Chapter Text
It was strange how things could change so fast and at the same time so slowly. The seven months since the battle had changed Japan a lot. Izuku placed the newest batch of quirk erasing drug into a locked carrying case and headed out of his lab. He stepped out into the hall and smiled at the sound of Kacchan and Mikumo chatting at the end of the hall. While the whole hero thing had not worked out, the three of them working together still felt like a childhood dream come true.
“Hey Nerd,” Kacchan called out, “you hear the good news?”
“Do you mean the approval of the new Quirk Rights Commission?” Izuku asked with a smile.
“And Hawks was approved as the first commissioner.” Mikumo mirrored Izuku’s smile. “I just know it’ll be so much better than the HPSC was.”
“Not like that’s a very high bar to clear,” Kacchan snarked. “The HPSC was so corrupt that we are lucky society functioned as well as it did.”
“And yet there are still people upset that it’s gone,” Izuku added. “People liked the idea of heroes and destroying that system left a big hole.” The fact that Izuku had purposely made that hole was still a closely guarded secret from most people. Between blowing up the Gunga villa, burning down UA, letting Shigaraki and his Nomu fight heroes at the Jaku hospital, and Redestro killing many of the HPSC leaders, there was little left in the way of heroes or the commission by the end of the battle. Izuku then just used his new connections with the now leading political party to make sure no efforts were made to rebuild that system.
“So, what’s in the case?” Kacchan asked, pulling Izuku out of his musings.
“Oh. This is the new shipment of quirk erasing drug. I was hoping you guys could help me deliver it.”
Kacchan glared at Izuku. “If you have a high value delivery like that, why didn’t you talk to your head of security about it ahead of time?” Of course, Kacchan was said person.
“I’m talking to you about it right now, Kacchan. I just got the contract and order earlier today. The scientists at Tartarus finished their study of the test cases. Of course All for One did not survive due to the loss of his longevity quirk, but they confirmed that the other subjects are unharmed other than the loss of their quirks. The punitive comity approved the drug for those in Tartarus and sent us a down payment. They want to get started on administering it ASAP.”
“So, we’re going to Tartarus?” Mikumo asked.
“As soon as Kacchan approves the transport arrangements.” Both Midoriyas looked at Kacchan expectantly.
“Fine,” Kacchan threw his hands up in annoyance. “I’ll get everything ready. Is shorty in charge on the police end?”
“La Brava will be on another project for the Chief.” Izuku held out a piece of paper. “This is the contact info for the Sargent in charge.”
Kacchan took the paper and stomped away with a grumble. Mikumo turned to smile at his brother. “The magazine with your interview came out today. I got a copy and the article was really interesting.”
Izuku raised an eyebrow. “Interesting how?”
“It was surprising how they did not make your lack of quirk sound bad. They actually said it gave you ‘a greater understanding due to your outside perspective’. The author said they had also experienced prejudice growing up.”
“I’m not surprised,” Izuku said. “He mentioned having a ‘villainous’ quirk. Even with all the changes and the new laws, most journalists would still be hesitant to promote a young quirkless entrepreneur. Plus, there is the whole pardoned villain thing. I was lucky that someone who could be sympathetic reached out to me.”
“The article also questioned what became of the other members of the League of Villains and I realized with everything that happened, you never told me where most of them ended up.”
Izuku hummed thoughtfully as he led the way to a sitting area at the end of the hall. “Well, as you know, La Brava made a plea deal to work with the police on cyber crimes in exchange for her and Gentle being given parole. Shigaraki and Gigantomachia of course got captured during the battle and are locked away in Tartarus, though Shigaraki doesn’t have an actual quirk any more so he is not much threat. And All for One died of old age after they tested the quirk erasing drug and he became quirkless.”
“Right,” MIkumo nodded as they each sat on one of the overstuffed chairs. “But what about the others?”
“Spinner and Compress died in the explosion at the Villa. Hawks used the quirk drug on Twice, so he is also quirkless now. You might not know that he had a lot of mental trauma. They decided to put him in a psychiatric ward instead of prison.
“As for Toga and Dabi, well, they were working with me so I negotiated something better for them. They are both getting to work in training the new special task forces that are replacing heroes. Their knowledge of how the truly dangerous criminals fight gives valuable insight.”
Kacchan poked his head into the sitting area. “We’re set to go. There’s some idiots out front with signs, so we will be taking the back exit.”
Izuku sighed. Not everyone was happy with change. New laws had been passed against quirk based discrimination, but there were still plenty of people who disliked the idea of a quirkless teen owning a quickly growing company that specialized in quirk suppressing and destroying drugs. “I assume you have some of the security watching to make sure they stay away from the building?”
“Of course I do, Nerd. I know how to do my job.” Kacchan glared.
“I know, Kacchan. I trust you.” Izuku enjoyed sensing the slight swell of pride those words always caused in Kacchan. Now that they had succeeded in changing society, Izuku’s quirk was a closely guarded secret. The only people who knew about it were Toga and Dabi and they would never tell. Izuku did not use the manipulation side often any more. He did not want to risk someone figuring things out. But it was still useful, especially when dealing with politicians.
The two brothers followed Kacchan out through a set of secured doors that kept others from entering the lab where Izuku made the quirk destroying drug. Outside was the main part of the facility. Employees buzzed around taking orders and preparing the temporary version of the drug. It was already in high demand with medical professionals who saw huge advantages to being able to fully neutralize dangerous quirks during delicate procedures. The police had also gotten clearance to use the bullets filled with the drug and orders were flooding in from all over the country.
Izuku ducked his head to hide his smile. He knew that it was not the sweet smile Mikumo still used. It was the terrifying one he had developed as a villain. The whole nation was quickly becoming reliant on Izuku and a substance that only he could create. The people of Japan did not even realize how much power Izuku now held.
“Hey, you coming or not, Nerd,” Kacchan called out.
Izuku switched his smile to a friendly one as he looked up. “I’m right behind you. Let’s go.” After all, he did not want to keep his customers waiting.