Chapter Text
It’s the first week into Fumikage’s second year at UA when he’s informed that Aizawa Shouta, aka Eraserhead, aka the most ruthless adult on the UA campus, aka the man who expels practically half his class every year, hasn’t expelled a single one of his homeroom students this semester.
“Isn’t that insane?” Sahara asks, her golden eyes practically glowing with fascination. “I wonder how kickass the new baby first years are, if Eraserhead isn’t expelling any of them.”
“It is rather unprecedented,” Fumikage agrees.
“Some of them made some interesting records in their entrance exam,” Sentoki comments from where she’s sitting behind Fumikage.
Fumikage sighs. “Stop hacking into the school’s database, Sentoki.”
“If they don’t want me to know about it, they should keep their information on hard copies.” Sentoki’s face is impassive, as it always is, but Fumikage can tell she’s in a good mood. The way her index finger is softly tapping against her desk gives her away.
“I wanna go check out the first years.” Sahara pokes Sentoki. “Kai, who got the most rescue points?”
Sentoki blinks, obviously checking through the records. “Midoriya Izuku, 60 points. Zero in combat points.”
“Oh, that’s interesting.” Sahara grins. “Most combat points?”
“Bakugou Katsuki, 60 points. Zero in rescue points.”
Fumikage is a little impressed, because he’s fairly certain nobody from their year ever hit 60 combat points on the entrance exam (aside from Sentoki, who is an outlier and therefore doesn’t count), but mostly a little disturbed. It’s not very promising to have a student score zero rescue points. He wonders what it says about this Bakugou that he didn’t help anybody at any point during the exam.
“We should totally check the newbies out,” Sahara says, then straightens abruptly from where she was lounging on Fumikage’s desk. “Sensei incoming!”
Everybody else in the classroom makes a mad dash for their seats, and five seconds later, their homeroom teacher comes in through the door.
“Alright,” Thirteen says. “Let’s start with roll call.”
-
It’s lunch time when a boy’s shoulder bumps into Fumikage’s.
“Watch it, bird brain,” the boy snarls as he walks away, which would be more intimidating if Fumikage hadn’t already been through a year of UA already.
“Wow, talk about an attitude problem,” Sahara says, amused.
Sentoki blinks. “That was Bakugou Katsuki. Class 1-A, quirk: explosion.”
“So that’s him?” Sahara turns back to look at Fumikage. “He probably thought you were a first year.”
Fumikage sighs. He hopes his growth spurt comes eventually, because standing at 162 centimeters when Sentoki is at 167 and Sahara at 171 means that people constantly mistake him as being younger than his two closest friends. “I have a feeling he would have said the same thing even if he knew I was an upperclassman.”
“Speaking of upperclassmen,” Sahara says, turning around to look at the other end of the hallway, “Toogata senpai is heading here.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, Toogata appears, Amajiki and Hadou in tow.
“Toogata senpai!” Sahara waves them down, and all three third years notice. “Are you coming in for the work-study today?”
“I sure am!” Toogata beams so brightly that Dark Shadow winces a little from inside Fumikage. He relocates to stand to the side where he can place Amajiki between him and Toogata. “What’s the quirk of the day?”
Sahara grins and bounces on the heels of her feet. “Superhearing.”
“Nice, you haven’t had that one in a while.” Toogata pats her on the shoulder. “I’ll see you at the agency, then.”
“Aww, I wanted to chat,” Hadou says from where she’d started interrogating Sentoki about All Might’s new career as a teacher in UA and what his records said about him as a student.
Amajiki offers Fumikage a wan smile—it’s more of a grimace—and tugs Hadou away. “We really need to get going, Cementoss is expecting us.”
After they wave off the third years, Sahara turns to look at Fumikage. “You’re going to your work-study today too, right?”
Fumikage nods. “Thirteen said I can skip last period.”
“At least you fly on your own.” Sentoki sighs in a rare sign of frustration. “The train to Tokyo is so crowded.”
“Ooh, I hear there’s a first year in the support class who already wormed their way into Power Loader’s workshop,” Sahara says, clearly taking advantage of her superhearing to pick up on every rumor within the school building. “Maybe they can upgrade your prosthetics so you can fly.”
Sentoki glances down at her legs, then back up. “Implausible.”
“But it’d be cool, right?” Sahara sighs, combing her hands through her dark curls to pull them back into a short braid. “Man, I wish I could fly. It’s ridiculous that I never got to try it out yet.”
“It’s indeed an inspirational experience,” Fumikage says, thinking back to the very first time he flew over the city in the night sky, held up by his mentor’s arms. It feels like forever ago, but it’s imprinted on his mind. One of those memories that will always remain bright and warm.
“Lucky you,” Sahara says with good humor, lightly punching him in the shoulder. “Say hi to Hawks for me.”
Fumikage feels his mood lift considerably. He hasn’t been to Kyushu for a few weeks, and he’s looking forward to it. “I will.”
-
“Welcome back!” Hawks says when Fumikage steps into his office. He’s in the middle of filling out paperwork. “How was your vacation?”
Fumikage shrugs his backpack off and seats himself on one of the chairs by the floor-to-ceiling windows. “I went to Hokkaido with my parents, though you already knew that. I sent you pictures.”
“Yeah, they looked great.” Hawks sighs. “One day, I’m going to get you to take a selfie.”
“You can try,” Fumikage says dryly, at which Hawks chuckles.
“So, how’s school?” Hawks looks back down at the forms on his desk, but Fumikage knows he’s paying rapt attention. Hawks is excellent at multi-tasking, and he’s learned to listen to Fumikage, no matter how trivial the matter is.
“Not that different from first year, I suppose.” Fumikage recalls Bakugou bumping into him in the hallway. “Speaking of, we seem to have some interesting first years.”
“Anybody we might want to recruit?” Hawks asks, scratching away at the form with his pen.
“I’m not sure yet.” Fumikage shrugs. “We’ll see at the sports festival.”
Hawks hums in assent. “Mm, yeah. Hopefully there’ll be good candidates for you to mentor.”
Fumikage blinks. “Why am I the mentor? It’s supposed to be you.”
Hawks looks up to give Fumikage a mischievous grin. “Co-mentoring, duh. I can’t wait to see you play senpai to whoever we end up with.”
The very idea makes a shudder run down Fumikage’s spine. “Absolutely not. I refuse to adopt any underclassmen.”
“Sure, Fumikage,” Hawks deadpans, raising an eyebrow. “Tell yourself you’re not interested in getting attached to a kid. Worked out great for me.”
Fumikage narrows his eyes. “This is different. You picked me as an intern because the commission forced you to take somebody as part of a mission. You didn’t even teach me anything at first.”
“Okay, so you won’t be an asshole like I was.” Hawks snickers. “But I bet we’ll get you a little duckling to imprint on you soon enough.”
Fumikage prays that none of the new first years have avian features. He doesn’t want to imagine how many bird puns Hawks will come up with if they add another avian mutant to the agency. “I’ll take that bet.”
All jokes aside, Fumikage is serious about not playing mentor for an underclassman. He doesn’t think he’s good role model material. Much like Bakugou earlier that day, Fumikage fully expects the first years to have little respect for him. He has a rather small stature, he’s not all that charismatic, and he’s never been good at playing the leader.
Fumikage really hopes that growth spurt hits soon.
-
The entire student body of UA learns about the USJ incident thirty minutes after the villains have been arrested.
Fumikage learns about it a little earlier.
“Something’s wrong,” Sentoki mutters during their class’s morning study hall. Half the class is diligently studying while the other half are chatting or procrastinating, so she keeps her voice low enough to not attract anybody else’s attention. “School security doesn’t feel right.”
Sentoki Kai, whose quirk allows her to basically connect with all technology that runs on programming, can control anything with a wireless connection within a 200 meter radius. She can connect with other machines without wireless tech as well, though she needs to make physical contact with the machine first. Every single robot in her entrance exam block had self-destructed the minute the exam started, which was how she’d made UA history by forcing the rest of the students in her block to retake the entrance exam without her.
She is also perpetually connected with the UA wireless network, which can’t keep her out no matter how many firewalls it throws up, and thus she’s privy to nearly everything happening on school grounds.
Sentoki saying that something doesn’t feel right means that something isn’t right.
Fumikage tenses up. “Have you told Nezu?”
“Not yet. I’m trying to identify the problem.” Sentoki frowns. “There are no security breaches, as far as I can tell. Maybe I’m imagining it. The breach from the other day might still be affecting the system.”
Sahara looks up from where she’s been organizing her chemistry notes. “I can go do a perimeter check, if it’ll make you feel better.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Fumikage says.
“You know it’ll be fine. I have Missing Child today,” Sahara says with a shrug. “I’ll be back before study hall ends.”
Fumikage hesitates, because he normally doesn’t like to enable his friends’ rule-breaking, but he has a bad gut feeling, so he eventually nods. “Don’t get caught.”
Sahara smiles, sharp and wicked. “Well, duh.”
Then she vanishes.
Kajino Sahara’s quirk is Lottery: a quirk that changes every twenty-four hours. Every day at 5:27 AM, her quirk changes. One day, she can move objects with her mind, the next day, she can accurately tell the nutrition levels of food just by looking at it. Sometimes her quirk is useful, sometimes it’s useless. She’s tried out a lot of quirks over the years, but some occur more frequently than others. Missing Child, the ability to negate attention, allows her to move and talk without being noticed by anybody else unless she’s establishing physical contact with them. It’s perfect for infiltration and surveillance.
It’s also perfect for taking a trip around the campus perimeter without being noticed by anybody else.
The open window next to Sahara’s seat opens a little wider, presumably for her to slip out, and then Fumikage turns his attention back to his messy notes. Until Sahara comes back, he has no choice but to wait.
Less than twenty minutes later, Sahara reappears in her seat, panting like she sprinted a long distance and then parkoured her way up to their classroom window on the second floor. Some of their classmates sitting nearby flinch at her sudden return to existence, but they don’t pry. Class 2-A has learned to not question whatever Fumikage’s friends are up to.
“Security breach at USJ,” Sahara hisses quietly. “Class 1-A got attacked by villains. I saw their class president running over and followed him to Nezu’s office.”
“He ran here from USJ?” Fumikage doesn’t even know where to begin with that. “Why?”
Sentoki inhales sharply. “They cut off communications from USJ. I didn’t notice because it’s usually too hard to sense from here anyway. He must have ran here for help.”
Sahara nods. “Nezu took all the other teachers and went straight there.”
“Thirteen is in charge of USJ training,” Fumikage says quietly, dread inching up his spine. “And I presume Eraserhead is there, too. They’re strong. If they sent a student to get help…”
“It must be a lot of villains,” Sentoki finishes quietly.
“They’ll be fine,” Sahara says, but her optimism is shaky at best. “The other teachers are on their way. The villains don’t stand a chance.”
Only if the teachers make it in time, Fumikage thinks, but he doesn’t dare say that out loud.
They sit there in silent unease for a while, wondering if they should do something, anything, when Sentoki blinks and straightens up. “The communications with USJ have been re-established. The teachers must have made it.”
Fumikage relaxes, just a little. This doesn’t mean everybody made it out unscathed, but at least the incident must be over. They don’t have to worry about it now.
-
Thirteen has been badly injured, according to Nezu, but it’s nothing she can’t recover from. She’ll be back to work in a few days. He doesn’t elaborate more than that.
“How bad is it, really?” Sahara whispers to Sentoki after Nezu leaves.
Sentoki closes her eyes, as if seeing something she didn’t want to see. Then, she answers.
Fumikage doesn’t know who this teleportation quirk user is, to have inflicted such damage on their teacher, but Dark Shadow hisses that they’ll destroy the villain if they ever cross paths.
And for once, Fumikage doesn’t disagree with his quirk’s promise of violence.
-
“We should pick a student from 1-A,” Hawks says as they patrol the skies above Fukuoka. “Learn some more about what happened in USJ.”
“The class president might be fast enough to keep up with us,” Fumikage says. “If he can run from USJ all the way to campus that quickly. Sentoki says his name is Iida Tenya.”
Hawks mouths the name a couple times before he says, “Oh, as in the Iida family where the Ingenium name is passed down? No wonder he’s fast.”
“We should see how he does in the sports festival.”
“He’ll be good.” Hawks huffs a dry laugh. “All of ‘em will be. Nothing like tasting real danger for the first time to give you a good wake-up call.”
Fumikage silently agrees. “It’s going to be an interesting sports festival.”
“Focus on your own,” Hawks reminds him with a grin. “You placed third last year. I better see you in the top two this time.”
“I make no promises.” Fumikage’s peers are formidable. He only clawed his way to third place last year because nobody had figured out Dark Shadow’s weakness to light. This year, everybody will know.
But Fumikage knows his peers’ weaknesses too, so it’ll be a fair fight.
“You’re gonna do great,” Hawks says with absolute faith, the kind that he has learned to give to Fumikage after all they’ve been through together.
Fumikage doesn’t make any promises aloud, but he resolves to do his best not to let Hawks down.
-
“You know,” Sentoki says conversationally at the award ceremony from where she’s standing on the third place podium, “I honestly didn’t think you’d win against Fuji.”
Fumikage glances at their class’s vice president, standing on the podium for second place. Fuji’s quirk is blanking out anybody’s senses, rendering anybody instantly blind and deaf and utterly defenseless. He’s easily one of the hardest opponents to fight against, especially because his quirk activates just by making eye contact with a target.
“I didn’t, either,” Fumikage admits. The idea that Dark Shadow might be impervious to Fuji’s quirk had been a wild theory, but allowing Dark Shadow to take the lead in combat using Black Ankh while Fumikage kept his eyes closed had been the correct strategy after all. “I suppose having a sentient quirk has its perks.”
“I think Dark Shadow deserves the medal more than you do,” Sentoki says, and it would sound mean-spirited from anybody else, but Fumikage knows her well enough to be aware that this is meant to be a joke.
“You have a point.” Fumikage glances down at the medal for first place hanging from his neck. He takes it off and coaxes Dark Shadow into poking his head out from Fumikage’s chest so that he can place the medal around his quirk’s neck instead. He can hear All Might erupt into booming laughter at the sight.
Dark Shadow cackles. “We should take a selfie like this.”
“Absolutely not,” Fumikage replies.
-
When Fumikage heads to Kyushu the next day, the entire agency erupts into applause as soon as he steps inside. It’s a little embarrassing, but Fumikage takes the congratulations graciously and thanks everybody for their support. It takes him twenty minutes to escape the enthusiastic welcome and finally make it to Hawks’s office.
“Hey, first place!” Hawks beams at him, promptly dropping his paperwork on the desk and standing up from his chair. “Congrats, kiddo! I knew you could do it.”
As much as Hawks seems like the type to sugarcoat things, he’s dreadfully practical and never gives empty praise. Fumikage feels a little warmer at the steadfast faith Hawks had in him. “Thank you.”
Hawks walks over. “Where was Kajino, though? Didn’t see her at all.”
“Sahara got a mind-reading quirk yesterday,” Fumikage explains. “She went to the police to help interrogation instead.”
“Ah, fair enough.” Hawks gestures at the two shopping bags in Fumikage’s hands. “What’s this?”
Fumikage hands over both bags, which Hawks takes with his feathers. “My mom packed you some food, and my mother brought back those taro buns you like from her business trip. They said you should come over for dinner again.”
Hawks brightens, immediately tearing into the packaged buns. “Aw, tell your parents that I’ll try to make some time next week.”
Fumikage’s parents are all too fond of Hawks, mostly because he’s saved Fumikage’s skin several times, but also partially because they seem to have instinctively picked up on the fact that Hawks never had anything resembling a good parental figure. “I’ll pass that on.”
“Mmm, I missed these.” Hawks chews on a bun, then swallows. “Ah, anyway, I had Mayday record the first years’ sports festival, so let’s head upstairs and watch it.”
Hawks’s office doesn’t have a television screen, but his penthouse has a rather sizable one, so they take the elevator upstairs. After Hawks puts away the food containers Fumikage brought, they make popcorn and switch on the TV to watch the recording of the first years’ sports festival.
“That Midoriya kid sure is something,” Hawks comments as they watch the obstacle race come to an end. “Smart. Has some guts, too.”
“Todoroki is a strategist as well.” Fumikage counts the number of kids from 1-A that made it into the second round. “But there’s plenty of potential in all of them.”
They watch the cavalry battle with avid interest, commenting on all the happenings on the screen. Fumikage has to admit that Bakugou’s unrelenting nature and quick thinking puts him a head above most of the other first years. And he’s appropriately impressed by Iida’s Recipro Burst, as is Hawks.
“If he can manage to make that move last longer without overheating his engines, he’d definitely keep up with us.” Hawks hums. “I hate to say this, but since Ingenium’s out of commission because of the Hero Killer, he’ll probably take our offer.”
“He might prefer a hero agency that operates on the ground.” Fumikage takes mental notes on a few other first years. “We should keep our options open. We can send multiple offers.”
After the cavalry battle is the final round: the one-on-one tournament. Fumikage and Hawks watch carefully, vetoing or approving candidates with each fight.
“I wonder what Todoroki’s deal is,” Hawks says after the final fight, where Bakugou Katsuki angrily refuses to accept his victory. “I know it’s a long shot since he’ll probably go to Endeavor’s agency anyway, but I do wanna send him an offer.”
“There’s no harm in trying.” Fumikage considers the very short list of candidates they’ve drawn up. “Hopefully at least one of them says yes.”
“Preferably Iida,” Hawks comments, and Fumikage nods.
-
Iida rejects their offer, which is disappointing, but Fumikage understands that he might want to intern for a hero who fits his work ethic more, or something like that.
“Sir doesn’t wanna pick any interns,” Sahara says with a sigh, slumping over her desk that’s next to Fumikage’s. She peeks up at Fumikage and Sentoki. “What about you guys? Any newbies at your agencies?”
“Ghost Code didn’t find anybody interesting this time,” Sentoki says, which isn’t surprising. None of the first years seemed fit for underground hero work revolving around surveillance and intel gathering. “I saw that Hawks sent several offers, though.”
“You really shouldn’t be looking at those records,” Fumikage says with a sigh. “But yes, we have a new intern. Not our first choice, but we think there’s potential.”
Sahara sits back up, looking intrigued. “Who was your first choice?”
“Iida Tenya, the one who ran back from USJ.”
“Ohhh, he would’ve been a good fit.” Sahara frowns. “Why did he turn you down? Did he go with a different hero?”
Sentoki hums, her brows furrowing faintly. “He’s gone to Manual, the normal hero.”
“That’s an invasion of privacy,” Fumikage reminds her.
“Ah, if he’s a stickler for rules, I guess Manual isn’t a bad choice,” Sahara says, because she actually memorizes hero profiles for fun while Fumikage has no idea who this Manual even is. “The kid did seem a little stiff.”
It’s odd that out of all the agencies he could have chosen, Iida chose to go to a hero that Fumikage hasn’t even heard about, but he figures it’s none of his business. He has enough on his own plate, what with making sure Hawks doesn’t traumatize their own recruit. Fumikage needs to focus on the new intern.
Still, in the back of his mind, something just doesn’t quite add up.
-
“Nice to meet you,” Hawks says when Fumikage turns up with their new intern in tow. “Aoyama Yuuga, right?”
Aoyama’s eyes sparkle. “Bonjour, it is an honor to meet you, Hawks.”
“Oh, looks like you have a rival in the fancy speech mannerism department,” Hawks teases with a glance at Fumikage. Then he pats Aoyama’s shoulder. “Alright, let me give you the grand tour.”
Fumikage marvels at how different Hawks is now, compared to when he first brought Fumikage in as an intern just a year ago. Hawks hadn’t been interested in mentoring anybody and had no expectations from the next generation, back then. Now, though, he’s genuinely interested in nurturing younger heroes. Fumikage is proud of him.
They’d chosen Aoyama because he’d had the highest chance of keeping up with them, using his navel laser to propel himself at high speeds, and also because Hawks thought it would be interesting to see how the kid’s quirk could work with Fumikage’s. Light versus darkness. So even though Aoyama hadn’t lasted long in the tournament round of the sports festival, they’d sent the kid an offer.
Once Aoyama has been shown around and has settled into the agency bunk he’ll be using throughout his stay, Hawks sits the kid down in the lounge and grins at him. “So, about USJ.”
Aoyama stiffens. “Oui…?”
“We want the inside scoop.” Hawks flashes him a grin. “Just interested in hearing about it from somebody who was actually there, y’know?”
“Ah, I see.” Aoyama relaxes a fraction. “Well, I was dropped by myself in a corner of the squall zone, so I missed the main events, but I will do my best to tell the story!”
Aoyama then starts describing the events of the day, briefly summarizing his experience in the squall zone by admitting that he’d spent the time in hiding, and then he moves onto what happened with the group left in the main plaza, adding details that he’d heard from his classmates. Fumikage very nearly lets his fingernails bite though his palms when he hears about the warp gate user turning Thirteen’s quirk on herself and grievously injuring her, but he maintains his calm and hears Aoyama out.
“Man, that must’ve been pretty terrifying,” Hawks says once Aoyama is done.
Aoyama swallows hard. “Oui, it was. I was scared for my life, but…I was scared for everybody else, too.”
Fumikage feels a twinge of sympathy. He knows what it’s like, to be caught in an unfamiliar place by yourself, fear trickling through your blood as you blindly wonder if your companions are in danger. It must have been doubly terrifying to get a taste of that before even earning a provisional license.
“Well, we’re gonna teach you how to protect yourself and others.” Hawks spreads his wings, stretching them over Aoyama and Fumikage as if to shield them. “So try to keep up with us, yeah?”
Aoyama falters, just for a moment, but then his eyes sparkle as he smiles wide. “Merci, Monsieur Hawks. I will do my best!”
-
While he doesn’t have as much raw potential as most of his classmates, Aoyama does have a desperate desire to become a hero. Fumikage is a little impressed by how hard Aoyama tries to keep up with Hawks despite the limitations of his quirk.
“There’s a specialist in Tokyo,” Hawks says as he munches on fried chicken, squeezed in between Fumikage and Aoyama while Mayday and Striker occupy the other end of the table. “Striker, why don’t you take Aoyama tomorrow and see if there’s any treatments that could deal with the side effects of Aoyama’s quirk? Tsukuyomi, you should tag along, too.”
Fumikage takes a sip of his soda. Obviously, Aoyama needs to be supervised during his internship, which explains why Hawks is sending a sidekick along as official chaperone, but this is also clearly a ploy to make Fumikage spend time with Aoyama.
While he is still firmly against becoming anybody’s personal role model, Fumikage likes Aoyama, and he wouldn’t mind taking the kid to the capital and back for a day.
“Try to make sure Hawks doesn’t get into too much trouble,” Fumikage tells Mayday, who laughs while Hawks makes an indignant sound. From Hawks’s other side, Aoyama muffles a laugh into his hand, and Fumikage realizes for the first time that Aoyama’s real laughter sounds a little different from his usual one.
-
“Your new intern seems interesting,” Sentoki comments. She’d heard that Fumikage would be in the city and had taken an hour out of her work-study to socialize with him and see Aoyama for herself. They’re sitting together in the lobby of the clinic while Striker has gone to get coffee. “He’s practically your polar opposite. Very…sparkly.”
“He’s a good kid,” Fumikage says, and he means it. He does, but something feels a little strange. Aoyama’s clear anxiety over being examined by a professional had felt like more than pure nerves over a medical exam, but maybe Fumikage is imagining things.
“Something is bothering you.” Sentoki’s eyes are an unnerving electric blue, and she’s giving him a slow once-over, trying to read his body language. Thankfully, Sentoki’s always been more adept with machines than people, so she doesn’t seem to quite catch onto his lingering doubts. “Are you still unhappy that he came instead of Iida?”
“No, I’m glad Aoyama came.” Fumikage sighs. “I’m sure Iida is doing well with Manual, wherever he’s based.”
Sentoki blinks once. “Hosu. Manual is based in Hosu.”
Fumikage has to admit that having a friend who is basically connected to the Internet at all times is quite helpful. “Right, Hosu. I’m sure he’s happy there.”
Something about that doesn’t sit right in Fumikage’s gut, though. Hosu. Iida. Why do those two combined feel so oddly unfitting?
“I think your intern’s exam is finished,” Sentoki says, interrupting his train of thought.
“Don’t look at other people’s medical records,” Fumikage reminds her.
“I’m not; I’m just noticing that the MRI machine has powered down.” Sentoki looks up at the ceiling. “It must be hard to have a quirk that doesn’t fit you.”
Fumikage can’t imagine it. He and Dark Shadow are merged so seamlessly, their very minds intertwined so fully that it’s preposterous to imagine Dark Shadow ever causing him pain. Even when Fumikage loses control and Dark Shadow rampages in the dark, even when they’re at odds with each other in those moments, Dark Shadow still belongs to Fumikage and can never hurt him the way Aoyama’s quirk does.
“Hopefully we can find a way to help,” Fumikage murmurs.
Sentoki glances at him. “You’re too nice.”
“It’s called sympathy,” Fumikage deadpans. “You should try it sometime.”
“Sounds like a hassle.” Sentoki isn’t a robot, no matter how many people mistake her for one, given her quirk and personality, but aside from her undying devotion to Sahara that stems from their childhood friendship, she doesn’t emotionally invest in people. Fumikage is only half an exception because he’s what she calls an ‘aberration’ and she finds him tolerable. “Besides, having too much sympathy can be a problem, according to Ghost Code. It’s easy to find villains sympathetic, when you dig into them like we do, and that’s counter-productive.”
“So your solution is to have none.” Fumikage rolls his eyes but concedes her point. He knows that Sentoki learns too much about people and heroes and villains. It would be hard to juggle that with feelings, too. “Well, Sahara can have your share.”
“She has a lot of feelings,” Sentoki agrees. “Apparently Toogata senpai told her she was cool when she took down a villain today. She won’t stop sending me emoticons.”
Yes, that’s exactly the kind of thing Fumikage would like to avoid. Sahara idolizes Toogata and firmly believes he’ll be one of the greatest heroes of Japan once he goes pro. Fumikage would rather not have such intense hero worship from an underclassman. He would like to get along with Aoyama, but he doesn’t want to be Aoyama’s mentor, of all things. No matter what Hawks might think.
Fumikage wonders if this was how Hawks felt a year ago when Fumikage first came to the agency. He hopes he doesn’t follow Hawks’s example and inadvertently become a mentor figure who feels like family. Fumikage has never wanted a younger sibling, and he sure isn’t about to adopt one now.
-
They’re on a train back to Fukuoka that night when everything screeches to a stop, jolting Fumikage and Striker to high alert while Aoyama looks around in mild alarm.
Then: “Holy shit!”
A monstrous creature tears into the carriage of the train, and Aoyama shrieks, as do most of the other passengers. Fumikage hasn’t seen anything like this before, but he knows that this thing is dangerous, and he needs to get it out of here. Striker could probably fight it, but Fumikage is the one who can fly and take the creature away from this enclosed space.
“Striker, I’ve got this!” Fumikage let’s Dark Shadow grow bigger claws and tackles the thing out of the carriage. “I’ll contact you once this is dealt with!”
With that said, he lets Dark Shadow shift into flight mode, shoving the creature at high speed towards an open space, and then he notices that there are multiple creatures wreaking havoc in the city square he’s about to crash land on.
Taking advantage of the night’s darkness, Fumikage lets Dark Shadow grow in size to pummel the creature into the ground, and then he sees the bedlam around him. Heroes fighting monsters while civilians flee.
“Where are we?” Dark Shadow asks, and Fumikage catches sight of a sign across the square.
“Hosu,” Fumikage says. Where Manual is. Where Iida is. Where Ingenium was attacked. By the Hero Killer. Who strikes twice in one city before he moves on.
Ingenium had been the first victim.
And Iida had chosen to come here, where his brother had fallen, where his brother’s attacker still must be, because he—
“He’s after the Hero Killer,” Fumikage realizes in horror.
What were the chances that the Hero Killer was prowling about right now? What were the chances that Iida Tenya would find the villain? What were the chances that Fumikage could find them?
Don’t waste time thinking, a voice that sounds a lot like Hawks’s snaps at him, and Fumikage immediately flies back up. There are enough heroes here to hopefully take down the monsters. Fumikage needs to make sure a first year with no field experience is about to enact a revenge scheme against an incredibly dangerous villain.
He soars over the buildings, looking down at the alleyways he passes by at his fastest speed. The Hero Killer tends to strike in secluded alleys, so this is Fumikage’s best bet at finding the villain before Iida does.
Well, that was the plan, right up until Fumikage finds not only Iida Tenya, but Midoriya Izuku and Todoroki Shouto also facing the villain. Iida and Midoriya are both down on the ground, seemingly paralyzed along with another hero. Todoroki is the only one standing. It doesn’t look good.
Fumikage quickly considers his options. He doesn’t know what the Hero Killer’s quirk is, but his many blades suggest that he’s well-versed in knife fighting and close quarters. He’s fast, too, going by how quickly he moves in even against a powerful quirk user like Todoroki.
Then Fumikage has to end this as soon as possible. If he can slow down the Hero Killer, Todoroki could probably freeze and trap him until other heroes arrived.
“Time to go all out,” Fumikage mutters, and Dark Shadow gleefully cackles within him. Then, in a blink, Dark Shadow completely envelopes Fumikage and barrels down, crashing hard into the Hero Killer and crushing him against the asphalt. He can feel the crack of bones under him, but that’s fine. It’s safer to aim for overkill, especially with the safety of first years on the line.
“Oh my god, what?” Midoriya gapes from where he’s still on the ground. Todoroki blinks, watching Dark Shadow keep the Hero Killer pinned while Fumikage steps away, making sure he’s not accidentally within stabbing distance. “Um, hello?”
“Are you alright?” Fumikage asks.
Midoriya blinks up at him. “Uh, yes. We just can’t move. His quirk is paralyzing people by orally ingesting blood.”
“Thank you for the information.” So that’s how he’d managed to get away with all those murders. Fumikage mentally takes notes to relay to Hawks later. “Just to get things straight, am I right in assuming that Iida Tenya came here for vengeance?”
All three boys trade nervous looks, which answers that question.
“What are the other two of you doing here?” He’s fairly certain Iida didn’t bring backup for this little revenge plan; for starters, he knows for a fact that Todoroki chose to intern under his father. He’s not sure how the boy is even here.
“Midoriya came to save me,” Iida says. “And so did Todoroki. They did nothing wrong. It was all my fault.”
That still doesn’t explain how the other two boys got here, but Fumikage can get explanations later. “Todoroki, would you mind freezing the Hero Killer until backup arrives?”
“Oh,” Todoroki says. “Yes, of course.”
The Hero Killer doesn’t put up much of a fight, probably because Fumikage broke several of his ribs and a few other bones, from what he can tell. He doesn’t feel very guilty about it, especially after seeing how close the villain got to killing all these kids.
Soon enough, Midoriya can move again, and then Iida regains his motion control as well. The other hero is up and moving soon too, so they wait a few more minute until several sidekicks and a hero arrive at the scene to find them.
Endeavor arrives at the scene soon after, and that’s how the Hero Killer is taken into custody.
-
“You three,” Fumikage says to the boys sitting at each of their hospital beds, “were incredibly reckless.”
To their credit, Iida and Midoriya look quite contrite. Todoroki doesn’t, but Fumikage has gotten the gist of the night’s events, and he figures that at least Todoroki was the least reckless one out of the three.
Thankfully, none of the boys have sustained serious injuries, which the doctor and police chalk up to Fumikage’s timely intervention. They’ll be out of the hospital within the day.
“I hope you learned your lesson about having appropriate backup, at the very least, as well as not getting into fights without a license.” Fumikage has never lectured anybody before, but to his silent dread, he discovers that he has a talent for it. “Also, the cycle of vengeance only leads you deeper into the dark.”
Iida lowers his head. “I truly am sorry. Especially to you, Midoriya, Todoroki.”
“We’re just glad you’re okay,” Midoriya says, heartfelt and earnest in a way that makes Fumikage feel a little like an intruder.
“Not that you’re wrong,” Todoroki finally says, looking Fumikage in the eye, “but how did you know we were there? You said you’re Hawks’s intern.”
“And Kyushu is far away from here,” Midoriya adds, glancing at Fumikage with curiosity shining in his eyes.
Fumikage sighs. “I was passing by after a visit to Tokyo. We were attacked by one of those creatures, and when I landed in Hosu, I remembered that Iida rejected our offer to intern in Hosu instead. I connected a few dots after that.”
“You got an offer from Hawks?” Midoriya asks, whipping around to look at Iida with something like jealousy and awe melded into one. “Iida, that’s amazing.”
Thankfully, none of the boys question how Fumikage knows where Iida was interning at. Fumikage doesn’t want to explain that his friend regularly raids the UA database for fun. “At any rate, I’m glad you’re all relatively uninjured.”
“So you’re one of our upperclassmen?” Todoroki looks at Fumikage with something like keen interest, which makes Fumikage feel a little nervous. He has a gut feeling that attracting Todoroki Shouto’s interest does not bode well for him. “We’ll see you at UA?”
“You will,” Fumikage confirms.
“Can you show us more about your quirk back at school?” Midoriya blurts, this time his eyes veritably sparkling. Not as flashy as Aoyama, but he cuts close. “I saw your quirk on the UA sports festival broadcast last year and I’d never seen a sentient quirk before! And I didn’t know it could grow that big!”
“Uh.” Fumikage flounders a little.
“I want to see more of it, too,” Todoroki adds, and Fumikage recalls that Hawks wanted to see what Todoroki’s deal was anyway. It might be a good idea to see Iida’s abilities from up close as well. Not to mention Midoriya’s own raw power is something Fumikage wants to see for himself.
“After your internships, then,” Fumikage finally concedes.
All three boys look a little more cheered at that—well, Todoroki is harder to read—and Fumikage leaves them to be lectured at by their respective heroes in charge.
It’s only later when he relays all this to Hawks and sees his own mentor crack up that Fumikage realizes with dawning horror that he may or may not have signed up to teach three underclassmen.
-
There are moments when Fumikage finds himself in the middle of terror and desperation that he realizes oh, I’m dreaming. He has his fair share of lucid dreams in the middle of his nightmares, and that usually makes the horrors dissipate.
But sometimes, every once in a while, his memories get muddled with his fears and he encounters things that he wishes he’d never have to see, even in the midst of his nightmares.
“This isn’t real,” Fumikage says aloud as he looks down at Hawks’s mangled body.
This isn’t what happened. Hawks had been grievously injured, yes, but Fumikage had managed to barrel his way into the crumbling building to crash the villain into a wall and carry Hawks out before more damage could be done. Hawks had spent three days in the hospital, recovering from broken bones and acid burns that had melted half his feathers and patches of his skin away.
The skin grafts had covered the scars up and the feathers had regrown, but Fumikage still sees his mentor like this in his nightmares. Bloodied and broken, hollow bones making him weightless in Fumikage’s arms as he rushes Hawks to the hospital. Too terrified to take the time to check if Hawks is breathing, because he doesn’t want to know if he stopped.
“This isn’t real,” Fumikage repeats.
Hawks’s golden eyes slit open. “You should’ve been faster.”
“I made it in time,” Fumikage says, but he knows that Hawks is right. If he’d just been a little faster, if he’d been there to back Hawks up, if he hadn’t been held up by some two-bit villains while Hawks was alone against a quirk he couldn’t beat, then Hawks wouldn’t have been so close to death’s door. He’d saved Hawks’s life, but in truth, Fumikage had failed him.
I’ll be faster, Fumikage sobbed a long time ago. His feathers growing damp with tears as he vowed to not be left behind, to keep up, to make sure Hawks would never have to fight alone. I swear, I’ll be faster. So promise me, Hawks.
“Too late,” The Hero Killer snarls, his sword in one hand, Hawks gripped by the front of his jacket with the other. “You’re no hero.”
“You never would have gotten to Hawks,” Fumikage says. “You only go after heroes who are alone.”
Promise me that you won’t go anywhere I can’t have your back.
“And Hawks isn’t alone,” Fumikage says, because Hawks had promised him from his hospital bed, smiling despite his injuries, finally admitting that he wanted Fumikage to stay. And despite the commission’s demands, despite villains’ best efforts, despite everything the world threw at him, Hawks had kept his end of the bargain.
“But what happens,” the Hero Killer says with a grin, his blade at Hawks’s throat, “if you can’t keep up?”
Three first years bleeding out on the ground. Hawks no longer breathing. Fumikage arriving at a scene too late. This isn’t what happened, but all of them open their eyes and ask him, “Why weren’t you faster?”
With a silent cry trapped in his chest, Fumikage wakes up.
-
It’s when they’re more than halfway through the week that Fumikage finally comes to the conclusion that there’s something decidedly off about Aoyama. He’s a good kid, that much Fumikage is sure of, but there’s an odd disconnect to him that can’t quite be explained.
It’s in the small things: the way he goes a little quiet and still every time his phone rings, sparkles dying down until he checks the caller ID and relaxes; the way he seems to tense up when somebody jokes about his quirk, not in anger, but as if in fear; the way he recites his experience at USJ as if he memorized exactly what to say.
“I think Aoyama is hiding something,” Fumikage finally says, up in Hawks’s penthouse in the early morning so that the two of them can have some privacy. “Or at the very least, there’s something that’s scaring him.”
Hawks drums his fingertips against the back of his sofa he’s leaning a hip against. “Yeah, I think there’s something a little off. I don’t think he’s got any bad intentions, but…”
“Something is wrong,” Tokoyami murmurs, and Hawks nods.
“His story about USJ…I have a feeling he’s not telling the full truth about it.” Hawks shrugs. “His breathing pattern gets a little weird when he talks about it, and his tone is a little off, too.”
“He seems pretty reluctant about anybody taking a close look at his quirk,” Fumikage adds. “Even though it’s supposed to be for his benefit. I’m not sure what he could be hiding about that, though.”
They both lapse into silence. Fumikage knows, thanks to Hawks’s tutelage, that the best way to get intel out of somebody is to have them believe that you’re on their side. Breaking someone down through force is also a viable method, but it could easily result in lies or blatant refusal to answer any questions. What Aoyama needs isn’t an arm twisted behind his back, but a kind hand and a promise that he can tell them anything.
“We don’t have a lot of time,” Hawks says. “He’ll be going back to school in two days.”
Fumikage clicks his beak. “We don’t have enough proof to merit putting undue pressure on him, though.”
“Yeah, I guess. We don’t want to scare him into shutting down.” Hawks chews on his lower lip. “Any chance that Kajino got a mind-reading quirk again?”
“She can make people fall asleep by touching them,” Fumikage says. Sahara texts him and Sentoki every morning once she’s figured out what her quirk of the day is. “I doubt it’ll help us.”
Hawks sighs and scratches his chin. “Well, we’ll see what we can find out before his internship ends.”
“And if we fail?”
“Then you’ll have to keep an eye on him at UA,” Hawks says with a grimace. “Which won’t be easy, since you’re not even in the same year or anything. So let’s hope we figure things out before then.”
-
“You said you got your quirk when you were seven,” Fumikage says during their lunch break, and he doesn’t miss the way Aoyama stiffens the slightest bit. He might look unbothered to anybody else, but Fumikage’s eyes are sharp and Hawks has taught him well. He keeps his voice conversational. “The doctor mentioned that your body might be having trouble adapting to the belated emergence of your quirk and that it might stabilize once you’re an adult and your growth period is over.”
“Oui, she said that,” Aoyama says quietly, hope heavy in his voice. So heavy that Fumikage almost misses the hint of resignation in his tone.
“Well, my parents say that feeding the body helps it grow.” Fumikage adds shrimp tempura on top of Aoyama’s udon. “So you should eat more. It might speed up the stabilization.”
“I don’t know if it works like that.” Aoyama relaxes a little, though, his smile growing a shade more genuine. “Thank you, senpai.”
“Speaking of adulthood,” Hawks picks up from where Fumikage leaves off, “whatcha planning for as a pro? Anywhere in particular you wanna work? Is Kyushu too far for you?”
From there, Hawks smoothly leads the conversations into Aoyama’s career aspirations, what he wants in his future, what steps he will take to get there. Throughout the whole conversation, Hawks keeps his tone friendly and his eyes keen with interest, but Fumikage is watching the way Aoyama tenses and relaxes, measuring which words trigger Aoyama’s anxiety and which moments his breath hitches through what sounds like a lie.
“I want to become a hero my parents can be proud of,” Aoyama says, his voice subdued but sincere. His honesty is in his quiet moments, not his loud ones. “I want to make them happy.”
Later, during their afternoon patrol, as Aoyama lags behind and jogs with Striker and Mayday, Fumikage and Hawks confer high up in the air.
“He’s not lying when he says he wants to be a hero,” Hawks says over the wind.
“But he’s worried that he might not get to be a good one.” Fumikage recalls the way Aoyama very nearly stuttered over his words, as if he was trying to convince himself of something he didn’t fully believe in. “It’s like he thinks there’s something that will stop him.”
Hawks is quiet for a moment. “He’s scared.”
“I agree.” Of what, Fumikage isn’t sure. All he knows is that if he and Hawks want to learn the truth, they must be ready to take responsibility for it. And Fumikage doesn’t know if they’re ready.
-
The next morning, Fumikage gets a text, and he stares at it for a moment. Then, he goes and shows it to Hawks.
“Do you think,” Fumikage starts.
Hawks doesn’t even need to hear him finish the sentence. “Tell her to get over here.”
-
“I hope Sir Nighteye doesn’t mind that we stole you for the day,” Hawks says when Sahara shows up on their agency doorstep a few hours later.
“It’s a total bust anyway.” Sahara pokes Fumikage as they walk through the lobby towards the elevator. “You didn’t tell me why you wanted me to come over.”
Fumikage shakes his head. He doesn’t want any of the agency staff to catch onto what’s happening. “Espere.”
“Ooh, é um segredo!” Sahara has always been a sucker for secrets. She turns to Hawks, who speaks better Portuguese than Fumikage. “Quem é o alvo?”
Hawks fills her in on who they’re going to talk to and what she’s supposed to do. Sahara is a little surprised by what they expect from her, but by the time they’re sequestered safely in Hawks’s office, free from any possible eavesdroppers, she seems cheered by the prospect of an otherwise meagre quirk being useful.
“I’ll go fetch Aoyama.” They’d gone on a much more ruthlessly fast-paced patrol than usual before Sahara arrived, and Aoyama had staggered off to his bunk for a short break. It’s all part of the plan: tire Aoyama out, weaken his defenses, make him vulnerable and desperate.
It’s not a pretty plan, but it’s the best they have, and if this is what helps Aoyama share what he’s trying so hard to hide from, then Fumikage is okay with using less than honorable means.
“We need to start filling out the paperwork for the end of your internship,” Fumikage lies as he leads Aoyama to Hawks’s office. Once they step in, Fumikage quietly locks the door behind them. “It might take a while.”
Hawks is already at the seating area by the windows, where there’s a sofa and two chairs. He beckons them over. “Hey, make yourself comfortable.”
Once Aoyama is on the sofa beside Hawks and Fumikage has also seated himself, Sahara pops up from where she’d been hiding under Hawks’s desk and walks over to take the remaining chair, which startles Aoyama badly enough that he squeaks in shock.
“Hi, nice to meet you!” Sahara beams at Aoyama. “I’m Kajino Sahara. You can call me Sahara. I’m Brazilian-Japanese, I’m a second year at UA, and I’m allergic to cherries.”
“Erm,” Aoyama says.
Beside him, Hawks quietly taps his phone, and a timer silently starts ticking. “Okay, let’s make this quick: Aoyama, why are you lying to us about what you did at USJ?”
Aoyama flinches hard, very nearly jolting off the sofa. “I’m not—I don’t—non, Monsieur, I didn’t lie.”
“You’re lying right now,” Sahara says lightly. “My quirk can tell if you’re lying or not, so you might as well come clean before you dig yourself any deeper.”
“No,” Aoyama says, despair settling over his features. “It’s true, I was in the squall zone—”
“Oh, that’s not the part we wanna focus on.” Hawks keeps his wording vague enough for Aoyama to not realize that they’re neither confirming nor denying whether they believe Aoyama’s cover story. “The part we really wanna know is why you’re hiding the truth from us.”
“Are you scared of being arrested?” Fumikage asks, because that’s the first fear that comes to mind. And judging by the way Aoyama bites his lower lip, he’s not entirely wrong. But…the fear isn’t quite as deep.
“There’s nothing for me to be arrested over,” Aoyama says shakily.
Hawks doesn’t give Aoyama time to recollect himself. “Are you scared you’ll be killed?”
Aoyama looks wildly at the three of them surrounding him, his voice climbing up in desperation. “Please, don’t do this. I didn’t do anything.”
“You’re lying,” Sahara says, and Aoyama’s lower lip wobbles.
Fumikage hates this, but he keeps going. Aoyama is scared of getting killed, but it still doesn’t quite fit right, because Aoyama wants to be a hero, and his flamboyant nature aside, he’s aware that hero work isn’t all shining glory. He’s aware that it can make you bleed and hurt and die, but he still wants to be one. Death doesn’t drive him this desperately. The only option left that Fumikage can think of is—
“Your parents,” Fumikage guesses on a wild hunch, and Aoyama makes a sound like a wounded animal. Aoyama loves his parents, so much so that he calls them every night and he says that he wants to be a great hero that his parents can be proud of. “Somebody’s threatening to kill your parents.”
“No, please, stop.” Aoyama is crying now. “Please.”
“We can protect them,” Hawks starts, but Aoyama shakes his head.
“No, he’ll find out. He knows when we lie. If he asks me if anybody found out, he’ll know when I’m telling the truth or not.” He looks at Sahara with something akin to despair. “Like you can. And if we go to the police, he’ll kill us. He’s killed others. Nobody can stop him.”
There’s a villain who has Aoyama at his mercy. Aoyama is being forced to do the villain’s bidding. Aoyama is lying about the USJ incident, where a number of villains invaded.
“Aoyama,” Hawks says slowly, “did you help the villains get into USJ?”
With a whimper, Aoyama curls up into himself.
“What else did he make you do?” Hawks says. Blaming Aoyama is a waste of time, which they’re running out of. “What else is he going to make you do?”
“I don’t know,” Aoyama sobs. “I don’t know, I don’t know, please, I don’t want my parents to die.”
For a few precious seconds, there’s silence and just the sound of Aoyama weeping. Then, as if he’s made a decision, Hawks nods at Sahara, who nods back.
“Okay, look, if this big shot villain can tell when you’re lying, will he know if you forget this conversation ever happened?” Hawks asks.
Aoyama hiccups and lifts his head. “Forget?”
“I lied,” Sahara says quickly. “My quirk isn’t lie detection; it’s memory-wiping. When I introduce myself to somebody for the first time and state three objective facts about myself, they’ll forget everything that happened in the first ten minutes since meeting me.”
Aoyama stares at her.
“We have seven minutes left,” Hawks says. “Aoyama, tell us everything. And I give you my word that he’ll never find out about what you said and that we’ll do our best to protect you.”
For a moment, Aoyama wavers. Fumikage puts a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it when Aoyama flinches. “I know you’re scared, but this is your chance to stop fighting alone. You won’t remember it, but if you talk right now, we’ll be able to help you. Aoyama, let us help you.”
Aoyama hesitates, and Fumikage can’t help but glance at the timer. Six minutes and nineteen seconds left.
Then, Aoyama straightens up. Even when his eyes are red-rimmed and his face is tearstained, his determination shines through. He clears his throat. “He’s called All For One.”
-
“Oh,” Aoyama says, blinking. “I’m sorry. I must’ve been daydreaming. What were you saying?”
“That you just need to fill these parts out,” Hawks says with a smile. It looks real enough to fool most people, but Fumikage knows him better than that. “Boring, right? Half of hero work is paperwork.”
They help Aoyama fill out his forms, then send him off to his quarters again so that he can write his internship report for school in peace.
Once Aoyama leaves the office, Hawks locks the door and Sahara pops up from where she’d dived under his desk right as the timer hit zero. All three of them just stare at each other for a long moment.
“Holy shit,” Hawks finally says. “I wasn’t expecting anything this big.”
“That poor kid,” Sahara says in a faint voice.
“What do we do now?” Fumikage asks. They’ve made promises to Aoyama that they must keep at all costs, but the stakes are high. To protect Aoyama and foil All For One’s designs upon All Might at the same time will be difficult.
“I have an idea.” Hawks looks at Fumikage and grins, crooked and cutting, his anger on Aoyama’s behalf crackling in his golden eyes. “How do you feel about adopting some underclassmen, Fumikage?”