Chapter Text
Bakugou Katsuki keeps his hands on his knees, panting, trying to catch his breath. Deku isn’t doing any better, though- the shitty nerd’s lying down on the mat, eyes closed, chest rising and falling as they pant.
The two of them are drenched in sweat, standing in one of the empty rooms of Kirishima-sensei’s dojo. The other three idiots are scattered around the room, doing fuck-all. Their little friend group is an odd number, making match-ups for sparring a pain in the ass. Deku makes it work, though, because the asshole has like a black belt or whatever in Northern Shaolin (Katsuki’s still kicking himself for not getting into martial arts sooner- Deku’s leagues ahead of him in that area, he’ll never fucking catch up now-) so what Deku does is pair off the remaining four, while they focus on tutoring them.
(He won’t admit it, but Deku isn’t all that shitty as a teacher- Eyebags was the last to join their group, but he’s catching up quick. That’s not all Deku, though, because Eyebags is scary fucking stubborn and a quick learner. But- still. Katsuki can say with certainty that he probably wouldn’t have stuck with this if Deku wasn’t there also.)
But sometimes, though- sometimes Katsuki can goad Deku into sparring with him.
And it’s fucking fantastic.
It isn’t anything like their last fight at Aldera- no, it’s better. Because Deku doesn’t hold back anymore- at first it was because Katsuki would’ve thrown a shit fit if Deku was capable of doing anything, then it was because Katsuki was still learning the martial art and Deku didn’t want to seriously hurt him, but now- the shitty nerd goes after him with all they have, and Katsuki matches that energy. Katsuki uses his quirk, and Deku’s experience and intelligence help even the playing field.
With how often their spars end like this- exhausted on opposite sides of the ring, calling it a draw for the nth time in a row- he wonders how he ever underestimated his friend.
Deku’s propping themself up on their elbows, gratefully accepting a water bottle that Round Cheeks floats their way. They’re grinning wildly, green eyes alight with fire. A feral grin of Katsuki’s own spreads across his face.
He's about to call out to Deku, to challenge them to another round, when loud voices from the hallway interrupt.
“I don’t know who you think you are, but there’s no way I am ever allowing you back onto my property.” The woman’s voice is laced with venom, angrier than he’s ever heard it. “So you and your- your grunts can just get going, because never, in a million years would I-”
“Now listen, Kirishima-san,” a man’s voice interrupts, much calmer yet much slimier. “It really is in your best interest to sell. You’re the only one running the Northern Mountain Arts, correct? Ever since your father had to retire? And from what I can tell, your sister and her wife have no interest in the business- plus, it’s not like someone with your… condition would be able to-”
“What condition?” The air goes still at Kirashima-sensei’s question. “What exactly is my condition, and what exactly does it prevent me from doing? Enlighten me, Ishikawa-san.”
Deku’s hands clenched their water-bottle in a white-knuckle grip, face completely blank.
(The nerd doesn’t talk much about the time after Katsuki’s quirk manifested and before he actually apologized- but he can pick up pieces here and there. And one of those pieces is how important the Northern Mountain Arts is to them.
The dojo itself didn’t look like it was anything special from the outside. The paint was peeling off the brick, the white having turned to a dirty yellow years before even the old hag was born, the concrete steps leading to the door cracked and chipped around the edges making it practically a safety hazard, and the neon sign in the window had long since stopped working. It looked more like the type of place that would cater to all sorts of criminals, villains, or people who were really into illegal fighting rings- not about two dozen or so snot-nosed brats and stupid extras with their parents.
But it was special- actually, the place was pretty cool. The Northern Mountain Arts was founded years before quirks even became an actual thing- hell, it was one of the first dojos in the fucking country to allow quirks. It was also one of the only long-standing dojos that had never changed its rules concerning quirkless students- or, well, not that there were any rules to change? But whatever- point is, it was the closest dojo within a hundred miles or so that would’ve allowed Deku to learn there.
Didn’t hurt that the dojo’s current owner/lead sensei, Kirishima Etsuko, was also quirkless. She’d inherited the place from her father- her older sister having gone off to become a shitty doctor or marry a doctor or something, he didn’t really pay attention- and it’d been in the Kirishima family since it opened. Framed photos lined the walls of over two centuries worth of martial arts competitions, students, and the Kirishima family. Katsuki was pretty sure that there were photos and documents here that would make historians go absolutely fucking rabid. Hell, now that he thinks about it, he’s pretty sure that Deku had mentioned something about Kirishima-sensei and her old man getting into a fight with some local historian society. They’d tried to shut the place down and turn it into a fucking museum.
Not that Katsuki didn’t have anything against museums, but the Northern Mountain Arts was so much fucking cooler because it wasn’t one.)
The five of them are watching the doorway leading into the hall with wide eyes, waiting for a glimpse of Kirishima-sensei and the Ishikawa fucker. However, instead of seeing their sensei and newest target of wrath, a boy with wide red eyes and black hair walks in. Trailing behind him is a girl, her neon pink freckles standing out against her brown skin and matching her curly pink hair. Her yellow eyes with black scleras flicking between the two arguing adults and her friend.
Katsuki has never seen these people in his entire fucking life.
Deku, however, seems to recognize them. They jump up from their place on the mat, expression concerned. “What’s going on?”
“Some jerk is trying to get Aunt Etty to sell the dojo,” the boy grumbles, glaring over his shoulder towards the hallway. When he turns and catches sight of Deku, however, he lights up. “Oh, hey, Midoriya! Good to see you again.”
Deku smiles in return, while Katsuki narrows his eyes at the newcomers. Grabbing his own water bottle off the ground, he strides over towards Deku and the extras. “Who the fuck are you.”
“Who the fuck are you?” The girl cheekily responds, grinning and showing off her fangs.
“Yeah, I’m not doing that shitty bit again,” he huffs, rolling his eyes before jerking his thumb towards his friends. “Try it on Fangs, though. She’ll like that.”
She perks up at the mention of her name, glancing between him and the girl. “Try what on me?”
Unphased, Pinkie- as Katsuki has decided to call her- grins and directs her question to Fangs. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Who the fuck are you?” Fangs’ face lights up.
“I asked you first!” Pinkie points at her.
Fangs imitates her pose, the two of them recreating that fucking Spider-Man meme. “I asked you second!”
Deku’s laugh interrupts the two’s… whatever that shit was. “Guys, this is Kirishima Eijirou- Kirishima-sensei’s nephew,” the boy smiles at the introduction, showing off a row of shark teeth. “And Ashido Mina, his best friend.” Pinkie waves happily at her own introduction.
“Nice to meet you!” He- Shark Boy, Katsuki lands on- says. “You all friends of Midoriya’s?”
Fangs gets a confused look on her stupid face, pointing to herself. “I’m their sister?”
“You have a sister!?” Pinkie looked between Deku and Fangs with wide eyes. She deflates, placing a hand on her forehead. “Damn, we really need to hang out more outside of the dojo. Or just talk more in general.”
“Yeah, we really don’t interact much outside of training or martial arts competitions,” they rubbed the back of their neck, clearly a bit embarrassed.
Eyebags made his way over, looking curiously at the three. “Wait, you’ve been doing martial arts competitions?”
“Did you win?” Round Cheeks pipes up, asking the real questions.
“Yeah sometimes,” they shrug, glancing away. They then look down, and add on in a quieter voice, “Though I have had to throw a few fights.”
“Why the fuck would you have to do that?” Katsuki spits out, narrowing his eyes at Deku. Why the fuck is that shitty nerd always holding back?
Pinkie crosses her arms, expression stony. “Jerkass judges don’t like it when a quirkless kid wins.”
His eyes widen in realization. That’s the same reason as to why they first held back on me…
“I forget that life is like, fucking hell for you,” Eyebags says with a wince.
Deku sends him a deadpan glare. “Thanks- I wish I could, too.”
Katsuki snorts at the jab, but masks it with an innocent smile and a swig from his water bottle when Eyebags shoots him a grumpy look.
“Wait,” Round Cheeks interrupts, “How do you join in on the competitions?”
“That’s,” Eyebags falters, looking at her in confusion. “That’s what you focus in on?”
“Why?” She asks, tilting her head innocently before smirking, “You scared because you lost your first fistfight?”
“I THOUGHT WE WERE IN AN ARMED ROBBERY-”
Shark Boy looks between the two of them, before leaning over to Katsuki to stage-whisper, “Is that normal?”
“You get used to it,” he shrugs, before looking the other boy up and down to get a better read on him. “So- you train here, too? How come I haven’t seen you around?”
He immediately brightens at the mention of his family’s dojo. “Oh, Mina and I have been going here for years! We’ve been best friends since elementary school.”
“I lost my fifth tooth in the men’s bathroom!” Pinkie cheerfully adds on. “It was a lot of blood.”
“Yeah- but we’re both pretty good at Northern Shaolin,” Shark Boy says. “Mina likes to combine her training here with the dance classes she’s been taking. We’ve already been training here for years and have a halfway decent handle on our quirks, but…”
“Our grades aren’t the best- school’s kinda hard for us,” she bashfully explains, blush darkening her cheeks. “And since you need really, really good grades to get into UA, we’ve been spending our time preparing for the written exam rather than the practicals.”
“That’s smart,” Katsuki affirms, causing the other two to look at him with wide eyes. “Knowing where your weaknesses lie, acknowledging them, and then focusing on making yourselves stronger. I’ve only just started doing that- wasted too much of my goddamn time thinking I was hot shit.”
“You still think you’re hot shit,” Round Cheeks pipes up from where she’s started another fight with Eyebags, the boy clearly losing again. Fangs is gleefully egging her on, while Deku is trying (and failing) to diffuse the situation.
“I’ll fucking kill you.”
“Man, you’re a riot!” Shark Boy cracks up at his declaration, giving Katsuki a playful slap on the shoulder. He continues on, somehow immune to the blonde’s glare. “Since Riko-san is going to be helping out Aunt Etty for a bit, we should probably get to know each other more.”
Deku brightens at the declaration, giving up on their futile quest and moving back over. “Oh, yeah! I’ve, uh- I’ve been wanting to try to talk to you two more for a while? But honestly my anxiety is really bad and talking to people is a nightmare and I ramble a lot and go on tangents really easily and sometimes people think I’m creepy so I was worried that I’d freak you two out and-”
“It’s okay, Midoriya!” Pinkie laughs, waving off their anxious ramblings. “We don’t think you’re creepy at all! In fact, between the freckles and the baby cheeks you look really cute!” Just wait until you get to know the shitty nerd more, Pinkie.
“Yeah, honestly- I’ve always been kinda intimidated by you?” Shark Boy laughs, nervously rubbing the back of his neck as a blush spreads across his cheeks. “You’ve always seemed so confident and determined, it’s really manly. Or girly?”
Deku shrugs, grinning shyly and their own blush forming. “Both work, gender is a lie.”
“Whichever, you always seemed super cool so I tended to get a bit shy around you,” he admitted. “I’m trying to be more confident now, though!”
Pinkie gasped, before rushing to Deku and taking their hands in her own. “We should all train for UA together!”
“Yes!” Round Cheeks bounces up, eyes alight.
Deku starts busying themselves with introducing the crew to Pinkie and Shark Boy. Round Cheeks warms up fast, while Fangs… Katsuki knows that Fangs had a bit of a breakdown during the comic con incident. He doesn’t really know what it’s about, but he makes sure to keep a careful eye on her as she interacts with the two newcomers. Round Cheeks keeps a reassuring hand on the other girl’s shoulder, though, so Katsuki figures things are better now. He plops himself down on a bench next to Eyebags. The other raises an eyebrow, before smirking and holding up his water bottle. Katsuki rolls his eyes, but joins in on the silent mock-toast to avoiding social interactions. Eyebags goes back to what he’s doing on his phone, and Katsuki raises an eyebrow, asking a silent permission. He raises an eyebrow back, before giving a curt nod and angling the phone slightly towards him. Katsuki leans over, and smirks upon seeing Eyebags already doing preliminary research on the Ishikawa guy Kirishima-sensei had been talking to. Leaning back, Eyebags happily goes back to his solitary research as Katsuki opts to take this time to recharge from social interaction.
The bane of his existence, however, isn’t going to let them fuck off peacefully.
“Oh, Hitoshi!” Deku calls, a cheery smile on their face. Eyebags freezes, looking like a startled cat. “Ashido-chan knows a lot about social media and photo/video editing!”
He perks up. Fucking nerd. “Really?”
“Yeah!” Pinkie says. “My mom taught me a lot of it- I actually help run the social media here!”
“That’s really cool,” he locks his phone screen. “Self-taught or quirk?”
“Self-taught, but it is part of my mom’s quirk,” she explains. “It’s nothing like mine, I’m actually adopted-”
Fangs gasps in delight, bouncing in excitement. “Me too! And Hitoshi!! Well, different families, but-”
“Oh my god, that’s awesome!” She grabs Fangs’ hands, her curly pink hair bouncing with the movement. “I don’t get to meet many other former foster kids! Tell me everything-”
“Eijirou, Mina-” a woman that looks a lot like Shark Boy interrupts them, saving Deku and Fangs from having to stumble through another bullshit explanation about her adoption. She walks into the room, smiling in relief when she sees the two. “Oh, there you two are! And hello, Midoriya-kun. How have you been?”
“I’ve been alright, Dr. Kirishima,” Deku grins shyly, before turning concerned again. “Ah- I’m sorry if I’m being rude here, but is everything alright with Kirishima-sensei? I know that this isn’t the first time someone has tried to pressure her into giving up the dojo, but…”
Dr. Kirashima waves them off. “It’s alright, Midoriya-kun.” She sighs, suddenly looking tired. “I’m not sure what I can tell you right now, but- Eijiro? Mina?” The two still, looking at her with wide eyes. “Can I talk to you two alone for a few minutes please?”
Shark Boy and Pinkie exchange a worried glance, before following Dr. Kirishima out of the room. Eyebags had gone back to his phone, but he can tell by the furrow in the other boy’s eyebrows that his research is more urgent now. Fangs and Round Cheeks have unconsciously gravitated towards each other again, with Fangs holding onto the other girl’s hand in a white-knuckle grip. Deku is staring at the doorway, the hallway outside dead silent. They have a blank look on their face again.
Katsuki recognizes that look, and knows what it means.
Sighing deeply, he stands up and makes his way over to the shitty nerd. Deku is still staring at the doorway, not having noticed him yet. They’ve got this blank look in their eyes. Not like, a blank look as in “the light’s on but nobody’s home,” but more like “the light’s on but there’s too many people running around and causing havoc so nobody’s able to answer the door right now.”
He stares at Deku’s blank, faraway look for a moment more.
And then he flicks the shitty nerd right between the eyes.
Deku yelps, stumbling backwards and rubbing the sore spot on their temple. They peek open an eye, and glare a bit at Katsuki, nose scrunching up in annoyance.
Katsuki crosses his arms, glaring right back at them.
“So,” he says. “What’s the plan?”
They blink. “Excuse me?”
“The plan, shitty nerd,” he rolls his eyes. “The Kirishimas need help, and there’s no way that you’re going to let anything happen to Northern Mountain Arts. So, tell us what we need to fucking do.”
“I- are you sure?” They tilt their head.
What kind of stupid fucking question they’re literally the one who knows the most about running games and it’s obvious that they care the most about this shitty place so of fucking course we’re gonna be running a game on Ishikawa and helping the Kirishimas we all knew they were thinking about it-
Katsuki took a deep breath, counted backwards from ten, before speaking. “Of course I’m fucking sure. Now, what’s the play?”
They look at him a moment more. He has to make a conscious effort to keep his breathing steady, until Deku breaks out into a grin.
“Let’s do a fiddle game.” Deku declares, whirling to look at the rest of the dumbasses with a wide grin.
They all look at the nerd blankly.
Deku deflates a bit. “...you all don’t know what that is, do you?”
“Nope!”
“Not a clue.”
“Fucking obviously.”
“I’m still not entirely clear if a fiddle is a guitar or a violin.”
“I-” Deku pauses, processing Fang’s declaration. “I don’t know what kind of instrument it is exactly, either. But! I do know a con named after it!”
“Alright, tell us how to run a shitty fiddle puzzle,” Katsuki grumbles, gesturing for everyone to circle up. Last thing they need is someone overhearing this shit.
The five of them huddle up, like a shitty sports team from a b-rate coming of age movie. Fangs has her arms thrown over Deku and Round Cheeks, and Eyebags has his phone turned on and is displaying the screen to the other four.
“Trying to find out who our mark is was a bit of a struggle,” Eyebags says, clicking through his open tabs, “But I think I figured it out. His name is-”
“Ishikawa Ken’ichi. He runs his own dojo in Kyushu- his dojo’s approach is more mixed martial arts, allowing the students there to be able to move onto any style they chose- Judo, Northern Shaolin, Tai Chi, Taekwondo. The dojos are just a front, though- the real money is in the fights,” Deku rattled off, not even sparing a glance at Eyebag’s phone screen.
Everyone looked at them blankly for a moment.
They sighed. “Again, I’ve been going here for years and competing for years. Of course I’m gonna know who this guy is- and, it’s not the first time that he’s offered to buy out Kirishima-sensei’s dojo.”
“Oh, so she’ll be able to chase him off again, right?” Fangs asks, relaxing.
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” says Round Cheeks. “They all sounded pretty nervous- maybe he’s got something this time that he hasn’t before.”
“Lawyers,” Eyebags states, proudly displaying his phone screen. “From what I can gather, it looks like he’s piling up minor infractions upon the Northern Mountain Arts. And since Kirishima-sensei is quirkless, that means that she’d get harsher punishment for those minor infractions.”
Katsuki’s eyes widen in realization. “He’s blackmailing her into selling the dojo.”
“But why does he want this dojo so bad?” Fangs glances between each of the others, brow furrowed in confusion. “I mean, no offence, but this place is kind of a dump.”
“Well, the money’s in the fights, and he needs more fighters,” Deku explains. “The students from here tend to place higher in competitions than students from other dojos in the area.”
“What kind of fights are we talking about here, Deku?” He sighs, and resists the urge to run a hand down his face in frustration. “Because while I get the whole wanting to win the shitty competition thing, I fucking doubt that that’s what the bastard is aiming for.”
“The money’s in the underground fights,” Deku repeats. “While Ishikawa’s students do participate in competitions like I do here, it doesn’t make much money. Sure, you get exposure and more students, but the prizes from those fights are metals/certificates. Any cash prizes tends to go to the student that won- and even then, it’s reserved for high school or college funds. Ergo- underground fights.” Shrugging, they continue, “You throw two students in the ring, place bets with bookies on who’s going to win, and then collect your winnings at the end of the night. There’s no limit as to who you can bet on, nor how much you can bet.”
“He uses the students in his underground fights?” Round Cheeks looks horrified.
“Well, yeah,” they say nonchalantly. “Hell, in a poorer area like this, Ishikawa could probably lure more students into fighting for him. Promise them a cut of the winnings and they’ll do anything… why are you looking at me like that?”
“That’s horrifying,” she has her hand over her mouth, and Eyebags is looking at them wide-eyed.
Deku and Fangs, however, just look confused. “Well, you gotta do what you got to do when you’re desperate, right?” Fangs asks, trying to smile.
Round Cheeks opens her mouth in rebuttal, but then closes it with a click. After all, her and Eyebags were the ones who sought out a group of vigilantes for help with their problems.
(While you just sought them out in some half-assed grab for power, you selfish fucking asshole-)
“So he wants to buy the Northern Mountain Arts, then turn it into a space for his shitty underground fighting rings,” he turns to Deku. “And how are we gonna get the bastard to not do that? By playing a harp?”
“Fiddle game, it’s called the fiddle game,” they sigh. “It’s one of the oldest cons in the book. See, one person would present the mark with ‘the fiddle’, something that at first glance doesn’t have much value. However, along would come a competitor, saying that ‘the fiddle’ was actually worth more than what the mark initially thought, and offers to purchase it at a high cost. When the original presenter of ‘the fiddle’ comes back around, the mark would offer to buy ‘the fiddle’ from them at a higher cost than their competitor. In short, you convince your mark to buy something effectively worthless at a high cost.”
“So… the dojo’s the fiddle?” Eyebags glances around at the peeling paint on the walls, and the duct tape covering the holes in some of the mats. “Because I think the goal here is to not have him buy the fiddle.”
“No, I’m the fiddle,” Deku smirks, pointing to their chest.
Katsuki takes a deep breath, counts backwards from ten in his head, before speaking.
“What.”
They didn’t notice his tone, or did and chose to ignore it. Either way, Deku plows on with a stupid grin. “I’m the fiddle! We’ll convince Ishikawa that I’m a better investment than the dojo. That way, the mark will switch gears and focus on trying to get me to join in on his fighting rings.”
“And how will this help the Kirishima-sensei in the long run?” Fangs raises a skeptical eyebrow.
“I’ll convince him that the only way to convince me is if I get some of the cash upfront,” they say.
Eyebags grins. “And once he transfers the money out of the account, we can get that information to my dads and have them arrest him for illegally sponsoring fights between minors.”
“And if he tries to buy out Northern Mountain Arts when he realizes that you won’t switch?” Katsuki asks, turning back to Deku.
“I’m going to emphasize how I’ll refuse to fight unless Kirishima-sensei keeps her dojo,” they explain.
“Not to sound like an ass here,” Round Cheeks buts in, half-raising a hand, “But do they know you're quirkless? Like, how many other quirkless kids are in these competitions?”
“I-” they falter, and take in a breath before continuing, “I’m the only one. Quirkless kids like me are becoming rarer and rarer each generation- causes are up for debate. B-but yeah. Yeah, I’m the only quirkless kid.” Seeing everyone’s expressions, they hold up a finger in protest. “But! But also technically only the judges and your sensei are supposed to know your quirk- a lot of these fighting competitions, the whole appeal is that no one uses their quirk. It’s a showcasing of how well you can fight without it- there’s different rules for mutant quirks, of course, but still.”
“So we’re going to tell them that you’re a kickass fighter, make him want you to join one of his shitty half-rate dojos, all while trying to conceal the fact that you’re quirkless,” Katsuki summarizes, trying not to think about how literally fucking impossible that is.
Deku grins, giving him a thumbs up. “Got it in one.”
“Yeah, this plan is gonna get someone killed,” states Eyebags.
Round Cheeks rolls her eyes. “Thank you Hitoshi, our beacon of optimism.”
“I’d be more worried if you agreed with a plan whole-heartedly, actually,” Fangs shrugs, her grin matching Deku’s. “It’d really be the eleventh hour then.”
Their phones all buzzed in unison. Eyebags was the only one with his on him, and he relayed the message to the rest of them.
“Auntie’s at the front,” he states. “Apparently, she got off work early and wanted to head home with us.”
They all look back up at each other, and exchange a glance.
“No time like the present,” Round Cheeks shrugs, a hopeful grin on her face.
Deku nods, expression determined. “Let’s go.”
The five pack up their stuff, working in tandem to move quickly. As they work, they talk quietly amongst themselves, deciding how they’re going to play their roles.
“We’re just going to have to be ourselves, you know,” Deku whispers to them as they’re walking out the gym doors.
Fang’s grip on her bag tightens. “Yeah, that’s the hard part.”
As they start to leave the Northern Mountain Arts, Katsuki hears voices. He taps his hearing aid, scowling. Might have to replace it soon- he’ll ask Auntie about that later.
“...it’s been years, Akat- Midoriya. And you’re back at it again.” A woman’s voice- she sounded urgent, and… tired. “You really haven’t moved on?” As they exit the building, he sees Auntie talking with a woman roughly her age. She was a few inches taller (not like that said much, considering Auntie was already on the short side), and wore her hair in box braids with pink yarn woven through. The woman currently had her back to them, with her arms crossed. Auntie was looking up at her with a mixture of annoyance and sadness, yet masked both emotions with a polite smile.
“I’m not sure what you’re implying,” she says calmly.
“Everything okay, Mom?” Deku asks, interrupting both women. They turn to look at them- Auntie surprised, yet relaxing instantly at the sight of her kids. The woman’s gaze, however, is more calculating- literally. Her bright blue eyes scan each of them, and Katsuki can see pieces of the code running through her pupil-less iris.
“It’s alright, dear,” Auntie says. “We were just… catching up.”
The woman blinks, the code slowing down. She smiles, obviously familiar with Deku. “Hello, Midoriya-kun. And you must be Himiko- it’s nice to meet you.” She waves at Fangs, who nervously waves back. “How have you two been doing?”
“We’ve been okay, thank you,” they answer for the both of them. Deku glances back at Auntie, trying to silently communicate that they just put another con into motion.
Instead of making a bullshit excuse to talk privately, however, Auntie just smiles, and places a hand on their shoulder. “Izuku’s actually taken up the family business- picking up where I left off.”
Realization enters their eyes. “Yeah- actually,” they smile, eerily matching Auntie’s own. “We’re about to start a job right now.”
And with that, Deku turns back around, marching down the sidewalk. Auntie and the rest of the team follow- Auntie with an excited grin, with Katsuki and the rest super fucking confused as to what happened.
The woman’s eyes widen in horror. “Ak- Midoriya, the last thing the Kirishimas need right now is you to- to pull one of your games right now-”
“We’re not pulling one on the Kirishimas,” Deku interrupts, “We’re pulling one on Ishikawa, Ashido-san. Don’t worry- we’re doing this to help them”
“Yes, and I know exactly what your mother’s definition of ‘help’ entails.” She retorts, growing frustrated. “A- Midoriya, why on earth would you drag your children into this- I thought-”
“Okay, excuse me for being the last to join,” Eyebags pipes up, moving closer to Katsuki’s side and narrowing his eyes at the woman, “But I still have no clear idea who you are. And- how do you even know about the ‘family business?’”
Turning, she meets his gaze straight-on. “My name’s Ashido Riko, I’m Mina’s mother.” She takes in a shaky breath, before continuing, “And I used to work as the hacker known as Retrograde. I was a part of Orbit’s crew.”