Work Text:
Hero's Weekly
Unyielding Red Riot
The number twelve hero on the challenges of running a hero agency ("there are a lot of moving parts to having your own business")…the friends that pushed him to be the hero that he is today ("It motivated me to keep pushing my quirk to the brink")…and how he hopes to continue to inspire those around him for generations to come.
If you're ever so lucky as to get a chance to visit the "Riot Agency," named after Number Twelve Pro Hero: Red Riot, you will be greeted with warm smiles, energetic laughter, and a peculiar red clock on the wall with muscular arms coming out of its sides. The agency opens into a cozy waiting area where Red Riot's (to be dubbed RR for the purposes of the interview) assistant welcomes all who enter. The agency is still small, as it is still in its infantile stage, with a total of ten people on staff, including RR. His assistant, Hashima Hiori-san, is in charge of social media and marketing, in addition to handling all incoming emergency calls. RR has four sidekicks, two of which were in the gym running drills at the time of my arrival, while the other two were out on patrol. The rest of the employees are also administrative—public relations, legal, human resources, accounting.
I was given a brief tour of the agency by Hashima-san before being led upstairs to the second floor where RR's office is. The first floor consists of the lobby, a small gym, a small kitchen, an on-call room with three bunk beds for the sidekicks to rest, a public restroom, a locker room, and the employee's shower. For legal purposes, I must disclose that I did not peek into the shower when I heard running water, though I was compelled to.
RR's office was just as warm and inviting as the rest of the agency. Hashima-san warned me that it might be a mess inside, but to her surprise, RR had done a wonderful job of tidying up for my arrival. There's a large banner that reads: VICTORY in kanji hanging on the wall above his desk. RR tells me he's had it since he was in middle school and it used to hang on his wall in his dorm. His mother bought it to encourage him for the UA entrance exam.
I take a seat in the open chair across from him at his desk after we greet each other and shake hands. RR is noticeably nervous and he taps his fingers on the wooden surface in a display of anxiety over the interview. The desk itself is filled with knickknacks and photos—merchandise from his fellow heroes and pictures of his friends. There's a stack of paperwork next to his computer monitor.
H: Thank you for having me today. It's an honor to be able to interview you, especially after your new ranking announcement. Congrats.
RR: [laughs] Thank you. It's honestly so crazy to see myself ranked so high after only a handful of years. I never could have done it without all my friends.
H: You've been known to do that a lot—deflect praise. It's been noted to occur in all of your interviews. Is there a reason you do that?
RR: [blushes] Wow… Really hitting hard right out the gate. You sound like my therapist. [laughs again] I can't speak for past interviews, but I guess I'm still a little overwhelmed by all the attention I've received because of that documentary that came out a few weeks ago. My teachers back at UA and even Fat Gum always said my interviewing skills were lacking.
H: Fat Gum, your former mentor and the hero you used to be a sidekick for?
RR: [nods] Yeah. He would always tease me about how I would get choked up during mock interviews.
H: How does he feel about your current ranking and leaving his agency?
RR: He's very proud of me! Running my own agency is a lot of work. I was never one of the smartest kids in school, and there are a lot of moving parts to having your own business, but he [Fat Gum] encouraged me to start my agency, and he was the first one to call when the new rankings came out. Honestly, I wouldn't be here today without his help and so many others.
RR glances at a framed photo on the wall. It's a graduation portrait from his senior year at UA. In it are the smiling faces of many top ranked pro heroes, including the number two hero: AirCon. Everyone knows the general story of their graduating class—how they fought for their lives in a war at a premature age, and how many of them barely managed to see their second year, let alone graduation. After the war eight years ago, they deserved their high school diplomas more than anyone else.
H: Can you elaborate on that?
RR returns his attention away from the photo, focusing on me, and he appears almost misty-eyed.
RR: The documentary talks about it a little bit. Have you seen it?
H: I have. Three times.
RR: Wow… Okay, so they don't go into a lot of detail in the documentary, probably because they were more focused on me as a hero rather than who I was before, but I didn't have very much confidence in middle school. I was kind of shy, a lot quieter than I am now.
H: [laughs] That's hard to imagine. Your personality, or at least the face you show the world, seems to match your signature color—loud and vibrant. Middle school is usually when we're at our loudest.
RR: Yeah…no. I wasn't always this way.
He tugs on one of his red locks that brushes against his shoulder.
RR: Even now, it feels like a lot of times it's just for show. Be the change you want to see, right? I really forced myself to break out of my shell when I was in high school. It wasn't until after I got the acceptance letter for UA that I dyed my hair red and started spiking it up.
H: Can you tell us more about that change? Would you consider your time at UA as your most transformative years?
RR: My former classmates and current colleagues have always inspired me to be better. Some of them were an inspiration before I ever even met them. Ashido—er, Pinky—was my classmate in middle school. We weren't really friends at the time, but I respected her a lot. She was everything I aspired to be—outgoing, vibrant, selfless. I had always wanted to apply to UA and be a hero, but I had nearly given up without ever trying. This man was bothering some of my classmates after school one day. He said he just wanted directions but he made them really uncomfortable. I wanted to step in, be the hero, but I was scared. I couldn't cross the street and help them.
H: You were a child. It's normal to be scared.
RR: Yeah, but that didn't stop Pinky. She saw her friends in trouble and she jumped in. She gave the man directions and he left. When all the adrenaline was gone, she broke down in tears and confessed how scared she was. It was the manliest thing I had ever seen at the time. She was the first of my classmates that I saw as a hero, and she wouldn't be the last. Later on, we learned that the man from that day became the villain everyone knows as Gigantomachia.
H: [gasps] Wow. You fought against him during the war, didn't you?
RR: Yeah. We both did. It weirdly came full circle, but that wasn't what actually pushed me to submit the application to UA.
H: Then what did?
RR: One of our former classmates—Midoriya, he's a teacher at UA now. I remember watching the news one evening. They were reporting on a villain attack and how it had taken a kid hostage. None of the heroes on site had a quirk compatible with fighting the villain because it had seized control over the hostage's body and was using his quirk. They were all standing around waiting for someone, anyone, else to step in. I remember being jealous about that too. This quirkless kid the same age as me goes rushing past the police line and all the heroes that are standing around. He can't do anything to stop the villain but he tried, and that was more than anyone else did. He tried, and it distracted the villain long enough for All Might to show up and save the day. A lot of my insecurities back then stemmed from jealousy.
RR: I thought, "If this quirkless kid has the strength to rush in when none of the heroes do, what does that make me?" I was someone with a quirk but I could never seem to help my classmates. I was about to give up on my dream until I stumbled on an old interview with Crimson Riot. He talked about how everyone feels afraid, even heroes, and that anyone that said they weren't afraid when rushing into battle was an idiot. It finally gave me the boost I needed, so I pulled my high school selection sheet out of the trash and erased the scribbles I had on it, rewriting UA at the top. Between hearing about Midoriya fight when no one else did, and watching that old Crimson Riot interview, I knew there was only one choice for me to make.
H: The former pro hero whom your moniker pays homage to?
RR: Yeah. He's the true embodiment of manliness. I always looked up to him as a hero. He always rushed into battle. He was chivalrous and kind. His quirk wasn't flashy, just like mine, and he used to say, "It doesn't matter what your quirk is if you have an honorable heart." It made me want to be like him, if even a little. I would run around trying to stop bullies but it usually ended with me getting beaten up instead. I didn't have the strength back then that I do now.
RR: Pinky on the other hand, she had this way about her that allowed her to effortlessly befriend anyone. There was one time I stepped in to help an underclassman and I got a boulder thrown at my face before they walked away. Then, a minute later, she swooped in, yelled at the bullies, started dancing with them and the other kid they were bullying for some reason, and then they all left like they were best friends. It was wild. She did stuff like that all the time.
H: But it sounds like you were pretty admirable too. Not everyone is willing to step in and take on a bully, especially if they always lose. It's easy to become disheartened and give up, like you said you almost did.
RR: Yeah, that was part of the struggle. I'd see how easily Pinky could resolve the situation and I'd start to hate my quirk. All my attempts to be a hero failed, while hers succeeded. The pros always said, "Your body moves before your brain can think," so I jumped in without thinking. I probably should have thought more, but that's what Midoriya did. He moved without thinking. The pros spent all that time analyzing how best to beat that sludge villain. None of them acted. Meanwhile, Midoriya dove in head first, the same way I had always hoped to do, the same way Crimson Riot did.
H: When did you learn about your classmate being on TV?
RR: It was spring, just before our second year, when I put the pieces together that that kid from the news back in middle school was Midoriya. Something about the way he always dove fearlessly into any battle reminded me of the boy from the news. And once I realized that kid was Midoriya, I realized the other one, the one that had been held hostage by the villain, was [Great Explosion Murder God] Dynamight.
RR: He inspired my ultimate move, Unbreakable.
H: Midoriya?
RR: [shakes his head] No, Dynamight. I never thought too highly of my quirk. It's not super flashy like other people's. I mean, Real Steel doesn't just harden, he turns into metal! We even have the same birthday.
H: So I've seen.
RR: Anyway, I never thought too highly of my quirk. I just made for a good punching bag when other people wanted to test the limits of their own quirks. Back then, I only saw myself as a defensive fighter. I didn't have any offensive moves, so even though I could harden my whole body, I still didn't feel strong. But Bakugou, Dynamight, he said, "Just standing up means you are strong," and it stuck with me. It motivated me to keep pushing my quirk to the brink so that I could always stay standing. I wanted to become an impenetrable shield.
[Note: not to take away from the impact of RR's empowering interview, but it is in this interviewer's unbiased opinion that if you ever have the opportunity to see his impression of GEMGD, you will not stop laughing for a week. It is a good thing he and RR are friends or a crime might be committed.]
H: I think the many citizens you have saved both in your time at UA and as a pro hero would say you have become that shield. I know the people of Japan are very thankful to have you around.
RR: That means a lot.
H: What about your other classmates? AirCon rose to the number two spot in this last ranking. The same one that placed you at twelve. Do you get jealous of your former classmates' rankings at all?
RR: Absolutely not! I couldn't be happier for Todoroki. He's worked hard his entire life and he earned the number two spot. I know he'll be number one some day and surpass Endeavor-san. Becoming number one was always a sore subject for him due to the relationship he had with his father, but he deserves it more than anyone.
The former number one hero retired after the war. In addition to the huge scandal that was leaked by now-deceased villain Dabi, regarding the many years of spousal and child abuse and neglect, the former pro hero sustained severe injuries during the war that prevented him from ever returning to hero work.
H: I'm sure he'll be happy to hear you say that. Shifting gears a bit, I want to talk about your views on "manliness." At this point, I don't think there's a single person in all of Japan who hasn't heard your catchphrase. You've mentioned in past interviews that manliness is a way of life, that it centers around personal strength and has nothing to do with a person's gender. Is that true?
RR: Absolutely. Manliness isn't about what's between your legs but what's in your heart. The manly thing to do in life is to be kind. That's what I strive to be.
H: Are you aware of how your views on manliness have been adopted by many civil rights groups?
RR: [sniffles] I'm honestly so in awe of how people have taken to my idea of manliness. I never set out to champion any sort of movements. I hadn't intended for "manliness" to be that serious when I started saying it back in high school. I just did what my idol did. I wanted to have an honorable heart like Crimson Riot. When we had our internships in first year and got our first taste of hero work, I interned under the Chivalrous Hero: Fourth Kind. Real Steel was there too. He would beat us with kindness—quite literally; if we didn't present ourselves in a respectable manner, we'd get a bonk on the head.
H: That doesn't sound very chivalrous.
RR: [shakes head] It's not as bad as it sounds. He never actually hit us hard. He just wanted to encourage us to be upstanding citizens, which was a lesson I carried with me. I'm beyond happy that I could be an inspiration to the marginalized population, namely those in the trans community. I hope more people will adapt the mentality going forward as well.
In recent years, RR has taken to saying, "You don't have to be a man to be manly, you just have to be strong of heart." It is now his agency's slogan and there is a plaque on the wall in the waiting room with the slogan inscribed on it for all to see. He's been voted "Most Popular with the Male Demographic," but a sizable portion of those votes are made up of people that identify as either trans, non-binary, or both.
H: Before we run out of time, is there anything you would tell your younger self if you had the chance to do so today?
RR: That's a hard question… I guess I would tell him to keep working at it. My younger self was full of anxiety and low self-esteem. I would tell him that all of his hard work and the pain he felt growing up will pay off someday. I couldn't be any happier with my life right now. I have an awesome agency with amazing sidekicks, lifelong friends that mean the world to me, and a partner I love with every fiber of my being.
When I asked RR about his partner he was very tight-lipped and stated, "No comment." There was a slight flush on his cheeks as he realized his slip up. He has been outspoken over the years about the fact that he is in a relationship, but the identity remains a mystery to this day. Whomever it is, is one lucky person. RR's phone rang, a notice from his assistant, Hashima-san, that an emergency alert had been issued. He had to excuse himself at that time to take care of an incident that I'm sure will have been covered on the news by the time this article comes out.
Before leaving the Riot Agency, I checked in with Hashima-san in the waiting room one last time to see if I could procure a copy of the elusive Manly Calendar. RR's annual calendar is a hot commodity that quickly sells out each year and I had yet to get my hands on a single issue.
I know I will forever be a lifelong fan and am rooting for the Sturdy Hero, along with so many others. I have no doubt that we will see him in the top ten by next year's Hero Billboard Awards. He deserves a spot among the best of the best. I couldn't have been happier to have gotten a chance to interview with my favorite hero. And now I have a signed copy of the Manly Calendar to commemorate such a momentous day.
To Red Riot and all the people of Japan that are reading this issue of Hero Weekly, remember to stay manly, be kind, and protect those in need.
-Hyuge