swore under his breath before tapping on his earpiece. “Madam President, this is
Agent Blue. I searched the school, and now have reason to believe the traitor has fled to America.
Don’t worry, Ma’am, I’m already looking to book a flight of my own. We’ll find her eventually.”

The moment he exited the roof and shut the door behind him, Kaina let out a breath she didn’t realize
she was holding. “Holy crap. I can’t believe that worked.”

“Me too, if I’m being honest,” Izuku admitted. “I mean, I came up with that plan in like two minutes.”

“In that case, color me impressed. I guess I’m free now.”

“What are you gonna do now?”

“Continue to keep a low profile, that’s what. I’ll be sticking around here for the time being. Though, I
doubt I’ll be able to handle your bully for you.”

“Oh…” Izuku couldn’t help but droop his head in disappointment.

Kaina nonchalantly threw a slingshot into Izuku’s hands, “Which means I’ll just have to train you
how to do it yourself.”

Izuku’s pupils dilated at the slingshot in his grasp. “Wait, really?!”

“Sure, kid. You already defied my expectations once today. I wanna see what you can do. Your
training starts-”

“Wait! Before we start any training…” Izuku pulled out a notebook and opened it to a blank page.
“Can I have your autograph?”

“What do you want my autograph for? I’m not a hero anymore.”

Izuku shyly tapped his fingers together. “Well… you’re my hero.”

“That is single-handedly the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

“Just sign it.”

Chapter End Notes

The HPSC isn't as competent as they make Japan think they are. They're like Jenga, they fall
apart easily.

I like to think Izuku let Kaina stay at his place until she could afford an apartment of her own.
I'm sure Inko won't mind. Not in the slightest.

Some people might think Izuku can't do much with a slingshot, but if you use thumbtacks as
ammo, any battle immediately becomes an acupuncture appointment. Or he could just get you in
the forehead and be done with it. I haven't experienced it myself, but I'm sure a thumbtack to the
forehead hurts like hell.

Next Time: Gun (again)

 Snipe the Cowboy
Chapter Notes

NOTE: This chapter is referring to the character of Snipe, who just so happens to be a cowboy. I
am not asking you to snipe cowboys. That would be weird.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

In one of the many alleyways of Mustafa sat a man in a red cloak, black tank top, yellow trousers,
gray boots with spurs, and brown cowboy hat. He played a few notes on his harmonica as he sat by
the fire he had just made and waited for his sausage to finish cooking.

Most people would see this man as some kind of Don Quixote-like figure pretending to be a cowboy
in the modern day. But that’s because he wasn’t wearing his trademark mask and large letter S on his
cap. If he was, everyone would recognize him as the Gunslinger Hero: Snipe.

But he wasn’t, so at most, people thought he was wearing some elaborate cosplay of the hero, rather
than being the man himself.

It had been three days since that Fireworks Truck crashed into UA. Classes were canceled for a week
in order to improve security, and Snipe decided to use that newfound free time to live the life of a
cowboy.

He had been traveling from town to town, seeing the world and helping out strangers along the way.
He rather enjoyed his time as a drifter. It was a much-needed break from the often tedious patrol
routes that came with the profession of a pro hero.

Just as Snipe finished his little ditty, he noticed his sausage starting to brown. Just the way he liked it!
Putting down his harmonica, he blew on his late lunch to cool it down before taking a big bite and
melting at the texture.

Grills, microwaves, stoves, none of them compared to the genuine article of roasting grub on an open
fire.

Suddenly, Snipe was pulled from his meal when he heard a faint bang ring out in the distance. After
checking his revolver to make sure it wasn’t him, he got up and ran over to where he thought he heard
the sound.

When he made his way there, he found himself under an overpass, watching a group of kids take
shots at a scrawny-looking freckled boy.

“C’mon, Deku! How are you supposed to be a hero if you can’t fight back?” A boy with spiky blonde
hair said as he grabbed the freckled kid by the side and let out an explosion from his palm.

Snipe’s hero instincts kicked in immediately. He pulled out his revolver and fired a blank into the air,
startling the group of kids, and getting their attention. “What in tarnation is going on ‘round here?”
Snipe demanded, waving his gun around to add emphasis.
One of the bullies quivered at the sight of his revolver. “Hey! That guy’s got a gun!”

“Got a license fer it, too. But I reckon you don’t got a license for that.” He gestured toward the blond
boy’s hand, still smoking from the explosion. “Y’all better scram ‘fore I turn this into a Clint
Eastwood movie.”

The bullies seemed to get the reference, as they scattered like an ant colony during a thunderstorm,
dragging along the blond boy with them, who simply glared at the freckled kid.

“And I’ll be tellin’ your teachers ‘bout this, ‘ya hear!” Snipe yelled before turning to help up the
freckled kid. “You alright there, cowpoke? What’s yer name?”

“Izuku Midoriya. Thanks for helping me, Mr…”

Snipe suddenly remembered he didn’t have his mask on, and was practically unrecognizable as a
result. He didn’t feel like giving his real name, so he scrambled to come up with a fake one.

“Y’all can call me Rango,” He answered, hoping Izuku wouldn’t get the reference. And judging by
the look on his face, Snipe figured he didn’t.

“Well, thank you for the help, Mr. Rango, but you really don't need to go to the teachers about this.”

Snipe tilted his head in confusion. “Hm? And why not? You worried ‘bout gettin’ in trouble or
somethin’? Don’t worry, I can vouch fer ‘ya.”

Izuku sighed. “No, it’s not that. It’s just… Those guys will probably beat me up even harder
tomorrow if they learned I snitched on them.”

“Well ain’t that just a big crock ‘o bull honkey! (Translation: That’s bullshit).” Snipe declared. “I
know snitches get stitches and all that. But there’s a fine line between simple snitchin’ and reportin’
bad behavior.”

Izuku pointedly glanced away from the cowboy. “Still, I’d rather you not tell anyone. I’ve tried
before, and it never ends well for me.”

Snipe recognized this boy’s behavior from a mile away. He had clearly developed a sense of learned
helplessness, no doubt as a result of his bullies picking on him for god knows how long. Luckily, this
was a problem Snipe knew how to fix handily.

“I reckon I know what yer problem is, boy. These bullies o’ yours have it in their right mind that they
can pick on you and get away with it.”

“I mean…they’re not wrong,” Izuku mumbled just loud enough for Snipe to hear.

“Well, that’s where you’re wrong! They dun don’t who they’re deain’ with. What y’all gotta do is
give ‘em a reason for them to stay away from ‘ya. Get them to not just respect, but fear ‘ya, too.
Understand?”

“Uh, I think so,” Izuku hesitantly nodded. “But what can I do? I mean, it’s not like I have any
qualities that inspire respect or fear.”

“Maybe not. But that’s what I’m here for. If ‘ya let me, I can educate ‘ya on how to be a rootin’
tootin’ ready fer shootin’ cowboy like myself.” Snipe pulled out his revolver and spun it around his
finger to add a little flair.
“Wait, you’re giving me a gun?!” Izuku exclaimed.

“Heh, not in this country, I’m afraid. But that don’t mean I can’t teach ‘ya the tricks of the trade.
Whaddya say, cowpoke?”

Izuku stopped to ponder the offer for a moment. Sure, he might have just met this man, but he seemed
to really be committed to the whole cowboy bit. He hadn’t seen many Wild West movies, but he was
pretty sure he knew the types of protagonists those flicks usually featured: Strong, determined,
skilled, and always ready to dispense justice.

Really, it wasn’t too far off from what he wanted to accomplish as a hero, and if this guy could teach
him how to be that, then maybe he would be one step closer to achieving his dreams.

“Alright, Mr. Rango. Please teach me everything you know about cowboys!” Izuku said with a bow.

“Good choice, feller,” Snipe said as he pointed finger guns at Izuku. “Now let’s get movin’ along
‘fore we burn any more daylight here.”

———————————————

Of all the things Izuku thought his new teacher would show him, a mechanical bull in the middle of
an open field wasn’t one of them. Then again, this was probably a better alternative to an actual bull.
“Is this a substitute for horse-related training?” He asked.

“You’re dang right. I brought it from home m’self,” Snipe said as he pushed a few buttons on the
control panel. “I’d offer ‘ya the real deal, but good ‘ol Silverstar is stayin’ in a ranch down in Texas.
Go on now, give ‘er a spin.”

“Okay…” Izuku cautiously threw his leg over the bull and hoisted himself up, gripping the rope
attached to the saddle as hard as he could. When the machine started up, he found himself bucked off
and thrown to the ground almost immediately.

“No, no, no,” Snipe said as he waved his hands. “Yer grippin’ in all the wrong places. Here, watch
how I get ‘er done.” He climbed atop the bull and demonstrated the correct position. “Keep yer legs
firm, lean forward, and grip the rope with yer fingers, too. If ‘ya use only yer palms, yer as dead as a
goldfish in the Sahara.”

“Oh, okay,” Izuku got back on and followed his teacher's advice to the letter. That time, he managed
to last twice as long on the bull. Even though a five-second improvement wasn’t too much, he still felt
accomplished.

“There ‘ya go! That’s how it’s done! It’s all ‘bout takin’ life by the horns and never letting go.”

“I think I understand what you mean, sir.” Izuku hopped up on the bull and wrapped his hands around
its plastic horns, only to get bucked off almost immediately and receive a mouthful of dirt.

“‘Fraid that was just a metaphor, son. Try not to take my countryisms too literally.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” He responded as he spat out the dirt.

———————————————

“Why are we in a field full of sheep?” Izuku asked as he and Snipe hid behind a bush.
“This is the next part ‘o yer trainin’. Ain’t no cowboy, girl, or hand alive that don’t know how to
wrangle up some critters.” Snipe pulled out a lasso and handed it to Izuku to show what he meant.

“What did you mean by hand?”

“Cowhand is the gender-neutral term for cowboy.”

“Ah, I see,” Izuku fumbled with the lasso for a moment before gripping it below the knot. He swung
it around for a few moments, letting it gain momentum before he tossed it at the closest sheep. He
missed it entirely.

Snipe shook his head and tutted disappointedly. “That ain’t it, boy. Yer form’s alright, but yer focusin’
too hard on the rope instead of yer target. What ‘ya gotta do is focus on the varmint yer lookin’ to
hogtie. ‘Ya gotta know where they are at all times. Yer tool will do the rest of the work.”

“Oh, so it’s like a form of dual processing? I think I can do that.” Izuku tried swinging the lasso again.
It took a few attempts to build up the momentum while keeping his eye on the sheep. But after about
five minutes, he managed to get the lasso around his target.

“Yippee ki-yay! That’s some fine wranglin’, boy.” Ships cheered as he slapped Izuku on the back.

Izuku bashfully scratched the back of his head. “It - it wasn’t that impressive.”

“Even if it weren’t, progress is still progress. And that deserves praise. Now reel in that sucker. We’re
havin’ lamb chops tonight!”

“Hey! What are you doing with my sheep?!” Yelled an angry farmer as he ran over to the pair.

“On second thought, I reckon we better make like a cactus and git the hell outta here.”

“Good plan,” Izuku said as he proceeded to book it.

———————————————

“Alrighty, cowpoke, here’s yer last ‘n most important lesson.”

“…“Roasting sausages?” Izuku asked as he stared at the open fire.

“That’s the ticket,” Snipe pulled out a pair of sausages from his pocket, stuck them on some sticks he
found on the ground (sanitation is optional for cowboys), and handed one to his student. “Now,
grillin’ a good weenie might seem easier than shootin’ rattlesnakes in a kiddie pool…”

“But it’s not?”

“Not if yer lookin’ fer a fine dining experience, it ain’t. Lemme tell ‘ya, one wrong move, and yer
dog’s less edible than a two-time deep-fried rattlesnake.”

Izuku was now hesitant to put his sausage over the fire. “How do you usually do it?”

“It’s all about precision, ‘ya hear.” Snipe slowly rotated the stick in his hand, taking special care to
grill the sausage in all the right places. “If ‘ya know the dog inside ‘n out, know each and every one of
its spots, both weak and strong, yer bound to achieve perfection on a stick.
After a few moments, he pulled a perfectly brown sausage from the fire and took a big bite. “Yup.
That’s the kind of flavor y’all can’t get anywhere else. Lemmee walk ‘ya through it.”

Izuku held his stick over the fire, and Snipe carefully guided his hand to perform the correct rotating
speeds, which shifted much more than Izuku initially thought. Each side of the sausage required a
different approach, and sometimes he had to hold the stick at certain angles in order to get certain
tough-to-reach spots.

It was a level of care Izuku wasn’t expecting when it came to roasting food by the fire. If he had to
compare it to anything, he would say it was like painting an art piece, with the fire as his brush, and
the sausage as his canvas.

It was a delicately difficult process, for sure. But when he took a bite of his completed sausage, it was
all worth it in his eyes.

“How’s it taste?” Snipe asked expectedly.

“Better than I thought any sausage ever could,” Izuku responded with his mouth full.

“Then I reckon yer just about ready.”

Izuku swallowed his bite. “For what?”

“Fer this,” Snipe reached behind his cloak and handed him a colorful dart gun.

Izuku gasped. “But I thought you said you weren’t giving me a gun.”

“That was a bit of an old cowboy’s trick. I wanted to take a gander and see if you could handle it first.
But now that I know you can, you’re all set to stake yer claim and make yer mark.”

“But - but I don’t know how to use a gun.”

“Do ‘ya, now?” Snipe chuckled amusedly. “C’mon, now. Don’t go forgettin’ what I taught ‘ya so
soon.”

“What you taught me?” Izuku carefully gripped the dart gun in his right hand. Suddenly, all the pieces
clicked into place.

“Keep yer legs firm, lean forward, and grip with yer fingers, too.”

“What ‘ya gotta do is focus on the varmint yer tryin’a hogtie. ‘Ya gotta know where they are at all
times. Yer tool will do the rest of the work.”

“If ‘ya know each and every one of its spots, both weak and strong, yer bound to achieve perfection.”

The boy gasped at the gun in his hand, his mind blown by the revelation. “You were training me for a
gun this whole time.”

“Yer darn tootin’! Now git out there and show them bullies why they shouldn’t mess with Izuku
Midoriya!”

“Yes sir, Mr. Rango!”

“C’mon, boy. Is that any way to address yer mentor?”

“Oh! I mean… I’ll have that done faster than a coyote strapped to a rocket,” He said in the deepest,
graveliest voice he could muster (which wasn’t much).

“That’s the ticket. Knock ‘em dead!”

———————————————

The Next Day…

Izuku slammed open the doors of Aldera Middle School, turning more than a few heads. He simply
ignored them as he methodically paced through the halls, his expression absolutely oozing with
determination.

It only took a few minutes of pursuing the area for him to find his target. “Katsuki Bakugo,” He called
out.

“Deku?” Katsuki turned at the mention of his name. He looked the green-haired boy up and down,
taking note of how differently he carried himself. Much less timid and much more willing to call him
out on his bullshit. Katsuki hated that. “What the fuck has gotten into you? Do I need to teach you
another lesson?”

“No, Kacchan. I think it’s the other way around.” Izuku dropped a dart gun on the ground and kicked
it over to Katsuki. “You’ve been terrorizing me and this school for far too long, which is why I
challenge you to a duel! Winner takes all, loser never shows their face around here again. What do
you say?”

Katsuki and several of the students surrounding him let out a collective snicker. “Really? A duel? I
don’t know what kind of cowboy shit you’re on. But if it gives me another chance to show how
worthless you are, then sure, I accept.”

“Good.” Izuku pulled out a dart gun of his own, his glare never quite leaving Katsuki’s eyes.

The pair slowly walked up to each other as the crowd of students watching them went silent. The
sound of their footsteps echoed throughout the halls. As the duelists stood back-to-back, and a random
student stood in between them to act as referee, Izuku clarified the rules. “Ten paces, then fire on
three. Got that?”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Katsuki rolled his eyes at Izuku’s dedication to the bit.

After the duelists took their ten paces, making sure their steps synced up with one another, the referee
raised his right hand and began to count.

“Combatants ready? One…”

Izuku gripped his gun with all five fingers.

“Two…”

He had his enemy’s position mapped out in his mind…

“THREE!”

And he knew exactly where to shoot.

BANG

The crowd went dead silent at the sound of the guns firing simultaneously. They anticipatingly
glanced at the two opponents to see who had won. They were quick to notice the lack of darts in
Izuku’s vicinity.

The same could not be said for Katsuki, however. For he had a singular sticky dart hanging from his
shirt, right below his left lung.

“Huh. I was aiming for the heart, but that works too,” Izuku admitted out loud.

His eyes wide with shock, Katsuki looked back and forth between the dart and Izuku’s face several
times before saying anything. “Wha - how the fuck did you manage to beat me?! Did you rig my
gun?!”

“No, I didn’t, Kacchan,” Izuku calmly answered. “You see, I know you, and I know your Quirk. You
release explosions from your hands. You typically prefer to unleash them point-blank at your foes
(read: me). Couple that with the fact you rarely have to actually aim an explosion, and you get a
recipe for someone with naturally bad aim.”

Izuku leveled his bully with what Katsuki assumed to be a condescending glare. “The truth is, despite
all my training, I knew the outcome of this match from the very beginning.”

Something inside Katsuki snapped at the sight of Izuku tearing him a new one. Veins popped on his
forehead, he practically grounded his teeth into dust, and he saw pure red.

He gave into the first instinct that came to mind and charged at Izuku with the fury of a raging bull,
his sparking hands outstretched, just waiting to grip someone by the neck and blast them to hell.
“DEKU!”

BANG

The sudden jolt of pain on his right shoulder snapped Katsuki out of his rage-induced state. “Gah! my
arm! Who the fuck did that?!”

“It was me,” Said a tall man holding a revolver as he made his way to the front of the crowd. Katsuki
recognized him as the man from yesterday. “I told ‘ya I’d turn this into a Clint Eastwood flick if y’all
didn’t behave yerself.”

“You fucking shot me? How the hell did you even get in here?”

“Relax, varmint. It was only rubber. Dislocated yer arm at worst. As for how I got in here…” The
gun-toting man pulled out a familiar-looking mask and slapped it onto his face. “You’d be surprised
what a pro hero can get away with.”

Just about everyone in the hallway immediately recognized the man as the Gunslinger Hero: Snipe.
Katsuki’s face looked as white as a ghost as he realized what he had just done in front of a pro hero.

Snipe chuckled as he walked over to the duelists. He then turned and gestured to the crowd. “Well,
y’all saw what happened here. The green-haired cowboy won fair ‘n square, which means this little
doggie won’t be showin’ his face ‘round here anytime soon.” He grabbed Katsuki by the arm and
dragged him off.
 Izuku was too busy fanboying to focus on that, however. “Oh my god! You were Snipe this whole
time?! It makes so much sense! How did I not see it earlier? I have to pinch myself because I must be
dreaming.”

He momentarily snapped out of his shocked stupor as he noticed Snipe wrapping his bully up in a
lasso. “Hold on, where are you taking Kacchan?”

“This little varmint tried to use his Quirk on you. Fer that, he’s earned himself a one-way ticket to the
slammer.”

Katsuki didn’t think it was possible for his face to get any paler. He was wrong. Dead wrong. “W-
what?! You can’t do that! I’m supposed to be the number-one hero!”

“Well, now yer the number-one outlaw in the west. Congrats on yer new title.” Snipe turned to Izuku
before he walked off. “Good job out there, cowboy! I think you’ve earned yer place as the new top
dog ‘o this here town.” He reached into his cloud and tossed the boy a plastic sheriff's badge, signed
by the hero himself. “Hope to see ‘ya at UA, boy.”

When Snipe left, Izuku turned back to the crowd of students and grinned, noticing the apprehensive
look on each of them.

He knew his placement as Aldera’s new top dog would stick. If not for his gunslinging skills, then the
fact that his actions led to a pro hero carrying off the school’s previous top dog would make people
respect and fear him enough.

And if anyone disagreed, Izuku could see just how well they fared in a duel.

Chapter End Notes

Despite living in America, I've never used a gun in my life. So take Snipe's gun-related advice
with a grain of salt.

I've always had the headcanon that Katsuki secretly has bad aim. Because you don't need to aim
an explosion, you just gotta get close enough.

I probably could've had Snipe shut down Aldera, but since Izuku now has clear connections to a
pro hero, the teachers are bound to change their tune toward him.

Next Time: You're in for a real treat with this one

 Sato the Baker
Chapter Notes

Before we get started here. I have a few announcements to make:

1. I finally caved in and made All it Takes is One Good Friend: Crossover Edition. Read the first
chapter if you like Kirby

2. If you couldn't tell, this fic is now part of a series. Containing this, the crossover thing I just
mentioned, A Starstruck Legacy, and anything else I decide to do with the series in the future

Ok, now back to your regularly scheduled madness.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

In a way, Rikido Sato was relieved that fireworks truck destroyed his old middle school. He knew that
was a weird thing to think, but it was the truth. He didn’t have many friends at his old school. A few
friendly acquaintances, maybe, but no one he would call to move a couch or something. Changing
schools gave him a fresh start of sorts. And he wouldn’t put that opportunity to waste.

“Hi, my name’s Rikido Sato,” He introduced himself in front of the class before reaching behind his
back and pulling out a tray. “Uh, I made cookies.”

He knew baked goods were a great way to make a first impression. People always said things like,
‘The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,’ but Sato found that saying applied to all genders.
People tended to like good food.

Judging by the classes’s eagerness to each take a cookie for themselves, Sato figured the saying held
true.

“Wow, Sato, this is amazing!” Said a girl with long blue hair.

“Yeah! Super sweet!” Exclaimed a boy with spiky black hair.

Sato blushed at the praise as he bashfully scratched the back of his head. “Oh, well, y’know. My
family owns a bakery, so I have experience with-”

SLAP

Suddenly, Sato felt a disturbance in the force. He turned to see a green-haired boy fretting over his
cookie, which had been slapped out of his hand and onto the floor by another boy with orange hair,
who looked oddly satisfied by his display of rudeness.

“Ha! Too slow, Deku!” The orange-haired boy taunted, prompting a series of snickers and chuckles
across the entire class. And a satisfied grin from one spiky-haired blond boy in particular.

The boy referred to as ‘Deku’ dejectedly slumped in his seat, and Sato couldn’t help but feel bad for
him. Thankfully, he was seated right next to him, and he was dutifully prepared for situations like this.
After all, what kind of baker would he be if he didn’t make a baker’s dozen?

When class started and the focus shifted to the teacher, Sato reached into his bag’s secret
compartment, pulled out a spare cookie, and silently slid it to the boy, who may or may not be named
Deku.

After a brief moment of surprise, Deku turned to Sato and gave him a look, seemingly asking for his
permission. After a silent nod of approval, Deku bit into the confection and practically melted at the
taste, which was the standard reaction when experiencing his baking for the first time.

———————————————

Later that day, after the teacher finished his lecture and the students dispersed for lunch, Sato was
slightly surprised to see the green-haired boy nervously approach him as he packed up his bag.

“Um, hey. Sato, was it? I just wanted to say thanks for the cookie you gave me. I mean, it probably
wasn’t that big of a deal to you, I know it was just a cookie, and you had plenty of them. But it was -
it was nice to have someone look out for me. Not to mention it was probably one of the best cookies
I’ve ever had. And… I’ve probably been talking for too long. Sorry if I’m annoying you, I’ll just…”

He began awkwardly shuffling away, but Sato was quick to stop him. “Hold on, you weren’t being
annoying or anything. What’s your name? It’s not really Deku, is it?”

The freckled boy was quick to turn around. “Oh, sorry for jumping to conclusions there. But no, my
name’s not actually Deku. It’s Izuku Midoriya.”

“Nice to meet you, Midoriya. I’m Rikido Sato, in case you forgot. And I’m glad you enjoyed my
baking. I worked real hard on those.”

“No kidding. If you had given it to me without telling me who made it, I’d think it was Lunch Rush.
Not that I’ve ever tried his food before, but it tastes just how I thought it would.”

Sato let out an impressed whistle. “Wow. That’s high praise, comparing me to one of my favorite
heroes.”

“You like Lunch Rush, too? He’s a real underrated hero in my book.”

“I know, right? Whenever people bring up the heroes who work at UA, they always forget about
Lunch Rush. I wonder why that is.”

“Probably because he’s the kind of hero who works on the sidelines, always there to provide
nourishment for heroes and civilians during large rescue operations. But that’s what I’ve always liked
about him. Beating up bad guys isn’t the only way to be a hero.”

“Agree with you a hundred percent on that one. I’ve always thought that making people smile is one
of the best things a hero can do. And what better way to do that than with food? That’s why I got so
heavily involved in the family bakery.”

That last sentence caught Izuku’s attention. “Wait, your family has a bakery? That explains a lot,
actually.”

“Heh, was it that obvious?” Sato shrugged as he gave a sheepish smile.

“Nothing wrong with wearing your inspiration on your sleeve. So, what’s your family’s bakery like?
What kind of stuff do they sell?”

Sato, sensing a spark of friendship with Izuku, decided to play all his cards straight in a quick attempt
to seal the deal. “Would you like to see for yourself?”

Izuku gaped. “You’re inviting me to your house?”

“I mean, if you want to. No pressure or anything. It was just a spur of the mo-”

“Yes!”

“Great!”

———————————————

Once school was done for the day, instead of making his usual trek home, Izuku followed Sato to the
train station, where they took a short ride before ending up in front of a rather homey-looking
building with large display windows showing off various delectable confectioneries.

“The store’s closed for today since my mom and dad are at a baker’s conference,” Sato said as he
unlocked the front door, a small bell chiming once he opened it, “So it’s just you and me today.”

The moment Izuku stepped in, he was hit point blank with a fresh-smelling aroma. Very much the
kind he would expect from a bakery, except somehow more potent.

“Wow, this place is nice,” He said as he admired the decor. He ran his hand across one of the tables as
he passed by. “Is this real wood?”

“Yup! My grandpa says that table’s older than him,” Sato chuckled. “Of course, he also says that
Quirks are a result of a bacterial mutation that came about because not enough people were washing
their hands, so I take everything he says with a grain of salt.”

Izuku couldn’t help but snicker. As Sato led him behind the counter and into the kitchen, he couldn’t
help but notice the rows and rows of freshly baked sweets that laid behind the display cases. He could
practically taste them.

“Alright, this is where the magic happens!” Sato gestured toward the kitchen, which looked pretty
standard for a bakery, except for one minor detail.

“Sato, why is that mixer larger than me?”

“Pretty cool, right?” Sato smacked the top of the mixer like he was a salesman trying to sell a used
car. “We do catering orders, too. This thing helps us make stuff in bulk. Wanna try it out?”

“Try it out? Do you mean…”

“Duh! We’re in a bakery! What else are we supposed to do? C’mon, I know you wanna give it a
spin.”

Thankfully, it didn’t take much convincing for Izuku to agree with that statement. “Alright, let’s bake
something. Or rather, a bunch of somethings.”
“Great! Let’s get started.” Sato quickly zipped around the kitchen, opening drawer after drawer,
gathering all the ingredients he needed with practiced ease. “I hope you don’t mind having cookies
again. My parents accidentally ordered a surplus of the ingredients last week.”

“It’s fine, I get it. Something similar happened to me around that same time.”

———————————————

“Izuku, I accidentally bought several dozen pounds of pork. I hope you like katsudon, because that’s
all we’re having for the next week.”

———————————————

“Best damn week of my life.”

After Izuku finished reminiscing, he and Sato quickly got to work. Since they were working with an
exceptionally large mixer, they opted to go Plus Ultra on the portions. A dozen eggs, a gallon of milk,
a bag of flour, a bag of brown and white sugar, an entire salt shaker, several sticks of butter, a
container of baking soda, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract all flew into the bowl.

As the boys watched the oversized mixer work its oddly satisfying magic, they both couldn’t help but
feel like something was missing from their recipe.

“You feel it too, right?” Izuku asked.

“Yeah. These cookies are missing something.” Sato opened a nearby cupboard and pulled out various
jars of candy, chocolate, and various other bite-sized foods, ready to be thrown into the dough.

“So many options. Which one should we go with?”

“Well, chocolate chips, obviously.” Sato scooped several handfuls out of the jar and threw them into
the mix. “But it’s still missing something.”

“How about caramel?” Izuku suggested as he dumped a few scoops in.

“Not bad. But what about M&Ms?” Sato opened a sharing-sized bag of the candy and dumped it right
in.

“What about Oreos?” Izuku emptied the whole box.

“What about pretzels?”

“What about hot fudge?”

“What about sprinkles?”

“Marshmallows!”

“Cinnamon!”

“Coconut!”

“White chocolate!”

“Dark chocolate!”
“Peppermint!”

“It’s not Christmas!”

“Who cares?!”

“Not me!”

By the time the cookies made their way out of the oven, they could hardly even be classified as
cookies anymore. Izuku and Sato had clearly gone overboard with the amount of extra stuff they
added, but they couldn’t bring themselves to care. Their confectionary monstrosities violently
assaulted their taste buds in all the right ways.

“This is terrible,” Izuku grinned as he took another bite.

“Terribly delicious!” Sato added as he dunked his monstrosity in a glass of milk before devouring it.
“You know what we have to do now, right?”

“Unfortunately, I do.”

———————————————

“We made cookies!” The boys cheered as they presented the trays to the classroom the next day.

Reactions varied this time around. Some students thought the bakers were culinary geniuses, while
others took one bite and decided to swear off cookies forever. Izuku noticed Katsuki was somewhere
in the middle, not particularly enjoying it, but not hating it enough to stop eating.

Izuku understood where the mixed reception was coming from, but he just shrugged it off. The
cookies tasted good to him, and that was enough.

(Though, part of him wondered if this was because of some sort of psychological phenomenon in
which the food tasted better to the person who baked it. He’d have to do some research on that later).

Regardless, Izuku’s spirits were high that morning, so he decided to add to it by taking a bite out of
his culinary monstrosity.

SLAP

“Ha! Got you again, Deku!” The same boy from before taunted yet again as he pointed at Izuku’s
cookie on the floor, causing laughter to break out across the classroom.

Sato watched silently as Izuku shriveled up into a small ball of embarrassment, his good mood from
three paragraphs ago vanishing immediately.

The big-lipped baker felt a quiet rage rising in his stomach, like a cake in an oven. How dare they?
Izuku went out of his way to make treats for the entire class, and this is how he’s treated?!

Sato wouldn’t let this stand. In the back of his mind, he remembered something his mother used to
say:

“Rikido, there is no bigger crime in life than messing with someone else’s food. Unless they mess with
yours first, then it’s fair game.”
After he thought of that, it only took a few seconds for his revenge-fueled brain to come up with a
delightfully delectable scheme.

———————————————

The next day, after lunch, Sato walked up to the front of the class and held out another tray. “I made
brownies for you all. Try them,” He said in a completely monotone voice.

The students didn’t seem to care. They were all quick to snatch up a brownie for themselves and dig
into it as soon as possible. It was clear they had all gotten attached to Sato’s cooking, even after just
three days.

The baker’s eyes focused on Izuku. Who, like yesterday, went to take a bite out of his treat. And like
yesterday, the orange-haired kid slapped it out of his hand.

“Ha! I guess third time’s the charm, Deku!” He laughed as he took a bite out of his brownie. Sato had
to stop himself from smiling devilishly, as he knew what was about to happen.

A few seconds later, several students began clutching their stomachs uncomfortably. A few quickly
turned into a lot, and the sound of upset stomachs could be heard from all around.

“Uh, I gotta go.” One student bolted from their desk and ran to the nearest bathroom.

“Me, too.” Said another, who followed suit.

“I don’t feel so good.”

“Ditto.”

“Out of the way!”

“Where’s the bathroom?”

It didn’t take long for nearly the entire class to make a mad dash to the nearest toilet. Based on what
Sato put in those brownies, he knew they’d be in there for a while.

“Sato, did you do something?” Izuku asked in a scolding tone with his arms crossed.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Midoriya,” Sato answered with mock innocence. “If
anyone were to take the blame for this, it would be the school cafeteria and their low standards for
what qualifies as a lunch.”

“Yeah, I can’t really argue with that,” Izuku reluctantly admitted.

“Well I can!” Yelled a voice that was unfamiliar to Sato, but very familiar to Izuku.

“K-Kacchan! You didn’t eat your brownie?”

“Hell no! I knew better than to trust some two-bit big-lipped baker and his shitty desserts.”

Sato scoffed. “Two-bit? I’ll let you know I have a lot of pride in my baking skills. Even my
completely normal, totally not tampered with brownies were baked with love.”

“Tch. Yeah, right. Your cookies from yesterday were mediocre, and the ones from two days ago were
just okay.”
Sato gasped in shock and horror, as if Katsuki had just insulted his mother. “Just Okay?! I doubt you
could do any better.”

“Those sound like fightin’ words to me.”

“They are! I challenge you to a bake-off! Right here, right now!”

“Fine! I’ll bake circles around your shitty ass!”

“I’d like to see you try.”

———————————————

Unfortunately, due to the lack of baking supplies in the classroom, they could not hold their bake-off
‘right here, right now.’ So they had to settle on moving to the Home Ec room.

“Alright, here’s how this is gonna work,” Sato announced. “The judges should be here in about an
hour. We have until then to make some kind of dessert, and they’ll judge on a scale from one to ten.
Highest score wins. Any questions?”

“Yeah, how do I know the judges won’t be biased?” Katsuki asked.

“We won’t tell them who made which dish.”

“Fine. Let’s just get this over with.”

With that, the two bakers made it to their stations and began prepping their desserts. As Sato mixed all
his dry ingredients together, Izuku nervously sauntered up to him. “Sato, I know you’re good at
baking and stuff, but I should probably warn you about Kacchan.”

“What about him?” Sato asked as he cracked an egg.

“He’s really good at cooking. Like, really good at cooking. Look,” Izuku pointed to Katsuki who had
already finished his whipped chocolate ganache and was currently mixing the dough for what looked
to be the first of several layers. It hadn’t even been ten minutes yet.

Sato couldn’t help but respect the tenacity, yet it also made him feel nervous in comparison with his
own cake. “Aw geez, this guy seems like a tough one. I guess I’ll have to whip out my secret
ingredient.”

“Your secret ingredient? What’s that? Is it love?”

“No, love isn’t an FDA-approved ingredient. But placebos are.”

“Placebos? Isn’t that just a fancy word for gaslighting?”

“You bet! I just have to wait until the cake’s out of the oven, then my victory is assured.”

———————————————

Fifty Minutes Later…

“Alright. Now that both of our desserts are done, the judges should be here any minute,” Sato
announced.
“Tch, ‘bout time,” Katsuki grunted.

Right at that moment, a large, rotund figure burst through the door to the Home Ec classroom. “Hey!
Is this the place?” Asked the BMI Hero: Fat Gum, “Because it would be real weird if a cooking
contest were held anywhere else but here.”

“That would be so embarrassing…” Muttered Fat Gum’s intern: Suneater, who tried to look as small
and unnoticable as possible.

Izuku gasped so hard that he accidentally choked on a fly. As he flew into a coughing fit, he turned to
ask Sato, “How the heck do you know Fat Gum?!”

“He frequents the bakery,” Sato casually answered.

“And I’ve been lookin’ to refill my fat stores,” The hero said as he sat down in one of the judges’
chairs. “So come on, bring on the grub!”

“Um, just one minute!” Izuku ran to get the first dessert. It was decided that he would be the server to
keep the bakers’ identities anonymous. He quickly placed the first plate on the table and read off the
description Katsuki gave to him. “This is a seven-layer chocolate tuxedo cake. And is sure to be the,
and I quote, ‘best fucking thing you’ve ever eaten.’”

“Ooh, sounds exciting! Can’t wait to find out if it’s true.” Fat Gum cut a slice for his intern, then
downed the rest of the cake in one bite. “Mmmmmmmm, that’s a good texture. The layers add a lot of
depth, and the chocolate ganache is always a nice touch. Eight outta ten.”

Katsuki smirked with pride at the adoration of a pro hero.

Suneater, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be enjoying himself as much as his mentor. “There’s a lot
of flavor in here. Too much flavor. It’s overwhelming. Five out of ten.”

Katsuki bit his tongue to hold in an angry remark, knowing it would only make him lose favor with
the judges.

After taking their plates, Izuku carried the next dish over to the judges. “Alright, next up is a simple
chocolate cake with added placebos.”

“Placebos, you say?” Fat Gum noticed a message written out in frosting on the top of the cake, which
he read aloud. “‘This cake tastes really, really, really, really, really good.’ Well, that’s a good sign if
ever there was one.”

The hero once again cut out a slice for Suneater before stuffing his face full of chocolatey goodness.
“Wow, the cake doesn’t lie. That was really, really, really, really good. But maybe not really, really,
really, really, really good. Seven outta ten.”

Meanwhile, Suneater ate his slice slowly and methodically, as if he were afraid of making a mess.
“This is better. Less is more in my eyes. Seven out of ten as well.”

With the scores set, Izuku pulled out a piece of paper to tally the results. “Okay, let’s see here.
Kacchan’s tuxedo cake got a combined score of 13/20, while Sato’s chocolate cake got 14/20. Sato
wins!”

“What?!” Katsuki spat in disbelief.

 “Yeah! Woohoo!” Sato briefly celebrated before extending a hand to his opponent. “Hey, good game,
man. We should do this again sometime. You’re a real good cook.”

Instead of shaking his hand, Katsuki just sneered. “Good game, my ass! You might have won this
round, Big Lips, but I’ll show you! I’m gonna become the best damn chef in Japan! Then we’ll see
who can bake the better cake!” He stuffed his hands into his pockets as he stormed out of the room.

“Yeesh, talk about a sore loser,” Fat Gum remarked. “Well, since I’m all filled up now, we probably
oughta get going.”

“Wait! Before you do that,” Izuku pulled out his notebook and flipped it open to a picture of Fat Gum
and Suneater, “Can I have your autographs?”

“Heh, sure thing, man,” Fat Gum gladly scribbled his name next to his picture.

“Oh geez, people are asking for my autograph now. This is a lot of pressure.” Suneater bashfully
pulled his cloak over his face, but still went to sign the page. His signature looked like a jumbled,
practically illegible mess of scribbles.

Izuku still treasured it like it was gold from the lost city of Atlantis.

———————————————

Several Months Later…

“Ha! Take a look at this, Big Lips!” Katsuki shoved a piece of paper into Sato and Izuku’s faces. “I
just got accepted into the top culinary school in Japan! Who’s the better chef now, huh?”

“Wow, that’s super cool!” Sato smiled, “That place was actually going to be my second choice. But
I’m glad I’m going to UA with Izuku instead.”

It was at that moment Katusuki realized that, in his vengeful attempt to one-up Sato’s culinary skills,
he had completely forgotten about UA.

“FUCK!”

Chapter End Notes

I have no idea if Sato and Izuku's Monstrosity Cookies are even possible to make, but I think
they'd taste pretty good. It's like diabetes on a plate.

The way I see it, either Bakugo will drop out of the culinary school at the end of the first year to
go to UA, or he'll find that he likes being a chef there and becomes the next Gordon Ramsay.

Even better idea, he chooses both options and becomes the next Lunch Rush. God, I can hear
myself writing the sequel snippet already.

Next Time: Bakugo gets punched in the balls (I like how I can just write that and everyone
immediately knows who I'm referring to)
 Kota the Kid
Chapter Notes

The title makes it sound like one of those Old Western movies. But we already had the Snipe
chapter.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Izuku Midoriya gawked in disbelief as he gazed up at the building from outside. He checked the
address he was given, and sure enough, he was at the right place.

Right now, he stood outside Mustafa’s HPRC (Heroes’ Private Recreation Center). There were several
dozen of these built across Japan. They were made so heroes would have somewhere to stay if they
had to travel. They were heavily fortified and securely guarded to keep out both villains and the press.

None of this made any sense to Izuku. His mom had asked him to look after her college friend’s kid.
Was he about to babysit the child of a pro hero?

Before he could answer that question, a voice called out to him. “Hey! You’re Inko’s kid, aren’t you?”

At the sound of the voice, Izuku focused his attention on the building’s entrance, where he recognized
a pro hero walk out and greet him. He immediately felt his fanboy instincts take over. “Oh my god!
It’s Super Soaker of the Water Hose Duo!”

“Haha, yup. That’s me,” The hero in question smiled as he pointed to himself.

Izuku quickly fumbled his notebook out of his bag. “C-can I have your autograph?”

“Sure thing, Midoriya. And thanks for agreeing to this on such short notice.” Super Soaker signed
Izuku’s notebook as he led him inside the HPRC and to the nearest elevator.

“N-no problem, sir. I’ll be honest, I’m surprised to see you in Mustafa of all places.”

“You wouldn’t be the first. A bunch of heroes were called to the next city over to help bust a drug
ring. They brought me and Spyra over here to pick up the slack.”

“That makes sense. A lack of heroes in any given area would theoretically lead to an uptick in crime.”

“Yup! Now, right this way.” Super Soaker led Izuku down the hall, where he opened a door to one of
the apartments. It looked a little bigger and better furnished than his.

“Is that the babysitter?” Asked Spyra, the other half of the Water Hose Duo, as she poked her head out
of the kitchen.

“Sure is! Here, sign this.” Super Soaker casually threw her the notebook, which she casually caught in
midair.
“Thank you for coming over Midoriya,” Spyra said as she wrote her signature on the page. “We’ll be
out on patrol for a few hours. We’ll be back around six. Keep an eye on Kota for the time being. If
you two want to go out and do something, I left money on the counter. Sound good?”

“Yes, ma’am. I can do that,” Izuku answered dutifully as he took his notebook back. He excitedly
hugged it to his chest over the fact it contained two new signatures.

“Kota! We’re leaving now!” Super Soaker yelled. A small boy wearing a red cap with a pair of yellow
spikes protruding out the front emerged from the hallway and ran over to hug his parents goodbye.

“Do you have to go?” He asked quietly.

“We’ll only be gone for a little bit. We’ll be back in time for dinner,” His mother assured.

“Promise?”

“Promise. Now be good for Mr. Midoriya.”

“Okay…” Kota separated the hug and waved goodbye as his parents made their way out the door.
“Love you.”

“Love you too, sweetie.”

When the Water Hose Duo closed the door behind them, Izuku turned to Kota and extended a hand to
shake. “Hi, I’m Izuku Midoriya. Nice to meet you, Kota.”

The boy simply scoffed and turned away. “Tch, whatever.”

Izuku couldn’t deny, that was kind of cold. He supposed Kota wasn’t the type to get along with new
people.

Thankfully, growing up with Katsuki meant Izuku knew how to deal with grumpy kids. As long as
Kota didn’t threaten to kill anyone, Izuku was sure he could handle him.

Izuku inconspicuously approached the child, who was digging through the couch cushions, likely in
search of the TV remote. “Looking to watch TV? What shows do you like?” He asked.

“None of your business,” Kota spat. He pulled out the remote and turned to Channel 6, where the
news anchor droned on about falling stock prices.

“Huh. I had no idea you liked watching the news,” Izuku stated, to which Kota gave an annoyed
grunt.

“Not this channel, dummy.” He changed the station to Channel 10, where they showed footage of All
Might pummeling a villain with skin made of diamond.

“That’s pretty interesting, huh? All Might’s always fun to watch.”

“Eh, he’s not my favorite.”

“Who is your favorite, then? Is it your parents?”

“Of course it’s my parents. What are you, stupid?” Kota huffed as he changed the station again, where
a commercial for Uwabami-brand jewelry played.
“Are you looking for a specific channel?” Izuku asked. “If you want to watch SpongeBob, I think
Nickelodeon is channel 252.”

Kota seemed to take offense to that statement, hitting Izuku with a frustrated glare. “I don’t wanna
watch SpongeBob. That’s a baby show for babies, and I just turned five. Besides, SpongeBob got bad
after season three.”

“I thought season four was pretty good,” Izuku defensively muttered to himself.

Kota changed the channel again, where the TV was played an interview with Death Arms after he had
just arrested a villain. He turned to Izuku as he pointed at the screen. “Hey, does that hero work in
Mus… Must…”

“Mustafa?” Izuku corrected.

“Yeah, Mustafa.”

“Yup, Death Arms does his patrols around there. Why? Are you a fan of his? Because I have a few
notes on his Quirk that I think you’ll-”

“Shaddap.” Kota got off the couch and scooched closer to the TV, where his eyes rapidly darted
around the screen, almost like he was looking for something.

Suddenly, the pieces clicked together in Izuku’s brain. “Kota, are you trying to find your parents on
TV?”

Kota turned to Izuku with a shocked look on his face as he flushed in embarrassment. “N-no… I’m
not.”

“It’s alright if you are. I was just curious.”

“So what if I am, huh? You got a problem with that?”

Izuku paused for a moment, unsure how to answer the question. It’s not that he actually did have a
problem with that. He just wasn’t sure how to approach Kota’s situation.

It was clear to Izuku that the child missed his parents while they went out on patrol. And why
wouldn’t he? Izuku knew heroes often worked long hours, so it was likely that he didn’t see them as
much as he liked.

Part of Izuku wanted to tell Kota the greater importance of his parents’ jobs, that they only worked
long hours so they could save more people. But the other part of him knew that wouldn’t work. Izuku
remembered how he felt when he was Kota’s age. He always hated it when his mom had to leave for
work.

After weighing all his options, Izuku decided it would just be better to let Kota air out all his
grievances. And who better to do that than someone who could understand his pain?

“I think I get it,” Izuku calmly nodded, “You miss your parents, don’t you?”

Kota didn’t respond, instead choosing to forego eye contact with his babysitter.

“I get it, Kota. It sucks, doesn’t it?”

“Tch, what would you know?”

“More than you think. My dad works all the way in America.”

Kota’s eyes widened slightly, as if the possibility of a parent being so far from their kid was foreign to
him. “America?”

“Uh-huh, America. 10,144 kilometers away. I’m kind of jealous of you. You get to see your parents
doing cool stuff on TV.”

Kota glanced back over to the television, small bits of disappointment dotting his face. “Only
sometimes.”

“Sometimes is better than none of the time. What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen them do?”

The little boy paused to think for a moment, as if there were so many instances in his head that he
couldn’t decide on just one. “Well… there was this one time where this fire guy was attacking the
city, so Mom and Dad shot at it until he went out.”

“That’s cool! Anything else?”

“There was this one time when this guy made of clay was trying to choke another guy, so Dad blasted
his arm off! But it’s okay because he said it grew back.”

“Really? That’s so awesome!”

“Yeah! And there was this one other time when Mom teamed up with Midnight and… Wait, Mom
said I wasn’t allowed to watch that one.”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out why that was the case.

“You know, Kota, my favorite was the one where the Water Hose Duo teamed up with All Might to
take down that giant lizard villain attacking the city.”

Kota’s excitement paused as he lowered his eyebrows at his babysitter. “Wait a minute, that never
happened!”

Izuku simply smirked as he took out a pair of Water Hose Duo action figures in one hand, and an All
Might action figure in the other. “Are you sure about that?”

———————————————

“Oh no! The giant lizard villain is attacking the city!” Izuku yelled in a high-pitched voice, trying to
imitate a random civilian.

“RAAAAHHH! RAAAHHH!” In the teen’s right hand was a green sock puppet meant to resemble a
lizard. It wildly flailed around the miniature city playset.

“Whoever will save us?” Asked the disembodied voice of the civilian.

“We will!” Kota answered in an impression of his parents’ voices as he brought their action figures
onto the playset.
“RAAAHH! I’M GONNA GET YOU!” The sock puppet chomped the air as it closed in on the Water
Hose Duo.

“Double Hydro Blast!” Kota yelled as he repeatedly slammed his figures into the sock puppet. Izuku
did his best to ignore the minor pain in his finger. He didn’t want to ruin Kota’s good time.

“RAAAAHHH! I’M NOT DONE YET!” The lizard monster grabbed the Spyra figure out of the kid’s
hand and began flailing it around.

“Oh no, the monster’s got Spyra!” Kota yelled in an impression of his father's voice.

“DO NOT DESPAIR!” Izuku’s free hand planted an All Might figure right next to Super Soaker.
“Why? Because I AM HERE!”

“All Might! I’m so glad you’re here!” Cheered the Super Soaker figure, “Let’s take out this bad guy
together!”

“Great idea, Super Soaker!” The two heroes then jumped toward the villain’s face as they yelled out
the names of their ultimate moves.

“TEXAS…”

“HYDRO…”

“SMASH!”

“BLAST!”

“NOOOO! THEY’VE DEFEATED ME!” The sock puppet released Spyra from its grasp and fell to
the ground.

“Thank you for your help, All Might,” Said the Spyra figure, “We couldn’t have done it without you.”

“All in a day’s work,” Said the All Might figure.

“AND THEN HERE COMES A GIANT FIST!” Kota suddenly yelled as he slammed down on the
playset, shaking the hero figures to their core.

“Woah there, Kota,” Izuku chuckled, breaking character now that the game was over, “You seem
pretty riled up there. Why don’t we go out? Your mother left us some money, we could go get ice
cream.”

“Ice cream! Hell yeah!” Kota suddenly slapped his hands over his mouth. “Please don’t tell Mom I
swore. She doesn’t like it when I say hell.”

Izuku pinched his fingers and made a lip-sealing motion, much to the child’s delight.

After all, what kind of kid could dislike a babysitter that both got them ice cream and let them swear?

———————————————

“Gimme a double chocolate fudge with rainbow sprinkles.”

“Kota…”
“Sorry. Gimme a double chocolate fudge with rainbow sprinkles, please.”

“That’s better,” Izuku nodded. “And I’ll have a cookie dough on a waffle cone.”

The moment the ice cream vendor handed them their treats, Kota immediately dug into his like a
rabid lion, desperate to finish it all before the summer heat could beat him to the punch.

“Slow down there, Kota,” Izuku warned, “You don’t wanna get a-”

“Brain freeze!” Kota clutched his forehead with one hand as he stumbled around incoherently.

“Press your tongue to the roof of your mouth. That’ll make it go away faster.” The kid followed
Izuku’s instructions, and the pain rushing to his head ceased a few seconds later.

“No need to eat it so fast, Kota.” Izuku advised as the two strolled down the sidewalk, “I mean, you
got yours in a cup. It’s not like it’s going anywhere.”

“I don’t like melty ice cream, it’s too wet and soupy. If I don’t eat it all right away, it’s gonna get
gross, and then I won’t want it anymore.”

“Okay. Whatever you say. Just make sure not to get another-”

“Brain freeze!” Izuku rolled his eyes as Kota wildly ran up and down the street, too blinded by the
headache to notice the man he was about to run into.

“Oof,” He stumbled back, slightly dazed by the impact.

“Hey!” Yelled the person Kota bumped into.

“Sorry about him,” Izuku quickly ran up to guide the kid away. “He just got a brain freeze. You know
how those are. I hope he didn’t…” He paused as the man Kota bumped into turned around, revealing
a familiar face.

“Deku?”

Izuku’s metaphorical danger sensing instincts immediately kicked into high gear, “K-Kacchan!”

“Deku,” Katsuki repeated, this time with a deeper scowl, “You’ve got some nerve showing your shitty
ass around here.”

“I - I’m sorry, Kacchan. We’ll get out of your hair.”

Izuku took Kota by the hand and began to walk away, but Katsuki grabbed him by the shoulder and
turned him around. “Hold up! Your little brat made me drop my ice cream.” He pointed to a splattered
chocolate ice cream cone on the sidewalk. “You’re gonna pay for that!”

“O-of course!” Izuku nervously fumbled through his pocket before handing a wad of cash to Katsuki.
“Thankfully, Spyra and Super Soaker gave me extra.”

Katsuki paused before he could take the money. “Spyra and Super Soaker? The fucking Water Hose
Duo?”

“Oh. I probably shouldn’t have said that. Just take the money, and I’ll-”
“No, no, no, back the fuck up. What the hell kind of connection do you have with two pro heroes?”
His eyes trailed down to Kota, who had remained mostly silent up until this point. “Hold on a minute,
are you babysitting their kid or something?”

“N-no. I mean, yes. But it’s not what you think, Kacchan.”

“I think I know what’s going on here,” Katsuki rolled up his sleeves as he stomped toward Izuku,
“You’re doing favors for pro heroes to get your greasy little foot in the door. I bet you think you’re
clever, Deku, trying to get a head start on your hero career, thinking you can outdo me.”

He grabbed Izuku by the shoulder and activated his Quirk slightly, which quickly burned through the
fabric of his shirt. “Well guess what, nerd? If you think your Quirkless ass can get into UA by doing a
few odd-jobs for some shitty B-list heroes, then I guess I have to remind you of your goddamn place.”

Katsuki grabbed Izuku by the scruff and prepared an explosion in his open palm. All the while, Izuku
instinctively squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for the incoming beatdown.

“HEY!”

“Huh?” Katsuki turned to see Kota angrily stomping up to him. Truth be told, he had forgotten about
the child’s presence due to being clouded by rage. “What the hell do you want, brat?”

In place of a response, Kota pulled back his fist and punched Katsuki straight in the nuts. The
explosive blond immediately buckled under the pain and clutched his wounded crotch in his hands.

He instinctively stumbled a few steps back, only to slip on his ice cream cone and fall backwards into
the street, where a fireworks truck was just about to pass by.

Thankfully, the truck driver spotted Katsuki fall to the road and instinctively jerked his wheel to the
left, causing the vehicle to spin out of control and crash into a nearby telephone pole.

The force of the crash jerked the driver forward, and his body slammed into his dashboard, with his
right hand in particular landing on the ‘launch fireworks’ button.

In an instant, all the fireworks in the truck shot upwards and swerved left. The driver quickly got out
of the car, seemingly more worried about his cargo than his or the truck’s safety. “Oh no! My
fireworks! They’re all headed downtown!”

———————————————

Meanwhile, Downtown…

“GWA HA HA! Is that all you got, little heroes? This hardly even counts as a fight!” Taunted
Muscular as he stomped toward the Water Hose Duo, who were scratched and bruised, but thankfully
not wounded. Though, they had a feeling that was about to change.

“When’s backup arriving?” Asked Super Soaker as he shot a stream of water at the villain, who
simply brushed it off.

“ETA: Five minutes!” Spyra responded as she tried the same attack as her partner, with similar results.

Muscular tutted mockingly. “Too bad for you. By the time help arrives, you’ll already be dead!” He
raised his thick, beefy arms, ready to turn the Water Hose Duo into corpses. “Now show me your
blood!”
As Muscular laughed maniacally, a sudden barrage of fireworks flew into his open mouth and lodged
themselves in his throat, exploding almost immediately afterwards.

As the musclebound villain fell to the ground, most likely dead, the Water Hose Duo stared at each
other with pure and utter bewilderment.

“Spyra, what in the hell just happened?”

“I think we were saved by an act of god, Super Soaker.”

“Spyra, that was a barrage of fireworks.”

“God works in mysterious ways.”

———————————————

“Kacchan, are you alright?” Izuku ran over to help him up, to which Katsuki slapped his hand away,
while the other still rested on his crotch.

“I don’t need your damn pity, Deku!” He grunted through the pain in his nether regions as he tried to
force himself up. “I’m gonna fucking kill you!”

“Eep!” Izuku dodged a swipe of Katsuki’s hand and ran back to Kota, grabbing him by the arm, and
running off.

“Hmph. Serves that jerk right,” Kota turned and narrowed his eyes at Katsuki as he turned a sidewalk
corner.

“Kota, why did you do that?” Izuku asked exasperatingly.

“Mom said that if a villain ever approached me, I was allowed to punch him in the balls.”

“Kota, Kacchan’s not a villain. He goes to school with me.”

“Nuh-uh! Dad says people who use their Quirks to hurt other people are villains.”

“Well, Kacchan’s different. He only really hurts me. If you look past that, he has the makings of a
good hero.”

Kota stared at Izuku like he had grown a second head. “He’s gonna be a hero? Says who?”

“Says everyone at my school.” Izuku paused his running and knelt down to Kota’s level, “Listen,
Kota, Kacchan has a really powerful Quirk, and he knows how to use it effectively. He can save a lot
of people in the future.”

“But he threatened to hurt you, he burnt your shoulder! Heroes don’t hurt people.”

“It’s fine, Kota. It was my fault, anyway. I shouldn’t have made him angry by bringing up your
parents.” Izuku got up and gestured for Kota to follow him. “You don’t have to worry about Kacchan,
I can handle him.

“But what about your shoulder?”

“I’ve dealt with worse. Now come on, why don’t we go to a park or something?”
Kota, being surprisingly perceptive for his age, could tell Izuku wanted to drop the issue. “Okay…”
He reluctantly complied.

But despite Izuku’s words, he did worry about Katsuki. His babysitter’s odd behavior confused him to
no end. Izuku said the explosive blond was supposed to be a hero, but in Kota’s eyes, Katsuki was the
furthest thing from a hero you could get.

Maybe it was just something he didn’t understand. If it wasn’t, he figured he could always ask real
heroes about the issue.

———————————————

“So, Kota, how was your day with Izuku? What did you think of him?” His mother asked.

The boy in question paused eating his dinner to try and form the words in his mouth, but all that came
out was the most blunt response imaginable, “Mr. Midoriya’s stupid.”

Both his parents looked shocked and perturbed, but didn’t say anything at first. After sparing a brief
glance between one another, Kota’s father spoke up. “Do you not like him?”

“No, I like him, he’s fun. But he says a lotta stupid things.”

“Like what?”

“We ran into a villain when we went to get ice cream, but Mr. Midoriya tried to tell me he was
actually a hero.”

“Kota…” His mother cautiously asked, “Are you sure he was actually a villain and not a scary-
looking hero?”

“He threatened to hurt Mr. Midoriya with his explodey Quirk. He even burnt his shoulder a bit. I
know he was a villain, but Mr. Midoriya said he wasn’t. It was weird.”

“And… does Mr. Midoriya know this person from anywhere?”

“Uh-huh. They go to school together. And everyone there says he’s a hero, too. Which is stupid,
because the explodey guy hurts Mr. Midoriya a lot, but he says it’s okay. I don’t get it!” Kota crossed
his arms and huffed in frustration.

After a short moment of deliberation, Kota’s dad spoke up. “Listen, sport, what Mr. Midoriya’s going
through is… complicated. You know how we save people from villains?”

“Uh-huh,” Kota nodded, unsure as to where this was going.

“Well, there are some people out there who don’t know they need to be saved.”

“That’s dumb. Do they not know what a villain looks like?”

His mother was quick to continue off from his father’s point. “What your father’s trying to say,
sweetie, is that there are some people who hurt others, and they’ve been convinced to think they
deserve it.”

A feeling of worry pooled up in Kota’s stomach. “Does Mr. Midoriya think he deserves to be hurt by
that explodey guy?”
His mother placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “We can’t say for sure, sweetie. We don’t know
everything. But please don’t worry. Me and your father are both heroes, which means we can make
sure he’s safe at school.”

“And if he’s not?”

“Then we’ll do what heroes do, and take care of the villains.”

“Promise?”

Kota’s dad playfully ruffled his hair, “We promise, sport. Mr. Midoriya will be alright.”

———————————————

One Week Later…

Izuku wasn’t quite sure what he was looking at. Okay, that was a lie. He was looking at his school
being shut down and a large portion of the faculty being arrested. But he wasn’t sure why.

“Ah, Midoriya, there you are!” Greeted Super Soaker as he walked up to him, much to the teen’s
confusion.

“Super Soaker? What’s going on? Why are my teachers getting arrested? Did you have something to
do with it?”

“Kota told us about your… encounter with Bakugo last week.” Explained Spyra as she joined the
pair, “We did some digging into your school and found multiple cases of child neglect and
endangerment, as well as blatant Quirkism among most of the staff.”

“And… what about Kacchan?”

“Arrested for multiple accounts of public Quirk use and assault. We combed through the security
footage and found… a lot.”

“Oh…” Izuku stood still and stared at the ground as he tried to process the information. During
which, he couldn’t help but reassess his previous conception of Katsuki Bakugo.

He was initially in denial that Katsuki was a villain. Growing up, he thought he always had the never-
give-up attitude that defined heroes like All Might. But he supposed that attitude could be applied in
the opposite direction as well. After all, villains can have as much conviction as heroes.

And in the eyes of the law, as well as two pro heroes, the pendulum swung squarely on the villain
side.

“Are you okay?” Asked Spyra.

“I - I don’t know. This is… this is just a lot to take in.”

“I understand how it would be,” Super Soaker patted him on the back. “We’re sorry for what you had
to go through in there. No kid your age should have to deal with that.”

“I appreciate your concern, but it’s alright,” Izuku smiled, but he wasn’t exactly sure what emotions
were behind it. It felt partially forced in his eyes. “In hindsight, I probably should have considered
that Kota would tell his parents, ”
 “I hope you’re not upset with him. He was just worried about you.”

“I know. He only did what he thought a hero would do. He’s a good kid.”

“Yeah, he really is. While we were working on our case against the school, he would always go into
our office and ask how you were doing.”

Izuku’s heart melted at that. “Aw. That’s just adorable. You know, if you ever have to go on another
Mustafa patrol, I wouldn’t mind looking after him again. Heck, even if it’s not in Mustafa, I wouldn’t
mind taking a short train ride to your agency.”

Both members of the Water Hose Duo grinned simultaneously. “We might just have to take you up on
that offer.”

Chapter End Notes

I'm sure you're surprised that Kota's parents made it out alive. Truth be told, I didn't feel like
treading on canon-related ground. Sorry, Pussycats, I'll get to you as soon as my brain churns out
an idea (any minute now).

I gave the Water Hose Duo individual hero names. Super Soaker and Spyra are both brands of
water guns.

I kind of wanted to capture Kota's childish nature here. Izuku and Katsuki's relationship is
complicated, as well as the reasons for Katsuki bullying him. But since Kota is five, he just sees
Katsuki as the villain and Izuku as the victim. Which is at least partially true, depending on who
you ask.

Next Time: You know those characters who are technically canon, but have so little in terms of
screentime and personality that they might as well be an OC? I'm doing one of those characters.
 Maina the Microelectronics Engineer
Chapter Notes

Yup, it was Maina Furasu. Nobody guessed Maina. If you don't know who that is (can't blame
you), she's a support course student who had like one line in the manga. Here's her wiki page.

Most of her characterization is taken from 'A Starstruck Legacy,' in which I had her in the role of
Mei's rival/opposite. But I wanted to see how she fared on her own.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Maina Furasu didn’t really think Aldera Middle School was all that different from her old school. In
fact, if it weren’t for the absurd reason for her sudden transfer sticking in her brain (that being a
fireworks truck), she probably would have forgotten she had changed schools in the first place.

It was all a pretty similar experience. Similar hallways, similar, classes, similar lunch options, and
similar classmates.

Okay, that last one was a lie. There was one classmate at her new school that stuck out to her. One
classmate whom she had an irrational hatred for. One classmate with a Quirk that Maina considered to
be the bane of her existence.

BOOM

Katsuki Bakugo.

“Hey! Could you cut it out with your Quirk already?” Maina turned and yelled at the sneering blond
behind her, who had just finished giving a speech about how great and awesome he was (probably,
she wasn’t listening), and he decided to punctuate his closing statements with a few bursts from his
palms.

“Shut the hell up, you damn extra!” Katsuki barked in response. “Don’t tell me what to do if you
value your life!”

“That’s enough, both of you. Let’s get back to the lesson,” The teacher spoke up, causing Katsuki to
sit back down with a huff directed at Maina.

She didn’t care. She just wanted to get back to her project. With a roll of her eyes, Maina turned back
to her desk and leaned in on the incomplete microchip lying between a pair of tweezers, which the
antennaed girl picked up and got back to work.

She did her best to try and pick at the parts, wanting to take a look at the transistors specifically.
Unfortunately, the circuits were feeling extra sensitive today, and she couldn’t poke around too much
without the risk of setting something off.

Frankly, progress on the microchip had been going slow as of late. It was an inevitability. She was at
the point of production where one wrong move could lead to the whole thing going up in flames.
Granted, it would be a very small explosion, but that did little to comfort the inventor.
Explosions were common in the field of support engineering, which was something that Maina tried
to avoid at all costs. She always hated the idea of losing progress, no matter how small. It was part of
the reason she resented Katsuki so much. That boy was just the textbook definition of destructive.

Putting those thoughts of frustration aside, Maina breathed a sigh of relief when the lunch bell
eventually rang, and a majority of the class made their way out of the room. Hopefully, that would
mean no more distractions for the next half hour.

“Um… hello.”

The universe just hated Maina today, didn’t it?

“Is there anything I can help you with?” She asked without looking up from her microchip, hoping to
get this conversation over with as soon as possible.

The green-eyed boy bit his lip and stuttered out, “Oh, well… I just - I just wanted to assure you that
Kacchan just gives death threats to everyone, so he won’t actually kill you… probably.”

Maina’s expression softened a bit. She couldn’t bring herself to be too frustrated with him. He was
only trying to help. “I appreciate it, but I figured he was all talk,” She assured.

“Well, I wouldn’t say Kacchan’s all talk. He can get a little physical sometimes.”

“How physical, exactly?”

“Um, I’d rather not say.” The green teen pointedly glanced away as he uncomfortably clutched his
arm.

(Maina had the slight suspicion there was some sort of burn mark there. Given what she already knew
about Katsuki, it wouldn’t surprise her).

“Just don’t bring up anything about going to UA, and you’ll be fine,” He advised.

“I’m sure that’s a secret I can keep to myself. Either way, I’m sure I can handle him. Every school has
one of those loud, cocky, abrasive types. Emphasis on the loud for him.”

The green teen let out a slight snicker. “Well, you’re not wrong there. Loud is one of Kacchan’s
defining traits.”

“I’ll say. I’ve only known him for a few days, and he already gives Present Mic a run for his money.”

The green boy’s eyes lit up at the mention of the hero. “Oh, I love Present Mic!”

“Eh, he’s alright. I mostly like him for his radio show, which I’m listening to right now, actually.” She
reached up and flicked one of the antennas on her head, which made a sharp twang sound.

“Oh, is that your Quirk? Or is it a technologically advanced headband?”

“A bit of both. The antennas themselves are part of my Quirk, but I made the headband so they could
better pick up signals.”

“That’s amazing! What other kinds of signals can you pick up?”
“Pretty much anything, as long as it produces radio waves. Like, right now, if I focus really hard, I can
pick up some nearby phone calls.”

Maina took an antenna in each hand and adjusted them to the right, where she picked up on a phone
conversation already in progress.

“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom I can tell you I
don’t have money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a
very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now
that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you don’t, I will look for
you, I will find you and I will kill you.”

“What did you hear?” Asked the green-haired boy.

“Something I probably shouldn’t have,” Maina answered with a wide-eyed look on her face.

“But still, that’s pretty cool. I’m sure you could get into UA with tech like that!”

“Hey, thanks, uh… What’s your name again?”

“Izuku Midoriya. You?”

“Maina Furasu, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too.” Izuku curiously glanced over to Maina’s desk, “Um, if you wouldn’t mind
me asking, what are you working on there?”

“Oh, this? It’s just a simple microchip.”

“A microchip…” Izuku stared at the unfinished device with a sense of unfamiliar recognition, “What
do microchips do again?”

“Well, I can’t speak for other inventors, but this microchip is designed to be implanted in the brain
through the ear. At the press of a button, it’ll activate a select cluster of brain cells, making the subject
perform an involuntary action.”

“So, the microchip could force someone to take a step forward, or throw a punch, or clap their
hands?” Izuku guessed.

“Yeah, but it could also make them smack themselves across the face.”

“That sounds pretty cool,” Izuku exclaimed.

“Thanks. But unfortunately, progress has been slow lately. A lot of things aren’t working, and it’s hard
to poke around and find out what does and doesn’t work without risk of it blowing up.”

Izuku leaned in close to the microchip and eyed it up and down. “How long has progress been going
slow?”

“About three weeks, give or take.”

“Hmmmm…” Izuku got up and paced around the classroom while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
Maina could faintly hear a soft mutter escape his lips. Though, she couldn’t make out what exactly he
was saying.
After about a minute of that, Izuku turned back to Maina and bluntly stated, “Maybe you should blow
it up.”

Maina nearly fell out of her chair from the sheer audacity of that statement. “W-WHAT?!”

Izuku noticed her shock and quickly went to correct himself. “Hold on, I phrased that wrong! I just
think that maybe blowing it up might be part of the process.”

“Part of the process?” Maina squinted her eyes at him, “And what would you know about the support
engineering?”

Izuku gulped nervously, almost like he was starting to regret his words. But he continued on. “N-not
much. But I do know about trial and error. And I know you can’t overcome a trial without some
error.”

“So what? You want me to just delete all my progress? What would that accomplish?”

“I… um…” He darted his eyes around the room, his brain struggling to form words in the heat of the
moment.

“Well? Come on!”

Izuku’s posture noticeably shrank under Maina’s judgemental gaze “You’re - you’re right. I’m sorry.
I’m in no place to give you advice on this. I was just… I’ll get out of your hair.” He quickly turned
and walked out of the room with his head hung low.

As Izuku closed the door behind him, Maina felt a small twinge of guilt for making Izuku upset like
that. But still, that didn’t mean she agreed with his idea or anything. Honestly, what good could come
from intentionally blowing things up?

She figured she could try and make amends with him later. For now, it was back to work. She grabbed
her tweezers and continued closely observing the microchip, having just as much luck as before in
being able to fix any problems.

Maina’s eyebrow twitched as she lightly bit her lip. At this point, the frustration regarding her lack of
progress was starting to get to her. One could only stay stagnant for so long until they desired to go
somewhere.

And, as is the case during these types of scenarios, her frustrations found their way into her work.

When trying to pick at one of the resistors, her finger slipped, and the tweezers grabbed onto a nearby
capacitor instead. The sudden force caused a chain reaction, ending with a tiny explosion in the center
of the microchip.

Maina stared blankly at her ruined progress before she yelled out in frustration. “NO! MY WORK!
IT’S ALL GONE!” She planted her face on the desk and let out a muffled groan. “That’s weeks of my
life, all down the drain. Ugh, why did I route so much energy into that specific capacitor?”

“…Wait a minute. Why did I do that? I guess that’s something to keep in mind for the new
prototype.”

Maina put her pity party on pause as she reassessed her situation. She just learned from her mistakes
as a result of her failure, just like Izuku said.
Suddenly, she felt even worse for casting Izuku out like she did. His suggestion had merit, and she
was too blinded by her own fear of failure to see it.

“I suppose there’s only one thing to do now,” Maina mused to herself as she glanced down at the
smoldering remains of her invention. Hopefully, she could get the chip done a lot quicker with this
new process. And she already had a new test subject in mind. One that Maina was sure both she and
Izuku would approve of.

———————————————

The Next Day…

“Midoriya, I finished the microchip.”

“Already?” Izuku stared at the finished invention with bewilderment. “That was fast.”

“Yeah, that’s because I didn’t sleep last night. When the progress chain is chugging along, you just
can’t afford to have it stop,” Maina said as she rubbed her tired eyes, which had very noticeable bags
under them.

“But I thought you were having assembly issues or something. How did you manage to fix them?”

“Yeah… about that,” Maina nervously tapped her fingers together, “Turns out, you were right about
the whole ‘trial and error’ thing. I don’t know how I managed to forget such a fundamental part of the
scientific method, but I somehow did. So… sorry.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” Izuku gave a small smile, “I’m just glad you managed to finish your
chip. What are you going to do with it?”

“I’m glad you asked, Midoriya.” Maina pulled out a plastic straw from her pocket and loaded the
microchip in the end. She then pointed the straw at Katsuki Bakugo, who was busy yelling at some
other classmates.

After lining up the shot, Maina blew into the straw, and the microchip fired out at Katsuki and lodged
itself in his ear.

“GAH! What the hell was that?!” He questioned as he whipped his head around the classroom in
search of the perpetrator.

“Bullseye,” Maina whispered as she and Izuku tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. Eventually,
Katsuki gave up and went back to his seat.

When the pair were sure the explosive beast was pacified, Izuku turned to Maina with a nervous look
on his face. “Furasu, why are you using Kacchan as your test subject?”

“Because he doesn’t seem to get how loud and annoying his explosions are. Not to mention
damaging,” She glanced at Izuku’s likely burnt arm at that last statement, “So, I’m giving him a taste
of his own medicine. Observe.”

Maina whipped out a small remote and pushed the red button in the center. As soon as she did, an
explosion rang out across the classroom. Everyone turned to Katsuki to see he had left a pair of huge
burn marks on his desk, and was now staring at his hands in confusion.

“Did - did you do that?” Izuku asked the inventor.

“Sure did,” Maina smirked, “One press of this button will activate his Quirk by igniting the sweat on
his palms.”

“How did you know his Quirk worked like that?”

“Lucky guess,” She shrugged.

“And are you sure this is safe?”

“Don’t worry, Midoriya, I’ll only make sure to test it out at the most opportune times-”

Suddenly, the teacher made his way into the classroom, holding a small stack of papers. “Alright
class, quiet down. We have a quiz today.”

“-Like right now.”

The moment Katsuki was handed his quiz, Maina pushed the button, and a small explosion from the
boy’s hand reduced his paper to ash.

“Bakugo, I know you’re excited, but please refrain from using your Quirk on the quiz,” The teacher
instructed.

“That wasn’t me!” Katsuki yelled.

Maina let out a snicker as she turned to Izuku and proudly presented the remote in her hand, to which
Izuku couldn’t help a quiet laugh of his own.

Oh yeah, this was going to be fun.

———————————————

Maina refrained from pushing the button until lunch rolled around. After all, she wanted to make each
explosion count, and confining it all to the classroom limited the potential humiliation.

When the bell rang for lunch, Katsuki got out of his desk and walked down the hallway. Maina
practically squealed with glee when she saw his hands stuffed in his pockets as he made his way to
the cafeteria.

With a push of the button, a pair of twin explosions erupted from Katsuki’s palms, blasting his pants
off, and revealing his All Might-branded underwear to the busy hallway.

The explosive blond turned red with a mix of embarrassment and fury when everyone pointed and
laughed at his choice of undergarments. “Hey! D-don’t fucking laugh at me! When I get back, you’re
all dead, got it?!” He wasted no time dashing off to the nearest bathroom to hopefully get changed.

Maina practically doubled over laughing at Katsuki’s misfortune. She never would have guessed that
he of all people would wear that particular brand of underwear. She hoped he brought a spare pair of
pants with him, because she didn’t want this to end anytime soon.

———————————————

As it turned out, Katsuki did have a spare pair of pants, and was now sitting down at the cafeteria,
offering death glares to anyone who dared get near him.
Thankfully, Maina’s remote had a range of around twenty miles. The moment Katsuki took out his
bento, Maina pressed the button, and the lunch got caught in the crossfire of Katsuki’s ignited
nitroglycerin. The contents of the bento flew across the entire cafeteria.

“Seriously? What the hell is wrong with me?!” He angrily slammed his hands on the table, which
Maina took as an opportunity for another button press. The ensuing explosion blasted Katsuki into the
air, where he hit his head on the ceiling before landing face-first on the table. “Ow…”

Maina had to bite her tongue to keep herself from laughing too hard. Now, if only she could somehow
get him to facepalm himself. She would pay good money to see what kind of disfigurement that
would cause.

———————————————

Unfortunately, Maina didn’t come across any more opportunities to push the button the rest of the day.
But that didn’t mean she could stop messing with Katsuki.

That night, before she went to bed, Maina set up one of those drinking bird toys. You know, the ones
that automatically dipped their head into the glass of water. Except this time, instead of water, the toy
bird’s beak would tap the button every hour or so.

Maina wished she could see the look on Katsuki’s face as he was ripped from his sleep every hour by
a sudden, unexpected Quirk activation. But the image in her head made her laugh well enough, so it
was okay.

Was she being a little sadistic at this point? Probably. But hopefully, by the next morning, he would
learn not to fire off explosions during class, or on other people. If he chilled out, she would be sure to
stop messing with him. But if not, Katsuki had a lot more involuntary explosions to look forward to in
his future.

Either way, it’s a win-win situation for her.

———————————————

The Next Morning…

“Wake up, brat. You’re gonna be late for-” Mitsuki paused as she walked into Katsuki’s room,
instantly noticing its general state of disarray.

No, calling it a state of disarray would be the understatement of the century. The room was in total
anarchy. There were scorch marks all over the bed, walls, and ceiling. Every poster and shelf had been
either knocked down or torn to shreds. And the ceiling fan had somehow fallen off its hinges and
crashed to the floor.

She had no idea how she and Masaru slept through all that.

And right in the center of it all was Katsuki, his body covered in soot, and his eyes red and bloodshot,
like he hadn’t slept a wink the entire night.

“Katsuki, what the hell happened here?” Mitsuki asked.

Katsuki didn’t respond at first. He instead held up his palms to his face and stared at them in abject
horror.
 “...I think my Quirk hates me.”

———————————————

During class that day, Izuku did a double-take as he watched Katsuki enter the classroom, absolutely
stunned by his choice of attire.

“Maina, why is Kacchan wearing ice packs all over his body?” He asked.

“I guess he wanted to stop his explosions,” She answered without looking up from her desk, “Good
for him if you ask me. Maybe now he won’t be so loud and standoffish.”

“I’m still kind of worried about him. Mentally, that is.”

“Eh, he’ll get over it eventually. And hopefully, by then, he’ll have learned some humility. I hear
humility is a good trait for heroes to have, you know.”

“I guess I can’t really argue with that,” Izuku admitted.

“Exactly. And now that he’s dealt with, I can work on my newest creation: The micro-microchip.”

Izuku leaned closer to Maina’s desk in search of the aforementioned creation. Yet, despite squinting
his eyes, his vision came up short. “I don’t see it.”

“Exactly! This thing’s so small I need tweezers for my tweezers in order to properly grasp it.”

“What’s a chip that small supposed to do, anyways?”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. Right now, it’s more of an ‘I’m building it because I can’ kind
of invention.”

“But have you ever stopped to think if you should?”

“I have, and the answer is no.” At that statement, the micro-microchip exploded in a torrent of flames
that were barely visible to the human eye. “And it looks like my creation agreed with me, too.”

Chapter End Notes

To quote Ms. Frizzle for a moment, "Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!" That was kind of
what I was going for with Maina's whole thing. Like I said before, she's pretty much the opposite
of Mei, and her chapter was about her toning down the explosions.

Also, I'm glad the Bakugo family is rich, because Katsuki is totally going to need a new room
after what he involuntarily did to it.

Next Time: One-third of the Big Three. Who could it be? You have a 33.33% chance of getting it
right
 Nejire the Chatterbox
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

It was business as usual for Izuku Midoriya one Friday morning as he walked to class. He was
thankful that Katsuki hadn’t decided to hold him up that day, the teachers always made a huge stink
about him specifically being late. Though, judging by the glare on the explosive blond’s face Izuku
received as he walked by his desk, he assumed he would be held up after school instead.

Deciding that was a problem for future Izuku, he did his best to pointedly look away from his bully as
he made his way to his seat. In the process, he caught sight of a head of long periwinkle hair slumped
on the desk behind his.

Nejire Hado. It had been a little less than a week since she transferred to his class. And during that
time, she had left him utterly perplexed.

During at least half the classes on any given day, she was asleep. And during the other half, she
looked like she was fighting to stay awake. And other than when she introduced herself in front of the
class on her first day, Izuku hadn’t seen her communicate with anyone else.

The most he heard from her was occasional bouts of sleep-talking, where she seemed rather fixated on
some kind of fireworks truck destroying a school. Izuku assumed it must be some kind of reoccurring
dream.

“Alright, class,” The teacher began, his tone still bored as ever, “Just a quick announcement, we have
a math test at the beginning of next week. I know no one likes starting the week off with a test, but a
colony of rats was found in our printer this morning.”

At the mention of a test, Izuku glanced at Nejire nervously. Math was always one of the classes she
fell asleep during.

True, he didn’t know the reason as to why she was sleepy all the time. Maybe she was an insomniac,
maybe she frequented nightclubs, maybe she had a late-night job, or maybe she just refused to drink
coffee, but none of that mattered. Unless something was done, Nejire’s grades would start slipping
even more than they probably already were.

With all that in mind, Izuku saw no good reason not to help her. So he spent a majority of that day’s
lunch period copying his notes on the most recent math subject, a practice which he found quite
therapeutic, to be honest.

All Izuku needed to do now was get the notes to his classmate. Unfortunately, he was painfully aware
of his inability to initiate conversations with girls. Plus, Nejire was asleep most of the time. So he
decided to do the next best thing and write a note instead.

Dear Nejire Hado,

Hello, I’m the guy who sits in front of you during class. I noticed you’ve been having trouble staying
awake most of the time. So I’ve left a copy of my notes for you in case you need them for Monday’s
test. If you don’t, then you can just disregard this message. Sorry for wasting your time.
Best regards,

-Izuku Midoriya.

After reading it over a few times to make sure it sounded right, Izuku carefully slipped the letter along
with his copy of the notes on Nejire’s desk, being extra careful to not accidentally wake her.

Hopefully, she would find his notes useful enough to get at least a decent score on the test. He knew
most people called his hero analysis notebooks weird and creepy, but he hoped those traits wouldn’t
carry over to his other types of notes. He supposed only time would tell.

He just wished time would tell him sooner. He hated the anxious feeling of anticipation.

———————————————

The next time Izuku walked over to his desk, he noticed a bright pink piece of paper absolutely
smothered in stickers and glitter. He curiously picked it up, and through the near-endless decorations,
noticed there was a message written on it.

It took about ten minutes for him to scrape off enough glitter to make the words legible, but he was
eventually able to make out its contents.

Dear Izuku Midoriya,

Thank you so much for the notes! They were super helpful! I haven’t been able to pay attention much
during class because my Quirk drains all my stamina, so it’s great to have someone to compare to.

How did you get so good at math, anyways? Math’s my worst subject by a long shot. I could hardly
understand it when it was just numbers, and now they’re adding letters??? You’d think that’d be a
good thing since English is my best subject, but no.

Who even added letters to English? Was it some guy from pre-Quirk times? I think so. Most stuff was
made before Quirks. Like, have you ever heard of sporks? They’re part spoon, part fork. Have you
ever used a spork before? Do you know if they work well with spaghetti? I’ve only seen pictures, and
it doesn’t look like they twirl spaghetti very well.

Speaking of spaghetti, do you like yours with red or alfredo sauce? I’m more of a red sauce girl
myself, but alfredo is still good for when I’m in the mood for something cheesy. Speaking of cheese…

Izuku’s head spun as he continued to read Nejire’s note. Paragraph after paragraph, she would hop
from one tangent to another like a bunny on crack, asking a migraine-inducing amount of questions
along the way.

It was a lot, sure, but Izuku still felt touched that Nejire was appreciative enough to write back at all,
much less the dozens of paragraphs he received. He considered his efforts to be a success at this point.

Though, one thing still stuck out to him at the beginning of the note, something that both explained
and offered a solution to Nejire’s problem. So he pulled out a piece of paper and prepared another
message to his seatmate.

Dear Nejire Hado,

First of all, thank you for the follow-up letter you wrote for me. You didn’t have to, but I’m glad you
did. Expect a second note answering all your questions in the future.
Secondly, during the first paragraph of your letter, I noticed you mentioned that you had a Quirk that
drains your stamina, and that’s why you’re so tired during class all the time. Now, I know I’m not a
doctor or anything, but I have a minor hobby in Quirk analysis, so I at least want to try and offer a
solution, if that’s okay with you.

The most immediate response to a stamina-draining Quirk would be a change in diet. I’d recommend
consuming more carbohydrates and proteins on a daily basis. And then maybe some stamina training.
I hear a little jogging can go a long way. Unless, of course, you’ve already been doing these things. In
which case, I’m sorry for stating the obvious. But regardless, if you somehow choose to follow my
advice, I hope they prove at least a little effective.

Nice talking to you,

-Izuku Midoriya

As Izuku left his letter by Nejire’s sleeping form, he silently hoped he wasn’t crossing any boundaries
by offering Quirk advice to someone he hadn’t even talked to in person yet. He couldn’t help it, he
just wanted to help her. And if he did, he figured it would all be worth it. And if he didn’t, well, he
just hoped she wasn’t the type to get upset over these kinds of things.

———————————————

The Next Day…

“Hey, hey! You’re Izuku Midoriya, right? Huh? Are ‘ya?” Nejire asked Izuku the moment he walked
into the classroom while getting way too close to his face.

“I - um - well - I uh…” Izuku furiously blushed as he struggled to stutter out a response. He hadn’t
expected his advice to work so instantaneously, nor had he expected Nejire to be so bubbly and in-
your-face.

Either way, Nejire took his stutters as a form of confirmation and brought him into a tight hug. “Who
am I kidding? Of course it’s you. Thanks so so much for your Quirk advice. I always meant to see a
Quirk counselor about it, but I was too tired to book an appointment.”

“N-n-no problem,” Izuku was already feeling overwhelmed by her personality, so he opted to shift the
conversation to a topic he was more comfortable with. “B-by the way, what exactly is your Quirk?
Does it just drain your stamina, or does the stamina go anywhere?”

“Oh! My Quirk’s really cool. It’s called Wave Motion! But I sometimes like calling it Surge.” She
held out her hand, and a small yellow spiral emerged from her palm, which Izuku stared at in awe. “It
lets me channel my energy into these flying spiral things. People say they hurt to touch, but I never
understood that because I touch them all the time. Do you wanna touch them?”

“Um, no thanks. It probably doesn’t hurt for you because your Quirk gives you a natural immunity.
Like how Endeavor is resistant to fire.”

“Oh! Is that how he keeps his fire beard going? That always confused me. Like, does he always have
his fire beard up? What happens when he takes a shower? Does he burn all the food he tries to eat?”

Izuku decided to condense all of Nejire’s questions into a single answer. “I think that’s just part of his
hero costume. Though, that does make me wonder how he keeps it up all the time. Does he do it
consciously?”
“I hope not. That sounds hard. That would be like me having a spiral wrapped around my body at all
times. Wait, could I give myself a spiral mustache if I tried?”

“Now that I think about it, covering your entire body in spirals would work really well in terms of
defense.” Izuku quickly whipped out his notebook and jotted that tidbit down.

“Wow! Is that me?!” Nejire excitedly snatched the notebook out of his hands and held it in front of
her face at various angles in order to fully appreciate it. “Ooh, this is super cool! Do you draw? Are
you an artist? What are your rates? Do you do NSFW? Asking for a friend. Her name is Yuyu.”

“You - you don’t think it’s weird?” Izuku cautiously asked, not used to this much blind praise being
hurled at him at once.

“Uh-huh, yeah! I like how you did my hair. I should really grow it out more. I know it’s already at my
knees, but I always thought I could go farther. What do you think?”

“Um, well… you wouldn’t want to trip over it, would you?”

“No, but I always hate getting my haircut. Having to hold still for so long is practically torture. What
about you? Do you get your hair cut? Does its texture make it harder to cut?” She suddenly reached
out to Izuku’s head and began ruffling his green locks.

Izuku was about five seconds away from going completely catatonic from shock. “H-H-Hado, what
are you doing?!”

The periwinkle-haired girl seemed to ignore the question as she found herself getting lost in the green
forest resting on Izuku’s scalp. “Wow, your hair is super fluffy. Like, I met a girl with a sheep Quirk,
and her hair wasn’t nearly as fluffy as yours. What kind of shampoo do you use? I just use anything
with coconut in it.”

“Um, I just use whatever my mom buys. But why do you use coconut-scented products? Do you like
the smell?”

“Uh-huh! It reminds me of that one trip I took to Okinawa with my family. It was great! I got to meet
Mrs. Palm Tree!”

“The Coconut Hero? Lucky, I always wanted to meet her. Oh, did you see her taking out that giant
rampaging sea turtle on the news last week?”

“I did! She was so cool! I wonder how hard her coconuts are to knock out a turtle that big.”

Izuku pulled out a different notebook and turned to a page with a drawing of the hero in question. “I
actually did a few calculations myself. If I’m right, the density of an average one of her coconuts
should be-”

“WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP ALREADY?!” Yelled a shrill, gravely voice.

“K-Kacchan!” Izuku instinctively shrunk in on himself as he caught sight of the frustrated look on
Katsuki’s face, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Nejire.

“I thought one blabbering nerd was annoying enough, but now I gotta deal with two?!” He got out of
his desk and menacingly approached Nejire, leveling her with a murderous glare. “Word of advice,
Long-Hair, you should know your place and keep your damn mouth shut if you don’t want your ass
beat like Deku.”
In response, Nejire just crossed her arms and blew a raspberry in Katsuki’s face.

Judging by his infuriated look, he seemed to take offense to that. “You think this is some kinda
fucking game?!”

“Uhhhh… I dunno,” She shrugged.

“Do you know who I am?! ‘Cause if you did, you’d have half a mind not to pull this shit on me!”

“I know you’re a huge jerkwad who wakes me up from my naps with his explosions. Oh, how do your
explosions work anyways? Do you carry a bunch of tiny bombs with you? Or do you release some
kinda explosive gas?”

“Actually, he sweats nitroglycerin,” Izuku couldn’t help but point out.

“Really? Does that mean you smell like caramel?”

“That’s just a myth. Nitroglycerin smells more like bananas than caramel.”

“Really?” Nejire took a quick whiff of Katsuki. “Yup, that’s definitely banana. Also, did you know
you forgot to wear deodorant today?”

“Alright, that’s it!” Katsuki screamed, “You, me, courtyard, now.”

“Are you challenging me to a fight? Are we fighting? Cool, I love fights! Except for the parts where I
get punched.” Nejire cheered as she followed Katsuki out of the classroom.

“Wait, Kacchan, don’t we have class?” Izuku asked.

“I don’t see a teacher here, do you?”

“Fair point. And now that you mention it, I overheard something about a mass hangover due to a
party in the teacher’s lounge.”

“Yeah, it was a lot of fun,” Nejire commented.

Izuku figured he’d question her about the implications of that statement later. Right now, he had a
fight to watch.

———————————————

“Alright, Long-Hair, you better not get your hopes up. Because by the time I’m done with you, there
won’t be a single bone in your body that isn’t dislocated,” Katsuki threatened as the two combatants
circled each other around the courtyard.

Nejire casually ignored Katsuki’s threat and instead turned to Izuku. “Hey, hey, do you know what his
first move is gonna be?”

“He starts out pretty much every fight with a right hook,” Izuku explained.

Nejire pressed a finger to her chin as she thought out loud. “Really? I wonder why he does that. Do
you think his dad was a boxer or something?”

“No. Uncle Masaru is a fashion designer. Kacchan’s been using a right hook since we were kids.”
Nejire turned to Katsuki and gasped. “Wow, your dad’s a fashion designer? Do you get to pose for
fashion magazines and try on cool clothes and stuff?”

“Stop talking! We’re supposed to be fighting!” Katsuki shouted as he exploded himself toward his
opponent and pulled back a right hook (because deep down, he was a slave to muscle memory).
“DIE!”

Nejire easily dodged his attack and put some distance between them. “Wow, you were right, Izuku, he
really does like his right hooks. Are you sure you’re not a boxer, Kacchan?”

“Don’t fucking call me that!” Katsuki went for another explosion-propelled punch, this one more
sloppy than the last. Nejire dodged it with ease.

“Aw, but it’s such a cute nickname. Why do you only let Izu call you Kacchan?”

“I - uh - I don’t know! Now shut up! I can’t concentrate with you blabbering!”

“DID YOU HEAR THAT, IZU?!” Nejire yelled in an obnoxiously loud tone.

“YUP! I HEARD IT LOUD AND CLEAR! HE DOESN’T LIKE IT WHEN WE TALK!”

“Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!” Katsuki clutched his head to try and clear his thoughts. It didn’t work.

Nejire pointedly decided to not shut up and continued her conversation with Izuku. “SO, HOW
ABOUT THIS WEATHER TODAY?!”

“IT’S SURPRISINGLY WARM FOR FEBRUARY! CLIMATE CHANGE IS DOING ITS JOB
WELL!”

Katsuki went in for a few more sloppily choreographed attacks, but found himself missing with each
one. “Can you go five seconds without being annoying?!” He yelled as he slowly felt his sanity chip
away.

“DO YOU THINK THEY’LL FIND A QUIRK THAT GETS RID OF CLIMATE CHANGE?!”
Nejire yelled, hardly even paying attention to the fight.

“THEY ALREADY HAVE! THEY JUST CAN’T FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT STICK!”

“Stop ignoring me!” Katsuki released several explosions in the air to try and get their attention.

“Oh, okay!” Nejire smiled as she fired a spiral point-blank at Katsuki’s chest, who was too distracted
by the yelling to properly dodge.

If you were to ask how it felt, Katsuki would describe the spiral energy blast as being burned and
electrocuted at the same time. It was the kind of pain that made him want to lie on the ground and die.
And so he did just that. (Well, minus the dying part.)

“Hey, good job, Hado. You did it!” Izuku cheered for his friend, expecting her to turn around and say
something. But strangely enough, she stayed silent as she swayed back and forth in her spot. “Um…
Hado?”

She suddenly began to stumble backward, and Izuku quickly caught her before she hit the ground.
“Hado, are you alright?” He asked in concern.
 Nejire’s eyes drooped as she let out a soft chuckle. “Yay… I did it… I’m a superstar. I won Mario
Party.”

“Oh, you’re just tired, aren’t you?” Izuku concluded, “That makes sense. You just started on your new
diet. That blast probably took a lot out of you.” He then carefully led her back into the building in a
manner not too dissimilar to how one would escort a drunk person. “Come on, let’s get you to the
nurse’s office.”

“I’m gonna use my Quirk to fly, Izu,” Nejire tiredly laughed as she stumbled around, “We’re going all
the way to the mooooooooon.”

“Whatever you say, Hado,” Izuku smiled as he pat her on the back, “Whatever you say.”

Chapter End Notes

Finally, a character combination who can successfully annoy Bakugo to death. I'm sure this is
only the beginning of his descent into madness.

I like to think if Izuku gets OFA in this universe, Nejire will ask him about it, and that'll kickstart
an hour-long conversation that ends with him figuring out Full Cowling. Sometimes, all you
need is a springboard to bounce your ideas off of.

Next Time: One-third of the Big Three. Who could it be? You have a 50% chance of getting it
right

Also, I reached the tag limit again. I'm running out of space. Help.
 Tamaki the Nervous Wreck
Chapter Notes

Wow! I've done this fifty times now! Crazy.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“H-hi, I’m T-Tamaki Amajiki. P-please take care of me.”

As soon as he finished his introduction to the class, Tamaki ran back to his seat as fast as humanly
possible and buried his face in his hands, not willing to spare a glance at his likely unimpressed
classmates.

Oh god, he totally blew it, didn’t he? Of course he did. He stuttered through his entire introduction
and was so quiet that half the class probably didn’t even hear him. He could kiss his chances of
making any meaningful connections goodbye.

As if a fireworks truck blowing up his old school wasn’t enough, he also had to get transferred to a
different school than Mirio. This really was the cherry on top of his disaster sundae, wasn’t it?

He just wanted to disappear right now, to go home and hide in his room until the heat death of the
universe. But unfortunately, he was stuck here to suffer for the next six and a half hours.

Before Tamaki could spiral any further, he was pulled from his thoughts by the soft sound of… was
that gnawing? Sparing a quick glance upwards, he covertly peered around the room until his eyes
beheld the source of the noise. His seatmate, a boy with green hair and freckles, was chewing his
pencil as he tightly gripped his desk with both hands.

From the looks of it, this guy looked just as anxious as Tamaki. The green teen continuously glanced
behind him, as if he was expecting someone to sneak up on him. Tamaki couldn’t help but wonder
why he was so nervous. It wasn’t like he was the new kid.

Yet strangely, seeing someone as anxious as him in such close proximity made Tamaki feel a little
better, like he wasn’t alone in the world.

…Oh god, was he a bad person for feeling good about someone else’s anxiousness? The answer
immediately became obvious in his head, and the guilt quickly piled on top of him.

He shouldn’t have glanced up at his seatmate. He should have just kept his head down and pretended
like he didn’t exist. And that’s what he proceeded to do for the rest of the period, not even bothering
to process the teacher’s lecture.

———————————————

Lunch was practically a godsend for Tamaki. For some, it was just that time of day when you eat your
food. But for him, it was his only chance to recharge his social batteries by enjoying some good food
in an isolated space. Heck, even when Mirio was around, he still ate lunch alone. He understood, he
was a good friend like that.
Unfortunately, with a new school came an unfamiliarity of where to find the best isolated spots, so he
just went with the roof. Which was how he ended up sitting next to the green boy from class, trapped
in one of the most tense silences of his life.

Neither of them wanted to acknowledge the other’s existence, which led to the awkwardness growing
by the second. In a desperate bid for any kind of distraction, Tamaki opened his bag and took out his
bento.

Since it was his first day at a new school, his mom packed his favorites: takoyaki, clam chowder, and
chicken nuggets. The familiar taste proved useful in soothing his nerves, but not by much.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tamaki noticed the green-haired boy spare a glance at his lunch. He
really hoped he wasn’t silently judging him. He would rather be beaten half to death than suffer
unwanted criticism.

“That’s an interesting lunch you’ve got there,” The green boy eventually spoke up, causing Tamaki to
scramble through his mental library of responses.

“…Thanks.” (Nailed it!)

The green boy glanced around skittishly as he struggled with what to say next. “Um, I can tell you
really like meat.”

“…Yeah. It’s good for my Quirk.”

The green boy’s eyes noticeably lit up at that. “Your Quirk? What is it?”

Thankfully, Tamaki was more comfortable talking about his Quirk compared to other subjects. “It’s -
it’s called Manifest. It lets me take on the traits of any living thing I consume. Like, if I eat chicken, I
can grow wings or talons.”

As soon as he finished the explanation, the green boy’s pupils dilated, and his mouth widened in
excitement. Before Tamaki could realize what was going on, the boy was already furiously scribbling
down information in a notebook with an intensity that made the elf-eared boy want to run and hide
under his bed.

“That sounds like one of the coolest Quirks I’ve ever seen! The possibilities are practically endless!
Does it only work for one living thing at a time, or can you make yourself into a chimera? Does it
work on plants, too? What about people? Could you copy someone’s Quirk by eating them? No, wait,
I just suggested cannibalism. But would it work if you just ate their hair? How about…”

He suddenly paused as he noticed Tamaki slightly trembling in place, clearly uncomfortable about all
the questions thrown his way. “S-sorry about that. I just get excited about Quirks.”

Tamaki, for his part, was still recovering from the mood whiplash. Just five seconds ago, he thought
this guy was just like him. Then, he started getting all excited and enthusiastic about his Quirk. He
had been tricked, backstabbed, and quite possibly bamboozled. “It - it’s fine,” He tried to assure.

“Um, how about we start over? I’m Izuku Midoriya. And you’re Tamaki Amajiki, right?”

“Mm-hm,” He nodded.

“Alright then, nice to meet you.” Izuku took a seat next to the indigo-haired boy. “So, how are you
liking Aldera so far? Wait, no, that was a dumb question. I saw you during class. You didn’t look like
you were having a good time, were you?”

Tamaki anxiously glanced away. “Um… no, not really.”

Izuku seemed to pick up on this apprehension in his tone. “I get it. Changing schools can be rough
sometimes. And if I’m being honest, this isn’t really the best place to transfer to. But sometimes, life’s
like a jawbreaker; you gotta lick through the sour shell to get to the sweet center. I think Fat Gum said
that.”

“Um, I like Fat Gum. He’s one of my favorite heroes.”

Izuku hummed as he picked at his lunch. “Yeah, that makes sense, what with you both having food-
based abilities. Any other heroes you like?”

“I don’t think you’ve heard of him, but… Eraserhead?”

Izuku gasped. “Eraserhead, really? He’s one of my favorites, too! I’m surprised you know him.”

“I just… I like underground heroes.”

“Me too. But it sucks that they're so underrated. Wait, now that I think about it, that’s kind of the
point, isn’t it?”

“Heh, yeah,” Tamaki let out a soft smile as he popped another takoyaki in his mouth. “I’m actually
hoping to be an underground hero myself.”

Izuku’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “Wow! Really? That’s so cool!”

“Mm-hm. I’m not good with being the center of attention, so I’d prefer to help people while staying
under the radar.”

“That’s very noble of you, Amajiki. Honestly, with a Quirk like yours, I can see you being one of the
best underground heroes in all of Japan!”

Tamaki flushed red and shrunk in on himself in response, never the best in regards to receiving praise.
“Th-thanks.”

Before Izuku could form a response, the door to the roof literally exploded open, and out walked a
spiky blond figure, accompanied by two of his cronies. “Deku…” He sneered in Izuku’s direction.

“KACCHAN!” The green teen yelped as he instinctively scrambled backwards. Meanwhile, Tamaki
felt a huge spike in anxiety. He didn’t know who this guy was, but if Izuku was scared of him, then he
felt well within his rights to feel the same way.

“You really thought you could get away from your beating yesterday?” Katsuki said with a crack of
his knuckles, “Are you seriously that much of an idiot?”

“I - I wasn’t being stupid or anything. I just… I just didn’t want to-”

An explosion from Katsuki’s palms cut him off. “Can it, nerd! You should have known I’d get back to
you eventually. But it looks like I gotta beat the lesson into your thick-ass skull.” He then glanced
over to Tamaki, “And who the hell is this?”

“He - he’s not involved, Kacchan. Leave him alone.”

“Tch, works for me. He’ll just get a front-row seat to watching your ass get beat, and then he’ll know
better than to hang around a Quirkless hero wannabe like you!”

Katsuki revved up his explosion and charged in Izuku’s direction while his victim curled in on
himself, awaiting the beating. But suddenly, Katsuki stopped as he felt a strange feeling on his ankle.

He looked down to see an octopus tentacle latched to his leg, seemingly trying to hold him back.
Glancing up, he quickly identified the source of the appendage. “What the hell do you think you’re
doing, Elf Ears?”

Tamaki froze in place like a deer in headlights. “I - um - I don’t know. My - my body just - just moved
on its own!”

“Yeah right,” He shoved the tentacle aside and began encroaching on Tamaki. “You really think
protecting this waste of space is a good idea?” He gestured toward Izuku, “Guess I have to beat up
two dumbasses today, and I think I’ll start with you. Now DIE!”

Katsuki aimed an explosion at Tamaki’s face and grinned as his attack landed dead-on. But when the
smoke cleared, he let out a shocked expression when he saw that the explosion had been blocked by a
clamshell that grew over his target’s head.

“What the hell kinda cheap trick is that?!” Katsuki demanded. “If you’re not gonna fight back, the
least you can do is stand there and take it!”

The explosive blond lunged at Tamaki, his palms already partially ignited. The indigo-haired teen
stuck out his hands defensively as he activated his Quirk yet again. In an instant, half a dozen
tentacles sprouted from his fingers, grabbed Katsuki by the torso, and threw him into a nearby wall,
knocking him out.

Both Izuku and Katsuki’s cronies watched in shock, while Tamaki struggled to comprehend the
situation before him. “Um, what just happened?” He dumbfoundedly asked.

“Holy shit!” One of Katsuki’s cronies exclaimed. “That guy just beat up Bakugo!”

“We gotta tell someone!” Said the other as they grabbed Katsuki’s unconscious body and hauled him
off.

As soon as they left, Tamaki curled up into a ball and rested his head between his knees. “I - I didn’t
mean to do that, Midoriya. I just - I didn’t want him to hurt him, and I started moving on instinct.”

Izuku was quick to crouch down and comfort him. “Hey, hey, it’s alright, Amajiki. I know you didn’t
mean to, and it’s okay. We’ll just say you had a small Quirk accident. Happens all the time.”

Tamaki gulped as he dug his fingernails into his leg. He quickly remembered the calming breaths he
learned from Mirio and practiced them as he closed his eyes. Faintly, he could hear Izuku breathing
along with him. That did a lot to cool his nerves. “Are - are you sure it’ll be alright?”

“I’m positive, Amajiki. I know we just met, but trust me on this.”

Izuku let out a sigh of relief as he saw his friend slowly uncurl himself and take a few deep, calming
breaths. “Also, thanks for standing up for me. I know it wasn’t completely intentional, but I appreciate
what you did.”
“…You’re welcome. I’m just glad he didn’t get to hurt either of us. You… you looked so scared
earlier. Does he do this to you often?”

Izuku bit his lip. “Er, sometimes. But let’s not worry about that now. We should probably get back to
lunch.”

“But what about class?”

“I’m sure they won’t mind if we’re a few minutes late. It’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Tamaki nodded as he went back to his clam chowder, and the two friends continued to eat in
silence. But unlike before, both teens found themselves much more comfortable in the other’s
presence.

———————————————

The Next Day…

The moment Tamaki walked through the entrance, he noticed several pairs of eyes were already on
him. And for once, that wasn’t his anxiety talking. Several students were staring directly at him.

He took a deep breath and tried to play it cool as he made his way to the classroom. But unluckily for
him, his pointed ears managed to pick up a few hushed whispers, most of which were directed toward
him.

“Hey, did you hear? That guy beat up Bakugo yesterday.”

“I heard he didn’t even get hit once.”

“He probably has a really powerful Quirk.”

“I don’t think it’s him. He looks too meek to have beaten Bakugo.”

“What’s his Quirk? Does it make him look like an elf?”

“Does this mean Aldera has a new top dog?”

With each comment he overheard, Tamaki found himself picking up his pace ever so slightly. By the
time he reached his classroom and sat at his desk, he was practically sprinting.

“Midoriyaaaaaa…”

“What’s wrong, Amajiki?” Izuku asked as he stood over his friend, who once again rested his head on
the desk.

“People are talking about me.”

“They are? What are they saying? Are they talking smack?”

“They’re talking about how I beat up Bakugo yesterday.” He buried his face even deeper into his
arms. “They said I was tough, strong, the top dog. Oh god, what if they’re expecting me to get into
even more fights?”

“Don’t panic, Amajiki, it’ll be fine.” He offered his friend a reassuring pat on the back. “These kinds
of things happen all the time. I’m sure all the students will forget about it, and it’ll all blow over.”
“It’s not just the students, Midoriya. Look.” Tamaki gestured to the front of the classroom, where
Izuku saw his teacher looking at his friend expectedly, as if he was beginning to anticipate big things
from Tamaki.

Izuku immediately figured out what was going on. He knew the teachers favored Katsuki for his
strong Quirk. But since Tamaki curb-stomped him yesterday, that clearly proved which one of them
was superior and therefore, deserved the teachers’ favor.

Of course, Izuku knew that was the last thing Tamaki wanted. He just wanted to coast by while
attracting as little attention as possible. Plus, he’d rather his friend didn’t get wrapped up with the
teachers of Aldera. Shady wouldn’t even begin to describe their behavior sometimes.

“Amajiki, I think I have an idea,” Izuku stated.

“I move to Siberia and change my name to Amaki Tamajiki?” He guessed.

“No. We just need to make you lose a fight to counteract the fight you just won. Double negative. It
all cancels out, then people go back to ignoring you.”

“I have to fight again?” Tamaki gulped as he began chewing on one of his fingernails. “I really don’t
like unnecessary violence, especially if it’s aimed at me.”

“No, you don’t get it. You won’t actually be fighting. I’ll just pretend to rough you up a bit, you’ll fall
to the ground in defeat, and then everyone leaves you alone. Sound good?”

“Um… I guess. If it’ll get people to stop paying attention to me.”

“Trust me, once they see you lose to the Quirkless loser, they won’t want to associate with you ever
again.”

Tamaki let out a small grumble of discontent as he clenched his fist to his side. “If that’s what they
really think, then I don’t want to associate with them, either.”

A dash of red found itself on Izuku’s face. “Aw, I’m genuinely touched.”

———————————————

During lunch that day, when the cafeteria was at its busiest, Izuku mentally reviewed his script before
standing up and making a proclamation. “Tamaki Amajiki, I challenge you to a fight!”

This statement of his turned quite a few heads, but what turned even more was the boy’s response.
“…Okay.”

The two got into fighting stances, and the crowd swiftly formed a circle around them. To make the
fight seem more realistic, Tamaki grew octopus tentacles in one hand and a clamshell in the other.

“Take this!” Izuku threw a punch that barely grazed Tamaki, though he reacted like it struck him in
the gut.

“Ow, that hurt,” He muttered unconvincingly, which prompted Izuku to send a few more fake blows
at his opponent. “Oh no. Please. Stop it. You’re too tough.”

After a few minutes of that, parts of the crowd quickly saw through their ruse, which prompted them
to get bored and leave. Izuku and Tamaki took note of this, and both silently opted to finish their fake
fight.

“Hi-yah!” Izuku tapped Tamaki with a karate chop on the head, which prompted him to fall to the
ground and play dead. “There. I beat him,” Izuku said, gesturing to the ‘unconscious’ body before
him.

“No you fucking didn’t!” Katsuki emerged from the crowd, right behind Tamaki. “That was the fakest
fight I’ve ever seen in my life! I don’t know what you two are trying to do, but it’s pissing me off! I’ll
show you what a real fight looks like!”

“Wait, Kacchan, don’t!” Izuku pleaded. But it was too late. Katsuki charged at Izuku, explosions
charged up in his hands. Unfortunately, he failed to account for the tentacles Tamaki intentionally
sprawled across the ground.

Too focused on his opponent to think of anything else, Katsuki tripped on one of them and landed
headfirst into Tamaki’s clam hand, knocking him out once again.

“Holy crap. Midoriya beat Bakugo without even touching him,” Said one of the crowd members.

Izuku, for his part, was perplexed at the situation, but decided to roll with it anyways. “Y-yup, I sure
did! That means there’s no more top dog at the school anymore. So, uh… go home!”

The crowd didn’t feel like arguing with him, mostly out of boredom. So they all dispersed back to
their classes. During which, Tamaki got up and whispered to his friend, “Did - did it work?”

“I think so. I doubt they’ll want to talk about you anymore after a performance like that.”

Tamaki breathed a sigh of relief. “Phew, thank god. They’ll finally leave me alone.”

“Yeah, but what are we gonna do about that?” Izuku gestured to Katsuki’s unconscious body.

It was at that moment when Tamaki remembered Izuku’s Quirk suggestion from the other day. The
one about potentially copying people’s Quirks. “Hm, let me try something.” He reached down and
plucked a hair off Katsuki’s body. After forcing it down his throat, he held up his palm and
concentrated on his sweat glands. Sure enough, a small explosion burst from his hand.

The two friends just grinned at each other. Tamaki might not be the top dog by name, but if anyone
messed with him or Izuku, he wouldn’t mind demonstrating why they preferred to be left alone.

———————————————

Alternate Joke Ending…

The moment Izuku got everyone’s attention in the cafeteria, Katsuki knew he was about to do
something asinine. So he decided to save everyone the headache by sneaking up behind him and
blowing his brains out (metaphorically).

As he proceeded to do that, Izuku pointed at Tamaki dramatically. “Alright, you’re going down,
tubby.”

Tamaki let out a light gasp as a tear pricked at his eye. “T-Tubby?” His look quickly shifted to that of
murderous rage. “Nobody calls me tubby!”
 Tamaki pulled back his clam hand and threw a punch aimed at Izuku’s face. He ducked at the last
second, and it hit Katsuki instead, who was sent unconsciously sprawling across the floor.

As soon as he registered what just happened, Tamaki snapped out of his blind rage and looked over
Katsuki with panic in his eyes. “Shit, not again.”

Chapter End Notes

If Manifest works by eating someone's hair as it does in my headcanon, then this would be a
good way for him to accidentally get One for All. I don't think he'd want it though. He's already
anxious enough, the looming threat of an immortal nemesis can't be good for him mentally.

I also headcanon that Tamaki would be an underground hero. He works best when he's not being
watched anyways. Plus, his chimeric forms would look ten times scarier in the dead of midnight.

Also, don't ask me what I was thinking with that alternate joke ending. When I came up with the
idea of a fake fight, my mind wandered to that one Spongebob episode, and the rest was history.

Next Time: One-third of the Big Three. Who could it be? You have a 100% chance of getting it
right (unless you're stupid)
 Mirio the Upperclassman
Chapter Notes

That's right! For once, I didn't bother aging down Mirio in this one. No real reason, just felt like
it.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Izuku wheezed as Katsuki landed yet another kick into his gut. Their first day at Aldera Middle
School had just ended, and it was already beginning to look like three more years of the same.

“Quit fucking whining, Deku,” Katsuki sneered as he stomped down hard on Izuku’s side. “You
should have seen this coming. Just because this is a new school doesn’t mean anything’s different
between us. You’re still just as weak as ever.”

Izuku knew Katsuki was right, but that didn’t make it sting any less. A small, hopeful part of him
hoped that he and his bully would be put in separate classes. Or, at the very least, he would lose
interest in him. But the world just seemed to be against him. Same as it ever was.

Izuku squeezed his eyes shut as he saw Katsuki reel his arm back, ready to hit him with another
explosion. At this point, he just hoped it wouldn’t singe his uniform too bad. He was already having a
hard enough time hiding the injuries from his mom. He really didn’t want to buy a new uniform so
soon.

“Hold on one second,” Said an unfamiliar voice. Izuku creaked one eye open to see a hand gripping
Katsuki by the shoulder, holding back his attack.

Katsuki whipped around and growled at the new presence, an older-looking boy with beady blue eyes
and blond hair tied back in a ponytail. “Who the hell are you?!” he demanded.

The blue-eyed boy smiled and pointed his thumb to himself. “I’m Mirio Togata! New transfer, and
your upperclassman by about two years. I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but this isn’t really the most
welcoming situation. Now why don’t you just quit terrorizing the boy, and we can all talk this over.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes at Mirio’s beaming grin. “Like I give a rat’s ass if you’re older than me. Once
I become number-one, I won’t have to take orders from idiots like you.”

Mirio let out an amused chuckle. “Number one? As in number one hero? Boy, you’ve got your work
cut out for you if you’re aiming for that.”

“The fuck’s that supposed to mean?! You think I can’t do it? Because I can prove it to you right now!”

“Hmmmm… Alright, hit me with your best shot!” Mirio stood up straight with his arms folded behind
his back. “Go on, hit me. I promise I won’t move from this spot.”

As soon as he realized he was serious, Katsuki stomped toward Mirio with a feral grin. “Heh, your
funeral, dumbass. Now DIE!”
Katsuki released a concentrated explosion at Mirio’s chest. Izuku instinctively shielded his eyes from
the damage. He knew it wouldn’t be pretty.

“Heh, wow, almost felt that one,” Mirio taunted.

“Wha - what the fuck?” Katsuki gaped.

Confused by what he heard, Izuku unblocked his vision to see that while the spot on Mirio’s uniform
was burnt and singed, his skin remained completely untouched.

As expected, this didn’t do well in diffusing Katsuki’s rage. “I don’t know what the hell kinda Quirk
you have, but just because it blocked one attack doesn’t mean it isn’t shit.” He then fired off a torrent
of explosions around Mirio’s entire body. And while it ripped his uniform top to shreds, it didn’t do
any damage to his body. In fact, Izuku noticed some of the explosions go right through him.

As Katsuki stood out of breath, panting with his hands on his knees, Mirio’s grin sharpened as he got
into a fighting stance. “That was pretty good, but now it’s my turn!” He pulled back his arm and sent
a punch flying toward Katuski’s stomach. “Taaaaaaaake this!”

Using up the last of his sweat reserves, Katsuki jumped back and released one more explosion toward
Mirio, which actually connected this time, sending the upperclassman tumbling back into a nearby
wall.

“HA! I knew you were all talk!” Katsuki said, having regained his lost confidence, “You might be
able to dodge like a coward, but when it comes to fighting, you’re as bad as Deku.”

And with that, Katsuki strolled away as he dusted off his hands, leaving his two victims to wallow in
their collective failure.

At least, Izuku wallowed. Mirio, on the other hand, stood up as he cradled his burnt arm with a
strained smile. “Wow. That guy’s really tough, isn’t he? You alright there, man?” He asked Izuku.

“Am - am I alright? What about you?” Izuku got up and fretted over Mirio’s injuries. “You just took a
hit from Kacchan dead-on. Here, I have some burn cream in my bag.”

“You carry burn cream around with you? That does not paint a good picture,” Mirio said, the smile
never quite leaving his face.

“Well, it is what it is,” Izuku shrugged as he gently applied the cream to Mirio’s arm. “Still, I’d rather
not other people take the brunt of Kacchan’s outbursts. You didn’t have to step in for me right there. I
mean - I appreciate that you did, you’d be the first to do so since… ever. But I’d hate for other people
to get hurt just because of my uselessness.”

“Hey, don’t say that about yourself. Just because you got hurt doesn’t mean you’re useless.” Mirio
offered him a comforting pat on the shoulder. “Besides, I would’ve stepped in regardless. What he
was doing to you wasn’t right. And heroes don’t let that kind of behavior slide.”

Izuku perked up at that last part. “You want to be a hero?”

“You bet I do! I wanna go out there and save people with a smile on my face, just like All Might!” His
expression suddenly dimmed, “But, uh, I still got a lot of work to do on my end.”

“Are you talking about your Quirk? I saw you used it to avoid Kacchan’s explosions earlier. Does it
let you phase through solid matter or something?”
“Right on the money, uh… What’s your name again?”

“Izuku Midoriya. And you’re Mirio Togata, right?”

“Sure am! I just transferred here from Chiba Prefecture.”

“Yeah, I heard about that. Didn’t your school get destroyed by a TNT truck or something?”

“Fireworks truck, actually. But yeah. This place is all kinda new to me. I had a friend at my old
school, but he got transferred to a different place. I hope he’s doing alright.”

———————————————

Tamaki Amajiki didn’t know what to do. He was in a new classroom environment, completely alone,
with Mirio nowhere in sight. He had clearly taken his friend for granted before, because he had no
idea how he would survive without a consistent positive presence in his life.

Right as he thought that, a girl with long, periwinkle hair curiously zipped up to him. “Hey, hey, are
you new here? Did you just transfer? Is it because of that fireworks truck I saw on the news? What’s
your name? What’s your Quirk? Does it have something to do with those pointy ears? Are you an elf?
Do you get to live for a long time? That’s so cool!”

Never mind, Tamaki just wanted to be left alone again.

———————————————

“Getting back to my Quirk, you were right on the money, Midoriya,” Mirio shot him a pair of finger
guns. “My Quirk is called Permeation. It lets me phase any part of my body through solid matter.
Unfortunately, that also includes air and light. So when I’m using it on my face, I can’t see, hear, or
breathe.”

Izuku wasted no time summoning a notebook and jotting down the information. “Wow, that’s a really
interesting Quirk. Sounds difficult to use, too.”

“You have no idea,” Mirio chuckled, “I’ve been training my Quirk my whole life, and I only recently
got the hang of stepping through walls.”

“So I take it you don’t have much experience with fighting?”

“Nope!” He said, popping the P, “In fact, I’m lucky my pants didn’t fall off during my scuffle with
that explosions guy. If I had a yen for every time I lost a good pair of pants to my Quirk, I could
almost pay off the public nudity charges!”

Izuku let out an unexpected laugh at the upperclassman’s joke. “Heh, that’s a good one, Togata.
Though, I have a quick question about your Quirk, can you use it to reach into people? Like, into their
bodies?”

“Can I reach into their bodies? Let’s see,” He permeated his arm through the back of his head. His
hand then came out of his mouth from the other side, giving the illusion that he was eating his own
arm. “Well, if the taste is anything to go off of, then yes.”

“Well then, that makes you a seriously dangerous fighter,” Izuku stated, jotting down theories on
Quirk application in his notebook. “You could punch right into someone’s innards. If you go at it at
the right angle, you could break someone’s bones in a single punch. Heck, all you’d have to do is
poke their heart, and you could cause some serious damage, or even death.”

Upon digesting this information, Mirio stared down at his open palms in shock and awe. “Oh my god.
I never realized these hands held so much power. You know, considering they’re the hands I use to
pick my nose.”

Izuku stifled a snort. “Yeah. Your Quirk sure has a lot of potential. Of course, if you were to do that in
combat, you’d have to be mindful of the most optimal place to hit someone so as to ensure their
defeat, but not death.”

Mirio suddenly grabbed Izuku by the arm and dragged him off. “Well, what are we waiting for,
Midoirya? Let’s go look into that!”

“W-wait, we’re going now?”

“Sure! I mean, unless you have something better to do.”

Izuku sighed. “No. No I don’t.”

———————————————

The pair soon found themselves at the library, where they checked out as many books on human
anatomy as they could and began pinpointing the most effective spots for attack.

“Let’s see here… So far, the best spots we’ve pinpointed are here, here, and here,” Izuku said,
pointing to various parts of a diagram of the human body.

Mirio nodded in agreement. “Right. And places like the heart, lungs, spinal cord, and testicles are
huge no-nos.”

“I don’t think punching someone in the testicles would kill them.”

“It’s the principle of the thing, Midoriya. It might be a matter of life or death, but that doesn’t mean
we should be willing to break the man code.”

“But what if someone tries to hit you in the balls first?”

“In that case, all matter of pretenses are out the window. They dug the hole, so they should be willing
to lie in it.”

“Tough, but fair,” Izuku conceded, “So now that we have a series of weak points you should be
aiming for, we can deal with the elephant in the room.”

“Actually, Midoriya, I think that’s a mammoth.” Mirio pointed to a man with a mammoth Quirk
sitting across from them.

“Yes. He’s been using his trunk to root around in your backpack for the past five minutes.”

Upon being called out, the mammoth man blushed in embarrassment. “Heh, sorry, I just smelled his
peanut energy bar.” He quickly and awkwardly scooted away.

“Right…” Izuku continued, “Anyways, now that we figured out where to hit your opponent, we need
to figure out how to hit them.”
“Yeah, that’s a good point. How am I supposed to breach their defenses while also keeping them from
breaching mine? There’s got to be some kind of strategy for it.”

“Unfortunately, I got nothing,” Izuku shamefully admitted, “I feel like this can only be accomplished
by a form of parallel processing in which I lack the experience to teach you. I’m sorry, Mirio, but it
looks like our road ends here.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it, man. We made a lot of progress for one day. Don’t give up just yet. I’m sure
we’ll figure it out eventually.” He bent down and picked up a handful of anatomy books, “For now,
let’s put back these books. I’m sure we’ve got that covered.”

Izuku chuckled at his friend’s stupid joke, putting him in a slightly better mood than before. He
picked up a handful of books of his own, but paused when he noticed the cover of one still on the
table. “Huh, what’s this?”

“Just a book on dolphins, I think. Must’ve grabbed that one by mistake,” Mirio said as he funneled his
stack of books back on the shelf.

As Izuku continued to stare at the cover of the dolphin book, he felt the gears inside his brain begin to
turn. Slowly but surely, his brain cells began playing a word association game, ending with a new idea
formed in his mind.

“Togata… you’re a dolphin.”

“Pardon?”

“TOGATA, YOU’RE A DOLPHIN!” Izuku excitedly exclaimed as he ran up to his friend’s face.

Mirio just blinked in confusion. “Uhhhh… I’m pretty sure I’m a man.”

“No, not literally. You know that thing where dolphins leap in and out of the ocean to get air? You
could do that!”

“You’re saying I use Permeation to swim through the ground while occasionally shooting up to take a
breath while also getting a brief glimpse of my opponent’s current whereabouts?”

“Exactly!”

Mirio smiled thoughtfully as he scratched his chin. “Hm, that just might be crazy enough to work.”

“Great! Now let’s not waste any time!” Izuku dashed off to the DVD section, where the pair rented as
many documentaries on dolphins as they could. Of which there was a surprising abundance of.
Something to do with the Dolphin Documentary Boom of ‘89.

———————————————

And that’s how the two spent the entire night at Mirio’s house, binging dolphin documentaries. Izuku
would take notes throughout the entire thing, and once the film was over, he and Mirio would go
outside and practice using Permeation to swim on land like a dolphin, with varying results. Then, they
would go back inside and repeat the process.

They were currently on documentary number eleven. It was around two in the morning, and both boys
struggled to stay awake. Izuku still took notes, but in his half-awake, half-asleep daze, they looked
more like scribbles than anything.
“Should… should we call it a night after this one?” Mirio asked sleepily.

“Yeah… probably,” Izuku stifled a yawn. “I should probably be getting home soon.”

“Dude, it’s like two AM.”

“It is? Then I should probably call Mom. She’s probably worried sick about me.”

“Don’t bother. My dad called her and said you were sleeping over.”

“Cool, thanks.” Izuku tried to focus back on the movie, but found his vision blurred when he tried to
look at the screen. A telltale sign his body was ready for sleep.

“Hey… Midoriya? You still awake?” Asked Mirio, who wasn’t sounding very awake himself.

“Barely,” Izuku said with a snort, earning a laugh from his friend as well.

“I just… I just wanted to say thanks. Y’know, for helping me with my Quirk and all.”

“Sure, sure, it’s no problem.”

“No, but, like, most people just… wrote me off when they saw me fail to use my Quirk. Well, except
for my dad and Tamaki. So it’s always nice to, you know, have someone in my corner.”

“I get what you mean,” Izuku nodded drearily, “Just about everyone writes me off, too. Except my
mom, obviously.”

“Hm? Why’s that?”

Izuku spared a brief moment of hesitation before his next words, but he eventually decided to just go
for it. “It’s because… Well, I’m Quirkless.”

Izuku’s gaze crept over to Mirio to try and gauge his reaction, hoping it wasn’t shock or disgust. It
might have just been the sleep deprivation taking effect, but he didn’t notice any noticeable shift in
mood from his friend. It just appeared as though he was deep in thought. Izuku took that as a victory
regardless.

“So, when I saw you getting beat up by that Bakugo guy…” Mirio continued.

“Yeah…” Izuku’s gaze lowered to the floor, “He’s always doing that kind of stuff, always telling me I
can’t be a hero, always making me feel worse about myself. I try to brush it off, but… sometimes it
gets to me.”

“Well, you’re a smart guy, Midoriya, I think - I think you could do it if you really wanted to.”

Izuku slowly sat up and turned to Mirio, the green teen’s eyes already shimmering with unshed tears.
“You - you really mean it?”

“Of course I do,” Mirio treated him to a soft, genuine smile, “Once I’m done showing your bully
what’s what, we can start working on your training.”

“Yeah,” Izuku nodded as silent tears streamed down his face, “I’d like that.”

———————————————
The Next Day…

“HEY! What the hell are you two doing?” Katsuki questioned as he stomped up to Izuku and Mirio.

“Who, us?” Mirio asked innocently, “Me and Midoriya are just smugly leaning on this wall behind the
school.”

“Like most teenagers do,” Izuku added.

Katsuki suspiciously lowered his eyebrows. “What the hell do you have to be so smug about?”

“Midoriya just helped me figure out a few new tricks with my Quirk,” Mirio explained.

Katsuki scoffed, “Yeah, right. Like that Quirkless stalker could actually amount to something. You’re
both still useless as the day I kicked your asses.”

“You mean yesterday?”

“Yeah, and every day after that! I’ll prove it to you if I need to!” The explosive teen held up his palms
in a battle-ready position.

Izuku’s smug face suddenly turned to one of sorrow. “You know what? You’re probably right. We’ll
get out of your hair.” He got off the wall and slowly trudged away, Mirio following close behind.

“Hold on one fucking second!” Katsuki grabbed them by the shoulders and forcefully turned them
around. “Don’t think I can’t see what you’re doing.”

“What?”

“You’re trying to get me riled up. You think that advertising some ‘flashy new Quirk development’ is
gonna make me wanna start a fight with you.”

Mirio stared at him unassuredly. “So… just to clarify, you don’t wanna fi-”

“AND I’M GONNA KILL YOU FOR THAT!” Katsuki shoved Izuku aside and squared up against
Mirio. “You’re going down, meathead!”

“That’s correct, I am going down!” Before Katsuki could comprehend that sentence, Mirio took a
deep breath, activated Permeation, and dived into the ground.

“Huh?! What the-” Katsuki whipped his head around in search of his missing opponent. He had his
right palm aimed outward, ready to counter whenever Mirio decided to show his face.

Suddenly, Mirio popped out of the ground, completely naked, and chirping like a dolphin. “There you
are!” Katsuki turned and launched an explosion at the source of the noise, only to barely miss, as
Mirio sank back as quickly as he popped out.

Katsuki instinctively ran over to the spot where he last saw his opponent, only for Mirio to pop out in
a different location. So Katsuki fired, missed again, and ran over to Mirio’s last seen location. Mirio
popped up, he fired, he missed.

This game of cat and mouse lasted a few more rounds until Mirio saw the perfect opportunity to pop
out from behind and partially phase his fist through Katsuki’s shoulder, striking him directly in the
shoulder blade, and dislocating it.
“Mother fucker!” Katsuki yelped in pain as his right arm hung limply at its side. “As soon as I get my
one good hand on you, you’re dead meat!”

Mirio didn’t hear this threat, as he was already back in the ground. He wasted no time popping back
out for another hit. This one flew right through Katsuki’s belly and slammed into his stomach,
shaking it up enough for him to get on his knees and hurl up his lunch.

“Oooh, that doesn’t look pleasant,” Mirio winced as he popped his head out of the ground. “What say
we stop it here, call it a draw, and let bygones be bygones?”

Katsuki coughed up the last of his vomit as he limped over to Mirio with murderous intent. “You’d
like that, wouldn’t you? Seeing me admit my own weakness? But I’d rather vomit a hundred more
times than admit defeat to the likes of you.”

“Suit yourself,” He took a deep breath and sunk back into the ground. Before Katsuki could even
begin to come up with his next move, his opponent popped out and somersaulted right over him. At
the height of his arc, he permeated a hand through Katsuki’s head and lightly poked his brain.

“Ew, I felt that,” Katsuki squirmed in disgust, feeling like throwing up for a second time.

Mirio smiled as he suddenly poked his head through Katsuki’s chest. “What did it feel like?”

“Hey! Get the fuck outta my body!” Katsuki went to blow up Mirio’s face, but he permeated it at the
last second, causing the explosive teen to accidentally blow himself up. The explosion sent him
skidding across the ground and crashing headfirst into the back of the school.

“God… dammit…” He said as he lost consciousness.

“Nice job, Togata! You did it!” Izuku cheered for his friend before handing him his pants while he
averted his gaze. “Now please put some clothes on.”

“Heh-heh, whoops.” Mirio was quick to get changed, having been used to losing his clothes in public.
“Sorry ‘bout that. This is why I’m hoping to get a DNA-encoded suit one day.”

“For everyone’s sake, I hope you do. But still, you were great out there! I knew all those dolphin
documentaries would pay off.”

“Hey, now don’t sell yourself short, Midoriya. I couldn’t have done any of this without that big ‘ol’
brain of yours.” He playfully tapped on Izuku’s forehead, earning a grin and a blush from the boy.

“Well, I guess we both did well today. We make a pretty good team, don’t we?”

“That we do, Midoriya. That we do.” He held out a fist toward Izuku, just begging for it to be
bumped. “Here’s to working together and becoming great heroes?”

“You bet!”

And as the duo shared the first of what would be many fist-bumps, they both knew that no matter
what challenges awaited them on their journey to UA and beyond, they’d always have each other by
their side to help weather the storm. And as long as that was the case, they felt like they could take on
the world together.

Because that’s what friends do.

Chapter End Notes

So... fun fact: When coming up with this chapter, my mind wandered to what would happen
afterward, and I ended up plotting out a whole-ass expansion to this chapter. If I ever end up
making it, I'll probably wait until I'm done with A Starstruck Legacy. Can't have too much on my
plate.

Now, as for the chapter itself, I'm aware I ended up teaching Mirio methods to use his Quirk
similar to how he does in canon, but I just found the idea of him learning from dolphins to be
funny. Who knows? Maybe he'll fit it into his theming somehow. The Dolphin Hero: Lemillion!

Also, I'm not sure if punching someone directly in the stomach would actually cause them to
upchuck, but do you think I care? Biology can go screw itself if it means Bakugo can get what's
coming to him.

Next time: What's sixty-three divided by seven?

 Nine the Social Darwinist
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

The moment Nine stepped into his team’s hideout, he was greeted with cheers of admiration from his
peers. A sight he very much appreciated, given the less-than-pleasant surgery he had just undergone.

“Hey! There ‘ya are, buddy!” Chimera walked up to Nine and gave him a smack on the back. “Where
have you been, man? Feels like you’ve been gone for weeks.”

“It was a necessary procedure, Chimera,” Mummy interrupted, “He certainly possessed a great deal of
power before. But now, he should be unmatched.”

“Ooh! I like where this is going. How much stronger are we talking about?” Asked Slice.

“Stronger than I ever could have dreamed of,” Nine answered. “My new arsenal covers just about
every base imaginable. From short, middle, to long-range combat. With the right training, my abilities
will become unmatched.”

A shred of disappointment then found its way into his eyes as he glanced to the ground. “There are,
however, a few unfortunate caveats. While I am stronger in most areas, I’m also weaker in others.
Specifically, in regards to Weather Manipulation.”

Chimera let out a fearsome growl. “That braindead quack of a doctor! What kind of half-assed
surgery makes you weaker?!”

“Now, now, Chimera, this is just a minor setback. Once I come across an individual with the right
Quirk to combat my weaknesses, there will be no one on this planet with the power to stop me.” Nine
let out a slow laugh as he held his hand up to his face. The hum of All for One was already beginning
to feel familiar.

“So what’s our current objective? Are we still on track to create our perfect world?” Asked Mummy.

“Of course, my friend. For now, it would be wise to focus on bolstering our forces. We can’t change
the world with only four people. And I’m confident there are more individuals out there who strive
for the same world as us.”

At that moment, Nine noticed Chimera’s ear twitch as he looked around their hideout in confusion.
“Hey, does anyone hear that?” Asked the blue-furred man.

Slice audibly groaned. “Chimera, we talked about this. You have the best hearing out of all of us. So if
you struggle to hear something, that means we do too.”

“No, wait, I hear it too,” Mummy interjected as he peered out the window of his hideout. “It sounds
like a series of explosions. Perhaps someone is about to attack us.”

Curious, Nine walled over to where Mummy was standing and activated Scanning to get a better view
of the area. His Quirk picked up two figures running down the empty street, both of adolescent age.
The most interesting part, however, was that one of them lacked a Quirk signature, indicating
Quirklessness.
“Hm, it seems as if some blonde boy with an explosion Quirk is angrily chasing a Quirkless child,”
Nine observed.

“An explosion Quirk, huh? That sounds pretty powerful,” Slice grinned devilishly.

“And he’s using it to assert his dominance over someone clearly inferior?” Mummy grinned, “Are you
guys thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I think I am.” Nine stared down at the explosive boy from out the window. “I believe it’s time to
bolster our forces.”

———————————————

“Deku! Get back here so I can kill you!”

Izuku Midoriya was having a terrible day. He had been walking on eggshells during school because
Katsuki was in one of his moods again, and he knew even the slightest provocation could set him off.

He had been doing a good job of not catching Katsuki’s ire throughout the day. But of course, the
moment the bell rang and he thought he was safe, he accidentally stepped on Katsuki’s foot. And in
response, Katsuki began blindly chasing him, wanting to pop his head off.

In a last-ditch effort to lose him, Izuku ducked into a road that was blocked off because one of the
buildings was scheduled for demolition. Unfortunately for him, Katsuki had followed.

Izuku heavily panted as he passed the building that was set to be destroyed. It was one of those office
buildings lined with reflective glass. Upon looking at his reflection, Izuku could tell he was running
himself ragged. And glancing behind him, it seemed that Katsuki still had more than enough fuel left
in his tank to catch him eventually.

As Izuku silently hoped for something to save him from his impending beating, he found himself
shocked when the universe seemingly responded for once. He heard a crashing sound from above and
looked to see four figures jumping through the glass from the building’s third floor, landing right in
between him and Katsuki.

“What the - who the hell are you?!” Katsuki demanded.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” Said a tall man with white hair and a periwinkle suit, “I go by Nine,
and this is Slice, Chimera, and Mummy.”

“Okay?! And what the hell do you want? Can’t you see I’m in the middle of teaching this weakling
his place?”

“That’s why we’re here,” Nine explained as he methodically walked closer to Katsuki, his hands
behind his back. “You see, we saw you passing by and figured you were just like us, someone with a
strong Quirk with an equally strong desire to prove his superiority and rule over the weak.”

“You’re damn right I’m superior! I’m gonna be the greatest hero in the world!” Katsuki grinned as he
pounded his fist into his open palm.

“Yes, but wouldn’t you like to be something more than a hero? Perhaps… a key player of a worldwide
revolution?”
Judging by his perplexed expression, Katsuki didn’t quite seem to understand. “What the fuck are you
on about?”

“What I mean is that we’d like you to join us, to help us create a new world where the strong rule over
the weak. And people like us will no longer be oppressed for having powerful Quirks.”

“W-w-wait a minute,” Izuku interrupted. “Did - did you say you were oppressed for having powerful
Quirks?”

Slice glared down at Izuku, making the boy tremble in place. “Yes, he did. What of it?” She sternly
answered.

“W-well, it’s just…”

“Everyone at my school sucks up to me because of my Quirk,” Katsuki finished.

“Oh, really?” Although a mask concealed Nine’s mouth, Izuku could tell through his eyes that he was
smiling. “Your school sounds like it’s doing things right. How would you like to help us overthrow
society so the entire world will treat us how your school does?”

Katsuki didn’t even hesitate for a second before answering. “Forget it, Gas Mask. You’re sounding a
lot like a villain with this whole ‘overthrowing society’ crap.” Suddenly sensing an opportunity, he
eagerly grinned at the villains before him. “And what kind of future number-one hero would I be if I
let villains like you get away?”

Nine lowered his eyebrows at Katsuki’s fighting stance, seemingly not impressed. “I urge you to
reconsider, young man. In our new world, you could be so much more than the number-one hero.”

“That just sounds like a bunch of bullshit talk from a couple of cowards who are scared to get their
shit kicked in. I bet you assholes aren’t even that strong.”

“Oh, really?” Nine raised an eyebrow as he and his gang squared up in fighting positions. “Then why
don’t you prove it then? May the stronger fighter triumph.”

Katsuki cockily grinned as he cracked his knuckles. “Oh, you just made a big mistake, buddy. By the
time I’m done with you and your gang, you won’t have any asses left to kick.”

“Kacchan, wait!” Izuku stopped Katsuki by placing a hand on his shoulder. “I know you’re strong and
all, but these people look really dangerous. I’m not sure if you should-”

“Shut up, nerd!” Katsuki shoved him aside, “You don’t know shit, Deku! I can take down these idiots
on my own.”

Now, Izuku usually had faith that Katsuki would make good decisions when it came to being a hero.
But based on the ominous storm clouds rolling in, as well as the murderous glares from Nine and his
gang, he figured at that moment that Katsuki didn’t know how to pick his battles well. He wanted to
stop his ex-childhood friend, but Katsuki was already about to unleash his first attack.

“Alright, you Marvel villain rejects, DIE!” Katsuki used an explosion to launch himself toward Nine,
his right arm pulled back in a right hook. All the while, Nine didn’t move an inch. Katsuki was sure
he had this fight in the bag.

That was until a yellow barrier appeared out of nowhere between him and his opponent.
Too late to change his trajectory, Katsuki’s fist struck the air wall with a loud thunk. “Ow! Mother
fucker!” He cursed through clenched teeth as he cradled his bruised hand.

He then went to release an explosion at the air wall in an attempt to destroy it. But before he could
even touch it, Nine waved his hand, and the yellow barrier released a burst of pressurized air that
launched Katsuki across the street.

“Kacchan!” Izuku yelled as he watched the blond tumble across the empty road.

Nine tutted as he shook his head. “What a shame. Here I was, thinking you’d stack up to at least a
fraction of my power. But I guess I was wrong.”

“Like hell you were!” Katsuki forced himself up and blasted himself back over to his opponents. “Just
because you knocked me down once doesn’t mean I’m out. In fact, I’m just getting started!”

“It doesn’t matter. The outcome of this match has already been decided.” He turned and gestured to
the three other members of his gang. “Chimera, Slice, Mummy, finish the job.”

“With pleasure,” Chimera smirked before charging over to Katsuki in a flash and puunching him in
the gut, launching him in the air.

Katsuki tried to regain his bearings as he was airborne, but Slice didn’t give him the opportunity as
she sent a torrent of hair needles at him. He tried to weave his body around to dodge them, but they
still littered his body with dozens of cuts and scrapes.

When Katsuki finally struck the ground with an audible groan, he found himself surrounded by large
beings made of red bandages. He desperately tried firing off a few explosions at them, but they were
too numerous. They quickly began pummeling him senselessly. For beings made of bandages, they
sure did a lot of damage.

“Alright, I believe we’ve made our point here,” Nine commanded, prompting Mummy to call off his
minions. “Clearly, this boy was a lost cause. Let us be off.”

Izuku stared in horror at the state Katsuki was left in. Several of his limbs looked broken, patches of
blood stained his entire body, and it looked like he was barely hanging onto consciousness.

“Kacchan!” Izuku yelled as he ran over to him to look over his injuries as he whipped his phone out.
“Don’t worry, Kacchan. You’ll be fine. I’ll call for an ambulance, I’ll call for a hero, I’ll call for a-”

Suddenly, a purple laser came out of nowhere and blasted a hole through Izuku’s phone from the
backside. Peering through the hole, Izuku saw Nine slowly walking towards him. “On second
thought, I think we should stay just a little longer,” The villain threatened.

“What - what was that?” Izuku asked as he stood in front of Katsuki’s body, hoping to act as a shield
if Nine tried anything.

“Bullet Laser,” Nine answered as he pointed his hand toward Izuku and charged up another shot, “Not
that it’ll matter to you for very long. After all, we can’t have you ratting us out to the heroes now, can
we?”

Izuku gulped at the Quirk pointed in his direction. He knew what was about to happen. He had just
witnessed a group of adults assault a middle schooler in broad daylight. And he knew there wasn’t a
damn thing he could do about it. Those guys just beat Kacchan to a pulp with minimal effort. What
was a Quirkless weakling like him supposed to do?
At that mental question, Izuku glanced over to the pile of mirror shards from when Nine and his gang
leaped out of the office building, then back at Nine’s glowing hand.

It was certainly a risky idea, which was why it would serve as a last resort for Izuku. At the moment,
he could try to stall until a hero arrived. Hopefully, someone heard the impacts and explosions from
across the street.

“W-wait! Hold on!” Izuku spoke up.

“What? What could you possibly have to say right now?” Nine asked, a pinch of annoyance seeping
its way into his voice.

“I just - I’m a little confused by your motivations. You said you were oppressed for having powerful
Quirks, but Kacchan has a powerful Quirk, and everyone at school says he’s on track to attend UA.
Maybe you just encountered the wrong people in life. In fact, I don’t think you’d have any problems
regarding your strength if you were heroes. No one gives All Might any flack for being strong.”

Chimera growled angrily at Izuku. “Why the hell would we want to do good for the society that
tossed us to the curb?!”

Izuku nervously bit his lip as he slowly shuffled over to the pile of mirror shards. “Uhhhh… because
then you could use your influence as heroes to help out people in similar situations?”

“Or we could just recruit them now,” Slice interjected.

“I - I suppose. But what exactly are you recruiting them for? I know you said you wanted a world
where the strong rule over the weak, but how would that even work?”

Nine annoyingly glared at Izuku like he had said something stupid. “Are you daft? What part of ‘the
strong ruling over the weak’ don’t you understand?”

“Um, mostly the ‘strong’ part,” Izuku said as he bent down to pick up one of the larger shards, to
which Nine and his gang seemed too engrossed in the conversation to notice or care. “I have to know,
how exactly do you define strength?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Whoever I can defeat, I’m stronger than. I managed to best Slice, Mummy, and
Chimera in a fight, which is why I’m the leader.”

“Okay, I get that part, but what about people with Quirks that aren’t necessarily strength-related?”

“If their Quirk doesn’t make them stronger, then we would have no trouble beating them,” Mummy
chimed in.

“But not all Quirks are like that. For example, there’s an underground hero called Eraserhead. His
Quirk lets him remove the Quirk of anyone he looks at. And no offense, but you guys look like you
rely on your Quirks a lot during combat, so Eraserhead stands a good chance at beating most of you.”

“Well, except him,” Izuku pointed to Chimera, “His Quirk looks like a mutation, so he’d probably be
able to take him on. So, wouldn’t that technically make him stronger than you?”

“Kid has a point,” Chimera nodded.

“I’d argue otherwise,” Nine grumbled, “Just because Chimera has the advantage in that particular
matchup doesn’t mean he’s stronger than me.”
“No, but that leads back to the point I mentioned earlier, how exactly do you quantify strength?”
Izuku poised, “There are multiple ways someone could beat you without directly fighting you. They
could poison your food, they could snipe you in the head, or they could rig your base to explode. If
they managed to take you out in any of those ways, wouldn’t that make them stronger than you?”

“Of course not! That would just make them smarter!”

“And that’s where the flaws in your thinking lie,” Said Izuku, who was internally panicking from the
words spewing out of his mouth. He knew he didn’t have to go this far for a simple distraction, but he
was on a roll, he couldn’t stop now. “Building a society based on strength just invites people to think
of ways to get around it. If that weren’t the case, we’d still be living in the Stone Age.”

It was at this point Nine’s irritation began seeping into his tone and facial language. “Well, what
would you know? You’re just a Quirkless middle schooler who can’t even fight back against his own
bully. You talk about how my goals are flawed, but at the end of the day, there’s no doubt in my mind
that I’m stronger than you.”

Izuku anxiously gripped the mirror shard in his hand tighter. “I - I never said you weren’t. I just don’t
want you to go down a path that would most likely end in failure.”

“Of course you’d like that. As the weaker one, you have the least to gain from me achieving my
goals.” He then re-focused his hand in Izuku’s direction, and a purple glow emanated from his index
finger. “This conversation has grown tiresome. It’s time for you to join your bully.”

Nine fired a laser bullet at Izuku’s chest, to which the boy held up the mirror shard and defected it
right back at him.

Nine quickly ducked out of the way, and the bullet sailed towards Slice instead, who was standing
right behind him. She tried to duck, but was too slow, and the laser bullet grazed her scalp, severing
almost all her hair in a single instant. “My HAIR!” She shouted as she kneeled over in defeat.

The laser bullet continued its trajectory, where it soon stopped upon hitting the bottom of a nearby
telephone pole, cutting off its bottom part entirely, and causing it to tip over.

Mummy glanced up just in time to see the pole about to fall on him, and he dived out of the way.
Chimera, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky. The tip of the pole struck him on the head and tangled
him in the wires, delivering 12,000 volts of electricity directly to his system.

“Chimera!” Mummy ran over to help his teammate, so distracted by his concern that he failed to
remember that some telephone poles had the tendency to explode when knocked down.

Caught right in the middle of the explosion, Mummy flew past Izuku and Nine, smashed through the
glass-lined office building, and struck headfirst into one of the load-bearing pillars, knocking him out.

Izuku and Nine stared with their mouths agape at the chain reaction of events that somehow ended
with Nine’s entire team getting taken out.

“I swear I didn’t mean to do that,” Izuku insisted.

Izuku felt his face pale as he watched Nine slowly and methodically turn his head towards him, the
rage clear as day in his eyes. Not helping was that the storm clouds were now in full effect, painting
the villain in an even more ominous tone.
Suddenly, a large hydra head emerged from Nine’s back and held up Izuku by the torso, squeezing
tightly at his chest.

“Let me get one thing straight, you might have somehow managed to defeat my allies, but that doesn’t
mean you’re stronger than them in any way. As far as I’m concerned, unless you have some sort of
luck Quirk, you’re still weaker than all of them.” Nine proclaimed as the hydra squeezed Izuku
tighter.

Izuku fought against the hydra with all his might, but he still felt the air being choked out of his
system. “You’re… you’re right! I’m just a Quirkless weakling who got lucky. But… but doesn’t this
prove my point? If someone like me can somehow defeat them, then how are you supposed to tell
who’s stronger in your ‘perfect world?’”

“Are you seriously trying to talk your way out of this now? Quit thinking there’s any chance I’m
going to stoop down to your level and take advice from a powerless weakling like you.”

Izuku shut his eyes tight as Nine tapped a finger directly to his forehead and charged up Bullet Laser.
“Goodbye,” Nine said in a cold, emotionless tone.

“TEXAS SMASH!”

Suddenly, All Might leaped onto the scene and punched Nine right in the gut, releasing Izuku from his
clutches, and sending him flying in the direction of another pro hero.

“DEMOLITION STRIKE!” Death Arms shouted as he struck Nine across the face, sending him
flying across the road.

“HONK HONK!” Beeped a fireworks truck as it rammed into Nine, knocking him unconcious, and
flinging him in the direction of Kamui Woods.

“Lacquered Chain Prison!” He yelled as he tightly ensnared Nine’s entire body in branches, making
sure to cover his back so he couldn’t unleash any more hydras.

“Young man, are you alright?” Asked All Might, who quickly rushed over to console Izuku. “I heard
the explosion and came as soon as I could.”

“I’m fine, but Kacchan’s badly injured! He needs medical attention!” Izuku pointed frantically to the
teenager in question.

“Don’t worry, I called an ambulance,” Said Death Arms as he looked over Katsuki’s body before
pulling out a first-aid kit and disinfecting his cuts and scrapes. “Most of his cuts look to be only skin
deep. He should hold out fine until they arrive.”

“Until then, would you mind telling me what exactly went down?” All Might requested, to which
Izuku nodded and began rambling the experience off the top of his head.

“Well, the villain and his crew came out and attacked Kacchan. I tried to call someone, but they
destroyed my phone and began threatening me, too. So I tried to keep them distracted while I waited
for a hero to arrive. During which, their leader fired some kind of laser bullet at me. I reflected it with
one of the mirror shards from that office building over there, you know, because it’s a laser. I didn’t
mean for it to destroy that telephone pole, but it ended up taking out some of them. And then you and
the other heroes showed up. Thank you so much for that, by the way.”
 “It’s no problem at all, young man! In fact, I’d say you handled the situation remarkably well. You’d
make a good hero someday.”

Izuku nearly broke his neck from how fast he turned to his idol in shock and disbelief. “You - you
really mean it?”

“Of course I do! Now, let’s get you to the police station so you can…” All Might trailed off as he
noticed the tears streaming down Izuku’s face. “Are you alright, young man? Are there any injuries
you’re just starting to feel now?”

“N-no… I’m fine.” Izuku quickly wiped the tears from his face, not wanting to embarrass himself in
front of his idol. “I just… Thank you.”

“It’s no trouble at all! Just doing what heroes do.”

“Including… giving an autograph?” Izuku grinned hopefully as he pulled out his notebook and pen
and presented them to the hero.

“Of course!” He snatched the pen and quickly scribbled his signature down on a blank page, making
Izuku squeal with fanboyish glee.

As the heroes led him out of the crime scene, Izuku glanced behind him to see Nine and his gang
shoved into a police van, Katsuki being wheeled into an ambulance, and a few reporters making their
way to the area.

He wasn’t exactly sure what repercussions this incident would have in his future, but one thing was
for certain in his mind, there was no way Katsuki would be returning to school with his reputation
intact.

And if that just so happened to lead to less bullying on his end, then Izuku supposed he could accept
it. Though, he wished the solution could have occurred in a less violent manner. On well, he supposed
it was just a byproduct of their superhuman society.

Chapter End Notes

I'd like to thank MadTitan9 for giving me the idea for this chapter. Granted, I went in the
complete opposite direction of their suggestion, but I wouldn't have come up with anything if it
weren't for them. (Also, if you ever want to suggest a character, the more details, the better.
Because even if I don't jive with your suggestion, they'll still get the brain pumping).

The funnest part about this chapter was figuring out a way for Izuku to beat Nine's gang. What
can I say? I like a good chain reaction.

Despite getting shocked with 12,000 volts of electricity, Chimera somehow isn't dead. This was
because in the movie, he somehow managed to survive getting his innards frozen by Todoroki.
I'm convinced this guy has an immortality aspect to his Quirk.

I'm not sure if All Might would want to give Izuku OFA after seeing what he did. In fact, I'm not
sure how exactly this would affect canon going forward at all. It's a good thing this is just a one-
shot.
Next Time: Izuku learns to flirt. God help us all.
 Midnight the Flirt
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Nemuri Kayama, AKA the R-Rated Hero: Midnight, took a deep breath to really soak in the
atmosphere as she strutted down the streets of Mustafa. The area may have been foreign to her
compared to the cities she usually patrolled, but she always looked for new ways to spice up her day.

Of course, this wouldn’t have been possible if that fireworks truck hadn’t somehow broken through
UA’s defenses, leading to classes being canceled for a week in order to reinforce the barrier.

Nemuri didn’t mind in the slightest. For as long as she could remember, she had been waiting for an
opportunity like this, one that gave her the free time that allowed her to expand her patrol routes.

It was no secret to any of her friends that patrols were her absolute favorite part of the job. She loved
strutting around, making her presence known, running into fans, and beating up the occasional villain.

Though, unfortunately for her, she wasn’t getting much action today. The streets were practically
barren, and there was barely a villain in sight. But then again, it wasn’t like she could complain or
anything. No news was good news, after all.

And because life can be a cruel mistress sometimes, right as she thought that, she heard the faint
sound of an explosion from across the street.

Nemuri wasted no time making her way to the source of the sound, running surprisingly quickly
despite her high heels. When she arrived at what she thought was the place, a quick glance in a nearby
alley revealed an angry-looking blond boy with what looked to be two flunkies at his side. He was
squared up against a green-haired boy of a similar height, holding his ground with a determined glare.
Right behind the greenie looked to be a girl with long, light-gray hair, lying on the ground, cowering
up against the wall.

They all wore middle school uniforms, which if Nemuri’s watch was right, means they had just gotten
out of class no less than ten minutes ago.

“Leave her alone, Kacchan,” said the green-haired boy, fists raised in a fighting stance.

The blond boy, apparently named Kacchan, didn’t seem to be intimidated in the slightest. “Are you
serious right now, Deku? We’ve done this charade a million times, and yet you just can’t seem to
remember your place. Why are you so eager to get your ass beat?”

Kacchan slowly encroached further. But the green-haired boy, possibly named Deku, held his ground.
“Because standing up against impossible odds is what a hero is supposed to do!”

Nemuri couldn’t deny it, she found herself impressed by the boy’s tenacity. It wasn’t every day she
found such a display of youthful vigor outside of UA. He was looking like a real hero already.

The blond sneered. “Well then, too bad a Quirkless freak like you will never be a hero!”

The moment Kacchan looked like he was about to try something, Nemuri cracked her whip in the air,
attracting the attention of everyone in the alleyway. “Come now, naughty children like you shouldn’t
be out fighting,” She said with her trademark sultry yet menacing grin, which filled Kacchan and his
flunkies with a visible sense of dread.

“Shit! It’s a hero! Let’s beat it!” Both the flunkies grabbed Kacchan by the arms and quite literally
dragged him away from Nemuri, with the long-haired girl running away as well, just in a different
direction.

Meanwhile, the green-haired boy just stood there and gaped at the hero. Whether it was because he
was a fan, or because she was dressed like a dominatrix, she couldn’t tell.

“Oh my god! You’re the R-Rated Hero: Midnight!”

Well, that answered the question.

“I-I’m such a huge fan! I heard from the hero forums that you’ve been expanding your patrol routes,
but I never thought you’d show up here! I’ve always admired your fighting style and Quirk control
and efficiency in villain takedowns…”

As the boy trailed on, Nemuri couldn’t help but feel a small amount of pride. Most of her fans,
especially those in the teenage demographic, just know her for her sex appeal. Not that she minded, of
course. But it was nice to be appreciated for her other assets every now and then.

The boy suddenly clammed up as he turned his head back to the alley and realized the situation he
was in. “Oh - wait - you just saw me in the middle of a scrap with Kacchan. I swear, neither of us
were actually fighting. We were just - we were just trying to…”

“Hey, hey, don’t worry about it,” Nemuri interrupted the kid’s frankly nauseating whirlwind of
emotions by kneeling down to his level, “Hey, hey, you’re not in trouble or anything. What’s your
name?”

“Um, Izuku Midoriya. And, if you don’t mind me asking, how much did you see?”

The kid seemed to already have calmed down, so Nemuri decided to add a little flair to the
conversation to lighten the mood. “Well, Midoriya, all I saw was you valiantly standing up for that
girl back there. I’m sure you’re quite the ladies’ man at school,” She winked.

Izuku’s face flushed a deep red as he shrunk in on himself. “A - a ladies’ man?! Me? I - I couldn’t!
And - and even if I could, what kind of girl would want to go out with a useless nobody like me.” He
immediately slammed his mouth shut upon saying those last words, “No, wait, sorry. I didn’t mean to
hoist all my own issues onto you like that. You’re probably busy. I’ll just - I’ll just leave.”

Nemuri mentally kicked herself for what she said. She was used to most of her fans accepting or even
encouraging her teasing. But she could see the boy clearly had self-confidence issues that caused him
to take the compliment in the opposite direction. Which was very odd considering what she had seen
from him before.

Izuku turned and began to power walk away, hiding his face in shame. Thankfully, Nemuri’s longer
legs made it easy to chase after him and rest a hand on his shoulder. “Now, hold on there. I might not
know you too well, but I can say with certainty that you’re not a useless nobody.”

Izuku calmly shrugged her off as he continued to walk away. “Thanks, but you don’t have to tell me
that just to make me feel better. You heard what Kacchan said.”
Nemuri assumed he was referring to the whole ‘Quirkless’ thing, which just made her heart ache for
the boy. She did the research, she knew the statistics. In a world where almost everyone was defined
by their Quirk, society did not look kindly on those without one.

As a hero, and as a self-proclaimed symbol of youth, romance, and confidence, Nemuri felt it was her
sworn duty to help this boy who was lacking in several of those departments despite the potential
practically oozing off him. And she would do it the only way she knew how.

“Alright, Midoriya. Theoretically, let’s say you are a nobody. In that case, what’s stopping a charming
young man like yourself from becoming somebody?”

Izuku turned and looked at her like she was speaking in tongues. “Somebody? As in, somebody like
you? I - I don’t think I could do that. I’m not confident or flirty or seductive like you.”

“Flirty or seductive? Not yet. But confident? I beg to differ. I saw the way you stared down that bully.
How, even though things looked bleak, you stepped up to protect that girl. I see a fire in you,
Midoriya. And I want to be the one to unleash it.”

Izuku definitely seemed to be moved by Nemuri’s words, but the seed of doubt was still present.
“That wasn’t me being confident back there. I was just… standing up for someone who looked like
they needed help.”

Nemuri hummed. “You know, those two things aren’t exactly mutually exclusive. You seem like a
smart boy, how do you think I take down most villains?”

In response, Izuku pulled out a notebook from… somewhere and flipped to a page with a rather
flattering drawing of Midnight. “Well, let’s see here. Your gas is usually your first go-to. But if, say,
the villain is wearing a mask, your Plan B usually involves your whip. And of course, you’re almost
always teasing or flirting with the villain to get them to drop their guard and… OOOOOOHHHH!”

“Oh? Have you figured it out?” Asked Nemuri, using her trademark grin to cover up the fact that she
could hardly understand the boy’s mutters.

“I think so. Your confidence, attitude, and ability to flirt are all extensions of your hero toolkit. So,
maybe if I just link confidence and being a hero in my mind, then that could help me better grasp the
concept.”

“That’s the ticket. It’s all about finding a mindset that works for you.” She bent down and ruffled his
green locks, a gesture which Izuku blushed at, but seemed to appreciate. “In fact, I think you’ve
earned this.”

Nemuri reached into her pocket and placed a card in Izuku’s hand. He openly gasped at its contents.
“You’re - you’re giving me your phone number?”

“Look at that! You’re already getting phone numbers! You’re becoming a real Casanova already,”
Nemuri chuckled,

Izuku rapidly looked down at the card and then back up at the hero, still in a state of shock. “But - but
why?”

Nemuri bent down with a kind smile and poked a finger to Izuku’s chest. Tears were already
beginning to form in his eyes. “Because when I look at you, I see a strong, heroic young man.
Someone who can be a lot of people’s hero, who just needs a push in the right direction. And even
though we’ve just met, there’s this part of me that knows you won’t let me down.”

Izuku fought back sniffles as he wiped a few tears from his eyes. “R-really?”

“Of course, sweetie. After all, a hero like me doesn’t mince words.” Nemuri patted him on the head
before changing gears, “Now, here’s how this is going to work. I can’t stay in Mustafa forever. So I’ll
be texting you as many tips and tricks as I can. And before you know it, you’ll be stealing more hearts
at school than you know what to do with.”

“Right,” Izuku nodded firmly, “I’m still kind of new to this whole flirting thing, but I trust you’ll be
able to teach me.”

“Glad to hear it. Now, if that’s all there is to go over…”

“Wait! There’s one more thing!”

“Oh? What’s that?” Nemuri gave her trademark seductive smile, already knowing what he was about
to say.

Izuku nervously pulled out his notebook again and opened it to Midnight’s page. “Could you please
sign this?”

———————————————

The training began as soon as Izuku got home. Nemuri had sent him a few basic tips to try out in his
day-to-day life. Simple things like good posture, eye contact, smiling a bit more. The message his
new teacher was trying to get across was clear: It’s not about what you say, but also how you say it.

Izuku was inclined to agree. Looking in the mirror, he could already make out the difference. He
looked a bit taller and a bit more sure of himself. It might have still felt like an act to him, but Nemuri
had assured him the mask would fade with time. He just had to keep it up.

Of course, that part was easier said than done. Izuku found out very quickly that he was prone to
falling back into old habits, especially if Katsuki was nearby. But thankfully, he managed to catch
himself nine times out of ten. And Nemuri assured him not to beat himself up over the one time out of
ten where he couldn’t.

Though, that isn’t to say he didn’t feel the strain of this very particular form of training. By the end of
each day, Izuku felt more emotionally exhausted than he ever thought possible. He had no idea how
Nemuri managed to build an entire hero persona off of this.

But that didn’t mean Izuku wanted to give up, he wouldn’t dream of it. Someone believed in him,
someone thought he could actually be somebody despite his Quirklessness. And that thought managed
to carry him through even the toughest days.

Unfortunately, it couldn’t exactly carry him through everything. Izuku found that out the hard way
when he hit a roadblock in his training.

———————————————

Midnight:

So how’d it go?
Did you turn some heads?

Maybe get a few numbers? ;)

Izuku:

No

I didn’t

I’m sorry

Midnight:

What happened? Were you just not up for it today?

Izuku:

It’s not that

I didn’t mean to let you down

I wanted to try and start flirting with my classmates, I really did

But I just didn’t know what to say

And I know you had me rehearse all those compliments, but I just couldn’t think of any

Not to say she was ugly or anything

But I just had so many thoughts bouncing around my head that I couldn’t spit anything out

And I felt like an idiot just standing there

She probably thought I looked stupider than normal

Midnight:

Midoriya, you’re rambling again

Izuku:

I’m sorry
Midnight:

It’s alright, sweetie

Please don’t let this discourage you

You’ve been doing great so far

Maybe we just need to change your approach to something more your style

Izuku:

Like what?

Midnight:

Well, let’s think

When do you feel like your thoughts are the most straightforward?

When do you feel like you’re in the zone?

Izuku:

I don’t know

Maybe when I’m working on my Quirk analysis

But I’m not sure how that could help me flirt with people

Midnight:

Oh, are you sure about that? :)

Izuku:

I don’t think I get what you’re trying to say

Midnight:

I could tell you what I mean

But what kind of teacher would I be if I just gave you all the answers?
Good luck~ ❤️
———————————————

Izuku leaned back in his chair with a sigh as he plopped his phone on his desk. “Why does my mentor
have to be like this?” He questioned himself, “I mean, seriously, what do Quirks have to do with
flirting? Is she referring to some kind of flirting Quirk? No. That doesn’t make any sense.”

He got up from his chair and decided to lay down in his bed, blankly staring at the ceiling above him
as he continued to ponder out loud. “Maybe she’s referring to something in the metatextual sense! I
mean, Quirks are an extension of people, influencing their personality and such. Or was it the other
way around, and the personality influences the Quirk? Maybe it’s a symbiotic thing.”

Izuku nodded to himself. That seemed like a potential lead he could follow. “Let’s see here… Quirks,
people, flirting. There’s a connection there, I’m just not seeing it. Maybe I need to jog my mind.”

He reached behind his back, pulled out a notebook, and mindlessly flipped through the pages,
eventually stopping at Katsuki’s entry. His mind immediately flashed to the blond’s explosive
personality, which was rather befitting of his Quirk, if you asked Izuku.

Suddenly, Izuku felt a light click in his brain. “Wait a minute… If Quirks play a large part in shaping a
person’s identity, and I’m in the zone when I’m studying Quirks…”

He immediately shot out of his bed like a hulled and scrambled to his desk to get to work, reviewing
each and every one of his classmates’ Quirks. It was so simple! He just needed to boil down the art of
flirting into a language he could understand. And there was no language he understood better than
Quirks!

At that moment, he felt more confident in his abilities than he ever had. Not to say he still wasn’t a
little bit nervous. But regardless, he felt ready to accept the challenge awaiting him at school the next
day.

———————————————

The Next Day…

Nemuri’s lessons echoed throughout Izuku’s head as he made his way into the classroom, making sure
to keep his posture straight yet natural.

His eyes drifted across the room, on the prowl for his first target. He had a certain type in mind,
mainly those he was sure didn’t actively hate him, but were just hesitant to associate with him due to
Katsuki’s influence. Izuku couldn’t blame them for thinking like that. Katsuki could be dangerously
intimidating even on the best of days.

Eventually, his eyes landed on a head of light-gray hair sitting at her desk. Sagiri Fuka, if Izuku
remembered correctly. Her Quirk allowed her hair to levitate, but not much else. She was the girl
Izuku was defending from Katsuki the day he met Nemuri. She seemed like someone good to start out
with.

“Uh, can I help you?” She asked when she caught Izuku’s thoughtful glances toward her, just as he
planned.

“Huh? Oh, sorry,” Izuku chuckled, casually running a hand through his messy locks, “Something
about you just happened to catch my eye today. Maybe it was your hair.”
Fuka rolled her eyes with a frustrated sigh. “Yeah, yeah, I know. My hair is distracting. The teachers
make that clear enough on a daily basis.”

“No. Not that. It’s just that your hair is looking a lot fuller today, more smooth, more radiant. New
shampoo, I’m guessing?”

Fuka quickly turned around and leveled Izuku with a surprised look. “Y-yeah. How did you know?”

“Oh, I just tend to notice the smaller details for these kinds of things.” He took another step forward
and casually planted a hand on her desk. “Plus, I figured you’d want to take good care of it,
considering your Quirk.”

Fuka nervously tapped her fingers on her desk as she glanced away from Izuku’s small yet radiant
smile. “Um… yeah, I guess that’s one of the reasons.”

“It’s a really nice Quirk, you know. It might be a little simple, but it’s always managed to catch my
attention whenever you use it. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that it’s attached to a pretty face like yours.”

A small tinting of red could be found on Fuka’s face as she looked up at Izuku. “Oh, w-well, if you
like my Quirk so much, would - would you maybe like to see it in action?”

“Of course,” He nodded, to which Fuka took a deep breath, causing her hair to slowly levitate
upwards.

One of the strands brushed by Izuku’s face, and he gently held it between his fingers, slowly rubbing
it with his thumb. “It’s just as mesmerizing up close. Very calm, yet graceful, almost enchanting in a
way. Kind of like you.”

“Like - like me?” At this point, Fuka’s face was fully red. Her eyes fully focused on Izuku as she
watched his eyes trail down the strand of hair in his hand and gaze upon her face like no one else had
before.

She couldn’t deny the sudden pounding of her heart at that moment. And part of her wanted to
continue experiencing that sensation.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Said a new voice. Izuku and Fuka both turned to see another girl with
short orange hair. Izuku recognized her as Fuka’s friend with the fire Quirk, Okawa.

Izuku didn’t waste any time in shooting her a similar sultry yet subtle look he gave to Fuka. “Hello,
Okawa. I was just getting to know Sagiri a bit better. But if you’re feeling left out, I wouldn’t mind us
becoming a little closer.”

“Wha - huh?” Okawa’s eyes widened in surprise, clearly picking up on Izuku’s vibes.

“Hm? Why are you acting so shocked? Or did you just forget how cute you look? Because I’d love to
be the one to remind you.”

Izuku’s smile widened as Okawa’s face flushed red. He made the effort to casually stroll up to her,
which only increased her nervousness. “Uh, wow, Deku. I - I never expected this from you.”

“Come on, there’s no need to be shy. I figured you’d be a bit more fired up, considering your Quirk.
Though, I wouldn’t mind trying to kindle something more.”
He added a wink at the end for good measure, which seemed to be the right move, because Okawa got
so flustered that she literally burst into flames, which just made Izuku chuckle. “Wow. Looks like I
got my wish. But still, I wonder if I can ignite more than just your flames.”

Just then, he realized the dozen or so eyes fixed on him and Okawa, who were initially attracted by
the sudden burst of fire, but chose to stay after noticing Izuku’s sudden shift in tone and demeanor.

“Woah, did Deku just flirt with Okawa?” Asked one of the students.

“That’s what it sounded like to me,” Answered another.

“Woah! This I gotta see.”

Normally, Izuku would have buckled under the sudden pressure of having caught the entire class’s
attention. But today, he felt invigorated from all the new potential targets to practice on.

“Well then,” He rubbed his chin as he non-subtlety scanned the crowd before him, making sure
everyone got a good look at his devious smirk. “If you’re all looking for a show, then why don’t I
incorporate a little audience participation?”

The crowd’s investment increased exponentially, much to Izuku’s delight.

———————————————

Katsuki must have woken up in an alternate dimension today, because that was literally the only
logical explanation for the bullshittery that was going on during school today.

The moment he walked into class, he saw a majority of the extras crowding around Deku. But instead
of beating or humiliating him, they were all collectively swooning as he flirted with each and every
one of them.

First of all, when the fuck did Deku learn how to flirt? Last Katsuki checked, the nerd couldn’t even
look at a girl without mentally falling apart. Second of all, why the fuck was everyone buying into it?!
Did they forget who they were talking to? Deku was just a worthless nobody.

Katsuki was about to storm up to that shitty nerd and demand answers (and maybe put him in his
place if he had the time), but the teacher came in right at that moment and told everyone to get to their
seats.

Whatever, Katsuki would just wait until lunch to confront the nerd, then maybe he’d think twice
before suddenly growing a big head out of nowhere.

Though, lunchtime couldn’t come soon enough for Katsuki. Because every time he turned to glare at
Deku, the little shit was still flirting with the extras. A small smile, a wink, a suggestive eyebrow
wiggle, it made Katsuki want to throw up.

But eventually, his torture ended, and lunch finally rolled around. And as much as Katsuki wanted to
pull Deku aside in the hallways and beat the shit out of him, he decided he would wait until Deku was
properly situated in the cafeteria, where everyone could see him.

That way, it would remind everyone that despite the new fancy coat of paint, he was still the same as
before, that he was still an extra among extras that didn’t deserve their time of day, much less their
affection.
 ———————————————

Izuku had no idea how he managed to attract this much attention. Even during lunch, he was still
surrounded by at least a dozen classmates, each eagerly waiting for Izuku to flirt with them next.

Personally, he blamed the extra attention on the shock of it all. Since no one usually paid attention to
him, they never caught the small changes leading up to this. So to everyone else, this was the
equivalent of a poor kid showing up to school one day having suddenly won the lottery.

But Izuku couldn’t complain. It was nice being appreciated for once. His classmates were eating up
every one of his compliments like candy. Was this how Nemuri felt all the time? If so, he finally got
why she chose her hero persona.

“Deku, you bastard!”

Izuku and everyone crowded around him suddenly paused at the sight of Katsuki angrily stomping in
his direction. Honestly, Izuku thought this confrontation would have happened a lot sooner. But he
still felt prepared regardless.

“Hey, Kacchan!~” Izuku greeted in a sing-songy tone, “Still as eager as ever, I see.”

“Can it, nerd! I’ll kick your ass later,” He said before focusing on the crowd of students, “What the
hell do your extras think you’re doing? Have you lost your goddamn minds?! That’s Deku you’re
swooning over!”

The crowd collectively leveled an annoyed glare at Katsuki. “Yeah, so what?” Fuka spoke up, “It feels
nice to have somebody appreciate my hair for once.”

“Yeah! And unlike some people, he doesn’t call us extras!” Said Okawa.

“And he doesn’t scream all the time!” Added another student.

“Now, now, let’s not lose our heads here.” Izuku calmly got up and stood between the crowd and
Katsuki. “I think you’re all focusing on the negatives here. There’s a lot to love about Kacchan.”

Katsuki froze up in shock and confusion as he quickly realized what was happening, making Izuku’s
job a hell of a lot easier as he smoothly sauntered up to him. “Sure, he might be a little brash at times.
But when I look at him, I see an endless well of passion and determination practically begging to be
put to use.”

He began circling the confused explosive blond as he continued his advances. The predator and prey
comparison was not lost on anyone. “And if you couple those outstanding traits with his admirably
infectious desire to never give up…” He began encroaching in on his prey, his circles getting smaller
with each revolution, “It all coalesces into a beautiful explosion of pure heroic potential. And you
know how much I adore heroes.”

He leaned in closer to his face, licking his lips. The crowd stood on the edge of their seats, as it
looked like Izuku was about to go in for a kiss. “And what does he do with those explosions?”

Not even Katsuki could avoid buying into the hype as he nervously waited for Izuku to deal the
finishing blow.

“He blows up my notebooks, uses me as a test dummy, calls me names, and goes out of his way to
insult everyone at every turn!” Izuku spat, his tone shifting from sweet to sour faster than a jackrabbit
 on crack as he suddenly shoved Katsuki away from him, causing him to fall to the floor.

The entire lunchroom absolutely lost their minds, quickly devolving into a wild cacophony of screams
and cheers. Meanwhile, Izuku silently stood over Katsuki with a bitter look on his face.

Katsuki didn’t seem to take that very well. As after the initial shock wore off, he shot up from the
ground with his face contorted in the angriest snarl Izuku had ever seen from the blond.

“You think you can just get away with calling me out and toying with my emotions in front of
everyone?!” Katsuki yelled loud enough for the entire cafeteria to hear.

“Depends, is that what you’re into?” Izuku teased, which somehow managed to quadruple Katsuki’s
rage.

“Grrrrrrr… I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU FOR THAT!” He blindly lunged at Izuku, who
sidestepped the obvious attack, causing Katsuki to faceplant the ground.

“HEY! Leave him alone!” Yelled one of the students as he ran up to Katsuki and pinned him down.

“Yeah, you can’t just threaten to kill people like that!”

“How about we beat him up, and see how he likes it!”

“Isn’t that kind of hypocritical?”

“Who cares? He’s a jerk!”

With that, the group of students began piling on Katsuki and taking their shots at him. Meanwhile,
Izuku stood back and winced at his bully’s yelps of pain. He made the wise decision to not enter any
serious relationships until high school and to stick to just flirting with his Aldera classmates.

Speaking of which, he whipped out his phone and called up Nemuri to immediately inform her of this
new development. “Midnight, you’re never gonna believe this, but I think I just scored myself a very
protective harem.”

Nemuri squealed with delight from the other end. “Oh, trust me, Midoriya, I believe it. Reminds me of
my old youthful days at middle school. Ah, the memories,” She sighed wistfully, “I just hope you know
how to treat your harem right, because that’s gonna be our next lesson!”

Izuku let out a grin which he was sure matched Nemuri’s own. “I hope you’re not threatening me with
a good time, because I’m more eager to learn than you could ever imagine.”

“Oh, trust me, I’m looking forward to it.”

Chapter End Notes

Mina Chapter: Bakugo gets a harem and hates it

Midnight Chapter: Izuku gets a harem and Bakugo hates it
Moral of the story: Bakugo hates harems
If you couldn't tell, this chapter took heavy inspiration from the fic Build Me Up!, which is a
fantastic fic that you should all read if you haven't already.

I actually had this chapter idea for a while, but skimped out on it because I knew it would be
difficult for me to write flirtatious dialogue. And guess what? it was. But I still think I did alright
despite everything.

Next Time: She hears everything.

 Jiro the Listener
Chapter Notes

No more character tags. For real this time. I'm outta space and I refuse to get rid of any other
tags.

A moment of silence for the people who enjoy Izuku and Jiro who didn't click on this fic due to
the lack of a proper Jiro tag.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

There are several known universal constants: Nothing’s faster than light, the sun will explode in a few
billion years, the only certainties in life are death and taxes, The Simpsons will never end, and Kyoka
Jiro hears everything.

That last one was a fact she was more than familiar with. She’d been forced to live with this
heightened sense since she was four years old. Thankfully, she shared a Quirk with her mother, who
was able to teach her the unbelievably useful art of tuning everything out, saving her an endless
amount of headaches.

But of course, even with her proficient tuning skills, there would always be a few far-off sounds that
managed to slip past her radar. Something Jiro would be brutally reminded of when she transferred to
Aldera Middle School after a fireworks truck-related incident.

Ninety-nine percent of the time, she was content to let her surrounding sounds filter out into white
noise. But that last one percent was a sound that somehow always managed to tear her attention away
from whatever she was doing no matter where she was and how many marshmallows she buried her
jacks into.

Explosions. It was explosions.

And it annoyed Jiro to no end, practically driving her mad. It happened every two or three days,
usually in the classroom right below hers, sometimes during class, but most times when the room was
empty. And it was always the same guy with the explosion Quirk, Katsuki Bakugo.

Worse yet, when a teacher happened to notice it while walking by, they barely did anything about it.
At most, it was just some light scolding and that was it.

Even worser yet, judging by the squeals of pain following the explosions, it was clear he was using
them on someone.

The teachers referred to the supposed victim as Izuku Midoriya, but Bakugo gave him the demeaning
name of Deku. And based on the small fragments of conversation Jiro picked up on, she figured his
treatment had something to do with his lack of a Quirk.

(Of course, Jiro didn’t like that she had eavesdropped on this guy’s personal life and learned about his
struggles, but in her case, she literally couldn’t help it. Especially since her jacks tended to zero in on
loud noises and the sounds surrounding them).
But all that just begged the question: What was she going to do about it? One of the other lessons her
mother had drilled into her skull at a young age was the philosophy of ‘snitches get stitches.’ She had
to know when to act on some information she unwillingly picked up on, and when to just leave it be.

‘Ok, but this is way more than some kind of schoolyard secret,’ Jiro thought to herself as she sat at her
desk, currently listening in on one of Bakugo’s explosion sessions, ‘I’m pretty sure this is like, actual
assault.’

At that moment, her mind flashed back to about four years ago, when her mom had overheard and
reported a case of domestic abuse from a few apartments over. She figured this situation was similar
enough. And besides, this definitely felt like the kind of thing a hero would do.

‘Okay, but what exactly do I do? It’s not like I can go to a teacher about this. Because if they cared in
the slightest, they would have done something about this by now. Wait a minute, I think I have
something for this.’

Reaching into the front pocket of her backpack, Jiro pulled out a tape recorder she bought from
Soundoff Music Store. In order to make sure it picked up the highest quality sound possible, she
plugged one jack into the tape recorder and jammed the other into her desk, where she could hear a
conversation already taking place.

“Kacchan, do you really need to-”

“Shut up.” Bakugo snarled, “Don’t think I didn’t see what you were looking up on your phone before
class.”

“I - I was just looking into nearby dojos,” Izuku responded, his voice noticeably shaky.

“Oh yeah? And what were you looking into them for? ”

“I - um - you know - I just wanted to get a head start on the whole heroics thing and-”

A sudden explosion cut Izuku off. Jiro wouldn’t have been surprised if it was aimed right at him. The
ensuing sound of clothes ruffling signaled Jiro that Bakugo had likely picked up Midoriya by the
collar in order to deliver a threat.

“Listen here, Deku. It doesn’t matter how hard you train or what fucking dojo you go to, you can’t be
a hero. Period. So stay the fuck outta my way or I will remove you myself.”

A grunt of pain escaped Midoriya’s lips as Bakugo slammed him against the wall before letting go of
him. Jiro stopped the recording at that point, knowing that interaction gave her more than enough
evidence. Now all she had to do was show it off.

Making her way to the classroom below her, she managed to catch Bakugo right as he was about to
leave, with Izuku sitting on a desk behind him, already bandaging his wounds.

“Uh, could you fucking move?” Bakugo demanded as Jiro approached him in the doorway.

“Yeah, no, I don’t think so,” She glared with a shake of her head, knowing she had the most leverage
in this conversation. “In fact, I think there’s something you’d want to hear.”

She whipped out the tape recorder and replayed the conversation she just listened in on. Bakugo’s
face paled in horrific realization for a moment before twisting into pure rage. “You… you fucking
bitch!”
He lunged to grab the tape recorder from Jiro’s hand, but she nonchalantly jabbed one of her jacks
into his chest and sent the amplified vibrations of her heartbeat radiating throughout his body. Or in
layman’s terms, it was very, very painful.

“Alright, ‘Splodey, here’s how this is gonna work,” Jiro began, “If you don’t wanna have a case of
assault on your criminal record, you’re gonna leave Green alone and stop using your annoying as hell
Quirk during school. And don’t think about trying anything when I’m not looking, because if you
couldn’t tell by now, I hear everything. Capiche?”

Bakugo grumbled incoherently as he got up, his body still shaking from Jiro’s attack. Though, that
didn’t stop him from shooting her the nastiest glare he could muster. “What’s the fuck’s you deal,
Ears? You’re not even in our class. Why the hell are you standing up for this Quirkless nobody?” He
gestured to Midoriya, who shrunk at the mention of his name.

“It’s called ‘being a good person.’ I suggest you try it sometime.”

“Fuck you.” He flipped her the bird as he angrily stormed off, to which Jiro flipped him one in return.

With the annoying blond out of the way, Jiro focused her attention on the other presence in the room,
whose heartbeat she nearly mistook for a jackhammer upon hearing it. “Hey, you alright?” Jiro asked
as calmly as possible, not wanting him to freak out any more than he already was.

Midoriya jolted at the sudden attention thrust onto him. “Me? Uh, I dunno. I was just… Are you
okay? I mean, I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen Kacchan so angry at someone other than me. I thought he
was going to… I thought you might…”

“Hey, hey, slow down there, Green,” Jiro interrupted.

“R-right, sorry.” Midoriya took a few deep calming breaths before continuing. Though, the look on
his face made it seem like he wasn’t exactly sure what to say. “Um, thanks for helping me back there.
But… you really didn’t need to go that far for me. I mean, I’m grateful you did, and all. You’d be the
first to do so in a while. But - but I wouldn’t want you to risk yourself against Kacchan. If you got
hurt because of me, I - I don’t know what I’d-”

“Green, seriously, slow down,” Jiro stressed, already beginning to notice a pattern with this guy.

“Sorry…” He ashamedly curled in on himself, his gaze wandering to the floor, “I just - I tend to
ramble a lot.”

“Yeah, I could tell.” But that wasn’t all she noticed. She also got a good grasp on his body language in
the short time she’d gotten to know him. And oh boy, was this guy twitchy. She could practically hear
the subtle convulsions that accompanied his every movement. “Just… take your time, man.”

“Okay…” Midoriya took another deep breath, this one much steadier than the last. “Alright, starting
over. Thank you for dealing with Kacchan, but you really didn’t need to do that for me.”

Even though he spoke clearer, Jiro still had no idea what Midoriya was talking about. “Dude, I heard
him using his Quirk on you. I’d be a pretty shitty person if I didn’t do anything.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want you to become Kacchan’s next target just because you went out of your way
to help me. Trust me, he’s really tough.”

“Really?” Jiro snorted in amusement, presenting the tape recorder to Midoriya, “Did you forget what I
literally just threatened him with?”
“Well, yeah. But I thought it was just that, a threat. You’re not gonna actually go through with it,
would you?”

“Um, yes, actually, I would. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I just don’t think it would be right to ruin Kacchan’s chances of being a hero so soon,” Midoriya
insisted.

Ok, now Jiro was really, really confused. Not two minutes ago, she overheard Bakugo using his Quirk
on Midoriya. Literally nothing about that scene screamed ‘hero potential’ to her. She wasn’t a doctor
or anything, but Midoriya and Bakugo’s relationship was giving off vague Stockholm syndrome vibes
to her.

“Well, look at it this way,” She argued, “I set clear boundaries for Bakugo. If he steps out of line, then
it’s his fault for whatever happens to him.”

Midoriya opened his mouth to argue, then closed it as he mulled his words over. “That… kind of
sounds like victim blaming.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re the victim here.” She pointedly stared at his bandaged burn marks. “I mean,
do you want him to keep attacking you?”

Midoriya sighed as he lowered his head in defeat. “Okay, I guess you have a point.”

“Of course I do, Green.”

“Why do you keep calling me Green, anyways?” Before Jiro could respond, Midoriya piped up with
an answer of his own, “Oh, right! It’s because I never told you my name, did I?”

Now, even though Jiro already knew his name from her unintentional eavesdropping, she decided he
didn’t need to know that information. “No, you didn’t,” She said in a manner that wasn’t technically a
lie.

“Well then, I’m Izuku Midoriya.” He stuck out his hand for Jiro to shake, which she did.

“Kyoka Jiro. Nice to meet you and all that.” As she shook the freckled boy’s hand, she couldn’t help
but notice that the shakiness from before was still present as his fingers twitched, even while
temporarily interlocked with hers. “Hey, are you feeling alright?”

“Huh?” Midoriya looked confused for a moment before he gazed down at their handshake and
quickly noticed what she was referring to. With a nervous squeak, he yanked his hand away from
hers. “S-sorry about that. I’ve kinda been on edge as of late. Not sure why, though. Maybe it’s school,
maybe it’s Kacchan, maybe I just have a lot of excess energy. I just… I don’t know.”

As he tiredly ran his hands down his face with a sigh, Jiro was busy pondering a solution. “Now that I
think about it, I might have come across a few similar situations with some online friends. Most
times, the simplest solution is to just give your hands something to do.”

“Oh? You mean like a stress toy or something?”

She let out an excited, yet slightly devious smirk. “Maybe. But I had something different in mind…”

———————————————
“What are we doing at Soundoff Music Store?” Midoriya asked as Jiro led him through the expansive
isles of guitars of various shapes and sizes.

“I told you, Green, we’re finding you an instrument. A bunch of my online friends used to be super
jumpy until their parents got them instruments. Then they mellowed out because they had somewhere
to channel all that energy.”

“Are you sure that’ll work for me? I mean, Kacchan plays the drums, and he’s still… Kacchan.”

“Eh, worth a shot,” She shrugged before turning back to the wall of guitars before them. “So, do you
have a favorite type of music?”

“Uh, no, not really,” Midoriya admitted, his gaze refusing to meet Jiro in the eyes, as if what he said
was somehow offensive.

“Eh, that’s fine. We’ll just figure it out,” Responded Jiro nonchalantly.

Izuku breathed an internal sigh of relief that she didn’t throw him to the curb right then and there for
his lack of musical taste. “I mostly just listen to whatever’s on. Does ‘Lofi Hip Hop Beats to
Study/Relax to’ count?”

“Er… lofi’s a bit technical. Probably best to start out with something simple.” She took an electric
guitar from the wall and handed it to Midoriya. “Here, try this. Just don’t be too rough. This place is
real strict about damaging their wares.” She gestured to a buff-looking man at the front counter, who
briefly looked up from his book to shoot them a threatening glare.

He spent the next few seconds getting a feel for the instrument, blindly testing out the individual
strings and running his hands across the neck and body, paying close attention to how they felt on his
fingers. “I'm not entirely sure. I can’t see myself jamming out with this, or jamming out in general.”

“Not much of a rock guy?”

“I don’t think so. Loud noises just aren’t really my thing.”

“Yeah, doesn’t take a genius to figure out why,” Jiro let out a subtle scowl at the memory of Bakugo.
It sucked for both of them that even though they were nowhere near school, the angry blond somehow
found a way to insert himself into their situation, like a loud parasite that wouldn’t go away.

“Well, I guess that rules out the drums, too,” She sighed, leading Midoriya out of the guitar section.
“Maybe brass is more your speed.”

“Oh, that reminds me, what instrument do you play?”

“Mostly the guitar, but I dabble in drums, keyboard, bass, saxophone, violin, cello, trumpet,
tambourine, and I think I even had a clarinet phase back in elementary.” Jiro glanced back to look at
Izuku, whose eyes were contorted in a shell-shocked manner. “What?”

“N-nothing. I just… When did you find the time for all that?”

“I don’t know. I just spent a lot of time making music. It’s what I do.”

“Ok. I guess that makes sense, considering your Quirk.”

“My Quirk.”
“Um, yeah. Sorry if I made any unwanted assumptions, but I kind of figured you were into music on
some level because of your earphone jacks. So it’s nice to see your dedication to the craft. It really fits
you in a way, and you seem like you have a lot of fun with it.” And for the first time since she met
him, Midoriya smiled at her.

In response, Jiro gave him a playful elbow nudge. “Oh, quit it with the sappiness, dude,” She snarked,
though she didn’t even try to hide the smile on her own face. She couldn’t help it. His smile had some
sort of contagious quality to it. “Now come on, Green, we don’t got all day here.”

———————————————

Katsuki wanted to barf as he watched Ears and Deku acting all chummy from across the store, trying
out various instruments for god knows what reason. The thought almost made him laugh. Like that
Quirkless idiot could actually accomplish something.

Now, don’t get him wrong, he didn’t go to the store to stalk them or anything. He just needed to buy a
spare pair of drumsticks because he knew he would be breaking his old ones after venting out the
day’s frustrations.

But as he noticed the rectangle-shaped lump in Ears’s pocket, he figured now would be as good a time
as any to get his hands on the blackmail material, which he was planning on doing at school the next
day anyways.

How hard could it be? Ears was probably lying about that whole ‘hearing everything’ bullcrap. And
even if she wasn’t, Katsuki prided himself on his ability to be quieter than his explosions let on.

“Yeah, no, you’re really not.”

Katsuki would insist until his dying breath that he did not let out a yelp of surprise as he jolted back at
Ears’s sudden appearance. He totally didn’t! “What the - How did you know what I said? Has fucking
Deku been rubbing off on me?!”

“No. I just saw that smug look on your face and figured you actually thought you could sneak up on
me,” Ears answered with a bored look on her face, as if she had experienced similar scenarios in the
past.

“You know what? Fine. I’ll just cut to the chase. Give me the damn tape recorder, or I swear to god
I’ll-”

“Okay.” She pulled out the tape recorder from her pocket and slapped it into Katsuki’s hand, who
balked at the sudden action.

“That’s it? You’re just gonna give it to me? Just like that?”

“Hey, you said you wanted it.”

“Okay, fine.” Unwilling to question his current situation, as it seemed to be working out in his favor,
Katsuki wasted no time loudly tearing the tape recorder apart with his bare hands. “Ha! Now you got
no leverage on me, you dumbass!”

Ears cocked a challenging eyebrow, almost as if she was calling him on some sort of bluff. “Really?
Are you sure about that?” She asked as she pulled out a second, identical-looking tape recorder from
her other pocket.
Now thoroughly confused, Katsuki stared at the tape recorder Ears held, then back at the shattered
remains of the one in his hand. “What the fuck did you…”

Katsuki trailed off as Ears gestured to her side, where he bore witness to a rack of identical-looking
tape recorders. “Looks like you just damaged store property, Blasty.”

Katsuki had half a mind to lunge at Ears and blast that smug grin off her fucking face. But before he
could do anything, he felt a cold hand squeeze his shoulder.

“I think you forgot our number-one rule here, sir,” Said the buff man from behind the counter with a
creepy, strained smile on his face, “If you don’t respect our equipment, we don’t respect you!”

And before he knew it, Katsuki was tossed into a dumpster out back and promptly banned from the
store.

———————————————

“Seriously, what the hell was his deal? Him and his half-baked plans. It’s like he forgot I could just
record more blackmail,” Jiro muttered to herself as she made her way back to the brass section.

“Oh, hey Jiro,” Midoriya put down the trumpet in his hands to greet.

“Hey, Green. Find anything you like while I was gone?”

“A few things, actually. When I tried out things like the saxophone, trumpet, and trombone, I found
out that I really like the kind of instruments you blow into. Which, I guess makes sense. My mom
always said I had a pretty high lung capacity.”

“Alright, cool,” Jiro nodded, figuring Midoriya was close to reaching a decision.

“I thought I was going to go with something like that, but then I spotted a keyboard from a different
section and tried it out. And to be honest, I didn’t realize how much I liked working with my fingers.
So now I’m just stuck between two options with no idea which to choose.” Midoriya frustratedly
pulled at his hair, to which Jiro let out a huff of amusement. “What? What’s funny?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s just… Have you ever heard of a melodica?”

“A what-now?”

———————————————

“So it’s like a tiny keyboard that you blow into?” Midoriya asked as they walked up to the checkout
counter, inspecting the unfamiliar instrument in his hands.

“Yeah, it’s not too common to see, but I think it fits you,” Said Jiro.

“It’s kind of weird.”

“Yeah, like I said, it fits you.”

“Hey!”

“Oh relax, Green. I’m just messing with you.” She playfully shoved him before reaching for her
wallet and pulling out a pair of cards.
 “You don’t need to pay for it, Jiro. I can handle it.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it. This is one of the cheaper models. Plus, I have the golden membership
card, so I get a discount.”

“Okay, I guess…” Midoriya shrugged, but Jiro could tell he wasn’t entirely satisfied. He was probably
the type to have trouble accepting favors. At least, without an opportunity to properly pay them back.

“Well, if you’re so adamant about it, you can cover us the next time we hang out.”

Midoriya’s head whipped around to stare at Jiro with a look that just screamed cautious optimism.
“You - you wanna keep hanging out with me?”

“Yeah, sure, why not?”

“Why not? Well, I feel like for starters-”

Jiro tapped him on the forehead with one of her jacks to shut him up. “That wasn’t an invitation to list
reasons why we shouldn’t hang out, genius. Besides, someone's gotta show you how to play the
melodica.”

“You know how to play that, too?”

“No, but I’m pretty good at binging music tutorial videos at 3 AM.”

“Is that how you learned how to play all your other instruments?”

“Probably. That’s like, half the reason my parents soundproofed the entire apartment.”

Chapter End Notes

Jiro is an interesting case, in that her Quirk allows her to take down Bakugo in record time.
Which is why I added the whole music store part. Just wanted to make sure you all were getting
your non-existent money's worth.

I'm not sure why I gave Izuku a melodica of all instruments. I just felt like it suited him. But the
real question is can he use it to figure out Full Cowling earlier than canon? I'm sure there's an
analogy he can use somewhere.

Next Time: Wait, didn't I already do this character?

 Nighteye the Foreseer (The One Where He’s Not a Jerk)
Chapter Notes

Raise your hand if Nighteye got two chapters before your favorite character got one.

*sees hands*

Yup that’s what I thought

See the end of the chapter for more notes

With the same blank expression he wore every day, Sir Nighteye stared in the mirror as he fastened
his tie, preparing to leave for patrol. Of course, before he left, he planned to read his own future so
he’d know what to expect.

Normally, he would save the one usage of his Quirk for whatever long-term investigation he was
currently working on. But this was one of those rare times when his agency didn’t have anything on
the table. Just yesterday, he had wrapped up a case involving a rogue fireworks truck, which was
discovered to be a multiversal affair and therefore fell out of his agency’s jurisdiction.

Not keen to waste any more time reminiscing, Nighteye forced one eye open as he peered into the
mirror, activating his Quirk. And the future he saw was… certainly interesting.

Sometime around noon, he was going to run into some green-haired middle schooler. He wasn’t sure
what his future self said to the boy, but whatever it was made him tear up slightly. His most logical
guess was that it was some kind of positive affirmation mixed with some sage advice. After his future
self patted the boy on the shoulder, the vision ended.

Now with a new issue to attend to, Nigheye slipped over to his desk and started typing away at his
computer, aiming to figure out where exactly he would run into this boy. Thankfully, during his
vision, he managed to make out the words ‘Ferrix Street’ from one of the street signs. A quick Google
search later, and he determined that he would be patrolling the streets of Mustafa today. An odd
choice for sure, but Nighteye was never one to stray from the future. Not that he had a choice in the
matter.

———————————————

It had been a slow patrol so far. The worst Nighteye had to deal with was a simple convenience store
robber. Not that he was complaining.

After all, there was nothing funny about crime.

He spared a glance at his watch while pacing across the sidewalk. It was now the middle of the
afternoon, right around the time he was set to bump into the kid. He mentally prepped his best ‘caught
off guard’ face as he awaited the moment prophesied that morning.

“Oof!”
Yup. There it was. And the boy was so light and skinny, that he hardly even noticed it.

“Oh, sorry about that,” The boy apologized as he scrambled to pick up his dropped notebook.
Glancing upward, he slowly paused what he was doing to double-check if his eyes were deceiving
him or not. The moment he realized they weren’t, his jaw dropped to the floor. “Are - are you Sir
Nighteye?”

“Yes,” He calmly nodded.

The boy immediately shot up and began bowing profusely. “OH MY GOD! I am so sorry for
bumping into like that! I wasn’t expecting a hero to be patrolling around here, much less Sir Nighteye!
I mean, your agency isn’t located anywhere near here, so you must be in Mustafa for some kind of
investigation. Maybe it’s-”

“Not important,” Nighteye interrupted, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He had already wasted
enough time here. He just wanted to get this conversation over with.

The boy, upon noticing he was rambling, loudly slapped a hand over his mouth. “S-sorry about that.
Bit of a mumbling problem. But, uh, while you’re here… do you think you could maybe sign this?”
With his hands nervously shaking, he presented the hero his notebook and opened to a page with a
drawing of Nighteye on it.

With little emotion on his face, Nighteye reached into his pocket and whipped out a pen. “Very well.
Who should I make it out to?”

“Izuku Midoriya, sir.”

Without a word, the hero told the book and jotted down his signature. But as he did, he slowed down
for a moment to read the words accompanying his page. It seemed to be some form of hero analysis.
They were unfocused and amateurish, sure, but if he squinted, he could see some insightful theories
and observations of his Quirk and fighting style. Not bad for a kid his age.

“Interesting notes you have there,” He commented as he handed the book back to Izuku, who blinked
in disbelief at the statement.

“You… really think so?”

“I’m not the type to mince words, Midoriya. Knowing is half the battle, after all. Keep working to
improve your craft, and invest in some colored pencils for god’s sake. The world could use some
more color,” Said the man wearing a plain gray suit.

Izuku’s eyes shimmered at the hero’s words. It was clear that the small words of encouragement
meant the world to him. But it still seemed like something was itching at the back of his throat. “Um,
that kind of leads me to a quick question I have. See, you’re the rare kind of hero to not rely on their
Quirk during combat. You only use it in about seven percent of your fights. So, I was wondering… do
you think it’s possible for someone like me to be a hero, even without a Quirk?”

Nighteye wasted no time in giving his response. “Are you even listening to yourself? You clearly
know the statistics, of course it’s possible. Anyone who says otherwise is simply unaware of the facts,
or they’re just choosing to blind themselves to the truth.”

His words seemed to strike a chord in the boy, as he clutched his chest and began weeping tears of
joy, or maybe it was relief? Either way, it seemed like this was a very important moment for the boy,
something he needed to get off his chest for a while now. So there wasn’t much else for Nighteye to
do except reach into his pocket and hand him a packet of tissues he’d brought in advance.

“Th-thanks…” Izuku hiccuped as he dried his eyes. “Sorry about that. I just - That really means a lot
to me. I’ve been waiting my whole life to hear those words.”

“Hm, you seem rather serious about being a hero. In that case, you should also know this,” Nighteye
leveled the boy with a serious glare, attracting his full undying attention, “While it may be possible to
be a hero without a Quirk, that doesn’t mean it will be easy. You’ll have to fully dedicate yourself to
refining both your strength and technique.”

“Technique? You mean like how you base your fighting style on predicting enemy movements, even
without your Quirk?”

“Precisely. Though, be warned, it is not an easy technique to master. It requires a complete

understanding of the enemy. Understanding their behaviors, their tics, their tells, and their moves in as
little time as possible. It practically requires you to get into their head.”

“Uh-huh, uh-huh,” Izuku nodded, writing the information down so fast that smoke began to rise from
his pencil. Nighteye had to admit, he admired the dedication on display.

“If you think you’re up to the challenge, then I believe it’s possible. Just remember to smile and crack
a joke every now and then. More than anything, the world needs humor, and I’d hope you’d be able to
provide.”

Izuku stood up straight and nodded dutifully. “Yes sir! I promise I won’t let you down!”

“I’m sure you won’t. I wish you the best of luck going forward.” With an encouraging pat on the
shoulder, Nighteye turned and walked off, eager to catch the train back to his agency and file some
paperwork.

Though, in the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but wonder if he would ever see that kid again, and
if he would truly take his words of encouragement to heart. He personally hoped so, but only time
would tell.

———————————————

Even after an hour, Izuku’s head still spun from his surprise encounter with Nighteye. If you had told
him when he woke up that morning that not only would he run into All Might’s former sidekick, but
he would encourage his dreams of heroism, he would’ve had you admitted to a mental institution.

But no, it was real, and Izuku couldn’t be more excited. The moment he got home, he ran to his
computer and got to work.

Nighteye stressed the importance of refining his strength, so that’s where he’d start. He pulled up the
webpage to one of the gyms in his area, filled out the signup sheet, and…

“Wait a minute,” He paused, his finger hovering over the enter key, “If Kacchan sees me training to be
a hero, he’s probably gonna beat me up.”

Izuku buried his face in his hands and groaned. While riding his wave of excitement, he’d forgotten
he was currently being oppressed. There was no way he’d be able to hide his training from Kacchan.
That guy was much more observant than he looked.
But… maybe there was a way to avoid his bully’s torment. After all, Nighteye stressed the importance
of predicting your opponent’s moves. If he could do that, he’d never have to soothe another burn or
replace another uniform again.

With his motivation returning as quickly as it left, he whipped out his notebook and opened it to his
page on Kacchan, ready to give it a much-needed update.

Nighteye said he’d have to get into his opponent’s head, so just information about Kacchan’s Quirk
and its applications wouldn’t cut it. He’d need to catalog his personality, fighting style, hopes, dreams,
aspirations, fears, insecurities, dining preferences, running and punching speeds…

Izuku paused his writing mid-sentence as he reevaluated what he was doing. “No, no, this is all
wrong!” He slammed his notebook shut and threw it across the room, where it landed safely on his
bed.

“Nighteye said I should strive to bring humor into the world, there’s nothing funny about this!” He
got up and began pacing back and forth across his room, scratching his chin. “Think, Izuku, think.
What’s the funniest way I can analyze Kacchan?

“What’s a humorous method of gaining a deeper understanding of Katsuki Bakugo?”

“How do I, Izuku Midoriya, analyze my classmate, who goes by the name of Katsuki Bakugo in a
manner that might elicit a laugh from the individuals around me?”

Suddenly, he stopped in place. He felt that odd sensation in his brain where a group of cells organize
themselves in such a way as to generate a previously unknown concept in one's mind. Or in layman’s
terms…

“I’VE GOT AN IDEA! If I wanna analyze Kacchan, I gotta get into character!”

———————————————

The Next Day…

“Deku! Why the fuck are you sitting at my desk?!” Katsuki yelled at Izuku, who had dyed his hair
blond, spiked it up, inserted red color contacts, and unbuttoned the collar of his uniform.

“Seriously? Deku’s here?” Izuku scoffed in an uncharacteristically gruff tone, “I was hoping to get
some peace and quiet for once, but leave it to the nerd to give me another goddamn migraine.”

“No, I'm talking about you! What kinda bullshit are you plotting, pretending to be me?”

“Me?! If anyone’s plotting something, it’s the extra in front of me!” Izuku shot out of his seat and
poked Katsuki in the chest, causing him to clench his fists even tighter.

“Did you just call me a fucking extra?!”

“Yeah! Because if you’ve got nothing better to do than imitate me, then your life is obviously fucking
pathetic!”

That comment elicited a few chuckles from several of the listening students. Something that did not
go unnoticed on Katsuki’s part. “What the fuck are you extras laughing at?”

“Sorry, Bakugo. But you have to admit, he’s got you down pretty good,” One of them commented.
“Yeah. If it weren’t for the height difference, I don’t think I could tell which one’s which,” Said
another.

“He’s practically a spitting image of you.”

“HE IS NOT!” Katsuki snapped, “Deku’s not pretending to be me. He’s just playing a narcissistic
asshole who swears and yells too much!”

“Really? Because I was gonna use those words to describe your fuckass performance.” Izuku shot
back.

A vein burst on Katsuki's forehead as he reeled his hand back and prepared an explosion. “THAT’S
IT! I’M GONNA BLAST YOUR-”

“Bakugo, could you please save your horseplay for after school?” Said the teacher as he walked in,
holding a half-empty mug of coffee, barely awake.

“Ugh, fine,” Izuku and Katsuki groaned simultaneously, both making their way to their seats. But
despite his sitting down, Katsuki wouldn’t let this stand.

If he let the nerd continue at the rate he was going, Katsuki’s name would be dragged through the
mud, and people would start thinking he wasn’t the best. And Katsuki would rather die than let that
happen.

Thankfully, all he had to do was prove to everyone that Deku was just playing a cheap imitation, and
could never measure up to the real deal in a million years.

———————————————

Fortunately, that opportunity presented itself later that day during lunch. Unfortunately, that damn
Deku had the balls to sit RIGHT IN HIS FUCKING SEAT!

“Move, nerd!” Katsuki shoved him out of the way, but to his surprise, he managed to resist.

“I was here first, you copycat extra,” Deku spat, “Now shut up and leave me alone or I’m gonna kick
your ass.”

Katsuki would have laughed at that declaration if he wasn’t in such a bad mood. “You? Kicking my
ass? Yeah, right. Your worthless face can’t even match my spice tolerance.” To prove his point, he
slammed his bento box on the table and unveiled his lunch, still steaming from the zesty fragrance.

What Katsuki wasn’t expecting was for Deku to pull out an identical-looking bento with an identical-
looking meal, but life can be full of surprises sometimes.

“What the - Where the fuck did you get that?!” Katsuki demanded as Izuku ate his lunch with a scowl
on his face.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“Well I asked first!”

“Fine! I got it the same place you think you got yours, which you didn’t!”

“The fuck’s that supposed to mean?”

 ———————————————

12 Hours Ago…

“Auntie Mitsuki, could you please make me an exact replica of Kacchan’s lunch for tomorrow?”

“Sure, kid. What do you need it for?”

“I’m trying to do something funny.”

———————————————

Okay, Deku might have shown him up at lunch, but that didn’t mean Katsuki was gonna give up just
like that. There was still one more place at the school where he reigned supreme above all others: the
classroom!

Deku was always too shy to answer in class. All Katsuki had to do was get a few questions right, and
everyone would stop associating him with some dumbass look-alike.

“Alright, does anyone know the value of X?” The teacher asked, gesturing to the board.

Katsuki was about to shout out the answer like he always did, but another voice spoke up before he
could. “It’s eighteen. Anyone with half a brain cell could figure that out.”

Katsuki slowly turned to seethe in Izuku’s direction. He couldn’t believe the antisocial loner picked
now of all times to start giving a damn in class. But it didn’t matter. Katsuki was still determined to
show him up.

“And does anyone know the answer to the next problem?” The teacher asked the class, to which
Katsuki shot up his hand at lightning speed.

“Fifteen!”

“That’s right! Now, does anyone know the next-”

“Three!” Izuku answered, glaring at his opponent.

Katsuki should have figured this would turn into a challenge. Luckily, no one was better at math than
him. “The answer to the next problem is twenty-seven!”

“The answer to the one after that is nine point eight!” Izuku announced.

“The one after that is two point one eight!”

“After that is a hundred and sixty-two!”

“Fifty-three!”

“Thirty-three!”

“Forty-two!”

“Six hundred and seventy!”

“Sixty-nine!” (lol)
“The square root of three over two!”

By the end of the class, the two students had answered every question in the book, and were now
moving onto advanced trigonometry. The rest of their classmates were in shambles

———————————————

Izuku was pretty sure his day pretending to be Katsuki was going well so far. He could feel his
method acting paying off in real-time, and truly felt like he was gaining a deeper understanding of
him. Plus, people seemed to be laughing at his antics. He was truly succeeding on all fronts.

But of course, he knew Kacchan well enough to understand that this day would almost certainly end
in a brawl between them, so he decided to just bite the bullet. And by that, he meant he would get
things started himself.

“That’s it! I’m sick of your doppelgänger bullshit!” Izuku stomped up to Katsuki, whose mere
presence ramped up his rage by several octaves.

“Hey, that’s my line!” Katsuki spat back, “You’ve been asking for a beating all day, Deku. And I don’t
know why it’s taken me this long, but I’m more than happy to make up for lost time.”

“Tch, fine. If an extra like you wants to get their ass beat so bad, who am I to say no?”

Izuku and Kacchan squared up against each other, their jabs and insults quickly drawing a crowd’s
attention, who pumped their fists and chanted, “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!”

Spurred on by their excitement, Katsuki opted to make the first move, reeling back his fist and going
for a right hook. “DIE!”

Even if he wasn’t pretending to be Kacchan, Izuku would have still been able to predict and dodge his
opponent’s signature opening move.

Though, getting into the mindset of his bully certainly helped in knowing where he would fire off his
explosions. He always went close quarters and aimed for the chest. Once Izuku got that down, the
fight quickly devolved into an explosive game of tag.

“Come on! Are you even trying? How am I supposed to prove how great I am if you’re not even
using your full strength?” Izuku taunted in a manner that matched Katsuki’s bravado while ducking
under another one of his blasts.

“Oh, I’ll show you full strength! And then I’m gonna make you regret it!” Katsuki’s explosions
noticeably increasing in size as he continued fighting, managing to singe bits of Izuku’s uniform, but
never his body. “And why the hell aren’t you fighting back?! I thought you were pretending to be me.
And there’s no way I’d back down from a fight like this!”

Izuku steeled Katsuki with a rageful, murderous glare, one he learned from the man himself. “Alright,
fucking fine!” The next time Kacchan lunged at him with an explosion, he sidestepped out of the way
and delivered a right hook to his face, sending his opponent flying off course and sprawling to the
ground.

“Tch, that’s what I thought,” Izuku huffed as he turned to walk away.

Kacchan got up with minimal issues and found himself equally perplexed and enraged by Izuku’s
actions. “Where do you think you’re going? We’re not done fighting yet!”
“Yeah, right. Like I’d wanna stick around and fight an extra like you. You’re not worth my time, and
everyone here can see it.”

(In reality, Izuku just didn’t want to fight Katsuki anymore out of fear that his luck would run out, so
he did his best to cut the brawl short while maintaining some semblance of character. Plus, he was
sure he had made his point and accomplished his goal already. No shame in quitting while he was
ahead.)

At Izuku’s words, Katsuki focused his attention on the crowd surrounding them, where they mumbled
and whispered to each other about the fight they just witnessed.

“I can’t believe Deku just did that.”

“Talk about balls of steel.”

“Are Bakugo’s moves really that predictable?”

“Wasn’t Bakugo supposed to be this school’s top dog or something?”

“I guess anyone can be a top dog if they have blond hair and a bad attitude.”

“You know, that gives me an idea…”

An unyielding pit of rage formed in Katsuki’s stomach. His plan had backfired and he was left
looking like an idiot next to his doppelgänger. A large part of him wanted to chase after the nerd and
blast his face off. Unfortunately, while he was distracted, Izuku was already off school grounds, and
Katsuki had just enough common sense to not beat him up outside of school, lest some hero catch him
in the act.

All Katsuki could do now was wait until tomorrow to give Izuku his just desserts. But in a best-case
scenario, the school would forget today’s events and the status quo would stand strong.

———————————————

The Next Day…

Katsuki was still fuming from yesterday’s events as he walked through the school gates. There was
only one thing on his mind as he burst through the front doors, practically foaming at the mouth,
“WHERE THE HELL IS DEKU?!”

He would soon find the answer to his question when he spotted the back of a spiky blond head of hair.
“There you are, you Quirkless copycat!”

He grabbed his shoulder and forcefully turned him around, only to discover that it wasn’t Izuku, but
instead someone else wearing a blond wig and red color contacts. “Hey, get your hand off me, you
damn extra!” Yelled the unfamiliar doppelgänger.

Startled, Katsuki took a few steps back, where he bumped into a girl who was also dressed like him.
“Watch where you’re going, asshole.”

“What the - Why the hell are you-”

“Quit yelling, blabbermouth. It’s too fucking early for this,” Interrupted a third student, also dressed at
Katsuki.
Taking a few mental steps back to prevent a migraine, Katsuki glanced around the hallway and
realized a good chunk of the students were dressing and acting like him. Tens, possibly even dozens
of them were wearing blond, spiky wigs and red color contacts.

It was at that moment that Katsuki felt a new kind of rage fill his entire body. One extra pretending to
be him practically threw him into a frenzy, but add on a dozen more, and you get a recipe for the most
fist-tightening, vein-popping, blood-pumping, teeth-grinding, muscle-tensing, heart-constricting anger
that Katsuki had ever felt in his life.

An anger that he chose to let everyone know about in the most violently destructive way possible.

“I’M GONNA KILL EACH AND EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!” He loudly proclaimed, lunging at
the nearest head of blond hair in his vicinity.

———————————————

When Sir Nighteye used Foresight on himself before going out for patrol, he had no idea why he saw
himself in Mustafa again. But as it turned out, he was needed to help restrain an explosive blond boy
who went on a rage-fueled rampage after seeing a bunch of people dressed like him.

After handing him off to the authorities, he was approached by one of the boy’s many look-alikes.
Nighteye quickly recognized him as the boy he met two days ago due to the diamond-shaped freckles
on his face. “Um, is Kacchan gonna be okay?” He asked, nervously twiddling his thumbs.

“He’ll be fine. Though, I imagine he’ll have to go through a psych evaluation. My opinion, he’ll need
some serious anger management. If I may ask, what’s your reason for concern, boy? Was he your
friend?”

“Uh,not technically. But I’m a bit worried for him since I kinda started this whole thing.”

Nighteye glared at him suspiciously. “Explain.”

“Well, you told me how important it was to know your opponent, but you also said it was important to
add some humor into the world. So I decided to kill two birds with one stone.”

“…By dressing up like your opponent and acting like him.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“…And you did such a good job at it that it inspired your classmates to do that same?”

“I think so.”

That pretty much did it for Nighteye. After a few moments, he doubled over laughing, his hands
rested on his knees, struggling to stay upright as his stomach ached and his cheeks hurt from smiling
too much. He hadn’t laughed like that since that one time Centipeder slipped on a banana peel.

Izuku, on the other hand, felt off-putted by the hero’s sudden outburst. He knew Nighteye had an
affinity for humor, but he’d never seen him break his normally stoic grin. He hoped that meant he did
something right.

After a few moments of laughter, Nighteye eventually calmed down, still breathing heavily as he tried
to catch his breath. “Midoirya, has anyone ever told you how funny you are?”
 “Uh, no sir.”

“Well they should. Keep up the good work.” With a pat on the head, Nighteye walked off, leaving
Izuku somewhat confused, but still in high spirits nonetheless. He supposed he should really lean into
the humor thing for his future hero persona. That seemed to elect a positive reaction from everyone.
And there was nothing he wanted more than to make people smile and feel safe in his presence.

Besides, he’d never miss an opportunity to do some research on Ms. Joke.

———————————————

Several Months Later…

“You’re giving One for All to a Quirkless middle schooler?!” Nighteye exclaimed into the phone.

“Yes I am, Mirai. He was a young man I met in Mustafa,” Toshinori replied in his usual calm
demeanor.

Whatever rebuttal Nighteye was about to give died in his tongue as he repalyed that last part in his
head. “Hold on… did you say Mustafa?”

“Yes, Mustafa. Why do you ask?”

“This boy you’re referring to. He wouldn’t happen to have green hair and freckles, would he?”

“Why in fact he does!”

On second thought, Nighteye was willing to give this future a shot.

Chapter End Notes

I’ve always held the opinion that Nighteye could be a good mentor for Izuku if you remove the
OFA bias from the equation. Which is why I thought he deserved a second chapter. Not sure if
I’ll do second chapters for anyone else, though. The only one I have any real ideas for is Mei.

Also, I wanted to channel my inner Personality Swap AU, and show just how little self
awareness Bakugo has.

As for the ending, I feel like Izuku and All Might’s encounter went much differently in this
universe, since Izuku wouldn’t be desperate enough for an answer that he would latch onto All
Might. Don’t ask me on the specifics, though.

Next Time: They barely count as a hero, but we can fix that
 Uwabami the Model
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

It was a familiar routine for Uwabami as she went on patrol. She did the same stuff she did every day:
smile, wave, greet fans, and sign an autograph or two. On occasion, she’d help take out a purse
snatcher or shoplifter, but nothing much beyond that.

On the off-chance a villain did show up, she would use her Quirk for purely defensive purposes:
urging civilians out of the way, pinpointing the villain’s location, grabbing the attention of nearby
heroes, that kind of stuff. Never in a million years would she dream of actually getting involved in the
action. She had a modeling career to look after. Her sponsors would drop her on the spot if she
showed up to a photoshoot with cuts or bruises on her face.

So, she opted to stick to the routine that worked best for her. She liked it, her fans liked it, and her
sponsors liked it. It was a win-win for everyone.

Unfortunately, it didn’t feel like a win-win as she patrolled the streets of Mustafa. Sure, her face might
have portrayed the same smile she wore for the public, but underneath, she couldn’t remember a time
when she felt so frustrated.

She had traveled to Mustafa to attend a photoshoot for a magazine ad for a shampoo brand
specializing in curly hair. Now, you might be wondering why Uwabami was chosen for such an ad,
despite her lack of curly hair. The truth was that neither Uwabami nor the advertisement agency cared
all too much. According to the data, as long as her face was present, sales would increase no matter
the product.

But that wasn’t her problem. Her problem was that the curly-haired model got in a car crash with a
fireworks truck on his way to the photoshoot. Thankfully, he had fireworks truck insurance, but the
agency was still left scrambling for a replacement. Uwabami decided to go on a quick patrol while
she waited, but at this rate, her entire schedule would be thrown off.

The hero was suddenly pulled from her thoughts as she felt a familiar buzzing in her head. One of her
snakes had sensed something was off.

Looking around, she didn’t see anything at first, just a few passersby who seemingly didn’t recognize
her. Eventually, the green snake on her head (Cassandra was her name) tugged her in a certain
direction, where she bore witness to a young man standing across the street, nervously staring at her.

From a distance, the boy seemed pretty plain-looking by Quirk standards, with no noticeable
mutations to his name (unless the green hair counted). But that didn’t matter to Uwabami, as she was
transfixed the moment she saw the curly locks resting on his head.

Figuring this must have been either fate at work, or the beginning of a good luck streak, Uwabami
strutted across the empty street to approach the boy, who nervously shrunk in on himself the closer
she got.

“You know, some might say it’s rather rude to stare,” She smiled, causing the curly-haired boy to
flush red.
“S-sorry. I - I didn’t mean to… I was just trying to… Are you the Snake Hero: Uwabami?” He blurted
out, clearly starstruck by her appearance.

“That would be me. But the real question is, who are you?”

“Oh! I’m, uh, Izuku Midoriya. But I don’t know why you’d want to-”

Without warning, Uwabami bent down and squished his cheeks, giving her a better grip on his face as
she inspected it. “Hmmm… Not bad. Decent facial structure, shiny green pupils, the diamond-shaped
freckles are a nice touch,” The hero hummed to herself.

Izuku was unable to take in any of those words, as his brain was too busy short-circuiting to think
about anything else. “W-w-w-w-w-what are you doing?!”

Uwabami didn’t respond, instead nodding, seemingly impressed with what she found. “Midoriya, was
it? How would you like to be in a magazine?”

“Wha-HUH?!” He immediately jolted out of his stupor. “ME?! In a MAGAZINE?! But - but why? I
mean, I’m not exactly…”

“Doesn’t matter. I need a model with curly hair, and you fit the bill well enough. What’ll it be? Yes or
no? I don’t have all day here.”

“Uh, uh, YES!” Izuku answered almost immediately, to which Uwabami beamed as she took him by
the hand and dragged him off.

“Wonderful! Now let’s get down to the studio. We don’t have a moment to lose.”

———————————————

Izuku had no idea how he ended up in this situation, all he wanted was a hero’s autograph. And sure,
it was well known throughout the hero community that Uwabami was one of those ‘image over
heroics’ kind of heroes, but Izuku still wanted her autograph. A hero was still a hero, after all.

The last thing he expected was to be dragged off to an exclusive photoshoot where he was forced to
hastily scribble his name on a contract. He really hoped there weren’t any hidden stipulations that
prevented him from being a hero or something, because he did not have the chance to read the fine
print.

Before he knew it, he was quickly passed off between hair stylists, makeup artists, and clothing
coordinators, each moving at dizzying speeds to get him ready in as little time as possible. Through
this whirlwind of preparation, his brain was forced to play catch-up as he was plopped in front of a
large group of cameras, where he instinctively froze up at all the attention pointed in his direction.

Uwabami tutted with a shake of her head. “Come now, Midoriya. I understand you’re new at this
whole modeling thing, but that’s no way to act in front of the cameras. Here, let me show you.” She
grabbed him by the arms and began adjusting his pose like he was some kind of mannequin. Though,
with how stiff he was at the moment, he might as well be.

“Let’s see here… Arms go here, legs like this, shoulders broad, chest puffed out, and for the love of
god, smile.” She pinched the edges of his lips and brought them up before stepping back to take a
look at her work. “There we go, much better! Now just stand as still as possible while the cameras do
their thing,” She said before getting into a pose of her own.
Luckily, Izuku was very proficient at standing still. It was a trick he had dutifully mastered in order to
hide from Katsuki on his bad days. Though, he still had to fight back the urge to flinch or shut his
eyes at the numerous camera flashes going off all around him. After a few minutes of that, the director
instructed him and Uwabami to try a different pose, she helped to adjust his posture, and the cameras
went off yet again.

After ten minutes, his cheeks began to hurt from all the smiling. After twenty minutes, his legs began
to grow sore. After thirty minutes, he had stood still for so long that he felt like he was going to
crumble on the spot. He mentally prayed for an end to his suffering.

Thankfully, someone seemed to have heard him, as the shoot ended just five minutes later, and Izuku
almost collapsed to the ground from exhaustion. Meanwhile, he noticed Uwabami didn’t look any
worse for the wear. How she managed to get through this every day, Izuku would never know.

“Thank you for agreeing to this on such short notice, Midoriya. You performed admirably today,” She
thanked him with a smile, to which he lazily shot one back.

“Th-thanks Uwabami. It was an… interesting experience,” He yawned, his eyelids barely able to stay
up.

“I’m sure it was. Now, we’ll send you your payment in the coming weeks. There’s a car waiting for
you outside to take you home.”

Thank god. Walking all the way to the train station was the last thing Izuku wanted to do. The minute
he got in the car, he practically sunk into the soft, cushiony, high-class seat, content to relax for a bit
as the driver brought him back to his apartment.

…Until a realization struck him in the head, and he immediately jolted awake.

“CRAP! I FORGOT TO GET HER AUTOGRAPH!”

———————————————

Several Weeks Later…

“Izukuuuuu! I can’t believe you made it into a magazine! I’m so proud of you!” Tears flowed from
Inko’s eyes as she tightly asphyxiated hugged her son, earning a nervous chuckle from him.

“Heh, yeah… I still can’t believe it actually happened. Almost felt like a blur in my mind.”

Her hands trembled with excitement as she held up the ad she cut out from the magazine. “Oh, I just
have to frame this! But where should I hang it? The living room? The kitchen? Your room? My room?
How about everywhere?”

“It’s not that big a deal, Mom. It’s just a magazine.”

“Are you kidding, Izuku? It’s every mother’s dream to see their child succeed in such a manner like
this. I always told you how handsome you were, and I’m glad everyone else can see it too.”

“Yeah, but I only got it because I was just in the right place at the right time.”

“Still, it’s an event to be celebrated.” She scrambled over to the kitchen and pulled out her cooking
utensils. “I’m making katsudon, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
Izuku was happy that his mom was proud of him, but if he was being honest with himself, he was a
little nervous about the whole ordeal, specifically in regards to Katsuki. If he found out about this,
he’d probably be enraged that Izuku was ‘getting a head start on heroics’ or something.

Thankfully, no one had brought it up during school that day, so Izuku figured he was in the clear and
was free to use the respectable sum of money he earned to buy some exclusive All Might merch.

As he prepared to see what he could find online, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Opening it, he
saw that he got an email from the company he did the photoshoot for. Having no idea what else they
could possibly want from him, he opened the message, only for his jaw to drop at its contents.

Dear Izuku Midoriya,

We’re contacting you today in response to the feedback on our most recent advertisement. After
gauging public opinion, we discovered that audiences responded positively to your image, a reaction
we believe is due to your unique diamond-shaped freckles.

As such, we would like to request you appear in our next commercial alongside Uwabami. Filming
will begin tomorrow at 5:00 PM sharp. Additional details can be found in the attachment below.

“Izuku? Are you okay? You’ve been staring blankly at your phone for the past ten minutes.” Inko
tried to lightly shake him out of his trance.

“…Mom, I was just asked to appear in a commercial.”

Inko was forced to bite down a surge of excitement to ask her son a very important question. “That
sounds wonderful! Are you going to do it?”

“I mean… I do still need to get that autograph.”

———————————————

“I must admit, I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon,” Uwamabi said as she wrote her name
down in Izuku’s notebook.

“To be honest, neither did I,” Izuku nervously muttered, “It's definitely a lot different from the
photoshoot. I’ve never had anyone spend two hours trying to get my hair the exact shade of green.”
Though, to be fair, it was a very nice shade of green.

“Thankfully, the hard part is over. All you have to do is smile while playing with your hair in a very
specific way. The rest is usually done in post.”

“Um, how specific are we talking about?”

“Very specific. But don’t worry. I’ll be there to guide you every step of the way.” She bent down and
ruffled his curls as he breathed a sigh of relief.

“I can’t thank you enough, Uwabami. Seriously, if you weren't here, I don’t know what I’d do.”

“Think nothing of it. I like to think there’s a model inside everyone. After all, the versatility of Quirks
creates more than enough niches. All you need is the right guidance to bring out your inner beauty.”

Izuku felt his chest swell with determination at the hero’s words. The way she said it reminded him of
how All Might said anyone could be a hero, just applied to a different profession. And if all these
people depended on him to play his part well in this commercial, nervous or not, that’s exactly what
he’d try to do.

Though, he was only slightly concerned about all the beautifying chemicals they put in his hair. He
made a mental note to himself to take a long shower once this was over.

———————————————

Overall, the filming went pretty well for Izuku. Barring a few slip-ups of course, but thankfully,
Uwabami and the crew were very understanding. He supposed they were used to these kinds of things
happening. Very few things were done in one take, after all.

By the time the commercial hit the airwaves a few weeks later, the public had reacted positively to his
presence, and he was asked to appear in another one.

Needless to say, Izuku was feeling pretty good about himself as he packed up his school bag that
afternoon, planning to go right from Aldera to the film set.

It felt weirdly assuring that people found him and his face good-looking enough to be shown on TV.
He wasn’t used to so much approval being thrown in his direction, but he couldn’t deny he liked it.
For once, people weren’t focusing on his Quirklessness as his main defining trait. He almost
understood why Uwabami put so much stock in her modeling career, that feeling was addictive.

So of course, whenever something good happened in Izuku’s life, the universe just had to throw in a
caveat.

“What the hell, Deku?!” Katsuki slammed the green teen to the wall with one hand, while showing
him footage of the commercial on his phone with the other. “Why are you of all people in a
commercial with FUCKING UWABAMI?! You better not be trying to get a leg-up on me in heroics.”

“N-no, Kacchan! It’s not that, I swear! It’s just… they needed someone with curly hair for a
commercial, and I just happened to be passing by.”

Katsuki slowly loosened his grip on Izuku, seemingly buying the story. “Really? Is that actually what
happened?”

“Y-yeah!”

“Okay then…” He looked like he was going to back off for a moment, before suddenly gripping
Izuku’s head with one hand and letting out a frustrated snarl, “And expect me to believe that you
weren’t going to have Uwabami write you a ticket for UA’s recommendation exam?”

“N-no Kacchan! I promise that thought didn’t cross my mind at least once!”

“You’re damn right it won’t. Not after she drops you like the piece of trash you are.”

“I - She wouldn’t do that.”

“She will as soon as I’m done with you!”

BOOM!

———————————————
“Midoriya! What in the world happened to you?!” Uwabami exclaimed the moment she laid her eyes
on the young model, who wore a dizzy expression on his face, and his hair even more of a mess than
usual, looking like a bomb went off on his head.

“It… it’s nothing. Just an accident at school,” Izuku mumbled, clearly still dazed from whatever
happened to him.

“Well, we can’t have you on like that. Here, sit down.” She pushed him into a chair and sat him in
front of a large mirror. “Can we get a stylist here? It’s an emergency!”

At Uwabami’s call, a woman whose Quirk gave her barber supplies for fingers ran up to Izuku and
started fixing his mess of a hairdo. “Alright, now tell me what happened,” the Snake Hero requested.

“I told you, it was just an accident during… Home-Ec class. It was - it was an oven.”

Uwabami squinted her eyes, to which Izuku noticeably grew weary. “Oh really? Because Catalina
begs to differ.”

“Catalina?”

“I’m referring to her,” She pointed to the pink snake on her head, who wiggled her snake body to say
hello. “Anyways, she detects trace amounts of nitroglycerin in your hair. So either you were dealing
with illegal pyrotechnics, or someone with an explosion Quirk attacked you.”

Though, based on what she’d seen from Izuku so far, mainly his skittishness and nervousness, she
figured the latter option was the more accurate one. “Come on Midoriya. If you’re being bullied at
school, you can tell me. As a hero, I promise that I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

(Mainly because she couldn’t keep having her model show up to photoshoots with partially exploded
hair, but he didn’t need to know that.)

For the next few moments, Izuku silently stared down at his lap, his mind in deep contemplation. Was
this really something he could trust Uwabami with? Sure, they had only met a handful of times, but
she had been so helpful and supportive during then, guiding him through the photoshoots and filmings
to make them as painless as possible. He had started feeling good about himself for the first time in
forever, and that could mostly be attributed to her.

With all that in mind, the answer was clear as day for Izuku.

“Um… Yeah, it does involve someone at school. But it’s not just that one person. It’s kind of a
problem that extends to my entire school. You might wanna sit down for this…”

———————————————

By the end of the week, Aldera was shut down, a sizable chunk of its staff were arrested, and Izuku
and Katsuki were relocated to separate schools, with the latter receiving a boatload of community
service for his actions.

———————————————

“Thank you for joining me on such short notice, Uwabami.”

The heroine in question nodded as she took her seat at her agency's meeting space. Granted, it was
less of a hero agency and more of a modeling agency at this point. “It’s no problem at all, Hanamura.
You don’t call for meetings often, so I assume it’s important,” She said to her agent, who wore a pair
of square glasses, long black hair, and a matching business suit and tie.

“Yes, I’ll get right to the point then.” She reached under the table and pulled out a newspaper, which
she slid across the table to Uwabami, who jolted in surprise as she found her name in the headline.

“Huh, this is new,” She hummed as she observed the picture of her watching Aldera’s teachers and
principal carted off into police cars. She could still recall the feeling of satisfaction she got from
putting those Quirkist bastards away.

“My thoughts exactly,” Hanamura nodded, “We both know you’re the type of hero to make the paper
in the advertisements section instead of the front page. Needless to say, this will have dire effects on
your career moving forward.”

“How so?”

“Simply put, you’ll have to actually do your job as a hero now.”

If Uwabami was drinking something, she would have spat it back out. “WHAT?! How did you get to
that conclusion?”

“Please let me explain, ma’am,” Hanamura grumbled, never one to be pleased when someone
interrupted her. “Now that you’ve gone and actually done something heroic, there are more eyes on
you to see if you’ll continue that trend. And if you just go back to being a model, there’s a chance the
negative reaction will cause your products’ sales to plummet. You know what they say, the bigger
they are, the harder they fall.”

Uwabami faceplanted her desk in defeat. “So that’s it, huh? My modeling career is out the window
because I decided to do one heroic thing?”

“Oh, quit overreacting, I never said that. You just need to keep up the act for a week or so, then the
public will forget, and everything goes back to normal.”

Uwabami managed to regain some of her composure upon hearing that. “Alright, that sounds doable.
Just need to fake it ‘till I make it, just like how I got my hero license in the first place.”

“Right…” Hanamura muttered awkwardly, not sure if that was something she was supposed to hear.
“That’s all I wanted to talk to you about. Now hurry up, you’re due for another commercial in five
minutes.”

———————————————

“Thanks again Uwabami!” Izuku waved as he exited the studio, looking a lot less exhausted
compared to the last few photoshoots. She could tell he was rapidly adjusting to the workload of a
model. Good for him.

Unfortunately, that was where Uwabami’s good mood ended, because when her photoshoots ended,
her patrol began, and she dreaded having to actually put in an effort this time.

‘Seriously, does Hanamura seriously expect me to get into villain fights? She knows I haven’t done
anything with my Quirk since… When was my last Sports Festival? Forget it. I’ll just have to…’

Her train of thought slowed to a crawl as she noticed a lone notebook lying open on one of the chairs.
Picking it up, she immediately recognized it as Izuku’s. He must’ve left it there by mistake.
Her mind flashed back to the autograph she gave him during the commercial shoot. While she signed
it, she noticed a sketch of her likeness accompanying the page. Part of her was curious to see if the
rest of the notebook was like that.

‘Do I dare peek into the notebook of a teenage boy?’ She pondered to herself, but not for too long.
‘Eh, I’m sure it’s fine. Whatever’s in there, I’ve probably seen worse on the internet.’

Opening to her section, her eyes were immediately drawn to the sketch of her that took up most of the
left page. Not bad, but she’d seen better.

On the next page, however, was something Uwabami wasn’t expecting, it was a series of questions
relating to her Quirk and its applications. Some she knew the answers to, others not so much. She
mentally did her best to answer them as she went down the list.

How does she communicate with her snakes? (Telepathically, though they’re incapable of human
thought.)

Does she control her snakes, or are they capable of independent thought? (Independent thought, but
they usually listen to her. She trained them well.)

What species are each of her snakes? (Cape cobra, ball python, green water snake.)

Are they venomous? (Uhhhh… She was sure at least the cobra was.)

Can they spit venom? (Maybe?)

Can they extend from her head? (Wait, can they?)

How far can they extend? Far enough to bite someone? (???)

Uwabami figured she’d stop right there. Those notes had certainly given her a lot to think about
regarding her Quirk, especially since she hadn’t thought about her Quirk in ages.

Absentmindedly, she wondered if any of those potential applications would pop up during her patrol.

———————————————

Yes. The answer was yes.

Not ten minutes into her patrol, and the side of a nearby bank had burst open, where a villain with a
laser blaster for a hand proudly flaunted his sacks of cash before making his way to his getaway car.

Uwabami, sensing the expecting gazes of the small crowd before her, reluctantly leaped into action
and dashed towards the villain as fast as she could. Which wasn’t very fast because her heels were not
made for running.

While the criminal was distracted loading his bags into the trunk, she wrapped her arm around his
neck and locked him in a chokehold. He violently thrashed around, firing his blaster with reckless
abandon. Uwabami knew she had to calm this guy down, or he might shoot a civilian by mistake.
Then her reputation would be practically unsalvageable!

‘Cordelia, do the… do the thing from Midoriya’s notebooks!’ She mentally commanded the cobra on
her head, who leaned down and bit the criminal on the head, injecting a minuscule amount of venom.
Just enough to paralyze, but not kill him.
The criminal stopped resisting almost immediately and slumped in her arms. The crowd cheered and
clapped for Uwabami, who gave her trademark celebrity smile, taking a small bit of pride in her
accomplishment.

Unfortunately, those feelings were drowned out by the dread caused by the thought of the paperwork
she would have to file. It was one of the major reasons she stayed out of the hero part of heroism.

…Okay, she could technically assign the paperwork to one of her interns, but still.

Either way, by the time she handed the criminal off to the police, there was only one pressing concern
weighing down on her mind.

‘I really need to contact Midnight and ask her how she manages to run around in heels.’

———————————————

As it turned out, there was a special brand of impact-absorbing heels made specifically for heroes,
which were an absolute godsend on Uwabami’s part. Even before she began taking her hero work
seriously, her feet would always be sore after her patrols. But for once, beauty didn’t have to
automatically equate to pain.

At least, that’s what Uwabami thought before she was cornered in an alleyway and nicked on the arm
by some katana-wielding maniac, drawing a small amount of blood. Worse yet, the moment he ran his
tongue across his (definitely unwashed) blade, she lost all feeling in her body and fell to the ground.
What kind of Quirk requires you to lick blood? And more importantly, how do you figure out you
even have such a Quirk?

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Snake Hero: Uwabami,” The masked swordsman began to monologue,
“I find it hard to believe that you have the gall to call yourself a hero, what with how you focus so
much on your modeling career instead of saving lives. Every time I see your face on a billboard, my
urge to see your blood on the pavement increases tenfold! I can’t believe…”

Uwabami just let his speech go in one ear and out the other. Why did this guy care what she did with
her time? But thankfully, his long-windedness gave her enough time to realize that her snakes were
wriggling on her head, trying to get her attention.

She was unspeakably relieved that they technically counted as separate individuals, and thus hadn’t
yet been paralyzed. This gave her a small opportunity to fight back, and she’d be damned if she didn’t
take it.

As the swordsman finished up his speech and unsheathed his katana, she figured she might as well try
out another one of Izuku’s theories, mostly because she didn’t have any other ideas at the moment.

“You are truly one of the biggest fakes I’ve come across, and it will bring me great joy to see you
culled before my blade.”

He dramatically lifted his katana in the air and drove it down, aiming for her throat. But before it
could connect, two of her snakes, Cassandra and Catalina, extended several feet from her head and
caught the blade with their mouths.

The swordsman froze in shock for a moment, his mouth slightly agape at the snakes fighting back
against his blade. “What the - I thought I paralyzed you!”
“You did, but if you did your research, you’d know that I never work alone.” Uwabami gestured with
her eyes to the ground, where Cordelia slinked over and bit the swordsman’s ankle, paralyzing him as
he did her.

The two laid on the ground for a few moments. It was a race against the clock to see whose paralysis
would wear off first. Thankfully, Uwabami won that race by a wide margin, giving her ample time to
confiscate the guy’s frankly absurd amount of blades and put him in cuffs.

“Yeesh, what the hell was that guy’s problem?” She muttered as the police carted the man away. “I
swear, it’s always the toxic hero fans. We’re definitely in the running for the worst fandom out there.”

———————————————

“HOW THE HELL DID YOU TAKE OUT THE GODDAMN HERO KILLER?!” Hanamura ran up
to Uwabami the moment she stepped into her agency.

“The what-now?” She asked exasperatingly, not in the mood to be bombarded with questions after
almost dying.

“You know, the Hero Killer? Stain? Kills all heroes who don’t live up to his extremely specific
standards?”

“Come on Hanamura, you know I don’t keep up with whatever villain of the week managed to make a
name for himself.”

“Well you should, because you just made the news because of it!” She pulled out a remote and turned
on a nearby TV, where a report was already in progress.

“In a shocking turn of events, the Hero Killer was unexpectedly taken down by the Snake Hero:
Uwabami, adding yet another incident to her sudden streak of heroism. Does this increase in activity
mean she’s decided to switch gears from her modeling career? More tonight at eight.”

“I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you this, but you just earned yourself another month of actual hero
work,” Hanamura explained, flipping through a batch of important papers. “I’ve already taken the
liberty of reorganizing your schedule.”

“MY SCHEDULE?!” Uwabami snatched one of her assistant’s papers and paled at what she saw,
“What happened to all my photoshoots? My commercials? My public appearances?”

“I had to cut most of them out, ma’am. Right now, the public is expecting you to be a hero first and a
model second. You still have them, but they’ll be playing second fiddle to your increased patrol
hours.”

Uwabami huffed, resisting the urge to pull her hair out. “Please tell me I’ll be able to get back to my
old life one day.”

“Of course you will. We just need to wait until the public loses interest in your hero work. Which
shouldn’t take too long, assuming you don’t get into any more big villain fights.”

“No need to worry about that, Hanamura. I’ll be sure to steer clear of trouble from now on.”

Unfortunately, trouble did not steer clear of her.

———————————————
 One Year Later…

“WOW! I can’t believe how quickly you shot up the hero ranks!” Izuku exclaimed, pacing around
excitedly while flipping through his notebook. “I mean, you went from somewhere in the thousands to
number twenty-six in practically no time flat!”

“I know… it’s practically unheard of.” Uwabami stared blankly out into space, still not exactly sure
how she got where she was. Thankfully, Izuku was there to remind her.

“I mean, looking back at it, it makes sense in context. You played a big hand in taking down
Muscular, Moonfish, the Creature Rejection Clan, and the Shie Hassaikai. All in such a short amount
of time. For a while, I felt like I couldn’t go five seconds without seeing your face in the news.”

“I know. Who knew all those villains were susceptible to snake venom?” She mumbled. But as it
turned out, the answer to her question was looking her right in the eyes. “Oh right, you did.”

“I did! And I’m so glad you actually listened to my Quirk and costume suggestions. I can’t believe
people thought they were creepy or useless when they helped you save lives!”

“Yeah… saved lives.” And that was the part that really stuck with Uwabami. She saved lives during
her time as an actual hero. If it weren’t for her, people would have been dead. Like that little girl she
helped rescue from the clutches of the Shie Hassaikai. She still had Eri’s crayon drawing hung up on
her fridge, portraying Uwabami’s snakes violently biting Overhaul’s head off.

As much as she wanted to deny it, it felt good to make a real difference in the world, knowing that
there were people out there whose lives were better because of her. She never got that feeling during
her time as a model. And to be honest, she wished she had known sooner.

It was still a huge change from what she usually did, even a year later, but maybe this whole heroism
thing was something she could get used to.

———————————————

Epilogue

Izuku hummed a jaunty tune as he finished counting his money. He had made no small sum over the
past year of being a model, and that was before Uwabami’s agency started paying him for his
analysis.

Thankfully, he knew exactly what he wanted to spend it all on. There were only a few months left
until UA’s entrance exam. And while he had been exercising his butt off, he was still missing that
little extra something that would guarantee him a place in the hero course.

But after nearly a year of saving, Izuku was certain dreams would be more than just ambitions. He
eagerly swiped his phone and punched in a number he’d been waiting to call his entire life.

“Hello? Is this Inventions Incorporated? I’d like to order one mech suit please.”

Chapter End Notes

Big thanks to KGBeastboy for suggesting this idea. I would have never thought of this on my
own.

In case you were wondering, Izuku's penchant for running into villains rubbed off on Uwabami
the more time she spent around him. That's how she managed to climb the ranks so quickly.

Since this Uwabami actually cares about heroism, she won't end up sending Momo and Kendo
an internship request, since there's not much she feels specifically qualified to teach her. Though
I can think of a certain shy reptile girl with a sensory Quirk who be a perfect fit for her.

Also, 500 bonus points to whoever can figure out what the names of Uwabami's snakes are
referencing.

Next Time: S-S-S-SEQUELS!

 Sequel Snippets: The Threequel
Chapter Notes

No, I'm not calling the next one Sequel Snippets: The Fourquel. It'll be called Sequel Snippets 4:
Tokyo Drift.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

In the middle of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, miles away from any other form of civilization was
an old decrepit gas station. And in that gas station stood a lone fireworks truck and its driver, who
hopped out of his seat and made his way to the nearest nozzle, which somehow still had gas in it
despite its decades of disrepair.

The driver, who was a man with devil-like features dressed in biker garb, casually swiped the nozzle
and stuck it into the side of his truck. But while he waited for it to fill up, he noticed he wasn’t alone
in this seemingly barren gas station.

“Oh, hey, it’s you,” The driver pointed out, “What? You don’t remember this handsome face? It’s me!
The guy with the fireworks truck, AKA The Driver, AKA Rodi Crash, AKA your best friend.”

“Honestly, I’m kinda shocked to see you here in America, in Arizona, in the middle of nowhere. If I
didn’t know any better, I’d say you were stalking me. HA! I’m just messin’ with ‘ya. I know why
you’re here, you’re lookin’ for some sequels. Well thankfully, we gots some time to burn here.
Between you and me, this truck gets terrible gas mileage.”

“Okay, starting out here, we’ve got a sequel to Chapter 43: Flect Turn the Janitor. If memory serves,
Flect was so appreciative of Izuku’s Quirk analysis skills that he made a whole dang religion based on
him. Let’s see how that’s goin’, shall we?”

———————————————

Denki Kaminari couldn’t believe he was doing this. What started as a simple Google search on how to
get a better handle on his Quirk led him to come across an entire religion focusing on Quirk analysis.

He also couldn’t believe he actually ended up going to their temple of worship. He was desperate,
okay?! The UA entrance exams were coming up soon, and he didn’t want to blow it.

But regardless of his motive, here he was. The moment he made his way under the large pair of
arches, he was greeted by a man with a shaved head and pointy mustache. “Ah, hello there. Is this
your first time here?” He asked politely, his hands folded.

“Uh, yeah. This is my first time trying one of these. Do you work here?” Kaminari assumed that was
the case based on the green cloak he was wearing, but it never hurt to ask.

“Why yes, yes I do. My name is Flect Turn, and I assume you’re here because you require assistance
with your Quirk, correct?”

“Heh, am I that easy to read?” He grinned, scratching the back of his head.
“It is our main service, after all. Lucky for you, the lord is free to see you right now. All you have to
do is make your way up those stairs.” Flect gestured to the large staircase in front of him. On both
sides of each step stood a green-cloaked figure, their hands folded in a praying position. They were
chanting something, but Kaminari couldn’t tell if it sounded angelic or demonic.

As Kaminari climbed the stairs, he couldn’t help but be a little unnerved by the scene set before him.
If he didn’t know any better, he thought had just walked right into a cult. If that was the case, he was
more prepared to zap everyone at a moment’s notice.

But regardless, Flect led him up the staircase, where they were met with a large set of drapes that
towered over the duo. They soon parted, revealing what looked to be a green-haired boy around
Kaminari’s age, meditating on top of a pile of cushions, bathed in a bright white light. He had to
admit, it was an ethereal right to see.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Flect said, shutting the drapes.

Kaminari wasn’t exactly sure what to do in a situation like this. It wasn’t every day you met a
supposed religious figure. So he just settled with standing awkwardly in place and twiddling his
thumbs.

Eventually, the green teen got up from his meditation position and noticed Kaminari’s presence. “Oh,
did Flect send you in? Sorry, I was a bit too in the zone to notice.”

“Uh, don’t worry ‘bout it. It’s cool,” He tried to casually wave it off as best he could.

“Are you alright? You seem uncomfortable,” The green figure surmised as he climbed down the
mountain of cushions. “I assume Flect had something to do with that. Sorry about him, he insisted on
going big with this whole ‘religion’ thing. I just wanted to help people with their Quirks, which I
assume you’re here for. I’m Izuku Midoriya, by the way.”

“Denki Kaminari. And yeah, that’s right,” He nodded.

Izuku reached behind his back and pulled out a notebook and pen. “Alright, what’s the issue.”

“Well, you see, I got an electricity Quirk, pretty basic as far as Quirks go. But I always end up using
too much of my power at once. My brain gets fried and I go all ‘whey’.” He demonstrated with a
stupid smile and a lazy pair of thumbs up. “Do you think you can help with that?”

“Hmmmm… so you said you use too much at once, right?”

“Yeah. It’s like… it’s like whenever I use my Quirk, I’m letting all the air out of a balloon or
something. I’m not sure if that was a good analogy, but you know what I mean.”

“I think I do. Maybe you could try using less of your electricity by channeling it through some kind of
weapon, like a lightning rod. That way, you’re not exactly letting the air out of the balloon, just…
transferring it to a different balloon. Ok, you’re right, that’s not really a good analogy.”

“No, no, I think I understand. That’s a pretty cool idea.” Kaminari gazed up in wonder as he thought
of all the cool potential support items he could transfer his electricity through. One look at Izuku
revealed he was doing the same. “Welp, that sounds like something I oughta get to work on!” He
waved goodbye as he turned and exited through the drapes. “Thanks for your help, man!”

“No problem. Come back anytime!”

As soon as Kaminari got back to the stairs, Flect swiftly approached him and grinned, “I assume our
lord was of good help?”

“Totally, dude! I might actually have a shot at UA now.”

“IT HAS BEEN DONE!” Flect boomed, falling to his knees and throwing his hands up in the air in
unison with the dozens of other cloaked figures, creating a rather unnerving sight for Kaminari. Did
they do this every time someone received Quirk advice? Because despite Izuku’s words, Kaminari
was still ninety percent sure he’d just become indebted to a cult.

Oh well, sometimes you gotta do weird things if you want to be a hero.

END

———————————————

“Well, it looks like Izuku’s cult religion is gaining a heck of a lotta notoriety. It’s only a matter of time
until all of UA has been assimilated. And then Japan. And then the world. And then Belgium.”

“Next up, we got a sequel to Chapter 46: Sato the Baker. You might not remember the ending to this
one, but basically, Sato beat Bakugo in a bake-off, and Bakugo got into the top culinary school in
Japan to spite him. Unfortunately, he was so focused on that goal that he forgot about UA. What’s our
least favorite explosive Pomeranian doin’ in that new school of his? Let’s find out.”

———————————————

Katsuki couldn’t believe he was here, at Tōtsuki Culinary Academy.

Or rather, he didn’t want to believe he was here. Sure, he was the undisputed best at cooking (that
bake-off he had with Big Lips was totally rigged), but he was supposed to be the best at heroism, not
frying eggs.

Katsuki sat at his desk with a barely audible groan. Unfortunately, it didn’t matter how he felt. A
school like this wasn’t exactly something you could just drop out of without serious repercussions. So
he was forced to spend a whole 365 days at this useless-ass baking school. Once Spring rolled around,
he’d be jumping ship to UA faster than you can microwave a bowl of instant ramen.

Granted, he wasn’t exactly sure how UA’s transfer policy worked, especially in regards to the hero
course, but he knew they’d accept him eventually. They’d be a bunch of dumbasses not to. But for
now, he’d just have to coast along in his cooking classes and not talk to anybody.

“Hey, you’re pretty cute.”

Oh god dammit.

“Fuck off,” Katsuki grunted to the girl on his right, whose hair was neatly styled in two buns.

“Oh, don’t be like that. Aren’t you excited to get cooking? To make something yummy? To really dig
into something thick, juicy, and bloody? To fry and skewer some meats until the juices start leaking
out?” The girl licked her lips as she rubbed her pencils together like a pair of knives.

“Anybody ever tell ‘ya how fucking creepy you are?”

The girl let out a short giggle. “Everybody except my parents. But I don’t care. That’s just part of the
Himiko Toga charm. What about you, Pineapple, what’s your name?”

“Hey! Don’t call me pineapple!”

“I won’t have to if you tell me your name, and maybe give me your number,” She winked, to which
Katsuki rolled his eyes.

“If I tell you, will you leave me the hell alone?”

“Nope!”

Before Katsuki could lose any more brain cells from the asinine conversation he was forcefully
engaged in, the classroom door opened, and in walked a noticeably tall woman with a green face and
fox-like features. She nervously slid up to the front podium, almost as if she didn’t feel like she was
supposed to be there.

When her naturally tall stature attracted the class’s attention, she pulled out a series of notecards from
her pocket and fumbled them in her hands. “Uh… h-hello, class. My name is Ippan - Ippan Josei. An I
- I’ll be your homeroom teacher. P-p-please be nice to me. Wait, no, was I supposed to say that last
part?”

Katsuki bit his lip in frustration as he slumped even further onto his desk. This was just great. He was
stuck with an annoyingly energetic creepy girl and a stuttery as hell teacher for the rest of the school
year. How could this get any worse?

As if the universe wanted to mess with him, right at that moment, the door swung open, and some
blond boy covered with enough sparkles to make Katsuki’s eyes hurt burst into the room. “Bonjour,
everybody! Is this Classroom 1-B?”

“Y-yes it is,” Ippan frantically nodded, “We were just about to get started. Yuga Aoyama, right? You
can… you can sit over there.” She pointed to the empty seat just left of Katsuki, who suddenly felt the
inexplicable urge to knock himself out with his own quirk.

“Merci,” Aoyama thanked the teacher before going over to greet his seatmates. “Bonjour, my friends!
I can already tell this year will be absolutely magnifique!”

‘Magnifique’ wasn’t the first word Katsuki would use to describe the year ahead of him. He would go
with something like ‘completely insufferable’ based on how things were looking.

But if this was what he had to endure in order to get to UA, then he might as well strap in for one hell
of a bumpy ride.

END

———————————————

Rodi licked his finger before turning the page of his Guidebook to the Multiverse. “So, according to
this, this is a universe where Toga’s parents accepted her for her Quirk, and Aoyama’s parents never
made a deal with All for One, so they both wanted to become chefs instead. Don’t ask me why Ippan
Josei is their teacher though. Because I have literally no idea.”

“Alrighty, the next one is from Chapter 14: Nighteye the Critic (The One Where He’s a Jerk). To
make a long story short, in an attempt to show All Might why Izuku isn’t worthy of One for All, he
accidentally got Aldera shut down. You know, like how one normally does. But if you think that’s
gonna be Nighteye’s only attempt, you clearly don’t know him very well.”

———————————————

One of the few good things to come out of Nighteye accidentally shutting down Izuku’s school was
that it somewhat mended the rift between him and All Might. Which was good, because after the
Nighteye Agency was destroyed and his sidekicks left him, All Might was generous enough to let him
operate at Might Tower.

As much as he missed his old agency (and All Might merchandise), he couldn’t deny the perk of
being able to keep tabs on Izuku Midoriya. He might have failed to convince All Might last time, but
this time would be different.

Today was one of the days All Might was too busy to watch over Izuku’s beach training, so he asked
Nighteye to do it instead. This was absolutely perfect, as it allowed him to get up close and personal
with All Might’s lesser successor.

“You won’t be able to do this,” He said out of the blue.

Izuku ceased dragging the mini-fridge across the sand to look up at Nighteye. “Huh?”

“I said you won’t be able to do this,” He repeated, looming over Izuku with a steely glare, “You really
think you can clean this entire beach by yourself? If I were into ironic humor, I’d have a good laugh at
that idea. You’re simply not built to handle the weight thrust upon your shoulders.”

Izuku could hardly bring himself to look at Nighteye, instead slumping on the mini-fridge, staring
down at the sand. “You’re right,” He quietly admitted. “I’ve been having doubts about myself from
day one. This just doesn’t seem feasible for one person.”

“Well, I’m at least glad you understand. I hope you know the appropriate course of action from here.”
At Izuku’s silent nod, Nigheye straightened his suit before walking off with a satisfied grin on his
face.

He figured Izuku’s constitution was as weak and fragile as his muscles, all he needed was a push in
the right direction. Nigheye was sure that by tomorrow, the boy would be informing All Might that he
had given up, allowing Mirio to take his place.

———————————————

The Next Day…

Nighteye was starting to get concerned. It was nearly five o'clock, and All Might still hadn’t called
him about needing to find a new successor. He hoped Izuku hadn’t gotten a second wind and changed
his mind at the last minute.

Asking All Might’s secretary, she told him he had gone to Dagobah Beach. It immediately became
clear to Nighteye that Izuku wanted to break the news to All Might there, which meant he better get
there fast if he wanted to properly capitalize on the moment.

Making his way to the beach, Nighteye was surprised by the sight laid out before him. Instead of All
Might disappointingly standing over Izuku while the teenager told him why he was such a bad pick
for One for All, there was an entire group surrounding the various trash mounds on the beach, all
working together to haul off the larger pieces of junk.
Before he could question what was going on, All Might gleefully approached him in his skinny form.
“Ah, Mirai, good to see you. Can you believe what Young Midoriya has done here?”

“What… what did he do?” Nigheye asked cautiously, worried that he might not like what he was
about to hear.

“Well, he told me that after you gave him some advice, he realized he wouldn’t be able to clean the
entire beach on his own. So he organized a volunteer group to help him out.”

“He - he did?” Nighteye whispered, his left eye twitching.

“Impressive, isn’t it? The ability to bring others together to achieve a common goal. Truly one of the
greatest things a hero can do. Why, it’s moments like this I’m reminded why I chose him in the first
place.”

Nighteye wanted to say something to All Might, but he was interrupted by a familiar voice. “Oh, hey
Sir! Fancy meeting you here!” Waved Mirio.

“Mirio?! What in the world are you doing here?” Nighteye demanded, not entirely believing what he
was seeing.

“I figured hauling trash around would make for a great full-body workout. Plus, I get to meet some
new people. Why didn’t you tell me about this Midoriya guy sooner? He’s a riot!”

Nighteye couldn’t believe this. How the heck did Izuku misconstrue his words of discouragement this
badly? Either the kid was denser than a sack of bricks, or he was snorting enough pure optimism for it
to legally qualify as a health risk.

“Though, there is one thing to worry about…” All Might mused out loud, resting a hand on his chin,
“While I appreciate his drive, he still needs to build up the muscle mass. Oh well, I suppose we can
just do the rest at Might Tower. Who knows, I might end up calling in Gran if I run out of material.
What do you think, Mirai?”

Nighteye didn’t respond. He had gone catatonic trying to digest the information.

“Mirai?”

END

———————————————

“Five bucks says this is gonna lead to a whole thing where Nighteye tries to mess up Izuku, but it
always ends up backfiring on him and making things better for the guy he’s trying to mess with. I
wouldn’t be surprised if his meddling leads to the League of Villains being captured or something.”

“Anyways, next on the list is one from Chapter 56: Uwabami the Model.” Rodi paused for a moment
upon saying that out loud. “Wait, hold on, didn’t that chapter just come out? Why is there already a
sequel snippet? Why not just include it with the chapter itself if you’re gonna put them so close
together?”

“Y’know what? Never mind. All you need to know is that Izuku’s a model, and Uwabami went from
a celebrity who only used her hero status to boost her notoriety, to an actual hero who fights and saves
lives. This change means she didn’t send an internship request to Kendo or Momo, but she’s got
someone else in mind, someone who could really benefit from her teaching methods. Stay tuned.”
 ———————————————

“Do you sense it?” Uwabami whispered.

“I - I think so,” Habuko replied as she took in her surroundings. But not with her eyes, but rather, with
her nostrils. She knew from experience that snakes like her have an extra potent sense of smell, so
much so that it was practically a sixth sense. But Habuko always felt she couldn’t reach her full
potential with that ability. At least, that was until her internship.

At the beginning of every day, Uwabami would have her meditate on a floor mat while the hero set up
several dummies around the room. It was up to Habuko to locate them by smell alone.

It had been difficult at first, what with the dummies lacking a distinct scent. But every day, her times
got slightly lower, and her guesses became more accurate. They were nearing the end of the week
now, and Habuko already felt like she improved by leaps and bounds.

“So, where do you think they are?” Uwabami cut in, indicating her time was up.

“Ummm…” If snakes could sweat, she was sure she’d be pouring buckets. “I - I think there’s one
over there?” She pointed right around the top-left corner while keeping her eyes shut. “And maybe
one there. And - and the third one’s right there.”

“Hm, two out of three. Not bad,” Uwabami nodded, as did her snakes.

Habuko breathed a sigh of relief, opening her eyes to see she wasn’t too far off with the third dummy.

“Alright, now that we’ve got our morning exercises out of the way, time to get started for real. And
we’ll be doing something a bit different today,” The Snake Hero smirked in Habuko’s direction,
sending a chill down her spine.

“W-we are? Is it g-gonna be something dangerous?”

“That depends on your point of view, darling. But before we get into that, I have a question for you,
why do you think I sent you an internship request?”

Oh no, a question. Habuko hated being put on the spot. “Uh… is it because… because snake?” She
pointed to her reptilian head.

“Yes, that’s part of the reason. But there’s also something else. Truth be told, you remind me a lot of
my first apprentice.”

Now didn’t that just throw Habuko for a loop. “M-Midoriya?!”

“Yup. When I first met him, he was just as shaky and stuttery as you.”

“But - but that can’t be right. He’s so… He’s just so…” Her eyes sparkled as she thought back on him,
something that Uwabami clearly noticed.

“Yes, yes, I know you have a crush on him. You and everyone else at UA.”

“W-WHAT?!”

“But that’s not important right now. Do you know what changed for Izuku to make him the man he is
today?”
“Uh, I dunno. What?”

“He began starring in advertisements, that’s what. He found an environment where he could unleash
his inner beauty to the world. And I think I can do the same for you.”

Habuko’s jaw dropped to the floor as she pointed to herself in shock and surprise. “M-m-me?! In an
advertisement? But my Quirk’s weird and creepy. Who would want to see someone like me in a
magazine?”

“Well, for starters, how about these guys?” She slipped a business card in her hand, and Habuko’s
eyes nearly popped out of her skull when she recognized the company and product. It was for a brand
of body wash designed for people whose Quirks gave them rough or scaly skin, people like her.

“I - You can’t be serious,” She said, the business card shaking in her hands.

“Nope! Completely, one hundred percent serious!” Uwabami nodded. “Of course, if you don’t want to
attend the photoshoot, you don’t have to. I don’t want to have to make you do anything. But I think
this is a perfect opportunity for you to shed your skin, metaphorically speaking. And maybe earn a bit
of extra spending money along the way,” She winked, “I mean, you saw what Izuku could afford on
his salary.”

Habuko looked back down at the business card in disbelief, weighing the pros and cons in her mind.
Sure, she knew how terrified she got around cameras. But if Izuku was somehow able to grow out of
it, then maybe she had a chance too.

Plus, it didn’t hurt that she was a huge fan of this product.

“O-okay,” She nodded with the slightest amount of determination, “I’ll give it a shot.”

END

———————————————

“Now wasn’t that a touching display?” Rodi cooed, “I think we owe consumerism at least one point.
Though, minus fifty-thousand for all the plastic in the ocean. That wasn’t very cash money of
consumerism.”

“Okay, moving on. Next on our list is Chapter 27: Kaminari the Dunce in Disguise. Doin’ a quick
recap here, Izuku helped Kaminari realize that he gets smarter the more electricity he absorbs, which
he used to help him become the top student at Aldera. I have no doubt this reputation carried its way
over into UA, but let’s look at what happens from there.”

———————————————

Izuku panted as he threw the roof’s door open, the raging storm immediately hitting him in the face.
Even with One for All, running up all those flights of stairs still proved to be a chore and a half. But
he couldn’t focus on that, he had bigger things to worry about.

Stepping onto the roof and peering upwards, through the harsh winds and the pouring rain, he could
barely make out his idiot of a boyfriend shimmying up the antenna, illuminated by the occasional
flash of lightning. “DENKI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” He yelled, which just barely managed to
get his attention.
“Oh, hi Izuku!” He cheerfully waved from above, seemingly not caring about the precarious situation
he was currently in. “Yeah, I’m just trying to get struck by lightning!”

“Why?!”

“Because Ashido asked me to tutor her for the upcoming exams! I gotta make sure I’m smart enough
to do a good job!”

“That doesn’t seem like a good idea!”

“It doesn’t?! Why?!”

“Because Ashido needs someone who can simplify concepts so she can better understand them! If
your brain is too big, then you might overcomplicate things!”

Kaminari stared blankly out into the horizon for a moment, seemingly digesting Izuku’s argument in
his head. “Yeah… Yeah, that actually makes sense. Good point, Izuku! I’m coming down now!”

Izuku let out a tense breath, still frustrated with Kaminari for going to such an extreme, but mostly
glad to see him unharmed.

Of course, that instantly changed the moment Kaminari got struck by a bolt of lightning during his
climb down. He spasmed in place for a few moments, his chest convulsing inwards and outwards.
Until eventually, he lost grip of the antenna and fell to the ground, where Izuku was quick to catch
him.

“Denki! Denki! Are you okay?” He worriedly asked, ignoring the buzz underneath his skin from the
shared electricity. He was used to it by now. Thankfully, there were no outer signs of damage on his
body, but you could never be too sure in these situations.

In an instant, Kaminari’s eyes shot wide open, and a lazy smile crept up on his face. “I just figured out
the formula for time travel!”

“Not again,” Izuku groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We really need to limit the amount of
electricity you’re allowed to take in at once.”

“Sorry, Izuku,” He grinned cheekily, though his eyes were full of guilt. “If it helps, I’ve also devised a
hundred and fifteen optimal date spots for this weekend.”

“Dang it. You make it so hard for me to stay mad at you.”

END

———————————————

“Apparently, there’s such a thing as too smart. Something Izuku found out the hard way when Mei
electrocuted Kaminari, and the two worked together to create a giant death ray. But that’s a story for
another time, by that I mean probably never.”

“Alright, last one of the day here, it’s a sequel to Chapter 44: Lady Nagant the Watchdog. In it, Kaina
escaped from Tartarus with some help from yours truly, and Izuku helped get the HPSC off her trail.
Now she’s living with him and his mom, sleeping on their couch. Let’s see what’s goin’ on.”

———————————————
Inko was too asleep to tell what time it was, but common sense told her it was late at night, or maybe
even early in the morning, depending on how you look at it. Either way, she couldn’t afford to care.
All she needed was a quick drink, and she’d be out like a light.

As she groggily hobbled through the living room to get to the kitchen, able to expertly maneuver
around all the furniture despite the lack of any obvious light source, she managed to pick up the faint
sound of tossing and turning.

Of course, she knew who was making those sounds in an instant. She glanced to her left to see Kaina
nestled up on the couch, shaking ever so slightly. Looking closer, Inko soon realized Kaina wasn’t
sleeping very peacefully. There was a downtrodden look on her face, sweat pooled down her
forehead. It was obvious to anyone she was having a nightmare.

This wasn’t the first time this had happened. When Izuku first introduced Kaina to Inko and asked if
she could stay, they explained her situation alongside it. Inko knew Kaina had to do some… unsavory
things during her time working for the HPSC. It was only natural for those deeds to keep her up at
night.

Though, most of the time when that happened, Inko wouldn’t know about it until Kaina woke up
screaming and breathing heavily. But not this time. With a gentle hand, Inko lightly shook Kaina from
her sleep, whispering, “Kaina, wake up, you’re having a nightmare.”

“Huh… huh?” Kaina’s eyes opened just a crack, and her tossing and turning momentarily ceased.

“You had another nightmare. Here, come on.” Without a moment’s hesitation, she helped the half-
asleep Kaina off the couch and carefully led her across the hall.

“I'm sorry,” Kaina muttered, almost out of instinct.

“It’s alright, I was already awake,” Inko responded, turning the corner and leading Kaina to her room,
where the former pro hero rolled into bed before she was out in a few seconds.

Inko let out an amused giggle as she nestled up on the other side of the bed. She wasn’t exactly sure if
this would help Kaina with her nightmares. But the former hero had told her about her past experience
in Tartarus, how the lack of social interaction could be seen as a form of torture in its own right. Inko
figured a bit of companionship might be just what Kaina needed.

Just as that thought entered her head, Kaina turned over and wrapped an arm around Inko, pulling her
close.

Oh god, Inko was internally panicking now. She could feel her face heating up from the closeness.
Part of her wanted to say something, but she didn’t dare to wake Kaina up. God, she hadn’t been this
close with anyone in bed since… God, how many years had it been since Hisashi left?

Her thoughts were cut off as Kaina squeezed a little tighter, practically clinging onto her body like a
koala. As much as Inko was freaking out, she had to admit, the touch felt nice. Kaina’s hands were
shockingly smooth, not to mention warm. It almost made Inko feel safe in a way. Not that she was in
danger or anything, but it was always reassuring to have someone she cared for by her side.

With that thought in mind, it made it easy for Inko to slowly doze off in Kaina’s embrace.

———————————————
 Kaina woke up the moment the sunlight peeked through the curtains, and she immediately felt
something was off. Her surroundings seemed foreign, the couch cushions she usually slept on seemed
a lot fluffier, and since when did she have this giant pillow?

…Wait a minute.

Kaina’s eyes slowly trailed down to the pillow locked in her grasp. Except it wasn’t a pillow, it was a
person.

Suddenly, the memories of last night came rushing back to Kaina like a tsunami. She had a nightmare,
Inko let her sleep in her bed, and in her half-asleep wisdom, she ended up clinging to Inko like some
kind of stuffed animal.

Kaina would like to die right now, thank you very much.

But before she could do that, she made an effort to carefully detach herself from Inko’s sleeping form,
only for the green-haired woman to grab her by the arm and pull her right back in. For someone who
was supposedly asleep, Inko had a real tight grip.

Okay, this was happening now. Cool, cool. Kaina totally wasn’t blushing so hard the heat could melt
the polar ice caps.

Sure, she was mature enough to admit she thought Inko was cute upon first meeting her. And how
could she not think Inko was one of the kindest beings on the planet when she let Kaina crash on her
couch with little questions asked? But she didn’t expect things to escalate to this level this quickly.

Oh god, what was she going to tell Izuku? ‘Hey, kid. I cuddled with your mom last night.’ Yeah right.
Like that would go over well with him. Kaina had no doubt in her mind he was going to kill her for
this.

(But little did she know, Izuku had been waiting for a moment like this from the minute he introduced
her to his mom. So far everything had been going according to his plan.)

END

———————————————

Rodi smacked his lips as he used his tongue to feel around his teeth. “Guys, I think I gotta go to the
dentist. The mass amount of fluff is giving me a cavity.”

“Anyways, that just about wraps things up. My tank’s just about filled up now, so I better get going.”
He hopped into his truck and turned on the engine.

“Oh, by the way, don’t come by this gas station again. I spent a lot of time gaslighting people into
thinking it was haunted so I could have the gas all to myself. But if you want, you could dress up as a
ghost and give the other truckers a bit of a scare.”

“Ha ha! I’m just kidding. I already do that myself. I pray every day that I don’t get found out by
Scooby-Doo.”

Chapter End Notes

Not gonna lie, I kinda wanna do a full expansion for the Sato chapter, watching Balugo suffer his
way through cooking school and maybe go through some character development along the way.
Unfortunately, I haven't seen Food Wars, nor do I know how culinary schools operate. Meaning
Top Chef Bakugo will be sitting on the sidelines for now, along with all the other planned
expansions.

Other than that, I don't have much else to say. These were some good sequels, at least that's what
I think. Some of which I just came up on the spot.

And if your favorite chapter didn't get a sequel this time, then here's a fun fact: You don't have to
know how to write in order to write fan fiction. Make it yourself. I believe in you.

Next Time: What I'm sure will be a very ordinary chapter

 Ippan the Neighbor
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

When the first knock elicited no immediate response, Izuku turned to his mom and silently shrugged,
to which she nonverbally urged him to try again. Thankfully, the second knock proved successful, as
after a moment, a series of unlocking sounds could be heard from the other side. Which felt odd to
Izuku since he didn’t remember having that many locks on his apartment door.

The door opened a small crack, and a singular tealish-gray eye looked them up and down before the
entrance opened the rest of the way, revealing… Wow, she was tall.

“Um… hi,” The tall, fox-like woman greeted with a small wave. “Can I… can I help you?”

“Hello there. We’re your new neighbors. We just wanted to stop by and say hi,” Inko smiled, walking
up to the fox woman and handing her a bag of chocolate chip cookies that Izuku had helped bake.
“I’m Inko Midoriya, and this is my son Izuku.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m uh… Ippan Josei! Yes, that's me.” With a somewhat forced smile, she leaned
down to shake Inko’s hand before moving to shake Izuku’s.

Upon shaking her hand, Izuku immediately noticed how shaky and sweaty it was. Just like his! He
assumed Ippan wasn’t the best at meeting new people, a sentiment which he could relate to
immensely.

As their hands pulled apart, the two shared a quick look. And while no words were exchanged, their
feelings were more than prevalent. They each found themselves relating to the sheer anxiety in the
other’s eyes. It wasn’t much for first impressions, but they both figured it would suffice.

From there, a few more pleasantries were exchanged, and Ippan slunk back into her apartment.
Though, Izuku couldn’t help but notice how she ducked down to fit through her doorframe. That must
not have been pleasant, living in an apartment you couldn’t even stand up straight in.

As always, Izuku wished he could help. But the more realistic side of him knew there wasn’t much he
could do short of overhauling the economy. Though, maybe he could deliver her some more cookies,
if not to make things seem a little better.

Though, for her sake, Izuku hoped Ippan was more of an outdoor person.

———————————————

The Next Day…

“Oh, Ms. Josei!”

“Oh, um, hello Midoriya,” Ippan greeted with an awkward smile.

Izuku figured he would have run into his neighbor at the supermarket, considering it was within
walking distance from his apartment complex. Though, he wasn’t expecting to see her as a cashier.

“Um, busy day today,” Izuku attempted to make small talk as Ippan frantically scanned his items.
“Uh-huh, uh-huh,” She nodded, glancing at the long line of customers behind Izuku. “It’s been… it’s
been a lot.”

And wasn’t that an understatement. The whole place was packed and Izuku only saw two or three
cashiers, including Ippan. One look at her, and he could see the labor was taking a toll on her. She had
that whole ‘I’m tired beyond belief but I’m going to force my body to keep moving anyways’ vibe to
her.

Well, at least now there was a feasible way for Izuku to help. As soon as Ippan finished ringing him
up. He parked himself at the neighboring cash register and turned on the sign. “Register twenty is now
open!” He announced.

Ippan’s eyes widened in surprise as the green teen asserted himself at a cash register and began
scanning groceries like he owned the place. She’d be impressed by the tenacity if she wasn’t so
nervous for him at that very moment. “Um, what - what are you doing?”

“Giving you a hand,” He casually answered, not looking up from the items he was scanning. “You
looked like you needed help.”

“No, but I mean… are you allowed to work here? It’s just - it’s not that I don’t appreciate it, and the
last thing I want is for the manager to kick you out right now. I just think that…” Ippan paused, as she
noticed a large chunk of her line transfer over to Izuku’s. She took that as a quick reminder not to look
a gift horse in the mouth. “Um, I think I’m going to stop talking now.”

As it turned out, that decision was for the best. The crowd thinned out much quicker with Izuku
around to lighten the load, and Ippan could finally breathe now that she wasn’t swamped with work.

She just hoped she could say the same thing tomorrow.

———————————————

The Day After That…

Despite his usually cheerful and energetic demeanor, Izuku still required caffeinated sustenance like
every other being on this planet, especially after those nights where his intrusive thoughts kept him up
for hours on end. So he made sure to stop by the coffee place he usually passed on his walk to school
for a quick pick-me-up.

But the moment he stepped through the doors, he spotted a familiar face in a seemingly unfamiliar
environment. “Ms. Josei? You work here, too?” He shockingly asked as he walked up to the counter
to give his order.

“Midoriya?” She yelped, clearly just as surprised to see him, “Uh, yeah. I - I work here too. Y’know,
just a woman with two jobs. Completely ordinary. But, uh, what would you like?”

Hold on a minute, was that normal? Izuku wasn’t completely sure since he never had a job before. He
really hoped that wasn’t the case. Because if someone had to work two jobs in order to afford an
apartment they couldn’t even stand in, then he might actually have to start planning that complete
overhaul of the economy he’d been thinking about for the past two days.

But that could come after his white chocolate mocha with extra whipped cream.

As he grabbed his hot drink, a pair of small children in Halloween costumes burst through the door
and rushed past him, practically slamming into the front counter. “Trick or Treat!” They exclaimed.
Now, Izuku normally wouldn’t have paid this much mind if it weren’t for the high-pitched squeal of
terror that erupted from Ippan’s mouth, followed by the sound of her tripping and falling over.

“Ms. Josei, are you alright?!” He immediately rushed over and went to help her up (a task that proved
fairly difficult given the height difference).

“Thank you, Midoriya. I’m fine,” She assured before eyeing the two kids with apprehension,
specifically the one dressed as a skeleton. “I was just… just startled.”

“By skeletons?”

“They, uh - they just scare me.”

“You mean they spook you!” Exclaimed the skeleton kid.

The other kid, who was dressed like a pumpkin, jumped up and down in agreement. “Yeah, ‘cuz it is
the Spooky Month!” He said as the two did a spooky dance.

“Wait, isn’t it February?” Isuku questioned out loud.

“No, it’s Spooky Month.”

“Okay…” Izuku turned to leave, but was interrupted when one of the coffee machines blew up in a
huge burst of steam. Giving into his instincts, he crouched down and made himself look as small as
possible, his eyes squeezed shut as he anticipated a hit that never came.

“Um, are you okay Midoriya?” Ippan leaned over the counter to ask him.

Izuku forced one eye open, suddenly realizing that the explosion wasn’t due to Kacchan for once.
“Uh, yeah, I’m fine. I just… not a fan of explosions.”

“Okay…” Ippan’s tone was laced with suspicion, but the broken coffee machine already occupied her
mind. Sure, it wasn’t the only one they had plugged in, but it would reduce her efficiency by half. And
if you asked any economist in the world, they’d say that’s a one-way ticket to failure. “Oh geez, how
am I gonna set up the spare machine and deal with the customers?”

“I can help!” Izuku immediately raised his hand.

“But - but don’t you have school? And do you even know how to set up a coffee maker?”

“I can figure it out as I go along. And as for school, I don’t think anyone will really notice if I’m
gone.” He looked at the floor dejectedly for a fleeting moment before making his way behind the
counter, where he began fiddling with the replacement coffee machine.

Picking up on the context clues, Ippan found herself a little concerned for the boy’s wellbeing.
Unfortunately for her, being a barista required she allot a hundred percent of her brain power into
fending off the early morning rush, so all she could do was mentally thank Midoriya for his generosity
as she got to work mixing coffee like her life depended on it.

———————————————

Later That Night…

Tonight was one of those few nights Izuku was alone in the apartment. His mom had to leave for a
day or two for a business trip, and she trusted him enough not to get into any trouble.

Fortunately, she also had the foresight to leave Izuku some money to order takeout. And if the ding
dong of the doorbell was anything to go by, it had just arrived. When he went to open the door, he was
once again shocked out of his mind to find Ippan Josei in a delivery uniform, panting with her hands
on her knees as if she had just run a 5K.

He unintentionally blurted out the first thought that came to his mind. “You have three?”

“Yes… Yes I do,” She huffed, still trying to regain her breath.

At this point, Izuku was sorely tempted to question why she kept popping up everywhere, but he
instead decided to focus on the other pressing concern. “Have you been delivering all these orders on
foot?”

“Uh-huh,” She nodded, “The company scooter broke down, and I have the longest legs. It’s… it’s
been a lot.” She tugged at the long strand of hair sticking out of her headband. Izuku assumed it was
some kind of nervous tick. “But, uh, speaking of which, I have another order three miles from here
due in twenty minutes, so if you could just please…”

“Oh, right!” Izuku took the bag and handed her the money, but the food was the last thing on his mind
right now. If Ippan kept going like this, she’d likely collapse from exhaustion by the end of the night.
Meaning there was only one thing he could do.

“Hold on for one more second before you leave.” He quickly ran into his apartment and brought out
his bike, to which Ippan raised a confused eyebrow upon it being presented to her.

“Are - are you lending me your bike?” She spared a quick glance at the pedals, and then her
comparatively larger feet. “Er… I think that’s a bit too small for me.”

“Oh, I know. That’s why I got these.” He proudly gestured to the pegs on his back wheel for Ippan to
stand on while he pedaled. And with that, it became an offer she simply couldn’t refuse (in a physical
sense, of course. Because her legs felt like they were about to give out).

———————————————

The streets were bustling as Izuku pedaled down the sidewalk, with Ippan clutching his shoulders
from behind. He was thankful for the busy roads, as that just gave him more light to help see through
the chilly February night. The last thing he wanted right now was to crash, especially with Ippan
relying on him so much.

Though, that just begged the question of what exactly his new neighbor’s deal was. For all he had
been helping her, the two knew surprisingly little about each other. The most he could say about her
was that she was afraid of skeletons, and that was hardly anything.

“Um, Midoriya,” Ippan meekly spoke up.

Izuku momentarily glanced over his shoulder to meet her in the eyes before responding. “Yeah?”

“I just…I just wanted to say thank you. Y’know, for helping me with my job. Or… my jobs. I’m not
sure if I’ve already said it before, but it bears repeating. Also, take a left turn up here.”

Izuku’s bike veered left. “Oh, don’t worry about it. Not a big deal. I was just - just trying to help out.”
“Well, it’s a big deal for me. My experience moving so far has been… it hasn’t been the best. But I’m
glad you’re here to make things a little better. It means a lot to me, really.”

Izuku felt his lips stretch into a smile against his will. He couldn’t help it. It felt good to do good. That
was one of the reasons he wanted to be a hero. To give people that spot of hope when they were
feeling down, to be there as a shining beacon when everything else seemed bleak, to-

“You want to be a hero?” Ippan suddenly cut in.

Izuku jolted in surprise, causing the bike to swerve to the left. Thankfully, he managed to regain
control before it hit anything. “Uh, did I just say that out loud?”

“Um, yeah, you did. Was I not supposed to hear that? I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I just thought-”

“No no, it’s fine. It was my fault,” Izuku assured, focusing his eyes back on the road. “But yeah, I’ve
always been into heroes, always wanted to be one.”

“You have a favorite?”

“All Might,” He answered without hesitation.

“Yeah… I should have expected that. The way you smile kind of reminds me of him.”

“Well, people have told me I do a pretty accurate All Might impression.” He turned to Ippan and
flashed her with a grin, his facial features somehow morphing into an exact replica of All Might’s. “I
AM HERE!” He shouted in an eerily similar voice to the number-one hero’s.

It took all of Ippan’s combined willpower not to leap off the bike out of shock. But she did scream.
“WAAAAAGH!”

“Yeah, I get that reaction a lot,” Izuku chuckled, his face morphing back to normal in the blink of an
eye.

“Yeah, it’s… that’s kinda creepy.” Ippan suddenly realized what she just said and slapped her hand
over her mouth. “I - I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you creepy,” She mumbled, her head hung low
with guilt.

Judging by how she said it, Izuku figured being called creepy was a particular sore spot for her. It
didn’t take a genius to figure out why, given her less-than-ordinary appearance. “Don’t worry about it.
It’s fine. I’m, uh… I’m guessing you were called creepy before?”

She nodded meekly. “Yeah… some people at work, and on the streets, and back during school…” Her
head suddenly shot up as she cut herself off. “But - but that’s not important or anything. You’re
already doing so much for me, and I wouldn’t want to be a burden by boring you with-”

“They’re all jealous.”

“…Huh?”

“They’re all jealous,” Izuku repeated in a surprising display of bluntness. “I just - I don’t think I can
name a single physical attribute of yours that could be described as creepy. Well, besides your height I
guess, but All Might’s seven foot three, and no one calls him creepy.”
The two were silent for a short moment, taking the time to let the beeps and vrooms of passing cars do
the talking for a while. As they did, Izuku could feel Ippan’s grip on his shoulder tighten ever-so-
slightly. It was a lot more firm and less shaky than before. Glancing back at her, he noticed her
expression soften as she let out a calm smile. “Th-thanks for saying that. Honestly, I consider myself
lucky to have my apartment next to yours.” She said quietly.

“No problem,” He smiled back, “And I could say the same for you. But, if you don’t mind, why don’t
we move on to some more light topics?”

“Oh, like what?”

“Like, uh, your interests. I told you about my hero obsession, so what do you like to do?”

“What do I like to do…” She mumbled, tapping her finger to her chin. “Well, my interests are pretty
plain compared to yours.”

“I’m sure they’re still interesting regardless. That’s why they’re called interests.”

“Okay. Well, I’ve always liked outdoor activities, gardening, camping, swimming, that sort of thing. I
had a garden at my old place, but now I have to settle for growing plants on the windowsill.”

“What do you grow?”

“The kind of stuff you’d expect. Succulents, cacti, pilea peperomioides…”

“I don’t think I was expecting that one,” Izuku chuckled. “Pilea peperomioides, try saying that five
times fast.”

Ippan was more than up for the challenge. “Pilea peperomioides, pilea peperomioides, pilea
peperomioides, pilea pilea bleh. No, I can’t say it.”

The two shared a short laugh at the failed tongue twister before she continued. “But yeah, other than
that, my other biggest hobby is cats.”

“Our apartment complex doesn’t allow pets,” Izuku pointed out.

“I know. I never had a cat. I’m allergic.” Ippan slumped in disappointment, using Izuku’s bike helmet
as an elbow rest. “I always wanted to have a cat, ever since I was six and my friend invited me over to
her house.”

“Let me guess, they had a cat?”

“Her name was Meggy and she was the fluffiest cat in the world. My six-year-old self would
sometimes think about stealing her.”

Izuku snickered. “Man, I’m glad you never gave in to that temptation.”

“I thought about it. But at the end of the day, cat plushies were also pretty fluffy, and they require less
maintenance.” She was about to continue, but a glance at her phone told her they were quickly
approaching the delivery destination. “Oh, turn left up here. The house should be on that street.”

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the delivery,” Izuku said amusingly as he had the bike turn left. “That
reminds me, is there a particular reason you have so many jobs?”
“Oh, well, it’s kind of related to… er…” The question almost instantly caused Ippan to clam up. Her
grip on his shoulder loosened as she glanced away, hesitant to meet him in the eyes. The casual,
playful atmosphere from before had suddenly evaporated into thin air, and Izuku wanted to kick
himself for making his new friend uncomfortable.

“Um, never mind. You don’t have to tell me now.” He parked the bike right in front of the house and
Ippan got out with the food.

“…Thanks,” She quietly said as she made her way to the front door.

The deliveries continued from there, with Izuku and Ippan biking all across Mustafa. Despite the brief
awkward moment from earlier, the two ended up having a fun time exchanging stories, talking about
their interests, and cracking the occasional joke.

Ippan was also kind enough to offer some of her pay as thanks. Izuku wanted to decline, but his new
discovery of Ippan’s puppy-dog eyes made it particularly difficult to say no. After some back and
forth, he was forced to go home with a few extra bills in his pocket, much to his dismay.

By the time he made it home, his legs were absolutely killing him. He wasn’t sure he’d ever biked
that much in his whole life, especially with all the extra weight in the back. Thankfully, his high
spirits outweighed any muscle pain he felt at the moment.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had so much fun with a friend. Scratch that, he couldn’t
remember the last time he had a friend. He hoped they weren’t just designated to work buddies and
they could actually hang out outside of Ippan’s many jobs, but that was a concern for later. Right now,
Izuku would be content with what he had.

———————————————

The Next Day

Of course, the moment he found something good in his life, the universe just had to remind him of his
place. Except in this case, the universe was Kacchan.

On the bright side, Kacchan’s building frustrations didn’t boil over until the end of the day. On the
not-so-bright side, Izuku was out of burn cream, and he knew his mom hadn’t gone shopping for any,
so he was forced to make his way to the nearest CVS Pharmacy while cradling his burnt arm.

When he finally got there after what felt like an eternity, he snatched up the first bottle he could find,
ran over to the checkout counter, pulled out his wallet, and-

“Midoirya?”

For a brief moment, all his pain was replaced by dread as he slowly peered up to see Ippan managing
the checkout counter, because of course she was. Honestly, Izuku probably should have seen this
coming.

“Okay, I know this looks bad…”

“Midoriya! What happened to you?!” Ippan began to panic, opening the tube of burn cream in one
hand while taking his arm in the other, not even caring if it had been paid for. “How long has it been
burning? When did this happen? How bad is it? Do you-”
“Ms. Josei, calm down, it’s not that big a deal,” Izuku tried to assure, but Ippan was clearly having
none of it.

“Not that big a deal?! Midoriya, your arm got burnt. Who did this to you? Was it a villain?”

“What? No! Kacchan’s not a-” He suddenly pinched his lips shut to cut himself off. Crap! He let a
name slip out!

“Kacchan? Who’s Kacchan? Is he someone from your school? Have you been getting bullied?!”
Ippan’s mind jumped to conclusions. Unfortunately, those conclusions just so happened to be correct.

Izuku sighed as he tried to keep his composure. “Do you think we could maybe not talk about this
here?”

“You’re right, I’m going on break.” She hung up her employee uniform and practically dragged Izuku
out of the pharmacy and to the back of the building where they could converse without interruption.
“Alright, could you please tell me what’s going on, Midoriya? I - I know we haven’t known each
other too long, but if you’re hurting like this, I at least want to try and help. And I can’t do that if I
don’t know all the details.”

Izuku cradled his burnt arm while staring down at the ground. “It’s not like there’s much you’d be
able to do,” He grumbled, a hint of frustration seeping into his tone.

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to at least tell me, would it?”

Izuku looked up at her for a brief moment before relenting with a sigh. “Alright, I guess. Just… please
don’t tell my mom about this.”

Ippan already didn’t like the direction this conversation was headed. “Uh, okay, but what is it that
your mom doesn’t need to know?”

“That I’m being bullied in school, just like you guessed. And it’s not that she doesn’t know, it’s just
that I stopped telling her.”

Ippan took a sharp inhale to help take in the information she just recieved. “Okay… I have a few
questions right now.”

“Let me explain.” Izuku sat down by that wall, indicating this would be a long story. Ippan, getting
the hint, sat right next to him. “I don’t think I’ve told you this, but I’m Quirkless.”

“Um, no, you didn’t.”

Izuku surveyed her face to gauge her reaction, but all he came up with was staggering indifference.
Which, if you ask him, was preferable to pity or disgust. “Alright. Well, a lot of the people at school
don’t like me because of that.”

“Including Kacchan?”

“Especially Kacchan.” He tucked the arm with the burn mark behind his back, not wanting to be
reminded of his bully’s misdeeds. “When my mom found out, she tried complaining to the school. But
no matter what she said to them, they never actually did anything. They always let Kacchan get away
with everything because they think he’s a shoo-in for UA. Which he is, but-”
“But that shouldn’t excuse the things he did to you,” Ippan growled, baring her surprisingly sharp
fangs. This certainly threw Izuku for a loop. He had no idea Ippan of all people could make those
noises.

“You say that with some form of familiarity,” He absentmindedly pointed out, causing Ippan to
immediately retract her fearsome look.

“O-oh, is it that obvious?” She asked, shrinking in on herself.

“Kind of.” He scooted closer to her. “Do you… wanna talk about it?”

She glared at him. “I thought this conversation was about you.”

“It can be about both of us. We’re friends, right? And friends listen to each other’s problems. Unless
you’re not comfortable, of course.”

Ippan nervously tilted her head from side to side, internally debating whether she should open herself
up or not. She glanced at Izuku, who wore a pleading look on his face. She just couldn’t say no to
that, could she?

“Alright, I’ll tell you. But you might not believe me at first.” She mentally steeled herself as she
prepared to open up for the first time in what seemed like forever. “I’m being hunted by the Creature
Rejection Clan.”

Izuku’s eyes grew wide as his jaw hung low, which was about the reaction Ippan expected. “Hold on,
the Creature Rejection Clan? I thought they died off by the start of the Era of Peace.”

“They mostly did, but a few branches stuck around, and one of them’s after me.” She cradled her face
in her hands, the very mention of her situation stressing her out to the nth degree.

Izuku blinked. “Okay… it’s not that I don’t believe you. I’d just like to know how this all happened, if
that’s okay.”

“Alright, I’m already in this deep anyways. It all started a few weeks ago…”

———————————————

Ippan’s mind raced just as fast as her legs as she ran down the sidewalk. This was just her luck, her
alarm clock had decided to break the same day she had an important event at work, and she ended up
oversleeping. For once in her life, she was grateful for being so freakishly tall, as her wide strides
gave her a fleeting chance to be on time.

Of course, her speed came at the cost of impaired vision. At least, when it came to minuscule things
standing right in front of her. Such was the case when she bumped into a short man, no more than five
feet tall, causing his coffee to fly out of his hands.

Ippan stopped for a moment and frantically scrambled to pick up the man’s coffee, while also
stammering out a tearful apology. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

“You mutant scum!” The man interrupted, forcefully grabbing her by the collar and pulling her close
to his face, where he wore what was probably the most hateful expression Ippan had ever seen.
“Know this, you absolute freak of nature, I will hunt you down until you are sent back to the fiery pits
of hell where you belong!”
Ippan shuddered in fear as the man snatched his half-spilled coffee from her hand and stormed off.
Part of her wanted to curl up and cry right now, having just received what she was pretty sure was a
death threat. But she still had a job to be on time for, so she would push it down for now and pray the
man was just cranky due to a lack of coffee.

———————————————

“They burnt down my house that night.”

“Oh my god.” Izuku placed a hand over his mouth. “What happened next?”

“I got put in witness protection. But I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get a job, so I kind of
overcompensated.”

“Man, that’s… I don’t know what to say.” Izuku peered down, dragging his finger across the ground
beneath him.

“Yeah, it’s - it’s not good. I mean, I’m glad I’m safe and all, but - but I can’t help but wonder how
long that’ll last. Sometimes I worry that I’ll run into another member on the street and the whole cycle
will repeat.”

Izuku offered a reassuring pat on her shoulder. “Well, I’m really sorry that happened to you. Honestly,
I kind of feel bad now. I mean, compared to what you’re going through, my problems are just…”

“They’re still important too,” Ippan (if that even was her real name) cut in, leveling him with a
serious look. “You don’t deserve to get beat up and bullied at school just because you’re Quirkless.”

“And you don’t deserve to have your house burnt down because you spilled a guy’s coffee. I can’t
believe I even need to say that, but it’s true.”

The two of them sighed in unison, slumping against the wall, and staring up vacantly at the sky. From
there, neither really knew what to say to the other. They were both stuck in undesirable circumstances,
both desiring to help solve each other’s problems, yet they knew the means of doing so were simply
beyond their control.

They sat in silence for a little while longer before Ippan had to get back to work. Both left in low
spirits, feeling as if their conversation hadn’t accomplished much. But as a silver lining, they at least
knew they had someone they could understand and rely on. Though, part of them wondered if one
good friend would really be enough.

———————————————

Their conversation still lingered in Ippan’s mind as she made her way to her night job (not her food
delivery job, her other night job as a truck driver). She found it particularly difficult to pay attention
to her boss, but she managed to get the gist of it.

“Alright, Josei, we need you to deliver these fireworks across town. Just be careful with the steering
wheel, it’s been a bit touchy as of late.”

Before she knew it, Ippan was shoved into an uncomfortably small seat and sent off on the open road.
Glancing at the route she was supposed to take, she couldn’t help but notice she was set to pass
Aldera Middle School in a few minutes.
Huh, wasn’t that the school Midoriya attended? The one with teachers who ignored his bullying so
they could prop up his tormentors as future heroes?

Suddenly, an intrusive thought popped into Ippan’s head. She had a fireworks truck, and that school
was looking awfully explodable.

No, no, no! She was not going to let those thoughts win. There’s no way she could possibly do it.
Sure, Izuku would probably do the same for her, but even if she actually went through with it, there
was no way she would end up getting away with it.

…Right?

A quick glance at her watch revealed that it was around the time the janitors were set to go home,
meaning the school was completely barren. Plus, her boss did mention the steering wheel was acting
up. It would be ridiculously easy to just blame the ‘accident’ on a faulty steering wheel. It’s not like
there would be much of a truck left for people to inspect anyways.

But still, she couldn’t do that. No way, no how, not in a million years. She was too much of an
upstanding citizen to even consider taking such a drastic course of action.

…Wasn’t she?

———————————————

Barely awake, Ippan trudged back to her apartment, her body covered from head-to-toe in soot, small
bits of metal, and firework chemicals. She never needed a shower more in her life until this very
moment.

She reached for her doorknob, but paused as she heard the sound of the door adjacent to hers opening
up. Turning ninety degrees, she saw Izuku at his door, looking just as exhausted as she was, his body
covered in soot, small bits of metal, and firework chemicals.

Izuku slowly glanced to her side and noticed her presence. “Oh, hey. You look roughed up. Are you
alright?”

“Uh, I’m fine. I just got into a completely unavoidable fireworks truck-related accident during work.
You’ll probably get transferred to a different school tomorrow. What about you?”

“Well, legally speaking, I totally didn’t just ram a fireworks truck into the Creature Rejection Clan’s
main base of operations after finding their location via an online forum. That is something I didn’t
do.”

“Cool, cool,” She nodded, turning back to her door. “We’ll talk tomorrow?”

“We’ll talk tomorrow,” He nodded back.

———————————————

Tomorrow…

“And so the teacher gave Kacchan detention for using his Quirk during class!” Izuku laughed as he
finished recapping his first day at his new school, Ippan laughing right along with him. “You
should’ve seen the look on his face, it was glorious. I should have taken a picture.”
 “I’m sure it must have been great,” Ippan smiled, feeling lighter than she had in ages now that she
was sure no one was after her.

“Oh, by the way, how are the jobs going?”

“Actually, it’s just job now. I met someone at the coffee shop who offered me a huge opportunity. She
said it was very much applicable to my skills.”

“Really? That's great! What’ll you be doing?”

In place of a response, Ippan reached behind her back and pulled out a singular basketball, to which
Izuku’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. “Seriously?”

“Uh-huh,” She nodded, a dopey grin etched on her face.

“Ippan, you are going to make so many full-court shots. It’s gonna be insane.”

Chapter End Notes

Fun Fact: This is the first chapter in which Bakugo doesn't physically appear.

So, summer break has started for me. You might think this means more frequent uploads, but it
might actually mean the opposite. Now that I have so much more free time, it's infinitely easier
for me to procrastinate, vs when I had a comparatively small amount of writing time when I was
still in school.

Onto the chapter itself, you might be wondering why I gave Ippan so many jobs. Well, truth be
told, she always struck me as the kind of character who accidentally gets themselves stuck in all
kinds of wacky situations. Probably because her name literally translates to 'Ordinary Woman',
and I like being ironic.

What I'm trying to say is, don't be surprised if I give her some more random jobs in the future,
because I already did that last chapter. Foreshadowing, baby!

Next Time: Edgelord.

 Kuroiro the Shadow Man
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

It was his third day at Aldera Middle School, and Shihai Kuroiro had not made any friends or
acquaintances to speak of. This was the expected outcome for him, as creatures who roamed the light
tended to avoid those shrouded in darkness.

Through perhaps he laid it on a little too thick with his introduction. Just because his middle name
was legally ‘Lord of the Underworld’ did not mean he needed to share it.

Regardless, Shihai ‘Lord of the Underworld’ Kuroiro was resigned to his fate. He set low
expectations for this new domain of his, meaning he could not, should not be disappointed. He felt
just as isolatedly barren during his time at his old school, as he expected.

Or at least that was his situation. One fateful day, a green-haired individual ran up to him in the halls,
seemingly out of breath. What such a bright-faced boy could want with an agent of darkness such as
himself, Kuroiro couldn’t guess.

“Um, excuse me, Kuroiro was it? You dropped this.” He held out an Odd-Eye keychain, the one
Kuroiro usually wore on his backpack.

The shadow lurker could see where this was going. Odd-Eye had quite the unusual reputation when it
came to, for lack of a better term, normies. Most lauded him as ‘cringe,’ or ‘chunni’, or ‘committing
way too hard to the act.’ Fools, all of them. Could they not see that there was no ‘act’? Could they not
see that Odd-Eye was truly a tortured soul who chose to be a hero despite the darkness in their heart?
Which, in turn, made his heroic acts all the more valiant?

Kuroiro doubted this freckled boy before him understood.

“Thank you.” He swiped the keychain from the green-haired boy‘s hands and clipped it back onto his
bag. “I apologize for allowing it to escape my grasp. I’m sure carrying it around was not an enjoyable
experience for you.”

For whatever reason, the green boy looked shocked at that very disposition. “What? No! It wasn’t a
pain for me at all! In fact…” He reached into his bag and presented Kuroiro with a sight he never
thought he’d see.

For in his hand was a limited edition Odd-Eye 5th anniversary pin.

At that very moment, Kuroiro felt an odd kinship with the boy. Mayhaps he was a tortured soul like
him, only he kept his inner darkness buried deep below a layer of brightness and smiles. Kuroiro
decided at that moment that he must know more.

“What is your name, dear child of both light and darkness?”

“Um, Izuku Midoriya?” He answered, looking slightly perplexed at Kuroiro’s phrasing of the
question.

“Very well then, Midoriya,” He nodded, “I must admit, I admire your Odd-Eye pin. Truly, your taste
is immaculate. It allows me to sense a thread of commonality between us. As such, it would only be
natural to become comrades in this eternal battle of light and dark we call life.”

Izuku gasped, clearly taken aback. “Are - are you saying you want to be friends?”

“In a cosmic sort of way, yes.”

Kuroiro had no idea why Izuku burst into tears upon hearing that, but everyone had their own method
of expressing their inner darkness, so he would not judge.

———————————————

Katsuki Bakugo was fuming.

It was bad enough that their class had to introduce yet another extra after some fireworks truck-related
incident (whom he had decided to call Edgelord because he was not wasting precious brain space
remembering his name). But then that very same extra made friends with Deku of all people.

Katsuki wouldn’t have believed it if he didn’t have to endure their jabbering before class every day.
Deku said Odd-Eye was the closest thing to a Quirkless hero or some crap, and then they got into a
whole damn conversation about it that spanned an entire week. It pissed Katsuki off.

Which was why when he spotted Deku alone in the hallway after school, he decided to remind the
nerd of his place. He grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. Though it was
weird, his jacket seemed a lot heavier than usual. What the hell was Deku carrying around in his
pockets?

“Listen here, nerd. Just because one person pities you enough to hang around your worthless ass
doesn’t make you any less useless, got that?”

Deku mumbled something too quiet for Katsuki to hear, so he slammed him against the wall again.
“What was that?!”

“I - I said he’s not pitying me,” Deku repeated, an odd look of determination mixed with frustration
on his face.

“Tch, yeah right. He’s only hanging around you because he’s new. The minute he finds someone else,
he’s kickin’ you to the curb.”

“You mean like you did?” He said in a low, tired voice.

Katsuki stilled for only a moment, his mind contemplative about the words he just heard. But as soon
as that moment was up, rage regained control, and he clutched his fist at his side while slamming
Deku into the wall for a third time. “Yes, like I did! Because why would anyone willingly want to
hang out with a Quirkless freak like you?”

“Well, for starters, he isn’t you,” Responded a third, unknown voice. Suddenly, a foot shot out of
Deku’s uniform jacket and kicked Katsuki in the chest, sending him stumbling back.

“What the…” Katsuki looked Deku up and down, trying to figure out what just happened.

“What’s the matter?” The voice spoke up, “Have you never come into contact with forces beyond
your mortal comprehension?” The fabric on Deku’s uniform began to shift, and Edgelord’s smirking
face popped out of his chest.
“Wha - What the fuck is this?!”

“It’s quite simple, really. My Quirk allows me to become one with, and even control darkness. As
such, I helped unleash Midoriya’s inner darkness by becoming it!” Deku’s arm began jerking around
in a method that tried to replicate a wave, like he was a puppet and Edgelord was the strings. The nerd
didn’t seem to mind though. He just kept that stupid-ass smile on his face.

“It’s kind of like Ratatouille. Except instead of my hair, he’s pulling at my uniform,” Deku clarified.

“Well guess what? I don’t give a fuck!” Katsuki clenched and unclenched his fists, letting the sweat
pool up in his palms. “You got a cheap shot in, Edgelord, which means you clearly have a death
wish!”

He swung a right hook, only for Deku to suddenly jerk to the side with a speed that wouldn’t be
possible unless someone was pulling him out of the way. With that same speed, he raised his leg and
delivered a roundhouse kick to Katsuki’s kidney, sending him staggering back.

Katsuki clutched his bruised organ with one hand while preparing an explosion with another. He
aimed right for the chest, but Deku dodged by bending back at an unnatural angle, like he was playing
a game of limbo.

With a confident grin that increased Katsuki’s murder drive exponentially, Deku’s leg swung up and
kicked Katsuki in the jaw, the impact causing him to bite his own damn tongue!

At the taste of blood, he instinctively cupped his hand over his mouth, giving Deku the opportunity to
flail his arm around like a ragdoll and slap Katsuki across the face hard enough to leave a red mark in
the shape of his hand.

“…You fucking asshole!” Katsuki yelled at Edgelord through a mouthful of blood. “If you think
you’re so great, quit hiding in Deku’s clothes! Come out here and face me like a man!”

Edgelord’s face made itself visible on Deku’s uniform, his mouth pointed upward in a devious smirk.
“Whatever you say, oh great one.” In an instant, he dived out of Deku’s uniform and landed in
Katsuki’s.

The explosive blond felt a series of tugs on his legs forcing him to move against his will. He soon
found himself running face-first into the wall and backward into the one behind him.

And as if his face hadn’t been through enough today, Edgelord took control of his arms and made
them twitch in a way that resulted in multiple consecutive facepalms. Katsuki almost regretted all
those hand and finger exercises he put himself through.

“Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself!” The creature in his clothes
taunted after every hit.

“That’s it! I’ve had enough!” Pooling together all his strength, Katsuki grabbed the sides of his jacket
and violently tore them to shreds, blowing up the individual pieces of fabric just to make sure.
“Alright, you shadowy fuck where are you!?”

“A place I would rather not be, all things considered,” The voice of Edgelord answered.

“The fuck’s that supposed to-” He was cut off as he felt a sharp tug on his nether regions, the kind that
made him want to squeal an impossibly high-pitched note.
Oh fuck, he wore black underwear today, didn’t he?

As Katsuki fell over and curled up on the ground, his hands clutched over his crotch, Edgelord finally
stepped out of his uniform and dusted himself off, a deep grimace adorning his face. “As satisfying as
that wedgie was, I very much say with confidence that I did not enjoy that last part,” He admitted.

Deku immediately ran over to gush over his Quirk like the nerd he was. “Kuroiro, that was amazing! I
figured the technique I came up with would work, but not that well.”

“Many thanks. My experience puppeting others to perform complex maneuvers is plentiful,

considering my experience with Dark Souls.”

“Really? I’ve never actually played Dark Souls before. Is it fun?”

Edgelord smiled as he turned and walked off, beckoning Deku to follow. “Come now, my compatriot
of darkness. Now is the time you experience your first Soulslike journey.”

As the two friends walked away, Katsuki slowly forced himself up while readjusting his
undergarments, scowling harder than he ever had in his life.

“Those fucking cheating bastards. Can’t believe I let them get the drop on me like that. Stupid
Edgelord and his stupid Quirk. No way I’m letting that chunni near my clothes next time.”

He froze in place at that last sentence, his brain slowly connecting the dots, forming a picture of
victory. Based on what Edgelord said, his cheap-ass Quirk only worked on dark things like his
uniform. With that in mind, coming up with a counter was as easy as taking candy from a Deku.

Despite the pain littering his entire body, he let out a fierce grin, which soon transitioned into a mad
cackle. Now that he had a foolproof plan, he’d be able to wipe those cocky smiles off Deku and
Edgelord’s faces.

———————————————

The Next Day…

“I don’t know how you got so good at that game. I could barely even beat three bosses.” Izuku ran a
hand down his face, tired from the gaming session that lasted a little too long. But hey, it made for a
nice impromptu sleepover.

“Such is the experience of a new Dark Souls player,” Kuroiro mused as the two turned a corner in the
hallway. “Trust the process, Midoriya. For it shall not lead you astray.”

Izuku hoped he was right. Because at this rate, he wouldn’t finish the game until he was well into his
twenties. “But still, it was fun. We should do it again sometime.”

“I am inclined to agree. The witching hour is when camaraderie tends to be at its strongest.”

“Oh, really?” Katsuki’s voice cut in. The two turned around to see the explosive blond in question, his
arms resting behind his back, and a slightly unhinged smile etched on his face.

“Oh, hey Kacchan.” Izuku awkwardly waved, “Are - are you alright?”

He barked out a laugh. “Am I alright? Yeah, sure, I’ll be fine once I’ve beaten your goddamn asses!”
“I see how it is.” Kuroiro narrowed his eyebrows as he slipped into a fighting stance. “If your desire is
to once more witness the true darkness of a tortured soul, then I shall oblige.” He leaped into Izuku’s
uniform, who took the same stance as his friend.

“Yeah! What he said! I’m not afraid of you anymore, Kacchan!”

“Oh, are you sure about that?” Katsuki’s smile grew wider and more menacing as he revealed the
object hidden behind his back, squeezing it tightly in both hands.

“Uh, is that a water gun?” Izuku questioned.

In response, Katsuki fired a shot right at Izuku’s arm, revealing that the gun didn’t exactly contain
water. Rather, a liquid that was much more effective against someone like Kuroiro…

“Oh crap! He’s got red paint!”

“That’s right, you idiots! Try using your cheap tricks when you’ve got nothing to phase into!.”
Katsuki turned the gun around and covered himself with red splotches, rendering his clothing immune
to Kuroiro’s Quirk.

“Quickly! We must escape with haste!” Kuroiro took control of Izuku’s legs and dashed down the
hall, to which Katsuki chased after them while firing with reckless abandon.

“Ha! Yes! Run all you want! It’s only gonna make it more satisfying when I get your asses!”

And run they did, down the entire hallway. Any other students who just so happened to be in their
way ended up with a faceful of red, as did the walls, ceiling, and floor. Katsuki took no prisoners.

“Midoriya, I am in desperate need of some strategic assistance,” Said Kuroiro as he yanked Izuku
around to avoid as many shots as he could. “He’s already covered our back. And if he paints the rest
of us, I’ll be forcibly torn away from the darkness.”

“Don’t worry, I think I have a plan. But first, we need to get out of here. Turn left here!”

Kuroiro obliged, pulling Izuku in a sharp turn that led them down the stairwell. The enclosed space
allowed Katsuki to get a free shot in, which he landed on the back of Izuku’s pant leg.

“GAH! He got me!” He stopped at the bottom of the stairs to clutch his leg. “It’s over, Kuroiro. Tell
my mother I love her! And that I left the door unlocked this morning!”

“Midoriya, you know you can still run, right?” Kuroiro pointed out.

“Oh… right,” He chuckled before getting back up and running off, his bully not far behind. A few
more turns later, and they burst through the school’s front door, making their way to the streets of
Mustafa.

“Now that we’re off school property, might you tell me the extent of your plan?” Kuroiro glanced
behind Izuku’s shoulder, to which Katsuki shot him right in the eye. “AH! Color! My one weakness!”

“Alright, here’s the next step of our plan.” Izuku tripped on his own two feet and tumbled to the
ground before coming to a stop at the display window of a nearby store.

“Midoriya, I must be honest with you, your plan does not seem very well thought out.”
 With a glint in his eyes, Katsuki cocked his gun as he towered over the pair, his grinning visage cast
in a light shadow, yet still intimidating nonetheless. “Nowhere left to run now, Deku! Any last
words?”

“Uhhh… nope. Just please make it quick.”

“Good. I didn’t wanna hear your annoying-ass voice anyways.” He pointed the gun at Izuku’s chest
and went absolutely trigger-happy, practically turning the boy into a human tomato. Eventually, the
redness became too much for Kuroiro, and he was forced out of the uniform, where he was left
cowering in fear at Katsuki’s feet. But weirdly enough, when he glanced over at Izuku, he didn’t
detect a trace of fear on his entire body.

When he was satisfied with his painting, Katsuki threw the water gun away and pointed both hands at
the pair, his palms already glowing orange with the promise of explosions. “Alright, time to really
make you red. And I’m not talking about paint this time.”

“Ahem…”

Katsuki paused as he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. Turning around, his eyes
widened with dread as he took in the form of a grumpy-looking police officer. Only then did he notice
the trail of red paint on the ground and the similarly-colored stains on the storefront window Izuku
and Kuroiro were leaning against.

“Vandalism in broad daylight?” The officer presumed, giving Katsuki the stink-eye, “I swear, you
delinquent types never cease to amaze me.” He picked up Katsuki by the scruff and carried him off to
the station, all while the teen stared blankly with a textbook ‘I fucked up’ look.

With the two other boys left alone, they got up and attempted to shake some of the paint off their
bodies. Results varied. “Midoriya, I must applaud your deceptive tactics. Even I would not have been
able to conjure up such a devious scheme.” Kuroiro complimented, much to Izuku’s blush.

Or at least, he thought it was a blush. The red paint made things unclear.

“Oh, it was nothing. I just took advantage of Kacchan’s blind rage in a manner that would make him
look like the undisputed bad guy. Really, anyone could’ve done that.”

“Yet you were the only one who did.” He placed a hand on his shoulder. “I can tell we’re going to
make quite the team. And then, our shared darkness shall cover all that is light, and no one shall be
able to ignore us!”

“That sounds like fun! But first…” He gestured to the red parts of his body, which was every part.
“We should probably get a shower before the paint hardens and makes it hard to walk.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

Chapter End Notes

Credit for this chapter's concept goes to Masuterd. Sorry to everyone who thought this would be
the Tokoyami chapter. It's not my fault they gave me such a fun idea.
But this clothes-jacking thing will be a common occurrence for Izuku and Kuroiro, to the point
where Izuku's hero costume is mostly black, and Kuroiro carries around cans of black spray
paint, which he probably should've done in canon if we're being honest, but I guess he wouldn't
be able to bring those with him when melds into shadows.

Also, I mentioned this earlier in the chapter. Even though Odd-Eye’s existence in canon is
dubious, he's probably the closest thing we have to a Quirkless hero. The most he can do is make
you blurt out your secrets during combat, which can only be so effective.

Next Time: What's up Doc?

 Garaki the Doctor
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

If you were to ask Dr. Kyudai Garaki who his least favorite person in the world was, he would answer
with Dr. Tsubasa in a fraction of a heartbeat. This was a bit of a problem, considering they were the
same person.

Ever since Garaki devoted his life to serving his lord, All for One, he’d been forced to take up several
false identities to keep the authorities off his trail. Dr. Tsubasa was his current one, and every time he
assumed that role, he felt a little more dead inside.

Sure, it was useful to keep track of the budding Quirks of all the young children of Mustafa, but that
didn’t make his job any more enjoyable. Every day it was checkups, checkups, and more checkups.

“Alright, you have a clean bill of health. See you next year.”

Such was the case as he wrapped up his checkup on his latest patient, Izuku Midoriya. God, he was
the worst. He knew his good-for-nothing grandson bullied the green boy for his Quirklessness. And
frankly, he deserved it. If you couldn’t provide anything to All for One, you might as well be dead.

Thankfully, Garaki could at least take solace that he wouldn’t see the adolescent brat for 365 more
days. With that in mind, he sat down on his favorite swivel chair to decompress, only to shoot back up
as he realized he was sitting on something.

That something turned out to be a notebook, no doubt left by that Midoriya kid. God, why couldn’t
children clean up after themselves these days?

Looking at the cover, he rolled his eyes at the title of ‘Hero Analysis for the Future Vol. 16’. As if a
mere child could gather more information on heroes than a nearly two-hundred-year-old professional
like him. Just to prove himself right, he flipped to a random page and landed on one featuring a crude
drawing of All Might.

“Boy, this will be rich,” He sharked as he started reading, ready to have a good laugh at the no-doubt
inaccurate guesses of the hero’s Quirk.

While All Might’s Quirk has never been stated outright, many assume it to be some form of super
strength, based on the superhuman feats he’s performed. I have no reason to doubt this, but I believe
there’s a bit more to it than that.

If one were to observe some of All Might’s greatest fights, they might notice his base power increase
exponentially over the years. One villain that took ten punches to take down during his heyday now
only takes one or two.

But why is this? According to most Quirk scientists, Quirks tend to decrease in power and
effectiveness as the user ages. And while All Might’s true age has never been revealed, it’s been
theorized he’s at least above fifty, considering how long he’s been doing hero work.

This leads me to my own personal theory: All Might’s Quirk involves a stockpile that increases in
power over long periods of time.
Garaki suddenly paused his reading. Never in his days did he think he’d see a fourteen-year-old figure
out at least part of the Symbol of Peace’s Quirk. He just had to see more. Flipping to the other pages
revealed analyses of a similar quality on other heroes.

Suddenly, Izuku Midoriya didn’t seem so useless after all. In fact, he might be just the kind of person
Garaki could get behind.

Think about it. A Quirkless kid with big dreams of heroism, only to get constantly belittled by his
peers. That’s a textbook villain origin story right there. Of course, the boy was decidedly still on the
side of heroism, but that was nothing Garaki couldn’t fix.

If he played his cards right, he might have even found a potential ally to Tomura, and even a possible
replacement. He didn’t hate Tomura, per se, but that boy was immature and spoiled beyond belief.
Wouldn’t hurt to give him a partner who could actually use his brain.

Of course, he would keep this little passion project to himself for the time being, waiting until Izuku
was fully swayed to All for One’s side before presenting him to his master. No use in bringing a half-
baked cake to a birthday party, after all.

With a gleefully sinister grin, he skipped over to the phone and dialed the number of his patient’s
mother. “Hello, Ms. Midoriya? Sorry to call so suddenly, but your son left one of his notebooks in my
office. I gave it a little read, and I was absolutely astounded by the boy’s theories on Quirks and their
applications. If possible, I’d like to meet with him in my office for a little one-on-one Quirk
discussion. No, not the one in Mustafa. The office in Jaku.”

He knew she wouldn’t say no. After all, Dr. Tsubasa was one of the oldest and most trustworthy
samaritans in the entire prefecture.

Dr. Garaki, on the other hand, already had more than a few plans for the boy.

———————————————

“Midoriya! So great to see you!” Garaki cheerfully greeted as Izuku made his way into the office,
holding a stack of notebooks. “Here, sit down, sit down. Would you like some tea?”

“Um, yes, thank you, sir.” Izuku plopped down on the empty chair and placed his notebooks on the
desk, his fingers nervously scratching the arms of the chair.

“There’s no need to call me sir. I’ve been your doctor for years now. You can call me Garaki.”

“Garaki? I thought your name was Tsubasa.”

“No, Tsubasa is just what everyone calls me in Mustafa. Everyone in Jaku calls me Garaki, which is
my maiden name,” He lied through his teeth.

Thankfully, Izuku seemed to take this answer at face value. “Okay, I’ll call you Garaki then.”

“Excellent.” The doctor reached to the pile of notebooks, specifically the most recent one. “Mind if
I…”

“Oh, go ahead. But I’m not sure how much use you’ll get out of them.” The boy glanced down with a
solemn look on his face.
“Oh, why do you think that? I got plenty of mileage out of the one you left here. Why should these be
any different?”

He scrunched up on himself as he absently rubbed his arm. “A lot of the kids at school think they’re
weird or creepy.”

Garaki let out a genuine scoff. “Well of course they do. Most adolescents are simple-minded monkeys
who barely know how to tie their shoes. Professionals take notes all the time. Their brains just aren’t
developed enough to comprehend our genius.”

Izuku looked up at the doctor with a hopeful gleam in his eyes. “Our genius? You think I’m a
professional like you?”

“At the rate you’re going, I’d say it’s only a matter of time until you become one. I wouldn’t have
invited you here if I wasn’t impressed with your work. In fact, let’s get started on that, shall we?”

Unshed tears poked at Izuku’s eyes as he let out a wobbly smile. After taking a deep breath, he sat
down firmly in his chair and grabbed his teacup, looking much more comfortable than before. “Yes,
let’s get started.”

“Excellent! Now, for starters, I read your section on the Wild Wild Pussycats, specifically the section
going into detail about how their Quirks all work together in unison.”

“It’s great, isn’t it? They honestly make for one of the greatest rescue teams of all time. Each of their
Quirks makes up for the other’s weaknesses. Pixie-Bob’s great at rescuing civilians from dirt or
rubble, but that skill’s useless if she doesn’t know where everybody is, which is where Ragdoll comes
in. She’s great for scanning large areas, which in turn helps Mandalay guide any lost or buried
civilians to safety. And Tiger’s there to help dispatch any villains who may be lurking around-”

“Slow down, boy! My old ears can only register so much!” Garaki interrupted Izuku’s tirade, putting
a flush of embarrassment on the boy’s face.

“Oh… sorry. They’re - They’re a really good hero team.”

“You’ve made that fact abundantly clear. But that’s not what I was going to ask you. I wanted to know
if you could think of any other Quirks that work in synchrony like theirs do. You know, as a
hypothetical.” After all, it was nice to keep a list of Quirks All for One should look out for. Perhaps
the green teen could offer a unique perspective on the matter.

Izuku took a sip of his tea and hummed. “Quirks that work well together, you say… Well, for starters,
Recovery Girl would be able to heal so many more people if she rode on Ingenium’s back.”

Garaki jotted these ideas down on some paper, just in case. “That’s good. Obvious, but good. What
else?”

“Well, Present Mic and Midnight have teamed up a bunch of times. His sound waves can spread
Midnight’s gas faster than her fans ever could. Though you could probably substitute Mic for Gang
Orca and get a similar effect.”

“Hm, I didn’t know that. Please go on.”

“I mentioned Ragdoll before, but imagine if she and Snipe teamed up. She’d be able to scope out the
perfect vantage point from basically anywhere!”
“You’re very much correct on that front.” Garaki was practically salivating at the possibilities.

“Odd-Eye and Ms. Joke are a sleeper hit for me. Ms. Joke’s Quirk relies on call-and-response, and
Odd-Eye forces his opponents to speak! It’s a perfect recipe for incapacitation!”

“Oh, I’d love to test that out.”

“Me too. It’s a shame their patrol routes are so far away. The chances of them teaming up are
admittedly slim. If only you could jam their Quirks into the same person or something.”

Garaki fought back the urge to laugh at the irony. “Yes, it would be nice, wouldn’t it? But why don’t
we switch gears? I notice you brought up a few questions on Quirked animals during your section on
Nezu.”

The mention of that section caused Izuku to excitedly lean forward in his chair, possibly at risk of
falling off. “Right! Quirked animals are much rarer than Quirked people, so I’ve been looking into
areas with high-density populations to see if there are any patterns or commonalities.”

“Funny you mention that, because I’ve done a bit of research on that subject during my younger
days.” By that, he meant he tried to selectively breed animals to have the strongest Quirk. After all,
Quirks were easier to steal from animals than humans.

“Really? Did you find out anything?”

“Not much, I’m afraid. Only that the Quirk gene is about a thousand times less common among
animals.” That was about a year of his life he would never get back. “Honestly, it’s a genetic miracle
there are any Quirked animals at all.”

“That would explain why research in that particular field has been stagnant over the past few
decades.” Izuku seemed to cross out a few ideas in his notebook before replacing them with new ones.

“I see you’re ready to move on,” Garaki pointed out, “Which is good, because I’ve been meaning to
ask you a rather unconventional question.”

Izuku fixed the doctor with a confused look, his back slowly sinking into his chair, as if to mentally
brace himself. “Unconventional? In what way?”

“Not in a weird way, I assure you. I was simply wondering what your thoughts were on the Quirk
Singularity Theory?”

“The theory that states Quirks will eventually become too powerful for humans to carry? Wasn’t that
disproved nearly two hundred years ago?”

Garaki’s smile became a bit more strained as he fought to not burst out in anger in front of Izuku. “…
Well, I don’t think the possibility should be completely ruled out. You can’t deny that Quirks are
getting stronger. For example, you theorized in your notes that All Might was getting stronger over
time. What if that strength eventually becomes too much for his body to handle?”

To his surprise, Izuku was already armed with a counter to his statement, and was ready to fire at will.
“Not if his body adapts at the same rate, which it should, because just about every Quirk works like
that.”

Garaki’s eyebrow twitched. He’d heard this exact argument a hundred times before. “Yes, but what if
they stop doing that? That’s part of what the theory states.”
“Why would they? As long as humans keep changing, I don’t think their bodies are just going to stop
adapting and evolving alongside them.”

“Maybe so, but have you considered that Quirk accidents have been on the rise during the past
decades?” He reached under his desk and presented the boy with a graph proving his point.

To his shock and rage, Izuku had the gall to roll his eyes at it! “I’ve heard this before on message
boards. There are a bunch of whack jobs online who correlate every Quirk accident reported on the
news as a sign of Quirk Singularity. But in reality, this is a sign we need to make proper Quirk
counseling more readily available to the public.”

Garaki huffed in his seat as he clutched the arms of his chair. It seemed as if this boy wasn’t budging
on his stance. No matter, he was certain Izuku would change his tune once he was introduced to All
for One. But that was a conversation for another day. “Well, how about we agree to disagree on this
particular topic?”

“I agree with that,” Izuku nodded, “Though, the mention of Quirks getting stronger throughout the
generations does give me a few questions on the nature of Quirk genetics, specifically in regards to
unrelated mutations.”

Garaki already had his pencil pressed to his paper, knowing this was only the beginning of a very
enlightening conversation.

———————————————

Several Hours Later…

“Oh shoot! I didn’t realize it was night already!” Izuku said after sparing a glance out the window. He
broke into a scramble trying to stuff all his notebooks and pencils into his backpack.

“There’s no need to rush, Midoriya. You have at least half an hour before the last train,” Garaki said
calmly. “But it’s a shame you have to leave so soon. There are so many topics we have yet to
discuss.”

“Yeah, and it was a lot of fun having someone else to talk Quirks with. Well, someone besides
myself.”

“Agreed. You should come by again sometime. Say perhaps… next week?”

“Yeah, I can do that!” Izuku nodded so hard it looked like his head might fall off.

Garaki knew he’d get that response. It wasn’t like Izuku had much else going on. Someone like him
would be far too reserved for after-school clubs and sports. Heck, he wouldn’t be surprised if he was
denied entry due to his Quirklessness.

As he waved goodbye to the young man, he felt a satisfaction welling up inside of him he hadn’t felt
in years. This meeting may have only been the first step in his grand plan, but every long journey
started with one.

All he had to worry about now was cementing the boy’s trust. And if doing that was as easy as
rambling about Quirks for hours on end, it wouldn’t take very long at all.

———————————————
He was right, it wouldn’t.

A mere four weeks after their initial meeting, Izuku walked into his office with his hand clutched over
his right arm, his face twisted in an expression that tried to hide his pain. It didn’t take a medical
professional to know what happened to him.

But Garaki would ask anyways. “Midoriya, are you alright?” This question seemed to prompt Izuku
to frantically cover his arm even more.

“Oh, me? It - it’s nothing! I was just… I got into an accident at school.”

“And did that accident happen to involve nitroglycerin?” Izuku froze up like a deer in headlights.
Garaki hoped to cool the boy’s nerves with the gentlest smile he could muster. “You should know
better than to hide injuries from a doctor. Now come on, tell me what’s happening.”

After a moment of deliberation, Izuku officially realized he had been caught and let out a reluctant
sigh. “Alright. It was someone at school, but I’m not sure if I’m comfortable giving names.”

Garaki already knew it was young Katsuki, on account of being the Bakugo’s family doctor as well.
But Izuku didn’t need to know that. “You don’t have to tell me who, but I assume this was a case of
bullying?”

“Yeah…” He stared down at his singed arm, absently poking at it despite the pain.

“And, correct me if I’m wrong, but am I right to assume the bullying has something to do with your
Quirklessness?”

“Kind of. Me and Ka - the guy who bullies me, we used to be best friends. We started drifting apart
after his Quirk came in and mine didn’t. At first, he just stopped hanging around me. But he seemed
to start hating me more and more as we got older. To the point where… you know.” He pointed at his
hurt arm, letting out a humorless chuckle. “You know, call it wishful thinking, but sometimes I
wonder if things would have turned out different if…”

“If you had a Quirk?” Garaki guessed. At Izuku’s silent nod, the doctor felt his grin widen
exponentially.

Time to commence Phase Two.

“This might sound crazy, Midoriya, but what if I told you I could give you a Quirk?”

The boy’s eyes were immediately back on Garaki. “You’re - You’re not joking around, are you?” He
asked with a pinch of cautious optimism.

“Not at all. It’s been a personal project I’ve been working on for a while now. It’s still in the early
stages, but it shows much promise. Here, let me show you.” He got up from his seat and strolled out
the door, beckoning Izuku to follow him.

After descending several flights of stairs, they soon found themselves in the morgue, something Izuku
was especially shaken by. “Um, Dr. Garaki, I’m not sure I like where this is going.”

“There’s no need to worry, Midoriya. The morgue has nothing to do with what I’m about to show
you.” He made his way to the edge of the room and inserted a combination into the wall tiles, which
opened the entrance to his secret lab.
“What is this place?” Izuku asked in awe as he surveyed the rows of vats filled with a purple liquid.
Garaki thankfully had the foresight to bring the Nomu to his other location. He was waiting until
Izuku fully turned evil to fully bring him into the fold.

“This is where I do all my Quirk research!” The doctor smiled, excited to finally show off his life’s
work to someone new. “Remember those conversations we had on the feasibility of Quirk
duplication? This is where I’ve been synthesizing DNA in order to - Hey! What are you doing?!” He
suddenly turned to Izuku, who was flipping through a stray filing cabinet.

“O-Oh! I - um - sorry!” He frantically shoved the files back into the cabinet before slamming it shut.
“W-What were you saying about Quirk duplication?”

Garaki rolled his eyes with a scoff. Kids these days. Can never keep their hands to themselves.
“Right, I was saying I’ve amassed a multitude of Quirks from DNA synthesis. And if you’d like, I
could perform a short operation that would transfer one to your body.”

Izuku gulped nervously for some reason. Must have been the lab’s creepy atmosphere. Perhaps Garaki
could switch out the purples for blues sometime. “Um, are you sure this operation won’t have any…
disastrous side effects?”

“Nope! Not if it’s only one Quirk. Plus, since you don’t have a Quirk factor, the transfer should be
seamless. It would be as if you’d have that Quirk for your entire life!”

“Okay…” He said with hesitancy, “But how long will this transfer take?”

“That depends. Stronger Quirks take longer to transfer than weaker ones. But since this is a first test,
it would be best to start with a weaker Quirk. In which case, that’ll take about twelve hours.”

Izuku’s hesitancy only increased upon hearing that. “Um, I’m not exactly sure my mom would be
comfortable with me staying overnight.”

Of course, Garaki knew that would be the case. Which was why he called in a few favors in advance.
Being the Symbol of Evil’s right-hand man had its perks, after all.

At that moment, Izuku’s phone buzzed in his pocket, which he took out and winced at the notification.
“Oh shoot! The trains have been indefinitely delayed by a villain attack!”

“Oh no. What a shame.” Garaki tried not to sound smug, but he knew he failed on some level. “I’ll
call your mother to let her know you’ll be staying at the hospital tonight. But first…” He strolled over
to his computer to download the information into the Quirk Transfer Chamber. “What kind of power
would you prefer?”

“Um, I’m not sure. Something fire-related?” Izuku shrugged, his mind seemingly elsewhere.

“The closest thing I have is a Quirk that turns your fingers into lighters.”

“I could probably become a hero with that…” He muttered to himself before speaking up with his
answer. “Alright, I’ll do it.”

“Excellent!” After a few button presses, the timer was set to twelve hours, and the Quirk Transfer
Chamber was all set to go. “Now all that’s left to do is wait.”

The green teen winced slightly as the chamber he was nestled in began filling with a purple liquid.
“And you’re sure this purple stuff is safe? I won’t drown or anything?”
“Of course you won’t. It’ll feel like you’re encased in a warm gelatin. Just let yourself be lulled into a
deep sleep, and tomorrow, you’ll wake up as a whole new man.” The doctor cheerfully waved
goodbye as the purple liquid encased Izuku’s head and his eyes slowly drooped shut.

———————————————

Twelve Hours Later…

With a cut-off snore, Garaki sharply awoke to the sound of his personal alarm. He drowsily hopped
out of his chair and cracked the kinks out of his back. He really needed to stop sleeping there, but
today was a special occasion.

He stepped over to Izuku’s Quirk transfer chamber, more than ready to let him out, only to glance at
the timer and see that Izuku still had to soak for thirty more minutes.

“Cheap equipment,” He frustratingly grumbled to himself, tempted to give the machine a kick out of
spite. “Hopefully All for One will fund some replacement chambers. These things are nearly as old as
I am.”

After thirty more minutes of impatient waiting, the transfer was complete, and Garaki felt his earlier
excitement return with a vengeance. “Ah, Midoriya, you’re awake! Tell me, how do you feel?”

Izuku tiredly stumbled out of the chamber while clenching and unclenching his fists. “I feel…
unfamiliar. There’s a weird feeling in my chest, and especially my hands.”

“That’s called a Quirk. Go ahead, try it out.”

Now regaining his footing, Izuku stared down at his palms and focused his energy into his fingers. In
an instant, a series of small flames sprouted from the tips of his digits. He breathed a quiet gasp as
small tears leaked from his eyes. “I… I can’t believe it… A Quirk. I actually have a Quirk.”

This tearful revelation was cut short as Garaki urged the boy out of his lab. “Yes, yes, very
impressive. Now come on, the trains should be running again by now, and it’s a long ride back to
Mustafa. You best hurry if you want to make it to class on time.”

“Oh, right! I have to show this to Kacchan! Maybe it’s not too late to make things better between us!”

“I wish you the best of luck. Just make sure to come right back here after school for some additional
checkups.” He waved goodbye as Izuku practically sprinted out of the lab. He almost felt bad for
playing into the green teen’s delusions of friendship. But it was the fastest and most effective way to
get him to understand, to give him a reason to succumb to the hatred inside him.

All Garaki needed to do was wait until it all came crashing down and then be there for Izuku to build
him back up in his own twisted image.

———————————————

After school that day, Izuku trudged into the doctor’s office with unshed tears that promised an
emotional breakdown, along with burn marks littered across his entire body.

Garaki pretended to act surprised. “Midoriya! What happened?”

“I… I…” He choked down a sob. “I thought having a Quirk would make things better between me
and Kacchan, that things could maybe go back to the way they were before…”
“Oh, Midoriya,” Garaki said with concern, mentally switching to ‘caring grandpa mode.’

“But… but you do know what he said? He said that nothing’s different between us just because I have
a Quirk, that no matter what I do, I’ll always be a weak, useless, worthless Deku. And then he…”

The dam broke, and Izuku burst into tears. Garaki was quick to comfort him in a hug, slowly rubbing
circles on his back.

Though his concern may have been prevalent from the outside, inwardly, he was positively giddy. The
line had been cast, and all Garaki had to do was reel it in.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through this, Midoriya.”

“Th-Thanks, but it’s not your fault,” Izuku responded through his sobs.

“Maybe not, but it still pains me to see you trapped as a victim of our hero society.”

The young man stilled for a moment, his sobs cut off, yet tears still streamed down his face. “Wh-
What do you mean?”

“You should know better than anybody. Your whole life, you’ve been derided as lesser than others due
to circumstances outside your control. Haven’t you ever resented the world around you for that?”

“I mean… sometimes.”

Garaki separated the hug and began to slowly pace back and forth around his office. “And if that
wasn’t enough, even when you do get a Quirk, your peers still treat you the same. They can’t see past
your old self. And even if they could, they’d likely continue to bully and belittle you for having a
‘weak Quirk.’ Wouldn’t you think?”

“I mean… probably.” Izuku shrugged, his body rested in a partial slouch.

“Let me ask you, have you ever wanted to take revenge on your bullies? On your teachers who
allowed the bullying to occur in the first place? On all of society for forever labeling you as
worthless?”

“I - I feel guilty for admitting it, but yeah, sometimes. But it’s not like there’s anything I can do about
it.”

Garaki laughed. “My boy, did you forget the chamber you woke up in this morning? I could give you
any Quirk you want. Better yet, I could give you the Quirk.”

The young boy’s eyes lit up with intrigue. “The Quirk?”

“Yes, the Quirk. One that allows its user to freely give and take Quirks as the user pleases. It’s called
All for One.”

“…Give and take Quirks?” He slowly repeated.

“Think about it! Wouldn’t it be great to steal your bullies’ Quirks and blow them up for a change?
Then you could nab a fire Quirk and use it to burn your useless school to the ground! And once
you’ve amassed enough power, you could steal the Quirks of pro heroes, mixing and matching them
to create the devastating Quirk combinations we talked about. It would all be in service of bringing
the very society that treated you like garbage to its knees!”
Panting to catch his breath after such an emotionally charged speech, he turned back to Izuku to offer
him a handshake to seal the deal. “So what do you say, Midoriya? Would you like to continue living a
life of oppression because of your Quirk status, or would you prefer to show everyone what a real
Quirk is?”

Izuku didn’t hesitate for a moment before reaching out and shaking the doctor’s hand, a determined
grin crossing his face. “I’m in. Let’s bring hero society to its knees.”

“I knew I was right in choosing you. Now let’s get started.” Garaki broke the handshake before
exiting his office to head down to his secret lab, Izuku following closely behind. “Now, since All for
One is a stronger Quirk, it’ll take several months of soaking in the Quirk transfer device to get it
acclimated to your body.”

Unfortunately, this duplicate of the Quirk wouldn’t include a copy of his master’s vestige, but he
could always add that in later if need be.

Izuku didn’t seem too satisfied with that information. “Several months?! I can’t just disappear for
several months unprompted! I already got one Quirk without telling my mom. I can’t do another.”

Garaki sighed. Of course, even though Izuku despised hero society, he still cared greatly for his
mother. Not that the doctor couldn’t relate, his love for his own mother was only second to All for
One. But it still posed an issue. “I assume you wouldn’t want your mother to know about your foray
into villainy, correct?”

“Not particularly, no.”

“Then there’s no need to worry, Midoriya. I’ll talk to your mother, make sure she knows where you’ll
be, and have her not suspect a thing.”

———————————————

“You want to perform experiments on my son?!” Inko loudly exclaimed as she leaned closer to
Garaki’s face.

“That is not what I said, Ms. Midoriya. It’s a procedure, not an experiment.” He scooted back in his
chair to regain some personal space. “Your son is a bright young man, and we both know a Quirk like
All for One would do him well, given his proficiency on the subject.”

Inko stressfully nibbled on her thumb as she mulled it over. Her mind raced as she took as many
possibilities as she could into account. “It would, wouldn’t it? B-But still, to put my baby in a several-
month-long surgery? I’m not sure if I can agree to that.”

With a shameful sigh, Garaki stood up and placed a hand on Inko’s shoulder “Have reason, Ms.
Midoriya. We both want what’s best for your son, and we both know he hasn’t had an easy life
because of his Quirk status. Do you really want to let him out into the world where he can be
discriminated against because of an extra toe joint?”

Inko sat silent for a moment. Her eyes slowly trailed across the floor as she seemingly had an entire
debate in her mind. Despite the fact he knew how this was going to end, Garaki couldn’t help but wait
with bated breath.

Eventually, Inko took a deep breath to collect her thoughts before spilling them out to the doctor.
“You know… after Izuku was diagnosed as Quirkless, he asked me, with tears in his eyes, if he could
still be a hero.”

She took a sharp inhale to stop herself from crying at the memory. “I couldn’t bring myself to say yes,
so I just hugged him and apologized profusely. I failed him that day. And not a moment goes by
where I don’t hate myself for what I said, for what I didn’t say.”

She slowly looked back up to Garaki, her face stern and her gaze piercing. “I don’t like the idea of
Izuku going through with this transfer, not one bit. But… I just can’t bring myself to crush his dreams
a second time. So yes, if it means he can be a hero, I’ll allow him to go through with the transfer.”

Garaki wanted to laugh. Heroism was decidedly not the path Izuku would be taking. But he’d play
along if it’d get him that approval. “Thank you, Ms. Midoriya. I promise this is the best course of
action for your son.”

———————————————

“So, doctor, you’ve been meaning to show me something?” All for One greeted as he slowly and
methodically stepped out of the portal. Garaki always adored his dramatic entrances.

“Yes, my lord!” He hopped from his seat and showed off the Quirk Transfer Chamber. Izuku’s
unconscious body could barely be made out through the glass. “Just like how you did with young
Tomura, I too have sowed a hatred of hero society into this boy. Of course, most of the pieces were
already there, all I needed to do was lead him down the correct line of thinking.”

“I see.” He placed his hand on the chamber. “And you wish for him to be an ally of sorts to Tomura?”

“And a backup, if needed. He’s already a month into receiving a copy of your Quirk. I plan on adding
your vestige once he’s fully acclimated. Think of it as a kind of test run for when it’s Tomura’s turn.”

All for One didn’t respond for a moment, causing Garaki to instinctively hold his breath out of fear
that he angered his lord. “Very well then,” The Symbol of Evil slowly nodded. “I appreciate your
initiative, doctor. If what you say is correct, then this one should do quite nicely.”

“Glad you agree, my lord,” Garaki nodded with a smile, “Just you wait. In a few months, this boy will
accomplish more than you could ever imagine.”

———————————————

A Few Months Later…

“Midoriya! Wake up! It’s finally time!” Garaki threw the chamber open and violently shook the boy
awake, paying no mind to the liquids that spilled everywhere.

“Huh… wha? Morning already?” Izuku yawned, his eyes still half-lidded.

“Do you feel it? Do you feel it in your hands? The overwhelming power of All for One?”

“All for…” His eyes shot open as his memories came flooding back. “Right, All for One! I do feel it!
In my hands!” He looked down at his palms and tapped into that feeling by curling his fingers in and
out. When he did, a pair of small holes appeared in the center of his hands. “Cool!”

“Indeed. But All for One is useless without other Quirks to take, which is why I’ve prepared a few in
advance.” Garaki handed Izuku a list of powerful Quirks he had in stock. “Go ahead, pick your
favorites.”
The boy’s eyes lit up as they trailed down the list. “Wow, these all sound great! I’m tempted to go
with the one that summons fireworks trucks, but I should probably prioritize versatility and synergy.
So I think I’ll go with Air Wall for defense, Hydra for close range, Bullet Laser for projectiles, and
Scanning for enhanced vision.”

“All excellent choices, especially for the next step of our operation.”

“Oh, what’s that?”

Garaki broke out in a grin as he rubbed his hands together. “If you want to take your revenge on the
society who cast you aside, the best place to start would be with your main tormentor, wouldn’t it?”

“You mean Ka - Bakugo?”

“That’s right! And I know from your notebooks that you’d love to get your hands on his Quirk. Isn’t it
just perfect?”

Izuku hesitated for a brief moment. What exactly he was hesitating about, Garaki couldn’t care less,
especially when he came to a decision soon after. “Sounds like a good idea. I can’t wait to show
Bakugo what I can do now,” He smiled, his fingers glowing purple with unfired bullet lasers. “But
first, I need to get acclimated to my new powers. I should be ready by tomorrow.”

“I shall see you then,” Garaki waved as Izuku exited the lab. When he was gone, the doctor leaned
back in his chair and let out a satisfied breath. He could understand why All for One loved scheming
so much, that feeling when a good plan came together was more addictive than any drug on earth.

———————————————

The Next Day…

“Are you sure he’ll be here?” Garaki asked as he and Izuku waited in an abandoned warehouse just
off the coast of Mustafa. Garaki had to hand it to his student, he knew how to pick some good
locations.

“Don’t worry, I know Bakugo better than anyone. He’ll never turn down a challenge if it means
proving himself as the undisputed best. Plus, I can see him with Scanning. He’s almost here.” Izuku
pointed to his glowing yellow eyes.

Just then, the moment Garaki’s watch struck midnight, Katsuki kicked down the door to the
warehouse and stormed in. His eyes immediately zeroed in on Izuku. “There you are, Deku!”

“Hello, Bakugo,” Izuku greeted with a calm, collected smile. It was nearly the spitting image of All
for One. Garaki couldn’t be prouder.

“What the hell have you been doing? You show up to school one day with a Quirk, then you disappear
off the face of the earth for months on end! I had to listen to my folks blab and blab about where you
went, all while Aunt Inko didn’t say a thing. And to be honest, it’s pissing me the fuck off!” Katsuki’s
gaze shifted over to Garaki. “And who’s this old fart?!”

The doctor scoffed in offense. “Come now, Bakugo, you don’t remember your own doctor?”

“Don't mind him, doctor. I don’t think he even remembered my name.” Izuku rolled his eyes. “But
let’s just say I’ve been spending these past few months improving, maybe even enough to take you
on.”
“So you wasted all those months of your life training that useless-ass Quirk you showed me?”

“Oh, I did more than just that,” He chuckled, causing Katsuki’s brows to furrow.

“Well guess what? I don’t care what kind of stupid training regiment you did. I can still prove myself
better than you no matter what!” Katsuki stepped back into a fighting position, sweat already pooling
up in his hands.

“Well, if we’re fighting, then I’ll give you the first shot.” Izuku stood with his arms wide open,
making himself look as big a target as possible.

“Oh, you just made a big mistake.” Katsuki blasted himself forward and pulled back a right hook.
“Time for you to DIE!”

With a wave of his hand, Izuku summoned an air wall in front of him, which Katsuki’s fist slammed
into. “Wh-What the hell is this?!” He yelled, blinking rapidly to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

“I told you, I’ve been improving.” Izuku released the air wall, sending Katsuki tumbling backwards.
“Not such a useless Deku anymore, am I?”

“Like hell you aren’t!” Katsuki got back up and tried to charge straight forward, but was forced to
blast himself to the side as Izuku fired a series of bullet lasers his way. Some of which managed to
graze the blond’s skin.

“As much as I enjoy watching you struggle, Bakugo, I’d rather end this quickly.” In an instant, two
blue hydras sprouted from Izuku’s back and chased after his opponent. Katsuki tried to blast them
away, but that only caused them to split into smaller hydras. One managed to sneak up from behind
and wrap its long body around him, trapping Katsuki’s arms to its sides. The other hydras quickly
followed, leaving the explosive teen completely immobile.

“How the fuck is this happening?!” Katsuki demanded as he tried and failed to force himself from the
hydras’ grasps. “You were supposed to be weak and useless! Where did you get all these extra Quirks
from?”

“Why don’t I personally show you?” With a smug, victorious smile, Izuku strolled over to Katsuki
and rested his hand on his face. Katsuki screamed and writhed around as much as his restraints would
allow, but Izuku’s hand remained firm and steady.

Orange embers slowly emanated off the blond’s body and floated over to Izuku before being absorbed
into his skin. When the embers disappeared, Izuku finally let go, leaving Katuski’s head slumped over
in exhaustion. “What… What did you do?” He said quietly.

“I did this.” Izuku pointed his palm up and released a small explosion. Katsuki’s face paled as he
stared in abject horror, his eyes wide, but his pupils small.

“Excellent work, Midoriya! Absolutely perfect!” Garaki loudly applauded. “But now I think it’s time
to finish the job, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I think I would,” Izuku smiled at Garaki before turning back to his now-Quirkless opponent, who
was still left unresponsive from what just happened. Izuku grabbed Katsuki by the chin and forced
him to meet his eyes. “Now do you know how it feels to be Quirkless, Kacchan? To be no different
from the Deku you spent ten years tormenting?”

Katsuki forced down a nervous gulp as he tried to say something, anything! “De - Izuku, I-”
“Nope! I don’t want to hear whatever half-assed excuse or apology you cooked up, Kacchan.” Izuku
pointed a finger at his former bully’s head and charged up a bullet laser. “There’s just one more thing
I’d like to say to you.”

“W-What’s that?”

Izuku leaned in closer, his emerald-green eyes mere inches away from Katsuki’s, which were
squeezed shut in anticipation. After a deep breath, Izuku slowly whispered his final message.

“…I’ll give you your Quirk back next week.”

“Huh?” Katsuki forced open a confused eye. At that same moment, the hydras lifted him off the
ground and chucked him out a nearby window, where he screamed as he went flying.

“He’ll be fine. He knows how to land in a roll.” Letting out a breath, Izuku dusted off his hands as the
hydras retreated into his back. “Phew, that was… that was a lot. Playing the villain isn’t as fun as it
looks on TV. I don’t know how you do it, Garaki.”

The doctor, meanwhile, just stood frozen in shock at the events that just occurred. “Wh-What the hell
was that?!” He eventually choked out. “I thought you were going to kill him! You were literally right
about to shoot him!”

“Yeah, I did that to sell the bit. I couldn’t actually kill Bakugo. Heck, I already feel guilty for taking
his Quirk.”

“What are you talking about? I thought you wanted to take revenge on your bully, to make him suffer
as you did, to-”

“To turn him into a Nomu?” Izuku raised an eyebrow, and Garaki felt his blood go colder than
normal.

“I - I never told you about the Nomu.”

“You didn’t have to,” Izuku shook his head, “I knew from the start.”

“From the start?! How?”

“Let me explain. It all began the moment I stepped into your secret lab…”

———————————————

“This is where I do all my Quirk research!” Garaki smiled as the walls to his secret laboratory
opened up.

Izuku was equal parts enthralled and concerned by the room his doctor apparently kept right next to
the morgue. Though the ominous purple light emanating from the rows of tanks wasn’t helping his
concerned side.

Speaking of the tanks, what was up with them? Were they for holding some kind of… Quirk sludge, or
something? Glancing around for a potential answer, Izuku laid his eyes on a row of filing cabinets
tucked away in a corner.

His impulsivity taking over, he opened up the top drawer and partially removed the first paper he saw,
its contents concerning him greatly.
It was a blueprint for some kind of monster called a Nomu, this one apparently being one of the later
prototypes. It had big wings, a blank stare, and an exposed brain. Now even more curious than before,
Izuku eyes trailed down to the description, only for dread to fill his stomach as the paragraph
revealed how the Nomu were made.

“Hey! What are you doing?!” Garaki’s yell rang out, startling Izuku out of his trance.

“O-Oh! I - um - sorry!” He frantically shoved the files back into the cabinet before slamming it shut.
“W-What were you saying about Quirk duplication?”

The doctor continued his tirade on Quirks, but Izuku found it hard to pay attention over the sound of
his rushing mind. He figured Garaki to be a little suspicious at first, but to know this man was secretly
performing human experimentations?!

And now that he thought about it, the wings on that Nomu looked awfully familiar. A shudder ran
down Izuku’s spine. He knew Garaki’s grandson was still alive, but the way things were looking now,
his days might be numbered.

Izuku knew he had to do something, but he wasn’t quite sure what that ‘something’ was. He figured
his best course of action was to play along until Garaki wasn’t looking, then he could look further into
this whole Nomu situation and develop a plan from there.

———————————————

Luckily, Izuku found the perfect opportunity to sneak around undetected when he was forced to stay
overnight for the Quirk transfer. He was worried the offer to give him a Quirk might have been a ploy
from the doctor to turn him into a Nomu, but the description from the blueprint said a Quirk factor
was needed as a base. Izuku didn’t have one of those (at least not yet), so he figured he was in the
clear.

When he was certain Garaki had fallen asleep in his chair, Izuku quietly exited the Quirk Transfer
Chamber and tiptoed over to the filing cabinet from earlier. Unfortunately, the rest of the files didn’t
give him much new information, just more Nomu stuff.

Izuku was about to cut his losses until he noticed a small notecard wedged in one of the files. Pulling
it out, he read the seemingly jumbled mess of letters and numbers and figured it to be some kind of
password, likely for the large computer sitting ominously at the end of the hall.

Izuku was correct on that front, as the password unlocked Garaki’s personal computer on the first try.
He spent the next twenty minutes reading through whatever file he could find. And by god, did he find
some eye-opening information.

Apparently, Garaki’s master was a man who’d been alive since the dawn of Quirks. All for One, as he
was called, had the unique ability to freely give and take others’ Quirks at will. As if that wasn’t
enough, the villain made it his life’s goal to steal All Might’s Quirk, which was redundantly called
One for All.

In order to do so, he’d been grooming a young man to have a deep-seated hatred of hero society for
years. A plan that would eventually culminate with Tomura receiving a copy of All for One, his hate-
filled spirit hopefully being enough to overpower the current One for All holder’s will. With all that in
mind, it became obvious that Garaki had taken on Izuku for a similar purpose.

Izuku felt like he needed to lay down. Possibly forever.

No! He forced himself to regain his composure by slapping his hands to his cheeks. He was in a
unique position right now. If he closed the computer and got back in the Quirk Transfer Chamber,
Garaki would likely be none the wiser to what he just found out.

And maybe if he played his cards just right, he could walk out of this with not only the villains behind
bars, but a few extra Quirks in his arsenal.

———————————————

“So you were the reason the timer was thirty minutes off that morning!” Garaki pointed accusingly.
“My chambers weren’t breaking after all!”

“I’m surprised that was the detail you focused on the most,” Izuku deadpanned, “But yes, I knew
about everything from the start. So I played along, I told you exactly what you wanted to hear so
you’d think you were succeeding in corrupting me. And you were so prideful about your
accomplishments, that you refused to second-guess yourself.”

“Hold on, hold on, hold on.” Garaki waved her hands to slow everything down, “So you’re saying
you made it all up? You didn’t actually want to destroy hero society? Bakugo didn’t actually beat you
up when you showed him your Lighter Fingers Quirk?”

“Er… no. Bakugo did beat me up that day. And when I broke down crying in your office, that wasn’t
fake either.” Izuku solemnly glanced down before continuing. “But no, I never wanted to destroy hero
society. I want to use my new powers to make it better.”

Garaki felt his legs tremble at the revaluation. He couldn’t believe it! He had been trying to turn a
wide-eyed idealist into a villain this whole time! “It doesn’t matter! You may be strong now, but All
for One is stronger. Once he hears of what you’ve been planning, there won't be a body left to
cremate!”

Izuku hummed. “You’re right. I don’t think I could beat All for One in a fight. But fortunately…” He
pulled out his phone and opened it to a live news feed, where All for One could be seen being carted
away to Tartarus by All Might, with the top ten pro heroes by his side. “I don’t have to.”

“W-What?!” Garaki snatched the phone and stared wide-eyed at the screen in disbelief, his jaw
practically on the ground. “But - But how did they… When did you get the chance to…”

“Yesterday,” Izuku kindly answered, “The moment I left your lab, I went and contacted the police,
who got me into contact with All Might, who then arranged a raid on All for One’s secret base. You
really shouldn’t leave a list of important addresses on your computer, by the way.”

The doctor’s mouth hung open, but not a sound came out as his legs gave out and he fell to the floor.
“N… No. This… shouldn’t be possible. It - it shouldn’t.”

“It very much is,” Izuku assured, right before the two heard a blaring police siren from outside. “Oh,
and I tipped the police off about all your forged identities, plus the fact your medical license has been
expired for decades.”

“WE KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE, GARAKI!” The voice of an officer sounded through a
megaphone. “COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!”

As Izuku watched Garaki’s unresponsive body get hauled off to jail, he stopped to take a deep breath
of satisfaction. He kind of understood why the doctor schemed so much. That feeling when a good
 plan finally came together was unlike any other.

That satisfied feeling stayed with him during the whole walk home. In a way, he was glad to have met
Garaki. Sure, he might have been able to become a Quirkless hero on his own. But with the doctor’s
help, not only could he now borrow any Quirk he wanted, but he also had four ultra-powerful extra
Quirks that could make him a greater hero than he could have ever imagined.

…But part of him still wished he had taken that fireworks truck Quirk.

Chapter End Notes

This was probably my longest and most ambitious chapter yet. Whether the extra effort paid off,
that's for you to decide. But I liked it, so that's good enough for me.

I'm not sure if anyone fell for thew whole 'villain Izuku' act he was putting on. I wasn't going out
of my way to convince the reader or anything, but statistically speaking, at least one person had
to have fallen for it. Right? Or maybe someone just clicked off because they thought I was
writing OOC Izuku. Little did they know, that was the whole point.

Also, I didn't touch on this in the chapter, but Tomura was also captured during the raid. All
Might's pushing for his rehabilitation, but progress will certainly be slow.

Also, also, Izuku’s gonna be totally blindsided when All Might offers him OFA, but not as
blindsided as Inko when Izuku tells her where all these extra Quirks came from.

Next Time: I need a palette cleanser after such a big chapter. How about I do someone I already
did a chapter on? Like how I did for Nighteye. Good? Good.
 Mei the Opportunist (The One Where She Works With Katsuki)
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Mei hated her old school. This was a fact of life. If you looked up ‘boring’ in the dictionary, you’d
find a picture of Mei’s old school. A DMV could only dream of being as creatively stifling. It was a
miracle Mei managed to create anything in that environment, which just stood as a testament to how
great of an inventor she was.

Her biggest roadblock at her old school was a lack of inspiration. Her area must have lost the genetic
lottery, because there were practically zero interesting Quirks she could make babies for. Heck, it
seemed like barely anyone wanted to be a hero. It was MADDENING!

Thankfully, the great supercomputer in the sky seemed to have heard her pleas, as her boring-as-beige
school was shut down due to the intervention of a rogue fireworks truck, leading her to get transferred
to Aldera Middle School.

Already, this new school was an improvement. There were so many more aspiring heroes, which
meant more potential clients to make babies for!

But she wouldn’t be satisfied with just anyone. The field of heroics was like a jungle, and Mei was
looking to form a symbiotic relationship with the school’s apex predator.

Lucky for her, it was remarkably easy to find out who sat at the top of the food chain. For all the
teachers, students, and staff agreed that there was one hero hopeful who stood above the rest, one with
such a bright future that they might give the likes of All Might and Endeavor a run for their money:
Katsuki Bakugo.

With her soon-to-be client in her sights, Mei wasted no time establishing relations. The moment she
saw that head of spiky blond hair sitting alone at lunch, she was up in his face faster than either of
them could blink.

“Hi! I’m Mei Hatsume! Future CEO of Hatsume Industries! Nice to finally meet you, ‘Splodey.”

For some unknown reason, Mei’s rather businesslike greeting prompted ‘Splodey to respond in a
decidedly non-businesslike manner. “Hi. Fuck off.”

Already, it seemed like this client was going to be a difficult one. Good. Mei loved a challenge. “Ha!
You’re a funny one, ‘Splodey. But let’s cut to the chase. I was told you were the top dog around here,
a great hero with an even greater Quirk.”

“Damn right. None of these other extras stand a chance in hell at getting into UA. Not if I have
anything to say about it,” ‘Splodey said in a prideful manner.

The line was cast, now all Mei had to do was reel it in. “Well, if you really wanna get ahead of the
curve, you should consider making some babies with me!”

‘Splodey choked on his food before leveling Mei with a rageful glare. “What the fuck?! Keep your
freaky-as-hell sex shit away from me!”
“Sex?” She tilted her head in confusion. “What does that have to do with baby-making? Sex won’t
give you a heat and weather-resistant jetpack, and it sure as hell won’t give you any support items.”

‘Splodey just blinked as he stared at Mei like she had grown a second head. “Are you talking about
support items?” He asked as if the answer wasn’t exceedingly obvious.

“Well duh! What else would I be referring to? So what do you say, ‘Splodey? Wanna work on a baby
that’ll make you the best hero in the world?”

He shoved a hand over her mouth, interrupting her sales pitch. “Can it with the baby shit,” He hissed,
“If your inventions are as crappy as your social skills, then there’s no way I’m going anywhere near
you. Now get the hell out, you extra.”

Ah, right… Mei almost forgot that her charming personality could throw some people off. But she
didn’t care. After all, her babies spoke for themselves. And she already knew how to make ‘Splodey
aware of that.

“Alright, whatever you say.” She got up and slowly walked away from the lunch table. But as she did,
she made sure to give her back pocket a little nudge, ensuring something would fall out.

“Oh no! I seemed to have dropped my Laser Pen™. That’s right, it’s a pen that doubles as a laser!”
Mei bent down to pick it up, only for another baby to slip out of her front pocket. “Oh no! I seemed to
have also dropped my Ultra Flashlight™, able to emit any conceivable light across the entire
spectrum, even ones imperceptible to the human eye!” She ‘dropped’ yet another baby during her
attempt to pick up that one. “Oh no! I’ve also dropped my-”

“Alright, I get it! You’re a genius!” ‘Splodey cut her off with a yell.

“Great! So does that mean you’ll be my client?”

“Fucking fine,” He groaned, his hand tiredly running down his face. “But I tell you what to make.”

“Awesome!” She grabbed him by the scruff and dragged him out of the cafeteria. “Just you wait,
‘Splodey, this’ll be the best partnership since KFC and Taco Bell!”

“Quit draggin’ me out of here! There’s no way in hell I’m skipping class!”

———————————————

True to his word, ‘Splodey didn’t budge on missing class to make some babies, meaning Mei had to
sit through another boring school day before the real fun could begin.

But when that last bell finally rang, Mei ran over to ‘Splodey’s classroom and practically dragged her
client away. It didn’t matter what conversation he was having with that green guy, it was baby-making
time!

“And this is where the magic happens!” Mei proclaimed as she opened the garage door, which set off
a built-in mechanism that triggered all her best and brightest babies to light up at once, creating a
colorful spectacle to catch any potential client’s eye.

“Tch, looks like a dump,” ‘Splodey stated as he walked in, his foot nudging aside a few stray parts
Mei had left on the ground. (She didn’t have time to clean up after herself last night, not when she
was on a roll with her robot boa constrictor).
“Well, the dump is where I get most of my parts. You find a lotta good stuff there. The kinda stuff
that’ll help me make your babies!” With that in mind, she pulled out a sketchbook and began drawing
up ideas that would no doubt make Da Vinci’s head explode. “Now, for my first idea-”

“Can it, Cross-Eyes. I told you before, I already know what you’re makin’ for me.” ‘Splodey pulled a
sheet of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Mei, whose grin widened exponentially as she
observed the sketch.

“Ooh! You want me to make a grenade-shaped gauntlet?”

“Yeah. My Quirk lets me sweat nitroglycerin, so I want a gauntlet that lets me build up a metric
fuckton of it to release in an even bigger explosion. And since you talk a big game, you better be able
to deliver.”

“You bet your explosive ass I can!” Mei exclaimed without hesitation. “But first I’m gonna need a
few measurements. My measuring baby is right over there.” She gestured to a pair of robotic arms
holding a tape measure.

“Yeah, no. That thing looks like a death trap.”

“What?! Never! This thing is completely, perfectly safe. Here, watch.” She stuck her right arm out to
the machine, and it wrapped the tape measure around her appendage so hard it turned purple. “See?
Completely safe!”

For some reason, ‘Splodey didn’t look so convinced. “Can you feel your arm at all?”

“Of course not! That’s how you know it’s working right!”

———————————————

Mei eventually conceded to her client’s demands and took the measurements herself. But after that
small hiccup, things were business as usual. The materials were easy enough to get. The only one she
didn’t already have was the green spray paint.

Lucky for her, ‘Splodey was kind enough to lend a few jars of his sweat for testing purposes. Though
she soon found this trial-and-error process to be more problematic than her past projects. Normally,
she was used to explosions signaling that she made a mistake. But now she was working with a baby
that was supposed to explode.

The whole ordeal made her head spin. And given her enhanced vision, that was a combination for
some pretty intense nausea.

But despite that small setback, Mei continued to work tirelessly for days to get her client’s gear up
and running. She even made a few suggestions of her own; of which ‘Splodey was very enthusiastic
about.

“Cross-Eyes, there’s no way in hell I’m letting you add an implosion setting to my gauntlets.”

“No, Cross-Eyes, I’m not gonna inhale fireworks chemicals to change the color of my explosions. I
don’t care how ‘non-toxic’ you made them.”

“For the love of god, Cross-Eyes, I don’t want you to elaborate on your ‘explosive diarrhea’ idea!”
“Cross-Eyes, if you think for a second that I’m gonna wear a pair of boots that funnel my explosions
into my feet, thus allowing me to fly easier… No, wait, that’s actually a good idea. Make that one
next!”

She wasn’t even done with her first assignment, and she had already been contracted to make a
second. If that wasn’t a sign of success, Mei didn’t know what was.

———————————————

After weeks of trials, tribulations, and explosions both good and bad, Mei finally had a working
prototype for ‘Splodey to try out, one she was 90% sure wouldn’t tear his arm off after firing.

“How does it feel?” She asked with a knowing grin as he slipped the gauntlet over his arm while
admiring the craftsmanship.

“Not bad.” He swung his arm around and did a few punches to see how the support item affected his
movement. Of course, Mei went out of her way to make it as lightweight as possible, so she knew
there wouldn’t be a problem there. “But how does it handle during a fight?”

“Only one way to find out.” With a snap of her fingers, a pair of drones dropped a large metal target
in her backyard, right in front of ‘Splodey.

After taking a few steps back and lining up his shot, the explosive blond yelled out, “DIE!” And
pulled the pin on his gauntlet, releasing a ginormous fireball that exploded like a dying sun upon
making contact with the target. When the smoke cleared, the target was shattered into hundreds of
tiny pieces of shrapnel, and the surrounding grass was burned an even darker shade of gray than
normal.

‘Splodey looked at the destruction, looked down at his gauntlet, and grinned. “Oh yeah, this thing
fucking rules.”

“That’s just what I wanted to hear!” Mei exclaimed as she emerged from behind her cover. “So did I
do good, or did I do good?”

“Knocked it outta the goddamn ballpark. None of the other extras at school are even gonna try to get
into UA once I tell them about this.”

Mei instinctively zeroed in on the part about free publicity. “Yes! Yes! Tell everyone about my
wonderful babies! Spread the word like there’s no tomorrow!”

As ‘Splodey left her lab with his new support equipment in hand, Mei couldn’t help but smile at her
accomplishments. After all those years of tinkering with her babies, she was finally able to put them
to good use. Hopefully, this would only be the start of a very successful and lucrative support career.

———————————————

The Next Day…

“Um… excuse me?”

Mei stopped eating her energy bar for a moment to look up at the new presence at her lunch table.
“Can I help you?” She asked slowly, which somehow prompted the green-haired guy to shrink in on
himself.
“I - I’m Izuku Midoriya-”

“Your name has already been forgotten!”

“I… Okay. But are you the one who made Kacchan’s new support item? He’s been bragging about it
all day during class.”

“I don’t know what the heck a ‘Kacchan’ is, but I’m totally the one who made ‘Splodey’s babies.”

Greenie stared in abject horror for a moment before seemingly coming to a realization. “Oh wait,
you’re referring to his support equipment, right? Not actual babies?”

“Of course I am! Why does everyone assume I’m talking about sex at first?” She threw her hands up
in frustration. “Seriously, everyone needs to get their heads out of the gutter.”

“R-Right… Well, I was just wondering if you were in the market for any other clients.”

Mei gasped as she grabbed Greenie by the arm to pull him in closer. “You want me to make you some
babies?! Well why didn’t you say so? Lookin’ to become a hero, I’m guessing?”

“Erm, well, yes,” Greenie answered with hesitancy. “But there’s a small caveat you should probably
know in advance. I don’t want it to cause any problems down the line.” Mei silently gestured for him
to continue, eager to get the boring stuff out of the way. “Okay. So the thing is… I’m Quirkless.”

Greenie held his breath and shut his eyes tight as he waited to hear what Mei had to say. Thankfully,
she was the type to make her opinions widely known. “You’re Quirkless and you want to be a hero?
That’s awesome! That means you’re gonna need twice the usual amount of babies in order to catch
up!”

Greenie slowly creaked one eye open, which eyed Mei with surprise. “So… you think I can do it?
That I can be a hero without a Quirk?”

“You can if you stick with me! Oooh, I’ve never worked with such a blank slate before. I already have
so many ideas!” Wanting to ride this idea high ‘till the day she died, Mei pulled out some paper and
began sketching so fast her arm risked falling off. “For starters, I’m thinking you could use about fifty
pounds of-”

“HEY!” ‘Splodey’s sudden yell cut through Mei’s concentration like a hacksaw. She turned to see him
stomping over to her and Greenie, his veins looking two seconds away from bursting. “What the fuck
are you doing, Deku?!” He got all up on Greenie’s face, prompting him to stiffen like a board from
fear. “You trying to steal my support engineer to help live your little pipe dream?”

“N-No, Kacchan! I wasn’t doing anything! I was just trying to-”

“AND YOU!” He cut Greenie off and whipped his head around in Mei’s direction, “What the hell,
Cross-Eyes? You’re supposed to be making me into a future number one hero. Why are you helping
this Quirkless nobody?”

“Hey, I never promised exclusivity.” She held her hands up defensively. “Working for multiple clients
is just good business. Plus, I like my babies to have variety.”

“Variety?! What kind of variety could that waste of space possibly provide you?” ‘Splodey demanded,
gesturing to a nervous-looking Greenie.
“Quite a lot, actually. Considering he’s Quirkless and all.”

‘Splodey didn’t seem too impressed. “Yeah, that’s the thing, he’s Quirkless, which means useless. It
doesn’t matter what kind of gadgets you strap on him, he couldn’t even beat up a purse-snatcher..”

“You - You don’t know that,” Greenie quietly spoke up, only to instantly be silenced by a piercing
glare from ‘Splodey, followed by a crack of his knuckles.

“I know that for a fact, Deku. And if you don’t believe that, I don’t mind having to drill it into your
thick-ass skull.”

As Mei observed the scene of Greenie cowering under ‘Splodey’s imposing form, which practically
cast a shadow over the smaller boy, she came to a sudden realization that threatened to change
everything. “Hold on a minute. ‘Splodey, are you a bully?”

“The hell?” All his attention was suddenly directed to Mei and her preposterous statement. “I’m the
future number one hero, not some dumbass middle school bully. I’m just trying to remind Deku of his
place.”

“Oh god, you’re delusional too.” Mei ran her hands down her face as she considered the implications
of her realization. “I can’t believe it. That gauntlet was one of my best babies, and I gave it to a bully
with an inferiority complex.”

“Hey! I already fucking told you, I’m not a bu-”

“Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time. So get your head out of your ass and listen to this, ‘Splodey.
Working with bullies is bad for business. Could you imagine the backlash Hatsume Industries would
get if you used that gauntlet on Greenie?” She didn’t even wait for him to answer before continuing.
“And since you don’t seem keen on doing anything about your attitude, you’ve given me no other
choice.” She reached into her pocket and handed him a letter of resignation. “I quit!” She cheerfully
yelled.

“W-Wha…” Splodey stared down at the letter for a brief moment. He opened it to find one of the
many properly worded and formatted documents Mei kept on her person at all times, just in case she
wanted to leave a toxic client. It was always good to be prepared!

With a growl, he crumpled up the paper and tore it to bits before blowing it up with his Quirk. “Fine! I
don’t need you anyways! I already got my gauntlet from you, which means I’m perfectly good to go!”

“That thing’s gonna fall apart without proper maintenance,” She smugly pointed out.

“Then I’ll fix it up myself! You’ll see! I’ll be a better support engineer than you ever could!” He
proclaimed before storming off.

“Good luck with that!” She cheered while waving goodbye. “I hope you like being on the receiving
end of the explosions for once!” With that annoyance out of her way, she turned back to her current
client, who was still standing in shock from what had just occurred. “Sorry ‘bout that, Greenie.
Getting back on topic, what do you think about rocket launchers? Because I think you’re gonna need
at least a dozen!”

“Yeah… that sounds good,” He slowly nodded.

———————————————
 The Next Day…

“Hey there, ‘Splodey,” Mei walked up to him as the two made their way to their respective classes.
“How’d the gauntlet maintenance go? You still wanna do it by yourself? You sure you don’t want a
hand with that?”

‘Splodey looked like he wanted to grab her by the neck and throttle her, but there was only so much
he could do with his arm in a cast. “Shut your goddamn trap.”

“Oh? You mean like how your gauntlet snapped down on your arm when you tried to perform
maintenance? You know, we have a saying in the support community: ‘Never try to milk another
farmer’s cow.’”

“The fuck does that mean?!”

“Of course you wouldn’t know, Mr. ‘Milks Another Farmer’s Cow.’”

He let out a deep snarl in her direction. “The second I get outta this cast, you’re dead meat. Got it?”

Mei laughed as she walked on ahead. “Sure, sure. Try saying that after I give Greenie all the force
fields he could ever want.”

Chapter End Notes

HEY! I got an announcement! I'm finally making that Mirio chapter extension I brought up that
one time. Go read Forcing History to Repeat. The first chapter is pretty much the same as it is
here, just with one MAJOR addition at the end. Check it out.

Anyways, back to this chapter, Mei and Bakugo are a fun duo for obvious reasons, but I also feel
like it's more realistic for Mei to want to work with whoever can get her the most publicity.
Heroics is a business, after all.

There's also a good chance she'll be making support equipment for other Aldera students, but I'll
save that for the next Sequel Snippets.

And in case you were wondering, Mei's phrase at the end essentially means, 'Don't tinker with
other people's babies'.

Next Time: Izuku joins the gardening club.

 Ibara the Gardener
Chapter Notes

ah ibara

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“GET BACK HERE, YOU DAMN NERD!”

Well, this was far from the best start to Izuku’s day. Not a minute after entering class, and he
accidentally stepped on Katsuki’s foot, who had started angrily chasing him through the halls in
retaliation. His palms flickered with sparks as he chased Izuku up the stairs, promising a world of
explosions once he was caught.

Izuku panted as he cleared another flight of stairs, his legs already feeling like jelly. Sure, it was a
half-decent workout, but he’d rather not get blown up this early in the morning.

Which was why when he finally ran out of stairs to climb, having made his way to the roof, he
whipped around and slammed the door to the stairwell behind him, pushing his entire body weight
against it so Katsuki couldn’t break through.

“Let me in, Deku! The longer you put this off, the more it’s gonna hurt!” The explosive blond
demanded from the other side.

“I’d rather it not hurt at all!” Izuku felt his bully repeatedly ram into the door, trying to force it open,
but Izuku wouldn’t allow it. Every tired muscle in his body screamed at him to keep the door shut at
all costs.

After what felt like an eternity of pushing, Izuku finally noticed a lack of force on the other side of the
door, and he felt his body begin to loosen up. Was that it? Had Katsuki given up? Could he get on
with his day?

“Tch, fine. Have it your way,” He heard Katsuki sneer, followed by a soft click from the other side of
the door.

Izuku felt his face pale as he realized the implications of that small click. Reaching down to the door’s
handle, he frantically jiggled it in every direction he could, only for it to hardly move an inch. “W-
Wait, Kacchan, what are you doing?!”

“It was your choice to be a coward, Deku, so now you have to face the consequences,” Katsuki let out
a small laugh as Izuku heard him turn and walk back down the stairs. “If I’m feeling generous, I’ll
come back for you at the end of the day. It’ll be nice to go to class without your stupid muttering ass
for once.”

“KACCHAN! WAIT! NOOOOOO!” Izuku repeatedly banged on the door in a fruitless attempt to get
Katsuki to turn around. When it became clear no one was coming, he slowly sank to the ground in
despair. “God… dammit.”
“My word. Such sinful behavior,” Said an unknown voice, prompting Izuku to turn and look, where
he saw a girl with long, green hair, standing right in front of what looked to be a small collection of
plants. “Are you alright?” She asked, her voice soft and full of concern.

Great… As if Izuku’s day couldn’t get any worse, he had to get someone else tangled up in this whole
mess. With his mind racked with guilt, he immediately went to apologize. “I am so, SO sorry about
this. I had no idea you were up here. You don’t deserve this to happen to you. Honestly, I should have
just let Kacchan-”

“Stop,” The girl said sternly, cutting Izuku off. “You needn’t apologize, for the blame rests squarely
on the shoulders of the wayward soul who locked us here in the first place.”

Izuku let out a breath, thankful that she at least didn’t blame him for the predicament they were
currently in. “Still, I’m sorry you had to end up in this situation.”

“I appreciate your concern, but while this situation is far from desirable, I prefer to see this as a form
of divine intervention. Perhaps you and I were simply destined to meet.”

“Oh, really?” Izuku perked up, “I guess that’s a nice way to look at it. My name’s Izuku Midoriya.”
He stuck out his hand for her to shake.

“Ibara Shiozaki.” She returned the handshake, her dark green eyes locking onto his shining viridian
ones for a brief moment. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Yours too. Now, before we commit to being trapped here, you wouldn’t happen to have a phone to
call for help, would you?”

“I’m afraid not. I left my bag near my desk before coming up here.”

“Darn. Same here. Guess we’re really stuck up here.” Izuku peered up at the blue, cloudless sky.
Spring was quickly turning into summer, and the slowly climbing temperatures reflected that. “If you
don’t mind me asking, why are you up here anyways? I’m guessing it has something to do with that.”
He pointed to the small garden that sat right behind Ibara, to which she nodded in confirmation.

“That would be right. I was setting things up for the Gardening Club.”

“I didn’t know there was a gardening club,” Izuku mused out loud. Then again, he didn’t know much
about most clubs, what with him being a social outcast and all.

“There… isn’t. I’m the only member,” Ibara admitted, her shoulders drooping slightly, “I was the only
member back at my old school as well.

“Oh, you’re new here?”

“Yes, I was forced to change schools due to what could only be described as an act of… I don’t want
to say divine intervention. It felt much more like the opposite.” She shuddered at the memories of the
fireworks truck. “Either way, today is my first day.”

“Oh…” Izuku gave an unfortunate sigh. Now he felt even worse for Ibara. Even a bad first impression
would have been better than none at all. He hoped this wouldn’t cause her to gain a reputation as
some kind of school-ditcher.

Ibara seemed to read the look on Izuku’s face. Not wanting to turn this into a pity party, she elected to
switch back to the topic at hand, non-subtly clearing her throat to get his attention. “Fortunately, being
the only gardening club member meant I could take the equipment with me when I transferred to
Aldera.”

“Ah, so that’s why these plants look fully grown.” Izuku bent down to get a closer look at the garden.
There wasn’t much in terms of variety, just tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, and sunflowers. But
something about the way the sun reflected off the morning dew that dripped off the leaves and vines
gave the small garden a downright ethereal, possibly angelic vibe. “They look nice. I can see you put
a lot of time and effort into them.”

“I’m glad you appreciate them, especially since we’ll most likely be consuming them for sustenance,
assuming no one finds us until the end of the day.”

“I look forward to it,” Izuku smiled, which was kind of weird to him. In just a few short minutes,
Katsuki’s punishment had turned into what seemed to be a fun experience. Then again, just about
anything seemed more fun than class. “Though, I’m not really looking forward to drinking from a
watering can.”

“I hope you’re not against tap water,” Ibara partially joked, earning a snort from Izuku. “But in all
seriousness, I should let you know in advance that my Quirk requires me to drink much more water
than the average person. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Your Quirk?” Izuk perked up, his eyes focusing on her long, green locks. “It has something to do
with your hair, right? They look a lot like vines, but I wasn’t sure if that was just me or not.”

“No, you are correct. My Quirk is called Vine, it allows me to extend and control my individual
strands of hair, which carry a plant-like texture and properties.” To demonstrate, she extended a vine
from her head, which slowly snaked over to Izuku.

“Woah…” He bent down and started poking and prodding at it, taking caution to not accidentally
touch the thorny parts. “This is a really interesting Quirk.” He picked up the vine and gave it a few
squeezes, his fingers leaving light imprints on the spongy softness. “Nice texture, too. Surprisingly
well-kept, just like your garden. If you don’t mind me asking, how sensitive are these?”

“Um… quite sensitive, actually,” Ibara stuttered out, her blushing face turned away from Izuku, who
was still enraptured in her singular strand of hair, obliviously touching it at every possible angle.

“Amazing. How far can these things extend?” He slowly ran his hand across the vine, practically
caressing it with fingers that Ibara found surprisingly soft. “Because depending on how far they can
go, you could probably use them to map out an entire city without moving your body an inch.”

Ibara, not wanting to lose her composure, retracted her lone vine from Izuku’s hand before taking a
deep breath and responding. “They can extend fairly far, up to half a mile. And yes, I have been
training my mapping and tracking capabilities for several years now, as they’re one of the most
important skills for a hero to learn.”

Izuku’s eyes lit up like a neon sign in Vegas. “You want to be a hero?!”

“Why in fact I do.” Ibara folded her hands and looked up at the sky, where a spotlight shone down on
her from above. “For it is my duty to use the blessing bestowed upon me by the lord above to bring
salvation to those less fortunate.”

Izuku, for his part, confusedly looked up to where Ibara was gazing. “Where did that spotlight come
from?” He murmured, pulling out a notebook and jotting it down on his page dedicated to Ibara,
which he had just started working on.

“Pardon me, but where were you storing that notebook?” Ibara asked with equal confusion.

“Uhhh… somewhere.” He slowly moved the notebook behind his back, where it seemingly
disappeared from existence. “But anyways, I’m sure you’ll make a great hero, Shiozaki! Especially
since your Quirk is so multi-faceted. With the right amount of control, you could use your vines for
attack, defense, and rescue.”

Ibara smiled at his compliment, but Izuku noticed a twinge of unfortunate sorrow in her eyes. “Your
kind words elate me, Midoriya. But while it’s true that I’m sufficient in both attack and defense…”
She threw up a small wall made of vines to prove her point, “I’m afraid strict rescue work may be out
of my league.”

“What are you talking about? You could potentially grab dozens of civilians at once with your vines
and… Oh, right, your vines. Your pointy vines.”

“Yes.” She nodded, grabbing a strand of her hair and absently poking at the sharp parts. “It’s been said
that every rose has its thorns, and I am no exception. As much as I’d like to take it upon myself to
enrapture in the lord’s holy embrace, it is simply not meant to be.”

Izuku couldn’t help but feel bad for her as he sighed and glanced down. That feeling was short-lived,
however, as he spotted Ibara’s gardening tools laying on the ground, and his mind quickly came up
with an idea. “What if we just… took them off?” He suggested, already slipping on a pair of
gardening gloves.

“I… don’t think I understand.” She confusedly tilted her head to the side.

“I mean, I know it wouldn’t be a permanent solution. But I think it would be nice to experiment with
what you could accomplish with a non-thorny head of hair. Here, watch.” He reached out to one of
her vines and snapped off a thorn with minimal effort.

“Are you positive you’d like to do this? As much as I appreciate your generosity, my thorns are rather
plentiful. Removing them all by hand could take upwards of several-”

“Hours?” Izuku interrupted with a small chuckle. “I think we have a bit of time to spare up here.”

Ibara let out a small, kind smile as she nodded determinedly. “Very well then. If that’s what you
would like to do, then let’s get started.” She slipped on a pair of gardening gloves of her own and sat
down with her legs criss-crossed, her long vines sprawled out on the floor.

Izuku sat down right behind her, picking up a few vines with one hand while popping off thorns with
the other. “This doesn’t hurt or anything, does it?”

“It does not. My vines don’t carry feeling in the thorny parts,” She answered as she used a trowel to
carefully remove one of the larger thorns before carefully dropping it into the ever-expanding pile.

Izuku hummed in mild amusement as the two fell into a comfortable silence, the only sounds being
the soft wind that occasionally blew past the rooftop and the faint rustling of vines as they continued
their menial but enjoyable task.

Neither of them was exactly sure how long they spent just sitting there popping off Ibara’s thorns one
by one, but they didn’t exactly care. It was a calming experience for the both of them. And while few
words were exchanged, they felt a sense of comfort in each other’s presence.
Right then, Izuku and Ibara were in their own shared bubble, sealed off from the rest of the world and
any other forces that could ruin the beautiful moment they were currently experiencing. Because in
their bubble, in their perfect world, that small moment of closeness lasted an eternity.

Of course, given the fragile nature of a bubble, it had to pop eventually. The two suddenly paused
their activity at the sound of Izuku’s stomach grumbling. “Huh, lunchtime already?” He looked up at
the sun to see it was in a completely different position than the last time he checked. “Wow, time
really flew by, didn’t it?”

“Yes, I suppose it did. A rather fortunate turn of events, if you ask me,” Ibara replied as she made her
way to the garden, Izuku following closely behind. Since neither of them had any plates or mats to eat
off of, so they just gathered what they could and shoved it into their mouths.

“Wow, this is really good,” Izuku said through a mouthful of tomato, immediately going in for another
bite.

“So I’ve been told.” Ibara gathered a small collection of strawberries in her palm. “But I can only take
so much credit. The lord deserves the biggest thanks for allowing such a harvest, especially at a
moment like this, when sustenance is hard to come by.”

“Yeah… not much food around here.” Izuku scanned the roof’s entire perimeter. The only other sign
of life he saw was a dead rat in the corner, wearing a tiny clown afro and large shoes (there was an
untold story there, but Izuku wasn’t sure he wanted to hear it). “But anyways, how long have you
been gardening?”

“As long as I can remember. My parents taught me at a young age. If you think this is impressive, I’m
sure you’d be quite surprised if you saw the garden in my backyard.”

“I could only imagine.” He bit into a pepper, which wasn’t nearly as spicy as it looked. “I’m sure it
would be a feast for the eyes as well. At least, if your flowers are anything to go off of.” He gestured
towards the neighboring bed of sunflowers. “Seriously, I nearly mistook them for food when I first
came up here.”

Ibara chuckled, plucking a sunflower and twirling it between her fingers. “Yes, they’re great. I
certainly wouldn’t recommend eating them, though. Side effects include constipation and vomiting.”

“I hope you’re not speaking from experience,” Izuku joked.

It became slightly less of a joke when Ibara slowly turned away from him, refusing to meet him in the
eyes. “…I was only six.”

Izuku could practically feel the embarrassment radiating off Ibara, so he quickly opted to change the
tone to something less potentially humiliating. “But - uh - I’m sure there are more things you can do
with flowers than just eating them. Like, uh…” In a small panic, he snatched the sunflower from
Ibara’s hand and nestled it in her hair. “Like that! It looks great on you!”

Without speaking, Ibara reached up and patted the head of the sunflower, her mouth forming into a
soft smile. “I’m sure it does. Thank you, Midoriya.”

And with that, the two finished their lunches and got back to dethorning. The tone was just as bright
as before, maybe even more so with the sunflower nestled in Ibara’s hair. In fact, Izuku could hardly
keep his eyes off it while he worked. He couldn’t help it, she looked really cute with it.
Though, while he was thinking this, Ibara couldn’t help the odd feeling in the back of her head. It was
something she had felt since she first met him, but it was only once she had gotten to know him better
that she decided to bite the bullet and ask him about it. “Midoriya, I probably should’ve asked you
this sooner, but about that miscreant who locked us on the roof…”

“You mean Kacchan?”

“Kacchan… Is that his name?”

“Well, no. His real name’s Katsuki Bakugo. Kacchan’s just a nickname.”

“If you have a nickname for him, I take you two are friends?” She asked with uncertainty, as that
assumption didn’t exactly line up with what she’d seen of him.

“Um, not really.” Izuku paused his dethorning and glanced away with a small sigh. “We were friends
once, but that was a long time ago. Things just haven’t been the same since…” He steeled himself
with a deep breath. “Since I was diagnosed as Quirkless.”

He looked over to Ibara to gauge her reaction, hoping it wasn’t disgust or pity. Thankfully, all he saw
was a brief look of surprise, which was a nice change of pace from the usual looks he got, so he
continued. “But yeah, ever since we were five, he’s been, well…” Opting to show instead of tell, he
rolled up his sleeve, revealing a faint burn mark on his arm. “This was from last week, and he was in
a good mood that day.”

Out of all the reactions Izuku was expecting, he didn’t think Ibara would immediately wrap him in a
tearful hug. That certainly increased his face’s temperature by a few dozen degrees.

“Midoriya, I am truly sorry for the suffering you’ve had to endure,” She said quietly.

“I - There’s no need to worry about it.” Despite his furious blushing, he tried letting out a smile,
hoping it would brighten the mood, but Ibara still seemed distraught. “It wasn’t that bad. And even if
it wasn’t me, it’d probably be someone else with a weak or useless Quirk. So in a way, I’m glad to
have potentially spared someone else from Kacchan’s ire.”

“Even so, it’s a sin you had to endure that treatment at all.” She slowly separated the hug and gave
Izuku a look of determination (a bit of a shame. It was a nice hug). “Izuku Midoriya, as your friend, I
promise to right the wrongs performed upon you by those of an unholy demeanor, and hopefully lead
them down the path of atonement.”

Izuku just sat there with his eyes wide, his mind transfixed on one word in particular. “You think
we’re friends?”

“Of course we are, Midoriya. For although the time we have known each other has been minuscule,
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. And as I’ve said before, I believe such a turn of events to
be an act of fate, one which I am eternally grateful to have experienced with you.”

“Well, thanks, Shiozaki,” Izuku blushed again (or maybe it was just the sunburn from being trapped
on the roof for so long. He couldn’t tell. Though that would certainly explain the redness on Ibara’s
face).

“You may call me Ibara if you wish,” She corrected.

“Oh, okay! You can call me Izuku then!”

“I would love nothing more,” She smiled.

“And, uh, thanks for everything else you said. It means a lot to me,” He bashfully added, “Believe it
or not, you might be the first person to stand up to Kacchan.”

“Believe me, the next time I see him, I will show this Katsuki Bakugo the true meaning of divine
judgment,” She turned and let out a light scowl at the roof’s locked door, as if she expected Katsuki to
pop out at any second.

(For some reason, Izuku’s brain imagined a scene of his friend going on a holy crusade in his name. It
was kinda flattering, he wasn’t gonna lie).

“You can do that later. Right now, your vines are almost completely dethorned.” He approached from
behind and quickly picked off the last of the thorns on her hair. “Aaaaaaaand… DONE!”

“Ah, yes, I nearly forgot.” Ibara’s scowl quickly softened as she began to take in her new thorn-free
hair, doing a little twirl to get a feel for the weight difference. “I must say, it’s a lot lighter than
before.”

“I think it looks nice,” Izuku grinned, “I’d hand you a mirror, but I don’t think there’s any… Oh
wait!” He grabbed a trowel from the garden and held up the flat side at Ibara’s face. Although her
reflection was a little bit distorted, she still felt a jolt of elation at the sight of her new hair.

“Yes, it looks just as good as I thought it would. Once again, I cannot thank you enough for this,
Izuku.”

“No problem. I actually had a lot of fun doing this with you. We should do it again sometime.”

“I would very much enjoy that,” She nodded, “But right now, since my vines are no longer dangerous
to touch, there’s something I’ve always wanted to do.” She closed her eyes and folded her hands in a
praying position as her vines began to tie themselves into strong, sturdy knots.

Within just a few seconds, two large, green, plant-like poles were sticking out of the ground. Soon
after, they were connected by dozens more interlacing vines, which formed into the shape of a rather
large hammock.

Izuku excitedly grinned at the display of her Quirk. “Wow, that’s incredible. Where did you learn to
do that?”

“Knitting and crocheting are among some of my favorite hobbies.” She sat down on the hammock and
patted the spot next to her. “Come. Sit. We worked on this together, it’s only fair you get to reap the
fruits of your labor.”

“I - Me?!” Izuku confusedly pointed to himself, his cheeks beginning to flush red. “You? Me? Laying
next to each other? On a hammock?!”

“Please, Izuku, it’s just two people lying together on a hammock. It’s not nearly as sinful as you make
it out to be,” Said Ibara as her facial color slowly began to match his. “…Besides, I made this with
both of us in mind. It just… wouldn’t feel right if you weren’t there.”

Izuku just couldn’t say no to that (not that he wanted to), so he sat by Ibara, and slowly unfurled his
body on the hammock. He felt his nervousness spike as their shoulders touched, but after the initial
shock wore off, he felt the tension in his muscles reside as he began to relax on the tangle of vines.
And boy, were those vines comfortable. If he hadn’t seen Ibara make the hammock, he would have
mistakenly believed it was made of some kinda earthy fabric instead of a jumble of vines. “This is
really nice,” He sighed, “How do you get it this soft? Do you use some form of plant-based
shampoo?”

Ibara chuckled. “No. Just regular shampoo.”

He leaned up to fix her with a perplexed look. “Really? That actually works?”

“I mentioned this before, but my vines are still my hair, just with vine-like properties. The only
difference is that I require more sunlight and water.”

“Have I mentioned how amazing your Quirk is?”

“You have, but I wouldn’t mind hearing it again. It feels… nice coming from you. Very genuine.”

“Well then I’ll say it again. Your Quirk is amazing.” He yawned, giving his limbs a nice stretch as he
soaked in the warm spring sun, accompanied by a near-perfect cool breeze. “Seriously, I might
actually fall asleep here.”

He rested his arms back at his sides, only for several alarms to go off in his head when he realized one
of his hands had landed on top of Ibara’s open palm.

The two immediately froze up at the touch, their eyes widening and pupils dilating. Slowly their gazes
shifted down to their hands, both silently unsure of what to do next. Izuku’s first instinct was to rip his
hand away and apologize profusely. But strangely, there was a part of him that didn’t want to, a part
of him that craved the tender softness of her hand and wanted more.

And in what was perhaps the boldest thing he had ever done in his life, he listened to that part of his
brain. At a glacial pace, he began to wrap one of his fingers around hers, all while his heart hammered
so loudly in his chest that he was almost certain Ibara could hear it.

Hoping he wasn’t making a huge mistake, he peered up to her face to gauge her reaction, praying it
wasn’t one of disgust. As their eyes met and his breath stilled, he saw Ibara’s face was one of
bewilderment, as if she was trying to process things at the same speed he was.

Fearing the worst, Izuku began to unhook his fingers from Ibara’s hand. But to his surprise, she
suddenly tightened her grip in retaliation. With a silent gasp, Izuku was left with no other choice but
to return the gesture.

And just like that, the two were holding hands.

Neither was sure how long they spent laying in silence, peering into each other’s eyes with their hands
intertwined. But they were both snapped back to reality as Izuku slowly opened his mouth to speak.
“…Are we taking this too fast?”

“…Possibly,” Ibara blinked, “But that isn’t exactly something I’m vehemently against. From what
I’ve seen of you, you’re a kind, wonderful soul, Izuku. And if you’re okay with it, I’d like to have
more opportunities to spend time with you and get to know you better.”

“You - You mean…”

“Yes.” Ibara sat up and cleared her throat, her cheeks coated with a light dusting of red. “Would you
perhaps like to go on a date sometime?”
Izuku gulped, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. “A d-d-d-d-date?”

“It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant. We could just… go to the park, or go out to see a movie.
Truthfully, it doesn’t matter to me. So long as we can spend more time together as we have today, I
think I would enjoy myself.”

Honestly, Izuku would have to agree. If today had taught him anything, it was that he enjoyed being
around Ibara. How could he not? She was just so kind, understanding, affirming, and gentle, possibly
to an unbelievable degree. Comparing her to an angel wouldn’t be considered a stretch for him. And
with beautiful hair and a soft, calming, he could hardly believe she could possibly be into a guy like
him.

But a quick pinch on the abdomen revealed that this wasn’t a dream, that Ibara actually wanted to
have a closer relationship with him. And with that in mind, there was only one response he could
give. “I think I would enjoy it too, Ibara.”

She let out a grateful breath which Izuku didn’t even realize she was holding. “Thank the lord,” She
muttered under her breath.

But before either of them could properly celebrate, they heard a light-clicking sound from the other
side of the door. Turning, they were greeted by the sight of Katsuki grumpily kicking the door open
while his hands rested in his pockets.

“Alright, Deku. The only reason I’m here is because people are getting suspicious of…” He trailed off
as he realized Izuku wasn’t the only other presence on the roof. “Who the hell are you?” He asked
Ibara, who immediately narrowed her eyes at him upon his arrival.

“Ibara Shiozaki, the girl who you unknowingly locked on the roof alongside Izuku.”

Katsuki scoffed. “Tch, like I care. It’s your fault for being on the roof in the first place.”

Her glare deepened. “You’re mistaken. It’s your fault for committing such a sinful act in the first
place. And if what Izuku has told me is true, then this is merely another entry on the list of atrocities
you’ve brought upon him.”

“Hey! What I do to Deku is none of your damn business! Why the hell do you care anyways?”

“It’s called empathy, perhaps you should pick up a dictionary and learn about it sometime.” Ibara
paused to take a deep breath, not wanting her anger to get the better of her in this situation. If it did,
then she would be no better than the bully she was calling out. “But it’s not just that. As much as I
care for Izuku’s well-being, I care for yours as well.”

“Well you can take that concern and shove it for all I care,” Katsuki spat back, “I’m doing great, and I
don’t need your damn pity!”

“I never said I pitied you. I’m merely hoping that one day you’ll find it in your heart to repent for
your sins and walk the path of redemption, where you may hopefully reach salvation and come out a
better person.”

He let out a condescending chuckle. “Oh, so you’re one of those religious types, aren’t you? What are
you gonna do, pray until I suddenly decide to leave Deku alone?”

“That is where I intend to start, yes.” Ibara shut her eyes and brought her hands together in a prayer.
“Dear lord, please find it in your heart to forgive Katsuki Bakugo for his misdeeds and assist me in
leading him down a better path.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Really? Like hell that’s gonna-”

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning materialized out of nowhere and struck him down, leaving his whole
body charred black as he fell to the ground.

Izuku and Ibara just silently stared at Katsuki’s electrified body, a mix of shock and confusion
preventing them from speaking up. Eventually, Izuku managed to overcome this blockade in his
throat. “Ibara, what the heck just happened. Did - Did you do this?!”

“I - I don’t know!” She frantically responded. “I just - I know the lord works in mysterious ways, but I
wasn’t expecting this!”

“Yeah, I’ll say.” Izuku tilted his head upward, where he took note of the completely cloud-free sky.
“Maybe Kacchan’s path to redemption involved him being humbled in some way, I don’t know.”

“Either way, we should call the paramedics.” Ibara was about to leave to grab her phone, but her path
was suddenly blocked as Katsuki, despite all odds, forced himself to get back up.

“You really think a little lightning can keep me down? You’re not getting rid of me so easily,” He
snarled, rolling up his sleeves and popping several threatening explosions on his hands as he ragefully
stormed up to Ibara. “I don't know what the hell you just did to me, but I'm gonna make sure you pay
for it.”

Despite Katsuki’s threat, Ibara didn’t look worried in the slightest, keeping her usual stern yet calm
expression. “No, I don’t think you will.”

“Oh yeah?! And why’s that?”

“Because Izuku remembered to wear his gardening gloves.”

“…What?” Before Katsuki could comprehend that statement, a large clump of thorns struck him on
his left side, spreading dozens of cuts across his face and clothes.

“Leave her alone, Kacchan! She was just trying to help!” Izuku commanded, grabbing another
handful of Ibara’s discarded thorns to fend off Katsuki with, should he decide to go for another attack.

“Fucking… ow!” He yelped as he plucked a thorn from his cheek, eyeing it with disdain before
turning to snarl at Izuku. “I see how it is, Deku. You think you’re hot shit just because you found
someone who tolerates your existence. Looks like I’ll have to beat you back into sub-”

“That’s enough,” Ibara calmly commanded, her vines quickly moving to entangle Katsuki like a
burrito, with one in particular wrapping around his mouth. He wildly thrashed against the restraints,
spouting out every profanity he could think of through the gag, but he clearly underestimated the
strength of Ibara’s Quirk.

With her head held high, she dragged the Katsuki burrito down the stairs as she beckoned her friend
(and possible boyfriend) to follow. “Let us be off, Izuku. We need to deliver this man to the nurse’s
office, and then hopefully the principal’s.”

Izuku went to follow, but something on his face screamed ‘uncertainty’. “As much as I’d like to take
him to the principal’s, he usually doesn’t get in trouble for these kinds of things. The teachers are kind
of biased”
 Ibara let out a frustrated sigh. “Very well then. If this school will not bring justice upon the wicked,
then I suppose I will have to suffice.” She moved her vines to bring Katsuki close to her face, giving
him a great look at her cold, menacing glare. “Hear this, Katsuki Bakugo. I don’t like to consider
myself a violent person, but if you continue down this path of wrath and try to hurt me or Izuku again,
I will make Jesus’ crucifixion look like a tickle in comparison.”

Izuku felt a chill run down his spine. Both because Ibara’s tone was super threatening, and because it
was super hot. And for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out which feeling would be better for him to
focus on. Though, part of him was sure he would figure out with time.

Chapter End Notes

Several commenters have made suggestions for a potential Ibara chapter before, but I had the
idea of them getting stuck on the roof together before I read any of those comments. Great minds
think Ibara, I suppose.

I didn't realize how much I needed IzuBara in my life until I started writing this. Seriously,
they're just so sweet, and wholesome. It's making my teeth rot in real time. Shame I can't add it
to the tags though.

I feel like I should let you guys know of a scrapped scene where Izuku and Ibara discuss their
personal beliefs, and Izuku compares All Might to God, to which Ibara reluctantly agrees. I just
couldn't find a natural segue to include it, but it was funny enough that I still had to mention it.

Also, apologies for depicting such graphic scenes of hand-holding before marriage. I don't know
what compelled Ibara to go against her religion like that, but it looks like I'll have to raise the
fic's age rating as a result.

Next Time: Magic!

 Mr. Compress the Magician
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Atsuhiro Sako, AKA Mr. Compress, was many things: A dashing thief who always kept the
authorities on their toes, a card-counting blackjack champion in at least a dozen different casinos, and
the heir to the legacy of one of the world’s greatest criminal minds.

But above all else, he was a showman through and through.

“Pick a card, any card.” He presented his deck to a curious woman, who grabbed one near the center,
as most of his audience participants did. When she put it back in the deck without him looking (not
that they’d be able to tell through the mask he wore), he began rapidly shuffling the cards in almost
every way he knew how.

Compress absolutely adored the mesmerized looks the audience gave as he practically juggled the
cards in his hands while making it look like the easiest thing in the world.

That was part of the reason he never stopped performing street magic even after he began his foray
into crime. Everyone had their purpose in life, his was to entertain. As far as he was concerned, life
was a stage, and he was the main act.

But of course, it also helped to brush up on his skills in preparation for whatever heist he had planned
that week. Both thievery and magic relied on misdirection, so it was a surprisingly applicable skill.

And speaking of misdirection, Compress saw how the crowd was so transfixed on his card-shuffling
handiwork that they didn’t notice when one went missing from the deck. He took a short breath in
preparation for his next move that would surely blow his audience away.

“Hmmm…” He slowed down his shuffling to get a good look at the deck, where he pretended to
notice something was off. “It seems as if I can’t find the card I’m looking for. Perhaps it could be…
right here!”

In a flash, he removed his top hat. And with a puff of smoke, a dove came flying out and perched
itself on the woman’s hand, holding a four of clubs in its beak. “Is this your card?”

“Oh my god, it is!” The woman smiled, prompting the small audience to applaud. Compress bowed,
soaking up the praise like a sponge.

“Oh thank you, thank you so much. You’re too kind. This next trick will be my last of the evening,
but I intend to make it the most spectacular one yet!”

Steeling himself, he gracefully walked up to the nearest audience member and non-subtly reached
behind his ear. “What’s this? A dime?!” He asked in mock surprise before reaching again. “Oh, and a
quarter too!”

The crowd had a light chuckle at Compress’ antics, but he knew this would only be the beginning of
their amusement as he reached behind the man’s ear once more. As he did, he rolled a marble down
one of his oversized sleeves and into his hand. He deactivated his Quirk, and the object stored inside
the marble burst out. “What’s this? An internal combustion engine?! My word! How much space do
you have behind that ear?”

The crowd laughed uproariously as Compress continued on. “Well then, I suppose I’ll take this off
your hands.” He took his hat in one hand and the engine in the other before smashing the two
together. At the same time, he compressed the engine back into a marble, giving the illusion he
somehow managed to stuff it inside the hat.

The crowd ooed with delight, just the reaction he was looking for. It made for a perfect segue. “Oh, I
see you’re impressed by my hat. Would you like to see what else it can carry?”

At the audience’s encouraging cheers, he sat the hat down on the ground, pulled out a magician’s
wand, waving it in circles around the brim. “Abra… cadabra… alakazam!” He called upon his Quirk
yet again, decompressing a marble he left in his hat.

What happened next could only be described as pure, unadulterated magic. A large fireworks truck
popped out of the hat and landed on the road, where it proceeded to fire a brief yet impressive
fireworks show before driving off. “TA-DA!” The magician cheered.

Just about everyone on the street - even those not involved with the magic show - lost their collective
minds. They applauded, tossing coins and bills into the Compress’ hat. And while the monetary gain
was nice, the adoration of others was worth more to him than all the gold in Atlantis.

“Thank you, thank you, you’ve been a terrific audience! And I hope to see you again soon!” He
bowed while waving goodbye as the crowd began to disperse. And considering he just illegally used
his Quirk to release a fireworks truck from his hat, he figured he should do the same before the cops
arrived.

As he packed up his stuff, he spotted an extra presence from the corner of his eye. It was a short
green-haired boy, one he recognized as an audience member from the show. He saw him pacing back
and forth in deep thought as he mumbled something to himself. Being a curious fellow who never
wanted to mind his own business, Compress listened in.

“-Had to be a Quirk, but what kind? Maybe teleportation? Spatial manipulation? Illusions, perhaps?
No, that all looked pretty real. I should probably write this down.”

It was then the green-haired boy pulled out a notebook from seemingly nowhere, drawing Compress’
attention like a fish was drawn to a worm on a hook. “My, my, if I had known there was a junior
magician in my audience, I would have pulled out a few more complicated tricks.”

The kid looked up from his book and fixed the magician with a confused glare. “Huh? Are… Are you
talking to me?”

“Of course I am. Do you see any other magicians in the vicinity?”

The boy whipped his head left and right to double-check. “Um… no? But I’m not a magician. I don’t
know magic.”

“Then what was that you did with your notebook just now?”

“My notebook? I just pulled it out of my…” He trailed off for a moment as his hands began to search
his pockets and bags. “Hold on, where did I pull that from?”

“Just as I suspected, you’ve got the sleight of hand, even if you aren’t completely aware of it.”
“Are you sure it’s not a dormant Quirk or something? Because I’m not sure the ability to materialize
notebooks out of nowhere is completely natural!” The boy’s search started to get more and more
frantic, so Compress snapped him out of it by flicking a marble at his forehead. “Ow.”

“There is no need to panic, Mr… uh… Your name, please?”

“Izuku Midoriya.”

“There is no need to panic, Midoriya. Your sleight of hand is not something to fear. It’s just a sign
your inner magician is trying to make itself known. Many magicians show talent at a young age, and
you and I are no exception. Why, when I was fourteen, I made my own father disappear.”

For some reason, Midoriya let out a sympathetic wince before responding. “So you’re saying I can
learn magic?”

“Of course you can. Anyone can! But I’m sure you’ll have a much easier time than most, so long as
you follow my tutelage.”

Midoriya had to do a double-take. “Wait, you’re gonna teach me? Are you sure you want to do that? I
wouldn’t want to impose or anything.”

“You’re not imposing. In fact, I’d be delighted to take on a student of my own! The world could do
with a few more magicians like you and I, you know.” Compress reached into his coat pocket and
handed Midoriya a card. “Here’s my Discord account. We’ll meet in video chats once a week. I’d
invite you to come over in person, but I’m in the process of moving.” (Read: He was on the run from
the cops).

The boy took the card and stared at it in his hands. “I suppose it’s worth a shot. Thank you for giving
me this opportunity, Mr. Compress. I look forward to learning from you.”

“As you should,” He nodded, the smile behind his mask as smug as could be. “Now I must be off. But
I look forward to our next meeting. Ta-ta!” He grabbed a smoke bomb from his pocket and performed
his famous disappearing act.

“Woah, how did he do that?” Midoriya asked, not noticing the loose sewer grate right next to him.

Needless to say, Compress’ trek home was far from a pleasant one.

———————————————

Over the next few months, things progressed pretty much as Izuku expected. Once a week, he would
meet with Mr. Compress over video call and would be taught some new and interesting trick, which
he was expected to practice over the next seven days and present to his mentor at the start of their
next lesson.

There was certainly a large selection of tricks for Izuku to learn; from something simple like making
it look like he removed his thumb, to difficult tricks like seamlessly swapping out small objects in his
hand. But no matter what, it usually centered around quick hand movements in order to fool the
audience. ‘Illusion’ was the name of the game.

Of course, there were also less conventional classes as well, such as when Izuku had to sit through
Compress’ hour-long rant about why David Copperfield was a complete hack of a magician. It was as
informative as it was weird.
But out of everything he was taught, Izuku’s favorite subject to come back to was card tricks. His
mentor was right about him, he really did possess sleight of hand. Because the moment he got the
hang of shuffling a deck of cards, he found it difficult to put them down.

Of course, he knew this was mostly because he was just a jittery guy and liked having something to
keep his hands busy, but he also found the concept of card tricks in general to be fascinating. Fifty-
two cards, four suits, thirteen values, and nearly infinite possibilities for trickery and misdirection.
And that wasn’t even counting the dozens of ways to shuffle a deck.

He couldn't get enough. He found so much simple joy in learning and mastering as many tricks as he
could. And of course, he always had the best audience to practice his skills on.

“Wow, Izuku, that was amazing!” Inko applauded after he seemingly changed a king of diamonds to a
queen of diamonds (which was really just a matter of subtly sliding one card under the other without
anyone noticing). “How do you do that?”

“Ah, ah, ah, a magician never reveals his secrets.” He playfully wagged a finger at her. “I mean…
literally. My teacher made me sign a contract to not reveal any of my tricks. A bit redundant since you
can easily find them on the internet, but I digress.”

“He sounds like a very… motivated man.”

“He is. He takes magic very seriously. It kind of scares me sometimes.” He was about to go on, but a
notification from his phone diverted his attention. “Speaking of which, it’s almost time for our
lesson.”

Izuku made his way to the computer and opened up the video chat site, where Compress was already
waiting for him, dressed in his usual orange trench coat and white mask, whose black and white
decals were different every week. Today’s was a collection of diagonal stripes.

“Good to see you again, Midoriya. How has your progress with the card-changing trick been coming
along?” He asked while absently rolling a couple marbles between his fingers.

“It’s been going great! In fact, I just pulled off the trick before you called.”

“Excellent! How many tricks does that make again?”

“I think around thirty-six? Thirty-seven?” Izuku counted on his fingers as he tried to mentally keep
track.

“Either way, that’s a fine amount of tricks to have in your repertoire. I believe you’re ready to move to
a bigger stage, so to speak.”

He curiously cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I’m referring to expanding your audience, of course! Try performing in front of a crowd for once.
Maybe a park, or out in the street, or maybe just your school. You know what? Yeah, your school.
Let’s go with that.”

Izuku felt sweat bead up on his forehead at Compress’ suggestion. “You - You want me to perform
magic at my school? In front of an audience? In front of my classmates?!”

“Of course. Every magician has to find their audience one way or another. You could have the best
tricks in the world, but it would all be meaningless without anyone there to witness you perform.”
Izuku knew that was a good point, but his anxiety-riddled brain told him otherwise. “But - But what if
I mess up? What if I fumble my deck or drop my props in front of everyone and they laugh at me? I
could never show my face at Aldera again!”

“Hold on now.” Compress held up his hands to grab his student’s attention before he could spiral any
further. “I’m not saying you need to hold some big show in front of the entire school. It would be much
easier and less stressful to start with a single person and slowly build an audience from there.”

“A single person…” Izuku quietly repeated, his face devoid of emotion as he weighed the pros and
cons in his mind. “I guess it wouldn’t be that different than practicing on my mom, right?”

“Yes, just replace a middle-aged woman with a teenage boy or girl.”

“Well when you put it like that, it actually sounds very different.” He sagged in his chair.

“If it’s stage fright you’re worried about, then might I suggest imagining everyone in their
underwear? It always works for me.”

“No, that would make me even more nervous… and aroused.” Izuku shook his head while trying to
cover up his reddening face. “Got any other advice?”

Compress shrugged. “The best I can offer is to simply get into the groove. Oftentimes with performers,
they’ll feel a similar anxiety to yours prior to showtime. But the longer they perform, the more they
disappear into their role, and their hang-ups will soon be forgotten.”

Izuku gave a reluctant sigh. “Well, I guess I could give it a shot.” The nervousness of performing for
his classmates still hung over him like a foreboding shadow, but the least he could do was say he
tried.

“Excellent!” Compress smiled behind his mask. Just then, a siren could be heard from his side of the
call as his apartment was bathed in red and blue lights. “My apologies, Midoriya, but it seems this
week’s lesson will have to be cut short. Keep honing your skills, and I hope to see you work up the
courage to perform.”

“Right, see you soon.” Izuku casually logged off the video chat. He knew his teacher was involved in
some form of crime, but Compress assured him that no one got hurt during his silly little attempts at
grand larceny, so all was good.

But he couldn’t focus on that right now. He grabbed a card from his deck and stared at the pattern
adorning the backside. He still wasn’t sure if he was up to the challenge of performing in front of his
classmates, especially since most of them either ignored him or hated his guts.

But maybe he was looking at it the wrong way. As he just said, no one really liked him at school, so it
wasn’t like his reputation could sink any further. What did he have to lose?

Izuku nodded to himself. It was a rather dour way of thinking, but it kind of worked for him. Like he
said, he could at least try. And if he failed, it wasn’t like anyone at school would really care.

———————————————

Nerves were high the next day as Izuku sat at his desk while non-subtlety shuffling his pack of cards.
It had become a bit of a calming method for him when he started learning magic.
This wasn’t the first time he brought his cards to school, but he previously made sure no one noticed
by hiding his hands under the desk. Today, however, he was looking to turn some heads (not in a sexy
way or anything, he wasn’t that kind of magician).

“What are you doing?” Asked a black-haired boy as he passed by, whom Izuku quickly recognized as
Kimura.

Thankfully, this was just the question Izuku had been waiting to be asked. “Who, me? I’m just
shuffling cards for a magic trick,” He tried to answer as casually as possible while ignoring the
nervous beating of his heart. “Wanna see?”

Kimura glanced up at the clock, where they still had ten minutes until homeroom began. “Sure, why
not?” He sat down across from Izuku, who took a deep breath before presenting him with the deck.

“Pick a card, any card!” He rattled off the cliche yet effective line.

“Sure,” Kimura said as he lazily grabbed a card.

“Alright, now put it back and cut the deck anywhere you want,” Izuku instructed, to which his
participant followed, eventually leaving two uneven stacks of cards on the desk.

Izuku shuffled the two stacks back together, and after a snap of his fingers, he spread out all the cards
in a straight line. They were all face-down, with one exception.

“That’s not my card,” Kimura said in an unimpressed manner while pointing to the one card that was
lying face-up: a five of spades.

“I know, but if we move one, two, three, four, five cards down to the right, we get…” He flipped over
the card, revealing an eight of diamonds. “Was this the one you were looking for?”

“Holy crap, it was!”

“And that’s not all.” He flipped over the four cards between the five of spades and the eight of
diamonds, revealing them all to be kings.

“Wow, that’s actually really cool!” Kimura excitedly peered over the display of magic (which was
really just quick handiwork in disguise, but he didn’t need to know that). “What other tricks do you
have?”

“What’s going on?” Asked another voice as she approached the pair. Her name was Oba, if Izuku
remembered correctly.

“Midoriya’s doing magic now!”

“That I am!” The magician in question grinned, flaunting his deck of cards like they were some
otherworldly item capable of infinite possibilities. “I’ve been taking lessons for the past few months,
and I’ve got a lot to show off. For example…”

He grabbed a seven of hearts from the top of the deck and slowly inserted it into the middle. When he
flipped over the next top card, the two spectators’ jaws dropped as he revealed it to be the same seven
of hearts from before, down to the light tear in the top corner.

“Just a little card teleportation. Nothing fancy,” Izuku lied. Because in reality, that display of subtle
hand movements and misdirection took two straight weeks to master. But the look of utter shock and
amusement from his small audience made it all worth it.

“That’s insane, Midoriya! It’s like you’re messing with my head or something!” Oba clutched both
sides of her skull and began shaking it around like a maraca.

Izuku was very eager to show off some more tricks, but at that moment, the bell rang and his
homeroom teacher trudged into the room. “Dang, looks like we’re outta time. But I can show you
more tricks during lunch if you want.”

“Definitely,” Oba furiously nodded.

“Can I bring my friends?” Kimura requested.

Izuku’s first instinct was to stutter out a polite refusal, but then he thought back to the tricks he just
performed. He was hardly nervous or anxious during any of them. Mr. Compress was right!

And if he could get through that without breaking a sweat, he figured he could handle a larger
audience for his next performance. “Sure, go ahead,” He confirmed, already thinking of new ways to
wow everybody during lunch.

———————————————

Later, at the Cafeteria…

Izuku reached behind a classmate’s ear and pulled out an ace of hearts. “Is this your card?”

“OMG, it totally is!” The blonde girl with curly hair squealed as the rest of the lunch table broke into
applause.

As it turned out, Izuku got a much larger audience than he originally bargained for. It started out
small, but the more magic he did, the more people cheered, and the more curious onlookers came over
to see what the noise was about. It was a seemingly endless cycle that led to an ever-increasing
spectator count.

But the weirdest part for Izuku was how he somehow managed to take it all in stride. Part of him
figured he was just in the zone, and somehow managed to stay there despite the crowd forming
around him.

He supposed it didn’t matter. So long as he could keep doing magic tricks uninterrupted, he figured
he’d be fine.

“DEKU!”

Kacchan’s shrill yell made him fumble the cards in his hand. He just had to tempt fate, didn’t he? “K-
Kacchan, hi!” Izuku nervously grinned as the blond’s shadow loomed over him. In an attempt to make
peace, he scooped up his deck and presented as some kind of offering. “Uh… pick a card? Any card?”

“Cut the shit, Deku.” Kacchan slapped the cards out of his hands. “I see what you’re doing here with
your magic crap.”

“What?”

“Don’t try to play dumb with me! I’ve seen what you’ve been doing all day!”
“Seriously, what?!” Izuku emphasized, more confused than scared at this point.

“You’ve been trying to learn magic as a substitute for having a Quirk. Well guess what? Just because
you know a few useless card tricks doesn’t make you any less of a Deku, and it sure as hell doesn’t
make you a hero!”

Izuku couldn’t decide if he wanted to laugh or roll his eyes. Leave it to Kacchan to jump to
conclusions, specifically the ones that pissed him off the most. Either way, Izuku figured he ought to
try to defuse the situation. The last thing he wanted was for his favorite deck of cards to get blown up.

“Kacchan, I’m not trying to become a hero via magic tricks. You and I both know that’s impossible,”
He said. Though now that the idea was thoroughly implanted in his mind, he couldn’t help but follow
this newly created train of thought. “…But now that I think about it, misdirection is a valuable tool in
a hero’s arsenal. If I could master my skills, I could theoretically be on the same level as, say,
someone with an illusion Quirk.”

As Izuku trailed on, his eyes slowly widened as his mind drew closer to an epiphany. Was it really
possible? Could the magic-related skills he picked up from a criminal actually apply to heroism? He
felt a spark of hope begin to flare up in his chest. This might be something he should look deeper into.

“I knew it! You were just playing dumb to mess with me! What do you take me for, some kinda
idiot?!”

Oh, right, Kacchan was still here. “Of course not, I would never-”

Izuku was cut off as his bully grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close, giving the freckled boy
a good look at his snarling teeth. “Listen here, Deku. Normally, I’d blast you to hell right here and
now. But since you wanna be a magician, we’ll make a show out of it. You, me, tomorrow, after
school, auditorium. Get ready to have your ass kicked.” Kacchan finished before shoving Izuku back
in his seat and storming off.

An uneasy silence permeated the lunchroom, occasionally broken by the occasional whispered
conversation from the onlooking crowd about how they planned to check out that fight tomorrow.
This didn’t do any favors for Izuku’s mental state, as all the anxiety he should have been feeling
before came back with a vengeance.

“HopeYouEnjoyedTheShowBye!” He quickly spat out before booking it out of the cafeteria. He

needed somewhere to collect his thoughts, or cry, or vomit, or have a panic attack. He’d figure it out
as he went along.

———————————————

Thankfully, despite how he felt at that moment, Izuku didn’t vomit or have a panic attack. But that
didn’t make sitting through the rest of the school day any easier. He was eternally grateful when he
finally got home, as he could start to sort out his problems with the person he trusted most.

“And then he challenged me to a fight in the auditorium! And by the looks of things, a ton of people
are gonna be watching! What am I supposed to do?!” He frantically shook the computer monitor back
and forth like it was a person.

“Midoriya, calm down,” Compress instructed. Izuku didn’t listen. “Have you considered simply
telling a teacher?”
“Of course not! If anything, they’ll find a way to blame the whole thing on me. Kacchan’s their star
student. There’s no way they’re gonna risk putting anything on his record that’ll prevent him from
getting into UA.”

“Biased teachers, eh?” Compress hummed as he stroked his chin. “Sounds like a good place to
employ some old-fashioned phantom thievery.”

“What was that?” Izuku looked up, too busy internally panicking to hear what he just said.

“Nothing, nothing. I’ll save that scheme for later,” He waved off before moving on to his main point.
“Anyways, so you’re worried about making a fool of yourself onstage, correct?”

“Yeah…” Izuku slumped forward in his chair, his head resting on the desk. “I know he beats me up all
the time, but I was just starting to garner an audience. And now they’ll probably just go back to seeing
me as a Deku when they see how I fare against Kacchan.”

“Unless, you win the fight, of course.”

He let out a mirthless chuckle. “Yeah, right. How am I supposed to beat Kacchan? I know magic’s
good for misdirection, but direct combat? What am I supposed to do, attack him with a card trick?”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea!” Compress beamed, seemingly unaware of Izuku’s sarcastic tone.
“A magic duel will leave the audience enamored! Awestruck! On the edge of their seats!” He reached
under his desk and pulled out a box of magic props. “Come now! We’ve got a lot to learn and not a lot
of time! We might even have to pull an all-nighter.”

“W-Wait, we’re actually doing this?” Izuku asked, dumbfounded.

“Of course. Magic-based combat was always the next step of your training, we’re just doing things
ahead of schedule. That’s why I prepared a little gift for you in advance.” Compress snapped his
fingers, and a sudden smoke bomb went off in Izuku’s room, shocking him out of his chair. When he
got back up, he noticed a box of props identical to the one Compress was holding.

“Woah…” With his mouth agape, he rummaged through the box’s contents. To be honest, he was a bit
concerned with how many smoke bombs were packed in there. “Wait, when did you have time to set
that up? And how did you get into my apartment to do it?”

“A true magician never reveals his secrets.” Izuku could just feel his teacher wink behind his mask.

———————————————

The Next Day…

Loathe as he was to admit it, Katsuki had a bit of trouble finding the auditorium. Could you blame
him? No one ever used that shitty run-down stage, but that just made it the perfect place to hold a
beating that wouldn’t get interrupted by any of those suck-up teachers.

Eventually, after a bit of searching, he found the entrance. With his hands stuffed in his pockets, he
kicked the double doors open, only to be greeted with a pitch-black room. He grumbled in annoyance,
“Did that damn nerd bail on me? He knows I’ll just beat him up twice as bad.”

Right as he was about to turn around and leave, a singular spotlight flickered on, revealing none other
than Deku standing on stage in a stupid-ass top hat. Katsuki immediately noticed how droopy his eyes
were, like he hadn’t slept all night.
“Kacchan, there you are!” He greeted from across the room, “You’re just in time for the greatest
magical performance of your, or anyone else’s lifetime!”

The rest of the lights turned on, revealing several rows of seating filled with extras who applauded
Deku’s introduction. But Katsuki wouldn’t fall for whatever showman act he was trying to put on.
“There you are, you damn nerd! What the hell are you doing?”

“Hey, you’re the one who wanted a show, I’m just playing my part. In fact, I’ve been preparing since
this morning. I actually came here an hour before school to set up the-”

“Shut up! If I’d known you were so eager to get yourself killed, I would’ve kicked your ass sooner.”
The crowd cheered as he made his way to the stage and assumed a fighting stance. “Hope you’re
ready to become even more of a laughing stock than before.”

“Hold on for a moment. Before we start with that, how about a little something to get the audience
warmed up?” Deku pulled out a magician’s wand and twirled it between his fingers before giving it a
flick, causing a bouquet of flowers to materialize. “Ta-da!”

The extras cheered like the mindless sheep they were, while Katsuki just rolled his eyes. “Quit
wasting my time, nerd. Are we gonna fight, or are you gonna waste my time pulling bunnies outta
your hat?”

“Alright, we’ll get started. Just hold this.” He tossed the bouquet at Katsuki, who made his feelings
known by exploding it in his hands, sending chared petals flying across the stage.

With that waste of time taken care of, Katsuki rolled up his sleeves and primed another round of
explosions in his palms. “Alright, Deku, time for you to fucking… ahh… ahh… AH-CHOO!” He
suddenly sneezed, already feeling mucus building up in his nose. Unfortunately, this was a sensation
he recognized all too well. “Deku, what the hell did you… AH-CHOO!”

Deku just shook his head and tutted like he was his dad or something. “Kacchan, Kacchan, Kacchan,
you should really pay attention to what kind of flowers you’re holding before you blow them up.”

And that’s when it hit Katsuki, he had just spread daisy pollen across the entire stage, of which he was
allergic! Despite his sinuses acting up, he felt his entire body tense up with rage. “That’s it, you’re
going - AH-CHOO - to regret ever being born, Deku!”

He charged at him like an explosive bull, but Deku made no visible effort to dodge or evade. “For my
next trick, I’ll make myself disappear!” He said before throwing what looked to be a smoke bomb on
the ground. Katsuki lunged at the cloud to try and catch him on time, only to fall flat on his face.

“Get back here you coward!” He demanded as he pushed himself up.

“Whatever you say, Kacchan!” The nerd’s disembodied voice called out before another puff of smoke
erupted on the other side of the stage, which Deku stepped out of, bearing a grin that made Katsuki
want to tear his lips off.

As he blasted himself toward his opponent, Deku pulled out a deck of cards and shuffled them in his
hands. “Who’s up for card tricks?” He rhetorically asked before rapidly swiping the top of the deck,
sending several cards flying toward Katsuki like ninja stars.

Sure Katsuki felt a few papercuts, but that pain would pale in comparison to what he was about to put
that nerd through. “DIE!” He yelled, going for an explosively charged right hook. But right before it
could land, another smoke bomb obscured Deku from his vision, and he was gone yet again.

Katsuki frantically whipped his head around, keeping both eyes out to see where Deku could pop up
next, only for another card to come in flying from behind, grazing his cheek. “Over here!” Cheered
Deku’s annoying voice as the smoke parted around him.

“QUIT RUNNING AWAY!” Once again, Katsuki went to attack. And once again, the damn nerd
chickened out and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, only to reappear at a safe distance and deliver
several more papercuts to the blond’s skin. Repeat ad nauseam.

He was getting fucking sick of this! Not only was it tiring, but some of his sweat was starting to get
into his papercuts, and it stung like a bitch! “Don’t you - AH-CHOO - have any other tricks?!” He
annoyingly barked.

“I have this one.” Deku removed his hat and a pair of doves flew out, instantly targeting Katsuki with
their sharp talons as he struggled to bat them away.

“Where the fuck were you keeping those?!” He yelled, strongly considering resorting to animal abuse
as the doves pecked at his skull.

“The same place I go when I disappear!” Deku mystically waved his hands as he vanished in another
cloud of smoke. At this point Katsuki had to assume the school’s smoke alarms were on the fritz.

“Goddammit, Deku, where the fuck do you keep going?!” He stomped on the ground in frustration,
only to pause as he realized he was standing on a loose floorboard. He moved his foot to the board
next to it, which was also loose. In fact, after checking the area around him, he’d probably have a
harder time finding a floorboard that wasn’t loose.

A grin slowly crept up on his face. “Found your secret, Deku.” He pointed his hand down and blasted
a hole into the hollow stage. It was pitch black down there, but that wouldn’t be a problem with his
Quirk.

He leaped down the hole, only to find himself in a surprisingly claustrophobic area, of which he could
hardly see anything. He lit up the area with a few sparks from his hands, where he discovered he had
leaped into some kind of box. “What the fu…”

The box’s entrance suddenly slammed shut, prompting Katsuki to push with all his might to get it
open, but to no avail. “Deku! What the hell is this thing?!” He said before he felt the box get hoisted
up onto the stage.

“And now, for our final act, we’ve got an oldie but a goodie!” Deku announced, slowly approaching
the box with a hacksaw in hand. “It’s the ‘sawing the assistant in half’ trick!”

Katsuki’s mouth hung agape. He couldn’t believe it! He’d fallen for the damn nerd’s trap, hook, line,
and sinker. No, even worse, he’d gotten into the box completely of his own volition! He was going to
murder that Quirkless loser once he got out of there!

He wanted to blast the box open and kick Deku’s ass, but it was surprisingly sturdy, meaning he
couldn’t explode his way out without risking burning his torso to a crisp. Thus, he was forced to sit
through Deku’s lame-ass and get ‘magically’ sawed in half. “Fuck you, Deku! I never agreed to this!”
He loudly complained.
 “This whole fight was literally your idea, Kacchan,” Deku protested as he finished sawing. He
separated the two parts, and the crowd went wild, much to Katsuki’s chagrin.

“Oh come on! Why the hell are you extras cheering for the most basic-ass magic trick performed by
Deku of all people?! It’s not even real! My legs are just bunched up on my half of the box while Deku
left a pair of fake legs sticking out the other!”

For his insightful commentary on the situation, Katsuki was treated to a series of boos and heckles
from the audience. “Why are you booing me? I’m right!”

“You ruined the magic for them, Kacchan,” Deku explained, “They came here to see magic. What did
you think would happen?”

“I thought they came here to watch me beat you to a pulp.”

“Maybe, but it looks like their perspectives have changed. Frankly, you’re just lucky that girl with the
tomato Quirk didn’t show up.” Right as he said that, someone in the audience hurled a tomato at
Katsuki’s face with pinpoint accuracy. “I stand corrected.”

“Deku…” Katsuki said slowly and methodically, “I want you to let me out of this box so I can turn
that girl into ketchup.”

Deku cautiously backed away from the box. “I… don’t think I should do that. Right now, the audience
looks like they want to tear you to shreds. But I think I know what trick you can pull to win them
over.” With a cheeky grin, he pulled out a straight jacket adorned with at least a dozen padlocks.
“Have you ever wanted to try escape artistry? It’s not that hard as long as you know how to dislocate
your shoulders.”

“I fucking hate you so much right now.”

“I’ll take that as a yes!”

Chapter End Notes

I would like to take a moment to thank you guys for 2,000 kudos! I don't have much to say
except thanks, so here's a few doodles of everyone's favorite fireworks truck driver: Rodi Crash!
I just really like him, so I'm forcing him onto all of you. Suffer. >:)
Anyways, onto the chapter. The idea of a Quirkless Izuku using magic to make up the difference
could definitely be a fic of its own (if it hasn't already). Plus, there's the extra drama factor if
Compress still decides to join the League of Villains. Shame I'll probably never take this idea
anywhere.

Looking back on this chapter, I feel like it shares a lot of DNA with the Midnight chapter,
especially in terms of story structure. Just replace 'magic' with 'flirting' and 'misdirection' with
'seductiveness'. Does this mean the formula is starting to grow stale? Nah. I'm probably the only
person who noticed this.

Also, Compress is totally gonna phantom thief the fuck out of Aldera. Their days are numbered.
Next Time: Izuku gets kissed.
 Recovery Girl the Healer
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Chiyo Shuzenji hated her job.

Okay, no, that wasn’t entirely true. But she was sure as hell she’d been burnt out for the past…
forever.

Pretty much since the moment her Quirk came in, she had been kissing people left and right, day in
and day out. Sure, she got a great amount of satisfaction from helping and healing those in need, but it
was hard to enjoy any of that with the long, tireless hours that came with having a Quirk like hers.

And it wasn’t like she could just stop working or anything. Because the simple truth of the matter was
that the moment she stopped, people died.

Needless to say, Chiyo was in desperate need of a vacation. Thankfully, her prayers were answered
when an unexpected fireworks truck somehow barreled through the UA barrier, and the school was
temporarily shut down for renovations. Meaning that unless she was called in for a sudden medical
emergency, Chiyo finally had some time to herself.

Given the unexpected nature of her vacation, she didn’t have any big plans on how to spend her time
off, she was just content to live out her life without the ever-present threat of work looming over her
head.

Of course, she didn’t spend all her time lounging around her apartment watching crappy medical
dramas and laughing at the inaccuracies (just 90% of it), she also decided to get back into jogging.
She had to stay in shape somehow, and her age certainly wasn’t doing her any favors.

Thankfully, she came across a nice park in Mustafa that was perfect for running through. It had only
been a few days, and she’d already made a habit of jogging there every afternoon. The scenery was
pleasant, the weather was near-perfect, and the park was practically barren half the time, meaning
there was no one around to interrupt her flow.

“Oof!”

Well… besides the person who just bumped into her.

“Hey, watch where you’re going, boy!” She chastised the green-haired boy, who was no doubt on his
way home from school if the uniform was anything to go by.

“S-Sorry about that,” He wearily apologized with a weak smile before walking off.

Normally, Chiyo would have immediately forgotten about that encounter and been on her way. But
right before she was about to continue her jog, she noticed something disturbingly off about the way
the boy carried himself.

“Hold up there,” She commanded, and the boy froze in place. “Your leg.”

“My - My leg? What about it?”

“Don’t play games with me, boy. I see you limp after each step.” If she had her cane, she would’ve
punctuated her statement with a poke to his chest. But for now, she had to settle on a stick she picked
up off the ground. “Have you been running around with a hurt leg? You’re gonna mess yourself up by
doing that. Didn’t they teach you this in health class?”

The boy let out a wince that signified his guilt. “Sorry, ma’am. I, uh, tripped while I was leaving
school today, and the nurse’s office always closes after the last bell. I promise I was going to rest after
I got home.”

Chiyo rolled her eyes. “Well, if it was an accident, I guess I can’t be too mad. What’s your name,
boy?”

“Izuku Midoriya.”

“Alright, Midoriya,” She led him to a nearby park bench and laid him down on it, “Let me see where
it hurts.”

“Uh, okay?” Slightly confused, he lifted up his right pant leg, revealing a nasty purple bruise on the
center of his shin.

“Alright, now hold still. This might tickle.” Chiyo puckered her lips before leaning down and kissing
the sore spot, as she had done a million times before on a million different patients. She might have
been on vacation, but she was still a hero, dammit! Besides, what was the worst that could come from
healing a single bruise?

“Oh my god…” Midoriya gasped in awe as he watched his injury slowly fade away. “You’re the
Youthful Heroine: Recovery Girl!”

…Oh, right, she forgot about the possibility of getting recognized. She wasn’t used to this happening
when she wasn’t wearing her hero costume since most people just saw her as a regular old lady.

“I - I can’t believe this! What are you doing in Mustafa? Don’t you usually work at UA? No, wait,
UA’s closed for repairs right now, and I guess Mustafa’s close enough that you would come over. But
does this mean you’re on some kind of sabbatical? Or are you-”

Chiyo shoved her stick in Midoriya’s mouth so she could get a word in edgewise. “Yes, yes, I’m
Recovery Girl. Now pipe down! There’s no need to blabber it out to everyone in a ten-mile radius,
y’hear?”

“Yeth, ma’am. Thorry abouh tha.” (Translation: Yes, ma’am. Sorry about that.) Said Midoriya
through a mouthful of wood. Bashfully, he pulled out a notebook from his pocket and presented it to
the heroine. “Uh, cuh I peez hav your autograf?” (Translation: Uh, could I please have your
autograph?)

“Alright, but just this once.” Chiyo removed the stick from Midoriya’s mouth and opened to her page
in his notebook, where she planted a kiss right next to a drawing of her likeness.

While she had the chance, she took a moment to skim through what the boy had written down about
her. There were some pretty decent observations on her hero persona, fighting style, and Quirk
applications, but nothing she hadn’t already seen during her extremely long life.

“There you are, son.” She gently placed the notebook back in Midoriya's hands, who looked like he
was about to explode from excitement. “Now, I know you’re aware that my Quirk drains stamina, so
go home and get some rest, and promise me you’ll be more careful so you won’t trip and fall again.”

“I promise, Recovery Girl. Thank you so much!” He said as he took off, only to immediately trip and
get back up. “I’m okay! That one didn’t leave any scratches!”

Chiyo could only watch as she sighed to herself. Somehow, she knew this wouldn’t be the last time
she’d be healing that boy.

———————————————

The Next Day…

Hey, what do you know? She was right. Just like yesterday, Chiyo encountered Midoriya during her
jog. And just like yesterday, he’d sustained some sort of injury.

“Young man, just because I told you not to bruise your legs does not give you the right to scratch up
your arms instead,” She scolded while repeatedly poking him on the head with her cane (which she
had the foresight to bring with her this time). “Seriously, were you playing with knives during home
ec class or something?”

“Uh, no. I don’t have home ec class.” Midoriya slowly answered, “I accidentally fell into a thorn
bush. It happened right as I left school.”

Based on how his uniform was scratched up, Chiyo figured the boy was telling the truth. That did
very little to lighten her already soured mood, though. “Well, that’s hardly an improvement. In fact,
I’m pretty sure that carries an even higher risk of infection.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry…”

“Clearly you’re not if you keep getting yourself hurt like this.” Begrudgingly, she planted a kiss on
both his arms, and the scratches healed themselves up in a matter of seconds. “Tell me, what school
do you attend?”

“Aldera Middle School.”

“Right, I’ll make sure to send a formal complaint, because if you’re anything to go off of, then the
teachers clearly haven’t taught you kids spatial awareness.” With a huff, Chiyo hopped off the bench
and continued down her jogging path.

“Thanks again for the help, Recovery Girl! And sorry again about the inconvenience!” Yelled
Midoriya.

“If you’re really sorry, then I better not see any more injuries from here on out!”

———————————————

The Next Day…

When Chiyo encountered Midoriya on her jog for the third time in a row, he didn’t come up to her
bearing a new injury. In fact, he pointedly turned away from her as she passed by, making sure Chiyo
couldn’t get a good look at his front side.

The Youthful Heroine immediately knew what was going on. “Boy, do you really think you can hide
an injury from me?”
Midoriya flinched at her accusation. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m perfectly fine.”

Chiyo couldn’t help but scowl at his stubbornness. “If you’re worried about making me mad, then
don’t bother. The damage has already been done. Now let me heal the injury so I can give you a
proper scolding.”

Despite her suggestion, Midoriya still refused to turn around. “I’m fine, really. It’s not even that bad.
It’ll heal on its own.”

“You’re a terrible liar, sonny, you know that?” She pulled out her cane and began threateningly
waving it around. “Now turn around before I decide to add head trauma to the list of things I need to
heal.”

“Um, are you sure I can’t get the scolding first?”

“Fine, if you’re that desperate,” Chiyo said, planting her cane on the ground. She had a few choice
words she’d been wanting to say to her little troublemaker anyways. “You need to learn some self-
preservation skills, because I’m starting to think you’re using my healing as an excuse to get hurt
more often.” Which wouldn’t surprise her if that was the case. The same could be said for dozens of
UA students and pro heroes.

“I’m not going to be jogging down this same path every day. Soon enough, my vacation will end, and
I’ll be going back to UA. Then I won’t be around to heal you, and you’ll have to remind yourself how
to deal with your own injuries and - HEY! Get back here!”

For some reason, Midoriya used her scolding as a distraction for him to run off. But Chiyo had dealt
with more than a few runaway patients in her time. All she had to do was throw her cane like a
javelin, aiming for the back of his leg. Hefell over and faceplanted the grass within seconds.

“Alright, buster, I’ve had enough of your shenanigans. Getting recklessly injured is one thing, but
running away from treatment is crossing the line!” She stuck her cane under Midoriya’s body and
flipped him over like a pancake, revealing the burn marks littering the front side of his uniform.

Chiyo’s mind immediately screeched to a halt. She could tell those burns were more than just a
product of adolescent clumsiness. “Midoriya, how did you get those burns?” She cautiously asked,
her mind already fearing the worst.

“Um, I burnt myself on the stove during home ec class.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You told me you didn’t have home ec class.”

Midoriya non-subtly shrunk in on himself, his resolve beginning to falter under Chiyo’s gaze. “Okay,
it was actually an accident with the stove at home, I swear!”

Chiyo’s glare deepened even further as she tightened her grip around her cane, her stare dressing him
down in the way only a grandma’s could. “Midoriya…” She said in a tone equal parts threatening and
concerned, playing to both his fear and guilt.

That managed to break his last shred of resistance, which wasn’t much, considering he was already on
the verge of tears. “Okay! Okay! It was someone at school who did this to me! He didn’t like how my
injuries kept quickly healing themselves. For some reason, he concluded that I had a healing Quirk. I
tried to tell him that wasn’t true, but he didn’t want to listen to my explanation, so he kept putting me
in situations where they knew I’d step in and get myself hurt! Like when he shoved me into that thorn
bush!”

“Calm down, dearie. Calm down.” Chiyo reached up and wiped an unshed tear from his eye. “Now,
this person who’s been bullying you, do they have some sort of fire Quirk?”

“Explosion Quirk, actually,” Midoriya sniffled, “I tried to hide from him, but then he would just
threaten to beat up other students as a way to draw me out.”

Chiyo felt her eye twitch in frustration, but she kept her tone calm and collected. “So let me get this
straight, you’ve been recklessly charging into fights you knew you were going to lose so you could
prevent other students from being injured?”

“Well, yeah. I couldn’t just let other people get hurt because of me. What kind of hero would I be if I
didn’t step up and try to protect people?” He answered with full earnesty.

Chiyo let out a long sigh. Suddenly, Midoriya’s actions reminded her of a similarly reckless blond
buffoon, the kind that couldn’t help themselves when it came to saving others, no matter the risk to
their personal health.

Except unlike Toshi, Midoriya didn’t have an overpowered Quirk to fall back on. But Chiyo knew his
type, the lack of a powerful Quirk would hardly matter to him in the long run, and he’d probably keep
getting himself hurt if it meant others didn’t have to.

With a reluctant grunt, she healed his current injuries before helping him off the ground. “Alright, I
hope you’re not busy right now, sonny, because we’ve got work to do.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Midoriya asked, his eyebrows lowered in confusion.

“If you’re going to keep recklessly throwing yourself into fights, the only thing I can do is teach you
how not to get yourself hurt.” She pulled out her phone and opened an ebook on martial arts
techniques. “And the best way to not get hurt in a fight is to stop said fight before it can even begin.”

Midoriya peered over Chiyo’s shoulder and squinted at the diagram on her phone, which pinpointed
several specific spots on the human body. “What do you mean? Are you teaching me some form of
de-escalation?”

“Kind of. It’s a little-known technique that involves hitting certain pressure points in order to
temporarily paralyze your opponent. I used it quite often during my crime-fighting days.”

(Of course, she always wanted to teach the technique to Toshi, but his hands were too big to hit the
pressure points without rupturing several of his opponents’ bones and internal organs. It was a shame,
that move could’ve saved a lot of collateral damage in his early days).

Midoriya’s eyes slowly widened with recognition. “Oh, it’s just like Ty Lee’s fighting style from
Avatar: The Last Airbender!”

Chiyo made no effort to hide her disdain as she clenched her fists and furrowed her brow. “Okay, first
of all, this has nothing to do with Avatar. I’ve never even seen Avatar. Why does everyone I show this
technique to tell me it’s from Avatar? It’s not! It’s from ancient China!”

Midoriya, for his part, just stared at her with a dumbstruck look on his face. “…You’ve never seen
Avatar?”
“No! What is so special about a show that came out over a century ago?!”

In response, Midoriya pulled out his phone and pulled up the series on Netflix, of which he had every
episode downloaded. “Okay, you have to at least watch the first episode.”

———————————————

61 Episodes Later…

“Okay, that was a pretty good show,” Chiyo begrudgingly admitted as the credits rolled following the
series finale. “But we’ve gotten way off-topic here. I need to make sure you have the pressure points
for that paralysis trick drilled into your skull.”

“How are you gonna do that?” Midoriya asked. In response, Chiyo jabbed her staff into his legs, arms,
shoulders, and back of his neck, causing his entire body to go limp and fall to the ground.

“As soon as you can get back up, I’m doing it again. Once you can identify the paralysis spots with
your eyes closed, I’ll let you try it out on some dummies.”

“Yeah, that’ll work,” He nodded contently.

———————————————

The Next Day…

Izuku couldn’t help his nerves as the final bell rang out across the school, prompting students to get
up from their desks and rush out of the classroom. He knew a confrontation with Kacchan was about
to happen any second now if the last few days were anything to go by, and that only made him feel
worse.

Sure, he’d been taught the technique to immobilize him, and he had the pressure points committed to
memory. But knowing something in theory and actually doing it were two completely separate things,
and Izuku prayed he wouldn’t trip up at the last minute.

He supposed it didn’t matter either way. It wasn’t like his lack of experience would stop him from
standing up to Kacchan. It never mattered before, so why should it matter now?

After another minute of waiting, the classroom was nearly empty. The only other presence besides
Izuku was the pair of blood-red eyes staring down at him, just like they did every other moment of the
day.

“Guess you decided to save me the trouble of drawing you out of your hiding place, Deku,” Kacchan
sneered, meeting him face-to-face with his features twisted into a scowl.

Izuku took a deep breath to summon all his courage before responding. “If I didn’t do something, you
would just take your anger out on someone else until I came out to stop you.”

“Well as long as you’re here, mind telling me why the lessons I’ve been teaching you haven’t been
sticking?” He poked Izuku in the chest, emphasizing the lack of burn marks in that location. “Because
it wouldn’t surprise me if you had a healing Quirk this whole time and were hiding it just to spite
me!”

For the first time he could remember, Izuku felt a hint of frustration toward his former childhood
friend. “For the last time, Kacchan, I don’t have a healing Quirk. I just found someone who’s been
healing me on the side.” He didn’t want to bring up Recovery Girl by name, both because she
technically wasn’t on the clock, and he was almost certain Kacchan would get angry at him for
‘getting a leg up in heroics’ by knowing a hero associated with UA.

Much to his ever-rising irritation, Kacchan barked out a sarcastic laugh. “Yeah, right. Why would
someone with a healing Quirk choose to waste their time on a Quirkless Deku like you?”

“Well I don’t know what to tell you. You wanted answers, and you got them. Now please just leave
me alone.” He got up to leave, only to be stopped by a smoldering hand gripping his shoulder.

“Not so fast, you damn nerd. Don’t think I’m letting you get out of this one scott-free. You might
think you’re invincible just because you have someone to heal you, but I’ll make sure you remember
just how fragile you really are.”

As Izuku felt explosions begin to pop on the hand clenched around his shoulder, he quickly smacked
it away with a singular swift motion before turning back to Kacchan, his head lowered so no one
could catch a glimpse of his eyes. “You’re right, Kacchan, I’m not invincible. And compared to you, I
might as well be fragile. But that’s why I learned to do this!”

In a flash, he jabbed his fingers into Kacchan’s left shoulder. While he staggered back from the strike,
Izuku took the opportunity to go for the right shoulder, and then his arms, and then his legs, and then
the back of his neck. After only a few seconds, Kacchan’s body laid limp on the ground, hardly able
to do more than squirm around.

“What the fuck? What the hell did you do to me, Deku?! Is this another secret Quirk of yours?!”

“No, Kacchan. I just temporarily paralyzed you by hitting certain pressure points on your body.”

“Shit, you mean like Ty Lee from Avatar?”

“Yes, like Ty Lee from Avatar. Don’t try to get back up for a while, because I will not hesitate to do
that again.”

Izuku calmly turned to leave the classroom, but Kacchan was very much not satisfied by this turn of
events, so he made his opinion very well known. “HEY! Get the hell back here, Deku! This fight isn’t
over ‘till I say it’s over!”

Izuku just ignored him, so he raised his voice by another octave. “What do you think you’re doing?!
You don’t get to come in, pull some cheap-ass trick on me, then walk away like nothing happened!”

By now, Izuku was long gone, so Kacchan just continued screaming at nothing. “You didn’t win,
y’hear?! I’m still better than you! This doesn’t count! THIS! DOESN’T! COUNT!”

———————————————

“By the look on your face, I’m guessing it went well?” Chiyo smiled, handing Midoriya a cup of tea
from her spot on the bench.

“About as well as it could have. I got all the spots, paralyzed Kacchan, and left him lying in the
classroom for the janitors to pick up.” He shook his head solemnly. “Those poor, poor janitors.”

“Well, I’m glad you managed to pull through, sonny. And for both our sakes, I hope this means you
won’t use this as an excuse to put yourself in even more danger.”
 “I won’t!” Midoriya held up his hands defensively. “I promise I’ll only use the technique as a means
of self-defense, which might be pretty often now that I think about it. Kacchan’s not the type to walk
away from a loss like that.”

Chiyo’s grin turned smug as she loudly sipped her tea. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you,
dearie. I doubt he’ll be able to do much from his cell in juvie.”

Midoriya nearly fell off the bench from shock. “You - You got him arrested?!”

“Well, not yet. But I did some digging, and I have more than enough evidence to earn him at least a
couple months in the slammer.”

“But - But how?! I didn’t even tell you his name!”

“Yes, but you gave me his Quirk and the name of the school he attends. It wasn’t too hard to find his
file from there, as well as the numerous ways Aldera had been tampering with it.” She set down her
cup and turned to Midoriya, who looked too shocked to form words. “Anyways, I passed off the
information to a detective I know, and I’m sure the school won’t be left standing for much longer.”

Midoriya just blankly stared off into the distance. “I… I don’t know what to say.”

“A ‘thank you’ would be nice.”

“I think I’m still busy processing the bombshell you just dropped on me,” He said in a rare display of
bluntness, “I can’t believe Kacchan’s gonna get arrested.”

“How are you not surprised? You of all people should know that he’s been illegally using his Quirk to
harm others.”

“I know… but I thought he was supposed to be a hero. That’s all everyone's been saying about him
for the past… forever.”

Chiyo offered him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Dearie… that line of thinking’s just a byproduct
of the subtle ways you’ve been manipulated by your biased teachers over the course of several years.”

“…I think I need therapy.”

“I’ll see if Hound Dog’s available.”

Chapter End Notes

There's a chance Recovery Girl will recommend Izuku to All Might for OFA, but only after she's
fully shut down his self-sacrificial streak. Also, she'll probably want him to get into UA on his
own merits first, just to test him. I wonder if the paralyziation technique works on robots... Eh,
he'd probably find a way.

Next Time:
Works inspired by this one

Broccoli and Strawberry by Mr_Gama

Please drop by the Archive and comment to let the creator know if you enjoyed their work!