Chapter Text
The media team was integral to Class Zero’s success. It was an extremely delicate and all-consuming operation. Hideki was in charge of it.
The first step was timing Dynamight and Levity’s debuts. They chose to stagger the two heroes’ debuts roughly 2 weeks apart, a little over a month after UA’s graduation. At that point the hype of their most recent graduating class would die down and the press would be hungry for something fresh.
The next step was waiting for the perfect bite. Dynamight and Levity were ready and waiting in their respective cities for the perfect villain to apprehend. The HPSC had dozens of eyes set up and searching. The two heroes couldn’t just start off by walking old ladies across the street— it needed to be something the press could write about. For Dynamight that time came when he saved a couple of people from the wreckage of a car crash. They needed to be careful with Dynamight’s debut since his quirk could be mistaken for a villain’s while people didn’t know who he was yet. It would be disastrous if he were apprehended by a seasoned pro during his first public appearance! Not long after Dynamight’s debut, Levity made her debut by taking down a couple of minor villains that were attempting to destroy a government office building.
After that first appearance, Hideki and Matsukawa steadily increased the heroes’ visibility. They were put on near-constant patrols for a month straight. This gave the public the opportunity to see them out and about. The idea was that first, someone would see a minor article about the hero’s debut, and then they would see them in person on patrol. More and more articles and headlines would be come out naturally as the heroes saved more people, fought more villains, and became more recognizable.
The press could write whatever they wanted about Dynamight and Levity— that was inevitable. Part of Hideki’s job at the HPSC however, was to control the visibility of certain articles that were published. Her team was alerted to every digital publication that mentioned Dynamight or Levity and they screened all of it. If something didn’t paint them in a favorable light, or raised questions such as where they went to school, then Hideki would contact Matsukawa to get some strings pulled to reduce the visibility of that publication. The HPSC was the most influential government organization in Japan, not that the public was aware of just how much power they actually had…
Hideki had Dynamight and Levity’s media coverage on roughly the same timeline, but she switched up the order of some stuff and tried to make their rises in popularity feel organic to the public. Levity hit a big milestone after her first live TV interview. Her bubbly personality was a huge hit with the news anchor and they had a relatively lengthy conversation. She came across as someone who was very approachable and friendly. Reporters and older heroes networked with her to work together. Pretty soon, her social media accounts were blowing up.
Dynamight’s rise to fame happened quite differently. With his sharp features, his resting face came across as more intimidating than friendly. People loved his flashy quirk and he had high success rates, but he seemed somewhat unapproachable. That’s why Hideki got him in as a model for a high end company that was selling silk pajamas. It was perfect. The pastel colors and soft atmosphere of the photo shoot made him seem gentle. The smooth silk highlighted his perfect features. The bedding in the scene evoked the feeling of intimacy and catered to a female audience. His sculpted muscles were hidden beneath a single layer of silk, but they were silk pajamas, which tied back to the youth and innocence of the eighteen year old. His photos from the shoot were featured everywhere, from magazines to store fronts. Over night, thousands of women began following his social media accounts and posting about him. They were all obsessed with the handsome up-and-coming hero/model. His popularity soon skyrocketed with men and other demographics taking notice of his incredible quirk and heroic competence.
Hideki’s team worked day and night maintaining the great images of the two heroes. They each had professional social media accounts that posted about 2x per week with varied posts about villain fights, ad campaigns, hero team-ups, day-in-the-life selfies, etc, with some tasteful thirst traps sprinkled in every once in a while. The pages were run by the team, but they gave the appearance of being run by the heroes in the way that they wrote jokes and commented on other posts. Hideki had Dynamight and Levity take pictures and let them know about any heroes and news reporters that they met each day so they could connect online. They just made sure that the two of them kept track of everything that was posted on their accounts in case someone asked.
Sendai was nice. Levity loved having an apartment with big windows. She liked being able to go outside whenever she wanted and walk through the streets and talk to everyone. On nights that she could see the stars, it seemed like they were the biggest stars in the world.
It wasn’t boring here. She was busy with hero work every day and there was so much to explore. Levity also liked the other heroes in Sendai. The Commission set her up at another hero’s agency so she could get herself established as a hero before starting her own agency. Froppy was her age and was already working as a sidekick at her agency when Levity made her hero debut. She was a strong frog-themed hero who just graduated from UA, Japan’s top hero school. Froppy was a great coworker and they got along well. It was so exciting to have a female friend now!
Levity loved being friends with Froppy. Being friends with a girl was different from being friends with boys. One time Froppy even showed her how to braid hair! Too bad Levity’s was too short to braid. And she didn’t think she’d be allowed to grow it out. Oh well.
All the women at this agency shared a locker room. Getting changed in a room with other people was nothing new to Levity, but she was surprised when Froppy started talking to her while they changed one day.
“Your skin is very smooth,” Froppy pointed out. “Do you not have any scars?”
“Uh, thanks! Um, I don’t know, I probably have a few somewhere,” she lied. Levity knew that she didn’t have any scars. She’d had surgery to remove all of them not long before she made her debut. It had been very disorienting to not recognize her own body afterwards. The marks of all of her hard work over the years completely vanished. It didn’t feel right, but she knew she looked better this way. Froppy’s skin looked terrible in comparison, covered with dozens of scars.
“That’s surprising, for a pro hero. I have quite a few from my training, ribbit.”
“I guess I’m just a careful person, Froppy. And my hero gear does a great job protecting me.”
“When we’re off duty, you can just call me Tsu, you know.”
“But isn’t that kind of… unprofessional?” Levity asked.
“No, we’re not even in our hero costumes right now, ribbit.”
“Um okay then… Tsu.” This was the first time anyone had ever offered to let her call them by their given name. It was a little awkward to not offer up her own name in response, but that was not allowed. She and the boys didn’t even know each other’s given names. She was Levity and that was that.
Levity missed her best friends. They’d been working as pro heroes for months now, and she hadn’t seen either of them in that time. Dynamight was working down in Osaka while she was up in Sendai. The only time they saw each other was in the news or advertisements. Neither of them knew where Psyren was. Levity knew how skilled he was, so he probably wasn’t dead, but she also knew that no one would tell her if he was dead. She had no idea if she’d ever get to see him again. It was depressing.
The first time Levity saw Dynamight in person since their school days was at a hero gala more than a year after they’d made their debuts. She’d had no idea he was going to be there, so when she saw his spiky blond hair and broad shoulders from across the room she nearly passed out in shock. Her body moved without thinking.
She ran to him. It didn’t matter that she was in heels and a long dress, she’d mastered that years ago. She saw the moment he sensed her coming and watched as he turned around, shock visible in his red eyes.
“Dynamight!” Levity called out before jumping into his embrace. Their hug was firm and solid. She could feel happy tears building in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. It would be bad press if anyone saw her with imperfect makeup.
“Levity,” she heard Dynamight sigh against her temple. It had been so long since she’d heard his voice. She hadn’t even realized that she missed the way he smelled. He was wearing cologne right now, but underneath it was the same old nitroglycerin smell that she grew up with. She didn’t want to let go, but she knew they were in public and they’d probably get chewed out by the Commission for this later. With some hesitation, she stepped back.
They grinned at each other. It wasn’t often that Dynamight smiled like this. When they were little, he was the most expressive of the three. He wore all of his emotions on his sleeve at all times. As they got older though, this trait got more extreme and it wasn’t desirable for hero work. Dr. Fujiwara put him on a medication that leveled out all of his emotions. It helped him be a better hero, but Levity couldn’t help but miss the Dynamight she knew before.
The two of them caught up as much as they could in the short time they had.
“So have you seen or heard anything about Psyren?” Levity couldn’t help but ask.
“Nothing. I know that’s the point of going underground, but it still sucks.”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “I wish we could see him. It’s been so nice seeing you.”
If it were up to them, they’d talk all night. Unfortunately, this was an important networking opportunity. They needed to meet all the other pros here while they had the chance.
The morning after that hero gala, Dynamight knew he was in trouble. He’d woken up to multiple alerts on his phone. His name was trending and now Matsukawa wanted him in a video meeting first thing.
Besides being one of the fastest rising up-and-coming heroes, he hadn’t really done anything newsworthy at the gala besides showing up. He behaved perfectly and had good conversations with the pro heroes he met. He looked good on the red carpet too. His crisp black suit fit perfectly and his red tie brought out the color of his eyes. All of that was expected though. It was nothing special for a pro, and didn’t explain the new attention.
Dynamight had a protein shake for breakfast and quickly made himself presentable before opening his laptop for the meeting with his handler. As the video connected, he was shocked to see that Levity was there too. She looked surprised to see him.
“Dynamight. Levity,” Matsukawa greeted. “That was some stunt you pulled last night. Everyone saw you hug and a video of it has gone viral. Now all of Japan knows that you two know each other.” The two heroes stayed quiet while their handler continued. “We’re lucky no one is wondering how you know each other. They’re more focused on how well you know each other. I’ve spoken with the PR team and we agree that this attention gives us an interesting new opportunity that we can take advantage of. You two are going to be Japan’s next Pro Hero Romance.”
What?
Matsukawa elaborated. “Since the Water Hose Duo was killed, there haven’t been any pro hero couples. All the current pros are keeping their relationships hidden from the public. After seeing you interact, the public thinks that you two are cute together. They are already making fanart and video edits of you.”
So Matsukawa wanted him and Levity to… date. It was weird, but this could be amazing.
“Sir,” Dynamight asked, “Does this mean Levity and I are going to start living in the same city?”
“That’s right. In a few months, we’ll have you two announce your relationship. In the meantime, we are building up excitement around you two. You both have interviews scheduled for tomorrow. The official story is that you are childhood friends that reunited last night. Speak about how much you admire each other and make sure to talk about what good heroes you are. For now you two are just friends and then we’ll plan out your debut as a couple once you’re in the same city.
“Sir,” said Levity. “Since Dynamight and I have just reunited, wouldn’t it make sense that we have each other’s phone numbers now? I think it would help our story.”
Matsukawa appeared to consider this. “Hmm. I suppose you’re right. You’ll have each other’s contact information by the end of the day.”
Matsukawa briefed them on some more PR stuff and then the meeting ended. As Dynamight got ready for his first patrol of the day, he thought about what was coming. He and Levity would finally be able to talk to each other again. Soon, they would be living in the same city and possibly even working at the same agency. This was more than he ever thought was possible. It seemed like they would be separated for the rest of their lives after they debuted.
The only issue would be having to pretend to date Levity, but that was nothing. They knew each other so well and they made a great team. They were both prepared for anything that fake-dating would entail. This would be easy.
Having Dabi as his contact put Hawks on edge for a number of reasons. The main one being that he was the absolute worst match-up against his quirk. Those flames could burn hotter than any other fire quirk. He could burn Hawks’ feathers to ash in an instant. It put Hawks at a major disadvantage.
The only way he could hope to defeat Dabi was by keeping his distance and sending a feather to silently slit his throat. The quickest possible surprise attack. Getting in with the League meant getting close to Dabi however. They both knew that Dabi had the advantage in close quarters, so Hawks did the only thing he could think of to gain his trust: he got closer. He put himself at risk to show that he wasn’t afraid of Dabi because they were on the same team. Hawks needed to convince Dabi that they wanted the same things.
Dabi reminded Hawks of himself— he was sharp and quick. It was hard to tell from the lazy way he acted, but Hawks knew how to read people. They were probably pretty equal intellectually. It kept Hawks on his toes, staying as many steps ahead of Dabi as possible while trying to make it seem like he wasn’t. He had to choose his words carefully, while still keeping up his carefree persona. It was difficult, but Hawks was the fastest hero alive, and that included his quick thinking. He could tell that he was slowly making progress with trying to get in the League.
Hawks’ hero persona may seem carefree, but the truth was that he cared about everything. He was constantly thinking about a million different things, from figuring out the structure of villain organizations to where he put his hands while flying. That’s why Dabi’s lazy attitude made him angry.
Dabi was a villain. He didn’t need to think about human collateral when he burned things. He didn’t need to keep up a perfect image of himself. He didn’t need to wake up early every morning— he could even take naps in the middle of the day! There was no rush to let Hawks into the League, so he took his sweet time. It drove Hawks crazy because the Commission was always on his ass for progress. Dabi didn’t have a care in the world beyond making other people suffer, and boy was Hawks suffering.
How was it fair that villains could go around doing whatever they wanted while heroes had to clean up after them? Society needs order. Villains need to be controlled.
Spending time with Dabi made Hawks feel like he was losing control… There was something about the adrenaline pumping through his veins, because of the fear and because of the chase. Something about the way his piercings and staples made Hawks unable to take his eyes away from him. The way Dabi’s eyes glinted and how he smirked as he teased him.
Standing next to him on that rooftop, feeling the warm breeze weave between his feathers, Hawks had never felt so alive before.
“Good morning Levity-chan, ribbit,” Froppy greeted as Levity entered the agency.
“Good morning Froppy! Did you have a good time at the gala last night?”
“Yes, ribbit. It was really nice seeing my old classmates again and meeting more heroes.”
“Oh yeah, you went to UA didn’t you? Which of the heroes there were in your class?” Levity already knew the answer, but making conversation like this was good for her image.
“Last night I saw Tentacole, Creati, Red Riot, Chargebolt, and Shouto. They were all in class A with me, ribbit. Phantom Thief, Emily, and a few others from class B were there too. Which high school did you go to again?”
Ugh, the most dangerous question. “Oh, it was just a tiny school in Tokyo, haha. Was Tsukuyomi in your year too or was he a year before?”
“He was in my class, ribbit.”
“Oh, cool! I wish he could’ve come to the gala. He’s been making headlines at Hawks’ agency lately.”
“Me too. He’s a great hero,” Froppy responded. “I saw you talking to Dynamight last night. I didn’t get a chance. What is he like, ribbit?”
“Dynamight is amazing. He’s a really great hero and has become really popular in Osaka.”
“So you knew him before, ribbit?”
“Yeah, we actually grew up together. It’s been so long since I last saw him… I was so happy to see him yesterday.”
Ochako was thrilled to get to talk about Dynamight. She was so excited to be able to call and text him now. And soon, they would be able to see each other every day, just like before. She couldn’t wait.
Trending: #DynaLev, #Dynamight: the Explosion Hero, #Levity: the Anti-Gravity Hero, #Hero Gala, #Shouto: the Icy-Hot Hero
Twoot: OMG did you see the way Dynamight and Levity hugged each other at the hero gala?? The way they Smiled????
Comment 1: Stopppp they were so cuteeee. My hearrrrtttt.
Comment 2: DynaLev is my new OTP I ship them so hard
[Image description: digital art of the pro heroes Dynamight and Levity. Dynamight’s hands are on Levity’s hips and Levity’s hands are around Dynamight’s shoulders. They are smiling and looking into each other’s eyes. There are pink cartoon hearts floating around them. Dynamight wears a black suit with a red tie. Levity wears a long red dress with a sweetheart neckline.]
Caption: I made this fan art of DynaLev!! I am Convinced that they are in love.
Comment 1: Wow this is amazing!! I love the colors you used.
Comment 2: Dynamight’s hair looks so soft! I wish I could touch it lol
Twoot: I don’t really get the hype around Levity. Sure she’s cute, but Creati is wayy hotter.
Comment 1: Bad take
Comment 2: Levity’s one of the strongest new heroes and she didn’t even go to UA
Comment 3: Bruv Creati’s in a whole separate category of hotness, you can’t compare the two
Charge Bolt: I loved seeing my old classmates at the hero gala last night! I wish we could get together more often! @shouto @froppy @creati @redriot @tentacole
Comment 1: Lol it’s so obvious his PR team wrote this
Comment 2: Yehh I bet he got banned after last week’s posts sksksks
Buzzfood: Pro Hero Shouto was Stunning on the Red Carpet Last Night.
“Hey Hottie, sleep well?”
Dabi glared at Hawks. “Shut the fuck up. And give me that,” he said, reaching out for the bucket of fried chicken in Hawks’ hands. Hawks took a piece for himself and handed over the bucket without complaint.
Dabi didn’t say it, but he was thanking all the gods out there that Hawks decided to bring this peace offering. He hadn’t had any fresh food in days. Being a villain with such a recognizable face made it nearly impossible to get by in life. He could never go shopping or anywhere without a disguise that covered his whole body. The warm months were always the worst for him.
The League was one of the only reasons he was alive right now. They were able to bring food to the hideout and give him a mattress to rest on with a roof over his head. It made his life a million times easier. Living was still hard though. Days like today were the worst of the worst. He’d run out of his usual painkiller.
With burns like his, he was always in pain. He’d mostly gotten used to it after all these years, but only with the help of drugs. The days he had to go without them were excruciating. Because of League business he didn’t have time to track down a dealer this week and now he was paying the price for that. He didn’t have any energy to get up today, so he didn’t. He just laid there in pain, bored out of his mind and starving. He avoided all contact with other League members on days like this. He couldn’t let them see how weak he truly was or they’d never trust him. He had to force himself to get to this meeting with Hawks for the sake of appearances.
“You need an advil?” Hawks asked. He was watching Dabi eat with a raised brow.
“Got anything stronger than that?”
Hawks nodded. “Yeah I’ll see what I can do.” He dug around through his pockets and eventually came up with a small pill bottle. It still wasn’t as strong as he’d like, but it was better than nothing. He accepted the pills.
Don’t be mistaken— Dabi didn’t trust Hawks whatsoever. Obviously the hero was just trying to infiltrate the League. That was the only possible reason a hero like him would treat him like this. Hawks had an agenda. He needed Dabi to trust him enough to introduce him to the rest of the League so he could learn their secrets and take them down. That’s why Dabi knew that Hawks wasn’t poisoning him or anything with these drugs. Normally, he’d never admit to being in pain to anyone, but at this point Dabi was getting desperate.
“So did you get injured in a fight or something?”
“Nah, just another day in the life, Birdy. Out here living the dream.” Honestly Dabi wasn’t sure why he hid his pain. His scars were clear as day for everyone to see. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. It was probably just another habit leftover from living with Endeavor. He couldn’t ever show his family how much the hero hurt him. He had to be strong for them and he had to show Endeavor that he was strong enough to be a hero too.
How pathetic.
Heroes were always putting on a mask. Endeavor, Hawks, and even little Touya were nothing but liars.
Dabi’s skin exposed the truth.
Today they were quieter than usual, both secretly assessing each other while they ate. Dabi didn’t quite understand what Hawks’ motives were. Why would a top 3 spotlight hero try to infiltrate the League? Maybe his personality and battle skills made him popular with the public, but why did he think he was likable enough to be able to fool the League? The League of Villains were the most honest people there were. Half of them were there because they just wanted to live as their authentic selves and society had cast them out for it. How could the perfect prettyboy hero expect to fit in with them? How was Hawks going to juggle playing the parts of both hero and villain? It would be fun to see him scramble.
How far would Hawks go to prove to them that he wanted to be a villain? What sacrifices would he make?
“Hawks, I have a job for you.”
With just those words, he had all of Hawks’ attention.
“There’s a man who lives in Kamino Ward named Higashiyama Shintaro. Kill him.”
“That’s all the info you have? What did he do? Steal a drug shipment?” Hawks asked. He didn’t flinch at the prospect of murder, but he was stalling with these questions.
“Find him and figure it out for yourself. Or don’t. Just make sure he dies. I want to see how you do it.”
Hawks had no choice but to track down and kill the man. Maybe this was the last test that would get Hawks in with the League.
He hoped that Higashiyama Shintaro wasn’t just some random innocent civilian. The League was undeniably evil, so it wasn’t out of the question. It would suck, but if it came down to it, Hawks would kill even an innocent civilian. Ideally, he’d be someone from Dabi’s past, which would give him more information on him. No one knew anything about who Dabi was or where he came from, just that he’s extremely powerful and hated heroes.
Finding the target was easy. Hawks quite literally just searched his name on an HPSC database available for all heroes for use. He had an address within seconds. Dabi wanted to watch, so Hawks flew them both there. The darkness made it easy to avoid being seen.
During that flight, Hawks learned two important things about Dabi: 1. He’s afraid of heights. 2. He gets motion sickness. Dabi truly was Hawks’ opposite.
They camped out on a neighbor’s roof to assess the situation. Hawks stared into the house. It was a nice home for an upper middle class family. It appeared completely normal. Inside was the target. He was casually looking through a stack of papers on the kitchen counter. Maybe it was evidence of tax fraud? Or money laundering? Hawks cleared those thoughts from his head. It didn’t matter what the target was doing, he just needed to die. That was the mission. Dabi was watching his every move.
“That’s the target, right?” he asked Dabi to confirm.
“Right-o.”
Soon enough, Hawks determined that the man was alone in his house and didn’t seem to be expecting anybody. He located all of the security cameras to avoid.
Unexpectedly, Dabi then decided to throw him a bone. “I’ll tell you one more thing about him. His quirk allows him to change the length of his forearms.”
Hawks paused. That’s it? He was sure that the target’s quirk would be at least a little dangerous. This was child’s play. He could easily send a single feather down to slit his throat. But that would be too easy. He needed to prove that he could be a member of the League of Villains.
Stealthily, he left the roof and went to the target’s house. He unlocked the door with a feather and floated inside, not making a noise. He wielded a large primary feather and approached the target from behind, making sure to put them in direct view of the window that Dabi was watching them through.
He didn’t hesitate when he sliced through the target’s throat. It never saw him coming. All within less than a minute, Hawks had entered the house and cut him dead.
Blood splattered from the neck, spraying the kitchen as the body slumped. The smell of iron permeated through the air and he absentmindedly licked his lips.
When he returned to Dabi, the villain walked up to him and playfully tugged on the lapel of his jacket. He looked him up and down and said, “You got blood on your hero suit, Birdie.”
Hawks smirked back at him. “You like it, huh? I always knew I looked good in red,” he responded, fanning his wings out. He didn’t bother cleaning the blood off of the soaked primary feather.
After watching him strike down an innocent man in cold blood, Dabi had no doubt that Hawks belonged with the League of Villains.
There was no hesitation. Hawks didn’t know that Higashiyama was on Dabi’s shitlist for being an unethical quirk-breeding match maker. There was no sense of justice or revenge motivating Hawks, just Dabi’s orders.
And then there was the sense of joy that emanated from the hero after the deed was done. It was a certain energy, like the adrenaline in Hawks’ blood was tangible in the air around them.
The hero didn’t even realize his own bloodthirst.
Maybe Dabi shouldn’t have been surprised that the number 3 hero had the heart of a murderer. He’d experienced the evils of the number 2 after all.
There was a tiny part of him, deep in the back of Touya’s stomach, that felt sick at the thought.
It was nothing. Dabi was a murderer too. He was a hero killer.
And Hawks was a killer hero.
This was the reasoning that led to Dabi bringing Hawks to the League.
He warned them beforehand that Hawks was playing double-agent. Obviously he was going to betray them. Everyone knew not to reveal any of their true plans to him and Shigaraki was convinced that having a pet hero in their pocket could be beneficial to them. It was risky bringing Hawks closer, but it would be interesting to see what he was going to do. Besides, Hawks was going to fit right in.
Upon his debut, Psyren had been working underground in Sapporo, taking down all kinds of thieves and criminal organizations. He got into a rhythm, working his job and then returning to the base for sleep. He was nocturnal, living in the shadows.
The life of an underground hero was not glamorous, and going undercover was even worse. For his new assignment, Psyren arrived in Tokyo with nothing but a duffel bag and a few thousand yen. He wasn’t allowed to visit any of the safehouses any time soon.
The crew didn’t do anything drastic to his appearance, just giving him some worn-down clothes and tips on how to act. This was a very important mission and he’d be on it for a long time. It was better to not have to worry about things like hair dye. It wasn’t like anyone would recognize him anyway.
His new clothes looked anything but new. He’d be living on the verge of homelessness and needed to look the part. Poverty was one of the main drivers of villainy after all. If he looked poor, he was more likely to fit in. That was also why his diet had been limited for a while now. He needed to be strong, but still look like he wasn’t getting enough to eat. So he didn’t get much to eat. Unlike Levity and Dynamight, Psyren’s scars were an asset. They told everyone that he’d been through some shit. Having a ‘tragic backstory’ was key to getting along with villains.
His new assignment was to infiltrate the League of Villains to collect information that would help them take down the super villain known as All For One. Hawks had just gotten a foothold with the organization, but the Commission wanted to put someone there full time. The two of them could work this assignment as partners.
The Commission didn’t care about life in the slums of Tokyo besides the fact that that’s probably where the villains hung out. It didn’t matter what the villains did as long as they stayed there anyway. It was only when they started causing problems for the people that society actually cared about that the pro heroes stepped in. Whatever unsavory things happened in the shadows could happily stay there.
All this to say that Psyren didn’t know exactly where to go now that he was there. He needed to figure out for himself who to talk to in order to get in touch with the League. It would take some time to make his connections, but he knew he’d be successful.
“Shouto! How was your time in Osaka?” Yaoyorozu greeted as he entered the agency’s break room.
“Shouto’s back? That was quick! You must have caught the villain so quickly!” Midoriya said, his attention immediately turning to Shouto.
“Yes, the mission went well. Osaka is really nice this time of year,” Shouto responded to them.
“Isn’t Dynamight based in Osaka? Did you get to meet him?” Deku asked.
“I actually first met him at the hero gala last month. He is why I was selected for this team-up.”
“What?! I’m so upset I couldn’t make it to that gala. Did you meet him there too Yaomomo?”
“No actually. I meant to, but there were so many people and I didn’t get a chance.”
“That’s too bad,” Midoriya responded. “I’ve been dying to meet Dynamight ever since he made his debut. Kacchan and I were actually childhood friends!”
“Oh really? That’s so sweet! How old were you when you last saw him?” Yaoyorozu asked.
“Hmm… We were really little. I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t remember me after all these years. I think it was around when I turned six that he moved away.”
“Awwww. You two must have been so cute. I know! You should try and find an old picture of the two of you so we can see how far you’ve both come now that you’re pro heroes!”
Midoriya gasped. “That’s a great idea! I’ll visit mom this weekend to look through the pictures. So what is Kacchan like, Shouto?”
“Dynamight is very strong. He could easily rival me and Inasa in power. It didn’t take us long to take out the villain, so we spent some time practicing combination moves when we were done. It was fun.”
“Wow!! I wonder why he didn’t go to UA,” said Midoriya.
“Well you mentioned he moved away from Musutafu, so maybe he was just closer to one of the other top schools?” Yaoyorozu theorized.
“Good point! Most of the heroes that we know from other schools are ones that we met at the provisional license exam. That year, UA and Yoarashi had special exceptions to get our licenses early, so he was the only one from Shiketsu or Ketsubutsu that was in our year. I think if Kacchan is as powerful as Gale Force then he would probably also have gotten an exception if he went to Shiketsu. But that ignores the possibility that Kacchan might have been weaker during first year and then quickly gotten stronger during high school, like Kaminari did. I also haven’t met any heroes our age who went to Isamu Academy. Kacchan could have even gone to a smaller school or studied abroad…” Deku’s mutterings soon became incomprehensible.
“I’m curious, Shouto,” Yaoyorozu said. “What was Dynamight’s personality like? I regret that I couldn’t meet him before since he’s been getting so popular so quickly.”
“I would say that he is very calm and reliable. He’s a likable person. His confidence reminds me of how a more experienced pro would act. His quirk is loud and violent, but that doesn’t carry over into the way he behaves. He’s sort of… gentle.”
“That’s so interesting. I was expecting him to have a more brash hero persona to match his quirk,” Yaoyorozu said, tapping her chin.
“Yeah!” Midoriya agreed. “It’s not often that a pro’s persona is at odds with their quirk! But I guess bombs are completely quiet until the moment they explode, so it makes sense in that way.”
“While I was there, Dynamight mentioned that he wanted to move to Tokyo. Do you think-”
“YES,” Midoriya interrupted. “We should definitely hire him! I wonder if he still smells the same…”
Shouto shared a fond look with Yaomomo, amused at Midoriya’s mutterings.