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Chapter Text

Izuku Midoriya was four years old when his doctor told him he was quirkless.

He was four years old when society told him he couldn’t become a hero.

He was nine years old when his mother died.

He is ten years old and runs away from his foster family again. They aren’t nice. They don’t care. They don’t even report him missing. Live isn’t fair, and Izuku carries the scars to prove that.

He now lives in a dry corner on the streets. During the day people are usually nice to him, because the heroes are watching. They don’t help him once they find out he’s quirkless, but they don’t hurt him either. That is fine. He just wants to be left alone.

But at night, the heroes aren’t watching anymore. He could count the number of times he had seen a hero during the night on one hand. There is no fame or glory for catching someone in the dark, where there is no media. Because in the end, that’s all what being a hero is about now. Money, attention, fame.

Izuku cuddled his blankets while the streetlights flickered. He just had to make it through the night. Again.

But as he was falling asleep, he heard a scream just around the corner. He tried to ignore it. ‘I’m sure a hero will come’.

“Help, please!”

He pulls the blanket over his head. ‘It’s not like I can help. I can’t be a hero. I’m useless, I’m quirkless. A deku.’

“Someone, please! Anyone!”

Izuku started crying. ‘They’re not gonna come. They won’t help you; they won’t help them. Heroes don’t care.’ He shook his head, ‘But I do’.

So he took the rusty pipe he had picked up for self-defence and ran around the corner, to where he heard the scream.

Two women were there, one on the ground, bleeding, and another one, knife in hand. They both turned around to stare at him.

“Fuck off kid, this doesn’t concern you”, the woman with the knife said. She looked back at the woman underneath her and raised the knife.

“Stop it!” Izuku was shaking and he sounded braver than he felt, but he stood his ground. Heroes won’t help the people here, so they had to do that themselves.

The attacker just sighed. “I warned you, kid. And I hate being interrupted.” Within the flash of an eye, Izuku was on the ground. The woman kicked him in the stomach. He puked. ‘This isn’t good, I already have problems finding food. Can’t lose the bit I have.’ Those are the first thoughts that came into his mind. The following thoughts were just pain, as the woman continued to kick him while he was down. So Izuku protected his head and hoped it would be over soon. It always ended. Eventually. He could take a little pain. Maybe the other woman had enough time to run away.

He heard a groan, and suddenly it stopped. He waited five, ten seconds. Still nothing. He looked up.

In front of him was the woman. Bleeding, the knife was gone. He looked higher. There was a person, with a mask, a long ponytail and a sword. They helped Izuku up.

“Thank you…I’m Izuku Mi…just Izuku.” He looked at the ground. He didn’t like that name anymore. It was his mother’s name. And his mother wasn’t here anymore.

The person put their sword away. “You can call me Stendhal. I’m a vigilante. You shouldn’t be out here at this time kid. Go home.”

The green haired boy just shook his head. “I don’t have a home anymore.”

Silence.

“But, umm, thank you for saving me Mr Stendhal. You must be a great fighter, that woman was super fast. It must have been her quirk. How did you beat her?”
The vigilante seemed confused. What was that kid doing here, and why was he so unbothered by his injuries?

“I’m just better. She had no technique and hasn’t seen me coming. Anyways that’s all I can do for you kid. Make sure you get back to…wherever you live. Bye.”
Stendhal turned around and was ready to leave when he heard a thump. He sighed. ‘Please no.’ But there was the kid, unconscious. He wanted to leave. He really wanted to. But this was a kid. On the street. Probably for a reason, judging by the scars he could see under the torn shirt. And he was a vigilante. Not a villain. Not yet. So he picked the kid up, who was too light for his age and prepared for the consequences this would bring.

A few hours later, in the early morning, Izuku woke up. He was lying on a sofa and tucked under a warm blanket. But most importantly, he was confused. Around him was a living room. He couldn’t see outside because of some curtains, but it was already bright out. The walls weren’t decorated, except one All Might poster. He tried to sit up, but his entire body hurt. He let out a groan.

In that moment a door opened, and a man came in. He has red eyes and black hair. He was wearing the uniform of a nearby supermarket.
“Good you’re awake. I gotta go to work, there is food in the fridge, painkillers on the table and a tv. I want to talk with you, and you are in no condition to leave yet so stay here until I’m back. Should be around 5. Bye.”

Stendhal walked out the door closed it. Izuku just stared. “What?”

He looked around dumbfounded and decided to get up. There were indeed painkillers on the table, and he took them gratefully. He didn’t touch the fridge though. His pain was bad enough to warrant painkillers, but he didn’t want to take the man’s food as well. Who knows what he might want in return.

So he went back to the sofa and lied down again. He was still tired and fell into a restless sleep, but luckily without nightmares. He had those often enough.
After a nap he decided to silently explore the man’s house. It was not much. A small kitchen with a table for a maximum of two people, a bedroom, a toilet and the living room. It all lacked personality. The walls were blank, there were no pictures or posters. Except the one All Might poster in the living room. Izuku stared at it.

He had mixed feelings about All Might. Of course, like everyone else he had admired the man. He had been his favourite hero! But…even All Might hadn’t saved him. No hero had. The only one who had helped him was the man whose house he was exploring. It didn’t matter. Maybe the man could teach him how to fight. How to survive.
Izuku turned on the TV. He hadn’t watched the news in quite some time, but there was nothing interesting. Some changes in the Hero Rankings, but nothing in the top 30. A few villain fights. Some new rookies. It was all about heroes. Then the weather. No politics, no scientific advancements. He used to like having all this information on heroes but now he felt empty. Like it didn’t matter anymore. None of that had helped him. None of them ever would.

After a few hours of some random cartoons he heard the door being opened. On instinct he jumped and turned off and tv and ran to his room. Which he didn’t have. The door opened.

“You’re really still here. Good. I didn’t want to have to track you down. Questions. But first, dinner.”

The man vanished in his room and reappeared in jeans and t-shirt. Then he turned on the stove and made instant noodles. He had…many packages of instant noodles. ‘Does this dude really live like this?’

The question might have shown on Izuku’s face, because the man frowned, put down a cup in front of the kid and said, “Don’t complain, at least I’m giving you food.”
Izuku wanted to refuse, but his stomach said otherwise. He hadn’t eaten in a while. So he finished the bowl quickly.

The man was staring at him. It made Izuku a little uncomfortable. “So, kid, what happened to you? To be homeless so young and getting beat up by people in alleyways in the dead of night?”

Izuku didn’t want to answer. He wanted to shrink in on himself until he didn’t exist anymore. It did not work. The man had given him food and painkillers, so maybe he did owe him some answers.

“My mom died, and I ran away from my foster parents. I got beat up because the other woman screamed for helped and heroes don’t come here. There. Wherever we are.”
“So you thought it was a good idea, that you a kid, who’s what, like 10, runs into a dark alleyway into a knife fight. Have you never heard of don’t bring a kid to a knife fight?”
Izuku started fidgeting. It always ended up like this. He was weak and useless. “I just wanted to help.” His voice was barely more than a whisper.

“You can’t help someone by running into a fight you are not prepared for. You die, the other person dies, the casualties just rose. Or you get in the way of someone competent. Like me. Or, and I hate to say this, but if you can’t do anything, leave it to the heroes. Don’t look at me like that, I know there are no heroes here. That’s what people like me are here for. Or maybe you are lucky and stumble into an underground hero. Those are all right, I guess. The only worthy hero is All Might of course. Anyways, next time you run into trouble, make sure you are prepared.”

“Next time?”

“Yeah next time. I know that look you are not going to stop running into trouble and trying to help people. So be prepared at least. Learn how to fight. Punch an asshole. Save a cat. Whatever.”

“You think I can help people? Like…a hero? Even if I’m quirkless?” Izuku barely dared to ask the question. Of course he couldn’t. What was he thinking? He was useless. He could never become a hero. They all told him that.

But the man looked serious. “Of course. Everyone can help people. I don’t know if you can become a legal hero, with a license and media attention and a fluttering cape, but you can become a vigilante no problem. In my opinion, vigilantes are better heroes anyways, but I guess I’m kinda biased. No thirst for fame, just a desire to help people. Of course, some only do it to use their quirk. Those are as fake as some heroes. But if you really want to help people kid, then become a vigilante. The heroes won’t accept someone who is quirkless. But the people here are glad to whoever helped them. Many people rely on their quirk too much anyways. And I take down most people without my quirk as well. But of course, this won’t change the view of society as a whole. They still won’t accept you. You can’t take this society with fake heroes apart on your own. But you can help people. Shoot for the stars kid.”

Izuku was overwhelmed. Helping people…that is all he ever wanted to do. To help people like himself. Was it important to be a licensed hero in 9 years when he could start helping people now? It was illegal, of course, but he already steered clear of the police, so he didn’t have to return to his foster house. What would change? It’s not like things could get worse.

But he was still quirkless. And people like him, or people with villainous quirks were destined to fail.

Shoot for the stars.

‘Maybe I will try to change society. It is long overdue. But I will need help. First, I need to become stronger. I will save people. I will be a hero. A real hero’.
With that, Izuku found his motivation. His drive. His will to go to whatever lengths, no matter the consequences. But he needed friends. But that wouldn’t be hard. This society screwed over so many people. But he had to start small. One person. Himself.

“Mr Stendhal. Please teach me how to fight.”

Stendhal looked into the eyes of a kid who had already given up hope. But now there was a spark. Determination. If this kid tried to help someone half starving and hopeless, and without any training, what would he do if he had actual skills. Stendhal saw possibilities. And he smiled.

“Sure, kid.”

Chapter Text

Shinso did not like his family. They would not let him talk. He could only talk while outside, and when his foster parents weren’t there. But even at school his classmates did not answer him. He had loved talking as a child. The world held so many secrets, and all he had to do to get his answers was to ask! Yet no one answered him. Not anymore.
Sometimes he wished he was quirkless. It was a fleeting thought. He had a lot of time to think now. He had even learned sign language to communicate with people without scaring them. It did not help. His foster parents didn’t care. They had silenced his mouth; they would silence his hands. He had a lot of free time without friends. He often went out to walk around town. His so-called home was suffocating. Sometimes he would ask people directions. He knew his way around, but he liked having people answer him.
He did not use his quirk. A few weeks in a muzzle had taught him that the hard way. He barely remembered how to use his quirk.

It was another evening and he was walking around town. It was getting dark, but he didn’t care. He was ten years old and wondered if his foster parents would even care if he didn’t come home. He wondered if he would care himself. He just felt empty. And the tears started rolling. ‘How embarrassing. It’s not like I have a reason to cry.’ Those thoughts didn’t help.

He ducked behind a dumpster and tried to call himself down. He did not expect that dumpster to be occupied. But green curls popped into his field of vision. There was a banana peel on the boy’s head. And he was smiling like an idiot. Until he saw Shinso.

“Can I help you?” The green haired boy got out of the dumpster. The rest of him was as dirty as his hair.

“There is a banana peel on your head.”

“Oh really? I didn’t notice. Why are you crying?” dumpster-kid asked innocently. Like it was normal to jump out of dumpsters and comfort crying kids.

“That’s none of your business.”

Shinso tried to walk away, but the kid jumped in front of him and looked at him with the biggest puppy eyes he had ever seen. Then he smiled again: “No can do! It’s going to be okay. I will one day be a true hero, and heroes help people. So let me help you!”

The green haired boy seemed very sincere. Shinso sighed. As if ha had something better to do.

“Alright. Whatever. You do know that most heroes would just ignore me. Jump straight to the next villain fight. If they knew my quirk, they probably wouldn’t even consider helping me. So if you really want to be a hero, look for a villain and beat them up.”

Shinso looked up. The kid was still there. The boy looked at him with a contemplative expression.

“A hero helps people in need. And you need me. So I will help you. The only villain to fight is your sadness, but I doubt I can punch that. Why are you sad?”

“You didn’t ask for my quirk.” A statement, not a question. He always made sure not to ask questions.

“Well you seem like you don’t want to talk about it. So I won’t. Is that why you are sad? Because of your quirk? Or is it because of the way people treat you for it?”

There seemed to be a certain sadness in the boy’s voice at that.

“I guess because of the people. A quirk is just a quirk. It depends on what you do with it. But people don’t understand. The quirk does not shape the person. We don’t choose our quirks! This is not my fault!!!” Shinso was shouting now. His tears spilled on the floor. He had not talked his mind for ages. Maybe he just needed someone to listen. To care.
The green haired boy hugged him. Shinso melted into the touch. How long has it been since someone hugged him? Since someone cared. And now he had a breakdown in front of another kid. What a day.

“It’s going to be okay. No matter what your quirk is. You can be whoever you choose to be. I know it’s hard. I know people won’t accept you. But you don’t have to worry anymore. I will accept you. I will be here for you. Don’t worry. I will be your hero.”

This was all Shinso ever needed. For someone to tell him it was okay. To talk to him. And for the first time in years, despite his sobbing, he felt truly happy.

Shinso returned to that alley every evening. And the kid was there. Smiling. Happy to see him. Happy to talk to him. Shinso wanted this to last. He did not ask any questions. They talked about all kinds of stuff. The weather. Alley cats. Food. It was the best part of Shinso’s day. Every day he looked forward to seeing the boy. The boy…whose name he did not know. It had been weeks. He hadn’t volunteered his name, and Shinso obviously hadn’t asked. It was starting to get to embarrassing to ask. Maybe he should just give him a nickname? No that would be weird.

He walked into the alley. And there he was, actually wearing normal, clean clothes for once. Not a dumpster. Shinso smiled. The boy had his back turned. He was crouching on the floor and seemed focused and something. Shinso didn’t want to scare him, so he cleared his throat. The boy jumped nonetheless, turned around and held up a knife. A cat ran away. Shinso took a step back. The boy smiled. Then frowned. Then looked at his hand. He sheepishly put the knife away. “Sorry, it’s for self-defence. I am not allowed out of the house without it. I found this cat, she…she is gone, sorry. You said you liked cats and I managed to feed her a couple of times, but I must have startled her. And you sorry again.”
“It’s okay. We do meet up until it is dark. Maybe I should start carrying something like a knife or pepper spray as well. But I don’t really have much money and my foster parents wouldn’t buy me anything other than necessities, so I guess that is off the table.”

“They wouldn’t buy you something for self-defence? When you regularly stay out until night? With villains running around in this part of town? What is wrong with your parents?
Shinso sighed. He should have seen this conversation coming. But strangely, he trusted the boy.

“Foster parents. I don’t know why they took me in. For the money maybe. They don’t really care about me anyways. It’s because of my quirk. They are afraid of me. They would probably say I don’t even need a weapon with my quirk. As if that would be legal. If I used a quirk on someone who robbed me, I would get arrested without question. That’s just how it is.”

The dumpster-boy looked contemplative. He was fidgeting and wouldn’t look him in the eye. He was mumbling something about quirks and parents. Then he stopped and looked very serious.

“Would you like to leave?”

“What.”

“Would you like to leave?”

He still seemed so serious. He had never seen the boy so serious before. Did he really mean it? But what could he do?

“I know what it’s like to have bad foster parents. You don’t have to stay with them. You can come with me. I will figure something out. But you do not have to go back there. Understood?”

Shinso was taken aback. But he nodded. He felt tears welling up in his eyes. Had he ever considered the possibility? To just leave? Of course he had. But where would he go? His foster parents didn’t hit him at least. He had a roof over his head and food he could eat. But was that really enough? Did he really want to live like this?

No. He didn’t.

“Please help me.”

That was all it took. One sentence. One person who was actually willing to help. Just one.

The boy beamed. “Then let’s go.”

They walked for about twenty minutes, until they reached an apartment. It was still in the bad part of town. A little run down, a light blue colour on the side. The door seemed cheap, easy to break in and replace. People did not care around here.

The boy took out a key and smiled. “Welcome to my home.” He opened the door and lead Shinso inside. From inside the apartment came a voice: “Izuku, did you bring the milk?”
Izuku out a finger on his lips and grinned. “No, but I brought something even better!”

“…what?”

“I brought a friend!”

Silence, then the unmistakable sound of a mug splattering across the floor. A man came running into view.

“You brought a what?”

“A friend! He is going to live here from now on.”

Shinso shook his head. This was a bad idea. This was a very very bad idea. He should leave. He really should. Why had he put his hopes in this kid? It was impossible. The man would send him back. He would have to go back. He would have to go back. He would have to…

“Kid? Kid! Are you okay? Come on, breathe with me, slow breaths okay? One, two, that’s it. It’s alright.”

Shinso had not noticed he was hyperventilating. Or having a panic attack. These things were not new to him, but he usually resolved them alone.

“I’m sorry”, he managed to say, “I will leave.” He turned around to leave. Tears started spilling. Again.

He heard a sigh.

“I can’t very well let Izuku’s first friend have a panic attack and leave. You can stay overnight. I am not sending you somewhere you don’t want to go back to. Let’s talk about the rest tomorrow, ok?” The man sounded a little concerned. He did not want to worry him. He didn’t want to cause trouble. But for once, he wanted to be selfish. Just one night.
“My name is Akaguro Chizome. This is my apartment and Izuku is my…student. You can take the sofa if you want.”

Izuku chirped up. He had stayed quiet during the Shinso’s panic attack. He still looked worried. “You can have my bed. I’ll take the sofa, after all I invited you here. You can have some of my clothes, come on.”

As the purple-haired kid was dragged into a room, the man, Akaguro, shook his head. “Hey kid! What’s your name?”

And Shinso smiled. He had not said his name in ages. “It’s Shinso. Shinso Hitoshi.”

Izuku turned around. “So that is your name. I was wondering why you never told me. That’s a nice name. Can I call you Toshi?”

Shinso laughed at that. “Sure. But you never actually gave me your name either you know.”

Akaguro shook his head, mumbled something about kids and coffee, and left for the kitchen.

But the green haired boy just laughed and dragged Shinso into his room. “My name is Izuku. You can call me Zuku if you want. Sorry, I forgot.”

So ended Shinso’s eventful day. He wanted to sleep the night, but he was conflicted. Tomorrow he would be sent home again. The man had said he would not have to return, but he rarely trusted adults. Izuku seemed fine around him. Although the man was not his father. Or guardian. He had called him his student. That was peculiar. But there was no thinking about it now. Maybe he could convince the man to let him stay. He needed his strength for that.

The next day, Shinso woke up to the sounds of a coffee machine. On pure, sleep-deprived, insomniac instinct, he made his way towards the coffee. Someone gave him a cup. He downed it in a few seconds. He was handed a second cup. And then a third. Then he looked up. Izuku was standing there, trying his best not to erupt in a laughing fit.

“I know you said you drink a lot of coffee, but this is even more than I expected. And you drank them so fast! Do you want more?”

Shinso was not used to people talking to him in the morning. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. Then he nodded.

Izuku smiled and made him another coffee. Then he made one more and knocked on a door. “Sensei wake up, I made coffee.”

Indistinguishable noises came from behind the door. Then a dull thud. Like a man falling on the floor. Izuku laughed. The door was opened, and a man with the worst bed hair Shinso had ever seen, and that was coming from him, walked out the door, snatched the coffee out of Izuku’s hand and sat down at the table, mumbling something along the lines of weekend, and fucking morning people.

After all people were awake and properly caffeinated, the air turned serious again.

“Well, kid, tell me. Why don’t you want to go home?”

Shinso rubbed his neck. He did not like talking about this. But it was his only chance. He had to take it.

“My parents gave me away because of my quirk. They were scared. My foster parents aren’t much better. They don’t let me speak. I can’t go back to that silent house where people hate and fear me because of something I can’t control. Something I was born with. I have a villainous quirk. That’s what people have been telling me all my life. But I have never hurt anyone! And I don’t want to. I want to be a hero! I want to prove to all of them that people like me can be heroes too. That you can save people regardless of quirk. It just isn’t fair.”

Akaguro sighed. Shinso could see a lot of understanding in his eyes. Maybe he had also been bullied for his quirk. Maybe he was just sympathetic towards a ten-year-old boy. It did not matter. The man looked at Izuku. Izuku looked back with determination in his eyes.

And the man sighed again. “You want to be a hero, kid? You want to help people, like Izuku?”

“Yes.”

“No matter the cost?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. You still have to prove that. I am a vigilante. I am training Izuku to be a hero. I can do the same for you. But you will need experience. Experience you can’t gain anywhere else. You will need to become a vigilante as well and help me help this city. You will need to pull your weight around the house, doing chores. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes.”

“Then welcome to the dysfunctional family, Shinso.”

Shinso grinned. He could finally make his dream a reality. He knew vigilantism was illegal. But he also knew that being a vigilante would actually help people. His first step to become a real hero. Because in this part of town, he had seen more vigilantes than heroes. He respected them, and had faith in them. This would not be a problem.

“So kid. Where did you live?”

Shinso gave his address. “Why?”

“Izuku. Are you up for some breaking and entering?”

Izuku grinned.

“Always.”

Chapter Text

“Come on Blank, catch up he’s getting away!” Shinso sprinted and ran over trashcans and tried to keep up with his friend. Said friend was chasing a mugger down an alley. He had trained with him for some time now but still couldn’t keep up. That kid was a monster. But they were lucky, and the mugger ran into a dead end. He turned around and panicked.
“Leave me alone!” He screamed and pulled out a knife. Izuku jumped to the side and stretched out his leg. The mugger stumbled and Shinso managed to wrestle him to the ground. Izuku used the back of his knife to hit him over the head. The man was unconscious.

“Wohoo! Another victory for Blank and Hollow!” Izuku pumped his fists in the air and laughed. From above came a chuckle and Stendhal landed near the two boys.

“Job well done kids. Let’s tie him up and call the police. I think I can let you two patrol on your own now. You’ve become quite strong. But remember to stick to weaklings or call if there is any real trouble! Got that?”

“Yes sir!” The two shouted simultaneously. They were grinning under their masks. Finally, they were actually helping people. Even the public knew there were new vigilantes in town.

“Hollow, Quirk unknown. Gender unknown. White hair. Short. Wears a reflective black mask. Weapons include swords and knives. Very fast and nimble. Wears nondescript black clothing.

Blank, Quirk unknown. Gender unknown. Black hair. Short. Wears a reflective white mask. Weapons include a staff and a whip. Not as fast as Hollow, but still manages to outrun whoever chased him. Wears nondescript black clothing.

The two are always operate together. They used to operate with another vigilante named Stendhal but are now working alone.”

Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa sighed. New vigilantes. And they seemed rather young as well. This wasn’t good.

“Is that it?” The underground hero Aizawa Shota stared at the detective. “I mean they have been operating for a while now.”

“Yes that’s it. We believe that Stendhal mentored them, and they can work on their own now. We usually catch vigilantes after the first few times, but the longer someone is at large, the harder it gets to catch them. And we believe that Stendhal taught them all his tricks. That’s why they are so good. But based on the assumption that they are indeed children we need to bring them in. That’s why we contacted you. You have caught the most vigilantes. You are the best underground hero I know. Will you take this case?”

Aizawa sighed. He wondered if he could drown in the rest of his coffee. But no. He emptied the mug. It was cold. Disgusting. He sighed again.

“Kids, huh. Alright. I’ll take the case. I have nothing better to do anyway.”

“Didn’t Midnight and Present Mic ask you to be a teacher at UA with them?”

“Yeah, but that can wait. I think these two kids need me more.”

Izuku and Shinso have been vigilantes without supervision for months now. It was exhilarating. Sure they got hurt from time to time, but nothing serious. And they were not alone. They steered clear from the worst part of town and stuck to people they could handle. It wasn’t easy to walk by someone with a threatening quirk, but they knew they could call someone who would take care of it. Not the police of course. Or the heroes. They had tried once, when Stendhal wasn’t available. The police had cared more about why a kid was out at night then the actual robbery. Izuku had tried to call a hero, and he had laughed at him. Laughed. At a kid reporting a crime. Luckily Stendhal called back and managed to stop the robbery. But people were needlessly injured.

Izuku had beat himself up over that. What kind of hero would he be if he couldn’t save someone right in front of him?

But Stendhal had a long talk with him. People cared about him. They would be devastated if Izuku got hurt. And if he did, he couldn’t save people anymore. He showed him articles of heroes who got injured during work. And the last straw was Shinso crying, saying he couldn’t stand seeing Izuku hurt.

“Look kid. You have to remember. You want to save people. But the first person you need to save is always yourself. Always.”

And Izuku understood. He didn’t want to hurt the people he loved. So he retreated when necessary. Called for backup. And he felt, for the first time, that he was actually worth something.

One evening, the two of them took down another mugger. It was not hard. They had gotten rather good at their job. But that hadn’t prepared them for what came next.

A real hero. Underground, yes, but still a hero. Eraserhead. They knew him, of course. They actually liked him. Not as their enemy though.

Eraserhead was one of the only heroes they had ever seen at night in their area. Stendhal had told them about him, to stay away from him. Not because he was dangerous, but because he was good. He did good work, but that work included catching vigilantes. Which the two boys were. They had admired his work from afar. They did not want to see it up close. But life wasn’t fair.

The hero managed to catch Blank in his scarf and pulled them towards him. Hollow sprinted back and tried to cut the scarf with one of their knives. They actually managed to do that. His scarf was specially made. Must be a good knife. The two kids, and Aizawa was now sure they were kids, jumped back into the ally and assumed defensive positions. Hollow moved their right hand to their back pocket.

They looked like cornered animals. And that was never a good thing.

The pro hero raised his hand. “I just want to talk.”

The kids looked at each other. They did not relax. But they didn’t attack either. A start.

“My name is Eraserhead. Who are you?” He knew their names of course. But he needed more information. He did not expect them to answer.

“I am Hollow. But you probably knew that already. This is Blank. What do you want?”

A boy, Aizawa realized. Not even a teenager yet. The other person didn’t speak.

“Why are you vigilantes? You seem a bit young to fight crime. We can help you.”

Hollow laughed. It was a dry laugh, with no humour in it.

“No. You can’t. but I do respect you, Eraser. We are vigilantes to help people. Because no one helped us.

Aizawa wanted to answer, but in that moment, someone attacked him from behind. It was the vigilante Stendhal.

“Run. I got this.”

And the two kids got away. Aizawa tried to stop them, but after a few seconds it was obvious he had to divert his full attention on the man. He was good. He must have had some kind of formal training. Possibly even a quirk that helped him.

One erasure later that theory was disproven. He kept up with the man, but his capture scarf was cut. He jumped back. He would probably win in and endurance battle. He just had to keep it up.

The two clashed again and again. Aizawa was sweating. He did not have such a fight in a while. But his opponent was getting slower. He could win this.

The vigilante jumped back. So did Aizawa. The two stared at each other. Right as the pro hero wanted to launch another attack, the vigilantes phone made a sound.

“And that’s the signal. It was fun fighting you, Eraserhead. Stay away from the kids please. See ya.”

He ran out of the alley. Aizawa tried to follow him, but Stendhal knew these streets better than him. He managed to get away. This day could not get any worse.

He returned home and started to write his report while the details were fresh in his mind. He sighed. A coffee was put down next to him. “Rough night?” his husband asked.

“Yeah. Thanks Zashi. Remember the kids I told you about? I found them. They managed to get away, but apparently, we failed them once. So they don’t trust authority figures anymore. They seemed so young…”

“I’m sure you will find a way to help them Shota. You always do. I gotta go to the radio station, see you in the afternoon.”

Hizashi Yamada, the hero Present Mic left their apartment. Aizawa stared into his coffee. It did not help him. He downed it, finished his report, and went to sleep. He did not sleep well.

Izuku was smiling. Why was he smiling.
“He was so cool! I always wanted to see his capture scarf in action! I wish I had been wrapped up in there. Toshi, what was it like?”

Shinso shook his head. “Yeah sure, next time we almost get captured by the heroes I’ll let you be in the hands of a pro. It was constricting and I was scared. Why did you even answer him? Now he knows stuff about us.”

“Oh come on, he’s so cool! And I had to stall for time until Akaguro arrived, it’s not my fault. At least he didn’t try to attack us again! If I had 20 percent more trust in adults, I might have actually taken him up on his offer!”

Shinso raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Pft, no I’m not stupid. But I wonder what would have happened if someone like him had found me, back when I was living on the street. He seemed like he actually cared.”

“Izuku…”

“I know. No point in thinking about it now. I am happy with the way things are.”

“You know, you never did tell me why you ended up on the street.”

“And you still haven’t told us about your quirk. I mean not that you need it, but still.”

Shinso frowned. Then he sighed. “Okay. I will tell you what my quirk is if you tell me why you lived on the street.”

He could see Izuku’s mind working. He could practically hear it. He knew the boy loved quirks. He had several notebooks full of them. It was interesting to hear him talk about them. He was rarely so enthusiastic. Despite that, he often shut up very suddenly. And apologized. Shinso reassured him that it was okay, but the boy seemed so said. It did not happen as often anymore, but he wondered who made the boy feel that way. Like he couldn’t talk about the things he liked.

“Alright. I am…my name is…was…Midoriya Izuku. I lived with my mom. She died in a villain attack. The heroes were the ones who caused most the collateral damage. I ended up in a foster home. They weren’t nice. I ran away. Tell me about your quirk.”

Well that explained much. Why he wanted to help Shinso so badly, why he didn’t like heroes, why he wanted to save people. He was glad he met the boy.

“Thank you for telling me that. I’m sure it wasn’t easy. Sorry I asked I just…I was curious.”

“It’s okay.” Izuku put his feet on the sofa and hugged them. He didn’t look up.

“My quirk is called brainwash. I can control people who answer my questions. Just simple tasks though, nothing that would require thinking.”

Izuku looked up. His eyes were shining.

“That is so incredible! Oh my god why didn’t you tell us this is amazing! You could ask people to leave the danger zone, you could easily apprehend talkative villains, you could calm people down and there are so many more possibilities! I have to write this down. How long does it last? What are the limitations? How many people can you control? Is it easier with certain people depending on their brain capacity? Can you get out of it by yourself? Do they have to answer your question or is it anything they say? Does it work in every language? Do they have to answer in the same language you ask? What about sign language, does that count? Is there a cooldown? Are there any repercussions for you? Like a headache or something maybe? Can you control me right now? I want to know what it feels like!”

Shinso was taken aback. No one had ever been nice to him after he mentioned his quirk. Especially not this enthusiastic. He should have known. Izuku is a great person after all.
“I have no idea. I haven’t used my quirk for years. Sorry.”

“That just means we will check everything you can do with your quirk.” There was a devilish spark in his eyes. “This will be so much fun. Of course you need to keep training and fighting without your quirk or people will figure out who you are, and our vigilantism will actually be illegal. But this will be great for emergencies! Oh I can’t wait to test all my theories!”

When Akaguro came home, he found Izuku running into a table. Repeatedly. Shinso was laughing at him. This wasn’t his problem. He ignored them and made coffee.

Chapter Text

Hatsume Mei is an inventor. It runs in the family. She does her work with glee and knows exactly what she will do in the future. Her inventions, her babies are her life. She spends hours each day building things, tearing them apart and building something new. There are so many things left undiscovered, so many ways to help people!

She helps out in her parents’ shop. Not that she has to, but she wants to. She is already good enough to help and could work there, if not for two complications. One, she is eleven. Two, her babies tend to blow up, and she likes to tinker with things in the shop. Which blow up as well. Sometimes. Her parents don’t mind as long as she doesn’t hurt anyone.

As she made her way downstairs into the shop, she heard the voice of a customer talking to her mom.

“Please, I really need this support item. My quirk hurts me, I don’t know how much longer I can take!”

Mei stopped on the stairs. She knew these kinds of people. She was glad she never had to deal with them. Yet. This was the one thing she hated about helping in her parents’ shop.

“I am sorry. I can’t just give this to you. I wish I could, but you will have to pay just like all other customers.” Her mom. She sounded sad but stayed firm.

They had given away a support item once and the police had found out. They had given a lecture that people would just use their items for villainy and that they would be responsible for innocent deaths. The Hatsume family got away with a warning, but if it happened again, they would get a criminal record and would be unable to continue their shop.

In order to get a support item you first had to visit a doctor. This doctor would then refer you to a quirk specialist. The quirk specialist would consult with a support item company. Then you would be able to buy a custom support item. At an outrageous price. This process can take up to a year and is very expensive. Most people get their support items illegally, but if they are caught, they are labelled villains. Some choose to just bear whatever pain their quirk brings them. None of these options are good ones.

There is one exception to the rule, however. Heroes. Heroes are able to get most support items for free. Not for free, the Hero Commission pays for them, but they don’t have to pay for anything themselves. That is why most of the Hatsume’s customers are heroes. Most were nice and grateful when they received their new items, but some were rude and entitled. Not that it mattered. Mei gave everyone what they wanted (and more). Even if they didn’t know it.

Her mother was talking again. “Look miss, I cannot legally give you this item for free. But I can refer you to someone who might be able to do something about the drawbacks of your quirk. For free of course. Please follow me.

Mei went back to her room. She tinkered with some new items until night. And then into the night. At around two in the morning she heard something outside. Since she had nothing better to do, she stuck her head out of the window and looked around. She saw something move a few hundred meters away. So she used her quirk Zoom and watched what was happening.

Two people dressed in black and wearing masks were trying to push each other into trashcans. The one with the black mask and white hair managed to judo-flip the one with a white mask and black hair into one of the dumpsters, closed the lid and sat on top of it. Weird. This was not Mei’s problem. She went back to her tinkering.

A few weeks later Mei was on her way home after running an errand in the evening. She was supposed to be home earlier, but the other shop had so many interesting new support items, she couldn’t help herself. So she stayed for way too long admiring all those items. Now she was on her way home, happily carrying the things she actually went there for.
She was not dumb. She had noticed the man following her. She tried to ignore him but was ready to run away any given time. He did not seem very dangerous, but you could never be too careful. Her phone was dead. Damnit. Was she fast enough to run? Maybe, but not with the things she was carrying. Those were important. Her parents would never let her run another errand if she didn’t manage this.

The man came closer. She took out a wrench.

Just as she was about to turn around and launch a surprise attack, she heard something hitting the ground. She turned around. And she couldn’t believe her eyes.

“You are the dumpster people!” She exclaimed. Maybe not the best conversation starter.

“Excuse me?” The one with the white mask asked. The other was laughing. They seemed rather young. Her age maybe.

“I saw you trying to push each other in trashcans a few weeks ago. Sorry. Umm, thanks for helping. I gotta go home now, I’m sure my parents are worried.”

The one on the black mask got over his laughing fit and put on a more serious tone. “You shouldn’t be walking around here alone. It’s dangerous. There are no heroes here who will help you, you know.”

Mei huffed. Of course she knew. She lives here. “Yeah I know. It won’t happen again. Thanks again. Bye-bye.”

She turned around and left. The two boys were discussing something. Then they followed her.

“I am Hollow. I’m a vigilante.” Hollow pointed at the other boy. “This is Blank. We are here to help people like you. It is a rather slow night, so would you mind if we escorted you home? It would be bad if something else happened to you.”

“Sure, whatever. I’m Hatsume Mei. Just call me Mei.”

The boys flanked her, and they walked her home. She felt comfortable. They were talking about random things, nothing of importance. This felt…nice. She never had many friends; she preferred her machines. But this was fun. Maybe she could convince them to stick around for a bit.

They arrived at her home. She searched for her keys but turned around before entering.

My room is on the other side, second floor, there is a fire escape. If you ever want to talk, or just hang out or something…just come by. Don’t let my parents see you I don’t know how they would take it. So, thanks again. I owe you one.”

The boys left without an answer. She wondered if they would return.

They did. They came by after a few weeks. It was fun. Always at night, but that didn’t matter, Mei was awake anyways. After a while, they came by multiple times a week. Mei liked it. She may only know them as vigilantes, but she respected their privacy. Those two were the first friends she had ever made. Little did she know, it was only the beginning.

“So Mei”, Hollow said “what do you want to do when you grow up?”

“I want to sell my babies all over the world! I want to make the best support items and I want to make items for everyone! Heroes, civilians, children, whoever needs them. The future will be Hatsume Mei!”

Blank laughed. “Wow, those are some big ambitions. But by what we’ve seen of you, I’m sure you can do it. You have already built more …babies… than most professional inventors. What’s stopping you?”

“Well, nothing is really stopping me, it’s just…”

Hollow interrupted her.

“It’s the civilian support item law, isn’t it?”

Mei sighed. “Yeah.”

Blank looked around confused. “The what?”

Hollow just shook his head and crossed his arms. “It’s a law that states that civilians have to finance everything about a support item themselves. From the doctor’s appointment to the actual manufacturing. Most people can’t afford that. Heroes get everything paid for by the Hero Commission. It is common knowledge that that law was only passed because the Hero Commission owns politics anyway, and they receive money and equipment from the support companies. They are all corrupt anyway.”

Blank leaned back against the railing of the fire escape. “I knew they were corrupt, but it’s getting worse with everything I hear. Now we have another reason to change this bullshit of a society.”

Mei couldn’t believe her eyes. They actually wanted to change the way things are. That was impossible! Or was it? She wanted to change things herself. But out of all the goals she set for herself, that was the one she least believed in.

“How. How are you going to change things?” Mei’s voice was quiet. Uncharacteristically so. The boys looked at each other. Then at her.

“It’s not like we can do much yet. We are still too young. But…things can’t keep going the way they are. Most villains turn to villainy out of desperation. Because they have no other choice. Because that is what people expect of them.” Hollow paused and looked over to Blank. He turned away. “We need to treat people as people, not as either a hero or a villain. Or even worse, we can’t treat people a certain way because of their quirk, or lack thereof. In this society, quirks dictate your entire life. But things aren’t so black and white. Heroes aren’t infallible, and villains can be redeemed. We need to abolish the hero rankings, because those drive heroes to value popularity over actually doing their job. That leads to minor crimes being ignored, flashy fights with a lot of collateral damage and no patrols during night. A singe symbol of peace isn’t sustainable either. Once All Might is defeated or retires, crime will spike exponentially, and the other heroes won’t be able to handle it. Society will collapse. Maybe a better one will rise after that, but we can’t sacrifice so many people if there are other options. All Might is already old for a pro hero. This change will happen with us. We need to do something before it is too late.”

Blank was nodding along the entire time. And Mei knew it too. She knew the facts. She just never wanted to face them. But now it was too late. There was a spark in her. She wanted to change things as well. She didn’t want to continue living like this.

“How can I help?”

She was able to help. She was a great help actually. She managed to house the boys in an empty warehouse that was not in use anymore. She supplied them with a few support items, nothing big, just a few things that might help. If the items were too fancy, someone might get suspicious and ask around. That wouldn’t be good.

The group of kids was currently at the warehouse, eating snacks and playing games. But suddenly the air grew more serious.

Hollow sat down in front of Mei. “We’ve been thinking”, he said. “Look, Mei. You are our friend and we trust you. You have never asked who we are or tried to report us. You have helped us with so much, and we are very grateful for that. So we wanted to tell you who we are. Is…would that be okay with you? You can’t tell anyone. I mean, that’s obvious, but still.”

Mei straightened a little. She knew the boys were very secretive with who they are. They had to be. And they trusted her. She was…happy.

“Of course I won’t tell anyone you dummies. I’ve kept this secret and I will continue keeping it. Thank you for trusting me.”

Hollow took off his mask. He had a cute face with freckles and green eyes. His smile wobbled a little, as if he was nervous. “My name is Izuku. Nice to finally meet you, I guess.”

Then Blank took off his mask. He had purple eyes and a sheepish look on his face. He raised his hand to his neck. “I’m Shinso Hitoshi. You can call me Toshi.”

Mei jumped up and hugged the boy. “My name is Mei Hatsume and we will be friends forever!!!”

And with that a quite unusual group has been formed. Three children, with a mindset that would shake society to its core.

Chapter Text

Todoroki Shoto did not have a good day. He rarely had. But his father, the number two hero Endeavor was in a bad mood. Which he let out on Shoto. Again. He should be used to it by now. Could you ever grow used to this?

After this particular bad ‘training’ he was in bed and hoped the pain would end soon. Breathe in, breathe out.

His sister came by and brought him food. Cold soba. He liked his sister.

But she seemed worried about something.

“What’s wrong Fuyumi?”

But she avoided eye contact. She put the soba down and sat down next to him. “Shoto I…I’m sorry. This shouldn’t be happening. I wish there was something I could do. I don’t want to see you get hurt anymore.” A tear rolled down her cheek. Then another. Then she started crying and hugged Shoto, careful of his injuries.

Shoto wasn’t much of a hugger, but he didn’t push her away. If it was his sister, it was fine. He looked out of the window and watched the clouds. He wished he were free like them, just floating along without a worry. No expectations. But he was stuck here with his father. At least for another six years.

“Don’t worry Fuyumi. Once I’m a hero I will pay for mom’s hospital bills. Natsuo already left and I know you only stay for me. Then we can all leave.”

Fuyumi let him go and looked at him with a sad look in her eyes. “Shoto you don’t have to burden yourself with this all alone. I don’t want you to end up like Toya…Natsuo and I are saving what we can for mom. It will be alright. You deserve freedom and choice as well.”

She got up and left the room. She closed the door and Shoto was left alone again. Alone with his thoughts. Which was never a good thing.

He pondered over what his sister had said. That he deserved choice. His choice would be…to do what? Be a hero? What, like his father? Did he actually want to be a hero? Or was it just what his father had beat into him time and time again. What was it to be a hero? Certainly not what his father was doing. Shoto wanted to help people like his mother. It was easy to punch a villain into oblivion, but you couldn’t do that to the number two hero. The system itself was flawed.

These thoughts didn’t leave Shoto for days. He sat at the breakfast table still wondering, when his father stormed in. He immediately straightened but didn’t look.

“I will be gone for the weekend. Hero business. Fuyumi look after Shoto. Shoto,” Endeavor looked at him. Shoto turned around. “Continue with your training. I expect to see results by Monday.” Shoto just nodded and returned to his food. The number two hero slammed the door shut and left. Great. A weekend without him was always like vacation. And a vacation was just what Shoto needed with all the thoughts in his head.

He went upstairs and finished his schoolwork. It didn’t take long. Then he cleaned his room, which wasn’t even dirty. Once he was done, he went downstairs and checked everywhere if Endeavor hat actually left. Fuyumi gave him the clear.

“I’m going for a walk.” Fuyumi smiled. “Don’t forget your phone. Have fun!”

So he put his shoes on and left. It was warm enough that he didn’t need a jacket. He started without a destination in mind. He just wanted to clear his head.

Shoto went through different blocks and barely noticed how the houses got more and more shabby. The thoughts were still swirling in his head. Did he want to be a hero? He needed the money for his mother. He certainly could be a hero with his quirk. But did he want to be? He shook his head. This was all useless. Maybe he deserved a choice. Maybe. But regardless of whether he deserved it or not, he didn’t have that choice. He had never had a choice. The only choice he had was what kind of hero he would be. He could reject his father by only using his ice. Maybe people would notice and start to wonder why.

Someone bumped into him. Shoto didn’t mind. He just continued.

He wondered what his father would think if he only used his ice. He would be angry. Good. But once he was at UA, his father couldn’t hurt him as much anymore. He still needed to pass his classes. Three more years and he would attend UA. A school for heroes. Shoto sighed. It couldn’t be worse than what he was already dealing with.

It was getting late when Shoto finally realized he was lost. That in itself didn’t surprise him. He wasn’t actually looking where he was going. What did surprise him was that it was late. He took out his phone. The phone in his pocket. Or not? Maybe in his other pocket. Nope. Damn. He must have lost it. He could just buy a new one. But now he was in the middle of nowhere without a phone.

He could just ask a hero for help. People patrolled in his area all the time. He looked around. There were a few shady looking people, but not a single hero in sight. Weird. He turned around and walked in the direction he came from. There must be a hero somewhere around. They patrolled all the time, even at night. Not as often as during the day, but it was evening. Surely someone would show up soon.

They didn’t.

Shoto ended up in an alley. He looked around. It was rather shady. There was a fence he could climb, but he was sure he didn’t climb any fences on the way here, so he turned around to leave again. Someone else entered the alley. He wondered why, after all there was nothing here. Except for him.

The man pulled a knife.

“Gimme your money kid! Hurry up!”

He was actually getting mugged. What a day. He weighed his options. He could give the man money and maybe he would be left alone. But then he didn’t have any money to take a train or something home. Call for help. There hadn’t been any heroes around before and he somehow doubted they would come now. Fight. A little illegal, but he could say it was self-defence. Which it was. But that would mean dealing with the police, which would mean dealing with his father. Also a no.

While he was still weighing his options the man rushed forward. Shoto jumped back and got ready to fight, when he felt all too familiar heat next to him. Since he was now used to fire being thrown at him, he dodged easily. The mugger didn’t. Or what was left of him.

There was now a hole in the fence, and a tall man stepped through. His face was burned, and so were his arms. He had black hair and blue eyes.

Shoto was still shocked. He had just seen a man die. He looked at the man with horror.

“You don’t belong here kid”, the man said.

Shoto just nodded. “Thanks”, he croaked out. He was still staring at the corpse.

“Oh no, not for that.” The man laughed. “Now give me your money kid.”

Shoto spun around. “What?”

“You heard me kid. Give me your money. What, you think I saved you out of the goodness of my heart? You obviously got cash. Hand it over.”

The other man Shoto would have fought. The other man he would have won. But this one? He was way too similar to Endeavor for Shoto’s liking. So he reached for his pocket and pulled out his wallet. His hand shook. His ID fell to the ground. The man picked it up.

“Todoroki Shoto…huh. Son of Endeavor.” Fuck. That wasn’t good. The man might take him for ransom now. His father would be furious. He might actually have to fight now. If his father found out…this wasn’t good.

The man didn’t make a move. He just stared at Shoto with a weird kind of intensity. Maybe he was scared by the name of the number two hero. Maybe he would leave him alone.
She man shook his head. He handed back the ID. And the rest of the wallet. “Whatever kid.” He sounded…sad? But he left. Through the hole he had burned in the fence. Shoto held his breath. Was that it?

He had put his hopes up too high.

Two people jumped down from a nearby fire escape. They were wearing black clothes and masks. One had a staff, the other a sword. They were about to land on the man with the fire quirk, when he jumped out of the way and raised his arm in an attack position.

The two masked people raised their weapons.

The man however raised his arms. “I don’t want any trouble with you. I didn’t even rob the kid. Just burned the mugger. I’m leaving.” And he did. He put his hands in his trousers and turned out of the alley. The masked people looked at each other and shrugged. Then they turned to Shoto.

“You okay?”, the one with a black mask and a sword asked. “You shouldn’t be out here at night. It’s dangerous. If you didn’t notice. You don’t belong here. Where are you from?”

Shoto looked around between the two. They were putting away their weapons. Now they didn’t look so threatening anymore.

“I got lost,” Shoto mumbled. “Lost my phone. Was mugged. Thanks for trying to help.”

“That’s our job,” the black masked guy grinned. “I am Hollow, this is Blank. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Todoroki Shoto.”

Suddenly Hollow ran up close to him. “You’re the son of Endeavor? The number two hero? What your quirk? How does it work? Is it stronger than your fathers’? Are you gonna be a hero? ...”

Blank sighed and pulled his partner back. “Sorry. Hollow can get excited by quirks. So what were you doing here at night? Shouldn’t you be at home?”

Shoto was a little uncomfortable. “Yeah but my father isn’t home, so I took the day to clear my head and got lost. If you could just put me in the right direction, I’ll go home.”

“Oh you really shouldn’t go alone. Not around here and especially not at night.” Hollow said.

“I’ll be fine.” Shoto just wanted to leave and go home again.

Blank laughed. “You were just mugged by two different people. Granted one left you alone, which is good because he seemed strong and we didn’t want to fight him, but still.

That quota will only go up. Come on we’ll accompany you.”

Shoto wanted to argue. He didn’t need babysitters. But those two were the best people at getting him back home alive without his father finding out anything about his little adventure, so he relented.

They made their way to the street and made their way in silence.

Then Hollow asked: “So what’s it like being the son of the number two hero?”

Shoto cringed. He had hoped he didn’t have to answer these kinds of questions. But Hollow seemed so genuine. And those two were obviously vigilantes. It’s not like they could do something with the information.

“It’s stupid. All he cares about is power and raising me to be his perfect successor to beat All Might. I don’t even know what I want to do but my whole life seems already arranged for me.”

Hollow laughed. “Wow, even in their personal life heroes are bullshit.”

Shoto turned to look at him. “You don’t like heroes?”

“No. I used to love them, but the more I continue with vigilantism, the more I see how many mistakes they make, how much excessive collateral damage. They are supposed to care about people, but they only care about themselves.”

Shoto was taken aback. This was the first time in his life someone had not worshipped heroes. Maybe for once, someone could understand him. Those two had already helped him once. Maybe they could help him again.

“Have you heard of quirk marriages?”

Hollow and Blank were furious. Shoto could tell. They had stopped walking and the two were pacing around, mumbling too silent for him to understand.

Hollow turned to look at him. “I am so sorry. I swear one day I will strange Endeavor. I already knew he was one of the worst heroes but this! This is unbelievable! And of course even if you told someone, who would believe you? Who would dare go against the number two hero? This is making me so mad.”

Blank was nodding along to the whole rant. He shook his head. “I wish we were strong enough to take down Endeavor. I would do it. Right now. But no, the flaming trashcan has to be a powerful hero. Urgh.”

Shoto smiled. They did understand. But his smile grew sad. “It’s alright. I only have to hold out until UA. He won’t be able to see me as often. And once I’m a hero, I can pay my mothers’ hospital bills and we will be fine. It’s just…six more years. I already survived twelve.”

Hollow was eerily calm at that statement. His voice was silent, but soft. “But you shouldn’t have to. And don’t worry. You are not alone anymore.” Hollow turned to look at Blank. Blank nodded. He reached in his pocket and handed a note to Shoto. “This is our base. We are not always there, but you can come if you like. Another friend of us might be there as well. It’s just an empty warehouse but if you ever need to escape, we will be there for you. You are not alone anymore.”

He said it with so much sincerity. Shoto believed him. He looked at the address on the note. A hope. And an idea.

“You are vigilantes, right? You help people. I…I want to help people to. I was at odds with what to do, I didn’t want to be a hero like my father. But with you…I might actually help people.”

The two vigilantes put up their masks. They were smiling.

The four of them got along well. Shoto was glad to have made friends. Even his sister seemed to have noticed and had his back when he snuck out to meet them.

His father was suspicious but didn’t act on it as long as it didn’t interfere with his training.

The four of them often met in the abandoned warehouse. Except that it wasn’t abandoned anymore. There was laughter there, and people playing. It was like a little family.

“Hey guys! Come here.” Izuku was smiling. He had something planned. That smile was all the rest of the group needed to know for that.

“So, I’ve been thinking.”

“That’s usually a good thing.” Shinso interrupted him. He got a pillow in the face for that.

Izuku picked up where he left off while the others laughed.

“I’ve been thinking. We all want to change things. But we need more people for that. And we don’t trust adults. But we can’t do anything yet. This will be a long game. But this is my idea. We gather more people. Kids, people like us. People we can trust. We will become heroes. And once we do, they won’t be able to ignore us anymore. We will do what we can as vigilantes until then. If our group is big enough, we should have influence on the legal and not-so-legal side of the law. What do you say?”

Shinso smiled. “So you are basically saying to start a criminal organization? Count me in!”

Mei was grinning as well. “Sounds like a plan.”

The three of them looked at Shoto. He was grinning as well. “Of course I’m with you.”

Izuku was laughing. Shoto had rarely seen him so happy. There was a spark in his eyes. A spark that had one all of them over a long time ago. A spark that will lead to many others joining. He just knew it. “I vote Izuku for leader”.

“Well, duh.” The other two said. Izuku blushed at that.

But he straightened and smiled once again. “Then I hereby call our group into existence. We will change this society and make it a better place for all! It’s going to be a long road, but with us as the founding members, and all that will follow, we will make it. I swear we will.

From now on, we, are Void”

Chapter Text

“Are you done yet? It’s late, we should go home Izuku.” Shinso was lounging on a chair in the warehouse. It was around three in the morning, and Izuku was still trying to figure out how to work with websites. He had been for weeks. Not that he wasn’t getting any better, but it was kind of boring for Shinso. His phone was almost out of battery and he wanted to be able to use it for emergencies, so he had nothing to do anymore. Of course he had also left his charger at home.

“Come on, even Mei went home already.”

Izuku sighed and closed his laptop. “Alright. Stop whining. We all want more people to join and can’t have Eraserhead paying a visit because the website is sloppy. I think I’m done for today.” He stood up and put everything in its place. They had long since transferred most of their stuff from home into their warehome. They only had basic necessities over there but kept returning. For the food, for the beds, and for Akaguro.

The man had been going out more and longer, but he still took care of them by providing food and clothes. He wasn’t even responsible for them and could just shut them out. But he didn’t. In Izuku’s mind was still hardwired that he had to be able to live on his own, so he kept some money, food and clothes hidden in the warehome. Just in case.

“Okay let’s go.”

Shinso got up and yawned. He put on his vigilante gear, and so did Izuku. They both put the hair changing pin in that Akaguro had provided. It was an incredible little thing.
Someone had used their quirk on it, and once you put it in your hair, it changed colour with the hair. Izuku had a white pin, which he put in his hair. The pin turned green, while his hair turned white. For Shinso the black pin turned purple, while his hair turned black. An easy part of their disguises, but an effective one. The pin was barely visible under the fluffy hair of the two boys.

They didn’t have to change out of the nondescript black clothing they always wore, which were normal enough to be worn of kids their age. They had added some armour underneath, but that could be overlooked as well. The weapons were harder to disguise. Izuku always carried a few knives on him even in civilian clothes, just in case. Shinso as well, even if he wasn’t as good with them, but his weapons were harder to disguise. As vigilantes they could easily carry the sword, whip and staff. They would get arrested based on their actions anyway, might as well get arrested for their weapons. Well, hopefully they wouldn’t get arrested at all.

At least they hadn’t shown any quirks yet, which means they technically couldn’t get arrested for vigilantism, since that was illegal quirk usage. Hard to abuse your quirk when you don’t have one.

They lastly put on their masks, black and white respectively, and made their way home. It was way faster as vigilantes, since they could run on the roofs and take shortcuts. People don’t care if some masked weirdos do that. But kids? That would be a problem. They looked around for people who needed help, but surprisingly, no one was around. No screams for help. It was awfully quiet. Weirdly so.

There were nights like this, of course. But usually someone needed help in some kind of way. Even if it is just a runaway cat. The people around this area had started to recognize the two boys and started asking for help even in more trivial matters. It didn’t matter to the two, as long as they could help. It was a little weird to go shopping in full vigilante gear, but the shopkeeper didn’t seem to care. He must have seen weirder things.

It was nice to be appreciated by the people. They waved at them and smiled. Izuku wondered if they would still like him if they knew he was quirkless.

Suddenly, a scream echoed through the night. The two vigilantes changed direction immediately and headed towards the noise. It was a man who had just been stabbed in the leg. He was clutching a briefcase. The other figure tried to rip the briefcase from the man’s arms. They had a quirk that let them sprout spikes out of their skin. They seemed a little green under the streetlight. Probably a cactus quirk.

The man on the ground was still clutching the briefcase as if his life depended on it. Izuku jumped down and separated the two people with his sword still in its sheath. He stepped between the two. Shinso hid on the roof in case Izuku needed backup. It was a good tactic to hide and attack when the other party wasn’t expecting it. They needed all the advantages they could get.

The cactus-person jumped back and looked around the area. Was he expecting backup? From the panicked look in his eyes he didn’t. His eyes locked on the briefcase again. Instead of running, he curled into himself. Izuku took a defensive stance. The cactus-man spread his arms apart and the spikes came flying in Izuku’s direction. He managed to dodge most of them, but the man with the briefcase wasn’t so lucky. He had protected his face instead of the briefcase, which was sensible enough, but now the cactus-man had managed to grab the briefcase and was attempting to run away. Izuku looked between the injured person and his attacker. “Take care of him!” he shouted to Shinso, who was already climbing down the roof, and Izuku sprinted after the cactus-man. He didn’t get very far.

As he exited the alley where the man was attacked, something hit him hard in the ribs. He did not expect that. He flew a few meters into the street and rolled on the asphalt until a streetlight stopped him. It hurt. Not only did he still have a few spikes which were now wedged deeply in his skin, but he also had at least a few broken ribs. He coughed and tried to breathe normally. He tried to get up. It was hard. He wanted to stay on the ground. But he heard someone approaching. Someone who was not the cactus-man. He didn’t have the strength to throw Izuku that far. Maybe an accomplice? No. As he looked up, he saw the cactus-man as shocked as he was. Then he sprinted away.

The person in front of him just watched him leave. Izuku finally looked at the man. Bright colours. A helmet. A cape. And a logo on his chest.

In front of him stood a hero.

This one was rather new, Izuku’s brain helpfully provided. Fresh out of school, just got his license. His name was Muscleshine. Because his quirk enhanced his strength, but he also shone a light depending on how strong he was. The light wasn’t strong enough to blind someone. Izuku didn’t know a weakness. Of course not. It was coincidence that he had even heard of this hero.

“Villain!” The hero shouted. “I saw what happened in the alley. Stand down or I will have to use force!”

Izuku grunted. He saw? If he saw, then he should follow the actual attacker and not the one who was helping!

Even Eraserhead, whose job it was to capture the two, always made sure to capture the villain first. Of course by the time he got back the vigilantes were always gone. But at least he did his job. This hero was neglecting it to catch a quirkless kid, who hasn’t done any harm.

“If you saw, then why aren’t you catching the villain? The man who stole the briefcase? Who ran away?”

The hero just laughed and now loomed above Izuku who was still on the ground.

“Oh, I don’t think you understand. You are the villain. That was just a small criminal. I just had to wait until you came out. You were rather easy to catch, after that.”

Izuku couldn’t believe his ears. This man would let a civilian screaming for help get injured and a villain escape to catch a vigilante?

“Hollow, is it? Your name has been making the rounds. I will get famous if I bring you in. Why else would I be out at night in this dump? No self-respecting hero would ever come here.”

Izuku was in pain. His ribs hurt, his lungs hurt, his arms hurt. Everything hurt. The spikes were still stuck, and breathing wasn’t getting any easier. On the ground was a pool of his blood. This wasn’t good. His vision was getting more and more blurry. He coughed. There was no way he could get up like this. He faded into black.

Shinso did not jump down into fray after Izuku. Sometimes his friend was too reckless. He waited on the roof and observed what was happening. Izuku seemed to have it under control. That was until the cactus-man used his quirk. It was fine for Izuku, nothing that hasn’t happened before, but the civilian was injured. He immediately climbed down to help, when Izuku shouted at him: “Take care of him” and sprinted after the villain. Shinso knelt down next to the whimpering man and took out his first aid kit. He always carried one with him, and so did Izuku. It came in handy many times already. He left in the spikes because he didn’t want to inflict any more damages. He then stopped the bleeding and tried his best to disinfect the wounds. He hoped the spikes weren’t poisonous. Since he had much practise with wrapping up Izuku and himself, he was done quite fast.

He wondered if Izuku had already caught the villain. He didn’t seem very strong and Izuku had already beat worse than him. But as Shinso left the alley, he did not expect to see his friend lying in a pool of his own blood. Without thinking, Shinso grabbed his staff and jumped at the man in the bright cape. The man turned around and threw Shinso back. He rolled with the impact and was now face-to-face with the man who had hurt his friend. A hero. That much was obvious. What was he doing here?

It didn’t matter. Izuku wasn’t moving.

But the hero did.

“My, my. I am lucky today. I thought I would only catch one of you pests, but here you are. Good. Surrender, if you don’t want to end like him.”

Izuku had lost. Hollow had lost. Against a hero. Shinso knew he couldn’t win either. He had fought against his friend many times, and not won once. Even if Izuku had been surprised, Shinso was not dumb enough to think he could win against an actual pro hero.

He knew he was panicking. He should contact Stendhal. But he knew he couldn’t reach his phone without attracting to much attention.

There was only one option left. His quirk.

He had only used his quirk on Izuku, Shoto and Mei. They all had consented to help him train with his quirk. He never made them do anything that would hurt. If he used his quirk now, he would, for the first time be an actual villain. He would prove all those right that had mocked and insulted him for years. He would attack a hero. They would find out his quirk. They would find out who he was. His dream would be over.

But all that didn’t matter. Without Izuku, his dream hadn’t even started. He would still be with his abusive foster family. He would still be alone. These few years of happiness was more than he had ever hoped for. This would be his end. But no matter what, he would not let this become Izuku’s end.

“Why are you doing this?” He asked. He put all of his quirk in this one question. Heroes liked to talk. And so did this one.

“Because you are villains.” And with that answer the hero sealed his fate. And Shinso’s as well.

“Go into the alley and wait.” The hero turned around and went into an alley. Not the one where the man was still lying.

Shinso waited until the hero was out of sight. Then he sprinted to Izuku, who was unconscious. Only unconscious. Not dead. There was a pulse. Shinso cried a few tears. Then he got out his first aid kit. He knew it wasn’t enough. He would have to call an ambulance. They would ask questions. He would lie. And if he was caught, it didn’t matter. As long as Izuku was safe.

Someone approached him from behind. He whirled around and held his staff out. It was the man he saved. He held up his arms in surrender.

“I’m sorry about what happened to your friend. I know you probably can’t call an ambulance. My sister is studying medicine. She could help you. My name is Nathan. See it as a thank you for helping you. She doesn’t live far. Your friend really needs help.”

Shinso lowered his staff. Could he trust this man? But the most important question. Could he afford not to? Izuku was still bleeding, and it was getting worse by the second. He didn’t have a choice.

“Okay.”

Nathan sighed in relief. He was limping but could walk without help. Shinso carried Izuku and followed him.

They arrived at a small house that was painted a nice shade of blue. Nathan took out a key and opened the door. He stepped in and gestured Shinso to follow. They entered a living room with a nice sofa, a table and a TV.

“Put him on the sofa, I’ll get my sister.” He left the room.

Shinso slowly put Izuku down own the sofa, careful not to hurt him any more than he already was. He took off his mask. Izuku’s face looked so small and peaceful. And bloody.
A woman stepped in. She gestured Shinso to step aside. He did. She didn’t seem put off by all the blood, or the fact that her brother had let two masked people in her house.

“I can fix him, but it’s gonna take a while. Nathan get me the disinfectant, bandages and clean water. After that take it easy, I’ll stitch you up to.” She turned to Shinso. “You’re not injured, are you?”

Shinso shook his head.

“Good. Then please give me some space. He’ll be fine. Get something to drink in the kitchen and calm down. Nathan you join him. Don’t move around too much.”

Nathan took Shinso’s hand and led him to the kitchen. Shinso sat down and numbly took the hot chocolate he was handed.

“Don’t worry. June is still studying, but she has patched up people for years. If she says he’ll be fine, he will be. Thank you for saving me by the way.”

Shinso just nodded. He was worried. He didn’t know these people. They seemed nice enough, but…he didn’t trust easily. The fact that they were his only choice didn’t sit well with him either.

Suddenly his phone rang and Shinso almost jumped out of his chair. No one called him if it wasn’t an emergency. Nathan smiled at him and left the room. Shinso picked up.

“Hey there kid, are you okay? I’ve been out longer than usual but you still aren’t home. Everything alright?”

It was Akaguro. Of course it was. He worried about him. But he wasn’t okay. And the numbness that had engulfed Shinso broke. He started crying.

“No. No it isn’t.”

And so he told the story of what had happened. Of what he had done. Of what he feared would happen. That Izuku was next door and he didn’t know what was happening.

Akaguro listened silently. Once Shinso was done, he answered in a silent and caring voice.

“Don’t worry. You did everything right. If they didn’t call the police yet and are stitching him up, you can trust them. Just wait there and come home once Izuku is fit again. I’ll take care of the rest. You don’t have to worry. It’s going to be okay.”

And with that he hung up. Shinso was still in a house of strangers with a warm mug in his hands. He was exhausted. He had been tired before, but after all this excitement, he was completely drained. He fell asleep at the kitchen table. Someone put a blanket over him. He didn’t wake up until morning.

Akaguro hung up. He was furious. Shinso had just told him what had happened. Heroes. He didn’t like them before. But this? This was beyond everything he had expected. That man wasn’t allowed to call himself a hero.

He made his way to the alley Shinso had described. He would make sure nothing would happen to his kids. He had trained them. He would make sure they would become great heroes. Real heroes.

The man was still there. He was blankly staring at a wall. Akaguro knew how Shinso’s quirk worked. He could deal with the man now, while he was still under Shinso’s control. It would be easy.

But that’s not what he came here for. He wasn’t wearing his Stendhal mask. He wasn’t wearing any disguise. He wouldn’t need one. This man would not leave this alley alive. And Akaguro made sure he felt every second of it. Every second of despair and pain. For what he had done to his kids. To ensure their future. If he had to become a villain for his kids to succeed, then so be it.

In the morning, the corpse of the new hero Muscleshine was found. Muscleshine had operated outside his usual work hours and area. He hadn’t told anyone why he was there. This led to many speculations as to why he was there, and why he was killed the way he was. The media tried to keep it quiet. These kinds of hero deaths were always something hard to swallow. Especially if no one knew what happened and the killer was still at large. And if the corpse was disfigured and left to rot in an alleyway. Reassurances were told by the police. ‘The killer has will be caught’. ‘This will not happen again’. ‘You have nothing to worry about’. But they didn’t have any leads. And they wouldn’t, for a long time.

This would be the first kill of the villain and hero-killer Stain.

Chapter Text

Izuku woke up in pain. He was happy to wake up at all, so that was positive. He tried to move, to see what was going on, but a hand pushed him back. He opened his eyes. Next to him was a young woman with short light blue hair, who eyed him suspiciously.

“How do you feel?”

As Izuku opened his mouth to answer, only a cough came out. And even that hurt. His chest was on fire, but he tried not to show it. The woman gave him a glass of water, which he took gratefully. He emptied the glass and could finally feel his throat again. His throat hurt. He didn’t want to feel his throat anymore.

“Everything hurts.” Izuku managed to croak out.

The woman just laughed at that. “Well, that is to be expected. You were out for a day and got some nasty injuries. The worst were your broken ribs, three of them. You got lucky even with that. The spikes weren’t poisonous, but they were wedged in deeply and I had to get them out without causing more damaged. Whoever hit you clearly wanted to hurt you and didn’t hold back.”

Izuku swallowed. The events of that day came back to him. He wondered what had happened after he passed out. He could still see the hero looming over him. His opinion of heroes wasn’t high before, but now he doubted he would ever trust one again. Maybe with the exception of Eraserhead and All Might.

The woman cleared her throat to gain his attention. “My name is Juniper, by the way. You can call me June if you like. The idiot you rescued was my little brother Nathaniel. Thank you for that.”

Izuku raised his hands in embarrassment. He was used to people thanking him, but he usually wore his vigilante outfit and wasn’t dying on their sofas.

“I should be thanking you! You stitched me up after all.”

The woman laughed again. “After saving my brother it’s the least I could do. And it’s good training for med school anyways. I’ll go tell your friend your awake. Take it easy! You are still injured, and your condition could worsen if you move around too much.”

Izuku nodded and June left the room. He looked around and found himself in a nice living room. It looked normal, compared to his home or the warehome. Probably what a normal house is supposed to look like. The only thing that stood out was the sofa. There were bloodstains on the sofa. And they were probably his fault.

While he was still in thought, he heard the door open again and Shinso came in. Izuku smiled. He was glad his friend wasn’t hurt. Shinso started crying and threw himself at Izuku but stopped just before he could touch him. He then carefully cupped Izuku’s face in his arms and put his forehead to his friend’s. He stayed like this for a minute, still sobbing silently.

After he pulled away, he looked at him and Izuku could see the sadness, but also the relief written on his face.

“I was so scared Izuku. You were lying there in your own blood and I didn’t know what to do. I am…I am so glad you are okay.”

“I’m sorry for worrying you, Toshi. I swear didn’t know. If I knew Muscleshine was there, I would never have run out of the alley. I know I’m not strong enough to take on a real hero yet. I’m sorry.”

Shinso shook his head and smiled. “You have nothing to be sorry for. If I had been there earlier, I could have done something. You wouldn’t have been injured so badly.”

Izuku grabbed Shinso’s hand and held them tight. “No. This is not your fault. If it is anyone’s fault, it’s Muscleshine’s. He’s the one who attacked me and let the villain get away. It. Is. Not. Your. Fault. Understood?”

Shinso nodded.

“Good. Now please tell me what happened after I passed out.”

At that Shinso shifted nervously. He didn’t look Izuku in the eye.

“Well, first of all it all turned out okay.”

“If you have to start with that it doesn’t sound good.”

“Oh shut up. Okay, after you went after the cactus-man, I stitched up Nathan, you know the guy you saved. With the briefcase. I went after you and saw you bleeding out in the street with the hero trying to kill you. And I panicked. So I used my quirk…”

Now it was Izuku’s turn to start crying. Even though it hurt, he leaned forward and hugged Shinso. “I’m sorry you had to do that for me. I know how hard it must have been.”

Shinso pushed Izuku back onto the sofa. “You need to rest you idiot. I told you it would be okay. I used my quirk to have him wait in the alley. And…some villain killed him. Given the state of the corpse, it was probably someone with a personal grudge. And I feel like I gave them the opportunity. I don’t know how long my quirk held, but he would have been defenceless for some time. But the worst part? I still don’t regret it. The moment I saw him standing over you, I knew I would do everything I could, everything in my power to save you. My body moved without thinking. I was ready to give up everything…for you. You are my best friend Izuku. You are like a brother to you. I couldn’t bear to lose you. So please…don’t scare me like that again.”

That was a lot of info at once. A hero was dead, because of the two of them. A hero that had acted more villainous than some actual murderer the two had met as vigilantes. And Shinso had almost sacrificed everything for him. It was a lot to take in.

“The most important part is that we are all…we will all be okay. What’s done is done. I guess I’ll take it easy for a while. I can work on the website. And Shinso? Thank you. I…it means so much to me. Thank you.”

There was chaos in the police station. Tsukauchi Naomasa was up to his elbows in paperwork and people came in and out of his office. The media wanted statements about the deceased hero Muscleshine. Even though those vultures had probably more information already. He sighed. There was nothing more he could tell them.

Muscleshine operated alone and without telling anyone outside his usual work hours. He wasn’t on duty and shouldn’t have been wearing his hero costume. But he did, and Tsukauchi didn’t like what that implied. He died in an area heroes tend to avoid. He was tortured before being killed. Cause of death was blood loss, after being cut and stabbed multiple times. No other clues.

Based on that it is safe to assume the killer had a personal grudge against the deceased hero. It should be a one-time event and people shouldn’t be worried that it would happen again. But the killer was clearly skilled. And having such a skilled killer on the loose was not good.

Someone knocked at his door. Tsukauchi sighed. He didn’t want to talk to people anymore. But this was still his job, even if he was working overtime. Again.

“Come in.”

To his surprise, it was not another police officer or someone the press had managed to smuggle in. It was Eraserhead. Finally a face he actually wanted to see.

“Eraserhead, come in. Sit down, I’ll make you some coffee.”

The man grunted in thanks and collapsed onto the chair. Tsukauchi prepared a coffee and gave it to the hero. “Any news?”

Eraserhead was still slumped in the chair. “No. I patrolled the area for hours and I didn’t find anything. It didn’t seem like the culprit returned to the scene of the crime. The only suspicious thing was what seemed like dry blood in the street. But that could have been anything else. Maybe someone ran over a dog. Who knows? It is way too contaminated to get anything. I will continue to patrol the area. If I’m lucky they will try something again soon and I will find them, or this was the only thing they will ever do.”

Tsukauchi sighed. He had hoped for more, but hadn’t expected anything, really.

“Thank you, Eraserhead. Any news about the vigilantes?”

At that the hero sighed again. Not a good topic apparently. He downed the coffee and shook his head.

“I keep running into them, but they either get away, or I have to chase down an actual villain. I sometimes get the feeling they are playing with me. I think if they notice I’m around they make extra noise, so I find them during a fight. I apprehend the villain and they are gone. Catching the villain is more important. But I still worry. Those two are getting better every day. If I don’t find them soon, they will either never be caught or run into the wrong villain. A situation they can’t deal with themselves. Don’t worry. I will catch those kids.”

The detective got up and made himself a coffee. And another one for Eraserhead. This would be a long day for the two of them.

Izuku was able to return home after a few days. He went as a civilian and leaned heavily on Shinso. Shinso didn’t mind. June had left them with a ‘be careful and return if anything happens, I don’t mind stitching you two up’. At least now they knew a competent (pseudo-)doctor who could help them in an emergency.

Izuku was glad to be home again, in his own bed. The journey here had taken a lot out of him, and he was exhausted. Once at home, he immediately fell asleep again. He didn’t notice how both Shinso and Akaguro were fussing over him being okay, changing his bandages and making sure he was as comfortable as possible.

During the few weeks he had house arrest, imposed by all of those who knew him who wouldn’t let him out of bed, he managed to work on the website. He needed to make sure it couldn’t be tracked back to him. He also needed to find new members who were about his age and had something to prove. Children who were discriminated because of their quirk. People who had witnessed injustices first-hand and wanted to do something about it. Those that were unhappy with society, but too scared to do something about it.

He started by making a website where people could voice their complaints. Where people could find help with their problems. Where people could reach out. And then Shinso, Mei and Shoto started tackling the complaints. They all wore white masks and used the colour changing pins to die their hair black. They started with the small complaints. A cat that ran away. A bit graffiti that was painted over. Destroying anti-homeless architecture.

But as soon as Izuku was fit again, and allowed out of the house, he realized that juggling vigilantism, schoolwork and the website was too much to handle. He realized that he might have to ask someone who actually knew how this stuff worked. He didn’t know many people. He needed to find someone with enough free time, someone he could trust. His friends were too busy and so was Akaguro. June had to study and was usually too busy as well. Only one person left.

Izuku walked to Nathan and June’s house and walked in with the attitude of someone who had nothing to lose.

June was the one to open the door. “What happened this time?”

Izuku was offended. Most of the time he came here he was indeed injured, but still.

“We’re fine. I just want to talk to Nathan. Is he home?”

June gestured for him to come in. “When isn’t he? Make yourself at home.”

He knew where everything was and went into the living room. June had somehow managed to get the bloodstains off the sofa. Which was good, because he didn’t want to sit in his blood every time he visited.

Nathan came by, and he looked as if he had just woken up. Which would be no surprise.

“How can I help you?” he asked and yawned. He had a mug in his hand, which was probably filled with coffee.

“Do you know how to run a website? Or know someone who does?”

Nathan seemed surprised at that. “I do actually. And I can hack. I even study that. Why?”

Now it was Izuku’s turn to be surprised. “You do? Wow, this was just a shot in the dark I didn’t think you could actually do that.”

“I’m offended. We moved here from another country, and they wouldn’t let me change my gender, so I had to hack that myself. It worked out…mostly. We still wanted a fresh start so in the end we decided to move here. People are way more accepting. Anyways I figured it was fun to do, so now I study it. What can I help you with?”

Izuku smiled. It was the kind of smile where people knew there was no escape. A little maniac. Nathan got a little uncomfortable.

“I want you to run the Void website! We could even pay you! Drug dealers carry a lot of money. We’ve used that to fund our warehouse, but we have extra. Are you up for it?”

Nathan laughed. “Wait the Void website? I thought it was a myth! Voice your complaints and someone will help you. I mean, of course you idiots would be the ones to run that. It makes sense. You know what? Whatever. I will help you under one condition.”

Izuku was nodding with glee. “What is the condition?”

Nathan rubbed his neck. “Well, do you remember the night we met? I tried to protect a briefcase, remember? The cactus dude stole it. Would you mind trying to get it back?”

“Of course, if that is all. I look forward to working with you.”

Nathan laughed. “Yeah, me too.”

From the other side of the door June raised her voice. “I look forward to you having a job!”

At that, Nathan grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, yeah. I know.”

Izuku stayed for a while and explained to Nathan what he would do and how he could help. Nathan had a few ideas of his own, and with his help the website grew tremendously.

Over the weeks more and more complaints came. And very slowly, people started to take notice. They noticed that someone would help if they wrote their complaints on the website. And some even offered to help themselves. Izuku let them, as long as they didn’t do anything illegal. Those, he would handle himself.

They needed to decrease their patrolling, but they gained specific information on shady drug dealers, areas where people were frequently getting mugged and other specific situations, like a woman being abused by her boyfriend.

The website gained the status of an urban legend. Mostly those who were already oppressed used it. The others shunned the website, said to voice their complaints to the heroes. But those who used the website knew it didn’t help. The heroes didn’t come to them. Most had tried. And they had failed.

Izuku was happy. It was way easier to pick who to help, than to go on patrol and hope to stumble into someone. He felt like he was actually making a difference. But most importantly, he took note of the people who tried to help themselves. Most were adults, and he couldn’t let those in on their secret. The oldest people he trusted were Nathan and June. And they had to save his life. Akaguro was another exception. But that man had practically raised him.

The police didn’t see them as a threat yet. Why would they? Finding lost pets and painting over graffiti was hardly something people took notice of. And the more dangerous and illegal activities were committed by the vigilantes Hollow and Blank. And since they had been doing their vigilantism for quite a while, people didn’t connect them to the website. Yet.

This was the beginning. The vigilante group Void started to spread their wings and reach out to more and more people. For now, small little acts. Then bigger and bigger, until people would look to them instead of the heroes. And people would wonder why you would rather ask them for help. And slowly, the flaws in this society of quirk discrimination and hero worship would come to unravel. But it was not only the people who needed help who took notice. It was also the villains.

Chapter Text

Momo Yaoyorozu did not have a good day. That was unusual. She usually had great days. Her parents were rich, she had a great quirk, and was good at school. But all those factors led to her very bad day.

It started out well enough. It was Saturday, so no school. Momo woke up at eight in the morning anyways. Early enough to put in a bit of learning. She had to continue learning every day if she wanted to make it into UA. She needed to know what all kinds of things were made of to use her quirk effectively. And she needed that information fast. So she studied. Even when other kids her age were outside. She did it for her future. To be a hero.

Her parents were both lawyers. Her aunt was a hero. She came from a great family. She would become a hero to fulfil the high hopes they had for her, and to give back some of the luck she had been bestowed with.

At least that was her goal. She didn’t want to become a lawyer, but her parents were proud of her, nonetheless. A hero was the greatest profession one could be. It was a valuable and honoured profession. And Momo was very proud to say that her parents were lawyers that specialized in heroes. That's how they had met. Heroes sometimes caused damages or were accused of excessive violence. Some tried to abuse their status. But Momo didn’t believe in that. Heroes were good. And her parents made sure those liars would get what they deserved for slandering their good names.

At this point of the day, she still thought it would be a good day.

Her parents were in court to wrap up a case. Momo was prepared to dinner alone again. It was nothing new and nothing to fuss over. Some things needed to be sacrificed for the greater good. Like meals with the family. Or friends.

What started the bad part of the day was a little unassuming call. The call was from her parents. They had mixed up a file and needed Momo to fax the correct one to the courthouse. That wasn't anything new as well. It was rare that her parents forgot something, but it did happen from time to time.

So Momo went down to her parents archive and found the right file. Then she sent it over, as she usually did. But this time, something caught her attention.

It was what the hero was being accused of. Murder.

That wasn't right. Heroes don't kill people. They save them. That's what everyone said. That's what they were taught at school ever since they were little. It couldn't be right.
Momo knew shw wasn't supposed to do this. These kinds of files were confidential. But she was curious. She loved finding new information. And her parents wouldn't come home for at least a few hours. So she took a little peek. And then another. And after a few minutes, she had read most of the file. The evidence was indisputable. This hero had killed his wife. He had abused her over years and finally lost control. The woman had apparently tried to press charges before, but to no avail. As she tried to leave, he ran her over with his car.

Her parents were trying to defend this man. If all went well, he would pay a fine and continue hero work after a two-week suspension and psychological review.

Why would her parents do that? That man was clearly in the wrong! Someone like him couldn't continue doing hero work!

This couldn't happen. Had her parents lied to her all this time? That the people they defended were good people?

There was only one way to find out. And she was sitting in an archive full of answers.

Her day was about to get worse.

Momo's parents had been lying to her. They hadn't been taking the hero cases to save them and to help heroes. They had done it for the money. Defending a hero was extremely well paid. And easy cases. There were tons of laws to protect heroes in the field. The law was biased. And yet people kept trying to fight them with the law. They rarely succeeded.
As Momo was browsing her parent's cases she found many where she found the heroes morally in the wrong.

They caused excessive damages in unprovoked fights. They used their status for things unrelated to their profession. They used their quirks in public even out of costume for trivial things.

They maimed and even killed opponents even when such violence was unnecessary.

There were many more cases and Momo was tired. Tired of being fed lies. Tired of reading of atrocities her parents had excused and swept under the rug. Tired of living in ignorance. And her parents would return soon.

Momo went into the kitchen but left the food in the fridge. She wasn't hungry. She made herself some tea and went back into her room. Her parents came in to thank her for the case. They had won. She wished she hadn't sent it. But she did. She put on a facade and told her parents she would continue studying. They left her alone. They usually did.
She logged onto her computer and started browsing. She looked up the laws that favoured heroes. She looked up more cases like those her parents dealt with. She looked for people who complained. She looked for cases decided against the heroes.

In the end she found a website called Void.

There she found many people voicing their complaints, and people answering. They were being helped. It was nice to see that even smaller things were addressed. But what intrigued her most were the cases that had been solved by vigilantes. She knew how illegal vigilantism was, of course. But most people wrote them off as people who didn’t manage to gain a hero license. Or those who just wanted to use their quirk in public. They were classified as villains. No matter what they did.

Vigilantes had always intrigued her. At least those that did actual hero work. They wanted nothing in return and were in constant danger from villains and the law. They needed an actual job on top of their vigilantism. They had to finance themselves, teach themselves and protect themselves. They had it harder than most heroes. And yet they were shunned by society, because what they did was illegal.

Momo continued to scroll through the website. A site listed where people could help without getting into trouble with the law. It asked to be on the lookout for certain pets or asked to put up wanted posters. Other things tethered on the edge of illegal and came with warnings to look out for heroes and police. Momo assumed the very illegal things would be handled by vigilantes.

She searched the site and found an ask for help that wasn’t too far from her. Someone who needed help moving and didn’t have enough money to hire a firm but was too old to do it themselves. She agreed to help, since it was on a Sunday and except for learning she had nothing better to do. Maybe actually helping someone for once would help her with her conflicted feelings toward her parents.

The next day she arrived at the old lady’s house. Six more people had shown up. Most were young adults; one was an older woman. The old lady was named Sayaka and offered orange juice and cookies to all that helped.

It was hard work to carry the furniture, but the people were very nice, and they were done in the afternoon. Sayaka came to thank everyone personally and gave a box of cookies to take home. They were delicious. Momo made her way home and felt better than she had in years. She felt like she had actually made a difference for once.

Her parents didn’t ask where she went, and she didn’t bother telling them. They wouldn’t approve. She gained nothing except for gratitude after all. But the work made her happy, and she continued to look to the website for people to help.

It had been a few weeks of work when she received a private message from the website.

‘Would you like to make a difference?’

She did. Of course she did. But she also knew what this implied. She had made small differences, and she had done as much as she legally could. She knew that. This question basically asked if she was ready to start doing things illegally.

Momo weighed her options. She could continue on as she did. Help people sometimes until she could get her hero license. She would, without a doubt, live comfortable. But is that what she wanted? To take advantage of the cards dealt to her at birth? A rich family and a good quirk? No. She could at least listen to what they had to say. They wouldn’t call the police on her and she doubted that declining would have consequences.

‘Yes.’

That was all it took. The reply came instantly. A time and a location. Momo was almost exhilarated. This was an adventure. She knew she shouldn’t just trust people on the internet. But this website had done nothing but help people. And by giving her the option to help, it had saved her as well. It was time to start repaying that favour.

Momo was very nervous the day of the meeting. She had made herself pepper spray and a small knife she hid in her handbag. The meeting was in a crowded mall. This gave her some security, but not much possibility to speak freely. She made her was to the café and sat down at the designated table. She ordered some tea and waited. She was a bit early after all.

Ten minutes later a boy made his way over to her. He was younger than she expected him to be, probably around her age. He sat down and smiled. After ordering a coffee, he got out a file and put it on the table. It was a collection of everything she had done with the Void website.

“You have done great work, Momo Yaoyorozu. It’s incredible really how much you help people. Is there a reason for it?” The boy asked. He seemed a bit nervous, which was nice since Momo was nervous as well.

“I just wanted to help people and make a difference. I plan on getting a hero license, but let’s just say I have been a bit disillusioned by heroes lately. So I took matters into my own hand.”

The boy smiled at that. He had freckles, she noticed.

“And what do you think I wanted to meet you here for? You wouldn’t just agree if you had no idea. You are too smart for that.”

He didn’t give any information of his own. But that was okay. She didn’t come here for that, and it is clear he had to be cautious. She didn’t mind.

“I assume you are one of the vigilantes who deals with the more illegal activities of the website. And the fact that you were willing to meet with me means you want me to join you. Or you want to use my resources. I was wondering why you would ask someone like me, who is still so young, but given your own age that makes much more sense.”

The boy laughed.

“You are completely right. Wow, he wasn’t kidding when he said you were smart. That is exactly why we asked to meet you here. I wanted to check for myself if you were a good fit for our team. And for now, I agree. We would like you to come to a mission with us, and if you do well you can join the inner circle and we will tell you what we have planned.”

“Who do you mean by ‘he’?”

At that the green-haired boy grinned and there was a certain spark in his eyes.

“Don’t worry. Your actions alone were enough to gain our attention. But you also had someone recommending you.”

Momo was confused. Someone had recommended her? Who? She didn’t know many people, had no friends, and no one knew of what she had been doing. But if he was with Void, she should trust him not to tell the authorities. That was good enough for her.

“Alright. I’m willing to go on a mission with you. But of it is something I’m against I will leave and don’t want to be associated with you any longer.”

“Of course”, the boy nodded. “We won’t make you do anything you don’t want to. Meet us at this location next Saturday at 10 pm. I look forward to working with you.”

The boy got up and left. Momo let out a breath. He seemed nice enough. She wondered who had recommended her. It didn’t matter. She wanted to join, and she wanted to make a good impression. She was glad she had been training for a while now.

Saturday came quicker than she expected. She wore black clothes and left home through the window after saying she went to bed early. Her parents never disturbed her. She was confident she would get away with it this time.

The meeting spot wasn’t too far from her home. It was a nice little park. She wondered if they did that on purpose. Which meant they knew where she lived. Maybe the one who had recommended her had told them. It didn’t matter now. She couldn’t afford to be distracted.

This time the other party was here before her. It was someone with white hair and a black mask. Hollow.

She had done her research. Most illegal activities she had found on the website had been solved by either Hollow or Blank. It was easy to draw the connection between Void and the vigilante if you bothered. That probably means that Hollow is the green-haired kid she had met earlier this week. He seemed about the same height.

“I’m glad you made it. My name is Hollow. Welcome to your first mission. No need to be nervous. It’s a bit illegal, but we won’t have to deal with people. It’s good you wore black clothes. Here.” The vigilante handed her a white mask. She put it on. “Good. You already have black hair so that fits as well. I will call you Blank on this mission. If we meet someone let me do the talking, but we should be fine.”

Momo was surprised. She thought Blank was Hollow’s partner. What had happened to them? Were they trying to pin their crimes on her? “I thought Blank was your partner. Why not give me another name?”

Hollow chuckled. “Who said I only have one partner? This way we can confuse people and we have alibis. It’s quite clever if you ask me. But don’t worry. Another Blank is watching from the roofs in case something happens. If we are being chased, they will take your place, you can change clothes and go home.”

That made sense indeed. She wondered how many Blanks there were. Well, now there was one more. “What are we doing, exactly?”

“Well, first of all, we usually don’t operate in this area. We usually keep to the worse parts of town, since heroes sometimes patrol here even at night. But we wanted to come here for a while anyways, and it is easier for you, so we decided to come here tonight. If you join us, you will have to move further downtown more often. For what we do today: This.”

Hollow took out a screwdriver and started unscrewing a bank. There was an armrest in the middle he tried to loosen. “It’s something to prevent homeless people from sleeping on the bank. Rich people don’t want homeless people in their area, so they add these annoying gimmicks. I’ll give you a screwdriver and you can start with the bank over there. Is that okay? Oh and if you find any trash put it in the trashcans please.”

Momo wanted to laugh. This was it? Of course, it was illegal, maybe vandalism, but she had expected something a little more exciting. He had made it out to be more exciting. But this was fine. It was great actually. This was something she wanted to do. So she took the other screwdriver and helped unscrew the armrests in the middle of the banks. It was boring and tedious work, but after a few hours they had finished all the banks and even cleaned the park a little.

After they were done, they sat down on one of the banks. Hollow handed her a water bottle, which she took gratefully.

“So, do you still want to join us? You did well, and if you want, you can.”

“Of course I want to join! If not, why would I still be here?”

Hollow chuckled. “Yeah that makes sense.” He took of his mask. It really was the same boy she had met in the café. “My name is Izuku. Welcome to Void.” He held out his hand.
Momo took it. “My name is Momo Yaoyorozu. You can call me Momo. Thank you for having me.”

Izuku walked her home in civilian clothing and told her about their plans to change hero society. To enrol at hero schools and become the best heroes. To change society from the top. She liked that plan.

After that she often joined them in the warehouse. She couldn’t believe that Todoroki Shoto was a vigilante as well! The son of the number two hero. But that solved the question of who had recommended her. The two were often forced to meet at boring social events her parents went to. Not that she didn’t like the boy, but he had seemed kind of distant. Now that she knew him, she understood him a little more. Why he acted the way he always did.

Momo now had a purpose. But most importantly, now she had friends. She was way busier than before, but she was also happier. And that was what actually mattered to her.

Chapter Text

Kinoko Komori loved her garden. She loved planting, and she loved to use her quirk while in the confides of her own room. But most importantly, she loved mushrooms. She loved growing them. She loved eating them. Her hair looked like a mushroom. Her quirk was mushroom. Maybe she loved them so much her quirk decided it had to be a mushroom one. Or maybe she loved them because of her quirk. It didn’t matter. She loved them. And her garden was full of them.

There was Agaricus bisporus, Lentinula edodes, Auricularia auricula-jdae, Volvariella volvacae, Flammulina velutipes, Tremella fuciformis, Hypsizyhus tessellatus, Stropharia rugosoannulata, Cyclocybe aegerita, Hericium erinaceus, and many more. You get the deal.

All of these mushrooms had two things in common. One, she loved them and grew them herself. Two, they were edible. Her family often used them for cooking, but Kinoko was the one who chose which one to use. She picked them herself based on many factors. The rest of her family knew not to disturb her garden. And she trusted her family. That is why she didn’t suspect them when some of her shrooms went missing. Someone had stolen her hard work. Someone had stolen her children.

That was the bad news. The worse news, for her personally, was that she wanted to grow poisonous mushrooms. All mushrooms were beautiful and deserved to be grown. But she couldn’t grow poisonous mushrooms if people picked them and did who knows what with them. If they didn’t know about shrooms they might eat them and get poisoned. If they do know about them, they might poison others. And Kinoko couldn’t be responsible for that.

Which is why she decided to catch the mushroom murderer. The thief. The scoundrel. The monster.

They seemed to attack in the night at random. She didn’t have enough money to set up a camera, so she had to stay awake. The whole night. Until the murderer was caught. Every night.

To no one’s surprise, her method didn’t work. She tried to stay awake, but in the end she always fell asleep. Her family was starting to worry, and Kinoko decided she needed a new method. For her shrooms.

Some time ago a friend had told her about a website where you could ask people for help with things you wouldn’t ask a hero for. That went from small little things, like guarding a garden against a thief, to more illegal things. It seemed worth a try.

After a bit of digging she found the website. It was called Void. Kinoko scrolled through it to see if what her friend had told her was the truth, or if the website was a scam. But after some scrolling it seemed to be legit.

So she asked for help. Her parents wouldn’t accept that she asked strangers for help in something as futile as guarding a garden, especially when the only victims were fungi, but Kinoko was determined. They weren’t just fungi to her. They were family.

But she couldn’t just let random people into her house. So she asked for people her age, so she could pretend they were friends who were having a sleepover. A quite good plan. She could invite up to three people, because she didn’t have mush room in her room.

It took a little time, but some people did answer. They introduced themselves in a private chat and agreed to help her with her problem. They would arrive next week. Kinoko prepared everything and asked to have a sleepover. Her parents agreed. They seemed glad she had her mind on other things than the thief. Little did they know…

The other kids arrived as promised. They introduced themselves as Izuku, Shinso and Mei. The three were friends and seemed rather nice to Kinoko. So she invited them inside. Her mother had provided pizza and movies. Kinoko provided mushrooms. She showed them her garden, which was behind the house and fairly visible from her window. They seemed impressed by the variety of shrooms. Of course they were. Her garden was incredible.

Evening turned into night and they decided on a schedule to watch the garden. Mei had even brough night-vision goggles. What kind of weirdo had night vision goggles? A weirdo who invented exploding night vision goggles apparently. As long as they didn’t explode in her room.

The kid named Izuku was very nice and asked her all kinds of questions about her quirk and mushrooms in general, which she answered happily. He didn’t mention his own quirk, but if it had anything to do with mushrooms he would have said, and if it didn’t, she didn’t care.

“You really have an incredible quirk. Just imagine what you could do with it. If it was allowed, you’d be able to feed whole families for years! You could even use it in combat or for rescue work if you want to become a hero. Even if you just use it privately, you can feed yourself quite a bit and save money.”

Kinoko was happy. Most people didn’t like shrooms as much as she did. But this boy seemed genuinely curious about her quirk and seemed to admire her. That was rare but made her very happy.

“Thank you.” Kinoko answered. “I haven’t really thought about what I want to do in the future. And I don’t really care as long as I can grow my mushrooms without people stealing them. I wouldn’t mind growing mushrooms as my job, but quirk-grown food is banned. What I’m doing in my garden is barely legal as well, since my family eats it as well, not only me, but people rarely bother. It is annoying, but what can you do?”

She sighed. She wasn’t legally allowed to give out the shrooms she grew to her friends. Not that anyone cared, but one boy had said he got sick because of it and people stopped eating her shrooms. The boy’s father had even threatened to alert the authorities, but Kinoko had already stopped giving out her shrooms.

The green-haired boy looked a little sad at her answer. But then he smiled.

“Don’t worry. Maybe things will change, who knows. Maybe one day we can use our quirk without a license. Maybe someone will come along and change how quirks influence our lives. Maybe someone will change society.” He seemed a little mysterious and melancholic as he said that.

Kinoko didn’t quite understand what he meant but agreed with his sentiment. “I would love to see that.”

The conversation grew quiet after that. They took turns sleeping and looking out of the window. The thief didn’t show up. It was now Kinoko’s turn to sleep. She fell asleep easily and drifted into shroom-filled dreams.

She didn’t sleep long, however. Someone softly shook her awake. Kinoko yawned and looked into purple eyes. Shinso, she remembered. He was whispering. “There is someone in your garden.”

Mei was on watch and handed her the night vision goggles. She looked through them. They even had a zoom feature. She hadn’t looked through many night vision goggles in her life, but this one was incredibly clear. She could tell who the person stealing her mushrooms was.

“That’s my neighbour!” She was whispering as well. Not that the neighbourly thief could hear her, but her family was still asleep, and she didn’t want to wake them.
Shinso shifted nervously. “What do you want to do?”

Kinoko didn’t know. She had expected the thief to be some stranger who had found her garden on accident. Maybe even a villain. But her neighbour was a very nice person. She sometimes baby-sitted his daughter, and his wife was pregnant again. They had a lovely collection of stuffed animals. She knew that man.

“We should leave him alone for tonight. Let’s just watch. We can confront him tomorrow.” The others made some sounds of approval. Her neighbour picked a few mushrooms and left after a few minutes. Into his own garden, and back into the house. No wonder she never found any tracks leading out of her garden and into the street. At least she now knew who stole her shrooms. With that on her mind, she went back to sleep, and didn’t wake until morning.

The others were awake already and were discussing something in sign language. At least she assumed it was sign language. She didn’t know any. They noticed she was awake and switched to talking normally.

“We didn’t want to wake you” Izuku explained. “We usually sleep less. Did you sleep well, though?”

They slept even less? They had barely slept the whole night because they had looked out for the thief. That couldn’t be healthy. Not her business though. She had a thief to confront.

Her stomach grumbled.

After breakfast.

Kinoko had slept in and her family had already eaten, but they left enough food for the four of them. After stuffing themselves and drinking way too much coffee with way too much sugar, the four of them decided to deal with the elephant in the room. Or rather the elephant next door.

Kinoko put on her best serious face and rang her neighbour’s doorbell. From inside some shuffling could be heard, and someone said: “Are we expecting anyone?” Silence.

“Alright, I’ll get it. But if it is another salesman, I get cookies after dinner.”

The thief himself opened the door. The confusion on his face grew into a smile.

“Hello Kinoko. You brought some friends, how nice. What can I do for you? Would you like to come in?”

Kinoko balled her hands into a fist. How dare this man act as if he hadn’t done anything! How dare he smile at her all innocently. As if he wasn’t raiding her garden every night.
“I would like to know why you steal my mushrooms.” Her voice shook a little. She wasn’t used to confrontation. But something about having Izuku, Shinso and Mei at her back gave her strength. She raised her head and looked her neighbour in the eye.

The man’s face fell. He looked incredibly guilty. “I’m sorry. Come in please, I’ll explain. Would you like to drink something?”

He led them into the living room. They sat down on the couch and he handed each of them a lemonade. None of them touched it. He sat on the sofa in front of them and explained.

“Kinoko do you remember how my wife was pregnant a few years ago? You used to hand out mushrooms back then and she loved them. You stopped some time ago, and we started buying our mushrooms. We know why you can’t hand them out anymore and we aren’t blaming you for that or anything. It’s just sad because your mushrooms are the best. Well, we could live with it.”

Kinoko felt a little pride well up inside of her. Of course her mushrooms were the best. She grew them herself.

The man continued. “A few months ago, my wife got pregnant again and we couldn’t be happier! But a few weeks ago she started craving mushrooms. But the one’s from the store weren’t enough. I didn’t want to disappoint her, but I also didn’t want to get you into trouble, so I just took some out of your garden. I’d rather be a thief than you getting into trouble for giving us mushrooms. I am very sorry, but I didn’t know what else to do. I promise I’ll stop if you want me to. To be honest I feel incredibly guilty. If I can make it up to you somehow, I will.”

The man did a little bow. That was a bit much. The others stayed silent and let Kinoko make the decision on her own. They were a great moral support.

“So you just gave the mushrooms to your wife because you she wanted my shrooms specifically?”

Her neighbour looked up and nodded. “Yeah.”

Kinoko laughed. “Is that it? You could have just asked. I would have given you as many shrooms as you wanted. And here I was worried I might accidently poison people with my shrooms!”

The man lost all colour. “They are poisonous?”

“Well, not yet. I wanted to grow some poisonous ones, but I could if someone stole them. I can still give you as many shrooms as you want, as long as you don’t go into my garden anymore and pick them yourself.”

He nodded repeatedly. “Of course, and again, I am very sorry.”

Kinoko crossed her arms. “I also want a raise next time I baby-sit.”

That made the man laugh. “I’ll see what I can do, but it shouldn’t be a problem. We can also pay you for your shrooms.”

Now Kinoko was grinning. This was going perfectly. With more money she could grow more shrooms. She would grow an empire.

“Sounds like a deal. I look forward to working with you.”

They shook hands and the four of them left the house. Kinoko was still smiling. This had gone incredibly well.

Izuku, Shinso and Mei were smiling too.

“Thank you for helping me. I doubt I could have done this without you.”

“Oh don’t worry about it.” Izuku said. “We love to help.”

“Is there anything I can do for you? I know you say you don’t need rewards but if there is anything…”

“No.” Shinso said. Izuku punched him in the shoulder. He smiled mischievously.

“There is one thing. You remember the website you found us? Void? If you really want to make it up to us, start helping out. There are many who need help, and I am sure you can help many people. Especially if you are willing to give out free food. Just look around and see what speaks to you.”

Kinoko nodded. That was a good idea. She loved helping people, and if she could help by giving out shrooms, she would do that.

Izuku, Shinso and Mei left. But they had left something with Kinoko. A desire to help others in her own way. And that is what she did.

She helped out where she could and learned the benefits of helping others. She found that to be something she liked to do. And when she received an offer to join the vigilantes, she didn’t hesitate. She had found her calling. And she could stay true to herself and her shrooms. There was nowhere she would rather be. She was happy.

Chapter Text

Kaminari Denki hated it when people called him stupid. He knew he wasn’t the smartest. His grades were below average. He took a little longer to solve problems. So what? He made that up with his great looks, personality and quirk.

At least that is what he told himself.

He wanted to become a hero. Who didn’t? He knew it wasn’t easy. That he had to work hard. And he did. He trained his quirk until his brain fired. Literally. He went jogging and kept fit. That came rather easy to him. But that didn’t matter if he didn’t keep up with his schoolwork.

His parents had organized various tutors, but they all grew frustrated soon. Kaminari couldn’t help it. He just didn’t get it. If he did, it was easy, but even things he thought he understood just disappeared over night. It was a struggle, but he was determined. He studied more and more.

It didn’t help. The more he learned and trained, the more his grades seemed to drop. He didn’t get it. Even his parents grew impatient. He didn’t want to be called stupid anymore.
So he went into his room and turned on his laptop. If regular methods wouldn’t work, he would have to resort to rumours and myths. This particular rumour was about a website where people could ask for help. Things that heroes wouldn’t deal with. Well, they certainly wouldn’t help a kid with his homework.

He wrote down that he wanted to apply for a hero school, but his grades weren’t good enough. He would like to ask someone for help who had a lot of patience. Then he added his contact info. He wouldn’t let his dreams end before they started. Not that he hoped for much. The website was probably fake, and people would just laugh at him. He wasn’t surprised when no one answered.

So he continued with his training. He tried to do it on his own, he really did. But as time passed his hope started to fade. He wondered what he could be, if not a hero. He didn’t want to work an office job, or at a restaurant, or anything really. He still had time to figure it out. But in the back of his mind, the thought of being a hero never escaped him.
His mother called him in the evening. “Did you expect someone?”

He didn’t. But he was intrigued who wanted to see him. So he went down the stairs and opened the door. It was a girl his age, with black hair and black eyes. She smiled at him.
“Are you Kaminari Denki?”

He was taken aback. Why would someone he had never seen before, visit him? Especially a girl his age?

“I am. Umm, can I help you?

The girl laughed. “No, but I can help you. You asked for a tutor, right? I figured out that teaching someone else is the best way to study, so I have been helping some friends of mine. I wanted to check if you were willing to join us. My name is Yaoyorozu Momo by the way.”

A tutor? His mother had said that she hadn’t found a new tutor yet. Could she be here because of the website? Someone had actually come? He had tried all the rest, and Yaoyorozu seemed nice. Why not give it a shot?

“Please, come in. Would you like something to drink? I didn’t expect anyone, so my room isn’t clean I’m sorry.”

“I don’t mind, I should have announced myself. But I was in the area and thought I could drop by. Some tea would be nice.”

Kaminari let her in and made her some tea. He told his mom she was a friend who wanted to help him study. He pretended not to see the pitiful look his mom gave the black-haired girl. The two of them went upstairs.

Yaoyorozu cleared her throat and pointed at the worksheets that Kaminari had worked on before she came in.

“Why don’t you fill these out and tell me what you’re doing. That’s the best way for me to figure out how far you are. Don’t worry, I won’t judge.”

That didn’t help Kaminari’s nerves. He hated having to work in front of people. They usually mocked him or laughed at him for being so slow. But this girl had taken the time to actually meet him here. And he still hadn’t given up on his dream.

So he did his best and worked through the sheets while explaining what he was doing. Yaoyorozu asked a few questions but stayed mostly silent and listened. After about an hour he was done. He knew he made some mistakes. He hadn’t quite grasped that topic yet.

Yaoyorozu took the worksheets and looked through them. With the patient of a saint she went through every task and explained his man mistakes. She wouldn’t move on to the next topic until he understood his mistake and fix it.

“And this is the last task. I noticed that you already noticed some mistakes while you were explaining the task to me. You corrected yourself, which was good. Even if you learn on your own you should try saying these things out loud and explaining them to someone.”

She was right. Explaining his mistakes had helped in a way. But it still wasn’t good enough to get a passing grade on the worksheet.

“Thank you for helping me. You are really smart. I wish it was that easy for me.”

Yaoyorozu smiled. “Don’t worry. I actually thought you were worse, but we can work with this. If you like, you can come to my house every Saturday and Sunday to meet with the others I also help study. It won’t cost you, don’t worry. You can bring snacks if you like.”

That wasn’t the answer he had expected. He had expected her to say he was stupid, impossible to work with and that she would never show up again. Tears started to flow. He wiped them away and composed himself.

“You really think I can do it?”

Her smile was very reassuring.

“Of course you can. With a little hard work it will be okay. This is my address. See you next Sunday.”

She was about to leave when Kaminari looked out of the window. It was already dark out, and he didn’t live in the best part of town.

“Wait should you be going home alone? It’s late.”

Yaoyorozu grinned mischievously. Like she knew a joke that he didn’t.

“You don’t have to worry about me. But thanks for your concern.”

And with that she left. In Kaminari’s eyes, she was an angel. An angel who had descended from the heaven to help him study. He would grasp this chance. And he would not let go. He would become a hero.

The next Saturday he showed up at Yaoyorozu’s house. Or rather her mansion. No wonder she didn’t need the money, she was filthy rich already!

He still rang the doorbell and was let in by a butler. A butler! After walking for what seemed like an eternity, he arrived. It was a large room with a table where more than twenty people could sit. It was overwhelming. Seated at the table were only three people though. The first was Yaoyorozu. The other two were boys, one with green and one with purple hair. Yaoyorozu looked up and smiled at him.

“Welcome, I’m glad you made it. Guys, this is Kaminari Denki. Kaminari these are Izuku”, she pointed at the kid with green hair and freckles, “and Shinso” the kid with purple hair. “Your new study-buddies.”

Izuku waved and gestured to the chair next to him. “It’s nice to meet you. I heard about your problems. Well, Shinso and I basically missed a bit of school for…um reasons, so we have a lot to catch up on. But Momo is a great teacher.”

Shinso grunted in agreement. Then he buried his head in a textbook again.

Kaminari sat down next to Izuku and got out his assignments. They were similar to the one’s he had done when Yaoyorozu hat visited him. Said girl sat down next to him and watched him work. Once he was done, she took the paper and looked it over. Confusion was written all over her face. She tried to hide it, but Kaminari knew a bad reaction to his work when he saw it. He was used to it after all.

“We went over this the last time. This is basically the same question. Is there a reason you don’t know how it works anymore?”

The usual questions. Maybe it was a bad idea to come here. He made himself a little smaller. At least she was polite about his inadequacies.

“I know we went over this. But I forgot how to solve this. It happens sometimes. I’m sorry.”

Understanding flashed across her face.

“There is no need to be embarrassed. You don’t have to apologize. I’ll just tell you again. Maybe you can write down what and how you understand this topic, so you don’t forget.”

She was really nice. It was incredible. Understanding and nice and smart. This girl was his hero already.

Suddenly Izuku tapped on his shoulder. “Is there a reason you keep forgetting things? Like maybe an illness or something with your brain? How about your quirk? Does that affect your cognition in any way?”

Did this boy just ask him if he had a brain injury? He seemed polite but that was rude to ask. He already knew he was stupid, no need to rub it in. The boy didn’t have any malice in his eyes though.

At least Shinso seemed to understand what Izuku had implied. He promptly wacked his friend over the head with the textbook he had worked with.

“I apologize for my friend. He means no harm, really.”

Kaminari put on a smile. He was used to this after all.

“No worries. I don’t have any illnesses or conditions. My quirk is Electrification. If I overuse it my brain fried a little and I get really stupid, but that’s just temporary.”

Izuku’s eyes shine with a manic glee. He got out a notebook and wrote some stuff down. He opened his mouth to say something, but Yaoyorozu put her hand over his mouth.

“You can ask him all about it after the study session. You’re not done with your task either. And don’t think you can slack off like last week, you don’t have the late-night excuse today.”

Izuku nodded and Yaoyorozu put her hand away. Then she turned to Kaminari.

“But in all seriousness, don’t you think overusing you quirk might cause lasting damages? Even if that has nothing to do with your studying, it seems dangerous even if it is temporary. Have you ever been to a doctor and asked if overusing your quirk is dangerous?”

He hadn’t been to a quirk doctor since he had gotten his quirk and registered it. Why would his quirk cause any trouble? It was a great quirk.

“No, I haven’t. Do you really think my quirk could give me lasting damages?”

Yaoyorozu looked at him a little puzzled.

“Well, it is not unheard of. You should definitely go to a doctor though. And since you want to be a hero you are probably training your quirk. But please refrain from overusing it until you have been to the doctor, okay?”

“Sure…”

He had never thought about it this way. Could his quirk be responsible for his memory loss and for his studying issues? He didn’t want to think about it. He would ask his mom about an appointment with a quirk doctor. It couldn’t hurt.

The rest of the study session was rather uneventful. Yaoyorozu was very helpful and he managed to get his work done and write down what problems he had. He also wrote down the solutions and how he got there, in case he forgot.

Afterwards Izuku and Shinso went home with him. It was rather late, and they lived together apparently, so they wanted to make sure he got home safe. They were incredibly nice. Izuku asked him a thousand questions about his quirk and wrote in his notebook. Kaminari could barely see with the streetlights, but the other boy seemed used to it. They brought him home and wished him a good night.

Kaminari arrived at home and asked his mom to make an appointment with a quirk doctor. He said it would probably be a good idea with him wanting to become a hero. He also said he had finally found someone who could really help him study. His mother was very happy to hear that and agreed to make an appointment without much fuss. He went to bed very happy that night.

It took a while to get an appointment. In that time he continued to study with Yaomomo. He had given her that nickname, since he sometimes had problems saying her name. It was way too complicated anyways.

Kaminari wasn’t sure what answers he wanted from the doctor. He didn’t want his quirk to hurt him, of course, but it would be nice to know that he wasn’t stupid. That it wasn’t his fault.

He hadn’t expected it to actually be true.

“Your quirk is too strong for your body. You will get lasting damages if you keep overusing it. You will need to give yourself some time to grow. You can use your quirk and you should use your quirk regularly at a low voltage. You shouldn’t get lasting damages once you are grown up, somewhere between eighteen and twenty-five. Your body should have completely adapted by then. Since you are still growing, the damages already done should get healed with time. You are lucky you came to us when you did. If you had continued, I doubt you would be able to pursue the career you want. But you did come here, so everything should work out.”

That’s what the doctor told him. His mom was shocked. She apologized profusely in the car for all the times she had told him to get his grades up. Kaminari didn’t answer her. It didn’t matter. She hadn’t believed in him. She had an electricity quirk as well. She should have known. She should have never let it come so far. But his anger at his mother was overshadowed by his joy. And by his thankfulness. The next time he visited Yaomomo, he brought a giant gift basket with him. That girl had saved his dreams. He was eternally grateful.

As time passed, studying was easier for him. It was still hard, but his grades went up. Slowly but surely, he could see his dream become a reality.

In one of the next study sessions, Izuku had a rather serious look on his face.

“What do you think of vigilantes?”

That was not a question Kaminari had expected.

“I think they are cool. I mean, they are basically heroes who do what the heroes wouldn’t dare do! They patrol at night when it is super scary and protect the worse parts of town. Too bad that what they do is illegal…”

“But you approve of what they do?”

“Yeah, sure. I mean some are more violent then necessary, but most of them are okay. They are kinda cool, actually. If there were more, I might even be able to go out at night.”

Izuku looked to Shinso and Yaomomo. They both nodded. That wasn’t ominous.

“Would you want to be a vigilante?”

What?

Izuku continued. “If, hypothetically, given the possibility, would you want to be a vigilante? You could be a hero and a vigilante. Do your work as a hero, and where the law can’t do anything, act as a vigilante. Help as much as you can. And you could start now. Hypothetically.”

He had never thought about it. He wanted to be a hero, why would he want to become a vigilante? He may have entertained the idea when he was sure he couldn’t get into a hero school but now…he didn’t worry about that anymore.

“Well, I guess. I never really thought about it. I want to be a hero, and I know there are places the law can’t reach. I guess it would depend on the kind of vigilante I would be.”

Izuku grinned. There it was again. That smile. As if some plan of his had worked out perfectly.

“Have you heard of the vigilantes Hollow and Blank? What do you think of them?”

He had heard of them. They had helped out around his neighbourhood sometimes. It was hard not to know of them if you lived in an area where they operated. They frequented other areas more but had been seen almost everywhere by now.

“They are cool. Yeah, I think that is the kind of vigilantism I would agree to do.”

Izuku’s smile widened. Shinso and Yaomomo were grinning as well. This was getting very creepy.

“In that case, would you like to join them?”

Would he? It was obvious by now that Izuku and his friends had a connection to the vigilantes. He wasn’t stupid after all. And he trusted his friends. He somehow knew that everything would work out alright.

“Yeah. Count me in.”

Chapter Text

Izuku was very proud of himself. Recruiting was going splendidly. They had many promising people join already and Nathan had some more he might recommend soon. Void was growing. All who joined were ready to help and wanted to apply to hero schools once they were old enough. And not just any hero school. The best. UA. That was the school they had their eyes on. And by working and training together, Izuku was sure that everyone would make it. Everyone except for him. He was going to try, of course. But the question remained, if they would take him, no matter how good he did in the entrance exam. After all, he was quirkless. And hero schools tended to discriminate. Heroes tended to discriminate. Who was he kidding? The whole world did. But that didn’t mean that Izuku was ready to give up. He has had to live with prejudice all his life. It was time to prove them wrong.

Well, not yet. The entrance exam was still some time away and he needed to make sure to recruit more people until then, keep up his studying and manage the request Nathan sorted out for him. At least Momo helped with the studying. That girl was a godsend. She even wanted to support them financially, but Izuku had to decline. They couldn’t depend solely on her. They were well enough off with robbing drug dealers. He did accept the items she provided with her quirk. Mei had practically started vibrating of excitement when she heard what her quirk could do. She regularly kidnapped her and asked to her make rare and expensive materials for weapons and experimental designs. The two girls had become fast friends.

Right now Izuku was following a trail on the case of Nathan’s briefcase. He still hadn’t told him what was inside, but it had to be important. Nathan looked around for the contents, while Izuku looked for the thief. They knew he had a cactus quirk, but that was about it. Mei was already working on night-vision tech to be put in their masks. Izuku didn’t want to rely on it entirely, but it could be helpful. Maybe even a camera. And a voice changer. And an audio recording device. Why not have his swords be able to generate electricity? Kaminari could certainly provide enough. But he was getting off track.

He was in his civilian clothes anyways. A blue hoodie to cover his face and black trousers. Since it was the middle of the day, it would be dumb to run around in his vigilante uniform. He did have his mask in the backpack. And a cloak. He was always prepared for anything.

(Almost anything. He wasn’t prepared for what happened today.)

He made his way to the house of someone they had found with a cactus quirk. It was a normal house, not too old, not too new with a nice garden with some garden gnomes.

There was also a giant cactus.

Izuku called Nathan to listen in on the conversation in case he needed backup. Kinoko was delivering some mushrooms not too far from his location and could help if something happened. But this was just a reconnaissance mission. He hoped it would stay that was.

He rang the doorbell. No answer. Weird. It sure looked like someone was home. He waited a minute. Still no answer. He turned around. Maybe tomorrow someone would answer him. He went down the stairs when he heard the door being opened.

“Can I help you, young man?” Izuku turned around again. He looked and saw an ancient man standing in the doorway. No wonder it took so long for him to open the door.

“Oh, I am sorry. I am looking for my friend. He gave me this address and we wanted to meet today.”

Izuku sure hoped his lie was convincing.

“No I live here alone. I have no children and no grandchildren and no grand-grand-children to call my own. Romance was never what I wanted. But I can show you my cacti. Please come in, I have cookies and even more cacti.”

Izuku could almost hear Nathan laugh at the other end of the phone. Well, he had come all this way. Might as well get some cookies out of it. This man could barely walk, he wouldn’t be a threat.

So he walked into the house and looked around. There sure were many cacti. All kinds of cacti.

“Ah, I see you noticed my collection. You see I have spent my whole live gathering all kinds of cacti. My quirk lets me connect with them. As long as I live, they will live as well. Which is how I got so old! I can’t let them die after all. They are my children, my pride and joy. Please help yourself to some cookies.”

Izuku did. It was a nice house, even if he had to watch for spikes everywhere. The man certainly had a cactus quirk but was not the one he had been looking for. He hung up on Nathan and talked to the old man.

He had many stories to tell, of all the places he got his cacti. He travelled a lot when he was younger but settled down, once he was too old. He rarely had visitors. Izuku promised to come visit him more often and bring some nice cacti. The man seemed very happy at that and Izuku was once supported in his decision to be a hero and a vigilante. He loved helping people.

Izuku left the house in the afternoon and made his way home. He had a pep in his step, even if the mission had been a failure. He barely noticed it, when someone ran into his leg.
It was a little girl in ragged clothing, white hair and a thorn on her head. Izuku leaned down.

“What’s wrong? Can I help you?”

The girl seemed very scared. She buried her face in Izuku and didn’t let go. Even without the bandages that covered her arms he knew that this girl would not return to wherever she came from as long as he was alive.

“Don’t worry, I got you. Let’s get you somewhere save, shall we?”

He picked her up and made his way to the warehome, cautious of anyone approaching. But the streets were empty. He turned a corner and stood face to face with a man with a black plague doctor mask. The girl flinched in his arms. Izuku jumped back.

He couldn’t see the man’s face, but his body language showed that he wasn’t happy.

“I am very sorry, but that girl belongs to us. Would you be so kind to return her?”

Izuku put the girl down and assumed a fighting stance.

“No.”

The man let out a tsk and pulled out some kind of gun. Shit. Izuku had a few knives with him, but nothing else. It was too late to put on his mask or call for backup. This was bad.

“What do you hope to achieve by kidnapping her? You don’t even know her.”

Izuku wasn’t going to answer any more questions. He was going to beat this man and take the girl home.

“I know what it’s like to be a scared little kid with no one to help. You are clearly abusing her. I won’t stand for that. It’s my duty to help people like her.”

Okay, apparently, he was answering the questions. He didn’t want to. Must be the man’s quirk. Even more important to end this fight as quickly as possible. It would be disastrous if he spilled anything regarding Void to this villain. So Izuku took out a knife and started running in the villain’s direction. He made turns and didn’t run in a straight line, but the man still managed to shoot him. It barely hurt. Thanks adrenaline. He hadn’t been shot before, just stabbed, but this barely hurt at all. Some sort of syringe was stuck in his arm. He took it out.

“Ha! Let’s see you fight me without your quirk!”

This bullet had the power to take away quirk? That wasn’t good. Well, for the general population. Izuku didn’t care.

“Oh no, please, not my quirk. Whatever shall I do without it?” He said, in a very deadpan voice.

The man seemed confused. He aimed the gun again, but Izuku was faster. Apparently, the man didn’t have much combat training, so Izuku manages to knock him out with a few hits. He had expected more of this fight. Well, whatever.

The girl was still covering in the corner. Izuku put his knives away and crouched down.

“Don’t worry. You’re coming with me, and I promise, no one will ever hurt you again.

The girl buried her face in Izuku’s neck again, and he took her to the warehome without further complications.

All of Void had gathered at the warehome for an emergency meeting. June and Nathan had also come. She was currently looking over the girl to see if she had any wounds.

Izuku recounted what had happened to him. They all agreed that he had made the right decision but didn’t know what to do with the girl either.

Shoto spoke up. “I think I heard about these people wearing plague masks. They are yakuza, the Shie Hassaikai. They are still under investigation, but nothing worth noting.”

Momo raised an eyebrow. “Yakuza still exist? I thought they were extinct.”

The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

Shoto continued. “They retreated into the shadows. They barely did anything since the rise of All Might. I think they deal with drugs, but my father didn’t tell me more. I can ask him if you want.”

Izuku shook his head. “No, that’ll make him suspicious. The man I fought shot me with some bullet and said it should take away my quirk. I think it’s only temporary, or we would have already heard of it. I didn’t notice anything though, obviously. We just have to be on the lookout for the yakuza, but I doubt they will recognize me. I wore a hoodie and knocked the man out. There were no cameras in the area.”

June came back into the room. She was angry.

“She has many scars, and if I find the one who did this to her I will stitch his ass to a block of concrete and throw them to the sharks. Other than that she is traumatized and scared. But not injured. She said something about her quirk being a curse, so we have to watch out for her quirk as well. She is very young, and probably can’t control it. I hate to suggest it, but I think we have to hand her over to the authorities. They are the only ones who can protect her from the yakuza and help with her quirk. At least until she is older.”
“No.” He wouldn’t do that. The authorities didn’t help. What if they hurt her again? What if they made it worse? What if they couldn’t protect her?

“Izuku…” Momo said softly. “I know you don’t like the authorities. None of us do. But with this we are in over our heads. We can’t protect her. We are children. But if they aren’t good to her, we can still take her again. But for now, this is the only option.”

“No! There has to be some other way! Is there not a single adult we can trust who knows how to deal with quirks?”

Shinso cleared his throat. “Well, there is one…”

Another day of patrol for the hero Eraserhead. After not being able to catch the vigilantes for some time, he had decided to take his friend’s offer and work at UA. He had immediately expelled the whole class. They weren’t ready to be heroes. He would make sure no more children had to die in the line of duty. Not like Shirakumo.

He shook his head. Being distracted wasn’t good. He still had worked to do. As much as he hated it, he had stopped looking explicitly for Hollow and Blank. Those two had grown up, apparently, since there were fewer close calls where he almost caught them. They had gotten way better. Aizawa was still worried. There was still a killer on the loose, and the vigilantes had spread their area to almost the whole town. They were seen everywhere, and way too often. No two children who still had school should be able to do that. Maybe one of them had a clone quirk or something. It was one of many theories the precinct had come up with.

Aizawa stopped dead in his tracks. There was Hollow, perched on a roof, clearly visible. What did he have planned? The vigilantes knew his patrol route. He frequented this spot. Something was wrong. He made his way up the roof but didn’t approach immediately. He kept his distance. The vigilante spoke up.

“I’m glad you made it, Eraserhead. I have a few questions for you.”

That intrigued him. Usually this vigilante barely spoke. He just took off and was not seen again. He had never heard Blank speak at all. Maybe they couldn’t. But they weren’t anywhere to be seen. That didn’t mean anything. When there was a Hollow, there was usually a Blank not very far.

“Ask away. But I want you to answer some questions of mine too. I think that’s fair.”

The vigilante didn’t move. Aizawa took a step closer.

“Your quirk is Erasure, correct? You can erase people’s quirks by looking at them. It is somehow timed. There are no lasting damages to the quirks if erased.”

He hadn’t expected the vigilante to have so many information on him. He was an underground hero, and not many people knew of him, especially not his quirk. But then again, he had dealt with these kids many times, and they had seen him arrest many villains.

“That’s all correct. Not bad. My turn. How old are you?”

He couldn’t see the kid’s expression through the mask. He wished he could.

“I’m fourteen.”

That was younger than he expected. That also meant he had started vigilantism at age 11. He had to get this kid off the street as soon as possible. How could he have let him run around for so long?

The kid continued. “How are you with children?”

That question came unexpected. Just what was he trying to figure out?

“I have a teaching license and work at a school. I expelled the whole class though. They weren’t ready and I am not sending kids to die when it can be prevented. I guess I’m okay with kids, but not great. What’s your name?”

It was obvious that the kid was thinking. Aizawa took another small step towards him. He still didn’t run.

“My name is Hollow. And that’s the only name you are getting. Last question. What do you think of hero society?”

He should have known the kid wouldn’t tell, but he had to try. Another hard question thrown at him. He took some time to think. The kid didn’t move.

“Hero society, huh. I think heroes are necessary. They took the work of the police, firefighters and the army. There must be some kind of restriction for various superpowers. But many heroes don’t take their job seriously. If it were up to me, I would throw out half of the heroes currently licensed. Most of them are impossible to work with. Another reason why I work underground. There should be more underground heroes in general. That way people like you wouldn’t see the need to become vigilantes. But that’s just the way it is. As an underground hero I can help people, and as a teacher I try to make sure that the next generation of heroes will be more qualified. Does that answer your question?”

The vigilante nodded. Good. One more question. He had to make it count.

“Why did you become a vigilante?”

Now it was the kid’s turn to take his time. Aizawa took another step forward. He was close. The kid answered.

“To help people. People like me. People that society gave up on. To make a better world for us. So that people can be happy. No hero ever helped me. But vigilantism has done more for me than all heroes I have ever met combined. And I have helped people. More than they.”

He grew silent. Aizawa stayed still. He wished he had met this kid before he had started down this path. Maybe he would talk some more. He needed all the info he could get. And the kid spoke up again.

“You passed.”

“I passed what?”

“My test.”

“What test?”

“Follow me.”

Aizawa was very confused. This was not how he imagined his day would go. But he needed this kid’s trust. And he was intrigued why he had reached out to him. So he followed silently.

They didn’t go far. A few streets further were Blank and a little girl. He knew the other kid wouldn’t be far. Hollow spoke next to him.

“That girl is called Eri. We saved her from the Shie Hassaikai. The yakuza. She has some kind of dangerous quirk. We want you to take care of her. We don’t have the resources, and we will not give her to anyone else. If you give her away, or mistreat her in any way, we will know, and we will take her back. She is traumatized enough already. This is your only chance prove that you are one of the few good heroes. This is your only chance to prove to me that heroes can still do good. Will you take it?”

They wanted him to adopt a kid. Who escaped the yakuza. They trusted him enough for that. It wasn’t even a question. Of course he would take care of her. This was his job after all. Not a single person left behind. And if he could earn the vigilante’s trust, that was another bonus. He sure hoped his husband was up for adopting.

He took their offer. The two kids said their goodbyes to the girl and promised her that she would be safe. She didn’t want to leave them. They promised they would see her again. Aizawa wonderer if he had to worry about them breaking into his apartment now.

He took the girl by the hand an led her home. Guess he had a daughter now.

Chapter Text

Uraraka Ochaco has always wanted to help her parents. They worked for a construction company. It was just a very small company, which is why they didn’t have much money. But Uraraka had a great quirk. One that would be great for hero work, especially in the rescue area. Her role model was the space hero Thirteen. They had a powerful and destructive quirk but used it for rescuing and helping people. It was incredible.

Uraraka wanted to be a hero to support her family. So they didn’t have to continue living like this. They were overworked and she knew they couldn’t keep up this hard work forever.

Being part of a construction company meant you had to do much manual labour, and fast. Heroes and villains caused much property damage, and people had places to be. So construction workers were needed to fix things within a few hours, to make the area at least passable. Sometimes a hero like Cementoss showed up and made their work much easier, but that was a very rare occasion. They weren’t allowed to use their quirks without a license either. Even if that would make it easier for them. Her mother had a quirk that made objects she touched weightless, as long as she continued touching them. That would be an incredible quirk for construction work, since they wouldn’t need as much heavy machinery, but using a quirk without a license was forbidden. That was another reason Uraraka wanted a license. That way she could help out at her parent’s company.

Another company had sued them once for using quirks during construction. They hadn’t, but the lawsuit took much out of them and they got fewer clients and were stuck with worse jobs. And now the authorities came by sometimes to check if quirks were being used, which was distracting and hindered them from working.

Uraraka’s parents tried to hide all these facts from her. But she was smarter than they gave her credit for. And their walls were thin enough that she could hear them late at night, wondering if they could continue this way. She never wanted to hear her parents cry again. She would become their hero.

But that would still take five more years. And she didn’t know if they could hold out that long. She was studying hard to get into UA, the only hero school without exuberant tuition money.

She needed to help them now. She had heard of a website that would help people. Maybe they could help her parents. It was worth a shot. She needed to try every angle.

So she logged onto Void and asked if there was anyone in need of a hardworking construction company. If she could get her parents some better clients, it might work out. She knew it would take some time. So she logged off and continued to study.

A few weeks later she finally got an answer. But it wasn’t an answer she expected. The administrator had told her they had taken her post down, because they didn’t want people to use their site for advertising.

Of course, she should have thought of that. She was a little bitter but could understand. Her post had sounded a lot like advertisement.

She apologized and said she wouldn’t try again. But she also gave an explanation as to why she had made that post. She didn’t want to be banned from the site and still needed to find a way to help her family.

The admin didn’t ban her. At least that was something. Then they asked what kinds of qualifications her parents had. Uraraka was confused but found an old resume her mother had used to try and find better paying jobs. She attached the file and hoped for the best. But no answer came. It had been a futile hope anyways. She would have to continue with her old plan.

Back to studying and training. She couldn’t afford to fall behind.

A few days later her mother called her down. Her father was there as well. They seemed rather serious.

“Dear, did you give someone my resume?” her mother asked.

Uraraka swallowed. Maybe that hadn’t been a good idea. She couldn’t just give out her mother’s information to random strangers on the internet. What had she been thinking?

“I’m sorry mum, I just wanted to help.” She looked down at her feet. She couldn’t bear to look her mother in the eye.

But the woman came by and hugged her.

“It’s alright Ochaco, we just needed to know how my resume got there. You did nothing wrong; I know how much you always want to help us. We got a call from a support store that needs someone new to manage their wares. I don’t know why they would want someone like me, who comes from construction, but I do manage our paperwork, so technically I am qualified. They said they need someone who can also help out around the store from time to time, carrying things. I think they were called Hatsume support store. I’m not angry at you. Do you know what this means?”

Uraraka shook her head. At least they weren’t angry at her.

“It means I have a new job. One that pays better. We won’t have to worry about money anymore. Thank you.” Her mother started crying. Soon, Uraraka and her father were crying as well.

She didn’t believe it had actually worked out.

Then her mother looked her in the eyes again and took on a more serious tone.

“Sadly this also means we will have to move. I can’t commune there every time. It will work out for your father and the company as well. But you will have to say goodbye to your friends. But from now on you can do what you want. You don’t have to worry about supporting us anymore. You can follow your own dreams now.”

Uraraka didn’t mind. She would have to say goodbye to her friends sooner or later. She still wanted to be a hero. Someone had helped her parents and her. She had seen first-hand how helping could impact someone’s life. She wanted to do the same for others.

A few weeks later she was in a new house in a new town. They had sold the old house and managed to get a rather nice new one on the outskirts of the city. It wasn’t leaking anywhere, and they even had a small garden now. It was perfect. It was more than she had ever hoped for. She was now close enough to UA that she wouldn’t need to live on her own if she managed to get into the hero school. That was something she had been afraid of.

After completely moving into the house she got everything in order. Her new room was a little bigger than the old one, and it was painted in a nice shade of blue.

Satisfied, she got out her laptop. She went to the Void website and opened the private chat with the admin. She thanked them for what they had done for her family and asked if there was anything she could do to repay them.

The admin answered immediately. They said that they usually didn’t need any compensation for their services. But if she wanted to, she could look around the website and see if anyone needed help. Then the chat disappeared.

And Uraraka looked around on the website. People needed help with all kinds of things. She figured it was a great way to help people and maybe make some new friends, now that she was here.

So over time she helped with more and more simple requests. Painting a room, handing out fliers. Things like that. She liked helping.

One day, while doing homework, her phone rang. It was her mother who had forgotten her food at home and asked her to bring it, since she had to work late. Uraraka didn’t mind. Maybe a nice walk would help her get her mind off homework. She was stuck anyways.

The shop where her mother worked now was quite close, she could easily walk there. She went in and looked around. There were all kinds of support gear lined in shelfs. It seemed a little disorganized. A woman with pink hair approached her.

“How can I help you?”

The woman was smiling and wearing a nametag. Hatsume. She probably worked here.

“I am supposed to bring some food for my mom. She works here.”

Now the woman was actually smiling. Not the customer service smile.

“Oh, you must be Ochaco! Your mother told me so much about you! Please come in, I’ll show you where she works.”

Uraraka followed the woman into the back of the shop, where her mother just put down a phone. She smiled when she saw her.

“Ochaco, thank you so much. I’m sorry for forgetting my lunch, I was just in such a hurry this morning.”

Her mother seemed way happier since she got this new job. Uraraka was happy.

“Don’t worry, I got to see the neighbourhood and the shop. Here you go.”

She handed over the lunchbox.

Suddenly an explosion could be heard. It must have come from upstairs. Uraraka was startled, but her mother and the other woman just sighed.

“Don’t worry, that’s just my daughter. She is a genius inventor, but her inventions tend to explode. You are new in town, right? Then you probably haven’t made many friends. Mei is your age, maybe you’ll get along. Maybe you can even stop her from exploding our shop. Again.”

Uraraka followed the woman upstairs. She wasn’t quite sure what to expect from someone who blew up their room on a regular basis. Maybe it was just a thing in this new town. She opened the door, and a slightly charred room could be seen. And a girl her age, who was putting out a fire with an extinguisher. The door closed behind her and Uraraka was left alone with a mad inventor. That was not how she expected her delivery to end.

The girl, Mei apparently, grinned at her. “Hi, I’m Hatsume Mei, you can call me Mei. Best inventor on this side of the globe. And the other side of the globe. Everywhere, actually.”

Okay, this was quite an introduction.

“I’m Ochaco Uraraka. My mom works here.”

Mei turned around and started clearing her no longer burning workspace. “We need to work on your introductions. What’s your quirk?”

“Zero gravity.”

“Okay then. Please, next time you introduce yourself how about: My name is Ochaco Uraraka, master of gravity! Conqueror of nature’s forces!”

What?

“Umm, I think I will stick to the more boring ones. But it’s nice to meet you.”

Mei grinned and offered her a chair. It was made of metal and didn’t seem very comfortable. At least it was fireproof.

“Likewise. Now please tell me, what do you think of vigilantes?”

If she had something to drink, she would have spit it out. These questions were way to random! She didn’t know what was happening. But she played along. Not like she had anything better to do.

“They are okay, I guess. I prefer heroes, like Thirteen, but as long as they help people it’s fine.”

Mei nodded. “See, the others just always talk a lot. But I like you. I know you did some great work helping out around here since you moved here. And I appreciate that, I really do. But I also believe you can achieve way more. What do you say about changing society? So people like your parents can use their quirks for work. So heroes are held responsible for the excessive damages they cause. What do you say?”

This was all a bit much for Uraraka to take in. Of course it would be great if things could change that way…but was that even possible?

“Of course I want things to change. But isn’t that impossible? And why would you need my help? I’m just a kid.”

Mei shook her head, but her smile didn’t falter.

“No, no, no. People like you are exactly the people we need. Trust me. You can be a hero and also change society. It is possible. I know you have it in you. So would you like to join us?”

It was true. She did like helping people. And if Mei knew she had done that, she was a part of Void. And she still owed them a favour, even if they didn’t say so. She would repay her debt. If she could still follow her dream, then this was a perfect course of action. Mei had confused her a lot, but it was clear she had good intentions. And someone else could surely actually explain what was going on. But for now, this was enough.

“Okay, I’ll help.”

Chapter Text

Shihai Kuroiro loved the dark. His skin, his eyes, and his wardrobe were all pitch-black. Which is why he also preferred to be awake at night. His whole family shared his nocturnal lifestyle, which made may be good for his health, but bad for his social life. He took only classes, since those were the only ones, he could actually do during the night without having to worry about not getting enough sleep during the day. He loved the winter. It was dark for a long time. The summer was more annoying.

His parents had committed to being nocturnal and had given him either option. Since it was better for his health, he had stayed awake at night, but he knew that couldn’t last forever.

Kuroiro wanted to be a hero, like so many others. But in contrast to them, he wanted to be an underground hero. His quirk, Black, which lets him merge with anything dark and even move it around, was better suited for ambushed and work at night. He just needed to complete the three years of hero training while being out and about at day, then he could return to blessed darkness.

He was annoyed that there were almost no accommodations for nocturnal folk. He knew a lot of them, by default. He probably knew most nocturnal people, actually. Through his parents of course. There weren’t that many, but they all spoke of the same struggles. Either somehow deal with it or adapt to daylight. Kuroiro had stayed up for longer and gotten up later to get at least a little used to the light.

He knew his childhood wasn’t normal. He spent most of his days inside, since it was dangerous for a kid to be out alone at night. He wouldn’t have a problem with his quirk, he could just melt into his surroundings, but his parents were cautious. He understood, of course, but was still annoyed. He wanted to play with his friends in the park. But he had very few friends, and none were his age. And the park was closed at night.

But he was tired of being cooped up in his house all the time. His parents weren’t at home, so he decided to sneak out. Use his quirk, stay in the shadows. It was illegal, but only if he was caught. And he never gets caught.

So Kuroiro wet exploring. He took his phone in case he got lost and was on his way. Always in the shadows. The streets were empty. A few drunkards, some shady people, and one very enthusiastic businessman. It was weird to see someone end their day the same time another started his. Kuroiro could see quite well in the dark, he had to, but he did need some light. The streetlamps provided more than enough. Sometimes he even had to get out of the shadows and walk a few meters. But only if no one was around to see him. He kept to the main street, even if there was more light. Better safe than sorry. He stayed away from the really dark alleyways.

Except for seeing his neighbourhood without supervision for the first time, nothing really happened. He didn’t expect it to. After all, some vigilantes had shown up in his area from time to time, and people started noticing. Mostly villains, which was for the better. Even his parents talked about it, how they felt safer. Even though they weren’t actually heroes. It didn’t matter to Kuroiro. As long as they did their job. But that was another reason he wanted to become an underground hero. So people felt safe at night.

He returned home and did some schoolwork. His parents didn’t notice his little trip. Of course not. If he had one thing going for him, it was his stealth.

Over the weeks he went out more and more often. But even if he stayed away from the busiest parts, he saw a few crimes. Some drug selling, a mugging or two and some vandalism. He usually stayed about to call an ambulance if necessary, but that was unneeded. He knew that as a future hero he should help them, but he also knew his limits. And there was no way he could be a hero if he had vigilantism on his record. Technically what he did was already considered vigilantism, and he wouldn’t mind beating up villains, but again, it’s only a crime if you get caught, and interfering would make sure he would get caught.

Speaking of vigilantes. He hadn’t seen them around. After reading some more about the unofficial heroes, he wanted to meet them. Or rather, stay in the shadows and watch them. Since he had seen the entire area and didn’t want to stray too far from home, that was his new goal. Meet the vigilantes. Hollow and Blank. Well, one of them would be enough. Then he’d definitely have a story to tell. Well, he had no one to tell the story to, but it’s the thought that counts. Maybe he would make some friends. If he managed to get into a hero school, he was sure of it.

After a few hours of wandering in the shadows, he decided to return home. There was nothing interesting to see. He sighed. Another nice walk, good training for his quirk, but nothing more. That was until he saw some white hair pop out in a nearby street. And a black mask. No way. There was Hollow, ad he was running somewhere. Kuroiro didn’t hesitate and jumped into the night. Literally.

He was glad that his quirk gave him an extra speed boost, because the vigilante was fast. Once he managed to catch up to him, there was already a villain on the ground, unconscious. The vigilante, thinking he was alone started talking to himself.

“And that’s five, woohoo, catch up Blank or kitchen duty is yours for the next month!”

He was talking to no one in particular, and Kuroiro snickered silently. But the vigilante immediately assumed a fighting stance and stayed alert.

Shit. He really didn’t want to mess with the guy. As stealthily as possible, Kuroiro retreated and made his way home. He was sweating and out of breath once he arrived there. The vigilante hadn’t seemed scary at first, but once he had been looking for him, he was afraid. Even though he knew the guy couldn’t possibly see him.

But Hollow had intrigued him, nonetheless. He seemed young, based on the stature, voice and victory celebration. Information was everything in the underground hero branch, so he knew what he needed to do.

Night after night he snuck out and looked for the vigilante. He saw him a couple times but stayed further away. This time, he wasn’t noticed. Sometimes Hollow was accompanied by Blank, the vigilante with black hair and a white mask. Curiously, Blank seemed to change shape from night to night. They even carried different weapons. Maybe a shapeshifting quirk.

This night, Kuroiro managed to follow Hollow as well. He was alone this time, but it was no reason to worry. He knew the guy was competent enough to hold his own against most common criminals that walked around here.

Hiding from the shadows, Kuroiro could see the vigilante run after a man who had been defiling traffic lights with black colour, so the lights couldn’t be identified. What a stupid idea. Who did something like this? The guy who’s gonna get his ass kicked soon, apparently. And Kuroiro wanted to see that. Trying to cause chaos in the streets and interrupting traffic was dangerous, and the man would definitely get what was coming to him.

That was how Kuroiro ended up in the alley, while Hollow fought the offender. And he could already tell that this was a very one-sided fight. Not that he had expected a different result.

What he didn’t expect, was the man’s quirk. The man jumped back from Hollow and spit something out. Hollow was clever enough to jump back and cover himself. Kuroiro was dumb enough to think that since he was in a wall and far enough away, he couldn’t be hurt. He did not expect the spat-out thing to be a flash-bomb.

Now some of the worst experiences he had ever lived were all combined into one moment.

One: He was violently thrown out of the wall, since the wall wasn’t dark anymore.

Two: He screamed in surprise and pain.

Three: He did not cover his eyes, which were already sensitive to light and was horribly blinded.

Four: All of the above happened somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be. He was stuck between a villain and a vigilante. Blind.

And all eyes were on him. At least that’s what he believed. There was no escape for him. He couldn’t go into the shadows, since he didn’t know where they were. But even if he did, he could barely move because of the backlash of the flash-bomb.

It took him a while to regain his composure. He knew his hearing wasn’t affected, but he had blocked out everything for the last few minutes. Once he calmed down a little, he took a deep breath. There were no unusual sounds near him. He exhaled.

Suddenly someone touched his shoulder. He flinched.

“I’m sorry! Are you okay?” He wasn’t sure, but the voice probably belonged to Hollow. He seemed concerned. And Kuroiro wasn’t beaten up yet, so that was a plus.

“I can’t see. What happened?” Gather information. Stall for time. If he managed to get his sight back, he could escape. The vigilante still didn’t attack. Buy more time.

“I’m not sure. The villain activated a flash-bomb with his quirk, and the net thing I knew was you screaming behind me. You were curled up on the floor and didn’t move, so I beat up the villain. He is unconscious and tied up around the corner. He’ll stay that way for a while.”

The vigilante stopped. Kuroiro was thinking. He had probably been out for a while. Long enough for Hollow to win the fight and tie up the villain. And he was still here. He probably saw him as a victim. Someone in need of saving. Which he was right now. But he didn’t accuse him of spying or stalking him. Maybe he didn’t notice?

Suddenly Hollow started mumbling. It was kind of hard to make out the words, but Kuroiro was a good listener, especially if people didn’t want him to listen. Spying had become one of his favourite activities lately.

“By the way, where did you come from? Based on the reaction to the flash bomb, you have some sort of enhanced vision or are nocturnal. I doubt it’s your quirk though. You popped out of nowhere. We are too deep in the alley for you to be passing by. You weren’t behind me the whole time, I would have noticed that, so I assume you came here with your quirk. Hmm, let me guess. You could sneak up on me with a silencer quirk, but I would have seen your shadow because of the streetlight. If you had a speed quirk you probably wouldn’t have been surprised by the flash-bomb. You could have a flying quirk and came from above, like levitation or something that only works in the dark, but no bruising from a fall, so that’s ruled out. That leaves the ground or the walls. Maybe a digging quirk, but no change with the earth and no dirt on the body. That leaved the walls, or maybe the air. A quirk that lets one move through walls? Permeation maybe? No, clothes are still there and that wouldn’t explain the reaction to light. Teleportation? That could be it. But these quirks are very rare, and he seemed to fall from the wall. His skin is pitch black…and he came out with the light. So probably something with the shadow or the dark.”
The vigilante raised his voice and spoke more clearly. “Can you fuse with shadows or the dark? Is that why you fell out of the wall?”

This kid was incredible. He just deduced his whole quirk in a matter of seconds without even seeing the quirk in action. Maybe he had an analysis quirk or something. Or he was just very smart. Kuroiro just nodded. Lying wouldn’t do him any good here.

Hollow laughed. “Awesome I gotta write this down. What’s it called?”

Some rustling could be heard, and the sound of a pen flying over a paper.

“Black.”

Silence. “That’s it?”

“Yeah, sorry.”

The vigilante sounded a bit embarrassed at that. “Oh, no, no, I didn’t mean to insult you or your quirk, it’s just that’s not very creative.”

He knew that. People kept telling him. But it’s not like he named it himself. But what was wrong with Black? Sure he would have preferred a cool name like, Darkness, or Abyss, or at least Pitch Black, but it wasn’t up to him.

Suddenly the vigilante perched up. “Wait, were you the one who laughed at me in the shadows a few weeks ago?”

Kuroiro flinched at that. He had hoped that was forgotten. But apparently not. And he was sure his body language had given the answer anyways, so he just nodded again. He was prepared for the vigilante to attack him now, but nothing happened.

He still couldn’t see, but the pain was almost gone, and he was sure his sight would return soon.

“Why are you following me?”

Now that sounded a bit more serious. And Kuroiro didn’t dare lie.

“I live in the area and had heard a lot about you guys. You are really cool. You’re like, my heroes. I want to be an underground hero one day and thought I could get some inspiration from people who actually do that kind of work. Heroes are rare, but even if they operated here, I wouldn’t dare approach them. They seem kind of above us common folk. You guys are different. I really admire you, actually. And I don’t know if now is a good time, but thank you. You really make us nocturnal people feel way safer.”

No reaction. The vigilante didn’t seem to move. Kuroiro didn’t either. He was very nervous. Scared even. His fate would be decided in this moment.

Minutes passed.

Then Hollow spoke up again.

“Then would you like to join us? We can teach you to be a good hero. You will get your license. And you get to help out eve before that. You might even help people like yourself in the grand scheme of things. What do you say?”

That offer came completely out of the blue. He had never expected this to come out of his little trips. But he didn’t have a single reason to decline. Hollow and Blank had operated for years, and they hadn’t been caught. They were his heroes. This was an honour. And it would even help with his career. There was no downside.

“I would be honoured.”

Chapter Text

Jiro Kyoka loved music. Her parents were musicians and owned a music store. Many people thought she would take it over one day, but she had other plans. She, like almost every other kid in the universe, wanted to be a hero. Shocking. The question was more who didn’t want to be a hero. Most had to face the truth, that they couldn’t be. But they still dreamed. And so did Jiro.

Her quirk, Earphone Jack, enabled her to amplify the sound of her own heartbeat. And that tended to get rather loud. She wandered how loud she could be if she were able to amplify something else. Like her voice. She might even be louder than Present Mic; a hero she greatly looked up to. Luckily, her parents had some insulated sound-proof rooms in which she could train her quirk on private property. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to do anything with that part of her quirk. But there was another part to it as well.

Jiro could hear incredibly well. That was very annoying in school, and she sometimes wore earplugs to drown out all the sound, but it certainly came in handy at other times. She was almost unbeatable at hide-and-seek, because she could hear everyone breathing and locate them easily. She knew all the rumours at school, what the teachers thought of her, what her friends hid from her and what presents she got for birthdays and Christmas. People didn’t know this, but Jiro was informed. She was an incredible hotspot of information. If she wanted to, she could tear apart the school, rip couples apart and get at least ten students expelled. But she could only do that once without everyone knowing about her. And she had absolutely no reason to. She wanted to be a hero after all. Better to keep things the way they were. For now, it was great entertainment.

Gathering information was another part of a hero’s job. She couldn’t really train her quirk that often, but her hearing was another matter. It was due to her quirk, but she didn’t actively use a quirk and couldn’t turn it off, so it didn’t count as illegal quirk usage.

What parts of quirks were legally allowed and which weren’t wasn’t a topic Jiro was familiar with. She knew that people with mutation quirks had to be more careful and were usually better informed, but her mutation was small and she didn’t care as much.

There was another debate of quirks versus natural that intrigued her more. Music. Nowadays, there were quirks that could automatically produce music. There were people with siren quirks and beautiful singing voices. Quirk music was another legal grey zone. It should technically be illegal, since it’s a quirk sold for profit and an unfair advantage, but the music industry managed to convince the laws to allow one quirk use per group, if there was an expert present and the quirk usage was properly explained and published. They were not allowed to interfere with the audience directly.

Jiro liked both quirk and normal music. She didn’t mind if someone used their quirk, they still put in a lot of hard work, and as long as she liked the music, she didn’t really care. She made some music herself and wondered sometimes if her quirk helped with that.

Currently, Jiro was in school. Her school had a focus on art, music and sport, which meant fewer people wanted to be heroes, and more wanted to be artists and idols. It was break right now, and she was scrolling through an article about one of her favourite bands, when she heard something curious. Her art teacher, Mr Meyer, was screaming on the phone in the broom closet next to her classroom. She immediately focused on the conversation, but only managed to make out what her teacher said. She didn’t feel bad, it’s not like she liked the man.

“I can’t fucking believe this! They actually awarded that piece of filth with an award? You can’t even call that art! I swear, this is the worst job I ever had. These kids hand in their bullshit and expect me to coddle them? No! And then the other teachers are just like, ‘oh no, you can’t fail them, they are still learning. They are giving it their all’, well boohoo I don’t care. They have no talent! No finesse! No eye for art! I swear I would get a new job if I could. But no. I just had to take this shitshow because actual art schools didn’t recognize my talents. Whatever. They’ll know what the real work is like once I am done with their work. These doodles will not live to see next week, I swear if I have to spend more than five minutes in the so called ‘gallery’ I will jump off a cliff.”

Her teacher was quiet for a while. But he hadn’t left the room yet. The person on the other end must be speaking.

“Yeah, I’m done now. Break will be over soon. I hate teaching here. But if you’ll really help me with that, at least I have something to look forward too.”

The closet door opened and the teacher left. Class started but Jiro couldn’t focus. Would Mr Meyer really try to destroy the gallery? The gallery was the place where all students put their finished works. It was like a little museum. They even had some of her songs there. It was the pride of the school and Jiro could spend hours there, just looking around. Even the works of students that had long graduated were there.

As a future hero, Jiro knew what she had to do. Even if the threat wasn’t real, the teacher had still insulted their art. She would tell her homeroom teacher after classes ended.
Classes didn’t seem to end, as always. Time ticked slowly, and Jiro remembered the phone call over and over. She wrote down what she heard and didn’t focus on listening. Her teacher even called her out once. She didn’t care. That was more important.

It was finally over in the afternoon. She waited until all her classmates had left the room and walked up to her teacher. Ms Thompson was around fifty years old, always wore green exclusively and could play the piano like no other. She was a little strict, but overall a great teacher.

“You seemed distracted today Jiro. Is something the matter?”

Jiro was nervous. She usually didn’t try to stand out, but this was important. A hero’s job. And she wanted to be a hero after all.

“I overheard something worrying during break.”

Ms Thompson raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

Jiro nodded. At least she had the woman’s attention.

“I overheard Mr Meyer talking to someone on the phone. He seemed very upset. He threatened to destroy the art in the gallery.”

The face of Ms Thompson fell.

“Oh dear. I’m sure you misheard. Mr Meyer is a great and talented teacher. You really shouldn’t worry about it. Now go on.”

But Jiro wasn’t ready to give up yet.

“I’m sure I didn’t mishear. He called them doodles and said they wouldn’t live to see next week!”

Now Ms Thompson was angry.

“Jiro! You shouldn’t try to accuse your teacher of something like that just because you don’t like him! This is unacceptable. I thought better of you.”

“But…”

“No! Get these lies out of your head. You have a nasty habit of snooping around and listening where you shouldn’t, don’t think I didn’t notice. Why would you try to spread these lies? I thought you wanted to become a hero. That career was never suited to you anyways, and now you proved that. Focus on your music and you might actually get somewhere in life. Stop chasing wild dreams. Now go. We will not speak of this further and I will never hear such accusations again. Understood?”

“Yes.”

Jiro gritted her teeth. She couldn’t believe this. Not only did she not believe her, she also belittled her dreams. This was not how this talk was supposed to go. But there was nothing more she could do. She lowered her head and walked home. She could feel the judging looks of her homeroom teacher on her back. This is why she never told people of what she heard.

Her sour mood ruined her entire day. She played off-key and even her parents noticed, because they left her mostly alone. She blasted heavy metal music until evening and went to bed early.

The next day, a Friday, brought no changes. She was still in a bad mood, Ms Thompson still looked at her in disapproval, and there was no hope of anything changing.

The weekend passed in a blur. It’s not like there was anything she could do, she told herself.

Monday came around. She went to school. So far, everything seemed normal. Then the announcement.

“All students have to gather in the gym immediately!”

Oh no. This wasn’t good. Assemblies were very rare at this school, especially spontaneous ones. She went there with balled fists and hoped for the best.

Hoping didn’t help.

“You might wonder why we gathered you all here today. We have very sad news. Someone has dumped quite many pieces of art, which includes paintings, music scores, sculptures and much more into the swimming pool. The art was taken from the gallery.”

Gasps could be heard all over the gym. People started whispering. Jiro was numb. She could have prevented this. Should have prevented this.

She looked around. Mr Meyer seemed smug but hid it under a neutral poker face. Jiro knew what to look for. She knew the culprit. Ms Thompson looked at her feet. At least she looked properly ashamed.

“Quiet please!”

The students calmed down, but it took a while. Some had even started crying.

“We do not know who was responsible. We believe it to be a student who was frustrated that their work wasn’t put in the gallery, but we will investigate every angle. For now, it is the duty of all students to save as much of the art as possible. That will be very hard work, and we expect every student to stay after school for at least an hour every day and work on the restauration. The swimming pool will also have to be closed, the water emptied and renewed. Let this be a warning. If the responsible student doesn’t come forward, we will cancel all school trips. The gallery was a memorial to alumni, and the pride and joy of our school. I want everyone who has information about this to come forward as soon as possible. That is everything. Your homeroom teachers will inform you of the specifics. Now return to class.”

This caused an uproar. Students were screaming and all was lost to chaos.

“Does that mean all club activities will be cancelled until further notice?”

“I can’t stay for that long?”

“I don’t even know how to restore art!”

“Was my painting destroyed as well?”

“What about the instruments?”

“When will the pool be opened again?”

“How can you punish all students for what one of us did?!”

“How do you know it was a student?”

Jiro couldn’t believe this. It was too loud. Way too loud. She put in her earplugs. This wasn’t good. She knew who the culprit was! She had to tell someone!

But it was hard to move against the masses, and she had to walk back to her class. Just as she was about to enter, Ms Thompson tugged her aside.

Jiro was just about to cry. This was her fault!

“Alright, listen Jiro. I believe it is possible that you did this to frame Mr Meyer. He is an honourable teacher at this school and has been for years. If you go forward with this, you will only end up being accused yourself. It would be best for all of us if you just stay quiet and never bring this up again. If there is no evidence in two weeks against Mr Meyer, I will tell them it was you who did this. Do you understand?”

There was something very forced in Ms Thompsons smile, maybe even threatening.

Jiro was angry. She just said that to save her own ass. She could get in big trouble for not listening to a student’s warnings. But she also knew that she was right. Ms Thompson would undoubtedly switch sides and accuse her as well. She was trapped. The culprit was free and there was nothing she could do. She felt like crying. This was why she was rather the listener. Not involved. It only brought trouble.

So all she did was nod.

Ms Thompson ushered he back into the classroom and didn’t look at Jiro for the rest of the day.

After school and an hour of trying to salvage wet paintings, she went home. Her parents were worried, but she explained what had happened. She didn’t mention what she knew. Her parents pitied her but agreed that what the school did was the right decision. Jiro didn’t know what to expect. Collective punishments were wrong. The school hadn’t even tried to gather more information. She had been disappointed enough already. Would this be the end of her dream? Expulsion because she tried to help? Two weeks, and it would all be over.

With all that had happened, she didn’t have the energy or motivation to do anything. She put on some background music and scrolled through social media. Nothing interesting. A few memes, some puns. Discussion posts. Her favourite band had posted some new info on the next album. She was too tired to care.

Then, finally, something intrigued her. A post about a website that might help. Void.

It was not like she had anything to lose.

She went on the website and told, in very vague terms of course, what had happened. A few hours later she got an answer.

The other person asked for evidence. She didn’t have any real evidence. Just what she overheard. And that’s what she told the other user. They didn’t seem discouraged. The two of them entered a private chat and continued the conversation. Jiro added more and more details, until it was obvious what school she went to and who she was. She didn’t care. At least the other person believed her.

The user continued to motivate her to look for more evidence. To get involved. To solve things by herself. Jiro wasn’t sure. If she tried to change something, it usually fell apart. It never worked out for her.

But the other user was strangely convincing. And she was right. The only thing that could happen, was that she got expelled. And that threat already hung over her head. She really didn’t have anything to lose anymore. She already knew the culprit. She just needed some proof.

So she spent the entire week listening. To every conversation she could find. She couldn’t be the only one who knew something. People talked. And Mr Meyer wasn’t liked. Maybe more people could testify that he never liked the gallery.

She didn’t bother with schoolwork. It wouldn’t matter if she was expelled. She had to give this her all.

She got lucky. The teachers were tightlipped, but not the janitors. The gallery used to be open for all, but since some of the more recent sculptures had been made of expensive material, they had installed a door with a key. A key, that only limited personnel had. She really didn’t want to do this, but she had no choice. She snuck into the secretary’s office as she was away and took a photo of the list of all people who possessed a key. She knew no one would disturb her, because she could hear if someone came close, but her hands still shook. Only the fourth picture was readable.

Six art teachers, four music teachers, the principal and vice-principal and all of the janitors. That was all. Not a single student. Jiro started to doubt that the school even looked for clues. They just wanted the students to restore the paintings under the guise of punishment. They must have known this. That there was no way a student could gain access to the gallery without a key.

By the beginning of the second week, Jiro had the list of people, and a testimony of eight students from five different classes, claiming that Mr Meyer had shown distaste of the gallery for a long time. But it still wasn’t enough.

Jiro even stayed later than most, restoring paintings and copying music scores, in hope of gaining anything at all. The other user, who helped her out from time to time, pointed her in the right directions and told her where to look. There was only one place left.

Three days in a row, she snuck into the infirmary, which had a wall that was connected to the principal’s office. The cupboard she hid in was uncomfortable, but finally, on the third day, it paid off. She could overhear the principal talking to another teacher.

“Yes, yes, this is very sad about the art, but at least we can account for all of that. We have a detailed list of everything that’s admitted into the gallery, and we finally checked everything. The statues, with the materials that caused the school a fortune, are gone! We had to defund the sports department to get these, but it was the only way to gain the support of more sponsors. It’s hard to be an art school in this day. Maybe we should start training heroes. We don’t even have enough money to renovate the pool after this, so the swimming team will have to disband. The worst part is, we can’t even call the police, because if we do, they will start investigating, and if they do, they will figure out that not all of the sponsor’s money went to the school! They might even realize that I sold some student’s work, that I proclaimed lost. Oh, stop looking at me like that, where do you think I got the money for those gifts? We should quickly wrap this up and just say the investigation was inconclusive. We’ll set up a new gallery and things will return to normal soon.”
That was more information than Jiro ever wanted to know. She hated her principal. He always seemed kind of distant, but this was disgusting. And sadly, most of what was said didn’t help her either.

But there was one piece of information. If the expensive statues had gone missing, Mr Meyer must have stolen them. Which means he had them. Which was conclusive evidence.
She hurried home with a spring in her step. Finally, a clue. And not too late. Her two-week deadline was creeping closer every day. Jiro gave all the information she had to the user who had helped her. They still wouldn’t disclose their name, but Jiro didn’t mind. As long as they helped her.

The user said she had gathered more than enough information. They said she had done an incredible job. It was amazing. Finally, someone actually listened to her. Information gathering was what she was good at. And with this, she might finally help someone. Even if that someone was her. It mattered.

The user told her not to worry. Apparently, they had ties to the police and would take care of it. Jiro trusted them. They had already done so much.

Tsukauchi Naomasa went into his office after grabbing a much-needed coffee. He must be seeing things. The vigilante Hollow was in his office. Depositing a folder full of evidence. And then promptly jumped out of the window. On the folder was a note. ‘Take care of this, or we will.’ I sounded like a threat. It probably was. That meant more coffee and less sleep. Into overtime again.

Monday arrived. Another school assembly. Her deadline was over. And yet, she was calmer than the last time she had set here.

A man in a brown coat walked up to the podium. He introduced himself as Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa, of the police. He had gotten an anonymous tip from someone and investigated the matter. There was decisive evidence that Mr Meyer had destroyed the gallery. He was currently being detained and interrogated. Someone had broken into his house and taken pictured of the stolen sculptures. The act was illegal, but enough evidence for a house search, which ultimately led to the arrest.

Furthermore, the principal was arrested for stealing the school’s funds for private uses, tax fraud and illegal art deals.

Even more shocking, Ms Thompson was under investigation for aiding in the principal’s crimes, accepting bribes and blackmail of students.

The detective also said that some of the evidence undoubtedly came from within the school. But instead of reprimanding them, Tsukauchi said they had done a good job. Jiro had done a good job. The information provided were vital, and since the person wished to remain anonymous, he had to thank them this way. He even said that a career with the police was a good option with such skills.

Jiro welled up with pride. She knew it was hard work. But the pay-off was incredible. This had been so worth it.

The detective left the school, and with him went the excitement. With the principal gone and an official police investigation, insurance money could be claimed. The funds the old principal had taken were also returned.

The swimming pool would open up soon. Alumni returned to the school to fix their artwork, and even added new pieces. The gallery was reopened with more art than before.

Now, even the public could visit and enjoy the old and new exhibitions.

Jiro was happy. She never imagined she could change this much for the better. She didn’t do it alone. But she acted. That was what mattered. She would be a hero.

A few weeks later, the same user who had helped her sent her another message.

‘You got a taste of a new life, and you did exceptional. Would you like to continue?’

Jiro didn’t hesitate.

Chapter Text

It was a late evening, and Izuku would soon start his patrols. Void had enough members now, that they had an actual schedule. Izuku got more sleep now than he had in years.

(It would not stay that way.)

He was early for his patrol, but that was on purpose. He made his way to Eraserhead’s apartment. The hero should be out for patrol by now, and it was late enough that Eri was sent to bed, and the babysitter, either Midnight or Present Mic, should be watching TV. He snuck around climbed up the wall of the house. Eri’s window was on the second floor. Not a problem for him.

Once he got up there, Izuku knocked a melody on the window. A few seconds later, Eri opened it. She didn’t smile yet, but Izuku could tell that she was happy to see him. She looked healthier than she had when he had rescued her. Even her horn had grown smaller.

Aizawa had also cut her hair short and died her hair black. Eri had chosen the colour, saying she wanted to look like her new father. That alone was enough for Izuku to be assured that their decision to bring her here was the right one. They couldn’t have taken care of her. She was safe.

“Hollow!” Eri whispered. She was a smart girl and knew that Izuku couldn’t be discovered. She didn’t mind the secrecy. At least she got to see him again. Eri opened the window and let him in. As soon as he touched the ground, the small girl jumped into his arms. Izuku had saved many people over the course of his vigilante career. But saving her was one of his proudest moments. In her, he saw himself. What he could have been, if someone had helped him. If society hadn’t given up on him. He was happy at how things turned out though Because he was able to save Eri.

The two of them chose a board game and played for some time in relative silence. Neither of them minded. The company was enough. Eri was healthier and happier every time he visited. One day he would make her smile.

Someone knocked at the door. They didn’t come in. They respected Eri’s privacy, even if she was a little girl.

“I’m okay Aunt Nemuri.” Eri answered. Izuku climbed out of the window and hid there. He was quick at making escapes.

“May I come in, Eri?”

Eri closed the window, kicked the game under the bed and climbed into the bed herself.

“You can come in now.”

Izuku was still perched under the window and listened in. He hadn’t said goodbye yet.

“Good night Eri. You have school tomorrow, so you should go to bed now. Good night and sweet dreams.”

“I will, thank you. Can we have pancakes for breakfast?”

Midnight laughed. “That is Shota’s decision, but I’ll see what I can do. Just ask him yourself, I know he can never say no to you.”

And with that Izuku could hear the door close again. Eri climbed out of bed and opened the window again.

“Goodnight Hollow. Thank you for visiting. Good luck on your patrol.”

Izuku smiled under the mask. All he did was worth this.

“Goodnight Eri. Sweet dreams.”

And with that Izuku left and started his patrol. He loved these little visits. It had taken them a while to figure out where Eri lived, Eraserhead was a hard man to follow, but Kuroiro had managed it. They already knew his schedule. After a few days of watching the apartment, they visited Eri. She was happy to see them and told them all of what had happened, and how much better Shota treated her then Overhaul. How she was happy there. And how grateful she was for what Hollow had done.

Izuku could melt at the thought. This girl deserved the world. And Izuku would make sure she got it. He had another reason to change the society Eri would grow up in. For her.

His patrol started without much problems. The streets were mostly empty. That started to happen more often. Izuku wondered if his group actually had made such an impact. But if everything was quiet, he could take a little break. He sat down on a rooftop and looked over the city. It seemed so very peaceful like this.

He felt something behind him, coming out of nowhere. Izuku jumped up and assumed a fighting position.

He didn’t like what he saw.

It was a portal made out of black mist. A teleporter. Shit.

Something appeared out of the mist. It was a man with light blue hair and a hand on his face. Even more hands were attached to his neck, shoulders and arms. Izuku hoped they weren’t real arms. This was bad. He activated the emergency button they had in their masks. His location was immediately being send to all of Void. Someone had to be in the area.

The hand-man spoke. “Hollow, is it? It took us a while to find you. I am Shigaraki Tomura. I have an offer for you.”

Izuku froze. They had been looking for him. Not good. The man was dangerous. And he had a warper. Even worse.

Shigaraki continued talking. “You see, we noticed your little organization. Criminals have been complaining of vigilantes disrupting their work. I don’t care about them. They are just some NPC’s. But you…I want to join my party. Let’s kill All Might.”

Izuku’s blood ran cold. This man was a lunatic. There was no way he could actually want to kill All Might. Well, maybe he wanted to, but it was impossible! All Might was the symbol of peace! The greatest hero alive! But on the slight chance that he did have a way…he needed to figure it out.

“And how are you planning on doing that?”

Izuku could barely keep his voice from shaking. But he managed to sound calm. In control. Years of vigilante work had given him some sense of confidence.

“Oh, don’t you worry about that. We have an item that is able to kill All Might. If you’re interested, follow me.”

Izuku was torn. He could just walk away. But he couldn’t antagonize this person. They had a warper. They would find him again. And they would find Void. And if he really had a weapon to kill All Might, he had to warn the hero. The symbol of peace was still necessary. Izuku wasn’t ready yet. Void wasn’t ready yet.

There was only one way. Izuku had to take his chance. He followed into the gate.

The other side of the gate was a bar. It was fully stocked, but without any customers. The big TV seemed a little out of place. It was a rather nice place for a couple of potential murderers.

His mask still transmitted the signal. He had no idea where he was, but if he managed to return, they would know. His poor friends. They were probably in panic and looking for him. And he just disappeared and popped up somewhere probably out of their reach. But he couldn’t get distracted.

“Why do you want to kill All Might?”

Shigaraki sat down on one of the chairs and assumed a relaxed position. He probably didn’t see Izuku as a threat.

“All Might is the pillar of this society. If we kill him, society falls with it. I hate everything. And I want to destroy it.”

Was that it? That wasn’t a real motivation. That was just someone letting out his issues on others. How had such a man-child gotten a weapon strong enough to kill All Might?
Izuku knew that society wasn’t good. That it created people like Shigaraki, people like himself. Most villains were just kids that were given up on. But that didn’t mean that killing an actual hero would solve everything. If society fell, things would just turn out worse.

“That isn’t going to work.” Izuku did not spend years to figure out a plan to change society for this idiot to come swooping in and ruin everything. All Might had a place in his plan. He couldn’t die yet.

“What?” Shigaraki was angry. He had looked smug before, but now he got up and scowled. Like a kid with a temper tantrum.

Izuku repeated himself. “It’s not going to work. Your plan. You can’t just kill the symbol of peace and expect everything to work out. Things would only get worse for you. Have you even thought this through? I think you just have a grudge against All Might and spout some half-assed ideals to convince people to join you. It doesn’t work like that.”

Izuku knew. He had been recruiting people to his cause for a while now. Many were a lost cause. You needed time, you needed to appeal to them.

Maybe Izuku shouldn’t have insulted the man. But by spouting all this nonsense, Shigaraki had insulted everything he stood for, everything he had worked for over the past few years.

But the man was eerily calm. “I see.”

Shigaraki dashed forward. Izuku jumped back. He was at the disadvantage here. He didn’t know the man’s quirk. Based on the way he dashed out with his hand in front, he probably needed touch to activate it. Better to keep dodging. But Izuku couldn’t dodge forever.

The warper just stood behind the bar and didn’t do anything. Izuku got out his knives. He had to fight his way out of here. He had too much he still needed to do.

Shigaraki was fast, but Izuku had years of training of dodging and running away. But the exit was behind his attacker. He didn’t know if it was locked.

Izuku feinted a punch and tried to run past. It didn’t work.

The other man seemed to get annoyed at Izuku running around. Izuku was running for his life. Literally.

He jumped behind the bar to gain a little time. He got out his sword. Better to keep the man at a distance.

He didn’t realize how much of an idiot the man was.

Shigaraki grabbed the sword. He started bleeding and got even angrier. But honestly, what did he expect when grabbing a blade?

As soon as all five fingers had grabbed the blade, it disintegrated. Izuku immediately threw the sword away. He hoped the decay didn’t transfer.

He could definitely not get touched. Under any circumstance. That would without a doubt be his end. And he had lost the only thing that could keep the man at a distance.

He was trapped in the corner. Shigaraki dashed forward once again. Izuku threw his knife, in a last-ditch effort. It landed in the man’s shoulder. But he didn’t stop. And his fingers touched Izuku’s mask.

The mask turned to dust.

Shigaraki stopped. Then he laughed. “You are just a kid.”

But that didn’t stop him from hovering his hand over Izuku’s face again. Four fingers touched him. “Let’s see if anyone will miss you.”

Izuku closed his eyes. It was over. He would die here. His friends would never find his body. There wouldn’t be a body. He wonderer if they would miss him. But they could continue Void without him. At least that was a comforting thought.

“Wait.”

There was a new voice. It seemed a little distorted. Izuku opened his eyes again. The voice came from the TV. Shigaraki didn’t move.

“But Sensei, he didn’t want to join my party, and his organization could prove a threat to us if we let him go. He’s useless.”

That stung. Izuku hated being called useless.

The TV answered again. The man on the other side of the screen was Izuku’s only hope of making it out of here alive.

“What is your name boy?”

Shigaraki put his hand away. He crossed his arms and sat down on a chair again. Izuku didn’t dare move.

“Hollow.”

“Your real name. And don’t lie to me.”

Izuku swallowed. It was over anyways. They couldn’t use his name to track down his friends. He needed to stay alive.

“Izuku…Midoriya.”

The screen stayed silent for a while. Izuku didn’t move a muscle. Shigaraki just seemed annoyed.

The mist guy hadn’t stopped cleaning already clean glasses the whole time.

“Tomura. Listen to what he has to say.”

Shigaraki whipped around and faced the screen. “But Sensei…”

He was interrupted again.

“Boy, you started a vigilante group. And earlier you said that killing All Might would not work. This means you have a plan. Enlighten us.”

It was Izuku’s only chance. Maybe he could convince this man. Sensei. He obviously held all the power here. There was no need to hold back.

“Killing All Might would unite all heroes und make him a martyr. A symbol to rally behind. More heroes would be appointed and even unqualified people and students will be sent to the field. It would only worsen the current flaws of society instead of changing anything.”

At least that seemed to get Shigaraki’s attention. So he did have a grudge against hero society. Maybe he could work with that.

It was Sensei that answered.

“I see. And what do you propose to do?”

Izuku took a deep breath.

“We need to change society from within. Gather enough heroes to our side and slowly force the change in a semi-legal way. Our group consists of future heroes. We will enter the hero schools and make a name for ourselves. At the same time, we will operate as the vigilante group Void, that has gotten quite a reputation recently. Once most of the top heroes out themselves as having operated as vigilantes, despite having a hero license, people will see the flaws and limitations of the current hero system.

We don’t need more heroes. We need rehabilitation for villain, basic income for everyone regardless of quirk and job, and no discrimination based on quirk. Instead of having one job, the heroes, be judge, jury and executioner, we need to divide the power. Less legal loopholes and more restrictions for heroes. Especially the ranking system needs to be abolished. It motivates the heroes to care more about publicity than actually doing their jobs.

We will also address to make quirk usage more legal in all kinds of jobs. Not using your quirk can lead to many repressed emotions which often burst out, which usually gets the person branded as a villain. They don’t need someone to beat them up in public, they need therapy. Quirk counselling.

Those are all long-term problems. Until then, we need to show that All Might as a symbol of peace can’t last forever. They can’t depend on one person to be responsible for all. We need many heroes people can depend on, until the system changes. Until we change it.”

Izuku was done with his speech. This was the moment of truth. The mist guy had stopped cleaning and out down the glass to listen.

Shigaraki seemed lost in thought.

The TV didn’t have a picture. It was silent.

Izuku waited.

It was Sensei that broke the silence.

“Well well. That is indeed quite the plan. I must say, I’m impressed. It might actually work. I would love to see a world like the one you describe. You intrigue me, Midoriya Izuku. What do you say, Tomura. Would you lend this boy a hand?”

All eyes were on Shigaraki. Finally, he spoke up.

“Looks like another player entered the game. You better keep your promises.”

He turned around and left.

Izuku finally exhaled. He didn’t notice he had held his breath.

“We’ll be in contact.”

With that the TV turned off.

It was now only the mist guy and Izuku in the room.

“I am Kurogiri. I look forward to working with you. Don’t worry about Tomura. Since Sensei agreed to help you, he will not harm you either. He may seem a bit childish, but please bear with him. Where can I drop you off?”

“Where you found me, please.”

Kurogiri opened another warp gate and Izuku stepped through. It was the middle of the night. He didn’t know how much time had passed, and he didn’t care.

Someone tackled him into a hug. It was Shinso, in his Blank outfit.

“We were so worried! Are you okay?”

Izuku nodded. He was tired.

“You sent out the emergency signal, I arrived shortly after the signal reappeared somewhere else. I thought we were to late. What happened?”

Izuku wasn’t too sure himself.

“I think we just got an actual villain organization to join Void. Gather everyone. I have a lot to explain.”

Chapter Text

Reiko Yanagi loved ghost stories. There was something about ghosts that intrigued her. She watched many horror movies and read thrillers until late in the night. Her wall was full of posters of ghosts, ghouls and zombies. Maybe that was why she didn’t have many friends over. Ever.

It was hard for her to make friends. Most people stayed away from her, saying she had a creepy vibe. The first time she invited someone into her room they ran away screaming. Not many people her age liked horror.

With every new introduction, Reiko wondered if she should lie about her quirk. She could just say she had a telekinesis quirk. People would leaver her alone then. And she had a telekinesis quirk. But it was called Poltergeist. Reiko loved that name. She loved her quirk. Halloween was her favourite time of the year! She could dress up as a ghost, and with her quirk she felt like a real poltergeist.

But as soon as others heard the name of the quirk, they laughed at her.

‘She is so pale, maybe she really is a ghost.’

‘Sometimes I don’t know what she is saying she talks so weird.’

‘Look at how she holds her hands, creepy…’

‘Don’t look this way, you’ll appear in my nightmares!’

Reiko was confused at first. She loved ghosts. She wouldn’t mind being compared to one. But they ridiculed her. Her and her interests. She didn’t like it. She didn’t like them. So she stayed away. Spend her days alone. Like a ghost. Always there, watching, but not interfering. Except for special occasions. But those would scare people. So she better stayed emotionless. If her quirk acted up, it would be bad.

Some new girl had joined their class a few weeks ago. Apparently, she had to move because of her parent’s job. Reiko didn’t care. She just kept in the background and waited for time to pass, so she could graduate.

Maybe in the next school she wouldn’t be ridiculed.

Today her teacher made a grueling announcement. They would go on a field trip, stay a few nights and learn something about castles. That in itself was great. She loved old castles. She would love to explore and imagine what ghosts haunted the hallways. But this was a class trip. So the class would be there. She could already hear all the jokes at her expense. And she couldn’t even explore alone because they had to move around with at least two people at all times. Maybe she could fake being sick. Again. People always told her she looked the part.

The hotel they stayed in had room for two people each. There were twenty people in class, twelve girls and eight boys, so it would fit perfectly. Reiko sank into her chair. She would just get the last person unlucky enough to not find a partner.

People were already screaming who they wanted to share a room with and her teacher wrote it down dutifully. The dreaded moment arrived.
“Yanagi, what about you. Do you have a partner?”

Reiko knew she didn’t mean it as an insult. That she didn’t want to put her in the spotlight on purpose. She hated it nonetheless. She shook her head.

Suddenly, the new girl perched up. She was practically beaming and radiating positive energy.

“I can share a room with her.”

Was this a trap? No one wanted to spend time with her on purpose.

Even the class seemed surprised. Someone leaned back and whispered to the new girl. Not silent enough though. “Are you sure you want to share with her?” The ‘her’ was pronounced as if she was a disease. “She is so creepy and you’re new. If you ask, I’m sure you can crash with one of us. Just look at her, it’s best to leave her alone.”

At that the new girl frowned. Reiko tried to sink even deeper into her chair, or even better, fade out of existence. “I’m sure it will be fine. You shouldn’t talk about your classmate like that.”

Okay, maybe she wasn’t so bad. But this was only the beginning. The girl was new after all. Reiko gave her one month until she was like the rest of them.

The rest of class seemed shocked, and the girl who had been speaking even seemed a bit ashamed.

The teacher continued with the room distribution and general rules of the field trip. Reiko listened half-heartedly and class passed rather quickly. The whole class was excited and ignored her, as usual. She made her way home.

At least, that was what she wanted to do, until someone grabbed her elbow. It was the new girl.

“Hey, sorry if I put you on the spot. They shouldn’t be so mean to you. I’m Uraraka Ochaco, by the way.”

Reiko was glad she introduced herself once more. She hadn’t bothered to remember her name.

“Reiko Yanagi. Can I leave now?”

Uraraka was still smiling. How can one person be so positive?

“Of course! Sorry, I just wanted to exchange numbers, you know, so we can discuss what we bring along to the trip. We can go shopping together if you want?”

Was this girl really this nice or just playing around to be mean later? She didn’t know. And didn’t want to take the risk.

“Here’s my number. Just text me, but I’ll go get it alone.”

How was this girl still smiling so brightly?

“Sure! See you tomorrow!”

And she left. Finally. As she was leaving, Reiko heard her say something along the lines of ‘I’ll have to ask Kinoko or Momo to cover my shifts’, but it didn’t matter. She was so not looking forward to this trip.

But the trip came. And her parents forced her to participate. And Reiko may even feel a little bad if Uraraka had to be alone in a room. She had even brought a few snacks and movies. Just in case.

She put her suitcase in the trunk of the bus and sat down in front. She would love to sit in the back, but there were usually people there, and she avoided people. Someone tapped her shoulder anyways.

“Can I sit here?”

It was Uraraka. And she pointed at the seat next to Reiko. She wanted to sit alone, read and listen to music. But she couldn’t just say no without seeming rude. No need to antagonize the person she had to share a room with for a few days.

“Sure.”

Uraraka plopped down and got out her phone. She was on some kind of website that seemed a little sketchy. Reiko put in her headphones and got out her book. A nice thriller with a good murder, with the murdered person haunting the new people that came to live in her house. She had looked forward to reading this for a while now.

After about two hours Uraraka put her phone away and tapped on Reiko’s shoulder.

“So, what are you reading?”

Reiko was right at the good part. She held up the cover for a few seconds and resumed reading.

“Oh, I loved the ending! A real twist. Sorry, I won’t bother you anymore.”

Wait what.

“You read the book?”

At that Uraraka was smiling brightly again. It seemed she had just waited to finally be able to strike up a conversation.

“I loved it! Especially once the finally starts to piece together what had happened in the house. The slow unraveling of the murder scene was incredible. Oh wait, did you read that part yet?”

That was the part she was currently reading. And yes, it was amazing. She was almost through with the book.

“I’m there currently. I should be done in half an hour. We can talk about it then.”

And they did. The book had been great, but it had been even better to finally be able to talk to someone about the things she liked. They arrived sooner than she had expected. For once, she wanted to continue talking.

But they had arrived and needed to put their things in the hotel. Reiko struggled with her bag and suitcase.

“Want me to take your bag?” Uraraka asked.

“Are you sure? Your things seem quite heavy as well…”

Uraraka smiled mischievously.

“Don’t worry, I work out.”

There was something else behind that knowing smile, but Reiko ignored it. She gave Uraraka her bag and the girl lifted it with ease.

After dinner, which was surprisingly good for a cheap hotel, they were sent to go to bed and sleep, because they had to wake up early tomorrow. As if they usually didn’t have to wake up early for school. It wasn’t even late.

But Reiko didn’t want to inconvenience her roommate, so she went to bed. After about an hour of tossing and turning she gave up. Surprisingly, Uraraka was still awake as well. She was on her phone again.

“Why are you still awake?”

Uraraka turned around and looked a little surprised.

“Sorry, did I wake you? I usually stay up until later, so I can’t sleep yet.”

So Reiko didn’t have to worry.

“No, I was awake. I usually go to bed later than this too. I got about two more hours until my usual bedtime.”

Uraraka just laughed.

“Yeah, me too. Want to silently watch a movie with me?”

“I only brought horror movies, is that okay?”

“Sure.”

They watched the movie. Reiko had seen it five times already, but watching it with someone else was even more fun. She fell asleep easily after that.

The next day came around, and for once, Reiko actually looked forward to it. They would get to explore a castle with all kinds of interesting history.

As soon as they were left to roam on their own, Uraraka grabbed her arm. She was grinning.

“Let’s explore the torture chamber!”

Reiko started to really like this girl. Over the next few hours, they visited all kinds of creepy places and imagined what kinds of horrors had happened here and what ghosts haunted the premises.

It was an incredibly fun day. To be honest, it was more fun than Reiko has had in years. And it was all thanks to one girl who had reached out to her. She never thought it would be this easy.

Evening came, and Reiko was exhausted. Running around the castle had taken more out of her than she would like to admit. Uraraka still seemed completely fine. Whatever she did in her free time, it gave her incredible stamina.

But even so, she changed into her pyjamas and played a few card games with Uraraka. She didn’t even notice falling asleep.

She awoke to someone knocking on her door. It was the middle of the night. She was in bed. She didn’t even remember getting into bed. Uraraka must have tucked her in. That was a little embarrassing, but Reiko was still very grateful.

Before Reiko could completely wake up, Uraraka had already opened the door, without turning on any lights. Reiko just tried to fall asleep again. She was tired, Uraraka could handle this.

Based on the voice, it was her teacher that had come knocking.
“Is Yanagi here? Can I speak to her?”

Shit. She probably had to get up for this.

“She’s asleep. Can’t this wait until tomorrow?” Uraraka answered instead.

“I’m sorry, but no. Several students have come to complain about her. It seems someone has been going around at night making weird noises and scaring people.”

Of course they would accuse her. Whoever did this was probably sure they could get away with this because she would be accused anyways. She hated this.

But to her surprise, Uraraka stood up to her teacher. She somehow didn’t seem like the type.

“She was with me the whole day. I didn’t sleep the whole night. She fell asleep as soon as we came back. We really shouldn’t wake her. And I would be grateful if you didn’t accuse my friend of something she would never do without evidence. Good night.”

And with that she actually just closed the door in the teacher’s face.

She had called Reiko her friend. A friend…

Reiko was tired. She fell asleep soon, but not without a warm feeling in her chest.

At breakfast her classmates stared at her. She didn’t like that. She preferred if they ignored her. She knew why, of course. Some of them seemed really angry at her.

Uraraka was sitting next to her and trying to act as a shield between her and her classmates. Reiko was eternally grateful.

“They think you pulled a prank on them yesterday, that’s why they are angry. It’s not your fault. Don’t worry, I’ll tell them you didn’t do it. I’ll make sure you won’t get into any trouble because of this.”

That was…really reassuring. How far this girl would go to help her. She remembered what Uraraka had said last night.

“Do you consider me your friend?” She asked in an almost inaudible voice.

Uraraka whipped around and hugged her tightly.

“Of course I do! You are amazing!”

Tears started to well up in Reiko’s eyes. But she couldn’t shake the feeling of doubt.

“You must make friends rather easily then…”

At that Uraraka just huffed. “I have some good friends. We are a great group. But except for them and you that’s it. The others in class aren’t my friends. They couldn’t be with the way they treat you.”

Great. Now Reiko was actually crying. She hoped the others didn’t see her like this.

The rest of the day was uneventful. A few boring tours, some worksheets they had to do. Reiko looked forward to the evening where she could spend time with Uraraka again. Her friend.

The pranks weren’t brought up again. She hoped the culprit would just realize how dumb they were. Two of the boys seemed particular tired today. But Reiko didn’t bother. Better not to get involved.

That was apparently not what Uraraka was thinking. Because as soon as Reiko had voiced her suspicions, the girl had marched up the boys with a friendly smile. A few minutes passed while they talked. Sadly, Reiko was out of hearing range. Uraraka returned with a confession. How had she done that? She was really amazing.

“They said they would stop doing it and confess to the teacher once the trip is other. Since they actually seemed sorry and didn’t mean to frame you, I’ll trust them on this. But I’ll know if they don’t confess in the end. Let’s just have fun with this trip, shall we?”

Uraraka really was an amazing person. Reiko was glad to be friends with her. It seems that being enemies with her was scary…

This evening Uraraka had excused herself to make a phone call. It took a while. Probably her parents. But when she returned, she seemed a little nervous.

“Hey Yanagi, can we talk? In private?”

Oh no. This was never good. Did something happen? Did she do something. Oh no.

Her worry must have shown up on her face, because Uraraka held her hands up and shook her head.

“It’s nothing bad I swear! Nothing is wrong. Everything will be fine!”

That calmed her worry a little. Just a little though. They went into their room and closed the door. Uraraka motioned her to sit down. She did.

“Well I’m not sure how to start this conversation. Umm…how about this? What do you want to be when you grow up?”

That was not what Reiko had been expecting. Not at all.

“I never thought about it. I’ll just see what comes around once I graduated.”

“I see.” Uraraka was clearly thinking. “Then, what about becoming a hero?”

“A hero? I really don’t think I can be one. I’m not good enough.”

Uraraka gasped. “What? No! You’re fourteen. You still have time to learn, and you have an amazing quirk! You have a great personality! You would be a great hero!”

So much positivity at once was almost too much for Reiko to take. She wasn’t used to people complimenting her. Especially if they meant it. And she was sure that Uraraka meant every word.

“You really think so? Thank you…”

Now Uraraka was beaming. “So I was thinking. How about you join us? My friends and I want to be heroes and we are working together. I think you would be a great fit! They are amazing people and be happy to have you!”

“Really? I mean I believe you believe that, but most people I meet aren’t really happy to meet me, you know…”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I talked to our leader on the phone and he said he wold be happy to have you. There is just one more thing you should know.”

Reiko sat back. It couldn’t be that bad.

“We may do a little of illegal business.”

If Reiko had a drink, she would spit it out. There was no way this girl, that literally puked rainbows and had an aura of pure positivity, could be involved in any illegal business.
She had many questions, but all that came out of her mouth was: “What?”

Uraraka motioned her hands in embarrassment. “I’m so sorry, it’s not as bad as it sounds. Argh, why am I so bad at this I should have left this to Izuku…What I mean to say is, it’s vigilantism. We help people. That is all. Like I helped you today by helping to keep your classmates away.”

That really did sound a lot better. Reiko had heard of the vigilantes that were helping cleaning up the city. She just hadn’t cared. But she wouldn’t have imagined that they were kids like her.

“And you really want me to join?”

Uraraka nodded. “Yeah, you would be a great fit!”

That was a lot to think about.

“I will have to be honest with you. I never really cared about helping people. I preferred to just stay in the background and watch things unfold. But you showed what it is like to help. I don’t know if being a vigilante or a hero is the right thing for me. But I do know that you are my first friend. You helped me. And if this is how I can help you, I’m in. You gave me courage. And now you gave me a purpose. You really are amazing.”

Uraraka blushed. It seemed she wasn’t used to people complimenting her as well.

“I’m glad. Welcome to Void, Yanagi.”

Reiko smiled. “Please, call me Reiko.”

“Then call me Ochaco. I look forward to working with you.”

This field trip, this one girl had given her more than she had ever expected. It was incredible. She thanked whatever spirits had led this girl to her school.

“Thank you.”

Chapter Text

Mezo Shoji was, above all, a kind person. He loved helping people, didn’t hold grudges and treated everyone with respect. That is how he was raised and that is how he will live his life. But people tend to judge a book by its cover. And that book was Shoji.

He stood at an impressive 187 cm at only fourteen and basically had six arms. The fact that he covered up half his face didn’t help either, but if he didn’t people would be even more scared. Which he really didn’t need. Like that one time a girl started crying because she saw his face. He also had pale grey hair and black eyes, but that was usually not what people focused on when they described him.

His arms were part of his quirk, Dupli-Arms. That let him reproduce various of body parts at the end of his arms, which can be used for combat and surveillance. At least they could be if he managed to get into a hero school. For now he uses his quirk for growing a mouth and speaking. He didn’t like speaking with his real mouth.

Becoming a hero was his dream. He loved helping people and for once, he wanted people to look at him in hope, and not in fear. No matter what he did in his hometown, it didn’t help. He helped with community service. He fed stray cats. He helped grandmas cross the street. Everyone in town knew him. And they were still scared. Some of the older folk who had seen him grown up didn’t mind him, at least. Still, Shoji would like to have some friends whose age wasn’t getting in the triple digits soon.

But he did enjoy helping them, which is why today he helped old man Uji clean out his house. He had a lot of junk he needed to get rid of, because his family had decided to move in with him, and he needed the space. The old man was grateful that Shoji helped out, he could barely get down the stairs, let alone carry a sofa.

Which is why he spend his Sunday afternoon carrying al kinds of junk into a truck. It was easy, since he was strong. Even without his quirk he could easily carry more than the average human. It happened when you had six arms.

Old man Uji had promised him cookies he could take home, and he really looked forward to that. He did not look forward to the reason why that police car was here. Police usually didn’t mean anything good. And they came his way. Of course they did.

“Can I help you with something?” Shoji asked carefully. He talked with his real mouth. If he didn’t, he technically used his quirk, and usually people were fine with that since they knew it made him uncomfortable, but he couldn’t just say that to the police.

“We got a call about unlicensed quirk usage in a robbery.” The policeman seemed wary of Shoji. He was ready to grab his gun in an emergency.

That meant no fast movements on Shojis side. Better not to startle the man.

“I didn’t see anything.”

The two policemen looked at each other nervously.

“We were called because of you. I don’t see another masked individual with six arms cleaning out an old man’s house.”

Of course they were here for him. Shoji sighed.

“I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing. My name is Mezo Shoji. My quirk is Dupli-Arms. You can check my ID if you want. I didn’t us my quirk, just my natural strength. And I am currently helping Mr Uji clean out his house to make space for his family moving in. You can ask him if you like.”

That answer seemed to relax the police a little bit, but they still motioned him to lead them in the house after checking his ID. Mr Uji was currently sitting on his sofa, looking over what still needs to leave house.

The policemen approached him. “Excuse us, are you Mr Uji? Is this your house?”

It seems Mr Uji wasn’t a big fan of the police either. Shoji could tell from the look on his face. He just hoped the police couldn’t tell.

“Of course this is my house. And I don’t want you here. Leave. I didn’t let you in.”

Now that wasn’t something the police expected.

“We are sorry for disturbing you sir, but we came to check if this man was robbing your house.”

They pointed a Shoji.

Mr Uji just laughed.

“Shoji couldn’t hurt a fly. Whoever called you is an idiot. I asked him to come here to help me, and now you are causing him trouble. And that ‘man’ is just a kid who doesn’t need to deal with your bullshit. If you have time to come here on false accusations you can help cleaning. Get out or help.”

Shoji hoped the police would leave. Not because he didn’t mind the help, but because he wouldn’t put it past Mr Uji to start throwing his junk at them. He had a surprisingly good throwing arm, even if he had weak legs.

The police turned to leave.

“Wait!” Mr Uji shouted at them.

“What is it?” Now the police seemed annoyed.

Mr Uji huffed. “Apologize to Shoji! He didn’t do anything wrong and you came here accusing him. He’s a good kid, he doesn’t deserve that.”

One of the policemen just turned around and left. The other actually looked a little guilty. “Sorry. Won’t happen again, but we were just doing our jobs.” The he left as well. That was more than Shoji had expected, so he just picked up the next box.

He was stopped by Mr Uji. “I’m sorry, you were in this situation because you’re helping me. I hope word doesn’t get around that the police came for you, even if it was a false accusation. These idiots! Why can’t they see that you are the best of all of us?”

Shoji smiled at that. Not that anyone could see that, under the mask.

“It’s alright. Thank you for defending me.”

At that Mr Uji crossed his arms. “Always kid. If anyone tries something funny, call me. I might not be the fastest, but once I arrive, they will get the lecture of the century.

“Thank you.”

This wasn’t the first time Shoji had been accused of illegal quirk usage. There had been many debates about what qualifies as illegal quirk usage, and what didn’t.

A strong person could lift a heavy box, and no one would bat an eye. If someone with a mutation quirk lifted the same box, people got suspicious, but let it slide. But if a third person lifted the box with a strength enhancer quirk, that was illegal quirk usage and could get the person arrested.

That was only the legal side of things. Usually, people with strength quirks were admired. They often became heroes because of the adaptability of their powers. Even All Might is rumored to have an Enhancer quirk.

In opposition to that were mutation quirks. People with mutation quirks were often despised. Despite the theory that quirks either reflected or influenced someone’s personality, it still depended on the choice of the quirk wielder. Someone with a mouse quirk could attack someone with a snake quirk, and people will still think the snake was the aggressor.
There were even some extremist groups that wanted to eradicate all mutation quirks.

Information about equality of quirks only slowly entered the education environment, and people were still stigmatized. People would rather call the police on the mutation user without a quirk lifting the box, then on the normal looking quirk user.

There had been changes, even if only slowly. For example Gang Orca, the number ten hero, had a mutation quirk. Some people were still afraid of him, but his great hero career had made it possible for many people with mutation quirks to come forward and try to change how society viewed them.

Despite that, he was still ranked number three at heroes who look like a villain. The first two places were also held by mutation quirk users.

Despite all that, he was a hero to many people with mutation quirks, including Shoji.

A few hours later, Mr Uji’s family arrived. They came from the city, and Shoji wanted to leave to leave them to their reunion.

“You don’t get to leave young man. They said they wanted to thank you. So stay here and meet my family. You should see my granddaughter; she is so cute I will spoil her until she rolls down the stairs.”

Well, Shoji couldn’t say no to that.

The family got out of the car, took one look at Shoji and…smiled?

“You must be Shoji! My father told me so much about you.” A woman said as she got out of the car. She held a baby in her arms. “Would you mind taking her for a minute?” And with that she shoved the baby in Shoji’s arms.

Oh no. Babies hated him.

This baby however, just smiled and laughed. Then she tried to grab his hair. She didn’t stop laughing. Why wasn’t this baby crying? All children cried when they saw him.

Shoji must have looked very confused, because the other woman that got out of the car laughed at him. Probably the other mother. “Aww, she likes you. I think she has a thing for your hair. You don’t happen to be up for a baby-sitting gig?”

What? They would trust him with their baby?

Mr Uji came by and clapped on Shoji’s back.

“I told you you would like my family. They are city folk and have probably seen much weirder than you. Not that you weird, kiddo.”

Shoji smiled and handed him the baby. He was delighted.

City folk was different, huh. The city wasn’t to far from train. Maybe he could help out around there, without getting any weird looks. It was worth looking into.

A few days later Shoji signed onto a website called Void. It is supposed to be a website where people could ask for help, and where people could help others. Most people signed up to get help, but Shoji wanted to be the one helping.

There was a request to help someone pack things for moving. Well, that was a coincidence. But Shoji had experience with that. So her told the person the specifics of his quirk and how he looked and waited for an answer. If they would accept helping him.

The person answered that they didn’t care how he looked, as long as he could lift. That was enough for Shoji. He took the train and was on his way.

The man who had filled out the request thanked him and showed him around. There were three other people who had come to help. They were adults and seemed to know each other. The three women introduced themselves and said they often helped with moving requests because their gym had closed recently and this was a good workout while they could also help people. That was a motivation Shoji could get behind.

Which is why, over the course of the next few weeks he went into the city and helped with requests more and more often. People here sometimes still looked at him weirdly at first, but they all warmed up to him. No one had insulted him or even looked afraid. Shoji wished he had done this earlier.

The job today had taken a little longer than usual. It was already dark and rather late when Shoji made his way home. He wasn’t scared, people tended to rather stay away from him, instead of trying to mug him or something. At least his build was good for something.

But other people weren’t as lucky as him. He heard someone shout for help in a nearby alley. Shoji wanted to be a hero. He couldn’t just walk away. So he ran into the alley. A woman was on the ground, a man standing above her. He had his fist raised. Shoji jumped between the two and got the woman out of danger. The man hit the wall. He seemed angry. But after taking a good look at Shoji, he seemed to contemplate fighting them. He looked between Shoji, the woman and the exit.

In Shoji’s arms, the woman was crying and shaking. He hoped the man would just run away. He didn’t. He smiled and spat at Shoji. Actually spat at him. That was disgusting.
Shoji fell to his knees. He couldn’t move. Must be the man’s quirk. The man came closer and got out a knife. This really wasn’t good.

Then the man raised the knife and smiled at Shoji again. Then he fell to the ground as well.

A small figure with white hair and a black mask held a sheathed sword in his hands, which he probably just used to knock the guy unconscious.

Who was that? Another villain? A hero?

The woman he saved got up and thanked the mysterious person. Probably a hero. She ran away. Shoji still couldn’t move. The hero sat down next to him.

“Good job. I was a little late and she would be injured if not for you. Don’t worry I’ll stay here with you until you can move again. Next time you try something like this, you should knock the attacker out immediately and watch out for quirks. My name is Hollow, by the way. I’m a vigilante.”

Shoji couldn’t answer. But he could already feel something again and started wriggling his toes. It shouldn’t take too long.

But this person was a vigilante not a hero. He helped people, so there wasn’t that much of a difference. He had said next time. As if Shoji would start wearing a mask and run around at night beating up random criminals.

After about five minutes he could fully move again.

“Thank you for saving me.”

Shoji said that with one of his arms again.

Hollow got out a notepad.

“That is an interesting quirk! Would you mind telling me how it works?”

Oh boy. He seemed eager. So Shoji gave him a quick explanation. The vigilante wrote it down. Weird.

“So, earlier you sad what to do if I got in this situation again. And, no offense, but I don’t really want to get into this situation again. I’m not a vigilante.”

Hollow nodded. “But would you like to be?”

What?

The vigilante continued. “Mezo Shoji. We have been watching you for a while and were gonna contact you, but meeting you here is even better. Aren’t you tired of people being scared of you? Aren’t you tired of seeing people discriminated against because of their quirk, mutation or appearance? Don’t you think it’s time for change? We can offer you that. We can make you a hero and change this society.”

That seemed like a lot of responsibility. But he was right. Shoji was tired. He didn’t want others to grow up like him. He wanted things to change.

“I’m in.”

Chapter Text

Setsuna Tokage, Quirk Lizard Tail splitter. Her quirk allows her to split her body into up to 50 pieces, which can fly around freely and even regenerate, even if that takes a lot of energy. She has worked hard to be able to use her quirk like that. She started out with only being able to split her body in five pieces, but over years of hard training she managed to get it up to 50. And she needed to work hard. Because if she did, if she succeeded, she would be recommended into UA. Then there was nothing stopping her from becoming a great hero. She could of course take the normal entrance exam. But that wasn’t enough. She needed to be the best. She needed to be special. Her parents always told her that.
Setsuna had days where she didn’t want to train. It was hard. Especially the days which consisted of parts of her body being destroyed so she could train regenerating. But she had a clear goal in mind. UA high school. The best hero-school. She and four others her age competed to gain the favour of a hero who would recommend them. But only one of them. It was a fierce competition, and the others were just as good as her. Which is why she needed to train harder. She needed to do more.

Her parents hadn’t been able to become heroes. Setsuna would fulfill that dream in their stead. This was why she was here, after all. She needed to be better. She needed to train even more.

One more month until the deadline. The deadline where all five kids had to fight and prove who the best of them was. And Setsuna was scared. Objectively, she had better control over her quirk than all others. She had trained more and adapted faster. But the others had combat oriented quirks. She didn’t. Her quirk would be incredible for surveillance, for espionage, for following people. But not for combat. She still tried her best. But she somehow knew it wasn’t enough.

She may succeed and excel in all other tests, but during sparring she kept losing, again and again. She wasn’t good enough. She needed more. Better. Faster. Stronger.

Another day, another loss. Her parents drove her home. She ate her salad in shame. She could feel the disappointed looks of her parents. She didn’t want to disappoint them. She couldn’t.

So she did something stupid. She knew it was stupid. But she had no other choice. She needed to be able to keep up. Just this once. Once she was recommended, she could stop. She went out at night and bought a doping drug. Once to test it. If it works, for the test. Then never again. That is what she told herself.

And it worked. For the first time in a long time, she won. The hero nodded approvingly, and her parents even treated her to a fancy dinner. She did it. Finally. This is what she wanted. To be better. To have their approval.

The next spar, without doping, she lost again. And back were the disapproving looks, the shame and the hatred. The hatred cam from her. She hated herself. For being to weak. She didn’t feel like she belonged here. But she had to win. No matter what. She looked at the second vial hidden in her sock drawer. She had the money. And the consequences would only appear in many years. Most heroes had retired then anyways. She just needed to be good in her prime, in her hero days. After that life didn’t matter. It would all be over anyways. She might as well have a broken body.

So she snuck out again and bought another week of supplies. The dealer even warned her not to take it too often. As if he cared. He just wanted money. She didn’t need anyone’s pity.

And the next week went great. She won almost every spar. The only bad looks she got was from her competitors. Those, she didn’t mind. They were just jealous. She would climb to the top. She would be the best.

This week was exhilarating. She had never felt so good. There was still a little shame in her back of her mind, a voice that chastised her for cheating. It wasn’t cheating. It was necessary.

But the week had passed again. And she needed more. She had taken these performance enhancing drugs every day, because she trained every day. She didn’t notice her body slowly breaking down.

Setsuna called her dealer. He seemed hesitant, but agreed to meet. And so, under the cover of the night. Setsuna snuck out again. She didn’t want to know what her parents would think of her. Maybe they would kick her out for cheating. Maybe they would praise her for doing everything she could to win. But it wasn’t worth the risk to ask.

She went to the meeting place. It wasn’t all that cold, but Setsuna was shivering. She pulled her scarf tighter around herself. Where was that idiot? Finally, someone came around the corner. But it wasn’t her dealer. It was some weirdo in a mask. Shit. She hadn’t done anything illegal yet. If that was a hero. Or vigilante. If this was a villain she could split and return home. She wouldn’t be chastised for using her quirk in a situation like this. Probably. No one would find out anyways.
The masked person stepped closer. Setsuna didn’t want to flee, if not absolutely necessary. Because if she used her quirk like that, she would leave her clothes behind. Which meant she left her money behind. She needed that money.

“Hey there.” The masked person spoke up, in a soft voice, as if not to startle her. He sounded rather young. “My name is Hollow. I’m a vigilante. Is there something I can help you with?”

Setsuna shook her head and left. Maybe he would just let her go. The vigilantes in town were said to be rather nice.

He put a hand on her shoulder.

“Your dealer sent me. Can we talk? Please. I think you need help.”

Setsuna almost laughed at that.

“Yeah, I need help. I want my doping, so I can win my families approval. So I can achieve my dreams. If not I’m worthless. If you don’t have that let me go.”

Setsuna shook him off and tried to walk away. The vigilante would let her. He didn’t seem scary, and made no moves that could be perceived as threatening, but he still stood in her way.

“Tell me. Whose approval. Maybe I can help. If you tell me, I’ll listen. And I promise I’ll let you go after that.”

He sounded genuinely concerned. And Setsuna didn’t want to bother fighting a vigilante. Whatever. It’s not like she had something better to do.

“I want to be recommended by a hero. Me and four others will have to fight in a few weeks and the winner get recommended into UA. But my quirk isn’t combat oriented, but theirs are. I can’t win without using the drugs. But I have to win. If I don’t…I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. It’s all I’ve worked towards. You wouldn’t understand. You’re a vigilante. You just do what you want.”

She had sat down on the ground, and Hollow sat down next to her, with some distance between them.

“That’s not right. You shouldn’t have to fight others to get recommended. What that hero is doing is bullshit. But I understand why you would try so hard. I’m not judging you. You actually remind me of a friend of mine. It’s hard if you always have to be the best. But…you don’t have to. It’s not the end not to win. There is always another way. You are destroying yourself with the way you are going. And you can’t be a hero, you can’t help people if you are dependand on that drug. It’s still not too late for you. If you quit now, you will be out of commission for about a week. If you don’t, you will have to take them every day. Best case scenario, you die at 30. And you have a lo of potential. I’ll give you my number. Take the next week to think about what you really want to be. What you want to do for yourself. Not just what others told you. If you still want to be a hero, I’ll train you in combat. Come here, and you will win the competition under your own strength.”

He handed Setsuna a phone number, got up and left. She didn’t know what to think of that. As if it was that easy. But she got up and returned home. It was too late to find a new dealer now. She would have to look tomorrow. She did keep the number. Just in case.

Training the next day was without a doubt the worst she ever had. She could barely run straight, let alone throw a punch or use her quirk. The trainer sent her home and told her not to come back until she was healthy again. Setsuna tried to argue. She couldn’t miss out on even one training. The man looked at her in pity. He still sent her home. The other kids seemed to gloat. She hated it.

Her parents ushered her into bed. Might as well go to sleep. She would be fine in the morning.

She wasn’t fine. She had a fever, she was sweating, she felt hot and cold at the same time. She wasn’t hungry, but hadn’t eaten in hours. If she did, she was sure she would puke. This was horrible. She couldn’t miss training. But despite her best efforts, she couldn’t get out of bed. That was the final straw. She cried. She cried for hours on end. She didn’t know what to do. There weren’t any options left for her. This is how her dream would end. This is how her life would end. She was exhausted. And she fell asleep. But even her dreams didn’t let her rest. Dreams of failure and misery. Of being cast aside.

The next morning was as bad as the last. Her parents checked up on her, but other than that they left her alone. She didn’t want to be alone. She checked her phone. Not that there was anything to check. She had never made any friends. There was no one she could call to make her feel better. No one who cared about her.

There was only one person she could call. But that was stupid. She had met him two days ago. But it’s not like she had anything left. She was at her worst. She knew that. The vigilante was her last hope of ever making it out of here. So she got out the number and called. It rung once…twice…

“Hello?”

He had answered. It wasn’t a fake number. It wasn’t a dream. Setsuna was still crying.

“Hi…um this is Setsuna, the girl from the street. I’m sorry to bother you.”

Setsuna wondered if he could understand a single thing she said, through all the crying.

“Are you okay?”

No. She wasn’t okay. Of course she wasn’t! Her dream was in ruins, her life was over! This was all she lived for! How dare he ask if she was okay? How dare he…how dare he be the first one to ask that. Why hadn’t her parents asked? Her trainer? Did they care so little? All they asked was if she could continue.

“No! No I’m not okay. This is your fault! I’m sick, everything hurts and I’ll never be able to achieve my dream! Why…why does this happen to me? What did I do wrong?”

Setsuna continued crying. The vigilante stayed silent until she had regained her composure.

“You did nothing wrong. This isn’t your fault. They shouldn’t have pushed you like this. You should be free to enjoy your life the way you want.”

How dare this vigilante come into her life and change everything. But Setsuna knew it wasn’t right to let out her anger at him. He was the only one who had tried to help. The only one who had cared. And no matter what, she didn’t want to feel like this ever again.

“Please help me…”

It took her long to get these words out. It may have been the hardest thing she ever had to do in her life. The hardest decision. She just wanted the pain to end.

“Don’t worry. That’s what we are here for. We’ll help you. You’ll be ok. Just hang on.”

He hung up. And Setsuna cried again. She was never this emotional. She was a strong, charismatic and confident person! How comes she was this broken?

She didn’t even notice drifting into sleep again. But she had to, because someone shook her awake. It was a young woman with blue hair and a kind smile.

“Hey there. I’m Juniper. It’s nice to meet you. Hollow sent me. I’m a doctor. Don’t worry, we’ll have you up and running in no time. Drink this.”

The woman held something to her mouth. Setsuna drank it. It was disgusting. That must have shown on her face, because the doctor laughed.

“Don’t worry, it’s supposed to taste that way. Your body will need time to recover, so make sure you drink and sleep a lot. I’ll be back every day to check up on you. You’re gonna be fine.”

Setsuna nodded. She was still sleepy, despite the bitter medicine.

“Thank you.” Was all, she got out in the end.

The woman left. “Don’t worry about it.”

Setsuna went back to sleep. The doctor kept her word and returned every day. She felt better after a few days, but Juniper only cleared her to leave and train again after a whole week. She had missed so much training. But somehow…she didn’t actually miss the training itself. It had felt good to finally have some time for herself, without the constant competition.

It was evening, so she went to the alley where she had first met Hollow. He was there.

“You look great! I’m glad. Now then, what can I do for you? What do you want to do?”

Setsuna smiled. “Thank you for everything that you’ve done. I see what I’ve done wrong. I have been obsessed with winning, but I’m not sure why. I think my parents forced it onto me, because they couldn’t succeed themselves. I was blind. But I still want to be a hero. And I’m not ready to give up everything that I have worked for. I will win the competition under my own power, enter UA and do things my way. I will live my own life.”

Hollow nodded. “I’m proud you have come so far. No many would be able to pull themselves out of such depression. You really are strong. Now then, let’s start. Show me what you can do.”

They trained the whole evening. It was different then training with the others. It was hard, but it was fun. Hollow knew what he was doing. He praised her and gave her usable tips. He even told her possible weaknesses of her competitors, based on their quirk.

Over the last weeks until the test, more and more different vigilantes came by to help her training, always in companion of Hollow. They were incredible. Some more skilled then others, but they could all fight incredibly well. And as far as Setsuna could tell, none of them used their quirks.

It was the final evening before the test. Hollow and some other vigilantes had come to wish her good luck. They had even brought cake. Was this what it felt like to have friends?
They had a nice evening. No training, just people who wished her good luck and believed in her. At the end, Hollow spoke up.

“Setsuna, regardless of how the test will go, you will always have a place with us. Don’t forget that. You have the qualities of a great leader, of a hero. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. We will always be here for you.”

The others all nodded in agreement.

Setsuna felt like crying. But she had cried enough over the last few weeks. She was happy now. Regardless of the outcome of the test, she would continue chasing her dreams. This was just another step forward. So she gave them her brightest smile. Her first smile in months.

“Thank you!”

All of Void had given her tips on how to beat her competitors, but especially Hollow had been incredible. Setsuna wondered if he had an analysis quirk.

It was time for the fight. And just like planned, Setsuna split up. She didn’t have to fight them head on. It wasn’t her style anyways. You won if the others couldn’t move, were out of bounds or surrendered. They couldn’t beat her if they couldn’t touch her. Of course, they insulted her for that. How she was a coward, how she was un-hero-like. She didn’t care. It wasn’t their approval she cared for. So she used her different cut off parts mostly to annoy the others. They tripped and fell, but mostly ignored her. She rarely won in the actual sparring after all. She could be ignored.

And they did ignore her. They fought amongst themselves. Just like predicted. After she had given Hollow the information, he had given her ideas on how to deal with the different quirks. But in the end, it was all Setsuna’s plan. Hollow had respected her decision, and even praised the plan. She knew them better after all. All she needed to do was actually think for once. To use her brain. So what if they didn’t like her. She just used her quirk to her advantage, like they all did. Fighting head-on wasn’t everything after all. A hero needed more. Void had shown her that. A hero needed to help others.

Just like predicted, there was only one person left. Emilia. She had a mutation quirk which gave her features of a jaguar. She was fast, but she still had to catch all fifty parts of Setsuna. And she was exhausted. Setsuna could tell. Despite her mutation, she had almost no stamina. So she just needed to outlast her opponent.

Setsuna shot her parts at her over and over again, until she couldn’t defend herself anymore. Slowly but surely, she was pushed to the edge. Then over the edge. Setsuna had won. And she did it under her own power.

She was proud of herself. She could be.

The hero approached her. She had earned her recommendation. He was proud of her.

Setsuna had waited a long time to hear those words. The hero said them, her trainer and her parents. But it didn’t feel quite right.

In the evening, she went to join Void. They anxiously awaited the news. And she told them she did it. They celebrated. There was cake again.

Hollow sat down next to her and took of his mask. He smiled.

“We are so proud of you.”

That was it. The missing piece. Finally. She finally felt like she had done it. She had found what she wanted to do. A place she belonged.

“Thank you.”

Chapter Text

Izuku was having a great day. He had finally managed to talk to Shigaraki about their plans. And they had agreed, although a little reluctantly. He had set a Void meeting for the evening. Finally their plans were moving ahead. The UA entrance exam would be in a few months as well, so they had to make sure they all made it into UA. It shouldn’t be a problem with how they had trained and studied, but rather safe than sorry. But all in all, Izuku was confident. They could do this.

He made his way under a bridge, and kept rehearsing what he would tell his group in the evening. The plan still had some things that needed to be addressed, but that’s what he had his friends for. Especially Momo and Setsuna were incredibly smart and helped him often. He was lucky to have such great friends.

So much had changed since his mother died. His only friend used to be Kacchan. Bakugo Katsuki. The boy with the explosion quirk. Looking back, ever since he got his quirk, he hadn’t been a real friend. Surrounded by people who actually liked him now, he could see that. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to deal with the boy. But he still had a strong quirk, and would probably get into UA.

Izuku was lost in thought and it was broad daylight, so he let his guard down. But he was in one of the better parts of town. Usually, there weren’t any villains here. He should not have done that.

Before he realized it, he was engulfed in some kind of green slime. But no matter how hard he struggled; the slime wouldn’t let him go. He was suffocating. He tried to reach into his pocket for something, anything. This couldn’t be.

He did not just walk away from making plans with a criminal mastermind to die at the hands of a slime. Something grabbed him. He felt a lot of wind pressure and finally, he could breathe again. He coughed the rest of the slime out of his lungs and looked up at his rescuer.

It was All Might. He wasn’t in his hero uniform, but there was no way Izuku didn’t recognize him. He had been a fan for years. Even Akaguro was a fan of this dude.

If he had met All Might a few years ago, he would probably have started fanboying. That would have been embarrassing. He picked up his notebook. There was All Might’s signature. Wow, that man was fast. He wondered if the Nomu could actually beat him. Was he really weakened? He didn’t seem like it. It would be better to just leave him alone. After all, Izuku did have plans to beat him up.

But there was something in the back of his mind he couldn’t shake. For years, he had wanted an answer to this one question. He had found that answer already. But he still wanted to hear the number one hero say it. He had been Izuku’s idol for years. Even if he had to be taken out, Izuku felt bad about it. But it was for the greater good. The man just had to retire. Not die. Just let a new generation take over.

All Might smiled at him, with his signature smile.

“If you are alright boy, I will take my leave!”

Izuku took a deep breath.

“Wait, please, just answer this one question!”

All Might stopped. He seemed to be in a hurry.

“Okay, but make it quick.”

“Can I become a hero without a quirk?”

He knew he could. He had already proven that, time and time again.

All Might’s smile didn’t falter, but Izuku could see the conflicting emotions in his eyes. No. Not his hero. He didn’t have many heroes he trusted anymore. Not All Might.

“I’m sorry kid. But it’s just to dangerous. Become a police officer or something if you want to help people. Without a quirk, it is impossible to become a hero.”

He jumped away.

And Izuku was alone again. His idol had betrayed him. How dare he. How dare this man destroy the dreams of a child. Izuku knew he was a hero. He knew he could be a hero. But only because of his friends. Who had accepted him. If he didn’t have them, he wondered how he would feel. He would prove All Might wrong. This just showed that even the greatest hero, the symbol of peace wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t infallible. And now Izuku didn’t feel so bad about forcing the man to retire. His doubts were cleared. If even the greatest hero discriminated against the quirkless, this prejudice ran deeper than he thought.

Izuku looked ahead. He had more conviction now than ever. He would do this.

For once, Izuku took the long route home. He passed his old house. A new family had moved in. He didn’t linger to long. He passed Bakugo’s house, but didn’t stop there. He walked his old route to school and could feel the anxiety in his stomach. He never liked going to school. Because he was bullied there. It had taken him a while to realise that. But now he was sure. It wasn’t normal to get a stomach-ache when thinking about going back to school. It wasn’t the school. Well, partially, because they never did anything to stop his bullying. But Izuku loved learning. He loved analysing quirks. Knowledge was something important, and how dare school make it something bad.

He sighed. He just wanted to go home. But he couldn’t. There was some sort of commotion in his way. Probably a villain fight. He made his way through the crowd to catch a glimpse of the fight and of the quirks used.

But what he saw made him stop dead in his tracks.

There was the slime villain. Who had attacked him just some time ago. Was All Might really that bad of a hero that he couldn’t even bring in a villain he had already defeated? How low would Izuku’s opinion of heroes sink today?

The answer was, even lower. Because there were three heroes on sight. And none of them did a damn thing. They just watched as a young boy suffocated.

The boy was Bakugo. Izuku recognized him. But he had never seen such fear in his eyes. He knew that feeling. He had experienced it himself. And without thinking, his body moved.

He wasn’t stupid. He knew he couldn’t hurt the villain physically. His knives wouldn’t do anything, and then his identity might be discovered. He had a plan.

The slime had eyes. And the eyes looked completely normal. That was his chance. He took out his ultimate pepper spray, a joint work of Momo and Mei, and sprayed it in the villain’s eyes. He wouldn’t wish that fate on anyone.

But based on the agonizing scream and the fact that Bakugo was free now, it seems to work. And it didn’t explode. Yet.

Bakugo looked at him, confusion in his eyes. “Deku?”

Izuku walked away. He didn’t want to stay here too long. But a hero stopped him. Death Arms.

“Good thinking kid! What’s your quirk?”

Really? Ask for the quirk first. Of course.

“I’m quirkless.”

He could see the change immediately. At least All Might had tried to hide it. Death Arms actually looked disgusted.

“That was dangerous! You could have been hurt! It was reckless. You should leave these things to the pros. Where are your parents?”

Izuku held back what he really wanted to say. That none of them actually did anything. That a fourteen-year-old kid with some pepper spray could do a better job than them. He just lowered his head instead. No need to argue. His time would come. He would prove them all wrong.

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I’ll go home now.”

The hero didn’t follow him. He joined in on praising Bakugo, because he had such a strong quirk. Bakugo looked like he wanted to follow Izuku, but as soon as Izuku was around the corner, he started sprinting. He hated this. He hated this society. He hated how things were.

By the time he reached the warehome, Shinso was the only one there. He was too early anyways. He put on a smile. It didn’t fool his friend.

“What’s wrong?”

Yeah, he thought he couldn’t hide this. It didn’t matter. Shinso would take his side. The others would. They were his friends. They would help him. That’s what Void is for.

“I’ll tell you when the others are here. Until then, just hug me please. I need some comfort.”

Shinso still seemed very worried, but he didn’t hesitate. They stood there for a while. The others started to trickle in one by one, and seemed equally confused and worried. Izuku let go once everyone had arrived.

It was Shoto who spoke up. “Is something wrong? Did something happen at the discussion with Shigaraki? I told you you shouldn’t go alone.”

Izuku sighed. Yes, that had happened as well. He almost forgot.

“Believe it or not, the discussion with a criminal was actually the best part of my day.”

Now it was Shinso’s turn. He had sat down with the rest.

“Does it have something to do with the fact that you smell like you bathed in a sewer?”

Izuku smiled. Despite that, the boy had still hugged him.

“Yeah. It’s a long story. I’ll start with the bad news. Well, they are not actually bad news. Just…just listen.

I was on my way back from Shigaraki when a slime villain attacked me. All Might saved me. He then told me I couldn’t be a hero if I was quirkless.”

His friends jumped up and started shouting.

“That’s not true!”

“That’s bullshit!”

“You’re the best hero there is!”

“Don’t listen to him, he’s old.”

Izuku didn’t think they would be that offended. There was a warm feeling in his chest. He raised his arms and waited until they calmed down and were quiet. Then he continued.
“Somehow, All Might let the villain escape. He attacked…an old bully of mine. All Might was nowhere around and the other heroes at the scene didn’t do anything, so I defeated him with the Ultimate Momo-Mei Pepper Spray. It worked fantastically and didn’t explode, so thanks for that.”

Momo and Mei high fived. Kaminari gave them an approving thumbs-up. It seemed the others wanted some of the pepper spray as well.

“Anyways, the heroes wanted to praise me, but it turned into a lecture as soon as they found out I’m quirkless. And that’s why I’m in a bad mood.”

His friends were still very offended. They seemed ready to clock a few villains. Izuku was proud, because he believed if they wanted to, they actually could do that. They were strong enough now.

Izuku continued.

“But those are just more reasons why we have to change this society. And now we come to the good news.

You all remember how I said that Shigaraki had a weapon that can kill All Might? The nomu? Well, we agreed to use it to force All Might to retire. But even that might take a while. We have to show the world that they cannot rely solely on the symbol of peace alone. The other heroes need to step up their game. So we figured out a plan. A shoutout to Momo and Setsuna for helping me figuring it out.”

The two of them nodded and got some claps on the back.

“Now, the plan goes as following. Shigaraki will recruit two forces. One, some people who are ready to assume the role of villains, who share our ideology. People who the system has already failed. They should be strong, but trustworthy.

The second group of people will be low-level thugs. The people we beat up every night. The first group will not be present in the upcoming plan, but they will be important later on. For the plan, we focus on the second group.

Once we are at UA, we will steal our own lesson plan. All Might will be a teacher at UA for the first years next year. We’ll wait until there is a trip with him to a rather isolated location with the class with most of Void in it, and launch an attack.

Yes, we will attack our own class. The thugs aren’t strong enough to do any damage, and if you can use your quirk, it won’t be a problem. At the same time, the nomu will attack All Might. This will show that he is not invulnerable. The morning before, we will have people stage as many accidents as possible, so All Might is exhausted. That should get the people to realize that All Might won’t be able to protect them forever.

At the same time, many low-level thugs will be taken off the streets by some first-year heroes. That way we will have the media’s attention and clean the streets at once. We need to play their game for now, and become top heroes by their rules.

Shigaraki has promised to not kill All Might. It seems even he sees reason in our plan, which is good, because if he didn’t, I would be a pile of ashes. He gave his group the name League of Villains. Very creative and obvious, I know, but there is a reason for that. They can’t know that they are working with Void and our plan actually needs some sort of outside threat. If we can fake that, it’s perfect.

You know what that means. We all need to do our best to prepare for the entrance exam. We have three people, Shoto, Momo and Setsuna who will take the recommendation exam. The rest of us will take the normal one. Any questions?”

It seems they needed some time to process all of that. It wasn’t every day you are asked to change society with the help of villains. But they all knew what they signed up for. Izuku was proud.

Uraraka raised her hand. “What about those who aren’t in the class we choose?”

It was Setsuna who answered.

“We have no way of making sure all of us are in the same class. So we’ll just take the one with most of us. The other class will surely get their chance as well. Since we are three recommended students, it is impossible for all of us to be in the same class. There are only two in each. But it is better if we are more spread out. Our classmates will all be training to become heroes. If we can convince them to join us, we will get many more competent members. So it’s better if we are split between the two classes.”

Izuku nodded along. “Setsuna is right. But be careful if you try to recruit someone from your class. Find out their motivations first, and don’t act hasty.” He shot a look at Mei. She didn’t even look ashamed. “What? It all worked out.”

He sighed. It did, and Uraraka was a great member, but you can’t just ask people if they want to join your criminal organization. Especially if they want to be heroes.

“There is one more thing. Up until now, we have all operated under two names. Hollow and Blank. While I played the role of Hollow, you all took turns being Blank. It has worked until now, but it will have to change. In the beginning it was alright, but we simply cannot pass off Shoji and Kinoko as the same person anymore. And we as a group have to make more of a name for ourselves.

Which is why, until next time, I want all of you to come up with a vigilante name. Nothing that has to do with your quirks. I know you have promised to only use your quirks in an emergency while doing vigilante work, but we have to be careful. Especially once we start getting media attention. We should show that we all belong to the same group, but our identity has to stay hidden.

I propose that each member continues having black hair, we have enough pins, and black clothes. Maybe even a cloak, if that’s possible. We will give each member a differently coloured mask. That way, even if we need to create an alibi, someone else can take that person’s place, but we are all individually different. You can choose your colour and name yourself. Any objections?”

They all shook their head. Good.

“Does that mean I alone will be Blank from now on?” Shinso asked.

Izuku nodded. “Thanks for lending that name to the others, but it’s time we showed the world how big we’ve grown. That we aren’t just two people mixing things up. And when the time comes, we will drop our masks and show the world who we really are.”

Chapter Text

Kagero Okuta, or Giran, or Broker, as some people called him, was a simple man. He usually dealt in information, some weapons and drugs. But he had been hired to do a new job. One that had the potential to be a lot more dangerous, but also a lot more rewarding.

He was supposed to gather a group of villains with an ideology. People that would help shake up society enough for it to change. Usually that was not something he did. He liked to stay in the background. But the request had come from All for One, and that was a man you simply couldn’t refuse. He had also met with a small vigilante kid, which the supervillain seemed to like for some reason, and the kid had told him what kind of people he needed. Had society really gone down the drain so far that children tried to change it? But the kid had some sort of charisma, he couldn’t deny it.7

Which is why he was on his way to meet a few people. He even met them personally. If something went wrong, he could always use his quirk, Muddiness, to erase some memories. He himself didn’t really care about illegal quirk usage. He was a villain after all. At least he dealt with them often enough to be considered one.

Giran could respect the kid’s ambitions. Even without any resources, he had already built a vigilante organization that was the talk of the town. Not bad for his age. It was nothing compared to the empire that All for One had built, but Giran wondered what the two parties combined could do. It would definitely be memorable.

The first person he visited was called Jin Bubaigawara, also known as Twice. His quirk was called Double, which let him clone any person he had the measurements of, but only one at a time. During his prime, he had cloned himself over and over again and managed to make a whole group with his quirk, which each clone being weaker, but having enormous strength in numbers. The clones turned against him and now he wasn’t sure if he was the real deal or just a clone. The one way to find out would be to injure himself bad enough, since that dispelled the clones, but he didn’t dare do that. The whole episode had given him a lot of trauma, so he didn’t clone himself anymore, only others.

Society had already given up on him a long time ago. Giran thought that the guy was just lonely. He probably needed some friends that would accept him and a whole lot of therapy. The first thing he was about to help the man with, the second could be a bit more difficult. But that wasn’t his job anyways. If the kid succeeded with his plan, Twice could get all the therapy he needed after all. Until then, a few friends.

Jin Bubaigawara sat on his balcony and smoked a cigarette. He was expecting a visitor, so he had cleaned his house. It would be rude to invite someone into the trash heap his room had been before. (Why clean for other people? That’s stupid.)

Shit. Not that again. He sighed and pulled out his mask and put it on. He was whole again. He could breathe again. He was also alone again.

At least until someone knocked at the door. It was Giran. The man didn’t seem fazed by the mask. He did seem surprised at the clean room. There probably weren’t many villains who cleaned their room for a visit. But Jin didn’t want to seem rude. He offered the broker a seat and even some tea. He didn’t have tea. Water would suffice.

“So, I heard you are collecting people for some kind of group?”

Jin had already decided he would join. He had nothing to lose. His life had gone down the drain a long time ago. He had nothing better to do. He’d rather hang out with villains. They didn’t hate him most of the time. He still decided it would be rude if he didn’t listen to the offer at least.

Giran spoke up.

“You see, I have gathered some information about you, and your quirk would be a perfect fit for the team. If you decide to join, you would be recruited as part of the main team, the inner circle. We have grand plans. If we succeed, no one will ever be neglected like you were. You will surely make some friends and get better. We can help you, if you help us.”

Giran opened his arms and smiled.

Jin had nodded along the whole time. He held out his hand in a stopping motion.

“Say no more. I have decided to come along!”

And with that he struck a victory pose. The broker smiled. He never expected for Jin to be an obstacle anyways.

“Here, meet us at this address in two weeks. I’ll tell you the rest then.”

Giran left. Jin smiled. He finally had something he could look forward to again.

The next person Giran visited was some guy named Dabi, who often bought various things from him. He had gotten into a few talks with the guy, and considered him to be a good addition to the team. The guy had a fire quirk called Cremation, which produced very hot blue flames, but also burned the wielder alive. That’s why he looked like leather in the making. At least he looked like a villain.

Dabi had not expected some kind of recruitment talk when he heard that Giran had something special for him. He just wanted to get his stuff, get back home and work on plans on how to murder Endeavour one day. Except for drinking and sleeping, plotting patricide was his only hobby. He hated heroes. No one more than his father, but they were still al bullshit.

Giran had apparently picked up on that.

“I want you to join the League of Villains.”

Dabi laughed.

“What kind of ridiculous name is that? Do I look stupid to you? And here I thought you knew me better than that.”

The broker didn’t want to give up. He was really persistent.

“Look, I know you don’t like heroes. If you join us, you get to break down the entire hero society. We have plans to beat even All Might. We can get your crusty face some surgery, if that’s what you want.”

Now that was interesting.

“Do you really think you can beat All Might? There is no way. He’s the symbol of peace.”

Dabi hated All Might as well. His father had raised him to surpass that monster, but it was impossible. All Might was too strong. And Endeavour didn’t see it. Even after Dabi, or rather Todoroki Toya, how he was called back then, faked his own death, Endeavour continued. Dabi sometimes thought about Shoto, his little brother. He was doing good enough to be mugged in alleys, apparently. He really didn’t expect to be mugging his own estranged brother. What a twist of fate. But it had also shown him what his life had become. Maybe he should start doing something else. Could joining a villain organization be considered a good hobby? If not, he can always start yoga.

“Prove that you are strong enough to challenge All Might. And if I join, I get dibs on Endeavour.”

Giran was smiling. As if he had expected that outcome. Prick.

Dabi turned around and left, but not before Giran handed him the contact information.

Recruiting was going splendidly. It made Giran wonder just how many people were discarded by society and wanted revenge.

The next person on his little list was a woman named Kenji Hikiishi, better known as Magne. Her quirk is Magnetism, which lets her polarize people in a certain radius of her, based on their gender. She can’t polarize herself.

Based on Giran’s information, the woman just wants to life her life the way she wants. She’s also quite smart, so he had to appeal more cleverly than to Twice. He met the woman in a café in town. She was already there, drinking some tea. He sat down at the table and ordered some coffee.

Magne had eagerly awaited the arrival of Giran. He was one of the people who respected her pronouns. Just because she didn’t pass and didn’t want to change her perfect body people kept assuming she was male. And she did not have the time nor the energy to correct them all.

“Well then, what can I do for you?” Magne asked.

Giran replied with a smile.

“I think the question is more what I can do for you.”

Magne sat her teacup down. “Do continue.”

“I would like to recruit you to join our organization. I can promise that all members will respect you and your gender. Our goal is to change society. We have a grand plan and everything. I can promise you; we have the power to change things. You would be part of the inner circle, the trusted members.”

That did sound interesting. She wondered where the broker took all his confidence from. But she liked it.

“And what do I get in return?”

“You get a future.”

She had to admit, the man had guts. She laughed.

“Sure, why not. Sounds like fun. I’m in.”

Giran leaned back and seemed to relax a little. He handed her some contact information and finished his coffee.

Magne stayed for a while longer. She imagined the future he described. Maybe she did have something to look forward to.

Giran had already recruited three people. Three more were on his list. This wasn’t so hard. He had done his research after all. He would get the other three as well. But that was enough for today.

He still had to report back. So he made his way to the bar. He had to admit, it was quite stylish for a villain lair.

There were three people waiting for him. Shigaraki Tomura, Kurogiri and Hollow. Shigaraki was playing a video game, Kurogiri was cleaning glasses and Hollow was doing homework.

Homework. He still couldn’t get over the fact that this was just some kid. Some kid that had managed to get the support of All for One.

He wasn’t wearing his signature mask. In fact, he was wearing completely normal clothing. That wasn’t a surprise, since it was still afternoon and a vigilante running around in broad daylight tended to get noticed.

As soon as Giran stepped through the door, Hollow put his homework away and greeted him. Kurogiri just nodded in his direction. Shigaraki didn’t acknowledge him at all. At least someone else here had manners.

He cleared his throat to indicate his arrival. Shigaraki still didn’t look up.

“I’m back. I managed to recruit three people. Here, I compiled some files.”

Hollow jumped up and snatched them out of his hands. That kid soaked up information like a sponge. Giran had heard that during their first meeting, Shigaraki tried to kill him, during their second meeting, Hollow had harassed him long enough to explain his quirk. And that of Kurogiri. At least he had held back with All for One. That would have been an amusing talk though.

“Hey, wait, that’s the guy who tried to mug my friend and just left!”

Giran sighed.

“You will have to be more specific.”

Hollow pointed at Dabi. Yeah, that made sense. Even though all of the three had probably mugged someone already, Dabi was the one who would probably do it most frequently. He didn’t have a job, after all. Giran did wonder why he would just walk away. It wasn’t like him to be scared of attacking kids or vigilantes.

“Ah well, if you say he’s fine that’s okay. His quirk seems cool. Or hot, rather. But most interesting is this guy, Twice. We have taken precautions in case one of us needs an alibi, but with him we wouldn’t even need that! It’s incredible. Great work!”

And now he was being praised by someone in middle school. What had his life come to? He didn’t mind though. He could tell the boy meant it. It was nice being praised for a job well done. He wished his other employers had been this nice.

Now the kid walked up to Shigaraki.

“Hey, Tomura. Have you thought of a villain name yet?”

To Giran’s surprise, Shigaraki actually looked up from his game. Wow. Maybe he had a soft spot for the kid, seeing how he wasn’t disintegrated yet.

“No. Stop annoying me with it. I don’t want a villain name. My name is Shigaraki Tomura. Sensei gave me that name. I don’t need another name.”

Hollow nodded thoughtfully.

“No, no, I get that. But you could have so many cool names. Like Dust. Or Disintegrator. Ashmaker. Destroyer. Mr Murder. Thanos 2.0. You’ll-need-a-vacuum cleaner-to-pick-you-up-once-I’m-done-with-you-man…”

Before he could say anymore words Shigaraki hit him over the head with his switch.

“Stop. Why do you even hang around here anymore? You got what you came for.”

Hollow didn’t seem offended or scared of Shigaraki in the slightest. He picked up a pack of chips next to him.

“I stay for the snacks. This is a great bar. It looks awesome. The snacks are free.”

Shigaraki jumped up. “What do you mean the snacks are free? Kurogiri! Why do I have to pay for snacks?”

Kurogiri sighed. “You are an adult. Even if you don’t act like one. And Sensei told me to give Izuku everything he asks for. And if we don’t count All-Might destroying weapons and new members, all he asked for was snacks.”

Hollow laughed in Shigaraki’s angry face. Giran wasn’t sure what was happening anymore. This seemed more like some kind of dysfunctional family then a criminal organization.
He excused himself and walked back home. He still had some work to do.

Chapter Text

Another day, but recruiting again. It had been some time since Giran had brought in the last three members, and there were three more on his list. But with those, he had to do a little more research first. If not, he might get murdered after all. He liked being alive. No need to change that.

The first person on his list, the one least likely to murder him. Atsuhiro Sako. Better known as Mr Compress. An entertainer, as most people see him. This is how he presents himself after all. But what most people don’t know, and what took Giran a while to figure out, was that he used to be a yakuza. That didn’t quite fit with his new persona.

Recently, a new yakuza group, the Shie Hassaikai, has risen to more power and all old yakuza groups either join them or disappeared. The group of Mr Compress was one of the first to be destroyed, and he quickly adopted a new persona.

Giran hoped this was enough leverage or at least motivation to get the man to join.

Mr Compress sat in his chair and practised card tricks. He was best with his own quirk, Compress, but a magician couldn’t be a one-trick pony. He sighed. He had picked up magic for his daughter. His daughter, that he hadn’t seen in years. He wished he could, but if anyone figured out her father was a villain, her life would be hell. He knew that, since his own family had been villains for a long time. It was hard to break out of that cycle. Especially if no one believes in you.

But for today, he had a different audience to entertain. A broker that wanted to recruit him for something. Probably some villain organization. He wasn’t really sure if he wanted to sink even deeper into this. Maybe he could get a new identity and start over. That way he could see his daughter one day.

He still sat in the abandoned warehouse they had agreed to as a meeting place. Shuffling cards, again and again. The broker arrived.

“Would you like to see a card trick?”

Let’s see if he played his game.

“Sure, why not.” Giran answered.

“Hmph.” Mr Compress did a few little tricks. They worked out perfectly. Of course they did. He was good at what he did after all. And the broker had been very patient as well. Good. He didn’t like people that were all business. You needed some time for entertainment as well.

“So what do you want to recruit me for?”

Giran shrugged. “You know, the usual. A supervillain task force.”

“Hahahaha!” Mr Compress just laughed in his face. He didn’t even try sugar-coating his words. Why would anyone agree to that?

Giran put his hands up in a placating motion.

“Now, now, that’s not all of course. There is a much bigger goal behind all of this. We, which means you, me and a few other people that the system screwed, will be the evil villain task force that shakes up society. But, as in all good tricks, we are just the distraction.”

Now that go Mr Compress’ attention. Tricks? He liked those.

Giran continued. “We have a much grander goal. Not the destruction of society. But change. I know the following doesn’t sound very evil and villainous. Villain rehabilitation. No quirk discrimination. Defunding heroes and putting more effort into specialized forces, like fire fighters. Equal chances for all. A brighter future.”

“You’re right. That doesn’t sound very villainous. More like a charity organization with great ideals and too little money.”

Giran laughed. “Yeah, that’s about right. To be honest, that’s what I thought as well. But I was convinced. After all, we will not be the ones changing things. We will just be the ones shaking things up, so others can pick it up. We will show the flaws, and the others will right them. It’s a little like magic, one might say.”

That sounded like a great plan, but Mr Compress still wasn’t convinced.
“Who are those others you talked about?”

“Nope sorry, that’s confidential. You’ll find out once you join. But they can do it. I believe in them. I know don’t really have much going for you, Mr ex-yakuza. But this is so others can have a future and don’t live a life like us.”

Giran actually sounded a little melancholic at that. And he had done his research. Not many knew that he used to be yakuza.

A brighter future…he really didn’t have a good life. But if he could create a world where his daughter grew up without prejudice, if she grew up even a little better than him, it would be fine. That would be something to work towards. If he had to be a villain so his daughter lives a good life, so be it.

“I’m in. Don’t disappoint me.”

And another one recruited. This went incredible. Giran needed to do a little more research for the other two, but he was done for today. So once again, he made his way to the bar. Maybe he would even get a drink there.

He did not expect to find children in the bar. There were five of them, not including Hollow. Probably all vigilantes. They seemed so young. Would they really have to do the hardest parts of this plan? Somehow, Giran wished he could do more for them.

He handed Hollow Mr Compress’ files. He took them gratefully and gave them a quick look. Then he handed them to a girl with long black hair who was sipping some orange juice. She read them as well and the two of them started thinking of possibilities of what can be done with the Compress quirk. Hollow got out a notebook and the two were dead to the world.

The other four kids were sitting in front of a TV, not the one All for One uses, but a different one, with a connected switch. They were working together and trying to beat Shigaraki in Smash Bros. The guy didn’t even disintegrate them when he lost. Maybe it was just Giran’s imagination, but the guy seemed to have calmed down a little after dealing with kids so often and being around people who shared his passion. Video games, not murdering All Might.

No one seemed to pay Giran any attention, so he sat down at the bar. Kurogiri gave him a drink. He accepted it gratefully. He talked to the barman, until he noticed that the kids were getting up. They put on nondescript black clothing and colourful masks. Except for Hollow, they all had black hair now. They looked like proper vigilantes now, not like kids who had been playing video games until a moment ago.

They made their way into the night. Shigaraki seemed grumpier than before. He was probably moody because he had to play solo now.
Giran really didn’t want to be in the room when he decided to get murder-y again, so he left as well.

The next candidate on Giran’s list was someone who had reached out to him to buy a gas mask and a gun. Someone who wanted to be called Mustard. Giran hadn’t found out his real name yet, but he hadn’t met the guy in person either. He was a little unpredictable, which is why Giran had chosen to meet him second-to-last.

He met him in some back-alley in a rather normal neighbourhood. There was a chance of heroes appearing, but Giran didn’t mind. He wasn’t very recognisable, and they would just talk.

Mustard was already waiting for him. He wore the gas mask, but that didn’t stop Giran from immediately recognizing the guy as a kid. He had seen to many kids in masks not to realize.

This wasn’t a job for him. Young people like Mustard should be more Hollow’s area of expertise. But he still approached. This kid had bought a gun. Giran wondered what he would do with it. He also went to great lengths to protect his identity, so it was better to pretend he didn’t realize this was a kid.

“How’s it going? I’m glad you agreed to meet me, Mustard.”

Mustard just crossed his arms.

“What do you want? If you have something for me, spit it out.”

The kid wasn’t playing around, huh.

“Well, first of all a question. Don’t worry, I won’t try to take it back, but I wanna figure something out, see it as a survey of some sort. What were you planning of doing with that gun?”

Ah, a bad question. Mustard seemed ready to use his quirk. Maybe Giran had to use his own to get away. But instead he raised his hands and showed that he was no threat. The kid assumed a more relaxed position as well, but was still ready to run away at any moment.

“I’ll use it to kill people, what do you think guns are used for?”

Oh shit. There was no way this kid was actually going to just go on a rampage?

“All those other kids are just entitled assholes! Helping people? Becoming heroes? Are you kidding me? That’s not how this world works. I’ll show them!”

Nope. Bad. Giran had done a huge mistake. This kid needed a lot of therapy and anger management issues. And a reality check. Not a gun. And most definitely not be recruited by a group that would work with a bunch of future hero kids. He needed to get out of here and resolve the situation somehow. He had fucked up. Why had he given this entitled brat a gun?

“I see. Well, sorry but I gotta call someone real quick. Do you mind?”

He pulled out his phone. This was something he would let the vigilantes handle. But before he could even unlock his phone, gas seemed to spread from Mustard. No wonder he needed a gas mask. Not even protected against his own quirk. Giran had hoped it was just for aesthetic. But instead, he took off and sprinted away. There were heroes patrolling here sometimes, and the kid may be stupid, but he wouldn’t gas this entire block.

Giran was right. By the time he couldn’t see any gas, he was tired, probably from the gas and from exhaustion. Great. That report would be fun. Not today though.

The next day, in the early evening, he went to the bar. There were different kids here this time. Some were doing homework; some were just talking and some played video games with Shigaraki. This was a villain lair. Did they think it was some kind of playground?

“Do you not have your own hideout?” Giran asked. Not that he really cared. They were kids. Of course they didn’t.

It was some girl with pink hair who answered.

“Sure, but here is better Wi-Fi. And snacks.”

Giran turned to Kurogiri. He just shrugged. He was probably happy he didn’t have to deal with Shigaraki alone all the time. Or happy that these brats were at least behaved.
Whatever the pink haired girl had been working on exploded.

Behaved most of the time.

Giran sighed. It didn’t matter. It’s not like he lived here. Good for the kids to have a place they can go to. But he was here for work. He told Hollow of what had happened with Mustard.

“You made the right decision. I wouldn’t have recruited him either. It’s bad that he has a gun, but we’ll keep and eye out. Maybe I can even tell Eraserhead. But if he doesn’t make another appearance, there’s not much we can do. Thanks anyway.”

Welp, this wasn’t his problem anymore. Only one more guy he needed to try and recruit. Why did he leave the worst for last?

Another day, another villain to recruit. This would be the last for now. They didn’t need many for the first part of the plan anyways. Even the four he already recruited would be enough. If they all decided to stick around till the end. He could just leave and say the guy said no. It would be so easy. But this was his reputation on the line. Into the lion’s den he went.

The next guy was someone he had picked solely for strength. The villain Muscular. It was unlikely that he shared any ideologies that would make him want to change society, but he had to try. The man would be a great addition in a fight against All Might. But Giran didn’t get his hoped up. If he was just looking for strong individuals with a grudge, he would choose him immediately. But it wasn’t so easy anymore.

Muscular waited for him in his apartment. The apartment was incredibly filthy. And it smelled. Giran already missed Twice. That man had even offered him something to drink. Here he was just greeted with a harsh “What do you want?”

A great start.

“I’m here to potentially recruit you for our organization of villains.”

Muscular laughed.

“Sure, whatever! As long as I get to kill heroes I don’t care.”

Oh wow. Nope. One more try.

“You see, we don’t just take anyone. So tell me why you want to kill heroes. Have they wronged you in some way?”

Muscular looked at him as if he was an idiot who didn’t get the joke.

“Wronged me? Of course not! I just love the bloodshed. I’m strong, stronger than them. That gives me the right to beat them. It just means I’m better and they deserved it! See my eye? I got it when I killed the Water Hose pair. That was a fun battle I tell you. They haven’t wronged me. The only heroes who do that are those who won’t fight me.”

This man was a lost cause. Giran could tell. There was no way he would recruit some murderer who did it for the fun of it. What a waste of a good quirk. Now he just had to excuse himself without dying. He just hoped he wasn’t worthy enough to be considered an opponent.

“I see. In that case I will have to talk to my employer. We’ll contact you.”

He got up. Muscular didn’t move to stop him. He just nodded.

“Whatever. Don’t leave me waiting too long.”

Giran went out the door. That was a disaster. He was used to just gathering some villains. Now they had to have ideals? It would be easier to recruit heroes or vigilantes. Maybe he could look around for that hero killer who had been rumoured to kill only heroes that have wronged people in some way and neglected their job. That would probably be a fun addition.

He shook his head and went to report his latest failure to his employer. Or rather the kid who hangs around in the villain’s lair, since All for One had just said to let Hollow deal with everything. But he wouldn’t call a fourteen-year-old his employer.

How were there different kids here again? How many did this one kid manage to recruit? How? They were just children?

Giran wondered how many members Void had. Hollow wouldn’t tell him, and he didn’t ask again. But here were four different kids again, just hanging out in the lair of a villain that had terrorized the world for centuries. He shook his head. He was not being paid enough for this.

Hollow looked at him expectantly. Giran just shook his head and told him what had happened.

“That’s too bad, but you made the right decision. His quirk would be great, but we can’t have someone on the team who murders without thinking. He would become a liability sooner or later. Thank you, though. The four people you managed to get should be enough at first. I’m sure there will be a few more once we start to act. The new members will come here next week, right?”

“Yeah. It’s time you met them and told them what’s happening. And you should probably wear your mask. I’m not sure they would just respect some kid.”

Hollow laughed. “Sure, thanks again.”

Giran turned around and left. His work was done for now. He needed a drink. And he needed to get away from all these crazy kids.

Chapter Text

Aizawa didn’t know what to do. He had accepted a teaching job some time ago, which was going fine since he expelled everyone. He would have to take another class in the following year, but he didn’t mind. Maybe they had more potential. So all in all, school was going great.

He also had a daughter. Eri. She was doing perfectly fine as well. Ever since the vigilantes had asked him to adopt her, she had grown healthier and happier. She still didn’t smile, but Aizawa worked on that. His husband kept saying his smile wasn’t the best way to teach her and might seem scary to others, but Eri didn’t seem to mind. That part of his life was going great as well.

His problem was his other job. Being an underground hero. Patrols were fine. He didn’t get injured. But one thing he hadn’t managed to do in years was catching the two vigilantes Hollow and Blank. He thought it would be fine. They were children, yes, but they also managed to survive this long. So even if he took his time, which he didn’t want, they would probably be okay. But now another problem had occurred.

They had multiplied.

There was no other way to say it. From one day to the next, there were vigilantes with masks of all colours of the rainbow running around doing illegal activities. They had appeared out of the blue one day. This either meant that either Hollow or Blank had some kind of quirk that made new humans appear, like Ectoplasm, but instead of being clones they all looked different; or it meant that there was an organized vigilante group in this town.

Aizawa hoped it was just a quirk. He highly doubted it though. What if they were all children? How comes they still hadn’t managed to catch a single one?

This was the part of his life that really wasn’t going well. They didn’t really have any clues. Those vigilantes were good.

Izuku was summoned to the bar. He didn’t really need a summoning, since he and many others of Void often came here in the evenings just to hang out. But today Shigaraki had called him and said he was supposed to come. Izuku didn’t know why though.

So he made his way into the bar and greeted Shigaraki and Kurogiri. They had waited for him, apparently. Shigaraki spoke up.

“Sensei wants to talk to you. In person.”

Izuku had only spoken to the mastermind through the television in the bar. He was a little scared, but mostly he was excited. He would finally meet the man with so much power.
Izuku nodded. Kurogiri opened a warp gate and Izuku didn’t hesitate when stepping through. He arrived in some dark chamber with a chair that many medical appliances were attached to. He couldn’t see much more of the room. On the chair sat the mastermind himself. Sensei, as Shigaraki called him. Even if he was stuck to life-preserving machines, and with the upper half of his face completely destroyed, he seemed very imposing. Like he had an aura of power surrounding him.

“Step closer.” The man said. Izuku did. Even without any eyes, Sensei seemed to stare at him. Measuring him. Izuku stayed quiet and waited for the man to make the next move.
“I am intrigued by you, Midoriya Izuku. You have done well thus far. But there are a few things I have to tell you. Some things I would like to ask of you. And an offer. But first, tell me about yourself. About your past. Your family.”

Izuku swallowed. Great. He really didn’t want to talk about that. But it’s not like he really had a choice. This man couldn’t do anything to his family. But Izuku somehow doubted he would do anything. He seemed too interested in him. He wondered why, sometimes.

“I was diagnosed quirkless at four. That’s very rare for someone in my generation. My father left around that time too, probably because he didn’t want a quirkless kid.”

At that the man seemed to flinch. Maybe he hadn’t known Izuku was quirkless before.

“I lived a relatively normal life after that. I was bullied, but that is to be expected when you are quirkless. When I was nine my mom died in some villain-hero fight. The fight could have easily been deescalated, but the hero just continued fighting, which led to collateral damage, which led to my mom protecting me and dying. I was in foster care for a while but ran away. Then a vigilante took me in and trained me. I found a few others who were like me and that’s how Void started.”

The man was silent for a long while. Izuku couldn’t see any expression on his face. The aura of power he had felt before started to dim. If Izuku wasn’t wrong, the man seemed…sad? Maybe it was pity? He didn’t know.

After a long while, the man spoke up again. Izuku had waited patiently.

“I see. I’m glad you made it this far. I am very proud of you.”

He was…proud?

“Thank you.” Izuku didn’t know what else to say to this.

The man nodded.

“I think it’s time I told you of who I am. I am All for One. Many generations I have been called a criminal, a villain. I saw myself more of a revolutionary. You see, I lived during the dawn of quirks. I had a little quirkless brother. My quirk, All for One, allows me to take, store and transfer quirks. But all quirks were hated back then, and all with quirks were hunted and even killed. People knew I had a quirk, but I was too strong for them to attack. I was worried they would harm my brother, so I gave him a power-stockpiling quirk. But my brother wasn’t as quirkless as I thought he was. He had a quirk that lets him pass his quirk to the next generation. Thus, the two quirks fused and he created the quirk One for All. He hated me for what I was trying to do and forcing a quirk onto him. I only wanted to protect my family. I took a long time, but the more people got quirk, the more we were accepted. I continued my business in the underground, pulling a few strings, shaping the world to what I thought was better. But my brother’s successors attacked me time and time again. And the last managed to hurt me like this. The current holder of One for All, the symbol of peace. All Might.”

Izuku sucked in a deep breath. That was a lot of info to get in one go. Many had wondered and theorized what All Might’s quirk was. Now Izuku knew. No wonder the hero was that powerful.

“If One for All was passed to him, what is All Might’s quirk?”

All for One laughed at the question.

“Out of everything you can ask, it’s this? You seem fascinated by quirks.”

Izuku hid his face in embarrassment. Quirks were a passion of his. All for One continued.

“Don’t worry, so am I. As far as I can tell, All Might had no quirk before One for All. His predecessor, some heroine, could fly. I believe he was quirkless.”

Izuku couldn’t believe it. The symbol of peace, quirkless. Many thoughts ran through his mind, but all he got out was: “What a hypocrite.”

That got All for One’s attention. “Excuse me?”

Izuku sighed and explained.

“I met All Might some time ago. He saved me from a villain. I asked him if a quirkless person like me can be a hero. He said no. How dare he! He must know what it is like to grow up quirkless. He crushed my dreams in one fell swoop! If I didn’t have Void, I might actually have believed him!”

All for One chuckled. All Might had dug his own grave with this.

“Don’t worry Izuku. Over my long life, I have met many quirkless people who were heroes. Not official ones, of course. But you can do it as well. All Might is wrong. He got a taste of power and forgot his beginnings. I assume you want to prove people wrong. Show them a quirkless person can be a hero?”

Izuku nodded. He wondered if All for One could even see that.

“Yes.”

“I will make my offer regardless. I have collected many, many quirks over the years. I lost most of them during my fight with All Might, but I still have some good one’s left. If you like, you can choose one. But I would also respect your decision to be a quirkless hero.”

All for One would give him a quirk. Just like that. What he wouldn’t have given for that some years ago. But not anymore.

“That is an incredible offer. But I want to stay quirkless. I have trained for this all my life. I have something to prove. I will show the world that anyone can be a hero, even if they have a villainous quirk, or no quirk at all.”

The man in the chair smiled. It was a kind smile.

“Then so be it. My offer still stands if you ever change your mind. Good luck with your plan. If there is anything you need, just say so. For now, good luck.”

And with that another warp gate opened, that would bring him back to the bar.

“Thank you”, Izuku said and stepped through.

He was back at the bar. Shigaraki looked at him curiously.

“What did Sensei say?”

“He offered me a quirk. I didn’t take it.”

Shigaraki hummed and offered him a second controller. Izuku took it gratefully. He could use a distraction right now. Especially, because his day wasn’t over yet. In a few hours, the new members of the League of Villains would arrive. Izuku would finally meet them. But he was nervous. Which is why he had asked a few members of Void for support. Over the next hour, they slowly trickled in. Hitoshi, Mei, Shoto and Momo. He could do this.

Since it was getting time for the new members to arrive, Izuku put his controller down. He and his friends put on their masks and sat down at the bar, trying to look as adult as possible.

The new members arrived, led by Giran. The broker left. Izuku was sure he just didn’t want to bother with the rest.

He got up and introduced himself as Hollow. Then he explained his plans. At least the new members were polite enough not to interrupt him.

“Shigaraki will be your leader. You will shake up society and show them that change is necessary. After that we will take over and execute said change from within the hero system. This is your last chance to leave. If you don’t, I will assume you agree to the plan. Once you agree, you won’t be able to leave.”

None of them left. Good.

Then Twice raised his arm. Like someone in class would do. But he didn’t wait to be called upon.

“That sounds great and all, but how exactly do you plan to change things from within the hero system? You’re just vigilantes.”

Izuku smiled under his mask. He had expected that question. He took off his mask.

He wished he ha a camera. The reaction was hilarious. Shigaraki laughed at them.

“You’re just a kid!”

Now Izuku was laughing.

“I’m not just a kid. Me and the rest of Void are the future of this hero society. We will enter UA and become the best heroes.”

Now it was Dabi who seemed skeptical.

“You’re not even in UA yet. What makes you so sure you can do it?”

The others he had brought along took off their masks as well. I was Momo who answered the question.

“Because we are not just some kids. Three of us have been recommended into UA. The others have enough potential, their academics are good enough and they have more training than every average person. We can do it.”

That seemed to convince most of them.

Dabi was looking weird. He stared behind Izuku, at the other vigilantes.

“Shoto…”

Twice nudged him. “You know the kid?”

It was Shoto who answered. “He tried to mug me once.”

Twice laughed. Dabi shook his head in annoyance and looked away.

Now that they were revealed, Izuku explained his plan in greater detail. Despite being a kid, the new members listened patiently. They all seemed to agree to his plan.

Izuku didn’t think the meeting would go so well, but it did. Giran had done a good job recruiting them. After he was done, the new members left. But Dabi stayed behind. He walked up to Shoto.

“Can we talk?”

Izuku was surprised. What would the man have to talk about to Shoto? He had seemed to recognize him as well, and not in the I-tired-to-mug-you-once way. Shoto seemed confused as well. He looked at Izuku for support. Izuku just shrugged.

“Alright, but only if Izuku comes along.”

Dabi looked Izuku up and down. “Yeah, whatever.”

The three of them went in one of the rooms adjacent to the bar.

Dabi crossed his arms. He looked at Shoto.

“Why did you become a vigilante?”

Shoto was confused. “That’s none of your business. I don’t even know you. Why would I tell you?”

The scarred man looked away.

“It’s because of your father, Endeavour, isn’t it? That man is a piece of shit. All he does is trying to surpass All Might, and since he can’t do it himself, he forces that on his kids. Gruelling training, no mercy. No time to play, no friends. Only expectations.”

Shoto was clearly shocked.

“How do you know that?”

Dabi just laughed at that. It was a dry kind of laugh.

“I went through the same thing. The same training. Never good enough. But I managed to get away. Had to fake my death to do it though. I’m sorry for leaving you there, Shoto.”

Shoto’s eyes were open wide. He stared at the man who had just confessed to be his estranged brother.

“Toya…?”

He nodded.

Izuku felt that this was a conversation they better had private. He took Shoto’s hand and looked at him.

“It’s alright. If you need me, I’m right outside this door.”

Shoto nodded numbly. Izuku went outside and closed the door behind him, leaving the two brothers to their reunion.

Chapter Text

The day had finally arrived. How long had they prepared for this? The day of the UA entrance exam. Izuku sat in the warehome and looked at his friends. They seemed nervous, but all so very determined. He couldn’t have picked a better group to do this with. Even Momo, Shoto and Setsuna had come, despite their exam being a few days later. All of them had trained so hard for this day, working on their shortcomings, be it fighting or academics. And Izuku couldn’t be prouder.

“The day has finally arrived. This is the first big step in our plan. Today, our future will be decided. But don’t worry. There are enough of us. Even if someone doesn’t make it and lands in General Education, there is still the sports festival. And we will all do our best to make everyone here a hero. Legally. Because every single one of us is a hero already. I am so very proud of you. Of all of is. This has been a dream of mine for a long time. Let’s do this!”

And the warehome roared. Void jumped up and cheered. It was time for them to step in the spotlight. It was time. Finally.

They separated on their way there. Better to take all necessary precautions. But they all wrote that they had safely arrived. Izuku was the last of them to step over the threshold of UA. In another life, he might have been nervous. But not today. Not here. He had people supporting him. Confidently, he walked into UA. He smiled.

First came the written test. He had never appreciated Momo more. She had taught them so much, and the exam was a breeze. Izuku was sure all others would pass it as well.

Kaminari had improved significantly, and all others except for Hitoshi and him had never struggled with schoolwork. But they had caught up.

Izuku finished half an hour before the time limit and managed to review all his answers once more. He found a few mistakes, but in the end, he was satisfied. This would suffice.

They all gathered in a big auditorium and Present Mic entered the stage. Izuku had grown fond of Present Mic and Midnight. Eri always spoke in high tones of them. Researching their hero careers, they seemed to be good heroes as well. Thus, Izuku’s list of heroes he actually respected rose from one (Eraserhead), to three. But they were all friends, so it was easy to see why they were such good heroes.

Present Mic was very loud. The man hosted a radio show, worked at a school and as a hero. Izuku wondered how much sleep he got. Probably as much as Izuku himself. Which wasn’t much.

The hero explained how the practical test would work. Robots. Now that wasn’t fair. What if you didn’t have a combat-oriented quirk? Or a quirk like Hitoshi? Either UA was stupid and only valued combat-oriented quirks (which Izuku was inclined to believe), or there was another point scoring system as well. But since Izuku knew who the principal of this school was, Nezu, an animal with an intelligence quirk, he hoped it was the second option. Something to level the playing field. If someone with an intelligence quirk couldn’t become a hero in a school run by someone with an intelligence quirk, that would be stupid.

Izuku wondered what the other way to gain points was. Probably by helping people. Heroes were not only fighters, but rescuers and helpers as well. UA had raised many great heroes. Izuku was almost sure that this was how it worked. If he managed to defeat a few robots and helped as many other participants as he could, he should be fine.

But he worried about Shinso. The others of Void should be fine, but Shinso had none of his gear and was probably freaking out. He wanted to write him, but they had put away their phones before the written exam. Luckily, they were in the same testing are. And Izuku could tell that Shinso was freaking out. He hadn’t even noticed Izuku there.

But someone stopped Izuku in his tracks. It was a tall boy with blue hair and glasses. He seemed to have something sticking out of his legs, probably related to his quirk.

“You shouldn’t bother this boy. He is probably concentrating. Don’t interrupt him.”

Izuku shook off his hand. He was glad the blue-haired kid was concerned about Shinso, but he wouldn’t let his friend suffer when he knew he could help.

“Thanks for your concern, but I know him and can help him. Good luck.”

Izuku went over to Shinso. He walked past him and approached from the front. Better not catch him from behind when he wasn’t paying attention.

“Hitoshi?”

The purple-haired kid looked up to him.

“Izuku?”

Izuku smiled.

“Don’t worry. As far as I can tell, the robots must have a weakness somewhere. And based on all other clues they gave us; they must have some other point-scoring system in place. Probably for helping people. So destroy a few robots for me and help as many people as you can. You can do this. I believe in you.”

Now it was Hitoshi’s time to smile. He hugged Izuku.

“Thanks. Let’s both do this, okay?”

“Yeah.”

The blue-haired kid with the glasses had watched the whole exchange. He seemed a bit embarrassed to have tried and stop Izuku, seeing how much better Hitoshi was doing now. But he didn’t mention it.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Present Mic’s voice rang out over the speakers.

“START!!!”

Izuku and Hitoshi sprinted immediately. They had enough experience to know how to deal with sudden situations. He was sure that all over the various fields, all of Void would start running immediately.

Slowly but surely, the rest of the group started to follow. At least they had a little head start. The two of them separated and went their own ways. Working together probably wasn’t forbidden, but they didn’t want to make anyone suspicious of them.

Izuku found a two pointer and slowly started circling him. There had to be a way to beat them. He didn’t know how much time he had until other people came around, so he had to work fast.

There were a few cables dangling under the robot. They looked important. Izuku smiled. He sprinted at the robot, which attacked him. Izuku dodged easily. If he could dodge Eraserhead, this was nothing. He wished he had a few knives, but that would have been very suspicious. Yes, hello I would like to take a sword with me to the entrance exam. What no, where would I have learned how to use it? It’s purely for decoration. Yeah, no.

Instead, he slid under the robot and yanked at the cables. They came loose and the robot stopped. Great. Two points. Only many more to go.

Other people started coming to his street and Izuku made his way somewhere else. For now he tried to defeat a few more robots. In a few minutes, he would make his way to the middle and help as many people as possible.

Robots with a different number of points had different weaknesses and Izuku didn’t have the time to figure them all out, so he stuck to two-pointers. He fell into a rhythm after a while. He should have sixteen points now. It was time to join the big fight.

Izuku ran to the middle of the area, where he expected most people to be. He was right. And already he saw people injured. They could only do this dangerous entrance exam because they had Recovery Girl. Izuku shoo his head. They would still feel the pain. It was reckless. But he was here, nonetheless. And all others were as well. They knew the danger. And had to be prepared.

Izuku helped as many injured people as possible. He carried those who couldn’t walk out of the danger zones and warned some of incoming robots. He just hoped it would be enough.

Then he felt the earth shake. Something big was coming. It was probably the zero-pointer. Which meant that people would run away in panic. But what if some people couldn’t run?

So Izuku made his way through the masses pushing him in the other direction. There were indeed a few people there that were frozen in shock and didn’t move. He shook them awake. Then he told them to run. A few meters a way he could see Hitoshi carrying someone away from the danger. He was doing great as well. He smiled at Izuku and continued running.

Most people had evacuated, but there was still some time left, and if the robot was left unchecked, it would probably cause way more damage. He picked up on more person who had injured his leg. He was bleeding. But he had some kind of quirk that let him create paper or something similar out of his elbows, which gave Izuku a great idea.
“What’s your quirk, exactly? And how much of that can you produce?”

The black-haired boy looked at him suspiciously, but seeing how Izuku had helped him, he gave in. “It’s called tape. I used up a bit already, but I can do a lot more. Not sure what my limit is.”

Izuku grinned. Perfect.

He helped the boy up and carried him away from the zero pointer. The thing was big, but slow. Which gave Izuku enough time to put as much tape between the buildings as possible. Which meant until the elbows of the boy started to bleed. But they had done it. There was a thick area of tape between two buildings, which the zero pointer would surely cross. He put down the boy who had helped him and scouted the area ahead. There was no one left. Good. He hid behind a building as well and waited. And waited.

There it was. Creaking. The zero pointer, trying to advance. Izuku held his breath. Then the impact came. It was like an earthquake. The zero pointer fell to the ground and took two buildings with it. Izuku winced. He hoped they wouldn’t deduce points for property damage.

Once the dust had settled, a siren could be heard. The exam was over. Izuku exhaled. There was nothing more he could have done. He went back to the boy with the tape quirk and helped him up. There would probably be some place you could bring injured people. There she was. Recovery Girl.

“Thank you, dearie, I’ll take care of him.”

Izuku slowly let the boy down and said his goodbyes. The other boy stopped him.

“Thank you so much, that was incredible. My name is Sero Hanta, by the way. I hope we end up in the same class!”

Izuku smiled.

“I’m Izuku. Yeah, I hope so too.”

Then he left. This day had been way too much excitement. He didn’t find anyone else, but he knew where they all went. To the bar. For a celebration. Izuku was the last to arrive. Momo, Shoto and Setsuna had prepared everything beforehand.

Shinso smiled as he entered the door.

“There you are! We were all worried something had happened to you. Now please tell me how you managed to take down that gigantic robot. There is no way it was someone else!”
Izuku laughed. Everyone else seemed fine and happy. It must have gone well. He started telling them how his exam was like. It was a great evening.

At UA, Aizawa Shota sat with the rest of the teachers. They were deciding made it into which class. 36 of those hundreds who had participated would get into hero classes. Most would be put into Gen Ed. Some would be sent home.

It was Hizashi Yamada, (Present Mic, his husband), who raised his voice first.

“Kids today are incredible! Almost in every area was someone who started immediately at the signal. We’re gonna have great classes this year!”

Aizawa could agree. There were many good kids this year. But one battle wasn’t enough to know if they could make it in the hero world.

They looked at the results. The first place had not a single rescue point. A kid with an explosion quirk. The rest of the board was more divided.

Suddenly, All Might raised his voice.

“I don’t think we should put that kid in the hero course.”

He pointed at a green haired kid named Izuku Midoriya. He had mostly rescue points and defeated a few robots. He was in the middle of those who would get into the hero class. Aizawa didn’t see a reason to deny him that.

“Why?” He didn’t speak up often at this, but he hated injustices. And the symbol of peace may be a teacher here, but he was also new and inexperienced.

“He is quirkless. It would be way to dangerous to let someone like him into the hero course. We can’t put civilians in danger like that. Better give the place to someone who has a good quirk and a brighter future.”

Aizawa couldn’t believe what he heard.

“The kid has enough points. He earned his place.”

All Might just shook his head.

“He has mostly rescue points. Someone must have told him, seeing how he spent the entire second half just helping people. And rescue points are not given consistently as well, more based on a feeling of the teachers who dealt with him. Some of those can be taken away. We should also investigate who might have told him.”

Now it was Midnight who spoke up. She seemed angry as well.

“We gave them enough clues. His written exam was great. He is obviously smart, seeing how he dealt with the zero pointer. He must have figured it out himself.”

“By destroying the zero pointer he caused much collateral damage. He knew that wouldn’t give any points, but decided to do it anyways, endangering the other participants.”
Had that man not seen that he had scouted if anyone would be injured by the fall? In real life you can’t just wait and let a robot running around. In Aizawa’s eyes, the kid had done everything right. He shouldn’t lose his chance based on a little genetics.

He said as much.

“Why don’t we put it up to vote?” Hound Dog suggested.

Aizawa voted for the kid to join the hero class. So did Midnight, Present Mic and a few others. They still lost.
“In that case we will put Midoriya into Gen Ed, and another person will move up into the hero class. He will have another chance at the sports festival. We still need to decide who will be in which class.”

Aizawa was angry. They had just crushed a kid’s dream. He shook his head. He basically fought quirkless as well. Why couldn’t they see past their own prejudice?

The discussion moved on, but Aizawa barely listened. In the end, he got a list of students who would end up in his class. Eighteen. The other two would be decided in the recommended exam. It didn’t matter to him who ended up in his class. They would either make a good hero, or he would expel them.

He returned home. At least his daughter was there to cheer him up. He smiled and got to work.

It was the day of the recommended exam. Izuku wasn’t allowed on the premises. He had almost asked Kurogiri to warp him there, but that would be a bad idea. He still couldn’t help but worry. He had full trust in all of his teammates, but it was hard if all you could do was wait. The rest of Void was sitting at the bar, waiting for Momo, Shoto and Setsuna to return.

Suddenly Shigaraki grabbed him by the shoulders, forced him on the sofa and gave him a controller.

“Here, stop worrying, they’ll be fine.”

Izuku appreciated the gesture. He lost every game, but he calmed down a little.

The door opened and the three walked in. They were all smiling.

“We did great! We didn’t get any confirmation, of course, but the written exam was easy and we were in the top four during the race! We shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Let’s celebrate!”

And with that, Izuku let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. He sat next to Shoto.

“How was it?”

Shoto smiled.

“I got second place in the race. There was this guy, Inasa Yoarashi, who got first just ahead of me. He had an incredible wind quirk. It had been fun racing him. He even told me that it was a good match afterwards. I thought he didn’t like me at first, but after speaking with him, he seemed like a great guy. He said he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go to UA though.”

“Well, there are plenty of other great hero schools out there. I’m glad you had fun. Now then, let’s celebrate while we wait for our results.”

“Yeah.”

Chapter Text

He didn’t make it. Izuku looked at the letter over and over again.

“We are sorry to tell you that you did not get enough points to join the hero course. Starting next year you will be in Class 1-C, General Education.”

His phone was ringing. He didn’t want to pick it up. He sat on the street in front of the house of Mr Fenton. The old man with his cacti he had met before rescuing Eri. He dropped by from time to time to check in on him. No one else seemed to visit. He used the man’s address as his own, since he didn’t want to put Akaguro in any danger. Which is why he had fished his acceptance letter out of Mr Fenton’s mailbox. And read it. And he was devastated.

Was he wrong? Had they not giving him points for recuing people? Did they dock points for collateral damage?

He didn’t want to think about it. At least he had made it into UA. Even if it was Gen Ed, he could still be transferred during the sports festival. This wouldn’t change anything. The others would have a head start. But Izuku was used to that. He just needed to continue.

Izuku made his way to the warehome. All others were waiting for him. It seems his results were written in his face.

Kaminari whispered a silent “No way…”

Izuku forced a smile.

“It’s alright. I still got accepted into UA. I will be in 1-C and join the hero class during the sports festival. That way I can prove to the whole country that even quirkless people can do it. They can’t deny me if I win in front of that many people.”

The rest of Void still looked sad and a little uncomfortable.

Momo stepped forward.

“Do you think they put you into 1-C because you’re quirkless?”

Izuku lowered his head.

“I sure hope not. They said I didn’t have enough points.”

Shinso jumped up in fury.

“That’s impossible! You beat more robots than me and helped more people! You even took down the zero pointer! If you didn’t make it, I shouldn’t have mad it too. They put you into Gen Ed because of prejudice!”

Izuku started crying. He hadn’t wanted to consider that possibility. But Hitoshi was right. He should have had enough points. His sadness turned to anger. He balled a fist around the letter and let it fall to the ground.

“I’m gonna prove them wrong. All of them. This is exactly what we are fighting for. You all made it. This is why we are a group. This is nothing but a minor setback. We can still do this!”

They nodded. Izuku had fought this discrimination all his life. He could do it a little while longer. He would change things.

Seven of them had made it into 1-A. Shoto, Momo, Kaminari, Shinso, Uraraka, Jiro and Shoji. Setsuna, Kinoko, Reiko and Kuroiro were in 1-B. Izuku was in 1-C. Mei was in 1-F, having taken the support course test. All 13 of them had ultimately made it into UA. 1-A would be the class that got attacked. But they needed an opportunity first.

The first day of UA had finally arrived. Izuku put on his new uniform and made his way with Shinso to the gigantic campus. He had a hard time finding his class, but managed it ultimately. His classmates seemed nice at first glance. He kinda wished someone else of Void would be here with him. He knew it was better this way. He sat down at his desk and waited for his homeroom teacher to arrive.

It was Present Mic. He greeted them with as much enthusiasm as he could. The class joined in and greeted him. Izuku couldn’t find it in himself to care. If all went well, he wouldn’t have to stay in this class for long. Present Mic looked over his class. His face seemed to fall once he saw Izuku. But he quickly caught himself. Izuku wondered what that was about. He knew the looks of people who had something against the Quirkless, but that wasn’t it. There was something else.

Their homeroom teacher looked if everyone was there and made the introduced themselves.

“I’m Izuku. Just call me Izuku please. I’m quirkless.”

The rest of class gasped and seemed a little uncomfortable. They didn’t look him in the eyes. Izuku hadn’t expected anything different. The girl next to him continued.

After everyone introduced themselves, Present Mic told them to go to the auditorium they knew from the entrance exam. There would be an orientation. He held Izuku back.

“Midoriya…” he started.

Izuku cut him off.

“Just Izuku, please.”

Present Mic nodded.

“Izuku. I’m looking forward to you giving your best at the sports festival. You still have a chance to make it into the hero course, and I’m rooting for you. Also, any discrimination against quirkless people is strictly prohibited. If you are bullied in any way, tell me. I swear I will do something.”

Izuku nodded, He wanted to believe the man, he really did. But he had lost his trust in adults a long time ago. He had friends now. He could bear it.

The orientation was boring. They talked about the school’s history, what was expected of them, how they were supposed to behave. Where the cafeteria was etc. Izuku didn’t care. What he did care about, was that class 1-A wasn’t here. He hoped they just got a different orientation. But no one of the teachers seemed surprised that they weren’t here. He would have to ask them later.

After orientation, the rest of the day wasn’t much more interesting. They got their schedule and had first lessons. The teachers were all heroes. A few years ago, Izuku would have fanboyed and gushed over them. Now he analysed their quirks. Their strengths, their weaknesses. It was more interesting than the lessons. First day was always orientation. Izuku could do without it.

Finally, the first day was over. Izuku sighed. He had expected a hero school to be more exciting. He shook his head. He still had to graduate here as a hero. He could do this.
For the second time today, someone stopped him. Izuku hadn’t noticed him coming. There were many people here, but Izuku hated it if someone approached him and he didn’t see it coming. Especially if the one approaching him tried to arrest him on a regular basis. It was Eraserhead.

“Got some time to talk, kid?”

Izuku couldn’t read his face. Had he figured out who he was? No, that was impossible. Had someone told on him? No, not possible either. His worry must have shown on his face.
“You’re not in trouble. I’m Eraserhead, Aizawa Shota, homeroom teacher in charge of 1-A.”

Izuku knew that of course. But he also knew that he wasn’t supposed to know that.

“I’m Izuku.”

Eraserhead raised an eyebrow.

“Just call me Izuku, please.”

He really hoped he didn’t have to repeat that phrase more often.

“Okay then, Izuku. I would like to make you an offer. I watched you during the entrance exam. You did great. If I could decide, you would be in my class right now. But it wasn’t my choice to make. But you have potential. I’m offering to train you after school so you can transfer during the sports festival.”

Out of all the offers, Izuku didn’t think Eraserhead would offer to teach him. But he had also confirmed his suspicion. There was a reason he wasn’t in a hero class. And it wasn’t his lack of skill or points. He would get to the bottom of this.

Izuku was sure he didn’t need the hero’s training to do well in the sports festival. But he wasn’t stupid. A pro hero, who basically fought quirkless, offered to train him There was no way he would let this chance go.

“Thank you. I will do my best.”

Eraserhead smiled creepily.

“Meet me tomorrow after class in gym delta. Have your gym uniform ready.”

Then he left.

At least someone still believed in Izuku. He made his way home and told Hitoshi and Akaguro of his first day at school. They almost seemed like a normal family.

Shinso has never been happier to be in Void. His first day would be horrible if he didn’t have as many familiar faces around him. They couldn’t act like they were friends, of course, but it was still very reassuring. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Eraserhead enter the class. No way. The man who had been trying to arrest them would be their homeroom teacher? This year would be fun. He had to remember to tell Izuku as soon as he could.

The others of Void noticed their teacher as well. They grew silent.

Aizawa grunted.

“It took you five seconds to be quiet. Better than I expected, but still not good enough. I’m Aizawa Shota, and I’ll be your homeroom teacher. Put these on. We’re going to test you.”

A blue-haired kid with glasses raised his hand.

“But what about orientation?”

Aizawa didn’t bother turning around.

“It’s useless and boring. You don’t need it. Now hurry up.”

Shinso put on his uniform and went to the field with the rest of class.

Aizawa explained the various exercises and had Bakugo be an example. The one in last place would be expelled. Shinso wasn’t sure how his quirk would help him here, but he wasn’t ready to give up. At least he was fit. Running around all night beating up criminals tended to do that.

He did rather well in most exercises. He was at the bottom, but not the lowest score. The rest of Void was good enough as well, with Momo taking first place. But Shinso knew he needed to do better. Some others hadn’t quite figured out how to use their quirks yet and might catch up to him.

It was time for the ball toss. Shinso threw. It didn’t get very far. He only had one try left. Suddenly, he got an idea. He turned to his teacher.

“So the ball has to be thrown from within this ring, and we can all use our quirks?”

Aizawa had an unreadable expression on his face.

“Yes.”

Shinso smiled. Good.

“Bakugo?”

He turned to the explosive boy.

“Huh! What do you want?”

He had him. It was good that he had practised his quirk with Void. He wasn’t hesitant to use it anymore.

“Get in this ring and throw the ball for me.”

Bakugo did just that. And Shinso’s score rocketed to the middle of the board. Aizawa smiled.

But then Bakugo woke up from his mind control.

“What did you do to me, you asshole?”

Little explosions formed in his palms. He made his way to Shinso and seemed ready to attack. Shinso could understand why Izuku didn’t want the guy in Void. He had anger management issues. Shinso could have picked anyone else to throw the ball for him, but he wanted to annoy the blonde. It had worked perfectly.

Bakugo was stopped by Aizawa’s capture scarf. The hero was using his quirk.

“He used his quirk on you. And what he did was perfectly fine, well thought out even. Get back in line.”

The rest of the test went without further incidents. Shinso could have brainwashed a few more, but didn’t want to antagonize his classmates any further.

In the end, Aizawa just said that it was a logical ruse, and that no one would be expelled. Great. He survived the first day. He hoped not every day would be this exciting.

After classes, he made his way home. He arrived before Izuku. Akaguro had cooked for them, in celebration of their first day at UA. The man seemed proud. They didn’t see each other as often, with Akaguro doing his own thing and Void. But they still enjoyed these little moments. Izuku arrived later, and told them of their day.

Apparently, Class 1-A was the only one that had done this ridiculous test. The others had been at orientation. Class B as well. Luckily, Izuku explained the important things that had happened at orientation. Which wasn’t much, but he was glad to know a few rules and a general layout of the school. Shinso told Izuku of how he had used Bakugo. Izuku laughed at that.

Shinso was happy. He was scared that Izuku would feel down because of his class placement. But no matter what, he picked himself back up. They couldn’t have chosen a better leader.

Chapter Text

Today would be the first time having heroics class. Shinso had been waiting for this almost his whole life. Heroics. A dream he never thought he could achieve. Until he met Izuku. How he wished that he was here. Izuku was the one who deserved to be here the most.

Class was about to start, and it was obvious that people were excited. They didn’t know who taught this, except that it was a hero. Textbooks out, ready to start a very heroic day.
The door was slammed open. “I AM HERE!”

Shinso froze. No way. All Might would be teaching heroics? It made sense. But Shinso didn’t like it. He didn’t want to be taught the most important class by the one who hurt his friend. That showed on his face. While most of the class was staring in awe and wonder, Shinso was glaring at the hero with contempt. And he wasn’t the only one. All of Void looked at the hero with barely concealed anger. At least All Might seemed confused by it. He was probably used to being worshipped. But not here. Not after what he had done.
The hero caught himself quickly.

“Today we will do a combat exercise! Put on your costumes for the first time and meet me on ground beta. I look forward to seeing your costumes.”

Was that it? Combat on their first day? Aren’t you supposed to be taught that stuff here? The quirk test had at least made sense, but they could seriously injure one another during combat. This school relied way too heavily on Recovery Girl’s powers.

Shinso took his hero costume and made his way to the changing rooms. He would have liked to wear something similar to his vigilante outfit, but for obvious reasons, he had decided against it. His costume consisted of a purple shirt with many pockets for first aid and other tools (no weapons yet, he wasn’t supposed to be able to use them after all), paired with black trousers with pockets as well. He wore a long black coat that could disguise him as a civilian with, you guessed it, even more pockets. Those were seriously useful. The most important item was his voice changer. It would be able to modify his voice without electronics, allowing him to still use his quirk while sounding like other people. He had done some training without a device, but it would certainly be helpful.

After changing, Shinso stepped out of the changing room and took a look at the costumes of other people. They had al asked Izuku and Mei for help, since the costume had to be practical and look good, but Shinso had been more focused on his own costume, so the other’s costumes were a surprise to him.

Shoto’s costume looked like a blue boiler suit. It had the capability to both cool him down and warm him up, even if Shoto had insisted he only needed the heating function. Izuku didn’t let him do that.

Kaminari’s costume were black trousers paired with a white shirt and a black jacket. On all of these was a lightning motive. He also wore a belt with many pouches that seemed to contain batteries. His costume wasn’t too extravagant either.

Shoji’s costume was a simple body suit in mostly blue. His arms were bare, he probably didn’t need else. Except that Izuku had convinced him as well to wear a belt with many pouches.

Shinso was starting to be afraid that Void would be found out by just counting the storage space on one’s hero costume. The girl’s costumes didn’t fare any better. All of those had pockets and pouches as well.

Uraraka was in a heavily padded pink bodysuit. She had more pockets than most people, since she could easily make her equipment and costume weightless, meaning that she could carry around much more. But even then, she was incredibly strong even without using her quirk. She had thick flat shoes that were probably equipped with some impact and shock absorber.

Jiro looked almost normal. She could probably wear her hero costume on a normal day without someone recognizing it as a costume. Except for, of course, the many stuffed pockets and the speakers on her arms and thighs. She probably had some protective gear hidden as well.

The last was Momo. She wore plain red, yellow and black cloth that covered her entire body. Izuku, Mei and Momo had taken a long time to figure out how to make a cloth that would allow the items she made to go through it without tearing the cloth. Her body was completely covered so her opponents couldn’t see from where she was creating something. She also had pouches stuffed with food around her waist and wore special goggles that allowed her to view the structures of all kinds of items.

All in all, Shinso found that all members of Void looked very heroic and cool. Not to mention, their costumes were functional. That couldn’t be said of all members. No matter how you liked the look, high heels simply aren’t safe for fighting. Skin-tight bodysuits aren’t very good protection either. Shinso wanted to point that out, but maybe now wasn’t the best time. They would probably figure it out themselves.

All Might stepped forward and praised their costumes. Then he proceeded to explain the upcoming exercise. He didn’t explain it very good though and had to deal with questions. It would be a two-on-two villains versus heroes kind of situation. The pairings would be decided by chance. The pairings were as following:

Shinso and Uraraka versus Bakugo and Iida.

Shoto and Shoji versus Hagakure and Ojiro.

Tokoyami and Tsuyu versus Kirishima and Sero.

Kaminari and Jiro versus Momo and Mineta.

Aoyama and Ashido versus Sato and Koji.

Shinso was up against Bakugo and even had another member of Void on his side. This would be fun. Uraraka approached him and smiled.

“Do you have a plan? I personally think it would be funny if you mind controlled Bakugo again. He probably already figured out how your quirk works, but he can’t keep his temper in check. Use that or your voice changer.”

It would probably work. They just needed to get Bakugo and then have Iida answer one of his questions. It would be an easy win. But he had another idea.

“Bakugo loves fighting. He might start blasting as soon as he sees us. And from what I know of him based on what Izuku said, he will probably leave Iida to guard the bomb and immediately head towards us to fight. I don’t want to give him that. You can float us to the top of the building and we’ll search the rooms from there. Once we find Iida and the bomb, we can take him out together. If Bakugo finds us before that we can still brainwash him.”

Uraraka grinned and nodded.

“Sounds good to me.”

All Might gave them the signal to start and they headed off to the side of the building where it was darker and there were fewer windows. Uraraka needed to take a few breaks in between floors, but they were on the roof after a while and started making their way down.

On the fifth floor, they heard some sounds, like someone moving tables and chairs around. It was Iida, completely clearing the room. Clever. That way Uraraka couldn’t use her quirk. But after carrying them both up to the roof, she could barely use her quirk anyways without puking, so she would rely on her martial arts for the rest of the trial.

Bakugo wasn’t anywhere near. Shinso hid behind a wall and adjusted his voice changer. Then he shouted, mimicking Bakugo as best as he could.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Maybe he should have used more insults. But Iida answered anyways.

“I’m cleaning so Uraraka can’t use her quirk.”

Then his eyes went blank. Shinso walked up to the bomb and put a hand on it while Uraraka used the capture tape on Iida, very carefully to not disrupt the mind control. Just in case.

“Team Uraraka and Shinso won. Congratulations! Come back so we can review the footage.”

All Might’s voice said over the comms system. From a few stories below, explosions could be heard.

Uraraka grinned. She still looked a little green. “Yep, that was worth it.”

They freed Iida from the capture tape and mind control and went with him to the viewing room. Bakugo was already there and immediately started shouting.

“How dare you dodge me you cowards! Fight me! That was bullshit I demand a rematch!”

Shinso just rolled his eyes. They had won the exercise, hadn’t they? All Might raised his hands in a placating motion.

“Now, now, young Bakugo. Let’s just review the footage.”

But Bakugo didn’t stop.

“No! I want a rematch! I want to fight! I’ll prove to you that I’m the strongest!”

It seemed like All Might wasn’t quite sure how to handle the situation. Shinso wished for Aizawa be here, the man was a good teacher at least.

It was Momo who finally stepped in.

“The heroes did their job perfectly. There was no collateral damage, the bomb was defused with much time to spare and one of the villains apprehended without a fight. They worked together splendidly and chose the best course of action available to them. Iida did a very good job as well, cleaning the room of all the things that Uraraka could use to fight and staying behind to protect the bomb. He didn’t know that Shinso could change his voice and responded accordingly. That was his only fault, but he did the best he could given the situation. In stark contrast, you, Bakugo, went off on your own without a plan, even without confirming that Iida would stay behind to guard the bomb. You went in the wrong direction and were incredibly predictable. That is what caused the heroes to gain such an easy win.”

Shinso had to cover his laugh. He saw that Uraraka did the same. All Might seemed very baffled at Momo’s analysis.

“Yes, very good Yaoyorozu. That was…umm…a very good analysis and I have nothing to add.”

Bakugo was still fuming, but just crossed his arms and sat in a corner.

It was time for fight two. Shinso took out a notebook and wrote down as much as he could about his classmates’ quirks. He had promised Izuku as much.

The second match was Shoto and Shoji versus Hagakure and Ojiro. Shinso already knew that this would be an easy win. It was.

Shoji went inside the building and quickly figured out where everyone was, including the bomb. Shoto froze a straight path to the bomb, even excluding the rooms that the bomb wasn’t in. He unfroze the area behind him as he walked towards it. Shoji pointed Hagakure out to him, who they encountered halfway. They captured her with the capture tape and unfroze her. In the bomb room they first captured Ojiro and defused the bomb. It was an even faster win than Shinso and Uraraka. But it was to be expected.

There wasn’t much to review either. Ojiro and Hagakure couldn’t do much, and Shoji and Shoto had worked together very well. All Might seemed very impressed with them. They didn’t seem very happy about the compliment.

The third match was Tokoyami and Tsuyu versus Kirishima and Sero. It was overall a close fight, but after luring him into a dark corner Tokoyami managed to defeat Kirishima and Tsuyu dropped from the ceiling onto the bomb. She was stopped by some tape, but managed to touch the bomb with her tongue regardless, which All Might counted as a win.

The fourth match was Kaminari and Jiro versus Momo and Mineta. Shinso expected Momo to come up with a great plan, but in the end, it was a spectacular loss. Her partner hadn’t listened to her at all, tried to do his own thing to impress her, but got shocked by Kaminari. (Kaminari would later admit he had shocked the boy more than he needed to, but wasn’t sorry). Momo had done her best to fight against the other two, but Jiro managed to touch the bomb while Momo was distracted by Kaminari. Afterwards, Momo was fuming, and Shinso could understand. He didn’t like Mineta at all, and the rest of Void shared his sentiment. He wondered how someone like him had made it into heroics.

The last match was Aoyama and Ashido versus Sato and Koji. It was rather close as well, but Aoyama and Ashido won, simply because the other two couldn’t defend against their long and mid-range attacks. Koji didn’t want to injure the animals, so in the end Sato almost fought alone.

That was ho their first day of heroics came to an end, luckily without any injuries. For Shinso, it had been a very satisfying day. He had managed to record most of his classmate’s quirks for Izuku, he had won the battle, he had annoyed Bakugo, and he had figured out that All Might wasn’t a good teacher and definitely didn’t have a teaching license.

Maybe UA should make in mandatory for their teachers to be actually qualified. Most seemed to be so, but some didn’t. It wasn’t that outrageous. And you can’t be a hero forever. Retired heroes would probably make great teachers, and they wouldn’t have the problems of juggling two (or three) full-time jobs. Not all heroes get to retire, but that would be a very successful business model. It even made sure heroes had a stable job after their career.

It didn’t matter right now. Shinso put these thoughts on the list of things to change once society changes. First, he needed to become a hero.

After class, Shinso went to the warehome. He had promised to meet some others of Void there. Depending on the mood and the day, they either went to the bar or the warehome. Izuku wasn’t there. He wouldn’t be for a few more hours. Aizawa gave him some special training. Shinso was happy about that. He knew their homeroom teacher was a good hero. With this, Izuku would have much more chances to join a hero class.

Once everyone had arrived, Momo raised her voice.

“I have a plan.”

After saying that she showed a dark grin. It seems she was still a little angry about what had happened during the battle trial. Kaminari and Jiro had apologized, but Momo wasn’t angry at them. She was glad they had given them her all.

“We all want Izuku to join a hero class. And we also know that he will have his best chance during the sports festival. Which is why we will do everything to help him win it. He probably doesn’t need our help, but he will get it anyways. We will make sure he shows off anything he can do, and he will win. They can’t reject him after that. Aizawa wants him in our class anyways. But that is a plan for another day. For now, I say we make sure that there is enough space in our class for Izuku. Aizawa is notorious for expelling those he deems unfit to be a hero. I say we make sure he has no other choice than to expel someone. And I already have someone in mind…”

The rest of those in class 1-A nodded. They knew who she meant. It was Setsuna who asked the question.

“Who? And I would never disagree if you are so sure, but why?”

“Mineta Minoru. As for the why, there are many reasons. I’ll tell you a few. I want records of everything perverted, un-hero-like and rude thing he does. Video, audio, written statements of as many people as possible. We will leave it on Aizawa’s desk. That filth will not make it to the sports festival.”

Shinso could almost feel the dark aura surrounding Momo. He understood her, of course, and couldn’t agree more. He didn’t want to imagine what it was like for the girls, especially Momo who had to work with him before. He would do the best he could to help.

After a few hours of plotting and planning and playing video games, Izuku came by.

“Your teacher is a monster. I’m more exhausted than I was when I trained with Stendhal. How?”

Shinso laughed. Izuku plopped down on a sofa and fell asleep immediately. At least he had already showered. Since neither of the two had vigilante duty today, Shinso carried Izuku home and put him in bed. He seemed so peaceful asleep. So happy.

Shinso wished it would stay that way forever.

Chapter Text

It was the next day of school and Izuku was ready for it. He tied his tie (which he could actually do, since his friends had taught him after seeing him with that abomination of a tie, he had worn the first day) and went to school. Shinso usually went a little earlier than him, because he was in a hero class and they shouldn’t arrive together. Just in case.
But today the school was swarmed by the media. Izuku did not like the media. They were like vultures and showed no respect for the people. But he didn’t want to be late for class, so he dived in. Maybe he could just slip through and they wouldn’t notice him.

Apparently, he was not that lucky. Sone nosy reporter shoved a microphone in his face and asked him what it was like with All Might as a teacher. Of course they were here for All Might. Izuku got even more annoyed and tried to leave. The reporter wouldn’t let him. Izuku might as well have his fun.

He put on a very confused face and said, as sincerely as he could: “I’m sorry, I don’t know who that is.”

The reporter froze and looked at Izuku as if he was an alien. The others who had heard that had the same reaction. Izuku took this chance and went through the doors. He heard someone supress a laugh. It was Aizawa.

“Good move kid.”

Izuku nodded and headed off to his classroom. Aizawa would deal with this. Next to Aizawa was Present Mic, who looked ready to murder the media. That confused Izuku a little. Sure, they were annoying, but Present Mic worked a famous radio station. He should work with the media regularly.

He filed that away for later and made his way to his classroom. Obviously, his homeroom teacher wasn’t there. There were only a few others as well. They still had some time until class started anyways.

Izuku looked outside the window, where the media was still there, outside the gates, despite their teachers’ intervention. They sure were persistent. But if they were…Izuku wondered how much. They would probably wait until school was over to get a few statements. This would be a great opportunity. He got out his phone and sent a few texts. By the time class had started, everything was set up. Now all Izuku had to do was wait.

Before that, it was time to vote for a class representative. Izuku didn’t mind who it was. If all went well, he wouldn’t be in this class for much longer. It was more important that people from Void were the class reps in the hero class, if they voted on that right now as well.

Vlad King made the announcement that they would choose a class rep. Good. It was about time. Each member of 1-B gave their vote, and in the end the outcome was clear. Setsuna had six votes, four Void members and two others. Vice rep would be Kendo with two votes. All others had either voted for themselves or for others and had one or no vote. Setsuna was happy with the outcome. She liked Kendo. They would make a good team. She was glad that Void had previously discussed who should win this.

Class 1-A was voting as well. Of course, the outcome was fixed as well. But since they had enough members, they had decided on a vice president as well. Momo won the election by a landslide, with seven votes, five from Void and two others. Second place took Iida, both votes from Void. Momo knew the boy and was sure he would make an enthusiastic and hardworking vice rep. He had even voted for someone else, despite obviously wanting the position. He seemed content with the vice position though. Their plan had worked out perfectly.

Izuku went over the plan again. But it should work out. Even if they were caught, they could just lie. It was time to steal the class schedule of class 1-A.

Lunch time came. Izuku was nervous. He excused himself to the toilet, where he met with Shoji and Kuroiro. The two of them nodded. They had chosen the toilet closest to the teacher’s lounge. Izuku texted Shigaraki. The villain was already in position and waited for the signal.

As soon as Izuku sent it, he went through the crowd and disintegrated the door. Then he went into the forest and had Kurogiri take him back. He had been disguised, of course. That part of the plan had been a success. Almost immediately, the sirens started blaring. Someone had infiltrated the school grounds. The other people on the toilet left. Shoji was concentrating. Then he gave the signal.

Kuroiro jumped into the shadow and made his way to the teachers lounge. He had headphones in and could communicate with Izuku in case something went wrong. Shoji kept quiet, which meant everything was fine. There was probably a panic, but this was a hero school. They could deal with that. A few minutes later, Izuku got pictures of the schedule and Kuroiro reappeared in the toilet. He exhaled and slumped to the ground.

“Holy shit my nerves. Did it have to be part of your plan to make me steal from pro heroes on the first week of school?”

Izuku laughed. He couldn’t believe it had actually worked.

“Sorry, but you did great. You too Shoji. Let’s wait for the announcement.”

Sure enough, after a few more minutes the speakers echoed through the school:

“Please stay calm. The media has made its way on the premises, but has left by now. Return to your classes.”

Izuku smiled. Perfect. He made his way back to class.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. He finished his classes and trained with Aizawa, who seemed a little on edge. Probably because of the media incident. Izuku felt a little guilty, but it’s not like the man suspected him. He would feel way worse once they actually started their real plan.

Aizawa let him go early to deal with the aftermath of the media incident, which was fine with Izuku, since he had his own stuff to do.

The rest of Void was waiting for him in the bar. It was planning time. For the first time, he actually looked at the class schedule. There was a field trip planned for the day after tomorrow. It was for rescue training in an area called USJ. How creative. Aizawa, Thirteen and All Might were supposed to supervise.

Izuku swallowed. This was perfect. It was in the first lesson and they could weaken All Might the whole morning. It was a rather secluded location and Kaminari could block the signal. They had assembled enough small-time villains to do this. But two days…that wasn’t a lot of time. But the next time All Might would participate in something like this would take a few more months, and the villains wouldn’t wait that long. Izuku had hoped to give the other students of Class 1-A a little more combat experience, but this would have to do.

He gathered all info he could find on the students of 1-A and the USJ. Shinso had given him quite much info on the quirks of Class 1-A and the others had helped out as well. He made profiles for them, their strengths and weaknesses.

Then he looked at USJ. That training ground was split into various parts, which each demonstrated different disaster zones. There was the Entrance, the Central Plaza, the Ruins Zone, the Landslide Zone, the Mountain Zone, the Conflagration Zone, the Flood Zone and the Downpour Zone. Not counting the entrance and the central plaza, they had six zones. Shigaraki, Kurogiri, Izuku and the Nomu would be in the central plaza, dealing with All Might, Eraserhead and Thirteen.

If they left two other students there as well, it would be fine. They could put three people in each zone. That would make seven zones. One for each Void member they had in class 1-A. The question was who would be put with whom. They had to put the students in areas where their quirks would complement the environment, so they had a good chance against the villains.

After a good few hours of planning, they had finally come up with a good enough placement. Some students had been hard to place, but they should be fine if they just stuck with the Void members.

Iida, Shinso and Shoji would stay behind at the central plaza. That meant that in one other area are only two people, but they were strong enough to deal with that. Iida should run to get help as soon as possible, so all villains except for Shigaraki and Kurogiri (and Izuku) get captured. The Nomu is just there to test All Might’s strength. Shoji stays at the central plaza and watches over the entire USJ. Kaminari blocks out all communication to the outside, but not inside. That way, Shinso can communicate with the other Void members or go himself in case something happens.

In the Conflagration Zone, Bakugo and Kirishima will have to fight on their own. Those two are strong enough, especially together, and should be fine in that zone. Kirishima can withstand the heat, and Bakugo’s explosion get stronger the more he sweats. He should sweat enough in a fire area.

The Landslide area will have Shoto, Mina and Mineta. Shoto can just freeze the entire area and be done with it. The others don’t have to do anything.
In the Mountain area will be Uraraka, Koda and Sero. Uraraka and Sero can work together with all the rocks, and it’s the only area with a few animals for Koda.

The Flood area will have Tsuyu, Aoyama and Kaminari. There is a boat there, Tsuyu just has to put everyone on the boat, Aoyama can defend with long range attacks and once Kaminari makes sure they won’t all be shocked, he electrocutes every villain in that area.

The Downpour Zone is dark, which is why Tokoyami will be stationed there, since his quirk, Dark Shadow seems to get stronger in darkness, if Momo’s observation is correct. Jiro will also be there, so she can locate her classmates in the darkness. The last person in that area will be Sato, whose strength makes him versatile enough.

The last are is the Ruins Zone. Momo will be the Void member there, and help Ojiro and Hagakure. They are the most tactical team, and if they listen to Momo and mostly do sneak attacks, it should work out perfectly.

Now Kurogiri just had to remember all of that and send everyone to their respective zones. It should be fine.

Izuku isn’t actually supposed to come along, but he couldn’t bear to sit in school while his operation, his plan, is currently ongoing. Which is why Twice will make him a clone that will go to school in place of him. He will have to disguise himself very well, since there shouldn’t be any similarities to Izuku or Hollow. That would be bad, and Aizawa knew him in both identities. He wouldn’t fight and just stick to the background, helping to coordinate the attack, being on the same comms as the rest of Void.

If the plan went ideally, the students would take out most of the villains, while All Might fought with the nomu. It would show that UA and the symbol of peace are vulnerable, especially when Kurogiri and Shigaraki help as well. Thirteen and Aizawa will be distracted by the other villains. As soon as Iida comes along with help, Izuku and Shigaraki will leave with Kurogiri and leave the villains behind.

But that was only if the plan worked out perfectly. There were many things that could go wrong, but they would never be better prepared. It was now or never. And Izuku wouldn’t give up.

Aizawa met with Nezu after he sent Izuku home. He wanted to train the boy longer, prepare him better, but this had priority. And he didn’t know where, but the boy certainly already had combat experience. Which wasn’t that surprising, considering he was quirkless and needed to have an edge over his classmates.

They walked to the gate and looked around. Their security system shouldn’t have failed. Especially not to the media. It was designed to keep villains out after all. The door, the barrier, was just gone. Without a trace. The edges showed some signs of interference, but nothing else. Nezu had looked around, but nothing had been stolen. It was too much destruction to be a prank, and not carefully planned enough that it had something to do with the media. That probably meant the media was just a distraction. The question was just for what.

The day had finally arrived. Izuku and Void met at the bar. Shigaraki, Kurogiri and Twice were there as well. They went over the plan once more. Nothing could go wrong today.

Twice made a clone of Izuku, and the clone and the others went to UA. It was clear how nervous they were. If something went wrong, everything they worked for would be useless. People could get seriously injured.

In the streets people kept staging accidents and robberies for All Might to handle. None of them were in danger, but it seemed real enough and kept the number one hero going all morning.

Izuku changed clothes as well. He wore platform boots to seem higher, and changed his body shape as well. He covered his face and hair, even though it was dyed. He wouldn’t be able to fight very well in these clothes, but he wasn’t supposed to fight at all. That was the only condition his friends had given him. He wouldn’t disappoint them. But he couldn’t let them do this alone either.

Shinso sat in the bus that would take them to their field trip. Kirishima wondered where they would go. Shinso knew. The rest of Void did as well. They kept their mouth shut. Some laughed, some were eerily quiet. Shinso just hoped that they didn’t act overly suspicious. They could just be nervous because this was their first field trip.

They all wore their hero costumes. Today, Shinso had stuffed it full of first aid, but especially with capture gear. He even had a second headset in case his first pair broke and he needed to continue communicating. The others were prepared as well. Their pockets were stuffed. But no one seemed to notice. They were just excited. Shinso felt a little bad for them. But all of them had proven they deserved to be in this course. They would all have someone of Void, someone experienced at their side. They would introduce them to the world of heroes sooner than expected.

They had arrived. Aizawa opened the doors…and the class stepped in. It was time. Shinso gave the signal. This would be the last bit of communication to leave this place. He nodded in Kaminari’s direction. The boy nodded as well, and used Mei’s machine, powered by his quirk to stop all communication. There was no going back now.

In the bar, Izuku put on the last of his disguise. Shigaraki didn’t disguise himself, but he didn’t have to. He looked menacing enough on his own. Especially the hands.

The television turned on, and All for One spoke:

“Good luck.”

Izuku nodded. Kurogiri opened a warp gate, and they arrived in the warehouse with all the villains. Giran had done a good job. There were quite many. If all went well, they would all be in prison by the end of the day. They were restless. Izuku wanted to beat them up. They knew they were there to beat up children. His friends. But Izuku kept his calm and stayed behind Shigaraki, who gave a short speech about killing All Might and destroying hero society. He seemed convincing enough, but Izuku could tell that his heart wasn’t in it. Not anymore. Shigaraki had different goals now.

Izuku’s phone vibrated. It was time. He told Shigaraki.

And Kurogiri opened the gate.

Chapter Text

Aizawa was ready for another day of teaching. He woke up with the third alarm as usual, ate breakfast, gave his daughter to the UA care where she would stay until she was properly adjusted and out of danger. Then he went to tell his class about the field trip. He would never admit it, but he really liked this class. They all had potential. He would make sure they would live up to it.

The drive to the USJ had been quieter than he expected. Some of the kids seemed tense. They tired to hide it, but Aizawa was good at reading people. It was probably because this was their first trip. They would do fine. Thirteen and All Might would be there as well to supervise.

They had finally reached their destination. The USJ. Unforeseen Simulations Joint. Or Universal Studios Japan. It was big enough for that as well. They walked inside and most kids were impressed. They looked around in awe. Some didn’t. They were getting more nervous. Aizawa sighed and went over to Thirteen. The rescue hero was alone. All Might wasn’t there. Thirteen informed him that he had used up his three hours in the morning and couldn’t make it here today. Great. Maybe he should call in another hero…no. They would be fine. What’s the worst that could happen?

He informed the students that All Might wouldn’t be here today. He knew that some of these kids weren’t fans of him, which was rare, but the reaction to that message seemed to cause a great shock to a few. Shinso grew pale. Students were looking at each other. Others just seemed disheartened. Aizawa was confused. Was something wrong. Why did they react that way?

That was when he felt it. A presence. He turned around. In the middle of the plaza was black mist swirling. That wasn’t part of the USJ. An intruder. Why didn’t the alarms go off? Out of the black mist came a man with hands all over his upper body, a monster with a bird head and someone with their whole body covered. After them followed more and more villains.

So that was the worst that could happen. Aizawa didn’t hesitate. He put on his goggles and jumped down the stairs. “Thirteen, protect the students!” was all he shouted to his colleague, before he started punching. These villains were all small fry. He could deal with them. He problem were the leader, the masked guy, the bird monster, and the warper. He tried to keep his eye on the warper, but he didn’t know where they were. He just had to beat as many villains as possible until help came.

The two leaders seemed to be in a heated argument. Something was going wrong. Maybe he could exploit that. He had already beaten quite many villains, and more and more were coming. Suddenly, they all stepped away from him. The man with the hands slowly walked towards him.

“You are so cool, Eraserhead! Jumping in to save your students, despite being at a disadvantage, especially with your quirk. Too bad it was all for nothing.”

Aizawa’s blood ran cold. What? He knew he shouldn’t fall for that taunt. But he did. He turned around. His students were gone. There was only Thirteen. No wait. Three students were still there. Only three.

The villain continued.

“Don’t worry. We gave them a fighting chance. Your students are scattered all over the USJ, fighting various villains. Let’s hope you trained them well. Now tell me, Eraserhead. Where is All Might?”

They weren’t dead yet. They all had potential. They could take care of themselves. His students were okay for now. He needed to end this.

“He’s not coming. How about you leave as well.”

The villain laughed in his face. But Aizawa could tell it was upsetting him that All Might wasn’t here. He just hoped one of the students would make it out and get help. It was the first week and students were in danger already. They shouldn’t have to do this yet. Aizawa had hoped he could protect them for a while. But this world was cruel, and it was unfair. But he wouldn’t let history repeat itself.

So he started fighting again.

Shinso didn’t know what to do. He had sent the signal to Izuku, only to find out that All Might wasn’t here. All Might was part of their plan. Why wasn’t he here? It was clearly in the schedule, and even Aizawa had seemed surprised that he wasn’t here. So why?

The warp gate opened. It was too late. Shinso took a deep breath. He couldn’t panic now. They had planned so long for this. They could still take down all the villains. The plan would have to continue as planned, just without All Might. They can do this.

Shinso watched in shock as their teacher jumped headfirst into the villains. This wasn’t supposed to happen. All Might was supposed to take the villains down, with Aizawa and Thirteen protecting the students. The underground hero was strong, but not strong enough to take down all these villains on his own. This was not his kind of battle. And yet he didn’t hesitate. For them. And they were the reason he had to suffer like this. Shinso mentally apologized to his teacher. But he knew this was inevitable. So Shinso kept his focus. It was time for Kurogiri to act.

Suddenly, various warp gates opened under the student’s feet. Shinso knew that his gate, and that of Shoji and Iida would malfunction and have them stay in the entrance. The others were gone immediately. Shinso had enough trust in the warper that everything went according to plan.

After dealing with the others, Kurogiri showed himself. He could have done that before, but didn’t want to risk anyone escaping. Now only four people were left in the entrance. Thirteen, Shoji, Iida and him. So far, so good.

It was time for the next part. He shouted at Kurogiri.

“Hey! What did you do?”

Kurogiri answerd.

"I scattered them all over the USJ."

He didn’t actually use his quirk. They needed him conscious in the case of an emergency. But Kurogiri was a good actor and didn’t move.

“Wait here.” That was the ‘command’ Shinso gave him. It wasn’t a specified time, so the warper could have broken free at any time after waiting a bit. At least that was the excuse.
Shinso turned around to Thirteen. “Make a hole in the wall so Iida can run and get help! Our phones don’t work!”

Thirteen did exactly that and Iida ran. Shinso shouted and him. “Make sure All Might comes here! I think we need him!”

If they were lucky the man would come ahead of the others. He doubted it, but they had to take any chances now. Shinso just hoped his sudden competence and confidence wasn’t weird. If anyone would be suspicious, that would be bad.

Thirteen turned around after making the hole. “Get behind me! I’ll suck this villain into my black hole!”

What? No! Thirteen usually didn’t attack villains outright. Shinso kept quiet. He just hoped Kurogiri knew what to do. The man was competent after all. But this wasn’t part of the plan. The plan seemed more like a guideline now. A guideline that had been stomped upon and thrown out of the window.

Thirteen did indeed activate their quirk again. As soon as it reached Kurogiri, the man moved again. He opened another portal…and Thirteen was destroyed by their own quirk. Kurogiri stopped, but the damage was already done. Shinso wasn’t sure how bad it was. Thirteen was on the ground. Kurogiri disappeared, probably to join Shigaraki and Izuku. Shinso knelt down next to Thirteen. They were breathing. The wounds weren’t too bad, but they were unconscious. Shinso did his best to dress their wounds, but after first aid there was nothing more he could do, except wait for help. He nodded to Shoji, who had started checking all the areas. Shinso turned his headset on.

“Are you guys alright?”

Kaminari felt the ground disappear under his feet and the next thing he knew was, that he was falling. He crashed into the water. He had tried to hold his breath, but the impact had sucked all the air out of him.

He looked around and made sure not to activate his quirk. Yet. Someone with a shark mutation and very sharp teeth swam in his direction. Now would be a good time for Tsuyu to fish him out of the water. A very good time indeed. The villain came closer and closer, and Kaminari was almost ready to fry him, when finally something wrapped around his waist and yanked him up. He lost the rest of air that he didn’t even knew he had. But now he could finally breathe again. He coughed a bit of water and sat up.

Tsuyu was sitting in front of him, and Aoyama at his side. Perfect. Kurogiri had done his job perfectly.

“Are you alright, kero? I had to get Aoyama first since he can’t really swim in his armour. I’m glad you didn’t electrocute me.”

He looked at Tsuyu who was surprisingly calm despite the circumstances. Aoyama clearly wasn’t. It was time to take charge. Kaminari had been a vigilante for quite some time now and was partially responsible for everything that was happening right now.

“Alright, listen up. My quirk is electrocution. We’re on water. I have some insulated sheet with me, just in case. Get on it and I will fry the villains. Then we get out of here. I need some time, but for now, Aoyama, can you just fire a few beams into the water so they stay away?”

Aoyama still seemed incredibly scared. But he was glad to have something to do and started firing.

Tsuyu helped Kaminari with the sheet and got on. So did Aoyama. Then Kaminari unloaded as much electricity as he could without turning into idiot mode. He knew his limits. The effect was instantaneous. The villains screamed and started drifting to the surface, one by one.

They waited. After a minute, there was still no movement, so they made their way into the water and onto the shore. Kaminari was glad that it had worked out.

Just as he tried to make his way onto dry land, something grabbed his leg. Not just grabbed. Bit. He looked down. But in that moment, he was catapulted back into the water. He didn’t even have time to scream. He was pulled into the depths and his ears started to hurt as bad as his leg. He was losing blood. Once they had reached the ground, which luckily wasn’t that deep, he could see his assailant. It was someone with an eel quirk. Probably resistant to electro shocks. Damn. No wonder they had picked Kaminari to drag down her.

The eel went for another attack, this time for his neck. Kaminari managed to punch them in the face, but was slowly losing consciousness, again. He hated swimming. If he didn’t before, he did now. But he hadn’t spent all this time training to die here. He still had some tricks left up his sleeve. He searched through his pocket. There it was. The ultimate pepper spray. Mass produced for Void after Izuku tested its effectiveness. It wouldn’t do any good to spray, but Kaminari’s leg could attest that these teeth were sharp. So as the eel tried to bite him again, he shoved the can in their mouth and swam to the surface. He didn’t see what was happening, but the fact that he wasn’t followed showed that the pepper spray was now a certified slime and eel repellent, usable as spray or snack.

Kaminari reached the surface and gasped for air. Unconscious villains floated next to him. His leg was still bleeding and probably full of dirt. He didn’t want to know what else. He made his way back to the shore, when Tsuyu arrived next to him. She helped him to the shore, where Aoyama was waiting. Kaminari was really glad she was on his team.

Aoyama gasped when he saw his leg. Kaminari tried to assure him that he would be fine, but when he got out his first aid kit it was drenched in water. Shit. He was sure he couldn’t walk anymore. His part of the plan was done, but this way he couldn’t help anyone else. Damn.

Aoyama took off his cape and wrapped it around his leg. Kaminari wasn’t sure what to think of that, since the boy seemed very attached to his cape. But they were all trying to be heroes after all.

Kaminari asked Tsuyu and Aoyama to check the immediate area for any threats. The did, and Kaminari took this chance to report back to Shinso. He just hoped the others would fare better than him.

Shoto landed in the Landslide area. Mina landed next to him, on her feet as well. Mineta was the last, falling on his face. He was screaming. Shoto sighed. At least he had the right members. Luckily for them, the Landslide zone wasn’t activated. Shoto could have dealt with that, but he rather didn’t. Villains were surrounding them on all sides. Shoto smiled. The time has come.

Within a second, all villains were frozen. Nothing moved. The others were silent. He tried calling Shinso, but it didn’t go through. Of course it didn’t. Maybe the boy wasn’t ready yet. He told Mina and Mineta to do whatever, just not get in trouble. Mineta stayed in the landslide zone with all frozen villains. Mina followed him to the plaza. If All Might wasn’t here, Shoto could at least help Aizawa fight them all off.

About halfway down the mountain Shinso finally called him back. The plan was still going.

Uraraka fell in the mountain area, a little higher than it was safe to fall. She caught Koda and Sero mid-air and lowered all of them to the ground. The good thing was, that the villain had to get to them first. Uraraka already had a plan. There were rocks all around her. And they still had some time until the villains arrived.

She asked Koda to look around and report back with a few birds. Then she made as many rocks weightless as she could. She used Sero’s tape to have them float above her like balloons.

Then the villains started attacking. They did not get very far. She threw the rocks with all her might, and released her quirk. One minute later, there were barely any villains left and with a bit of teamwork and some help from birds they defeated them as well.

She called Shinso and made her way to the plaza.

Jiro fell into the downpour zone and was drenched almost immediately. Good that her pockets were waterproof. She could barely see anything and the rain was extremely loud, but she found Sato soon enough. He was close to her and yelling.

Tokoyami wasn’t shouting, but she managed to find him as well. Perfect. Her team was correct. She hoped the others were fine as well.

She heard villains approaching, and told Tokoyami and Sato. The two of them managed to defeat them easily. For the next few minutes they hid in alleyways and ambushed the villains. It was incredibly easy. The villains weren’t even aware of their presence. After a while Jiro was sure they had defeated everyone. She called Shinso and they made their way to the plaza.

Momo fell into the ruins zone. Kurogiri had sent them to a rather secluded spot, which was good. The villains were a few rooms further. Hagakure was next to her and waved with her gloves to show she was there. Ojiro stayed quiet as well. Good. Momo smiled. She had a good team. The right team as well. She hoped the rest went according to plan as well.
Momo made various traps and laid them all the way to the roof. Then she made a loudspeaker and a bomb. Lastly, she made a rope, which they used to climb down. As soon as they were on the ground, she activated the loudspeaker. The villains started to walk up the stairs, and into her traps. Once someone reached the roof, she activated the bomb. It wasn’t a strong explosion, but it discouraged the rest from going to the roof. Even if they weren’t on the roof anymore. Momo knew that all villains were in the building, thanks to being the one who had helped plan the attack. Some tried to flee, but the three of them defeated them easily with a few sneak attacks.

After some time, no one came out of the building anymore. Perfect. Her plan had worked. The villains were defeated.

Momo smiled. She hoped the others had it as easy as her. These villains really weren’t the smartest. She called Shinso and the team made their way to the plaza to help Aizawa and meet the rest of Void.

Chapter Text

This was definitely not going how Izuku had imagined it. First of all, All Might wasn’t here. Second of all, ALL MIGHT WASN’T HERE!!! Why? Did the guy have something better to do than teach his own class? Was he that exhausted after just some distractions in the morning? It couldn’t be.

And now Eraserhead, his teacher, the one hero who believes in him was getting beaten by thugs. Thugs he had assembled. This was going bad. The hero wasn’t used to long and drawn out fights. It simply wasn’t his fighting style. He was supposed to protect the students. What he did right now was reckless, but it was also what a true hero would do. Izuku had to admit that he respected the man.

But if All Might was still to come, he couldn’t be here. They couldn’t test the nomu and fight All Might if Eraserhead used his quirk. Of course, Izuku had taken measures. He had a plan. But he didn’t want to use it yet. Iida had left a short while ago. If All Might turned up before the other heroes, they might still have a chance. He was the fastest of them, after all. But if all heroes arrived at the same time, they would have to retreat.

Shinso had told him how the students fared. Kaminari was injured, but the others didn’t have any problems. They made their way to the plaza. Good. They shouldn’t interfere, only in an emergency, but they needed witnesses of All Might’s fight. If he showed up. As he was supposed to.

It was now or never.

Aizawa hoped all his students were okay. It seemed Iida had left to get help. Perfect. Now all he needed to do was buy a little more time. He was exhausted. He hated fighting like this. But he didn’t want to know what would happen if any of the villains here were to attack his students. It was his responsibility to take care of them.

The villains around him backed off once more. The villain with hands on his face approached him once more.

“You can’t fight them all day. I am Shigaraki Tomura. And we came here to kill All Might. You are just a pebble in my path.”

He ran with his hand outstretched and tried to touch him. A touch-based quirk apparently. He really didn’t want to know what would happen if he managed to use it. He didn’t dare blink.

Shigaraki was fast, but not strong if he didn’t do any damage with his quirk. If Aizawa wasn’t so exhausted, he would have already beaten him. That was why he taught all his students how to fight without their quirks. He was glad the villain didn’t seem to have that experience.

But that also meant he had to keep his eyes open at all times. He couldn’t blink. Not even once.

Aizawa heard something clatter on the ground in front of him.

Don’t blink. Or you die.

It was a grenade.

Shit.

He jumped back, but he was to late. The grenade exploded in a blinding flash of light. And Aizawa screamed. Everything was white and all he could do was cover his eyes as much as he could, but it didn’t help. His eyes had their fair share of problems already, and a flash grenade while he was using his quirk did not make that better. He was blind, and he could barely move. It hurt.

He couldn’t let it end like this. He could still move. He could still hear. This wasn’t over.

Maybe he should have just stayed on the ground.

But he got up and took the capture scarf in his hands once again.

“You really are cool, Eraserhead. But you should have stayed down.”

Shigaraki. He threw his capture scarf in the direction of the voice. He hit. But then he felt his scarf losing its grip. The villain probably used his quirk. He didn’t know what was happening, but if it was contagious, he better let go. Now he didn’t even have a weapon anymore.

He heard footsteps approaching from the front. He tried to dodge, but something very sharp and very painful made acquaintances with his face. He was lucky it was just under his eye, and not the eye itself. He still needed that.

That was when the realization really hit. He couldn’t fight anymore. It was over.

That realization was cemented, when something incredibly heavy pinned him to the ground. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t do anything. This was only the second time in his life he had ever felt so helpless. The first time, his friend had died. Now it would be his students. He was a failure as a teacher and a hero. It was over.

Izuku stood by and watched how his teacher fought with Shigaraki. He knew what he had to do. Eraserhead relied heavily on his eyes, because that’s how his quirk worked. It put an incredible strain on them. He wouldn’t be able to see for a while if someone were to throw a flash grenade.

That someone was Izuku. He didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to hurt him. He had already sacrificed so much to set this plan into motion. He wouldn’t stop now.

So he threw the grenade and turned his eyes away. So did Shigaraki. But not Eraserhead.

Izuku never wanted to hear such a horrible sound again. He heard screams before. Many of them. But he had never been the cause. Not like this. Always as a defender. Never as an attacker. It hurt.

And yet, the hero still got up again. He threw his capture weapon at Shigaraki, who just caught it and disintegrated it. Now the other villains dared to attack again. Someone with a knife made his way over and Izuku wanted to move, wanted to help. He knew he couldn’t do that. Kurogiri held him back.

Eraserhead managed to dodge. At least that’s what Izuku thought. He screamed when he saw the blood on his face. He had done this. This was his fault. Kurogiri held a hand in front of his mouth. He couldn’t act like this. Not here. So Izuku suffered in silence. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He never wanted to hurt him.

Shigaraki intervened.

“Nomu, pin him down.”

And the nomu, so incredibly fast, was on top of the hero and held him down. Even that looked painful, but now all the other villains stood back and waited. But Shigaraki didn’t give any more orders. He just waited.

Izuku was glad for that. This way he wouldn’t get hurt anymore.

Some random goon stepped forward and screamed at Shigaraki.

“Just kill him!”

Shigaraki stepped dangerously close and held four fingers on his face.

“Shut up. He’s bait. It’s All Might we want to kill.”

The other villains were quiet. The one who had shouted nodded slowly. Shigaraki let him go.

But it was obvious that the villains at the plaza were restless. They were out for blood. This was bad. Izuku wasn’t sure how long they would listen to Shigaraki.

Suddenly, a shout rang all over the USJ.

“I AM HERE!”

It was All Might. Finally. But Izuku shivered. The hero wasn’t wearing his signature smile. Izuku suddenly felt the pressure of the number one hero. Before he could blink, Shigaraki was on the ground and Aizawa gone from under the nomu. All Might placed him gently on the ground.

Izuku swallowed. Did they really have the power to fight him? He sure hoped that the nomu was enough. If not, all their plans would fall apart.

It was too early. They shouldn’t have tried this.

But where Izuku was suddenly realising the power of the number one hero, Shigaraki smiled. This was what he was here for. He picked up the hand on his face.

“Nomu. Kill him.”

The nomu surged forward and attacked All Might.

Izuku could see why they believed that it could kill All Might. It was an incredible fight. The nomu had a shock absorption and a regeneration quirk, probably even more. All Might had One for All, the quirk that had been passed down for generations.

While the two powerhouses were fighting, Izuku looked around. Slowly but surely, his classmates started trickling into the plaza. They took out the last of the villains that were still here. Almost everyone was there. But they didn’t interfere in the big fight. They just watched.

All Might was struggling. Izuku could tell. He really wasn’t unbeatable. He was clearly exhausted. He wasn’t infallible. Izuku just needed to make sure that society thought that way as well. They couldn’t survive with only one pillar, while ignoring that it was crumbling.

All Might was bleeding. From some gashed, but most importantly, from his mouth. He wasn’t in fighting condition anymore. He was clearly showing weakness. But he was determined.

With a final “Plus Ultra” the nomu was catapulted out of the dome of the USJ.

Great. Now they had the number one hero here without the one weapon that could kill him. Izuku had gotten what they had come here for. It was time to leave. All Might turned towards Shigaraki and challenged him. Izuku didn’t call the bluff. The hero could barely move. Shigaraki knew that it was over as well. He turned around and walked in Izuku’s direction.

At least he tried that. Then his arms and legs were riddled with bullet holes. But Kurogiri intervened and shielded him.

Then he warped Shigaraki and Izuku out of the USJ and back into the bar. Shigaraki groaned when he fell to the ground. Izuku ripped of his mask and immediately started administering first aid.

The TV turned on and All for One asked what had happened.

Izuku told him. The man kept quiet for a while. Izuku didn’t mind. He had bullet holes to care for. Luckily, he got away without any injuries. Physically, at least.

“You still achieved your goal. The thugs are off the street and you showed that All Might isn’t infallible. Wasn’t that your goal?”

Izuku wasn’t sure how to answer that. Yes, it did sort of work out. He thought back to Eraserhead.

It had worked. But at what price?

Back at the USJ, Shinso couldn’t believe it. All Might had beaten the nomu. But he was injured. He tried his best to hide it, but it was obvious.

The other students arrived at the plaza. Kaminari was carried by Tsuyu and Aoyama, while the other’s seemed to be uninjured. Even Bakugo and Kirishima arrived, without any Void member to guide them. Not that Bakugo would have listened to any of them.

There was now a gigantic hole in the roof of the USJ. Shinso wondered if they were in their right minds to pick such an opponent, and he was currently on the hero’s side. He didn’t want to know how Izuku felt, being down there at the villain’s side.

That was when he heard people approaching from behind. The teachers. Snipe took out his gun and aimed it at Shigaraki. Shinso wanted to warn him, but didn’t know how without seeming utterly suspicious. So he kept quiet. And watched the man who constantly beat him at Mario Cart get riddled with bullet holes. Kurogiri intervened and warped him and Izuku to safety, but it was still a shock. The heroes split up to arrest the rest of the villains, but found that most of them had already been defeated by the students.

Then finally, the police came. Along with ambulances. Out of the students, only Kaminari was somewhat injured, but he would be fine soon.

Thirteen had shallow wounds across their entire back, that would heal with a little treatment.

Aizawa had a deep cut under his eye and still couldn’t see because of a flash grenade. He also had a few broken ribs. Shinso swallowed hard. Then he looked to Momo, who looked incredibly guilty as well. She had made that grenade.

All Might was injured as well. Shinso knew that. Yet he couldn’t see the number one hero get into any ambulances. In fact he didn’t see him at all. That was more than just a little suspicious. But there was nothing he could do.

The police asked them a couple of questions, but let them go easily enough. They were sent home. Shinso wanted to stay and find out a little more about what had happened to All Might, but the police were insistent and he really didn’t want to go home with an escort. Especially because he didn’t go home at all.

He made his way to the bar and found Juniper stitching up Shigaraki’s wounds and Izuku sulking in a corner.

He made his way over, not wanting to disturb Shigaraki or Juniper.

He sat down next to Izuku who was scrolling through various news apps on his phone. Then he turned to Shinso.

“None of them mention anything about All Might. They just said he heroically defeated the villains that invaded the USJ. But he was injured. We could all clearly see that.”

Shinso took the phone out of Izuku’s hands and turned it off.

“Listen. Of course they can’t just write that he was injured. I didn’t even see him enter an ambulance. Something bigger is at work here. There is another secret. Something else. This is only the beginning. The important thing is that we know. We know what happened. This is going to change things, okay? Everything is going to be alright. Kaminari texted, he is fine after a little treatment. Aizawa is going to be fine as well. And so is Thirteen. We didn’t do any lasting damage, except for all the villains who are in custody now.”

Finally, Izuku looked up. There were tears in his eyes.

“I can still hear him screaming. I never wanted to hurt him. I am so sorry.”

Shinso closed his arms around his friend and held him tightly.

“It’s alright. It’s all going to be alright. Come on. Let’s go home. You did great today. I am so proud of you.”

Izuku nodded weakly. Then Shinso led him back home and they fell asleep as soon as they hit their beds.

It had been a rough day for all of them.

Despite what it seemed like, Izuku couldn’t fall asleep. Everything that had happened today haunted him. He thought back to all the pain he caused. Was it really worth it? How much more would he have to sacrifice? Who would he have to sacrifice?

He wasn’t sure. But he knew on thing. The plan was set in motion. They couldn’t stop it anymore. They wouldn’t. There was no time to look back. No time for regrets. The only way was forward.

Chapter Text

Akaguro heard the news while he was working. UA had been attacked. The school where both of the kids, his kids, went. And class 1-A was attacked. Shinso.

By the time he had left over thirty worrying messages he finally received an answer. They were fine. They would be home later because of police stuff. He wondered if he should pick them up from school. Then he remembered he was a murderer and they would look for him. The kids hadn’t even put him as their guardian. It would only bring trouble if he showed up at UA.

So he went home and he waited. He didn’t even turn on the TV. He just waited and stared at his phone from time to time. The food he made had long gone cold. There was no way the police would question them this long.

He got up. No other way. With his hand on the door, he suddenly stopped.

Why did he do this? When had those kids started to grow on him? He was a murderer. A villain. He was ruining any chance at a good future they might have. But without him, they might not have a future at all. Society was corrupt. He needed to continue this.

So he sat back down.

And he waited.

After what seemed like hours the door finally opened. The kids (his kids) walked in silently. They both looked so tired. So exhausted.

He wanted to ask them all kinds of questions.

But one look at them told him that it wouldn’t be worth it. They would still be here tomorrow.

So he let them sleep.

He didn’t sleep himself. There was a struggle between going out and hunting the so-called League of Villains himself, and staying to protect his kids. He decided to stay. It was a long night. But seeing them sleep safe and sound was enough for him.

The school was closed for the next day. Akaguro made sure that when they woke up, he would have coffee and a warm meal ready. They couldn’t get out of answering his questions now.

Izuku and Shinso woke up eventually. They dove into the food like hungry wolves and after about three cups of coffee each, Akaguro finally asked the questions that had been burning in his mind since yesterday.

“What happened?”

Their faces immediately fell. Shinso looked to Izuku, who just shrugged and sipped his fourth cup of coffee. Shinso sighed and spoke up.

“We were attacked during our field trip. By some villains. We were separated and had to fight a few villains. They were weak. Our teacher…Aizawa protected us until All Might arrived.”

At the mention of their teacher, Izuku’s face grew pale. He hid behind his cup even more. Shinso continued.

“They were there to kill All Might, apparently. But All Might defeated the n…monster and it was fine in the end. We are fine.”

Izuku nodded hastily.

“I was in class the whole time, of course. We were all sent home after word reached us. I stayed with Hitoshi though. Just in case.”

Akaguro watched the two kids closely. It was obvious that they were hiding something. But this was a traumatic event. He decided no to push any further.

He knew three things now.

One. He would protect his kids at all costs.

Two. The League of Villains would pay for this.

Three. Society was rotten, and it was his duty to do something about it.

It was weekend now. School would continue on Monday. Once again, Izuku and Shinso made their way to the bar, first to check on Shigaraki and second to continue their plans.

They were the first members of Void there and were greeted by Dabi and Twice. After a bit of small talk the made their way into Shigaraki’s room where the man was, unsurprisingly, playing video games. It hadn’t been hard to keep him in bed. He would undoubtedly make a full recovery. It would take a few weeks, but for now he was supplied by snacks and more games. It seems some people from the league and Void had taken pity on him and bought a few new games and snacks. Shigaraki looked more like a spoiled child than a villain who had attacked the greatest hero school the day before. But images can deceive.

The other Void members started trickling in one by one. After a few hours they had all arrived. The rest of the actual League of Villains was here as well. They were all outfitted with phones, tablets and laptops. It was time to begin the next step of their plan.

All members present had made various fake social media accounts over the time. It was now time to use them.

‘UA attacked! Are we still save?’

‘Is All Might good enough?’

‘Can the symbol of peace not even protect his own students?’

‘Fall of UA – students no longer safe’

‘Who will protect us now?’

‘Was that really a clear victory?’

‘How come even children were injured?’

‘If even UA is unsafe, where is it safe at all?’

‘Why was All Might not there to teach his own class?’

‘The symbol of peace, failing!’

‘Where is All Might now? Less and less appearances from the number one hero!’

The list went on and on. They wrote these messages until late in the evening, and people started to notice.

The very next day it was all over the news. New powerful villains had appeared. Society was uneasy. The symbol of peace was failing. What to do?

Izuku smiled. This unrest was important. It was time for society to see that they couldn’t afford to put all their weight on a crumbling pillar.

It was too bad that Aizawa and Thirteen were put in question as well. Those two had done the best they could. It was All Might who had been responsible for the injuries. Izuku still wondered why he had only showed up so late. He admitted that the man had a very fearful presence when he stood against you. The face of the number one hero, empty of all signature smiles had haunted him the whole night. But Izuku knew what he was getting into. And he couldn’t afford to stop now.

Monday arrived too soon. Shinso didn’t want to wake up. He had spent the last two days continually writing social media posts, writing mails to news agencies and calling reporters. If he seemed any different at school, he would just say it was because of the USJ incident. That was a good excuse. It was true, in some way.

He wondered who would substitute for Aizawa. The hero hadn’t been hurt that badly, but one weekend wasn’t enough to recover.

His teacher did not seem to share these thoughts, as he walked in with his whole face covered up like a mummy and only one visible eye. Half the class stared at him. The other half couldn’t even meet his eye. Shinso knew why. He was in the latter half as well. It was their fault their teacher was in this condition. Even if their teacher didn’t know.

It was Iida who finally broke the awkward silence.

“Are you sure you are well enough to teach?”

Aizawa just shrugged.

“Yeah. Now settle down. I have an announcement to make. The sports festival will still take place, but it will be moved to a few weeks later.”

The class cheered at that. Shinso cheered with them. This was Izuku’s chance to finally join their class. His had had made a little jump, he had considered that they might not let the sports festival take place, but these worries had been cleared. Which was good. He wanted Izuku close. He needed him.

Classes continued as normal. As normal as it could be. There was a certain tension in the air, but Shinso managed to ignore it. He had more important things to do. Mainly, to prepare for the sports festival.

He smiled. This would be good.

Momo had prepared this for a while now. She had hidden it even from Izuku. It was the girl’s personal project, one might say. And now that their teacher had announced that the sports festival would soon take place, it was time to put her plan into action.

She had the folder in back at all times, in case she met someone who would add to it. Despite it being the start of the year, it was already quite full. And the fact that Aizawa was actually healthy enough to give classes meant that he could also take care of this. She wouldn’t give this job to anyone else.

Momo grinned. She looked forward to the results.

After class was over, she went to the teacher’s desk and asked Aizawa to stay. The man acted a little annoyed, but Momo knew he took his job to seriously to actually ignore someone asking for help.

Once the other students had left, with Uraraka and Jiro giving her a little wink, she took a deep breath and said:

“I want Mineta Minoru to be expelled.”

Aizawa showed almost no emotion, which Momo greatly respected him for She had hoped he would at least act a little surprised.

“You know you can’t just say that and it will happen.”

Momo smiled.

“Of course not.”

She put the folder she had collected until now on the table.

“Multiple classmates have come to me to complain about him. So I did my job as class representative and gathered evidence about his behaviour. I have multiple witness accounts, pictures and even some video evidence in here. If you have any questions feel free to ask me.”

Aizawa blinked very slowly. He opened the folder. He closed it again. He sighed.

“I will look it over. Anything else?”

Momo grinned.

“Nope. Thank you very much.”

She walked out the door and left a very exhausted pro hero behind. Her job here was done. Aizawa would do the rest.

Izuku sighed in relief when he heard that the sports festival would take place. This was his chance to finally catch up to his friends. His partners in crime.

Class 1-C hadn’t cheered. Most were just worried. The others were already planning on how to get out of it. It seemed like they didn’t want to join the hero course. They were content with just staying on the sidelines. Izuku wouldn’t be.

Present Mic had smiled at him when making the announcement. Izuku was glad to have his teacher’s support at least, since no one else in his class had believed in his. One had actually laughed in his face when he had told them he would give it his all during the sports festival to join the hero course. Another girl had smiled and wished him good luck, but Izuku knew it was more of a platitude.

He had never really connected with the class he was in. After all, he was always looking forward, to something else. To a future where he would be a hero. A future where he wouldn’t be discriminated against. A future where people like him, like Shinso, like all members of Void could just live.

His classmates were all living in the present. But he would show them what he could do. The sports festival was his chance. He would show his classmates. He would show those who had bullied him for years. He would show those who didn’t believe in him. He would show All Might.

But most of all, he would do it for his friends. For they were the only reason he had made it this far.

With these thoughts in his head, he headed to the gates. Classes were over and it was time to go home. He still had much more work to do. And it was time to prepare for the sports festival as well. Izuku saw a lot of sleepless nights coming.

Lost in thoughts, he didn’t notice someone approaching behind him.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

He flinched and jumped back. He didn’t mean to. He knew this was not a normal reaction. He cursed himself for letting his guard down. He usually thought he could do that, at UA, which was hilarious considering it had been attacked. Then again, he was the one who had attacked it.

Izuku took a deep breath to calm himself and looked up at who had stopped him. And he froze again. It was Aizawa. His head was wrapped in bandages. All Izuku could see was that it was his fault. He wasn’t ready to meet him yet.

His breath got stuck in his throat. He tried to breath. It didn’t come. He started panicking. This was super suspicious. Had Aizawa stopped him because he knew? Did he recognize him? Would he take him in now? Would he blame him for everything Izuku had done? Because this was his fault. This man, this hero had shown him so much kindness and trust, and Izuku had repaid it by throwing a grenade in his face. This was all his fault.

His fault.

His fault.

His fault.

His…

“Izuku? Izuku breathe, come on, it’s alright, breathe with me. In an out. Slowly. Come on. You can do it. In…and out. Just like that.”

Izuku started to calm down a little. He was frantic. Then he looked the hero in the eye again. And only concern stared back at him.

“Better?”

Izuku nodded. He didn’t trust himself to speak yet.

“Want me to accompany you to recovery girl?”

Izuku shook his head. He needed to get home. To safety. To his friends. To the bar. Anywhere but here.

Aizawa nodded.

“I just stopped you to tell you that I would have trained you today, but some other matter came by I’ll have to take care of.”

He held out a thick folder. Izuku vaguely recognized it. He didn’t know from where though.

“If you are sure you’re okay, you can go home now. I’ll be expecting you tomorrow after class. The sports festival is getting closer and we still have a lot to do. Got that, problem child?”

Izuku just nodded again. Then he turned around and ran to the bar. Shinso wouldn’t be home yet, and neither would be Akaguro. The warehome was probably empty as well. So he ran, without stopping, to the bar. He was out of breath once he got there, but he did feel a little better. Only Kurogiri and Shigaraki were there. They looked at him worried.

“Everything okay?”

Shigaraki put down the controller and made a motion to get up. He really shouldn’t be doing that. Izuku waved him off.

“I’m fine. Just need a minute.”

Shigaraki settled back down, but kept a close eye on his. Kurogiri closed the door behind Izuku, only after checking the streets.

Izuku just wanted to sleep. But it seems even that was not granted to him.

The TV turned on and All for One spoke.

“Izuku. I would like to talk to you in person.”

Izuku sighed. It’s not like he could refuse the most powerful villain in Japan. So he stepped through Kurogiri’s warp gate and prepared for a heavy conversation about the downfall of society and the corruption of the system.

It appeared that All for One had gotten a sofa in case he had visitors. He motioned for Izuku to sit down. Izuku did. It was very comfortable.

But instead of menacing talk and threats, All for One spoke almost softly. He asked Izuku about his day. About his friends. About his favourite food. The villain even told a few stories of his own.

It was…surprisingly nice. And with every ongoing minute, Izuku dropped his guard more and more.

He couldn’t help it. He just felt so safe. He had run to the bar because it seemed like the safest place at the moment, but where else could he be safer than with the most powerful person in the country?

It didn’t take long after he dropped his guards that he fell asleep. The chair was comfortable, and he almost felt at home.

All for One made no notion to wake him up.

Izuku woke up hours later tucked into his own bed. He did not know how he got there, but he didn’t care. He was safe.

He went back to sleep.

Chapter Text

Hagakure Toru was used to being invisible. It was her quirk, of course. But not only that. People ignored. They pushed her aside in the subway, took her spot in queues and barely seemed to notice her existence. She hated it.

Her mother had always told her to wear clothes that cover her whole body. For her own safety. She didn’t want to do that. People have stopped her and told her to shut off her quirk. She couldn’t. Sometimes she wished she could.

Hagakure wanted to know what she looked like. She could feel it, but she wanted to see herself in the mirror. She also used to have long hair. Not that anyone would notice. She liked her hair. But she wanted to be a hero. And she couldn’t let that get in the way. She couldn’t tie it up, so she cut it off. It had been a hard sacrifice to make. No one noticed the difference.

She had given up much for her career as a pro hero. If she was a hero, people would finally notice her. But most of her quirk relied on people not noticing her.

She had tried everything. Whenever she talked, she made grand gestures with her whole body, to make up for facial expression she couldn’t show. She talked a little louder than most people. Her clothes were very colourful. But despite all that, people kept ignoring her.

She had made it into UA. The best hero school. But it still seemed like people would ignore her. She hadn’t managed to do anything against Todoroki and Shoji. She had only passed the quirk test on her first day because of petty tricks. She didn’t feel like she belonged.

The other students here seemed much more heroic. Take Yaoyorozu, for example. Recommended student, first in the quirk test, and USJ. Hagakure didn’t like thinking back to USJ. But despite all these horrors, despite her teachers and classmates getting attacked and injured by villains, Yaoyorozu had stayed calm. Had given them instructions. And they had easily beaten the villains. Had Hagakure been alone, she would have stayed hidden. She wouldn’t have done anything. What a great hero.

For today’s exercise she had been paired up with Yaoyorozu again. She felt overshadowed. The other girl was just so incredible. She was confident. As if she had been doing this her whole life.

Hagakure shook her head. She couldn’t be weighted down by these thoughts. She was still going to become a hero. So she put on her hero costume. The gloves and shoes. Not really protection, but at least she could take them off quickly.

Yaoyorozu waved and walked over to her. She looked at the empty space where Hagakure’s head was. Another thing of being invisible. People couldn’t look her in the eyes. They looked at where they assumed her head was, or at her clothes. She didn’t mind. She wasn’t a fan of looking people in the eye either. Hagakure was more of an observer. She wanted to be involved, but circumstances kept forcing her to the side lines. Circumstances being her body.

“Hagakure, I’ve come up with a plan if you don’t mind.”

Of course she didn’t mind. Yaoyorozu’s plan were amazing. She wondered how she had managed to lose the battle trial.

“Of course, what can I do to help?”

Yaoyorozu smiled. She had a certain smile whenever she had something planned. It was a little mischievous.

“Well, first of all I would like to know what your hero costume can do. Anything I should know about?”

Hagakure wasn’t sure what she wanted to know. Wasn’t it obvious that she just ran around naked?

“Do you mean the gloves and shoes? Those are completely normal, so I can easily discard them.”

That seemed to shock the girl. She looked at the empty space between where Hagakure was and shook her head.

“You’re telling me that you are just running around completely naked? No protection whatsoever? And the school allowed that as your costume?”

Hagakure nodded.

“Yeah…what else were they supposed to do?”

Yaoyorozu held out her hand. Hagakure took it.

“This is unacceptable. There are a thousand ways that are better than what we have now. This is utterly irresponsible. I won’t let you fight like this. I have a friend in the support classes, it’s time to make you a real hero costume.”

With that, Yaoyorozu pulled her away from the exercise, told their teacher about the problem, who actually let them go, and dragged her towards the support classes.

She never stepped in front of the door. Instead, she stood to the side, knocked, and jumped away. Hagakure wasn’t sure what that little ritual meant, but chose to ignore it. There was no answer.

Then the door exploded.

And out of the smoking classroom came a girl with what was once pink hair, and clothes full of stains. She checked if the door had caused casualties, and then turned to face Yaoyorozu.

“Momo! What can I do for you today?”

The girl was smiling brightly. Yaoyorozu gestured for Hagakure to step forward.

“This is my classmate, Hagakure. Her quirk makes her invisible permanently. She doesn’t have a hero costume. Can you make one?”

That inquiry made the inventor’s eyes sparkle.

“One that doesn’t explode.” Yaoyorozu added.

The girl was still smiling and gestured for both of them to come in. Then she asked a lot of questions about measurement, what she wanted her suit to be able to do, if it should turn visible on command, weapons, etc. Hagakure was flashed by all the attention. She hadn’t thought about a hero costume. But it seemed that Hatsume Mei, who had somewhere along the way introduced herself, had enough ideas for the both of them.

Hagakure left the room once they were done and headed to class again. They had missed their turn, but Yaoyorozu didn’t seem to mind. She had put in a few great suggestions as well.

Back in the changing room, Yaoyorozu spoke up again.

“You said you didn’t have any ideas. Why don’t we ask the other girls? I’m sure they would be glad to help.”

Uraraka came closer when she heard that.

“Help with what?”

Yaoyorozu looked at Hagakure, as if asking for permission. Hagakure nodded.

“We are looking for design ideas for her hero costume. Any ideas?”

With that the other girls came around as well. The started discussing various ideas. They were all amazing. Hagakure felt great. She felt included. Maybe UA really wasn’t so bad.
On her way home, Jiro stopped her.

“I gotta make a delivery in this direction. Want to walk together?”

Hagakure smiled. Not that anyone could see it.

“Of course, I’d love to!”

The two of them fell into an easy chatter. Jiro was easy to talk to and seemed very perceptive in general. For someone like Hagakure, who relied on not being seen, she would make a difficult opponent. But as an ally, she was incredible. Hagakure was glad to have her as a classmate and future fellow hero.

Someone bumped into her. She ignored it, as usual. It happened quite often.

Jiro, however, didn’t seem to see it that way. She stopped the man who had bumped into her.

“Hey! At least apologize!”

The man seemed a little confused, but after a few seconds he actually did apologize to her. Now that was a new development. Jiro let him go and walked a little closer to her.
“That really wasn’t necessary. I’m used to it, really.”

Jiro shook her head. Then she held her hand out for Hagakure to take. She did.

“No. You can’t let people walk all over you. You want to be a hero, right? Just because your quirk is invisible, doesn’t mean you have to act like it too. Stand up for yourself.”

Hagakure stayed silent. She had often tried to stand up for herself, back when she was young. When did she stop? And why?

They continued walking, but the thoughts stayed with her. She showed Jiro around, since the girl didn’t seem to know where exactly they were. Then she accompanied her to a little run-down shop.

Jiro put in her earplug before knocking and listened. Hagakure wasn’t quite sure what to make of that. Wasn’t that illegal? And rude?

After a few seconds she took it out of the door and knocked. A woman opened the door. Jiro smiled and handed her a small package. The woman smiled and thanked her. Then she closed the door again.

“What was that about?” Hagakure asked.

“Just a little delivery. Anyways, thank you for accompanying me. Want to get ice cream or something? Or watch a movie? I have the rest of the day free. Well until about midnight.”

Well she had homework, but she could put that off.

“Sure. What do you have to do so late? Isn’t it past your bedtime? I usually go to sleep at ten.”

Jiro stopped. She seemed a little embarrassed.

“Ah, you know. Umm, there is something on the TV I want to watch. Umm, music. Yeah. A music video.”

She smiled and Hagakure didn’t press any further.

A few hours later, they sat in a nice little café and talked about all kinds of stuff. It had been a fun day. But it was starting to get dark. Hagakure sighed.

“I’m sorry, I have to go. I can’t be out alone after dark. You know how it is.”

Jiro looked a little sad at that statement.

“Yeah, I know. I can walk you home. I don’t mind the dark.”

A short pause. She seemed to contemplate something.

“Don’t you want to live in a world where we don’t have to be afraid of going out at night? I mean isn’t that what heroes are for? To protect us?”

That wasn’t what Hagakure had been expecting. It was a part of her life. Never go out alone after dark. Don’t go anywhere alone. Let others know where you are. Keep your phone in reach. Always be careful. This wasn’t a safe world.

“That would be great, but isn’t this normal? What more can heroes do?”

Jiro sighed.

“Sadly, this is considered normal. But it doesn’t have to be. There are underground heroes who patrol at night. We have enough heroes. But most of them don’t care about what happens at night. They want to sleep. We should be able to go out at night without fearing for our lives.”

Hagakure wasn’t sure what to think of that. She did consider this to be normal. Then again, it had been getting better recently.

“You’re right. That would be great. And with the vigilantes that have been appearing, it seems that it is safer to go out at night. Crime rates have lowered.”

At that statement, Jiro seemed excited.

“You heard of them? Of the vigilantes? What do you think of them?”

She seemed to have an interest in the topic. Well, they still had a while until they reached Hagakure’s home.

“I don’t mind them. They have done nothing but help out. I admire them a little, actually. They are like me. Invisible. And yet they do such a great job at helping people. I wish I could be like them. But, you know…legally.”

Jiro laughed. It seems the vigilantes were a good topic to talk about. But they had reached her house. Hagakure said goodbye and went to sleep. It had been a long day. She couldn’t wait to see her new hero costume.

The next morning she received a strange email. ‘Do you really want to help people?’

She wasn’t sure what to make of it. She wanted to be a hero. Of course she wanted to help people.

It was probably a bad idea. But she clicked on the link. It led to a website called Void. She looked around. People asked for all kinds of help there. Hagakure was busy with school. But it was never too early to start helping people.

It didn’t take too long until she went home with Jiro again. At the end of the day, she finally asked the real question. If Hagakure wanted to join Void.

It hadn’t been hard to piece together. The email, the day after talking with the girl. The request on the site that were obviously handled by the vigilantes. She knew this question was coming. And she already knew her answer. They would never catch her. Maybe her invisibility was good for something.

So she agreed.

Chapter Text

Togaru Kamakiri likes to collect bugs. Maybe it had something to do with his appearance. He had yellow-green skin, even greener hair and green eyes. That was notable. But usually people first saw the two hooked blades coming from his cheeks. They were pretty intimidating. People say that, at least. He liked them.

They gave away part of his quirk, though. His quirk, Razor Sharp, allows him to grow blades from all parts of his body. It’s a great quirk. And it got him into class 1-B of UA. Despite his looks, he was going to be a hero.

At least he wanted to be. As always, there are people who didn’t like that. It’s not like he was the only one being discriminated against. It was just bad luck that people didn’t like bugs. Or mutations. With a combination of both, he was dealt really bad cards.

Kamakiri knew that being a hero isn’t all about a strong quirk. Or doing your job well. It’s about the public liking you. You can’t save a kid from a villain if the kid runs away from you.

But he was still proud. He didn’t hate his body. He didn’t try to hide his mutations. Some people underwent surgery to look as normal as possible. But what was normal anymore? He liked to be special. Recognizable. He wouldn’t let anyone take that away from him.

But just because he liked his body, doesn’t mean that others did the same. He was used to name-calling. He was used to people being scared of him. They avoided him. He kept his head held high. He would become a hero. He would show them all.

He had wondered if UA would be any different. So far, everyone had treated him with respect. Some were intrigued, but not one of them seemed scared. They talked to him, accepted him. And Kamakiri really thought it would be different.

Until he found a crushed praying mantis on his desk one morning. It was sad, really. He didn’t mind the bullying. He could deal with that on his own. But the poor bug had to suffer and die just because someone didn’t like him. He sighed. This would start all over again. He wondered if it would ever change.

That was when his class rep stopped at his desk. Setsuna Tokage. Got in through recommendations. Won the vote easily. Had some sort of splitting quirk.

“What do you have there?”

She asked in a friendly way. Kamakiri wasn’t sure what to answer. Had she seen the dead bug? Did she think he killed it? Probably…

“Nothing really.”

He just hoped class would start soon. So she left him alone. But Setsuna didn’t let up.

“Did someone really put a dead bug on your desk?”

Well at least she didn’t think he had done it himself.

“It’s fine, really. I can deal with it. I’m used to it. Whoever it was will probably stop soon anyways. It’s gotta be a lot of work to either catch or buy them just for a little prank.”

Setsuna shook her head.

“No, it’s not okay. We are at a hero school and as class rep I can’t just let this slide. Give it to me, I’ll make sure this will not happen again. But if it does, tell me. I’ll help you.”

Wow, she took her job real serious. Kamakiri just shrugged and handed the dead bug over to her. It’s not like she could make things worse.

A few minutes later Vlad King opened the door and started the lesson. But before he could get very far, Setsuna interrupted him.

“I’m sorry sir, but I have an announcement to make as class rep. Is that okay?”

Their teacher just shrugged and stepped aside. Setsuna came to the front and her usual confident and cheerful persona changed into something more serious.

“Alright listen up. This morning someone at this school put a dead bug on Kamakiri’s desk. I’m sure you all know what that means, and you all know how unacceptable that is. Now, I have enough trust in this class that it was none of you. I will however keep an eye out and ask you to do the same. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable. And trust me, if I find who is responsible, they will face consequences. If there is any bullying, any issues you can come to me or to Kendo. We will take care of it. That is all.”

And with that she walked back to her seat and acted as if nothing happened. Kamakiri almost didn’t want to look around. He was sure what he would see. Either pity, or annoyance. He didn’t expect to see anger. Not at him, but for him.

Maybe UA would be different after all.

The next day there was no bug on his desk. Neither was there one the day after that. Or next week.

Kamakiri wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or anxious. Maybe they had given up. Or they were planning something worse. He decided to go with the first option.

During break, he made his way to the cafeteria, before realizing that he had forgotten his phone. So he sighed and told the others he would quickly go get it. They promised to save him a seat.

Before entering the classroom, he heard people talking. His name fell. He probably shouldn’t be doing this, but he stopped and listened.

“I was here almost an hour before class, but it was still there! We already sleep less than most people, we can’t come here even earlier. We gotta catch the one doing this. How many dead bugs did we find now?”

They had come to school early to find out who had put the bugs there? And had hidden them so he wouldn’t have to see them? He really didn’t deserve this class. But they shouldn’t do that on his behalf. So he stepped through the door and cleared his throat.

In the room were Setsuna, Kinoko, Kuroiro and Yanagi. They turned around to face him and seemed a bit guilty.

“So someone really put more dead bugs on my desk, huh?”

Kuroiro stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, we’ll catch them. You don’t have to deal with this.”

Kamakiri shook his head.

“Of course I have to deal with this! This is my problem! I can’t just let you do this for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really grateful, but don’t you think that this concerns me the most?”

Now Setsuna stepped forward.

“Sorry. We wanted to deal with this ourselves, but you are right. This is about you after all. Do you have any idea who might have done this? We have been here very early in the morning, but the bugs have always been here.”

Kamakiri shook his head. After all, he was used to this. He wasn’t used to people standing up for him and helping him.

“No, sorry. Probably just someone who dislikes mutations or bugs. Or both.”

Setsuna nodded. Then she started pacing around the room, clearly thinking. The others didn’t stop her. Kamakiri wondered if it was rude to just grab his phone and leave. He still wanted to eat.

But then Setsuna stopped. She had a weird smile on her face.

“Okay, I got it! So I highly doubt our perpetrator is motivated enough to be here more than an hour earlier. No one would do that willingly just for a little bullying. So they are either from a class that starts earlier, or at least allows people to come earlier to work on their projects. Like the support course. We can just ask Mei if she saw anything, since she usually spends most of her morning there. That way e won’t have to wake up so early anymore. The other option, which is more likely, is that someone has been staying later and putting it here in the evening. We would never find out who did it, no matter how early they were. That just means we gotta stay late. They have put it here every single day, so I guess today won’t be any different. You got time?”

Kamakiri nodded. It’s not like he had anything better to do. Might as well capture the person who had annoyed him in the act.

The others agreed as well.

Finally, he could go eat. They had really saved him a seat. How nice.

After class Kamakiri waited in the classroom. Setsuna was there with him, Kinoko, Kuroiro and Yanagi were walking around school asking questions. Setsuna was on her phone. He was bored. He might as well do his homework. After another two hours, he was done with his homework and once again bored. Setsuna was still on her phone. He wondered what was so interesting.

The door to the classroom opened and Kinoko came in.

“Mei hasn’t seen anyone. She was the only one who used the workshop in the last week. That’s not unusual for the beginning of the year, apparently. She also said that she saw only staff and no other students. Right now there are only the two third year hero classes in session, as well as one support class and three classrooms used for detention. The classes will end in ten minutes. Yanagi and Kuroiro went home.”

Setsuna put her phone away and got up.

“Perfect, we don’t need any more anyways. I’ll split and have my phone record whoever enters our classroom. We can hide in the broom closet over there.”

Kamakiri just followed the two girls. They seemed to have it under control.

That was not how he imagines his day to go. But here he was, caught between dirty broom, waiting for someone to put a dead bug on his desk. What a day.

He didn’t expect anything to happen. But not only did Setsuna’s phone take the video, it also streamed the footage to Kinoko’s phone. Just in case hers got destroyed. That also meant they could see what was happening. And someone actually came.

It was some plain looking boy with brown hair. Kamakiri didn’t know him. The girls didn’t seem to recognize him either. The boy took out a lunchbox and got out a dead bug. Kamakiri hoped the boy had at least once opened the wrong lunch box and seen a bug when expecting a sandwich. He doubted it though.

Setsuna whispered something in his ear.

“Do you want to confront him? We’ll support you.”

Did he want to do that? Nothing good had come of leaving things as they were. But was a confrontation really necessary? No. Did he still want to confront the boy? Yes.

So he stepped out of the closet and opened the door to their classroom. He ended up face-to-face with the boy who was just about to leave. The look on the boy’s face was priceless. He jumped back. Then he started shouting.

“What are you doing here?”

Kamakiri just laughed.

“This is my classroom. What are YOU doing here?”

The boy made a very bad effort to conceal the dead bug on the desk. It was almost embarrassing.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I was just about to leave.”

Kamakiri grabbed the boy’s arm just as he tried to push past him.

“Why don’t you tell me why you like to put dead bugs on my desk. They really deserve better. Have I done anything to you?”

The boy shook off his hand and his face turned from embarrassment to anger.

“Who do you think you are? You are just some disgusting freak! I tried everything I could to get into the hero course and some monster that is better suited as a villain just marches in here and takes that spot? You are disgusting.”

Kamakiri was taken aback. He didn’t know what to answer. He knew what people said behind his back, but he never thought someone would actually say that to his face.
“Do you think you can just get away with this?”

Now it was the boy’s turn to laugh.

“Of course I can. You are just some freak. You already look like a bug. Do you think if your word stands against mine, they will believe you? Nothing is gonna happen to me.”
He said it with such conviction. Kamakiri wasn’t sure.

Suddenly, someone approached from behind.

“You’re expelled.”

The boy lost all colour in his face. Kamakiri whipped around. In front of him stood a man dressed like a homeless person. He would have laughed if he didn’t know that this was the homeroom teacher of class 1-A. The pro hero Eraserhead.

He turned to Kamakiri.

“If you are alright you can go home this will be dealt with.”

Then he turned to the boy, who was shaking like a leaf.

“Follow me to the principal’s office.”

He left. The boy followed. At least he was clever enough to do that. Kamakiri wasn’t quite sure what had just happened. Setsuna approached and put a hand on his shoulder.

“See, I told you it would be alright. We didn’t even have to show the evidence since Aizawa heard everything.”

Kamakiri just nodded. He didn’t think the boy would be expelled this quick. But he was glad. Glad to have these friends. Glad to be in UA. He didn’t want to leave. To go outside. He liked it here. It was like a safe space.

Setsuna and Kinoko walked him home. But they stopped the moment they reached his street.

“Do you think you would like to do this more often? Help people who society disregards? Do some good even if it’s not completely legal?”

Kamakiri stopped under a streetlight. He looked back at the two girls who waited in the shadows.

“Where is this coming from?”

“Well, you know. People like you, with mutations are often bullied. We would like to change the way society thinks. We can’t call a teacher on all of them.”

Kamakiri wasn’t sure what to think of that. He had to live with discrimination his whole life. He was going to be a hero. He couldn’t let others experience the same.

“Alright. If you can really help people like me, I’m in. What can we do?”

Kamakiri stepped into the dark.

Chapter Text

Sero Hanta is a member of class 1-A. He was very proud of that fact. He was sure he hadn’t been there if not for a little help from a certain green-haired kid, but he had accumulated the points necessary for joining the hero course on his own. The boy had just saved him from being crushed. Izuku was his name. Sero had been sure the boy had made it into the hero course as well, but after checking the other class he was nowhere to be found.

A shame really. He liked the boy and wanted to thank him as well. But he hadn’t seen him since. That was until today.

Today he had forgotten his books at school. Usually he would just ignore that but this was a new school and he had to do his best to become a hero. It would also be embarrassing to ask for help within the first few weeks because of something that could be avoided. He could probably ask Yaoyorozu, since she seemed like a very nice person and good class rep, but he didn’t want to bother her.

So he made his way back to school in the early evening, grabbed his books and left the building again. That was when he saw Izuku, followed by his homeroom teacher. Now that was a surprise. Aizawa noticed him as well.

“What are you still doing here?”

Maybe he should really just have stayed home. This was embarrassing. But he didn’t want to lie either.

“I forgot my books, sorry, it won’t happen again.”

Aizawa just nodded but didn’t comment on that. Izuku on the other hand smiled and waved at him. His teacher turned to the boy.

“You know him?”

Izuku smiled.

“Yeah, from the entrance exam. He helped me take down the zero pointer. That is a really useful quirk and appliable in so many situations!”

That was almost enough to make Sero blush. Usually people found his quirk to be boring. Aizawa still didn’t seem very impressed though.

“I see. Well then you if you are done here you can accompany him to the train. After today I don’t trust him to make it there on his own.”

Izuku just laughed again.

“Aww Aizawa no need to worry. I’m not that exhausted. I’ll always find my way home.”

Sero wasn’t so sure about that. He knew first-hand what Aizawa’s training was like and the bags under Izuku’s eyes spoke volumes as well. But his teacher didn’t seem fazed by the comment.

“Sure, problem child. You know I can always increase your training. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.”

With that he left. As soon as he turned his back, Izuku slouched and sighed.

“I am so exhausted. Your teacher is a monster.”

Now it was Sero’s turn to laugh.

“Yeah, he is. But I’m really glad to meet you. I’ve been looking for you. I mean, I still have to thank you for saving me during the entrance exam.”

“No worries. It’s what heroes are supposed to do, isn’t it? I also kinda figured that we could get points for helping, and voila the rescue points. Still wasn’t enough I guess.”

He had figured that you could get points for helping? He must be really smart. Maybe even have an analysis quirk. And Aizawa was interested in him as well, apparently.

“So what’s your quirk?”

The boy’s face fell. Maybe that was the wrong question to ask. Shit. What a great conversation. Well done.

“I’m quirkless.”

That was quite the shock. Quirkless people were very rare. Most of them in the older generations. And yet this boy had tried to get into the hero course. And from what Sero could tell, he was very close.

“That’s incredible! I never met a quirkless person. So you actually managed to take down the zero pointer and get our teachers attention all without a quirk? You have my respect!”

Relief washed upon Izuku’s face. He had probably expected a different response.

“Thanks.”

Sero smiled. The mood had lifted a little.

“So how come you got Aizawa’s attention? Is he training you?”

“Yeah! He actually came to me on my first day, told me I should have been in his class if it was up to him and told me he would train me! That’s what we’ve been doing ever since. I hope to join your class during the sports festival. Or 1-B.”

Sero wasn’t sure why someone would willingly train with Aizawa, but Izuku seemed to have very much motivation.

“I’ll be rooting for you. And based on what I’ve seen so far, you can definitely do it. But what did you mean, that if it were up to Aizawa you would be in our class?”

Izuku stopped walking.

“Look, this is just my theory, but I think someone pulled some strings to put me in General Education. Because I’m quirkless. People do that all the time. Thinking I can’t handle something because I don’t have a quirk. Infantilizing me. Patronizing. But I can do it. I know I can. And I will be a great hero!”

He sure had a lot of confidence. Not like Bakugo who just screamed that he was the best. This seemed founded in something. He seemed like a real hero. Like he had experience.

Sero on the other hand wasn’t too sure about his own skills. Sure he made it into the hero class, but he had needed help to do so. His quirk wasn’t great and most of the class was better than him. Many of them seemed so experienced.

His thoughts must have shown on his face, because Izuku stepped a little closer with a kind smile on his face.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll make a great hero as well. I’m a little of a quirk enthusiast, so if you want, I can help you with your quirk a little. Actually there is this old comic I once read and I think you can use your quirk in a similar way, so you can take inspiration from that. Have you ever heard of a hero called Spider-Man?”

The rest of the walk to the train passed with Izuku rambling about old comics and heroes. Sero listened intently. He was sure Izuku could pass as having an intelligence quirk, or an analysis quirk if he wanted to. The tips he gave were incredibly helpful.

It wasn’t too long before they reached the station. It had gotten dark out.

They still had to wait for their respective trains and the station was almost empty. That was when he heard someone screaming for help.

Before he could even process what had happened, Izuku was already running towards the sound. Sero didn’t hesitate to follow. Not only was this his job as a her, but he also had to make sure that Izuku was okay. He was probably stronger than Sero, but it was still wrong to just leave him alone.

When they arrived there was only one person. Their skin was leaking some kind of pink goo and Izuku was kneeling in front of them. He didn’t touch the person, but just spoke to them calmly.

Sero also knelt down as to not tower over the person. They didn’t seem like a threat. It just looked like their quirk got out of control.

Sero wasn’t sure what to do. But it seemed like Izuku had it under control. As far as you could have such a situation under control.

“It’s alright, take a few deep breaths. In…and out. Come on, focus on my face. I’m here with you. Everything will be okay.”

The person’s breath did seem steadier after a few minutes. Finally they looked up.

“I’m so sorry, oh god, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry…”

Izuku just waved them off.

“It’s okay. Do you want us to call you an ambulance or something? Maybe someone to pick you up?”

The person shook her head violently.

“No, no, please don’t. I’ll be fine, I just heard some bad news and couldn’t control my quirk I am very sorry. You can leave now if you like. I am very sorry for bothering you. Thank you very much.”

Izuku nodded and got up. Sero did the same and stretched his legs. He wasn’t sure if they could just leave them be, but there was nothing more they could do as well.

That was when a hero entered the alleyway. Sero was glad, since they would take it from here. He turned to look at Izuku, but he wasn’t there anymore. He had jumped back to the end of they alley and put a hand on his face. Sero looked at him in confusion. Was there something wrong? He seemed incredibly tense.

Izuku seemed to realize the situation as well, since he exhaled and stepped back next to Sero. He was still a little nervous, but put on a wobbly smile. The hero had stepped into the alley during that time and was observing the three people here.

“I came here because someone heard screams. Is everything alright?”

It was Izuku who answered. His voice was steady. His tone seemed a little forced.

“Yeah sorry. I didn’t expect anyone to come in here. We’re fine.”

The hero didn’t seem to believe any of that.

“Aha. Might I ask what that pink slime over there means?”

The hero gestured at the goo the other person had been leaking up until a few moments ago. The person on the ground flinched. Sero was about to answer, when Izuku interrupted him.

“No sorry we don’t know anything about that. It was already here when we came.”

It most definitely wasn’t here before. Sero wasn’t sure why Izuku would lie, especially to a hero, but one look from the green-haired kid was enough to shut him up. He didn’t want to put Izuku in trouble, so he just went along with the lie.

The hero still seemed suspicious.

“Is that so?”

He looked over to the person sitting in the goo. They didn’t have anything on their clothes or skin anymore, but were still sitting in a pile of it.

“It’s my fault. I bumped into someone and the next thing I knew I was sitting here. I don’t know where the other person went. I called for help and those two came.”

Since all their stories matched up the hero just sighed.

“If no one is injured and everything is okay I’ll just leave. Get home safely.”

The hero did leave after that. Izuku and the other person sighed. Sero wasn’t too sure what to think. They had just lied to a hero. Both of them. Maybe they knew each other?

The person on the ground finally got up. They were a little unsteady on their feet, but managed to catch themselves.

“Thanks for helping me kid. I really don’t wanna deal with the police right now. I’ll really be fine. Thanks again.”

Then they left. Sero watched them go and then turned to Izuku.

“Why did you lie?”

Izuku looked in Sero’s eyes, as if to detect any signs of hostility.

“Because otherwise they would have had to admit to illegal quirk usage. I know most people don’t take that seriously, but it is a very annoying process to go through. Since their quirk got out of control, they would probably have had to face quirk counselling and give a statement to the police. That probably wouldn’t have helped their current situation in any way. Sorry you had to go along with my lie, but thanks.”

Sero wasn’t that well versed in quirk law, but what Izuku said seemed about right. After all, they weren’t allowed to use quirks in public. This didn’t seem like a problem to him, but he had never lost control of his quirk before. Must be hard for other people.

“It’s okay, I just wanted know. But it all worked out fine in the end. You really knew what to do there, huh. That’s incredible. I could barely do anything.”

Izuku started walking towards the station again.

“I just have some experience, you know. But I think it’s annoying that people like them could be taken to the police for something like this. Some are even branded villains instead of getting proper help.”

Sero had never thought about it. It had all just seemed so natural to him. He still had a lot to learn.

“I think you’re right. People should be allowed to use their quirks to a certain degree in public. We are allowed to use them at home and it’s not like there have been any catastrophes because of that. Quirks are just parts of use after all.”

“So you say that if you could, you would want to change the way things are?”

“Yeah, I guess. It seems like something that needs changing. I mean it’s not the only thing, but that’s just the way things are. It’s normal.”

Izuku had a very thoughtful look on his face.

“It really shouldn’t be like that, though. I think we need to change things. You don’t know how hard I had to fight just to get into the General Education course in UA. Quirkless people, people with mutations and people with villainous quirks are all being discriminated against in this society. This shouldn’t be our normal.”

Sero just nodded along. All of this made sense. Why had he never thought about that?

Izuku continued talking.

“So what would you say if I told you that it was possible to do this? To change society. What would you do?”

After all this, that was a very easy question to answer.

“I would do that, of course. It’s not even a question.”

Izuku grinned.

“Good. Then let me show you a little something.”

And Sero followed Izuku. He would follow him for a long time. His life changed that day, for the better. And ultimately, he would not regret it.

Chapter Text

Izuku was pacing at the bar. Shinso sat on a stool and drank some coffee. Kurogiri was cleaning clean glasses, as he always did. Lastly Shigaraki was sitting on the couch, finally permitted to move between bed, toilet, couch and fridge himself. He was playing a video game, but seeing how he had died once again he was obviously not paying attention.

Finally, he spoke up.

“Izuku, sit down. Overthinking won’t help you. It’s just a sports festival.”

That was apparently the wrong thing to say.

“Just a sports festival? JuSt a SpORtS fEstIVaL? Are you kidding me? This is my one chance to finally join the hero course! If I fail this, I will have to wait another year, that will throw all our plan in complete disarray!”

Shinso sighed.

“Shigaraki is right, you know. Even if you don’t make it Aizawa seems ready to put you in our class anyways, regardless of what anyone else says. Since we got a free space now anyways, I doubt you will have to get far to be considered.”

Izuku finally settled down on a chair. Kurogiri slid him a cup of coffee.

“But I have to prove to the world that quirkless people can be good enough! If I’m not good enough they’ll assume I got a favour, or even worse, pity! I have to do this! I mean I’m grateful to you all for having someone kicked out to make space for me but that really wasn’t necessary. I have to do this on my own. I don’t want any of you to go easy on me.”

“You do know that we wouldn’t dare go easy on you.” Shinso said. “You have to show your full potential, that you can persist against people with quirks giving it their all. We can’t hold back. You’ll destroy us.”

At least that put a smile on Izuku’s face.

“Thanks, Hitoshi.”

From the couch, Shigaraki had obviously listened to the entire conversation.

“See. You just gotta give it your all. I mean, you have never actually failed at anything. Here, this will cheer you up. I recorded it and saved it exactly for moments like these.”

Shigaraki closed the game he had been playing and put on a news report from a few weeks ago. He had played it so many times, Izuku wondered if it was the only thing that had made him recover so fast.

It was a news coverage regarding the USJ attack. Initially, most people had been lashing out at UA for not protecting the students, but given the state of discontentment with All Might in most social media, the number one hero had to give a public apology.

Izuku was glad that neither Eraserhead nor Thirteen had to give a media statement. They probably just didn’t want to show injured heroes. Not that All Might hadn’t been injured. Izuku was sure that the man hadn’t been fine. His appearances had gotten even rarer and even at school he was never seen outside of classes. But he still put on his hero persona of being perfect and fine while giving his statement.

“I am very sorry for having let harm come to my students. If only I had arrived sooner, I would have been able to diffuse the situation. I promise that this will not happen again.”

All Might bowed, and that was it. Only a few seconds. But it was enough. Enough to show that the pillar was crumbling. That other heroes needed to step up and not rely on one single person. It was only a little bit, but Izuku’s plan had succeeded. It wasn’t what he had hoped for. But the plan was in motion, nonetheless.

Izuku smiled. He took a deep breath. This was what he was fighting for. Change.

He emptied his coffee.

“I can do this. I will do this. Let’s do this!”

Shinso smiled and got up as well.

“Then come on, we don’t have all day. Time to show the world what we can do.”

Aizawa was very stressed. Today was the sports festival, but that was the smallest thing on his mind. Something was wrong.

First, there was his class. Some of them were way too good for their age. He had expected some of them to be that good, maybe the recommended students, but not half his class! Then again, Vlad King had said the same, so maybe it was just a very motivated generation. He could deal with that. It even made his job easier.

Second, there were the vigilantes. It’s not like he had been chasing them for years now. Still no clue who they were. Except that they were young. Well, one of them was. The others never spoke to him. As soon as they noticed he was there they left. And Aizawa had to admit, they were good at disappearing.

The worst thing was, that they kept growing. It was incredible. They all wore cloaks and masks in all kinds of colours and appeared all over town. If this continued, he might have to put this into the organized crime department. But he didn’t want that. Because then they would really be criminals. Aizawa wasn’t quite ready to admit that yet.

He still hoped he could help them. Get them off the street. So he stuck to the belief that it was some kind of quirk.

The third thing, and the most important thing on his mind was Izuku. The quirkless problem child he had decided to train and put into his hero course. No matter what All Might said. This kid had already proven himself during training often enough.

But that was not what Aizawa was worried about, no. Because the kid was too good for his age. He obviously had more training and experience than anyone his age is supposed to have. Aizawa could write that off as being motivated, once again. After all, a quirkless kid would have had to train so much more than someone with a quirk.

The kid had scars. He tried to hide them, but Aizawa still noticed. He hadn’t mentioned them yet. He didn’t want to scare the kid after all. But there was something going on. Whenever he tried to breach the topic of his home life the kid got all evasive.

This couldn’t go on forever. But Aizawa wasn’t sure what to do. If Izuku didn’t say anything, he couldn’t help. And he wasn’t even his student yet.

Aizawa decided that after the sports festival, once Izuku was in his class (and he would be, definitely) he would deal with his problems. For now his problem child had to do his best in the festival.

Speaking of the festival. He would be in the commentator booth with Mic and Eri. She had promised to be quiet and the booth was a great viewing spot. Might as well spend the day with his family. He didn’t like to be in crowds anyways. And he could give comments on all the students. Not because he was proud of how strong the were, of course. This was strictly professional.

It was the morning of the sports festival and his students were probably currently changing. Mic was explaining the stadium to Eri, who seemed very happy to be up here. Aizawa was waiting for Izuku. He couldn’t leave the booth right now, so he had asked Izuku to come up here to give him a little pep talk. The kid was probably nervous.

Someone knocked at the door. It was Izuku, already changed into his gym uniform. He also had a utility belt. Aizawa didn’t want to know what was in there. But if he carried it around, he must have asked for permission for some items. This was going to be interesting.

Before Izuku could completely walk into the room or say a single word, he was tackled by Eri.

Aizawa froze, and so did Mic. Eri usually wasn’t open to strangers. Izuku got over the shock of being tackled by a little girl rather easily and smiled at her.

“Hello there, little lady. Nice to meet you, I’m Izuku. And you are?”

Eri didn’t answer. She went back to Mic and tried to hide in his jacket.

Mic smiled.

“That’s our daughter, Eri. Sorry, she usually doesn’t just run up to people and hug them. She must like you.”

Izuku smiled and shook his head in embarrassment.

“I’m glad to hear that. Aizawa, you wanted to talk to me?”

Aizawa looked between Eri and Izuku. Something was going on here. But this was not the time. One day he would unravel this mystery. But not today.

“I wanted to wish you good luck. You have nothing to be afraid of. You have trained harder than most people down there. Just give it your all and have some fun. I believe in you, problem child.”

Aizawa stood up and ruffled Izuku’s hair.

Mic laughed.

“I can’t believe you are trying to steal my student. How dare you. I feel so betrayed. All joked aside, I believe in you as well. Good luck.”

Someone from inside Mic’s jacket, a small voice piped up.

“Good luck.”

Izuku’s smile go even wider. The boy was practically beaming.

“Thank you. I will do my best!”

Maybe the pep talk hadn’t been necessary. He could really do this.

Izuku turned around and left. The festival would soon start. Midnight would be done there as a referee. It was about time for the classes to go on the field.

The changing room of class 1-A was rather quiet. People talked only in hushed tones. The Void members exchanged a few secret looks. They knew what they had to do today.

The doors opened. They walked into the field.

The light was blinding. There were so many people. Shinso hated it. He just wanted to be an underground hero. Work at night. No people actually knowing him. Yet here he was, on the greatest stage of his life. So far, at least.

At least his other classmates seemed as nervous as he was.

Present Mic announced their arrival. The class that had already deal with their first villain attack. More like the class that had organized their first villain attack and pulled the rest of the class into danger. And the teachers.

No. This was not the time to think about this. All nineteen of them had to give it their all. Their best. Especially the Void members. Even if Izuku didn’t like it, they had a plan. They would make sure that their leader would be in a hero class by the end of the day.

The other classes were introduced with way less fanfare than class 1-A. It made sense, but Shinso still felt bad about it. They were responsible for this, in a way. Izuku walked on the field with the rest of class 1-C. He seemed happy and confident. Shinso was glad to see that.

The last member of Void to make it onto the field was Mei. They were all here now. It was time to start.

Midnight explained the rules. Shinso was glad to have her as a referee. The heroine was fair and competent.

She called Bakugo up to the stage. He had taken the first place in the hero course exam. Some of the other classes complained since he was only first in the hero exam, but Shinso just laughed at that. The practical exam was just extra. All students had the same written exam, and if they wanted to have the first place there to give a speech another hero from class 1-A would stand up there. Momo might have gotten in through recommendations, but she still had to write the same exam. And you couldn’t top a perfect score.

Shinso had to admit that he would rather have Momo up there. He could almost see Izuku clench his fists. He didn’t really like the boy either.

“I’m gonna win this.”

That was all. That was the entire speech Bakugo had bothered to prepare. If he hadn’t expected something like this, Shinso might have rioted with the rest of the classes. But he stayed silent. And he smiled. They would make Bakugo eat these words.

Bakugo wouldn’t win this. Not if all of Void had something to say against it.

He stepped down from the podium and Midnight tried to calm the masses.

“The first event will be an obstacle course. You will have to run four kilometers around the arena and arrive back here. The first places will be able to participate in the next event. Using your quirks is allowed.”

The students slowly gathered at the starting line, pushing and pulling to get in front. Shinso could already see the first obstacle. The way too narrow gate.

He smiled. The first event was everyone for themselves. They couldn’t be seen working together yet. He had enough faith in his friends that they would all make it to the second round.

Some fireworks exploded and Midnight and Present Mic screamed at the same time:

“START!!!”

Chapter Text

Izuku didn’t hesitate. He had kept his distance for the start because he knew there would be too much chaos for him to persist, so he was now at the end where people were pushing each other into the small entrance. The first obstacle. Izuku laughed. How long had he trained now? It was time he showed what he could do.

He took a few steps back and started sprinting into the masses. But instead of trying to push through them, he jumped.

And now he was giving his best to run on top of all the other students who were complaining and pushing. They were standing so close together, Izuku did not have any trouble to find footing. It was almost hilarious, really. All those people who had looked down on him, and now Izuku was using them as a stepping stool. Literally.

It did not take him long and Izuku was through the narrow entrance and heading towards a field of ice. Shoto’s work, of course. Izuku was glad to see his friends doing well for themselves. He didn’t stop though. He had spent too much time training with various members of Void, including Shoto, to be tripped up by a little ice. He just needed to balance a bit, but otherwise he slid along the ice as fast as he could, passing many other students who were trying to be more careful.

Izuku let out a laugh. This was more fun than he had imagined. Maybe he really should take Present Mic’s advice to heart.

Shoto was ahead of him, but not by far. Izuku could see the very first actual obstacle. Robots. The same ones from the entrance exam. Once again, hero students had a huge advantage, not only because of their quirks and education, but because o already having proven themselves as capable of defeating those.

Shoto however, had never fought against these robots before. Not that that was a problem, even if he hadn’t heard all about them from the people that had actually participated in the entrance exam. He just froze them all until they slowly started to come crashing down.

Shoto probably thought that no one except for him would make it underneath the falling robots. He was partially right. Bakugo just used his quirk to basically explosion-fly himself over the robots and the two students that tried to get underneath were Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, which Izuku knew would not get harmed by a few robots falling on them. Because Izuku knew the quirks and combat capabilities of everyone in the hero classes. He had done his research.

But knowledge wasn’t the only thing Izuku had. He also had determination. So when the other students tried to not get crushed by the falling robots and avoided them, Izuku sprinted ahead once again. If there was one thing he had more experience in than anything else, it was his capabilities to run away. That was how he was able to follow just behind Shoto while dodging the falling robot parts.

Shoto actually turned around to see if anyone was stupid enough to follow him. He shouldn’t be surprised to see Izuku there. He even smiled at that, but made no attempt to slow down or anything else. Good. Izuku wanted all of them to give it their all. He didn’t need their pity.

Izuku was fast, but Shoto had a headstart so he was not the first to arrive at the next obstacle. Bakugo was also ahead, keeping himself in the air through sheer anger alone, apparently. He hadn’t noticed Izuku yet. He wasn’t like Shoto, to spare a glance behind him to see how the rest was doing.

Izuku arrived at the canyon and slowed down a little. He tested the ropes. In front of him both Shoto and Bakugo were already crossing this obstacle in their own ways. The rope held Izuku easily and seemed to be rather tight. Of course. It would have to hold a lot of people after all. Izuku wondered what kind of security measures they had in place on the ground of the canyon, in case someone fell down. There had to be something there after all.

He looked behind him. The crowd was still a little away, only a few select students (most from Void, he was very proud of that fact) were catching up to him, having cleared the robot obstacle.

Izuku set a foot down on the rope and started walking. After checking his balance he gained a little speed and not soon after he was running. He felt like a ninja. Good thing he had practised to run across all kinds of surfaces to be able to escape from heroes. Mainly to escape from Eraserhead though. Izuku sure hoped the man was too busy commenting to notice that the people running down here were the people he chased on a regular basis during the night.

While on the last rope he heard maniacal laughter and the buzzing of machines. That could only be Mei showing off her latest inventions. He smiled. Mei had been very enthusiastic about this festival. Shinso and he had to work together to get her to sleep during the last few weeks. They had ushered her into bed yesterday very early as well. She couldn’t miss her big day after all.

But this wasn’t only Mei’s big day. She might get a lot of sponsors and heroes interested in her inventions but Izuku would finally get recognition. He had tried for so long to prove himself. Today was the day.

Izuku started running again once he was on the other side of the canyon. He spared another glance behind him to see that he still had a little distance between him and the rest of the group. Mei was indeed wreaking havoc with her machines. The other students and Void members were doing fine as well, if not a little more cautious than Izuku. Okay he had to admit, they were a lot more cautious. Maybe he was a little reckless. Just an occupational hazard though.

He picked up his pace again and started running to the next obstacle. He could see Shoto and Bakugo ahead of him. They weren’t that far away. And Izuku was gaining on them. Running around the city and away from heroes had its perks after all. Third place was almost safe for him now. He knew that depending on the next obstacle and how the other two boys used their quirks he wouldn’t be able to catch up to them. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t try.

It didn’t take him long to reach the next, and based on the distance, the last obstacle. It was a mine field. He hadn’t seen any mine activated yet, but he could guess about how strong a blast was. Enough to send someone flying, but not enough to actually injure someone.

Shoto was ahead and slowly making his way forward without tripping any mines. He could probably just ice the whole ground and make his way over, but that would make the field accessible for all other who followed. Bakugo was behind, a bit more reckless than Shoto and slowly gaining on him. Shoto hadn’t noticed that yet. But he would soon, and then he would use his quirk and Bakugo would use his quirk and Izuku wouldn’t be able to catch up anymore. He could dig out a few mines and have them explode at the same time to send him flying but…that was a little reckless, he had nothing to use as a buffer between him and the mines and the trajectory would be a little hard to get right.

But digging out bombs was a good idea. He just needed one and none of them had been activated yet. It was clearly visible where they were as well. It did not take long for Izuku to basically have a bomb in his hands. He was sure he was giving Aizawa a heart attack up in the booth. He had tuned out all the commentary, and was more focused on himself, so he didn’t know what was going on.

But now he started running, with the bomb in hand. And he was fast. Maybe he was a little to reckless for his own good, but this was the only way he could still win. And he was very good at dodging and not stepping on the ground where he shouldn’t. Which is how he got very close to Bakugo and Shoto before the two started using their quirk to be faster.

Izuku smiled. He just had to get the timing right. He was sure the two boys hadn’t even noticed him approaching. He had been a little stealthy of course, he always was, but Bakugo would never perceive him as a threat anyways and Shoto was focused on Bakugo right now.

Right at the moment where the two were side by side and activating their quirks against each other, Izuku threw the bomb.

It sailed over their heads and landed right in front of them. Then it exploded. The explosion triggered the bombs in the near vicinity and before they even realized what was happening, they lost the ground underneath their feet. And Izuku finally passed the two. He could almost see them in slow motion. Shoto looking at his situation, dumbfounded and shocked. Bakugo, a look of haunted recognition on his face.

Izuku passed the two before the hit the ground. And this time, he didn’t look back. The explosions behind him were enough proof that the two had landed on even more mines and were sent flying once again. It was a hilarious chain reaction. He couldn’t help but laugh. In front of him was an empty field. For once, he didn’t have to chase someone’s back. The freedom was exhilarating. He made it through the mine field and into the stadium.

The finish line. He had made it.

And Izuku was smiling brighter than he thought he would. This was what he was here for.

He laughed. He wondered if the others were proud of him.

This was his victory.

Aizawa looked down at the screens. He couldn’t see what was happening outside himself, so he had to rely on the cameras. There was one each focused on the first, second and third place, and a few more to cover the rest of the students.

Todoroki was first, which didn’t surprise him. He must have gotten incredible training from his father. Bakugo, who didn’t have such privileges, was close behind him. Other spectators might be shocked seeing Todoroki freeze the robots, but Aizawa knew that the boy could do even more.

This part wasn’t what surprised him, no. The surprise came, of course, from his problem child. Only he was dumb enough to run underneath a collapsing robot. Aizawa held his breath until he saw him coming out without a scratch. This boy would be the end of him.

He was very lucky to have dodged all these falling parts without getting injured. Other students were buried, but they had been able to defend themselves with their quirks.
It wasn’t a surprise that the two hero classes were ahead of the rest. The only exception was Izuku, of course.

The next obstacle was the canyon, and seeing how easily Todoroki and Bakugo cleared them, Aizawa wondered if perhaps the festival was too easy for them. Then he looked at how Izuku, who had his own camera for being in third place, would handle it.

He was testing the ropes, good. He walked on them, okay, maybe a little daring but the tempo was fine.

Then he sped up.

Suddenly Aizawa was very glad to know just what exact security measured were in place in case someone fell. He wouldn’t be injured. But Izuku had no way of knowing that. He was way too reckless for his own good.

But he didn’t fall.

That was maybe even more of a surprise for Aizawa.

It was Mic who leaned over to him and asked him what the hell he had been teaching this kid.

Aizawa wasn’t sure either, but it was certainly not this.

Now he really wanted to know what this kid was hiding to be able to just run on rope like that at this age. It was suspicious, to say the least. And Aizawa didn’t want to know how often he must have fallen to be so good at it. A lot of his scars were starting to make more sense now.

While Aizawa was still wondering about the past of his problem child, Todoroki had reached the last obstacle. The mine field. Just as predicted the boy slowly made his way across without using his quirk or activating any mines. Good. If he had just iced a path that would have been a very boring obstacle to watch.

Bakugo was behind him, picking up the pace. Aizawa wanted to watch the two. He really did. But then he saw Izuku bent down and dig something out of the ground.

No.

Please no.

He could feel the kid’s smile until up here. Abort mission. It was not a good idea to give this kid any kinds of explosives. Nope. He didn’t want to know what he was planning to do with that.

He kept it while running. Aizawa just prayed that the impact generated from running wouldn’t accidently trigger the bomb. It shouldn’t, but that didn’t ease his worries very much.
Finally Izuku made a motion to get rid of the bomb. By throwing it.

At the other participants.

Of course. Because where else would he throw a bomb.

The poor kids didn’t know what was happening. One second they were fighting for the lead, the next they were violently thrown back by an explosion. Maybe now Bakugo would have a little sympathy towards the person he used his quirk on next time. Just maybe. Aizawa doubted it.

Izuku ran through the pink smoke generated from the explosion and left the other in the dust. He didn’t even turn around this time. Not that he had to. It was obvious what was happening, based on the sounds.

Todoroki landed on the ground and was promptly jerked into the air again by another mine. He activated his quirk to make a slide and finally came to stop on a patch of ice. That was good quick thinking, Aizawa noted. Seemed like experience.

Bakugo did not have such luck. He landed on the ground and was exploded again three times before he came to stop on a non-explosive patch. By that time Todoroki had already gone ahead and even a few other that had been behind were now catching up.

Izuku had an undisputable first place. And the smile he showed was almost worth all the grey hairs Aizawa would grow based on this experience. And this was only the first round of the sports festival.

Todoroki took second place, Yaoyorozu third and Bakugo fourth. The rest was a good mix of both hero classes, on other person from General Education and one support class student. 42 students would advance to the next round.

Every single hero course student had made it. Plus two Gen Ed and one support. This was how it usually looked. Most people didn’t even bother to try in a festival that was obviously oriented towards the hero classes.

But Aizawa wouldn’t change this. There were recreational activities, the support students could show off their items anyways and the business courses had much to do as well. This was an event for hero students to get internship offers and Gen Ed students to be seen and maybe transferred to the hero course. And what better way to prove oneself than in something oriented towards the hero course.

This was how Aizawa had gotten into the hero course as well. After all, the entrance exam wasn’t everything and nothing could beat the real combat experience of the third round.
Izuku just needed to make it there. Aizawa was sure he was good enough to show even the sceptical All Might that he deserved his place in the hero course once he got a chance to fight.

It was time for Midnight to explain the next event and both Mic and Aizawa muted their microphones.

Then Aizawa picked Eri up and smiled at her.

“Did you like the obstacle race?”

Eri’s eyes were practically sparkling.

“Ho…Izuku won! He is super strong right? He will win the rest?”

Aizawa smiled at his daughter. She seemed to have taken a real liking to Izuku. Maybe it was because he often spoke about him at dinner.

“We will just have to wait and see. He will most certainly do his best.”

Eri showed the faintest hint of a smile.

“Then I will be cheering for him!”

Mic laughed and ruffled Eris hair.

“I’m sure he will be even better if you do that.”

Eri seemed so happy. Aizawa had never been more glad that Hollow had dropped the girl on him to take care of. This was worth it.

Chapter Text

Izuku had made it. He was first place in the first round. Only two more rounds to go.

Todoroki approached him.

“Did you really have to throw a bomb at me? I mean I get why and it was really clever but still.”

That made him laugh. The idea had come at random.

“I’m here to show people what I can do. I will not hold anything back. I expect you to do the same. And it was fun. I gotta admit. You both looked so shocked!”

Todoroki shook his head, but he couldn’t supress a smile as well.

That was when Izuku noticed a certain blond explosion boy make his way towards him. Nope. He really didn’t want to deal with that right now. He wondered if Todoroki would make an iceberg until the next round started.

Luckily that wasn’t needed since Shinso stopped Bakugo and kept him there until Midnight stepped upon the podium again.

She began explaining the rules of the next round after all 42 participants had arrived and more or less caught their breath.

It would be a cavalry battle where people had to secure the headbands of the other teams in order to win. Points were based on the results of the obstacle race. Seemed easy enough. Except for the fact that Izuku was worth a million points. Another person might have collapsed under the pressure of being everyone’s target. But not him. This just meant that all cameras would be on him. The quirkless boy. He smiled. It couldn’t be better.

They had fifteen minutes to find a team. People were already scrambling around to find someone, put Izuku could tell that many people were holding back. The Void members. They still looked for him for support. For approval. They probably waited for Izuku to pick a team before they chose their own. They really shouldn’t do that. Not that Izuku wouldn’t do the same in their position.

Izuku looked around at the 41 people around him. He knew all of them, and could make great teams based on personality and quirks. But that wasn’t what he was here for. So he approached the first person. Someone not in Void. Maybe to prove a point. Probably just to ease his own conscience.

Luckily for him, Tokoyami accepted. His quirk was very versatile and would be useful in all kinds of situations. Izuku’s goal for him wasn’t to make a perfect team for himself, he wanted to cripple the other teams as much as possible.

It would be easy to just ask Shoto to encase them in an iceberg and not move. Or for Momo to make him everything he needed. But he didn’t want that.

The next person he recruited was Setsuna. It would be good to mix the two classes in order to build a bond between them. They shouldn’t be rivals if they had a common goal after all. Friendly competition was fine, but in the future, it wouldn’t matter from which class or school someone came from.

Setsuna was very clever and could easily make her own team. Her team would be successful without a doubt. But she would be even more useful on Izuku’s team.

Now he just needed one more. Someone to carry the whole team if necessary. Someone who could easily detect attacks and be a good defence at the same time. Shoji. Izuku would trust the boy to have his back at ay time. Now wasn’t any different.

Izuku looked at his team once more. Tokoyami, Setsuna and Shoji. Yes, this would be good.

“Alright guys, I already have a plan but that won’t take long to explain. For now I want you to walk around and act as if you don’t have a team yet. Figure out who teams up and what strategies they are gonna use.”

This was the other reason he had wanted Setsuna and Shoji. Espionage.

It seems that while the two of them were eager to get to work, Tokoyami was a little uncomfortable.

“That is not a very honourable approach to this task. I guess it is the fate of those who walk in the darkness.”

Izuku smiled. He was sure Tokoyami would get along splendidly with Kuroiro. Maybe he should introduce the two of them.

“Then why did you join my team?”

Tokoyami looked at him expressionless. Or maybe Izuku just couldn’t read his expression.

“Because you asked. You must have a secret weapon, seeing how you won the first round. I believe I could have done better. The darkness calls to me, but for once I believe that being in the light would serve me better. You seem like a very good light for that.”

Izuku was very touched by that comment. He had heard all about Tokoyami’s quirk and the fact that Momo suspected he was weak to light. This was probably his way of showing he trusts him.

“I don’t really have a secret weapon, actually. I’m quirkless. But I will win this nonetheless.”

Tokoyami spun around and looked at Izuku for a few moments. Izuku wondered if Tokoyami would join another team now that he knew. He sure hoped not. From what he had heard Tokoyami was a very nice person, if a bit dramatic.

“I see. Then you have even more respect for winning the first round. It is not an easy path that you walk, yet you walk it, nonetheless. I will do as you told me.”

With that he turned around and mingled with the other groups. Izuku sighed in relief. Then he looked around and wondered if it would do any good to try and get information himself. The Void members had seen that he picked a group and no one else dared approach him. Maybe he could try listening from afar.

Shinso waved him over and smiled.

“Hey, I see you already have your team. I look forward to seeing what you have planned. I just wanted to inform you that you don’t have to worry about me. My team is Hagakure, Kuroiro and me. We all want to be underground heroes and it would be bad for us if we showed what we could do on live TV. We were good enough in the obstacle course so being moved to General Education is not a problem for us. We’ll just spend the whole time running around and sabotaging the other groups. But we will make sure to fail in the end. If people knew about my brainwashing it would make my career much harder, so we’ll have to take what we can.”

Hagakure and Kuroiro nodded along as Shinso explained their situation. Izuku understood. It would be bad for all of them if their capabilities would be broadcasted. And it would probably be fun to see them messing with the other people.

“Alright then, have fun. If you have nothing else to do, mid spying for me? See it as training?”

The other team laughed.

“Sure boss. Whatever you want. You don’t need an advantage, but you’ll get it, nonetheless. Always fun to be working with you.”

Izuku smiled. He didn’t deserve his friends.

After ten minutes of trying to approach people and ask about their strategies, he gave up. They all avoided him. He was used to that, really, but at least this time they actually had a good reason.

His own team and his personal spy team approached him and gave him all the info he needed. In the end there would be eleven teams. Two teams of three and the rest were teams of four.

There was his own team with Tokoyami, Setsuna and Shoji. Then his spy team with Shinso, Hagakure and Kuroiro. The other team of three was Ojiro, Kendo and the one person from his own class who had made it into the second round. This was also the team with all different classes.

Todoroki had decided to team up with Jiro, Kamakiri and Mei. Mei probably just used Todoroki to show off her inventions, since Izuku hadn’t asked her. He had thought to put her on his team, but he needed to show he was capable of fighting without the support of her inventions. They were wasted on someone quirkless anyways, since they were able to support all kinds of quirks. This would be better for her. Todoroki was a powerhouse on his own and Jiro would be able to figure out all surprise attacks. Kamakiri was a good defence. A very well-balanced team.

Momo was in a team with Uraraka, Kinoko and Yanagi. Izuku would be very cautious of that team especially. Momo was a terrifying planner and had assembled a very good team. There were a lot of possibilities to think of what was possible with that combination, and Izuku really didn’t need to figure out eery single one. That would take too much time and make him very nervous.

Sero and Kaminari had decided to team up with Bakugo and Iida. They were a very diverse team even if Kaminari would have problems to actually use his electricity.
Another team was made up out of Sato, Koji, Aoyama and Ashido. Tsuyu, Shiozaki, Tetsutetsu and Kirishima were a team as well. Monoma had decided to team up with Pony, Tsuburaba, and Nirengeki. The last two teams were Hiryu, Bondo, Honenuki and Manga, and Shishida, Kodai, Awase and Kaibara.

Good. Izuku knew all the teams. Now he just needed to survive the second round against all of them. It would be easiest to make Setsuna the one on top and just have the top of her head float off with the headband, but it would be hard to protect that and he needed her elsewhere.

The other teams had all closed off and were discussing their own strategies. Izuku had the advantage of knowing what the individuals could do. Many wouldn’t bother to learn the quirks from other classes, some not even bothering to learn the quirks of those in their own class, but Izuku was prepared.

There were many people watching him. He couldn’t let down their expectations.

Up in the commentator booth Aizawa watched the building of teams while the spectators were enjoying a little break. He was bouncing Eri on his legs, who was still happy because Izuku had won.

He was surprised by what he saw. He knew that Izuku had prepared beforehand and would choose a good and diverse team, even from different classes. He had expected that. He hadn’t expected the others to mic the two classes as well. It was very rare for classes to mix during the sports festival, especially on the first-year stage. But now there were six out of eleven teams mixed. The previous record had been three. Teamwork was important, but first-years almost never joined with the other classes. They often held a rivalry that sometimes even stayed within their professional careers. This year was vastly different.

Aizawa kept thinking that this batch of students was weird and they still managed to keep surprising him. He wondered what the cause for that was.

Mic seemed to be surprised at the team-ups as well. It was a good kind of surprise, but the still wondered how it came to be. Maybe this generation of heroes would finally bring a change to society. Aizawa already knew that Izuku would make a huge impact, but it seems like he wasn’t alone. All of this year’s students had so much potential.

Aizawa couldn’t wait to see them grow.

The league of villains had assembled in the bar and were watching the sports festival together. There were a lot of snacks and drinks and even a few posters. Kurogiri had sent Izuku a photo of them all, sitting on the sofa and cheering for the Void members. There had even been a few bets made. Most money was on Izuku, second place was Todoroki.
They had cheered when Izuku had won the first round, even if he had given half the group a heart attack.

Now it was time to select teams for the second round, and the TV showed advertisements.

Magne spoke up while cleaning a few empty snack boxes.

“So what about recruiting? Were there any more potential candidates?”

Shigaraki shook his head.

“I had thought about contacting the hero killer Stain who has been gaining more fame recently, but Izuku told me not to. He said there are people who kill out of necessity, people who kill out of fun and some who kill because of an ideal. Only the last two are dangerous. And Izuku wasn’t sure which one he was, but that he was too dangerous for us to recruit.”

Magne nodded and plopped back on the sofa, half on top of Twice, who first apologized and then complained.

“I wonder who Izuku will pick. He could just pick Shoto and have an easy victory.” Dabi said.

Shigaraki smirked.

“You just say that because he is your brother. Izuku doesn’t need his help to win.”

Kurogiri sighed in the background once Dabi and Shigaraki started arguing once again over who would win in a fight between Shoto and Izuku. His own opinion on the matter was that they would never fight seriously since they were friends, but he wouldn’t dare voice that opinion.

Because he knew for a fact that All for One was sitting in his room, watching TV, and rooting for Izuku in his own way.

The hero killer Stain was supposed to be in Hosu and attack some pro hero. But he had more important things to do.

He really wanted to cheer on his kids in person, but that would be very dangerous, given the situation. The situation of him being a murderer.

So instead he watched at home.

Not that that was any better for his health. He really needed to make sure that Izuku never got into the vicinity of any real bombs.

Chapter Text

Izuku tied the headband with their points to his head. It was almost time to begin. He climbed onto Shoji. Setsuna and Tokoyami grabbed his legs. All three were supposed to support him, but it was easier for Shoji to carry the whole weight so Tokoyami and Setsuna were free to do their own things.

Izuku knew there wasn’t much he could do from up there. That was, if he fought like he usually did. In close quarters. But he hadn’t trained with a pro hero for weeks for nothing.
He grabbed under his jacket and slowly pulled out his support item. He didn’t need to use it yet and had hidden it on his body just in case. Of course he had asked for permission beforehand, but his fellow students didn’t need to see his weapon.

It was a replica of Eraserhead’s scarf. The hero had given it to him to train with a few weeks ago. Izuku hadn’t quite got the hand of it yet, but it was good enough as a weapon and better than nothing. He put it around his neck like a scarf. Well, it was a capture scarf. He sure hoped he would make Aizawa proud.

Midnight stepped onto the podium and got everyone’s attention. It was time. A signal blared and suddenly almost all other teams started heading towards Izuku’s team. He had predicted that.

But except maybe for Uraraka’s team who could make themselves almost weightless, Izuku’s team had the greatest mobility. Shoji carried Izuku and carried his whole weight. Tokoyami focused on running behind him and observing while Dark Shadow did all the defensive work. Setsuna had only left a single hand behind and was using the rest of her body parts to wrack havoc around the entire arena.

Since that was basically their whole plan, Izuku sure hoped it was enough. He didn’t doubt they could win like this, but he wanted to defend his one million points at all costs.

After seeing the mobility of Izuku’s team, a few other teams decided to gather a few points on their own at first and head towards the one million later. For now only one team was steadily trying to follow Izuku’s team around. It was team Bakugo. Of course. Ever since Izuku had beaten him in the obstacle race Izuku knew that Bakugo would stop at nothing to defeat him.

Sero shot out some tape but Dark Shadow managed to bat it away. Then again, it was tape. Dark Shadow was stuck to Sero’s tape now and tried to wrangle itself free. Sero used that chance to pull his team closer. With Iida in front they were quite fast.

Once they were close enough for close combat Bakugo activated his explosions and aimed them towards Izuku.

And Izuku froze. He hadn’t been the recipient of those explosions in years. But now it all came back to him. The small scars running all over his arms. How fireworks scared him more than he admitted to say. How his childhood had been bad even before his mom died. All he could hear was the person who he used to call a friend using his quirk on him again and again. As if he was a training doll. As if he didn’t have feelings. As if his childhood hadn’t been bad enough already.

Izuku had faced villains, heroes and vigilantes in combat. Yet now he stood, face to face with his past, and he couldn’t move. Bakugo reminded him of everything he had left behind.

He didn’t know how long he stood there, frozen. The face of his childhood friend, distorted in anger coming closer and closer, his palms full of sweat starting to ignite into the blasts that Izuku was so familiar with.

It seemed like an eternity.

And then Bakugo was pulled back by something. By someone.

Sero had let go of Dark Shadow and was pulling back Bakugo with his tape.

“What do you think you are doing shithead?!? I’m gonna blast this stupid Deku to a pulp!”

Izuku flinched when he heard that. Shoji seemed to notice that something was wrong and pulled back as fast as he could.

Sero didn’t seem that affected by Bakugo’s screaming and smiled.

“I just wanted to bring to your attention that someone stole our points.”

Kaminari and Iida looked up at Bakugo’s head. Bakugo ran a hand through his hair and got even angrier at the realization. And he screamed again.

“Who took our points?!?”

Sero had to stifle a grin. Sure he wanted to get as far as possible in this competition, which is why he endured to be teamed up with Bakugo, but no one said he couldn’t have fun along the way. That said, he didn’t know who took the headband. Then again, if they managed to do it without anyone noticing, there was only one team he could think of.

Shinso laughed at Bakugo’s reaction. The blond was so focussed on stealing Izuku’s points that he hadn’t even noticed Hagakure taking Bakugo’s headband. He was worried about Izuku. He saw how his friend had frozen up when facing his old bully. And he knew he wasn’t supposed to help Izuku too much, but he would have messed with Bakugo anyways, so this was a win-win situation.

He had laughed loudly and Bakugo looked in his direction, his eyes burning in fury.

Shinso just smiled and Hagakure held up the points she had stolen and put them around her neck. This alone should have been enough for Bakugo to start following them, but Shinso couldn’t help it.

“Catch us if you can.”

Then he and his team disappeared into the crowd of fighting people. They weren’t a stealth team for nothing. Not that there was much space to hide, but they were very good at evading people.

Bakugo didn’t waste a second. He ordered his team to follow them. Kaminari and Sero shared a look as if they knew an inside joke and Iida looked as if he rather was someplace else. Maybe on another team. Or in another class entirely. Anywhere but here.

Shoji used on of his arms to form a mouth and whispered to Izuku on his back.

“Are you okay?”

Izuku took a deep breath and watched Bakugo follow behind Shinso’s team. He was incredibly thankful.

“Yeah, sorry. Let’s keep going.”

He put on a brave smile and looked at the field. A hand carrying two headbands came floating towards him. Setsuna was doing an incredible job. Then again, who expected a disembodied hand to steal someone’s headband? Izuku put them around his neck and looked at the team that was making their way towards him.

It was team Monoma. Pony, Tsuburaba, and Nirengeki were carrying him. Pony’s quirk wouldn’t be of much help to Monoma since he had no horns. Maybe he could grow them. Pony herself would be good at long-range attacks but Izuku knew her attacks weren’t precise enough to steal his headband so he could defend against her. Nirengeki’s quirk Twin Impact manifested in close combat and neither Monoma nor Nirengeki were in a position for that. In front was Tsuburaba, with his quirk Solid Air. It would be a good defence, but Izuku knew that the boy hadn’t trained his quirk enough to withstand big impacts, so Shoji could probably break through.

Monoma stood in front of them and started boasting. Izuku didn’t mind. Time was on their side after all.

“Well well, if it isn’t the quirkless kid who somehow managed to sneak his way into the second round. The only reason you managed to hold on to your million points is because Setsuna took pity in you and decided to join your team. Those class A idiots are useless. I must say I am a little disappointed in our class rep for teaming up with others, but you can’t deny that class B is the best. Class A thinks they are better just because they got attacked. Ho dumb is that?”

Izuku wasn’t sure what to answer to that. Was that boy dumb? His quirk relied on teamwork since he needed a wide arsenal of quirks to choose from, so why was he antagonizing people like this?

It was Setsuna who answered.

“I think I’m the one that supposed to be disappointed. I am class rep and it is important to work together with other classes. If you take a look at the leader board, all the first places are teams with mixed classes. Teamwork is important and what you are doing is stupid. Izuku won the obstacle race without a quirk and I am honoured to be on his team.”

Monoma laughed. It was clear that he didn’t believe her.

“He couldn’t do anything on his own! He is just some quirkless idiot who got lucky once. He shouldn’t even be in UA. This is a hero school!”

Izuku really didn’t need to listen to this any longer. This kind of thinking was exactly the reason why he did what he did. He readied his capture scarf. Monoma was still saying rude quirkist things and Izuku has had enough. Monoma didn’t even have time to defend himself, regardless of which quirk he copied.

Izuku managed to wrap the capture scarf around Monoma and pulled with all his might. He was glad that Shoji held him tightly. Monoma flew over their heads, screaming. He faceplanted on the ground. Setsuna used that chance to take his headband.

The other three members of class B were dumbfounded. They probably hadn’t thought that Izuku would actually do something either. But Monoma was on the ground and with that their team was disqualified.

Izuku smiled. He had often wanted to just punch quirkist people in the face, and this time Monoma had presented himself on a silver platter. It was his own fault, really.
Izuku looked at the leader board. His team was in first place, obviously. He still hung on to the one million points after all.

Second place was team Momo and just behind them was team Todoroki. Fourth place was team Hagakure. Izuku smiled. So much for not attracting attention. Izuku was sure they would give up their points one way or another, but he did smile seeing that team Bakugo was tied in last place with zero points.

Setsuna moved her mouth in Izuku direction and sent her other body parts out again.

“Team Todoroki is currently fighting team Momo. They are about evenly matched and no other team dares to go in their vicinity. Team Bakugo is still chasing after team Hagakure without much luck and the others are running around like headless chickens. No wait, team Tsuyu is coming towards us.”

Izuku looked in the direction Setsuna pointed and saw them. Tsuyu was in top with Kirishima in front and Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki in the rear. They were a string and dangerous team as well.

Tsuyu was good in close combat but could use her tongue for mid-range as well. Shiozaki could use her vines for mid and long-range attacks as well and with Kirishima and Tetsutetsu they had and incredible defence as well.

It was Kirishima who started talking this time.

“Yoo, Midoriya! Well done winning the obstacle race! That was very manly! Fight me!”

Izuku almost laughed at the boy. Not in a bad way. This was a battle and he handed out compliments to the enemy. It made Izuku smile.

“Call me Izuku please. And I would love to.”

Kirishima smiled and activated his quirk. From on top of him Tsuyu raised her voice.

“Call me Tsuyu.”

Then she stuck out her tongue and extended it towards Izuku. Once again, Dark Shadow intervened and caught it. This time it wasn’t sticky but he still didn’t let go.

Kirishima ran forwards, using his head like a battering ram and attacked Shoji. Shoji had the advantage that he could still use his arms, at least two of them to stop him. He had the advantage of reach as well and so he grabbed Kirishima by the shoulder and held him there. It was almost hilarious to see how Kirishima tried to headbutt Shoji but only managed to hit the air between them.

Tsuyu retracted her tongue and tried to attack again. This time, a few thorny vines accompanied her. The vines wrapped around dark shadow and tied him down. Tsuyu’s tongue extended and Izuku was ready to hold his ground, until a disembodied torso crashed into the tongue. Setsuna had returned her split parts to help her team.

Tetsutetsu had activated his quirk as well and was now pulling on the vines that Shiozaki had made. Tokoyami and Dark Shadow pulled against the two of them.

All the while Izuku tried to use his capture scarf to trip the other team up by wrapping it around their feet, but he wasn’t as lucky as he was before, and the target was smaller than a whole human. At his seventh attempt he finally managed to wrap the scarf around Tetsutetsu’s leg and pulled. It was harder than pulling Monoma, but Izuku was determined. And Tetsutetsu had been too busy trying to pull Dark Shadow, that he didn’t notice Izuku’s scarf.

He lost his footing and without him the whole structure collapsed. Tsuyu jumped as high in the air as she could and the other tried to get up and rebuild to catch her again, which was very good thinking under pressure, and it might have worked, but Dark Shadow caught her and gently put her on the ground.

Shiozaki had tried to wrap her vines around Tsuyu, but she didn’t want to hurt the only team member that wasn’t immune to her vines.

Tsuyu took of her headband and handed it over to Izuku, since she was disqualified anyways.

“Well fought Izuku.”

Izuku smiled and took the headband, then put it over the others they had collected.

“Thank you Tsuyu, you too.”

Izuku looked over the field. Team Todoroki and team Momo were still locked in combat, but Izuku could tell that they weren’t going all out. There were a lot of frozen mushrooms that covered the entire field. Team Momo was partially floating. There were pieces of inventions all around them. Izuku knew why no one had wanted to approach that team.
On the other side of the field Bakugo’s team had finally managed to get their points back from team Hagakure. Shinso actually waved. Izuku smiled.

Team Bakugo was heading towards them at breakneck speeds, but Izuku wasn’t worried. There were only a few seconds left. Team Bakugo reached them just as the clock struck zero.

And with that, Izuku and his team had won the second round of the sports festival.

Second place was team Momo. Third was Todoroki. Fourth was Bakugo.

Izuku looked up at the cameras and smiled. A challenge. For all those that dared to call him useless again. He had won every round until now. Soon, no one would be able to deny him his place anymore.

Chapter Text

The matchups for the final round had been decided.

Izuku would be the first to fight, against Kamakiri.

The second fight was Shoji versus Setsuna.

The third fight was Iida versus Mei.

The fourth fight was Bakugo versus Uraraka.

The fifth fight was Momo versus Tokoyami.

The sixth fight was Jiro versus Yanagi.

The seventh fight was Kinoko versus Kaminari.

The last and eight fight of the first round was Shoto versus Sero.

Izuku looked at the board that displayed the matchups and felt pride stir in his chest. Every single member of Void that had chosen to participate had made it. Tokoyami, Bakugo and Iida were the only non-Void members who made it to the final round.

This would be hard for all of them. They sparred against one another often, and knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Izuku would spend hours the next few days watching recordings of their fights and analysing them. His friend’s and his own fights.

They had a break until the last round starts, where some recreational games could be played and the arena would be prepared. Izuku knew that he should probably try to relax and maybe participate in the games to create some bonds with his future classmates, but he needed some time alone. To breathe.

He had planned this. All of this. But he was never sure if he would actually make it. Now he was in the final round and for once he had time for doubt to creep in his mind. Could he really do this? He could fight. He would fight. Fighting was something he was good at. He has done this for years now.

And even if he messed up, his friends were there. He only had to fight a non-Void member if Uraraka lost and Bakugo won his first two fights. He didn’t want this victory to be handed to him by others. He knew that the other members saw this differently, saw it as just another step in their plan.

Izuku wasn’t dumb. He knew that Todoroki’s and Uraraka’s team had fought amongst themselves the whole time so they had a reason not to go after him.

But there was nothing he could do about it.

Izuku shook his head. It would be bad to be lost in thought now of all times. Maybe he could call someone to calm him down.

He opened his phone.

Then he laughed.

Had someone told him a few months ago that calling Shigaraki would calm him down, he would have laughed in their faces. But now he was about to do just that…when someone grabbed his hand.

“What the fuck are you laughing at?”

And Izuku froze. He looked into the red eyes of his old childhood friend. Bully.

He yanked his arm away and took a few steps back. He wanted to leave but didn’t dare turn his back on the other boy.

“What do you want, Bakugo?”

Bakugo grimaced, anger clear on his face.

“I wanna know how the fuck a stupid quirkless Deku like you could cheat himself into UA and through the first two rounds of the sports festival!”

Of course. Cheat. Because there was no other way Izuku could ever actually be something in life.

“I won faire and square. Without a quirk. Deal with it Bakugo. And my name is not Deku. Leave me alone.”

Izuku turned to leave, but Bakugo tried to grab him again. This time Izuku was prepared. He slapped the explosive boy’s arms away. He should have done so a long time ago.

“You are useless! I don’t know how you made it here but I will beat you if you cheat yourself to the finals!”

The finals, huh. Izuku planned to go there. But he knew it wasn’t Bakugo he would be fighting.

“If we happen to fight it’s in the semi-finals. But you have to make it there first.”

Bakugo just snorted and let tiny explosion free from his palms. Izuku tried to hide his flinch.

“You’re gonna get blasted if you actually cheat yourself to the semi-finals. No one will stop me and I can show the world how useless you are!”

Useless. Deku. These words resounded in his head over and over. Izuku swallowed them down and filled his head with happy memories, with his friends. The time spend in the bar after patrols. There was no use arguing with Bakugo. Action needed to speak.

So Izuku did what he did to bullies most of his life.

He ignored him.

Without looking him in the eye, Izuku made his way to the speaker’s booth. Meeting Eri always cheered him up. She showed him that what he did was worth it. That people could find happiness.

Bakugo was shouting after him, but Izuku didn’t listen.

It was time to move on.

After a few minutes he knocked at the door and Eri opened it. Izuku smiled down at her. She gave her best happy face. Not quite a smile, but she was coming there. Then she pressed a finger to her lips in a shushing motion and pointed at her fathers. They were both commentating the ongoing recreational games. Well, Mic was commentating. Aizawa had been sleeping until Izuku had opened the door.

Aizawa signed a ‘well done’ at him. Izuku signed a ‘thank you’ back. Eri tried her best to copy the two. She was slowly learning sign language as well. Izuku had learned it from Shinso, who has had no other way of communicating in his past, since he hadn’t been allowed to speak. But it was a useful skill, and Izuku had made sure to remember it. He had also made to sure to teach it to the rest of Void.

Izuku wasn’t sure how long he spent in the booth, playing silent games with Eri. But it calmed him down a significant amount. He almost forgot about his talk with Bakugo.
Almost.

He was just another person he could prove wrong. He would prove wrong.

Izuku believed in his team. He took out his phone. He did not often give orders as leader. But when he did, they were always followed. He opened the Void group chat.

‘I don’t want a single non-Void member to make it past the first round.’

He believed in them.

Aizawa plopped down in front of him and told him to go to the waiting room. His would be the first match.

Izuku nodded and patted Eri’s head before leaving. Aizawa smiled and did the same to Izuku. And Izuku couldn’t help that warm feeling in his chest.

It would be alright.

In the waiting room Izuku took a few deep breaths and started making a plan to fight against Kamakiri. The boy hadn’t been a member of Void for long, so he didn’t have the same experience as some other members. His quirk would be a problem, since he might be able to cut through Aizawa’s, no, his own capture scarf. He had a few more tricks up his sleeve, but he wanted to save those for later.

His best bet would be to dodge the blades that Kamakiri could grow and either knock him unconscious or push him out of bounds. Izuku was sure that he had enough experience dodging sharp objects. If not, Juniper wouldn’t have let him out after stitching him up. Dodging and running away were the most important skills of a vigilante after all.

Izuku smiled. He still had a few more minutes left. Maybe he could make that phone call to Shigaraki. It’s not like he had anything to lose.

The man picked up after a few seconds. And Izuku was glad that he didn’t have his phone on full volume.

A loud choir of “Congratulations”, “Well done” and more cheering almost blasted his ear drums. He smiled. After the people in the background calmed down, he pulled his phone closer to his ear.

“Thanks guys. My first match will be in a few minutes and I just wanted to check in.”

People started speaking all at the same time and Izuku didn’t understand a word. But then: “Give me the phone or I swear I will disintegrate you all and clean your remains with the same things I use for the toilet!”

Izuku snickered. The other end of the phone was a little quieter. Then Shigaraki seemed to have been handed the phone.

“Alright kid you better win I have bets running on you.”

Somewhere in the background, probably Dabi, shouted: “No offense but Shoto is gonna win but good luck reaching the finals, pal.”

Izuku smiled. “I’ll do my best. Thank you.”

The door opened and someone told him to go to the arena. Izuku said his goodbyes and hung up on his criminal organization. If only the guy knew. That would be fun.

“Nervous?” they asked.

Izuku shook his head. “Not anymore.”

Izuku stepped forward into the bright lights of the arena. In front of him was Kamakiri. He had his arms crossed and was smiling confidently. Midnight stood next to him and was smiling at Izuku as well.

Even in the stands Izuku could see his team. They were waving and smiling. He imagined that Eri was doing the same. It gave him a new confidence boost. He held out his hand and Kamakiri took it.

“Let’s have a good fight, shall we?”

“Yeah.”

Midnight cracked her whip.

“Ah yes, the flames of youth! This is gonna be so much fun. Are you ready?”

Izuku nodded. So did Kamakiri.

Midnight jumped back to keep her distance. She raised her arm. The crowd was silent.

“START!”

And Izuku sprinted forwards. He knew that he was faster than Kamakiri. He also knew that it took him a little concentration to grow his blades in the right places. Sometimes they started growing somewhere else and would hinder him more than help him, so he needed to be careful. Izuku had already told him that he needed to work on his timing. And he hadn’t been a member of Void for long, so he didn’t have much chance to improve. And Izuku used his chance ruthlessly.

He had landed the first punch before Kamakiri could grow his first blade and didn’t stop there. He managed to push him back inch by inch, step by step.

Kamakiri could only defend himself. He tried to grow a blade on his forearms, but it appeared on his upper arms. It would be almost useless there. Izuku continued to push the boy back.

He could have pinned him to the ground, but Izuku knew that he could grow blades out of his back as well, so he didn’t want to take the chance. Once the boy was immobilized, he could take his time growing a blade.

Izuku couldn’t let that happen. He didn’t stop his onslaught of attacks. But Kamakiri hadn’t given up either. He crouched down and tried to put the blade on his upper arm in Izuku’s way. But Izuku saw it coming and dodged. He grabbed Kamakiri’s arm, slung it over his shoulder and flipped him to the ground.

He had calculated correctly.

Kamakiri’s foot was just out of bounds. Midnight stopped the fight.

“Izuku Midoriya wins the first fight!”

Izuku smiled. Then he held his hand down for Kamakiri. Once again, Kamakiri took it.

“I knew you were good, but wow. Did you hold back when we sparred before?” he said, quietly.

Izuku grinned.

“A little. Guess that means more training for you.”

Kamakiri shook his head, but he was smiling as well.

“Sure thing boss.”

Together they left the arena, leaving behind a cheering audience.

Chapter Text

Izuku wasn’t quite sure where to go. He left the arena and said his goodbye to Kamakiri, but stopped when his friend returned to his class. He couldn’t exactly follow him to class 1-B, and he wasn’t (yet) a member of class 1-A, no matter how much he wished it was different. But the booth of class 1-C didn’t really seem welcoming as well. He knew he didn’t interact with his classmates as much as he should have. He spent all his time training, studying and planning. He knew he wouldn’t stay in 1-C forever, so he didn’t bother.
Maybe he should have. They were still his classmates after all. Some had wanted to become heroes as well. They didn’t make it, though. Just like him. But Izuku had tried harder. He had trained harder. He could do this.

But now was too late to start a friendship with them. It would be awkward. It had been obvious that he had wanted to leave from day one. They didn’t deserve to be ignored.

Izuku stood in the corridor and shook his head. It was too late now anyways. If they didn’t already hate him for being quirkless, they would hate him for ignoring them. Maybe he could disguise himself as a member of the audience and watch until he needed to fight again. Or maybe Aizawa would take pity on him and let him stay in the commentator’s booth.

He was still in his thoughts when a girl from his class rounded the corner. Mikoto was her name, if he remembered correctly. She smiled and waved.

Izuku turned around. But no, there was no one behind him.

“Izuku, there you are! That fight was incredible! We were worried you were injured or something so we came looking for you. Everything okay?”

He nodded. He wasn’t quite sure what she wanted from him. Gain his favour now that he had shown to be capable of being a hero? Laugh at him?

Mikoto didn’t seem to notice his thoughts and grabbed him by the hand. Izuku let himself get tugged along. He knew he could slip away. But for now he just wanted to figure out what was going on.

She led him to the area for class 1-C, still making some small talk that Izuku didn’t particularly listen to. Once they arrived, some of the class stood up and congratulated him on winning.

That was not what Izuku had expected.

“Congratulations! You are the pride of the gen ed department!”

“You were incredible!”

“And here I thought you were just some quiet kid in our class.”

“Keep going this is amazing!”

“We are all cheering for you Izuku!”

Izuku didn’t know what to say. He had expected to be ignored. To be ridicules. To be laughed at. For them to tell him he cheated.

But no. Those kids, the class he had ignored, they were all cheering for him.

Izuku smiled in disbelief. He knew that he wanted to change the way society looked at people like him. He had never thought that he had already started. But seeing that his efforts managed to reach people…he had to hold back tears.

It seems that Mikoto noticed that. She pulled him away and led him to a seat in front.

“You know, we weren’t quite sure what to think of you at first. The quiet, quirkless kid who looked like he didn’t get enough sleep. Who did well in class and was trained by a pro hero. We decided to leave you alone so you could focus on your goal. But we were all rooting for you. And then you won the obstacle race! And the cavalry battle! You may not interact much with us, it’s obvious that you are busy, but you are still part of our class. Even if you manage to transfer, we will still see you as one of us.”

She blushed and rubbed her neck.

“So, Izuku, no matter if you win or lose, we will still support you, if you need any help. You inspired us all to do better. To be better. Thank you.”

Izuku felt the guilt swirling in him. He hadn’t done anything for them. And yet they tell him that he inspired them. That they didn’t hate him, supported him even. He hadn’t considered that. He hadn’t even dared to think that. But here he was, surrounded by his class. And he smiled. It was not home. It was not Void. But it was something. And he was glad for that.

“Thank you.”

Mikoto smiled and was about to respond, when Present Mic’s voice echoed through the stadium.

“The second fight, Setsuna Tokage versus Mezo Shoji! One got in through recommendations, the other has already dealt with real-life villains! Who will win? Only time will tell!”

Izuku smiled down at his two friends and got out his notebook. This would be a close fight.

Midnight cracked her whip and Shoji started running at Setsuna immediately. Setsuna, thanks to her training was able to split herself in time to evade. Now it would just be a matter of pushing the other out of bounds.

Shoji tried to grab at Setsuna, but never managed to get a hold of any part of her. Izuku noted that Shoji needed to train a bit more for speed. Setsuna managed to fuse a few parts together and ram into Shoji from behind, but Shoji didn’t falter. Setsuna needed to increase the strength of her attacks, especially when she was separated.

The fight went on for a few minutes and both opponents were getting tired. Setsuna had needed to fuse a few more parts together, since she could hold all small pieces anymore. Shoji was breathing heavily as well.

Then a part of Setsuna flew in front of Shoji and he lunged forward to grab it. It was close, but he didn’t quite manage. Setsuna used the fact that Shoji was off-balance and fused her entire torso together, successfully ramming into his back and pushing him over. She was lucky that he landed partially out of bounds. It was a close call, but it seemed as if she had led him in this direction the whole time.

Once she was fused together again, she collapsed. If the fight had gone on any longer, she would have lost because of her stamina. Shoji helped her up and escorted her out of the arena, despite having lost. Izuku was glad that his friends were showing comradery with the other classes. It might help for nurturing a positive relationship between the classes even outside of Void.

Izuku smiled proudly.

The next contestants came into the arena. Iida Tenya versus Hatsume Mei. Oh no. Izuku could already tell what was going to happen. It would be painful to watch. Poor Iida.
Izuku knew that Mei had planned to have Iida wear her inventions and showing them off before surrendering. But Izuku had told them to win. So Mei had changed her plans. Not by much though.

Seeing how her inventions would have been able to control Iida a little, they would have helped him, nonetheless. And Mei had enough data on him to predict his movements anyways.

The result was a ten-minute-long commercial on all of her inventions. Weapons, support items, you name it. She had it all. And she even had a microphone to override Present Mic’s commentary. Izuku would have laughed if he didn’t feel so bad for his maybe future classmate. He had a good head on his shoulders, but was still to naïve.

“And now for my very last invention! The capture net. It is able to capture people and objects alike, made of reinforced materials so even a fire quirk wouldn’t be able to destroy it. It is the perfect item for apprehending villains quick and easy!”

With that she fired the net at Iida, who didn’t manage to dodge, despite the warning. Izuku winced in sympathy. At least he had managed to keep running until the end. At least he had shown his stamina and patience.

Once caught, Mei picked him up, which startled a few spectators. Izuku laughed. You build up a lot of muscles if you wanted to make weapons that held together. She carried the trapped boy over her shoulder and easily deposited him out of bounds. Then she activated her quirk and smiled at Izuku. He gave her a thumbs up and a smile that she could easily make out with her zoom quirk.

Midnight seemed happy to finally call the match. The cheering was a little subdued, but Mei didn’t seem bothered. She walked out of the arena smiling and waving at the support companies.

Izuku didn’t have much to write down this fight. He took a few notes on Iida, but it was obvious that Mei had simply been better informed and prepared. Izuku knew she had a lot more items to show, but she only carried those that would help against the boy. She hadn’t underestimated him. Good.

The next fight was announced and Izuku took a deep breath. He believed in Uraraka.

“Bakugo Katsuki versus Uraraka Ochaco! I am personally rooting for her, but we can’t be biased, so it’s good that Midnight is the referee.”

Izuku smiled at Present Mic. Totally unbiased, sure. It didn’t help with his nerves. He had seen how much Uraraka had trained and improved during her time with Void. She was a hard worker and managed to stay upbeat all the time. It helped keep the group together. But looking down into the arena, he could see her cheery smile or her happy attitude. All he saw was grim determination.

Bakugo was confident, but no cocky. He would lose if he underestimated his opponent. He knew that. He had always been good in fights after all.

Midnight cracked her whip to indicate the start of the battle and Uraraka rushed forward into close combat. If she touched him, she had an incredible advantage. But Bakugo managed to dodge and started throwing explosions at her. Izuku had hoped that he would have a little more respect towards explosions after he had been subjected to them during the obstacle race, but that didn’t seem to be the case. He let out explosion after explosion and turned the field uneven.

Uraraka kept close to the ground and disappeared into the smoke from time to time. She was flung back with every explosion, but Izuku could see her plan. Bakugo had barely moved from his spot and the area around him marked a clear circle.

The audience started booing him. It was undeserved. Uraraka gave her best. She wasn’t some frail girl he could go easy on. If he didn’t give it is his all, he would have lost already. It seems Aizawa thought the same. He grabbed the microphone and chastised the pro hero for his words.

Izuku smiled. If that hero had been a student at UA, Aizawa would probably have expelled him. Izuku wondered if Aizawa could take his license away. He could imagine that, if his teacher wasn’t already either too busy or too lazy.

Uraraka saw her chance and activated her quirk. She had amassed a huge amount of debris that had been loosened by the explosions. And they were headed towards Bakugo, along with her.

Izuku hoped this would suffice.

It didn’t.

Bakugo let loose a huge explosion and the debris and Uraraka flew back. He was cradling his wrists. He couldn’t make another one of these large explosions.

Uraraka got up. Bakugo smiled at her, shouted at her to continue fighting.

Uraraka, hardened by months of training smiled back.

And the second wave of debris, the one she had thrown higher than the first, came down. It was difficult to manipulate how high the debris would go. In the beginning she had sent the debris high in the ski, way above the arena. It was hard to regulate her strength to throw them accurately, but she had trained long and hard. Once she had enough high debris, she threw a second volley lower. Those had come down first, and Bakugo had blasted them away. But Uraraka had expected that.

Bakugo hadn’t thought of a second meteor shower. And finally, he moved from his spot. He needed to, because he couldn’t make another large explosion without risking to permanently injure his wrists. So he dived to the side and dodged.

And there she was, close enough to grab him. All five fingers managed to touch his elbow, and he was weightless.

The last pieces of debris came down and kicked up a gust of wind and dust. And Bakugo had no weight to keep him in the arena. He flew back and crashed into the wall.

The arena was silent for a few moments. Then the cheers erupted. They were louder than all those before combined. The arena shook with the excitement of all spectators. Izuku cheered with them. He would hold this fight close to his heart. He owed Uraraka a debt now.

Midnight declared Uraraka the winner and the girl gave a thumbs up before puking rainbows onto the floor.

She left the arena alone, on her own two feet, and smiling. Izuku couldn’t see Bakugo anymore. Maybe he left, maybe he was escorted to the infirmary. He didn’t care. He only had eyes for his friend. The one who had all odds against her. And he was so proud of her.

He wanted to visit her, to tell her how proud he was. How well she had done. But he needed to see the next fight. It was Momo’s turn.

Uraraka left the arena, still riding a wave of euphoria. She had given it her all. She had made them proud.

Someone rounded the corner and tackled her into a hug. It was Momo.

“We are so proud of you! You did so great!”

And Uraraka smiled and cried. Not tears of shame and defeat, but tears of happiness. Of pride.

She did it.

Chapter Text

Present Mic had a hard time calming the crowd down, especially considering he wasn’t particularly trying to be calm himself. But after a little clean-up the tournament had to continue, and slowly but surely the crowd started to calm down, allowing the next participants to enter the arena.

Yaoyorozu Momo versus Tokoyami Fumikage.

Izuku sat smiling in his seat. Tokoyami was the last non-Void member to participate in this event. He hoped it wouldn’t stay that way. Tokoyami seemed like a great addition to Void. He would make sure to observe they boy closely.

He looked down at Momo, one of the earlier recruits, and turned to another page in his notebook. He trusted that she would win this as well. After all, she had gathered enough intel on him already, and was able to gather much confidence during her vigilante shifts.

Midnight signalled the two participants to start, and Dark Shadow emerged from Tokoyami and headed straight for Momo. The recommended student jumped out of reach and the sparks showing she was using her quirk flared to life. Within seconds she held a flashlight in her hands and pointed it at Dark Shadow, who immediately retreated.

Izuku frowned. A flashlight wouldn’t be enough, no matter how much Momo had augmented it.

But Momo seemed to realize that, as she created two big stage lights in a hurry. The light was blinding and Izuku did his best to see what was happening in the arena. Momo took her chance and sprinted towards Tokoyami, grabbing him and pinning him down with Dark Shadow nowhere to be seen. Izuku winced. If he were a creature made out of shadows he would retreat as well.

It seems as if Tokoyami realized his defeat as well, since he sighed and admitted defeat. Midnight called the fastest match yet and Momo helped her fellow classmate up after dimming the lights.

Izuku smiled proudly. Now there were only Void members left in the tournament. They had really done it. He felt pride swell up in his chest, but tried not to show it. There wouldn’t really be an explanation for that after all. It’s not like he could say, ‘ah yes no I’m just happy my illegal vigilante/villain group is doing well’.

The people who mattered knew. And that was enough.

The next match was Jiro versus Yanagi. Yanagi was at a clear disadvantage, as she didn’t have anything to use her quirk on and Jiro was clever enough not to give her ammunition, like Bakugo had done for Uraraka.

The match turned into a hand-to-hand close-combat fight, with both girls giving it their all. Even though both aren’t combat oriented close-range fighters, they showed off all the skills they had gained during their time as vigilantes, which wasn’t little.

It was definitely more than most people would expect from two first-years with long- to mid-range quirks.

The fight dragged on for quite a long time and was turning into a stamina battle, which Jiro won. It was close, and both girls were panting once Jiro had managed to pin her friend down. Midnight called the match and both girls walked out smiling and complimenting each other’s technique.

Izuku noted down that both had to work on stamina and close combat, especially on how to fight if your quirk wasn’t available. Although, that was something that Izuku had drilled into everyone time and time again. There would always be situations where you couldn’t use your quirk, and even some pro-heroes ended up useless in these situations. Eraserhead used that to his advantage, which is shown by his record. (Not that that was public information). Izuku was the pinnacle of quirkless fighting and did his best that everyone could hold their ground even without a quirk. Eraserhead would probably teach his students anyways, but he wasn’t sure about the other teachers. Those were usually more focussed on quirks.

It was a good thing as well that one of the rules of being a Void vigilante was to never use your quirk while masked. It was too easy to get recognized. So all members of Void had passable quirkless fighting techniques. Passable for Izuku’s standards. Probably very good for UA first-year standards.

While Izuku was still writing, the next match was announced. Kinoko versus Kaminari.

Kinoko may have a problem since she couldn’t carry any spores with her, but she did have the option of growing her mushrooms, nonetheless. While it was okay to use support items, you always have to be ready to fight without them. Kinoko knew close combat, like everyone else, and could use her mushrooms to gain distance. She would need the distance, since getting close to Kaminari in a fight was a death sentence.

Kaminari on the other hand needed to get close enough. Once upon a time he might have discharged his electricity indiscriminately, but now that he knew that it fried his brain, he tried to get more into close combat to act as a human stun gun. They were also working on some long-range techniques he could use with a low voltage, but he would probably need support items for that. Izuku had also brought up the idea of a weapon he could charge with electricity to gain a little bit more range, and Kaminari had loved the idea, but didn’t have time to implement it yet. He wanted to ask Aizawa after the sports festival and maybe train with someone who also uses a weapon of some sort to train with during his internships, if possible. He had waited since he knew he couldn’t just take a sword or something into the festival.

The fight started and Kinoko jumped back immediately and spread as many mushrooms as she could throughout the arena. Kaminari activated his special move. By discharging a small amount of electricity at all times he was coated in it and deliver a shock to everyone he touched with any part of his body. It had taken him a while to discharge a low amount steadily, until he could even start moving while doing it. He was much slower when he used it, and the voltage wouldn’t knock an opponent out, but it was a good demonstration of what he was capable of with his quirk. That way he would probably get a good internship offer, even if he lost this fight.

Kaminari tried to get closer to Kinoko, while she ran around the arena avoiding him. She had the advantage, since Kaminari had to be careful to not step onto the mushrooms and get caught by them. It had gone on for several minutes, a game of cat and mouse, and Kinoko was starting to slow down.

Izuku frowned at that. Kinoko may have coated the entire arena in mushrooms and needed to keep them going and spreading, but she usually had more stamina than that. She must have a plan. He was sure that Kaminari didn’t notice that, though. He was also getting tired and didn’t know everyone’s physical condition. That was Izuku’s job. Maybe he was a bit overeager.

Kaminari finally caught up to Kinoko and engaged in a close combat fight. Kinoko made a valiant effort of evading every single blow, but it was only a matter of time until he caught her.

That was what everyone expected, including Kaminari. He did not expect to receive a mushroom coated fist to the face. Which was why his balance was off, he flew into the mushrooms and the coated everything except his face. He couldn’t move and midnight called the match.

That was something knew. Kinoko had probably used electricity-resistant mushrooms to coat her fist with and kept it a secret until Kaminari was more tired. It was probably more of an ace hidden up the sleeve, but it had worked phenomenally. Kaminari’s body armour/electricity coating might even have been an inspiration for that.

The next fight would have probably taken a while, seeing as the mushrooms needed to be removed, but Shoto was the next contestant and offered to burn them. It was probably good that Kinoko had left for a changing room and wouldn’t have to witness the destruction of her creations.

After Cementoss layered another layer of concrete unto the arena, the next match was started. Sero versus Todoroki.

Izuku felt a little bad for both of them. This would very obviously end in a landslide victory for Shoto. Sero had only been a member of Void for a short time and didn’t have much experience as a vigilante. Shoto on the other hand had been trained (if you could even call it that) by the number two hero, and had been a vigilante for quite some time.

He felt bad for Shoto since said number two hero was watching in the stands. All members of Void had made sure that Shoto wouldn’t have to encounter the man with a few strategically spilled drinks and exploding fire extinguishers.

But Shoto couldn’t avoid his father forever. And from what Izuku had gathered, the pro hero wasn’t all to happy about all the time Shoto spend out of the house. Especially since he had grown more distant and kept it a secret.

In the end the match itself wasn’t a surprise. Sero had made a valiant effort to wrap Shoto in tape and throw him out of the ring, but Shoto had caught him in a little iceberg, just enough to immobilize him. Izuku was also sure he had let himself get caught in the tape to save Sero a little pride and a few internship offers. The stadium even started shouting ‘don’t mind’ at the boy. Izuku hoped that that would not destroy Sero’s self-esteem and rather motivated him to train a little more.

From what Izuku could see however, Sero didn’t take it too bad once Shoto had unfrozen him. The two of them walked out of the arena side by side, smiling.

With that the first round of the sports festival tournament was completed.

Mikoto interrupted Izuku frantic writing and smiled at him.

“So, uh, I didn’t want to interrupt you, but I think now that the first round is over…aren’t you next?”

Izuku froze. Shit. Yes, he was.

Mic shouted the next contestants, and Setsuna already stepped into the arena. It would take Izuku a few minutes even if he sprinted. He looked down into the arena, back to the door, and back to the arena.

One way was quick. The other way was safe. When had Izuku ever taken the safe route?

So he wrapped his capture scarf around the railing and used it to climb down quickly, much to the dismay of probably every adult he knew. Especially since it was still a few meters to the ground. Izuku didn’t mind and jumped down, rolled it off with practised ease and walked into the arena, smiling, as if he hadn’t just basically jumped down from the stands.

Setsuna had to stifle her laughing, while Midnight looked equal parts concerned and intrigued. Izuku could have sworn she might have mumbled something along the lines of ‘no matter how he does I won’t have to deal with this little shit’ and cleared her throat. Then she signalled for the match to start.

Setsuna used the same technique she had used on Shoji. She split up in as many parts as she could and surrounded Izuku. Smart. She knew that she didn’t have a chance in close combat, even if she kept splitting apart to avoid hits. That was a fighting style she had tried to learn over the last few weeks, but since she didn’t quite have it figured out yet and had mainly trained with Izuku, who knew all her tricks, it would be better to stick with what she already knew.

Izuku knew all of that as well of course. And while he may not have the same strength as Shoji, he had more speed. Which is why he was able to grab one of the small parts attacking him out of the air, ran to the edge of the arena and through it (a part of her arm, he guessed) onto the ground outside the arena.

Setsuna froze mid-air. Midnight didn’t say anything. Izuku turned towards the referee.

“The match is won if any part of the body is outside of the arena. This was a part of her body. Outside the arena. Did I win?”

Midnight looked between him, the body part, and Setsuna, who was putting herself back together.

“Umm, yes?”
She turned a questioning look at Setsuna, who just shrugged.

“Okay then, winner is Midoriya Izuku!”

Setsuna turned towards him and extended her hand. “Well, that was anticlimactic. I had hoped you wouldn’t figure out this loophole, but I guess that was too much to ask. Nice entrance by the way, but please just use the stairs next time.”

Izuku just laughed and took her hand. They exited the arena together and both parties sprinted towards their respective booths so they didn’t miss the next fight.

Said fight was Mei versus Uraraka, and it started just as Izuku returned to the booth of class 1-C, who congratulated him on yet another victory. It made Izuku blush a little. He wasn’t used to be complimented by strangers.

He took his seat and watched two more of his friends fight.

Uraraka still looked a little exhausted, and Mei didn’t have any of her inventions on her. They had agreed that while she could show off all her inventions, it was probably best to hide her combat skills. She was a support student with no interest in a hero class after all, and it would be hard to explain why she could hold her own in a fight against a hero student.

Which is why, as soon as the match started, she got out her microphone once again, and Uraraka let her without throwing her out of the arena.

“Dear customers, I would like to remind you once again that I have managed to come this far with only the help of my dear little babies, ahem, inventions. My name is Hatsume Mei and I will be the best manufacturer of support items this world has ever seen. Invest now and you will not regret it. I already showed of the best of my inventions in my last fight and would like to apologize to my opponent for my non-existent combat skills and thus no fight for her. I forfeit.”

Midnight just shook her head, but called the fight nonetheless. Mei did a little apologetic bow, which was actually sincere, but he already knew that Mei had made the promise to Uraraka that they would repeat this fight somewhere else.

Uraraka was probably glad about that as well, since her next opponent would be Izuku and she needed all the strength she could muster for that fight.

The next contestants entered the arena and smiled at each other. Momo versus Jiro. As soon as the match was called, a pair of headphones were created and Momo rushed into close combat with a staff she was creating as well.

Jiro did her best to defend, but she was still tired from the fight before and her sound attacks didn’t faze Momo at all. The recommended student also had the advantage of weapons, and thus the fight was finished in Momo’s favour rather quick.

The last fight of the second round was Shoto versus Kinoko. Shoto really got good matchups for him. He had already shown that he could burn through an entire arena of mushrooms without breaking a sweat. Kinoko seemed to know as well, but still spread her mushrooms all over the arena as soon as she could.

To Izuku’s surprise, however, Shoto didn’t burn them down. He froze them. It was still a valid strategy, but vastly weaker than just burning all the mushrooms.

And Izuku sadly had an idea of why Shoto was doing this. He had trained with Shoto for a long time, Shoto had trained with his brother as well, so Izuku knew that it took the boy a while to use his fire in combat. It had taken him months to get comfortable with it, and even more time to be able to use the fire correctly. He was lucky his brother was a trained pyromaniac.

Izuku knew that Shoto had made the promise to never use his fire in combat. But that had been in the past. A lot of burnt shirts could attest to that. So why wasn’t he using his fire now?

Before Izuku could finish his thoughts, Kinoko had been immobilized in ice just as Sero had been, and Izuku needed to rush to his one fight without jumping over the railing once again.

He wanted to continue worrying about Shoto, but he knew that if he didn’t focus on Uraraka, he would lose. And he couldn’t afford to lose. So he packed his worry in a neat little box in his brain, to be unpacked later, along with all the other boxes he had there. Well, that probably wasn’t very healthy. But again, he couldn’t worry about that now. So he packed that thought away as well.

It was time for the semi-finals.

Chapter Text

This time Izuku stepped into the arena on time. He met Uraraka in the middle, and gave her a little smile. She smiled back, confidently.

“Are you ready?” Midnight asked.

Uraraka took a fighting stance and nodded. Izuku did the same.

Like every other fight before, Midnight cracked her whip and the battle started.

There was no way this battle didn’t end in a close quarter fight. Izuku had fought against Uraraka a hundred times, and there was nothing laying around here she could use her quirk on. Except her own clothes, which she had probably already done. Uraraka’s biggest problem in hand-to-hand combat wasn’t the combat itself, but not accidently activating her quirk while doing so. She wore gloves for that specific reason while out on vigilante business. Because they had coordinated their vigilante outfits, all members of Void now wore gloves that covered only three fingers.

But she didn’t have this problem here. It was the opposite actually. She could use her quirk freely and did her best to grab Izuku. Then again, she needed to grab his skin. If she only managed to grab his clothes, that would work in his favour and she didn’t have time to release that.

The fight dragged on for a few minutes, with Izuku mainly on the defensive. He was trying to wear her out. She had used her quirk too much and was still exhausted from her fight with Bakugo, even if Mei had managed to give her a small break.

Izuku could probably beat her even if she wasn’t exhausted, but he didn’t want to take any chances. He couldn’t underestimate her. Uraraka seemed to realize that as well, and with time her attempts at grabbing him grew more desperate. One sluggish move and Izuku managed to grab her wrist and pull her to the ground, effectively immobilizing her.

Midnight called the match and Izuku held out a hand for Uraraka to grab. She took it and Izuku started floating.

“Oh shit, sorry, I didn’t mean to do that!”

She pressed her fingers together and Izuku landed on his feet. He just laughed.

“No worries, good fight Uraraka.”

“Thanks.” She smiled and they left the arena to make space for the last fight of the semi-finals.

Uraraka went in another direction as Izuku made his way towards his class. He should probably be waiting in a waiting room, but he didn’t want to miss any of the fights. In hindsight, he should have just gone to the waiting room. He didn’t get to see the fight either way.

Because standing there, blocking his way was Endeavour. The number two hero, and reason why Shoto really should see a therapist.

Izuku politely pretended not to notice the juice stains the man’s hero costume was coated with. At several places. He was sure the man knew those were there. It would be a shame if they were removed.

“I don’t know who you are or why you are hiding your quirk, but my Shoto will beat you. He is my ultimate creation and will surpass All Might. You don’t stand a chance.”

The man looked very intimidating with his broad form and flaming beard. Or at least he would, if Izuku hadn’t been a vigilante for a while now and faced people who actually wanted to harm him. This guy had nothing on All for One. (And was that a trip, realizing that the only person capable of possibly taking on his criminal buddy/supporter/benefactor would be the person who had shattered his dreams.) Endeavour couldn’t compare to All for One on a good day.

So Izuku wasn’t trembling in fear, but in rage. But Endeavour didn’t need to know that.

“Sorry sir, first of all I’m quirkless and I am sure that Sho- Todoroki is his own person and not someone’s creation. I look forward to our fight, now if you will excuse me, I would like to…”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence as Endeavour interrupted him and didn’t move an inch.

“You can’t be quirkless. Stop lying. I don’t know what you are hiding, but my Shoto will beat you nonetheless.”

Izuku sighed. He couldn’t do this. This day had already been a mixture of horrible and incredible. There were so many ups and downs, he is either gonna sleep for 20 hours straight or drink coffee made with energy drink as a base.

“Look Mr Fire Hazard, I don’t wanna chat with you. I don’t care about your ambitions but you should leave your family out of it. I got things to do and if you don’t want me to report you leave me alone.”

Izuku turned around without an answer and headed straight for the waiting rooms. Endeavour didn’t follow him. Which was probably a good thing, since Izuku had a dose of Mei-Momo pepper spray and would love to see the effects it had on someone if the canister was exploded in front of his face. That imagination was all Izuku could do in order to not march up to the number two hero and punch him in the face.

Great. Now he had antagonized the number two hero. Add that to the number one hero, who already hated him, and you start to see a pattern. Izuku should really stay away from Best Jeanist, just in case.

It was a shame he couldn’t see the fight between Momo and Shoto. It would probably be incredible, but he was sure he would get all the details later. He couldn’t risk running into Endeavour again.

The arena shook a couple of times, until it was silent again. Now Izuku really wanted to know what was happening.

A few minutes after everything was silent, a soft knock came from the door. Izuku put his phone down, stopped scrolling through the memes Shigaraki had sent him, and opened it.

In front of the door was no one. Which either meant that someone played a prank on him, or that Hagakure paid him a visit. Judging by the way he felt someone move past him, it was probably Hagakure. He closed the door behind her and gestured towards a chair. The chair moved and Izuku sat down in front of her.

As soon as he sat, she started speaking.

“Sorry for that, I’m not supposed to be here, but you know, we didn’t see you in with class 1-C, so we wanted to inform you what happened, you know.”

Izuku smiled. He could really count on his friends.

“Thanks.”

Hagakure chuckled, which meant she was smiling as well. She had little verbal ticks that corresponded with facial expressions. She probably did it subconsciously, but it didn’t take long to figure her out if you paid attention.

“So, let’s see. You will be fighting Shoto, but Momo certainly didn’t hold back, so he’ll definitely be winded. Even if it will take a while to repair the arena. Shoto didn’t use his fire again, if that’s what you are curious about. You probably have about fifteen minutes until the arena is repaired.”

Another knock sounded on the door and one of the organizers let themselves in. Hagakure remained still and silent.

“You will be fighting Todoroki Shoto for the finals. The arena will need to be repaired, not sure how long that will take.”

Izuku nodded stiffly.

The person let themselves out.

“Well, glad to have some company while I wait. We can figure out some plans to discredit Endeavour.”

Hagakure gave an approving hum.

“Any specific reason to mention that now?”

“I ran into him earlier. It’s why I wasn’t with 1-C, my class. He said some dumb shit and I turned around before I punched him. That right belongs to Shoto.”

“I’m just glad the two didn’t meet. I mean we did our best sabotaging the fire extinguishers and bumping into him with juice. Shoto smiled when I told him. I even took a few pictures. I think we could turn those few pictures into an album. Just for fun though.”

A smile spread across Izuku’s face. This was what friends are for.

“Great. But we should also get enough evidence against him legally. For an actual criminal investigation. The question is just when we do it. Should we use that info to discredit the hero system in general once we all graduated, or should we act s quick as possible? In the end I guess it’s Shoto’s decision, he is the one who has to live with the man. But if we do it as soon as possible, we risk exposing ourselves. If we remain anonymous, we won’t be taken seriously, not against the number two hero. But if we expose ourselves, we jeopardize our end goal.”

Hagakure tapped her fingers on the table, deep in thought as well.

“I think for now we should gather as much evidence as possible. I think that we should wait, but you are right, it should be Shoto’s decision. But you are still our boss, Izuku. You have a say in this as well. It would be best if we figured out a way to keep Shoto away from Endeavour, while we collect evidence against him. I’m just not sure how…”

“I doubt that we could keep Shoto away from him.” Izuku admitted. “I mean he is the number two hero and Shoto is a minor. Endeavour is already suspicious of Shoto for leaving as often as he does. Once Shoto cuts him off for good, even if it is just to live with a sibling, one of those that didn’t fake their death of course, Endeavour will investigate. And as much as I hate to say this, he is a good detective. A bad hero, a horrible person, but a good detective. And that is dangerous for us. I think the only ones who could keep Shoto away from Endeavour without the man throwing a fit, would be UA. But there is no way we can pull that off.”

Izuku had this discussion with himself ever since Shoto had become a member of Void. He wanted to remove his friend from his abusive household. If it was anyone else, he would have already done that. But he couldn’t go against the number two hero. He couldn’t just drop off a few files of evidence by Naomasa or Eraserhead like he usually did. Those two had done a great job so far, but this was too much.

They had gotten lucky with those two. They hadn’t sent a bigger force after Void, despite their growing numbers. They hadn’t thrown the evidence they provided in the trash. They had taken the evidence, verified it, and acted on it. Izuku was grateful. He hadn’t trusted them at first. He was desperate and sometimes they couldn’t handle things on their own. But they had proven themselves time and time again.

He still messed with those two if he met them on patrols of course. But he may also have left coffee or donuts with the dropped off evidence. Just to show that their hard work was appreciated.

Izuku still had a hard time trusting adults. He trusted Akaguro. The man had practically raised him. He also trusted Aizawa. Then again, he trusted him as Hollow to do his job, and he trusted him as Izuku to train and teach him. He wouldn’t trust him with his identity. Then again, he hadn’t told Akaguro all about Void either. The vigilante knew he had made a few friends, but he only knew who Shinso personally. Obviously.

He trusted Naomasa to do his job right. He trusted All for One not to kill him as long as he was useful. He trusted Kurogiri to be loyal to All for One. He trusted the League of Villains to stick with him until their goal was fulfilled. He trusted Midnight and Present Mic to take care of Eri.

Shigaraki, Nathan and Juniper didn’t count as adults. Especially Shigaraki.

Ever since his mother died, not a single adult ever held his full trust. And somehow, Izuku thought, it would stay this way until he was an adult himself and trusted his friends.
Hagakure snapped him out of his thoughts.

“So, look, I know you want to win this. And I know that Shoto would let you win this if you told him to. He would probably even do it if you hadn’t explicitly told him not to. He said he was gonna give it his all. And I don’t wanna be rude, but Shoto is strong. Really strong. Do you have a plan?”

Izuku grinned.

“Of course I have a plan. I knew for sure that I would have to face one of the three: Momo, Shoto or Bakugo. I’m just glad it’s only one of them, but I had plans for every single one. Then again, I had plans for every single person of class 1-A and class 1-B. Just those three I asked for some support items for.”

Hagakure whistled.

“Not bad. Don’t spoil me, I wanna be surprised, this will be a spectacle I’m sure. Now that you mention Bakugo…I don’t think he took losing very well.”

Izuku let out a laugh.

“Of course not. He had been put on a pedestal by everyone ever since he was four years old. This reality check was long overdue. I know he didn’t underestimate Ochaco, but he didn’t think he would lose either. Just think of the announcement he gave at the beginning. This will either make him more grounded or put him on the wrong path.”

“The wrong path, huh. Villainy. I know now that the villains we encountered at USJ didn’t pose an actual threat. Momo was with Ojiro and me and knew what was going on. We didn’t have any problems. But it was harsh. Hearing that my classmates were responsible for an attack that could have traumatized us. Aizawa and Thirteen were hurt. So was Kaminari. I was scared of you for a while, you know. Momo and Jiro were the ones that gave me most of the information, and I avoided you for a while. I know that Sero and Kamakiri, even if he wasn’t there at USJ, did the same. It took me a while. I sometimes even wondered if I should tell the police what has been happening. The worst part is that they would never believe me. They probably wouldn’t do anything and laugh at me. You had decided to put your trust in me, so I put my trust in you as well. I got to know you. And I understand why you did it. I don’t say that I like it. But I understand. You did your best, and you are ready to sacrifice a lot to change this society. I am willing to do whatever it takes as well. I am just warning you. Not everyone will be as forgiving as I am. Be careful who you recruit. Especially if they are from our class.”

Izuku nodded.

“Thank you. I knew what I was going to put you through. I was ready to make that sacrifice. I train to be a hero, work as a vigilante, but deep down I know that ‘villain’ would fit me better. But I am ready to become a villain, if that’s what needs to be done. Only me though. Never you. Void may have a villain as a leader, but there is a reason I gathered the League of Villains as well. All of them had already chosen that path in one way or another. Some willingly, some were pushed into it. Villains nonetheless. I accept what I am. I know what I need to do. The time for regret was over once I donned my Hollow mask for the first time. I will pull this through or die trying.”

Hagakure didn’t answer for a while.

“Good luck.” She whispered.

If for his plan, or for the fight, Izuku didn’t know. It didn’t matter. Right now he had a battle to win, and a friend to fight.

He couldn’t look back.

Chapter Text

This time Izuku was early. He was prepared. And he had a few questions he needed answered.

Shoto walked up to him, and from the look on his face he could tell that Void had done their jobs and kept Endeavour away from his son. Shoto knew that as well, and had already thanked them, for the deed and the resulting pictures. Izuku hadn’t texted him about his own encounter with the man. No need to ruin his good mood.

The fight with Momo must have been exhilarating. There was a certain lightness to Shoto’s shoulders, one he carried after a very good spar, or after taking out a challenging villain. That weight returned whenever he trained with his father though.

Every time he met his friend, Izuku grew more and more determined to annihilate his father. Shoto had grown so strong. He shouldn’t have needed to.

And here they were, two friends, co-conspirators, partners in crime. They stood opposite from one another, smiling. There was a tension in the air, of excitement.

“Are you ready?”

Midnight looked between the two finalists. Both nodded. She cracked her whip.

And the arena exploded in ice.

Izuku jumped towards his right, to Shoto’s left, as fast as he could. He sprinted forwards as well. Shoto’s first move against a strong opponent, if he didn’t use his fire, would be a giant iceberg. He probably used that against Momo as well, and he used a smaller version on Sero. The iceberg started small at his right foot and grew incredibly with more distance. So the front of Shoto’s left side was where he was open. That was the place Izuku dashed to. Shoto’s iceberg may be fast, but Izuku was faster.

Akaguro may have been able to cut through Shoto’s ice, but Izuku wasn’t as strong as him and didn’t have his sword with him. So he needed to evade the ice until Shoto was burned out. Or rather iced out. He was lucky that Shoto had just had a hard fight, and that he didn’t use his left side at all.

Shoto threw another iceberg at him, but it was already smaller and slower than the one before that. Not by much, but Izuku could tell. He had trained with his opponent for a long time after all. He knew him too well for those tricks to work.

Izuku just needed to continue down this road, keep evading until Shoto had basically frozen himself, and he would win.

He didn’t want that.

“Are you kidding me?!?” He screamed at his friend.

Shoto stopped dead in his tracks. Izuku continued: “All of us are giving it their all. You saw what Uraraka did! You fought against all Yaoyorozu had to offer! And you dare hold back against me?”

Shoto took a step back, unsure.

“I can’t, Izuku.” He whispered. “He’s watching. Anytime else, but not with him here. I’d rather forfeit than give him that.”

The arena grew quiet as Izuku slowly made his way towards Shoto. He grabbed him by the collar and pulled him face to face.

“No. Stop having your life dictated by him. He is not here. In this fight it’s only you and me. There is nobody else. The only one you have to prove yourself to, is me. You made a promise, and I gave you an order. Give it your all. You are not the scared little kid I met in the dark alley getting mugged by his brother. We came so far already. You are a part of something bigger now. I’ve told you time and time again. Don’t you get it? It’s your power!”

And as Izuku had seen him time and time again, Shoto grinned his maniac smile, and caught fire.

Izuku let him go.

“Thank you. I wanted to hand you this victory, but you are right. You don’t deserve that. Let’s do this!”

And promptly, Izuku had to dodge the precise stream of fire aimed at him. This was the Shoto he knew, the friend he went on patrols with, the partner he sparred against. The temperature in the arena turned from ice cold to hellish hot as Shoto finally unleashed the full power he was capable of.

Someone in the audience Endeavour was screaming, but neither of the competitors heard or cared. There was only the two of them in the arena.

Izuku did his best to shield himself as Shoto unleashed his full power for the first time. He had trained with fire, ice and a combination of both, but he never had the space and the security to unleash it all.

And that was exactly what Izuku had counted on. He knew his friend. And he knew quirks. He knew that Shoto would be overwhelmed by this attack, and that he probably couldn’t move while using hit. So Izuku opened the bag he has carried since the first round, with support items to help him against the strongest fighters, and pulled out the items Mei had taught him how to make. They weren’t the best, but he was only allowed to take the ones he made himself. The capture scarf had been an exception Aizawa had taken care of.

Izuku held two spheres in his hand. He threw the first one on the ground before Shoto and closed his eyes. It was an inferior version of the flash grenade they had used on Aizawa. (Another thought he pushed to the back of his mind.) Shoto was temporarily blinded and used the time to throw the second sphere, a smoke bomb.

Once Shoto was able to open his eyes again, all he could see was smoke. He used his fire, but the smoke only grew thicker. Clever. Izuku certainly had been prepared to fight him.
But he wasn’t helpless. Izuku came at him from the left, knowing that he had already figure out not to use his left side, and delivered a swift kick that would have thrown him to the ground if he hadn’t blocked it. It still hurt though. He activated his fire and Izuku pulled back, but Shoto knew he had a few burns now.

The smoke wasn’t clearing at all and all Shoto could do was waiting to be attacked again. He thought about covering the entire arena in ice, but he wasn’t wearing the shoes of his hero costume which gave him a perfect halt on his ice. And he knew Izuku was just as good at manoeuvring the ice as he was.

He couldn’t throw out another iceberg, not after he had created that many in the beginning.

In short, all he could use his quirk for was close quarters. Which was exactly what Izuku was best at. Shoto wondered just how much of this fight his friend had planned.

Izuku came at him again, from the back, and they engaged in hand-to-hand combat, with Izuku hitting harder and landing more hits overall, but if Shoto hit a part of Izuku’s body would either be frozen or burned. Izuku didn’t seem to mind that though. He never stopped his onslaught, and Shoto felt himself tiring. He had thrown massive icebergs at Izuku. He had already been exhausted after barely winning his fight against Momo. He had used too much ice against Kinoko. Izuku had been right of course. He needed his fire.

They had been dancing around one another, exchanging blows for a while now. It was getting easier to see, and if Shoto wasn’t already that exhausted he may have tried to throw another big fireball at his friend. But he knew that Izuku would dodge that. It wasn’t worth the effort.

Instead he waited as Izuku came at him from the front. He iced the ground between them as well as a few metres to the side, and threw the last big fire he could manage.

For a second, he couldn’t see his friend. Shit. What if he wasn’t able to dodge? What if he burns alive? What if…?

He was thrown out of his shock as Izuku slid on the ice towards him and delivered a devastating kick to his stomach.

Shoto flew back and crashed to the ground. He half expected Izuku to jump on top of him, to finally knock him out, but he didn’t come. Shoto was done. He was finished. He had given it his all, whatever that was worth after how he had reached the finals. He just wanted to lie down and sleep for a month.

But he had made a promise.

So he got up in a fighting position once more.

Izuku was grinning at him with the brightest and most sincere smile he had given him today.

“Todoroki is out of bounds! Izuku Midoriya wins!”

What?

Shoto looked down. And he saw the white line separating him from Izuku. He should have known. But that was good as well. He really didn’t need to fight anymore. So he collapsed on the ground and took a few deep breaths.

Izuku sat down next to him.

“Thank you. We did it.”

Shoto just huffed out a little laugh. Izuku didn’t look good. He still had parts of his body frozen, other parts burned, and some parts with burns that were frozen over. It would leave scars. Then again, Izuku was familiar with scars. And based on the smile he was showing, this was worth it.

Izuku held out a fist. Shoto mirrored him, and since they could really help each other up a fist-bump would have to be enough of a gesture.

Midnight jogged over to them.

“You kids okay? We’ll send you both to recovery girl. I think you have about half an hour until we hold the award ceremony, but we can stretch it out if you need to rest. We will also have to rebuild the arena. Again.”

Shoto raised his head. He knew he had thrown out quite a few attacks, but now that the smoke was cleared and he wasn’t in the heat of battle…they had done quite some damage to the whole area. Again. Shoto had destroyed the arena two times now. Well the first time Momo definitely helped him.

This time was all his fault though. He was proud of that.

Midnight helped him and Izuku on the stretchers, and they were finally pulled out of the spotlight of the arena.

Recovery Girl was already waiting for them. Izuku hadn’t seen her since the entrance exam, where she had healed Sero.

She looked over Shoto, but he wasn’t injured too bad. He just needed some rest. Izuku was another matter altogether.

She had to cut his shirt of since some parts were burned to his skin, and he couldn’t really lift his arms.

At least Shoto had melted the rest of the ice that had still been stuck to him.

If Recovery Girl found Izuku’s pain tolerance abnormal, she didn’t mention it. She also didn’t mention the many scars that littered Izuku’s entire body. Then again, Aizawa had seen them, so UA already knew of that. There was nothing he could do about that anymore.

“Alright kid, I removed all pieces of the shirt stuck to you. I’ll administer treatment and you will probably pass out since I want to heal as much as possible. You should be up for the award ceremony though.”

Shit. Izuku did most certainly not want to pass out here. Or anywhere that wasn’t his home, the warehome or the bar.

He was about to deny he needed any treatment, (which was a stupid idea, but he was tired) when Shoto signed to him that he would stay away and keep guard for him. He would also text Hagakure and Kuroiro. Izuku wanted to say no, since Shoto needed his rest as well, but Recovery Girl would knock him out either way, and he didn’t want to wake up screaming (which he would do if he wasn’t sure someone he trusted watched over him in an unfamiliar place), so he nodded.

Shoto sent him a small smile as recovery girl looked between the two of them.

She hadn’t looked at Shoto while he had signed to Izuku, and he didn’t even know if the heroine knew sign language, but she still looked between the two of them suspiciously.
“You know each other?”

‘We really shouldn’t’, Izuku’s mind helpfully supplied.

“Umm, Aizawa trained me and I met him a few times.”

Shoto just nodded, glad he didn’t have to think of an excuse. He was too tired for that.

Recovery Girl seemed to accept that, and turned to Izuku again.

“Okay, I will heal you, but the scars will remain nonetheless.”

Izuku shrugged.

Maybe he shouldn’t treat his health so nonchalant with a doctor in front of him. She didn’t seem very happy about that shrug.

“I will heal you since this is your first time here, but based on your performance there is no way they will not put you in the hero course. If you ask me it was idiotic to put you in General Education in the first place. But since you will be in the hero course, I can promise you, you will come here more often. And what you did today was reckless. I do not treat people who injure themselves recklessly. Understood?”

Izuku didn’t injured himself recklessly. He always knew what he was doing. But it was probably better to keep that to himself. He was just lucky that June stitched him up every time he, or someone else in Void, got injured. Recovery Girl probably wouldn’t treat him for that. But it was still nice to know that he now had an actual professional he could turn to if things got out of hand. Not that June was a bad doctor. But she wasn’t a doctor. She was still a student. And she made mistakes.

All these thoughts floated in Izuku’s mind, but Recovery Girl was still looking at him expectantly. Right. She had asked him a question.

“I will not injure myself recklessly.”

That was as close to the truth as he could get. It was the truth. Technically.

It seemed to be enough for Recovery Girl as she sighed and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Izuku felt the exhaustion run through him and all he could see was black.

Chapter Text

Izuku snapped awake. He was not at home. He was not at the warehome. He was not in the bar. That wasn’t good.

A familiar feeling helped him relax. A warm hand clasped in his own. Izuku turned to his right, where Shoto was smiling at him.

“You’re with Recovery Girl. We’re still at the sports festival. You slept for twenty minutes. There are only you, me, Hagakure and Kuroiro here. They are at the door and will alarm us if anyone comes. You okay?”

Izuku couldn’t help but smile. It seems his friend knew him too well. He woke up in a panic, but now he was calm. Better than calm. Happy even.

“I’m fine. Still a bit tired, but I’ll manage. Did anything happen while I was asleep?”

Shoto shook his head. That was when the air next to them made a sound.

“Aizawa and Eri are coming. You want to see them? If not, we can cause a distraction.”

“It’s fine, thanks Hagakure. Just make sure you and Kuroiro return to your classes. Thank you for keeping watch.”

“Anytime boss. Well fought.”

Izuku smiled and while the two Void members presumably made their way back to their classes, Shoto returned to his bed as well.

A knock sounded at the door, and Aizawa and Eri stepped in.

Before either of them could say anything, Eri jumped on Izuku’s bed and hugged him. Then she looked up and smiled at him.

She smiled.

Even if Izuku hadn’t known her for a while now, Aizawa’s shocked expression alone would have convinced him that this was a special event. The pro hero’s face went from shock to happiness to almost tears. He tried to hide it, but Izuku knew enough about the man to know.

Izuku hugged Eri tighter.

“Thank you for cheering for me. See? Told you I could do it.”

Aizawa sat down on the chair that Shoto had used not a minute ago. He ruffled Izuku’s hair.

“Well done kid. Now no one will be able to deny your place in the hero course. And I just so happen to have an open space. I’m proud of you.”

Izuku buried his face in Eri’s hair. He knew he still had a long way to go. This was only one step in their plan. And yet…he felt as if he finally achieved something big. Something notable. A quirkless kid winning the UA sports festival. There would be kids like him that would finally have some hope. This was a giant step in the right direction.

A few tears rolled down his face.

His voice shook a little more than he wanted it to.

“Thank you.”

Aizawa just leaned back.

“The award ceremony will start in five minutes. You should get ready. I think All Might will be distributing the medals.”

Izuku’s smile fell. Aizawa politely pretended he didn’t notice.

“After today we will probably send a letter with your new placement. You and your parents will have to fill out a few forms, some legal stuff, but nothing big. I’ll see to it that you will in a hero class starting next week. Got it, problem child?”

The legal forms wouldn’t be a problem. Izuku had faked his father’s signature ‘Midoriya Hisashi’, for a while now. He didn’t dare use his mothers. At least his father was still alive. Probably. Not that he wanted to meet the man, but it was a convenient way to get around all the legal stuff.

So Izuku smiled, placed Eri in Aizawa’s arms, much to her protest, and made his best effort to look presentable. Based on Shoto’s snickers, who had pretended to sleep during the entire conversation, it did not work.

Aizawa ruffled his hair once more and pulled his clothes into place.

“I need to head back to the commentator’s booth now. See you next week.”

Eri waved at him.

“Bye-bye, H- Izuku.”

Izuku waved back and took a deep breath. He needed to face All Might. He didn’t want to do that. He knew this would come sooner or later. Then again, maybe it was good that this happened with so many cameras trained on the man. And that Shoto, Momo and Ochaco would be right next to him.

Shoto fell in step behind him.

“It’ll be okay. We’re right here for you. You did amazing. This is your victory. You earned it.”

Izuku nodded. They met Momo and Ochaco in the hallway, both girls hugged and congratulated him, and together they walked into the arena, greeted by blinding lights and cheers.

It was overwhelming.

Izuku wanted to crawl back into a safe space, somewhere with less people, where it was quiet. But he couldn’t back down now.

So he put on his brightest and most confident smile. He had three Void members walking behind him, supporting him. It would be alright.

Izuku climbed the podium until he stood at the highest place. Number one.

With a crash All Might landed in the stadium. The public cheered. The people on the podium remained stone faced. They had accepted All Might as a teacher, but they didn’t like him. It was funny to see how the man squirmed under the gaze of children who didn’t admire him for once. It was clear that he wasn’t used to it.

Midnight stood before the podium, medals on a cushion, waiting for the number one hero to deliver them to the victors.

Momo and Ochaco both stood at third place, and All Might approached Ochaco first.

“Young Uraraka. I did not expect you to win against Bakugo but you showed an incredible display of luck and ingenuity and earned your place on this podium.”

His blinding smile was met by Uraraka just blinking in stupor. She took the medal with grace.

“Well, thanks for your vote of confidence.” She said and didn’t even bother to hide the sarcasm dripping from her voice.

All Might hid his embarrassment with another fake laugh and stepped towards Momo.

“Ah, young Yaoyorozu. A great performance, nothing I wouldn’t expect from a recommended student.”

Momo just nodded. “Thanks.” She averted her gaze rather fast and smiled at Ochaco, who smiled back. The two of them giggled.

This seemed to confuse All Might, but he pretended it didn’t bother him and moved on to Shoto.

“Young Todoroki. A stunning display of power. You destroyed the arena two times. You really are your father’s son.”

Shoto didn’t even bother to hide his frown. He took the medal from All Might and put it on himself, without thanking the man.

Last but most definitely not least, All Might stepped towards Izuku.

If the smiles he gave before had been fake, it was still nothing compared to this.

“Young Midoriya…”

Izuku cut him off immediately.

“We both know you have nothing good to say to me. You can cut the crap.”

All Might froze.

“Midoriya, I…”

Izuku crossed his arms and looked at Midnight.

“Would you mind if I say a few things? A little victory speech, or something like that?”

Midnight stepped forward and handed him the microphone, if only to do something about the tension in the air.

By the way Izuku treated All Might, she wondered if the boy knew who exactly had sabotaged his way into the hero course.

Izuku took the microphone and gave a pointed look at All Might, who stepped aside.

The crowd was now focused on him. It was eerily silent.

“Well, I think none of you expected me to win this festival. Sorry for screwing up your betting pools. But here I am. My name is Izuku. I’m from General Education, class 1-C. This is the first time in UA history someone from any other than the hero course has won the sports festival. But that isn’t all. You probably wondered how I managed to win this. What my quirk is. Well whatever you thought, you are wrong. I’m quirkless.”

At that Izuku stopped and the crowd started murmuring. Some people shouted, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

All Might looked uncomfortable, while Midnight seemed proud. She gave him thumbs-up. Shoto, Momo and Ochaco were encouraging him as well.

So he drew the attention of the crowd once again.

“This alone shows that your quirk doesn’t determine your worth! People have told me all my life that I was worthless, that I couldn’t do anything!”

All Might flinched, but Izuku continued.

“It doesn’t matter what your quirk is, or if you have one at all. If I can do it, so can you! It doesn’t matter if they call you a villain, a monster. Don’t believe in the lies they tell you. I am standing here, as the winner of the UA sports festival. As a quirkless kid. I will tell you the words I wish someone had told me all those years ago. Because you deserve it. Because they are true.”

Izuku closed his eyes. He took a deep breath.

“You can be a hero!”

At first, it was silent. Then Ochaco, Momo and Shoto started clapping. So did Midnight. In the crowd, one by one people started clapping, cheering. Cheering for him.

Izuku could feel it. He had changed something. If only a little bit, but it was there. A tiny spark. The hope he had wished for when he was a child.

He bowed to the crowd. He whispered a thank you, but he doubted anyone could hear it.

With that speech, the UA sports festival ended.

-

Of course, that was only the official side of things. Izuku probably wasn’t supposed to know, but Void had planned a party. They ushered Izuku into the bar, where several banners hung with ‘CONGRATULATIONS!!!’ and ‘VICTORY’ and ‘FIRST PLACE’.

Izuku smiled.

He had made himself a home here. A family.

Shigaraki grinned at him.

“See, I told you you would win! I even bet on you! I mean to be fair almost everyone bet on you except for Dabi, but he doesn’t count.”

Dabi crossed his arms.

“Pft, I’m sure Shoto would have won if he had used his full power from the start. Like from the first event. And hell, what was that about, only using your fire when Izuku screamed at you?”

Shoto seemed like he would rather be elsewhere right now. Shinso stepped between the two of them.

“Now now, I’m sure this is a conversation about another time. How about I distract you with pictures of Endeavour wit juice spilled on him and this one video where a fire extinguisher exploded on him? I will upload them, of course, but you can look at them first.”

He shoved a phone in Dabi’s face.

The pyromaniac looked between his brother and the phone.

Then he grabbed the phone.

“Alright, show me. But Shoto, we’re still talking about this!”

Shoto shoved some chips in his mouth.

“Yeah, sure, umm, bye.”

Then he ducked into the crowd.

Izuku smiled and integrated himself into the party as well.

He was called away once and stood face to face with All for One. The man was smiling.

“Very well done Izuku. My offer to give you a quirk of your choosing still stands, and I will not take that back, but I saw your determination and strength today. You truly do not need a quirk to be great. I am proud of you.”

Izuku could tell that All for One meant what he said. There was a warm feeling in his chest, knowing that someone approved, that someone was proud of him. Even if that someone was a supervillain. Or maybe because of that. Izuku was proud of this. He earned it. He hadn’t wavered.

Many members of Void had to leave early, since their families wanted to congratulate them as well. In the end only the League of Villains, Shinso and Izuku remained.

Shinso poked him in the stomach.

“Come on Zuku, I think Akaguro wants to see us before you fall asleep. You did well today.”

Izuku nodded and together they made their way home, to their (not legal) guardian.

As expected, Akaguro had waited for them. He had even made a cake.

“Congratulations kid. Shinso, I’m sure you forfeited, but good job pissing of the explosion kid. That was fun to watch. Izuku, I don’t know what to say. What you did was incredible. I am so proud of you. You are becoming more than I ever expected when I took you in all those years ago. I think that was the best decision of my life. Maybe the only good one.”

Izuku nodded, once again tears flowing to his eyes. This was it. This was everything he ever wanted as a child.

He wished it could stay this way forever.

-

Somewhere in an underground lair:

“That’s him boss! That’s the kid who took Eri! No wonder the quirk erasing bullets didn’t affect him!”

But before he could turn around to face his boss, his body had been torn apart.

A man in a plague mask put a glove back on.

“Find him.”

Chapter Text

Izuku got up the next morning bright and early.

Okay no, he didn’t. Shinso may have dragged him into bed and told him to rest, because if not he would throw out the coffee machine. Hypocrite. He needed the coffee as much as Izuku did. There is no way he would do anything to harm it.

Then again, Izuku was tired. So he fell into bed and slept, and once he woke up, he turned around and took another nap. It was incredible. He hadn’t slept so long since…well sine he had an injury and was drugged into a 12-hour sleep, but that didn’t count. He hadn’t slept for so long of his own volition since his mom was alive.

Well he better not dwell on that.

So once he got out, Akaguro made him breakfast. While he made Shinso and himself lunch. Yeah that checks out with the time.

Izuku didn’t mind. Void had made sure to give him the weekend off, Shinso was home as well and even Akaguro seemed to have put his whatever he was doing on halt.

It was almost domestic.

The tv was running in the background, Shinso was playing on his phone and Akaguro was reading. Izuku smiled up from his own work. Shinso had grabbed his letters from the mailbox and brought them to Izuku. Now Izuku needed to sign a few forms, he needed to fake his father’s signature to sign the forms, and he needed to commission a hero costume. He fought best in his Hollow suit, but he couldn’t wear that of course. He needed something completely different, not too flashy, but still practical.

And he knew that Mei had promised to help build it, and she had the school’s resources at her disposal, so he could add a few gimmicks.

He spent the entire weekend relaxing, discussing his hero career with his pseudo-family and relaxing. He knew he still had a long way to go, but he had made the first big steps. For the first time in a long time, he felt at ease.

Soon came the morning of his first day as a hero student. It wasn’t much different from usual. He left his house before Shinso, to take one train before him. Better to be early on his first day.

He was supposed to meet with Aizawa in the teacher’s lounge. He passed a huge blond man with the build of a skeleton on his way there, but didn’t pay him much mind. The man however, had an odd look of guilt written on his face.

Izuku quickly passed him and knocked on the door to the teacher’s lounge. Midnight opened the door for him and smiled.

“Well, well, if it isn’t out little new hero student. Come in, come in, you did great we’re all really proud of you.”

That made Izuku smile a little. He ducked into the room and made his way to Aizawa’s desk. The hero was already there, with a steaming cup of coffee in his hands. Izuku handed him the signed paperwork.

“Good, everything is here. From today on forward, you will be transferred to my class, class 1-A. Congratulations.”

With that, a small smile crossed his teacher’s face. Izuku grinned back.

“Let’s meet your new classmates. You hero costume is in the classroom already. Everything should have been explained in the letter we sent you. Any questions?”

“Nope.” Izuku clasped his hands behind his back and followed his new homeroom teacher to his new class. The rest had probably already arrived.

Aizawa opened the door and the class went silent immediately. They all looked at Izuku expectantly. The Void members looked proud to see him there, some other seemed curious, and a certain exploding boy didn’t even look at him at all.

Aizawa took his place at his desk.

“As you probably already figured, we have a new student who transferred into the hero course from General Education. Introduce yourself.”

Izuku took a step forward and waved.

“Hi, I’m Izuku, you can call me Izuku and only that please. I’m quirkless and looking forward to working with you all.”

The class smiled back at him. Well, most did but it was enough.

Aizawa spoke up once again.

“You can take the only empty seat. And I think I shouldn’t have to mention this, but UA does not allow any form of quirk discrimination. If you are subjected to it, or if anyone else notices anything come forward and the offender will be dealt with. That is all.”

Now that was a statement Izuku hadn’t expected. Sure, he knew that his teacher wasn’t biased because of his quirk, but usually people didn’t offer more than the platitudes. But somehow, he knew that in this case, Aizawa would actually step in to help him. It was a comforting thought.

He took his seat and smiled at the arrangement. In front of him sat Shinso, behind him sat Momo, and next to him was Tokoyami. He was glad he wasn’t sitting next to Bakugo at least. And that he wasn’t in front of him. The boy sat in front of Shinso, so Izuku had a good buffer between them.

He was ready to start class.

“Alright, now that that is settled. Today we will be choosing hero names.”

The class started cheering, but Aizawa immediately activated his quirk to calm them down. It worked incredibly well.

“This choice might follow you until the end of your career. So you better be careful what you choose. And since this really isn’t my area, I will take a nap.”

It seems that was Midnight’s clue, as she stepped in and gave her brightest smile.

“Yeah, Eraser here couldn’t even choose his own hero name, so I will be doing it with you. Write your suggestions down here and present them to the class.”

Izuku looked down at the blank paper. He had figured out a lot of hero names when he was younger. All of them All Might themed. He couldn’t do that of course. Luckily, he already had a hero name prepared.

And since all members of Void had brainstormed hero names over the weekend anyways, they had also decided on vigilante names. It wasn’t just Hollow and Blank alone anymore. They were ready to show the world who they are.

Several names were dismissed right of the bat, like Mina’s ‘Alien Queen’, which Izuku enjoyed, even if it wasn’t kid friendly, but it was memorable.

Aoyama had chosen the name ‘I cannot stop sparkling’ which wasn’t only too long but also ridiculous. At least it told the villains about Aoyama’s personality. Midnight managed to get him to shorten it to just ‘Sparkle’, which was a good name as any.

Bakugo wanted to be called ‘Lord Explosion Murder’, and yep that was very in character, but a mouthful and such a bad hero name. You don’t have time to shout half a sentence in the midst of battle. Hero names need to be short and to the point. Memorable, but unique. Yeah, with so many heroes running around, no wonder it was a challenge.

At least Tsuyu managed to give the class some hope by choosing the name ‘Froppy’, which was cute, to the point and very useful. There was some hope left for the class.

Before any Void members got to the front, Izuku thought of his friends in class 1-B. Setsuna had chosen the hero name ‘Puzzle’, as her quirk allowed her to be pulled apart and put back together, and she liked puzzles. Her vigilante name would be ‘Missing’.

Kinoko had chosen the hero name ‘Shemage’, with the Void alias ‘Nada’.

Kuroiro had chosen the hero name ‘Vantablack’, which fit perfectly with his quirk. He could have probably used something similar as his vigilante name, but he had chosen ‘Zilch’.
Yanagi had decided her hero name would be called the same as her quirk, ‘Poltergeist’. Her vigilante name would be ‘Nil’.

Kamakiri, as the last Void member of class 1-B had chosen the hero name ‘Jack Mantis’ and the vigilante name ‘Gone’.

Mei didn’t have to choose a hero name, as she wasn’t in the hero course, but she did work as a vigilante, and her name was ‘Null’.

The first member from class 1-A who stepped forward was Momo. She gave the class a smile as she revealed her hero name. ‘Arsenal’, the creation hero. It was a good name, and Midnight seemed to agree. Momo had chosen ‘Abyss’ as her vigilante name.

The next person to step forward was Kaminari. He chose ‘Chargebolt’ as his hero name and ‘Absence’ as his vigilante name.

Next up was Uraraka. She had at first wanted to call herself ‘Uravity’, but it was Yanagi who had proposed another name. ‘Singularity’. Midnight gave her a questioning look.
“It’s the centre of a black hole. My quirk is gravity centred and it was Thirteen who inspired me to become a hero.”

Midnight smiled and gave an approving nod. Izuku wondered if she had approved of her vigilante alias as well. ‘Zero’. The number was in her quirk description, but Uraraka had just laughed and said she licked messing with people anyways.

Next up was Jiro, who chose ‘Earphone Jack’ and fittingly ‘Silence’ as her respective names.

Shoji chose the names ‘Tentacole’ and ‘Lost’.

Hagakure had at first wanted to take ‘Invisible Girl’, but that was a little boring and she would probably have to carry that name well into adulthood, so she had ultimately decided on ‘Shining’. Her vigilante name was ‘Vanish’, something she was very good at indeed.

Sero chose the names ‘Cellophane’, based on his quirk, and ‘Naught.’

It had been hard for Shoto to come up with a hero name. He had chatted a long time with Momo and Izuku to figure it out. His vigilante name would be ‘Emptiness’. His hero name however, raised a few questions.

“’Argentum’. The element with the highest melting point. An element that cannot burn.”

Midnight seemed to accept that explanation. The next person to step forward was Shinso. He had chosen ‘Quiz’ as his hero name. He would keep the name ‘Blank’ as his vigilante alias. It had been his first, and even if he had lent it to the others for a while, it was now his and his only.

Izuku had waited with presenting his own name. No matter what he chose, nothing would fit him as much as the name ‘Hollow’, which he had carried for a while now. He wondered if he should have just used ‘Izuku’, but in the end he decided against it. Now he stepped forward to present his choice.

“I chose the name ‘Presence’, so people can’t ignore my existence anymore. Or my accomplishments. I am here to stay.”

Midnight approved, and Izuku went back to his seat. The last person to present was Iida.

The boy stepped forward and showed the name ‘Tenya’.

Their teacher looked at him with a frown. “Are you sure?”

Iida nodded. “My brother told me I could take the name ‘Ingenium’. But I am not ready for that yet. I am not sure what I will be, and until I am, I won’t choose another name.”

Aizawa took that as his cue to wake up.

“Great, everyone has names. Then let’s move on to the next part. Thank you, Midnight.”

The heroine got up and blew Aizawa a kiss. “Anything for you dear.”

Aizawa just rolled his eyes while she got out the door and left, still laughing.

“Alright, next up are the internships. Some of you got offers, some didn’t. Those who didn’t can choose from another list I will give you. For now, let’s look at the offers.”

A few names lit up. At the top was Shoto, with the most offers. Next was Uraraka, shortly followed by Momo. Setsuna, Jiro and Kinoko had a few offers as well. Izuku was the last on the list, but at least he was there. He had exactly seven offers. That was more than he expected, but still less than he had hoped for.

It seemed that the rest of class seemed to notice that as well, as they looked at him with pity. The Void members were trying to swallow their anger and disappointment. It was Kirishima however, who spoke up.

“This can’t be right! I mean Izuku won the festival. Why does he have so few offers? That isn’t manly at all!”

Izuku hadn’t expected anyone to stand up for him. Especially not someone who didn’t really know him. It seems this class has a few more surprises for him. Where Izuku was touched, Aizawa was annoyed. Probably not at Kirishima and more at the heroes, but still.

“Fair or not, there is nothing we can do to change this.”

When Kirishima looked frustrated, Izuku decided to speak up.

“Don’t worry about it. This is about what I expected, I’ll just make the best of it.”

Kirishima didn’t seem quite convinced, but decided not to push the matter. Aizawa handed out the lists with agencies. Izuku looked his over.

Three agencies were more focused on detective work and couldn’t give him any practical hero training. Not that he needed practical training. But he wanted it. He had also received an offer from Gunhead and Midnight. Aizawa had extended an offer to him as well. So far none of them had really surprised him. The real surprise was the last name on the list. He didn’t know any Gran Torino. And since he didn’t know them, he chose to ignore them. Nothing good would come out of it.

Shinso turned around and smiled at him. “Hey, you won’t believe it. I actually have an offer.”

“You didn’t even make it to the final round. That’s just rude.” Izuku answered.

Shinso grinned. “Yeah. I also got this post-it note: ‘Throwing your match was reasonable. I will extend this offer nonetheless.’ It’s from Aizawa. That would definitely help me and is way more my area than the other agencies I could choose.”

Izuku nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. I think I might join you there. You don’t happen to know any Gran Torino, do you?”

He shook his head. “No why, is he a hero? If you haven’t heard of him, I probably don’t know him either. Got an offer from him?”

“Yeah.” Izuku said. “But I have no reason to take it. I think we might do these internships together.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

The rest of class passed without any incidents or drama. Aizawa stopped him before going out the door, however.

“Izuku.” He stopped and waited until everyone else had left the room. Then the hero continued. “All Might told me to tell you that you should choose Gran Torino as your internship.”

Well, there goes another reason not to choose that particular internship.

“To be honest, he is your teacher now as well. I don’t see why he couldn’t tell you himself. Then again, you two seem like you have a history. I’m not sure if it is because he sabotaged your way into the hero course and feels guilty or something else, but it seems he made sure you get that offer.”

Aizawa paused and looked Izuku in the eyes.

“If you ask me, that’s bullshit. I don’t know who Gran Torino is, but I wouldn’t recommend them. My offer still stands. I extended it to Shinso as well, I think the two of you could work well together. I know that you made quite an announcement at the sports festival, but your fighting style is better suited to an underground hero. That’s my opinion. It is your decision after all.”

Izuku smiled and headed for the door.

“It doesn’t matter if All Might, or Endeavour or Best Jeanist had offered. I still would have chosen you.”

“Don’t forget to hand in your forms then, problem child.”

Aizawa tried to hide it, but he couldn’t help the fondness that could be heard in his voice.

He was proud of his little student.

Chapter Text

Tokoyami Fumikage had a long history of people staring at him. It wasn’t surprising, seeing how he had the head of a bird, which wasn’t even his quirk. His quirk was a sentient being made out of shadow that inhabited his body and could go on a rampage. Had gone on rampages.

But being used to the stares didn’t mean that he liked it. His new classmates at UA had been very kind to him. It must come with the job, after all a future hero cannot fall victim to prejudices.

Yet now there was the new kid. Izuku, how he wanted to be called. He had been a great ally in the sports festival, and proved his worth. But he was also staring at him. With a stranger Tokoyami might have let that slide, but he couldn’t let someone stare at him during class. It was uncomfortable. And rude. So he would need to confront him.

After class seemed like a good opportunity.

“Izuku. I’ve noticed that you have been staring at me during the recent exercises. I would ask that you refrain from doing so.”

The boy flushed a little.

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to stare! It’s just your quirk is so incredible and I have so many questions about it, or him, or her, or they? Umm, I thought it would be rude to ask, you know we barely know each other, I mean we did fight together during the sports festival and now I’m your classmate, but asking about such details of the quirk right of the bat is rude and I didn’t want to put you in that position. I have been gathering information about everyone else if that makes you feel any better? Oh no, wait, forget I said that, that sounds super creepy, umm…”

Tokoyami stopped the boy’s rambling by putting a hand in the air.

“I see. If you have questions about Dark Shadow, they can answer themselves. I personally wouldn’t mind answering questions either.”

Izuku grinned and pulled out a notebook, which he flipped to a side with a drawing of Tokoyami in his hero costume. He tapped the pen against his chin and read through his already assembled notes carefully.

“Okay, based on your previous statement Dark Shadow is their own entity with their own consciousness. Are you two lined somehow? Do you need to talk to exchange information? If one of you dies, does the other die along with them? Or would Dark Shadow die if you die because they are your quirk? Has Dark Shadow accompanied you since birth? You call them Dark Shadow, but they are obviously not made of actual shadow. Since Dark Shadow is their own entity, did they learn to speak and talk and write as well? What does Dark Shadow do when we can’t see them? Are they wrapped around your body? No wait that doesn’t make sense, they can grow taller and smaller. Is there an actual physical place on your body where they come out of and disappear into or do they just appear anywhere you want them too? Can they get sick? How comes they are weak to light, and do they subsequently get stronger in darker areas? If so, how can you sleep at night when Dark Shadow should be active? Did you use to be nocturnal? Do…”

Dark Shadow appeared and flipped the notebook out of Izuku’s hands. Tokoyami sighed.

“I’m sorry I don’t think I can answer all these questions right now. To be honest I forgot most of them. You weren’t kidding when you said you gather information. Do you plan on assaulting our classmates as well?”

Izuku picked up his notebook and smiled.

“Sorry, I guess I got a bit too excited. I’m a bit of a quirk enthusiast. I think if I know all about quirks and if I can analyse their strength and weaknesses, I can help my friends and better defeat enemies in a fight.”

Tokoyami nodded thoughtfully.

“I see, that is a very noble and useful hobby. Let’s see if I can answer some of your questions. Dark Shadow has been with me since birth and thus knows about as much as I do. Even if they are not physically present, we share a connection, but we are separate and communicate. I am not, nor have I ever been nocturnal. But that does sound like something worth trying, since Dark Shadow sometimes gets restless at night and keeps me awake. But it isn’t possible anymore with school, and the nights are too dangerous for someone like me.”

A shadow passed upon Izuku’s face when Tokoyami said that. But soon enough, he replaced that with a bright smile.

“I can introduce you to someone if you like! He’s from class 1-B and used to live nocturnal until UA. His name is Kuroiro. He goes to sleep after school now, I think, and does most of his work before school. I’m sure you would get along.”

“How do you know him? You were in general education, were you not?”

“I have my connections.” Izuku said ominously. “Nah, just kidding. I met him once here at school and we got talking. How about you spend lunch together? Couldn’t hurt.”

Tokoyami nodded again. This kid sure was peculiar.

Izuku turned away and waved.

“Thanks for the answers, but I gotta go now. I still have some extracurricular lessons to take care of. Bye!”

With that Tokoyami was left alone once more. On the way home he thought about the many questions Izuku had asked, questions he hadn’t even asked himself, questions he didn’t want to think about.

Would Dark Shadow die with him? Or the other way around? His mother had joked once that Dark Shadow was his twin that got fused to him before birth. That would certainly be fitting.

-

The next day at lunch, Tokoyami met with Kuroiro. The two of them hit it off immediately. Even Dark Shadow liked him. He explained a lot about living nocturnal in today’s society. And Tokoyami could only see more benefits the more they talked.

“You see, heroes that work mostly during night even get payed more. The job is more dangerous, most people don’t like to work there. Of course, you would get less media attention. Can’t celebrate what you can’t show off on a flashy film. But for me personally that’s better anyway. I plan to become an underground hero. I’m way better at stealth. I can melt into black surroundings, and at night everything is black. It’s perfect. It aligns with my actual sleep schedule. I don’t want media attention. It’s why I threw the second round of the sports festival.”

That did sound intriguing. Tokoyami would benefit from the darkness as well.

“I see. The darkness is my preferred realm as well. I have not cared for the media until now, and that will not change. Posturing will never be as important as the deeds we perform. The darkness suits Dark Shadow better as well. Please tell me more about coping if I were to try a nocturnal schedule.”

Kuroiro grinned.

“Sure. You should ask your teacher as well, though. I think Aizawa would help you, seeing how he is an underground hero as well, and probably works at night. By the way, I totally agree about the media thing. It’s important that crimes get reported and that the people are informed about what’s going on, but being a hero is just another job. If you want media fame, you should become an actor, a musician, or something like that.”

“I agree. Wanting to appear flashy for the media will only lead to unnecessary hindrances. Above all, a hero should be practical. Which is why I am intrigued to find out how my internship will go.”

Kuroiro tilted his head to the side.

“Where is your internship?”

“Hawks offered. He is without a doubt one of the most publicised heroes out there. I do not deny that he does a good job, but I do wonder how he juggles both the publicity and his duties as a hero. He does seem to handle it well. I heard from Yaoyorozu that she got an offer from Uwabami. She seems to prioritize her media image over her duties. Which is why Yaoyorozu turned her down and will intern with Fatgum, who also has a quirk based on body fat.”

Kuroiro nodded.

“Yeah, Kendo got an offer as well. But Setsuna told her to go to Gunhead’s agency instead. I heard Uraraka will intern there as well.”

Tokoyami took a bite out of his food before answering.

“Indeed. Choosing a place to intern at is hard, but I am glad to hear that your class reps are capable. I think we will be a splendid generation of heroes.”

“Heroes. Yeah, we will be. We just have to give it our all. Say, Tokoyami, besides the obvious license, what do you think a hero should be?”

Tokoyami put his chopsticks down. That was a loaded question.

“The word hero used to have a different meaning than what it is now. People who were called heroes were firefighters, soldiers, cops, lifeguards. But not all of them of course. You needed to prove yourself first, do something heroic, help someone. Now someone like me, who walks in darkness, can become a hero as well, even though most heroes are people chosen by the light. But I would prefer to the original meaning. A hero is someone who saves someone. The heroes now are soldiers, cops, firefighters, and celebrities wrapped into one job. That’s a lot for one job. A lot of pressure. A lot of responsibilities. And with how many heroes there are, I doubt everyone can fulfill those. There is a certain selfless aspect that got lost over time.”

Kuroiro nodded thoughtfully.

“Yeah. You hit the nail on the head. I don’t think the world is as black and white as the people make it out to be. Not all heroes are good, not all villains are bad. I mean just look at vigilantes. Before licenses, before quirks, they were called heroes as well. Now they are villains. Morality is subjective and everchanging.”

“Vigilantes, huh. They are certainly a little grey area. They are all branded as villains, whether they use their quirk to help an old lady cross the street or to beat up people in dark alleys. Our justice system is not good enough to deal with the nuances of our society. For me it always depends on the individual. If they do good, with good intent, without a license, then I don’t believe they deserve an arrest. But there should always be a higher power for control. A division of power. An executive, a judicative and a legislative. No absolute power to one entity.”

A much as Tokoyami wanted to discuss this issue further, lunch only went so long. But Kuroiro offered that they continue talking after school. And Tokoyami couldn’t wait. Most people shut you down immediately if you spoke out against the system in any way. But only these instances, the people pushing against the system led to change. If it weren’t for that, people with mutant quirks wouldn’t be able to live like they did now.

-

Tokoyami spent most of the week talking with Kuroiro during lunch and after school. He was a great friend, the two (or three, rather) of them just clicked. Next week the internships would start. It was Friday now, one last weekend before the first taste of hero life. For class 1-B, anyways. Class 1-A already had their fair share of experience on the field.

Today however, Kuroiro seemed a little nervous. He kept checking is phone and seemed distracted overall. It wasn’t long until Tokoyami confronted him about it.

Kuroiro relented.

“Do you remember when we talked about what it means to be a hero? About vigilantes?”

Tokoyami nodded and Kuroiro continued.

“Change take time and effort. But what if there was a way to force the change that is needed from the top down? What if there was a way to change the system with a little work on the side? Would you do it? Even if you had to hide it from your family?”

Tokoyami stopped and looked Kuroiro in he eyes. The boy had a serious look on his face, more serious than he had seen since they first met. This was an important question. One that Tokoyami needed to answer truthfully.

“I believe that change is worth the risk. If I would fight for something I truly believe in then yes. I would.”

Kuroiro held his stare for a long time, ascertaining the validity of his claim. Then he smiled.

“Good. In that case, I have something to show you. You’ll be home late, but trust me, it will be worth it.”

Tokoyami nodded and went along with his new friend. He may not yet realize what he had gotten into, but it would be worth it in the end. That much was certain.

-

Izuku looked over the information that he had been provided with over the last week. Everyone had chosen a good internship offer and the Void vigilante schedule for the week had been worked out. They had Tokoyami as a new recruit, but his training would start after the internships. Some people could stay at home during the internships, they would patrol the streets while the other’s stayed with their mentors so their cover wouldn’t be blown.

He himself would be with Hitoshi and Aizawa. As far as he could tell, Iida would be taking the internship with his brother. Endeavour’s agency was based in Hosu as well, but Shoto had turned his offer down to train with Mirko.

This internship would give them a great insight into the workings of many different heroes. Izuku had also given them the task to gather as many information as possible. Mei had worked with Nathan to develop a computer program that would give Void access to the files on the hero agency’s computers if they managed to download it without blowing their cover.

Izuku himself was glad to be able to spend a week with Hitoshi and Eri, as well as the teacher he usually trained with. They just needed to be careful to not show too many of their vigilante skills. That would be easier for Hitoshi, since Blank never uses his quirk. None of the vigilantes used their quirks while in costume. And since their fighting style was vastly different if they did use them while working as hero students, Izuku wasn’t worried that they blew their cover. The only problem was Izuku, who had to rely on only his fighting style.

All for One had offered Izuku various quirks, but he always turned him down. The man seemed disappointed at that, like a pouting child, but always relented. Izuku needed to make it to the top without a quirk. He had something to prove. And if he mainly used the fighting style taught to him by Eraserhead, he would be fine.

Izuku was ready for his internship. So was the rest of Void.

Chapter Text

Izuku had a certain spring in his step. He and Hitoshi were on their way to Aizawa’s apartment, followed by the hero himself. The poor man was constantly on his phone, checking if the other kids of class 1-A had arrived safely at their destinations. They would, but the hero worried nonetheless. He tried not to show it, but Izuku had gotten rather good at discerning Aizawa’s moods.

These internships would be great. Finally, Izuku could work on the streets and help people legally. Another step in the right direction. Another step forward.

Out of habit, Izuku turned into the alley he usually visited Aizawa’s house from.

“Problem child, if you don’t want to enter my apartment through the window, you should make the next turn.”

Oops. He was used to entering Eri’s room through exactly that window. They weren’t even supposed to know where Aizawa lived. Well, the man was distracted, so it wouldn’t be a problem. Izuku could have gotten that information from anywhere.

Aizawa took the lead and showed them through the apartment. They would live in a guest room here, since Aizawa didn’t have an agency they could sleep at. Eri seemed very excited to have two ‘new’ friends stay in the house for a while.

They spent the afternoon discussing the rules of the internship.

1. Always follow Eraserhead’s orders.

2. Stay close and do not run away.

3. Stay together if something happens.

4. In case of an emergency, call for another hero.

5. Stay alive and healthy.

Izuku almost laughed at rule number four. As if another hero would be out and about at night. Aizawa may have decided to shove his usual work hours ahead, so they would work in the evening instead of the night, but Izuku was familiar with the general schedules of most heroes. Nothing less than a full-blown explosion or a falling building would draw more heroes out. He could thank the horrible combination of Momo and Mei for that insight. At least the building had been empty and was scheduled for demolition anyways.
Aizawa told them to get a few hours of sleep before the evening and regarded his own advice immediately by getting out a few tests and grading them.

How the man still had to do so much schoolwork baffled Izuku. He may not have expelled his entire class this time, but he was rarely seen working with any other classes. Did that man have anything other to teach then his homeroom? He must have. Maybe he worked with the third years.

Since Izuku and Hitoshi were used to staying up all day and working in the night, they decided to spend their afternoon off by playing with Eri. She had settled incredibly well. Her room was full of pictured she had drawn, stickers of cats, actual cats, and blankets. There were so many blankets.

The three of them built a pillow fort and played cards.

Eri smiled more often now, and it warmed Izuku’s heart. He was always glad to see that he had done something right. Even if this was all he had ever managed to achieve, he would be proud.

A knock on the door shook him out of their musing.

“Come in.” Eri shouted at the door. Then she whispered to the two of them. “They never come in if I don’t tell them too. I like that.”

Aizawa stepped in and took a look at the room. It was chaos. He sighed.

“Put on your hero costumes. It’s time to go. Eri, Nemuri will be over shortly. Maybe she can help you clean up here.”

Eri hugged Hitoshi and Izuku goodbye and the two of them hurried and put on their hero costumes. From now on, they were Presence and Quiz. Heroes.

Aizawa waited for them in the hallway.

“If you fall asleep or get tired during patrol that’s your fault and I will leave you behind. Today is just a quick patrol around the area. Nothing should happen but it will get you accustomed to what I do every night. If you notice something, tell me. If you have any questions, ask. Stay close. Let’s go.”

Izuku highly doubted that Eraserhead would leave them behind. But the man had a reputation to uphold.

The two students followed their teacher silently. Well, not too silent. No need for Aizawa to know just how experienced the two of them already were.

The route they took was one of those Izuku knew of. Kuroiro had tailed the hero for months until the were sure they knew all his patrol routes and schedules. He was one of the few heroes they might actually stumble upon. This particular route was rather short and didn’t have many dangerous spots that often harboured criminal activity. Eraserhead didn’t use it often, only when he was injured or short on time.

He was going easy on the students. Izuku kept that knowledge to himself, but giving how Hitoshi looked at him, he knew as well.

That was probably why they didn’t encounter any troubles today. The first day was just to get them used to run around in the dark. Any real activity would come after this.

The next few days were spent in the same rhythm. Wake up late, later than they were used to. It was funny how they finally had the luxury of sleep now that they didn’t have to go to school.

Then they trained, rested a bit, and went on patrol.

The patrols were quite boring. Aizawa still avoided most dangerous areas, but they chased down a few drug dealers and muggers. Nothing they couldn’t handle.

It was only after a few days that their schedule changed. Aizawa woke them earlier than usual, breakfast on the table.

“Change of plans. There has been increased yakuza activity lately. We’re going to Hosu and will patrol the streets to help figure out what’s going on. We’re taking the train and our shift will be the afternoon and evening. There will be other hero agencies there as well. Memorize these pictures, and if you see any of them tell me immediately.”

They nodded. Izuku looked down at the pictures and froze. He recognized one of them. It had been a while ago, but this was the man that he had taken Eri from. Weird plague mask and everything. But there was no way he could tell Aizawa that.

He tried a more roundabout way.

“Will Eri be alright? I mean she will be all alone here.”

Aizawa laughed. “Well, you got attached quickly. But no worries. Multiple heroes live in this apartment building, including Midnight who comes here regularly to check up on her. And in case you forgot since you barely see him, Present Mic lives here as well. He isn’t helping in Hosu and will be here as well. There is no need to worry.”

Izuku worried. He knew how easy it was to break in here, since he did it regularly. Granted, Eri opens the window for him, but the security really isn’t good enough. Maybe they didn’t know where Eri was. Why else would they be in Hosu?

They would need to investigate. Izuku got out his phone and asked in the Void group chat if anyone else would be in Hosu to help with the yakuza. Luckily, they answered quickly. Momo was the one with the answers. She herself would be there, along with a third year called Tamaki Amakiji, hero name Suneater, under the guidance of Fatgum. Apparently Ingenium would show up as well, which meant that Iida wouldn’t be far off either.

None of the other would be there, but would keep their eyes and ears open for any information.

Next, Izuku contacted the League of Villains. They hadn’t heard about more yakuza showings, but would stand at the ready in case something happened.

Izuku felt like he missed a piece of the puzzle. Something that should be in Hosu. But he wasn’t sure what it was.

The train ride passed in silence, but Izuku was too anxious to be comfortable. Hitoshi wasn’t off any better. He kept fiddling with his voice changer. Aizawa had told them to sleep, but Izuku couldn’t even relax. Sleeping was off the table. He needed to be aware in case something happened.

But they arrived safely at their destination. It was Fatgum, accompanied by Momo and Tamaki who welcomed them, and gave them a rundown of the situation.

Nothing has happened yet, but the yakuza group that had kidnapped Eri was seen in large numbers throughout the city. It seemed as if they were looking for something. Or someone. At least they weren’t anywhere close to Eri.

After their debrief, Aizawa led them into some sort of hero agency.

“This is the agency I work under. Legally, every hero needs to be filed under a hero agency, and this agency is used by underground heroes. Most underground heroes are filed here, but we don’t work in this area. It’s just bureaucratic stuff. They do have a few guest rooms, though.”

Well, that made sense. Which meant that Hitoshi, Kuroiro and Hagakure would probably work here as well one day. Most underground heroes in one agency. Izuku knew there were few, but this was extreme. Just another flaw with the hero system.

They put their stuff away and departed for the streets once again. This would be new territory for them. They weren’t used to operate during daylight, especially not with so many civilians around. And they didn’t know the area. None of these thoughts helped settle Izuku’s nerves. But it didn’t matter. This was just another challenge they needed to overcome. And they were students. They were still supposed to learn. They shouldn’t have to shoulder responsibility yet.

Before long they hit the streets again. They couldn’t run because the street was crowded. So they walked, almost blending in with the civilians. If one looked closely, they could tell that the three of them were heroes, but at a passing glance they could melt into the crowd.

Izuku didn’t like the masses. There were too many people that could get hurt in collateral damage if a fight happened. A panic could sweep through and people would get trampled. Their deaths would be on Izuku’s hands. There were too many people here. He just wanted to leave, to duck into an alley, to disappear into the darkness.

“Problem child.”

Izuku looked up to his teacher, who had stopped at the side of the road.

“What?”

Aizawa put a hand on his head and ruffled his hair.

“There is no need to worry. Even if something were to happen, alone in this crowd are five more experienced heroes and even more could be here in the blink of an eye. That’s the perks of living in a big city. We are just here to scout for the yakuza. You are only interns. If something happens, you technically aren’t even supposed to help, but to observe and control the crowd. So stop worrying. I can see it on your face. It will be alright.”

Izuku nodded. He took a deep breath. He still worried, but that wouldn’t help him now. He trusted his teacher to do his job. He had done that at the USJ as well. Bad thought. He had trained him well. It would be alright.

Hitoshi inched a little closer to him, giving his silent support.

Izuku smiled. He wasn’t alone.

They spent most of the afternoon walking around, but didn’t see anything suspicious. Even the yakuza weren’t dumb enough to walk around in their bird masks when the heroes increased their patrols. They must know by now that they were looking for them.

He was ripped out of his thoughts by an explosion about a hundred meters away. Aizawa jumped into action immediately.

“Evacuate the civilians! I’ll come back as soon as possible. Stay together!”

And he ran off.

Luckily Izuku and Hitoshi were used to sudden action, and started their task. The civilians were in panic, already running from the explosion. Izuku wanted to follow his teacher, but knew that he had a different job to do.

Right now they were on a side street, and the civilians were evacuated rather quickly. They were used to explosions and evacuating. Izuku thought that that wasn’t something you should be exposed to often enough to get used to it. There were two kinds of people in a disaster nowadays. Those that properly evacuated, and those that stood close to the fight to watch.

But even the civilians that evacuated were quite calm, complaining that they missed their bus or wouldn’t finish their shopping. At least it made evacuating easier.

Izuku guided the last of the civilians away from the incident when he suddenly felt extremely sluggish. He tried to gain his footing, but it was almost as if he was completely drunk.

Then he was punched in the side by something that felt like spiky armour and crashed to the ground in the nearby alley.

It hurt like hell.

But he had worse. At least the sluggishness had disappeared now.

Izuku got up, wondering where Hitoshi was. Instead, he stood face to face with a man with a red plague mask. He remembered that face. It was the most important picture Aizawa had shown them. The leader of the Shie Hassaikai. Overhaul.

The person with the sharp armour, which Izuku now recognized as crystals, bend Izuku’s arms behind his back and forced him on his knees.

Overhaul looked down on him.

“Midoriya Izuku. It was stupid of you to take Eri. It was even dumber when you decided to show yourself on tv. But do you know what your worst mistake was?”

The villain paused. Izuku didn’t give him an answer.

“It was to steal from me.”

Overhaul took off his glove and hovered his hand just over Izuku’s face.

“Now tell me. Where is Eri?”

Touch-based quirk, Izuku’s mind helpfully provided. Don’t let him touch you. It was probably a little too late to have that thought.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who is Eri?”

Overhaul decided the best answer to that question would be to use his quirk on Izuku.

Izuku tried to squirm away, but it didn’t matter. Within seconds, Izuku could feel his body fall apart, piece by piece. It started with his face, he was being torn apart, and he should be dead by now, given that his brain had disintegrated, but he still felt every bit. From his head down his neck, his torso, his arms, his legs.

It didn’t take longer than a second.

But for Izuku it lasted hours.

And then he was back. The pain was gone.

“Where is Eri?”

They didn’t know. And Izuku wouldn’t tell them. Eri was still save. She would stay that way.

“Shin will be here soon. We will know anyway. It’s not like you have a quirk to counteract his Confession.”

Izuku remembered. They had a member that could force people to tell the truth. That wasn’t good. The back of his mind helpfully provided that maybe this Shin was related to Tsukauchi. The rest of his brain disagreed that that was helpful information. Shoto would like that theory.

But Shoto wasn’t here.

Hitoshi was supposed to be here. But he wasn’t. Had something happened to him? Izuku looked around, but Hitoshi wasn’t there.

“Looking for your friend? He is occupied. If you want to save him, tell me where Eri is.”

He would be alright. Izuku had to believe that. Hitoshi had survived worse than a few yakuza. Izuku just needed to buy some time. Villains liked to talk.

“Why do you think I know where she is?”

Overhaul didn’t seem amused.

“Do you think my subordinate wouldn’t recognize you after you grabbed Eri and ran away? The hard part was finding you. But you showed yourself to the world. I assume you have a lot more enemies. But we got to you first. We figured out with whom you would intern and where your teacher was listed. Right here in Hosu. Took you a while to show up. I hate underground heroes.”

Great, Izuku thought. He basically handed himself on a silver platter. It made sense that he would be a target. But he had been too worried about Eri. At least this had given him the time to send an emergency signal to the last group he had talked to. It didn’t matter if that was Void or the League of Villains. Both would be helpful in this situation.

“Ah, that Eri. No sorry, she’s long gone. In Germany, I think. Maybe in France? Oh no wait, America. All Might flew her there personally. Why don’t you ask him?”

Izuku acted a lot braver than he actually felt. This man could permanently kill him with a single touch. It had hurt. He wondered if people felt that way when Shigaraki touched them. He didn’t want to find out.

Suddenly, another man sprinted into the alley. He also wore a bird mask.

“Boss, these weird creepy things appeared in the area and started attacking our people! What should we do?”

Overhaul grimaced.

“We got what we came for. Take him and we’ll get the information out of him later. Have the rest retreat.”

Izuku really didn’t want to be taken. He tried his best to struggle, but he was sluggish and knew he couldn’t escape Overhaul. He did his best, but the crystals cut into his flesh.

“Let’s see how much you can struggle without your limbs.” Overhaul extended a hand and Izuku pulled back as much as he could. He was quite attached to his limbs.

Apparently, Overhaul wasn’t.

Because the next thing Izuku saw, was Overhaul’s arm on the floor in front of him.

The villains screamed. Within the next few seconds, both the man with the sluggish quirk and the crystal quirk laid dead to his feet.

Izuku looked up to the person who had rescued him.

He saw the hero killer.

Who looked awfully familiar.

Chapter Text

Izuku stared up at the man who had raised him. At the man who had given him a home. At a murderer.

He couldn’t believe it.

He didn’t want to believe it.

Yet here he was. Akaguro Chizome. No longer Stendhal, the vigilante. Now he was the hero killer Stain.

Izuku didn’t move.

Stain didn’t move either.

It was hard for Izuku to tell what Stain was thinking. Did he feel guilty? Was he ashamed that he had been caught? Was he proud that he could finally show what he really was?
Overhaul didn’t share that hesitation. He had just lost and arm. He realized just how outclassed he was. He was scared. He was a coward. He fled the alley, but neither Izuku nor Stain moved to go after him. Maybe the police would catch him. Or a hero. Izuku didn’t believe it, but he didn’t care right now.

All he could see was the two corpses and his own hands full of blood. He hadn’t spilled it himself, but it was still there. Literally and figuratively. How could he not have noticed that he lived with a monster? After all, Izuku had seen his fair share of monsters. But All for One never claimed to be something he wasn’t. Akaguro said he wanted to change society. Stain had proven that wrong. Had it all been a farce? And what was Izuku’s role in all this? He didn’t know what to do. He felt hollow.

Stain took a step forward, as if to comfort Izuku. He still held his blade.

Izuku flinched back.

Stain stopped. He put his weapons away.

“Izuku, I’m sorry. I know what this might look like to you but…no. I have no excuses. You deserve better than me. I didn’t want you to find out like this.”

A few tears rolled down Izuku’s face.

“How long?” He asked. His voice cracked a little. “How long did you plan to deceive me? To deceive us?”

Stain hesitated.

“For as long as possible. I knew that I would lose you one day. I had hoped our family could last forever, but I knew that was impossible. I was fooling myself. But for what it’s worth…those were the best years of my life. The memory will forever be tainted for you, but I will cherish our time together. I never felt so at peace.”

“Why?” Izuku asked, his voice barely a whisper.

“I…”

Stain was interrupted by another figure entering the alley.

“Step away from my student!”

Eraserhead’s quirk was active, his capture scarf floating around his neck. Stain didn’t move. His eyes never left Izuku.

Izuku didn’t look back either. He finally raised his head and screamed: “No! Tell me why you did this to us!”

Eraserhead didn’t move. He had to ascertain the situation.

Stain sighed. He had been lying for Izuku and Shinso for too long. It was time to tell the truth.

“When I found you, I had almost given up. I barely held on to my beliefs. I was ready to go down a path of villainy to make even the slightest dent in this corrupt society. But then you came into my life. And you reflected the best part of everything I ever believed in and even more. I thought that if I raised you to be what I could never have become; my dream would come true. I believed it with all my heart. Then Shinso stayed with us and you found even more people who share your aspirations.

I was so proud of you. I could almost see the future where we lived in peace. I had thrown away all ideas of murder and villainy.

But things changed the day you were hurt. When you called for help and I saw what happened to you I killed Muscleshine. Leaving him alive would have endangered you. I realized then that I could never change society. Not by killing heroes or villains. No matter what I did, it wouldn’t do anything.

But you? You have the world in your hands Izuku. You have people to rely on. I truly believe that you will make this dream come true. I just wanted to pave the way for you. Make things a little easier.

I just wanted to protect you.”

Izuku shook his head. He got up and took a few steps backwards.

“You’re still a murderer. And I can’t forgive you for that. You raised me this way. I promised to do everything for our future. And right now you are standing in my way. In our way.”

Stain smiled. Almost as if he had expected this.

“I don’t want to fight you. But we haven’t sparred in a long time. Come on, Presence. You’re a hero now. Show me what you’re made of.”

Izuku wiped his tears away. He wasn’t in his Hollow outfit, so he didn’t have his blade. He didn’t want to use it here. His capture scarf would be enough.

“I’m sorry sensei. But this is my fight.”

Eraserhead had been combat ready ever since he entered the alley. But Stain had been too close to Izuku to act. So he let them talk, waiting for Stain to lower his guard. He saw his chance when Izuku stepped back.

He hadn’t expected his student to hit him with a tazer.

But he hadn’t expected his student to be raised by a villain either. He had a lot of questions, but he couldn’t think because of the electricity coursing through his body.

He had been stupid. His problem child couldn’t fight the hero killer alone, no matter what relationship they may have had.

Izuku charged forward, alone. He moved with more grace than Eraserhead had seen him move before. Had he been holding back?

The two fighters exchanged blow after blow, with Izuku doing his best to dodge Stain’s knives. He avoided getting even the shallowest cut. He probably knew the villain’s quirk then. Something cutting or blood related.

Stain didn’t let himself get caught in the capture scarf either. He was quick, it was almost unbelievable that he didn’t have an enhancer quirk. But he still held back. There were lethal blows he could have landed, areas he tried to avoid.

They danced around one another, knowing each other’s movement patterns. Eraserhead wondered just how often they must have trained together to achieve this level of fighting. He didn’t want to think about it.

Izuku was good, better than Eraserhead remembered him to be. Better than most hero students with a quirk. Better than some licensed heroes.

But he was still fighting the hero killer. Step by step he was being pushed back, missing a few beats, losing his rhythm.

Stain managed to cut him.

Izuku grimaced and looked at the blood dripping from the blade.

Stain held the knife up.

“It’s over. You have gotten good. But you must still get stronger.”

Stain licked the blade, and Izuku fell over.

Before he could even hit the ground, a gigantic creature swooped down from the sky and grabbed him.

A nomu.

And Izuku was paralyzed.

Eraserhead had a hard time moving, but he needed to protect his student. If he could just extend his capture scarf long enough, maybe…

But when he looked up into his student’s eyes, Izuku didn’t seem afraid. That couldn’t be. But the split second of confusion was enough for him to miss the nomu. It was out of reach. Eraserhead swore. He couldn’t fail his student again!

He had been so focused on his problem child, that he forgot the villain that was with him. Stain could easily get away now.

He didn’t.

With a well-aimed knife and a few jumps the nomu crashed into the ground. Stain had grabbed Izuku before he hit the floor. He cradled him in his arms, silently saying a last goodbye.

Then he carefully put him on the ground.

Stain turned to face the media that had made their way to the main street. Dozens of cameras were turned on him. None of the heroes dared to move.

“Your society is rotten to the core. You have failed us, and you have failed them.”

He pointed at Izuku who lay to his feet, motionless.

“You were supposed to build a better world, but you only made it worse. Look around you.”

He showed them the burning buildings and nomu that circled the area.

“The next generation is your last hope. The last true heroes. The only ones I respect.”

Stain took a step back from the nomu and Izuku and faced Eraserhead.

“He beat me fair and square. I surrender.”

As Eraserhead approached to take him in, he whispered his last words in freedom, to the only hero he had grown to respect.

“Please take care of my kids Eraserhead.”

He didn’t say anything more as the police took him away. Even the nomu retreated once Stain had been apprehended. The yakuza that had flooded the street had mostly been arrested. The rest had fled.

Aizawa decided to leave the clean-up to someone else. He had more important things to take care of.

His problem child laid on the ground, still unable to move. There were tears rolling down his face, even if he tried to hide it.

Aizawa checked for wound, but except for the one cut there didn’t seem to be any, which was a relief. He picked his student up and carried him out of range of the cameras.

Sometime on the way to the agency Izuku started to move again, but Aizawa didn’t let him go. The way the kid grabbed on to him, it was probably for the better.

Once they were back, he put him down and gave him a fresh pair of clothes.

“Take a shower. Change in something clean. I have to find Shinso.”

Aizawa really didn’t want to leave this kid alone right now, but there was another kid out there who had gotten the same news as Izuku. And he was alone.

He called through the heroes he remembered seeing at the scene. On his fourth try, Fatgum gave him the information he needed.

“Yes, Quiz is with us. He is unharmed, but unresponsive. Seems to have gotten quite the shock. Can you pick him up?”

Aizawa exhaled in relief. At least he wasn’t injured.

“I don’t think I can, I need to stay with Izuku. Could you escort him here?”

Fatgum agreed. He could leave his clean-up duties to Suneater.

“Oh wait, I think Arsenal wants to talk to you.”

Fatgum handed his phone to Yaoyorozu.

“Is Izuku alright? Is he injured?”

“He’s in shock, but physically fine.”

She smiled.

“That’s good. We found Shinso while he was fighting some yakuza thugs and stayed with him. We tried to make our way toward Izuku but the yakuza kept cutting us off.”

Aizawa was glad that they had found him quickly. He himself had returned as soon as possible. He even saw Overhaul escaping from where he assumed his student to be, and that could only mean trouble. Especially since the man only had one arm.

“You did your best, Yaoyorozu. Just make sure Shinso comes back safely.”

“I will.”

She hung up the phone.

Aizawa looked at the door, where he heard the shower running.

He had a lot to think about. A lot of things that suddenly made sense.

Why Izuku was so good at fighting. Where his scars came from. Where his determination came from.

From what he had picked up, it wasn’t hard to connect his student to the vigilante Hollow.

And apparently, Shinso had been staying with them as well. Which meant he was Blank, another vigilante.

He didn’t know what to make out of this mess. He has searched for these answers for years, but now that he had them, he didn’t feel satisfied.

All he saw were two kids who don’t have a family. Who just lost their home.

And no matter how bad he had turned out to be, they just lost a father-figure.

Aizawa knew he should tell the police. Anyone, really. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Those kids weren’t supposed to hold the weight of the future.

At least not alone.

Chapter Text

The two kids were still clinging to each other, even in their sleep when Aizawa checked on them in the morning. Not that he had gotten much sleep himself. He had been too scared that someone would come to attack the children, that someone would exact revenge. But he couldn’t have moved them last night even if he wanted to.

Hizashi would arrive soon with the car, and they could bring the kids home. The internship was over, as far as he was concerned.

On his phone he saw that his husband had arrived. Good. No need to ring a bell and wake them up. Aizawa opened the door to a very worried looking man.

“You look like shit.” His husband said.

Aizawa laughed quietly.

“I feel like shit.”

He gestured the hero inside and made another cup of coffee. At the rate he consumed the stuff himself, the agency would have to resupply after today. But that wouldn’t be his problem. They sat down at the table and held the steaming mugs in their hands, not yet ready to disturb the silence.

It took a few minutes, but Hizashi had been a nervous wreck since Aizawa had called him yesterday. If he hadn’t been at work, he would have driven to Hosu immediately after dropping of Eri with Midnight.

“Shota what happened? I saw the news; I know you must have fought Stain but…that alone wouldn’t leave you so distraught. And you said the kids were alright as well. So what’s wrong?”

Aizawa took a deep breath. He looked up from his coffee and took a deep breath.

“They lived with the hero killer. They didn’t have a family. They were raised by a murderer. And they found out yesterday, when Izuku had to fight him after almost getting kidnapped by the yakuza.”

Hizashi, usually the more talkative of the two, couldn’t bring out a single word. He opened and closed his mouth several times, but he was lost in thought.

“What do we do?”

Hizashi leaned forward and held his husband’s hand.

“What do you want to do?”

Aizawa laughed silently.

“I want to wrap them in blankets and send them to a therapist. I don’t want them to go into the foster system. There must be a reason they lived with Stain. There is no way he was their legal guardian. Until we figure out a place for them to stay…would you let them stay with us?”

Hizashi smiled. If Aizawa hadn’t said that, he would have offered himself.

“Of course they can stay if they want to.”

A quiet voice came from the door.

“Why?”

The two heroes spun around, not having noticed the two kids that now stood in the door, positioned defensively.

Izuku continued.

“Why would you let us stay with you after this? You don’t have to. You don’t owe us anything. We’ll find a place to stay. We were raised by a murderer, you said it yourself. We’re shouldn’t even try to become heroes like this.”

Shinso grabbed Izuku’s arm tightly.

“Don’t say that. You said yourself that how we were raised doesn’t define us. We will become heroes.”

Aizawa was glad to see the two of them up. He had been afraid they would run away. He offered them a cup of coffee as well, which they took but didn’t drink.

“You are still kids. You shouldn’t have to deal with finding a home. I care about both of you. You are my students. And you are Hizashi’s students as well. We want to see you grow up into great heroes. You deserve a home.”

The two kids just shuffled nervously. Aizawa had guessed that something was off about Izuku’s homelife. He had never expected this.

So he continued.

“Of course, this is only an offer. If you don’t want to stay, we’ll help you find another home. But both Hizashi and I would be delighted to have you, and so would Eri. And you need to have a legal guardian. I assume that Hisashi Midoriya doesn’t exist?”

Izuku shrugged.

“Who knows? He left.”

Aizawa nodded. He had thought as much. Even if the man was alive, he wouldn’t make Izuku go back to him and place him under basically a stranger’s custody.

Shinso spoke up.

“Can you give us some time to make a decision?”

Aizawa nodded.

“Of course, take all the time you need. We’ll wait here.”

Izuku looked conflicted, but Shinso grabbed him and moved the both of them into the room, closing the door behind them.

Hizashi shot a pained look at Aizawa.

Neither of them knows what to do with these two broken kids, that had been betrayed one to many times. Could they ever trust someone again that wasn’t them?

-

“No.”

Izuku said, before Shinso could get even a word out.

Shinso sighed.

“I know. I know what you are thinking. But do we have any other choice? You once said that you trusted Aizawa to do his job. He’s our teacher, he said himself that it’s his job to take care of us. And he took good care of Eri.”

Izuku shook his head.

“You can’t honestly be considering this! Can’t you see? Every single adult we trusted has betrayed us! I’d rather stay in the warehome or in the bar for the rest of my life then live with another adult!”

Izuku sat with his back to the wall, hugging his knees and rocking slightly.

Shinso understood him. He understood him so well. He still couldn’t believe that their guardian, the first person he would call a parent, was a villain. A monster. A murderer. But he hadn’t been there. All he saw, was that Stain had ‘saved’ Izuku from a nomu. He was glad he didn’t have to be there. But that just made it harder for Izuku.

Shinso knew Izuku too well. This betrayal was too much. He would fall apart, close himself off from everyone. He couldn’t let that happen. He needed to be strong. For Izuku. For his friend. For his brother.

“You didn’t give up before, Izuku. We don’t have any other option. How many people would take us in, knowing we were raised by the hero killer? We would get stuck with the worst kind of people, and you know what they are like! We’ve both been there! We promised to never get back!”

Shinso walked next to his brother and sat down, hugging him tightly.

“He hasn’t told anyone that we were vigilantes. He must know by now. He took good care of Eri. He did his best at USJ. I’ve never met someone more devoted to being a good hero, a good man. We have looked up to him for a long time. Just imagine if all heroes were like him. We can’t have anyone else take us in. We can’t compromise the league. And we are good at sneaking out. Even if that doesn’t work, we are not alone. We have all of Void. Please, Izuku. Just one more time. You don’t have to trust Aizawa. But I need you to trust me.”

Izuku didn’t answer for a while, but Shinso waited patiently. He knew this wasn’t an easy decision.

“I trust you.” Izuku said, barely above a whisper.

Shinso exhaled in relief. Then he smiled.

“Come on then. Let’s go home.”

-

They drove in silence, the radio playing in the background. Aizawa’s phone rang a couple of times, but he ignored it.

“Maybe you should answer that.” Shinso said.

He had recognized the number. It was detective Tsukauchi.

“It’s not important.” Aizawa just said and put the phone in his pocket.

Shinso smiled. He knew that their teacher was giving them some time, but he also knew the police needed answers. That was inevitable. They should have interrogated them long ago.

“I don’t mind answering a few questions sensei. I don’t know about Izuku though.”

Shinso looked over to Izuku, who hadn’t moved while staring out of the window. He didn’t react to his name or anything else that had been said.

Aizawa sighed.

“It’s alright, you can take your time. Maybe you can just give us your old address. We can get your belongings after we cleared the house.”

Shinso nodded and gave the address. He didn’t mind. They just had a few clothes and some school stuff there. All their Void equipment was in the warehome or the bar. They could live without ever setting foot in that house again. Then again, they probably wouldn’t.

And they still had the things they had brought for the internship. That wouldn’t be a problem.

The problem would be how to explain the events that happened to Void or the League of Villains. Neither vigilante had looked at their phone since the incident. There were probably thousands of messages by now. But Momo must have informed them that they were okay. Right?

Shinso knew that it was still a while before they arrived back at Aizawa’s house. So get got out his phone and got to work.

There were many messages worrying about him and Izuku since they hadn’t been available since yesterday. Momo had calmed them down a lot, but even her reassurances seemed weak.

Shinso wasn’t quite sure what to write. How do you explain that your quasi-parent turned out to be a killer they hadn’t even wanted to let into their secret villain club?

‘Hey guys. Izuku and I are okay. We were in the middle of Hosu when the yakuza attacked. They wanted to know from Izuku where Eri was. Overhaul attacked him and I wasn’t there. Aizawa didn’t make it in time either. We told you about our guardian, right? The vigilante Stendhal that taught us how to fight. He turned out to be Stain. Shocking right? I know. He beat Overhaul, but got surrendered afterwards, as you probably already know. We will be staying with Aizawa for a while and have a few things to sort out. Momo, Shoto, Setsuna. Could you manage Void while we are gone? We just need time to figure stuff out. But we’re okay. Thank you for worrying.’

It wasn’t a perfect message, but it got the point across. Shinso just wanted to sleep and forget this whole mess.

-

Shigaraki sat in the bar, restless. Even if they told him that Izuku and Shinso were alright, he wanted to see them. He knew that he couldn’t visit them. He knew they couldn’t visit either. He knew, and he understood, but he still didn’t like it.

Kurogiri seemed a little worried about the bar, but Shigaraki knew how to control himself. He hadn’t accidently disintegrated the bar in ages. On purpose was a whole different thing, but Kurogiri didn’t need to know that.

But all in all, he had a really bad time. The rest of the league that had assembled here didn’t seem to be doing any better at least.

Dabi kept pacing and his jacket was smoking just a little bit.

Mr Compress actually lost a few cards while shuffling, but didn’t bother pick them up.

Magne was smoking her fifth cigarette in a row.

Even Kurogiri had been cleaning the exact same glass for almost half an hour.

None of them knew what to do with themselves.

A distraction came by in form of Giran swinging the door wide open and smiling. His mood barely fell when he saw the faces of the villains that were gathered.

“Rough day, huh? Well, I’m about to make it better! I brought new recruits!”

Behind him, a blond girl with knives and a humanoid lizard in a Stain costume walked into the bar. That sounded like the beginning of a bad joke, but no, it was actually Shigaraki’s life.

“Today is really not good Giran. Hollow is busy, and will be for a while. Something came up. I’ll tell you later. Just get them out.”

The girl at least didn’t seem to be bothered by his obvious dismissal.

“Hey, aren’t you the guys that worked with Stain? I wanna join, I wanna be like Stain, I wanna stab him!”

‘Great, another nutjob’. Shigaraki thought. She would fit right in. But she had also touched upon a very, very bad topic. Because the league really didn’t want to hear from Stain right now.

“No we are not associated with him, actually this is an anti-Stain club from now on, so leave.”

The lizard just crossed his arms.

“Pah, it’s obvious you don’t work with Stain, he killed one of your monsters after all. But you share a similar ideal and as far as I’m concerned that’s enough. I will follow in Stain’s footsteps and change this rotten society!”

Shigaraki sighed. How would he get rid of them?

Giran, who was still smiling, just continued introducing the newcomers as if Shigaraki hadn’t uninvited them a minute ago.

“Anyways the nice fellow in the Stain costume is Spinner, and the girl is called Himiko Toga. I’m sure you will all get along splendidly.”

The girl, Toga, smiled.

“As long as I get to stab things.”

Shigaraki just buried his head in his arms.

“Okay, great your part of the League of Villains, congratulations, come back later for an orientation and a gift package, now leave us alone.”

To his amazement, Giran actually led them back out of the door. Shigaraki was just glad this was over. Izuku would probably give him a lecture for letting in random people. But if Izuku was fine enough to give a lecture, Shigaraki would be happy. Not that he would admit that to anyone.

The mood of the room has lifted just a little.

They just hoped Izuku would come back soon.

Chapter Text

Tamaki Amajiki was nervous. Not that that was something new. He lived his whole life with anxiety. He had promised his parents to become a hero. It was expected. He had such a great quirk after all. If it were his decision, he would like to spend his days in his room, maybe become an author. Something he could do from home. Or a place with few people. The spotlight of the media was the last thing we wanted to be. That’s why he had designed his costume in a way that would hide his face.

People used to call him a coward. They still do, but not to his face anymore. They respected him a little, now that he was part of the big three. It didn’t stop people from calling him weird. He got the feeling the big three should be more of a duo. Both Mirio and Nejire were incredible heroes that will rise to the top of the hero world one day. Tamaki didn’t belong there.

No, Tamaki wouldn’t have chosen this career. But he had worked hard to do his best. Because he would see this through. He would become a hero Mirio could be proud of.

To be fair, Mirio was probably the only reason he had persevered until now. After all, he knew how much he meant to Mirio. About as much as Mirio meant to him. And he himself wouldn’t want to do this alone. So he had to be the hero that made Mirio shine even brighter. He would make Mirio the number one hero.

For himself he couldn’t do anything. But if he did it for Mirio, it was a whole different story. He would give his best because he had a goal to reach for. And for that he would do almost anything. Even if it made him uncomfortable. It had taken a long time to find something worth it. But he had it now.

Tamaki currently worked at the Fatgum hero agency. They had been investigating a drug called trigger, along with the yakuza for quite a while now. Fatgum had taken Tamaki as his only intern in his first year, and because Fatgum was approachable, huggable, and very kind, Tamaki kept returning. He was also a very good teacher when it came to food- and ingestion/digestion-based combat.

But now Fatgum had taken another intern. Another student from UA. One who got in through recommendations. Perfect grades. Top of her class. And she had a food-based quirk. Was Fatgum replacing him already? Had he done something wrong? The new intern, Momo Yaoyorozu, hero name Arsenal, would clearly overshadow him. He simply wasn’t good enough. Fatgum didn’t want him as an intern anymore. He was too nice, he wouldn’t say that directly. So he took another intern so Tamaki had to quit himself. He should do that. But then he needed the courage to write his termination. And what if he was wrong? He would be a laughingstock! Better to do nothing at all and see how the situation went. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad? He wanted to talk to Mirio, but he hated phone calls and Mirio was busy with his own internship. Maybe Nejire would answer? No, he couldn’t just text someone right now, that would be rude.

Fatgum came into the room, interrupting his downward spiral. He grinned as he always did and lead the new intern inside. Yaoyorozu was smiling confidently, in stark contrast to how Tamaki was feeling.

“Suneater, just who I’ve been looking for. This is Arsenal, but I already showed you her file. Since you are an intern as well, would you mind showing her around the office and tell her what we usually do, what you do and what she will be able to do? After all you are a stellar example of an intern. You’ll be a great teacher.”

Tamaki blushed and pulled his hood down. He was glad that he wore his hero costume.

Yaoyorozu smiled.

“I’ll be in your care senpai.”

Tamaki made his way around the hero agency. The people greeted him and Yaoyorozu nicely. The girl didn’t seem nervous at all. Tamaki wondered if she truly wasn’t nervous or just hiding it really well. She also seemed quite competent based on the questions she asked and assumptions she made.

After a short while – the agency wasn’t that big after all – they made it back to the seminar room.

“Do you have any other questions Yaoyorozu?” he stammered out. He was just glad the tour was over.

The new intern smiled.

“You can call me Momo, or Arsenal if you like. People find my name hard to pronounce.”

Tamaki nodded. He preferred not to use any names at all, in case he got them wrong. That would be very embarrassing.

Momo continued.

“Would you mind telling me a bit about your quirk? And that of the others in this agency? I like to know who I’m working with and you and Fatgum both have food-based quirks like me. That will surely help me improve my own quirk. I also have a friend who is kind of a quirk fanatic, so I may have gotten that from him a little as well.”

Tamaki didn’t mind. He knew quirks. That was a topic he could talk about for quite a while.

They talked until Fatgum returned. The hero seemed happy that his two interns were interacting positively.

“Thank you Suneater. We prepared the training room and I got us some food of course. Let’s see what you are made of Arsenal!”

Momo smiled. She seemed ready to jump into action. Tamaki was a little curious as well. After all, she had placed third at the sports festival, even if Tamaki hadn’t seen it. He had been to busy with his own performance. His own horrible performance. He didn’t work well with a stadium of people watching him.

Seeing Arsenal use her quirk was incredible. It took her only a short while to make most small objects and she could adapt to new situations quickly. She knew how to make and use several weapons. It was stunning how little she actually relied on her quirk. That was usually the biggest flaw in first-years, or even heroes in general. There would almost always come a time where your quirk was useless, and you needed to adapt. But Arsenal’s hand to hand combat was impressive. She clearly had experience. Then again, her class had been attacked by villains. They probably needed to adapt even faster.

The first few days of her internship passed in peace. They were accompanied by real heroes during their patrols, and Fatgum had chosen the most peaceful places to ease Arsenal into her role as a hero. He really was a good teacher. Even if they had literally been thrown into the action before, there was no need to put even more pressure on the first years. Tamaki didn’t want to imagine what it would be like if he had witnessed an attack during his first year. Probably about half the class would have dropped out. But no one from class 1-A had left. It was almost creepy. They were so determined.

One day Fatgum called his entire agency into the seminar room. The yakuza activity in their area had dropped suddenly to alarmingly low numbers. They had gotten reports that the Eight Precepts of Death had moved to Hosu. And this was still their case, so they were expected to follow. Tamaki wasn’t sure if it was wise to bring Arsenal into such an obviously dangerous are, but he knew that she could take care of herself. Fatgum decided she should come along, and he was the one calling the shots.

They were housed in a temporary agency during their stay. Tamaki didn’t like new places. It had taken him a while to get used to Fatgum’s agency. He hoped they wouldn’t stay here too long. Maybe the yakuza would decide to go home.

But of course, things never went his way.

The first few days were calm. Arsenal met one of her classmates interning with Ingenium and expected two more to come this way.

That was when it all went to shit. A building exploded, the main members of the yakuza attacked some kid, two of them were killed by Stain, Stain killed a nomu, because yeah, nomus, as in actual multiple nomus, were there as well. That Izuku was one unlucky kid.

Tamaki had mostly heard all of this from Momo. He had been on the other side of the explosion, evacuating civilians. Arsenal had stayed by his side, and they had later been joined by Quiz. Both 1-A kids had been visibly worried. Especially when Stain had appeared on tv. Quiz had just…broken down. Tamaki couldn’t have been more glad about Momo being there. She handled the situation.

And he was supposed to be the senpai here.

After Eraserhead had picked the purple-haired kid up, Momo had disappeared for a while, making frantic phone calls to carious people. Tamaki wasn’t sure what they were about, but it didn’t seem like his business anyways.

After most of the clean-up was done, they were back in the agency. Momo was still clearly upset. Tamaki wasn’t exactly happy with the situation either, but most of the heroes were still busy in one was or another. That left him alone with the distraught girl. He could almost see himself sitting there. He was glad to have some experience now, but he wasn’t quite sure what to do to ease her worries. Someone brought in quite a lot of food, which both of them needed, which at least gave him a while to think.

What would Mirio do?

“Momo?”

The girl looked up from her food.

“Why did you become a hero?”

Momo gave a thoughtful look into her food. As if that could answer anything. She responded after a while.

“My parents kind of expected me to be. I have a great quirk after all.”

Oh. Tamaki sure knew how that felt. He really started to like this hero-in-training.

Momo continued.

“But I found a few friends after a while. Things worth fighting for. Things worth becoming a hero for. There are some things I want to change.”

She paused, but didn’t further expanded on her explanation.

“What about you? You don’t seem like the type to seek out fame and glory.”

She followed that with a little chuckle, and Tamaki smiled a little. He certainly wasn’t the type for that.

“My parents pushed me into it as well. I wanted to drop out at first. Sorry, that probably isn’t the answer you usually her.”

Momo shook her head.

“It’s fine. Please, go on.”

Tamaki continued.

“It took me a while. I found someone worth fighting for too. I’ll make Mirio the number one hero. He deserves that. We need more people like him. If there were more people like him, maybe people like me wouldn’t have to be heroes anymore. I’m sorry. I know everyone wants to be a hero. But we already had three people drop out of our class. One was injured permanently. There is a danger in being a hero that many kids don’t realize. I finally found someone worth fighting for, but if I never did, I wouldn’t be happy. Then again, I doubt I have to tell someone from class 1-A about the dangers of being a hero.”

When Tamaki turned to look at Momo again, she had a very understanding look in her eyes. Tamaki hadn’t expected that. People were always supposed to say that heroes were the best. The best job, the best career, the one thing to strive for. The thing everyone should be.

But Momo looked like she understood. You usually do when you are pushed into something you don’t want. Something you should want.

Everyone always tells you that being a hero is great. It’s the best thing you can be. They don’t mention what you have to sacrifice for that.

“What would you change about the hero profession?”

The question took Tamaki by surprise. He hadn’t thought about changing something. After all, he was just…himself. What could he do?

“I don’t know.”

He really didn’t. He hadn’t given it much thought. The system was said to be flawless. What could you change?

“How about you?” He asked in return. “What would you change?”

Momo gripped her food a little tighter and shot a quick look at her phone.

“If you want to make things less dangerous, we need to specialize more. We can’t expect every hero to be police, fireman and soldier. People could find their passion and excel at the jobs they do. But that would need more cooperation and teamwork than the ranking system allows. The ranking system in general is…suboptimal.”

Tamaki understood. It was hard to work as a team when you competed for something as well. But Momo seemed to have more against the ranking system than just that. It was unusual to find someone who actually criticized the system. People just didn’t speak of it. It worked after all.

He himself hadn’t thought to take it this far. But now he was curious.

“What’s your thought about the ranking system?”

Momo sighed.

“We treat heroes more like idols and tv stars. It’s a profession that’s supposed to save lives. But now you also have to look good while doing it, perform under extreme pressure and keep up a persona. You extend fights to make them look flashy, you add unnecessary items to your costume to stand out. You fight with your co-workers. Basically, you endanger people to please an audience. And the ranking system encourages it. I could go on, there is a lot, but I’m sure you get what I mean.”

Tamaki nodded. He did understand. He had never thought about it, but he realized it now. It had seemed so normal before, after all this was the system he grew up with.

Momo leaned in a little closer.

“Actually, you know there is this thing…”

She stopped. Her smile faded.

“Never mind. It’s…we’re a bit preoccupied. I’ll get back to you later about it okay?”

Tamaki nodded again. He wondered what Momo would have said to him.

But for now, he had a lot to think about.

Maybe he should talk to Mirio and Nejire about this as well.

Chapter Text

Izuku wanted to stay in bed. Unfortunately, he shared a room with Shinso, who was somehow more excited. He was faking it. Izuku knew that. He understood that. But he just wanted to stay in bed and not move for a few days. Let the world pass him by. He knew he couldn’t do it. It was just so hard. Sleeping was easy. As long as he didn’t dream.

Shinso dared to pull away his blanket.

“This is the last straw Izuku. You haven’t gotten up since the day before yesterday. I will pull you in the shower and get into some clothes myself if I have to.”

Izuku grumbled. He could sleep without a blanket. But Shinso’s eyes were pleading, a stark contrast to the tone he had just used. Izuku sighed. He had to do this. If not for himself, then for his brother. Shinso was the only close family he had left now.

The water was warm, which was nice. It seemed Aizawa had bought them a few new clothes. Izuku wondered if he had to repay the man. And if so, how? He couldn’t just use the money he had gotten from some operations the League of Villains had been doing.

Breakfast was nice as well. Pancakes in the forms of cats. Eri loved them. And with her staring him down, Izuku couldn’t just leave his food untouched. He didn’t eat much, but the fist bump Eri and Shinso shared showed that he had at least made them happy.

Aizawa entered the kitchen.

Izuku’s eyes nervously flicked to the doors and windows. Just in case. Aizawa pretended not to notice. That man was too good. There was no way Izuku and Shinso could sneak out to meet up with Void.

Aizawa took his place at the table.

“Glad to see you up Izuku. I’m sorry to spring this on you, but you will have to answer a few questions for the police. I asked a friend of mine to come here. Would that be alright?”

Izuku shrugged. He knew this was coming. Better to get it over with.

Aizawa smiled and got up. Half an hour later, a guest arrived.

Izuku and Shinso shared a panic look. Of course they would assign their lie-detector to this case. Of course Tsukauchi was friends with Aizawa. They really needed to be careful.
The detective sat down in front of Izuku. Eri shoved a plate with pancakes in his direction. He politely declined.

Eri huffed.

He ate a pancake.

With that Eri was content and retreated to her room.

Tsukauchi’s face turned more serious immediately. Izuku didn’t like that face. It reminded him of the people who put him in his foster family. Would he have to leave here as well? He would run away from the next foster family as well, of course. He had enough places he could stay. He just wouldn’t be able to go to UA anymore. That was the real problem.

“It’s nice to meet you, Izuku, Shinso.”

Shinso put on a fake smile. Not that anyone but Izuku could tell.

“Likewise.”

Tsukauchi frowned. Shit. They really shouldn’t lie in front of him. Way to go.

“Why don’t you tell me how you met with Stain. Don’t worry, you can take your time.”

Shinso looked at Izuku. He would have to start.

He sighed.

“I ran away from my foster family and he found me. He treated me better than the rest, so I stayed. No, I didn’t know he was a villain at the time.”

Tsukauchi clearly intended to have him say more, but Shinso intersected.

“Izuku found me one day. I didn’t really like my foster family either, so I stayed with Izuku. Aka…Stain just kind of accepted it and bought more groceries. I’m sorry detective, but what kind of story do expect?”

Tsukauchi wrote a few things down and put on a smile. It was fake. His eyes showed concern and pity, but neither Izuku nor Shinso cared at the moment. They just wanted him to leave them alone.

“He trained you, right? Both of you.”

Shinso nodded.

“Yeah.”

“And you didn’t think that was weird?”

Shinso laughed.

“No, why? He knew that we wanted to attend a hero school, and since he was good at quirkless combat and had attended a hero school himself, it would have been weirder if he hadn’t trained us.”

Naomasa frowned.

“But he must have trained you with swords and knives.”

It was Izuku’s turn to laugh at the man.

“What you think having explosive hands is safer? I can assure you; I was hurt more from a little kid’s explosions than from everything Akaguro has ever thrown at us.”

He shouldn’t have said that. He really shouldn’t have said that. He was just tired. He didn’t care. He wanted to sleep. Why was he even defending that man? He had betrayed them. But he had also raised them into the people they were now. But he was a murderer.

Shinso grabbed his hand.

Tsukauchi decided not to push that topic. At least he had some sensibility.

“Any other questions?”

Shinso’s tone clearly implied that they weren’t easily going to answer more questions. The other man didn’t seem to get that clue. Or he ignored it.

“What happened in the alley before Eraserhead arrived?”

Shinso didn’t know either. Izuku hadn’t talked about it. Of course he wanted to know. But he wouldn’t force him.

Izuku knew the man wouldn’t leave until he gave a few more answers. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

“The yakuza cornered me and asked me about Eri’s location. I didn’t tell them, of course.”

The detective startled. Huh. Had Izuku not mentioned that to anyone?

“Why did they think you would have that information?”

Izuku needed to think. He couldn’t lie. With the wrong lies, he would jeopardize everything.

“They mentioned they recognized me from the sports festival I did meet Eri there.”

Then he gave a convincing shrug, as if to say he didn’t know any more either. Did his quirk pick up on body language lies as well?

Tsukauchi took a few more notes.

“I see. The sports festival is a big event. It is quite possible that they could have seen her there. I will have to investigate.”

He got up and put on his coat. He smiled, and this one seemed real.

“It was good to meet you. Thank you for your answers. If there is anything more you want to tell me, just call.”

He turned to leave.

Izuku exhaled. He really didn’t like being put on the spot like that.

“Oh, one last question.”

Izuku met the detective’s eyes.

“Are you a vigilante?”

Shinso froze. He grabbed Izuku’s hand tight.

“What kind of question is that?” he said. Worst case, he could brainwash the man and run.

Izuku however, smiled at him.

“No.”

Tsukauchi smiled once more and let himself out the door.

Aizawa took his place.

“Clever.”

Izuku looked at his teacher.

“What?”

Aizawa laughed.

“A vigilante is defined in the law by illegal quirk usage, or something along those lines. Which means, that by the law, you cannot be a vigilante, no matter what you do.”

Izuku stared. Did Aizawa know? Of course he did. Stain had let way too much slip during their conversation and Izuku hadn’t even considered that problem. Eraserhead had hunted them for years. But why hadn’t he told the detective?

“Why?” Shinso asked.

Their teacher’s eyes grew sad. He sighed.

“I’m wasn’t sure at first. I knew that Hollow was a kid, and with what Stain said it wasn’t hard to piece together. You are Hollow” he pointed at Izuku, “and you are Blank.” He said, pointing to Shinso. “As far as I can tell both of you never used your quirks, which makes what you do technically legal, so I don’t have to report you. I’m not sure who the others are, with your masks but in different colours, but I can see that what you do is good. I never wanted to put you in prison. I just wanted you to be safe. I needed to know that you had a home you could return to.”

Izuku and Shinso looked at each other, then back at their teacher. They didn’t dare interrupt him.

“You have that now. I promise, I won’t turn you in. I know I can’t stop you. Just please, tell me when you leave. Leave a note, anything. I won’t pry. And I won’t catch you, or anyone else from your group. I will arrest those you catch, and I will help you if possible. Just please…stay. So I can watch over you. I want to see the heroes you will inevitably become.”

This was not what Izuku had expected. Not at all. He didn’t trust him. He wasn’t sure if he could trust another adult again. But Aizawa held all the cards. Hey may say it as a plea, but he could expose them any time he wanted to. Izuku had to agree. And he hated it. Not trusting himself to speak, he nodded, got up and went into their room.

He was too weak. The last few days had shown that. He couldn’t give up here. He couldn’t wallow in self-hate and misery. He was the leader of Void and he had a job to do.

For the first time in days, he got out his phone and started scheming.

Shinso stayed with Aizawa a little longer. He knew that Izuku wouldn’t trust him. He had agreed because he saw this as his best choice. Shinso agreed. This was the best choice. But he also wanted to stay here.

“I’m not sure if he’ll ever come around. I’m sorry, I’ll do my best.”

Aizawa shook his head.

“This isn’t your burden to bear. I can see how much you do to keep Izuku from breaking apart. You are just a kid as well. I can help you. I will help you. Anything you need, you just have to ask.”

Shinso wiped his eyes. He didn’t know when he had started crying. He wanted to help Izuku. He needed to keep up Void. He needed to deal with this new situation. He had felt the pressure weigh down on him for days now. Did Izuku always feel this way when he carried all of their future on his shoulders?

Aizawa crouched down in front of Shinso and pulled him into a hug. He cried into his teacher’s shoulders for a long while. When he pulled back, he smiled a little.

“Thank you.”

Aizawa handed him a tissue.

“No, thank you. For Eri. She is…thank you. For trusting me.”

Shinso nodded. Then he got up and walked in their room. He was tired.

-

Izuku’s phone woke him in the middle of the night. He read the message and woke Shinso.

“I need to go. Kurogiri will pick me up. All for One wants to talk to me.”

Shinso nodded and yawned. He turned around and continued sleeping.

Izuku smiled. He tucked him properly into bed and put the blanket, which the boy had kicked off during the night, back over him.

A minute later he stepped into the portal that swirled in their room.

He landed in the dimly lit room he had grown accustomed to. He took his place on the nice chair that stood in front of All for One and found a comfortable seating position. Once upon the time he had been too scared to blink in front of the man. Nowadays, he sometimes sat here and read a book, enjoying the quiet that was hard to find elsewhere.

All for One stared at him. Not that he had eyes, but Izuku could tell. He seemed satisfied that Izuku wasn’t hurt.

“How are you feeling?”

Izuku shrugged.

“Better now. I still can’t quite wrap my head around it. He was like a father to me. Did he just pretend to care for us? What part was the lie?”

All for One readjusted in his seat.

“Sometimes we have to make hard choices for our children. I do not doubt that that man cared for you deeply. Even if you do not approve of what he did to protect you. He was not a good man. I do believe that he was a good father. He raised you after all. But that doesn’t mean that you have to forgive him.”

Izuku didn’t want to forgive him. He didn’t want to think about him. That was hard, since the man had been part of his life for so long now.

“You seem to talk from experience.”

All for One chuckled.

“Unfortunately I cannot claim to be a good man or a good father.”

“You have a child?”

The villain grew solemn.

“I do. A son. I left him behind when I couldn’t return anymore. I decided that he deserved to choose his own life, without being condemned by his heritage.”

Izuku waited, but All for One didn’t continue.

“That doesn’t sound like a bad father to me. Not a good one either. I don’t know. I think only your son could be the judge of that.”

“Yes,” the villain mused. “I wonder what he’ll say.”

All for One seemed lost in thought. Izuku didn’t mind. He had a lot to think about as well. He hadn’t arrived at any conclusion; he didn’t find any answers to the questions stuck in his head. Yet his heart felt just a little bit lighter.

When he woke up in the morning, he was tucked in his bed, a sense of comfort surrounding him. Today would be a better day.

Chapter Text

Aizawa had to admit that he had been busy the last few weeks. With the attack in Hosu and the capture of Stain being only the tip of the iceberg. He now had three kids to take care of. Not alone of course, but both Hizashi and Nemuri were busy pro heroes as well, so the main part fell on him.

That way he didn’t have the time to prepare for the final exams of his class. Nezu had offered to prepare for him, given his situation, and Aizawa had gratefully accepted. Now that he looked at the matchups, he wasn’t so sure anymore.

It was the right decision to match the students against teachers instead of robots. That change should have been implemented years ago. But some of the pairings were blatantly unfair. Maybe it would teach them humility. Strengthen them for what’s to come. They couldn’t afford to hold back now. As much as Aizawa wanted to coddle his students, he knew he couldn’t do that. They needed to be prepared. None of them would end up like Shirakumo. He had promised that a long time ago.

The days until the exam had passed fast. He hoped that Izuku and Shinso had settled in a little. Shinso seemed to be fine, but Izuku was still very guarded around any of them. It would take time. But Aizawa was willing to wait.

The school had accepted that he stayed their teacher, if only because they knew that he would never play favourites. They also decided to keep the kid’s new guardianship under wraps so the other students of class 1-A didn’t feel neglected. Both kids had decided to keep quiet about their new home. Too many questions they didn’t need to be asked.

Aizawa knew that they snuck out at night, and he wondered where they went, but he kept his promise. He didn’t follow. Sometimes they let him now when they were gone, sometimes they didn’t. Izuku didn’t leave any notes, but Shinso left some for both of them. It was a start.

They also insisted on taking the train to school instead of driving with Aizawa. He didn’t mind. He could wait. Whatever they were more comfortable with.

He just needed to make sure they took care of themselves. Not like he had back then, training himself until he couldn’t lift a bloody finger. Probably to death, if Hizashi hadn’t been there. These times really brought out the worst memories in him.

Better to think more positive thoughts. Each of his students had passed the written exam. They had formed independent study groups and Aizawa could tell how much they had improved. He was proud of his class. It didn’t matter whether or not they passed the practical exam now since they would all go to the training camp, but the students didn’t need to know that. A simple but effective logical ruse. One day they would learn that villains didn’t play fair. They may be heroes, but that didn’t mean they had to be fairer. As long as they lived, it was fine. There is no honour on the battlefield.

When he finally looked upon the row of students in front of him, all excited for a battle between robots, he couldn’t supress his smirk. How innocent they were. Nezu took the opportunity to jump out of his scarf, where he tended to hide from other teachers sometimes. Or students. Maybe even other things Aizawa didn’t want to know about. But a neck warmer wasn’t bad, so he didn’t mind. He had also never gotten a vacation day denied.

Despite his previous bravado at preparing his students for everything, he did shoot an apologetic look towards Izuku before he read the matchups. Based on Izuku’s face, he could probably guess who he was up against.

“Listen up, the pairs are as following:

Cementoss vs Sato and Kirishima

Ectoplasm vs Asui and Tokoyami

Power Loader vs Iida and Ojiro

Myself vs Yaoyorozu and Todoroki

Thirteen vs Uraraka and Aoyama

Nezu vs Mina and Kaminari

Present Mic vs Jiro and Koda

Snipe vs Hagakure and Shoji

Midnight vs Sero and Shinso

All Might vs Izuku and Bakugo

This is also the order in which you will fight. You can watch your classmate’s fights through the tv in the waiting room, but don’t be too distracted. Concentrate on your own exams. Now get in the buses to your exam site.”

The students wished each other good luck, quickly paired up and started heading towards their respective buses. Some very obviously nervous, some were already discussing strategy. Izuku and Bakugo didn’t even look at each other. There was a history there, one Aizawa would find out one day. Izuku was friends with almost all his classmates. This was definitely the worst possible matchup for Izuku, both partner and opponent.

But he couldn’t worry about that now. After all, he had his own exam to hold. He was glad that Yaoyorozu and Todoroki were discussing strategy, but quiet enough that he couldn’t overhear them. Nezu had told him that he wanted to pair Bakugo and Todoroki against him first, but he also assumed that pairing Yaoyorozu with Izuku would make the exam too easy for the two of them. Aizawa agreed. With her to make Izuku almost unlimited gear and explosives, they would destroy the training grounds.

Even the first pair to fight had some time before their exam since they needed to reach the site first. When Aizawa turned to look at Yaoyorozu and Todoroki again, he found them hunched over their phones. And if he strained his ears, he could make hear them talking about louder now. They were still talking strategy, but not against him. No, they were talking about Cementoss. Were they giving Kirishima and Sato tips? It wasn’t forbidden, technically, but students rarely chose to help the other candidates if they had their own fight to focus on. This was unusual, but clever. Aizawa liked the idea of his students already helping each other without even being nudged in the right direction. They would make splendid heroes one day. Teamwork was most important after all.

Aizawa had asked to have the fights be broadcasted to his phone. He had told his students to focus on their fights, but he wasn’t a student anymore. He was a pro hero, and able to multitask. First impressions were important and he wanted to know how his students did. It would be best if he had been the first to fight, but that didn’t fit with the locations. He would make do.

It didn’t take long for the first fight to start. Aizawa expected Kirishima and Sato to rely on their endurance, as they mostly did. It was a good strategy considering their quirks, but it wouldn’t work on Cementoss, who could easily overpower them. They needed to realize how to utilize their quirks in different ways, and when and how to fight different opponents.

To his surprise, instead of standing their ground and waiting for Cementoss to attack them like they usually did, they split up and immediately started running towards the exit.
The training ground was modelled after confusing suburbs. You couldn’t avoid a few twists and turns to get to your destination. Sato and Kirishima ran parallel, about fifty meters apart, which was just above the range of Cementoss quirk while he moved. But there was no way they had that kind of information. Right?

Cementoss would have to choose between one of them. In the end, Cementoss decided to go for Sato. He trapped him quickly in a big wall of cement that would hopefully hold long enough that he could catch up with the other boy.

Kirishima however, started sprinting straight ahead the moment he realized that Cementoss attention was on Sato. He ignored the twists and turns of the suburbs and used his quirk to crash through doors, walls, fences, anything in his way really. With that kind of momentum, Cementoss had a hard time catching up to him. He touched the ground and stretched his cement as far as he could, but he didn’t reach far enough. Kirishima only needed a short sprint and he would reach the finish line. But he stopped just shortly before it, ready to jump through at a moment’s notice. The cement came closer and closer, but Kirishima didn’t move.

Cementoss concentrated to reach him. He didn’t notice the handcuffs closing around his wrist. He looked up to see Sato, who had just broken out of the wall of cement he had made in a haste. It wasn’t thick enough to hold him. Kirishima had waited to ensure that Sato would pass as well. Not bad. Really not bad.

Aizawa would take a few points away for destroying the city, but no one could deny their passing grade. Even if he was sure that they hadn’t come up with that strategy themselves. He would have to ask who told them. To praise them of course. Teamwork was important after all.

-

The second exam was Ectoplasm versus Tokoyami and Asui. Their area was mostly indoors. Ectoplasm had decided not to move and simply wait at the exit. He sent a few clones to figure out which way they would come from, but none of his clones were destroyed.

Then Tokoyami burst through one door and immediately started attacking Ectoplasm. Dark Shadow may be strong. But not strong enough to deal with all of the hero’s clones. Ectoplasm stayed in front of the door himself in case this was a distraction so Asui could get through the door. He looked around and finally found her, stuck to the ceiling.

But it was too late. With one swift attack, Asui took out the lights in the room. With only a few small windows, the room was cast in darkness. Dark Shadow roared and started rampaging through the clones. Ectoplasm needed to create more and more, but Dark Shadow almost destroyed them as fast as they reappeared again. He was too big to grab, even with multiple clones at ones, and they were at a standstill. If this turned into an endurance fight, Tokoyami would probably win, but Ectoplasm only needed to hold out for a few more minutes, since the two of them had taken a long time to sneak into the room with the exit.

Ectoplasm was once again so focused on Tokoyami, that he didn’t notice Tsuyu creep up behind him. She was incredibly stealthy if she wanted to be.

With their teacher in handcuffs, she took out a flashlight and shined it at Dark Shadow to help Tokoyami calm him down. He hadn’t lost control, but it was close.

Maybe too close. But overall their strategy had been good and well executed, so they definitely deserved their passing grade as well.

-

Ojiro and Iida would be up against Power Loader in their fight.

As soon as the start was signalled, without hesitation, Iida activated his recipro burst with Ojiro on his back, and sprinted to the exit.

Power Loader was someone who could take out almost anyone as long as he had time to prepare. Which Iida and Ojiro mercilessly (cleverly) didn’t give him. The hero had barely covered a quarter of his field with holes when the students arrived in full sprint of a recipro burst.

Iida was just running out of steam when Ojiro took the momentum and used his tail to catapult them both over the area covered in holes. Power Loader couldn’t reach them and they tumbled over the finish line, exhausted.

The hero seemed embarrassed at how quickly he had lost, but seeing how Iida at least couldn’t take another step, he knew they had given their all. It was a good strategy as well. Aizawa was proud. Power Loader was sulking.

As of now, all his students had passed. Aizawa wondered if he would break that streak.

-

His plan was to find his students as quickly as possible to stop them, or mainly Yaoyorozu, from activating their quirks. It wasn’t hard to find them. Maybe even too easy. He quickly erased Todoroki’s quirk, which made the wall of flames covering parts of his vision disappear. When he turned to look at Yaoyorozu, he saw for just a fraction, his own face stare back at him.

And he immediately got a headache and closed his eyes.

Once he opened them again, a huge wall of ice covered maybe half the city. And he was cut off from the exit. Clever. They had probably lured him here so they could have an easy path to the exit.

Aizawa may have to carry weights to slow him down, but he could still catch two running hero students. Especially when he used his capture scarf properly.

He was right. He could catch up to running hero students.

He could not catch up two driving hero students.

If he hadn’t been as experienced as he was, he would have stopped to stare at his two students who were driving through the city on a mofa definitely exceeding the city speed limit. At least Yaoyorozu had made them helmets. Todoroki’s even matched his hair.

They crossed the finish line easily.

Aizawa sighed. He would have had a better chance against Bakugo and Todoroki. Probably. Hopefully. Bakugo did rely on his quirk too much. But then again, no one in their right mind would give Izuku access to Yaoyorozu. She was too nice to say no to him and had probably memorized many weird items during their short time together. Just in case.
In the end he was just glad Yaoyorozu hadn’t blown up half the town. She could do that; he knew for sure. He was suddenly very glad that it was the responsible Yaoyorozu who had this quirk, and not someone else. His mind didn’t drift to Izuku or Hatsume Mei. Not at all.

Eight of his students had now passed. Only twelve more to go. The next fight would start soon and he wanted to see it.

He did congratulate Yaoyorozu and Todoroki on their passed exam. Todoroki melted the iceberg and the three of them joined the other students who had already finished their exam.

They offered commentary on each other’s fights, and Aizawa couldn’t help but notice how competent and constructive it was. There was praise, but it was earned. Mistakes were pointed out and other options that had been available.

He decided to listen in to their commentary on the next few fights as well.

He couldn’t help but smile at his students. They really would turn into splendid heroes.

Chapter Text

The students who already passed the exams settled on the chairs in front of the tv and watched the exams of their fellow classmates. Next up would be Thirteen versus Uraraka and Aoyama.

Aoyama needed to think beyond his quirk. It was powerful, sure, but Thirteen could easily negate all effects of that and leave the boy defenseless. For all the training they did, he wasn’t the best at hand-to-hand combat.

Despite that, the two heroes-in-training made their way directly to the exit that Thirteen was guarding, obviously trying to engage him in a fight.

Aoyama shot his laser from a save distance in regular intervals, but didn’t manage to hit Thirteen, who had activated their quirk.

Then, however, Aoyama changed tactics. He started shooting the ceiling, the ground, and the walls far away that Thirteen’s quirk wouldn’t affect the laser, but still close enough to hinder them.

While Thirteen was busy clearing the debris and dust flying their way, Aizawa notice Uraraka stealthily make her way behind the pro hero. In a decisive leap and a bit of quirk usage she landed directly behind Thirteen and slapped the cuffs on him.

They passed the exam with time left to spare, even if they did destroy the area quite a bit. What was it with his students causing property damage?

Yaoyorozu remarked exactly that to the other students, who nodded in agreement.

“But if they hadn’t acted as quickly as they did, Thirteen, acting as a villain, would have destroyed the are by themselves. With a quirk with such destructive abilities a villain wouldn’t worry about collateral damage. And the building structure isn’t compromised enough to cause problems in surrounding areas. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a fast and efficient takedown.”

The other students nodded in agreement and turned to watch the next exam that would start soon.

Nezu versus Mina and Kaminari. Aizawa did his best to stifle a groan. Nezu sometimes went a little overboard. A little much.

The exam started, and Mina and Kaminari immediately ran towards…somewhere? They were very determined to get there, but they were neither heading towards Nezu nor the exit. If Aizawa didn’t know any better, they were heading towards…but that couldn’t be. There was no way they had that kind of information. Right?

But with every passing meter, Aizawa grew surer. And when Mina melted through an inconspicuous box with wiring inside, Aizawa knew that they needed to make sure who had given them this information.

Every training ground had a central system connecting all the electronics and effects in the area. It was somewhere in the middle, but disguised good enough that students shouldn’t find it by accident. They especially shouldn’t know about its location. But Kaminari held a phone in his hand and even if Aizawa couldn’t tell through the screen, he was definitely looking at a map there.

It didn’t take long before Kaminari fried the system and the entire city went still. All they needed to do was reach the exit. It wasn’t hard. They didn’t meet Nezu, who was probably stuck in some kind of machinery. Even if he could get out, he wouldn’t confront the students now. The exam passed without much excitement, but Aizawa wasn’t sure how he was supposed to grade this.

No one offered any commentary on how they might have gotten this information. Glad to know that his class showed a united front. At least they paid attention to his teamwork lessons.

With two exams passed quickly, the next one was still a few minutes away, but the kids stayed ominously quiet. They probably knew that Aizawa wanted that information and didn’t want to give away how they got it. Clever, but their silence spoke even more to their guilt.

The time passed in uncomfortable silence, until all eyes were focused on the tv again.

Jiro and Koda were arguing in sign language, but Aizawa couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. It seemed like Jiro was encouraging Koda to do…something.

It didn’t take long to figure out what that something was.

Aizawa would never hear the end of this. He did feel bad. The worst part was, that Nezu had probably intended for something like this to happen. Why else would he have put Mic into a forest zone? His husband would complain so much and spend the rest of the day in the shower.

At least his students passed easily and even promised that they had removed all bugs.

Present Mic didn’t look like he believed them. They looked apologetic, at least.

Aizawa’s personal little commentators didn’t have much to add. He wondered if that was because Izuku and Shinso probably knew that his husband was afraid of bugs and may have passed that information along. Aizawa couldn’t even blame them.

The next exam was Snipe versus Hagakure and Shoji.

Thanks to Shoji’s quirk, they located Snipe easily. Snipe could counter Hagakure’s invisibility as soon as he locked on. But he had to know her position first. And Aizawa knew that Hagakure would make an incredible stealth hero, but he was still impressed. He had no idea where she was, and Shoji didn’t give any indication.

It seemed like Shoji alone would confront Snipe, but the hero kept his guard up. He kept firing warning shots and the corridor was too narrow to sneak around him. Hagakure would give herself away if she carried the cuffs, so Snipe didn’t need to worry about that. It would make things easier for him if he did. Debris fell off the walls and Shoji started to pick it up, growing more arms in the process.

Snipe fired his last bullet before he needed to reload, and Aizawa saw Shoji move the instant that bullet was fired. How the fuck did he know how many bullets there were? How kept his students knowing these things?

Snipe clearly hadn’t thought they would react so soon either. He was incredibly fast at reloading his pistols, but not fast enough. Shoji ducked out of hiding and threw a volley of debris at Snipe. The hero managed to dodge and reload his pistols soon after that, but then a cuff was slapped around his wrist.

Hagakure turned her suit visible and waved at Shoji.

Shoji must have thrown the cuffs with the debris as a cover. But that also meant he knew exactly where Hagakure was and had aimed precisely at her with the cuffs, not hitting her with any debris.

Not bad.

Up until now all of his students had passed. Aizawa couldn’t help but feel a sliver of pride at that.

There were only two fights left now. Both featured his newly acquired children. He wasn’t quite sure what to think of that. Aizawa had now trained both Izuku and Shinso in the capture gear, but only Izuku had wanted to use it in the festival. He was better than Shinso, since Shinso had only recently started training with it. But today, he had the scarf with him.

Midnight versus Sero and Shinso. It would be hard for Shinso to use his quirk against Midnight at all since he needed to talk and consequently breath, to do it. Midnight wouldn’t hesitate to cover the entire area in her sleeping gas. Even if they somehow got close enough to fight her, they weren’t good enough to take her on in a fight where they needed to hold their breath. Especially not hand-to-hand. Aizawa had taken his fair share of beating against her, since she refused to rely on her quirk. It had taken her some time to realize that, but most villain didn’t see past her outfits. She was incredibly effective in the field, especially since people kept underestimating her.

That was all good of course, but Aizawa also wanted to see his students pass. Seeing how they ran directly into the gas; he wasn’t so sure that would happen.

It took a few minutes, then the gas dissipated. Shinso and Sero high-fived, and Midnight was covered in tape and had a wrist caught in handcuffs. She ruffled Shinso’s hair fondly.
Aizawa however, looked at what his students were wearing.

Gas masks.

Where had they gotten those? And when?

He looked down at his students, with Yaoyorozu pointedly looking away. That would explain things. She probably gave both of them masks while they wished each other good luck. Sneaky. But clever.

Midnight would later tell Aizawa that Sero and Shinso had pretended to fight while holding their breath, until Sero dropped to the ground. Shinso managed to hold his breath for a while longer, but dropped, nonetheless. As she went to check up on them, they launched a surprise attack and managed to catch her off guard. She hadn’t expected them to have gas masks.

Aizawa hid a smile. Only one more fight to go. Sadly, this was also the fight he was most afraid of. Damn Nezu for making them fight in this constellation. But there was nothing he could do now. His students seemed to share his unease.

All Might versus Bakugo and Izuku.

This would be hard.

-

Izuku hadn’t spoken a single word to anyone on the bus. He sat as far away as he could from both Bakugo and All Might. He needed to fight with his bully to defeat the man who had crushed his dreams. Of course. At least he occupied his time by telling the others strategies to win. How many bullets Snipe could fire before reloading, what range Cementoss had. Things like that. He may have also given away certain maps Hatsume had managed to acquire while helping to do maintenance on the training grounds. It gave him something to do. And something to distract him from the fact that he didn’t have an actual plan for his own exam.

Bakugo didn’t say anything either and All Might just stayed quiet, noticing the obvious tension. Izuku wondered if Bakugo would even listen to anything he had to say, or if he would just attack him outright.

In silence, the both of them entered the field and the exam begun. Bakugo didn’t acknowledge Izuku at all. He took off in the direction of All Might and left Izuku behind.

Strangely, he didn’t mind. Bakugo wouldn’t be able to do anything against All Might, but this spared Izuku from having to fight either of them. If there was one thing he was good at, it was hiding and running away. You didn’t live long as a vigilante if you couldn’t do that. It was the first thing Aka-his former mentor had taught him and it was the first thing they taught everyone who wanted to enter Void.

He placed small explosives that would generate a lot of smoke without much firepower around the city in places where they couldn’t hurt anyone (especially since there were no actual people around), as well as another small device and made his way towards the exit. All Might stood proudly in front of the exit, not even a little charred from the explosions Izuku had heard across the city.

This must mean that Bakugo was unconscious. And since All Might couldn’t find Izuku, he just needed to wait until Izuku came here.

There was nothing more Izuku wanted to do than fight All Might right here, right now. But he knew. Even with all his skillset, even with his gear and the information he had on the wounds that All for One had given him, he knew he stood no chance. The symbol of peace needed to crumble.

But not yet. They needed to show he wasn’t infallible. They had done that at the USJ attack. Now they just needed to build a strong enough foundation that could catch society if the symbol of peace crumbled and fell. And he will. Izuku would make sure of that.

All he needed to do now was pass the exam. And if he could do that without having to fight All Might and maybe even failing Bakugo, it was the best possible outcome.

He cursed silently. Izuku could work with every single person in this entire school, except for one. Some wouldn’t listen to him, but he could be convincing. He knew quirks. He knew how to apply them given the situation, and when they were a hindrance. He had a way to beat All Might with the help of Shoto. He could beat him if Momo was here. Hitoshi, Shoji, Hagakure. Shigaraki, Twice, Magne.

But no. He was alone.

Worse than alone. There were two enemies on this battlefield. Aizawa preached about teamwork so much. Did Bakugo even listen?

It didn’t matter. He had people to depend on, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t do this alone. All Might may be a bad teacher, but there is no way to miss that Izuku and Bakugo had a bad relationship.

So even when the first bomb went off and sent smoke into the sky on the other side of town, Al Might didn’t move. He probably thought it was a distraction. It was one, but at least the symbol of peace wasn’t a complete idiot. He needed to save every single person. But he also knew that there were no people here.

Except for Izuku and Bakugo.

Izuku set off the second explosion, immediately followed by the other device he had set up.

His own recorded scream echoed through the otherwise silent city.

This time, All Might didn’t hesitate. His eyes opened in shock and disbelief and he sprinted in the direction of the explosion.

As soon as he was out of sight, which wasn’t long, Izuku made his way out of his hiding place and strolled casually through the now unguarded exit. He even gave a small salute and wink to the camera that he knew (but shouldn’t know) was there.

He passed the exam.

He also left before All Might could come back and talk to him. He knew that everyone else had passed. There was no need to ruin a good day, after all.

Chapter Text

Izuku looked between all the people who had nestled in the warehome. Their numbers had grown steadily, but seeing them all at once was overwhelming. He knew how many people were trying to help and support him, but seeing them all like this, looking up to him still filled him with a warm feeling. It had been a while since all of them had gathered in one space, without the league.

“First of all, I’m really proud of you all. Not only did you pass the written exams and practical exams, but you helped everyone else in your respective classes as well. Not you Mei, you just blew something up, and not me since I am kind of responsible for Bakugo’s failure, but he deserved that.”

The group cheered, even when a few people shook their heads at Mei.

“You did great Izuku! No need to take the blame for that idiot.” Someone said. It was true, and Bakugo did bring that failure on himself, but Izuku was supposed to create teamwork. But as Aizawa said. Some people weren’t fit to be heroes, and if Bakugo didn’t learn to act like one, he was just wasting his potential. He wouldn’t succeed with his current attitude, especially if Void’s plan worked.

Izuku continued.

“Now that the internships are over and we’ll be going to the training camp soon we need to wrap things up and cover our trip. We’ll start to slowly reduce patrols until the camp, and once we’re gone the League of Villains will take over. Especially with Toga - who is a new member recruited alongside someone who needs to rethink his choice of clothes – and Twice, we should be able to cover the time we’re away. They have been getting restless. Their name is still out there because of the USJ incident and because the nomu during the Hosu attacks, but they haven’t done much recently. Even if we send them to do vigilante work, that would be for Void. But now that the internships are over, we should have enough information about where to strike. I prepared a PowerPoint so we can sort through it and decide where the League of Villains should strike.”

At that Izuku turned on the beamer and showed the various intel gathered over the weeks of the internship. He felt a little bad that he had barely gathered any intel himself, but he had been busy organising their and with the whole Stain dilemma they he didn’t have the time or energy for it.

“I guess we should start with discussing the Hosu attacks. Yes, Stain was the guy who raised us, he was also the one to chop off Overhaul’s arm. He wasn’t involved in the attacks; those were by Overhaul to get Eri’s location out of me. He did not and Eri should still be safe. Momo will continue with information about the yakuza.”

Izuku made it clear that further questions about Stain wouldn’t be tolerated. Momo smiled and got up, explaining her side of the internship.

“I interned with Fatgum, who is assigned to the yakuza group known as the Shie Hassaikai. It is led by Overhaul. He used to have eight commanders, now down to six. The group is responsible for the drug known as trigger, which temporarily boosts the effects of your quirk, as well as a drug that temporarily inhibits you from using it. Their base is unknown for now, but we have their general location and with a little more time I believe the Fatgum agency will find them. It will take them long to gather enough evidence and organize a strike force, but as soon as we have the information thanks to our access to Fatgum’s computers, we should be able to strike before them. I also got to talk with the other intern, Tamaki Amakiji, or Suneater, one of the big three of the third years. I believe he would be a good fit here, especially since he’ll graduate two years earlier than us, but I’ll run the details with you personally, Izuku.”

Momo handed the presentation to Izuku again and sat down.

“Very good. Of course the matter of Overhaul is personal because of Eri, but if the League of Villains attacks them it can be attributed to taking out a competitor. We should also be able to retrieve the drugs and deal with the information they have on me.”

Izuku sighed before he continued.

“Even if they don’t quite grasp it, they have the information to out me as a vigilante. Aizawa realized that but still decided to take care of us. For now he only knows that both Hitoshi and I are part of Void, but he doesn’t know in what capacity. He promised not to tell and so far, he kept that promise. That does not mean that you can trust him.”

Hitoshi interrupted him.

“While I agree that we shouldn’t tell our homeroom teacher and new legal guardian about details of our operation, I personally believe we can trust him. Use your own judgement, but if you find yourself in a position where you need to rely on an adult with a hero license and see no other way out, he is the one to turn to.”

Izuku shot him a glare, but didn’t comment.

“Try to be more careful around him. We need to keep the element of surprise. If it’s inevitable then that’s how it is, but he is already looking out for more people who could be with us. Next up are the people who interned with top 10 heroes.”

Tokoyami and Shoto just shrugged at one another.

“Well to be honest we don’t have the information from the computers yet.” Tokoyami started. “Even with Nathan and Hatsume working together it will still take a while. I mainly spent the internship running behind Hawks’ sidekicks and cleaning up. I did not learn much, except that all Hawks does is directly operated by the hero commission. All the assets he has are apparently controlled by them.”

Shoto nodded in agreement.

“Mirko’s computers were well secured as well. I spent my internship as a punching bag. I mean I learned a lot, but she doesn’t pull any punches. Or kicks. I still hurt all over. Her sidekicks weren’t any better. She doesn’t seem to care much about being a hero, as long as she has fun. I wouldn’t say she is a bad hero per se, not like my father, but it seems more like being a hero aligns with her personal goals, so she does it. We should keep an eye out, just in case.”

Izuku agreed. They would need to replace the top heroes, but shouldn’t turn them against Void. People like Endeavor would be dealt with accordingly, but Hawks, Mirko, Wash, and the other top heroes would either be convinced or hopefully retire in time.

Hagakure and Kuroiro took the next turn of presenting their findings. Hagakure started.

“I worked with an underground hero, but she didn’t have many relevant information on her computer, instead regularly sending them to the police to process and delete. So I didn’t find much there. We did, however, arrest a lawyer who was taking bribes. I managed to get a few looks at what else he did, and found some illegal activities by pro heroes. I’m talking tax fraud, abuse, harassment, et cetera. With the help of Kuroiro, who worked close by, we managed to copy the evidence from the police precinct, but haven’t managed to sort through it yet.”

Kuroiro showed the next slide of the presentation, which was a picture of a mass of documents.

“We can’t go through all of this ourselves, so we will distribute parts among all of us and gather the data on corrupted pro heroes. Those could be easy targets for the League of Villains. It would be a shame if a sports car was disintegrated, or if an empty holiday home suddenly caught on fire.”

Izuku laughed.

“The League would openly take credit for that, but the police will have to investigate and find out where the money for the stuff came from. Not bad.”

Kuroiro grinned and he and Hagakure sat back down.

Since most of the others only had small bits of information or hadn’t managed to look through those yet, it was time to talk about the next part.

“Recruitment. Of course it would be easiest to just continue and slowly convert the rest of our classes, since they are almost guaranteed to become heroes. And we will do that. But we should look beyond the boundary of our school as well. Shoto, I believe you met with someone called Inasa, who had a wind quirk and a general distaste for Endeavor? Those are good starting points. People above our year, for example the big three Momo spoke of would also be a great help. If you have idea, just discuss them with me. But in general we will continue like we used to.”

No one had any comments about that, so Izuku continued on.

“Great. After the training camp, the provisional licences shouldn’t be too far off. That will be an important step in the direction of our goal. So the next step is getting stronger at the training camp and getting our provisional licenses. I want as many of our classes to have those licenses, if possible, all of them. Patrolling schedules have been updated and distributed. Any other questions?”

Most people shook their head, but Uraraka stood up.

“When was the last time you slept Izuku? You need to remember to take care of yourself. We can handle some of the work you know.”

Izuku smiled. He was glad that people were concerned about him, but he was fine. Or maybe he was getting there. But it was something.

“I sleep about as much as Shinso, Mei and Aizawa do, but you don’t seem to complain about them.” He teased.

Uraraka stuck out her tongue.

“If I could, I would wrap all of you in blankets and not let you out after you slept for at least eight hours! But I don’t think you’re capable of that anymore.”

And now his friends laughed at him. How cruel. Maybe Izuku laughed a bit himself. She was right. He had thrown himself into work a little.

“I’ll take the entire night off. Is that good enough for you?”

She gave him a thumbs-up.

“Only if Shinso takes your phone. We’ll know if you work in any shape or form, trust me. You just need a good night’s rest.”

Suddenly Hitoshi burst into laughter.

“You know I think the only way Izuku ever sleeps peacefully is if he’s in the arms of the most notorious supervillains for the last two centuries. I was really scared of the guy and you just take naps there as if it’s nothing.”

Izuku went red and raised his arms in protest.

“Hey it’s not like he ever tried to kill me! And he doesn’t want me dead and there is nothing worse on this planet so technically it is the safest place to be!”

Hitoshi grinned.

“Sure buddy. I think the guy adopted you. Anyways, you promised to take the night off, so let’s go home.”

“I know, I know, I’m coming. Be safe tonight guys. I’m still available if there’s and emergency.”

Hitoshi did his best to drag him out of the warehome before he could start with another speech.

-

The League of Villains had a meeting as well, but in the bar and a few days later. All for One listened in, while Izuku and Shinso explained what they would be doing from now on.
Each League member was assigned two chaperones of similar that would accompany them on patrols so they learned how to act like the two of them. They would take over their patrols while the training camo happened. Toga was incredibly good as posing as any of them, and she was given some blood from all in case there was an emergency and she needed to pose as one of them. Twice had memorized their measurements as well and could make proper clones, like he did on the day of the USJ with Izuku. The others had a bit more trouble, but gave their best.

It was funny to see career criminals do their best as vigilantes. That, however, was only to cover Void during the training camp and maybe sometimes during school in general. Their real task lay somewhere else.

They were presented to be villains after all and needed to keep up their reputation. Izuku gave them a list of property and people to target. Non-lethally, but harsh enough that their actions wouldn’t be punished. Shigaraki and Dabi in particular seemed to have fun with all the property damage they caused. And if an entire house was burned or disintegrated, well, who knew what kind of things may have been stolen and used in other ways?

Izuku had made sure that they always checked for collateral damage or other people that might be around. They needed the credit, but they wouldn’t attack innocent people.
Shigaraki had agreed with a little reluctance, but he was already coming a long way from the moody teenager he was before. Now he was a moody teenager who cared about the opinion of a certain green-haired kid. Even if Izuku mostly visited the bar in his vigilante outfit, so he usually had white hair. The other vigilante all disguised themselves with black hair and colourful masks. Izuku stood out a little, but he didn’t mind. He wondered if the police had picked up on that. Probably not, based on the info they had gathered (stolen) from Aizawa and Tsukauchi.

For now, things were proceeding as planned. Void was preparing for the training camp and provisional license, and the League of Villains was causing property damage and general mischief that would keep them as a threat. They also prepared to eliminate other threats.

All in all, things were proceeding well.

Chapter Text

Aoyama Yuga did not bother to hide his personality. It was flashy, bright, and gave him attention, just like his quirk. There is a theory, that people develop a personality based of their quirks, or that they develop a quirk based on their personality. Since quirks are genetic however, it seemed more likely that a person would change their personality to match their quirks. Not consciously of course, but the evidence was overwhelming.

Bakugo, with his anger and explosions.

Present Mic, with his loud and cheerful personality.

Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, with their steadfastness, who always stand their ground.

Todoroki, who was warm to his friends and cold to his enemies, who needed time to warm up to people.

Aizawa, who seemed like he needed nothing, not even his quirk, but who could easily take things from others, but only does so when necessary, as shown with his expulsions.
Tokoyami and Kuroiro both, who loved the darkness.

Uraraka, who lifted people up with her spirit and her quirk.

Sero, who held people together emotionally and with his tape.

Setsuna, who could split herself to multiple projects and multitask like nobody else.

Hawks, who soared through his life and the hero rankings.

Endeavour, who burned everything in his path, regardless of what it was.

Of course, there were examples that spoke against this theory. Hagakure could be incredibly stealthy if she wanted to be, but her personality was nothing one would overlook. Sometimes he wondered if that was because of her quirk as well.

For Aoyama, as much as people would claim he fit the theory perfectly, they were wrong. Of course, he wouldn’t deny them if they ever asked. Because then he would have to explain why he didn’t think that was the case. And he couldn’t explain it to anyone.

He was quirkless, after all. And he and his parents had made sure that his quirk fit to his personality, not the other way round. After all, there was one thing that he had, that most others didn’t have. And that was money.

Almost as soon as he was diagnosed, his parents had made sure to hire the best support company to make him a support item that would simulate a quirk perfectly. And they did.
His belt had been specifically designed with him in mind and could only be worn by him as well. There was some technical stuff he didn’t understand, but it drew its energy from his own body, which is why he got nauseous when he used it too much. He never trained his quirk; he trained his stomach.

And he had made sure that he could only use his ‘quirk’ with his support item. The school had bought that excuse. Whether they didn’t care or just accepted it as another part of a weird quirk, he was glad about that.

His doctor, who knew about this situation, had told him not to use the item too much, and to take it off when he didn’t use it. UA had made him stretch his limits. Go beyond – Plus Ultra. Not in a very healthy was though.

After years of normal, and later intense use, the belt had left something similar to a scorch mark on his stomach. At least now, if someone took his belt away, he could show the ever-deepening scar as reason why his quirk didn’t work anymore. He didn’t like showing his body to people for exactly this reason. And if he dodged a question by saying something weird, or just saying it in French? Well he was eccentric, who cares.

At least the part of a hero persona wouldn’t be a problem for him. He had lived a lie his whole life.

But everything had changed the day of the sports festival. There was a kid his age, just like him. Quirkless. And he had fought his way to the top by his own skills. He had placed first place in every single event.

And Aoyama was forced to confront the lie he had lived. That he had cheated his way into UA. He had cheated his way into every school, into every friendship, every day. And there stood a kid, smiling, telling him that he could be a hero without that.

He wasn’t sure what to think. Because he hadn’t even tried.

The moment they had told him he was quirkless, he had given up. And with all his cheating and lying, he wasn’t even half as good as a kid without money, who had lived his whole life as something to be hated. Something he be spat on. He knew.

Every time someone treated a quirkless kid bad, he knew that could be him.

Every time they talked about another quirkless person committing suicide, he wondered if he was any better. He had given up on quirkless a life as well. He just had to live with the consequences.

And this one kid, Izuku, dared to shatter his entire worldview in a single day.

He had never felt better and worse at the same time. Could he have done the same? He didn’t know. He never tried.

Izuku, or Presence, would become a great hero one day. And even if he could never say it out loud, he was his personal hero as well.

It was hard to interact with him at first. He had no real reason to, even if they were classmates. So Aoyama acted the same he always did. He was good at that. But he kept his distance.

At least until today.

They were paired up in a battle exercise, and Aoyama froze. There was something about Midoriya that just made him stop in his tracks.

Maybe it was his determination. Maybe it was because he was something he could never be.

But he still froze, and Izuku couldn’t react in time.

This led to a very apologetic Izuku carrying him to Recovery Girl’s office with a broken foot. The kid was rambling about how sorry he was, about how cool Aoyama’s quirk was and how it could be applied in combat and rescue situations.

He felt so very guilty again.

But it seemed as if Izuku didn’t really need any answers to his questions, and he filled the silence that would have been very uncomfortable otherwise.

Recovery Girl let them into her office and decided to take an x-ray to see if his bones were aligned for a quick healing or if they needed to be set. Izuku excused himself to go back to the exercise.

At least she didn’t ask him to take of the support item during the time he was resting. It was a clean break, and he would be able to walk soon enough.

Someone knocked at the door, and Recovery Girl sighed before she gave the okay to enter. It usually wasn’t a good sign when people needed something from her after all.
It was Izuku, who seemed a little embarrassed.

“Sorry, I forgot my- “

He froze. Aoyama followed his gaze, which led to his x-rays. The one with his foot. With the extra toe joint. That quirkless people had. Which usually only quirkless people and doctors in the quirk diagnostic field were aware of.

Aoyama could hear the dots connecting in Izuku’s head.

His gaze flew from the x-ray to Aoyama, to the belt, to his probably guilty and scared face. If light bulbs could appear above people’s head, now would have been the time.
Recovery Girl broke the silence.

“What did you forget?”

Izuku was shaken out of his thoughts. He laughed sheepishly.

“Sorry, I forgot my phone. I’ll see you later in class Aoyama. Don’t worry.”

He said the last two words with a bit more force than necessary. It relieved Aoyama a little, but if he wasn’t so tired from the healing session, he would probably have a full-blown panic attack. As it was, he just went back to sleep.

The rest of the day, he couldn’t focus. Not that anyone could blame him. He kept trying to talk to Izuku, but good situation came up. So he decided to wait for the green-haired boy after school.

He had to wait a long time, which didn’t help his nerves, but after a few hours, Izuku did come out of the gate, followed by Shinso.

Before he could say anything, however, Izuku spoke up.

“Oh sorry, I hope you didn’t wait for me the whole time! I would have postponed training if you wanted to talk to me…”

Shinso just raised a suspicious eyebrow at him.

“Sorry.” Was all Aoyama managed to get out.

Izuku nudged Shinso forward.

“Go ahead. I’ll meet you at home.”

Aoyama interceded.

“If you had plans, I don’t want to stay in the way of that, I’m sure we can talk another time.”

He desperately wanted to get this over with, but he couldn’t just say that. Izuku just shook his head.

“No it’s fine we actually- “he halted. “Never mind. It’s okay, trust me.”

Shinso just shrugged and went ahead. That left Aoyama alone with Izuku, who was apparently waiting for him to speak. Damn. He was usually better at this.

“What did you figure out about me? I don’t wanna have to explain.”

Izuku sighed.

“You’re quirkless, like me. Your quirk is probably generated b your support item, which you never take off. There must be more negative repercussions to that, by the way since your body shouldn’t be capable of dealing with the drawback of a quirk. More than your usual stomach-aches, I mean. Which you could be faking, but I doubt that. So your support item was built to be as close to an actual quirk as possible, including drawbacks. It fits your personality as well, which means it was most likely custom-made for you, probably by your parents. You are quite proficient with your ‘quirk’, which means you must have had it for a long time. Probably for about ten years, since quirklessness tends to be diagnosed at the age of four and they still needed to make the item.”

Aoyama wasn’t sure what to say. He was spot-on with everything. He knew the boy was smart, but he had just figured out his whole life, the entire lie he has lived, with a single glance at his x-ray.

“Yeah.”

Izuku looked at him, as if he wanted him to say more.

“And? I’m not going to tell anyone, if that’s what you thought. Just be careful around Aizawa. I doubt he can erase support items.”

There was no way he could just accept this so easily.

“I’m a fraud! A liar and a cheater! How can you just accept this like that?”

Izuku pulled him into a hug until he stopped shaking.

“It’s alright. You found your own way here, and so did I. I’ve seen you train as hard as the other students, with a burden to bear that none of us knew about. You have a little help, but so what? We all use some sort of support gear. You could have said you have a quirk they can’t prove and moved on with your life, but you decided to come here. That’s brave of you. You’re not a coward. You’re a hero.”

Aoyama wasn’t ashamed to admit that he burst into tears right there. Izuku comforted him, but he still couldn’t believe it. He was the first person who found out about his secret, but he didn’t hate him. The opposite. He told him he could be a hero.

“Izuku, you are everything I aspired to be. A hero who is proud of himself, no matter what others said about him. Maybe I would have turned out different if you had been there in my childhood. But I just fled from the hardships and lied. I don’t have a quirk, but I’m not really quirkless either.”

Izuku rubbed his back soothingly, as he still cried his eyes out.

“That’s not true. We may have had different experiences, but you are still you. Even if you lie your whole life, you will still be quirkless. And that’s okay. I wouldn’t want anyone to experience the same hardships I did, and I am glad that you got this opportunity.”

He held out a hand to help Aoyama up.

“Let’s be the best heroes we can be together. So that kids like us won’t have to hide, lie, or be afraid anymore.”

Aoyama took his hand.

“Thank you Izuku. You really are a true hero. I always wanted to do something about this, about how quirkless people…how we are perceived. But I never had the strength.”
Izuku smiled.

“It’s alright. You don’t have to do this alone. Come on. There is something I want to show you.”

Chapter Text

Aizawa leaned back into his sofa. Shinso and Izuku had gone out for the evening, as they often did. Shinso had left him a message, which reassured him a little. Izuku was still a little weary, but he seemed less guarded than a few days ago, which was good.

What wasn’t good, was that Nezu had almost tried to fail Izuku.

‘He shouldn’t have tried to win this alone.’

‘His behaviour was un-hero-like.’

‘It was his fault that Bakugo failed.’

‘This was supposed to be a team mission.’

But the final decision was with Aizawa, and he wouldn’t fail Izuku for Bakugo’s mistakes. At least this once All Might hadn’t said anything. They all knew what he was thinking. That he had too easily believed that Bakugo would hurt a fellow student. That hadn’t been contradictory to his former behaviour though. Izuku was smart enough to take advantage of that. He deserved his passing grade. And Aizawa would need to have a few words with Bakugo. A few many words.

Sometimes Aizawa wondered if Nezu contradicted him on purpose. So that he would defend Izuku. To find out how far he would go. He didn’t like it. He never knew what their principal wanted. But he probably couldn’t outsmart him anyways, so he usually just went along with his games and hoped for the best.

Now he had to prepare for the camping trip. And make sure that everything about it was secret. It would be bad if the League of Villains found out about this.

-

“I wonder where this secret training camp will be.” Izuku said to Shigaraki as he was passed in Mario Kart.

“I mean I looked around and narrowed it down a little, but Hitoshi told me to stop and let myself be surprised. I don’t like surprises, but I guess if they won’t even tell us, it really is secret. And almost all of Void will be there, it should be fine. I’ll text you the coordinates once we’re there, just in case. But you have work to do here, so don’t bother visiting.”

Shigaraki put his controller down. “If by work you mean destroying you at Mario Kart, I’m already doing that. Stop worrying so much. It’s a school trip! Those things are fun. I heard. Not that I’ve ever been to one. I wouldn’t be surprised if the trip was to a volcano or something. UA is weird. Maybe a vault, so no one can attack you. Not even the oh-so-evil League of Villains.”

Izuku laughed. “Ah yes, I am so afraid. You know people would be less afraid of you guys if they knew that you managed to burn canned food. Seriously, we had to teach you how to cook. You can’t rely on Kurogiri forever you know.”

That comment landed Izuku a controller to the head. Shigaraki had learned. He could cook for himself. He just didn’t want to. Just as he didn’t want to do the laundry. Or clean. Or any housework, really. Kurogiri had actually managed to enforce a plan of who had to clean the bar. For a bunch of criminals, they all knew how to clean and cook surprisingly well. There were exceptions of course.

“So, you’re leaving in a few days, right?”

Izuku nodded.

“Yeah, we’ll go on a shopping trip with the class in a few days to get the materials. Aizawa even gave us money for it. I still feel bad. It’s my fault he got that scar. I try to be nice, but he can’t just expect to take us in after arresting, you know, and pretend that it’s all fine. I mean he doesn’t, but…urgh. It’s complicated.”

Shigaraki shrugged.

“Yeah, I don’t like complicated. Wanna play another round?”

“Sure, why not. I’ll choose this time.”

-

Hitoshi looked through the list of things he needed to buy. He and Izuku had split up to get the things they needed. They both needed roughly the same, so they decided to split up and buy everything twice.

He was looking at the various shops when he saw two familiar faces in the crowd. The first was Kirishima, who he expected to see here. The second was Shigaraki, coming out of a game store.

That would be a very bad meeting.

Hitoshi confidently made his way to the crowd and did his best to pull Shigaraki away.

“Shinso what are you doing here?” The villains asked.

Shinso hissed out his answer. “I could ask you the same! Do you remember that you are a wanted man?”

Shigaraki laughed. “I am indeed wanted. I wanted this game that was released today. Fancy meeting you here.”

Shinso wondered if he should just mind control the man to leave quietly.

“You are wanted for attacking UA students. The same UA students that are in this very mall right now. That could recognize you. You need to leave!”

“Shinso is that you?” Kirishima called from behind them.

Shinso cursed. He may have panicked. There would have been better ways to handle this. Instead he pulled Shigaraki’s hood over his head and pulled on the strings so only his nose could be seen.

Kirishima had made his way over.

“Hi, I thought I saw you. Who’s this?”

Shigaraki tried to answer, but Hitoshi slapped a hand over his mouth. Or over the place where he assumed his mouth was.

“This is my friend…Brian. He is…um…shy. Rarely leaves his house. He doesn’t like people. And he was on his way back home. Right, Brian?”

Shigaraki nodded and left under Hitoshi’s fierce gaze. Kirishima didn’t seem perturbed by the weird interaction.

“It’s so manly of you to help out your shy friend. I have the feeling I’ve seen him somewhere before though…”

Hitoshi laughed and pulled Kirishima by the sleeve in another direction.

“Haha you must be mistaken. He never leaves his sofa except for the toilet and the fridge. You must be confused.”

“Ah well, whatever. We were about to meet up with the rest of the group. Do you still need something or do you wanna come with me?”

Hitoshi exhaled slowly. A crisis averted. That idiot knew they were supposed to be at the mall today. If he could use his brains for more than video games for once, that would be great.

“No, I got everything. Let’s go.”

-

They were all on campus, waiting for the bus when Izuku wondered if one of the teachers would drive or if the bus driver just hadn’t been informed of their destination until now. That must be a security risk, right?

At least this wasn’t his problem. Izuku knew there were other villains out there that might technically attack them, but since they probably thought that the League of Villains had called dibs on class 1-A, they probably wouldn’t attack. Especially since the location was so secret.

Secret enough that even the parents hadn’t been informed. Aizawa was the only guardian that knew about the actual location. Izuku wondered if some parents would get fed up with UA sooner or later. Especially if this training camp didn’t prove safe. But it should. Izuku had made sure of that, at least on his part. He figured he owed his class at least one good field trip.

Izuku was pulled out of his thoughts as a skeletal-looking man approached him. The man had been on campus a few times and always wore oversized clothing. There was something off about him, but Izuku wasn’t quite sure what it was. Probably a quirk.

“Young Midoriya, I am very sorry but could you spare a few minutes before you depart?”

Izuku frowned.

“It’s Izuku, please. I don’t mind as long as I’m back in time.” He turned towards Shinso. “Hitoshi, something’s come up. Please make sure they don’t leave without me.”
Shinso nodded.

“I’ll bring you a souvenir if we forget you here, don’t worry.”

Izuku shook his head and followed the man into a meeting room. He sat down on a sofa and gestured for Izuku to sit in front of him.

“Tea?” He asked.

“No thank you. What can I do for you, sir?”

The man sighed.

“You can call me Yagi Toshinori. I have an offer for you. But first you must promise me that whatever I will say will stay in this room.”

Well that wasn’t ominous and creepy and weird. Izuku sure didn’t like making such promises. He just nodded, already knowing he would tell Shinso everything.

“Okay. I am about to tell you the story of One for All, a quirk that can be passed on from one person to the next.”

Izuku listened as Yagi told a all too familiar story. One that All for One had already told him. He suddenly realized who was sitting in front of him. All Might. The hero that was about to punch him through tons of concrete during their finals. The hero that had ruined his dreams. It was hard to keep a poker face. After all, he was used to hiding his face behind a mask. He let the man finish his story and took a moment to compose himself. If he showed that he had more knowledge that he wasn’t supposed to have, his cover would be blown. Everything he worked towards would crumble. Deep breaths.

“Why did you tell me this?”

Yagi transformed into All Might. Izuku wondered if that was part of One for All as well, or just Yagi’s original quirk. Still, he kept his expression neutral.

“I can only maintain this form for about an hour now. I will have to retire soon and became a teacher at UA to find a worthy successor. And I believe that to be you. I want to pass One for All to you, young Izuku!”

No. No no no no. Definitely not. It was great that All Might would retire soon, worked perfectly into the plan. But he wouldn’t take a quirk. Especially not one so volatile. All for One had told him how the quirk slowly kills its user. And with how much power All Might had accumulated, Izuku probably couldn’t use it without blowing his limbs off. He would probably be mutilated, and things would be even worse if he wasn’t quirkless. Seemed more like process of elimination to choose Izuku. Still, he wondered if he had more information about the quirk than All Might did. He did have access to the original holder, after all.

He wanted desperately to just say no. But he wanted information.

“What happened to you? Surely the nomu at USJ didn’t hurt you this bad?”

All Might deflated again.

“No. This is the work of an old enemy. All for One is his name.”

All Might continued, and Izuku listened attentively. He was glad to hear that All for One hadn’t sugar-coated anything or lied to him. He knew what the villain had done straight from his mouth, with explanations and regrets. He knew he was probably being manipulated. But he hadn’t lied.

Izuku could have laughed. If he wanted a quirk, he could have gotten one, and at a much better deal. Not like this. But he couldn’t say that, of course.

“So let me get this straight. You want to give me a quirk, after I told the whole world during the sports festival that I’m quirkless. You want to make me train with something I haven’t needed yet and have explicitly stated and proved I didn’t need. Something volatile that might hurt me, because saying that ‘I can probably handle it because I am fit’ is not exactly reassuring. This is of course during school, where I already have enough on my plate. And I would have to keep it a secret from my friends and other teachers. You do know that my homeroom teacher is my guardian, right? Do you honestly expect me to lie to all of them? Who would believe me? And worst of all, you wish to paint a giant target on my back, to serve me on a silver platter to the worst villain ever known. An urban legend.”

Yagi threw up his hands defensively.

“All for One is dead. I beat him. You don’t have to worry about that.”

Izuku laughed. No, last he checked All for One wasn’t dead. He may look the part, but he was still alive and kicking. Well, sitting. But alive. Very much so.

“Great. My answer is still no. I will prove that quirkless people can be heroes too. You forgot your roots, All Might. I have a training trip to attend. Something that will actually help me.”

He didn’t wait for an answer and slammed the door shut. Shinso was already waiting for him and had kept him a seat in the bus that had arrived by now.

He noticed that something was wrong, but Izuku waved him off. He signed that he couldn’t talk with so many people listening. He wanted to talk to All for One, tell the rest of Void how weakened All Might really was. He wondered just how close they came to actually beating him at USJ.

Maybe once they arrived at the camp and had a quiet moment, he would be able to talk freely.

-

They way to the camping trip itself was uneventful. At least until they were kicked out of the bus and thrown down a cliff. That does count as eventful. Izuku cursed silently. He had a bad feeling as they stopped in the middle of nowhere. He should have stayed in the bus. But of course, things rarely went his way.

He could barely do anything against the earth beasts that had been summoned to hinder their escape, even with the weapons Yaomomo had made for him and Shinso. It took hours just to get up the mountain, especially since they didn’t want to leave anyone behind.

But they did make it.

The Pussycats introduced themselves, but Izuku was focused on the boy behind them. He had a look in his eyes that he knew all too well. He had seen it in the mirror for a long time. This boy had lost someone, and along with them, his trust.

He approached him nonetheless.

“Hey kid, I’m Izuku.”

The kid immediately went for a punch that Izuku stopped just in time.

“Yeah okay, that’s valid. If you do wanna talk, I’m here. I get it.”

The kid just looked angry, but Izuku didn’t push it. He knew it wouldn’t help.

Mandalay apologized and introduced Kota to him. Seemed like Izuku now had another thing to do over the course of this training camp. He wondered how he should tell a kid to have hope in a system he was trying to bring down. Maybe not hope in the system, but rather hope in a future. For now though, he just hoped for dinner.

Chapter Text

Some people would say that the training camp was hell. If Izuku was being honest, it really wasn’t much different than his usual day. Except that he had more time to sleep. Except that it was hard to sleep with so many people in the room and trying to hide his nightmares. So he got about the same amount of sleep. Maybe a bit less. Enough that people wouldn’t notice it. (Hitoshi noticed, but he never slept and was the last person who could say something about sleep schedules to him. Aizawa was next in line. And Mic maybe. Wow, the people around him really needed more sleep.)

But all in all, it went really well. Izuku trained with some other people in hand-to-hand combat, or was used as a prop for Hitoshi’s mind control. It was quite fun if he was being honest. He may have also smuggled a few of Mei’s inventions that needed practical field testing. Aizawa has taken away a third of those, but Izuku wasn’t done. Some people may have been covered in a pink jelly-like substance, but those were sacrifices Izuku was willing to make. For science! He sounded a lot like Mei, and it scared a few people. Aizawa just kept getting more grey hair. He wondered if he should start asking Kirishima for hair dye. (Or Dabi, as Izuku thought. That would certainly be funny.)

In the evening they all looked forward to using the hot springs, and since they were all (mostly) civilized and polite people, there wouldn’t be any rude incidents. Everyone looked forward to it, except Izuku. Maybe if they were all Void members, but for now he really didn’t need his classmates to see his scars. He decided to just skip out of the event and take a normal shower. He would just wait until everyone was done and say that he missed it. Too bad.

And his plan would have worked, if people didn’t care about him. But as it stood, after Izuku was done cleaning the dishes Hitoshi pulled him towards the hot spring. Izuku struggled and looked at his friend in betrayal and slight panic. Hitoshi just smiled.

“Relax. We decided to share with class 1-B so now half of our class and some of theirs went first, and now it’s out turn. You may guess who offered to take the second shift.”
And when Izuku went into the changing room, only Void members were softly talking amongst themselves. Some smiled at him, but most of all they left him in peace. He may or may not be holding tears back. They arranged this for him…they really were too nice.

In the end, the bath was a nice experience. They chattered quietly amongst themselves. Izuku wasn’t completely at peace and may be using his towel to cover his body, but no one bothered him about it.

It went almost perfect. Almost.

Kota was the one who spoke to him as he exited the bath last.

“This is why heroes are stupid.”

Izuku crouched down.

“What do you mean?”

The kid scoffed.

“Don’t act stupid. I saw your body. Heroes only get hurt and die and leave everyone who cares about them behind and alone. You are the worst. Heroes are the worst.”

Izuku wasn’t sure what to say. There was obviously something up with this kid. He might have to ask Mandalay about it.

“I guess you are kind of right. Heroes are the reason I have this. But not in the way you think. I agree with you. Heroes as they are right now are stupid.”

Kota looked up in bewilderment.

“But you are trying to be a hero! Are you kidding me?”

Izuku smiled.

“Well, someone has to be better right?” And then, in a voice that holds far more pain and determination that Kota realizes, Izuku said: “I will make it better.”

Then Izuku took his hand and led the kid back to Mandalay. It was late after all. After she had put him to bed, Mandalay told Izuku about the Water Hose duo, about Kota’s parents and how they died. It was a story far too normal and far too familiar for Izuku’s liking. He didn’t need more reasons to continue what he was already doing, but they seemed to be getting shoved into his face at every corner.

He excused himself to go to bed, and Mandalay looked after him with badly disguised grief.

Izuku did not sleep well that night.

-

The training camp continued in the same manner it had before. The classes mingled a bit more and Izuku got to help out various classmates. He may have shrugged off the intensity of the training before, but it was getting harder. Still, he looked better than most of the other people. Which is probably one of the reasons they kept pushing him so hard. As if they could push him harder than he pushed himself. Still, it was very enjoyable.

-

On the last day of camp, everyone except the students who failed the exam could participate in a trial of bravery. Dressing up as ghosts and trying to scare the other class. It was a welcome diversion from the soreness and muscle aches everyone felt. Class 1-B was the first to hide in the forest, and since Bakugo was the only member of 1-A to fail, one student had to go in alone. As fate would have it, that one student was Izuku. He didn’t really mind. He decided to bring his notebook along to figure out the way class 1-B used their quirks to scare them. That would surely be fun. For him. Not for the other class or his hypothetical partner. It would be fine as long as he didn’t run into any trouble.

Right?

It did start out as fun. Yanagi floated objects to create an eery atmosphere, Kuroiro was perfect for jump scares or just to lurk menacingly in the background. All in all, they did really well. Izuku couldn’t wait to see how the rest applied their quirks.

That was until the noticed the flames. Fire spread quickly around the forest and of course it was just Izuku’s luck to be the furthest away from the starting point. Well, he just needed to make his way back to everyone.

He tried to dodge the fire, but the smoke was getting thicker and it was getting hard to see. He had to dodge the fire that spread unnaturally. He wasn’t sure where he was anymore. All he could see was the fire surrounding him. Completely surrounding him.

This wasn’t just unnatural anymore. Someone with a fire quirk was targeting him, separating him from the rest. And it had worked. He quickly sent his location. Maybe he should find the thinnest path in the fire and just run? Surely what awaited him in this circle of flames would be worse than a few burns? Hell, if the fire continued closing in, he would suffocate. None of the options were favourable. But the fire didn’t continue moving.

Instead, a large form jumped into the ring of fire, grinning like a madman, eye and artificial eye looking down on him.

Izuku froze.

He knew who that was. Muscular. One of the villains Giran had outright rejected after considering him for the League of Villains. Too unstable.

“Well well, if it isn’t the little boss playing hero. You think you are so mighty and above us huh. We’re not good enough for you? Let’s see how good you really are. I will tear you apart!”

His reflexes were all Izuku had to dodge the incoming rush of attacks. He was acting on instinct alone, his mind still catching up with the fact that somehow, Muscular knew that Izuku had been behind the recruitment process for the League of Villains. And how that info got leaked was far more frightening than the villain currently towering over him. After all, a villain he could fight.

He hoped.

But Muscular was strong. He was strong, he was fast, and Izuku was in shorts and a t-shirt, armed with a singular knife he always hid somewhere on his body. Those weren’t exactly the best of circumstances. So for now, he kept dodging, hoping for an opening.

The opening didn’t come. And Izuku was still exhausted from the training camp, the air was full of smoke, and Muscular was relentless in his charge.

Izuku dodged blow after blow, until he was just a bit too slow. The consequent flying and impact with the ground hurt even worse than the initial blow. He was disoriented, and could just make out the blurry image of the villain heading towards him. Before he could compose himself, he was picked up like a ragdoll.

“To think that your little group made such an impact. You are worthless, pathetic. Your little scheme will fail. Not that I care. I just want a good fight. And unfortunately for you, your slow and painful death is our top priority today.”

Izuku’s vision still swam, and his head hurt. He managed to croak out: “Our?”

Muscular laughed.

“You didn’t think I was alone, did you? You little friends are being crushed at the moment, and you are helpless to do anything. Every student will get what’s coming to them, regardless of whether they are in your secret club or not. Tsk. I’m disappointed. As the boss, I had hoped for a better fight. I guess this is all you can expect from someone quirkless.”

Muscular’s grin got even wider, and he slammed Izuku into the ground. He his felt bones breaking, and he might have even heard it, but all sounds were drowned out by the fire and Muscular’s laughing.

This wouldn’t do. Izuku couldn’t let himself be defeated so easily. His mind just helpfully provided him with flashbacks on Muscleshine, the hero that had attacked him. With how talkative Muscular was, Hitoshi would take him down easily.

But Hitoshi wasn’t here. And Izuku hadn’t come this far to give up now.

He knew he couldn’t overpower the man. Despite Izuku’s lack of fighting, the man was covered from head to toe in muscle fibres that his knife wouldn’t be able to penetrate.
Luckily for him, Muscular advertised his weakness. He only had one good working eye after all.

Izuku went limp. Muscular didn’t stop, but Izuku didn’t make a move. He stayed quiet. He waited. Finally, Muscular stopped. He held him up again, to check if he was still alive. Izuku was glad he hadn’t pulled the knife beforehand. He just needed to be quick enough, to use the element of surprise.

So with all the might he could manage, he jammed the knife in Muscular’s good eye. And as much as he wanted to see if his strategy worked, this was it. He passed out amidst the raging flames, next to a murderer who may or may not be dead. This would be an awful way to die.

-

Yaoyorozu was in the middle of the forest, when she started noticing the flames. The were still further away, but she would have to be careful. Jiro stood next to her.

“We should return to camp. Let’s hope it’s just an accidental wildfire.”

She nodded, and the two of them made their way back to where they came from. Something was off. She was feeling…tired?

Shit.

As soon as she noticed the pink fog spreading in the area, Yaoyorozu made a pair of gas masks.

“Wait, this is coming from where Tetsutetsu and Kendo were hiding. We need to help if the gas got them!” Jiro said.

Yaoyorozu couldn’t agree more.

“Can you find them with your quirk?”

Jiro plugged herself into the ground and listened.

“I think I found them. I definitely found the perpetrator. If we can knock him out, we should prevent further casualties. I know we’re not supposed to engage, but I haven’t been a vigilante for so long just to run away when someone needs me.”

Yaoyorozu smiled.

“I’m glad we agree. Let’s go.”

The two of them headed towards an open area in the forest, when gunshots sounded across the clearing. A short sprint later, they reached the area with the villain. He wore a middle school uniform and a gas mask. So he probably wasn’t immune to his own quirk. Good to know. The quirk wasn’t the problem though, the gas masks was.

The villain had fired at Kendo, while Tetsutetsu stood in front of her, quirk activated. They probably wouldn’t be able to hold their breath much longer though. It was impressive they had held out so long.

Tetsutetsu’s quirk was fading, and the villain aimed again.

Yaoyorozu knew her action was stupid, but she couldn’t just let her classmates get shot.

“Leave them alone!”

Her voice echoed across the clearing, and before she realized what she did, she had a gun trained on her.

“Gas masks, huh. Guess you aren’t completely stupid. It doesn’t matter. If you were clever, you would have let me join you in your quest for world domination. You were stupid not to pick me, and I will show you exactly why. Oh, you look confused. Maybe you aren’t part of the secret club? It doesn’t matter. Someone here probably is. Your boss is currently being dealt with, and you will be next. After all, what is a quirk gonna do against a gun?”

Yaoyorozu prided herself on being a smart woman. She had aced the entrance exams, she had to know the molecular make of anything the wanted to create. She had gained knowledge and confidence as a vigilante. And yet here she stood, a kid waving a gun at her and her friends, and she couldn’t think. She could create bulletproof armour. She could make a flash grenade, a bomb, a shield.

And yet here eyes were trained on the gun.

“You’re right. Guns are useful.”

She knew how to make a cannon. Izuku had once asked her what else she could do. She had said she could supply an army. It was the truth.

So here she stood, and the kid was still telling them about his superiority. Yaoyorozu created something behind her back, and pulled it out.

The kid froze. He probably hadn’t thought that the situation would be reversed. He probably never had a gun pulled on him.

Yaoyorozu used that moment of hesitation to fire.

She didn’t aim to kill. A bullet in the shoulder wouldn’t kill. As the kid screamed and flailed, Jiro rushed forward and pulled off his gas masks. The boy succumbed to his own quirk in a matter of seconds. Tetsutetsu and Kendo had fallen asleep somewhere in between his ramblings, and the gas was starting to disperse.

“Did you really just pull a gun on him?” Jiro asked, a little hysteric.

“I, um, it was the first thing that came to mind!” Yaoyorozu stammered out, blushing.

Jiro just laughed.

“It was amazing. I wish I could have seen the look on his face. Well. Let’s go get them back to camp. I think they’re gonna need more help.”

“Yeah, I hope everyone’s alright. Especially Izuku…”

Chapter Text

Setsuna ran towards the screams as fast as she could, dragging Shiozaki along with her. The girl was shocked, afraid of the fire they could see in the distance. Fire and vines didn’t go along very well. But the fire wasn’t was scared Setsuna. It was the screams and shouts of the two Class 1-A groups that had passed by them a few minutes earlier. She had worked as a vigilante long enough now to run towards the screams.

It should be alright though. Tokoyami had been in the group, even if he was the only other Void member there for now. But the other hero students could hold their ground as well. They didn’t get into UA for nothing. And they had actual combat experience. They had made sure of that at USJ.

Setsuna had faced many villains during her time as Missing, and she hadn’t even used her quirk for that. But then again, she had never fought against strong opponents alone. They had a system and were a group for a reason. And most people causing trouble at night were drunkards. Most didn’t even have combat-oriented quirks.

Not like the monster rising above the trees in front of her.

It looked like someone had put a man into a body bag, thrown into the asylum of a badly written horror movie, and then sent to a medieval dentist.

And that was before he opened his mouth and turned his teeth into metal blades. Unfortunately, Setsuna recognized him. Moonfish. An escaped convict. Who had noticed them and immediately started attacking. She pushed Shiozaki to the side and let herself be cut up into pieces. Well, she split before it could cause any damage, but it would look kinda bad for an outsider, as being cut to pieces tends to do.

As Setsuna looked to the side, she saw how Kirishima and Tokoyami had formed a crude defensive wall to protect Ashido and Asui. It didn’t seem they would hold out much longer. Time to take charge.

“Shiozaki, make as many vines as you can and build a protective wall in front of the others. The blades are long, but still connected to his body and can barely bend, so if you keep your vines between him and them, he shouldn’t be able to reach them!”

She scattered her body parts far enough that Moonfish shouldn’t be able to get to them, and moved only her head over to the members of class 1-A.

“Your quirks are Hardening, Dark Shadow, Frog and Acid, am I right?”

The group nodded.

“Ashido, is your acid string enough to melt his teeth? They may be teeth, but you should prepare for steel, if not worse.”

Shaken out of her stupor and finally having been given a task, Ashido perked up.

“That shouldn’t be too big of a problem. I can’t make it in huge quantities, but it will definitely melt his teeth.”

“Wonderful. Asui, if you jump would you be able to reach him? What if you carried a person?”

The girl shook her head.

“I’m not sure. I can if I jump on a tree first, and if you need a person up there, I can carry them with my tongue, instead of jumping.”

Setsuna cursed herself for having to ask so many questions. Izuku would know everyone’s strengths, weaknesses, limits and possibilities, but here she stood wasting precious time while Kirishima and Tokoyami caught their breath. The vines were being cut down one after the other, and Shiozaki wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer. Moonfish’s metal teeth seemed endless.

But she couldn’t let her doubt hold her back. She had a plan, even if it wasn’t the best one. She didn’t have time for anything else as the vines fell for the last time and Shiozaki collapsed on the ground.

“Tokoyami you need to distract him as much as you can! I know it will be harder in the darkness to control, but we need as much strength as you can give, just for a while. I’ll have everything except my head flying around as a distraction as well. We just need one opening okay?”

The boy knew that now wasn’t the time to argue. Dark Shadow roared furiously as he was let out again, much bigger than she had ever seen. Shiozaki was out for the count, but she had done a good job. Now it was the other’s turn.

“Ashido, get as close as you can and target the places he uses to balance himself in the air. Corrode his pillars, make sure he stumbles as much as possible. Use lower acid to slide around and provide a harder target if you can. It might be hard to switch the acidity, in that case focus on destroying the ones to one side.”

The pink girl nodded and slipped her shoes off before almost dancing between the blades. It was impressive, and Setsuna took note of her capabilities.

“Now, the two of you. Kirishima, I hope you can still harden, because you will be the focus. Harden your arms and head as much as you can. Think of it like a human arrow. The rest of your body isn’t as important, focus on the part that will cause the impact. Asui, you will be the one to throw him. Aim for the face as hard as you can and make sure you have a good opportunity. We only have one shot at this.”

The teens nodded and prepared for combat. Setsuna couldn’t focus on them anymore. Several of her body parts had already been hit, and she needed to put them to rest further away. Her. She needed to put parts of her away. This would be trouble later, she doubted she would be able to walk. But she needed to cause a distraction, and she did.

Moonfish was good, but he couldn’t be in multiple places at once. He kept losing ground thanks to Ashido’s acid, and even Shiozaki had managed to get up again and use her vines to pull on other blades. In front of the villain was Tokoyami, holding most of his focus. Dark Shadow was howling and rampaging, tearing through the teeth as if they were made of paper. But he wouldn’t be able to keep this up for much longer without loosing complete control, which could be a worse outcome than just letting Moonfish continue rampaging.

Last but not least, she herself was up in the air, trying to get behind the villain, floating around his head and crashing into him as often as possible.

She almost missed it.

One second she was fighting, and the very next Kirishima zipped through the air, arms hardened and crossed in front of him. Moonfish didn’t see him coming. The boy hit with incredible accuracy, and Moonfish lost consciousness, as well as all of his teeth. The resounding crunch was satisfying, even as all children collapsed after the battle.

It was Ashido who caught her breath first.

“What the fuck was that?!?”

-

Shoto would have preferred to have Izuku as his partner, but he didn’t mind Iida either. The boy wasn’t easily scared, responsible and overall a nice person. At least that’s what Shoto thought in the beginning. He hid it well, but Iida was clearly scared by the display the class 1-B kids put on. Shoto was too used to running around dark alleyways at night to be scared of people he already knew. They put in a great effort though. He couldn’t wait to see their faces once it was their turn to scare them. Yanagi and Uraraka had dragged him into horror movie night once, and he actually enjoyed it. Even if Yanagi didn’t like the way he stated the logical inconsistencies of the movie. Some things just didn’t make sense, and he pointed them out. Uraraka said it ruined the atmosphere, but in a joking manner. They seemed to put on an even worse movie every time he decided to visit.
Iida was strangely silent throughout most of the way. Shoto figured it was because he was scared, but too proud to admit it. As he was lost in his own thoughts, he barely noticed the temperature rising.

“Isn’t it getting warm?” Iida asked.

That was when he noticed it. He smelled the fire before he saw the smoke coming from an area not too far away from them.

“A forest fire? We need to hurry back and tell the teachers!”

Iida started running with Shoto following shortly behind him.

“Wait, what if we are close to the source, I can put it out! Iida, slow down!”

Iida didn’t seem to hear him as he rushed straight towards the path they came from. Shoto ran to follow him, as a wall of flames blocked his way. It was too fast not to be intentional. Someone stepped out behind him.

“Well well, if it isn’t the little Endeavour. I’ve been looking forward to meet you.”

It was a man dressed in slightly torn red suit. It looked a little like a hero costume. What caught Shoto’s eyes, however, was the flamethrower the man carried. Something about him seemed familiar, but Shoto couldn’t place it.

“Who are you? What do you want?”

Shoto tried to stealthily reach for his phone to contact the others, but the man watched him closely.

“I am hurt. You don’t remember me? Of course, someone as high and mighty as Endeavour’s masterpiece wouldn't dare lower himself to the likes of me. I should have known.”

If Shoto had picked up one thing from Shinso, it was to talk to distract. He didn’t do it often, as his powers didn’t require it, but this was a situation with too many variables.

“Sorry about that. Why don’t you help refresh my memory?”

The man just laughed.

“Tsk. You just care because I am your enemy now. I should have become a villain a long time ago. It’s not like the things I do are much different. My name is, or rather was, Kindling. I didn’t choose that name, in case you ask. My quirk let’s me control any existing fire to a certain degree. Not fire made by quirks though. It wasn’t hard to find a spot in the Endeavour agency. That bastard loves fire quirks. He loves fame and glory and praise. He doesn’t like sharing the spotlight. He took my achievements and put his mistakes on me. That was the beginning. I was new, I was a sidekick. My quirk is useful for all kinds of stuff. All I did was pick up the trash. One day he burned down the wing of a retirement home to get a burglar. A single burglar. 37 people died and more with lasting damages. Maybe you’ve heard about it. Maybe you didn’t. He did sweep it under the rug as quick as possible and blamed it on me. I denied it, but what’s my word against the number two hero? I hate him. And I hate you. Don’t think I didn’t see you trailing after him in the agency, not even looking at any of us, thinking you’ll one day own the place. I’ll kill you, and then I’ll hang your burnt corpse in front of his agency and burn him too. I’ll burn it all! And once I’m done with you I’ll get the broccoli kid before the others and deliver him to that doctor bastard to get the pay that was promised.”

Shinso was right. If given the chance, villain really liked to monologue. At least this explained why he looked familiar. But Shoto had more important things to do now. Broccoli kid could only mean Izuku. And there were others in the forest out for him too. Never leave anyone behind, don’t go alone. Izuku had drilled that in his head over and over again. And yet Iida had run away, and Izuku had been alone from the start.

“You hate Endeavour?” Shoto shouted. “Get in line!”

If this idiot was stupid enough to tell his weaknesses, he was asking for Shoto to exploit them. He could only control the fire in a certain radius, and he couldn’t create his own fire. Why else would he carry around a flamethrower? But Shoto wasn’t like his father. He wasn’t about to burn a person alive.

It only took a second before the entire are was encased in ice, the fires easily suffocated. That was something Shoto had practised for a long time. He had perfected it. The man was stuck in an iceberg, encased high above the trees, even further above the fires that had long spread out of his control long ago. The iceberg was a beacon for later. Right now, he needed to find Izuku.