Chapter Text
“We want you to assist us in allowing heroes into Yokohama.” The HPSC agent sat in front of him drawled. ‘Want’ was the wrong word. What they meant was ‘you will help us with whatever ill-advised mission we’re orchestrating now or your freedom will be limited’. Nedzu supposed that was the biggest downside of being a government lab experiment, besides the trauma. They could force you to do anything, really. “Of course, I would want nothing more.” Nedzu masked his discomfort at having to interact with that city. The one supposedly filled with the quirkless, from before quirks really existed.
Nedzu was led to a meeting room alongside the agent who brought him here. There was one man sitting inside, posture straighter than a ruler. “Hello, esteemed principal of UA, President of the Hero Safety Public Commision.” His voice was monotone, singing praises he clearly didn’t believe in. “How is it knowing your second best hero married illegally and abuses his family?” Yokohama was closed off and had been for centuries. How did they know such things that the Commission had put half the annual budget into keeping secret? Invested hundreds of mental quirks into hiding? The man’s glasses glinted ominously in the dark room. Nedzu, for the first time in his life, was facing unknowns.
– – – – –
Day 0: Saturday
Aizawa was grumpier than usual, that was the first thing class 1-A noticed. His eyebags were darker than usual,his whole expression was darker than usual. He looked like he just got told he had to teach yet another class of ‘problem children’.
“Midoriya, Bakugo, Todoroki, Uraraka and Yaoyorozu. Meet me after hero training this afternoon. I can’t be bothered to do homeroom, you’re free to talk until Mic takes you for english.”
Kaminari side-eyed Bakugo, trying to say ‘what did you do this time’ without getting blown half way across the classroom. Kirishima, however, slapped Bakugo on the back and laughed about how it wasn’t manly to get into trouble. He got blown across the classroom
Midoriya was muttering and mentally going through every possibility of why they were called, then got loudly interrupted by Iida who was ranting about inequality.
The girls bunched up together, theorising why those 5 had been called. Mina thought it was for an interview or documentary and complained about how lucky they were to get to go, Jiro thought it was for some cool exclusive mission, since those called were their class's best fighters. They debated the two options for a while, before Mic entered the room.
“Hey little listeners! Ready for some English!?” The class fell silent after that. It felt like tradition to ignore Mic’s attempts at getting them involved. “No? Well here’s some adjectival clauses anyway!”
– – – – –
Class 1-A had finished their sparring session, feeling high on the adrenaline it brought. “Hey, ya’ll have to go see Aizawa-sensei now, right?” “Yeah, I have no idea why though, my current theory is that he’s going to inform them of a mission they will go on, kinda like the internships but more like proper heroes!” Midoriya looked elated at that, his eyes shining with excitement. “That would be so fun! I’m even more curious now, let’s go!” Midoriya dragged Todoroki and Uraraka behind him as he ran to the faculty room.
“Aizawa-sensei! We’re here!” Aizawa was sleeping on one of the couches, surrounded by various documents, laptops and scrunched up balls of paper. “Go…to Nedzu’s office. I need…to finish writing something.” He sat up and began hurriedly scrawling on the nearest sheet, checking the multitude of screens around him occasionally.
Bakugo and Yaoyorozu had arrived by now, and both got swept up in Midoriya’s excitement, getting ushered along by the greenette and rushing haphazardly to the principal’s office.
They were met with the apprehensive faces of their esteemed principal, All Might and a woman who looked to be in her late thirties. “Ah, you’ve arrived, sit down please and wait for your teacher to arrive.” They all did so without hesitation, whispering about who the woman was and how All Might got here so fast without them noticing.
Aizawa slouched into the room, slamming the door and sitting in the nearest available chair. “Nedzu, please explain already. I need sleep and this whole affair isn’t helping much.” The mouse/dog/bear just smiled menacingly and nodded to the woman, prompting her to start monologuing.
“Hello students, my name is Taneda Shiori, I work in the Yokohama watch division of the Hero Safety Public Commission,” The students were stunned, not only were they meeting with a HPSC agent, they were from the infamously elusive Yokohaman department! The existence of the YD was barely more than a rumour, mentions of it often accompanied by the same silence the Quirkless City itself would bring. The Division also employed big heroes like Hawks, bringing more attention to the mysteries of Yokohama.
Taneda-san continued, “You have been called upon to assist us in an information gathering mission, with the end goal being taking down the barrier and reuniting Yokohama with the rest of Japan.” Bakugo snorted at that. “Information gathering? Why don’t we just blow a hole through it or go beat up the villains that control the barrier?” The silence in the room felt heavier now. The mentions of the villains reported to control the Quirkless City made everyone’s memories churn through the rumours about why the Quirkless City was so quirkless.
It was said that the villains who lorded over Yokohama killed everyone with a quirk, that they slowly weeded out all traces of quirks from the DNA of Yokohamans. It was said that the villains forced the citizens to do the killing themselves.
“The barrier is impenetrable. We have already tried brute force, as I’m sure you can figure out, it was not successful. Neddzu has managed to force the governing party to allow those in this room to enter Yokohama and live there for three weeks.”
Entering Yokohama!? That was every child’s dream, to go into the Quirkless City and fight off all the evil villains who controlled the citizens, to bring the wonders of heroism into the city and be recognised as the one who did the impossible task of freeing the city. This was the chance of a lifetime.
Taneda-san spoke over the growing whispers in the room, making the room fall back into silence. “We, the YD, will provide you with the necessary equipment for any intelligence you recover. Do your duty as heroes, for the sake of those who are trapped. And I’m sure you might have guessed, but this mission is confidential to the highest degree. I don’t want a word of this being spoken before tomorrow's departure.” Cheers rose up, with the loudest being from All Might, encouraging his students to yell themselves, about their excitement, about how they would change the world. Aizawa just shrank in his seat and tried to leave.
Notebooks, cameras and listening devices were handed out, with a few surprised noises from Midoriya and Yaoyorzu. The items they had been given were clearly high quality, but felt plain and old. They could use projectors to beam their experiences back to the Commission, or use long-range hacking devices to gain access to their CCTV cameras. Just books and digital cameras felt too old school.
Nedzu spoke up again, telling the students of the last few details of their trip. “You will meet at the gates tomorrow at 7. Don’t be late or the bus is leaving without you. You will be in the hands of Aizawa and All Might, so listen closely to them. And finally, a message from the negotiator: don’t come in expecting a black and white hell. Come in expecting hell in every shade of colour.”
The meeting ended, students dismissed and packing lists handed out. Uraraka, Midoriya and Todoroki were discussing their final piece of advice with slight fear in their voices, after all, what was a colourful hell?
– – – – –
Ango looked particularly sleep deprived as he sat down in the car. “They’re coming tomorrow, it’s like that letter suggested.” Oda looked the slightest bit concerned. “I do hope the sender knows what they’re doing, asking us to let in Outsiders is quite the task.” The two sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking about the mysterious letter addressed to each of them. “Let’s enjoy this storm.” The two got out and walked in opposite directions, not looking back until they reached their offices. They had work to do.
– – – – –
Day 1: Sunday
6:45 the next morning and no one had the energy to do or say much. They were looking forward to their trip, but after an all-nighter of packing and looking up everything they could possibly find out about the Quirkless City, they were all out of energy and couldn’t be bothered to talk. Except Bakugo. The blond boy was yelling some kind of protest at the bus, claiming that “they were heroes, they are capable of going to the barrier themselves.”
Aizawa rolled his eyes and continued helping the bus driver put the suitcases onto the bus, ignoring his students and the unhelpful figure of All Might. The driver was an elderly looking man, with balding white hair and dulled black eyes. He looked weak, he looked like the wind could blow him over. And this was who was sent to chaperone the students?
Aizawa stepped back out of the bus, glaring at his students and All Might gathered beneath the nearest streetlight. It was summer, but dawn didn’t feel safe today. The students each walked sluggishly towards the bus, not wanting to hear another set of rules or reprimands. The driver ushered them along, placing a cold hand gently on their necks.
All Might got stuck in the door, a round of quickly suppressed laughter echoed throughout the half-empty vehicle. The driver just pushed him along like he had the rest of the heroes.
It wasn’t long before Tanizaki released his ability to the sound of sleeping Outsiders. He needed to confiscate any weapons and make a tally of possible spying equipment. After all, taking their cameras would ruin the ‘weak’ image of their city. And the ADA knew better than to do that.
– – – – –
The heroes woke up to glaring sunlight and a glowing city. They were beyond the barrier at last, but it was a pity they couldn’t see the way in. That would be a good process to document.
Midoriya was the first one asking questions, going back to vibrating with excitement and curiosity. “Wow! So this is the Quirkless City, it looks so peaceful, kind of boring though. It looks quite dull, this is so cool though I wonder when we should start taking pictures? Why did we all fall asleep at the same time? Well we all stayed up late with excitement so that must be it…Though i remember my neck hurting at some point, that was weird. I can’t wait to take down some villains!”
Uraraka placed a hand on his shoulder, grounding him and making him aware that he was muttering again. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I was mumbling again, that’s so embarrassing…” His friend just smiled and reassured him that no one thought anything of his muttering.
“Oi! Deku! Don’t ya go grouping me with you fuckers who didn’t sleep! Sleep deprivation is for nerds!” Midoriya mumbled some half-formed apologies to Bakugo before turning back to the window with glee. “I still can’t believe we’re here.”
All Might was the last to wake, only stopping his obnoxiously loud snoring when the bus jerked to a stop outside a plain looking brick building and he got thrown into the back of the seat in front of him. “We’re here already? Well, it would’ve been nice to actually see how we got in, for future reference.” Aizawa facepalmed at his coworker’s stupidity. How obvious could the oaf get that they were here for ulterior motives.
The students rushed off the bus, excited by meeting their hosts for the next three weeks. Yaoyorosu commented that it looked rather boring, after all, they were used to personalised hero agencies, this random building wasn’t noticeable in the slightest.
A man with dark yellow-blond hair stood outside the main entrance, holding a green pocketbook with arms crossed. He cleared his throat and watched the students fail to notice him. Aizawa glared at the heroes around him, gesturing towards the man with an exhausted expression. He felt for that man, it was infuriating, getting ignored that way.
“Ah, thank you.” The man addressed the students. “You must be the Outsiders. Welcome to the Armed Detective Agency. We will be hosting you for the duration of your stay, my name is Doppo Kunikida, please follow me to your rooms before you meet the rest of the agency.”
He walked briskly up the stairs beyond the entrance, the heroes scrambling to catch up. “Hurry up, we are 24 seconds behind schedule.” Bakugo was pissed at his attitude, Yaoyorozu was mildly intrigued, appreciating his dedication, Todoroki followed silently behind the man, the only one matching his pace.
They reached the top floor, finding a row of rooms not unlike a hotel, capped with a large common area overlooking the street. “These will be your rooms for the next three weeks. Two to a room, with one room of three. Decide this amongst yourselves and get settled in. Come down to the agency once you’re done, it is located on the floor below.”
The teachers had a room, the girls had a room, the boys had a room. The heroes unpacked in the spacious rooms they had been given, which felt more like apartments with the amount of amenities inside.
It didn’t take long for them to finish unpacking, laughing as they made their way down to the Detective agency below. They were met with a non-descript door with a simple plaque, reading ‘Armed Detective Agency’. They pushed their way in, unprepared for the shouting within.
Kunikida was aggressively shouting at a young man in a stereotypical detective’s uniform, who was eating candy and ignoring everything the blond man had to say. A woman with purple hair and a confident expression was complaining about how few injuries there were, despite their new coworker. A young boy who looked like the epitome of sunshine was chatting to an emo looking boy with badly cut bangs with white tips about how best to grow rice. A couple were getting freaky in the corner.
The lack of work pissed off All Might more than Aizawa, despite being the strict one, Aizawa had skipped his fair share of obligations and sympathised with not wanting to do work, just not to this extent. All Might, on the other hand, was furious for some unknown reason, he started yelling at the detectives almost before he was past the threshold.
“You say you are detectives, but I see no detective work going on. You are meant to keep citizens safe and get this is what you do all day, argue and chat and complain like there aren’t any incidents to investigate, or whatever you do. We are here to learn from you, but I don’t see how anything some unhelpful quirkless say would benefit any of us!.”
The students rallied behind their hero studies teacher, pointing fingers and badmouthing the detectives before them. Aizawa shook his head in annoyance and pushed past the gaggle of students to standard the front of the group. “Feel free to reprimand him, he needs it. We were told to come down here after unpacking for our stay, why?”
The annoyed, slightly murderous glares of the detective agency focused on the large blond man, before looking over at an office door with much less hatred. Kunikida paused his rant and addressed the heroes; “Please be seated in the break area, the President will be with you shortly.Yosano?” The purple-haired woman looked at Kunikida with a sadistic smile. “Of course, All Might, that was your name, right? Please come with me after your briefing.” The man in question nodded sharply, smiling ‘reassuringly’ at the woman.
All not-so-plesant-plesantaries were interrupted by the opening of one of the office doors, revealing an imposing man with grey hair and a katana at his waist. “Ah, our guests have arrived. Welcome to Yokohama.”
Midoriya started immediately analysing the man, wondering what would make him need a katana, mulling over his strengths and weaknesses before shouting his discoveries out to the group. Bakugo started leaping up, seeing the weapon and immediately categorising him as a threat. Todoroki subtly activated his quirk, lowering the temperature in the room by a handful of degrees. All Might almost instantly started winding up a punch to hit the man with, seeing the same thing as Bakugo. The girls sat there with an increasing urge to either join the fight or apologies incessantly to their hosts.
The detectives shifted slightly too, their eyes locked on the aggressors, categorising their quirks, personalities and responses, moving into defensive stances and waiting for a cue to move. The Outsiders noticed none of this, caught up in their own movements to watch for how their opponents moved. Weakness number 1. A serious looking man made a note on a specific letter.
The President just smiled, dodging all of their attacks and throwing them back onto one of the couches in the ‘client meeting’ area of the office. “We show you hospitality and this is how you react. Very hero like, attacking innocent people who are helping you.” The boys looked stunned, processing their actions and the Presidents’ words. All Might was the first to speak, predictably defending their actions. “You carry a weapon, which is dangerous. My students and I aimed to disarm said weapon.”
The President looked angry for a second, cursing something before changing the topic. “Please introduce yourselves, I will have my detectives do the same.”
Aizawa gestured to follow the Presidents’ instructions, aware of how disrespectful they were. “Aizawa Shota. Hero name: Eraserhead. I’m their homeroom teacher. Apologies for the students, they are still learning and are very over-eager. Like I said earlier, All Might should face the consequences of his own actions. He isn’t still learning.”
All Might made a face and the students looked at their teacher with slight anger at his disrespectful suggestions. “Pro Hero: All Might. Please have better control over your detectives in the future.” Many of the detectives looked like they wanted to argue but held back, coping with glaring harder.
“I-I’m Midoriya…Izuku. Yokohama seems…very pretty.” Bakugo told him to shut up and stop his muttering, and that his introduction would be way better. “Bakugo Katsuki! And I’m going to be the next number one hero!” Glances towards ‘Yosano’ ensued, with the detectives wanting him to experience their doctor’s ‘healing’ just to shut him up for a bit.
“Todoroki Shoto.”
“Yaoyorozu Momo, apologies for our entrance.”
“Uraraka Ochako. Sorry for being so disrespectful…”
The agency members lined up next to the president.
The stereotypical detective went first. “Edogawa Ranpo! The greatest detective of all time!” Now it was the heroes’ turn to glance at each other in disrespect. How cocky could he get? At least he wasn’t as bad as Bakugo.
“Yosano Akiko, I’m the agency’s doctor, come to my office whenever something is bothering you.” She left with a wink, leaving the girls in awe at her overflowing confidence.
“Tanizaki Jun’ichiro, and this is my sister Naomi.” The siblings (?) that were probably touching each other earlier introduced. The collective decision to ignore the pair of them was made by both parties.
The sunshine boy was next. “Miyazawa Kenji! You should come see Hanako some day with us!” No one knew who ‘Hanako’ was, but the heroes had already decided he was precious and would follow his demands to the letter.
“Akutagawa Ryuunoske.” The emo one who was friends with Miyazawa said monotonously, turning back to discuss the life cycle of several other plants.
The serious-looking man was next. “Sakunoske Oda, welcome.”
Finally, the President introduced himself: “Fukuzawa Yukuchi. Please enjoy your stay.”
And with that, the detectives went about not working again, chatting and bickering like they had nothing better to be doing. Heroes always patrolled in their free time to make citizens feel safe, All Might shuddered to think of how unsafe the citizens of Yokohama feel.
Kunikida reappeared in front of the group, carrying a small stack of papers. “This will be your schedule for the duration of your stay. Please look over it before I go over some ground rules.” He handed out the schedules, one per person, sized to perfectly fit in a pocketbook. For the students, it read as follows:
Week one: Learning: shadowing the detectives
Monday: Akutagawa and Miyazawa: Assisting the community
Tuesday: Yosano: Learning the streets
Wednesday: Tanizaki siblings: Understanding the importance of information
Thursday: Kunikida: Basic organisation
Friday: Sakunoske: Working with children
Saturday: Ranpo: Solving cases
Sunday: Day off
Week two: Self defence and Quirk application
Monday: Kunikida: Quirkless combat
Tuesday: Yosano: Quirkless combat
Wednesday: Ranpo: Problem solving
Thursday: Kunikida: Quirk applications (Theoretical)
Friday: Ranpo: Problem solving
Saturday: Akutagawa and Miyazawa: Quirk applications (Practical)
Sunday: Day off
Week three: Application
Each student will be assisted by a detective as they solve their own cases.
Sunday: Final day
For the teachers, it was slightly different:
**Each lesson will be held in the meeting room for one and a half hours. The rest of the day is unrestricted**
Week one: Understanding Major Powers
Monday: Fukuzawa: Explanation of the tripartite
Tuesday: Fukuzawa: Importance of the tripartite
Wednesday: Kunikida: Key powers: Day
Thursday: Fukuzawa: Key powers: Twilight
Friday: Kunikida: Key powers: Night
Saturday: Kunikida: Summary
Sunday: Day off
Week two: Self defence and Quirk application
Monday: Kunikida: Quirkless combat
Tuesday: Yosano: Quirkless combat
Wednesday: Ranpo: Problem solving
Thursday: Kunikida: Quirk applications (Theoretical)
Friday: Ranpo: Problem solving
Saturday: Akutagawa and Miyazawa: Quirk applications (Practical)
Sunday: Day off
Week three: Other Powers
Monday: Kunikida: Day: Military teams
Tuesday: Kunikida: Day: Government divisions (with guests)
Wednesday: Fukuzawa: Twilight: Other detective agencies (Visit)
Thursday: Kunikida: Night: Key teams
Friday: Fukuzawa: Night: Key teams (Extended)
Saturday: Kunikida: Summary
Sunday: Final day
The students were annoyed at having to do ‘Quirkless combat’; what good would that do them? And quirk application? Who were they to decide what to do with their own quirks. The teachers were just humiliated that they had to do what was essentially school again.
“There are five rules: No quirks, no Outside uniform of any kind, no interfering, especially in fights, no going into the back alleys, and most importantly, no going near the five towers. As long as you follow these rules, the agency will be able to protect you. If you break any, your fate is in your hands.”
Bakugo grumbled “Ominous much” before registering he couldn’t use his quirk. “What d’ya mean ‘no quirks’!? What do you expect us to do, just stand around!?” Midoriya chipped in, “Yeah, we can’t save anyone if we don’t use our quirks!” Ochako was next, “I understand we would stand out, but we are here to become better heroes. Restricting our quirk use will do the opposite.” Mono nodded along, too nervous to say anything of her own.
Kunikida sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose and started addressing the students’ points. “You’re correct in that using your quirks would make you stand out too much, the civilians here aren’t aware of quirks and their existence would scare them more than comfort them. You would be ostracised. It is our job to prevent that.” Confused glances ricocheted through the crowd of Outsiders, not fully understanding what a society without quirks is like.
“Secondly, you can do a lot without quirks, that is what your second week will be about. And finally, you should banish any thoughts of saving people from your minds. Yokohama doesn’t need to be saved; your hero licenses don’t mean a thing here. You will be treated as members of the ADA or as civilians. Don’t get into fights over things you don’t understand.”
Shocked gasps rang out, silence feeling palpable despite the background noise of the office. The blond detective walked to the door marked ‘infirmary’. “And ‘All Might’? Yosano called for you.” He opened the door and gestured for the hero in question to go in.
– – – – –
The rest of the day was spent familiarising themselves with the building containing the ADA office. Checking out Cafe Uzumaki, where they will eat, exploring the law firm on the second floor and training gym that covered the third floor.
The heroes were later rejoined by a traumatised, scrawny looking man, who caused Midoriya to faint and Aizawa to slap himself for not expecting this.
When Midoriya awoke, still in a state of shock, the scrawny man claimed to be Toshinori Yagi, or All Might when he was off the clock. This claim was immediately faced with criticism and disbelief from the man’s students, he could never be All Might because All Might was strong and reassuring and always smiled.
Toshinori would have realised the similarities between his current predicament and his yelling at the agency if he thought hard enough. Unfortunately, Toshinori Yagi was a shallow man with nothing but hero rankings and his successor on his mind.
– – – – –
On the highest floor of the tallest building in Yokohama, a bandaged man sat facing the city skyline, marveling at the beauty of his city. “Are you sure this is a good idea, you stinky mackerel?” The voice came from the abyss behind him, auburn hair and heterochromatic eyes emerged into the soft light from the window. “You know you’re the only one who can speak to me like that, my dear chibi?” The man’s voice was smooth, memorable.
“The Outsiders are ruining the view. Why did you let them in again?” A sadistic smile spread across the bandaged man’s face, carving a dark line across his pale face. “Because these heroes have been getting a little too cocky lately. It would be best to put them in their place, right?” He spoke seductively, carefully, never speaking too fast. The reply was near instant. “Of course, what more would I want, my dear?” The man let out a soft laugh. “Oh how I love your little pet names, call me that more.”
“Only when we’re alone.” The room fell into silence once more, holding the words of the two men in its grasp.
“Chuuya?”
“Hmm?”
“Swear you’ll stay.”
“Until we’re together in the stars.”