Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Shit.” He looked upwards at the three impossibly tall walls of concrete, with not so much as even a scratch or a mark on it’s flawless surface, much less a bloody window close enough to grab perch on.

Two conclusions:

This was a trap.

He, Kaminari Denki, is screwed.

The blinding red and blue lights behind him announced the presence of the oh-so friendly welcoming committee that got him into this mess.

“Hands up and turn around, Stun Gun!”

His first instinct is to send a shockwave their way; classic move, knocks out multiple targets, and quite flashy for anyone that happened to be watching.

He thrusted both arms as he spun around to face the police brigade and their heroic compatriots that had chased him down, only to be met with nothing; not a single spark zip-zapped outta his palms to make french-fried cops a-la carte. In fact, he wasn’t even feeling the cling of static or the build up of energy seeping out of his skin. Like his quirk had suddenly been er-

Oh fuck, not him!

His gaze quickly swept the area, and sure enough, there he was; high along the edge of the concrete wall, dangling on the twisted end of a strange cloth; a hero he’s heard of but never met in person, ‘til now. The man’s blazing red eyes stared him down with grim disdain, ink black hair defying gravity as it reached madly for the skies.

Mother. Fucking. Eraserhead.

If he hadn’t left his trademark pistol or taser glove back in the safe room, maybe he could’ve stun the hero with a pre-charged bolt a split second before rubber bullets and quirks rained on him. Maybe if he had his power pack on him he’d had more juice than even the quirk-cancelling underground hero could handle (in theory; who knows what Eraserhead’s upper limit was). And where had his goddamn phone gone?!

Okay, he couldn’t show them panic. He couldn’t allow them to see that he knows the end is nigh, that he knows he wasn’t escaping this. That Stun Gun has finally been bested after years just barely evading their capture.

But seriously: a whole fleet of officers armed to the teeth, seven of Greater Tokyo’s established local heroes, and goddamn Eraserhead all the way from Musutafu, for him? Whose mother did he insult? Should he be flattered?

“Last warning Stun Gun: hands up, no more sudden movements!”

You got this; just relax, play it cool, comply. He kept a poker face as his arms raised, despite a whirlwind of emotions raging inside.

“You have the right to remain silent!” The same lady cop that yelled earlier raised her net shooter higher up.

He knows he shouldn’t snark back, that giving up quietly could be the difference between finding his opening before they got him in the slammer, or total defeat.

Too bad his mouth moved faster than his brain.

“But do I have the ability?” He flashed them a taunting grin.

 **********************************************************************************************

His face was roughly smushed on the hood of one of the numerous squad cars, his lip ring digging in enough to pinch skin. He heard the all familiar clicking of metal cuffs before the hard surface latched to one wrist, then the other as both his arms were secured closer.

“This is kinda kinky, Officer Naoki.” He remarked to his favorite woman in blue.

“I am so not going to miss you.” She tugged him straight up when she finished, apathetic as he stumbled backwards a bit.

“You know you love me, sweets.” He winked at her male partner, equally attractive with his toned and muscular arms thick enough to rip off shirts with one flex. “Hope there’s eye candy as good as you two where I’m going.”

Lady officer rolled her eyes, but her partner smirked back at the flirty villain. “That’ll be Musutafu for you, Sparksalot.” He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, directed at the two specific heroes from that prefecture; Scary Eyebags McGee and a Slab of Sentient Cement, whose likely responsible for concocting the trap. Eraserhead was still in floaty-hairy-glare mode, despite the quirk-inhibiting cuffs that were the latest addition to Denki’s ever growing fashion accessories, minus the fashion.

He ought to fix that, especially if his eyes spy his beloved shrinking reporter tip toeing her way in his direction, scrapping her microphone along the tar-and-pebble road.

Oh so lovely Officer Naoki kept his legs spread out as hunky Officer Ito cuffed more inhibitors to his ankles. SleepyHead took his cue to slither his way over as well, thankfully without the shampoo-commercial-worthy hair and death-omen leer combo going on.

“Well done, Eraserhead.”

“Pretty easy take down if you’d ask me; this kid really give you folks a hard time?”

“Seven years of it.” She chuckled. “And it finally comes to an end.”

“Seven?” Eraserhead quirked an eyebrow. “And he’s only 15?”

“He will be on June 28th.”

“Villains these days start out younger and younger.” Officer Ito shook his head.

“Stun Gun! Stun Gun!” A perky brunette suddenly popped from seemingly out of the ground, dressed in an indigo pantsuit with a mic in hand, making everyone take a step back. A man with a large video came floated down onto the street lamp where he couldn’t be reached easy.

“Dammit, Tomone!” The female officer growled.

“You’ve finally been arrested; do you have anything to say towards your fanbase?!” The reported managed to screech as she struggled in the arms of Officer Ito, using her shrinking quirk to ease her way out and stay close enough to the teen villain to receive her comment.

Stun Gun flashed a laid back smile straight at the cameraman, leaning towards the reporter’s mic. “Looks like I’m gonna be charged with,” He gives his trademark wink and finger-gun pose, having escape his quirk-inhibiting handcuffs while everyone was distracted. “A million counts of stealing hearts.”

He snickered at his own joke even as the two officers and Eraserhead quickly took action to apprehend him while another hero on the scene handled the reporter.

“He has fans?” Eraserhead looked towards the female officer incredulous, once Stun Gun was rearrested with further restraints and shoved into the squad car.

The officer sighed. “Plenty.”

“And they eat that crap up?”

“He’s a bit of a special case.”

“Do tell.”

***********************************************************************************************

Special case, indeed.

As a teacher at U.A. Highschool, Aizawa Shota, aka Eraserhead, had quickly adapted to the smartphone age that had been absent in his own youth. Still, the likes of social media and what the teens these days find as entertainment continue to be a slippery slope of half comprehendible, half questionable. He was certainly getting old.

Kaminari Denki, or Stun Gun as he’s notoriously known as, has a particularly prominent presence on various social media apps, according to the phone in his hands, something which is uncommon among openly villainous individuals; only one other comes to mind.

And some tech engineering know-how. He mused, noting that the phone in hand wasn’t specifically marked by any known brand and seemed to have been heavily tinkered with and broken into.

The only reason they could even access the phone was because Detective Naomasa’s quirk made it impossible for Kaminari not to spill the beans on his long string of a password. The kid had also put in some kind of electric-based lock on, which again Kaminari had no choice but to instruct them on how to by-pass.

The phone was a plethora of information of the kind of tools Stun Gun used for his trade; several hack-based apps that couldn’t be found on any App Store, specifically; and numerous photos a mixture of both the schematics of his private operations, as well a collected data from his targets.

However, as it turned out, the true evidence of Stun Gun’s voluminous criminal history could be found on just about any device with internet service.

The teen villain had no hidden social media accounts; his Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and Youtube were completely open to the public.

And the posts he made? Yes, proof of his criminal intent; info dumps of his targets and video evidence and compilations explaining them in further detail. Expose and call out videos, simply put.

But additionally: nail art, Q&As with his fans, tattoo reveals, style and makeup tips, and prank videos.

One of the random Q&A videos he watched partially through taught him that Kaminari Denki’s lightning bolt hair streak was in, fact au-natural; but his lightning bolt face mark wasn’t. He’s also considering getting his tongue pierced, for the guys and gals out there.

He’d rather forget that.

Now, if this case was all cut-and-dry, it’d be a simple matter of unpacking the overload of information and picking out the important stuff, decide whether to try the teen as a minor or an adult, take him to court, and likely book him to juvie or prison.

His long list of crimes could be narrowed down into a few categories: theft, property damage, hacking, drug dealing, evading arrest, illegal scrapping, illegal quirk usage, disruption of the peace, and all around causing havoc.

But as the officer had said, the kid’s a special case. That’s why he’s among his pro-hero Musutafu-based peers in a one-time case committee to decide Stun Gun’s fate.

There was a good reason Kaminari had to be sent to Musutafu, rather than the prefecture he was born in, or remain in the Greater Tokyo Area where most of his crimes were comitted.

There was a reason everyone in the room was specifically picked as a neutral party to this case, not one single hero ever encountering Stun Gun in their years of work aside from him, during the ambush.

There was a reason the Tokyo police department and all those in the surrounding prefectures didn’t want to touch this case with a mile-long pole.

Look deeper into each of the charges, and you had one hell of a complicated mess.

Yagi Toshinori, All Might himself, twitched in slight astonishment. “February 13 of this year, pro-hero Daggerstrike went in pursuit of Stun Gun after a call into a robbery. The villain had taken a set of disks from the scene of the crime and fled on foot. Daggerstrike was in pursuit for twenty minutes along various alleyways and through backdoors and fenced areas, ending two miles away the from the site.”

“At the two mile mark, Daggerstrike unleashed three of his sharpened fingernail blades in Stun Gun’s direction, in an open area which he presumed had been vacant of any bystanders. This was proven to be incorrect as one of the blades accidentally ricochet off a nearby dumpster bin and struck a drunken man that had been slumped on a wall.”

“The victim was startled and, in presumed self defense, let out a loud yell that allegedly caused said dumpster bin to shoot up in the air. Daggerstrike, in shock and concern for the man, did not evade in time and ended up pinned down by the dumpster bin. The man fled in fear and is later reported to have his injuries cared for at a nearby clinic.”

“Daggerstrike was left trapped by the dumpster by his right leg and hip, the contents of the bin piled over his chest, including a sharp broken piece of wood that pierced his clavicle area, and his arms and back were stabbed by broken glass that had been on the ground. He was unable to call for assistance as his phone had been crushed in his pocket. He yells out for help, and to his surprise, Stun Gun returned to rescue.”

“Stun Gun first proceeds to examine Daggerstrike’s injuries. Seeing as Daggerstrike was in no immediate threat of bleeding out, he removed the wooden spike as well as the trash pile off Daggerstrike’s chest, then uses the same wooden piece as a makeshift lever to lift the bin enough for Daggerstrike to free his leg. Stun Gun assisted Daggerstrike up his feet and led him to a safer area where Stun Gun took out his personal first aid kit to treat some of the wounds. Stun Gun also reportedly used his quirk and a communication headpiece to call for dispatchers to their area. Stun Gun stayed long enough to treat Daggerstike’s wounds and remove some of the glass shards along his back up until help arrive, in which Stun Gun continued to flee.”

“But not before, to Daggerstike’s astonishment, Stun Gun leaves both the first aid kit and the stolen cds in Daggerstrike’s possession, stating he wouldn’t need these anyway.”

“Investigators discover that the stolen discs in question consisted of financial records of the Revcon Corps that indicated both of money laundering ties to criminal organization PhantomMasks as well as tax evasion. As a result of the information received, Police retrieved a warrant and opened a case against the corporation.”

Fat Gum whistled. “So the kid went after some info of a random business? What, he was gonna sell it to the competition?”

“Not at all.” Hawks exclaimed. “You seen the brat’s videos and tweets? He exposes these crimes and later hands out the evidence to the police. Not just businesses and criminals either; he’s given dirt on corrupt officials and pro-heroes. You remember that one echo-type hero? The one that lost his license for sexual harassment? Apparently, that was Stun Gun’s doing.” Hawks flipped his phone outward to show them the muted video playing.

“But why?”

“According to some tweets tagged ‘AboutSG’ and ‘thetruthcomesout’, he’s like some sort of nut that thinks most heroes are corrupt and selfish and only care about monetary gain, and the government purported this whole heroes system to placate the public and keep them from learning to take action or shit so it’d be easier to control them.”

“So he’s a Stain junior.” Midnight grimaced. “One is more than we ever needed.”

“Thankfully, no. Their philosophies are similar, but Stun Gun seems to make it pretty clear that not only is he against murder, he even openly expresses his opinion on Stain’s methods specifically, despite their shared views. In fact, Stun Gun seemed to have never once actually initiate attack other than in self defense or to escape; he chooses evasion over conflict.”

“Not to mention Daggerstrike isn’t the only pro-hero or sidekick that went in pursuit of Stun Gun and were rescued by him after they’ve ended up in a dangerous situation. He’s even assisted heroes that were attacked by other villains, and several citizens in peril.”

“Okay,” Present Mic crossed his arms and leaned back on his chair. “So he’s against murder, avoids conflict, targets those he considers ‘bad’ by exposing their dirty laundry. And that accounts for his thievery and hacking. Resisting arrest, ilegal quirk usage, and disruption of the peace is simply par for the course for villains. What about this whole drug dealing going on?”

“Apparently, for medical reasons, for impoverish people who can’t afford expensive doctor prescriptions or those that need something legally unavailable, such as medical-grade marijuana.”

“Still a crime. Does he take some himself?”

“That’s unknown.”

“Is this a good time to point out he’s helped the police stop a whole human trafficking ring?” Hawks spoke out again. Everyone sharply turned to him.

“What?!?”

“Which account did you find that?”

“None of them; it’s a news article.” Hawks messaged them the link so they could look it up. “And a short news report clip.”

Sure enough, Stun Gun did in fact assist the Chiba Prefecture police department bust a human trafficking ring, allegedly performing on-site hacking of the criminal’s systems and shocking several that attempted to escape. He fled himself once the criminals were apprehended, but not before sourcing out their warehouses and transport vehicles and leaving it in the hands of a novice officer to sort out. They noted that the report did not specify Stun Gun, but used his legal name and labeled him as “local vigilante Kaminari.” The police made no note or mention of Stun Gun on any public reports regarding the mission.

They spent hours and hours sorting through Stun Gun’s criminal history, finding similar patterns to his behavior and actions. There were some petty thefts and destruction of private property and all around assholery, but otherwise Stun Gun seemed strongly motivated in simply outing the crimes of those who hid behind a mask of innocence, using his rather unorthodox methods.

That was the big red flag right there; the targets were all heroes, esteemed individuals, or businesses with hidden, often illegal or immoral practices. It fits well with Stun Gun’s beliefs, only broadened beyond heroes.

The more they learned, the more it seemed the term “villain” didn’t really work as a label for this kid. Vigilante? Though some of his actions couldn’t be justified in that way. Some form of Anti-Hero? Although the kid made it clear what he thought of heroes and probably wouldn’t find the term appealing so long as it had “hero” tacked on.

Eraserhead eventually fell back into watching the random videos listed on Stun Gun’s YouTube, another Q&A of the tweets sent to him from fans. With the video on mute, he focused more on the captions provided. Eventually though, his line of thought went away from the kid’s explanation of his piercing self care and wondered over the fans themselves that seem to adore him.

It wasn’t hard to guess the appeal, right? Nice face, cool style, corny one-liners, flirtatious and confident attitude, charisma seeping out of every pore; even in a world that idolizes heroes, a good bad boy could made a teenage girl weak on their knees. The kid’s even openly bisexual and seem to have an outpouring of support based on the particular videos that have the most views and likes.

And boy, was he a hit; nearly a million subscribers and followers on his four accounts. His most popular video: a rainbow glitter gradient nail art how-to, though all his Q&As ranked very high as well.

“A million counts of stealing hearts.” Stun Gun had said, in the now viral news report.

If Stun Gun had such a problem with heroes being heroes just for the fame and money, what makes him any better for doing the same as some kind of villain/vigilante/anti-hero?

...There has to be more, something obvious that they’re missing.

Turns out, there was.

Pretending to nap in the middle of class occasionally, he’s heard his former students play many YouTube videos in full blast, rather than do their schoolwork. Last year’s homeroom class had been the worst offenders.

From what he learned, even a small time youtuber (as they’re called) usually began or end their videos begging for likes, comments, subscriptions, donations, endorsements, sells of their merchandise, and so on.

Stun Gun’s videos were absent of all that.

“...Stay tuned my little sparklers. SG out!” Most videos ended, with a wink and finger gun pointed straight at them before the end credits which spotlighted artists and notable fans with sentimental messages.

Eraserhead dug deeper; there were a few videos on merch update. They were focused on thanking the artist who made his costume, supporting the artist whose more than happy to comply with the fanbase’s demand for merch.

The prices were dirt cheap.

Any pro-hero in the business knew the ups and downs of selling merch, cost of labor and materials, and ultimately net profit.

Unless the designer was working free of charge, Stun Gun’s prices barely made him profit, if any at all. And there’s no doubt in his mind Youtube wasn’t exactly letting this troublemaker earn a single dime from his videos, either.

Money is not the motivation then; just popularity? But that still didn’t add up in his mind.

The answer came from the comments of fans themselves; plenty of them recent and expressing their distraught over the news of Stun Gun’s arrest, vocalizing their support for him.

But also, even more thanking him for everything he’s done.

The top comment from one video: Thank you Stun-san, you really helped me in my time of need. My mom and sis accepted me for who I am and started helping me get through the pain as well. When Daigo and his cronies tried to harass me yesterday, I just looked at your last message to remind myself that someone out there is rooting for me. I hope to make you proud some day!

Another comment: I LOVE it when u do Endeavor video! My aunt’s gonna legal action, thanks for ur suggestion I’m glad someone like u looking out for us!

And another: Thanks for pulling me out of the dark when I needed it most. I called the hotline you suggested, it really helped!

And another: My sis and I love you! Thanks for the pic, it really made her day!

And so many others like it.

Eraserhead closed the YouTube app and hovered his finger over the phone’s text app, with currently over 40 unreads, pausing only for a moment to reconsider. These are likely private messages shared with young teens. He wants to respect their privacy, but at the same time he needed to be sure Stun Gun wasn’t taking advantage of his fanbase in some way. At least that’s his justification.

There were so many numbers, each with a username of an unknown person and no other personal data. He read several of the messages.

“I found something important.” He spoke up for the first time. He didn’t need to look up to know his peers had his undivided attention, even if some were still running their mouths. “You’ll want to read some of these yourself.”

He passed the phone along, each pro-hero taking turns reading out a conversation between Stun Gun and another kid.

Kids from broken homes. Kids with neglectful parents. Kids of villains. Kids with villainous quirks. Kids coming out or questioning their identity. Kids affected by the cruel actions of villains, pro-heroes, and other people performing misdeeds.

And from Stun Gun’s end: nothing but outpouring love and support, words of encouragement and genuine sympathy, advice on what to do and shared stories of his own experiences, promises that they matter in this world and are brave and strong in their own right.

Sent pictures of himself with a kind, sweet smile and wide, joyful eyes, hand gestures shaped as a heart, or wearing the colors of a particular LGBT+ flag, or cute random doodles held out to the camera. Sometimes he’s giving his trademark pose, but it’s softer and meant especially for the person on the other side of the screen.

There wasn’t a hint of any of Stun Gun’s ludicrously flirty or egotistical manners, there was no sign of coercion or asking for anything else from these fans; just a guy helping out, no strings attached, holding out conversations with kids who just needed someone to listen.

Eraserhead watched as even the most hardened and firm heroes of this short-term committee softened just from reading and learning of this side of the electrifying teenager.

He could tell they’re seeing exactly what he’s seeing right now.

***********************************************************************************************

Kaminari Denki stared them down from across a large wooden table in a padded room; the old table was switched since metal is a good conductor of electricity, and even with four inhibitors on and Eraserhead himself present, they didn’t want to take chances.

The three of them, Eraserhead, Nedzu, and All Might, were unfazed by the teen’s sneering, taunting grin, nor by the fact he had both legs crossed atop the table, still wearing the same worn and dirty shoes he ran through the streets of Greater Tokyo in. His original handcuffs were replaced with a longer chained one and his arms were no longer restrained behind his back, allowing the teen to hostilely cross his arms to his chest. He was clearly nervous, but held it back with an air of animosity and disdain.

They’ve seen the photos from the private messages, though. They know better.

“Emohead, a giant rat, and the all mighty big boy himself,” Kaminari whistled mockingly, “To what do I owe the pleasure of this impromptu visit, o’ great heroes?”

“Young Kaminari,” All Might began, “As you may have been made aware of, a heroes committee had been formed in order to review the nature of your crimes and come to a consensus of the appropriate actions to take.”

“Alas, so the heroes decided to put it in themselves to play judge, jury, and executioner now,” All pretenses of cockiness were wiped away as the teenager’s face hardened. “Is there any end to the heroes’s puppetry of the mindless and docile lambs of our nation?”

“Tough talk won’t work there, kid.” Eraserhead took charge next. “Based on our findings, we have a deal to make with you.”

A sinister smile returned to the young man’s face. “Deal? Lemme guess, some televised apology were I repent my ideals, in exchange for a few years shed of my incarceration?” He cackled. “No thanks.”

“Actually, this deal is quite a generous offer of mine, once in a lifetime!” The white, well-dressed creature spoke up next. “I am Nezu; a mouse, dog or bear? Who knows, but I’m also Principal of the local U.A. High School Academy, where students learn and train to become heroes.”

“A displeasure to meet you.”

“Quite mutual!” Nezu said brightly, sipping tea. “Unfortunate I’ll see more of you once you’ve accepted our offer.”

He would’ve remarked back that he’d rather spend his life in prison than accept any offer of theirs, but the meaning of the rodent’s words stuck to him like glue. “What do you mean ‘see more of me’?”

Eraserhead leaned forward, glaring, to ensure he captivated the boy’s attention. “Cutting to the chase: we’ll drop the charges, the worst of them at least, so long as you attend U.A. and graduate from the heroes course, and drop the remainder in exchange for community service.”

There was a short pause. Then Kaminari giggled, then chuckled, then laughed, pounding a fist on the table, until finally falling off his chair to roll on the floor in uncontrollable fits.

They waited patiently for him to gather himself back up. He was still wheezing and wiping small tears from the corner of his eyes as he grabbed ahold of his chair.

“Oh man, oh man! That’s was good!” He cackled some more. “You got me there! Give me a moment!” It still took him a while longer to control his fits, but eventually he was back sitting down with only a few snickers coming out.

“So anyways,” Nezu cheerfully picked the conversation back up. “By accepting our offer, you’ll of course become a temporary ward of U.A. and have your room and board accommodated. You’ll be expected to be on your absolute best behavior and engage in all in-school activities. You’ll wear a tracker at all times as well as a modified inhibitor that will allow us to control the level of the suppressor jolt, that way you’ll be able to use your quirk for training purposes...”

Kaminari’s expressions turned from amused, to confused, to baffled, as the rat principal continued on. “Wha? You...you were...you’re joking.”

He looked into each of their faces for a sign that they were just messing with him. He was a good people reader, plenty of experience in his belt. They weren’t joking.

He slammed his fists on the table. “You’re crazy if you think I’ll...no way in hell! You’re not brainwashing me into....into one of you!”

Eraserhead grinned in his own, menacing way.

“Is that right?”

“Damn straight!”

“Won’t reconsider?”

“I’d rather fry my brain out!”

Eraserhead stared the kid down, eyes flashing red, hair coiling.

Then he leaned back, shrugging. “Well, if you say so. A shame you won’t be able to help your little friends out while in prison.”

“You bet - my friends?” Kaminari stopped his tirade.

Eraserhead simply took out the teen’s phone, which had remained in his possession since the arrest, holding it out for the blonde to see the screen.

Kaminari gulped as he read the message.

SG, if your there, please respond! I know you have other problems right now, but I’m so scared. Please tell me your alright before I go under!

Shit, MegalloooCk had his first transition surgery tomorrow, or tonight? he can’t tell, but he had promised to send a good luck lightning bolt his way.

There were probably other messages, only that he had the sound on silent when he had been walking around downtown to avoid attention, so he couldn’t tell. How many others were worried about him, still needed his advice or encouragement? He really hadn’t thought through the consequences of getting caught.

“Wouldn’t wanted to disappoint those kids, right?” Eraserhead taunted as he pulled the phone back out of reach. “You know the same exact pain they’re going thr-“

“I’ll do it! So give me back my phone!” The blonde slammed his hands down.

“Oh? Is that an order? You’re not exactly in a position to make demands.”

Kaminari huffed. “Please, give it back, I really need to respond to them!”

“So it’s a deal?”

“....It’s a deal.” He grumbled.

Eraserhead slid it back to the kid, who instantly began texting at lightning speed.

“Kids these days and their gizmos.” Nezu commented as he and All Might stood up, walking towards the awaiting police chief, who was more than ready to hand over warship to them.

Eraserhead stayed put and waited for Kaminari to look up from his phone.

He smiled as warmly as he could muster. “I’ll see you in class.”

Chapter Text

“This is...” Present Mic looked to his partner Eraserhead. “...Cozy.” The grimace on his face expressed otherwise.

The tiny, uninsulated room, hidden at basement level behind a barber shop and a clothing store, was clearly not meant for residence. It seemed to serve as the former teen villain’s home as well as base of operations, considering the numerous, barely held-together cardboard boxes full of electronics stacked beside an old futon covered in both clothing and the most atrocious set of sheets imaginable. Unmarked colorful boxes were stacked in another corner, which upon inspection were small bolts and bits likely used for computer parts.

The last available corner was shielded by a leopard-print sheet that Eraserhead recognized as the backdrop for Stun Gun’s videos, and sure enough behind the makeshift curtain was an innocuous but surprisingly sleek computer monitor atop an old desk. The rest of the set up was mismatched.

They pay it no more mind -they’ll have an expert search for any important data later- and inspected instead the crate of skateboards, shoes and hats that appear to be part of some collection, and next to them a closed lid box with sets of Stun Gun’s uniform, some smartphones in varying conditions, and the rest of his crime gear, including some kind of disk item he apparently hadn’t gotten around to using. There were two posters on the wall as well as a calendar scribbled with what appeared to be a serial line of random letters and numbers. The floor had small plastic bags brimming with take out containers, wrappers, and empty water or soda bottles. And of course, the place reek of stale food and mold.

They had half a mind to just throw away all this...trash.

What did they get themselves into?

They carried out whatever appeared to be most salvageable and threw it in the back of the rented moving truck. Cementoss and 13 would sort through the stuff back in the apartment complex they all lived in, likely wondering if the two of them simply made a trip to the junkyard and threw garbage in for shits and giggles.

They weren’t done just yet with their trip; Saitama Prefecture was apparently the kid’s place of birth and his family’s residence before the fire. They needed to retrieve both medical records from the local hospital as well as police records from the fire incident.

After their two pit stops and a lunch break, they sat on an available bench as they awaited their last train. Eraserhead grimaced as he read through the police report. “What was Endeavor doing in Saitama Prefecture?”

“Probably a mission?” Present Mic suggested just before messily scarfing down his sub sandwich.

“Then why respond to a domestic violence call?” Eraserhead’s eyes narrowed as he read through the official report: the death of the Kaminari’s elderly neighbor was noted, but the Kaminaris themselves completely disappeared without a trace, all of their belongings seemingly lost to the fire. Kaminari’s teacher had inquired his whereabouts two days later. No hospitals reported a family with their characteristics, and there were no known friends or family to contact.

Interestingly, first names were redacted, as well as the parent’s occupations and any details regarding the fire. Endeavor’s hero report, which should have been serialized and listed on paper, was marked confidential.

What in the world happened that needed to be kept secret? And was this why Kaminari Denki seem to specifically target Endeavor the most out of anyone?

Todoroki Enji makes a baby cry? The blonde teen was all over that with a ten minute rant about how terrible of a person the man is. Based on the millions of views of those videos, he wonders if this was why Endeavor ranked around the no. 11th spot despite his nearly perfect record of solved cases and multiple charity contributions.

And what of the parents themselves? They’re clearly no longer in the picture; had Kaminari been alone since then?

He shook his head; he’s thinking too much into this without any official confirmation. They can leave it to the investigators to piece together Kaminari Denki’s childhood.

***************************************************************************************************

His first few hours in Mic’s apartment was dedicated to his new computer set up; they’ve yet to release any of his electronics back in his possession other than his phone, so he was borrowing from the radio show hero for the time being. The equipment was admittedly nicer much to his chagrin; it would’ve been ironic had the borrowed microphone been less stellar quality.

The stream starts silently as he adjusted the screen further, but after a ten second lull fifty viewers popped up simultaneously, and from then on the numbers steadily climbed.

“You guys hear me?” He spoke to the mic positioned just above the cam. Several people quickly confirmed his question.

Showtime. He immediately put on his biggest, brightest grin, the one everyone insisted put them at ease despite his choice of career. “Whassssuuuup, my sparkler army!” Out came his trademark pose, a flirty wink, and then the greeting responses came rolling in faster than lightning itself. “Ya boi Stun Gun aka Chargezuma aka DiscountZeus himself back in the biz! Hope you didn’t miss me too much!” The messages kept on coming, a little too fast for him, but they were mainly greetings at this point. That was fine, though; he’d specified already he’d be taking questions exclusively from Twitter this time around.

It took a few more minutes and an attempt to at least greet back the few regulars he recognized before he decided it was time to transition the conversation into the ever so important update.

“So, surprise! I’m not in jail! Though you guys probs figured that out already. Here’s the hip an’ happenings, bros. Rumors I made a deal to go to UA Hero Academy...very true, my dudes.” Naturally, trouble came quick as soon as he dropped the ball.

Heathersstepp0nme: FUCK YEAH! You gonna be a hero Stunny!

EyeDyeGuy: stfu with that hero shit, bitch, Stun Gun is better than those fake f**s

Pho pho noodleman: WTF u cant be serious! I respected u and u gon stab us in the back u traitor ho

Yep, the hero/villain discourse. It was messed up how black and white the mindsets of some of his supposed fans functioned. And it never seemed to go away no matter how much he explained his stance on the debate.

“Chill, chill! I see your comments! Listen, okay, ya bro ain’t changing his tune, just gaming the system, ya dig?” He leaned back casually. “After all, you’d miss this face if it was stuck behind bars, right? I’m here because I’m dedicated to you guys.” He winked, sent a little air kiss, and then whatever drama present was immediately drowned in the sea of heart emotes, all-caps keys smashes, and declarations of (unrequited) love.

That’s what I want to see. Charming the audience was his best defense against the negativity. After all, when you got it, flaunt it. Plus there was a looming time limit to this stream so he couldn’t afford to get off track.

Boomboxmouth, Gloomraser, and their kinky dominatrix friend insisted on a dinner sit down. By the time he was ready to stream, he had an hour and a half at most.

“Ok, my dudes, now we’re doing things a ‘lil different round here tonight. Like I tweeted earlier, I’m only taking twitter questions.” It does little to prevent some people from posting their questions to the chat anyway, or the begging for him to respond to the questions from their own twitter handle. “Now the bothersome overlords laid some bullshit ground rules for my, uh, ‘situation,’ like no trash talkin’ ‘bout specific heroes here and all....or inciting anti-heroism or delinquency, BUT we good on general opinions and advice, so starting with my homegurrrrrl GHeartRacier...”

Twenty minutes in, it was just like any other stream before, only the internet connection was significantly less wonky, the room smelled like a perfume sales lady went to town on it, and his backside wasn’t screaming for the sweet release of death as the cushioned office chair was an upgrade from cold concrete.

He had to wrangle the conversation from the occasional spark of an argument -his fan base is just a little conflicted sometimes, he doesn’t blame them- and of course remind people once in a while this specific stream was twitter questions only. He did nearly get into the topic about the newer hero Mt. Lady and her ex who happened to have misused charity funds; it may not have been directly about the hero but he wasn’t going to take chances on day one of the deal. He also addressed recent video take downs and restrictions; they happened once in a while but this time he wasn’t permitted to reload any of his content, much to the dismay of some.

At the forty-five minute mark however, things went from chill to an inevitable nuclear reactor meltdown level.

He was just answering someone with a concern about some art craft channel taking clips from one of his tutorials to fake a perfect pedi, and the chat had slowed down other than the occasional person wondering why they couldn’t donate or subscribe, when the door slammed open with a “BANG.”

His instinct was to leap from the chair and point his right arm in a ready aim strike, forgetting that the insulated wristband made his quirk a dud. The chair itself was knocked down and the headphones he had plugged in for music yanked out, so everyone could hear the new AC/DC album that he absolutely, totally, didn’t pirate, no sir.

“HEEEEEEEYYYYY THERE LISTENER!!!!!!!” Bellowed Present Mic, dressed in half his hero getup, and thankfully no speakers or else they’d be taking a hospital trip for his blown out eardrums.

“HOLY FUCK WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Realizing that this wasn’t one of the ambushes that the police, heroes, and occasional criminal just love to spring out at him, he tightly clutched his racing chest. Anxiousness simmered and he was left slightly more drained, a whole lot more peeved.

“EH, AREN’T YOU A LITTLE YOUNG FOR A HEART ATTACK?!” Of course the dolt naturally wouldn’t realize that barging in louder than an airplane take-off would do anyone six feet under. He’d feel sorry to all of the man’s neighbors if it wasn’t a hero-exclusive apartment complex.

“WHATEVER, what do you want?”

“Hmm?” The older blonde tilted his head. Fucking hell, did screaming banshee literally barge in and forgot his reason?!?! “Oh, right! Just a reminder that DINNNNEEEERRR is in thirty! DON’T be late LISTENER!!!” He man laughed as if he conjured some sort of comedic punchline somewhere in that statement, and u-turned out of the room, leaving the door wide open.

His eye twitched. The nerve. He fucking hated adults.

He all but collapsed to the chair, swiveling it to face the computer.

The computer, camera, and microphone.

That captured that entire ordeal.

Live and in front of his twitch stream.

That was going absolutely ballistic in the chat room.

“....Shit.”

***************************************************************************************************

Five hundred unsubscribed on YouTube and counting.

Almost two hundred unfollowed on several other social media accounts.

A hundred death threats from the Stain stans (and other villain stans).

He doesn’t hit big enough to show up on Twitter’s trending algorithm, but #CancelStunGun gained a lot more traction, and both @StunGunUpdates and @VigilanteDramaTable were blowing things wayyyy out of proportion.

stunsenpainoticeme @StunGunUpdates
Controversial villain @StunGunLoaded (aliases Chargezuma, DiscountZeus) roommates with @PresentMicOfficial?

UnlicensedAndProud @VigilanteDramaTable
Villain to Hero? Tokyo’s bad boy @StunGunLoaded set to join UA, dines with Voice Hero: Present Mic @PresentMicOfficial

Scanthis @TheOnlyDoxxie
This for real?! @StunGunLoaded is no freaking hero, just a wannabe baby Stain copycat that’s only liked for his pretty face. WTF is @UAHeroAcademyOfficial thinking? #CancelStunGun

IronX4 @RealSteel
Dude, I go to UA. Am I gonna be classmates with a famous vigilante (°ロ°) !

Ladiesman( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) @Gr4PeJuice
This guy has so many followers! Maybe he can hook me up with a hottie

Deku @allmightfan87803
Is he joining a class? Would it be the hero course or general studies, or maybe even business or support? I heard he’s a good hacker and tinkers with gadgets, plus an electricity quirk would be useful in support. But maybe the school is placing him in heroics for a new secret program to redeem young villains. There would be a lot of practical uses for an electric quirk in the hero industry, so it’d make sense that the Hero Commission wouldn’t want it to go to waste. If he were to join heroics, would he replace someone in the course, or be added as a 21st classmate? How would they assess his academic ranking going in one semester late?

NumberOne @LORDEXPLOSIONMURDER
@allmightfan87803 STFU DEKU. THIS VILLAIN EXTRA CAN GO DIE. I’M GONNA BE NUMBER ONE AND HE’LL BE ANOTHER VILLAIN I BEAT UP ALONG THE WAY

SirGentle @TheGentlemanCriminal
I have lost a great amount of respect for you, @StunGunLoaded. I once thought we were brothers in arms, fighting this flawed system together and sharing the fruits of our labor to the adoring public, but now I see your acts has merely been a ruse. Shall we meet once more, it will be on opposing sides.

So yeah, today is supposedly a splendid day to gain a massive headache. Just the thought of the damage control he’d have to deal with was exhausting.

The silver lining was that each of the three heroes, all teachers of UA, had their phones going off nonstop. Likely they’re legally unable to silent their notifications for hero reasons. Or they just suck at technology and couldn’t figure it out.

But apparently insomniac hoboman finds him completely at fault and has proceeded to glare directly into his soul. And for every muffled “ping” or ringing the man’s phone sang into the tense silence, the more red his piercing stare turned.

“Never should have given them my number.” emohead grumbled, with a voice that sounded like he was ready to retire early and sleep in a ditch forever; heck knows he needs the rest anyhow, with eye bags so deep they could carry the contents of a modern day spunky business woman’s purse.

Cougar lady loudly sipped her tea in amusement.

Shrieking parakeet threw his head back and laughed. “And you say they’re NOT your kids!”

“It’s not the students messaging me.” Man-who-never-sleeps gritted his teeth. “The parents are.”

“Ah.” RatedR-for-Repulsive quirked her brow, adding absolutely nothing of value to this delightful conversation.

“Speaking of parents,” Scruffhead gave him his full attention again, just what he always wanted. “Let’s discuss your situation.”

“Can’t, eating.” To make his point, he picked up the bowl of miso soup and loudly slurped in the most obnoxious way he could manage.

“Considering-“

SLURRRP

“Consi-“

SLURRRRRRRRP

“Co-“

SLLLLLLUUUUUUURRRRRRPPPPP

He could practically hear the thoughts of homicide emitting from the underground hero. Present Mic and Midnight could barely keep their snickering down.

And now he was out of soup.

“.....Considering that you’re still on a probationary period and we’re unable to locate your legal guardians, you’ll officially be a ward of UA.”

“No shit.”

“Due to recent events that occurred, UA has recently reformed into a boarding school for the safety of all our students. Our staff have gone on to debate on whether it would be best to place you in the same dorm system among your peers or with a faculty member, specifically Present Mic.”

“Pass.”

“On which?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, jail cell it is.”

“UGH, fine! Here! I’m not dealing with those baby heroes and their deluded self-righteousness on my off hours!”

“Suit yourself. A dorm room will be set up for your stay on weekends.”

“I just-“

“This is not negotiable. We have off hours, too. Mandatory weekends at the school dorms ensures you would remain under strict surveillance.” 

Kaminari sneered, wretched, made the worse faces possible. Pencilbutthead was unmoved.

“Next Monday you will sit in for first period. Afterwards you’ll be accompanied to a testing room to assess your academic level, considering you’ve skipped quite a bit of your educational career.”

“What can I say? I see a graphing calculator and immediately run for the hills.” He chuckled with a shrug. He was so gonna flunk their test.

“Afterwards, you’ll have lunch at the faculty room, then heads towards our training facility to test your physical capabilities. The day will end at the principal’s office to evaluate your performances. Tuesday begins your official first day. Any questions?”

“Yeah, dude.” He pointed a finger at both the heroes behind Eraserhead. “This like a threesome going on here, or?” Present Mic cackled and Midnight looked downright scandalized.

“Questions relevant to your education.”

“Actually, you did a lot of talking while they just stood guard. Why Eraser, are you perhaps afraid of lil ol’ me? Can’t handle me man-to-man, hmmmmm?” He batted his eyes mockingly, hand to his chest.

“We’re done here. I have patrol and some helicopter parents to deal with.” Eraserhead stood up and immediately turned towards a dark blue door with an attached mud room.

“Shota!” Mic sputtered, arm stretched out and trailing behind the hurried underground hero. “I can pack some leftovers if you’d like.”

“Drop it off at my place.” Eraserhead stalled long enough only to swap to his combat boots.

Mic pouted at the retreating man’s back, but turned around to offer the same to Midnight. She left with a large thermos soon after. Kaminari had taken the opportunity to grab an extra pork rice ball while the loudmouth hero was seeing kinky boots out, stuffing it in his jacket pocket.

With the other two heroes gone, Mic gave Kaminari his full attention, grinning widely with a sparkling gleam hidden behind glasses. “Rule number one of the Present Mic household: no need to hide food!” Knowingly, he scooted the plate with the remaining rice balls towards Kaminari. “Everything stocked in the pantry and fridge is yours to take. Lemme know of you need help with the cooking first, m’kay?”

Kaminari warily stared down the older blonde for a minute, before relenting and taking the rice ball back out. “How?” He asked before chomping down on it.

Mic made himself comfortable in the chair Eraserhead formerly occupied. “Been there and done that in foster care. I’ve seen your cozy little hide out. A good meal must’ve been hard to come by.”

“Yeah, sure.” Kaminari mumbled with a mouthful. He was wary of the conversation. Eraserhead was at least to the point. Present Mic seemed to be fishing for information. And he’s going to do it on his terms and his terms alone. “I like burgers and that’s all you need to know.”

Mic’s grin somehow seemed to widen more. “I’ll remember that when we go GROCERY SHOPPING!”

***************************************************************************************************

DisasterBiOnTheRun ✅ @StunGunLoaded

Admittedly, Present Mic makes good rice balls. Also @PresentMicOfficial Shouta? ( ಠ ͜ʖ ಠ)

LISTENUP!!! ✅ @PresentMicOfficial
@StunGunLoaded ヾ(´〇`)ﾉ♪♪♪ <<<< Consider this your warning

DisasterBiOnTheRun ✅ @StunGunLoaded

@PresentMicOfficial damn ok

***************************************************************************************************

“GOOOOOOD EVENING LISTENERS!!!!” Present Mic was in his domain. His Sunday Night Wrap Up radio talk show was always the best way to end the weekend on a high note, at least for fans of the hero. To Kaminari, it was an old fashioned form of his streams, with a ton of unnecessary industry barriers such as a fancy studio and a corporate overlord. Well, fancy to his standards.

It was Present Mic’s idea to bring him over for a show. Apparently some people took issue when a captured villain get’s a cushy placement in the hero course among their law-abiding snowflakes, and others were pissed over their own spawns not getting in to the oh so exclusive school in the first place.

Go figure. Who would’ve thought.

So this was supposedly his “introduction” to the “other side” to show what a “cool nice guy” he really is. Bleh.

Present Mic have been talking up a storm for a few minutes by now before finally getting to the point of him being here.

“So, some of you may know by now, I hinted at tonight’s special guest on twitter. GOOD JOB to everyone who guessed it!” Mic gave him a passing glance and a nod, in preparation for his own cue. “So LET’S GIVE A SHOUT for my new little sidekick; Tokyo’s bad boy turned hero student, you know him as STUN GUNNNN!!!”

Some red light turned greed overhead to show that own microphone turned on. Somehow, despite the fact he’s used to streaming live, he was jittery for a show where no one could even see him. But as they say, the show must go on.

“Yo, whazzup, sparklers!” His voice nearly wavered, but he was going to power through this. It was weird without the immediate feedback of actual people. A laptop to the side gave input to the online tune ins, which didn’t account for the other half of the demographic. “That’s right, ya boi Stun Gun is here live on the radio! Thanks for tuning in!”

“So Stun Gun, tell the listeners a little bit all about YOU!!! Starting with your first day as a hero student TOMORROW. Now how about that?!”

“Well, thanks to the UA Principal for being a total madman, offering me a choice like that. It was unexpected, I even thought he was joking at first. But you know, it’s gonna be interesting to see how things are done ‘round there. Doesn’t really come up in conversation when I’m being chased down.” He chuckled.

“Right you are!” Mic also gave a bit of a laugh. “Now I do want to inform everyone, before we get ahead of ourselves, Stun Gun here isn’t necessarily replacing a student, so it’s not like anyone’s getting kicked out for him. Rather, it’s a unique opportunity we’re giving our sparky boy here. Stun Gun isn’t your typical little delinquent running ‘round the streets, throwing bricks at windows. Ain’t that right, kiddo?”

He twitched a bit at the term “kiddo,” but let it slide for now. “Well yeah, I’m somewhat of a famous face myself, even if it’s just online. Not many people actually recognize me in public at first, except for some random fan and a few off-duty heroes.”

“True, true, it’s a big world out there, some people still get their news on paper.” Mic continued on as Kaminari took a quick sip of water; a luxury when he considers how often his mouth would get dry because people would complain too much about his frequent water breaks on stream. “Now you have a bit of a reputation on a certain YouTube channel of yours, DiscountZeus, where you rag on some scandalous heroes.”

He snorted. “‘Scandalous’ is pretty lighthearted. I’ve covered some real crimes conducted by the very people that dare to call themselves heroes.” He had more to say, but Present Mic held up his hand flat, his signal for Kaminari to cut it before he says something regrettable.

“Hmm, what comes to mind is that hero you found a ton of evidence for sexual assault of several victims, and cover ups for the incidents. Echo hero: Second Voice.” Mic’s hand shifted to his own signature pose, the finger gun, pointed right at him. He was allowed to respond now.

He sat a littler straighter. “Yup, lost his license days after I uploaded that video. I remembered a fan remixed his shitty PR-enforced apology and everyone kept sending it to me. Felt proud of that one. Still, there was backlash from his own fans defending him and calling into question my evidence, despite the fact the Tachikawa Police Department investigating and confirming it themselves.”

“Hmm, his victims probably considered you their hero after that.” Mic winked. “Let’s talk more about your channel. It’s more than just exposing a few naughty heroes, after all. You’ve got quite a dedicated fanbase despite your less stellar antics. Your into quite a few things most boys wouldn’t dream of publicly doing, like make up and nail art, and you’ve posted content for that, too.”

“Well, I don’t think looking this good should be defined by outdated opinions of gender norms. I mean, it’s not like never in history did men reserve themselves from make up. It’s getting to be a little more common, especially in industries where your image is everything.”

***************************************************************************************************

Mic’s show would continue for another two hours, but Kaminari’s own segment wrapped up, with Eraserhead picking him up from the studio. Entering Present Mic’s apartment, or Yamada as the nameplate outside proclaimed, Eraserhead elected to break out a horrendously large and hideous yellow sleeping bag and make himself home on the couch.

“Don’t do something stupid.” Emohead warned him, before zipping himself inside the sleeping bag and falling straight to sleep. Somehow, Kaminari doesn’t believe it’s going to improve the man’s eye bag situation.

He had a passing thought to take the risk of sneaking out, but given his previous experiences with underground heroes and their keen sense of subconscious awareness, he elects to just stuff a handful of mini marshmallows down his throat and relax in what was now deemed “his room.”

It was decorated just like how he liked it, with his few belongings on open display and some memorabilia and broken objects on the walls. He still has the computer set up from Mic and it seems likely he was just going to have to live with it. he hopes he’ll at least get some of his equipment back for “hero training.”

He checks his phone to find quite a lot of messages sending him good luck for his first day at UA. These of course only came from the handful of people he privately talks to, mostly to lend an ear or give personal advice that they wouldn’t want posted on social media. Online would be a more mixed bag of encouragement, threats and criticism, love confessions, and the occasional question.

You know what’s the best part of playing the role of a bad boy? Flip the bird at some asshole online and people eat that up. He played nice for Mic’s radio show since his people were far more unforgiving at such gestures. Here, though, was his domain.

Settled in his chair, he spins around as he gets lost sending a few messages, making a few posts, even taking a few selfies. As the chair slows to a stop, he’s facing his (comfy) bed where the brand spanking new uniform of UA lays on the edge, ironed and pristine. A white button up, dark green pants, a red tie, and a grey blazer.

He glances towards the worn leather jacket hung up on an over-the-door hook. He smirked to himself.

Laying it right next to the crisp blazer, he takes a quick photo for Snapchat.

Just a simple title: What if....

It’s always fun to ham up the delinquency stereotype.

Chapter Text

PresentMicIsMyWarden @StunGunLoaded

First day of school, ewww. Wish me luck, lightning bugs!

💬 434 🔁 200 💙1328 ⏏️

***************************************************************************************************

He quickly learned exactly why he was roomed with the Screaming Cockatiel in the first place; that award winning persona was an absolute hoax, a farce, a phony! Beneath that loud, pearly white grin,Chad shades and studded leather jacket lies a demon most foul; the kind of which lurks awaiting for the perfect moment to strike.

The kind that decides to wake up their new charge SINGING BTS SONGS AT ASS CRACK IN THE MORNING.

In retaliation he grabbed the door stopper from the front entrance and shoved it into the narrow slit of the bathroom’s with a rough kick, then ate the rest of Mic’s Calbee fruit granola cereal instead of his cornflakes, then made only enough coffee for himself and didn’t clean up the pot.

Present Mic, or Mr. Yamada as he insisted to be called (hah!), eventually managed to escape, but not without the busting the bathroom lock in the process. His response to the child’s audacity was to drink straight from the milk carton, steal the only cup of coffee right out of the younger blonde’s hands, and sing even more shitty songs.

After breakfast there was the scramble to get ready for school, something he hasn’t done in so long.

“Ugh!” He recoiled in disgust at the shaved hairs left around the bathroom sink. “Clean the fuck after yourself, asshole!” He yelled aimlessly at the apartment.

”I’ve seen your trashy hideout, you have no room to complain!” Present Mic yelled out from the living room.

With his faced washed, hair in order, and other hygienic necessities handled, he dressed up in most of the uniform that’s been laid out for him the other day, swapping the blazer with his own leather jacket. Piercings were limited to the earlobes, so he made do with invisible patches on the piercing holes of his nose and bottom lip and kept only his single onyx lightning bolt earring. Even in absence of some of his jewelry, there was nothing the faculty could do to him about his lightning bolt scar, or the lichtenburg figures that were barely there.

It’s a shame he’s not going to Shiketsu High instead, otherwise he could make use of the hat he stole a few years back and look like a real badass. But he’s rather fond of that hat, and wouldn’t want to push his luck and get it confiscated. The jacket he can replace a little easier if need be. On Mic’s dime, of course.

“Oi, brat! March your ass over here~!” Present Mic sang like it was one of his crummy radio songs.

“Wait a fucking second, you man-child!” He retorted back, but hurried anyway with the packed bag thrown over his shoulder. The school wasn’t far, but teachers had to be there a little earlier than students, so unfortunately that was going to be part of his routine for now.

“HMMMM?! Where’s your blazer?! I know you had it!” Mic was quick to point out the wardrobe change, arms crossed.

He doesn’t even stall, circling around the pro hero and briskly walking straight out the door. “Can it, Loudmouth, I checked the dress code. Ain’t says nothing ‘bout using that shitty blazer.”

Present Mic scoffed, but rushed to catch up. “Watch it, lil listener, you can’t really afford to cause trouble on your first day!”

“Yeah well, maybe update your shitty school policies and I’ll think about following them.” To emphasize his point he dug out the packet he had been given, waving it in front of the hero’s vision. He’s already highlighted the specific statement to help his argument.

As Mic swiped the packed and read through it, Kaminari continued on. “I mean, who even wrote those crappy policies? I get hero schools do fuckall about obtaining real teaching licenses, but what? Y’all running the school boards, too? No wonder baby heroes graduate knowing shit.”

To Mic’s dismay, Kaminari was truthful about the lacking dress code: the complete UA uniform was required to be ordered, including the blazer for chilly weather, but nowhere did it state it had to be worn, or that another kind of jacket was prohibited. That was definitely something to bring to the principal’s attention later on.

Then Mic remembered that homeroom class was first, and he gulped.

“You know Erasers’ your homeroom teacher.” He pointed out.

But Kaminari simply smirked. “What? I’m suppose to be scared of someone who sleeps on park benches?”

Mic decides to just drop it and hope Aizawa doesn’t kick his ass as well.

”You can handle him, Nedzu says,” Mic grumbled, “It’s worth the pay raise, Nedzu says.”

***************************************************************************************************

Kaminari Denki, a.k.a the shocking villain Stun Gun, lived by only a few handful of rules he likes to call the Five Testaments of Fucking With Hero Society

Don’t get caught; of course that’s a real important one (that he kind of screwed up with).

No murder, even if some guy deserves it, cause then you’re an irredeemable son of a turd. Fuck you, Stain.

Find loopholes, everywhere, anywhere. It’s why he’s so untouchable to the heroes he defames on the very foreign video sharing website that doesn’t give two rat’s ass about Japan’s defaming lawsuits so long as there’s concrete evidence.

Your quirk is your own and fuck the laws. His is very handy for survival, thank you very much. Plus, so many innocent people fall victim to the rigged and corrupt system simply because of their ill-fitting or uncontrollable quirks.

And last but certainly not least: mess with heroes whenever the opportunity rises. But especially when they’re forced to play nice with you.

He has perfected the art of being a lil shit, and he’s about to make it UA’s problem.

Kicking the door open, hands in pockets, announcing his presence in a burst that had a few of his soon-to-be classmates jumping in their seats. Hobocaterpillar spun in his direction with an intimidatingly red glare, scarf at the ready. Mic is already hightailing to his own classroom like a coward.

“Yo, yo, what up teach!”

He directs his signature wink and finger guns to the teacher, with a smirk and two steps inside he watches his homeroom sensei take in his appearance, letting it sink in. He waits until Sleepyhead opens his mouth to interrupt with a well practiced response.

“Ah, ah, ah,” He wags his finger,” “I know what’ ch ya thinkin’, and I’m legit following dress code, dude. Ain’t nothing about not wearing my jacket.” He waves his highlighted packet, the same one Mic has read over, expecting Eraserscruff to do very much the same and admit defeat. 2:0 in Stun Gun’s favor!

Eraserhead’s gray scarf, which he’s absolutely sure is possessed, instead yanks the packet out of his hands and rips it in half.

There’s just a few seconds of tense silence before Eraserhead broke it. “Detention for kicking my door.” The underground hero turned back towards his students. “As I was saying, he’ll be joining us for homeroom and hero training for the foreseeable future. We’ll see about the other courses later. Introduce yourself, delinquent child.” Eraserbum doesn’t even spare the blonde another glance before disappearing into the atrocious yellow sleeping bag hidden underneath the teacher’s desk.

He’s has no clue what a detention is, but considering he hasn’t been forced to change he’ll call that a win for now.

So nonchalantly he makes himself at home sitting right on the teacher’s desk, leaned back and grinning at the baby hero’s shocked faces. “Sup, losers. The names Kaminari Denki, 16, never learned how to fucking read.”

“Holy All Mighty he’s really here!” A pretty in pink horned girl slammed a hand down on her desk, staring at him with stars in her eyes.

“Please remain calm and seated, that’s means you, Bakugou.” A square that he recognizes as Ingenium Jr. robotically slices the air with a hand chop, addressing the angry pomeranian that Kaminari recalls as the Kamino Ward kid the League tried to recruit. Exploding Dandelion, amazingly, was only one of two whole people giving him actual death glares. The other was a black birdhead that pretty much screams “goth,” and he’s only half sure it’s not the guy’s (Girl’s? Pal’s?) resting bitch face.

Pink & Horny looked at him as if he personally saved her family from a burning building, cured her grandmother’s cancer, and bought her a puppy for Christmas. The guy in front of her was....sparkling, and he’s not sure if that counts for anything. A redhead with pointed teeth and a plain guy in the middle appeared stupefied, as does a blonde guy with a very noticeable thick tail and a petite brunette girl with pink cheeks.

Most of the rest of the class seemed more wary, neutral, or indecisive. There was one kid with a misshapen head that seemed to cower when their eyes met. A tall girl with a ponytail seemed to be inspecting him in deep thought. Near the windows was a broccoli-looking kid mumbling a little loudly with his face covered by a notebook, and Boom Gremlin seemed to have turned his ire towards that kid instead, causing the poor little bean to flinch and look up, revealing cute freckles and doe eyes. A short stack with purple balls on his head had the most concerning expression; it was indescribable other than “definitely thinking of something devious.”

His inspection of the baby heroes fell flat upon recognizing half-white, half-red hair, a distinct scar, and heterchromatic eyes in hazel and ice blue.

In the back seat just behind birb head was Todoroki Shouto.

Youngest son of the Number Eleven hero Endeavor (a.k.a flaming garbage).

“Stun Gun.” Todoroki rose up from his seat and made his way to the front of the class.

“Shouto please return to your seat and do not cause any trouble!” Glasses McGee hand-chopped at the boy, woefully ignored. Several other students stood up as if ready to intervene, but no one really made a move. Expect freckles, who spazzed and reached out stammering, but his peers in front of him got in the way as they stared transfixed.

Kaminari got off the desk, hands clenched and ready on the defensive. Getting in a fight on his first day would be an inconvenience, but unsurprising given his reputation and the fact these baby heroes were in-training to solve all their problems with fists. Nonetheless, he’ll avoid throwing the first punch, or any punches if he could, to soften the blame later.

Instead of what everyone, even Kaminari, seemed to expect, however, Todoroki stopped just a few feet short and, in a move that made half the class breaths hitch, bent at the waist and gave a respectable bow. And Kaminari would be lying if he ever said he’d expected this outcome when he woke up that morning.

“Thank you, for what you did.” The half-and-half’s boy’s tone was even and didn’t change in any way that indicated mocking or insincerity.

***************************************************************************************************

Three Years Ago

“Number Four hero Endeavor loses custody of both his sons to his daughter, Todoroki Fuyumi, and ex-wife, Todoroki Rei, in the shocking divorce case that shook the nation.” The anchorwoman of Saitama Daily news announced.

Kaminari doesn’t own a television, saw no purpose in one, but the video clip was all over the internet. He’d been fixing the tangled wires of some start up’s mainframe computer for quick cash and absentmindedly watched random videos on his phone to pass the time. He perked up upon recognizing the names.

“While no criminal case is expected to be filed, the Hero Commission will be discussing Endeavor’s licensing and possible restrictions and disciplinary training.”

Of course it was too good to hope Endeavor would have his Hero license revoked; the man was unfortunately too powerful and influential. But at least, no longer untouchable.

And now legally separated from the primary victims of his outrageous ambitions.

“The abuse case has come under investigation one month after lobbyists for the National Shelter Network allegedly received a cardboard box full of evidence from a surprising and unexpected source...”

***************************************************************************************************

“I am indebted to you.” Todoroki straightened up and quietly waited for some sort of answer. There was a gentle and soft expression gracing the pretty boy’s face. And wow, did someone raise the temperature?

“Uhh, no prob, dude.” And like the disaster bi he is, he continued with this response: “Are you using your fire quirk, ‘cause boy it’s hot in here!” Followed with fanning himself nervously.

And suddenly all his suave confidence and careless attitude went down the drain as the baby heroes he’d would be facing for a minimum of two-and-a-half years stared at him speechless, including the boy he just flirted with.

************************************************************************************************

The train wreck didn’t stop there, because after a rather uncomfortable moment of silence Glasses Stereotype proceeded to carry out the torture by having everyone introduce themselves.

The school faculty really meant it when they promised no student was getting kicked out of the course, leaving Kaminari’s desk squeezed right in front of an invisible girl he hadn’t noticed before, a little too close to the teacher’s desk, and flushed with the window. This specific angle gave him a wide view of the full classroom.

Weird and unbearable and horrible doesn’t even begin to describe just how much he wishes the thick glass wall behind him would shatter and let him escape into the clutches of a free-falling death.

Once all settled down, Megane Character made everyone stand up and introduce themselves by seating chart number. This included hero name and one interesting fact.

How fun.

“I am Aoyama Yuuga, monseuir. The Shining Hero: ✨Can’t Stop Twinkling✨ I am half french and fellow queer!”

“Nice, dude! Also, how are you even doing that?” He gestures to the sparkles.

“As said, ✨I cannot stop twinkling!✨”

“Sparkle quirk, got it.” The dude really couldn’t stop twinkling, and he should probably stop being a weirdo by staring.

“I’m Mina Ashido!” Pink girl squealed and jumped enthusiastically, not even giving her other classmate a second to sit down before she interrupted. “I’m such a huge fan of your nail art! The thunderstorm one was SO cool! What are you wearing right now!”

“Mina!”

“Right, right! So I’m the Ridley Hero: Alien Queen! I love to dance and of course I’m a huge fan!”

“Whazzup Mina!” Kaminari winked and finger gunned. “And to answer your question, just Midnight Owl black, ‘cause UA only allows solid colors.” Though he does have a work around for that planned...

“Ugh, preach! I tried doing that lava lamp technique, with the luminescent paint and all, and Ectoplasm-sensei made me take em’ off! I’m mean, they didn’t look as great as yours did-“

“Mina, please sit down and allow for Tsuyu’s turn!”

“Aww.” Mina sat, but silently mimed calling him later.

“I’m Tsuyu Asui, and The Rainy Season Hero: Froppy. Call me Tsu, ribbit.”

“Do you eat flies?!” He blurted out without thinking.

Kido Jyou’s Reincarnation was already reprimanding him and several students snickered when, out of nowhere, frog girl’s tongue extended across the room and slapped him in the face.

“I change my mind, you’ll call me Tsuyu. Don’t make innuendos about my tongue, ribbit.”

“But could-“ He was slapped again.

“Ribbit.”

“Ok.”

And now it was Glasses’s turn.

“Welcome to UA, Kaminari! I am Iida Tenya, the second generation Ingenium, and the class president of 1-A. My fun fact is: I have exactly 100 pairs of glasses; ten are for social functions, twenty are for casual wear, ten are for academics-“

“Hey Iida, it’s suppose to be fun facts.” Mina snickered.

“No, no, let Uruuyi Ishida continue. Kaminari waved. “You were saying? One pair of glasses for every Megane character you’ve played? Cool story, bro.”

Mina lost it at that. He’s found a friend among the baby heroes, he thinks.

“I-I-I” Professional Kyouya Ootori Impersonator sputtered. “I can a-assure you, I have not acted in any such character roles!”

“Sure thing, Yukio Okumura.”

“Please address me as Iida Tenya!” The dude was such a stiff. But finally he relented and just simply sat back down.

“Um, Ochako Uraraka. I’m going to be the hero Uravity, and...I like mochi!” She yelled out the last part quick and dropped down to her seat with a plop.

Since she seemed a little reserved, he just gives her a wave and a smile, but he gotta admit she’s a cute one.

“Mashirao Ojiro, hero Tailman and martial artist.” Tail guy seemed a bit hesitant. “I...rather not share personal info with you.”

“No worries, dude.”

The next guy crossed his arms and glared as he stood up. He looked like a purple Eraserhead with the gravity-defying hair and eye bags deeper than the Marina Trench.

“I’m Shinsou Hitoshi, a future underground hero. Shinsou’s eyes narrowed. “And the fact is I don’t like you one bit.”

Kaminari rolled his eyes, smirking to himself. The resemblance is so uncanny.

Purple Eraser gritted his teeth. “Quiet all of a sudden, dickhead?”

“Shinsou!” Megane Trope once again butted in. “Please sit back down, and do not start a conflict with our new classmate!”

“Classmate my ass!” Purple Eraser growled. “We all know who he really is, and why he’s here!” The death stare shot at Kaminari was eerily too familiar not to be a coincidence. “Simply because of your quirk’s usefulness your handed a seat you don’t deserve.”

“Are you Emohead’s son?” Kaminari just had to ask.

Purple Eraser went from bored, angry zombie to surprise pikachu, and it was strangely endearing. “Emo...?”

“Yeah, y’know,” He pointed a thumb to his left, directly at the teacher’s desk. “Homeless Caterpillar dude.”

Punk girl with stringy ears snorted, and Mina laughed along with the Redhead and Triangle Smile guy.

“Did you just-?”

“Call Aizawa-sensei-?”

“That’s highly disrespectful!” Glasses Personality was starting to become an absolute killjoy. “You much refer to him as Aizawa-sensei or Eraserhead-sensei!”

“Can we please,” Ponytail sighed, rubbing her forehead to soothe an apparent headache. “Just finish introductions. While we have time?”

“My apologies! I’ll speak with Shinsou privately afterwards! Kirishima, you have the floor!”

“Sup bro!” The Redhead grinned, showing off an interesting set of sharp teeth. “I’m Kirishima Eijiro, the Sturdy Hero: Red Riot, and a huge fan of Crimson Riot. And bro, just wanted to say that, even if you don’t have the best track record, you’ve still been great for the LGBT+ community, and that’s just,” Sharp teeth began to tear up, pounding a fist to his chest. “So manly, bro.”

“Thanks, Sunshine Dude!” He winked at the cute guy. “I take it you’re part of the exclusive club?”

Hard and Handsome seemed surprised at the nickname, grinning even wider. “Yeah, bro! Gay and proud!”

“Woah, the sun’s gone brighter suddenly.” Kaminari feigned being blinded by Kirishima’s smile.

“Tch.” Angry Dandelion sneered, but didn’t say anything further. He didn’t look outright disgusted, though, not like Purple Ball-head Shorty. Hmm....

“Hi.” The rock-head kid shyly went next. His voice was very childlike, you’d never imagine it belong to him. “I’m Kouji Kouda, the...um...” The guy twiddled his fingers, eyes to the ground, then his hands began moving in specific motions that Kaminari recognized. Petting hero, just say it out loud Kouda!

“Oh! Hey, look up!” Kouji did, and was surprised to see Kaminari using sign language. It’s nice to meet you! I am guessing by petting your quirk involves animals?

Kouji crookedly smiled. Yes! I can speak to and command them!

That’s a fantastic quirk! I suppose your going to focus on agencies for the national park, yes?

Yes! Animals need rescue from bad guys, too! I am happy I got into this school! It will help me towards my goal.

Then I will root for you! You are already a great person!

Kouji was blushing by then. He thanked Kaminari with a small bow and sat back down. The rest of the class were left silent, with only a few of them actually understanding the conversation that took place, and the rest coming to their own conclusions based on Kouda’s happier demeanor.

Big Lips realized he was next. “I’m Rikidou Satou, the hero Sugarman, and I’ve made over a thousand different kinds of desserts.”

“Nice dude! Any chance you can hook a guy up sometime?”

“Oh, sure! I bake every Saturday or Sunday, at least.”

“Coincidentally, I’ll be at the dorms then. Guess it’s a date!” He winked, enjoying the guy’s flustered face as a result.

“I’m Mezou Shouji, the Tentacle Hero: Tentacole. I like takoyaki and squid-ink pasta.”

“Fitting.”

“Thanks.”

“Oooo, that means you’ll like, grow more arms?”

In response, an extension of skin stretched out from his shoulder, forming into a mouth that spoke. “Close! I can duplicate any body part!”

Kaminari’s pupils widened, blown, expressing his excitement. “Could you make little arms on each finger and flex them?”

“Hmm....never tried that.” Sure enough, Shouji formed each finger of his left hand into little arms, each with their hand with five fingers. The flexing didn’t look much different from regular finger movement, though.

“Sweet! Oh, oh, could you-“

“We should probably stop there.”

“Aw, damn. I’ll remember this, bro.”

Up next was the petite earlobe girl with the uncaring attitude. “Hey, Kyouka Jirou here,” the Punk Girl twirled one of her ear jacks around. “The Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack, and I play a lot of instruments.”

“Whoah, that’s pretty cool!”

Punk girl refused to look him in the eye or speak another word, but her reddening face said it all. And she even began to twiddle with her ear thingies. Heh, cute lil nervous habit!

“I’m Hanta Sero!” The guys with the triangle smile turned out to be tall. “I’m the Taping Hero: Cellophane.” He rolled up a sleeve to show off his unique elbows. “I basically shoot out tape, nothing really flashy. I’m part Polynesian.”

“Woah, woah, back up! Shoot out? Like Spider-Man’s web?” Kaminari just had to ask. “That’s so rad!”

“Yeah, kind of! You know the old American hero?”

“Dude, I’m like half American! I used to have Spider-Man comics as a kid!”

“Sweet, bro!”

“Half American?” Jirou leaned to her neighbor Shinsou, muttering. “And likes Spider-Man?”

Kaminari realized then he was over sharing a little too much.

“Ah! I mean...” He clears his throat. ”So bird guy next, huh? Pretty sure I’ve seen you chilling with Hawks, dude.”

While some students gave one another looks, no one thankfully said anything further.

Birb stood up. “I’m Fumikage Tokoyami, the hero Tsukuyomi. I must forewarn you that my quirk, Dark Shadow, can become quite a dangerous entity.” With that, a shadowy form materialized from behind, also avian in appearance, watching warily at the newcomer.

“Cool, like your own built-in friend!”

“Hm, of sorts.”

“Can they speak?” Kaminari waved at the shadow creature. In turn, the shadow blinked at him.

“Perhaps he’ll come around, should you be deemed worthy.”

“You already know me,” Todoroki begins once Tokoyami sits. “Except my surname changed to my mother’s maiden one. I am Hikawa Shouto. Just Shouto for my hero name, and it’s what I prefer to be known as.”

“Got it, Shouto.” He nods. It’s to be expected that the former Todoroki family would shed their paternal surname. “I take it things are cool now.”

Shouto smiled. “Yes, we are definitely ‘cool’ now. Though I have recently warmed up to the other side of my quirk.”

“Yeah, I bet you really bring in the heat in fights.”

“I’ve been told to chill it once in a while.”

“Maybe when hell freezes over.”

“I’ve also been known to give those people the cold shoulder.”

“Someone please stop them.” Jirou groaned. Other classmates were in varying levels of amused or exasperated.

“I apologize, Jirou.” Shouto tilted his head towards her.

“Than-“

“I was only trying to lighten the mood.”

“....”

Kaminari caught on. “Is it really shocking that we’d get along?”

“Our history together really sparked something between us.”

Jirou face planted on her desk.

Thankfully Hagakure, who’d been giggling since the exchange began, decided to intervene, taking the opportunity that she was directly behind Kaminari to tap her fingers on his chair, drawing his attention to the floating uniform.

“Hey there! I’m Hagakure Toru! You could probably guess my hero name and quirk real easy.” She teased.

“Hmmmmmm....” Kaminari pretended to be in real deep thought. “I dunno....mayyyyybeeee Invisible girl with the invisible quirk?”

“Why, however did you guess?”

“Well,” He shrugged, “I have seen some shit, so uniform-possessing poltergeist released by a ghost summoning quirk was a possibility, but the name is kinda a dead giveaway.”

“Says Mr. Thunder Electricity!”

“Eh, what can ya do? Parents are shit at naming.”

As Hagakure sat down, the person directly behind her was revealed thanks to the lack of face to block them. Sneering directly at Kaminari was none other than the Angry Trash Gremlin that somehow grabbed the LOV’s attention.

The asshole didn’t bother even standing up, but leaned back as far as possible with tense and stiff shoulders that indicated defensiveness; one leg had just enough room to push at the closer edge of his desk. Complete with the wrinkled shirt and lack of tie, the dude would appear to be competing with him for “Most troublesome troublemaker” if not for the fact he appeared more like a wounded animal on the offensive.

Can’t blame a kidnapping victim, he supposed.

“Tch.” Grumpy grumpkins wasn’t looking any more friendly. “Wadd’ya looking at, extra?”

“Bakugou, please politely introduce yourself as the rest of class have done.”

“Nah, no need!” Kaminari waved off pestering hand-chopper for the umpteenth time. “I heard of him ‘round the streets.” He raised an eyebrow at angry dandelion, who visibly managed to wind up even more. “Just enough to know your personality is that of raw sewage mixed with garbage.”

There wasn’t even a split second given for the atmosphere to drop cold before Angry Dandelion exploded, literally. “WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY TO ME BITCH?!” From the smoke he could see the Pomeranian was now tethering as forward as possible and practically on the desk now.

Surprisingly it’s not Ingenium Model No. 02 interfering, but the Redhead Ray of Sunshine, already wrapping one arm around BoomBoom’s forearm, which interestingly changed texture akin to slate. A rock quirk of sorts...

“Damaged your eardrums from all that detonatin’? I’m saying your face has probably been stuck that way for the last decade and you should really consult a surgeon to fix it.”

Now the feral beast was literally lunging for him, with only RockyRed to restrain him. Shrinking Violet, for what it’s worth, nonchalantly just scoots her chair away to avoid the outstretched arm grasping for the chance to strangle him. Pretty much the entire room seemed neither bothered nor surprised, aside from Freckles directly behind who was one more episode from spazzing out.

A few hush whispers in Trash Gremlin’s ear courtesy of the darling Sunshine Boy seemed to have tamed the beast, for now. Instead the Pomeranian crosses his arms and grumbled, settling to just give him deadly glares that he’s far to acquainted with to be fazed by.

Now if those two weren’t a thing somehow, he’ll eat his stolen Shiketsu High hat.

“H-hi, I’m, um, Midoriya Izuku,” The nervous boy, a refreshing change of pace after Grenade Asshole, bowed with his head straight down. “The hero Deku, and.....I love to analyze quirks.”

And Kaminari honestly thought that’d be the end of the cute lil’ Broccoli’s formal introduction, except two things happened afterwards.

One, Cutie Pie lifted up the top of the desk, revealing a secret compartment that each one apparently contained. He’ll be taking note of that for future purposes...

And two, the comically petite Broccoli Boi brought out a massive brick of a book that appeared to be well worn enough to have yellowed pages, completely black in the cover with lightning bolt stickers all over it and labeled in bold print: KAMINARI DENKI: STUN GUN (VIGILANTE).

“And I really took an interest in yours after I found the news article on the Chiba Trafficking Raid you were a part of. An electric quirk, but yours is a whole lot more versatile than others from what I’ve read. You’ve learned how to use electrical impulses to interfere with security systems and computers by mimicking common coding patterns, exposing the flaws of even the most intricate systems that rely heavily on the same basic binary coding structure. You’ve had to have some background in computer science learned at a very early age, likely by computer experts or hackers. You have a heavy reliance on support gear that provides various functions geared around your quirk, which indicates you must have a support item supplier you’re frequently in contact with and likely is aware of you illicit activities.”

“Um,” He whispered to himself. The incessant mumbling of Broccoli Hair grew in volume to the point it seemed to materialize actual pressure that ensnared the entire room. A voice-based quirk or sorts? Regardless, he was trying not to sweat bullets as the mumbling boy began to lay out what is supposedly an entire book’s worth of information about...him.

“So you were likely born in a prefecture with a primary technology industry somewhere surrounding the Tokyo region, meaning the most likely regions are surrounding the Shibaura Institute of Technology campuses and the nearby technology companies that most commonly obtain their workforce in those areas. Taking into account where technology-based criminal activity is concentrated at, that leaves the most likely region to be either Toyosu, Saitama city,or Minato.”

Well...

This was getting increasingly concerning.

“Your known to be very vocal about injustices over quirk discrimination, quirk mutations, sexualities and gender issues, power and class discrepancies-“

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, Deku.” Angry dandelion snapped to the seat mate behind him, who promptly froze up.

“O-KAY!!!” Kaminari clapped once, startling the boy enough that he dropped his notebook. “Thanks for sharing, who’s next?!”

“S-sorry!” The poor kid bowed slightly, finally dropping to his seat.

Shorty, because of course put all the smaller people behind taller ones, climbed up his desk, and even Glasses seemed to let this slide given the boy’s height. “I’m Mineta Minoru! I’m going to be the amazing hero Grape Juice! And I have my own really great YouTube channel, GrapeRushPlays!”

“Nice dude! What’s it about?” He’s not big on catching up on others creators, his time usually occupied with...other pursuits.

“I’m a gamer! Got over seventy different games and I’m a total champ at Fortnite!” Short&Ballsy bragged, seemingly proud of himself.

Ah, the gaming community. Other than what he plays on his phone, it wasn’t his cup of tea, and not just from his inability to pay for expensive systems and overpriced games. Some people round that side of the industry were...toxic, to say the least.

“Cool, cool,” He holds out and waves his phone around, which from a few expressions he could tell some were surprised he had, “I pretty much just have Pokémon GO-“

“Pokémon GO?” Grapes-for-hair scoffed. “That’s so casual.”

Twitch. “I guess? I mean, it works for me, since I’m-“

“I know! We should play some on stream together!” Ballsy was far more excited for the idea than he was. “And you can give me a shout out to your HUGE fanbase for me!”

“Can we move on?” Jirou deadpan asked.

“Sit down, Mineta.”

“Let’s wrap up so we can ask questions!”

“Next periods almost here, dude.”

“Go on, Momo.” Shouto gestured to Ponytail to stand up.

“Greetings, Kaminari.” Ponytail’s gentle and aristocratic voice sounded eloquently lovely, like something out of a audiobook. “I’m Yaoyorozu Momo, the class Vice President. My hero name is Creati, and I am an avid tea collector.”

“Man, I could hear your voice all day!” He blurted without a single thought.

In turn, the elegant girl blushed, hunching the slightest and disconnecting all eye contact. Ears looked ready to turn violent. The cute brunette also appeared to grow a backbone, giving him a hard stare to match a few others.

“I mean, like reading a book out loud, y’know!” He’s quick to correct himself once he realizes her discomfort. “‘Cause it’s so eloquent! My bad!”

While Ear Tangles still didn’t seem impressed, Ponytail at least relaxed, as did the others. Protective bunch, apparently.

“Thank you, I appreciate the gesture.” She flashed him a reassuring smile, before settling to her seat.

The silence lasted for just two seconds before Glasses spoke up again. “Now that we have all introduce ourselves, we may begin the questioning! Please raise your hand-“

“Oh! Oh! Oh! Me, me, me, me, me!” Mina was already jumping in place, vibrating with excitement.

“Careful, remember last time you flung acid-“

“Kamiiiiii!” She shrieked. “I can call you that, right? Anyway, what made you start your awesome channel?!”

“Mina, questions related t-“

“Well, I’m guessing what you’re really meaning is the second channel.” he chuckled, ignoring the total square trying to reign the girl in. “I spoke up a lot about discrimination with the LBGT+ community, couldn’t go to Japan Pride for obvious reasons. But I gotta hold of a cheap eyeshadow palette, people noticed my rainbow look and begged for a tutorial, and it was a hit! It grew to nail polish and other stuff from there.”

“Oh, that reminds me! The QuirkProud symbol! You gotta show me that one!” Mina squealed. “It was so good! I wanna show solidarity with those who felt quirk discrimination!”

“Me too!” Hagakure jumped in. “I may not have had it as bad as some, but being invisible was never easy! Shouji, I think you’d appreciate it!”

Arms Galore rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess I’d give it a shot. I always appreciated the movement.”

“Tell you guys what, I’ll bring my whole stash when I pop into the dorms, and anyone who wants a mani gets one.” He offered, before he could stop himself.

He was getting so...chummy with them all.

(What is happening to him?)

“OMG, yes!”

“That’d be so cool, thanks a ton!”

“...Thanks.”

“How’d you become a vigilante?” Sunshine Rock asked, with a note of curiosity rather than the disdain Kaminari was more accustomed to when his lifestyle came into question.

“Sorry,” Kaminari grinned. “You need at least level seven friendship to unlock the tragic backstory. But, y’know, reasons.” The disappointed puppy dog pout he received back almost made him change his mind. Almost.

“Are the finger guns necessary for your quirk?”

He simply winked and finger-gunned at Sugar Lips’s direction.

“Can I join your Endeavor roast part nine, if there is one?” Shouto asked.

“Kinda not allowed to right now, but I’d love to collab on something else! We can still roast the flame bitch off-camera, dude.”

“You can charge a phone, right? I saw a video, it looked like you could.”

“It’s one of my talents, yep.”

“Whose the coolest hero you’ve fought?”

“While I dislike quite a few, admittedly I’d had to go with GearGrind. I mean, Steampunk-cyber combo? I’m sold!”

“What about scariest villains?”

“Weeeell, don’t got any names, but the former dudes from PhantomMasks still threaten to rip me limb-from-limb to this day.” He willed himself not to shudder. At least they were sitting pretty in prison.

“I’m confused. Are you a vigilante, or a villain? Do you even have a label?”

“Raging disaster bisexual, and that’s the only relevant label I need.”

“How’d you know you were bi, anyway?”

“It’s a long story from some years back. It involves fraternal twin hero interns, a two hour chase, a Chow-chow I accidentally dog-napped, a street food stall, some flirting on my part, and the wackiest face reveal in history. They almost caught me, too.” He chuckled at the memory. They had been a cute pair of twins. Learning he found both of them attractive, only slightly leaning more towards the sister, had blown his mind back then. It took another week to discover a name for his sudden feels.

“Since you’re not being chased anymore, does that mean you’ll join Japan Pride next year?”

“Yeah, dude! It’d be manly to go together!”

“Sure, why not.”

“Tell us about hot girls you’ve hooked up with!” Grapehead demanded.

“Ew, Mineta!”

“Ugh!”

“Uh, none?” Kaminari was beginning to replace Robot Hands from the top of his ‘Do Not Like’ list with the Purple Short Stack. “Sure, I’m a flirt with a new crush every day, but my lifestyle ain’t exactly dating-friendly, y’know?”

“But you’ve got fans!” Ball boy cried. “Tons of them! I would’ve gotten several girlfriends if I were you!”

Wow.

Ew.

“OK, that’s a pass from me! Any OTHER questions?”

Class quieted down for a moment, and some shifted their heads towards RoboGlasses or Ponytail, as if waiting for them to address something.

And in fact, it was Ponytail to speak up next.

“Why do you dislike heroes so much?”

“Ehh, it’s not that I hate all of them. Just the messed up ones.”

“Could you explain further?”

“There’s bad heroes out there, or people who call themselves heroes just ‘cause of a damn license! I’ve seen some shit, and sure there’s plenty of shitty villains who deserve a good smack down, but there’s just as many heroes who get away with even worse crap, and the hypocrisy got to me. I mean, y’all don’t even know what goes down behind the scenes with the Hero Commission; it ain’t roses and chocolates, for sure!”

“He’s right.” Shouto spoke up. “With Endeavor, there was more than just the domestic abuse my family endured, or the rude remarks and intolerance to the citizens, but the Hero Commission swept the worst under the rug.”

“That’s my biggest regret, you know, dude?” Kaminari was now only speaking to Shouto, everyone else merely a witness. “All that shit I found, and brought up, and it got fucking dismissed and removed from existence. I didn’t save a single fucking copy about his ludicrous reports, and they scrubbed it from the agency computer system afterwards and amped up the security. If I hadn’t thought to save up the abuse shit for later, that could’ve been gone, too. Lesson learned: don’t fucking trust the Hero Commission.”

“It was a good effort,” Shouto said. “At least my family got out of his control.”

“The only silver lining from that shitshow.”

“Well, one of my maternal cousins actually happens to be part of the polling committee.” Shouto grinned. Mischievously.

Kaminari blinked, the implications coming to him. “You’re kidding?”

Endeavor, whose main goal was to beat (the now retired) All Might as the Number One hero.

Eleventh place for the last three years, just out of reach from the Top Ten.

“It’s a decent consolation prize.”

“Holy shit,” Elbow Tape exclaimed. “F in the chat for flaming garbage.”

“Was anyone going to tell me Shouto’s ice-ice family ended a man’s whole career after they discovered his abusive nature, or was I suppose to find out from Shouto telling it to his ex-villain friend?”

“I’m still reeling over the fact an ex-villain with a million fans and a viral Snapchat post of him channeling lightning is our new classmate.”

“I’m still reeling over the fact an ex-villain kicked Aizawa-sensei’s door out and wasn’t murdered on the spot.”

Speak of the devil, and he shall awaken from his nap underneath the desk.

“Alright, problem children,” Eraserbum stood up, still in his sleeping bag but least having the courtesy to show his dead-tired face. “I’ll need to take delinquent child to the testing room. Iida is in charge for the next few minutes until Midnight starts next period.”

He nodded to Kaminari, gesturing for him to follow.

“Hold it, one sec.” Fishing his phone back out of his pocket, he takes a quick selfie, capturing as much of the room as possible. Some of the more quick-minded classmates managed to smile and wave, even do silly poses, before the snap.

“Nice talking to you bunch!” He flashed a charming smile their way, even as the grey scarf wrapped around his head and forcefully dragged him away.

“Later Kami!” Mina frantically waved at him.

As soon as the door closed, the room bursted into chatter.

“Bro, he was so nice!” Sero turned to Kirishima.

“So manly!”

“Kind of sweet!”

Really sweet, Kouda signed more to himself.

“I totally didn’t expect all that!”

“Tch.” Bakugou rolled his eyes..

“What did I tell ya?” Mina laughed. “I told you he was a cool guy underneath all that bad boy rep!”

“Yeah, but Mina, I just thought you had a secret crush on him.”

“Ochaaaa!” Mina squealed.

“Would it be surprising if you had, ribbit?”

“Tsuuu!”

“It was enlightening,” Momo agreed, turning to her right-most seat mate, speaking quieter. “I can see why you’ve liked him, Shouto. I apologize for my assumptions of his motivations before.”

“I could never repay the service he did my family.” Shouto smiled back.

Three years of having his mother out of that hospital hadn’t been easy; she still needed therapy, and she still held some guilt for his scarring, but the mere fact he could see her every day, talk to his siblings every day, have the support of the maternal family they’ve been isolated from, it has done wonders for the relationships that were once strained.

It was funny, how so many of the heroes, Endeavor’s colleagues, turned a blind eye to his family’s pain, yet it took a supposed “villain” to save them.

Shinsou, Jirou, and Tokoyami had their own conversation going on just a few feet away.

“What would that idiot know about quirk discrimination?” Shinsou grumbled. “Sounds more like pandering on his part, with how devoted his fans are.” To Shinsou, Kaminari was someone who clearly demanded the spotlight, and received it effortlessly. It was likely for his flashy quirk, what one would usually call a “heroic quirk,” that he’d been so popular in Tokyo.

“Hmm.” Jirou hummed in agreement. “An electric quirk is pretty coveted. Damn guy could’ve even aced UA’s entrance exam with it. Still...” She trailed off. Stun Gun, or Kaminari rather, seemed like a pretty genuine guy at face value, but who knows what his real motivations were. Not that she was a fan, but she’s come across his videos once in a while, and caught Present Mic’s night show when Stun Gun was introduced. Kaminari seemed funny, friendly and overall a happy guy with just a bit of a deviant edge. Stun Gun, as she’s heard from some news reports, was cocky, reckless, and unhinged.

“Even in darkness, there is light, and in light, darkness.” Tokoyami stated, perched on the edge of Jirou’s desk, while scratching Dark Shadow’s chin.

“Meaning?”

Tokoyami sighed. “Perhaps he seems as one without demons, but it is what lurks beneath the surface that shapes his ideals.”

“Do you really have to be so cryptic all the time?”

“He means,” Shouji snuck up, seating himself in Ojiro’s currently unoccupied desk. “Maybe Kaminari has past trauma that makes him empathic to troubled kids. Maybe not quirk discrimination, per se, but a similar experience.”

“Glad you could join us, Shouji.” The four students, bonded by shared tastes, often had discussions about quirk discrimination, due to how heavy of it Shouji and Shinsou had it. Tokoyami was spared most of that cruelty thanks to a private school for students with difficult and unorthodox quirks, but nonetheless was often given wary glances in public.

Jirou would argue she had it easy with supportive parents, but it didn’t help when strangers would take one look at her and deem that she had neither the strength nor the quirk for real combat. The Sports Festival was a wake up call on the uphill battle she would face just to be accepted by an agency, even with Class 1-A’s growing fame. Really, she shared more in common with Sero, Kirishima, Hagakure, and Kouda over quirks that never stood out, though her friends always insisted her experiences were no lesser than theirs.

Stun Gun had actually been the topic of late since the news broke out that he’d be taken in by UA and placed in their class. Because despite his crafted persona as a troublemaker rooting for the underdog’s corner, Stun Gun himself had that dazzling quirk and bright personality that was usually portrayed as the ideal hero character, yet his beliefs and actions were anything but.

It would be interesting to see exactly what kind of person Kaminari truly is, but until then the four of them would have their reservations. Some more than others.

***************************************************************************************************

Kaminari, on the other hand, was having a personal crisis.

They were....nice.

He was honestly expecting, well....more of what Rage Grenade and Purple Aizawa were vibing. And sleazeballs like the Grape Stain weren’t too different from some pro heroes out there on the field.

It’s not like he was expecting ALL of them to get out of their seats and beat his ass. But like, turn their nose up like pretentious little snowflakes forced to breathe the same air as him? See this whole redemption thing as a joke that would amount to nothing but wasted time? Treat him like competition to crush into the dirt?

He knows full well not all pro heroes were out there for the fame and glory, or treated sidekicks and underlings as stepping stones, or harmed the very citizens they were sworn to protect. He’s met his fair share of heroes that did their job, and sometimes beyond. Still, it was hard to ignore those that acted no better than the villains they fought.

There were good eggs in that class, no doubt. But some he could also imagine taking advantage of the privilege given to them to victimize others, if they don’t change their tune (a certain Explosive Dandelion comes to mind).

He’ll just have to see overtime, he supposes. One day down, a thousand more to go.

***************************************************************************************************

@ chargezuma’s Instagram Posts

To the right of the screen, a selfie with Stun Gun in the forefront, and a distorted angled view of the classroom, with every student captured on screen, and most of them waving and smiling to the camera.

chargezuma Introducing my new baby hero classmates, 1-A. Can’t wait to corrupt them!

In order by seat number:

-Sparkly baguette
-Pinkalicious
-Ribbit, ribbit
-Sir Robot Killjoyington: professional Megane actor
-Ocha and the chipmunks
-One tailed beast from Naruto
-Emohead figurine purple edition
-Sunshine incarnate
-Japanese Sign Language 101 ft. Snow White
-Sugar (Honey, honey)
-Free Hugs
-Punk Band
-Spidertape, Spidertape
-Birb
-Shouto, the only one I respect
-Violet from Incredibles
-POMERANIAN BUT ANGRY
-Broccoli (that knows too much)
-Ew
-Lady Ponytail

—
#stungun #chargezuma #UA #firstday #studentlife

2 min

IidaIngenium Kaminari, you should not be on your phone during school hours, nor post photos of your classmates without consent!

— Hide Replies

chargezuma WTF that u, glasses?!
160 likes Reply

IidaIngenium Please address me as Iida! I’ve taken the liberty of following all your known social media accounts to ensure your posts follow UA’s privacy guidelines. Since you have taken that self image in class, I presumed you were likely to share it publicly.
13 likes Reply

chargezuma ya know, class prez, ain’t u on ur phone now tho?
78 likes Reply

IidaIngenium Only to reprimand you! And please use proper grammar!

chargezuma sounds fake, but ok, Yukio
156 likes Reply

IidaIngenium I am Iida Tenya! I am not an anime character, despite any resemblance!
2 likes Reply

HoTcoldPainrelief thanks for sharing your conversation in class Iida. It helped me find the account easier when your reading the username out loud.
81likes Reply

PinkUFO I was already following anyways this is hilarious
45 likes Reply

IidaIngenium Shouto, Mina! You should not be on your phones during class!
1 like Reply

PinkUFO your on your phone, clas prez. Also telling the whole class Kami’s Insta is why everyone’s on their phone now
9 likes Reply

chargezuma HA!
17 likes Reply

HoTcoldPainrelief And if you look up, Midnight-Sensei is giving you the stink eye
34 likes Reply

QuoteTheRaven what a mad banquet of darkness
107 likes Reply