Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I know I should probably put this in the last chapter once the whole thing is finished publishing, but I’d rather say it now so you can understand what this fic means to me. So, instead of a long author’s notes section on the last chapter, have a somewhat pretentious foreword as the first chapter instead.

Fly Before You Crawl has been my passion project, my baby, my darling, since I came up with the idea in September of 2022. I had a vague idea, but it wasn’t much past ‘Izuku and Koichi swap places’ until a friend, the inimitable Baron_Esper, chimed in with some suggestions. It took off from there, and I talked about it almost constantly every day for the next couple months and beyond.

I was still in the planning process for it until November of that same year, and I didn’t write anything significant for it until mid-December when I suddenly started writing every day at work. And by the time I finished writing the first chapter, I had decided to wait until it was completed to post it. I didn’t want this to follow Those Sleepless Nights into the limbo of unfinished fics (if you’re a fan of TSN, don’t worry, it’ll come back someday, it just might be different). That didn’t end up quite the case (I still have to write the third act) but I have nearly 40 chapters written at the time of posting the first chapter, so at the very least you’ll get to see the training camp and Kamino. By the time I'm finished, this fic will likely be 60+ chapters, although I'm leaving the chapter count at 52 until I actually have an accurate chapter count.

Like I said, Fly Before You Crawl is my passion project. It might be flawed, and it might be inconsistent in quality, and it might have too many Hamilton references, and it definitely won’t be for everyone, and hell it might not get any attention aside from the people who helped me plan it out, but none of that matters, because at the end of the day I have written a story that I wanted to read. And that’s what matters.

A few notes:

1. I suggest reading this fic on your phone, as a lot of the paragraph spacing and other similar formatting was done with the much smaller screen in mind.
2. Keep Creator Style turned on!! If you turn it off it'll totally break the text messages. They don't show up too often but they do show up here and there and they don't look like much of anything without the Creator Style on.
3. Scene breaks or time skips should be indicated with three stars, center aligned. If they don't show up right on your device or if they're not center aligned let me know in the comments and I'll try to fix it.
4. POV changes are indicated with a name aligned to the right side of the screen. I did this originally to help myself keep track of whose POV I was writing, but it actually ended up as a legitimate narrative tool a couple times.
5. This won't come up until much later, but Korisato is apparently the actual official name of the city where Izuku and Katsuki grow up (and where UA is canonically located), not Musutafu. If you can show me a panel from the manga or a clip from the anime where they say that UA is located in Musutafu, I'll eat my shorts.

If you're still with me and you haven't already clicked "Next Chapter," thank you. I promise I'm almost done. But first I want to thank some people.

Thank you to LK, whose series "In the Shadow of Shimura" was an inspiration to me. I can only hope this monster of a fic makes you proud.

Thank you Cal for all the help you gave me throughout the process. You provided valuable insight and cheered me on every time I updated you on my progress.

Thank you, Logan, for your damn near constant presence throughout both the planning and writing processes. You may not have been there at the beginning, but once you did join in your constant insight and quick responses to all my questions were incredibly helpful.

Thank you to Nyan, my darling partner, for beta reading the fic and being one of my biggest cheerleaders as I worked through all the complications and editing. There’s a few scenes in this fic that were inspired by not only you but also our relationship, and I hope they make you smile when you read them. I’ll see you soon, darling.

And most of all I want to give the BIGGEST thanks to Baron, without whom this fic quite literally would not have happened. My friend, my supporter, my greatest fan. You cheered me on and gave me advice through some of the hardest writing blocks I had with this fic. I don’t think I have enough words to express my gratitude for your help. It was your input at the very start that let me take this idea from a small seed to something huge, and I will be forever grateful. I know you’re going to say something like “it was your hard work that made it possible” or whatever, but just take the compliment <3

So to you five, and to anyone else who didn't skip this, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and I hope you enjoy! I’m posting this and the first chapter at the same time (if it’s not available yet just refresh the page), and from here on out I plan on posting a new chapter every Wednesday.

Chapter Text

Izumi

Izumi Midoriya has a good life. Truly, she does, despite what the bullies in grade school said. She doesn’t have a quirk, sure, but society has enough trouble adapting to people with quirks that Izumi generally flies under the radar. She’s never struggled to get a job, since she doesn’t have a quirk to accommodate, and she’s always kept near the top of her class all throughout her school even without a quirk-given advantage. How would Fire Breath and Small Pull help with that, anyway?

Izumi thinks she has a good life, a great life, even, once she gave up on becoming a Hero for something more realistic. Naruhata has been her home since she and her mother moved here when Izumi was four, and she loves it. She’s spent the last fifteen years of her life exploring its every street and alley, getting to know the people, becoming familiar with the restaurants and shops.

She loves it enough, in fact, that when her mother moved to America, Izumi elected to stay behind. She was seventeen at the time, and had been more or less independent for two years, but her mother had still extended the offer. It was a sweet gesture, but Naruhata was part of Izumi. So she declined, got a job at a convenience store (despite her mom and dad regularly sending her money), and started taking classes at the local college. And in between that…

Well, Izumi may have given up on being a Hero years ago, but that couldn’t change her instincts. Even if she’s just skateboarding around in a respirator and a hoodie giving people directions or picking up litter or returning lost items, it still feels good to do good. So she’s Naruhata’s ‘Nice Guy’ even if nobody knows that she's a girl and likes to put up graffiti now and then.

But she’s probably gonna be late for work today; her cheap alarm clock didn’t even go off this morning. So what she doesn’t need, right at this exact moment, is some jerk with spiky turquoise hair and his two cronies trying to bully her, all because she bumped into Spike Jerk.

“Made me spill this drink I just bought. On your knees. Apologize,” growls Spike Jerk, unscrewing the cap on his soda and purposefully pouring it out on the ground to, what, have an excuse to beat on someone?

Izumi grimaces and takes a step back, shaking her head. “No way.”

“Gyahaha! Guy’s got guts,” says one of Spike Jerk’s cronies, a guy with what looks like a lizard mutation quirk, his tongue sticking out when he laughs.

“He’s got pride,” says the other, with a little flame on the top of his head, nodding his head respectfully.

Spikes jut from between Spike Jerk’s knuckles, proving Izumi’s mental nickname for him even more accurate past just his hair.

He says “I don’t care. I’m gonna make an example outta you!” and throws a right hook at her.

He couldn’t telegraph it harder if he tried.

Izumi pivots on her right foot, swinging her left around until she's perpendicular to the jerk, and lets the right hook come at her.

It flies past her face, and she grabs Spike Jerk’s arm by the wrist and elbow. She wrenches on his arm and throws him over her shoulder, sending him through the air and slamming down to the ground on his back.

The moment he hits the ground, Izumi lets go of his arm. She takes several quick steps back. Spike Jerk scrambles to his feet.

Izumi puts up her hands in surrender and tries to reason with him, “I don’t wanna fight, so let’s just leave it be, okay?”

“You won’t get away from me!” Once again, spikes jut out from his fists and he lunges at Izumi.

Running away is what she’s good at. She’s not going to beat up some jerk just cause he was mean to her. Self-defense is one thing; outright violence is another. She would almost always rather stall and wait for a Hero to show up.

This time she steps to the side, kicks a foot out to trip him, and books it out of sight once he hits the ground.

After Izumi has lost the Jerk Squad she turns back to the main road. And, just her luck, gets stopped almost immediately by a crowd covering the sidewalk and even spilling into the street.

She’s gonna be so late to work.

In for a penny, in for a pound, she thinks, and gets on her tiptoes to see above the crowd.

Oh! It’s Pop★Step, doing one of her impromptu shows. They’re risky, since she doesn’t have permission to put them on, let alone use her quirk in public, plus the outfit is a bit revealing, but it’s still always fun to watch her. And Izumi thinks her music is fantastic. It's fun and, forgive the pun, poppy. She probably shouldn't stop and watch for as long as she does, but it's hard not to.

"P-O-P! S-T-E-P!"

As far as Izumi has been able to figure, Pop★Step’s quirk lets her jump extraordinarily high and even float in the air for a moment at the height of the jump, and landing never seems to hurt her either. A good, simple quirk. She's not jealous. She's really not.

Police sirens float over the crowd's murmuring and Pop★Step’s singing, who doesn’t seem to notice.

Izumi checks her watch. Gonna be late. From the edge of the crowd, she shouts “HEY POP STEP! IT’S THE POLICE! THEY’RE ON THEIR WAY!”

“Oh! Guess I gotta wrap this up early, huh? I was just getting to the good part, too!” she says over her whatchamacallit (probably a handheld microphone, but Izumi prefers whatchamacallit) with a wink to the crowd. “Sorry to bow out early, folks, but that’s all for today! Check online for the where and when of my next show!”

Away she bounces.

Izumi looks at her watch. She’s late.

...

Was she looking at Izumi when she winked?

★★★

It’s almost the end of her shift when the Jerk Squad walks into the store. Just her luck. They don’t acknowledge her in the store but she knows they see her. They leave, and Izumi dreads the end of her shift.

Sure enough, the moment she leaves work Spike Jerk is there to shove her against a wall and put the tip of a spike under her chin.

“Like my quirk? It’s called Spike. Getting stabbed hurts real bad, y’know? Scared yet?” He taunts.

If there wasn’t the very real danger of being stabbed by this guy she would have laughed at such a lame line.

He doesn’t stab her, though, just knees her in the crotch and says “That’s for making me look like an idiot!”

She collapses to the ground.

Lizard Jerk joins Spike Jerk in literally kicking her while she’s down.

She’s not a very entertaining target, though, so the Jerk Squad get in their final kicks and leave her, curled up on the ground.

Back on her feet, Izumi groans and rifles around in her backpack. She can’t really fight back, and that throw earlier was pushing it. She’s not a Hero. While it might be self-defense, with all of her other expenses she doesn’t have the kind of spare money it would take to go through a legal case about it.

Comforting green fabric is pulled from her bag and around her shoulders. Cheap black respirator with a magenta filter to cover her face (and help with spray paint fumes if the inspiration strikes her), and hood with ‘bunny’ ears over her head, the ensemble is complete.

Time to do some good.

There’s an old pre-quirk meme that Izumi thinks fits the way she feels about being a quirkless vigilante:

It ain’t much, but it’s honest work.

★★★

Doing good feels good. And that doesn’t mean beating up criminals (since she doesn’t have the authority, skill, or strength to do that). Instead, Izumi spends her evenings skateboarding around the streets of Naruhata helping out in any boring, mundane way she can.

Giving directions to the lost, recycling cans people have carelessly discarded, returning dropped items to their owners, taking pictures for people, name any kind of mundane way to help out the community and Izumi has it covered. Without a mobility type quirk she can’t get very far, but if she sticks near the station and uses her skateboard, she can help plenty of people. And sometimes there'll be a street with nobody on it, and she can get away with putting a few pieces up; or, as she's done more than once, using her paint to cross out some anti-mutant sentiment.

Tired and thirsty but feeling good after a long evening 'patrolling', Izumi steps onto a back street in hopes of avoiding crowds. She pulls her respirator off and her hood down to take a deep breath; the night air isn’t exactly fresh, nor is it cool, but after an evening hiding behind her respirator it feels cool and refreshing. She leans against a wall in the empty street, not too far from the entrance to an alleyway that she likes to use as a shortcut home.

“All that do-gooding makes me so thirsty, I could really go for a soda…” Izumi complains to the open night air, assuming nobody would be around to hear it.

Even the noise of the city is muted, this deep into the Naruhata neighborhood, where few people go at night. And yet, a voice from ahead of her says “how about a pop?” and a hand appears in her line of vision with, as advertised, a bottle of pop.

Too grateful for the drink, Izumi grabs the bottle of Ramune and thanks the stranger without really looking. “Appreciate it…” she says, slamming the plunger to open it and draining half the soda before doing a double take that only barely avoids being a spit take, “wait, what?! Pop★Step?! What’re you doing here??”

The girl in question, leaning against the wall next to her with her hands in her pockets, smiles at Izumi, who tries not to blush (and fails). Her blush is quickly replaced with a scowl when Pop★Step says “so you’re the guy who goes around picking up trash and returning lost items and stuff? What’s your name again? Cool Guy?”

“It’s… they call me Nice Guy…” Izumi mutters bitterly. "Am I still that recognizable when I don't have the hood and the respirator?"

“Kinda. That name sucks, by the way. You’re the one who warned me about the police during my show today, right? I wanted to say thanks,” Pop★Step says with a small smile. That improves Izumi's mood at least a little bit. Then she furrows her brow.

“Have you…” Izumi casts her eyes around the street, still empty save herself and Pop★Step, while she does some mental math, “have you been tailing me?”

Pop★Step laughs, the echo only tempered by the distant sound of vehicles and people a few streets away, “yep! I saw how you got beat up by those customers while you were working at the convenience store. I’ve never seen anything so lame. ★ ” She pushes off the wall and leans toward Izumi, grinning wide.

How did she say ‘★’ out loud without saying the word ‘star’? Pushing that thought away, Izumi frowns. “I’m not a Hero, I can’t fight back against guys like that,” she explains, taking a few steps past Pop★Step, hoping to cut through that alley.

“Your dweeby hoodie, it’s not a bunny thing, is it?” Pop★Step asks, pushing off the wall to keep pace with Izumi and narrowing her eyes at her, “it’s, like, a limited edition All Might hoodie, right? And yet you suck at fighting?”

“Sure. I look up to him, cause who doesn’t, and I wanna be useful to society however I can, just like him,” a frustrated expression crosses Izumi’s face and she stops in her tracks, causing Pop★Step to stop just ahead of her. Izumi continues, still a little annoyed, “but it’s got nothing to do with violence. And my hoodie isn’t dweeby, it’s cool!”

“Sure, sure. However you can? So you know your place at least!” The smile on Pop★Step’s face is enough to let Izumi know she’s being teased. It's a keen reminder of the kinds of things her bullies used to say; it still stings a bit, even despite the distance she's gained from those days.

“You’re getting hung up on the details. But… you’re not wrong,” admits Izumi. Then, still a little pissed off, she snarks back, “knowing your place in society is important! You keep playing at being a pop idol, and the cops’ll catch you sooner or later.”

“Woah! I’m not ‘playing’ at anything! I’m the real deal!” Pop all but shouts, an angry expression on her face, “you’ll just have to keep an eye out for the police! Also, I’ll need you to usher in my fans, set up the venues, and sell some merchandise!”

“Are you pissed off or hiring me for a job?! Which is it?!”

“You can do it, Knows-His-Place Guy!”

“Don’t call me that!” Izumi nearly growls.

“Hmph! I went to all this trouble to express some gratitude. I didn’t think it’d be such a big deal, asking a ‘Nice’ Guy like you to do a little work!” Pop shouts, suddenly turning and speed-walking away down the empty street, scowling back over her shoulder at Izumi. Izumi matches it.

“I’m not your slave, and I still haven’t heard anything that feels like genuine gratitude from you either!” At this rate, a frown will be permanently etched onto Izumi’s face.

It falls away quickly, though. Izumi sees it before Pop★Step does, because Pop★Step is looking backward at Izumi when the Jerk Squad rounds the corner. Izumi’s mouth drops open, but words refuse to leave her mouth until the moment that it's too late.

Pop bumps into Spike Jerk, who grabs her by the wrist and drags her into the alley they just emerged from. He pins her against the wall with a hand, then opens her coat to show her ‘Idol’ outfit. Izumi listens as he threatens her in more ways than one, “how about we strip you down and broadcast that on the net?”

Izumi stands there frozen in fear as Pop locks eyes with her and begs without words for Izumi to save her. The bottle of Ramune Pop had given her just a couple minutes ago falls from her grip and clinks on the concrete.

Izumi’s face sets into a grim expression and she shouts, “hey, spiky boy! We’re still not done! I owe you for earlier.”

He hardly spares her a glance before turning back to Pop. Izumi doesn't even bother putting her hood up or her respirator on; she rushes forward, intent on sucker punching him, but gets grabbed by Flame Jerk and tossed to the side like it's nothing.

Spike Jerk pauses and looks back again, his face darkening. “Hey hey, we know this guy! Look who’s crashing our party! Who woulda guessed you’d be Naruhata’s little rabbit?!” Izumi barely has time to reel backward far enough that the spike coming from Spike Jerk’s foot only grazes her cheek.

Izumi yelps in pain, “shit!”

Spike Jerk stands over her, foot hovering near her head with spikes still extended. His threats suddenly evolve from nearly comedic to outright violent and insane, “that does it. You ain’t getting away with just a beating. We’re gonna crush you and that store of yours!! Then that little skank is gonna show off all her goods to the world!! After we have our way with her!! This is all happening cause you had to go and piss me off!!”

In times of disaster and villain rampages Pro Heroes always show up to save the day. But life’s troubles aren’t limited to the big stuff. There’s everyday violence, lurking. Common malice, waiting for a trigger. Sometimes, even petty street thugs can kill.

Desperate, Pop yells, “stop! Stop or I’ll scream for the police!”

Flame Jerk covers her mouth with his hand and snickers, “sure, you do that. Why not yell for a Hero instead? Try it. Say, ‘Help me, All Might!’ C’mon, give it a shot!”

All Might’s not always on call, though. And right now, despite the big trouble Izumi and Pop★Step are in… All Might won’t intervene in some back-alley brawl.

Spike Jerk cocks his fist back to impale Izumi while heavy, desperate tears pour from Pop’s eyes.

Is this really how Izumi is going to die? A failed Hero, a failed vigilante, unable to save even a single girl from some Jerks?

No way All Might would come flying down and-

CRASH

Everything stops for a moment as a body crashes into the pile of trash taking up one side of the alley.

Silence reigns, all attention refocused on the disturbance.

The pile rustles, and a figure is revealed as he shifts.

“You punks… did I hear you mention All Might? Well, he ain’t coming, but… I’m here!!” Still within the trash is a bulky, grizzled, masculine form, shorter than All Might and less muscular, but much scarier. His face is shadowed, just barely visible.

“What?!” Spike Jerk shouts incredulously, almost laughing.

“Hmph. I didn’t stick the landing, but don’t sweat it. Trash piles make for a decent cushion when you’re in a hurry. Good enough to reduce the risk of spinal injury and concussions, anyway,” the man says, finally rising.

His face is visible now; he wears a black mask covering the top half, and stubble the lower. He readjusts the mask and takes a couple steps forward.

“Huh?” Spike Jerk flicks his fingers toward the big guy dismissively, “what’s this geezer going on ab-”

Spike Jerk’s question is cut off by a fist clad in glinting knuckle dusters slamming into his face and sending him to the ground.

Izumi’s jaw drops open, same as Flame and Lizard Jerks’.

“What’s- what’s your problem?!” yelps Lizard Jerk.
“Who goes and does that!?” yells Flame Jerk.

“Who’m I? What’m I doing? Good questions. I’m Knuckleduster, and it’s my job to take out trash like you!” The vigilante, Knuckleduster, shouts. “But I’ve got a question of my own. Any of you gentlemen on drugs? Like this new one that’s really bad news? Lemme see your tongues.”

Lizard Jerk steps forward and starts to speak, “look, I dunno what you’re-”

but gets cut off by Knuckleduster’s fist slamming into his stomach. His long, lizard-like tongue shoots out. Knuckleduster grabs the tongue and examines it for a second, “hmm. No weird colors. So not you,” then lets go of it.

He turns to Flame Jerk, who still has Pop pressed against the wall with one of his arms, and takes a calm step forward. “How about you?” He asks, rhetorically. Izumi already knows how this one ends.

One punch later, Flame Jerk is on the ground with his tongue sticking out.

“Not him either… So much time and energy for a buncha dead-enders…” Knuckleduster grumbles, then turns to Izumi, “help me out, kid.”

She pauses in bewilderment.

What could she possibly help this guy with?!

“I swear I don’t do drugs! See?!” She sticks out her tongue and points to it.

“Not what I mean. You’ve got promise. And I need an assistant. So help me out on the job. I’ll make you a true blue hero.”

Izumi pauses and considers for a second.

Her life is fine. She likes being Nice Guy (even if she gets misgendered all the time) and doing boring stuff to help out around town. She doesn’t need to be a Hero, or even a hero. And… this guy is scary.

“Um, not interested! I’ll just be… leaving now?”

Izumi starts to walk away, but she’s interrupted.

Knuckleduster stands and calls her out, “liar. You respect All Might, and you make a hobby of doing good deeds. You expect me to believe you ain’t interested in hero work?”

“Well, okay, you’re right, but I don’t even have a quirk to help me-”

“Neither do I.”

Izumi stops; she turns around and faces him. And he tells her something she had long since stopped hoping to hear.

“Whaddya need a quirk for? Strong quirks? The stuff to go pro? That crap’s got nothing to do with true justice! In the heat of the moment, when it’s clear what’s gotta be done… do ya take action, or don’tcha? All you need to be a hero is the right answer to that question!” Knuckleduster strikes a dramatic pose, his back turned, his arms stretched out on either side of him, looking over his shoulder at Izumi.

For some reason, the only thing Izumi can think is, Does that mean… this guy doesn’t even have a license?!

Before she can respond, a scream draws their attention.

Pop★Step’s scream.

Izumi turns and sees Spike Jerk with one arm around Pop’s neck and the other reeled back, spikes jutting from between his knuckles with clear killing intent.

“Making a chump outta me… whadda you know about justice, you old fart?”

“Knock it off, boy. My fist ain’t gonna fly any slower just cuz you’ve got a hostage,” Knuckleduster’s voice is low and dark. Izumi shivers. She has little reason to doubt his words.

“You think she’s a hostage?!" Spike Jerk shouts, agitated. "My spikes are about to make mincemeat of this chick’s face! Might be the only satisfaction I get all night!!”

Knuckleduster’s words replay in Izumi’s head, ‘in that moment, when it’s clear what’s gotta be done…’

Izumi moves without thinking.

She stomps the ground the way she would to pop her skateboard up into her hand, now kicking the bottle she dropped earlier and sending it directly at Spike Jerk’s head. He reels back, giving Izumi the opportunity to rush him.

He doesn’t go down when she tries to tackle him, but he does let go of Pop, giving her an opportunity to jump away.

Before Izumi or Spike Jerk can recover, Knuckleduster is there behind her.

“Good work, kid!” Knuckleduster drives his brass-clad knuckles into Spike Jerk’s head, knocking him to the ground, unconscious in one hit.

Izumi stands there stunned.

Knuckleduster crouches down and starts rifling through the Jerk Squad’s pockets.

“Hmph. No drugs on any of them. Better jot down their info just in case,” Knuckleduster says, as if he’s instructing someone on proper procedure. Which, Izumi realizes, he is. He’s telling her what to do.

Knuckleduster stands from his crouched position, now towering over her, “c’mon kid. Starting today, I’m gonna teach you what it takes to do hero work. And how good it feels to pound some villains into the dirt!!”

★★★

Knuckleduster invites himself in.

“So you’re Izuku Midoriya, age 19, freshman at Hitonami College. I’ll call you Izuku, then. Or do you like the ring of ‘Nice Guy’ better?”

“Don’t go through my things. And neither. That’s not my name,” Izumi responds.

“Which one?”

She glares as hard as she can at him.

“Fine, Midoriya then. You’ll be calling me Master.”

Izumi sighs. This can only go well.

The two spend an hour discussing Knuckleduster’s current goals. He’s been tracking a new variant of Trigger, the quirk-enhancing drug. It doesn’t just power you up, he explains, it overcharges you, even sometimes transforming you for a time.

The police have been calling them ‘Instant Villains’.

★★★

Later that night, Izumi returns to the alleyway. It's unlikely to be well travelled, but in reality that just means nobody will find this for a while. Her backpack full of spray paint clatters where she drops it. Unzipping it, she roots around until she finds what she's looking for. Black and neon pink, with a square of cardboard. The beads clatter around as she shakes both cans, standing back and visualizing the piece. She doesn't want to find a way to get up high tonight, so she's doing a smaller one, on the wall where Spike Jerk had Pop pinned. Izumi thinks of the way she looked, tears in her eyes, fearing for her life. What Knuckleduster said to her. What she did.

Black goes down first, a rough outline of a figure, two words above it, all invisible in the night except for Izumi's keen artistic eye.

Then pink. Bright, neon pink. Usually she likes green, but... pink is the right color for this. She fills in the details of the figure, using the cardboard to create sharp lines for the eyes. She needs them to be visible. At the corner of one, she presses down and lets the can rip, forming a dense pool of pink paint that drips into tears down the figure's cheek. Below the piece and to the right, she leaves her tag in neon green, with a pink overlay.

Above it all, she writes two words, in all caps.

TAKE ACTION

★★★

Dusk is beginning to fall on Naruhata; they started "investigating" just after dinner and Izumi has had to stop Knuckleduster from beating up six innocent people.

She has better things to be doing, which means just about anything else, but can’t bring herself to turn away from this. It’s a feeling in her gut, like this is important. Pop★Step ("Pop," she says, "you can just call me Pop.") provides a much needed dose of practicality in the ‘investigation’, suggesting alternative ways to find people who are getting affected by the new Trigger other than beating up everyone they (read: Knuckleduster) deem suspicious. In particular, she suggests using social media to search for villains. Apparently, people are more likely to tweet about a villain than call a Hero or the police.

Izumi and Pop are discussing their approach to this investigation when Knuckleduster sees someone ‘acting suspicious’ and pushes himself off the bench they’d been sitting on.

Izumi has to jump between him and a businessman who looks, to her, more scared than suspicious. She doesn’t have enough strength to actually stop Knuckleduster when he goes to punch the businessman, but luckily she doesn’t have to.

Binding cloth wraps around Knuckleduster’s wrist and stops it dead.

“Violent acts in full view of the public… hardly a model citizen. You must be one of those Instant Villains of late.”

Izumi’s jaw drops in wonder and excitement. She can’t help but flap her arms for a moment, whisper-shouting to Pop, who had jumped over to stand by her, “that’s the Erasure Hero, Eraserhead! He’s so cool!”

“A hero?” Pop replies.

“I’m off duty today. Just a good samaritan,” drawls Eraserhead. Sure enough, clutched under one arm is a paper bag seemingly full of groceries. The other arm is in the air, holding back Knuckleduster's fist via his signature capture weapon.

“Same here. So we got that in common,” Knuckleduster says simply before rushing at Eraserhead.

Izumi knows she should probably be scared or distressed or something but she can only hop up and down on the balls of her feet and watch the fight excitedly. The Vigilante and the Pro trade blows, Knuckleduster taking a kick to the face before using the cloth wrapped around his wrist to fling Eraserhead away. Dimly, Izumi is aware that Pop is helping the businessman get away before Knuckleduster can come after him, but she's too enthralled with the fight in front of her to care much.

Then.

“Nice Guy! I think that guy might know something!” At Pop’s shout Izumi’s attention shifts on a dime and she reaches out - too slow - to grab the fleeing businessman’s arm.

Before she can give chase, her attention is drawn across the street.

It’s the Jerk Squad again.

Shit.

Spike Jerk grins crazily, “I’m sick and tired of you one-upping us…”

He holds up an injector.

Judging by the state of his friends, Trigger.

“No!” Izumi shouts. But Spike Jerk has already stabbed himself - has already started to transform.

His hair turns from spiky to actual spikes, and continues down his back until he’s almost completely covered.

On either side of him, his friends follow quick.

Flame Jerk just gets bigger, but the fire that originally only came from the top of his head now comes from his shoulders, too.

Lizard Jerk has the biggest change. His arms lengthen and turn to wings, while he becomes more and more like a lizard - almost a western dragon.

Spike Jerk shouts, “It’s time to pay you back!”

So Izumi does what any reasonable person would do. She does what she’s good at. She runs.

When she gets cornered by Flame Jerk, Knuckleduster steps in to save Izumi, and when Spike Jerk starts after her cloth suddenly shoots out and wraps around him. Eraserhead. Izumi doesn’t have time to stop and listen to whatever witty one-liner Eraserhead says, too focused on the businessman still running from them.

Pop is on his tail, but Lizard Jerk catches up to her and screws it all up. Pop, pushed forward by the Lizard, knocks into the businessman, who drops his briefcase. Hero dolls clatter across the pavement.

“My dolls…” he murmurs, popping the head off the All Might doll to reveal an injector.

None of them are quick enough to stop him from injecting himself.

The changes are immediate.

He starts growing larger, larger, larger, as his skin turns purple. Another set of arms erupts from his sides.

Once he’s become a giant, he grabs Izumi, Lizard Jerk, and several cars from the street. Izumi’s whole body hurts from how tight she’s being gripped. The giant starts to wave her around like she’s a toy plane, making woosh noises as he does so.

Then, Knuckleduster swings in from out of nowhere on a grappling hook line to kick the giant in the face.

The grip on Izumi loosens.

She starts to panic. If she gets dropped, she doesn’t have a way to land safely!

The giant swats Knuckleduster away.

The grip on Izumi loosens again.

And she’s falling. A scream tears itself from her throat.

She’s going to die, and it’s going to be Knuckleduster’s fault.

Since she was young, Izumi had watched Heroes. Her favorites, other than All Might, were the ones that could fly. Shockingly enough, in a superhuman society like theirs, there aren’t too many who actually can. Even Air Jet uses boosters to fly. But there was one clip, from way before Izumi was even born, that she watched almost as much as All Might’s debut.

The Hero in the clip was Jetstream, a woman in a black bodysuit, yellow gloves, and a white cape, who could fly.

The clip itself was simple; Jetstream floats in the air for a moment to speak with a fan, before she lifts up and flies away.

Izumi knew she had never had a chance of that, even if she did have a quirk - the combo of ‘Small Pull’ and ‘Fire Breath’ doesn’t exactly equal ‘Flight’.

But despite that knowledge, Izumi still yearned to be free from the ground.

To fly.

Now, though, she falls.

★★★

Kazuho

Pop★Step isn’t a hero. Kazuho knows this.

She dresses up and some people think she might be a Hero, but she’s just a girl who wants to be an idol. Fighting had never even occurred to her until now, as she watches the boy who has saved her life twice now fall from a height that would certainly kill him.

She acts without thinking.

The route is planned in her head subconsciously: from the sidewalk, to a light pole, to a fire escape, to the roof of one building, to the roof of the next, then...

A leap of faith.

It’s not as graceful as she would have liked it to be, but it works.

She collides with Nice Guy in midair and almost loses him, but gets her arms around his middle and orients herself to be under him as they fall.

Her quirk takes care of the rest.

★★★

Izumi

Izumi doesn’t expect to be caught.

Izumi especially doesn’t expect to be caught by Pop★Step of all people.

They hit the ground at a speed that should have been fatal and bounce off, only to be caught in a pile of trash.

“Oh god! I’m so sorry! Are you okay??” Izumi asks in a panic, moving off of Pop and out of the trash. She pulls her respirator off and throws down her hood, taking several deep breaths of some unpleasant air.

Pop follows right behind her, an angry expression on her face. “Am I okay?! You’re the idiot Nice Guy that almost got himself kill-”

“STOP CALLING ME THAT!” The cry rips itself from Izumi’s mouth before she can stop it, hoarse and desperate in a way she hadn't felt in full until just now. Stupid. Not what she should have reacted to. Say something else. Apologize again. Something. Anything.

Nothing.

Platform boots clunk on the ground as Pop staggers back in shock. Then she gets angry again and steps forward into Izumi’s space, shouting “NO! I’M GONNA KEEP CALLING YOU AN IDIOT CAUSE THAT’S WHAT YOU ARE!”

“THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEAN!” Stop talking! You don't need to tell her! Just walk away!

“THEN WHAT DO YOU-”

The confession slips out, hollow anger mixed with faint relief and heady fear, “I’M NOT A GUY!” Immediately she claps both hands over her mouth and she flinches.

Pop, for her part, looks like she just got smacked. Her mouth opens to say something, but Izumi stomps past her.

Hot, fat tears mark trails through the dirt on Izumi’s face.

Emotions have never been something Izumi is great at dealing with on her own, let alone around other people, so she pulls her respirator on and her hood over her head.

“Fuck you…” Izumi whispers past the tears.

She doesn’t know whether or not she hopes Pop heard her.

She goes home.

Chapter Text

Izumi

After Pop★Step saves Deku from becoming street meat, the Naruhata Vigilantes form.

Knuckleduster gifts Izumi with some armor, lightweight stuff she can wear under her hoodie, plus gloves and elbow pads, so that she might stop getting beat up so bad. He also gives both her and Pop★Step tiny little earpieces so they can communicate from a distance while on the street.

Without really knowing why, Izumi keeps following Knuckleduster around, stopping him from beating people up too bad when they don’t deserve it, or getting civilians out of the way when shit starts to go down. Along the way, she also tries to reinvent herself as something other than ‘Nice Guy’. She likes the sound of “Dekiru”, meaning “you can do it”, but the inhabitants of Naruhata insist on confusing ‘Dekiru’ with ‘Deku’.

Rather than fight them on it, she embraces it. ‘Deku’ it is. Besides, the irony of a quirkless vigilante's name being related to a useless wooden doll... well, they might not get the irony, but it makes Izumi smile for some reason.

Pop keeps helping them, an unofficial member of their unofficial group, but Izumi keeps interaction with her to a minimum. Being trans isn’t something a lot of people look kindly on, and while Pop★Step hasn’t shown any animosity toward her, she hasn’t shown any support either. But they work together well enough on the street. At home is... well, getting there.

★★★

For Izumi, home is a comfy shack on top of an otherwise abandoned apartment building. It’s right next to the station and dirt cheap, plus climbing the stairs is great exercise when she’s not being Deku.

Home is also just her.

She keeps it stocked with the essentials, trying not to buy more than she needs so she can save money. Which is why when, a couple weeks after the Naruhata Vigilantes formed, she opens the door to her apartment to find an old guy sitting at her heated kotatsu in her locked apartment, eating her food, and drinking beer that's not hers, she’s more than a little surprised. She squints at him, knowing he’s familiar, and puts a finger up to block off the top of his head. Now she recognizes him.

“Master? What are you doing here? And how did you get in?”

Knuckleduster takes a sip of his beer (beer which he did not get from her fridge, since she doesn’t drink it) and says, “heya. Let myself in through the window.”

Broken window, he means. There’s a sizable hole in the glass around the lock now, and she’ll probably have to get the whole window replaced.

She glares at Knuckleduster.

“You’re gonna pay for the replacement,” she grouses.

“Yeah yeah, sure. Whatever. You need more beer in your fridge,” comes the response.

“Not ‘whatever’, and I don’t keep beer in my fridge, cause I don’t drink-”

ding dong

A long suffering sigh escapes Izumi’s lips.

Standing behind the door when she opens it is a girl with bushy pink hair and glasses who also looks familiar, but Izumi isn’t quite sure how.

“Umm… can I help you?”

The girl pushes past her and into the apartment, sitting down at the table and immediately starting to put makeup on.

Once she’s done she turns to look at Izumi, familiar makeup now covering her face, and says “it’s me, duh.”

“Ah. Pop. You just look so-”

“If you say ‘plain’ I will murder you.”

“Different,” Izumi finishes lamely, but honestly. Pop still glares at her. Sighing, Izumi goes to the kitchen to make herself lunch.

★★★

A zealous fan, enhanced by Trigger, attacks Pop during a performance. It takes some effort, but with Pop as a distraction and some begging to the owner of an udon shop, they stop the kid. He’s just a middle schooler, by the looks of him once the Trigger wears off, who liked Pop and got manipulated by the wrong sort of person. Trigger turned him into a big kind of eel, all slimy and slippery. They had to completely cover him in flour to dry him out and catch him. Unfortunately since they were all covered in some amount of slime they also got covered in flour, which was not very pleasant.

Izumi hates what Trigger is doing to her neighborhood. People who would ordinarily be perfectly harmless get turned into monsters, driven crazy by something that's been added to the Trigger. Knuckleduster thinks it's part of a larger operation. Izumi doesn't know what to think.

Eventually, they make it back to Izumi's place. She's first to shower, muscling her way past Knuckleduster's attempt to get there first and ignoring Pop's indignant shout. She already has a set of clothes in there, which means she doesn't have to waste time grabbing something from her dresser.

"Just put your clothes in the hamper and I'll wash them when I'm done," Izumi tells them, then says "Pop, your civilian clothes should still be here from earlier, and I know you have another set of clothes stashed away somewhere in this apartment, Master. Do whatever you want for privacy, I don't care as long as my bed doesn't get slime on it."

Once Izumi closes the bathroom door she cuts off anything either of them might have to say. She sighs, starting the water for the shower and stripping down; she tries not to think about it. She showers quickly, and gets changed; she tries not to think about it. Then she's free, and she doesn't think about it.

While Pop and Knuckleduster take their turns in Izumi’s shower, she runs all three of their vigilante uniforms through the wash. And while she's waiting on the laundry, she takes the time to write about today's incident in her journal. Knuckleduster and Pop's constant arguing vanishes the moment Pop gets into the bathroom, Izumi's Master content to sip on a beer and stay quiet. Pop finishes showering quickly. As Knuckleduster enters the bathroom, the two glare at each other but say nothing. Pop's humming fills the silence. Knuckleduster's shower is even shorter, and sure enough the moment he's out of the bathroom the bickering begins again.

Maybe some other people wouldn't enjoy their attitude towards each other, but just having people here and filling the space with noise lifts Izumi’s spirits. She spent so long alone here…

The washing machine dings, interrupting Izumi’s train of thought, so she closes her journal and takes the wet uniforms outside to hang up. She leaves Pop and Knuckleduster inside. 

She smiles up at the moon, lifting her face to the cool summer night breeze and listening to the distant sounds of the city.

This hadn’t been what she expected her life to be like when her mom moved to America. She’d hoped it would be more of a normal college experience, but even now people see her as the ‘weird’ one that’s always muttering and writing in a notebook. Inviting people over hadn’t gone well the first time Izumi tried it, so she gave up and resigned herself to getting through college on her own. Despite the drama of the last few weeks and the tension between her and Pop, Izumi thinks this is good.

She’s not a Hero, but she’s as close as she’ll ever get.

And she thinks that might be good enough for her.

★★★

Things get better between Izumi and Pop.

They manage to hang out, just the two of them, outside of their vigilante time. It becomes a comfortable habit, eventually, but for now it's still a bit... awkward. It takes finding some kind of common ground for the awkwardness to start to dissipate.

Two days after the eel incident, Pop gets an email from two of her other fans; they say that they met the fan in question, Teruo, who had been given Trigger the same day that he ‘attacked’ Pop. They also say he might talk to Pop about whoever gave him the drugs.

“Nice. This could be our first big clue. Should we let Master know about it?” Izumi asks uncertainly.

“Maybe not. He… he might just start swinging again when we meet the kid," Pop says.

Izumi nods thoughtfully, “right… last time, the kid was out cold before we knew it, and this time Master might just strangle him or something.”

Both of them cringe, and Pop says “yeah, I can see that.”

Izumi shrugs. “Well, we might as well see what he’s got to say, right?”

★★★

“Hold on. Wait up, Midoriya!” Pop walks awkwardly along, unsteady in her big platform boots. “I can’t go that quick. You’re walking too fast.”

Izumi gives her a wry smile and says “solid ground isn’t your strong suit, is it?”

“Cuz I’m usually leaping around in these boots, not walking,” Pop explains.

It’s reasonable. They're tall, stiff boots, with not a ton of movement around the ankle, making them awkward for walking normally. Still, Izumi tries and fails to fight down a blush when Pop stumbles into her side and grabs her arm. Her respirator only helps hide the blush on her cheeks, not so much her ears. Maybe she should put her hood up.

“Jeez, Midoriya! Can’t help a fellow lady out when she’s having trouble walking? What happened to chivalry, huh?!”

All Izumi can do is stammer and stutter as her blush turns significantly more scarlet. Relief like a physical sensation floods her entire nervous system and she relaxes unconsciously. Why had she ever hid this part of herself, when words that slip out with such ease fill her with so much euphoria?

Pop continues talking, seemingly oblivious, “this could lead to a scandal if anyone around here spots us…”

The universe has at least some semblance of a sense of humor, because at that very moment a girl wearing the uniform of a local high school turns a corner and sees “POP★STEP!! Wow, the real thing too! Too cute! Lucky me. ♪ I didn’t even think you had an event today, Pop. Ohh, I get it. You’re off today? That’s why no eye makeup. The sunglasses totally work for you, though. Can I get a pic with you?”

Pop doesn’t manage to get a word in edgewise, and Izumi is handed a phone with the expectation that she’ll take the picture. It's such a strange and jarring transition that Izumi doesn't even think. The camera app is already open. May as well.

Pop and the high schooler, a girl with short hair and an eyepatch over her left eye, strike a pose. Making sure to take a few photos just in case, Izumi smiles brightly behind her respirator, still riding high off of what Pop said.

When Izumi hands the phone back to the high schooler, she seems to notice somehow.

“So, who’s this? Could he be your boyfriend? Do I detect a passionate romance??”

Izumi's high vanishes, and her stomach churns. She frowns and turns away, fully intent on walking away from the situation.

‘Boyfriend’. What a joke.

“Ha! Definitely not my boyfriend! I’m not involved with anyone, actually!” To anyone else, the emphasis Pop puts on ‘boyfriend’ would be totally innocuous, nothing worth note, just a peculiarity of the way the aspiring idol speaks. But to Izumi, it means everything.

She smiles wide beneath the respirator again, now pulling her hood over her head to hide the blush rising up her neck.

Maybe this trust thing isn't such a bad idea.

★★★

Together, the two girls make their way to the place where they’re supposed to meet Pop’s fans, a spot right next to the Naruhata metro station. The first one they meet is a kid with some kind of special visor (support item, but not for a hero student. Uncontrollable quirk? Something to do with his eyes, probably an emitter type. Lasers?).

Izumi pauses.

Looks at Pop, and at the kid, who are both staring at her like she’s grown another head.

Shit. She hasn’t done that in a long time.

“Sorry…” she whispers.

“Heya, no problem, Deku! I’m Ichimoku Samazu from Manjuku Academy!” Samazu turns to Pop with a bow, “and greetings to you on this fine day, miss Pop!!”

The girl in question raises an eyebrow in question, “so where’s your friend…? Namimaru, was it?”

“Yeah! My good buddy had to go home with that guy, Teruo, to pick up some merchandise. Should be heading this way now. Wanna talk over at that cafe?”

Pop blushes, “sure… but now that I think about it… It’s gonna be embarrassing walking in there looking like this.”

Trying to be a good, helpful friend, Izumi suggests that Pop can sit out on the terrace while Izumi goes inside to order for them. As she turns to do just that, though, she’s stopped by a familiar face. Or, rather, the familiar black bandana that hides Knuckleduster’s face.

“Oh. What’re you kids up to?”

“Noth-nothing! We were just gonna have some tea,” Izumi stutters out.

“Take a seat here. I ain’t stopping you,” the man suggests, kicking a chair out for one of them to sit in.

Izumi turns back around to consult with the other two.

“What’re we gonna do? He’s the last guy we want spotting us,” Samazu says.

“No doubt,” Izumi responds eloquently.

“You gotta talk our way outta this, Midoriya!” Pop whisper-shouts.

“Why me??”

Instead of engaging more with Knuckleduster, the three settle for silently sitting at another table. He grumbles something about “damn kids” but doesn’t bother them.

They’re waiting for the final two to arrive to their meeting. A bee flies past, which Izumi finds a little strange, then they hear a commotion from the other side of the tracks.

Out of nowhere, Knuckleduster gets up from his table and sprints off, just as Pop is checking her phone.

“Uh-oh. A whole buncha villains. More than ten!”

Before they can properly react, there’s a heavy whoosh ing of air from above. They look up and see Air Jet flying by with his jetpack.

Not even a second later, rapid footsteps on the road as Ingenium sprints past.

Then more and more, until almost a dozen heroes (including the #2, Endeavor himself!) are on the scene helping out. Izumi can’t stop herself from jumping up and following, needing to see them all in action. Her hands flap of their own accord.

“Look, Pop! It’s Endeavor! And there’s Best Jeanist, and Eraserhead, and Present Mic - I listen to his radio show all the time - and Midnight, and Death Arms and Snipe and Number 13! This is so cool!”

Villains go down one by one in quick succession until there’s only one left, a big guy that looks like he’s powering up a big attack. Before he can let it off, though, Izumi catches a glint on the horizon and her smile grows impossibly wider. Here he comes!

With a smile and a shout of “SMAAASH!” All Might takes down the big final villain in one blow.

A second later, Pop looks down at her phone and announces “all of the villains are already caught."

“Pros are so friggin cool! Did you see the way All Might took that big guy down in one hit?!” Izumi starts rambling. Samazu looks at her like she’s crazy, but Pop has a smile on her face. Neither of them interrupt her as she continues to ramble.

★★★

Iwao

He knows that bee.

He’s seen it before.

Who cares about a bunch of Instant Villains when that damn bee is right there!

Iwao - Knuckleduster - sprints after it. He’s used to tracking objects quicker than him nowadays, so keeping the bee in his line of sight is like child’s play. Even after having his quirk taken - some tiny genetic remnants left behind, never enough to use his quirk, but enough for secondary mutations - his senses and reaction times are better than any other quirkless individual’s.

This is the only thing that allows Iwao to reach out and snatch the bee out of the air with a deft hand.

Nearby, a kid with bushy sideburns and a permanent scowl on his face is standing in the street and shouting for someone. Iwao recognizes him as one of the kids who always shows up to Pop★Step’s performances.

Rushing toward him and grabbing his collar, Iwao shifts the bee in his grip so he can present it to the kid.

“Hey, kid! You seen any suspicious characters around here?! Someone with a Bee quirk!”

The kid looks stupefied, stammering out “wha-?”

Iwao has no patience for this.

He growls and squishes the bee in his hand so it can’t get anyone with whatever’s in the vial attached to its stinger. Probably more Trigger. This latest batch has had some extra bad shit laced into it. Some kind of psychotropic element, as far as Iwao can tell, which is the reason all the Instant Villains start rampaging as soon as they transform. Maybe a delirient, but he has no way of knowing unless he gets an untainted sample. And even if he could, he doesn't have an agency anymore. Those days are long behind him.

He takes the kid back to the cafe Iwao had been at earlier. Apparently the other kid that Midoriya, Pop★Step, and the two high schoolers had been intending to meet up with had gotten separated from sideburns during the villain outbreak.

The one that’s gone missing was the same kid who attacked Pop★Step earlier in the week.

Iwao has a bad feeling about that.

★★★

Izumi

Their vigilante-ing continues. Naruhata has a distressing amount of crime for how well patrolled the area is, which is exactly why Izumi, Pop, and Knuckleduster do this. Heroes can’t catch everything, so it’s the Vigilantes’ job to catch what falls between the cracks. Those 'villains' that pop up where patrol patterns weave a gap, or those times of day when few Heroes are even out. That's probably why so many of these incidents seem to happen at night, or in the sparsely populated back streets of Naruhata. And with each of these encounters, Izumi's log book gets longer; day by day, the pages start to fill up.

But when they’re not patrolling and looking for more Instant Villains, they’re training. Or rather, Knuckleduster is training Izumi while Pop sits on top of Izumi’s little rooftop shack and watches her get the pulp beat out of her.

“Something wrong recently, Master?” asks Izumi, throwing weak punches at the training gloves Knuckleduster has on.

He’s barely even moving, the rise and fall of his chest the only thing telling Izumi that he hasn't suddenly died on his feet somehow.

Finally he grunts, and Izumi takes that as a sign to continue, “it’s just, ever since that big breakout of Instant Villains, you haven’t been talking much. Is it something to do with that Bee user, maybe? Heard it from Namimaru.”

A flash of something passes through Knuckleduster’s eyes before he moves his right training glove down and to the left.

Izumi makes a questioning noise and goes to punch it, but before she can connect Knuckleduster’s left hand smacks her in the face and sends her to the ground.

Pop makes a noise of indignation; Izumi ignores it for the moment, glaring up at Knuckleduster.

“You mind chilling out a little, Master? All I’ve been doing is punching your stupid gloves, you haven’t actually taught me anything I can use in a fight.”

“Hm. I suppose you’re right," Knuckleduster concedes, "stand up. I’m gonna teach you some proper boxing form."

Izumi grins and stands up.

From there on, Knuckleduster actually teaches Izumi how to fight, much to Pop’s displeasure. She makes it well known that she thinks fighting should be a last resort. They’re not Heroes, fighting is beyond their pay grade (and also illegal). They should get civilians out of the way and distract the villains while they wait for the Heroes.

Izumi agrees, for the most part. She doesn’t want to get in trouble with the law for fighting.

But then again… Knuckleduster seems to get away with it, right?

★★★

In between training, patrolling, and her job, Izumi is kept busy, almost to the point where she has no time to do anything for herself. But for one hour once a day, she heads down to the small garage beneath the apartment building she lives at the top of.

Two years ago, when Inko had moved to the US to be with Hisashi, Izumi had been left with some extra money and nothing to do with it except buy merch. But at the time she had her eye on something else.

After saving a little more, Izumi bought a motorcycle. It wasn’t a very big or powerful thing, not much more than a little motorbike, and she bought it used, but it was fuel efficient and served as a good, consistent source of transportation when she needed to go further than her skateboard could easily take her.

Or at least that’s the rationale she used when she told her parents about it. Honestly, she really just thought it would be fun.

Then, three months ago, it died. Just stopped running.

So between everything else in her busy life, she had decided to dedicate one hour a day to trying to fix it, along with whatever funds she could spare after bills and other essentials. Trial and error had been the name of the game (along with copious YouTube tutorials).

But today is a special day. Because the bike doesn’t just start, it actually works.

With a grin, Izumi puts on her dark green helmet and slings her leg over the bike seat.

When she turns the key in the ignition, it rumbles to life beneath her. Her grin stretching wider beneath the helmet, Izumi eases the bike out of the garage before turning onto the street. After practicing a little to make sure she hasn’t literally forgotten how to ride a bike, Izumi heads toward the highway in the hopes she can put the bike through its paces. By then she’s outside of Naruhata, and the highway provides a convenient track right back to her home neighborhood. Once on the highway, however, Izumi frowns in confusion.

There’s no other vehicles here.

Just her.

With a shrug she speeds up anyway and merges onto the highway proper.

Seconds later she yelps when a figure runs past her. Somebody with what looks like a dark straitjacket on disappears around the bend in front of her. Izumi grins and speeds up.

Still no other vehicles, but the other figure is in her sights again. More speed. Without proper protection Izumi should probably slow down to safer speeds, but she can’t help herself.

Then a vehicle does appear, crawling past her with “Team Idaten Moving PIT-01” printed on its side. A loudspeaker shouts “STAY CLEAR OF THIS VEHICLE” and Izumi slows herself to give the Hero inside room to work.

The back of the truck opens and inside she can see Ingenium, who jumps out of the truck and hits the ground running. Within seconds he’s caught up to the other figure, who Izumi can only assume is a villain if Ingenium is here, and goes to grab for him.

The villain swerves to the side and kicks Ingenium into the highway barrier. Ingenium hits the barrier and his airbags deploy, cushioning his impact and saving him from imminent death. In that split second, Izumi sees the villain’s tongue flapping wildly.

The tip is black.

He’s on Trigger. Knuckleduster will want to know about this.

The villain peels off toward an exit and into Naruhata. Fangirl outweighing curiosity, Izumi slows the bike and comes to a stop next to the Team Idaten truck. Ingenium removes his helmet and sits, grinning, cushioned by massive airbags on either side of him. “Boy… good thing I installed these airbags!”

There’s no good chance for Izumi to really interact with Ingenium, but he does look her way, still grinning. There’s no nod, no wink, nothing to acknowledge that he even saw her except the way his eyes seem to lock onto hers past the darkened visor of her helmet.

★★★

A few days later finds Izumi on a simple jog through the back streets of Naruhata, trying to destress. Shortly after Knuckleduster had started training Izumi properly they had fought an Instant Villain with a quirk that hardened his skin into rocks who almost certainly would have killed Izumi had it not been for her Master’s timely intervention. But true to form, Knuckleduster pummeled the guy into the dirt while taking hardly a scratch himself.

Their training had continued in earnest after that, and today was one of the rare days she was able to get away from him. She knew he was pushing her hard for a reason, because she is quirkless and she does need to work harder than anyone else, but... well, she needs a break. It’s not easy, when the guy seems to be able to sense where she is and show up at the most inopportune times.

But today, with an assist from Pop, she managed to get away from him for a little while. Jogging had always helped clear her head. Her mother had suggested she take up the practice after Izumi missed the UA entrance exam, and she hasn’t dropped it since. There's a sense of peace to be found in a steady pace on the pavement. She takes a loop around Naruhata, eventually stopping in a nearby park to rest on a bench and drink some water.

She doesn't pay any mind to the figure slowly approaching from her left, even steps as they also jog along the path. She doesn't even look up when they stop near her. It's only when he asks "hello there. Do you mind if I sit with you? I've been jogging for about an hour, and it'd be nice to take a break," that she finally looks up.

Izumi does a spit take. The man is tall and square, with blue hair so dark it may as well be black, and a bright smile on his face. She recognizes him.

Oh my god, that’s Ingenium! Again! The second time in a week!

“You’re Ingenium!! So cool! I’m a big fan!”

“Ah, right now I’m just Tensei Iida. Nice to meet you…?”

“Oh, I’m Izuk-” she pauses for a second.

She’s just meeting Iida for the first time. He doesn’t know who she is, likely has no preconceptions about who she could be. She has free reign to introduce herself to him however she wants.

“Er, Izumi Midoriya.”

Iida looks puzzled for a split second but moves on quickly, “nice to meet you, Midoriya! Say, that hoodie of yours looks familiar… have we met before?”

“Umm… kind of? I was testing out my motorcycle the other day when you were chasing down that villain on the highway?” She gestures nervously to her head, “I had a helmet on, though.”

Hopefully that was convincing enough.

“Ah, that must be it! You should invest in some protective gear if you’re going to be using a bike like that, it’d be awful if you fell and got hurt!” He laughs. What a dork. Izumi can’t help but laugh too.

★★★

The next day, Izumi, Pop, and Knuckleduster are ‘patrolling’ Naruhata together when Pop warns them about a villain seen heading their way. He was being chased by Ingenium on the highway until he suddenly sprouted wings and flew into Naruhata. Izumi knows these streets and alleys like the back of her hand, and knows exactly the route that someone like that would take. So as quick as they can, the Vigilantes set a trap. Izumi on one side of the alley, Knuckleduster on the other, both holding a rope, with Pop on a roof watching and waiting to give them the signal.

At Pop’s command they pull it taut and trip the bat-like villain, giving Knuckleduster an opportunity to do what he does best.

Once the villain is unconscious and restrained, Izumi climbs up the fire escape of a nearby building and crouches by the edge of the roof, respirator on and hood up, waiting. Ingenium and his team arrive within a minute.

“Who did this?!” shouts one of Ingenium’s sidekicks incredulously.

Izumi shouts back, “not many streetlights around here, and plenty of abandoned buildings. Makes catching villains kinda tough, yeah?”

“But once you know these mean streets," Knuckleduster adds, "it makes it that much easier to predict where the bad guys’re gonna run, so you can cut them off. Gotta have a sense for the area."

Ingenium looks up and sees Deku, eyes visible, respirator and hood obscuring the rest. “You’re…”

Izumi grins behind her respirator and stands up from her crouch. “Just a couple of people who don’t mind lending a hand now and then. Knuckleduster and Deku!” She turns around and starts to walk off.

“I’m not part of this,” Pop★Step says.

It feels good to do good.

★★★

She comes back to the alley a little while later, when her hands start to itch for something more than a sketchbook. The weirdest part is, she doesn't even know why she comes back to this alley in particular. The bat villain they helped Ingenium capture wasn't really notable, but something that Knuckleduster said is still replaying in her mind. If she's not careful, she'll notice a theme with her latest pieces. The way that the bat villain looked, highlighted against the moon from far away.

Another limited color palette tonight, although that's probably for the best. If someone like Eraserhead shows up, she's boned, and she doesn't want to lose all her spray paints. So it's just white for the moon, and black for the villain. At the last second, she picks out a nice bright red and grabs the cardboard.

Respirator on, she goes to work. Big, wide sweeps of the arm form the outline of the moon. Filling it in is what takes the most time, in the end, but the methodical process scratches an itch in Izumi's brain. Once the moon is finished, she starts creating the bat villain. It's a rough outline, mostly just a shape of wings with a head in the middle. Then, with her can of red and her trusty cardboard, she creates the face. A row of teeth, two fangs, and angular eyes. Once again, she puts her tag below the piece and to the right, though this time just in green.

Then, above it all, two more words:

MEAN STREETS

★★★

Izumi is on another run a couple days later when Iida catches up to her.

“Hey, thanks for the other day!” he says with a grin.

With an ever so innocent smile in return, Izumi replies “I have no idea what you mean.”

“You’re, well… you’re Dek-”

“What’re you talking about? I’m just your everyday not-at-all noteworthy jogging gal!” She barely restrains herself from laughing.

“Ah, gotcha, sure. Well, if you see Deku, tell her I said ‘thank you’!”

★★★

The lock clicks and the door opens. In steps Pop, dressed down in her civilian outfit.

“Oh. Midoriya, you’re here.”

Izumi, sitting at her heated kotatsu with one of her hoodies and a small sewing kit, smiles, “sure am. I do live here, after all. And I don’t remember giving you a key.”

“Yeah, yeah. Got anything to drink?” Pop asks. Before Izumi even answers, the fridge door opens.

“I dunno. Probably?” Distracted as she is by the hoodie in her hands, Izumi barely pays attention. The fridge door closes again.

“Whatcha doin?” Pop asks.

Izumi holds up the hoodie, showing Pop the tear she found after patrol last night, and says “I’m mending it.”

“The one you always wear, yeah… why not just buy something sturdier?”

Izumi shakes her head. “Nah. It’s gotta be this. This is not only an officially licensed All Might hoodie, but a Limited Edition Officially Licensed All Might hoodie. Wearing it… hmm...”

Maybe she shouldn’t tell Pop why she really wears it.

“I think I get it.” Pop lifts a spoonful of pudding to her mouth. In her other hand is the last of the pudding cups from Izumi's fridge.

Pouting, Izumi says “ah- I was… I was gonna eat that pudding… but-”

“Not- not like you said I couldn’t have it! Try writing your name on it next time, if it matters so freaking much!” Pop shouts, blushing.

Izumi laughs, “I was gonna say it’s no big deal. You just can’t back down from a fight, can you?”

She looks up in time to see Pop’s face get even more red. “What?! You don’t have the right to talk to me that way!!”

“Sorry, sorry," Izumi says contritely. She looks down at the hoodie and puts the finishing touches on the stitchwork. It's rough, nothing fancy, but it should hold for a little while longer. "Next time I get groceries I’ll grab extras for you, yeah? Since you hang out around here so much.” Finished with the repairs, Izumi goes to put the hoodie away with all the other All Might hoodies she has. She has 18, one for each of her birthdays (after she got her first at 14 she gradually started collecting the previous years, too) except one. They’re all hung up in her closet, earliest to latest from left to right. Her All Might TM Limited Edition Green Scheme hoodie always stays on the far right.

“That’s not what this’s about,” Pop starts. She takes another bite of pudding, then says “you seem pretty tightfisted to start with, mending every little tear in that cheap, lame hoodie.”

A sharp laugh shoots out of Izumi’s mouth before she can stop it. “Okay, I’ll admit that it’s kinda lame, but it certainly isn’t cheap. All Might merch is expensive, especially a hoodie as rare as this. Not many of the green version were made, and they weren’t released in Japan, but my mom got it for me last year and mailed it over for my birthday.”

The mean expression on Pop’s face fades a bit, and the tightness in Izumi's chest gets a little weaker.

“Other than specialty Limited Edition hoodies like this, they put out a new Special Edition hoodie every year. I have every one of the yearly Special Editions except the one from five years ago. The first one I ever got, actually: Silver Age Edition with established color scheme,” Izumi says proudly.

Pop cocks her head to the side in confusion. “You’re only missing one?”

Izumi puts her freshly mended hoodie back in its place and sits down on the floor, leaning against the dresser. “Um. Yeah. I... gave it to someone. Didn’t feel right to buy a replacement after that.”

“Hm?”

Sighing, Izumi settles in to tell Pop about one of the most embarrassing things she’s ever done.

“Up through middle school I was seriously serious about becoming a Hero someday. I even signed up for the UA entrance exam out in Korisato. But the morning of the exam, while I was rushing to find my station, I happened to stop on this bridge, right? And while I was looking up directions, some kid, a boy, my age I think, fell into the river. It wasn’t very deep, even though I didn’t know that at the time, but it was fast, and the kid wasn’t getting up, and it looked like he was going to drown. Nobody else was doing anything. They were just... standing there, talking about how a Hero would come by and save the kid. But sometimes it’s up to normal people to step up.

“So I stripped down to my shorts, jumped in, and dragged the kid out of the water. I felt like I was gonna freeze to death, but the kid was blue from the cold, and I think he really might have died if nobody had helped. So I used an extra shirt from my backpack to get the kid mostly dry, and gave him my hoodie. Then I ran off, hoping I’d make it to the station in time. I ended up way late, though, and couldn’t take the test. Thinking back… without that little incident that morning, I might have ended up on the Hero track. Sometimes I wonder… maybe my heroic soul was imbued in that one hoodie. And I ended up passing it on to some nameless boy.”

Izumi sighs deeply, but a faint smile graces her face, “that’d be good enough for me, I think.”

“That’s just dumb.”

“What??”

“Basically, all that playing at being a hero you did ended up screwing over your potential career path. So ridiculous,” Pop says as she stands. “I’m leaving.”

“What- you’re mad? I expected ridicule, but why anger?? You- hey!”

The door slams closed, and Pop is gone.

★★★

Kazuho

Dummy. Idiot. ‘Heroic soul,’ ‘good enough for me’? How soft hearted can she be? And… Kazuho closes the door to her own apartment gently. That ‘nameless boy’ wasn’t just some kid. That was me.

“I’m not a guy…” Kazuho parrots exactly what Midoriya said to her weeks ago.

That day when she fell in the river, five years ago now, she was practicing with her quirk and hoping to take a shortcut by Leaping over the river. But it had rained the night before, and the ground was slippery, and the river had risen, and then… and then.

She had been intrigued by her savior from that day forward. She didn’t go so far as to stalk him, but they lived in the same neighborhood, and it wasn’t difficult to catch glimpses of him. All she had wanted was to thank him properly.

Kazuho reaches into her closet and pulls out her most prized possession. The hoodie Midoriya gave her back then.

Maybe she could… they had just talked about it, and as hard of a time as Kazuho has talking about her feelings honestly, maybe she could do it just this once. Tell Midoriya who she is, who she became after that day, be honest and open, and they could know each other.

“You just can’t back down from a fight, can you?”

That’s not it. At all.

Kazuho just doesn’t know how to handle everything. Doesn’t know how to confess that she’s not a guy and never was, or that she’s starting to really like Midoriya despite her best efforts at keeping her distance.

Kazuho sighs, puts the hoodie in a bag, and leaves her apartment. If she just commits to it, she can’t back out. She’ll tell Midoriya, and that will be that. It’ll all be out in the open.

On her way back to Midoriya’s apartment, Kazuho stops and picks up a pack of pudding cups to make up for stealing Midoriya’s earlier. The cool night air does absolutely nothing to make her blush go away as she Leaps over the neighborhood to her destination. As she does, she rehearses what she wants to say.

It has to go perfectly.

She doesn’t barge in with the key this time, just rings the doorbell.

A heart-stopping moment passes where Kazuho thinks Midoriya is just going to ignore her, before the door opens and Midoriya’s head peeks out. “Huh? Pop? Did you forget something earlier?”

The blush on Kazuho’s face rises; she responds, “can we… talk…?”

“Sure, come-”

“Yeah, what is it? Spit it out!” Knuckleduster interrupts. He's inside, sitting at the kotatsu drinking one of his beers and glaring at her (as usual).

Midoriya sighs and facepalms, “I’m so sorry, he just showed up and invited himself in. Do you still want to come in?”

Kazuho nods.

Stepping back, Midoriya lets her in and closes the door behind her. The click of the latch is like a gunshot to Kazuho’s ears.

This was a mistake.

She shouldn’t have come here, shouldn’t have done this, this was so stupid and she needs to leave now before it gets so so so much worse.

She sits down much too awkwardly across from Knuckleduster and puts the box of pudding cups on the table. Knuckleduster nabs one.

“Pudding? Just another one of those foods chicks your age love,” the old man grumbles.

Furrowing her brow, Kazuho grabs one too, responds, “then how about you stop eating it?!” and angrily shovels some into her mouth.

Midoriya still hasn’t sat down. Pacing around the room, brows furrowed, one hand pinching her bottom lip, her eyes going between Kazuho and Knuckleduster; it makes Kazuho nervous. She stops by the table, standing over the bag holding The Hoodie, “you wanted to talk, Pop?” She nudges the bag with her foot.

Suddenly, this whole thing seems like a really bad idea. Kazuho isn’t sure whether it’s Knuckleduster’s judgemental stare, Midoriya’s pacing, or something else entirely, but she snaps and shouts “this’s my personal stuff! So get your mitts off it!” Grabbing the bag, Kazuho jumps up and stomps out the door, “I’M OUT!” slamming it behind her.

She doesn’t cry on her way back to her apartment, because this isn’t worth crying over.

When she makes it back to her apartment she immediately changes into her pajamas and lays down on her stomach, shoving her pillow over her head and screaming into the mattress, legs kicking angrily like she’s some stupid schoolgirl.

“Argh… come on! ” Kazuho moves her head out from under her pillow and stares at the bag for a moment before turning it over and spilling its contents. The hoodie is too big on her. It fits perfectly.

“Good enough for her…” she whispers up to the moon outside her window. “That’s just silly.”

Chapter Text

Izumi

Izumi hates reruns. Especially when they’re big, strong, and made partly out of jagged rocks. Her skateboard’s wheels screech as she shifts into a quick stop. She looks at the villain, then back to Pop, who’s perched on a light post.

“Hey, didn’t we take care of this guy the other day? Big, strong, rocky? I was sure they’d put him in some special jail for holding villains,” says Izumi, thinking back to their last encounter. True to form, Izumi had mostly spent the fight evading and waiting for a Hero to step in. And, true to form, it ended up being Knuckleduster who knocked the villain out cold. This time, though, it's just Deku and Pop.

“Guess they don’t record your name as an official villain without multiple quirk-related offenses. Just once doesn’t count,” Pop replies.

“Oh yeah? Well let’s stop him before he racks up another offense,” Izumi says. Turning the board again, she pulls up her respirator and hood and starts skating toward the villain.

From behind her, “why’s it always seem like you’re on the villains’ side?” Pop’s voice is full of… something. Disgust? Disdain? Disappointment? Some ‘d’ word.

The big rock villain notices Deku approaching and turns. “Gagaga… y-you! You again! De-de-dekiru!”

Izumi's groan must be audible over comms, because Pop laughs. “Don't laugh at me! Someone finally gets it right and it’s this guy!” Even as she talks, Izumi keeps her eyes on the villain’s fists, dodging out of the way of each of his punches.

“You’re really complaining about that right now? While he’s trying to splatter your brains?” Pop’s reply is filtered through poorly-suppressed giggles.

“Doesn’t matter! Now that I’ve got his attention I can lure him away to a less populated area,” Izumi says, still dodging attacks and keeping her balance on her skateboard at the same time.

It’s totally fine.

Izumi leads the villain into a small, mostly abandoned parking lot. There’s a couple cars still sitting there but no people inside the lot, which is exactly what Izumi wants.

She steps off her skateboard and kicks it so it rolls under a car where she can get it later. She just got that board and doesn’t want the villain to break it.

From the top of one of the adjacent buildings, Pop shouts to the bystanders outside the fence, “it’s an instant villain with a hardening quirk! Someone call the cops, please!”

“You can do it, Deku!”
“Dodge, dodge!”

She ignores the bystanders shouts of encouragement. It's a distraction she'd rather not have, but the people of Naruhata hardly ever run away when there's a villain. By keeping lower to the ground Izumi manages to direct the villain’s attacks downward, making them easier to dodge. Although it does have the unfortunate side effect of putting big holes in the ground.

Getting harder for me to move safely, Izumi thinks.

The universe must have a cruel sense of humor, because one of her feet goes straight into one of the holes left by the villain’s fist.

She loses her balance and starts to fall backward.

She catches herself at the last moment, relieved to not end up with a sprained or broken wrist (or something worse).

The relief is short lived, however, with the villain nearly on top of her and his fist about to turn her head into pulp.

Izumi closes her eyes... but the blow never comes.

Cracking one eye open, Izumi sees the back of a black-clad figure holding a sword that’s stopped the villain’s fist in its tracks. The figure pushes the villain back and slashes at him, the sword doing nothing but leaving scratches on the rocky surface of the villain’s arms. They jump back and pull two knives from their vest. “Hmph… hard, aren’t you?”

The hardened villain turns tail and runs when Pop shouts “it’s the cops!” Then, to Izumi, “we’d better hightail it out, too!”

Distracted as she is, she doesn’t pay much attention to Pop, instead focusing on the figure that had saved her. “Um… thanks for the save, there. Who are you, exactly…?”

The figure turns, revealing a burnt-orange visor covering his face, a small smile just barely visible. He says, “the name’s Stendhal. Another meddler, just like you.” Then, with seemingly superhuman agility, Stendhal parkours away.

★★★

Back in her apartment with Pop and Knuckleduster (who had shown up after the fight) Izumi gushes about Stendhal, “He was so cool! I’d never carry around something like a katana, but he looked awesome using it!”

“Jeez, you got a crush on him or something?” comes the accusation from Pop.

Izumi chuckles, “um, ew? No way, sorry, I’m beating the straight allegations!”

Pop lets out a breathy half-laugh, but Knuckleduster has gone completely still. Izumi does the same a moment later. Then Pop freezes too, staring at Knuckleduster.

Izumi chances a glance at the man. He looks… angry. Shit. How did she get so careless so quickly? Trying to defuse the situation, Izumi panics and stutters, “I-I-I mean- I mean, the gay allegations! It’s a meme from-”

Knuckleduster slams his fist on the kotatsu and shouts “dammit, you mean I’ve been using the wrong pronouns this whole damn time?! Why didn’t you say something, girl!”

Everything is quiet for a moment. Then Pop starts laughing.

Izumi is confused.

“Wait, wha…?”

“Just cause I beat people up doesn't mean I'm a goddamn bigot!”

“Flawless logic, gramps!” Shouts Pop between wheezing laughs.

Izumi feels like she’s been made a fool of, somehow. Is it really that easy? It was with Pop, but Izumi assumed that was an outlier adn should not have been counted. Yet here is Knuckleduster, her Master, saying it like it's easy.

“Well… I guess… Um, you can both just call me Izumi, then. Since that’s out in the open already. No point in hiding it,” despite her words, Izumi covers her head with her arms.

The room goes silent for a few moments until Pop speaks up, “just got a text from Samazu and the gang. Something about their… ‘legendary senpai’? Apparently this local guy they know is famous for being good in a fight. The manliest man there is, who can’t tolerate injustice. They told him about us, and he’s eager to meet up. At the restaurant in front of the station.”

Izumi lowers her arms and takes the obvious bait. “Oh? It’d be nice to work with another local. Same goes for Stendhal. Help shows up where it’s needed, I guess.”

★★★

It’s him. Spike Jerk. That’s Samazu and Namimaru’s ‘legendary senpai’. His name is Soga, according to Samazu.

Great.

Spike Jerk says, “oh? Where’s the old man today?”

A deep frown darkens Izumi's face. Pop screams, enraged.

“Eh? You’re friends?” asks Namimaru.

“No!” Izumi says.
“NOT EVEN CLOSE!!” shouts Pop.

Spike Jerk turns his head to the side, almost like he’s ashamed, and says, “You guys really think that poorly of me?”

All Izumi can do is gape at him in amazement. How could they not think poorly of him?! He’s-

“You're the rape ‘n murder man!” Pop finishes Izumi’s thought.

“Yeah, that’s it!” Izumi adds, snapping her fingers and pointing at Pop.

Spike Jerk stands up and starts walking away with a scowl on his face. “Whatever. No use talking to these clowns.”

Izumi takes a step forward, fist balled at her side. Pop grabs her arm and pulls her back. “Let sleeping dogs lie, Izumi.”

She turns her glare on Pop, “this one’s kinda hard to let go.”

But because it’s Pop, she relents.

★★★

Chizome

Chizome hasn’t stopped hunting the villain he had stopped from splattering the vigilante earlier. The villain is getting tired, likely crashing from whatever drugs are in his system. But Chizome has no such problem.

Finally, he finds the villain in an alley.

The first knife thrown bounces off his back but does its job and gets his attention. He turns his head, and the next knife goes straight into the villain’s eye. The villain loses his grip on his quirk and begins to soften again. Two more knives, in his back this time. The villain fully turns around, holding a hand up in front of him like he's surrendering.

Chizome stalks forward.

“I knew your eyes wouldn’t be hardened. And the pain and fear would rattle your focus, leaving you unable to maintain the hardening across the rest of your body. But the real root of your agony and terror… is your lack of conviction. Power wielded without conviction amounts to a crime. Those are what we call villains,” the monologue doesn’t even pause as Chizome grabs the sword from his back and begins to draw it, taking a deep breath. “The power of my blade will eradicate the crime that is your very existence.”

One quick slash severs the villain’s left hand and draws a perfect line down his front.

He’s dead before he hits the ground.

“This is your judgement.”

A buzzing alerts Chizome to her presence, but he does not fear. He is useful to her, and she is useful to him, and so neither will hurt the other. A mutual agreement that never needed to be discussed.

“Incredible!” she shouts from a nearby rooftop, watching him curiously.

He looks down at the small stack of photos in his hand and moves the top one, the photo of the villain he just killed. The next in the stack is a boy he has seen before. A villain who uses the spikes created by his quirk to intimidate and hurt others.

“This one is next.”

★★★

Soga

After the events of a week ago, when that giant Instant Villain popped up and almost killed that damn vigilante, Rapt had been in the hospital. Soga and Moyuru hadn’t gotten around to visiting him until now. Moyuru is the much more talkative one, despite Soga and Rapt being closer, so Soga lets him do the talking, content to stand back and listen. A nurse comes into the room to try to stop Rapt from smoking, so the three leave the hospital instead.

Later, once they’re outside, Rapt lights a cigarette, takes a deep drag, and says “they’re gonna check me over one more time and let me out this weekend, I think.”

“Ohh, didn’t have to stay long, huh? Even after you got smashed to pieces on the roadside,” Moyuru responds.

“I’m a lizard, I recover quickly.”

Moyuru chuckles, the flame on his head bobbing with the motion, and says “guess you’re grateful for that quirk of yours. That drug we took probably helped too, yeah?”

With a steady exhale of smoke, Rapt continues. “Trigger, right. I don’t know, man. It might’ve saved me from dying right there and then, yeah. But it’s cuz of that drug that we even got into that mess. Not feeling all that grateful in that sense. But… getting to fly like that was pretty awesome.”

Soga listens to the back and forth for a few more moments before lowering his own cigarette and turning his head to his friends. “Rapt… you think you’d ever wanna fly again?”

“Hah? No way, man. I flew, I fell. Bam! Hospital. What kinda dumbass doesn’t learn a lesson?”

Soga doesn’t. Later that night, long after the three of them part ways, he goes wandering. He finds, right where he was told, a girl slightly younger than him, maybe high school age and still wearing the uniform. She smirks.

“Oh? Where’re your friends?”

He didn’t tell them. After what Rapt said, he couldn’t drag them into it again. He tells her “they ain’t part of this.”

The girl grins and puts on the puppy eyes - or eye, since her left is covered by a shock of hair. “You gotta let them all know, though. Haven’t you seen the news? ‘Bloodbath at a crime gang’s headquarters in Danto Ward. The scene was a portrait of hell itself.’ You boys might be the next targets of the murderer who slaughtered all those scaaary Yakuza guys! You should team up and fight back!”

With a scoff, Soga starts to walk away, saying “drop the act. It’s getting on my nerves. Like I already said, I’ll take on this killer all by myself!”

She nods, “oh, sure, I get it. Don’t wanna get your friends involved. I mean, it’s good to know you’re so motivated. Fighting to protect others is a decent path to follow.”

From behind her a figure steps out of the narrow space between two buildings. Soga startles. He recognizes this guy. Dark orange visor, bodysuit, knives all over his body and a sword strapped to his back. It’s the exact killer the girl was just talking about.

“Enough of this charade. I’ll cut him down and move on to the next one,” the guy says as he starts to draw his sword.

The girl smiles, produces a briefcase, and opens it to show a row of familiar vials, “now, listen Soga. If you lose here, Rapt and Moyuru are goners! Fight for your life, ‘kay?”

Soga isn’t gonna take this shit. Producing spikes from his fist he slashes the briefcase, sending it to the ground. Vindictively, he steps hard on one of the vials that falls out.

“Y’think I’m gonna play your little game? C’mon, you masked freak! I don’t need drugs to take you down,” Soga threatens, holding his fist up to show off the spikes protruding from between his knuckles, “these are enough.”

“Really? Booooooring!” says the girl. Soga hears buzzing coming from her direction. “So how about I make it interesting?”

From behind her, dozens of bees fly at Soga. All it takes is one sting, and he starts to change.

When he looks at her, she’s grinning at him. Just like everyone else. It’s always been like that, people grinning at him like they enjoy his pain and torment. Their faces never match their words. Even that damn vigilante grinned at him as he flipped him over with that crazy grab. Even as Soga was going to snuff out his life. Then the wannabe idol, grinning at him while he threatened her, hurt her. Everyone is always grinning at him!

THEY’RE MAKIN’ ME INTO A MONSTER!!

★★★

Izumi

Izumi is glad she’s on her bike when she hears some villain starting to rampage. Maybe she’ll get to help out the Heroes. Pop isn’t out with her tonight, so maybe she’ll even get to do some fighting, like Master taught her. She’s not so glad about what she actually sees, though.

The Dekucycle skids to a stop in between Stendhal and Soga. Soga, who has been turned into a beast; a giant, humanoid porcupine, like before. So he’s on Trigger again?

“What the hell? Stendhal? Soga?” Izumi questions, flipping her helmet's visor up to get a better look at them.

Stendhal starts to step past her and says “stand aside, Deku. This villain is mine to slay.”

“Slay? He is very obviously hopped up on Trigger! He needs to get help, not slain!”

But Stendhal ignores her shouts, continuing past her. Before she can react, he’s pulled his katana from his back and slashed Soga across the chest.

He’s aiming to kill.

No hesitation.

Soga starts to back up, so Izumi revs her bike and pulls it in front of Stendhal as quickly as she can, kicking out her foot to hit him in the chest. He staggers back, giving her an opportunity to pull the mutated Soga onto the bike behind her. She’s not sure she’ll ever get all the blood out of her hoodie. Good thing she has a backup.

Tire marks on asphalt and the smell of burning rubber accompany Izumi and Soga’s rapid escape. She hears one knife hit the pavement to her side, then another embeds itself in her lower leg. She grits her teeth against the pain, pushing it to the back of her mind, and accelerates.

She gets the Dekucycle around a corner and onto another street when she suddenly loses all control of her body. It’s a good thing she took to wearing motorcycle pads like Ingenium suggested.

The Dekucycle spins out and loses control, skidding over the pavement and scattering her and Soga. The whine and crunch of metal bending and breaking hurts her ears. She just got it repaired, too.

🎵 Relentless Fanatic - Stendhal

“Your day has come, villains. Here, crawling in this filth, you will breathe your last under heaven’s judgement,” Stendhal approaches slowly, monologuing just like any other mediocre villain, “no one will save criminals like you, or care about your fate. No one at all.”

From above them, “nope! Wrong, because…”

Izumi watches as Knuckleduster swings down from a roof on his grappling hook, a kick to Stendhal’s face just barely missing. Knuckleduster lets go of the rope and skids to a stop, leaving Stendhal between himself and Izumi. He turns to Stendhal, holding his brass-clad fist up in challenge.

“I’m here!!”

Relief floods Izumi’s body like a physical sensation, and she shouts “Master!”

“You. You’re the one they call Stendhal, yeah? I hear you were looking out for my girl, here.”

Stendhal is silent for a moment. Then, he stands back and lowers his blade.

“You’re Knuckleduster. The Vigilante of Naruhata. I have no quarrel with you. You walk the path of justice in this warped society. We share the same cause-”

“The same? Like hell we do! I’m a badass ally to justice. You’re just some third rate mad slasher,” Knuckleduster taunts.

Stendhal shifts to the side, “you refuse to understand…? What a shame.”

“Nah, the real shame is that you screwed up the timing on that sneak attack, eh? I saw right through you, judging the gap between us. ‘One step, one slash.’ That’s kinda oversimplifying, but… too far away, and I dodge your first swing. You’re defenseless. Too close, and I duck into punching range real quick. Tough break for you.” Knuckleduster reaches into his coat and pulls out a length of rope, tossing it out on the ground.

It marks a vivid line between the two.

“But I’m a nice guy, so let’s make things simple,” continues Knuckleduster, “you can walk away quietly now. That’s option A. Or you can cross that line. That’s when you’ll eat a knuckle sandwich!!”

He shifts into a ready stance, one fist forward and the other kept close to him, waiting for Stendhal to make his move.

Izumi has seen him do things exactly like this both in training and on the street.

She knows that Stendhal doesn’t stand any kind of chance.

“I see. So that distance represents your attack range. Needless to say, it’s a wall of steel. Every fiber of your being is ready to counter. That effectively cancels out my own weapon’s advantages. A quick retreat, then. However…” Stendhal hops back several steps before stopping and rushing forward again, shouting “I WILL CROSS IT!”

With a near superhuman leap, Stendhal rushes toward Knuckleduster, blade drawn to the side ready to strike at the perfect moment.

Izumi watches in awe as Knuckleduster steps forward past the rope before Stendhal can even cross it and slams his metal clad fist into the villain’s visor, cracking it and sending him flying back with a spray of blood.

Suddenly, Izumi can move again. She stands and grins at Knuckleduster.

“I’m not at all surprised that you ignored the rule you put down. I’ll have to keep that in mind for later,” she says cheerfully.

Knuckleduster leans down and picks the broken mask up off the ground. “Hm. Guy wears a mask to really sink into the role. You run into people like that, now and then. By putting on some costume or disguise, they convince themselves they’re different than their everyday selves, making them immortal superhumans. Guys like that can be real trouble, since they come charging in, ignoring common sense and safety. But when someone goes to them instead, turns out they’re pretty fragile. He’s human too, in the end. That’s how it goes when a guy forgets that. Wasn’t determined enough.”

From further down the alley, Stendhal coughs once, twice, before regaining his voice, “I see. I understand now.”

In a flash, he’s up and bouncing off the walls headed straight for Knuckleduster.

Before he can get there, Izumi grabs the rope. Using it like a whip, she catches it around Stendhal’s ankle and yanks with all her strength. She stops Stendhal just short of being able to hit Knuckleduster, but before she can do anything more he’s already cut the rope and jumped away, onto an AC box hanging out of a window.

“Those even more sinful than villains. Those who lack determination yet still applaud themselves. SHAM HEROES! Yes, yes… so clear now. My mask, like ignorance, has been stripped away. I’m so very grateful for this lesson from an elder.”

And then Stendhal is gone, up to a roof and away from them. Izumi sits back down to take pressure off her leg.

“That was pretty slick with the rope, girl. Where’d you learn to do that?” Knuckleduster asks.

“I- um… I didn’t. It just kinda worked?” Izumi replies with a questioning lilt.

“Not bad. Maybe we’ll find you something better than a bit of rope and you can try it out in train-”

“Izumi!” Pop lands on the ground in front of them, “you hurt?!” She’s got a medical kit in one hand and a full first aid bag slung over her other arm.

“Ah, kinda. Stendhal got me in the leg with one of his knives,” gesturing to where she got hit, she realizes the knife is still there. She never removed it, and Stendhal never got close enough to her to take it back once Knuckleduster appeared.

The old man himself has moved over to Soga and set his long overcoat around his shoulders. When he transformed his clothes must have ripped off; everything but his pants, luckily.

Pop pushes Izumi to sit against the same wall as Soga and sets the first aid bag and medical kit down on the ground, pulling some disinfectant and bandages out of one.

“This’s gonna hurt,” is all the warning Izumi gets before Pop pulls the knife out and squirts disinfectant into the wound.

It does hurt. The knife coming out wasn’t bad, but the disinfectant stings.

Ignoring the indignant “hey!” from Pop, Knuckleduster grabs the disinfectant and bandages from her before examining Izumi’s leg.

“Hmm. Just a scratch. Doesn’t look like any tendons got cut and the knife missed any major veins or arteries. I’ve got this, kid. If you wanna help, help him,” Knuckleduster punctuates his command by pointing at Soga, still sitting back against the wall. Pop grumbles but assents and takes the medical kit over to him.

Knuckleduster turns back to Izumi and examines her leg again. “Well it might hurt, but the shin guards you wear stopped it from going very deep. Doubt you’ll even need stitches. Take it off and roll up your pant leg so I can wrap it,” he says. She does as she’s told.

While Knuckleduster works, Izumi looks over at Soga. Her first thought is that he deserved it. He is not a good person; he hurt her and harassed Pop and he’s surely done a dozen other awful things and by all rights she should be happy that he got his just desserts.

But... she isn't.

His past behavior doesn’t mean he should be hurt back. It means he needs help.

“You gonna be okay, Soga?” Izumi asks with a small smile.

“Tch.”

“‘Tch,’ he says. Why ‘tch’? I saved your life!”

Soga ignores her and looks at Pop, “hey, what’s up with that kid anyway? We were about to meet our makers and now he’s smiling like nothing happened. He a bit screwed up in the head or something?”

“She is not screwy. Just an idiot,” Pop replies, looking away from Soga and Izumi both. There's a faint trace of red on her neck, Izumi notices.

★★★

Izumi, as she finds herself doing too often, returns to the alley the next night, respirator on her face and bag full of spray paint on her back.

This time, the piece is simple. A blood red line down the middle of the alley, where Master had thrown the rope. On one side, she writes in a brighter red,

CONVICTION

and on the other,

DETERMINATION

She knows this one won't last. The scraping of feet will wear it away in no time. But maybe that's the best part of it. None of it will be around forever.

★★★

Chizome

Chizome leans against the sink and stares into the mirror, his face barely visible through the dirt covering its surface. Breathing deeply as he can with a broken nose, he starts talking.

“Power. Speed. Weapons. Strategy. As I am now… I’m lacking far too much. But my greatest deficiency is… yes. Determination.”

Before he can raise the knife to his face and do what he wants - no, needs to do, the girl who led him to those villains interrupts him, “hmm… the way I look at things… work, life, whatever- everything’s better when it’s interesting. But there’s nothing interesting about determination, no matter how much you’ve got!”

“SHUT UP.”

Chizome turns and throws a knife directly at her. It hits her in her eye, the left, and she collapses to the ground.

“Haah… yes, good,” he says, breathing deeply as he turns back to the mirror and takes a much bigger knife to his face, carving off his broken nose. It’s useless. “No mask for me… not anymore.”

He leaves the building and the girl behind.

“My flashy mask cracked. My false face has fallen away. Now I finally see the true nature of this world with eyes uncovered, unclouded. No truths, no falsehoods, no boundaries to cross. All that we know exists as a maelstrom of chaos.”

Blood drips from his face onto the ground; he staggers through the streets to some unknown destination.

“I am the faceless ideal. One who acts without really existing. I will dye this world red. The blood that flows from me is proof enough… it is the path I leave in my wake…” he pauses and breathes deeply through his mouth, his sinuses too full of blood.

“A path to serve as a guide for others. These bloodstains will never fade…”

Chapter Text

Izumi

Not too long after the fight with Stendhal, Izumi’s summer break comes to an end, and soon enough classes have started again. Her only saving grace is that after she quit her job at the convenience store her mom and dad offered to help her out with her expenses. They’d cover her cost of living (food, clothes, rent, etc), but any extra expenses like Hero merch (or vigilante gear, or graffiti supplies, which they don’t know about) would have to come from Izumi’s pocket. So at the very least she doesn’t have to work a shitty job in between classes, studying for classes, vigilantism, and training for said vigilantism.

It still leaves her tired, though.

Tired enough that once she got to class she set her head down ‘to rest [her] eyes’ and slept through most of the class, only waking at the end in time to hear what their next quiz would be on.

Tired enough that she sits in her usual spot in the cafeteria eating slowly and staring at her textbook.

Tired enough that when someone comes over to her table and says “anyone sitting here?” Izumi doesn’t think about it before telling them to go ahead and sit down.

“You’ve been staring at that same page for a while now. What are you reading?” They ask. Their question pulls Izumi out of her half-slumber, still drowsy and tired but not ready to put her head down and sleep anymore.

She folds the corner of the page she’s on and closes the textbook, turning it on the table so the other person can see the title.

“My... Hero Sociology textbook. Written by the professor. Tryna… study for the quiz,” explains Izumi through several yawns.

“That book’s a real chore to get through. You’d be better off copying notes from an upperclassman in your study group.”

Izumi finally takes a good look at the person who sat down and her ears turn pink.

She’s pretty.

Embarrassed, Izumi says “I’m, uh, I’m not actually in a study group.”

“A loner, then!”

“Ah- heh, yeah, I guess so,” Izumi looks away, hoping to hide her blush.

The truth is, Izumi had tried to join a study group, but one of the members got weird about the way that Izumi never made eye contact. So, Izumi decided not to join that study group (or any others). People tend to focus on the wrong things, and for Izumi that means just about any behavior that a cishet neurotypical person finds even mildly offputting.

“You’ve got it rough, huh?” The stranger seems to take Izumi’s half-hearted mumbling response as confirmation. “Hm. I’ve got an idea. Let me help you out!”

And that gets Izumi’s attention. Suddenly more awake and aware, she says “huh??”

“In Arano’s seminar, I’m actually-”

From the table behind Izumi, someone who is probably this woman's friend interrupts, “oooooo, Makoto’s robbing the cradle, looks like!”

“Nahhhh!” the newly dubbed Makoto replies, waving them off. She turns back to Izumi, “Izuku Midoriya, first-year engineering major, sociology minor. Known around campus as ‘the creeper of the Naruhata Ruins.’”

Aside from the disaster that was the study group, Izumi had also tried to make friends at the start of her first term and invited them to her place. But the moment the group saw the building where she lived they assumed she was luring them there to murder them or something wild like that. So she gained a reputation as, well…

Instead of giving an actual response to the non-accusational accusation, Izumi focuses on the first part of what Makoto said, informing her that “it’s Izumi, actually. Not Izuku.”

Makoto looks puzzled. “Oh, really? Huh, must’ve gotten some wrong information…”

“Is that rumor really still going around? That I’m a creep?”

Ignoring her question, Makoto says “I’ve been looking around for someone who knows that neighborhood well. You’d be real useful to me.” She winks and smiles at Izumi, “don’t worry, I’m not gonna eat ya. Between your studying and my ‘business’ it’ll be quid pro quo!” Izumi doesn’t really need help studying since she’s very good at stuff like Hero Sociology, but she can’t bring herself to say no to a pretty girl like Makoto.

★★★

Makoto is laughing. Izumi pays dirt cheap rent for a nice apartment next to the station and Makoto is laughing.

“A ‘penthouse’ they called it?! You totally got bamboozled by that real estate office!”

The urge to smile and laugh along is too strong for Izumi to frown and be upset. So, smiling and laughing along, Izumi says “yeah, kinda!”

When they get to the door, Izumi pauses. “Hey, could you wait out here for just a second? Sometimes my… friends will show up unannounced and let themselves in if I’m not here, so I wanna make sure the place is clean. I had to give the one a key so he’d stop breaking my window every time…”

“Oh! Sure!” replies an amused and confused Makoto.

Izumi unlocks the door and steps in, quickly closing it behind her.

Knuckleduster’s trash covers the floor in front of the TV, which Izumi quickly clears and shoves into a garbage can. Her green hoodie is hanging up waiting to be washed after last night’s escapades, so Izumi grabs it and tosses it toward her bed and through the curtain. Beside it rests some of Pop’s things; an open notebook and a teddy bear.

On an average day she’d assume Pop just forgot them, but the curtain separating her bed from the rest of the space is closed.

She never leaves it closed.

She yanks it open to find a red-faced Pop★Step glaring back at her.

Izumi smiles and says “I think I made a new friend today. Wanna meet her? I can make an excuse for you to leave if you don’t.”

Both the blush and the glare on Pop’s face get deeper. She whisper-shouts, “why would I wanna meet a stupid friend of yours?! Y’know, it’s rude to show up unannounced with guests!”

“Not if it’s my own home and you’re an uninvited guest,” Izumi points out levelly. That just seems to make Pop more angry, but Izumi keeps smiling and continues, “I’d really like it if you stayed to meet her. You’re my only actual friend - at least I think we’re friends - and if I’m making a new friend then I want you two to at least know each other.”

From outside, Makoto asks “you almost ready in there?”

A concerned furrow works its way into Izumi’s brow, her smile starting to dip.

Pop’s glare turns to a frown and her blush starts to fade. It’s a few seconds before she responds, “fine. Only because you asked nicely. Idiot.”

Izumi’s brow smooths out and she starts grinning again. “Awesome! Close the curtain to my bed when you come out, please? And leave the hoodie, I don’t want her connecting me to Deku.”

Once Pop has left Izumi's bed, Izumi goes back to the door and opens it. Makoto is still patiently waiting, so Izumi says “hey, one of my friends is here - not the one who broke my window, thankfully - and she’s gonna hang around while we study, if that’s cool.”

Makoto smiles and nods. “Sure!”

Sitting at the table when they enter the apartment is one Pop★Step, dressed down in her civilian clothes.

Izumi realizes, suddenly, that she has no idea what to call her if not Pop★Step. So, instead of introducing them like she should, Izumi awkwardly sits at the table with her back to the television while Pop and Makoto sit to her right and left, respectively, each girl taking up one side of the table.

Makoto waves a little and smiles, introducing herself, “hey, I’m Makoto! Izumi here needed some help with her classes, so I offered to help out.”

Pop sits up a little straighter, her frown lessening when Makoto uses Izumi’s proper name and pronouns, and introduces herself in turn, “Kazuho.”

Izumi can’t help the small grin that stretches across her face.

Makoto continues, “I take it by your uniform you’re not in university, then?”

“Ah… Not yet, no. I’m in my final year of high school right now, just a year behind Izumi,” says Kazuho Pop.

(It’s too weird thinking of her as Kazuho when she never explicitly told Izumi to call her that.)

“Well then I’m not sure how much help I can be with any of your studies, although I guess since everyone sorta learns the same stuff in high school Izumi and I could both help you if you need it?” Makoto pulls her hair back into a low ponytail as she speaks, “let’s start with your stuff then, Izumi. Lemme see your course schedule.”

★★★

“Vigilantism - that brand of more personal justice - may have given rise to the official Hero Licensing System with its public justice, but now the two forces stand in opposition with each warily monitoring the other. That’s the conclusion of Chapter 3. Writing that should be enough to pass the test, but you oughta read over the pages I marked,” concludes Makoto. She takes a deep breath and smiles at Izumi, who had been writing down what Makoto was saying word for word as she spoke.

It had been almost a half hour of Makoto talking, Izumi occasionally interrupting to ask questions or to make comments, with Pop sitting quietly working on her own schoolwork. Every once in a while she’d poke Izumi or shout at Makoto (or vice versa) to get them to help her out with one thing or another.

“That’s… really helpful,” Izumi says, accepting the textbook back, now with a dozen or more sticky notes sticking out of the top. She didn't think she'd need any help, but she's not lying. This is helpful.

“Don’t breathe easy yet,” Makoto says. Izumi tenses. Makoto continues, “We’ve got an extra-credit problem! When the government of Rhode Island in America implemented the statute that separated Heroes from Villains, what do you think the defining factor was?”

“Hmm. That’s hard to say, especially since we’re talking about America. At the time I don’t think public opinion was very influential in governmental policies, so… huh. I’m not sure,” Izumi replies, a little put out that she didn’t know something like that.

Makoto chuckles and smirks at Izumi, “the answer is… a secret!”

Izumi's mouth drops open. “What! You can’t leave it like that, I gotta know!”

“Sorry, that’s not actually for your class. It’s the theme of my independent study! If you help me out, you’ll get your answer,” she teases with a wink.

“Yeah, sure, of course! Whatever you need!” Izumi pauses for a long moment before, “which is what, specifically?”

“Fieldwork on the Naruhata Vigilantes who popped up recently!!” Izumi goes still and Pop chokes on her tea, but Makoto doesn’t seem to notice. “By studying modern-day vigilantes, which are basically living fossils, we might get some new insight into the process that created the Hero System as we know it. It’s sure to be a winning thesis!” It’s only then that she notices Izumi and Pop’s strange reactions, “are you two okay?”

With a very nonchalant and not at all suspicious shrug, Izumi says “it’s nothing. I’ve heard about them and what they do. Seems like they’re really trying to help preserve the peace around here. But isn’t it kinda dangerous to go chasing after people who fight villains regularly?”

Grabbing Izumi around the neck with her arm, Makoto beams, “that’s where my new bodyguard gets to shine!”

“Me??”

Makoto puts everything back in her bag and stands up. While Izumi walks her to the door she says “this Saturday at 10 in front of the station. See you there!”

And she’s gone.

Izumi scratches the back of her head in confusion. What just happened? Did she get shanghai’d into helping Makoto just because she’s pretty? And not just helping her, but helping her hunt Izumi down??

This can’t go well.

“You are such an idiot.”

“I know, Pop.”

★★★

“You look like an idiot.”

“I know, Pop.”

The next day finds Izumi training with Knuckleduster while Pop sits on top of Izumi’s ‘penthouse’ and watches them. Since their encounter with Stendhal a month and a half prior, Knuckleduster had been trying to train Izumi to use a whip, assuming she’d be good at it since she was able to slow down Stain with the rope. Now, though, Izumi can’t even get close to hitting Knuckleduster with it.

Frustrated at the lack of progress, Izumi drops the whip and signals for a time-out.

“Listen, Master, I appreciate that you want me to be more varied in my fighting style, but it’s been weeks now and I am clearly not getting any better at this. We should just call it what it is: pure dumb luck,” she rationalizes.

Knuckleduster grunts and stands up straight, dropping his hands so he no longer looks like he’s about to punch her.

“You can’t be useless in a fight forever, girl. Someday me or Pop★Step or even an innocent bystander might need you to fight in their defense instead of just running away like you always do. You've gotta be able to stand up and fight back.”

“That’s flattering,” drawls Izumi, rolling her eyes and ignoring the sting. He's right. She doesn't want to admit it (at least not in front of Pop), but he is.

“It’s not s’posed to be. How can you call yourself a true blue Hero if you can’t even fight!?”

Time and again, they have this argument, over and over and over. And it always ends the same way. Izumi admits he has a point, then Pop interjects to tell her violence isn’t the solution, and when Izumi gives a noncommittal response Pop grabs her things and leaves. This time isn’t any different.

After Pop leaves, though, Knuckleduster grumbles and pulls something out of his coat. It’s a length of rope with a grappling hook on the end, like he uses to get around. “Here y’go, kid. Maybe a whip isn’t right for you, but even out of combat you’re gonna need more mobility.”

Well. It’s a start.

★★★

Saturday comes and Izumi meets up with Makoto at the station to help her with her thesis. According to Makoto, the answer to the question she asked Izumi last time, about the defining factor between Hero and Villain when vigilantes were outlawed, was popularity; or maybe more accurately, public trust.

After Makoto drops that bomb, Izumi is given a camera and told to record while Makoto goes around and asks people their opinions on the Naruhata Vigilantes. If they’re really lucky, Makoto tells her, they might actually run into one of them!

The first people they interview are, hilariously, Samazu and Namimaru, who almost give up Izumi’s secret. Luckily Makoto is paying more attention to them than Izumi, so she’s able to pantomime at them to be quiet. After that, the two of them stick around. By the time they’re done with their street interviews, Makoto has already gone through and made pie charts for each of the vigilantes.

DEKU

1. Too friendly/flirty/suspicious
2. Helpful, but lame in a fight
3. Nice, but plain
4. Bunny
5. Other

POP★STEP

1. Butt
2. Cute
3. Embarrassing
4. Love her!
5. Other

GRANDPA FIST

1. Don’t know him
2. Scary
3. Other
4. Bad news
5. Someone to avoid

Izumi frowns dejectedly. “Wow. Not many people had anything good to say about Deku, huh?”

Behind her, Samazu and Namimaru are cackling. Luckily, Makoto seems to think they’re laughing at the Vigilantes and not at Izumi specifically. Makoto is about to say something when her laptop disappears from its place, snatched by a thief dribbling a soccer ball.

Izumi immediately jumps into action, tossing the camera to Makoto and saying “wait here!” before rushing off and into a nearby alley. She hadn’t expected that she’d need her bike today, let alone that she’d have parked it in such a perfect place, but as luck would have it…

She yanks her Deku hoodie out of her backpack and around her shoulders, pulling a mask on instead of her respirator and sticking her earpiece in. Above her, sitting on the railing of an apartment balcony, Pop says “why’re you getting changed? This is perfect. With her laptop stolen, she’ll have no choice but to go home empty-handed. Nothing to connect you to Deku.”

“This is for her thesis. That means it’s important to her, Pop. I’m not doing this to show off, I’m doing it cause it’s the right thing to do and I can’t catch up to the guy without my bike,” Deku says, and she really means it.

Makoto is pretty, and nice, and has been helping her study even though she doesn’t need to, but even if none of that were true she’d still be chasing the thief down. She's doing this because it’s the right thing to do.

Izumi puts her helmet on. The visor is still up, giving Pop an unobstructed view of Izumi's eyes when she does puppy dog eyes at Pop and asks “can you get a visual on him and tell me where I can intercept?”

“UGH, FINE!!” Pop shouts.

“Thanks!” Deku shouts back, then flicks down her visor and slings her leg over the seat of the motorcycle. She turns the key and feels it rumble to life beneath her.

By the time she’s started moving Pop is already gone, speaking through the earpiece to keep Deku up to date, “he’s got good maneuverability, but he’s not super clever when it comes to his route. Looks like he might be going in a circle, actually. Go two blocks ahead of you, then into the alley on the right. Keep going straight from there and you should be able to catch him.”

“Got it.”

Deku follows Pop’s directions, her bike growling beneath her, rising in pitch and volume as she gains speed. She’s not great at taking corners yet so she has to slow down for it, but once she gets around the corner it’s just as Pop said.

A straight shot to the other side.

She guns it, the engine roaring for just a few moments before she hits the brake hard, coming to a stop just outside the alley, right in front of the thief. It happens so fast he can’t react, Deku kicking her foot out like she did with Stendhal and hitting the thief right in the chest.

It pushes Deku back. She almost falls over along with her bike, but manages to keep her balance. The laptop goes flying, however, prompting Deku to abandon her bike anyway and leap, skidding across the asphalt just far enough that the laptop lands in her hands. Her nose cracks off the visor of her helmet and she can tell it’s already bleeding, but it’s probably not broken so she ignores it for now.

Quickly, she rights her motorcycle and pulls it into another alley, parking it behind some trash. She strips off her hoodie to shove into her bag and hangs her helmet from the bike’s handlebars.

Mask off, Izumi returns to the street. A crowd forms pretty quickly after that, surrounding Izumi, Samazu, and Namimaru as the latter two tie up the thief. From just beyond the crowd, Izumi hears Makoto’s voice, “pardon me, I’m involved in this!”

A moment later, she shoves her way through the crowd. Her eyes light up with genuine concern when she sees Izumi’s bleeding nose. Izumi holds out the laptop to her with a smile and chuckles, saying “I’m fine, I think. I just tripped trying to get your laptop back, really.”

Someone in the crowd mentions Deku and Makoto’s attention shifts, scanning the mass of people to try to catch a glimpse of the vigilante. When she doesn’t find who she’s looking for, she turns back to Izumi with a determined expression.

“Thank you for your help, Izumi! It’s too bad I didn’t get to see Deku in action or even meet them, but that’s the mission for next time,” Makoto says, holding out her hand for a handshake. “Oh, right. Last thing. A personal question for you, Izumi.”

Izumi grabs her hand and says “yeah?”

Still smiling, Makoto’s face turns serious. “You’re actually Deku, aren’t you?”

Izumi is nervous, because it’s a trick question, right? No matter what her response is, Makoto will make her own conclusion based on how Izumi responds, not what she responds with. But. Well. She’s not Deku. Not at the moment, anyway. Right now, talking with her friend, she’s just plain Izumi Midoriya. So she answers honestly.

“Nope.”

Makoto looks confused, then says “oh… sorry, I thought for sure I was onto something!”

★★★

This is the first time this has happened. Deku is in an honest to god motorcycle chase! She and Pop had been on patrol when a thief had run out of a convenience store empty-handed. They wouldn’t have followed up on it if the cashier hadn’t run out just a half-second later, shouting at them to catch the thief. The thief jumped on a motorcycle to get away, so naturally Deku gave chase on her own bike.

Over her earpiece, Pop’s voice is reasonable, “just let the cops take care of this one. Playing cat and mouse like this is too dangerous!”

“But what if he escapes down some back alley?” questions Deku, “I’ll try to keep him on the run until the cops show up.”

As if karma had a sense of humor, the thief’s leg extends to a ridiculous length behind him, kicking Deku in the face and sending her and her bike sprawling. She comes to a stop, bruised and battered from the fall, and stands up.

BEEEEP BEEEEP

A truck is barely five feet away from her, still moving at highway speeds. She can almost see her life flashing before her eyes. At the last second, though, she’s picked up around her waist and lifted into the air. She yelps, and watches in horror as the truck hits her motorcycle instead of her and sends it off to the side, pieces flying and scattering along the highway. Those’ll be some expensive repairs. Dropped on the ground unceremoniously, Deku watches as a blur grabs the thief under one arm and hoists the thief’s bike over the other shoulder. They come to a stop floating in the air in front of Deku.

“Hah hah hah… you! Quite a brave boy, aren’t you? But you ought to let the pros handle the dangerous stuff!”

Deku recognizes him; he’s “Captain Celebrity! #1 Hero in the US the last four years!”

“So you’re a fan! Good to know!” Captain Celebrity pulls out a marker and quickly moves toward her, but Deku puts up her fists.

“Not the hoodie! This is a Limited Special Edition All Might hoodie!” She shouts at him.

“Alright then!” He shouts back. Instead of her hoodie, he grabs her head and signs her helmet. Standing up, he takes off his visor and smiles at her, saying “really, though? All Might? The way I see it, he’s nothing more than a muscle-brained oaf. He’s got no style. Playing Hero doesn’t suit you, boy!” And with that, Captain Celebrity flies off.

“I’m not a boy!” Izumi shouts after him despite knowing he can’t hear her.

★★★

From one incident to another, everywhere Deku goes after that it seems like Captain Celebrity, or CC as his fans call him, is there to scoop her up and play hero. The first time it’s a giant lizard rampaging through the streets. CC refuses to save a dog because it ‘doesn’t make him look as good as saving people,’ so Deku saves the dog. But when the rubble starts to fall and is about to smush both her and the dog, CC swoops in and grabs them. Then, as he’s showboating for the cameras, he signs Izumi’s hoodie . She spends an egregious amount of time scrubbing it to get the marker off. That incident causes major damage throughout Naruhata, taking out part of the highway and damaging several buildings.

After the second incident, a building collapsing after the previous giant villain’s rampage that CC so heroically saves Deku and two others from, Izumi and Pop learn that Makoto now works at CC’s Hero Agency as support. Mostly PR, it looks like. Izumi seethes as she watches CC flirt with Makoto. Pop gets mad and tells her to just let it go, but it feels impossible. Knuckleduster had told them of Captain ‘Catastrophe’ Celebrity’s reputation in the states, as if Izumi didn’t already know: Captain Celebrity is infamous for his constant legal trouble.

It almost exclusively has to do with women.

The third time, Captain Celebrity picks Izumi (not Deku) up from the middle of a crowd as an excuse to get away from two women that he saved who wanted to thank him. Izumi joins him for lunch with Makoto, who comes up with a brilliant plan to restore his reputation. Something to do with a rebrand fitting for Japan.

Izumi doesn’t pay too much attention to the details, mostly content to tune it out and watch Makoto in the zone doing what she’s good at.

Izumi is so screwed.

★★★

Kazuho

Kazuho, as usual, lets herself into Izumi’s apartment without knocking. Just opens the door with the key she was given and walks right in. She’s greeted by the sight of a sink full of dishes, a basket full of dirty laundry, Knuckleduster’s trash scattered on the floor… It’s like Izumi hasn’t cleaned in a week. Which, Kazuho realizes, she might not have.

“Ew, what stinks in here? Hey, this place is a pigsty, clean it up,” she commands Izumi.

Izumi groans, her head popping up from the bed for a second as she replies, “ugh. Yeah. Later. Had a night shift at my new job after patrol yesterday, then school. Then another shift. Need sleep.”

At the exact moment Izumi puts her head back down, her phone starts buzzing. She holds her hand up blindly and asks Kazuho to hand it to her, which she does. Upon hearing the voice of whoever it is on the other end, though, Izumi bolts upright. Kazuho hadn’t bothered to check the caller ID.

“Dad? Wait, hold on, what? What?? WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME EARLIER!!” Izumi’s voice squeaks in panic, which Kazuho finds genuinely cute. Not that she’d ever admit it.

Izumi has already gotten up and started pacing, holding the phone to her ear by her shoulder while she starts cleaning the apartment bit by bit. She seems to have completely forgotten that Kazuho is here. Instead of reminding her or even just leaving (like any polite person would), Kazuho sits down on the edge of Izumi’s bed and watches her.

“I woulda liked to know in advance that mom was coming here! … Because I have- No, because- No! Ew! Dad! It’s because I’m really busy between classes, my new job, and volunteering! … So that I can afford to buy myself nice things without your money. … I am grateful! … I swear I am, Dad, I’d never-! you’re laughing. It’s a joke. Ha ha, real funny, Dad. You know I can’t tell when you’re joking. … Yes! Because of that! … WHAT!? WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!? YOU CAN’T SAY SHIT LIKE THAT JUST BECAUSE-”

Izumi stops cleaning and goes silent for several long moments, listening to her father on the other end of the phone with an angry frown on her face. Then the frown disappears into a mostly neutral expression.

She sighs, saying, “I know. I forgive you. It’s not your fault and I don’t blame you, but it’s hard when you forget about it and make hurtful comments like that. … Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. Alright. I can do that. … Right, I almost forgot. Why’s she coming back to Japan anyway? And why does she have to stay here? I don’t exactly have room for her, my place is tiny. … It was nice, and cheap, and close to the station. … I like that it’s small. It makes it easier for me to clean and keep track of everything, plus I don’t need any more space than this. … Whaddya mean? Huh?? … Oh my god I told her I have a girlfriend didn’t I. Shiiiiiiiit… … Alright. I gotta go so I can finish cleaning the apartment before mom gets here. And maybe find someone to pretend to be my girlfriend for the day. Please don’t tell mom I lied about that. … Love you, too. Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. Okay Dad, really, I gotta go now. … Oh no! I’m losing connection! Aaaaaaaaaloveyoubye!”

Kazuho wishes she were just about anywhere else in Tokyo right now. That conversation was clearly personal and she feels like she’s intruding. She shouldn’t be here. She’s an invader in Izumi’s space and shouldn’t have heard any of that.

Izumi returns to cleaning, and Kazuho just keeps sitting there. She can’t bring herself to move or speak.

It’s Izumi who finally speaks up; she doesn't look at Kazuho, but her voice is small, and soft, and tired. “Sorry. You shouldn’t have had to hear any of that.”

Kazuho is confused. She was so concerned that she was intruding, she knew she had to apologize for it, and Izumi is apologizing to her? That’s not how this is supposed to work. Kazuho wants to say something normal, wants to apologize back and explain why Izumi shouldn’t be apologizing. Instead, what comes out is “sorry!? You’re such an idiot! I can’t believe I waste my time with you!”

Mortified and unwilling to show it, Kazuho grabs her bag from the table and runs out the door, slamming it behind her. She hears the door open again and Izumi shout “wait!” behind her, but Kazuho Leaps away before she can hear anything else. She doesn’t cry on her way back to her apartment, because this isn’t worth crying over.

Once she’s safely back in her apartment, she has time to think. Izumi hadn’t asked her directly, but she had mentioned asking ‘a friend’ to pretend to be her girlfriend for a day. That had to have meant Kazuho, right?

So Kazuho lays out an outfit for the next day, something simple. She can pretend to be Izumi’s girlfriend for a day and it won’t mean anything, right? It’s just a favor for a friend.

★★★

Izumi

She fucked up. Izumi knows she fucked up, otherwise Pop wouldn’t have left like that. Sometimes it’s funny when Pop gets angry. Sometimes it makes Izumi angry in return. And sometimes… sometimes it leaves Izumi with an empty feeling in her chest and a desperate need to apologize.

She shouldn’t have let herself get swept up in her conversation with her dad like that. She’s just like her mom, emotions too big and hard to control, and she knew Pop was there listening, but… she just kept talking, and then shouting, and then talking more, Pop lingering at the edge of her vision and her thoughts the whole time.

Once Izumi is done cleaning her apartment as thoroughly as she can, she sets an alarm on her phone and collapses into bed, asleep before her head hits the pillow. She dreams of pink hair and study dates.

Chapter Text

★★★

Izumi

It’s 5:45 PM and Makoto still hasn’t shown up.

It’s not like Inko Midoriya would ever hurt her child, Izumi knows that, and she wouldn’t even be upset with or disappointed in Izumi for lying. Most of the panic and anxiety over this situation has been fabricated entirely within the confines of Izumi’s mind, but that doesn’t mean the effects of the anxiety are any less real.

It only gets worse when her mom shows up, and Makoto still isn’t here.

Inko looks around the apartment and hums to herself, examining everything she can see. Izumi hovers behind her anxiously, waiting for some kind of verdict.

Inko turns and sees the anxious look on Izumi’s face. She reaches up to put a gentle hand on Izumi’s cheek and says “oh honey, you can relax. I’m glad to see you’re able to keep your place clean, but you know I wouldn’t be upset if it were messy.”

Izumi relaxes into the comforting touch and feels some of her anxiety ebb away. She responds, “yeah, I know.”

“Why don’t I make us some tea? Is green tea still your favorite?” Inko asks as she retracts her hand and makes her way into the small kitchen.

With a smile, Izumi sits at the kotatsu and says “yep! Doubt that’ll ever change.”

“That’s my boy,” her mother says with a smile and a chuckle.

Izumi knows she doesn’t know, and she knows it’s just one of those things her mom says that really means ‘I love you.’ But that doesn’t make it sting any less.

From the kitchen, “so when do I get to meet your mysterious girlfriend? I gotta make sure she’s gonna treat my little man alright, y’know!”

Izumi flinches, then checks her phone; no new messages, and it’s past 6 now. “She was supposed to be here a while ago, but she must be busy with work since she hasn’t texted.”

Ding dong!

Serendipity.

Izumi stands up from the table and moves to the door, unlocking it and pulling it open cautiously. She’s not sure what she’ll do if, instead of Makoto, it’s Knuckleduster knocking. Although, Knuckleduster has never knocked, even when he was trying to be polite.

Thankfully it is Makoto, dressed in casual clothes with her bag slung over her shoulder. She smiles at Izumi, “I’m so sorry I’m late, I had to clean up a literal mess at work so I went back to my place and changed first. Is she here yet?”

“Izuku? Is that her?” Izumi’s mother asks from the kitchen.

“Come on in,” says Izumi, ushering Makoto in and closing the door behind her.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Midoriya! I’m Makoto Tsukauchi. Izu- ku and I are seeing each other.”

Inko takes a look at Makoto, then Izumi, then Makoto, then Izumi, then Makoto again, before tsk-ing and shaking her head a little. “Izuku, honey, you really didn’t have to enlist a friend to play your girlfriend for the night. I wouldn’t have been upset if you had told me you lied, sweetie.”

“How- how did- how did- how did you know?!” Stutters Izumi.

“We may have been apart for the last few years but I am the one who raised you, you know. If you two were actually dating you’d have been attached to her the second the door opened - you’ve always been very physical in your affection,” Inko explains.

Makoto laughs, “wow! Didn’t even make it in the door, huh? You’re right though, Mrs Midoriya, we are just friends.” It’s Inko’s turn to laugh when Makoto stops and winks dramatically, “for now, of course. Who knows what the future will hold?”

Inko chuckles, but a bright red blush turns Izumi into a veritable tomato when Makoto accompanies her statement with a touch to Izumi’s shoulder.

Gentle, soft.

Izumi is so screwed.

All three move to the table with mugs in hand, the kettle having finished while they were talking by the door. Before Izumi can sit, however…

Ding dong!

Oh no. There’s only one person who would actually ring the doorbell instead of just barging in, and Izumi hasn’t told her that she’s not out to her mom yet.

Sure enough, opening the door reveals Pop★Step, wearing a simple dress with a sweater over it, a beanie with a pom-pom on top, and her usual bag slung over her shoulder. She’s blushing, and she looks nervous. She looks, god forbid Pop ever hear Izumi say it, cute.

The small smile on Izumi’s face widens a fraction, her own anxiety from just moments earlier ebbing away at the actual sight of her.

“What’re you doing here??” Izumi asks.

“Who’s that, sweetie?”

Pop looks past Izumi and sees Makoto and Inko sitting at the table together. Her eyes go wide and, without a word, she turns around to leave. Before she can get out the door, though, Izumi grabs her wrist.

“Wait, hold on. Why don’t you stay and have some tea?” she requests, then continues in a slightly louder voice, “so my mom can meet my other friend.”

The pointed look she gives Pop clearly gets across. Pop’s blush doesn’t fade, but she shoves her elbow into Izumi’s stomach and pushes past her toward the table.

“I’m Kazuho Haneyama, it’s nice to meet you, ma’am,” she says.

“I had no idea my little Izuku was so popular with the ladies! Maybe one of you will snatch him up after all!” Inko laughs at her own joke, and Izumi’s blush returns. “How do you two know each other?”

Pop looks back at Izumi, confused by the wrong name, but Izumi is busy trying to think up a convincing lie about how they know each other. Luckily, or maybe unluckily depending on your perspective, she’s saved by yet another appearance. From the open doorway, a deep voice, “hey, it’s me.”

Izumi’s heart drops into her stomach as she turns. She expects to see a brass knuckle clad mountain of a man with a bandana covering his face, ready to beat up some criminals. What she finds, instead, is Knuckleduster, Civilian Style^TM, standing in her doorway. He’s dressed normally, mask nowhere in sight.

“Oh. You have guests?” He asks, the most polite he’s ever been.

“You’re sure dressed up today, Master,” Izumi observes.

“Because I came straight over from work,” he lies.

Izumi wasn’t even sure he had an actual job. Until now she thought he made his money by stealing drug money from the Trigger dealers they take down.

“Ah. Um. Okay? Well this is my mom, Inko. And my senpai from school, Makoto,” Izumi points to each of them in turn.

“Well, pleased to meet you both. My name’s Kuroiwa,” he pulls a business card out from his blazer and presents it to Izumi’s mother. While Izumi and Pop whisper between themselves in confusion and bewilderment, Makoto stands up and walks straight over to Knuckleduster.

“Might I have a card, too? I never miss a chance to network!” Makoto says enthusiastically. He hands one over willingly, and Makoto remarks, “An NPO? What sort of projects do you work on?”

Knuckleduster grins slyly and gives Izumi and Pop a look before saying “we provide support in neighborhoods like east Naruhata, where local government and community organizations are less effective. In fact, volunteers like these two here are key to the mission. They keep the roads clean and patrol for crime at night.”

That is… technically the truth, actually. Izumi is impressed with the way Knuckleduster twists his words and meaning to fit the situation. Every time she thinks he’s just a brute who likes punching people…

Inko smiles and coos, “that’s so good to hear. Izuku here has always wanted to be a Hero, so I’m glad even if he didn’t become a pro he’s still being his heroic self! Oh, I’m so proud of you!” She grabs at Izumi and pulls her into a tight hug, already crying. Which, naturally, sets off Izumi’s waterworks.

The five end up talking for a while, though it’s mostly Inko telling embarrassing stories about Izumi. When she tells the story of how Izumi gave up on the UA Entrance Exam to save another boy from drowning, her eyes shine and her voice is full of pride. “He’s always been prone to getting into trouble, though. Always getting in the way of fights, getting hurt, putting himself in danger to help others… As his mother, I’ve always been... scared by just how heroic he is. But I wouldn’t have it any other way…” And again, the two end up crying while latching onto each other.

Knuckleduster leaves sooner rather than later, saying he needed to get home to his wife and daughter, but both Makoto and Pop stick around, much to Izumi’s delight.

Several cups of tea and a fresh plan to go sightseeing with Inko later, Makoto excuses herself as well, leaving just Pop. Pop, who has inched closer and closer to Izumi all night.

Inko smiles at Izumi in a knowing way, but Izumi doesn’t pick up on whatever she’s getting at.

“Dad said you were going to be staying here, but I don’t have anywhere for you to sleep, mom. If I even had a couch I’d offer you the bed and sleep there, but this is the first time I’ve had this many people here at once, so…”

“He told you I was staying with you? Oh, sweetie, no, he must have gotten it mixed up. I’m staying with the Bakugos for the week, you don’t have to worry about me. Little Katsuki just turned ten and I hear he’s gotten even more rambunctious, I'm so excited to see him!” Inko says.

Izumi smiles, relieved.

"Speaking of the Bakugos, I should really get going. I told Mitsuki I’d be there..." she checks her phone, hissing through gritted teeth when she sees the time, "twenty minutes from now. And it’s gonna take almost an hour to get there by train,” Inko explains. Then, giggling slightly, her voice drops into a whisper, “and you should get Kazuho home before she gets too comfortable and won’t leave.”

Izumi hadn’t even noticed when Pop fell asleep on her shoulder - she’d been propping them both up for the last twenty minutes and hadn’t realized.

Inko stands, collects her things, and bends to kiss a blushing Izumi on the top of the head. With a quiet goodbye between mother and child, Inko leaves Izumi alone with Pop. Izumi stays where she is for a few more minutes, enjoying the quiet time.

Eventually she starts to get antsy, though, and gently shakes Pop to wake her up.

“Mmuh? ‘zumi?” Pop mumbles, still mostly asleep.

“Hey,” Izumi says quietly, “you fell asleep. You should probably get back to your apartment so you can go to bed.”

Pop mumbles again, something unintelligible this time, and grabs onto Izumi’s arm. Izumi bites her lip and goes to shake Pop again when the girl in question jolts awake. Pop sits up fast and looks at Izumi with some unidentifiable expression.

“I-” Izumi starts, but shuts her mouth with a click of her teeth when Pop shakes her head.

With some kind of expression that Izumi reads as frustration, Pop wordlessly packs up her bag and, face bright red, says “I still think you’re an idiot.”

Then she stands and, as quickly as she appeared earlier that evening, she’s gone. Izumi takes a deep breath and sighs heavily. She never understands Pop. Not like she should. Not like almost anyone else could. And certainly not like she wants to.

Izumi slumps and casts her gaze around the apartment despondently, looking for any kind of distraction. On the table in front of her sits Pop’s phone, forgotten. Shit. Izumi grabs it and rushes out the door. She doesn’t see Pop Leaping away, so she must have used the stairs.

Bolting for the stairwell down into the building, Izumi sends rooftop gravel flying from underneath her sneaker clad feet in her rush. If Pop gets back to her apartment and realizes she forgot her phone she’s gonna be extra pissed at Izumi, more than she already is.

Izumi throws open the door to the stairwell and starts taking the stairs down two at a time; it only takes a couple floors before Izumi catches up to Pop. She goes to call out and get Pop’s attention, but before she can, Pop misses a step and starts to fall. Izumi reaches out and grabs her arm to keep her steady and stop her from falling.

Unable to stop her mouth, Izumi repeats “solid ground really isn’t your strong suit, is it?”

Kazuho still doesn’t say anything, just plants her feet solidly on the steps and yanks her arm out of Izumi’s grip, not even looking back at her.

“You forgot your phone,” says Izumi, holding out the item in question. This gets Kazuho to turn around, but only long enough to snatch her phone from Izumi and shove it into her bag. Then she turns and starts stomping down the stairs.

Just as she turns the corner out of Izumi’s sight, Izumi whispers “you looked really nice today.”

If Kazuho hears her, she doesn’t show it.

★★★

Instead of going to sleep like a reasonable person, Izumi puts on her vigilante gear and takes to the streets. Long sleeve t-shirt and jeans, then her body armor, then the hoodie, then her motorcycle pads. Her bike still isn’t repaired after the incident with Captain Celebrity - he absolutely could have grabbed her bike - so instead she opts for the classic skateboard. This one is new, the last one having broken while skating for fun; she was grinding down a rail when the board broke down the middle (and you can imagine how painful that was). She’s also got her standard yellow backpack on with some spare Vigilante gear stuffed toward the bottom, plus two cans of spray paint - neon green and neon pink - and a couple other pieces of gear.

When Deku gets to the streets and starts skating, she puts in her earpiece and taps it twice to let Knuckleduster and Pop, if they have their earpieces in, know that she’s on the street. She doesn’t expect Pop to respond, but isn’t surprised when Knuckleduster taps back. A few seconds later, his gruff voice is in Deku’s ear, “not like you to get out on the street like this. Usually you stick to that ridiculous schedule you made.”

“Yeah, well, I need to clear my mind and what better way to do that than beating up some Trigger dealers? You were looking nice and proper earlier, but you’re out here too. Guess we both got shit going on.”

“Don’t let Pop hear you say that,” Knuckleduster laughs, then grunts. Deku can’t hear what’s going on in the background, the earpieces calibrated to only pick up what the wearer says, but she assumes he’s in the middle of actively beating up a Trigger dealer.

“She’s already pissed at me. Where are you?”

“She’s always pissed at you. I’m in the alleyway behind the Denny’s.”

“She’s not always pissed at me. … Naruhata has a Denny’s??”

“Not always, but you do piss her off a lot. How did you not- actually,” she hears him grunt and start to run, “head a couple streets over, by the lot where you met Stendhal.”

“And I hardly ever know what I’ve done to piss her off! Is that lot still full of holes where the big guy was trying to punch me?”

“Maybe that’s why she’s pissed,” another pause, a space where a punch should be, then, “yeah, they haven’t fixed it yet, and I doubt they will anytime soon.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. Is the city really that bad about infrastructure repair?”

“It makes total sense, and it means you need to figure out why she’s pissed in the first place. They’re great about it when it’s an official Hero involved incident, not so much when it’s vigilantes like us.”

Deku turns the corner and sees Knuckleduster rifling through someone’s pockets. A case of Trigger lays discarded nearby, all the vials inside broken. He looks up at her when he hears the squeak of her wheels turning the corner and does a half wave before standing up. Deku frowns in confusion and says “how do you do that?”

“What, beat people up? I’ve been tryin’ ta teach ya, haven’t you learned anything?!”

“No, I mean how do you say hero like that?”

“Like… what?” Knuckleduster looks at her in confusion.

“Like it’s capitalized! I can tell when you’re saying hero with a capital H and hero with a lowercase H and it’s genuinely fascinating,” explains Deku.

For a long second, the confused look doesn’t leave Knuckleduster’s face. Then he breaks out into a grin.

“That doesn’t make any sense, kid. Let’s get moving before you devolve into further psychosis,” he says. Deku laughs and grins back at him.

“Gimme a second,” she says, putting on her respirator and spinning her bag around on her body. She unzips it and fishes out her green and pink. The beads rattle in the cans like musical accompaniment as she traces her way around the lot. A simple piece. Nothing extravagant, not like her recent stuff. There’s still half a dozen holes in the parking lot that haven’t been patched yet, so Izumi writes something quick and repetitive over each one, the ‘O’ being placed over the hole each time.

DODGE

She caps the cans of paint and stuffs them back in her bag, then joins her Master once again. “Alright, what’s next?”

“You use that grappling hook I gave you?” he asks as they start to walk.

“Not yet.”

“Well then tonight I’m gonna teach you how to use it. Your skateboard and motorcycle are good for ground mobility and you’ve been getting even better at parkour, but you’ve gotta keep expanding your options, kid.”

“That makes sense,” replies Deku. “Show me what to do, then.”

★★★

The text from Makoto comes at 11:49am.

Izumi feels like the dumbest woman alive. She was up until 7am with Knuckleduster, learning how to use the grappling hook he gave her, and the moment she got back to her apartment she flopped down onto her bed face first and passed out, not even bothering to take off her gear. It’s a miracle the buzz of her phone woke her up. As quickly as she can, Izumi sheds her green All Might hoodie, throws it in the wash, and pulls on a random nondescript grey hoodie; she barely remembers to grab her keys, phone, wallet, backpack, and skateboard before leaving.

Luckily the Naruhata station is literally right next door, which gets her there at 11:58, just in time to get on the tour bus with her mom and Makoto. Izumi makes her apologies for missing their morning sightseeing, but her mom waves it off and says something about ‘girl time’. The three of them laugh; luckily Inko doesn’t seem to notice the way Izumi and Makoto lock eyes with an awkward grimace.

This isn’t the first or last bus tour of the day, and it drops them off right near downtown Tokyo. They spend the rest of the afternoon sightseeing and doing what tourists typically do; Inko buys Izumi the ‘Asakusa Thunder Gate’ All Might hoodie when she catches her looking at it, despite Izumi’s attempts to refuse. She loves All Might merch as much as the next person, but as much as Izumi truly loves All Might, location specific hoodies like that are a little much for her.

Still… her mom got it for her. She shoves it into her bag and moves on.

Eventually the time comes for the next bus tour. Izumi’s glad she brought her skateboard with her when she hears that it’ll take them back to Tokyo station, and not Naruhata. It’s a bit of a trek, but less so when she can skate.

Izumi sits in the seat in front of her mom and Makoto and listens to them chat.

“Today was lovely. Thank you, Makoto. They really broke the mold when they made you,” Inko says with a good-natured laugh.

The bus starts moving.

“It’s my pleasure, Mrs Midoriya. Izu- ku is a great friend, and I’m happy I got to meet h- his mother. Even happier that you turned out to be so wonderful!” replies Makoto.

“You two might not be in a relationship, but I hope you’ll keep an eye out for him anyway. I know how he is, when he sees someone in trouble…”

Suddenly the bus jolts and speeds up.

Izumi looks to the driver at the front; he looks panicked and confused, and his hands aren’t on the wheel. Out the back window, two big cat tails are whipping back and forth behind them. A few moments later a woman in the front, one of the tour guides, stands up and shouts, “DON’T PANIC! WE’VE SENT A DISTRESS CALL!”

It doesn’t take long for Izumi to hear the rumbling of a familiar engine, followed immediately by fast paced footsteps. Sure enough, the moment she looks out the window Izumi sees Ingenium running beside the bus, quickly overtaking it. With one move the Hero grabs onto the bus with one hand and rips the door open with the other, using the momentum of the pull to swing up and into the bus. He takes off his helmet and shouts “is anyone hurt?!”

Izumi locks eyes with Ingenium, mostly unintentionally. He quirks a single eyebrow. Izumi shakes her head and shrugs, equally confused and more bewildered, so Ingenium turns to the driver and asks what the situation is.

“Not good! Brakes and steering aren’t working!!”

Ahead of the bus, the road diverges. On the sidewalk where the road splits stands Knuckleduster and Pop★Step. Izumi doesn’t know how they knew where to be, or how they got there so quickly, but Knuckleduster is holding a long stick with what looks like a feather duster duct taped onto the end of it. Like an oversized cat toy. He waves it in the air to catch the cat’s attention, then tosses it to his left. The bus sees the motion and reacts like any cat would. It chases the fun toy. Izumi can’t hear what is said to Ingenium over his earpiece, but she hears what he says in response.

“Must’ve been that rampaging monster the other day. There’re no other vehicles around, but now we’ve got a time limit.”

A pause while whoever is on the other end speaks, then “I’m in no mood to go flying to my death with this thing. Is PIT-02 on its way?”

Seconds later Izumi sees the vehicle in question coming parallel to the bus.

“Good. Match your speed, pull up alongside the bus and get ready to transfer passengers.”

Everyone starts moving forward, but Izumi stays back, pushing her mom and Makoto forward.

Inko tries to stand her ground and argue with Izumi, “honey I’m not going to let you go last, you have to go before me!”

But Izumi isn't having it. With more force than her mother expected, Izumi grabs her and pushes her forward ahead of her. “Mom I love you but we can’t waste time arguing about this, you have to go first! I’ll be right behind you, I promise, just go!”

Izumi looks out the window at PIT-02 and sees a familiar figure. A Hero named Enigma, one of Ingenium’s sidekicks, stands in her blob form atop the moving PIT-02.

A few weeks ago, before Izumi even met Makoto, the three Naruhata vigilantes had been patrolling the streets when an enormous black blob appeared over the buildings. It disappeared pretty quickly, but Knuckleduster was, as usual, suspicious. When they found the culprit, Deku and Pop★Step had to stop Knuckleduster from beating her up. She wasn’t a Trigger junkie, but a recently graduated Hero student who had come to Naruhata for an interview with a local Hero agency, Team Idaten. She was unfamiliar with the area and had been using her quirk to get a better vantage point for navigation. Even with that, though, she didn’t know exactly where she was. Izumi gave her a ride on her bike so she wouldn’t miss her interview. It looks like she got the job.

Enigma’s large arms stretch while her hands get bigger, and she grabs the first civilian on the bus. One or two at a time, Enigma grabs civilians from the bus and sets them down inside PIT-02.

“We’re last, then!” Makoto says and ushers Inko toward the door. Izumi lets out a sigh of relief when Enigma grabs her mom and Makoto.

Before she can celebrate, though, the cat bus lurches again and the tails that were swinging behind the bus suddenly get larger and more powerful. One whips out and slams against the side of PIT-02, sending it into a tailspin. The driver gets it under control, but the vehicle is no longer facing the same way as the cat bus. It comes to a halt, and Izumi realizes she’s the only one left. Even Ingenium is off the bus now.

From where PIT-02 is stopped, she hears two voices cry out.

“IZUKU!” Her mother.
“IZUMI!” Makoto.

She doesn’t have time to process the fact that Makoto has accidentally outed her. The cat bus is speeding up. Behind the bus, trying to run after it, is Ingenium. Izumi knows he’s out of juice, though. Literally. His quirk is fueled by grapefruit juice, and catching up to the bus the first time must have spent whatever he had in the tank. There’s no way he can catch up.

But Izumi can’t just give up hope like that. She knows better. She may be a little sleep deprived, but that doesn’t mean she’s not functioning. And as long as she can think, she can get out of this safely.

She takes quick stock of what she has on her. She has her wallet, keys, phone, skateboard, and backpack. Patting herself down to see if she missed anything, she freezes when her hands hit solid plastic. She never took off her body armor. And she has a spare pair of gloves with her elbow and knee pads stuffed at the bottom of her backpack.

It’s… not the worst idea she’s ever had. Pop is gonna hate her for this if she finds out, though.

Muttering to herself about the likelihood of this working, Izumi rushes to get the pads on as quickly as possible before throwing her new All Might hoodie on overtop. The grappling hook Knuckleduster gave her and showed her how to use the night prior also comes out of the bag.

Slinging the bag back over her shoulders, pulling it tight against her, and clipping the front straps together, Izumi heads to the back of the bus. She throws open the emergency doors.

Below the doors, the pair of tails that damaged PIT-02 whips back and forth. Doing some quick mental math, Izumi grips her skateboard tighter and crouches down a little bit.

If she doesn’t time this right, she’s dead. Of course it’d be safer with a helmet, but if she had her helmet she’d have her bike, and if she had her bike she wouldn’t be in this situation at all.

In the distance, Ingenium is still trying to catch up to the bus. Beyond him, one of his sidekicks is trying to catch up to him, probably to get him a refill. Neither of them will make it in time.

Izumi runs and jumps, putting the skateboard beneath her and narrowly avoiding the tails. She almost bounces off her board when it hits the pavement, but narrowly keeps her footing. The bus may be going faster than her now that she’s out of it, but Izumi is still going fast, and the end of the road is quickly approaching. She tries to slide to a stop like she normally would, but all it does is nearly make her fall; instead she course corrects and does a complete 180 so she can see the approaching dead end.

Only a few seconds left, and not enough room to come to a stop.

There’s a lamp post that’s close enough to make this work.

The bus, no longer possessed by a cat, careens over the side, crashing down below.

Izumi, possessed by something stupid, throws her grappling hook and rockets straight off the edge.

Her skateboard flies off and lands far from the bus wreckage, but she doesn’t see whether or not it stays in one piece. The grappling hook finds purchase on the lamp post, and Izumi grips onto the rope as tight as she can. The momentum sends her swinging wildly, but even so she manages to avoid hitting anything while she swings. Eventually she slows down enough that she can start climbing back up the rope.

Fuck, her hands hurt. So do her legs, for that matter. And her shoulders. Her whole body, really.

Izumi is halfway up the rope when she feels it starting to be pulled as well. Working together, she and Ingenium get her back onto the road safely. Izumi collapses on her back, wheezing for breath and trying to get her heart rate - and her smile - back under control.

“Good thinking, Deku, with the board... and the... the rope,” says Ingenium, a little out of breath as well.

“Yeah, yeah… it was… it was nothin’ really…” Izumi tries to deflect, but the shit eating grin on her face gives away how proud of herself she really is.

★★★

The rope burn and lack of skateboard is easy enough to explain away, but Knuckleduster and Pop, both in civilian attire, glare at Izumi from behind her mom through the whole explanation. At least she gets through it without saying the name ‘Deku’. One disaster at a time.

It’s not until they’ve gotten back to Izumi’s apartment, all five of them together, that her mom speaks up.

“Can I… have some time alone with… with…” she stutters, not knowing who knows.

“It’s okay, mom. They all- they all know,” Izumi says.

“Oh… okay,” is her reply, something like sorrow passing over Inko’s face for a moment. Just as suddenly as it appeared, it’s gone. Replacing it is a bright, brittle smile.

“I’m sorry I-”
“Was it-”

Both Izumi and Inko speak at the same time, then pause to giggle at each other. Izumi motions her mother to go on.

“Was it something I did?”

Izumi grimaces and starts to reply, but Pop catches her eye and sees her. Sees that fear, sees that hurt, sees that hesitation.

Not for the first time, Pop comes to her defense, wanted or not.

“Hey! That’s not fair!” Pop steps forward and shouts, then gestures at Izumi while keeping eye contact with Inko “this isn’t about you, it’s about her!”

“Po- Kazuho… it’s- it’s fine,” Izumi tries to reassure her.

All it does is set her off even more.

“No! It’s not! You got outed before you were ready, and now, what, you’re trying to smooth it over?! Shouldn’t you be mad about this?!” Kazuho is panting, nearly snarling, face flushed red from anger.

“Kazuho, please, just- just leave- just leave it, please- please?” The stutter is, as always, embarrassing. But it seems to get her point across.

Kazuho’s face drops from angry to distressed, “but! This! You can’t just-” and back to angry, “FINE!!”

The door slams behind her. Izumi drops her head into her hands and tries not to let her emotions get too big.

She fails. Quiet, frustrated tears drip onto the kotatsu.

Knuckleduster says something that Izumi doesn’t register and his heavy footsteps retreat, the door opening and closing again. It’s clear after a minute that Makoto is staying.

“Izumi, honey. Can you look at me? I want to see my daughter …”

Shock isn’t the word to describe what Izumi feels. She always knew her mother would be accepting, but… the ease with which she says those words pulls Izumi up short. She scrubs the tears from her face and looks up. Makoto is to her left, one hand on her shoulder as if to say ‘I’m here’. In front of Izumi is her mother, tears in her eyes but smiling nonetheless.

“I’m sure this isn’t how you wanted to come out to me, is it?” she chuckles when Izumi shakes her head no. “It might be selfish of me to say, but I’m glad I found out. And you know I’ll be here for you if you need me, but… but you’re a grown woman, now, and as much as I want you to be my darling baby daughter, I know you’re not a kid with simple problems anymore. If you want me to, I can help, but I’ll do my best to stay out of your way, if that’s- if that’s what you need.” She brings her daughter into a tight hug and whispers, “I love you, Izumi. I always will, okay? No matter what.”

“I love you too, mom,” Izumi mumbles into her shoulder.

“If you’re okay, I’ll leave so you and Makoto can talk,” Inko says.

“I- I’d appreciate that, yeah,” Izumi says. She looks at Makoto, who takes her hand off Izumi’s shoulder and gives her an apprehensive look. The door closes behind Inko when she leaves, but Izumi knows her mother won’t go too far.

With her best, not at all forced smile, Izumi tells Makoto “I’m not upset with you.”

“Kazuho was right, though,” she whispers, “you should be.”

“Maybe she was right. But… you just saw a bus possessed by a cat rocket away with me inside. You probably thought I was about to die. It’s an understandable slip up,” Izumi reasons.

The look on Makoto’s face is indecipherable to Izumi.

“I think… maybe… you’re too forgiving,” says Makoto, cocking her head and looking intensely at Izumi. The smile on Izumi’s face drops a little bit.

“May- maybe. But I- I think- I think people deserve forgiveness, no matter what,” Izumi says, her smile becoming just a little bit more genuine.

Chapter Text

Soga

Almost getting killed by that Stendhal freak was a wakeup call, one that’d been a long time coming. During his stay in the hospital afterwards, Soga had plenty of time to think. In particular, about who he was as a person. The things he’s said and done. Why he said and did those things.

“Standard procedure” they said, sending him to a shrink like some kinda psycho.

No, he found out later, not psycho. Schizo. That’s what the doc told him, called it ‘paranoid schizophrenia’. Like a lot of other shit, it’s not what makes someone dangerous. “Wired different,” he said, “not wrong.” Told Soga medication could help ‘manage the symptoms’. And, wonder of all wonders, it does. Everyone still grins at him like they always have, but now it doesn’t feel like they’re mocking him. It’s easier to focus on the voice instead of the grin.

The old man, Knuckleduster, recruited Soga a week or two after he left the hospital. Less ‘recruited’ and more ‘demanded Soga do something weirdly specific for him’. He was given an old photo of some middle school (now high school) girl, told to find her, and, if he could help it, not get seen by the girl in question. So here he is, loitering outside a high school like some grade A creep. It doesn’t take long before a couple of guys come out of the school and shoo him away. Walking down the street, a voice calls out to him from an alleyway he had just passed.

“Hey. Hey you… you got business with Hachisuka?” It’s one of the girls he saw outside the school earlier. Aware of what it looks like but having no other leads, Soga grunts and follows her into the alleyway.

The girl leans back against the wall. “What’re you gonna do if you find her? Whatever’s going on, it seems shady.”

Soga grimaces and says “I’m just the messenger. No clue whether it’s shady or not.”

It’s not technically a lie. Both of those things are true. It’s just not the whole truth.

“An errand boy, then?” the girl giggles. She grips the edge of her skirt and says “mmm… errand boy or not, I’ve got something special in store for you. How should we do this~?”

“Hey!! Whatever you’re thinking, cut it out!! No need for any of that,” Soga says, taking one big step back. Then he hears it. The familiar buzzing.

“The one who’s not needed is you.”

The girl pulls her skirt up further, but instead of body parts being revealed it’s a swarm of bees that starts to form. Where the fuck are they coming from?? The girl slumps, and as the bees form a larger swarm in between them, Soga grabs a can he had stored in one of his pockets. On the side in big letters, “BEES-B-GONE”

A quick punch with his spikes breaks the seal on the can and starts it spraying out in a mist like some kind of gas grenade. Soga closes his eyes long enough to get out of the alleyway and away from the swarm of bees, but “BEES-B-GONE” isn’t good enough to stop this many bees. Stumbling and falling to the ground, Soga looks behind him and witnesses a much larger swarm heading directly for him. Before they can reach him, a familiar blast of fire roasts the majority of the swarm.

“This way, Soga!”

Soga turns his head and sees Rapt on the back of a motorbike, Moyuru in front with flames still flickering from his mouth. Picking himself up off the ground Soga sprints for the bike and hops on as it starts to pull away.

“Gyahaha! What the hell Soga? Sticking your neck out where it don’t belong again?” Rapt shouts over the wind.

“Nothing to do with you guys,” responds Soga. Last time he got in trouble it was to save these idiots’ lives. All he wanted was to keep them safe, so he tried to do this on his own. He should’ve known they’d catch up to him whether he wanted them to or not.

“Too cold, man,” jokes Moyuru.

“Damned right! You don’t get to hog all the fun,” Rapt adds, “and whatever you’re into seems like fun to me! Gyahahaha!”

★★★

Iwao

“A lot’s happened these past few years. But I don’t think it’s all been bad. Cuz now I’ve got time to spend with family, like this. And I’ve really been on the up-and-up. I’ve got hobbies. And friends. Leading a better life than I used to. Just wish it all could’ve come sooner.”

A nurse steps into the room and calls out “Mrs Oguro. And Mr Oguro. The Doctor would like to speak with you. If now’s a good time.”

Iwao stands, reluctantly, and follows her to the room where the doctor waits, an office just a few doors down.

“About your wife’s condition…” he starts. Iwao barely hears what the man says. It’s almost twenty minutes later he finally lets Iwao go. He heads back to his wife’s room.

“Your doctor just gave me a talking to,” he says, pointing behind him with his thumb as if she’s even looking at him. He steps up to her bed and adjusts the sheets over her, more fiddling out of anxiety than anything else.

“Well, doctors say what they gotta. Can’t always rely on that. I mean, look at me. You know how many times they said I was a lost cause?” Iwao tries for a joke. As always, she just keeps muttering to herself with her head turned away. All he can see is that damn eyepatch where her left eye should be. She always had beautiful eyes, and Tamao was lucky enough to inherit that from her mother and not her father.

Gently, Iwao puts his hand on her shoulder and tries to smile, “I’ll be taking care of Tama. So don’t you worry. We’re gonna be okay.”

He doesn’t linger. It’s too painful. Not that the rest of his life isn’t painful. Between the scar on his face that still hurts and the way his chest always feels hollow without his quirk… But he’s used to pain. Even as O’Clock he was used to pain. That doesn’t mean he needs any more. Iwao turns away from his dying wife and leaves.

The smile he kept on his face while visiting Kuin slowly vanishes over the course of his walk back to the hospital entrance. It nearly turns into a full blown scowl when he sees that blue haired punk waiting for him.

“What’re you doing waiting out here?” Iwao questions. Soga looks up at him and holds up a business card.

“Listen, gramps. The lady at the front desk said there’s no patient called Kuroiwa here,” the kid complains. Right. Not working with professionals. Iwao forgets that sometimes.

“That card’s just a way of getting in touch with me,” he explains.

“So what’s your real name, then? They’ll gimme a weird look if I ask for ‘a guy who’s visiting a sick family member’.”

“You don’t seem the type to pry into other people’s business,” Iwao points out.

“Really? After the errands you had me run?” Soga continues to complain, “so. That ‘bee user.’ Tracked down her school based on the uniform she was wearing. But then I got attacked. They asked if I had business with ‘Hachisuka.’”

Iwao’s heart skips a beat, hearing the name. The bee is taunting him. He doesn’t let it show, though, and plays dumb, “a pseudonym, huh? School registry wouldn’t be any help then, either. But the pseudonym counts as intel. Good work. And it was a private school in the area?”

Pencil scratches against paper, Iwao jotting down notes in a notebook he carries with him.

“This is some nasty crap you’re stepping into, man. Those other two friends of yours know what you’re doing?” Soga really is a nosy little shit, despite first appearances.

“Don’t tell me you’re worried about them?” the kid makes a noise of frustration and turns away, but Iwao continues, “no need to drag them into this any further. So long as I’ve got you causing a scene and drawing attention, a lead is bound to fall into our laps sooner or later.”

“Wha- I was bait?”

He has the audacity to look betrayed, as if he honestly cared about what Iwao thinks.

Oh god, maybe he actually does.

The other two punks, lizard boy and flame head, stand by a bike parked on the sidewalk. Lizard boy, terrified, points and shouts “it’s Grandpa Fist!”

Iwao smirks and deflects again, “just picking the right man for the job. Besides, I don’t see you running around dressed up like All Might on Saint Patrick’s Day.”

“As freakin if,” Soga grumbles.

“Exactly,” Iwao says as he walks away with a grin on his face, “like I thought.”

★★★

Izumi

Knuckleduster has been frustratingly elusive for the last few days since the incident with the Cat Bus. So rather than continue an investigation she knows next to nothing about, Deku goes back to patrolling the streets, helping people who need it, and seeing what kind of trouble finds her. Pop joins her, too, even if she refuses to talk about what happened after Cat Bus. It doesn’t take a genius to understand it’s a sensitive topic, but Izumi is still confused about how adamant Pop was. How protective. She’s always gotten upset about Izumi getting hurt, but this time it felt more… personal.

Deku is patrolling the back streets when she sees familiar spiky, turquoise hair, accompanied by two other familiar faces. Grinning and waving, Deku shouts “hey Soga!” Behind her, Pop peeks over a wall and vehemently warns her to stay away from them, but Deku keeps walking forward anyway, continuing to talk, “good to see you’re doing better after Stendhal.”

The one with the fire quirk, Moyuru, Deku thinks, speaks up, “well, if it ain’t Nice Guy. Or was it Deku?”

“Not a guy, and it’s Deku,” she interjects.

Moyuru continues without pausing, “takes a big person to start chatting with the guys who beat the crap outta her.”

To her left, Deku can hear Rapt teasing Pop about her costume again. She turns and shouts “if he’s annoying you can just pull his tail off! I bet it’ll grow back!” with a grin. Rapt squawks not unlike a chicken and shouts something in return, but it’s muffled by Pop shouting back, angry at Deku for suggesting violence so quickly. Deku turns back to Moyuru, grin still on her face.

“A lot’s happened since then, y’know? Long as you don’t try beating us up again I figure we can let bygones be bygones. Right, Soga?” When she turns to look at him, he’s already walking off sullenly. So much for that.

★★★

Time, as always, keeps on passing. Knuckleduster is around less and less, and when he is he’s more and more distracted. Even so, on the days he does show up, he continues teaching her stuff she needs to know, including how to better use the grappling hook, which becomes a staple in her arsenal as Deku. She’s already thinking of how to improve on it (maybe a launcher of some kind). Pop seems impressed by her growing ability with it, which makes Izumi very happy (like, really happy (suspiciously happy (better not think about it too hard happy))).

Even though they still don’t talk about Cat Bus, Izumi and Pop end up hanging out more often than not. Makoto’s schedule as part of Captain Celebrity’s team keeps her pretty busy, so she rarely joins in, but Pop always seems to enjoy the one-on-one time with Izumi. At least, as much as she’s capable of showing joy in front of Izumi.

Knuckleduster, as distracted as he’s become, becomes a background presence even when he’s actually there.

“A performance request? Where? When?” Izumi asks excitedly.

“They emailed me through my blog. Asking if I’d join some sorta live event on the department store roof near the station,” explains Pop, still looking at her phone.

Izumi smiles. “That’s awesome! One step closer to being a true blue idol, right?”

“Hmm… I dunno. Objectively speaking, people just see me as some singing street performer…” Pop frowns and looks away, but Izumi can still see the blush on her face. She thinks back to the first conversation the two of them had, right before Pop got assaulted by the Jerk Squad.

“So you know your place at least!”

“Stop getting hung up on the details. But… you’re not wrong. Knowing your place in society is important! You keep playing at being a pop idol and the cops’ll catch you sooner or later.”

“Woah! I’m not ‘playing’ at anything! I’m the real deal! You’ll just have to keep an eye out for the police! Also, I’ll need you to usher in my fans, set up the venues, and sell some merchandise!”

“Are you pissed off or hiring me for a job?! Which is it?!”

“You can do it, Knows-His-Place Guy!”

They’ve both come a long way in just a few months, and Izumi can’t help but be proud of Pop. She’s not just playing at being a pop idol anymore. Now she might actually get to become one.

“Maybe you don’t have a huge fan base, but don’t you think the fans you do have would be excited to see you perform on stage?” Izumi asks.

“But they’d be comparing me to other performers. If I screw up on a big stage, they’ll be disappointed and desert me,” Pop says. Izumi can’t see her face, but she can hear how resigned Pop already is. “Guess I shouldn’t do it. Then again, a chance like this doesn’t come around often… Whaddya think, Izumi?”

Pop turns and looks up at her, something genuine in her eyes. Even so, Izumi knows how this works. It goes one of two ways:

1. Izumi says “you’ll do great,” Pop says “don’t just tell me what I wanna hear!” and punches Izumi in the arm.
2. Izumi says “don’t do it, then,” Pop says “you’re s’posed to be on my side!” and punches Izumi in the arm.

Izumi, a dumbass at heart, chooses C. Ask Knuckleduster what he thinks.

“What do you think, Master?”

“Hey! I didn’t ask for the old fart’s opinion!”

“Hmm. Just get out there and do your best, yeah? And you help her out, Izumi,” Knuckleduster says. He pulls on his coat, taps Pop on the top of the head with the rolled up newspaper he was reading, and finishes, “do it right.”

Both girls pause in confusion as Knuckleduster leaves, then Izumi points out “that was almost uncomfortably direct for him, right?”

Kazuho, true to form, fires back, “let’s focus on my issue, please!”

With a chuckle, Izumi responds “got it. Knows-Her-Place Gal is on it!”

Chapter Text

Izumi

“So… I went and discussed it with Makoto,” is the lame opener Izumi chooses, a few hours later. She, Makoto, and Pop are in Izumi’s apartment, Makoto having only shown up moments earlier. While Pop was fretting over whether or not to even do the show, Izumi spent her time getting in contact with someone she knows has the connections, the drive, and the knowledge to make something like this happen for Kazu- for Pop. Makoto agreed pretty much immediately, and the next hour was just spent waiting for her to arrive.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got this!” Makoto smiles brightly and clenches her fist in front of her.

Pop looks… angry? Distraught? “WHAT?!”

“Looking forward to working with you, Pop,” Makoto says, shaking Pop’s hand. Pop, who looks like she just witnessed a puppy get kicked so hard it exploded. That is to say, a healthy mix of confusion, shock, and anger.

Instead of asking for an explanation like a reasonable person, Pop drags Izumi outside and shuts the door behind them. Immediately, she rounds on Izumi, “what’s the big idea, spilling my secrets to her!?”

“I didn’t say anything! Her intuition is sharp as a tack. She basically figured everything out after the whole bus incident…” Izumi explains with a small frown, “I didn’t even tell her I was Deku, I think she just saw the hoodie and the equipment and put it together herself.”

Makoto opens the door and peers out, “by the way, where is Master Knuckle today?”

A weird question, but Izumi answers honestly, “he left a few hours ago.” She turns back to Pop, “c’mon, at least give her a try? I want my friends to get along.”

Pop blushes, but acquiesces. Back inside, Makoto takes the reins, “first. The event in question aside, I promise not to breathe a word about your masked escapades to anyone. That’s me protecting my sources. Second, if you’ll allow me more of an active role in this, I’ll basically consider it a job. And I have no intention of messing with interpersonal relations in the workplace, heheh.”

Izumi does a spit take that neither of the other girls seems to notice.

Pop’s blush deepens, “I- I’ve got no idea what you mean by that!”

While she might understand the general implication, Izumi is confused about what that’s supposed to mean in this context. She and Pop aren’t in a relationship, that’s for certain, and neither of them are in a relationship with Makoto. Is this another social cue thing she’s missing?

Makoto continues, not stopped or even slowed by either of their reactions, “final point. I’m the best of the best, if I do say so myself. If there’s something you need done, feel free to rely on me. Assuming, of course, that you don’t have any other reliable people in mind. ‘Kay?”

A significant look is thrown Izumi’s way. She may not know how to do things like set up a festival, but that doesn’t mean she’s not reliable, right? Involuntarily, a confused noise escapes her throat, something like you’d hear from a puppy.

Pop seems to think for a second. Then, eventually, she says “reliable? Absolutely. Knowledgeable about this kind of thing and well connected enough to pull it off? Not so much, although she did have one connection that came in handy,” she says; the smile that she points in Izumi’s direction could almost be mistaken for gentle.

An undefinable feeling takes root in Izumi’s chest.

Reliable.

Pop thinks she’s... reliable?

Izumi wants Pop to rely on her.

Then Pop turns her gaze back to Makoto, and they move on. “But that’s not the point... I half-heartedly agree.”

“No worries. That’s a decisive choice you’ve made,” Makoto shakes Pop’s hand, and it’s off to the races.

While Makoto and Pop discuss the specifics of the event, Izumi shakes off her earlier thought and picks out one of the dozen takeout menus she has stuck to the fridge by various magnets to order food she knows both Makoto and Pop will like. There’s a lot of little things about the festival that probably don’t matter, but Izumi stays tuned into the conversation enough to know what’s going on. The Marukane Department Store, near the Naruhata station, is hosting a live event on the rooftop to drum up business for their grand reopening and show off their new rooftop food court.

“They’re using the term ‘live event’ loosely. The audience’ll mostly be shoppers walking by while getting lunch, I suspect,” Makoto speculates.

“Like a traveling theater or carnival or something?” Izumi says absent-mindedly. Pop shouts at her for comparing what she’s doing to a carnival and Izumi responds in kind defending carnivals from such slander. The back and forth goes on for several minutes until the two suddenly decide they’re finished arguing and go back to the topic at hand. Pop makes a gesture for Makoto to continue.

With a bemused expression, Makoto gets right back into it, continuing her explanation of the event. Izumi uses the time to start some tea.

While she’s waiting for it to boil, she hears Makoto say “you can think of it as a neighborhood karaoke tournament.”

Ever the fool, Izumi lets her mouth run ahead of her brain, “that’s it? Sounds like an easy win for Pop, honestly.”

Pop hunches over a little farther and grumbles, “what the heck. ‘Karaoke’ she says… make fun of me, will she?”

Maybe Pop thought she was being quiet enough, but Makoto clearly picks up on the grumbles and smirks. A good and bad sign both, if Izumi has learned anything about her friend. She leans in close to Pop and proposes “what do you say we really blow these sponsors’ minds? Well?”

Pop blushes and splutters, but Makoto just takes that as agreement. The kettle starts to whistle while Makoto is making a phone call to Captain Celebrity, getting him to agree to sponsor the Marukane event, ‘Narufest,’ without even having to tell him what it is. Immediately after, she calls the store in question and spends time speaking with their event planner, hashing out details and explaining Captain Celebrity’s (and his agency’s) part in the whole thing. It’s an impressive sight, watching Makoto do what she’s good at. Eventually, the food arrives, and the three take a break to relax, eat, and enjoy each others’ company.

★★★

Two weeks til Narufest…

Makoto, of course, doesn’t stop there. The next step, according to her, is to actually get the performance set up. While Pop could obviously do it herself, as she’s been doing for a while now on the streets with her guerilla performances, Makoto insists that they shouldn’t settle for something small like that. If Pop wants to be an idol, Makoto will make it happen. Two days after Pop received the email finds Izumi and Pop at the department store itself, meeting the other performers Pop will be working with.

“Come on in, Pop,” Makoto beckons her in with a smile. Gesturing to two girls, each wearing nearly identical costumes but flipped and color swapped, Makoto says “meet Feathers, the underground idol duo.”

“I’m Miu ♪,” says the one with the white feather, her ponytail sticking out to her left.
“And I’m Yu ♪,” says the one with the black feather, her ponytail sticking out to her right.

“H-hello. I’m Pop★Step,” she says with a small bow.

“Shouldn’t be long before the others arrive,” assures Makoto.

While they wait, Izumi overhears Miu whispering to Yu, “someone call the fashion police on this bumpkin. Does she even know how tragic she is?”
“C’mon, knock it off,” Yu replies.

Irrational anger fills Izumi, and Pop has to hold her back from doing or saying something stupid in retaliation. Quick enough, though, she’s distracted by the arrival of the other two groups.

First is the East Naruhata High Dance Squad, who initially insist they don’t need flashy costumes for the show (their President is wearing a shirt that has ‘President’ written on it, which Izumi gleefully points out to Pop).

Moments later the Mad Hatters, the group doing the instrumental side of things, show up. There’s a weird moment between the lead of the Mad Hatters and the Dance Squad’s President that ends up with the President agreeing to Makoto’s costume idea. Izumi shares a look with an equally bewildered Pop.

On a whiteboard along one of the walls, Makoto starts writing.

Tentative Ensemble

Name: The Marukanes

• Band: Mad Hatters (4)
• East High Dance Squad (4)
• Vocals: Feathers (2)
• Vocals: Pop★Step (1)

“Here’s a breakdown of the Naruhata Fest’s special ensemble,” says Makoto once she’s finished writing, “shouldn’t be any problems with the band or dancers… but we gotta think about how to present Feathers and Pop★Step. Having Pop in the center would create the best visual balance, but…”

“Hang on! Then we’re just gonna come off as backup singers!” Miu shouts, clearly offended.
“And her voice isn’t even all that…” Yu adds.

“Agreed,” says Makoto. Pop makes an offended noise, but Makoto continues on, “but Pop definitely has the edge in terms of stage presence, while you girls typically sing in smaller venues. Not much experience filling up a big space, right? So let’s put this issue on hold! In the coming week, Pop will practice the song on her own while Feathers learns some basic steps and stage maneuvers from the Dance Squad.”

The President chuckles menacingly and says “our drills… are no laughing matter.”

After some more discussion, everyone is ready to leave when Makoto interrupts, “one more thing! Almost forgot to mention, you 11 are headlining this event!”

★★★

One week til Narufest…

Izumi, naturally, offers her apartment up to Pop as a practice space for the song she’ll be performing with the FeatherHATS. Knuckleduster doesn’t come back to the apartment, and Makoto is busy with background prep for Narufest, so Izumi gets to spend that week alone with Pop most of the time.

While a lot of Pop’s street shows are rough and unpracticed, she’s clearly taking Narufest seriously. Izumi loves listening to Pop sing. Screw what everyone else says, Izumi thinks Pop has a beautiful singing voice. Not that Izumi would ever say that to her face, for fear of unholy retribution.

Everything seems to be going well, right up until the group meets one week out from the festival. Miu, the mean one of the two Feather Girls, sprained her ankle while practicing with the Dance Squad.

“It’s just a mild sprain,” explains Makoto, “so she might be able to get up on that stage in a week, but… she definitely won’t be running around and dancing.”

Izumi looks at the Feather Girls, sitting in some chairs pushed up against one of the walls. Miu’s face is flushed and she refuses to meet anyone’s gaze, while Yu sits beside her with one comforting arm around Miu’s shoulders.

The Dance Squad President bows deeply, the other three members of the Squad following her lead. “I take full responsibility,” says the President.

“No. I’m the one in charge here. I thought everyone would get more pumped with an assignment to work on, but… that sure did backfire,” Makoto admits, “but we’ll make do. On the day of, we can either have Pop in the center with the other two on the sides, not moving much, or take Miu out and have Pop and Yu perform an ad hoc duet.”

“But I… I practiced so hard!” Tears start to well up in Miu’s eyes, close to crying but holding it in.
“Oh, Miu…” Yu starts.

Pop notices it and interrupts, “wait a sec! What if we put Miu in the center?”

Izumi’s brow furrows as she thinks out loud, “but she’s the one who can’t dance around, right?”

“That is another option, though,” says Makoto. “We’re talking center stage… if there’s any position that doesn’t have to move around much, that’d be it. If Yu puts in twice the work, that contrast between stillness and motion could keep the crowd engaged. And when things slow down during transitions and such, Pop can make up for it by bouncing about and drawing the crowd’s attention. This’ll put an extra burden on Pop and Yu, but if they’re okay with that…?”

Pop answers the unvoiced question, “if I got hurt and couldn’t jump, I’d just be a tone deaf loser. But these two can really sing, and my real talent is jumping, so… we should each do what we can!” She smiles brightly at Yu and Miu, who both nod.

“Great. Now let’s talk positioning,” the President takes over.

★★★

The day of Narufest…

“The afternoon portion of the Naruhata Festival, aka Narufest, cosponsored by Marukane and Captain Celebrity, is OVERRRRR!! The evening portion of our entertainment - featuring guest hero appearances - will resume after a 30-minute break! Headlining the program is the ultra-fresh song and dance ensemble straight outta Naruhata… Feather-HATS!! It’s goodbye for now, ladies and gents… BUT STAY TUNED!!”

Izumi bounces on the balls of her feet and flaps her arms in as unintrusive a way as possible. She listens to Present Mic’s radio show all the time, so seeing him here as the announcer for Narufest is so cool . There’s more important things than geeking out over a hero right now. She had been standing out near the stage to watch the performances (as lame as some of them were) with Yu, but now that the FeatherHATS’ performance is coming up the two make their way backstage to the performers’ green room and step in.

“Afternoon portion’s done! Thirty minutes to showtime!” shouts Yu.

Izumi steps past her and over to Pop, who is sitting backwards on a chair with her knees drawn up to her chest. She’s grabbing the edge of her hat and trying to pull it down over her head like she could use it to hide, groaning “ughhh… What am I doing here? How’d it come to this?”

Putting one hand on Pop’s shoulder reassuringly, Izumi says “I’ve seen you practicing so hard the last two weeks, and I know you can do this. You’ve got the vocals down, and the choreography isn’t any different from what you normally do. I believe in you, Pop.”

Pop, face still flushed, looks up at Izumi. For a moment it looks like awe on her face, but it quickly transforms into her default pseudo-scowl. She punches Izumi in the arm lightly, more of a tap than anything else, and mutters “nerd…” Despite Pop’s best efforts, Izumi can see the smile she’s trying to hide.

“Everyone needs to calm down and remember our training. All that blood, sweat, and tears meant something!”

Izumi looks back at the source of the voice, confused. There’s a girl in a fancy outfit with gorgeous shoulder length hair. Izumi doesn’t recognize her, so she asks Pop “who’s that…?”

“The Dance Squad President,” Pop clarifies.

“Oh shit,” Izumi mutters. Last time she saw her she had glasses, long hair that she kept in a ponytail, and a shirt that said ‘president’ on it. Now… louder, Izumi says “lookin’ snazzy, Pres!”

She turns and grins, “hey thanks, Izumi!”

tok tok tok tok

The sound of heels draws Izumi’s attention to the door. As soon as she sees who it is, though, she turns around to face the wall, much to Pop’s confusion. “You look like a tomato,” she teases.

“Excellent… I like what I see. Youth is a beautiful thing!” the Pro Hero Midnight says as she steps into the green room.

Izumi hears Makoto speaking with the Pro, “apologies. The facilities being what they are, we couldn’t provide separate green-rooms for everyone.”

“Not a problem. I’m a fan of this school festival backstage feel,” Midnight responds.

Present Mic’s bombastic entry almost gets Izumi to turn around, but not quite.

“Yo, yo, yo, good evening, Midnight!” He waits barely three seconds before, “‘Evening’? ‘Midnight’? HAHAHA PRETTY PUNNY!!” Izumi smiles to herself. It was kind of funny.

“Shut up, Yamada,” Midnight responds good naturedly.

“No no no - not Yamada. Please call me Mic. My name is Present Mic.”

“Oh. Sorry. So anyway, Yamada, where’s Aizawa? Since this event’s all about the Naruhata neighborhood they wanted appearances from heroes involved in the recent outbreak of villains. You passed along the message, right? None of the other real famous guys showed up,” explains Midnight.

“You think I’d let you down?” Present Mic laughs and tells Midnight, “he said, ‘I’ll come if I can.’”

“So he’s not coming, then.”

Mere seconds after Midnight says that, the lights go off.

One of the Dance Squad members, near the light switch, flicks it up and down a few times. “Nothin’.”

Izumi finally turns around, taking in the darkened scene. Nobody backstage is panicking, thankfully, but the other heroes look nervous and on edge. Izumi suddenly wishes she had her gear on her, just in case. Makoto talks with the other event coordinators about what’s happening, and one of them makes an announcement.

“We’re in the process of figuring out what’s going on. We ask everyone to stay where you are and remain calm.”

Midnight’s phone rings. Izumi sees her check the caller ID and brighten up a little bit. She answers the call, “Aizawa? Where are you? … Ran into a villain? … Nevermind that, are you okay? … … Understood.”

A few minutes later, Makoto, Pop, Izumi, and some of the heroes in attendance stand backstage, the open night sky above them still covered by light pollution from the rest of Tokyo that hasn’t been affected by the blackout. Makoto pulls the curtain back enough to see the crowd, looking at a message on her phone and speaking to the people backstage. “They’re having trouble restoring power to the block this building’s on. The crowd’s gonna start getting rowdy if this keeps up…”

Midnight steps up closer to Makoto, “what’s the story? We could always take over from here, but… we’re only authorized to evacuate the place, which would mean no concert.”

Izumi tunes out the rest of whatever is said, leaving backstage and making her way through the crowd as quickly as possible. They’re going to need someone to MC for the event, now that Present Mic and the other heroes are on standby. They couldn’t help put the show on even if they wanted to. It’s either wait til something happens or, like Midnight said, evacuate the building. And Izumi knows the perfect person for it.

Izumi’s bike is still not fully repaired, so she has to skate home. She goes faster than is probably safe without her pads, crouching down further to minimize her profile and get some decent speed. It’s an emergency, now’s not the time for her to be safe. Plus, the building her apartment sits on top of isn’t too far away. Pop left her whatchamacallit here the other day… aha! Izumi grabs what she’s looking for, plus her own gear, and heads back to the stairs.

Deku’s yellow backpack, well insulated by extra clothes and not carrying anything fragile anyway, goes over the railing and all the way down to the ground floor with a distant thud. Before she even hears it impact, she’s moving down the steps, tossing pieces of her gear ahead of her to where she knows she’ll be grabbing them. She puts on the body armor first, then the green hoodie which she grabs off the railing a floor down, then the leg guards, both on different floors, and knee pads, near the bottom. She grabs her backpack from the middle of the staircase and fishes out the last couple pieces as she all but glides out of the stairwell and out the building’s front doors, light on her feet and bouncing with adrenaline and dopamine. By the time Deku finishes pulling on the arm guards and elbow pads she’s already on her board and skating back to the department store. She clips the grappling hook to her belt, just in case, then pulls her respirator on and her hood up.

When she arrives at the department store Deku takes the stairs two or three at a time, thankful for the stamina training she’s been doing the past few months, and makes it to the roof in record time (for someone without a quirk, at least). She pushes through the crowd again, shouting “I’m with the band! ‘scuse me! Gotta get through!”

Less than fifteen minutes after she left, she makes it backstage again. “Pop! I brought your whatchamacallit! The microphone thing!”

When both Makoto and Pop look confused, Deku elaborates, looking at Makoto first, “she’s always giving performances out on the street, right? And she guides people to safety when villains attack, too,” Deku turns to Pop. “This is basically your specialty!”

“Asking her to do it off the cuff, though…?” says one of the band members skeptically.

“Talk about unreasonable,” the lead agrees.

Pulling down her respirator so Pop can see her face, Izumi grins wide at her and offers her the microphone thing. Though unsure at first, determination crosses Pop’s face.

She takes the mic from Izumi.

“Sure. I mean… it is kinda my specialty.”

“Hmph… no doubt!” Makoto nods resolutely, “so you’ll vamp for a while, Pop. Thirty minutes, max. Explain the situation every few minutes to keep them calm. The rest of the time, just ad-lib and do your thing. This is your stage to shine on. We’re counting on you!”

Everyone, even the heroes, chime in with words of agreement and encouragement. Izumi’s grin just gets brighter. Though it’s difficult to see with the lights still out, Izumi thinks she catches a blush on Pop’s face. The curtains open, and Pop steps out onto the stage. Izumi sneaks out and into the crowd, pulling her hood down now that she’s no longer Deku. She keeps the armor on. Just in case.

Pop takes a moment to compose herself, and for a second Izumi is afraid she might back out. Then…

“Hey there, concert-goers! Can I have your attention? I’ve got a message from the event staff!”

And Pop does what Pop does best. Though there’s a couple weird moments, she ties it all together in a way that makes perfect sense and also manages to be entertaining. Namimaru, Samazu, and Pop’s other superfans all help out at her direction, lighting the way to the bathrooms and the emergency exits. Eventually Pop moves on to performing some songs, stopping in between each one to remind everyone of emergency procedures and the like. Eventually Izumi sees Pop pause on the stage, clearly listening to someone over her earpiece.

“Heyyy! Sorry to keep you all waiting so long! The Naruhata Festival, cosponsored by Marukane and Captain Celebrity, is back on!” The lights come back on during Pop’s announcement, and a spotlight hits the stage. Miu steps out, and Pop gestures to her, saying “the first song of the evening program is a remix of the Marukane Department Store jingle, presented by Narufest’s special ensemble, FeatherHATS!”

It’s fantastic; the performance is perfect, as far as Izumi is concerned.

For a department store jingle, the kind you’d hear tacked onto the end of a commercial, the remix of the song manages to stand on its own, still sounding like the jingle but not like a jingle.

The Dance Squad twirls about the stage, the President at the forefront as a clear lead, while Yu dances back and forth, from one side of Miu to the other. Even though Miu can’t commit to a whole dance routine, she still gets into it in her own small way, doing subtler dance moves that (hopefully) won’t put extra strain on her ankle.

Above them all, Pop bounces and floats and leaps and twirls, somehow managing to keep her hat on even as she somersaults in midair.

It’s all incredible… but Izumi can’t draw her eyes away from Pop. They meet eyes a few times during the performance, and every time Izumi’s blush gets deeper and Pop’s smile gets wider. It’s the happiest Izumi’s ever seen her.

There is a hollow grasping feeling deep in her heart, painful and scary but beautiful, almost addicting. Izumi wants more. Izumi wants to make Pop smile like that again.

Chapter Text

Shouta

Shortly before the blackout…

Narufest. What a waste of time. Shouta promised Hizashi he’d be there, so he will be, but he’s still reluctant. Not exactly the type to show his face in public. And hell, the event is all about urban renewal, right? It’s hardly rational to hold such an elaborate festival, why not just collect donations instead? If it’s for the neighborhood’s sake, surely people would donate.

“Ugh, what a drag. Hopefully a villain pops up in the area. That’d be the perfect excuse to ditch this thing,” he mutters to himself.

As if by an act of god, Shouta hears a scream for help. He grins and pulls his goggles up and over his eyes, wrapping his capture weapon around a street light and flinging himself in the direction the scream came from. “Whoever this is, I hope they’re taking it seriously, heh.”

It doesn’t take him very long to find what he’s looking for. A massive villain takes up most of the road, slamming into the buildings on either side and stuttering, “P- P-” but not getting it out.

Shouta runs through the scenario in his head as he parkours across the low rooftops. He’s moving like he’s not used to that massive body. So he wasn’t born this way? A transformation quirk, then…? Or one of those instant villains? This area’s seen a lot of them.

His capture weapon thwips out and wraps itself around the villain; at the same time, Shouta activates his quirk and jumps down to land behind the villain, saying, “Pardon me. Pro Hero Eraserhead, here. Seems like your quirk’s running wild. Sorry, but you’re gonna stay tied up until the police arrive. Or I could call an ambulance? How’re you feeling?”

The villain flexes and shifts, straining against Shouta’s capture weapon. My erasure doesn’t have any effect on his body. So it’s not a temporary transformation? This is just how he is…?

Shouta’s thoughts are interrupted by the villain slipping out of the hold of the capture weapon. Slipped outta my bindings? Because his skin’s all slimy.

The kick Shouta hits the villain with makes contact, but the villain barely seems to notice. Blunt attacks won’t work either. He’s a tougher customer than I thought! But if he’s not transforming back… then a good net should hold him.

fwip

The capture weapon does its job perfectly, wrapping around the villain from as many angles as Shouta can manage without strangling them. It should be more or less inescapable. He pulls down his goggles, giving his eyes a break for some fresh air.

“P- Pop…” the villain says, and Shouta can see tears beginning to streak down their face. What the hell?

“WHAT THE-?!” Shouta yells. Flexing and shifting, the villain tries to escape again. Once they realize they can’t, though, they plant all four limbs on the ground and arch their back. With a flash of light that blinds Shouta for a moment, the villain unleashes a torrent of electricity into the street around them. Shouta jumps back just in time to avoid getting hurt, but several civilians aren’t lucky enough, all of them screaming and dropping to the ground. The villain drops, exhausted and unconscious.

After putting in a quick call to emergency services, Shouta sits down and leans up against the villain, then places another call, this one to Nemuri. She picks up on the first ring.

“Aizawa? Where are you?”

“Villain,” is Shouta’s simple response.

“Eh? Ran into a villain?!”

“Yes, which is why I can’t make it to your little event. I’m not just blowing it off, heh.” Sue him, it’s kinda funny.

“Nevermind that, are you okay?!” Nemuri all but shouts. Shouta pulls his phone away from his ear for a second. Not as bad as Mic over the phone - still unpleasant.

“Got the villain wrangled, don’t need backup. Just waiting for the cops to show. A few people are hurt, and there’s property damage, plus the blackout. But the rescue workers should be here in a few minutes,” explains Shouta. Not that Nemuri needs the rundown, but it’s rational to have context. They don’t stay on the phone much longer, seeing as how they’re both a little busy. Several minutes later, Shouta hears shouts again.

“Huh? Panicking again…?” he listens closer, “no. Just cheering. So they didn’t cancel the event.”

The villain twitches and groans, “P-Pop.”

“Pop? Ohh, right, that indie idol from around here. Must be performing. So you’re a fan, eh? Well, you can catch her next show,” Shouta says, then immediately freezes. From up near the villain’s neck, a buzzing sound, like a bee. He looks and sees a bee with, instead of a normal abdomen and stinger, a vial with a needle attached to the end of it; with lightning fast reflexes, Shouta’s capture weapon shoots out and hits the bee, which buzzes away.

“Pop…” the villain groans again.

A bee? What’s that about? Injecting something from its abdomen? No, it was sucking something out…? The hell? … nothing I can do about it right now.

A few minutes later, the cops show up. They put special heavy-duty handcuffs on the villain, and begin to pull him away, “Get moving, you.”

The villain looks back and up at the roof of the department store. Shouta stops the cop, “actually, could you wait a few more minutes? I’ll watch him until he’s calmed down.” He jabs his thumb in the direction of the department store, where he can hear the festival’s music winding up for a finale, “they’re just getting to the good part.”

At the end of the song, the crowd starts chanting for an encore. It brings a smile to Shouta’s face, even if he’d never admit it.

“Pardon me,” a voice draws Shouta’s attention away, to a detective in a hat and long coat, “glad I made it in time. I’m Tsukauchi, with the Quirk Crimes Division. Currently investigating the events involving those Instant Villains.”

“Oh. Heya. Hate to rain on your parade, but this isn’t your guy,” Shouta says.

“Eh…? This one’s not an Instant Villain?” Tsukauchi questions.

“Definitely something weird about him, but… I have doubts that the enhanced manifestation of his quirk was caused by a drug.”

“So you didn’t find a syringe or injector on him?”

“Nope… ah, but speaking of syringes…”

★★★

Iwao

Just after the blackout starts…

It took a while. Even with Soga’s help, it took a while. But eventually, Iwao had the trail. And like a bloodhound, he followed it all the way to the end. After all this time, she’s in his sights. The bee user. Alone on a rooftop, talking to herself.

“C’mon, who cares? It’s just a little hobby of mine. And I’m really not digging this sermon,” she says.

“Don’t like sermons, huh?” Iwao steps forward, out from the shadows, “big shocker. I don’t think anyone likes getting lectured. Especially not young ladies. You’re at that difficult age when getting talked at just won’t do. I understand that better than anyone. So let’s make this short, huh?”

“What’s the big idea, you old fart?” she accuses.

Iwao reaches into his coat and pulls out the taser knuckles he procured from Giran a while back. His stance widens, one unencumbered hand forward, the other with the taser knuckles held back, closer to the chest. With as much of a grin as he can bear, Iwao speaks.

“You’re coming home, Tamao. Mom’s waiting.”

A moment of tense silence before she speaks up.

“What’s that s’posed to mean, you old fart? ‘Come home’? ‘Mom’s waiting’? No clue what you’re blabbing about,” she says. She looks like she might keep talking, but Iwao interrupts her.

“Shut yer pie-hole, bee user . Ain’t talking to you. I’m talking to Tamao Oguro…

… my daughter.”

She cackles, “that’s your weapon of choice? Taser knuckles? So you don’t harm a hair on your little girl’s head?”

Iwao steps forward and punches with the taser, narrowly missing. This thing is fast. He’s faster, and smarter.

“Wayyy too slow…” she starts to taunt. Iwao’s knuckleduster clad left fist heads straight for her face, “... dude.” Iwao’s feint works, hitting her in the face and sending her sprawling.

“Using your fists anyway? Then what’s the freaking point?” It screams, crouching low after being sent backward.

Iwao almost laughs. “I wanna end this without landing a taser hit, actually. This is top shelf gear; high voltage, high amperage. Graze a limb and you drop like a sack of bricks. A hit to the chest should stop your heart.”

“Nice bluff, old man!” Dozens of bees pour out from behind the hair covering her left eye, all with abdomens replaced by something else.

“Hmph, sending out worker bees? Your little flying syringes? What kinda drug cocktail are they carrying?” Iwao surges forward, intent on meeting Kuin in the middle, “doesn’t matter, cuz all I gotta do is smash the queen.”

bzzz

A bee, to his left.

BOM!

The bee explodes, barely enough to stop Iwao in his tracks. He sees the way Kuin starts bleeding more from the eye, though. Making and then destroying those bees must take a toll on the host.

“HAHAHA! You moron! These ones are special! No drugs, just explosives! So get ready to eat a whole swarm of bomb bees!” As promised, a swarm of bees flies out to meet Iwao. He plays it safe and feigns ignorance, letting them all explode around him.

“KYAAAHAHAHA!! GET BLOWN TO PIECES, OLD MAN!!”

The bees explode around him harmlessly, creating a smokescreen instead of anything deadly. “Nice bluff, kiddo,” he says, stepping out of the smoke, both fists still held up.

“The only real bomb was that first one. The rest were just fireworks. Empty threats,” Kuin says, explaining what Iwao already knows. He decides to return the favor.

“Takes a toll on the host, right? Can’t make many of those bombs, so that bluff means you ain’t got anything better to attack with. Now that I know…” Iwao starts to rush forward.

“Screw you, geezer!” Kuin says, then jumps from the roof, “enjoy your lonely life,” and twists in midair, barely setting down on the railing on the roof of the next building over before jumping again, “moron,” and running away.

“First fireworks, now we’re playing tag? Works for me,” Iwao grins and pulls out his grappling hook, spinning it fast as he can and throwing it to get it hooked on another building’s railing. Jumping, swinging, and running along the side of the building, Iwao gives chase. “Guess it’s time to see how far you can run!”

bvvvt bvvvt

His phone? Really? It could be one of the kids, maybe something happened at the festival. He’s busy, but he may as well hear them out. He answers the phone, “this is Oguro.”

The response is choppy, “call from… kzzzht- eral hospital.”

“I’m currently on the move, can you wait just a moment while I find somewhere to stop?” Iwao asks, polite as can be. He can see Kuin running away, below. She might be slowing down. Keeping a solid grip on his phone, Iwao lets go of the grappling hook and lands in a pile of trash bags, softening the landing. He raises his phone back up to his ear.

“Sir? Do you need help, sir?”

“No, that’s fine. I can hear you now. How can I help you?” he keeps his feral grin locked on Kuin, but freezes when the person on the other end of the call continues.

“It’s your wife’s condition. A little while ago, she…” they go silent.

After a beat, Iwao responds, “right. Okay. Understood. The whole family will be right over,” and dashes after Kuin. He follows her through the back streets until he finally corners her in the alleyway he knew she’d go for.

“Dead end,” he says, walking forward casually with his hands in his pockets, “see, I know how light on your feet you are, and I know these streets even better. So nudging you into this blind alley was just a matter of calculating in reverse.”

“Think that’s enough to checkmate me?!” she shouts. More bees crawl out of her eye, and two of them inject her with something. “Didja count on me pumping myself full of strength boosters and steamrolling you anyway? DIDJA?!”

“Too bad that’ll leave you unable to run , though. ‘Bee user.’ A bee user’s personality is basically a fusion of the swarm of parasitic bees and the host’s own brain,” Iwao explains. “Which means a shot of Trigger weakens the control over her underlying spirit. The bees’ mission takes less priority, and the feelings of the host, Tamao Oguro, start to emerge.”

Just as he counted on, she starts to twitch. Her right eye darts back and forth, as if lost in a memory, until she snaps, “so freaking annoying… STOP PISSING ME OFF, DAD!”

Iwao smiles. “Good, Tamao. This is good. Our first talk in a while, father to daughter. Thinking back, I know I didn’t really do right by you. No excuses. I’ve spent a lotta time reflecting.”

Being a father wasn’t something Iwao had expected, but when his wife, Kuin, showed him little baby Tamao… as cliche as it is, he fell in love. Growing up, Iwao tried to treat Tamao as best he could, though in retrospect he was probably gone too much. At the time, he dismissed it as part of being a Hero. He should have spent more time with her before he found the bottom of the bottle. After the Underground Masquerade, when He finally caught up with Iwao… It wasn’t the same without his quirk. That’s an emptiness that nothing can fill. At least that’s what he thought at the time. If he’d been less self-involved, cut his pity party short and been the father he should have been…

Well, Iwao’s never much been one for ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda.’

Caught up as he is, Iwao doesn’t see the moment Kuin takes control again, and can’t anticipate her next move. She lunges forward, a bee injecting her with something else, and stabs the sharpened, claw-like nails of her index and middle finger into Iwao’s chest.

“‘A hit to the chest should stop your heart.’ Plenty of time to reflect in hell, dear old dad!”

A shock of electricity, and Iwao starts to fall.

My whole body felt that shock. Chest’s tight. Feeling nauseous. Heart’s giving up the ghost. The shock’s putting me into v-fib. Only got a few seconds before blood stops flowing to my brain. I’ll be out cold before I know it. Then, death. An electric quirk? She had that ace up her sleeve? Nah, right before attacking she had a bee pump her full of something. Must’ve been a sample she collected while on the job. Same tactic I chose, weirdly enough. Or she improvised in the moment to match my taser knuckles. But by stabbing me in the heart with those electrode claws, she delivered the shock straight to my system. So creative. So clever … That’s my baby girl.

He hits the ground. Kuin walks away, saying something that doesn’t quite reach Iwao’s ears. It doesn’t take long to get back on his feet. All he needs is another shock, one to get his heart beating the right way again. Luckily, he got the taser knuckles commissioned for just such a problem, though he didn’t expect he’d have to use it on himself. Giran thought he was crazy when he asked for it, a defibrillator attached to the taser knuckles. But Iwao knows what he’s doing.

He struggles to his feet, staggers, and catches himself on a dumpster. It’s hard to push himself onward, but he does, catching up to Kuin as she monologues to herself.

“Ohh? No more technical difficulties? Show’s back on? Sure sounds like they’re living it up. Nothing pisses me off more. I’ll have to crash this party.”

“Aw, don’t be like that,” Iwao interrupts, “no need to get jealous. I know it should be you up in that spotlight, sweetie. You just got lost along the way is all. But if it’s something you want, you oughta go for it. Daddy’s rooting for you.” He pulls the line that was attached the defibrillator out from his chest, a splurt of blood following it, then again with the one in his side. Painful, but that helps him focus.

Tamao, piloted by Kuin, turns to look back at him. “You just don’t quit, huh? How’re you alive, anyway? Or are you some kinda ghost? So freaking lame, this weird pep talk from daddy dearest.”

“Don’t gotta be so stubborn, Tamao. No matter what sorta signals that bee in your head is sending out, you know, deep down, that in the whole wide world…” Iwao grins at her, half feral, all loving, “there’s no better daddy than me.”

He’s been tracking her down for over a year, now. There’s no way he could live with himself if he just let her get away. If he never got the chance to atone for his mistakes.

“This act of yours is getting stale. I really liked this body. Treated it well, even. But at this point? Who cares. Might as well use it up and move on to the next one.” Electricity sparks between her fingers and she rolls her eye, more blood dripping from her left eye onto the school uniform she’s still wearing. When Kuin rushes forward more bees follow her. “THIS IS GOODBYE FOR REAL, DADDY!”

It’s not a bluff. She’s planning on killing herself with this move, just to get rid of him. The look in her eyes is the same as when she left. A cold stare full of rejection. All Iwao could do was shout, barking like a scared dog. He couldn’t take that step.

But today’s different.

No more doubt in his mind, he takes the first step.

Anticipate the opponent and counter accordingly.

That simple principle drilled into him by school, training, and real-life battles echoes in his mind.

Strike.

A wild punch with his right fist, the one gripping the taser knuckles. The punch barely grazes Kuin. She dodges to the side and goes in for the lunge, but Iwao knows what she’ll do before she does. He brings his arm back close and ducks under her stab, punching her in the chest with his other fist hard, staggering her back and giving Iwao the perfect opening.

Good or evil, loved one or hated enemy, make no distinction.

One foot forward. Movement. Momentum.

Just step forward and strike.

One fist back, but close.

I’ll get through to you!

Leverage and force and follow-through.

This time for sure!

No hesitation, just the moment, faster than conscious thought.

I’ll GET THROUGH!!

Before it registers in her eyes, on her face - impact.

The taser knuckles do what they’re supposed to do and send her into cardiac arrest. She collapses to the ground, cursing him between convulsions.

“The shock I delivered’s got that heart spasming. You’re about to lose blood flow to the brain. That body’s already dead. I mean, sure, you could shock the heart back to life.”

Kuin’s hand twitches and she tries to bring it up to her own chest. Iwao steps on her wrist.

“That’d be the only way to save the body. It’s what I did to myself, after all.”

It kills him, that he’s killing her. But this is the only way.

“I ain’t gonna letcha. Since Tamao’s your host, when her brain stops, you’ll lose the ability to think too. Since you’ve lost control, that swarm’s gonna flee the dying hive on instinct,” explains Iwao, almost more to himself than to Kuin or Tamao. From his belt he retrieves the grabber and clicks it once.

“Until all that’s left is a queen without her swarm. Can’t fly, can’t even think. No better than a maggot,” he all but spits. He jams the grabber into Tamao’s left eye and squeezes, closing the jaws on something that is decidedly not an eyeball. He pulls, and something twisted and disgusting comes free.

The Queen Bee.

Below him, Tamao screams. The queen gets tossed behind Iwao, along with a can with an incendiary explosive attached.

“But I’m a nice guy, see, so I’m calling your swarm back to you. With a nice pheromone cocktail,” Iwao doesn’t even look when he presses the button, “and a candlelight vigil to boot.”

BOM-FWOOOOOSH!!

Heat and light, behind him. The sound of fire, of insects dropping and burning. Iwao pulls off his bandana.

“Now. Where were we, Tamao?”

With all the care in the world, he presses the bandana to her eye, trying to slow the bleeding long enough so he can do what he needs. Giran didn’t skimp out on the taser knuckles, but he also didn’t anticipate a need to not injure someone, even with the defibrillator. Unfortunately, the electrodes that attach to the chest aren’t some nice sticky fabric like EMTs use. They’re sharp, and meant to be stabbed into someone’s body.

Face grim and determined, Iwao pulls Tamao’s shirt open just enough to get the electrodes attached, and starts the defibrillator. Shock, then CPR. He doesn’t keep track of how long it takes. He just keeps going.

As long as it takes.

This time for sure.

He’ll get through.

★★★

Nobody

Now…

A nameless figure moves through the crowd of police and EMTs, unseen by all. They carry a vial, not much bigger than the palm of their hand. Their identity is known by nobody, not even them. Even their name remains a mystery. Perhaps they could have a name, someday, but a name requires identity. A sense of self. Something they lack. There is no self, no person, no man. A number, yes, but one that represents their place in someone else’s world.

“Data, data. Data is key. Data on subjects, sweet as honey…” tossing the vial and catching it again, they scan the air around them. They can be hard to spot, those busy little bees, especially when the noise of their little wings doesn’t carry through the still air. But the figure does spot it, suspended in time, wings moving as if through syrup.

“Oh, there we are. ♪”

The vial goes up, staying still in the air like a little bee. “Thick and drippy…” in an instant, the figure leaps and returns to the ground, a pesky little insect safely rehomed in a nice glass vial. “... like honey saved up in a hive of bees.”

They bring the vial up to their scarred face, looking at the bee that struggles to buzz. “The many, reduced to one. … or something like that. ♪”

Humming a tune only they can hear, they saunter away, the crowd motionless and still.

★★★

Izumi

Two days after Narufest…

They see Knuckleduster one more time, before he up and disappears. After a strange day full of ‘villains’ who turn out to just be perverts and not hopped up on Trigger, Izumi tries to invite Knuckleduster back to her apartment, per Pop’s request. Pop, not being able to show her parents or her schoolmates, doesn’t have many people to talk about the festival with. So, for lack of anyone else aside from Izumi and the others that participated, she wants to show Knuckleduster the video Izumi took of Pop on stage. Before Izumi can really ask, though, Knuckleduster just… walks away. At least he has the courtesy to wave back at them.

Back at Izumi’s apartment, after cleaning up and changing out of her vigilante gear, Izumi notices some familiar objects laying on the table. It’s the knuckledusters and mask that he always wore. Wordlessly, Izumi shows them to Pop.

“You don’t think he forgot his stuff here, do you?” she asks Izumi.

Frowning, Izumi replies “that doesn’t make sense. Maybe he swung by after he walked away and dropped them off? But why?”

With a breathy sort of half laugh, Pop suggests “maybe he wants you to clean them for him.”

The joke is clear, but Izumi just keeps staring at the knuckledusters, brow furrowed in concentration. They are pretty filthy. Eventually she concedes that “maybe…? That doesn’t seem like master, though. He worked me hard, but that was all… fighting stuff…” Izumi continues to grumble, picking them up and pacing around for a few minutes.

“Well, maybe he didn’t leave them for me to clean, but I may as well. Pretty sure that’s dried blood, and I really don’t want that sitting around my apartment,” reasons Izumi. Pop makes a noncommittal noise, turning back to her phone and watching the Narufest video again.

Leaving Pop to her own devices, Izumi fills a bucket with water, grabs the soap and a small scrub brush, and takes it all outside. It’s a beautiful day, with the sun shining and the breeze blowing, so why not take advantage of it?

Meticulously, bit by bit, Izumi cleans one of the knuckledusters, then moves onto the next. She’s partway through when she’s interrupted by Makoto’s voice, “heyyy, Izumi!”

“Hey Makoto!” Izumi says, looking up at her.

Makoto leans forward and looks closer at what Izumi’s doing. She holds up the knuckleduster so Makoto can see. “Oh, is that…?”

“Yeah, master’s knuckledusters. He kinda just left them here, and I decided to clean them so I didn’t have bloody implements of face destruction sitting around,” Izumi explains with a smile.

“I was actually hoping to get an interview with your master one of these days.”

“Umm… I don’t think he’s coming by today? Or maybe ever again? But I’ll pass along the message if he comes around.”

Makoto frowns, “we just keep missing each other,” a pause, then Makoto’s face brightens again, “is Pop here, by the way?”

“Yeah, she’s inside, probably watching the video I took at Narufest again.”

Toeing off her shoes at the door, Makoto all but skips inside. “Hey, girl!” she says to Pop, “you’ve got more fan letters! And some photos of the performance that I took!”

“Yay! ♡”

Still listening to their conversation, Izumi goes back to scrubbing.

“People are loving the videos,” says Makoto, “Marukane is getting comments like ‘I can’t believe I missed this’ and ‘You gotta do another show.’”

The implication is obvious, and Pop picks up on it easily. “Yeah, sure! I’d love to!” The enthusiasm in her voice makes Izumi smile.

★★★

Iwao

It hurt to leave Deku and Pop behind like that. Iwao knows Pop is proud of Narufest and wanted to brag about it to Knuckleduster, probably harass him for not showing up.

But they don’t need him anymore.

There’s not much more he can teach Izumi that she can’t learn from someone else, after all. She knows the streets of Naruhata almost better than Iwao does, she’s got fantastic instincts for battle and strategy (even if she refuses to apply them), and she can only learn more about fighting by actually fighting. Training won’t take her much further. Only raw experience can do that. Hell, he even left her a few gifts. His mask, for sentimental reasons, his knuckledusters, in case she ever needs to do some real damage, and a nice surprise. As much as leaving them may have hurt, he has something more important to take care of. Something that requires him to be Iwao, not Knuckleduster.

With a small bag of groceries in hand, Iwao opens the door to Tamao’s room in the hospital. She’s still recovering, and he’s tried to be at her side as much as possible, but every once in a while he has to leave. So he leaves Soga there to watch her and make sure she at least has someone with her if she wakes up. Soga isn’t the most comforting presence, but hopefully it’s better than nothing. Why he keeps doing what Iwao asks him to do is a mystery, but as long as he’s offering…

He catches the tail end of whatever she’d been saying to Soga, “where’s… my dad…?”

“Hey, Tamao. You’re awake, then?” Iwao says with a small smile. He puts a hand on Soga’s shoulder, who takes the hint and stands up to leave. Over his shoulder, Iwao says “‘preciate it. I’ll call ya when I need ya.”

The kid grumbles something under his breath, but keeps walking.

“Now, how’re you feeling? They’re giving you the good stuff in that IV drip, so you shouldn’t be in pain.” Iwao grabs a cup of pudding from the bag he brought with him and holds it up so Tamao can see it, “how about a bite to eat?”

“Head hurts,” is the soft reply. It breaks Iwao’s heart, even if he doesn’t show it. He puts the pudding cup back in the bag.

“Yeah, nothing much to do about that for now ‘cept give it time. Get some more sleep, okay?” the covers have slipped down, so Iwao pulls them back up for her, “time’s the best medicine, they say.”

“Where’s mom?”

He barely manages to hide the grief-stricken look on his face before Tamao can see it, but recovers and manages a small smile.

“You just missed her actually,” he lies, “can’t see her at the moment.”

He’s weak, even hours after bringing Tamao to the hospital, but when he hears it he suddenly finds strength enough to run. To run to her. To Kuin, his Kuin, not the damn fucking bee that took her name. She was on a bed, being rushed somewhere else in the hospital, Iwao didn’t know where because he couldn’t see anything except her hand reaching out for him, trembling from the effort of even lifting it up.

She held on long enough for him to tell her that Tamao was back, that he brought her home, that she didn’t need to worry about it anymore.

They called it, there in the hallway.

For the first time, in a long time, Iwao wept.

“But she was so glad to hear you’d come back to us. I’m really glad I brought you back.”

“I can’t see her now?” her voice is so fragile Iwao is afraid to even touch her for fear of the breaking. Still, he forges onward.

“Not now, no. But it’ll be okay, Tamao. No need to worry.”

Iwao grabs his daughter’s hand gently, lifting it with one hand, then holding it with both.

“I’m here.”

★★★

Izumi

A few days go by, Pop still hanging out at Izumi’s apartment almost every day, before she shows up with something unexpected. A bulletin board. The kind made with cork, meant for pinning things up. Together they hang it on the wall, arguing about what to use it for (Izumi wants to use it for general purposes, but Pop wants to fill it with pictures and fan letters).

Despite Pop’s protests, the first thing Izumi hangs up on the board is Knuckleduster’s mask, pinned to the top, right in the middle. Then Izumi hangs up the trash and recycling schedule, followed by the patrol schedule she still updates. Pop puts up some pictures, mostly from Narufest, but some from the few times the Naruhata Vigilantes ever got their picture taken together. There’s one with all three of them; Knuckleduster with a frown on his face and his arms crossed, standing behind Pop and Deku, who are smiling at the camera. Makoto even shows up, and the three of them spend the whole day together, filling the board and laughing.

“Pop! C’mere! Check it out!” Izumi shouts from outside later that evening, after Makoto has gone home.

“Hmm? What’s up?” Pop asks, stepping outside.

Izumi, bouncing on her toes, points up at the moon. “Isn’t it so pretty tonight?”

“Hey yeah, you’re right!”

After a moment, Izumi leans over and whispers to Pop, “I’m glad you’re here to see this. It’s not every night that the moon is so visible, especially here in the city.”

And for once, Pop doesn’t say something mean back. Izumi’s smile grows wider.

★★★

One day in the future, Izumi would look back on those first few months with an older eye.

You can’t always rely on memories.

Sometimes I still remember Master as the ‘man’ of the house, as silly as it seems.

But when I really think back… he was only actually around for a few months of that first year.

Even though I would go on to play the part of Deku without him around, it never really felt like he was gone.

‘Haunting the narrative,’ some would call it.

At the time, my battle hadn’t even really begun; not that anyone knew.

But whether you realize it or not, the clock keeps on ticking, and the seasons come and go.

Time, as always, keeps on passing.

Chapter Text

Izumi

A few days after Narufest finds Izumi in the garage beneath her building. The intention was to get to work repairing her motorcycle, but now it seems as if there’s no need.

Shiny and new, there in the garage sits a dark forest green motorcycle, so familiar and yet changed. While still definitely her bike, it has definitely been given an upgrade. The profile is different now, sleeker and more aerodynamic.

The wheels had been one of the few things not destroyed when the semi truck ran over the bike, thankfully. They remain the same, still as sturdy as they were before (hopefully), but the old, thin tires have been replaced with much thicker tires, these ones made for gripping pavement on sharp turns.

The engine, which had also miraculously not been completely destroyed by the semi, remains mostly the same, though some of the connections to the rest of the bike have clearly been replaced for better compatibility.

The rest of the bike, from the seat to the handlebars to the speedometer, has been replaced. Izumi touches the side, feeling that the shell is no longer made of basic plastic, but something sturdier. The seat isn’t made of thin pleather anymore, either, and now has a latch under it. With a click the latch releases and the seat opens up to reveal a new storage compartment beneath. Inside, she finds a note.

Idly, Izumi wonders how he did this. She had been working on it for an hour or two a day until a week ago, only stopping because Pop and Makoto needed her help for Narufest. Had Knuckleduster really done all this in a week? Or did he get someone else to do it? Not that it really mattered. Either way, her bike is fixed. As usual, Pop comes over that afternoon, and Izumi enthusiastically shows her the repaired bike.

“Did you get a new bike? Do you even have that kind of money?” Accusations disguised as genuine questions.

“No and no! This is my bike,” Izumi says, handing Pop the note, “check this out.”

As short as it is it hardly takes a second for Pop’s expression to go from doubt to surprise.

“That’s weirdly nice of him. Didn’t know he could be nice,” Pop says with no small amount of wonder in her voice. Then, “but is there anything left of the original?”

“Well, yeah? A lot of small parts got reused, I think. The wheels are the same as before and so is the engine. Not that it matters, though; it’s still the same bike.”

Smirking, Pop starts to say “but if those parts get replaced, is-”

“UGH please don’t Ship of Theseus this!” Izumi shouts melodramatically, struggling not to smile.

“More like motorcycle of Theseus, really.”

“...”

“What’s up with that face?”

“...”

“Why are you smiling like that??”

“The Dekucycle of Theseus!”

“You are not calling it the ‘Dekucycle!’”

“Awww, come on, haven’t you ever read any old pre-quirk comics? It was all ‘Batplane’ this, ‘Thanoscopter’ that!”

The two bicker like that the rest of the day.

★★★

Three weeks after Narufest…

“Ah shit! Shit shit shit!” Izumi is not dying to an oversized grasshopper today. Or any day, hopefully, but especially not today! The villain’s scythe-like limbs slam into the ground as it chases Izumi. She’s gotten better at fending off villains since meeting Knuckleduster, but usually she dealt with people she could talk down from a fight, or small fries who give in after one solid hit. Not big guys who could probably kill her without breaking much of a sweat.

All she can do in cases like this is hop on her board or bike and keep out of their attacking range until a Hero shows up. Today, she’s on her bike.

Speeding past, Izumi sees Samazu and Namimaru blur by in her periphery, both saying hi to her as she passes. She doesn’t really have the time or space to say hi, but she gets the chance anyway when the villain uses one of its limbs to shred her back tire and send her to a grinding, screeching halt.

“OH COME ON! IT HASN’T EVEN BEEN A MONTH!!” she shouts. Tires are expensive! She can’t afford to constantly be replacing them, and getting them secondhand or at a junkyard (like she does with almost every other part of her bike) is a terrible idea. Plus, it’s not like she can just buy one tire to replace what’s missing, tires have to be bought in sets!

She doesn’t have long to wallow in her suffering before the villain goes for another attack, and Izumi is forced to jump off the now barely mobile bike and dodge.

“You kinda suck, huh,” says Namimaru.
“Good luck, dude,” Samazu adds.

Izumi looks toward her bike in time to see the villain break one of the mirrors off. Which, y’know, isn’t awful in the grand scheme (she can go without her left mirror for a while), but still pisses her off. She yanks off her helmet and pulls up her hood, scowling behind her mask. The villain screeches, and Izumi’s scowl lessens. He sounds like he’s in pain. What if he’s…

Izumi looks at Samazu and Namimaru, and thinks back to what they told her a few days earlier. Their friend, Teruo, who the Vigilantes had fought once before as an eel hopped up on Trigger, was apparently kidnapped and transformed into something else. It took his fairly benign mutations and enhanced them beyond what Trigger could do. And now he’s stuck in that enormous form, unable to be turned back.

So Izumi holds up her hands in surrender, hoping that some basic visual communication can get through to the villain and end this without more violence. The giant grasshopper pauses, unsure. Before either can make a move, Pop’s voice rings out from a nearby rooftop, amplified by the portable microphone/speaker thingamajig.

“Heyyy, if I could have your attention, everyone?”

Izumi taps her earpiece and starts to ask Pop to call a Hero, but gets interrupted.

“Your favorite free, live community based concert, Narufest, is back! At 10AM on the first saturday of the month! Check it out at the rooftop skypark of Marukane Department Store’s Naruhata branch!”

Again, Izumi taps her earpiece, this time not being interrupted by Pop, “hey, could you call a Hero? I think I got this guy calmed down a bit, so someone like Eraser-”

“Already called it in! ★”

‘Thank you’ almost slips past Izumi’s lips, but gets caught when she sees who responded to the call. Him again. The moment CC begins to swoop down, the grasshopper villain gets agitated and starts moving toward Izumi aggressively. She backs up and, not looking where she’s going in her panic, trips over a large piece of her bike’s rear tire, falling on her ass. The grasshopper villain is right above her, about to strike, when-

BAM

-the Captain intervenes. One solid strike to the villain’s head and he’s down, unconscious and almost on top of Izumi. She scrambles to her feet and goes to check on him. He’s breathing. Good. Glaring up at CC, Izumi seethes.

“He was probably about to surrender peacefully, then you showed up,” Izumi says. Then, sarcastically, “thanks so much, Captain.”

He takes it seriously (Izumi can’t tell if he’s stupid or if he’s doing it for the cameras), and says “I should be the one thanking you! It’s brave boys like you who preserve the peace in this town!”

“I’m not a-” Izumi starts, but realizes he’s absolutely not listening to her.

Then, floating down to her and putting a hand on one of her shoulders, he leans in, saying “and you, in particular. In fact, I think we should sit down and have a little talk about how justice works around here, going forward. Shall we?”

“Fine, but grab my bike or I start screaming,” threatens Izumi, accompanied by a glare.

“Alright, then!”

And off they go, straight to Izumi’s apartment.

★★★

She has to convince CC to not leave her bike on the roof when they arrive. Once it’s safely back in the garage, sans one tire and one mirror, Izumi hops in the elevator up to the roof access. A quick climb of a short ladder later, Izumi is back in her apartment. Her bed’s curtain is closed; probably Pop, getting out of her Pop★Step outfit where CC can’t see her. Izumi sheds the arm braces and elbow pads, then her green hoodie, which she throws in the laundry hamper with another glare at CC, who has already made himself at home at her kotatsu.

“Y’know it took me four hours to get your signature off that hoodie,” Izumi informs him.

“It’s worth way more with the signature,” he repeats, the same thing he said when he signed it the second time they met.

Izumi glares. “Not to me.”

“Yeesh, you’re one serious kid, anyone ever tell you that?”

“Nobody that I like.”

“Ouch,” CC winces, then switches topics, “honestly, I don’t like it. The way you chase after villains, realize you can’t handle them, then make them my problem.”

Izumi starts talking, at first rough and angry and full of fire, “first off, that’s only partly correct. Not all of us are born with awesome, heroic, powerful quirks, y’know? All I can do as an ordinary citizen without a quirk is help out as best I can.” As she talks, her voice gets softer until it’s approaching something like her normal speaking tone, “and when I can’t cut it? We call in the pros. Isn’t that how this society kinda works?”

“All about the social contract, eh? But why not stick to being an ordinary citizen, then? What you do goes beyond helping others. When you go around playing Hero, it adds more to my workload,” CC explains, then complains, “honestly, it’s a real pain!”

With a deep sigh, Izumi settles down to sit on the ground, across the table from CC.

“I’m not trying to make your job harder. If anything, I’m trying to make it easier. If I’m involved then I’m leading the villain away from civilians as best I can, and keeping them occupied til a Pro shows up. I’m not creating more villains or provoking anyone, I’m responding to threats in my neighborhood that Heroes wouldn’t even respond to if me or Pop weren’t there. That’s what Pop and I do. It’s also why I try not to rely on violence, cause that’s not my place.” And because Pop would hate her for it, but that's not the point.

At the sound of her name, Pop opens the curtain closing off Izumi’s bed just enough for her to peek her head out. Her makeup is gone, but her hair is still up, proving Izumi’s earlier assumption correct. Pop looks to CC, “by the way, d’you think you could show up again, at the next Narufest? Pro Heroes are guaranteed to draw bigger crowds.”

“You realize that’s pro bono for me? And it’s tough making it work with my schedule…” the Hero complains with a big frown on his face.

“You’d have better luck talking to Makoto, honestly. All he’s gonna do is grumble and make excuses,” Izumi reasons, smiling at the excited expression on Pop’s face.

She turns her head to look at Izumi and says “oh, true enough.”

“You kids have no respect for the work we Pros do!”

“If you care so much then why’re you slacking off here?” Izumi accuses.

“Well, y’see, Makoto’s got me so booked up I don’t have a spare minute to breathe. At least when you summon me I get to take a break here! I’ve saved you so many times, haven’t I earned this right? Also, your heated kotatsu is very nice!” What a strangely aggressive compliment about Izumi’s furniture choices.

Izumi sighs again. It’s not unreasonable to want a break. And he has saved her hide more than a few times when she might have actually died. She still doesn’t like him, and she still hates the way he interacts with women, but… maybe she pities him. Or, horrifyingly, maybe he’s actually growing on her. Only god knows which. Izumi doesn’t say anything back to CC, but does let him rest, his head down on the table enjoying the warmth. Pop retreats back behind the curtain to finish getting changed out of her Pop★Step ensemble. A few minutes pass before Izumi’s phone starts buzzing on the table.

bvvvt

bvvvt

She picks it up and checks the caller ID, then answers the call.

“Hey, Makoto, what’s up?” The way CC’s expression goes from peaceful to terrified almost makes Izumi laugh, but she keeps it in.

“Is my boss over at your place?” asks Makoto.

Izumi does laugh this time, saying “I plead the fifth!” between chuckles.

“That’s a yes, then. Also,” the call disconnects and Makoto opens the door, “that’s American law, but nice try.”

One lame attempt at hiding under a pillow (and a kick to the face for trying to hide behind the bed curtain while Pop is changing) later, CC leaves with Makoto in his arms. Without meaning to, Izumi’s face goes from amused and happy to annoyed and grumpy.

A minute or two later, once she and Pop are back inside and going about their tasks, Pop pipes up, “it’s true, y’know. We do cause trouble for the Captain and other Heroes more often than not. Maybe we oughta keep away from the real nasty villains?”

Izumi hums in consideration. “Maybe. There’ve been a lot of those lately, though. They’re not like the Instant Villains we fought with master. They don’t transform back.”

Pop stops brushing her hair for a moment and looks at Izumi nervously. “Not on drugs, then? Y’think they’re actual villains?”

Izumi answers Pop’s question with another question, “do you remember Teruo? That fan who turned into an eel and we had to cover you both in flour?”

Something akin to dread settles over Pop’s face. She nods and motions Izumi to go on.

“If Samazu and Namimaru are right… he’s the one who knocked out the power the night of Narufest. He’s been changed, and drastically. I think whoever was responsible for the Instant Villains is stepping up their game. The Instant Villains disappear, and these other villains take their place? I don’t think it’s coincidence, Pop, I think…” Izumi pauses, trying to find the right words for what she wants to say. Eventually she releases the weight in her chest with a heavy, somewhat ragged sigh and continues, “I’m guessing that Teruo wasn’t a coincidence. He used or was dosed with Trigger before and turned into an Instant Villain, disappeared for two months, then showed up again? I’m… I’m scared today’s not the last one,” the admission comes from between gritted teeth. Saying she’s scared out loud makes it real . Nothing good comes from that.

When Izumi doesn’t keep talking, Pop silently goes back to brushing her own hair and humming under her breath. Izumi just stares at the mask Knuckleduster left behind, pinned up on the bulletin board. She runs her fingers over it in thought.

“Maybe I should start carrying a weapon with me…”

Izumi doesn’t realize she’s spoken out loud until Pop says “you shouldn’t. If things ever got serious, it wouldn’t end well. You know that, right? Besides, it isn’t our duty to battle villains. It’s enough that we’re basically freelance sidekicks. We call in the real Heroes when we spot people in trouble or whatever. That’s what we do~! ♪” Pop singsongs with a smile. Izumi thinks maybe it’s a fragile kind of smile.

“I guess you’re right,” admits Izumi. Pop’s smile gets more genuine.

“I sure am.”

★★★

Eavesdropping isn’t exactly Izumi’s favorite thing to do, but sometimes you accidentally overhear something important and you can’t help but keep listening. Today, for example, is the second Narufest. Izumi had planned on going backstage to say ‘hi’ to Pop and the rest of the performers, but got sidetracked by seeing Eraserhead and an off-the-clock Midnight at a table. It would have been easy to move past and dismiss, but then someone who looked very much like they were trying not to look like a police detective approached the Heroes; moments later, Namimaru and Samazu rushed past with the transformed Teruo in tow.

So Izumi sits at a nearby table, doing her best to tune out the crowd, and listens to the conversation between the detective, Midnight, and Eraserhead. Izumi doesn’t hear everything said, but she does learn that she was right. The new kind of Instant Villains aren’t coincidence, and Teruo isn’t the only former Instant Villain who has gone missing. Not only that, but the detective shares that they think Teruo was modified to withstand doses of Trigger that would have been lethal before.

The three young girls currently performing (‘The Little Sisters’ of Saint Lila’s Academy for Girls, singing ‘Can’t Help Loving You’ ) finish their song and leave the stage, abruptly reminding Izumi why she’s actually here. She’s here for Pop, not to continue her master’s crusade against Trigger. Quickly as she can without drawing attention to herself, she makes her way backstage.

Opening the door, she smiles and says “hey! How’s it going so far?”

Izumi sees the stack of bento boxes on a table shoved up against the wall and starts to take a step toward them, about to ask if she can take one, when she’s stopped by a look on Miu’s face.

“Miu, no! Not her!”

Uh oh.

★★★

A few minutes later, Izumi is shoved out onto the stage with a mic in her hand by Miu, who glares at her. Pop had, without asking, pulled Izumi’s green hoodie out of her bag and told her to put it on, which she did (albeit reluctantly).

“Annnd our break’s over! Time to introduce today’s special guest,” Pop announces to the crowd, “it’s Naruhata’s very own gal who’s kind of like a Hero, but also not really! Deku!!”

Thankfully a few people clap and cheer, specifically Samazu, Namimaru, and Teruo, but the rest of the crowd is dead silent. Izumi looks back at Pop in confusion. Pop whisper shouts “just do something!”

With an awkward grimace, Izumi turns to the crowd and waves. A few more people cheer. Izumi brings the mic up and starts talking, “hi…? This was- this was kind of last minute, so- um.”

Izumi wracks her brain. All the other performances have been songs, so she should sing, right? She doesn’t really think about it, just starts singing whatever song is in her head at the moment. She’s not a great singer, she knows that for a fact, but the longer she sings the more she gets into it, starting to move around rather than stand still, her voice getting more confident. The crowd doesn’t look super enthusiastic, most disappointed that it’s her on the stage and not whatever Hero they were promised, but a good half of them look entertained at the very least.

Izumi, by some hilarious twist of fate, is on the very last word of the song when she gets grabbed around the middle by a massive claw and dragged up into the air. The mic gets knocked out of her hand and hits the ground, feedback squealing into the open air of the rooftop. People are shouting below her, though they’re already too far away for Izumi to make out what they’re saying. The talons of the claw crushing her chest aren’t sharp enough to do much more than scratch her past the body armor, but the claw is strong enough that it’s getting hard to breathe.

A loud, familiar voice shouts from close by, “ANNND WE’RE DONE! THANKS FOR SLOWING DOWN, BAT BOY!”

The claw’s grip around her middle goes slack as the villain that grabbed her takes a hit from one Captain Celebrity. Izumi starts to fall, but is quickly caught by CC before she can go too far.

“And you made for the perfect bait, kid! I’ve found a use for you after all!”

Izumi can’t even bring herself to be mad at him for saving her. Unlike a lot of the other incidents when he had saved her, this time she was in actual mortal danger. She shouts “thanks!” just before CC reaches the roof, unceremoniously dropping both her and the villain. Now she can see who the villain is. She helped Ingenium capture him a few months ago, the bat villain who had been terrorizing the highway. At the time the villain was hopped up on Trigger, another Instant Villain, but this time…

If Izumi was suspicious before, she’s certain now. The former Instant Villains are being experimented on and transformed. She doesn’t know to what end; plus it’s not like there’s much she can do about it, seeing as she’s a vigilante and her help would not be welcomed by either the Heroes or the police. For now, there’s nothing she can hope to do.

★★★

Shouta

Irrational. All he did was (mostly) politely ask them a question, and they ran before he could even finish asking. With a sigh, Shouta thwips out his capture weapon and weaves it between two poles, blocking off the alley his prey was planning on ducking into. He lands in front of them, keeping his capture weapon where it is so they don’t try to keep running.

“Hey there. I’m the Pro Hero Eraserhead. You’re the Hotta brothers who run that black market shop, right? Just have a few questions,” his explanation is calm and rational.

What isn’t calm and rational is the way the two transform into something strange and bug-like, shouting “that’s right, we’re the Hotta brothers!”

It does make Shouta’s job easier, though.

“I’m Ichiro, with the skills!!” shouts the one on the right.
“And I’m Jiro, with the power!!” the other one adds.

They jump at him, somersaulting in the air and shouting “DOUBLE HOTTA KICK!!”

“Using Trigger, right off the bat? No need to check the contents of your stomachs, then,” Shouta says, activating Erasure and reeling back his capture weapon. “I love it when things are nice and rational.”

Erasure makes the fight extremely easy. They immediately drop out of their transformations and, with twin looks of shock on their faces, barely put up a resistance as Shouta does what he does best and beats the shit out of them. It’s not long til they’re both tied up on the ground, naked after the transformation ripped their clothes off. Shouta sits on Ichiro’s back and thinks back to his conversation with Tsukauchi and Kayama earlier in the week.

Kayama was the one to approach him first, shocked that he was on the roof of the Marukane department store while Narufest was on. He had been having lunch and waiting for detective Tsukauchi when she abruptly invited herself along, sitting down at his table without an invitation.

“What about you, Kayama? Purposefully coming to nonsense like this on your day off?” he asked, poking for information, trying to see if she was there for any ulterior motive.

“I happen to enjoy this kind of thing,” Kayama replied. Shouta’s pretty good at reading her, and he was pretty sure she was telling the truth. Just coincidence after all.

“You would, wouldn’t you?” teased Shota, his smirk hidden behind his capture weapon.

She said something he doesn’t quite remember about fruits glistening like jewels, he told her she sounded like a weird old lady, and before they could get further into their bickering, Tsukauchi showed up.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said, “the boy’s examination took longer than I expected.”

The detective gestured to the side, where Shouta saw the kid he apprehended the night of the previous Narufest running with some friends. The kid, Teruo, took notice of Shouta and waved with his tail. Shouta raised his cup in response. Before he could turn back to Tsukauchi and Kayama, Shouta noticed a weirdly familiar figure. Months ago, even longer now, he’d seen them with that weird quirkless vigilante, Knuckleduster. It wasn’t hard to connect the dots from this person to the vigilante Naruhata calls Deku, even though the day of the second Narufest they weren’t wearing the green hoodie that Deku is always seen in. But even though he was on the clock, there was no warrant out for Deku. He kept his mouth shut and turned back to Tsukauchi and Kayama, who had already exchanged pleasantries. Tsukauchi sat, then explained the situation.

“A new type of villain?” Shouta asked.

Tsukauchi, rarely one to beat around the bush, replied “yes. Another variant of those Instant Villains, apparently. In Teruo Unagisawa’s case, this was the second time we arrested him as an Instant Villain. But his body structure - inside and out - had been completely transformed in the intervening time. He’s completely different, as you can no doubt tell. At first, we believed his out of control quirk was responsible, but upon reexamination, there were no further changes. That new body of his seems to be at least semi-permanent. Blood from a number of villains arrested around Naruhata in the past few months, including Teruo’s, was found to contain several times the lethal dose of Ideo Trigger, the drug in question.”

“You’re saying an overdose of Trigger leads to a lasting transformation…?” Shouta questioned with a frown.

“No…” denied Tsukauchi, “we think it’s the opposite, actually. Someone went to the trouble of artificially enhancing their bodies to withstand higher and higher doses of Trigger. Lethal doses. Teruo Unagisawa and the other Next-Level Villains, as we’re calling them, all went missing for several weeks or even months leading up to their most recent attacks. We believe they were modified, then dosed with Trigger. They were essentially being groomed to be villains. A criminal undertaking like this would require organization. You can see my concern, I trust.”

Shouta nodded, still frowning, “if it’s an organization, what’re they after? Their Instant Villains lose all sense and reason. They’re simply not capable of complex schemes like that. And the Next-Level Villains? They can’t even run and hide after they pop up to do some damage. They might be making a splash, but they’re disposable pawns, that much should be obvious. Meaning whoever’s pulling the strings must have some greater goal.”

“Exactly right, Eraserhead. Which is why we need your help with this investi-” Tsukauchi had been cut off by the appearance of one of the Next-Level Villains, a giant bat that Ingenium took down months before. The villain scooped up the performer on stage, the vigilante Deku (not a coincidence, obviously), and started flying away. Luckily, Captain Celebrity was quick enough to respond that Shouta didn’t even have to lift a finger.

After the rooftop had been evacuated and the crime scene was cordoned off, Shouta turned back to Tsukauchi. “Help with your investigation?”

“Yes,” Tsukauchi said, “there’s an organization behind the drugs, the human experimentation, and the quirk-related crimes here in the Naruhata neighborhood. For the time being, we’re calling it the Villain Factory. I’m hoping you can gather intel down on the streets, Eraser.”

That hardly seems rational. “I’m more suited to fighting, though. Playing detective just… isn’t my thing.”

Kayama, the traitor, barged in, “don’t be like that. Help them out. You’re from around here, aren’t you? Your connections make you the man for the job,” she said, then turned to Tsukauchi, “don’t worry, detective. He puts on this grumpy act, but when push comes to shove he gets things done.”

“Sheesh. All because she won’t take no for an answer. Before I know it, she’ll have me working as a school teacher for real,” Shouta muses. He’s dragged out of the memory by the two men still bound in his capture weapon below him, struggling almost comically and shouting profanities at him. “Huh? Sorry, talking to myself.”

He pulls them up into sitting positions, shoving Ichiro’s hat back on his head, and pushes them up against the wall of the closest building. Shouta fishes through his pockets, looking for the pictures Tsukauchi gave him.

“On to business. First off, I’m not a cop, so this isn’t a formal interrogation. We can call your violent quirk use ‘self-defense,’ since I egged you on. Use of Trigger is in kind of a gray zone, anyway. So you can look at this as a… a friendly chat.”

“We ain’t playing,” Ichiro growls.
“Ask away, man! You’ll get nothin,” Jiro agrees.

Shouta presents the pictures to them. “Do you know the man in these pictures?”

“Ah, that’s Kamayan!!”
“Kamayan totally went missing… you know where he is?!”

With a sigh, Shouta reels his capture weapon back in, letting the two free. At his insistence, they lead him to their shop, Hoppers, a rundown place full of crates and boxes. A sign taped to a table with mugs of coffee on top proudly proclaims ‘Special Price!! 4800 yen’ which Shouta thinks is absurd for how mediocre the coffee is.

“Kirihito Kamachi, the man you call Kamayan, is locked up and charged with quirk crimes. Captain Celebrity dealt with him the other day when he showed up as a giant villain,” Shouta explains once the Hotta brothers have gotten dressed again and made some truly mediocre coffee.

“Ah, we heard something nasty went down,” Ichiro says sadly.
“That was our Kamayan, really?” asks Jiro.
“But giant? Nah, Kamayan ain’t so big.”
“Wait, maybe he managed to pump himself up? You know how he liked using that bad Trigger.”

“‘Bad’ Trigger, you say?” Shouta interrupts.

Ichiro, as usual, talks first, “yeah. Stuff got real popular ‘bout six months back. Had uppers mixed in? Made people go crazy.” He’s talking about the Trigger that created the Instant Villains.
“Seemed risky, so we told Kamayan to keep away from the more suspicious drugs. But Kamayan always was a dumbass,” explains Jiro.
“But us? We run a respectable racket.”
“Our recent Trigger’s a proper product, cut with pills to stop balding and ED.”

Bragging to a Pro Hero about the drugs they deal is hardly rational. That’s not exactly Shouta’s job, but he’s not gonna tell them that. Instead, he frowns and says “I doubt you two have a license to sell pharmaceuticals.”

“For- for personal use, then… my hair’s been gettin’ thin, recently…”
“And I needed some assistance down there …”

Ugh, Shouta did not need to know that about this man. “Let’s shelve that conversation,” he says, “what I’m curious about is this bad Trigger you mentioned. The sellers, suppliers… anything unusual about sales trends? Gimme some answers, and you’ll get to see your Kamayan.” They start to look excited, so Shouta happily crushes their dreams. “But not anytime soon, since the detective in charge is out of town. Speaking of his trip, actually…”

The Hotta brothers look confused.

“You two ever heard of something called the crab route ?”

Chapter Text

Izumi

Izumi narrowly avoids missing the train because she was, of all things, buying bento boxes for her and Pop. Today they’re heading to Osaka for the “Farm Fresh! Mascot Idol Carnival!” at the SS Mall. Pop gives her a fondly exasperated look when she barely manages to squeeze past the already closing doors with the bento boxes intact. Izumi just smiles back at her and hands her one.

Later, after they’ve arrived in Osaka, they get to witness another Hero at work. You’d think after spending almost a year as a Vigilante and getting to meet all sorts of Heroes, and even working closely with them once or twice, that Izumi might be more relaxed about seeing Fat Gum in action. If anything, she’s even more excited now.

Izumi and Pop are walking through the Super Minami shopping district, trying to find the SS Mall, when they’re pushed to the side by a man with a shaved head who’s running away from Fat Gum. The Pro, holding a box of takoyaki, says “not so fast, punk. That was assault and battery, back there. Once I’m through with these takoyaki, you’re as good as caught.”

“You won’t take me alive!!” the ruffian shouts, pulling out an honest to god gun and shooting Fat Gum.

Izumi knows that Fat Gum can take it, but the takoyaki that he drops won’t be as lucky. She also knows that Fat Gum gets his power by eating lots of food, and would hate to see a full box of calories go to waste. Ignoring Pop’s protest, she dives to the ground, saving the box, and all but six of the takoyaki, from annihilation via ground impact.

“Damn fool,” Fat Gum says above her, “y’think a little toy like that could hurt Fat Gum, the Tender Tank of Naniwa? Get ready, ‘cuz I’m hittin’ you back for each wrong you did me.” Fat Gum grabs the ruffian by the front of his shirt and rips the gun from his grip, tossing it away. Then, he smacks the guy, “one, two, three! Four, five, six!”

“But… I only shot once…” the criminal complains.

“What’s that?” Fat Gum says angrily, “I ain’t talkin’ about bullets. Talkin’ ‘bout the takoyaki I was totin’. All thirty-six of those tasty treats.”

The man in his grip gulps, and Izumi stands up, tapping Fat Gum on the shoulder. “Excuse me, Fat Gum, sir? I actually managed to save some of your takoyaki,” she says.

Fat Gum lets the criminal go, then takes the box from Izumi and counts the takoyaki left. He laughs, “well that’s perfect! Six missing, and six wallops for this fella! I’ll let the police take it from here.”

The three of them - Izumi, Pop, and Fat Gum - walk together for a moment. Fat Gum says “‘preciate the help. You folks tourists? Where’re you headed?”

“The SS Mall in Super Minami,” Pop tells him.

“Y’don’t say? I’m makin’ my way there now! … Actually, that’s supposed to be a secret, forget I said anything,” he says (which makes Izumi instantly suspicious, and glad that she brought most of her gear with her in her backpack). “Just take this street, and you can’t miss it. Watch yourselves out there, kids.”

They thank him, and go their separate ways. Fat Gum stops at a food stand while Izumi and Pop continue on to the mall. Sure enough, like Fat Gum said, it’s impossible to miss. They make their way through the mall’s crowds and to the idol carnival’s green room, where they’re greeted by a very strange woman whose hair is styled to look like a crab.

“Heya. Thanks for coming all this way! You’re Pop★Step, yeah? From Tokyo’s Marukane?” she asks, smiling normally. When Pop answers in the affirmative the woman continues “nice to meetcha! I’m…”

She does a little dance, probably part of her stage routine, sings “snip snip, clip clip!” and then her face suddenly contorts into a terrifying scowl, mimicking the Heikegani crab, as she shouts “Heike Crab!!”

“What the hell?” Izumi says, unable to keep the bewildered smile off her face or the laugh out of her voice. She’s weird, but it’s kind of hilarious?

“I’m your girl, Monika, official idol for the Kanidoge chain,” she strikes a pose, “good to be working with ya!”

Izumi notices the little stylized crab on Monika’s outfit. That kind of explains the gimmick. Despite Izumi having laughed at the Heike Crab thing, Monika complains about “you Tokyo folks, no sense of humor…” She jumps from side to side, miming crab claws with her hands, “how ‘bout I snip you good?!”

Izumi laughs out loud this time, almost more out of confusion than actually finding it funny. Monika seems pleased, striking a pose again, saying “my schtick’s gonna take the country by storm! Let’s rock this thing today, Pop!” Then she turns away to greet the other idols.

“Do we need to think up a trademark schtick for you, too?”

“No.”

Pop’s performance, as always, goes off pretty much without a hitch. At least from Izumi’s point of view, that is, but she’s sure Pop has a dozen different criticisms and ideas about how to improve. She’s so dedicated that it makes Izumi want to

She’s so dedicated; Izumi finds that admirable. After the performance, the two make their way out into the rest of the venue, apparently per Makoto’s suggestion. They meet Monika again, who’s strapped into a big industrial machine that looks and even moves like a crab. They chat briefly, before Monika suddenly announces she has to use the restroom and runs off, leaving the crab mech behind.

Once she’s gone, the man who had been with her sighs heavily and looks forlornly at the crab mech. “Now who’s gonna do the demonstration…?”

Pop starts to raise her hand, but Izumi beats her to the punch. “I will!” It’s an honest to god mech, how could she not?

“Oh? Excellent, thank you so much!”

He guides Izumi through the process of actually getting into the mech. First sitting down in the awkward looking chair, then a seatbelt goes across her lap. The safety bars to keep her from falling off the mech while it’s moving come down and trap her there. She’s a little nervous about that, but she’s wearing an All Might hoodie she bought while she and Pop were exploring the venue together. That always makes her feel a little more brave.

“First you kids befriend Kaniko, and now you’re helping us out?” he says, bowing gratefully to Izumi and Pop. He focuses on Izumi, instructing her on how to operate the crab mech. It seems pretty simple, and he says as much, himself. “Working the arms is simple, right? Once you’re up on stage, just make it look good and crab-like.”

Izumi nods excitedly. A real mech! One that looks like a crab, but still!

Pop leans forward with an inquisitive look on her face, “is this okay though? You can’t just replace an official mascot idol with a random lady.”

“Eh? Idol?” he looks confused, “who? Kaniko? Oh. Is that what this event was about? I guess we did register her as our ‘idol,’ so to speak, but at the office she’s just sales staff we send out on the road. She’s a real pro at moving product in the marketplace.”

Izumi nods sagely. That makes a lot more sense. Kaniko (Monika? She introduced herself as Monika) definitely has the force of personality to be a terrifyingly effective saleswoman.

“She’s got a bad habit of disappearing while on the job, though. Wonder where she’s run off to this time…?”

★★★

Monika

“Snip snip, clip clip, la-la-la, la-la ♪ ” Monika hums the Kanidoge theme as she rustles through the supply closet, gathering her stuff from where it was hidden. “Hey, Fatyan. If I finish this job real quick, can I get back on stage?”

“Hmm? Why?” the reply comes over her earpiece.

“Cuz the honest truth is that I make a better idol than cop,” explains Monika, smiling even though he can’t see it. She pulls the bulletproof vest on, then her gun and its holster.

“Nah, you ain’t suited to either,” Fatyan says. How rude.

“I mean, don’t you worry. My hilarious gags make me the perfect undercover idol beauty. Not like I could choose just one side or the other,” she says in response.

“That’s going kinda far. Undercover work’s about the only kind you can do.”

“Pssh. I got the beauty part down pat,” says Monika, pulling on a long kimono over her vest. It’ll help to hide the gun and the holster.

“Hard to tell when you’re joking.”

“How rude! I wasn’t joking.”

“Officer Kaniyashiki,” the lead detective, Tsukauchi, interrupts their exchange. “Kanidoge’s already started unloading its farm-to-table products at the mall’s service entrance. As soon as you can confirm that there are drugs disguised in food packaging, we’ll move in for the takedown. Until then, though, you’re on your own out there. So don’t take any unnecessary risks.”

“Sure, sure, I’m on it,” Monika grouses, checking her pistol over. Safety on, no magazine inserted, finger off the trigger; pull the slide back, make sure there’s no rounds in the chamber, then it’s back in the holster. “Now… the hottie investigator is moving out!”

“Enough with the gags, Kaniko. Nobody gets it,” Fat says over the comms.

It doesn’t take long to find the mall’s loading dock. Monika hides around a corner, not shivering despite the cold from the massive amounts of product being unloaded.

“I’m on the scene. We’ve got Kanidoge’s freezer truck, two industrial mechs, and three workers.”

“Roger that,” Tsukauchi confirms.

“So you’re telling me that there’s a bunch of bad news drugs mixed in with the frozen crab they’re unloading…” Monika double-checks to make sure her gun is holstered and hidden from plain sight. “Right. It’s do-or-die, now. Here I go!”

She turns the corner and jogs into the loading dock, shouting at the workers but keeping her tone friendly and unassuming, “heya, heya. Working hard, huh?”

“What’s going on, Kaniko?” a worker in one of the mechs asks.

The best lies are constructed from the truth. “The books just weren’t adding up, over in the market. So they told me to come over and verify the merchandise real quick,” Monika explains. It is technically true, though the workers’ definition of who ‘they’ are differs greatly from Monika’s.

“Eh? Out of the blue, like this?”

The other worker whose attention she caught is not in a mech. He’s standing nearby and checking something on his tablet. “Can we keep unloading?” he asks.

“Yep, keep doing what’cher doing. I’ll just do my thing. Lend me that tablet, ‘kay?” He hands it over without a fuss and walks off to find another.

Kaniko takes the tablet and a barcode scanner over to one of the the big pallets stacked high with boxes full of ice and crab. She scans until she finds what she’s looking for, talking loud enough that her earpiece picks up what she’s trying to say, but quiet enough that the other workers don’t overhear her. “Management’s in charge of slapping on these barcodes, so even if there’s some nasty stuff mixed in, nobody’d ever know. Beep, beep, boop. Oooh, lucky find.”

She pulls one of the boxes free, making sure the rest of the stack doesn’t topple like jenga. “This is s’posed to be ‘Deluxe D,’ is it? Too bad they’ve only got Deluxe A, B, and C in their catalog and on the website. Meaning, what we’ve got here are premium goods for a special sort of customer!”

The lid comes off without any effort, and Monika looks at what’s inside, confused for a moment. “Bwuh…? Just a boring old crab? And…” She takes it out of the box and checks deeper in. “No false bottom, either. Plenty of icepacks…” she pulls two of them out, “in two different sizes, though…? Ah, so that’s it.”

Just as she’s putting the pieces together, a worker she doesn’t recognize comes up to her and says “so, Kaniko… you figure out the issue?” As subtly as she can, Monika puts the icepacks back in the box and moves her hand to her gun. “Eh… you went and opened up a box? Now it’s not fit for sale. What a shame,” he says.

Monika plays dumb, “nag, nag, nag… I’m busy over here. But actually…”

In one smooth motion she loads a magazine into her pistol and points it directly at the face of the man standing almost overtop of her.

Monika drops the facade, “who the heck are ya?” It’s not a question, it’s a demand.

“Eh? I took this delivery job, part time…”

“Liar,” Monika accuses. His acting is impressive, but she’s damn good at her job. “I know all the part-timers and their mugs.” She doesn’t even need to bring a hand up to her earpiece - it’s been live the whole time.

“Kaniyashiki here, reporting a suspicious character. Found some of the goods, too. Almost didn’t notice they were disguised as ice packs,” she says, then stands, gun in her right hand and tablet in her left. “The delivery destinations are on this here tablet, and I’ve got a material witness to boot. Far as I see it, that’s snip, clip, mission accomplished.”

“Roger that. Standby team is moving in,” Tsukauchi informs her.

The nameless man’s face starts to change. A bright, white, almost glowing scar splits across his face, diagonal from his forehead to his left cheek. He starts to grin. “Heh. Not bad, Kaniko.”

Monika knows this kind of look. The one that most villains come prepackaged with. Some sort of vague contempt, steeped in murderous intent. “Freeze!” she shouts, “move and I shoot!”

She’s not completely sure what happens next, but it’s pretty easy to put together from context clues. In a flash of light and movement, Monika’s gun and the tablet both disappear from her hands along with the nameless man from where he was standing. Turning around, Monika sees him several meters away, both gun and tablet in his hands. He turns his head to look at her out of the corner of his eye and holds the gun up, clearly intending on using it.

Monika dives behind a stack of nearby boxes and shouts through the comms, “Kaniyashiki, again. Dealing with a villain here! He’s got my piece and the tablet with the evidence!”

“That so?” The wall to Monika’s left explodes, and Pro Hero Fatgum comes barreling through.

“Fatyan!!” Monika shouts.

“This is where I come in, yeah?” The grin on Fatyan’s face, one that promises cooperation or pain, would scare most criminals. For Monika, it’s a relief. Safety.

“Police! Freeze!” Tsukauchi shouts, running into the loading dock followed by half a dozen officers. “Stop what you’re doing and get your hands in the air!”

All the other workers in the dock put their hands up, various expressions of fear and confusion on their faces. One of the officers notices the nameless man, still standing where he ended up after taking Monika’s things.

Fatyan calls out to the nameless man, “hey, what’re you doing over there?! I’m talkin’ to you!” He doesn’t respond. “Well… you can go and use that peashooter on me all you like.”

The nameless man drops the gun, “nah. I don’t think I will. I only came to dismantle this route, actually…” There’s a rapid flurry of taps on the tablet. “Here. We. Go. ♪ ” he singsongs.

The ‘eyes’ of the two crabs light up, each mech releasing one loud

BEEP

before springing into action. No matter what the panicked workers trapped in the mechs do, they can’t get them to stop.

“WHAT THE HELL?!” shouts Fatyan. What the hell, indeed.

It’s not much of a struggle to bring down the mechs (at least after Monika reminds Fatyan there’s people trapped in them). Detective Tsukauchi fires a warning shot near the villain’s foot, shouting “the next one won’t miss!”

“Watch out, Tsukauchi! He’s a speedster!” Monika warns, just before

BOOOOMM!

both mechs explode, obliterating the shipping truck along with any evidence useful to the investigation. From the direction of the stage, Monika hears screams and crashing. “Crap! There was one more crab mech over that way! Just what we need!! If it blows up in the middle of the crowd-!!”

Fatyan cuts her off by picking her up around the middle and running toward the stage. “We’ll handle that mess! You go after the villain, Tsukauchi!”

★★★

Izumi

Izumi is having the time of her frickin life . While the Kanidoge representative rambles on about their company, Izumi skitters back and forth behind him, making the claws raise up and do snipping motions in the air. Despite the crowd booing and shouting at her to sing or be more entertaining, Izumi just keeps going back and forth and grinning. Until

BEEP

the mech starts rampaging. Izumi tries everything, but no matter what she does she can’t get the mech free from whatever remote control bullshit is going on. It looks like Pop is doing her best to herd civilians out of the way, so Izumi grins and bears it. She quickly realizes that the mech is heading toward the Kanidoge stall where it was originally, and her stomach sinks. When an out of control mech is heading directly for somewhere specific, that’s not good.

Izumi shifts gears in her head. Instead of trying to get control of the mech, she needs to get out of it. She’s getting her degree to be an engineer, she can do this.

The first thing that comes to mind is to disengage the harness, but it quickly becomes apparent that whatever is causing the mech to rampage has also probably disabled any electronic safety features. But… any competent engineer wouldn’t design a thing as complicated as a crab mech without some kind of mechanical release for the harness. If Izumi were the one to design this thing, she’d put a harness release lever… there!

There’s nothing there. Now frantic, Izumi checks everywhere she can manage while trapped. She quickly resolves to find whoever designed the crab mechs and start kicking.

Who doesn’t put a manual release in a fucking MECH!!

She’s granted a brief reprieve from her misery when a pair of familiar-sounding boots impact the back of the mech, and a hand appears over Izumi’s head with a shout.

“POP?!” Izumi shouts back, grabbing the hand to steady her.

Pop’s hand slides from Izumi’s grasp to the harness, while her other hand finds purchase on the side of the mech. She hauls herself forward until she can see Izumi’s face, looking at her upside down. Pop wears a crazy grin the likes of which Izumi has never seen on her face. “You okay??”

“I’m not hurt, but I can’t get this thing to- wait, how the hell did you catch up?!”

“I’ll explain later!” Pop shouts. Izumi thinks she’s trying to be stern and angry with Izumi for getting into such a crazy situation, but the grin won’t leave her face. “Now what the hell do I do!?”

“Look for a lever, it might be hidden under a panel!”

Pop retreats to the back of the mech and goes quiet for a second; there’s a clang as a piece of metal gets dropped behind the mech, and Pop shouts victoriously, “ha! Shut off switch, booyah! … what the hell, why isn’t it working?!”

“Shit, of course it doesn’t! That’d be too easy! The rampage must be overriding the switch!”

“Well that’s stupid!”

Izumi can see they’re getting close to the stall.

Pop yells “KANIKO?!” and the mech suddenly shakes before slamming down onto the ground and falling to its back. It spins for a moment, quickly losing momentum, then stops.

The beeping starts up again and Izumi thinks she’s about to become Barbeque Deku, but then Kaniko is there, cutting the harness off with just her fingers (Izumi definitely has to ask about that later). Pop joins Kaniko, the two taking Izumi by either arm and hauling her out of the mech, only to shove her forward once she’s upright.

Pop stumbles and falls.

Izumi turns on a dime and sprints back to her, knowing she’s not fast enough to get the both of them out of the way in time. So she does the best thing she can think of, and curls around Pop as much as she can to shield her from the explosion.

The explosion which never comes, as “FAT’S GOT THIS COVERED!!” Fat Gum jumps over them and lands on top of the mech.

The initial explosion is muffled by Fat’s body. Once the mech has been obliterated, Fat Gum rises into a kneeling position and holds his hands up, gesturing for Izumi and Pop to move away. Izumi knows what’s about to happen, and as terrifying as this has been she’s also kind of excited to watch a Pro Hero at work.

Once Izumi, Pop, Kaniko, and all the other civilians are out of range,

BOOOOOM

Fatgum releases all the energy into the sky.

★★★

Naomasa

Meanwhile…

“We’ll handle that mess! You go after the villain, Tsukauchi!”

“Roger that,” Naomasa says, running off with the rest of the officers. It doesn’t take much to catch up with the speedster villain outside.

“The bomber is armed with a dangerous quirk! He’s not giving up, even after verbal commands and warning shots! No choice!” Naomasa hates giving this kind of order, “Fire!”

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

Three shots aimed directly at him; none of them hit, as the speedster kicks into overdrive and all but vanishes. Speed-based quirks vary person to person. For some, their speed comes from some sort of heteromorphic quirk, like the Ingenium line. For one speedster Naomasa once knew, his speed was an emitter type quirk. When he activated it his brain went into overdrive, letting him move around and process the world while everything else was at a standstill. It was terribly effective, but it had one major drawback.

He keeps stalling for time in between his bursts of speed, similarly to how O’Clock operated. So if this guy’s like O’Clock, he’s gonna need a cooldown after using his quirk. We have a few seconds at most to take him down and get him in cuffs.

The real problem is that without someone like Eraserhead they have no way of stopping the villain from using his quirk and getting away. So they have to make sure he doesn’t have the opportunity.

The speedster comes to a stop, taunting. “Didn’tcha hear what Kaniko said? I’m kinda quick. Your guns are useless!”

Naomasa shouts “you can be hit though!” and fires at the same time. The shot hits the speedster in the leg and staggers him. “Restrain him!”

Over a dozen officers, all equipped with batons or shields, converge on the villain and pile up on him, holding him down as best they possibly can.

“Given how he kept trying to buy time, I realized his acceleration needs a few seconds to cool down after each use. Shooting during that interval was key!”

“Hmph… how observant,” says the villain.

Dozens of shots ring out at the same instant, and every officer collapses. Naomasa’s side explodes with pain and he’s thrown to the ground. “Wai- wait. You…!” he barely manages to groan.

“Nah, don’t think so. We’re done here!” the villain says back. He limps away.

Some of the officers are just winded, and some are unconscious. The villain took the other officers’ guns, thankfully loaded with rubber bullets meant to stun instead of kill, and shot each of them. Naomasa is the only one carrying a firearm with actual bullets, and he counts himself lucky that the villain only aimed for his bulletproof vest.

EMS arrives not too long after. Turns out Naomasa has several bruised ribs from where the bullets hit his vest, but what really hurt was the fall afterward. His arm broke, and half a dozen lacerations on his head, face, and arm need to get patched up, too. By the time he catches up with Kaniyashiki and Fat Gum, Pop★Step and her manager are gone.

“I mean, it’s our fault they got caught up in this mess. And I couldn’t exactly keep them here,” the Kanidoge rep explains. Then, he asks “what’re you doing with the police, Kaniko?”

Kaniyashiki just ignores that, thankfully, and moves on. The only other two people directly involved in the incident and they’re gone. The Kanidoge rep shakily hands holds out a business card, “they- they left a way to get in touch.”

“Great, I’ll take that,” Naomasa says. He grabs it from the rep and looks closer at it. It reads:

“Marukane Department Store,
Naruhata Branch

Event Coordinator

Tsukauchi Makoto”

Naomasa ignores the rest of the card. His sister?

★★★

Izumi

Izumi doesn’t feel too bad about leaving the cops in the lurch. They left a card with the Kanidoge rep, that should be fine, right? Besides, they had a train to catch!

Pop and Izumi make it to the platform in the nick of time, squeezing through the train’s doors just as they begin to shut. It’s not very crowded this time of day, thankfully, meaning she and Pop get to eat and talk in relative peace.

Izumi is still shaking, though, the adrenaline not completely out of her system yet, and it’s making it hard to eat. She gives up after her fourth try at shoveling some takoyaki into her mouth and puts the chopsticks down, relaxing back against the seat and closing her eyes for a second.

They snap back open when Pop says, in a very quiet voice, “thank you.”

Izumi turns her head to see Pop better and gives her a shaky smile with unbidden tears in her eyes. Pop looks shocked by Izumi’s reaction.

“I couldn’t just- I couldn’t just let you- let you-” Izumi can’t speak past the lump in her throat, but Pop seems to understand. She nods with a shy smile, and Izumi laughs wetly.

She wants to kiss Pop right now, but she knows she can’t. She wouldn’t dare. Not when Pop is one of her only friends. Not when Pop’s default reaction is to get angry and leave. Not when she’s so important.

After a moment, Izumi takes a deep breath and calms herself. The shaking has mostly faded, but she’s still not confident enough to try using chopsticks while on a train. Instead, she asks “how’d you get onto the mech, by the way? It was definitely going faster than normal person on foot could catch up to.”

Pop actually smirks at Izumi. “I figured out a new way to use my quirk,” she explains. “Instead of jumping up, I jumped forward.”

Izumi isn’t surprised by the answer, but she is excited. She wishes she had her analysis notebook with her, but instead she resigns herself to pantomiming. Pop doesn’t even question it. “That’s so cool! I thought you might be able to, but I was never really sure.”

They talk about quirks for a few more minutes, Izumi finally feeling steady enough to use chopsticks, eating bites of takoyaki between words or sentences. She finishes it quickly (she was way hungrier than she realized), just before Pop asks “what’s it like being quirkless?”

Izumi smiles. That’s the first time anyone has asked her that question because they’re actually genuinely curious.

“It’s not so bad,” Izumi starts. “When I was a kid it really bothered me cause I wanted to be a Hero and, well, having a quirk is technically a job requirement if you’re going into that field. Like how you can’t be an astronaut if you need glasses or contacts to see. I got bullied for it a little bit when I was really young, I guess, but it never went beyond name calling and even that didn’t last very long.” She pauses and thinks for a moment. “Getting a job is really easy, cause employers like not having to accommodate or get insurance for a quirk. I imagine that if I lived somewhere else in the world it’d probably be easier to get health insurance, but it’s not like we really have to worry about that here. Umm… I get graded more fairly than people with intelligence based quirks? Which I think is bullshit. Like I said, not so bad. The worst thing is- um- is probably the jealousy? It’s hard not to get jealous when I watch you do what you do, y’know?”

Pop nods, “yeah, I can understand that. I think I’d feel the same way, in your shoes.”

The two sit in silence for a few more minutes, both having already finished their food and set aside the trash, now content to simply enjoy each other’s company.

Eventually Pop whispers, “hey Izumi?”

Even though nobody else is in the train at the moment to hear them, Izumi matches Pop’s volume, “yeah?”

“You should call me Kazuho. Since I already call you Izumi…”

Surprised, Izumi turns to look at her. A dark blush covers her face, which she’s attempting to hide from Izumi. Izumi, who smiles and softly says “yeah. I can do that…”

Nothing else needs to be said. Izumi and Kazuho drift off to sleep, leaning against each other for comfort and support.

Chapter Text

Izumi

In the end, the Osaka incident turns out to be more of a story to tell than an actually important moment. Pop goes back to using her quirk the typical way, since she usually doesn’t need the kind of speed her forward jumps can give her, and despite giving the Kanidoge rep their (Makoto’s) number for the police to follow up on the incident, Makoto never calls about it. As time wears on, in fact, it becomes harder and harder for Kazuho and Izumi to even catch a glimpse of her as she gets busier and busier.

Kazuho, taking over for Makoto, is discussing merchandise with the rest of the NaruFest team when Makoto herself suddenly rushes in, approves or disapproves the various ideas they had come up with, then runs off again, leaving everyone just a little bit confused.

Several days later finds Makoto actually leading the meeting, talking more about the merch and the progress she’d made on it. In the time since the previous meeting she’d gotten approval for everything, including the food idea which she’d initially rejected. Instead of the official NaruFest/FeatherHATS vendor selling the food, though, each of the actual food vendors during the event would be making and selling food items based on, inspired by, or in tribute to the FeatherHATS.

The only other major idea was the hoodies, which Izumi had been the one to suggest. While she wishes they could be All Might hoodies, she understands why they aren’t. Instead, they’re a Captain Celebrity/NaruFest collaboration for the performers to wear onstage. Despite the fact that the hoodies are Captain Celebrity branded, Izumi has to admit they are pretty high quality. She buys two.

★★★

Toshinori

Three giant, rampaging villains in Okinawa. Taken down nearly instantaneously. Toshinori counts himself lucky the incident happened early in the day, while he still has plenty of time to work. Six hours per day seems like a lot of time, especially given how few and far between incidents that require the attention of All Might actually are, but when it comes down to brass tacks it’s just not enough. Between ‘flying’ around from scene to scene, making sure the public sees him, actually resolving the incidents themselves, and all the other dozen things he has to do as All Might, the time adds up pretty fast. And without a sidekick to help offload the work and prioritize cases (Toshinori misses Mirai, as loathe as he is to admit it), All Might is stuck responding to every single call he gets.

But, every once in a while, he’s able to tell his support personnel to keep his phone silent for at least twenty minutes, giving him time to see his friends. Well, friend. Singular. Shuzenji doesn’t count, as his doctor. And Sorahiko is still too scary.

“Hey there, sorry I’m late. Just had to take care of something in Okinawa. You know I’d never blow you off, Tsukauchi,” Toshinori says, sitting down across from the detective only a little bit awkwardly. “In fact, I’ve been looking forward to our little meetings. I’m starved for real conversation, honestly. Ah, and here’s my paperwork, all signed. Plus…” blood spurts from his mouth and his eyes boggle as he finally takes a look at his friend, “what happened, Tsukauchi?!”

Tsukauchi has a bandage on right temple, and his left arm is in a sling. He at least looks somewhat chagrined when he explains, “it happened during a case, recently, in Osaka. It’s nothing, really. Just some hairline fractures in my collarbone and ribs…”

“You call that nothing?!” Toshinori all but shouts, standing up and slamming his hands down on the table, “you know I’ll come running whenever-!”

“I’d rather you didn’t,” interrupts Tsukauchi, a serious expression on his face, “‘All Might’ can’t be taking jobs for personal reasons. If word got out that you prioritized certain people, the villains might use me as a diversion or a hostage.”

“I guess you’re right…”

“So, what’s in the bag?” Tsukauchi changes the subject.

“I got some gifts on the job. Wanted to share… is that allowed?” Toshinori hides behind the bag he holds up in front of him. The Symbol of freaking Peace, embarrassed by wanting to give his crush friend something nice.

Tsukauchi thoughtfully scratches his head for a second before he offers a bag of his own to Toshinori, “just so happens I brought you a souvenir from my time in Osaka.”

The two exchange gifts. Toshinori opens his first. It’s all kitschy garbage, the kind that you get at a festival - the kind that Toshinori keeps around when anyone else would have thrown it in the trash.

“So, what is this…? Soap?” Tsukauchi asks, opening the bag Toshinori gave him.

“Bath salts. Rose scented,” Toshinori says. Embarrassed, though, he tries to explain it away, saying “they seemed fancy, so maybe your sister would like them? You live together, right?”

Internally Toshinori cringes. That’s not what he wanted to say.

“Thank you,” says Tsukauchi, “but I’d better hide the fact that this came from All Might himself.”

“Ah. Of course. That could cause trouble.”

“Not in the way you’re thinking… You see, my sister’s a person of interest. She’s always been a bit of a lawbreaker, so I can picture her trying to use info about All Might to her advantage.”

“Eh…? You think so?”

★★★

Naomasa

Later that same night, after lunch with Yagi that mercifully isn’t interrupted by All Might’s phone going off, Naomasa finally makes it home, gift bag in hand. He almost doesn’t want to give it to Makoto. Yagi gave it to him as a gift for her, of course, but still… is it so weird to want the gift to have been for him? Shaking the thought off, Naomasa steps inside the apartment, locking the door behind him.

“I’m home,” he says, walking further inside. Makoto is, as usual, sitting on the couch hunched over her laptop, probably working on something for Captain Celebrity or NaruFest. He holds out the gift bag, “Makoto. Here. For you.”

“Wuzzat? Buttering me up with a bribe?” she asks, actually turning away from her laptop for a moment.

“Knock it off. It’s just a souvenir from someone at work,” says Naomasa, unable to stop himself from blushing. Luckily Makoto either doesn’t notice or ignores it.

“Yeah? Then I gladly accept,” she says, taking the bag from him.

“By the way, about our recent conversation…”

Makoto grins, the epitome of >:D. “Oh, heeere we go,” her faces loses all good humor, now glaring at her older brother, “I’m not giving you personal information on Pop. And you oughta stop treating her like a criminal.”

Naomasa sighs heavily and pinches the bridge of his nose. “You’re missing the point. She got caught up in a villain’s plot, which means I need to interview her.”

“That’d be a voluntary interview, right? I heard it was just wrong place, wrong time,” Makoto retorts, stubborn as always.

“That… is how I see it too,” Naomasa concedes, “but still…”

“Well, the girl made it home in one piece and wants to put the matter behind her. End of story, I say,” Makoto’s tone brooks no argument. Naomasa never has been very good at backing down when it comes to his sister.

Naomasa wishes that was the case, he really does, except… “This young lady… she uses her Leap quirk to perform in the streets by day and play vigilante by night. We can’t overlook a minor repeatedly engaging in risky acts.”

“Now you’re changing your tune? You should know she’s devoted herself to legit events, lately. I’m overseeing all that.” She actually looks him straight in the eye for once. His quirk pings it as Truth. “So direct any complaints my way.”

“I take it my feedback would go right in the trash?”

Makoto smirks. “Interpret it however you like~”

Naomasa glares at his sister silently, seething.

“Don’t look so glum, bro. I’m not breaking any laws, here. And if something happens, I’ll come straight to you,” she says, still maintaining eye contact for some reason. Lie. Another downside of his quirk: he doesn’t know which part of that statement was the lie.

“Fine,” Naomasa concedes. Last time he pushed and started a real argument, she moved out for a month. That was... a very lonely month without her. “We’ll set that aside for now. But don’t forget that you’re responsible for the well-being of someone’s child. You tend to be so flippant about things.”

“Sure, sure. Not that being uptight ever solved anything,” she teases.

Even knowing she’s just teasing him, he can’t help but rise to the bait as he always has, “this- this attitude is exactly what I mean-!”

“Ooh, smells good. Bath salts?” Makoto cuts him off. “A foreign brand, huh? Looks pricey. Not exactly something a cop would pick up while away on a job? This paper bag’s another story… They might’ve just stuffed it into a bag they had on hand, but… this looks brand new. With an All Might logo, no less… Could it be? Are you working with someone from All Might’s agency?”

In another life she would have made a terrifyingly good detective. Better than Naomasa is, even. Still…

“Interrogating me? Then never mind,” Naomasa says, swiping the box from Makoto’s hand.

“You can’t go around doing that. Ever heard of ‘no take backs’? Besides, you’d never use that stuff!”

“Oh yeah? Watch me!”

★★★

The next day sees him back at Hoppers once again. He’s supposed to be there to get some intel from Eraserhead, but when he arrives he finds one of the Next Level Villains, Kirihito Kamachi, aka Kamayan, inside. Naomasa knew he’d been released, but he’d forgotten his connection to the Hotta brothers.

“Y’know? I oughta sue. The whole damn society has it coming,” Kamachi complains.

Ichiro says “c’mon, Kamayan, you ain’t seriously complaining to the police, are ya?”
“You really that pissed about them arresting you like some villain?” Jiro asks.

Eraserhead glowers at the giant, “it’s completely normal to treat someone like you as a villain when they start rampaging.”

Naomasa chimes in, and explains that “all charges were dropped after we learned you were the victim. They forced drugs into your system, legally speaking you’re not at fault here. But your grudge should be against the organization that kidnapped and bio-engineered you.”

“All sorts of crazy people in the world, huh? Bio-engineering. Yikes,” Jiro mutters in astonishment. Naomasa shoots him a look.

He’s about to launch into a lecture about bio-engineering and how that’s not something that’s only related to humans and quirks, but Kamachi interrupts his train of thought, saying “it ain’t about that. I mean, yeah, screw ‘em, but I’m talking about something else entirely.”

“Whaddya mean, Kamayan?” Jiro asks.

Kamachi takes a deep breath, then starts explaining. “Finally got back to my apartment, after they released me from custody. But I couldn’t even get in the place with this new body of mine. Not many places in town I can even enter. The worst is when I gotta go, yeah? Have to line a tub with newspaper and-”

Naomasa is extremely grateful that Ichiro interrupts him, “we get it, Kamayan, you don’t gotta spell it out.”
Jiro informs them that “the big guy’s squatting in our warehouse for the time being. Definitely not plush living, no siree.”

“Individuals with unusual body types can apply for public housing services…” Naomasa says, trailing off with a frown. He’s pretty sure he already knows where this is headed.

“Like hell I’m gonna go live in the freak house just because of my size!” Kamachi shouts.

Jiro gives him a sideways look, “that’s what the real giants do, Kamayan. You’re the only one complaining about it.”

“Still missing my point, man. All this inconvenience is because our society’s still only half-baked. The needs of minorities ain’t being addressed by infrastructure, social programs, all that. It ain’t fair,” Kamachi says with a frown.

Ichiro dismisses him out of hand, “lookit you, Kamayan. Whining about your own problems but making it sound like some big, important cause.”
“That’s some big talk coming from a dumbass like you!” Jiro teases.

“Yeah? Well I say society’s to blame!”

They quickly move on to other topics, but Naomasa stays deep in thought.

★★★

Later that afternoon, Naomasa sits down once again in the lobby of Might Tower, across from Yagi. “Thanks again for the gift, Mr Yagi. I gave it to my sister, and…”

Naomasa stops himself. “No. I can’t lie. I didn’t give it to her, I kept it for myself.”

“Eh…? Why not? Did you two have a fight?” Yagi looks like someone just kicked his puppy. Naomasa almost feels bad for keeping the gift for himself. Almost.

Instead of lying, Naomasa explains about the argument they had. Once he’s done, he sits back in his chair and says “my sister’s always been this way, as long as I can remember. She breaks rules and promises when it suits her, then tries to talk her way out of it. Using those tactics against the police, though? It’s downright antisocial behavior. And when things go south for her? She comes running, expecting me to clean up her mess. She’s just a bad apple!”

Yagi hums and cocks his head. Then, after a moment, he says “maybe it’s because she’s not dealing with the police, but rather her big brother…? She just knows you’ll be there for her, I’m sure of it.”

Naomasa looks up in surprise. Considers Yagi’s words for a moment. Then, “that’s exactly how she takes advantage.”

“I suppose so…” Yagi concedes.

★★★

Naomasa’s suspicion from the day of the Osaka incident proves correct. When he reviews the security footage with Sansa and Tanuma, Tanuma says something that catches Naomasa’s ear.

“See, it’s more than speedy moves. Some people can see, hear, and think at hyper speed. To them, it’s like the rest of the world is frozen in place.”

“Ah, so it’s like they’ve got heightened focus,” Sansa replies, “there’re some heroes like that, who can deal with gunfire barehanded.”

“Right, but I’ve never heard of it to this extent,” Tanuma points out.

“I think I have…”

Later finds Naomasa back at Hoppers with Eraserhead once again. Can’t Eraserhead actually get a proper agency instead of staying independent? He certainly has enough clout to get one set up. As it is, they’ll just have to keep coming back here.

“O’Clock you said?”

“Do you know him, Eraser?”

Eraserhead nods. “Yeah, by his name, anyway. ‘High-Speed Hero: O’Clock.’ A veteran crime fighter from the last generation. His trademark move made use of his acceleration quirk to land four simultaneous blows. But there hasn’t been word of his exploits around here for years.”

“Right. It’s unclear, but apparently he stopped renewing his license a few years back," Naomasa explains.

Ichiro interrupts, “c’mon you two. If you ain’t here for us, wouldja mind not crashing our shop for your little chats? It’s hurting business.”

“I live close by. And there aren’t any cafes around here,” complains Eraser.

“Yeah, well, I don’t see us serving coffee neither,” Jiro says. Naomasa ignores the fact that one of them is literally holding a serving tray, and that both he and Eraser have cups of coffee in hand.

Eraser ignores Jiro and Ichiro entirely, focusing on Naomasa and his questions, “what’s got you interested in O’Clock, Tsukauchi?”

“I ran into a villain in Osaka with a similar quirk, actually,”

“You’re thinking he might’ve turned coat?” asks Eraser, “one hell of a scandal.”

Naomasa shakes his head. “Not quite. Their ages don’t line up for them to be the same person. But the common element is a clue I can’t ignore. It’s not unusual for a parent to pass a quirk onto their child, or for those with unique quirks to act as mentors for those in the next generation with similar abilities.”

“So a familial connection, or master and pupil…?” Eraser wonders.

“It’s only a hunch, of course. But I’d bet anything that these two have crossed paths. The problem is, I can’t seem to locate O’Clock,” Naomasa explains.

“Plenty of Heroes go into hiding after they retire, yeah?” Jiro asks.
“Especially the rough-and-tumble types who go around making enemies,” Ichiro adds, then gives Eraser a look, “on that note, you might wanna watch your attitude.”

Eraserhead does something with his face that Naomasa has no word to describe, like something between a frown, a scowl, and a neutral face, “why the hell should I care what criminal scum thinks of me?”

“There! That’s what I’m talking about!” Ichiro shouts and points an accusatory finger.

“Well… that’s just how it is when Heroes who operate on the down low decide to hang up in the cape. After one too many beatings from villains, they realize they’re hitting their limit, and they disappear without a word,” Eraser says, a grin on his face that doesn’t fit his words, “I’d like to think the guy’s just enjoying retirement in peace somewhere. That’ll be me someday.”

★★★

Izumi

She can’t help the smile on her face when she gets back to her apartment, new purchase in hand. Kazuho is already there, “studying? That’s awesome,” Izumi compliments her.

“Just homework for school- ack! You’re all beat up again!”

Earlier in the day Izumi had intervened in a situation, several high school boys harassing some of their female classmates. The boys claimed it was a tradition at their school, but Izumi didn’t care. While she managed to get them to back off of the girls, she still got into a bit of a scuffle with them. Thanks to Knuckleduster’s tutelage she managed to hold her own, but still took a couple hits in the face in exchange.

“Forget that,” Izumi says, letting Kazuho tend to the scrapes on her face anyway. “Look at this!”

From her bag, Izumi produces what she had bought right before she got into that fight.

“A slingshot?” Kazuho questions.

“Yeah! I got some rubber ammo so I can have a ranged option when I get into scrapes! Watch this!”

Izumi loads one of the rubber balls into her newly acquired slingshot and goes to fire it at the wall. It ricochets, hits the window, and breaks it.

“Ah fuck,” she mutters.

Pop scowls at her and grabs her by the arm, dragging her over to the bulletin board. She points at Knuckleduster’s mask aggressively, “look! Remember this? The line we drew between what’s okay and what isn’t!”

“Yeah, I- I know you’re right. I didn’t realize it would- it would be that strong. I don’t want to model my life on master’s,” Izumi says bashfully.

Pop’s scowl lessens, but doesn’t go away completely. “Yep. He’s basically the gold standard for ‘this is 100 percent, totally wrong.’”

With a laugh, Izumi says “he kinda is, isn’t he?” That gets Pop to smile.

She can’t help it. She knows Pop’s opinion on the matter, but it’s still bugging her. Izumi, when she’s able, keeps training with the slingshot, getting used to it. It takes her a little while to figure out just the right amount of force to use, how far back she needs to pull the slingshot to get the right results, but she picks it up pretty quickly. It’s simple physics, and she’s pretty good at that.

★★★

Deku is on her bike patrolling the streets as she usually does when another Next-Level Villain shows up. A big, jet black, octopus-ish villain with a frankly ridiculous amount of sheer strength. Not too fast on its feet, though. Once she has its attention she turns her bike and, as per usual, does her best to lead it away from crowds until a Hero or the police arrive. It’s a great idea in theory that falls apart in execution the moment the villain destroys a wall and uses chunks of the rubble it leaves behind to throw at Deku. She just barely sees it in her mirror and manages to dodge the first one, nearly overcorrecting and careening into the second. The third, however, half bounces off the ground and clips the front tire of her bike, sending her sprawling. With the grace of a newborn giraffe Deku goes from sliding to rolling to running.

Another piece of rubble just misses her, crashing into a shop on the right side of the road labelled ‘Recycle Shop Hoppers.’ Deku skids to a stop and looks inside, shouting, “you all okay in there?! A big villain’s coming! You should run away while I-” and cuts herself off when she locks eyes with Eraserhead, of all people.

“Aren’t you-” he starts.

Deku, looking back in the direction she came, interrupts him by shouting “holy shit!”

The villain has changed targets, now going after two girls who have fallen and are cowering away from it. Eraserhead follows Deku’s eyes and immediately springs into action. “We need to talk. Later. For now, get to safety!”

With a few precise moves, Eraserhead gets the octopus wrapped up in his ‘binding cloth’ as he calls it. Deku sees the bulging muscle on the octopus’ back a split second before two arms burst out and slam into Aizawa, throwing him backward into a wall. He groans, but doesn’t get up. The octopus (squid? Octopus-squid? Octoid?) reels back, poised to kill.

Deku doesn’t think. She just moves.

Slingshot in hand, Deku jumps between Eraserhead and the octoid, firing a rock she snatched off the ground right into its head. It doesn’t do much more than distract it and piss it off. Before it can come back in for another blow, two insect-like figures jump into the fray and kick the octoid in the face. They land and proclaim “it’s double Hotta time!”

One of them, Deku can’t tell the difference, says “Eraser! This is totally legit self-defense, right?!”

“Details come later,” Eraserhead says. He wraps part of his binding cloth around his arm and fashions a makeshift sling for himself, then says “this thing’ll hurt more people if it stumbles into town. It’s up to us to bring it down.”

“That’s asking a lot!!” One of the Hotta brothers shouts.
“‘Specially since our attack didn’t even scratch it, and you’re down an arm!” The other adds.

“I can help,” Deku says, determination filling her.

“Good, we’ll need you. Do you have any better ammunition for that thing?” Eraserhead asks, gesturing to her slingshot.

“Not on me, but I can try to find something heavier or denser!” replies Deku, already searching the ground for something appropriate.

“Get as much of it as you can, then get ready to run.”

After grabbing as much ammo as she can feasibly carry, Deku takes a short detour to grab her skateboard off the side of her bike. Deku tosses the board ahead of her, and it clatters to the concrete wheels first. She jumps on without hesitation, immediately pulling ahead of the octoid. She skates backward and fires her slingshot at the octoid to keep its attention; her own is split half between where she’s going (to make sure she doesn’t hit a rock or pothole and eat pavement) and where the octoid is (to make sure she doesn’t get hit by a rock or a fist and eat pavement).

Deku follows the Hotta brothers to an ‘abandoned’ warehouse on the other side of the block, taking potshots at the octoid the whole time. One of the Hottas opens the door and Deku skates straight in. She’s almost bowled over by a familiar grasshopper-like figure.

“Well, well, if it ain’t Deku.”

“Ah! It’s you!”

“Why the attitude, kid? Almost seems like-”

“I’d love to catch up but there’s a big villain on its way here right now!” Deku interrupts.

Eraserhead and the other Hotta brother finally show up. The giant grasshopper, Kamayan, sits back down on his couch and reclines, taking a sip of his tea. “This doesn’t seem like my business. It’s my afternoon tea time, so if you’re gonna make a racket, do it outside.”

Deku would have been plenty happy to leave him alone so he could enjoy his tea time. The octoid, however, has different plans. It crashes into the warehouse, destroying Kamayan’s teacup and dragging him into the fight as well.

With Deku as bait, the Hottas providing a distraction, and Kamayan doing his best to keep the octoid restrained, the five of them manage to get the villain tangled in a makeshift net created by Eraserhead’s scarf.

When Eraserhead tells them to call the police so they can come get the villain Kamayan begrudgingly says he’ll go get his phone from inside the warehouse. Like an idiot, though, he bumps the octoid and antagonizes it. It grabs Kamayan and the two struggle against each other for a moment until-

krak

“What was that?” Deku says, dread filling her.

KKRRRRAKKKKK

The hook they’d tied the net to was attached to a supporting beam of the warehouse. The octoid was already heavy enough, likely putting more weight on it than is safe. Kamayan taunting it, and their subsequent struggle, though, was the proverbial nail in the coffin; the entire warehouse collapses. The octoid is let free.

“OUR WAREHOUSE!!” screams one of the Hotta brothers.
“It’s getting away!” says the other.

Deku and Eraserhead both take off without hesitation. From behind them, Deku hears Kamayan say “not my fault,” and rolls her eyes.

It takes them almost a full five minutes to find where it went. Deku, on her skateboard, gets there first, and sees a man in a sleeveless jumpsuit standing over the octoid. “Be careful! That’s a villain! There’s a Hero on his way, hold on!”

The man disappears between one blink and the next. Deku steps further into the alley and looks around, trying to find any trace of him. He’s just gone. When Eraserhead catches up she fills him in on what she saw. There’s some look on his face she can’t identify. Recognition, maybe?

★★★

“A mixer? Really?”

“Yeah. The Mad Hatters are going out drinking with a group from the women’s college, and their lead bailed on them. Now they need a fourth, but I don’t know who to ask!” Kazuho laments to Izumi.

“Well, I could do it?” offers Izumi.

“You’re okay with being a seat filler at a mixer? Really?” Kazuho looks at her skeptically.

“I don’t see the big deal, it’s just an hour or two, right?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Which of my kanji tees do you think would work best? Would ‘tuxedo’ be too tryhard? What about ‘shirt’? Oh! Or ‘pants’!” Izumi is too caught up in the excitement of getting to meet new people (and wear one of her kanji tees) to hear whatever Kazuho says after that.

The next day Izumi meets with the other three members of the Mad Hatters and is immediately met with confusion. The bass guitarist, Akira, pipes up “hey, ain’t you Pop’s manager? I thought Pop was sendin’ a guy! Now the whole vibe’s gonna be off!”

Their keyboard player, Hiroto, motions for Akira to calm down, “relax, Akira, I’m sure it’ll be fine. A girl can be one of the boys, right?” He directs the question toward Izumi.

She frowns for a moment, but then smiles and agrees, “I don’t see why not! BOYS! BOYS! BOYS!” The four start to walk off, all chanting “BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! BOYS!”

A lot of the time Izumi feels like she has to be perfectly serious about everything. She’s Deku, the vigilante, and she saves peoples’ lives. Even when she was younger she felt like she needed to be serious all the time, even if it was with a smile or through tears. Maybe that’s why it was harder to make friends in middle school and high school; she came across as a recluse, albeit a smiley one. But nowadays she’s far from it, really. The gap between fourteen and nineteen is huge. At nineteen, five years ago is over a quarter of your life.

The group falls into a comfortable silence for much of the trip, with Izumi occasionally making small talk to get to know the Mad Hatters better. They don’t have a lot of common ground to start out, but once they figure out they all play video games it’s much easier from there. The fine details of which Hero is best in Crazy Crash Heroes takes up the majority of their walk (the answer is, obviously, All Might).

Eventually they take their seats at a kotatsu in a bar, across from four other girls, two of whom look weirdly familiar to Izumi. They take turns introducing themselves.

“I’m Akira. I play bass for the Mad Hatters.”

“I’m Hiroto, on keyboard.”

“Daiki, on drums!”

“I’m their friend, Izumi.”

Then the other four, all girls, introduce themselves. Izumi sees now why it’s unusual for her, a girl, to be joining the boys at this mixer.

The first one on the right says “I’m Rin, a sophomore at Naruhata Women’s College.” She has short black hair in a bob and is wearing a top that shows off her shoulders and the straps of her bra. Izumi definitely doesn’t blush about that.

“I’m Hina,” says the next girl, who has a short blue bowl cut and a blush on her face just like Izumi. She smiles sympathetically at Hina.

Next, an older woman, who looks a lot like Midnight dressed down, excitedly says “my name’s Kaori!”

And finally, “I’m Kazuha,” says a girl who looks and sounds just like Kazuho. Is she in disguise? And is that the best name she could come up with? Izumi suppresses a laugh that comes out like a snort. Kazuha glares at her. Definitely Kazuho.

Izumi relaxes into the easy atmosphere quickly. She talks with everyone else about whatever they want, and she can feel her social battery draining fast, but it’s rewarding. At some point Kaori and Kazuha both get up and go to the bathroom, and when they come back Kaori suggests a game of some sort. She very quickly occupies the attention of the Mad Hatters while Kazuha talks to Hina, leaving Izumi and Rin in a somewhat awkward moment of silence. Just before Izumi is about to speak up and break the ice, Rin stands, looking angry and nauseous.

“Woah, Rin, you okay? You look like you’re gonna-”

hurk!

“- barf.” And right on Izumi’s brand new sneakers, too. Kaori takes charge while Izumi grabs a towel from her bag, takes off her shoes, and starts trying to clean them as best she can. At least her socks were spared?

Rin looks miserable. Izumi, doing the only thing she knows how to do, smiles at her. “Hey, these shoes’ll see a lot more gross stuff before I’m done with them, so don’t worry about it, ‘kay?”

Suddenly, before Izumi can react, Hina grabs the vomit-soaked towel and runs off to the bathroom. Rin looks after her in confusion, “Hina?”

“Went to throw it away, maybe? I could still wash it, though…” Izumi mumbles.

Rin quickly takes a turn for the chatty, her nausea seemingly forgotten, “so, my family thinks I’m this popular social butterfly type, but… I’m not actually popular, y’know? Everyone just comes to me with problems and expects me to plan stuff. I know that’s how it really is, but I play dumb. ‘Cuz if I ever acknowledged that, I’d come off super annoying. Sorry, I’m acting all sorts of weird today. Being a real wet blanket, aren’t I? ‘slike I’m totally letting my guard down. Man, I’m sooo messed uuuup, huh? What’re you ever gonna do with me, Izumi?”

Rin leans her head on Izumi’s shoulder, who blushes. Before she can speak up to reassure Rin, though, Kazuha speaks up on her other side, “seems you’re still not feeling 100 percent, Rin. Why not stop exerting yourself and lie down? Hmm? Don’t you agree, Izumi?”

“I-”

“I think you’re all doing just fine,” Kaori says, standing behind Izumi, “let those feelings flow to your hearts’ content. Let it all ooze out from your bodies and souls. What else is youth good for, otherwise?”

Izumi looks at the Mad Hatters in a half panic, but they can’t seem to decide whether to be jealous of her situation or scared of it.

“We ain’t saving you, bud,” Akira says with a frown. Great.

After a few more awkward moments of Kaori narrating whatever is happening to Izumi, somebody new joins the group. Or at least Izumi thinks they’re new, for a few seconds.

“Heya! Hina’s back, baby!”

Izumi is too flabbergasted to believe that this is the same girl. Not only is her entire outfit different, but her hair is no longer in her eyes, and her posture is much more confident and sure.

“You look different, Hina, it’s a good look!” Izumi tries for a compliment. Kazuha doesn’t seem to like that, the heat of her glare growing stronger on the side of Izumi’s face.

“It was getting too hot for that sweater!” Hina says. Izumi notices she’s not looking at Izumi, but at Rin.

“Hina cuts loose every now and then,” explains Rin; Hina’s blush deepens.

“That’s right! I’m just slow to get revved up. But once that switch is flipped, I’m all in, if you know what I mean?”

Unfortunately, Izumi thinks she does know what she means. Kaori and Kazuha step out for a moment, and fresh drinks arrive at nearly the same time. Hina offers to serve them, handing Izumi a drink.

“Drink up, Izumi! You don’t seem like a beer type of person, so I guessed on what you might like, I hope that’s okay!”

Izumi almost declines, on account of her being underage, but figures accepting is the polite thing to do in this case. She takes a few sips and sets the drink down before definitely-Kazuho sees her with it in her hand. Hina hovers anxiously for a few moments, and is about to move away to reach for another drink when Izumi stops her, voice soft and concerned. “Are you okay, Hina?”

“Huh- wha- whaaat? I’m great!” Hina deflects.

“I just- can we talk over here?” Izumi gently pushes Rin off of her shoulder, who seems to fall asleep sitting up. Izumi scoots over enough that she can whisper to Hina without Rin hearing them. Hina reluctantly nods. Once they have some semblance of privacy, Izumi says “I’m not sure what’s going on, and this is probably rude cause I don’t know you, but I think you need to say something to her.”

Hina starts to object, but Izumi silences her with a look.

“I’m just saying, I know what it’s like to… like someone and not know if they like you back, or if they even like you at all. You shouldn’t try to be someone you aren’t just to get her attention. Maybe stop coming with her to all these mixers? Ask her for some time alone? That kind of thing?”

Hina looks down at her lap for a long moment. Eventually, she huffs, stands up, and walks out.

“Hina…?” Izumi hears Rin’s not so quiet whisper. Rin goes to stand and looks like she’s about to vomit again, so Izumi gets up quickly and steadies her. “Where she going…?”

“I think she needs some time to think, that’s all,” Izumi says with a smile.

Later, Izumi finds out the drink Rin gave her was dosed with Trigger. They only found out because one of the Mad Hatters stole it while Izumi was talking to Hina and drank some. Their quirk, which was thankfully just to make their fingers extra long, went out of control. Midnight ‘arrived on the scene’ (took off her wig, in reality), and the mixer was over.

“You were Kazuha, right?”

“What? No. What!? No!”

“Gotcha.”

“...”

“But that was definitely Midnight, wasn’t it?”

“I couldn’t tell you even if it was!”

“Why was she acting so weird though?”

“Maybe she’s just a creepy old lady, you ever think of that?”

★★★

“A creepy old lady? Really? I’m not that old!”

Izumi grins, standing over the unconscious villain as Midnight ties him up. “Hey, not my words. Does that mean that actually was you, though?”

Midnight puts the finishing touches on the knot keeping the villain tied up and looks up at Izumi, the wink she throws half hidden by her hair. “That’s classified, dear. Off the record, though, it’s fun to cut loose like that every now and then.”

“It’s not like anything you say around me is on the record, Midnight, of the two of us I’m the one doing something technically illegal. Technically,” Izumi stresses, texting Kazuho that Midnight has apprehended the villain. Her response is fairly immediate, telling Izumi she needs to get out of there now that a Hero is on the scene. Another text comes a few seconds later, letting her know that Detective Tsukauchi is only a street over. “Alright, I gotta go, but thanks for the- hey!”

Izumi’s goodbye is cut off by Midnight grabbing her phone, typing something in, and tossing it back. “There. Now if Pop isn’t around you can text or call me for help, ‘kay?” Midnight winks again.

Izumi blushes a deep, deep red that covers her entire head and probably even her shoulders if she were to check. “Oh- okay!” she squeaks.

Chapter Text

Shouta

He’s with the Hotta brothers, waiting for the good detective to show up, when he gets the call from Kayama. A villain, a literal runaway train, heading their way. Led by, of all people, Deku. Again. She’s on her skateboard, deftly weaving out of the way of the villain’s blows, taunting him all the while. As she passes Shouta, she sketches a mock salute to him, then flips off the villain.

At least, once the villain is restrained and Shouta has confirmation of Trigger use, Deku has the good grace to get off her board and stick around for a few minutes. One of the brothers (Shouta thinks that one is Jiro) steps out of the shop and demands “why’re you always bringing villains right to our doorstep, Deku? You got something against our shop?”

Deku looks confused, “is this not one of Ai- sorry, Eraser’s hangouts? Midnight says he doesn’t have a home agency, so I just figured this was as good a place as any to find him.”

That gets Shouta’s attention. “Why are you in contact with Midnight?” he demands more than asks.

Luckily for Deku, and not so much for Shouta’s need for answers, Detective Tsukauchi chooses that moment to show up, announcing his presence by saying “hello, everyone. I heard something about a villain in this area?”

“Ah, detective!” Jiro greets him. “You mean this troublemaking tank engine? Nah, Eraser tied him up good.”

“And that’s my cue to leave…” Deku mutters. Her skateboard clatters to the ground, and a moment later she’s gone, nothing but the sound of her wheels to accompany her.

Shouta sighs, and follows Detective Tsukauchi into Hoppers. A few minutes later, all four of them have cups of coffee in hand. So much for not being a coffee shop. Maybe they should be. The coffee isn’t half bad, at any rate.

Tsukauchi takes an appreciative sip, then sets it down and begins to talk. “So. We analyzed the new orally administered Trigger that we got from the mixer incident the other day. Luckily, the suspect left it behind when she fled the scene, meaning we had plenty to work with. It’s less effective than the old form we were dealing with last summer, and it lacks the psychotropic element, meaning these oral doses aren’t meant to turn people into full-blown villains. Makes it easier to spread around on the streets as a more… casual designer drug. And we suspect that may very well be suited to the Villain Factory’s current goal.”

“Which is?” Shouta prompts.

“We’ve seen a sharp decline in Instant Villain breakouts since just before summer, with a steady rise of these remodeled villains popping up here and there,” Tsukauchi explains.

“Like Kamayan, you mean? Or train-face just now?” Jiro asks.
“Also, that octo-jerk.” Ichiro chimes in.
Jiro looks confused. “You mean the squid?”
Ichiro punches him in the arm, “no, octopus.”

Shouta ignores them, continuing the train of thought, “so they’re shifting focus to bioengineered, remodeled villains. Then maybe this new type of Trigger is designed to showcase potential candidates?”

Jiro somehow manages to stay on topic, “ohh, so if the weak Trigger makes all these peoples’ quirks go wild, the bad guys can spot the juiciest quirks, kidnap those folks, and remodel ‘em?”
“Like an assembly line? Scary stuff,” Ichiro helpfully supplies.

“Mass-producing villains, yes. Hence the name we’ve given the operation,” Tsukauchi says.

“But… that’s just your wild theory, Eraser,” Ichiro says, averting his gaze. Clearly he’s scared.
Jiro is at least a bit more levelheaded, “after that ‘crab route’ got shut down, maybe someone else stepped in to profit from the drugs? Huh, Mr Detective?”

Tsukauchi shakes his head with a frown, “I’m afraid not… based on the testimony of our suspect in the mixer case, the one distributing the new oral Trigger and the man who destroyed the evidence of the Crab Route over in Osaka are one and the same.”

“The guy with the acceleration quirk?” Shouta asks.

“The investigation led us to the bar where the deals were happening, but they’d already cleared out,” Tsukauchi says, “he got the jump on us.”

Jiro chimes in, once again being much more helpful than his idiot brother, “just like the crab business? He’s real good at giving you the slip. You might wanna go for the head of this snake, yeah?”

Tsukauchi nods, “yes, but… from the chemical composition and packaging of these new drugs, we’re thinking it actually came from a small batch imported from the greater Asian market.”

That gets Shouta’s interest, “the head of the snake’s in China?”

“Gonna be hard for the Japanese cops and Heroes to do anything about it, then…”

★★★

Elsewhere

In Hong Kong, a stranger walks into a shop. It had been a long time since he was last there, and he looks much worse for wear now. With a sack of his possessions slung over one shoulder, a sturdy weather-proof coat that has seen far too much use, and a beard that he really needs to shave, he steps inside and greets the proprietor. In Mandarin, the stranger says that he is “<looking for some grub. You got dim sum?>”

“<This is an apothecary, sir.>”

“<Food’s the best medicine, they say.>”

“<Not from around here, are you? Where, then?>”

“<Far away. Turned onto Nathan Road seven times.>”

A flash of recognition on the proprietor’s face. He closes the book he was reading with a snap and stands. In perfect, unaccented Japanese, he says “follow me to the back.”

Finally, the stranger smiles to himself. It took long enough.

“What are you after, specifically?” the proprietor asks, setting his book down on a table and picking up a small handheld bell.

The stranger tells him “not drugs. Just information.”

“Hmph… if not drugs, you’re no customer of mine. We’ve had a bit of trouble lately, so the password gets changed regularly.” The proprietor rings the bell once. “You used the old password, so once again I say, you’re no customer of mine.”

“So you’re cautious? Fine by me,” the stranger says as three thugs step through the door.

The one in front is the smallest, smoking a cigarette and waving a knife around. He’ll make a good example. “We don’t take kindly to window shoppers here, sir,” he says, trying to put his hand on the stranger’s shoulder.

The stranger’s hand is fast as lightning, grabbing the hand on his shoulder with a painfully tight grip and twisting it behind him. His other hand grabs the thug’s other wrist, twisting it until he drops the knife, then bringing his knee up to meet it. There is a cracking of bone as both radius and ulna fracture.

The thug screams, but the stranger is indifferent. “Guess you need a new password and a new bodyguard?”

The other two thugs pose as if they’re going to attack. The stranger doubts they will, but he was kind of hoping for a good fight. It’s been so long since he’s had a real challenge. “Oh, don’t be like that. Like I said. I’m just here for info.”

The thug on the ground groans, “who… are you?!”

“Just a travelling stranger. Taking some time off.”

The proprietor looks at him with a much more critical eye now. “Not police, clearly. Private eye? No. A Hero?”

He pauses for a moment, taking in the stranger’s stance, his posture, his skill.

“No… it can’t be… Ciupan Seikyun: Hyper Quadfist?!”

“No way!” one of the other thugs says in astonishment, “he’s s’posed to be dead! Guy got his face split and his quirk stolen!”

The stranger speaks as he removes his hood, “no. You’re right. That guy died a long, long time ago. Nevertheless…”

Iwao Oguro stands up straight, every inch Hyper Quadfist as he ever was despite his scars, and grins.

“I’m here.”

★★★

Soga

Soga does his best to tune out the incessant chatter of his best friend as Rapt pretends to know what he’s doing with a bass guitar. A few minutes ago, he saw Knuckleduster walk in the front door of the hospital where Soga and his friends have been keeping an eye on Tamao, the old man’s daughter. They’re doing it for pretty much free, too. So Soga’s expecting some kind of something today, after the old man ghosted his daughter for over a month.

“Not like I was ever in love with guitar, not really. I just played cuz I knew it pissed off my dad,” Tamao is saying.

Soga stands up while Rapt says “why don’tcha keep pissing him off, then?”

Soga snatches the bass from Rapt’s amateurish hands and sits down, plucking at the strings. Even if Tamao isn’t going to play it herself, it may as well be in tune so that it won’t be as painful to listen to when Rapt fucks around on it. And tuning it is easy, no digital or mechanical tuner needed.

In the background, Soga can hear Rapt telling them the story of how Soga broke his guitar in a fight. An oversimplification, but it’ll do for now. That was back when they were getting in fights all the time. Back before Deku changed him. Back before he had a bottle full of little white pills in his bathroom cupboard. Back when he had people who cared enough to buy him things like brand new guitars. Back before he fucked it all up and drove his family away.

After another minute or so of fiddling, Soga can pluck out a whole chord and none of the notes fall sharp or flat on his ear. Even an amateur like Rapt won’t sound quite as terrible. He stands, takes a couple steps over to the side of the bed, and holds out the guitar to Tamao.

“Here,” he says, “it was outta tune. Plenty of people out there don’t got any instruments. You have the privilege. So play.”

“That’s what you get!” Rapt gloats.

Soga shakes his head, “shut up, Rapt,” just as the door opens.

Into the hospital room steps Knuckleduster, who has Rapt and Moyu already cowering at just his presence. And to be fair, the guy looks rough. Well, Soga always thought he looked pretty ragged, but the heavy beard and disheveled clothes are new. His clothes weren’t exactly high class before, but at least he was clean and well put together.

“Heya, boys. Long time no see.”

There’s a long, painful pause, the only sound coming from Knuckleduster’s shoes as they squeak on the pristine tile floor. It only takes him a few steps to cross the distance to the side of Tamao’s bed.

“The beard’s gross,” is the first thing she says.

Soga doesn’t outwardly react, but on the inside he’s laughing. What a killer way to greet your dad.

“Ahh… yeah, been roughing it for a while. Gonna-”

“Frankly,” Soga interrupts, “I don’t really care where you’ve been slumming around. You can’t just abandon your family.”

Tamao tries to smooth things over with a smile, “it’s okay, really. My old man’s only good for taking up space anyway.”

“Whatever. I’m outta here,” Soga says, starting to slouch out the door. He keeps his eyes away from Knuckleduster. Maybe if he doesn’t look at him, the old man won’t-

“Sorry, but could ya stick around? I’ve got another errand today.”

Soga grimaces, and makes a noise between his teeth. “I ain’t the one to apologize to,” he says.

“No, you’re right,” admits Knuckleduster, “I’m sorry, Tamao. Just have to catch up with an old pal, and then I’ll be right back. Promise.”

Tamao turns away from him. Under her breath, almost too quiet to hear, she mutters “just shave off that grimy beard, ‘kay?”

And just as soon as he arrived, Knuckleduster leaves. It’s unceremonious, as usual, and full of the same bitter feeling that Tamao always gets on her face when her dad comes around. Soga picks the guitar up again and holds it out to her.

“Play it, Tamao.”

She looks at him, confused.

“Just play whatever. Make some noise. Cuz you know it’ll piss him off. Your jerk of a dad.”

Her eye goes wide, and her mouth drops open. After a moment’s hesitation, she takes the guitar from him. “Y’know what? Sure.”

★★★

Iwao

Iwao leaves the hospital to meet his police contact with his heart feeling light for the first time in years. Just as he’d walked out of the building, he could hear something coming from Tama’s window. Faint, almost unnoticeable. But he could have sworn he heard her playing guitar again. He used to hate that. But now it’s a sign that she’s alive. That she’s okay.

He meets his contact at a bus stop. They stand, backs facing each other, talking in low voices. To the average passersby they would probably think they’re having two separate conversations. But to the trained eye and ear, they know different.

“Hey, thanks for dragging your ass all the way down here,” his contact, a hard boiled detective whose name he hasn’t learned, says, “maybe I’m just out of touch, but I don’t trust all this internet communication they got nowadays.”

Iwao takes a cigarette from the pack in his jacket and lights it. “Same here. Always been a fan of face-to-face meet-ups. So I can hear their voice, see their face, and keep ‘em in range of these fists.”

“Guess that’s one way of putting it…” the detective says, then points out “not a very Hero-like thing to say, though.”

Iwao almost laughs. “That so? Good, cuz I ain’t a Hero.”

“Riiiight, you go by Mr Kuroiwa now. So... you said you had something for me today?” the detective asks.

Iwao takes the pack of cigarettes out of his jacket, SD card in the plastic wrapping, and hands it back to the detective. “Client list,” he explains, “straight from a dealer in Hong Kong. You’ll find some Japanese importers in there.”

The detective nods appreciatively. “Good stuff. Now, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but… how good is this intel?”

“This guy’s been in business for a while, and it’d be bad for his rep if people knew another underworld gang was using him. If it means no more beatdowns from folks posing as customers… well, he’s more than willing to cooperate,” Iwao explains. “In that spirit, I promised I’d keep coming back until this whole nasty business was resolved. Guy told me ‘I’m sure that won’t be necessary.’”

“Gotcha. So he’s hoping we wrap this up quick too…”

“This’s where you and the cops take over the investigation. I’ll be in touch if I get anything else,” Iwao says, ready to walk away.

The detective stops him. “Hold up… I know you’re in a hurry, but… mind if I ask you something?”

Iwao stops.

“Kuroiwa… what if we’ve run into someone with a quirk just like O’Clock’s? Any idea who that might be?”

Honestly, Iwao can say he has “not a clue. But… if you come across this villain again… don’t hesitate. Just open fire.”

“Yeah, my younger colleagues tried that, actually.”

“Nah,” Iwao says, “forget warning shots. Aim for the vitals and shoot. Gotta catch this guy off guard, or else he’ll dodge.”

“For better or worse, we’re not in the business of gunning people down like that. Bad for our public image, eh?” The detective says lightly, but Iwao can hear the meaning behind it.

“Then the Police can’t get the job done. You need someone who can work around the law. I guess taking down guys like that... is why I’m here!”

★★★

Izumi

“Pick up the pace, Izumi!” Kazuho shouts down at her, Leaping across the city and easily keeping up with Izumi on her skateboard.

“I can’t! This is as fast as I can safely go!” Izumi grouches back.

“We’re gonna be late for the meeting, at this rate!”

“You could have just gone on without me, y’know!” That shuts Kazuho up.

Izumi looks up at her confused; Kazuho has an expression on her face that Izumi can’t decipher. In the moment of her distraction, a stone on the road gets under the wheels of Izumi’s board and sends her flying forward. She’s about to hit the ground when…

“If it isn’t you two!” she’s caught by Captain Celebrity, who’s carrying Makoto bridal style. Izumi frowns at them, but neither seem to notice. “Our meeting is about to start,” CC says. He puts her down none too gently.

“Sorry, I was late leaving class,” Kazuho explains once she’s tapped down next to Izumi.

“And my part-time job ran a little long,” says Izumi.

Makoto offers a ride via Captain Celebrity Airlines, which is surprisingly comfortable. However his quirk works, it keeps them all from freezing in the already cold December air as it whips past them. At Marukane, the Little Sisters of Saint Lila’s Academy for Girls ask CC why he’s not cold even though he’s not wearing a jacket or anything.

“The secret lies in my quirk, I’ll have you know,” he explains, “the aerodynamic field that surrounds my whole body isn’t what pushes me forward while flying. Rather, it protects me from heat, cold, and physical harm. And if I expand the field, it can even cover any ladies who might be along for the ride!” He winks at Makoto, Kazuho, and even Izumi. She blushes at the acknowledgement despite herself.

“This is strictly off the record, of course,” Makoto says. Izumi understands. If villains knew how his quirk worked they could theoretically use it against him. Makoto continues, “with this, our official Narufest business for this year is finished. Great work everybody! And now… time for the Christmas party!”

Izumi helps set up the decorations along with Kazuho and the others. Several boxes of pizza are delivered shortly before Namimaru and Samazu show up carrying even more food, Teruo in tow. The store president even shows up, dressed as Santa.

“Here we go, everyone!” Miu says excitedly, running back to the assembled group once she’s set the camera, “one, two…”

“MERRY CHRISTMAS!!”

click, flash

Once the group picture is taken the party quickly dissolves into loose groups, and Izumi spends the night drifting between them, joining in on conversations and doing her best to have fun.

It’s a welcome change of pace. Nobody is putting on a performance, and everybody is being themselves. Even Captain Celebrity takes the opportunity to relax. After the food arrives and he stuffs his face, he slumps on the couch and falls asleep, the Little Sisters cuddled up to him. Izumi snaps a few pictures of the adorable scene with her phone (whether for blackmail or good publicity is up to Makoto).

The Dance Squad president and the lead of the Mad Hatters spend part of the evening alone out on the balcony, but when they finally leave Izumi sneaks out and takes their place. As nice as it is to be surrounded by all her friends like that, the cool December air is refreshing after being stuck in close quarters with everyone. She leans forward against the railing and smiles, looking up at the moon.

The door behind her opens, letting out the sound of the party for a moment before it closes again. Izumi turns her head, expecting to see Kazuho coming to berate her for leaving the party without saying anything, but instead finds Makoto smiling at her.

“Mind if I join you?”

Izumi shakes her head, and Makoto steps forward to lean against the railing as well.

“I’m sorry,” Makoto says out of nowhere. Izumi turns to her, confusion evident on her face. “For what happened when your mom was here,” Makoto clarifies, “I still feel awful about outing you like that, even though it was months ago at this point and-”

“Don’t,” Izumi interrupts. “My mom would never have reacted poorly. And honestly, if you hadn’t slipped up then I might never have come out to her. I would have kept putting it off forever for no real reason. So don’t feel bad about it, and don’t be sorry.”

Makoto chews on her bottom lip for a long moment, mulling over her words. Eventually she settles for a simple, “okay,” and goes quiet.

Izumi bumps Makoto’s shoulder with her own and smiles, “hey, cheer up! It’s cause of you that my mom knows, which is a good thing. And it’s even given me the push I needed to start really transitioning!”

That gets Makoto’s attention. She perks up and turns to Izumi with a big smile. “That’s awesome! How’s it going so far?”

“It’s slow going. I’m still in therapy for another few months before they’ll write the letter that tells the doctors I can start medically transitioning,” Izumi explains, “but once that happens it should be smooth sailing.”

The thought of it makes her giddy. Makoto looks closely at Izumi and her smile grows. “You look so happy, y’know? I’m glad you’re doing this.”

Izumi ducks her head and covers her face with her arms, but still mutters “me too” loud enough for Makoto to hear.

Makoto smiles at Izumi one more time before going back inside. Nobody else joins her on the balcony, which suits her just fine. She wasn’t hoping for Kazuho to join her anyway.

Being alone on the balcony does mean, however, that later, when Makoto and CC put the Little Sisters in a taxi, Izumi has a terrifyingly good view when a giant flying monster swoops down out of the sky and grabs the vehicle. The driver manages to get out before the vehicle is dragged too far into the air, but the Little Sisters aren’t as lucky.

Makoto shouts, reaching out even though she's powerless.

Izumi screams, already climbing over the railing for all the good it'll do.

And Captain Celebrity doesn’t hesitate.

In an instant, he springs into action. Izumi watches as he rockets toward the taxi and wrenches the door open just as the monster’s gut begins to glow and bulge-

BOOM

and explode. A cloud of smoke obscures the scene for a heart wrenching moment before CC and all three Little Sisters break free from it. CC sets them down gently on the ground; the hoodie he had been wearing is ripped to shreds and he’s bleeding from lacerations all over, but not a hair on the Little Sisters’ heads has been harmed. Reporters seem to come out of nowhere and surround the four. Makoto pushes her way through the crowd, and CC balks.

“Stop! No photos, please! Not when I’m looking my worst!”

Izumi imagines her expression matches Makoto’s, who sighs and says “your worst? You’ve never looked better, boss!”

★★★

Only a few days after the Christmas party, Izumi and Kazuho stand beside a low table in the Hoppers’ shop, where Eraserhead and Midnight sit. The latter is looking at pictures and watching footage of the Naruhata vigilantes in action.

“Woah, those two sure worked their butts off,” says one of the brothers.

“No, um… that’s not me, in the pics,” Kazuho denies with a straight face.

Izumi decides to play dumb, “who’s ‘Deku’?”

“This is extremely helpful, you two. Most of what I’m seeing here counts as self-defense and citizen’s arrests. Though these vigilantes did hurt a lot of people early on…” Midnight muses, humming under her breath.

Kazuho objects, “that was the old guy who punches people. No connection.”

Midnight rolls her eyes, but moves on anyway, “we’ll focus on everything after the summer, then. Either way, consider these logs of yours in safe hands. Thanks for your help.”

Eraserhead speaks up for the first time, saying “and you should know, there’s a good chance all these villains in Naruhata are linked to a massive criminal enterprise. So the data you’ve provided could actually help the authorities solve the case.”

Kazuho sighs in relief, “I’m just glad to help however we can. I’ve been kinda scared that having these pics on me could actually get me in trouble with the police.”

“We asked Makoto about it, and she said ‘forget the cops. Take your intel to a Hero you trust instead.’ That’s you,” Izumi adds.

“Awww, you trust me?” Midnight looks touched, “it’s true, though. We Heroes try to be more accessible to the public, while also looking the other way when we can. So well done out there, Ms Manager… erm, I mean… give our regards to that mysterious vigilante, if you run into her. What was her name again?” Now she looks insufferably smug, like she’s got Izumi in a trap.

Izumi smirks and says “I have no idea.”

★★★

Naomasa

He hated doing it. But his connection to All Might was becoming too strong. So, during lunch, a few days after New Year’s, he tells Yagi that they’ll have to put their dates meetings on hold for the foreseeable future. He explained the issue as best he could without giving too much away. And when Yagi told Naomasa to send out a dispatch request if he needs All Might, Naomasa had to decline. All Might would draw far too much attention to what is supposed to be a covert investigation.

Almost immediately after lunch, he heads to Hoppers for coffee with Aizawa. He runs down the situation, explaining the recent developments to the Hero. Shortly before Christmas, Tanuma got some good intel from a contact of his. He wouldn’t tell anyone who it was, and nobody was going to pry, but he’s certain the intel is good.

“So you see,” Naomasa says, “this investigation is starting with a look at the import clients from that list we received, as well as their known associates. The issue we keep running into is that from the beginning, the Villain Factory’s central figure always catches on when we start snooping around, which gives him time to make his getaway. And some quick getaways at that.”

“So ya just need some more info to pin him down, yeah?” One of the Hotta brothers asks.
“Can ya help him out, Eraser?” The other brother prompts.

Naomasa raises an eyebrow as Eraser wordlessly reaches into one of the many many pockets of his jumpsuit and pulls out a simple, unadorned flash drive, which he hands to Naomasa. “For you, Detective Tsukauchi,” he announces, then explains “it’s historical data on the Naruhata vigilantes.”

Naomasa takes his laptop out of his bag and plugs the flash drive in. On it, he finds a wealth of information, pictures, a text-based journal, even a few videos “all about the villain incidents in Naruhata, from somebody who was on the scene every time. Even some attacks that never got formally written up. Hmm, and some extra info about what went down before the police arrived. Where did this data come from?”

Eraser smiles. “Dunno… someone gave it to Midnight, who gave it to me… you get the drift…”

Naomasa nods. Normal informant stuff. Protecting your sources. He’s well aware of that game, both from his own time as a detective and from his sister’s constant shenanigans (as if she’s a journalist or detective and not PR).

“Well, regardless of the source,” Naomasa says, “this information should help us narrow things down and take down the Villain Factory for good. I’ll let you know when we move forward with our investigation.”

★★★

Izumi

The farewell party for Captain Celebrity at the end of March, celebrating his return to America after a year in Japan rehabilitating his image, does not take place at the Naruhata Community Center like was originally planned, or even on the roof of the Marukane Department Store. Instead, it’s scheduled to take place over five hundred meters in the air, in the Tokyo Sky Egg. Fifty thousand people will be in attendance. Izumi isn’t sure why nobody else is nervous about it. Kazuho insists she’s overreacting, but everything about it screams ‘danger’ to Izumi.

Makoto, by her own admission, had to call in more than a few favors to make this happen. “It’s your last chance to make a killing in Japan,” she tells CC, “so we’re gonna have you go out with a bang, boss!”

“You’ve gotta make this one to remember, Cap,” says Miu.
“People wanna hear how your time in Japan was a big success,” says Yu.

“Oh, but you Narufest kids will be part of the show, too!” Makoto informs them excitedly. They all start to panic.

The Dance Squad president is about to start making them all run drills right then and there when Captain Celebrity’s voice, as quiet as he gets, breaks the tension. “C’mon, kids. You don’t have to change a thing. I think your usual act is great,” he reassures them with an uncharacteristically genuine smile on his face.

“Aw, Cap… but this is special! So we wanna look extra cool up there,” Kazuho says.

“Either way,” Makoto says, “we can’t allocate a ton of stage time, so-”

The Dance Squad president interrupts, “how about we transition from our song and dance for CC’s theme straight into the old, standard Marukane remix? Will that fill our slot?”

Makoto nods, then says “I’ll also be talking to the CC Agency Cheerleaders and the Naruhata Grassroots cheer team, so could I ask your dance squad and someone from the band to attend that meeting?”

The next three months are full of chaos for Izumi and the rest of the Narufest squad. Between the training enforced by the Dance Squad, meetings that Izumi is obligated to attend as (technically) Pop★Step’s manager, school work, therapy, and her actual job, Izumi doesn’t go out as Deku as much as she used to. She still keeps a journal of her patrols and the incidents she encounters. Who knows, maybe it really will come in handy for that investigation that Eraserhead is definitely not involved in.

Chapter Text

Izumi

Luckily, Hoppers is only a slight detour on Izumi’s route from her last class of the day to her therapy appointment. So despite Eraser’s insistence that it’s not his agency, Izumi stops by, hedging her bets that he’s there anyway.

Even more luckily, she only made that bet with herself and doesn’t have to give anyone money for it when she arrives and is told by the Hotta brothers that Aizawa isn’t there.

“Eraser’s been palling around with that cop lately. Keepin’ him extra busy. Don’t know what exactly they’re doing,” Jiro lies. “Anyway, Midnight’s in charge of your side of the operation. Bet she’d come over if we gave her a call?” He asks, a lecherous look on his face.

Izumi doesn’t like that look, so she declines, saying “nah, I don’t wanna bother her. She’s probably working. I’ll just keep this with me until I see one of them, I guess?”

“But you got no problem bothering us? I see how it is,” Ichiro says, his neutral expression belying his irritation.

“Yeah, you two never seem like you’re doing anything whenever I come around,” Izumi says, fishing her phone out of her back pocket and opening up her messages. “What is this shop, anyway?”

“We’re a recycle shop!” the brothers shout in unison.

She furrows her brow. “That’s… what does that even mean?”

They start to explain in great detail what exactly their shop does, but Izumi tunes it out, not actually caring, just hoping to keep them distracted while she messages Midnight.

When nothing happens, Izumi bids the Hotta brothers farewell and leaves their inexplicable store that she still doesn’t know the function of. Aside from being Eraser’s de facto agency.

Almost as soon as she makes it out the door, Izumi’s phone dings again.

The last thing Izumi can say that she expected today was becoming actual friends with Present Mic and Midnight, but the more they talk, the more… human the two are.

Present Mic - he insists she call him Yamada - is much more easygoing and low energy than his Hero personality would suggest. He talks with Izumi not like she’s a fan, but like she’s a friend already. He also loves sending memes, both in the group chat and to Izumi personally.

As for Midnight - Kayama - the more they talk the more her dommy mommy personality drops away, revealing a surprisingly sensitive and thoughtful person. And when she’s off duty, she even sends pictures and videos of her cat, an adorable calico named Sushi that she’s had since her school days back at UA. When Izumi asks her how she got the cat, Kayama says that it’s Aizawa’s story to tell and refuses to elaborate further. Izumi does drop the subject, but still. She wonders.

★★★

Shouta

“About those activity reports from the Naruhata vigilantes…” Tsukauchi says, “long story short, very useful stuff that’s given us some leads. Those records provide identifying info for a number of Naruhata’s small-time criminals and Instant Villains. And I’ve cross-referenced those individuals with the client list obtained in Hong Kong. This led to connections between people involved with the local villains and the drug importers. We’re talking on the friends-of-friends level, but probing those ties has given us a few key names. And about half of those names either work for or have access to Onomura Pharma Corp, a midsize pharmaceutical company in Tokyo.”

Shouta cocks his head curiously. “Onomura…? Doesn’t sound familiar. What’re they about?”

Tsukauchi explains, “they’re a manufacturer and wholesaler of drugs to the medical industry, mostly. Not quite big enough to be a household name, though.”

“Sure,” Shouta says, “and you’re thinking this place is our Villain Factory?”

“Or just an unwitting front. The factory could be leeching off Onomura’s resources and infrastructure, just like it did with Kanidoge. In any case, this is the biggest lead we’ve gotten so far. The fact that we’ve had to rely on anonymous tips and intel to get this far is, well… as a member of law enforcement, it’s somewhat embarrassing.”

“Don’t sweat it, honestly…” Shouta reassures him. He’d relied on tips like that plenty in his time as a Hero. Though, to be fair, this is the first time he’s been on an actual investigation and not just patrolling for villains to beat up.

Shouta is going to say something more, but gets cut off by the door slamming open and Fat Gum stomping in with a shout of “THAT’S RIGHT!! Who cares if the source is shady? Use whatever they give ya to get the job done, cuz all’s well that ends well!”

Shouta does his best not to slump out of sheer exhaustion. Fat Gum. He’s way too energetic. And he’s got someone else with him, someone who seems to match his energy, saying “‘sonly rational, right? Wouldn’tcha agree, Mister Hero?”

Shouta hates to agree.

“These two have come all the way from Osaka to help us out,” Tsukauchi explains.

“BMI Hero: Fat Gum! At your service!” Shouta resists the urge to groan. He’s not an amateur, and Fat Gum isn’t exactly an obscure Hero nowadays.

The one Shouta is actually curious about introduces herself next, “and I’m Kaniyashiki, with Osaka PD. You can just call me Kaniko, though!”

“Hi.”

“Officer Kaniyashiki has been on the trail of this drug network for some time. And Fat Gum, well…” Tsukauchi trails off.

Shouta finishes his thought, “he’s the perfect sort of guy to battle the remodeled villains we’re up against.”

Fat Gum himself interjects, proudly stating “yer darn right I am! This big ol’ body can take a licking and keep on ticking! So I’m real handy in a fight!”

“Y’see, I handle the investigatin’...” Kaniyashiki explains, “and Fat-yan tags in when it’s time to crack some skulls.”

“Not always a guarantee that I’ll make in time when some villain pops up outta nowhere. We had a close call not too long ago, actually,” Fat Gum says, “can’t exactly stick by Kaniko’s side at all times. My body makes it tough to wear disguises, go undercover, that sorta thing.”

“That’s where you come in, Mister Hero,” says Kaniko.

“Exactly. You’ll be backing up Officer Kaniyashiki as a battle-ready investigator,” Tsukauchi says, a bit redundantly.

“I’ll jump in to help when I can,” Fat Gum interjects, “but it’s reassuring to have another brawler on the team.”

Shouta rolls his eyes when Kaniyashiki all but swoons, “I love it when a big strong Hero can protect me!”

Fat Gum says “then ya must love being teamed up with me all the time!”

Kaniyashiki pokes Fat Gum in the belly and laughs, “I didn’t say ‘big strong pork bun,’ you!” Then she turns to Shouta and says “am I right or am I right, mister Hero?”

“Um,” Shouta’s brow furrows and he scratches his head. How the hell is he supposed to respond to this bullshit? What would Hizashi do? Probably make a joke back, right? That’s no good. He’ll stay silent instead.

Kaniyashiki and Fat Gum lean close as if conspiring, and Kaniyashiki says “bad news, Fat-yan. This guy can’t banter to save his life. I dunno about this team-up.”

“Maybe you just gotta handle the gags and let him be the straight man?” Fat Gum asks.

“Ain’t gonna work. My trademark ‘heike crab!’ schtick is only good as a followup to another joke! I can’t lead with that!”

“‘cept, that just ain’t funny at all,” Fat Gum says. Shouta appreciates the brutality of it.

Kaniyashiki contorts her face into, well, an approximation of the heike crab, and shouts “SAY THAT AGAIN TO THESE CLAWS!!” Then she scuttles back and forth like a crab, raising her hands in the air and pantomiming a crab pinching its claws.

Shouta sends a pleading look to Tsukauchi, who simply raises one perfect eyebrow in response. Traitor.

“Yuh-oh,” Fat Gum says good naturedly, “don’t snip ‘n clip me, now!!”

“Please tell me I don’t have to participate in that…” Shouta groans.

Thankfully, Tsukauchi tells him no, it’s not part of the assignment. The detective whistles to get the attention of Fat Gum and officer Kaniyashiki, like they’re children. He turns to the whiteboard and draws a rough sketch of the scenario.

“Anyhow. We’ll be coordinating with other bureaus to monitor the comings and goings of anyone connected to Onomura. You two, Pro Hero Eraserhead and Officer Kaniyashiki, will be going undercover to make direct contact with persons connected to the company. There’s a high risk of running into live villains, so this could get dangerous…” Tsukauchi trails off, sending a pointed look Shouta’s way.

“Well, better for us if these villains show themselves, yeah?”

“Now yer speaking my language!” Fat Gum shouts enthusiastically, putting his hand forward toward Shouta. “Put ‘er there!”

“Investigation time! LET’S DO THIS!!”

★★★

Their first lead has them dressing up in suits, much to Shouta’s displeasure. His jumpsuit looks fine, and it has incredible range of motion. He also feels a bit, admittedly, naked without his capture weapon around his neck and shoulders.

“Ugh, is this really necessary?” He complains once again.

In contrast to his suffering, Kaniyashiki is having a great time. “It’s good practice, y’know? You never know if you’ll have to put on a suit to get up and apologize for a scandal someday!”

Shouta huffs and says “doubtful.”

In the end, that lead doesn’t pan out. But the idiotic costumes don’t stop. They dress up as ruffians, as restaurant workers, as hippies, construction workers, tennis players, festival goers, and more. Day after day, as weeks of investigating turn into months. It’s exhausting.

★★★

Izumi

When Izumi returns to her apartment after a long day of school, then patrolling, she finds Kazuho already there at the kotatsu, talking on the phone with someone.

“Yes, as soon as possible… better today? Even if I have to call really late? Got it,” Kazuho says, hanging up the phone.

Izumi puts down her backpack and unzips her hoodie. “I have something fun to tell you-”

“Not now, I gotta make these phone calls for Makoto!” Kazuho interrupts her.

“- when you’re done.” Izumi finishes, smiling.

“That you, Yuu? It’s Pop. Nope, practice is the same time as usual, but… yeah, new costumes! How’d you know? So what size can I put you down for…?”

Once she’s changed into casual clothes, Izumi makes tea without asking. Same as always, a cup of green tea for her and a cup of matcha for Kazuho. It takes some time, but Kazuho isn’t even halfway done with her calls, by Izumi’s count.

“Here,” she whispers to Kazuho, putting the mug next to her on the kotatsu.

Kazuho mouths “thanks” to her while whoever’s on the other line says something, then goes back to talking. A minute or two later, she hangs up and calls the next person on the list.

While Kazuho is busy, Izumi makes her own call. There’s a new Spanish restaurant that opened up a few weeks ago, and they do delivery. At Izumi’s prompting, Kazuho examines the menu for a minute and points out what she wants. Once the order has been placed, Izumi puts down today’s incidents in her journal. She sets the kettle on again just in time for her to get the call that her food is downstairs. Luckily the elevator is functional for the time being, and Izumi doesn’t have to take the stairs.

Kazuho hangs up and puts down the phone just as Izumi brings the food inside. She glides over to the kettle and takes it off the stovetop just as it starts to whistle, then pours two more mugs. Green tea for her again, but this time Kazuho gets sleepytime tea.

“New uniforms?” Izumi asks with a smile, handing Kazuho her food and the mug of tea.

Kazuho nods, taking an appreciative sip before responding, “yeah, Makoto got them done special for the farewell party in March. Had to let everyone know. How’d you know I wanted sleepytime?”

Izumi’s smile grows mysterious. “A great magician never reveals her secrets. Anyway, guess who I saw on the street today?”

Kazuho thinks for a moment as she takes a bite of her food. Then she asks if it was “Captain Celebrity again? Is he still trying to sign your hoodie every time he ‘saves’ you?”

“No, thankfully. Do you remember Kaniko? The Kanidoge rep from Osaka that we thought was an idol?”

Kazuho tilts her head in thought, then says “yeah, kinda. She was the ‘heike crab’ girl, right? She cut you out of that mech?”

“Yeah! I saw her on the street today,” Izumi says.

“Did you say hi?”

“Nope! Guess who she was with!”

“How would I know?”

“She was walking arm in arm with Eraserhead, of all people!” Izumi laughs. Then she turns serious. “I think they’re undercover for some kind of investigation.”

Kazuho groans, “Izumi, you’ve gotta give this up! The old man solved his mystery, that’s why he disappeared! There’s no grand conspiracy for you to unravel, no great investigation to conduct, just some... some brass knuckles and a mask!”

Izumi’s mouth forms a tight line. They’ve had this conversation too many times to count since Master left. Every time that Izumi pushes it, Kazuho leaves, and a hole in Izumi’s heart opens up in response. So she lets it go. Takes a sip of her tea. And says “Eraserhead was wearing a suit.”

“Oh my god does his husband know?!”

★★★

Finally, the day arrives. CC’s final hurrah in Japan. The Sky Egg celebration.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Captain Celebrity Final Show at the Tokyo Sky Egg! Please pay attention to the following announcement…”

Izumi tunes out the announcements being broadcast throughout the venue, focusing on the monitors in front of her. She shifts, adjusting her gear beneath her hoodie. Thousands of people, over 50,000 in total including the performers and staff, file into the Tokyo Sky Egg, waiting patiently around the stage. The lights are dark. Then, suddenly, the runway lights flick on one after another in a line.

Ingenium dashes onto stage. Spotlights reveal Midnight, who steps forward and sheds a fur coat. Best Jeanist and Edgeshot, Miruko and Ryuukyu and Uwabami, Air Jet and Snipe and Gang Orca, a dozen Heroes and a dozen more fill the stage.

“Faster! Stronger! Shining Brighter! With each quirk more awesome than the last, it’s a who’s who of Japan’s greatest Heroes!!” Present Mic announces, “but hold on to your seats! Cause we’ve got one mighty invasive species busting in! That’s right - the man who came soaring in from the U.S. of A.! A man whose flight quirk sent him zooming up the American rankings! Give it up for… CAPTAIN CELEBRITY!!”

Cap zooms over the crowd, doing midair acrobatics to show off. Below, his fans wave banners and scream “ROCK ON CHRIS!!”

“But he’s learned plenty during his year here in Japan! About the spirit of men! And the soul of Japan! You might even say… he’s not the same CC he was a year ago! He’s CC reborn! The evolution of awesome!”

Okay, Present Mic is laying it on a little thick, Izumi thinks. She’s quickly distracted by two things in quick succession: first, Pop Leaps over the stage in her Captain Celebrity cheerleader outfit, which looks very good on her. Then, three of the cheerleaders from CC’s actual squad throw the Little Sisters up into the air, where CC grabs them and carries them to safety. He lands, one Little Sister on his shoulder, and the other two standing on each of his outstretched hands.

“This high-flier made Japan his second home, but now he’s getting ready for takeoff! Presenting… CAPTAIN CELEBRITY!!”

On any other day, Izumi would be catatonic with excitement. Today though, all she feels is a vague sense of dread as fireworks explode outside.

★★★

Shouta

“Hey, Fat-yan. Y’think CC’s big event has started yet?” Officer Kaniyashiki asks, leaning forward over Shouta’s seat.

“Prolly, that’d explain those poppin’ and boomin’ fireworks we just heard,” Fat Gum replies.

Kaniyashiki pouts and says “wish we coulda gone…”

“Too bad you ain’t a Hero,” Fat Gum says with a smile.

“But you and Erasey got invited, yeah? We coulda shown up as a trio act!”

His heart clenches, and what he wants to say is “give it up, Oboro.”
What he does say is “since when did I join this trio?”

Fat responds to Kaniyashiki, “‘cept we got real work to do here, huntin’ down baddies.”

“The event just had to be the same day as our big operation, huh? That’s crap timing.”

Shouta sighs. Does she not understand that this is the point of it? While people are distracted with Captain Celebrity’s bullshit, they can make their move on the Villain Factory. He thinks back to the briefing Tsukauchi gave earlier that day.

“Our target is Onomura Pharmaceutical’s Kanto R&D Center. One research wing, in this tiny corner of the property,” the detective said, pointing to a section he had circled, “barely interacts with the other departments in the building. Plus, multiple individuals with ties to the villain attacks and drug trade have been spotted coming and going. The leading theory is that this is the Villain Factory’s base of operations. On the day of the raid, we’ll force entry on suspicion of possession of unlawful substances and unlicensed medical practice, in the hopes of seizing evidence and arresting suspects. What we’re really looking to snatch up is any proof of human experimentation. Any victims being held in confinement are to be rescued upon discovery.”

“Are we worried they might attack us?” Shouta asked.

The detective nodded. “Yes. Some of those remodeled, brainwashed villains might come at us in the confusion.”

Fat Gum spoke up then, saying “right… it’s not their fault, so we’ll try to handle them gently. Givin’ ‘em a good trashin’ is fine, as long as they survive!”

They send Kaniyashiki in first. She has a badge that she procured from… somewhere. Shouta doesn’t know, and he doesn’t care to ask. As soon as she has the door open, everyone rushes in.

“MOVE MOVE MOVE!” Tsukauchi shouts.

They encounter surprisingly little resistance. Just a couple of the remodeled villains. Fat Gum takes down one with a staggering punch, while Shouta takes out the other with his quirk and his capture weapon.

Then another one appears. This one giant, and winged, with a mouth and no eyes.

“That one… it looks like the villain that attacked on Christmas!” Tsukauchi shouts.

Shouta startles. Its stomach starts to glow, but Erasure stops it. Fat Gum jumps on it and pummels it down, but a dozen more of those same villains step out. Too many for Shouta to get in his line of sight before they explode. Too many-!

BOOOOOMMM!!

★★★

Nobody

The man with the glowing scar is carried to safety by one of his creations, the massive winged bombers that attacked Captain Celebrity at Christmas.

“Gotta say, this little invasion took me by surprise. I knew they’d come eventually, but so soon? Nah. Didn’t even give me time to help the researchers escape the blast…” he mutters to himself as he gets dropped off on a moving semi truck. “Good way to make sure they don’t squeal though, heh!”

He lands, steadying himself with a short burst of acceleration. “Oof, you guys got terrible timing, though. Just putting the hurt on CC would’ve been enough for my next experiment, but with the bomber warehouse gone, you’re forcing a liquidation sale. Every last one must go!”

He takes a seat on the edge of the truck roof and watches his bombers fly over him.

“Well, whaddya know? Today’s the big day at the Sky Egg. It’d be a real tragedy if it ended in disaster…”

★★★

Izumi

CC goes out on stage, shows fifty thousand people an unflattering picture of his wife, then calls her about it. She hangs up on him, naturally. They get CC off the stage pretty quickly, and then all the other performers - the Heroes that were invited - start entertaining the guests. Several minutes after Captain Celebrity leaves the stage, Makoto’s voice brings Izumi back to focus, “Izumi, can you go find Cap? We need him onstage in a few minutes!”

“Can do!” Izumi gives Makoto a mock salute and is about to do just that before she literally bumps into Kazuho; Izumi reaches out to steady her so neither of them fall. Izumi smiles, whispers “save me a dance, okay?” and without waiting for an answer runs off to find CC.

She finds him on one of the observation decks, just a couple floors below the bottom of the Sky Egg. She does her best not to listen in on the conversation he’s having with his wife over the phone, apologizing for showing a picture of her and their kid just after she gave birth to a crowd of fifty thousand people. Izumi catches his eye, then jabs her thumb behind her to indicate that they need him onstage. He nods. Izumi looks at the horizon, and the half a dozen approaching figures. They’re all winged and flying. Just like… the creature at Christmas…

BOOM

The window gets blown out, shards of glass putting holes in Izumi’s hoodie. She barely gets her arms up in time to shield her face and block it from getting shredded.

The pressure change is a solid force that drags her out the window and toward the ground far, far below.

Kazuho says she’s paranoid. Izumi knows she’s just well prepared. The grappling hook comes off of her belt and she shoots, aiming for the lattice of supports that make up the tower holding the Sky Egg in the air. It latches on and arrests her downward momentum, but the anchor becomes a fulcrum and swings her back toward the tower at a dangerous speed. Before she can break her legs, something catches her from the back.

It’s CC. “You still in one piece, kid?!”

“Somehow, yeah!” Izumi shouts back, laughing through the adrenaline. This might be one of the more terrifying things to ever happen to her, but the adrenaline overrides her panic response. Everything is sharp and clear. CC releases her. Her feet hit the side of the spire with a gentle tap. She cranes her head back, “another bomb villain!”

“No prob!” CC says, jetting off toward the incoming villain, “I’ve got these things beat in speed and power!” It explodes in his face to nearly no effect. He laughs, and boasts “that suicide attack won’t even dent me! I could eat these blasts all day!”

And that would work perfectly fine, if not for the absolutely enormous bomber that takes advantage of CC’s momentary distraction to fly past him and latch onto the building, detonating in a massive explosion that threatens to throw Izumi from her already precarious perch. Izumi hears the dangerous groaning and creaking of metal that’s close to giving way.

Before she can react, she hears the thud of flesh against metal above her. She looks up and sees Captain Celebrity literally holding the weight of the Sky Egg on his shoulders. The field that extends around him is luminescent, something Izumi has never seen before.

It occurs to her that this is the first time she’s been able to see him actually using his power.

“Cap! You sure you can handle that?!” Izumi yells. He’s the #1 Hero in the US, but…

“Ha! This is nothing, kid. It does leave me a little tied up, though!” Several more of the bomber villains fly closer. The one in the lead has six arms instead of two, which doesn’t bode well. “Bring it! I’m the one you want, villains! Another explosion or two won’t be enough to make me crack!”

The lead bomber rushes in and sends three of its six fists detonating in CC’s face. He doesn’t even move, and Izumi is almost assured of their victory, until she sees what’s happening. The three fists that had detonated are already regrowing. While they are, it uses its other three to hit CC with another barrage of explosions. His hand on the bottom of the Sky Egg starts to slip.

Captain Celebrity slams his palm against the Sky Egg again, and laughs. “Like I said, I can eat those wimpy attacks all day long.” The smoke from the explosions clears, revealing CC’s cracked visor. There’s a cut on his forehead and his nose is bleeding, but when he speaks his voice doesn’t even shake, “not even a hundred blasts can make me budge!!”

It’s not a bluff. But Izumi knows she needs to help. She needs… she needs the rest of her gear.

She releases the grappling hook and fires again, this time aiming for the window she was blown out of not far above her. It’s a risk to reel herself in like this without a harness, but a risk she has to take.

She almost loses her grip on the grapple gun and falls to her death, but manages to pull herself inside just in time. Skidding across the floor, Izumi scrambles to her bag. As quickly as she can, accompanied by the sound of repeated explosions, Izumi pulls on her kevlar gloves and her climbing harness, then checks her earpiece.

Static.

More than just a random attack, then.

She ties her old grappling hook around one of the window supports and loops it through her climbing harness for a backup in case her grapple gun fails, then grabs her slingshot and a pouch of special tungsten-core ammo she was holding onto just in case. Kazuho would kill her if she found out Izumi had this, but now isn’t the time to dwell on something like that.

Izumi makes it back to the window just in time to see CC’s visor fall from his face. He says some words to the villain Izumi can’t hear from this distance, and the bomber comes in for yet another attack.

Izumi acts.

Her grapple gun, if she so chooses, is able to shoot with enough power to puncture metal. When she launches it, it fires straight through one of the bomber’s hands, prematurely detonating it, and slams into the bottom of the Sky Egg above.

Izumi uses the moment of surprise to click her grapple gun into her climbing harness and onto her belt, and presses the button to reel herself in.

There’s a long moment where, as she’s pulled out of the safety of the Sky Egg and into the open air, she’s afraid her hook will fail and send her careening into the canyon of the city. She’s not sure that she’s safe until -

thunk

- her feet impact metal and she stands, upside down, in front of Captain Celebrity. The mental math to adjust her aim with the slingshot is easy. She holds it ready in front of her, one tungsten-core ultra-dense metal ball bearing loaded and ready to fire.

“What’s the big idea, girl?!”

“Shut the hell up! Lie to yourself if you want but we both know you need help! So I’m here!!”

CC grimaces, but stays silent. Izumi reels herself in just a little more so she’s crouching more than standing and ignores the blood rushing to her head. She’s not a real Hero, but without communication to the other Heroes in the tower she’s the only one who can help defend Captain Celebrity.

The bomber villain starts to rush toward them and Izumi fires, hitting one of its fists with pinpoint accuracy and detonating it before it can reach her or CC. She practiced for rapid fire attacks, which means it’s not too hard to grab a half dozen more bearings and hold them in one hand while she fires.

“COME ON!!” she screams.

It rushes again, and Izumi fights it back with as many rapid fire shots as she can. It’s barely enough to keep it from obliterating her with a couple well placed hits, but barely is all she needs.

“Listen kid! I just realized something! All your little potshots might buy us time, but they can’t bring down our friend here, not when he can regenerate like that!!”

Izumi does her best to smile. It’s a shaky, uncertain sort of smile, but it’s as wide and as bright as she can manage. “Potshots are good enough! If I keep those explosions away from you long enough, someone’s bound to show up! A real Hero!!”

“Still leaving the heavy lifting to someone else?!”

“I do what I can, and someone else picks up the slack. That’s always kind of been my style, even if it’s not very cool!”

“Well…” Captain Celebrity says begrudgingly, “it may be the only option we’ve got. So hang in there!”

Izumi quickly loses track of the time. It can’t have been too long. She’s running out of ammo, though, and fast. She only has a few more left. And more than that, consciousness is starting to become a struggle thanks to all the blood rushing to her head.

Eventually it’s too much, and Izumi reaches for her belt.

It feels like she’s moving through molasses.

Eventually she gets there, and presses the button on her grapple gun to reel out the line a bit. Just enough so she can stop being upside down.

She lets out too much.

Her movement stops too suddenly and the hook, which had been embedded in the metal of the Sky Egg and slowly coming loose ever since, gives out. She doesn’t fall far before Captain Celebrity grabs her by the back of her climbing harness. She’s pretty sure she says ‘thank you’ before she loses consciousness for a moment.

When she comes to, the hook is wrapped around one of the beams lining the underneath side of the Sky Egg and she’s dangling freely, a dozen feet below CC.

“Welcome back, kid! Now can you help a guy out?!”

Izumi stays silent and smiles at him. It’s too soon to go back to hanging upside down again, so instead she reels herself back in enough that she’s close to the Sky Egg and can swing freely without going too far away. Whether or not the grapple gun’s rope can handle a direct explosion is up for debate, but if she makes herself a moving target maybe she can-

“THIS IS A BIG ONE, CAP!!” she screams.

The bomber villain brings two of its hands together and forms a much bigger bomb. Izumi manages to hit it before it connects with CC, but it prepared for that. It has another one already lined up.

Izumi can’t reload and hit it in time.

The villain rushes forward and slams its fist into CC’s chest, as if to detonate again.

But nothing happens.

Izumi, certain of who’s responsible, searches the horizon for familiar red eyes. There, leaning out the side of a helicopter, is Eraserhead. The lead bomber starts to fly away, trying to get out of his line of sight. Before it can, however, it’s entangled by Best Jeanist.

“Is that a tight fit? Good. So our thread of hope hasn’t snapped just yet!”

Ryukyu’s roar sounds out from above the Sky Egg.

Everything happens quickly after that. Edgeshot appears and slices through the lead bomber villain, disabling it long enough for Best Jeanist to wrap it up more securely. He uses the entirety of his sleeves to do it, too, which (in Izumi’s personal opinion) makes him look kind of goofy. He says something into his comm that Izumi can’t hear and, upon getting confirmation back, suddenly leaps from the tightrope he had been standing on.

Izumi watches as he falls, catching himself like a bungee jumper and landing next to a truck with a giant spool of some sort of cable on the back. Within seconds the cables have unwound from the spool, wrapped around the spire holding up the Sky Egg, and attached to the Sky Egg itself, serving as makeshift support.

Izumi looks up at CC and grins, “see? Just like I said, Cap! We held out and the Heroes arrived to save us!”

“Oh yeah? If we’re really in the clear, then… Girl… no, Izumi. I’ve got a request for you…”

Izumi nods, trying not to let a frown show through her smile. This is the most serious she’s ever seen him.

“Get a message to my wife and kid. Tell them, ‘your husband and daddy is a great hero.’”

And Captain Celebrity falls.

“Cap? CAP!”

She has to take action. Izumi moves without thinking.

★★★

Christopher Skyline

“Get a message to my wife and kid. Tell them, ‘your husband and daddy is a great hero.’”

Chris knows his own limits.

He also knows that he’s not the smartest guy around.

But he is good at being a Hero, and that includes knowing his limits and when he’s passed them. As helpful as Izumi was in keeping that flying bomber away from him, he was already past his limit by the time she showed up, even if he couldn’t admit it.

He even passed out for a moment earlier, when he lost his visor.

Pushing himself to his limit and using every last ounce of strength has never really been his style. It’s not a bad feeling, if he’s being honest with himself. It feels good knowing you’ve done your best and saved the day, even if it means you’re down for the count.

At least that’s how he feels about it.

Well, honey? Is this gonna be the thing that finally earns me some praise from you? How was I? Was I dashing enough? In the end, did I deserve you… as a partner…?

As he closes his eyes, Chris can’t help but think about her.

Pamela.

All the time they spent together.

Chris was always popular; hell, in high school there was even a fan club dedicated to him. When he’d fly overhead, smiling and waving, people would smile and wave back almost without fail.

One day, though, he noticed one girl from his class who never smiled. Not even when she saw him flying overhead with everyone else cheering below. He’s never been able to ignore someone frowning like that, so he tried to cheer her up the one way he knew how.

He picked her up and took her on a flight.

Naturally, of course, she didn’t like that. She punched him in the face and started kicking and flailing until he finally set her down on the ground.

She called him a balloon that day. “Those pretty things that float around? But inside, nothing. They’re hollow,” she said.

Sure, it hurt, but he knew she was right. He didn’t have much substance to him back then. He was more of a go-with-the-flow kind of guy. He still is, in a way.

But still. He couldn’t just ignore her. She was the first person to ever put up a fuss like that. To deny him, tell him she didn’t like him or his goofy grin. That novelty turned into admiration. Admiration turned to affection. Affection, over time, turned to love. Love of her smile, as rare as it was. Love of the passion she held. Love of the dedication she had to what mattered to her. Pure and simple love.

When they got married, he’d never been happier. He knew they’d be together forever, and that he’d get to see that smile every day of his life from there on out.

He was so sure of it.

But then things started to go downhill. It wasn’t entirely his fault. But it also wasn’t not his fault. People he thought were friends turned out to be using him, setting him up for pictures that would get him accused of adultery in the tabloids, pictures that made it obvious he was a playboy, cheating on his wife. Even Pamela believed it. Then some of the villains he took down turned around and sued him like he was the one in the wrong.

Where did it all go wrong? What was he supposed to do? Figuring out right from wrong, at home or out in the world, was something he had trouble with, no matter how much thought he put into it. It made him feel like a villain, sometimes. Sure, he knew that hurting innocent people was wrong. He knew that causing destruction was wrong. But was it wrong to trust people? Was it wrong to hurt even villains who were hurting others first?

“CAP!!”

thud

A body impacts his. It’s the girl, her grappling hook gun abandoned, swinging from the bottom of the Sky Egg far above them.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING, GIRL?!”

“I JUST MOVED WITHOUT THINKING!! NOW QUIT FALLING AND FLY!!”

Chris grabs on tight, slinging both his arms around her middle and squeezing to minimize the chance that he lets go. He extends his quirk’s aura around her, the strength left in him only enough to shield her. No flying. No protection for himself.

God in heaven!! Heroes! Anyone! Save her! Forget me- just save Izumi… this brave, brave kid!

★★★

Nobody

He watches the tower begin to fall from a safe distance.

“Get it, now? This catastrophe was already a done deal, and you people just didn’t realize it. There’s no turning back the clock. No fighting against fate. Only a god could save you now.”

And then, like his crushed dreams compacted into a diamond, there’s a glint on the horizon.

★★★

Naomasa

Two minutes earlier…

Everything has calmed for the moment. After the lead villain escaped from Onomura, he and Eraserhead had gotten in a police helicopter and headed straight for the Sky Egg. Fat Gum followed in the van down below. They had arrived just in time, Eraserhead’s quirk saving someone who looks like Captain Celebrity from certain death by bomber villain.

Now that the rest of the Heroes have finally kicked into action, all the villains seem to have been apprehended or exploded, but… “no denying it- we need All Might… any way you can get him here, Tsukauchi?” Eraserhead asks. “Jeanist’s quirk is holding the tower up, but it’s hanging by a thread. If this enemy has another trick up their sleeve, even all of us together might be powerless to stop it.”

“But I can’t summon the number one Hero as a mere precaution,” Naomasa tries to reason.

“I get that it goes against regular police procedure, but we’re dealing with an unexpected crisis here. The manual’s already been thrown out the window. Don’t you have a hotline or something? To get in touch with him in emergencies?”

He does. Yagi had warned him not to tell anyone else, and doing it right here and now would just serve as confirmation for Eraserhead that he does have a private line, but…

Fuck it. Naomasa checks his phone. It’s weak, but he has a signal. He taps in the number he already knows by heart. It picks up on the second ring.

“Tsukauchi? Is something up? You usually just text…”

Naomasa sees the giant multi-bomber latch onto the tower, “the Tokyo Sky Egg is in trouble!”

KABOOOOOOOOOM

“MAKOTO!!”

“Was than an explosion, Tsukauchi?! Did you say Sky Egg?!”

As annoying as she may be, Naomasa loves his sister. It’s an undeniable fact, one Makoto herself had confirmed when she was little and had just gotten her quirk. Before she realized what it’s like to have a quirk like theirs, always able to tell when someone is lying. Naomasa’s version of the quirk is finicky at best, only working when he’s making eye contact with someone. All Makoto needs is physical contact.

He loves his sister more than anything in his life.

“As an officer of the law, I know I shouldn’t be asking this… but just this once! Please… All Might! SAVE MY SISTER!!” Naomasa screams in desperation.

There’s no hesitation on the other end of the line. “You got it… but I can’t say ‘I’m on my way.’ Why, you ask? BECAUSE AT TIMES LIKE THESE, THERE’S ONLY ONE THING FOR ME TO SAY. YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS.”

Naomasa sees him a brief half-second before he appears. Just a glint on the horizon from the direction of Might Tower.

“I! AM! HERE!!”

It’s almost too quick to see. The supports of the Sky Egg are smashed into nothing, leaving it in freefall for only a split second while All Might clears the area beneath it of rubble and civilians alike. Naomasa’s pretty sure he even sees All Might carrying some pigeons at one point. He rushes underneath the Sky Egg and lets it down gently, doing his best not to jostle everyone inside and to minimize injuries.

★★★

Izumi

Calm overtakes Izumi for a moment when she feels CC’s aura extend around her before she realizes it’s only around her. He’s out of energy. Not good.

Panic overtakes Izumi for a moment, before she hears the call of the Number One Hero.

“I! AM! HERE!!”

She doesn’t see what all he does, only the way he takes out the supports of the Sky Egg, disappears for a moment, and reappears to catch it. Izumi smiles. That’s All Might for you.

“All Might! Over here!” she calls.

Before she knows it, both she and CC are safely within All Might’s massive arms. “HEYA, IF IT ISN’T CAPTAIN CELEBRITY!” he says, just before setting them down, “NICE TO MEET YOU! AND GREAT WORK, HERE!”

CC is barely standing as All Might shakes his hand. The Hero himself turns to look at Izumi curiously and, no longer shouting but still loud, asks “and who might you be, kid?”

Izumi shifts back and forth on her feet, getting used to solid ground after several minutes either upside down or hanging from a rope. “Oh, I was, uh- I was just, y’know, helping Cap out? With- with the villains? Can I get your autograph??” Izumi can’t help but blurt.

“No problemo!” he says, signing Izumi’s Deku hoodie. It’s a dream come true, honestly. “You must have quite the quirk to have been helping Captain Celebrity fight off those bombers.”

Her smile falls. “Oh, no. No, I’m just- I’m quirkless,” she says lamely.

All Might doesn’t say anything to that, too distracted by the reporters starting to swarm around them. But Izumi sees the appraising look he gives her.

“Geez…” CC complains, “imagine me, thinking I was the Hero…”

Distracted as they are by All Might, the reporters barely pay any attention to Captain Celebrity and leave Izumi alone completely. Even with her hoodie on she’s not well known enough for reporters in central Tokyo to recognize her.

Paramedics arrive shortly, taking CC off to the side and starting to wrap him in casts and bandages. Izumi tries to go help the FeatherHATS with setting up their table, but one of the EMTs makes her sit so they can examine her. Off in the distance Izumi watches All Might make his speech about how he wasn’t the only Hero today and to show support for the rest of the ‘true heroes’.

Then he disappears.

Izumi has always been a relatively observant person, particularly when it comes to times of crisis and the aftermath like this. When she was younger it was because she was excited to see all the Heroes at work, and she had to keep track of them even while they were fighting villains. Now it’s just survival instinct.

It doesn’t surprise her that nobody else notices the skinny, yellow haired man wearing an overly baggy All Might costume that shows up right after All Might disappears. He accepts a free Captain Celebrity hoodie from Pop and Miu and puts it on quickly, like he’s trying to hide what he’s wearing.

Whatever Makoto is saying is drowned out by Izumi’s focus on this mystery man who she thinks might actually be All Might. It doesn’t really make sense, except that it does.

Nobody knows what All Might’s quirk is, nobody knows All Might’s real name, nobody knows anything about All Might except that he’s the Number One Hero.

Who’s to say his quirk isn’t a strength enhancement that literally buffs him up?

The detective from the Osaka incident stands near Maybe-All Might where he sits and talks with him. Izumi watches him bow for a long moment. Then Eraserhead, Fat Gum, and Monika approach, and Maybe-All Might stands.

Izumi doesn’t even notice the remains of the bombers coming together and forming something new, an enormous bomber that splits open and spits out hundreds of tiny bomb bats. Not until she sees Maybe-All Might disappear from where he was standing in a way that very few people could accomplish.

Then All Might reappears and uses his Nebraska Smash to create a whirlwind and throw every single one of the bomb bats up into the air.

They all explode, triggered by the force of the whirlwind, in the sky and a safe distance from the crowd.

All Might stands unharmed.

The crowd cheers.

Izumi stares.

Chapter Text

Nobody

The man with the glowing scar watches as his dreams come to nothing because of the Number One Hero.

Not Captain Celebrity, no, of course not. That imbecile couldn’t have accomplished this. No. It was Him.

All Might.

“Are we really celebrating so quickly? Don’t you think it’s a little too soon? You think you’ve got me beat, but only cause you didn’t know I was holding back. Maybe you’ll finally get it once you’re all dead?”

With a few quick taps on his tablet, he mumbles to himself, “let’s just make the busted bombers’ parts regenerate, combine, and grow…”

A massive column of a monster forms, its stomach bulging with its contents.

“Oh, this one isn’t just big, folks. Eraserhead could turn it into a dud, or All Might could launch it up into the sky before it blows up. So this is a special recipe,” he says, and the monster splits at the seams, “I call it the Cluster Bomber! 200 mini-bombers bursting out all at once! There’s no way All Might can handle all these little guys, and even if every Hero here fights back I bet they can’t even take down half of them!”

The mini-bombers begin to swarm, and he begins to feel the satisfaction of a job well done.

“You’re still looking at over 100 mini-bombers. All those civilians you saved, the police, the firefighters, the rescue workers, even the locals in the area… all of them will be deader than dead!”

And then it happens.

All Might happens.

He can only hear it faintly, the shout of “NEBRASKA SMASH” in the distance. With one punch, The Hero creates a tornado that sucks up and triggers every last one of the mini-bombers.

He leans back and begins to laugh, quiet at first, “Ha… ha…” then full on cackling, “HAHAHAHAHA!! Of course! This is just too much! Who ever heard of such a thing! It’s hard to believe a man like that even exists!”

A voice over his earpiece brings him back to reality, “believe it, Number Six. You may doubt your eyes, but what you see is the cold, hard truth. That man does exist. He’s a true super-human who’s in another league compared to the rest of the Heroes. A deus ex machina who seems to defy the laws of physics and fate itself at every turn. Such is All Might, the pinnacle of what we hope to achieve.”

“Hope to achieve, huh?” The man with the glowing scar, Experiment #6, shakes his head. “Naw, I can’t say I’ve ever wanted to be All Might, myself.”

“No, of course not,” the voice in his ear says, “you may continue to act as you see fit.”

“Thanks…” Six whispers. “Too bad I used up every last bomber today… I guess I’ll call it a day. And since the factory went boom too maybe I oughta put Tokyo in my rearview and lay low awhile…”

★★★

Iwao

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Well, not on my watch…”

The Villain Factory. In his investigations, Iwao had uncovered that its goal was to power up quirks by remodeling people and giving them drugs. Originally Trigger, which is where he had started, until people started disappearing altogether. Iwao figured there was a decent chance they would use the Sky Egg event as a testing ground, since there were gonna be plenty of top Heroes gathered in one place. He hadn’t expected these bombers, but in the end it didn’t matter. Deku had it covered. As tempted as he was to give her some long range support, he couldn’t afford to give away the game too early.

Beforehand, Iwao checked which rooftops would provide a great view of the Sky Egg in case he decided to observe his experiment. Then all Iwao needed was an ideal spot to sit and wait until he could snipe his target.

Distance: 250 meters.

Wind: 8 meters per second, from the south-west.

Target: His head.

Iwao knew that bastard would be here. The event at the Sky Egg was too strong of a lure for him to resist, just like he thought. So while everyone else is distracted by the bombers this guy is commanding, Iwao is taking his chance to stop him here and now. Breathe in, out, squeeze the trigger-

Something flies in front of the scope and startles Iwao. It’s not enough to make him miss completely, but he hits his target in the shoulder, not in the head like he planned. That’s a problem, but one he planned for. The target disappears from his line of sight and reappears on the roof behind him.

“Hello there! ♪”

“You’re a quick one,” Iwao observes, “and it’s not just that acceleration quirk - your body’s been tinkered with, huh?”

“Something like that. Lately it’s been a little muscle training, some pain endurance, etcetera. I’m a work in progress. And that acceleration? It’s called Overclock. A quirk once held by the High-Speed Hero, O’Clock,” the target says, confirming what Iwao already knew. He’d been tailing this idiot for months, ever since he’d left Izumi and Kazuho behind. He couldn’t get them caught up in this. The target keeps talking, “I’ve been dying to meet you. Master.”

Funny. Only one person should call him that, and she sure as hell isn’t here right now. “Oh yeah? Well, you’ve been in my sights for a while too. So… who are you? Sure, you control all those villains, but I don’t know a damn thing about you beyond that. Nothing, no identity, no history, not even a name. Nothing except that you somehow got your hands on Overclock after it was stolen from me,” Iwao says, “so I’ve got plenty of questions… but let’s start with your name.”

“Hmm? My name? You’re that interested? I’m honored!” he says, starting to look a little manic, “except, the thing is, I’m just a nobody. Just a weird little thing, still unformed. They call me… Number Six. But that’s just a number, not a real name. The name I’d really like to take is O’Clock. There’s just no other name for me!”

Iwao bares his teeth. He dares to call Iwao his Master, and yet he is so different from the one Iwao chose. “Who you hope to become, huh? Most punks out there would say they wanna be All Might. But not you?”

“All Might, sure…” Six says, “the guy’s incredible, I’ll give him that. Didja see how he saved those fifty thousand folks in the Sky Egg singlehandedly just now? Nobody else in the world could’ve pulled off a stunt like that. But in a way, he’s so limited. He swoops in to beat up villains or save the day when disaster strikes, but all of that’s just playing clean up after the trouble’s already arrived. No different than a plumber, come to fix your pipes. One call, and he’s on his way.”

Iwao shakes his head in disbelief. “No shit… that’s what makes him the Number One Hero. All of humanity’s pretty damn lucky that he doesn’t run around acting out of his own self-interest. If he ever starts using that power for himself, the world is doomed.”

“True,” Six admits, “what I’m saying is, All Might’s got too much power. He’s either gonna save the world or destroy it. There’s no third option if he can’t use that power however he wants. In my opinion, that’s just pointless. Why? Cause I’m all about living free.”

“Not interested in helping people?” Iwao asks, stalling for time.

Six shakes his head. “I don’t hate the thought, but nah. That’s just not my style. That’s why I wanna be O’Clock, Master! Who cares about having the power to smash apart buildings? This quirk lets me make the first move, no matter who I’m up against, so I can beat anyone however I choose! That’s O’Clock! THAT’S A REAL HERO!! ooo, I’m giving myself goosebumps…”

Iwao takes a step back and frowns. He shakes his head and says “that’s not a hero. Not even close.”

“So humble, Master! ♪ I’m your biggest fan, don’t you see? I know every last thing about you, and I’d do anything to be be you! That day, when I watched your career fall apart - I got chills. ‘I’m next,’ I thought. ‘Now its my turn.’ So I’ve got a request,” Six says, taking a step forward and extending a hand with a crazed grin, “acknowledge me as your successor! Then I could officially be O’Clock II… or maybe Two O’Clock??”

Iwao remembers that day well. He remembers the blood all over him. His helmet, shattered. The scars left behind that he still wears. He shakes his head with a smile and lets Six down, “sorry, but I already got a disciple.”

Six’s crazed grin falls from his face for a moment as he processes what Iwao said. Then he starts smiling again, “ahhh yes, little Izuku. But c’mon, clearly I’ve got way more respect for you, Master! Besides, isn’t he an All Might fanboy?”

Iwao wants to laugh. All that escapes his lips is a lone chuckle, “heh… you don’t know anything, do ya? Like I said, O’Clock’s no hero. And giving O’Clock’s actual quirk to some nut running around impersonating him… I'd much rather it end up in the hands of a real hero, and you’re nothing but the worst kind of villain. A scourge on society that needs exterminated.”

Six deflates, rubbing the back of his head. “Ah. So I’m a villain then. I guess that’s that. What’s the plan? Shoot me with that rifle? That plan already failed. Or are you thinking, ‘I can’t miss at this range’? Just try me, okay?!”

Six rushes forward. Iwao knows he can’t hit the guy with a bullet, not when he’s expecting it, but he pulls the trigger anyway. Six grabs the barrel of the gun and pushes it upward, the shot firing into the air.

“See? Missed again. I wasn’t lying - I really do respect you, the former O’Clock. But without your quirk, you’re just some schmuck. And once I’m accelerating? You can’t stop me!” His sleeve rips as his arm bulges and gets bigger, soon a massive fist cocked back and ready to punch. “Sayonara, Master. Once you’re dead and gone, I’ll be O’Clock for real.”

He activates Overlock, and the game begins.

★★★

Nobody Number Six

A whirring noise he’d heard earlier resolves into a voice. Master’s voice. He catches it in the middle of a sentence, “- this message, Overclock?”

Then it repeats. “Can you hear this message, Overclock?”

And again, “Can you hear this message, Overclock?”

Six looks around the rooftop. There’s a speaker nearby. “He recorded his voice…? And it’s playing back at extra high speed to match me…”

Then the recording changes, and his Master starts speaking. “You might have the quirk of the High-Speed Hero, O’Clock, but you still haven’t completely grasped its true nature. What Overclock actually does is stimulate the brain. By speeding up your perception and thoughts relative to everything else, the physical world seems to slow down. But the degree to which you speed up isn’t uniform - it depends on what’s going through your head. When you activate it to throw some punches, you’re probably going three to ten times faster. But in a fight-or-flight emergency? You’ll speed up a few dozen times over. When you really put your mind to it, it can almost feel like the world around you freezes in place.

“But honing that focus ain’t necessarily a good thing. There’s a time limit to the acceleration. Take on too intense a task, and you’ll deprive your brain of oxygen. The faster you go, the bigger the brain drain. Meaning, when you’re really on edge and focused, you’ll run out the clock even faster than normal. For instance, when you’ve got a rifle pointed right at you.

“Or when you’re trying real hard to listen to a recording played back at 300 times normal speed. Can you hear this message, Overclock?”

“Crap!!” Six shouts, jumping back. The drain catches up to him, and he drops out of the acceleration state.

★★★

Iwao

A split second later, Six jumps backward. “Just like I said, huh? That brain drain,” Iwao says, then reaches into his jacket, “sorry, but you don’t get a breather,” and clicks the detonator. The roof collapses as the building below them explodes, but Iwao knows what he’s doing. His grappling hook keeps him from falling into the debris and getting crushed.

“Not just the roof!” He shouts at Six, who scrambles to try to find somewhere to stand, “that blast took out three whole floors! Putting you in freefall and making that acceleration worthless. That’s right, guard your noggin. It is pretty important after all! But don’tcha need legs to stick the landing with?”

He takes aim and fires his shotgun while he swings, hitting his mark. First one leg, then another. Six slams to the floor in a heap.

“Clearly you’ve been modified to resist pain,” Iwao says, “so if putting the hurt on ya won’t get the job done… I’d better just blast apart your limbs.”

He fires once, twice, thrice. Six’s limbs are nearly pulp. He looks up at Iwao from the ground, still grinning, and points out that “something’s fishy here… first you went for the headshot, but now you’re trying to take me alive? Why the change of plans?”

Iwao points the shotgun at Six with one hand and pulls out the detonator with the other. “Shifting priorities,” he says, “ending you in one shot was my best bet at long range, but live capture’s the only way to go once a bird flies into my cage. And you oughta know - the next blast is gonna bring the whole building down. So there’s no escape, even if you speed up again. The bird cage’ll become your tomb. Check and mate.”

“Ah… you want me to surrender? Admit defeat? Cause you’d rather not have to kill me? Is that it?” Six asks. Then, shifting forward onto his elbows, he says “while you’ve been so busy being naive, I’ve had a chance to catch my breath.”

Iwao’s boot meets his face and sends him back to the ground. “Sure, taking out a dangerous villain is high on my priority list, but if I can wring some intel outta you about the ringleader of this operation, all the better.”

He slams the butt of the shotgun into Six’s face next, “also, depriving your brain of oxygen ain’t the only way to seal off Overclock. It’d be nice if those quirk suppressing handcuffs y’always see ads for were real, but a nice concussion works just as well in this case. Long as I’m beating the tar outta you, you can’t accelerate. And once I’ve made hamburger of your face, I’ll tie you up and sit you down for an interview.” Each sentence is punctuated by another hit to Six’s face.

Iwao pulls up short and pauses. Six is… “huh? You got healing powers too? Those shotgun wounds already stopped bleeding. Real pain in the ass,” he says, then flips Six over and gets ready to cuff him, “but once you’re hog-tied it won’t matter.”

Something squirms its way up Six’s arm. “You came soooo close, Master… You really should’ve taken the headshot when you had the chance,” he says. Whatever it is rapidly covers his entire arm, “cause I let some Bomber cells hitch a ride, as parasites… turning my own arm into a bomb!” then explodes.

Iwao is thrown backward. He lands on his back in the rubble, dazed for a moment. Six stands and staggers forward, his arm gone above his elbow.

“Hahaha! Master! You’re truly amazing! Just the coolest all around! Better than those so-called pros, even better than old Number One, All Might! The greatest of all time, by a long shot!” He turns around to face Iwao and keeps gloating, “but I’m here to be better. To be the O’Clock who surpassed the original! There can be only one, after all.”

Iwao groans and lifts his head up, grinning at the idiot in front of him, saying “fun fantasy, kid. But you’re barely standing after eating your own blast. All I gotta do is pound away until you don’t feel like standing anymore.” Then he rises, gripping the concrete on either side of him for leverage. “You’re gonna meet your end here, having made exactly nothing of yourself.”

Six’s grin gets wider, but Iwao doesn’t care anymore. He knows how this ends. He doesn’t need to win, he just needs to make sure Six loses. Still, he lets the kid talk.

“Ah, but you got careless. You’re convinced I’m just some copycat. Granted, you know everything there is to know about your old quirk, Overclock. More than I do, for sure. But you don’t know squat about me. Like how I can use Overclock to do this,” he taunts, holding out an arm which is rapidly reforming.

“Accelerated cell growth…?” Iwao whispers in astonishment. How does this guy have multiple quirks? There’s only one man capable of that, but last Iwao heard All Might took care of him.

“And check this out!” Six says, holding up his other arm, “my right arm’s a bomb, too! With max blasting power!”

He stretches his arms and takes in the surroundings. “What’d you call this place again? A birdcage? Or was it a tomb? Bah, whatever,” he says, and Iwao starts to move, “All I gotta do to make it outta here is blow up these walls - and you along with them. Get it?!”

Six barely dodges Iwao’s punch, but another is already lined up. He swings again, “I’ll knock you out cold before you blow!”

Six laughs in glee, “there it is! Your unwavering advance! Such resolve!! You’re seriously… the coolest!!” and swings back at him, their blows mirrored.

In the end, the building comes down. Apparently, it was scheduled for demolition the next day. One of the bombers flung up into the sky by All Might escaped and landed there, setting off the explosives. But Nobody knows the truth. After all, dead men tell no tales.

★★★

Izumi

Kazuho carefully opens the curtain to peek at the crowd surrounding the hospital. The noise is barely audible, several floors up. “There’s a serious crowd out there…”

“And the phone’s been ringing off the hook over at the agency with calls from the press. They all want a comment for their sound bites!” Makoto adds.

Yu grins, “Best Jeanist and those guys went on TV and said ‘after All Might, CC was VIP number two’ and ‘he was the unsung hero here.’”

“That was great press as well,” Makoto agrees.

CC himself is still laid up in his hospital bed with a cast on his left arm and left leg, plus more bandages covering other various parts of him. The bombers really did a number on him. “Sorry Izumi,” he says, “seems like I stole your portion of the limelight too.”

Izumi waves him off, “I don’t care about that. I’m just glad we all made it out in one piece. That’s all that matters to me. Besides, I’m just some random schmuck who shot some villains with a slingshot, I’d probably get thrown in jail if they found out!”

“Um…” Makoto looks a little guilty, and Izumi’s stomach drops, “the police actually gave me a talking-to about that…”

“Seriously?!”

“Well, not the police, per se. It’s my brother; he’s a detective, and he’s been looking into the Naruhata Vigilantes for a while. Apparently because you ‘did more good than bad this time’ they put in a request for the Heroes and other witnesses to keep quiet about your involvement. He actually said he’s grateful for you,” Makoto finishes.

Izumi’s response gets cut off before she can even formulate it by a series of loud crashing sounds from out in the hall and an angry voice, “HEY! MOVE OUTTA THE WAY, MOVE ASIDE! I’M IN A HURRY, HERE! LEMME THROUGH!”

The door slams open to reveal a short figure who Izumi recognizes as CC’s wife, holding a baby. “CHRIS!!”

“Honey!” he shouts back.

The child gets put gently into Makoto’s arms as Pamela launches herself onto CC, pummeling him with her fists to no real effect.

“WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD YOU BRAINLESS IDIOT?!”

“Honey, please! I’ve already got enough broken bones!” he pleads.

Izumi almost wants to interfere and drag her off him, but is more afraid of what Pamela will do to her than what she’ll do to CC.

“What if that stunt had gotten you killed? What then? You moron…” she buries her head in the blankets on his lap and does her best not to cry in front of a bunch of strangers. Izumi politely looks away.

“I’m sorry, honey. I wanted to show off my good side. For you,” CC says, quiet as he gets.

Pamela sniffles once and composes herself, looking up at Izumi, “and you would be Izumi? Makoto told me everything. Thank you… for saving my darling Chris!”

Happy tears fill her eyes, and Izumi is right there with her.

★★★

Tanuma

Tanuma examines the building. The official statement was that it was a building that had been scheduled for demolition the next day. One of the bombers at the end of the Sky Egg incident got thrown in this direction, and set off the explosives that had already been wired up.

Tsukauchi approaches from behind, ducking under the police tape. “We got the lab results, Tanuma.”

“Yeah? We got any good news, or just more questions?”

“Mostly questions, I’m afraid. There were two distinct blood samples found at the scene. The first was conclusive. It came from the High Speed Hero, O’Clock. Legal name: Iwao Oguro. Age 45. Former Pro Hero.”

“Sure, sure,” Tanuma says, waving that off, “I coulda guessed that. This has him written all over it. What about the other one?”

“Inconclusive. We’ve got unknown blood types and DNA, mixed with a number of highly concentrated chemical substances.”

“So what you’re saying is… this guy’s not human?”

“Not necessarily. Quirks could be responsible for this individual’s transformations.”

“Oh, right. We ain’t supposed to use the non-human label. Gotta stay politically correct, and all,” Tanuma says. Tsukauchi leaves pretty soon after that.

Tanuma takes a cigarette and lights it, then takes a long drag. He stares at the building, like if he looks long enough it’ll reveal some kind of secret to him.

Yeesh, O’Clock… what the hell were you tangling with, here? This thing we’re chasing… is it even human?

★★★

Izumi

Two weeks after the Sky Egg incident finds Izumi with the rest of the Narufest squad at the Tokyo International Airport, all decked out in Captain Celebrity gear waiting for him.

“Makoto isn’t here yet?” Izumi asks Kazuho in concern.

“She said she’ll make it just in time,” Kazuho tells her.

“Oh, here comes the Cap!” Miu says.
“Everyone get ready!” says Yu.

“One, two…” everyone hefts a large banner that says

THANK YOU!
CAPTAIN CELEBRITY

“CAPTAIN!” they all shout simultaneously.

“Aw, you guys!” CC looks much better now, back to wearing his visor full time and with almost all of the bandages off. He has a small one just above his left eye, his arm is still in a sling, and he’s using a cane to get around until his leg is fully recovered (Izumi’s not sure why he doesn’t just float, she absolutely would if she were in his position).

Before any of the Narufest crew can intercept, half a dozen reporters swarm CC.

“Captain Celebrity!”
“You’re out of the hospital and headed home, how does it feel?”
“Can we get a comment on the work you’ve done in Japan?”

Izumi takes a step forward to start ushering them away from him, but he waves her off. “Hrm… I wasn’t here long, but I’m glad I came. It felt like a real turning point… it’s like I’ve been reborn, better than ever. Naruhata in particular came to feel like a home away from home,” he says. Izumi starts tearing up. She never liked him, at least not until the Sky Egg, but she can’t help looking back on those memories of him in Naruhata fondly. He continues, “I’ll never forget the good people I met in that little neighborhood. I’m thankful for all those folks, but I owe a ton to two of them in particular.”

“Two?” one of the reporters asks.

“First, my manager, Makoto,” CC starts. Izumi knows what’s about to happen as the words leave his mouth, “she’s nothing short of a goddess in my eyes.”

The tiny gathering of the press erupts, accusing him once again of adultery. He turns to Pamela for help, but she casually looks away with what Izumi thinks is a frown disguising a grin. It is kind of funny. Before the press can get too carried away, the woman in question shows up.

“Sorry, my ride ran into traffic, and-”

“It’s Makoto!”
“So you’re the so-called manager?!”
“What’s the nature of your relationship with CC?!”
“Is his wife aware of this?!”

Makoto holds up her hand in a surprisingly effective ‘shush’ing gesture. Once the press is quiet, she says “allow me to explain. It’s true. Without a doubt, CC spent more time with me than anyone else here in Japan. Was our relationship always strictly professional? Yes . He devoted every waking hour to the job and, quite frankly, didn’t have time for a personal life. Once the confidentiality agreements concerning the events on his schedule have expired, the related parties can all attest to his comings and goings. Any other questions?” Makoto says it all with a smile on her face, but Izumi can feel the pressure she’s putting on the press people.

One of them is brave enough to speak up, “but, Captain… you mentioned two important people. Who’s the second?”

“Oh, right… sorry, I can’t explain right now.”

Once again the press begins to erupt, but once again Makoto silences them. “Allow me to respond on behalf of the agency. The second individual is what you could call a personal hero of CC’s. Someone he respects. Given the scandals in his past, we’re choosing to exercise caution when revealing details of CC’s personal friendships.”

A hero he respects? That… that can’t be Deku… can it? Izumi looks at Kazuho for some kind of confirmation, but neither of them can read minds so all Izumi gets is a vaguely confused expression in return.

“Thanks for everything, Makoto,” CC says in a low enough voice that the press can’t hear him. “I’m still not too confident I can cut it back in the states, but… I’ll try my best. And when my efforts aren’t enough, I’ll look to those around me for strength.”

“Absolutely. You’ll still have me to count on, after all!” Makoto says. Izumi’s stomach sinks. Wait. She’s not… “Starting this spring, I’m studying abroad at a college in New York. Don’t worry, I’ll keep up my duties as your manager.”

Oh.

She is.

Izumi doesn’t hear the rest of the exchange between CC, Pamela, and Makoto, too busy staring at Makoto and feeling like something inside her just opened wide to swallow her heart. Makoto can’t just… leave! Izumi takes a step forward.

“I’ll keep in touch!” Makoto says, and then she’s gone.

★★★

Izumi has been silent since Makoto boarded the plane, all the way back to her apartment with Kazuho, not even sure what to say. They’re just friends, so why does this hurt so much? Even Kazuho looks angry. Izumi hands a mug full of freshly made tea to Kazuho and mumbles, “here’s your tea.”

She sits down across from her and sips from her own mug sullenly.

“She could’ve at least given you some credit,” Kazuho finally says.

Izumi looks at her in confusion. She tries for some levity, “aren’t you always telling me to know my place, though?”

“Yeah. You still should, but considering how you risked your life to help CC save us all, it feels like they gave you the short end of the stick.”

“I… I guess so. I think I prefer it like this, though. I don’t need the world to recognize that I did a good job as Deku,” she says, then whispers under her breath, “I’ll settle for just you…”

★★★

That’s how the whole Sky Egg incident went down, back in my first year as Deku.

It was a big deal that made headlines, but I was really just in the right place at the right time.

Meanwhile, there are people who choose to dive into disaster zones like that every day.

That’s what makes Pro Heroes so amazing.

At least that’s what I thought at the time.

But ordinary people don’t find themselves in the middle of major incidents over and over.

So surely I wouldn’t get caught up in anything like that ever again.

That was my natural assumption, back then.

It would still be a long time before the incident that would see me at its center, playing the lead role.

But I wouldn’t just find myself at that scene by accident, and I wouldn’t be diving into danger by choice, either.

When it happened, the danger would come at me out of nowhere, all on its own.

Chapter Text

Izumi

Slowly but surely the Sky Egg incident fades to the back of Izumi’s mind and things go back to normal. She retires the hoodie she was wearing that day, since it’s full of holes and (much more importantly) has All Might’s signature on it. Luckily her mom sends her a few more. She can’t imagine there’s that many of the Green Scheme hoodies left, but her mom keeps finding them one way or another.

There’s a few dramatic moments, but as is usual for Naruhata most of the things that happen to her are almost silly. Today, for example, only a few weeks out from Captain Celebrity’s departure from Japan, Deku is being chased by someone with a werewolf quirk. Safe in a box in her hands is a kitten that the werewolf is trying to torment, almost comically.

“THE WEAK AND HELPLESS ARE MY PREY!! INCLUDING LITTLE KIDS AND ADORABLE KITTY CATS!!”

Deku holds the box out in front of her as she runs and says to the kid in question, “I’ll be the bait, you take the cat and run, okay?” Once the kid has the cat safely in her hands, Deku holds the empty box above her head and turns to the wolf-man, “over here!”

Unfortunately, the kid trips at that exact moment, sending the cat flying. The wolf-man is about to lunge, but a familiar grey scarf whips out and wraps around his mouth, forcing it closed. Eraserhead slides into the alley, capture weapon wrapping itself around the cat, the girl, and the villain, drawing the first two close to him and bringing the third down to the ground.

Deku heaves a sigh of relief, “thanks a lot, Eraser.”

“How’d you get yourself into this one?” the Hero wonders.

Izumi holds the box down low enough for the kid to put the kitten back inside and answers, “this girl spotted an abandoned cat near the station. I was going to help her take it somewhere when that guy showed up.”

“Pretty straightforward.”

“Probably the most straightforward encounter I’ve ever had, if I’m being honest,” Izumi says wryly. Something hits her cheek, and she looks up. Dark clouds cover the sun. The rain starts in earnest a few seconds later. Once she’s made sure the girl is safely on her way to the station, Izumi leans back against the wall of the nearest building, side by side with Eraserhead under an awning and safe from the rain.

“Well? What’re you gonna do with the cat?” Eraserhead asks suddenly.

“I was thinking of taking it home-”

“To raise it? You need to feed it and clean up after it daily. Think you can discipline it? Can you be strict enough? You have to get it vaccinated and spayed or neutered, too. And visits to the vet cost more than a trip to the doctor for you. You’re still a student, right? Once you graduate and start doing who knows what, will you keep the cat? They can live to be 20, you know. Are you sure you’re ready for that kind of responsibility?”

Izumi stares at Aizawa in amusement as he continues to talk before he seems to finish his questionnaire, finally letting her respond with a laugh, “I was just gonna give it some food before I took it to a shelter, man.”

“You can’t just give it any old food, it could get sick. If you’re going to be irresponsible, you may as well put it back where it came from,” Aizawa says grouchily.

“Do you like cats or not? It- wait. You’ve been avoiding even looking at it. Does Eraserhead actually like cats?!”

“It’s not about whether or not I like them. You’re being irrational.”

“Eraserhead. Do you want this cat?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am absolutely sure.”

“Well, apparently I’m not fit to take care of it, so I guess I’ll just have to put it back after the rain’s gone.”

“No.”

“... what?”

“I’ll take it. It won’t survive out here.”

“Holy shit my guilt trip worked??”

“I despise you.”

“I’m glad we’re friends, too, Eraser.”

Nearly an hour goes by before the clouds start to part and the rain stops.

“Huh, guess the rain’s gone. Want me to help bring this lil cutie back to your apartment, Eraser?” Izumi asks, cooing at the kitten. Before she finishes speaking Aizawa has already pushed off the wall he was leaning against and started walking. Izumi follows close behind. “Hey, where’re you going? I thought you wanted the cat!”

“I changed my mind. I’m gonna go check on the Hotta brothers. Tag along or don’t, I don’t care,” Aizawa grumbles. Izumi speeds up her walk to match Aizawa’s pace and walks beside him.

“You’re really not proving my theory that their shop is your agency wrong, you know,” she teases him. Then she mutters, “hopefully someone there’ll want a cat…”

Hoppers isn’t very far, just a few streets over, so it doesn’t take long to get there. They walk in relatively comfortable silence. When they get there, Izumi is greeted by the Octoid that almost killed Aizawa back in early December and barely holds back a startled scream.

“Welcome! ♥”

“Heya, Deku. Guess you haven’t seen this guy since he got discharged,” Ichirou comments.

“Hullo. The name’s Takobe,” the man formerly known as Octoid says. He leans in and stage whispers to her, “they tell me I was chuckin’ rocks and chasin’ you around, Deku. Sorryyyy.”

Izumi smiles, already over the initial shock of seeing him here. “Hey, no problem man! I’m glad to see you’re better!”

“Eraser, my man! We got some oversized visitors today, so let’s chat outside…” Ichirou says, holding one side of a small table.
“… Since the rain stopped,” Jiro finishes, holding the other side of the table. The two drag it out along with some stools for them all to sit together.

“So what’s got you here, Takobe?” Izumi inquires.

Ichirou chimes in, “same old story with guys like him - got no place to live. We set up tents for him and Kamayan where the warehouse used to be. Somebody keeps hitting it with some anti-mutant graffiti, though.”

Izumi takes note of that. Maybe she’ll do something about it soon. 

“Yup. Just as fun as camping,” Takobe’s voice is carefully neutral.

“But who wants to camp out forever? You guys better start building that shop of ours soon,” Kamayan says sourly.

“You’re building a shop? Don’t you already have one?” Izumi asks.

Ichirou explains, “we own the land the warehouse was built on, so we’re taking the villain damage insurance payment and the welfare subsidy that Tako and Kamayan get for oversized housing and putting it toward starting a cafe or something.”

“I’ve got my chef’s license. ♪” Takobe says.

“If Takobe and Kamayan are gonna be working there you’ll probably need a giant sized bathroom, right?” asks Izumi.

Kamayan shouts his agreement, but gets interrupted by Ichirou, “sure, cuz that’ll just mean more jumbo-sized customers in search of a toilet.”
“That might earn us some less-than-stellar clientele,” Jiro says.

Kamayan scowls, “Hotta the Younger, you realize how ignorant you sound, right?”

Izumi tunes out the argument starting between the Hotta brothers and Kamayan, focusing instead on Takobe stepping closer to her and crouching down to look at the box. Izumi holds it out so he can see the kitten better.

“I gotta say, Deku, this one’s a little cutie! Mind if I give it a squeeze?” he asks.

“Go ahead!”

At Izumi’s confirmation, Takobe gently plucks the kitten from the box with both his lower hands and pets it with one of his upper hands, using the other to gesture. “Oooo, so adorably fwuffy! Looks just like my family’s old cat! Is this little one yours, Deku?”

“Ah, nah, I just found it on the street earlier. I tried to get Eraserhead to take it but he said no,” Izumi explains.

“Then lemme adopt it!” Takobe shouts excitedly.

This time it’s Jiro who chimes in first, “hang on now, Tako. We’re trying to register this as a home-slash-business. It’s no place to raise a kitten.”

“It’ll be a shop cat!”

“That… could work, actually,” Kamayan interrupts whatever Ichirou was about to say. “Make it into one of them fancy cat cafes. People’ll come in droves.”

Izumi listens as they start plotting out their new cafe and how they should go about it, but keeps an eye on Eraser, whose head has tipped back as if he’s fallen asleep. His eyes are still open, though, and Izumi is sure he’d never sleep with his eyes open (it’d make his dry eye even worse). Ichirou gets out a floor plan and starts editing it, before moving over to Aizawa and bugging him, telling him he has a reserved seat and table for if he ever just wants to drop by.

After some more discussion and the kitten officially changing hands (there’s talk of naming it Bacon, for some reason), Aizawa stands up. He smiles wryly, and says “I’m… feeling clear about things now. Don’t need to factor me into your plans. I’m moving towns, soon. I’ll stop by to check on the little guy when I can.”

Izumi stops herself from rushing after him and demanding answers. He’s too cryptic and withdrawn to ever be completely honest about it. Instead, she opens the group chat and sends a message.

Izumi smiles down at her phone. He seems like the perfect fit.

★★★

A couple days later, Deku returns to Hoppers' with her backpack full. She still has a little bit of sunlight left by the time she arrives, but she’ll be doing the majority of her work in the dark.

She drops her backpack near the wall the Hottas told her about and hears the cans rattle and clack together. At the sound, Kamayan and Takobe both peek their heads out of their tents. Deku grins back at them. Kamayan scowls, but Takobe grins back.

The wall is already covered in cheap paint, slurs against the mutants who live here alongside obscene images. What’s a little more paint?

Deku pulls her respirator up and plucks cans from her bag (black and white for the base, with shades of beige for skin, and yellow and red and blue for hair and a suit), then after a moment of indecision grabs a few more (shades of green, along with grey and magenta).

She starts with a base coat of white to cover what was already there. Just as she’s starting to struggle to reach high enough to cover the old graffiti, she hears a voice from behind her, “heya, Deku. Need some help?”

Deku turns to see Takobe standing there, towering over her. Before, suddenly seeing him had startled her; now she knows he wouldn’t hurt a fly if he could help it.

“Yeah, do you think you could help me reach that part up there?” She points up, above where she’s already managed to cover it up. “I’m trying to cover this garbage up, but… well, whoever put it up was taller than me and could reach way higher. I didn’t think to bring a ladder this time…”

“You betcha. The Hottas have a ladder in their shop, you want me to grab that?” he asks.

Deku smiles at him, although it’s hidden by her respirator. Her eyes crinkle, showing the smile anyway. “That’d be awesome.”

Takobe turns away to go look for their ladder, leaving Deku on her own for a few moments. Well, for the most part. Keenly aware of Kamayan’s eyes on her back, Deku pulls down her respirator and takes out her sketchbook, turning to a fresh page. Her previous page was dedicated to the piece she had planned on putting up, but now she has a slightly different idea. She finishes a rough sketch just in time for Takobe to return with a ladder.

“So Deku. What’re you putting up?” he wonders.

She smiles mysteriously. “Guess you’ll have to wait and find out, huh?”

He laughs, and plants the ladder where she points. “Fair enough. And hey, don’t you worry about the police or anything, I’ll keep watch for ya. Least I can do since you’re covering that stuff up,” he tells her, then moves to the entrance of the lot to do exactly that.

It doesn’t take her long to finish the first coat of white. Once that’s taken care of, she goes back to sketching while she lets it dry enough for a second coat. She can already tell this is going to take all night, but she’s done much longer nights for much, much less. Eventually, after a couple more coats of white and letting them dry, she goes over the whole thing a few more times with black paint. She goes through two cans of each color. In between each coat she goes back to sketching, slowly refining the design.

By the time the final coat of black has dried and she can start the actual work, the sun has gone down. She probably should have blocked the whole thing out piece by piece and color by color with cardboard, but as with so many of her pieces this was more or less impromptu. Freehand it is.

She starts with the yellow, long curves that she needs the ladder to fully finish.

Then blue and red at the bottom, the collar of a Hero costume.

Beige and black slowly take shape into half a face, easily recognizable

Bright white, with just a little bit of silver mixed in for luminosity, forms half of the iconic grin.

By the time she’s done, it’s the spitting image of All Might, lovingly rendered down to the strands of hair that make up his iconic tufts. She cleans up some of the dripping colors with a piece of cardboard and more black paint, until the whole thing is crisp clean lines making up the face of the Number One Hero.

The night is halfway gone when she finally finishes the left side of the piece. Kamayan makes his way out of his tent with a suppressed yawn; Izumi fights back a yawn of her own.

“All Might, huh? Why only half?” Kamayan wonders.

“Well, pieces of All Might usually stay up longer cause nobody wants to paint over them or take them down. And I... had an idea for the other half,” she says through a yawn, showing him the finished sketch in her notebook.

“Hmm… a little self-aggrandizing, ain’t it?” he accuses.

Her mouth quirks up at one corner in something like a smile. If she didn’t know any better she’d say that’s a big word for him, but in the few interactions they’ve had it’s been clear to Izumi that Kamayan is whip-smart. By contrast, it takes her a minute to formulate a response. Eventually, she tells Kamayan “I’m not trying to pretend I’m on his level. But… he’s not here. I am.”

He accepts her answer, and turns to go back to his tent.

She puts away the paints she doesn’t need anymore, then picks up the rest of the cans and sets them on the ladder at chest height. This side takes her the rest of the night. By the time she’s done, the sun is coming up. In the early morning light, Deku takes a step back to admire her handiwork.

In parallel with All Might but separated by a thick black line is the image of Deku, just as enormous and imposing. Her green hoodie is rendered in equally loving detail. In contrast to All Might, Deku’s eye is the only part of her face visible, a sharp bright green, the same color as her tag, which is off to the side, smaller than usual. Her respirator, covering her mouth and nose, is a mass of greys and blacks, with a splash of messy magenta for the filter. She let the paint run as she worked, slowly dripping and giving her silhouette a much more rough and ragged appearance.

It’s good like this, but… unfinished. It needs words. A strong message. She spins a can of paint around and around in her hand, hearing the bead clatter, feeling the weight shift, weighing her words.

It’s All Might’s face that people will see first, but… they’re not his words.

They’re not Deku’s words either, not really, not yet.

And they’re not Knuckleduster’s, even if that’s where her inspiration comes from.

They’re the words she’s been trying to embody ever since her Master started teaching her. Words she’s still trying to figure out the real meaning of.

Above the piece, in yellow.

HE AIN’T HERE…

Below, in the neon green that’s started to become associated with her work.

BUT I AM

★★★

It’s been a few months since Aizawa walked off into the proverbial sunset, and the Hoppers have gotten their cafe up and running. Kind of. The giant sized version that will eventually become the main cafe is still under construction, but they’ve already converted their recycle shop into a makeshift cafe.

Izumi has been helping out where she can both with their shop and around Naruhata in general, but between everything else happening in her life (school, work, transitioning, and more) she has very little spare time. Precious spare time that is now being taken up by a strangely familiar figure.

A man she is sure she’s seen before walks up to her table and says “hello. My name is Yagi, and I represent the All Might Agency and Might Tower. I was wondering if I could speak to you?”

Oh. She has seen him before. At the Sky Egg.

Izumi gestures to the seat across from her (technically it’s Aizawa’s reserved table, but none of the staff have complained about her using it yet) and quickly writes something on a blank page in the back of the notebook she’s reviewing. She tears it out, folds it, and hands it to the man across from her. When he opens it he chokes and coughs up some blood.

“Holy shit! Oh fuck are you okay?!” she shouts, starting to shove napkins toward him. That is not the reaction Izumi was expecting.

Ichirou and Takobe look at them in concern, but Yagi waves them off, pulling out a handkerchief and covering his mouth with it, speaking between coughs. “It’s kind of you to worry, but it’s nothing. Just an unfortunate side effect of an old wound,” he explains. Takobe smiles and goes back to doing whatever he was doing before, but Ichirou sticks around for a moment.

Once Yagi’s coughing fit is over he starts to open his mouth to say something to Izumi, but she holds up a hand and turns to Ichirou. “Can we use the back room? We need privacy and I’m not gonna make this guy walk all the way to my apartment.”

“Sure, Deku. Just gimme a sec,” Ichirou says. A few seconds of awkward silence later, Izumi hears Kamayan complaining as he’s pushed out the back door and told to stay there ‘until Deku’s done talking to the twig’. Ichirou comes back out and throws Izumi a thumbs up.

She puts all her study material back in her bag quickly and efficiently, “my name is Izumi Midoriya, by the way,” then stands. She doesn’t wait for Yagi to follow. A few seconds after she walks off she hears him startle and stand up, following after her. She steps into the back room first, setting her bag down and closing the door once Yagi is inside.

They sit across from each other; Izumi lets Yagi speak first.

“How did you know I was All Might?” he asks.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Izumi explains. “Back in March, you saved me and Captain Celebrity from falling to our deaths during the Sky Egg incident. Nobody else seemed to notice, but when All Might disappeared after talking to the press, you suddenly appeared wearing All Might’s Hero outfit. You grabbed a free Captain Celebrity hoodie to cover the costume up, but then when the mini-bombers appeared you disappeared and suddenly All Might was back. I didn’t actually know if I was right… it was mostly just… a guess.” Izumi laughs awkwardly and hides her face in her hands for a second.

“You’ve got a sharp eye, and an even sharper mind, huh? That makes this a lot easier, then,” Yagi says. Izumi quirks an eyebrow at him.

“Young woman, I want you to inherit my power.”

A long moment of silence passes as Izumi puts together pieces of the puzzle in her head. Yagi is about to speak when Izumi interrupts him, “why me?”

“Because I saw something in you that day. I believe you have the potential to be greater than me. I was fourteen when I received this power, and I was just a dumb, quirkless kid. But now I’m the Number One Hero. I can’t- it’s best if I show you, actually,” Yagi says, then unbuttons the bottom few buttons of his shirt and pulls it to the side, showing the outer edge of a nasty red and pink scar that Izumi has a feeling covers most of that side of his torso. “About a year and a half ago I was in a fight that the public never heard about. I lost one of my lungs, my entire stomach, and part of my intestines. Right now I can maintain my form and do Hero Work for almost six hours a day, but that time is slowly getting shorter.”

“And you want someone to take your place?”

Yagi shakes his head. “Not quite. My quirk, One for All, has been passed down for many generations. I am the eighth person to wield it, and while its original purpose has been fulfilled I fear that a time will come when the world has need of it once again. I’m not asking you to become the next Symbol of Peace, just to be there when the world needs you.”

Izumi hums contemplatively. Though she doesn’t say it out loud, her mind is drawn to the quirk’s name and its origin. ‘One for all and all for one,’ a famous phrase from an equally famous French work called ‘The Three Musketeers’. She’s heard that name, All for One, spoken only in hushed whispers in back alleys or on closed forums.

He’s a legend. And not the good kind.

Izumi frowns. “You said ‘its original purpose has been fulfilled.’ What does that mean?”

Yagi sighs heavily, as if his next words are difficult, and confirms Izumi’s suspicions. He tells her of One for All’s origins at the dawn of quirks, of the two brothers and their unceasing struggle, of All for One inadvertently creating his own downfall. “One for All’s original purpose was to defeat All for One. Two years ago I killed him with my own hands. That’s… when I was injured. Now I’d like to forge it into something new. No longer a sword with which to kill, but a shield for the world in case anyone like All for One comes around again.”

Izumi hums. For a long moment, she considers what he’s told her. Then, haltingly at first but quickly gaining confidence, she says “I… I appreciate it, All Might, I do, but- but I’m not a Hero. I don’t even- I don’t even want to be a Hero anymore. I run around and I get beat up by people and I pick up litter and I give directions and I- and I’m not a Hero. In a couple years I’m going to graduate college, and I’m going to get a job at a company like Detnerat where I get paid enough to live somewhere nice and support my parents and buy as much Hero merch as will fit in my apartment.”

Izumi thinks of Kazuho, who has all but moved into Izumi’s apartment, and Makoto, who left with Captain Celebrity but promised she’d be back. She can’t afford to disappoint either of them.

“Being a Hero was my dream when I was a kid, but I- I have more important things in my life now. More important people.”

Yagi smiles at her, so different from the way All Might smiles but so much more genuine, and says “I wouldn’t have it any other way, Midoriya. The world has enough Heroes; all I’m asking from you is that you’re there when the world needs it most.”

“Okay.”

“That’s a yes, then?”

“I guess so, yeah. Where do we start?”

★★★

After discussing it over the course of several days both in person and via text, Izumi and Yagi settle on meeting three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, for Izumi to start training. Yagi makes it clear that while she is in excellent shape for her age and she’s already decently strong, One for All is likely too strong for her yet. So she trains. He’s there with her every step of the way, anxiously hovering like he’s waiting to find out he made a huge mistake. Izumi refuses to slip up.

It doesn’t take long for Kazuho to notice something is going on. Three months in she finally addresses it. She’s at the kotatsu studying (she’s started doing that a lot more now that she’s started college) while Izumi makes dinner for them.

“You’ve been training more, haven’t you?” she asks, almost an accusation.

Izumi hums an affirmative. “Just a few days a week. How’d you tell?”

Kazuho blushes, which makes Izumi more pleased than it should, “you look stronger. That’s all.” Huh. Good to know the work is paying off, then. “Why’d you start training again? You haven’t trained this hard since the old man left.”

“I…” Izumi turns off the stove and measures her next words carefully. Kazuho is extremely good at reading her, and Izumi can’t get away with flat out lying. She settles on a vague truth that doesn’t really mean anything, “I need to be stronger.”

When Kazuho doesn’t reply, Izumi puts the finishing touches on their dinner, serves it into two bowls, and sits down at the kotatsu with utensils in hand. Kazuho clears a spot for her bowl, letting Izumi set it and the utensils down in front of her. It’s quiet between them for a while; it’s the kind of comfortable quiet that comes from sharing a meal with someone you love important to you.

After a few minutes, Kazuho speaks up, unusually serious, “I know you’re lying to me, but it’s okay. If you don’t want me to press, I won’t.”

Tears spring to Izumi’s eyes, unbidden. “Thank you…” she whispers through both tears and a mouthful of food.

Kazuho yells at her for speaking with her mouth full, and everything is normal.

★★★

In between school, training, and her job at the campus library, Izumi still somehow finds time to roam the streets as Deku. The training she’s been doing with Yagi hasn’t improved her combat capabilities by much, but as the months go by something gradually starts to shift in her. Soga, of all people, is the one to point it out. He doesn’t often join her when she goes out as Deku, not wanting to be an actual vigilante himself, but every once in a blue moon she can badger him into coming with her (or even just sticking around while she runs away from - or on rare occasions even fights - a villain).

It’s during one of those rare occasions that he brings something up. “You were kinda vicious in that last fight.”

Izumi, tending to a scrape on her arm she got during the fight, furrows her brow. “What do you mean?”

“Usually you just run away, happy to wait for the Heroes. But you fought back this time.”

“She was going to kill me if I didn’t,” Izumi says with a frown, avoiding Soga’s gaze.

“Lots of villains have tried to kill you,” he points out, “the old man was the one who did the fighting before, but he ain’t around. You pickin’ up the slack, now?”

“What, are you gonna say ‘this isn’t like you’ or ‘violence isn’t the way to solve things’? You gonna tell on me to Pop?”

Soga raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t deny any of her accusations. Instead, he says “you’re soundin’ kinda bitter, Deku.”

“I’m not bitter,” Izumi lies.

“You’re something,” Soga presses.

The rage that had been building for a long time suddenly finds an outlet, and Izumi snaps.

“Maybe I’m sick of being the victim, you ever think of that? Poor quirkless Deku, always has to get saved by someone else. Always the fucking damsel in distress. Everybody always coming to my rescue, but maybe I’m tired of being rescued! MAYBE I’M TIRED OF BEING FUCKING USELESS!!”

Soga takes a step back, a shocked look on his face. Izumi realizes that at some point she stood up and started stomping toward him.

She collapses like her strings have been cut and starts sobbing.

She hears Soga’s footsteps retreating.

Some indeterminate amount of time later, Izumi makes out the sound of familiar boots landing next to her. She wants to stop crying and tell Kazuho she’s fine, she doesn’t need her help, she’ll be fine, but doesn’t have the strength when Kazuho wraps her arms around Izumi and rests her chin on her head.

Izumi doesn’t know how long they’re there like that before she finally stops crying. Kazuho lets her go and moves an arm’s length away, waiting for Izumi to speak first.

Eventually, she does. “He actually told on me, huh?” Though it’s said with a laugh, there’s no trace of humor in Izumi’s voice.

What Kazuho says is “all he told me was that you were having a breakdown and I should be here.”

Izumi interprets that as “he told me you needed me.”

“Of fucking course he did, that asshole. You can go home, I don’t need you to rescue me.” Izumi knows she sounds bitter. It’s hard not to right now.

“The hell?” Kazuho seems confused.

Izumi explains, “I’m not fucking useless! I don’t need to be fucking rescued by you! If you’re just here because you feel bad then fuck off.”

“I ditched rehearsal and came halfway across town for a stupid pity party? God, you’re such an idiot. I’m going back to rehearsal,” Kazuho says angrily, standing up and Leaping away.

I deserved that one, didn’t I? Fantastic.

★★★

Kazuho doesn’t come around for a while.

Izumi can almost physically feel the hole her absence leaves in the apartment. It’s the kind of painful quiet that comes from losing someone you love important to you. She’s sure she can feel the hole it leaves in her heart. It hurts in a way she didn’t know was possible.

Izumi spends more time than is reasonable curled up in bed, crying. As if they broke up or something. As if Kazuho is gone forever. As if they were ever more than friends.

It lasts a week and a half.

Izumi is the one to seek out Kazuho and apologize. Kazuho acknowledges the apology, but otherwise says nothing. That night, Kazuho shows up and invites herself in as usual, pudding cups in hand, and Izumi’s heart is full again.

★★★

At the end of the year, Yagi shows up to Izumi’s regularly scheduled training with someone new. Given the way Yagi is trembling and looking at this tiny, ancient man, Izumi can only assume he’s someone to take seriously. So when the man starts acting like he’s senile, Izumi raises a confused eyebrow at him. He drops the act quick, saying “you’re no fun.”

“Midoriya. This is Gran Torino. He taught me for a year when I was in UA, and he worked closely with my own mentor, Nana Shimura. He’ll be joining us today,” Yagi explains.

“I take it he knows, then?” Izumi asks.

“I know more than you, whelp. Toshinori thinks you would be a worthy successor. I want to know if he’s right,” Gran Torino’s voice is suddenly much more gravelly and serious than before. “There’s only one way for me to be sure. Dodge!”

“Gran-!” Yagi’s shout is cut off as Gran Torino disappears from Izumi’s field of view with a blur of movement.

She drops to the floor just in time for a kick to sail through where her head just was.

With a push Izumi rights herself and scans the room. This guy is fast and unpredictable. There’s no way she can beat him, she knows that for sure.

She calls for a timeout, and Gran Torino’s boot stops half an inch from her face. She can feel the air jets released from it that give him his speed and pseudo-flight.

“Giving up so quick, whelp? Toshinori said you had more bite in you than this!” Gran Torino taunts.

Izumi takes a few steps back so she can see his face before she speaks. “I mean, I’d love to fight you, but you’re too fast for me and if we fought I’d end up with a broken nose. Or worse. I still have a lot of training to do before I’m on that level.”

Yagi nods, “it’s good that you know your limits, Midoriya!”

Gran Torino scowls, “it might be good but it’s damn annoying! I was hoping I’d get to beat you into the dirt. At least you have better self-preservation instincts than that muscle brained oaf over there.”

Izumi’s not sure if it’s self-preservation as much as it is the drive to inherit One for All overriding her fighting instincts, but she lets it slide. “Was that really all you were here for, sir?”

“Of course not. That’s not even why Toshinori invited me, I just thought it’d be fun.”

“You- I- what??” Izumi sighs in weary confusion. “Alright… then why are you here?”

Yagi answers this time, “because today is the day I give you One for All. I thought Gran should be here to see it, since he was there when I was given it.”

“Okay. How do we do this, then?” asks Izumi.

“I have something I need to tell you first. Words my master passed on to me when she gave me One for All,” Yagi explains, then bulks up into his All Might form. “There’s a difference between being lucky and deserving. One is an accident, the other a reward. Never get the two confused. You’ve earned this.” All Might plucks a single hair from his head and presents it to Izumi. “Now! Eat this!”

“Wh- what?!” Izumi shouts.

All Might rubs the back of his head with the hand that’s not holding a golden, flowing strand of his hair. “One for All is passed down by DNA transfer, and this is the easiest way to do it!” he informs her.

“Digusting!” Izumi laughs. She doesn’t hesitate anymore, though, grabbing it and swallowing it down with some water from her bottle.

There’s no immediate change. No burst of energy, no crackle of lightning, no magical girl transformation. She just kind of feels hungry after her workout; she sits down on a nearby bench and digs a couple of protein bars out of her gym bag. Nobody says anything for several minutes after that, a strange and, frankly, uncomfortable silence dominating the space.

Gran Torino and Yagi step off to the side and start talking to each other in hushed tones. To help pass the time, Izumi pulls out her phone and texts Kazuho. Luckily she’s not in class at the moment, which means she has plenty of time to keep Izumi entertained.

Almost a full hour passes before she feels it.

Something unquantifiable fills her chest. Like… air filling a balloon. Or water filling a reservoir. And it begs for her to release it. Not to pass it on, but to use it, to wield it.

Izumi stands and says, “I’m ready. Let’s try this out.”

Gran Torino and Yagi turn to her. When she hesitantly asks what to do, Yagi tells her, “clench your buttcheeks and scream SMASH from deep within your heart!”

Gran Torino just smirks.

Izumi turns to the training dummy and falls into the familiar fighting stance Knuckleduster taught her.

Clench my cheeks and scream SMASH from deep within my heart… I can do that.

She cocks back her arm as if to throw a punch, feeling the power start to course through her arm, and tries to ignore the pain. At the last moment, Kazuho’s disapproving face flashes through her mind. Izumi lets go of the power.

“Is everything okay, Midoriya?” Yagi asks worriedly.

She waves him off, “yeah. I think- I think I’ll break my arm if I do what you told me. I’m… thinking.”

Izumi paces back and forth, muttering and writing down theories and ideas in one of her notebooks. She needs to minimize the harm she does to both herself and others, and in order to do that she needs to minimize the amount of power she uses. Her first instinct is to channel that 1% through one arm or leg at a time, whatever she’s using to attack, but in that case she’d have to be constantly switching where and how she’s using it. While she could certainly get used to it in time, it would be a lot of trial and error and probably getting punched in the face repeatedly. Not ideal.

Conclusion: use as little of the power as possible, spread over her whole body. She can come up with a cool name for it after she’s confirmed that it works.

Izumi settles back into the fighting stance that Knuckleduster taught her and lets the tiniest bit of power cover her. A fraction of a percent. She barely even feels it, so she dials it up a bit. 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%... 5% is cutting it close, so she sticks with 4% until her body is more used to the power.

Settled at 4% of her power, she throws a straight punch at the dummy. She would have barely moved it before, but now it goes skidding back across the floor a good few feet.

Gran Torino gives that a low whistle, “not half bad, shrimp. You mind sharing with the class?”

Izumi turns back to them and grins brightly, bouncing on the balls of her feet, “sure! Originally I was just gonna use it in the one arm for a big punch, but then I realized that probably isn’t safe considering how powerful All Might’s full power punches are and how tiny I am in comparison. So I lowered how much power I’m using to 4% and spread it across my body.”

Yagi looks impressed, Gran Torino less so. “4%? That’s all?”

“I know I can go higher, but probably not without hurting myself. When I’m training I’ll be using more, but for when I’m out as Deku it should be enough.”

It nearly is. She’s on patrol with Pop, a few weeks later, when it happens.

★★★

The villain isn’t anyone interesting, they find out later, just some asshole hopped up on Trigger. Not even an Instant or Next-Level Villain. The two vigilantes catch him right as it starts. He injects himself with Trigger, starts growing bigger and stronger. Pop calls the police and starts directing people while Deku leads the guy around by the nose for a bit.

It should have been easy.

Maybe Deku was distracted, or maybe the villain got lucky, or…

No matter what the case, the villain lands one solid hit to Deku’s chest, sending her flying through the air. She hits the ground and slides for a few feet (she’ll probably have to mend her hoodie again later).

Her lungs refuse to inflate for a long, long moment, and she thinks she’s about to pass out when suddenly she gasps. Air never tasted so sweet. She only has a few seconds to catch her breath before the villain catches up and goes to crush her into the concrete.

4% Full Cowling lets her tumble backward out of the way just in time to avoid becoming a splatter, but it’s not enough to completely get away from the villain.

Deku rolls to her feet and side steps the downward swing, intent on getting behind him and continuing to be a distraction, but he has other ideas. When she tries to step past him he reacts faster than she expected and grabs her arm, throwing her toward a building on the other side of the street.

5% Full Cowling gives her enough speed for her to get her legs between her and the wall and absorb the impact.

She uses the wall as leverage and launches back toward the villain; he blocks her strike and punches her again. She manages to cross her arms in time to absorb part of the impact, enough that she doesn’t get the wind knocked out of her. Less than a second after she recovers he’s already on her again.

6% Full Cowling gives Deku enough speed that she can more easily dodge, but she can also feel her body starting to ache from the stress of the power.

Still, the villain is fast. Deku has a hard time keeping up, even at 6%, but she can’t take it up a notch or she might actually start injuring herself (and Pop would be pissed). Running out of room to maneuver and time til they reach civilians, Deku resolves to end it now.

So she stops dodging, and starts fighting back.

Aside from a scant few incidents, Deku rarely has a use for the lessons Knuckleduster taught her. She’s generally a pacifist, after all, and Pop reinforces that mindset.

Izumi still held onto the lessons he taught her, though, in case she’d ever need them.

And now, fighting a strength enhanced Trigger junkie? She can finally use those lessons to her advantage.

Heroes on the street use big, flashy, telegraphed moves because they’re part of the public persona they put on. Calling out their attacks is a way to reassure all the innocent people in danger that they’re doing their best to keep them safe. Knuckleduster drilled into her head that for people like them, those who don’t have quirks suited for battle, all calling out their moves does is get them killed.

He taught her how to fight dirty, to gain every possible advantage, to come out on top of every fight.

The right application of force can bring just about anyone to their knees.

Deku kicks, and is rewarded by the villain doubling over and groaning in pain. Crotch shots are a cheap tactic, sure, but very effective. It doesn’t quite take him down.

He recovers quickly, taking a wild swing at Deku; she bats the sloppy punch to the side and punches him in the face, then avoids his attempted grapple and kicks him in the back to send him to the ground.

That must have been enough for him, because he finally stays down.

Deku kicks him a couple more times for good measure.

“Stay the fuck down,” she all but spits, binding his arms and legs with rope.

Once he’s secure, Deku joins Pop sitting on the edge of a nearby roof and waiting. Pop doesn’t say anything, so Deku ignores the glare drilling into the side of her skull until the police have arrived and taken the villain away.

Once they’re gone Deku heaves a deep sigh, her scowl dropping away. “Go ahead,” she says, “scream at me.”

“We agreed that there’s a line between what’s right and what’s wrong, and you just completely ignored it! You acted like the old man, beating up that villain! You don’t have a license! You can’t do that, you’ll get arrested!”

Izumi hangs her head and kicks her feet against the side of the building, still not looking at Pop. She chews on her lip for a moment, deciding how to respond. Eventually, she says “I know. But you saw how hard he hit me. If I didn’t do something he might have actually killed me. I… I’d rather be like- like Master than- than dead.”

Pop is quiet for a while. If Izumi didn’t know better she’d say she had left, but she’d be able to hear Pop Leaping away. “Fine,” Kazuho says, “I’ll let it go this time cause it was self-defense. Do your ribs hurt? Anything else?”

“My everything kind of hurts…” Izumi mutters.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I used too much-” Izumi cuts herself off. Kazuho doesn’t know about One for All yet. It’s only been a couple weeks, and she hasn’t gotten around to telling her. “Can we go back to the apartment first? You can do your thing and make sure I’m not actually dying somehow,” says Izumi with a smile.

★★★

Izumi is three plates deep into their takeout by the time she’s finished telling Kazuho everything.

Kazuho sets her chopsticks down, wipes her mouth, and says “so let me get this straight. You, Deku, a vigilante, caught the attention of a Hero by doing the stupidest thing you’ve ever done and almost dying while literally hanging from the bottom of the Sky Egg when it got attacked. Then said Hero approached you and offered you their quirk - which I didn’t think was possible - that contains an immense amount of energy collected over the years by the people who had the quirk before you. And now you’re using it for illegal vigilante work… instead of trying to get a Hero license?”

“That- yeah, that about sums it up.”

“Your life is ridiculous.”

“Yeah…”

“This explains why you’ve been eating so much more recently,” Kazuho points out.

Izumi takes a sip of her drink and nods, then tells Kazuho, “it was something I talked with Yagi - the Hero who gave me his quirk - about. One of the potential side effects. Before he got injured, he needed to eat even more than I do now.”

Kazuho hums. She picks up her chopsticks again and considers the plate before her for a moment. Then, as a casual aside before she resumes eating, she remarks “might also explain why you’ve gotten taller recently.”

Izumi spits out her drink. “WHAT?!”

★★★

Izumi is, in fact, taller, and she continues to get taller for a while. Eventually she finds herself levelling off around 2 meters tall. She starts ordering her new hoodies a couple sizes up, and her old All Might hoodies become display pieces. Her appetite never decreases, even after she’s done growing.

She does her best to hold back in fights; she only uses as much force is necessary to finish a fight, and even then only using violence as a last resort. The amount of One for All she can use steadily increases, from a tiny 4% at the start all the way up to 10%.

She’s faster on foot than she was on her bike, but she keeps it around just in case. Sure, running that fast is fun, but so is riding her motorcycle.

Then she has the dream.

She has no body. The rest of her feels distant and far away. She has only eyes with which to see.

She sees a voidscape, with faded colors rushing past above her, streaks like shooting stars made of luminescent crayon. There is no ground, only a vast, roiling ocean that sits far beneath her. And yet despite its distance, she knows she sits on its surface, only the barest piece of her that she still cannot feel dipping beneath the waves.

In front of her, she sees seven ghostly figures, spectres that remind her of shadows on a cave wall. Then she sees another, this one with form. She has dark black hair in a high ponytail, and she’s wearing a black bodysuit with a red sash around her waist, perfectly fitted yellow gloves, and a billowing white cape.

Izumi recognizes her.

This is Jetstream.

She reaches her hand out to Izumi. Her mouth opens, and she speaks, but Izumi hears nothing. Jetstream cocks her head, and smiles.

She opens her mouth again. No sound reaches Izumi, but she can read her lips.

“Soon.”

Izumi wakes up a foot in the air and falls to her bed, her heart racing. She reaches for her phone and, heedless of the late hour, calls All Might.

★★★

Nana Shimura, aka Jetstream.

According to All Might, his former master, who passed on One for All to him before her death.

Neither of them knows what this means, that Izumi saw her, not for sure, at least. Izumi hangs up with an uncertain feeling in her chest, and stares at the ceiling.

She wants to call Kazuho and talk to her about this, but that’s not an option for more than one reason. She might know the general details about One for All, but to loop her in on this part feels… big.

So Izumi lays in her bed, and she stews, and she doesn’t sleep the rest of the night.

★★★

Izumi’s increase in height and appetite means she gains weight - and muscle - even faster than before. She’d never be considered chubby, let alone fat, but between HRT and her new appetite she never gets to nearly the same level of chiseled as Heroes like All Might or Endeavor, either. Her doctor tells her this is much healthier.

(Her doctor also tells her that her bones have gotten denser. This is, apparently, a result of the way she uses One for All. Constant low-level use results in microfractures throughout her entire skeleton that can heal in a matter of days. Unlike a normal break, these microfractures make the bone stronger and more dense. After some research, this is also how Shaolin Monks can break stones in two without breaking their bones. Kazuho is, oddly enough, very happy to learn this information.)

Her hoodies get tighter and tighter too, until she’s forced to retire the current set of Green Scheme hoodies in favor of a Large, and then an XL, and then an XXL. The hoodies, accordingly, become harder and harder to find. The last shipment from her mother includes a special hoodie that Izumi plans on saving for a rainy day.

(These changes also have the effect of making her height difference with Kazuho much more pronounced. She goes from just under 10cm taller than her to a whopping 40cm difference. She has to resist the urge to pick Kazuho up. A lot.)

That’s not the only thing that changes. The changes from HRT become more and more noticeable, to the point where it’s impossible - and pointless - to remain closeted. Naruhata seems to accept the change at face value.

Makoto, during a visit back to Japan, performs another survey like the one she did when they first met. Turns out, most citizens of Naruhata assume by now that Deku was actually always a woman and was just too shy to correct people. So at least that was easy.

(There’s a few people who call her some not-so-flattering names, but after years of fighting and getting beat up on their behalf, Naruhata seems to be pretty accepting.)

What’s not so easy is the voice training she does. It’s one of the few things HRT can’t change, but Kazuho, experienced with such things after years of singing, helps coach her through a lot of it. By the time her senior year of college starts, nearly two years after the Sky Egg, she actually has to focus to make her voice deep again.

Her senior year is packed full of classes, to the point where she doesn’t have much time for herself and even has to take a small break from vigilante’ing for a couple months while she buries herself in school work. Kazuho is really her only reprieve.

Still, as time wears on, she finds herself thinking more and more about the future and what it holds. What she’ll do. As the inheritor of One for All, maybe she should be doing more. But what she finds herself really wanting is the simple life.

(She really should have known better.)

Chapter Text

Izumi

Izumi looks forlornly down at the hoodie in her hands. Try as she might to fix it up, it’s beyond the point that she can continue to wear it as Deku. She sets it to the side and sighs, which catches Kazuho’s attention.

“Another one bites the dust?”

“Yeah,” Izumi confirms. Gently, she folds the green All Might hoodie and puts it away, in the drawer where the rest of the retired green hoodies go. From the same drawer she pulls a fresh hoodie, still in the plastic, a much darker green than the rest. “I’ve got one left…”

“How’re you going to go out as Deku without those lame hoodies?” Kazuho asks, barely looking up from her studying.

Izumi pushes away the ache in her chest and quietly says “I don’t think I will…”

Silence reigns for a long moment. “What?” Kazuho asks tremulously.

“This is the last green Limited Edition hoodie in my size. Unless they start making them again, this is it. And…” Izumi chokes down some tears, then continues speaking while methodically opening the plastic to take out the hoodie, “it’s not like I can’t go out as Deku unless I’m wearing one of these. It’s just… my dreams have already come true. I’ve been playing Hero for over three years now, and every day has been amazing even when it sucked, and I know Naruhata loves me, and it’s what I dreamed of when I was a kid! But now… shouldn’t it be time to get a job and be responsible? No more playing Hero…?”

Izumi pulls the hoodie on and smiles at Kazuho, whose face is twisted up by some emotion Izumi can’t place. She can’t dwell on it, because if she thinks about it then-

“Pop?”

Kazuho looks startled by Izumi’s use of that name. She’s been ‘Kazuho’ for so long that calling her ‘Pop’ feels weird in Izumi’s mouth. But it has the desired effect. Something akin to hope, or maybe excitement, blooms on Kazuho’s face. “Yeah?”

“Wanna come patrol with me? We can study together afterward,” Izumi says.

Pop nods. Izumi smiles back at her.

Maybe this is enough.

★★★

Kazuho

“What comes next is up to future generations - that’s just how it is. But if I can leave behind even a tiny footprint in the history of sociology… well, it’ll be my absolute honor to do so.”

“Sure, sure. Meaning, you’ve already accomplished what you think you ought to. That unshakable confidence is coming through loud and clear. After the break, we’ll be sharing comments on the Makoto sensation from every corner of American society. So don’t change that channel; we’ll be right back with more on… Right Now TV!”

“Woah. Makoto sure is something. Already a global sensation,” Kazuho says in wonder. That woman is only a year older than Izumi and she’s taking the world by storm.

“Hard to believe she was hanging around our town for the past few years,” says Miu.
“For real,” agrees Yu.

Kazuho turns off the TV, then clears her throat and taps the papers in her hands against the table to straighten them out. “Anyway, let’s start the meeting,” she says, already dreading it. It’s not bad news per se, but it’s not good news either. “Speaking of our dinky neighborhood, our last event didn’t get much of an audience. Marukane’s been slashing our budget, and… and they’re suggesting we cut back on the monthly schedule. Which is why today we’ll put our heads together to think of ways to boost attendance.”

Yu pipes up first, “have you asked Samazu and those guys?”
“Our cheer squad?” Miu questions, “hard to get them to show nowadays, since they’re working or in school or whatever.”

Miu is right. Teruo works at the Hoppers’ cafe part-time now, Samazu is busy with college, and Namimaru got a full time job after he graduated high school. None of them are around enough to give them the help that they need.

The (formerly Little) Sisters of Saint Lila’s all strike poses, their de facto leader shouting “training! Some intense training will get us past this dip!”

“Didn’t the dance club you three started over at Saint Lila’s start going to competitions?” Yu asks.
“I guess the president’s lessons paid off,” Miu says.
“Speaking of her, isn’t she still with that band leader? They’ve been steady for a while.”
“That kinda commitment is lovely.”

“Let’s get this convo back on track,” Kazuho says grumpily. The last thing she needs is to start talking about romance. If she starts thinking about romance, she starts thinking about Izumi, and if she starts thinking about Izumi, she starts thinking about the future, and if she starts thinking about the future-

Miu interrupts Kazuho’s train of thought, saying “ah, sorry. I got a date, so I gotta slip out early.”

Kazuho does her best not to look pissed off, “please take this seriously, Miu.”

“Speaking of,” Miu says, and Kazuho doesn’t like where this is going, “how’re things between you and Izumi?”

Kazuho can’t help but blush. “I have no earthly idea what you mean!”

“If you don’t jump on that, she’ll move on,” Miu sing-songs.

Kazuho feigns ignorance, “move on? Meaning?”

“You know what I mean. You know who I mean,” Miu says smugly.
“C’mon, Miu!” Yu reprimands her. “But, Pop… we’re all moving on to our own things. And Izumi’s getting a real job now, right? A year from now, our lives are gonna be totally different. Maybe you should start thinking about how close you two will be, when that time comes?”

“Well, I…” Kazuho trails off uncertainly. She would love that, really, she would. It’s what she’s wanted for a while now, ever since she had to save Izumi from that stupid mech in Osaka years ago. But it’s... impossible. Right?

She forces things back on track, shouting “this isn’t on today’s agenda!”

“Right, sorry…” Yu says sheepishly. Unlike her sister, at least Yu knows when to stop.

tmptmptmp

Faint rushed footsteps from the hall, before the door suddenly slams open. The new manager that replaced Makoto stumbles into the room. Kazuho still doesn’t even know his name, and can’t honestly be bothered to ask at this point. “Sorry I’m late, girls! Didja start the meeting?!” His dark green hair almost covers his eyes, but does nothing to hide the ashamed expression on his face. Kazuho’s stomach sinks. That means bad news.

“We were just brainstorming ways to drum up attendance and turn this situation around,” Kazuho explains.

“Ah, right… Actually, um, they- they just decided in the meeting upstairs… next month’s Narufest will be the last,” the manager says solemnly.

Kazuho’s brain comes to a screeching halt. Then the screeching becomes external, “WHAT?!”

The manager bows apologetically, “I’m sorry I couldn’t sway them!”

She takes a deep, deep breath. “That’s okay,” she says, despite the fact that it’s anything but okay.

“Well this dude only recently took over as our manager, so it was always a losing battle,” Miu says bitterly.
“C’mon, Miu…” Yu tries.

“In the end, it was the amazing Makoto who put this all together, while all us amateurs went along for the ride,” says Miu as she stands and gathers her things. “It was fun, so I’m not complaining, but maybe it’s a good time for this to end. See ya at next week’s meeting.”

When she leaves, the door slams behind her.

“Sin-since this’ll be the final show, why not go out with a bang? Go ahead and brainstorm, girls,” the manager says, “and how about some pizza? My treat!”

“Sorry, but how about we come up with ideas for the final show as homework for next week? I’ve got cram school right after this,” Yu says.

“And we’ve got our dance club!” the Sisters shout in unison, all raising their hands.

The manager looks put out, slumping and sighing. “Oh, sure. That’s too bad…”

Kazuho sighs and grabs her bag. So much for that. “I’ll… head home too.”

She follows Yu and the Sisters out the door. Behind her, she hears the manager (she should really learn his name) shout, “Pop! Keep your spirits up until the end! You can do it!”

It’s not like I really thought things’d never change. But I guess I imagined those endings and goodbyes coming a little farther down the road. So I’m finding myself totally unprepared for any of it…

She thinks about what Miu said. “She’ll move on.”

It’s not like she’s suddenly going to make some big effort to start cooking for Izumi all the time, but the meeting ended early and she has nothing better to do. She should be able to handle curry, right?

She stops by a supermarket on her way home to Izumi’s apartment and picks up some ingredients. Nothing fancy, and not very spicy, but isn’t it the thought that counts? Izumi’s always cooking for her, so it’s only natural Kazuho returns the favor once in a while. And if she gets the urge to cook for Izumi again… well, why not?

Finally she sets down outside the shack that is Izumi’s rooftop apartment, bag of groceries in hand. The lights are on and the door is unlocked, so Kazuho barges in like always. “It’s me!! I brought stuff to make-” Kazuho cuts herself off at the sight in front of her.

“Oh! Hey, Pop!” Makoto herself stands at the stove, stirring something in a pot.

“Makoto?!” This cannot be happening. Isn’t she in the USA right now?? Why is she cooking for Izumi?!

“I’m home for a spell, so I stopped by,” Makoto explains.

“She’s making curry for us!” Izumi says excitedly.

“I’ve been obsessed with spices lately.”

Right. Makoto is making curry for Izumi. Of course she is.

Kazuho shuffles the bag of groceries behind her, suddenly embarrassed. What the hell was the point? Too late to leave the apartment now, Kazuho sits at the kotatsu while Makoto serves the food. She’s even put it on the plate like it’s a fancy restaurant.

‘Obsessed with spices,’ sure. Admittedly though, it is “kinda spicy, but real yummy.” Kazuho has always been able to handle spicy stuff pretty well, so it’s more of a pleasant heat compared to what Makoto herself seems to be going through.

“The heat really hits ya,” she says, still smiling despite the fact that she’s sweating bullets. “Whaddya think, Izumi?”

“It’s awesome!” Izumi says enthusiastically, smiling and shoveling more curry into her mouth. Even Kazuho is starting to sweat a little bit from the heat, but Izumi seems entirely unaffected. “Could use a little more spice, though.”

“The hell do you mean ‘more’?!” Kazuho yells.

Makoto laughs. Izumi just keeps smiling and eating.

By the time Kazuho and Makoto are done eating, Izumi has passed out, leaned up against the side of her bed, leaving Kazuho to chat with Makoto alone. Kazuho decides now is the perfect opportunity to get a little intel.

“You said you just dropped by, but any special reason for being back in Japan?”

Makoto responds, voice soft, “I’m… prepping for my actual homecoming.” Her smile is smaller, more genuine.

Kazuho’s jaw drops. “Actual…?”

“I did what I could over in the states. So I’ll be figuring out what comes next here at home,” she explains.

Kazuho’s brow furrows, half confusion and half anger. “I just saw an interview, I thought you were making big waves in the US?”

“That was just for show, mostly. Making a splash to sell books, y’know. Everything’s pretty stable with the boss and his work, so I’ll have someone competent take over my managerial duties, and then I can get to work on what I wanna do next,” Makoto says, tilting her head and looking off into space like she’s looking into the future. “Oh! How’s Narufest been going lately? I wanted to check up on you guys, but since Marukane’s taken over the operation I felt like I shouldn’t butt in. Sorry.”

And there’s the billion yen question. Kazuho doesn’t even think about it; the lie slips out naturally, “it’s going great. We’re getting by, one way or another…”

“That’s good to hear!”

“Yeah. Anyway, I’m busy working on that, actually, so I better head out…”

“Huh? Kazu...? But-” Izumi chooses then to wake up. Before she can say anything more, Kazuho grabs her bags and rushes out the door.

From behind her, Kazuho can hear Makoto say “tell everyone I said ‘hi’!”

And then the door slams shut, leaving Kazuho out in the warm summer air. She gets to the edge of the roof, about to Leap off and make her way back to her apartment, before she turns around.

“Idiot!” she whisper-shouts at herself, “‘Narufest isn’t going so hot, think you could help us out?’ A single word about it to Makoto, and- and bam! She could save the show, just like she always does! But nooo, I just had to save face!”

She stomps back to the apartment, ready to own up to her lie and beg Makoto for help, when she sees it. Through the window, Makoto leaning against Izumi, about to kiss her. Kazuho stops dead in her tracks, then hides out of view.

Fuck.

★★★

Izumi

“I’m so sorry!” Izumi panics, pushing away from Makoto. Izumi had gotten up to follow after Kazuho, but was still half asleep and started to fall over. Makoto caught her, saving her from wiping out on the kotatsu and breaking all her nice ceramic dishware. “I’m still a little wobbly, I guess!”

“Don’t sweat it,” Makoto says, sitting back down, “I’ll welcome you with open arms anytime, Izumi.” She winks.

Izumi flushes and she trips backward, landing on her bed. “I- I- I- what!?”

“I mean what I said!” Makoto still has a smile on her face, but Izumi had been burned enough in middle school not to trust that. Then again…

This is Makoto. Trustworthy, beautiful Makoto.
Makoto, who Izumi’s own mother loves.
Makoto, who helped Izumi’s best friend get her dream off the ground.
Makoto, who still feels bad about outing her to her mother three years later.
Makoto, who, Izumi realizes belatedly, has been flirting with her for almost as long as they’ve known each other.

It’s- it’s Makoto.

Izumi, dumbstruck, slides down to sit on the floor at the kotatsu, across from Makoto.

“Anyway… I mentioned I’m figuring out what comes next for me,” Makoto starts, “my future, how I wanna live my life. I’d like you to think it through with me, if you’re willing.”

“You’re- you’re serious. You don’t mean, like, a job or something, right?” Izumi wonders, seeking some kind of confirmation that this really really isn’t a joke.

Makoto’s smile goes from the blinding, toothy smile she almost always has to something much smaller, more genuine. It’s not just the default Makoto Smile anymore.

“No,” she says, “I mean a relationship. You’re… you know what my life is like. I have no clue where I’ll end up in five or ten years, whether it’s fabulous success or terrible failure. I can make plans, sure… but it can all change so quickly. So, I tried to imagine what my future might look like. And… no matter what position I imagine myself in… you’re always there with me, Izumi. Smiling. I need someone reliable like you in my life. I- I want you in my life, Izumi.”

Izumi’s brain is a Blue Screen of Death for a long, long moment. She tries to summon the words to respond, over and over, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. She knows she’s been quiet for too long when Makoto’s expression starts going back to the Makoto Smile that she always has on.

“I’ll be back home for good this fall,” she explains, “how about you give me your answer then?”

That breaks Izumi out of it. Makoto wants to be her girlfriend, her partner, it’s a no-brainer, she doesn’t need to “wait, but-”

Makoto cuts her off with a firm “no.” Then, softer, “don’t answer me now. I want you to think about it.”

“But I don’t have to, I-!”

Makoto cuts her off again. “How’re things with Pop lately?”

That shuts Izumi up. A small part of her wants to dismiss Pop out of hand, because it’s Makoto and she wants to be in a relationship with Izumi, but another much larger part objects. Kazuho is one of the most important people in Izumi’s life.

“I… I don’t know. Same as ever, I guess. It’s not… like that with us,” Izumi explains, almost petulantly. Then, almost too quiet for Makoto to hear, “as much as I might want it to be…”

“You’ve known each other for a long time, and you spend most of your time with one another. That can make it hard to open up. But it does matter. Don’t make this decision until you’ve figured out how both you and Pop feel about it,” Makoto says.

Izumi’s eyes catch on Makoto’s face. There’s something new. Something softer, something sweeter. “You’re being really… cautious about this, aren’t you?” Izumi asks, smiling.

“I’m… fond of her, too,” Makoto says. Izumi, blind as she may be to most social cues, picks up on the emphasis there. “I don’t want to jump into anything unless everyone’s on board.”

“Okay. I’ll… I’ll ask her.”

★★★

Kazuho

Every time Izumi tries to bring it up, Kazuho runs away like a coward. Time and again, Izumi opens her mouth and Kazuho’s defenses go up. But running won’t solve anything. She writes her thoughts down in a journal, and even goes to the trouble of writing a letter. Maybe she’ll read it out loud to Izumi, or something.

Kazuho rips the page from the notebook and throws it on the pile with the other dozen or so failed attempts. ‘Even so’ what, exactly? She knows she doesn’t have Makoto beat in a single way.

The past three years, Kazuho has dedicated most of her free time to Narufest. It earned her props from tons of people, and she had fun with it of course, but Makoto was the one to set the stage. Kazuho can’t claim any real ownership of it.

But… Makoto doesn’t get credit for everything.

Pop★Step is all Kazuho’s. Abandoning the notebook, she opens her laptop and searches YouTube for clips of the idol’s early days.

It’s hard to watch. In those videos, she’s just some dumb little kid running around cosplaying, singing with a toy mic for crowds who overwhelmingly didn’t care. And it’s not like she was even any good, either. She remembers the performance that this video is capturing. It was one of her very first, and it was the first time someone had even asked who she was. In the video, the young Pop★Step says “I’ll do my best, so thanks for your support.”

A person that Kazuho recognizes as Samazu shouts back, “You got it! I’ll be cheering you on!”

That’s right. She has to cheer herself on, too. Despite everything she started, she hasn’t accomplished a damn thing. Now she’s cheering for herself, so…

I’d better not lose!

★★★

The Narufest event for July is canceled, to give everyone time to prepare for the big finale in August. Kazuho, though, spends more of her time working on her own solo project. It’s nothing big, and it’s certainly not flashy like Narufest, but it’s something.

She lugs her equipment all the way from her apartment to the Naruhata station and sets up. When she gets accosted by some bullies that try to get her to pay for a ‘permit’ to sing here, she half expects Deku to swoop in and save the day.

Instead she gets that one guy that took over for Makoto with Narufest.

“So this is the solo project you mentioned,” he says once they’re sat down in a coffee shop and away from those bullies.

“Yes. Given how Narufest is ending and all… I figured I need to start thinking about what comes next for me.”

“Ah,” the manager says, looking away despondently, “meaning it’s Marukane’s fault. My fault… sorry…”

“It’s okay…” Kazuho says, even though it’s kind of really not okay at all. “In the past, I’ve composed songs and done voice training with the twins, but that never led to anything. I’ve also written some lyrics on my own, but I’ve never shown anyone, so I was thinking, why not give it another shot by myself?”

“Mm… well, you’re lucky I just happened to be passing by today… busking alone in the street is a risky business. There are ways the company could help out, so just come to me, okay?” the manager says with a polite smile. Kazuho doesn’t even get a chance to respond before his smile turns into a despondent frown and he says, “no, I guess you wouldn’t. No reason you’d have any faith in me…”

Jeez, what a sad sack. “Um… Mr Manager,” Kazuho starts.

“It’s Nomura,” he says.

“Sure, Mr Nomura-”

“Can I see some of your songs?” Nomura asks out of the blue, interrupting her train of thought. Kazuho reluctantly acquiesces and turns her laptop around to show him some lyrics. After he starts reading the lyrics out loud, Kazuho hands him some earbuds to listen to some of what she’s actually recorded.

What’s the point? When she stops to think about it, it’s like, of course she doesn’t have the skills to pull any of this off. She’s just… running in circles. Her self-pitying thoughts get interrupted by a teardrop hitting the table. Kazuho looks up to find Nomura trying not to sob. “What the-?! Nomura?! You okay?!”

“Sorry, I… I just, um… sorry. This is amazing…” he finally gets out.

“Real- really?” Kazuho asks in astonishment. Nobody thinks her music is that good…

“This one, hmm… it’s a song about being tenacious, right? In the first half, the girl is singing about the pain of heartbreak. But then, when the key change hits, there’s some great energy going on. ‘Can’t let it end this way, having nothing, being nothing at all. Need to shine bright for a sec, dig my claws across their heart.’ Being obstinate like that… finding that courage… it’s something anyone can relate to, even outside of love. Making this less of a love song, and more like a rock song. About being defiant and asserting yourself,” Nomura finishes.

“Oh…” Kazuho says a bit tremulously, “I guess… that could be true.”

This is the first time anyone has ever paid that much attention to her music. Looked at it so deep that they took away messages and meanings Kazuho hadn’t even thought of.

(Not that anybody has ever had a chance to, since this is also the first time she’s really shown her music to anyone in a private setting instead of performing it out on the street.)

“I’ve also… got things I wanna do. Ways I wanna be,” Nomura admits, “but nothing doing. I’m at a standstill. At the very least, I wanted to work the entertainment angle at Marukane, but now… it looks like the whole department is shutting down. Listening to your stuff made me spill my guts…”

He pauses for a long moment.

“Pop, you’ve got talent,” he says, then grabs Kazuho’s hands excitedly, “the world should hear this song! And I wanna help make it happen!”

Kazuho pulls away, flattered and uncomfortable. “Sure… but… it was kinda like that last time, with Makoto taking charge. I basically rode her coattails, and you can see how far that got me…”

She’s not bitter, not at all.

“Oh… Makoto? You mean Makoto Tsukauchi? She’s really something else. We’ve never met, but I’ve been compared to her for sure. By Miu. A lot. It’s rough,” Nomura admits. “Anyway… I don’t think that means you gotta do it all by your lonesome going forward. There really isn’t much a person can do on their own. I think that being self-reliant actually means teaming up with others to unlock your full potential!”

Kazuho is stunned. She’s never thought of it like that, but…

“And on that note, what do you say to me being your second producer, Pop? Well?”

The two talk it over for a little while longer before they leave the cafe, Nomura helping carry some of Kazuho’s equipment.

“So the plan is you put some polish on that song, perform it at the final Narufest, and then branch off towards solo work, with online clips and smaller live shows. There’s no guarantee we’ll get you back on the big stage again, but we can take this thing as far as it goes,” Nomura explains.

“Okay,” Kazuho confirms, then stops in her tracks. In front of them are the same three bullies from earlier when Nomura saved her.

“If it ain’t you two. Hanging around here again, are ya? S’your fault the cops hassled me earlier. How you gonna make up for that?” Their leader, a man in a sleeveless turtleneck sweater wearing gloves, grabs Nomura’s tie and pulls him close.

“This- this could get ugly, so run away when you see an opening!” Nomura whispers to Kazuho, as if she’s not used to situations exactly like this.

Once she sees her opening, Kazuho Leaps up and away, to the roof of a nearby building, and pulls out her phone. “I-I’m calling the cops!” she shouts down at them.

“Wait,” Nomura says, “I think we can let them off with a warning.” As the leader of the bullies takes a swing at him, Nomura grabs the guy’s arm and twists it behind him. “Listen, boys! How about you quit picking fights?” Nomura pulls something from his pocket and presents it to them. “I’m a Hero, so you gotta promise me!”

“A Hero…?” Kazuho whispers in amazement.

★★★

“Get my license? Where’s this coming from, Kazuho?”

“The Narufest manager, Nomura, gave me the idea, since he has one,” Kazuho explains to Izumi, who’s sat at her kotatsu reading through the wanted ads in the paper like some kind of old person.

“So he’s a licensed Hero, but he sits in an office all day? Isn’t that kinda… weird?”

“He didn’t get his license to make money,” Kazuho explains, “it’s just so he can leap into action whenever there’s trouble.”

“You- you can do that? I thought if you had your license you kinda had to be an active Hero…” Izumi mutters, bewildered.

How did she not know this? She’s the biggest Hero nerd Kazuho knows, shouldn’t this be common knowledge for her?

“Yeah! You could go for you license while doing your day job!” Kazuho says, suddenly excited.

Izumi looks at the paper in her hands contemplatively. “Hmm…”

bvvvt bvvvt

Kazuho’s phone buzzes. An alarm. Shit, she’s got a meeting!

Izumi looks up at her. “Oh, hey, speaking of the future-”

Kazuho interrupts her, “sorry, I gotta run, but I promise I’ll hear you out for real later! So just wait a little longer, okay?” she demands.

Izumi smiles and nods. “Okay.”

It’s a shame she actually does have a meeting, because… well, she’s ready. Now that she’s started to get her own future figured out, she’s ready to hear out whatever it is Izumi has to say.

★★★

After the meeting about Narufest, Kazuho goes to the same place she tried busking at last time. Nomura was walking with her for a while, but eventually split off, saying he had something he needed to do before they got started.

“Sorry about the delay!” he says once he finally catches up.

“No prob, Nomura,” Kazuho says, then takes an actual look at him. He’s dressed up real fancy, with a bowler hat and a vest to accentuate his already established look with the shirt and tie.

“I just had to get changed. Well? Fresh look, right?”

Kazuho pauses for a second. He doesn’t look bad, but he does look “a little… goofy, actually.”

“Huh?! Goofy?! No way!! This is actually the real me!!”

“Nothing wrong with goofy,” Kazuho points out.

Nomura moves on easily, telling her that “I got you a busking permit, so you can sing without fear this time. And give this a listen. It’s that one song of yours, but I added guitar and upped the tempo.” He hands her an old mp3 player with a pair of earbuds.

It’s… actually pretty good. Kazuho listens to it a few times while Nomura sets up, getting into the groove and memorizing the pacing of it.

Halfway through her performance, she Leaps a little too far away from the speaker her mic is connected to and it pulls her back down to the ground. She lands flat on her back, and Nomura rushes over to her, “you okay?!”

Kazuho giggles and flails a little bit. “THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!”

She’s still giggling when Nomura takes her to a bar afterward, giddy about the performance. Nomura gets a little drunk, and as they’re leaving grabs onto her and makes a grand promise to always be her producer. Hers and hers alone.

“Cuz, well… I’m your biggest fan. So, whatever I can do for you, y’know?”

Kazuho can’t help the blush that takes over her face. “Nomura… thank you, really,” she says, and takes a step back. He lets go of her, thankfully. “But I’ll be okay. I’m still searching for what it is I can do, exactly. Besides, there’s only one person who I wanted to have hear these songs.”

“Huh? You mean… the guy you talk about in the lyrics?”

Kazuho laughs; that’s funny on multiple levels. “Nope! The one who needed to hear it all was me! And now I’m finally ready to tell myself, ‘you’re amazing,’ ‘you’re capable.’ Thanks for everything today!” Kazuho shouts back at him as she turns to Leap away. “The courage you gave me… I’m gonna put it to good use, you’ll see!”

Now that she’s done with her plans for the day, it’s about time she talks with Izumi. Finally has that conversation Izumi has been trying to have with her for a couple of weeks. It’s not a long journey to Izumi’s place, but first she has to stop at her own place and grab The Hoodie. It’s about time she gives it back to Izumi, after all.

Once she arrives she lets herself in, as always.

“Kazuho? What’s up? Didn’t expect you here so late.”

“Yeah, it- it is late, I guess…” Kazuho says, looking down and blushing. I’m amazing. I’m capable. I can handle anything! she says to herself. Then, to Izumi, “can we talk?”

“Sure, but hang on juuuust a sec!” says Izumi, adjusting something on the dress she’s wearing. It’s a very nice, very professional dress, too. When did she get that?

Kazuho must have spoken out loud, because Izumi responds “oh, I just got it today, actually! Makoto gave it to me!”

Her heart drops into her stomach, and everything becomes sort of muted. Of course. What else did she expect? She doesn’t even realize she’s moving until the door has slammed behind her and she’s halfway across the city.

It’s always Makoto. Perfect, beautiful Makoto, always taking over and fixing everything. Putting on Narufest, giving Izumi fancy clothes, making her curry, and probably some other stuff, too!

She doesn’t cry on her way back to her apartment, because this isn’t worth crying over. Once she gets back, though, Kazuho discards the bag and pulls The Hoodie on, curling up under her covers.

She can’t stop the tears, now.

Nobody else to talk to, she dials the one person who has been in her corner this whole time.

“Nomura, here. What’s up?”

“I-I’m so sorry… for rushing off like an idiot, all full of myself.”

“Pop? What’s wrong, Pop?”

“I think… I think I need you to be here for me…”

Chapter Text

Izumi

Kazuho isn’t picking up. None of her stuff has been taken from the apartment, she hasn’t left any messages, and Izumi doesn’t even have her home address. None of the Narufest crew could get in contact with her, which is how Izumi realized Kazuho wasn’t avoiding Izumi specifically. She realizes too late that she doesn’t even know how to contact her family, and Kazuho isn’t picking up.

In fact, she didn’t realize until now just how little she actually knows about Kazuho.

Who did she hang out with? Where should Izumi go to find her?
Her likes? Dislikes? Dreams for the future?
What is she going to college for?
People she looks up to? Family? Friends?

But also… what is Izumi, to Kazuho? And what is Kazuho to Izumi?

The only thing she can settle on is ‘a lot of things’.

She’s out on the street actively searching, going over each and every incident from the last three years that they were both involved in, starting from the very beginning. The graffiti of Pop is still there, after all this time. Nobody ever washed it off, or painted over it. The pink is dull from dirt and dust and grime, but still noticeable. And the words above it haven’t faded much either.

TAKE ACTION

God, Master, where did you go? I could really use your help right about now, Izumi thinks. She uses Full Cowling to hop up the side of the building, strolling across the roof and examining Naruhata from above. Naruhata Station is close by. She’s not too far from home.

bvvvvvvt bvvvvvvt bvvvvvvt

Izumi picks up on the third ring. It’s Miu. “Izumi? We finally got through to Pop’s mom. She hasn’t come home since last weekend. They already filed a missing persons report!”

“I thought you only just found out?!” Izumi shouts into the phone, a little more angry than she needs to be.

“She never told her family about Narufest, so they didn’t even know to contact us about her! Anyway, the police showed up to talk to us. You better get your butt over here too!”

“Alright. I’m on my way,” Izumi says, preparing to hop down from the roof of the building she’s on.

BOOM

Explosions throw her from one roof to the next.

The hell was that? Bombs? Wait…

Suddenly, over loudspeakers across the neighborhood, a familiar voice. It’s Kazuho, singing a warped remix of the Marukane Department Store theme with much angrier, much more explosive lyrics.

Izumi hops from building to building, watching her dance and seemingly control a bunch of bees. They’re the ones causing the explosions. This warped version of Pop★Step stops by the Marukane Department Store itself, exchanging words with some of the Narufest crew. Izumi barely pays attention to the words said, focused on tracking the bees that swarm around Kazuho.

Kazuho points, and one of the bees flies toward the Narufest girls, exploding and bringing down a piece of the structure. Deku yanks on One for All and accelerates. One arm around Miu’s midsection, her other hand pushing her head down to guard it from debris, from danger to safety in a split second. Deku slides to a stop halfway across the roof, letting go of Miu. Once she’s sure she’s safe, Deku turns to her best friend.

“KAZUHO!!” she screams. She leaves Miu and the rest standing there in shock and kicks off the roof. “I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING, BUT I CAN’T IGNORE YOU!! WE STILL NEED TO HAVE THAT TALK!!”

“Too little, too late,” Kazuho says with a disgusted expression on her face.

A bee explodes nearby, an attempt to deter her. Izumi kicks and sends a blast of air to her side, changing course to continue pursuing Kazuho.

Kazuho tuts, “tt. Getting all desperate and clingy now? That’s just kinda embarrassing.”

A dozen bomber bees explode around Izumi, having little real effect but still knocking her around and causing her to bleed momentum.

“Ugh. I hate you,” Kazuho says, sticking out her tongue. It’s black. Just like the others, before. It’s happening again.

Izumi has lost too much momentum, now. She starts to fall, twisting in the air and looking where she’s landing. There’s a trash pile in the alley below her. Just like Master always told her about.

She lands, and everything goes dark.

★★★

Makoto

New York, USA

Makoto sits on her bed in her brand new apartment, folding and refolding the same shirt while she yells at her brother over the phone. “This is a human rights violation! You’ve gotta stop them from plastering her name all over the place!”

“No can do. Kazuho Haneyama, aka Pop★Step, is a suspect wanted for a vicious, large-scale, quirk-based attack,” he says. Typical Naomasa. He’s a good cop, Makoto has to give him that.

“So she’s still just a suspect, you’re saying?! Let’s start with presumption of innocence, and-”

“QUIT ARGUING JUST FOR THE SAKE OF IT!” he shouts, cutting her off. Then, quieter, “a hypothetical second or third attack might do a lot worse than some minor injuries and property damage to some buildings. This is no time for your armchair arguments. And if you try something stupid, you might wind up charged as an accomplice. I know you feel responsible for the girl, I get it. But it’s not your place to act,” he says.

Tears well up in Makoto’s eyes and drip onto her glasses, obscuring her vision even more. It’s not just that she feels responsible. Responsibility is easy. Familiar. But Pop is… important to her.

What Naomasa says next makes her perk up, “your moment will come later. Help her after she’s arrested. Then, during the trial. Support her rehabilitation into society. Get the media on her side. I want you to be able to do what you do best when the time comes, so for now… you need to be on standby.”

Makoto would smirk if she wasn’t still reeling from the news that Pop is currently a villain. Still, she can’t resist teasing her big brother a little bit, “are you… trying to comfort me?”

“Just calm down. I’m telling you to take responsibility the right way.”

Makoto is quiet for a moment. She takes a deep breath in. “Okay, Nao,” she breathes out.

“Good.”

“But… I need to know something. What’s going on with Izumi?”

“Izumi Midoriya, aka Deku?”

“Yes. If there’s anyone Pop needs right now, it’s not me. It’s her.”

★★★

Izumi

She doesn’t know how long it is before she comes to consciousness. She can hear the sound of a video game being played, and feel bandages wrapped around different parts of her arm. She groans and starts to sit up. It’s far from the worst that she’s ever felt. Two familiar faces, one with a flame atop it (Moyuru) and the other lizard-like (Rapt), greet her.

“Moyu, looks like Deku’s waking up,” Rapt says.

Moyuru acknowledges his friend, turning to Izumi and saying “hey, girl. Been a while.”

Izumi lunges and grabs him by the shirt. “WHERE’S POP!?” she demands.

A couple years ago, just shy of 170 cm and scrawny as could be, this wouldn’t have been intimidating in the slightest.

Now, at two meters tall and over 130 kilograms, it’s certainly much scarier when she grabs you by the shirt and bodily lifts you off the ground.

“Chill, Deku!” comes another voice. It’s Soga. Izumi sets Moyuru down and turns her gaze to Soga. She’s about to say something when he throws a sealed envelope at her. “Read this.”

Izumi harumphs, but tears it open anyway. Inside she finds a letter, addressed to her. The writing style tells her it’s from her Master.

Izumi puts the letter down, and takes a deep breath. She starts with the first question that comes to her mind, “so where’s Master now?”

“Who knows?” Soga responds, “he just told me to keep an eye on you guys.”

“Now that you mention it, we haven’t seen old Grandpa Fist in forever,” Moyuru says.

“Probably dead in a ditch somewhere,” Rapt offers up.

“Forget him,” Soga dismisses them, “the issue is the girl. She’s possessed by something real nasty. The bees.”

“Right. Kaz- Pop was controlling them, directing them, making them blow up,” Izumi shares.

“Exactly,” Soga nods, “the Queen Bee, it’s a parasite that controls people. If you let the Heroes handle it, they’ll keep her from busting the city up, sure. But the second they arrest her… well, worst case is the bees mess her up real bad inside and fly away. There’s a way to extract the Queen Bee before that happens, but doing that means breaking a whole heap of laws.”

“So Heroes and police won’t go for that method, and it’s a crime if anyone else does,” Izumi says bitterly.

“This situation already sucks, so I’m only gonna ask you once,” Soga says, then pauses for dramatic effect. “Will you do it? Or not?”

Izumi doesn’t hesitate. She knows what she has to do. “Of course. There was never a doubt in my mind.”

It’s time to take action.

★★★

They move from Rapt’s apartment to a warehouse, stocked with supplies and a gym meant for training. The letter wasn’t the only thing Master left behind, apparently, this safehouse being among the things he told Soga about in case they ever needed it. There’s a map on the wall, covered in marker and sticky notes and photos. Based on buildings that are crossed out, plus what look like patrol routes written down, this map was Master’s from three years ago, the summer that he, Deku, and Pop★Step became the Naruhata Vigilantes. Izumi had a similar board in her own apartment, though it had less… incriminating evidence on it.

Everything Knuckleduster did always seemed so wild and improvised, but it was all calculated. Seeing this brings back memories of those days. There’s another set of lines, though, representing someone who could also jump buildings; based on the lines they were somewhere between Deku and Pop★Step when it came to maneuverability. Couldn’t jump quite as far as Pop, or go as fast on the ground as Deku can now.

“Who’s this?” Izumi questions, looking at Soga, “looks like Master wanted to chase them down and corner them in a dead end alley…”

“That case is closed already,” Soga responds, “but you might wanna reference that strategy. Think you can corner her the same way?”

“No way,” Izumi says. “She can kick off walls and leap right over buildings. Way too much mobility in tight spaces like that. Nabbing her in midair would be the best bet.”

“Great. That’s the plan, then.”

Izumi sits down with Soga, Moyuru, and Rapt to discuss the plan in more detail.

Soga lays it all out. “Next time she pops up, you’ve got three big tasks. One, get to the scene before the Heroes and cops. Two, grab her in midair. Three, meet up with us on the ground. After that, leave the first aid to me, and we’ll get her to a hospital.”

“Huh?! We gotta get involved?! Ain’t it a crime to butt in on Hero work?!” Moyuru complains.

“Gyah ha! Sounds like fun!” Rapt says, rocking backward with his laugh. He gives a thumbs up, “plus, I’m a fan of that chick. Real nice butt!”

Izumi glares daggers at him, but speaks to Soga, “sorry you’re all involved in this. If I thought I could trust any of the Heroes I know to do the right thing, I would.”

“I’m doing this cuz I feel like it. So don’t sweat it,” Soga says. “First up, the stamina tests. If you’re in it to win it, let’s get started.”

They spend the next few days training as constantly as they can. All the training Izumi’s been doing over the last several years has been paying off, and One for All gives her the advantage she needs. When Rapt asks about her speed, Izumi gives him the explanation she and Toshinori worked on together.

“My quirk is weird. I didn’t even know I had it until a couple years ago, actually. Apparently it’s an exponential stockpile quirk, so it took years to accumulate enough that I could even use it at all. I could theoretically use a lot more strength than I am, but it wouldn’t be safe for my body.”

Soga interrupts, “next up is ranged. What’ve you got?” Izumi grimaces and pulls her slingshot out of her bag with a sheepish shrug. Soga shakes his head, “that won’t do; you might run out of ammunition, or lose the slingshot altogether. Figure something else out.”

Working with Moyuru and Rapt, with occasional input from Soga, Izumi figures out what she calls “Air Force”. It starts with her trying to learn to flick the slingshot ammunition using just her fingers, and graduates to just using One for All at a higher percentage in her fingers to create pressure waves. She already uses a similar principle to change direction in midair with her legs. No matter how she tries though, she can’t get it to be much more powerful than a long range punch. Every time she tries to take it further she sees Kazuho’s disapproving glare. Izumi can almost hear her telling her off for breaking her fingers.

With that out of the question, it’s back down to a good old fashioned chase.

★★★

It comes sooner than Izumi wanted. Though, to be fair, she never wanted it at all. She’s outside of the warehouse they’ve been staying at for the past week when she hears and sees explosions further into the city, near the Naruhata station.

“Soga! Look!”

“Moyuru! Rapt!! Get the van!” Within a minute, both are in the van and out of the warehouse, Izumi on top with Soga in the lead on the Dekucycle.

“Crash that thing and you’re paying for the repairs!” Izumi yells at him.

They get stuck in traffic pretty quick. Izumi hops off the van and onto the street, getting Soga’s attention with a wave and letting him know “I’m going on ahead.”

🎵 Queen Bee - Bee★Pop

Before he can respond, Deku is off like a shot, running between the cars on the road and straight for the explosive scene ahead.

She arrives just in time to see the majority of the explosive bees get detonated by a tornado of flame she’d know anywhere. That’s Endeavor’s Karmic Raze: Hellfire Storm. It’s a move that looks messy and chaotic, but is actually an impressive display of Endeavor’s pyrokinetic abilities, using the airflow in the canyon of the buildings to keep it tight and contained while still maximizing the area that it affects.

By the fire, you’d expect Endeavor to be hotheaded and uncontrollable. Deku knows that’s hardly the case. He has some of the most impressive quirk control she’s ever seen in a Hero.

That impressive control is showcased even more clearly when she sprints out onto the street and the whole tornado dissipates in an instant, so fast that she barely feels the heat on her face even though she’s going faster than the average person can perceive.

As she races down the street toward Pop, she fires off Air Force blasts, killing bomber bees with each flick of her fingers. The bigger swarms are a bigger issue, but with her speed they can’t react and explode fast enough to catch her.

Unable to explode in time, they change direction and chase after her. Soon enough, Deku has what seems like every bee in the city chasing her.

Like Soga said when they were planning, Deku dashes past the Heroes, refusing to engage, getting them caught up in the chase and using them to surround Pop★Step until Deku has the chance to grab her.

It’s working. Deku takes out as many bees as she can, and leaps to the top of a nearby building. Then from there, up to the next. Up and up, as the song that Pop★Step was singing changes.

“Moving on to today’s big surprise, it’s a new single! I call it Bloom!” Izumi hears Pop★Step’s voice, angry and hurt, over the loudspeakers that the bees have commandeered for her.

"Flowers of light,
blooming in the sky those summer nights.
And all this time,
I watched you watching them take flight."

As the music changes, so does the pattern that the bees are following. Soga warned her about this. She’s just not powerful enough to control all the bees at once, but by using the music on loudspeakers all across the neighborhood she can effectively communicate with them all. They go from chasing Izumi to starting to block her path. How are they faster than her?

"The bursts and pops so far beyond,
and me without courage to go on.
You’ll come up short when you reach out,
all traces of me erased by doubt.
NO, NO, NO!"

Izumi pushes away the unimaginable. There’s no way it ends like this. Not when Pop- when Kazuho so clearly needs her.

"I chased and chased, always spurned.
I pined and pined, as the passion burned.
What have I become?
What of my desires?
Leaping higher, higher, higher…"

In the midst of hundreds, maybe thousands of bomb bees, Izumi's constant Oklahoma Smashes are the only thing keeping her moving and clearing the way ahead of her.

"Yes, you’ll come up short when you reach out,
I’m a fleeting dream erased by doubt.
Shout all you like, I won’t last,
memories of you, stuck in the past."

Gravel sprays from beneath her feet as she spins and skids across a roof, ducking under more explosions before kicking off, flipping from one roof to the next. Ahead of her, the cloud of bees thins. Kazuho is just barely visible beyond.

"You’ll come up short when you reach out,
I’m a fleeting dream erased by doubt.
Flowers of light,
blooming in the sky those summer nights."

A quick Detroit Smash clears the path ahead of her.

Please, god, anyone, let me reach her!

One foot on the raised edge of the roof grants her leverage. It turns into a spray of gravel as Izumi pulls on One for All and kicks off, sending herself flying towards Kazuho. She reaches the open air, out of the cloud of bees and mere feet away from her target.

“KAZU!!” Izumi shouts, and Kazuho startles, her one visible eye clearing for a moment.

She starts to respond, “Izu-”

BANG

A gunshot. Kazuho starts to fall, and again Deku kicks, launching herself closer to Kazuho. It’s narrow, but she catches her just in time to get her feet under them and stop them from pancaking.

Once they’re on the ground Deku pulls Kazuho into an alley and checks her back. She’s so small in her arms.

“Hello there.”

Startled, Deku looks up to the source of the voice and finds what looks like a Hero wearing a trenchcoat and a fedora.

“Um… are you a Hero?” she asks nervously. She doesn’t know who the hell this is, but she needs to get Kazuho to a hospital fast. “Let us through. She’s been shot, and she needs special medical treatment.”

“Ah, the shooter was me,” the Hero(?) reveals, taking off his hat and smiling at her. He holds up a small round with a syringe on one end, “I shot her with one of these rounds, yep. It’s a little baby syringe filled with a drug that controls bees. Desperate times, desperate measures, am I right?”

Deku narrows her eyes, pulling out her phone and checking it. Her earpiece is jammed, and she still doesn’t have any service. “Why did you have something like that?”

“That girl… Pop… she’s no ordinary villain, huh? Cute as a button, but things never seem to go her way… like a tale of a tragic damsel in distress. I mean, what if it turned out that the true villain was manipulating her form the shadows, trying to destroy her? Now, that’d be unforgivable… wouldn’t it?” he asks, taking off his coat and putting on a domino mask to cover his eyes.

Deku’s heart sinks to her stomach, but she doesn’t let it show, just keeps trying to call Soga. Still no service. “What the hell are you saying, man?”

“I think that villain here is you. And the Hero who’s gonna set things right is me… O’Clock II! I’m gonna beat you to a pulp with this fist of justice!” He strikes a pose reminiscent of her Master, one fist held in front of him.

“What…?”

“Or something like that,” the man says, then shifts between poses rapidly, side to side. “Did I nail that whole routine or what? Any idea why I’m droning on and on? Two reasons, guy.”

“Not a guy,” Deku mumbles under her breath. She needs to get out of here.

“First off… every Hero needs a good story behind them. And a villain that they’re, like, bound to by fate? Tied to by destiny? Pretty sure that kinda stuff is essential. That whole relationship, and their communication.”

This guy just keeps going on and on, but Deku doesn’t have time for this.

“Right, you’re definitely in a hurry. Which brings us to the second reason,” O’Clock II says menacingly. “I’m buying time for the drug to kick in. I call it the blow-yourself-up pheromone.”

It’s perfect timing, from a dramatic perspective.

Kazuho jolts in Deku’s arms, and the bees that had been wandering aimlessly around the street start to swarm directly toward them. Deku keeps her grip on Kazuho, kicking off and sprinting down the street in a low pose, barely keeping ahead of the bees and their explosions. A few manage to get close, but Deku keeps Kazuho held close to her chest, protecting her with her bulk.

Almost too fast to react, O’Clock II comes out of nowhere from behind her, about to land a punch that Deku is pretty sure will be deadly.

One for All’s output instinctively kicks up from 15% to 20%, getting her out of the way just in time, Kazuho still safely in her grasp. Then, on the street ahead of them, Endeavor steps out. Shit. Just what Deku needs right now.

She can’t run from him, not directly; his flames are too powerful and too fast for her, so she pulls on One for All hard, angling directly toward him in the hopes that she can get past him before he can torch her.

A spear of fire explodes behind her, throwing her hood over her head and blinding her for a second. While she’s looking down she sees the street turn into a literal minefield, created by Endeavor’s quirk. Izumi jumps as high as she can. It’s not high enough. She can’t kick again fast enough to buy them any time in the air, she can’t-

You’ll never escape this on your own. I need you to focus, Izumi, and push through the pain. Take my hand, and my power, and you can save her. You can-

FLY!!

A spike of pain erupts in Izumi’s head and almost throws her. Her vision is blurry for a moment and she realizes she’s crying, but she blinks the tears away and looks down at Kazuho, small in her arms. They’re floating in midair, far above the city.

Nana Shimura, the Seventh. Her quirk was Float. Toshinori could never access it consciously, but Izumi always suspected there was more to his air mobility than even he knew. This confirms her suspicions.

Kazuho stirs, then mumbles “Izumi…?”

“Kazu… it’s gonna be okay.”

“Dance… with me…?”

Izumi giggles, and One for All giggles with her. She kicks her legs in joy and nuzzles her face into Kazuho’s hair.

They’re safe.

They’re above the city, away from Endeavor and O’Clock II, and they’re safe. For the moment, at least.

Izumi lets her iron grip on Float relax, and they start to descend. She aims for a large inflatable mat, the kind sometimes used in fire rescue, that should cushion their fall if Izumi fumbles it. It was meant for use from the rooftop, since the plan was originally that Izumi would catch Kazuho in midair and take her to safety by the roofs, but this works just fine.

They land, and Izumi immediately hands Kazuho off to Soga. “Gimme the tool, Moyuru!” he shouts, accepting a strange grabber device from his friend.

“Hang on, Soga!” Izumi shouts, “she got hit with some kind of drug! It was messing with the bees, but I don’t know what it was!”

Soga almost uses the grabber tool anyway, but Kazuho twitches. If she twitched while he was trying to grab the Queen Bee…

A hand clamps down on Soga’s shoulder, “not so fast!”

“Midnight?!” Izumi shouts incredulously, staring up at the older Hero.

“You’re sweating bullets. First, you need to calm yourself. Just relax,” Midnight says in a calm voice, “I’m a Pro Hero, and Pop’s friend. If you’re trying to save her, why not bring her to a hospital?”

“‘Cause the bees’ll attack if we don’t act pronto,” Soga says, then hesitates for a second. “Hang on… where are the bees, anyhow?”

“Endeavor got most of them, hopefully all,” Izumi explains, “when he tried to roast me and Kazuho.”

“Great, but the Queen Bee’s still in there, and it’s gonna mess with her body…”

“You’re saying the parasite in Pop’s eye socket is going wild because it was stimulated by a drug?” Midnight asks.

Izumi nods, and Midnight nods back, saying “got it. Leave this to me, boys and girls. All of you hold your breath for twenty seconds!”

Rapt passes out almost immediately, but Izumi, Soga, and Moyuru stay standing. Once the twenty seconds are up, Midnight signals that they can breath again. “I’ve put Pop and her unwanted guest to sleep. Her metabolism’s as low as it’ll go, so she needs resuscitation and surgery at a hospital-”

“Found ya! Villainous scum!” Endeavor joins the scene. In the split second that everyone is distracted, Izumi hides behind the inflatable mat. It wouldn’t do to have him see her right now.

From where she’s hiding she sees Soga pop his claws and get in a stance like he’s about to fistfight the Number Two Hero on Kazuho’s behalf. Izumi realizes that he would, if it really came down to it.

“Endeavor,” Midnight holds out her arm to stop Soga and addresses the Hero, “we’ve caught the villain. She’s in critical condition, so we need to get her to a hospital.”

“And what about the other one? The punk in the All Might hoodie?”

The fact that he could recognize that her green hoodie is All Might merch is… really weird, honestly. It doesn’t phase Midnight, though. “She slipped away.”

Izumi takes the opportunity and uses Float to silently slip away, up to the top of an adjacent building. She lets out a big sigh of relief. Too soon.

Behind her, a newly familiar voice, “hello there.”

Deku whirls around, knowing she’ll find curly green hair and freckles so similar to her own. He’s not visible yet, though, standing in the shadows. “You. O’Clock II.”

“Close, but… no, not at the moment. The tale of O’Clock II… hit a snag before it could even begin. Time to reset. Back to square one. You get the gist… I’m right back to being the nameless Number Six.” He’s slumped against the wall of a structure on the roof, using it as a crutch and limping toward her. As he steps into the light, Izumi can see that he’s burnt and bloodied.

“Holy shit, you need a hospital!” Izumi whisper-shouts, taking a step toward him. He takes a step back, so Izumi stops her advance.

“Mighty kind of ya, but no thanks. My body has a way of dealing with it. Sure, getting burned to a crisp from head to toe is no fun, but I’ll be fit as a fiddle sooner or later. Besides, it ain’t the woes of the flesh that ail me. The problem is my whole life.” He coughs heavily, once, then continues, “my whole existence, you could say.”

Izumi turns, looking down for a Hero who wouldn’t kill this guy the instant they saw him (anybody but Endeavor). “Let me get you some help.”

“No. Listen.” The tone of his voice gives Izumi pause. He retreats back into the darkness enough that she can’t make out the details of his face, just his left eye and the glowing scar that crosses his face. “Inside and out, everything about me was cobbled together like a craft project. I don’t even know who the hell I am. And a guy who’s a nobody will put his life on the line to become somebody. You get how that feels?” Before she can tell him that she understands, he scoffs, “naw, how could you? I spent years working on this plan. My grand Hero’s tale. But all of it… brought to nothing by you - a pea-brained nobody. Still… things’re clearer than ever now.”

He steps forward again and Izumi can see his face, the skin peeled back to reveal muscle and bone beneath. She almost vomits.

Still, he continues to speak, “garbage like you, who ruins people’s dreams, I’ll make sure you get what’s coming to you! Everything about me is fake. Made up. So I might be a hollow shell, but… this rage I have is the one thing that’s real. When you’re crawling at my feet, begging for death, that’s when I can finally start existing. And that’s when the tale of O’Clock II truly begins.

“Get it?” Number Six spits, “after Pop, you’re next. She knows too much… and I can’t have her leaking spoilers to everyone, right? Gotta remove her from the equation for the next plan to work. First I kill her… then I kill you… so I can be the real me. My body’s had enough for today, but I needed you to hear all that. So go on - keep meddling all you like. But I’m never giving up on my dreams.”

Number Six collapses; Izumi almost thinks he’s lost consciousness, until suddenly with a burst of movement he vanishes, leaving behind a swirling trail of blood.

Chapter Text

Izumi

Time becomes a blur.

After successfully extracting the Queen Bee from Kazuho without killing her, she lays unconscious in the hospital for the foreseeable future. Vulnerable. The doctors don’t know when she’s going to wake up.

Soga and the boys post up outside, stopping anyone and everyone from going in, checking to make sure they are who they say they are. Izumi can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done- what they are doing.

She wonders if maybe Soga still feels guilty about what he did when they first met.

While the boys guard the hospital from the street, Izumi hunkers down on a rooftop across from the hospital to provide ranged support. And also… to hide. According to Soga, the police are still looking for her because of her involvement in the incident, so she hides.

She wishes she wasn’t hiding. Kazuho’s parents come to visit her in the hospital, and Izumi can’t be there to meet them. After doing this with Kazuho for three years, after becoming as close as they have, after nearly- after everything, she thinks the least she could do is meet them. But she doesn’t. She hides.

At least she’s able to practice using Float. It’s like second nature to her, and she finds that it’s almost easier for her to use Float than it is One for All itself. Floating an inch and a half above the ground or the roof becomes habit within a day.

She tries reaching out to Nana somehow, but can’t establish any kind of connection. She still feels like she’s floating on the surface of a vast, roiling ocean of energy, that much hasn’t changed. But now there’s something - maybe someone - with her, keeping her buoyant. Keeping her, well, afloat (pun totally intended).

Leaning back and looking up at the sky, Izumi hums to herself and whispers, “another real pretty moon out tonight, Kazu. Wish you were here to see it. Once this is all over, we’ll have plenty more nights like this, right? We can stay up all night and talk, just like we used to, about anything and everything. Big stuff, small stuff, it doesn’t matter. We’ll talk until we lose our voices. I know we can’t do that right now, but it’s going to be okay. Because I’m here, and the same moon is looking down on us both.”

★★★

Naomasa

“Enough of that already! My police work is not up for casual discussion! Am I making myself clear?!” Naomasa shouts into his phone, hoping his sister gets the damn message already.

“Look, I know you told me not to bring up the people involved in those cases, so all I’m doing is asking my man on the scene how the old neighborhood’s doing.”

“Lovely, straight back to the old MO. We’re done talking,” Naomasa says bitterly, hanging up the phone with more force than is strictly necessary. With everything else going on, the bomb at the station the other day, Tanuma in critical condition showing no signs of waking up, and Soga Kugisaki’s words ringing in his head, Naomasa is stretched thin.

“Those bodies are weighing on you? Maybe if you people could actually do your jobs right…” Kugisaki had said. He hates to admit it, but Naomasa feels like Kugisaki was right.

“Detective…” Naomasa is startled by a voice behind him. He whirls around, almost ready to fight. It’s just Sansa though. “Erm, what?” the cat headed officer questions.

“Sorry. Just mulling things over…” Naomasa deflects, “what can I do for you, Sansa?”

Sansa holds up an envelope and his expression turns serious, “it’s just arrived. The arrest warrant for Izumi Midoriya, aka Deku.”

Naomasa takes the envelope. “Good,” he mutters. His mind is drawn back to something his sister wrote for her graduate thesis.

Vigilantism is a backup plan for when official law and order institutions fall short.

There may be a grain of truth to that idea, but as the authorities, they can’t allow themselves to rely on outlaws. To do so would be to admit that the justice system has failed. Naomasa can’t admit that. Not yet.

I’ve let these ‘good samaritans’ run amok for this long, but now it has to end. Know this, vigilantes of Naruhata…

I’m taking back the reins now.

★★★

Izumi

Izumi has two phones, now. Her old one gets turned on maybe once a day, while the other one (a burner phone given to her by Soga) stays on with the ringer turned up. Only Soga, Rapt, and Moyuru have the number for it, and they all know only to contact her in case of emergency. Additionally, there’s a specific emergency ringtone to indicate that she needs to beat feet and lay low for a while until Soga can contact her again. Same as the alarm that usually wakes her up in the morning.

On her old phone, though, she has what feels like a million missed calls and texts from her friends and family. The majority are from her mother, though.

There’s a few from her dad, who she texts back telling him not to worry. She’ll be fine. Take care of mom. That kind of thing.

There’s more from Toshinori than she expected. She knows if she asked for his help he’d be there guarding the hospital 24/7 as All Might, but that’s exactly why she can’t involve him. Not only would All Might draw too much attention, but keeping up that form for that long would be too draining on Toshinori’s already waning health.

Kayama hasn’t texted her, which makes sense since she’s involved as Midnight, but neither has Aizawa, which doesn’t make sense because he isn’t involved (she hopes).

No texts from Tensei either, which Izumi has a bad feeling about.

There is one text from Gran Torino, though.

She’s about to respond when she hears rustling one roof over. It’s Rapt, who almost shouts over at her. She silences him with a hand motion, turns off her phone, and floats over.

“Brought you food,” he says with a smile once she reaches him. She thanks him and pulls the food out of the bag, immediately chowing down. After she’s inhaled a couple hot dogs, Izumi asks about the situation on the ground.

“Same old, same old,” Rapt waves it off, “the whole stakeout thing, every day. And they got me running errands. Kinda over it already. Not that I’ll admit it. Soga’d get mad and be all, ‘get a grip.’ So serious, that punk.”

“Where is Soga?” Izumi asks, cocking her head. “I didn’t see him down there.”

“He’s over at your place, actually. I told him there’d been a break in, so he wanted to check it out,” Rapt says, very casually. That is not a ‘very casual’ thing to say, though.

“A break in?! Why didn’t anyone tell me?!” Izumi whisper shouts, stuffing her trash in the plastic bag Rapt brought the food in and starting to stand.

“Oh, right. ‘It’ll just be a distraction for Izumi, so don’t tell her.’ That’s what Soga said,” Rapt says, then tacks on, “it’s a secret, ‘kay?”

Izumi sits back down heavily, mad that he’s right. It is just a distraction. “Sure… Now’s not the time to worry about that. Not like I got much worth stealing. Anything worth anything is here with me.”

★★★

The day before Izumi’s birthday, the police finally arrive to guard the hospital. Izumi lets out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. It doesn’t take long for shit to hit the fan, though. Izumi can’t quite hear what’s being said on the street level, but she does see Soga turn to Moyuru. Then the wake up alarm goes off on her phone.

Deku silences the phone, pulls up her respirator and hood, and stands so she’s in full view of the police.

With a mock salute to the good Detective, she hops down into the alleyway on the opposite side of the building. Her bike is there, like Soga promised, with a few added upgrades to boot. It rumbles to life beneath her, quieter than she’s used to, and she’s off like a shot.

Only Soga, Moyuru, and Rapt know that she’s capable of flight now. All anybody else knows is that she can jump really high and really far using her super strength. It was Soga’s idea to use the bike. Whatever modifications he made to it made it faster, quieter, and tougher, all to compensate for her newfound abilities and make sure she can get around stealthily. It’s going well, right up until Ingenium finds her. She sees him in her side mirror. Her bike can keep pace with him, but barely.

“Deku! You’re moving at dangerous speeds! Slow down at once! I know what’s going on with you, and I’d like to talk it over. So please halt!”

Deku grabs the side of a nearby truck and lets it pull her along while she splits her attention between keeping her wheels steady and talking to Ingenium. She’s not sure how well he can hear her between two helmets being in the way, but she tries anyway. “We can talk here! Like this!”

“Deku… for years you’ve been a force for good, helping people out. But now you’re the one in danger, and it’s our turn to help you. We can protect you and the one you care about. Let us do that for you!”

“Ingenium,” Deku starts, “once Pop is better, I’ll go to the police. But for now…” she lets go of the truck and hits the brakes on her bike.

Ingenium and the truck go sailing past her, and she accelerates again, taking a sharp turn through an alleyway and onto another street. They anticipated this, clearly having learned their lesson from the Bat villain, because at the end of the street is an inflatable mat meant to catch somebody traveling at a high velocity.

Shit. Well, time for plan B.

Deku ditches the bike and jumps over the trap they laid for her, landing on a wall and kicking off to maintain her momentum. She sees Enigma, bless her soul, catch the Dekucycle before it can get scraped up too bad. “Thanks Enigma!” Deku shouts back.

“You’re welcome Deku!” she hears behind her. Sweet girl.

Deku jumps up past the rooftops to get a vantage point, reorienting herself toward the hospital. She doesn’t get far before she hears Edgeshot shout “SPIRAL SPEAR HAND!”

Something hits her in the side, then she hits the roof below her with a dull thump. Luckily Edgeshot didn’t hit her hard, just enough to ground her for a moment.

On the rooftop across from her stands Best Jeanist and Edgeshot. Deku suppresses the urge to bounce up and down and flap her arms. They’re so cool. Sure, they’re trying to stop her from saving Kazuho’s life, but still! So cool!

“My first proper conversation with the unsung hero of the Sky Egg disaster… Deku,” Best Jeanist addresses her directly, “we’ve been informed of your situation.”

Edgeshot continues, “some entity is after the life of that poor girl, and you intend to protect her yourself?”

“You can’t stop me!” Deku shouts at them, prepared to hop away and get back to the hospital.

“You doubt the efficacy of Pro Heroes, yes? Truly, it brings me great shame to know that our inadequacy has caused such suffering…” Best Jeanist laments, striking a pose. “As it’s come to this, allow our skills to clear your mind of any doubt. We will win back your trust.”

“People keep saying that, but- eh?!” Deku starts to speak, but is interrupted when she’s pulled backward and forced to the ground, the poncho she’d been wearing now constricted around her.

“Capture complete! In the presence of my Fiber Master, any clothing becomes a straitjacket.”

Best Jeanist should be more genre aware than that. He only used it on her poncho, leaving her legs free to use. Deku does a kip-up and, once on her feet, a backflip off the roof, intending to catch herself with Float partway down and get away.

“Reckless!” Best Jeanist shouts after her. “Catching Cradle!” Below her, halfway down to the street, a net suddenly weaves itself to catch her.

“Ninpo: Fish-hook Snag!”

Edgeshot grabs her poncho with two fingers in a fish-hook, just like he shouted. It loosens the poncho just enough for her to wiggle free, Float giving her the boost she needs to avoid the Catching Cradle below her.

★★★

By the time Deku manages to hide again, setting down in a back alley deep in old Naruhata, the sun has started to set. The far off sirens tell her they’re still looking for her, but she has to get to the hospital. Like Soga said, all she has to focus on is protecting Kazuho from the shadows.

She crouches and tries to jump, but nothing happens. One for All is still there, but somehow out of reach. So that’s what that feels like.

“Not much daylight left,” Eraserhead’s voice echoes in the empty alleyway. “So you gave the others the slip, huh? Can’t say I’m surprised. They may be top-notch Pros, but those surface dwellers aren’t equipped for the likes of you.”

“Eraserhead,” Deku says, turning around.

The man in question stands up from the stoop he was sitting on and closes the book he was reading.

“Combining bustling streets with the ruins of the old town… the corner of our world known as Naruhata is a complex blend of light and darkness. A hotbed of crime. The domain of villainy. In other words…” a feral grin lazily stretches across Eraserhead’s face, “my hunting grounds. Get it, Deku?”

Deku lowers her stance and gets ready to run. “Been a while, Eraser.”

“Deku. That’s too far away for a proper convo. Come closer,” Eraser demands.

“I can hear you just fine from over here.”

thwip! Eraserhead’s scarf flies out toward Deku. She leans to the side, but when it wraps around a pipe that was barely exposed behind her she begins to suspect that he wasn’t aiming for her in the first place.

“Fine,” he says, “then listen up. Ingenium, Best Jeanist, Edgeshot… all those prominent top Heroes have come to this part of town for your sake. Do you get that?”

“Yeah, real obliged,” Deku drawls.

“I’m talking about the reason why. Your safety is why they’re here. They’re being understanding about the position you’re in and the actions you’ve taken. You might even say they’re on your side. ‘The Sky Egg kid’ is real popular, you know?”

She’s flattered, really.

“But it’s irrational. People like you don’t stop and reflect on their actions until some bones get broken. Won’t do you any good to coddle you,” Eraser says, tightening his scarf around the pipe and wrenching it free. It hits Deku in the shoulder as it flies toward Eraser. She takes a few steps back and is about to activate One for All to get the hell out of there when Eraser’s eyes flare red and his hair starts to float.

Even without One for All, Deku is fast on her feet. Instead of standing and fighting, she books it. She weaves through a crowd of people, apologizing left and right as she bumps into them, and tries to get out of Eraser’s line of sight. With her height she can’t disappear into the crowd, but he’ll need to blink eventually, and when he does she needs to be around a corner where he can’t catch her with Erasure again. As she runs, Deku checks her supplies. Her grapple gun is still on her belt, same as her slingshot. She’d kill to have her bike or even a skateboard right now.

Eraser is also from Naruhata, so ducking into an alley won’t buy her a lot of time, but it might buy her enough. Her quirk returns to her long enough to get 90% of the way up a building with Float before she suddenly starts to fall, Erasure active once again.

Instinct guides Deku’s hand to the grappling hook on her belt. She swings, running across the wall of the building until she can leap off. She tucks and rolls, hitting the ground running and slipping into another alleyway.

Eraser loses her between the buildings, landing somewhere a block or two behind her. Deku grabs hold of Float the moment she’s able and pops up above the buildings to once again reorient herself.

★★★

Soga

Midnight picks up immediately. “Where are you?”

“Put the flatfoot on the line,” Soga says. He doesn’t have time to play games. Luckily, Midnight obeys without question.

“This is Tsukauchi speaking.”

“Hey. Sorry for giving you the slip before, detective. I was planning to negotiate once Izumi made a clean getaway, but I wasn’t counting on you siccing a whole pack of big shot Heroes after her. Seems to me her head’s worth a whole lot to you. But what’s the sense in dragging out this pissing contest any longer?”

“Are you saying she’s willing to turn herself in?” Tsukauchi asks. Soga would laugh if it weren’t such a serious situation.

“The opposite,” he tells the detective. “Call off your dogs. There’s zero point to this whole cat and mouse chase. All we want is to guard the hospital. If that’s such a crime, then let us pay for it later, when all’s said and done. I’m asking you to adjust your game plan just a little bit.”

“I don’t know if this is your idea of haggling, and I certainly don’t feel obligated to see things your way.”

“That other cop… Tanuma, right? I bet he’d be willing to meet in the middle.”

“He’s… unavailable right now.”

“Which’s the only reason I’m telling you to make the right call. What’s the point of us being at each other’s throats? That’s giving the enemy exactly what he wants.”

★★★

Number Six

“Correct-a-mundo. Well, Soga’s not the perfect little angel he pretends to be, but yes… the Heroes, the cops, and the vigilantes are too busy tripping each other up to realize they should be allies,” Six muses. It’s almost time. He kneels atop a building a block or so away from the hospital and watches the cops flail.

“Exactly,” says Six’s Master. “The key to everything is teamwork. Prevent your enemies from teaming up and ensure that your own side is on the same page. Your body’s been granted the ability to do just that. With so many top Heroes running around Naruhata, this place is the perfect arena for a test-drive. It’s time to begin, Number Six. Demonstrate your ability.”

“As you wish, Master~ ♪”

Six releases a blast of power, and Naruhata goes dark.

“Operation Anonymous, phase one. Several simultaneous electromagnetic pulse attacks shut off the power and communications in all of Naruhata. When light and sound are abruptly lost, people are left stunned, unable to act. Well done with this, Number Six,” Master compliments. The ghostly visage of the original O’Clock hovers near Six’s shoulder, a presence unseen by everybody, seen by Nobody.

“Thanks. ♪”

“Then comes phase two. Block off the major roads with a series of accidents. However, keep in mind that the objective is simply to limit incoming and outgoing traffic.”

“Sure, sure. No big flashy pileups, I get it. ♪”

“Phase three. Cause trouble throughout the town.”

“That should be minor stuff too, right?”

“Yes, exactly.”

As they speak, the Anonymous bombers that Six has under his control go throughout Naruhata, doing exactly that. Breaking windows in storefronts, leaving deep scratches in cars, spraypainting on walls, eating produce from outside stalls, knocking over bikes, all things that could seem innocuous on their own, but together…

“What we aim to create is an overall atmosphere of unease.”

“Yup, for sure. ♪ Like at the start of a horror movie, when there’s an eerie feeling you can’t quite put your finger on.”

“People don’t know what’s going on and feel helpless. And now, they’ll be gripped by a vague sense of dread. All until they grow paranoid, jumping at shadows. Leaving them unable to cooperate and take appropriate action together. This small slice of society will cease to function, having been divided on a psychological level.”

“‘Divided,’ huh… kinda like ol’ Eraser and Izumi. I figure they’re still playing tag right now, which removes them from the equation. ♪”

★★★

Izumi

Eraserhead catches up sooner rather than later.

“Wait, Deku! Something’s wrong in this town!” he shouts after her.

“Maybe, but I still can’t let you stop me!” Deku shouts back. She has to find the hospital, has to get to Kazuho, has to protect her.

It’s easy to ignore the chaos going on on the street below them in favor of a single minded focus on her goal; harder to ignore the shout of a woman as her scooter hits a can rolling on the street and she’s sent flying.

Deku swoops down and grabs her from the air with one hand, stopping the scooter with the other. She sets the woman down, who looks up at her with stars in her eyes.

“Thank you, Deku!”

Deku gives her the biggest smile she can. The rest of the civilians on the street start swarming her, demanding answers about what’s going on. She shouts to be heard “I don’t know what’s happening yet, but if we can stay calm the Heroes will arrive and sort this all out! Panicking will just make things more difficult!”

As if to back up her words, a string phone made of denim suddenly sticks itself to a nearby light pole. Best Jeanist’s voice issues forth, “calm yourselves, good people!”

Ingenium rushes onto the scene, “is anyone hurt?” and takes off his helmet. “Jeanist!” he shouts up to the roof where Deku can now see Best Jeanist and Edgeshot lingering, “status report?!”

“The details still need confirming, Ingenium. But to the civilians, I say this: you need not worry. Why? Because we are here in your town! Yes, Heroes are on the scene!”

★★★

Number Six

“However… All Might is not here.”

“Nope!”

“He is the only true Hero. No matter what the lesser Heroes do, it won’t amount to more than a mere rounding error. And now… All Might will never deploy over an unseen threat. Hence, Operation Anonymous. Named after the drone soldier villains, Anonymous, which were created for this very operation. Cutting off enemy communications while enabling contact between allies. The Anonymous are equipped with EMP organs to accomplish both of those goals. All while the commanders exert strict control. Their primary purpose is to make people feel divided and isolated. These anons can blend into a crowd and disrupt the physical and emotional connections between people. The real key is stopping the spread of information, so that the area afflicted by Operation Anonymous isn’t paid a visit by Tokyo’s guardian deity … All Might .”

★★★

Izumi

Deku sidles into the room after Eraserhead, hanging back and watching Best Jeanist, Edgeshot, and Ingenium all kneeling around a paper map of the neighborhood known as Naruhata. Ingenium nods at Eraserhead in acknowledgement when they enter the room. It’s probably not the best idea to be here, but Deku had to at least acknowledge what the Heroes are doing for her. The tail end of their conversation is all she catches.

“I’ll zip out of the neighborhood for now and make contact with my team at the control center,” Ingenium tells the other Heroes.

“Yes, good,” Best Jeanist says, “in the meantime, I will respond to the citizens, working from this provisional base.”

“Then it falls to me to survey the area and get in touch with Detective Tsukauchi. An envoy in the darkness… no better role for a shinobi,” Edgeshot says.

Eraserhead interrupts them before they can split off, “I found the kid.”

“Excellent,” says Best Jeanist, “Deku, as of now you are, however regrettably, a villain in custody. We cannot release you,” he hesitates for a second, “but…”

Edgeshot finishes the thought, “why didn’t you flee when you had the chance?”

Deku looks to the side in embarrassment and sighs, weighing her words. “You’re all working so hard for this town. For my home. At the very least I owe you some gratitude. Now that I’m here, though, I have something to ask of you…” Deku bows deeply to them. “Please, help me keep the person who matters most to me safe. If I don’t get back to the hospital… something terrible will happen! Please, even if you can’t spare any Heroes to protect her, let me go watch over her and once this is all over I’ll turn myself in! I swear! It’s the only thing that matters to me…”

She hears Best Jeanist start to say something, but he’s interrupted by Eraserhead, “Edgeshot, I’m heading for the hospital in question. Let me be the one to link up with the Detective, okay? And… I’ll look after Deku for the time being.”

★★★

“Thank you, Eraser,” Deku says, flying alongside him, keeping pace as he uses his capture scarf to traverse the city. “That was very thoughtful of you.”

“Villains in custody shouldn’t yap so much. Working with the cops is key at this point. And I was planning to visit Midnight anyway. While I’m at it, I can hand you over to the authorities, so this is just the most rational course of action.”

“So you’re really still going to arrest me?” Deku asks with a furrow in her brow.

“Of course,” Eraserhead confirms, “try to run, and I’ll break your legs.”

Deku almost laughs. With her newfound powers, that wouldn’t exactly do much to stop her from getting around.

From the street below, “hey, you two! Are you Heroes? We’re in trouble… please, help us!”

“Down there!” Deku shouts to Eraserhead.

“This is no time for pit stops,” Eraserhead says, wrapping his capture scarf around a pole and using it to slingshot around and change direction anyway, “but if someone’s life is in danger, it’s worth checking out, at least.”

★★★

Number Six

“The Anons worked hard to make the population feel isolated, but now the people’s faith in Heroes is repairing those cracks. The Heroes race off to fix things and end the deadlock. Yup… Heroes never fail to impress. Can’t help but admire them. But for this to work… I’m gonna need those pests to buzz off.”

The crack in Number Six’s face grows larger and brighter as he starts to command the Anon troops.

“Indeed. Let phase four of the operation begin.”

“On it!”

boom! boom! boom!

Throughout the city, Anonymous explode one after another, all targeting Heroes who have stopped to help them.

“The Anons’ bodies are made of bomber villain cells that the commander can trigger at will. They pose as innocent folks in need of saving… as living booby traps!”

★★★

Izumi

“Are you okay, do you need help?!” Deku shouts, landing next to the civilians.

For a moment she thinks they all just have similar mutation quirks, but then she looks closer. The mark on their faces, all identical to one another, looks… familiar.

“Are you Heroes?”
“We’re in trouble…”
“A-are you H-Heroes?”
“Are are you He-He-Hero.”
“Heeerooooes…”

Then the mark starts to emit a bright light, and the civilians explode.

Deku is flung backwards, but catches herself midair with Float before she can hit the ground or a building. As more move toward her and Eraserhead, she can make out what they actually are.

They’re bomber villains, just like at the Sky Egg.

These ones are clearly a different class, though, their explosions packing less of a punch but being able to move a lot quicker. And on two feet instead of propelled by wings.

Eraserhead jumps in front of Deku as two of the villains rush her and disables their explosions with his own quirk, then kicks them back and lets them explode at a safe distance.

More appear from around corners and atop buildings, converging on their position.

“Hmph. This shouldn’t be an issue,” Eraserhead says confidently. “Deku, make your escape while I distract them. Get to the hospital and tell the Detective… ‘We’re up against bomber villains, and many have infiltrated the town. Numbers unknown. Plans are underway to resolve the situation.’”

“Eraser, you can’t fight them all alone!! Against that many, you can’t nullify all their quirks! Your fighting style involves hit and run tactics, using Erasure and your capture weapon for quick engagements, an all-out brawl isn’t-”

Eraserhead cuts her off. “No good Hero is a one trick pony. Now go!!” And he jumps into the fray.

Deku, no second guessing, is off like a shot. She pulls on One for All and uses Float to pop up above the city, then pushes for speed, just shy of the sound barrier, toward the hospital. It doesn’t take very long for it to come into view.

As it does, there’s an explosion at the front gate. She’s about to dive down and join the melee when a light on the roof below her and a shout, “Izumi!” from the same place draws her attention.

She cuts her momentum and heads toward the roof, landing next to “Soga! You saw that, right?! Those bomber villains are all over town! We gotta get down there and help!”

“Yeah,” Soga says, “they’re finally making their move. Hope you’ve made your peace, Izumi. Cuz this is do-or-die.”

Chapter Text

Number Six

Stepping through the freshly blasted hole in the hospital’s gate, Number Six holds up his hand and commands the Anonymous to stop. He ignores Soga’s little cronies hiding behind the bushes and heads into the hospital itself.

“Very good, Number Six,” Master says, “Your hive mind control over the Anons is thanks to Overclock’s processing power. But for the critical part of this operation, your mind needs to be free to focus on more precise maneuvers.”

“Exactly! Ah…” Number Six stops short at the door in front of him, locked. Good thing he has his own key! Well, exploding and regenerating fist, but same difference.

“After using the troops to secure the scene, finish the mission as a solo operator. This is phase five of the operation.”

BOOM

The double doors fly off their hinges and clatter to the ground in the long hallway where four policemen are already waiting, pistols drawn.

“That’s far enough, Overclock!" their leader shouts, "you’re under arrest for assault, destruction of property, and unlawful entry. This time, my first shot will hit.”

“Huh… this time? Ah, that you, Tsukauchi?” Six asks, “so you didn’t forget our playdate, back during the whole crab route affair. You even know the name of my quirk… right, of course… the older cop… Tanuma? He knew plenty.”

Six takes off his hat and reveals his destroyed face to the cops. He has no eyes, just blank spaces where they should be. No nose, either. The only distinguishing feature is the scar stretching from the middle of his forehead and going down beneath where his left eye would have been. A perfect match for the scar on his Master’s face.

“I shoulda shut him up sooner,” Six says. The cops all freeze. “Anyhoo… My schedule says that today’s the day I kill little Pop, but… give me any trouble, and you get to jump the line. Get it?” When they don’t respond, Six says, more forcefully, “I said, get it?”

Then Six realizes why they’ve frozen, watching in slow motion as the window to his right is shattered by a bullet. He hears the crack of a rifle, then another, and another. Six can see a figure on the roof of the building across the street holding a rifle and firing at full auto. A bit much, isn’t it?

“Hmm… spraying around with an assault rifle? The shooter doesn’t intend to land any hits, then.”

“Ah, Master.”

“They mean to force you into the acceleration state and rapidly deplete the oxygen going to your brain. Keep calm and respond.”

“Respond? Hah. Even fully loaded, a rifle’s only got so much ammo. So if they keep shooting like that…” the bullets stop coming. “There, see? Gun’s empty. And I get to catch… my breath…”

Six trails off as he catches sight of a familiar figure, swinging in through the window on a grappling hook. She's moving faster than he expected. Pale green lightning follows her every move. Six is so astonished that he stays still even as she lands, crouched, in front of the cops, a slingshot readied and pulled back, already letting it loose as she lands.

“Deku’s slingshot. And she’s using ammunition made for comparatively heavy impact. Each sling bullet is little stronger than an ordinary punch… still, a direct hit could rattle your brain. Best to avoid these, too.”

Crap. No time for a breather. The Heroes’ little plan works all too well, and before he can recover the cops have already begun firing.

“Aim for his legs!” shouts the damn Detective. Half a dozen or more bullets tear through Six’s legs and force him to his knees. “Secure him!!”

★★★

Izumi

Detective Tsukauchi manages to get stun cuffs on Number Six, effectively rendering him unable to use his quirk by constantly tazing him. Life would be so much easier if those mythical 'quirk-suppressing handcuffs' were more than speculative. As it stands, they're stuck with good old fashioned electricity. It takes less than thirty seconds for shit to go sideways. Deku almost doesn’t realize what’s happening when her head suddenly feels like it’s split in two.

Focus, Izumi. My power will give you the edge you need to protect those you care about. Use it wisely.

In her left eye, Deku sees Number Six snapping Tsukauchi’s neck and starting to run.

In her right eye, she sees Six’s body melting and already beginning to reform.

She doesn’t even think; it happens purely subconsciously: she takes action, pulling hard on One for All and becoming a blur; she leaps forward, torso pivoting and right arm cocking back to punch Six as soon as he pops up. In a contest of sheer speed, Overclock beats One for All. But it's a narrow enough margin for Deku to have a chance.

Her fist sends him sprawling, and before she can go for another hit Deku’s headache disappears, along with the villain.

Thank you, Shinomori.

Stay alert. Danger Sense is not infallible, Shinomori cautions. Izumi quirks an eyebrow. That's a stronger connection than she expected.

One of the cops shouts, “He fled?!” and Deku snaps back to attention.

“This… isn’t over yet,” Tsukauchi says, “he’ll be back. Deku. I have a task for you! You need to escape this place and summon All Might! Tell him Tsukauchi sent you!”

“Detective? What about you?” Deku questions. It can’t be safe to leave him here all alone.

“My men and I will have to make do!”

Deku nods and crawls out the window, kicking off the edge and into the air.

★★★

Number Six

“Anyway… now that I’ve got the layout of the hospital, we just gotta regroup and force our way in. We’ll start with a suicide mission for some anons. That’ll clear the way of those nuisances,” Six says, sending some of the bombers inside. A few others head in another direction. “Oh, and we don’t want Soga feeling left out. What else… ah, whatever backup they have lurking around. Better finish off the cops and whoever else is in the area.”

“No… the anons are too precious a resource. You ought to avoid wasting them needlessly.”

“Sure, makes sense!” Something catches Six’s attention. A figure, leaping from the hospital and flying away. “Huh? Is that… Deku?! For real?! She’s running away, at a time like this?!”

“I see. An airborne messenger. You’ve just been given a hard time limit, Number Six. Izumi Midoriya plans to leave Naruhata and call in All Might, which could be done in as little as sixty seconds. However, that should be plenty of time for you. The primary target is still Kazuho Haneyama. Eliminate her posthaste and make your escape. That will conclude the successful field test of the new foot soldiers.”

“I dunno… Running away from All Might makes sense… but ain’t this gonna feel like I’m running scared from Deku?”

“A trivial concern. Emerge from the shadows for a high-speed execution and retreat. Then, slip back to safety under the cloak of anonymity. Such is the Anons’ strength.”

Six clutches his face, “but, I mean… that just leaves me as nameless and faceless as ever. That pisses me off, y’know? Now I’m in the mood to slaughter every last one of these fools.”

“Hmm… maximizing your anonymity renders you incapable of focusing on your motive for being here. Adjusting to account for your psychological state may prove difficult.

“In which case… you may indulge a bit.”

Before Six can enter the hospital and start his spree, the concrete behind him cracks from the impact of a body. Not just a body, though. It’s—

★★★

Izumi

Deku slams into the concrete just behind Number Six and stands with a shaky smile, one fist held in front of her. She tries her best to imitate the man who taught her everything, who set her on this path, who gave her the power to be a true blue Hero.

“You won’t hurt her, villain. Because I’m here.”

“Back so soon, Deku? Why’d you come back? You really wanna fight me that bad?”

Deku takes a step back and frowns, but doesn’t leave her ready stance. “I don’t want to fight you if I don’t have to. But… we met the other day, right?”

Six seems caught off guard. “That’s your question?”

Deku suddenly feels shy. In retrospect it’s kind of a weird question to ask, yeah, but “you just look so different. Your face is…” she trails off.

Six looks confused for a second, “huh? What about it?” then turns around, muttering “ah! I must have forgotten to put on my face! For real?! Running around like some no-face. My… face… Better?” He turns back around to face Deku. His face looks eerily familiar. Now that she can make out more of his features she sees he has curly green hair that nearly covers his eyes, and freckles on his face. He looks like… Izuku. “I think ol’ ‘Rokuro Nomura’ is the best face I’ve come up with yet. One of my faves to wear. But I’ve got a problem, y’see.”

Six gets up close to Deku, pointing at her then back at himself. “This face is modeled off yours, Izumi… so it’s like everyone’s seeing double.” He leans in and contorts his face into a scowl. “Which’s why… you need to disappear. Oh! Come to think of it… the last time I wore this face, things were going great between me and Pop. With you outta the picture, the Rock and Pop duo could make a comeback! And maybe I wouldn’t have to bump her off. Any thoughts, Master?”

Suddenly Six sways to the side, his bright grin turning into a flat expression and his voice becoming deeper. “She knows too much. Such a liability should be eliminated…”

Deku takes a step back, out of Six’s space, and raises her fists again. “I said, I won’t let you hurt her!”

Six does a double take. “What the hell? You don’t exactly have a say in this, Izumi! You can’t determine whether or not I hurt her, all you can do is slow me down. And I’m sick of it, so just die already!”

Then he throws a right hook at her. Cranking up One for All to provide the necessary reaction speed, Deku pivots, letting his fist come at her. It flies past her face; she grabs Six’s arm, then pulls with all of her considerable might.

Normally, she’d throw an opponent to the ground and finish the fight there.

This time, however, she follows through, throwing Six through the air and down the street.

While Six can probably still use Overclock in midair, without anything to push off of, without anything to provide leverage, he's just like any other speedster. Catch them in midair, and all they can do is flail.

Six, suspended upside down in midair halfway down the street, has no way to react.

crack!

Pavement turns to gravel beneath Deku’s feet. She blitzes forward in a rush so fast even Six might not be able to react if he were grounded. Then she cranks One for All up to 100% in one arm.

Lightning follows the arc of her fist through the air, a perfect blow to crush Six and remove this problem - but then all Izumi can think of is Kazuho’s face back then.

“Go ahead. Scream at me,” Deku had said.

She can’t do it. This kind of punch would kill just about anyone, probably even Six.

Deku lets go of One for All.

Six hits the ground and bounces once, twice, almost reaching the end of the street before recovering.

Pain erupts in Deku’s skull and her vision splits in two again. In her left eye, she feels more than sees Six’s fist exploding and taking off her head. In her right eye, she watches as he vanishes from his place at the end of the street and reappears behind her with knuckles primed to explode.

“Weak stuff, there,” Six taunts, “you gotta commit.”

BOOM!

Float twists Deku around in a split second, just in time to bring her fist to Six’s chest and send him flying away. Or it would, in theory. Instead the explosion from Six’s fist sends Deku flying away before her fist can connect with his chest.

Deku catches herself in the air with Float just a few feet away, obscured by the smoke the explosions caused and relatively unharmed. She waits for the smoke to clear, regaining her breath.

Six looks down at his fist that’s rapidly regrowing and says “a high-speed flurry, while my fist was loaded up with bombify, detonation, and regeneration… guess my limit’s three punches in one breath? Though, she was dead after the first one.”

So he has multiple quirks. Deku’s stomach sinks. There’s only one person on the planet capable of something like that. All Might said he was dead.

“Ah. Moyuru and Rapt… why so jumpy, huh? Relax… and wait your turn to die.”

But now isn’t the time to dwell.

Deku sets down and steps forward as the smoke finally clears. The sound draws Six’s attention.

“Wait, for real? How’re you still kickin?” he wonders, rushing her mid sentence with his fist cocked back for another explosive punch.

But Deku’s mind is still split in two. She sees his punch coming before he even takes the first step and lashes out with her own fist. Travelling at just a hair over mach one, Deku’s fist creates a barrier of compressed air that absorbs some of the impact of Six’s explosive punch.

Six’s fist regrows nearly instantly. Deku dodges a feint, then counters the actual blow by redirecting it to the side.

As Six speeds up faster and faster, so does Deku, using more and more of One for All to compensate. Her whole body starts to ache, that deep set feeling that tells her she’s going too far past her limits.

But she can’t afford the alternative.

A burst of speed puts her at a distance from Six, and she takes the opportunity to start leading him away from the hospital.

He leaps after her and goes for another knuckle bomb, but Danger Sense keeps her one step ahead of him.

They ping pong between buildings down the street that way for a while until suddenly Six gets down on all fours and starts crawling much faster than he was running. Izumi hops, twists, holds herself in the air with Float, and fires a series of pressure blasts at Six.

He speeds up even more and all but disappears, reappearing behind her with a knuckle bomb aimed right at her back.

“This time… you’re in midair.”

But the difference is, I can make my own leverage!

Six's fist explodes, but Deku is already gone, pushing up and backwards above the explosion in a backflip that lands her several meters behind Six, now facing toward him.

He turns and pauses, giving Deku a chance to catch her breath. Then he starts stalking toward her cautiously.

He taps a car with his knuckles, setting off an explosion and destroying the car. “See that? My knuckle bomb can send a car to the scrapyard. So how’re you still kicking after taking those hits? Wanna let me in on your secret, Izumi?”

Deku scowls and widens her stance in anticipation of the incoming blows.

Danger Sense splits her mind in two and warns her of what’s to come, but it’s up to her to react in time. The higher she pushes One for All, the faster she’s able to move, the more strain it puts on her body.

This time she knows she can’t move fast enough to dodge the punch to her stomach that will double her over, but with Danger Sense active she can anticipate and counter. The split second before impact, she readies a Delaware Smash, and as Six’s fist slams into her stomach she fires the smash upward into his chin.

★★★

Number Six

Six is knocked out of the acceleration state by a blast of pressure. At first, he can’t tell where it came from, but as he reels back he sees one of Deku’s hands still held as if she were flicking something. She fired back?! No way! Overclock’s speed is unmatched! How’d she interrupt me in my acceleration state?!

“Curious. I believe I see what is happening now. While it’s true that your brain can process thoughts faster than anyone, it seems that her body can act even faster than your thoughts. Now and then, the human body will take action without waiting for a conscious decision to be made. Perhaps some of Izumi Midoriya’s actions fall under that subconscious umbrella? One could downplay this as ad hoc reflexes on her part, but there comes a moment when her moves outstrip your foresight. And there is something… familiar to her quirk, and the way she moves through the air. Could it be…?” The ghostly visage of O’Clock shakes his head, “it’s impossible, or at least improbable. I digress. In the years since you last tangled with her erstwhile master she has grown to become a perfect foil for you. Before, she would only flee and dodge, but as you press harder her tenacity presents itself and she begins to fight back; so long as you continue to press, she will only become more dangerous. Though she has not displayed the same raw strength that makes All Might such a dangerous foe, Deku is still a foe to be avoided.”

★★★

Izumi

Number Six suddenly stops, staring off into the middle distance while Deku takes a quick breather. She barely manages to take a couple deep breaths before he speaks up, clearly not addressing her directly.

“A foe to be avoided? Screw that. You sure got a high opinion of this kid… but I don’t give a damn about the ‘days to come’ or whatever!! Today was s’posed to be MY DAY!! Deku is now target numero uno. My full power is gonna take her down.”

🎵 Demon of Obsession - Number Six

He hunches over, and what originally looked like a costume starts bubbling and shifting with the rest of his body. Six’s face turns long and angular, almost bird- or maybe cat-like, and he gains an extra pair of eyes. His torso elongates and he lurches forward, slamming his hands into the ground as they, too, transform. Large, corded arms with a much wider range of movement end in wicked looking claws made for gripping concrete and prey, while his legs turn more beast-like. Small, smoking pillars grow from his back on either side of his large, now slightly protruding spine, which also extends into a long, thick tail. He grips the concrete with his claws. All in all, he now resembles a big cat more than a human.

“Operation Anonymous… Phase Six. This form’s flesh is fine-tuned for high-speed movement. So you’re about to get a taste of my true speed. Number Six - Hi-Runner!”

Six bursts toward her, somehow even faster than what he was capable of before. Danger Sense only narrowly warns her in time, allowing Deku to jump up and over the first attack, a swipe of Six’s new claws at her legs.

Float pulls her backward at a speed she wasn’t capable of twenty minutes ago; she barely stays in the air as he accelerates after her. As long as he keeps slowing down to attack with his hands, I should be fine, she thinks.

He seems realizes the same thing just before her; instead of slowing down for a claw swipe he speeds up to headbutt her.

When she goes reeling, he swipes at her a dozen times in the space of a single second. It’s only Float and her body armor that keeps her from being kebab’d. She hits the ground hard, and skids for a second before Float pulls her back to her feet.

He’s not slowing down. If anything he’s getting faster. Overclock works based on oxygen use, right? So he should be slowing down.

Belatedly, Deku realizes that that’s what the new form is for. The pillars on his back must be increasing his oxygen intake to the point where he can use Overclock indefinitely.

★★★

Number Six

“Once again, this is ill-advised, Number Six. Imagine the acceleration state as an underwater dive. The deeper you dive, the higher the pressure. Your breathing and vision are hampered. Your body is no more than a liquid-filled sack that grows less and less reliable. Yes, an ordinary body could not begin to cope with this environment. However, those dorsal spiracles allow for more efficient respiration, and the additional eyes increase visual input. Your remodeled skeletal and muscular structures can withstand the violent, crushing pressure. Finally, the long tail doubles as both a propulsive fin and a counterweight to adjust your center of gravity. So, at long last, you can remain in the acceleration state permanently . You can stalk your prey from pockets of time and space they cannot conceive, having become the supreme predator. However, if my suspicions are correct, then Deku’s power is far greater than your own. I’ve encountered it before, a weapon passed down from generation to generation. She has shown quite the skill with this weapon, honed over the years through combat experience and practical application, steadily improving all the while. She is no mere vigilante. She must be the inheritor of One for All.”

Six is getting tired of Master’s monologuing. Who cares about why this little pest can keep up with him?! Six keeps getting faster, but so does she, and it doesn’t matter why she can, it just matters that Six should be able to kill her already!!

He swipes at her again, but she dodges and pops up into the air without pushing off from the ground. She’s not there for long.

Six grabs her leg and pulls her to the ground, but somehow she anticipates this and grabs him back, sending the two of them rolling over top of each other.

“Overcoming her with speed is an uphill battle. Instead, dominate her with another strategy altogether. Such is the purpose of Phase Six. You’re far too fixated on O’Clock’s striking style. Up against an inheritor like Deku, who possesses unparalleled physical prowess and years of practical combat experience, you ought to treat this like a game of chess: plan several moves ahead, rob her of room to evade, and box her into a corner.”

Yes, Master.

Several moves ahead calls for several arms; Six’s arms become more like cheetah legs, while another pair of arms sprouts from his torso, grown in an instant thanks to a combo of bombify and regeneration. Several lumps also grow near Six’s shoulders, all containing active bomber cells. A whole arsenal of grenades, effectively. Instead of regrowing his hands after each knuckle bomb attack, he’ll use these instead.

He lobs them high into the air, and when Deku’s eyes follow those Six throws more at her feet. She reacts too fast and jumps forward out of their blast radius, but that gives Six an opportunity to strike.

When he lunges forward she launches upward, propelled by seemingly nothing. Usually when she jumps she kicks to send a pressure wave in the opposite direction of where she wants to go (Master tells Six that’s how All Might gets around, too). But this is different.

How is she doing that?

It doesn’t really matter, though. If it’s not going to help him kill her, it doesn’t matter. Even so, as she pops up higher into the air Six can see the panic on her face as she floats square into the middle of the midair minefield he created.

BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM

He doesn’t see her, but he knows she gets away by flying higher into the air. He can tell she’s not dead. There’s some pull, deep inside him, telling her that she’s out there. His quirks are reacting to her own.

“Ah. He really has passed it on to her, hasn’t he?”

Six throws another volley of grenades at her.

★★★

Izumi

When Six throws a second wave of explosives at her, Deku switches it up. Instead of a bullet-like blast of air pressure with a Delaware Smash, she uses a Detroit Smash to send a much wider range air pressure blast and send the explosives scattering.

Still, one of the explosives detonates too close to her and knocks her out of the air. Maybe it’s luck, or maybe she subconsciously knew where she was going, but Deku manages to land herself in a pile of trash yet again. Just like Master taught me…

She crawls out of the trash and takes a couple deep breaths. It doesn’t smell great, but it feels good. She looks around. If she goes back up, she’ll probably just run right into Six again. Plus her arm is hurting. Probably not broken, but a ground escape might be better.

She’s forced to make a choice when more bombers show up. She kicks off and sprints as fast as she can, keeping her injured arm close to her chest as she goes. Following close on her heels is a whole mob of mad bombers.

She tries to slip away down an alley, but they’re two steps ahead of her, already lunging at her and starting to explode. She jumps backward and into the main street.

“Woah, what’s Deku up to? Was she flying just a second ago?”
“And what’s blowing up over there?!”

Two civilians stand in the street, dumbstruck. Two bombers are approaching them from behind. Deku grabs hold of Float as tightly as she can and changes direction, shouting “WATCH OUT!!”

She lances past them feet first, kicking one bomber in the chest and sending it flying into the one right behind it, detonating them both at a safe distance from the civilians.

“You folks okay?!”

“Are you okay?! You’re bleeding!” one of the civilians shouts back at her.

“Please take shelter somewhere!” Deku yells at them.

She doesn't stick around long enough to see whether they take her advice or not, ducking into another alley. Sticking to the big streets or the station area is bound to get innocent people hurt. She should be fine now that she’s gotten this far, though. She can escape at top speed and call Toshinori. Call All Might. He’ll come if she calls. He has to. But she needs to get out of range of the signal blocker first.

She'll take a road leading out of the neighborhood. One she knows like the back of her hand. It's a little too close to home, but now that she's gotten this far, it should be fine, right?

Right?

Chapter Text

Number Six

A road leading out of the neighborhood. One she knows like the back of her hand, with little foot traffic, in East Naruhata, passing by her place. All it took was a little shove to make her choose this obvious route, and make her get careless right before the finish line.

“I should be fine now that I’ve gotten this far,” she’s probably thinking, “I can escape at top speed.”

But she isn’t fast enough to outrun a supersonic round.

Piece by piece, Six retrieves the rifle parts he hid inside his body, remolding it to make use of them and locking all his joints to provide a stable stance for turning his body into a sniper rifle.

A sniper’s success depends on a few factors. Planning, calculation, focus. They all require brainpower, which, thanks to his new form providing maximum oxygen intake for extended use of Overclock, Six has in spades.

All his intent, all his bloodlust, poured into a single shot.

He’s about to pull the trigger and rid himself of the pest that is Deku when a fist slams into the side of his skull and knocks him down.

“‘A supersonic shot and she’ll never know what hit her’? ‘No one could ever defend against this’? Was that your train of thought? The one you thought you’d ride to victory?” Again and again, a fist clad in glinting knuckledusters slams into Six’s head, shoulders, body.

Six’s idol, his inspiration, keeps him on the ground with pure violence.

“Well too bad, sucker,” Knuckleduster proudly proclaims, “cuz I’m here.”

★★★

Iwao

Power’s out in the whole district, including the derelict dump where shit is about to go down. Meaning there’s no way up to the roof except the emergency stairs. It’s hell on his busted knee.

He’s been back in town for a while, though it’s not like he’s let anyone know as much. Last time he saw the kind of action he’s about to see was the night of the disaster at the Sky Egg, when he almost succeeded in killing Number Six. He collapsed a whole building on the both of them, but it wasn’t enough to kill either of them.

In a contest of speed that you’re bound to lose, the only way to fight back is with a solid plan. Do some preemptive thinking with your slower brain, and put in a little work to get a few steps ahead. Since he lost his quirk, that’s been Knuckleduster’s whole modus operandi.

He slumps against the edge of the roof and takes a few deep, heavy breaths.

He’s good at that. Breathing.

The blasts are getting closer… guess I made it in time.

Knuckleduster heaves himself around and looks at the roof of the next building over, where experiment number six crouches, waiting for Izumi to pass by. The girl’s speed and strength is a threat to Number Six and the abomination knows it. That’s how Knuckleduster knew he’d circle around ahead of her and set a trap of his own.

A brutal attack Deku would never see coming. That’s the optimal tactic Number Six chose. And it’s why Knuckleduster went with the same exact plan.

While Six’s attention is focused on sniping, there’ll be a moment when his guard is completely down.

The drugs start to kick in, letting Knuckleduster ignore the pain in his leg. He pushes himself up to a standing position on the edge of the roof and leaps, abandoning his crutch behind him as he falls in a perfect arc, one hand held out in front of him, the other fist held back, ready to strike.

The first hit strikes true, knocking Six out of sniper position and down to the ground. Knuckleduster doesn’t hesitate to follow it up with a rapid series of blows.

Guns, drugs, electric shocks, he considered every tactic in the book. But in the end, he decided that the classic knuckle sandwich would be the most reliable. Because if any other type of attack failed to bring down Six in one move, he’d flee the scene and Knuckleduster would miss his chance. But by getting up close and personal, he can lead Six’s train of thought around by the nose.

Knuckleduster pauses his assault for a moment to ask Six “didn’t you have something to say to me?”

Six’s face rapidly morphs from the hideous abomination it was before to the face of Rokuro Nomura. “I- I’m-”

The assault immediately resumes, “no more hard shell? I love it.”

He doesn’t let up on the beating, easier now that Six’s face is squishier, “sorry, you were saying? Go on, I’ll hear you out.”

Six brings his left hand in front of his face to try to hold back the barrage, speaking haltingly at first, “damn… you… why…?” before he gets more confident, “WHY HER? WHY NOT ME?! ALL I EVER WANTED WAS TO BE YOU! TO BECOME YOU!!”

Six’s right hand suddenly comes up, palm pointed at Knuckleduster’s head. There’s a hole in the palm. A gun?

BANG

“You picked the wrong guy to idolize.”

Knuckleduster’s grip on Six’s arm is like a vice. The experiment beneath him clearly underestimated how fast the old man still is, if he thought that shot would connect.

“See, I ain’t worth much,” Knuckleduster says as he resumes his assault, “sure, I was born with a decent quirk and some brains in my head, but all that’s got nothing to do with a man’s true value. If there was anything about me that was worth a damn, I’ve already passed it on to more deserving people.”

Images of the people in question flash through his head.

Tanuma, and all the information Iwao ever gathered about Six and the Villain Factory.
Soga, and Iwao’s ironclad determination.
Izumi and Pop, and Iwao’s heroic spirit.
Even his daughter.

Everything that he was made of, he gave to each of them.

“Sadly, all I’ve got left to give you…” Iwao reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out the detonator for the explosives lining this building, “is my own worthless life.”

Last time, Knuckleduster’s big mistake was underestimating Six’s speed and other physical enhancements. He ended up escaping the collapsed building.

Knuckleduster used a different kind of fuel this time. Instead of pure shock and awe explosive power, it’s all about the flames now. It’ll suck all the oxygen out of the air and make it impossible for Six to catch his breath.

“Plus, I’m sticking around until it’s time to say bye-bye,” Knuckleduster says, still keeping up his barrage of punches to Six’s face, “a little conversation and a few good punches should keep you too occupied to speed away.”

BANG BANG BANG

“Nice going, genius! Monologue much?!” Six exclaims victoriously.

Knuckleduster almost laughs. He coughs up some blood, instead, and slams his fist into Six’s face again. “You sly dog, you did catch me monologuing. ‘Course, I came dressed for the occasion with bulletproof armor. And my usual cocktail of drugs is keeping me on my feet. Sure, you might’ve dented some organs just now, but five more seconds is all I need.

“Five.” Punch.

“Four.” Punch.

“Three.” Punch.

“Two.” Punch.

“One.” Punch. Click.

…

Nothing happens. No explosion, no rush of heat, no violent death and happy afterlife. Just dull shock as Knuckleduster gapes at the detonator. The small LCD display says ‘ERROR’.

“I had a feeling this is what it was,” comes a voice to their side. Soga steps forward. “Which’s why, earlier today when I found those bombs, I disarmed ‘em all.”

“You…” Knuckleduster trails off. He goes cold. So much for his triumphant sacrifice.

“Izumi and the rest of us are putting our asses on the line to keep our people alive… so you don’t get to kick the bucket on our watch, old man.”

Below Knuckleduster, Six laughs maniacally. “WHAT A JOKE!”

BANG

Another gunshot to Knuckleduster’s chest. This one sends him reeling back.

“It’s kinda hilarious, Master! Your whole elaborate plot! Your desperate resolve! A SWING AND A MISS FROM THE GET-GO!! And you, Soga Kugizaki… here’s what you’re thinking…” Six rises from the ground, “‘this jerk’s hurt real bad. His regeneration’s slowed. He can’t speed up again. Now’s my chance to kill him with a headshot.’ But y’see… just as Master’s gotten old and senile, his newest apprentice is a grade-A moron. You go ahead and wave that gun around all you want, but I know you ain’t got the guts to take a life. But me? I’m different. Once I take my next breath, I’ll rip both of you apart in one second flat. Last chance to take your shot. What’s it gonna be?”

Six takes a deep breath, and…

★★★

Izumi

Deku slams into Six’s side and takes him away from the roof. One for All thrums through her veins, letting her ignore the pain in her arm as she carries Six into the sky.

This guy’s as quick as they come and can jump like nobody’s business. But one thing he can’t do is fly. So I gotta drag him outta the neighborhood myself!

She tightens her vice grip around Six’s midsection and changes course once she’s high enough in the air. She points them straight toward where she knows Might Tower is. If she can get closer, it won’t be as long before All Might shows up, right?

“Again and again… it’s always you… Izumi Midoriya!”

BOOM!

Danger Sense warns her what’s about to happen a split second in advance. It’s barely enough time to fling Six away from her, though she still takes some damage from the blast.

When the smoke clears, all that’s left of Six appears to be a burning skeletal body. It floats there, in the air, for a long second, before it rushes at her with a screech.

Keeping ahold of Float is hard enough, and Danger Sense can’t stay at the forefront of Deku’s perception.

Unfortunately, the villain starts to adapt quickly.

He stretches out his hand with two fingers pointed towards Deku. From the fingers shoot two bullets- no, more like missiles. They track her as she flies; they’re fast, but she’s more maneuverable. Several more zip past her and approach from the front.

Too many for a simple Detroit Smash. Good thing she has more than one trick up her sleeve.

Oklahoma Smash!

It’s a move that All Might actually taught her himself, a technique he uses to get multiple villains off if they try to dogpile him. It’s not quite the same situation, but it still does the trick as the waves of air pressure detonate the explosives that were starting to gather around her.

★★★

Elsewhere

“Entirely unexpected. A body of combusting plasma that is precise and quick. We never realized the bomber cells held this potential. Oh, Number Six… your admiration of Heroes set you on your speedy path. And now… your despair and rage have allowed you to maximize your potential. Exquisite. Intriguing beyond belief. You no longer operate according to my whims. You take flight of your own free will. Truly, the greatest guinea pig a man could ask for.”

The ghostly visage of O’Clock drops his guise. Now that Number Six is so far gone, there’s no point in maintaining the illusion. The heroic costume gives way to a well tailored suit. The helmet O’Clock wore in life gives way to a scarred head with breathing tubes attached.

All for One watches the experiment from the sidelines.

There is something to be said for the connection afforded to him by Six’s own copy of the All for One quirk. Six was, in actuality, a failed experiment, one who was repurposed for something else entirely.

Originally, Six had been the sixth individual that All for One and the good doctor had attempted grafting a copy of the All for One quirk onto. While Six’s copy of All for One would not allow him the most basic function of the quirk, to take other quirks, it did allow for two other things.

The first was the capacity to hold and utilize quirks without overwhelming the body and destroying the mind, arguably the second most important aspect of the quirk aside from the ability to steal quirks.

The second was a greater connection to the original quirk than any other experiment had shown. Even Six’s successors hadn’t been connected to the original All for One so deeply. It was because of this that All for One had been able to guide Six from the shadows for years.

He smiles to himself as he watches Six fight with Deku. How fitting, that All Might’s chosen successor should be killed by All for One’s own creation.

★★★

Izumi

Too many projectiles are chasing her, enough to stop an army. She can’t quite outrun them, and she can’t shoot them all down while she’s outrunning them.

About to run out of breath. Gonna get tagged! No other choice. First, speed up to the max!

Deku pulls hard on One for All for a boost of speed and makes sure she’s far enough ahead before she flips around.

Buy myself distance and height for some literal breathing room.

She takes a deep breath.

Before striking back!

She hangs upside down in the air for what feels like a long, long moment. She flicks with several fingers on both hands.

Delaware Multi-Smash!

They’re imprecise without some kind of support gear to help her aim them, but they do the job well enough. Explosions line the air between Deku and her opponent, giving her time before he can rush after her again.

In the sky with her, Deku sees a helicopter. From the side of the chopper she can just make out a camera guy. That means news of all this is gonna reach beyond Naruhata. The Heroes are gonna show up. All Might will show up. It’s all gonna be fine.

All Izumi has to do right now is keep fighting. Keep this monster occupied.

★★★

Number Six

Deku speeds up, getting far ahead of Six before spinning in the air and firing back, flicking her fingers to detonate all the missiles Six had sent her way. He almost rushes forward to take advantage of her position, but is stopped short by the voice of his Master. Sort of. The man who molded him into who he is now, All for One, sits casually on the railing of the helicopter filming the battle.

“Whoops… your battle took a turn for the bombastic. I suppose we can call Operation Anonymous a total failure. The party ends here, Number Six. Shall we move to the retrieval phase? Rallying from this setback will take time.”

“No need,” Six says. “Killing her with all the strength I can muster is my one and only goal. My sole desire. My everything.”

“Go on, then. Show me what you’ve got. Show me how brightly your very existence can burn!”

Number Six blitzes toward Deku.

He sends nine missiles out to the sides, zooming past her. As the missiles explode behind her, Six rushes in for a bomb punch.

There’s no way out. She can’t escape, so she has to defend.

Somehow, Deku matches each of Six’s bomb punches with a punch of her own, the shockwaves formed by her supersonic punches cancelling out the explosions of Six’s.

He can tell she’s about to break through and go on the offensive when Six is stopped by an awareness of his legion of Anonymous bombers.

His body of plasma vanishes, leaving behind a cracked skull attached to a spine and ribcage that plummet to the ground far below, where the Anonymous are all gathered in one mass that begins to shift and morph, reaching up and up and up to catch Six’s falling body.

“I see, I see… this is what you meant by mustering all your strength. You bought enough time with the scant power left in your own body to summon the Anon soldiers to the site of your crash landing. All those bomber cells, ready to fuse with you. And then, to detonate .”

As it makes contact with the roiling mass of Anons, they explode.

“Allow me to witness this, Number Six. Your final, shining act! The powerful incarnation you have long desired.”

Number Six is reborn anew.

★★★

Izumi

A fireball almost engulfs Deku completely, but she manages to get out of the way, clinging to a windowsill on a nearby building to catch her breath.

She desperately wants to believe that explosion killed Six and ended this fight, but Danger Sense is still very much active. It warns her a split second before a massive plasma kaiju bursts from the fire.

She pushes off the building at the same time as the kaiju slams its fist into it, sending both her and a spray of debris hurtling down the street. Float keeps her from hitting the ground for a moment, but then the kaiju sends another spray of debris and Deku is forced to the ground.

She feels her skull bounce off the concrete, her vision doubles, and Danger Sense vanishes. Deku gets no warning before a massive piece of concrete slams into her side. She’s not sure if it breaks anything, but it hurts.

Alright, down one arm and some ribs… it’s getting hard to breathe. Concussion’s making it hard to see straight. Gotta get off the road, or these attacks from above are gonna squish me flat!

By some miracle, Izumi keeps an iron grip on Float. She pushes herself away from the kaiju and into a nearby building. A parking garage. She doesn’t have enough energy to go up, so she stays on the ground floor, finding herself leaning against the wall furthest from the entrance. Even if the plasma kaiju figures out where she is, it can’t reach inside.

He doesn’t need to reach inside to kill her, though.

The kaiju’s massive fist slams into the building.

Rubble rains down around Izumi, and she is plunged into darkness.

Can’t see a thing… so dark… body’s hurting bad… losing blood… this might be the one I don’t come back from… I’m sorry, Kazu…

★★★

Elsewhere

Iwao Oguro’s heart stops, and he begins to die.

★★★

Izumi

“Your footwork is sloppy, kid. If you’re gonna save the day, you need to work on that.”

Standing above her, looking the same as the day they met, is Izumi’s Master.

Knuckleduster.

“Master? You’re… how are you here?” Izumi questions, her words slow and slurred from exhaustion.

He smiles.

“Is this… this a ‘life flashing before my eyes’ thing? Curtain call, huh? Must mean one of us is about to go. Probably me…” Izumi mutters, resigned.

“Now what makes you think that?”

Izumi looks up at her Master in confusion. “C’mon. Look at me, I’m beat all to hell, and half of it is my own damn fault. Plus, I just had a building dropped on me! I can’t- I can’t even move!”

“You sure about that? You might be fine and dandy. Give it a try, at least.”

It takes a minute for Izumi to push past the pain in her ribs and arm, but ever so slowly she begins to stand. “It’s all I can do to just stand up, Master… without any support, my arm and my ribs are gonna make it impossible to fight,” Izumi says, shaking her head.

“Support, huh? Why dontcha try wrapping those painful parts with your quirk?”

“My quirk? How do you even know about that? And I can’t just do that, that’s not how One for All works.”

“You sure about that? Give it a try, at least.”

Izumi tries to focus past the lances of pain emanating from her ribs.

There’s something else there, a different kind of pain. It hurts, but she thinks she can hear a voice.

Closing her eyes against the darkness, she listens.

C’mon kid, I gotcha. That’s what One for All is, right? One big support system. Put my quirk to use, and you can make it through.

A voice, and a vision.

A bald man with a leather jacket and a bandolier, wielding whips made of dark energy. He shows her what to do, how to wrap her limbs with it beneath her clothes, how to reinforce herself.

Slowly but surely she ekes out power, pushing Blackwhip out from her hands and pulling it back, back, back. Beneath her gloves, beneath her hoodie, beneath her shirt, a layer of black energy extends and envelopes her limbs. It stretches from her hands, to her chest, up her neck and down her legs.

She doesn’t know how long it takes for her to finish the process.

It feels like forever.

It feels like an instant.

She’s reminded of Cap’s quirk. Deku controls both Blackwhip and Float to raise herself a few inches into the air.

“Banjo… Lariat… thank you…”

“See? You’ve got some serious skill, kid. Next up, escape,” the ghostly visage of Knuckleduster says.

“Easier said than done in this darkness…” Deku gripes.

“True. Just start groping around.”

“What, no more helpful tips or tricks? Something like, ‘search well to find the hidden escape route’?”

“How about ‘find that hidden escape route… or you’re a dead woman’.”

“Not helpful, man!”

Knuckleduster lights a cigarette. Though it illuminates him, it doesn’t illuminate the space around him at all.

“C’mon, you don’t need pointers from me anymore. You’ve been acing this gig all on your own,” he drawls around the cigarette in his mouth.

Deku almost laughs. “On my own? Nah, I had Pop and the rest of the gang. It’s been rough, though, since you went away. I- if I’m being honest, I miss you, Master.”

“Shoulda quit if you hated it so much.”

“Hate it? Nah… maybe sometimes, but- I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

“Besides,” Knuckleduster continues, shaking his head, “I was only around lending you a fist at the very start. After that, you kids used your ingenuity to make it work.”

“Ingenuity? That’s a reach… more like half-assing it on the fly.”

“You’ve honed your body too. And your neck. You got a quirk. A few, actually. I didn’t tell you to hang upside down from the Sky Egg. I didn’t get All Might’s attention for you. That was all you.”

Deku ignores most of that. “I’ve been practicing how to fall right. How to throw a punch. How to take a punch.”

“Attagirl.”

Deku’s hands finally find cold concrete. “Bad news. Dead end, can’t get through. Got any more advice, Master?”

“Not exactly… but hey. You haven’t needed my advice for a while. You've been training your body and your quirk for years now, pushing your max power output and your endurance to the limits and beyond. You don't even know how powerful you are, kid. You don't need any help from me. But just for old times’ sake…”

Knuckleduster steps forward and holds his fist up, presenting his glinting brass knuckles to Izumi.

“You’re gonna take these, and you’re gonna go beat that villain!!”

The building shakes one more time, and everything collapses.

Chapter Text

Number Six

Several minutes ago…

Six is reborn anew.

His Master, All for One, watches on from a distance.

“What a sight. A portrait of hell itself. Stacked up like so much kindling, the Anon troops and their bomber cells are now combusting. The entire faceless army has become an offering at the altar to summon a single transcendent being. Number Six… is this how you envision your ideal world? Is this your concept of a true Hero?”

From within the fireball, Six emerges in a new form.

Deku clings to a building, and Six swings his massive fist at it, taking out the building and sending Deku flying amongst the rubble.

Somehow she manages to land, injured though she may be. A stomp sends her flying backward.

In the air, another piece of rubble hits her side. She floats off, into a building.

Six watches her go.

“Your hidden target will be trickier to hit underneath a derelict building. I am afraid she is a master of hide-and-seek. The clock is ticking for you, Number Six. What is your next move?”

Six stops to consider. But his Master is right. He’s running out of time.

He’s burning, burning hot, scorching heat and blinding light, no air to breathe. And the same searing pain as the moment he was wreathed in flame, when he was caught in the fight between Deku and Endeavor. But now, his brain is burning hotter than any fire. Overheating beyond belief inside his skull. His own little inferno, burning him away to nothing.

Time to make that internal fire EXPLODE FORTH!!

Number Six - Destruction Style.

The head of the kaiju bursts along with Six’s skull, forming two massive horns made of pure plasma above him.

This is his ultimate form. There’s nothing left after this, he knows.

“Very well. Is this the conclusion you have reached? Much like my old chum… smashing mortal machinations to dust and ash with overwhelming violence. ”

Six slams his fist down onto the building, causing it to crumble. He doesn’t see Deku inside, but he can tell she’s still in there, alive somehow. “Not dead yet… Izumi Midoriya…? Hide all you like… no more half measures from me. I’ll flatten the whole building!”

Six brings both fists down together to finally annihilate his ultimate villain. To finally kill Deku, and bring himself peace as he passes on. But there, standing in the rubble, fist glinting with brass…

★★★

Izumi

She doesn’t know where she got them. But they were in her pocket. Her Master’s knuckledusters. The tools of violence he used so often to pummel his enemies until they stopped moving. And now, away from Kazuho’s watchful eyes, they’re here, on Deku’s fist.

This is it. All those years of running. Of being afraid to fight.

It’s time to stop holding herself back.

It’s time to take action.

Deku stands her ground against the kaiju above her, and as it begins to bring its fist down on her One for All fills her in a way she was never sure she’d achieve. She disappears in a rush with a

CRACK!

as pavement turns to gravel, and she launches herself up and over, guided by her Master.

“Take a closer look,” he says, somehow floating next to her, “his body is a cluster of pure energy. Not something you can deal with in the usual way, but… his real body’s up in the head. And that exposed brain? It’s his weak point, for sure. Introduce that brain to your fist, and knock ‘im dead!”

Deku grits her teeth so hard she’s afraid they might crack, bringing her fist back for a massive Texas Smash.

At the last second, she stops short.

“I can’t!” she shouts back at Knuckleduster.

“It’s kill or be killed, kid, no holding back!”

“But I need to hold back!” Deku yells at him, pushing herself away from Six and evading his attacks. Now that he’s so big he’s started to slow down (if she had time she could do the calculations— she's always been good at physics), giving Deku more room to evade. “What’s your logic, ‘if you gotta murder someone, do it with your fists’? There’s no way that makes it okay!”

★★★

Elsewhere

Kazuho Haneyama has a seizure, and she begins to die.

★★★

Izumi

“Uh-huh, true enough.”

Deku startles and spins around.

There’s Pop★Step, looking just like the day they met.

“Pop?!” Izumi exclaims.

Pop levels her with an unimpressed look. “Why’re you picking a fight with that bruiser, anyway?” She asks, Leaping alongside Deku as she flies low, nearly touching the street.

“I wouldn’t say I picked the fight. He’s got an axe to grind. But there’ll be bigger trouble if he takes his rampage beyond our neighborhood, so I have to keep him here until help arrives.”

“Real noble,” Knuckleduster says, “but you gotta hit back at least a little. Scramble his brains!”

“Maybe without aiming to kill!” Pop shouts.

“But if I fight back… you’re gonna get mad at me.” Deku dodges out of the way of another blow, this time flying up and into the sky. She gets above the kaiju, enough to give her room to breathe.

“That’s your hang up?! Way to make me feel like a gal to be feared!!”

“I’m not scared of you. It’s more like… I don’t want you to hate me…” Deku admits, though her voice strains with effort as she lashes back at Six, taking off an arm— it only buys her a couple seconds before it grows back.

“Idiot…” Pop grumbles. Then, louder, she says, “there’s a difference between me getting mad versus me hating you. There’s nothing you could ever do to make me hate you, Izumi. Never has been, never will be… You know I’ll always love you.”

Deku's heart is so full she feels buoyant. She smiles brightly and lets go of Float, flipping around and falling toward the ground headfirst.

Wind rushes in her ears, and she starts to laugh.

She’s in more danger than she’s ever been in before, she could die at any moment, she should be terrified - but dammit, she’s actually having fun!

As she falls, she rains a flurry of blows down on Six at max power, blasting apart his body. By the time she lands on the street below, buoyed by Float for a safe landing, he’s already regenerated. How her limbs haven't blown off, she's not sure, but she doesn't even care.

“The big guy’s coming back together!” Pop yells to Deku.

Deku grins, nearly feral. “Good. That means I can go all out.”

★★★

Elsewhere

“Izumi Midoriya, aka Deku . I believed her quirk to be nothing more than a simple dual stockpile/emitter type. In a way, I was correct. One for All remains a simple stockpile quirk with the ability to externalize that stockpiled strength, combined with my brother’s ability to pass his own quirk on. Even so, I would not have realized it was that quirk had it not been for Deku using that damnable woman’s quirk. Float . I cannot be certain that it is the same quirk without personal observation, of course, but for it to be anything else would be a true shock. Still. Number Six should have crushed her under that building. How is it that she is still standing? Izumi Midoriya… What drives you? What obsession has spurred you to survive?!”

★★★

Izumi

Deku turns and sprints away, occasionally using Float to bring herself above Six’s attacks, but generally sticking to the ground so that Six has to punch down. While it limits Deku’s mobility, it also drastically limits Six’s own attack options. She’s used this strategy plenty in the past. No reason not to use it now.

“As long as it’s not his real body, I can hit him as hard as I like without worrying, while still buying time!” Deku explains to Knuckleduster and Pop, “so I just gotta avoid dying somehow!”

“Look out for that building!” Pop shouts. Deku uses Float to pop up and over the collapsing building, landing on the roof of another building nearby. Six loses track of her in the spray of debris, giving her a miniscule moment to catch her breath.

“Sticking to the old town was definitely the right move,” Deku says, “this would be a tragedy if it went down near the station!”

“It’ll still be a tragedy if you wind up dead!” Pop, once again, shouts at Deku. “How about running away for real? Like, to safety?!”

“Oddly enough, I’m feeling fine! At the top of my game! Besides, the Heroes are bound to show up sooner rather than later!” Deku responds. It isn’t even a lie. It’s weird, but… she really does feel great.

She takes a deep breath and falls from the building, catching herself halfway down with Float and flying straight toward Six. A Texas Smash blows apart most of Six’s body, but…

“Stay sharp, Izumi, that regen of his is quick!” Pop warns her as Six’s body knits back together near instantly. Another devastating punch rockets toward Deku. “Evade! Dodge! Run for your life!”

Knuckleduster butts in with a scoff, “great way to let him corner you, I say. Wait for your opening and counterattack!”

“Incoming attack!” Pop warns her, again.

This time the attack is coming from the front. Deku jumps up and over Six’s fist, narrowly avoiding being burned to death, and shouts

“TEXAS SMASH!!”

A punch powerful enough to blast apart a whole city block annihilates almost the entirety of Six’s body. Six’s remaining fist slams into Izumi head on. The heat makes her black out.

★★★

Elsewhere

“Unleashing that powerful blow left her open. Even the dogged Deku will not be walking away after eating that nasty counterstrike! No body means no sample to retrieve. One for All may be lost to me forever, now. What a worthwhile experiment, though. So many serendipitous discoveries. Deku’s status as the Ninth, especially. What an eye-opener. Though ultimately, she could not hope to best your tenacity. Congratulations on your victory, Number Six. You will soon lose control of the runaway combustion process. But rest easy, as you burn to nothing. You have shone a glorious light upon my future. Did any kindling ever burn so bright as you?! Number Six!!”

All for One’s triumph is short lived. Below him, below Six, on the street, a trail of blood following her, is Deku. Still alive, somehow. One for All is not lost to him, then.

★★★

Izumi

She should be dead. Six’s counter attack nearly wipes her out.

As it is, the searing heat of the plasma kaiju’s fist destroys her hoodie. Scraps of it burn up and turn to ash before they even hit the ground below her. Deku hits the ground a split second later with a dull thump.

She forces herself to a standing position and peels off the body armor she kept on underneath the hoodie, letting it fall to the ground too. It’s so burnt and warped at this point it’s practically useless.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH”

Truth is, despite how good she was feeling just moments ago, Izumi is on her last legs. Way past her limits. Like, way way past. Nobody would blame her for running away at this point. There's certainly a part of her that would like to.

But… that sound, that bellow, that scream… it sounded like the roar of some mad beast. It’s the kind of howl she usually hears from villains and criminals going wild with their quirks and putting people in danger. The average person would run away.

But when Izumi hears that sound? She’s never been able to sit back. She’s always headed toward the source.

To save the innocent bystanders, sure, that may have been how it started. And for the last couple years, she’s been rushing in looking for a fight.

But tonight… it sounds like Six needs help, too.

It's gonna be okay! Just gotta keep you busy until All Might arrives.

He can help, I'm sure of it.

But until then…

Until then, Six…

I’m here.

I’m still here, with you.

Deku jumps up and back, out of the way of another massive fiery punch. The spray of rubble hits her like sand on a windy beach. Her face is only spared from being sandblasted by her arms crossed in front of her. As it is, her arms will probably have scars after this.

Another punch destroys part of a building, but Deku evades once again, using Float to position herself just above and in front of Six; then she speeds up her punches and sends rapid fire Detroit Smashes, battering apart Six’s body.

Before he can fully recover she pushes backward and goes for altitude, peppering Six with medium power Delaware Smashes as she goes. She lands on the side of a building and kicks off, impacting Six’s body with a Detroit Smash like a lance. His right arm tears off.

For a second, Deku thinks she’s safe. Then, a gigantic hand smacks her out of the air from below. The arm she blasted off already reattached! And now an attack from both sides!

Six claps his hands together, catching Deku between them like a fly. And, just like a fly, she falls. She loses focus, Blackwhip fades, and the damage hits all at once. Float is beyond her grip. With nothing to keep her in the air, Izumi is going to go splat.

“IZUMI!! YOU GOT THIS!!”
“GET THE JOB DONE!!”
“C’MON, IZUMI!!”
“HELL YEAH!!”
“KEEP YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME, DEKU!!”
“SHOW US YOU’VE GOT GUTS!!”

Yu and Miu and all the others scream at her from the streets below. One for All reacts, and Float comes to Izumi’s command easier than breathing.

Nana’s voice, from within, I’ve got you. Keep going. You’re almost there.

Deku’s momentum halts less than half a foot above a rooftop.

“M-Miu!!” she shouts down at them, “you need to evacuate! All of you!!” The battle must have shifted closer to the Marukane department store and the station as they fought. “You’re all in danger!! You need to run!! Forget the cheer squad act!!”

“What’d she say?!”
“Can’t hear ya, kid!”
“We’re rootin’ for ya!”

A sign falls; Deku doesn't need Danger Sense to know she can’t get to it before it hits civilians. But she doesn't need to.

“Hup!!” With a grunt of exertion, the sign is kicked out of the way by one of the Hotta twins. The two of them, along with Takobe and Kamayan, rush into the street and start ushering the civilians out of the way.

Izumi smiles wearily. That's right. She's not alone.

“Listen up, good citizens! You’d better beat it! Samazu and Namimaru, you lead these fine people away from here!” Kamayan commands.

The two younger men comply, using their quirks to lead the helpless bystanders away.

“Hat kid!” Kamayan continues, “get the girlies outta here!”

“O-okay?!” he replies incredulously.

“But we’re here to help, too!”

“Forget it! Just run!” the leader of the Mad Hatters says.

“And you, Deku!” one of the Hotta brothers gets her attention.
“Don’t let that monster near our shop! One busted-up business is enough for a lifetime!”

Deku shoots them an unimpressed look. She’s about to give them some pithy response, but gets interrupted by the news helicopter from earlier. A woman hangs out the side of it with a megaphone and yells down, “attention, citizens of Naruhata! That giant villain is fast, brutal, and a threat to your lives! Evacuate the area and get as far away as possible! I repeat! Get as far away as you can, now!”

Danger Sense, which had been inactive for some time now, suddenly splits Deku’s mind in two. Out of her left eye she sees Six lash out and destroy the helicopter, sending its occupants plummeting to their deaths. From her right eye, she sees Six turn his head and look at the helicopter.

She pulls on One for All hard, accelerating to just short of mach one in a quarter of a second flat.

It’s still not enough.

For all its benefits, Danger Sense can only compensate so much. And in the face of something as quick and deadly as Number Six, it feels almost useless.

Six’s arm turns to a whip of plasma that seems to vaporize the helicopter’s blades and tail, leaving it to drop out of the sky like a stone. The reporter, cameraman, and pilot all jump.

Deku changes course to intercept them, but she still won’t make it in time. She’s going to fail.

But she’s not alone.

A thread, nearly invisible at this distance unless you know what to look for, catches the megaphone. The reporter’s clothes unravel at the back and attach to an overpass, catching her safely. Same for the other two that were in the helicopter. The megaphone is pulled into Best Jeanist’s hand.

“We’ve lost contact with the rest of the city, and now a giant villain is on the rampage. A daunting crisis, to be sure. We can hardly begin to imagine your distress. But I urge you all to take heart, as the thread of hope remains intact.

Because this town still has its Heroes!”

Best Jeanist and the other Heroes work to reassure the civilians and guide the evacuation. Izumi, her job done, collapses. She lets go of Danger Sense, and Float, and One for All, and collapses to the roof below her.

Tears fill her eyes.

She’s not alone.

She held out, and the Heroes arrived, just like she knew they would. Six isn’t defeated, but the civilians are safe. She can rest, just for a moment…

“Eyes on the prize, Deku,” says a voice above her. Eraserhead’s capture weapon thwips out and wraps around her left arm. It was a lot more damaged than she realized until just now.

The capture weapon provides a decent brace, with an extra loop to go around her neck and keep the arm held close to her torso, just like a real sling. He also puts some around her leg, which she had forgotten was hurt at all until she felt Eraser’s capture weapon tighten around it.

“I’ve braced your banged-up limbs, but that relief is only temporary.” Eraserhead stands over her and glares down at her, just far back enough that he’s in the dark, “remember how I told you that you might break some bones if you kept meddling like this?”

“Mhm…” she says, a little bit loopy from the pain and exhaustion.

“You got guts, proving me right,” Eraserhead finishes, taking a step forward into the light and revealing the grin on his face. Izumi’s responding laugh is exhausted and thin, but genuine.

“C’mon,” Eraser beckons, “he’s about to catch up.”

THOOM

That wakes Deku up. She hops up off the roof and grabs hold of Float once again, flying down to street level where Eraser is running.

“The big guy’s definitely after you, so you need to be the bait for a bit longer. I’ll be here to back you up. Too bad for us, but nobody here’s got a quirk that can take him down for good.”

“And you can’t erase his quirk because he’s glowing too bright for you to get visual confirmation, right?” Deku deduces.

“Bingo. Just try not to die until the cavalry shows up,” Eraserhead says, thwipping his capture weapon out ahead of him and using it to pull himself forward for a small speed boost as one of Six’s massive fists slams down into the street behind them. It misses Deku by a solid margin, but the second attack nearly hits her.

She’s saved by Eraserhead’s scarf around her midsection pulling her up toward the roof of a building. Deku counterattacks with several mid-power Delaware Smashes, not enough to injure her fingers but enough to dissipate some of the plasma that makes up Six’s body. They continue like that for another block, accompanied by shouts from people on the streets cheering Deku on.

“Well, aren’t you popular,” Eraserhead says.

“Yeah, and they’re evacuating slower because of it,” Deku shoots back.

Suddenly, Six stops moving.

★★★

Number Six

They’re all there for her. For Deku.

Cheering her on, and telling her to beat him.

To beat the monster.

The villain.

My… my dream. Everything I wanted for myself. All that I wanted to become. It’s all happening… for you…

Fine then. If this is it, then this is it. It’s all over.

Six screams, and his massive body splits at the seams. Dozens of bodiless bombers with forms of pure plasma burst forth, spreading across the city.

The Heroes can’t hope to catch and stop them all, not when All Might isn’t here. Not even Endeavor, the famed Number Two, can stop them all. The Heroes can only do so much.

★★★

Izumi

Like the giant flying bomber villain at the Sky Egg, Six splits and spews forth dozens of bombers. This time, instead of tiny winged forms, they’re all smaller versions of Number Six’s plasma kaiju form. But the way they’re moving, it’s like they don’t have minds of their own, or any sort of goal. They’re just zipping around haphazardly, detonating at random. What about the main body? Where did Six go?

Without warning, Eraserhead dashes off to save some civilians, leaving Deku sitting on the outside sill of a window. She watches pensively, hoping against hope that Six appears again. He needs help. But as she watches she grows more certain he won’t reappear.

In the end, it’s All Might who appears. At first he’s a glint on the horizon (how does he do that?) before becoming a blur through the streets, sending all the bomber villains flying up into the air, all lined up. With a triumphant shout, Endeavor’s “FLASHFIRE FIST: PROMINENCE BURN!!” detonates all the remaining bombers.

And just like that, the day is saved. Izumi Floats herself up to the roof and leans against the ledge heavily, still watching the city below her for signs of Six. She risks a glance at her phone.

It’s past midnight.

It’s her birthday.

Izumi Midoriya turns 22 the night that Number Six dies.

★★★

Number Six

“Of course. Another crisis averted by All Might’s meddling. Leaving that all-too-familiar bitter taste in my mouth. Still, I must commend you for your creativity. Not many could outmaneuver All Might in the eleventh hour. And now, no one can stop you. As of this moment, the world is your oyster, Number Six.”

It’s hard to keep form. It takes all of Six’s focus to maintain it.

“You have seen better days. Like a burned-up corpse that has started walking about. Without enough bomber cells, your combustion ended before completion. But you should still be capable of achieving your final goal. Number Six… your specialty lies in Operation Anonymous. And you made the right move when you dispensed with the plasma body earlier. All Might and the lesser Heroes have dropped their guard, and they are fully convinced that they have survived the awful villain’s suicidal detonations. Once again, you are the invisible man, flitting and weaving into the blind spots of the Heroes and citizenry. Even that monstrous power of yours could not eliminate Deku. But now you can finish the job, and nobody will be the wiser.”

Six weaves through the crowd, a ghost in time. Somehow, Overclock is still active, even though Six doesn’t even have lungs to take in oxygen. His form is empty. A ghost in the shell. He knows where Izumi is, somehow. Nothing makes sense. Only that the end is approaching. He needs to give her something. A gift. He owes her one.

For a moment, back there, he… he felt like a child. Like he was on the playground, alone, and she was the only one to see him. Maybe in another life, they could have done just that.

Found each other on the playground.

Him with his O'Clock toy, she with her All Might toy. They could have been good, together. Maybe he would have been more like her, and then her Master could have been his, too. Instead, he was too much like his real Master.

Then the vision fades, and all that's left behind is the one thing that's real. This… hate.

Six climbs the building to the top and approaches her.

“There she is! You found her! One quick strike from behind will end her life. Be sure to collect her body for me, okay? I am looking forward to taking back my brother’s quirk.”

Six hesitates.

“No delay! Now! Kill her for me!”

No. Not yet. Not until she understands. Not until he makes his mark. His clawed hand comes up to his face as it bubbles and reforms.

“What is this now? You have no need for a face…”

Six steps forward, and calls her name.

★★★

Izumi

“Izumi… Midoriya…”

Izumi whirls around to find Six, body decimated and skeletal, with a face still matching hers. She heaves out a relieved breath.

“Thank god you’re alive. Let’s get you to the hospital, okay? We can both get patched up,” says Izumi.

A feral grin works its way across Six’s face, “too late for that. I’ve got nothing left, see? Arms, legs, organs! Nah, not even a scrap remaining. My quirks’re the only thing holding this form together… like a ghost in a shell…”

Tears start to form in Izumi’s eyes. This can’t be how it ends.

“I’m already dead, okay? Nobody can save me. So your nice-girl act is pretty pointless. Do you get it, hero?”

“It’s not an act, Six! Please, just come with me!” Izumi’s voice is heavy with desperation. This can’t be how it ends.

“Sure, sure. At the end of the day, we ain’t the same. All I want is meaning. Proof I existed, y’know?”

“Please, Six! I can take us both to the hospital and we can get help, this doesn’t have to be how it ends!” Izumi begs, tears welling up in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. This can’t be how it ends.

“A way to make a mark on this world… before I go…” Six’s speech slows down as he runs out of energy.

In a burst he lunges forward in an attack that Izumi can’t dodge. In the same place where Soga once scraped her cheek with his spikes, Six leaves her with a wound much deeper. For a second, she thinks the palm of his hand brushes her cheek. He hops back near the edge of the roof.

“Tagged ya… see? I left a mark. That’ll be a sick scar!” he boasts, then starts laughing.

“No…” Izumi can hardly see past the tears. This can’t be how it ends.

“Every time you glance in a mirror, you’ll remember… the weight of responsibility… the meaning of existence… and the guy you couldn’t save, no matter how hard you tried…”

This is how it ends.

Six jumps.

Izumi pulls on One for All and lunges.

It’s not enough.

What little was left of Six explodes.

Izumi is thrown back by the blast.

Her vision goes dark.

★★★

Number Six

A delay, before all physical sensation shuts off. As it’s obliterated, my brain stretching out my final moment. Drawing on every memory I’ve got in there. Too bad I ain’t got a thing worth remembering. Just a blank slate, no past or future. The only thing that made this all worth it, I’ve passed on now.

But there is something there, isn’t there, Six? Listen.

Wait… hang on… I hear something? A song?

Kazuho Haneyama on the street, singing in front of a crowd, while Nomura helps out in the background.

Why’s this memory sticking out? That wasn’t even the real me. Rokuro Nomura was just an assumed identity, modeled off Izuku Midoriya. A fake. A sham. An imposter playing pretend, not even an honest copy. But that song… was a really nice one. The first time I listened to it, I even… cried…

★★★

Knuckleduster & Pop★Step

“You’re singing for him? Not Izumi?”

“Cuz it’s a song about being stubborn. Hanging in there. Besides, I’d rather just talk normally to Izumi than sing to her…”

“Coulda, woulda, shoulda… but it’s time now.”

“I know.”

We had lots of good times together. So many talks, day after day. But I never told her what really matters. Those chances are the ones that tend to slip away. All I can say as I go is…

“Bye-bye, my hero. Happy birthday…”

Chapter Text

Izumi

Two weeks after the lockdown…

"The investigation and cleanup have barely even begun. The Naruhata Lockdown was a grave affair. It goes without saying that the giant villain caused widespread destruction, but this meticulous and devious scheme to isolate an inner-city neighborhood was a new type of villain tactic that exploited a blind spot in Hero society.

"That night, you were treated as a villain on the run and got caught by Pro Heroes before being dragged into the battle against that mob of villains. You were ordered to leave the scene and be a messenger, but you endured further villain attacks along the way. The Heroes and I were responsible for you throughout all that. Now we’re awaiting our punishment. As a result of your impulsive decision to dive back into battle, Naruhata suffered massive damage…"

Detective Tsukauchi trails off, and Izumi pauses for a second to absorb everything he said, parsing it out and comparing it to the version of events in her head. The only thing he’s wrong about, though she won’t say it to his face, is that the decision to dive back into the fight was impulsive. That's hardly the case: it was necessary.

"I’d say I’m sorry for what I did, and that you’re in trouble because of me, but we both know that would be a lie, Detective," Izumi glares.

He sighs, "the only silver lining is that there were no civilian casualties. I guess we could call that an achievement of yours…"

‘No civilian casualties’ is true. But… "what about the man I was fighting? Did you find his body after he jumped?"

"Our investigation only turned up bits and pieces of him, much like with the other bomber villains. We’ve had trouble identifying him. The strangest part seems to be his quirk - well, quirks, plural. We found no trace of Overclock, though we did find evidence of several other-"

"Excuse me! You really can’t come in here!" Officer Sansa shouts from the door to Izumi’s room, inadvertently cutting Tsukauchi off.

Izumi tenses for a second, expecting the worst; it’s worse than the worst, though. It’s "Captain Celebrity?! What are you doing here?!"

He ignores her, barging in past Officer Sansa, who tries to grab onto him and slow him down, "attention, Japanese police guys! This unjust interrogation of my sidekick needs to end right now!"

Sansa hangs on for dear life as he gets pulled into the room by CC’s bulk. "You know we can’t honor that request! Izumi Midoriya is a material witness to villainous events!"

"I refute that claim! Are you looking to cause an international incident?"

"You have to leave the room, sir!"

"Cap, what the hell are you doing? I’m not your—" Izumi cuts herself off, comprehension suddenly dawning on her. She gets what he’s doing. (That doesn’t mean she likes it, though.)

"It’s okay, Sansa," Tsukauchi says, holding his hand out. "Show yourself, Makoto."

"Well hello to you too, big brother!" Makoto steps into the room. Izumi flushes when Makoto winks at her. "Detective Tsukauchi, are you aware that Izumi Midoriya is employed by Captain Celebrity?"

Captain Celebrity, who leans in close to Izumi and stage whispers without prompting, "remember all those lunches and snacks you ate in the greenroom at Narufest? My agency ponied up the cash for that catering. I was paying you in food. And your exploits at the Sky Egg… let’s say you were on the clock, working for me."

Whispers which are easily heard by everyone in the room. It’s blatant what’s happening, but still… Makoto smiles. "Furthermore, any number of Naruhata locals will happily confirm seeing these two out on patrol together."

"You always were good at this sort of quibbling and hand-waving," the detective says with a frown.

Makoto keeps smiling, "I object to that accusation of ‘quibbling,’ and—"

"Fine. You’ve made your point. All this hot air you’re blowing… is it actually going to benefit her?"

"If she was officially a Hero, my data says she'd have a higher approval rating than most Pro Heroes below the top 20. The Hare of Naruhata has public opinion on her side - it's just a matter of convincing the law to be on her side, too. Until then…" Makoto turns back to Izumi, "our suggestion is for the Captain Celebrity Corporation to provide protection for you, Izumi, and Pop as well."

Izumi perks up. "Pop! How’s she doing?! They keep telling me I can’t see her yet, and they won’t tell me anything about her, not even whether she’s okay!"

"Well… that night, right after that building collapsed on you, she woke up and had a nasty seizure. It affected her brain, and the long coma also left her physically drained. But…" Makoto walks out into the hall, and returns with Kazuho in a wheelchair, wearing what look like pajamas with a blanket over her shoulders, holding a large paper bag in her lap and staring at it. "She was finally ready to get out of bed today."

Izumi can’t help the immediate tears that flood her vision. "Hey," she says through tears and a laugh full of relief, "it’s good to see you!"

Kazuho stays silent, still staring at the bag in her lap. Izumi doesn’t take it personally. She went through a lot - more than Izumi did.

"Kazuho Haneyama," Tsukauchi says, "like many other Instant Villains you were a victim, affected by drugs and the mind-control properties of a villain’s quirk. At least as far as the authorities are confirmed. Once you feel up to it, we’ll have to get a complete statement from you. Just know that we’re not out to prosecute, only to show that both of you are innocent of wrongdoing. For now, just take it easy and focus on recovery."

Izumi does as much of a bow as she can manage while laid up in bed and with a broken arm. "Thank you, Detective. I appreciate all that you’re doing for us both."

"It’s the least I can do," the Detective says, then slips out of the room.

"I think that’s enough for today, Pop. Unless you wanna say anything to Izumi?"

"Don’t push yourself, Kazu. We’re both stuck in the hospital for a while anyway, I’m sure it can wait," Izumi says, shoving her disappointment down. It’s not fair to Pop to be disappointed about this. It’s not her fault. So Izumi will keep it quiet.

Kazuho holds out the bag in her lap for Izumi, "… here…"

Izumi takes the bag from her and opens it with one hand. Folded up neatly at the bottom of the bag is a familiar looking hoodie. Pulling it out and examining it further tells Izumi that it’s "the one hoodie I’m missing… You remembered?"

"Just… had it at home…" she says.

"Thank you, Kazuho. This is… one of the most thoughtful gifts I’ve ever been given," Izumi says, trying not to immediately cry on it. "It’ll make for a great keepsake, since I’m not gonna be wearing these anymore, y’know?"

Izumi’s smile is so wide her eyes close for a moment. In that moment, she misses the way Pop’s face falls. Makoto pipes up, "so you’re hanging up the proverbial cape, then?"

"More or less. I’ve learned my lesson, I think. Might be time to grow up and get serious. Actually do something with my engineering degree," Izumi explains. She waves goodbye as everyone files out of her room, waiting until they’re all gone to let her smile fade. She stares down at the hoodie in her lap.

She’s going to miss it. Sure, it was a mess, and it pissed off Kazuho all the time, but… she saved lives, and the people of Naruhata loved her, and those days were- no, are important to Izumi. Remembering them gives her strength in the face of what she knows comes next. A steady, barely interesting job as an engineer for whatever support company she can con into taking her on. Maybe the kind of job that Kazuho would respect. Something that she wouldn’t look at Izumi with disappointment for having. Something that could support them if they were together.

That’s a dangerous thought.

Even if she was willing to take that risk, there’s no way Kazuho would— well, it’d probably be the proverbial straw. The one thing to finally break their friendship the way Izumi has been afraid of since this all started.

Izumi gets up out of bed gingerly, using Float to avoid putting pressure on her broken right foot. She pulls on the All Might hoodie given to her by Kazuho, and smiles at her lopsided reflection in the mirror. It was fun while it lasted.

Izumi’s pity party of one is suddenly interrupted when Kazuho slams open the door and shouts "IZUMI!!"

Izumi whirls around, face flushed from embarrassment.

"Wh… what’re you doing?" Kazuho questions, a tremor in her voice.

"I- I was staring at the- at the hoodie and I just couldn’t help myself…"

"Are you kidding me?" tears drip from Kazuho’s eye onto the floor and she collapses, unable to hold herself up, "how stupid can one girl be?"

Kazuho lunges from where she is on the floor, still sobbing; Izumi meets her halfway, scooping her up in as tight a hug as she can muster with one arm. She's even tinier in her arms than she was a few weeks ago. "I got you, I got you, I’m here…" she mutters into her hair, resisting the urge to press a kiss to the top of Kazuho's head.

Makoto rushes into the room and kneels next to the two of them. She puts her hand on Izumi’s back. "Izumi, you knucklehead… what happened to learning your lesson?"

"I just had to try it on, okay? Lesson learned, I swear!"

badum

She feels her own heartbeat for just a moment. Startled, she looks into Makoto’s eyes. Makoto, who is also crying happy tears. "You liar!"

With a wet laugh, Izumi tries to bring Makoto into the hug with her broken left arm. It doesn’t work, but Makoto understands and wraps her arms around the two of them.

"Boss!" she shouts, "time for plan B! Get me that contract!"

★★★

Four weeks after the lockdown…

Izumi forgot that Naruhata has a Denny's. It was mostly spared from the destruction caused by Number Six's rampage, so it's a good place to meet. A month out from Nightmare Night, Izumi's arm and leg have both already healed, so she decides to skate there. She stomps, popping her board up into her hand, then pushes through the door with her back. Yagi is hard to miss, even as a civilian. Izumi slides into the booth across from him with a smile, taking off her backpack and putting it down on the seat next to her.

"Izumi, my girl, it's good to see you," Yagi says warmly.

Izumi's smile grows just a bit. "You too, All M— um, Yagi."

"Thank you for coming to meet with me. I wasn't sure you would have a chance, I heard through the grapevine that you'll be moving to the USA."

"Oh, right. I would have told you sooner, but…" Izumi trails off.

Yagi waves his hand in a polite dismissal, "it's alright, young Midoriya. Even if I arrived a little late, I saw how hard you fought to keep your home safe. A little hospital time afterwards is nothing to be ashamed of!"

Izumi's polite laughter doesn't last very long. She opens her mouth to say something, "Something hap-" but is preempted by the waitress coming by to take their orders. Once she's gone again, Izumi clears her throat.

"You were saying?" Yagi asks.

"Something happened during the fight with Six. Well… it actually happened before that, but we haven't talked since before… before Kazuho went missing."

"You've certainly piqued my curiosity," Yagi admits.

"When I was trying to save Kazuho, I- I almost couldn't reach her. I barely made it, but I did. And then when I was trying to get her to safety, I really wasn't going to make it. But… I heard Nana Shimura's voice, telling me that her quirk would help me. And ever since then, I've been able to use Float like… like I was born with it."

Yagi nods thoughtfully. "I suspected as much, when I saw you on the news. Is hers the only quirk you've been able to access?"

Izumi shakes her head, "no," and tells him about her fight with Six and how both Danger Sense and Blackwhip came to her aid. "I don't know if I can still use any of them except Float, since I've been holed up in the hospital. I haven't heard any of them since then, either."

"Hmmm… well, I suppose once you're in America you'll be much safer to try them out, far from the reach of All for One, if he really is still alive," Yagi says with a shudder, "with any luck he wouldn't realize that I've passed One for All on to you, and you'll be safe even here in Japan."

"I was thinking about that, actually," Izumi interjects, now whispering, "in all of the footage, Blackwhip is never visible, and Danger Sense doesn't have a physical manifestation. If— if All for One is really still alive, I… maybe I shouldn't be using Blackwhip in public. You told me that every time someone inherited the quirk before me, he knew because you all experienced a sudden and incredible boost in power, but I- I've been building this up so slow that maybe he— maybe he doesn't know yet."

Yagi hums, thinking for a moment. Eventually he says "I suppose you could continue to use Blackwhip the way you did during your fight, as a reinforcement under your costume. It may help take some of the burden off of your body when using One for All, and learning to use it passively like that could help you with multitasking your other quirks. It only ever manifested as a transformation quirk for me, though, so I wouldn't know much about that sort of thinking the way someone like Hawks or Endeavor might."

Izumi nods. "Maybe I'll talk to one of them when I come back from the US," she says with a wry smile. "Speaking of which, I- I wanted to ask you something else. About… about being a Hero. Before I run off and do it for real."

Yagi takes a sip of his water and nods at her to continue.

Izumi takes a deep breath. Starts speaking and then stopping again. Once, twice. Finally, she gains her voice.

"The… villain that I was fighting. Six. He- I- have you ever failed to save someone, sir?"

Yagi grimaces, maybe partially at her formal address, and looks down for a long moment. Then, finally, he starts speaking, "the HPSC keeps track of a lot of stats, gathered from both third party sources and directly from client agencies. In the case of Might Tower, since we're independent, we have entire teams of specialists for… well, a lot of things. 'How many people a Hero doesn't save' isn't… something we keep track of, officially.

"But- yes, my girl. Of course I have. I can't be everywhere, as much as I wish I could be. While I'm saving a helicopter from crashing on a bridge in Korisato, a man could be crashing his car into a wall in Osaka. Even if I dropped everything, he might already be dead by the time I arrive. There's always someone who needs my help. That's why the Hero Network exists. But… my girl… I've also been meaning to talk to you about something."

Izumi frowns at what he says, knowing he doesn't quite understand, but makes a 'continue' motion with her hand even as the waitress drops off her food and Yagi's soup.

"You'll hear about it on the news soon enough, but… my time as All Might is coming to a close. Now that you have One for All, and now that you've truly proven that you are not only capable, but also willing to wield it as it should be wielded… we're having a press conference next week to announce All Might's retirement."

Izumi goes numb. Everything feels sort of muffled and far away when Yagi tells her "I wanted you to know before you saw it on TV," like that's reassuring. Like that warms up the cold dread she feels in her stomach when she thinks of a world without All Might.

"Oh…" Izumi says quietly, not even noticing the waffles in front of her. "Wow."

★★★

Might Tower Agency Press Conference Transcript

"When I became a Hero, Japan needed a Symbol to repair the damage of the age before, and to reassure the public that someone would always be there for them. Over the years, however, we have grown complacent. I have grown complacent. When there is one Hero you can trust to always save the day, it is easy to forget you can rely on others, both civilian and Hero alike.

Since I started my career as a Hero here in Japan I have faced many threats both in and out of the public eye. I have fought many battles I believed nobody else could. I believed this country needed me to be the Symbol of Peace. And it did. For forty long years now, I have stood as Japan’s Symbol of Peace…

but no longer.

I was All Might. I was the Symbol of Peace. And as of today, I am retired.

While I will no longer be acting as All Might in my official capacity as a Hero, my agency, Might Tower, will remain open and continue to serve the public as it always has.

I urge you not to mourn the loss of your #1 Hero, but to celebrate and uplift those other Heroes who will take my place.

I urge you not to rest your hopes on a single person in my place, but to look to all the Heroes working to keep you safe.

I urge you not to look only to the Heroes, but to rely on your fellow citizens in moments when a Hero isn’t necessary.

I urge you to learn from the mistakes of the past and grow beyond what you ever could have been under my watchful eye.

As Japan steps into this new age, free of the limitations placed on it by All Might, look to your fellow man. Though it pains me, I cannot say I will be watching over you even in retirement; that would undermine the message I want to leave as I depart. What I will say instead, is…

Now… now, it’s your turn."

★★★

Izumi

Five weeks after the lockdown…

She fights with Makoto for a couple weeks about the contract. About moving to New York. Naruhata is her neighborhood. Even if her old apartment building is getting demolished after the Lockdown, Naruhata is still Izumi’s home. She can’t imagine leaving it.

So they come to a compromise.

One year at CC’s agency in New York - long enough to get most of the legal trouble in Japan sorted out - and then she transfers back to Tokyo. Team Idaten has already extended a tender offer. Ingenium - Tensei - tells her himself that he wants her to be one of his sidekicks.

She agrees.

While Izumi’s broken bones take less than a month to heal, Kazuho’s recovery is on a much longer timeline. The hospital says even though they can transfer Kazuho to a hospital in New York that can take over her physical rehabilitation it’ll still be another month or so before they can clear her to fly. But Makoto insists that Izumi has to move to New York sooner rather than later, meaning she and Kazuho will be separated for a little while; in the meanwhile, Izumi spends every available moment with Kazuho.

A few weeks after Izumi signed on to the CCC team sees her sitting curled up in the chair next to Kazuho’s bed, wearing the All Might hoodie Kazuho gave her. The only one she’s missing. It… it smells nice. It smells like…

"Kazuho?"

"Mm?" she grunts in reply, already exhausted after sitting up in bed for a few minutes.

"Is- is this hoodie- is it- did I give you this? Were you… were you the kid I gave it to?"

Kazuho freezes. A bright red blush slowly creeps up her neck, her ears, her face; she hides her face in her hands and, ever so slightly, nods.

"Oh."

"Oh?"

Izumi blushes just like Kazuho, bright red and covering her whole head. Izumi pulls the hoodie tighter around her, hiding her face in the hood, and says "I guess we’re kinda connected more than I thought, huh? My heroic spirit never went to some nameless boy; it went to an already heroic girl…"

Kazuho whispers something that Izumi doesn’t catch. When Izumi tells her so, Kazuho nearly shouts, "I’m not a guy!! Remember!?"

Izumi is confused for a second, sure that she didn’t misgender Kazuho, before she thinks further back. One of their first outings as the Naruhata Vigilantes. When Pop★Step saved Deku from falling to her death, and the interaction that came afterward. Comprehension dawns on Izumi’s face; she stays silent, understanding Kazuho and knowing Kazuho understands her in turn.

"Yeah…" Kazuho says, then goes silent as well.

A few minutes pass in a somewhat uncomfortable silence before Izumi finally breaks it.

"It makes sense, now that I think about it. You barely even batted an eye when I came out to you, you treated me like a girl right off the bat, you were always so good about using the right pronouns, hell, you got so mad when Makoto accidentally outed me to my mom. You’ve been… you’ve understood me better than I thought, this whole time…"

"I was just being nice," Kazuho says petulantly. Then, like an afterthought, "idiot."

"I- I have something I wanna say, but- but- but you gotta promise me- promise me you won’t hate me for it?"

Kazuho’s face softens and she smiles, saying "there’s nothing you could ever do to make me hate you, Izumi. Never has been, never will be. You know I…" she trails off. Those words are familiar. She said them once before, though Izumi isn’t sure she’s even aware of that.

Izumi finishes the statement for her. "I love you."

"WHAT?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!" shouts Kazuho. When Izumi flinches back Kazuho does too. She looks down at her lap, refusing to meet Izumi’s eyes.

"Of course. I don’t know what I expected," Izumi says, fighting to keep the bitterness out of her voice, to cover up her disappointment and heartbreak. With a hollow heart she stands and takes the hoodie off, resting it gently on the bed for Kazuho to keep. A reminder like that wouldn’t be a good thing to keep around.

Before she can take more than a step away, though, Izumi is stopped by a hand grabbing hers and a small voice. "Wait…"

Izumi closes her eyes against the flow of tears and speaks past the lump in her throat. "Please let me go. I don’t want your pity right now. Just… I need to be alone. So just let me leave."

"Please," Kazuho says, tugging on Izumi’s hand. "Stay?"

With a shake of her head Izumi tries to pull her hand from Kazuho’s grip.

She doesn’t have the strength. She lets Kazuho pull her back, lets Kazuho pull her down to sit on the bed, lets Kazuho wrap her arms around her. Izumi clenches her eyes shut and grits her teeth to stop the sobs bubbling up from deep within her. "Please…" she begs, her voice cracking.

"Izumi…" Kazuho whispers. She touches Izumi’s chin gently, turning her head toward Kazuho. "Will you open your eyes?"

Gradually, Izumi obeys.

Kazuho is smiling at her with tears in her eyes, looking happier than Izumi has seen her in a long time.

"I’m sorry. I meant to say that… I love you too… you idiot." Izumi’s mouth hangs open for a long moment, processing what she just heard. Kazuho doesn’t give her the time to process, "can I kiss you?"

Izumi doesn’t bother saying anything, doesn’t even bother nodding; she just leans in.

Their first kiss is nothing like everybody claims; no electricity, no fireworks, no butterflies. It’s awkward, all bumping noses and clacking teeth.

It’s better the second try.

Even better the third.

The fourth.

The fifth.

She can’t help but giggle, Kazuho joining in as well. Izumi cups Kazuho’s cheeks with her hands and peppers her face with little kisses, a murmured "I love you" in between each one.

Eventually Kazuho pulls Izumi back down to kiss her on the lips, "I love you too," and giggles. Still giggling and smiling, she collapses against Izumi and hums contentedly. "Hmm… ‘m tired…"

"That’s okay. You’re still recovering. I’ll leave so you can get some sleep."

Kazuho clings tighter to Izumi. "Will you stay? Please?"

"Of course."

★★★

Only a few days after their confession, Izumi and Kazuho are separated once more - this time with the knowledge that they’ll see each other again soon. Izumi knows that if she doesn’t leave Japan now then Makoto won’t be able to keep her out of the legal trouble that taking part in the Naruhata Lockdown is sure to cause.

She’s said goodbye to Soga and the gang, to everyone at Hoppers, to the whole former Narufest crew. It was basically a tour of the last four years, saying goodbye to everyone whose life she impacted and who impacted her life in turn.

Some were more tear filled than others. Yuu and Miu, for example, cried over it almost their entire visit. And here Izumi thought they hated her guts. Even Tensei shed a few tears.

Nemuri, Yamada, and Aizawa were all too busy with their students to make their way out to Naruhata to say goodbye in person, but she got texts from each of them wishing her luck in the US.

Her last ‘goodbye’ was much more formal, with Detective Tsukauchi. She still had to give a statement about the Lockdown, after all. Afterwards, Tsukauchi gave her the shovel talk about Makoto, as if Izumi was dating her (or even planning on it).

Then she’s on a plane and flying off to America with Makoto.

★★★

Article from The Tokyo Newspaper

"All Might Proves He Is Not Defenseless"

The former Hero All Might was attacked yesterday in a stunning show of power from a villain. According to eyewitness reports, All Might was leaving a local grocery store when the villain, calling herself Venus, attacked. All Might, however, was easily able to subdue the villain. In the aftermath, the former Hero told our reporter on the scene that "just because I’m retired does not mean I’m defenseless. While I may not be an active Hero, I am still licensed, meaning I am authorized to defend myself in circumstances like that. I just hope they’ve learned their lesson." The attack came only a month after All Might’s retirement… read more

★★★

Izumi

Six weeks after the lockdown…

The day she arrives in America, it becomes obvious something is going on with One for All. The ocean of power within her becomes restless, and the vestiges become noisy. She nurses a headache against a wall of indistinct noise in her head and a feeling of restlessness in her chest. It takes her a while to realize what’s going on.

One for All wants to be used, in a way it hasn’t since she received it. Thankfully, it gets the chance sooner rather than later. A few hours after landing, CCC receives a request for assistance with a giant villain on the shore, and Deku is deployed for her first mission as a member of the Captain Celebrity Corporation.

It’s a long and hard battle, leaving Izumi worn down and ready to sleep. She showers quickly to get the grime and blood off of her, then changes into some pajamas.

Her plans are interrupted by a knock on the door. Begrudgingly, not wanting to offend any of her new coworkers, she opens it.

"Izumi…" Makoto starts, trailing off when she sees her. Izumi’s sure she must look worn out. Makoto nods resolutely and pushes her way into Izumi’s quarters, saying "let me make you some tea."

"C’mon in…" Izumi mumbles, then yawns and tries to rub the sleep from her eyes. "Did you… yawn… want something?"

"Just wanted to talk about something, but it can wait," Makoto says, rifling through Izumi’s cupboards to grab a kettle and some sleepytime tea. She thought the cupboards would be empty, but- "they’re not. I made sure they’d have the essentials here for you, since you lost a lot of stuff when they tore your apartment building down."

Said that out loud, did she?

"Yup," Makoto says, popping the P.

Shit.

Makoto giggles. "Your filter really disappears when you’re tired, doesn’t it? Sit down, I’ll bring it to you when it’s ready."

Izumi doesn’t need to think twice about obeying. She finds the couch more comfortable than she expected, sitting and reclining against plush cushions.

Makoto starts humming. It’s different from what Izumi is used to. Kazuho always hums along to some kind of tune, whether it’s a song she’s working on or just something floating through her head. Makoto’s humming is tuneless, just there to fill the space. The gentle sound is relaxing. Not better, not worse, simply different.

Izumi relaxes, until suddenly she’s slipped into sleep without realizing it. And as she falls asleep, she gains a new awareness of what she’s been hearing in the back of her head all day.

"She didn’t pass it on, so how the hell did he get here?!" An unfamiliar voice demands.

"We’ve been over this! How are we supposed to know anything more than you? We are just as out of the loop as you are!"

"Fuck off with your bullshit, Shinomori! Don’t tell me you didn’t-"

"Peace, Kudo," a quiet voice interrupts. "Perhaps we ought ask her? She did just arrive, after all."

There is a room around her, made of concrete. She can hear the sound of waves in the distance. Above her, streaks through the black like lines of glowing crayon. She’s back inside One for All.

Things have changed since the last time she saw the void, however. Ahead of her now are nine thrones arranged in a semi-circle.

One sits at the center, where a woman Izumi knows all too well, Jetstream, looks like a queen sitting in her throne, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees and her hands clasped together. Her head is tilted forward as if in deep concentration, but her eyes are wide open and staring at Izumi from behind her bangs.

To Nana’s left sits something that is less of a man and more of a wildfire contained in human form. It looks like Yagi… like Toshinori.

There’s an empty throne on the far right, but the rest of the thrones are occupied by the vestiges, who are currently arguing amongst themselves, clearly audible for the first time. Banjo, reclining in his seat to the left of Yagi, jumps up the moment he notices her and makes his way over.

"Hey, kid! It’s about time you joined us! We’ve been going crazy for a month now, but Yoichi says you haven’t had enough strength stockpiled to contact us!"

Izumi is confused. All that comes out of her mouth is an astonished "what…?" and all at once she has form; eyes with which to see, a body with which to feel, and a mouth with which to speak.

"Leave her alone, Lariat," Nana commands, unhurriedly standing from her throne and approaching. Despite his seniority over her, he backs off. She puts her hand on Izumi’s shoulder. "Izumi, my dear… we have much to discuss."

She leads Izumi into the middle of the circle of thrones, softly telling her "stay here" and sitting back down in her own throne, this time leaning back.

"What’s this about?" Izumi asks.

Two of the vestiges, Kudo and Bruce, scoff and turn their heads away.

Nana makes an effort not to roll her eyes at them. (She fails.)

She addresses Izumi, instead, "though this is your first time truly meeting us in the void, I know you are aware of who we all are, making introductions unnecessary. So I’ll get right to the reason we’ve been buzzing in your head all day. Recently-"

"It’s cause of me," a shockingly familiar voice interrupts.

He’s not wearing the outfit she associates with him, instead clad in his old Hero costume, but she still recognizes him instantly. Iwao Oguro, aka O’Clock, the High Speed Hero, steps out from behind Nana’s throne.

"Master?!" Izumi shouts incredulously.

"Yeah, it’s me. I’m here," he says. With a burst of inhuman speed he disappears from his spot next to Nana and reappears in the empty throne on the right, sprawled out comfortably. "And we don’t need to bother her with this, I already told you I know what happened. You just won’t listen to me."

"Because you are an intruder!" Kudo growls, leaning forward in his seat aggressively and pointing at O’Clock accusingly, "It’s bad enough we shared her memories with him, but accepting him in and giving him a seat is-"

Nana cuts him off with a shout, "Enough!" Her voice becomes layered, and a shimmer like the air on a truly hot day begins to surround her. "You have spoken on this matter enough, Second! Let us hear from another, instead of your incessant barking!"

Properly cowed, Kudo sits back in his seat. Nana calms herself, and the heat mirage around her dissipates. She gestures wordlessly to O’Clock, and he begins to speak.

"I am not Iwao Oguro, nor am I O’Clock. Those are the names of the man to whom I once belonged. You may call me Overclock."

Overclock goes on to explain what happened from his perspective. Being ripped from O’Clock by All for One, slumbering for what felt like an eternity, then being transferred to Number Six. Six’s obsession with becoming O’Clock. The way he used and abused Overclock. His hatred for Izumi. His resolution right at the end.

"In a twisted way, he was trying to make O’Clock proud, by passing me on to the person he actually chose as his successor. It was the only tender thing he’d ever done," Overclock finishes.

Izumi’s voice is small when she asks "do you… remember me?"

Overclock shakes his head. "Sorry, kid. My memories of being Iwao Oguro end at the moment I was taken from him. But Jetstream here showed me your memories of your time as his apprentice. It’s a safe bet to say he’d be proud of you. I sure am."

★★★

Overclock wants to be used, just like the rest of One for All. She figures that out pretty quickly. It’s almost disobedient, in a strange way, activating on its own in a way that none of the others do. Every time it does, she feels a little bit sick. Like she’s stealing from her Master. She wants nothing more than to give Overclock back to him, but she knows doing so would require giving him all of One for All, and she’s pretty sure the vestiges wouldn’t allow that.

★★★

Two months after the lockdown…

Deku, a month or so into her time in America, saves a plane from crashing. It’s not a simple task, not how the cartoons or comics make it look. She can’t just slam into the underside of the plane and push up, or the whole thing will probably shear in half (if she can move it at all). She has to get up and inside of the wheel well, pushing it forward at first before she can make it go up. It’s enormously heavy, and it takes a decent amount of power, but she manages to get it down in the Hudson river. Luckily planes are designed to float, so she’s not trapped and easily swims out from underneath it. That still leaves her soaked in nasty polluted river water, though.

She shivers as she floats back to shore and sets down next to Captain Celebrity, who turns to her and whispers, "don’t start relaxing yet, the real battle is about to begin!"

From the crowd, one of the gathered reporters shouts in English, "<you’re the CC Corporation’s newest Hero, Deku! Could we get a comment or two?>"

"<You can ask my ward whatever you like!>" Cap replies.

The reporter, who Deku recognizes from other CC rescues as Makoto’s plant in the press, says "<you started out protecting the streets of Naruhata in Japan, so do you intend to continue that good work here in New York->" her question is interrupted by a drunk man rambling and raving.

"<WEEELL, IF IT AIN’T THE HARE OF NARUHATA! How ‘bout you head downtown and smash Wall Street to rubble? Give those fancy-pants, necktie-wearing jackasses what’s coming to ‘em!>"

Deku grew up watching All Might cartoons from America, plus swearing in english is always fun, so she knows almost all of what the guy is saying. Her english is heavily accented, but the message comes across, "<that sounds villainous! I am a hero!>"

In the back of her mind, she can hear the vestiges chuckling.

Her approval rating slowly ticks upward bit by bit for a few days. Then, fittingly enough, a group of villains goes on a rampage on Wall Street. In a calculated move, the agency sends Deku to deal with them; she captures every single one without any civilian injuries and with zero collateral damage. Overclock only activates once, and she only wants to throw up about it a little bit.

She manages to keep it down until she can take a cold shower after the fight. In the locker room, the spray of cold water is like a reset for her nervous system, and the nauseous feeling goes away. Leaning against the porcelain tile of the shower, she slowly turns the knob until the water gets hot.

Once she's clean and dry and clothed, she's almost able to make it into the hallway, where she'd be home free to sneak back into her apartment without any more people. Unfortunately, standing in the entryway blocking her path is Makoto.

"C'mon, Makoto, I just— can't I go relax a little bit before whatever meeting or debrief you need me to attend?"

"Nope!" Makoto says, popping the 'P' and smiling at Izumi innocently.

"If it's a PR meeting, I swear to All Might I'll kick you into the sun, Makoto. Don't test me, I bet I can!" Izumi threatens unseriously.

"Don't make any threats until you see what I'm taking away your alone time for."

★★★

Kazuho

Makoto had arranged the whole thing, as usual. Kazuho was kind of swept up in it, without a whole lot of say. She can't exactly complain, all things considered, but she's not happy about it and she's certainly been letting Makoto know. Loudly. Frequently. In her voicemail, if not on the phone.

Makoto, the perfect princess, has very reasonable explanations for every stupid thing Kazuho has to do before she can see Izumi. Physical therapy before she can even get on a plane, to start with.

But then, eventually, she is on the plane. And after two long flights, exhausted and grouchy, she finally shows up at Captain Celebrity Corporation HQ. She rather begrudgingly accepts help from an attendant who comes over and offers to take her where she's going.

They make polite discussion as the woman pushes Kazuho's wheelchair into the elevators, and all the way up to the 60th floor, where Makoto told her to go and where this attendant seems to already know to go.

The moment the elevator doors open and Kazuho sees Makoto, all her anger dies in her chest. She smiles, "Makoto!" and wheels herself forward giddily. It's been a long month, and Kazuho missed her and Izumi both.

"Pop! You're finally here!"

Kazuho makes a face. "Pop? Well first off, I'm not Pop★Step anymore, so jot that down. And second, we've known each other for years now, Makoto, just call me Kazuho."

Makoto's smile becomes a few degrees more sincere. "Okay. Kazuho, then. You got here just in time, Izumi is in the shower right now, and we have the on-call lounge set up for a surprise party. I know you're tired after those flights, so it's gonna be a quick party. Your stuff arrived safe and sound," she says, and starts walking. Kazuho waves off the attendant and wheels after Makoto, having found her energy again.

Makoto keeps talking, "all your stuff is already in the apartment in boxes, moved in while Deku was out dealing with something on Wall Street - you probably saw that interview the other day, which is why we sent her out. Just really convenient timing, honestly! As for the party itself, you can do as much mingling as you want, but as soon as you give me word I'll have Cap and everyone else move along. I'll leave you at the door, I gotta go make sure Izumi doesn't retreat back to her room right after she showers. See you soon!"

And with that, Hurricane Makoto is swept out to sea once again, leaving Kazuho to wheel herself into the lounge. She makes polite conversation with the few employees in there. A few support personnel, a few sidekicks, even CC and his wife are there.

Some of them Kazuho recognizes from Japan, employees who probably came with Cap when he was on his little PR tour. Even the people she hasn't met know her, even if by reputation alone.

Apparently, Izumi talks about her. A lot. Talks about her girlfriend back in Japan. (Kazuho definitely doesn't blush about that.)

"Ah! They're on their way! Lights out!!" CC shouts. Somebody over by the door hits the lights, and Kazuho just sort of… sits and waits. She can't hide, has to just sit there in the dark like an idiot. She wants to crouch down, to Leap into Izumi's arms the moment she shows up. But if she learned anything in her month and a half of PT it's that she's not ready for that, yet.

A minute later, Kazuho hears Izumi's voice from the other side of the door. "What’s going on, Makoto??" she asks, almost desperately. Kazuho can almost hear the Makoto Smile from here.

The door opens, the lights flick on, and everyone shouts "SURPRISE!!"

Izumi looks astonished for a split second. Her head and her eyes twitch for a second, quicker than natural. Then her eyes settle on Izumi, and Kazuho's stomach bursts into butterflies. A watery smile comes across her face as Izumi floats toward her, angelic and beautiful. "Hey, baby…" she murmurs, and Izumi embraces her. Kazuho buries her head in Izumi's shoulder and lets the happy tears come.

"I thought you weren’t supposed to be here for another week and a half?" Izumi questions through her own happy tears.

Kazuho tries to say something, but it all just comes out as muffled mumbles.

"They discharged her early, said she was doing well enough to go on a plane. She wanted to surprise you," Makoto explains for her. Kazuho nods confirmation into Izumi's shoulder.

Makoto doesn't wait for Kazuho's word. She shuffles the rest of the partygoers out, much to the consternation of Captain Celebrity, who seems put out that they're not paying enough attention to him. Kazuho figures he has a big enough ego already. It can take a couple hits.

The only other person who manages to capture and keep their attention at all is Makoto, who stays with them and doesn't seem bothered at all that they're not paying much attention to her.

"So… where are you going to be staying?" Izumi asks nervously, once it’s just the three of them.

Kazuho quirks an eyebrow, but stays silent as she inclines her head toward Izumi.

Izumi points at herself as if to ask "me?"

"Yes, you idiot, I’m gonna stay with you!" Kazuho shouts, scowling. After a moment she sighs and her shoulders drop, and she says (much calmer but also much less certain), "we’re… girlfriends now, right? So… we should be staying together… shouldn’t we?"

Tears well up in Izumi’s eyes; she chokes out a simple "yeah," before clearing her throat and saying "I’d- um, I’d like that. I’d like that a lot."

She leans forward and hugs Kazuho, who hugs her back happily. After a long, comfortable moment, Izumi leans back. Then, suddenly, she turns to Makoto and asks "is this why I have such a big bed in my quarters?? Did you already know about this??"

Makoto laughs, "who do you think planned it all out?"

★★★

Izumi

Sleeping in the same bed as Kazuho is… well, it’s an adjustment. It takes both of them a while to get used to that part of being in a relationship. Almost every other part of their relationship is more like a return to form than anything else. They’d been all but living together by the time Kazuho got kidnapped by the Villain Factory, so nothing changes on that front, but now…

At first, Izumi is almost afraid to touch Kazuho for fear that she’ll break. It doesn’t take long for Kazuho to disabuse Izumi of that notion, however. It’s a new side of her that Izumi never really saw before, something more direct than she ever thought possible coming from the idol, when Izumi sits down on the couch a safe distance from her and Kazuho decides to take the initiative.

"Kazu-?"

"Shut up," she says, grabbing Izumi’s arm to pull her closer, then sliding until her back is pressed neatly into Izumi’s side.

At first, Izumi doesn’t know what to do with her arm, letting it awkwardly dangle in the air above Kazuho, until Kazuho huffs once and Izumi realizes she wants Izumi to hold her. She lets her arm fall against Kazuho, almost laying across her like a seatbelt which Kazuho immediately wraps her own arms around. She hums happily, and a weight in Izumi's chest evaporates into bubbling, giggling mist.

Kazuho gently tucks her head in against Izumi’s shoulder. Softly, almost unnoticeable at first, she starts to hum.

Izumi sniffles once, twice, and the dam breaks. Quiet tears flow down her face, and she lets out a shuddering breath full of so many things she can hardly name.

"I love you," she whispers.

Kazuho whispers back, "I love you too, idiot."

★★★

Kazuho

She doesn't talk about it. She doesn't ask about it. Neither of them do.

But still. They can't help but… notice things about each other. Things that weren't there before.

Izumi floats everywhere, now. Even when she's walking, it's silent. Always at least a half inch above any given surface. She also talks to herself a lot, and has weird dreams.

She also has some dreams that are… well, nightmares. Kazuho has her own fair share of nightmares too, about getting kidnapped again. About that basement, with all the bodies and… and Number—

"SIX!!" Izumi screams, bolting upright out of a dead sleep. "PLEASE!!" she cries.

Kazuho levers herself up and puts a hand on Izumi's shoulder as gently as possible. She jerks back, her form suddenly cloaked in violent verdant lightning. Her eyes are wild and dangerous, glowing and crackling with electricity and fear. There's a smell like ozone, and the pressure in the room changes. Kazuho swallows thickly, and her ears pop.

"It's just me, baby," Kazuho whispers, fighting to keep the tremble out of her voice, "c'mon, it's okay. He's not here…" she promises herself.

After a long moment, Izumi's arm begins to drop, and the smell of ozone disappears. The air pressure in the room returns to a normal, comfortable level. The room goes dark again. When Kazuho's eyes adjust, Izumi has her own arms wrapped around her midsection, and she's crying.

Kazuho lunges forward as best she can, throwing her arms around Izumi and whispering into her ear. "It's okay, it's okay, he can't hurt us…"

"No…" Izumi murmurs, "you don't understand. He… I couldn't save him. Kazuho, I— I keep seeing him dying in front of me and I can't— I can't stop it! Why won't he stop haunting me…"

Kazuho goes numb. For a long second, she doesn't know how to react. The last thing she wanted to hear was that Izumi tried to save him. After everything, there was a part of Kazuho that - as loathe as she is to admit it - hoped Izumi had gotten revenge for what happened to her, to them.

She sees the next few minutes playing out in her head. Staying silent, going back to bed with a pit in her stomach, awful and disgusting and venomous. Or telling Izumi how she feels, getting angry, sleeping out on the couch but not sleeping at all.

Instead, she swallows her bile and whispers "I'm so sorry, Izumi. You did your best. I know you did. You— you saved me. I love you, baby, and I'm here. It's okay."

She holds Izumi like that for a long time.

This isn't the last time it happens, of course. Not for either of them.

★★★

Video from Shoowaysha Publishing

"Inspiration or Threat? Behind All Might’s Retirement Speech"

Voiceover: It’s been several months since All Might’s retirement, signalling a new era for Japan and, potentially, the entire world. We were able to sit down for an interview to ask him more about his speech, and what he meant by the instantly iconic ‘now it’s your turn.’

All Might, in his skinny form, wearing a well fitted suit, sits across from the interviewer, Chitose Kizuki.

Chitose Kizuki: Thank you for joining me today, All Might. This is your first interview since you announced your retirement, correct? Of all the people who are surely clamoring for an interview, what made you choose me?

All Might: Well, if I’m being completely honest, I didn’t! (he laughs) Though I may be retired, the team at Might Tower is still working with me, and part of that is setting up interviews such as this.

CK: That’s understandable. Surely you’re a busy man, even in retirement.

AM: In a way, yes.

CK: So, what keeps the former Number One Hero busy now that he’s not on call?

AM: When I was the Symbol of Peace I had very little time to myself, always going from crisis to crisis, answering as many calls for help as I could. Now that I’m off the clock, I’m starting to catch up on everything I’ve missed since I became a Hero.

CK: Anything in specific?

AM: Movies, at the moment. Turns out when you’re as busy as I was you miss out on a lot of cultural touchstones.

[...]

CK: One last question. In the time since you gave your retirement speech, what you said at the end has been a topic of fierce debate. Some insist it was pointed toward Hero students, while others believe it was a message for villains. Any insight from the man himself?

AM: Hmmm… I believe that… to explain it would be to rob it of its meaning.

CK: A powerful sentiment. Thank you very much for your time.

★★★

Izumi

Three months after the lockdown…

A little while after Kazuho moves in, Toshinori comes to visit. Just like before, they meet up in a diner. Izumi skates there again, glad for the excuse to travel in such a mundane way. America has much more lax laws about quirk-powered travel, and you can even get a license to use your quirk to get around. There's a guy who swings around on a web that delivers pizza, which isn't something you'd see in Japan. Privately (and to Kazuho), Izumi wonders how that guy keeps the pizzas from getting smashed up when he's swinging around.

She barely even registers her surroundings passing, lost in her thoughts and muttering even as she pushes into the diner and slides into a booth across from Toshinori, who smiles at her. The waitress is very nice and doesn't even ask for All Might's autograph, but a couple of the other customers are clearly staring.

"Young Midoriya! It's good to see you!"

"You too, Yagi. How are you enjoying New York?"

"Well I haven't much, at least not yet. I just got in this morning, flew in from LAX. I had to stop in California first, partly cause that was the schedule of the flight, but also so I could meet up with an old apprentice of mine."

Izumi grins. "Really? Are you cheating on me, All Might?"

Toshinori laughs, a pale imitation of All Might's bellowing laughter but nonetheless much more genuine. "Hardly, my girl! Though I suppose if anything, I was cheating on her with you, to borrow your own words. I met Cathleen Bate when I saved her as a young child, and she reached out when she started working to become a Hero. I've given her some guidance here and there over the years, but certainly nothing like my relationship with you."

Izumi hums for a second. "Cathleen Bate…?" she mutters. Then realization strikes, and her eyes go wide, "Cathleen Bate, like— like Star and Stripe?? The current Number Two with a government contract?!"

Toshinori chuckles much more quietly, "yes, that's her. But enough about that, I'm here to hear about you; I want to know what kind of progress you've made since you moved here."

"Well it's nothing that we haven't talked about over the phone or that you haven't seen on the news, really," Izumi says, half-distracted and lying. She pulls out her phone and double checks the message she got from the CCC staff. Last they checked, this diner was clear of any bugs and the CCTV doesn't have audio. Nobody in the diner seems to be recording them, either, and the chances are low that any of the white people here speak Japanese fluently enough to know what they're saying.

Izumi continues, "okay, I don't think anyone's listening. It's been going well. After that explosive growth I experienced during the fight with Six, One for All has gone back to the way it was before, mostly. Slow, steady growth. Obviously I use Float all the time, and I reinforce with Blackwhip most days, but Danger Sense has gone dormant again. I've been able to visit the… well, we - the vestiges and I, that is - call it the voidscape. There's this… ocean of energy, and somewhere on the surface, somewhere above it, there's this… room. It's made of concrete, and it's crumbling, but there's these seats. These thrones. And the vestiges are there, each one with a throne. But- uh- sometimes instead of dreaming I end up there. Nana and Banjo are the only ones who can talk, most days. And Yoichi, but he's never gone dormant like any of the others."

Toshinori nods, "I suppose that makes sense. Yoichi is the original, and Nana always had a stronger spiritual connection to One for All than most of the other wielders. My connection was mostly physical, hence the transformation. So no more quirks have come to your aid yet?"

"No," Izumi says, shaking her head. "If they do, you'll be the first one to know."

"And you got a new Hero Costume! It looks fantastic, CCC's support department did an incredible job. I'm just surprised they didn't manage to put it in Cap's blue and white!"

"Ha! They actually did, for about a week," Izumi scoffs with a wry smirk, "I put up a fight, but it wasn't until Makoto swooped in that they actually changed it. They managed to spin that blue and white look from my first week as some 'rare look'. Makoto said that when I get more popular I can sell limited edition 'Week One' figures and merch based on that look."

"Smart," Toshinori admits.

Izumi smiles, "she is. She's also the one who suggested making my new respirator metal."

"Ahhhh, the smile respirator! A brilliant way to call back to your roots. Have you managed to do any graffiti here in New York?"

Toshinori sips innocently from his water as Izumi splutters. "I— you— I never— because Kazuho— we just— no, of course not! Not— not many. A couple, maybe. Three or four. Five, at the most."

Toshinori's laugh reminds Izumi of All Might. "Kazuho doesn't approve, then?"

Izumi bravely resists the urge to roll her eyes, "she doesn't want me breaking the law anymore. She wants me to get permission to paint on buildings, but that's kind of missing the whole point of why I do it."

"Being able to use Float must be invaluable. No need for scaffolds or ladders anymore," Toshinori points out, and Izumi nods with a hum.

They talk for a while, in between bites of food or sips of soup. Not all of it is shop talk, but eventually it always comes back around to it.

"If you're still having some trouble with One for All's recoil, I could put you in contact with my old support technician, David Shield. He—"

"Lives on I-Island!! He's one of the best support engineers in the modern world, responsible for a huge number of patents that have become industry standard around the world!"

A smile tugs at Toshinori's lips, "yes, well… I've been speaking with him again recently, after my retirement, and I told him of you. His daughter, Melissa, has a design you might be interested in. She'd like to come by CCC Tower and have you try it out, if you're willing."

Izumi smiles. "Of course! It'd be my honor."

Melissa is only sixteen, but Izumi thinks she might already be more brilliant than her father. After spending a few hours in a lab in CCC Tower, Melissa presents Izumi with a support item to help with the backlash of her quirk, particularly if she can’t rely on Blackwhip for some reason.

Melissa calls it the Full Gauntlet.

★★★

Eighteen months after the lockdown…

At long last, the final lawsuit against Izumi, alias Deku, for her part in the Naruhata Lockdown is dropped. Evidence came forward that she wasn’t the one responsible for it, and in fact had an active hand in mitigating the damage done. An employee of the Hero Public Safety Commission with a technology related quirk managed to piece together CCTV footage from the very few cameras that stayed online during the blackout. Deku can be seen in the footage actively working to keep bystanders safe. They say that without her, people would have died. It's only because of her intervention that there were no civilian casualties.

As soon as they get word of the charges being dropped, Makoto drafts up a whole plan for Deku’s move from Cap’s agency in New York to the Team Idaten agency in Tokyo. Every detail seems to be accounted for, from a press release breaking the news to a plane ticket for Izumi-

"Just me?" Izumi questions, a little bit concerned.

Kazuho’s hand rests on Izumi’s arm, which helps her stay level while Makoto explains, "Kazuho is going to stay here in New York with me for a little while longer. There’s been some trouble with getting her treatment transferred back to Japan that even I’m having trouble sorting out."

When Makoto has trouble getting something done, then you know it’s trouble. "Okay. So just me. What about my-"

"It’ll be sent back with you on the plane."

"But my-"

"Small enough that it can fit with your luggage."

"Shouldn’t I-"

"They’re coming over to your place tomorrow to see you before you leave."

"How did you know that’s what I was going to ask?!"

Makoto winks with a smile, "a girl’s gotta keep some secrets!"

★★★

After a tearful visit from her parents, and an even more tearful goodbye to Kazuho and Makoto, Izumi gets on the plane. She could fly herself there, and it probably wouldn’t even be that difficult, but if she did that she’d arrive way before the plane and therefore way before any of her luggage. So she spends over half a day on one plane after another, finally landing in Tokyo after far too long cramped up in a tin can.

The moment she gets all of her luggage through the door of her new apartment (her old one got demolished after the fight with Six) she digs a green All Might hoodie out, puts on an old respirator, and hits the streets of Naruhata.

People seem pleasantly surprised to have Deku back. She even catches a few people getting up to no good. And this time, now that she’s licensed, she’s actually able to take them down. She’s about to intervene in what seems like a mugging, but something catches her eye. Knuckleduster, leaning against a modified crutch, at the other end of the alley, probably waiting for the perfect dramatic moment to interrupt.

"B-back off! Deku lives around here, you know? Whenever there’s trouble, she’ll come swooping in!" the kid being mugged says.

At least he seems to know she’s back; unlike the mugger (Deku thinks of Soga when she looks at him), who confidently says "you wish, buddy! She’s off playing Hero in America!"

One of his buddies (he reminds Deku of Moyuru), says "and you think she’d give a damn about us shaking you down?"

Sure enough, like Izumi expected, Knuckleduster steps forward. His voice carries down the alleyway, "yeah, she’s gone… you ain’t wrong."

"Who’s- who’s there?!" shouts the other crony (he looks a lot like Rapt, actually).

"Heroes are busy folks," Knuckleduster says, taking the glinting knuckles out of his jacket pocket, "too busy to bother swooping into back alleys. So two-bit wannabe villain trash like you punks think you can run the joint. But nope, it ain’t gonna play out like that. Why, you ask?"

Deku drops down from her perch above the alley and lands behind the victim of the mugging, a teenager in an All Might hoodie. Her landing is loud enough to distract everyone in the alleyway, interrupting Knuckleduster and drawing the muggers’ attention to her.

"‘Cuz I’m here."

"What the fuck?!" yells the lead mugger. He rushes her in a tackle, but it’s about as effective as running headfirst into a brick wall. Deku pushes him back so he lands on his ass and, when he tries to get back up to go for another attempt, puts her foot on his chest, pinning him to the ground.

Between Deku and Knuckleduster, the three idiots go down without much of a struggle. She doesn’t even need to use One for All. Deku finds herself almost wishing they were a bit more powerful, if only so she could show her erstwhile Master how strong she is now.

The kid that was being mugged, a teenager really, wearing an All Might hoodie and carrying what looks to be a yellow backpack just like Deku’s, gushes, "you’re really Deku! I can’t believe you’re here! Why are you wearing your old costume? Did something gross get on your new one? Are you a vigilante again? Did you get your Hero license taken away because of what happened with the giant kaiju? Is this guy your dad? Are you-"

"Hold on, slow down," she interrupts him before he can really get ramped up, "what’s your name, kid?"

"Koichi Haimawari, ma’am!"

★★★

Once they get Haimawari safely back to his mother, Izumi turns to Knuckleduster with a smile, taking down her hood and taking the respirator off her face. He stiffens when she hugs him, but lets it happen.

"You look like shit, old man," she says with a grin.

"And you look like a vigilante, not a Hero. Hell’s up with that?"

"Thought you were dead for the longest time, Master," Izumi says, letting go of him. "Didn’t even realize you were still kicking until the day Six attacked and Soga told me we needed to rescue you. He told me you almost died that night. What happened?"

"God I forgot how much you talk," Knuckleduster grumbles. "Let’s find somewhere to sit and I’ll tell ya."

They go to the same cafe near the station where Deku and Pop★Step met with Samazu and Namimaru the first time. Knuckleduster takes a seat outside, and Izumi goes in and orders for them. Black coffee for KD, green tea for Deku. Once she sits down, Knuckleduster takes a long drink of his scalding hot coffee, grimaces, and thinks for a minute.

Eventually, he starts talking. He tells her about how he used to be the High Speed Hero, O’Clock. He tells her about the Underground Masquerade, where he met a Hero student who went by Tiger Bunny, now known as Mirko. He tells her about his first look at a darker world beyond him, the world belonging to All for One. About the fight with a hooded man with multiple quirks. About winning the fight, but later losing his own quirk. About Queen Bee, his wife, and his daughter. Why he was investigating Trigger when Izumi met him. The fight with Queen Bee, with his daughter, on the night of the first Narufest. His first fight with Number Six, and how they failed to kill each other. His investigative work with Tanuma over the following years. And about his final fight with Number Six. The one that killed him.

"Apparently I went into cardiac arrest after you flew off. My heart was stopped for almost five minutes. I shouldn’t have survived, but Soga says he revived me the same way I revived my little girl. Same exact taser knuckles and everything. Since then I’ve just been doing what I’ve always been doing. Fighting crime. Stepping in where I’m needed," Knuckleduster finishes.

"Shit," is Izumi’s eloquent response. Silence reigns for a few more moments before she speaks up again, "I saw you. During that last fight. I swear, at first I thought it was your ghost there to guide me to the afterlife or something."

Knuckleduster chuckles, but Izumi continues with a smile on her face, "I’m not kidding! I assumed it was the end, but you gave me your knuckledusters and told me to ‘beat that villain’! Next thing I know, the whole building is rubble around me, I’ve got brass knuckles, and you’re flying around next to me like a freakin’ ghost. Weird shit, man."

"Hah, you sure you didn’t get any brain damage from all that? You sound crazier than me, kid."

"Hey, Master? I’m glad we’re alive, too."

He grunts.

"There’s something else, though," she says, grimacing in anticipation of what she’s going to tell him.

Knuckleduster raises an eyebrow, a silent command to "get on with it."

"After the fight was over, Six confronted me on the roof. He gave me this scar to remember him by," she says, touching the scar on her cheek gently, "but he also gave me something else. Somehow he… he gave me Overclock."

To his credit, Knuckleduster barely flinches. It takes a second for a smile to find his face. "Better you than me, with this busted up leg. I know you’ll use it well, Deku."

She can only hope that she’ll live up to his legacy.

★★★

The next day is Izumi’s first day at Team Idaten. She’s barely in the door before she’s accosted by a miniature robotic version of Tensei who demands to know why she’s two minutes late to work, doesn’t she know that Heroes need to be punctual, lives are on the line what if someone was in danger, she should really take this more seriously, after all-

"Tenya!" Tensei yells, "take a breath!"

Mini robot Tensei, Tenya apparently, had in fact not stopped to take a breath the whole time he was ranting at Izumi about being late, and has turned an appropriately blue color.

"I didn’t know you had a brother, Tensei," Izumi says, moving past the kid and into the building proper.

"Yeah, this is-"

"My name is Tenya Iida! I attend Somei Private Academy! You are the hero Deku, correct? It is nice to meet you!" Tenya says, waving his arms around like a robot, "but you really should-"

Tensei interrupts him by putting him in a headlock, then says "she’s a friend, Tenya, I’m sure she has a reason for being two whole minutes late, right?" Tensei doesn’t even struggle when Tenya tries to break free. He smiles at Izumi, who flushes bright red from embarrassment. She decides to not tell him she couldn’t sleep last night because it was the first night in almost a year that Kazuho hadn’t been in the same bed as her. After a year of getting used to someone else’s warmth in your bed, their absence leaves you cold.

"I- um- got stuck in traffic?" Izumi says uncertainly, then with more certainty, "yeah, traffic."

"Do you have a car?" Tensei says, his smile growing. He knows he’s got her, but she won’t give him the satisfaction.

"I rode my bike," Izumi says, starting to frown a little.

"I thought you could fly," Tensei taunts as she opens the door to the locker room.

"Huh? What? I can’t hear you, you’ll have to speak up!" Izumi’s volume raises as she talks until she’s nearly shouting at the end of it, and the locker room door shuts behind her.

★★★

It only takes a couple days for word of her return to spread. She almost cries when Namimaru calls her and tells her to come by Hoppers’ the next evening once she’s done with patrol.

She does cry when she arrives and finds a whole surprise party waiting for her. Basically everyone is there, too, from the old NaruFest gang to Pop’s fanclub to Soga and his crew to a few Pros from the old days, even Master is here, though he’s not wearing a mask. Next to him is a girl maybe a little younger than Izumi. She’s wearing an eyepatch, just like Pop.

Overclock appears somewhere in the periphery of Izumi's vision. His whisper echoes through the voidscape, Tamao…

Izumi raises an eyebrow, but ignores Overclock for the moment while she performs the expected niceties. Smile, laugh, pretend that this isn't exhausting. Eventually the surprise is over and Izumi is free to mingle (and stop masking quite so hard). She makes sure to say hi to everyone and thank them for coming. In the process, she learns what everyone’s up to now.

Some things are the same (a year isn’t a lot of time, after all), but some things are different (a year can be a long time, you know). Teruo is still working at Hoppers’, Samazu is still in college, and Namimaru is still working full time. Yu has a boyfriend now, a pretty plain guy. He seems nice, and they’re clearly very happy together. On the other side of things is Miu, who spends the party being a bit of a… well, at one point Midnight whispers the phrase ‘messy bitch’ into Izumi’s ear and that sticks in her head.

Eventually, Izumi finally finds out who the mystery girl with the eyepatch is. By the time she meets her, the girl is standing with Soga, Rapt, and Moyuru. Soga is the one to introduce them, weirdly. "Yo, Deku. This is Tamao. She’s the old man’s kid. She got stung by that bee, too."

Izumi makes a noise of sympathy, but Tamao waves it off, "it sucked, but as long as I can still sight read music I’ll be just fine."

"You’re a musician?" Izumi asks.

Tamao’s grin could give Izumi’s a run for its money with how bright it is. "Soga didn’t tell you? The four of us," she motions to Soga, Rapt, and Moyuru, "started a band. We’re called Deep Dope."

★★★

Three years after the lockdown...

Izumi arrives at Denny's, the same as every other time they've done this over the past half decade, and slides into the booth across from Toshinori. The last time they talked he had just finished watching all 24 Star Wars movies, and Kazuho had just moved back to Japan (with a very similar 'welcome back' party to Izumi's own).

"My girl, how are you? How is Kazuho?"

"I'm good. She's good. PT is going well; she's had a few days recently where she didn't need her crutches. On the other hand, she's needed her wheelchair a couple times, so I think it all kind of… balances out. How about you?"

"My own physical therapy is actually going quite well. Shuzenji put me in contact with a physical therapist she knows. I'll probably never get my stomach back without some kind of miracle, but maybe it won't hurt so much on a day to day basis if I keep up with those stretches they've given me. But I came to hear about you. Other than her PT, how are things between you and Kazuho?"

"They're… good. I mean, it's not all sunshine and roses all the time. I come home after patrol dead tired most days, and it can get pretty rough when my bad days line up with her bad days. But she's my best friend, and I love her… well, I love her more than I think I've ever loved anyone else. Rough parts and all." As Izumi talks, a small smile stretches across her face.

Toshinori smiles, too. "What about Naomasa's sister? Makoto, right? Naomasa said she might be moving in with you?"

Naomasa? He's on a first name basis with the good detective?

"Um. Makoto is… in and out?" Izumi says, more question than statement. "She lives in New York about half the year, even though Captain Celebrity hasn't been #1 in America for two years. And when she's here she stays with her brother, even though we've told her she can stay with us.

"But that's— that's not what I wanted to talk about. I had a question. I was wondering if you had any advice for someone attempting to open an independent agency."

Toshinori looks confused at the sudden change of topic, but moves on mercifully fast. "You want to be independent?" he asks, "no help from the HPSC?"

"No. I want to be like… like you."

"Hmm," Toshinori hums and considers the question for several minutes. Their food arrives while he thinks, and Izumi starts chowing down on a truly colossal stack of flapjacks.

Eventually, All Might opens his mouth, and Izumi listens intently.

★★★

Six years after the Naruhata Vigilantes formed, three years after Deku's final battle with Six, the You Can Do It Agency opens for business.

When they start out, independent from the Hero Public Safety Commission, it’s only Izumi and three support personnel. One technician for her support gear, one dispatcher to guide her where she needs to go or the police where she’s just been, and one PR person who makes sure her reputation stays positive. They're all personal hires, people that came highly recommended to Izumi.

If her agency was a client of the HPSC, they could handle the whole process for her. That's how a lot of Hero Agencies get their starts, but Izumi is determined to do it herself, like both of her masters before her. It’s a lot more difficult to be a Hero when Deku doesn’t have an entire support system of dozens of sidekicks there to clean up her messes, but just as rewarding.

It takes another few months before they can hire another Hero. The first Hero hired as Izumi’s sidekick is a quirkless woman from the US (Hero name: Null) who was apparently inspired by Izumi’s early career as Deku in Naruhata.

Null does her best to make up for her quirklessness with sheer willpower, but it’s not quite enough. Makoto, during a casual video call with Izumi and Kazuho, suggests they officially register the Dekucycle as a piece of support gear for Null. With the added mobility, Null is almost able to keep up with Deku during patrol (and almost ends up being good enough).

After that, the You Can Do It Agency quickly becomes one of the fastest growing agencies in Japan, adding a new sidekick every couple months over the course of the next two years along with more and more support staff. All without the Commission's help, too. Because of that, people start comparing You Can Do It with Might Tower, and by extension comparing Deku to All Might. She doesn't know whether to be happy about that or terrified.

(Desperate for a familiar face, Izumi asks Soga to get his Hero License and join her Agency as a sidekick a few times, but he always refuses. Just as well. He’s better off doing the kind of work only a vigilante can do.)

The agency outgrows four different office buildings, eventually settling into what was once the Marukane department store building in Naruhata. It hadn’t taken very much damage during the Bee★Pop and Lockdown incidents, but Marukane had given up on it just the same. Naruhata wasn’t a big enough or wealthy enough neighborhood to sustain such a large store.

Eventually, years down the line, they'll add even more floors to the top. But that won't be until after Deku becomes the Number One Hero.

★★★

Hero Billboard Chart JP 2194

Hero Profile - Ranked Hero #38: Deku

Rocketing up from last year’s placement of #196, Deku has seen an unprecedented level of movement and success in the last year, and her agency has helped make Naruhata one of the safest neighborhoods in Tokyo. Predicted to reach the Top Ten within the next five years, Deku is seen by many as the second coming of All Might, dubbed by some experts as Japan’s new Symbol of Hope.

Continue reading…

★★★

Izumi

Six years after the lockdown...

When she’s not working, or when she’s on call but not patrolling, Izumi likes to sit on the roof and watch old Narufest videos. To this day she’s still finding new clips she hasn’t seen yet. They remind her of when things were simpler.

Kazuho finds her there the day before the attack on the USJ and, even though she knows the answer, asks "watching the old Narufest clips?"

Izumi hums an affirmative and pauses the video on her phone. "I found a new clip of your first NaruFest. You all look so young in it…"

"Are you calling me old?!" Kazuho shouts, playfully bopping Izumi on the top of the head.

Izumi laughs and switches to another video, setting the phone down and standing with a wide smile. "I know we’ll never grow old together, cause you’ll never grow old to me~" she starts to sing gently.

Kazuho’s thunderous expression fades to a smile, and she extends a hand to Izumi.

"Dance with me?"

They dance there, floating above the roof, unaware of what is to come.

Chapter Text

Koichi

Koichi loves Heroes. His favorite used to be All Might, but recently that changed. Most days now, he wears a green hoodie adorned with bunny ears.

(his collection of All Might hoodies is still quite formidable, of course)

It’s been a while since that day, when he was twelve years old and Deku swooped down into that alley to save him from some group of jerks trying to steal his metaphorical lunch money. But even before then - back when she’d been a vigilante in Naruhata - he’d looked up to her. He wanted to be just like her, even though his quirk, Slide & Glide, is weak, and hers, Superpower, is strong. She was, in Koichi’s humble estimation, a True Hero. And then…

Then he was in trouble, and scared, and alone, and she swooped in to save him.

He couldn’t stop himself from rambling, "you’re really Deku! I can’t believe you’re here! Why are you wearing your old costume? Did something gross get on your new one? Are you a vigilante again? Did you get your Hero license taken away because of what happened with the giant kaiju? Is this guy your dad? Are you—"

Thankfully, she interrupted him before he could really get going, telling him to "hold on, slow down," then asked him, "what’s your name, kid?"

He shuffled on his feet and adjusted his yellow Deku branded backpack on his back. "Koichi Haimawari, ma’am!" He told her.

Deku smiled at him, wide and reassuring. "Are you here alone, Haimawari?"

"Yes- well, no- well, kinda?" He scratched his head uncertainly, "my mom’s here on a business trip, so I’m exploring on my own…"

"Well you’d better be careful wandering around this neighborhood. There’s all sorts of unsavory characters wandering these mean streets, and we won’t always be around to rescue you. Now let’s get you somewhere a bit safer, and I’ll call someone to pick these guys up," she said, about to walk away.

She couldn’t just leave, though. He needed her to answer a question he’d been asking himself for years. Growing up next to someone that everybody knew would one day become a Hero, he couldn’t help but feel inferior. His quirk is so weak compared to Bakugo’s Explosion, only useful for moving around quickly, and not much more.

So he needed an answer. "Deku… You’re a big hero, right? You saved Naruhata a long time ago and before that your quirk wasn’t very strong and my quirk isn’t very strong and I thought maybe you could tell me whether or not I could ever be a hero with a weak quirk like mine?"

She stopped and turned back to him. The old man huffed and said something under his breath that Koichi didn’t catch, but Deku smiled at him. She asked Koichi what he can do with his quirk and he demonstrated gladly, sliding back and forth around the alleyway. Eventually he stumbled to a stop and stood up, grinning.

Deku gets excited too, taking a step closer and producing a notebook from… somewhere. "Wow! That's incredible! Can you only produce those fields from your hands and feet? How fast can you go? Can you only use it for mobility? What about attacking? Do you need to refuel like Ingenium? What about…"

She keeps going. Koichi's eyes start to swirl, unsure of how to answer all of her questions, or in what order. Eventually she stops, and takes a breath. She shows him a page of her notebook, and Koichi's eyes go even wider. It's… him. In his All Might hoodie. At the top of the page is his name, plus a spot for his Hero name.

"If what you just showed me is all you can do right now, then you probably can't be a Hero." Koichi’s face started to fall. Deku continued, unabated, "But! That's only if you don't train. Quirks are hardly ever one trick ponies, and your quirk seems like it could be extremely versatile. Use that, get creative, and by the time you're old enough to get into UA you'll have the tools to become a great Hero. You know what I mean?"

Koichi’s smile came back. "Yeah! I just gotta dedicate myself to training with my quirk!"

"There ya go! There’s plenty of gyms around here that allow you to use your quirk inside, but if you can’t afford that… well. I’m a Hero, so I can’t officially condone using your quirk in public, especially not to go on a 'jog’ around the trails in the area." Deku winked exaggeratedly. Koichi winked back. They both laughed.

"Now, before I take you back to your parents, could you sign my notebook??"

Koichi, thirteen years old and flattered beyond belief that his personal hero wanted his signature, signed it happily. When he finally saw his Mom again that day he lied to her about what he got up to while she was busy. Said he spent the whole day window shopping. She never even questioned it.

★★★

Growing up next to the amazing Katsuki Bakugo is a challenge. In nearly everything, Koichi comes up short. He’s not as fast, or as strong, or as handsome. And he’ll never be a Hero; even with encouragement from Deku herself, he knows he’ll never be as good as Bakugo.

Still, he tries. He tries and he tries.

(he doesn’t yet know how high he can fly)

When they’re young, Koichi is content to play second fiddle, standing up to Bakugo and getting in the way when he pushes some other unfortunate kid over on the playground. As they get older, however, and their time on the playground gets further in the rearview, their relationship gradually begins to shift.

Bakugo doesn’t believe that Koichi met Deku, of course. He tells the story, but Bakugo scoffs and turns away from him. Koichi crosses his arms and grins triumphantly.

"You’re just mad I met Deku and you didn’t!" he taunts.

Bakugo turns around, expression filled with rage, and launches himself at Koichi with twin explosions. "LIKE I GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THAT THIRD-RATE HERO!!" Bakugo lies.

The grin doesn’t drop from Koichi’s face as he drops to the ground and glides out of his friend’s way.

Bakugo can catch him, hit him, explode him, but as long as his attention is on Koichi, everything is fine. Eventually, the teacher will intervene, but what matters is this moment.

★★★

At Deku's suggestion, Koichi starts jogging on the trails around Korisato, both with his quirk and without. Gradually, over the course of the following years, his endurance improves. He can use his quirk for longer, and he continues getting faster with it. It's slow progress, but steady. The problem he still faces, though, two years after that day in Naruhata, is stopping.

He’s gotten good at using his quirk for all sorts of maneuvers, and he can outpace most people on bikes now, but he doesn’t exactly have brakes. Gloves and elbow pads help to a certain extent, but not enough. Going on a "jog" helps him clear his head and think, but if he can’t figure this out soon, well… all his preparation will be not enough.

Seeing a straight stretch ahead of him, Koichi speeds up. Very quickly, though, he’s stopped by someone. A boy, probably around his age, with metal coming from his calves, holds out a hand and shouts "stop!"

Koichi startles and his eyes go wide, his control over Slide and Glide slipping and sending him careening forward. The other boy shouts unintelligibly and catches Koichi before he can get hurt.

Once Koichi is safe and stable on the ground, the boy smiles at him, saying "my apologies! I didn’t mean to startle you! I merely saw you were using your quirk in a public space and did not want you to get in trouble!"

Returning the smile, Koichi stands, "that makes sense. It’s okay!" and extends his hand, "I’m Koichi Haimawari! You can just call me Koichi."

"My name is Tenya Iida! Pardon my asking, but what are you doing out here using your quirk like that? Is it not dangerous?"

"Well… not really? I’ve only been stopped by a couple heroes and they’ve all just given me a warning, especially since I told them I’m going to be trying for UA in a few years," Koichi explains.

Iida nods thoughtfully, "you are planning on taking the Heroics Program exam, then? I am as well!"

Koichi smiles at Iida and, ever the oblivious one, asks "what’s that sticking out of your legs? Is that your quirk? It looks painful."

"Not at all! You are right, it is my quirk, Engine!" Iida seems to glide right past Koichi’s little faux pas. "Before I stopped you I saw your hands and feet emitting a blue glow. I take it that is your quirk?"

"Yep! It’s called Slide & Glide. Mostly it just lets me slide around like you saw. I can go a bit faster than a bike, but I lose control when I go that fast. It’s like…" Koichi makes a wobbly motion with his hand and grimaces, "no brakes? I was thinking maybe cleats on my gloves, but that’s probably not practical… It’s not super useful right now, but that’s what UA is for, right?"

"I suppose you are correct! Can you only move forward with it?"

"Ah? Nah, I can…" Koichi gets down into the 'creepy crawly’ pose and starts to move, "I can go sideways and backwards, too. I can also spin in place."

Iida continues smiling, though it looks a little stiff, "Fantastic! I still struggle with corners on occasion, so I understand the struggle. May I make an observation?"

Koichi stands up and nods, just happy to interact with someone his own age that isn’t trying to blow him up.

"It seems like it is a problem with how you are using your quirk. You can go in reverse, as you demonstrated. So perhaps instead of letting yourself come to a stop naturally, you could try accelerating in the opposite direction to cancel out your momentum!" Robotic hand motions chopping through the air accompany every sentence out of Iida’s mouth.

Koichi hums in thought before getting back down to the ground and trying what Iida suggested. He builds up a little bit of forward momentum, pushing forward with his quirk, then he angles his hands and feet and quirk so they’re facing forward. Sure enough, Koichi stops on a dime. No more gliding or stumbling.

He stands and beams at Iida, "that old problem! I’ve been struggling with it since I was a kid! And you solved it just like that! Thank you so much!"

"I am glad I could help!" Iida responds, his smile becoming a little less unfamiliar to his face.

A moment passes, and Iida opens his mouth - probably to make an excuse to leave, Koichi thinks - so Koichi, louder than he’d like, blurts out "do you want to be friends!?"

Iida’s eyes go wide, his smile drops, and he leans back a little bit at the volume of it. His smile returns quickly though. "Of course! If you’re also trying for UA, perhaps we could go on some proper quirk-powered jogs at some point? I know a place where we can do so without having to worry about Heroes or police!"

They exchange numbers. Iida texts exactly like he speaks, all proper grammar and punctuation, with fewer contractions than the average person.

★★★

Izumi

Izumi and Kazuho are cuddling on the couch watching random YouTube videos together when Izumi’s phone buzzes. Her right arm is around Kazuho’s shoulders, whose head is tucked under Izumi’s chin. Her phone is a little too far away for her to reach, so a strand of Blackwhip from her left hand picks it up for her and pulls it into her hand where she can see the text waiting for her.

Izumi shifts the phone, showing the text to Kazuho and quietly mumbling "what do you think, babe?"

Kazuho drags her attention away from the TV screen to read the text. "Should be good?" she says after a moment, "I have PT in the afternoon, but I could meet you at Iida’s afterward. Or you could come pick me up, if you’re already done with your patrols for the day. What’s your patrol schedule tomorrow?"

"We’re doing an investigation in the morning, but I should be done by the time you’re finished with PT. I’ll bring the Dekucycle, and we can ride together," Izumi offers. Kazuho groans good-naturedly at the name of the bike, and Izumi smiles down at her. She inclines her head just a bit, pressing a gentle kiss into the crown of Kazuho’s head. Kazuho sighs happily and nuzzles even further into Izumi’s side.

★★★

They don’t have dinner that night.

There’s blood on her knuckles.

There’s a man on his back beneath her, unconscious, and there’s blood on her knuckles.

Someone touches her shoulder, and Deku jerks unconsciously. She whirls around, fist cocked back, green and gold lightning cloaking her figure, a deadly scowl on her face. One punch should be enough.

But it’s not an enemy. It’s Ingenium, and there’s blood on her knuckles.

His voice comes from behind his helmet, "Deku. Enough. They’re down."

"Ten- Ingenium- where’d they go?" she demands.

His helmet bobs, and he says "Enigma and the others are already in pursuit. I’m pulling you from the case. Head back to Idaten and get cleaned up. You’re done."

She stands. She wants to argue. Tell him she needs to finish it. But an hour later when Ingenium gets back she’s still sitting in the locker room, hands clasped together tightly, elbows on her knees, bouncing leg shaking her entire body. There’s still blood on her knuckles.

The normally even-tempered Ingenium rips his helmet off of his head and throws it to the ground. He slams an angry fist into a locker with a loud bang, then rests his head against the cool metal of the locker. He takes a shaky breath in, and out. Then he pushes away from the locker and starts methodically removing his armor a piece at a time.

"He’s alive," he tells her, "he’ll probably be eating through a tube once he wakes up from the coma you put him in, but he’s-"

"I should have-"

He interrupts her with a shout, "SHOULD HAVE WHAT, DEKU?! Should have- should have killed him!? He was a principal witness in this case and the doctors don’t think he’ll ever be able to talk again. You crushed his windpipe, he-!"

"He-"

"SHUT UP AND LISTEN, DEKU!!" Tensei roars.

Izumi cringes, keenly aware of the blood on her knuckles.

"The investigation is over. The kidnappers must have had some kind of getaway planned. Vanished, into a dead end alley. I doubt we’re going to find them. The Tsubasa family will likely never have closure on this," he says, and Izumi’s chest tightens.

Your fault, she tells herself.

Tensei continues, "you’re damn lucky that fight won’t go public. As it is, the Commission is requesting we keep you off of any further kidnapping cases, given your previous history and today’s incident."

As a client agency of the Hero Public Safety Commission, Team Idaten has no choice but to go along with what they say. And if that means Deku doesn't do kidnapping cases, then Deku doesn't do kidnapping cases. Unwilling tears fill Izumi’s eyes, and Tensei softens.

"There’s still other leads to follow up on," he tells her, "but you’re off the case. Clean yourself up, go home, spend time with Kazuho. We can talk about your departure from Idaten later."

Izumi nods, says "okay," and starts getting cleaned up.

She holds Kazuho especially close that night in bed.

★★★

Koichi

Things keep changing. Sometime soon after Koichi meets Iida, one of Bakugo's friends goes missing. Tsubasa was always a bit of a jerk, Koichi thinks, but he didn't deserve to disappear one day and never return.

After All Might's retirement, Bakugo had changed for the worse. He raged for days, for weeks, for months, about how it was bullshit. Like if All Might could lose a fight and have to retire, maybe being like All Might wasn't what Bakugo wanted.

And then Tsubasa goes missing, and something in Bakugo changes again.

He goes from bitter and resentful to determined. Koichi never begs an explanation, but he sees the change. It's impossible not to, in such close proximity. And that's something that's new, too, how close they've become. By all accounts, they're closer than they ever were as children; texting daily, studying regularly, hanging out when they can.

Bakugo isn't, by any reasonable measure, different. He's still rude, loud-spoken, and violent. Insults are, as always, like a second language to him. But since Tsubasa went missing, Bakugo hasn't played the role of bully even once. He and Koichi slowly grow closer as a result.

Eventually, a little more than a year after meeting Tenya Iida, Koichi turns 16 and moves out of his parents’ house. He doesn’t move very far; he still attends Aldera High School with Bakugo, he still has dinner with his parents on a regular basis, and he still meets up with Iida when he can. But he’s been looking forward to being independent like this for a while now.

For Koichi’s mother, it’s a loud affair. She insists on helping him move, which means she spends the whole day judging him on every choice he makes. All her criticisms (and quirk-powered smacks) slide off of Koichi like water off a duck’s back.

For Koichi’s father, it’s a somber affair. He tells Koichi that he’ll miss having him around the house, but doesn’t say much else. He quietly throws himself into assisting with the move.

For Koichi, it’s a joyous affair. He’s been waiting for this day since he was 14 and (theoretically) able to move out. It’s not like he hates his parents or anything, but he’s never felt exactly… comfortable at home. Shoko Haimawari’s Fly Swatter quirk made sure of that.

At the end of a long day of carrying boxes and unpacking, Koichi’s parents leave, and he is finally, blissfully alone. He sits at his new kotatsu and examines his surroundings.

"Bigger than I expected…" he mutters to the empty air, then shrugs to himself. Better than the alternative, but still… lonely.

He pulls out his phone and opens his messages.

Koichi smiles down at his phone. Then, after a moment of indecision, sends off a quick message to Iida as well.

Once that’s taken care of, Koichi starts puttering around the kitchen, gradually throwing together some curry. His parents had been so gracious as to buy him a first round of groceries so he’d have something to eat, but once this stuff runs out he’ll have to pay for it himself.

I don’t get an allowance now that I’m on my own… maybe I should get a job of some kind? he wonders to himself. Yeah! Then I can buy even more All Might hoodies! Oooo, and some Deku merch, too! Her agency opened recently, I’m sure they’ll have a merch line soon…

Koichi is almost finished with the curry when he hears a familiar muffled pop-crack from outside his front door. Immediately after, a similarly familiar muffled voice. Koichi turns the burner down to low and moves over to the door.

He picks up Iida’s voice in the middle of a sentence, "... attempting to enter this domicile by force?! I’ll have you know the person who lives here is a dear friend of mine, and-"

"Who the hell are you?"

"Wh- of course, my apologies. My name is Tenya Iida! I attend the Somei Private Academy in-"

"Don’t care. I ain’t breaking and entering, four-eyes, my friend just moved in here and I’m trying to prove a point. So buzz off."

"You- ah, I believe I understand now. You must be Katsuki Bakugo, correct?"

"Hah?? How the hell’d you know my name, you extra!?"

"I suppose Koichi may not have mentioned me, such things do tend to slip his mind. As I said, my name is Tenya Iida. Koichi and I have been friends for a year now. We-"

Koichi chooses that moment to open the door, startling both of his guests. Bakugo jumps and whirls around, one hand coming up in a threatening gesture. Iida settles for a shocked expression.

"What?" Koichi asks. "I told you the door was unlocked, what’re you still doing out there?"

Bakugo scoffs once in Iida's direction and slouches his way into Koichi's apartment, shouldering him aside when he reaches the door. Iida follows shortly after, mouth still somewhat agape. Unlike Bakugo, he stops at the door to greet Koichi, who waves him in with a smile.

"tch. 'course the only decoration in your whole apartment is some All Might posters and some figures. Take an interior design class, for fuck's sake," Bakugo complains.

"Well he did just move in, did he not?" Iida asks.

Koichi rubs the back of his head and clarifies, "well, yeah, but uhh… this is kinda all the decoration I had in my bedroom when I lived with my parents, too… but hey, I have some bakugan under my bed! I could probably display those too!"

"Cockroach. Please tell me my name in your phone isn't still bakugan."

"It's… not still bakugan," Koichi lies.

A quiet moment passes, Bakugo staring at him with disgust and Iida with confusion.

"I like them… and as for the rest of my decorations, All Might hoodies are expensive!" Koichi declares, moving over to the stove to turn it back up, "oh, curry's almost ready!"

Bakugo's voice adopts a mocking tone, "'curry's almost ready!' Like you didn't just say one of the stupidest things you've ever said. I'm gonna take pictures of your apartment and post it on r/malelivingspaces." True to his word, he takes out his phone and begins snapping pictures.

Iida and Bakugo don't exactly get along. Bakugo pretends not to know Iida's name, and Iida is outrageously outraged. Koichi is just happy to have friends around.

The curry isn't nearly spicy enough for Bakugo, but both Koichi and Iida think it's pleasant. They try to argue that spicier does not automatically mean better, but Bakugo won't hear them. He demands that he make dinner next time, and he'll make it the right amount of spicy.

Koichi agrees, if only because that means Bakugo will be coming over again.

★★★

Soon after, Koichi gets a job. He was hoping that he could get a job as a delivery person for some restaurant, but it turns out that's illegal. Heroes really are the only people allowed to use their quirks in public. Koichi doesn't think that's very fair, but who is he to complain? Instead, he works in a shop. That's it. It's very boring.

Once a week, he visits Bakugo's house and has dinner with his family. His family's dynamic is very familiar to him, but Mitsuki treats Koichi like— well, not like he's her son, because he's seen how she treats her son, but she treats Koichi kindly.

On the other hand, the Iida family is an entirely unfamiliar dynamic from every angle. Both of Iida's parents are kind, loving, and supportive, and welcome Koichi in with open arms. Their support of his dream to go to UA is something he's not quite used to.

The strangest thing about both friends is that, more than once, Koichi opens the door to their home only to find Deku sitting in the living room, or at the kitchen table. Dinner with the Bakugos sees Izumi and Inko Midoriya visiting, while dinner with the Iidas has Deku and Pop★Step in attendance.

The first time, it's weird, and Deku recounts their encounter when he was twelve with a smile and a laugh.

The second time, it's weird, and Koichi takes on the role of storyteller. Katsuki doesn't believe that Deku asked Koichi for his signature, not even when she confirms.

And then it keeps happening. After the third or fourth time, Deku starts to offer Koichi advice and guidance, and even gives him her number. He still doesn't feel like he can call her his mentor, but… he's certain that without her, he wouldn't be getting into UA.

★★★

"Oh. You’re also going for UA, aren’t you Haimawari?" the teacher asks, even though he already knows the answer.

Katsuki looks away and scoffs, but Koichi smiles at the class surrounding him. A chorus of disbelief rings out from classmates who don't know him well. Koichi just leans back in his seat, hands behind his head, and ignores their shouts.

After class, Katsuki stops him. "Why the hell do you let those extras say that shit about you?"

Koichi cocks his head, unsure what Katsuki means. "Huh?"

"You— I— GOD you're such a fucking IDIOT Haimawari!" Katsuki shouts with an aggrieved sigh, immediately stomping off. Koichi goes to follow him, but Katsuki yells "DON'T FUCKING FOLLOW ME YOU FREAK"

Koichi frowns and follows him anyway, which earns him an explosion to the face. He drops to the ground, avoiding the explosion with ease, and glides through the hall next to his friend.

"You look like a freak."

★★★

February 22nd is Koichi's 18th birthday, which also happens to be the day of UA's Entrance Exam.

Iida took the Recommendation Exam two weeks prior, but was passed up for other students. Koichi tries to show the appropriate sympathy, but if anything Iida seems energized by it. He knew his chances of success were low with the Recommendation Exam, but he's not altogether too bothered by the normal exam.

His older brother Tensei told them that they'll be fighting robots just like every other year, and Iida seems confident that he can destroy enough of them to make it through. Koichi isn't so sure about his own chances.

The three meet outside the gates before the exam. Tenya, predictably, is the first one there, which seems to piss off Katsuki, who's walking with Koichi.

"Good morning, friends! Are you ready for the exams?"

Koichi scratches his head, "why did you say that like you were giving exposition?"

Tenya looks confused, but Katsuki huffs a laugh and says "damn, cockroach, that was almost a joke. Now let's get inside before you trip or something."

Koichi, of course, isn't paying attention to his own feet, so it’s no surprise when he accidentally hooks his right foot behind his left and fulfills Katsuki's inadvertent prophecy. He clenches his eyes shut and is about to catch himself with his quirk so he doesn’t break his nose on the concrete when a hand on his shoulder stops him midair. Slide and Glide still activates on instinct, though, and the burst of repulsion energy from his hands sends him floating upward.

"AHHH!" he screams.

"Oh no! I’m so sorry!" a voice exclaims. Before Koichi can get too far away, a gentle hand grabs his ankle and pulls him down to the ground. Koichi slowly opens his eyes and finds a girl with a gravity defying bob of brown hair and permanent blush marks on her cheeks looking at him in concern. "Release! I shouldn’t have used my quirk on you, but it’s bad luck to trip and fall, right?"

Koichi stutters and mixes up his expressions a bit, "thank- thanks for you!"

She giggles and pats him on the shoulder, "good luck on the exam!" before walking off.

"Thanks for you?" Iida repeats in confusion.

"I mixed up 'thanks for that’ and 'thank you’..."

Katsuki's lip curls in disgust, "your social skills are atrocious."

Once Iida is sure Koichi isn’t injured or concussed and Katsuki has finished berating him, they head inside for the entrance exam. They’re separated into different exam rooms for the written portion, but sit together for the presentation before the practical, led by the Voice Hero: Present Mic.

"Welcome, examinees, to UA’s Entrance Exam! CAN I GET A 'HEY’!!"

Koichi is the only one who shouts back, "HEY!!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Katsuki hisses and smacks Koichi on the arm.

"Tough crowd, but that’s cool! I’m here to let you know how the practical portion of this exam is going to play out! ARE YOU READY?! YEAH!!"

Koichi doesn’t respond this time, deciding it's better to not piss Katsuki off right this moment. Present Mic doesn’t seem to mind.

"For this next part, you’ll be conducting ten minute mock battles in super hip urban cityscapes designed by the brilliant minds here at UA! You can bring along whatever support gear you need so long as it’s been approved, and you’ll each be taking a bus to your assigned battlegrounds as soon as we’re done here! During the fight, you’ll be up against three types of fake villains worth one, two, and three points, according to their difficulty! Use your quirks to destroy the villains and earn points! Of course, playing villain and interfering with others is strictly prohibited, so try not to injure your fellow examinees, got it?!"

"MAY I ASK A QUESTION!?"

Koichi didn’t even see Iida stand up, but now that he’s there it’s impossible to ignore him. A spotlight even turns on and illuminates him so that Present Mic can see who’s talking.

Katsuki groans, "great, here goes the robot."

Koichi's eyebrows scrunch and he mutters "isn't that kind of offensive?"

"You have outlined three villains, while the printout we were given shows four! Such a blatant mistake is unbecoming of such a prestigious institution as the acclaimed UA University!"

"Good catch, examinee 7111! The fourth robot is worth zero points, and is really more of an obstacle to be avoided than something you should be fighting. While you can try to fight it, we really don’t recommend it!"

"Thank you, sir! I apologize for the interruption!" Iida shouts back, sitting down next to Koichi, still fuming, "I can’t believe he would miss something like that! If this is truly who is teaching the next generation of Heroes…"

Koichi interrupts him with a whisper, "well, maybe he was about to talk about it before you interrupted him?"

Iida begrudgingly agrees.

"That’s all, folks! Before you go, let me leave you with a taste of our school’s motto, a quote from the famous Napoleon Bonaparte: 'True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life, in whatever shape they may challenge us to combat.’ PLUS ULTRA!!"

★★★

The three friends are separated for the practical portion of the exam, probably to make sure people who knew each other before the exam couldn't team up and work together. It might skew the results, or something. Koichi says goodbye to his friends and files onto the bus leading to his testing area. It's not a long drive to get there.

Once they’re outside of the mock city, Koichi pulls up the zipper of his All Might hoodie and takes a deep breath. He’s been practicing for so long, all for this. He can sweep the robots’ legs, like he practiced. He doesn’t exactly have anything that’s strictly offense, but that’s fine.

Ahead of him, Koichi catches sight of a familiar gravity-defying bob of brown hair. He tries to push through the crowd, but it's too dense and nobody even acknowledges him, let alone moves aside so he can go talk to her.

He's so caught up in trying to reach her that he almost doesn't hear Present Mic scream "BEGIN!!"

For a long second, nobody moves. "What’re you all waiting for," Present Mic’s voice floats down, "THERE’S NO COUNTDOWNS IN REAL LIFE!! GET GOING!!"

Before he knows it, Koichi is down on the ground on all fours and sliding through the crowd, careful not to trip anyone up. This is his time to shine. As soon as he’s in the city, a robot on one wheel bursts through a wall. Stamped on a big shield on its arm is '1’.

"Target locked! Prepare for termination!" a mechanical sounding voice blares from the robot as it charges toward Koichi. Termination?! Is it gonna kill me?! His momentum inverts as he pushes hard with Slide and Glide to switch his forward momentum to backward momentum. As the robot starts to chase him, a sparkling laser beam slices through it, disabling it.

"You make good bait! But I doubt we’ll meet again. Au revoir!" A sparkly blonde boy with a large silver belt around his waist taunts Koichi before jumping up into the air and using his quirk, the laser that disabled the robot, to propel himself away.

Koichi stays crouched there for a moment, stunned. What the hell? Was that kid French? He shakes himself to dispel the confusion, then accelerates again. All the robots around him are already dead, and most of the other examinees are counting off their scores. Some of them already have double digits, and Koichi is still firmly at zero.

He changes course to the outer edge of the city where fewer of the robots would be stationed; it stands to reason that where there are fewer robots there would also be fewer people.

Sure enough, Koichi finds some bots, each isolated from any others, making it much easier for him to trip them up and disable them without outside interference. Stay low and sweep them down at the knees - or tires, whatever - then take down any others that are nearby! It’s clear what he should do… but…

Koichi speeds up and slams into the nearest robot, a one-pointer, expecting to topple and disable it. Instead he slams into it sideways, hurting himself and leaving the one-pointer still standing there unaffected. He groans and holds his side, doing his best not to curl up into a ball right then and there. Instead he stands up. The one-pointer turns to him and declares "terminate!"

★★★

Tenya

"TERMINATE!!" a three-point robot declares, just before Tenya slams into it with a kick, denting the fragile metal and damaging it beyond repair. That's 28. A few more and he should be all but guaranteed a spot in the Heroics Program.

He won't stop there, of course. He'll keep going until time runs out, if he can. He kicks another robot, shearing off its arm. 30 points. These things must not be constructed very sturdily if he can break them this easily. Tensei has equipment that he's allowed Tenya to practice on in the past, and it's always stood up to even his strongest kicks.

The area around him is relatively clear, so he moves on. He's swift, running through the streets, only slowing down for corners and to occasionally kick another robot. By the time he finds another cluster, he's up to 39 points. Down the street, there's almost ten robots all travelling in a group, probably looking for students to attack.

In second gear, Tenya speeds up down the street, switching to third, then fourth, then fifth, his legs clicking with each shift. His speed increases, only his glasses keeping the wind from blurring his eyes. At the last second he jumps and goes parallel, hitting the lead robot, a one-pointer, head on with both heels.

The metal gives way, and Tenya keeps going, hitting a second robot behind the first. This one is worth three points, and after being slowed down by the first robot it stands up to Tenya's attack much better. He kicks off of its body, then lets the engines in his right leg burst, spinning him around for an axe kick that takes the robot's head off. The others finally react, but Tenya's speed is too much for them. They all fall in short order, and by the time Tenya finishes tallying them up there's two minutes left and he has 48 points.

He's about to go searching for more when he hears a voice from somewhere in the distance crying out. Someone needs help. He almost turns and runs away so he can get more points, but he's pulled up short by a thought.

What would Haimawari do?

Tenya steels himself, and runs toward danger.

★★★

Koichi

The bot swipes at Koichi, but he drops to the ground again and activates his quirk, rocketing backward along the pavement.

"Hey! Wait!" the robot shouts, then wheels after him, barely able to keep pace. Koichi hears the sound of metal impacting metal as it runs into another robot; this gets the attention of several nearby robots, and they all begin to give chase too as Koichi runs away.

He’s not exactly proud of it, but when he’d been training for this he… hadn’t considered that he’d need to have actual combat utility. Sweeping the leg would probably work fine on an average person, but on a robot (or someone who’s even a little too sturdy) it’s entirely ineffective.

A robot leaps at him, and he yelps, abruptly shifting his momentum backward, just narrowly avoiding being hit. Luckily, the robot slams into another that had been approaching from Koichi's right, and the two destroy themselves in the process.

He keeps sliding backward, pushing with his quirk to slide between the robots that had been chasing him just seconds ago. Lasers arc through the air and cut brilliant paths above him, while a hard metal shield collides with a softer metal chassis. Threads of glowing blue energy follow all four points of contact with a delay, a mere whisper the only other sign his quirk is active.

By the time he comes out of the crowd on the other side, all the robots have seemingly destroyed each other. He slows to a stop and stands from his crawling stance, looking back at the carnage. Ten robots of different point values are strewn about the street behind him. If they all count as eliminations, he thinks he should have around 20 points. Is that enough to pass?

★★★

Katsuki

No way that damn bug has any points by now. He can't even use his fucking quirk right, always crawling around on the ground like an idiot. Katsuki has broken a sweat (and rightly so) fighting these bots, so there's no way Koichi has even taken down one.

Katsuki blasts a bot to his right and lets the concussive force ripple backward and send him flying, tracking another bot to his left from the corner of his eye. It's a 3-pointer. Tougher than the others. Katsuki whips his head to face the bot, then his torso, aligning both his arms and outstretched palms in front of him to break the robot like a playground toy. The explosion shreds it, and it collapses.

Atop his pile of robot bodies, Katsuki takes a second to breathe, panting and wiping sweat away from his forehead with a forearm. He looks around. The area is pretty clear, most of the bots in this section of the city having been drawn to his own display and subsequently destroyed. Easy.

From further down the street, a voice echoes faintly "stop!"

The response is too faint for him to make out. Something in the back of Katsuki's brain has his feet moving ahead of his brain. He's already halfway down the street when he hears the same voice again, "I didn't know you were fighting it, I prom— AGH!" they cut themselves off with a scream of pain.

Katsuki's hands come up behind him without an ounce of hesitation. The building the voices were coming from is just ahead, not too far with an explosive boost. One explosion in front of him bleeds momentum and he slides to a halt at the door. Inside is a boy, prone. Standing over him is a girl whose arms are made of blades, poised and ready to strike.

"HEY, EXTRA!!" Katsuki screeches, then blasts forward at full power. He covers the gap in a heartbeat, curving his palms to conserve sweat and prevent it from being blown away as he brings his arms forward, "fuck OFF!!"

Blade girl goes flying, twisting around in the air and landing arm-first in the wall. "Fuck!" she growls.

Looking down at the boy on the ground, Katsuki growls "get the fuck out. Go tell the supervisor."

"Y-yeah! Okay!" the kid stutters, then scrambles for the exit.

Blade girl shouts and wrenches her arms free from the wall. "I was gonna pulverize that little punk, fuck you!"

"Oh please, you're just some bully, you're not fucking cool," Katsuki says.

"Fine, then I'll pulverize you instead," Blade girl threatens.

Katsuki rolls his eyes and makes a casual 'come at me' gesture with one hand. "Make my whole fuckin' day."

★★★

Koichi

Koichi is about to go search for more robots in the vain hope of getting more points when he hears a rumbling. He looks down the street toward the center of town where a massive robot, bigger than even the surrounding buildings, rises and begins to rampage.

He wants to run away. He's going to run away. And then he hears her.

"Oww! AH!"

Looking back, Koichi sees her. The girl from outside, the one who saved him from falling flat on his face. One of her legs is trapped beneath the rubble. Koichi almost completely ignores her, almost turns away and runs, sure that UA wouldn’t put the examinees in any actual danger. But then the giant robot grabs her. It lifts her high up in the air, and Koichi’s stomach drops. If she falls… she could die.

I know I don’t have a chance at going pro. I got so few points, there’s no way I can pass the exam.

He moves without thinking. Before he knows it he’s on the side of a building and gaining momentum.

But still…

The Null Pointer drops the girl. She screams, and Koichi moves faster than he ever has before.

If only for a second…

Koichi launches himself from the building. He flies in a perfect arc, still propelled by his quirk, however slight.

I just wanna FLY!

They collide in midair, Koichi wrapping his arms around her as tightly as he can. He didn’t really have much of a choice when it came to his trajectory, so they’re headed straight for the street below. So now instead of dying via pavement impact by herself, at least they’ll die together?

Less than five feet from the pavement Koichi feels all his weight disappear, just like outside before the exam. He pushes with his quirk, and their momentum cancels out barely a foot away from going splat.

"Release!" the girl says, and the two slump to the ground, exhausted.

Once they separate, she smiles at him, a little dazed and ruffled but safe and sound, "Ochako Uraraka, by the way! Thanks for saving me! I can’t really float myself, so…"

Koichi is about to tell her his name in response when he hears the klaxon sound from outside the city alongside Present Mic’s voice, "TIME’S UP!!"

Then that’s it. Koichi feels numb as robots begin guiding students to the exit. Along the way they’re stopped by an old lady in a nurse outfit who kisses Koichi on the cheek. Exhaustion overtakes him, and the ribs he’d only started to notice were hurting in the last few minutes stop hurting completely. Under his breath, he calculates and recalculates how many bots he destroyed. At best, twenty. At worst, fifteen. Either way, not enough.

"I think I did very well, surely enough to make it in," Iida says once the three have met up afterwards, then asks "how about the two of you?"

"No fuckin way I didn't get in, that exam was a piece of cake!" Katsuki boasts.

Koichi tries to stay quiet, stay under the radar, but both of his friends zero in on him and stare until he finally says something. "I don’t think I got enough points, guys… sorry, but I don’t think we’re going to UA together…"

★★★

Izumi

The phone on her desk beeps, and the light for Reception blinks. She sets down her pen and reaches out to the phone set, pressing the button and picking up the handset. "Yes, Ayano?"

"Your 2 o'clock is here to see you. Should I send him up?"

"Yeah, go ahead and send him up. I'm sure he knows the way to my office."

A small voice from the other side of the phone is barely intelligible, "indeed I do!"

"Very well, I'll send him right up."

"Thank you, Ayano," Izumi says, then hangs up. She covers up some of her more sensitive paperwork and puts away a few files she doesn't want this particular guest seeing, and waits patiently.

A few minutes later, a figure she's only ever seen on TV or heard over the phone steps into her office.

"Am I a bear? A dog? A mouse? Well one thing's for sure! I'm UA's Principal Nezu!" he announces, climbing up onto the chair on the other side of Izumi's desk.

"Hello, Principal Nezu. I was surprised when you reached out to me."

Nezu bares his teeth, which Izumi suspects does not translate to a smile for him the way it would for her. "Well I'm not sure why," he says, "you are the legendary Hare of Naruhata, are you not? All Might's own protege, the rising star, this year's #38, the burgeoning Symbol of Hope!"

Izumi blushes, but manages to level him a look. "I get it, you've been keeping tabs on me. Why did you want to meet me, sir?"

"Right to business, then. In two weeks, UA will be performing a rescue exercise at our Unforeseen Simulation Joint on campus. Thursday will be Class 1A with Eraserhead, and Friday will be Class 1B with Vlad King. Both classes will be joined by the rescue specialist Thirteen, along with their Foundational Heroics professor, All Might. In the past we have had Heroes in the top 20 as guests, but this year we are somewhat breaking with tradition and inviting you, you must be very pleased."

Izumi listens intently, already reconfiguring patrols for that day and figuring out which other Agencies might be able to help her cover. Idaten might be able to spare some sidekicks. She'll send him a note on the Hero Network later.

She bares her teeth back at Nezu and hears him hum in something that might be appreciation. "It would be my honor. Out of curiosity, there's a kid who took the exam recently, a Koichi Haimawari. Can you tell me which class he's in?"

Nezu cocks his head. "My, you sound very confident that he made it in. If I may ask, what is your interest in young Haimawari?"

"I saved him when he was younger, just after I returned to Japan. Our lives keep crossing paths, too. I wouldn't quite call myself his mentor but I've been encouraging him as best I can."

Nezu nods, seemingly satisfied. "The boy is in Class 1A, with Eraserhead," he tells her. "He has potential, but I assume you know your friend Eraser's reputation at UA as well; we'll see if the boy makes it past the first day."

Chapter Text

Koichi

A week after the Entrance Exam, Koichi checks his mailbox and finds a strangely thick piece of mail.

Tearing it open along the top, Koichi pulls out what looks like a hockey puck. It’s not exactly common, but Koichi has seen a hologram projector before. He sets it down on his desk and watches in dull amazement as All Might himself presents Koichi’s test results.

"I’m afraid you didn’t get enough villain points to make it into UA’s Heroics Program, young Haimawari. While you made an impressive enough showing, eighteen points is simply not enough to get in. But don’t despair! Take a look at this!"

The scene on the projection changes to an office. On one side of the frame stands Present Mic; on the other is the girl he saved, and who saved him in turn. Uraraka, she told him. To Present Mic she says "excuse me, but… um, that boy in the All Might hoodie? He was kind of weird?" At least she didn’t call him creepy… "Can… can you give him some of my points? He saved me from getting crushed! And before he left he was muttering about not getting enough points! At least give him as many points as he lost when he stopped to save me!"

The projection shifts back to All Might, "luckily for you, young man, the test is not solely graded on how good at combat you are. There are many facets to being a Hero, after all, and a Heroics Program that rejects those who do the right thing is no Heroics Program at all! That’s why, for those brave hopefuls willing to sacrifice potential points to save others, we have… Rescue Points! For Koichi Haimawari’s brave actions, sixty rescue points! And because of her brave actions in turn, forty-five rescue points for Ochako Uraraka!"

Koichi’s jaw drops as they display the overall ranking. Katsuki Bakugo sits at #2, with 70 villain points and 7 rescue points. And just above him at #1, with 78 total points, is Koichi.

"I’m looking forward to seeing you this semester, young Haimawari!"

★★★

He arrived a day earlier than almost everyone else, since he lived close to UA in Korisato. As far as he can tell the only other person moved into the 1A dorms this early is Katsuki, which Koichi only knows because Masaru and Mitsuki made sure to stop by Koichi's room to say hello to him and wish him luck for the school year. Katsuki stands in the doorway with a scowl on his face saying nothing.

(Thankfully Koichi doesn't have to worry about Shoko Haimawari slapping him on the back of the head or otherwise shouting at him within view of his classmates.)

He shakes his head to rid himself of the thought, then turns his mind towards the room assignment chart on the table in the common area. Because of it, Koichi knows Iida and Uraraka are also in 1A, meaning Koichi has three whole friends in 1A before the year has even started! After Koichi and Katsuki, the next person to arrive is a young woman who introduces herself as "Momo Yaoyorozu! Admitted through recommendations. And yourself?"

"Koichi Haimawari. You can just call me Koichi, though," he responds with an easy smile.

"It’s nice to meet you, Koichi," Yaoyorozu says pleasantly. When Koichi offers to help her move her things in she giggles; for once, Koichi doesn’t feel like he’s being laughed at. "I appreciate the offer, but… ugh, it’s so embarrassing, but my parents sent their personal moving company ahead of me, so all my stuff is already in my room and unpacked."

"Personal… moving company…"

"I know," she commiserates, "they could have at least hired a local company!"

"I think we live in two completely different worlds…" Koichi mutters.

★★★

Over the course of the next day and a half, the rest of their class slowly filters in. Once the whole class, twenty students in total, is moved into the dorms, they all gather in the common room.

"Now that we’re all here, why don’t we go around and introduce ourselves? I’ll start! My name is Momo Yaoyorozu. It’s a pleasure to meet you all," Yaoyorozu says, dragging the rest of 1A into the introduction exercise by force.

Next to her, a girl with pink skin, black and gold eyes, and horns on her head bounces up and down excitedly, "that’s an awesome idea! I’m Mina Ashido!"

"My name is Eijirou Kirishima! Let’s all have a great time!" a boy with spiky red hair shouts with just as much excitement.

Koichi narrowly manages to keep track of everyone as they go around introducing themselves.

He already knows Iida, who introduces himself with the full-arm gestures Koichi is so incredibly fond of, and Uraraka, who is a lot more subdued than Iida. He also recognizes Aoyama as the boy with the sparkly laser belt from the Entrance Exam.

Kaminari swears the black streak through his otherwise very yellow hair is completely natural when Koichi asks.

Tokoyami is not wearing a bird mask and his head is in fact very much like a bird’s except that his beak moves like a mouth when he talks, which Koichi makes the mistake of commenting on.

He does manage to refrain from commenting on Koda’s head, which he thinks looks like a rock, but only because Koda is currently holding a bunny rabbit in his lap that is apparently very available for petting as long as you ask first.

Shoji confirms that his six arms are in fact extremely useful for holding snacks while playing video games, and other such uses, and this time it’s not even Koichi who asks about it.

To Koichi, Mineta’s hair looks less like the grapes he compares it to and more like purple bouncy balls, but he declines Mineta’s offer of letting him touch them. The way he says it is just so… weird.

Koichi does not scream when Hagakure introduces herself because he did know she was there and he doesn’t feel bad about that at all because it didn’t happen. (Koichi manages to find her later and apologize.)

Sato comes out of the kitchen just long enough to introduce himself and tell everyone that he’s making some baked goods for them to enjoy, but also stresses that they need to wait until the cookies are cooled down otherwise they’ll break apart too easily. Koichi thinks that’s the best part of fresh cookies.

Koichi thinks many things that are wrong, however. For example, at first he thinks Jirou is wearing earbuds, before realizing that that doesn’t make sense because no earbuds would have two aux cables and that those are in fact her earlobes and yes, she can hear him muttering because her hearing is that sensitive.

Sero introduces himself as Spider-Man. When Koichi expresses confusion over this, he shows off his quirk, which gets him a reprimand from Iida. Thankfully everybody laughs it off pretty easily, though Iida seems a bit put off by nobody taking him seriously.

Ojiro has a tail, and knows martial arts, which puts him near the top of the cool people in the class in Koichi’s books.

Asui, who insists everyone call her Tsu, is nearly the most subdued of their whole group.

She’s only outdone by Todoroki, a boy with strangely split hair and a concerning scar on his face, who gives his name and nothing more. Koichi is instantly curious, and wants to ask so many questions, but that would be extremely rude.

The last one to introduce himself is…

"Katsuki Bakugo! I’m gonna be the Number One Hero, and you’re all just stepping stones on my way to the top, you got that you shitty extras!?" Katsuki starts to stomp off like a petulant child.

"Yikes. Who pissed in his Cheerios?" Kaminari asks, and Koichi can’t help the involuntary laugh that bursts from him.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Katsuki screams, rocketing back into the room.

It’s a refreshing change of pace, being able to sit back and relax while somebody else (Iida) intervenes when Katsuki gets violent with his classmates.

★★★

The day after everyone finishes moving in and they all introduce themselves to each other, it’s (technically) their first day of class (they don’t have any actual classes today, just homeroom to get their schedules for the year and then orientation which will probably involve a long, boring speech by Principal Nezu).

Koichi wakes up early, like most days, to go jogging. He brushes his teeth, eats a protein bar, and gets dressed. He smiles when he reaches the stairs outside their dorm building.

"Ah, Haimawari! You mentioned previously that you jog in the mornings before breakfast, so I thought you might want some company!" Iida says, chopping his arms through the air with more enthusiasm than Koichi is really capable of feeling this early. He gives his friend an easy thumbs up along with a lazy smile. Iida is the type who wakes up to jog, while Koichi is the type who jogs to wake up; in this case, both boys are actually jogging, no quirk use allowed.

At first, Koichi is quiet, letting his friend fill the air with chatter that he hardly pays attention to, nodding and mumbling approvingly at the appropriate times. Eventually, the cold morning air wipes the sleepiness from Koichi’s frame, and he’s able to respond to his friend more coherently.

The UA campus is massive. More so than Koichi expected, but in retrospect it makes a certain amount of sense. Located in the Shizuoka Prefecture nearby the city of Korisato, the land that the UA campus is on used to be largely forest. Once UA acquired the land, though, it was slowly converted into what is now the university’s campus (though plenty of forest remains on the land, both cultivated and not).

Koichi and Iida only take one full lap around the UA Commons, which is what the map they find calls the massive block of over fifty dorm buildings arranged in a five by ten grid. One lap, at a jogging pace, takes them long enough that they don’t feel the need to go for a second lap, choosing instead of return to their dorms and get ready for the day properly.

Since UA is a university there is no uniform code, which means Koichi can go with the ol' faithful: jeans, sneakers, a graphic tee, and an All Might hoodie. Iida tuts at him when they meet up in the common room after, but doesn't say anything more. They eat a quick breakfast together, just some cereal for Koichi and a surely nutritionally sound but nasty looking monster of a smoothie for Iida.

Their new classmates slowly filter downstairs, some more awake than others, and grab their own breakfasts. The cupboards in the dorm had been filled up to some extent, meaning they had the basic necessities, but not much beyond that. Koichi doesn’t know where Iida got the supplies for his smoothie, but he suspects his friend may have brought it himself.

Some of their classmates are still eating breakfast when Iida leaves for class, but Koichi elects to stay behind and walk with the group (something he never really got to do in middle school or high school). A few others also leave before them, like Todoroki and Yaoyorozu and Katsuki, but the majority of the class decides, without ever verbally agreeing, that they’ll walk together.

There’s a low thrum of chatter from the class the whole way to the main campus building where most classes are held. The whole group sticks in a relative clump the whole way. Nobody knows anybody else well enough yet for them to form smaller groups the way they would have in middle or high school, but Koichi can already see the dividing lines forming. Not by social standing, of course, because it seems like popularity isn’t really a concept that exists here the way it did at Aldera, but by something Koichi can’t yet identify.

They’re still talking when they reach the classroom, even as they examine the seating chart on the board and find their seats. Nobody makes a real move to sit down yet, with a few distinct exceptions (those who were already here, plus a couple of the loners). Koichi stays where he is, near the door, and smiles at Uraraka when she approaches him.

"I didn’t really get a chance to say it yesterday when we were all introducing ourselves, but I’m glad you made it in after all!"

"Me too," Koichi says, rubbing the back of his neck, "I was kinda nervous that you might not, since I kinda screwed things up for both of us at the end, there… but thanks for talking to Present Mic on my behalf!"

"Huh?? You saw that?!" Uraraka nearly shouts, her eyes going wide.

Koichi cringes, realizing maybe he was never actually supposed to see that. He’s about to apologize, but he’s interrupted before he can get the words out by a voice from behind him, "if you’re here to socialize, then get out."

Koichi whips around and stares at a yellow creature on the ground that looks like "a caterpillar?!"

"This is the Heroics Program," the caterpillar says blandly. It has a face with scruffy stubble, dark hair, and tired, shadowed eyes. It sucks a juice pouch dry, then stands. "I’m your academic advisor and, for your first year here, effectively your homeroom teacher, Shouta Aizawa. You can call me Aizawa," the man says, shedding what Koichi now realizes is a bright yellow sleeping bag. "It took you all eight seconds to quiet down. Not very rational, but we’ll work on it. Change into your gym clothes and meet me outside."

From within the sleeping bag Aizawa retrieves a gym uniform and hands it to the person closest to him, which happens to be Koichi. Koichi takes it uncertainly, but when Aizawa walks off without another word Koichi follows without question. Aizawa points him to the locker rooms, then walks out a set of big double doors that lead out to a big open space like the kind used for gym class.

Koichi, along with the rest of the boys, change in silence, unsure of what to make of their advisor. It doesn’t take too long for the entirety of 1A to assemble in front of Aizawa outside, though the man still looks displeased with how long it took. Somebody starts to speak up, probably to question what’s going on, but Aizawa interrupts them.

"Before we get started, there’s a few things you should know about your time here at UA. First of all, you should know that while UA is a university, and you are not beholden to standards like school uniforms the way you were in high school, we still expect you to dress appropriately. While there’s no rule against wearing the merch of a teacher, it can be incredibly awkward. Yes, Haimawari, I’m talking about you, I saw your All Might hoodie. It's impossible to miss.

"Secondly, as students of UA's prestigious Heroics Program you are beholden to a much stricter schedule than students pursuing degrees. You’re expected to report to your homeroom every weekday morning; just like in high school, you will stay in that classroom and your teachers will come to you. The only exception this year is Basic Heroics, taught by All Might. Starting in your second year, you will be given your choice of electives, which might take you all over campus to different buildings. On a related note, you are allowed a total of three unexcused absences per year. Any more than that will need a written excuse from the school nurse, Recovery Girl, or our guidance counselor and on-staff therapist, Hound Dog.

"And finally, while other classes are at orientation listening to Principal Nezu give a speech, this class will be having its first test. Before you get all up in arms about it, UA gives its teachers a lot of leeway with how we approach instruction. Before the year starts in earnest I need to know where each of you stands. You’ve done standard gym tests all throughout middle and high school, yes? But you were never allowed to use your quirks. That may work for the majority of the country, but here at UA we operate differently. You’re here to become Heroes, which means you’re going to be using your quirks every day of your life."

"Bakugo," Aizawa calls, "how far could you throw in high school?"

"Sixty-eight meters," Katsuki responds.

"Great," Aizawa says, tossing a softball to Katsuki and pointing him to a chalk circle nearby. While Katsuki gets into position, Aizawa continues, "you scored the highest number of villain points on the Entrance Exam this year, so you’ll be going first as a demonstration. Anything goes so long as you don’t leave the circle."

As Katsuki winds up, Koichi notices Yaoyorozu hand something to Jirou. He doesn’t get a chance to find out what it is before

FABOOOM

Katsuki releases the explosion-powered pitch.

"It’s important to know your limits," Aizawa says, holding up a tablet for the whole class to see.

706.8m!

"That’s the rational first step to figuring out what kind of Heroes you’ll be."

The whole class erupts in chatter. Ashido’s voice floats above the rest, "this is gonna be so much fun!"

Uh oh. Koichi almost wants to turn tail and run away when he sees the crazed grin on Aizawa’s face. "Fun? You’re not here to have fun. How about this. Whoever scores lowest on this test… will be expelled and sent home."

"What?!"
"On the first day?!"
"Even if it weren’t the first day, that’s not fair at all!"

"Fair?" Aizawa interrupts them again, almost angrily, "traffic accidents, natural disasters, villain attacks, do you think any of that is fair? Life is full of things that aren’t fair. Heroes are the ones who correct that unfairness. If you were planning on spending the next four years hanging out and relaxing, you’re in the wrong place. UA is going to put you through hell to make you the best Heroes you can be. That’s Plus Ultra. So either give this your best, or go home right now."

That gets everyone riled up the right way. Nobody raises their voices again, in fear of what Aizawa will say next, but the tension in the air is palpable. Even Koichi can feel it.

The first event is a 50 meter dash. At a flat 3 seconds, Iida is the early lead for the event. It isn’t until Koichi goes up against Katsuki that Iida’s time gets beat.

"Creepy fucking crawler…" Katsuki mutters as Koichi crouches down in a wide stance, an unusually bitter note in his voice. "I’ll blow you the fuck away with a burst of explosive speed!"

Koichi barely pays attention to Katsuki. The moment the timer starts, Koichi zips forward at max speed.

"2.96 seconds!" Then, "4.09 seconds!"

Koichi hits reverse with his quirk and comes to a dead stop a meter past the finish line. Katsuki sails past him, cursing. Iida approaches Koichi proudly, "as I expected, your quirk allows you to get up to speed much quicker than mine! With such a short distance I could only get up to third gear. I imagine we’ll be close like this for many of the events, my friend!" Iida says, clapping Koichi on the back excitedly.

Koichi smiles back at him but keeps one wary eye on Katsuki, who paces back and forth fuming. Small explosions ripple across his palms every time his eyes land on Koichi. A warning glare from Aizawa manages to curb Katsuki’s homicidal urges, for the moment.

He's been acting very unlike himself the last couple of days, touchy and trigger happy the way that he used to be when they were kids. Before the Entrance Exam they had been fine, but when they both got letters saying they would be attending UA, Katsuki fell into a foul temper that hasn't fully faded yet. Where does all that bitter anger come from, and why is Koichi where he lets it out?

The second event, the grip strength test, isn’t one Koichi is well equipped for. He comes in last for that event, predictably. What he finds strange is that he’s even behind the invisible girl, Hagakure, who actually comes out of that event in 8th place. Koichi catches her bragging to Ashido that she works out daily to make up for the fact that her quirk doesn’t give her any kind of physical advantage. Maybe Koichi should do more than jogging…

The third event, the standing long jump, is another one that Koichi excels in (though he doesn’t take first place this time), same with the fourth event, the side step (Koichi comes second to a boy with some kind of bouncy powers, Mineta). The fifth event, the ball throw, is where things get weird.

Uraraka easily takes first place, somehow scoring an infinity. Second to her is Yaoyorozu, who creates a literal cannon that sends the ball flying several kilometers into the woods. Instead of trying to retrieve either of those balls Aizawa fetches new ones from a box.

"Haimawari, your turn," Aizawa says with a smug smirk on his face, handing Koichi the softball.

Koichi steps into the circle, and Deku’s words from years ago ring through his head. "Quirks are hardly ever one trick ponies."

Slide and Glide seems like a simple quirk on the surface. With it, Koichi can emit a repulsive force from his hands or feet that allows him to move around quickly. Iida already proved that he can do more than just move around in one direction. During the Entrance Exam, he used his quirk separate from the ground, something he wasn't sure he could do before.

And now he has an idea.

Koichi holds the softball out in front of him, his right hand curled around it like a claw, braced by his left hand around his wrist. He increases the power to his right hand as much as he can while keeping a tight grip on the softball. Then, when it’s as strong as he can get it, he opens his hand.

Like a beach ball held underwater and released, the softball rockets into the sky, blowing Koichi straight onto his back.

A few seconds later, Aizawa holds up the tablet. Koichi looks up from the ground.

712.2m

Koichi releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding, and a few of the others in the class cheer for him. That’s third place. Twin pop-cracks herald Katsuki’s imminent arrival along with his scream, "STUPID BUG!! HOW THE HELL DID YOU- GAH!"

Katsuki’s shouting gets cut off as some kind of cloth shoots out and wraps around him, yanking him back and away from Koichi, who had immediately started to slide away. Even the explosions cut off, silenced by the force of their teacher’s glare.

"It’s a capture weapon made of carbon fiber and specialized alloy wires. Made for customers much tougher than you. Can you cut it out already? I’m getting dry eye…"

Koichi doesn’t recognize the weapon, or the goggles around their teacher’s neck (visible now that the capture weapon is extended); somebody else in the class does, though, shouting "you’re Eraserhead! I thought you were a myth!"

"What, like Knuckleduster?" someone says skeptically.
"No, I’m pretty sure he’s real, too," somebody else replies.

"Quiet," Aizawa commands as he retracts his scarf and deactivates his quirk. Katsuki makes a few small explosions in his hands to test that his quirk works right, and stalks off to the side. Aizawa continues, "what a waste of time. Onto the next event."

Only a few events remain, like the seated toe touch and pushups (among others), but only one of them is of any interest to Koichi. The endurance run. Well. 'Run’. Yaoyorozu makes an electric bike for it, which means she gets first place (again), and Koichi uses his own quirk to slide around the course. It’s not exactly easy; by the time Aizawa calls for them to stop, Koichi is drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. For his efforts, though, he gets third place behind Iida.

Once they’re all finished, Aizawa presses a button and a holographic display pops up. Before Koichi can even process the results, Aizawa says "nobody’s going home."

"WHAT!?" the class shouts in sync.

"It was a rational deception intended to bring out the best in you," their teacher says, a big dead eyed grin on his face.

While almost the entire class has a collective meltdown over this, Yaoyorozu pipes up, "of course it was a lie. None of you realized that?"

"Anyway. That’s all for today. Don’t forget to grab your syllabus and such in the classroom. You’re all dismissed."

★★★

Katsuki

It was fucking scary when their teacher took away his quirk. Not that Katsuki would ever admit that to anyone else, let alone himself, but it was. His quirk is what defines him. It's been that way since he was 4, when everyone started telling him that he was destined to be a great Hero.

Even Koichi, that stupid little bug, believed in him.

And then he got into UA, too. And that could have been a fluke, right? He saw the scores, that Koichi beat him by one. Fucking. Point. He probably wouldn't have even gotten in if it weren't for those rescue points. And on the other side, Katsuki would have gotten in even if he hadn't stopped that blade chick from beating on that other kid.

So it was just a fluke. Koichi was in the right place at the right time and helped the right person. An accident. Chance. Luck.

But then it happened again. And Katsuki, admittedly, lost his temper. He immediately felt bad about it, but refused to backpedal. That would make him weak, and if there's one thing that Katsuki is not it's fucking weak.

He can't— he won't let Koichi get ahead of him. Not ever again.

★★★

Koichi

Mr Aizawa's 'rational deception' puts a damper on the rest of their day. By the time it's over they've even completely missed orientation. Still, they change back into their day clothes and file back into the classroom, where they find the promised packets on each of their desks. Skimming through it, Koichi finds that it has his daily schedule, along with reminders about school policies and a map of the campus.

Later, after getting lunch at the dining hall (which exclusively has food made and served by Lunch Rush), Koichi decides to spend the afternoon exploring the campus grounds. He slides and glides around, seeing the sights. The campus is even more massive than Koichi originally thought, sprawling across dozens of kilometers of former forest. While the whole campus is technically open to students and faculty, some of the training centers, such as the fake cities they used for the Entrance Exam, have their entrances locked or, in more extreme cases, barred.

A few hours later, around dinner time, Koichi returns to the dorms. A group has gathered in the common room around one of the TVs, which already has several consoles set up, brought by some of his classmates. Currently, Kaminari, Sero, Uraraka, and Tokoyami are locked in an intense game of Mario Kart, while Ashido, Hagakure, Kirishima, and Koda watch on in amusement. Koichi drifts over and flops down onto a chair, watching the shenanigans.

From what he can tell, Uraraka apparently plays both aggressive and dirty, saving her items to hit the other players almost exclusively while also attempting to shove them physically or block their line of sight to the TV. Kaminari and Sero complain about this, but Tokoyami is entirely unbothered and seems to be a master at the game, staying in first place even when Uraraka targets him in particular (which seems to drive Uraraka crazy, and makes her target him even harder). If Koichi didn’t know any better, he’d be tempted to say Tokoyami is cheating somehow.

Koichi stays in that chair for the rest of the evening even as the rest of the class filters in and out, sometimes playing whatever party game is on the screen (and always being bad at it) whenever someone hands him a controller, but mostly just enjoying the ambience.

He never really had anything like this back at home. His parents, even his dad, weren’t the type to just… hang around. There was always a reason for being together, whether it was simple like sharing a meal or complicated like having a Family Meeting.

Koichi finds that it’s nice to just exist without expectation.

Chapter Text

Koichi

The next day, Monday, is their first proper day of classes. While the first half is dedicated to pretty normal classes like English or Modern Literature or Math, after lunch is what everyone in the class is really waiting for.

"I… AM HERE! COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!!" All Might shouts, coming through the door very much unlike any normal person Koichi has ever met, but surely very heroically. By the time he gets halfway to the podium, however, he’s deflated into what everyone now knows to be his normal form.