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Midoriya Izuku had always thought of himself as a pretty easygoing person. He's a kid who tends to just rolls with the punches, everyone knows that.
Which is why, when his family had suddenly up and moved countries- leading to Izuku needing to switch schools in the middle of the semester- he'd assumed it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. He’d assumed he’d be able to handle it all no problem.
He’d assumed wrong.
With little to no time to account for his jet lag, Izuku overslept the morning of his first day and had to run practically the entire way to school.
Which shouldn’t have been a big deal either. He’d tapped the address into his phone, shoved an EarPod into one ear and made ready to book it with just enough time to clear the front doors before they were shut for first period.
Easy.
One thing no one had thought to warn him about when he’d moved to this new city though was the batshit crazy, Magical Terrorist.
“HEAR ME, KEEPER OF THE MIRACULOUS!!! SURRENDER THE RABBIT OR FACE MY WRATH!!!”
Izuku whirls around at the sudden enraged shout from high above; his movement so fast he practically cricks his neck.
There, hovering in midair thanks to the flames sprouting from beneath each shiny black boot, is some kind of superpowered being, too far away from Izuku for him to make out much else.
His mouth drops open as the character that looks and sounds straight out of one of his old comic books roars to life once more.
“YOU SEEK A DEMONSTRATION KEEPER? WELL ON YOUR OWN HEAD BE IT!”
So saying, the villain suddenly punches out with one fist, a swirling mix of black and red flames shooting from his hand down towards the street below.
The street where Izuku is currently gaping up at the sky like a moron with a death wish.
A clattering sound, followed by harsh hacking coughs suddenly sounds directly behind Izuku and he quickly realizes he isn’t the only one in danger.
Immediately he spins on one heel and books it, rushing in the direction of the coughs and managing to pull the emaciated blond man out of the way just as the projectile hits.
The shockwave is enormous, flames and heat billowing high as Izuku and the old man are sent flying.
Luckily someone had left an old couch out for the rubbish collectors, and the two of them land none the worse for wear on the faded dusty cushions.
The blond man continues to hack into the handkerchief pressed to his lips and Izuku hovers over him worriedly. He’s just a nerd who likes to read comic books for crying out loud, he’s not a hero equipped for actual emergencies like this!
“I’M WAITIN–GAH!”
High above, the villain had been readying another attack, only to be hit by a blast of what looks to be ice.
A figure in white comes gliding by, skating smoothly on ice being generated beneath their feet and Izuku gasps out a stunned breath made visible in the air by the sudden unnatural cold.
Now that’s a hero.
The figure is all lithe graceful movements as it easily dodges fireball after fireball, neatly extinguishing the flames with ice after every skillful turn.
The hero doesn't hold still long enough for Izuku to make out anything beyond ‘white’ but he hears someone nearby let out an emotional “thank god, it’s Blizzard Cat, we’re saved!” and mentally notes the name down so he can do a deep dive later. For now though, he can safely ignore the fiery threat from above and focus on the old man.
“Sir, are you alright?”
The man coughs one last time and Izuku is horrified to see flecks of blood staining the kerchief being held to his lips.
“Quite so, my boy,” he manages through short wheezing breaths. “This is nothing new for me I’m afraid. Nothing to call for help about.”
“S-Still…” Izuku’s hands flutter awkwardly, desperate to help but unsure that he even can. Before he can say anything else though, the old man looks up and fixes him with a piercing stare.
“Quite lucky this couch was here, hm?” he murmurs. “Would’ve been a tad more serious for the both of us if it weren't."
“Uh yeah…” Izuku agrees because duh. Without the couch here they’d probably have broken their fall on harsh brick or even concrete. Luck doesn’t even begin to cover it.
Up above, the fight begins to wind down and Izuku realizes with a start that he’s gonna be soooo late to school. And on his first day no less! Hah, Izuku must have used up all his luck on the couch coincidence and now there’s nothing left to get him to school on time.
“I. Sorry sir, I gotta go.”
He starts to turn away but is halted by a thin weak grip on one of his arms. “Forgetting something my boy?”
Izuku looks down and sees the old man holding up Izuku’s backpack in his free hand.
“O-Ohhh, thank you,” Izuku manages, his throat tight with embarrassment as his face flushes red.
“Don’t mention it,” the old man grins, waving him off with a laugh. “Off you go now before the bell rings.”
With one last wave of his own Izuku is off, racing and sprinting like his life depends on it. Man but he cannot get detention on his first day at a new school, he simply cannot!
Which is exactly why he does.
Maybe he really did use all the day’s luck landing on that stupid couch.
Showing up after First Period has already started means that Izuku not only has a shiny new detention to his name, but also, per this school's strict policy, he can’t even go into class until it’s over as the teachers here don’t like being disturbed by latecomers.
So here Izuku sits, waiting for his turn at the desk because as much as he’d booked it here as fast as he physically could go, someone else had also arrived late, if just enough earlier than Izuku that he gets to talk to the secretary first.
Izuku sinks down into his seat with a frustrated sigh and tries his best not to stare.
The boy currently at the desk is visibly flushed and angry, Izuku can tell that much from his front row seat to the shouting match.
“There was a Bete Noire battle that held me up!” the boy seethes, his short red hair fluttering with his every motion as he throws his hands up in agitation. “Latenesses as a result of magic terrorism are supposed to be excused!”
“They are,” the secretary allows, nodding her head once with a frown.
Izuku snaps his head up.
They are? Maybe he can get out of his automatic detention after all!
“But you’ve been taking advantage of that exception Todoroki,” the secretary continues, her voice taking on a sterner edge. “I’ve been told that without a meeting with your father to back up your excuses you’re to be given detention for all latenesses.”
Todoroki’s lip curls, his hands clenching into fists by his sides. “I live with my siblings now, you know that.”
At this the secretary softens. “I know. But without a proper form signing over your guardianship it can’t be recognized by the school.”
Todoroki lets out an angry snarl before wordlessly snatching the detention slip from the desk.
He turns to leave the office and catches Izuku staring.
Izuku has one second to take in the large scar taking up the upper left side of Todoroki’s face, and the shiny black ear cuff clasped to the boy’s right ear. And then those cold blue eyes are narrowing at him in a sharp icy glare before Todoroki turns and stalks from the room.
Izuku’s breath whooshes out of him in a rush. Man that boy is intense.
“Next.”
“Um, uh, hi. I’m Midorya Izuku and uh I also was held up by a um… magical terrorism fight?”
The secretary straight up laughs at him. “Nice try kid. Try snapping a picture and sounding more sure of your excuses next time, k?”
So Izuku leaves the office with his transfer papers, his schedule, his textbooks… and a shiny new detention slip.
Worst first day ever.
And thanks to his ever worsening luck, when Izuku makes his way to his first ever detention, the only other kid in the room is that same angry redhead from earlier.
Usually Izuku would go over and introduce himself, but somehow, today doesn’t feel like the day to push his luck with a kid that can glare at people that harshly.
With nothing else to busy himself with after finishing his homework, Izuku pulls out his phone and gets to work on his long awaited internet search.
The term Magical Terrorism goes first.
That nets him a dozen results dating back almost ten years.
Welp.
Nowhere to start but at the beginning right? The reports are lackluster and barebones and the pictures even more so but slowly Izuku starts to piece together sporadic appearances of people wielding great magical powers, some for good and some for evil.
The current fire villain Izuku had seen today is apparently called Bete Noire by the public since he’d never given them a name for himself. It translates literally to Black Beast which fits the villain’s aesthetic but it also holds the figurative translation of a reoccurring problem that you strongly dislike, dread, and try to avoid—and yup. That tracks.
The property damage alone has been insane.
There’s a bunch of discussion threads about this mysterious Keeper that Bete Noire keeps calling out, with some wishing they would just give the villain what he wants. Others claim that the last thing Bete Noire needs is more power and everyone needs to shut up and realize that Bete Noire at no point promised to stop rampaging if the Keeper does hand it over.
Izuku nods to himself as he closes out the tab. That’s the opinion he’d come to as well.
Next up, Blizzard Cat.
Now here’s where things get interesting. According to the internet this current Blizzard Cat isn’t the original ice hero. It used to be a woman in a similar costume called Snow Queen and from one day to the next it was suddenly a boy instead.
‘Don’t let his age fool you though!’ all the fan accounts scream, ‘he’s smooth as ice and totally ruthless in stopping Bete Noire in his tracks.’
Having witnessed it up close and personal, Izuku can only agree.
He swipes down to the gallery of submitted images and stares. The brief glimpse he’d managed to catch earlier did not do the hero justice.
Long flowing white hair in a high pony tied off with a ribbon of silver. A shining white mask that obscured the majority of his face leaving only clear grey eyes and a silver cuff on his right ear visible. A skintight suit of white leather and a belt that ended in a hanging strap in the back to model a feline tail. In some pictures Blizzard Cat is wielding a shining silver staff and in others there are what look to be ice skates protruding from beneath his shoes.
“So cool,” Izuku whispers, staring at the hero reverently.
From somewhere behind him Todoroki lets out a scoff.
Izuku bristles, turning round to see what exactly this kids problem is—but before he can even finish turning, there’s a flash of light from the corner of his eye, and Todoroki is suddenly full on tackling Izuku to the ground.
The windows explode inwards as a now familiar blast of fire hits from the outside, and Bete Noir roars and hovers in the air. “I KNOW IT'S HERE!!! I CAN SENSE IT!!!”
Todoroki stiffens, seemingly having just realized he’s still on top of Izuku.
Izuku himself is just laying there kind of stunned because how the fuck is this his life?
Also, up close and personal with Todoroki like this, he can’t help but feel that underneath that fiery temper and blistering personality, the boy is actually really quite nice.
And then of course he has to go and open his mouth. “Objectively speaking, I’m stronger than you.”
Izuku frowns. Hey, it may be true but that doesn’t mean he needed to say it!
“So I’m gonna stay here and try to hold him off, you run for the office and get help.”
Izuku’s mouth drops open. “Wh-Wha—? No! I’m not leaving you here to—“
Todoroki practically yanks him to his feet and starts physically shoving him out the door, and it’s all Izuku can do to grab for his backpack before he’s fully pushed out into the hallway.
“Go!” Todoroki snarls. “I’ll be fine, I’ll toss some desks at him or something, just go!”
The door to the detention room slams shut in Izuku’s face and for a moment it’s all he can do to just stare.
And then he’s grabbing for the handle, trying and failing to get the door open again. “Todoroki don’t do this! We can both make it out, just come with me!”
Todoroki doesn’t answer him but there’s a resounding crash from behind the door and Izuku stumbles back with eyes wide with fear. Panic courses through him as he turns and books it for the office as fast as his legs will carry him.
He’s gotta get help before it’s too late.
As he runs he finds tears of helplessness and fear welling up in his eyes. If he’d known things would end up like this, he never would have agreed to the move!
His legs burn with exertion as he pushes himself faster than he’s ever gone before.
But still, it’s not enough.
It’s right as he reaches the top of the stairs that a blast of heat races towards him from behind and Izuku reflexively dives for cover only to belatedly realize there’s no longer any floor beneath him.
“AAAAHHHHHH,” he screams as he falls, tumbling through the air so fast he can’t even–
“Oomph.”
Izuku’s eyes are closed and he’s curled into a protective ball but slowly he comes to the realization that he hasn’t made a terrible impact with the floor an entire flight of stairs down, instead he’s been caught and cradled in a pair of strong arms.
Incredibly well toned, and cold arms.
Izuku shivers and slowly opens his eyes.
“Are you alright?” Blizzard Cat asks, tone somewhat amused, and masked face inches from Izuku’s.
Izuku yelps and scrambles out of the hero's arms. “Y-Yup! Thank you for catching me, I–”
Blizzard Cat moves suddenly, long fingers of one hand yanking Izuku aside by the sleeve as he spins on one heel into a high kick that has ice shooting up the steps to collide with an oncoming fire attack.
“No time,” the hero says, gently pushing Izuku towards the windows now that they’re on the ground floor. “Go. I’ve got this.”
Izuku stares at the hero’s back a second, the familiarity of his wording, and this scene as a whole, sending a jolt of panic coursing through him once more.
“W-Wait! My classmate! Upstairs he–”
A booming explosion of fire sounds remarkably close, but Blizzard Cat merely waves it away with a smooth gesture that emits another rush of ice. “He’s fine,” the hero says slowly, his head tilting to one side as he studies Izuku closely. “I got him to safety first.”
And then he’s gone, leaping forward into a sprint on all fours, like the cat that he’s named for, vaulting over flames, and grabbing for the metal staff on his belt.
Izuku tears his eyes away with some difficulty and rushes for the window.
Blizzard Cat is a hero. He’ll be fine, he’s got this.
And even if he didn’t…
It's not like Izuku can do anything to help him.
He gets outside and just… stands there for a minute, breathing in the fresh air and trying to get his heartrate back under control.
That was… so freaking scary.
He hopes Todoroki really made it out okay. Blizzard Cat had sounded kind of weird in his reassurance and Izuku really really hopes that the hero wasn’t lying to him.
He turns back towards the school building and can’t hold back a wince at the sight that greets him. The building’s upper levels are on fire while the lower ones are being slowly encased in ice, and it’s clear that Blizzard Cat is doing his best to keep the building from going down.
But it’s that secondary focus that’s holding him back, Izuku can tell that much at a glance.
“If only there were a way to reverse the damage,” he murmurs to himself. “Then he wouldn’t be preoccupied with trying to minimize Bete Noire’s destruction.”
Almost as soon as the words are out of his mouth, Izuku is suddenly blinded by a ray of light beaming from his backpack. He drops the yellow bag with a scream, skittering backwards as far away from it as he can go without drawing the Bete Noire’s attention.
As his bag hits the ground, the zipper pops open on impact, and a small little creature zooms out towards him.
“Midoriya Izuku,” the being says with a way more regal tone than Izuku was expecting from a tiny floating woman with rabbit ears. “I am Nana, the Kwami of the Lucky Rabbit. Will you be my wielder in this battle between good and– please stop screaming.”
Izuku cannot stop screaming, he hadn’t even noticed when he’d started.
Nana nyooms forward, zipping around him to slap first one of his hands over his mouth and then the other and it’s so very shocking that Izuku immediately shuts up.”
“Quiet!” she hisses at him, her long white cape fluttering behind her in the wind. “Do you want them to hear you!”
“S-Sorry,” Izuku mumbles, his words coming out muffled from behind his hands.
Nana nods pompously. “That’s better. My last wielder barely shrieked at all before immediately grasping the situation and transforming. Did you mean the wish you’d made or not?”
Izuku stares at her faintly, a part of him starting to wonder if this whole long day has just been a terrible dream and he hasn’t actually woken up yet. “My wish?” he whispers.
“Yes.” Nana says. “You wished there were a way to undo the damage, did you not?”
Izuku is suddenly wide awake again and fully paying attention. Those hadn’t been his words per se but there’s no denying it had been his intent.
Nana continues, seemingly oblivious to the ominous rumblings the school building right next to them is suddenly giving off. “One of the special abilities granted to my wielder is the Four Leaf Clover which magically returns everything to the way it was bef–”
“Alright, I’ll do it!”
Nana stops so abruptly she practically chokes on her next words. “Just like that?” she stammers.
Izuku nods, already holding out one hand invitingly. “Blizzard Cat’s approval ratings are dropping. He can only put a bandaid on things, freezing them in place before they can burn to the ground. It doesn’t actually fix things, it just keeps them standing for as long as the ice holds. Some people online want him to just hand over his miraculous to Bete Noire in hopes it’ll stop the attacks. If I can fix things for him… then people won’t be so harsh on him. They’ll go back to appreciating everything he’s doing for them.”
Nana zooms up to him suddenly, scrutinizing his face up close. “Huh.” she murmurs as if to herself. “You’re serious.”
Izuku stares back at her unblinking. “I am.”
“Oh.”
For once the kwami seems at a loss for words. “Well, uh, in that case, here.”
A shiny white headband is summarily pulled out of his backpack and placed in his hand and Izuku has the fleeting question of how in hell Nana and the Miraculous even got in there before the Kwami is suddenly speaking again.
“My transformation phrase is Hop To It, and your power words once transformed are Four Leaf Clover for fixing and healing, and Rabbit’s Paw for when you need to get lucky. But!” and she suddenly zips in to cover his mouth before he can say the words just yet.
“Overdoing it too much too soon can have detrimental consequences! Not only can making yourself too lucky in battle make you harmfully unlucky when not transformed, but if you aren’t careful you’ll run out of power and detransform in front of people, allowing them to steal your Miraculous!”
Izuku slowly settles the headband in his hair and meets Nana’s gaze squarely. “What do you suggest?”
“Find somewhere quiet to transform and then lay low. There’s plenty of months old damage to train fixing with. Build up your stamina slowly before Bete Noire learns that the Keeper already gave up the Rabbit. Then, when you are ready, we will join Blizzard Cat in defeating Bete Noire once and for–”
There’s a sudden crash that cuts off her next words, and Izuku whirls around immediately to see what’s going on.
The two Miraculous wielders have left the building now, fire and ice clashing in a spectacular display across the sports field.
Blizzard Cat looks winded though, breathing heavily even as he continues to leap and dodge and give as good as he gets.
“Why won’t he use his special ability?” Izuku finds himself asking, feeling a flare of concern at the way the hero’s breath is misting visibly in the cold air.
“Because he too will detransform if he overdoes it,” Nana says softly as the fight starts dragging away from the school. “And his opponent knows that. He is probably luring the Snow Leopard to a more populated area so he can force him to use his powers and trigger his time running out.”
“B-But. Then we have to help him!”
Izuku starts getting to his feet and is halted by Nana’s tiny grip on his sleeve. “You are not ready yet, Midoriya Izuku. You cannot join this battle.”
Izuku knows she’s just trying to look out for him and keep him safe.
But still it hurts to be treated like he’s little more than dead weight. It reminds him of Todoroki and the way the other boy had shoved him out of the classroom because he’d only get in the way if he stayed.
Izuku’s fists clench and he keeps his eyes trained on the fight as it fully clears the school grounds and makes it to the street beyond.
“I… Nana, you gotta let me try.”
Nana hesitates, wavering on her position, but before she can make the decision something else happens that makes the decision for them.
A child runs into the road, her mother screaming and chasing at her heels frantically.
Bete Noire laughs, and it’s a laugh so loud and awful that Izuku shudders in fear from it all the way over here.
Blizzard Cat leaps for the little girl immediately, even as the villain raises his hand and shouts, “Hell Fire!”
The flame that roars to life burns hotter, and flares brighter, than any Izuku has seen from the Miraculous yet.
Blizzard Cat curls protectively around the child and then he’s quickly pushing her into her mother’s arms and throwing out a hand of his own. “Flash Freeze!”
He is a fraction of a second too late.
His priority had been the child and the child’s mother as well. So while his powers had taken care to shield the two in an unyielding, unbreakable ice shield, he had unfortunately left himself open to attack.
Blizzard Cat takes a sudden hit to the back and while his ice immediately extinguishes the fire reflexively, the momentum of the force is still enough to send him flying into a nearby building.
His head smacks against brick and he collapses in a graceless heap to the ground.
He doesn’t get back up.
“N-No,” Izuku breathes, staring through watery eyes as the hero remains unconscious. “No no no no–”
This is all his fault!
The fight had started out so well but Nana had even said so herself. Blizzard Cat is held back by his need to protect people because he cannot heal and he cannot fix.
But Izuku can.
Izuku has all the power he could ever need right at his fingertips.
And suddenly, he refuses to be dissuaded from using it any longer.
“Midoriya!” Nana shouts like she can see on his face what he’s about to do. “Don’t you dare–”
“Nana,” Izuku interjects, eyes completely fixed on the unmoving hero across the way. “Hop To It.”
Nana is immediately sucked into the headband and Izuku himself is swallowed up by a sudden burst of light.
Across the street, Bete Noire moves slowly towards the fallen hero, radiating a dark menace as he goes. “Yes… all along resistance was futile. Try as you might, you never stood a chance against me.”
His black and red cape drags along the ground now that he isn’t hovering in midair for once but the villain is uncaring as he slowly bends towards the silver cuff clasped to the hero’s right ear.
Something round, white, and fuzzy impacts harshly with the villain’s hand, before immediately zipping back out of reach, and Bete Noire lets out a roar of frustration and whirls around with a glare.
“Who dares—!”
That’s as far as he gets before he’s stunned into silence.
Because standing in the middle of the street, is another hero, one that has never been seen before.
The skintight jumpsuit is a muted green, broken up only by the large white boots that come almost to midcalf, and the soft white gloves that cuff thickly around his wrists. Most notably there is a pair of long green bunny ears sprouting from within the curly green hair that perfectly frames the hero’s freckled face—and almost perfectly shrouds the headband beneath the ears from view. A neat mini, pure white, domino mask stretches across the hero’s eyes, completely hiding them (and therefore their color) from view.
“Get away from him,” Green Clover says, flicking his white yo-yo at the villain once more.
Bete Noire snarls and tries to make a grab for it with a hand wreathed in flames, but the yo-yo seems to almost radiate with a glowing light, and manages to cut through the heat easily to smash against the villain's wrist.
“I won’t ask again.” Green Clover glares, already gearing up for another swing.
The villain stares at him for one long moment before throwing his head back with a laugh. “You? The Keeper chose you?”
He laughs a second more before stopping abruptly, his own glare visibly harsh from behind his own mask. “I have a better idea.” His hand lights up with a dark flame that casts reflectively off the ring on his finger. “You give me your Miraculous or I kill him.”
A muted beep sounds before Green Clover can even respond and Bete Noire grins darkly. “Oh? Tick tock little hero. Wouldn't want Blizzard Cat timing out right now, hm?”
In answer, Green Clover immediately zips his yo-yo around himself and shouts, “Rabbit’s Paw!”
The yo-yo takes on a slight green glow as it continues to whirl around him faster and faster until it’s practically haloing Green Clover’s form in bands of green light.
Bete Noire frowns. “What are you—?”
That’s as far as he gets, because a brick, made loose by Blizzard Cat slamming into it before, suddenly knocks free from the wall to impact with the top of the villain’s head.
Beta Noire swears, stumbling back in pain and confusion, and Green Clover’s yo-yo neatly zips in to wrap around Blizzard Cat’s unconscious form and yank him back to safety.
“Lucky me,” the hero grins, his yo-yo once more at the ready.
Bete Noire hisses and presses a hand to the back of his head. It comes away wet.
“This isn’t over!” the villain roars, even as he’s already taking to the sky once more. “I will have your Miraculous!”
And then he’s gone and Green Clover immediately sags with a deep sigh of relief.
He quickly checks Blizzard Cat’s Miraculous to make sure the hero still has some time left and then swiftly swings his yo-yo into the air.
“Four Leaf Clover!”
The shape of an enormous, transparent, four leaf clover appears in the sky above him and then slowly starts to descend. As it sinks, anything it touches fixes instantly, the clover phasing through cars and buildings to wipe the ash and debris clean as if nothing had ever happened.
As it passes through Blizzard Cat before fading out into the ground the hero finally stirs.
“What?” he mumbles to himself, his eyes blinking open to stare up at Green Clover in a daze.
“Oh!” Green Clover perks up immediately at the sight of the conscious hero. “That was faster than I thought it would be! Are you okay?”
Blizzard Cat continues to stare at him silently and then suddenly flinches and makes a grab for his right ear.
“It’s still there,” Green Clover assures. “Though it has been beeping for a little bit so maybe you should—and he’s gone.”
Green Clover lets out a long drawn out sigh and slowly turns his face towards the sky. “I hope we can work well together!” he yells, hoping that the other hero is still close enough to even hear him.
With that, he finally turns to leave, his own Miraculous beeping insistently on his head.
Izuku makes his way back to where he’d left his backpack and absently adjusts the headband safely set within his hair.
and stares up at the now fully repaired school building.
“I wonder if I still need to sit out the rest of that detention,” he wonders.
Magical Terrorism indeed.