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Ground Beta was quiet at night, too quiet for the cityscape it was pretending to be. A place like this would be bustling with activity, especially in a city like Mustafu. Unfortunately for Katsuki Bakugou, the only sound to accompany him were the crickets, and his own sparking palms. It’s true that Katsuki has never had a very tight lid on his emotions, but even he’s surprised about how pissy he’s been lately, he’s been so jumpy that it cost his ass at the provisional licensing exam, all the rest of his classmates got a provisional hero license, all of them except him. Or well, him and one other. Speaking of that two-toned bastard…
“Oi, Icy-Hot! Are you just gonna stand back there like a creep all fucking night?!”
Shoto Todoroki hummed quietly, and it was the sheer impassiveness of the noise that set-off Katsuki further. The Blond-haired boy glared at the son of Endeavor, even as he stood next to Katsuki, examining the false-city.
“You’re a real bastard, you know that?”
Shoto raised an eyebrow at the explosive-teen, somehow both emotionless and sarcastic at the same time.
“I can assure you, despite my father’s faults, I was not born out of wedlock.”
Katsuki growls deeply, his palms sparking even more dangerously now, Shoto’s eyebrows raise again, but the explosive-teen could feel how the temperature was beginning to fluctuate, as the recommendation student activates his own quirk slowly in advance.
“...what exactly did you bring me out here for, Bakugou?”
There has never been a moment where Katsuki has wanted to punch someone more in his life. Never . But somehow, through some godforsaken way, he restrains himself, the firecracker-pops in his hands dying down, making Todoroki back down as well, the temperature returning to normal.
“...Why did you come?”
Shoto tilted his head in confusion, and Katsuki huffed
“To rescue me, you colgate-looking motherfucker, I get everyone else’s motives, but not yours. Shitty-Hair and Raccoon Eyes are my fuckin friends or whatever, so of course they’d jump at the chance, and Bird-Brain must’ve fuckin felt bad that he got out and I got nabbed, so he joined too. Even four-eyes joining to play babysitter lines up, but not you.”
Katsuki glares at the dual-toned boy. There’s been something off about Shouto Todoroki as long as Katsuki has known him, it’s no secret neither boy has exactly seen eye to eye, so that’s why Katsuki is so suspicious.
“You had everything to lose, but nothing to gain. So tell me, Half N Half, why’d you do it?”
Shoto nodded his head, making a slight ‘ohhh’ noise, as he understood, before he shrugged at the blond-haired boy, making him narrow his eyes.
“I didn’t do it for you.”
Katsuki huffed, crossing his arms
“Then why? And no bullshit, asshole.”
Shoto huffs, seemingly for the first time in-front of Katsuki looking conflicted, before finally shrugging again.
“I did it for my brother.”
Katsuki stilled, feeling a ping of something in the back of his head, of a suspicion he’s been holding since he got back from being kidnapped.
“What? Did the League attack the Todoroki’s before or someshit? Out for revenge, Icy-Hot?”
This time, Shoto had the nerve to chuckle, shaking his head.
“My brother lived in the area, and nobody told him that Endeavor would be in town. I went there to warn him. And yeah, help them rescue you. I never got to see him, but…he made it out OK.”
Katsuki kept his eyes narrowed, a brother, huh? Maybe Shoto was telling the truth, maybe it was a coincidence…but maybe not, and if it’s not he can’t just fight him, as much as he hates to say it, that’d probably end badly for both of them, he needs to get more info, so he decides to play along.
“And i’m damn peachy too, you fucking twat”
That damn smirk again. How could one motherfucker have such a punchable face, and not even have green hair?
“Clearly you’re not, or you wouldn’t have dragged me out here to complain.”
Now, the Blond-Haired boy knew it was bait, but by god did he want to bite it. He didn’t, so instead, he decided to dig further.
“What do you mean ‘warn him about Endeavor being in-town’ anyway? Is Endeavor just as much of a cunt at home as he is out on the field?”
Shoto hums, frowning softly, before shrugging
“He’s been…different since All Might retired, but…yeah. My brother, he…moved out awhile ago, cut contact with everyone. I just recently found him again, i’ve been trying to convince him to see the rest of my siblings, or visiting-”
The boy cuts himself off, looking away suddenly, before speaking up again, voice tighter than before.
“...it’s been slow, but I've been working on it. Either way, seeing our old man wouldn’t do him any good, so I wanted to make sure they didn’t run into each other.”
“And since you were in the area, you decided to help save my sorry ass.”
Shoto smirked again, nodding
“Something like that.”
The duo was quiet for a long moment, neither knowing what to say, or what to do. Katsuki really didn’t wanna trust him, but…unfortunately, this is the most emotion Katsuki has seen out of the dual-toned bastard, and he sounds genuine. If Katsuki’s right, then…maybe there’s more to Shouto Todoroki than he’s considered. Katsuki huffs, staring off into the distance, before finally spitting it out.
“It’s my fault, you know. All Might’s retirement.”
Shoto looks over at him, raising an eyebrow
“That’s…not necessarily true.”
Katsuki growled, glaring at the two-toned boy
“He fought that asshole villain because I was weak, because I got kidnapped, If I never got kidnapped…”
“All Might would’ve still fought that guy, and he would’ve still retired afterward.”
Katsuki doesn’t look Shoto’s way, even as the dual-toned boy presses the matter.
“It’s the truth, Bakugou. You felt that guy’s presence, right? He was the guy pulling the strings for The League of Villains. And even if that guy never existed, if you never got kidnapped, you wanna know what?”
“What?”
“All Might is 59, Bakugou. Old Pro-Heroes like him and Gran Torino are not the norm. Even without the Injury, he was in the twilight of his career, we all just didn’t notice because…”
“Because it’s All Might."
“...Yeah.”
The duo sat in silence for another moment, both of them considering things. Soon enough, they heard footsteps approaching them. Katsuki turned, a scowl on his face, when both boys froze, upon seeing who it was. The man once known as All Might, Yagi Toshinori. The skeletal man smiled at the two of them, waving slightly
“Hello, Boys! Aizawa sent me out here to check up on you, making sure you weren’t getting into trouble. He knows you both have a…combustible relationship, but I'm glad to see you both are being civil!”
Katsuki raised an eyebrow at the former Number One hero, unimpressed.
“Really, Old Man, ‘Combustible’?”
All Might’s eyes widened, surprised.
“Oh, shit, I didn't catch that pun.”
Katsuki pinches the bridge of his nose, before beginning to walk toward All Might. He thinks to tell All Might what he’s thinking about Shoto for a moment, before huffing and shaking his head, whatever Shoto Todoroki’s deal is, it’s not his problem.
“Alright, I’m done here. Half N Half, next time we fight I'm kicking your ass, and All Might, just cause you’re retired doesn’t mean I'm not surpassing you.”
Shoto gave the Blond-haired boy an emotionless shrug, making Katsuki growl slightly. Before he could pass, though, Yagi placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. Bakugou didn’t turn to look at his mentor, even as he began to speak.
“Young Bakugou…what Young Todoroki said holds merit. I’m not getting any younger, that’s why I became a teacher, to help guide the next generation of heroes forward. And, as for the leader of the League of Villains…We were destined to fight again. I feel quite lucky, if I'm being honest with both you boys, I didn’t know if I was going to survive that fight or not. Either way, you cannot hold yourself accountable, you were the victim.”
Bakugou snarled, putting his hands in his pockets, before shrugging All Might’s hand off of him.
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better? Yeah, maybe you were gonna retire sooner rather than later, and yeah, maybe fighting that faceless bastard was inevitable, but I’m Katsuki Fuckin’ Bakugou, I should never be anyone's fuckin victim. My fuck-up caused the timeline to speed-up. No matter what anyone says, no matter how you frame it, my weakness got All Might retired.”
Yagi shook his head vigorously, even as Katsuki twisted away, and began to walk back to the dorms, away from both of them, when a voice rang out, one that stopped Katsuki in his tracks.
“I’d listen to him, Kacchan! Being the Number One Hero for so long means he knows this type of stuff better than you do.”
All three of them turned, looking back down at the faux-street, as a figure seemingly appeared from the shadows. The boy was wearing a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and black slacks, his mossy-green hair was tied in a loose bun, and he was wearing his signature red-sneakers. Izuku Midoriya smirked at the three of them, moving over to a fake car and sitting down on the hood.
“Plus, you keep focusing on what we lost in Kamino, when really, I think it’d be more appropriate to talk about what we gained.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Things rapidly escalated following Izuku Midoriya’s entrance. Bakuogu stood stock-still in his spot, his eyes widening in shock upon seeing the green-haired boy. That shock quickly turned into rage, as the mostly calm firecracker pops of his explosive palms escalated into full-scale explosions, he twisted around, launching himself into the air, aiming an explosive palm at the mysterious vigilante. Shoto watched as All Might tried in vain to stop him, but the boy had already flown past him at mach-speeds.
“DEKU!!!"
The green-haired boy merely raised an eyebrow, deftly stepping to the side, avoiding the flying punch easily, Katsuki rolled along the concrete, but jumped up, his fists still sparking, when suddenly they stopped. Katsuki blinked in surprise. Shoto thought for a moment that Izuku had activated the version of Erasure he’s demonstrated himself capable of, before the dual-toned boy realized the vigilante was only staring at Katsuki, so why was his quirk being erased too…?
“Don’t worry about that, Boys, just a little insurance while we talk. As it turns out, Zoom and Erasure meld pretty well together!”
Shoto frowned, ah yeah, he can give his companions quirks too. The dual-toned boy scanned the rooftops, looking for a sniper-scope somewhere, when Izuku spoke up again.
“You know, it’s a wonderful coincidence that you’re here too, Shoto! I was initially under the impression that I'd only find Kacchani out here tonight, but being able to talk with you both seemed like a worthwhile endeavor, mind the pun, so I'm glad I could get it done in one night.”
Shoto narrowed his eyes, even as Izuku ducked a wild haymaker from Katsuki, the boy seemingly didn’t care that his quirk was erased, he was in a rage. The boy sighed, picking up Katsuki by the ankle and holding him aloft in the air.
“We’re trying to have a conversation here, Kacchan.”
The Blond boy was all vitriol and mania, swinging wildly and frantically, not afraid to get dropped on his head.
“I don’t fucking care what you’re trying to do, you Shitty Deku! I’m gonna beat your ass, then your fucking harem, and then you dumbasses will go to jail and stop fucking up my life!”
Izuku’s eyes narrowed, tilting his head
“I’m pretty sure all i’ve done is save your life, as apposed to ‘fucking it up’.”
“I didn’t fucking ask for it! Nobody asked for your stupid Vigilante bullshit! All you’ve done is make things more complicated for everyone! ”
Izuku shrugged, smirking
“Maybe you didn’t, but I didn’t start the Future of Japan for you. You have no idea why I've started doing any of this, Katsuki, you have absolutely no details whatsoever, which is what I'm trying to talk to you about.”
Finally, Shoto spoke up, getting both boys' attention.
“Whether or not your reasons are valid won’t convince either of us to join your cause. You may be doing it for the right reasons, but you’re still breaking the law.”
Izuku’s smirk widened, as he tilted his head toward Shoto
“And what if I said the laws are bullshit, and need to be broken to be fixed?”
“I’d say the laws do need to be fixed, but your ends don’t justify your means.”
The green-haired Vigilante smirked, nodding his head, the hand that wasn’t holding Katsuki aloft stroked his chin.
“That’s a stronger moral high-ground than I thought you’d take, Shoto.”
“Just because I hate my father doesn’t mean I want his head paraded on a spike throughout downtown Tokyo. I’m no fool, Izuku Midoriya, the type of societal upheaval you’re vying for will cause anarchy.”
Izuku’s smirk grew, and suddenly Shoto’s skin grew clammy
“Not if we do it right, but I was simply surprised because I didn't expect you to be such a hypocrite.”
Now both Katsuki and All Might were looking at him, Bakugou was giving him a look, a suspicious look, and the retired Pro-Hero has been disturbingly quiet since the vigilante’s appearance. Shoto really hopes he has a plan, since now the dual-toned boy is on the backfoot.
“I-I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Izuku chuckled softly, Shoto could almost feel the boy walking on his grave.
“I mean, if it’s wrong of me to form a group of vigilantes who, for the most part, have acted almost identically to how a standard Underground Hero Agency would operate, then surely it’s wrong to be in constant contact with a member of the League of Villains of all things.”
You could hear a pin drop. Katsuki slowly wheeled over to glare at Shoto, his face murderously calm.
“You’re Brother, huh?”
Shoto looked at Katsuki, wide-eyed, before shrugging
“Would it help if I said he’s actually my brother?”
The Blond-Bombers attempts at escaping Izuku’s hold tripled, and the green-haired boy sighed, pressing on what must be an earpiece.
“Hey, Mei, yeah I told them I knew about Touya, Kacchan’s pretty pissed, I’m gonna need to restrain him with some of my other quirks, drop Erasure for me?”
Shoto didn’t hear the confirmation, but he did feel his Quirk return to him, as well as see the sparks ignite in Katsuki’s palms. Before the green-haired boy could do anything, Katsuki thrust both his palms in Izuku’s face, detonating them. The green-haired vigilante dodged them deftly, but was forced to let go of the boy’s ankle. Katsuki twisted around and landed on his feet, charging toward Shoto.
“I FUCKING KNEW IT, I’M GONNA KILL YOU YOU DUAL-TONED BASTARD-”
Before Shoto could activate his own quirk to protect himself, a second Blonde blur blitzed from behind him, tackling Katsuki to the ground. Within moments, a blade was drawn, and a thin line was cut along Bakugou’s cheek, the female figure, who Shoto recognized as Himiko Toga, flipped off Katsuki’s chest before the boy could attack her, and licked the knife she cut him with, causing the explosive boy to flop boneless on the ground, paralyzed. Izuku dusted himself off, giving the Blonde-haired girl an exasperated look.
“I could’ve handled that, you know.”
Himiko stuck her tongue out at the Green-Haired boy, before slipping into his shadow, disappearing from view. Izuku shook his head and sighed, before manhandling the explosive blond boy. The green-haired vigilante formed a cone made of concrete, placing the paralyzed boy in it, before trapping him inside up to his shoulders.
“Alright, now that that’s settled, while Bloodcurdle is keeping Kacchan…quiet, I really wanna talk about when and why your brother first started talking to you, Shouto, it’s the one detail that’s been eluding me.”
Shoto looked between Izuku, then back at All Might, before finally sighing. The cat’s already out of the bag, right?
“I…he contacted me shortly after the Sports Festival. I…All Might, you remember how before then, I only used my Ice, and that was how I lost my fight against Bakugou?”
Yagi finally spoke up, after remaining quiet for so long
“I…yes, a number of us were honestly worried about you, Young Todoroki. We assumed you had a conversation with your father about it, worked out the differences between you two? I assume…that’s not what happened?”
Shoto chuckled darkly, shaking his head
“No, My old man was pissed, and even then, after all that, I didn't budge. It was after… training, when I limped up to my bedroom, that I met him.”
Izuku’s eyes narrowed, his brain seemingly working overtime
“Dabi.”
Shoto shook his head firmly, frowning.
“He only took that name to pose with the League, All Might, Bakugou, I Promise. No matter what he’s doing, he’s a double agent! H-he may still hate my dad, but…he found me because he realized he wasn’t the only victim to my dad’s wonderful parenting. He convinced me to start using my fire, and… yeah, we’ve been talking.”
The green-haired boy hummed, thinking to himself deeply, and Shoto narrowed his eyes, giving the boy a suspicious look.
“But…you knew all that, didn’t you? Maybe not that I’ve been talking to him, but you knew Touya was Dabi, and that I had problems with my fire, you said so back at The Summer Camp. how?"
Izuku hums, tapping his chin, before chuckling
“How about this? I’ll tell you more, but only after you get your provisional license.”
Shoto shook his head and scowled, not satisfied at all, but Izuku was ignoring him now, he turned toward All Might
“Dabi wasn’t the opening I expected, but we’ll roll with it. We need to begin in earnest poking into the Todoroki family, if what Shoto is saying is true, and Touya’s motivations have evolved past simple revenge, then we need to get him a family he’ll be willing to come back to, one free of Endeavor. Nedzu, I trust you can assist with that?”
Shoto’s eyes widened, and he whirled around, suddenly remembering the multitude of cameras located throughout the training grounds, he assumed the FoJ had them deactivated…? The comms suddenly came to life, their chimera-Principal speaking through them.
“We can begin building up a legal-case, especially once we get their mother out of the hospital Endeavor had her placed in. you do realize once Endeavor realizes what’s going on, any goodwill he’s built up to you all, as minute as it is, will be ash, yes?”
Izuku smirked, shrugging his shoulders.
“Let Enji mope, I'd rather do this than another Dabi’s Dance."
Shoto was…flabbergasted, he looked at All Might, expecting surprise, but the retired pro-hero’s expression was instead stern, if a little exasperated. Finally, Bakugou spoke up, seemingly getting his faculties
“Gah- What the fuck is going on here?!”
Izuku smiled broadly, snapping a finger, as a large Warp-Gate opened, several figures walking through, figures Shoto recognizes as all the members of the Future of Japan. Himiko Toga was cleaning the blade she used to cut Katsuki with a rag, and was standing next to Mei Hatsume, who had a sniper rifle slung over her shoulder, both of them were wearing their gear, but everyone else? Ochako Uraraka, Melissa Shield, Momo Yaoyorozu, Itsuka Kendo, even his two former classmates Kyoka Jirou and Tsuyu Asui, they were all in civilian clothing, just like Izuku.
“This is what I initially wanted to talk to you both about, and then eventually the entire first year hero course. U.A. and The Future of Japan have made an alliance!”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The amphitheater is… quiet, which is typical, Izuku muses, all these students are more or less house-trained, and they’re expecting a serious conversation about the future of their studies, lead by Nedzu and their homeroom teachers, even the jokesters were quiet. Back during his first go about, Izuku didn’t see much of this room, Aizawa never took them to it during the beginning of the year, and there was never a need for it afterwards. Now though…this type of news can’t just be broken in the dorms. Izuku gave a sideways glance toward Hatsume, who was working on her laptop.
“Everything peachy, Haywire?”
The pink-haired girl raised an eyebrow at Izuku, before nodding
“Is it really necessary to use Codenames here, Boss? They know all our names by now, and plus, this isn’t a mission, well, not a normal one anyway.”
Izuku chuckled, patting the sitting girl on the head lightly, making her lean into his touch
“Maybe I'm just feeling sentimental?”
“If you wanna get sentimental, use my name, Izuku."
Izuku snorted, rolling his eyes
“If I wanted to get really sentimental, I'd start using nicknames from my original timeline, like Meiday, or Meihem.”
The pink-haired hacker cackled, throwing her head back
“Ohoho, I like those! Do I have any good nicknames for you from back then, Greenie?”
Izuku smiles fondly, nodding.
“10 Million. I won the Obstacle Course during the Sports Festival, and the winner got a headband worth 10 Million points in the following calvary battle, you sought me out cause you figured the guy with the most points would get you the most eyes on all your babies, and we got along like a house fire.”
Mei chuckles, typing in a few more lines of code, before stretching, sighing with pleasure.
“Yeah, that sounds about right, i think i’ll stick to Izuku, do please call me any of those Mei puns, though, they’re hilarious."
“If you insist, DisMei."
The pink-haired girl snickered, closing her laptop, hopping to her feet and lightly brushing her lips to Izuku’s
“Well, the ‘Zone of Silence’ you requested is all done! With Nedzu lending us access to their servers, we’ll be able to chat with the students in peace.”
Izuku nodded, his enhanced senses were able to pick up the nervous chatter of the students, along with the shuffling footsteps of Eraserhead. Izuku turned to greet the Underground Hero, who only looked begrudgingly annoyed that Izuku heard him coming.
“Is everything all set, Haywire?”
Mei presses the palm of her hand to her forehead, nodding in remembrance
“Oh yeaaah, that’s why we’re using codenames, cause that’s what the teachers here call us!”
Izuku smirked, looking over at the shorter girl
“We could still use our own names with each other, but only answer to our codenames from them.”
Izuku could practically feel the annoyance drifting off Eraserhead in waves.
“Please for the love of god just tell me if you’re done or not, Problem Children.”
Izuku snorts, as Hatsume nods
“Yep! We’ll be grouping up with the rest of ours in a moment, while you warm the kids up!”
“This isn’t a comedy club, Kid.”
Izuku smirked, his eyes lighting up with mischief
“Of course it isn’t, if it was we’d have called in Ms. Joke.”
The Underground hero pinched the bridge of his nose, and closed his eyes, shaking his head in exasperation.
“Time Travelling boy-savior or not, I will hogtie you. Just…go do whatever you need to do before I develop a migraine.”
Izuku snickered, and mock-saluted the man who was once his homeroom teacher, walking into a room that usually houses U.A. 's Marching Band, instead it’s been turned into a Mobile H.Q. by the Future of Japan. Most of the girls were lounging about, Melissa was typing on a laptop of her own, sitting in a lovechair, and Mei squeezed next to her, pulling out her own laptop and continuing her own work, but that’s par for the course. Being a support tech was a thankless job, Izuku muses. He really ought to get these two something nice, Melissa wouldn’t mind something classical like a bouquet for her lab, but maybe Mei would prefer a new toolbox? Izuku shook his head, storing those ideas for later, when he spotted Kyoka, Tsuyu, and Itsuka sitting on a couch together, looking rather perturbed. The green-haired boy smiled, and walked up to the trio.
“Hey you three, feeling nervous?”
Tsuyu cleared her throat, gathering her wits.
“Y-Yeah, i’m not gonna speak for Kyoka or Itsuka but confronting my former classmates is…nerve-wracking, Ribbit”
Itsuka chuckled, nodding, rubbing the back of her head nervously.
“I…Yeah, I don’t know about Class 1-A, but 1-B was pretty close-knit, I'm afraid of how they’ll react. Plus, since I left I fear there’s been nobody around to keep Monoma in check…”
Izuku chuckled, pulling up a chair and sitting down in-front of them.
“Shit, yeah, you haven’t been around to smack him upside the head, huh? His ego has been left unchecked for awhile now, hasn’t it?”
Itsuka and Tsuyu Giggled, their nervousness forgotten for a moment, Izuku moved his gaze toward Kyoka. The purple-haired punk girl was hunched in on herself, her earlobe jacks were taut, like cobra’s ready to strike.
“Hey, Kyo, how’re you doing?”
“...not good.”
Izuku hummed, scooting closer to her, the green-haired boy placed a gentle hand on the punk-rock girl's shoulder. Kyoka tensed for a moment, before relaxing. Izuku’s hand drifted from her shoulder, up her neck, to her cheek. His thumb gently massaged behind the purple-haired girl's ear, making her hum in appreciation, finally Kyoka looked up and met his gaze, blushing lightly. Izuku smirked, continuing his ministrations.
“Feeling better?”
Kyoka hums and nods, not moving away.
“Hmmm, I guess, I just don’t know what I'd do if they hated me. In their eyes, I’m a traitor, a villain, you know?”
Izuku smirked, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to the purple-haired girl's forehead, making her blush even worse.
“We’ll sway them. Plus, anyone whose opinions matter knows that you could never be villainous. We all know the HPSC’s rankings are bullshit, just last week the HPSC announced that I’m officially an S-Rank, can you believe that?”
Himiko snorted, she had her feet kicked up on a table, pushing herself back and forth in a desk-chair
“I call bullshit on that, by the way, that you’re the only S-Rank here.”
Izuku smirked, tilting his head toward the vampiric girl
“You do realize none of us fall below a B-rank? That technically makes us the most dangerous ‘Villain’ Organization in nearly 50 years.”
Himiko threw up her arms, nodding emphatically
“Exactly, it’s bullshit! Ochako or Momo at the very least should be S-Rank too.”
The last two girls in question were playing Double Solitaire, Izuku isn’t exactly sure who was winning, but they abandoned their game to join the conversation, Ochako blushed slightly, shrugging.
“I mean, I’m pretty combat-oriented, yeah, but Momo’s Kit is far more adaptable than mine, she’s probably S-rank.”
Momo smiled, shaking her head, much to Ochako’s conclusion
“The HPSC ranks villains far more shallowly than you may think, Darling. While it is true your Kit is more straightforward, you are also our second most powerful fighter. If anyone deserves a bump in their ranking, it’s you. Oh! And also I win.”
Ochako’s eyes widen, and she looks down at the table, seeing that Momo had in-fact won their game. The brown-haired girl huffed, pouting at the dark-haired girl.
“Best 9 out of 10!”
Momo chuckled softly, taking her cards and shuffling them up again. Izuku moved over to their table, even as the duo began another game.
“I was actually meaning to speak with you, Momo, how’s the latest Quirk settling in your Kit? I had to really modify it, but I think it’ll suit you well.”
Momo smirked, her back flexing involuntarily at the thought of the Quirk Izuku gave her. She's been practicing with it a lot, but the green-haired boy knows she’ll master it soon enough. Ochako leaned back in her chair, smirking up at the green-haired boy.
“Do you think you’ll ever stop giving us Quirks, ‘Zuku?”
Izuku hums, placing a hand on his cheek as he contemplates the question.
“Well, you guys always have a say in this, if you guys don’t want any quirks, or if somethings not sitting right, please do tell me.”
Himiko chuckled, kicking back against the table so she could roll up next to the trio, stopping just short of bumping into Momo and Ochako’s table
“‘Ku, I don't think there's ever gonna be a time we don’t want a gift from you. I think she means more ‘do you think you’ll ever stop adding to our Kits.’ like, we gotta be perfect by now, right?”
Izuku snorts, looking over at Mei.
“Hey Mei, what do you say of Perfection?”
“It’s the enemy of Innovation!”
Izuku smirked, looking back at Himiko
“Well, there you have it.”
Himiko rolls her eyes and snorts, But Izuku hums to himself, still contemplating.
“I mean, even if we ignore your Kit, there’s a couple general quirks that I've been tossing around in my head about giving to all of you, like Life Force. Like, should we even use that Quirk?”
Momo looks up from the card game, tilting her head at the question.
“We all have enough Enhancers that we wouldn’t feel the negative side-effects, right?”
Izuku hums and nods, shrugging his shoulders
“Well yeah, I suppose I'm just thinking of the morality of it. With quirks like Life Force or even Rewind, we’d functionally be immortal, and then what? Rule over Japan? It just seems like something All For One would do.”
Momo stood up from her seat, standing in-front of Izuku, wrapping her arms around Izuku’s neck, and giving him a soft kiss on the lips.
“Izuku Midoriya, no matter what we do, there will never be a time you could ever be like All for One, do you understand? We aren’t at that point on deciding if we seriously wanna use any of your age-extension quirks like that yet, any decision like that we’ll make together, and I have no doubt, no matter how much time passes, you’ll still be a hero, OK?”
Izuku hummed and nodded, smirking slightly
“Yes Ma’am.”
Izuku wrapped his arms around the dark-haired girl, pulling her in for a hug, and soon enough everyone was jumping in, forming a giant group-hug. The entire group of teens laughed, before Mei spoke up
“Honestly Izuku, i think the only legitimate issue we’d have to worry about is having so many kids, we mess up the gene pool.”
That sentence took a moment to process, but everyone either began to blush or cackle, Izuku burying his face in the crook of Momo’s neck to hide his fierce blush. Soon enough the hug broke off, and the green-haired boy shook his head
“Alright, ladies! We’re gonna be needed on stage soon, let’s get our game faces on, yeah? I’ll be stepping in first, but after that, we’ll all be hitting the stage. I want the students to understand that we’re allies in all of this, we’re also still looking for recruits, Kyoka, Tsuyu, Kendo, I trust you three to be able to handle that. let’s try not to let the teachers know about it, though, lord knows Nedzu is tired of us poaching talent.”
The girls around him gave their confirmation, and Izuku smirked, stretching his arms and cracking his knuckles
“Well then? Let’s go give these hero-students a show!”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Aizawa hated being in the spotlight like this. He’s never been a fan of it, Tensei, Nemuri, and Hizashi can hog it for all he cares, he’ll stick to the shadows. As of late, however, Aizawa, and all of U.A., have been the center of attention for all the wrong reasons. It was only a few weeks ago that he and Kan were sitting in-front of bloodthirsty reporters, publically kissing ass and defending the integrity of both their students, and their school. And then afterwards, he and All Might…Yagi, were visiting parents to kiss their asses, and beg them to allow their students to move into the Dorms U.A. were establishing. And now, he needs to have a conversation with his students about their future as Hero Students, and Heroic Society in-general. The dark-haired underground hero feels a hand on his shoulder, and looks behind him, finding his Husband giving him a comforting look.
“Getting ready to warm-up the listeners for our guests?”
Aizawa nodded, humming softly, before speaking
“Do…do you think we’re doing the right thing, ‘Zashi?”
Hizashi let out a breath, his gaze going distant.
“The world is changing, Shota. In ways neither of us could’ve predicted. I think our students need us to prepare them for that brave new world, and, whether they wanna admit it or not, I think these vigilante kids need us too. Working with them was always the plan, right?”
Aizawa rolls his eyes and grumbles
“No, the plan was to establish student housing earlier, and bring them all in as students, so we could protect them from the Commission and their parents.”
The Voice hero smirks, patting the dark-haired man on the shoulder
“That card isn’t exactly off the table yet, Eraser. We just have to be patient.”
Aizawa let out a sigh, and nodded, before turning back toward the curtain.
“Let’s get this over with, Yeah?”
Hizashi smirked, and gave the Erasure hero a thumbs-up
“Knock ‘em dead, Eraser!”
Eraser groaned, before stepping through the curtain, and making his way to the podium. Any quiet small-talk going on was quickly silenced. Shota cleared his throat, before speaking into the microphone.
“I know those of you in Class 1B aren’t as well acquainted with me as those in Class 1A, but it shouldn’t be hard to tell that I’m not one for motivational speeches.”
A murmured snicker ran through the crowd of students, Aizawa looked down at his own class, he’s never had a full roster before, but to see so many empty chairs compared to Class 1-B, who themselves lost a member as well, it didn’t sit right with him. He pushed those feelings aside, now wasn’t the time to feel sorry for himself.
“No, I'm not good at public-speaking. What I am good at, though, is giving people the hard truth. And the hard truth right now, students, is that heroic society is changing. Never before has society's confidence in heroes been so thoroughly shaken.”
Aizawa took a deep breath, before exhaling slowly, centering himself.
“Soon enough, some of you will be heading to Work-Studies to gain real-life experience under seasoned Pro-Heroes, what that means though, is that you all will be at the forefront of that change. Villainy is more rampant than ever, civilians are losing faith in us, they’re getting angry, getting scared. Just two years ago it would’ve been unheard of, laughable even, to imagine a child flinching at the sight of a hero, but two years ago, All Might was still the Number 1 Hero.”
You could hear a pin drop. The mood in the auditorium was deadly serious. Aizawa sighed again, rubbing his eyes even though he knew he really shouldn’t.
“I can’t guarantee what happens next, we’re all walking into uncharted territory, what I can guarantee is that no matter what happens, you will always be safe here. Every single teacher here’s goal is to not just prepare you for the uncertain future we’re walking toward, but to protect you as well. You will always have a home here, I did.”
Aizawa let out one more deep breath, before nodding,
“And with that being said, this next announcement is going to shock a majority of you. As I said before, Hero Society is changing, evolving. So we’re evolving with it. As of yesterday morning, Principal Nedzu has fostered a deal with a rather…controversial group of Vigilantes. A majority of you aren’t studying for Underground Heroics, but this act in itself isn’t strange, it’s an unspoken understanding that the Underground Scene for heroics is held together by both Underground Heroes and Vigilantes. They’re intertwined, inseparable. What is strange, however, is how much attention this group has gotten themselves. Students, meet Izuku Midoriya.”
A few feet above Aizawa’s head, a black portal began to swirl, much to the shock of the students present. A figure floated through it, wearing dark-green, with black highlights, they had white and red elbow length gauntlets, and knee-high red, metallic boots. The figure was wearing a black and green cloak, with the hood down, their mask was green as well, and had long, ear-like protrusions, along with a gun-metal grey respirator. There were glowing green lenses built into the mask, hiding the figures' eyes. The figure hovered over both Aizawa and the students for a moment, as the Warp Gate closed behind them, before they slowly descended, to stand next to Aizawa on stage. They tugged off their mask, revealing curly, moss-green hair, emerald green eyes. Izuku Midoriya gave the students a onceover, before smiling at them all.
“I hope I didn't startle you all. It's a pleasure to meet all of you in-person, under circumstances that don’t involve villain attacks.”
It was around that time that several projectiles flew the green-haired vigilante’s way. The majority of them came from Class 1B, but Aizawa could see strands of tape, purple balls, and waves of acid being hurled at the stage. Izuku didn’t even lift a finger, all the projectiles shot his way, from glue to acid to pointy horns, simply stopped in mid-air, halting the assault against Midoriya. Everyone watched, fascinated, as the massive grouping of quirk-based offense hovered in mid-air, before a second Warp Gate opened, and they were all telekinetically pushed through the portal. The gate closed, and Izuku gave the collection of students a wry look.
“Have you all gotten it out of your systems yet?”
Upon seeing that nobody was continuing to attempt to attack him, Izuku smiled, looking over at Aizawa and nodding.
“Thank you again, Eraser, I’ll take it from here.”
Aizawa nodded, before backing away and watching as Midoriya stood in-front of the podium.
“Now, I know you all have a… lot of questions, and we are gonna be answering those questions, but a bit of context will help us all a long way.”
The green-haired boy stepped away from the podium, standing in-front of it, his voice projected just as loudly without the mic, though.
“My name, as you all know, is Izuku Midoriya. I was born and raised in Mustafu Japan, my favorite food is Katsudon, I like long walks on the beach, and, like many people my age, like all of you, my dream was to eventually become a hero, one like All Might.”
Despite their initial distrust and hostility, Izuku had managed to captivate the group of students, with only a few words.
“Unlike all of you, however, circumstances outside of my control lead me down the path of becoming a Vigilante, of forming the FoJ. That doesn’t make me your enemy, however. I may have…lofty goals, and particular opinions about things like the HPSC, but I've always respected the students and faculty here. I’ve always been fond of heroes, even if most of them aren’t fond of me right about now.”
A small chuckle throughout the crowd, as tense as they were. Izuku let out a sigh, smiling ruefully at the students.
“I’m not asking for you all to trust me, I’m not even asking you to like me, what I am asking you is to trust your teachers, they’re risking a lot to make an alliance with us at this time, and they’re only doing it to make you all better heroes. And if not them? Trust your former classmates.”
You could hear a pin drop, the entire room was frozen, Aizawa tilted his head and crossed his arms, as Izuku’s head fell for a moment.
“Kyoka Jirou was, in all honesty, never apart of our plans in Hosu. She joined because she had no other choice. She was a hero intern, rightfully fulfilling her duty not just to the letter, but above and beyond it, in an emergency situation. And her reward? Prosecution. As for Tsuyu Asui and Itsuka Kendo, the Summer Camp Attack opened their eyes, and they decided for themselves they needed to change the way they help people. They’re still the classmates you all remember and respect, so if they trust us? Then maybe you all should trust them.”
Izuku lifted his head, giving the crowd of stunned students a blinding smile
“So Please! Take our hands and let’s all work together to protect our home! To ensure a bright future for all of Japan!”
Izuku spread his arms wide, giving the crowd one more jubilant grin. As the silence stretched, Aizawa was almost afraid it didn’t work, until he heard a familiar voice call out from the crowd.
“That was the Manliest thing i’ve ever heard in my life!”
Aizawa hid a grin behind his capture weapon, moving toward the podium as the gathered students erupted into chatter. The underground hero could tell it was still conflicted, but that just meant that they still had a chance.
“Midoriya will now be taking questions, right, Midoriya?”
Izuku whipped his head backward, giving Aizawa a megawatt grin of his own, as well as a thumbs up.
“Oh yeah! Like I said earlier, I'll be taking questions. I trust you all can ask them in an orderly manner?”
And then, as expected, the entire auditorium exploded in noise. Aizawa closed his eyes and breathed deeply. When the Erasure hero opened his eyes, they were red. Even though Class 1B hadn’t worked with him much before, they had enough common sense to shut-up when their sister class suddenly clammed up. Izuku smirked, chuckling at them, as Aizawa blinked, canceling his quirk.
“Midoriya, please get this over with.”
The green-haired vigilante smirked and nodded, before scanning the crowd and humming.
“hmmm… You!"
Izuku pointed at a particular student, Aizawa strained his eyes, and then groaned, goddammit, not this one. Monoma Neito sat up straighter, clearing his throat and smirking.
“That was a lovely speech and all, and maybe you do have the staff fooled, but you’ve yet to answer an entirely too pressing question; what is your quirk? From an outsider's perspective, it seems very similar to that fiend from Kamino, if you’re connected to him, then how could we ever trust you?”
Izuku tapped his chin, looking contemplative for a moment, before snapping his fingers
“Oh yeah! You’re Monoma, right? I met you ages ago, back during the Yaoyorozu fundraiser! Hey, sorry about the wrist, looks like it healed up nice though!”
Aizawa raises an eyebrow, even as the conceited Blond boy steams. Yeah, now that the underground hero thinks about it, that was Monoma. Izuku chuckles to himself, and stands up straighter.
“Quirks are…complicated in my case. I can’t tell you everything, simply because giving you all too much info would endanger you more than necessary. What I will tell you is this; I do in-fact possess a quirk similar to the villain from Kamino, one that allows me to interact with quirks on a biological level. I can give and take quirks, and…alter the quirks I've obtained, I'll even tell you that quirk isn’t even my first quirk. But beside that? I can’t say. Your teachers do know the full story, and again, I'm speaking with you all now. I know you don’t exactly hold me in high-regard, Monoma, but i’d like to believe you at least respect the intelligence and wisdom of your teachers and the principal to understand that if i had any ill-intent for them or the students here, they’d be attempting to arrest me like most other heroes in Japan. As for my connection to All For One…”
Izuku closed his eyes briefly, and at that moment, everyone in the auditorium, from student to teacher, froze. A wave of pure Killing Intent washed through the entire room, leaving them all frozen in abject terror, even Aizawa. The underground hero had felt Killing Intent before, but none so vitriolic as this. Izuku opened his eyes again, and they glowed a toxic green.
“In Kamino, All For One’s overarching goals were to destroy All Might, and ensure the escape of the League of Villains. For the latter goal, he wasn’t afraid of making himself a martyr, since he knew All Might wouldn’t kill him while being watched nationwide. So he wasn’t afraid of being reckless in achieving the lesser goal, ending All Might’s career. Whether it be through All Might’s death, or the public retirement all of Japan is grappling with right now, as long as All Might’s legacy was shattered, All For One was satisfied. That, of course, is where we came into play.”
Izuku smirked, he raised a hand, and clenched his fist, voice growing determined.
“All Might couldn’t kill All For One at that time, not with the entire world watching. Me, however? Well, it’s not like my reputation could get any worse. Our mission in Kamino wasn’t just to save Katsuki Bakugou, it was to assassinate All For One. ”
A hush grew over the crowd, as they all digested that information, before another student spoke up, Shoto Todoroki.
“But you failed to do that, didn’t you? All For One is in Tartarus Prison right now, not rotting in hell.”
Izuku shrugged, chuckling to himself as he tilted his head toward the dual-toned boy
“Yeah, I don't have many quirks that would permanently destroy All For One, and all of those quirks I'm not very practiced with, since I have…bad memories with them. So I had to settle for the next best thing; steal a bunch of quirks that I know he’s still peeved about losing.”
Izuku snickered, even as Aizawa pinched his nose and shook his head. Izuku sobered up quickly, standing straight.
“That doesn’t mean our mission was a total failure, though, we still saved Bakugou, and while the League did get away, I have plans for them that i’m going over with your teachers now, and as for All Might…All For One things that fight killed his legacy, that with the Symbol of Peace being no more, he’s carved out an opening for himself and other villains like him, to be kings of a brand new dark era. But, our actions at Kamino proved that evil like him will never prosper. Together, we can carry on All Might’s legacy, and all be Symbols, we’ll blot out All For One’s wickedness, and pave the way for all of Japan.”
Izuku let that declaration settle for a moment, smiling proudly, before rapidly lifting a finger and pointing at a student.
“Ok! It's your turn!”
Aizawa craned his head to see who he asked. At first he didn’t see anything, but he got it when Midoriya clarified
“Yeah, you! The Invisible Girl!”
Toru Hagakure, due to her quirks nature, made expressing herself very difficult, but it didn’t take a genius to understand that the invisible girl was pretty shocked.
“I, Um…a-are you guys gonna be students, like us? Is T-Tsuyu and Kyoka coming back?”
Izuku closed his eyes briefly, and ran a hand through his hair, before the green-haired boy did something unusual. He began floating off the stage. The boy leisurely flew through the air, before he was mere feet away from where Hagakure was sitting, Aizawa was slowly standing to his feet, unsure what was going on. The green-haired vigilante gently took hold of the invisible girl's hands, and smiled kindly to her.
“You care about them, don’t you?”
Hagakure stood stock-still, but nodded hesitantly. Aizawa’s eyes widened as he saw Izuku reach down and grasp the girl's chin, seemingly lifting up her gaze. Does he have a quirk that lets him see her?
“They’re Safe Toru, I promise.”
Mina Ashido quickly pulled Hagakure into a side-hug, as Izuku began to float back toward the stage.
“Our relationship with U.A. is a partnership, which means we’re not students. The closest relevant comparison would be to a teaching-assistant, you could say. We won’t be here everyday, we still have our own goals, but if any of you would like to talk to us, talk to your former classmates, you’re free to reach out, we’ll catch up to you, I promise.”
The boy’s feet touched the stage once more, and he smiled, looking between the students again.
“Alright, who’s next?”
Aizawa smirked, as Izuku pointed out another student and fielded their question. Maybe this partnership idea wasn’t such a bad idea after-all.